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serxinns · 4 months ago

Note

I ABSOLUTELY ADORE YOUR YANDERE MHA SHORT STORIES 🙏😭

I was wondering if you could do one with a Child Y/n where they get kidnapped by the league of Villains and class 1-A and some heroes like hawks, Midnight, Eraser-head, go and save them? And since Y/n will be a child, I would kindly ask all relationships between everyone to be completely platonic.

Sorry if this takes up too much of your time! And remember to take care of yourself

⊂⁠(⁠(⁠・⁠▽⁠・⁠)⁠)⁠⊃

Ofc! Honestly love these types of tropes!

"Ahhh someone save me!" Eri dramatically said as she fell to her knees as the toy Dino roared in terror, "Don't worry I'm here!" As you jumped in front of the Dino with a red cape and a toy sword you swished your sword at the dino and it roared in terror once more you swished it a few times until it was down on the ground, "Yay y/n your my hero!" She cheered as she tackled you with a hug as you both giggled "That was fun big sis! You wanna play another game!?"

Eri thought about it for a second and excitedly nodded she loved playing with you, she felt like she wasn't the only kid here! Ever since Aizawa took you in at 1st she was a bit jealous thinking you were gonna take all the attention from her but realized that wasn't your intention the way you would always offer your toys, the way you broke a piece of a snack and shared it to her, the both of you quickly bonded over time

But ever since aizawa gave her the task of: "being a big sister and always protect each other no matter what," those words were craved deep into her mind and became a new Goal in her life and it was to be your protector!

"Let's hide and seek!" You said jumping up and down in excitement "Eri nodded "ok you go hide somewhere! I count!" You quickly nodded as she turned around and started counting "1...2...3....4" You looked around trying to find anywhere to hide but there wasn't any hiding spot fitting your expectations,

you then started to panic realizing Eri was halfway finished with her counting, you then looked over to the door you knew Mr grumpy (aizawa) told you that you were allowed to go out until He protested any of his classmates were there to pick you up two up, but you really wanted to win so you quietly opened the door looking back to see if eri heard but she kept counting you quick shut the door and dashed off to find a new hiding spot,

"17...18..19...20!" Eri excitedly looked around trying to find you she looked in the toybox, behind the giant stuffed bear in the corner, behind the books on shelves, and even behind the couch, the longer she tried finding you in the room the more worried she got..she tore up the once tidy room with toys and books all over the floor she frantically tried thinking where on earth could you be hiding then she realized...

You went out out the door...

You giggled as you tiptoed across the school hall looking everywhere for a hiding spot you spotted a bathroom nearby you giggled mischievously and went inside you plopped slowly into the stall shut the door and stood on the toilet Seat making sure nobody would know you were there, you then waited confidently thinking about your victory in your favorite game! that was until you heard an explosion followed by students screaming in terror and fear

"Attention students we are having a lockdown this not a drill get to a safe place and lock your classroom doors"

You froze in fear you desperately tried to open the door but you were too scared and small you then curled up on the toilet seat and started crying out for Mr grumpy or any one of his classmates to save you...

Aizawa was running past the panicked students calling out your name, Eri came into the class crying and blabbing stuff the class tried calming her down her making her slow down so she could speak Cleary and also noticing you weren't with her like you normally would "Eri what's wrong wheres y/n?"That made her cried loudly frantically pulling the green hairs shirt out the door pointing

"they *hic* w-went o-out...while we *sniff* were playing and I-I tried looking for them but they weren't there!" She then broke down in sobs repeatedly saying sorry to everyone they looked down at her sorrow and pity Mina picked up the crying girl trying to soothe her while others like Hakagure, ojiro, Koda, and Tokoyami all surrounded her reassuring her it wasn't her fault Aizawa then quickly told half of his students to go looking for you while the others stay and comfort eri

It felt like hours in the bathroom you wanted to come out but were scared a villain would come to you there you were curled up, shivering and crying helplessly in the bathroom.. until you heard some footsteps and giggles you froze quickly covering your mouth you shut your eyes tightly afraid of what happening next...

"Y/N!?" Aizawa ran down the hallways frantically looking in all directions destroying each classroom thinking of the worst possible scenarios, izuku, ochako, tsuyu, momo ,todoroki and kids were calling, cooing, and offering you our favorite things desperately trying to come out while Bakugo was making empty threats telling you to come out to hide his worried voice demanding kiri, sero,mina,Denki, and Jiro to look faster

Present mic and midnight were also searching for you midnight gently cooing at you to come out while Hizashi was making corny jokes that would make you laugh atleast to let him know where you are but no progress was made so far

Where on earth could you be?

Toga was skipping across the hallway humming her favorite tune as she passed a bunch of unconscious and injured students passed out she was bummed that she couldn't kill them due to Shigaraki's Orders but she was lucky to have all their blood for later! After she collected blood from a girl with a fire-breathing quirk she skipped along the halls for her next victim until she heard a sniffle in the bathroom

She stopped humming for a moment to make sure he heard again and there was another sniffle and a whimper she smiled wickedly "Is it another student with yummy blood?" She thought as she carefully sneaked into the restroom. She carefully opened each stall reaching the middle one she heard the sniffling in there she gently tried opening the stall but it was locked "G-Go away evil villian! I-ill use my quirk on you.."

jacketpot

Toga peaked through the stall seeing you holding out ur hand as if you were about to activate it she giggled softly "Hey now im not gonna hurt ya pinky promise!" you thought about it for a moment a pinkie promised is a very strong trust and the girl seems nice... you hesitated for a moment and decided to unlock the stall door it slowly creaked open revealing a blonde-haired girl with space buns with a beige school uniform, smiling at you revealing her sharp fangs

"S-she doesn't look that scary," you thought as the two of you stared at each other for a while Toga was restraining herself from wanting to scoop you up and hug you so tight! You were just so small and cute that you barely passed half her leg, "come on you wanna come with me?" She turned her body around and crouched on one knee as she offered you a piggyback ride, you nodded excitedly as you climbed onto her she lifted herself up "Hold on!" As she dashed across the hallway turning left and right trying to look for her crew

After a few minutes of running, she spotted Kurogiri and Shigaraki "Ugh finally your ba- toga why is that a child on your back" shigarkai said starting irritatedly at you while you stick your tongue out "I found this little one in the bathroom stall all scared then I decided to keep it!" Shigaraki and kurogiri stared in silent as they watched Toga pinched and played with your cheeks while you were pushing her away puffing your cheeks up in anger

"That was when a raging Aizawa came crashing down the hallway and in his horror seeing you on the villain's back surrounded by the villains "y/n..." he stared in disbelief Shigaraki took notice of this and smiled maniacally "Hi Mr grumpy!" You said lazily yawning in the process "awwww they're all tuckered out" Toga giggled as she pinched your cheeks

"Matter a fact.. this child will be useful for us.." Shigaraki then held your sleeping forming on the shoulder "Kurogiri teleport us outta here.." "NO!!" Aizawa eyes glow red as he tries to use his capture weapon but flames block his path the other classmates hear the commotion and run to their teacher's side "Y/N SAN!!" izuku runs towards the flames green veins covering his whole body Just when he launched towards the group of villains they disappeared in the portal with you...

Everyone else watched the scene in disbelief Mina formed tears in her eyes as everyone else just stood there stunned about what just happened

...

Your eyes slowly started to open as you were covered with a rabbit print blanket and laying on a slightly worn-out mattress you looked around to see that you were I'm a dimly lit room with a crappy but surprisedly worked nightlight and a stuffed plushie right beside you

You then opened the door to see the blonde girl skipping towards you with a man in a full-body suit "Hey you're awake!" She said excitingly with the man still observing you "Did you enjoy your nap? Little one" the masked man said "W-Where am I? Where's grumpy man" Toga giggled at your fear

"Why ur in the league of villain base kid you didn't realize that sooner?" Dabi nonchalantly said already irritated with your presence "Dabi! Don't be so mean! They only a kid" she said glaring at the male as dabi rolled his eyes "why we are the league or villians not the league of a fucking daycare what does Shigarak want us to do with a smelly brat anyway"

"hey, I'm not smelly you are you purple man!" You protested "You better watch that tongue kid before you turn to ash" he then glared at the kid twice and Toga snickered "Aren't you already about to turn?" Thats when both Toga and Twice start busting out laughing and which Cleary pissed Dabi right off luckily if it wasn't for Twice holding him back

Shigaraki watched the chaos unfold while Kurogiri got him another drink he requested There was an awkward silence between the two until Kurogiri spoke up "So what are we gonna do with the child?" Shigaraki thought for a moment about Kurogiri's answer and spoke up "I don't know yet but it seems like the heroes seem to take a liking to this brat do we just use them as bait for now" Kurogiri hummed as he was making his master another drink

Suddenly out of nowhere, your quirk activated making Dabi fly across the room landing on a wall with a harsh thud all the league members stood silent at the scene "Take that, you stupid burnt man!" You shouted in victory, "Hmmm Kurogiri changed of plans I think I gotta better idea.." Kurogiri hummed in amusement "I think we're gonna keep them.." Shigaraki said with a wicked grin as Toga and twice cheered in the background and Dabi groaned in pain in response

During the days your stay with the LOV, it's been fun but chaotic, to be honest, Toga would show you all sorts of knives in her collection and the type of blood there is she entertains you by drinking their blood and switching into some of your classmates impersonating them making you laugh

While twice would give you piggyback rides throw you up in the air and clone himself throwing you around to his clones like a ball or playing hot potato Toga would occasionally join in with the two of you

At 1st dabi saw you as a little nuisance but the more he spent time with you the more "bonding" the two of you did he would annoy you by putting stuff out of your reach until you threw a tantrum, if you annoyed him too his breaking point he would just throw you to one of the members which earns a lecture from Toga or twice

but he would show a BIT of his soft side like when you were feeling homesick and cried he offered you a cigarette to ease down ur nerves ofc Kurogiri saw this and immediately took it away and gave you a lollipop but you were still sad so he just rubbed your head

Shigaraki and Spinner would play games and you would carefully watch them 1st they would push you away saying it's too inappropriate for you but they eventually give in since you always sneak behind them and watch Spinner would occasionally put you on his lap so you can see better and even give you gaming tips here and there even tho you won't remember

But for the heroes not so much Aizawa and the teachers have been searching day and night restlessly trying to look for any clues to your location Aizawa's eyes were forming dark circles around them, present mic wasn't as chipper as before and midnight was as bit more bitter all might was the only sane one for everyone's sake but he still misses your presence...

Class 1a wasn't really any better since they also became more gloomy they all blamed themselves for your kidnapping especially the dekusquad and the bakusquad izuku felt the worse since he thinks she should've worked faster to get to you but that doesnt mean they were determined they all thoughtof a plan and sneak out to go and rescue you themselves even if itngets them in trouble or worse expelled they just want you to be safe,

Eri on the other hand slowly started to get gloomy and lonely and regress mentally back to her old ways when she was with Kai, she would bite her nails until the point they were low enough that she would occasionally have nightmares and would cry to Aizawa or Mic which they'll soothe her reassuring it wasn't her fault but the guilt and shame keeps haunting her over and over again...

heck even Hawks and Miriko started to change for the worse Hawk has been avoiding his fans and fangirls to focus more on her work and has become more sassy to anyone he just wanted to find his little birdie while Miriko was more determined restless and furious to find those group of villains

As tried and exhausted they may all be but remained determined to find you they needed to find you they can't imagine what those disgueting villianw are putting in your small pure little head!

Meanwhile

"I win!" Toga said as she put her candy avatar on the board and made it to the Candy Kingdom as well to celebrate with her, "No fair I was so close!!" You cross your arms and puff your cheeks out Shigaraki'a candy avatar right behind you "I would've won if I didn't have to spin again to get out of that shitty licorice jail" Shigaraki grumbled "I think I burnt my candy person" Dabi shrugged watching the plastic candy person melt with a shit-eating grin on his face

"What should we play next?" you said jumping excitedly while you were on twice lap "Uno maybe or snakes and ladders?" Shigaraki suggested, "What about guess who?" Spinner added another suggestion Toga was about to make a suggestion when they all heard a knock on the door the league all stared confused and a bit cautious to not move a muscle

"Who's at the doo-mhpm!" Twice hand covered your mouth and used his other to do a hush signal you tilted your head in confusion as all members were staring at the door intensely ready to tear and kill anything and Anyone thar to came passed that door everyone stood in silent as there was another knock again

"Pizza?"

The members looked at each other while Shigaraki look unamused

"Do they really think they can do that shitty trick agai-"

*BOOM*

The wall was smashed open revealing pro heroes such as Endeavor, fatgum, hawks, Mount Lady, and Aizawa and a hoard of police officers on the ground surrounded the area it was a one-and-stare battle between the pros and the villains

Not even a few seconds everyone started going at it using their quirks to defeat them while Hawks quickly grabbed you in your arms and tried to fly you to safety but was stopped by an old friend "Where do you think you going with the brat birdbrain" Dabi threw a fireball at Keigo as he barely dodges it "taking this kid home where else?" Keigo said in a teasing yet serious tone while you were busy playing a single red feather

"The kid belongs to us now Keigo if you kindly just give them ba-" "Fat chance charcoal" the winged hero cut off his sentence now holding a large feather-like sword in his hand dabi shrugged and Dabi threw blue fireballs hawks quickly saw Aizawa and as he hate to do this but he cared more about your safety "ready to go to Mr cranky kid?" You nodded excitedly hawks smiled then yelled out to Aizawa as he threw you towards him

Aizawa quickly saw and used his capture weapon to grab you quickly and you were now back in his arms quickly checking for injuries "You ok kid?" "Yep! I had fun! With my new friends" His gaze softened at your bright smile "No kid, not new friends they're the bad guys in your class and Eri are your friends " "Nuh-uh! They're my new friends we played lots of games and I even learned a bunch of new things!"

You then rant about how much fun you had with the LOV as Aizawa nods pretending to hear but actually, he was a bit scared of villains as your friends? He was gonna have to do a meeting on keeping you extra safe with the teachers but for now, he's glad to have you back in his arms

You were then met with a bunch of shocked crying teenagers as you excitedly waved eri was the 1st to come up to you and tackled you down with a hug crying and saying she was sorry as you were confused as hell and wondering what she was talking about as your classmates alll lifted you crying and apologizing as well as you were still derided out by their sudden behavior tried to squirm out of their grip

They were glad to have you back they promised they were gonna work extra hard to keep protecting you no matter what they want the best for you even eri promised that she'll be even more careful and have eyes on you on the time as but you were an unpredictable child who touched the hearts of many hero's and villains

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ratcandy · 1 year ago

Text

A Very Rough Analysis of Bug Beauty Standards in Hallownest

thank you @arty-cakes u've enabled me to have thought processes and now we're in a hell of our own making

Bear with me. Ok. This started because of discussion over Zote's horns. I'm gonna be combining both in-game dialogue and some irl bug things to come up with some vague understanding for how, potentially, bug beauty may be perceived in Hallownest. Because there is quite a FEW possibilities here, and I wanna dissect what I can.

And of course in my humble opinion there are no real, true Standards. Bugs are only full of love and there is no real concept of "ugliness." Because I said so. ...And, I mean, this would actually have some ground, because Hallownest is a conglomerate of a LOT of different bug species!! Truly, for there to be any one consensus wouldn't make a lot of sense, because everyone's going to have different standards Per Species.

(I implore everyone here to look up stalk-eyed flies (<LINK GOES TO PICTURE OF A BUG). To some bugs out there, that is, in fact, the pinnacle of sexy. So the idea of true beauty could REALLY, REALLY VARY.)

But hey. I'm having fun. So take my hand. Let's analyze nothing for no reason. this is a very long post. THERE IS ALSO ONE (1) PICTURE OF IRL BUG IN HERE; ITSE BEETLES. Be aware!

So, first of all.

These are sexy. This is considered sexy by bug standards. Or at the very least by Bretta and Godseeker's standards respectively. The words used to describe GPZ are "gorgeous" and "beautiful" while, as everyone knows, Flukemarm is "alluring."

So what this tells me right off the bat is that bugs seem to value Big and Round. The larger the body mass, the more attractive that bug is. Godseeker even refers to her real-world form, which looks like this,

with this dialogue:

"...And this? Our form swells? Large? Nay. Immense. Majestic. Hibernation, so long forced upon Us, yet the shell that results is strong... So strong! Thine gaze is adoring. Ye must think Us Godly. Amusing, foolish. But thou art faced with enormity and beauty, true..."

"Linger and gaze. Linger and gaze on Our magnificent shell. Our overpowering beauty!"

So like. I've at least a little reason to believe that Big and Large = Conventionally Attractive in some manner when it comes to these bugs.

To be fair, the Godseeker isn't from Hallownest. So her opinions on this matter might not align with everyone else's. But Bretta, who we have no reason to believe isn't a Hallownest native, does envision a sexyman Zote to be just as Big and Large.

Oh, and, of course:

This big guy is literally Called a "gorgeous husk." We could assume it's the golden shine that allows this one to be Gorgeous, OR we could assume it's the roundness. I, for one, think it's the Roundness.

HOWEVER, there is some possible contradictions to his idea. For one, the Gluttonous husk,

Is referred to as having a "grotesque shape" by the Hunter. Now, the grotesque-ness may be due to overconsumption (as is mentioned in the same entry), thus causing a bloated, unnatural shape that we can't totally see due to the artstyle/lack of reference. But it is worth Mentioning.

Also, of course, Salubra seems to think Ghost is quite a Fine Specimen, despite Ghost being far from Large or as Round:

"You're even more the attractive bug, clad in all those wonderful, sparkling things. I may have nothing more to give, but you must come back and visit from time to time. Such a dashing figure frequenting my store. I bet the whole village is jealous. Mmm hmm!"

"...Dear dear, I really must hold it together, must appear calm, but this creature... is just divine..."

"It's rare enough that someone enters my store, but even rarer to meet one so striking! Those impressive horns! That fierce weapon. The air of mystery! Ooooh. It's enough to make me swoon."

It's VERY possible a lot of Salubra's thoughts on this matter are due to charms, though shdgKJSDHG. A lot of her thoughts are specifically connected to the charms, thinking Ghost looks dashing with those charms on, etc.

But interestingly, she does mention Ghost's horns as "impressive," which brings up a whole other slew of questions on what "average" would be for horns. And since this whole thing initially started as a discussion on Zote's horns, well. Now I'm just wondering!!

Because in Bretta's sexyman version of Zote, she doesn't give him symmetrical horns. Sure, in a meta way, you could argue that's just a way to make sure GPZ is recognizable as a version of Zote. BUT!!!! When I was talkin earlier, I was speculating an idea where symmetry could be conventionally attractive in some way, and asymmetry could be generally unappealing. So it's interesting that a potentially unattractive quality would be kept on the Sexyman version. I suppose if Zote told Bretta he lost his horn in some grand battle, or whatever, of COURSE she wouldn't get rid of his epic battle scar. But at the same time, if he DIDN'T say that, then she just chose to keep it..... perhaps assuming it was a scar herself, or perhaps Bretta just doesn't take symmetry into account as a Beauty Thing. I dunno! Many possibilities there.

And if Ghost's little baby horns are impressive, then... Good lird, what do we make of the Hollow Knight then, right? Or hell, even Hornet!

I'm not sure if we wanna use that as a True scale for Horn standard. Especially especially seeing as Ghost isn't even physically mature, as far as we're aware (the Hollow Knight is specifically mentioned as "fully grown Vessel" in the Hunter's Journal, so). After all, it is ALSO very possible that Salubra was just Saying things as a means to convince you to buy stuff.

So for now let's abandon Salubra's thoughts. Let's go elsewhere.

In IRL bug talk, horns are generally a means for mate selection and/or competition with rivals. Usually these two things go hand-in-hand (competition is For Mates, I mean. or other resources).

after all, how are you gonna toss a guy off a tree if you don't got horn.

So it's not out of the question to think that horns on the Hallownest bugs would have some sort of Meaning. Especially since we see a LOT of bugs with varying horn sizes/shapes. And if we want to say every face we see is actually a mask, then that's even more telling! Because then horns are specifically being added to masks for one reason or another.

So that makes me Really wonder.

like this is obnoxious. what do you need all that horn for. Those don't even look practical for battling with. Granted, the shape of the Pale King's "crown" looks VERY similar to the mouth of the Wyrm corpse, so it's possible he just Kept that shape as his crown rather than intend for it to be horns.

But STILL. How do you think the bugs of Hallownest felt about this thing? Like that's so many horns. If he's meant to look like a "common bug," how to those Common Bugs feel about all those horns. Like sir that's excessive. We don't have all those. The most any one common bug has is three, iirc. So like. Huh.

Or would More Horn = more attractive? I'm uncertain. PK might not be all that conventionally attractive anyway. Given the lack of Large and Round going on. He is, in fact, small and pointy. So who's to say.

