#Looks a bit snappier already

[chiropterx]

Quick url update! bxtblxxd < chiropterx!

[enha-stars]

ALSO how do you think parents heeyn would react to their teen kid, being the typical adolescent and talking back to them

hmm 🤔🤔 this is such a good question. i think heeyn as parents could be described as ‘in tune’ because they just know each other so well

for example,

y/n tried her best to keep calm and keep her voice quiet as she tried, for the tenth time, to get her daughter out of her room.

dahlia, the stubborn teenager that had her back to her mother, continued to ignore the figure in her doorway. she had heard her mother’s voice over the music in her headphone, she just chose not to answer.

“dahlia,” you said, much louder. this time, you were sure that your voice had gotten to her. when she continued to him, you exhaled and walked towards her, tapping her on her shoulder.

at this, your daughter turned her head. “oh,” she sighed as she removed her headphones. “what is it, mama?”

you tried not to sigh, hating how difficult it was so be gentle sometimes. you wanted to mention how you’ve been calling her name for a while, but chose to let it go.

“can you please help me in the kitchen? your father is ironing our clothes and your brother has already picked up all his toys.”

dahlia groaned and threw her head back on the chair like you asked her to trek to the nearest supermarket. you poked the inside of your cheek with your tongue, wanting to reprimand her behaviour, but there was no time for that now.

you made a mental note to call your mum and apologise for your teenage years. they aren’t easy to deal with and you’re leaning that first hand.

“do i have to? i’m in the middle of doing something.”

you glanced at her laptop and almost frowned. she was drawing, and while you silently applauded her work, you were sure she could take a break.

dahlia wasn’t usually like this, but she spent more time in her bedroom these days and was more snappier than usual.

you rest your hand on her shoulder and smile softly at her. “flower, please? i need your help.”

dahlia instantly felt a little bad at her mother’s words but not enough to really want to get up. she just wanted to chill in her room all day. why couldn’t you let her do that?

“i don’t really want to get up, mama. i’ll come down later.” dahlia put her headphones back on, dismissing you.

you blinked as you stood there. gently, you pried the headphones off her head and held them tightly, eyes sharpening at her frown.

“excuse me?” you crossed your arms and frowned at her. “i asked you to come and help me, so get up and help me.” your tone was a bit more stern, a bit colder. you didn’t like using it but alas.

“yeah, but i don’t want to get up.”

“dahlia—”

“i don’t want to help you! i don’t want to get up!”

at her outburst, your shoulders tensed and you stood up straighter. the gentleness in your eyes melted a bit and dahlia faltered at the stern look in your eyes.

you tried to be soft with your kids. you wanted to raise them differently than your parents, or your grandparents, but that didn’t mean tolerating disrespect.

when it came time to reprimand or punish, you always followed through.

“do not use that tone with me.” your voice was a little deeper, a tad bit angrier. dahlia’s eyes widened as she realized that you were angry with her. “i’m your mother. if i’m asking you for help, you will help.” you tilted your head and dahlia swallowed.

“dahlia,” came her father’s voice. you watched as dahlia’s head snapped towards the door and her eyes slightly widened at heeseung’s tone. he leaned against her doorway with his arms crossed.

heeseung walked into the room and stood a little bit behind you. his hand rested on your waist, rubbing circles into your skin to remind you that he’s right there with you.

having both of her parents frown down at her made her nervous and she shivered. she hadn’t even meant to raise her voice.

“you don’t raise your voice at your mother,” heeseung said. “if she’s asking you for help that you help her, regardless of what you’re doing.”

before dahlia can nod, you crouched down to meet her lowered eyes. there’s a bit of shame, guilt, and defiance swimming in them and you almost laughed. you must have been a handful for your parents.

you cupped your daughter’s chin and her bottom lip wobbled. “i know you just want to be in your room all day and spend time with anyone other than your family. your father and i were once teenagers too.” your lips quirk upwards and dahlia’s do too. “but being a teenager and growing up does not mean you get to disrespect your parents.”

dahlia slowly nodded and lifted her head. you stood up and heeseung’s hand rests on your lower back, keeping you steady.

he doesn’t say anything else, but he doesn’t need too. you’re perfectly content with him right there.

“i’m sorry,” dahlia said, her voice quiet and hoarse. “i didn’t mean to talk back.”

you ruffled her hair and stepped back. “i know.”

[hes-back-from-the-dead]

Can't believe I have to edit this in but: DON'T REPOST MY ART FOR ANY REASON IF I WANT IT POSTED SOMEWHERE I WILL POST IT MYSELF- IF YOU REPOST MY ART YOU"RE AN ASS) Here are some different drafts and the process of working on my own poster for the SPO poster project! Long post below!

My initial concept was to have the poster be heavily grafitti'd as a sort of fun little gag towards my headcanon of the Snes and Wii iterations of him being different characters and how frequently the fandom bullies his design.

I then got sad cause I realized I'd put a lot of work into making the poster, and Aran himself, look really good and I didn't wanna hide either. So I decided to make it an open invitation for others to fuck around with their own posters!

I ended up being pretty indecisive on what I wanted to do for the graffiti itself- I had far too many ideas.

I obviously got the stache, brows, crossed eyes, and stink lines form the contender intro for Aran but I thought I'd add my own touches like silly shit people did in my server (playing tic tac toe on his massive forehead) and generally what I think Wii Aran would do to mock his counterpart.

The original iteration ended up too mean especially with all the fat comments, so switching them for more varied words ended up looking much better! 'Men gotta be fart, stupid, and hideous' is my favorite line.

To translate some other insults: Jackeen means a city person, usually mocking Dubliners. Dryshite just means boring.

In the final set, Wii Aran also has another piece of graffiti on the wall- it's meant to invoke spray paint but I didn't do too well here. This is far from the first time he's made a mockery of branch B's Aran and it won't be the last.

As for the plain poster- from the original, the biggest changes are the background of the portrait and his blurb. Yes I'm aware he has no ear holes I can't draw them I'm sorry.

I kinda HATE the way the background is tbh- the spo manual already makes everyone ugly as shit- there's no need to make it worse lmao.

I went with bricks spattered with dirt and blood to evoke a feeling of being in a back alley fight. My original attempt was garbage but then I found this simple brick brush that made my entire life easier.

I wanted to give him a black eye and bloody nose too but it ended up being too hard for me to figure out.

Tbh I don't like the original blurb- it feels clunky and empty all at once. I tried to go with a snappier rendition of the same main ideas while adding a bit of flair and appreciation for how he is in SPO.

The hardest bit of the whole process was probably figuring out all the strange quirks of the text. It looks good but damn is it hard to replicate.

My favorite part was playing around with all the layers and ways I could use effects- a filter or two really does a lot to add to the feeling of a poster. And for one last bit of funsies, here's the poster without any effects vs all of them. (I lost the version with highlighting on his face, whoops!)

I'm really happy with this piece and how quickly I finished it! I think it's a really good sign for my progress in digital art! If you've got questions, feel free to ask in the replies!

[harriertail]

Omen of the Stars reread + a lot of thoughts

The Fourth Apprentice

The cover is actually the best cover in the series are you kidding me? Its so pretty. The yellow blue and dark green r so nice

Why does the TC/ShC stream drying up affect the lake water level and not the RiverClan... river? Does the Moonpool stream still run???

Every mention of Squirrel and Leaf sitting together "so close they were like kits just out the nursery" is an actual STAB in the chest. They go thru so much :((((

A flash flood seems to take out the beaver den (or its just poorly worded?) so what was the point of the journey...

Dovewings personality is snappier than i think pple give her credit for, I kinda enjoy her

Tigerheart literally does not interact with her on the mission lmao what is he on about 'I'm gonna miss you'

Jayfeather missing Lionblaze is act so painful :(

Fading Echoes

So much of the opening of these books is just recounting previous events and character arcs omg this goes for all WC books.

Hollyleaf :(

Blossompaw's siblings joke that she moons over Toadstep. Idk why fucking Thornclaw becomes her mate later on then :/

What is Tigerheart doing on the border ? he doesnt explain it? I actually thought that he was already meeting Dovepaw secretly but then hes not like what is he doing...?

Dovepaw being worried for the other Clans + her thoughts about having this power should put her above the Clan rules could be so interesting. the series back-and-forths over Lionblaze (we must protect ThunderClan) and Dovepaw (we must protect all the Clans) even though Lionblaze gets annoyed at Dovepaw for using her powers to look after ThunderClan???

The whole "being obsessed with Prophecy and what it means" is probs a part of Jay's character (as he baso became a med cat to fulfil his destiny) but it also feels like a gross misunderstanding of what a Prophecy is. All the "the dark forest is rising. This might be what the Three is meant for" is like putting the horse before the cart- a prophecy is meant to describe a situation and hint at the character/means to solve it; but PO3/OoTS has the characters/means to solve, but no conflict :/ its a bit backwards.

I like the mentions of Firestar + Sandstorm going on night hunts etc.

Blossompaw/fall's a cunt lol. Shes kinda fun but shes not nice at all especially to Ivypool.

I love Littlecloud. I love when the med cats share ideas and discuss things 10/10 makes my day everytime

The pacing is actually... not good. Ive defo always been on thr camp of "too many povs and too few chapters ruins the book" but wow FE really shows it.

So much of Doves characterisation so far is about agency and not wanting to be special and have Firestar/Lion/Jay talk to her. I wish this was not forgotten about in later Super Editions.... kittypetdovewing2k24

this battle is crazy tho. I wish more of the DF plot was about stirring up trouble between the Clans and specific troublemakers in each Clan rather than the later nebelous 'dark warriors invade the forest' battle. Ill get to that one day

Night Whispers

Picking right back up in the battle...

and again just recounting the last books events. hollyleaf death/disappearance explanation count: 3

Kinda love how many times shes mentioned. From Lionblaze avoiding the tunnel she ran into to Jayfeather finding the fur that Leafpool hid.... cute

Okay i actuallt love ShadowClan discussing the battle + tactics + training and then the chapter immediately after the TC camp doesnt mention it at all and Ivypaw is like "why arent we discussing the battle? Just because we won doesn't mean we will again!!" interesting character moments + a nice look at differences between the Clans

Ivypaw and dovepaw fighting over tigerheart????? they fight so much but then always wanna be together like jfc.

Dove n tiger have negative chemistry like it just jumps right into "no boundaries can keep us apart". I get shes using him as an escape from TC/prophecy bullshit but like.... rlly? I wish it was just like expanded on. Tbh i wish every chapter had like just two extra pages to actually delve into things a bit better.

Lmaoo lionblaze cinderheart leafpool dovepaw patrol this is so fucking funny brambleclaw u get one point for this

Tigerheart break up scene count: 1

Flametail POV. Interesting but... why? Bad things r coming we know... what was his point narratively? It was cool tho. I liked seeing ShadowClan.

Every single book Dovepaw has a character die/get really hurt and is haunted by their screams. Rippletail, Longtail/Briarpaw, and later on its Antpelt... jesus christ girlie has it SO rough

The ivypaw "nernernenerner im better than you im being trained by tigerstar" to "oh fuck hes actually a bad guy i cant believe the terroristic maniac lied to me" is so rapid shes so funny/stupid

The imagery in this book is kinda crazy. Fire and ice cats and drowning in darkness visions. Very fun.

Sign of the Moon

So the med cats are divided and split up and StarClan does not trust any other Clan cat- but when in StarClan, Barkface and Flametail are hanging out? Crookedstar offers to share prey with Yellowfang? But StarClan is super fractured rn each Clan must stand alone. Okay

Antpelt nooooooooooooooo

Idk what the mountain prophecy actually means like. Firestar was always going to lead ThunderClan into battle.... what is he gonna do that's different...

