#I'm pretty sure part of it is also youth - even if you are worse off than your parents the passport they paid for hasn't run out yet

[sera-wasnever]

remember when someone on this hellsite said ''most americans don't have passports'' and then all the responses were people saying that was ridiculous and being confused at how they could even think that?

anyway they were right - the income threshhold over which most people have a valid passport in the US in $100k

(source)

[vikenticomeshome]

Cyberchase: Cool Starmaker

This is Cool Starmaker. He was introduced in Season 8 Episode 3 "Peace, Love, and Hackerness". He's a businessman in the area public relations. He's here to help villains who have lost their reputations gain them back and become feared figures again.

Since we are in Season 8, The Hacker's many losses to actual children have led to villain decay. Only a very small percentage of citizens in Cyberspace are scared of him. So, of course, The Hacker is interested in his services.

Yes, his name is a bit cheesy, but I like his design. Hacker has his big puffed-out chest, tapering down to a thin waist. Meanwhile, Starmaker is quite overweight. The Hacker has his simple outfit with his white shirt with his pocket full of pens, his purple cape, and his black bowtie. Meanwhile, Starmaker has a black shirt, dark blue slacks, an orange tie, and a sport-coat that matches his slacks. He has a gold ring on one of his pinky fingers. He has black-framed glasses with tinted lenses. He has a cane with some gold on it. However, he does seem to lean on it, so it serves a purpose beyond showing off his wealth.

This man doesn't run around all over Cyberspace stealing things, subjugating Cybersites, or causing chaos directly. No, he's apparently a legitimate businessman. His clients come to him. He gives them their starpower back, and they go off and make use of it. He's still a bad man, but he can hardly be held criminally responsible for what his clients do.

He also seems on the older side as borgs go. he has visible gray hair showing at his roots. There are products that can help dye grey hair to make someone look younger, and there are even products that allow you to keep a little gray, as a way to show both experience and youthful energy at the same time. I think his hair normally has more grey in it, and he's covering that up.

The Hacker comes to him at a low point, as a radio poll shows that only 4% of Cyberspace still considers him scary. It's a far cry from the early seasons.

However, Cool Starmaker has a plan. He gets a news crew in position to witness The Hacker commit a crime.

Yeah, I'm not sure how that doesn't count Cool Starmaker as being part of a criminal conspiracy. Yes, The Hacker just destroyed a radio antenna, but it's worse than that. This groovy music kept the "rebooter bees" working at the computer chip factory. Without new pollination for the computer chips, all of Cyberspace will shut down.

Cool Starmaker is delighted to be part of The Hacker's impending Apocalypse.

This made me think of the movie "The Fifth Element". You have the Great Evil coming to destroy everything, and then you have the businessman Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg who wants the Great Evil to destroy everything because that will somehow be profitable for him.

But why does Cool Starmaker look so much like The Hacker? Are they brothers or something?

Does this explain how The Hacker has his niece, Harmony? Does this explain how Digit has his cousin, Brigit?

I like the Cool Starmaker. However, he seems like a one-off character. His whole business rests on bringing washed-up villains back to popularity. So, if he came back, he would just be doing the same thing again. Then again, Baskerville also seemed pretty one-note in his original appearance, as a cheap henchman who was more menacing than Buzz and Delete, despite not doing much. And yet, he came back a few times.

[lucy90712]

Road to recovery- Part 1

Masterlist

Lola's POV

Do you ever think why me? That's exactly what I'm thinking right now. I don't know what I did to deserve this I think I'm a good person I try to be nice to everyone I meet but now I'm starting to wonder why I even bothered. 

 My day started off exactly the same as it always does my alarm goes off at 7 and I get myself ready to go on a run. I'm usually gone for about an hour and half before I come back and shower and eat breakfast. Then I get on with some uni work for most of the day as I do my school work remotely to help fit it into my schedule. The like always training starts at 5 so I make sure to arrive at 4 as I like to get warmed up properly and work on some of my skills on my own. 

As its competition season I have been spending a lot more of my time in the gym practicing my routines time and time again until they are perfect. My coaches are also trying to push my level so I also tirelessly work on new skills in hopes that they can be included in my routine at the next competition so my difficulty is increased. It’s hard work but I love it. Gymnastics has always been part of my life, I started when I was two in a class for babies but apparently I was always better than the rest so my parents were told to put me into a more advanced class. They did exactly that and ever since I've always been the youngest one in each class I was put in and then when I made a team for the first time I was still the youngest. I was called up to the youth Spanish team as soon as I was old enough and now I'm working towards my first olympics. 

Today happened to be my last training session before my next competition which happens to be a pretty major one. Everything was going exactly to plan and like it always does I had managed to get a new skill on the bars and we worked it into my routine so now I have a bit more of an edge on my competition. After bars it was time for vault as that is my weakest rotation and my coaches want me to work on it before the Olympics as you can't have a weakness if you want to be competitive at the Olympics. 

I did my usual vault a few times before trying a new variation with more twists. My a first attempt was a fail as I chickened out and didn't even do a proper vault. My second attempt was better but not great. My third attempt it went all wrong and I under rotated and came landing down really hard on one leg which twisted my knee awkwardly. I've had bad landings before but when I realised that I was in complete agony and my knee just felt off I knew it wasn't good. My coaches also knew straight away that something wasn't right as I alway get up right after a fall but instead I just laid there with an arm over my eyes to try and stop myself crying. 

Everything after that happened so quickly I was taken by ambulance to the hospital where they ran so many tests. CTs, MRIs, ultrasounds you name it I'm sure they did it. That was the worst part as each time a new test was done I saw the doctors looking more and more concerned and no one would tell me anything no matter how much I begged. There's nothing worse than being cold, in pain and scared as you don't have a clue what's going on. Eventually someone came to tell me what was wrong and weirdly I kind of wish they hadn't as it wasn't what I wanted to hear at all.

"I'm afraid that you have a complete tear in your acl and a further injury in your meniscus which we can't know the extent of until we perform surgery" the doctor explained 

"Wait that's bad isn't it how long will I be out for?" I asked 

"I’m afraid you are looking at up to 9 months out" the doctor said 

"No no I'm supposed to be going to the Olympics I can't be out for that long" I cried 

"I'm afraid you will miss the olympics this injury has a long recovery time your surgery will be next Tuesday the 28th we will see you then" the doctor said before getting my discharge papers sorted and leaving 

What did I do to deserve this. 

Gavi's POV

The pain was instant. Straight away I knew something was wrong especially when I couldn't walk properly without being in complete agony. I didn't want to believe it so I tried to keep going but I just couldn't there was something seriously wrong. I'm not sure whether it was the pain or the possibility that I might not play again for a long time but I couldn't stop tears flowing down my face. The team and the coaches did their best to comfort me but it was no use it just felt like my world was crashing and burning around me. 

Of course they sent me straight off to the hospital for tests as the physios at the stadium knew my injury was beyond their capabilities which didn't fill me with any hope whatsoever. No one wanted to talk to me as we traveled to the hospital so it was completely silent as I was thinking about how long I'll be away from football and how awful that will be. Even once we got to the hospital the doctors were just doing tests and not saying anything. Everyone was treating me like a child who wouldn't understand anything they said when really I'm not stupid they could just tell me what they are doing and what they think is wrong and I'd understand just fine. 

"It looks like you have torn your acl we can't tell the full extent of the injury at the moment so you will have it have further tests back in Barcelona" the doctor explained 

"It can't be it can't be I have to play what about the euros and the champions league" I sobbed 

