#Pep is allowed to kill a little

[ask-the-totally-real-peppino]

(*Breaks into your inbox* WELL. I guess I'm starting on drawing some comic fragments for my arcs! I won't send you every single fragment I'll draw, but I felt like dropping angst on you today. >: ) )

(NOO MY BABY BOY, MY SWEET CHEESE, MY SILLY RABBIT, HE'S NOT ALLOWED TO BE SAD /lh

I am so excited to see where this goes! There's already so much emotion and details here!)

[a018233]

ೀ Identity v men with a s/o that sleeps naked.

Characters: , Eli Clark, Norton Campbell, Naib Subedar. Edgar Valden

content warnings: gn!reader, mostly sfw. Not really yandere, but can be read as one. Established relationships. Cockwarming in Norton's but it's not really sexual.

A/N: almost at 100 followers so I kinda wanna do a special. Someone should commission me and I'll write you whatever you want, give me sanrio photographer or buffy and my life is yours‼️‼️

Eli was surprised after finding out, he's a little traditional and modest when it came to clothes, but oddly enough, he wasn't against it. Eli can't help but think it's a little cute and endearing, though. Mainly because he thinks he's at the point of your relationship where you're comfortable doing 'weird' things with him. His biggest concern is you catching a cold. Eli prefers to keep his sleepwear on, so he won't join you in sleeping naked. Though, maybe on a hot summer night, he'd strip down to his boxers just so he can spoon you comfortably without overheating the both of you. Eli likes having you relying on him whether you realize it or not, so he prefers to stay up until you've fallen asleep so he can cover you with a blanket, it's more a act of love and reassurance that you won't accidentally catch a cold.

After you started doing it, It didn't take Norton too long to follow. He likes the close intimacy he gets from cuddling nude with you. Norton is aware he's high maintenance as a lover, to him, it's total reassurance that he's the only one for you. Reassurance that you love and trust him no matter what. The type of intimacy only he and he alone can have with you. It gives him a little pep in his step the next day. It's something looks forward to each night. He looks forward to your shared nightly routine just as much as waking up with you. I'd think at some point you two decide to kick it up a notch with cockwarming, something to keep you two locked in place together. He finds nothing as relaxing than burying himself nice and deep inside you while his arms keep you in a tight embrace.

Naib already likes sleeping in his boxers, so he doesn't really have a reaction. At least, that's what you think when you go under the covers on your shared bed. He's internally questioning himself. Is it okay to hold you? Where does he even put his hands without it being weird? Is he even allowed to look? For the first couple nights, he doesn't hold you like he usually does. But after a while, he gets used to it. Although, he won't join you in going full comando unless he just got out of the shower and dried himself fully, but he's keeping his boxers on when it comes to sleep. Naib isn't one for opening up or heart to heart conversations but having your head against his chest, and your limbs entangled with his provides comfort for him. He's a mercenary, someone who has killed for his own benefit. So it's complete solace when you ramble in a sleepy voice about your day knowing you trust him wholeheartedly.

Edgar can't help but scoff when you join him nude under the covers, he's seen your nude form before. Your his lover and muse, of course he'd seen every inch of you. As much as your breathtaking, he's annoyed. He bought you a whole collection of all sorts of sleepwear made from the most richest material money can buy. Only the best for his lover, he can't have his muse wearing cheap clothing. Linen, silk, cotton, satin, and chiffon. With all sorts of designs he commissioned personally. Tailored to your exact size, some with your favorite colour's, colour's that match you. He even made sure the fabrics were light and breathable, and yet you choose to sleep naked? When the initial annoyance settles, he begins to feel a little flustered, yes he's seen you naked before, he has done full body portraits of you. But somehow this feels different. He can't explain why, but it feels more intimate than any canvas he's painted of you. Now, to him, it cements your love for him. That in the dead of the night, that you aren't his muse right now. But his lover. The one you love the most.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

i am confused

Making this its own separate post + expanding on it so it doesn’t get lost in the quagmire that is the book 7 part 8 update 💀

Feel free to let me know your own thoughts or theories too, I’m just rambling here.

***Spoilers below the cut!!***

So like… Is anyone else confused as to how Silver can use his UM Meet in a Dream so many times with NO ONE making a comment about how he's building up a considerable amount of blot???????

Vargas Camp seems to suggest that using one's UM typically uses up a considerable amount of magic compared to a non-UM spell. (The boys felt it would be dangerous to cast UM without at least a sizable magestone.) This is not true of all UMs though; Kalim's Oasis Maker, for example, allows him to offer up a small amount of magic to produce a great amount of water. So let's say for argument's sake that Silver's UM is similar to Kalim's and does not require a ton of magic per use. (Edit: this detail is confirmed true in the recent update.)

But??? That still doesn't make a ton of sense???? Silver was in constant battles against Silver Owls while in Lilia's dream, meaning he is physically being chipped away at. No matter how physically fit, capable, or well-trained he is, Silver is only human and his stamina and perseverance has its limits. He also suffered immense emotional distress in Lilia's dream after realizing that he is the son of the man who killed Malleus's mother ON TOP of having doubts that he is worthy of Lilia's love AND fixating on how no matter how hard he tries, he can never truly "pay back" his father. I guess it can be argued that the pixies healed them on their trek (+ there was that one scene where Lilia and co. rest in a Silver Owls camp) and that Silver "got over" his feelings after Sebek shouted at him about how much Silver is loved... Even then, that's not really a good explanation??? Silver climbed up those daunting mountains surrounding Castle Blackscale--mountains which have oppressive magic that harms humans. This is POST-pixie encounter, so he'd still be walking in with damage from that, not to mention the blow of lightning magic he took from Maleanor???? I'd also think that while Sebek's pep talk (well, pep shout) helped clear Silver's head, it wouldn't invoke a sudden character change on the spot; Silver would no doubt still have lingering feelings and would need time to properly sort them out and reconcile with them. They haven't been addressed in full yet, at least not until Silver can like get some closure on his own terms, maybe by sitting down and talking with Lilia about everything they learned. (That's definitely a topic for post book 7 though.) Now think about how many times Silver is expected to use his UM. At minimum, he has already used it 4 times (to show up in Yuu's dream, then to hop into Sebek's dream, then Lilia's, then Idia's). In the most recent update, Silver has used it no less than an additional 4 times (to jump from Idia's dream to Epel's, then to Rook's, then to Vil's, then to presumably a Scarabia boy's which is where the next update will likely pick up). THAT'S ALREADY 8 TIMES????? And he has like 11 or 12 more dreams to visit, including having to jump back to Idia’s dream and then prep for fighting Malleus???? It's like 20 times Silver is expected to use his UM, with very little down time in between because... oh yeah, TWISTED WONDERLAND IS ABOUT TO HAVE ETERNAL NAP TIME IF THEY DON'T HURRY TF UP 🤡 That's not even mentioning the increased loads each time Silver casts his UM (since they're collecting students like Pokemon to gang up on Malleus). If previous UMs imply anything, more people should make it more difficult to pull off a spell. Ruggie had to use a magic-enhancing potion to control a whole statium, Cater is strained the more clones he creates at any given time. Jamil's hypnosis magic cast upon a group causes him to accumulate blot so much faster. Shouldn't this be a major concern for Silver??????? Should I be concerned for Silver????????

Don't get me wrong, I love that we're able to dream hop and see what each of the main cast characters are dreaming of, but 💦 I don't know if I should be worried or not about Silver's health???????? Because I could see why the devs would just hand wave it off in this instance (cuz how else are they going to travel to each dream and save the world? They're kind of on a time crunch here...), but at the same time I can see it going the other way and sort of breaking immersion?? Unless this is all intentional and they're going to jumpscare us with a Silver OB or him struggling against it later in book 7 💀 (I mean... the guy hasn't gotten his limited SSR for book 7 yet, so maybe it'll be related to this???)

Or is it just possible for him to break the limits of his magic since this is a dream...? We’ve seen other characters OB at will and be able to seemingly stay rational while in that form... but if that's the case, then why does Silver still feel tired and physically worn down in Lilia's dream after fighting so much? Why do they worry about taking too many hits and actually dying within the dreams? Can't he theoretically stay at "perfect" health after using his magic so much???

Does it not count as using “real” magic since they’re in a dream and therefore have much more flexibility in how they spellcast?? Or is it that it’s their dream!selves casting so it’s not real magic since it’s not their physical forms spellcasting…? Is blot accumulation slowed since Silver is technically sleeping and rest helps with healing from blot?? But then how does that impact their real bodies if at all?

I DON'T KNOW, I'M CONFUSED OTL

[starhvney]

𝐒𝐔𝐁𝐉𝐄𝐂𝐓 𝟑 | 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟔: 𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄

𝐂𝐖: blackmailing? kinda, no yeah blackmailing, gene smokes, allusions to reader being paranoid

𝐀/𝐍: so sorry for the long wait on this next chapter, writers block will kill you. i edited but am posting this at 1 am so if there's any typos pls let me know so i can cry about it thanks

𝐖𝐂: 4,900 +

𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 ☆ 𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐓 | 𝐀𝐎𝟑 | 𝐅𝐈𝐂 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 | 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐒

a week passed, then another, then another. it was now officially well into autumn and you had yet to be confronted by ivy again, or bothered by any other student for that matter. 

“an off-season soccer tournament? during school?”

“yeah,” laurance grins, dressed in his soccer uniform and some beat-up sneakers as he walks alongside you and aphmau. “don’t be too sad without me in our classes.”

a playful scoff leaves your lips as you roll your eyes at him, placing a hand over your chest.

“i’m heartbroken, devastated even. however will i survive without you, laurance?”

amused snickers leave his mouth, face scrunching as he covers his face before comically recomposing himself, imitating your dramatic pose. 

“i know, please forgive me. i’ll come back for you, my darling!”

“wait, what other schools are coming?” aphmau questions, brushing past both of your bantering. “enough for you to be out the whole school day?”

he nods, fluffing his hair with his fingers and sighing.

“yeah, nahakra high and… o’khasis prep is coming.” he groans under his breath, shoulders dropping as he shakes his head in disappointment. “that game is gonna be a total shi—“

he clears his throat.

“—i mean, it’ll be… a humbling experience. they’re hard to beat anyways, but our team right now is not doing so well.”

aphmau hums thoughtfully. “well, good luck? i wish i could come watch and cheer everyone on.”

laurance suddenly perks up, taking long steps forward and turning around. there’s a pep in his step as he walks backward, grinning at the two of you. 

“during free period and athletics i think you’re allowed to come watch if your teacher lets you. you should ask.”

“oh? guess we’ll finally get to see how you became the captain your sophomore year.”

he shrugs, lips curling up smugly as he tilts his head back.

“you’ll be sooo impressed.” he gloats, tone humorous.

“uh-huh…”

his eyes focus back on you, eyes glinting in mischief. 

“if you come to watch me, i’m gonna call you out on the field to play on the team.”

“huh?” you raise an eyebrow. “no way, then your team would for sure lose.”

“nah, i bet you’re secretly a pro.”

“i’m not, but aphmau is pretty good.”

the girl looks up, shaking her head. “what? i’m okay at it, but…”

“garroth told me you totally clocked zane in the face when your families went to the park a couple weeks ago.” laurance snickers. “wish i could’ve seen that.”

“rude!” aphmau scolds lightheartedly. “i felt really bad about that!”

“oh, whatever. that little cyclops deserves it.” he rolls his eyes.