Rock: i was the first Stoneteller Five chapters later Half Moon becomes the first Stoneteller. This is egregious

Swoop death. that's the fourth death Dovewing is going to be haunted by

The Forgotten Warrior

all the hints to Hollyleaf still... its a nice throughline... the yarrow and tansy and Molepaw/Cherrypaw scenes... shes my fave. sometimes the foreshadowing feels like it could be just Jayfeather coping that she's 'defo still out there' but TFW ties it up well. especially when you get surprised by Sol coming back and its like 'oh they were convinced she was defo still out there :(' and then she's actually back!!!

also the title??? is banger. the Forgotten Warrior, with Leafpool on the OG cover??? wow. espec as its constantly brought up that Leafpool was the medicine cat but no one sees her as a warrior really.... TBH all these titles are just as good as the TPB titles in terms of meaning/how good they are.

Another fox? okay.

SOL.... okay

tunnel adventures part 3.

All this like.. Bumeblstripeing is just kinda naff. Dovewing is clearly tryna force herself into liking him. But then she's also going on about how Tigerheart used her??? NGL i do really wanna see like.. why she changes her mind in AVOS

Brambleclaw lying to protect Hollyleaf is actually like. GOD that hurts. especially when you consider Bramblestar's Storm and how much he misses her. thats his favourite

the cinderheart shit is so stupid my jaw is actually on the floor. what you do mean you've been in love with a cat you shouldn't have. is cinderheart having cinderpelt's feelings for fucking firestar and that's why she doesn't want to be with lionblaze. also they have negative chemistry they literally are CONSTANTLY having issues.

oh my god i swear the 'Sol is secretly working with WindClan' was brought up chapters ago and we are only now dealing with it okay. anyway hollyleaf moment.

its kinda weird we dont get any like. scenes of the siblings just being siblings... they only discuss prophecy/plot shit and dont get to be siblings again - which i guess fits with the whole 'everything has changed' but god it'd be so god to just have them doing like. normal cat stuff - especially when so much of this series has had Jayfeather missing her and Lionblaze

i love Dustpelt and Brackenfur building shit... its so good

Dawnpelt murder accusations. okay.... i can't wait for Flametail to suddenly be argumentative again next book

the battle we've been building to all book is one chapter. cool. Sol runs off again and it's the end of the book. cool.

[clare-875]

Until The End (Levi x Reader)- Chapter 6

[Eren Jaeger]

_____

A/N: Posted on Wattpad (@CLARE_875) but also decided to post here :) The image above does NOT belong to me

Summary:

"You can push me away, but I will still fight by you, and I will still follow you… until the end."

The ever-so-stoic Levi Ackerman has only ever known the terrors that living in a cruel world could bring. This all changed one fateful day when he encountered [y/n]; a girl renowned for her looks and abnormal speed. As they escape the confines of the Underground together, they soon discover that freedom doesn't come easy in a world full of Titans. As they rise through the ranks, [y/n] becomes known as "Humanity's Angel", a beacon of hope to humanity as she melts the walls Levi had built around his heart. However, she has her secrets too, and a dark past that might just threaten to pull them apart.

The storyline and characters of Attack on Titan do NOT belong to me, but all to Hajime Isayama; however, I do own this story, and all that occurs disparate to that storyline.

[Series Masterlist] [Chapter Five] <--> [Chapter Seven]

_____

Warnings: Descriptions of blood, canonical violence 

Within the broken confines of the now-fallen Wall Maria Titans mingled between houses and hid in the darkness before appearing abruptly only to catch soldiers within their reach. You had already taken care of two Titans in a blur and could hear Hange making remarks at a Titan before landing by it as it fell. "See, I told you that wouldn't hurt," you hear them smile at the Titan as blood evaporates into steam upon their cloak. You land on a rooftop next to Levi after you see him take down a Titan with a blond Scout caught within their jaws and hear Petra, Gunther and Eld land behind us.

"Captains, I've brought reinforcements," Petra exclaims as she looks at us both. You and Levi nodded at each other before he gave the orders, "Petra, tend to the wounded soldiers below. The rest of you support the right flank." You look over and see that a Titan has indeed popped up on the right, with two on the left and one large Titan straight ahead. "I'll take care of the left," Levi states before looking at you, "[y/n] take care of the one straight ahead." You give him a quick smile and nod. You usually left the orders to Levi, him being more inclined to make snappier decisions, but you knew he still saw you as his equal as his eyes swam with trust and certainty, knowing you would be able to handle the Titan alone.

We then all take off from the rooftops, ignoring Petras's worried exclamations. You make your way forward to the large Titan ahead of you and land on a rooftop in front of it. The Titan swiftly reacts after making eye contact and grabs at you before you jump and attach yourself to a wall on its side. "Now, that wasn't very nice," you frowned mockingly as the Titan barely caught sight of your form before you dodged its grasp. "You know you ought to be a bit more considerate," you say, looking to the Titan with a bored expression on your face, "seeing as I'm going to give you a quick death."

Unsheathing your blades, you then used your ODM gear to latch onto the Titan's shoulder, and in a millisecond, you sliced its nape, landing on a rooftop opposite of it as it fell. Your movements were too fast for an average human to follow and definitely too fast for this Titan, as it didn't even notice it was defeated before it had started to steam in the heavy glow of the sun. No blood had luckily touched your form as you sighed; Levi wouldn't want that, you thought to yourself, knowing of his incessant need for cleanliness.

You looked up in time to see that Levi had already taken care of one of his Titans and was high in the air, ready to face the next. He threw the two blades in his grasp at the second Titan as it growled when the swords dug into its eyes, its hands thrown aimlessly and grabbing at his head. You can't help but admire Levi's form as he lands upon the Titan, a warm feeling embracing you. "Stay still. Otherwise, it will get messy..." he grabbed onto two new blades as he held them above the Titan's head, "when I slice you." He then threw himself high in the air and twisted down towards the Titan's nape, it fell easily as Levi landed on a rooftop next to it. You grin as you make yourself towards him quickly; he has grown stronger and faster, yet to catch up to your speeds, but you know his skills are truly unrivalled.

"Tch, filthy," you land next to him in time to see him grab his handkerchief and wipe the blood off his blade. "You've gotten quicker," you remark as he looks up to you. You see a flicker of relief before it fades into his usual stare; despite his trust, he couldn't help but worry. "Like you can talk," his lips upturn slightly. You look back at him, content to see a glimpse of his smile in the absence of others, before remembering the soldier you had left Petra to look after. You frowned slightly, and he followed suit with slight concern about his features. "Let's go to Petra," you say, and his face flashes briefly with realisation before nodding and following you as we make our way back.

When we land on the floor, you look to see Petra forcing a white cloth onto the fallen man's chest as the Titan Levi had slain was now black as it burned under the sun. You stayed back slightly as you let Levi go ahead. "Captain Levi," you look to see Petra's expression morph into one of despair as she looks to the fallen Scout, "the blood won't stop." Silence lingered for a few moments, but even looking at Levi's back, you could sense his expression had gone tense at the remark.

Laboured breathing then touched the air as you saw the Scout call out to Levi, "Captain..." He approached and leant down next to the man as you looked at the Scout, his eyes swimming with desperation. "What is it," his voice had lost its usual harshness as the Scout continued. "W-was I able to help humanity, or," the Scout raised his hand slowly to the sky, "will I die never having been of any use at all?" Swiftly and unflinchingly, Levi grasped the bloody hand of the soldier despite his disdain at such a sight mere moments ago.

"You have done a great deal. And you will continue to do so. The resolve you leave behind will give me strength. I promise you..." you hear the emotion in Levi's voice as you approach the three, "I will obliterate the Titans!" Blood seeped onto Levi's skin as it clasped the hand of the man that lay in front of him, a man that was now unmoving. "Captain," you looked to Petra as tears poured from her eyes, "He's gone." You make your way towards her and grip her shoulder in comfort. "Did he hear me till the very end?" Levi looked up to the both of us as you gave him a grim smile, "I'm sure he did, look," he followed your line of sight and noticed that the man now lay not in agony but with a peaceful expression on his face. "He seems so at peace."

Levi gets up as you help Petra to her feet, and she smiles sadly, grateful for your support. Soon after, you hear the trot of horses and look up to see that Erwin has approached as you make your way to Levi's side. "Levi, [y/n]," Erwin meets our eyes, a serious look on his face. "We're pulling back." You look at him in surprise, "Pulling back?" you ask him aloud, we had only been out here for an hour or two. You hear Petra's own brief exclamation of surprise as Levi looks to the Commander, "We have yet to push ourselves to the limit." His stare then turns darker as he stares at the blond man in front of him, "are my men dying for nothing?"

"The Titans are heading north, toward town." You freeze at that statement and hear Levi take in a sharp intake of breath, knowing that this could only mean one thing. "Something is happening," Erwin states as he looks forward to where Wall Rose stands, "just like five years ago," you mutter as Erwin nods. "The wall... may have fallen."

.....

The ride back to Wall Rose was a rush, though it had taken a while to gather our troops and get ready for our descent back. Despite the speed at which we rode, you knew it would take more than an hour to make it back to the Walls. During the entire ride home, Levi was more stressed than usual; tense as he observed his surroundings, keeping you in his line of sight. You don't blame him. 5 years ago, Wall Maria had fallen when the Shiganshina district came under attack by the Colossal and Armoured Titan, and they had mysteriously disappeared, undetected. Humanity had lost a lot of territory and more casualties than what could be counted. If another tragedy like that happened today, if Wall Rose fell, the Titans wouldn't be the only threat to humanity. If we were to retreat to Wall Sina, the last of the three walls that protected humanity, civil war would be imminent from the lack of resources and space.

You felt yourself grow rigid at that thought. Killing Titans was easy enough, but to kill people. You think back to your first encounter with Levi. The day you met. You don't think you could ever get used to that feeling. Levi, ever observant, approached you as he saw unusual tension consume your figure. "Oi," he muttered, though, around us, everyone was too preoccupied with their own thoughts to care to listen in. You looked up at him to see him riding by your side but still looking straight ahead. "Stop worrying," you feel yourself force a grim smile as you also look ahead, "says you," you reply, thinking of his stubborn eyes that hadn't left your figure the entire journey back. "You have my back. I have yours," you looked up to see him staring at me, eyes shining with deadly intent, "some shitty Titans aren't going to change that."

You were surprised at his words. Usually, it would be you offering comfort, though he would often brush it off. But, instead of teasing him, you gave him a grateful smile and felt your body relax. That's right, how could I forget? We would be together. Until the end, that was what I said that day. There's nothing to worry about. Your hair shone under the sun that slowly made its descent back to the Earth, and Levi felt his face heat up slightly at the sight of your smile directed to him before shaking off the warm feeling in his chest and looking ahead towards the walls.

.....

When we arrived, you and Levi gave orders to the squad to be on high alert and help struggling soldiers who were scattered around the Trost district, breached by an unknown entity. The two of you had gone ahead, slicing through Titans that came in your way with ease before your eyes went to a group of Scouts, and a sight that made your heart race with surprise. The group consisted of a blond and raven-haired girl, a grey-haired woman from the garrison and... a brunette who was clad in Scout clothing being pulled out of a Titan. A boy attached to a Titan; the Titan lying in front of a boulder that sealed the breached Wall Rose. What exactly is this situation?

