#So even if they're given the same amount of time (Which they likely will since Frontiers has showed them that taking time is worth it)

[qoldenskies]

That preview for wwww has got me so excited aaaaaaaaa i want to know more i cant wait- is there anything you could talk about with Leo and Donnie that isn't spoilers??

oh yeah! here are some backstory details about them that are mostly silly, just for the fun of it

im personally just going with the idea that splinter named them early for simplicity's sake, the names are the same as canon.

draxum took a little too long to see them as children instead of weapons, which is an influence on their behavior. he's always treated them with this adult-like seriousness that was questionable when they're younger, but it makes them INFURIATED when people talk down to them or treat them like children as teenagers.

this will influence their dynamics with raph greatly.

donnie was the stickler/tattletale between the two, but to call leo the troublemaker would be an UNDERSTATEMENT. huginn and muninn literally could not take care of him in draxum's absence because he would go full fucking home alone on them. with donnie at his side they would make Death Traps

this is actually how they ended up meeting big mama. draxum went to a meeting with her and had to bring leo along because he wouldn't behave, and donnie tagged along because leo threw a screeching fit when draxum said they were going to leave him behind and would not stop until he gave in, they were like 6. big mama adopted them immediately.

leo calls her auntie by her request and learned a lot of his tactics from her. i am under the opinion that she would be a HORRIBLE mother but she's a wonderful aunt you only see occasionally. she spoils them rotten and likes them way more than draxum, that bad bad man. they're too good for him! (THEY ARE MENACES)

if they learned about what she did to splinter they wouldn't even be surprised. leo would be impressed, really

they were pretty well-trained in combat from an early age, although they slipped up a lot. leo has stabbed donnie several times, mostly on accident but probably on purpose at least once. they are extremely casual about this and treat it like a funny joke to the horror of their family

they are also utterly inseparable. they dont keep anything from each other ever and have an insane amount of separation anxiety and codependence going on. they also try to kill each other on a regular basis /hj

since draxum is head of security in the hidden city, they've done some odd jobs before as training and know their way around it like little nepo babies!!!!

speaking of, the fact that theyre technically rich means i can make both of them fashionistas and annoying as fuck about it. theyre so intense about the outfits.

S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N already exists in a way that went down very similar to smart lair lmao. leo reprogrammed him because he was being annoying, and then broke him when he was being annoying again despite the fact that it's literally his fault. S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N continues to get broken a lot and donnie just rebuilds him.

he thinks its mildly annoying how much leo dislikes him, because he's "closer to S.H.E.L.L.D.O.N's father than [he is]." like man the fuck up and pay child support you baby.

draxum is very indulgent in donnie's hobbies and investment in building despite his limited knowledge of human technology, honestly more than splinter is in canon. although he is secretly a little scared of him and what he's capable of.

donnie was given a bo staff because it was the most non-lethal option draxum could think of

draxum regrets giving leo a sword a lot

[krafterwrites-alt]

Sonic Frontiers is already such an amazing game, but looking at cut content from the art book and also just seeing that there are some signs of crunch in places makes me think that if it had even more time, it would've been the best Sonic game by a lot

[aashi-heartfilia]

What MaoMao feels for Jinshi...

(Vol 5 epilogue discussion)

Love, duh. She wouldn't let just anyone choke her to death. Isn't it obvious? She just doesn't realise it yet because of her repressed emotions. I've seen a lot of bad takes and people hating on the Vol 5 epilogue, saying it's one heck of a disaster but honestly, it's not. Here's why:

I think it does a very good job of humanizing Jinshi, the imperial brother. Before this point, we were always given a picture perfect image of Jinshi, in his most angelic form...but after seeing this, it looks like he's very much capable of murder, lol. No seriously!

Previously, Jinshi was always all sunshine and roses and this is the first time we see a pinnacle of his anger and frustration taking a form.

Honestly, anyone would be angry. Jinshi has done so much for MaoMao and almost everyone close to him knows that he has eyes on her and only her from pretty early on in the series and only MaoMao is the one person who seems to be in the dark. Or more precisely pretending to be in the dark.

She is literally running away from her own feelings and that's what made Jinshi so frustrated.

It was the same thing in the 'Frogging chapter' (yeah, that's what we're calling it). She was "playing the role of an ignorant maid who's in the dark as to what her supiriors are upto". Jinshi was trying to tell MaoMao that he is the imperial brother and he does in fact like her but that never happened because MaoMao kept pretending that it was a frog.

Same here, even if he didn't say it outright, he was dropping so many hints! Who else could have gifted MaoMao a Moon hairpin? Who would have given her beautiful dresses to wear in the banquet?

Jinshi is called the Moon Prince for a reason and that hairpin had a moon and opium poppy. even other people recognised that it was given by him to MaoMao like Rishu's half sister, so a smartass person like Mao should be able to guess that this was all from Jinshi.

The same person who's busy day and night made preparations for her, only to see some unknown random person dancing with her and kissing her hand.

He was jealous and it's only human.

In fact, I'm glad that he's not a complete saint.

He was mad at MaoMao for pretending to be in the dark when he has gone to great lengths to take care of her, and he was hurt that the same person would even suggest him to marry someone else, i.e. consort Rishu.

He was trying to tell her how he feels, and she wasn't even willing to acknowledge anything that is between them.

Adding to the fact, she knew the thing between Basen and Rishu and yet she chose to turn a blind eye, to the love that could blossom between them and suggested her name to Jinshi. It was wrong on so many levels because MaoMao knew everything and yet chose to give the most political suggestion she could think of.

Maybe because of her repressed emotions, she herself has become heartless while making decisions but just like a double edged sword, it has consequences.

So it was a mixture of anger, hurt and jealousy for Jinshi.

And he wanted MaoMao to feel the same.

The same amount of frustration he has felt as MaoMao keeps running away, just because it would be a little troublesome.

Yeah, he's shitty just like that, and so is she.

(and we love them for it ❤️)

Does it justify what he did? No. But it seems like MaoMao herself doesn't even mind it that much. She looked like well within her comfort zone. Otherwise, we know how capable she is of defending herself. But she was there, pretty much sitting with Jinshi until she dominated him completely and made her escape.

Guess they're both far from the vanilla couple that are usually expected in these kinds of series and I absolutely love it.

She was just mad he didn't poison her instead, like he promised her, to which he replied he would NEVER let her poison herself (because he also loves her a lot too, duh)

This entire scene looks more like a battle for sexual dominance, which MaoMao won.

She always has, since the very first day he saw the real her ❤️

[you-call-it-a-dude]

Call It What You Want

Pt.2 Pt.3 Pt.4 Pt.5

Summary: You went to high school with Regina George and she is now your neighbor in your college dorm. She, of course, pretended like she didn't know you at first. Until she got some alcohol in her system.

Pairings: Regina George x gender neutral/fem reader

Warnings: internalized homophobia, feelings, school lol, swearing

Notes: Hi, yes. So this is my first time writing for not only Regina George but also for like reader POV. If it's any good and something people enjoy, I will do more of it. Hopefully you like it, but if you don't that's totally cool too. Thanks for reading either way.

------

You had managed to, for the most part, avoid Regina George your three years at North Shore High School. You transferred there your sophomore year, your mom taking full advantage of your dad's Evanston address when you got in trouble once at your public high school in the city. You didn't even actually do anything, but both your parents prioritized your future college education too much to let even a thought of bad behavior ruin it.

You made it through high school pretty unscathed. You laid low, had your small group of friends and kept to yourself.

You witnessed the rise and fall of Regina George in real time. You felt bad for her almost. Yes, she was a major bully, but the one time you overheard her dad yelling at her at a parent teacher conference kinda made some things make sense. She also didn't really target you with her bullshit.

Well, okay, someone wrote in the burn book that you were a carpet muncher and would call you a gay slur here and there, but you've been called worse things. People in that book were certainly called worse things.

Senior year was relatively quiet after Cady dismantled The Plastics.

Regina had taken up soccer, which was actually a really terrifying thought given the neck injury she sustained. She was good though. Good enough to get into University of Illinois, Chicago with a partial soccer scholarship.

But of course, her parents writing a big fat check may help with that.

She didn't even need the scholarship. You don't even know how she got away with getting it.

You also were accepted to UIC. You worked harder than Regina did academically, had some of the best grades in your class, did all the volunteering and extracurriculars, and you still didn't get close to the same amount of money offered in scholarships that Regina got (and didn't need).

You were angry when you found out about her almost full ride, but it was a big school and you were almost certain once you were graduated you wouldn't even be giving Regina George ,or anyone from that high school aside from your best friend, a second thought.

Seeing her at orientation seemed like just a coincidence. Watching her get her keys to the same dorm you were staying in had to be a fluke. Passing by her room, the room that happened to be next to yours, just seemed like you were being punked.

You got yourself settled while waiting on your roommate. You had been speaking with them throughout the summer and know they're coming from Colorado and also know they wouldn't be coming until tomorrow because they texted you. So you were taking advantage of this time to get yourself sorted without having to rush or anything.

You left your door open while you got yourself unpacked, a bunch of people coming by to introduce themselves to you or stop in and talk.

There was a soft knock and you turned your head, expecting to greet another person. Instead stood Regina, leaning against your wall with her arms crossed.

"Hello." You greeted, sounded a little surprised.

"Hi, I just thought since we were going to be neighbors I would introduce myself."

She almost sounded nice? Pleasant?

She also clearly did not recognize you. Yeah you trimmed your hair a bit and dyed it slightly darker, but nothing extremely different.

But this also really helps solidify just how invisible you were to her in high school.

You had two routes. You could bring up the fact that you actually know each other and make it weird, or just introduce yourself.

"Yeah, that makes sense. I'm Y/N."

"Regina. No roommate?" She pointed to the empty side of your room with her head.

"Coming from Colorado. So long drive." You scrunched up your nose at the thought of how long that drive was and she hummed in acknowledgment.

"Are you from around here?"

"Uh, yeah. The city, northside. You?"

"Evanston, so basically from the city."

"Ahh, you're one of those people." You chuckled.

"What is that supposed to mean?" She scrunched her eyebrows up, clearly getting defensive.

"You say you're from the city but you're from the suburbs. That's all I meant." You said softly, watching her face soften when she realized you weren't actually insulting her.

"Most people don't know where Evanston is, so." She defended with a small smile.

"Unfortunately for you, I do." You smiled back at her.

"Are you going to the freshman mixer tonight?"

"I didn't even know there was one." You answered truthfully.

"Mkay, you're gonna come with me then. I'll be back at like nine?"

You pulled your phone out of your pocket and saw it was only like 11am and you quickly realized the long night you've gotten yourself into.

Or that Regina had gotten you into.

"Yeah, that sounds cool."

"Awes. See you later then." She slapped your doorframe once before leaving.

But you didn't miss the way she turned and let her eyes linger on you for just a few seconds longer than what's considered socially acceptable.

---

You spent the rest of the day unpacking and getting settled. You went off campus for lunch then took a walk to get some refreshing frozen lemonade from a popular place near by and drank it while you made your way back to your room.

Regina was still setting her dorm up to her standards. Her door was open and when you peaked in, she was standing on a wobbly chair trying to tape posters to her wall.

Of course she got a single room.

"Need help?" You took a sip of your partially melted peach lemonade and knocked on her doorframe to get her attention.

"Yes, please. That would be great." She said, sound exasperated.

You held out a hand to help her off the chair, but she ignored it. Opting to just brace herself on your shoulder instead. You scratched your head and assessed the situation. You weren't really much taller than her, but your arms were longer so that could work in your favor.

You looked around for somewhere to set your drink before she took it from you to hold. You stepped on to the death trap of a chair and did your best to hang the poster. It was of an artist you had never heard of, but you wouldn't be opposed to new music if she was any good.