Anyway. Drop the horn talk for now. I want to go back to Bretta.

Bretta forms crushes on Ghost and Zote. But I don't think she's attracted their actual honest-to-Wyrm appearances. She creates idealized versions of her crushes and seems to only tangentially connect them to the real person, given... well. GPZ looks like that, and Zote does NOT look like that.

In her thoughts, she considers Zote "beautiful." In the first diary entry, she calls Ghost "beautiful." But she also writes Ghost as "standing tall," while Ghost is anything but tall, and. Yes. Again. GPZ. And in her last set of thoughts about Zote, she seems to only then see him as "smaller, tattered and stained." At some point, she seems to stop seeing a real Figure, and only sees an idolized, fake version of that Figure.

So I don't think she sees either Ghost or Zote as physically attractive on their own. More the idea of what they "could" be.

Does that all make sense? God I sure hope so. I have another Bretta thing to mention, though.

In one of the Zoteling Hunter's Journal entries, aka a snippet from Bretta's zote fanfiction, we've got this:

""That lowly map-maker's wife? Hah! My Queen, how could you compare yourself to her? In the face of your intoxicating beauty, all other females are merely dust!" The Grey Prince trembled with anger and indignation... and love."

So. That tells us Bretta sees Iselda as conventionally attractive in some way. Or, at the very least, feels a need to compare herself to Iselda to the point of writing about it in her fanfiction. So let's look at Iselda.

The only thing we can say for certain about Iselda that follows with anything we've spat out so far is that Iselda, while not Large in a GPZ way, is very TALL. To the point where Elderbug has a whole thing of dialogue talking about how tall Iselda is:

"She's a tall bug, the wife. I told them to take a larger house, especially given they're all empty, but they liked the look of that one. The way she has to bend just to get through the door...I wouldn't put up with it myself."

So we do have the Large-in-a-Way thing going. And for all we know, since she used to be a warrior, she could also have SICK muscles. She could pick me up and throw me, I think. And round... I mean. Her, um. Well her abdomen, I suppose, is . Rather round. But she's otherwise not Round in the sense that Flukemarm is round, or the Gorgeous Husk is Round.

So who knows!!! Perhaps it's just the Largeness/Height that contributes to attractiveness as opposed to fat. But I choose to believe fat is a positive factor anyway. Because I can, so there.

IT'S TIME TO TALK ABOUT SMELLS.

ok, technically, I could end that there. Because I can't find TOO Much more dialogue talking about the Beauty of Bugkind. I've checked around, but... MMm. Not too much, really!

BUT. While not, perhaps, part of a bug's seen appearance... There does seem to also be a little variation on Smell opinions. Which could definitely add to conventional attractiveness, especially since irl bugs are CHOCK FULL of sexy smelly pheromones. looking at you bombykol ....

And by that I mean. Responses to the Defender's Crest.

Leg Eater thinks it's a "tasty" smell and will give you a discount for it. Tuk recognizes the smell as that of a "friend," and well also give you a discount for it (in that case, it's more likely she just recognizes it as Ogrim's smell as opposed to anything Attractive about it, lmao, but STILL). Of course, Ogrim thinks it's a "just" smell.

Elderbug and Lemm are the only ones I can think of that have blatantly negative responses (Elderbug says something about the air smelling horrid while Lemm. Um: "Urgh! What do you think you're doing, coming into my nice little shop stinking like that?! These relics have been through enough. They don't need you spreading your stench all over them! Crawl back to the Waterways or wherever you came from!").

The White Lady obviously also associates it with Ogrim, saying it brings "joyous memories."

SO you're probably thinking. Hey Clam, this is a strange side-tangent to go on. There's not too much about the Defender's Crest smell that really works with your theory. Two characters dislike it, and two others only like it because they associate it with Ogrim. So, what gives?

divine's dialogue:

"Ahhhh, that smell! So strong, so virile..."

do you know. What virile means?

i'm sorry . I do not think Team Cherry meant it this way. But GOD HELP ME if it isn't REALLY FUNNy,

OKAY. Okay. I think... I think I'm done for now. There isn't a hell of a lot more I can find within game to go off of. and when it comes to irl bugs, well. Again, it varies pretty heavily by species!! So much is possible here. Refer to stalk eyed flies again. Sometimes, to a bug, having super long eye stalks is what's hot. Other times, all it's about is if you can throw a guy off a tree.

Or you're a giant water bug and being a good dad is sexy. I'm not joking. It's called sexy dad hypothesis. And well. I'm not here to shame the dads of Hallownest, but...

So. Yes!!!! OKay. I said words. I wrote this all in one very quick sitting and now I'm wandering away. I have things to do that I am presently not doing because I'm analyzing bug beauty standards.

#clamtalk #hollow knight #analysis #I don't know what all to tag this with.#it is what it is!#VERY long ramble #<-haven't used that tag in ages #ask to tag #<- in case something should go here that I'm forgetting.#ok. wanders away into the aether

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bachi-the-bee · 2 months ago

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⚠️NOT FOR THE ONES WITH A WEAK HEART. PROCEED WITH CAUTION⚠️ OR DONT. I'M JUST BEING DRAMATIC.

*tap tap tap on the 🎤*

*clears throat* It's the mod speaking. Hello hello 😌

Alright folks. It's about time we have a truth or dare game night, what do you say? 😈🎤

The rules are as follows :

I'll tag all the rp blogs and a bunch of "fans" who regularly interact with the blue lockers on this post since you're all the direct contestants for being players in the game event!

Then from the moment this post is published y'all 24 hours to opt in (you can opt in by just dropping a comment/reblog) - the time limit for replying to this is 24 hours because I'll need people who are constantly active in the RP community for the smooth sailing of the event. Because everyone will need to be co-operated and as quick as they can be with their replies just so we can more and more rounds of truth or dare 😌↕️

That's why, if you think your week would be busy and your responses might be too slow you can choose to watch from the sidelines for now (:3) since every player's replying time is crucial to the overall pacing of the game. (A few hours of replying time is fine though, anything beyond 10-12 hours might be too much since it'd exhaust around a day or 2 in just one round)

Now once all the players have been locked in, everyone will be alloted a number. (i and everyone else should be allowed to tag you in a post/comment if you're willing to be a player or I won't be able to include you because being able to summon you is an important part of the game. So please do check your settings once if you're not sure) And you'll have to remember that number.

How will the game proceed? Let me elaborate.

Let's say we have 15 players, alright? I (or) Bachira basically, will start the first round. For the first round, I'll use this to generate a random number between 1-15 (that'd be our version of spinning the bottle. Just imagine us all sitting in a huge circle okay? 😂) and let's say I land on a number which belongs to isagi - either of us will have to make a new post and tag the other (in this case, if isagi makes a new post for their first round of truth and dare, he can tag Bachira and they can both have their RP conversation through the reblogs) and then we can have our round of truth/dare in the reblogs.

Whoever (of the two chosen players ones for a particular round) makes the new post will have to tag the post with "#RP : truth or dare" just so everyone else can easily scroll through the tag on main Tumblr to tune in and join in on the fun. (I say it's important to make a new post because otherwise if we try and converge it all on one post then reblogs will end up having multiple branches (which would make it tough to navigate through each rounds) and get confusing real quick + by round (let's say) 10 the thread would start getting tooo long - you wouldn't want your dash clogged with that would you?)

Also, do tag me (@/bachi-the-bee) in every new round's new post so i can keep a record easily in case anyone wants to revisit it anytime ^_^

Feel free to tag any other fellow teammate or mutual to ask for truth/dare recommendations as to what you can ask/assign. Also, everyone is free to come reblog any post of any round and have their commentaries on it haha!! No hard rules other than new post for each round.

Just imagine all of us sitting in a huge ass circle and playing the game in a room, what do you think the character you rp would say or react with? Yeah. Feel free (read as : PLEASE DO) react with that in the reblogs, it'd make things more fun.

Now let's come back to the round Bachira and isagi were having - at the end of it, bachira - the one who was answering/performing the dares - will go to the random number generator, (because that's it's usually is, the one who has to answer/perform a dare rolls the bottle next) generate new numbers and tag the two people who's number they get (if you keep getting one player again and again feel free to roll out a random number multiple times. The point is having an interesting and UNIQUE combination of players hehe)

While rolling the numbers - the first roll would be to choose the one who'd be assigning a question/task and second roll would be for the one who'd be performing that task. The one who's rolling the numbers have to specify which player does what when they're tagging the next batch of players for the next round.

And then either of the chosen players can make a new post, tag the other one (and me i.e @/bachi-the-bee not my main), start a roleplay thread and tag the post with "#RP : truth or dare" and the cycle goes on.

Taking in consideration the average time gaps between replies, this event will go on for atleast a WEEK. The time can be extended based on how many rounds have been done by the end of the week and how many players got a chance. (AND depending on how much fun everyone is having LMAO)

So, are you ready to get bold and daring with your questions and task, future players? 😈🥂

Tagging : @galaxynajma @riririnnnn @rinitoshiplzdateme @the-lazyyy-artist @ssstar

@gayestclarinet @yue-t @sharkissm @the-rini-rush @stellas-starry-stories13

@bibururokku @soleilonthesun

@the-rini-rush @wabatle @reapkusho @fishii28 (mods do lmk if you only wanna play as the character, or yourself, or both. Also if you're mod of multiple RPs, please do account and opt in from all their behalfs)

Coming to the blue lockers -

@ask-nagi-seishiro @ask-mikage-reo @underlash-owl @underlashes-redhead @freaky-pink-bug

@worlds-best-striker @alexis-nessie @gods-chosen-emperor @oliver-aiku-official @ask-karasu-tabito

@ask-otoya-eita @hiori-yo @planethotline @not-a-pillowprincess @cheshire-kitkat

@ask-noel-noa @xx-n1ko25-xx @assistant-teieri @egoist-jinpachi @king-barou

@wildcardwho @kenyusee-yukimiya @julienloki1 @i-use-pantene @smart-zantetsu

@ask-nijiro-nanase @lavinho-paizao @shu-sendo @candied-kiyora

Do lmk if I missed anyone or anyone not mentioned here wanna join!! \⁠(⁠๑⁠╹⁠◡⁠╹⁠๑⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠♬

If you're willing to play, drop a comment/reblog!!

Mod, signing off!

#bllk rp #blue lock rp #blue lock #RP : truth or dare #Y'all. I'm telling you. The ryusae kainess kaisagi [and so on] kiss NEEDS to happen)#Rules

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lady-quen · 1 month ago

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Character inspiration meme!

[tagged: not tagged, saw people doing this on dash again since I follow lots of roleplay blogs haha decided to do this for my only proper OC]

[tagging: @ambalambs , @hexenjagd , @cursedfortune , @rostomanologist , @commander-wame , @missbadafker (for any of your characters!), @lyhil , @harukehn (hii I like your plants... I am tagging you both if that's okay :) @scribesofcalamity I want! 👏 to know 👏 the cool inspos!!! Also I'd tag all the pretty plants in the fandom but I'm not sure who likes dash games ^^, so if you see this and feel like doing it, you're ON! Feel free to say I tagged you!]

Also you know I had to do it to him (choose this as his profile picture)

Anyway! Explanations go:

1 - Bloodborne - Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower - largely self-explanatory. I would have exchanged her for Genshin's Raiden Shogun for the more accurate "draws swords from own body" visual, BUT the fun part is I actually didn't know she did that. So the Baal sword and Mael's solid shadow weapons are a complete coincidence 💀

Furthermore, Lady Maria's general aesthetic influenced my own design a good deal. Sadly, necromancers can't wear medium armor.

2 - Hollow Knight - God of Gods/Shade Lord - just the vibes for his Shroud... or is it something more? :P I guess we shall see once I iron out some plot points. Some people might know because I rant in DMs. Devouring darkness my beloved. Inspiration for a potential "corrupted form" for a fractal where the story went really wrong.

3 - Norse Mythology - Fenrir - core inspiration. Chain/binding motif, being something dangerous, even to gods. Power that needs suppressing. Everlasting hunger, being the doomed being with the potential to doom others in return. A... specific relationship with the sun. A certain someone losing a hand within the mouth of the beast.

His swords are named Dromi and Lædingr after the first two chains that bound Fenrir. He's currently looking for a way to devise a "perfect spell" to allow complete control over his volatile magic and stop the demon essence from further warping his body and affecting his mind - that spell, or perhaps item, being Gleipnir.

4 - Tower of God - Khun Aguero Agnes - personality and mannerisms inspiration, particularly post-The Departing. "The Commander when he locks the fuck in." Devilishly intelligent and not afraid to utilize underhanded methods, but ultimately a good person. A true silver tongue. Moderately to severely grumpy at times. Dramatic flair. Gay boy rizz.

5 - Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress - Ikoma - the survivor. Undead but won't take the L and keeps on going no matter what. Self-engineered restraints to keep his affliction under control, dog motif, being willing to do terrible things to his own body simply to stop himself becoming a monster. A heart replaced by a core.

6 - Legend of Vox Machina - Percy de Rolo - I have actually not watched this show yet (I really damn need to) the visuals, the gunplay, the demonic possession and those deep black eyes with yellow irises? Checks out. I made Mael in 2014, so, again, coincidence, but it's a really good-looking coincidence :-)

Also, template below cut!

#dash game #character inspiration meme #About the Commander #quen's ocs #Maelmordha

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mathmodder · 7 months ago

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🎈🍔 Introducing Street Food Spectacle mod for The Sims 3! 🍟🎉 Watch the trailer here

Looking to add a dash of excitement to your Sims' dining experiences? Look no further! With the Street Food Spectacle mod, your Sims can now enjoy a whole new level of culinary delight with food trucks that come equipped with a unique twist!

🚚 Food Truck Fun: When your Sim purchases a delicious treat from one of the bustling food trucks around town, they won't just walk away with a tasty meal. Instead, they'll be handed a whimsical balloon to accompany their snack!

🎈 Balloon Bonanza: As your Sim indulges in their delectable dish, watch as the balloon floats merrily above, adding a touch of festivity to their dining experience. But the fun doesn't end there!

💥 Explosive Finale: When your Sim finishes their meal, the balloon will soar into the sky, dancing gracefully among the clouds before bursting into a spectacular display of fireworks!

🌟 Experience the Joy: Treat your Sims to an unforgettable culinary adventure with Street Food Spectacle. Whether they're savoring, every meal becomes a celebration with this exciting mod!

Download Street Food Spectacle today available for FREE on my Patreon and elevate your Sims' dining experiences to new heights! 🌭✨ Packs that you need: Ambitions, Late Night and University Life.

Instructions: Put the package in your mods folder and run your game!

Mods that I recommend using:

FoodTruck Enabled: to allow you to place the food truck parking location in the lots you want https://modthesims.info/d/424758/foodtruck-enabled-updated-15-11-10.html

Nrass Trafic: to allow food trucks to appear outside of Bridgeport. Open the menu in the city hall >> click in Nrass Traffic >> Food Truck >> Need Parking Space ON https://www.nraas.net/community/Traffic

Don't forget that on my Patreon we also have the download of the testing phase of GetWildMod and OceanLifeMod, just purchase the Math Pass and you will have access to many other mods to come!

Every mod that is 100% complete will be available to the public.

#TheSims3 #Modding #FoodieFun #CulinaryAdventure #StreetFoodSpectacle #MathModder #the sims 3 foodstuffs #sims 3 foodstuffs

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palajae · 1 year ago

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hypegirl! | two.

PAIRING ▸ soccer player! niki x afab! reader

GENRE ▸ soccerl! au, roommates!au, romance, fluff, angst, humor

WORD COUNT ▸ 3.2k

SUMMARY ▸ all you want is to join the boys’ soccer team. all niki wants is to get minji’s attention. as roommates, what better than to strike a deal and help each other out? nothing really, except for one glaring issue: your blossoming feelings for said roommate. oh, and the fact that you’re technically supposed to be your brother, kim sunoo.

AKA a hopefully more sfw version of she's the man?

NOTES ▸ based off she’s the man (2006), reader is sunoo's sister and pretends to be her brother sunoo, mentions of porta pottys? —let me know if there’s any typos!

masterlist. | next.

ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL…

you’re kidding.

not only were team selections in two days, sunoo (the real one) had just texted you that there was a fair tomorrow.

with both the soccer camp and your (his?) music camp in attendance. the soccer players were allowed free entrance as it was their day off, while musicians from the band camp were invited to perform and volunteer amidst all the activity.

“h-hey, niki.” you call out while still texting your brother. “have you heard about some fair tomorrow?”

he sits up. “oh yeah. i was just talking to jay about it. our group is gonna go. it’d be a great chance for you to bond with the other members of the team. you know, brownie points or whatever it’s called.”

you pretend to look excited, “oh yeah, of course!”

your face drains of color.

because there was one problem: sunoo had several activities he volunteered for, no backouts allowed.

and he was currently sick. with a stomach bug or something.

you violently typed back to him telling him to cancel, but the freaking guy already told his band leaders that someone else would be there to fill in for him.

you slap a hand to your forehead. there’s no way you have to fill in for both you and your brother. there’s no way you can be two people tomorrow.

well, it actually turns out that you can. after shoving the fake eyebrows, makeup, and clothes needed to transform appearances into your trusty bag, you make it.

with a bonus, the dress from your mother that sunoo gets a friend to deliver to you.

you meekly follow behind niki’s teammates as they enter the fair, tension high.

you’re already sweating and the sun wasn’t even out yet.

you jump when niki swings an arm around you. face burning, you can only nod when he says, “don’t worry and just have fun. the other guys will warm up to you real fast.”

as kim sunoo, a guy hanging out with niki and his group, you realize you are doomed.

the whole time the boys go on rides, play games and hang out, you’re checking the time. oh shoot, your eyes widen. you’re supposed to be at the dunking station right now.

“crap, i gotta use the restroom. be back soon, sorry guys-!”

you dash off without another word, leaving the team to exchange weird looks.

you fly towards the nearest, nastiest, portable toilet. you’ve never gotten ready that fast in your life. wig off, makeup removed and reapplied, and annoying clothes sent by mother on.

you run to your post, gasping. “hi, i’m here filling in for sunoo?”

without a second of hesitation, you’re dragged into volunteer work.

as soon as things get slow, you make an excuse to use the restroom.

you bust out of the stall with sweat dripping down your face, probably ruining your makeup. coming to a screeching halt, you almost curse. you forgot to take your makeup off.

exhaling, you walk out again. you’re pretty sure you got some weird looks coming out of the stall—appearance entirely different.

“sunoo! there you are.” you catch up to the guys, acting normal as if you weren’t just a different person five minutes ago.

“we were wondering what was taking so long. you okay?” the concern in niki’s eyes makes you glance away.

“i think it was the burrito from yesterday…”

not even thirty minutes later are you checking the time and making an excuse to go again.

“dang, was it really that bad?”

embarrassment fills your body at the thought that all the guys on one of the best soccer teams have to see you like this. were your chances ruined?

“i’m super sorry but i really need to go-“

they watch as you scramble away.

niki frowns, “sunoo’s not normally like this. i wonder if he’s okay.”

and then you are you again. this time, wearing your dumb preppy outfit, handing out dumb fliers for the camp you weren’t even attending. the camp that you tried your hardest to avoid.

you pull down your stiff, short skirt while handing out snacks and water bottles to people walking by. as you turn to grab more snacks, you hear the volunteers next to you begin to whisper.

“i think they’re from the soccer camp. wow, isn’t he really tall?”

“—kinda cute?”

your eyes widen. no way, could they be talking about?

you turn and see, of course, niki and the rest of your group.

all approaching the table you were currently standing out. beginning to freak out, you have second thoughts about running away again. you abruptly turn away, pretending to organize the snacks that needed no organizing.

what if they recognize you? what if-

“hey.”

you come back to your senses, seeing a shy niki—of all people—in front of you.

you avoid eye contact, praying and hoping he doesn’t recognize you. nervously, you run a hand through your hair and give a bottle to him.

“hi.”

when your hand brushes against his, your breath hitches. you can certainly feel his dark orbs bore into yours. but he’s not letting go and neither are you.

“thanks,” he says softly. you nod, trying to keep your gaze on the ground.

remembering where you are, you quickly snatch your hand back. but of course, your nerves get the best of you and cause you to knock into a pile of water bottles in the process.

they all fall and you jump, startled at the noise. niki chuckles as you scramble to set it back up.

of course, niki being niki has to help you set it back up. you can feel the tension in the air and it makes your hands tremble.

as you reach for the last bottle, his hand lands on top of yours again.

eyes widening, you finally make eye contact.

then his eyebrows furrow. shoot.

“have we met before?”

you begin to laugh nervously and clear your throat. you had gotten too used to speaking in a deeper voice to him.

