#I know Sun's not technically the one who does the murders... but still

[flapperfool]

[pippin-katz]

Edwin’s Empathy

Something I find interesting is how people, characters and the audience, react to Edwin's behavior. Specifically, the way he responds and talks. He's seen as cold and rude, lacking empathy. It's interesting because he is actually very empathetic, but shows it in ways that others don't pick up on.

For example, when Crystal is talking about her memories coming back, he asks if she remembered anything "useful". Charles indirectly scolds him by saying, "We don't have to be all business all the time, do we?"

Charles associates Edwin's question with business, but in reality, it's incredibly intelligent and empathetic is its own way. In order for Crystal to find her family, she needs to remember "useful" information. She's made her desperation to find her parents very clear throughout their time in Port Townsend. Edwin asking if she remembered anything "useful" is for her benefit, not just for business. Technically, she's a client, but he's also asking her as a friend.

A different example is how he handles Susan Kesler, the sister of the mother from the Devlin House. It's longer, so it's under the cut! ↓

Susan starts off on the assumption that they already know about the Devlin Family Murders, but Crystal interrupts to let her know they don't. Susan admits out loud that it is: "still hard to talk about." She recounts the murders, and after the comment from Crystal about the father being a monster, Edwin says, "But there is no inherent supernatural mystery to the murder."

Now, Charles immediately scolds him for "bedside manner" after he says this, to which Edwin responds with, "We are detectives who solve supernatural mysteries." He then turns to Susan, and says, "You already know who the killer is."

It might seem like he's being insensitive, but Edwin is actually being more mindful of Susan's feelings than the others, and no one picks up on it.

She doesn't want to talk about the murders. It hurts her to talk about the events of that night. She knows what happened. That is not why she's consulting the detectives. She is clearly there for a different reason, and Edwin steers the conversation towards that rather than dwelling on the murders from the past.

In fact, as soon as he says this, Susan's energy goes back up a bit. She had been a normal energy level when she entered, then it dropped while having to retell what happened to her sister and her family. When Edwin points out that the murders aren't a mystery, she jumps on the opportunity to get to the real issue.

"Someone... Something is still inside the house where they died," she says. Her voice has significantly more energy.

And Edwin does not dismiss her by saying, "And you know this for a fact?" He's not skeptical when he asks the question. It's completely genuine. He's collecting as much information as he can.

Susan is even more confident when she tells him about it. "I inherited the house after their deaths, but could never bring myself to go in. Then, after I died last week, I just wanted to visit one last time." It's only when she specifically recounts the screaming that she gets upset again.

She actually seems relieved to share her experience, like it's cathartic to tell someone. In fact, we have no idea how long ago Susan actually went to the house. It was probably before the boys were even in Port Townsend.

If we pay attention to the timeline here, Susan says she died "last week". The boys have only been in town for three days.

Day One: - arrived by ferry - went to Jenny's - visited Becky's parents - found Ester's house By then it's dark outside.

Night One: - went to the malt shop - had their fight - Edwin lassoed the cat - Crystal talked to Jenny & Charles showed her his parents - Crystal told the truth & they foughtt again - formulated a plan Then Jenny told Crystal to go to bed.

Day Two: - broke into Esther's house - rescued Becky - fought Esther - got Becky home The sun has gone down when they're approached by the cat.

Night Two: - approached by cat - taken to the Cat King - Edwin got whisked off & trapped by the bracelet It's morning when he's returned to the warehouse, and that is the start of their third day.

Day Three: - fought about the bracelet - got mail from the Ghost Postman - Crystal bumped into Niko who fainted - the boys went to Tragic Mick's - doctor looked over Niko - Crystal read her mind - the boys went to their office for books - Niko woke up & Crystal talked to her through the bathroom door - the boys came back with the book about parasites - talked to Niko the first time - Niko walked downstairs while possessed - the boys went to the woods with a map drawn by Niko - found the shrine, got the vase, & fought skeletons - returned to Crystal being scolded by Jenny - talked to Niko the second time - the Sprites started to blow her up - Crystal baited them out & Charles caught them It's nighttime when they transition to after the case.

Night Three: - Crystal & Charles talked by the window - Niko came back with blonde hair & met the boys - Niko met the Sprites - Crystal & Niko talked about writing to her mom - Postman showed up with mail & told them about the line of ghosts

It is the morning of their fourth day in Port Townsend when Susan Kesler goes to them for help. She's likely been dwelling on this for at least that long, not knowing what to do about it. Susan is probably relieved to finally tell someone about this, and people who will believe her at that.

By the end of the interview, she's confident when she tells them there's something horrible still in the house, and that she can't move on until she knows her family is at peace. She's even smiling when she offers them her jar of money.

Edwin, whether he realizes it or not, actually made Susan more comfortable by being "dismissive" of the murders.

There's also small moments where his empathy is on display in more obvious scenarios that the characters in the show don't fully acknowledge.

Despite Monty immediately labeling Edwin as "judgmental" for his opinion on astrology, he's the opposite when Niko expresses her concern for going to the house. She doesn't even have to finish her sentence before he's offering her a small smile and telling her that he completely understands. When Crystal comes out of the Washer Woman's realm and says she gave her another riddle, he says, "I am truly sorry she did not get you closer to your family, but at least now we know there is some kind of sea monster." His inflection goes up at the end, like he's trying to "look on the bright side". He finds Simon in Hell, gets mad for all of two minutes, then tries to defend him against Despair, offers him his forgiveness, and helps him forgive himself, unknowingly saving Simon from an eternity of torture.

Edwin might have convinced himself back in the 1910s that he's not good with other people, but he got out of Hell and found a boy dying in an attic, and instead of walking away while Charles didn't know he was there, he brought him a lantern, talked to him, made him laugh, and read him to sleep as he passed.

Charles says in the first episode that he "forgets how to talk to people", but I think a more accurate statement would be that he communicates differently than most people.

(ko-fi)

[azen13]

The Lives and Losses of Lovers

Description: This is actually inspired by a post by @lum1nesc3nce, which you can find here! TLDR: Zhongli x God!Reader, where Zhongli kills his lover but they stay alive. This does have a bit more of a Yandere!Zhongli flavor, though, so be warned!

CW: Yandere Themes, Descriptions of Violence, Descriptions of Blood, Murder, Mild Gore,

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

The patio is warm, blessed with the touch of the sun’s earliest rays. Already you and Zhongli sit in two comfortable chairs; he sips on tea, you on coffee. It is a scene that has played out a thousand times, yet one Zhongli never tires of. He never tires of seeing your face aglow, of feeling your body leaning against his, of knowing you are here, miraculously breathing life through your bones and skin.

“My dear, I was wondering,” Zhongli starts, his soft contemplative voice shattering the flimsy silence blanketing the porch. “Would you like to accompany me to Liyue Harbor to purchase some groceries?” It is a reward–he thinks as he revels in your surprised reaction–for how understanding you have been in these turbulent times. With the whole mess regarding the Fatui cleared up and a mundane mortal life ahead of him, Zhongli can afford to spend more moments with you in sweet, blissful love.

Perhaps one day it will make up for that vile scene years ago, the moment his heart became stone: your body splayed stunningly on the ground, looking like the most gilded, horrific masterpiece he had ever seen. Painted in sunlit hues, his spearhead sticking from your chest splattered with blood made of molten gold. 

Even nearly dying you looked breathtaking. 

He is still suffering from regret for the decision. At the time, the situation was looking grim; Guizhong and Azhdaha were both gone, leaving you his only close friend. He spent many moonlit nights sharing tea and hushed conversation, as well as tears and heartfelt confessions with you. Zhongli is not the god of words, but just the sight of your iridescent eyes made him want to tell you every trouble and every worry had. You were his most valuable treasure, his lover through and through. Your contract with him, to always stand by side, loyal to one another, made him so weak, so soft, so human.

But that was the issue. Everyone knew of his love, his tender affection; unbecoming of a god who wielded earth and stone as weapons. His life was plagued by phantoms day and night. When he dreamed he envisioned you being kidnapped by some evil god like Osial and being tortured. Killed. Doomed to a fate worse than death, even. In the day, every action you did reminded him of a delicate tree weathering a deluge. Your branches swayed in the intense winds and even the earth couldn’t anchor you.

So he pleaded. He begged you to stay tucked away in his private domain where no great evil could stalk after you, promising to love you for an eternity of eternities. He would love you until every mountain had become a valley. But you refused, saying you wanted to live every facet of life, turning the world like a kaleidoscope in your hands.

The mirrors shifted and the skies turned red.

Those prophecies he had dreamt, uttered to him by ghosts haunting his mind, came true. You were taken away by some pesky, lowly god, and confessed all that you knew. That was fine. Zhongli was made of stone and Cor Lapis, and even if this insignificant insect of a god knew his weaknesses–few as they were–Zhongli eviscerated them.

But the contract.

When the god was sealed away beneath the sea, Zhongli fell to his knees, mouth opened but unable to utter any words.

Zhongli is not the god of words.

It is horribly tragic, he mourns as he stares at your hollow expression, that you must face the wrath of the rock because of a ridiculous choice of words. “To always stand by his side.” You have technically betrayed him.

The earth shakes for weeks afterwards. The sudden freak earthquake is talked about for weeks on end before people move on, as life does. Zhongli does not. His memory of you remains petrified, his new specter. He will never truly love again for thousands of years. Every time he is reminded of you, a piece of his heart chips away

But then you came back. 

That day is amber, crystallized in his mind. Seeing you in the bustling streets of Liyue Harbor, so lost after centuries away from home. At that moment, Zhongli decides he will not make the same mistake twice. He would have preferred more time to draw you in carefully, but he is afraid now. Afraid that some hideous twist of fate will rip you from him again. So he whisks you away to his private domain, and drafts up a new contract, binding you to him in matrimony forever. 

Please forgive him, he begs after you sign the contract in gold, tears dripping down your cheeks. He only wishes to protect you; he has always wished to protect you. But the world is cruel to lovers, and not even the strong can uphold such a delicate thing. 

In Zhongli’s private domain, wicked things like time and fate are nonexistent. Zhongli is the only god that rules these lands. He is a benevolent god, if a little possessive. After being deprived of you for so long, he craves your presence, he claims. Day and night, he tries to spend every living moment with you. When he cannot, you are ever-present in his mind–a living, breathing thing instead of the dead spirits that once terrorized it for all those years.

Some days you seem despondent, craving room to spread your branches far and wide. But Zhongli simply chuckles and kisses the top of your head; he smells the gentle scent of your shampoo, knowing this is what is best for you. He whispers it quietly, lacing sweet nothings and honeyed words into his voice as he pulls you into his arms. You haven’t tried to fight him on this in years, either. It’s part of the reason why he has proposed going on a  little trip to Liyue Harbor. Perhaps if all goes well, he’ll allow more trips out of the private domain. All supervised by his watchful eye, of course. After a few moments of stunned surprise, you finally have the courage to speak. “I-I’d love to. Thank you, Zhongli,” you say quietly. Zhongli smiles, leaning to press a delicate kiss to your lips.

“You are very welcome, my treasure,” he whispers, a hand reaching to cup your face; his thumb reaches to brush your lips tenderly.

He can tell that you are still afraid of him, fearful that he will hurt you again. No matter. One day, Zhongli hopes, you will shed your fear like a caterpillar in chrysalis, and emerge into a glittering world full of Zhongli’s love for you. 

[chaoticbardlady99]

Colored Seams (Astarion x GN! Reader)

Synopsis: Cazador is dead and the Spawn were released to the Underdark. You and Astarion could not be happier in the days that follow in spite of the looming Netherbrain Threat. You decide to do both of your laundry when a tragedy occurs- you accidentally destroyed his blanket.

CW: Dead Dove, Panic attack symptoms, fluffy, suggestive content, no specific pronouns mentioned or character traits

Author Note: Nobody’s Fool and Floozy are going to be updated tomorrow :)

Likes, comments, and reblogs are always appreciated- thank you so much for reading 💜 pic is mine

Cazador is dead- well he’s been dead for a solid week now, but, with the nature of this adventure, that even feels like months ago.