Suddenly, you and Levi spot four Titans making their way to the group, grasping at the Scouts below before they can retreat above the walls. You reacted quickly as you went to the left, using your speed to cut the nape of two Titans that fell in seconds, and Levi followed through on the right, taking care of the remaining two. You breathed in slightly as you landed on top of one of the Titans you had slain, Levi on another. Steam clouded your vision as the Titans burned under your feet before you turned to the group, eyes looking at the brunette who was now awake, red marks adorning his face and wide emerald eyes staring right back at us as he noticed the symbol on our capes. Levi slowly turned around, his eyes sharp and moving slightly in front of me, "Hey, brats," he stared daggers at the group that stared up at us in shock. "What's going on here?"

.....

After the encounter with the boy you now learnt to be named Eren, we had been given a brief rundown of the situation. The Colossal Titan had appeared once again, several moments after the Scouts had left for the Exhibition, breaching Wall Rose and thus the Trost District. Though Scouts had fought against the Titans valiantly, many casualties arose and Eren, Eren Jaeger; he was thought to be dead as he was consumed by a Titan in front of the boy named Armin but had returned when he arose from a Titan's nape. Later, Commander Pixis of the garrison saw his power as not just a threat but something to be utilised, and they came up with a plan to seal Wall Rose. And Eren, using his power to transform into a Titan, had done just that.

During the day that followed, Cannons echoed relentlessly in Trost as the garrison got rid of Titans still trapped in the sealed wall. You and Levi, along with the other Scouts, were in charge of ridding any remaining Titans that lay in the walls, and with the help of Garrison Engineers, Wall Rose stood tall again. During your operations, you also managed to capture two Titans; one 4-meter and one 7-meter class alive, much to Hange's delight. However, 207 were pronounced dead or missing, and 897 were wounded. It was barely a victory for us at all.

You now look up from the wall that you leant on. Levi stood rigid by your side, crossing his arms over his chest as you did, eyes sharp as ever. Barely any warmth filled the cold air as flames danced around us on our far right, it being the only source of light, and two soldiers stood on either side of the cell. The cell where Eren Jaeger slept. Erwin sat in front of us, waiting patiently while observing the situation until Eren woke up abruptly, rising quickly from his bed and making eye contact with him. Levi didn't flinch, but you could tell he was as cautious as you were, watching Eren's movements adamantly.

"Do you have any questions?" It was Erwin who spoke, looking at the slightly frantic state Eren was in. You saw Eren's emerald eyes move swiftly across the room, landing on Erwin and Levi, who looked to his side and then you, his wide eyes growing wider in the realisation of who exactly was in his presence. "U-um," Eren's eyes wavered as he looked to Erwin, "Where... am I?"

"As you can see, it's an Underground jail cell." Eren looked to Erwin, seemingly in a state of shock. "The Military Police has retained custody of you. We only just received permission to speak with you." Eren looked at the chains that were wrapped tightly around his arms before looking up at the object that Erwin lifted in his grasp. "That key..." Eren looked up bewildered, "Yes. It's yours. You can have it back later." Erwin looked intently at Eren as he continued, "The basement to your house in Shiganshina, Doctor Yeger's house, holds the answer to the mystery of the Titans... Is that right?" His eyes flickered between the key to Eren. "Yes," Eren's surprise was unmasked as he looked at Erwin. "I think so. That's what my dad said."

"You have amnesia, and your dad's missing. Pretty convenient." you looked to your left, and Levi spoke, his voice dull as he looked at Eren. "Levi," Erwin's blue eyes now looked to him as he held a warning tone in his voice, "we already reached the conclusion that he has no reason to lie." Erwin then looked back to Eren, "There's still so much we don't know. But right now, we need to ask what you want to do." Eren looked up in surprise, "what I want to do?"

"To return to your house, we must retake Shiganshina and Wall Maria. The simplest and easiest way to seal the shattered gate would be to use your Titan power. It's likely that Titans will determine our fate. The Colossal Titan and Armoured Titan are the same, in principle, as you. Your decision is the key. The key that can save humanity from despair." Erwin looked to Eren as emotions seemed to fill his green eyes, "M-me?"

"Oi, answer up, you piece of crap," Levi spat unmoving at your side. Eren's face started to twist in conflict before his gaze on the floor became murderous. "Your answer, Eren," you spoke up for the first time, voice ringing through the cell as Eren looked up at the sound of your voice. "What do you want to do?" Quiet seconds passed before it finally broke with his reply. "I want to join the Survey Corps," his emerald eyes glinting as a trembling smile filled his face, "and just slaughter the Titans." Silence rang through the air at his answer. Interesting.

Levi's eyes seemed to glint slightly before he moved closer to the cell, "Oh? Not bad." He grasped the cold metal bars as he looked at Eren with his own murderous stare, "Erwin, I'll take responsibility for him. Convey that to the brass." Levi paused slightly before continuing, "It isn't that I trust him. If he betrays us or loses control, I'll kill him on the spot." Eren flinches under his harsh glare, "They shouldn't complain. Because I am the only one capable of doing it." Levi continues on, never blinking. It's true, you think, even between the two of us. You know Levi is stronger and more capable; there's no one else in the military or anyone for that matter, the people would trust more than Humanity's Strongest Soldier. You look up to see Levi stare at Eren, "I accept your request. You can join the Survey Corps."

_____

[Chapter Five] <--> [Chapter Seven]

[zoeykallus]

Hi! I’m not sure if you’re accepting requests at the moment so if you’re not feel free to disregard this haha but I read your post about the bad batch telling their brothers that they’re dating someone and I was wondering if you’d be willing to do a drabble? One shot? I’m not sure of the term but like a mini fanfic of Hunter introducing his s/o to his brothers? Hope you’re having an awesome day!

Aloha!

Sure. Let me see what I can do for you 😊 I'm a nervous bean in cases like this, so I took the nervous approach, hope that's alright.

Hunter x Reader One-Shot - Introductions

Mostly Fluff

Today is the day you are supposed to meet Hunter's brothers. You are a little nervous. You don't know why exactly you are so nervous, but according to Hunter, you have nothing to worry about. But he talks so much about his brothers that you're sure Hunter cares a lot about his brothers' judgment. Of course, you want to make a good impression and hope you get along well with each of them. The two of you are on your way to the Marauder when Hunter looks at you and says gently but reprovingly, "Sweetie, would you please relax. We're not on our way to a tribunal, you're just getting to know my brothers today." You sigh softly, smile apologetically and say, "I can't help it, I just want to make a good impression and I don't know if I can" Hunter laughs softly. "Of course you can, I'm sure you can". You look into his striking handsome face, the smile on his lips adorable as always. You sigh softly, dreamily. You love this man so much, right now you can't imagine anything worse than being rejected by his family. His expression becomes gentle. He strokes your cheek with one finger and says, "They'll like you, I'm sure of it. Except Crosshair, maybe, but you can't take that too seriously. Crosshair hardly likes anyone and even if he does, he never admits it."

You blink nervously. He has warned you about Crosshair before. Hunter sees your look and adds, "He's not a bad person, just very introverted. But I bet even you can thaw him out after a while." The Marauder approaches, and you already see two of them outside working on the ship. At first glance, you guess, from what Hunter has told you, that they are Tech and Echo. You see a couple of benches and a camping table standing outside on the landing pad, and upon closer inspection, you notice the two men are not working on the ship, but setting up some sort of homemade grill. The tallest of them looks up first and spots you. "Oh, you're here already. We were expecting to have a little more time to get set up" Tech straightens up, and his lean figure is even taller than you expected. Behind the yellow lenses of his goggles, two large amber eyes gaze at you. Not sure how to greet him, you shyly raise your hand to wave. At first, his brows twitch upward, and he tilts his head to the side barely noticeably, but then he returns the gesture with a small, "Hello."

You know right away you like this one, he seems so calm and gentle. The other one, Echo, on the other hand, seems a bit snappier, more military, but definitely polite. "Miss," he says politely, nodding at you and smiling barely noticeably, "Pleased to meet you." "The feeling is mutual" Tech eyes you unabashedly and says matter-of-factly, "You seem nervous. Is something wrong?" At first, you don't know what to say, but Hunter steps in for you and takes the weight off your shoulders, "She's a little nervous about meeting you all today" Echo laughs softly, "Well there's no reason to be, we're all very affable and, if I may be so bold as to presume, open and easy going. With the possible exception of Crosshair." You chuckle nervously and say, "Yeah, I've heard something like that". Tech makes the last few adjustments and finally the grill is up. "You guys didn't go to all this trouble just for me, I hope" you say sheepishly. Tech answers you, "Well, yes and no. Being together like this is something we rarely enjoy, and we take advantage of the opportunity" Hunter asks, "Is Rex here yet?" "Rex?" you ask, surprised, because you haven't heard that name before. "A clone brother who is not directly part of the squad. He'll come later," Tech explains. Just now the nervousness had subsided a bit, now it sets in again. You feel Hunter's hand on your back. "Easy, love. It's all good." You smile nervously as you see the scrutinizing looks of Tech and Echo watching this small gesture. Echo explains, "Rex is a very good friend, a close brother of mine. It was through him that I eventually ended up on this squad." You nod and say, "I'm excited to meet him." "Hey Hunter!" Calls a voice rumbling behind you. You turn around, and you see, the giant that clearly must be Wrecker. Next to him, you see the tall, lean one with the serious face, a toothpick between his lips, whose grumpy look, tattoo aside, clearly looks like Crosshair to you. Wrecker is carrying a huge backpack that also seems to be full of stuff. He comes closer beams at you, leans down a little and says cheerfully, "Hey you, heard a lot about you! Nice to meet you!" His grin is infectious, and you grin back. "Nice to meet you too, Wrecker." He reaches out his hand and yours disappears into it for a moment. His handshake is very gentle, contrary to your expectations. Then your eyes fall on Crosshair, for a moment he looks as rigid as if he were set in stone. Then the toothpick in his mouth moves from one corner of his mouth to the other, and he hums, barely audible, "Hello." You say quietly, nervous again, "Hello" You'd like to say more to him, a few pleasantries, but you get the distinct feeling Crosshair doesn't want you to, so you leave it at hello. Hunter has a hand on your shoulder, or your back, the whole time, always close by, as if he's giving you silent backing, mental support, because he senses exactly how unsettled you are.

He never leaves you alone for long, always stays in sight when he has to do something or helps his brothers with the rest of the preparations, so you can see him. Occasionally he flashes you his adorable smile and makes your heart beat faster. Gradually, the nervousness subsides as you all sit together and the food sizzles on the grill, the air filling with the delicious smell of grilled goods. Wrecker cracks a few jokes, the men joke with you as well as with each other, and you take part in this togetherness with fascination. Corellian ale is flowing, but you keep thankfully refusing, the brew is not quite to your taste. As expected, Crosshair is rather reserved and quiet, but to your surprise he unexpectedly offers you a glass of delicious cherry wine instead of the ale the men drink, saying, "That's probably more to your taste". You thank him, but he is already back at his place, leaving bottle and glass at your place. Since then, however, he has not said a word to you.

By the time Rex shows up, you're so relaxed in this round that even his arrival doesn't throw you off your game. Rex greets you politely. He has the same, somewhat stiff, military manner as Echo at first, but after a while he also thaws out a bit and joins in the jokes of the others. However, he keeps calling you "Miss" instead of by your first name, as the others have come to do. Hunter has put an arm around your waist and is hugging you gently. He's really happy about this evening, about how great you are with everyone. You really like his brothers, they all have their characteristics and each one of them is special. Wrecker snaps you out of your thoughts as he stands up, raises his glass and says, "Let's have a toast, to a new member of our quirky little family." Touched, you raise your glass, heart beating joyfully, and toast each one. Crosshair rolls his eyes briefly, but toasts with you as well.