“m-me? i don’t think so.”

if anything, it feels like he stares deeper into your eyes, “you look really familiar. are you sure-?”

you nod frantically. “i’m pretty sure we haven’t met before.”

“oh, okay,” strands of hair fall into his eyes and you resist the urge to fix it, “i’m riki.”

“riki?” you voice aloud, and he laughs again.

“yeah. are you gonna tell me yours or am i just gonna have to call you clumsy girl?”

you say it, albeit hesitantly, but you being the idiot you were since day one, you tell him your full name.

his eyes widen, “no way, are you—“

that’s when you know you messed up.

“—kim sunoo’s sister?”

you let out a painful laugh, “oh, that’s not-“

“that must be why you looked so familiar. you and your brother look really alike!” his reaction was so genuine that you’re actually embarrassed at how you laughed like a middle schooler.

niki suddenly frowns, looking around.

“you know, he was with us a few minutes ago but-“

you really need to get out of here before he finds out, you think as your heart pounds.

“if you’ll excuse me—“

but in your rush, you stumble in those dumb dress shoes the advisor told you to wear—that you were obviously not used to.

you fling your arms out like a toddler trying to ice skate, and obviously, niki has to catch you in his arms like your personal prince charming.

you stare at each other in utter silence and shock.

“hi again?” he whispers and you suppress a smile at his utter adorableness.

“sorry?”

niki’s arms stay wrapped around you until you clear your throat.

“um, you can let go of me now.”

he laughs sheepishly, “yeah. o-of course, my bad.”

for a minute or two while gathering yourselves, brushing off imaginary dust, you’re not sure what to do. the butterflies in your stomach weren’t making it any better.

“are you working here the whole time? cause like, when your shift ends, maybe we could like-?”

your eyes widen. they flick to his friends drilling holes at the two of you, some laughing and obviously hyping niki up behind his back. and then to the other volunteers eyeing you in jealousy or frustration that you weren’t doing your job, you’re not sure.

all while you try your best to avoid jungwon’s squinty gaze. there’s no way… right?

“are you from around here?”

you softly laugh, “no, i’m here just volunteering…”

you don’t like how happy and light you feel while talking to niki, finally able to be with him him as truly yourself.

but there’s that sinking feeling in your stomach that you try to push away. dread. like you’re going to get caught, or maybe you already were.

you’re having such a good time just talking together that you forget about sunoo until niki brings him up again.

“i swear your brother was with us earlier. he said he went to the restroom but i don’t know..”

you feel the light feeling fall flat, the floating you smack the concrete hard. this was reality—you had limited time with niki.

you frown, acting all concerned. you were getting too good at that. “oh really? maybe i should go find and check on him.”

niki starts, “i can go with you—“

“no!” you shout, before laughing hastily.

“it’s okay. i’ll find him and come back. plus, i still have to volunteer. if i don’t, then it’s probably because i have to go back to camp…”

you see his face fall a little as he nods. “yeah, of course.”

biting your lip, you make an impulsive decision.

you kiss him on the cheek.

“i’ll see you sometime?” you smile before dashing off to change.

niki can only stares at you until he loses you in the crowd, touching the place on his cheek that you pressed your soft lips to.

only for you to change and go back out as kim sunoo again.

it’s not hard for you to find the group again, still in the same location. most of the guys were crowded around niki. which you expected, of course, but kim sunoo would never know that since he just came back from the restroom.

“what’s going on?”

all the guys, with matching grins and smirks, immediately disperse, leaving only a flustered niki.

“niki?”

it’s hard to pretend like nothing just happened, seeing niki’s reaction made you realize just how affected you were too.

“n-nothing. we can talk about it later.”

you want to feel a bit hurt that he simply brushes it off, but you can feel how flushed your face is. to the point that you can’t even hold eye contact with niki for more than two seconds.

“alright. you better keep me on that promise. let’s get back to the group.”

you internally chide yourself for being so awkward.

you needed to get a hold of yourself before something went wrong.

you barely slept. the dark under eye bags you sported were evident proof. you were too nervous for team decisions.

all the fears and doubts came back. you weren’t good enough. after all, you had spent most of your life playing soccer as a hobby, never properly recognized or given the chance for more serious training.

even more so, you weren’t even allowed at this camp. what if they found out and kicked you entirely from the camp?

perhaps your constant shuffling in bed caused niki to wake up.

“sunoo. why aren’t you sleeping? tomorrow’s a big day.”

you almost jolt. “sorry, did i wake you?”

“never mind that. just answer the question.”

you gulp at his firm tone. and so you voice your fears, insecurities, and weaknesses to niki. someone and something you would have never expected doing, but you would never regret. or forget.

“sunoo.”

“i know i probably sound dumb, and i’m being a bit irrational. or a lot,” you ramble on.

“sunoo.”

you sigh. “yeah?”

“relax. i think you’ll be more than fine. maybe you couldn’t tell but everyone else could—we could see your immense improvement. and more importantly, your passion and drive. you worked so hard for this. there’s nothing for you to be scared of and you know it. we all do.”

for a minute, you’re stunned. his words hit deeper than you thought. all of the stress and anxiety, both mentally and physically, drops on you all at once.

his next words are what get you.

“i’m proud of you.”

“thank you, riki. that means a lot. like, a lot.”

and whether he heard your quiet sniffles or not, he says nothing.

before you know it, it’s morning. and before you know it, all the guys are lined up in front of the coaches. the already assigned teams get into their groups, having been on the same team for years while attending the camp. while the newbies, including you, stand off to the other side.

you see niki nod at you encouragingly before moving to the other side of the field.

you can feel your heart pounding in your chest. weeks had gone by, and after this day, another week would go by. the only difference would be that you would be on a team. hopefully: niki’s team.

you didn’t even realize when it was your turn. one of the coaches turns to you with his clipboard.

“kim. you’ve improved—immensely.”

you’re not sure if you should take it as a compliment or insult, but you nod anyways.

“that’s why we all decided you’re a good fit for enhypen.”

it doesn’t hit you at first. but as the boys cheer, and you see niki with a bright smile welcoming you, your mouth drops.

you run towards the group, arms wide open to engulf you. in your happiness you run straight into niki’s arms, causing him to let out a big oof!

the other teammates surround you two. not only you but park sunghoon and lee heeseung made it to enhypen.

you couldn’t believe you made it. everyone else believed you were good enough to be on their team.

niki believed.

after they released you, calming down as the coaches finished assigning the rest of the players, you feel someone ruffle your hair.

startled, you look up to see niki with a proud grin. it makes your heart skip a beat. “congrats,” he whispers and you nod bashfully.

“thanks again,” you stare up at him. it was too easy to get lost into his eyes. his dark gaze always seemed to engulf you. now, and especially at the fair.

you realize you may have been staring at each other too long when you hear clapping and cheering. they were done assigning teams.

you both look away while niki coughs and you swallow thickly.

that night, you can feel something different in the air. whether it was your acknowledgment of your (quite) obvious feelings for niki or something he was keeping from you, you weren’t sure.

all you knew was you couldn’t get him off your mind after that day at the fair. you had already thought about him quite often, but niki now entered your dreams, your point of vision much more than you liked.

especially since you were still supposed to be getting him with minji.

but it was so easy to ignore, to prevent. specifically when niki says he has something to tell you as you both get in bed.

“well, you see- i actually- uh,” he fumbles for words and you furrow your brows.

why was he so nervous? what was so important that he had to tell you?

“what is it?” you interrupt him impatiently.

“i-i might’ve met your sister. the other day at, at the fair.”

oh. oh. that’s right. you weren’t supposed to know. since you were “gone” when niki met your sister- when niki met the real you.

and he was telling you right now as if you didn’t know anything. because you aren’t supposed to know anything.

“and, uh, she was nice. really nice. like i was surprised because i didn’t think she would be like that but uh, you know. also she looks a lot like you to the point i almost thought she was you for a sec-“

“niki. what are you trying to say?” you keep your tone nonchalant, but internally you were freaking out.

really, what was he trying to say?

you hear a lot of rustling from his side of the room. “oh-uh, nothing. she’s cool. yeah. so like, i don’t really think about minji that much anymore?”

you must’ve blanked out for a tiny bit because you come back to niki saying

“-you feel me?”

you clear your throat, “uh totally, man.”

all you remember is him mentioning he wasn’t that interested in minji anymore. your eyes bulge as you sit up in bed.

“wait, wait, wait. you’re not into minji anymore? what—why?”

“i dunno, i just find myself thinking about other things..”

there’s no way. you’re mystified. could that mean?

“you’re saying you’re moving on? to me-my sister?”

“huh? wha-“ he laughs awkwardly. “i didn’t say that!”

“no, this is a good thing! that you’re getting over her,” you say a little too eagerly, so you then clear your throat, “i mean, i guess. i just think you deserve someone better than minji.”

niki nods although you can’t see, keeping your thoughts in mind.

the joint conditioning between the soccer and lacrosse players were coming to an end, to your relief (and minji’s disappointment).

“aww,” she pouts during one afternoon break, “i’m gonna miss you a lot, sunoo.”

“yeah, you were a good partner.” you smile weakly. as you leave to get more water, she frowns.

there was no way you weren’t picking up on her signals. she wonders if she could get closer to you by asking your friends. the only person she saw around you the most-?

that’s right, nishimura riki.

you didn't expected to be attacked by niki on the way back to the dorms. he completely forgets how much smaller and lighter you were than he imagined. his hands find their way onto your shoulders forcefully so you’re forced to make eye contact.

your wide eyes meet his eager ones.

“sunoo-! you won’t believe what just happened! i actually can’t believe it, is this even real?!”

“huh.”

he lets go, to your relief. he jumps around, full of energy even though you just had a five hour practice?

“man, i just can’t believe it still. kim minji talked to me- like to me personally!”

he brings a hand to his forehead.

“she knows i exist. she smiled at me.”

you can’t help the disappointment that fills you from bottom to too.

“what? but what about the whole, you know, getting over her plan?”

you don’t even try to hide the dismay in your voice.

niki jumps up and down, “but minji! she finally talked to me!”

you try your best (half heartedly) to not seem upset. but you had gotten your hopes up. maybe, just maybe, niki would be interested in you. but how could he be?

how could he when he didn’t even know who you were?

and how could it be minji when she didn’t even bat her eyes at him before?

a/n ▸ sorry for being mia but here's the next part <33 let the drama begin hehe

MAIN TAGLIST ▸ @precioussoulofmine @kynrki @heesterical @jungwonize @rerequire @nvertheless @duolingofanaccount @hoeshii @love-4-keum @nyanggk @luvhyun3 @dimplewonie @yjjungwon @flwrshee

@kflixnet

SERIES TAGLIST ▸ @lwavander @eumpapas @eloelooo @shoyotime @heatrache @harufluff @kjrcrz @kpopstanmeg @luvkpopp @yunicide @nunugget @kyanmeai @enhastolemyheart @j-wyoung @imhuh @yinviyang @enhawinnieee @suvgs @zhounauts @123-678h @rshmra @they2luv1naia @hoodiebangtan @bachiwrld @lprww @riskiriki @microwvdstrawb3rri3s @k25vi @yeonism @nikisgfff @sha-aesthic @flmtunes @minhosprettywife @sungookie @woncine

@heartbreakrikiversary

unable to tag ▸ @dolphinsswimming @b1ndignity

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maleyanderecafe · 8 months ago

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(Spoilers for Dead Plate) Would you consider Dead Plate to be a yandere vn with that one ending where Vince makes Rody eat his ex?

Dead Plate is actually pretty fun because I actually quite like the type of gameplay of the diner dash genre, and it is impressive they were able to code this into RPG Maker of all things. Unfortunately, the gameplay is still pretty glitchy and majorly difficult to do in later levels because you need to hit a certain amount of quota to get certain endings, and the gameplay is rather difficult, so I had to search up some of the endings instead of completing the game like I usually do. To answer your question... kind of? It's one of those "it depends on your interpretation" kind of things (and probably the creator's twitter).

The story starts out with Rody who is hired to be a waiter at Vince's fancy restaurant after a lot of begging. We see that Rody is kind of a himbo and Vince is very straight laced. The majority of the story comes through the dialogue they have together. We learn that Rody is taking this temporary job to get a really fancy gift for his ex, Manon so that they can get back together again. Vince on the other hand seems to be a famous chef with a specific type of interest in food and is very serious about his job as a chef, to the point of intensity. We see in one of the scenes were Rody comes to take out the trash that he is yelling at one of the cooks for making a mistake, even putting their face over the oven fire to punish them. Similarly, when Rody accidentally knocks over the trash while taking ti out, Vince slaps him. At some point, Rody asks Vince if he can take some of the leftovers after each day, seeing as he doesn't really have much to eat. Vince allows him and each day, he is given a new dish that he leaves in the fridge. In one of the days, Rody interacts with a mouse, only to be served that to him as his leftovers. Rody also periodically gets very strange dreams about being eaten or otherwise prepared for food, often with Vince in them. During one of the days, after work, Rody ends up going into Vince's office, only to find a picture of him and Manon together in a bloody locket. He doesn't seem very happy about this, but proceeds as normal. Near the end of the week, Vince invites him to his house to serve a bunch of guests, which he does begrudgingly. Here we get to know how the other members of the guest know Vince. We also get to know that Rody considers Vince's food to taste not that great and that it in fact tastes "self absorbed", and we also learned that Rody dropped out of school at some point as well. After this, Rody ends up going into Vince's room and getting the fridge key but is promptly caught by Vince. Vince thanks him (sort of) for coming over and tending to his guest.

There are a couple of endings depending on certain criteria but we will go over them best we can.

The first ending happens when you are able to get enough money after doing all the shifts and quits the job from Vince telling him he no longer needs it. Rody, finally having enough money attempts to call Manon so that they can get dinner together, but the line is disconnected. He tries a couple of times, getting more desperate as he calls, even stating that he just wants to hear her voice, but no matter what, the call never connects.

The second ending happens when going into the freezer during the last day. Rody is caught and then promptly tied up by Vince. He is unable to escape, but Vince allows him to attempt to escape. He fails, no matter what and Vince kills him.

The third ending is probably the one that has the most information on the rest of the story, and is likely the most "cannon" ending for this game. It's similar to the second ending where he is tied up in the freezer, but this time he has brought matches to help him escape. He is able to escape the freezer, but finds a plate of meat on the counter. He is then promptly caught by Vince and has to avoid his attack. Missing this will cause Vince to kill Rody and drag him into the freezer. However, not missing will cause Vince to instead tear off Rody's ear and eat it, much to Rody's fear. We learn that the dish is actually Manon served up that Vince prepared specifically for him. We learn through Vince catching Rody a couple of times that Vince actually didn't care too much about his relationship with Manon, but rather the fact that Rody cared about her so much was what intrigued him. In fact, the reason why Vince ended up serving Rody Manon like this was because his critiques always talked about how his food was lack in love but due to Vince's lack of being able to taste, was never able to understand (this is foreshadowed when Rody calls his food bland and "self absorbed"). Because Rody constantly went on and on about Manon, he though that if he served him the thing he loved (Manon), that he would be able to make something that actually had that taste in "love" again (this is why Vince ends up serving the mouse he interacts with in one of the days, as he showed it "love"). Vince also reveals that this isn't something he normally does, as even the chef that he harassed earlier, he only fired and that he would never serve something like that to his customers, only seemingly doing this so he can revive his sense of "taste". Eventually, Rody ends up going into Vince's office and taking a broken bottle, stabbing Vince in the neck. He then ends up spreading oil all over the kitchen and promptly burning the entire building down, as Vince is still alive in it.

Finally, we get a flashback to when Rody and Manon broke up. It seems that Manon was mostly doing it because Rody would end up self sacrificing to provide for Manon, seeing as not only does he live in a shoddy apartment, but barely has enough money or interest in anything else but Manon. Manon seemed to have really loved Rody, but didn't want him to suffer by constantly catering to her, so she left him.

So now for the question of if I consider it a yandere vn, which is... it's hard to say? I don't think that this game was primarily made for a yandere to be one of the main characters (which is what I would more associate with a "yandere vn") but the two characters do exhibit some sort of yandere trait in one way or another.

Vince for instance has a very interesting take on love in terms of love in his food. You can for sure see him as just a person who is very obsessed over how his food taste, but it is also obvious that he has some sort of favoritism towards Rody, whether romantic in nature or not (it seems probably considering that Vince is gay), as all of the dishes that Rody takes home were made by Vince, and that he seems geuinely a bit sad when Rody quits on the first ending, as well as specifically making a dish made of Manon to serve to Rody. This seems to mostly be interpreted as a way for Vince to not only gain his sense of taste back but also to serve someone food with "love", but I can for sure see it as a way for him to make him shut up about Manon since he seems pretty annoyed when she's brought up. Still, he does end up killing him in like two of the endings, one where he is stuck bound up by rope in the freezer and one where he fails to defend himself. The second one can probably be chalked up to anger that Rody didn't eat the meal that Vince prepared him, but I'm not so sure about the other one. I guess it could be a way for him to eat his love like a lot of cannibal yanderes are like.

Rody himself is has a lot of the traits of light yanderes towards Manon, seeing that he basically seems to dedicate everything to her. Manon describes him as not ready for a relationship considering he keeps on trying to give up everything for her and calls his love exhausting, probably referring to how much he talks about her to Vince or to anyone. Even in his apartment, it's obvious that he doesn't really take good care of himself, with everything being very messy, with him burning his food and him sleeping on the couch. He doesn't seem very happy when seeing Manon and Vince together and seems to believe that money is the way that he can get back together with Manon, ignoring the actual reason, which is that when they are together, Rody ends up neglecting himself and just caring for Manon. On the twitter page, it's also confirmed that he would hide a body for Manon if that ever did happen.

Overall, very fun game. Love the aesthetic of the time incorporated into the game and the general character's attitudes. Whether or not Vince or even Rody is a yandere seems to be a pretty hotly debated topic amongst the fandom it's in, so I think it's for sure up to interpretation or until word of god says that they are.

#asks #Dead plate #male yandere #yandere boy #yandere #recomendation

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brokeitwiththepowerofmathamatics · 1 year ago

Text

Fanfic - Ghost of the Cards

This was written for a "back to school" fic challenge on a DP server I'm in. It was beta read by HeroineofTime!

For the challenge, we had to write a fic that was around going back to school, and had to include in some way homework, detention, backpack, friends, and bells.

(ao3 here) (ff.net here)

Danny knew that Dash and the A-Listers would probably try to find some way to make his life miserable, but he had to admit this was actually kind of funny.

Danny huffed as he ran up to the school doors. Yes, he could have just flown in using his ghost powers while invisible, then pop out of one of the bathroom stalls or something, but after the summer vacation, and the multitude of close calls of almost being caught by… well… everyone… (no Jazz, he was not being careless because he wanted to be caught and freed from the burden of secrecy) he decided not to risk using his powers at school today.

In retrospect, that didn't help anything.

Danny walked through the school doors, he was greeted by the sight of one of the lunchroom tables laid out in the school entryway. Star and Paulina were sitting at the table, greeting all the students as they came in, and handing out little boxes.

Danny resolved himself to ignore it, but he didn't get a chance to.

"Hey! Fenton!" Star called out. Danny sighed and walked over. Star glanced over at Paulina and the two of them started giggling.

Danny already had a bad feeling but now it was worse. "Hey, Star," he greeted.

"Hello!" Star said, sitting up straight. Her posture was perfect, not leaning in any friendly manner, but she wasn’t leaning away like she normally would. (At least, while people could see her) "Here! Take this!" she said, handing him one of the boxes. Her voice was oddly chipper for a typical interaction with him. "The art club kept meeting over the summer, and we came up with something fun! The teachers are all helping out with this!"

"Uh… thanks? What is it?" Danny asked, tilting the box over in his hands. It was a cardboard box that was printed to look like the outside of Casper High, with a large ‘TCG’ floating over the school's name. There was also a piece of masking tape on the back, that Danny noticed wasn't on the others.

This box had been marked for him.

"It's a card game! You should know all about those!"

Danny sighed. "Not really? Look, I know I'm a nerd, but I like video games and space." Danny shook the box around. "Card games haven't been my thing."

Star rolled her eyes. "Whatever, look, I gotta keep handing these out." She looked past him and raised her hand. "Kwan! Over here!"

Where Kwan was, Dash soon followed, so Danny dashed away.

Danny checked where his locker was supposed to be, before running up the stairs to the top floor. Fighting the urge to pump a fist as he did so. Not only was it the top floor, but it was close to a janitor closet, and in a dead end part of the school. Not many people would be coming by here unless it was specifically to drop stuff at their locker, or go to the history teacher's room that was on the other side of the wall.

And more importantly, Sam and Tucker were apparently next to him as well.

Thank Clockwork for small mercies.