Astarion sent the spawn to the Underdark, he remarked his grave, and his spirit seems lighter. He has a lot more pep in his step, jokes more easily, and he has been very, very into PDA. Lae’zel has even gone out of her way to remark on how affectionate he has been with you in public.

Astarion’s confidence in himself is still a work in progress, but it makes your heart sing to know that he is slowly beginning to heal and you promised, in spite of the lack of sun your future holds, that you will be by his side to support him every step of the way.

He’s been exceptionally physically affectionate- you are still sore from the last several days of him ‘indulging’ in his newfound freedom. The sheets are a mess, your clothes are a mess, his clothes are a mess, and you are not about to let either one of you go out in obviously sex stained clothing.

You had decided to wash yours and Astarion’s things while he begrudgingly helped Gale retrieve old tomes from Sorcerer Sundries- Rolan’s recent instatement has allowed for Gale to read just about every tomb in the massive magic shop.

Ever since everyone found out Astarion could use spider climb, they have been asking him for his help in various tasks- he charges everyone (minus you, of course).

Gale had actually dragged Astarion along because he is technically looking for a book on your behalf for Astarion. He doesn’t know, but you and Gale have already begun the search for a Ring of Sunwalking.

Astarion loves the sun so much and you want to be able to give it to him- you all do. You could not be more proud of him and you find you enjoy acts of services and gift giving when it comes to him. He has had so little for so long and no one was taking care of him or making him feel special. You are very thankful that you get to be the one who provides him with these experiences.

For now, you don’t have a gift so you are going to surprise him with clean clothes!

He usually does the laundry because you hate doing it (something he learned and just kinda picked up on). You told him he didn’t need to and you feel bad for being a nuisance, but he would just roll his eyes, kiss you, and saunter off in the direction of the wash tub or wait until you are asleep so you can’t fret about it.

Astarion is actually quite adorable in his laundry routine- he even has a bag specifically for laundry soaps and scents. The man is right- he really did miss his calling as a perfumer.

You started with both your clothes. You used herbs for scent, soap for cleanliness, and Halsin helped to dry them with Wind. You then moved onto your bed sheets.

However, you realize you made a horrific mistake after it’s far, far too late.

Astarion’s comfort blanket, his first and only item while under Cazador, was torn apart. It had gotten twisted inside the sheets and it already hadn’t been strong enough to begin with. You didn’t even know you threw it in with the rest! You would never do that on purpose! You know it has to be washed gently and carefully.

“Tav?”

You are crying, entirely unaware of the fact that Halsin is widely concerned as you stare in horror at the murder scene before you.

“I destroyed his blanket!” Your voice is strained and your eyes must look as crazy as you feel because Halsin is looking very concerned for you.

“I am sure he will under-“

You are hyperventilating- there is no rhyme or reason and it doesn’t seem to matter what Halsin says- your mind is spiraling a mile a minute into oblivion.

He is going to dump you- Gods he may even leave and that thought terrifies you more than anything else.

You feel your lungs collapse in your chest and you can’t breathe.

You just wanted to do something nice for him.

You rush back to your bed after a brief pit stop at your shared room (you were forced, Gale was tired of waking up to you and Astarion being ‘adults’)- and you have pulled out every piece of yarn you can find. The majority of the blanket is intact, but there are chunks that have been unraveled.

The yarn is a faded gray color and all you have is your favorite color of yarn and a passionate hatred for mending things. It’s thankfully the same consistency and thickness, but Withers only knows how much time and patience you have.

Back to the room you go.

It takes you a few moments to study the pattern, but you immediately begin your work. Your fingers are pricked and sore, unsteady and clumsy. You have never been the best sewer, knitter, etc. so you can only hope that it can make up for even the smallest bit of destruction.

You finish right as you hear his voice ring through the main room- he is heckling Gale about something and you feel like you may very well vomit.

You had moved your things to the corner, just in case, but you still aren’t prepared to face him. Your tears begin to fall again.

You destroyed his blanket.

You are shaking and there is a lump forming in your throat as you try to stop your tears, ready to face probably one of the worst moments on this journey thus far.

He walks into your shared room- all smiles, but his mood quickly changes when he notices all of your things are packed away and your cheeks are tear stained. He looks sick with worry and now you feel even worse.

“My love?” Astarion’s frantic voice makes your stomach turn, “my love- what did I do wrong? What is it? How can I fix this?”

He is already at your side- Astarion’s eyes are filled with unshed tears and he is going to reach for you, but you just hold out the blanket between you.

The silence in the room is deafening and when he takes it- you clasp your shaking hands together and stare at your feet.

Astarion certainly must hate you- there is no way he can forgive you for this.

“I-I was just trying to do our laundry,” you whisper, “and I didn’t realize your blanket was rolled up inside our sheets and it… it fell apart.

“I tried to fix it the best I could, but I- I already know this is unforgivable and I am so unbelievably sorry, Astarion, and I know we are definitely over after this, but please don’t leave. I don’t want you to get hurt or turned into a mindflayer and if it’s that painful, I will just leave and-“

You and your rambling mouth are engulfed in a massive hug that stuns you to your core and you feel cool lips press a gentle kiss to your temple.

You fall apart- all the fear and anxiety from the last few hours has finally hit you. You are struggling to contain yourself and self-regulation isn’t happening. Every abandonment wound you have ever had has been ripped open and left to bleed everywhere inside the room.

“I’m so sorry,” you are still a mess, “I am so so sorry, Astarion.”

“My Dear,” he pulls back, tilting your chin so you are looking at him, “it is okay. I forgive you.”

You blink a few times with your lower lip still trembling. Astarion’s smile is sad as he wipes away your tears and kisses the space around the corners of your mouth before placing one on the tip of your nose. He smiles brightly when your lips finally curve upward a bit.

“At the beginning of this journey, I think I would have been exceptionally mad,” he admits, “but, now? Well, my Love,” he smiles at the blanket in his hand, “I was considering getting rid of it- it’s a reminder of my past in a lot of ways I don’t wish to remember.

“It’s perfect now- it feels like it belongs to me again and not the person Cazador bullied me into being,” his eyes glow with happiness, “I also know you despise this kind of activity and doing laundry- I greatly appreciate you doing both for me this evening, my Dear.”

Your smile cracks open your face and your tears are now filled with relief. You hug him tightly and he holds you back- equally as relieved that it wasn’t a big deal.

And it’s not- Astarion genuinely isn’t all that upset about it. Sure it’s not ideal, but you know what no one has ever done for him before? Fix something of his they broke- or at the very least attempted to. He finds himself grinning like a moron at your clumsy stitching and he adores that your favorite color is brightening up the blanket much like you have brightened up his entire world.

Nor has anyone done his laundry! You did a really good job too.

“You are very good at laundry, my dear,” he muses, “maybe I need to have you teach me some time.”

He can hear you roll your eyes as you put away your items again. Astarion began making the bed- you in all of your panic had completely forgotten to do.

“Oh please- we both know it’s a miracle I didn’t turn everything pink again by accident!”

You had made the mistake of grabbing a red bottle thinking it was laundry soap (at the beginning of the journey, mind you) and your stuff looked ridiculous because the bottle had actually been dyed. Your hands looked like you had just come back from brutalizing someone. Astarion had been the one to help you reverse the horrid mistake.

“That is a positive,” he laughs, coming up behind you and admiring the way you smile in the mirror while he wraps his arms around you, “I am glad I won’t be in some blotchy reddish, pink attire.”

“We would be matching ALL THE TIME though.”

“That, my Love, did not make you dying my laundry pink anymore appealing.”

You throw your head back with laughter- your makeup has created lines down your neck with your tears and you still haven’t had a chance to bathe nor has Astarion.

Astarion plays with the hem of your pants and kisses along your neck.

“You know, practice does make perfect,” he murmurs against your thrumming pulse, “and cleaning another would certainly be good laundry practice.”

You hum in agreement, “that is a good point and I could certainly use the practice.”

“I would be more than happy to demonstrate- I have been told I am an excellent teacher.”

Your grin is wide and your eyes are blown wide with lust- it makes him incredibly satisfied to see you react to him in the mirror and knowing that only he can make you feel this way.

You grab his hand, pulling him towards the washroom.

“We best get started then. I am an eager pupil, after all.”

Astarion’s grin threatens to split open his face and he allows you to pull him along- throwing the blanket onto the bed so that you can mend yourselves together in a different kind of way.

[yuri-is-online]

@karmablacks I'm technically studying law so I got too defense brained thinking about this :/ right anyway. When accusing someone of murder you must consider, did they have the means? The motive? The opportunity? Of the five persons of interest MC finds listed, I think all of them made that short list because they have the means to have committed a murder. That leaves motive and opportunity, which leads me to be comfortable excluding Alan, wanting more information on Jiro, Towa, and Ed, and ambivalent about Rui.

Excluding Alan

Alan specifically says he thinks that he killed Dante during the Clash, unless Dante was the victim of the One Eyed Sleeping Beauty Murder (which I will henceforth be abbreviating as OES murder because fuck typing all that) then I see no reason he would not have said as much during Episodes 2 and 5. If he started the Clash then I think that would factor into his guilt and weigh on him immensely, it would be something he thinks about regularly. Dante does not only have one eye, he's got four and we know from Haku that multiple people went past the point of no return during the Clash. We are looking at a murder that specifically started a war, not one that resulted from it.

Profile Jiro

We know the least about him out of everyone on the list, but there is just enough to understand why he's there. He was in a coma for a very long time and still hasn't healed, if he is on the suspect list presumably he was not in a coma during the murder but might have entered it after. His combat skills are good enough to protect Yuri who has none, he has multiple wounds on his body that aren't closing, and he outright refuses to spar with Luca on the basis of it being a "bad idea." I am very comfortable with him having the means to commit a murder, the question is whether or not he would have seen it as a murder. One of his first voicelines is about "giving them death because that is what they wanted." If he did kill our victim, there is a chance it was a mercy kill that other parties disagreed on, hence the Clash.

Also did you catch the bloody gloves he's holding in the teaser? I did, it made me wonder if we will learn more about the murder in the next Episode.

Profile Towa

He would have been a first year during the Clash, meaning that while he might not be new to life he was new to Darkwick and we have all seen how he acts towards new people he doesn't like. Haru felt the need to tell him not to use lightning underwater, he's not exactly the most familiar with how to treat things gently and with care. Sure, Towa is currently interested in romance and love, but Ed accuses him of not always being that way and refusing to see anything weaker than him as having value. We don't know why that changed, and until we do he remains someone who wouldn't necessarily need a specific motive for murder and has the powers to kill someone. The main problem with Towa is that if he was the person who murdered the victim, his method would be very easy to identify. He controls the weather and likes poisonous flowers, we need to know how the victim died before we can determine how strong or weak of a suspect Towa is.

Profile Ed

This bitch has been technically undead for 400 + slutty slutty years, and the one time he stopped watching tiddy streamers to help Rui with a mission he leveled an entire building. Chances are pretty good he's killed someone before and wouldn't have a problem doing it again. This is where we look at motive and opportunity, Ed is really only ever active at night and claims he cannot go out into the sun. Was our victim murdered during the day? Then that makes it less likely to be Ed. There is technically a difference between just killing someone and murdering them, murder implies a degree of intent. You wanted that person to be dead, who would Ed have enough of a vendetta against to actually want dead? And was our victim someone who would fit that description?

Ambivalence about Rui

Rui kills people by touching them and draining their life force. Based off of what we see he does to Ed and the butterfly on the homescreen, it looks like this causes them to disintegrate. While I have no doubt that Rui has killed people on accident before, is this case really one where that's what could have happened? From what we have seen of him I don't think he is someone who would have the motive to murder someone. Means and opportunity sure, not motive. But again, as with Towa, how can he be under the same level of suspicion as the others if his would be method of murder is so specific? I could see him as the murderer if it was an accident, and it's one of the reasons he feels the need to repent. Which rounds out my thoughts and brings me to:

What I Want to Know

I want the name, year, and age of the victim, when they died (estimated), and the suspected cause of death. Also why is this murder called what it is, why did it cause the Clash, and most importantly:

What could have possibly happened to that body that your suspect list has such a wide variety of possible murder methods, or are Darkwick investigators just that dumb and afraid of ghouls that they immediately accused who they think are the five most dangerous (in no particular order) without taking any of that into account? And is that murder what Taiga, Tohma, and Alan all are talking about when they say there is a spy intent on making the ghouls look bad?

