#Ashley Shack

[officialfitness2024]

More Weight More Dates

[ashleypureheart22]

Ate the white truffle burger at Shake Shack, which was good! They also had Nickelodeon on, which was playing Despicable Me and one of my favorite Illumination movies, Sing!

[moonlessnight125]

Closed starter with @agent-ashley-graham

--------

Damn those bastards. Kelpie thought to themself as they darted between the trees. They'd been living at peace along in the forest for at least a month, judging from the cycle of the moon. She did her best to keep a low profile. Staying in deep parts, avoiding hikers, and disposing of any evidence that she was living there. But it wasn't enough.

She'd had return to her shack after checking one of her snare traps, only to be ambushed by those people. She didn't know who they were. But they always seemed to be after her.

Once Kelpie felt they were far away enough. She quickly climb the closest tree. She close her eyes and lets out a slow breathe, as her skin change color to match the bark and leaves of the tree. They look around from the vantage point up above. Watching to see who else was here.

[quigonswife8]

[Resident evil 4 remake spoilers] Help: Luis Serra x fem reader

You go with Luis to his lab so he can remove the plaga that infects you.

gif creds: @aphex-toast

----

You'd been infected with the Plaga before you met Luis.

This was before Leon had been infected, but after Ashley. It had happened while you were escaping from a group of villagers, when this man had come out of nowhere and knocked you out.

When you'd woken, you'd felt different. Though it wasn't until you grew weaker, and coughed up blood, that you had realized something was wrong.

When you met Luis, you'd been with Leon and Ashley. An unfamiliar man to you had opened a door to an abandoned shack, waving you three over- Leon seemed like he knew this man from the looks of it, while Ashley was just as clueless as you.

Then, you met.

"I am Luis Serra. It is nice to meet you beautiful." though his flirting was cut short when those villagers grew closer, and you'd been ushered to a hiding spot with Ashley. Luis's concerned face was the last thing you saw, before you stayed in that hiding spot for a while.

Thankfully being able to help the guys out before they were killed, you'd escape from the villagers, and ended up someplace else. Great timing as you'd passed out from this illness you'd picked up sometime earlier, and when you'd woken, Luis had been the only one there.

He'd waited until you were awake enough to explain what you were suffering from as you'd told him about this illness you've been suffering from which resulted in you passing out. He didn't want to leave you, as Ashley and Leon had to leave.

Though he was honest and let you know he needed to be somewhere to. Which he offered you to go with him- and since you would be alone, but also enjoyed his company, you decided to tag along.

This leads you to many hours later, when you go with him to his lab- the only place to remove the parasite.

-----

"This is it."

Luis opens the doors, giving you a nod so you walk inside muttering a 'thank you' in reply. The sound of the doors closing indicates his arrival inside, and then he looks around.

You follow what he's doing. This lab is different- it definitely has a few hints of Luis such as an empty packet of cigarettes in a bin nearby. Though what catches your eye is the chair in the middle of the room- different tools and what-not connected up to it.

A computer sits nearby and if you're being honest, you're not sure how it will even function. "that's where I will remove the plaga" he pulls you from your thoughts, so you look at him, and he looks concerned.

Luis knows how painful the procedure is, and with the plaga having you earlier than Leon, he's worried something will happen. Plus this procedure isn't painless, like at all.

"Come on." he ushers you over to the chair, but waits until you start following. Taking a deep breath you start walking over mentally preparing yourself at the same time, while Luis matches your speed;

"I am sorry this is the only way I have to remove the plaga." when you stop next to the chair, Luis moves over to the computer to boot it up.

"...that it isn't painless."

He taps away at the computer, but glances over at you every so often. The whirring of the instruments and the machine setting into place, doesn't ease your nerves. Having Luis there does help though, as well as being the reason that you are able to get this thing out of you.

"You don't have to apologize Luis. Hell you're the reason I'm not going to turn out like those people out there."

He finishes, and then turns back to face you. You smile softly at the man in front of you, then you look down at the chair.

"...well, guess I should lay down..."

This is it. When this is over, the plaga will be gone, you'll be okay. The pain isn't what you're ready for, though no one would be. Based on Luis's words, it's extremely painful and you might pass out.

Hopping on the chair after a minute, you lay down, looking up at the instruments. They're more intimidating up close. Then you look over at Luis, but he's already looking at you. He's leaning cross-armed against the machine, head tilted down slightly so some of his hair falls in front of his face.

"...I'm ready, Luis."

"Okay." he replies, moving in front of the machine. "Are you sure?"

"No." you reply, chuckling softly. "...but...this has to happen. So let's do this."

He admires your braveness. Admires that you are able to go through this, when he was scared himself to go through the procedure.

"This is going to hurt."

You lay there as the pain soon hits you. The room begins to spin fast from the amount of pain, and despite trying to force yourself to stay awake, you end up passing out from the pain.

------

The room isn't spinning anymore which is a good thing. Though your body hurts like hell and you can already feel a headache coming on. As least you're alive, though.

Though your hand feels weird, so you look down to see what's wrong...and you realise why.

"Luis.."

His head is down- he must be resting- but he's holding your hand. Unable to stop the warmth from creeping to your cheeks you almost don't want to wake him from his slumber, but you also don't want him worrying later.

Pushing away the feelings that rise to the surface, you use your other hand to gently shake him awake. "Luis?" he must be a pretty light sleeper, as he wakes up barely a second later. His eyes wide, and then moving to you.

It's like he can finally breathe after half an hour now that you're awake.

"You're awake..."

Luis sits up more not even aware he's still holding onto your hand.

"...gracias a dios."

He'd woken up a few minutes after his procedure, but for you to be asleep for half an hour? Luis had monitored you, up until he fell asleep himself. Your vitals were fine, you hadn't died but that still didn't leave him less worried.

He's just glad that you're okay.

"...so it's out?"

"Yes."

"Thank god." you reply, sighing in relief. "...thank you, Luis."

It's not over yet. You still need to find the others again and escape with them. At least the plaga is gone though and you are more of mind. You don't have to worry about becoming a 'mindless zombie' a mindless follower of that Saddler. Or have to watch as Luis or anyone else, are forced to kill you.

"Thank you."

slipping your hand out of Luis's, which lets him know he was still holding your hand, you sit up. The chair is as uncomfortable as it was when you laid down, but at least you won't have to lay on it any longer.

"You're welcome. Are you okay, though?"

You get onto the ground, while Luis holds your arms to prevent you from falling over. It's a nice gesture, and one that doesn't go unnoticed, as you mutter a 'thank you.'.

"Everything hurts." you answer, honestly. "...but at least i''m alive."

He holds your arms until you're good enough to walk, then you turn to him.

"Well..." you glance around the lab, before looking at Luis again. "We should get out of here, huh?" Luis can't help but smile at you. He's happy that you're still alive, and even happier that you'll be escaping together.

"Perfect idea." he replies, so you leave the lab with him.

------

[tuulikannel]

After a loooong while I decided to do another Hunger Games simulation, with a very varied cast (mainly AC and Danganronpa characters, plus Battler & Beato from Umineko, Hikaru & Sai from Hikago, Solar's Stag & Deshi, and Leon, Ashley and Ada from Resident Evil.) (We'll pretend everyone's young enough to take part.)

I'm not gonna copy/paste everything here. just the, uh, high points. So, let's get started!

Karma never does well in my games. He's off to an exceptionally bad start here:

Karma attacks Battler, but Leon protects him, killing Karma.

Sakakibara Ren, then? Got to say he surprised me:

Ren sets an explosive off, killing Rio, Deshi, Sonia and Sakura.

And I'm so sorry Solar, Deshi died right in the beginning and Stag's not starting this too strongly either….

Stag begs for Ada to kill him. She refuses, keeping Stag alive.

First night, we have some interesting groups forming. I especially like the Resident Umi alliance (and it makes sense, as Leon just saved Battler)

Hajime, Nagito, Stag, and Hazama sleep in shifts. Beato, Leon, Ashley, and Battler sleep in shifts.

Next day, things get quite violent again. The alliance did not last for long...

Battler sets Hajime on fire with a molotov. Beato, Nagisa, Ada, and Akari track down and kill Leon.

And while all this violence is going on, Hikaru picks flowers.

Second night, Shuu and Ada have a face-off. Look at my boy go! Impressive.

Shuu pushes Ada off a cliff during a knife fight.

Then we have a very uneventful third day, followed by an arena event, monkey mutts. Lot's of people are killed by them, not listing them all... Just, uh, Shuu. You fought off Ada… and now are injured by Ashley? For real??? And Solar, again, bad news about our boy :/

Ashley injures Shuu and leaves him for the monkey mutts. While running, Stag falls over and grabs Akari on the way down. The monkey mutts kill them.

Ren continues being savage! Ren uses Battler as a shield from the monkey mutts.

….but not as savage as Hikaru. What. the actual. fuck. Hikaru uses Sai as a shield from the monkey mutts.

Next night: Nagisa cries himself to sleep. I feel you. me too.

Now there's so few people left that I'll just put here everything. Oh, and, Ed from FMA and Fakir from Princess Tutu are there too. (Sorry boys, I totally forgot about you….)

Ed severely slices Beato with a sword. Ren and Fakir track down and kill Ashley. Nagisa decides not to go to The Feast. Hikaru falls into a pit and dies.

Hikaru must have been so distraught about what he did to Sai that he didn't even notice the pit…

And now things get pretty quiet.

Day 4 Ren tries to sleep through the entire day. Nagisa diverts Fakir's attention and runs away. Ed fishes.