"I'm afraid you are going to have to miss those" the doctor said 

~~~~~~~~~~

Since getting back home I haven't slept at all as my knee is still in a lot of pain and I can't stop thinking about how I won't play again this season. My agent came to drive me to my second set of tests and unlike yesterday when I just wanted someone to tell me what was up and that it would all be fine I didn't want to talk to anyone. They ran all of the same tests on me again presumably hoping to find a different outcome but let's be real it's never going to get better is it. Unlike yesterday everyone was fussing over me and making sure I was feeling ok which was just quite overwhelming when I wanted to just be left alone with my thoughts. 

Yet again all of the results were discussed in the next room over without me but I could still see what was going on. Everyone in the room didn't look hopeful and there was a few people on the phone and writing things down which didn't seem like a good thing. At this point I've come to accept that I'm not going to be playing for a long time so I just want to get on with my recovery as I need something to do all of this sitting around and waiting is driving me crazy. 

"So Gavi we are sorry to say that along with your acl tear you also have an associated injury to the meniscus which extends the recovery time so you are likely to be out for 7-9 months and you will need surgery which we have scheduled for next week on the 28th" the doctor told me 

No one else had anything to say to me and I just wanted to go home so my agent drove me home then left me so I could think about why this had to happen to me. 

[thenerdywitchofthenorth]

Guess what my dumbass deleted?!

Maybe it was for the best because my speech-to-text was acting up and I sound like I was having a stroke.

So here's the first draft that like I said before, I love @furiousjellifish concept for this AU and I do think that would be wearing in their day-to-day wear. While I think that 6 what they present in when they want to Dazzle it up or have to show up for ceremonies or festivals or other Godly duties.

So I ended up changing a lot because I was not happy with the color placement. And a lot of little things, for example, the arm coverings I was not happy with that. I was bouncing off ideas and I changed my mind a lot. That's why the middle part is green. And while I did end up changing a few things I did keep the design of the crown although I ended up changing the color later.

I noticed that I gave Leo the same expression I gave Lou jitsu when I sketched up the first draft of the god of fame. Because Leo mirroring his dad's personality is a constant throughout the Multiverse.

Fun fact, the reason why his face looks so weird is because when I was coloring it I grabbed the wrong marker, and didn't realize it until it was too late tried to fix it made it worse. Which is sad because I really did like how it was turning out.

Now the crown, at first I did a silver color but I changed my mind and went with gold. I think it matched it better. The stone is sapphire but if you have other suggestions I'm happy to hear them. Now the flowers are white cherry blossoms, I chose the white cherry blossoms because they're very simple flowers, which shows how young, and that he's in the beginning of the journey, there are also a few rose blooms hidden there, to foreshadow becoming the god of Romance. But the main flower are blue clematis, in the west, they represent cleverness, loyalty, and courage that are often found on roads, and grow in bundles so perfect for Leo.

Now on to his outfit, I changed the middle part completely. And I put both the Hamato Clan symbol and the Mad Dog instead of it being on the actual outfit. It's a very simple and very youthful outfit, I was going to go out ,but decided to save that for later.

We agreed that Leo was born at dawn, so that's what I was going for with the sleeves. And also are the colors of his brothers but in a more pastel tone. Besides wanting to tie it to the dawn theme I was going with, the reason why I chose to give Leo such a light blue for his outfit and add the colors of his family, is because Leo hasn't become the god of romance or has been recognized as the god of strategy/ medicine yet. He's still very unsure of his position in the family, he still is very dependent and ties his identity to them. And I wanted that to reflect on his clothing,

So when you look at this outfit, the first thing your eyes are drawn to are the purple red, and orange details.

Then we have his pouch because of course, even when he's in his full get up, he needs to have something that ties him to medicine, and why not the thing that made the whole fandom tie him to that particular head Cannon?

Maybe I'll give him a third outfit like I did with Donnie. After all the god medicine, needs to be able to move around too, but if I do I'll sketch it out when I'm trying to figure out his God of romance outfit, and if you guys have ideas I would love to hear them.

Now we have the Sokka rip-off, I mean the mortal disguise. I originally wanted to give him a cape future Leo Style but decided against it, I also thought about giving him a sun hat, like I did in the Leo Usagi first meeting comic, but I was too lazy to draw it. The colors are more faded due to the fact that he's in disguise. His satchel is brown instead of blue and that also I did have this micro idea of him not wearing his mask when he's down there with Usagi , unlike his brothers, or he stops wearing it the more times that he goes down there. I'm pretty sure there's some symbolism there but I'm too lazy to think of it right now.

In the original post I mentioned, that I stopped drawing when I was in my early teens between 14 and 15, but I started drawing at the end of last year (funny enough it was also because of an elaborate Au I'm working on it) but life got in the and I ended up not drawing for a few months. But working on this Au with you guys, that are so creative and so fun to talk to, I got my mojo back so thank you a lot for that.

@fatalflawsy

@furiousjellifish

@annonniiiiieeeee

[the-silver-peahen-residence]

||A punishment worth given: part 2||

Hi dears, It's your lucky day. I'm adding a a part 2 to the first drabble 'a punishment worth given.' Another spicy NSFW. If you wish to read the first one, you can read it here. So shall we dive on in?

||Drabble summary||

Davion has thought after the first punishment, his little knight would have behaved himself right? Well, seems that wasn't the case. Rust has only gotten more worse as a delinquent brat and has become badder. Seems the first punishment wasn't enough so what will Davion do for him? What is his punishment this time? Read to find out.

||Warning||

~Heavy NSFW smut content is spoken of

~Dom and sub smut will be present here

~Bondage and biting will be present

~Blood will be present when biting

~Suggestive theme is present

~Punishment is present

||Guests in Drabble||

Rust Knight belongs to my amazing Rp partner @demon-blood-youths

Davion belongs and is from the hit series: DOTA: Dragon's blood but he's also my muse due to me rping as him.

((Note: Their will be grammar mistakes and errors in this drabble as others have this warning. But like I state before, this is written for fun. So I hope you like it and my friend too. Enjoy))

"Yes Ink don't worry, my mission was fine from last week. I got through it pretty fast but the pay was fine. I am still going to get you that new custom made sword attachment for you like I promised." Davion was smiling sitting on his bed while taking a night off since he was on vacation from his work. "Yes yes, I know. Uncle Vanity did say you are still proven well but I figure I can get something for Wyvern just to help boost it's strength in a way.."

It was rather nice but he was already relaxed, even hearing his happy cousin's excited voice of him getting her something. "I'm happy to hear that your excited for the gift. I already have it shipped but I won't tell you when it arrives. You'll have to wait." he heard her whine wanting the present to make him laugh. "Sorry Cuz, you have to wait. Hmm? yes, I'll be alright. You know how I am Ink. I'm just hoping your not over doing it yourself as you always do." he laughed but he shifts again while hearing her voice.

"Hmm? Rust? Oh, yeah he's fine. He did tell me to say he does hope you guys are alright since he was hoping to help me out while I'm on vacation." he said. "Don't worry little cousin, I'm sure he is not over doing it and resting up. You always did tell me Rust tends to push himself so it's fine. He's enjoying the vacation himself.." Slowly, he looks down while showing a smile.

Beside him was his boyfriend/mate Rust knight but he was hand cuffed while being fingered slowly by Davion's fingers. He was slowly sucking him off while feeling his throbbing cock pulse in his mouth. He was being punished again due to being a brat but he's been doing this for a while now. He couldn't even cum yet unless Davion says he could. Even if he was a flushed whimpering mess, he wanted the dragon to take him, breed him, to fill him with his heat but he refused to.

At first, Rust came to see him on the phone talking to someone but he was flushed due to the last moments of him still being punished. After being fingered hard for a while, Rust was heated for more. Once he walked over to make out with Davion but he was sneaky enough to pull his cock out and suck him off.

Now, he was here pleasuring him while he twitched from the dragon's fingers rubbing on the bundle of nerves hard as he was feeling tears of pleasure. "Mfffmm...mmmmmm...mmmmmm....."His fingers wouldn't stop pushing and rubbing down right on his spot that when he pushes his fingers down harder, Rust tenses up shaking feeling pre-cum from the tip hitting the sheets but Davion looks to him as Rust looks back with his hazel blue color eyes. Looking desperate for it, for his cock, his dominance. Anything!

"........" He whimpers still seeing that look in Davion's eyes but he knew what he was thinking.

'Your not getting off that easy my knight. If you cum..you know what will happen. If you want my heat, or my blood or my cock....behave..'

Rust shook from the hungry look in his eyes but looks down doing as he said while feeling it pulsing again to pull his head back up slowly feeling it slip out. "Haaa...hhhaaaaa.......haaaanmmmm......" He panted slowly shaking as Davion kept fingering him in a agonizing teasing pace but he only begins licking his length slowly trying to please him.

He was trying not to cum but he already was still licking against it as he feels it throb to swell as Rust's eyes widen shaking. However, he gulps to still suck against the side pumping it slowly hearing the slick noises as he did.

His lips were still moving against it but he wanted to make Davion cum. He needed him to let it out. However, he feels the veins that Rust was still stroking him faster trying to make Davion cum. Of course the dragon felt it to look at him again then away.

"Yes Ink I'm going to relax during my vacation. And I'll be sure that Rust relaxes and takes his time too. Yes silly cousin. Anyway, I better go. I have to get ready to fix food later. Yes, we'll eat too. See you later. Alright, bye bye." Davion already goes ahead to end the call then looks to Rust as he was twitching feeling his fingers opening him up again.

"Heh, greedy little Knight. You just can't help it can you? Even when I'm on the phone...." he teased but Rust moans still licking against the side to gasp feeling his fingers push into him slowly while Davion was messing with him again. Damn it. His fingers felt too good and he was bucking his hips against them. But that's all he was getting. If he felt needy and hungry for his dragon, he only would get his fingers. That's it.

"Ahhhh...ahhhhh D...da......v..ion....Dav...ion..." He looked so out of it but he winces feeling him opening his hole that was soaking wet from the last time his fingers were in him. He was twitching and aching inside, he needed him inside again.

"Hmm?"

"Haaaa P..Please....please I..I n..need i..it....please...I w..want it insi..inside again....." he begs pumping his cock slowly as he feels it swelling again within his hands but Davion looks only to smile to already getting close.

"Heh, you seriously want it that badly?" he teased.

"Haaa y..yes....I.." he winces when Davion opens him up again, twitching when he grits his teeth shaking.

"Hmmm..I don't know what you want inside though. I don't know if you mean to tease you by using my tongue......" he said but pushes the fingers in deeper making Rust gasp moaning out. "Or my fingers will be better for you..but I don't know since you didn't say what you want." he chuckled hearing the slick noises as Rust was whimpering.

"Hahhh...hhaaaaa...d..da...nugghh....p..please..I...."

"You want me inside this tight hole of yours again that badly? Heh, you do know what I said before right my knight? Your still..." he pulls him close to look at him. "Being...." he seems to almost kiss Rust who was shaking. "punished!" that's when he slams his fingers on the bundle of nerves to make Rust gasp moaning out drooling.

"Ahhhhh!! W..wait!! Wait, n..not a..again!!" he moans out clawing his sheets but Davion chuckled still teasing his spots all crazy like. He knew he has been so tight or gotten tighter from being messed with this. He hasn't been filled with his dragon cock in so long he was just teasing him now. Even if Rust was a moaning wet mess he still was aching for him.

"I can't give you a reward since you were bad remember? Don't tell me you forgot the last time you acted up I punished you for it. But since you wanna be a brat again....I have to make your punishment twice as strong. So that's your fault for being a naughty treasure. Your only going to get pleasure with my fingers." he said but Rust remembers even if he was moaning with his fingers gripping the sheets. His hole was so sensitive now but he wouldn't fill him since he was misbehaving. That was true.

"Haaaaa haaaa I nugghhhh I....."

"You know what you were doing. You know it...so that's why I'm punishing you again..I'm not going to reward you for being a naughty little treasure." he growls now vigorously slamming his fingers in that Rust screams out ripping the sheets.

"Ahhhhhh!!! N..NOOOO!! DAVION PLEASE, PLEASE L..LET ME CUM! LET ME CUM!! I c..can't take it anymore! My c..cock..I..I need to cum..I wanna be filled with your cock just please!! Please let me cum!!" he begs in tears shaking as Davion was punishing his wet hole. He knew he was wet leaving a mess but Davion keeps on going getting more excited as Rust was screaming his arousal.

"That's it my little treasure...cry out for me. You must feel so close now. Your cock must be aching and begging to cum right?" teasing him, he even lowers a hand to give a slow stroke of Rust's own cock.

"!?" Right away, Rust grabs his arm but he was shaking moaning out with one eye open and the other shut. "N..no don't t..touch i..it...n..not when I'm...." he tries to warn him but tightening up around his fingers.

"What? You said you wanna cum right? So I guess I can let you cum so go ahead..cum..let me see you cum you naughty knight." he growls but Rust panted shaking.

"N..No p..please..please I....I..I'm g..gonna..I'm gonna.....nugghhhaaa!!!" as he warns the dragon, Rust violently came hard as he screams out cumming. Strings of cum hits the sheets as his knight was cumming. Davion saw while he only chuckled seeing him twitching, his body must be so weak and sensitive now.

He panted loudly as he was still cumming but his hole still was squeezing Davion's fingers as he came. Seeing Rust like this was too hot that the dragon already was stroking himself. "Good little treasure......" he teased but he slowly tries to open him up as Rust falls back feeling his body aching for his heat.

"Ahhhhh....ahhhhhh.....mmmmmmm.." 'F..fuck...t..that was a lot more stronger t..than the last time. I'm going crazy h..here...I don't know how much longer I..I can....h..hold out. But my stomach..it still aches...' he felt his hole twitching but he only whines feeling the dragon's fingers. 'ohhhh s..shit..h..his fingers...he's moving them a..again..'

"Mmmmm..mmmmmmm...."

"Just look at you. Your hole is really tight over the last few punishments. Your squeezing down on them so hard you really must be aching for my cock..." Davion said still fingering him slowly but even if he tries to open him up, it was so tight and it felt it was getting tighter. And tighter but so much wetter.

Seeing Rust looking out of it, tears running down his cheeks with drool down his chin. He already was pulling his fingers out seeing them drenched but he even lowers his fingers to stroke his own cock as Rust heard the dragon groan. He was shaking seeing him pumping it as the pre-cum at the tip was leaking now.

"Haaaa.....hhaaaaaa..."

"Is this what you wanted my little treasure? For your dragon to breed you like before? To fill you up?" he teased but he felt so close just seeing how out of it Rust was. He whines only seeing him sit up doing this that he reaches about to touch till Davion growls to suddenly feel hot. "But I can't can I? You said you were going to misbehave so..you have to sit right there and watch..watch your dragon cum right in front of you.." he teased but Rust looks gripping the sheets.

"W..wait..please I...I want it inside. Please y..you can cum inside j..just..." he tries to beg him to claim him again but Davion keeps stroking his cock before his body was right on the edge.

"Fuck...I'm gonna..." As Rust saw, he came right there that his own hot cum hits his chest but Rust was whimpering seeing it being wasted. He wanted that heat inside of him again! Damn it!! Rust could feel the pounding of his demon heart, seeing the dragon's heat spilling but he only sees Davion still cumming but it looked a lot thicker and hotter that Rust gulps drooling.

"Haa....seems it was a lot more thicker than last time...right my knight? Too bad I couldn't cum inside and fill you up like I want.." he said only for Rust to look down but he saw Davion gets close to make him move back till he got trapped. "!?"

"Ah ah ah....don't run. Your dragon is still hungry, my precious treasure.." he said but slowly lowers to being licking his chest but Rust shivers feeling the heat from this dragon's tongue. Damn, he was losing his mind. This was too much even if he was shaking in his handcuffs.

"D..Davion please..I...Ah!?" he felt his nipple taken in his mouth to swirl the tip of his tongue against it while pinching the other. Rust moans out lustfully in want, bucking his hips as he already knew the Dragon was getting hard again. He felt it against his own cock as he grinds against him ever so slowly.

"Nugghhhhnnn!!!" He was still touching and teasing his body, feeling his body aching in worse that he was already panting out aching in pleasure. His body needed his dragon! His need, his desire, it was making Rust lose it!!!

'I c..can't..I can't! I need it..I..I want it. He's been punishing me for a few days now b..but my body is burning. I want t..to be filled up again. I need his cock to f..fuck me. I need it..I need his heat..I want him t..to b..breed me!!!' he screams in his head but Rust lowers his shaking hands on the dragon's back to claw his skin drawing blood. The sweet smell of his blood, it already caused his eyes to turn red again growling in heat and need. Davion felt the nails to feel him push back.

"Hmm? Is something wrong my knight-" As he said that, he was pushed down by Rust and had his wrists but he was sitting on his lap looking down. Davion was quiet but he sees Rust shaking now. His body ached so badly in pleasure, needing his dragon to fill him up again. Anything to ease the heat away.

"Treasure, are you trying to misbehave again?" he asked but Rust slowly panted drooling while his sharp canine fangs were seen. Rust didn't hear his voice but he felt his body pulsing for his nails to cut Davion's skin drawing more blood.

'I c..can't..I..I need it..I want him to fuck me senseless...I...I need...' Rust was panting till he slowly lifts his head to his face but Davion felt himself hard at the sight.

"P..Please..I..I can't t..take it anymore....I can't take any more..I..I need it. My hole is s...so wet, it's aching for your heat......I want you t..to fuck me like the naughty knight I am....I been punished enough s..so please..please fuck me..I need it..I need my hole to be filled with your c...cum....I'll b...be good..I..I'll be a good treasure for you b..but please..please let me have it." he begs but his blond hair was covering one side of his face but one of his eyes looked back at him.

One bloody red eye looking lost in lust and hunger for his dragon. He couldn't take it anymore but he was already panting looking too suggestive for him. He even lifts his destroyer hand to slowly lick the blood off still shaking in need to lick his lips.

"P..Please d..davion.....please m..my dragon....please breed your knight...your kn..knight needs it..he needs you to break him on this fucking bed..so please..please fuck me.." he said begging that he was even grind his hips back to feel his cock against his rear. Davion already see his knight lost it but he grips Rust's hips hearing a gasp from him.

"Rust.." he warns but he didn't listen moaning softly while looking up.

"Please.....please....please f..fuck m..me....fuck m..me....fuck m..me!!"

Davion said nothing but he growls to grip his hips startling Rust who was now forced to lay on top of him. "You seriously are a greedy little thing!" he said grinding against his hole before slamming his cock deeply inside of Rust. Feeling that, Rust screams out gripping Davion's hair hard as he moans feeling his over sensitive hole filled up after so long! It twitched inside as Rust was crying in pleasure. Tightening around him even so suddenly making Davion rake his nails down Rust's back. "Ease up my treasure you gonna make me.." he warns but Rust was shaking dazed.

"S...s...so b..b..b..big...f..fuck your c...cock's t..too b.big..." he moans even if he was tightening around him loving it. He felt amazing inside. 'F..Finally....a..after so long h..he's back inside....it's inside of me again!'

"Fuck, you really are soooooo tight...." he panted but he only tightens his grip on Rust's waist to start slamming up and his hips down, hearing Rust's lustful slutty moans as he takes it.

"Ahhhhhh ahhhhhhh s..so hot..your thick d..dick it's h..hot...it's swelling up inside o..of me.." He lowers to feel the swollen lump in his lower stomach, aching for that burning heat. He needed Davion to cum inside!

"Haaaaa s..so big..so hot...It's t..too good..mmmmmm.." Suddenly Rust started slamming his hips down hard as Davion groans out feeling this. "Haaaa...grrnnnnn...."

"Haaaaaaaaa....aaahhhhhhh mmmmmmm..." 'H..He feels s..so good..it's too good. It's pulsing inside of me. I need him to cum..I want him to cum.....'

Rust was saying in his mind snapping his hips down as he drools moaning out like a girl. Davion feels him biting his neck still bucking his hips. He still didn't stop his hips, knowing Davion was letting him as he was twitching. 'D..davion..c..cum...p..please cum...." he begs.

"You better behave little treasure..I want to-" he stops speaking as Rust slams his hips down more rough drooling with him sitting up. His eyes closed while moaning out drooling. "P..Please...please cu..cum...cum cum cum cum cum please fucking cum!! Give it to me!!" he was begging loudly needing it as Davion grips his thighs before growling out snapping his hips up when his own cock cumming suddenly.

"Ahhhhh!!!!"

Rust's eyes shot open moaning out leaning back as his eyes were hidden by his blond hair. He heard the squelching and squishing noises of his hot heat filling him after so long, his body quaking in pleasure from the oragsm. "Haaaa...hhaaaaaa....O..ohhhh .f..fuck...ohhh f..fuck y..yes..s..so hot...so hot....."