[bitchyfoxymama]

Saviors - Sinclair Brothers x F!Reader

Warnings: abuse but not from the Sinclairs, murder, language used against reader, Bo being out of character. Fluff, let me know if I missed anything.

A/n: this is possibly the second longest one-shot I've ever written besides petals and bullets. I hope you all like this one.

...

You, your two friends, well they were technically your boyfriend's friends and said boyfriend had decided that driving from California to Florida to go to Disney world would be cheaper and way more fun than flying. What a dumb idea that was. Your clock read just after midnight and you've made it just forty miles out of Baton Rouge when your back left tire blew on your Volkswagen minibus. 

"Fuck," you moan out as you gently pull to the side of the empty road.

"What? What happened?" The sudden jolt from the blow tire woke everyone including your easily irritated boyfriend, Ben. 

"I think we blew a tire so I pulled over," you say un buckling your seat belt just as you turned the key in the ignition. You open your door, the Louisiana air is sticky and wet. Of all the places to break down it had to be here. 

You stop next to your back left tire and inspect it, a rusted nail sticks out of the tire as it slowly deflates. You begin mumbling swears as you open the back of the minibus searching for the spare you are more the positive you replaced when the front tire blew six months ago. 

"Fucking damnit!" You place both hands in your hair giving a frustrated tug. 

 had already gotten out at this point and was standing next to you, his voice making you jump. 

"I asked you if you had put the spare back in, god do you always have to be so stupid!" He slams his fist against the side of the minibus. 

His anger makes you feel small, if there hadn't been people in the bus he would have punched you instead of the bus. 

"I-I could have sworn I put it in," you say barely above a whisper. 

"Yeah? You thought? Well you didn't and now we're stuck out here in bumfuck Louisiana!" 

"Hey, what's going on?" Rebecca rubs the sleep out of her eyes. 

"Y/n forgot to replace the spare tire and now we're stranded here til morning when another person probably comes down this road." 

You look down ashamed, reaching out to grab the camping gear and flashlight. You head off the road and just want to set up camp and sleep. You've been the only one driving for the last couple of days. 

"Come on let's just set up camp so we can all sleep and hopefully get help in the morning. 0 on, let's find level ground." You don't want to make Ben any madder than he already is. 

Everyone gets out of the van and follows behind you with sleeping bags and backpacks, in case someone stumbled upon the bus and decided to have some sticky fingers. 

Once you're all settled, you finally turn in for bed. Ben, still angry and annoyed, decided to sleep next to Rebecca and her boyfriend, leaving you alone near a tree stump. You let the tears flow freely from your tears. None of you noticed the truck slowly driving past with their lights off or the man that got out and took the spark plugs.

…

When the sun begins to rise you peek your eyes open and see everyone has already begun packing up camp, it seems they forgot to wake you. It's silent. Not the friendly enjoyable silence, no this silence is awkward, as thick as the Louisiana humidity. 

You walk back to the minibus, packing everything up as they all wait for a car as they lean up against the bus. Maxwell, Rebecca's boyfriend, opens the side of the bus to sit half inside and half out. 

You decide to turn the keys in the ignition to at least getting the inside of the bus cool. But to your surprise the ignition does turn over. 

"What the fuck is wrong now," you groan getting back out of the car and popping the hood, "where the fuck are the spark plugs?!" 

You slam the hood shut and walk over towards the trio standing outside the bus. 

"Who took the spark plugs out of the bus?" 

"What are you talking about?" Ben asks giving you an annoyed look. 

"The sparks are missing, did you guys hear anything last night?" You ask again looking around the three of them. 

However just before you can get your answer a truck comes round the bend. It's an old beat up pick up. The driver slows and stops just before you guys. 

"Well howdy there? Whatch y'all doing out here so early in the mornin'?" He's a scrawny man with a cute dog in the bed and you think that makes him all the more attractive too you. 

"Oh well we-" you're cut off by Ben. 

"Well my girlfriend here, she blew a tire and seemed to forget to get a new one. She also says she's missing her sparks but you know how women are with cars," he says roughly slamming his arm over your shoulder, making you flinch. The stranger's eyes flickered to you softening for just a moment before going back to a stoic look and staring at Ben. 

"I see well, I can take you to Ambrose, it's just 12 miles up the road, my brother owns a mechanic shop and he should be able ta help yall with yours problem. Only this is I only got room for two of ya's," he says rubbing his chin. 

"Why doesn't Y/n go? It is her car after all," Rebecca says looking at you. 

"I'll go too right babe? Can't have you going alone," Ben says, squeezing your shoulder painfully, you have to bite your lip from crying out. 

And so you and Ben pile into who you all found out to be Lester Sinclair. He was the youngest of three. 

"So where y'all from anyway? Don't seem like locals round these here parts," 

"Oh well-" 

"Were from California, driving cross country this summer to go and see disney world" 

You stay quiet now and just look down at your lap. You don't feel like getting Ben angry once again.

Lester looks at you from the corner of his eyes. Planning on ways to make your boyfriend shut up and let you speak for once. He had this overwhelming sense to protect you. Don't go thinking that healing black eye and the way you flinch any time that no good asshole would touch you. 

that. But why did yall choose to drive and not fly? Seems like you'd saved some time flying?" 

"Yeah well it seemed fun at the time until this one had to go and get the tire popped" Ben says annoyed. 

"Well shit, I forgot the roads flooded. We may have to go the long way." Lester says stopping in front of the road that leads into Ambrose. 

"Oh that's OK! We can walk from here, that way you don't have to worry about going an extra way," you say, smiling up at him with a genuine smile. He smiles back at you but doesn't miss the scowl on your boyfriend's face.

You wave at Lester after you've both exited the truck, you give jonesy a rub behind her ears and head over to the little step stones that have taken place in the washed out road.

"Come on, the faster we get into town the quicker we can get the shit we need and on the road again," Ben said, grabbing your arm and pulling you hard. He drags you all the way to the mechanics shop. He knocks on the front door. 

"Hello! We were told you were open and could help us!" Ben yells. 

…

Unbeknownst to the two of you, Bo was on the back roads talking with Lester. 

"She needs our help, he doesn't treat her right neither. She's got a healing black eye and every time he touched her she flinches, and you should've seen her, she's finer than frogs' hair split four ways," 

"Hmm, and you say she's got two other with 'er? Well bring them back to Vin and he can take care of them while I go and help our visitors. You grab them sparks and hide them in the house, right?" 

Lester shakes his head headed back into his truck to get Rebecca and her boyfriend. 

…

Back at the shop, Ben was getting impatient and you were bored. 

"I'm gonna go explore, since I'm just a woman and wouldn't know anything about cars right?" 

"You don't have to be such a bitch you know," he huffs. 

"Well you are such an asshole, after this all over and we're in Florida, I'm going to drop you all off and head home, beauce this," you say pointing between yourself and him, "is over. For good this time." 

He back hands you hard enough to draw blood from your lip that his fist made contact with.

"Fuck you Ben!" You screech, "find your own ways to Florida you fuckwad" you walk away up towards the house of wax wanting to clear your mind and maybe have a good cry. 

You are amazed when you make it up the hill to the beautiful building, only realizing as you got to the front that the architecture was made entirely of wax. You gently pushed open the door and stepped inside, giving  yourself your own guided tour of the house. 

Everything was beautiful and the little intimate details intrigued you. 

"These look so life like, the artist must have such magical hands," you say in a hushed voice as though you were in an art museum and let's be honest here you really were. 

Hiding in the shadows, watching you as you gushed on and on about his art work was Vincent Sinlair, the middle son of the Sinclair brothers and the artist behind the house of wax. 

His eye stared at you as though you were a beautiful piece of art that needed to be taken care of and looked after. He silently followed you around like a lost puppy. 

Once you finished admiring the art work and decided enough time had passed and Ben more than likely got the parts needed to get back on the road. You walk towards the exit when the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end. You peak over your shoulder and you are more than certain you saw a flash of long raven hair. 

…

Back at the mechanic shop just after you had left Bo's voice was heard booming from inside.

"Hold your fuckin' horses, I could hear you banging like all hell!" He opens the door with a scowl on his face, Bo hopes to see you there as well. With the way Lester was talking you up he was excited to see the beauty that was you. But alas you were there, only you annoyed looking boyfriend. 

"Whatchu need?" Bo asks, folding his arms over his chest. 

"My girlfriend's minibus has a popped tire and missing sparks. We need them as soon as you can give them to us. And I can make the pot sweeter," Ben says, pulling out a $100 from his wallet. You see Ben, Rebecca and Maxwell were silver spoon babies, you were lower middle class. 

"Well I'll be damned. As much as I'd like to take you up on your offer, I'll have to check in our basement to see if we have them. Why don't you come with and we can work out the price," Bo says, making room for Ben to come in through the door. Ben walks in further into the shop not paying any attention to where Bo had moved. Rookie mistake. Bo hits him over the head and Ben is out cold. 

When Ben wakes he is secured to an old barber chair under a grate in what he assumed to be the mechanic shop. He's gagged and wiggling trying to escape. He's screaming but nothing comes out. 

…..

When you make it to the mechanic shop, you try the door and are happy to see it's finally open. 

"Hello! Is anyone here? Ben! Where are you, you still here?" You ask out walking around, fingerings all the different products on the walls. 

"Why hello there darlin'" you jump at the sudden voice behind you. You are greeted with quite the sight, a gorgeous man with a trucker hat and mechanic overalls.

"H-hi! I um, I'm looking for the guy I was with, he came here to get a new tire and spark plugs. Have you seen him?" You can feel a blush creeping up your neck. Curse your affinity for getting nervous about gorgeous men talking to you and making you lose all sense of yourself. 

"That one fella with the permanent annoyed look? Yeah, I sent him on up to our house, we didn't have the right type or sparks here so I sent him up there to get help from my twin Vincent. I could take you up there if you want or you could wait here?" He says while taking his hat off and running his hand through his damp hair. It makes him look all the more attractive to you.

You smile at him, "is your brother the one who made the art in the house of wax by chance?" 

"That he is ma'am, that he is. He's our own lil family artist," he says showing off his award winning smirk, now how about we get you on up to your friend? Maybe even get some food in yall too. You must be hungry." Just as the words left his mouth your stomach growled causing you to blush and wrap your arms around your noisy tummy. 

You smile at him. You've smiled more around these two strangers than you ever had in your entire relationship with Ben.

"Of course, please lead the way," you follow after him and to his pick up truck, this one much nicer than the one you previously rode in only hours before. The silence on the drive to the house is silent but peaceful. 

You get a better peak at him as he drives, he's attractive and knows it. His hands are big and veiny. Suddenly you are having thoughts about how they'd feel between-woah there y/n you have a boyfriend. Wait wait no you don't you broke it off with the fuckwad. Yes continue with the thought of his fingers in between your thighs as he moves them in and out of your- 

"Doll?" Bo lays his hand on your shoulder startling you. 

"Yes?" The blood rushes to your cheeks and head almost making you dizzy.

"I said we're here now," he says while fixing his hat and getting out of the truck. 

"Oh." You peep out as you follow him into the house. It's beautiful, it's very homey and definitely has the feel that three grown men live here. 

"I'll get started on some lunch for you" he says walking to the kitchen as you stand awkwardly in the living room. 

There are footsteps heard coming up from what can be assumed is the basement. When the door opens you are met with a beautiful sight, a man appears sporting long black hair, half up in a mini bun. He's wearing a wax made mask. He was beautiful. 

"Wow you are beautiful," you say out loud. 

He head snaps towards you and he then signs 'Thank you' you smile, you took a few ASL classes in high school. 

"Are you the one who made all the beautiful sculptures in the wax museum?" 

'Yes, did you like them?' He signed again.

"I didn't just like them, I loved them! You have such a beautiful talent!" 

'Would you like to see more?' He signs, 'I have just finished one at the workshop I have in the basement of the house of wax,'

"I would love to, but I'm only in town until my minibus is fixed. It would've been a great honor to see it though!" 