Night 4 Ren and Nagisa sleep in shifts. Ed starts a fire. (to cook the fish, I bet!) Fakir sees a fire, but stays hidden.

Day 5 Ren picks flowers. Ed constructs a shack. Fakir picks flowers. Nagisa accidentally detonates a land mine while trying to arm it.

….Nagisa. My poor darling idiot. Why.

Night 5, Ed gets the victory by doing nothing.

Fakir dies from an infection. Ren falls into a frozen lake and drowns.

Ren. Killed six people. Only to walk on thin ice and drown. *sigh* He was the absolute menace of this round, no one else killed more than one person here, including the winner, whose only kill was Beato.

[aesopsharpmybeloved]

Tess' Sharpuary - 4. Firewhisky

A couple of teens too curious for their own good and a bottle of Firewhisky is a recipe for disaster, or: Aesop recalls the first few times he drank Firewhisky.

chapter specific tags: friendship, flashbacks, fluff

relationships: aesop sharp & aesop's auror partner, aesop sharp x reader

4. Firewhisky (1k)

tw: underage drinking (like one sip), alcohol

The amber liquid runs down his throat, leaving a sweet burn in its wake. Warmth spreads across his chest and he hums appreciatively. He remembered it like it was yesterday when he drank his first glass of Firewhisky. Well… drank… 

Half choked on, more like.

“Where on earth did you get this?” he asked in a hushed tone as Ashley proudly procured the bottle from below her jacket. “Pinched it from my dad and uncle!” she said, grinning, “they shared it yesterday as they talked, and both of them think the other took it, and don’t question it.” Aesop had to admit, that Ashley, despite being a  proud badger, was occasionally more of a Slytherin than he was, and she seemed to always get her way. 

“If your dad finds out about this, he’s going to toss me out, thinking I'm a bad influence on you. I’m surprised he even let me stay here with you…” he said, his voice still quiet, as if Ashley’s father could pop into their hiding spot any minute now. 

“Dad likes you, he wouldn’t throw you out. Besides, I’d admit it was my idea,” she comforted her friend, and Aesop of course believed her. Ashley wasn’t one to throw her friends under the bus. “Come on, Ace, don’t you want to see what all the fuss is about?” she then asked, swirling the liquid inside the bottle, and the lad sighed. He walked over to her and took the bottle out of her hand. 

He uncorked it and brought it to his nose, sniffing at the liquor. The smell was quite pleasant, rich, woody and slightly sweet. Before he could take a sip, however, Ashley stopped him: “Oi, you didn’t think we were just going to chug it straight from the bottle, did you? I don’t want your germs.” “Oh, piss off.”

She laughed and procured two goblets, placing them on a nearby crate. She then poured a fair amount of the alcohol for both of them. 

“Well,” the girl said as she took hold of her goblet, “to your good health, Ace.” He gave her a smile: “And to yours.” The two fifteen-year-olds took a deep sip. Which was a big mistake, as not a second later they turned into two coughing, heaving messes. The rest of the liquid in their goblets spilt around them as they dropped them. The Firewhisky burned their throats, and it took several minutes for them to get a hold of themselves.

“Fucking hell!” Aesop groaned, sitting down on the ground and leaning back against the wall of the abandoned mining shack they deemed their little hiding spot, “why in the name of Merlin would anyone drink this? It’s horrid!” “Is there a hole in my neck?” Ashley asked, her voice hoarse, “It feels like there’s a hole in my neck.” She sat next to him, breathing through the experience. “How, does anyone drink it? I saw Dad and Uncle sip on it like it was Pumpkin juice!”

At that moment the pair decided to never drink anything so foul again. 

And they didn't. Not until Aesop’s seventeenth birthday.

“Come on, Sharp, it’s tradition!” Roberts said, patting his shoulder. Aesop and Ashley exchanged a little grimace. “To receive a pocket watch, that’s a tradition, but drinking this? I don’t think so…” the freshly adult Aesop countered, observing the amber liquid in his glass apprehensively, “it’s foul, I almost choked the last time I tried it.” His classmate rolled his eyes: “Let me guess, you drank it like it was Butterbeer, didn’t you. Well, of course, that’s going to be nasty. You either take small individual sips or throw it all back! Come on, don’t be a wuss.” 

The Slytherin groaned, but lifted his glass anyway, not wanting to embarrass himself in front of his peers. He raised the glass to his lips, and, as per Roberts’ advice, only took a tiny sip. He rolled the liquid in his mouth.

Once more, it burned, but now he also realised that it had a rather interesting taste. Kind of spicy, only slightly sweet, yet light and cool. He swallowed his sip and blew out of his mouth swiftly. 

“So?” his classmate inquired. “It’s… not as bad,” he replied truthfully. Ashley looked at him, then followed his example. Aesop drank again.

“Woah, slow down, mate! I’ve nothing against drinking myself under the table with you, but the night’s still young!” Aesop ignored him.

When he Flooed home the next day, his mother chanced one look at him. “Did you enjoy your evening, dear?” she asked. Aesop’s face was a Slytherin green, his stomach felt very unstable, and his head was killing him. “I am never drinking again,” he managed to rasp out, prompting his mother to laugh. Less than five minutes later, he was snoring away on the sofa in the living room, an empty cauldron conveniently ready next to him. 

Aesop chuckled at the memory. It both felt like it was yesterday and a lifetime ago. He remembered evenings spent with Ashley after their Auror training, sharing a single drink, and he remembered being there when Dinah too underwent this ‘rite of passage’. He remembered both the calm toasts and the wilder drunken nights. With a pang in his chest, he remembered the time all he wanted to do was drink and forget. And then the festivities on Christmas Eve.

These days, he usually remained with a single glass, sitting on the sofa by his fireplace, looking into the flames while his young lover rested her head on his shoulder. Her small hand came to take the drink from his hand.

“What are you doing,” he inquired with a smile, “you know you hate Firewhisky.” She shrugged her shoulders: “It’s a different brand, maybe it’ll be better.” She took a small sip, then made a face that prompted a laugh out of the potions master. “No. Still awful,” she said and gave the drink back to him. Aesop used his free hand to turn her face to him and stole a kiss from her lips. 

“Now that’s better,” she grinned at him, and he was forced to quickly deposit the glass upon the small table next to the sofa, as his attention was very much required elsewhere.

[AO3] - [Sharpuary 2024] - [Masterlist]

[sapphire-weapon]

eagleone prompt: During the rescue mission, Leon and Ashley take shelter from the rain and Ashley catches a glimpse of shirtless Leon. Because obviously he would have to take it off and squeeze out the excess water. 👀

Hey what if I took your cute prompt and put tension and some slight angst in it??? What if Leon is super insecure and self-conscious about the scar on his shoulder, and what if Ashley didn't realize it until too late??? oops.

I realized that the only time it rains when they're together is at the very start, before the two of them really know each other yet -- before Ashley even fully trusts him yet. So it was fun to explore that dynamic.

Enjoy.

~

It was with a puzzled look and her head cocked to the side that Ashley watched the merchant turn a corner on the distant path and disappear. She and Leon had been very lucky to find him waiting in a dilapidated shack after the terrifying ordeal that was their escape from the cabin, but the man's very existence baffled her in a way that she couldn't quite pin down into words.

The quiet sounds of clicking, sliding metal, and rustling fabric filled the air around her as Leon checked the condition of his weapons and took stock of his ammunition stores. Her eyes flickered over in his direction. He was focused entirely on the inventory check that he was doing, seemingly unconcerned with anything else.

"How does he keep arriving at places ahead of us, like he knows where we're going to be?" she asked.

"I try not to ask questions," he said, sounding distracted. "He's helping us. I don't want to give him a reason to stop."

Ashley shrugged and shook her head, unsatisfied with that response. It was the only one that he was going to give her, though, and she knew it. With a sigh, she turned her attention back to the open doorway to continue the sentinel duty that Leon had assigned her while he regained his bearings.

"I guess…"

With that, she let it drop. He may not have had questions, but she didn't want to argue about it. To a certain extent, Leon was right. It didn't really matter why or how the merchant did what he was doing — all that mattered was that he was doing it.

But still. Even then. Did it really not bother Leon at all…?

Ashley glanced back over in his direction just in time to watch him place his handgun on the wooden table beside him. His movements were fluid and purposeful — seemingly part of a process that Ashley couldn't quite predict the endgame of. As soon as his gun was settled, he shrugged his shoulder harness off and laid it down almost right on top of it. Then, with both hands, he reached back over his shoulders and curled his fingers in the fabric of his shirt in the spot right between his shoulder blades.

Ashley's brain only had a half-second to process what was happening before it actually happened. Her eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat before she fully understood why.

He gave her no verbal warning. In one swift motion, Leon yanked his shirt up the length of his body and over his head, allowing it to gather in the bends of his elbows and drape across his forearms. Belatedly, Ashley noticed that it hung heavy from him — soaked with water near to the point of dripping. The rain had stopped at some point that she couldn't remember, but she was surprised to see that he was so completely saturated.

Distantly, she remembered him mentioning something about a lake. What the hell had he been doing before he found her in the church?

Though, when she was honest with herself, she didn't actually care much. 

Her attention was grabbed immediately by the contours of his body and the way that his spine carved a long groove down the center of his back, curving down along the muscles that lined either side. Her gaze followed that line all the way down to his belt and then all the way back up again. From there, it was easy to travel the road along his neck, then around his shoulder, and down his arm to the wrist of his still-gloved hand. He had a visible vein that hugged the bulging muscle of his bicep, and it was the perfect little guide for her eyes to follow.