Hunter leans in to your ear and whispers, "See, no need to be nervous," before kissing your temple.

Ko-Fi (If you feel like giving me some coffee)

@rintheemolion

@andyoufollowyourheart @clone-whore-99

@brynhildrmimi @kaliel2310

@misogirl828 @tech-deck

@meshla-madalene

@chxpsi

@thebahdbitch

@nahoney22 @ladykatakuri

@darkangel4121

@ttzamara

@arctrooper69

@padawancat97

@agenteliix

@allsystemsblue

@palliateclaw

@either-madness-or-brilliance

@ortizshinkaroff

@andy-solo1

@hunterssecretrecipe

@heyitsaloy

@greaser-wolf

@extrahotpixels

@hated-by-me

@hunterxcrosshair

@malicemercy

@bebopsworld

@echos-girlfriend

@cpnt616

@dangraccoon

@jediknightjana

@pb-jellybeans

@antishadow2021

@sleepycreativewriter

@starwarsnerd111

@bandnerdlevel43

[karoochui]

I just wanted to say I am so enamoured with Binary Insurgence! I eat up everything, every little crumb, you drop about it and the entire idea is so interesting to me! I'm so in love with stories and worlds like this! I'm also curious to know about the relationship between Sun and Moon, if it's alright to ask. How was it before the fire compared to after? Does their relationship begin to mend (because I'm certain over the years it deteriorated) when y/n comes back into the picture? If any of this is too spoilery or you just haven't fleshed it out yet then you don't have to answer! I'm just super curious about the boys and how you see their dynamic/relationship. I just look forward to seeing how their bond has grown and/or broken and how it may be mended over time.

AHH im glad you like it so much!! Im happy to talk about what i've got, but you are right not everything is fully fleshed out. I have points i wanna get to but while im brainstorming and planning i make up a lot of stuff as i go and then go over it again later to see if i like it or can connect stuff in any way. I have 3 chapters for Arc 1 fully summarized as of now! (Which probably doesn't seem like a lot but i like my chapters long, so it's quite a bit actually).

I wanna say, too, that i'm planning for the first story to be more in the perspective of the reader, so most things about Sun and Moon's personal thoughts and feelings are gonna be more implied than said. I might have some switching points of view, i'm not sure, but i haven't found a place i'd do it or think it's relevant. The sequel is gonna be more from their perspective since it'll mostly be about them.

NOW! I see Sun and Moon as brothers, so they really treat each other in a way that's like that. Before the fire they get along pretty well. Most instances of issue would be when Moon blocks out Sun when he fronts, or just mutual panic over the fact Moon lost his shit w/ the virus. They'll have their disagreements about things (i havent planned specifics yet) but generally they're chill. Sun just worries about Moon hurting people, but Moon worries too. With the way the virus functions in this AU it's hard for Sun to fully fault Moon for what he does, especially because he's also affected by it but not nearly as bad. (I'm gonna explain this more in another ask i have).

Plus, even before the virus they were always glitch/bug-ridden because technicians fucked up their programming continuously after removing them from the theater to work in the daycare. So they had to kinda navigate through that together, glitches and errors on both ends (though not deadly). They hate P&S bc of this, obviously. Hardware fixes suck but they fucking HATE software examinations.

Later on though some issues come into play whenever Sun starts getting worse by being further exposed to the virus (it gets worse for him when they eclipse) because it presents itself in Sun differently than it does Moon. He gets snappier and angrier at times (that comic i made that's captioned "well someones snappy") and while they both understand he doesnt mean the shit he does it's still not great. And nobody's gonna just let themselves be talked to like a dog even if the reason it's happening is because of something the other person can't really help. They're still relatively fine at this point, though.

It's at the end when shit goes really bad, because this part of the story does end badly. I won't spoil specifics but after the fire Sun loses his shit. He starts trying to put the blame on Moon for everything (the virus enhancing his already bad habits/fucking with his line of thinking) out of grief and anger. That carries over into the apocalypse and he just gets worse in general. He gets irrational.

It's a long period of time though, so he eventually also manages it, in his own way. But! I did say before in an ask that in the sequel he's "not evil, persay, but he's a fucking nut". He damns Moon to an hourglass to just fucking get rid of him about 100~ years before they meet you again (he fully thinks he's in the right for this (and he also just hates him) and the only reason he really even stayed around after that was to make sure Moon didn't get out again). He's not a bad-intentioned individual, but he's off the fucking wall at many times bc of the virus having made him worse. He's stubborn as all hell to an infuriating degree, he's irrational, hard-headed, reckless, and while a good bit of his old, kinder self is still pretty prevalent he can be downright fucking mean if provoked. Again, worse than before, and it doesn't take much these days! I always imagined him to have more dramatic, snappy, diva aspects to his personality (even before Help Wanted 2 came out) bc hes so theatrical and intense, so basically take a Sun that's like that, crank it up to 100 and put him in a Bad Situation. That's what Round 2 Sun is like at his worst. He's not a complete lost cause though, and he's far from dumb when he does stuff, just clouded by his own judgement. He doesn't think anything's wrong with him (or does he?).

Moon doesn't really hate him like Sun hates Moon, because although he knows that what happened (the ending of the first story) is technically both of their faults he just feels guilt. They do fight a lot, though. Most of it is Moon trying his best to tell Sun that he's basically full of shit and not seeing things right after Sun starts something, but Sun's at the point where he's gotta learn by consequence. Part of the reason he's so bad is bc 1: hes been infected by the virus for so long now and 2: in his grief, anger, and resentment he's learned to live with it rather than fighting it.

But the sequel is gonna be a feel-good story! Falling in love w/ the reader all over again, i want things to get cleared up - or at least some kind of middle ground between Sun and Moon - the whole sha-bang.

[ihavenolife346]

Mraow 🦐

Roberto… letting him lay on ur chest :333 2006 perchance…

She’s gone Soft

Pairing: 2006!Robert Trujillo x f!reader

Summary: She always had been the much more…get to the point type of person. She was always much more snappier, same as Lars. James, Kirk, Lars, Cliff and even Jason got used to it and loved her like a sister, but the second she met him, the second he joined Metallica with her, that was when the guys started seeing her change.

Warnings: a bit of swearing

Side note: Bit of a shorter one😅, didn’t know how to make it much longer. Hope you like it though:)

Touring was exhausting. The constant moving around, playing a show every night or every other night, hardly sleeping, hardly seeing the people you loved unless they came with you, it was all just exhausting. But it was just something you got used too.

Y/N had just gotten used to being exhausted, she had gotten used to not seeing the people she cared about besides James, Kirk, Lars, and Jason, she even got used to relationships failing cause of how much she was gone. She was just a much…colder person was how many described her until you got to know her. But the guys had just grown to love her for it. It wasn’t until the mid 90s where they noticed how she was almost…happier on a daily basis. When she met Robert, that’s when they all saw a slight change in her. She was smiling a lot more in the studio, she was a bit nicer, but besides that she was still her usual self.

Besides the one time Suicidal Tendencies had opened for Metallica on a tour, the guys never really got to know Robert besides that before Y/N convinced them to give him a shot when Metallica needed a new bassist along with her once Jason left. Y/N never said much about him, only brought him around a few times, but they knew she just liked keeping her private life to herself and they knew she actually seemed to love the guy. People knew her and Robert were a couple, they just weren’t to public about it.

Y/N just liked keeping her private life to herself, it’s how she had always been, even when Robert joined Metallica with her, she was still the same even when getting to see him every day but there was just that hint of a change that the boys saw with her. She didn’t yell as much when Robert was around, she actually apologized when she did yell and he was around, and she never seemed to get as irritated as she did.

With how used she had gotten to touring, flights like tonight’s flight had grown to be her favorite. She was exhausted, but the boys were usually asleep within an hour of take off, and she just got to sit quietly with Robert laying next to her while he slept and she read till she got tired. It’s how she spent most of her nights as they flew city to city.

“Mhmmmm…baby…” Robert mumbled in his sleep, his eyes just barely opening and his head turning over to the woman who he already knew was still awake.

Glancing up from her book, she couldn’t help but let out a soft giggle at how sleepy he looked, “you ok sweetheart…?” Y/N asked softly, keeping her voice gentle to try and not wake him up fully, putting her book down for a moment and shifting a bit so her back was pressed against the arm of her airplane seat so she could look at him a bit better, her arms crossed over her chest with a curious look on her face.

Robert really didn’t even know why he woke up, but the second he actually registered the woman’s movements, he couldn’t help but grin happily, moving himself within seconds to slip his head under her arms, laying partly on top of Y/N and letting his head fall on her chest. “You should really get some sleep…” he mumbled against the woman’s chest, not even caring if she had any protest of him pretty much laying on her even with the uncomfortable position, his arms wrapping around her midsection to keep himself close.

Y/N let out a quiet yelp when she all the sudden felt Robert practically crawl on top of her, a soft laugh leaving her lips just seconds after once she felt his head resting on her chest. She could honestly never complain about this, especially when it always made her laugh. He was almost a foot taller than her, reasonably big guy, but it hardly ever failed that he was cuddled up against her chest. “Yea I know…go back to bed though…” Y/N murmured softly, one of her arms wrapping around the man while her other hand came up to gently run her fingers through his long hair, honestly feeling much more content with life all the sudden the second he cuddled up against her, wrapped his arms around her, and his head was on her chest.

“Hmmm…love you.” Robert mumbled with a small yawn leaving his lips, pressing a kiss on her shirt to the valley between her breasts before getting completely comfortable on her once he realized she was fine with him being like this. He knew she always was happy to hold him just from how they slept at home almost every night, but he also knew she just didn’t like giving Kirk, James, or Lars something to tease both of them about but he was very happy she was letting him stay laying on her.

“Love you too baby…” the woman muttered, pressing a kiss to the top of his head, smiling a bit at just how fast he had gone back to sleep, managing to get herself as comfortable as she could be given the position she was in but she wasn’t going to dare move Robert off her.

She just laid there in complete silence, kinda just admiring the man she loved sleeping on her chest, finding the sight just completely endearing, her grip on him never once loosening as she just let him sleep, growing a bit tired herself the more the night went on, eventually letting her eyes flutter shut after maybe only half an hour or so. She was just perfectly happy, in her own little world while slowly drifting off to sleep that she didn’t even hear any of the other guys get up from where they were asleep till she heard Lars snickering behind her.

“Oh I’m so telling James about this…” Lars snickered the second he saw one of Metallica’s bassists, the one who was usually always bitchy but he loved like a sister, looking almost…soft while Robert slept on her.

Y/N almost immediately shot her eyes open, glancing down and Robert to make sure he was still asleep before tilting her head back to look at Lars, “you tell the guys about this I will kill you Lars.” She mumbled, keeping her voice quiet to make sure she didn’t wake the man who was peacefully sleeping on her chest, her eyes almost immediately meeting Lars’s.

“Yea, mhm, sure. You’ve gone soft Y/N.” Lars said sarcastically with a shit eating grin on his face, knowing perfectly well he was gonna piss her off in the morning weather she liked it or not, playfully giving the woman a kissy face just to further make fun of her before quietly walking back down the plane isle. Even if he was making fun of her for being all soft for the man he knew she loved, it did actually make him happy just knowing she had finally found her person who made her that way.