You pressed the corners of the poster against the wall and moved out the way. Regina thought for a few seconds before asking you if it was possible to 'pretty please' move the right side up like a quarter of an inch.

You did your best to gauge a quarter of an inch, and your best was thankfully good enough because Regina was satisfied with your efforts pretty fast.

She reached her empty hand up to help you off the chair and you hesitated at first, but took it. She stiffened her arm and gave you a firm platform to put your weight so you had support when hopping down.

Did part of you kind of expect her to let you fall? A little yeah.

"So, what are my chances of getting you to build something for me, too?" She asked sweetly while she handed you back your drink and you took a sip, your dry throat feeling relieved already.

"It depends what it is."

"It's a stupid metal shelf thing." She stepped aside and over the metal parts scattered across her floor.

There was an attempt made, so you at least know she tried before asking.

"Yeah, that looks easy to me. Do you have the instructions?" You handed your drink back to her and kneeled on the floor, rifling through all the pieces.

She set your drink down on the desk and handed you the instructions, sitting down on the floor next to you with her legs crossed.

This shelf wasn't too difficult to build, but it was definitely frustrating. The pieces were in the right spot but they just weren't fitting. Regina complained about how her parents bought her such cheap stuff and didn't even stick around to help her build it. It wasn't like they had a long drive home ahead of them.

She kept apologizing for asking you to help her with stuff or for the shelf being too difficult. She said many times that if you couldn't get it she would just throw the shelf away and not to worry about it if it didn't work out.

You reassured her that it was really okay and you were happy to help. That there was no need to throw out a perfectly good shelf. After a few pinches to your skin, a few scrapes from jagged edges, and a lot of swearing later, you managed to get it built for her.

You didn't expect her to be as involved as she was. She was handing you pieces, going over the directions with you.

You stood up and picked up the shelf, turning it up right so it was standing correctly. She stood up after you, eyeing the shelf with her hands on her hips and nodding.

"That looks perfect. Thank you so much, really."

"You're so good, happy I can help." You picked up your now melted lemonade and took a sip, trying not to be visibly upset over the fact it was no longer frozen.

"Did you get that on campus?"

"No, it's a few minutes away. Really close by. You didn't know that, city girl?" You teased and bit back a smile when you noticed the small blush to her cheeks.

"I was going to offer to buy you a new one, but since you want to be mean I'm taking that offer of the table." She crossed her arms with a small pout and the overwhelming urge to kiss it away scared you.

"No, no. I wouldn't accept anyway. It was like halfway gone. No biggie, honestly." There was an awkward pause between the two of you. "Um, was there anything else you needed help with? Or should I go?"

"You can go now." She said in a tone that felt like a war flashback or something. "I'll swing by your room to pick you up at like 8:45."

"Do you still want me to go?" You asked, because honestly her tone was suggesting otherwise.

"I wouldn't have asked you if I didn't." She defended, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Okay. I'll see you later then."

---

9:15pm and you were sitting at your desk dressed and feeling stupid. Because of course Regina was still going to very much so still be Regina.

There was a knock at your door and you waited a second before answering it.

When you opened the door, you keep your face neutral and unimpressed. Which was actually extremely difficult to do because Regina looked breathtaking.

"Yeah, I know. I'm late. Also, you look hot." She commented and it immediately made you feel self conscious because you couldn't gauge if it was genuine or not.

You thought you looked good, but Regina had been notorious for giving out fake compliments.

"Thanks."

"So you agree? You think you're hot?"

Jeez, talk about a war flashback.

"I do." You answered without missing a beat, but your insecurities were threatening to crawl their way out of your mouth at any second.

Regina pursed her lips and nodded in approval at your response and you slowly let out the breath you had been holding.

"Let's go then."

---

Regina abandoned you the second you guys got to the mixer. Which you half expected. You quickly realized that this was not an official university organized event, though the 9pm start time should've made that clear ages ago.

Another indicator being that they were at a frat house.

Alcohol was flowing, students from all different grade levels were mingling.

You grabbed a cup of whatever alcoholic beverage was concocted and got to mingling.

You talked with a few people that you found out you would be sharing classes with, which was cool.

After about an hour of mingling and drinking, you found your way to the front porch and parked yourself on their porch swing and just did a bunch of people watching.

A cat with a collar came and sat next to you, purring and nuzzling against you. You had no idea if it belonged to the frat house or if it was a stray that just frequented the area. The collar said her name was Roach which really made you thing she belonged to the frat boys, but an off campus address on the back put those fears to rest.

"You found a cat!" Regina slurred, stepping out of the house loudly. Her heeled boots clicked against the floor of the porch and she slammed the door behind her, completely shutting out the thumping noise of the party.

"Yeah! Well, more so she found me. Her name is Roach."

"Ew." She hiccuped and made her way over to you, sitting next to Roach. She angled her body and rested her head on your shoulder. "I have to tell you something." She slurred again, reaching down to let the cat sniff her hand before petting her between the ears.

"Sure, what's up?"

"I remembered you and I pretended like I didn't." She lifted her head up to look at you. "But you're a sneaky bitch too because you did the same thing." She poked your cheek with her index finger until you turned your head away from it.

"You talked to me first. I wasn't going to bother you." You admitted, getting a little frustrated.

"Why? You didn't want to talk to me?" She asked, sounding almost disappointed?

"I didn't think you'd want me to. Then I thought it would be really embarrassing if I said I remembered you and you introduced yourself to me. So I just didn't say anything."

"I didn't want you to tell anyone about who I was in high school." She rested her head against your shoulder again. "I just wanted to start over."

"I'm not going to say anything." You said quietly, a little disappointed that the only reason she tried befriending you was to do damage control.

"I feel bad about it."

"About what?"

"How I treated people." She sniffled, clearing her nose. "I'm sorry about what I wrote about you."

"It is what it is." You shrugged. "It's not like I hid my sexuality or anything."

"You didn't. It made me jealous."

Your ears perked up at this admission. You didn't know whether or not to press on or drop the subject. Whatever amount of alcohol she drank was giving her loose lips and you aren't actually sure how much of this information she actually wants anyone to know.

"You don't want to talk about this sober?" She shook her head against your shoulder.

"Talking about it sober is hard."

"Your parents not accepting or...?"

"My mom? Maybe. Probably. My dad? Absolutely fucking not." She took your drink from your hand and downed the rest of it.

"We don't have to talk about this anymore." You offered while she was downing your drink.

"I'm gonna get another drink." She began to get up, but you pulled her back down"

"Hey, no. Come on. Just stay here with me and Roach." You motioned to the purring cat between you both. "I don't want to lose track of you or the cat. So just stay."

Regina sighed and leaned back against the back of the porch swing. She bit her bottom lip and looked up at you.

"What if we brought the cat inside with us while I got a drink." She offered, giving you a silly little smirk that made your heart somersault.

"I think it's too loud for her in there." Roach let out small meow. "See, she agrees." You scratched under her chin, trying to ignore the way Regina was staring at you right now.

"You were always so nice to us."

"What are you talking about?"

"When I let Gretchen drive my car one time to get us lunch and she got a flat tire in the school lot and you helped her change it so I wouldn't get mad at her. You talked her out of a panic attack because she was so afraid of me."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that." You lied.

"Or when Karen was upset after the Christmas show junior year because I was just so cruel to her about her body count. Which wasn't even high. I saw you bringing her that stupid red and green caramel popcorn that the cafeteria was selling for the show."

"I saw her crying, I thought it would cheer her up."

"You also gave me ice when they dropped me on my face and you tried taking care of me."

"I was working backstage and nobody else wanted to help you. Though, I do recall being called a shitty name or two when I did that." You teased.

"I know. I'm sorry. Like really fucking sorry. I was just...projecting."

"I know." You reassured.

You sat in silence for a few minutes, watching people come in and out of the house. Regina adjusted next to you and you put a protective had on Roach and scooted her closer so Regina had more space to move.

You could feel her staring at you. It made you anxious because who knows what she was thinking about.

Regina shifted again and before you can even register her movements, her lips were pressed softly against the sensitive skin of your neck.

"I always thought you were so hot." She mumbled against your skin, her tongue poking out slightly to taste you and her right hand coming up to cup your neck.

You froze for a few seconds, getting lost in the sensation of her lips on your skin, before your rational thoughts kicked in.

"Regina." You said calmly, pulling her hand on your neck. "You're drunk." You laced your fingers with hers and rested your joined hands on your lap.

You watched her stare at your hands, fully expecting her to go off on you or to say something cruel in her drunken state.

Instead, she swiped her thumb over your knuckles and hummed a small approval to herself.

Then a cluster of rowdy frat boys came fumbling out of the house and she let go of your hand faster than anything you had ever witnessed before.

She wiped her hands on her pants and stood up with such ease that it made you question if she was ever even that drunk to begin with.

"I'm gonna get another drink. I'll find you when I'm ready to go."

[mithosis]

Haven't posted in a good while, but seeing other folks enjoy talking and making content about their little blorbos inspired me to draw something i wanted to for a long time as well!

I've had this old man for almost a year, but i've never got to draw his true form as a mordrem aside from vague sketches, so he got kreature-fied. Blasts him with my kreature beam

Glow animation, some silly sketches and lore (warning: there is a lot, like seriously, even in vague terms, i probably should've made a separate post, but fuck it we ball) under the cut!

Tumblr scrunched it up, as always, but the gif was worse...

Even old men need to be silly sometimes. Also reworked his smaller "sylvari" form design a little to match the kreature one better

Onto the lore (which i reworked a little as well since his creation)

I am a sucker for characters that perceive themselves as monsters and learn to love themselves again, whether or not they're are actually a monster/cursed/etc (it does add points for sure), and i wanted a character like that, so this old man came along

As of now, Eamhrys is a mordrem minion, champion from the last Dragonrise 10 thousand years ago, though he remembers almost nothing about it now. He was intended as a specialized unit for highly efficient magic consumption both from the environment, magical items and living beings that it then returned to the Elder Dragon himself, much like Mouths of Zhaitan worked in that regard.

This resulted in a vampire-like physicality and abilities, including a nigh-immortality with extremely fast regeneration as long as the minion had enough magical essence. Shapeshifting into a smaller size to fit through vines and branches and plant manipulation was useful in traversing the jungle fast, so he was imbued with that as well. There probably were less successful versions of the same minion, but this one, charged with a huge amount of Mordremoth's magic, stuck around. Energy around the "tendrils" on his form is, in fact, magic — the swirls dull and disappear with its depletion.

As the dragons consumed all the excess magical energy of the world and returned to slumber, so did the minion, for there was no need for it anymore in the state the world was in, the other races safely concealed by Glint.

It rested for a long time, its memories eroding, until the tail end of the druids' residence in Maguuma as humans, some time before their approximate "disappearance" period of 970-1070 AE. Upon waking up because of the disturbances in the jungle, the minion resumed the task it was given, though the will and voice of the sleeping dragon was significantly more subdued this time.

The minion roamed around and consumed as much energy as it could for a number of years, meeting and snacking on different creatures until a fateful encounter with druids, their human forms now shredded to be one with nature. The champion was both curious and drawn in by the magical essence they exuded, and tried to absorb it, but ended up fighting the spirits — it quickly escalated into numerous hostile encounters with them, their primal essence slowly changing something in the minion over time. To this day Eamhrys doesn't know what happened exactly, as most of his memories that far back were mysteriously wiped out, but from that point onward he slowly started to become more self-aware, able to question and doubt the will of his master.

The minion's first venture out of the jungle didn't happen for at least another 10 years, but during that time it's curiosity with other races started to pique as it encountered centaurs, hylek and even some errant human adventurers who ventured too deep into the forest. Although their fate remained the same as other sources of magic, their presence spurred the champion to explore further — and one day it morphed itself into a smaller form of a centaur scout, whose patrol it recently wiped out in the Silverwoods (currently Silverwastes), though still plant-like. It took a couple unsuccessful tries before the disguise was enhanced first by an extremely uncanny, then — a believable illusion, the rudimentary ability to camouflage the minion possessed. Thankfully, the dragon's will waned the further it got from the jungle.