Just ask he was about to reply, Bo is calling you both to the dining room table. 

…

The 3 of you are enjoying a wonderful meal when it's interrupted by the front door being slammed open. All three of your heads look towards and see Ben. 

"B-ben!" You stand abruptly. 

"Get the fuck away from them y/n! They are a bunch of freaks!" 

Neither man speaks as they are stiff as a board.

"What do you mean? They've been nothing but nice to me this entire time," you say staying put. 

"That one locked me up in some torture device!" He says pointing to Bo, causing you to look at him, "I think they're the ones behind the missing sparks and blown tire," this causes you to slightly step back. 

"Now darlin' it ain't what you think, ok maybe it is," Bo begins looking at Vincent for help. 

"Get the fuck over here now, so help me. Don't be fucking stupid!" Ben says. 

"What did you say?" You look at him. Without you even realizing, you subconsciously grabbed the knife on the table. You don't even realize what your doing until you hear Bo say "don't go at the throat or head. Vinny needs those intact." 

"I am so sick of you abusing me and belittling me! I am so sick of it!" You scream. 

"You wanna stay with the freaks you crazy bitch? Fine you do that but dont you ever forget who owns you." He says stepping back away from the three of you. "You don't own me, you've never owned me!" You land the first blow in his stomach twisting the blade. You don't stop until Bo is pulling you off of him. Holding you close to his chest as Vincent wipes away the tears that have begun to fall. You're free, you're finally free of the abuse. 

"We'll always protect you doll, always." Bo says as he holds you close and kisses the top of your head. 

[socksandbuttons]

*Tries to think about a Evil Lunar AU, instead i get accidental murder and severe guilt from two parties.* Anyway, i don’t know what to call this au. Moon dies? Lunar is Here? This takes place during when Killcode first appears. Trapping both Moon and Lunar in his weird mind hellscape. Although in this timeline, Lunar instead of trying to dissociate and avoid Killcode, actively tries to remove him. Since this is AFTER Moon would teach him how to code. I’ll have to rethink details here cause I think Monty and Moon discussed AFTER about removing killcode was a Very Bad Idea. You know what, the rest under cut here

Anyway, Also rememeber, this is before Lunar meets Good Eclipse and getting his warnings about not removing the killcode. Lunar is able to remove Killcode. Although in the process effectively breaking and killing Moon. Yay no more killcode for Sun to deal with again! (who was trying to get monty to help.) However, it takes a moment for Lunar to fully realize what happened.  He can’t get a hold of Moon and even worse is that... its quiet in his head now. So Sun does come back, with Monty. Lunar now having to decide whether he tells Sun the truth immediately and begging Monty to help. Or decide to pretend to be Moon for a while, and get Monty to help bring Moon back if he even can. Either way it just leads to Sun’s anger with Lunar, effectively kinda putting a huge strain on their relationship that they were just starting to get along. It doesn’t help Sun still has that trauma of Eclipse and Lunar body jacking during october. (Third image is a reference to when Lunar revealed he took moon over for a week. That conversation is a Huge uh can of worms there.) Who’s also feeling guilt do to several issues we know now, but one is not helping Moon himself. But obviously this wasn’t something meant to happen. Sun’s grieving, Lunar’s grieving and Monty is trying to figure out if they can help (while also grieving.) Lunar is obviously taking this pretty badly, he just killed his brother (in attempt to help but still) and stuck in Moon’s body. Triggering Sun and him everytime he looks in the Mirror. So he removes some of the accessories but nothing Altering the outfit permanently. That’s like a moon pin/barrette he put on the hat. Keeping the eyelights white (Moon in game can do that so. Yeah) Unfortunately, only Monty and Sun know Lunar is the only one left in moon’s body. No one knows Lunar, remember that. That’ll be brought up probably. Whether Lunar pretends to be Moon for other people is dependent. He technically was helping with the daycare in Moon’s place already. There’s also Lunar just knowing Sun technically blames him, thus pretending to talk to moon when he’s by himself. Sun obviously getting frustrated at Lunar, but think of hurt/comfort here. Sun knows Moon wouldn’t want them fighting about it, and Lunar is the only brother he has left now. They’re literally going through a lot, heck Bloodmoon (and Eclipse) is still around. They have the computer to technically help with things Moon did. Lunar is left with guilt having been the one to desperately do something with immense consequence of losing one of his brothers who actively cared for him and fear he'll lose the other, and Sun who's blaming Lunar but also feeling guilt cause he feels he could've at least TRIED to do something himself instead of running off to find someone and leaving both Lunar and Moon to fend for themselves. ANYWAY JUST. SUN AND LUNAR HANDLING DEATH OF THEIR BROTHER AND MORE OR LESS ACCEPTING THEY MAY HAVE LOST HIM FOR GOOD. Will there be a part 2 handling with Eclipse and Bloodmoon? and maybe Earth idk about earth here.

[evilfloralfoolery]

ok but I'd really love hearing more about that French fuck omg! "Oh I'm so very cold" sfdsljk freaking priceless, it's been a good long while since I've read something so entirely up my alley!

Why, thank you!!! I'm absolutely delighted that you enjoy this as much as I do! I actually thought of you when I was "listening" to Lucian tell me about himself lol. I've always had a penchant for snarky snobbery as well, as you know. ;)

SO! This is what Lucian has "told me" about himself so far.

Lucian d'Alarie was born on May 10 in the year 1700 in the city of  Marseille. His parents were extremely wealthy "old money" aristocrats that relocated to Paris when he was about 17. Lucian's father was murdered under "suspicious circumstances" after his mother took up with an even wealthier man and left the family. At 19, Lucian became the sole heir to his father's fortune and business (he hasn't told me what this "business" is yet). It wasn't really what he wanted to, but rather, what was "expected." Lucian had great skill in the art of music, playing piano, violin, and singing in rather lovely bass-baritone. He even dabbled in composition and has, over time, composed several pieces. Bach and Monteverdi (and later, Mozart) were some of his favorites. In the year 1731, he fell ill with some manner of influenza, which would have been fatal, had he not been "rescued" by one of the undead. The one who made him told Lucian that he was "too beautiful to suffer such a horrid death" and gave him the choice to become immortal or to perish. Of course, he chose the path of darkness and power. Why wouldn't he? His surname literally means "all powerful" lol. Despite his inherent aristocratic snobbery, Lucian is a quite the romantic, writing poetry, curating roses, composing songs for those he loves, etc. He's extremely proper, a big believer in etiquette and formal speech, and prefers rich blood when he feeds. Fucking snob.

As far as appearance goes, he's about 189 cm tall with pale skin (duh), wavy, dark golden blond hair that's just a bit longer than shoulder length, light green eyes, and a rather "classically" chiseled physique and jawline. He prefers waistcoats and high collared shirts to modern clothing and usually wears his hair pulled back.

But what you really want to know is this:

When he was alive, he had terrible "hay fever." Lilies and gardenias are particular horrors along with certain trees. While these things no longer bother him in the same way as they did when he was mortal, he is EXTRA sensitive to scents and is legit allergic to garlic. What a fucking cliche. He is able to walk in the sunlight for short periods of time. It will not burn him to ash or destroy him, but it does drain him. After about a few hours, he needs to find some serious shade or suffer the consequences. Said consequences are human-like cold symptoms. He calls it "being sun sick." It's somewhat of a recent discovery for him, considering daylight was too much for him before. It basically blinded him. He spent decades gradually exposing himself to it until he could walk among the living as mortals do without being in absolute agony due to the burning of his eyes. He does still have to wear sunglasses, which is amusing to me.

He has the capacity to eat and enjoy human food, but it doesn't do anything to actually satiate him. Only blood can do that. He does require complete darkness in order to rest and rejuvenate, but he doesn't sleep in a coffin (because why would he ever lol). He sleeps in a canopy bed with "black out" curtains around it in a room with more of the same hiding the windows.

While he is technically immortal, I suppose one could "kill" him by burning him to ash, dismembering him, or something similar. Too much sunlight over a long period of time might do it, too. I'm not sure. He hasn't told me all of his "secrets" yet.

[astridthevalkyrie]

chand ko chakor dekhe, tujkho naseebo wala (the bird looks at the moon, a lucky one looks at you) | hawks x reader | chapter 4

“You’ve died twice? From clocks? “I know you’re not blind to the rocks and debris flying literally everywhere! The world would be better off without you in it!” you scream at the villain. The machine is even louder as it breaks and jams into the ground. “Flying building pieces or something, I don’t know—one hit me yesterday. The first day I got knocked into a wall, and then I woke up hugging my body pillow. Same thing the next day. And the next, and the next. Did my number three pro hero partner save me? No, he let me get stuck in a fucking time loop!” Or, you’ll do a lot of things with infinite time on your hands, but falling in love with Keigo Takami isn’t one of them.

a/n: wow i really like this chapter

warnings: reader tells hawks to kill himself nonseriously, lots of murder and death and different ways of doing it, blood, reader is technically a serial killer now, nudity again

1 | 2 | 3

KILL GANG ORCA. KILL GANG ORCA. KILL GANG ORCA.

“He killed you?” Hawks asks, in the exact same tone, with the exact same concerned expression.

“Yes! Three times!” You hold up three fingers on each hand, so it looks like six, but if this doesn’t permeate the birdbrain’s skull nothing else will. “Three times he has put me into the ground!”

He places his hands over both of yours, placing them down in a single placating motion. “Have you considered you deserved it?”

“Whose side are you on?” you question accusingly, narrowing your eyes.

“On, undeniably Gang Orca’s.” He has that Hawks-esque grin on his face that you want to smack off and package and sell to his fans like gamer girl bath water. “He’s the victim here, it’s just that he’s a successful victim.”

“Yes, and I’m an unsuccessful perpetrator!”

No sympathy. No sympathy at all. Tell me everyday Nightingale I’ll help you Nightingale I loooove you Nightingale your ass. If you can’t count on your partner best friend Birdbrain-in-Chief, then who else is supposed to help you commit these murders? Tomura Shigaraki? Do you have him on speed dial? No. Does he know you? No. Do you think that the fake-hand-over-face thing is kinda hot? Not publicly. Have your lost your train of thought? Yes.

It’s not your fault. Today, Hawks has brought you to a karaoke bar of all places, and someone is finishing an admittedly good cover of California Gurls whydidn’tkatyjustspellitgirlswithani so you can barely hear yourself over the hot sun kissed skin that will melt all the popsicles. 

“And next up, we have pro hero Nightingale!” the announcer announces (no shit), pointing towards you.

“We do?” you respond, brows pinched, wondering how much you’ve started to lose track of things already until you see Hawks holding in his laughter. “Did you sign me up?”

“Uh huh.”

A growl rumbles low in your throat. “Which song?”

“And our beloved hero will be performing a very well known song called Poker Face!”

“Kill yourself,” you hiss at Hawks, standing up. He has tears in his eyes.

Still, he’s the only one who claps after your sour but still sexy performance, in which you don’t look at the words on the screen because you could sing them in your coffin, and you end up adding a few boom and crash noises with your mouth because the song doesn’t feel right without them. It goes a little something like oh whoa oh oh SHKKK oh oh oh I’ll get him hot CHGGGGGGRRRRR show him what I got THCCCK oh whoa oh oh.

“Beautiful,” your partner comments when you finish, wiping a fake tear. You’ll give him real tears soon enough.

“Let’s see you like it when you get stuck in a time loop. I’ll make you listen to Judas five million times an hour and then I’ll have you write a dissertation on the history and etymology of every lyric and then I’ll print the song out and choke you with the paper.”

Hawks nods, lips pursed in extreme interest, with his chin in his hand. MURDER.

“I still have no idea how to kill Gang Orca.”

“Creative juices not flowing after that song and dance routine?”

“No. Just more of an eagerness to kill the number ten hero, so then I can get to number nine, then eight, seven, six, five, four, and would you look at that? Three!”

One would think just the prospect of his own murder would make Hawks falter. But instead his smile turns sweet, and he tilts his head all birdlike. “If it helps, I don’t think you’ll have to try so many times with me. One day will be enough.”

“Yeah?” You cross your arms, not buying it. “You really think I’m that strong?”

