#I like the details armor has but holy crap

[empresskadia]

I quite seriously despise drawing armor :’) and people who do have my respect. It took me hours looking at reference photos for this. But I said, ODST Raya will be started

My girl likes her sniper rifle, bang bang

I still have some details to add on but I’m also working on a new sketch for her Spartan armor, I changed it up a bit.

[danses-with-dogmeat]

Fallout 4 characters (who've been to the capitol or at least heard about what happened there) react to sole survivor finding a tunnel snakes jacket and/or meeting butch and the lone wanderer who came to the commonwealth to meet sole survivor and co. after the railroad ending

Sorry if I made it too complicated

Thanks so much for the ask! This was a super interesting prompt! I only did a few companions (including Danse despite this being a railroad ending because I just couldn't help myself) but if there's someone I didn't include that you still want to see, just let me know! I hope you enjoy :)

Danse:

Danse stopped in his tracks, forcing Sole to halt in place a few paces back. They peeked their head out from behind his tall, power-armored frame, looking for signs of danger. In the distance, two figures made their way towards them, and Sole raised their sniper rifle in preparation, curious as to why Danse made no sudden moves to ready his own weapon. Sole held the scope of their gun to their eye, trying to find a good shot in case the pair turned out to be hostile. Noticing their action, Danse turned his head, bringing a large hand up to push the barrel of the gun roughly downwards.

“Hey!”

“There’s no need to have them in your sights, soldier. These civilians are no threat to us.”

“How do you know? What about exercising caution?” Sole adjusted the grip on their rifle, still not completely convinced that they weren’t in danger.

“I know because I’ve met these people before."

“You can tell who they are all the way from here?” They squinted their eyes at the figures in the distance once again, trying to make out any discernible features, but failing to do so.

“Yes, look at their vault suits.”

“Okay,” Sole started, “I know it all turned out fine with me, but not everyone wearing a vault suit is automatically a good person.” Danse closed his eyes for a moment, a bout of air escaping his nose in an expression of his annoyance.

“I know that. But look closely,” His voice lowered a bit as the two strangers in vault suits grew nearer. Now, Sole could almost make out the general features of their faces.

“Their suits say ‘vault 101’ on them.” Danse said the words with a weight that left Sole feeling as though they should know what he was talking about. He turned to look at them expectantly, almost confirming their theory, before noticing their distinct lack of recognition at his words.

“Vault 101 is in the Capital Wasteland," he explained, "only three people I know of have ever left that particular vault; I know one to be dead, and the other two travel the wastes together, performing selfless acts to aid the settlers in the Capital. One of them is called Lone, and they were once a great ally to the Brotherhood of Steel; they walked beside Liberty Prime in our war against the Enclave ten years ago.”

Sole furrowed their eyebrows, their gaze still trained on the blue-clad pair as they drew ever closer.

“And you’re sure this is them?” Danse nodded his head as he looked towards them, Sole continued, lowering their voice even more as their gaze rested on the approaching vault-dwellers, “And they’re no threat? If they’re still allied with the Brotherhood, that could be an issue, Danse.” They said the last bit rather softly, hinting at the ex-paladin's now severed relationship with the faction he was once so devoted to.

“I suppose we shall see.” Danse said, and Sole looked on as one of the pair acknowledged them with a wave of their hand, their partner behind them keeping his pistol lowered reassuringly.

“Greetings, civilians.” Danse said, effectively outing himself as a (former) member of the Brotherhood, as if the power armor hadn’t already helped with that a bit. This is why I do the talking. Sole thought as they let out a breath, trying to release some of the anxiety they felt building up in response to this strange situation.

“Hello.” One of them said, their eyes slightly narrowed in suspicion of the soldier and his companion. “Nice outfit,” they nodded towards Sole’s own vault suit, but before Sole could respond, Danse took another step forward.

“Do you still go by ‘Lone’?” he asked, and the one in front snapped their gaze up to look him in the eye, their bewilderment plainly written on their face.

“Hey!” said the man in the leather jacket behind them, “how do you know Lone’s name?”

“So, I suppose that’s a ‘yes,’ then.” Sole interjected. Lone looked back, flashing a perturbed look at the man behind them, and Sole’s gaze went up to Danse, hoping he would explain more. For both their sake, and for Lone’s.

“We haven’t met, but I was at the Citadel when you arrived after the Enclave took over your father’s water purifier.”

Lone's eyebrows seemed to raise slightly at that, as they nodded in remembrance.

"So, are you still with the Brotherhood, then?" The air seemed to sizzle and crack around Danse at the pressure Lone’s question exuded on him. Should he lie and say that he is? Or has Lone since cut ties with the faction as well? There was certainly no physical indication that they were still allied with the Brotherhood, but…

"Not currently." Sole answered for the ex-paladin, "I don't know if you've heard, but the chapter of the Brotherhood that was stationed here was wiped out." They felt Danse tense at their words. Now Sole was taking the risk, mentioning an event that had nearly demolished their relationship with the former Brotherhood soldier, but they had to say something. And this way, they weren’t giving away their position in relation to the Brotherhood.

"So I'd heard. It's a shame, really."

"I’ll tell you what’s a shame,” Lone’s companion spoke up, “that they lost their sweet ass ride. That's what I think. Never seen anything like it, now the whole damn thing’s been blown to smithereens."

Danse’s eyes seemed to glaze over at the mention of the destruction of the ship he once called home, and Sole knew he wouldn’t be much help to them now.

“So, you’re from the Capital? What is it that’s brought you out here?” They asked in an attempt to veer away from this troubling subject. Lone narrowed their eyes slightly, and Sole could practically see the gears turning in their head as they thought through what sort of information they wanted to divulge to the strangers in front of them.

“Wait, slow your roll there. We might kinda-sorta know this guy," Lone's companion gestured to Danse, "but who are you supposed to be, huh?” Sole noticed the man’s hand remained firmly grasped around the 10mm pistol he carried, and they wondered if perhaps Danse had been wrong about these two. It has been 10 years, these people could have changed. They could be anyone by now.

“My name is Sole.” They said simply, unsure how they should further embellish their title, given their uncertainty surrounding the pair in front of them. But, as it happens, it seemed they didn’t have to, for as soon as their name left their lips, Lone turned abruptly to their companion with wide eyes.

“You’re Sole?” Lone asked, their gaze turning to fall heavily on Sole, their eyes round in recognition.

“No way we just bumped into them like this. No way.” Lone’s partner shook his head in disbelief, and Sole looked up to see Danse’s stare break from the nothingness he’d been focused on to rest upon Lone’s perplexed face.

“I-- well, yes, I am. How do you…?” Sole trailed off, not sure what exactly they were trying to ask.

“Well, you asked why we came here.” Sole nodded to them, “It was to find you.” At that, Danse raised his laser rifle from the restful position it had held throughout the entire exchange thus far, as the possibly threatening words left Lone’s mouth.

“Easy there, sergeant major. We’re just gabbin’, no need for a defensive position.”

“And that’s exactly why I’m taking one. Always best to be prepared, civilian.” Danse looked down at Lone’s companion with furrowed brows, hands holding steady in their poised position on his rifle.

“Alright, everyone, let’s calm down. We just want to talk to you, Sole.” Lone said, hands slightly raised in an inoffensive gesture.

“Why?” Danse said, utterly unconvinced that the pair meant no harm. My, how the tables have turned so abruptly. Sole thought, I’d like to tell him I told him so, but something tells me now’s not the time for that.

Lone just smiled as Danse glowered down at them,

“If all I’ve heard is true, Sole is a hero." They said, "my aim is to find out what really happened with you and the Institute, and maybe, if I like what I hear, we’ll have a few favors to ask of you.”

“Favors?” Sole spoke up, “What did you have in mind?”

“We’ll go into more detail later, but let’s just say that the Capital Wasteland hasn’t exactly benefited from the Brotherhood’s… change in management. For now though, I’ll leave it at that. And we should get moving if we’re going to find shelter before sundown. I hear it can get pretty chilly up here at night.” Sole nodded as they considered all that Lone had said, and as their eyes found Danse’s, the pair silently decided to trust the Lone wanderer and their partner. For now, at least.

“Sole,” Danse said, “why don’t you take point.”

“Good idea.” Sole moved to step ahead of the others, heading north along the dirt road they had been following, before glancing back at the sound of Lone’s voice.

“Butch, why don’t you take up the rear.”

“Don’t have to ask me twice,” Butch turned to Sole and winked before doing as Lone had suggested, and the group set off to find shelter for the fast-approaching evening.

MacCready:

“Holy crap, where the heck did you get this?!” MacCready held up the leather jacket in front of him, eyes widening in awe. Sole looked over from where they stood outside their house in Sanctuary, squinting their eyes at the seemingly inconsequential jacket.

“That’s not mine.” They told him, turning back to unloading the scrap they’d acquired from the mission they and MacCready had just returned from.

“Do you even know what this is?” You looked back at him with a cocked brow,

“Does it look like I do?”

“This is a Tunnel Snakes jacket!” MacCready held the jacket with one hand, the other gesturing animatedly to the artwork on the back of it, Sole’s expression remained devoid of recognition, so MacCready felt the need to continue, “The Tunnel Snakes! It’s a gang. They’re from the Capital Wasteland. I’ve only ever seen one of these jackets once, and--”

“Oh, and what have we here?” A man in a vault suit with slicked back hair stepped out from the side of the house, flicking a cigarette butt to the ground, “hey, come check this out! Told you the Tunnel Snakes’ name got around.” The man gazed proudly at the jacket, a smug expression formed on his face as another stranger rounded the corner of the house. They also donned a vault suit, an amused smile playing at their lips as they rolled their eyes at their companion. The new stranger was odd, despite their age, they had an air of knowing about them. They were young, but their eyes seemed old, light lines shown on their face, telling the story of a life fraught with loss and tough decisions.

“Butch, we’ve been over this.” They said, “There’s like three people in the gang, and two of them live underground. The guy probably just thinks it’s a cool jacket.”

“Then how did he know the name, huh?”

“It’s on the jacket, Butch.”

“No!” MacCready interjected, “I do know you guys! We’ve met before, remember? Little Lamplight?”

Sole was now to the point of utter bewilderment as their head darted back between Mac and the two strangers. What the hell is going on here? Who are these people? Has MacCready ever mentioned a ‘Butch’ before? The stranger looked hard at MacCready, taking a few steps towards him, before recognition sparked in their eyes. Sole took a few steps forward in response, uncomfortable with the strangers’ proximity to their companion.

“Well, I’ll be damned.” They whispered, just loud enough for Sole to hear from where they stood beside the group. “I wouldn’t forget those wide, blue eyes. Look at you, little mayor MacCready, how’s it feel to be a mungo now, huh?”

“Holy shit!” Butch exclaimed, moving closer to MacCready to get a better look, “It’s the little mayoral punk from the kid cave!”

MacCready just laughed, his hand still clasped firmly around the leather jacket, as Sole stepped towards them.

“The hat’s changed a bit, but I see you’re still fond of sniper rifles.” The stranger nodded to MacCready’s rifle that lay on the ground next to where he stood. “Tell me,” they continued, “you still an asshole?”

Sole opened their mouth, only to be shut down by a glare from MacCready.

“You’re not allowed to answer that.” He pointed at them as he said it, and Sole rolled their eyes at him. MacCready then looked to the strangers, as if to answer their question, but before he could utter a word, Sole stepped forward.

“Okay, hold on, before anybody else says anything, I need to know what’s going on here. So, you going to introduce me to your friends, or what?”

“Oh, yeah, yeah, of course!” MacCready seemed to jitter with excitement as he bounced over to them, and Sole wondered who it was they saw energetically bobbing around in front of them, this certainly wasn’t the MacCready they knew. And judging by their befuddled expressions, Butch and the stranger thought the same.

“Sole, this is Lone, the one I told you about, who helped with the mutants at Little Lamplight? And purified all that water for the people in the capitol? Yeah, that’s them, and this is their partner, Butch, he was from the same vault and was an OG Tunnel Snake.”

“Yeah, the OG Tunnel Snake.” Butch said, bringing his hands up to flick his collar up, before realizing he wasn’t wearing his jacket. He smoothed his hands over his chest awkwardly instead as Lone looked on, a mix of disappointment and amusement playing on their face, before they turned their attention to Sole.

“So, Sole, you’re the one everyone’s been talking about.”

“I-- I am?”

“Yeah, you’re the reason we came all the way up here. The vault dweller from before the war, the legendary railroad agent, and the one who brought down the Institute. You're a hero, even down in the CW. But it's strange, you’re younger than I thought.” Sole blinked, and smiled a little bashfully, unsure how to respond to such praise coming from Lone, who certainly was a legend in their own right. Instead of speaking to them directly, Sole turned to MacCready,

“You told me that Lone was dead.”

“What? No, I--”

“No, MacCready, you said they gave their life for the people of the capitol, in that water purifier thing.”

Lone chucked from beside Sole, shaking their head.

“It’s okay. You’d be surprised by how many people think that's true. Anyway, you’ve clearly heard my story, but we’re here for yours, Sole. What do you say we go inside and talk?”

Sole nodded, gesturing for them to head inside the house. They glanced over to MacCready, who made an attempt at handing the leather jacket back to its owner. But Butch just slapped him on the back,

“Tell you what, daddy-o, you keep it. I’m always happy to meet a fan. Plus, I got plenty of those back home.”

Deacon:

The pair entered the memory den and Sole nodded to Irma as they made their way towards the stairs leading to the basement. As they headed down, Sole heard Deacon’s footsteps behind them falter. They turned to look at him, one eyebrow raised,

What is it? They asked him silently, the words written in their expression. He took a few steps closer to them, keeping his voice low as he answered.

“Do you hear that?” He asked, and Sole held their breath as they listened for whatever it was that had their companion concerned.

“Voices?” they whispered back, and he nodded.

“I don’t recognise them. Better let me do the talking.” Sole nodded to him, and stepped aside, allowing Deacon to take the lead. They were coming to escort a recently mind-wiped synth to their new home in the Jamaica Plain settlement. The only ones meant to be present were Dr. Amari and the synth, Charlie. Deacon and Sole had helped the synth, designation C1-44, all the way from Mercer safehouse to Goodneighbor, so they knew his voice well enough at this point. Sole had hoped that, with the Institute effectively gone, processes like this would become much less common, and the existing synths could live their lives in peace, with their memories intact. But C1 had specifically asked for a mind-wipe, the Institute’s depreciating thoughts and acts towards him had left him with an abhorrent self-image that he felt he needed to escape from. Deacon had been right, it seemed, even without the Institute, the Railroad’s work was never done.

Sole might’ve waited to peek around the corner before entering the room, but Deacon sauntered right in while they held back in the hallway. They had always admired the spy’s confidence, but how many times had he warned them about waltzing into a situation without preparation? They seemed to recall a number of instances…

“Bullseye, you comin’?” They rounded the corner at the sound of their Railroad codename, a little alarmed, only to find the room devoid of both Charlie and Dr. Amari. Instead, two strangers stood beside the memory pod in the room. One stood in front of the other, at the ready, while the man behind them leaned against the back of the memory pod.

“Where..?” Sole started, turning to Deacon, but he was looking back at the stranger in combat armor,

“See, Lone? Told you I knew them. I don’t always lie, despite what you seem to think.”

The one named Lone rolled their eyes at him,

“You may not have lied about bringing them here, but I seem to remember you describing them as much more… well, not quite as they are. Say, Bullseye, how tall are you?”

Sole opened their mouth to respond, but Deacon cut them off before they could voice a thing.

“Is that really what matters? So, I may have exaggerated a few details about their appearance, but everything else is true. They really took down the Institute after working undercover for months without detection, and they've saved well over a hundred synth lives.”

“Deacon.” Sole said, their uncertainty keeping them frozen in place by the entrance to the basement, “who are these people? Where is the-- ah, where is our client?”

“Oh, where are my manners?” Deacon brought a hand up to his chest dramatically before approaching Sole, throwing his arm around their shoulders, and urging them forward before gesturing to the people in front of them.

“This is Lone, the famed Railroad ally from the Capital wasteland. And you two have quite a bit in common, cuz, you see, Lone has also managed to take down a potentially world-destroying organization that happened to be bigoted, and inappropriately sanctimonious and self-obsessed. So I thought it’d be cute for you two to spend some time together, you know, swap war stories and pre-war recipes, stuff like that. You had pre-war food in vault 101, right?”

“It’s good to finally meet you,” Lone said, ignoring Deacon's attempt at humor, “I’ve heard so much.” Sole went to properly introduce themself, but was once again interrupted, this time by the man in the leather jacket behind Lone, who cleared his throat loudly.

“Oh,” Lone moved slightly out of the way so that Sole and Deacon could better see their companion, “This is my partner, Butch, he’s also from the vault.” Butch cleared his throat again, frowning at Lone.

“And? C’mon partner, you’re not telling me that’s all I am to you?”

Lone frowned slightly, appearing unphased, as though this were a common occurrence for them, “Butch also helped me take down the Enclave, and he assists me with the Railroad missions I’m involved with in the Capital.”

“Butch, pleased to make your acquaintance.” He said, walking forward and extending a hand towards Sole, who shook it tentatively.

“There, now we’re all on a first-name basis, why don’t we get moving? If we’re going to reach HQ before sundown, we’d better go now.” Deacon withdrew his arm from Sole’s shoulder, and started towards the door. “Hold on a moment, Deacon. What about our mission? You never answered me,” they continued, lowering their voice at their next question, “and now we’re taking these people to HQ? Does Des know?” Deacon looked at them with a disappointed expression,

“You’re killing me here, where’s the mystery if I explain everything? Where's the fun in that?” Sole flared their nostrils at him and heard Lone snicker from behind them.

“Really, we’ll talk when we get to HQ.” He said, turning back towards the stairs, “And of course Des knows.” He called over his shoulder, “I would never presume to waltz right into HQ with a couple of perfect strangers without her permission. Who do you think I am? Who do you think I think I am?” Sole caught the smug grin that spread across his face as he turned to take the first step up the stairs to the ground floor.

“Don’t worry,” Lone said, walking up from behind Sole, “We know Des. I’ve worked with her more times than I care to count, though I never have actually met her. That’s why we’re here, actually. To meet her, and the others I’ve heard about. And to meet you. Believe it or not, I’ve heard the most about you.”

“I suppose that means I’m not a very good agent.” Sole said, a little laugh escaping them as Lone’s words gave them some peace of mind regarding this odd situation they found themselves in.

“Eh, who cares about that. The Institute’s gone, so I don’t know why we’ve gotta still be all secret-y now anyway.” Butch’s voice came from a few steps down the stairs, and Lone shook their head at him, their exasperated expression seemed to mirror the one Sole usually had upon their face when Deacon opened his mouth. Maybe Deacon was right, they thought, as they reached the top of the stairs and the group made their way to the exit. Maybe Lone and I do have some things in common.

[morganas-pendragons]

Halo Episode 4 Thoughts

I don't have as much to say about this one as I do about the others. Spoilers under the cut!

So we continue to follow John's path to getting back to a past he doesn't remember. I do find it interesting that there are so many parts of this episode that have callbacks to the Fall of Reach movie. For those of you who are just coming into the show with no prior knowledge of Halo, you'll want to watch it.

You can find The Fall of Reach here.

Everything Pablo did in this episode was golden. All of it. I believe my favorite parts of John’s scenes were the ones in the bedroom when he was with his child self both in and out of armor.

The flashback of little Silver Team was so sorely needed for us to begin building some type of attachment to these characters, and I almost immediately recognized the sound of Mendez's voice. It was so interesting to see that little piece of the training of the Spartan 2's in this!

I really enjoyed all the scenes with Kai. Part of me does wonder what the repercussions of taking out these emotional inhibitors are going to be because we all know Halsey is not going to let her Spartans walk around with autonomy. I'm sensing some forced revolution or Silver going AWOL. At least John. I'm not sure about the other two yet. I'm having a hard time being able to remembering Riz and Vannak. There's really just not enough established yet for me to care about them.

Speaking of not caring, I really do not care about Kwan. She and Soren just feel like they're there to fill the space because there's not enough going on right now and they need to fill the time. They're going to have to do quite a bit for her to gain my interest with this Insurrection plot.

Also: did ANYONE notice the GIANT carbine in the background when Kai picked up that Needler? That thing was freaking enormous. And the fact that they all have these super unique talents?! AND the fact that they know Sangheili is what helps them figure out through the recordings that they're talking about a SACRED RING?

About HALO?

It was genius. Chefs kiss. Music was A+ too. I cannot wait to see where that goes.

Now let's talk about the best part: Miranda's interactions with the Spartans. For those of you who haven't played the games, the first time that Miranda Keyes is introduced is at the beginning of Halo 2. Her father, Captain Keyes, is killed in Halo 1 due to being infected by the flood.

This is particularly interesting when you watch it through the terminals in Halo Combat Evolved, as it shows you in disturbing and gruesome detail what Keyes was seeing when he was infected as the Flood were trying to force themselves into his mind.

Find that here.

As for the tv show, Miranda is young. She's young and intelligent and the complete opposite of Halsey. She's been kept in the dark about what the Spartans had to endure through their training and has little to nothing in common with Halsey. As far as family is concerned, they only share blood and nothing else.

This is made abundantly clear by the way she reacts to Kai's story about them having pets as kids. As the rest of Silver Team disclose to her, you can see the gears turning in her head because holy crap what on earth did they have to go through to get here?

And I think the best part of the episode, maybe the best part of the show, is the conversation she has with Kai later on. @ladywolvesbayne hit most of them, but I want to elaborate on something a little bit deeper than I told a friend of mine yesterday.

Edit: I had a lot more of this written out and then my computer decided to delete half of it when I turned the beta editor off, so let me simplify this. Miranda’s dialogue to Kai about Halsey is absolutely talking about herself and the Spartans. As far as I’ve seen, no one else has mentioned this yet and I think it’s golden so I’m gonna talk about it. 

If you watched the episode, it’s the last five minutes of the show. Props to the actress who plays her because you can clearly tell through the inflection change and her tone that this is something she’s thought about in-depth previous to this conversation and that it clearly bothers her. Whatever may have happened that caused the obvious falling out, every single time Miranda has been mentioned by name to her mother in this series, Halsey brushes her off like she doesn’t even exist. 