Thus began centuries of wandering Tyria, changing forms between races and creatures, curious to learn, to see, and starting to slowly recognize the role their existence played in the world. They witnessed many devastating and world-altering events along the way, the Sinking of Orr being one of the first — and it kickstarted the mordrem's understanding of the sheer devastation the dragons' presence brought, including their own. However, they were not very sympathetic at the time.

It was only through the very people they hid among, learned from, that their lack of morality began to develop into their calm, compassionate and kind attitude of today, having witnessed other creature's highs and lows, and horrors of losing someone dear.

Eamhrys lived among humans for the longest time among all other races, both from Central Tyria and as far as Elona, always in a disguise — he learned the craft and knowledge preservation from firebrands of old, but only incorporated their fighting style into his arsenal years later, after Mordremoth's inevitable defeat.

He joined the Durmand Priory a couple decades after it was established, driven by the allure of knowledge and longing for connection. He helped rebuild Lion's Arch, the first major city he visited long before, after it flooded as Orr rose again and Zhaitan awoke. He was first in line to visit the Grove once he heard of a mysterious new race of plant people — though he kept a substantial distance for the few weeks he spent observing the newcomers. He was afraid they were like him at the start of his journey, but was pleasantly surprised once he was proven wrong. Inexplicably different to them, mourning the life he might've had if the circumstances were different, he still abandoned his human visage for his "sylvari" one, and adopted his current name for good.

As a member of the Durmand Priory, though having repeated his enrollment a few times, Eamhrys participated in the Pact efforts to kill the Elder Dragon Zhaitan, both conflicted about and understanding of it — his own nature and eventual fate concerned him a little as well.

When the Call of Mordremoth first resounded across the world, all that effort to belong and understand crumbled as the will of the dragon overrode any miniscule resistance he had. He returned to the jungle as a servant, an enemy of the world again, devastating the populace there and, later, the Pact's forces. He was, indeed, not slain in the assault, and as soon as Mordremoth perished, he was free again, though part of the magical surge after the dragon's death was absorbed by him involuntarily.

Eamhrys remembered everything he did, and was mortified. He tried so hard to understand, to belong in such a fascinating world, and in the end his greatest fear was confirmed — he remained the same monster he always was. At least in his opinion.

He never really forgave himself, for he was not the one to do so, but, maybe compulsory or as a habit, he retreated back to his peaceful and compassionate self, now with an air of quiet grief around him, throwing himself at people that needed any help.

Though it didn't change the fact that he ran as far from the Heart of Maguuma as he could, winding back in Elona and finally remembering the ways of firebrands, lore keepers a tyrant tried to erase. He adapted it to fit his own style, fused his plant magic with righteous flames that purged any, who dared threaten the people of this world, and healed allies with a memory of those who fought for it.

He never came back to Durmand Priory, but eventually he met a team of people in the desert after Kralkatorrik's assault that were members of the Order of Whispers. They were professional and inspiring and in need of help, so he tagged along on their mission, familiar with the area. Perhaps they valued his insight or his help enough, but Eamhrys ended up joining their team and their Order, and carried out tasks with them for the foreseeable future, slowly becoming a part of something again.

Thankfully, after the Cycle ended, he had a good vacation.

Aaaand that's it, woah, this was a lot, sorry, and thank you anyone who read this far haha, i love you

[marzipanandminutiae]

Do you know much about historical cuisine? Saw yet another anime with friends and they went the whole 'modern food always tastes better' bit. I feel tired of the trope and am wondering how different historical cuisine would taste compared to modern times. So anything you happen to know as a historian would be cool to know!

That varies MASSIVELY based on time and location. Like. Much more than fashion does, even, I'd imagine (in a given sub-region- I can talk about Mainstream European and Euro-American Fashion of the 19th CenturyTM but the food was so different in different countries that were dressing the same, if that makes sense? just as an example).

Food is often more globalized in a lot of places nowadays, so the characters might have more diversity of flavors from the regional norm than they're used to. But this could be a good or a bad thing- a woman from 17th-century Japan might love pizza and much sweeter Western pastries, or she might absolutely hate them. Which is not to say regional cuisines haven't evolved, too- a museum here in Boston used to have tastings of 18th-century-style hot chocolate, and it was very different from the modern sort. But that's the largest blanket difference across the globe that I can think of, food-wise.

Not sure what anime this was, so it could have been Japan-specific, but I feel like this gets applied the most to the 19th-mid 20th century UK and United States. The whole Captain America line about "food's better; we used to boil everything," for example, and the general belief that everything was bland mush in those areas until the 1950s and then it was incomprehensible Jell-O mold horrors until approximately the 1980s. And of course, none of that's true- there were plenty of dishes that used spices and different cooking methods, many of which are still popular today. See also: Jonathan Harker, a Normal 1890s Englishman, getting so rhapsodical about paprikahendl that he simply must have the recipe for his fiancee to make. There also WERE bland mushes and fluorescent nightmares, but there's less than ideal food today, as well.

(Note that I'm much less confident talking about the whole English StodgeTM thing as we get into the 20th century. That is outside my history wheelhouse and there's a lot of different stuff embroiled in it relating to class and such that I don't want to talk out my ass about. All I know is that I've seen plenty of recipes from as late as the end of the 19th century, from England and some from urban Scotland if I recall correctly, that made ample use of spices. Nutmeg, mustard, black pepper, rosemary, caraway, and cayenne pepper were especially popular (not all together obviously). There was a belief among the middle and upper classes that strong flavors of garlic and onion were distasteful to ladies, but the fact that cookbooks and such feel the need to mention it implies that those elements WERE being used in cooking generally, in the UK, at that time. So wherever the idea that All British Food Is Beige And Tasteless came from, it wasn't mainstream late Victorian cooking for adults as far as I can tell)

(They gave kids a fair amount of the beige and tasteless because they believed their digestive systems couldn't handle strongly-flavored- okay now I'm getting off topic. Read Ruth Goodman's "How To Be A Victorian." Anyway!)

tl;dr- The answer to "is modern food better?" is "that's literally impossible to answer as a blanket statement, since it's massively dependent on the character's original time, place, social status, and personal taste- and where they end up in the present, of course."

Now, I do agree that the trope is annoying the same way every single princess being totally shocked and appalled when her marriage is arranged gets annoying- not because it can't be true based on history and human behavior, but because fiction treats it as some kind of universal precept. Mix it up a little sometimes! Have a Regency character who comes to the present, finds out that her favorite local cheese isn't being made anymore, and loses her entire mind!

[thydungeongal]

D&D 5e being poorly designed issue #499:

Flesh to Stone requires three failed constitution saves to actually petrify anything, and even then requires ten rounds of concentration to make it last longer than a minute. Constitution is the most common save to have a bonus in in this system, and since it is a sixth level spell, this bonus tends to be quite high. As a result, this spell pretty much never actually does what it is billed as doing.

If the target does make their saves, this effectively translates into 3-5 rounds of a single target being restrained, at the cost of a sixth level spell slot and concentration.

The web spell, meanwhile, creates an area of effect in which any creatures that fail their dexterity saves are restrained. Dexterity saves are pretty common, but they have to keep making them as long as they're in the webs, and it's a strength check (rather than a save, so usually a lower bonus!) to escape. The spell requires concentration, but the maximum duration is an hour.

That's right. Web is objectively and unambiguously better than Flesh to Stone, despite being four spell levels lower. This is because the people making 5e wanted to get rid of save-or-suck effects, but didn't want to get rid of the spell names, and so nerfed them all to the point of uselessness. There is no use case for Flesh to Stone that would not be better served by Web or some other, notably lower than sixth level spell. You could cast Web with that sixth level slot, and it'd be a waste of resources, but it would still be less of a waste than Flesh to Stone, because it lasts longer, is slightly harder to resist, and can affect more than just one creature.

This is your game design on nostalgia and self-reference.

Yeah there's a lot of weird and conflicting ideas going on with spells in D&D 5e because they really lacked a coherent set of design goals: the designers seemed to have lacked a clear consensus on whether they wanted the game to be a balanced (albeit tipped in the player characters' favor) tactical combat game like 4e or an old-school experience with lots of nasty save or die effects. Part of the issue is that at an early point in the design process they decided not to take 4e's lead on monsters effectively having their own unique spells and spell-like abilities, and instead decided that the same spell lists should be available to both monsters and player characters.

And as anyone who's played 3e will tell you, when spells are as readily available and effortless to use as in Hasbro D&D and both sides have save or death spells available, it leads to rocket tag. And rocket tag is really not conducive to a fun tactical combat game that is supposed to be slightly tipped in the player characters' favor.

(Rocket tag is also the name of the game at higher levels in TSR editions of D&D and I feel it does harmonize better with the sheer amount of "fuck you" design in those editions. I think the assumptions written into the rules that combat isn't supposed to be fair or fun affects that very much.)

Anyway, so it's not just pure nostalgia, it's a combination of nostalgia while at the same time trying to copy D&D 4e's homework but not understanding the assignment. The biggest issue with D&D 5e in the context of all the various editions of D&D is that it had the benefit of more than thirty years of design and still ended up without a clear set of design goals besides "let's make the game that's the most D&D!" Like, ultimately as a dungeon game it's fine, but given the context of what's come before it should've been great.

[koolades-world]

One bed troupe w/ Levi

It was safe to day Levi almost never got out of the house. Between online school and all the the time he spent on the internet, he had no need to leave his room. Key word: almost. Sometimes, not often, but sometimes, he went out into the real world for events related to the things he enjoys, such as concerts, fan meetups, and most importantly, conventions.

Levi had been going to conventions longer than you even knew they existed, so it was safe to say he was an expert. But, now that you were around, and also interested in most of the same things as he was, he just had to take you along. That meaning, he nervously asked you on his knees the first time and after you agreed, he never asked again and just assumed you were going. Every convention with him is interesting, but always followed a formula.

You hear about the convention somehow, usually from Levi, where he's asking what cosplay you should go as this time. Sometimes you coordinate, sometimes you don't, but Levi loves to match. When he asks this, he's probably already book you your room. At first, he got you each your own room, but once after he accidently booked one room with two beds, you just started doing that instead. You leave a day before the convention begins with travel time factored in, spend however long there, then return home a day after the convention ends.

This formula is tried, true, and dear to Levi. It's something he can rely on to have the maximum amount of fun with his favorite person. This convention was supposed to be just like any other. The both of you were reusing an older cosplay, just because you had been busy that week. As you toted your bags into the hotel lobby, Levi almost directly in front of you, you asked him to pause. When he froze, and asked why, you carefully picked the Devildom equivalent of a ladybug. He was a little freaked out at first, but after studying the small bug you pulled out of his hair, he got a laugh out of it.

"They're good luck you know, especially if they land on you." You teased him, watching it fly off. Levi didn't respond, feeling a wave of anxiety crash over him. He wasn't sure why. He attributed it to having to deal with checking in, which he hated. But, he would never make you do that, since it was always him who insisted on bringing you along.

While he got you two checked in, you wandered off to the seating area to admire a sculpture. In your absence, something that only happens in his worst nightmares happened. Despite having made a reservation, the system wasn’t showing anything and they had no record at all. He briefly freaked out as he flickered through his camera roll, trying to find the receipt among his many photos of memes and characters fanart. Once he found it, he showed the worker. After seeing this, she did something on her computer and offered him a room upgrade. Before hearing the details, he accepted it. This was all too much for him.

Having acquired the room key, he collected you. The setting sun lit up the room, backlighting you and the sculpture. You simply stared up at it. He almost didn’t want to interrupt you. You noticed him somehow, and spun around to space him, making eye contact with a smile. His heart almost skipped a beat with the way you looked at him.