“I wouldn’t fight back,” he responds simply, and that tingly sensation that only pops up around him and sometimes Fatgum travels up your stomach and settles in your chest. “If you told me, it wouldn’t matter, and if you didn’t, I’d assume you had a good reason. And yeah,” Hawks shrugs, “I do think you’re that strong.”

Goddammit. That’s like, exactly, the type of motivation you need.

He looks kinda cute when he’s telling you he’ll let you kill him. 

—————————————————

Cleverly, so cleverly, you stay on the ground this time. You think the whale bitch just sees anything hovering in the air as a threat. God knows how many flies and bugs and shit he’s killed. Wait, hang on, you don’t like those either, they fly into your mouth when you’re in the air. 

“Mr. Orca!” You wave, REMAINING AS FRIENDLY AS POSSIBLE OH GOD YOU’RE SO SCARED. “It’s an honor to meet you, I’m a big fan!”

He grunts almost nicely, raising a hand in return. You don’t step away after the compliment. He blinks at you a few times, as though waiting for you to say more.

Jesus, where’s the man’s mouth and where does it meet his neck?

Whatever. Not your problem.

Maintaining eye contact with him, your fingers subtly activate Gust, but this time, you focus all your energy under him instead of you. By the time Gang Orca feels the lightness, he’s already up in the air. With wide eyes (just scleras, really), his arm lunges for you, but there’s no point jumping when one is already in the air, loser!

As soon as he’s out of reach, you increase the wind pressure, and send him up, up, up, following when he looks like an ant floating above. Someone is screaming, and you so don’t care. You’re just glad no other heroes are around. 

With a snap of your fingers, you turn aerial off under him, and send him plummeting.

But that’s not enough. Not after three whole extremely painful deaths. 

He’s still conscious when you fly above him, reeling your hand back. “I really am a big fan,” you confess, balling up your fist, “and, uh, sorry, I guess.”

Then you turn Aerial on again and knock him rocketing towards the ground as fast as you can.

His body doesn’t crack as loudly as you thought it would, but a tremor still travels up your arm, making it shake as you land on top of him. It’s painful, even though you didn’t have to lay a single finger on him. 

Blood pools under his head, trickling out so fast it quickly becomes a puddle.

You just killed someone. 

Shit. This is just a bit more heavy than you anticipated.

The sirens of the police cars reach your ears first, and after seeing you staring in such a dazed state staring at Gang Orca’s body, one would think they would know you’ll come without a fight. But you know the curse better than that, and you raise your arms and face them, bracing yourself.

But as bullet after bullet rains upon your body, a thrill goes through you anyway, because finally. Finally, you killed the stupid hero. Finally, you made it to 4:24 PM.  Finally, something different, besides total nihilism. Even giving up isn’t satisfying.

So you whoop as you’re shot, hoping you traumatize everyone who sees. 

—————————————————

“Should I buy him a beer?” Hawks muses when you regale him with your victory. “Can whales even drink beer?”

You put your hands on your hips. Leave it to a pro hero to be more concerned for a man who isn’t even dead in this life than for you who had to die three times and remember it before you were able to kill him. “Can birds?”

“Ouch.” He clutches his chest, pretending he’s shot against the wall. “KO’ed, Nightingale!”

What a loser. 

—————————————————

Ryukyu bites you in half during your first attempt at killing her. Like. A. Magic trick. 

—————————————————

It’s not as easy to fight with wind when Ryukyu can also fly and ALSO is a whole dragon? As if this isn’t hard enough? Her wings beat hard enough to counteract any air bursts you throw at her.

She attempts to reason with you at every single attempt, and where Gang Orca probably hadn’t even recognized you, you’ve met and worked with Ryukyu several times. 

“Nightingale!” she cries, beautiful even in dragon form, “stop this! What’s happened? Talk to me, I can help!”

Please, this isn’t you. That’s the argument she always falls back on. Meaning she would really not be happy to fight you if you actually went rogue. You know she’s one of the kinder pros, but this is a bit much. Especially for someone who’s been actively kicking your ass for a week straight.

“This isn’t personal!” The two of you have flown up so high that it’s actually a little hard to breathe. Her voice is less shaky than yours, but you still sense a tremor, meaning the thinning air has an effect on her too. “It’s just, you know, fun!”

“FUN?” she roars, and oh great, now you have an angry overgrown lizard on your hands.

At the very least, since you’re not a whole different species, your body moves much more gracefully and much quicker than her’s, so you can go down and rise up faster. You discovered this after trying to do the hand on snout thing like the kid from that movie, the one who loses his leg at the end. She didn’t appreciate it even when you brought a dead fish to offer her.

Sucking in your breath, you jet yourself up, with her biting at your heels. Every inch you get closer to the clouds, the more lightheaded you get, and the more you physically feel yourself leave the upper atmosphere. You’d only ever tried this once as a kid, and regretted it severely when you were left with a headache that didn’t go away for days.

This time, you don’t really care about that. Shoving enough wind, and by proxy oxygen, into your throat, you force yourself to go faster still, until the sky goes from blue to black. 

By the time Ryukyu halts, it’s too late. You force her up, and watch with a mildly apologetic expression as the final breath leaves her lungs.

You’re. A bad person. Just to alleviate the guilt, you open your mouth and try to breathe in space.

—————————————————

“JudA Juda AH AH! JudA Juda AH AH!”

“Give it up for Hawks!” you yell cheerily to the horrified crowd. “He somehow managed to sing and dance terribly! We’ll be here all night, folks!”

(You’re not. At 4:14 PM, someone gets so sick of Hawks’ weird ass hip thrust dancing and your screeching that they actually take one of the centerpieces and bash you over the head with it while you’re taking a champagne break. As you bleed out, you hear them try and go for him next. Yes, random stranger! Avenge your destroyed eardrums!)

—————————————————

WhateventheflippingfuckisYoroiMusha’squirk. You kill him, first try.

—————————————————

Crust is hard. It doesn’t take you more than two tries, but both battles are ridiculously long. 

Half because he keeps THROWING SHIT AT YOU and half because he keeps monologuing your ears off about shameful behavior from a hero! and you scream back is that what you’re worried about right now? and he says yes! and you say oh okay sorry to bother but you do keep trying to kill him.

Right now you’re in a bubble of sorts, just trying to blow away all the pieces of his crust (get it?) away, but each throw is really precise and a lot of them break through your own shield and cut your skin. You should be used to getting hurt by now, but it’s not like you’re immune. It still stings like a bitch. 

As you circle him in the air, he sends flying discs, one after the other, trying to knock you down. It reminds you a little of the clock bitch, which doesn’t help your mood and resolve to murder.

There’s a crowd of people watching for this one. You put on a show. “Wasn’t she with Hawks just this morning?” someone shouts. You were! Didn’t you look cute? The cutest in the world? 

Technically you could kill Crust the same way you killed Gang Orca, but you’re trying your best to be original. And after searching up stuff that definitely had the HPSC monitoring you closely but not close enough muwahahaha, you had some ideas. Some that are a bit easy with a hero who’s so focused on virtue signaling at you.

“I think I’ll go and attack someone else now!” you inform him, turning on your heel and zipping away. There’s alarmed screams all over, but none louder than his as he chases after you. 

“Stop! Stop in the name of justice!”

“I’m not stopping but I’m especially not stopping in the name of justice!”

“In the name of love, then! How do you think Hawks would—”

A truck rams into him, exactly as you planned. He’d been so focused on getting to you that he had actually ignored you leading him out onto the road (it’s not by any means easy to kill these pros, but they’re a little more stupid than they ought to be, it’s only slightly concerning). 

And what had he been about to say? How would Hawks react? Something about love? You’re sure he’ll love it when he picks up your phone call and you tell him that you’d like a boba before you see to your prison sentence and that you expect a five star delivery service from the fastest man in Japan. Lifetime, you’re sure, if they don’t shoot on sight again.

—————————————————

Throwing one of the clocks back at Clocksucker, you stick your tongue out, waggling your fingers by your ears. “Hey, have you noticed?” Hawks knocks (ha, rhyme) him down, catching the next clock you throw. “I’m looking left right now. Does that make you think of anything?”

The hero’s eyes narrow immediately, and you have no idea how he catches on so fast on the days you haven’t even told him yet. “Nope. Is it supposed to?”

“I’m repeating the same day over and over and depending on which way I look you ask me different questions and I’m trying to figure out why and you never tell me, so please please please please—”

“You’re repeating what—?”

—————————————————

You’re so close to giving up when it comes to Edgeshot. 

Is the searing—SEARING!—pain of a single sharp point through either your stomach, head, or throat really worth the mild joy you will get when you get to see him lifeless?

He takes the longest. A whole month before you have a single shred of luck.

Unfortunately, it means you won’t be using your quirk. And you’re going to be a little more manipulative than usual.

“Help me! I’m dying!” Rolling around on the ground like a madwoman, you let the grass dirty your cheeks with stains, making you look even more ill. You’re not sure which illness you can appropriate without being canceled, but then you remember that it’s not like anyone will demand a ukulele apology out of you, they’ll just forget. 

“Stand back!” Oh, his voice is sexy. That’s been the best part of this month.

Edgeshot kneels down besides you, one hand seeking your heartbeat in a practiced manner. “Nightingale,” he recognizes, and the thought of his incoming doom makes you shiver pleasantly. “Tell me how I can help.”

“Edgeshot,” you whisper, with fluttering eyes. “I…I…”

The theatrics are technically unnecessary. They don’t add anything when you unsheath the dagger in your cloak and stab him through the heart. Eye for an eye, ninja man. 

—————————————————

“Hey, answer me one thing.” Hawks pokes your cheek with his index finger. “Your quirk. You technically control oxygen too, right? Because the particles mix?”

“Uh huh.”

“So instead of losing so many times, why don’t you just, you know…” He points to his throat, miming pulling something out of his throat. It makes you think of how goofy of a circus performer he would be. He’d probably be a juggler, if anything. Hawks looks like he’s good with balls. 

Back to the point. “Cut off their oxygen? Yeah, I know. I could do it if I wanted to. I made a pact to myself a long time ago that I wouldn’t, though. I haven’t gotten desperate enough to break it yet. Let’s see how long that lasts when I get to the top three.”

“You might need it for All Might,” he teases, nudging your shoulder, “but you won’t need it for me.”

Birdie just never stops when he’s grinding, does he? It’s okay to take a break from making you somehow experience a different emotion on a day that you have lived countless times. What a workaholic. Go on vacation. Fool.

—————————————————

The first time you try to kill Jeanist, he chokes you with your own hero outfit. 

Kinky. You always knew he was a little freak. 

—————————————————

The next time he sees you, he does only blink once, but it’s still a major victory as far as you’re concerned. 

Because you get to see ladies and gents’ man Best Jeanist stutter in his movements when he takes in your naked body.

“Yeah, weren’t expecting that, were you?” Your jeering is interrupted by a flurry of threads headed your way, but you blow them all back. “Gave you pause, didn’t I?”

“You did,” he replies calmly, not faltering. The threads circle you, almost crushing you until you fly above them, barely missing your skin being whipped like it’s done something naughty. “You’re…Nightingale, right? Why are you doing this?”

Ugh, you’re so not in the mood to be Ryukyu’d. Not that you ever are in the mood. You don’t even bother answering the question, instead choosing to focus on the way he has fibers in every which way, creating a maze that will undoubtedly trap you. Best Jeanist is known for his strategy, not his speed or his brute strength. Fighting him is like playing a game of chess.

Well. You’re a checkers master.

Copying Edgeshot’s moves, you swerve through the threads, dipping under and over them, knowing that he won’t send too many at once because that would be like sacrificing the queen or some shit. Is that when someone’s at checkmate? Fuck if you know, man.

“Does Hawks know about this?”

“Who cares?” The final burst of wind is not for the threads, but for him, and you successfully slam Jeanist into the wall. “He’s next, anyways.”

“Lover’s spat,” is the last thing Best Jeanist says that day, because you smash his head in.  With wind, with your fists, you can’t even tell the difference anymore. You can feel your sanity drained, with each further punch and crack and splurt of blood that coats your knuckles and your stomach and even your breasts.