“laurance!”

☆

now that you didn’t have ivy breathing down your neck, you felt… really happy going to school. you grew closer with the volleyball team at practice every day, as well as lucinda and a few of the other girls you’d run into in your classes. you ended up seeing that meif’wa girl again too, and the little freshman was sickeningly adorable.

you also met jeffory, and while you felt for poor travis and his one-sided crush on the volleyball captain, you couldn’t blame katelyn for her choice of boyfriend. he had sat with katelyn a few times at lunch, and you’d see him coming in to help with the girls’ after-school practice as you were leaving for the day. you’d yet to find a flaw in him, unless being much too kind-hearted could be a flaw.

speaking of travis, you’d finally met his friend dante that he and aphmau had mentioned a few times. he wasn’t as elusive and mysterious as he had been when he was just a name floating in your brain, and was instead… quite the dork who was trying way too hard to be a ladies man. he was pretty funny, though, so you couldn’t even be mad at his shitty pick up lines and awful attempts at winking. 

although, despite all these new friends and feeling like a normal high school kid again, you still felt on edge. like you were only in the calm eye of the storm before getting your feet swept out from under you by the hurricane.

that hurricane really was imminent, and it came to you in the form of the tall senior you crashed into as you rushed to your next class, praying you wouldn’t be any later than you already were. the boy is much taller than you, and his lean muscles and firm frame didn’t provide a very comfortable cushion for you to run into. stumbling back with a surprised noise, you immediately go to apologize before even looking up. 

“i’m so—“ you start, stumbling on your words as your eyes land on sharp deep blue. “—um… so sorry.”

unruly black hair hangs over gene’s dark lashes as he looks down at you, eyes narrowing and canines peeking out in a cat-like grin. he looks like he had just caught your little mouse tail underneath his sharp claws, and you know that the hurricane’s winds have now swept you back up in the storm.

his tie is loose, top buttons of his uniform shirt undone, sleeves messily rolled up to his elbows. how has he not gotten dress coded for this? scratch that. maybe he did, and he just doesn’t care. 

suddenly he shifts his face from amusement to a rather sarcastic-looking pout, his performance not very convincing with the smug look still shining in his eyes. you’re sure that those upturned, almond-shaped eyes and the dark circles underneath them couldn’t appear innocent even if they tried.

“you know it’s rude to run into people like that, i could’ve gotten hurt.”

you can’t help the unimpressed pinch of your eyebrows at his words, especially as you crane your neck to look up at the boy who nearly knocked you over despite your momentum.

“i didn’t mean to.” your words are more clipped than you mean for them to be, your alarm overpowering the control over your voice.

“running in the halls is against the rules, you know.” he clicks his tongue, shaking his head as you begin to try and walk around him. “but you’d never break the rules, right?”

you pause at the strange inflection in his voice with his last sentence, his words loaded with a different motive. turning around, you see a flash of satisfaction across his face, and you feel like a rabbit just caught in a hunter’s snare. his hand reaches into his pocket, pulling out his phone.

“…what?”

long legs stride forward, his torso hunching over as he leans towards you, facing his screen around for you to see. the picture very clearly shows you on top of ivy, hair wild as you pin her down, fist pummeling into her face.

you remember now, seeing him at the end of the hall as you stood up, curiously staring at you. you didn’t remember seeing a phone in his hand, but that must’ve been why he was there.

“i gotta say, you did an impressive number on her. i swear i thought she fucked up your face a little too, but you came back the next day all badass like nothing happened.”

“what do you want?”

“woah,” he grins, holding his hands up in defense. “no need to get aggressive. i just thought you might need some persuasion. to hang out with me and my friends today.”

“…you’re blackmailing me… to be your friend.”

he snickers, sliding his finger across his phone screen to show more pictures. others clearly show ivy being in the fault. one showing her fingers yanking back on aphmau’s ponytail as you two try to walk away, another of you pulling aphmau behind you defensively, and another of her ripping her nails into your hair and face.

“i don’t know if i’d like to call it blackmailing. after all, i could bend this situation any way i want. really, it just depends on if you’d give me a chance. i promise, i’m really not as bad as i seem.”

at first you say nothing, eyebrows furrowed as you try to catch one of the many thoughts that frantically race around in your brain for a solution.

“i’m sure laurance said otherwise,” gene continues. “but we’re really not awful people. i mean, we’re not great either, but we’re cool. besides, i think you want someone like me on your team in case the mrs.ro’meave-wannabe in this picture here decides to yap about what happened.”

you stare at the screen, heart racing. not only were you at risk, but so was aphmau. had he caught her in the halls today, too?

“just give it a try, this is your choice here. why don’t you have lunch with us outside by the bleachers today so we can get to know each other? i know a secret of yours, so if we become friends i can share a secret of mine with you.”

“are you secretly normal?”

laughter bursts from his mouth, and for a moment he looks so genuinely entertained with your words that the youthfulness in his young age actually shines through his rugged appearance. you’re not sure if you maybe secretly pissed him off or if he strangely liked the attitude you were giving him, so you find yourself standing there awkwardly as he gathers himself.

“no, not really.” he begins to walk away from you while shaking his head, more chuckles leaving his throat as he slides his phone back into his pocket and makes his way down the hall. “see you at lunch.”

“…shit.”

☆

you ended up zoning out for the rest of your morning classes, your head empty despite its screams to try and find a solution to this. garroth and katelyn sent wary glances your way pretty much the whole day, but left it alone when you didn’t tell them for the third time when they asked. as the lunch bell rang, you made the excuse that you weren’t feeling the best, and was gonna see if the nurse would give you some medicine. they shrugged, giving you one last worried look before making their way to your friend group in the cafeteria.

you were pretty sure eating outside was against the school’s rules, so your heart was racing when you made your way to the doors that led to all of the athletic fields. after your stressful searching you soon find the three of them behind the bleachers near the soccer field.

gene and the angry-looking boy lounge on the ground, and the silver haired girl is perched on one of the thick beams holding the bleachers up. their attention is immediately set on you as they hear the ground crunch under your feet, all three eyes turned to where you awkwardly stand.

“there she is.” gene gets up and strides towards you, throwing an arm around your shoulder and guiding you closer to his group.

he smells like cigarettes covered by cologne and… paint? your eyes meet a can of spray paint in the other boy’s hand before trailing up to see an sk symbol freshly graffitied onto one of the thicker pillars.

on school property? guess laurance wasn’t exaggerating about them.

“since laurance so rudely interrupted our introduction to you last time, let’s reintroduce ourselves, yeah? i’m gene hyun,” he gestures to himself, deep voice almost lifting in a teasing way  before pointing at his friends. “that’s sasha morozov, and that’s zenix brandt. say hi, everyone.”

“you’re already breaking the rules, i like this new look on you.” sasha speaks up first, lips curling up in a smile that didn’t meet her eyes. “it would be nice to not be the only girl in this group.”

“can’t take the pressure, sasha?” zenix teases with a grin.

“or maybe i just can’t stand your face, zenix.”

“shut up, you love me.”

“i’m not that desperate.”

zenix scoffs. “me neither.”

“will you two quiet down? you’ll scare away our new friend here. hey, we introduced ourselves to you, so now it’s only polite for you to do the same.” gene nudges your shoulder once before letting you go.

you shortly give your name, chest brewing with an uncomfortable fog as you debate just running back inside. either way you risked your reputation, so your feet end up sticking to the ground as you swallow at the dry feeling in your throat. 

“you didn’t get anything to eat?” sasha questions, sleepy eyes pointedly looking down at your empty hands.

you look down at them as well, as if you hadn’t very purposefully walked past the cafeteria so no one knew you were off doing something you weren’t supposed to. you turn to glance back towards the school, before looking back to shrug at the girl.

“um… no, i forgot.”

dark silvery eyebrows turn up unimpressed before she plucks an apple off of her tray and tosses it to you. it catches you off guard and you clumsily catch it, fumbling and nearly dropping it down into the gravel.

“…thanks.”

she shrugs, humming a small “mhm” in return.

“…hm. you know, thinking about it, i dunno about that name.” gene suddenly says.

“right? i think we should give her a nickname instead.”

…what? your name wasn’t hard to pronounce in the slightest. before you can protest they’re already discussing the matter, tossing around name ideas they should give you like you were their new pet.

“what about dolly? since she’ll be running our errands for us like a little doll.”

“no, that’s too much. hm… she really did give a good beating on ivy despite being smaller than her, she’s got claws. how about kitty?”

“hm, a cute pet’s name, i like it.” sasha says, leg swinging off the side of where she sat.

“sasha and kitty for sk. i like it.” zenix adds, smile taunting as he looks at you.

your eyebrows pinch together, voice tight in irritation. “my name isn’t hard. i don’t need a nickname.”

gene’s eyebrow raises, challenging as he tilts his head.

“oh? sounds like the voice of someone who’s bold enough to let a picture of her fighting skills spread around.”

you scoff.

“listen. i hate to say it, kitty, but we have the upper hand here. we know it’s a bit devious, but we just want you to join us. you wouldn’t reject people wanting to be your friend, would you? especially ones that are also bad and break the rules.”

“i’m not going to—”

“no? well if that picture starts floating around who do you think will be your friend? us, or those goody two shoes friends you hang out with?”

“it’s none of their business what happened.” you snap, your brain scrambling for responses and too exhausted from the conversation to come up with any.

“then why don’t you say that to one of them?” gene hums in taunting amusement, head tilting as he looks at you through his lashes. “look behind you.”

your heart thuds and drops in your chest as you turn to see laurance, walking up to you in his soccer uniform, eyes narrowing at gene.

“is he bothering you?” he looks to you, brows furrowed.

your mouth drops open, trying to find something to say. his eyes seem to catch onto the draining of the blood from your face, his hand reaching out to grab your arm and pull you closer to his side.

“come on, you don’t need to be hanging out with—”

“no need to get so defensive, laurance. she wants to hang out with us.” gene cuts him off.

laurance freezes, eyes narrowing as he looks between you and the trio. “huh?”

gene stares at you, a toothy grin on his sharp features. 

“yeah,” you barely keep your voice steady as everyone focuses on you. “they’re not so bad once you get to know them.”

“…what?” laurance questions again, as if he thought he was hallucinating your words.

“yeah, she’s a real sweet girl. i really think i’m starting to see the error of my ways because of her.” gene takes a few steps closer. 

“really?” laurance asks, tone disbelieving.

“yeah! in fact she was just telling us to stop hanging back here and tagging up the place. i’ve never felt more moved.”

sasha and zenix nod along to his words, taking his lead as he looks to them. gene then waltzes right up to you, handing you a crumpled and folded slip of paper.

“here’s my number. text me later, i may need some help on my homework later. why don’t you go with laurance and we’ll catch you later.” he chuckles. “i can really picture our friendship blossoming.”

you give a half-hearted breath of a laugh in return, backing up with laurance. 

“okay, later.”

you feel sick. 

“are you okay?” laurance asks you once you’re out of earshot, leading you to the benches where the soccer team sits, the area pretty empty at the moment other than a few players practicing on the field.

“huh? oh yeah, i’m good.”

he stares at you, fingers tapping against the other. 

“…you sure? you know, those three are really good at acting and putting up a front. i really don’t think—”

“i know! trust me, it’s fine.”

his eyebrows furrow like he wants to say something but changes his mind, glancing back at the empty bleachers you were just behind. 