[girlfriendsofthegalaxy]

tuesday again 1/9/2024

the BEAST (phil) has been SPAYED

listening

my sister ALSO, INDPENDENTLY, keeps tuesdayesqe lists in the back of her planner! which is what i used to do before these posts! You Got A Man by JAWNY is off her 2023 playlist. this philly artist's claim to fame seems to be that he dated doja cat for six months? the song is short, bratty, and fun indie/alt not-quite-rap. i have no knowledge of how much the man overlaps with the song. spotify

-

reading

ive never watched supernatural, except by osmosis bc i signed up for this website in 2011. this book is what i imagine people say when they say "what if supernatural was good?"

Rebecca Roanhorse's Trail of Lightning (her debut) and Storm of Locusts takes Maggie, a typical lone hero/monster hunter/horrible bitch of a woman (i say this approvingly) and says listen! you can do way sicker shit if you like. accept help and community and have a support system. it does not read like booktok found family or approach this in the typical fanfic way, which is refreshing. it points out that you will be a much longer lived and successful monster hunter this way. this is optimization, if you really look at it.

most postapoc stuff doesn’t contend with the fact (if it even acknowledges indigenous people at all) that indigenous people have already lived through several colonizing apocalypses. these books make a very sharp point that there is not a tremendous amount of difference between the reservation before the apocalypse and the reservation after the apocalypse. the worldbuilding in these is a interesting spin on sea levels plus the Energy Wars, to keep all of that at arms' length the Diné built a magical and physical wall, which i think is a funny spin on the trump border wall.

neither of them are really romance or kissing books, there is romantic interest but they are kept extremely busy not dying and admiring each other's competence. they are action and gore heavy. this is notable bc the books are fairly short (took me about two and a half hours each) and they have pretty fuckin good action scenes! the first book has an underground club and fight ring run by a cat god: club atmosphere was terrific (there's a bit about them having to drag in hastily camouflaged cheap walmart tables to handle some overflow and i instantly knew exactly the table), it had a dress up scene I was very weak to. i thought the series of events by which they ended up at the big boss battle post-club was kind of stupid but (forgivably) the big boss battle was quite enjoyable. figuring out what to do with your life next when you’re highly trained for a very specific thing but also not trained enough to be a serious danger and were set up to fail was extremely compelling to me, an astronomy major who cannot actually work in astronomy.

second book really hits its stride and (girl who has only played fallout voice) feels very fallout-y. desperate quest to save a loved one. girls' trip through a bunch of weird places with a bunch of weird guys. there's a lot of references that play with tone without ever going HEY REMEMBER THIS OTHER WORK YOU COULD GO LOOK AT RIGHT NOW? there’s a plane and a weird guy that made me think of mad max thunderdome, except the weird guy is his own character and has his own arc. there’s a weird grandpa on a boat who i don't think is a reference at all, except maybe to the timeless genre of weird grandpas on boats. there’s a sentient casino trapping people inside that reminded me of the new vegas dead money expansion, except Maggie barely steps inside bc she immediately gets caught up in a day-long battle of wits against the god of gambling. Maggie is a little more settled in her own skin now that she’s regularly talking to other people and has rejoined her community in her own small ways on her own terms and it HAS made her a much more successful monster hunter. the dialogue is snappier, the action scenes are more elaborate and smoothly choreographed. it's nice to watch an author grow so quickly (from this is serviceable to oh SHIT this is fun) over the course of a duology :) this feels like it was meant to be a trilogy but this book came out in 2019 so i am not holding my breath. it has a nice solid endpoint right here imo.

past sexual violence is sort of orbited around but no sexual violence is actually depicted, which i appreciate as a woman trying to enjoy postapoc.

libby has a very helpful Indigenous Voices category/reading guide/thing. thank u libby now i want to read everything else she's ever written

-

watching

saw a piece of fanart i cannot find now for the three minute short PUPARIA by Shingo Tamagawa.

Something is about to change drastically. We can only be witnesses to it.

it's a weird and stunningly beautiful little thing i am still worrying at like a dog with a peanut butter kong. if you have a thing about eyes or clusters of round shapes this is NOT the three minute short for you btw

-

playing

the free epic game was the Eidos Montreal Guardians of the Galaxy game, and since i am allergic to dead moms i will not be playing it. widely reviewed as "good writing, but not very much fun to actually play" so i don't feel like i'm missing out on too much.

i have no good story to tell about my time with genshin this week. we're aiming for "can i turn my brain off for forty minutes in the evening" and grinding a lot of one specific boss while listening to podcasts does seem to be enough to turn my brain off.

-

making

i have been frantically deep cleaning (including soaking the office in enzymatic cleaner [thanks phil]) bc my siblings are coming to town for a couple days and despite several setbacks (a completely different arrival time than the one they told me) and absolutely no sense of an itinerary we will be fine! we will all be fine and have fun! i will be SO fine and calm and chill and we will all have some fucking fun so help us god

ALSO also phil has finally been spayed and is now dealing with four separate issues: the giant wound still on her side, the spay incision, the necrotic abscess in her mouth from going too hard on a springy toy, and being underweight from trying to heal three things at once. we'll get there! we'll get there. it's just taking a while. we are going to have friday afternoon vet visits every week for the foreseeable future.

i love her so much and i'm glad she's feeling better but i genuinely think owning a horse would be cheaper than owning this one wonky cat. they shaved SO much of her tummy she looks even sillier than usual.

other than being Very Alert for the persistent little orange tomcat that keeps hopping up on my windowsill, mackie is doing fine. no concept of the fact that my siblings are going to pick her up more in two days than she gets picked up in a whole month. this is a girl that likes her feet on the ground thanks much

[duckwhistle]

Seven Feathers - HawkLeaf

I'm... gonna change some of these designs maybe.

Leafpool and Hawkfrost fell in love as Leafpaw was still, by name, an apprentice. She liked his ambition, and that little bit of Mothwing he has in him. He just liked her naivety, and the fact she was related to the leader. The same leader he tried to kill to get his brother in power, a plan that Leafpool and Mothwing had to stop, with Mothwing driving a pick in his heart. But, she was already bearing Half-clan Medic kittens, no matter if he was dead. Sparkstorm- the one who, by what everyone says, looks the most like her grandpa Firestar. Her jolly, insatiable curiosity is only rivaled by her ability to seemingly run for miles without being stopped, something she describes as "lightnings" hitting her legs and giving her all that energy.

Aldernose- the most anxious out of all of his siblings, he never wanted to become a Warrior, terrified at just the idea of fighting so the senior warrior (and great uncle) Twigtail (Longtail) took him under his wing to work in his garden. There, he seemed to thrive better, even helping in Medic duties from time to time, especially enjoying hunting for herbs, for he seems to have a knack for orienting himself.

Lionbloom- in Thunderclan, the spunky and confident Lionpaw seemed to have all the signs of a future Warrior, as he excelled in fighting, his blows knocking the wind out of his opponents immediately. But, abruptly, he ran into the Medicine Den in the night, not far from his ceremony, and asked to be made a Medic apprentice. Now, while working towards it, he's become snappier, but more somber, even malinconic at times. Yet, he now seems to have trouble tending to wounds without flinching...

Willowshine- Riverclan was so glad, after their Medic revealed she could not communicate to Starclan, they received an apprentice that was seemingly so easily connected to their ancestors. And even better, she seemed to always know what to say to cheer some poor cat up, from her patients to other cats who were ready to fight her clanamates over the border.

[noforkingclue]

Loyalties Chapter 8 (Tommy Shelby x reader x Alfie Solomons)

Loyalties tag list: @jk-acc​, @eventhedarkestlightshines​, @secretdiplomatspyknight, @myjumper​, @liesandghosts​, @ischysiaclark​, @cnoute​, @geeksareunique​, @idiotlegs, @belenosblack, @deepsketchsupernaturalcowboy, @spaceybissh, @joan2914​, @ttae-yong

Peaky Blinders tag list: @stylesofloki, @ohshititsfenharel​, @lenaskyler02, @elenavampire21​, @swordofawriter, @zablife​, @cillmequick​

Thomas Shelby tag list: @alreadybroken-ts​, @darlingdevil, @lyrxbz, @watercolorskyy, @notyour-valentine

Everything tag list: @greenrevolutionary, @byebyebreezywrites, @spngingerbread21, @layazul, @lov3vivian, @simonsbluee

“Harry? What the fuck are you doing here?”

Harry grinned at you as he slowly walked towards you. You narrowed your eyes slightly at his slow movements.

“What?” he said, “Can’t I visit my favourite sister?”

“I’m your only sister.”

Harry shrugged but that did little to ease your worries.

“You haven’t answered my question.” You said

“I did.”

“No, you haven’t. What are you doing here? Does Alfie know you’re here.”

“’course. Do you think he’d allow me to come if he didn’t know where I was going?”

You looked around a bit your lip. The station was bustling with people and you weren’t sure how many Blinder spies were in the crowd. You had the feeling the Shelby had someone following you although you were never able to prove anything. You grabbed Harry’s arm, ignoring the yelp of pain he gave, and dragged him away.

“Where are we going?”

“My place.”

“That safe?”

“Safer than here.”

You pushed passed the random people on the streets, ignoring their glares of irritation. You were too concerned about your brother to care about what other people thought. You had expected, if Harry was going to visit, that you would’ve at least been told in advanced. It would’ve at least given you time to clean your room.

“Nice place,” said Harry when the two of you finally arrived, “It’s cosy.”

“It is,” you pushed Harry onto the bed, “Now tell me what’s wrong.”

“I already told you- nothing. Just-“

“Just what?”

“Might’ve gotten a little cut.”

“You came all this way because of a little cut?”

“Well…”

Harry rolled up his shirt sleeve and showed you the gash on his arm. You seen too many people lose limbs to infected wounds and you weren’t about to let that happen to Harry. You glared at him and said,

“What did I tell you about properly cleaning wounds?”

“I did!”

“Then how did it end up like this?”

“Dunno.”

You cursed him as you started properly cleaning his wound. Harry was unusually quiet, only letting out the occasional complaint or wince. Eventually he said,

“He misses you, y’know.”

You paused in the middle of grabbing clean bandages.

“Who does?” you said

“Who do you think.”

“Don’t know. I know a lot of people.”

“Alfie.”

Harry winced when you tightened the bandages slightly too harshly.

“Has he told you that?” you asked

“No.”

“Then how do you know?”

“Just do?”

“Bullshit.”

“It’s true. He’s snappier with people.”

“Alfie always snaps at people. It’s part of his charm.”

“He’s tenser.”

“Probably because he has to deal with your bullshit without me acting as a buffer. That and because he’s doing business with the Shelby’s.”

“How’s that going by the way?”

“Don’t ask me. I just deliver the messages.”

“Not getting any closer to Shelby?”

You narrowed your eyes at Harry and folded your arms.

“Arm should be ok,” you said, “Just take it easy.”

“You’re avoiding my question.”

“I’m not because there isn’t anything to say. Why do you care? Alfie asking you to spy on me?”

“I’m worried about you.”

You froze at the seriousness in Harry’s voice. Harry looked down at the floor and continued,

“I miss you too. It’s strange not having you around and I think everyone’s feeling it.”

“They just miss having a free nurse.”

“I’m saying nothing.”

You nudged Harry playfully.

“Dick.” You said

“But I am serious,” said Harry, “Fucking strange not having you around.”

“And about Alfie.”