She'd thought Leon was cute from the first second she laid eyes on him — but this was certainly, somehow, the first time she'd noticed just how hot he was, too.

Like, actually hot. Distractingly hot. "I-want-to-dig-my-fingernails-into-his-back-while-he-breathes-heavy-against-my-neck" hot.

It was on her way back up along that same path she'd traveled down his body that she finally noticed it — a dark discoloration on the front of his left shoulder that only seemed to become more noticeably grotesque the longer she looked at it. There was a very obvious center point to it — almost like a hollow circle that darkened at the edges and then spilled out an extra inch or two further across his skin. At a distance, she might have thought it was a birthmark or maybe even a botched tattoo — but, close as she was, it was easy to identify the scar tissue at that properly-colored heart of it.

A gunshot wound, maybe?

Weird. It was clearly old — just something that hadn't healed properly, or maybe had gone too long before getting cleaned out or treated. She'd never seen anything quite like it before, though.

But it was none of her business, and it did nothing to dissuade her from wanting to put her hands on him — if anything, it made her want to touch him even more. She found herself wanting to trace her fingertips along the dark edges of that circle and follow that not-quite-purple splash of skin up to the top of his shoulder, almost like fingerpainting, just to see what it felt like. Just to see how he'd react.

He rolled his shirt up with both hands and wrung a surprising amount of water out of it. It smacked against the ground with more of a series of thuds than a splash, but Ashley barely even heard it. She was mesmerized by the way that his muscles shifted visibly beneath his skin with every little movement he made. She couldn't help but wonder just how long those giant arms or strong back of his could support the entirety of her weight — or, maybe not all of it, maybe just most of it as he held her against a wall and —

He looked in her direction. Panic hit the back of her eyes. He'd caught her staring.

Ashley jumped and pulled her attention away from him, staring pointedly back at the doorway.

"Sorry," she stammered. "I didn't mean to… I wasn't—"

"It's alright," he cut her off, saving her from herself. There was a strangeness to his tone that she couldn't quite place. He shook his shirt out with one thunderous snap and glanced at her only briefly. "Everyone stares the first time they see it."

Intellectually, she knew that he was referring to the scar on his shoulder. Emotionally, she couldn't help but feel like a voyeur who'd just gotten discovered in the bushes outside his window. Some part of her refused to believe that he honestly thought that some old scar tissue was what had caught and held her attention. He had to know, right? He had to know that she'd been in the process of grossly objectifying him — it had to have been all over her face.

Right?

She wasn't about to squander the opportunity for an out that he offered, though. She chewed apprehensively on her bottom lip and slowly turned her head to face him again. He was in the process of pushing his arms back through the sleeves of his shirt, and Ashley silently began mourning the soon-to-be loss of his bare back.

"Does it hurt?" she asked.

Leon hesitated — but only for a second. Then, he shook his head only one time before offering her a sad smile that showed more in his eyes than on his lips.

"All the time."

Without another word, he pulled his shirt back up over his head and adjusted it down the length of his body. It was all Ashley could do to watch him with slightly parted lips left open and empty with words unspoken. His answer to her question slowly slid down the inside of her breastbone, leaving a trail of she-didn't-know-what in its wake. Sympathy, pity, sorrow, heartache — something cold and heavy, but something that she couldn't identify.

The open vulnerability of his answer was what had struck so deep. Leon was difficult to read at the best of times, so to hear him give a sincere and emotional response like that was downright shocking. He seemed nice enough, but he was a man of few words — stoic at best and downright joyless at worst. Ashley hadn't really known what to make of him. 

Now, she was even less sure.

Numbness followed. She mutely watched as Leon pulled his harness back on around his shoulders and collected his gun from the table. When he finally looked back at her, she had no idea what her face was doing expressively. It must have been doing something, though, because he gave her a puzzled look that slowly morphed into mild concern.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Are you?" she returned.

Her response left her mouth so immediately that she was shocked to hear herself say it. His reaction was physical in nature, as though she'd just startled him awake from a too-realistic dream. He half-jumped and blinked his way back into awareness, leaning back ever-so-slightly in order to better fully absorb her question. As he recovered, his eyes cleared and his face hardened. The muscle at his temple flexed as he clenched his jaw and forced a strained, close-lipped smile.

Ashley's heart rate kicked up. She'd somehow forgotten that the man who'd been butchering his way through an entire village of people was dangerous, but the look on his face suddenly reminded her. Clearly, she'd just seen something that she wasn't meant to have seen.

And it wasn't his goddamn scar.

"Oh, I'm just fine," he said venomously. "Not dead yet, anyway."

With that, he turned and walked right past her. His footfalls were heavy on the half-rotted wood floor, and they were louder than they ought to have been — at least, that's how it seemed. He stopped in the doorway just long enough to glance over his shoulder at her, and Ashley released a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.

"Let's keep moving," he said.

He didn't wait for her to respond. Leon headed back out into the night, wordlessly trusting that Ashley would follow.

[quotes-from-diamond-city]

*after blowing up the river shack with their potions in the intro cutscene of Remix 1*

Ashley: Does this mean we're friends now?

Penny: Uh, best friends!

[rainwaterapothecary]

A Certain Insecticidal Flower pt. 2

#serennedyprideweek prompt 6 - Flowers

[Part 1]

Well that answered that, Leon thought bitterly.

It hadn’t begun right away of course. Nobody got life-threatening flowers in their lungs after finding a man in a bag. At least he hoped they fucking didn’t. That would just be creepy.

And it couldn’t have been The Chain Situation, although he hadn’t been lying when he’d mentioned needing to go to confessional afterwards. Bless me Father for I have had unclean thoughts… he smirked to himself, catching his eyes trailing down the retreating Spaniard.

No, it wasn’t until that Gods-damned cabin.

His chest had felt so solid in a way that was just…fundamentally unfeminine. Obviously, but still. The man had no give. And he had still had the guts to smirk and flirt. Jesus.

Then he hid Ashley without asking questions and stood back-to-back with him, firing magnum rounds with a smirk and a quip.

Of course it was the quips.

No one understood one-liners under pressure like Leon S. Kennedy, so naturally he could appreciate a solid survival mechanism.

It was that the other man had made it almost fun. Sure they were penned in on all sides in a tiny shack that was two seconds and a hard wind away from flattening but he had a partner. He wasn’t alone.

Finally.

It was probably the loneliness that had done it, he tried to reason. Getting sent all over god’s green-and-BOW-infested earth with nobody but Hunnigan on a glorified cell phone left much to be desired, even though he didn’t really notice it until it was gone.

Replaced by a joking scientist with an artifact of a gun and a smile.

For once he didn’t have to protect a little girl all on his own.

“…trust me.” Leon tuned back in just as Luis was leaving them again.

He almost wanted to toss out a flirtatious barb himself to ask why he was leaving so soon, but he had no say over the man one way or the other.

Instead he nodded, one jerking motion of trust being placed and the weight of responsibility transferred at least in part.

He held in the tickle in his throat, assuming it was his own little passenger making him cough like Ashley. She didn’t need her protector showing weakness, it wasn’t his job.

So he swallowed his disappointment and the odd burning sensation, squared his shoulders, and moved forward.

Then he lost her again.

Twice more, forced to his knees and alone in a castle thousands of miles and an ocean away from home.

The first petal passed his lips at the reminder of Luis’ perky voice calling him Prince Charming and telling him not to be late.

He…he was going to be late.

Stumbling and shaking his head, Leon Kennedy got to his feet. A flicker of orange falling from his glove barely caught his attention in the torchlight.

And it had only gotten worse.

He had almost been caught once, when Luis had greeted him out of that fucking elevator with a grin and an offer to ‘make it cheap’ for him. Leon could think of a few other things he wouldn’t mind Luis giving him a discount on, but for the moment he accepted the suppressant with an eyeroll and a pat on the shoulder.

Then Luis had leaned into him.

Close.

Sure, the suppressant had hurt but holding back the hacking coughs that his throat spasmed for had hurt worse. The faint smell of cologne, choking wood smoke, and the heady scent of his cigarettes weighed down the agent’s tongue as the scientist held him and saved his life with a glorified Epipen. Orange petals like the brush of fingertips clogged his throat as he held his breath.

He could see Luis’ sparkling eyes wanting to poke fun at him for holding his breath during a shot, but the alternative would have been decidedly less pleasant.

Besides, he didn’t need this attractive man thinking his breath always smelled like blood and perfume.

He coughed into his elbow after the researcher capped the pen and revealed their lack of bought time.

Leon’s sigh was raspy.

*-*-*

A/N We're baaaaaack Up next, the mines and, well, y'know. :3c Still gonna cross-post all these once 'A Certain...Flower' is done~

[katatty]

Right, that's all! A couple of other college grads I didn't show: Hallie's lovers Adrian Adams and Joshua Adams (who I only just noticed have the same last name, lmao, maybe they're brothers????) are living with Malik Thompson in a "bro house", Nova Green moved in with Nora (at least until Nora moved in with the Yus), Matthew and Ashley are married with their little girl Hailey (who is a toddler now!) and Laila Ebadi (who Hallie met while clubbing a few nights ago) is living in one of the little beach shacks.

As a side-note, I'm not 100% sure how much I like this Story Progression-y gameplay style. It's nice for stuff like this where I am mainly playing one legacy family, but I find I do have to pop into other households fairly often to get things properly "set up" to my liking. Maybe it'd work best for more established neighbourhoods with a lot of playables (I can see it being really cool for more casual uberhoods). Or maybe it'd work better if I tweaked the romance/marriage/children stuff to happen more frequently?