“you know eating outside during lunch is against the rules though, don’t you?”

you hold back a sigh. 

“…no, i didn’t know.”

laurance sighs looking at the apple still clutched in your hands. “…is that all you have for lunch?”

“oh, yeah. i forgot to… get some.”

he looks back up at you, before reaching into the soccer team’s snack box and handing you chips and a cheese stick.

“you don’t need to—”

“eat.” he raises a challenging eyebrow when you hesitate, lips curling up in appeasement when you start peeling open the cheese wrapper.

a call of your name falls from his lips, prompting you to look up into concerned eyes. 

“be careful.”

☆

as you change in the locker room out of your sweaty athletics uniform, your phone buzzes on the bench.

gene: meet me near the back of the school

you suppress a sigh, keeping your face neutral in front of your group of girl friends beside you.

you: ok

aphmau was able to catch you alone in the hallways at one point, round eyes wide with worry. apparently she had also been confronted by gene, but that guy from her werewolf class had supposedly interrupted their talk, cutting the confrontation short.

you weren’t as lucky, you groaned internally, as you swung open the back doors to the school, finding your way down the stairs and spotting gene by the fence line. he’s changed into casual clothes rather than his school uniform, you note, the dark and grungy clothes a polar difference from the neat school uniform he was forced to wear. 

“…what is it?”

“walk with me to my house.”

any anxiety you feel is overridden as you shoot a sharp glare up at him, nose wrinkling in disgust. “no. why would i do that? are you some kind of pervert?”

gene barks out a laugh, head throwing back as he holds up his arms defensively. “woah, put the claws away, kitty! it’s nothing like that. i won’t claim i’m a good guy, but i’m not a total piece of shit either. i need you to meet my mom.”

“…what.”

“i’ll explain on the walk there.” he nods at you to walk along with him, beginning to make his way down the street.

you hesitate, teeth gritting. before you realize it your feet have carried you after him, catching up to the long-legged boy.

“if you try anything i’ll beat the shit out of you. i don’t care if you’re bigger and taller, i’ll find a way.” you threaten, even if you weren’t confident in your own words. 

gene seems amused by your threat, something you’ve begun to notice as a trend. “unless you were forced to take taekwondo as a kid i’m afraid you have no chance. i can appreciate your attitude, though. having a backbone looks good on you.”

you release a quiet sigh, glancing over warily at his tall frame, noticing the bit of lean muscle that cling to him. despite being on the thinner side, you knew he was most definitely right.

“what is it you want me to do?”

he hums. “ah, right. so, my mom’s been on my ass lately about hanging out with sasha and zenix too much… saying they’re bad influences.”

he scoffs, hands tucked into the pockets of his black jacket.

“i just need you to pretend like you’re a new friend of mine, helping me out with school and otherwise being a good influence. should be easy enough for you, you don’t need to even act.”

you huff. “why choose me?”

“why not? besides you doing this for me… and the whole picture thing… you seem pretty cool. maybe i just want to be friends.”

you don’t say anything to that, instead sending him a wary glance as he barks out an amused laugh in return.

on the way the two of you make it to a gas station, where gene turns to walk towards its doors rather than continue down the sidewalk, much to your chagrin.

when your footsteps stop from behind him he turns, looking back at you with a sigh.

“listen, i don’t live in a shady part of town necessarily, but at least come inside with me.” he says, his usual teasing cadence gone as he waves you to him. 

though he wasn’t implying anything you feel a shiver run up your spine, fingers drifting to zianna’s locket as your eyes drift around at the cars passing by. you spot one, all black, parked near the side of the building.

black rims, black paint, blacked out lights, blacked out windows.

no, it’s nothing.

plenty of people have all black cars.

but…

quickly, you shuffle after gene, listening to the doorbell chime as you rush into the door after him.

he gives you a questioning look. the one time he wasn’t really trying to tease or scare you and you looked the most scared. he doesn’t question it though, instead telling you to look around while he buys what he needs.

you sigh, walking down the store aisles, eyes drifting to the different candies. turning to go to the next aisle you nearly bump into a taller man. he looked average. tanned skin and brown hair… but when you look into his eyes…

there’s a certain emptiness to the shade of brown you look into. something cruel and unforgiving—something you didn’t even see in gene’s. despite their warm color, they lacked any sense of care. it sends a cold chill starting from your cheeks and down your back, like someone had dumped ice water over your head.

“excuse me.” you mutter, shuffling past him and quickly putting yourself right next to where gene stood.

he glances at you from the corner of his eye, turning to see the man in the aisle. it’s a few seconds where he doesn’t say anything, face cold and unexpressive as he stares down the man until he leaves the store empty-handed.

the cashier, a rather unimpressed looking woman in her mid twenties glances over to you, raising a thinly plucked eyebrow.

“this your new girlfriend or something?” she glances down at your uniform, lip curling as she stares judgmentally back at gene. “...she looks a little young.”

“what? no, don’t be ridiculous,” gene scoffs. “just my little brothers friend. she’s coming home to study with him, so i’m walking her.”

the cashier deadpans at him. “yeah, okay. if you’re buying these for that lil’ girl i can’t sell em to you.”

“does it look like i’m buying these for her?” he gestures to you with one of his hands, giving an exasperated look to the cashier. “i mean she looks like she makes all a’s and never gets in trouble. c’mon.”

your eyebrows furrow. sell what to him?

the cashier looks you up and down for a moment before sighing, reaching down to the cabinets below her and pulling out a red cigarette case. your eyes widen and you look to gene, who only scoldingly stares you down from the corner of his eye.

“don’t say a thing and act natural.” is what you read from the dark blue irises challenging you to say something before he slides the money over the counter.

the cashier checks him out, narrowing her hooded green eyes at you once more with a concerned glint to them before humming. “you’re good to go. see you later.”

“thanks, donna.” gene casually replies, shoving the cigs in his pocket and ushering you out of the store.

you two walk in silence for a moment, making it a ways down the street before he reaches into the back of his jean pockets, pulling out one of the cigarettes and an old lighter. he lights one, huffing out the smoke and glancing down at you. 

“want one?”

you shake your head. he shrugs, stepping around you to walk on your other side when he sees you blink rapidly from the smoke blowing in your eyes.

“more for me.” he smirks, taking another deep inhale and looking away, slowly letting out his next breath.

“…how did you even buy those?” you ask, frowning as he flicks ash onto the concrete. 

he reaches into his pocket, pulling out his wallet and sliding out not his normal id, but instead another version that was flipped horizontally, the “under 21” warning nowhere to be seen.

“fake id.” he shrugs. “been using it since last year.”

it’s about ten more minutes before the roll of nicotine meets the end of its life. gene stops, crouching down for a second to snuff it out, before carelessly flicking it out onto the street.

“littering?” you narrow your eyes.

“what? it’ll decompose.”

“no, it won’t. not for a long time.”

“whatever.”

“littering is really lame.”

gene scoffs, rolling his eyes. “c’mon, kitty. loosen up. the world will keep spinning to see another day.”

you huff, running back to scoop up the discarded cigarette, still warm from both its flame and staying snugly between gene’s fingers. he stops to look at you, eyebrows raised and pinched, the corner of his mouth turned down in confused amusement. you walk back to him, flipping up the top of the box that still hung out of his jeans and shoving the cigarette down into the empty spot.

he raises a brow before his head tilts back in silent laughter, eyes closed.

“okay, fine, miss goody two shoes.” he laughs, before turning onto the pathway up to a dull blue house. “remember, just act like you’re a new friend of mine helping me out with my grades.”

he pulls out a key chain, unlocking the door and waving you inside. “hey mom, i have someone i want you to meet.”

the inside of the house… is not the environment that you’d expect for a guy like gene to live in. it was perfectly clean, the furniture neat and the fresh scent of lemons and lavender clinging to the air.

an older woman with a taller stature than you and lighter gray-blue hair appears from the hallway, face stern as she looks at her son.

“a new friend? if they’re anything like—” she stops her train of thought when her eyes land on you, face changing to a friendlier expression. “oh, hello sweetie. you’re… gene’s friend?”

gene huffs. “don’t sound too surprised.”

you control your breathing, already feeling guilty pulling in your chest as you prepare yourself to lie to this woman. you raise your hand to shake hers with a small smile, nodding along.

“yes ma’am. it’s nice to meet you.”

“it’s nice to meet you too! i’m maria.” her face is brightened as she grabs onto your hand, shaking it back. “oh, gene, honey. i’m surprised such a proper-looking and lovely girl wants to talk to you! she’s adorable.”

“what?” he sighs, looking much less intimidating than usual as he watches his tongue in front of his mother. “…anyways, mom, she’s been helping me with school. she makes amazing grades and never gets in trouble… right…?”

you nod.

“wow, i can’t believe you made friends outside of that little club of yours—”

“—it’s a gang—”

“—i’m so proud. do you need a ride home, sweetie? gene and i were just going to leave for dance lessons.”

“oh, that’s okay. i can walk.”

maria shakes her head. “oh, but a girl like you shouldn’t walk alone on the streets, especially with the traffic right now. we’re not necessarily in a dangerous part of town, but still.”

you freeze, before nodding. “if you don’t mind, that would be nice.”

“of course not! gene lets go.” she nods, pulling her keys out of the purse on her shoulder and walking out the front door.

you two stand there for a moment before you turn to gene with a raised eyebrow, a smirk fighting to break out on your face.

“…dance lessons?”

his nose crinkles before he bends his torso, the scent of cigarettes still fresh on his breath as he slits his eyes at you.

“don’t you dare utter a word of that to anyone, or everyone in the school will know about that picture.” he whispers, before straightening himself and pacing forward towards the door. “c’mon, sweetie, time to go home.”

©starhvney, 2024. please do not steal or repost my works as your own.

[toastedjeans]

Siren Tower Maurice, Doise and Peddito!

The main cast is over here!

I just realized Doise's gloves should be more white but I'm too lazy to change that, just imagine they're white okay?

Some info about them down here

Maurice

Peppino's older brother and a piece of shit, who constantly belittles him and calls him a disappointment. His apartment has water damage or something similar, or maybe it got destroyed, so now he temporarily lives with Peppino until his flat is repaired. (Alternative: he didn't pay rent and got kicked out, continues not to pay rent to Peppino because "we're family, you can't charge your own brother.") He's either divorced or his girlfriend left him, is only allowed to see his son once a month. It's probably for the better.

Peppino is incredibly fed up with him but he tries to endure it, until he one day snaps and probably slaps him, they end up both kicking the shit out of each other (but Peppino is stronger because i said so).

Maurice invites himself to poker night and other activities Pep and the others do after work times, then complains that he's bored or something (M: "This sucks, why did you invite me?" P: "I didn't??"). He gets along a little with Mr. Stick, but only because they're both gamblers, he's somehow even more unlucky than Stick and keeps losing almost all his money. Doesn't get along with Hazel cause he doesn't take her seriously, thinks she's childish and stupid.

Doise

Goblin shark. He's basically Noise but blue. Noise hates him because he thinks Doise is imitating him, but they're just the same species of siren. He's a little more mellow and doesn't go feral as much or as easily as Noise. He throws rocks cause he doesn't know he's immune to sea urchin and puffer fish poison / venom. He can also go on land but needs water nearby.

He has heterochromia (one eye is blue, the other is purple-ish brown), and has the same "whiskers" as Noise, just turned down.