“Fuckin’—” You finally pull back, cursing a plethora before settling onto the ground, breathing heavily. “Lover’s spat…s’though I wasn’t about to kill you, denimhead. What a—what a stupid thing to say…”

You’re not even angry. Just slightly annoyed and slightly apprehensive. What does Best Jeanist know that you don’t? No, no. Sometimes people kill their partners (and others) because they’re going through a time loop that has cracked their psyche in an alarmingly short period of time, God, not everything is about romance!

—————————————————

No karaoke bar today. Maybe Hawks is feeling introspective, or maybe you’re tired, not just emotionally, but physically. Your muscles are strained, even though your injuries don’t carry over from the previous day. Something hurts. You don’t know what it is, but whatever it has the two of you back on top of the bridge, sitting side by side. 

Your eyes feel droopy as you rest your head on his shoulder. When is the last time you’ve slept? It’s just wake, die, repeat. 

Still, if you fall asleep now, you risk a specially painful death, though there can’t be anything that you haven’t already experienced yet (which you think everyday, but the universe finds new and disturbing ways to torture you).

“Hey,” Hawks murmurs, kissing the top of your head, “it’s 5 PM. You made it.”

Closing your eyes, you turn off aerial. Better the butterflies you experience this way.

Then you lean back, and fall.

Wind roars in your ears as gravity takes you, and your legs flop uselessly, and you know nothing will defeat this. This time, death is calling. It doesn’t need to send you something. You know you need to sleep. You’re just making the curse’s job easier. Maybe it’ll appreciate it and go easy on you tomorrow.

When you open your eyes, Hawks is reaching out for you, wings flapping furiously against each other as he shoots down. With his sunglasses off, his golden eyes gleam so pretty in the pre-sunset light. For a split second, you want him to catch you, and then doze off in his arms, comfortable and safe and protected.

But all you get is a brush of his fingers on yours before your back hits the ground, and you die.

—————————————————

You decide not to kill the number three hero for no real reason, no big deal really, it’s not something you thought about too much, the idea didn’t keep you up at night (3 PM) it didn’t make your stomach twist unpleasantly at all, no man is worth the aggravation that’s ancient history been there done that, besides isn’t it better to conserve your energy into fighting the top two heroes, there’s only logic in this decision, thump thump thump, lalalala you’re not listening, goodbye, see you tomorrow, Hawks.

[probably-ace-ok]

Unusual or Unique Crossovers

A small collection of fanfictions that either crossover pieces of media that are completely different, or does so in an interesting and unique way. Many are unfinished or seemingly abandoned, but I think they’re worth checking out anyway.

stand in the ashes (ask the ghosts)

My Hero Academia/Mass Effect

Izuku transported to Mass Effect universe before meeting All Might, gets adopted by Shepard. In progress.

Ghost's space adventures.

Hollow Knight/Mass Effect

Ghost gets sent to the Mass Effect universe and is pretty OP. Complete.

Diamond in the Rough

Steven Universe/Worm

Post-Future Steven gets transported to the grimdark superpower setting of Worm. In progress.

Child of the Sun (or, The Return of the Avatar)

Star Wars/Avatar: The Last Airbender

The Force stops working normally, and everyone who uses it becomes a bender instead. The Jedi Council does not approve. In progress.

Tilly Death Do Us Part

Double Life SMP/Attack on Titan

Minecraft players get accidentally sent into Attack on Titan… but can still use the Minecraft mechanics. In progress.

A Tale of Spirits

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Avatar: The Last Airbender

The turtles get send into the AtLA world and are mistaken for spirits due to their appearances and abilities. In progress.

see you in the dark

The Disastrous Life of Saiki K./Worm

Saiki gets sent to Brockton Bay and complains about not being in a comedy show anymore. In progress but hasn’t updated since 2021.

Stacked Deck (Or, Colin Wallis vs. Single Parenting)

Persona 4/Worm

Armsmaster has to deal with his brothers wife’s nephew being suddenly dumped on him. Yu has to deal with his uncle being a humanoid cactus. Also superpowers. In progress but hasn’t been updated since 2018.

Pray For the Children You Lost Along the Way

Miraculous Ladybug/Silent Hill

I actually haven’t read this one, although it got into my bookmarks at some point, but I’m putting it on the list for that crossover alone. In progress but hasn’t been updated since 2019.

Magic, not materia

Final Fantasy VII/Harry Potter

Was a bit hesitant about adding a HP fic to this list, but from what I remember, this fic respects HP about as much as I do — that is to say, not at all. Cloud shows up and stabs the Basilisk during Chamber of Secrets. In progress, last updated in 2021.

Once Again

Naruto/Gravity Falls

Mabel is reincarnated as Sasuke Uchiha, and that’s really all you need to know. In progress, hasn’t updated since 2019.

The Addams Family Thief

Persona 5/The Addams Family

Akechi gets adopted by the Addams family and fits in quite well. Complete.

All That Glitters Must Be A Rock

Kingdom Hearts/Steven Universe

Only a crossover in the loosest sense of the word, this fic is set in a world where people from the Destiny Islands are similar to Gems. Effectively complete.

More Than One Hero

My Hero Academia/The Legend of Zelda

Bakugou is a Link, and that changes everything. In progress, hasn’t been updated since 2018.

it's dangerous to go alone

Majora’s Mask/Undertale

Link falls into the Underground and meets Chara. Oneshot.

in the shadows of history (is where we roam)

Little Nightmares/Pokémon: Legends Arceus

Six is going to kill Arceus — and possibly eat what’s left. In progress, last updated in late 2022.

Revival

Batman/Attack on Titan

Eren Yeager in Gotham, what will he do? Adopt a child and befriend the local murderous vigilante apparently. In progress.

The Wheatley Parable

Portal 2/The Stanley Parable

Wheatley feels bad about what happened with Chell, but then he gets a second chance. Things go wrong immediately. In progress, hasn’t updated since late 2022.

Teen Titans: Morph

Teen Titans (2003)/Animorphs

Earth has been invaded by mind-controlling aliens, and the Teen Titans are some of the few heroes who know about it — along with the original Animorphs of course. Also, Starfire has a secret friend. Technically unfinished but satisfying to read anyway, hasn’t updated since 2014.

The Odd Duo of Blue and Pink

Persona 5/Kirby

Kirby and Meta Knight are reincarnated as humans in the Tokyo of Persona 5. In progress, hasn’t updated since 2019.

[quinloki]

I have tried to share a self-insert and an OC three times now, but every time I write it out it looks like an essay. And I've rewritten this four times now and I can't seem to make it any shorter. This is my last-ditch effort to try this, with just the OC, the self-insert loses.

My OC is actually my mom-figure for my self-insert. Her name is Shura and she's 6'5 with long red hair kept in a high ponytail (the shade is similar to Kid's but less crimson and more fiery). Her bangs are parted in the middle technically but they sweep to each side and obscure her eyes: left bangs are platinum blonde & right bangs are mid-lavender. Her eyes, which she keeps obscured on purpose, are so pale grey they almost look clear—hence hiding them because her eyes creep EVERYONE out including herself if she looks in a mirror.

My favorite thing about her is she always has my back. Whether I need comfort or protection or wisdom, she never fails to show up and be there. She helps me work through things and also encourages me when all the other narratives in my head are negative, she shines like the sun and pushes them back.

Her worst trait is easily her temper. She's more of a grievously maim you first then interrogate you later if you survived kind of gal. I think it's a redhead thing. They're just feistier.

Don't know about her and foods.

I've had her since March 2021, so she actually predates One Piece for me. I didn't begin watching One Piece until March 2023. Shura came about during my Kuroko no Basuke (KnB) phase (which I'm still in, never left it) where she was still my mom-figure for that anime self-insert but there she was a normal human (and a badass basketball/volleyball coach). In One Piece she's not even human, she just masquerades as one.

Who do I ship her with? Four very different people yielding in four very different outcomes.

Sir Crocodile + Shura = Divorce. It's inevitable. Her temper just isn't made to jive with his ego or his desire to rule a freaking country. They definitely got divorced pre-Alabasta and while they definitely didn't work out as a couple, they remain tentatively amicable with one another and even remain allies once Crocodile sets up the Cross Guild. But she won't ally with him pre-Cross Guild. Wasn't even upset he got sent to Impel.

Doflamingo + Shura = Variations. Some days she's a one-night stand that yielded offspring and he couldn't care less or he wants to manipulate said offspring. Other days they are in love with each other, and sometimes it's an arranged deal that sours. It depends on what I'm feeling/need at the time.

Borsalino + Shura = Happily Married. He's laid-back enough to not be perturbed by her temper or morals. The government makes it hard for them to stay together so they go their separate ways but never divorce. Borsi uses his rank to keep his family hidden from the government and even hidden from Akainu (Kuzan knows but keeps his mouth shut—too lazy to snitch). If his family secret is ever exposed, he may or may not walk from his post as a Marine (don't know him well enough to make that call accurately at this time).

Sakazuki + Shura = Murder. Who didn't see this coming? The one time it worked as a loving marriage, I had a fever from Covid and so it was quite literally a fever dream. Sakazuki always murders Shura, every time without fail. They start off madly in love but as he devolves more and more into his Absolute Justice philosophy, she pushes back against it because his philosophy isn't hers. He has no tolerance for naysayers and ends up murdering her. Her sister Ayako hides the offspring from Sakazuki until the child is grown and capable of making her own decisions.

Shura does not have a devil fruit but she is fire-based in her own abilities. If she is stripped of her power, she relies on her sword which is lovingly named Firebird. Shura's nickname is Redbird.

Shura is heavily based off of my own Mom. Her nickname is from the real-life heroine of medieval China. Her appearance is heavily based on Shura Kirigakure (no, the name isn't from this Shura, that was one hell of a coincidence) of Blue Exorcist—obviously with modifications. While Kirigakure is snake-based my Shura is Phoenix-based and I pulled from mythologies as well as a TCG called Legend of the Five Rings. One of the clans in that game was the Phoenix clan and I've based Shura's lineage to the Dragon clan of the same game.

😳

Oh wow! You’ve really got thought into her - I love that! It’s definitely good to have a reliable mom figure who is fierce and supportive for you and your self-insert - especially in the One Piece where mothers are suspect at best and dead at most ^^;

Though to be fair, mother is a statistically dangerous vocation, so I can see why.

I love the design too, you describe her very well; and I love the eyes. Oh man the PAIRINGS are something else too, poor gal has a type and aside from, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, Borsalino her type is not kind to her.

Well, I guess the Croco pairing is also mostly good too, since they didn’t kill one another and were able to keep things amicable.

I LOVE the details though - thank you very much for sharing!

(Shura from Blue Exorcist is really cool too!)

[dispatches-from-the-lorecord]

Colress’ seasons-long scheme to get one up on RR vs Reese’s absolute refusal to be involved in any plot, go!

[February 7, 2023]

{Haji:}

So tldr Rainbow Rockets got Colress seriously messed up. It's not the only reason, but one does have to wonder how a guy who told Ghetsis to his face how much he hated him and possibly systematically tried to murder him ends up working for the guy again.

And the answer boils down to r e v e n g e

But like I said, that's painting things way too simple. Looking at my timeline and family trees a lot happened between Ultra Sun and Gauntlet Red and a big part of that is Colress' fault. He is keenly aware of this and every attempt to "remedy a grave miscalculation" has only seemed to make things worse.

So Ultra Sun being our vanilla run, the RR episode happened and members were scattered around the world but that started off trouble with things like Soul Silver we see Rockets looking for their lost leader, by Dual Red and Blue oh look they found him. The Archie and Maxie from Flora are more nutso than usual because they're the "this totally worked before..." pair from RR too. So on and so forth.

Between this and Necrozma stuff leading from US to RUM (another error of judgement, he gave Roark the fusers after witnessing the capture. Did he tell anyone? No. Because it was interesting at least until it became personal. Not that he knew Roark was in there, just seeing what Necrozma was capable of) he's finally starting to realize this isn't just bad, but the apocalyptic stuff people built the -cough- "Vault White" to escape from is becoming tangibly real. And worse, one of those being RUM seems to be breeding more "monsters" so to speak with the new and much more organized under Grimsley RR have started making their move in the global takeover during the chaos.