"You're welcome," Tucker said as he took a stack of cards from Sam.

"Don't mention it, I don't want to see it, I don't want to hear about them, and the moment I’m allowed to get my hands around Paulina’s little neck I’ll-"

Danny jogged up and interrupted their conversation. "Whoa, what's going on?" he asked. He couldn’t help but be proud of himself, this was about as far as you could get from the school entrance, and despite jogging the whole way, he wasn’t out of breath at all. Apparently, the early morning jogs with Sam were actually helping.

Sam whirled toward Danny, and then zero'd in on the box in his hands. "It's that stupid card game that Star and Paulina started.” she spat, pointing at it with about as much hate as she had for the pink dresses her mother kept buying her. “They started with- hey wait, Danny, don't-"

But, Danny kept opening the box. "I just want to see what the big deal is." He opened the box as Sam stammered. She opened and closed her mouth multiple times before giving up and biting down on a knuckle.

The box contained several booster packs of cards, each wrapped up in foil, and a booklet that was probably the game rules. In all honesty, Danny was impressed. He wasn't a connoisseur of playing cards or anything, but this seemed very much like the cards he'd see at the big box stores.

Danny tore up the first pack and looked at the cards. He frowned when he saw the first card that greeted him was a picture of Dash. It was a picture of his bully at what was probably last year's homecoming football game, with two golden stars above it. Underneath the picture were two boxes, one with a red sword along with a 5, and another with a blue shield with an 8. At the bottom of the card was a big box saying, "Teamplayer, for every other card on the field with the text teamplayer on, this card gains 1 power and 1 toughness."

Danny rolled his eyes and flipped through the cards. Obviously the reason why this box was marked wasn't because he was supposed to see Dash's ugly mug. Sam continued to stare nervously as Danny went through the cards.

Danny paused on another card, this one wasn’t a photo, but a drawn art piece of Ember. Instead of the stars, there was a green letter ‘G’ above the picture. Ember had a 10 for the sword, and the shield had a 10 as well.

At the bottom of her card was a similar box as Dash’s card. “Leader, when this card is played, take a card from your hand and put it in one of the lanes next to this card. It must follow normal summoning rules.”

Danny huffed. “Ember would hate this card, she doesn’t do duets.” The comment got a laugh out of Tucker but Sam continued to look nervous. She wouldn’t be worried if it was a ghost (other than him) being upset, that meant this wasn’t what had gotten under her skin. So, Danny continued flipping through the cards.

Then he found it.

It was a picture of him, looking panicked. Danny recognized it as around one of the times Skulker really had it out for him from last year during prom. His card was lacking any of the stars, but it also had a big fat 0 next to the power and toughness stats.

The only saving grace to his card was the bottom text, which Danny read aloud. "Moving on, when this card dies, play another card."

The hall was silent for a moment as Danny processed what he was seeing. Sam reached out carefully towards Danny, almost like she was afraid he'd break down in front of him.

Danny couldn't take it anymore.

He started laughing. Full blown laughs, the ugly ones that made you wheeze cause you weren't able to breath properly.

"Danny?" Sam asked, bewildered.

"Oh my gosh, this is perfect!" Danny got out before gasping for air. "I can't believe- oh my god- they did- I can't- I can't breathe, oh my god I can't breathe! I'm laughing too hard!"

"Okay, Danny, seriously…" Sam said, folding her arms and tapping her foot against the ground. "This isn't funny."

Danny took several big gulps full of air. "Sam, it's really funny." Sam continued to glare and Danny leaned forward and whispered. "Sam, my card's power is going ghost." He frowned. "Wait, do you think-"

"That the A-Lister's know?" Tucker interrupted, shuffling his cards around, "Nah, if they did, Dash would be worshiping the ground you walk on, not talking about how he can't wait to see your face when you see your card."

"I think he's gonna be pretty disappointed."

Sam huffed and leaned against the lockers. "You're both taking this pretty well considering the school is basically systematically bullying Danny." She turned toward Danny and her eyebrows rose slightly. "I'm gonna be honest. I'm not okay with this. I'm not. I know you're saying it's funny, but Danny… the school made a card that said your only purpose is to die… That's really messed up."

Danny shrugged and checked that no one was coming down the hall before shoving his hand through his locker door and hanging up his backpack. "I mean, they're not wrong."

"Danny!"

Danny turned to face Sam. "Sam, I'm a straight D student… I'm also the-" Danny checked the hall again and still didn't see anyone coming around the corner, "-the local super hero. Literally, my superpower is to die on command. It's really exactly wrong... Also, where is everyone else? School starts in like… thirty minutes doesn't it?"

Sam's eyes narrowed and she turned toward Tucker, Tucker however was laughing. "Jazz moved your clocks ahead so you'd make it on time. We got like an hour and half."

"What! I can't believe she'd do that!" Danny paused then shrugged. "Well, actually I can and I think that's worse."

Sam reached over and pulled on Danny's arm. "I'm not letting this drop," she said, holding eye contact with Danny and holding onto his wrist. Her grip was surprisingly tight, and her arm was shaking slightly. "It's not okay that the school did this, you know? You're allowed to be mad about it."

"I'm not though! Sam, I really don't care."

"Well, fine, but I do… I'm not okay with them doing this. I'm gonna tear the school a new one," she said, grabbing Danny's arm with her other hand. "When I get home, I'm talking to my grandma and I'm finding the best lawyer I can and then Mr. Lancer can kiss every bonus he'd ever get goodb-"

Danny sighed and put a hand on Sam's shoulder, interrupting her litigious rant. "Sam, aren't you the one always telling me not to worry about what other people think?" His hand slid from the top of her shoulder as he ran his hand up and down her arm, trying to get her to calm down.

Sam shook her head, though she leaned into his touch. "This is very different, and you know it,” she whispered.

"Hey, guys?" Tucker interrupted from his spot on the floor. "I hate to end this tender moment, but it gets better." Tucker waved the booklet around in front of Danny and Danny snatched it out of his hands.

Danny read for a few moments before his eyes went wide. "Oh… oh!"

Tucker smiled and started nodding. "You're seeing it too, aren't you?"

"Dude, there's no way-"

"I read the whole thing back to back, yeah, no, it's EXACTLY what you're thinking it is!"

Sam frowned. "What on earth are you guys-"

"Danny!" The trio turned around to see Jazz marching up to them. "Danny, did you-" She froze as she saw the rule book in Danny's hands. "Oh, you opened the pack, didn't you?"

Danny waved the cards around. "Yeah, I did. Why?"

Jazz frowned and straightened her back. "Cause I did too, and I got one of your cards."

Danny perked up. "Really? Can I have it?"

Jazz took a step back, and folded her arms across her chest. "Uhh…" She glanced up at Sam who walked over to Jazz's side. "No?" it shouldn't have sounded like a question, but it definitely did.

"He's already seen it," Sam groaned. "I'm telling him he can be mad about it-"

"Guys, guys, listen, my card's power is dying. It's objectively hilarious."

Jazz glared at Danny. "No, the card is… I mean… it's…" Jazz's righteous anger slowly fizzled out as she stammered, unsure of exactly what she was saying. Obviously she knew the implications of what the card was saying, but she didn't want to say it herself.

"Wait, wait…" Danny interrupted, shaking his hands about in the air. Before he pointed at Jazz and raised his voice. "You moved my clocks forward! I could have been sleeping!"

Jazz rolled her eyes. "You'll be thankful since you can actually get your textbooks because you got here on time." She huffed and ran a hand through her hair. "Danny, I really don't think you're getting how serious this is."

This time it was Danny's turn to roll his eyes. "The A-Listers made a stupid card game, tried to make a joke about me being useless, accidentally made a joke that is so accurate that probably every single one of us has wondered if the secret is out." At that, everyone else suddenly refused to make eye contact.

"I mean…" Tucker began scratching under his beret.

Sam coughed. "Paulina for all her faults is pretty observant."

Jazz huffed. "It's better than what this actually is."

Danny just raised an eyebrow at them and folded his arms. The silence stretched for a moment before Sam walked up to Danny. "Danny, you're my best friend. Sorry Tuck, no offense."

"Some taken," Tucker responded cheerfully.

"And because you're my best friend, I don't care if you are or aren't bothered by the stupid card. 'Cause I am. The school told my best friend he was worthless, and I'm not okay with that. Maybe they didn't mean that, maybe it just slipped through. But that's what this looks like to me, and probably looks like to all the kids in the school."

"Except for all the card nerds," Tucker chimed in.

"What?" Jazz asked, turning towards Tucker. "Why?"

Instead of an answer, the four of them jumped as screams came from down the stairs. The four exchanged glances before running down the stairs. They followed the screams and fleeing students back towards the school entrance, where almost everyone was fleeing from a terrifying ghost.

"I AM THE BOX GHOST!"

Terrifying if you hadn't been paying attention the entirety of last year, that is.

Five students groaned, Tucker, Sam, and Jazz all turned to see that Valerie had appeared. The four of them froze as one, realizing they were not as alone as they thought they were, and they started to think about how to get the others to leave so that one of the two ghost hunters here could fight the ghost in peace.

Except Danny was not having it.

"For the love of fudge and Clockwork!" Danny shouted, marching towards the Box Ghost. He snatched up one of the card boxes as he marched toward the floating annoyance. "You, Box Ghost. I have a box here, a shiny cardboard box. I give you this, you leave. Okay?"

The Box Ghost floated closer to Danny. "That is indeed a splendid box most shiny…" The Box Ghost mused as he rubbed his chin. Inspecting the box for blemishes and appropriate squareness.

Danny reached up and grabbed the Box Ghost by his shirt, pulling him down to eye level. He then whispered to him, "If you don't take the box and make like a ghost and disappear, then the next time Phantom sees you, he's gonna shove his fist so far down your throat you'll be tasting rubber for the rest of your afterlife.” The Box Ghost’s eyes widened, perhaps sensing that Danny was very much serious. He snatched the box out of Danny’s hands before floating back out of reach. “HA HA, the BOX GHOST accepts your tribute! He shall now go far away and uncover the secrets of your mysterious cardboard-!”

“We get it,” Danny growled.

The Box Ghost jumped back about three feet, before shouting, “BEWARE!” as a final farewell, and then flying through the walls.

Danny huffed and wiped his hands on his jeans before turning back towards his friends. He took two steps before he heard someone say, “Fenton?”

Danny turned to see Star peeking at him from behind an overturned table, apparently that was the source of the spilled boxes that Danny had picked from. Good to see that the training from the last year or so had stuck when dealing with ghosts. Danny reached down and picked up a couple of the boxes. Of the three he grabbed, one had masking tape on the back of it, like the one that had been given to him.

Danny juggled the boxes around to get a free hand to lift the table back upright. “I don’t know why you two are freaking out, it’s just the Box Ghost…” At their incredulous looks and Jazz clearing her throat behind him, Danny coughed and quickly added, “I mean… even I’ve stopped running from the Box Ghost over the summer.”

Star and Paulina looked at each other as Danny put the boxes down, though the marked box he kept. He ran his fingers over the masking tape and then gave a pointed look at each of them. Paulina looked at the box then at Danny, before recognition lit up in her eye. It was replaced a moment later as she realized that he knew what that meant. Her eyes widened and she glanced at Danny’s friends. Tucker and Valerie were picking up boxes, but Sam and Jazz were steadfastly not.

If looks could shoot ectoblasts, Paulina and Star would have gone ghost right there.

Paulina took a step back as Star held out a hand for the box, giving him her nicest, warmest, and fakest smile. “Well, thanks, Fenton!”

Danny pulled back and said, “I’m keeping this one.”

Star’s smile dropped just slightly. “Oh? But you already got one?”

Danny tapped on the masking tape with his index finger. “It’s got my card in it, doesn’t it?” At that Star’s smile dropped and her eyes went wide. Danny turned around and started walking away. He walked over to where Valerie, Jazz, Tucker, and Sam were all talking. “Hey, Valerie!” Danny greeted.

Valerie shifted uncomfortably. Glancing between him and the others.“Hey, Danny,” she greeted back hesitantly. Before he could ask what was bothering her, she barreled on. “What’s that about your card?”

Jazz turned toward Danny as he started tearing into the box. “The school made that card game, and everyone has a card.” She explained. “The A-Listers used the opportunity to try and bully Danny.”

“What?” Valerie gasped.

“Sweet!” Danny exclaimed after tearing open the packs. “I got two of mine!” He held them up in victory, but Valerie snatched them out of his hand. “Hey! Give me those! I fought a ghost for them!”

Valerie scoffed. “Yeah, right. Anyone with a brain can deal with the Box Ghost.”

“Which explains why the A-Listers were hiding from him.”

Valerie did not continue the quippy back and forth, instead her jaw dropped as she read the card. “Please tell me this isn’t what I think it is.”

“I don’t make a habit of lying,” Sam lied. Lying was second nature to all of them at this point, though Danny would admit he still wasn’t good at thinking on his feet. “The card’s only purpose is to get on the field and die.”

Danny snatched the cards back. “Guys, you’re making it out to be so much worse than it is.”

Valerie whirled on Danny. “Danny! This is awful! Look, I’ve looked past a lot of Star and Paulina’s stuff, but this is bad…”

Danny shuffled through the cards. “Guys, seriously drop it. I’m sure the A-Lister’s weren’t thinking, cause if they were they wouldn’t have made my card so strong.”

Everyone except for Tucker, who had actually read the rule book, looked at each other confused and managed to ask, “What?”

Then the doors of the building got thrown open. Some people screamed and dove for cover, others started running without thinking, while a few others turned to look at the new threat.

Maddie Fenton walked into the school building with fire and fury behind her. Her eyes sweeped the entrance hallway before falling on Jazz and Danny. She marched over to them, and Danny immediately went ramrod straight as he recognized just how pissed she was. He hadn’ seen her this mad since he had broken the vase she had bought.

(In his defense, it was haunted.)

“Jazz, sweetie,” she began, her voice icy cold. “May I see what you were calling about?”

Jazz produced one of the cards and handed it over to her mother. “Yeah, I got one right here.”

Danny opened his mouth to say something, but then thought better of it as he saw the look on his mother’s face. She growled and turned. “Come along kids, I’m going to have a talk with the school principal, right now.”

No longer in his mom’s sight, Danny found his voice, though his feet followed after her like a duckling. “Mom, please, listen to me. This is not that big of a deal!”

“I think I’ll be the judge of that, sweetie.”

“No, seriously!” Danny turned to Jazz as his mom marched through the school halls. “Jazz, please back me up!”

Jazz sighed and gave him a look like he should know better. “Danny, I’m the one who called her over this.”

Danny tried to argue his case with both of them, but made no progress. It wasn’t much longer before Danny was running a hand down his face as his Mom towered over Principal Ishiyama. “I would like to speak to whoever was in charge of the school’s card game.”

The principal looked behind her at Danny (who was mouthing an apology) and Jazz (who was trying to develop ghost powers to immolate someone with her brain) before meeting her gaze. “Uh… is there a problem?”

“Yes,” Maddie stated. “The teacher?”

“Well, the card game was made by the school’s art club so-”

“The art club has a supervisor. Who. Is. It.” There was no inflection in her words, Danny had heard her speak kinder to the ghosts she had captured.

The principal wavered for a moment before reaching over to her phone. She pressed a few buttons before the school’s P.A system turned on. “Would Mr. Lancer please come to the principal’s office immediately?”

“Sit, children.” Maddie ordered, and Danny and Jazz jumped into the chairs that were set across from the desk.

Once they were sitting, Danny frowned and noticed something. “Uh… should we leave a chair for Mr. Lancer?”

Maddie didn’t break eye contact with the principal. “No.”

They sat in an awkward quiet with Maddie glaring at Principal Ishiyama the entire time before Mr. Lancer stepped into the office. “You wanted to see me?” He asked, “I’m still setting up for class, so-”

Maddie turned toward him. Slowly and insidiously, Danny wouldn’t have been surprised if he heard the sounds of hinges creaking as her head carefully and measuredly turned toward his teacher. “You were in charge of the school’s card game?”

“Uhh, in a manner of speaking? I was just supervising, ensuring the students weren’t misusing school property, or fielding questions.” Lancer answered as he walked over toward the principal’s side. By the looks on their faces, neither knew what this was about.

“Hm,” Maddie vocalized, and Danny winced. That was not a sound of acknowledgement, but the sound of you-have-done-exactly-as-I-expected-you-would-and-now-I’m-disappointed-in-you which was a lot of information given in a single syllable but he was quite familiar with it. “And just how were the card’s strength and health determined?”

“Well, the rules are using power and toughness, but a card’s power was how many clubs and after school activities a student was in, while toughness was a base of 5, with an additional 1 for every grade of B or 2 for A, and a loss of 1 for every detention that a student had.”

The principal leaned forward and cut in. “Ms. Fenton-”

“Doctor,” Maddie corrected, and both Danny and Jazz winced. Their mother usually didn’t care about her title, stating she was a mother and wife first and foremost. She only insisted on being called doctor when she wanted to make a point.

It obviously threw Ishiyama for a loop. She cleared her throat and continued. “Dr. Fenton, perhaps you should explain what exactly-”

“Ms. Ishiyama, were you aware that Mr. Lancer here allowed the school to produce a card that implied my son had no benefit? That all he could do was die?”

Mr. Lancer’s eyes widened. “Excuse me! That is-”

Maddie refused to look in his direction. Instead holding up a hand to cut him off. “And that my son’s special ability is called moving on.”

At this point, Danny jumped up. “Hold on, can I get a say in this?” Danny waved his hands and stood next to the principal, who was beginning to turn pale. “Mom, that’s an inside joke of the school. You know I’ve had to go to the bathroom a lot ever since the accident, so when I have to interrupt class to, Mr. Lancer will give me permission and then say, ‘Moving on’. I know it looks bad, but it’s just an inside joke of the school.”

Mr. Lancer raised an eyebrow. “Thank you, Mr. Fenton, I-”

Maddie whirled on him. “Shall I also point out that you are also exposing students’ grades to everyone as well? You must have shared them if the cards are a reflection of their grades.”

Mr. Lancer folded his arms. “I did not, the students asked for a formula for making the numbers, and I ran it myself. The students don’t know anyone’s grades.”

“Yet, you have my son having a zero for his health?” Maddie snapped.

“Even if he had turned in all his homework with 100% grades, which everyone in this room knows he has not, with the number of detentions he has received the last year, he’d still be at a zero.” Mr. Lancer said, shooting Danny a look.

Maddie slammed her hands on principal Ishiyama’s desk. “Do not blame my son for this!”

The principal raised her hands. “Dr. Fenton, I acknowledge that we have done you and your family a major disservice. Even if it was an inside joke, the context is important,” she said, shooting Mr. Lancer a withering glare. “Dare I say, our English teacher should be more than aware of something like that.”

Jazz cleared her throat. “May I ask a question?”

Maddie leaned back and answered for everyone. “Go ahead, sweetie…” even as Danny was shaking his head no.

“Mr. Lancer, did you have any inkling of what was going on?”

“Excuse me?” He said brow furrowing.

“Were you or were not aware that it was very likely that the A-Listers, Star, Paulina, Dash, and Kwan were using this as an opportunity to bully my little brother?”

Mr. Lancer opened his mouth to respond before taking a moment to clear his throat and respond. “I did not know that they were intending to do this, no.”

Maddie frowned and Ishiyama let out a sigh of relief. But Jazz continued, “But did you suspect it? Did you have reason to believe that they were going to do this?”

Lancer was quiet and didn’t answer, instead he chewed on his lip for a moment.

It was a moment too long, and Maddie turned to the principal. “I want him fired.”

“I’m sure we can come to an agreement that doesn’t-”

“He’s either fired, or Fentonworks stops funding the school repairs and anti-ghost tech.”

Danny put his fingers to his lips and blew a shrill whistle. “Okay! Okay! No! Mom!” Danny clapped his hands in front of his chest before pointing at her with them. “They can’t fire Mr. Lancer, the school already is having enough trouble finding new teachers because they’re quitting the moment they hear about ghost attacks. Not only that, but if you stop helping the school, the school is gonna have to shut down!”

“Daniel,” Maddie started, her voice deceptively calm and collected. “If this school is not a safe space for my children, then it can burn for all I care.”

“OOooookay!” Danny shouted, holding up his hands. “I understand you’re upset, but-”

“Daniel. I get upset when your father eats more than his share of the mashed potatoes. I get upset when my experiments get ruined by ghost attacks. I get upset when you kids forget to do your chores.

“I am not upset. I am furious.”

“But I’m not,” Danny groaned, pointing at himself. “Look, I know what the card looks like, seriously, I do. Everyone is telling me to be mad about it, but…” He trailed off as he looked out the door and he ran to the door. “Hey! Hey! Mikey! Yeah, come over here real quick.”