Absolutely terrified of Peddito, as he seems to always want to kill him, and has tried doing so a few times. Sometimes plays dead hoping that Peddito leaves him alone, it doesn't really work though.

Peddito

A failed clone of Peppino, made before Fakey. Pizzahead didn't like him as much because he didn't get the eyes right so he threw him out (basically the Other Eye problem, but he ended up leaving his eye sockets empty out of frustration). He can't see because of this, but he can still navigate through the water effortlessly. There's way less sea creature DNA in him, so he looks almost completely human just with a fin on his back and webbed hands. It's unclear where his vibrant coloring comes from.

He's strangely obsessed with Doise for some reason and doesn't interact with anyone cause he's just not interested in anyone else. He actually wants to be friends with Doise, but since Pizzahead designed him to be a killing machine, he doesn't know his own strength and ends up almost killing Doise several times. His "killer side" comes out every time he's near Doise, and he can sense his presence because of this.

When not near Doise, Peddito seems almost dead, he moves very little, and is unresponsive. He can't talk, neither human nor siren language, but he understands both. He doesn't swim, just floats through the water like a dead fish, despite this he's incredibly agile and fast. Would follow Doise on land, and could survive with pretty much no problems. He just slides across the floor when on land, as if he was on rails. The bottoms of his feet are always slippy, making it easier for him to move. Might leave a trail wherever he goes.

And here's your reward for reading, some doodles of various age and messiness

Also some shippy stuff hehe

[robby-bobby-tommy]

I am very sad we didn't get to see more of Autobot Knock Out. So much I even have a fan episode idea. It's pretty garbage, but anyway.

Mb I'll write a fic about it *cough cough*forget about operation:redemption I literally can't finish stuff.

It's basically about how KO would get accepted into the team.

At first red finished bot will be distrusted, naturally. And he'll try to win them over. But millions of years working with Decepticons do change a bot. So what seems normal to KO is absolutely unacceptable to Autobots. For example, if someone loses their arm, a bot obsessed with his paint job will just find some vehicon and take their arm instead. Or actively take prisoners and interrogate them (like he did with Smokescreen). And when Optimus (in this timeline he hasn't died yet because I said so) gives him a pep talk, KO genuinely doesn't understand what is he doing wrong? Because, when you're a Decepticon, you don't bother much with ethics. It's either you complete your mission successfully, or you might be on the receiving end of Megatron's anger. So seeing Optimus disapproving of his "success" And yet forgive others failed missions made KO resent team prime a little bit.

Then, he was demoted to "nurse" despite being qualified enough to do operations without supervision. And it's even if Knock Out is lucky enough to be allowed to operate at all. Ofc, their reactions are more than understandable, but it still hurts. Ratchet watches his every move, because they spend all their time in the base.

That's the third thing that pisses KO off. He has to stay in base because of his "misconduct". And red finished bot hates having to stay inside. He loves going to drive in theaters or race with others, but now he isn't allowed even a step out.

The tipping point of the situation is when whole team prime (-Ratchet) go on a mission to fight decepticons. This mission is very important, but despite KO's desire to help, Optimus eventually asks Knock out to stay. He says it's because they "are in no need of another scout, but a second medic will be necessary if we wish to end this mission with no losses". When the team left, KO stayed for a bit, before quietly sneaking out. He is very infuriated and tired of playing Ratchet's little helper, and if team prime doesn't accept him, then he's free to do whatever he wants.

Once the gang gets back, mostly in one piece, Optimus notices KO's absence. Autobots have no way of getting through to ex decepticon, because they didn't have his comm nor have his location. Despite some bots being fine with his disappearance (Bulk and Smokey are still very distrustful), leader decided to meet up with him and talk things through.

Turns out KO went to the nearest drive in theater. OP comes up to his new subordinate, and watches the movie for a while, before asking if KO would like to talk. When smooth talking and flirty jokes didn't get "sweet rims" To go away, red bot finally decides to tell the truth. Optimus understands KO's frustrations and gently points out that stay at the base and absence from any too risky battles weren't meant to make KO feel unaccepted, but to keep him safe. Now that he has betrayed Decepticons, he is pretty high on "to kill" List. Yet his cruel actions still aren't accepted, because Autobots aren't like Decepticons, and team prime isn't like Megatron's gang. They do not use violence unless it is necessary.

This talk eases a lot of KO's concerns and after they get back to the base, he'll try to behave better.

Sorry if this post is very messy. I really wanted to get this idea out of my head and make it sound interesting.

[inmyownlaine]

John Murphy x Reader: Enemies to Lovers Trope

Warnings: Weapons, threatening death

Word Count: 2075

Part: 1

Summary: After taking cover in the underground bunker, you find yourself trapped with your sworn enemy. As time trails on, you realize the two of you will have to stay there till the coast is clear. The worst part? There’s only ONE bed 😮🤯

──────────────────────────────────────────────────

He hated you. More than anything or anyone. In fact, if he were given the option to be pushed off a cliff or spend time with you, he would jump on his own accord and do a backflip on the way down.

And you couldn’t stand to be around him. You would rather spend your time eating soggy bread, walking in wet socks, or ripping band-aids off your bare skin. Anything was better, more preferable, than seeing his face.

If the two of you weren’t spitting insults at each other with vitriol and pure malice, you were physically harming one another. There was nothing amiable about the shoulder check he delivered on a daily basis. Likewise, your perfectly placed foot was not in jest. Especially when he would trip over it and go tumbling to the ground.

It got to the point where you couldn’t walk alone. He would grab you by the arm and slam you against walls, knife to throat, as he chuckled menacingly in your ear. “You know how easy it would be for me to kill you?” he would always ask.

And he couldn’t sit with his back to you, or else he’d find the barrel of a gun nudging his temple, and you with an itchy trigger finger. You’d deliver a smug little smile, pushing it further and further into his head. “And just like that, all my problems would suddenly go away,” you would always comment.

Yet, neither of you actually did anything. It was the sheer adrenaline, the barbaric action, the thrill of it all, that led you to behave so irresponsibly. The bruises and cuts and words would not stand in your way. No amount of concerned teenagers or useless pep talks would interfere. Nothing.

Being this wicked was a lonely road. You felt like a great white approaching a school of herrings. Wherever you went, there was an immediate scatter. Active avoidance upon sight was recommended. But you were the best shot, bar none. It was the only reason anyone allowed you to have a gun.

Or tag along on their excursions.

In front of them, of course. So everyone could clearly see exactly what you were doing. The wave of terror you caused was oddly devine. You didn’t live to torture others, or to be feared by the masses, but it was such a wonderful feeling to have some sense of power. So you sashayed with pride, lips puckered in a confident pout, leading them steadfast through the unknown forest.

The chatter behind didn’t phase you in the slightest. They were probably gossiping about their childish crushes or bantering with inside jokes. Neither of which concerned you or piqued interest.

That’s when the most grating, most vexatious voice muttered in a not-so-low tone, “Such an easy target.”

There was no hesitation. The gun was already in your hands as you spun around, aiming it directly at him. Everyone gasped, ducking for cover.

Except for him. He encroached your perimeter, arms tightly crossed against his chest, practically begging to be sprayed with bullets. He clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. “That’s cute.”

“Don’t tempt me,” you warned him.

“Or what?”

You sneered. “I’ll finally grant you your wish. A chance to see your father again.”

He laughed aloud, minimizing the distance with every arrogant step he took. With a final act of provocation, he willingly placed his forehead on the muzzle. With both his hands in the air, mocking surrender, he glowered at you through slacked eyelids. “Then do it.”

A foghorn rang out across the woods. You removed the gun from his head and pointed it into the trees. An outbreak of panic coursed through the unit as they frantically asked what to do. Some didn’t wait for a response.

Half of the unit bolted towards the dropship. The other half formed a circle, guns outwards and ready for open fire. It became clear that you weren’t going to be battling someone, but rather, something.

It started as a mist in the faraway trees, consuming the trunks with thick smoke. Then it started to grow in every way, wider and higher, before all that seemed to lay before you was a rain cloud. One that made your skin itch, made your throat close. It was then you knew you had only a single option.

“Run!” you screamed, taking off after the others.

He was right beside you, matching step for step. It had been a while since death brushed your lips, leaving a poisonous sting, invigorating your will to survive. So much so, that the idea of tripping him (for old times sake!), tickled at your brain.

“What is that?” he yelled out, elbow covering his nose and mouth. He didn’t offer any indication, but you saw it, too. A silver wheel was bolted atop a thick metal hatch. You didn't have time to wonder about the specifics. Nor did you have the time to grimace when your hands accidentally touched; first when spinning the wheel, and second upon opening the hatch, revealing a ladder into dark descent.

“Go!” he urged you. You didn’t think twice, stepping onto the ladder and hurrying down, rung by rung. The hatch slammed shut, followed by labored grunts as he tightened it back to its original state and then some. With the abrupt overtake of darkness and the narrow pathway, you felt extremely claustrophobic.

He continued down the ladder as you froze, catching up to you in a matter of mere seconds. He stomped haphazardly, boots barely missing the tips of your fingers.

“Don’t step on me,” you warned him.

“I’ll do what I want.”

Knowing full well that he would love nothing more than to squish you beneath his weight, you pressed on till your foot met the dirt floor. It was pitch black as you fumbled around in the darkness, feeling around for any type of lantern, flashlight, or match box. He trampled behind you, presumably following suit.

“What could be worse than this?” he mumbled.

“Um, what?” you scoffed.

“Wasn’t for you to hear.”

“Cool. So you wanna climb back up the ladder and take your chances out there?” For the first time ever, he didn’t have anything to say. You took that as a victory, further twisting the knife. “That’s what I thought. Shut up.”

Ten minutes had passed and no progress was made. From what you felt, however, you could tell there was a wooden desk with a chair, a broken lamp and a dining table set. Whoever created this doomsday bunker obviously made it to be their home. You couldn’t imagine living your entire life underground, fearful of the dangers above. You stopped short when you realized you had done the exact opposite; lived your life above, fearful of the dangers below.

“This is no use,” you finally said.

“You really didn’t find anything?” his voice spouted back.

“And you did?”

There was a loud plop, followed by numerous rustles and the quiet zing of a zipper. It dawned on you that he was digging around in his backpack and the insides of your stomach burned. If you had been searching for a light this entire time, and he willingly allowed you to make an ass of yourself, it was over for him.

“I swear, if you pull out a flashlight-”

But his face illuminated with the glow of an LED light, revealing his arrogant expression. “What?”

You couldn’t even begin to convey how livid you were. Your fingers balled up into tight fists, and you had half a mind to swing on him. He pointed the light in your direction, blinding you before chuckling.

“Don’t hurt yourself.” With that he pressed on, exploring the rest that this space had to offer. You didn’t want to figure out anything more. All you wanted was the fog to pass so you could leave this hellhole.

However, you didn’t know how long that would take. Hours? Days? The thought of being with him that long made your head ache. So instead, you flopped back on the hard mattress, staring up at the low ceiling.

“What are you doing?” he questioned.

“What does it look like?”

“It looks like,” he started, “you think you’re taking the bed tonight.”

“Not really a thought. I’m here and I’m on it,” you said.

“Comfortable, are you? Not worried I’ll kill you in your sleep?” he asked.

You simply shrugged. “Who says I won’t get you first?”

The banter had gone on long enough. His face flushed as he approached you, looming over your body with his disturbing presence. You tried to act like you weren’t scared. Yet the thought of him actually hurting you wouldn’t escape your mind. If he really wanted to end it all tonight, he could.