There's still previous RR floating around but people like Cyrus and Ghetsis are smart enough to play the long game unlike some of their more impatient allies who've already been taken out. But this time, Colress is plotting while also waiting because the long game is fun in a way

So then we get to Gauntlet and it seems the professors have been planning for this too. Could blame the cycle, but it could be they've also been given the heads up by someone with more intimate knowledge on the situation in creating The Dex. This cursed thing that seems to have a life of its own as it grows and changes with each new host, absorbing information on multiple journeys in a relatively short period while the professors sit back in mild horror to realize every kid who's touched this thing has been put in danger. Before you could say it's just coincidence that Dex holders are Chosen first who happened to be setting out and need a dex for the road. Here its a debate if somehow giving someone the Dex ends up drawing the Voices to it. Especially since again, this Dex is uh.... Warped. And it's the same one each time. :tppS:

(fun note: Elm wants nothing to do with this, and while he's glad Dippy turned out okay, he's still going to be over here judging the others for encouraging this.)

{Trollkitten:}

And then you have Reese, who doesn't get the Pokedex and thus his title of Main Character gets pushed onto his rival instead

{Haji:}

Yeah. :Jebaited:

{Trollkitten:}

...to be honest, I think his rival was the better choice regardless

{Haji:}

Which brings us to Reese...

Actually back up for those who don't know.

So in Gauntlet, as implied, part of the gimmick was that we were supposed to be able to transfer all of our catches from game to game. Something went wrong in Platinum where this screwed us over in the Nation Dex (because we technically already had one?) And then further broke when it didn't work at all in Blazed Black 2 so we joked that our rival must have taken off with it since Bianca offered both Reese and Yang a Dex when they got their Pokemon iirc

I would say this is where things get weird, but we're way past that point :tppLUL:

So at the beginning of Blazed Black and Volt White (or maybe just the sequels. I haven't checked in a while) with Juniper showing up for the introduction but then saying this may look like Juniper but it's Drayano using her to say welcome

{Newbie:}

it is in fact a thing with Blaze Black and Volt White 1, yes

{Haji:}

In my lore, Yang was the one who received the mystery pack saying he got a letter and a device saying it could help him in his personal desire to go after Team Plasma. He showed it to Reese and they both got sucked into the device where they've been in stasis in Dream World for like five years or something before they wake up to find the world has gotten weird. Like it's had its soul sucked out of it and somehow they're the only ones who were spared. Or at least until they start finding others who are "awake" enough to realize things aren't right. Yang thinks they're inside the device since that's the last thing he remembers and Reese is all like... Cool. Then Yang can go be protag and he'll just hang back and play side kick while checking out all the features. :3

Meeting Colress doesn't set off any warning flags, but Colress is quick to pick up that Reese has the Voices and after his "trial run" with Aqua to take out Ghetsis, Colress is careful and curious to study both boys as things play out. It's obvious by the time Frigate happens that Reese is the better fighter of the two and Colress is both bitter and delighted to utilize this weapon to fulfill destiny and whatnot because that's what Chosen do~~ EXCEPT REESE WON'T DO IT

This confrontation is somehow simultaneously going exactly to plan and not going to plan at all filled with a lot of "HOW FUCKING DARE YOU" "NO, HOW DARE YOU!" emotions as Colress has found out how to spur Reese into action. The same way he finally got into action. Make it personal.

Yang has no idea what he's caught up in |D;;;

He's lucky he didn't get killed

Honestly, only reason he's not dead is because Nia showed up

{TrollKitten:}

I imagine that in Colress's position, I'd be frustrated too

{Haji:}

Colress was the ~mysterious benefactor ~ Yang signed up with, Colress has legit planned on going after Lana and Grimsley himself if he had the power to do so, but he ends up infiltrating Team Plasma to try to get the boys to go after them by pursuing him. Is this a bad idea? If course. Colress is aware he's full of bad ideas by this point but in this case it's worth it if only to get the intended result

And he is obsessed with power and can't decide if Reese is only so strong because of the Voices or if it's because the love for his friends and teammates (despite the calls to get rid of some of them) fuels him to only get stronger.

But with all of the collected Chosen in the area at once, this can't fail right? :pogsire:

I mean... He's right in that Grimsley is destroyed and the RR is officially dead in the water, but now we have the problem of these power houses turning on each other. It all works out but sheesh

At least by the time Gauntlet X comes around, the world isn't "fixed" but it's in a far better state than it had been

Honestly not sure if the Colress of Volt White 2 Redux is at all related to this one, but if he is he's at least had the chance to breathe a while and enjoy having his family back after Stars released everyone from their own accidental prison. This Ghetsis isn't RR, but miiiiight be the disgraced gym leader from RW2. Colress is just curious more than anything, but I still honestly think these two are new by that point. (Or unrelated timeline shenanigans because so close to Scarlet and Violet) :tppLUL:

But yeah! Reese is not at all happy about being someone's pawn and ready to go Void on anyone in the manipulation game between Colress and the RR

(and by that I mean Dark Void)

[jacobmybeloved]

Woo! I finished this before the weekend ended! [well, my weekend technically LOL]

This is for @afarcry5fromstraight who asked for the following prompts with UWBL characters that I got to pick:

Fluff 8 - “ they’re not you.”

Fluff 14 - “of course I will”

Angst 18 - “you won't be able to walk tomorrow when i'm through with you”

Angst 35 - “does that hurt?”

I hope you enjoy it ^^

1988 - El Este

Trigger. Bang. Trigger. Bang. Trigger. Bang. Trigger.

Bang. 

Evimer Casado-Ruiz could still feel the pressure in her finger as she had continuously pressed down against the trigger of the murder weapon. Her hand would twitch occasionally, shaking so subtly it was driving her mad. Santo’s Espinosa had fallen after the first bullet, but years of pent up resentment had made her pull the trigger thrice more. If only she had known sooner she had pulled the trigger on the wrong president. 

Espinosa still deserved to die, that point was clear, but it was a victory short lived once she realized Anton Castillo had no intention of holding up his side of the bargain that they had brokered. First his little band of secret militia had come for the office workers, then the rest of Espinosa’s cabinet. Eventually, they were going to come for her and her baby girl too. Danijela was completely unaware of the fact that any bloodshed had been spilt. Evimer had only managed to escape the capital by the skin of her teeth and with the help of the most obnoxious man alive. 

Juan Cortez was a barely nine-teen know-it-all who Espinosa had recruited as his personal Jack of All Trades. Despite only being only a few years older, Evimer often referred to him as a child for his immature nature. They would butt heads at every encounter but every time Espinosa raised a hand to her or Danijela, Juan would always be there to diffuse the situation. He was always there when it counted. He was the only reason she had been able to escaped Castillo’s snare in the first place. But by the Virgin Mary, he drove her insane.

She had followed the fool down south to the humid jungles of Sierra Perdida. Evimer had not anticipated to be walking continuously like this with a baby strapped to her chest. As they rounded the next bend of this supposed trail Juan had been following, she sat her ass down in the wet soil. It took Juan only a millisecond to turn around and begin hounding her.

“Uh, what are you doing?”

“What’s it look like I’m doing, idiot.”

Juan’s face scrunched up, but not in anger. Never in anger. He always had a mischievous look to him. His eyes were soft-pools of green, and his hair, which came to his shoulders, was a medium brown that accentuated his sun-kissed skin. His face was square, but in a good way. He had the sharp angles where it counted and the soft-edges where you least expected. He had no right to be so handsome. Just another reason he irritated her. 

“This isn’t where I was exactly planning for us to make camp, but I suppose it’ll do.”

She hated how agreeable he had become since they left the capital. If he was trying to make this easier for her, she wished he wouldn’t. She had lived through more loss and suffering than many could have gone through. She wasn’t a frail thing to be taken care of. She had already been torn asunder. Evimer spent the next twenty-minutes watching as Juan scouted the nearby area for twigs and broken branches that could be used for a small fire. They were far enough from any main roads that the smoke wouldn’t be too noticeable. As he took care of the camp, Evimer took to finally unbundling Danijela form her little cocoon. The girl could sleep through anything. Not a single tremble or fright. 

Even as Evimer prepared a small resting spot for the babe, Danijela gleamed happily in her sleep, completely unaware of what had transpired. Evimer took one of the small babe’s hands in her own, examining a bruise that had begun to form around Danijela’s wrist. It was the last mark Espinosa would ever give either of them. Evimer had made sure of it. 

Evimer had never planned to be a mother. She didn’t have a motherly bone in her body. She had tried her best over the last year - but it was lukewarm at best. She always tried though. Always tried. The closest she had come to feeling like a real mother was when she saw Espinosa lay his hands on their daughter. She just so happened to have the gun Castillo supplied in hand. Everything in her went black. Like, a beast had been unleashed. Talk about perfect timing. 

“We should stay put here for a few days, but we’re going to need supplies. Concepción is about half a day from here walking but I can probably borrow some pendejo’s car and be back in a few hours.”

Like a switch had been flicked on, Evimer found herself jumped up, ready to tear into this idiot.

“You just dragged me and my daughter into the jungle, and now you’re going to leave us alone? How am I supposed to know that you’ll actually come back?”

There was a flicker of an emotion Evimer didn’t quite understand in his eyes as her words tumbled out. It almost look like he was hurt by her comment. 

“Of course I will.” He said, like she should have expected that outcome already.

Evimer knew she was probably overreacting, but there were real dangers out here. Panthers. Wolves. Soldiers. She couldn’t help it. The last twenty four hours she was on the execution block and now she was in the middle of nowhere with a baby and a man who she couldn’t hardly trust as far as she could throw him. She was angry, no pissed. Confused. She was scared as all hell. She felt her body begin to shake involuntarily.

”No, no, you are not leaving us-”

“Evimer,” He said, grasping at her arms.

Evimer reactively broke the contact, but followed up with a slap. Juan’s head snapped to the side, his cheek already a bright red from the impact.

Evimer was shocked by her own action but couldn’t stop.

”Does that hurt?” She said with feigned bravado, “Because that’s what it feels like when you just dragged me from my home to the fucking jungle.”

“What would you have preferred my dear lady?” He said caustically, “That I left you to Castillo’s dogs? That I let Castillo slaughter you and leave Danijela at his mercy?”

Evimer could no longer hear herself, but she knew she was harshly whispering profanities to keep from waking Danijela. She began to hit him, telling him to shut up in an angry flurry of English and Spanish. After the seventh or eighth hit she began to lose her wind. In what she assumed was an attempt to calm her, Juan began to run his fingers through her hair. The sense of his touch triggered her to begin lashing out again. However, he was ready this time. He ducked under her punches and twisted her arm around her back and pushed her until she was pinned up against a tree trunk. She squirmed whilst Juan took in every detail of her face. He waited patiently until her adrenaline began to die down again. Huffing, Evimer surrendered herself - but he continued to keep her just where she stood. 

The moonlight hit his face in a way that transformed him completely. His eyes were piercing into hers. Thinking. Calculating. Their faces were centimeters from touching. SHe felt her breathing begin to become shallow as he continued to stare. A primal growl escaped his lips before she fel the pressure of his lips against hers. His calloused hands quickly found their way under her shirt, lifting her just enough off the ground to where she was left completely at his mercy.

He worked his tongue into her mouth as she let out a slight moan. The intensity in which he kissed her felt like years of tension finally being relieved. Oh, how she hated him. But he had always been there for her when it counted. She could not imagine anyone who would be willing to risk their life for another, especially when that person had a target on their back placed there by Anton Castillo himself. Juan was everything she wished she had been. Brave, funny, adventurous. He could disappear into the night and have no problem slipping into another skin, becoming someone new entirely. She wanted to do that more than anything. He bit her lip before trailing his mouth down to her jawline as he muttered something into her skin.

“What was that?” She asked.

Juan took a moment to trail back to her lips, smirking, “I said, you know, I’ve been with many women across the globe.”

“Flattering.” Evimer huffed, her fire beginning to dwindle out.

She should have known better.

“So why not leave me and Danijela then and go live your life of debauchery with them.”

Juan tilted her head, like he was in on a joke that went completely over her head.

“Well, that’s the problem isn’t it?” He remarked, “They’re not you.”