He led the quiet nerd into the office and then closed the door behind him. “Okay, this is gonna be quick. You got the school game, right?”

Mikey adjusted his glasses. “Uh, yes, Star gave me a box this morning when I walked in.”

“Right, okay. You read the rule book right?”

“Of course! Front to back three times! I wouldn’t be a proud member of the game club if I didn’t!”

“How many Danny Fenton cards do you have?”

“I’ve gotten my hands on ten so far.”

“How much would I need to pay you in order to get you to give me those cards?”

“If Paulina came in here and asked for a date in exchange, I still wouldn’t give them up. You can pry them from my cold dead and nerdy hands.”

“No, seriously. I think I got like forty bucks in my pocket-”

“No.”

“Thank you, that is all.”

The principal frowned and watched as Danny pushed Mikey out the door and closed it again. “What was the point of that?”

Danny took a deep breath. “Mr. Lancer… do you have a deck?” At his teacher’s nod, Danny then asked a question. “You have several of my cards in your deck, don’t you?”

Mr. Lancer threw his hands up in the air. “I don’t. The art club wouldn’t let us cheat and build our decks with the cards we wanted. We had to draft them.”

“The point?” Maddie said huffing.

Danny sighed. “Yes, Dash, Star, Paulina and Kwan… I’m not sold on Kwan here, all tried to bully me by making a bad card. They failed so so hard.” Danny blinked. “In all honesty? The card is very accurate. The card game is about fighting ghosts. So, obviously I’m the most intelligent person in the deck, the moment ghosts show up, I’m outta there.”

“Into the graveyard,” Jazz snipped.

Danny rolled his eyes. “Fine, how about this? They can release a new rule book, one where the graveyard is called the discard pile instead?”

Maddie pursed her lips. “Danny, you’re really insistent this doesn’t change. Why?”

“Because I’m not gonna be happy if I don’t get to beat my bully at literally his own game.” The school bell rang and Danny started inching his way to the door. “Okay, Mom? You can hash it out with the principal, but no asking for Mr. Lancer to be fired, no threatening the school, and definitely no changing my card's effects? Okay? Please?” Danny thought for a moment and then tacked on, “I love you?” The fact that sounded like a question probably didn’t help his chances in getting her to calm down.

Maddie sighed and looked toward the ceiling. “Alright, alright.” She stood up. “I will let Principal Ishiyama here discuss with Mr. Lancer what they should do, but tomorrow I will be back. This time, with my husband as well. And I assure you, he won’t be as calm as me.”

The threat definitely worked, as both of them paled as they thought about what a rampaging Jack Fenton would be like.

The Fentons left the room together, and Maddie handed Jazz back the card. “I really don’t like this.” She said, though she didn’t seem surprised when Danny snatched the card from Jazz and put it in his pocket. “But you… seem to know what you’re doing?”

“The only request I have is that Jazz records it when Dash realizes how dumb he is.” Danny turned and then started running back down the hall. “Gotta get to class! I’ll see you guys later!”

Danny ran back to his locker, put the cards in his pocket away, and then ran to class. He turned the corner before a hand grabbed his shirt and slammed him into a locker. “Heard you went crying to mommy, Fenturd.”

“Dash, we have got to stop meeting like this.” Danny said, rolling his eyes. “And for the record, I didn’t. You pissed off Jazz, who then called my mom. I tried to tell her it was not a big deal.”

Dash hesitated, trying to slot the square peg into the round hole. Danny could practically see the thoughts slip out of his head before he got mad again. “Well, I guess I gotta crush ya before your mom ruins the fun. Lunch time, bring a deck.”

“See you then!” Danny saluted. His hand fell back to his side and he looked down. “Dash… aren’t you gonna put me down?”

“I’m thinking about it.”

“Well, I know this is gonna be hard, but can you think faster? I want to be on time to class for a change.”

A few moments later, Danny phased his way out of the locker he had been stuffed into. He sighed and brushed off shirt. “Man, I really hope I start taking more after my dad soon. I would love to not fit in lockers anymore.”

***

Lunch time came around, and Danny walked in with his head held high. Mikey might not have traded his cards for a date with Paulina, but Phantom signing the Phantom card (which was a 10/10 by the way, with both Teamplayer and Leader keywords) was worth the trade.

It seemed like the entire school was there waiting for this fight. Danny walked down an aisle flanked by students on either side of him that closed around him as he approached Dash sitting at a lunch table.

Danny stopped at the tablet. “Seriously, did you really pick the table furthest from the door? Are you sure you’re not one of the drama kids?” He turned toward Star, who was actually looking pretty uncomfortable. “Star, you’ve been in the school plays right? You should totally try to get Dash to join in this year, looks like he’d have fun with it.”

Star didn’t answer; instead she stepped behind Kwan, who looked a little sick, and Paulina, who was shifting around as the entire school stared at them.

“It’s time to duel, Fenton.” Dash said, slamming his palm against the table.

Danny rolled his eyes. “Alright alright, if you’re that ready to lose” he said, sitting down at the table. Danny took his deck out and started shuffling it. It wasn’t much to shuffle; the deck size was only twenty cards after all.

Dash frowned, but then drew his starting hand. “Good, I’m ready. As the cool one, I’m going first.” He smiled at Danny. “Okay, for my first card, I’m playing Danny Fenton!” He threw the card on the table, “Oh, whoops! He died.” He laughed and Danny looked over at the other A-Listers who were taking a slight step back.

“Well, moving on,” Dash chuckled. “I get to play another card. So I play Mikey! A 3/10 with supporter!”

“Ooh, look at you, already talking like a card gamer!” Danny crowed.

“Shut it, Fenton! I’m not a nerd like you!” He folded his arms. “It’s your turn now. I can’t attack on the first turn.”

Danny nodded and raised an eyebrow. “Did you remember to draw at the end of your turn?” Dash quietly reached over and refilled his hand before Danny made a show of thinking. “Hmm… which card, which card…” He tapped his chin and then shouted. “Ah! I know!” He put a card down in front of Dash’s card. “I play Danny Fenton!” He paused. “Oh shit! I died! Oh well. Anyways.”

Dash blinked. “You really used your stupid card?”

“Hey, it’s my turn still! Jeez, I can still do something awesome!” Danny thought for a moment longer. “Oh, okay, let’s try this! I play Danny Fenton!” Dash’s brow furrowed as Danny continued. “Oh shit, I died again! I hope it was a quick one! Like maybe my neck snapped. I’d hate for it to be a slow one.” The rest of the A Listers took another step back and tried to blend into the crowd as Danny made a big deal of his card dying. “It’s okay, thanks to moving on, I get another shot! Umm… Okay, okay, I got it. I play Danny Fenton!”

Dash scoffed. “You really put three of your cards in your stupid deck?”

Danny laughed. “Three? No. Dash, my deck uses fifteen of them!”

Dash looked around, seeing confusion on most of the nearby students. “Wait, wait, you really used half your deck for your dumb worthless card?”

Danny stared at Dash for a moment. “Okay, Dash, you wanna repeat that in your head and see where you went wrong?” Dash froze like a deer in headlights before Danny sighed. “Okay, I’m pretty sure your card is bunk because wow are you bad at math. That’s not half my deck, that’s three quarters.”

“Why?”

“Tucker, please explain to the man.”

Tucker stepped out of the crowd holding up the rule book. “Cards are broken down into four categories, zero star cards, one star cards, two star cards, and ghost cards. In order to play a one star card in a lane, that lane must already have a zero star card in it. In order to play a two star card, there must already be a one star card in that lane already. Ghost cards require a total of three stars worth of cards in the lane. For every card in the graveyard, the number of stars needed for a ghost card to be summoned is reduced by one by removing those cards from play.”

Danny pointed at the three Danny Fenton cards in his graveyard. “I needed fifteen to ensure my draw chances are good enough. Which they obviously are. Oh, and by the way… moving on. You know her, you love her, let us hear you scream her name-”

“Please don’t.” Sam called out from the sidelines.

“It’s Ember McLain!” Danny shouted as he put down an Ember card slightly to the right of the Mikey card. “Ember has the Leader keyword, which lets me put down another card. So let’s hear it for her backup singer, Danny Fenton!” he said, putting down his card again. “Oh, shit, she killed him! That bastard! Oh well… moving on.” Danny held up his hand. “Now, I only got one card left, so I have to play it, it’s Danny Fenton!”

Danny paused as he put down his card. “Okay, so I’m hoping you’re seeing where this is going.”

Dash stood up. “Hold on, you’re out of cards!”

“Tucker?”

“In a situation where you are asked to play a card but don’t have any in hand, then you draw another card.”

“So, I draw and let’s see, am I feeling lucky? Dash, can you do math? What are the chances of me drawing a Danny Fenton card? Come on, I know you can do it.”

“Fuck you!” Dash shouted, beginning to move around the table.

“What’s the matter, Dash?” Valerie called out. “Can’t win a card game?”

“A card game you helped make?” Sam jeered.

Dash froze, and Danny took the opportunity to draw. “Yes! I indeed drew a Danny Fenton card! So, let’s continue…” Danny flipped through his deck, drawing his card multiple times, before finally he drew a different card.

“Sorry Mikey!” Danny shouted, “You’re about to get stepped on by Ember!”

“Awesome!”

Danny pinched the brow of his nose. “I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that. Alright, Ember’s card doesn’t actually play a card, it’s using special wording so I guess that’s it.” He snapped his finger. “Oh, wait! It isn’t! I attack! Ember steps on Mikey, removing him, and then Ember swings and hits you in the face.” Danny smiled and leaned back. “Now it’s your turn.”

Dash stared down at the table, which hadn’t had his Mikey card removed yet. But it didn’t matter, because he couldn’t beat Danny. Danny had, on his first turn, effectively defeated Dash. The game wasn’t over, and it wouldn’t be for a while. It’d take multiple turns for Danny to win the game. But anything Dash could play would be immediately doomed to be crushed under Danny’s ghost team.

The rest of this game would be Dash getting wailed on as Danny chunked his health over the course of several turns, with the entire school watching.

Dash scoffed. “It’s a stupid game anyways,” he said, turning around and pushing his way through the crowd.

Danny stood up and grabbed Dash’s deck and waved it up in the air. “Wait, wait, Dash! Don’t you want your deck?” Dash predictably didn’t respond. Danny scoffed as Sam and Tucker approached him. “Yeah, that tracks,” he said, grabbing the hand Dash had left on the table.

“So, did Dash fill his deck with A Listers?” Tucker asked.

“Well, let’s see…” Danny said, flipping through Dash’s deck. He continued until he came across one card. “Oh come on!”

“What’s wrong?” Sam asked, looking over his shoulder.

Danny held out the card that was bothering him. “There’s an Inviso-Bill card!”

Sam gave Danny an unamused glance. “Really? You’re bothered by that, more than the fact that Dash set up a card that you instantly die?”

“Well, yeah!” Danny said, “My name’s not Inviso-Bill!”

“What do you mean your name?”

Danny turned toward the speaker. And as Star stared at him confused, he realized that he had completely forgotten people were watching. “What? I didn’t say that. I said his name isn’t Inviso-Bill.”

“Wait…” Valerie said, stepping forward, pushing a finger into his chest. “Is that what you meant by your superpower is to die on command?”

Danny turned toward Sam, who was the best liar out of them. “I don’t know what she’s talking about, do you?”

Valerie folded her arms. “My locker is just around the corner of the hallway where your locker is. I heard you say that.”

“And my cards! Phantom was asking for them earlier!”

Star gasped. “Wait wait wait, is THAT why you’re not scared of the Box Ghost?”

“...Uh oh…”

#danny phantom #dp fic #fanfic #Hazafic

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tennessoui · 11 months ago

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kit's fics year in review (2023)

it turns out i wrote a LOT this year (last year now, i guess) according to my ao3 stats, and i saw one of those recap games for another fandom floating around my dash so im absolutely gonna pilfer some of those questions for my own little review + add a few!!

how many fics did you write in 2023? it was definitely the year of the silly short fic for me -- i published a total of 6 new oneshots on ao3 along with 5 fics only on my kofi! i also added at least one chapter to 9 other fics that were already posted. and i started and completed 1 long stand alone fic this year (if you love me let it remain unnamed, clocking in at 37k)

what are you most proud of fic-writing wise in 2023? i finished foolproof, foolhardy! it took more than a year to write, from first published to last updated, but i think the lion's share of the work happened during 2023; it's sort of rare for a fic of mine to get that long (72k), so it was fun to write through all the developments. truly a cracky premise that grew legs and ran away from me, but i'm really proud of how it turned out. the last 4 chapters contain some of my best writing in my opinion and the whole story is a love letter to padawan obi-wan, who will always be my beloved lol

what is the fic you had the most fun writing? this is a tough question because i'm torn between two fics; sun, sun, sun here it comes is probably my favorite oneshot that i've ever written. it sorta incorporates everything that makes a silly little au in my mind, from miscommunication to banter to bonus babies. but then there's i pray the same, but my gods have changed, aka the democratic fic- now that's such a fun fic to write, and i'm going to get more into it this year again. it's the one where tumblr votes on what should happen next, which i absolutely enjoy - especially when people send me propaganda about which option should win....thought the amount of ties that have happened is mind-boggling lol

what is a fic you didn't expect to write? hahaha well this is easily 'a more perfect union' which has been sooo fun to write so far but also definitely has had a very short gestation period from nascent tumblr au post to 25k on ao3 lol and still one more chapter to go!!!

what fic surprised you when you were writing it? oh hands down this is 'hand me down dreams got me high in the rafters', aka the pool boy au from tumblr. the adaptation of it from tumblr au to a fic on ao3 has a crazy tone shift where the obi-wan in that fic is much, much darker than the one in the tumblr au - i really ended up leaning into the unequal power dynamics of a boss/employee relationship and exploring how unhealthy it could be while keeping it consensual -- but only because anakin would allow obi-wan to do whatever he wanted to him

what's a fic you wanted to write but didn't? my poor neglected hunger games au!! i really want to get the first chapter of that posted because i am so excited about this fic and writing it as a new big, long project -- i'm excited about the dark anakin, the differently dark obi-wan, the hunger games set in the gffa, etc etc etc

what is something you learned this year that you'll take into 2024? set is the only acceptable name for anakin to use undercover <3 we will be taking the set cinematic universe into 2024 <3

what's a project you're excited to carry into the new year? um all of my wips lol but especially time & tide and the couples counseling au - i have about half of the next chapter of t&t written, and before i got sidetracked by a more perfect union, i was on track to get that posted by christmas....obviously that did not happen lol but i'm expecting to get back to working on a few more chapter updates at the beginning of this year!

#kit to kit #obikin #i would tag people but i think im really late for this sort of review #and people probably did it a few days ago #but i would love to see any fic reviews other writers do if you use these questions!!!#pls tag me <3

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asnowfern · 11 months ago

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Heavy Is The Head That Wears The Crown

Summary: Why hide when we can play? Haven’t we had such lovely games before? All of space and eon at your fingertips. All you need to do is pluck. ~~~ It was supposed to be gone when Nesta made the bargain with the Cauldron: her stolen powers for the knowledge to save her sister and nephew. Unfortunately, nobody told the Trove.

Rating: E, NSFW WC: 11.4k Read on AO3 Play the accompanying card game here!

Written for my dear @azriels-shadows for the @acotargiftexchange !🎁

Thank you for being such an amazing giftee!💖 You mentioned that your favourite type of fic is canon-compliant or canon-divergent with fun new problems and a dash of physical danger. Trust me when I say, I literally took that and ran for the finish line.

I honestly had such a blast writing this and I hope you enjoy it too!

A huge thank you to @reverie-tales, @wilde-knight, @damedechance for being so encouraging and amazing! Also, another huge thank you to @thelovelymadone for giving me the idea of bringing back the mercenary from ACOTAR. You guys are the best!💕💕💕

Snippet under the cut!

Stones crunched under her feet. Snow swirled at their feet as lightning cracked in the distance. They stood at the pass, the line Nesta drew on the ground was long gone with her depleted energy. The view opened up to the vast Illyrian mountains. It would have been breathtaking under any other circumstances.

The arms that would often lovingly hold Nesta trapped her in a crushing grip. The endless ache and exhaustion in her bones shifted and screamed in protest.

“He can’t obey you, Nesta Archeron.” Her blood ran cold at the raspy voice, “he’s mine now.”

The aged Made queen was still talking but Nesta couldn’t take her eyes off her mate. The organ in her chest twisted painfully at the glazed expression clouding vibrant hazel, every nerve in her body acutely aware of the unrelenting pressure of strong muscles on her comparatively petite frame.

She desperately searched those familiar eyes for any signs of the male that she knew had to be fighting back. Every bit just as desperate as she was. Despair rose in her with every shallow breath as her bones threatened to give way.

“Cassian”

The name fell out in an agonised plea. With a growl, Cassian knocked her roughly to the ground, pinning her limbs down to close a rough hand around her throat.

“Good bye, Nesta.”

Fingers tightened painfully around her neck and crushed her windpipe, filling the air with nothing but choked gasps.

Nesta’s eyes snapped wide open, her heart pounding loudly in her ears. Walls closed in on her as she felt the same arm slung over her waist kept her trapped in the muscled chest from her dreams. She pushed the arm roughly off her and scrambled to her feet. Her world spun, panic rising to suffocate her. Her feet stumbled backward. Anything to build distance between her and-

She froze as her brain finally caught up.

What was she doing? This was Cassian: her mate who would rather kill himself before he allowed himself to hurt her.

As if on cue, Cassian stirred. His voice was hoarse from sleep when he asked, “Nesta?”

She squeezed her eyes shut and brought forth her mind stilling techniques, letting the ingrained practices attempt to soothe the jungle beats of her heart. A nightmare, she reasoned with herself, nothing but a nightmare.

A slight creak of the bed, a rustle of wings.

“Nesta?”

When Nesta opened her eyes once more, it was to a furrowed brow and clear hazel that shone with concern. The knot eased in her chest to allow a clear flow of oxygen.

“I’m alright,” she replied shakily, “Just a nightmare.”

She resisted the urge to shudder and recoil from the gentle hand reaching out for her. But Cassian’s hand still paused midair before dropping back to his side. “Again?”

She jerked her head before turning away to avert his perceptive gaze. She inhaled in deeply, holding her breath for three long beats before exhaling. “Go back to bed. I’ll join you later.”

“You can read your smutty books in bed.” He commented, the edges of his lips tugged upwards lazily, “I’ll sleep just fine.”

The knee jerk response to reject the offer died at her lips at the worry in his eyes, a palpable tension set in his jaw. She nodded and let him lead her back to bed with the lightest touch on her waist.

Hours of unresolved pining culminating into one highly fulfilling smut session later, Nesta slid back fully under the covers. Outside the windows, the tiniest glimmer of light played at the horizon. Her eyes shuttered and she heaved a soft sigh.

A comforting warmth enveloped her back and a familiar weight wound around her waist, encasing her world in sandalwood and snowpine. “Sleep” a low rumble from right next to her said enticingly.

“We need to wake up soon.” She reminded him even as her arms reached out to press the strong arm tightly against her.

“You’re exhausted,” he soothed, sniffing her neck deeply, “Training can wait an extra hour.”

A small smile played on Nesta’s lips as she let the reassuring scent pull her down under and surrendered to blissful sleep.

The skies were bright the next time blue-grey eyes opened to the world, the sun way too high in the sky. She palmed the cool sheets next to her and let loose a breath.

It had definitely been more than an hour.

Nesta hurriedly put on her leathers and was half a minute from leaving the house when the main door swung open, eclipsing the doorway with the silhouette of tall muscled frame and large wings.

Cassian cocked a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. He surveyed her carefully as he strode in, stopping just a step away. “Feeling better?”

She did feel better but she retorted back anyway, “You should have woken me up for training.”

“You needed the rest.” He insisted, “Besides…”

He bridged the gap between them. Close enough for Nesta to see the droplet of perspiration roll down the side of his face and down the length of his neck. The apple of his throat bobbed.

One of his arms teasingly slid up, from her fingertips to her upper arm, before drawing a small knife from the many pockets of his leather, “If you wanted private lessons.”

A familiar tension coiled and tightened in Nesta. Between her night terrors, the training, Cassian’s responsibilities in Illyria and the preparation for the mating ceremony which was less than a week away, their time together was far and few between - nothing more than quick stolen couplings.

The dilation of his pupils pushed molten hazel that she loved deeply to the rim, his nostrils flaring slightly. With a smooth motion, he pushed her flushed against the wall, his thigh wedged hard between her legs. A delicious friction with every minuscule movement. The small knife was now held horizontally to her neck in an almost tender display. The thrill coursed through her bloodstream, directly to her core.

His breath was hot against the arched ear, “I will be more than happy to demonstrate.”