“I’m not sleeping on the floor,” he informed you.

“Well neither am I.”

“Don’t make me do this.” You gritted your teeth. Your gun was too far away from you. This would have to be a grappling game, one that you would surely lose. Especially if he kept his knife tucked into his pocket.

“If you’re not going to sleep on the floor, and I’m not going to sleep on the floor-” He stopped abruptly and just looked at you. You looked back, not understanding what he meant.

“Scoot over,” he finally said.

“Ew, no!” you exclaimed.

“Do you have a better idea?” he snapped. “You want to kill each other over a sleeping spot or you want to make it out tomorrow?”

The answer was obvious. You huffed and wriggled to the far end of the bed, nose brushing the metal wall in an effort to distance yourself as much as possible. With your arms crossed and eyes clamped, you imagined this wasn’t happening as you felt his side sag under his weight. He repositioned himself multiple times, frustrating you further, but finally made a decision and laid down quietly.

What would they say? What would you tell them? This was beyond humiliating, it was mortifying. To be laid up next to a person you openly abhorred was not good for your reputation. You had to make sure he knew the boundary and that it would never be crossed.

“You tell no one.”

“I’d say the same thing,” he replied, “but you don’t have any friends to tell.”

“I hate you.”

“I hate you, too.”

──────────────────────────────────────────────────

You awoke to a void. It took a second to remember where you were, rubbing your eyes furiously to try to adjust. There was a foghorn, some eerie clouds, an abandoned bunker- oh!- and your absolute worst nightmare sleeping beside you. It all came rushing back and you found yourself grimacing, hoping that you would be able to leave soon.

You pulled the blanket closer to your chin, itchy wool scratching the bare skin on your arms. That had always been your least favorite texture, which was a great parallel to the current situation, where you were trapped with your least favorite person. Of course, every single item and event and circumstance had to be undesirable.

The knotted threads at the end of the blanket were tangled, so you took it upon yourself to separate them out. All the while you reflected, yet again, on your predicament. Your fingers worked tediously, preferring to sort out these problems than address your own.

With one knot being completely relenting, you found yourself thinking how it wasn’t this tangled when you fell asleep. In fact, you didn’t recall having a blanket at all…

Your eyes widened as you slowly rolled over, just enough so you could look over your shoulder. It was too dark to see. Your hand reached to Murphy’s side, touching him lightly. You felt the same scratchy wool instead of his leather jacket. It became apparent that his back was to you, but closer than it previously was. And the blanket you despised so much was covering you both.

You didn’t know what this meant. No one had ever been kind to you before. You weren’t the least bit surprised. All you caused was chaos and misery. No one owed you anything. Murphy, least of all. Yet he took care of you, tended to a single want instead of treating you like a monster. Like you were nothing less than human.

“Thank you,” you whispered into the shadows. He didn’t respond. And for once, you found yourself wishing that he would.

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MAJOR shout for the TikTok, I saw it and couldn’t stop thinking about it. Created by the100babe, captioned: read flags looking green. Can’t disagree 🥴🥵

Xx Lainey

[humaudrey]

Descendants Scene Rewrite: Mal (& Uma) vs Audrey (& Melody)

"Hey, you two must be the daughters of Maleficent and Ursula, aren't you?"

Melody finally managed to take her attention off of the sea witch pirate captain she just moments ago learned was Uma, and her handsome lackeys, and turned toward Audrey. Everyone had, actually, just as Audrey intended. Despite the enthusiastic and friendly sounding tone, anyone who knew Audrey, knew this was anything but.

The interference of Mal and Uma's playfully snarky conversation with Ben caused him to step back. Audrey relinked her arm with Ben's while Melody slowly approached the couple.

"Yeah, you know what, I think I speak for Melody and Arietta when I say we totally don't blame you guys for your mothers trying to kill our parents and stuff," Audrey said, attempting to sound casual with a chuckle. Melody was agape, much like most of her peers.

"Audrey–" Melody warned.

Audrey continued anyway. "Oh, we're not sisters. Melody and Arietta's mom is Queen Ariel of Seaside, 'The Little Mermaid'. My mother is Queen Aurora, better known as 'Sleeping–"

"Beauty!" Mal absorbed Audrey's pep, as Audrey's smile slowly dropped. "Yeah, I've heard the name. And you know, I totally, do not, blame you for your grandparents inviting everyone in the whole world, but my mother, to their stupid christening."

Uma took a few steps forward, matching the forced smile Audrey had worn earlier and faced Melody. "Nor do I blame you for your grandfather, who wrongfully banished my mother from that pathetic, underwater sandcastle of a kingdom."

The diss hurt, but what really pissed Melody off were the snickers from Harry and Gil. Whatever smiles the two princesses tried to force on her their faces, they never developed.

Melody bit her tongue, and forced a chuckle. "Water under the bridge?" Melody asked Audrey.

"Totes!" Audrey replied, her fake smile returning.

"Definitely!" Mal reciprocated.

Audrey and Mal shared a rather insincere laugh simultaneously, before they both simultaneously trailed off with a sigh. Uma's smirk only grew bigger as Melody's lips stretched in a thin line.

"Well, while we're apologizing," Gil began, stepping forward to the rest of the group. "I guess I'm sorry for my dad trying to kill your dad even though your dad kidnapped your mom and took her hostage and held her against her wi–"

"No need," Ben said. "None of you have anything to be sorry for. If anyone should be apologizing, it should be me. You're not your parents, and you shouldn't have to answer for the crimes they committed."

The seven villain kids all shared looks between one another. Uma snorted, and opened her mouth as if she were about to say something. Instead, she kept to herself and crossed her arms.

Ben paced back and forth, intentionally looking each of the new transfer students in the eyes. "You all deserve a chance to live here in Auradon. I wish things were different on the Isle for you, but I'll do everything in my power to ensure that everyone lives the lives they deserve. And today, I'll start by welcoming you to Auradon Prep."

A genuine smile had returned to Melody upon listening to her best friend. She nodded at Uma, who she caught staring at her rather quizzically.

"And on that beautiful note, I'll steal control of the tour and show you guys around!" Zephyr chimed in. "Right this way, please!"

Ben, Audrey, Melody, Zephyr, and Seth gestured toward the front of the school, allowing the seven villain kids to take the lead.

Mal and Uma decided to compete in a speed walking contest for a battle of dominance. Jay and Harry had rolled their eyes at the sight, then entered a staring contest of their own. Carlos caused Jay to lose as he passed both of them and dragged Jay along by his shirt collar. Evie and Gil, meanwhile, were once again distracted by their surroundings until Harry turned around and pushed Gil forward as Gil waved hello at everyone.

Evie curtsied as an apology, before strutting off and holding the rear and the group of five followed behind her.

Seth specifically broke out in a jog to catch up to Evie as everyone gathered around the copper statue of King Adam.

"So, we're good, right?" Seth asked.

Evie giggled, and rolled her eyes playfully as she went to stand beside Mal. Was that a yes?

[thelibrarian1895]

Bats and Time Travel

First, a disclaimer, I have only some minimal level of Booster Gold knowledge.

That being said, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that detective work isn't his strong suit, or the strong suit of most time travelers. Why would it be when they can just peak into the past and see what happened? So when something comes up and it's less straightforward than obvious bad guy needs a beating, Booster is at least smart enough to get expert help. On occasion that expert help has to go through time with him. He has to be very careful with this because no one wants another Flashpoint and he doesn't want to clean up any time shenanigans. The same goes for any other time related incident.

Bats are, of course, the go to for anyone who needs expert detective assistance. You can generally just grab any Bat and they can fill in as a detective though some are happier about it than others. Some are also more suited to time travel than others.

Batman works out well enough. He can be more or less trusted not to go off and mess with the timestream and cause some sort of catastrophe that takes forever to fix. Things get a little dicey if any case brings the Bat around Gotham or near one of his kids in the past. It becomes an exercise of restraint for both involved because B very much wants to go to his child and protect them/lecture them/hug them depending on the timeframe or at bare minimum loom over them. Booster has to sometimes physically get in the way to stop this. It doesn't always work. B is at least polite enough to fix the mess. Batman has trouble with alternate universe or alternate timeline adventures since he has to so often beat other versions of himself up and comes back extra broody. His family appreciate when he gets to the self reflection and determination to improve part after he's done brooding.

Nightwing is good to work with during time related incidents. Very professional, very cheerful, but still kept out of Gotham and very reluctantly kept from his past self because Nightwing really wants to give his past self a pep talk more often than not. Nightwing has, however, written letters for his past self that has resulted in a few branching new timelines or a mess that he was polite enough to help fix. Nightwing is allowed on alternate universe adventures which lets him give those pep talks to himself that he knew he desperately needed/wanted at those various ages.

Red Hood is not allowed on time travel cases because Jason has poor impulse control and has on more than one occasion killed someone who would commit a terrible crime in the future and ended up causing decades worth of a mess that needed to be cleaned up. He is responsible enough to fix his own messes and is only allowed now in alternate universe adventures. He's good at alternate universe adventures and they've helped him remember to rely less on hearsay and more on solid evidence.

Red Robin is Booster's favorite to work with because the kid can be snarky if caught in the right mood and the worst he has to worry about Red Robin when it comes to damaging the timeline is Red Robin taking pictures of various incidents. Red Robin is also polite enough to direct all attention Booster's way which appeases Booster's attention seeking nature. This is how Tim has the best collection of Batman tripping on his cape pictures and other similarly embarrassing incidents of his friends and family. Tim is allowed on alternate universe adventures and again returns with more pictures that his friends and family can't prove aren't them. He is developing an alternate tim support group to try to prevent additional gun batmen timelines. And, as he tells his brothers on occasion, so he can have intelligent conversation with family when Cassandra is away.

Black Bat would be Booster's favorite to work with except he's extremely intimidated by her, even more so than he can be by Batman. She has deliberately allowed herself to be seen in the past on occasion and those sightings in certain conspiracy forums as a cryptid. She's very proud of it. She is also a cryptid in other alternate timelines but is no longer allowed to go to alternate timelines after she has had to be restrained from adopting/kidnapping alternate versions of her younger self or her siblings.

Spoiler is also not allowed on time travel cases for the same reason as Jason, poor impulse control. She may have set off glitter bombs that resulted in a timeline mess almost as impossible to clean up after as the glitter. Her ability to help with alternate universe adventures is under review because, again, glitter bombs.

Robin aka Damian has worked in a timestream case once and came back with a dodo bird. Booster is glad that the kid allowed himself to be persuaded that there wasn't enough room to bring back the mastodon. He is not allowed to work on timestream cases until he can be trusted not to come back with extinct species. He is also not allowed to go on alternate universe adventures after he came back with another dragon bat he has named Desdemona.

Signal takes advantage of timestream adventures to fact check the crazy nonsense his siblings have told him. Booster likes the kid well enough and the invisibility does make things easier at times. The only reason he's not Booster's preferred Bat is because Signal is more naturally charismatic and people pay more attention to him than to Booster and also Signal needs to work on his confidence in his detective skills. He gets migraines dealing with alternate universe adventures and so tries to avoid them when possible.

Alfred has gone on ONE timestream adventure. Booster does not speak of the adventure. Alfred will just smile slightly if asked. Alfred is not allowed on alternate universe adventures because the Bats in his home universe get sullen and withdrawn without him and at least one kitchen fire will occur. His alternate selves are also possessive of their respective kitchens and do not appreciate intruders, even if the intruders are themselves.