'F..fuck h..he c..came...he finally c..came inside.....it's so thick inside....I'm getting full already..' he thought twitching from the feeling but he didn't know he misbehaved again that Davion growls now hungry for his knight.

"Sneaky little knight.." he heard the heated panting.

"H..Huh?" he feels the grip to look down shaking.

"If you missed it that much, then you better take my cock!" he said now sitting up but forces Rust to slam his hips down hard being filled to the brim with his cock.

"Ahhhhh!!!! Ahhhhhh Y..Yesssss! ahhhh f..fuck yes! I'll d..do what you w..want just please f..fuck me! I've m..missed mmmmm you filling me up inside!!!" He moans now feeling his hole taking it but his toes were curled, being fucked by his dragon. He screams wanting more as Davion growls fucking his knight to bite and kiss his neck. His own dragon teeth sinking into his skin while lapping up the blood.

It felt so good even if the biting stings a bit, hissing in a daze as Rust groans moaning out so loudly for Davion to hear. "Ahhhh Davion f..fuck p..please please....mmmmmmm....." he could hear his knight begging so sweetly for him that he pulls away from his bitten neck to push Rust on his back again. He panting whining to why he did that but feels his cock pull out twitching.

"H..Hey, w..why did you-" Rust felt his hips lifted up to be on his knees. "P..Put it back i..in..I..I'm not...AHHH!!" His eyes were wide feeling his dragon cock slam back inside his already wet and tight hole. He moans out shaking weakly to drool with tears. Davion grips his hips now slamming his hips forward roughly jackhammering against him as Rust was screaming ripping the sheets with his nails digging down into him.

"AHHHHH FUCK!!! FUCK FUCK FUCK Y...YESSSS YESSSS!! FUCK ME! FUCK YOUR SLUTTY KNIGHT!" He begs in a trance but Davion rests his chest on his back panting to feel his own body changing into a dragon to even feel his cock getting bigger leaving a lump down there.

"Haaaa Fuck what a naughty treasure mmmmm....Your so fucking naughty....you've been hungry for this that badly your already cumming. Heh, maybe I should do that more often when your a naughty little thing. Begging like this while I fuck you. Is that want you want? You wanted me this badly?" he growls even licking where he bit him as Rust was crying out shaking.

"Y..Yes! Yes that's w..want I w..want..haaaa I..I missed being full like this..I missed you biting me..I missed you being s..so deep inside of me. I n.need it..I need it so badly!!" he begs that he feels Davion's fingers touch his lips as he feels them slip in as he was sucking on his fingers. "Mfffmmm!!"

"Good to hear...but don't worry, I'll give you want you been hungry for but it seems you learned your lesson. But know this knight...if you misbehave again, I'll do this again..but I'll make sure you will be begging for me. Aching for me..craving for me and me alone....I'll make sure to breed you like the good mate you are. As long as you behave you'll get it but if not.." He licked against his ear. "I'll fuck you till your bloated with my heat. And keep on going till you beg me to break you and this bed. Do you understand me?" he said in a deep lustful tone that Rust shook. The way he spoke, oh he only shook.

"Well?" he asked now clawing his back hearing Rust hiss in pleasure drooling. It stung but felt good like Davion was going to eat him.

"Y...Yes s..sir...Yes, I understand. I..I'll be good just p..please don't keep me waiting any longer...please fuck me as much as you w..want..make me yours...just please...please I ne..need you." Hearing him beg was hot that Davion already looks to him with glowing amber eyes.

"Good boy...I'll be sure to do just that and I'll give you aftercare when we are done..for now....enjoy your punishment!" he growls to start pounding into him as Rust screams drooling feeling the bed shift. The bedboard slamming against the wall as cracks were seen. Rust moans drooling while he was taking it, missing this dragon's hot cock as he was being claimed.

"AHHHHH FUCK Y..YES GIVE IT TO ME, GIVE IT TO ME, GIVE IT T..TO ME! MAKE ME Y..YOURS! BREED M..ME!!" he begs loudly as Davion did just that. He slams his crotch against his rear, even spanking it due to Rust still having his wrists cuffed together but he licked his lips loving the view of his wet heated knight.

"Haaa don't worry my knight, I'll breed you as much as you want...all you need to do is take it like a good boy.." he growls doing that as the room was loud with his moans and slutty voice. Davion would savor this moment all in the while but he will be sure to give after care when they were done.

He was his treasure after all. <3

A few hours later, Davion was now in his humanoid dragon form panting heavily while laying on top of a weak shaky Rust. His treasure still taking in his cock while being given more of his cum while his voice was raspy like after screaming for so long. However, he did as Davion said taking in every bit of cum to the next load after the other.

"Haaaa grrrrrrr...." He keeps growling and panting, slamming his hips down as Rust was already crying in pleasure, drooling while his dragon claims him.

"Seems my treasure is broken so much..your already took so much of my cum your still so tight....but no worries, I'm going to keep giving you a bit more." he growls clawing his sides as Rust whines from it.

"ahhhhhh ahhhhhhhh m..more..g..give m..more....m...make me f..full...fill me up.." he begs that Davion was hearing his lustful weak moans really good that he turns his head to kiss him deeply. He felt his tongue push down into his mouth but Rust only twitched shutting his eyes as he lets him. Even now it still felt so good!!!

He keeps going only for Davion to break the kiss, hearing Rust crying out with eyes closed his tongue still hanging out a little while letting Davion breed him.

"D...davion..I..I'm f..feeling close a..again..." he moans that Davion panted still pounding away.

"Are you? Mmmm good then I'm close too my treasure....I'll give you one more so be sure you take it all." Gripping his hips Davion pounds ruthless into him as Rust screams resting his head on the pillow by him.

"Ahhhhh D..davion!!!!!"

"I know..just a little longer.." he groans still moving as Rust couldn't stop his moans of pleasure. His stomach felt so full with his heated seed but his body ached and was coated in claw marks and bites. He needed him to fill him up so much....it was already aching for it.

Both were lost in the heat, hearing Davion's growls and Rust's moans as their hips clap against one another. The building of heat growing between them as Davion was kissing his neck while Rust screams out feeling his cock throbbing wanting to cum. Even after all that, his body was reaching his limits.

"D..Davion I can't hhaaaaa I'm close! I can't hold it any longer!!"

"Haaa treasure....I'm.." He wanted to cum with Rust as he was already a wet crying mess.

"C..cum t..together..c..cum inside but t..together..I wanna cum together!" He begs as Davion was quickening his hips growling to grip his hips. As Rust felt that point of climax, Davion kissed him as Rust twitched. He yelps to shake feeling his cock cumming on the bed and Davion cumming deep inside of him.

Another load was going in as Rust was letting the dragon kiss him deeply feeling so full. Davion only held him but he was sure to break the kiss panting against Rust's lips.

"Haaaa..hhhhhaaaaaa...s..soo f...full...s..so much..."

"Good treasure...take every drop and don't let it spill..." he said praising him as Rust shook in his arms to get every drop. Both Davion and Rust just remain there for a while when Rust was too weak to move after all that. But it was worth it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

In a hot soothing bubble bath, Davion was carefully cleaning Rust up but he had his eyes closed. His face was flushed deeply murring from the gentle scrubbing against his skin. True, his demon blood will heal him but Davion was still doing aftercare while he cleans him up. And getting his seed out so he was also clean inside as well but he was careful. He seriously was cute.

"Mfffmmmmrrrrr..." He was almost like a purring relaxed pet smiling a bit but Davion smiled finding him precious to let him soak in the bath to help with his muscles and the sore ness. After he was done, he got Rust one, dries him and puts him in some clothing to let him rest. He held him against his chest while petting his head seeing him asleep.

"Zzzzzz...zzzzzzzz..."

"Heh, cute. Hope I didn't break him too much but...at least he's so freaking cute when he sleeps." He smiled only to kiss the top of his head seeing Rust curl up more in his arms. He hopes Rust sleeps and rests well after this. But it was pretty fun with more in the future to come. For now, he relaxed to enjoy his vacation with his knight.

[johnsamericano]

𝔖𝔲𝔤𝔞𝔯 ℜ𝔲𝔰𝔥 𝔧.𝔧.𝔥

Hi everyone! As promised, here’s one of the two most voted fic continuations. There will be more chapters to this story though I'm not sure how many yet. Thank you for reading!

warnings: sugar daddy jae, mentions of injuries and hospitals, language.

taglist: @thoreeo @trustmahluv

Sugar rush m.list.

The machine monitoring your father’s heartbeat was the only sound filling the quiet hospital room, where your once healthy father laid unconscious, his perfect, chiseled cheeks adorned with cuts and bruises. Would they leave a mark?

The machine monitoring your father’s heartbeat was the only sound filling the quiet hospital room, where your once healthy father laid unconscious, his perfect, chiseled cheeks adorned with cuts and bruises. Would they leave a mark?

The machine monitoring your father’s heartbeat was the only sound filling the quiet hospital room, where your once healthy father laid unconscious, his perfect, chiseled cheeks adorned with cuts and bruises. Would they leave a mark?

The machine monitoring your father’s heartbeat was the only sound filling the hospital room, where your once healthy father laid unconscious, his perfect, chiseled cheeks adorned with cuts and bruises. Would they leave a mark?

The machine monitoring your father’s heartbeat was the only sound filling the hospital room, where your once healthy father laid unconscious, his perfect, chiseled cheeks adorned with cuts and bruises. Would they leave a mark?

Where did everything go wrong?

Your string of thoughts was cut off by a call from your aunt.

Your string of thoughts was cut off by a call from your aunt.

“Hello?” Your voice was raspy from not using it. There was no one to talk to in the quiet, hospital room but the nurses, who weren't especially keen on chatting.

“How’s your dad, sweetie?”

“They let him out of ICU, but he doesn't look good to me.” Your fingers traced the cuts in his chiseled cheeks that would soon turn into scars, ruining his perfect skin. Your eyes then diverted to his head, thoroughly covered in bandages to protect his damaged skull.

“Honey, I've got bad news...”

“They rejected the case, didn't they?”

“Not precisely.” She deeply inhaled before continuing. “It’s a tough case, almost impossible to win, nonetheless, they're willing to take it. But their fee is a little...”

“Expensive.”

“Yes.”

As expected from the best firm in town, they wouldn't take less than $8,000. Your bank account didn't have enough money to even cover half of it, and with your job at the convenience store, you'd only earn so much to cover your expenses.

“We can take the lawyer that the government provides us with, it would be free.”

“But then I'm sure we’d lose.” You groaned in frustration, using your free hand to rub your forehead. “Don’t worry, I'll find a way to get the money.”

“Why don't we just accept the compensation they're offering? It could pay for the hospital bills and you'd still have some left to pay for your tuition.”

“That would be like putting a price on my father's life. I don't want their money, I want them to make themselves responsible for what they've caused.” The sound of wheels approached the door of your father's room, signaling the nurse was outside with his meds. “It’s okay, Auntie, I'll take care of everything. You can go back home, I know my uncle isn't doing so well.”

“Are you sure, darling?” It was undeniable that she wanted to head back to her little ranch fat away from the hectic city life to take care of her sick husband, but still, her brother was laying down on a hospital bed, fighting for his life.

“Yes, I'm an adult, I'll find a way.”

“Take care of yourself, and don't hesitate to call me if you're having any difficulties. I'll be there in the blink of an eye.” She said before sending a kiss into the speaker, proceeding to hang up.

You sighed. It was never usual for you to ask for help, as you were an extremely prideful and independent person, and you doubted this time would be different.

“Don’t worry, dad. Everything will be alright.”

Three failed job interviews and one more to go. Your feet were killing you, the high heels covering them already worn out from walking to avoid taking the bus. Every penny counted, and as long as your legs worked, you weren't spending any more money than what was necessary.

You sat down in the waiting room of the company, massaging your neck to relieve some tension. College was becoming a burden. Maybe you'd take a semester off to focus on working, that is if someone wanted to hire an inexperienced student.

“Y/n, Y/l/n?”

“Here.” You darted up, gathering your belongings to enter the room on which your life almost literally depended.

You gave all the right answers, earning a polite ‘we’ll contact you’ in return. But you could see that they weren't convinced with your lack of experience, no company in their right mind would be.

As soon as you arrived at your apartment, you slid out of the uncomfortable pencil skirt, tucking yourself under the covers with your phone screen almost hitting your nose.

To take your mind off things, you decided to watch some videos. Halfway in, an ad popped up, interrupting the interior deco video you were watching.

A picture of a girl about your age hugging an older man was right in the middle of your screen. Written with fancy letters, the words ‘make your life simpler’ could be read, followed by what you guessed was the title of the app. Sugar rush.

Out of pure curiosity, your finger tapped at the small icon that led to the app store, absentmindedly clicking the download button. A few seconds later, an icon with the letters ‘SR’ was added to your home screen.

“Log in?” You murmured out loud, squinting your eyes to adjust your eyes to the bright, white homepage.

Just as you were about to click out, the phrase from the ad reappeared, stopping your finger from moving any further.

You could always delete your account if something went wrong, right? Nonetheless, you decided to use a false name, and that's how Melanie Kim’s profile was created. You left the circle of your profile picture empty for now, only filling the spaces that asked about your likes, dislikes, age, and all that stuff that people care about so much.

You knew what the app was for, but that didn't stop you from being surprised when a list of men and women of different ages greeted you. Right then, a small rectangle obstructed your sight, two buttons offering opposite things.

‘Pick the role you'd like to develop.’

Sugar daddy/mommy / Sugar baby.

Clearly, you didn’t have nor the money or the years to be the first, so you clicked the opposite button without giving it more thought.

‘Welcome. You've been registered as a sugar baby at Sugar rush. Meet thousands of men and women willing to finance you for free!’

You hummed.

‘As we're always looking to make our users’ experience better, we've developed Sugar Rush premium, a membership to meet the richest and hottest people in your surroundings. Get the premium version for only $5.95 a month. Click here to get Sugar Rush premium.’

Your finger pad was dangerously close to the blue button, almost grazing the screen of the phone. It was then when you were pulled out of your trance, blinking as if just then you'd realized what you were doing.

“I must be crazy.” You turned off your phone, not bothering to turn on an alarm for the next day. You had no interviews left. You had nowhere to go.

Waking up was getting harder with every passing day. Not being able to call your dad to go out for breakfast or even sending a simple good morning message hurt you deeply. You missed him. But seeing him laying down on a hospital bed, unable to do anything by himself, was even worse.

Ding

A notification filled the silence in your room.

‘Come back, you haven't finished setting up your account yet!’

You scoffed at your past self. What were you even thinking when you downloaded the app?

You simply turned off the phone before standing up to take a relaxing shower. As the water soaked up your tense body, your mind started wandering off back to the app. A million what-ifs filled your head, nonetheless, there was one that remained the most persistent.

‘What if this can pay for a lawyer?’

Your part-time job surely couldn't, and you had no one to assist you financially speaking. The whole idea of paying that ridiculous membership seemed more tempting as your fingers started getting wrinkly under the showerhead.

You decided to take some time to consider it, after all, you still had a week to give the lawyers an answer.

Hot soup seemed like a good option to comfort you, and thankfully, there was a store right in front of your place that claimed to sell the best soups in town.

It wasn't bad, but not nearly as good as the one your dad cooked when you were a kid. You sighed, wondering if you'd ever be able to eat it again. Just then, a woman about your age came into the shop, carrying a couple of bags where names of popular brands could be read. A pinch of jealousy made your heart stir as you glanced at yourself through the reflection in the glass at your side. You looked devastated, your skin pale and your cheekbones slightly sunken, a sign of the lack of rest and food you'd been getting.

Out of pure impulse, you pulled out your phone, clicked on the app you'd recently downloaded, and finally accepted the charges for a premium membership.

‘Welcome, new member of our wide community, click ok to get started!’

Well, no turning back now.

Right after pressing the blue letters with your thumb, you were presented with a list of potential prospects, some of them including pictures, some of them only including name and a brief description of what they were looking for. The minority included their ages, but most left the space blank.

A bunch of old men looking for a youthful, pretty woman to be by their sides, some of them even went as far as writing the weight and height their ideal partner should have. Of course, there were also some women in the look for young meat, but the number of men overpassed them.

About to exit the app in defeat, a profile caught your eye. His pale pink hair was parted, allowing his thick eyebrows to stand out. His high cheekbones made him look like a statue, the details in his face almost too perfect for a mere human. He must be the incarnation of a Greek God, you thought.

‘Jung Yoonoh. 41 years old. Owner of N & C.’

“Should I...?” You asked yourself in a voice lower than a whisper.

He has probably gotten hundreds of messages, so what would be the point of sending one yourself? Your eyes scanned the picture over and over again as the remains of your soup started getting cold.

He was probably the only acceptable man in the whole app, so why not give it a try?

You already spent five whole dollars on it, might as well make it worth the money.

‘Hi.’ Sent.

“Holy crap.” You breathed out, regretting every single action that led you to take such a stupid decision. “Ah!” You squeaked as three small dots appeared beside his profile picture, signaling he was writing a reply.

What if he rejected you right from the beginning? God, that would be so humiliating. His message stopped your train of thought.

‘Hi!’

Followed by:

‘How are you?’

Sweating like a pig, thank you for asking.

‘Fine. You?’ Read.

‘Thrilled. No one had messaged me since I created my account two weeks ago.’

‘How is that possible?’ You imprinted your thoughts on a message.

‘It’s hard to trust people nowadays. I guess people might think either my picture is photoshopped or I'm lying about my job.’

‘Their loss, ig.’ Read.

He was taking some time to answer. Had you said something inappropriate?

‘Hahaha.’

The conversation stopped there, as you didn't know how exactly to answer his message. But a few minutes later, another text from him popped up at your chat.

‘If you're okay with it, we can start talking about a possible arrangement.’

Already? You've known each other for like five minutes. But then again, arrangements were the whole purpose of the app.

‘Sure.’

‘May I ask your reasons for joining the app?’

‘I need urgent money, but my job doesn't pay nearly enough.’ You omitted the part of your agonizing father, he didn't need to know that. ‘And you?’

‘I need someone to be my partner at public spaces.’

‘Alright.’ Read.

‘Do you happen to have some free time tomorrow at lunchtime? I think it’d be better to meet first before making any decisions.’

‘Yeah, I'm free.’

‘Great, I’ll send you the address.’

You thought a day would be enough to prepare yourself, but time passed by quicker than usual, and soon enough, it was time to get ready for your meeting with Mr. Jung. He was only a few years younger than your father, and calling him by his first name wouldn't feel right.

Unsure if you should wear something formal, you threw on a beige (the color you'd agreed on wearing so it’d be easier to recognize each other) summer dress, pairing it with the gold hoops you'd inherited from your grandma to make it look more elegant.

The hardest part of your routine was makeup. Your sunken cheeks couldn't be covered, and only after a few layers of blush and highlighter, you could bring your skin back to life.

On your way to the cafe, you went through the things you'd say when you met him. It was your chance to get your father what he needed.

You stood at the entrance with wide, scared eyes, shyly scanning through the place to look for your date.

“Melanie?” A hand on your shoulder had you jolting. “I’m Jung Yoonoh, nice to meet you.”

What you saw after turning around was breathtaking. A handsome, healthy man, with the most beautiful pair of dimples.

“Nice to meet you.” You managed to blurt out without stuttering, extending your hand to make the greeting more formal. The fake name didn’t seem necessary anymore. “It’s actually y/n, I didn't want to use my real name.”

“I understand. Let’s take a seat.” He offered with a kind smile.

He left you seating at the terrace while he made your order, a latte, and a chocolate cookie. Your fingers played with your hoops anxiously, trying to regulate your breath.

“They’ll bring our food in just a sec.” He offered a warm smile. “Your dress is pretty.” Yoonoh said out of nowhere.

“Thank you.”

“I see you're not a chatty person.” You were about to object, but he started speaking again. “It's not a bad thing! I usually talk a lot, so it’s a nice way to balance things.”

You nodded, seemingly uncomfortable with the man sitting in front of you.

“So, uhm, this is my first time doing this, so I'm not really sure where to begin.” He pulled out a folded paper from the front pocket of his dressing pants. “It’s a bit creased, but I can always print another one. I brought it so you could take a look and let me know if you wanted to change anything. I don't mean to pressure you, but you said it was urgent, so...”

You read the paper under his attentive gaze, making sure not to miss a single word. Everything seemed correct, except...