#nessian #acotargiftexchange #nesta x cassian #nesta archeron #cassian #acosf

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e1i-neverrests · 2 months ago

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A Rowdy Raven And A Daring Dog

A silly lighthearted drabble for Vesuvia Weekly prompt “Date With Disaster” featuring Lys, Julian, and a little bit of Asra! Takes place post-main game. Alternatively titled “Two idiots walk into a bar”

A/N: The date itself was platonic, because who doesn't like taking your friends out for a few drinks? (I wouldn't know, I'm not allowed to drink yet)

May get a drawing, we’ll have to see

“What in the world happened to you two?” Asra asks in utter bafflement at the state of his friend and lover, the latter being unceremoniously dropped from the former’s arms and onto the doorstep. One is covered in dirt, the other sustaining a few bruises, and both entirely too drunk.

“Nothing the palace can prove!” Julian pipes up just a bit too loud, his usual roguish grin more askew than it ought to be. The sober magician just stares incredulously. “Is that meant to be reassuring..?”

“No no no, here, if you really want to know, it all starts,,, okay, just- just listen- it all…” The other magician interjecting from his spot on the floor, trailing off as he tries to support himself against the doorframe and hauling himself upright.

Julian interjects Lys’ interjection with his own less slurred speech, jumping into his explanation. “What he means to say is it all started earlier this very eve!”

[OooOoo flashback SFX]

Lys and Julian enter the Rowdy Raven, a sea of unfamiliar and unfriendly faces swivel towards them. Immediately, a pair of dastardly ne'er do wells come up and-

“That’s not what happened, don't listen to him!” Lys sways on his feet, now holding onto the Doctor instead of the door. He pats his hand on the taller man's cheek. “This… This malpracticing fiend embellishes far too much. Here, let- lemme tell you instead!” “Hey, I do not commit malpractice!”

[oOoooO more flashback SFX]

The two walk into the Rowdy Raven, a few of the regulars immediately recognising Julian. They beckon the pair over, immediately posing a challenge. “20 coins says the short one drinks you under the table!” “I'll bet 5 on the magician!” “No way, Devorak will win for sure! 50 coins!”

Never one to back down from a friendly competition, Lys is happy to take the bet. Julian, confident in his own abilities, is also on-board. Soon the whole tavern is circled around the bar, bets placed and breaths held. The count-down begins, and they're off!

“None other than yours truly came out victorious.” Julian beams, as though this were an achievement to be proud of. “Uh huh, but at what cost?” Lys cuts in, snickering. “People were upset I lost —apparently a lot of them bet on me?— so a fight broke out.”

“Those fiends attacked me for winning! The scoundrels! Dare I say… The audacity!” The doctor brings a hand to his chest, turning his head away as if he couldn't bear the memory of it.“That part is true, mhm. Buut, dear Devorak here forgot the most important part where-”

“Where a dashing magician swooped to my rescue!” Julian interrupts, his eye somehow sparkling at the heroic memory. The magician in question just rolls his eyes. “I… Well, I guess, technically yes. But after that, I was having trouble walking and fell, but we… we’re- were being chased, so he picked me up, and, well, uh, here we are!”

Asra cannot believe what they've heard. Actually, no, they entirely believe it, they just wish they didn't. But it sounds like they had fun, and that's what matters most. “So long as you're both okay now. Just… Remind me to never let you two go unsupervised for too long.”

Faust pokes her head out from Asra's collar, leveling herself with Julian. Squeeze? She tilts her head in request. Except, as soon as he sees her purple snake self, he's backing away from the door and out of Lys' reach. Which does cause the shorter man to stumble with his main support being yanked away

“I believe that's my cue! Farewell, friends!” The drunken doctor bows dramatically as he walks backwards away from the shop, nearly tripping over himself in the process. He slips off into the night with as much grace as he can muster. The two magicians and one familiar watch him go with amusement.

“Bye bye Julian!!” Lys waves him off, then turns to his white haired companion, currently holding him upright. “And… Hello you.”

“Hello to you too, sweetheart. Let's get you cleaned up, yeah?”

#vesuvia weekly #Date with disaster #julian devorak #the arcana oc #the arcana asra #writing #not beta read #They're really fun to write for though #nonsense

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maddys-nerd-blog · 3 months ago

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Maddy’s Top Five Favorite Male Characters in Media!

Hi again!!

I was asked an interesting question by @tending-the-hearth in a QNA thingy recently that I thought deserved it’s own post cuz admittedly, this is a hard one!

My favorite characters in media?

You’d be surprised to hear that some of people on this list were easy ringers for this list, but I still had a hard time choosing characters I loved more than the other!

Over the decades we’ve gotten a plethora of incredible shows, video games, movies, books and indie series that have gifted the world a new cast of characters that have won the hearts of millions across the globe. They can be dashing heroes, villainous rouges trying to take over the world, unappreciated side characters, supportive background characters or even blink and you miss them cameos! I’ve come to adore the grand scale of the animation medium and it’s offerings, so making a list like this is definitely not easy.

So for this list I’m doing the following;

One; Only one character per slot with ONE exception but I’ll get there.

Two; They can be a variety of characters ranging in importance. Hero, sidekick, background nobody, villain, supporting characters, etc. Anything goes!

Three; Video games are included!!

Four; Comic book exclusive characters are not allowed only for the sake of keeping the playing field fair. I’ll use added context from specific comic storylines to add onto my reasoning, but otherwise, that’s it.

Five; SPOILERS BECAUSE HALF OF THESE PICKS ARE IN SERIES THAT HAVE EITHER BEEN ONGOING FOR TWENTY YEARS OR ARE FINISHED. Read at your own risk!!!

So… on with the show!!

Top Five Male Characters in Media!

5: Throttle— Biker Mice From Mars. ( 1993-1996 )

A shocking new arrival for a list such as this, but a welcome addition nevertheless! For a little over two-ish months I’ve been watching Biker Mice and have taken a liking to it! What I assumed was just gonna be a knock-off of TMNT with uninspired writing turned out to be a surprising drama with subtle undertones of a darker story behind the gimmick of Martian mice coming to Earth.

Not only is it a very clever commentary on environmentalism and taking care of our planet— especially given the time period this was released with all the Ferngully movies and Captain Planet where they were encouraging eco-friendly movements— it’s also a shocking cartoon given the subject matter and it’s cast of characters. Throttle, Vinnie and Modo? They’re all veterans! And they’re all disabled! But the show never makes jokes or pokes fun at them for their hard comings, it’s treated with respect and the guys are there for one another.

Throttle is the leader of this group, and the leader of the rebellion at one point. He’s shown throughout the show to be this suave, cool headed guy who looks out for his bros, he’s got this kind of swagger to him that radiates ‘cool’ just from a design standpoint alone. Plus it also helps that Rob Paulsen provides the voice and HE SOUNDS SO COOL. As the resident badass in charge he’s always taking point and mostly has a more serious demeanor, but he’s also just a fun guy who wants to ride his bike and chill out with his friends.

Can I just add a side note here and say CAN WE PLEASE GIVE THIS POOR MAN A BREAK??? THE ORIGIN EPISODE OF HOW HE LOST HIS EYES HAD ME SHOOK AND THE NEW INFO WE GOT FROM THE CURRENT COMIC COMEBACK IS FREAKING HEARTBREAKING DUDE. LET THE MAN BREATHE AND EAT HOTDOGS.

4: Harvey Bullock— Batman the Animated Series. ( 1992-1995 )

Imma say this for the people all the way in the back:

NOBODY UNDERSTANDS HARVEY BULLOCK.

I feel like I’m all alone on the Bullock Defense Squad at this rate cuz the amount of slander this character gets by those who don’t bother to A) read his backstory or B) actually go the extra mile to research his trivia and learn what makes him tick, is frustrating. The writers make him out to be this slob that can’t do anything right, but I think that’s unfair cuz there’s more to him besides what we’re shown. Because when you take the time to look beneath all the stupid things people claim about him… he’s so interesting.

Firstly he’s Gordon’s BEST FRIEND. He’s ride or die for that man. Nobody is more loyal to Commissioner Gordon than Bullock. On the outside he might appear untrustworthy but he’s actually devoted to Gordon and his beliefs, even if his methods are more in line with Batman’s. ( Which is ironically hilarious that everyone tries to accuse Bullock of going too far, but when Batman does the same exact thing he’s praised as a hero. Makes ya think. )

Secondly he believes in justice and keeping Gotham safe, but the criminals that reek havoc on the city are so nuts and out of control he feels he has no idea what he’s doing. But the fact of the matter is, he’s wildly clever and intelligent! Look at the episode The Laughing Fish! Who figures out that Joker’s at the aquarium first? BULLOCK. Who beats BATMAN— the world’s greatest detective— to the punch??? BULLOCK!

He’s cunning and sly but in a good way! He uses his wits to solve cases and more often than not, he’s pretty damn scrappy! The audience is just made to believe he’s this bumbling oaf half the time. His determination is strong as hell! My favorite episode in all of BTAS is ‘A Bullet for Bullock’ because we get to see a side of him outside of the main cast that puts HIM in the spotlight. That entire episode is a love letter to the classic noir genre and the SOUNDTRACK??? ITS SO GOOD. ( This episode in particular even won a special award for its music )

He fights for good and tries to do the right thing, but not everyone sees it that way. But I, as the President of the Bullock Fanclub, love him the way he is!

3: Donatello ( Every version )— Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. ( 1984- Current Day )

DONATELLO IS BEST TURTLE 💜

This genius in every version is a lovable dork with a giant heart of gold. I don’t think there’s any iteration of this character that’s unlikeable! Ever since I got into the TMNT I quickly grew attached to the purple goober cuz he’s just so relatable! Purple is my second favorite color too cuz bias Donnie shows that no matter the odds he’s going to do whatever it takes to make his family or friends safe. In every single series he proves he’s a hellishly smart guy who values knowledge over combat, hence why he’s a pacifist by nature.

In 2012 he’s a geeky inventor with a big imagination and utilizes what limited resources he has to craft some of the most amazing things!

In 2003 he’s this gentle teddy bear of a guy who rarely wishes to battle, but if you hurt his family he’ll bring hell down upon you. Plus he’s just a sweetie who wants to keep making things he thinks will help his family.

In the Bayverse films he’s this tall, lanky fellow who yearns to be accepted and has so much wit and charm he’s basically this lovable beanstalk.

In Mutant Mayhem he’s a well meaning kid who wishes he could be a normal teenager, who fights so hard for humans to accept him and his mutant family, who’d an anime nerd and generally nice person.

In Rise he’s a full on menace to society and has so much snark that it could rival that of Hades from Hercules. He’s a scientist that searches high and low for the love and affirmation of a dad who doesn’t care about him, but with his brothers he’s got all the reassurance he needs.

Donnie goes through so much but gets back on his feet to keep fighting, he keeps pushing forward to strive for a better solution, he ALWAYS keeps trying to fix any problem because he feels it’s his purpose. This type of character can be used as a stereotype but in the right hands they can truly shine, and Donnie doesn’t simply shine; he dazzles. It also gives him the edge that in most of the shows he’s written with coded autism traits which… yes, please, more positive autistic representation, more of this INSTEAD OF THE BULLSHIT WE’VE BEEN FED.

Donnie is a kind, sweet, brave turtle. It’s no wonder why everyone loves him so much!!

BUT CAN WE STOP TRAUMATIZING HIM PLEASE, STOP ELECTROCUTING THIS GUY?? THE BABY HAS BEEN THROUGH ENOUGH—

2: Cole— Dragon Age: Inquisition. ( 2014 )

Autism in media has been hit or miss for DECADES. As I previously stated it’s very difficult to find positive autistic characters in our media. Autism is either used as a crutch by writers to make the ‘normal’ characters bring the ‘unaware and helplessly naive’ autistic person into the ‘real world.’ We’ve seen it time and time again and it’s terribly obnoxious. But to the writers who give a damn about writing authentic portrayals of autism, those people deserve special kudos because when it works, they work beautifully.

Case in point here; Cole.

Cole is the most amazing depiction of a young man with coded autism that’s never treated like a punchline or a side effect of his behavior. He’s the spirit of compassion— the living embodiment of kindness in the game. Cole is the way he is because of his past, where the Spirit finds Cole’s original form dying in a cell, and was so moved by his death he took his place to dedicate his life to helping people. And throughout Inquisition, on my first time playing it years ago, I just had to keep pausing the game during the idle companion conversations and go ‘THATS ME!’

The way he fidgets with his hands. The way his speech is so articulate and soft. The way he interacts with the other companions. The way he starts to break down when he’s in the Fade.

That was POWERFUL for me.

You gotta understand. In all my life as a young woman, I NEVER did such a thing. Because in my childhood there were ZERO characters with autism I could relate to! Not until Cole, and this wasn’t until 2019! Sure I’m a woman, but I related so much to him because of his struggles to understand what it meant to be in the mindset of someone who didn’t really understand how the world worked, or how to properly help people. As his title states, his compassion for aiding those who are hurting is infallible… and I’m not ashamed to admit his story arc made me tear up, and I CHOOSE FOR HIM TO ACCEPT HIS HUMAN SIDE IN GAME BECAUSE HE DESERVES TO BE HAPPY.

1: Brook and Pedro— One Piece. ( 1998- Current Day )

The only tie in this list but for good reason. It would feel wrong of me to only put one of these men on here, cuz both of them left a huge impact on me.

Brook saved my life as an impressionable twelve year old. Pedro made my heart break.

I’ve prattled on about my love for Brook previously, but he’s pretty important to me. This skeleton came at a time of my life where I’d been so severely depressed and bullied in middle school that I thought I had nothing to live for. Then I happened upon One Piece and my life was forever changed, but my perspective on the world also did when I got to Thriller Bark and was introduced to Brook.

At first glance you look at Brook and might see a silly, happy go lucky skeleton that sings and dances. But he’s so much more under the surface. He’s the first fictional character in media that made me weep for TWO HOURS.

Brook is a man who has SEEN SHIT. Brook is a man who had to endure so much loss when he was alive and when he came back from the dead. He lost his best friend. He watched his entire crew die. He was adrift at sea for fifty years, isolated from the world, almost going insane several times until the Straw Hats find him. He thinks he’s broken his oath to Laboon until he finds out his still waiting for him to come back.

Brook spends so much time being plagued by his trauma when we first see him that you forget he’s using his jokes as a way to cope, he’s trying so damn hard to keep living for the sake of the whale he befriended. He’s not just a musician with hellishly cool powers or a badass with a sword.

He’s an embodiment of a constant will of push forward.

Keep living, keep fighting, keep surviving and you’ll find your happiness waiting for you. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but soon, if you keep holding to hope, you’ll find your purpose in life and the people who will love you for who you are.

Brook— as crazy as it may sound— became my beacon of hope as a kid.

It’s because of this skeleton I’m still trying to be an artist.

As for Pedro, I met this character much later in life when I was catching up with the series ( I dropped Dressrosa ages ago at that point and I didn’t get back into the story until the end of Whole Cake ) and I was immediately interested in his character and his swaggering design!

Pedro is stoic, brave and cool headed, and he’s quite cautious of his surroundings because of terrible circumstances that have fallen on his shoulders. It’s not everyday you barely escape a Warlord with your life at the cost of a good friend of yours, and then YOU GET HALF YOUR LIFESPAN STOLEN FROM YOU ANYWAY.

Poor Pedro gets put through a wringer!

But as I continued to read the manga and saw how he took Carrot under his wing and made her his apprentice, how he fought so hard to defend Zou from Jack and his crew, his grit to see the Dawn of the Nee World, I was rooting for him to succeed! I wanted him to achieve his goals, I was so excited to see him kick Tomago’s ass! I was so excited when he teamed up with Brook!!

And then he sacrificed himself.

AND MY HEART SHATTERED.

It didn’t help that the anime made this moment all the more gut wrenching with the voice actors of Carrot and Pedro giving it their all and making me tear up like a baby.

His sacrifice impacted the others to keep moving forward and see their mission through to the end, and it gave Carrot her epic SULONG TRANSFORMATION LIKE HOLY SHIT DUDE!!

For the brief amount of time I got to spend rooting for Pedro, I really loved him! He shot right up there in my all-time favorite One Piece characters! Both Brook and Pedro are quite literally the ‘kings’ of this list… and my nerdy heart 🤣

Honorary Mentions:

Tech— Star Wars: The Bad Batch

Garrus Vakarian— Mass Effect trilogy.

Nightcrawler/ Kurt Wagner— X-Men

Ryoma Hoshi— Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

Vander— Arcane

Cedric— Sofia the First

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phoebepheebsphibs · 8 months ago

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Subsequent to the events you have just witnessed...

ACT 1

@boots-with-the-fur-club @daboyau @tmntaucompetition @littlemissartemisia @shiveagit @shiveagit-arts @thevoidbrothers @noval1t @kathaynesart @bluepeachstudios @amevello-blue

CW: panic attacks, minor injuries, mushroom zombies, slight body horror

Prev || Next

Names and abbreviations (sorry there's a lot, we have a big cast for today's performances!) : UIFY = Until I Found You NFIF = No Fun in Fungus Leon = UIFY Leonardo 'Phael = UIFY Raphael DvD / Don = UIFY Donatello Mike/Mikey/Micheal = UIFY Michelangelo AudRaph = Swayed Raphael AudreyTello = Swayed Donatello LeonAudro = Swayed Leonardo MichelAudrelo = Swayed Michelangelo AudRai = Swayed Karai rhg!Donnie = Rise Hunger Games AU Donatello Raph = NFIF Raphael Donnie/Dee = NFIF Donatello Leo = NFIF Leonardo Angie/Angelo = NFIF Michelangelo

On with the show...

Their plan to infiltrate the competition was just way too easy. No one had seen them sneak in. No one had suspected them.

Slider-punk had even been able to disguise himself as one of the employees and hacked into the main system! His associates were outside, Spider-Dee and Spider-Gal working as employees as while Spider-Shine had gone off on his own to open a pop-up therapy stand. Business was booming, apparently. Slider-Punk was no better, he'd abandoned the real mission for a little side mission of his own, to see just how much trouble he could get himself into. He'd allowed a disembodied hand to play some Broadway showtunes over the speaker system earlier.... but the hand had disappeared shortly after, leaving Slider-Punk alone again. It was odds-bodkins, but no stranger than anything else he'd seen in this place. Anyways, what should he do next? There was so much he could do! He could practically do whatever he wanted, now...

Before he could decide, an alert showed up on the computer. Someone was trying to hack in?

Well, no joke, Sherlock! HE had ALREADY--

A line of code showed up on the screen.

Up, up, down, down, left, right, 'A'.

The computer glitched. The screen turned purple. Then blue. Slider-Punk tried rebooting. A small icon of a purple-clad ninja turtle wagging his finger and saying "Nuh-uh-uh!" popped up. Donnie. Of course. A Donnie was trying to hack in. And it didn't seem like they cared if anybody knew... which meant they were making a statement, and didn't plan on sharing their hard-earned goods.

Slider-Punk's spider sense began to tingle. He felt anxious and uneasy. His senses drew his attention away from the computer, and up to... the air vents?

Uh oh.

He immediately dashed out of the room, abandoning his bowtie and went in search of his mates -- Spider-Dee, Spider-Shine, and Spider-Gal. They would have sensed the danger as well, they needed to get to safety, see if they could protect anyone -- something bad was about to happen.

Misa struggled against Ra-Ra's tight grip on her. He was careful not to hurt her, but she still hated it. She screamed and shrieked and howled in furious anger at him, demanding that he release her.

"I'm so sorry, Misa," he wept, cradling her as he approached his prison. "But it has to be this way."

"NO! No, Ra-Ra, let go! Let go o' Misa!! Pwease, Ra-Ra!!!"

Raphael sniffled as he hugged her. He hated doing this. But... he had no choice. She was too dangerous. She knew too much, and knew too many competitors. She might have been small, but the leeway she held with everyone made her possibly the most powerful turtle mutant in this entire competition. With as many connections as she had, she could raise up an entire army against them. Raphael sighed sadly... there was no other option.

As he approached the door, Raphael saw four turtles waiting for him. The Void brothers.

"Move," he growled at them.

"I don't see why we should listen to you!" Signal hissed, Static and Waves doing their best to keep him in his "safe" form, rather than his "absolutely enraged eldritch horror" form.

"Just let me back into the room, and no one will be hurt," Raphael promised.

"And do you plan on taking the kid with you?" Radio growled back at him.

Misa whined, reaching for Waves to come and take her away. Raphael pulled her arms back down.

"Yes."