[mommyclaws]

Opinions on Leopardstar? I haven't read leopardstar's Honor yet, not sure what happens there, but I've heard it's somewhat disappointing.

I was always somewhat angry that she never really mentioned Tigerstar after the whole Tigerclan thing, and we never really got to see how she felt about the whole thing, just that the people she sent to die really didn't like her.

A Shadow in Riverclan also kinda did the same thing where she gave a little pep talk and suddenly everything was ok for Feathertail, after she had horrible ptsd from Leopardstar

I want to like her but she's such a nothing character imo to actually have an opinion on because I think she was done pretty dirty, as Riverclan and her weren't really the focus of the series for so long

I consider myself a Leopardstar fan. I’ve been wanting to talking about my feelings/view on her for a while so i’ll put all my thoughts here!

The direction they took with her in canon is dissatisfying but she has alot of groundwork that gives her interesting potential. Her father is a medic- formerly warrior- who changed his position because he is against violence. She turns into everything Mudfur wanted to escape from. Too proud, itching for a battle, apathetic to the suffering of the other clans. And even if it was a let down, I can appreciate the authors at least tried to do more with her character than let her off the hook as easily as Blackfoot.

I like her mostly in comparison to my dislike for Blackstar's character. He teamed with Brokenstar and Tigerstar, committed murders and didn’t protest to the abuse of his own clan. He does nothing to atone and doesn't even seem particularly remorseful but he's still rewarded by being made leader. Leopardstar was already in power when she made the decisions that cost cats their lives. Cats trusted her to protect them and her neglect threw them into savagery and death. Standing by to allow kits and her own deputy be slaughtered is GRUESOME. I read her as someone blinded by ambition, just another product of the code. She misjudged then got in over her head with Tigerclan and was willing to toss others aside to save her own tail. Maybe she truly is remorseful, but it doesn't change what she did. Nothing can.

Crookedstar's leadership was very relaxed and she considered him weak. He gave up land to Shadowclan, he could never keep Sunningrocks, he allowed Thunderclan to take refugee on multiple occasions, and all of the half clan cats he accepts are seemingly only because they're his kin. She had thoughts of making Riverclan powerful and feared once he was out of the picture, it's why she completely disregarded his dying wishes- She couldn't bring herself to respect him.

The politics of Riverclan change drastically with her nine lives. Closed borders and no tolerance for Thunderclan, not even Graystripe, who only wanted to be with his kits. Riverclan is strong. But it could be stronger, couldn't it? She and Tigerclaw served as deputies together, even if he was the enemy, she thought well of him. He is a fierce and respected Thunderclan warrior. Or so he was. While she initially thought it a red flag he was now serving Shadowclan, she couldn't disagree with him for leaving Thunderclan when she already had so much resentment for them and ruling Shadowclan, it was true. They had been weaken for many moons, it was Tigerstar who reunited them and made them powerful. So when he promises to make her clan just as powerful, together, she doesnt refuse.

She very consistently and vocally had a dislike for half-clan cats. She exiled Graystripe. She calls Featherpaw and Stormpaw liabilities. She banishes Stormfur and Brook. I think she has very genuine hateful beliefs but at the same time she’s horrified at what happened to Stonefur. That was a cat she was trusting to become the next leader of Riverclan. And he was killed for defending innocent lives. She knows she was wrong, she regrets it, she has nightmares about the bonehill. (<- This was confirmed by an author apparently!) but her attempts to “atone” are surface level and shallow at best. She wants to be forgiven without changing. She makes Mistyfoot deputy to show she’s better now, but what meaning does that position have after Stonefur was slaughtered? She apologizes to Feathertail and Stormfur, but they still feel like complete outcasts. They’re more friendly with their former clanmates in Thunderclan and Leopardstar later exiles Stormfur over a faked sign. I think her attempts were never to better herself or right her victims, but to relieve her own guilt. She’s always prioritized herself above others.

[wsancho]

Rambling about Setzer’s “recovery” from depression

Thanks to @ci-ah and @halogenwarrior for the interesting Setzer convos. Now I have theories.

I had dipped my toes a little bit in Setzer territory because I wish he was given more screen time and development. I believe FFVI is masterfully written (not perfectly written, but what it does well is simply outstanding, with very little to pick apart), so I’m more tempted to find the meaning of what the game gives us, than to look down on it as “coulda-woulda-shoulda been better if blank”. There’s always room for improvement (in everything), but I just want to make sense of what is 😌 And my shtick at this point is to pull theories out of my ass, so...

We get very little information about Setzer, and the more I think about it, the more it feels that this is by design more than neglect. We meet him and he joins us (because why the hell not?), then the world goes to shit. Next thing we know is that he’s been drinking his life away, so we ask him to join us and he does (again, because why the hell not?). He is quite easy to sway, but recovering from his depression after one pep talk makes the whole situation feel unnecessary. If he is nothing but the means to an end, then why bother giving him that little character moment? So I'm gonna assume that he is more than just that. This is not the “miraculous” resolution of his inner conflict, it’s a clue to his character.

Another awfully convenient thing about Setzer in World of Ruin is that we find him at Kolingen, of all places. But he has no known connection to that place or its people. Is this pub convenient for some reason? Maybe he was nearby after the cataclysm, maybe they got cheap alcohol, maybe this is the only pub that still allows him in… But the game gives us nothing to come up with those types of speculations. This town happens to be the closest to the new airship Daryl’s tomb. This is another clue, but we don’t yet know that Daryl is dear to him. As it turns out, Setzer is the type of character that can only be fully understood in retrospective after having obtained all the bits of information. It takes obsession repetition.

He’s a particularly difficult one because we only know his deliberately crafted persona, not much about him is concrete. If I were to take his reaction as is, I gotta assume that he’s not recovered, he’s just being Setzer; and from the moment we first met him, he’s never been well. He still isn’t.

I believe he was there because he meant to pay Daryl a visit, but he never gathered the courage to do it (he tells us he couldn’t even stand looking at The Falcon after having it restored); and by the way he’s been going about life in the past year, he doesn’t have any kind of resolve to do anything, let alone face the ghost of his friend.

I do not believe he would want to talk at a grave as if he were talking to his lost friend; and I also don’t believe he had any plans to fly again. My take is that he spent that year courting death, thinking about making his final resting place right next to Daryl. The whole “crawl into a hole and die” thing is not as easy as it sounds: decay will drive you mad before actually killing you, to the point that it’ll make you want to live. Setzer wants out, but couldn't bring himself to actually do it (this takes determination and focus). He keeps on, but he's not at the point where life itself would kick him out of his mental state (this happens when survival is uncertain, at which point depression wouldn't even factor in).

When we find him wallowing in his misery he’s understandably reluctant to join the party, but out of nowhere he is reinvigorated and makes a proposal that involves going to that elusive place where he really wants to be. He has not recovered, he livens up because now he’s got the encouragement he needed to make his way out. His friends will get the wings they need, and he will get his own set of real ones. Everyone wins… But then one thing lead to another: he was talking about things he couldn’t even mention before, and he found himself on the deck of The Falcon showing his friends the way, and then the ship took off and his friends were on a mission feeling hopeful once again... And his ass didn’t stay behind like he had planned 😒 D’oh!

In my mind he simply got carried away by the enthusiasm his friends showed, and wanted to make sure they had what they needed. He’s a bigger mess than he was before, but he’s efficient in sweeping shit under the rug and keep going through the motions. I think his inner conflict remains there when visiting the tomb, but would have to be addressed at some point (offscreen) because he's a time bomb. From a character perspective his quick reaction gave me enough to ramble says something about him: it doubles down on his recklessness and on his ability to pull through for others. His anguish is real but his apathy is fake ❤️

[natashasnoodle]

Natasha's reaction to reader who wants to learn everything about guns as they want to enter shooting competitions or increase their chances of survival?

Fluffy Pyjamas | Natasha Romanoff x Female Reader

Masterlist | N.R Masterlist

Words: 1.4k

Warnings: Firearm mentions

Thank you for the request! I'm so sorry that it took so long, I got so busy with university and other things that I took a brief hiatus from doing my requests and was very limited with writing in general, but I'm now getting back around to getting through my requests so this is the perfect time if anyone wants to send any more in <3

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Natasha’s fingers drummed against the keyboard of her laptop as she typed report after report, stressed from being swarmed with work. It seemed as though recently it was all that she had been doing. From the moment she woke up until the moment she went to sleep she was either training, strategising, or writing reports. It was exhausting.

She was most certainly burnt out, coffees no longer helping to keep her energised. She needed to see you - you were one of the main things on her mind, other than the copious amounts of deadlines. You lived in a small apartment about half an hour from the compound, and she had not been able to visit you for weeks. Her jaw clenched as her typing paused when thinking about you. She was sick of having half an hour of phone calls each night. It wasn’t enough for her.

With her lifestyle, Natasha was always worried about joining the dating scene. Many enemies had accumulated over the years, and she never wanted to put anyone who she would grow to love at risk. But then you popped up.

Literally.

At the time she met you, you worked in a pet store as a cashier and consultant. She was waiting by the counter, cat treats in hand for her cat, Liho. For a moment no one was behind the counter, she assumed that whoever was working it had perhaps gone out back to get some more supplies. Turns out it was you working, and you were crouched behind the counter to try and find something that you needed, and when hearing Nat put the treats on the counter, you stood up swiftly with an enthusiastic “Hi there!”, causing Nat to absolutely crap herself.

Things developed from there, and a year later you were going strong. Natasha absolutely doted on you. You were her person, you were the first person that she had ever gotten to call hers. And so, not being able to see you was killing her. A few times during some sleepy late-night calls you suggested visiting the compound, but she always refused. The compound was a mysterious place to you. Nat had never let you visit, claiming it wasn’t safe for you. With her logic, if you were seen entering the Avengers compound then any enemies that might be monitoring the team would see that you were a trusted person to them—trusted enough to be allowed entry into the compound.

She didn’t want them to use you against her. She wanted to keep you safe.

The idea of you being introduced to her world sent chills up her spine. So the answer always remained - ‘no’ - and she planned to keep it that way. Her fingers continued tapping the keys at a high speed, wanting to be done with the reports in as little time as possible. It was Friday night… so if she finished the reports by at least 8pm, she could go to yours and spend the night she planned in her head, shooting you a quick message to make sure you’d be in tonight before continuing with work.

When you replied stating that you’d be in and that because of her message, you were expecting Nat to come and visit her tonight, she chuckled and tried to work even faster than she had ever done before.

Hours later, she was in the car to your complex and pulling into the guest spot for your apartment. With a pep in her step, she practically sprinted up the stairs and tries to just walk through your front door, twisting the handle and then walking into the door, bouncing back slightly. She winced and nursed her head, before knocking on the door, cursing herself for letting the excitement make her forget the simple fact that your door is always locked.

When she hears shuffling noises through the door she becomes ecstatic. Within moments the door creaks open, thanks to the old building that you live in, and she’s seeing your face in person for the first time in weeks. Without thinking she rushed forward and engulfed you in a hug, pressing her face into the crook of your neck. Her lips twitched upward at hearing your giggles, feeling your arms wrap around her torso.

She was home.

“Come on, come on. It’s fluffy pyjama time”, you grinned, and ushered her in, snorting when she rolled her eyes. Natasha had a “reputation to uphold”, and so pretended not to be interested in soft things like cuddling in fluffy pyjamas. She secretly loved it though, but pretended to just participate for your benefit.