“Our room ready?” You pulled your suitcase behind you, noticing the keycard in his hand.

“Mmhm.” He didn’t trust himself to speak, and silently led you towards the elevators. He was told they had been given a room on floor 19, which was the second highest. Mc would probably die for that view. The thought of making them happy made him happy.

They two of got on the elevator. Mc made funny face at Levi through the mirrored elevator. After you walked the floor enough, following signage, you found your room. He unlocked it, and swung the door open to a beautiful suite. It came complete with a living room, and kitchenette, and a bathroom that rivaled Asmo’s. Mc dropped their bag by the door, and immediately begins to explore.

“Levi! You didn’t tell me you got a nicer room this time!” You threw your body down onto the sofa, admiring the tv. “This is great.” You peaked over the back of the sofa at him.

“Oh, I actually meant to tell you… There was a mixup of some kind so they upgraded us.” He scratched the back of his neck and closed the door behind him. His soul nearly left his body when he looked further into the room.

There was only one bed.

“Oh no, oh no no no.” He began to freak out for the second time that day.

“What’s the matter?” You got up immediately. You watched where his gaze was fixed. “Oh, Levi. I can sleep on the couch.” You looked at him empathetically, understanding his predicament.

“No! I mean, I can’t let my player two sleep on that sofa when that bed is right there. It’s much nicer than my bathtub. You deserve it. I’m just a loser otaku, but you’re the human who brought my family back together.” He took a small step back.

“Don’t he ridiculous. There’s room for both of us. If it helps, we can just sleep facing opposite ways. Besides, you know Mammon would kill to be in this room with me right now, sharing a bed with me. You could totally use this chance to brag, Levichan.” You giggled, skipping your way into the bathroom. “I’m getting ready for bed. Be out shortly.” You took your toiletries bag into giant bathroom. Levi pondered for an amount of time he wasn’t sure of, but was jolted out of thought by a knocking on the bathroom wall. Turns out, the shower had a window in it that faced the bed. You were doing a little dance in front of it with just a towel on, poking fun at him. After he covered his eyes and screamed at you to stop, you shut the window curtain so you could actually shower.

Once you were done, he had already unpacked all his things and took his own turn. The bathroom was very luxurious, but he couldn’t stop thinking about Mc and how he was going to be brave and share that bed with them. It was just to rub it in Mammon’s face, he told himself.

When he got out, you were spread out in the bed with a few snacks from your bag and his Devilswitch. “Up for a few rounds before bed, big guy?” He couldn’t say no to you. In his scramble to win every game you two played, and haze of the long day of traveling, he totally forgot about behind nervous. It only crept back in once you’d fallen asleep on his arm, remote still in hand. He froze, unsure what to do.

But, he knew he had to act because with the long day you two had tomorrow, he had to get to bed as well. As he moved to get up to clear the bed of everything on it, you grumbled and grabbed his arm. He began to internally scream, and almost externally too. He was sure he was very red. So, instead, he just moved everything onto his bedside table, and pulled the covers over both of you.

He was stiff under the covers at first, but the more you snuggled into him, the more relaxed he found himself getting. Maybe it was because he was getting more sleepy by the passing seconds, but he almost found himself enjoying the affection. He bid sleeping you goodnight.

Maybe this is what his good luck ladybug meant.

[auncyen]

Pre-incident Siffrin being actually a lot "stronger" than the other party members is a favorite pet theory of mine. ("Stronger" because they're not physically so, exactly, but there's a combination of experience and other things.)

Reasons:

Especially with Adrienne saying Sadnesses aren't ONLY due to the King and were around before (but the Curse is making things much worse) Siffrin has a strong case for having more practical fighting experience than the others due to scraps with wildlife and Sadnesses. Isabeau would probably be next closest but he even says himself that the worst Defenders see is burglary so Isabeau's experience would be mostly training/theoretical still.

They also might have given themself a slight "boost" by skirting Craft cooldowns at times. Like going off of above, pre-game Siffrin could have been that one post about classically trained wizard vs. self-taught wizard where the latter is terrifying for how much they've learned by practical experience while completely missing certain safety fundamentals (or. well. forgotten them). Since Craft cooldown has physical feedback, Siffrin probably never completely wrecked themself but like. I can imagine very early on Siffrin having a habit of pushing themself hard in fights to end them quickly and make sure everyone's safe and then at the campsite for the night they're just kind of. trying to keep going to at least get their share of chores done but ow ow ow. (They probably slowly learned to stop doing this with the combined experiences of 1) fighting with a team 2) fights with Sadnesses becoming much more common and thus making it worse to overextend themself every single fight 3) recovering from the incident probably forced them to respect cooldowns more which ties a bit into next reason--)

The incident with Bonnie is given a good amount of weight in narration but then doesn't seem to have kept Siffrin from being as strong a party member as the others in combat, which might seem slightly odd. ...Unless it was actually that he was stronger before and him being at the same level with them IS him having gotten weaker, which could also mesh well with him having seen three people fighting a Sadness and being like 'hey. obviously you need me to stab it.' (Counterpoint, I can easily believe Siffrin getting himself in a fight to help people even if he wasn't confident about the odds of winning. Like, I've written that. When he's not confident about fighting, he's confident in his ability to run like hell. But maybe he was confident about being able to kill the Sadness!)

Basically like. Pre-incident Siffrin in terms of party levels/gameplay coming off more as a overpowered guest NPC escorting your party and doing their own thing and skirting Craft cooldowns (I can just imagine part of Odile's 'assassin' suspicion being no normal person learns to fight like this? what the hell) and then the Incident happens and it's like oh they're a regular party member now. Okay.

[hantenguclonesimp-minuszoha]

Happy Wife, Happy Life.

Hantengu clones x Fem!Reader [Yandere-Angst-Fluff]

Part one.

Dividers by Saradika

Dividers by Saradika

Synopsis: Another punishment causes her to finally go cold with her 'beloveds'. They finally know what has been bubbling up inside of her after the many harsh punishments given to her.

Warnings: Possessiveness (duh), gaslighting(?), manipulation, coddling, isolation, monophobia, stalking, reader loses her shit at them, ANGST, more suffering! :D

Requested by: luvcOree

Ps: I didn't notice that my tumblr auto updated and I had saved this on schedule only to find out that I couldn't edit it, so I had to delete the whole thing and rewrite it only to find out later that you could edit the post 😭 so that's why I have to reset to this- I'M SORRY

Y/N inhaled deeply before timidly asking him the question. "May I go spend some time with my family for today? I promise I'll be home early! I just... want to see them. It's been too long..." To Y/N, this was nothing more than a simple request and perhaps even a reward for having been the obedient wife they wanted and giving them all an equal amount of attention, keeping them all satisfied. To the Hantengus however, this was a question they all dreaded. Their dear wife asking to go outside, even more so to visit someone? What was wrong with staying home? They provide her with everything she needs, get her everything she asks for one way or another. What more does she want? Cowardly as the demon may be, he could not let his dear go. Not the one who he knows believes in his innocence. Not the one he needs. "N.. No... You can't! W-What if you get hurt and.. and I'm not... there?" "But it's just my family! I'll just be there for today and nowhere else! Please, let me go visit them!" But the wife was desperate. She doesn't ask much of neither him or the clones, much less Zohakuten, who she knows is more strict and harsh. Y/N does as she is told, stays home where she is safe and gives them attention.

Even Urami and Zohakuten on the rare occasions they reveal themselves. Y/N is a good wife, never asks for anything, but this time, she was desperate. She even said that she'll be home before dusk. But the husbands, they disagree. She cannot leave. She'd be out of their sights, vulnerable, in danger. They cannot risk their lovely wife dying, the risk is too grave. "No! You c-cannot go! You'll... You'll get hurt!" What would he do without her? What they do without her? All he would offer is to stay home and spend some time with him which she reluctantly agreed to. Y/N wasn't happy. She could never be happy. Her family! She needs to see them at least once after having left without much of a valid explanation.This morning was no different from the others except for a little bit of harsh weather. Y/N was simply cooking for herself while also being deep in thought. She's been thinking about her family for some time now, especially her sibling. She's been missing her mother and father dearly and it's been eating up at her for too long, she can't take it anymore. After having finished making herself her meal, the woman took a deep, nervous breath and left for the dark room her husbands stayed during daytime.

Walking up the stairs, Y/N was certain that they had already heard her since she was in the kitchen and by the time she arrived, they were all in the darkest corners of the room, or in this case, he was. "Dear?" He was quick to flinch at the mere sound of her voice, but that was just him in general which did not surprise Y/N in the slightest. Hantengu, the main body of the clones, was currently the only one present due to the clones not being seperated. They often stayed merged together with Hantengu to avoid the sun and only revealed themselves at night. This gave Hantengu time to spend with her since his clones would all simply want her attention to themselves (if you like the clones, love him too beuz they're all the same person). "Y.. Yes?" The demon answered timidly to his wife as she entered the room, closing the shōji door behind her.

If they wouldn't let her see them once, then she'll go herself with or without their permission.

For the entire day until dark, Y/N was with Hantengu and didn't really do much. She did have some surprisingly pleasant conversations (and with his constant complaining of the evil around him and that he is an innocent demon), cuddled with him the same way she would with the clones, took a day nap and so on. However, while she was a sweet and loving wife towards him, she was waiting for him to leave in search for humans to eat and to find the Blue Spider Lily for his master. Soon, evening would arrive and Hantengu would go out for his hunt and mission leaving Y/N alone until he would return. She watched him shrink and leave through the dark forest of where their shared home is located. When she was sure she was alone, she too would leave. Y/N would pack her delicious sweets for her parents and sibling before then leaving her home.

After almost forty five minutes of travelling by foot, Y/N finally made it to the home of her parents. luckily for her, her sibling was there as well. Running up to the door excitedly, Y/N knocked and waited for one of her family members to open for her. Eventually, all would go as she had hoped. Y/N managed to see her parents after so long, caught up with her sibling and would finally be able to spend some time with them after not having seen them in so long. She laughed, she conversed, she cooked with her father/ mother, played with her sibling like children once more knowing that Hantengu would return at midnight. But that wasn't the case this time.

___

The clones were beyond furious that their wife was not where they had left her. They were all lucky enough to have returned home early after successfully killing demon slayers and humans, but another unsuccessful scavenge for the Blue Spider Lily. The entire ordeal had left them all irritated as usual and they simply wanted to be comforted by the loving embrace of their betrothed only to find out that she wasn't there. Sekido yelled and threw a fit, as expected from the clone of anger, and in a desperate attempt to have her back, he forcefully fused. The only reasons the others did not have a problem with Sekido's rather daring stunt is of course for none other than Y/N. Once Zohakuten was formed and Urami had revealed himself, both clones immediately went for the search of their beloved wife. They immediately knew where she was anyways and she would return by choice or by force.

___

Both clones watched from afar as Y/N laughed loudly with a person who they assume is their sibling. Neither of them could believe she would ever do such a thing despite having been told that she wasn't allowed to go! Both would soon close in on the home of where she was, but would keep their distance. Zohakuten would hit one of his drums and would command one of his wooden dragon heads to close in and for Y/N to return. He was still quite furious at the fact that she left despite having been told not to and Urami even more so. It wouldn't be long before Y/N noticed a strange piece of wood moving and eventually realise who it was. Soon, she would bid her family farewell and leave as they hoped she would. Without wasting any more time, she went to the forested area where Urami and Zohakuten stood and would timidly approach. Zohakuten gave her a steely glare and simply pointed towards his wooden dragon head while Urami would already begin his scolding. "How dare you leave! You had us all worried sick! Did we not tell you that you could not visit your family? You could've gotten hurt or worse! Do you know how much it would've broken us if you did?" That is all she heard until she arrived home.