She’s human. She makes mistakes, she is imperfect and reckless, and impulsive. She’s also young. There’s a lot of room for massive character growth for this version of her in this series. 

Because Miranda is not, however, a Spartan... Catherine doesn’t have the same level of control over her daughter, and why continue to raise your own child when you can take away the free will and autonomy of your own personal weapons by inserting pellets to take away the very things that make them human? 

And oh... oh... don’t get me started on the scene with young John. Natascha has done a phenomenal job at portraying this character accurately to the other portrayals of her we have seen in the games and movies. This episode just further proves that she’s the best live-action casting we could’ve had. This scene was another similar one to what is seen in Fall of Reach when Halsey meets John for the first time. The coin thing is taken straight from it. And once again, it goes to show how manipulative and twisted Halsey is when it comes to how she views the Spartans. 

I have had a very overwhelming day so I’m not sure how much sense this makes, but at least I got this out there. Feel free to drop your opinions (all rude people/comments are ignored or blocked!) 

[onyxgabriel]

Specialist Arc AU: How did Jaune's first meeting with Glynda go when be want to Beacon? Am curious how he faired with the cougar of Beacon. (Sorry I had to call her that)

Ozpin and Glynda stood at the Airship platforms, waiting for someone from Atlas to arrive.

Ozpin sipped his coffee in wonder. Who could it be? From what James' said it was one of his Specialists.

Ozpin: 'Perhaps it's Winter Schnee?'

Meanwhile, Glynda hoped it wasn't one of those arrogant pricks they have in Atlas.

Then they saw an approaching Bullhead and straighten themselves. When the Bullhead touched down and lowered its ramp and out came someone.

He has short blonde hair with the sides of his head shaved and dyed brown, he has some scars on his face but thankfully didn't take any points away from his looks. He looked like he was only around 20!

He wore a custom-made uniform of Atlas with gold details, a blue scarf, and armor pieces on his forearms, elbows, shins, knees, and a left shoulder pad.

On his left hip were a sword and sheath that looked very familiar to Ozpin.

He walked towards the two Professors with a dorkish smile.

Jaune: Good morning, err Headmaster Ozpin and Ms. Goodwitch was it?

The two were surprised to hear such awkwardness from an Atlas Specialist, but they nodded in confirmation.

Jaune: clears his throat My name is Jaune Arc, Atlas Specialist, at your service.

Ozpin's eyes widen. So that's why the sword and sheath looked familiar! It was the Arc family heirloom! He guessed that this young man was Nicholas and Artoria's son.

Glynda's eyes also widen. This was Nicholas and Artoria's son?! They had another child?! What?! She felt a pang of jealousy in her chest. Damn you Artoria for stealing him away!

Ozpin: A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Arc. I welcome you to Beacon? Tell what brings James' top soldiers here?

Jaune: Oh, the General wanted me to be stationed here to help the future generations! he leans in into Ozpin's ear and whispers I'm also here to guard the Maiden of Fall.

Ozpin's eyes widen and nearly dropped his mug of holy coffee. James told one of his soldiers again?! But he did appreciate the extra help.

Ozpin: I-i see. Follow me, Mr. Arc, let's get you acquainted. turns around and goes back to Beacon

Jaune: Yes, Headmaster. follows him

Glynda finally snapped out of thoughts and followed them inside.

A few moments later...

Combat class, Glynda's classroom

Yang: Hey, did you guys hear? We're getting a new teacher.

Ruby: Yeah! I can't wait to see their weapons!

Pyrrha: What do you think, Jeanne?

Jeanne: I just hope he's nice.

Nora: I hope he likes pancakes!

Ren: Nora, please.

Blake: Sshhh! I hear something.

The classroom doors opened and everyone became silent. Glynda Goodwitch walked towards her desk with some guy behind her, eliciting whispers among the students on who is that.

???: Who's that guy?

???: Where the hell did he come from?

???: He's hot

???: He doesn't look that tough.

Glynda: Silence! everyone shuts the f up Thank you. Class this is my new assistant, Jaune Arc from Atlas, a Specialist.

More hushed whispers occurred only to be silenced by a glare from the deputy.

Glynda: He will help me evaluate and give advice to your combat performances.

Jaune: smiles Greetings!

Yang: Damn, He's hot~

Ruby and Weiss: Yang!

Pyrrha: Jeanne, are you okay?

Jeanne: T-that's my brother...

RWBYNPR: ...

Nora: Nice.

Meanwhile in Atlas...

Winter: I feel a disturbance...suddenly I want to beat the crap out of a lot of girls...

(At this stage, Glynda doesn't have any feelings for the dork yet, let it grow. Winter 'bout to beat some bitches.)

[jean-kayak]

I Fell For You, No Literally

Summary: Your ex-boyfriend comes walking back into your life, causing a whole bunch of emotions to resurface

Pairing: Terushima Yuuji x black!fem!reader

Warnings: mentions of past relationships, like two handfuls of angst, real fluffy at the end, A LOT of dialogue at the end, Terushima being soft, brief mentions of sickness (like real brief), hurt/comfort, exes-to-lovers?, a huge misunderstanding, it gets really stressful at one point in this thing, implied past reader x oc, smut!, fingering (f. receiving), oral (f. receiving), unprotected sex, squirting, overstimulation, little bit of aftercare, Terushima has a dick piercing LMAO, domestic things, mentions of alcohol consumption (reader gets drunk), it’s basically an emotional rollercoaster, Terushima being suggestive *sighs* i think i covered everything

Word Count: 12,881 (BITCH im sorry it wasn’t supposed to be this long)

A/N: This was originally going to be apart of the writing event that I was doing, but this was really long, and it took me a little bit longer than I thought so I figured I would just do it separately. And also I tried to do fluffy smut, I don’t really know if I did that lmao. But anyways, enjoy! 

P.S.: I also gave the reader a name bc this is really long!

All characters are 18+!!

"I think I have more lights in the back, I'll go get them," your best friend tells you, and you nod as you continue to hang up the lights on the top of your shop.

Although you realize your mistake when you lean over, and the ladder starts to slip. "Shit," you whisper, and you feel your heart drop, fear coursing through your body as you feel the ladder going down and not stopping.

You squeeze your eyes shut, bracing for impact on the freezing cold concrete, but it never comes. "Oh, my God, are you okay?!" It's a deeper voice, and you open your eyes to see that you're nowhere near the ground and that you're in someone's arms.

You're still a bit shaken from the fear of the fall, but the voice and the scent are all too familiar and it brings you back fairly quickly. You look up and see a face that you never thought you'd see again.

"You know, I'd always say you'd fallen for me," he quips, and you roll your eyes as you try to squirm out of his grip. "Wait, where you going? I like holding you like this." You chuckle softly as you roll your eyes playfully, and he lets you down. "But seriously, are you okay?"

You release a deep breath. "Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for saving me, Terushima."

He takes a few steps closer to you. "Come on, baby, you don't have to be so formal with me." You scoff as you take a step back, fully taking him in.

Terushima Yuuji. Your ex-boyfriend. Your relationship lasted all through high school and your first year of college until things went rocky. You prefer not to think about the details, but you can't not think about how good he looks right now.

He's still blond, with the undercut, and piercings, and even through his winter clothes, you can tell he's filled out a lot since you last saw him. Matter of fact, how long has it been? Three, four years?

"Three and a half," you flinch slightly. Shit, were you thinking out loud? His eyes rake down your figure, and even in the cold, you can feel the heat course through your body. "You look good."

"So do you," you reply, not really knowing what to say. How are you even supposed to talk to your exes? You've had others besides him, but you haven't made contact with them since you called it off.

There's a weird tension in the air, and you don't know what to say to break it, but luckily Kiya comes out of your shop, her eyes widening when they land on Terushima. "Oh, now, this is a surprise," she says, smirking as she looks between the two of you. "What brings you here?"

"Oh, you know, just being her knight in shining armor and catching her from falling off the ladder," he tells her smugly, and she looks at you in horror.

"Via, what did I tell you about doing things on the ladder without me watching you?" she scolds, and you shrug as you kick at the ground.

"I'm sorry, okay? And besides, I think that's enough lights for the front don't you think?" you ask, looking at the front of the shop to take in your work. Kiya follows suit, taking in the lights.

"Yeah, they look good. And I would tell you good job, but you almost killed yourself in the process." You roll your eyes again as you scoff. "Thank you, Terushima," she says, and he waves her off.

"Any time." So he still has that smug, confident personality. That hasn't changed much. You clear your throat as you gesture to the door.

"Well, I should probably open up shop. Thank you, Terushima, I really appreciate you catching me."

"C'mon, what'd I tell you about the name?" You tilt your head as you raise an eyebrow.

"See ya around, Terushima." And you're walking through the door.

Kiya comes in behind you a few seconds later, and you just brace yourself for the conversation that's about to happen and is going to last at least twenty minutes. "Holy crap, he is still hot as hell." You sigh as you put on your apron. You don't respond, and she knows you're agreeing with her, so he continues talking.

"No, Kiya, don't even go there."

"What? What's wrong with rekindling the flame, at least a little?"

"You remember how we left off," you remind her, and you see her wave you off before washing her hands.

"Okay, that was a few years ago. People change."

You scoff. "Yeah, I doubt he's changed." The conversation is quickly put to bed as people start to come in, and you submerge yourself in your cooking.

This week was your shopping week, but Kiya had family things so you're at the store by yourself, collecting a ton of food to stockpile for the shop. You feel a headache coming on as you cross out another item off the list, your vision full of lines every time you look up from the crumpled piece of paper.

You also have to carry and put all of these groceries in your car, and you want to whine in annoyance, that headache starting to beat behind your eyelids, and the cold isn't helping either. "You look like you could use some help, m'lady." You sigh heavily, recognizing the voice immediately.

"You're not following me are you, Terushima?" you ask, playfully, but a part of you is serious.

"Of course not, but it seems that whenever you're in trouble, I'm always around." You let out a surprised laugh, but you don't turn your attention to him, keeping it focused on putting the groceries in your car. "Let me help you," he offers, already moving to grab a bag, but you stop him.

"I got it, it's fine. Thanks anyway," you quickly tell him before catching your breath and starting again.

"Via, seriously, let me help you." Your movements falter at the nickname. Even though everyone calls you that, it always sounded different coming from him. You want to scoff at how easily your body reacted to it. You don't have the energy to fight, so you scoot over, giving him enough room to help pile the bags in your car. "So, you have your own shop," he starts, and is he really trying to make casual conversation right now?

"Yeah, I do," you respond, deciding to partake in whatever this is.

"American, right?" he asks, and you hate how he still remembers, and you drop the bag into your car a little bit more aggressively.

"Yeah. We have Japanese as well, but Kiya knows more about that than I do." He helps you put the last bag in, closing the trunk shut and returning the shopping cart.

"Well, that's great. I'm happy for you," he tells you when he gets back, and you nod as you purse your lips.

"Thanks." And there's that awkward tension again. Why was he trying to act like everything was normal? Why is he talking to you like nothing happened between you two? "Listen, Te--" You're cut off by his phone ringing, and he quickly fishes his phone out of his pocket and grimacing when he looks at the screen.

"I have to take this, uh--"

You cut him off with a wave of your hand. "Go ahead, it's okay. Thanks again," you say, quickly signaling the end of whatever this conversation was. You don't give him another look, turning around and getting into your car, thankful that it's still warm. You crank the car up and you look out the window as you do, seeing Terushima walking away on the phone.

You rest your forehead against the steering wheel. What are the fucking chances that he out of all people would walk back into your life? You take another deep breath. Thinking about it too much will only make your headache worse. You give him one last glance before driving off, hoping that you're actually getting away from him this time.

~

"You saw him again at the store?" Kiya asks, her eyes wide as she sits up on the couch. You roll your eyes from exhaustion as you stab your fork into your takeout.

"Yes, he said it's like whenever I'm in trouble, he's always around." You stab your food again, but you don't know if it's out of annoyance or anger this time.

"Okay, Via, come on, this is like a sign, isn't it?" You give her a look before shaking your head. "Why not?"

"Kiya, you were there through all of it. He's...he's not--he's probably still the same," you say, trailing off quietly, and Kiya's face turns into concern as she finally sees that the hurt you've tried to push back down is now coming to the surface. She moves closer to you on the couch before wrapping an arm around you, pulling you into her.

"You're right. I'm sorry, I just thought, maybe this one could be different. Different from those other douches you were seeing." You huff slightly, a smile forming on your face as you remember everything she said about what she didn't like about every last one of your exes.

Some of them were just flings, others could've easily gone further, but they always broke it off. You don't really know the reason, but you've sort of come to terms with it. Maybe dating just isn't your thing right now. "Yeah, I know," you say, burrowing yourself further into her embrace. "It's just, I don't know, what if it happens all over again?"

"If that does happen again, then I'll actually kill him this time." Both of you laugh at her words before she speaks up again. "But, all that aside, it's up to you what you want to do. Don't listen to me, I'm just the crazy best friend."

Your smile grows wider. "Crazy, you definitely are."

"Hey!" she says, shoving you away playfully, and you both dive back into laughter as you finish your takeout and the cheesy rom-com playing on the TV.

You sigh as you wipe off the bar counter, the shop quiet due to the fact that you're about an hour and a half from closing. You usually enjoy the serenity, grateful that it's not a rush like it is during mid-morning, lunch, and dinner. Around this time, you and Kiya usually get a chance to sit down and take a break.

You finish scrubbing off a stubborn stain on the counter when you hear the door open. "Welcome, I'll be with you in a moment," you greet out of habit without even looking up as you turn around to throw the rag into the sink.

"The place looks great." The familiar voice almost makes you stop in your tracks, but you recover quickly, wiping your hands off on a towel before turning to see Terushima sitting in the middle of the bar counter. You walk over to him, standing right in front of the counter, feeling like the counter isn't a big enough gap between the two of you.

"Thank you," you tell him honestly as you plant your hands on the edge of the counter. "What can I get for you?"

He smirks at you before he answers. "We both know you already know what I want," he says confidently, and you want to punch yourself because of the fact that you still know what his favorite food is even after you've been broken up.

"Coming right up." You turn around quickly, getting started on his order so that you can get him out of here as fast as possible before Kiya can see him. Unfortunately, that isn't the case, and she comes waltzing in from her office, her eyebrows raised high.

"Oh?" she starts, her voice a whisper. "What's he doing here?" she asks, and you shrug.

"I dunno. He just walked in here like a few minutes ago." You turn your head to look at him over his shoulder, and you see that he's taken off his coat and rolled up his sleeves. You notice that he's got a tattoo on his left arm that snakes all around his upper arm. Yeah, he's definitely gotten bigger since you've last seen him.

He looks up from his phone, catching you in the act, and he smirks at you before flexing his muscles, and your face heats up quickly, your head turning back to what you're doing. "He actually ordered something?" Kiya asks playfully with a huff, and you return it as you flip the patty.

"Yeah, I was surprised too. I thought he'd be here to bother me again," you admit.

"Which is what you would've wanted, right?" she teases, and you shove at her which makes her laugh, and yours soon follows.

"You guys talking about me?" you hear him speak up, and you roll your eyes with a scoff as you glance at him.

"Yeah," Kiya starts, "we were talking about how we could've closed up early if it weren't for you," she tells him, and you chuckle softly as you continue cooking.

"Well, I had to try the food for myself," he responds, and Kiya hums as she nods, obviously believing that he's not telling the entire truth. She starts to walk away back towards her office, but not before she nudges you softly, wiggling her eyebrows at you. You give her a look before waving her off.

Once she's left, you shudder lightly, feeling his eyes on you. You know he's watching you and everything you're doing. His eyes never leave you, watching you as you move along through the kitchen. You can't remember the last time you felt so heated under someone's gaze.

But you do remember that it took absolutely nothing for you to melt for him, and you internally shake the thoughts that are starting to pool into your head. You finish his food, sliding the plate to him softly, his drink following shortly. "Enjoy," you tell him easily, and he starts speaking before you can turn around.

"Thanks, but I think there's something that I want that's not on the menu." You roll your eyes, knowing what he's implying, but you play dumb anyway, leaning forward on the counter, resting your chin in your palm.

"Oh, and what would that be?" you ask, and he's leaning in, his face dangerously close to yours. He moves his eyes from yours to your lips before bringing them back up to your eyes. You feel your breath starting to pick up, your mouth falling open slightly, but you don't move away from him. You can't.

And then he's smirking at you again, and your knees almost give out. "You."

There's a knock on the door, and you let out an exasperated sigh that echoes throughout the walls of your apartment. You grab the baby currently sitting on the floor in the middle of your living room as another knock comes from the door. "I'm coming! Just give me a second!" you yell, your thin patience starting to disappear.

You walk to the door, yanking it open, getting ready to yell at whoever is presently throwing a monkey wrench into your day. "What are you doing here?" you deadpan, blinking a few times in confusion as you take in Terushima standing outside your apartment. "Actually, how do you even know where I live?"

He has the actual audacity to look sheepish as he rubs the back of his neck as he looks down. "I may or may not have gotten it from Kiya." You roll your eyes. Of course, it would be her. You really are going to kill her. Your niece starts fussing and you sigh. You really don't have time for this right now.

"If you wanna come in, come in," you rush out as you make your way back into your apartment. You vaguely hear the sound of the door closing and some footsteps, but you pay the sounds no mind as you set your niece in her high chair.

The first thing Terushima didn't expect when the door swung open was for you to have a baby in your arms. That alone almost distracted him from how you looked. Your hair was thrown together in a ponytail, curls falling out of it. Your shirt is covered in all kinds of stains, along with the sweatpants you're currently wearing, but Terushima thinks that you look amazing.

He slips off his coat and his shoes, throwing his scarf over his jacket before slowly making his way into the kitchen where you disappeared to. He takes in your apartment, the decorating and furnishing matching your personality to a T. The sound of fussing brings his attention to the baby that you were holding not too long ago, and he hears you speak.

"I know you're hungry, sweet girl," you say, opening the fridge. "What do you want?" you ask her even though you know she can't respond. Terushima smiles fondly as he sits down next to her, resting his arms on the island in front of him. "You want bananas?" You lift your head to look at her, and when she fusses, you try again. "How about peas and carrots?" Both her and Terushima's face screw up, and you smile softly as you turn back towards the fridge.

"Let's see," you bend over to look further into the fridge, and his eyes zero in on your ass before he snaps himself out of it. "Strawberries?" you ask hopeful, and when she laughs lightly, you smile before pulling out the container and warming it up with your hands as you bump the fridge closed.

You walk over to a drawer, opening it to pull out a small spoon before bumping it closed with your hip. The movement makes your boobs sway, and Terushima can't help but notice that he can see your nipples through your thin t-shirt. "Eyes up here, perv." Your words jolt him out of his spell, and he smirks at you as he shrugs.

"What can I say? They're nice tits." You scoff at his words, trying to fight the heat rising in your cheeks that he was checking you out, and it dawns on you how you actually look right now. You feel a little bit embarrassed, but the damage is already been done, and could you really blame yourself? You've been watching a baby all day.

Satisfied with your reaction, he turns to your niece, leaning forward to pinch her cheek softly, which makes her laugh. "And who is this pretty lady?" he asks as you smile at the interaction before walking to stand at the opposite side of the island.

"This is my niece, MJ." You set down the container of mushed food, taking off the lid before swirling around the food. You look up to see Terushima hold out a finger which she immediately grabs onto, and she smiles widely at him. "She seems to like you," you comment, feeling conflicted at the way your heart skips at their interactions. "You wanna feed her?"

You push the bowl his way, and he picks up the spoon with his other hand, his finger on his hand still being held hostage by your niece's hand. He feeds her with ease, and she even seems to be accepting the food a lot better from him than from you. "Do you think you could watch her while I get in the shower?" you ask. "I'll be quick, I promise."

"Yeah, go ahead. We'll be fine," he tells you without even looking your way.

"Are you sure?"

He finally looks at you after wiping some of the food off of her face with the spoon. "I'm sure, Via. I can handle it. Go do what you need to do." He quickly turns his attention back to MJ, and you quickly dart out of the kitchen making your way to your room.

You've been in the shower for about ten minutes, and the only thing Terushima keeps thinking about is the water running down your naked body, and he keeps shaking his head, forcing the images out of his head.

MJ's already eaten all of the food, and Terushima lightly presses on her stomach, seeing that she's completely full, and he looks around to see all of her toys in the living room. He finds the baby wipes, cleaning her up before he takes her out of the high chair and carries her to the living room.

He sets her down on the blanket you have out for her, and she immediately moves towards one of the toys as he sits on the floor next to her. Terushima's plan was mostly to bother you when he came over, and the last thing he expected was for him to be babysitting. He doesn't mind it though, he'll take any time he can spend with you. He'll take as much as he can in order to try to get you back.

He doesn't really know why he came to America, but part of him knows it was because of you. He knows that after you both graduated college, you moved back here and started your own shop. He hates how things ended between the two of you, and he wants to fix it, but he knows he's going to work hard especially because of how bad he hurt you.

He's been punching himself for three and a half years because of how stupid he was back then. If he could back in time and punch himself, he would curb stomp himself instead. He notices that he doesn't hear the water running anymore, and then he hears a door open. And he thought the clothes you had on before made you look good.

You walk out into the living room, your hair damp from the shower, and you're wearing a tank top and shorts, and he's glad you have a bra on this time. You're definitely not the same girl he dated back then. At all. "She wasn't too much trouble?" Your words jolt him out of his trance, and he forces himself to look at your eyes.

"No, she was not," he says, standing up before picking her up. He plants a small kiss on her head, but she's preoccupied with the toy in her hands to notice. "She was an angel." You sigh in relief, and Terushima moves her higher up on his hip. "Were you cooking something before I got here?" he asks, recalling something smelling really good vaguely filling his nostrils. Now, that smell has been replaced by your scent due to the fact you're standing so close to him.

"I was," you say, turning to walk into the kitchen, and he follows behind you while MJ smacks him in the face. "It was a new recipe," you continue, opening the oven. Terushima almost delays his response, his eyes zeroing on your ass again, but he manages to catch himself.