“He’s too fucking proud and stubborn to say anything. Hasn’t mentioned you since you went away. Take from that what you will.”

“Ugh. I just want this to be over! I miss London. Birmingham is too fucking quiet.”

“Too quiet?”

“Compared to London, yeah. Y’know how much longer Alfie wants me here?”

“Didn’t say. Hopefully not too much longer.”

“Good. Now then, how long can you stay here?”

“’til the end of the week.”

“Alfie was that generous? You amaze me.”

“Didn’t really have much of a choice.”

“Well good. The least I can do is show you around.”

“Is it safe?”

“Strangely enough, yeah. Seems like Shelby doesn’t want to piss of Alfie too much. I’m probably one of the safest people in the city.”

“Let’s hope it stays that way.”

[shai-manahan]

Hollowed Minds Progress Update 5/08/23

Hi! I know I failed at making a progress update last month, so first of all, apologies for that! Things have just been busy tbh and life has been too stressful that at some points I just couldn't write. It's why I've been a bit inactive here as well, and why I've been barely answering the asks I've been receiving.

I cannot report yet how many words I've written for the update so far because I haven't really taken a look at it myself, but I will do so at the end of the month if there's still no confirmed schedule by then. My eye health has just been very consistent at making my life harder as well until recently, and here's hoping I'll at least be able to function properly for a whole month🤞

Some things that will be in the next update:

For Chapter 2's Part 2:

Everything still goes as planned, except now both routes are expected to be fast-paced and action-oriented, though one is still more intense than the other.

This will be a massive one, not because of the word count but because of the variations that will play out. There won't be much issues in arranging the transitions to Chapter 3, so there's at least that, but your choices will matter a lot. So you might have to be careful with them.

One of the routes gets Alonzo actively involved, but please be assured that this doesn't mean you have to romance them. I actually encourage you all to check out both routes once they come because you'll gain more discoveries that way. 👀

Alonzo's route will be so memeworthy, I have to admit. Please try it.

There's an info dump in Chapter 2's Part 1 that I'm not really a fan of, so I'll be moving some of those to this part instead if needed.

For the overall IF:

Alex will now have a set skin tone if a lighter one is chosen for the Ripper. I will discuss this in detail soon, but I just wanted to emphasize that Alex and Ripper's mother are canonically PoC.

You will have options for your Ripper to wear contacts or glasses (or neither ofc).

You'll be able to bring a weapon with you in Chapter 2 depending on your choices so far.

You might remember a section of Chapter 1 where you can choose what your Ripper had been doing for the duration of the five months. I might reduce it to a few, just so I could have them properly recognized in the story.

There will be a couple of changes in the character descriptions in the game's stats page, with plans to make them shorter, too, for easier readability.

I will make sure you'll have saves at the end of this. So please don't be surprised if there'll be more page breaks in the future, as well as more choices (that are still as meaningful.)

In connection to above, I also plan to make the in-game descriptions snappier and easier to read while still maintaining the quality they should have. Your feedback will be very important for this, and this also applies to the beta testers (sorry I've been so silent. I swear I'll get back to you all soon lmao)

Not really too related here, but I also plan to be more consistent with my updates in the future. It's just that my irl schedule is still a huge mess, and it's very hard to be consistent when that happens.

Just a last piece of my mind. Some anons have been very aggressive with harassment the past few months, and I really have no interest for more drama right now. So if you have issues, if you think you can back your own words, send them through a DM or at least turn off anon so we could have a proper conversation.

It's honestly tiring. Being an Asian in this community can already be so tiring, so I am begging people to be mature and responsible with their words. After all, I've repeatedly said that you can always come to me with your concerns or whatever you have against me. As long as we can actually talk about it.

Anyway, that's all, and I hope the week will be good for everyone :) I have a few more things to post on Patreon tomorrow, so if you're a current patron, do look forward to that!

[wispisstillverybored67]

Deep Breath Deep Breath

Don't even try What do you want from me? Better stop pushing... Cause I won't tolerate it!

There's no returning, no matter how much you want it It burns me to the core on my body, no one knew it Now it's not the right time for anything, so stop loading!

STAY AWAY FROM ME!

Already lost my keys to the door once shut Only had one wish Now it's never gonna come true... Trapped in time, forever in remorse How could I ever be... In this when nothing else matters to me?!

"Hey man... Do you think Illuso's acting a little weird?" I suddenly asked. 

"Like, you see him, right? His eyes were bigger than the Sinistar! Last night, with that stolen cabinet! Big, bloodshot, wide-eyed and crazed eyes. And when I asked him if something was wrong with 'em, he got all weird that I was looking at him. Uh..." I don't know what's up with him, the guys do.

"And jittery, yeah? Wait, he's always like that."

"More then usual, man-"

"He'll probably be back to parading his own ego around by tomorrow, I wouldn't worry about 'em like that, Herr Blücher." 

"C'mon, Gelato... He reeks of despair~ You notice he's getting snappier too. I'm sure the guys've already noticed... but he trusts you guys more then he trusts me. I'm just pointing it out to you 'cause you 9 should probably nip in in the-" Speak of the devil. Nero was behind us. 

"Oh, hi Nero!" I happily tried to greet him. The rest of the guys followed in, including the man of the hour himself. Wow, he looks even more like shit. What even happened to him?! He didn't even look up, just quietly followed the rest with his now typical wide-eyed stare to nothing, staring down to his legs and to the floor. 

"I'll be blunt," Nero sighed, then pointed to Illuso. "You obviously have a problem we're not aware of, so we're going to have to address that before you get any worse." 

He didn't even react, he's just fidgeting, looking like he's seen a ghost, or a particular doctor's murders, shrinking into himself. I've seen scared Illuso before, but this despair is the same as before, wait, no, it's a bit different in texture... as if he were angered and anxious at the same time. I was lounging on Pesci's lap this time, so I discreetly had Arles check on him. It's very soft here~

Arles Zorro, go to Illuso. "Yoo-hoo... Illuso? Hey hey hey." I tried calling him. This time, he listened. Drawing in a shaky breath, he looked to Nero, not making eye contact.

"What?" His voice was raspy, very raspy. Even more so then usual...

"A problem? Don't even think about it. You think I, Illuso, have problems?"

"Yes." We all said in unison. He flinched as we all said that. Yes, you're screwed~ He rarely even referred to himself like that if he wasn't flustered. 

Kira-chins and Ro-chan taught me how to scan others.  

"Don't play dumb, man. Just what the hell is up with you? You lost to Gelato again in that game or somethin'?" Formaggio was basically the only one saying what was on all our minds right now. Wait, no it's not. It's not that, but...

"If that were true..." "Those two would be yelling at each other, wrestling, while she records this shit, laughing like a psycho." I would've said my piece, but Ghiaccio cut me off. 

"That was one time!" 

We would've friendly-argued about this, but Prosciutto suddenly spoke up, clearly annoyed with his friend's dodginess. 

"Hold it right there. Where the hell do you think you're going?" He was always bad at hiding any bit of concern for us, even when he's snarling it all out. 

"I'm not about to waste my time in a meeting over stupid shit, if this is what you called me out for." 

"You're shaking." Melo' points out. Like he was caught in a blizzard. 

"Besides... You can't be shaken up about something from yesterday, I beat you on Saturday!" Gelato, do NOT start with that again. Although, he's got a point... Tell me this, how bad are you at Pokemon to lose at Celadon at the Gym Castle? Gelato practically beat the whole thing in a day! 

"No one asked you, you fucking midget!"

"Call me that again and I'll make a lady out of you!" He was now flashing his knife, not even bothering to get up from his husband's lap. 

"Both of you, shut up!" Nero and I both complain to those two. 

"Easy, love." Sorbet, would you kindly deal with your man???

"This was about what happened on Sunday, is that it?! Y'know what? Fuck you, and fuck this." Illuso's reaching into his chest now. Hmm... Illuso is looking paler then ever now. Wait, chest...? The pocket mirror! The compact he keeps in his tits! 

"PAULLA!" On it, Pros! I practically dived off of Pesci's lap to swipe it from him, and to restrain him. 

"Urgh... GET OFF ME!" He groaned. Pesci helped restrain him, and even then, it was too late. I had it in my hands. Looks quite gothic, and expensive! 

"No! Let go of me!" He looked more nervous and hurt when he was restrained by our daikon over there then when I yanked his pocket mirror from 'em. But he just went back to irritation and rage. 

Melone clicked his tongue, about to head over to check on the captive ojou. "Don't do this to me, please!"  

Out of boredom, I checked to see what's inside. It's the usual reverse hideout... Hey, I think I see Man in the Mirror in there. He's moving really quickly across the room, in an odd veritable panic. He's never like this... He's always like Illuso's more boisterous other half, just as bigheaded and and flashy. Does he miss his host? Or... does Illuso miss his Stand? No, both halves of the same soul are in a mad panic, for whatever reason. Smooth Criminal seemed to be on the other side, but Zorro hadn't been off Illuso since she got on him. He's ignoring her no matter what she tries to do to get his attention. Smooth Criminal isn't even there to him. Hey...

______________________________________________________________

"Don't do this to me, please!" You practically begged the others, struggling to get back up.  Just your luck. Paulla doesn't even know your problem. But she could snuff it out in due time, and join the rest all the same. You wanted to cry, to sleep, but you couldn't. Not like this.

"🎵Already lost my keys to the door once shut Only had one wish Now it's never gonna come true~🎵" She sang as she took it from you, mocking you.

"You don't know what they want! You don't know what you're doing! Paulla, don't do this to me! Please!" She kept playing with the mirror she took from you and admired it in an almost mocking manner, again, as if she were saying to you "Don't make me, then". 

Melone trudges over to you, almost deliberate in his pace, and blast a flashlight in your eyes. "Ack!" You hissed in an almost vampire-like fashion. You tried to rub your eyes, but Pesci practically had your arms in a death grip. They know. She'll know. They all fucking know. 

"Exactly as I feared. You've been depriving yourself of sleep since last Sunday, if my suspicion is correct." He sighed. 

The others don't speak, though you're sure one cleared his throat. 

Formaggio breaks out laughing, obvious to anyone that he's faking. You're dreading his words, insisting that what you're doing is certainly not a big deal. 

"You still thinking about that? You're losing your shit over nothing...! It's... Wednesday, right?"

"You're a day late. Ooo...~ You're still at it? Oh, man. What even happened that time?" Paulla just had to ask. She couldn't even bother hiding her curiosity over some stupid shit the others did. 

"So on Sunday night-"

"Do NOT tell her about some fucking shit she doesn't need to know!" You tried to fight back. Nothing more than empty words in your current state, as she'd say.

"While we were discussing matters relating to extraneous sleeping arrangements-"

"Don't." 

"I realized that Illuso hadn't actually slept in the real world, so I said-"

"Prosciutto." 

"Can you let me fucking finish? ...He should at first get used to doing such before anyone thinks of sleeping with everyone, which as you could tell-"

"Is going so well." Shut the fuck up, Ghia. 

She pauses for a second, starting at Prosciutto, then at Ghiaccio, then to the others briefly, the back to you. Her eyes about as big as yours, peering into the ruins of your soul.

"So that's why you read as scared." She goes back to her old smiling self, infuriating you even more. But there isn't really much that you could do now. 

"You know what? I could use a coffee. Yeah, I'll go get a coffee-" You scurry for the kitchen, yelping as you ripped away from Pesci's hold. But once you were almost there, you were suddenly hit with a radiating headache. You wanted to cringe, to complain, to cry, but you couldn't. Never let them win...