Urami carried her inside and placed her down before shrinking back to Hantengu, who began to bawl his eyes out. Zohakuten eyed Hantengu for a moment with pity before returning his intimidating gaze back to her. "How dare you leave me, woman. Have you no shame? I thought you were hurt!" Zohakuten continued to go off angrily at Y/N, blaming her for his anxiety and worry. Being the foul-mouthed boy he is, he cursed in his sentences. "You ungrateful wench! This time, punishment will be longer and harsher! You want to disobey me? Fine! I've been too lenient with your behavior!" Said the boy while dragging her by the wrist to the solitary room. "I'm sorry! I just wanted to-" "Silence! I won't hear it!" The door to her punishment once again opened as Zohakuten then so rudely shoved her into the room, this time without a candle before slamming and locking the door shut. "No... No!" Begging would get her nowhere. Not this time.

"Sweet thing... You've disappointed me."

"When we tell you something, you listen. You will regret disobeying us."

"My little songbird, I thought we had an agreement!"

"... Perhaps a harsher treatment shall remind you not to disobey us again, dewdrop."

And it starts again.

But she didn't beg this time. Perhaps a few tears, but Y/N didn't beg nor did she scream or cry. It dawned on her that perhaps they truly don't care for her feelings and only their own. Perhaps they are selfish monsters who only want to hurt her for their own amusement. At least, that's what their wife began to think. Y/N dragged her futon to the corner and made herself comfortable (as comfortable as she could get in a cold, dark and solitary room), simply staring up at the ceiling in the pitch black room deep in thought of the husbands she loved so much. Before long, the woman fell asleep with a new hatred for her husbands.

The punishment went on for three days instead of the usual two hours. Three entire days of no social interaction, not a word from them and almost no food or water as well. The clones truly did consider depriving her of human necessities, but Urogi had convinced them to be more merciful on their poor wife, having convinced them that she would learn her lesson.

The end of her punishment had arrived. It was over and the clones couldn't wait to hear her say that she had learned her lesson. That she would be a good wife and admit that she will be home where it's safe. That she'll apologise for her misbehaviour. But no, that's not what happened. The clones were absolutely shocked at her behavior when they finally let her out of the room. She was irritable, scornful and suddenly sharp-tongued almost as if someone had flipped a switch and changed her personality entirely. She didn't even want to be in his same room as them, much less have them look at her. Even Sekido began trying the gentle treatment to get closer to her, but that didn't work. "Dewdrop... What happened to her... This isn't the woman I married..." Aizetsu's sapphire coloured eyes began tearing up as he thought of her disrespectful behavior. Y/N would spout hurtful comments at them and express her hatred towards them as if they had hurt her in some way and Aizetsu, he hated that very much. It made him quite sad.

"How dare she speak to us that way!" Sekido growled angrily while thinking of her new behavior towards them. Karaku and Urogi stayed mostly silent about the situation, thinking of what could've happened for her to act like this (hm, I wonder why). They would all continue to discuss among themselves, trying to figure out a way to get closer to her without being met with scorn. "It doesn't matter if either three of us say it, she won't believe us. She'll just shove us away and continue with this." Urogi argues while looking at Sekido. It is true, any apology from either Karaku or Urogi would sound fake and from Aizetsu would sound merely like something to ease her hard feelings. "He's right, you know..." Karaku mumbles quietly while playing around with his uchiwa. Aizetsu knew Sekido would have a huge problem with apologising since he finds it pathetic for someone such as himself, and considering the emotion he is, he would absolutely refuse due to his pride and brash personality. "I already told you fools, I'm not going to apologise!" "Then how do you want her to trust us again, Sekido? If we want our dear back, we have to apologise." Said the relaxed clone in a rather stern tone. Karaku would be the last clone to ever speak in such a stern and serious tone due to his mischievous behavior, but there were times even he knew when it was needed.

He got up from where he said and got face-to-face with his older self, staring at him with a blank expression. "You do it. You'd be the most convincing out of all of us. That or we risk losing her, because then, we'd have to move to measures that we would all like to avoid for her sake." Sekido knew exactly what Karaku meant, he wasn't stupid. If they let her continue this, she would grow more reckless and rebellious, and they couldn't risk that. The vexed clone huffed reluctantly, acknowledging the fact that what his clone stated was indeed correct. He, out of every clone, is least likely to apologise and admit that he was wrong. It's a rather stupid solution in his eyes, but the one that they've come up with currently and they will act on it.So, with a deep breath and some preparation from his clone brethren, he walks to the room where his lovely wife is to apologise.

"Y/N-" "You again? I told you not to even look at me, you disgusting demon!" Those hurtful comments irked him, yes, but if he wanted to get on her good side again, he would have to swallow his pride and apologise like a mature adult. "What do you want from me? Just looking at your hellish eyes makes me sick! How did I even fall in love with you?" Her crude comments continue to flow freely and uncensored as if he were a mere stranger to her. The woman didn't even give him a chance to speak which led him to approach her in the blink of an eye, gripping her shoulders tightly. "Will you let me speak, woman?" Sekido asked and as usual, his snappy tone seemed to slip through. This did not come off well to the wife, as she merely continued to berate him and his clones. Finally, Sekido lost it and yelled at her, shutting her up for the moment. "LISTEN TO ME. I..."

It was a struggle trying to utter those embarrassing words. A demon doesn't apologise, much less an Upper Moon! How dare she make him seem like a fool! How dare she make him be so- so... so weak! This wasn't how things were supposed to be! But... Sekido will play nice, for now, suck it up and apologise. "I'm... sor... I..." Sekido huffs again while interally cursing at himself for being so pathetic. ["It's just a damn sentence...!"] His monstrous grip tightens, but he remembers to tone it down for her fragile human body. After almost a minute of struggling to get out a simple sentence, Sekido does it. It was the simple thought of Y/N leaving him that pushed him to do so. What would they do without her? Who would calm him down when he would have one of his rage fits? Who would Karaku tell his hunts and mission to? Who would keep Aizetsu from sulking? Who would preen Urogi's wings? Who would love him?

There was no one like you. Not in their demented eyes.

"I'm sorry."

Her expression immediately went from annoyed and hateful to shocked and confused. Sekido apologising? What possessed him to do such a 'shameful' act? "I... Understand that what we did to you was too far... My dear wife." It was rough at first, but soon, the words flowed out flawlessly. "My dear wife, I apologise for my and Zohakuten's brash behavior. In a moment of desperation I lost my composure and did not realise what the consequences of my actions would lead to." It was pathetic, but better to seem like a fool than lose the one thing you cannot live without. But she wouldn't fall for it a second time. "How dare you..." Sekido was understandably surprised. "You think a simple apology would have me running back into your arms like the many, many times before? Have you forgotten what you did to me, Sekido? Have you forgotten the many tears I cried because of my fear?" No, he did not. Did they really think she was going to forget it all just like that? All the torture, the punishment just because they did not see whatever she did that time fit? "How many times have you lied to me? How many times have you guilt tripped me into thinking it was my fault even though it was yours?!" "Y/N I-"

"DON'T interrupt ME while I'm TALKING!!"

It was practically trauma at that point and the clones had no one to blame but themselves. What did they expect? The pain and fear would've caught up eventually.

"I'm afraid of you... I don't love you anymore. I-I..." But even then, does she truly believe her own words? Is she that naive that she truly can't see what is wrong here?

"You put me alone in a room without a single thing but a futon and a chamberstick. You're insane...! All of you know I hate being alone! I'm afraid of being alone!! Do my endless screams and cries, begging and hitting the door entertain any of you?" Y/N hoped it wasn't true, but at this point, she was smart to know it was. Her fear entertained them. They were after all still demons and a human fearing a demon is the greatest sight and feeling a demon can get. "No-" "Don't lie to me..." He knew he needed to tell the truth eventually. "... Yes." The thick streams of tears continued more and more like a raging river crashing down a dam and flowing freely. "Get away from me..."

They can't lose you.

She was in their arms faster than she could blink. "Dewdrop... I'm sorry... Don't leave us... please." The sight of his betrothed's beautiful face stained with tears was enough to shatter Aizetsu. He didn't mean to push her this far. What kind of husband tortures his wife? Oh, how wrong they were. "Songbird, you can do anything but leave. You can scream and yell at us, hit and stab us, we will take it all with grace, but please, I beg of you don't leave. I swear on my lord's name we will be better!" The all clung onto her as if she were their lifeline. They will beg, scream and cry if they must in order to get her to stay. She cannot leave. "I'll never laugh at your tears again, I'll never make you cry. Sweet thing, don't leave. I will get on my knees if I have to..." The woman can put them all on a leash if it meant that she'd stay. They might have been all high and mighty then, but the moment she even hints at leaving for good, suddenly they're her lapdogs. It would crush them if she were to leave for good. They cannot lose that one good feeling not even they can describe. It wasn't joy or pleasure... What it was? They did not know, but it felt too good to be let go and she was the cause of this. Neither dignity or pride was no longer of importance to them, only Y/N was.

"You can put me on a leash and I'd say 'Thank you'... Do whatever you want, but you will not leave me." The lengths these psychopaths would go for one woman is near insanity. They were all demented and she was the one person keeping them sane. Possessiveness in a human can only go so far, but a demon is a new thing entirely. Considering their power, they will do what they must for their love, for that one person. They cannot leave, who said they could leave? Some may hurt them and prevent them from doing so, others may become their servants. Whatever works is what they will do. That one person is their entire life. They cannot live without that one person.

"Don't leave me, please."

No, she could never. They had gotten her too far in. She was theirs, she was already claimed by them. Y/N was going nowhere and she accepted that. Horrid as their actions may be, these man-eating demons loved her. They love her.

"I won't."

So it all starts again. Y/N goes back to them, rushing into their arms as they had hoped for. Their arms clung onto to her as if she would disappear if they didn't hold her. They hugged her tightly, not daring to let go of her in fear of her disappearing. They all told her how much they loved her, how they would sell their soul for her to be happy. The clones and their wife cuddled together for the entire night, not daring to let go of her. She was constantly met with kisses, small love bites, licks, whatever, as long as it expressed their love and affection to her.

She wouldn't ever leave them. She was theirs and it was written in stone.

Which still begs the question Sekido had asked last time.

"... Would you like to bear us a child?"

Ps: I added Zohakuten, because he too is a clone. Yes, he does see reader as his wife, but that doesn't mean he engages in those acts with reader. He loves her too, but only in a romantic sense. He has the physical build of a child, yes, but that doesn't mean it's sexual. Just thought I'd clear it up for you snowflakes out there.

Note: Yes daddy, I would love for you to breed me.

[salty-an-disco]

*thinks about how there's several different versions of Hero who acts a little different depending on which route you take him through–*

*thinks about how the Hero that appears in the middle of the final battle describes himself as being 'all of them'*

*thinks about how all those different Heroes might not have been able to completely integrate themselves into a single individual*

Conclusion: Hero would develop a system (a median system, to be more exact)

Yep. This was the main reason I started drawing different variants for Hero in different chapters and givin' them different names, everyone can go home now /lhj /silly

Anyway, since I already drew all the guys, might as well talk about them in the context of Hero being a system

(note: I've semi-recently found I, myself, am a system, so a lot of this is me processing this stuff and trying to puzzle things out through my blorbo. shout out to Hero for making this discovery a lot easier to digest. that means a lot of what I'm writing here comes from my own experience and perspectives. Also, I'll be calling the different Heroes 'facets', as that represents better what they are to him)

Since they all come from the exact same source (forms through Chapter I), they don't really see themselves as all that separate or different people. The different titles are more nicknames than anything, they're all 'Hero', just– from a slightly different angle and with different roles/priorities. Hero doesn't hear distinct voices in his head like Quiet, he's more like Shifty, in a way, having their feelings and different texture affect his behavior.