"N̴̳̆Ó̵ͅ," Signal growled, his face contorting and blackening like tar. "IÌ̵̟ ̴̯̃D̶͚͝O̶̓͜N̶̞̕'̶̹͑T̷͉̋ ̸̫̏T̸̟̅H̶͓͊Í̵̟N̷͈̾K̵͈̄ ̴̲̇Ÿ̵́͜O̴̘̓U̸̠͌'̵̯͑L̶̟̈́L̸͚̈́ ̵̯̓B̷̭̽E̵͉͘ ̷̪̚G̴̼̈Ọ̶̑I̵̭͛Ṇ̵̎G̶̛̘ ̴͖͒Ạ̶͊Ǹ̸̹Ÿ̷͙W̴͎͝H̵̯̚E̷͇̍R̵͔͛Ȩ̴̓.̴͋"

Signal reached out, his arm elongating with a horrid schlurp sound as he went for Misa.

Raph created a hologram over himself, his usually red ninpo having turned that wretched shade of blue. Misa gasped in fear, the warmth she typically felt from such a magic was bone-chillingly cold.

"D̶̒ͅȌ̵͉ ̶̣̓Y̶̛̹O̸̪̍Ų̷̇ ̵͔̀Ĥ̶͙O̴̝͑N̴̢͘Ẹ̷͘Ș̵̕T̶̫̏L̵̻͋Ỵ̶̌ ̵̭̌Ţ̶̔H̷̨̐I̵̾ͅN̴̫͛K̴͕͠ ̵͔̎T̶̢̿H̵̭̽A̶͕̐Ṫ̵̬ ̶̢͝W̷͔̌I̷̞̒L̴̟̃L̴͓̉ ̸̯̓Ŝ̴̫T̵̩̎Ö̷͕́P̸̙̈ ̵̢̌M̸̨͌Ĕ̷͙?̴̩̊!̸̡͗" Signal screeched, laughing hysterically at the boy's attempts to fend him off.

Signal started ripping apart the holographic figure, only to discover that it had been a clone -- even the Misa in his hold was a duplicate, who shed a single tear as she dissolved.

The four heads turned back to see Raphael about to enter the room behind them. Waves screeched, flying at him with barred teeth and sharpened claws, his mystic powers creating an ebony black chain-whip within his hands.

Misa was off-limits.

Raphael opened the door. A flood of spores engulfed him, Misa, and Waves, who screamed in anger and fear as the spores filled him up, hollow as he was. He coughed and hacked and howled, holding his head in pain as he reeled backwards.

"WAVES!!" Static shouted, rushing forwards and grabbing his brother, holding him down.

Signal roared at Raph, eyes turning fully black and body disfiguring into a monster. Even Radio wouldn't dare hold him back after what that punk just did to Waves.

Raphael whimpered sadly as tears streaked down his cheeks.

"I'm so sorry," he wept. "I had to."

Raphael closed the door behind him, taking Misa into the dark room.

Misa pressed her hands over her mouth and nose, trying desperately to keep the spores out.

It was so cold... it was practically freezing.

Misa's eyes didn't need to adjust to the darkness, she found that as soon as the exterior light was gone, the room provided its own light... neon blue, emanating from the many eyes and mushrooms in the enclosed space. It was so absolutely terrifying, every gaze fixated on her and burning blue. Misa did her best to keep her whimpers to herself.

"Don't try to fight it," Raph begged her, as he gently laid her down in a bed of toadstools and moss. "Just... just let it happen, okay? I know it will be scary, but once you give in to the fear, it's just like sleepwalking. You won't even know it's happened, at first. I promised you would be safe, and you will be... you must simply let go, and let the fear take over."

Small vines and roots began to wrap over her, closing in like a tiny cage, keeping her from running away.

Her eyes watered as the air around her closed in. She couldn't keep holding her breath like this! Her hands shook, her chest hurt, the carbon dioxide in her lungs was getting hot and stale.

Misa gasped.

The fungus-riddled air infected her lungs, she coughed and hacked at how chilled the oxygen was in her ribs. She screamed in protest, curling up inside of herself, ready for the birds to come and scratch her shell, peck at her eyes, grab her with their claws and talons and carry her away...

Nothing happened.

Misa looked up, slowly.

She... she was in the labs?

There was a heavy weight chafing her neck, causing irritation on the sensitive skin. She lifted her hand up and felt cold metal.

The linoleum room she was being held in had a glass wall, through which she could see everyone.

EVERYONE.

Mikey, Ra-Ra, Dee-Dee, Lee-Lee, that one robotic-looking Dee that had congratulated her on stealing the moneys, the ballerina Donnie she'd gotten the Lake Water for, all the grow-ed Leos with missing arms, Poptart and Sprout, cowboy versions and bunnies and dragons and beetles and --

EVERYONE.

Claire and Draxum -- the orchestrators of this whole terrible captivity -- walked through the halls, talking to each other and even laughing together. Draxum's vines were dragging a Mikey behind him carelessly, the body scraping across the floor. He was still alive, she could see him struggling against his captors and she could hear him crying. Claire turned to look at Misa as she passed by her cell.

"Oh, hello little thing! Before I forget, I wanted to thank you for leading me to all these funny friends of yours! Now they can all suffer the same fate as you..."

"No! NO! NO NO NO NONONONO--"

Misa sobbed, began slamming her tiny fists against the glass, begging Claire to release all her friends and families. Claire only chortled like a Disney villain, walking away with Draxum and dragging the poor Mikey along with them. Misa would not stop, she'd never stop fighting against this!! SHE WOULD NOT GIVE IN TO THE FEAR! She continued to pound her fists against the glass, screaming angrily at the hallucination that kept her prisoner.

"...Are you sure she won't suffer?" AudRaph asked, his hands wringing.

"Not unless she fights against the fear," AudreyTello answered flatly as he began to type on his wrist tech, starting the hack to contaminate the entire arena.

"She is still young, I suspect she won't know how to fight against it," AudRai added, as she walked over to the little prisoner to inspect her as she sobbed uncontrollably in her cell. "It shouldn't be much longer now."

"It doesn't matter much either way," MichelAudrelo interjected angrily as he examined the new scars on his arms. "If she gives in, she becomes one of us. If not... we can feed off her fear." He looked over at the last Hamato in the room, still held in place against the wall, eyes drowsily watching the rest as they spoke.

"Like him."

"He is one of us," AudreyTello corrected. "But he was the first, so he had to make the sacrifice and give the necessary nutrients for our true form."

"I sense apprehension from Raphael's form," MichelAudrelo noted, scowling. "You do not approve of our survival?"

"...Raphael does not want his brother to die," AudRaph explained. "He would rather they all stay alive. It is his weakness..."

"Unfortunately, to be as strong as we are now -- and to produce as many spores as we have -- we need a physical form to feed off of. So Leonardo stays where he is," AudreyTello explained. "You know this. Choke down that pathetic worm and don't let him speak again. It's irritating."

"He has some immunity, or tolerance to invading hive minds. You recall from his memories, he has dealt with it before."

"Ah, yes. Well, even he cannot stop us soon enough," AudreyTello said with a chuckle. "Karai, Michelangelo, you know what to do now."

The two zombies nodded, and together created an enormous flow of spores. AudreyTello typed in a final command on his wrist tech, and the air vents promptly popped open. The spores filled the ventilation system.

"Now, for a little announcement..."

Ghost had unofficially adopted two more kids. Abby, a cat mutant, with her big and bright personality, though her figure was small. She'd gotten injured during the preliminaries -- apparently she'd attempted some kind of extravagant musical number -- and had to use a crutch to hobble around for the past several weeks while it healed up. She'd only just recently been released from the med ward, along with her friend and protector Diana, the second adoptee. The two girls were laughing and making quite the ruckus as they danced around Ghost's cape.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like me to carry you?" Ghost asked, fretting over her injury.

"I'm fine!" Abby laughed, waving her hand as a dismissal. "I've been used to this for a while. No worries!"

"Besides --" Diana added, "-- she needs the exercise if she wants to get rid of the crutch as soon as possible--"

Diana was cut short by a sudden burst of light and a loud roaring whoosh. A wind picked up, and a spark ignited behind them as a portal opened.

rhg!Donnie wanted to hold his father close. He hated, absolutely despised how the other competitors are holding his attention. He, more than anything, he wanted to run over to where his father was and hold him close, sob into his chest like when he was so much younger and so much more naive and so much more innocent. He wanted to talk for hours, ask how Raph is, how Leo is doing, if Mikey is okay. He wanted to say absolutely nothing and just sit in his company. He couldn't decide what to do first, and it utterly galled him how open he was with everyone, how chummy they all were with him. How dare Cassandra hug him like that. How dare Kendra pretend to be cordial. It might have been selfish, but he wanted his Papa all to himself. He tried to get as close to dear Papa as he could without making it obvious. The last thing he needed was everyone thinking he was childish. But Atomo Grey opened the doors to the elevators and made a stupid joke about how "the District Twelve tributes will get to their apartment before we can even set foot into ours!" which only got one laugh from the escort as he ushered the competitors into the lift. rhg!Donatello slowly entered the elevator as the doors closed behind him...

The lights flickered, the people in the lift start to vanish one by one, thunder and wind ripped through the box and caused a horrible feeling of claustrophobia in rhg!Dee. rhg!Donatello nervously backed up against the wall, confused and scared. Was this a trick from the Capitol? Or the Gamemakers?? He wanted to shout for his Papa, shout for anyone, but the elevator was empty now and the lights had all gone out. A multicoloured portal opened at his feet, and rhg!Donnie was sucked in, shouting his protest.

rhg!Donnie landed on the floor for the second time this night. But rather than being pancaked by Cassandra Jones, he slid on his stomach and arrived at the feet of three odd strangers. A giant turtle mutt, a cat mutt, and a regular human girl.

"...Well, that was out of the blue..."

rhg!Donnie slowly backed away from the characters, taking in the strange scene around him. He needed to get back, he has to get back, if they find out he'd been portalled away or something then they'll punish his family --

Wait, he knew this place...

He's... back at the AU competition? The one with all the strange turtles and different versions of his brothers...?

But... he was sent back home... why was he here now?

The large middle-aged turtle mutant kneeled down next to him, his joints popping as he did. He inspected the teen, analyzing every little scratch and every major scar with worry. His silent inquisitiveness was starting to annoy him.

"Who are you?" rhg!Dee asked, passing paranoid glances between the trio before him.

"I'm Abby," said the cat, smiling as she offered him her hand to help him up. "This is Diana, my bff, and the big guy is called 'Ghost'! But I'm pretty sure he's a Donatello, hence the purple mask..."

Abby gestured to the tall turtle mutt mutant. He smiled, his white eyes hiding years of trauma and loneliness. rhg!Donnie recognized that loneliness. He'd seen it in his father's eyes. He's seen it in his own reflection.

"Hey there, kid," the 'Ghost' said, his voice low yet overpowering. "Are you alright?"

"I... how did I get here?"

"No clue, but -- wait, I recognize you!" Diana said suddenly. "You were part of the preliminaries, right? The Rise Hunger Games AU!"

"Y-yes, that's me," rhg!Donnie mumbled, shooing away Abby's hands as he stood up by himself.

"We were in the prelims, too!" Diana noted, pointing to herself and then Abby.

"Great. Congratulations."

"We didn't win our round, though..."

"How unfortunate for you," rhg!Donnie sighed as he looked around, getting his bearings. Something about this place seemed off... different now. Something had changed. There was fear amongst these halls, now... an unspoken chill in the air.

"I didn't win, either -- wait... I was sent back because I lost the preliminary round... so, why...?"

"Why weren't we sent back?" Abby finished. "Or... why were you returned?"

rhg!Donnie looked around anxiously.

"I don't know if it's mandatory to leave the contest once you lose a round," Ghost interjected. "But perhaps the Mods sent you home so you could get back to the contest without -- oh, you've got something on your head..."

rhg!Donnie started smacking the top of his head frantically, worried that it might be something dangerous sent by the Gamemakers. Mutated hornets, or a tracking device that would explode if he strayed too far....

Instead, a small note floated off of his cranium and landed at his feet. Somewhat embarrassed by his reaction, rhg!Donnie leaned down and inspected the note with caution.

𝚆𝚎𝚕𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔! 𝚆𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙…

"What does that mean?" Abby asked as she read over rgh!Dee's shoulder.

"I'm... I'm not sure... who wrote this, who needs my help...? And what could I possibly have to do with --"

"Wait, did you hear that?" Ghost interrupted, having caught the echo of a garbled glitching noise from the speakers.

The lights suddenly shut off, as hundreds of unprepared contestants and supporters started yelling in a panic.

A tinny voice echoed over the intercom speakers.

"Hello everyone in the competition! It’s your new overlord, Audrey III!"

"That's Donnie's voice," Abbey noted nervously.

"But which Donnie?" Diana asked. "I don't know any Donatellos who go by the name Audrey III..."

"Well, obviously it isn't me or the big guy," Donatello noted, gesturing to Ghost. "But I don't like this --"

"Shh, kids, listen...!"

Ghost could hear a slight hissing sound. He wasn't sure where in the area it was coming from. It sounded like a gas leak, air slowly spilling into the room. It had to be from the vents. Where was the closest vent?? He searched the halls, and found one not too far away. A small cloud of electric blue was pouring out.

Without hesitation, Ghost grabbed the kids and started running.

"EVERYONE, CLEAR THE HALLS! THERE'S A GAS LEAK!"

People began screaming as they all ran in different directions, trying to get away.

“Don’t resist," the Donatello on the intercom said. "Or do, your fear is tastier that way.”

"WHAT THE HECK DOES THAT MEAN, OUR FEAR IS TASTIER?!" Diana shrieked. "WHAT IS GOING ON??"

"Do you see a fire alarm anywhere?" Ghost yelled over the panicked mob around them.

"Over there!" rhg!Donnie shouted, pointing to a small glass box on the wall ahead of them, a fire extinguisher by its side.

Ghost rushed over, pulled the alarm, and grabbed the extinguisher.

"What exactly do you expect to do with a fire extinguisher?!" rhg!Donatello shouted, finally wrestling himself free from the old man's hold.

Ghost wasn't sure, there weren’t any fires -- yet. But years of experience taught him to always be prepared.

He most certainly was not prepared for what happened next.

The vent covers were blown right off their panels, slamming into the walls across, or in some cases, a few contestants. Abby screamed in fright as she ducked, Diana ducking over her as well to shield her, and Ghost shielding the three teens together. Blue fog filled the halls, slowly covering the floors. A few contestants starting coughing and choking. Then the sobs. The screams. The weeping and wailing.

rhg!Donatello didn't know what was going on, but he could guess. The smoke must be drugged, he thought to himself, staring at the oddly coloured gas that started to cover the floors. Was this... was this the Capitol’s doing? Had they discovered his previous absence and this was their attempt to punish him? To capture this new dimension or realm or world or whatever it was, and use it for their Hunger Games?? But how?! How could they have followed him? He was portalled here alone, twice now, and when he was returned there had been no time passed in his world and no change in his appearance, so they could never have known... This must be something else.

Ghost lifted the girls up onto his shoulders before they could inhale the hallucinogen and began to run again, grabbing rhg!Donatello by the hand and dragging him along, effectively snapping him out of his shock.

A father who had been shielding his little "SweetPea" from the vent panels was on his hands and knees, gasping for air as his eyes widened and slowly turned blue. His daughter August kept begging him to get up, crying for her Papa. She started coughing, shaking, blue panic filling her eyes as she began to succumb to the gas as well. A Feral Leo had inhaled the gas and was starting to attack his brothers. A pair of finely-dressed Gemini twins were clutching onto each other, shaking violently as they pressed themselves into a corner, watching as the gas closed in on them... rhg!Donatello was horrified by it all. It felt too much like something that the Capital or the Gamemakers would do...

Ghost could see the panic on the teen's face. It was pure terror, pure fear. He was worried that maybe he'd inhaled some of the smoke... But his eyes weren't blue... so he must just be regular scared, not infected by whatever was happening now. Ghost had to find some place that would be safe from the vapour... but where?! What room wouldn't have ventilation??

A television screen on a single rolling stand zipped past him, an electric Donatello voice shouting over the mayhem in the room. A dial tone was playing from its speakers, as if a call had gone to voicemail.

"LEO? MIKEY? APRIL! WHY WON'T ANYONE PICK UP?!"

"Watch out!" Ghost yelled, grabbing the TV by its stand and lifting it up just before it could run over a convulsing body on the ground.

"WHOAH! HEY!! Put me down, I demand that you put me down this instant, this is no way to treat a creation of the great and late Hamato Donatello--!!"

"Oi, mate!" a voice shouted. A door opened, and a brightly-costumed punk-rock turtle with a guitar strapped across his back leaned out quickly. "In here!!"

Ghost flung himself, the kids, and the sentient television into the room as quickly as he could, the door slamming and locking behind them all.

The medical masks worked surprisingly well. They kept out the spores, in any case. DvD had been worried that they wouldn't be strong enough, they should find some gas masks or ventilators. He didn't want to take any chances, but with time running thin they had no choice. The Hand.PNG had assured them that the masks would work for the time being.

They made their way through the halls, DvD using a torch-light feature on his tech-bō and April using her phone to light the way. Mikey stumbled as he tiptoed along with them, tripping and falling to his knees, the blue spores clouding around his head. He froze, terrified that the airborne fungus was going to seep in somehow... through the mask, through his open and untreated wounds... He couldn't move. He wanted to run, he wanted to scream, he wanted to go home. But his limbs didn't listen to him. His head clouded over, his thoughts disappeared.

Fight, flight, freeze or fawn. He froze, vanishing into himself...

DvD stopped at the sound of Mikey's knees hitting the floor, turned around to see if he was alright. Michael had started shaking and whimpering, near-silent terrified chirps escaping from him. He was too weak to walk on his own. 'Phael was busy carrying the TNT, Leon the container of weird ninpo stuff. DvD could manage carrying the weightless teen...

"Micheal?" he whispered, coming over to him and gently placing a hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"

That was a stupid question. Of course he was not okay. The kid had literally died not ten minutes ago, and 15 minutes prior to that he'd used his mystic abilities to the max and run himself dry of all possible energy, as well as reopening his scars and losing a lot of blood as a result. And even before that, he'd given away some of his strength to help aid the swayed NFIF Donatello. Mikey had been run through the ringer, and it had barely been over an hour. It was no wonder he was shaking as much as he was, unable to pick himself back up.

"Would you like me to carry you?" DvD asked, rubbing circles onto his back.

Michael didn't answer, at least not verbally. After a pause he nodded softly, squeezing his eyes shut as the tremors continued. DvD turned around and kneeled in front of him, letting the box turtle slowly climb onto his back and drape his arms over his brother's shoulders. DvD slipped the boy's legs over his hips, making sure he was secure before standing back up.

"All good back there?"

He didn't answer.

"Michael?"

He gently nuzzled his face into DvD's shoulder.

"All good--" he rasped, coughing afterwards.

Right, his throat was raw from screaming and crying.

"Alright then. Let's get going."

DvD continued, catching up quite easily to his family (and the Hand.PNG). They were taking it slow, trying to remain inconspicuous as best as possible. They saw something glowing blue approaching, and the Hand.PNG warned them to get back, slip into a side hall and wait for them to pass.... The group turned off all their lights, watching in horror as a swayed Swanatello sluggishly meandered through the corridor, his face stained with glowing blue tears and his eyes matching the shade. Mikey stifled a gasp. He was horrified viewing first face he'd seen upon entering this whole competition now taken by the spores. He buried his face into DvD's neck and shoulder blades, trying not to cry.

"We may continue," the hand whispered once the zombie was gone.

They continued, searching for a place that would shield them from the zombies and the spores.

DvD passed by a small opening of the arena, an overturned box of cake pops crushed under the feet of panicked rioters and spored contestants. Mikey must've seen it; he gripped DvD's tear-soaked vest as tightly as he could manage. Which wasn't very tight. His fingers trembled and shook, the fabric constantly slipped through his meager grip. DvD could feel Mikey's heartbeat speeding up through his chest, the breaths coming in ragged and shaky as he started to hyperventilate.

"Michael?" DvD whispered. "What's wrong?"

Mikey couldn't answer. He tried, DvD could hear him try. Tiny squeaks and cracks in his voice as he attempted a response. In the end he pressed his face into DvD's neck, hiding his vision from the warzone they were traipsing through.

"Right, can't really talk... here, try this: tap once for yes, twice for no. Are you having a panic attack?"

Mikey tapped DvD's chest once.

Tap.

"I see. Is it... the spores? Did you inhale any?"

Tap. Tap.

"Hm. Is it just... being around them? Being surrounded by the spores?"

Tap.

"I see. I'm sorry. But I won't let anything happen to you, Michael, you can be sure of that. And you can tell me if anything's wrong, you know? I want to be able to help if you see Draxum again--"

Michael's face scrunched up as he leaned over DvD's shoulder to look him in the eye.

"W-what? What did you say?" he squeaked.