Some of the others head over to you, either out of "concern" or curiosity. No, don't be stupid. You're being a stubborn ass right now. The only one concerned would be Pesci, but it's not just him. Defeated, you sulked back to your seat with the others in tow, not bearing to look at them. Immediately after, all you could hear was Paulla chatting with Gelato about video games or some other frivolous shit. 

So, now Paulla knows what your problem is. Do you know what this means? They're all going to look at you. They're all going to laugh at you. These were the people you entered a relationship with, Paulla excluded? These were the people you loved? They don't even respect you. They didn't respect you when they learned you're not comfortable sleeping outside the mirror world, what did they expect? Please, God, you pleaded to yourself, to anyone that may hear, Don't do this to me. I can't go back...! I won't go back! You would never let yourself cry in front of them, no matter how awfully you wanted to. You wouldn't bear to let anyone see you be vulnerable, they get that. So why can't they let you be alone and vulnerable like always? When they were just going to earn your trust to hurt you even worse then they could now? You weren't crying, of course, actually, you didn't even know what was going on in the world, but inside, the tears were flooding out, curling up into yourself, crying out for someone, anyone to help you, but you knew you couldn't trust anyone anymore, not like this. The one who you could trust is being kept from you by the men you love, and helped by the one friend that would try and help you if she could. But you're not kidding anyone. You're unable to leave this hellish situation, because you thought you could trust people. Don't do this to me. you continue to plea. It was all you could do, really. You hated it, but what could you do? Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me.  Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me. Don't do this to me.

"Illuso?" You could barely hear Risotto Nero over your own thoughts. You sank further into your mind, frozen in place. Either of fear, or of sorrow... or of fury. One thing you know for a fact, you're not shedding a single tear. Fear made you its bitch, as you sat there, your throat tying itself into knots, your eyes long since dried up, your hands shoved between your legs, your whole body is trembling. You really had to get some caffeine soon. You can't let this end. You can't let them win. Everything was too loud, too quick, too horrifying to you. You couldn't wait for someone to help you. You have to do something about this. Because although you KNOW you're stubborn as a mule, you knew even you were reaching your limit. A limit you wanted no one to realize they've seen it way earlier than you. 

"Up, now." You had no choice but to do what he asked. Reluctantly, you pulled all your energy together to stand up and (relatively) face him, unable to force yourself to stop shaking. Shit, you forgot just how weak you felt. Besides your recent fixation upon caffeine, coffee/tea/energy drink/whatever, you're not sure if you ate much else during this time. Actually, you're sure you ate like a bird, uncharacteristically from your usual self. But nobody gives a shit about that no more. 

"You have to get some rest. I can understand if you have a fear of that for whatever reason, but this is for the best." You became afraid of him. Afraid of how he looks, or of what you're convinced he'll do? You were never really scared of him, per say, you knew he could secretly be a massive dork, ruining his menace, but now you were dreading his next move.

"Hah... You all seriously think that I, Illuso of the mirror, would need rest?! I'm not exhausted, I'm not paranoid, and I'm not-Gah..." You're not even convincing yourself at this rate, huh? Your head's killing you... So, you think, can we hurry the hell up so I can make myself some coffee?!

"'re you scared?" Paulla asks simply. She smiled ever so often, and just like now, she looks and sounds dead. 

I'm scared. You wanted to give up and say that. Just say it, and it'll be the end of it. No matter how much it hurts. I'm scared. 

"I'm..." No! If they win, they'll kill you! And if they won't, who will? 

"I'm perfectly fine..." You stared at her uncomfortably. She didn't seem to be embarrassed. She never seemed to get embarrassed. How nice was it. 

"Would you... Would you would you would you..." You stumbled over to her, looking more like a zombie then a human, gazing deep into those creepy blue eyes... 

Reaching for her eyes, you attempted to pry her eyelids open. Any reflected surface will do... Everyone seems to be calling out to you, but you couldn't hear shit. 

"Would I what?" She sounded genuine, but it was all a lie to you. There's no such a thing as genuine words. Risotto and you think Ghiaccio pry your hands from her, and distance the two of you. You began to laugh after this, no longer caring about appearances for just this moment, not caring whether or not you were actually crying as you laughed. This whole thing seemed funny in hindsight, actually. 

"Illuso, would I what?" Would you kindly let me pass?! The words fail to come out. As you could guess. She puts a hand on your heart for the beats. You struggle hiding yourself flinching from this. She specifically was more then capable of kicking your ass into retiring, and she's 3 whole years younger than you, not to mention the newest member here. You're the member who's been here the longest despite everything. Sighing, she goes back to her original spot.

"You spend all your time conducting a so-called bulletproof image. But anyone can read you like a book, Illuso."

"Completely uneeded-"

"No, Risotto, let her speak. This sounds intriguing. 

"Thank you, Sorbet... You talk big game, but you're really paranoid about sleeping in the real world, because you're afraid of being attacked in your sleep. You're afraid of causing yourself unavoidable situations like this, and because of your issues, you struggle to trust other people, whether it's establishing, or keeping this string of trust. You finally made friends in the team, everyone... else in this case, but your paranoia and anxiety take the helm, leading you to refuse to show them any hint of being vulnerable out of fear this would affect their image of you. Fear that it would leak out, maybe? And because you'd rather die then say this out loud, I will. You know this more then anyone, too... You'd rather die then admit your fears to your friends, and because of that, they don't know why you're acting so weirdly over things like this. And you get frustrated because you know it sucks, but this is all you know. Fear. Ever since you entered Passione, you were scared to sleep in someone's eyeshot, and others you did or didn't trust had just proved it. It's fear, man. Fear." She said every new sentence slowly, observing you carefully. Not sure of what to do, you laugh to yourself again.

"I'm not good with emotions, but even I know this stuff... See, Nero-chan? I learned a bit of scanning people from you!" She added, changing tracks. Before anyone else could say something, you did.

"Okay, fine! You got me!" What were you saying... "Now, let me go!" You tried moving, everyone prepared to restrain you, but you fell over something, or someone. You tried getting up, but you were too weak and exhausted to move. 

Get up! GET UP! Don't do this to me...!

Risotto had then picked you up. 

"I won't say it again. Illuso, go to sleep, or I will strap you to it."

You grew defiant, though you weren't sure why. You couldn't even try and kick your legs around, your body was half asleep already.

"Don't do this to me... No... I... I... I. Will. NOT!" You forced yourself to say to him. You should have stayed with the intel team... 

You were finished. Shit. What a lout. Urgh...

______________________________________________________________

"I... I... I. WILL. NOT." No matter how much he says it, he was scared and exhausted. But he was playing a game with La Squadra di Esecuzione, and he wanted to win, even if he knew he couldn't. And would you look at that? He's sleeping! As soon as Nero touched his face, he was out of it. Tears finally strolling down his face, but he's out cold. Uh, mission success? Yeah! 

"Damn, Herr Blücher! You really gave him what for!" The first one to speak up again was Gelato, of course. 

"Heehee! Now that that's done with..." I took him from Nero-chan's hold, and brought him into his bedroom. Nero's, not Illuso's. I'm still not sure where his apartment is. But hey, since he's paranoid about being attacked in his sleep, he can sleep with Nero-chan to protect him! 

There we go, wrapped safely in bed. He was talking a bit in his sleep, saying something like "I'm... not weak..."

Now where was I? Oh yes. Sinistar!

[piratecaptainscaptainpirates]

First line meme

post the first line from the last 10 fics you posted (and are there any patterns?) - I got tagged by @chocolatepot, @naranjapetrificada, and @epersonae, thank you all!! 💕

If I Get Lost Along the Way

Ed wasn’t even sure why that night was his last straw.

2. Poetic Justice

It was kind of funny, in a way - the one time Ed actually wanted a lover to be rough with him, he couldn’t get it.

3. Outburst

Ed could look back with fondness, most days.

4. Blackbeard's Reviews

Being a professional sex-toy reviewer wasn’t as glamorous a gig as it sounded like it would be, really.

5. Better Days Ahead

Stede got the scariest phone call of his life at about noon on a random Wednesday.

6. Sackcloth, Hugs, and a Warm Bath

Wearing sackcloth wasn’t meant to be fucking comfortable.

7. Jeff, 48, Looking for Some Fun

Stede Bonnet was born to be a hopeless romantic.

8. Everything That Rises Must Converge

The captain’s cabin on the Concorde had never seemed so big before.

9. Over Dinner

Why was it always over dinner?

10. All His

“Bad news,” Stede groaned, slipping into the seat next to Ed. “Lucius just texted. Pete’s not feeling well, apparently, it doesn’t sound like they’re going to be able to make it.”

Hm. I really like to start fics with Ed pondering about how miserable he is in his current situation, apparently. I seem to favor shorter, snappier sentences, and I was a bit surprised to notice only one started with dialogue because I remember that being a habit when I was more inexperienced (if you're curious, the thing that's making Pete feel unwell is just getting something stuck up his ass. rip).

I think a lot of the writers in my circle have already gotten tagged, so no-pressure tags (and sorry if you've already done this/been tagged and I missed it!!) to @jellybeanium124, @batsarebetterthanpeople, @spirker, and whoever else sees this and wants to do it! It was a lot of fun <3

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Grief in all its Strangeness

Heyyyy so today has not been a great day. I was wondering if you could write something for Merlin or maybe the Avengers about that feeling when someone has died (by suicide, but you can ignore that if you'd like (you can ignore this whole ask if you'd like)) and you didn't actually know them, or even interact with them ever but you crossed paths occasionally and now they're gone and it just feels wrong. And somehow you also feel guilty? Idk. Your stories are always a comfort for me :) – anon

Read on Ao3

Warnings: suicide, one of the knights (not a main character) commits suicide offscreen, it is not shown/recounted but the fic revolves around the grief after the incident

Pairings: gen

Word Count: 2146

One of the knights is dead.

Merlin didn't know it at first; that would explain why he'd barged into Arthur's chambers and been surprised that the Prince was already out of bed—granted, not dressed and out of bed, but out of bed nonetheless—and why Arthur had been even snappier with him than normal. And it wasn't one of those 'fun' snappy moods either, the ones where Arthur's getting a bit overwhelmed with the pressures of being a prince and all that came with it, and he needed to mess around or he'd go insane—Morgana's words, not Merlin's. No, this was one of the moods where Merlin figured out he needed to put his head down and get out before it escalated to one of them saying something they really didn't mean.

He finds out from Lancelot what's happened.

"One of the newest knights was found yesterday," Lancelot says, taking Merlin off to a side corridor where no one ventures often, his hands hidden beneath the swaths of red fabric and his voice too low to tremble, "I imagine the Prince is taking it harder than most."

"Why would Arthur be taking it harder?"

"This knight was one of the youngest Camelot ever trained. And he was found with…" Lancelot's breath stutters and he quickly coughs. "It's quite obvious what he died from. Why he died."

Oh.

Oh.

"Oh, no," Merlin mumbles as Lancelot nods solemnly, "I'm—I'm so sorry."

"Thank you," for how could Lancelot not be grieving too? "I—hh. It was a surprise, to be sure. It seemed like he was…well, like he was fine. I suppose we never really know for sure, do we?"

Merlin nods. His head spins with the idea of one of Camelot's knights, his body found by his brothers-in-arms, and then not even able to find the thing that killed him because, well…

"I don't mean to muddy your day with—"

"You're not muddying anything," Merlin interrupts quickly, "I asked, you told me. Thank you. And, um, I'm sorry for your loss too."