"New recipe for what?" he asks, and he's thankful when you stand up straight even though it's not that much better. When you set the pan down on the stove, you glance behind you nervously before speaking.

"It was a new recipe for cheeseburgers," you say, and he almost misses it, but he smirks as he walks around the island to stand beside you. You'd been keeping the burgers in the oven to keep them warm, and he looks down at them.

"They look really good," he comments. "You weren't thinking about me, were ya?" He has to jab at you, loving your reaction as you glare at him before looking down. "Can I try it?" he asks, and you nod before getting a knife to cut the burger in half. You grab a piece, bringing it to his mouth, and he puts the whole piece in his mouth, making sure to wraps his lips around your fingers briefly before pulling away.

The action has you feeling things that you shouldn't, and the moan he releases while he closes his eyes doesn't help either. "Oh, my God, that is amazing."

You feel your heart flutter at the compliment. "Really?" you ask softly, and he looks at you like you're crazy.

"Are you serious? This is the best thing I've ever tasted." He grabs the other half, stuffing it in his mouth before you can stop him. "Wow, you really are an amazing cook." You hate how easily your face heats up at the praise, and you just respond with a shrug. He reaches for another burger, and you grab his wrist before he can grab another one.

"You can't eat all of these!" you chastise. "I can make you some if you want me to." He uses the fact that you're still holding onto his wrist as an advantage, yanking his arm forward which causes you to bump into him. He barely moves, just wraps his arm around your waist, keeping you close to him.

"That sounds good. Thanks." You both lose yourselves in each other's eyes, time seeming to slow down as you feel your body going warm all over. God, you both missed being close to each other like this. You feel yourself starting to lean closer to him, your breaths started to mingle when MJ cries out, startling the both of you out of the spell you were in.

You jump away from him as you slightly shake your head. You did not almost kiss him. You quickly turn your attention to your niece, plucking her from his arm before walking back to the living room. Terushima sighs heavily as he puts the tray back into the oven, giving himself something to do to try to distract himself.

What would've happened if he had kissed you? Would you have kissed him back, or would you have pushed him away? He knows he's making some progress, but he doesn't know if kissing you would've ruined all of that. Do you want to kiss him? He sure wants to kiss you. He hasn't felt your lips on his in so long, and he wants to feel them so bad.

He forces those thoughts out of his head, and just as he's about to walk back into the living room, there's a knock on the door. "I'll get it," he tells you when he sees you about to stand up. He jogs to the door, and he opens it before almost being knocked down by two kids running past him.

"Boys, what did I tell you about that--Terushima?" The voice is filled with shock and confusion, and when he steadies himself, he looks at who's standing in front of him.

"Autumn?" he asks, and he steps to the side to let her in, closing the door behind him. "It's been a minute," he says, and she scoffs.

"It's been longer than a minute," she says almost in disbelief that he's standing in front of her. You walk to your sister with her daughter in your arms with your eyebrows raised.

"Aut, you wanna explain what this is?" you ask, gesturing towards the noisy boys running through your apartment. They run into your legs, both grabbing one, luckily you don't falter, still glaring holes into your sister.

"Auntie Via!" they both yell at the same time, Terushima wincing at the loud volume, and Autumn gives you a sheepish look.

"Look, something came up at the last minute, and I didn't know what else to do," she tells you, and you blink slowly.

"We have another sibling!" you argue, and she smiles at you.

"Yeah, but I don't trust him as much as I trust you," she says like that'll work, and you give her a deadpanned look. "I'm sorry, but I shouldn't be long, I promise. I owe you one," she continues, and you sigh as you roll your eyes.

"Fine," you give in, and she jumps up before giving you a hug on the side that isn't holding her daughter. She starts to head towards the door, and she waves goodbye to her kids, who really aren't paying her any mind, and she quickly slips out the door before they can see that she's leaving.

Your nephews are now focused on Terushima, prodding him with questions about his piercings and his tattoos. "I'm sorry about this," you tell him, and he looks up at you as he shrugs.

"I don't mind. I can stay if you want me to." He moves to go to the living room, but the boys jump on his legs, and he has to drag them to the living room as he walks.

"I can't ask you to do that," you say, smiling at him and your nephews.

"That's okay," he says, "You're not asking me. I'll stay," he concludes before sending a wink over his shoulder.

~

Turns out Autumn's "I won't be long" turned into five hours. Yeah, she definitely owes you. You're thankful that Terushima stayed, he was able to occupy the kids while you got stuff done that you had planned to do today. But you also hate how domestic it all felt, and it makes your heart do something weird. Like it doesn't know how to feel about the whole thing.

He even somehow managed to feed MJ while keeping your nephews distracted so that you could make dinner. You all eat in the living room, watching a movie that's more so for the boys, while MJ keeps herself entertained in her bouncer. When you all have finished, Terushima takes the dishes and even washes them before planting himself right next to you on the couch.

You notice that MJ is starting to get sleepy, she keeps rubbing her eyes and her bouncing is beginning to slow down. You grab her out of the bouncer, rocking her softly until she falls asleep. You're so glad that she doesn't fight sleep like her brothers did. You start to feel tired yourself, your eyelids feeling heavy, and Terushima seems to notice because he wraps his arm around you, pulling you into him.

You don't even fight it, his body heat pulling you further into sleep. As you're drifting off, you feel someone moving your arm, and you look down to see your nephews laying on either side of you and Terushima, laying down in your laps. You smile fondly as you rub his back before laying your head down on Terushima's shoulder. And before you fully fall asleep, you feel him kiss your forehead.

When Autumn uses her key to get into your place, she doesn't expect to see all of you asleep on the couch along with a questionable guy, but she can't help but smile as she pulls out her phone to take a picture. Once she's got them, she flicks your forehead. Your face scrunches up before you're blinking sleepily. "Oh, hey, you're back," you say, your voice filled with sleep. "Took you long enough."

She laughs quietly as she grabs MJ. "I know, I'm sorry," she whispers. "The twins weren't too much trouble, were they?" she asks, rocking her daughter back to sleep when she stirs.

"Then they usually are? No, not this time." You both exchange a soft chuckle before you carefully remove yourself out of Terushima's grip, not wanting to wake him, and you freeze when he shifts, but he just rolls his head to face the other way.

You help Autumn load her kids in the car, all of them still fast asleep. "I think they've only been asleep for about thirty minutes," you guestimate and she nods, but you know she wants to talk to you about the massive elephant in the room. You sigh. "Go ahead. Let it out."

"What the hell is he doing here? And in your apartment of all places?" You can hear a faint sound of disappointment in her voice considering the fact that you told her what he did to you and what led to your breakup.

You throw your hands up as you shrug. "I don't know. I didn't even know he was here. I found out when he caught me after I fell off my ladder." Her eyes go wide, and you wave her off before she can yell at you. "I didn't know he would be coming over here today either," you admit, and you sigh as you shove your hands into your jacket pockets.

"I just don't want you to get hurt again," she says, and you nod. "You've got nearly four years unaccounted for." You nod again, understanding what she's saying.

"I know, I know, but I don't know. He seems different now," you explain lamely, and you hear her sigh before you raise your head to meet hers.

"I know you don't want to hear a lecture from me, but be careful Via," she warns, and you nod firmly before moving in to give her a hug. "I love you."

"I love you, too. Text me when you get home," you tell her when you pull away. You watch her get in the car and drive off. You sigh again, watching the puff of air disappear into the chilly, night air before you make your way back to your apartment. You smile softly when you see that Terushima is still in the same position you left him in.

You take off your jacket, warming your hands up as you walk over to him. "Teru," you whisper, and when he doesn't respond, you tap him lightly. "Teru," you repeat, and you jump slightly when he grabs your wrist quickly, and he peels his eyes open.

"Your hands are freezing." You chuckle lightly as you see him look around. "The kids are gone?" he asks, rubbing his eyes with his palm.

"Yeah, my sister came and got them." He hums before he starts smiling widely, and your eyebrows come together as you look at him. "What are you smiling about?"

"You called me Teru." You feel your face heat up for the millionth time, and you scoff softly as you move to turn away, but he stops you, grabbing your wrist and pulling you towards him. He starts to stretch out on the couch, but you don't move, and he pulls you down with a little more force. "Lay with me," he murmurs, his body starting to drift off.

"You need to go home," you tell him, the nickname on the tip of your tongue, but you bite it back. He whines before pulling you down, making you fall onto him, and he traps you with his arms.

"I'll go home when I'm not tired." You chuckle again, situating yourself so that you're comfortable, and you notice that he's staring at you.

"What?" you ask, fighting the urge to shrink under his gaze. He brushes a strand of hair from your face before he rubs your cheek softly with his thumb, and you lean into the touch.

"You're just so beautiful," he whispers, and you huff as you look away, even your ears heating up at the compliment. "Hey." He turns your face so that you're looking at him again. "Can I kiss you?" There's something in your head that's telling you that you're already too deep and that doing this is a really bad idea, but it doesn't win.

You both lean in, and when your lips meet, you feel like you're back in high school, kissing him for the first time all over again. Tingles are sent all through your body as you sigh contently, and you feel yourself falling in love with him all over again. You know this is bad, but you can't bring yourself to care, blaming it on your fatigue.

He pulls away, a sleepy smirk on his face as he pulls you closer to him, your face buried in his neck. "Man, I've missed you so much." You feel your heart flutter at his words, and you're scared to respond with the same thing even though it's clear as day, but the soft snores filling your ears tell you that you don't have to worry about response right now.

Things seemed to do a complete one-eighty after that night. You thought when you would've woken up the next day, things would've been awkward, but to your surprise, you found yourself alone on the couch, and the smell of breakfast food filling your nose. He had made you breakfast, then sent you off to work with a kiss goodbye and a promise to call you later, which you wish you've would've let out when you were telling everything to Kiya.

"So, you guys are dating now?" she asks as she pours a cup of coffee for a customer.

"I don't know, I wouldn't call it that?" you say, unsure of where you both really stand right now. You serve two more plates to a table, and Kiya continues the conversation when you come back.

"But you guys have kissed?" she argues, and you respond with a shrug. "I don't know, from what you've told me, it seems like you two are back together."

"You don't sound very enthusiastic about it," you notice, and she replies with a pout as she tilts her head and you sigh. "Look, I know how things left off between us, but we'll talk about it," you try, and she holds her hands up.

"I'm not trying to tell you who to date or what to do. I just want you to be careful." You nod quickly at the repeat of words, and you really appreciate how much Kiya and Autumn care for you, and you smile as you nudge her.

"I know, thanks for looking out for me," you tell her, and she gives you a smile.

"Of course, that's what I'm here for."

Naturally, things are very prone to blow up in your face, and the blow-up happens about three weeks later. Everything with Terushima has been going pretty smoothly, both of you agreeing to talk about how things were left those years ago. He had been spending a lot more time over at your place, even more than you were spending at his. He'd been helping you babysit whenever your sister had to drop them off. It was like he had inched his way back into your life and planted himself there.

You decided to surprise him and make some of the burgers that he loved the first he came over. You can't help but bound happily to his apartment, the burgers in a plastic container, warm in your hands, and you finally get to his apartment, but just as you're about to knock, you hear laughing. Your hand stops midway as you lean in to put your ear against the door, careful not to alert anyone inside.

You assume it was the TV, but as you listen closely, you can hear Terushima's voice, but you feel your heart shatters when you hear a woman's voice coming from inside. You feel the tears forming in your eyes as you take in more of the conversation before you hear them erupt into laughter.

You finally find it in you to move, slamming the container on the ground before hurrying away from the door, your vision blurry from the tears. You were so stupid, so pathetic. You were so easy, that you fell for it. Again. And you thought that he had changed. You were dumb enough to think that things would be different this time around.

~

You don't tell anyone what happened, and you don't talk to Terushima. You don't even tell him what you heard, you just stop talking to him. It's not like you had time anyway. You and Kiya were hosting a Christmas party are your shop (her idea, not yours) and you barely had any time to really sit down and breathe. You both spent all day making the food, that you barely had time to sit down.

You luckily had enough time to run home and get in the shower to get ready. You came back just in time for the party to be in full swing, both you and Kiya's families here along with some friends. You've greeted everyone, and now you're just standing around, enjoying the atmosphere around you, while at the same time feeling a little bit insecure about the dress that Kiya made you wear.

It's a red sweater dress that's off the shoulder, but it hugs your body, stopping very close to the bottom of your ass with thigh-high boots. Why she had you wear this, you have no idea, but you decide that you're going to go change when she's preoccupied. "Via." You turn around, your heart dropping at the sight of him in front of you, and you hate how good he looks right now.

He walks closer to you, and his scent fills your nostrils, the way he fills out his suit should be illegal. "You look, wow," he says, shaking his head at a loss for words.

"Ridiculous, I know," you say, pulling at the hem of your dress and he scoffs.

"Gorgeous." You want to accept the compliment, but just looking at him makes you angry and upset at the same time. You mumble a soft thanks, and you're trying to find an excuse to get out of this conversation when he speaks up again. "You haven't been answering my texts or my calls," he starts, and you look away from him as you find an answer.

"Terushima, listen--"

"Via?" You turn your head towards the soft voice, and your eyes widen at the man walking towards you. He gives you a hug, and you reluctantly hug him back, disarray raging inside of your head.

"Kaleb! What are you doing here?" you ask incredulously, and he gives you a quick look of confusion before it's replaced with a smile.

"You invited me?" You raise your eyebrows. You did not invite this man to this party. You didn't even invite Terushima, and they coincidentally show up here? You internally roll your eyes. Kiya.

"I did, didn't I?" you lie. "Right, I'm sorry, I forgot, I've just been so busy." You haven't spoken to Kaleb in about a month. He was the recent guy you were seeing, and he was alright, but he really wasn't your type. You didn't even have his number saved in your phone. You sense even more tension in the air as Terushima and Kaleb stare each other down, and you definitely need way more alcohol.

"Terushima this is Kaleb. Kaleb this is Terushima." They both shake each other's hand, but the tension only seems to get thicker, and you feel like you're suffocating in it.

"If you guys would excuse me for a minute. I'm just going to check on the food," you rush out, not waiting for a response before darting off to find the culprit. When you spot her, you yank her to the side, and if looks could kill she'd drop dead on the spot. "You invited them both here?!" you yell, making sure to keep your voice lower than the music.

"Both? Who are you talking about?" You rub your forehead, feeling the stress really starting to hit you. This was the last thing you expected and you really don't need this right now.

"You invited Terushima and the guy that I ghosted a while ago." You sigh heavily, rubbing the back of your neck as her eyes go wide.

"Oh, shit. I did accidentally text a wrong number by accident, but I thought it was nothing." You give her a tired look, and she tilts her head in confusion. "I mean, it's gonna be okay, but you sound even more frustrated."

You sigh again. This really isn't the place to tell her, but you were going to tell her eventually. "I heard a woman's voice when I went to Terushima's apartment a couple of days ago."

"What?!" she nearly screams, her eyes wide before she slaps a hand over her mouth, realizing how loud she was. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know. Because there was just a lot going on, and I didn't want to be sad during the holidays or ruin yours, but that plan has failed miserably." You laugh bitterly, feeling completely drained.

"Shit, I'm sorry, Via. I didn't know." She reaches up to rub your arm as you shake your head.

"No, it's okay. You didn't know." You close your eyes as you take a deep breath, regrouping yourself. "It's okay. We'll worry about it later, 'kay?" You don't let her answer as you walk off, ignoring her calls of your name.

You linger around the party, hoping you don't run into Terushima, but your eyes land on him talking to your mom like they've been friends for years, and it feels like someone ripped your heart out of your chest. How could he just go about his life knowing that he was playing you? Just like he did before.

"Via?" A soft voice and soft hand shift your attention to Kaleb who's come up next to you, and you smile despite the fact that you feel like complete shit and that you're tired. Physically, mentally, and emotionally.

"Hi, Kaleb, what's up?" you ask, and he hands you a drink which you gratefully take, almost downing the whole thing in front of him.

"It's just, um, you're standing somewhere pretty cool." You look at him in confusion before you glance up, seeing mistletoe hanging from the ceiling. Kiya must've put this in last minute. You feel your stress building up as you look at him, chuckling softly.

"I guess I am." You know he's going to kiss you, and you've never been so conflicted in your entire life. You don't really want to, but you want to, secretly hoping that Terushima's watching so that he can feel how you're feeling right now. But at the same time, you just wanna go home and cry yourself to sleep.

You've been quiet, your thought preventing you from answering, and you feel his lips on yours, and you feel your body sag slightly at the fact that you don't feel a spark from kissing him unlike when you kiss Terushima. When you pull away, you just happen to look to your right to see a very pissed off Terushima.

You see him shake his head before heading out of the door, and you hand your drink to Kaleb. "I'm sorry, I have to do something, I'll be right back." You rush to the door, disregarding your jacket as you follow Terushima out. "You got a problem or something?" you ask angrily, and he stops in his tracks, his back facing you for a few seconds before he turns around.

"Yeah, I do. You're over here leading me on while you're kissing other guys." You scoff at his accusation.

"Oh, like you're not doing the same thing," you spit back, and he raises his eyebrows at you.

"Excuse me? I haven't been seeing anyone else besides you, but you obviously have other plans."

"You know you have some real balls to accuse me of leading you on when that's all you did the entire time we were dating." He goes to speak, but you cut him off. "No! You entertained girls all the time, sometimes right in front of me. How you reacted to them is not how you're supposed to react when you have a girlfriend. Do you know how pathetic I felt?!" The tears are spilling, and you don't have any more will to stop them.

"I felt so stupid. You made me feel so...ugly." You see his face soften, but you don't wanna hear what he has to say. "And you're accusing me when you had a girl in your apartment a couple of days ago." His eyes widen at that, and he stops his trek towards you.

"What are you talking about?" You scoff as you throw your hands up. You'll have to spell this one out for him too.

"I went to your apartment to give you the burgers that you wanted, but when I went to knock on the door, I heard your voice laughing with another woman's voice." You see his face drop in realization, and he starts to wave his hands. "Did you both enjoy my burgers?" you ask, your voice cracking as more tears fall down your face.

Terushima recalls hearing something fall outside of his door, and when he opened it, he saw the burgers, but he didn't think anything of it. He should've been more aware. How could he be so stupid?

"Wait, Via, baby, that wasn't what it looked like, I swear--"

You chuckle bitterly. "You expect me to believe that?! Because that was the same shit you told me four years ago!" You're past done. You're exhausted. "Fuck you, Yuuji Terushima for being the same piece of shit guy you were four years ago! And for breaking my heart again." Your voice breaks when you say again, and Terushima feels his heart breaking into a million pieces. "I never want to see your face again."

You turn around quickly making your way back into your shop while Terushima stands there frozen, letting you walk out of his life once again. The words you just spoke to him the exact same words you said back then. He feels the tears on his face before he registers them. How could this happen? How did it all go so wrong so fast?

You walk back into the party, thankful that you didn't put mascara on as you wipe your face off, and Kiya walks up to you. "Girlfriend, are you okay?!" she asks you, concern etched all over her face as she pulls you to the side.

"No, I'm not," you tell her honestly. "But, this is a party, and we're supposed to have fun. So, that's what I'm going to do." For what seems like the tenth time tonight, you walk off without waiting for a response.

After everyone left the party, that's when you decided to get yourself drunk. You usually don't drink this much, but you couldn't bring yourself to think about anything else. Kiya takes you home, and she stays with you as you scream, cry, rant until you finally crash on your bed due to a mix of the alcohol and your emotions being all over the place.

She sighs worriedly at your figure, and sits next to you on the bed, brushing her hand over your head before your face which is stained with tear tracks. Your phone on your nightstand rings and Kiya picks it up, seeing that it's Terushima and she rolls her eyes before hitting the decline button. She sees that he's called you non-stop through the night, and she scoffs again. She's pretty sure she could get away with murder.

When the phone rings for the fourth time, Kiya angrily picks it up. "Via, baby, I am so sorry, please listen to me, it was just a misunderstanding--"

"Olivia can't come to the phone right now," Kiya cuts him off curtly. "She's passed out because a fucking piece of shit decided to walk back in her life and break her heart the same fucking way he did four years ago," she spits, and she hears him sigh heavily before he sniffles.

"Kiya, you gotta let me explain, please let me explain." He sounds completely wrecked, Kiya can barely understand what he's saying.

"I don't think so, Terushima. You barely deserved a second chance, and you definitely don't deserve a third. Goodbye."

"Wait, wait, wait! Please! Please let me explain!" He's practically yelling in her ear, and she knows that if she hangs up on him he'll just keep calling. But she's also never heard him like this before.

"Fine. You have five minutes."

It's been roughly a week since one of the lowest moments of your life, and you're not entirely healed, but you definitely feel better, and you swore off getting that drunk ever again due to the awful headache you had when you woke up the next morning. Right now, you were hanging with Kiya, which she fully insisted for whatever reason, and you assume it's just because she wanted to spend time with you before the new year.

"He proposed?!" you yell as you practically throw yourself off the couch. Kiya laughs as she nods. "What? Show me the ring!" you demand, and she holds her hand out which you quickly take into yours to examine her finger. "Woah, that is expensive," you comment as your eyes go wide.

She pulls her hand back as she agrees before looking at it again, her eyes full of love and happiness. You can't help the ping of jealously that stabs at your heart, but you push it away, replacing it with the happiness for your best friend. "So, I'm obviously going to be the maid of honor," you say matter-of-factly, and she laughs as she rolls her eyes.

"Of course you are. There's no one else I would want it to be." You both talk for a couple more hours, and you look at the clock on your phone.

"I should probably go. I don't want to implode on the newly engaged couple. He's going to be home soon, right?" you ask, standing and stretching.

"Yeah, but it's okay, you can stay. We won't mind." You shake your head as you start to gather your things.

"It's okay. I've got a bunch of takeout and some wine calling my name at home." You slip on your coat and your boots. That's mostly the reason why. The other reason why is that you really don't want to see any happy couples right now. That's just putting salt in a wound that's slowly healing. "Congratulations again, Kiya. I'll text you when I get home." She nods while walking you to the door, and she watches you walk to your car and drive off before closing the door.