But I do find I miss playing lots of different houses and having inter-connected stories! Maybe I am just too much of a control-freak and the legacy style of gameplay just isn't for me, haha. (I don't plan on abandoning the Fieros, though!! Just not sure if I'll aim for 10 generations or something more managable, like 5?)

[endlesslystarlitskies]

Lost and Found- Part 7

A/N: Here is the next chapter! I’m not getting a lot of engagement on these posts, but I am still loving writing the story so I’m going to keep posting. This is a shorter chapter, but I might post another one again later. Who knows! I think this story is going to end up being 13 chapters long, so there’s that. Please let me know what you think!

Genre: Horror, action, adventure, Romance, Slow-Burn,  

Pairing: Leon Kennedy x Named Reader (Named but not Described)

Summary: Ella was one of the missing hikers who was kidnapped by the villagers. She narrowly escaped being sacrificed, but her friends weren’t so lucky. Managing to survive out in the woods with her previous skills and knowledge, she runs into Leon, and that meeting begins the longest, most dangerous adventure of her life as she tries to help him save the girl she saw being taken into the church. What will happen along the way? Only one way to find out.  

Warnings: Canon typical violence and gore, Death, Murder, Monsters, Suicidal ideations mentioned, Ella has little regard for her own life and is dealing with the loss of someone closest to her while also fighting to survive with waning self-preservation instincts. Please be cautious if that triggers you.

Word Count: 4,838

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

Story Masterlist

xXx

Leon had told Ashely to get into the locker when the two women with chainsaws made themselves known, wanting her safe and out of the way so he and Ella could handle them quickly.

However, Ella’s absence was quickly noted, and Leon could only assume she got held up with some villagers, which meant he had to take them on himself. It wasn’t a real problem, as he could handle them and the few villagers coming through the hole they had created, but he couldn’t help but be concerned that Ella wasn’t right behind them. He couldn’t worry about it now, having to dodge the chainsaw coming towards his head and take care of the issue right in front of him. xXx

Ashley left the locker when the coast was clear, and Leon picked up the lever they had needed to get through the gate. He took a moment to listen for the sound of gunshots or the footsteps of Ella returning, but it was quiet, a bad feeling settling in his gut. “Did you see where Ella went?” He asked Ashley, who had noticed Ella’s absence and wore a look of concern. “No, I thought she was right behind us.” Leon had thought that too. 

He grit his teeth as the bad feeling grew, and they left the wooden building before taking the hill back up to where they had last been when she was with them, but there was no sign of her. 

“Leon, look!” Ashley called, standing by the corner of one of the shacks, and Leon moved over quickly, the sight confirming his fears. All of her gear was thrown half haphazardly in the corner, discarded. “Where is she?” Ashley asked in panicked worry, not understanding how she could just disappear like this. Leon recalled the moment he had thought he’d seen the glint of a gold necklace, and he became frustrated with himself that he didn’t realize what it had meant before. The man had taken her once more, and Leon had a feeling he knew where. xXx Ella slowly felt her senses come back to her as she blinked her eyes open, it taking a moment for her to register that she was being carried by someone, a shoulder pressing into her stomach uncomfortably. Her mind was fuzzy, and Ella had to squeeze her eyes shut to clear the remaining disorientation, before she tried to look up and take in her surroundings. Robes. She was surrounded by people in robes. This scene was starting to look eerily familiar. Panic and fear filled her being like ice water, and she immediately began struggling in the grip of the large man holding her. The shock of her sudden movement and the elbow to the chest forced the villager to release her, Ella falling to the ground and immediately scrambling to her feet, moving away from the man in robes to create distance. She reached for her gun, but her heart dropped when she realized it wasn’t there. None of her weapons, or even her pouch, was on her person anymore. Of course they had taken them. She cursed, realizing she had only one choice. Fight. She had to once again put her self-defense skills to good use- only this time, she had to win if she wanted to live, as she knew they wouldn’t make the same mistake they did last time in not keeping an eye on her. She immediately raised her leg to kick the man running towards her in the kneecap, hearing the sickening crunch as the bone broke under the force, and she kneed him right in the face when he went down, taking care of him for the moment. She had no time to breathe as she spun, ducking under the arms that tried to grab her, before she swept the feet of the female cultist out from under her. She wanted to stomp on her elbow and break her arm, but she had to immediately defend against another man who came at her with a knife, barely moving out of the way in time as he tried to stab her in the shoulder. 

She needed that knife, and she knew it. It would be much better than nothing, and she could use the skills Leon taught her to get herself out of this situation. 

However, before she could think up a quick plan of action, the cultists who had been surrounding her suddenly parted, and the leader in the decorated robe and the golden necklace calmly walked up to her. 

Ella raised her arms, getting in a defensive stance as she readied to take him on, having to push away the fear that tried to grip her heart at the sight of him. She had told him he couldn’t take her by surprise anymore, and she was proven wrong. Even with all the weapons and Leon right there, he had grabbed her the moment the opportunity presented itself, and there was nothing Ella could do about it. 

Despite that, Ella refused to let him win without a fight, and when he was within range, she threw a punch, which the man easily dodged, but she wasn’t done. She spun, trying to catch him in the face with her elbow, but he had moved faster than she had been ready for, his hand darting out as he sliced her in the stomach with a knife. Ella hissed as she stumbled back, looking to the tear in her shirt. It wasn’t deep whatsoever, being just a shallow cut, but it burned, as if the knife had been glowing red hot when it cut her. Ella immediately felt her body become weak, the trembling no longer being from the fear as she fell to her knees. “What did you-” She tried to breathe, but the pain was intense, and she couldn’t get the words out as her vision blurred. The realization was slow to come to her fogging mind. Poison. There had been poison on his blade.

“It is such a shame. This fighting spirit of yours is what piqued my interest. . .” She heard him sigh. “You would have been the perfect servant and solution to our problem.” Disappointment was heavy in his tone.

It wasn’t long before a ringing sounded in her ears, drowning out anything else for a moment, though it lessened just a bit. She wasn’t passing out, but everything around her became muted and unfocused, Ella being unable to defend herself as one of the robed men picked her up once again. “Do not worry child, the poison is slow acting. It won’t kill you before we get the chance to perform the ritual.” The ritual. The altar. The very place she had escaped once, but would be unable to escape again, the poison flowing through her blood incapacitating her and leaving her helpless.

xXx

The rain was coming down hard, putting some of the candles around them out as Ella was laid down on the stone altar. Her hands were now tied behind her back and a dirty cloth was placed between her teeth to muffle her whimpers, the symbol once again painted in blood on her face, just like Alice. “It was so nice of you to clear off the altar for me. It made this go so much more smoothly.” Ella wanted to feel anger at his words. She wanted to feel rage and spiteful defiance, but all she could feel was utter terror. All she could think about was the stupid fight she and Leon had. ‘If you wanted to die, then you wouldn’t have fought to survive in those woods for four days straight. You wouldn’t be here right now.’ He was right. She didn’t want to die. She wanted to live. She wanted to make sure Ashley got home safe. She wanted to tell Alice’s parents what happened to her, so they didn’t have to live the rest of their lives wondering why their baby girl never came home. She wanted to make sure that whatever was going on in this village was stopped, so no one was ever hurt by them again. She wanted to apologize to Leon, and tell him he was right. To get the chance to thank him for saving her life before she got herself killed in her moments of sorrow and grief. She had refused to apologize even though she knew she had been in the wrong. She had been so worried about coming to terms with the fact that she wanted to live because of what it meant, wanting to give herself time that she should have known she wouldn’t have. Now she was forced to accept that she wanted to live, moments before she was about to die. She couldn’t save herself this time, and Leon wouldn’t be there to save her either. 

She had told him not to come for her if something happened. She had harshly insulted him and then practically ignored him in the last couple of hours. He had a very important job to do. One he couldn’t get distracted from because she stupidly got herself taken, again. She wouldn’t come for her if she was him. And that was assuming he even knew what happened to her.

“I want you to know that I fought hard to keep you around. I saw your potential for greatness.” THe man brushed his dirtied, disgusting knuckles against her cheek, and Ella had enough strength in her to jerk her head, shoving his hand off, his touch making nausea swirl in her stomach. In the next moment, a large hand suddenly pressed down hard on her head, Ella gritting her teeth against the cloth at the pressure on her skull. “But Lord Saddler has determined you to be too much of a risk and nuisance, and I must follow my master's orders.” 

Ella couldn’t help but feel indignation at his words, as she didn’t see Leon lying on this table about to be sacrificed. What did she do to be so damn special?  She knew it didn’t really matter. It was her who was lying on the stone, and Ella could see the shadow of the executioner's arm raise above his head, the shape of the ax sending a sharp pang through her heart as she squeezed her eyes shut. She didn’t want to watch as it came down to end her life. The chants of the cultists surrounding them echoed in her still ringing ears, the man in the gold necklace’s voice joining them, louder than the rest. Ella was sure it would be the last thing she would hear before her death, and that she would still hear it echo forever wherever she ended up after, the words being harshly ingrained into her mind. She waited for the pain of the ax lodging into her neck to come, but in the next moment, just as the executioner started to bring it down, gunshots cut off the chanting of the villagers, the executioner stumbling back and dropping the weapon as the pressure on her head was removed. Ella’s eyes shot open as fast as they could to see Leon vault over the back of the circular fence, his gun raised as he opened fire on the men surrounding her. Relief and shock filled Ella’s body as Leon made quick work of the cult members, though she didn’t miss the shadow of the leader slink into the background before disappearing completely. She honestly didn’t care at that moment, too relieved to worry about him as the last of the cultists fell to the ground, dead. Leon ran over to her, removing the cloth from her mouth as his eyes quickly scanned for any wounds.