Hero is vaguely aware of these different facets, even giving them those titles as a way to organize and understand himself, but doesn't worry too much about it. That's just how he is.

As for the different facets and their role within the system–

– Hero: Host; front-stuck – Technically speaking, his route would be the Stranger one, as that's where he spent the least amount of time in Chapter I and didn't develop any other identity besides 'Hero'. Not necessarily the 'original', and would rather not worry about that lest it triggers another existential crisis, but is definitely the 'main one'. The main face that's always there. Behavior and thought-process can change depending on other facets present.

– Savior: Protector/Persecutor – Formed when his will power was broken and subdued by someone far stronger. Is intent on not letting that happen again. Very headstrong and certain of himself; he has to be, or else their willpower will break again. Mainly appears to help deal with threats much bigger than them. (Fun fact: in warped AU, he and Hero were fused together)

– Champion: Physical Protector – Formed by a desire to fight and persevere against an opponent that can kill you. Very strategy-minded, focused on better ways to get out of a confrontation alive. Will always try to get out of battles with the least amount of injuries to the body possible. Does not like confrontation, but will go through it if it means survival. Appears anytime there's a need to fight and/or survive. Often alongside Savior or Fledgling.

– Liar: Social Protector/Caretaker – Formed when forced to betray someone you previously intended on helping. Despite the title, Liar is very aversed to lying, and despises when others are being dishonest. Why play these weird games that just makes things more difficult? Can't we just be blunt with each other and makes things easier? Appears when the host feels judged or like he's being given an unfair assumption during a social encounter, or later on, when the host is thinkin' back to a certain social situation that didn't go to well. Helps process those leftover feelings and make sure the host is doing well emotionally and socially.

– Fledgling: Protector – Formed when made to feel cornered by a dangerous creature and clawed to death. Similar role to Champion, in theory, though he appears, more broadly, when the host starts feeling cornered in any way. Which doesn't happen solely in physical fights. Very helpful when appearing to deal with a physical threat, not so much when the threat is more emotional or social.

– Dashing: Emotion Holder/Uplifter – Formed from a desire to do nothing but good to someone else. Not as positive and optimistic as his paired voice during The Damsel, but still makes sure the host knows doesn't forget there's always a bright side and some hope to hold on to. Makes sure the host is taking the time to appreciate the things and people he love and that he isn't getting to caught up in worries and anxiety.

– Accomplice: Memory Holder/Cheergiver – Formed when despite your misgivings, you put your trust in someone else. His role is more vague than the others, but is generally there to give support to those outside of the system. Makes the host take a step back and let someone they trust take the reigns, for once.

– Haunted: Caretaker – Formed while spending a good few lifetimes in Nothingness. Not exactly sure what he's supposed to do here, but tries his best to help. Took some pointers from Cold and encourages the host to put feelings aside for now, if only to focus on taking care of the body before diving back into them. The one that knows self-care, and appears when the body desperately needs it.

– Dreamer: Trauma Holder – Formed as you tried to close your eyes and pretend there's no danger just in front of you. This one is Trauma Personified and mainly only appears when the host is triggered. When he appears, it's very difficult for Hero to differentiate reality from delusions, and it feels like he's back in the construct, fighting for his life and sanity.

– Ribbons: ???/Shell – Formed across 4 chapters; as more pieces broke off, very little was left of him. Less of a facet and more a general feeling of Nothingness. That can be useful when the host is feeling too overwhelmed to think. Just kinda makes Hero zone out and shut down when he appears.

Bonus: what it looks like when some of the facets are close to front. Whether or not Hero will shapeshift depends on how long a facet lingers, and how much they're affecting him. Often, he doesn't shapeshift at all despite the many facets that appeared throughout the day

[dairy-farmer]

Potential continuation to this ask (I think I was the original asker too lol): https://www.tumblr.com/dairy-farmer/745698630594396160/hmm-jason-having-some-weird-oedipal-feelings-where?source=share

In order to get free access to Tim and revenge against Bruce at the same time he uses the evidence he gathered to ruin Bruce. No amount of money could make a video of Bruce Wayne fucking his underage adopted son go away when it is spreading online like wildfire.

Jason elegantly gains custody of Tim by posing as his uncle Eddie who recently recovered from injuries after the destruction of Blüdhaven.

Jason also has evidence of enough superhero identities to threaten Tim into compliance.

And so starts the process of conditioning Tim into being Jason's perfect little mommy/house wife/fleshlight/breedslut

!!!!

oh tim plays at resistance at first, jason recognizes that. he knew it'd be the biggest mountain to overcome given the cult-like fervor bruce probably used to indoctrinate tim into letting him do things like making him be robin and sucking his cock. so jason is prepared for the crying and the tantrums and the attempt to escape and find a way to break bruce out of where he's being held in a cell in a half billion dollar bail pending the investigation. he's not getting out anytime soon because jason made sure to leave some fake trail about bruce's taxes and assests so the IRS has frozen all of bruce's accounts pending THEIR investigation.

jason knows dick has returned to the city and is picking up as batman and he knows from tapping his and barbara's comm line that the two are frantic and trying to clear bruce's name even though jason knows that no matter how hard they try they're not going to be able to prove the video is fake because it's not.

dick has broached trying to speak to tim but that avenue is closed as well because jason has filed a restraining order as 'eddie drake' against the whole wayne family. dick is trying to juggle being batman, clearing bruce's name, AND clearing his own because jason has pretty publicly stated as tim's "concerned" guardian that perhaps the entire family had known about the abuse going on and had kept quiet to protect bruce.

jason knows dick is taking that whole thing pretty personally. which means there's a good chance he'll continue avoiding tim out of shame for the moment- at least long enough to convince tim this was for the best.

that he'd enjoy being with jason and forming this little family unit with him.

especially since jason has something over other heroes, most notably their identities which he doesn't hesitate to use on tim to be able to fuck him the first time.

his and tim's first time together is even better than jason imagined it. bruce did a good job training his robin's little kiddie cunt. tim practically gets wet on command, jason doesn't even have to go down on him. he also slides in with barely any resistance, his pussy still tight enough for it to feel good as he slams into tim's sweet cunt, grunting and cursing while asking if this was how bruce did it.

tim doesn't even cry just whines and arches and rolls his eyes back in his skull because his body knows exactly how to act when a cock is shoved into his puffy little hole.

god jason hates to admit it but bruce did a damn good job training his robin. jason can fuck him fast and hard with barely a protest. tim does something with his muscles where he goes tight around jason and jolt around him, grunting with effort as he milks jason through an orgasm that has jason almost passing out from how good it is.

he made the right choice- fuck jason's never been more right in his life. he could barely even hold the whole 'fucking a teenager' against bruce. if he were him jason doesn't think he'd have been able to hold back either.

the first few days they're together jason spends them just fucking tim, taking him every way and everywhere in the little apartment he got them. he fucks tim until he'd too tired to even think of escaping, keeping him dumb from being fucked stupid and full of his cum.

he hides tim's clothes from him too, making him wander the apartment in wrapped sheets to protect his modesty while jason transitions him into his wife and mommy duties. jason uses those old 1940s tv shows that used to play all the time on the free channels jason would watch as a kid for inspiration.

he has tim shine his shoes, prepare his drink, iron his shirts, make him bacon nice and crispy but without all the fat rendered out. he kisses tim on the cheek, calls him 'dear' and 'sweetheart' and 'my girl'.

he treats tim all nice and soon...tim stops fighting so much. starts reaching up at jason while they're fucking, starts leaning into the kisses.

jason comes home with a gift of a silky and short powder blue nightdress and a pair of stockings with garters. it's what jason's mom used to wear around the house because willis had loved seeing her in tight short things. the way it hugged her and her little tits. willis had a jealous streak a mile wide. he'd hated when anyone made eyes at his cathy. even jason hadn't been safe. when his mom would dress up she'd put on a little makeup, slip on an old charm bracelet and some earrings and look so pretty. jason remembered thinking about how much prettier his mom looked but then he'd get a harsh smack on the head from his dad for looking at his mom 'like that' and get sent away to his room for the rest of the night.

jason didn't know if he really had been looking at his mom differently but it didn't really matter. when tim stands in front of him in a powder blue slip and stockings looking so sweet and nymp-like.

its the hardest jason has fucked tim in a while. tim squirms and whines under him, grinding his hips back against jason's as he hammers his cock into his perfect cunt while grunting out a 'mommy mommy mommy you look so pretty mommy i love you so much mommy'

jason cums hard, his whole body tembling as he snarls against tim's perfumed neck and tenses up at the hot jolts of cum splattering into tim's waiting womb.

jason won't deny trying to get tim pregnant.

bruce had tim taking nightly pills to make sure no unfortunate accidents happened but once jason took custody of tim that had stopped.

so it'd truly been a matter of time before tim got pregnant.

jason doesn't even test for it or stay vigilant or try to track tim's cycle.

just that a few months later tim's front starts getting a little rounder and his tits a little redder.

and jason realizes it as he has tim on his back with his legs on either side of jason's hips. and jason is all the way inside, pressed flush to tim's twitching cunt when he strokes tim's little bump and whispers reverntly-

"mommy," he breathes, "mommy i think i put a baby in you mommy, look-"

and tim, eyes soft and glazed strokes jason's cheek and just as softly coos yes and that jason is such a good boy for making a baby with mommy that jason's going to be a daddy soon and isn't that so nice?

the words please something so deep in jason and he and tim don't leave the bed for days, jason only able to chant 'mommy mommy mommy' against tim while thinking about how he put a baby in his mommy, that he made a baby with his mommy, that he was going to be a daddy.

it probably would have gone on for longer.

but then the doorbell rung and someone had made it clear they weren't leaving with the amount of knocking. so jason forces himself to get up, making sure tim is comfortable before getting the door.

dick is on the other side and his mouth that was parted to speak just falls open when he sees jason shirtless and in sweats answering the door.

jason watches as his stunned eyes register and catalog everything in front of him before mouthing a silent 'jason?'

jason hears rustling behind him and turns to see a glazed eyed and messy haired tim stumble and grip the corner of the hallway leading to their bedroom.

jason hears a sharp inhale beside him and a choked "tim?"

that's when he decides he's heard enough and prompty shuts the door, locking it with a chain and pressing a nearby button to turn on his special red hood security measures.

dickhead has made a mistake breaking the restraining order and jason will make sure to tell the officers that when they arrive.

after all, jason has a family to look out for now and he can't be having dangerous people showing up at his doorstep.

[s10127470]

Nicktoons Unite: Rewritten

I'm pretty sure most of you reading this know about the Nicktoons Unite series.

Running from 2005 to 2008 with a total of four games, the series saw some of Nickelodeon's most popular Nicktoons coming together to stop whatever the big threat of the game there was.

Even after almost 20 years, these games are still fondly remembered for how well they utilized the crossover aspect and how cool it was to see so many of Nickelodeon's most popular characters actually interacting with each other.

But apart from that, the games are pretty mid (specifically in terms of gameplay).

So recently, I've been thinking about what the Nicktoons Unite series would've been like if it actually had good gameplay and even went a little more all-out with the crossover aspect than it already did.

And being the madman that I am, I'm gonna make this a 4-part series!

Starting off with the game that started it all, Nicktoons Unite!

So without further ado, let's get this party started!

Gameplay and Presentation:

Nicktoons Unite! would still have the action-RPG style, but a little better.

And for a few reasons.

For starters, the characters will move much faster than they previously did.

Which is something I appreciate the later games for doing.

And the combat is a lot more fleshed-out.

Each character has a light attack, a heavy attack, a grab and a throw, a trip, a stun, a pop-up, an aerial attack, a block, a dodge, a ground slam, a double jump (though that varies between characters), 6 or 7 special attacks, one or two boosts, a few passive abilities, and a super attack that is able to unleash an insane amount of damage across a wider range.