“Six months?”

“Is that too much?” A small wrinkle formed between his eyebrows, a sign of deep concentration. “Okay, so let's do this instead.”

He took back the contract, pulling out a pen from the pocket in his dressing shirt to correct the original stipulations.

“Four months, and if by the end of them you don't absolutely hate me, we can extend the time. Deal?”

“Just one more thing.”

You cleared your throat, conscious that your following words might jeopardize the whole arrangement.

“Are you sure you want to make it official already?” You had to stop for a moment as the waiter left your orders on top of the wooden table. “I mean, it's not that I have a problem with it, but it's your money and maybe you'd like to give it a better thought.” You resumed.

“The fact that you're concerned about me proves I'm making the right choice. Now, tell me, how much would you like to receive as a weekly allowance?”

Would it be too reckless to ask him straight up for the $8,000?

“H-how much are you willing to give me?” You felt dirty, accepting a stranger’s money like that.

“Whatever you need.” His hand suddenly reached forward to yours, causing every ounce of blood in your body to rush to your face. “There’s no need to be embarrassed, I'm here to help you.” His voice tone dropped, acquiring an almost soothing feeling.

“I need eight thousand by Thursday, next week.” His eyes were wide open, mouth having difficulties remaining closed. “I-I know it's too much, but...”

“I can find a way to give you that money, but I'd like to know the reason why you need it. Just to make sure it's nothing illegal.”

You puffed your cheeks, trying to find an excuse good enough to justify the amount of money you were asking for.

“It isn’t illegal, is it?”

“No!” You retrieved your hand from below his, now embarrassed at the possibility of him having a bad image of you. “I need it for my father.”

“I suppose you don't want to talk about it.” He started at his palm, lips pressed in a thin life. “But when it comes to arrangements like this, we need to trust each other, alright?” You barely knew each other, yet, he demanded to know a very personal detail of your life. Not that he didn't have a good reason for wanting to know, it wasn't a particularly small amount of money.

“He had an accident at work...” You started, fearful of looking up to find pity in his eyes. “I need a lawyer to make his company legally responsible. They intend to throw it under the rug and pay a somewhat decent amount of money to make it go away. The firm I intend to hire is supposedly the best in town, probably my only chance of getting justice.”

“And why don't you just accept it? There's no guarantee that your lawyer will win the case.” You fisted the delicate fabric of your dress, eyes watering as you tried to hold back your anger.

“My father’s life is priceless, and if you think what I'm doing is a waste of money, then fine, we can both look for someone else to help us.” It sounded more aggressive than you'd first intended, but you meant every word that came out of your mouth.

Before you could even stand up, his slim fingers had already wrapped themselves around your wrist.

“I never said that.” He whispered with an almost sad tone. “Come on, sit down.”

He tugged at your arm the slightest, showing off his charming dimples once again.

“I’ll give you the money on one condition...” He raised one of his thick eyebrows. “I’ll go with you to see the lawyer.”

“Why...?”

“That’s my condition, take it or leave it.”

“Okay.”

The days before your meeting with your potential lawyer were nerve-wracking. You'd seen Yoonoh another time to sign the contract, which finally made your arrangement official.

You’d visit your father every day, always hoping he'd be sitting with his arms wide open, ready to hug you. But nothing had changed ever since he first came into that room.

“I’m here to see Mr. Kim.” The secretary's gaze lingered on Jaehyun a few seconds before he finally snapped out of it. “Y/n Y/l/n.”

“Just a second.” He opened his agenda and quickly found your appointment. With a warm smile, he guided you through the corridors of the building, all the way to the elevator. “It’s the only office on the last floor, I'll be at my desk if you need anything.”

Once again, he shot Jae an uneasy glance before the metal doors slid close.

“What was all that?” To be honest, you couldn't care less. But a small chat might calm your nerves and prevent you from throwing up all over the place.

“What do you mean?” He grinned, pressing the button to the top floor.

“You know what I mean.” You scoffed, annoyed at his evasive behavior.

“We just happen to know each other, nothing special.” Before the conversation could continue, a loud ding resonated through the metal cubicle. “Let’s go.” His hand found its place at the small of your back, pushing you towards the glass door. Through it, you could see a black-haired man reading a pile of documents, occasionally raising a photo to examine it with his gold-rimmed glasses supported at the bridge of his elegant nose.

Jaehyun extended his arm over your shoulder to knock on the door, earning an almost annoyed ‘come in’ from the man inside.

“Let’s go.” Once again invading your personal space, he reached for the doorknob with you trapped between his arms.

As soon as the door opened, the man raised his eyes from the documents he was checking.

“What are you doing here, Jung?”

“I knew something was off...” You murmured, loud enough for the man at your side to chuckle.

“I brought you a client, you should be happy.”

“Miss y/n, I suppose. Have a seat.” His demeanor completely changed while speaking directly to you. “I spoke with your aunt last week, she explained the details of the lawsuit, but I must say, it isn't an easy case.”

“I know that, but I've been told you're the best firm in town, I know I'll have more possibilities of winning if you're my lawyer.”

“Best firm in town my ass.”

“Be silent or I’ll kick you out of the building.”

That was enough for Yoonoh to zip his mouth. For a while at least.

“I suppose she also told you about our fee.” He pushed his glasses up using his thumb. “We’d also keep 25% of the lawsuit money assuming we win the case, is that okay with you?”

“Yes-”

“Okay, stop.”

“I’ll call security, Jung.”

“Look at me, y/n.” He squeezed your arms. “This clown is trying to scam you...” He pointed his finger at the lawyer without breaking eye contact. “You’d be spending loads of money for someone who isn't even confident in his abilities. It isn't worth it.”

“And I suppose you'd do better than me, then.” The black-haired man scoffed. “If that's the case, then you can both leave. I'm quite busy at the moment.” With a turn of his wrist, he signaled you to leave the room.

You were fuming, stomping out of the building with Jaehyun right behind you.

“I found a great restaurant nearby, we can go there and-”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Calm down-”

“Don’t tell me to calm down when you just fucked up my only chance to give those bastards what they deserve.” The sun was starting to set, yellow light casting shadows over his tender cheeks.

“Can you listen to me for a second?”

“Are you laughing right now?” You bit your lip, hard, trying to hold back the tsunami of tears threatening to come out of your eyes. “Asshole.”

“Ouch.” He furrowed his eyebrows mockingly. Oh, how close you were to punch that pretty face of his. “Can I explain now?”

You remained silent, staring at the ground with the smallest frown between your eyebrows.

“How do you think I know Kim Doyoung?” Before even giving you a chance to answer, he continued. “That son of a bitch has been stealing my clients for ages.”

“Your clients...?”

“He isn't even that good of a lawyer compared to me.” He scoffed with fake arrogance.

“You're a lawyer?!” You slammed your palms into your face, whining at the newly acquired information. “Why didn't you tell me from the beginning?”

“Just wanted to swing by and annoy him a bit. Don't worry, I wasn't gonna let you accept his deal.” He winked playfully.

The sun was now hidden, the sky darkening as the moon rose to take its shift.

“Though I gotta say, I'm kinda offended I wasn't even an option. I'm a pretty great lawyer, you know?”

“Sorry.”

“I’ll forgive you if you join me for dinner. What do you say?”

As you walked into the darkness of the streets, his shoulder occasionally bumping yours, you wondered if meeting him was a casualty. Maybe the world was finally smiling at you.

[matt-the-radar-techncian]

when I think about this, i feel like when Rose is being compared to other characters who made some questionable decisions, arguably a lot more questionable than hers, people are a little bit more harder on Rose?

Like for an example when Anakin Skywalker is talked about, it seems people are a little bit more easy on him? Sure, people also acknowledge that this is the guy who slaughtered defenseless younglings who looked up to him and did and involved of a lot of fucked up shit as Darth Vader but I don't see the same level of aggression with him like people do with Rose/Pink. Maybe I'm a bit wrong but I assume it may have something to do with the fact that Palpatine was manipulating Anakin, the Jedi Council being part of the reason why he fell to the dark side and being paranoid about Padme's fate thanks to those visions of her suffering as she was giving birth to Luke and Leia and he couldn't explicitly say that to the council or even Obi-Wan (who i believe would have his back and been supportive) because of that fear he had of being expelled from the Jedi Order and likely thought that his reputation wouldn't matter when considering what happened to Ahsoka (who was like loyal to the Jedi Order until that framing thing happen and most of the council turned against her) and the fact that attachments and love are forbidden among the Jedi Order and those reasons are why people are seemingly more sympathetic, empathetic and more understanding to Anakin then Rose?

It's kinda weird to say but yeah. Also related to this, do you think Anakin and Rose has some things in common other than the fact that both was burying the the past of the people they once were (Anakin to Vader and Pink to Rose respectfully) and are more or less opposites of each other?

Ooh this is a good one. It probably has to do with how each character is presented and how much time the viewer spends with them

In the case of Rose we're originally shown only glimpses of a character that is idolized. Then we get a few flashbacks showing what she was like towards the end of her life. And then you start to learn more and more about what she did earlier, and some of it is pretty morally gray. People got the sense that the show wanted them to think she was a terrible person because it only seemed interested in focusing on her mistakes

Compare this to Anakin/Darth Vader. In the Original Trilogy he's pretty one-dimensionally evil, and you only see a few cracks in that persona when he shows some level of care for Luke. Even so, he does do the right thing at the end, and his death is shown as very poignant and even sad. This makes the audience think "he was a bad guy, but he did the right thing when it counted," although I doubt very many people would say he's a "good person" after finishing just the OT.

Then you have the Prequels and especially The Clone Wars where Anakin is a main character. Now you have a character who hasn't done all those bad things yet so you feel better rooting for him, and it's a lot easier to look past all of his terrible actions (most of which he hasn't even done yet in the first place)

Basically it's because Rose is initially presented as good and perfect, but eventually the cracks start to show and in past she was much less perfect than you originally thought. Meanwhile with Vader it's the opposite, you're initially shown this monstrous more-machine-than-man, who is later shown to have had a much more sympathetic backstory. It doesn't matter if what Anakin did was pretty clearly morally worse than anything Pink Diamond did, or that Pink made some mistakes in her youth and tried to change them while Anakin started off good and then descended into darkness, what matters is the final impression that the audience is left with. All that matters is that Rose is a lot worse than you thought, and that Anakin is a lot better than you thought, and that change in perspective is more impactful than the actual magnitude of their actions, at least for some viewers

There's also the fact that Anakin just appears in way more content than Rose does. Rose only appears in a few flashback-centric episodes per season, meanwhile Anakin is the main character of 3 movies and over a hundred episodes of TCW before he's put into the Vader suit, so it's simply a lot easier to get attached to him, especially in TCW where he's much more likable. Can you imagine if the only content we got of Anakin was a few flashbacks scattered throughout the Original Trilogy, and if the PT and TCW didn't exist? You wouldn't have anyone saying that he's sympathetic at all, you might even get people criticizing the movie for "trying to get you to feel sorry for an evil murderer." I suspect if there were more episodes featuring Rose/Pink as the main character (or even a movie or other spinoff) whether set during her rebellion or any other time period, people would be a lot more forgiving of her, simply because they've had more time to get to know her

It's also just that the SU fandom has a unique aversion to liking characters who have done "bad things." Back when the show was first airing, you had people getting very defensive about liking "toxic" characters, saying that you're not allowed to be a fan of Jasper, Lapis, and even Pearl at one point because of their past actions. (See also: people saying that the ending of Change Your Mind is actually fascist propaganda because Steven doesn't somehow shatter all the diamonds.) This mindset definitely doesn't play well with the nuanced nature of Rose's character or presentation

It's a level of purity-chasing that I've never seen before or since in another fandom. It's not like people who like Anakin as a character think he "did nothing wrong," they just appreciate a character who starts off good and then is corrupted by evil, only to break out of it at the very end. For some reason lots of SU fans just couldn't latch onto Rose's story about growing up in a controlling family and breaking out of it in order to try and do good, even though all the pieces are right there in the show. All they care about is "she did bad things and that means I hate her"

Interestingly, I never saw this level of hate towards Peridot, so it's not like the fandom can't accept that characters can change for the better after doing bad things, so I think it comes down to the audience not looking beyond what is directly shown and thinking about what characters' overall arcs and motivations are. The exploration of Rose's character was very nonlinear, Lapis is absent for long stretches of the show, and even some of Pearl's actions don't make perfect sense until you look at them in hindsight after the show is over. The average Rose hater only sees the actions happening onscreen in the moment and doesn't look at the bigger picture of the character

Compare this to another character like Eren Jaeger who, again, has done things far worse than any dictator in history. He also started off as a young and good-hearted kid, but we watch him get more and more extreme until he almost doesn't feel like the same character at the end. People who like Eren don’t think he's morally correct, they just want to see a plucky protagonist turn into a ruthless anti-hero. (In fact, the biggest criticism people have of Attack on Titan is at the very end where the manga tries to make Eren seem more sympathetic. Sometimes people just want to watch a guy go crazy and try to destroy the world)

[razberryyum]

TGCF donghua Episode 11 Thoughts (SPOILERS for episode and novel!)

Ok I didn't think they were actually going to kiss, BUT for a heart-stopping second I thought they were gonna get close enough before cutting away. Just to tease us, if for no other reason. I actually held my breath. It was still a big tease nonetheless but I am still grateful for the scene because my God was it beautifully done. The focus on Dianxia's lips as he says Hua Cheng's name, the way his breath catches as HC leans closer, the world fading away around them, HC's ponytail gently falling forward just so, the way they just focus on his lips just as if from Dianxia's POV....all of it just screams romance. Once again, that was all the work of the donghua's team. In the book, this moment occurs when they're actually back at Puqi Shrine, and Xie Lian's actually in the middle of cleaning a table when he very nonchalantly addresses Hua Cheng by his name. It was cute because Dianxia did it so casually but hardly THIS romantic. So, really, hats off to the donghua team!

Actually other than that last scene, of course I am grateful to the donghua team for many other moments in this episode. To start, whenever they show San Lang protecting Dianxia.

We know Xie Lian can definitely take care of himself, but I appreciate that Hua Cheng's instinct is always to protect him anyway. I actually thought that's why he gave himself the name," Hua Cheng". The words translate to "Flower City", and in the olden days, a city had walls protecting the people in it, so I figured that Hua Cheng chose this name to represent how he will always protect Xie Lian, that his protection is all encompassing. Lol, I can't wait to find out how wrong I am.

Even though Hua Cheng's fight with Pei Su was mostly off screen and limited to quick flashes of swords clashing, what they did show of Hua Cheng in his "real" form was DELICIOUS.

I am grateful to the donghua team for Hua Cheng's adorable reaction to Dianxia being cheeky. Too precious!

Our General Hua looking like a god in armor...and the way he made bis appearance in that scene too, like a savior coming to rescue mankind...or in this case, Banyue.

This scene actually made me tear up. I don't remember thinking Pei Su was that attached to Banyue when reading the book, but that might've been my fault for not paying close enough attention when HuaLian weren't directly involved. I was actually wondering how they were going to conclude the Banyue arc in just one episode since it felt like they would have to pack a lot into just 20 mins or so, but I think they did a really good job of wrapping it up. Didn't feel rushed or that anything important was missing.

I love both of them already, but I want to especially commend the donghua team's character design for The Wind Master. I don't want to spoil anything for those who haven't read the book, but trust me when I say THAT is a brilliant bit of character design. They will have to change two things about her next season but it's like she's mostly there already. 😂 I also love her voice and voice performance (by VA Qiu Qiu), so perfect for the character. I seriously cannot wait to see more of her next season, especially after hearing that news about the VA. 😁

I guffawed. This was a bit of brilliance too. Man, I just love the donghua team! They really did such a GREAT JOB bringing TGCF to life. I mean, is there really anyone who hates this adaptation?? I guess if you weren't into Xie Lian and Hua Cheng's relationship, the case of the week parts might be a bit underwhelming, but what I appreciate about them is that they inevitably link back to Dianxia and his past, or introduce us to new characters which then opens up the world. They always have a purpose, leading to bigger things. As a first season I think it was pretty strong, what they changed from the source material were usually positive alterations. I mean, I'm reading the book now because of this show, after putting it off for so long, so I'm definitely converted.

I do have to say though that the season did end on a rather odd note since it felt like there should have been just a few more beats before the end credits. It was a little abrupt imho, but it still is miles better than poor SVSSS's season finale, which ended on a freaking scene transition.

Of course there's still that special HuaLian episode on February 16th, so I guess technicallyyyyy this first season hasn't quite ended yet. The special looks to be picking up right where this episode leaves off: with Dianxia having a conversation with Hua Cheng back at Puqi Shrine about his role as Ghost King and other related topics. I'm not sure why it's airing a month and a half later, or why on February 16th instead of Valentine's Day, but I'm not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth. I'm just grateful we have more TGCF and HuaLian to look forward to. Second season is already in production, and apparently the theme song for it will drop tomorrow! A live action has been announced which they're still casting, and honestly some of those casting choices scare me so depending on who they end up deciding on, I might just gonna stay away from that completely and stick with the donghua and book.

Novel Reading Progress...about to finish Book 2... SPOILERS

MXTX-laoshi is a total sadist giving us THAT kind of sex pollen scene when nothing could be done cuz Hua Cheng's still a little bean sprout...I love Dianxia, love him more now knowing he was a pretty flawed human being, that he's absolutely not perfect...his heart is warm but his actions are sometimes quite cold...I blame his privileged upbringing and his youth and inexperience for some of his rash decisions...he means well but of course the road to hell is pathed with good intentions...wish he would stop forgetting about little Hua Cheng though, poor baby...the more I read about the human face disease the more I don't want to...just, overall, I feel this heavy weight on my heart now because I know things are going to go from worse to utter calamitous shit soon. I am SCARED, preparing my heart for breakage.

To read the TGCF novel: https://tgcfmxtx.carrd.co/

[firemblem-fics]

Running With the Wolves [1]

preview | >>

-> Yuri Leclarc x Fem!Reader

-> Modern!Au | Gang!Au | Enemies to Lovers

-> Word Count: ~3.3k

-> Warnings: Violence, Blood, Cursing, Weapons

-> Summary: You were just a normal college student, trying to find her way in a new place. You didn’t mean to get caught up in the wrong crowd. You just wanted coffee, but now you’re running with the wolves.

-> A/N: SURPRISE I POSTED IT EARLY ! thanks to my lovely beta readers for helping me revise and edit this chapter to make it better! i’m still in a writing mental block but i think this is one step closer to getting out of it! so, please enjoy (again)! also, all characters are aged up (21+)! also y’all should reblog this so it gets out more 🥺

send me an ask if you’d like to be on the taglist!

"Fuck- She's losing too much blood, Boss, she's not gonna make it!"

"No, no. She's going to make it- I'll make sure of it. Stay alive!"

Your vision was dark and blurry- you couldn't quite see anything. You could only make out a few silhouettes hovering above you, each one rushing around and yelling frantically. You couldn't count how many were there. Your vision kept doubling and it was hard to discern one person from three. Focusing just caused things to get worse.

"Someone put pressure on the damn wound! She certainly won't make it if you all keep messing around."

It was only now that you noticed a sharp pain radiating from your chest, right below your ribs. You gasped loudly and coughed. It hurt worse than the throbbing that already coursed through your head. Your body burned.

Trying to look down, you saw a rag soaked in blood. Hands with bright nails pressed down on your wound to slow the flow, but it didn't seem to be helping. You started feeling dizzy and laid back again, clenching your eyes tight as nausea engulfed you.