“You okay? Talk to me.” There was a slight panic in Leon’s voice she had never heard before, or maybe that was a poison induced hallucination. She didn’t know, and at that moment, it didn’t matter.

“‘M fine.” She murmured as Leon cut her hands free, Ella bringing them in front of her to help push her up off the stone. “I thought you wouldn’t come.” She told him honestly, and if it weren’t for the poison in her system, she could cry and hug him.

“Yeah, well you called it from the beginning. I don’t leave people behind.” Leon told her firmly, now standing in front of her and using her wet flannel shirt to wipe the marking off of her face. His touch was gentle, his hand having come up to take her chin between his fingers and tilt her head back just a bit so he could use the rain to his advantage. 

Ella appreciated the gesture immensely, as Leon didn’t have to take the time to remove the symbol, but he did. Maybe he couldn’t stand to see it there as much as Ella couldn’t stand to know it was there. Whatever his reasoning, she was relieved he was doing it.

Once the blood was gone, Leon looked into her eyes, not missing how unfocused and clouded over they were. He brought his now free hand up, pressing it against her cheek and feeling how unnaturally warm her skin was, indicating she had a fever. 

“What did they do to you?” He asked her, the Merchant’s tip coming to his mind. He hadn’t seen a wound on her, but it was possible he had missed it, having done a quick glance over her in his worry.

“P-Poison.” She murmured, a shaky hand moving to push her flannel to the side, exposing the tear in her shirt Leon couldn’t see before. 

“Shit.” He cursed under his breath, reaching into his pouch and pulling out a container of crushed red and yellow leaves.

Ella had never seen a yellow herb before, wondering where he had gotten that. She couldn’t find the strength to ask, however. Especially when he pressed on her shoulder to have her lie back on the stone again, panic flowing through her. In a surprisingly quick movement, she grabbed his shirt, gripping it as tightly as she could as she leaned forward into his chest and away from the stone.

“What are you doing?” She breathed weakly, not wanting to lie back on the altar and not understanding why he was trying to make her with the poison clouding her common sense. 

“Hey, it’s okay.” Leon soothed in a surprisingly gentle voice, his breath tickling her ear. “I just need to see the cut and treat it, alright?” His hands moved to her shoulders, resting on them as he waited for her to let him go. She knew if Leon wanted, he could easily overpower her and force her back onto the stone, but she knew he would never do that, even if she was being a bit unreasonable at the moment.   

Despite knowing that, Ella still hesitated, her head resting against his chest as she thought over what he wanted from her. She just couldn’t shake the anxiety at the thought of lying back down after everything that had occurred on this altar. She was about to ask if he could just move her to the ground, not understanding why she had to be on this stone any longer, but his soft voice cut through the fear in her mind. 

“You’ve gotta trust me, Ella.” Ella felt his hand gently cover the one holding onto his shirt, the warmth of his touch helping to calm her panic slightly. Ella wondered then if she trusted him, and surprisingly, the answer to that was pretty easy to accept considering everything they had been through. Leon had never given her a reason not to trust him, and he had proven multiple times that he would do whatever it took to keep them safe. He had even put his mission on hold to come save her, and if that didn’t prove that she could trust him, Ella didn’t know what did. 

Taking a deep, shaky breath, she nodded, finally releasing his shirt and allowing him to push her back onto the altar despite her anxiety flaring up once more.

Leon moved quickly as he lifted her shirt, revealing the angry red and pus filled shallow cut on the left side of her abdomen. Shaking the crushed leaves into his palm, he pressed them into the wound, Ella whimpering through her teeth at the burning sensation that immediately followed. She knew that meant it was working, but that didn’t change the fact that it hurt.

Leon then wrapped the cut in a bandage, keeping the leaves there and letting the cloth hold them in place so they could continue to take care of the poison in her system. Once he was done, he lowered her shirt and helped her sit back up. He knew she couldn’t stand, let alone walk, so without a word he grabbed the outsides of her thighs, turning and pulling her to where her legs were hanging over the side of the altar. 

Ella hadn’t been expecting it, a light gasp escaping her lips at the sudden movement. He had done it with such ease, his fingers pressing into her thighs sending the strangest feeling along her skin and up her spine, distracting her from the pain at her stomach for a moment. She promptly ignored it, which was easy to do with how out of it she was, and she watched as Leon removed the shotgun from its place on his back, setting it out of the way before he turned to face away from her. Understanding what he was going to do, Ella had to push the embarrassment that immediately filled her away, knowing she couldn’t walk on her own even if she hated acknowledging the fact. 

She tried as hard as she could to assist Leon in pulling her onto his back, Ella wrapping her arms around his neck as his hands found her thighs once more, Leon securing her in place and making sure she wouldn’t fall. “Try to hold on, okay?” He instructed, and Ella nodded, tightening her grip as much as possible as Leon grabbed his shotgun and kept it in hand as they left the ritual area. He tried to move quickly, but he also wanted to be careful of alerting any possible enemies that could have appeared along their path. Ella was quiet, but her expression had relaxed as the burning pain slowly subsided bit by bit, her mind a little less foggy.

“Where’s Ashley?” She asked, hoping Leon hadn’t left her vulnerable to come and save her. She felt bad enough as it was. She knew her hope was in vain, as clearly the young girl wasn’t here with them. Not being beside Leon left her vulnerable, and Ella knew she’d be beating herself up over this for a while. 

“She’s safe, don’t worry.” He promised, but Ella wouldn’t be able to not worry until she could see Ashley herself. If something happened to Ashley because Leon had to come save her, Ella would never forgive herself. “Where did you get that yellow herb?” She hummed another question tiredly, though it wasn’t really what she wanted to say and she knew she was stalling on her apology. “The Merchant gave it to me. He said the Priest liked to use poison.” He explained, his voice low and quiet. Ella took that in, assuming the Priest was the title of the man with the necklace, before scoffing lightly. “He’s so strange.” She murmured, referring to the Merchant, and Leon gave a small breathy chuckle, to her pleasant surprise. “I’d have to agree.” It was quiet once more after that as Ella contemplated what she was going to say next. Maybe it wasn’t the time or place, but she didn’t know when her next chance would be, and she had to say what was on her mind. “I’m sorry.” She finally started. “I’m sorry for snapping at you, and I’m sorry for making you come all this way to get me.” She had told him she wouldn’t get in his way, and here she was. “Ella-” Leon tried, but she didn’t let him finish. “You were right, and I was so caught up in grief and self-loathing that I didn’t want to hear it.” Her voice was a little stronger now as the herb worked its magic, and Ella was prepared to lay it out all on the table. “I. . .I feel responsible for Alice and my friends.” She admitted softly. “And I don’t. . .I don’t know why I got to survive and they didn’t.” She had been questioning it over and over in her head when she couldn’t keep the thoughts away, and she could never come up with an answer. Only more reasons as to why it was her fault. 

“I know.” Leon responded gently, having guessed she was experiencing survivor’s guilt. He understood it more than she knew, and he knew that telling her it wasn’t her fault wouldn’t help her. It was something she would have to come to terms with on her own. “I-I know I’m just dealing with survivor's guilt, but knowing that doesn’t make it go away.” A lump formed in her throat, and Ella had to swallow it and push her emotions down. “Even so, I shouldn’t have taken that out on you when all you’ve been trying to do is help, and I’m sorry.” Leon didn’t protest this time, and she took that as his way of accepting her apology. “And I’m sorry you put your mission on hold because I got captured again. I’ve been trying really hard to not get in your way and make myself as useful as possible.” “You don’t have to do th-” “Yes, I do. Ashley needs as much attention as possible. She’s a kid who should be having the time of her life in college right now, her biggest stressor being how she’s going to turn in a 25-page essay on time. Not dealing with this shitty situation and fighting for her life.” She told him firmly, lifting her head up and looking at him. “Besides, I’m also doing it for myself. I have to do for Ashley what I couldn’t do for Alice, Leon. I just have to.” The resolve was back in her tone despite her still weakened voice. She needed him to understand how important this was for her. Not only that, but Leon was included in her personal mission. She didn’t say it, but it was implied behind her words. She couldn’t let another person she cared about down. She refused. 

“Alright, I hear you. But you have to be more careful. You can’t help Ashley if you get yourself killed.” He relented, accepting her apology, but making sure she knew he was serious.

“Hey, no argument there. I’ve learned my lesson, and I promise to do my best.” She assured. She couldn’t promise that she wouldn’t throw herself in harm's way to save either him or Ashley, but she would do her best to be as careful as possible and not get herself killed.

With most of what she needed to say off of her chest, she let out a breath, leaning her head on his shoulder and taking a moment to let the burning subside some more. “You’re not useless by the way.” She hadn’t expected him to say anything more, looking back at him. “You’ve already saved my life a couple of times. I don’t know if I would have gotten this far without you.” The poison must still be affecting Ella more than she previously thought, because she found it hard to believe he had just said that, giving him a suspicious look. “Yes you would have.” She pointed out, and he paused. “Yeah, you’re right.” She was about to roll her eyes, but he continued on. “But it’s definitely been easier thanks to you.” Her halfhearted annoyance faded, and she smiled softly, his words helping make her feel a little less guilty for the trouble she’d put him through. Letting out a sigh, she once again rested her head on his shoulder, exhaustion hitting her as her body recovered from the poison. The warmth emitting from Leon was comforting, and it made it hard for her to stay awake, though she tried her best. At least her mind had quieted now that she said what she needed to say- well, mostly.