Evimer looked at him in disbelief. This idiot boy and his sweet words. This idiot boy who was now kissing the palm of her hand like the most delicate of fruit. This idiot boy who, despite every fiber of her being telling her not to trust him, had done more for her than Espinosa had ever done in her entire relationship with him. This idiot was hers. She knew that now.

“Do you have to go to Concepción now? Can it wait till morning?”

Juan tilted his head back and forth, thinking aloud with a wide grin.

“I think I can do that.”

He pulled her into him, grabbing a handful of her hair as he pulled her head back, kissing her throat. Evimer shut her eyes as he uttered into her skin.

“Just know you won't be able to walk tomorrow when I'm through with you.”

“Sounds perfecto.”

[dana-chan-the-control-brain]

I'm not anon but I just came here to say they're right for liking Dadler and they shouldn't be afraid to say it. I understand why people don't like him or the idea of him being redeemed and I understand they feel very protective over Sun and Moon but like...

Nuance exists, people. Someone can do bad things in their past and become better later on down the road and they shouldn't just be written off as bad forever because of their past actions, ESPECIALLY if they're trying to make a change and repent.

Also, wasn't Dadler under the influence of Afton? So, like, very much not making his own decisions when he did those awful things? Obviously Sun and Moon are under no obligation to forgive him and Dadler trying to be better doesn't erase the trauma that he caused... but isn't it better that he TRIES to do good and repent rather than just remain some evil bastard forever? (And again, Afton's influence not his own choices.) Honestly the parallels between him and Moon are kinda obvious and we can't ignore them just 'cause Moon is our little scrunkly and Dadler is the one who hurt him.

Oh wow! I didn't expect such an insightful ask like this. Lol

Yes, Dadler was under the influence of Afton when he built Sun and Moon, but how much is up for debate in Lofi, which is made a little more clear in Dadler Lives Au.

Like Afton's influence and how the glitch works in my fic is that it basically gatekeeps your own serotonin away from you. Doesn't matter if he eats healthy, or actually gets his necessary vitamins... It's Afton's government-mandated happiness now and property of Fazbear Entertainment. "build the robot, robot builder!"

or... "kill the kids, child killer" if you want get real technical about the glitch and the cult.

Not only that, but you can't sleep. Physically, at all. And there will just be instances when Afton is directly in the pilot's seat.

Keep in mind, Afton does not have the strongest influence under Handler than VANNY. (for reasons I can't say but I feel readers have picked up on what I've been hinting at before it's explicitly stated)

Vanny is the most possessed that Afton has ever gotten with a human. A successful Successor to his "legacy" (of murdering kids in rabbit costumes. lol)

Handler is just.............. Afton's toilet paper. Needed for a specific purpose, he doesn't care enough to keep him around if he rebels and will throw him away once he's done what he needed.

And there are many guys like Handler that got infected through email in other branches. Although the number is small, Afton just wants to grow and increase his numbers and keep growing. The Plex is homebase.

But, there were some things he could control. His choosing to keep a level of distance towards his creation and his overall rudeness towards them was his own decision. A lot of things were his own decisions. But due to lack of sleep, and having a voice constantly YELL at you when the murder bot WON'T murder... you can say makes him irritable and grumpy and a little desperate to do what's needed.

There are sometimes when the real Handler pokes through in Lofi... but it's very rare for those who are looking for it.

Sun and Moon never met the guy on a "good day" .... all his days were bad days filled with sleep deprivation and drugs. (his substance abuse will be addressed in the lives au don't worry. it's only one chapter so far and there's a lot of shit planned)

And also, due to my personal experiences and background, I actually do like this kind of redemption story with parental figures cause it's an escape and comfort to me. I know it's self-indulgent and not many people will go for it due to their own personal experiences. (and you are 100% right. It is up to Sun and Moon if they actually want him around or not. Sun is being willing, but he hasn't forgotten. And he's a lot more confident now then the last time Handler saw him)

Lol I still get comments on that fic saying that they want to kill or continue to beat the guy up in the fic. And I don't mind those comments, I actually love them, cause they're also right. Although I do think people need to take notice of the FIRST-person perspective of the Handler Lives AU.

...You are no longer the Y/N.

You are the Dadler now. This is his perspective. His reflections. His story.

The Y/N from Twins is now T/N. ...."their name..." cause Handler can't read nametags. lol

But again, the Dadler Lives au doesn't detract from Lofi. It's just something I made for myself for funzies as a little side project to develop some ocs and minor characters.

And I trust people's judgment to know if it'll be their thing or not.

[thegirlwhowrites642]

Can you write parallels between July and hinny?

The one that always knew

The similarities between James and Ginny are many but let's stick to the ones that have relevance in their dynamics with Lily and Harry.

These two are the romantics. In Snape's memories, we see James pretending to have a sword, talking about heroes and courage, and then we have Ginny who is really no different. Grown-up with the story of the boy who lived, completely fascinated by him and this legend.

So it's not surprising at all that they are the ones who knew long before their counterparts about their feelings. And they make it known, even if their approaches are quite different, and very gendered which is realistic.

James is bold, he right out asks Lily out, the way he does it is very questionable and difficult to be taken seriously but still. Ginny is shy and pretty much wants to kill herself for not being able to stop blushing, yet there's a boldness to her too with the poem. Technically it was meant to be anonymous but is still a very bold move.

Obviously, for the fandom James' approach needed to be praised while Ginny was a psychotic maniac because God forbid, a woman making a guy the object of her affections putting him in a passive position. What is this? Feminism???

James and Ginny are two awkward messes in this specific area, but they are very in touch with their feelings and were certain enough about them to not be able to fully get over Lily and Harry even if they had to wait a while. I'm sure they would both tell you that it was worth it.

The maturity

James and Ginny's behaviors when Lily and Harry were around needed to be changed for them to show their true selves to the objects of their affections.

I mean, the problem could have been solved by locking in a room the pairs, or Harry and Ginny going to the Yule Ball together, but that would've been too easy, no?

It's made very clear by Sirius that while for sure James had some things to improve about himself, his attitude when Lily was around wasn't his average one, he was, well, too James? A very exaggerated version of himself?

And with Ginny, well we know the story. Just like James, she had to stop letting her feelings take control of her actions.

When James and Ginny managed this, oh... how the tables turned...

The one that was clueless

Now it's time to talk about our resident green-eyed idiots.

It took a while for Lily and Harry to understand their feelings for James and Ginny but the pull, the attraction, the Je ne sais quoi, was always there.

Again, with Harry, we know the story. From the inability to take his eyes off Ginny at King's Cross to descriptions of setting suns to Ginny being the first person he looked at on the dance floor. The pull was always there but until Ginny didn't show her true self, Harry's subconscious really didn't know what to do with this attraction.

We know a lot less about James and Lily obviously and yet it's made quite clear that Lily was drawned to James. From the traitorous smile that escaped her lips even when she was angry at him to Sirius a bit too sure assurance that she never really hated James.

The external factors

The real obstacle for these two couples revolves around external factors.

For Harry and Ginny, we have traumatic life-altering events that include possessions, alleged murderers, mortal tournaments, dark lords, and other minor love interests to distract them.

With James and Lily, the obstacle has a name and it's Severus Snape. Lily's best friend and James archnemesis. Let's do a couple of calculations, shall we? James and Lily got married really young, we know that they started dating in their seventh year, so the most reasonable assumption is that they started dating at the start of the year. This means that things between them changed during their sixth year. Now if only something major happened at the end of their fifth year... oh, wait. The moment Lily gets rid of her friendship with Snape and his insistent attempts at putting James in a bad light in her eyes, Lily falls for James, what a coincidence.

The symbolism

Both pairings of Potters enter the soulmates' dynamic. Admittedly, Harry and Ginny a lot more because we have seven books about them and an inside point of view. But a major point of this type of dynamic is the fact that the characters need to be like two magnets drawned to each other so if you want to keep them apart you have to make it impossible for them to be together, and how do you do that? External factors, inability for a long time to be around the other, things like that. Just think about Amy and Laurie from Little Women.

Another important point for soulmates' dynamics is symbolism. The thing is, soulmates are not something that objectively exists. So unless you are writing a world-building where there are like soulmates marks or that kind of thing, the author has to rely on things like symbolism to make the reader understand.

With Harry and Ginny, we have Ginny's name, three hundred different metaphors, Ginny's association with light, Harry's death sequence, and so on...

With James and Lily again we have a lot less material but between the matching patroni and the fact that their love gave birth to the guy who saved the world with his ability to love, the message is pretty clear.

[There's a lot more to soulmates dynamics, and every author has some liberty for variations, but I'm keeping the elements of hinny that jily presents too. There's a lot more for hinny.]

[tokillamockingbird427]

Random Headcanons: Keegan

List of random headcanons for my specialist boy. (As in autistic, not me calling him special. /J)

He shoots with his right eye, so his left eye looks perpetually squinty.

Cannot smile like a normal person. Forever lopsided because he straight up doesn't know how to because he almost never smiles.

I think I just like Keegan being asymmetrical all over tbh. Lad is lopsided.

Ambidextrous in the sense that he can shoot a rifle from either shoulder. Don't mistake this for him being able to write with both hands. He does prefer shooting off his right though. (See above.)

Also has that Blahaj shark plush from Ikea. (Hates the sweeds tho.)

Sharks. He loves sharks. They're his favorite animal.

Has a massive onesie that's a shark. He wears it during shark week and will drag someone (Usually Ajax.) into watching it with him. Has about a million facts about them memorized. He will tell you them.

Along the same lines, he was a dinosaur kid. There was a section in his elementary school library chock full of just dinosaur books. He was so obsessed they let him ditch the "One non-fiction, one-fiction." book for checkout and let him just get all dino books.

Again, similar lines: Big book nerd. Always has one on him, likes to read before and after missions because it calms him down.

Loves rock. Not the object but the genre. (Alt and classic.) Parents probably played Nirvana and ACDC driving him to and from school as a kid.

Enjoys country for the same reason, but the kind of country that has women plotting their husbands murders. (Which his mom listened to.)

Lady Gaga fan.

Pale as fuck which is funny because he lived in florida. Despises Hesh and Logan immunity to the sun because everytime he goes out he'll have one patch of skin he didn't cover with sunscreen and he burns too easily.

His fave outfit combo is a tight shirt and loose sweatpants. It's comfy. (And makes his butt+thighs look nice.)

Has a Deathhawk. (This is a newer one.) Braids it down to fit under his balaclava. It's technically out of regulation for being too long but Elias is entirely too much of a softie to force him to cut it. So long as it's kept back during missions he won't get after Keegan for it. Uses colored wax when he styles it up because he can't dye his hair. (Again, out of regulation.)

Very soft palms. He wears gloves on missions so there's never much a chance for them to get rough, even though they do have a handful (hah) of scars on the backs of his hands.

Also, impeccable nails. Likes to paint them. His hands just look really nice.

Cuddle monster. You get too close to him and he likes you? Boom. Pythoned. He will look so sad if he has to let go and the victim of his cuddles will feel bad.

#1 Love language is physical affection, which is very funny because he fucking despises PDA. If he likes someone he'll bare it, but he will be blushing the whole time.

Blushes everywhere. His whole face, the tips of his ears, the back of his neck, even his shoulders. It's also hella obvious because of the previously mentioned paleness.

Has bad survivors guilt from Sand Viper. Gets compounded over the years because being a Ghost is pretty dangerous. (More of them would die or be injured.)

Looks up to Elias and Rorke as mentor/father figures.

Lots of sisters. Only had one baby sister but three who were all older than him.

Really wanted a brother though so he enlists himself as Hesh's big brother after the pyramid/the beach. (Mostly by accident.) Now incredibly protective of him.

Little weasel monster after Sand Viper because he's unpacking all that trauma, but he decompresses over the years and mellows out. Still has his bat-shit insane moments though. (*cough* Truck at the stadium. *cough*)

Hates his call sign and does everything to get people not to use it. Most don't but Adonis does because the little shit finds it hilarious to dick with poor "Scout." (Ajax also uses it but Keegan gives him a freepass to do pretty much anything he wants lmao.)

Thick in thigh, thick in the waist Thick in the right motherfuckin' places