"No, keep your eyes open, Y/N, dammit! Wake up!"

Slowly, the pain began fading, as did your view of the people above you and their voices. You could still barely hear the voice crying, sobbing out your name. Whoever they were, they were crushed.

"Wake up!"

Was that voice finally fading away too?

"Wake up!"

No- it was getting louder.

"Wake up!"

"Ellie, what the fuck do you want?" You groaned, rolling over on your bed.

Your roommate bounced on her knees, making your bed creak loudly. "What do you mean? It's like 10am, your class is at 11. Don’t talk to me with that tone of voice."

"Fuck me."

"Absolutely not, baby." Ellie smacked a pillow beside you and got up. "Get ready!" She went to her own room, leaving you to your own devices.

When you applied for an apartment roommate, Ellie was certainly not the one you were expecting. You would've preferred a chill, laid-back, person. Instead, Eleonora Yumizuru walked into your life (and apartment) and practically made herself at home. She didn't judge you from transferring so far away from your old home for your last year of college, claiming that "home roots don't mean shit when it comes to making it in the real world".

She had the right to say such a thing, having moved to Fodlan from another country in her youth. She was able to understand the occasional homesickness and help you cope as you adjusted to Fodlan life. She understood you like the back of her hand from the moment you met and you did the same for her.

Really, you had to let her move in. She’d probably have stayed even if you rejected her.

She was the complete opposite of what you were looking for- overconfident, stubborn, loud- but she grew on you and easily became your best friend. There was just something about the bubbly, blue-eyed, blonde-bobbed bitch that hooked you.

She had certainly hooked other people as well, but thank God her bedroom is on the other side of the apartment. Her social skills and magnetic personality worked for platonic friends and acquaintances as well. Ellie was constantly bringing over friends, allowing you to expand your own circle. She was heaven-sent for a newbie like you.

You sat up from your bed, yawning and stretching. Trudging to your bathroom, you rolled your eyes as the infamous Taylor Swift blared through Ellie's speakers, "Shake it Off" shaking the entire apartment. Nothing against T. Swift, but sometimes she was not the first thing you want to hear when you wake up. At least not at max volume. Ignoring the song switching to "You Belong With Me" -another banger from Swift herself, but really "Teardrops on My Guitar” was your favorite- you finished getting ready and lazed into Ellie's room.

"I've got class 'till late today." You sat on her bed. "Do you want me to pick up dinner? It’ll let me explore the area."

"Oh, please do. You need to get out more. But where?"

You shrugged. "There's really only like two good food places here. Golden Pizza and Blue Lion Buffet. Your choice."

Ellie thought for a moment. "I went to the buffet with my little friend Touma the other day... so pizza! I just can't choose a side in their little spat."

"Spat?" You tilted your head.

"Goodness, Y/N! I know you're a little new here, but you haven't even heard of the shit that goes on between those restaurant owners?"

Shaking your head, you stayed silent for her to continue.

"The owners of Blue Lion Buffet, Eagle's Freezery, and Golden Pizza are all huge rivals. I heard they were all close, but went their separate ways. All the owners' kids are our age, too. They go to Fodlan Uni, but I don't know who they are." She smiled. "I am an esteemed woman with an upcoming high status. Who would I be to take sides? I prefer to cater to them all."

You could only nod, hiding a smirk at Ellie’s infatuation of fame. A huge restaurant rivalry. How funny. "What about that little cafe on the corner? What's it called? Café des Loups?"

"They're pretty neutral, just some college dropouts trying to make some money. I think they’re gonna get involved eventually- every restaurant’s been dragged into their drama at least once."

You nodded, standing up and messing with your apartment keys. "I'll keep that in mind. Bye, Ellie!"

"Bye! I better see some pizza later!" She called as you made your way out of the apartment, now playing "I Knew You Were Trouble".

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

College was honestly a scam.

You sat in the classes for two hours at a time, for what? You were paying thousands of dollars to be talked at by old dusty men who made you fall asleep faster than trying to read their overpriced textbooks. You paid thousands to nap at a desk.

Unfortunately for you, though, your thousand dollar desk nap was interrupted by a tapping on the surface. You huffed and looked up, coming face to face with a pair of soft, orange eyes. They radiated kindness and just looking into them seemed to lift your mood immediately.

"Hey, you need to wake up for this part. The professor said there's gonna be a quiz on this section tomorrow."

You shot up, looking back at your professor. Blushing embarrassedly, you smiled at the boy. "Thank you..."

"Ferdinand." He drew his bottom lip in between his teeth, as if to conceal his smile, before giving up and returning yours just as brightly.

As you faced forward to Professor Hanneman, as you were pretty sure his name was- or was it Ham Man? You didn’t care enough to know- you were now struggling with two distractions. One, the weight of your eyelids as they threatened to pull you back into dreamland. Two, Ferdinand.

You kept glancing at him, taking in his complexion. He must have come to class late, since you didn't see him before. Or maybe he was on time- you did fall asleep quite early into the lecture.

You were eyeing his carefully sculpted jawline, dotted with subtle stubble that connected to sideburns and led up to clean, silky, orange hair. You wished to run your fingers through it-

"Y/N, this is the second time I've seen you not paying attention." You jumped nearly three feet in the air. "Next time, I'll have to ask you to leave my class since you are obviously taking it as a joke."

"I-I'm not joking! Sorry!" You stuttered, finally finding a reason to keep your attention on the lecture. You did look away once, just to glare at Ferdinand, who only winked and chuckled at your misfortune.

Class was eventually over and you sighed, finally loosening up from forcing yourself to pay attention. You packed your notebook and laptop and swung your backpack on, getting ready to leave the room before a voice called to you.

You turned back. "Ferdinand?"

"I was simply wondering where your next class was. I can walk you to it, if you'd like." Said boy walked quickly towards you, holding himself with a nearly-perfect posture. You felt anxious- he was trying to make himself seem like a gentleman, but you still felt a little unnerved.

"Oh, um, sure! It's not for another fifteen minutes, but it is across campus."

Ferdinand's grin seemed to get larger, making his eyes crinkle at the edges. "How wonderful! That little café is down there and I've been meaning to check it out anyways. It works out perfectly."

"Uh, yeah." You laughed nervously. This was the first time a boy had taken interest in you- or was he really interested? Maybe he's just being nice-

"Also, before I forget. May I get your number? I'd like to talk to such a gorgeous woman like you a little more."

Oh, he was so interested. You had to make yourself breathe again as you handed him your phone to let him put his number in. He gave it back to you and you noticed a heart and a smiley face emoticon next to his contact name. Your heart fluttered at the sight of the emojis and you felt your cheeks heat up a bit. Ferdinand gave you a sweet smile before holding the door open for you, letting you lead the way to your next class.

On the way to the building, Ferdinand spent the time asking you questions and getting to know you better. He had scratched basically the entire surface of you, save for the secrets that new people shouldn't know, and the same could be said for you. Ferdinand was definitely a polished and refined man. He made quite the impression on you.

"What are you doing after classes?" You asked, hoping to invite him for pizza at your apartment.

"Ah, I've got work!" He smiled sheepishly. He definitely caught onto your hopes...

"Really? Where? Maybe after, you could stop by for some Golden Pizza-"

"Actually, I work at the Eagles Freezery." He was tense, suddenly. "So I really shouldn't. Rivalry and all of that, you know?"

You were a little confused, actually. "Why would that prevent you from hanging out for a bit? You didn't buy it, I did. Plus I thought the rivalry was only between the buffet and the pizza place?”

"It's- it's a loyalty thing. It’s between all three of us.”

"It's a restaurant. How loyal could you possibly be to a dumb little ice cream parlor-"

"It's more than that!" Ferdinand snapped his mouth closed, suddenly making himself quiet after his angry outburst. "Listen, I cannot and will not eat there, look at it, talk about it, or do literally anything about it. Please, just understand that."

"Uh, yeah." You nervously readjusted your backpack on your shoulder. "I- I should get to class now. I'll see you later, Ferdinand."

"Goodbye, I'll message you after work!" With that, he sent you a wink and a smile and turned, going about his own day with the most carefree pep in his step. As if nothing ever happened. You, on the other hand, could not have been more confused. Ferdinand seemed unpredictable when it came to his moods. He was comforting and kind, yet was so… upset when you insulted the parlor. It was a restaurant. Why did he get so worked up about it? Maybe Ellie was right about it being such a big deal.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

“I just ordered! Go, go, I’m starving!”

Not even five minutes after you got out of your last class, Ellie was calling to remind you about dinner. You were still slightly unnerved from your encounter with Ferdinand, but you agreed to pick it up and would never hear the end of it if you didn’t do something as simple as takeout.

Golden Pizza was only about two blocks away and you stayed on the phone with your roommate the entire time, only saying goodbye as you walked in the establishment. The restaurant was very nice, the honey yellow walls and the glow of the wood-fired oven making the ambience warm and welcoming. You didn’t wait long in the line, soon coming up to meet a boy about your age with a glimmering emerald gaze and a smile just as bright at the front counter.

“Hi!” The boy- Claude, according to his nametag- greeted, “How can I help you?”

“I’m just picking up an order for Eleonora Yumizuru.”

Claude nodded and typed a few things into a computer at the counter. “I know Ellie! She and I had Stats together before she dropped out to pursue her acting career. She’s certainly something.”

“Oh, definitely. I’m her roommate.” Speaking of the devil, your phone vibrated in your pocket. It was a message from her. “She actually just messaged me. Wants me to bring her a dumb little lemonade from that cafe.”

Claude laughed, “You can go and get it now, if you’d like. Your pizza will be a few more minutes. Ellie set the time for your pickup for later, so you’re actually ten minutes early.”

You thanked him and left, walking to the cafe. You took your time, observing the shops around you. Across the street from Golden Pizza stood the Blue Lion Buffet. You smiled to yourself- what a cliche to have rivals across from each other. Beside the pizza parlor was another food shop, the Eagles Freezery. You thought about Ferdinand- he said he was working today. Maybe you could drop by and- No. No, Y/N. Go get your lemonade and go.

A soft bell chimed as you opened the door. You saw four people in cafe uniforms, going about their day as you approached the register.

“Welcome to our humble abode!”

“Constance, that’s only used for a home.”

You shyly waved at the so-called Constance and the pink-haired girl who corrected her. Cafe des Loups- or Cafe of Wolves- was a quaint place, quiet and not crowded, kind of like an off-brand Starbucks. Dim lights adorned the high black ceiling, illuminating the shop just enough for a comforting ambience. There was a mural of a rainforest painted on the wall to the opposite of the counter with comfortable tables and lounging areas. If you could, you’d probably waste the day away lounging around. It was the perfect environment for an introvert like you.

At this shop, a large dark-haired man controlled the register instead of Claude. As you approached the register, you noticed that he wasn’t wearing a nametag, but you had a small urge to call him Bigfoot.

“Hey! What can I get ‘cha?”

You scoured the menu. “Just two pink lemonades is fine-”

“Oh! Good choice!” Constance interrupted you, coming to stand beside the man. “Yuri-bird over there makes the best sweet lemonades!”

You followed her gaze over to a man who was sitting on a stool, slouched down and leaning his head on his hand. He stretched and stood up. “Thank God, we haven’t had many customers all day. I was starting to think we lost our appeal.”

“Of course we have not!” Constance replied. She turned to you, but you couldn’t tell whether she was still talking to Yuri or you. Maybe it was neither. “Not when someone as handsome as Yuri is making the drinks and my attractive self is greeting the customers!”

“Hey! I’m just as much of a visual as the boss-man.” The taller man joined in after taking your money. “We’re all pretty nice looking. Especially this little lady ordering~”

You blushed a bit. “Oh, please, I’m nothing special-”

“Nothing special?” Constance laid her hand against her chest. “You’re wonderful! Almost on the same level as me. Isn’t that right, Yuri-birdie?”

Yuri looked up from making your drinks, his analytical eyes seemingly boring holes into you. You shuddered, feeling like he could tell your deepest and darkest secrets from just looking at you. He shrugged, going back to the lemonades.

“She’s alright, I suppose.”

“You suppose? Yuri, that’s rude-”

Hapi was midway through lecturing the purple-haired man when the door to the shop chimed open and a rather large group came in. Yuri looked up and suddenly stood alert, as did the other three workers. In the group, you saw a familiar head of orange hair and orange eyes met yours. Your face screwed up into confusion.

“Ferdinand?”

“Don’t say anything.” The leader of the group, a short, white-haired girl snarled. “Are you a new… worker here?”

“Wh- you just told me not to say anything.”

Slowly, Yuri and the other three came up beside you, standing slightly in front. Your heart nearly stopped- you were in the middle of something you definitely weren’t supposed to be in and your sass had gotten on their bad side already. The white-haired girl scrutinized the five of you, her lavender eyes piercing holes through whatever facade of confidence you had tried to put up. You could feel yourself literally wither under her gaze, even more than you did when Yuri looked at you.

“What do you want, Edelgard?” Yuri put his hands on his hip, one fiddling with something under his shirt.

“I want your loyalty.”

Yuri snorted. “You aren’t in charge.”

“I’m not? Hm. Tell that to my father after he stepped down. I’m the leader now- the emperor, if you will.” Edelgard sighed heavily. “I have no time for more conversation if you won’t comply. Hubert, deal with them.”

The terrifying man who you assumed was Hubert suddenly reached in his coat and pulled out a handgun, aiming it at the five of you. Yuri quickly retaliated and pulled one of his own, throwing it at Constance before grabbing your wrist and running to the back. A loud gunshot rang through the air as you and Yuri continued to run. You both dodged around coffee shop equipment and he dragged you through a labyrinth that they considered the back of the store.

As you were running, Yuri pulled you to a sharp right turn and your arm scraped against a metal machine in your way. You hissed in pain and looked down at it, seeing a large wound going down your shoulder to your elbow. It was starting to bleed rather quickly, but you had no time to worry about it. You’d have time to tend to it if you survived.

“What’s happening?”

“No time to explain. Quick, hide!”

Yuri pushed you against the wall in between two larger cabinets and stood in front, grabbing yet another gun from his other hip. He cocked it, listening for the ruckus of the fight in the main room to make its way towards your location. You were shaking like a leaf, grabbing tightly onto your wounded arm and smearing blood all over your fingers and your clothes. You breathed heavily, trying to calm yourself at least a little- was this why Ferdinand had been so defensive over the Eagles Freezery? What kind of restaurant rivalry would constitute attempted murder? And wasn’t this cafe uninvolved anyways? You didn't have time to ponder any more questions as a loud crash echoed through the room. Yuri lifted his gun and began to speak lowly, not taking his eyes off of the door.

“When I say run, go out the back door and get in the black car back there. Don’t go home- one of them will find you.”

A gunshot rang through the air and Constance, Balthus, and Hapi burst through the doors, running towards you all. Yuri turned to you as the three of them caught up to him, pulling out their own weapons again as Edelgard began yelling.

“Run!”

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taglist: @fairyblue-alchemist @emperor-pizza @flavoredmilktea @fe3h-random-writing-and-stuff @mifuyuyu @blviddyd @laurexlance @atomicchocolatecookie @mapesandoval @local-goth-lilz

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[willow-salix]

Day 2 of Isolation on Tracy Island 2.0 (Fluffember prompt : sky)

Day 2 of Isolation 2.0 on Tracy Island and...well I'll be honest, it's not been too bad yet. Everyone seems a lot more civilised than they were the first time, maybe because it's not as bad globally as it was back in… March was it? What year is this, do I still have my youth or have they sucked it out of me? 

Anyway, yes, they are better behaved than the first time, I guess because the shock's over with and it's been so long in a kind of half limbo that we're pretty used to it now. They spent the night trying to convince me that they had dragged me from my little witch cave for my benefit rather than theirs, they lie. 

Either way, they are slightly less rowdy, according to Jeff, slightly tidier, according to Grandma but still not at all self sufficient, according to John. 

I'd decided that, as I had little choice in the matter, I'd make the best of it. I strolled into the empty lounge, dropped my three bags on the floor, raised my arms and yelled at the top of my voice, "Honey, I'm home!" 

I don't know what I expected, maybe to be greeted enthusiastically, to have various family members run in from all directions, so happy and grateful to see me, I mean, I was pretty open to any display of affection, truth be told. 

But no, not one of them bothered to come and say hello. 

"I might as well go back home," I grumbled to Scott who had finished the post flight checks of One and ambled in after me. "I even brought snacks and I'm being ignored." 

"Snacks?" his hand was in the bag I indicated by kicking it with my toe before I'd even finished speaking. 

"Well, now I know why I was wanted," I sniffed. "Let me guess, food standards have slipped now that you've all eaten through the meals I left in the freezers last time I was here?" 

"That has nothing to do with why we wanted you," he assured me, flopping down on one of the couches with his pilfered bounty bar. He unwrapped the chocolate and bit into it, humming happily. "You always bring the best chocolate with you."

"Well, I don't like that American stuff you get," I dropped down beside him and stole the other half of the bar. 

"There's nothing wrong with American things," he argued. "Quality products from there."

My eyes slid sideways to look at him. "Dude, are you counting yourself as a quality product?" 

"Maybe," he didn't bother denying it. 

There wasn't much I could say to that really so I shifted the conversation. 

"Where are the other idiots?" 

He shrugged. 

"That's helpful, thanks." I sighed, resting my head back against the sofa. It was weird but this time really did feel so different, almost like it had been inevitable, we were just waiting for it to come.

"I'm not doing all the work this time," I warned him, "like, you guys are gonna have to step up, I refuse to be your maid and run around after you all like I did last time. New lockdown, new rules."

"We don't need a maid," he argued. "Is it so hard to believe that we just want you here so we're all together?" 

I shrugged, still feeling a bit like I'd been both blindsided and guilt tripped into it, not to mention feeling rather damp and itchy from the decontamination chamber Brains has forced me into. I told him that I'd been extra careful, that I'd been following the social distancing, yet he hadn't listened and still insisted that I needed to be blasted. 

"Here's the thing," he poked me to make sure I was listening. "Last time you were here to help us get through it. We were all feeling a bit helpless and frustrated and without you here distracting us and bossing us around, things would have been a lot worse. This time is different, this time it would be you stuck at home, we're still able to go out and do our jobs now, even though we're still getting fewer calls than normal and some countries aren't allowing entry, but because of that, as soon as your lockdown came in you would have been alone for a month."

"I think I could have handled that."

"Do you though, do you really?" 

I glanced at him, not detecting the teasing tone I had been expecting. Could I have handled it? So many people were stuck alone, unable to see their loved ones, their friends and family or to even go to work again. All the little things that make life more bearable and they had been taken away again. I like peace and quiet, but I knew he was right, being locked away, on my own for another month, maybe longer, it wouldn't actually be good for me.

"Admit it, you love us, you'd miss us."

"I admit nothing," but he was right, I would. I hadn't really thought about it, I guess that's what everyone is doing, trying not to think about it all too much but, while the thought of having a month at home, in peace and quiet sounded like a dream, I wouldn't actually want it. 

"You're back!" Alan yelled, cannonballing onto the sofa from parts unknown. 

"I guess so," I conceded, trying not to melt when he squished up beside me and stole the chocolate I'd been eating. 

"Do you mind?" I asked, purely because I felt I had to, not for any real need to tell him off. 

"Nope," he grinned, popping the bounty in his mouth. 

"Wait, that's…coconut," I trailed off as he gagged, looking for somewhere to spit it out. I handed him a tissue from my bag and he gratefully emptied his mouth. 

"This is going to be hell, isn't it?" I asked no one in particular. 

"Probably," Scott agreed, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. "But at least we'll all be together."

"Joy," I muttered but I did hug him back. 

"Are you going to keep a diary this time, too?" Alan asked, having recovered a bit. 

"I might," I hedged, not telling him that I'd started yesterday. "But I'm not doing it alone this time, you're all going to help me. Deal?" 

"Deal," he agreed. 

Gradually a few more wandered in, mostly to pick through my luggage like the vulture that they are, knowing that this time I had been wise enough to bring the contents of my fridge and half my cupboards with me. 

Gordon yoinked my pringles, Alan took my milkshake, Virgil helped himself to my chocolate chip cookies. 