Along with that, there will be enemies with specific resistances.

For example, say you’re dealing with an enemy that’s heavily resistant to energy/elemental/magical attacks.

So in order to beat that enemy, you’ll have to switch to a character who’s heavily reliant on physical attacks.

Since this is an action RPG, there will be tons of strategy.

And in terms of presentation, the worlds would be more expanded than they originally were.

Including major locations and characters that weren't in the original.

But biggest glow-up in the presentation would be with the music.

Everybody knows that Nicktoons Unite's music is pretty weak.

It's basically elevator music, and doesn't really fit the worlds we go to at all.

But here, the music would actually strive to replicate the scores of each Nicktoon.

So much so that I could imagine they would even receive help from the composers of those respective Nicktoons.

But don't worry, Guy Moon isn't gonna be giving every action its own music cue here.

The Story:

The overall story is more or less the same, but has a lot more content here.

First off, let's talk about the Nicktoons themselves.

The team still consists of Jimmy Neutron, SpongeBob SquarePants, Timmy Turner and Danny Phantom.

But this version would see five more members of the team.

These being Jenny Wakeman, Otto Rocket, Tommy Pickles (the All Grown Up! one), Tak and Avatar Aang.

As for why they're here.

I remember reading something somewhere about how Rocket Power, All Grown Up!, and Tak and the Power of Juju were all meant to be featured in Nicktoons Unite!

As for Jenny and Aang.....why shouldn't they be here?

Jenny especially since at the time of this game's release, My Life as a Teenage Robot has been around for two years.

I've always found it weird how she was never included in the main stories of any of the games.

I'm guessing that they wanted the Nicktoons to be a boys-only thing.

And given Nickelodeon's track record, I could definitely see that being the case....

Though I have no clue why Aang was never included in these games, especially since Avatar: The Last Airbender was one of the biggest Nicktoons on the channel during its run.

Maybe it has to do with the fact that it is was the only Nicktoon at the time at was primarily serialized.

So trying to figure out where the games could take place during the three Books would've been tricky.

But given that Avatar has comics in the Nickelodeon Magazine that took place between their adventures and are presumably canon, I think they could've pulled it off.

Anyway, just like the original version of the game, these nine have teamed up thanks to The Syndicate.

Which now consists of Professor Calamitous, Plankton, Mr. Crocker, Vlad Plasmius, Vexus, Tlaloc and Zuko.

As for how they're each contributing to their team.

Calamitous is who's creating The Doomsday Machine.

Plankton, Crocker, Vlad, Tlaloc and Zuko are each obtaining energy from their respective worlds to power it.

Those energy sources being jellyfish electricity, fairy magic, ghost energy, juju magic, and waterbending & earthbending.

And Vexus is creating an army of special robots for The Syndicate to use in their respective worlds.

Thought with all being said, you're probably wondering why the hell Otto and Tommy are here since they have no notable villains to speak of.

Well it's because The Syndicate have already conquer their respective worlds and are planning to make the inhabitants into cybernetic slaves.

And so, with our heroes united, they decide to head to Ocean Shores and Eucaipah (the All Grown Up! world) to free them first from The Syndicate's rule.

Upon arriving in Ocean Shores, they find the city to be particularly deserted.

But soon enough, they do manage to run into Twister and Sam.

The two reveal that the people of Ocean Shores have been captured by the Syndicate's troops and taken away.

Luckily, Twister and Sam were able to escape.

But the likes of Reggie, Raymundo, Tito and Noelani weren't so lucky....

And with the knowledge of The Syndicate planning on turning the residents into cybernetic slaves, the Nicktoons concur that there's some kind of base in this world where the process is bound to take place.

And so, our heroes decide to search around the city in order to find said base.

The world of Ocean Shores would consist of the following sub-areas:

The Cul-de-sac, Ocean Streets, Madtown, Rocket Beach, The Boardwalk, The Woods and The Town Dump.

And during their search, The Nicktoons find themselves fighting off Syndicate Bots resembling skateboarders, roller-skaters and surfers.

After some time, our heroes run into Eddie, who also escaped capture.

He reveals that the citizens of Ocean Shores have been taken to The Pier, which has been turned into factory.

And with that, The Nicktoons decide to head there.

The Pier Factory would sport a circus/carnival theming to it.

With Syndicate Bots resembling clowns constantly attacking you.

After fighting through the hordes of robo-clowns, our heroes eventually make it to the holding area where the citizens of Ocean Shores are being kept.

Before they can free them, The Nicktoons find themselves having to fight a robotic extreme sports star known Rad-Tron 3000 (who would be voiced by Rob Paulsen).

Rad-Tron attacks with four different modes.

Skateboard mode has him speeding all over the place on his board, all while ramming you his helmeted head.

Roller-skate mode is pretty similar to skateboard mode, but he attacks you with kicks and swings from a hockey stick.

Surfing mode has him ride a surfboard that can automatically create an actual wave of water.

And snowboard is pretty similar to surfing mode, but does it with a wave of snow that can slow down The Nicktoons.

Luckily, our heroes are able to defeat Rad-Tron and free the citizens of Ocean Shores.

And with Ocean Shore now free, they decide to head to Eucaipah next.

Upon arriving there, just like with Ocean Shores, they find the place completely deserted.

However, they would soon run into Chuckie and Susie, who reveal that same thing that happened in Ocean Shores happened to them as well, and that they were only ones who manage to avoid capture.

And so, our heroes head off to find where the citizens are being taken.

The areas of this world include:

The Pickles' House, The Neighborhood, Eucaipah Streets, Jim Jr. Junior High School, and The Mall.

The Nicktoons eventually find the factory, which is now where The Java Lava used to be.

The factory here has an overall fruit-theme to it, and the Syndicate Bots use special guns that shoot juice.

As for the boss here, it's a robotic fat guy known as The Juicer (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson).

He attacks with punches, charges, throwing large fruits, and shoot powerful streams of juice out of his mouth.

Luckily, our heroes defeat him and free the people of Eucaipah.

With that out of the way, The Nicktoons finally decided it's time to take on their villains.

Their first stop is Tremorton, so they can stop Vexus.

Upon arriving, they come across a shocking sight….

Cluster Prime flying high the above the city.

Soon enough, they find themselves surrounded by Cluster Drones.

Thanks to them, our heroes find out that with the help of The Syndicate, Vexus has reclaimed her throne as the ruler of Cluster Prime.

Along with overthrowing and imprisoning the current ruler (and her daughter) Vega in the process.

But she’s not the only one.

Vexus has also imprison Nora, Brad, Sheldon and Tuck.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, Vexus has also conquered all of Tremorton and are forcing the residents to work in the factory creating the Syndicate Bots.

And so, our heroes decide to first free Tremorton from the rule of The Cluster, fighting off Cluster Drones and Syndicate Bots along the way.

The areas of this world include:

Downtown, Tremorton High School, and The Neighborhood.

After defeating all the Drones and Bots and freeing the city, The Nicktoons decide to head to Cluster Prime to confront Vexus and free Jenny’s mother and friends.

Along the way, they fight themselves fighting even more Cluster Drones.

They even run into a mini-boss against Smytus and Krackus.

Krackus attacks with a electricity ray, and Smytus attacks with punches, ground pounds, flying charges, and when he enters his rage mode, claw slashes and shooting spikes.

After defeating those two, our heroes finally reach Vexus, who has her captives right next her and starts threatening their lives.

And soon enough, the battle begins.

For her boss fight, Vexus attacks with punches, kicks, ground smashes, flying charges, teleporting attacks and energy blasts.

After defeating her, Vexus declares that the Nicktoons may’ve stopped here, they still have the rest of The Syndicate to worry about, right before fleeing through a portal.

And with Tremorton, Cluster Prime, and Jenny’s loved ones now freed, The Nicktoons decided to head to Amity Park next to stop Vlad.

Some time later, the team land in Casper High…..or where it used to be.

As they immediately find out, Vlad tore down the school to make way for his new castle.

And he’s captured Danny’s parents Jack and Maddie, Mr. Lancer, and a few of Danny’s classmates such as Dash.

When The Nicktoons try to attack him on the spot, Vlad knocks them all out and banishes them to The Ghost Zone Prison, where they’ll have to deal with Walker.

When they wake up, our heroes find themselves in a prison cell.

Luckily, they manage to escape with some help from The Box Ghost.

And soon enough, they start making their way out the prison, fighting off ghost prison guards along the way.

But right when they’re about finally be free, Walker stops them.

And thus, a boss fight commences.

Walker attacks with punches, kicks, stomps, and ecto-energy beams that he shoots with finger guns.

After defeating him, The Nicktoons finally escape and soon find themselves traversing through The Ghost Zone, trying to find the ghost portal that leads into Fenton Works.

Along the way, they find themselves fighting off all kinds of ghosts.

This section of the game will essentially be a boss-rush, with our heroes having fight against several of Danny's foes.

This include Skulker, The Lunch Lady, Ember McClain, Sidney Poindexter, Technus, Desiree, Johnny 13 and The Dragon Ghost.

As for how each boss would play out.

Skulker attacks with claw slashes, kicks, flying swipes, laser beams and missiles.

The Lunch Lady attacks with charges, throwing fast giant balls of meat, and mini meat monsters.

Ember attacks with guitar swings, sound waves from playing her guitar, and shooting fireballs from her hair.

Sidney attacks with eye beams, ink squirts from his pen, and telekinetically hurling rocks.

Technus (using his robot armor seen in Attack of the Killer Garage Sale and Prisoners of Love) attacks with ground slams, electrical blasts and mechanical tendrils.

Desiree attacks with enlarged fists, energy blasts, and various elemental blasts (fire, ice, wind and electricity)

Johnny 13 attacks with punches, kicks, chain whip strikes, ramming into you with his bike, and commanding his Shadow to attack.

And The Dragon Ghost fights with claw slashes, stomps, tail swipes and fire breath.

After defeating then all, The Nicktoons finally escape The Ghost Zone and make it to Fenton Works.

A short while later, our heroes meet up with Sam, Tucker and Jazz in the Amity Streets.

The trio reveal that they found a way into Vlad's Castle, that being a short-cut through The Graveyard.

And so, The Nicktoons head off to their destination, fighting Syndicate Bots resembling skeletons, vampires and zombies along the way.

But along the way, they actually gain a temporary ally in the form of Valerie, who's also trying to stop Vlad.

Although she refuses at first, she does eventually accept The Nicktoons' help (albeit begrudgingly since they do have the ghost she hates the most as a member of their team).

Valerie herself fights with charges on her hoverboard, her Ecto-Grenade Launcher, ecto guns and missiles.

Upon returning to the castle, the heroes destroy the generators that Vlad's been using to harness the ghost energy from The Ghost Zone.

And soon enough, The Nicktoons finally confront Vlad again in his throne room.

For his boss fight, Vlad attacks with punches, kicks, ecto-energy rays, and duplicates of himself.

He also teleports all over the place and crafts an energy shield around himself sometimes, which Danny will have to use Jack to break through.

After defeating him, Vlad flees through a portal.

And after freeing Danny's close ones, The Nicktoons end up doing the same thing when Jack, Maddie and Valerie decide to jump Danny.

And so, with Amity Park now free, the heroes decide to head to Pupununu next to stop Tlaloc.

Upon arriving in the Pupununu Village, The Nicktoons find out that the villagers have been turned into sheep once again.

Luckily, with the combined magic of Tak and Cosmo & Wanda, they're able to return about half of the village back to normal, including Jibola and Lok.

Thanks to Jibola, the heroes find out that Tlaloc is planning to steal the Tikis in order to summon the Jujus.

And upon doing so, he would instantly capture them and use a special generator to extract their magical energy.