You yawn loudly when you get home, kicking your boots off and throwing your jacket onto the couch. You decide that you're going to take a nap first, and then you'll eat, and as you walk to your room, you feel something under your feet. At first, you thought it was something weird on your sock, but when you keep feeling it, you look down to see rose petals?

You turn back to the door. You had locked the door when you left, and you just unlocked the door when you came home, so...

"Hello?" you call out into the quiet apartment, but you receive no response, and you follow the trail of rose petals, assuming that this is possibly the way that you're going to go out. The trail stops at your door, and you slide the door open, gasping when you see what's inside.

The lights are off, the only light being provided is from the vanilla-scented candles all over the room. There are rose petals all over the place, and there are vases of your favorite flowers spread out across the room, and standing in the middle of it is Terushima.

He's facing you, wringing his hands together nervously as he watches you take in the new changes made. "What is all this?" you ask in disbelief, and he steps forward before he speaks.

"An apology. I mean, I don't really think I can make up for the pain that I've caused you, but there's been a huge misunderstanding." You sigh softly as you look away.

"Terushima..." you start, and he startles you when he falls to his knees before grabbing your hands.

"Via, I'm begging you to let me explain. If you let me explain, then I'll be out of your hair. You won't hear from me ever again. And I know I don't deserve this, but please, please, let me explain." You only respond with a nod, mostly because of how he's acting right now. "For starters, I am so sorry for how I've made you feel. This year and four years ago. It was never my intention to make you cry or to break your heart, and I did both of those things, and so much more."

He takes a deep breath before speaking again. "Second, that girl in my apartment is not what you think," he tells you firmly making you roll your eyes, and he quickly starts speaking again. "I know, I know, but let me explain." He quickly pulls his phone out of his pocket like he's afraid that you're going to leave.

You watch as he brings up a conversation with a number before scrolling up to a certain part of the conversation, and he turns the phone to you. You hesitantly grab the phone, looking at him before bringing your eyes to look at the phone. You scroll through the messages, the messages themselves not outright telling you that he was seeing another girl.

One of them says 'it'll be ready in a couple of days,' another one says that 'you can meet me at my place.' That one's from Terushima. You hand him back the phone, not convinced at all. "You told her she could meet you at your place."

"And I should've realized how that would've looked. I was stupid, I wasn't thinking, and I'm sorry." You gesture to the phone.

"What was supposed to be ready?" you ask, your voice full of disinterest, and he quickly pockets the phone before reaching into his front pocket. Your eyes widen when he pulls out a box small enough for a ring, and he grabs your hand before you have the chance to move.

He opens it to reveal a small, simple ring with your birthstone in it. "Terushima..." you trail off, and he shakes his head.

"It's not what it looks like. It's a promise ring." A soft, surprised expression comes over your face. "It's a promise to you that I'm going to be better. Everyone knows that I don't deserve you, but this is a promise to you that I'm going to become the man that you deserve." Now you feel the tears coming, and he keeps going.

"It's a promise that I'm never going to hurt you again." He stands up quickly, your head now lifting upward to look him in the eyes. "Olivia, you mean the world to me. There's no else but you, there hasn't been, and there never will be." He takes the ring out of the box, setting the box on your dresser.

"I love you so much that it hurts. You're all I ever think about as soon as I wake up to the moment I go to sleep. Please, give me another chance. I promise I won't make you regret it." The tears are falling more frequently, and you wipe them away.

"How do I know you're not lying?" you ask quietly, trying to keep your weak resolve up. He steps closer to you.

"You know that I'm not lying," he tells you confidently, his gaze never wavering from yours, and you sigh knowing that he's right. He's one of the worst liars you've ever met, having tells for days. And none of them are showing. You're still fighting it in your head, looking down away from him, and he tilts it back up by your chin.

"Please. I will never make you feel that way ever again. I promise." He tells you firmly, his voice solid. Terushima feels like his heart explodes when you nod your head. He slides the ring onto your finger before wiping the tears from your eyes. He's so happy he could cry. He plants his lips on yours quickly, wrapping his arms around you, pulling him into him.

"Please, let me show you," he pleads after he pulls away, holding your face in his hands.

"Okay." That's all he needs before he's picking you up, your legs wrapped around his waist as he carries you to the bed, and he never breaks the kiss as you land on your back. He moves you further up on the bed before moving his lips to your neck, pressing wet, open-mouthed kisses on your skin.

Your hands move to his hair as you feel him biting marks into your skin, and you know that you're going to look like a freaking leopard tomorrow. He pulls your shirt off, throwing it somewhere off to the side, your bra soon following, and he doesn't waste any time attacking your breasts, one hand stimulating one while his mouth is on the other.

He pulls your hardened nipples between his teeth and his fingers at the same time, making your back arch off the bed at the different feelings. After marking up one breast, he moves to the other, doing the same thing before he starts to kiss down your abdomen.

He looks up at you when he reaches the waistband of your sweatpants, and you nod quickly as he groans seeing how your pupils are blown with lust. He quickly gets rid of your sweats, groaning again when he sees the growing wet spot across your crotch.

He licks a broad stripe up your covered cunt, both of you moaning simultaneously as you squeeze his head with your thighs. He makes quick work of your panties, almost ripping them with how eager he is to taste you. He digs his fingers into your thighs, almost entranced by your naked sex, and he teases you a bit more by marking up your thighs, whining when he pulls the skin between his teeth.

"Yuuji, stop teasing," you whine, and he smiles wickedly before he spreads your legs.

"I gotcha, pretty girl," he coos before licking another stripe through your folds, the action so sudden that it makes you jump slightly. His hands press your legs into the mattress as he eats you out like you're his last meal. "You taste so fucking good," he moans, the vibrations only elevating the feeling, and the taste of you on his tongue and the sounds you're making are like heaven, and he's close to blowing his load that he has to force himself to hold back.

He moves up to your clit, running circles over it with his tongue before sucking it into his mouth, making the grip on his hair tightening just shy of painful. He prods a finger at your hole before slowly inching his way in, and he ruts against the bed to find some release. You already feel so good on his finger, so he can only imagine what you'll feel like when you take his dick.

He slides another finger in while continuing to use his mouth on your clit, stretching you out before sliding in a third. He curls his fingers, hitting that spot inside of you with ease, making you release a loud moan. "Teru," you gasp, and he smirks against you.

"You close, baby?" he prods, already knowing the answer. He keeps curling his fingers, the squelching sounds almost overpowering your moans, and he feels you pulling at his hair, this time painful, but he can't bring himself to care as he licks up your clit making sure his piercing strikes it.

You cum with a scream, and he moans when you clench on his fingers, but he keeps going, his fingers seeming to go deeper inside of you, and a weird feeling sits in your core, and you try to push him away, but he keeps going until you feel another release.

"Fuck. Holy shit, babe." You come down from your high, gasping for air as you watch him come up with your juices all over his face while he sucks his fingers clean. "You just squirted." You move to cover your face with your hands but he stops you. "Don't be ashamed. That was really hot," he admits, licking around his mouth to get some more.

He kisses you hungrily, and you moan as you taste yourself on his tongue and when his piercing knocks against your teeth. He hisses and breaks the kiss when you palm his straining erection through his jeans. "Do you want me to return the favor?" you ask, still breathless from your previous orgasm, and he lightly brushes your hand away as he shakes his head.

"Later, right now is all about you," he tells you, and you wrap your arms around his neck to pull him close to you.

"Then I want you to fuck me," you whisper against his lips, and he groans before making quick work of his shirt and his jeans. You can see a huge wet spot in the front of his briefs, and he gets rid of them quickly, his dick smacking his abdomen once it's free.

He stands at the edge of the bed, lazily stroking himself, and you feel your mouth go dry at how beautiful he is, so you tell him, and he responds with a soft chuckle, but you can see his face deepen with a blush at the compliment. "Nah, that's all you, baby girl." He smirks when he sees your eyes widening once they land on the pair of metal balls at the head of his length. "You like it?" he quips, and you just gulp, your eyes having a hard time looking away from the angry red tip dripping with pre.

His eyes drag down your figure, making you hot all over and he moves onto the bed, hovering himself over you. "You're so gorgeous. The prettiest woman I've ever met." You don't have time to feel flustered by his words because he leans down to kiss you, this one different from the previous ones.

This one is softer and filled with love, but still has the same amount of passion and hunger. "I have a condom," he tells you when he pulls away, and you shake your head.

"I wanna feel you," you tell him, lust dripping in your words, and he bites back a moan as he gives you one last kiss before guiding his dick towards your leaking hole. He pumps himself a few more times before sliding in, and you can't help the whine that falls from your lips.

It's been so long since you've felt him inside of you. And it's an addicting feeling you didn't even know you were missing until now. "Fuck, you are so tight. Shit." He bottoms out, stretching you in the best possible way, and he rests his head against yours.

"Move, Yuuji," you urge, and he nods while he pants.

"I know, baby, I know, give me a second. Fuck." He takes a few more deep breaths, and when he's sure that he's not going to bust just from how warm you feel, he backs up until only the tip is inside and he rams back into you, making the bed knock against the wall.

You cry out, your arms wrapping around his neck again as he repeatedly slams back into you, the feeling of the piercing rubbing against your walls foreign, but it feels so good. He keeps shifting his hips until he finds that spongy spot inside of you, and he grips the headboard, using it as leverage to piston that spot, and you feel like you're going to explode with pleasure.

You rake your nails down his back, and he feels it hit every nerve ending all over his body, and his hips falter just a tad when you clench around him. "Fuck, baby, touch yourself for me, please touch yourself," he spills out, knowing he's not going to last much longer.

You bring your hand down to roll hard circles on your bud, clenching at the sudden stimulation, and Terushima shudders. "Feels so good, Yuuji," you moan out, and he can't help but reciprocate it as his face scrunches up in pleasure.

"You feel too good, baby, oh my God." You can sense that he's close, so you clench around him again, and that's what send him over the edge, letting out a shout of your name as his hot seed shoots into you.

He doesn't stop moving though. He brings one hand down to your shoulder and fucks into you harder than he had before. He whines at the overstimulation, but he's determined to get you there. "Cum for me, baby, cum for me."

With one last hard thrust, you cum hard, back arching off the bed as you scream his name while Terushima moans at you coming undone under him. Your back meets the bed again, and Terushima rests his head on your forehead as you both catch your breath.

He pulls out of you slowly, wincing at the overwhelming feeling of pleasure mixing with pain before he gets up and makes his way to the bathroom the best he can on shaky legs. You feel yourself starting to drift off, and you jump when you feel something warm at your core.

"Sorry, I gotta clean you up," he tells you softly, wiping the mix of your juices away before putting the rag in the sink in the bathroom. He comes back, pulling the blankets down and getting in before pulling you into his chest. "I love you so much, Olivia. And I am so sorry. I won't make you regret giving me another chance."

You look up at him with a sleepy smile and sleepy eyes before sitting up to kiss him. "I love you too, and I forgive you, maybe," you joke, and you giggle when he pinches your side.

The rhythm of his heartbeat and the finger dragging up and down your arm lulls you to sleep fast, and the last thing you remember is hearing "goodnight."

~

Terushima wakes up before you, the sunlight bleeding in through the blinds and into his eyes. He takes a deep breath in and looks around, thankful that he remembered to blow out the candles before he went to sleep. He looks down to see you still sleeping peacefully, and he feels his heart do a somersault. He finally has you and he going to make sure that you don't leave. Not again.

He never realized what he was taking for granted until you broke up. He had slept with a few other girls, but they weren't you. All he could think about was you. He even got kicked out of a girl's place naked because he accidentally called her by your name. He pulls you closer to him, and you stir slightly, moving your head so that it's angled more towards his.

He thinks you look ethereal. The way the sunlight makes your brown skin glow almost makes him melt. He runs a finger down your sleeping face lightly before brushing the hair out of your face. "I'm sorry for being so stupid," he starts even know he knows you can't hear him. "I didn't realize what I had lost until it was too late. I wish I could go back in time so I could fix it or beat myself up, one or the other," he jokes laughing softly. "Probably both."

He rubs your back softly. "I don't even know if I have enough words to describe how much you mean to me. I should've never entertained those girls, like I said I was an absolute idiot, and to be honest, I didn't think you would've given me a second chance. I would've understood if you didn't." He holds you a little tighter. "But I'm glad that you did. I love you, and I'm going to keep saying it until you get tired of it, but I want you to know that. I want you to know that it's true and that I seriously mean it."

He takes a deep breath. "After the Christmas party, I cried so hard I almost threw up." He laughs bitterly, he doesn't really know why he's saying this, but he feels like he should get it off his chest. "That night it felt like my heart had been ripped out and stomped on multiple times. I only have myself to blame though. And I figured that must've been what you felt like because of me, and that happened to you twice.

"I was almost in hysterics. I kept calling your phone, but you never answered, and when I was about to give up, Kiya picked up the phone." He laughs again." And she almost hung up on me until I explained to her everything that happened and the huge misunderstanding that caused all of this. She held me put this whole plan together actually. She got you out of your apartment so I could do all of this."

He looks down at you again, giving you a kiss on your forehead. "I hope you stay with me forever. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"You really are sappy in the morning." Your groggy voice makes him jump, and you smile as you struggle to hold back your laugh, peeling your eyes open to reveal a very red Terushima.

"You were awake?!" he asks, and you laugh fully as you nod. "You heard everything?!"

You nod again. "I did, I'm sorry. I thought you were talking in your sleep, but I realized it was too coherent for it to be sleep talk." You sit up, resting your hand on his chest and putting your chin on top. "Did you mean everything you said?"

He responds quickly. "Every word." You fight back tears as he pulls you in for another kiss, his hand resting on the back of your head softly. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Yuuji Terushima."

EPILOGUE:

"Teru, you're not taking me to the woods to kill me, are you?" you ask, looking around blindly due to the blindfold wrapped around your eyes. You hear him laugh as you feel him take another turn.

"No, I'll do that for our next anniversary." You laugh as you try to figure out where you are. Terushima had woken you up saying that he was going to show you your anniversary present, but then he blindfolded you and led you to the car. "Stop trying to figure out where we are with your weird powers!" he yells at you, and you nudge at him while playing with your necklace that he got for you after you both made up. It has his name on it, and he bought a matching chain with your name on it.

"It's not my fault I know this city like the back of my hand." You feel him take another turn, and you close your eyes as you try to narrow it down. "Are we in a subdivision?" You smirk when you hear him groan, knowing you guessed right.

"Can you please stop? You'll ruin the surprise."

"It's hard to focus on anything else," you admit, and you quickly go quiet when you feel his hand rubbing up and down your thigh.

"It is hard now?" he asks you, lowly, and you feel your core clench at his words and his actions. Now you can't focus on anything but his hand, but you're abruptly pulled from his actions when you feel the car stop. You hear him turn the car off and you hear his door open and close while you take your seatbelt off.

Your door opens, and he's guiding you out of the car. "You ready?"

You jump excitedly in impatience. "Yes, yes, hurry up!" He peels off the blindfold, and you blink a few times, letting your eyes adjust to the light before they focus on a two-story house. "A house?" You feel something cold touch your hand, and you look down to see a pair of keys in your hand.

"Our house." Your eyes go wide as you snap your head up to look at Terushima before looking back at the house. "Happy anniversary, baby."

"Are you fucking serious?!" you say, jumping into his arms, almost taking him out before you run towards the door, unlocking it as fast you can. Terushima smiles at you fondly as he follows you around the house as you tour it.

"This bedroom's kinda small though," he comments, looking around, and you step in the room, spinning around as you look at the room before stopping to face Terushima.

"I don't know. I think it's the perfect room for a nursery," you admit, and you see him shrug as he looks around again before the words dawn on him. He almost breaks his neck to look at you, and you smile widely as you nod.

"You're fucking serious?! I'm gonna be a dad?!" He runs to you, picking you and spinning you around. You both laugh loudly before he sets you down, pulling you into a loving kiss that leaves you breathless.

"Happy anniversary, Yuuji."

A/N: If you stayed this long thank you for reading, but if you didn’t, I don’t blame you LMAO

[nellie-elizabeth]

His Dark Materials: Theft (2x03)

I love Lee Scoresby, y'all.

Cons:

This one was pretty light on the "cons" column! If I had to say anything, I'd say that having an episode without Magesterium politics made me realize how much those elements were clogging up the pacing.

Also, Lee Scoresby is amazing and I love him, but I thought the daddy issues angle was a little played out. If that's in the book, it must be a passing reference. I think Marisa Coulter and Lee Scoresby have enough going on with regards to caring for Lyra as a daughter despite not having raised her, without introducing the idea that they both had crappy fathers.

Oh, also, this is a minor detail, but in the book Lyra loses the alethiometer because "Latrom" is sitting in the back seat with her (he has a driver) and he picks it out of her bag. I liked that much better than Lyra getting out of the car in a panic and leaving the whole bag behind. That girl carried that thing around with her in the frozen wastelands and was obsessive about keeping it with her at all times. Seems like the kind of mistake Lyra wouldn't make. Trusting a stranger at the wrong moment in desperation? Sure. Leaving her bag in the car? Maybe not.

Pros:

To me, this episode managed to capture the sweetness and depth of some of my favorite parts of the book, while not remaining beholden to the text to such a degree that it felt stagnant. I gather from reading reviews that others disagree, but I found myself pretty charmed by all of this!

Starting with what was added: see, the thing about Lee's adventures in the books is that they're vitally important in setting up some stuff for Will, and they totally matter in the emotional sense, but they are pretty divorced from the rest of the action. So, if plot-wise Lee needs to do what he does in order to help Will, which will in turn help Lyra, it makes sense to me to put something in here that more directly ties his actions to his goal, which is... to protect Lyra at all costs. Getting him in a room with Mrs. Coulter, a woman who is at once a huge threat to Lyra and also possibly one of her best chances of survival, allows so much to bubble to the surface.

During that whole scene between Marisa and Lee, I was thinking about Lyra. Childish, self-centered, but so brave and determined and tenacious, and these two adults who, really, barely know her, but would go to the ends of the earth for her. And what an important message to include, too! Lee flat-out says that just because Mrs. Coulter is Lyra's mother, doesn't mean she really has her best interests at heart, or can really keep her safe. And as much as Marisa might not want to admit that... she does, eventually. It plants a seed, it proves a truth that's very important moving forward, which is that Mrs. Coulter's love, terribly twisted and manipulative and bad for Lyra as it is, really is love. She's willing to let Lee go because she figures it's important for Lyra to have an extra ally on the board.

Lin Manuel-Miranda's performance as Scoresby really is great. He's playing it cool but also kind of dorky, which is so in line with who the actor is as a person, but also feels like this totally original spin on an iconic character. I loved the interplay when he pretended not to know who Coulter was immediately upon seeing her, and how you really saw the meeting of two minds in that moment, as they sized each other up and cut the crap. And, as an added bonus, we got to see Hester, my favorite daemon in the show to date. She and Lee have the relationship dynamic and bond that I want to see more of between Lyra and Pan, and other human/daemon combos. (Speaking of which... Mrs. Coulter letting the golden monkey hold her hand... I got chills.)

Before turning to Lyra, a few other notes... we got a brief check-in with Iorek this week, as Serafina's daemon comes to him and tells him the situation. The armored bears are leaving their homeland because the ice is melting, due to Asriel's hole in the sky. This was entirely setup for future plot elements, but I still enjoyed seeing one of my favorites!

Mary Malone gets some time with her sister and niece and nephew, which I liked as a humanizing moment for her, giving her stakes, giving her something rooting her to her current life that makes where she's going next feel all the more poignant. And she and Lyra have such a special connection; I like how they've managed to make me believe in Mary wanting to help Lyra, right from the jump. She's making some progress with Dust, even if she doesn't quite get the full picture yet... I'm excited to see her moving forward into having a bigger role in the story!

And now for Lyra and Will. As I keep saying, they are the heart of this season, and if any one thing needs to be right, it should be them. And holy hell, they're getting this right. That scene in the movie theatre? Pan sticking his little head out of the bag to see the movie, Lyra eating the popcorn, talking about Roger? And Will confessing that he came to look for Lyra not because he thought she was messing around, but because he was worried about her? I love it. All of this was golden, it solidified the special bond they already share.

This is a rough week for Lyra, as she inadvertently betrays Will, and then while trying to flee from Boreal's goon, ends up losing the alethiometer. What I love about this is that she fails because she doesn't listen to her own best judgment (represented by Pan), and this is a retread of mistakes we've seen her make before. Because change is hard, because getting past the mindset that she's the hero of her own story is difficult, especially when, in a cosmic sense... she kind of is the hero, as we know. There are prophecies about her, after all! But her regret over losing the alethiometer is so heart-wrenching, her determination to fix her mistake so steadfast, that you really can't stay mad at this kid for long.

In many ways, this was a filler episode. Or... not a filler, but a setup episode. Lee is still looking for Grumman. Mrs. Coulter is still on the hunt. The witches and bears are on the move. Lyra loses the alethiometer, and is given a side quest: fetch the thing that Boreal wants from the world through the window. Book readers know what's about to happen, and that makes me very excited for what's coming next! This episode managed to ratchet up the tension as the pieces on the chess board move closer together, and I think it was ultimately a success.

8/10

[tyranttortoise]

 @cuttlebird submitted:  SOUL MATCHUP! This soul is heavily armored. Suffocated by tangled, black threads of fear–both conscious and subconscious. This makes it very hard to affect with magic or detect at all. If you are able to find it, it’ll immediately flinch away from you. If you try to pry open the threads, you’ll have a tough time with it, but eventually a bright, yellow light will peak through.

The vibe you get from this soul shield: tense, stressed, uncontrolled anxiety, shy, careful, secretive

Reason it’s like this: It’s a fear that’s built up since childhood. Of being judged, vulnerable, or getting backlash for self-expression. There’s also the (false) belief of “I’m not strong enough to stand up for myself” coupled with a specific fear of getting into and stuck in a controlling/abusive relationship. It feels like the only way I can avoid that is “upping my defenses” with a sense of desperation—like my defenses are scarce even though I’m overdoing it. I tend to think in absolutes or go to logical extremes without meaning to. Whether that’s a soul trait thing, an anxiety thing, or an autism thing is hard to call. I need help from others to re-assess and get a more balanced/big-picture perspective. I’ve gotten better at getting there on my own too.