"Hi," the normally beloved voice said behind me. 

I didn't turn around. "I blame you for the fact that I'm here again, you know that, right?" 

"Yep," John dropped down beside me on the couch, lifting his arm for me to snuggle under. 

"Cuddles will not make up for this betrayal," I warned him, not that it stopped me from taking advantage of it. Any Tracy in a storm and all that, plus this one might be the best, though I am slightly biased. 

"We appreciate your sacrifice," he told me solemnly. "And to show our appreciation, we organised a little something."

"You did?" Did I sound sceptical? I believe I did. 

"We did!" Alan joined in. "We did some research and found that it's traditional to eat baked potatoes and chilli tonight."

"It is?" I frowned, wracking my brains as to what the heck he was talking about. I was also slightly worried about who had done the cooking. 

"Yes," John got up, dragging me to my feet and propelled me towards the windows. He nodded to Virgil, who messaged Brains, saying something I couldn't hear. 

As one, all the other idiots surrounded us, all looking up, heads tipped back expectantly, like baby birds awaiting food. 

"What are we doing?" I asked, completely confused. 

"It's November 5th," Scott answered. "Remember, remember the 5th of November." 

Oooooh. I didn't have time to answer as the first rocket shot up into the air, exploding in a burst of colour and sound, lighting up the dark night sky... 

[akechicrimes]

You have the best takes and I was wondering what an actual Akechi redemption would look like? Sending him to prison is a weird take I've seen considering the themes of power, corruption, and manipulation of youth, and quite frankly it's just boring and lazy from a plot/character standpoint. I imagine the first step would be talking to Futaba and Haru (and others who were affected by his actions) but I'm not sure what would happen after that.

ok firstly THANKS i do my best yellin into the tunglr void

second “Sending him to prison is a weird take I’ve seen considering the themes of power, corruption, and manipulation of youth, and quite frankly it’s just boring and lazy from a plot/character standpoint” is the SEXIEST sentence ive ever read re: goro and thank you for putting these words in this particular order i want it framed, truly it makes zero sense whatsoever

third thanks for this super duper cool question because weirdly enough i havent…………….. really thought about it before??? ive seen more than a few really interesting goro redemption arc fics but if i were gonna do one myself………………….. hmmmmmm

ok ok ok ok ok ok i will. do my best. big psuedo revisionist fanfic under cut

a redemption arc needs to address the wrongs and hurts that he’s done, as well as just generally other noxious junk. to rattle them off so we know what we’re working with, he

killed wakaba (unknown circumstances), which hurt futaba

killed okumura, which hurt haru

assisted shido in his rise to power

assisted an unknown number of other douchebags like shido in their rise to power

killed an unknown number of other douchebags

created psychotic breakdowns, involving casualties and potentially some deaths

was generally a shit on live television

lied to sae.

betrayed joker.

and from there he needs to address these in such a way that his character grows and is better for it.

simultaneously i think it’s important to weigh the opposite issues, which are the ways that akechi is either right or has a valid point, the ways that akechi has presumably been mistreated/abused by people around him, and just generally following through on seeing akechi become happier and healthier for having gone through a redemption arc. in no particular order, he:

apparently desperately craves approval/recognition from others, but not in a productive way (sorry the TV audience does not actually love you lmao!!!!!!!)

has some kind of complicated relationship with shido to say the fuckign LEAST, and i think addressing that angle of shido’s abuse is important

really suffers from his inability to be honest with just about anyone; how deeply he’s hidden his true self has not only exacerbated his loneliness, but it’s done so in a way that i think should be really understandable to any one of the thieves, who also need to hide their true selves and feelings when in public

is 100000% correct about how much shido should eat shit and die

does have a valid point about how dangerous the phantom thieves are, and, in irony of all ironies, probably is a good critic and moral barometer to make sure joker doesn’t go over any lines

is canonically the character who is most unafraid to go against joker’s orders

is smart all absolute FUCK while maintaining an attitude of FUCK COPS

so with all that in mind:

i’d say, the engine room confrontation happens as SOON as they enter shido’s palace. not necessarily specifically in the engine room, but that confrontation happens off the bat. the phantom thieves take two steps into shido’s palace and find that they can’t go anywhere–everything’s locked, or off limits, and the whole place is under more surveillance than any palace they’ve ever seen. sojiro was right when he said that shido’s paranoid as fuck.

they try to leave the palace for the day to regroup, and akechi’s there like a guard dog ready to defend shido’s psyche. why wouldn’t he be? he must have planned that perhaps the thieves would retaliate like this, whether or not joker was alive.

that whole very embarrassing breakdown happens. haru and futaba already canonically seem in favor of akechi rejoining the team, so although haru does say she won’t forgive akechi, i do think that doesn’t need to be at odds with them being in favor of him working with the team.

so, say, akechi’s on the verge of being convinced to work with the team, and he’s not necessarily all in on this whole “being alive” thing, and he’s not super convinced that he deserves redemption, but the phantom thieves really really really insisted, because the phantom thieves can and do change hearts, even when they’re not in palaces, and they’ve just changed akechi’s. 

cognitive akechi doesn’t show up because i’m using him later.

first thing: akechi, haru, and futaba need to have a talk, which is actually pretty easy and not even irrelevant. go through shido’s palace, get the letters of rec, everyone recognizes akechi. like haru in okumura’s palace, akechi’s practically their ticket into half the ship.

getting the letters of rec naturally brings up okumura and wakaba, imo, because it hammers home that these sorts of scumbags are the kinds of people that akechi was killing. and also that this is the kind of scumbag that okumura was, in life. have haru go through the five stages of grief all over again, like she did back in okumura’s palace, realizing that her father kills his own employees for the first time. have her struggle all over again to reconcile the father she loves with the father who died with the father who murdered and exploited and drove his employees to the brink of death. have akechi face that even the people he killed were people, too.

depending on your interpretation of wakaba, she was either just as corrupt OR she was genuinely a nice woman, but that can be addressed in a bunch of ways–akechi didnt know what he was doing at the time, or he totally did but didnt feel like he had any other choice–either way, some sort of contextualization of wakaba’s role in shido’s conspiracy needs to be unearthed. 

say futaba wants to know what her mother was like. say she asks akechi because akechi knew her, maybe knew wakaba better than futaba ever did, because futaba was young and also because futaba never spent a few days literally crawling through her mother’s psyche like akechi did. make akechi tell futaba about the woman he killed with his own mouth. maybe he tells her only the good parts. maybe futaba MAKES him tell her the bad parts. maybe futaba thanks him for it, and akechi figures out that an apology could never be enough.

the point, basically, is to use shido’s palace to have haru, futaba, and akechi come to terms with each other. forgiveness isnt necessarily the point–understanding is more important. haru and futaba come to understand how and why akechi did what he did, while akechi has to sit through several weeks of looking his victims in the eyeballs.

for extra bonus points of making akechi look his victims in the eyeballs, personally i think that futaba would be the most supportive of all the phantom thieves of akechi turning over a new leaf. she canonically tells him that “it doesn’t matter where you start over” and relates his struggles to her struggle to turn her own life around, and honestly i think sympathy would fuck akechi up the most.

meanwhile, in the real world, capitalize on akechi’s position: if he’s deep in shido’s conspiracy, it really only makes sense that akechi could locate the people they need rec letters from in the real world, and use that to find their cognitive equivalent in shido’s palace. show me akechi’s relationship with shido, founded on akechi trying to appease shido and trying to avoid shido’s wrath simultaneously. 

maybe shido’s closing in on the phantom thieves in the real world. he suspects that things haven’t gone according to plan. make use of the fact that shido trusts (to an extent) akechi’s word, and have akechi cover for the phantom thieves in the real world. 

maybe show me shido actively manipulating akechi with praise. show me the greys of that relationship, like how we saw madarame treat yusuke well, or saw sae at her best and worst with makoto. show me how difficult it is for akechi to continue to help the phantom thieves even while actively engaging with his own abuser.

make akechi a traitor to shido. being a traitor was his role, wasn’t it? to betray the thieves? just have him betray shido back. he’s good at being a traitor, isn’t he? akechi probably volunteers himself for the role. let him capitalize on his ability to lie and outsmart those around him. let him make it up to joker in the only way that akechi feels he can: even more lying.

get all the rec letters. akechi himself hands shido the calling card. confront shido–cognitive akechi is there and just as much of a bitch as always. show me how much disdain shido has for akechi, how little he thinks of akechi, how nasty he is–and how blindly adoring cognitive akechi is in return. it’s gross as all hell, but it’s a final nail in the coffin to haru and futaba’s grieving process, even forms some sort of solidarity. 

there’s half a second where akechi is in the position to kill shido. shido’s shadow is down, akechi’s got a gun, he could pull the trigger before anyone could stop him. futaba tells him not to. 

haru tells him that he can kill shido if he wants to.

everyone’s like HARU??? HELLO???? but haru says, as far as i’m concerned, this man is just as much my father’s murderer as akechi-kun is. if you want to, i won’t stop you. but i know that it’s harder to survive than it is to die, too.

akechi does not kill shido. they steal shido’s treasure and return to the real world.

at this point in the canon plot, yaldabaoth starts to happen really fast, but bear with me for five seconds–bring sae back on the scene. shido confesses, and akechi’s reputation goes up in smoke. people call him a fraud, people won’t stop talking about shido being his dad, akechi’s name gets dragged through the mud worse than back when the PT were at their most popular.

sae takes up prosecuting shido’s case, and akechi can’t avoid her forever when he’s supposedly a key witness. sae says, i’m going to give you one chance to explain yourself. you lied to him, you tricked me, you pretended to be my partner all that time and then ran rings around me. talk.

so akechi explains himself, even though half that stuff isnt permissible in court. he doesn’t butter her up and he doesn’t use his cutesy prince mask, and for the first time sae sees him as he really is. and sae says, those are some pretty serious offenses, akechi, what are you going to do now? 

akechi’s just gone through that whole bonding session with haru and futaba, during which akechi had to realize, ah, shit, i fucked over the lives of these two very nice girls and even inflicted the same trauma that i myself went through onto other people. so akechi tells sae, well obviously i don’t fucking know, i dont have a career, i might be expelled, and i’ve killed a shitload of people and there’s no way that i can make up for that. but if i could, i would want to do something to right the wrongs that i did–i’d want to address the murders i committed, and maybe do something to fix it.

sae says, you’re smart as all hell, what you’ve done is irrevocable, you know your way around the police and its corruption, you’re willing to do better and you know how hard doing better is going to be. i’m the same way. i might not have killed anyone, but i’ve ruined the lives of so many people in the name of my career and a distorted sense of justice. if you want to do better, i could use a person like you. what do you say that when this case is over, we become partners for real, this time?

akechi says, but sae-san, what about your reputation, what about your career, wouldn’t it be bad to have a fraud like me by your side?

sae says, i didnt have you as a partner the first time around because you were stupid. use your head, make it work, and maybe i’ll buy you sushi off the conveyor belt someday.

case number one is prosecuting the shit out of shido. sae said they’d be partners after akechi is no longer a key witness, but at this point, being a key witness is basically like being her assistant. sae’s there every step of the way while akechi gets shoved through the public wringer. i say, make him lose all his public fame and reputation and more, everything that he thought he wanted, and he come out with sae’s respect, akira’s support, and the phantom thieves on his side.

the trial starts to stall because of yaldabaoth’s influence, which then brings us to that whole reveal about yaldabaoth using akechi as well for yaldo’s own ends. yaldabaoth offers the p5 vanilla bad end, in which the phantom thieves continue on and become incredibly famous and eliminate most crime because they just change the hearts of anyone who does anything halfway wrong.

i say, let the thieves deliberate on that one. all of them, not just joker. it’s not actually a very bad deal, necessarily; it’s just vaguely skeevy and authoritarian. let’s say, akechi is the biggest opposer, and points out that if akira goes down that route, akira will be doing exactly the same thing akechi did for so long–using his power for his own self-satisfaction, power unchecked and out of control. let akechi use the fact that he’s akira’s “rival” and outspoken critic to good use. akira tells yaldo where he can stick it.

fight yaldabaoth, win. sae takes akira into custody. akechi makes good on his deal with sae, and both of them work together to use akechi’s testimony, akira’s testimony, and shido’s testimony to nail shido and clear akira’s name. 

from there, flash forward to the epilogue in the same way that it happens in canon, except akechi is now sae’s lackey and she’s overseeing his efforts to undo whatever damage he did to all the nameless people he’s hurt over the years. she’s going to become a defense attorney, and akechi’s probably going to become her assistant and later paralegal. both of them are committed to reforming the justice system for the better and addressing their past wrongs.

im actually big fucking mad at how little i had to change about persona 5 canon to make this redemption arc work. @ persona 5 royal meet me in the pit.

[childofsolace-write-ups]

[ARC ONE: REUNION]

INTRODUCTION

In the first year, thinking about it now, it was probably already starting then. There was no disaster, but I think it had been hinting on something, about an end that was to come. It was completely dark that night, we thought it was just some kind of an eclipse. But this one was a little strange. It was eerily quiet. I was scared. My baby sister was scared. Hell, my parents were scared. But then, they said it would be okay.

Like always, for every single day of our life, the sun would come up again, shine upon Gaea, and things will go back to normal.

Was I ever wrong.

You know what they say, right? Don't look at an eclipse straight in the eye. It could ruin your eyes? Well, when the sun came, it was so much worse. Anyone who walked out was burned... No, incinerated. Just like that, stepping outside and they spontaneously combust on the spot. The world thought it was just some new phenomenon. Scientists were trying to figure out why it happened. It took a whole year, but nothing came up for their trouble.

Then six more years followed, each one bringing forth a different kind of terror. The weather was unpredictable; countries that never experienced snow suddenly started experiencing hailstorms, leading up to terrible geo-storms. Insects invaded farms and destroyed their produce. Wildlife got infected with some unknown substance until them finally became creatures that look more like monsters we read only ever read about in stories, or watch about it movies.

And that was just the beginning of where everything went completely wrong...

/Trent Everhart/.Transmission over.//Year 70/

Once, people flourished and made a living above land. The resources were abundant. But then again, so were the humans who needed them.

Soon, 'Natural' lost its meaning, 'Artificial' replaced it. Machinery operations ran the daily lives of people, flowers and plants were faked serving as decorations, tall buildings took the place of tall trees in rain forests. Most factors considered natural can only be seen through microscopes.

But nature took its own course and returned with vengeance. Cosmic debris crash landed from above, causing an explosion that plagued the entire planet. It polluted the atmosphere and strange side effects started revealing themselves. Animals and vegetations alike were most susceptible to these changes. They attacked humans, nearly wiping out the entire species. Unable to thoroughly explain how this happened, scientists, without sufficient evidence, wrote it off as radioactive particles causing severe chemical changes to earth's living inhabitants.

But humans were smart, they were animals in their own way. They strive for survival.

Using the historical underground city of Derinkuyu as a reference they created a modernized type and with their latest state of the art technology they expanded it even further from two hundred feet to one thousand feet. For this purpose, unbeknown to the public, a life under the surface of the Earth was being prepared for them. Unlike the Derinkuyu however, they had the materials and technology to have metallic interiors and bunker units for dwelling. A large, nine hundred meter metallic ventilation shaft was constructed, filtering the carbon from above to be breathable oxygen air. The shaft also provided water to both the villagers above and, if the outside world was not accessible, to those in hiding.

Eventually, anyone not affected by the atmosphere were evacuated to underground cities right before the atmosphere could become too unpredictable and prove hazardous to their lives. A new system of governance was created. Since the underground cities in all part of the world were interconnected one way or another, they all decided to use a unified language starting then. 'Councillors' is the term referred to leaders chosen in each division, the word country becoming obsolete.

Guards who were obligated to inspect the surface level regularly were given Hi-tech contamination suits with advanced, state-of-the-art filters as to not be be affected by the atmosphere since anyone exposed to the atmosphere is banned from re-entering the cities. Some people died due to open wounds exposed to the atmosphere's strange particles.

Soon, humans engaged in a new form of living, but not without encountering troubles along the way.

The fear of being unable to distribute provisions without having shortages became prominent. This led the Councilors to convene altogether and come up with a radical solution. They decided to send back to the surface anyone they classify as worthless or a liability. More than a thousand orphaned, disabled, and jobless individuals were sent back up on the first release. It did not really matter to them if they survived or not, it was inconsequential as long as their survival was assured. In the years that followed, this became a normal routine. With the initial liabilities released, all the present releases were orphaned children. Then again, as one hero once stated in the History of the Surface, "The Youth is the hope of the nation", there came a generation of hope.

It was not planned, it wasn't an intention. It just happened.

Of the first batch of releases that only involved orphans, only eight had survived the harsh environment of the regressed and primitive state that the surface had been reduced to. Together, they survived and now thrive to make a living once more above ground, as humans were really meant to be.

Still, the Underground city was not to be ignored. And perhaps, it is to be reminded, who the true enemy really is.

::TREY::

The forest is quiet.

That's your first clue. Even on the surface, even given that most of the Earth's living creatures got wiped out within weeks of it happening, things should never be This quiet.

You'll never know; something dangerous could be trying to hide itself.

"I think this is where I found it."

I give a jolt when Lexie spoke behind me. I completely forgot she was there. With the silence, it was easy to think I was alone. "Keep your voice down," I whisper. "we don't know what might be out there."

"Trey," Kytes whispers back. "wouldn't it be better to just use telepathy? We wouldn't be making any sound."

I sigh, "Kyi that would be using our signature and if there is any bad Mana around here, that would set things off, like an open flame to gas leaks." I rub my forehead. "C'mon, we've been over this a thousand times. You're lucky it's not Rhys reminding you."

Kytes scratches his head. "Oh, yeah..."

"Been here for eight years, you would think you'd have that memorized by now." Lexie teases playfully. "It's survival 101."

Oh really? I think sarcastically. Like she's one to talk about survival 101. Half the time, Corrin's the ones reminding her of our protocols...

Kytes looks a little sheepish. "People can be forgetful, it happens..."

"Okay, shut it already you two." They weren't really making any real noise, but I knew Lexie's tendencies and once you got her talking, it might be harder to get her to stop. "Kytes's idea was good just too bad for that small detail. Now we should keep quiet." Like I was making any noise, though. "Let's get a move on, keep alert for anything that doesn't feel right."

"Heh, I forgot how uptight Trey can be..."

I huff in irritation but chose not to respond. She calls it being uptight, I call it instinct. It was very important after all, especially in terms of surviving the surface's unpredictability. We, the ones left, have gotten pretty good in relying on instincts. It's about the only warning you get up here.

The forest is very unusual even if it looks like any other forest. For one thing, I'm not even sure it can be called a forest, at least not a natural one, given that it's growing in the middle of what used to be a town. The road is cracked by numerous roots, and most of the buildings have trees growing out of them. Their walls could be hiding any number of things. The forest itself is the oddest thing. Many years ago, this was a thriving metropolis, full of people, tourists, machines—now it's home to trees that look like they've been there a good fifty years at least. This is one of the most immediate changes caused by the strange atmosphere when the phenomenon had first spread out through the entire globe. The landscape got warped beyond all recognition in the early days. That's why so many people died...