So, with a groan that did not match her internal dialogue, she complied and changed into a pair of fluffy pyjamas you kept for her, and immediately jumped into bed, grabbing you by the hips and pulling your back into her front.

A contented sigh escaped her lips as she was reminded just how well you slotted against her front, and she pressed her forehead against the nape of your neck, pressing a soft kiss there occasionally as the two of you soaked up all of the time together you had missed recently.

A while passed when she just held you and had honestly thought that you’d gone to sleep as you had been so still, so she was ever so slightly startled when you gently spoke her name. “Hmm?”, she pretended that her heart rate wasn’t slightly elevated from the little spook you gave her.

She thought that you were just going to give her some weird late-night thought as you normally did. Natasha loved those late-night thoughts, they always made her chuckle. However, when you turned around to face her in her arms, a small frown was etched onto her forehead, “You okay?”.

“Um… I’ve been thinking and it’s just with your job getting more dangerous recently, I’ve been getting more paranoid about people in public. I might be going crazy but I always feel like there’s someone watching me or something…”.

You didn’t even get to finish your statement before you saw Nat’s jaw clench as she looked at you with indifferent eyes. Before speaking again you gulped, knowing that she wasn’t annoyed at you, but she had always been insecure about how the job affected you. “I don’t think I’m in danger or anything, it’s just that, you know trying to go about as normal is hard when feeling so… exposed, I guess?”.

Her eyes softened slightly. Anyone else wouldn’t have noticed.

“What do you suggest we do?”, she hugged you tighter before and tucked some stray hairs behind your ear.

“I was thinking that maybe you could teach me some self-defence… and perhaps how to use a firearm? I don’t want to be one of those people who carry them around because you know, contributing to societal dangers and shit, but I’d feel a bit better if I just knew how to use one, I don’t know, can’t explain it”.

Natasha’s entire body tensed.

Her eyes closed as she released a breath through her nose and looked at you again, her eyes searching you, absorbing you. This conversation was a harsh reminder that she couldn’t always protect you. That you weren’t 100% safe.

It reminded her that someone loving her came at a price.

“Sure”, she croaked out, failing at acting nonchalant. There was no way she wanted you to be handling firearms even if it was only in a training room. There was also no way that she wanted you to be seen stepping foot into the compound.

But… there was also no way that she wanted you to feel unsafe when leaving your home, and so even with all these doubts, she wholeheartedly agreed to it, wanting you to feel safe.

A grin appeared on your face as you pressed a short yet deep kiss to her lips, pulling away to rest your head against her chest, “Thank you”. Natasha couldn’t help the blush that appeared on her cheeks as she rested her head against yours.

Sleep didn’t come easy that night, she was thinking about the conversation. You were the only thing that didn’t remind her of her upbringing, of her career. You were the breath of fresh air she had always craved, but she knew that this didn’t change anything, not really.

Yes, the little bubble that she thought she had placed you in was broken, but to her surprise, she didn’t want to run away. She didn’t want to self-sabotage the whole thing to “keep you safe”. You had reassured her again and again that you were safest when with her, and for the first time, she allowed herself to believe that.

She wasn’t a burden to love, she could be someone’s safe space.

And with that… she let herself drift off to sleep, a small smile on her face as she realised how comfy she was. All thanks to you… and the fluffy pyjamas. 

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Comment if you want to be added to the taglist <3

Taglist:@fxckmiup @itsdoni @rob1nbuckl3ys

Natasha Romanoff Taglist:@diaryoflife @unlady-like-12-25-36 @doveromanoff

[evasive-anon]

Babs little pep talk to herself. 🥺 Babs tells Bruce off so many times, especially in Cass’ batgirl run, that it’s easy to forget it must be hard for her to go up against him too.

Cass’ suicidal ideation was really tearing Bab’s apart. Bruce’s inaction like worked out in the end but like taking the stance of just let her kill herself was pretty fucking wild on his part.

Separately, can’t believe the audacity of this comic they really used the same art of Babs for 5 panels and just the changed the words. No expressions changes allowed in the Batgirl budget I guess. 😭

[nrdmssgs]

The dropouts (part 1)

Masterlist

you are here I Part 2 I Part 3 I Part 4 I Part 5 I Part 6

Genre: Angst, action, occasional comfort, smut at the very start Pairing: Olga 'Zhar' Samoilova (OC) x Nikto Summary: Nikto is quite calm about the fact, that one day he will die on a battlefield. Until he meets his death.

TWs: This whole series will be revolving around a person living with an acute dissociative disorder. This is a serious condition and people living with it deserve nothing but endless love and any help, they personally would want. That be said, this is a work of fiction, nothing more.

AN: For those of you, who are asking themselves what the hell is going on and how we ended here - this is my take on how would Olgas life look like in a universe, where she doesn't end up with Nikolai. Her series with Nik are not over, don't worry. He's my №1 for my girl! I was planning to a completely other character for her, but my dear @gamergirlbonestaskforce141riot came and said 'hey, NIKTO'. And I thought, why the hell not, since he almost killed her in the original series. So if I am allowed - I would dedicate this series to my friend Chris, who keeps reminding me, that healing is an option. Even when both of them are a mess.

“What's the color of your death's eyes.” Sasha descends on his length, her breath hitches and then her breasts flinch with a sharp inhale.

Her words: half a tease, half a pep talk, doesn't awake any respond. Nikto is too deep in his thoughts to let a single sound slip past his lips. He should consider himself lucky for having someone like Sasha. She's always hungry for him, but not as much as to demand more than these occasional nights. She is a brave little thing - doesn't hold abomination for what is left of his face. So what if their lips never meet - it cuts no ice as long as he can grab her thighs greedily and drive her closer to his calloused torso. 

He doesn't need this uplifting ‘your death is non-existent’ chatter today. Fuck death when he's got this little thing. Or better: fuck her, until she forgets her own eyes color.

The morning after catches Nikto alone - they don't have that much to talk about after the deed is done, so Sasha tend to leave him as soon as possible. The only thing, she leaves him is a weak scent of her perfume on his pillow.

Nikto checks his phone and squints at the bright display. It's five in the morning - too early to start the preparations for their next operation. He is not stupid enough to come to the weaponry before others. König will charge the first soldier he sees there with inventory control for the whole squad. And Nikto would sooner find out the color of his deaths eyes than take a part in that bullshit.

***

All the noises die as soon as familiar footsteps and a ‘good morning, Chimeras’ reach soldiers ears. Commander Zhar usually don't like to repeat twice when it comes to final debriefing.

“Our intel stays confirmed: the East group is preparing five containers of illicit arms and chemicals. The trade is going to take place at the former Vyshera base. Neither of the trading parties awaits major problems, they want things to go smooth and nice. And I want their toys. Not a half of them, like the last time, mind you!” Olga looks her soldiers in the eyes, making sure, they get her message. “Every last one of their containers belongs to Chimera. And we are to deliver these news.”

While others are boarding on a plane, Zhar slows down near Nikolai. One pair of concerned glances shared is louder than any words. 

“If KorTac steps in - extract people and-” She tries to talk fast enough to end the phrase, but Nik still cuts her out.

“I am not letting you fight a bloody army alone, Olga.” 

“And I am giving them neither my people nor my catch. I accepted your job offer on one condition…” the first notes of anger appear in her voice.

“I know, I know. You work for me as long as I don't hold you back.” Nik holds up his hands in a surrounding gesture. “But I don't want you to fight every day as if there was no tomorrow, ok? I want you around in a week and a month after that, and years after.”

Zhar shakes her head and takes a step past Nik, but he catches her shoulder. 

“You didn't survive that hell only to die here, soldier. Not as long as I'm in charge. If things go south - I'm waiting for you to return, or I'm dragging you back with my own hands.”

***

Nikto is waiting patiently until the Colonel recalls his existence, but König keeps assigning other soldiers to comb through different parts of the Vyshera base, ignoring him. Nikto follows them with his gaze and huffs each time, when someone gets an especially ‘hot’ piece of base. He wishes, it was him descending to the pitch black suffocating hell of the cellars, or facing a bloody chopper, these Chimera bastards brought with them. 

He would never admit it, not even before the Firebrand, his best friend. But Nikto is tired. So tired, he wishes, this was his last mission ever. He wouldn't betray his company, he would fight tooth and nail for them until the very end. It is only that now, something deep inside him craves this very end to come sooner.

Still, he gets nothing. Not even a walk around the base. Nikto throws an angry gaze at his boss, but remains silent as yet another soldier leaves their transport. Time flows so slowly, that he barely holds back a big yawn. 

“Nikto? How's your leg?” For the first time König addresses to him.

His leg? Damn, he got shot weeks ago, and Colonel still worries about it? Pathetic. Nikto is a bloody animal - one scratching bullet is not enough to throw him away from the fight. He springs up on his two and takes his gun out.

“Tell me, whose head you want, boss.” 

***

The air around him smells like smoke and blood, a metallic taste tingles on his tongue, as he waits for the right moment to strike. Sounds of a huge fight echo in every corner of an old base. Nikto located a group of mercs, securing the area around the container and set the traps on their possible way out nicely. All that is left is to nudge them, send these idiots running in the right direction. 

His anticipation is overshadowed by a subtle figure circling the perimeter around the container. This one seems like their executive, since the others keep reporting to them. Nikto tried to take a better look at that person, but they evaded any open sight as soon as he took his binoculars.

“Two mafia groups, god knows, how many merc teams fighting for a juicy bone… and then there's you, little shit, hiding from Nikto?” He mumbles to himself, as he's used to. The subtle figure freezes for a moment and looks up, right at the gap between two dilapidated walls, where Nikto is waiting. It's impossible to notice him from that far with all the smoke and dust dancing between them. It should be impossible, isn't it? 

He doesn't see their eyes, but a single feeling of their gaze finding him, taking a hold of his figure, sends shivers down his body. Nikto recoils and presses his back to a far wall, hiding from their sight. He takes a deep breath and lets his nerves settle.

“Just seeing shit. They would see. Wouldn't see it coming.”

Nikto spends not more than a few minutes away from his watching post. But when he returns - an angry hiss leaves his chest.

His enemies were leaving. Not in the direction, he planned for them to leave. And the worst part - that little shit stood alone in the middle of a now empty space, looking in his direction.

“You will regret this, poor bastard.” Niktos voice drops low as he turns back and jumps down the rubble, starting his hunt. “You will die slowly!”

When he first reaches his enemy - Nikto is already determined to not shoot them. Oh no, he wants their agony, their tears. He wants them to see their own guts, before they go. So he opts from a gun to a knife. 

His opponent fires a few rounds in his direction. Not so much to actually harm him - it feels, as if they just try to keep Nikto at a distance. Still, he pursues his target with relentless determination. The smaller figure, agile as a wisp of smoke, darts and weaves through the carnage, evading his every attempt to seize them.

The chase felt good, it felt intoxicating. So much so, that Nikto didn't notice how they ran to the edge of the collapsed floor. 

A burning void of acrid smoke stretches a few meters wide forward, an opposite crumbling edge of the floor is barely visible. A primal fear grips Niktos heart for a fleeting moment, a familiar voice screeching ‘stop right now’. 

Nikto doesn't stop - just slows down for a mere moment. Yet that is enough. Before he could react, his enemy leaps forward, gracefully hurdling through the black smoky veil with an inhuman determination.