Past that shield, you’ll see:

That the main soul trait is justice. It’s a bright, warm yellow light that spreads everywhere. Rainbow speckles swirl around it, like confetti for a personal festival. Pink and purple (my favorite colors) show up the most. Once all those threads of fear and various false beliefs are untangled, that shield’ll be gone for good! I won’t be relying on stealth or subconscious magic to protect myself, I’ll be taking charge of it! I’ll be vulnerable, sensitive, and okay with that!! And I’ll just generally not give a fuck what others think and be confident in my personal abilities! (to stick up for myself, to express myself even if it’s unpolished) Then I won’t have to mask or play defense so damn hard just to feel okay…

The vibe you get from this soul: wild, sensual, energetic, carefree, joyful, relaxed, open.

The rainbow colors and the pinks and purples, they can just be my love of colors and my favorite colors but they can also be interpreted as soul traits. (In this case, I think pink and purple would be two different takes on Perseverance. One with more red Determination and the other with more blue Integrity) The main point is that there’s a huge wellspring of creative/magical energy that I’ve been holding in all this time. And like, this carefree side of me still shows up, even with the shield up. It’s just not a dominate aspect of my personality right now. Also I’m known for being gentle and kind…and worrying a bunch on how I come across. Like obsessing about it.  

and since it’s a warm yellow that could be seen is like as justice with some bravery in [hey thank you for doing this!! i hope you have a good February!!]

___________________________________

the tortoise’s two cents:  Okay, holy crap, you’ve really thought this out, and I adore detailed SOUL headcanons like this!  

The entire time you were talking about the shield and and suffocating tangles of fear – and all the defenses you both consciously and subconsciously put up – all I could think about was how Stretch would be the perfect one to catch a glimpse of what’s behind that.  He’s not usually one to be drawn to a SOUL that’s primary trait is Justice, but he’d definitely be the one most likely to notice the shield.

And most likely to take his time slowly unraveling it, bit by bit…

It’ll be a slow process, one that involves him earning your complete trust – by just being himself.  Stretch is a true bro; he’s the type that watches out for you without being overbearing or stepping on your free will if you’re about to do something he disagrees with.  He looks out for his friends and his brother, and he’s incredibly perceptive when it comes to noticing what makes your SOUL/that shield flinch.  If there’s anyone that can see past a mask, it’s Stretch, without a doubt.  

And once he’s got those defenses down and he sees just how vibrant your SOUL is – bursting with color and vibrating with creative energy – he’ll be proud of you.  He’ll be so proud that you’re opening up, that the carefree side of you he’d occasionally glimpse when the shield was up has taken center-stage.  

He’s the type that’s supportive with your creative endeavors; it’s even likely that he would coax that part of you out before the shield’s down all the way.   He’s also the kind of person that would assuage your fears of coming across the wrong way.  If you brought it up to him, he’d give you that lazy smile and tell you not to worry – or he’d text you and assure you that he understood what you meant.  He’s chill enough that he wouldn’t be bothered if you made sure you conveyed yourself appropriately several times – and eventually, you’ll become more relaxed about that, too, knowing that he gets you.  

And when it comes to your gentle, kind demeanor… Well, that’s what Stretch needs.  

While he’s looking out for everyone else, he needs someone to look out for him, too.  

*I’m no longer accepting SOUL submissions.

[h3rmitsunited]

Continuing Thoughts on Age of Calamity: I am about 19 hours in at this point and oh man are things going down. Just wanted to record some of my thoughts, theories, reactions, etc... before I get to the last four missions of the story because I’m just thinking about this non-stop and want to share.

Spoilers below the read more, so don’t read if you plan on playing the game. It is a lot more fun to experience in the game than reading it, so just you know, don’t read it.

THE NEW BOTW CHAMPIONS ARE HERE, THE OG CHAMPIONS ARE ALIVE! 

-After the siege of the castle mission that ends with the king's death at the hands of the guardians off screen and the menu music changing to the awesome dark theme and the prompt on the screen saying that Mipha, Daruk, Revali, and Urbosa are trapped in the Divine Beasts, I legitimately cried a little bit. Like I was mostly tearing up because of the bit with Zelda and her father and Link dragging her away, but with the context of BOTW and the Divine Beasts and the Champions having been killed in battle with the Calamity Blights, I was like holy crap, they killed them, they're trapped because they died, but then I started the next chapter and decided to do Urbosa and Revali's first and then it starts and they're both still alive and then we see that Teba and Riju come through and like I lost my shit. I was like WHAT!? IS!? HAPPENING?! I thought that it was a really cool way to get more characters to play as (because this is a Warriors game so the vast array of characters to play as is a selling point) and a cool way to keep the OG Champions from being dead which is depressing. So I got Urbosa and Revali back and then realized what this meant for the other mission, that Mipha would be saved by giant grown Sidon and it was just as cute and sweet as I thought it was going to be. And then them working together on the Divine Beast and teaming up and you can see how much Sidon missed his sister and looks up to her, despite the fact that he is literally ginormous and she is a tiny little thing. It made me tear up. The other champion relationships don't really hit that hard because none of them actually met each other before, but it was pretty funny the bit with Teba and Revali when Revali is once again being an asshole to Link and Teba is just like.... WTF? This is the Rito champion, he's like kind of a di- and Urbosa is like yes, we know. Moving on. Because like damn, they really turned Revali's dick factor way up in this game. Like seriously, bird, can you like chill?

-Anyways, another thing that got me going literally insane was the bit in Hyrule field with Astor and Sooga and Kohga when Astor was like...pulling soul power or something from the Yiga soldiers and like turned it into Hollow Link and when I saw that I was like losing my mind. I don't know why it got me so hyped up, but it did and I'm very excited to battle it out with this dark Link character.

-I just finished the battle at Akkala citadel, which was a pretty cool fight, and going to go into the next battle, something about thunder, so obviously another Divine Beast lead in with Divine Beast support trying to fight off Guardians and monsters and stuff. From the placement, it appears like it'll be near Hateno, and will be involving Urbosa and Vah Nahboris. I don't really care for the Divine Beast levels. They are frustrating to control and the camera movements are annoying and the targeting system just is frustrating. The level with Vah Rudania fighting off the guardians was so annoying, just trying to target the guardians and move around and then I just kept getting stuck on the walls and stuff and the movements are so slow, and it was just like, I don't really care for this at all, thanks... I much prefer the on the ground, quick fighting. Obviously, Link is the most intuitive and easiest to use, he's the highest level, and he's the main fighting character, so he's my favorite to use. I really want to unlock the Hyrule Warriors armor set, so I'm going to have to do a ton of quests and stuff which is a lot, but it will make me keep playing the game for a while, which is good since the game cost sixty dollars. It's fun to play though, so I feel like it's worth it. -Regarding the timeline pieces, I'm really conflicted about the backstory elements that we're getting, and I realize that the moment the eggo was introduced, it set this timeline off into a completely different direction, but it brings up questions for me about the original timeline. We don't really know exactly when the Hyrule Warriors timeline starts out and how far from the Calamity attack it was in the past. I would assume that it wasn't too far in the past, most like like less than a year, maybe less than six months? It's difficult to tell because we don't get a whole lot of context. We are given the information that in this game, the Calamity attack on the castle happens at the same time as in the original timeline, on Zelda's 17th birthday, maybe a little sooner, since in the OG, she's coming down from Lanayru with Link and in this one, I think she's leaving the castle to go to Lanayru when the attack happens. But when did everything else happen? How long has Link had the Master sword and been the chosen knight? He's been following Zelda in this timeline since eggo was introduced, but he was still "just a knight" at that point, even if he was a really good and talented one. But wouldn't that mean that he activates his power in Korok forest like barely anytime before the Calamity attack? I mean I guess in the OG timeline, we can kind of get hints that Link hasn't been chosen for a super long time, since Zelda questions him about how confident he is with the Master Sword and can he hear the voice, and is a bit more antagonistic with him, so he probably hadn't been doing that for a super long time either, but it does feel like he's had it longer in the OG timeline memories compared to here when he gets the Master sword and then like two missions later Ganon is popping up at the castle. I mean, it wouldn't make sense really to drag things out a super long time, so I understand that having a bunch of extra cut scenes and missions that aren't super plot relevant would be kind of weird, especially with this Astor dude's involvement, he would want to push things along. But the Ganon attack still happens the same time as the OG timeline, so all of these things happen within the same amount of time. I don't remember in the OG timeline if we ever got any details about how Link awakened his power. I do like how they did it in this version, how it was like a parallel to how Zelda awakened her power protecting Link, which gave me all the Zelink feels, but I just want canon backstory for the OG timeline, you know? We know that this timeline isn't canon for the OG timeline because of eggo being involved, so we can only really pull character elements from this timeline rather than specific plot elements. I also wondered about Impa since she is there kind of escorting Zelda in most of the missions, but was only in BOTW as an old lady, which is fine because they likely hadn't have developed that into the story at that point, but I also think maybe since Link in AOC hasn't become the chosen knight until later, he wasn't seen as capable or trustworthy enough to be her sole escort knight and wanted to keep Impa around for additional protection or something. I don't know, doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but whatever. I'm also trying to remember... when did the Champions get their champion clothes? Does Link have the blue tunic on in all the memories? I'm pretty sure that one of the first memories is that depressing one where Zelda is like knighting Link or something in the gazebo thing in front of the castle, but I can't remember the order... It's just all so confusing and I'm sure I'm deeply overthinking everything and that they're kind of just like retconning elements, but like what does it all mean? I mean maybe... maybe... since Zelda remembers the eggo in her like baby dream memory in that one cut scene, maybe that means eggo was also sent way back in time to the beginning of her life, so this timeline is deeply changed from the beginning of her life, so while the initial difference weren't super evident, just some small things, once they got to later in the timeline and all the Master sword/Champion stuff, it really just like threw everything in the air. I don't know why it bothers me so much, I think it's just me Zelink heart wanting Link and Zelda to have more time together when it's not just crazy monster fighting sad Zelda all the time like in the AOC cutscenes. In BOTW, we get these soft little memories of Zelda and Link researching in the field and riding horses and stuff and like yes the ever present concern about Zelda's power and Ganon is there in the memories still, but it feels more intimate and slow and down to earth. I think it's also because in several of the memories, it's just them two, and in AOC, there hasn't really been any memories with just the two of them together, so it has a different feel to it. I liked in BOTW, the stories in Zelda's diary about talking to Link about his destiny and why he doesn't talk and how he feels the weight of this title and it keeps him silent and it gave Link this interesting depth and emotion that you couldn't really see without that, and then in the AOC, there are some little moments where you see Link having a scrap of emotion, tiny smiles he gives to Zelda, serious face, confused, happy to eat stuff, but most of his moments are the little grunts and blank stares that he gives. Like seriously? Zelda's father just died, she feels like it's all her fault and Link's response is a tiny smile and a "huh". Like yes, there are dynamics with them, she's a princess, he's a knight, he's protective of her and doesn't push her boundaries or whatever, but like just hug please. I loved that memory in the forest in BOTW where she just collapses into his chest and he holds her and we see this pained expression on his face and it's like yes please give me more not lobotomized Link. Like I know this sounds like complaining, because it is, and like I do understand they want Link to kind of be this blank slate, character insert type of character, but give him something please! 

-I'm hoping we get some good content in these last few mission cut scenes. I'm getting down to the last few missions, only four left, and looking at the chapter titles, which is the only spoilers that I have allowed myself, I'm like, okay, what is going to happen next. And like I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that we win and the bad BOTW timeline ending is subverted and Ganon has to go night night, but like who knows, maybe they'll surprise me, but probably not. This is supposed to be a game that you keep playing after you finish the main story, so like killing off a bunch of playable characters and having it end in destruction would be probably not so smart...

-Okay, that's all my current thoughts. I'll be playing more tonight and we'll see if I finish the story tonight, or maybe I'll have to stop myself and take a breather before blasting through the remaining missions. I finished I think three missions(?) last night, and I had a break for dinner, but like I don't work tomorrow, so like, I could probably blast through the last ones, but I'd also still need to do some additional quest stuff in between for level up purposes since I just go through rupees like crazy. Oh my gosh, that reminds me... it is so dang annoying when you get one of those like quest find item marker things that lights up when you have all the items and you're like sweet I'll complete this and as you're pressing the button, out of habit, without super paying attention, you realize it's going to cost like 2,000 rupees or something and it's like... not again! I can't tell you how many times I have done this and it's so annoying. Like warn me if I have to pay rupees, I don't want to use my brain, game! Lol yes, it's my fault, I'm not really mad.

-Okay, the end. For now. TLDR: This game is fun and unexpected, but it is also not BOTW, so don't go into this expecting BOTW mechanics or gameplay. But hey, smashing through tons of enemies is also kind of satisfying too. Also, like the new enemies are wild. Elemental Moblins, Hinoxs, Lynels, Guardians(!), the use of the Elemental weapons is a cool mechanic, and it's cool having some cinematic fight moments, even if it might get repetitive after playing the game for a while, but you also can use a ton of different characters, so there's variety there, I just have yet to leave my boy because he's the easiest to blast through anything and everything, though Impa is pretty cool too, even if most of my moves with her are random button smashes since I don't really have a good grip on how her moves work. At least with Link it's pretty obvious and I've gotten better about actually having some sort of strategy with how he works, the other characters I haven't played enough to have any sort of knowledge on how they work. Also Zelda's moves are not fun to play at all, sorry, but they're just annoying and useless. Also Daruk is bad at fighting Hinoxes. Okay, now, the end.

[roseprincesskristina]

Axl's First Exciting Mission

((Hey guys. Today, in going to create a new fan fic today that an idea has flown towards my face. It's about a teenage prototype named Axl, who's very thrilled about the new mission that awaits him, but doesn't really know yet due to the mysterious yet similar maverick hidden within the underground basement of Maverick Hunter HQ that X has warned him about. So again, this story contains yaoi and I understand that it made you uncomfortable. However, if you're a fan, then welcome aboard. Without further ado, please enjoy this fiction. 😊))

Abel City. One of the most clearest town state of all, home of the inhabitants of Earth filled with humans and reploids altogether with meek, sided along of peace. No matter the differences, negligence or other, everyone who is new to the city are freshly more than welcome to live alongside all individuals. Before the roaring stampede of Mavericks would attempt to ruin tranquility, commanded by the gruesome but merciless overlord formerly known as the commander of the Maverick Hunters created by Dr. Cain, Sigma. During the reconnaissance given by his creator to locate the dangerous red maverick, the unstoppable Wily Virus have taken control or finds its way within his core, reestablish the morality. Forcing him to surrender to its power succumbing everything belonging to him, erased right quickly. The growling aura shouts, unleashing the new and improved villain to all who have feared more than their own weaknesses. Gathered up several more irregulars to make an army, destroying the town, killing a few humans, painting the whole planet with his dreams bursting into reality of rearranging a new world for only the strong and powerful reploids to rule. However, it was interrupted by the dynamic duo, X and Zero, shutting down the false fantasy by defeating 8 bosses including the crazed menace. Time and time again. No matter how he would return with more of his invincible forms due to his manipulation of other reploids such Dr. Doppler, Repliforce, Gate, and the rest, the irregular busting crime stoppers will always put an end to his wretched schemes for a new life. After his defeat, tranquility has regain its colors once more, the meaningless conflict between robots and humanity have been silenced. All thanks to the hopeful hunters that every civilization will always look up to.

Not only if there were two that could battle against more threats other than the malicious maverick king, but another hero that arrives to the scene. One that possesses such a great ability like no other being. A compassionate soul so young, lacking maturity yet not the interest of helping those in need when it comes to danger. His name is Axl. Armor themed of the navy blue color striped of red lines, detailed with an X shaped scar across the face by an unknown accident, spiky upward hair and helmet design with a camera lens type inside the crystal. Left the group called Red Alert by his decision on his own to become a hunter due to the view of his friends and scythe wielding leader Red changing their desires of using the briefcase full of chips stolen from Sheeda and the boss for power. Chased by a large mechaniloid, met and teamed up with the crimson sword slasher by taking it down, mistakenly arrested, refused by the indigo pacifist of being or becoming a full pledged hunter, facing off his old colleagues and Red, dueling with the previous mastermind from the beginning and saved the earth again. Still refused, an emergency has been briefed by the blonde navigator, calling to the young gun shooter to race into action.

A new generation built by a blue print, enhanced with the special kind of item known as the Copy Chip. With it, it access the DNA of all reploids even to resist various types of pestilence from every corner. Sadly, the least have chosen to become corrupted as a maverick, including the flesh hating ex commander, at will. None of them have ever experienced such a miracle bestowed upon them. But it doesn't mean that they're immortal. The generation have the same mortality as a few reploids and human alike, making them quite special within their own way possible. Posing them, including the youngster, as hopes of the future as well as protectors. For the land will relax in meekfulness while the heroes do the rest.

Somewhere at Hunter Base, a secret government domain of skilled hunters, the autumn hair youngling rests around the table with legs crossed, seating into the chair slightly bored after the war has ended. Blowing a mist of a sigh. Sure there are no crimes of fire that would be happening right now, but nothing very exciting could ever seek for his attention. For he is lingering in his own boredom by daydreaming.

"Man... This is so boring... Couldn't there be anything fun around here for me do so I wouldn't die in my own sleep?" Groaned the teenage prototype, tilting the side of his head against the hand. Slowly collapsing into a tired state until the Class A expert would arrive at his direction, folding his arms.

"Listen, Axl. I know that you're furiously bored cause of no casualties or invading threats coming to screw up everyone's day, but you have to learn to be patient and let disaster come to us first when duty calls." He explained.

"I know... But it's just no fun sitting around the base to do ABSOLUTELY nothing. Sigh... This is lame..." He griped silently.

"We get it, kiddo. There isn't a speck of villainy around these parts, but It's not the end of the world that quickly, ya know."

"Well.... I guess you're right, Zero. Don't know why I was whining about since we took care of that maverick jerkface. I mean, the three of us, taking the toll on him."

"Heh. I know, and you even single handedly knocked out Sigma with your special copy ability to save our asses. "

"Darn right! Heh. He didn't know what hit him! Thanks to you guys, the legendary Maverick Hunters!"

"No, kid. Thank YOU. Without your help, we would've been dead right now. You're the real hero that the world needs."

"You think so?"

"I know so. But you still got a lot to learn when you're a hunter. Facing with tougher baddies, saving the innocents and all that."

"You got it, boss! Thanks again." Grinned Axl.

"Anytime."

Both of them stare into their peers for just a moment until the reploid teen would lean closer, accidentally deepens the long haired senior with a longing kiss. Laying his hands onto his cheek when he blush with surprised.

"Mmmph?!"

"Mmmm...  Mmmmm..." 

"Mmmmmph...!"

"Mmmm... Hmm?! Oh shoot! Sorry Zero!" He pulled himself away. 

"Axl! What the hell are you doing?! We're not supposed to be doing something inappropriate in public!" He angrily flustered.

"Oops... He he... My bad... Didn't know what got over me."

"Ugh... Look, just try to control yourself, OK? Cause it's getting too weird. And by the way, X told me about an unknown maverick yesterday."

"Really? There's a new bad guy?"

"Mhmm. He was incredibly dangerous. Not to mention as a vampiric version."

"A vampire?"

"Yes. The creature of the night that drinks the blood of mortals to survive, like in the movies. But this baddie is different. He possess as an incubus of some sort. Flirting with woman both reploid and human at once. Or perhaps secretly someone else... Acted very sultry as his personality, but enhanced with an elemental use. Like ice for starters."

"Whoa... Is he really dangerous?"

"Precisely. He had both vampire and incubus personas. But a calming expression. Also with sneaky eyes."

"Wow.... "

Furthermore, he continuously explains more of the mysterious figure's tricks and powerful elements aiding his claws, warning the rookie about what he could do anyone with the unavoidable "secret weapon" that he tells X and crew. Unlike the young gun slinger, everyone is quite aware of this deadly strategy.

"Is that so?" He asked.

"Yes. It's something that no other reploid would escape from. Once being controlled, there's no chance of resisting against it before the..." Unable to say the rest of the sentence it out loud, he finish it by speaking into the kid's earport. Then made him jump of shock.I

"NO WAY! He seduces them?!"

"Not so loud. But yes. He performs a sexual lip locking with females of all kinds. Endlessly."

"Holy crap.... And I thought that a succubus would do the same thing to a guy."

"Yeah. Plus, he would even get a taste of their bodies if necessary..."

"Ewww..."

"But anyway, there's nothing to worry about it now. We've already sealed him underneath the containment basement built with preventable locks." He assured to the wild child, patting his shoulder. "So all is well."

"Heh. Guess so. I was getting a little frantic there. Say, what if he would do the same to me?" He said curiously. But on the inside, quite scared.

"Come on, Axl. There's no way that he would get to you. Or is there?* Smirked the golden headed saber wielder, teasing him.

"Uh oh...."

"Oh, I'm just yanking your chains. So long as you stay put, far away from that containment cell. I'm counting you to remain on your post. Understood?"

"Yes sir! I'll try my best!" He saluted.

"Good. I'll be in the meeting room. Do your best, Axl." Ordered Zero as he nodded.

"You got it!"

"One more thing... If anything happens when you're in danger, be sure to contact me or X by the earport."

"Roger that!"

"Oh. And one last thing..." He went up to the energetic teen boy, grabs him by the head to return the sinking kiss aggressively. 

"Mmmph!!"

"Mmmmmmmmmwah. There. Now we're even."

"Ack! *Cough cough* Geez, Zero! Guess that'll teach me a lesson!"

"Just giving back the favor. Try to continue your duty, got that?" He chuckled teasingly, before leaving for a meeting.

"Yes sir...." Spat the young begginer. 

With the examination talk aside, he walked off to attend a meeting with other hunters and navigators. But, then stopped for a pondering solution just for the lad in dark blue due to the kiss. Stood there into the middle of the hall, he felt the affected warmth melting away the coldness by touching his lips. Even though he haven't experienced nor practice empathy towards anyone but to his friends that he deeply trusts before.