Like mom and dad.

"Oh!" Lexie cries and stops in her tracks.

I turn towards her. "Shh!" I snap. "Alexis, jeez."

"But Trey, this is where I found it. Only..."

Kytes scans the area. "Well, it's not here now."

"Quiet, the creature that pissed might still be around." I face Lexie. "And you're sure the piss was the non-absorbent type?"

We have to watch where or what we step into. Because if, for instance, you got an open wound and you stepped into a puddle with urine in it and that wound happens to get infected as well then it could mean something really bad. The Rabid animals up here are so messed up that even a slight contact with their shit may turn fatal for us. Luckily, only the Rabid Animals have urinal waste that have a touch of color so it's easy to figure which ones are the non-absorbent type. We try to get rid of those because prevention was better than cure.

"Well, it was a pool on the ground, all purpley and molted. I watched it for a while, it didn't seem like it was going away." Lexie combs strands of black hair away from her face. "So I thought..."

Kytes shrugs. "It's either something else absorbed it, or it really was absorbent after all and just needed more time to soak in."

"Maybe. So then, should we just—EWW, GROSS!"

"What is it—OH YUCK!"

I swat them both to remind them to be quiet and made a mental note to give them extra kitchen clean up duty. Really, do they want a death wish?

"It's just a skeleton—" an animal's. We don't see human skeletons since the earlier days, when we made it a point to try and bury the ones we still could out of respect. "you've seen them before."

"I know—but they're usually not THAT fresh." Lexie frowns.

I have to agree, it's isn't the prettiest thing I've seen. Even the other skeletons weren't as bad. It looked like someone's halfway eaten meal...

Wait.

"Quiet. See if you can hear anything."

Lexie leans back against a tree, Kytes crouches by a bush with me, and we stay still as possible listening out for anything unusual. I know there's something not right here. No animal noises, no birds. Then there's that heavy oppressive silence as though we're being watched very closely. A light breeze blows my fringe into my eyes and I bat it out of the way, frowning. The feeling something being wrong is stronger than ever.

Wait.

The breeze.

It should have rustled the leaves on the trees too. Yet there was no noise. I look up at the tree tops. They're perfectly still. Even as another breeze stirs the forest. Why would that be? Unless the trees are watching us?

I look around the Clearing.

Now that I think about it, the trees do seem slightly closed together than they were. As I watch, an oak sends a root trailing over! What could they be doing?

Unless... The Skeleton.

"RUN!" I grab Kytes and haul him after me, jumping over the oak root and out of the circle of trees.

"Woah now! Trey—what?"

Kytes doesn't have to finish his sentence. A large branch is suddenly in front of us and I'm unable to stop from tripping over it. A root winds itself around my ankle. Kytes is now full aware of the attack as more follow, breaking the surface of the ground to wrap themselves around us.

"I thought they only moved that fast with time lapse photography!"

Kytes takes his survival knife out. "I think this is a bit more serious than time lapse photography!"

Before I could bring out my own Cutlass, some vines grab hold of my forearm. The blond slashes off with precision he mastered, perfectly avoiding cutting my flesh. Lexie wields her double-edged Naginata to cut off vines stretching down from above. I'm still amazed how a girl like her who used to whine about missing cosmetics and other pointless stuff is now so skilled in combat. I think Lexie's weapon type came from some Asian country. I forgot which one. Actually, I even forgot what our own country was called. It seemed like such a long time ago that we used the term country.

I am once again forever grateful of Rhys's brilliant mind. Back then, we could count the weapons we had available to us with two hands. But once we got older, or more to the point, when Rhys got older and smarter, he made used of some books he found to create bladed weapons once we found a steel forging factory. And he had enough books to show him how to forge weapons of different origins. He taught us how to make our own, but most of the time they were poor attempts compared to what Rhys can craft. Now any weapons we need for ourselves and those who keeps coming can be easily accessed and made... Well, maybe not easily made since they still required a lot of effort, but at least we don't have to keep scavenging for usable weapons now. Sure, we could use all those guns and ammunition we got in storage, but we all agreed to save those for a time we might really need to them. Besides, at least with bladed weapons, there's no worries for a shortage of ammunition.

"Kytes, Trey! Do something, they keep coming!"

Kytes slashes his knife to an incoming vine before jumping back. "Uh, and you don't call what we're doing something?" He jumps over a root.

"Less talking, more attacking!" I snap, finishing off the hostile roots at my side and rush to aid Lexie. I make it in time to keep a giant flower bud from chomping her head clean off, barely missing the launch of purple goo it spat out. "Wah?!" I yelp, twirling my head around for a double take, seeing the goo boil through a bush as if it were acid or something, which explained the skeleton. "Okay. Rabid Vegetation's Gastric acid. Just as bad as a Rabid Animal's piss."

Lexie grunts, using her weapon as leverage to get up. "Noted. Next time, try saving my skin without pushing me. I twisted my ankle."

Okay, that was my bad. But it was that or being plant feed. At least she didn't break skin and bleed. Although uncertain, Corrin says fatality is possible if open wounds were exposed to loose Mana energy for more than ten minutes, and I forgot to make sure that we brought bandages with us. That's one strike of careless act for the day. I try to keep that to a minimum, the maximum being three. As the Leader, being extra cautious is an expectation.

"Trey! Help me out here!"

I spin around and saw vines lifting Kytes up, his knife lay useless on the ground. I rush towards him.

By duty, I was responsible for everyone up here as their leader.

As a friend, I was responsible for the blond, I was indebted to him.

When my sister was sick on the day we were going to be released to the surface, he took her place. I also owe it to his older brother, my best friend, who was now taking care of her back in the Underground city.

The vines were so thick that I couldn't slice through it with my Cutlass. I had to use the other way, but how can I with Kytes still in its clutches? A vine grips around my arm and I wince in pain as it tightens on my radius.

"TREY!"

Before I was fully aware of it there was fire flooding all my senses. I lashed out in rage, only vaguely aware of the beeping on my wrist that reminds me to take it easy. The vines holding up Kytes fall away in front of me. Luckily, the blond looked unharmed.

"Get out of the way!"

Thankfully, Kytes seemed to get what was about to happen. He grabs his knife and rolls out of the way. Good, I did not want to be misunderstood now. The two did not take their eyes off me as they back away. I concentrate where I want to have the flames to burst out and the results were no less effective. The Vegetable mutations draws back, leaving us unscathed except for Lexie's twisted ankle, which Corrin can heal no problem. I concentrate on pulling my power back. I look at the device fashioned like a watch that was strapped on my wrist, indicating my energy's exertion level. I see that it's stable and I join the two out of the clearing. Kytes helps her up and supports her weight.

"Code Red?"

I sigh, nodding. "Yes. We had far too many incidents this week alone, this being the twelfth. It's about that time again," It was a little frustrating. Rhys just got a filter working so we could fill a pool with clean water. I guess we have to make the most of it while we're still here. "I don't want anyone hunting till we move. We still have meat stocked so it's not like we have to settle for the vegetables and fruits in Kytes's gardens."

"Hey," The blond scowls. "My produce aren't that bad... are they?"

I smirk. "No Kytes, but if there's a chance to have meat, we want to have some too." I pat his back. "Let's head back."

"Oh, but Trey—" Lexie's eyes rolls up a bit. It signals her using her tracking ability. She's like a built-in GPS system with that. I don't really get it, but she can sense another person's or thing's Mana and Rhys has a theory that the ones who use Mana in their own way also has a unique trademark, like a fingerprint, so to speak. It was a bit unnerving the first time she used it since all you see were her cornea, but if you knew her as long as we have, you get used to it. "—yeah, I sense three guys out hunting nearby already."

I roll my eyes, "Three," I mutter knowingly, and the two share similar looks. "the only one who can get away with not following the group count rule is Meeko, and only if he has Lori and one other person watching his back."

Back then, with the whole idea of 'The rule of three' and it being an optimal number, maybe it would've made sense. But when playing video games and I would choose Party members, to challenge myself, I would pick three only; the MC would still get enough experience points and two characters would be enough to support him in battle. But this isn't a video game with a restart button. Normally when we send out groups for hunts, Five was the permitted number. It's too dangerous any less. Meeko can get away with it since his ability was multiplying himself. Usually, Meeko did most of the work to get it out of his system, being one of those always hyped-up types. Granted, he is one of our best hunters which we would all acknowledge often if he wasn't so rash and impulsive at times. This brings me to his better half, or more reasonable twin brother, Lori who normally didn't like fighting. Unless something or someone he cares for is in danger, he can be provoked to act though.

In our case, well, I thought the three of us would be enough for the Urinal extraction since we weren't really expecting a fight since this wasn't a hunt for food and we are still pretty much near the base, but I guess I didn't account for the fact that trouble would be the one hunting us. Even two persons used to be enough for extractions, but perhaps I neglected to take into consideration the level of experience. Previously, those two persons doing extractions had been either Rhys and myself or Leon and Jonah, the latter pair being eldest of our entire group. I only grabbed Kytes and Lexie this time because they were immediately available, and while I did not question their experience, Kytes was more adept to scouting, and that entailed evasive action, staying in a place only long enough to check its safety and avoiding combat as much as possible. Lexie was used to scavenging, which was gathering any useful items or materials after scouts deemed an area clear for occupying or searching. These two haven't seen combat as often as I have.

Damn, that's a second strike for me. "Where are they exactly?"

"A bit Northeast you'd get to that river, follow it downstream you'll make it to a clearing passed some thicket of bushes. Berry bushes, to be exact, not the good kind. They're at a glade of sorts..." Lexie smirks. "Well, at least the two not going crazy are. But I sense the third more crazier one of them is nearby."

Kytes laughs. "Just make it easier and call him who it most probably is. Even I can figure it's Meeko." he says.

"Okay, you two head back. I'll go fetch them. Kyi, after you take Lexie to the infirmary, go tell Rhys to prepare putting up some warning signs." I instruct. "Suggest Code 3." Carnivorous vegetation.

The blond nods. "Code 3, got it." He lifts Lexie, positioning her on his back in a way that can make him run faster. He takes off and I'm fairly impressed. He's fourteen carrying a sixteen year old while managing a running pace. I guess years of training does that.

I sheath my Cutlass and took off myself.

[alternativewinxcontinuity]

what do you think the winx's biggest character flaws are? like, not in their writing, just like how someone can come off as cold or standoffish accidentally or don't have a brain-to-mouth filter or any insecurities really (not for the au, i'm geniunely interested on your take on their characters)

I think once you disregard all of the stuff that's a side effect of the writing you do lose quite a few flaws which are primarily just writers making characters dumb and obtuse for The Drama, but the flaws left are still pretty connected to the writing.

It's been a while since I've re-watched the show, (I'll have to make time for that at some point this year (happy 2020 btw)) so I'm kind of at the point where I'm forgetting how the canon characterisation is, so some of this might be the fanon slipping in. Apologies.

But primary flaws from my POV?:

Stella is pretty self-absorbed, she's very focused on her image to the point where she can say some hurtful stuff because she's forgotten how to empathise with the people around her in her pursuit of 'the perfect 'it' girl'. I feel like that comes from a childhood we only get hints about, she's spent so long trying to become what people want, she's failed to become someone people like.

She's not unlikable, she's just given up substance for style, and it can make her act childish and spoiled at times, and she can't (or won't bother to) read the room before speaking.

It's something she was getting over in the earlier seasons, being around the Winx she was learning to tone down her need to be The Popular Girl and empathise more, but unfortunately, the writing is intrinsically linked, and this trait became Flanderised to the point of parody by season 7.

Bloom is incredibly self-righteous, she believes she's always in the right, even when she's not. Despite some early self-doubt, she believes she knows better than everyone else to a dangerous degree. Within minutes of passing Diaspro in the hall at Red Fountain, she'd decided with no evidence but her hunch that Diaspro was Icy in disguise. Rather than ask around about the young woman sitting with royals who didn't seem to find her presence odd or suspicious, Bloom tricked Diaspro into a private place and attacked her with no further questioning. Despite the fact that Bloom had asked 'Icy' under false pretences that 'Icy' would have absolutely every reason to doubt, Bloom decided she was right and went full steam ahead.

The problem isn't that she's self assured and confident, it's that The Drama, Bloom never considers the possibility that she could be wrong about something, and most of the time she's right about things, which makes the whole thing worse because it lets the confidence become arrogance with no one the wiser until things go Wrong.

But the writing likes to sweep that under the rug. It also feeds into part of her Drama with Sky, she's convinced that X is happening to affect their relationship and they're doomed and blah blah blah, and rather than consider the possibilities and even try to wait until she talks to Sky she stews and works herself into a (self justified) anger which makes it harder for the duo to communicate. (The relationship Drama is not all on her, but it's not entirely on Sky either. Just mostly, because he's a jealous cheater type.)

Aisha is kind of a mix of Stella and Bloom, she's selfish. No, that's the wrong word, she's very 'my way or the highway, you're with me or against me' in her world view, she's convinced a lot of the time that her way is the 'best' way. But again I think that was a product of her youth that was being tempered until the writing got in the way.

She spent so much of her life having to 'go it alone' I don't think she ever entirely got out of that mind set, a small part of her always had that instinct of 'how do I do this by myself, what's best for me,' rather than 'how do I help this get done, what's best for us'.

Not to say she was uncooperative, she integrated to the team really well, (and this is where the 'I haven't watched the show in ages' really starts being a problem because) but I feel like by the time she was finally letting go of this completely, she was being forced face first into “my boyfriend is dead now, time to rage for a few hours and then spend a season or two being angry and hating all male life”.

Musa had a similar problem, she was also so quick to anger. And yes that came from a place of deep hurt and trauma, but she never really got over that. Someone does something that might be considered a slight against her (or her friends) and boom: rage time.

Again the writing brushed it off or justified it, but Musa has anger issues that sit pretty tight with trust issues. She and Riven have been dating for a few years, she sees him talking with another girl and 'he's cheating there's no other explanation, he is about to be sorry!'

It doesn't help that the writing is always pulling that shit, but the fact that it always turns out to be nothing, or nothing more than foot-in-mouth disease, this shouldn't be her first assumption.

Tecna and Flora are a little harder to talk about because they feel like they're edged out a little for the louder personalities, and even up front, they feel like they're not as in the spotlight as the other girls.

Flora has self-confidence issues, but she's also a big sister, it has this weird clashing effect of Flora being almost a doormat at times, giving way to whatever everyone else is doing, and at others she's very much a caregiver. When Flora does put her foot down on an issue the, the writing almost seems to go out of its way to make her irrational about it.

I feel like the writers wanted a mediator type personality – how do I de-escalate this situation, how can I make sure this works out for the most number of people, how do we find a compromise – but they just gave her a 'yes man' personality instead of a 'I will go this far but you have to meet me half way' type.

Tecna's flaw, until the writing decided to disregard personality for boys, was that she was a very logical person, her entire world was run on strict rules and regulations, it was a safe environment. She comes to Alfea and bam, all the chaos and she couldn't quite get the hang of it. It runs parallel to Aisha's flaw, in that Tecna's upbringing has embedded this sense of restrain and regulation in her, and when this runs counter to how she's certain they should be, she digs her heels in and doesn't let up.

Basically she's very stubborn, and if she's convinced she's right she'll need in-arguable proof to change her mind.

-

For the most part, their flaws are positive traits that were done wrong, or taken too far in the wrong direction. (from my perspective at least.)

[bigskydreaming]

I'm having a worse than usual day, so my go to moodlift method is making up headcanons for Dick that don't involve superheroing. You know, the romantic hero, the 'most eligible bachelor' aspect.. gets the focus. Because hey plenty of us had a crush on him growing up. Just for fun, I wanna ask you, do you think he's a slow burn romance kinda guy or intense fiery passionate romance from the get go kinda guy? One more, the age old question, is HE an ass guy or a tiddy guy? Imo he's a thigh guy..

Sorry you’re having a crap day, and uh, hope this didn’t end up not fun, I got lost in the headcanoning and character analysis and zigged and zagged per usual, so……I do not trust my ability to tell, overall. LMAO. But good question, made me think!

I think it depends on the person. I feel like Dick is capable of both, that sometimes feelings just creep up on him for someone over time, but other times he’s just drawn to someone instantly. For me, Babs and Kory is the proof - the instant crush on Babs from day one is more of a Reboot introduction to their dynamic…..in various older continuities, she was more a rival at first. Even as he advocated for Bruce to help train her and not stop her from being Batgirl at sometimes, he still very much was competitive with her, that sort of thing. You could argue it was the schoolboy kinda crush, that idea of a boy pulling the pigtails of a girl he likes because he doesn’t know how to admit he likes her or even realizes himself that he does. But personally, I find that explanation doesn’t really fit Dick, as its more fitting to someone who lacked his early maturity.

The thing is, a lot of people tend to focus on some of Dick’s more immature behaviors and actions, as a grown man and back when he was Robin with the puns and seeming innocence, and just see it as innocence and immaturity…..but I’ve always seen it as a coping mechanism. Dick grew up fast at a very early age, as much as Bruce himself did - they just coped with it in very different ways. People emphasize that Bruce took him in partly to keep Dick from turning out like he did, but they often forget at the same time that Bruce also took Dick in because he empathized with him, saw himself and his own tragedy reflected in Dick’s. Life-altering events had already happened to Dick before he ever set foot in Wayne Manor…..and Dick was altered. He was painfully aware of how cruel life could be, how serious things were, before Bruce ever actually had any ability to halt that realization from ever touching Dick.

The difference between Bruce and Dick and how they turned out, is that with Bruce’s support in those early years, Dick willfully clung to as much of his childhood as was left to him, even if at times it was the ‘fake it until you make it’ mentality. Many of his more immature behaviors are IMO a spiteful defiance of life’s attempt to make him grow up before he should have had to….and Bruce encouraged these things, IMO. He gave Dick the support and shelter, the buffer that allowed Dick to act immature even in the face of gravely serious and dark issues, because quite frankly, Dick cracking puns even while they were face to face with a life-threatening danger is probably a healthier coping mechanism than any Bruce had at the same age, at least in Bruce’s eyes if nothing else. 

But my point is, Dick’s youthful optimism and cheeriness even in the darkest parts of growing up Robin in Gotham City….none of that existed because Dick was truly childish and immature as befitted his actual age, thanks to Bruce taking him in and guiding him to turn out better than he did or whatever that line of thought might look like…..rather, it existed because Dick made the willful and deliberate choice to act as much the child as he could for as long as he could…..and I think that in the early years when things were really good between them and they were largely on the same page, Bruce recognized this choice for what it was, this defiance to the cards life had dealt Dick, and he encouraged and defended Dick’s ability to make this choice and act this way.

But you can’t see the kind of things all the Robins saw and actually be as immature and goofy as Dick acted as Robin, untouched by all of that. Dick was right there in the thick of it all along. How can you avoid being touched by Gotham’s darkness, seeing Gotham’s darkness, when you’re punching it right in the face, you know? You can’t. But what you can do, if you choose to, and which is what Dick chose to do….is not give it the satisfaction of knowing it touched you. The real testament of how mature Dick was or not as a young crime-fighting Robin, how aware he was or not of the grim realities of life, was not in how he acted when face to face with villains and criminals, but rather, how he acted when face to face with their victims. THAT’S where the reality of Dick’s maturity shined through, even LONG before he met Barbara in any canon.