“Thanks for not listening to me by the way.” She hummed as she closed her eyes. “You don’t have to thank me. I rarely do that anyway.” If she wasn’t so grateful he had saved her life, she would have smacked him upside the head. xXx

“Ella!” Ashley called in relief as Leon carried Ella into the shelter where the Merchant was still sitting, having watched over Ashley this entire time. It hadn’t been only Ella who had noticed that the villagers kept away from the Merchant’s area.

“She’s asleep. The poison hit her hard.” Leon explained as he laid her down gently against a cloth sack, before lifting her shirt and beginning to remove the leaves and change the bandage. The cut was no longer red and full of pus, looking relatively normal, and Leon let out a small breath of relief. He had guessed the Priest wouldn’t use a strong poison considering he had wanted to do the ritual, but Leon had still been worried he was wrong. “But she’s okay?” Ashley had to ask, having already grown attached to the woman. Not only was she fighting to protect her, but she provided comfort and reassurance where Leon struggled to. “Yeah, she’s okay.” Leon assured her as he applied the antiseptic spray and wrapped the new bandage more securely. “Wonderful! Then I can look forward to you three getting out of my area pretty soon, eh?” The Merchant grinned, and Ashley rolled her eyes. “Don’t listen to him. He wouldn’t stop talking while you were gone. I think he needed the company.” The Merchant laughed at that, but didn’t deny it. Leon stocked up on the ammo he had used up, before looking at Ashley. “I’m going to go search the villages for anything we might have missed. Stay here.” He ordered her gently. “Right.” Ashley nodded, watching as Leon left before she turned to Ella, moving over and taking a seat next to her. She took in the peaceful expression on her face, letting her tense body relax as the worry and anxiety she had been feeling faded away completely. 

xXx

Ella stirred awake maybe a half hour later, looking to her side and seeing Ashley sitting beside her as she realized she had fallen asleep. 

That had been the last thing she had wanted, as she had already taken up enough time as it was. “How long was I out?” She questioned, sitting up and grimacing slightly at the pain in her stomach. It was nothing compared to what she had felt before, however, and it passed quickly. “About thirty minutes.” It was Leon who answered, Ella not originally seeing him sitting on the wooden table in the back, and she cringed. “Sorry.” She felt bad she had held them up even more, and she wished they had woken her. “Hey don’t be, you needed the rest, and besides, I don’t think the world ending could have woken you up.” Ashley giggled, and Ella felt a bit sheepish, quickly thinking up a way to divert the attention from herself. “Hey, at least I wasn’t out for three hours, right?” She knew Leon would know what she meant, the blonde shooting her a look while Ashley was confused. “Yeah, well get going. If you’re not buying, you need to get out of my area.” Ella looked to the Merchant, her brows raising. He hadn’t actually sounded upset. In fact, he seemed amused if anything, and Ella grinned at him, not buying the act he was trying to sell. “You know you love us.” She teased, and he scoffed. “You mean I love your money.” He corrected with a laugh, and Ella shook her head, not expecting anything less from the man. “Sure.” She chuckled, before getting up. “Thank you by the way.” She told him, not forgetting how he had sold Leon the yellow herb. He didn’t respond out loud, just giving her a wink, and she smiled. “Alright enough sitting around, let’s get moving yeah?” She focused back on the task at hand. Leon watched her closely, making sure she was really okay, before he grabbed her gear, bringing it over to her. “Yeah, let’s get out of here.” She gave him an appreciative smile. It was time to get Ashley home and finish this.

xXx

“My lord, I beg you to please reconsider! He abandoned his mission to come for her! This means he cares for her! She can still be of great use to us if you would allow me to continue pursuing my goal!” The Priest bowed respectfully in front of Lord Saddler as he pleaded his case, desperate for the chance to impress him. It was quiet a few moments before the hooded man spoke. “Very well. But if she falls to our forces, then let this foolish goal go.” The Priest was grateful for the permission of his Lord, and he wouldn’t fail him. He’d prove to him that his creation would be useful to their goal.

[usagirln12003]

Christopher "Chris" Hartley: Hogwarts AU

Christopher "Chris" Hartley is a Half-Blood wizard that was born on the 16th of April 1987 and started attending Hogwarts on the 1st of September 1998, being sorted into Ravenclaw House.

He has a Cypress wand with a Unicorn Hair core.

His Patronus is Non-Corporeal.

His favorite subject is Muggle Studies and his least favorite is History of Magic.

Chris is described by his fellow Ravenclaws as methodical, protective, and humorous. According to his friends, he loves muggle technology, dislikes being anywhere without access to it, and dreams of working with it one day.

Chris has a passion for jokes and all things technological, both of which have earned him a reputation as the muggle-nerd of his friend group; yet it's a role he seems perfectly comfortable in filling. While Chris is an affable guy, he takes his self-appointed post as the "class clown" of the clique very seriously. His witty sense of humor is appreciated by his friends, but his tendency to repeatedly pull pranks can be off-putting after a while. Chris appears eager to impress others whether it's with his humor, a demonstration of his spell-casting skills, the latest cutting-edge tech he's picked up, or complex theoretical concepts like the Butterfly Effect.

That latter aspect ties in to Chris' analytical mindset. Chris likes to gather information so he can make informed decisions. He is shown to be very observant as, when he finds clues like a wanted poster, a newspaper fragment, a light from below, or a threatening letter, he's quick to piece together their interconnectivity as indications of a serious threat. Chris is also a natural skeptic of accient magic. He ridicules the thought of Horcruxes and is quick to dismiss the idea of a ghost by pointing out the illogic of a spirt that would set up a hidden camera. Still, he doesn't make a display of his intelligence to be a know-it-all; rather, he wants his friends to benefit from his understanding.

According to Dr. Hill, Chris' greatest fear is failure. Emily shares this fear, but while she displays this trait with forms of aggression, Chris manifests it via inaction. This is reflected in his trouble confessing his real feelings towards his crush Ashley. This anxiety in being vulnerable with her has made him the target for teasing from Josh, and even Sam expresses frustration at his dithering. His fears are made most apparent during the events of his sixth year. After his initial encounter with one of the Psycho's traps leads to a seemingly fatal encounter, Chris is left feeling devastated over his role in failing to save both of his friends.

Regardless, the events in the Forbidden Forest, prove to be a true test of Chris' mettle. It becomes obvious that he is very protective and truly cares for his friends. The events in the Shrieking Shack ignite a desire to get everyone else to safety during the rest of the night and instill a driven focus in his mind that helps him push past his normal limitations. This is seen as he repeatedly insists on finding Sam, risks his life to rescue Josh, and finally overcomes his apprehension and confesses his feelings to Ashley. He was also ready to lay down his own life to save Ashley in one of the Psycho's traps.

[tearueful]

I don't have access to discord to dump in the right server but I must dump my brain because I need it oUT OF MY HEAD

and anyway, it's Homelander drabble ideas because of course

-and man I want to write a Soulmate AU with Homelander because GOD DAMN THE ANGST POTENTIAL WOULD BE DELICIOUS because he's so broken and doesn't even consider himself human and if soul mates were a thing would he even think he'd have one? Because the guy keeps saying he doesn't even have a birthday or a mother so why would he have a soulmate? Bad products don't get soulmates. It hurts because he wants a human connecting so badly. He wants to be loved so badly and a soulmate would be a guarantee of that.

This idea doesn't have legs because I can't decide on HOW soulmates would work because it needs to be in a NOT OBVIOUS WHEN BY YOURSELF thing cause OBVIOULSY if it was a mark/red string then he'd KNOW and stop at NOTHING to find them. That or it's the most generic word if it's one of those AUs where you're marked by the first word you speak to one another or something...but even then I could see Homelander being THAT sort of asshole to demand Vought find his soulmate or SO FUCKING HELP HIM ASHLEY FUCKING FIND THEM.

Also, a drabble of friends gossiping somewhere in Vought tower and one is bragging that they shacked up with a D-list supe or something and the Reader says, "WELL, I'm dating Homelander!" and because Homelander is Homelander he hears this and just pops up and is like "Hi babe, what's up? Why don't you give me a kiss" because Homelander kisses are fun All smug as hell because hey, look at this idiot mud person offering themselves up as a new toy for me? Time to fuck with them. Hijinks ensue. Sexy, sexy hijinks. Will keep this in my pocket when I just NEED to write some PORN.

ALSO ALSO, because of @/arealtrashact's Homelander puppy art just- WHAT IF HE WAS THOUGH? (Look at this shit) WHAT if Homelander got cursed to be a puppy and he get's picked up by some kind soul (Someone in The Boys, a rando??) and taken care of? He HATES it because he's a DOG and no one know it's him and he's being treated like an ANIMAL and he's so full of RAGE about that but then he get's scratched behind the ears and that feels fantastic. He just melts because that man is TOUCH STARVED and now he can get casual intimacy with no fear of it being a tool to control him. No, he's just being petted because he's such a pretty boy. Dude would be WEAK and maybe being a dog isn't so bad? Fucker would learn some fucking humility for certain and a lot more humanity. Princess and the frog that shit to change him back in the most hilarious way possible, too. Fluff, fluff, fluff. He'd be a velcro dog 300%.