"Huh... What is this weird tingling that I'm getting? Sure it was an accident, but... it feels so soft... And tense..." He imagined. "Hmm... Maybe the kiss wasn't such a bad accident after all. Actually, it's kinda hot too... Mmmm... Axl... He really is a good kid, even though his immaturity annoys the hell outta me a little." Smiling slowly from the straight stern written on his face, the idea has driven to his mind for a moment. Granting him the opportunity to pose as dangerous yet sexy winged maverick for his young friend to "fight off" with. He quickly walks into the room while no one is looking, morphing his original armor into an Absolute transformation to act as the unknown maverick. 

"He he he... Perhaps I'll give the brave little hunter a special solo mission he'll never forget~ A chilling "battle", that is~" He plotted. Cycling his tongue around the pale lips, tasting the smooching marks led by the novice hunter from the former organization of assassins. For a surprise trick will never fail to get the jump on him. 

Meanwhile, outside into the garden fields behind HQ during midnight, the emerald eyed gun blaster is relaxing his butt off from all the boring worriness dancing across his head all cheered up from the conversation he had with the die hard blonde, arms at the back of his head and boots crossed. Watching above the glittering stars of the night skies, so beautiful and sparkly to his pupils.

"Ahhh... What a beautiful nightfall... No wars, criminals or intruding crooks around at bay... Just some all out peace at last...." Sighed the dual wielding lad, succumbed by the wonders of the brighten dots as well as the graceful moon. The decent opposite of daytime for every or less generations to witness, secondly to lay back and watch. Everything that the red violet ex maverick have said about peace is very true, no worries, miscreants or anything too risky for that matter. It is a cesspool of non violent freedom to swim about all the time without ever getting out. 

"I really miss Red... He's like the true father I never had, before going bonkers from those stupid case loaded with corny chips that changed him... Sigh.... But, his DNA will always be carried within my mimic enhancement... And in my memories too..." Tears have descended from his eyes, remembering of his foster father that caused him to grieve. However, as the new recruited hunter, he wiped them off by fist to get his spirit together. 

"*Sniff...* What am I sobbing for...? Big boys don't cry. They would stay valiant and kick the crap outta fear! Heck, I'm a brave man now, in fact, I'm a Maverick Hunter! Yeah! Those creeps are gonna be very sorry if they first took a gander of me!" Cheering himself up with self encouragement, he would practice his kicks into the middle of the garden, fantasizing of him shooting multiple enemies who are robbing banks, abusing civilians and more. Hearing the applause washing all over him, women admire his fearlessness by delicate smooches. It will be his wonderful dream come true. 

"Yeah.... That's right, ladies... Plenty of me to go around... He he he..." He imagines of himself surrounded by women giving him kisses by gently stroking his body all over. Until suddenly, a ringing has disturbed his daydreaming sequence. Must be an emergency or some sort. Or worse, he might have done anything disrespectful by switching the report papers. He then respond by the ear port.

"This is Axl."

"He he he he.... Hello there, Maverick Hunter Axl...." Then, a sudden deep voice has reached to him with a comely yet seductive vibe. 

"Who is this?! Where's Zero?!" Replied Axl, demanding for a certain answer. 

"There's no need to be angry, boy... I'm sure that he's perfectly safe with me... For now... He he he..." He replied. 

"You bastard!"

"Mmm... Aren't we fueled with anger? I like that in a boy~ Truly that I would admire a woman, but never mind them... For I already found someone right in front of me~"

"Found who!?"

"You~" 

What the young pistol user didn't really know, despite of a mysterious call, is that a dangerous "maverick" was quietly behind him the entire time. He have felt his chilling presence speaking to his ears until he jumped back from the "enemy". 

"What the?! Who are you?!"

"He he he... Haven't your precious red friend ever warned you about me~?"

"So you're that scary looking maverick jerk that he told me about!"

"Precisely~ But enough of the meaningless introductions~ I've come here to have fun with you~" Approaching the incubus themed reploid, making his way to the youthful ward of the hunters. 

"W...What are you doing?! Step off from me!" He quivered slightly, reversing himself from his opponent while trying to gulp his pride whole. "Y..You're suppose to seduce women, not men!"

"You're correct, my young plaything~ But...." He teleported for moment. Seeing as kind of a magic trick, the former member of Red Alert was infuriated by that. But, giving him a chance to draw out his trusty Axl Bullets just in case the malicious "intruder" reveals himself again.

"All right. This is it. Time to take out some maverick tr-" Then, something very impossible has happened to him. He was interrupted by the disappearing individual, now visible, by placing his clawed hand upon his innocent cheeks. Rubbing them for a quick second until the touch has intrigued his interests.

"Ohh yes~ Your flawless face is so passionate, along with your delicious figure~ So hot~" He examined, circling his palms very slowly. 

"H...Huh...?!" He frozed. 

"Not only do I desire for females, but in secret, I love males as well~ That's why I found you, little boy~ Now, how about a little privacy to shield ourselves from this world~?

"Are you insane?! Why would I wanna date a-" Stopped once more with a hungry kiss had made the adolescent reploid dropped his weapons. Defeated by something very consensual that he had never seen before.

"Mmmmph! Mmmph!" 

"Mmmmmm~ Just try to relax~ And let go of your unwanted fury you've kept for so long~" Repelled the goth colored vampire, staring at his leaf colored eyes to hypnotize him. 

"Mmmmm...." At last, he was fully compelled to the deadly spell that Zero mentioned earlier. He tried to fight it off, but it too late.

"Good boy~ Now, let's retreat into a secret place to have our little mission together~ Forever~" 

"Yes, master..." 

Teleporting both him, along with his mind controlled captive to a darker basement cell underneath the base to continue their "battle" in peace, they can finally have a much more privacy zone to make some love. Setting the youngling onto the bed gently while pinning him down softly, he began to sip his longing kiss once again into a seductive way. 

"Mmm~ Mmmmm~ God, your lips are very tasty, but yet beautiful~ I love it when it shines brightly than a diamond~" He was fascinated by his pure and polished lips. 

"Mmmm..." The future hunter would conduct the same while hugging around his master's neck, giving into the lip mashing. Connecting both of their armored bodies with approach to began the intensive grinding. Gripped tightly of their embrace to never release each other or to be separated. Finally alone together, into the dark underground area filled with nothing but lights which will be activated automatically by clapping. But it's probably best to have them off for a special night just for two. 

Their anatomy would polish one another into a normal pace, meeting face to face. Or perhaps chest to chest. Jointed into a pleasurable condition as the demonic ice maverick tilted his head towards the thinly neck of the rambunctious prototype, running up and down of his snake like tongue to please him. 

"U...Unh~..." 

"He he he... You like that~? How about this~?" He downward his tongue a little further, all over his body, and mostly, his little private briefs. 

"Unh... Unh....!" The flustered expression has appeared in his face. 

"That's it, little man~ Let it all out~" 

"Unh.... Unh... Unh.... Oh man.... It's so good... Unh..."

He continued to taste more of the youthful newbie, onto the legs, even the chest and mouth. Then returns for a thirsty tongue on tongue action to juice up the peacefully mood. 

"Mmmph...." Moaned the pea shooting individual.

"Mmmmm~"

Their tongues were performing a tango during a kiss. Enjoying a perfectly evening at meek for a desirable dance. Dipping one of them after a dazzling twirl. Outside, the incubus would place his clawed hand upon the dual wielding lad's cute little buttocks for a casual spanking. 

"Ahh....!"

"Well, you have been a very naughty boy, Axl~" He said playfully, gripping it very hungrily.

"Ahh...! Yes, I'm a very bad boy, master..." He moaned again, but with an enjoyable act. 

"You know what happens to bad little boys~? They deserved a good spanking~" 

He then gives him a very good slap to the ass, not too hard but lightly. Patting it like a beloved pet.

"Mmm... More master..." Begged Axl. 

"That's more like it~ Yes, you may have another~" He rapidly punishes the tiny little rump. Just to give him more. 

This was his first special mission he had with the shadowed themed hunter unlike any kind. Thrilling and exciting for a boat load of duels awaiting for his call when it comes to danger. He asked for something dangerous, now it arrives to him and was purposely delivered. Endlessly lingering by his ice user's grasp, but an a lustful way. Flushing away his tired boredom along with the annoyed whining down the toilet for good. For the new memories of his new friends have replaced the previous one from his mind, straighteningly stored to inherit it forever. 

And finally, the true feud shall finally commenced. 

"Now then~ Are you ready~?" Questioned the winged hunter.

"Ready when you are, master." He replied, lending his neck closely to him with his dipped head. 

"Yeeeeeesssss~ I'm going to enjoy this more like I admire you~" He grinned, revealing his white diamond fangs for a scrumptious dinner. Axl was a little nervous, but not afraid to allow his mentor to seduce his sexy neck. Hissing very quietly with a purr, he gently bit it, inserting his fangs into the synthetic flesh. 

"A...Ahhh...."

"Mmmmm~" 

Like any other vampire whose patiently desperate for blood in order to survive, he is interest into necks. One of his favorite sexual parts of the body that will never cease to amaze him by the slightest. It really inspired his needs even more than talon his enemies with one strike. Plus, he even dreams in his slumber. And now, he finally had a chance to permanently suck on the thin yet strongly part of the new gen teenager. 

"Mmmmmmmm~ So sexy~" He moaned comely, wiggling the tongue to clean off the blood from the marks on his disciple's neck. 

"Ahhh..." He moaned yet again, puffing out a warm steam from his mouth. Enjoying his solo mission to the fullest than just lounging around at his post. 

"Mmm~ Your blood is so hyper and sweet~ I really appreciate it so much, Axl~" Licked the unknown maverick, who later showed his true identity by removing his helmet. The rookie gunner gasped, knowing it was...

"Zero!?"

"Hey, kiddo~ Liking your new mission~?" Said the pale blonde upperclassmen. The plot twist has shocked the scarred youth. 

"You're the unnamed maverick?!"

"That's right~ Just giving you a new lesson when this is all over~"

"No freaking way! I...I'm really sorry for kissing like that! It's not like me at all! I..." He was silenced by his friend's deep smooch as his forgiveness for the accident that occurred from the start. 

"Heh. Don't worry about it, you cute little runt~ Accidents happen sometimes when you're new~ So there's no need to get all apologetic about it~" 

"Well... You're right, Zero. Thanks for understanding." He cheered up.

"So~ Ready to continue our little private mission together, partner?"

"You know it, boss~"

And so, two hunters have resume their reconnaissance by kissing into the lips once more, making out in peace with the saber wielding senior's wings folded across them for a more comfortable terms. 

"Oh Zero~"

"Axl~"

"Zero~...." 

"Axl~....."

"Zero~...." He whispered.

"Axl~...." Same with the black crimson blond.

Tranquillity has comfort the town of Abel City during the return, free from the dreaded master and his army of mavericks pillaging amok by trying to scare humanity from the face of existence, all dealt with by the fearless Maverick Hunters. And not to mention Axl as well, the third hero that the world will look up to and will always count on. He may have lack immaturity unlike X and Zero, but has the potential will for caring about his trustworthy friends and saving everyone from certain devastation invading the earth. But for now, all is peace once again. And their thinks belong to the true hero for his bravery to protect mankind at all cost and his pure of heart. Thank you, Maverick Hunter Axl, for your limitless generosity and protection of all humans and reploids living in equality, as well as in harmony. 

The End

[joshnekuu]

I’ve still been thinking about Babylonia since finally starting it. I’d been putting it off because when the chapter game out in the game, I remember it triggered some pretty severe depression for me. Gilgamesh and Enkidu’s relationship has always been one that, for one reason or another, always really got to me emotionally? 

So far I’ve been really enjoying the anime though! I have a lot of feelings about it. So I’m just gonna talk about it a bit I guess. Warning for some spoilers, for people who haven’t played/read Babylonia already!

When the first anime came out, I remember some people commenting on butt shots, and I was worried that the anime was going to lean into the fanservicey aspect of FGO, so I was incredibly relieved to see that any sort of gratuitous booty shots or lingering on the more revealing parts of the girls’ ‘armor’ wasn’t included after the first episode. 

Kingu is. So good. My feral boy. I’ve always adored Kingu and the anime has really captured the aspects of his personality that I loved in the game. It’s so nice seeing life breathed into all these characters? I feel like the animation adds a certain element to everything that the game just can’t capture. That’s not to say the game can’t convey emotional moments or more serious tones, but I feel like the anime makes certain things more clear and unambiguous than the game does?

I really love how Gilgamesh has been portrayed so far. I love everything about him, I feel like it would be too much to go into every single detail I love cuz I’d be here all night, but the thing that I love the most is just that there seems to be a weight to his emotions that I don’t know if I felt when I was playing the game, outside of one part near the end. Like... the moments where he becomes quiet and serious in the cart after Mashu and Ritsuka ask him about his adventures, and he says he remembers everything, and it fucking... shows ‘Enkidu’ with a similar solemn expression, on their own, mirroring Gilgamesh’s expression and tone... Idk I just really loved how clear they make it that Gilgamesh is affected by what is going on, that even though he has returned from his journey and had his growth, he is still very much affected by what happened to Enkidu, even if he’s able to focus on other things and do his job and have a good laugh about things.

And when he came to confront ‘Enkidu’..... first off tysm anime for letting them interact so early on and having them actually fight. Gilgamesh talking so casually to Kingu, as if they’re Enkidu even though he knows it’s not them, and Kingu just instinctively responding because of Enkidu’s memories? And then catching himself and being like wait wtf? That shit hurted. And Gilgamesh’s serious, unchanging expression through the whole fight, and just standing there as the attack comes at him, not even trying to do anything......... this kills the man........ Like that one expression just conveys so much idk, maybe I’m just reading too deep into things, but I feel like the anime lets me feel the emotional weight and the tension and just Gilgamesh’s emotions in general more than I was able to in the game and it just makes me feel better about it in a way? Like... I feel like these things are being given the time and the weight that I had wanted them to that I didn’t feel in the game, and it just feels like I’m getting some sort of closure and assurance that the game didn’t quite give me.

AND THE FLASHBACK........ GIL’S EXPRESSION........ WEEPS.... just.... him looking so softly up at Enkidu ;; And the flowers from Enkidu’s CEs.... god I know it’s just a lil easter egg but it just recontextualizes them all cuz those flowers now have a deeper meaning, they’re from one of Enkidu’s precious memories, it’s something that Enkidu associates with Gil, even if subconsciously, and I’m dying.......... AND KINGU’S ‘He’s someone I’m supposed to kill. But I want to talk.’............. i’m just dead basically!

Moving on from Gilkidu feels......

I really love Mashu and Ritsuka’s dynamic in this a lot. I’ve always shipped GudaMash, but I feel like the anime has done a really good job with Ritsuka? They’ve still kept some of the silliness and excitableness the MC has in the game, but mixed in a bit more seriousness and thoughtfulness into his character, and for me it’s a pretty perfect mix so far- the silliness of the MC without some of the more rude and tasteless comments, and more emotional depth than the game really allows us since the MC is pretty limited in dialogue and characterization. 

But like, I feel like the amount of shiptease with RitsuMash so far is just right? They come across as a couple of friends who clearly have some sort of crush on each other, but haven’t really had the time to think about it, so everyting is fine and cute when they’re just doing their work or talking together casually, but the moment someone else brings it up, or they have a moment alone and things begin to get a bit more emotionally intimate than they were expecting, then the blushies start to come up, and it’s just really cute. Their relationship feels very natural to me, it doesn’t feel like a distraction from anything in the story, and I’m really relieved and happy with it.

Also I love how the end of the OP has Ritsuka alone and then looking to see Mashu, and then the end has Mashu alone and then looking to see Ritsuka? Very good...

The last thing I wanna talk about is the Taiga battle? Because holy shit that was cool. I think that fight was like, an exemplary mix between comedic and serious tones, and really highlighted how good the anime is so far about balancing FGO’s comedic tone with its more serious and high stakes moments. Jaguarman is the first god the heroes have encountered who they’ve actually fought, and when it starts off they’re not expecting much from such a weird, cartoonish person- but then she quickly bests them and kicks the crap out of them with ease, never once breaking her character.

I had never really cared that much for Jaguarman in FGO, she never seemed like more than a joke character to me, but seeing her fight animated was fantastic cuz it used that contrast of dangerously strong joke character to make it clear what the gods are like- they might be jovial and goofy but they’re inhuman, and don’t care about humans like a human would, that goofy over the top person is forcing this city to sacrifice its men and them forcing those men to be put to work. The contrast between the personality and the actions shows perfectly how the antagonists in this story function: their way of thinking doesn’t match up with the humans’ way of thinking. 

It’s just!! Super cool! And I feel like it was intentional? Because we literally just had the old man telling us about how the gods aren’t humans, and the protags have to keep themselves from looking at them as such because they won’t be able to approach them properly if they’re thinking of them that way- and then the battle with Jaguarman just exemplifies the difference between the human characters and the gods, in terms of power and in terms of mentality. It’s just. Chef’s kiss. 

The only thing I can say that I don’t like about the anime so far is Isht*r, but that’s not completely the anime’s fault, since they’re mostly just giving voice to what was written in the game. I’ve never been a huge fan of FGO’s Isht*r, I feel like she’s a Rin who is devoid of most the traits that make Rin a compelling and compassionate character, with the traditional tsun traits amped up to 11, and sometimes I would feel like I was just being mean and exaggerating that to myself, but after seeing her onscreen for 30 seconds I was assured that no, I had not been exaggerating to myself, she really is just like that, and god I’m sorry but it was so annoying to sit through her screaming about Ritsuka touching her after she crashed onto him, or immediately going into Tsun mode when questioned in Gilgamesh’s throne room. She comes off as a whiny brat who flips out at the drop of a hat, but there’s also no clear indication of what sorts of things will make her flip out, because the way she reacts to some situations where you’d think would activate the Tsun she remains calm and collected, but others that don’t seem as serious she gets flustered and loud, and it just makes that trait seem so arbitrary, while also making it difficult to take her seriously when she is being aloof and composed? I was grateful she was only a small bit in two episodes so far, but I know she’s going to come back with a vengeance in the next episode and be sticking with us til the end, so I’m not looking forward to that :’) 

But, that is my only real complaint so far! Everything else has been great and I’m enjoying the show a lot! I’m so glad I decided to get over my anxieties and watch it because it’s been such a wonderful experience so far and it’s only 5 episodes in! I can’t wait to see more of it and how it will adapt the rest of the story!

[morganas-pendragons]

Halo Episode 7 

Because this one single gif is ten times more interesting then the entirety of Episode 7. I absolutely went way too honest on this one about how I feel in regards to Soren and Kwan. If you like/love them, I don't recommend reading this. Spoilers under the cut!

Kwan cannot carry an episode on her own. She's meant to be a supporting character, not a main, and I have absolutely zero interest in her or Soren.

she's a teenager who lost everything. "rage is all i have left.'' and i totally get it, i do. there's just nothing endearing about this plot. it's not interesting. it doesn't draw you in.

her actress is super talented but.. the insurrection plot.. just bores me

i don't hate her. she just... definitely isn't a character i'm interested in

Speaking of Soren -- like.. I get he's from the legends but I do not care about him either.... his son is so cute and i love his wife but soren just does not do it for me..

also these are first impressions so don't be surprised if something changes halfway down this list

one of the things this show does super well is the cinematography

like holy crap dude

how on EARTH did Soren get back to the Rubble?!

i would've rather had an entire episode about soren's origins in the spartan program and how his relationship with john started

i do however find it super interesting that once kwan enters that dream like state, the person she sees is john

John and Reth, both who have been affected by the Covenant and are the complete antithesis of everything she's been raised to believe

WHO PUTS A TEENAGE GIRL AGAINST A SPARTAN THREE DECADES OLDER THEN HER?

Not to mention who's been augmented and has armor made from titanium alloy?

the little details of kwan changing weapons every time she wakes up is a fascinating addition

and the way they wait until she finally gives up to show john's face?

important details

pablo literally doesn't have to say a word, his presene just carries so much weight

the music in this episode is fantastic

THE WAY THAT KWAN SEES HER ENTIRE FAMILY LINE IN FRONT OF HER? AND HER FATHER? THE WAY THEY ALL DISAPPEAR INTO THE NEXT?

that detail was so cool!!

frick there's still thirty minutes left

mmm a portal that doesn't have a recognized destination i wonder where it leads

won't be surprised if it leads to halo lol

vinsher... vinsher. ugh.

i hate him too

if i'm right on this someone needs to give me a pat on the back -- but i am 100% convinced between what john and kwan have learned, they're gonna help the other get to halo

Soren's dedication to John is so sweet

you people really are stupid enough to think you can take on an ex spartan aren't you

okay i don't know about the rest of you but people who throw knives that accurately and with that much finesse?

hot

also for those of you who don't know, soren in the legends is certifiably insane and is very similar to this one. If you wanna look him up -- here he is!

THE PLASMA GRENADE FINALLY MAKES AN ENTRANCE

MY JAW DROPPED THAT WAS A POWER MOVE KID!!

oh she founds john's gun

which is three times the size of her

i never realized how big these guns are compared to civilians!

vinsher got the death he deserves!!! whoo!!!!!!

i definitely believe soren john and kwan are going to come back together at some point because of how many times ''we'll see each other again'' was said in regards to all three of them

oh she kept john's gun *cries quietly*

okay overall this gets a 6/10

it wasn't bad, definitely picked up toward the end, but i feel there are a number of ways they could've done this better

[rogue-arcadia]

Three Houses Experience 1

So.... been playing Three Houses as I've been able and to give people an idea of where I am.... I've seen the fog cutscene and am on the "off-day" following it. That should give people enough of an idea.

So.... I can already say, mechanically alone this game is the pinnacle of every Fire Emblem game I've ever played.

How can I say that?

Well first off, the weapon triangle makes about as much sense as.... well.... saying the bigger dude will win in a fight between two dudes. It might turn out that way, but the little guy might have stamina and speed to make up for reach and strength. That being said.... the freedom of the new battle system is quite amazing, so instead of "sword users are the bomb in the early game until you run into lance users specifically placed to make your life more stressful unless you leveled up axe users a bit and then it eventually turns into "lances are really the only other viable weapon than swords or tomes if you're not using one of the three, your doing it wrong." Now in this game it is just weapons help you determine paths you want to take, like "oh, you wanna focus swords, have some swords, become a mymidon and go mercenary or something along those lines" or "go soldier for accuracy and fighter for power" it makes me very happy and I love it! I'm having tons of fun right now with just how these all work! You just pick weapons for what you want to do with a character and that's it, this is going to lead me to do VERY fun runs where I use the worst skills of each student or something along those lines.... it should be amazing.