Which is how this tangent brings us back to topic, lol….a schoolboy crush being the explanation for some of Dick’s earlier pettiness with Barbara and their rivalry at times, like, just doesn’t track with Dick’s actual maturity, IMO. The actual more likely explanation as I see it is that Dick did genuinely clash with her at times, in the very early years, that his initial attitudes were a confused mish-mash of feeling threatened by her and her possibly getting between him and Bruce, the partnership that was in all but name his unique form of father-son bonding time….but also at the same time still being Dick Grayson and feeling compelled to do the right thing and respect and thus defend her being given the same chance and training he’d been given, to do what they both felt needed doing, that they were driven to do.

So I don’t think he and Babs were instant friends, and I don’t think she was his instant crush….I think it was slowburn with her, he gradually grew to develop feelings for her over time, as his respect for her mind and capabilities grew to outweigh whatever conflicting emotions he felt about her being around, and then eventually blossomed into actual love.

Then in contrast, you have Kory. And I think Dick was instantly attracted to her from the get-go, and their relationship was the very epitome of intense passionate romance and all the ups and downs that go along with it, as befits too of the most primal and passionate people in the DC universe. Dick was drawn to her pretty much from day one, and Kory was as well, and it wasn’t an opposites attract thing so much as two beings resonating on the same wavelength, even if at times from different parts of the same spectrum. 

Because here’s the thing about Dick that I think links the two kinds of relationships and makes them both fitting for him…..he is very much a creature of instincts. He goes with his gut, he responds to things on an automatic and visceral level. But at the same time, the other truth about Dick is that his mind is no less exceptional than anyone else’s in the Batfamily, and his instincts are guided by a hell of a lot more intellect and processing power than most peoples’ are. He’s been trained from the time he could walk, even long before he met Bruce, to have exceptional situational awareness, to adapt to changes in his environment and predicaments with a moment’s notice, to take in every possible relevant detail at a glance when the stakes are literally those of leaping off a high trapeze. Dick trusts his instincts, because Dick’s instincts are exceptional, and with reason.

And this applies to every part of his life, not just the superhero parts. So when Dick feels drawn to someone like Kory, I think he trusts his gut and goes with it….he might not necessarily even know yet on a conscious level why he’s attracted to them and they’re someone he could really fall for and have a relationship with, he just knows that he does feel that way, and trusts that its for a reason. And then at the same time, with someone like Barbara, he likely had those same instincts about her, leading to the times he defends her to Bruce even though he might have clashed with her just minutes before, but he knows there’s a reason for him to do that, act that way, even if it takes much longer for that to transition from a mere possibility of actual compatibility to conscious feelings of actual attraction and love. 

Its all instinct to him either way….but the person he’s instinctively reacting to has the definitive role in whether or not its slowburn or instant passionate attraction….because the other deep truth about him that I feel is relevant here is that Dick feeds off other people, their energy, what they show him and give him to work with….and his instinct is usually to meet them in kind, give the same energy back, unless say, he makes the conscious decision to override his instincts and power through an antagonistic reception and try and forge a positive bond, like with building his sibling dynamic and mentorship of Damian.

But in regards to his romances, as I said, I think the same instincts might be in play with both Barbara and Kory, but it played out very differently because Babs wasn’t initially drawn to him, not in that way at least. She wasn’t putting forth a romantic energy, and so it took awhile for Dick’s own romantic feelings to emerge and for them to finally be reciprocated in time. In contrast, it was hot and fiery from day one with Kory, because Kory was drawn to him from day one as much as Dick was to her, so there was nothing to slow down or stop those instincts from transforming into attraction and romantic feelings from the second he felt them.

As to the rest of your ask, lololol, sorry to be a cop out, but I don’t think there is a specific physical draw for Dick. I’ve always headcanoned him as bi, which is a bit of projection on my part, sure, but also I just genuinely don’t think gender or even physicality at all has anything to do with what draws to a person, or makes him attracted to them. Yeah, sure, I think he absolutely has physical attributes he loves and might put forth as their best attribute for any partner he’s with, but I think its different with each person because Dick is all about individuality….not just with himself and his own independence, but just….people aren’t interchangeable for him. At any level, I think. 

Every person who’s important to him is uniquely distinct in his mind, and I think with his romantic partners, this results in him liking something distinct about them physically, that separates them in his mind from any other partners he’s had. Because I don’t think its physical appearance that’s Dick’s primary source of attraction with his partners….he’s attracted to them first, and then he settles on something physical that’s uniquely attractive to him as well, that’s different in his mind from anyone else.

Because I think the thing that draws Dick to people in all forms of his relationships, but is particularly true and evident in his romantic partners…..is Dick is both drawn and attracted to competence, skill, power, intellect….all the things that make someone hardy. Durable. A survivor in the context of the world of superheroics that he lives in, specifically.

He’s drawn to people he feels he’s less likely to lose. And he’s attracted to people that this is equally true of, and even moreso, to the degree where he doesn’t feel any need to protect them….not because he doesn’t want to, but because it isn’t relevant. He feels and trusts that they’re more than capable of protecting themselves just as well if not better than he ever could.

And he knows better than anyone that nothing’s a guarantee, and even as he surrounds himself with family and friends and romantic partners that all have in common the fact that they’re incredibly skilled, capable and powerful…enduring…..he still knows that doesn’t mean he can’t lose them, that he won’t lose them. And thus IMO they all wind up in distinct categories in his mind.

His family, he’d kill for. His friends, he’d die for. And his romantic partners, the thing that makes him attracted to them, rather than just drawn to them, are those that he has no doubt would kick his ass for ever presuming to do either of those things for them, because they’re more than capable of taking care of themselves, thanks ever so much. He’s attracted to people he feels safe around, in the sense that he’s not always on guard, always worried about losing them, because he trusts in their ability to endure, survive, and thrive. And that he also can relax around, in the sense that he’s not always feeling like its on him to protect them, defend them, that he has to be always to be on guard or watching out for…because its not his job to protect them and it doesn’t have to be, because there’s nothing he can do for them that they can’t do for themselves and wouldn’t prefer to be left to them. And thus with them he can just…be.

Dick Grayson IMO is attracted to one type of person and one type only: his equals in body, mind and spirit. The ones he can stand beside and not feel dwarfed by or lost in their shadow, and at the same time never have to look back to make sure they’re following him because he knows they’re right there next to him keeping up. He’s attracted to those who challenge him, intellectually, emotionally, that he respects on every level, but who respect him on every level too…..with this part being especially key, and the problem he’s had in his canon relationships - they ONLY fall apart on his end of things, make him lose faith in the relationship, when he feels disrespected, that they’re not valuing him or his capabilities or contributions. 

Dick KNOWS his own worth, which is why he’s such a unique blend of confidence and insecurity….he can weather a whole society of people looking down on him because he knows their opinion doesn’t mean shit to him, but still be stricken with insecurity when he feels someone whose opinion he DOES value, like a romantic partner, family or friend, seems to question his worth or what he’s capable of. 

Dick and Kory are my preferred canon relationship because when they’re ALLOWED to work without editorial mandate to break them up or keep them apart, they embody this most fully for me. Because Kory is massively more powerful than Dick, but never regarded Dick as anything other than her equal in the field in spite of that. There was no question that they both regarded each other as fellow warrior spirits that they trusted to have their back in battle above all others. Kory and Dick work so well for me, because with everything else I said kept in mind, they SHOULDN’T work, not as total equals, and yet they DO. There SHOULD be a power imbalance there, and yet there never was. Not one that was felt, anyway, and not one that was ever in any way responsible for any of their romantic problems. Their issues were disagreements born of competing ideologies….but that both felt equally strongly about. Or issues of trust but only that were externally imposed by brainwashing and shapeshifting and bad shitty writing and editorial mandate that I’ll be ranting about on my deathbed. 

BUT I DIGRESS.

Anyway, enough rhapsodizing about Dick and Kory, lol, like that’s anything new. I mean, I could insert rhapsodizing about the potential for Dick and Kyle based on all of the above and other reasons, but that’s nothing new either. And also, whoops, this got super fucking long.

OH UNKNOWABLE UNIVERSE, WHO COULD HAVE FORESEEN SUCH A THING.

[padalickingood]

Can we please have more Loch backstory? I'm v intrigued and would appreciate a readmore dump

umm yessss absolutely Lmao. There’s actually….kind of a lot to unpack with his backstory, so I’m not even really sure where to begin with it? Hence why I prefer answering specific asks people have XD, but I could TRY and do a quick abbreviated readmore of his backstory, KEYWORD TRY

I’m definitely going to leave out a lot of the meat of his story and kind of go over the basics so if there’s anything that you would like me to elaborate on please let me know!!

not sure if I should do bullet points or little paragraph info dumps so uh we’ll just see what happens here

Firstly there’s a lot of stuff that needs to be prefaced to kind of understand the basics (like specifically surrounding the politics of the city and what not) that I honestly feel like i’ve repeated enough to make a decent amount of sense??? but if you need a refresher it’s all  here   . otherwise i’m just gonna start saying stuff and hope it’s easy to follow!!

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SO I guess I should start off by saying where he kind of sits right now in his story and kind of go backwards from there. Currently he is an exile of his home city of Elfenbein, effectively chased out of the city and left to die. Before that though he was the oldest son of one of the four most historic noble houses of the city of Elfenbein. He belonged to the house of rangers, with his father as the head and his step mother and 3 half siblings at his side. Loch was very much the bastard son of the family in most senses of the word. There were little to no expectations put on him aside from just being a good hunter and having a presentable presence in public. but he was also Ley’thas’ illegitimate son.

Before he married Dofrea he had a fling with a woman named Ranna. Their little fling wasn’t that long lived and eventually Ranna was forced out of the city after it being discovered what she was (psst...a werewolf). Of course she didn’t go without leaving a gift, the young infant Loch, with Ley’thas to care for.

Loch grew up in the noble life style of a Vallentin family member although he never really felt quite noble. His relationship with his father and step mother were strained at best in his youth and only grew worse as he grew up and his lycanthropy started to truly develop. The harshest years of his life were from his mid teen to young adult years where he endured a suffocating hold his parents had on him in their attempts to keep his secret hidden and ‘help’ rid him of the curse. In the end their attempts at ridding him of the affliction left him with nothing but deep emotional scars that he carries with him to this day.

Still he maintained his hearty attitude and looked to move forward. In his youth after his wolfy side started to really take root, Loch quickly formed an obsession to finding his birth mother Ranna, wanting to build a true connection with her in order to better understand himself. Through his desperate attempts at finding her he ends up getting involved in some less than kosher magics that eventually lead him to her. Their initial meeting was awkward and strained and the two didn’t exactly connect as quickly as he would have liked. Ranna’s attempts to distance herself from him was only met with determination from Loch to learn more about her. She reluctantly agrees to help him but so far they’ve only met less than a handful of times.

Aside from his rocky relationship with his family (which doesn’t even include his half-siblings yet) He was still very much an important member of the Ventis. As an actual family member he was able to climb up the ranks fairly easily and is renowned among other Vallentin recruits for being one of the best hunters…even though he would always split from the group. Regardless he did his job efficiently and without issue for the most part, and he actually prided himself on his ability to protect his city.

Loch has always been a protective person, but in his job description of killing monsters there is obviously a level of conflict within him. He would always do whatever he could to help people, but in that same vein he never indiscriminately killed monsters. His philosophy was to help those that needed it. The idea of simply killing something because it encroached on your space (which was essentially what The Ventis does) was never something that sat right with him. Even though he participated in Ventis hunts, he made a habit to make sure the creature they were after was either humanely lead to a place where it wouldn’t be any trouble or be taken care of if it truly only sought to harm others.

He doesn’t really think of himself as altruistic per-se but just someone whose there to help. Deep down hunting is in his blood and it’s a part of him that’s never really going to go away. One of Loch’s many faults is his addictive nature, specifically around fighting creatures and hunting and also his need to reconnect with his birth mother. All of those things tie into a major part of his person and drive him as a character (and ultimately could get him into a lot of trouble)

When he still lived in Elfenbein he had a few people he grew to knew as close friends. For the most part he wasn’t exactly the best at making friends, either being shunned as the illegitimate son of a Ventis family, not exactly having the best personality for making friends or just simply being ignored (which he kind of preferred). He had no issues with being unseen, it actually helped him get away with a lot more than his siblings at times and maintained his secret pretty well. Particularly after one bad memory with someone he was close to from his past he never really tried to make more friends.

of course sometimes people just enter your life and you don’t get to decide just how much of an impact they’ll have on you. At some point in his life (a few years before he leaves) he makes a habit of going to the lower tier of the city and frequents a tavern in his attempts to get the true pulse of the people and live a mostly average existence. The tavern owner, a young energetic and intense woman by the name of Laurel, ends up becoming one of his closest friends in the city. Loch quickly becomes a regular to the tavern and actually befriends laurel’s other siblings who work there as well. A particular sibling by the name of Rosen actually ends up being a bit of a kindred spirit to Loch as the two learn to understand just how much in common they have.

Unfortunately as life is want to do, the good times don’t last. A few years after he meets and grows close to Laurel and her siblings and he starts to actually get comfortable things start to fall apart. Eventually his father and step-mother discover his (what they deem) incredibly risky and careless behavior and Loch is left to face the consequences and endure the punishment laid out by them. Then not long after that (a few months) there is an attempt on his life. Unknown assailants armed with silvered weapons ambush him while his guard is down and Loch manages to barely escape with his life.

He barely manages to survive with the help of a stranger who finds him near death on the side of the road. After he recovers he makes the decision to leave Elfenbein behind, but more importantly leave the people he’s grown close to behind. And that’s when he start his search for ,honestly, a place to call home. and it starts with finding his mother.

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welp! that’s scarily the spark notes version of his whole backstory. I hope you enjoyed! I didn’t really get into detail his relationship with his siblings and the nitty gritty of his parents cuz there is just…so much to unpack there. Also there’s the case of Alden and his close friend Rosen and Laurel who have had a huge impact on his life, but those are all honestly their own posts. So if you have questions about them i’ll be happy to share!

[gettin-bi-bi-bi]

So lately I've been questioning things. It's usually worse every year during pride month, and for the longest time I've convinced myself that it's because the vast majority of my friends are queer and I'm the lone straight person in many of my friend circles. That said, I find myself in a lot of queer spaces, writing queer fanfic, and generally relating to and enjoying queer stories. I'm a female in my 30s and happily married to a very supportive man who loves me and wants whatever makes me most comfortable and happy, but I've lately been feeling uncomfortable in my own skin and thinking back on commentary I've made to him about: (1) feeling more comfortable presenting less feminine though I still see myself as a woman (albeit more androgynous, I guess?), and (2) how if it weren't for my incredibly conservative upbringing I'd probably identify as bi or pan as I wasn't really exposed to such things in my youth. I do know I've experienced occasional attraction to women in the past that I've never acted on save for some teenaged kissing of friends that never really went anywhere. That said, I guess I'm not sure if I'm trying to fit in because of some weird fear of being left out, or if I'm just not reading the signs on the wall that I'm not as straight as I originally thought and convincing myself that it's less valid because I'm married, love my partner, and therefore I'm effectively straight. (I dumped this info on a wonderful friend who tapped the internalized biphobia sign and suggested this blog. I'm sorry this is more word soup than a legit question. I guess I'm just curious if this is valid and/or if there are other people out there like me. Hopefully none of this comes across as offensive, I'm just trying to figure out my place in the universe.)

I'm right there with your friend tapping the internalised biphobia sign. Just because you are dating a man, even married to one, even if that relationship is monogamous and you don't intend to open it... even then you can be 100% bisexual. Look at it this way: just bc you're married to a man doesn't mean you are suddenly not attracted to other men anymore, does it? There are probably still guys out there (random dudes on the street, co-workers, celebrities) whom you like to Look at, maybe even fantasise about. And likewise, a monogamous relationship with a man doesn't mean you cannot also be attracted to women. Bisexuals don't have to "choose" one gender. When we enter monogamous relationships we don't "turn off" the gay part of your sexuality. That is because our sexuality isn't one part straight/one part gay. Any attractions that we have are queer, yes even when you as a cis woman are attracted to a cis man that is bisexual attraction. Bi people's sexuality doesn't default to hetero when we are not actively pursuing same-sex experiences. We are always bi and there can be plenty of queerness in the way bi women are attracted to men. I have some suggestion on how to explore and celebrate your queerness while being in a relationship in this post. Maybe that's something you and your husband can try to incorporate into your relationship.

Please try to trust yourself. I understand that there is a need to get outside validation, especially from someone who is a "Real Certified Bisexual" but I'm gonna tell you a secret here (well... not really a secret): I've also never had sex with a woman. But I know that I'd totally be down if the circumstances were right. I've had crushes on women, I sometimes fantasise about women. That's more than enough to know that I'm bisexual. And you said yourself that you "do know I've experienced occasional attraction to women in the past" and you even explore "some teenaged kissing of friends". Not that this sort of experimenting automatically means someone has to be queer but it is a pretty huge sign, especially if even years later it's still on your mind and in the context of wondering whether you are bi or not.

You say that if it weren't for your conservative upbringing you would probably identify as bi or pan. Well... guess what? Even conservatives can be queer. Though it sounds to me like you are trying to break out of some of those conservative mindsets anyway which... good. You also have a lot of queer friends and though that also isn't solid proof that someone must be queer it's also a fact that queer people attract other queer people and many closeted queers are drawn to making queer friends, even when they are still so closeted they don't even realise it. I know plenty of queer people who started out as very enthusiastic "straight" allies. And after some time they realised, just like you, "okay maybe I am not as straight as I thought I was". And girl, you don't sound straight to me. So much of what you say has me go "yup, that is a full-grown queer right there".

Allow yourself to be yourself. You don't have to prove anything but you can explore for your own sake and honestly? Your friends, your partner? They might be thrilled to see you figuring out who you are and where that place in the universe is with you. You mentioned that you would like to present more androgynous, for example. Go for it! With your queer friends around you there's already a safe environment where you can do that, maybe even get some advice.

Maddie