Also someone in the discord mentioned an established relationship drabble idea where Homelander is all huffy because he's being ignored for video games and I just- adgikagdjascvhJHGVFHGAc WANT TO WRITE THAT TOO because no one can convince me that Homelander doesn't eat pussy like a PRO. That man goes down like he's STARVING, fucking drinks up his partner like a fresh glass of milk. Good luck ever getting him off of you. He's so broken that sex is the only way he knows to show his love with a romantic partner, so he PUTS HIS WHOLE SOUL INTO DRAINING YOURS. He'd be such a little annoying shit, "Oh no, Sweetheart. Keep playing your little game. Don't mind me. Oh, did you just die? What a shame." Maybe fucking flashing the heat vision in a blatant warning, "Keep playing." Since you know, you dared to ignore him and now you're going to suffer for it in the best worst way possible.

[lipglossanon]

i was conflicted on how to write krauser’s arm so i’m omitting that for my sake but ahem,,,,, i’ve been un-censoring my asks and i’ve been on the fence about writing about my military kink cause that’s the only reason i’m horny for krauser,,, (i want to get railed by a muscular man in camo pants and a balaclava- not part of his outfit but leon fuels my need for men in tac gear raping me so i need to spread the love🤭) but i’ve always imagined it going like you’re sent out there to find leon post him not returning ashley or ada returns ashley and leon goes full bug boi but can appear normal when it suits him and he teams up with krauser so you’re eventually cornered and jack comes up behind you and grabs your waist hoisting you up before carrying you somewhere with leon trailing behind you before you’re locked in a little shack/safe house and there’s a thin mattresses like blanket on the floor in the corner covered in dried blood and fluids (presumably from others) you’re restrained and gagged on the mattress/blanket when jack comes over and kneels between your spread legs and tries to get you to answer him which you don’t so he stabs your thigh making eye contact while you let out a muffled shriek and he asks you again but you’re too shocked to answer so he shoves three fingers in your stab wound and twist making you openly sob and try to kick him away so he spits on your face after wiping his bloodied hand on your exposed breast’s, before he gets up to leave but not he kicks your pussy multiple times making you shut your legs so he puts his full weight on one foot to stand in your thigh making you groan and arch your back. jack leaves to converses with leon so he decides to try and talk to you, taking the gag out and reasons with you to no avail so he pulls out his gun and holds it to your head and every question you don’t answer he pulls the trigger making you drip more slick onto the mattress/blanket which jack points out so leon trails his gloved fingers across your folds noting how wet you are while jack laughs from across the room making you stifle a moan but boy they catch on quick, you try to move so leon punches you in the thigh causing you to drop to the mattress and cry/moan, he puts you on your side back to the wall punches your thigh again making you spread your legs further so jack comes over and hands leon his knife and says “i wanna see what else makes this dirty whore moan”, pulling out his cock he shoves it down your throat while leon meticulously cuts your legs before krauser pulls his length out coming on your face and spitting into your mouth while you whine and ask “hit me again daddy” he laughs shoving leon away before landing one right on your clit making you scream and say “thank you sir” leon chuckles quietly to himself and crouches down behind you and whispers in your ear “want me to stab you baby?” making you drip more while jack rubs circles on the outside of your hole watching you clench around nothing and you can do nothing but whine and nod not prepared for the onslaught of leon putting his entire weight on your chest while he straddles you, keeping you caged in enough for jack to stab your abdomen until you orgasm not realizing how much this turned you whether it was the pain or the whispers in your ear about how hard your were making leon but regardless you’re dizzy, losing blood fast, they stop what they can and when you awake after passing out you’re riding leon with jacks hand tightly in your hair keeping you up against his chest while shoving himself in your cunt that leon already is occupying making you thrash and scream from the intrusion and he wraps his arms around you restraining you further while they both abuse your pussy making you squirt and they laugh and call you names making you feel flushed so they keep it up with counter thrusts, every time leon pulls out jack is pushing his in and you’re just constantly stimulated,,, i tried not to get too graphic 🤭 there was a lot i cut because i wanted realism and them eating you alive while you cum on leons leg wasn’t giving it 👀

- 💀

💀 anon!! 👋

Always a joy to see you in my inbox 🤭

And as usual mark me down for scared and horny 🤭 😝

Totally get omitting the arm (like how do you write that in 🤔) and totally understand the military kink; OG Krauser has it in spades 🥵 although new Krauser has all those new saucy one liners and way more tactical gear 🤔 both are good 😝

But holy guacamole 😵‍💫 just them basically tag teaming you in everything has got me thinking silly thoughts. Why is it so hot for them to be so mean?? 🥴

[undertalefanwriter7]

A Summer in Time Chapter 1: Pressing Rewind

“Now boarding the bus to Boring, California.” The bus driver said. Ashely just got straight onto the bus with her headphones in while Mabel and dipper were saying goodbye to Ford and Stan with tears in their eyes. She sighs as Mabel cries over leaving Waddles behind which cause Ford and Stan to threaten the bus driver with weapons, and Dipper and Wendy have their heart to heart. As soon as they’re done and the bus leaves Ashley closes her eyes and falls asleep from all the exhaustion she feels every time they stop weirdmagedon.

Once her eyes close and the bus passes through the border of gravity falls she’s shaken awake by an excited Mabel. “Ash!Ash!Ash! We’re here! We’re finally in Gravity Falls! The place where we’ll spend a whole entire summer!” She said practically bouncing in place.

“Yep…an entire summer…away from my friends,” she mumbles “it’s gonna be soo much fun.” she said crossing her arms.

"Aww come on Ash it's gonna be fun. I promise!" Mabel said.

Ashely just sighs and keeps her headphones in. To be honest the first time she restarted the entire summer she was kinda excited for more summer and to become a psychic for a summer. But after the third, fourth, fifth summer in a row everything just got boring and predictable. She then tried to get out of the time loop by talking to Ford about it. When that didn't work she just gave up on ever trying to get out of the same three months of hell.

"Now at Gravity Falls" the bus driver said. Ashley got up and got her bags inside the shack.

"I'm super excited to decorate our room Dipper! It's a shame that Ashely won't be in it as well" Mabel said

"Well I mean she is nineteen Mabel she doesn't want to share a room with us and she does need her privacy" Dipper said grabbing his bags.

Mabel grabs her own bags and runs up to their new room.

Ashely passes by Stan who greets her by the door in his tour guide voice which she just waves to as she walks to the room she's stayed at for twelve summers in a row. Now thirteen.

After she helps Mabel and Dipper set up their room she sets up hers and stares at the ceiling 'another summer of monsters, crazy dream demons, and giant babies. I don't know how much more I can take' she thinks before closing her eyes to fall asleep.

Somewhere in the nightmare realm:

Bill glitches back into the nightmare realm like nothing happened. Like he wasn't literally just erased from the world a couple seconds ago. "HA! THAT AXOLOTL ACTUALLY HELPED! OKAY I GET ANOTHER CHANCE WITH THIS!" He exclaimed excitedly "AND THIS TIME I WON'T BE ERASED!" He yelled into an empty realm

Zhofrph wr judylwb idoov!

Notes:

This is my first fan-fiction I’ve ever written so I hope it’s good 😂. Also can y'all tell me do you want me to go about this chronologically but with some uncannon things or should I just show Ashley's perspective of things.

[grigori77]

Critical Role, Campaign 3 Episode 57

Oh no. Not Love Shack. Leave it alone, Sam. How could you? "Rock lobster barbarian from Hell?" SERIOUSLY?!!! "I'm starting to lose the will to live! Please put me out of my misery!" Really, Sam? Oh dear gods ...

Taliesin: "Did you say gothy?" Ah yes, that's catnip to Jaffe.

"Applebee's Soulcycle" again ... (snort)

Ashley and Laura rocking the caps, I love it ...

Yes, they are all talking to each other in their heads. Chetney (immediately): "Balls!"

So clearly sound = gruesome death.

FCG: "If the stag had a dream I could talk to it." Yeah ...

Chetney: "Get loose, FRIDA, get loose!" FRIDA: "Someone oil me!"

Yuck ... fumes ... lovely ...

Massive tower. ALWAYS a dead giveaway.

"Round here" ... Counting Crows, now? Oh, that's set Matt off, that dark grin! Travis: "No, don't roll, don't roll!"

There's motes and spores IN THE AIR?!!! It's like the Upside Down out here? Not good ...

Aaaaaaaah ... undead traces? Lovely ... it's getting worse ... Matt is totally messing with Travis now. XD

Creepy tree ... CREEPY TREE ...

Imogen: "A fiendish tree? Is that loke a thing?" Chetney: "I don't know, I didn't read the books!"

"Orgies"?

Oh fuck ... it's a PEOPLE TREE ... that's nasty ...

Ashley: "How do I have a minus 1 (for Nature check)? I rolled a ZERO. What ARE plants?"

Deanna: "I'M DISTRACTED!!!" Imogen: "We can all hear that!" Deanna: "Shit! I thought this was like a single line!"

My gods, it's like Annihilation. With dead horses ... oh shit, yes, don't let Imogen see THAT!!!

Oh fuck ... not Fearne's topiary again ...

Decompose? Are you SURE? In THIS place?

In a nutshell, Imogen means STOP MESSING WITH THIS SHIT!!!

Chimes? Really? And a HOWL?!!!

Chetney has advantage on scent based stuff and Travis STILL rolls balls ... and Chetney inhales a spore! XD

Slow going, so another stealth check, but Pass Without A Trace is still up ... phew ...