For a moment, Nikto stands frozen in disbelief, his gaze locked on the figure who dared to confront the hungry void without flinching. And then, as if sensing his hesitation, the subtle figure turns to face him.

“So eager to die. Oh, we shall deliver then,” Nikto smirks.

Without a second thought, he lunges forward, his movements fueled by a surge of adrenaline. And that's when he sees the eyes of his death. 

She has an intense gaze, a sharp one, like a bird of prey. And her eyes paralyze him. The only thing, that was left is to knock her off her feet. But somehow, and Nikto woulds be ever able to explain this, he ends up under her, his own knife pressed against his carotid.

“She is going to kill us.”

“She is.”

“Kill us all.”

But the woman doesn't press the cold steel of his knife further. Her eyes roam down his uniform, until they freeze. She curses through her teeth and presses her knee against his chest, making it almost impossible for him to breathe. 

Nikto flinches, his gaze unfocuses and his body stops fighting her. He just watches her, while she opens his holster.

“She's going to kill us.”

“Quiet.” Nikto realizes, he said it out loud, when she answered him.

“She's… she's going… we know, we know, we see it in her eyes. She has our death's eyes.”

She ignores his haste whispers and cocks his pistol right next to his jaw. They say, one sees their whole life at such a moment. Every major event of his life should appear before his eyes. But everything Nikto sees is his death's green eyes. And somehow, he is not afraid to die. If this is how he goes - so be it. He is not disappointed, that there was no big fight for life. After all, he lived so many lives simultaneously and each one of them seemed to be too shitty to fight for. 

“Kill us. Kill every single one.”

The sound of a gunshot deafens him. 

***

“It hurts?” Sasha touches his skin, bringing a comforting chill to a darkening stripe on his swollen neck.

Nikto slowly shakes his head, not looking away from the ceiling. He can't bring himself to look at her. His ears are still ringing, his head keeps spinning, as if he hasn't brought a whole day in the medbay at the KorTac base.

What happened there? Why didn't that soldier kill him? He would in her place. Hell, he would do it in his own place… Only he didn't. Nikto failed. 

“Let me help you forget this.” Sasha reaches out to his palm to bring it to her heart as she usually does, but Nikto pulls his hand away.

“Don't.” He should have added ‘please’ to not sound this intimidating, but his breath catches in the throat, when he recalls another touch to his hands. 

It was soft, carrying. He remembers screaming at his enemy when she tried to take off his mask, so she opted to taking off his gloves. He was still shouting when she started massaging his bare hands, repeating ‘shhh, listen to me, big guy, just stay quiet, and I will get you out of here, ok? I'm not going to hurt you.’

This felt so terribly wrong. She wasn't supposed to be a person - just a target, another line in his mission report. But somehow she cooed all the voices in his head to sleep. She silenced all the sounds around him.

“Why?” Sasha sounds confused. Just a few days ago everything was well and there was nothing that could possibly break Nikto. 

He doesn't know, how to respond. He doesn't even notice, how the girl leaves him alone in a room. His many voices slowly come back to life, offering him one answer after another.

“Because her touch simply exists”?

“Because she held my life, when I surrendered it, and chose to give it back just like that”?

“Because I looked my death in her eyes. They are green.”

[dodgeballstuckonthegymceiling]

hear me out:

Millie and/or Moxxie (I can never spell his name right) with a teenage reader who is new to the company and just just generally new to killing?? like how Moxxie was in the first episode. and they like help them get used to it?? (gn pref but any pronouns work ^^)

Confession: I still need to goggle the names of some characters I write for because I forget how to spell.

Millie and Moxxie & new employee Reader

★ Even though some (cough cough Moxie) think you should be focusing on school instead of killing people, you are a good shot. As long as you get all your school work done you are allowed to tag along with them.

★ Moxxie gives you little pep talks before you go on a assignment while millie gives you pointers and constructive criticism. Both of them are really good at training you for everyone possible outcome.

★ Millie pulled you aside at some point to tell you the story of how Moxxie got them cought by cabalistic satanist. Don't tell Moxxie.

★ If you screw something up, don't worry about it too much. This job has a learning curve and being a skilled killer doesn't come naturally to (most) people. You just gotta be patient!

[katsona-the-katsequel]

Hey, I saw your persona map and found it very intriguing <3 I get the gist of it, but can you elaborate on it please 👀

Sure! I'm going to repost the map again as a reference:

The first level, the PHYSICAL WORLD, is the most basic of all. It's where all the normal, human stuff happens. Fun fact, SEES (except Minato/Minako) never ventured beyond this point until The Answer. It all took place in man-made Tartatus. Supernatural beings are blocked from ever reaching this level unless they find a door. The Dark Hour made the walls between the levels thinner, temporarily allowing shadows to cross, but being sucked back once it was over. Slurp.

Next, we have the VELVET ROOM. I should have made it overlap a bit with the Expanse, but what's done is done. Any sleeping person can gain glimpses of this place, but only those who have been invited can interact with it. Furthermore, it seems only guests can fully remember what happens there. Otherwise, you forget as soon as you leave it, just like a dream. Permanent residents of this level include Igor, Nameless, Belladonna, Theodore, Margaret, and Lavenza. Come-and-go residents include the Demon Painter, Elizabeth, and Marie. Casual visitors include Eriko Kirishima, the Velvet Room's guests, and the Velvet Room's creator: Philemon.

The real second level is the EXPANSE. This is where all the shadows, demons, gods, and supernatural beings reside. Anything that happens here has some degree of impact on the physical world, as long as the event was strong enough. It might not seem like it, but the Expanse is not entirely ruled by anarchy. Well, it is a little. But if one knows where to look, they will find that it is divided in five worlds (though the better word would be "regions"), each one dedicated to a Deadly Sin: Pride, Gluttony, Sloth, Greed, and Envy/Wrath. These worlds cover all the levels in the Expanse. Maybe Trish is in the world of Greed? As its name implies, the Expanse is huge, so we need to break it down into sub-levels.

In the Sub-Level One, we have UPPER MEMENTOS. Common shadows are found here. You know, your average joe. Not only are shadows found here, but also most Shadows. Notice the difference? The shadows with the lowercase "s" are the ones like Jack Frosts and Pixies. The ones with the capital "S" are the other selves of the sentient beings on Earth. The golden-eyed ones. The Shadows here mostly wander around, with no armies and posing little risk. They were created by small problems that could unmake and make them again in the blink of an eye. Even if you have a Shadow in this level, it is still possible for you to gain a Persona. You're just human. A little scuffle with Persona Users will temporarily dissolve all the negative feelings attached to your Shadow, giving you time to sort your issues. As for the other shadows, well, these will be found in every sub-level. The only known permanent resident is Jose. The Reaper can be found all over the Expanse, created after P2 (in my headcanon for Tatsuya-related reasons).

The next Sub-Level doesn't have a formal name, but the Investigation Team was kind enough to name it the TV WORLD. Shadows here have one main problem that has begun to define their human counterparts. Not everything can be solved with a quick fight and a pep-talk. No, the darker aspects of these Shadows attracted smaller shadows to them to help them create their Dungeons. These Shadows are going for the kill, but unlike the ones in the lower sub-level, their only real target is their other self. Anyone else is collateral damage. But even so, their end-goal isn't even to kill, but to be accepted. Since this isn't as deep as other parts of the Expanse, a little more action needs to be taken to properly eliminate a Shadow, having to drag down their human self down to accept it... or wait for them to solve everything on their own. There's still time. The only being to be known to have resided here is Teddie (whom I believe to have actually been part of another Shadow's Dungeon as a minor shadow before wandering off, thus explaining the thematic appearance).

A little bit deeper in the TV World you will find the Palaces. This is what happens when you let a specific Sin rule your way of life. The "Rulers" are Shadows with a bit more personal conscience and way more power than the ones living in Dungeons. No longer acting on primitive instincts, these Shadows want to live, and will eliminate anyone who gets in their way (possibly skipping over their human self, since this would spell their destruction). Rulers can even create cognitive versions of real people. Their twisted desire powers them. This deep in the Expanse is enough for smaller things to influence events in the physical level, so a chat post-battle with a Shadow can rework entire personalities.

Sub-Level Three has the DEPHTS OF MEMENTOS. Most of the World of Sloth is located here. This is also where the general Palace for all of humanity can be found. Anything done here has an effect on the entire population of Earth with varying degrees. Those with a Persona or with a bond to a Persona User are less susceptible to the machinations that take place in this sub-level. Since a Persona means you have a tight grip on your sense of self and aren't just following the crowd, I guess it makes sense. However if you're a being with enough power influencing this sub-level, even you can overpower the willpower of Persona Users. Power. Looking at you, Azathoth. Yaldy wishes he was you. Hey, at least Yaldy managed to chain the Velvet Room to this sub-level during his takeover.

The final Sub-Level, and the most dangerous one for the average human, is the one where XIBALBA / THE AMENO TORIFUNE ship is located. Like the TV World, it also doesn't have a proper name. Why is it dangerous? This sub-level is so close to the Sea of Souls, that just thinking about something makes it real in the moment it takes you to blink. Nyarly thinned the walls between this sub-level and Sumaru City to create the rumor system/curse. Xibalba is a nightmare for anyone with ADHD.

Overlaping with Xibalba and the Sea, is the KADATH MANDALA. In older times, it used to be referred to as the Dreamlands by Persona Users. Why? This is where sleeping would-be Wildcards meet Philemon! You could say this is his personal meeting room, except worse because everyone has to stand up. Only those with the potential for a Persona can recall their name in the Kadath Mandala. An easier way to reach it is by playing the Persona Game and getting knocked out by supernatural forces. Then its up to you to prove yourself to Philemon by recalling who you are this deep in the Expanse. If you can, then boom! You get a Persona for life with Wildcard abilities no contract required. Congrats. It's implied all Wildcards (yeah, even those post-P2) have visited Kadath Mandala in their dreams once before, since they still need to get the whole "remember my name" thing right to be offered a contract. However, even for the Wildcards in the old games its impossible to remember what happened in your dream unless Philemon specifically wants you to for reasons. Aside from Phil, only Igor and Nyarly have been known to be able to enter this place umprompted and summon humans there. Each star-point of Kadath Mandala points to a distant tower.

And so, we can finally advance to a deeper level: the SEA OF SOULS, babeyy. Every single living being (human, animal, plant, demon, god, etc) came from the Sea, and to the Sea they will one day return. Mix and match and a new soul is created to form new life. Chronos, one of the oldest beings in the Persona Universe, is in charge of overseeing that everything is running as it should in the Sea. He accompanies souls back and forth (and according to me, created the Reaper). Philemon and Nyarlathotep live here... somewhere. The only known entrances in the Physical World to the Sea is through an Alaya Shrine, which will lead to the metaphysical Alaya Cavern (possibly in the Expanse), and directly to the Sea. There might or not be a whale which might or not have white feathers, and you might or not be able to fuse with it, which might or not be a bad thing.

In the deepest part of the Sea one can find the GREAT SEAL, created from Minato/Minako to prevent Erebus from ever reaching Nyx' psyche / Nyx Avatar, like an eternal guardian of sorts. This is the deepest level a Velvet Room attendant can reach on their own. Nyx' psyche is still able to influence up to the physical world with "You crave death" vibes, but as long as you don't actually crave death, the Great Seal will remain strong.

That's all we know for now. Thanks for the ask!