"I said -- oh. I said more than I meant to." DvD cleared his throat. "Yes, well... 'Phael might've told us that you'd been having dreams."

Michael's head snapped around to glare at 'Phael, who saw the look and immediately knew what it was for. He slowed his pace and nervously hid behind Leon.

"I'm gonna kill him."

"You can't really blame him for it, you were struggling and we couldn't understand why..."

Mikey sighed sadly, resting his head against DvD's back.

"Y-yeah... I know. S-so, wh-what else did he... say... ab-bout me...?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just that you'd been having visions and recurring nightmares since Karai showed up and that you'd seen everything that happened to you."

"Dang it, 'Phael," Mikey croaked. "I w-wish he'd just -- let ME tell you, y'know? I-I would've l-liked to... tell you myself..."

"I understand. But you should have told us before. I... I would have wanted to know. Even if it hurt me. I'd rather have known you and I could have helped each other, than us both stay hurting on our own..."

"...Wait, what else did 'Phael say?" Mikey asked, knowing exactly what DvD was hinting to.

"He may have mentioned the reasoning behind you keeping your secret..."

Mikey grumbled.

"Okay, now I really am gonna kill him--"

"No you're not," Donnie interjected. "He did what he felt was right."

"I understand... but... why do I have to be so weak and pathetic??" Mikey whined. "Why can't I just... take care o-of m-m-myself? I keep getting hu-hurt and I keep having to rely on everyone to s-s-save me. To protect m-me. I mean, look at me right n-now-w!"

"Physically I can't look at you, since you are on my back...."

DvD wasn't sure why Michael hoarsely chuckled at that. But he was glad the kid could laugh at anything currently.

"...But I understand what you're getting at. You aren't weak, Michael, you're surprisingly strong. To have been through what you've experienced, and to keep your innocence, your joy, your love for everyone, and your trust? That's not an easy feat. Even I can't say that I've retained that sort of strength."

"Emotionally unavailable bad boy..." Mikey joked.

"Exactly. But you aren't weak or pathetic; you've handled so much."

"But... shouldn't I be able to take care of myself? I don't want to keep being a burden to you guys. Is it always going to be like this? Me getting hurt, and you having to carry me home?" Mikey asked softly.

"...I don't know. Hopefully not the former, but I'll always be in favour of the latter."

DvD could feel Mikey smile through his mask, the corners of his mouth turning up as he nuzzled closer to his protective and loving older brother.

"...I'm so tired. I'd fall asleep if I wasn't in a panic-fueled state of adrenaline..."

"I bet. I promise you can sleep for as long as you want once this whole thing is over--"

"Quiet!" Leon snapped. "Someone's coming!!"

The group halted, pressing against the walls in any way they could. April extinguished her light.

"DvD!" she hissed. "Your tech-bō! Get the light off!"

"I'm trying," he hissed back. He was struggling to deactivate it, what with Mikey clinging onto his back and requiring DvD's arms to keep him supported.

A group of zombies approached them. They saw the light... They started running at them.

"Run!" Leon shouted.

The UIFY group darted away, DvD gripping onto Mikey as tightly as he could with one hand, and holding his tech-bō with the other.

"This way, lads!" 'Phael called out, directing them down a side hall that would have lead to an open area for new arrivals.

It lead to doom.

The group froze upon entering the arrival arena. It was swarmed.

"NOT GOOD!" Leon shouted. "Back up, back up, BACK UP!"

An army of swayed zombies started coming at them, each one smiling evilly as they all started chanting together...

"Feed me... feed me.... feed me!"

Mikey shrieked in terror as the zombies closed in on them from both sides.

"We're surrounded!" April yelled over the roar.

"Well, you stupid disembodied hand?!" Leon shouted. "What's your brilliant plan now?!"

"Don't worry," it said, though the quiver in its voice hinted that there was some small reason to worry. "It isn't meant to end this way..."

A shout rang out from above them, followed by two small explosions that cut the zombies off from the group. High up in the rafters, high above the smoke line, a teenage boy watched his handiwork.

"TAKE THAT, YOU STUPID MUTTS!!" he shouted.

"Nice Derry and Toms, kid!" Slider-Punk laughed, as he wrapped an arm around him and jumped down from the rafters, shooting a web that slowed their descent.

From behind the group, a door burst open. Out popped a familiar middle-aged Donatello, who reached forwards and grabbed the kids.

"GET IN, QUICK! That won't hold them back for long!!"

rhg!Donnie and Slider-Punk rushed inside the room after the UIFY group, slamming and bolting the door behind them. A few moments later, the door began to pound with zombies, the faint sound of their cries coming from beyond.

Leon gasped for air, but didn't dare rest before he could see where he was and who was in here.

It was quite an assortment of characters...

A human Donatello, a Donatello who was called "Ghost", spider-themed superhero versions of Donnie, Mikey, April, and Leo, a Cat mutant and her human friend, and... a giant computer with Donnie's face on it? Okay, weird...

"I'm assuming the lack of masks means that it is safe to breath in here?"

"It's safe," Spider-Shine said. "We blocked off the vents with our webs, and Omega an' Ghostie here helped build a makeshift air generator!"

"Is that everyone?" rhg!Donnie asked, short of breath as he examined the new arrivals to their little resistance.

"Yeah, it's just us," April gasped, pulling the mask from her face as she breathed in the clean air. "Dang, that was too close for comfort! Thanks for your help, uh... I'm guessing 'Donnie'?"

rhg!Donatello looked her over cautiously. She was used to that look, everyone who had ever met her after the mutation gave her that look. But what surprised her was how eerily familiar this Donatello was, despite being so entirely different. He really looked exactly like DvD... if DvD had ten fingers instead of six, dark curly hair and human skin, and was not quite so heavily built and muscular as the turtle mutant she knew. This one was a lot thinner, though he had muscle tone too. But he was mostly covered in scars and scrapes and... was that dried blood? She smiled nervously at him as she held out a hand.

"I'm April."

"...You would be, wouldn't you?"

He took her hand and shook it gently.

"You're not a turtle," he said, continuing to eye her over.

"Well, neither are you!" she chuckled anxiously.

He could tell she felt uncomfortable. He recognized the feeling, it was how he felt in the capitol and under the gaze of so many who cheered him on as he prepared to end a life. But this was different. He'd seen enough Aprils here to know they weren't supposed to be... not human. He could tell she hadn't been like this for too long, based on how she sort of hid herself, moved away from the others as if she couldn't tell she was one of them or a part of their group. The way she rubbed the fur on her arms, kept pressing her tongue against her miniature tusk and moving it around anxiously like a loose tooth that might fall out.

"...No kidding. Anyways, who are those guys?" he asked, tilting his head to look behind her at the others.

"I can answer that!" Abby said with a giggle as she skipped over to the teens panting on the floor. "This is the Until I Found You AU team! I met DvD here a few weeks prior to the prelims! And then again in the med ward while Mikey was being treated for hypoglycemia -- speaking of which, when was the last time you ate something? You're shaking pretty bad."

"I'm okay for the moment," Mikey gasped, trying to clear his throat. "But I should probably get something to eat while I can..."

"I've met them, too," Ghost said, as he came over and leaned over to the two orphan teens, reaching over to rub their heads affectionately. "I got them a pizza. How're you kids doing?"

Mikey smiled up at him. It was a weak smile, trying desperately to hide the red eyes and the tear stains on his mask, the sore and reopened wounds on his arms and the shakiness of his frail frame. Leo didn't try at all to mask his emotional state.

"Could be better," he griped.

"I imagine," Ghost sighed, bringing the two close and wrapping his cloak around them -- especially Mikey, who couldn't stop shivering. "Let's get some warm food in you, hmm?"

Mikey nodded, reaching up and asking to be carried. Ghost obliged, scooping the child into his arms and taking him to the other side of the room where there was a heater and a kitchenette, stocked with small snacks and a few easy-bake items. Leon followed after them, just like he had when they'd first met. rhg!Donnie followed after them, having caught sight of how small and frail this Mikey was, as well as the injuries on his arms...

Ghost took the tiny teen and laid him down on the couch by the fireplace. It was a much nicer lounge than the one they'd occupied previously. As mentioned, there was a mini kitchen and a decorative faux fireplace with a heater that warmed the room up quite nicely; and there were also more seating arrangements here than the other room. Mikey settled into the sofa comfortably, snuggling in with a wiggle and a giggle like he typically did. Leon scoffed at him, though he did so with a smile. Mikey always managed to find the positive and cheery moments in even the most dire of situations. Ghost grabbed a few blankets from a small basket in the corner and draped one over Leon, who smiled and nodded a quick 'thank you' at him. He went to tuck in Mikey when noticed his arms, which DvD had failed to re-wrap.

"...What happened here?" Ghost asked, gently taking Mikey's hands and lifting his forearms closer to his face. Mikey gently pulled them away.

"Just a little... um... m-m-mystic mishap," he chuckled. "It-it's alright... really!"

"I'm going to get the antiseptics," Ghost informed. "These should be bandaged. No sense in leaving them open to get infected."

"I can treat the wounds," a voice said from behind them, causing Leon to jump slightly. It was rhg!Donnie, already holding the first aid kit. "You can go get him something to eat instead."

"Alright then," Ghost consented, then turned back to Mikey. "But you will tell me how you got these, okay? If only so we can treat them properly."

Mikey swallowed nervously and nodded. Ghost stood with a soft grunt and walked over to the kitchen, getting warm snacks ready for the guests as rhg!Donnie kneeled by the sofa and started to rub disinfectant on the wounds. Mikey hissed at the touch.

"Ow! That stings," he whinged.

"That means it's working. Stop moving so much."

Mikey did as he was told. There was something about this Donnie that was... different, but familiar. He was overprotective of Mikey, he knew the feeling of someone playing mother hen. DvD acted like this a lot, especially after everything that happened with Draxum. He wondered what could have happened to his Mikey to make him want to protect him like this... the protective drive was the same, but the reactions were different. DvD was overly gentle with him. rhg!Donnie was firm and stern. Driven. Serious. He reminded him of DvD when they'd first met each other. Far too grown-up for their age, and with a determination that could kill you if you crossed them the wrong way.

rhg!Donnie was careful, but not entirely gentle. His rough and calloused hands were strict and commanding, no room for error or hesitance. Mikey winced as he took his wrist and turned it over a little too forcefully.

"Hey, careful!" Leon scolded.

"Do you want me to bandage him, or not? He has cuts all over his arms, I have to move him to get to them."

"Well, you could be a little more sympathetic with the guy!"

rhg!Donnie glared at Leon. He sighed.

"Sorry. I'll try to be more... sympathetic."

rhg!Donnie cleaned the wounds with a bit more grace than before. Mikey still whimpered and gasped in discomfort at the antibacterial and iodine.

"So, tell me... how did you get these?"

"M-m-mystic mishap," Mikey managed, coughing afterwards.

"Nice try," rhg!Donnie scoffed. "How'd you really get them?"

"What are you talking about?" Leon asked angrily. "It was mystic! He was using his magic powers too much and then--"

"Look, I'm not an idiot, I know that those scars were made by a knife, so I'm asking you, who cut your brother like this--"

"It happened a while ago," Mikey interrupted, forcing his voice to be a little louder so rhg!Donnie could hear him properly. Even still, it was low and raspy and the effort made him cough and hack profusely afterwards. Leon immediately rushed to the sink and got him some water. Mikey downed the cup, choking for a half second and spilling some of the tap water on his shirt.

"Sorry, sorry... I'm okay, I'm...!"

"It's okay, Mike, it's only water," Leon said, clapping his hand on his little brother's back to help him. "Just chillax for a sec, let your voice come back, okay? I'll do the talking."

Mikey nodded as he continued to slurp down the water.

"Anyways, Mikey here was sorta kidnapped not too long ago and experimented on -- geez, are you okay?" he asked, grimacing at the human sitting across from him.

rhg!Donnie had gone awfully pale, his eyes wide and glazed over with panic.

"...Fine," he mumbled. "Go on."

"Uh... yeah... anyways, Mike was kidnapped by Draxum -- do you have a Draxum in your universe? Ah, whatever, he was kidnapped by a bad dude and this bad dude did bad dude evil scientist stuff to Mikey and that's where he got the scars from. But that was like, weeks ago. Mikey accidentally reopened his wounds when his ninpo went into overdrive--"

"His what?" rhg!Donnie asked.

"His ninpo... y'know, like magic?"

"I said not to lie to me--!"

"They're not lying," Ghost said, standing over them with a tray of hot chocolate and some cookies. "I should've realized this sooner, but I'm guessing that since you're human that means you don't have any mutants or magic in your world," he said as he gently ruffled the teen's hair. rhg!Donnie shooed the affection away, suspicious of ulterior motives. Ghost sighed and continued.

"These kids come from a universe where their family has special abilities, mystic powers that are unique to them. And sometimes, using those powers too much have... unforeseen consequences," Ghost noted, taking Mikey's hand once again and looking at the wounds.

Michael nodded sadly. Ghost smiled and placed the warm mug into his hand.

"Just be careful next time, okay kid?" he asked, rubbing his head to assure him he wasn't mad, only concerned.

"...Very well, then," rhg!Donnie exhaled, finally admitting defeat. "In that case, I'm not sure I know how to tend to 'mystic' injuries."

"I got it," Ghost volunteered, searching in the first aid for anything especially sparkly or glowing. That would be a good sign. After some rummaging, he managed to procure some mystic cream and began to salve the cuts and sores.

rhg!Donnie watched with interest and concern. He studied the label for future reference. He memorized the patterns in which Ghost anointed the child. He took internal photographs of the angles and shapes of Mikey's scars... and prayed that he would never have to see them on his baby brother back home. He had been concerned that this was the same Mikey he'd met earlier... they looked very much alike upon first glance. But after closer inspection, he saw that they had some differences. The scars were obvious. But this one was younger, and much smaller. Not just shorter, but skinnier too. He looked a lot like his brother in that sense. As for the Leon beside him -- the one that kept giving rhg!Donnie dirty side glances -- he looked like his twin brother. Except bald. No sign of the beautiful and soft hair that rhg!Dee used to braid and style for him before he'd left. He was frightfully thin, too. A thick scarf surrounded his neck to help insulate the miniscule amount of warmth his body could provide. rhg!Donnie happened to glance over at him when he didn't expect it, and saw him pocket a few extra medical supplies, subconsciously stuffing them into his pants. There were quite a few things already in his pockets, rhg!Dee realized. This kid was a thief. Not that it bothered him, he and his Leo had been sneaky like that on more than one occasion. District 4 wasn't a very generous place to live.

rhg!Donnie found himself reaching for his hand the next time he went to snatch something. Not so much to stop him as to simply just... hold something that was so similar to his brother. He knew he wouldn't get a chance like this again for a long time. If ever. It might be stupid, but for a moment he wanted to pretend that this was his Leo. It worked for half a moment, he could almost see his brother here in the room with him.

Leon turned to him as he grabbed his hand, wide-eyed in surprise before realizing that he'd been caught.

"Oh... Old habits die hard, I guess," he explained, sheepishly dropping the tube of ointment he'd taken.

"Next time, try it like this," rhg!Donnie whispered, showing him how to take the tube with better efficiency, while simultaneously distracting the victim while you repurposed their possessions. But he got the feeling this teen already knew all the tricks of the trade.

Leon smiled weakly at him.

"Thanks, but... well, there's not really supposed to be a 'next time'," he explained, while looking back at DvD and 'Phael. "I kinda have a family now... and a home."

"Congratulations," rhg!Donnie said, hoping the genuine delight that this Leon had his family all around him came through, despite the monotonous tone in his voice.

"The kleptomania just sorta... flares up when I'm stressed," he mumbled. "When I feel like I'm not safe. I take stuff so I can pretend that I have everything I might need in an emergency." He laughed as he pulled out all the band-aids and alcohol wipes and gauze from his pockets. "I don't even know what I'd do with half of this stuff!"

"It's better to have most of this than not," rhg!Donnie mentioned, taking half of the pile and stuffing them into his own pockets, despite knowing that if he were to be portalled home again the items wouldn't be going with him. "Just in case..."

DvD had strolled right up to the giant tv screen in the room with a 2D icon of his face... or rather, a face greatly resembling his.

The icon looked down at him, it made an expression. It looked skeptical of him. It could express emotions, and could have thoughts. It must be an AI.

"How fascinating..." DvD murmured, looking the screen over. "What kind of CPU do you run on...?"

"That is classified information," the voice responded. And as flat-toned as most Donatellos tended to be, this one had actual emotion in its voice! It sounded just like him.

"What kind of program are you? You operate like a mimicry program, copying expressions and reactions..." he poked around behind the screen, investigating a few wires and buttons. "What's back here--"

"HEY NOW!" the AI reeled, two mechanical arms grabbing DvD's wrists and pulling him away as the screen moved back on its tiny little wheelie stand. "Hands to yourself, thank you very much!"

DvD's eyes widened. This was much more than a simple AI...

"What... who are you?" he asked.

"My name is OMEGA BOOTYYYSHAKER9000. Most people simply refer to me as 'Omega'. I am a replica of Hamato Donatello."

"Replica..." DvD looked the screen over as his brain pieced together the information. "...Oh."

This was always Omega's least favourite part of the competition, when the younger versions of his family understood that the future was not only unkind, but in most cases it took more than it gave.

"...Well, at the very least, you have achieved the perfect form -- man and machine, finally as one!" DvD said with a grin.

"You sound like Leonardo."

"You take that slander back."

Omega chuckled. When his Leo had first met him, he'd said something almost exactly like that...

"Do you think... do you think that this will be my fate?" DvD asked cautiously, as he continued to inspect the replica. "I've met a few older versions of myself in this competition. One was a demon-void-thing. One is tending to my brother now. I know better than to alter the course of time, I wouldn't dream of... well. But I'd like to know the probabilities, weigh out the outcomes and prepare myself mentally."

"You want to know if... you might end up as a digital duplicate?" Omega asked nervously.

"Only the statistical probability of it happening."

Omega wasn't sure about this. Yes, this teenager seemed highly intelligent and had an iron-clad determination, but he knew better than to actually tell him the truth. For whatever reason -- perhaps his own insatiable curiosity and need to know the outcome and 'create a fix' -- he crunched the numbers. He ran the simulation to test his theory. He knew the outcome of their storyline. And he was right, there was no real benefit to tell him the truth of his future... There was no benefit to telling him how -- in the wrong timeline -- his brother Leon would be the first to go, sacrificing himself to save the others during the first few years of the invasion. And Mikey would follow some time after, his hypoglycemia becoming too much of a strain for his body in a society where food was scarce and rations were slim. There was no point in telling him of the pain that he and 'Phael would bear, caring for the lone orphan son of their late comrade Cassandra Jones. No point in DvD knowing that he would be the one to invent time travel, only to use the machine once -- to send his surrogate nephew into the past to remedy everything. Omega smiled at him, keeping the simulation to himself.

"...Who can say what will happen next?"

'Phael looked in awe at the spider-themed teens in the corner who all jibbered and jabbered away. He was a little too nervous to actually approach them. They were superheroes, weren't they? He'd seen how superheroes looked in the movies! And these blokes looked just like 'em. But 'Phael's social anxiety started kicking into high gear, he fidgeted with his hands, picking at the fingernails which he'd nibbled down to stubs. He shifted his weight from foot to foot as he tried not to think about what they were thinking about, which was probably him and about how embarrassing he was --

One of the spider-teetlez turned to look at him. Oh no. OH HEADS NO, he caught him staring. He stared back. OH HEADS. The spider kid smiled and skipped over to him, his hair bouncing with each and every step.

"Hey there, big guy! You okay?"

"Oh, uh, s-sure!" 'Phael mumbled nervously. "W-w-why wouldn't I be?"

"Oi, is that another Brit I hear!?"

'Phael jumped suddenly as the blue and red turtle that had helped them in the halls immediately pounced at him, wrapping an arm around his neck with a great big smile.

"I was 'bout to lose hope for this Johnny Horner, I thought the entire arena was filled with yanks!"

"Uh heh, yeh," 'Phael chuckled, thinking maybe this wasn't the best time to tell him he technically was a 'Yank', having been born and raised in the Colonies. He was just brought up around folks with British accents...

"Hey, lads (and April)! Come 'ere, I wanna introduce ya to one of the dustbin lids that just arrived! This here is a BRITISH RAPHAEL!"

'Phael smiled nervously as he was passed around from hero to hero -- and they all were very nice and friendly, if not a bit intimidating. But then again, everyone was intimidating to him.

Everyone had gathered in the center of the room, squeezing together on the couches and sofas and ottomans and even one rocking chair. Now that everyone had introduced themselves, and Mikey had been taken care of -- his arms rebandaged and his stomach filled with tea and cookies -- it was time to come up with a plan of action.

There wasn't much time left...

End of Act 1

Act 2

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