Now let's move to characterization. It is simply superior to the other FE games I've played. This is partly due to all of the scenes that these characters are in being acted out.... and partly due to superior writing.... and I'd say it is probably that way because it makes sense to write around personalities vs classes... for example aside from a couple supports in Awakening Kellam's whole personality was "no one notices me despite my huge armor" vs Bernadetta being like "I want to not hide in my room all the time and also I really like food, I do embroidery too and think the Imperial Princess has no fears" oh and "I wish I had more friends and that people were more like plants." This is just my supports with Bernadetta so far that are fairly inconsequential, I'm leaving out a detail on purpose, and that is the WHY she is the way that she is. And overall.... it feels good. Very good actually. I feel a connection with Bernadetta because I am taking in who she is and why, I am absorbing her naturally, as I would any other person in real life and she feels like a couple people I've known, if not a little exaggerated. That being said... there is one other detail I like. These conversations last as long as they need to, if there would be a shoehorned in third conversation in FE13/14 it doesn't exist in FE16. There are people with only B-level supports and it just makes me happy to see that. Like holy crap! That's some detail, sometimes you just have good friends who you do stuff with and that's it, no need to be closer because neither of you cares all that much or is just comfy with that particular level and nothing else happens to make you two closer.... AH! Just so much nice going on there.

And the maps.... objectives seem pretty same-y but the maps feel different, distinctly different, the fog map had the fog gimmick in addition to a gimmick I won't mention but enhances the map... and I was also racing the Allies to get rid of the enemy faster than they could so I would get as much exp as possible from that map. This being said, the whole map felt good, I had to figure out my positioning and why and I just was pleased with how playing it felt despite the usual "Rout the enemy" objective.... I didn't mind it all that much.

Overall, great game, I'd say it is aiming for my heart, I'll see how I feel in the coming parts.

Laters!~

[fire-fira]

Aquaman (2018) is a fucking GEM and here’s why

Buckle up, get your popcorn, get a drink, because my squawking about this film--

--is gonna be long!

Okay, so as anyone who knows me reasonably well or has followed me for my DC stuff can tell you I am a MASSIVE nerd about DC’s Atlantis (thanks in large part to my wonderful and adorable fishy son La’gaan).

(Obligatory shot of this kid’s happy smiling face because I love him and he deserves at least a moment of attention.)

SO--

The Big Things

This film freaking delivered with showing us Atlantis in full lit-up glory, not to mention showing a clear delineation between the lower levels and the upper levels. We didn’t get to see much of the lower levels unfortunately, but the fact that what we did see of it was an old shipwreck says some things. (Which I’ll probably extrapolate on under Social Things.)

I was never left in doubt for even a moment that Arthur and Mera were capable of what they were doing. Both of them are badass beyond words, are goddamn tanks who should NOT be trifled with, and have genuine complexity and chemistry that makes me heavily invested in their relationship. I can understand why they would be drawn together and how their dynamic would work out, and even as that’s going on I am never once left in doubt that both of them are a force of nature who are just as capable of flattening their enemies individually as they would be if they joined forces and fought side by side. Get on their goddamn level, because they are a power couple who can and will destroy you (or make you wish they had) if they deem it necessary.

BLACK. FUCKING. MANTA. I was not prepared for the sheer level of genius badassery from this man. It was one thing finding out that he got his tech from atlanteans (fuck you Orm), but it was something else watching him break it down and rework it to suit his needs while making his own helmet for-- oh yes-- the goddamn eye-lasers. We are very clearly shown that with his first attempt if he’d been wearing the helmet he would have died, but this brilliant badass pretty much just, “Guess I need a bigger helmet,” and then just went ahead and made a second one with everything figured out and sorted so it wouldn’t blow his damn head off any time he used his main weapon! Just HOLY SHIT BLACK MANTA! On only the second try?! What the shit dude?! Granted, you started out as a pirate and then stepped it up to being a supervillain, but HOLY SHIT. I’m surprised he stuck with being just a pirate for as long as he did!

Also, Black Manta’s motivation makes perfect sense. It took one of the more dick-ish moves Arthur’s done (which was also in character for him at that point in the movie), but that act of not saving Black Manta’s dad (especially since with their interactions I’d argue it’s fair to assume that his dad was a good dad to him) feels exactly like it was all that was needed for him to decide he wanted Arthur dead.

 (And RIP me, when I first saw Black Manta’s dad my first thought was ‘Is that Coffeepot Guy from Young Justice?’)

Orm. Hoooolllllllyyyyyy SHIT Orm. Full props to that actor, because he completely sold Purist McDouche-Face Orm for everything he was worth. Even down to the subtle nuances of how easily he let Atlantean slurs fall, the casual arrogance and unnoticed contempt for anyone who wasn’t ‘pure’ (though that specific word didn’t come up) or who he viewed as ‘traitors’, and the fact that this son of a ba’athu-kest had his brother dragged to him unconscious and in chains in his throne room. There was a fucking COLLAR around Arthur’s neck! And then he has the fucking gall later on to essentially say, ‘If you leave now I’ll let you live and we never have to be at odds again, just ignore the fact that I’m going to be committing genocide that’ll probably include your Dad since he’s close to the shore. No hard feelings. ‘Kay?’ and act like it was an act of goddamn mercy or benevolence. Just... OMG. Seriously, just... fuck you Orm. Fuck you so much for engineering a goddamn war. JFC.

And speaking of Arthur’s Dad-- Arthur’s Mom and Dad are PERFECTION. Yeah, we don’t get to see as much of their relationship development as we do with Arthur and Mera, but Tom Curry and Queen Atlanna are the kind of partners you would expect to see epics written about in the old and ancient days. If we’re talking The Odyssey, then they are Odysseus and Penelope with their roughly 20-year absence from each other-- except Atlanna’s Odysseus and Tom’s Penelope. And when they came back together? I was almost crying in the theater. Holy crap. It was just SO MANY FEELS. Not even a moment of doubt that the two of them loved each other, that they loved each other deeply, that they loved each other intensely, and that they loved each other so much that they were willing to wait until the end of time if that’s what it took for them to be reunited. And if I’m not careful I’m going to get misty-eyed over them again.

And can we just appreciate the fact that Tom and Arthur are indigenous? I mean actually? Because dear gods when Tom greeted Arthur and they pressed their foreheads together and breathed I started fucking crying in the theater. I needed that. I needed to see an indigenous superhero with his culture woven in in subtle ways and for it to play out through affection between him and his dad WHO HE ACTUALLY HAS A WONDERFUL RELATIONSHIP WITH-- and fuck I’m crying again. (I’m assuming because Jason Momoa is Maori that that means they’re Maori? I’m not sure though. I hope the specific culture gets mentioned on the bluray whenever it gets released, because I’m forever after this film going with indigenous Arthur and I want to know I’m referring to his people correctly. Indigenous Arthur is in, all other versions of Arthur can go home.) Gods I have so many feels. If Atlanna had showed that she’d adopted small parts of Tom’s culture by doing the forehead thing with Arthur that would have ended me. On the spot. Do not pass go, do not collect $200, 404: Fira not found due to breaking down over all the feels.

Shifting a little (because otherwise I’m grinding to a halt and I have SO much more to get into) let’s talk about the kisegra, the Trench, and the various beasties! Of the kisegra we only really get to see two types-- the Fishermen (merpeople essentially) and the Brine (lobster/crab-centaur-ish people). I’m not going to fault the people working on the movie for showing us only those two types because they busted their asses on this movie and it shows-- hell, even among those kisegra there’s a diversity of coloration and body-build!-- but I was a tiny smidge disappointed not to see more diversity. Maybe something for a later movie. And then there’s the Trench. THE GODDAMN TRENCH. THESE NIGHTMARE FUEL BA’ATHU-KEGEST.

The La’gaan muse in my mind may as well have been screaming bloody murder. The scene with them is THAT MUCH NIGHTMARE FUEL. It’d be one thing if only a couple of them had been on the boat and the ones on the boat were all there were.

AHAHAHAHAHA-- NO. I do not have words for the SWARM of them that we end up seeing on screen. JFC. (Though there is the vague indication that the Trench may???? be some type of kisegra???? in this reality??? Don’t like that implication one bit, especially with how it gets tied to bigoted purist comments. Might just be a thing purists were saying because fucking sea-nazi purists though.)

And can I also say that the Karathen is a damned Queen? Yes, Julie Andrews voiced her. Yes, she was voiced by Mary-goddamn-Poppins. Yes, she is “practically perfect in every way” and will flatten (or eat) a bitch as needed. Lava doesn’t affect her, she is fucking impervious. It’s no wonder why King Atlan wanted her to go with him when he fucked off into permanent self-imposed exile for his GIANT ASS mistake-- because who wouldn’t want to have their bestie to spend the rest of their life hanging out with when said bestie is the ORIGINAL ‘Deep Beast’ and will cheerfully destroy any of your upstart descendants if they try to be as stupid as you were by attempting to repeat your mistakes? (Real talk though, the fact that King Atlan made friends with her in the first place implies that he learned how to let go of almost all the excess pride that got him in trouble in the first place. Congrats for having some character growth and having stuck with what you felt was right my dude.)

SEA. HORSES. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA They were SO DAMN COOL.

And armored sharks. Fucking armored great whites. For when you absolutely, positively, have to kill every mother-fucking thing in the ocean around you.

The Differences From Other Realities

So one of the big things that stuck out to me was the “only the high-born can breathe air” thing. While I do agree that the ability to breathe air, or water, or both probably varies due to genetics and whatnot, in most realities and interpretations I’ve seen the ability to breathe air isn’t something only found in ‘high-born’ individuals. (Case in point, La’gaan. I love him to pieces, but as someone from the Outer Provinces there ain’t no way that boy is ‘high-born’, and yet he can breathe air.) I’m not pointing this out as a “screw up” of any sort on the part of the writers, but more to point out that this is a detail that makes the DCCU unique from other DC universes.

Atlantis-- Something that caught my attention was how Atlantis was spoken to in relation to other kingdoms. We have several kingdoms mentioned in the movie-- the Kingdom of the Fishermen, the Kingdom of the Brine, the Kingdom of the Trench (who tf decided they had a kingdom???), the Kingdom of Xebel-- but the way they’re each spoken about implies that they’re not seen as being part of Atlantis. Whiiiiiich is kind of weird, because Atlantis (in most iterations) is implied to have been a small continent/large island and not just a single city-state. On the other hand there have been (mostly older) renditions where it was a single city-state. Going off of what we see though, I’m inclined to think that what may have happened is that what was that world’s Poseidonis at some point during their history got renamed Atlantis (so kind of like a New York, New York situation; New York City in New York State, Atlantis City in Atlantis).

The number of kingdoms-- This is something I’ve seen vary SO DAMN MUCH. Some realities it’s only one, others have implied as many as 12 (before several were lost), and this reality says that there were 7 and that 3 have been lost. Fun details.

And Xebel being one of the kingdoms? Most renditions I’ve seen have it as a place for criminals or sealed off in its own pocket-dimension. So it being one of the kingdoms is pretty unique.

ARTHUR’S. PARENTS. ARE. ALIVE. HOLY. FUCKING. SHIT.

AND NEITHER OF THEM DIE!!!

And thank you SO MUCH to the writers for completely erasing some of the more questionable things that have been done with Mera and Xebel, and with Black Manta. As far as I know none of the recent comics dip into that uncomfortable written history, but I still couldn’t help but be thankful that none of that awful crap got used.

No use of the word ‘pure’ in regards to the purist rhetoric of some of the characters, but it was so heavily implied that I think it’s safe to assume. Still mentioning it because with everything else going on it was almost weird that it wasn’t mentioned even once.

BORDER PATROL AND WALLS AROUND ATLANTIS. What the actual fuck?! What the fucking fuck?! Who the hell in Arthur’s family thought that was a good idea?! ‘Oh, you’re trying to go up and over the wall and not through the only gate into or out of Atlantis-- ‘cause that’s not asking for trouble AT ALL-- how about... No. Instead we’ll just FUCKING ANNIHILATE YOU WITH GIANT ASS LASERS BECAUSE THAT’S REAL PROPORTIONATE TO THE SITUATION.̓ (Seriously. What the fuck.)

The split between upper and lower levels. I’ve seen splits between inner and outer provinces before with various iterations, but this reality is the first one where I’ve seen an upper-versus-lower-level split in Atlantis.

Arthur being the eldest. Some realities he’s older than Orm, and in other realities Orm is older than him. It’s kind of a toss-up.

Atlanna being ‘sacrificed’ to the Trench. WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK ATLANTIS?! Granted, the Trench are a recent addition to the Aquaman mythos (a la New52), and it could be argued that for other realities they’re almost a myth, a legend of nightmare stories to warn reckless guppies away from going into open and empty areas away from others where it’d be easier for predators to snap them up and swim away; but for a reality where they’re known to factually exist and for people to be completely okay with SACRIFICING THEIR QUEEN TO THEM... What. THE. FUCK.

The Social Things

Technically I could put this point under Differences From Other Realities, but it has to do with a huge social detail for this movie, so it’s going here. ARRANGED MARRIAGE. I think it’s fair to assume that it may have been a thing in the past in most DC realities, but this reality is the first one I know of where it’s a current thing. Obviously this has HUGE repercussions for how things play out (like Queen Atlanna getting ‘sacrificed’ to the Trench for ‘committing treason’ thanks to having fallen in love with Tom and having Arthur-- WTAF Atlantis?), and it implies a lot more heavy restrictions in Atlantis than even I headcanon-- and I’ve headcanoned some really dark shit based on the crumbs and hints DC has given us over various renditions.

This movie did not sugarcoat or simplify the bigotry in Atlantis. They very clearly conveyed that being bigoted isn’t just “deliberately being mean to someone” and that bigotry is pervasive and can affect damn near everything. In fact they did an artful job at subtly and carefully weaving it into interactions that you might not even notice unless you know what to look for. This includes such “tasteful” (NOT) Atlantean slurs and comments rendered in English as:

- Half-breed (canonically an in-world slur)

- Mongrel (implications similar to ‘half-breed’)

- Savage (I hate this word so GODDAMN MUCH, you have NO fucking idea, my kneejerk reaction to hearing this word is the urge to either deck someone or set something on fire)

- “If that half-breed mongrel wields the trident, then that half-breed mongrel is your king.” (May not be word-for-word exact, but it was said by Mera’s father-- which fuck you Nereus, you purist piece of shit, and fuck you for daring to refer to the man you just told your people to follow by using a goddamn slur.)

- There’s more, but goddamn if I went through it all this thing would get even longer and I’d be screaming even more about Orm and Nereus.

- Though I will say with Arthur being indigenous, that insult of ‘half-breed’ carries WAY more weight than it might otherwise. Like WAY MORE.

Oh yeah! And before I forget! Because fuck that hagfish-sucking purist piece of ba’athu-kest shit ORM! THE ASSHOLE KILLS KING RICOU, KING OF THE FISHERMEN, IN FRONT OF HIS FAMILY BECAUSE HE WAS CALLING ORM ON HIS SHIT AND REFUSING TO GO ALONG WITH HIS WAR.

And then he fucking threatened to kill King Ricou’s partner and daughter if they don’t do what he wants!

Just... FUCK ORM. Fuck his purist bullshit, and fuck his purist bullshit that obviously made him think nothing of killing a kisegra where he actually hesitated over the idea of killing someone ‘pure’. (Think Vulco, to a certain extent, and Nereus when Nereus told him to back down over killing Mera.)

Mera says that people try to get into Atlantis over the wall “all the time.” Um, hi, because that’s not saying anything intense. At all. What it immediately calls to my mind is that it may be a direct hint of kisegra not being seen as citizens in Atlantis and (generally) not allowed in. In fact, in the main crowd scenes during the first fight between Arthur and Orm I only noticed ONE kisegra, and then only because of their tail. I may be wrong, there may have been more that I didn’t notice, but in the brief amount of time there was I tried to scour the shots of the crowd for kisegra and came up empty aside from the one. (Can we say ‘possible hints of that arc in the pre-boot comics where kisegra weren’t citizens until Arthur took the throne’?) It also implies-- if they’re willing to risk getting FUCKING ANNIHILATED BY GIANT ASS LASER-CANNONS to get in-- that things are B A D outside Atlantis.

(Arthur, you poor bastard, you’re walking/swimming into a shit-storm.)

And ‘battles to the death for the throne’???? In a goddamn ARENA?! What kind of fucking hellscape is Atlantis that they’ve had such advanced tech at their disposal for centuries and they’re doing that shit?! (Again, WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK ATLANTIS?!)

The division between the upper and lower levels. Um... What... the fuck??? Apparently the “low-born” aren’t able to breathe air-- which okay, whatever-- but they apparently have to live with/in wreckage???? Without electricity??? (Obviously the Atlanteans have some form of energy production going. Magic or electricity or both, idek, but that shattered wreck of a ship looked like there wasn’t anything on it or in the area around it that might have cast some light that wasn’t whatever happened to be shining through from higher up.) And apparently without the means to build actual houses???? Great system there for the poor Atlantis. Really.

Arthur, you poor, poor bastard, you’re swimming into a shit-storm.

A gigantic shit-storm.

Arthur, you poor, poor bastard, you’re swimming into SUCH a gigantic shit-storm.

Arthur, you have my deepest sympathies. (Pun not intended.)

I know I said it before, but I’ll say it again: the implications for this world’s Atlantis are way darker than my headcanons have been.

Though this does make me wonder just how much shit Arthur and Mera might get over their relationship and how it came to be (since it obviously wasn’t through “proper traditional procedures”).

Some Other Points I Realized After Getting Some Sleep

Even though we get the sense that everything is headed by kings in Atlantis (HA), we also actually have evidence that Atlantis might not actually go in for surface-world sexist shit.

- Atlanna is clearly Atlan’s descendant, not Orm’s father, otherwise Arthur wouldn’t have been eligible for the throne. Which means the throne was hers (before she was going to be ‘sacrificed’ as a traitor). So that brings up the possibility that things may have played out differently if she’d been found out before Orm was born. (Maybe they wouldn’t have been able to safely ‘get rid of’ her without having someone of her family line available and ready to step in.)

- When Orm kills King Ricou it’s very clearly implied that the throne immediately goes to Ricou’s daughter and not his partner. There is no question or doubt that the princess is immediately in charge of her people’s armies, not even a hint that her gender is a factor in the situation. (It also reinforces the prior thing in the point about Atlanna that family-line seems to be the important factor over everything else for the royal families.)

- Atlanna and Mera both are shown to be highly capable fighters who aren’t to be taken lightly, and though we only really see them being pursued by and fighting against men, there’s not even a moment where any of the atlanteans seem surprised that they’re as capable as they are.

- The Karathen is arguably the biggest badass tank in the entire movie, and yet it’s safe to assume that when King Atlan went into his exile that he cared more about what she was capable of than he cared about the fact that she was the biggest badass woman in the entire ocean. (Assuming the Karathen even has the concept of gender. Pretty sure that’s up for question.)

Chances are high that when Atlanna was ‘sacrificed’ to the Trench, Orm saw his father’s show of harsh and callous ruthlessness and told himself that it was strength, it was admirable, and he wanted to be as much like him as possible. And there’s also the possibility that he had some part of himself deep down somewhere that was absolutely terrified over what his father might do if he ever was or became anything that his father saw fit to ‘destroy’. (Not that it excuses his purist bullshit for even a moment-- purist fucking McDouche-Face Orm can still fucking die in a fire as far as I’m concerned-- but that kind of thing may have added fuel to the fire for his purist bullshit.)

Since it’s very clearly implied that Mera and Orm were raised together, there’s a high chance they were friends as kids. It also means she got to see his increasing asshole-ish-ness, and while she may have missed the friendship they used to have as kids (thank you @tamlins-stories-and-poems for bringing this point up) she also would have known how quickly the switch could be flipped from him caring about her to him deciding she needed to die if he saw her as a ‘traitor’. (Which also explains her deliberate anti-surface comment to him before trying to say that she felt he was going too far.)

I just have to say, in regards to my fishy son La’gaan, he’s the kind of person who doesn’t willingly bow before or submit to anyone unless he feels they’ve earned it. The versions of Mera and Arthur in this movie? They are exactly the sort of people he would be ecstatic to call his Queen and King. They’re the sort of people he would be loyal to and fight with everything he has to defend them-- because they’re both the sort of people to essentially say “fuck you” to social conventions to do the right thing.

With the 7 kingdoms, at least 6 are outright mentioned (unless I’m not remembering the seventh, and even so I’m dubious about the kingdom of the Trench even counting).

- The Remaining 4: The kingdom of Atlantis, The kingdom of Xebel, The kingdom of the Fishermen, and The kingdom of the Brine.

- The ‘lost’ 3: The kingdom of the Deserters (implied to all be dead), The kingdom of the Trench (again, I’m dubious about their claim to the title, but there’s that purist rhetoric about some people having ‘regressed’-- fuck that noise SO much-- but if we put any stock in it then it would imply the kingdom was ‘lost’ because they ‘fell’ so far), and then the third one which may have been mentioned but I don’t recall.

- I just have so many doubts in regard to the Trench having their own kingdom. They’re screwed up nightmare fuel, and claiming they’re one of the Lost Kingdoms feels almost like one of those things that purists thought up as a way to support any claims they have about kisegra being “savage” and all that shit.

And while I’m at it, I fucking love how Orm’s spouting bullshit about how ‘savage’ and ‘barbaric’ kisegra are, and meanwhile the King of the Brine and King Ricou both tell him in no uncertain terms that he’s the one who’s being a violent asshole who needs to back the fuck off.

Really fucking pissed about how Orm killed Ricou and was going to kill the King of the Brine (after he’d already ripped his arm off, fucking asshole Orm).