Lancelot smiles ruefully, nodding once more and clapping his hand against Merlin's shoulder. As he turns to walk away, Merlin's hand shoots out and grabs his wrist. He stops, turning back, and Merlin swallows.

"You've got me," he says in a rush, "you—you know you've always got me, right?"

Lancelot's brow furrows for a moment, before realization dawns and his mouth opens a few times, trying to form words. Merlin just stares at him, waiting, until another smile forms on his face, sweeter than the last.

"I do," he says, stepping back into Merlin's space and taking Merlin's arm too, "of course, I do."

"Right."

"Right."

"Is this—do knights hug, or—?"

And he actually gets Lancelot to chuckle as he opens his arms, letting Merlin give him a hug and whispering another thank you into the space between them before he pulls away. He watches Lancelot walk away, red cloak billowing out behind him, and looks down at his own ruddy hands to see the calluses and blisters that have started to show a similar color.

That does explain why Arthur was in a mood, and despite himself, Merlin feels a pang of sympathy for him. It was one thing to be a knight right now, he supposes, to have lost one of your brothers, but quite another to be the Prince: responsible for his training, for him, and still for the rest, and not able to talk to anyone. For who could Arthur talk to who would listen? The other knights—well, if they could get over the power imbalance between knight and prince, that would be miracle enough. Then there might be those who blame Arthur for the knight's death, or who could be placed in an equally volatile situation. And none of the other nobles would have the same emotional weight that Arthur would, he was the only one who was a knight, who trained and lived and breathed with them.

And the King…

The day Uther Pendragon cares about something, not as an extension of himself, but for it and it alone, Merlin will walk into the lake and never emerge again.

So: who does Arthur have? Well, he has Merlin.

Not that Arthur would ever really admit it, not in front of anyone in any way that matters, but he does have Merlin. And so, Merlin will be there for him, in any way he can.

He orders Arthur's favorite foods from the kitchens for dinner. It's a massive platter—but then again all of Arthur's meals tend to be—and he staggers into the wall a fair few times going up the stairs, but he gets it on the table before Arthur can look up from his desk. He turns his back and picks up another chore before Arthur can see what he's done, scrubbing at a determined spot on Arthur's gauntlet.

He keeps his ears pricked for the pause in the scritch-scratch of Arthur's quill, waiting until he can peek over his shoulder at the scrape of Arthur's chair.

"Merlin."

"Mm?"

"These are…" Arthur clears his throat. "Thank you."

Merlin hides a smile. "You're welcome. Figured you'd be hungry."

"You saying I'm fat?"

"I'm saying that it must take a lot of energy to do all that work without taking a break."

A soft huff but it's a laugh—he made Arthur laugh, just a little. He looks over his shoulder again and sees the remnants of a smile on Arthur's face as he tucks into his dinner, and he allows his own to bloom again as he goes back to scrubbing at the metal. Arthur's chambers fade back into the quiet sounds of their coexisting as Merlin's hands go bright with exertion, until everything gets suspiciously quiet and he turns just in time to catch a roll of bread flying at his face.

"Oi!"

"Thought you looked a bit peckish," Arthur grins, getting up and going back to his desk, and Merlin gnaws off a bite and sweeps the crumbs onto an empty plate.

This…this he can do.

He doesn't order Arthur's favorite every time, but he makes sure he orders the things that he likes. He does his worst chores when Arthur isn't in the room, or at least keeps the obnoxious ones to a minimum and makes deals with the other servants to have them taken care of while they're out during the day. He plays the fool, the jester, the easy target when he needs to, and if he can send Arthur off to bed with a smile more nights than not, he counts that as a win.

It's not…easy to check in on the knights as well, but it's easier than it should be. Arthur trains the knights, after all, and Merlin would be lying if he said he hadn't noticed the way he's being a little softer, a little kinder with them in the wake of the death that's occurred. A few of the senior knights lend themselves to their brothers as well—he sees Lancelot comforting two squires who have tears in their eyes, he sees one of the sword-master's regular demonstration partners speaking softly to a young knight whose hands won't stop trembling, he sees Leon holding who he later learns was the knight's beloved, letting him cry into his shoulder without saying a word.

He happens upon the three of them in the armory later that evening and wordlessly returns with a tankard of the finest wine he can lay his hands on, three goblets, and a small plate of pastries. He doesn't speak to the third knight, but both Leon and Lancelot find him the next day and pass on their thanks. After that, well, it becomes a habit to walk past the armory to see if there's anyone else waiting there.

He's thinking about how many plates of cinnamon pastries he'll have to ask the baker for when Gaius yells in shock and he looks down to see he's burned his hand.

Gaius frets and scolds him for not paying more attention as he carefully wraps up his hand, but Merlin can't stop looking at the red, red, red skin beneath the sickly pale bandages. He doesn't pick at it, but he tugs them down just enough so he can see the bright color again. Arthur gives him a curious look when he sees the wrappings and he mumbles some excuse about being clumsy that Arthur laughs at. He finds himself looking at it throughout the day, the bright red skin.

It is a strange thing to be surrounded by grief.

Merlin didn't know this knight. He didn't know their name—well, he knew their name now, his name was Larkin—he didn't know what he liked to do in his spare time, he didn't know his favorite food, he didn't know what Larkin wanted out of life. And yet as he watches the knights grieve, watches Arthur grieve, his chest fills with a selfish desire to know, so that he might grieve too.

The first time that thought crosses his mind, he balks at it. Who is he to wish for grief? Who is he to want to steal the pain of others and hoist it onto his own shoulders? Is it not enough that he is here for the ones he does know, the ones he does care about, while they grieve in their own ways?

The burn blisters.

He thinks of Larkin, cold in the middle of the night. He thinks of his body on a smoldering pyre. He thinks of the acrid smoke in his throat and eyes. He thinks of Freya at the bottom of an endless ocean.

He thinks of his own shaking hands, red and blistered, and spends a thoughtless night awake and alone in the dark, staring unseeing at his own grief.

Distantly, he realizes that this is selfish too, in its own way. If he should mourn, should he not mourn this loss? Why is he mourning a loss that could only be his own, when he could make his suffering communal? But he could no more wish his own grief away than he could unburn his hand, which aches and itches under the bandages as it glows red and warm. He thinks of the strange numbness in his gut when he sees the knights grieve, and of the burning guilt in his chest that no one else shares his.

He lets Gaius change his bandages and goes up to Arthur's chambers.

When he opens the door, Leon and Lancelot up from their seats at the table and he instantly turns, going to fetch the mead, the ale, the wine, but Arthur's voice stops him.

"Merlin, come sit."

Merlin sits. Leon looks at him for a moment, then down to his hand, and holds out his own. After a moment, Merlin lets him have it, the other clenching in his lap at the twinges as Leon examines the burn.

"Nasty thing," he says quietly, "how did it happen?"

"Wasn't paying attention. Got distracted."

Leon hums, looking back up, but he doesn't let go of his hand. Merlin's brow furrows, mouth opening to ask what's happening, when there comes a knock at the door. On instinct, he rises to answer, but Leon's hold keeps him seated as Lancelot goes instead. He returns with a platter of baked apples, still slightly bubbling, and Merlin's eyes widen. Over the last of the steam, he sees Arthur smile just a little, coming to sit across from him. He feels Lancelot's hand settle in the crook of his shoulder, still slightly warm from handling the platter.

"We're here for you too," he says softly, and Merlin's eyes fill with unshed tears.

Arthur's chair scrapes across the floor. His boots thud as he rounds the table and strong hands pull Merlin up from the chair and into a solid chest. The wind leaves him at the sudden rush of solidwarmArthur around him and the gasp jars the tears from his eyes. The last thing he smells before his nose closes is the slightly toasted spice of the apples and the faint trace of polish from Arthur's armor. Arthur's chin hooks over his shoulder.

"Go on," he murmurs, "it's okay."

Grief is still strange to Merlin. Comfort doesn't have to be.

[101maverick]

Posting this oneshot separately :)

—————

"Come on, Steve!" The familiar whine breaks out in the arcade parking lot.

"Yeah, Steve, c'mon, it'll be fun"

"Guys, you've already asked me this like, a thousand times already, and my answer is still no." Steve sighs, arms crossed and leaning on the beemer's side.

For a few weeks now the kids have been trying to get Steve inside the arcade to play videogames with them, and every single time Steve has always answered in the negative.

By now, he's memorised all their tactics and perfected ways to deflect them.

He goes through the motions of what has become his usual arcade drop-off routine, shooting the kids what he hopes to be a stern look, more than an exhausted one.

Every time he drops the kids off, instead of running to the building's front doors, they loiter around his car, waiting for him to come out for his usual smoke.

Every time he drops the kids off, he gets his ears talked off by the increasingly insufferable gaggle of preteens he found himself the unwilling babysitter of a year ago now. Every time he drops the kids off, he gets his ears talked off by the increasingly insufferable gaggle of preteens he found himself the unwilling babysitter of a year ago now.

Every time he drops the kids off, he deflects their requests with mastered skilfulness.

This week has been a stressful one though, with his teachers dishing out test after test before the long-awaited spring break.

So, instead of his usual aloof and slightly apologetic tone, this time his reasoning comes out a little snappier than usual.

"I already told you guys I cannot play videogames.

End. of. story."

His exasperated response seems to temporarily cease the party's naggings, all the members looking at him with owlish eyes, slight uncertainty painted on their baby-fat ridden faces.

Then, just as Steve is about to sigh in relief at having finally managed to shut them up, Dustin speaks up:

"Dang Steve, you're really that scared of us beating your ass at video games uh?" He pipes up, a smug look forming on his face.

And, well, Steve must've be really tired today, cause he just doesn't feel like taking that without a comeback.

"First of all, language," he says, emphasising his statement with a pointed glare, "second of all, fine.

Let's see you beat me at videogames, oh allmighty Dustin"

At that, a grin breaks out across Dustin's face, the rest of the party erupting in cheers.

Blame it on the lack of sleep, but oh Steve was going to have fun wiping that smirk off the little punk's face.

The coin-op machine loomed over him, the kids surrounding him.

He put in a quarter and, soon enough, the screen lit up, the brightly coloured words "Dig Dug" appearing onto the screen.

He clicks play.

As the first level comes up, he kills the enemies easily, digging tunnels strategically in order to lure them to where he can finish them.

Nothing special about that; it was only the first level after all.

It's the same song and dance as he passes on to the next round, effortlessly dodging the ghosts of the little critters he blew up.

As he continues on though, showing no signs of struggle, he can feel the kids quieting, whispers breaking out between them.

Dustin's smirk dims, and fast.

He had never thought this would happen. It's impossible! Steve's score is steadily climbing up the leaderboard, and the more levels he surpasses the more Dustin can feel indignation creep up in his gut and climb into his cheeks.

And just as Steve gets killed by one of the games'® critters' ghost with a score of 713,600 placing him in second place, Dustin explodes. "You liar! Steve, really?! Being this good at videogames and not telling us? Not telling me?!"

Steve just looks at him, a bit taken aback, before opening his mouth to respond:

"Dustin, I-"

"Dustin, I-' nothing Steve! All this time, you could've helped me beat Max, and you didn't say anything? With a score like that, in no time you'll have beaten her! And we could've done it all this time!"

At that, Max exclaims:

"You kidding, right? Steve is obviously gonna help me beat you guys even more! Come on Steve, we have to see how many of my scores you can come class to so we can leave these losers even further in the dust!"

And oh, Steve is always going to be afraid of that smile of hers.