"We're in Molaesmyr, it's Upside Down day!"

Ask the Changebringer? FCG casts Divination ... so what's the skinny? Ooh, wind based response! Cool ... Imogen: "That's the first time I've ever seen a god actually DO something."

"Flippers"?

More ghosts? Fuck ... it's the Paths of the Dead! Not good!

Little teeny FRIDAs! That's adorable! :3

Aabria: "Can I insight check the ghosts before you say the scary thing?"

Shiiiiiiiiit! That didn't go well at all ...

Fuck, these thing are moving like the Weeping Angels! Aaaaaaaaaaah!

Channel Divinity ... JJ Abrams lens flare? Cool ...

Am I the only one thinking that that's a whole FUCKLOAD of rolls?

Five left ... and FOLL INITIATIVE?!!! Shiiiiit ...

Holy fuck that is a SWEET Battlemap ...

Slightly mesmerised by the minicam's slow pan ... O.O

Spiritual Weapon! A tiny FCG? Cute ... Superman style ... "Can you read my mind?"

Deanna turns her staff into a HALBERD?!!! Awesome!

Another Spiritual Weapon ... giant Dawnfather mace! Cool. Boosh!

Travis: "We don't need to see a crazy mini with baby arms." Don't give him ideas, Travis!

Fuck, there's something watching from the tower? Great ...

The ghost tries to REACH INTO Deanna? Seriously? Fuck ... Dirty 20 gives it a hit, though.

Tiny FRIDA whirlwind? Hmmm ...

Chetney getting attacked now ... Charisma Save ... 2? Shiiiiit ... and now he's POSSESSED?!!!

Now FCG? 13 ... what, Us that NOT good enough? Oh ... just worked! Phew ...

Imogen would be a hard attack, wouldn't she? And Fearne KILLS her save too, NICE!!!

Mind Whip! Cool ... and they FAIL!!! Ouch ... and Laura rolls THREE ONES in damage? Oh fuck, the dice gods are CRUEL ...

Mister! Yay ... Fearne shoots out three Scorching Marisha Rays? XD Cute ... all three hit ... aaaaand it doesn't do much ... oof ... they're resistant to fire. Crap.

Chetney is now ATTACKING FCG with Turmoil! Crap ... 17 points of damage! Ouch!

FCG: "Chetney, what's gotten into you?" Laura: "Her name's Rebecca!"

Divine Strike! Yuuuuuusssss!!!

Sam: "I'd say I am a Close Friend to FRIDA now since we've swapped spit!" XD

Deanna beelining for Chetney ... Greater Restoration! Nice! "GET OUT!!!" at the possessing spirit ... BOOF!!! Nice ... Full blown exorcism ...

Deanna: "Are you all right?" Chetney: "I'm a little salty!" Deanna: "Thanks, I hate it!"

Desperate crossbow action ... and that actually WORKS against ghosts? Trippy ...

Aabria (at Sam): "God, baffle your fucking dice!"

Scare effect ... ouch ...

Sam's flask ... RIP Gerry? Oh. My. Gods ...

Imogen casts Dissonant Whispers ... 3D6 psychic damage! Cool ...

FCG gets to Divine Strike on an Attack of Opportunity ... and KILLS that ghostly bitch! Nice!

Mister's mad so he shoots flaming shit at the ghosts! XD Fearne chucks an Ice Knife at another one ... nooooooo, she backs up and takes a devastating Withering Strike! Aaaaaaaah ... thankfully FCG takes HALF of it ...

Oh ... that Ice Knife ghost kill was REALLY COOL, though ...

Ashley: "I'm not scared anymore!" Aabria: "OWN your power, girl!"

Chetney gets the HDYWTDT ... Matt: "You kill it. That's what you get."

"A large wing type tip"? REALLY, Matthew?

Matt makes Ashley roll for concentration ... Nat1? Fuck ... she just RECASTS Pass Without A Trace instead ... phew ...

And now there's something FLYING AROUND out there ... great ...

"Trained as an absolute unit ..." XD

Oh ... that is FREAKY ... multiple legs AND streamers? Forty odd feet wingspan ... and NO HEAD?!!! Sweet fuck, Mercer ...

Creepy place ... are they SERIOUSLY gonna stay here? And there's a tree growing in the middle of the place ... okay ... and it's got a face like the other one ... lovely ... carefully please, FRIDA!

And now it's GRABBED them ... great ... RUN!!! Oh, that wasn't fun ...

Impressive view ... and COMPLETELY terrifying.

Don't talk to the tree, Fearne. PLEASE don't talk to the tree.

Still a half mile to go ... time to move, then ... znd FRIDA keeps watch ... hmmm ...

Chetney: "If only I had a Bonded Blessing." Aabria's explosive laugh is adorable. Sam: "With hindsight that was a mistake ..."

Time for a break.

They're now lost, essentially ... shit roll, Sam!

And now FCG has now fallen into s hole that's just erupted open in the ground! Shit! Everybody gets hit by the miasma! Aaaaaaaah!

Imogen pulls FCG out JUST IN TIME ... but they feel like SHIT. Oh, discussions of their potentially LOSING IT ensue ... yeah ...

Chetney (while they all start babbling): "We're sll gonna die. This is how it happens."

Crap ... the flying thing is COMING ... and it has one massive purple eye instead of a head ... and it's been hunting? So maybe it's gonna be busy for a while, at least ...

Time for FRIDA to head out snd join the others ... and that's a Nat1 on stealth ... crap ...

FRIDA gets halfway back to the others ... Travis: "Oh, he's in storytelling mode." Yup, bad sign ...

Oh, that is a NASTY tumble ... and NOISY. Double crap ...

Howling ... shit ...

"The barks and snarls of MULTIPLE beasts" ... oh, that is LOVELY ...

RUUUUUUUUN!!!

Chetney wolfs out ... but only his UPPER HALF?!!! Ye gods ... running round on creepy little baby legs ...

Oh, decisions decisions ... this is fucking CHAOS ...

Seething Storm? Whoa ... that is AWESOME ...

Oh my gods ... Fearne PICKS UP a sobbing Deanna and just BOOKS IT for the tower.

Wait ... did that actually WORK?!!!

Chetney Donald Ducking it with his tiny legs ... Matt (dismayed chuckling): "That is HORRIBLE ..."

Stoneshape for cover? Cute ... is it gonna work?

The Gildhollow Tower ... hmmm ... looks like it's gonna be HARD to get in ... but lots of COVER, at least ...

Dire wolves? Oh shit ... MUTATED dire wolves ... oh, it's just ONE BIG FUCKED UP RAT KING of a creature ... that is HORRIFYING ...

Everybody's all over the place and it's FUCKING CHAOS ... and now it's dusk ... lovely ...

Imogen tries to Send to FCG ... and Matt makes her roll a D100 ... shit ... is her hair gonna fall out again?

Chetney and FCG home in on the tower ... snd now it's howling! Great ...

Trying to find some way into the tower ... and now Imogen's just CLIMBING up the growth on the outside ...

Guardian of the Faith? Okay ... shaped like a giant Chetney wolf? Cool ...

Fearne makes a Mirthful Leap ... nice roll!

Everybody's climbing now ...

FCG: "Imogen, what the fuck are you doing?" Imogen: "SOMEBODY'S gotta save their asses!" (hair flip)

This fucking thing can CLIMB?!!! Shiiiiit ...

Hiding inside the windows now ...

Guardian of the Faith is SERVING right now! Nice!

Oh, so IT IS the Wolf King. Lovely ...

Ah ... it's backing off ... phew ... thank fuck for that ...

Freaky attempt to comfort Deanna from werewolf Chetney ... "Relax." Deanna: "I can't relax, this is CREEPY!!!"

So ... to business. This is where Ludinus came from ... what can we learn?

Chetney's smell adventure ...

Laura: "That's skin ..." Oh PLEASE don't tempt fate like that ...

Heavily looted ... shit ... not a good sign ...

Fearne tries to "Vibe Check" the place ... XD

This is indeed The Place. Okay ... going upstairs, then ...

Let's not loot the nasty mouldy corpse, guys ...

Traps ... crap ... burn? Oh dear ... a glyph? Hmmmm ... Dispel Magic! Quickly! Oh ... that was cool.

The ring ... snack or souvenir? Hmmm ...

Investigating the weird papery strips ... it IS shed skin ... charming ... and now we're considering the possibilities ... oh boy ... whatever it is, it can't be good.

Looking for clues ... mouldy scroll ... oooh ...

Casting Mending go try and repair the scroll ... SMART.

I'm sorry ... Laerryn? REALLY?!!! O.O

"An Exandrian TED Talk" ... XD

"What is her name? There is power in names."

I swear, one mention of Exandria Unlimited: Calamity and Travis starts channeling Cerrit ... :3

Oooh ... Chetney funds a clue ... intriguing ... what is it?

Arcana Check ... Aabria rolls a NAT20!!! Nice ...

It NEEDS magic? Ooooh ... interesting.

Matt: "FCG, a fickle bitch." Laura: "Fickle Care Giver?" XD

Trying to get at whatever it is in the back of FRIDA's mind ...

Something SOFT ... oh fuck ...

Everything starts shaking ... great ...

A pinkish OOZE?!!! Really? FACES?!!! WHAT THE FUCK?!!!

Some freakish shape-shifting NIGHTMARE ... Matt: "And that's where we're gonna end for the night." SHIIIIIIIIT!!!