- Also not thrilled about how after Orm gets ripped away from the King of the Brine, we don’t get to see that king again. I would have liked a moment of him making his way to Arthur to talk. (Maybe something to hope for in a sequel. And hopefully they’ll give him an actual name.)

Also, I appreciate that the one group of kisegra were called fishermen and not fish-men. It’s only something I’ve seen come up in a couple iterations (the animated Young Justice being the main one), but ‘fish head’ is yet another Atlantean slur. Presumably going off of that, things like ‘fish face’, ‘fish lips’, etc.-- while possibly not outright slurs-- could be similar enough to the actual slur to (justifiably) make any kisegra bristle. By going with ‘fishermen’ for that group, it’s pushing away the negative connotations of a possible slur by invoking a term and imagery that implies they are hunters, and therefore shouldn’t be taken lightly. It’s a nice little touch that I’m not sure if the writers intended or not, but I appreciate it all the same.

That said, for all my screaming, I LOVE THIS MOVIE.

[herstarburststories]

You've lost your pain, congrats! ✘ Savitar/Evil!Barry Imagine ✘

✘ A/N: I REALLY took my time while I was writing this one, I’m sorry! Well, I gotta say it is kind of a little more special, I ended up getting friends with the one who requested it! Hope you like it, dear.

Beta: @lyss-91

✘ @enafaolan​ requested: Hello ! I've just found your tumblr yesterday but since you ask, can I request an imagine where the reader is part of team flash and secretly takes pity on Savitar when she learns the truth about him. So when Barry "accidentally" loses his memories (episode 21), she decides to go check on Savitar and finds him lost but as carefree as Barry. She stays with him while the others are trying to figure out a way to restore Barry's memories (because honestly, Savitar amnesic and alone why didn't we get to see that ?) She still there when he get his speed back. And when he finally recover his memories, he doesn't let her know at once because he enjoyed her company. x) I don't know if this is good and clear enough (english isn't my first language) but you'd be amazing if you could do this !

Our memories are stored in our brains, such as feelings, thoughts, other actions and emotions. That's the simplest way of saying that the brain keeps everything in order. Some even come to believe there is inside this little gray box where our soul is.

On the other hand, some people believe that our souls keeps our feelings, like a mother receiving a gift on Mother's day; she never lets go, no matter how ugly or bad it is. Our brain only gets the sporadic, exact, chemical, technical part. This part can easily be deleted in unexpected situations. Like a trauma.

This was the case of Barry Allen and his time remnant, Savitar. No surname, like God or Beyonce.

While The Flash, her friend and ex boyfriend, was being welcomed by everyone in that room, she couldn't help her mind to stay sane, letting herself get lost in an insanity lapse and finding her thoughts leading her to wonder if Savitar was alright.

Because Killer Frost surely wasn't the warmest company around, and if Barry was so confused and scared, even when he was surronded by people who cared about him, how would Savitar be?

Sighing, her (Y/E/C) eyes followed her teams steps out of the place. She listened carefully while their boss, Iris, ordened softly, but seriously: the plan was taking Barry to CCPD with Joe while Julian, Cisco and you tried to find way to fix what they had broken.

The girl with (Y/H/C) hair did not risk it asking the boss if they thought that Savitar was good, it'd be just a waste of time, and honestly, Julian probably would try to intern her fom such a stupid question.

(Y/N) herself was doubting her sanity.

You tried really hard to pay attention to whatever Julian and Cisco were arguing about, or even give them any creative idea that could help. Holy crap, even search on Google for idea on how to get a memory back. But it was as impossible as a man who runs as fast as the light's speed. Rolling her eyes at her own silly inside joke, she snorted in pure frustation. The reason why she couldn't focus her mind was pretty clear and was deeply annoying her, why the fuck was she caring so much about a killer?

Okay, time for a break. She was not being of any help here, not with that mentality.

''Guys, I'll buy some coffee.'' She announced casually, getting some murmurs and a happy shout from HR in response.

(Y/N) almost felt bad for not sharing her mind with the boys. Almost. Her heart was kind of too busy by feeling sad for Savitar. Anyway, she grabbed her faux fur coat and left.

But for being a Team Flash member, of course something bad had to happen before she was even able to put her foot outside the building.

''Hello, (Y/N).'' Killer Frost smiled malicioiusly, and the remember of a friend made you smile sadly instead of running away. She has had a lot of chances to kill you and haven't done it, Caitlin would never make you use her new name, or so you hoped.

She wasn’t like Savitar.

''What do you want, Caitlin?'' Your voice was low, tired. The sadistic games which your mind was preaching on you were enough for today, she didn't need Caitlin's personality disorder playing around.

''That's not my name.'' The white-haired girl growled, taking a step foward. Subtly, the weather around you both got considerably colder. You swallowed for the abrupt change of behavior, not for fear.

''Why are you here?'' (Y/N) asked directly, her eyebrows furrowed in curiosity.

''Savitar.'' Frost explained with some unnecessarily mean remarks, about the situation of which the self-tiltled god of speed was found. ''But I'd suppose that you know it already.''

''Take me to him.'' Before she could deny you, you kept going. ''You know you need to help Cisco to find a way to reverse it, he can't do it by himself. And both Savitar and Barry are guys that are extremely powerful and defenseless right now. Barry has his fianceé, yet Savitar is alone in some dark place. If anything, I will be the one taking the risk once he is awake, so what's the matter for you?''

The next thing you knew was darkness.

Xxx

So here you were: waking up on a watery floor. Not cool, Frost.

Savitar was also here, wearing his suit in a catatonic state. Only hanging on there, apparently staring at you.

''Savitar.''

''Who are you?'' The monstrous voice from Iris West and Barry Allen's lastest nightmares asked in a not friendly tone. Slowly getting you, you decided to try Iris' trick.

''I'm (Y/N). You know me.'' You said cautiously, taking out your phone that was resting in your pocket.

''I don-''

''I know you don't remember. But it's true. I-'' Quickly, still without using any inhuman velocity, Savitar grabbed your shoulders and threw you against a wall. Your heart raced in terror, but you weren't going to give up now; It was just you and him.

''How do I know you are not lying?'' His voice almost robotic sounded again when your trembling hand finally reached your phone.

''I-I've got pictures.'' You unlocked your cellphone as fast as you could with a swip up, showing him some old pictures in the gallery from when you and Barry used to date. No kissing photos or anything that could bring questions, though. ''See? I won't hurt you, I promise.''

The tight grip of him softened, and you could let your breath which you haven't even noticed that you were holding; your back leaving the wall as Savitar recoiled.

''Get out of your armor, please.''

And he did.

He finally did.

As Savitar get ride of the horrid methal, (Y/N) wondered if his first instinct was violence when Barry's one was confusion. Perhaps it's justification was the same of the reason which Barry asked about Iris' ring and trusted her so easily. His subconscious knew it.

''I don't remember anything.'' For the first time since Savitar showed up, his voice seemed as fragile as his body outside the armor. ''Not even my own name.''

''I know. You are experiencing a temporary memory loss.'' You were as as succinct as possible, and he seemed to be trying to get his mind around what seemed to be an explanation of Albert Einstein's advanced theoretical physics to a layman.

''Who am I?''

''You’re Savitar.'' You walked in his direction calmly, not knowing what reaction to expect.

Fortunately, he did not try to pull away when you got beside him.

''It doesn't seem like  my name...'' Savitar rummaged his pockets, probably looking for his wallet - just as Barry did. ''Hmm. Weird.''

God, he looked so fragile, so pure. You felt sick thinking that it had been taken away from him;

''Are you hungry? We can go out, eat something.'' He finally looked around, frowning in confusion at the sight of the place. But he still shook his head in denial. ''Or we can just stay here. It works for me.''

A few seconds of silence passed, Savitar seemed to be carefully analyzing all the details of everything around him, the place, the visible part of his body to his eyes, you.

Sighing, (Y/N) decided to try her luck, hesitantly touching his hand. He, of course, tried to retreat scared, and his armor raised its guard, but you held your hand steady, taking his.

''I'm here.'' Savitar looked into her eyes. ''I am here.''

And that seemed enough.

''I'm scared.'' He admitted, making her heart tear up little bit.

''You don't need to be scared.'' You smiled gently. ''I'm here.'' The pain was gone, you knew that. But Savitar's scars remained there.

Nodding, he stroked your hand, unconsciously sending a timely thought.

Xxx

''Big Belly Burguer.'' Savitar read the establishment's sign in that afternoon, a carefree smile playing on his lips. ''I like it here?''

''You absolutely love this place,'' You giggled, slipping into the place and sitting down at the usual table. '' Mostly the fries. There was a time when you'd woke up at three in the morning just because you dreamed of fries and we would ended up here!''

They laughed and their conversation continued in that casual rhythm, anyone looking outside would bet a penny that the couple would eventually marry. Around you, it was a completely harmonious and comfortable mood, and that moment was so magnetic for both of them that they forgot to order the food - which is something big, especially considering the body of a speedster as fast as the god of speed .

The hours passed by like seconds when night fell in all its glory, as Iris declared her love for Barry through a childlike memory, the memories of the villain and the hero merged into a single yin-yang .

Savitar closed his eyes, attacked without any warning by the weight of his sins while who was taking care of him all along made her request to the waiter was kind heavy.

His mind was more fucked up than usual and he had the luxury of stopping time for a few moments, (Y/N), the only girl his nemesis and himself had loved besides Iris West, had stayed by his side. Despite all the threats, fear, mistakes. Which he committed to his team, to her.

He couldn't lie to himself, (Y/NN) was always one in a million, the Cleopatra to his Julius Cesar in a future where he was without Iris West. But wherever he came to, she had not existed as a romantic interest to Barry Allen - ironically, the girl was married to Eddie Thawne in many earths.

Savitar had enjoyed her company more than that. For the first time in millennia as a god, he had finally felt in the presence of a goddess after his own left him for a heroic copy.

''And five big fries, thank you.'' (Y/N) finalized their request as Savitar let time go by as it was supposed to.

'' Do not forget the mayonnaise.'' Savitar warned the waiter, not actually aware to the meaning of those words. His ex lover raised her eyebrows at his elbow when the teenager who was attending them left.

''Did you remember anything?''

''Hm.'' Savitar quickly composed himself. The remnant of time had enjoyed being with someone like that. No violence, just... Being. Well, not with someone really, he wouldn't like to be like this with anyone else but her. '' Mayonnaise just seems... Good. Like you here.''

This had been the cutest thing in the world, the cliché that Barry Allen would be ready to say at any moment, not really a Savitar thing.

But her smile made left him feeling like an idiot for saying something like that was worth it.

[hypocrisyofandrewdobson]

"You need to work on your lighting"

I admit that normally I don't like to nitpick Dobson's art-- a lot of his stuff is pretty self-evidently unappealing, but when he puts out a piece that he clearly did work on it seems kind of counterproductive to dismiss that he put effort into something and just zero in on the foibles. It only supports his thesis that his trolls look for the most outlandish or nitpicky details and don't deliver 'constructive criticism'. He wouldn't be wrong in this, either; callouts about minutiae really come across as petty.

For instance, I'm seeing (elsewhere) a lot of discussion about his Samus Breaks the Noob Tube fanart focusing on things like her specific armor design (implying he traced it from screencapped footage from Super Smash Bros.) to the fact that her pinky appears broken. These are possible issues, but they're honestly pretty insignificant, especially when 'broken pinky' keeps coming up as the main complaint. (Admittedly, the pinky is probably broken, but the hand's position is still easily readable and I'm not going to crucify him over a digit you can barely see.)

No, I'm going to crucify him over the lighting.

As I said this isn't normally something I would bring up, but it's specifically because of the Lapidot magazine and his response to somebody telling him "[his] lighting needs work"-- he went off on a multi-paragraph screed about how advice isn't appreciated, especially after a work is already done and he's never going to address it again. Because apparently he doesn't understand that you can learn from something you did in a previous work and apply the advice to the future.

I mean apparently he can't. For reference, this is the picture:

At a glance it's pretty impressive, especially for what Dobson's been churning out recently, but something has bothered me about it since I first saw it posted (and no, it's not the pinky). What's the problem?

The lighting.

Specifically, there is no lighting.

The background is the same value as Samus. Samus' shading is almost nonexistent. This might be fine given the underwater setting, except that she has a caustic effect (the water-ripple) applied to her, meaning that there should be a strong enough source of light to provide some kind of directional lighting. The caustics are coming from multiple directions -- somewhere above,and the backs of her arms and legs -- which doesn't make any sense because the caustic effect is a result of light filtering through the surface of the water-- even if there were lights originating from either side of the tube, they would not  be casting caustics.

I could go into detail about why the shadows don't work properly, either, but suffice to say that they are flat-- both on Samus and on most of the environment. This is the predominant issue with the picture as a whole-- Dobson drew the lineart (which is itself solid, although in desperate want of varying line weight), slapped a few solid colors, made a cursory attempt at shading, and then threw on the caustics filter to mask how otherwise simplistic his work was.

This causes the entire picture to feel like it's just on a flat plane-- Samus is at the same depth as all of the glass shards, which are at the same depth as the tube in the back, which are at the same depth as the tube in the front (and I admit, not being at all familiar with Super Metroid, I didn't realize this was supposed to be the opposite end of the tube until I watched a quick playthrough to get context of what he was drawing. Also yes I did research for this); the glass fragments are almost monotonous so it just looks like it's on the same plane as the rest of them. The background is the worst offender, being a pale blue (which... also somehow has caustics across the entire length of the wall?). If you're at all familiar with the density of water, it gets dark further down, and as I understand it the tube is fairly deep underwater, in a subterranean cavern-- the tubes might be casting light, which would illuminate Samus, but the background should be dark and vague (which would help her pop from the background instead of just being absorbed by it).

There's also an issue that water is a physical presence, and if there's a strong lighting coming from somewhere (especially at this apparent depth) it should be holding shadows. Samus, despite the bubbles around her (none of which, I now notice, are coming from the tubes themselves? Seems like that's where most of the air should be), appears to be hanging suspended in air, not drifting through water.

To wit, I spent a few minutes in Paint Tool SAI playing with values and plopping in some (very loose) shadows.

I gave myself five minutes to do this. It's not ideal (the poor placement of caustics and shadows made it difficult to determine which direction to cast Samus' shadow in-- I defaulted to backlighting, given how the caustics fall), but I think it's a reasonable illustration for the difference that can be made just by taking the lighting into account.

Like that guy he blocked told him to.

https://78.media.tumblr.com/19e78f45296af1f133ca166fd324ad05/tumblr_pf4bw9WUqC1r7r8ub_540.jpg

“I think a lot of us were just so impressed that he actually put in effort and clearly actually cared about what he was drawing for once that we were willing to give him some overall leeway. That being said, holy crap did you make it look amazing with the shading added.” -THOAD

[crackimagines]

Danganronpa: 40K

What happens when one of the Emperor’s chosen warriors gets transported into a dimension of teenager angst, hormones, and heresy? Simple. THE CALL OF DUTY FOR THE GLORY OF THE IMPERIUM OF MAN.

TRIGGER HAPPY HAVOC (Part 1)

GOODBYE DESPAIR -

(Marine) “BY THE EMPEROR I’M GOING TO RIP A CHILD IN HAL-…Is this a beach?”

The Ultramarine looked around and noticed that water and sand surrounded him.

Keeping his Bolter rifle at the ready, he slowly looked around, ready for a fight to break out at any moment.

Stepping to a cottage nearby, he examined the room in detail, noticing nothing out of the ordinary.

(Marine) “Hm...Another human settlement.”

He holstered his rifle and opened the doors, finding a shower and storage closet.

Before having a chance to leave the building, he heard voices nearby.

(Marine) “Hm?!”

The Marine went into the bathroom, getting out his Bolt pistol and knife, waiting for the enemy to come through the door.

Standing next to the door, he put his helmet on the wall to listen to the incoming intruders.

(Fuyuhiko) “Mahiru, what did you call me in for?”

(Mahiru) “Well um...That game Monokuma put out. The brother of the girl who died...It was you, wasn’t it?”

(Fuyuhiko) ! “...Tch, I’m out of here.”

(Mahiru) “You’re not going out that easily! You killed that person! I-I don’t know the details, but what gave you the right to!?”

(Fuyuhiko) “Shut up!”

(Mahiru) “Who gave you the right to play judge jury and executioner?!”

(Fuyuhiko) “I SAID SHUT UP!”

(Marine) “Infighting between Holy Terra’s citizens?! I MUST PUT AN END TO THIS!”

Instead of going through the door, the Ultramarine went through the fucking wall. Bursting through it, sending debris everywhere, and terrifying Fuyuhiko and Mahiru.

(Marine) “CEASE YOUR MUTINY!”

The Ultramarine picked them both up by the collar with one hand, similar to something like this.

(Marine) “WHAT HAS GOTTEN INTO YOU?! YOU SHAME THE EMPEROR WITH YOUR POINTLESS FIGHTING!”

(Mahiru) “L-LET ME GO!”

(Fuyuhiko) “PUT US DOWN YOU SON OF A BITCH!”

Peko went through the front door wielding her bamboo sword.

(Peko) “YOUNG MASTER!”

She slammed the sword against the helmet, but it did absolutely nothing to him as the Ultramarine stood in place, staring at Peko.

(Fuyuhiko) “PEKO, RUN!”

Before she could even reply, the Ultramarine picked her up as well, carrying all three of them in his hands.

(Peko) “UNHAND ME AND THE YOUNG MASTER YOU BRUTE!”

(Marine) “STOP RESISTING! I am not here to harm you!”

(Mahiru) “What the hell are you?!”

(Marine) “Hm...It seems I am still in the same year as that school...Very well! I am an Ultramarine of the Ultramar chapter! I am here to purge the xenos and heretics plaguing Holy Terra and her colonies!”

(Fuyuhiko) “Quit the bullshit and put us down already!”

The marine stood quiet for a moment, looking at them very carefully.

(Marine) “Are you...HERETICS?!”

(Fuyuhiko) “Hereti-HERETICS?! THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN BY HERETICS?!-”

The Ultramarine threw Peko and Mahiru and shook Fuyuhiko with both his hands.

(Marine) “CEASE THE LANGUAGE! KIDS LIKE YOU NEED TO HAVE SOME RESPECT!”

Shortly after, the doors opened and everyone else on the island was there.

(Hajime) “WHAT THE HELL?!”

(Souda) “GAAAAAH! WHO IS THAT?!”

(Nekomaru) “HOLY SHIT, HE’S BIGGER THAN ME!”

(Akane) “That armor looks insane! I wonder if I can punch through it!”

(Sonia) “I-I don’t think doing that to a man that large is a good idea!”

(Ibuki) “HO-HO-HOLY CRAP!”

(Chiaki) “...Oh.”

(Mikan) “EEEEEEEK!”

(Gundham) “DARK GODS ABOVE, WHO IS THAT?!”

It took a second for the Ultramarine to register what Gundham had said, and dropped Fuyuhiko as a result.

(Chiaki) “G-Gundham? I don’t think you should speak anymore-”

(Gundham) “What?! Is Gundham Tanaka that menacing?! THE DARK GODS HAVE BLESSED ME WITH AN AURA TO INTIMIDATE YOU, IS THAT IT-”

Everyone slowly turned back to the Ultramarine as he dual wielded his Bolter rifle and pistol.

(Marine) “Did I just hear...DARK GOD?!”

“You have heard correctly! The power of chaos are one with me, AND MY FOUR DARK DEVAS OF DESTRUCT-”

CHIK CHIK!

“...UH-”

(Marine) “NORMALLY, THE CODEX SAYS TO RAIN HELL UPON HERETICS...BUT IT SEEMS THAT INNOCENT YOUTH IS CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE...ONE MORE REASON, AND I WILL PURGE YOU ALL IN THE NAME OF THE EMPEROR-”

“Alright, I’m about to go bear-zerk! What is with all the damn screa-”

“OH FUCK!-”

“...That bear...Haven’t I-” (Marine’s Mind) 

“HERESY!”

Immediately the Ultramarine soccer kicked Fuyuhiko so hard, he went flying into Peko, Hajime and Sonia, and all of them went through the building, bringing down a wall onto them.

Using the Bolt Pistol, he turned to Mahiru and pulled the trigger, turning her head into a smashed watermelon.

Nekomaru and Akane tried to attack him, but he grabbed both their heads and smashed them together, letting them go limp into the ground.

Turning back to Monokuma he saw him standing behind Souda, wrapping himself in explosives.

“OKAY YEAH NO! I’M PULLING THE PLUG ON THIS OPERA-”

Punching Souda so hard his upper torso went flying into a wall, he picked Monokuma up like a baseball, and chucked him out into the ocean and shooting with the Bolter rifle, setting the explosives off.

Turning back to Gundham he brought out his knife and stabbed it into his stomach before throwing him out the window alongside with a grenade. 

Following the explosion, he ran out from the door seeing Ibuki Mikan and Mahiru run off.

(Ibuki) “OH CRAP, OH CRAP, OH CRA-”

The Ultramarine charged after them, reloading his rifle while swiping the blood off the knife.

The group ran into Hiyoko who was casually walking to them.

(Hiyoko) “What’s going o-”

(Mikan) “RUUUUUUUUUN!”

Hiyoko looked up, but it was too late as a Bolter Round entered her skull making the entire body explode into a red paste.

Stopping his tracks, he attached a scope to his Bolter Rifle, turning into a Stalker Sniper Bolter Rifle.

Aiming down the sights, he quickly picked all three of the runners off.

After all was said and done, the Ultramarine saluted proudly into the sky.

(Marine) “FOR EMPEROR, AND IMPERIU-”

POP!

And again in a moment, he was gone once more...

OUTSIDE NEO WORLD PROGRAM...

“...What. The hell. Was that?”

“T-They were just wiped out so quickly!”

“...Wait, was that the weird marine in armor from Hope’s Peak?”

“W-Whatever it was, it got rid of Junko’s Virus...Should I restart the program?”

And so, debate whether or not the Ultramarine did nothing wrong, the Ultramarine indirectly saved everyone from the legacy of Junko...but where would he end up now?

FIND OUT NEXT TIME, ON DANGANRONPA: 40K!

I’m yanking your fucking chain he’s going to suffer in V3 and probably tear off Kokichi’s head before he even talks