And so, The Nicktoons find themselves having to retrieve the Tikis of Dead Juju, Dinky, Caged Juju, Two-Headed Juju, Belly Juju and Mind-Reading Juju.

This race against time will take our team to The Burial Grounds, Dryrock Canyon, Gloomleaf Swamp, Chicken Island, Wetstone Lake, and Gyre Mountain.

Along the way, they'll be accompanied by Flora and Fauna.

Flora fights with nature energy blasts, whirlwinds, leafy wind blasts and vines that sprout out of the ground and either hit or grab enemies.

Fauna fights by turning into different animals. These include a rhino, an orangutan, a ram, a bear, a boar, a crocodile, a jaguar, a eagle, a python, and an elephant.

And over the course of their journey in this world, The Nicktoons find themselves dealing with Syndicate Bots resembling monkeys, emus, sharks, tigers, alligators, wild dogs and wolves.

Along with some Nerbils.

But unfortunately, everytime, they end up being too late as the Tikis end up getting swiped by Pins and Needles.

Eventually, The Nicktoons head to Tlaloc's lair, The Dark Temple.

There, they find the summoned Jujus, including The Moon Juju, who was captured first via Tlaloc stealing the Moonstones like before, having their energy extracted.

Luckily, our heroes manage to free them and destroy the generators harnessing their energy.

And soon enough, they confront Tlaloc.

Tlaloc attacks with dark magic blasts, lightning bolts, summoning giant thorny tendrils, and casting spells that temporarily turn our heroes into animals.

After defeating him, Tlaloc flees through a portal.

With Jujus now freed and being able to return the rest of the Pupununu people back to normal, The Nicktoons decide to make The Four Nations their next stop in order to stop Zuko.

They arrive at The Southern Air Temple, where they run into Sokka, Momo and Appa.

Sokka reveals that Zuko's crew has kidnapped Katara and the three of them have trying to chase them down.

And with the knowledge of The Syndicate wanting to obtain earthbending to power their Doomsday Machine, our heroes decide to head to both Omashu and The Earth Kingdom Village to save the earthbenders there, namely Bumi and Haru.

Along the way, they find themselves fighting Syndicate-Bots that resemble Eastern dragons and Fire Nation soldiers.

And you would expect, Sokka serves as our ally for this world.

He fights with swings from his club and throws from his boomerang.

Along the way, they also fight against Zhao in Omashu.

He attacks with fiery blasts, fire circles and fire fists.

Unfortunately, the heroes end up too late both times as Zuko's crew manage to take all the earthbenders away.

But not all hope is lost, as while in The Earth Kingdom Village, they received a mysterious note revealing that Katara, Bumi, Haru and the rest of the earthbenders have been taken to The Fire Temple on Crescent Island.

(We would later find out that this note was sent by Iroh)

And so, our heroes head there to free the captives.

After freeing Katara and the earthbenders and destroying the generators, The Nicktoons finally confront Zuko.

Zuko fights with blazing rings, fire fists, fire knives, fire blades, fire streams, fire lashes, and fire walls.

After defeating him, Zuko flees through portal.

With Katara and the earthbenders now free, The Nicktoons head to The Bikini Bottom next to take on Plankton.

Upon arriving at Conch Street, they find the place completely deserted.

And soon enough, they find themselves surrounded by Syndicate-Bots resembling octopuses, eels and barracuda.

Luckily, Sandy comes to help them out.

Sandy fights with punches, kicks, karate chops and lasso grapples & throws.

After going through The Bikini Streets and rendezvousing at The Krusty Krab, Sandy reveals that Plankton has imprisoned the people of The Bikini Bottom, kidnapped Mr. Krabs and has been using jellyfish capturing harvesters to extract their electrical stinging power.

Luckily, she's been trying to take down the harvesters alongside a small resistance she's built.

Soon enough, she sends our heroes to Jellyfish Fields to destroy the harvesters and meet up with the two agents she sent.

Those agents being Patrick and Squidward (who was forced to accompany Patrick).

Unfortunately, the duo end up getting sucked up by one of the harvesters.

Aftering destroying the harvesters and going through Kelp Forest, our heroes find themselves in The Ship Graveyard, where they encounter The Flying Dutchman, who plans on making them his crew for all eternity.

Luckily, Danny persuades him to let them go in exchange for bringing back his old crewmates, which he accepts.

After retrieving all his crewmates, The Flying Dutchman let's our heroes go.

A short while later, they arrive at The Chum Bucket, where they free Patrick, Squidward and the jellyfish, and destroy the generators harnessing the jellyfishes' sting.

And soon enough, they confront Plankton on the roof on his restaurant.

Plankton attacks with a giant robotic crab, which performs swings with its claws, ground slams, and shoots powerful streams of water.

After defeating Plankton, he flees through a portal.

And so, after freeing Mr. Krabs, The Nicktoons head to Dimmsdale to stop Crocker.

Upon arriving there, they find out that Dimmsdale Elementary has been torn down and replaced with a golden fortress built by Crocker.

Soon enough, our heroes find themselves making their way through Crocker's Fortress in order to shut down the power, all while dealing Syndicate Bots resembling elves, pixies and Anti-Fairies.

Along the way, they also free some of the residents of Dimmsdale, who were enslaved by Crocker.

These include the likes of Mr and Mrs. Turner, Chester and AJ, and Trixie Tang.

After doing all that, the heroes finally decided to head to Fairy World to free the fairies and destroyed the generators harnessing their magic.

Along the way, they receive an ally in the form of Jorgen von Strangle.

He attacks with punches, kicks, ground slams and swings from his massive wand.

After that's all done, our heroes finally confront Crocker at The Big Wand.

Crocker attacks with a flying exosuit, which performs punches, flying charges, and magical energy blasts.

After defeating Crocker, he flees through a portal.

A short while later, The Nicktoons finally return back to Retroville.

Jimmy deduces that they need to go the base of The Syndicate and stop them once and for all.

Only problem: they have no clue where it is.

Also, they run into Cindy, who reveals that The Syndicate have also taken over Retroville.

However, their prayers would be answered when Jimmy discovers the Goddard has flea-bots on him, which he deduces that Calamitous had them placed on Goddard in order to spy on Jimmy, hench how he was able to know about the Universal Portal Machine.

And so, our heroes shrink themselves on got onto Goddard and find the main flea-bot.

After battling through swarms of flea-bots, they find the main flea-bot, defeat it, and uses it circuitry to locate Calamitous' lair.

Soon, our heroes make their way through the lair (fighting off all the Syndicate Bots they did before) and finally confront The Syndicate, who proceeded to activate the Doomsday Machine.

Their boss fight has the group constantly switch between member and shooting at The Nicktoons.

Each of the villains' respective dome have some kind of special projectile.

Calamitous shoots electricity, Plankton shoots water, Crocker shoots magical energy stars, Vlad shoots ecto-energy, Vexus shoots energy blasts, Tlaloc shoots dark magic, and Zuko shoots fire.

Luckily, the heroes manage to take down each of the domes' generators, taking down the domes and allowing them to defeat The Syndicate.

A short while later, The Nicktoons have turned Calamitous into the authorities and have trapped each of their respective villains.

Plankton's stuck in a pickle jar.

Crocker's trapped in a Hypercube.

Vlad's been stuffed into the Fenton Thermos.

Vexus has been deactivated and turned into pieces.

Tlaloc's been turned back into a sheep again.

And Zuko's been frozen solid.

And so, our heroes bid each other farewell and return to their respective worlds.

But not before Jimmy gives each of them a Neutronic Recaller, in case something like this happens again.

Playable Characters:

SpongeBob SquarePants:

-Light Attack: A triple karate chop.

-Heavy Attack: A roundhouse kick.

-Grab and Throw: An elastic grab and toss.

-Trip: A sweep kick.

-Stun: A double-handed smack.

-Pop-Up: A high kick.

-Aerial Attack: A drop kick.

-Block: Holding foam-gloved hands out in front.

-Dodge: A roll.

-Ground Slam: An upside-down head smash.

-Double Jump: No.

Special Attacks:

-Chops of Fury: Unleashes a flurry of karate chops onto enemies.

-Water Shoot: Soaks up water whenever they're standing in a body of it and shoots it out as a powerful stream.

-Bubble Bomb: Crafts a solid bubble and when thrown, explodes on impact.

-SpongeBall: Morphs into a ball and bounces all over the place, doing more damage with each drop.

-Jellyfish Swing: Swings a jellyfish net at enemies, trapping them in the process.

-Doodlebob Lure: Uses magical pencil to create Doodlebob, who attacks enemies on sight.

Boosts:

-Kar-Rah-Tay Fury: Taps into heart of karate, increase the damage done by his attacks.

-Bubble Barrier: Crafts bubble shields around himself and allies, decreasing damage taken.

Passive Skills:

-Spongy Skin: Increases all resistances, along with granting a natural increase in attack and defense.

-FUN Mastery: Increases damage and chances for criticals done by FUN attacks.

-Kar-Rah-Tay Master: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by melee attacks.

-Sailor's Eye: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by ranged attacks.

-Parachute Pants: Grants the ability to glide via inflated pants.

Super Attack:

-Wipe Out: Absorbs a massive amount of water, jumps into the air and performs a ground slam, unleashing water all over the place, washing enemies away.

Jimmy Neutron:

-Light Attack: A triple laser saber slash.

-Heavy Attack: A dashing laser saber slash.

-Grab and Throw: Goddard rushes in, grabs an enemy with his mouth and throws them.

-Trip: A sweep kick.

-Stun: An electric discharge sent by watch.

-Pop-Up: An upward laser saber slash.

-Aerial Attack: A downward laser saber stab.

-Block: Crafts an energy shield around himself.

-Dodge: A side-step.

-Ground Slam: A smash with the Neutronized Baseball Bat.

-Double Jump: No.

Special Attacks:

-Tornado Blaster: Uses a special gun that shoots a powerful whirlwind, sucking enemies up and throwing them into the air.

-Neutron Flare: Shoots a flare from a repulsor cannon that sets enemies ablaze.

-Quarterback Gear: Uses a football helmet to charge into enemies, knocking them down in the process.

-Hey Batta Batta!: Delivers a powerful swing with his Neutronized Baseball Bat.

-Shrink Ray: Uses Shrink Ray to shrink enemies down, lowering their defenses.

-Plant Attack: Sics the Girl-Eating Plant onto enemies.

-Brain Drain: Uses the Brain Drain 8000 to confuse enemies, lowering their defenses.

Boosts:

-Speed Up: Uses Speed Shoes to increase his movement and attack speed.

-Energy Barricade: Crafts energy shields for himself and the entire team, decreasing damage taken.

Passive Skills:

-Brain Boost: Increases all resistances, along with granting a natural increase in attack and defense.

-Tech Mastery: Increases damage and chances for criticals done by tech attacks.

-Laser Fighter: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by melee attacks.

-Genius Sight: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by ranged attacks.

-Jet Pack: Grants the ability to fly via Jet Pack.

Super Attack:

-Think Big: Uses the Shrink Ray to make himself giant, and proceeds to stomp all over the place.

Timmy Turner:

-Light Attack: A triple Cosmo Hammer swing.

-Heavy Attack: A Cosmo Hammer smash.

-Grab and Throw: Wanda turns into a giant hand, grabs an enemy and throws them.

-Trip: A sweep kick.

-Stun: An magical blast sent by Wanda.

-Pop-Up: An upward Cosmo Hammer swing.

-Aerial Attack: A downward Cosmo Hammer swing.

-Block: Crafts an magical shield around himself.

-Dodge: A side-step.

-Ground Slam: A smash with Cosmo Hammer.

-Double Jump: Yes.

Special Attacks:

-Star Flinger: Wanda turns into a special cannon that shoots magical energy stars.

-Freeze Wand: Uses a special wand that freezes enemies, bodies of water, and makes bridges.

-Magical Blast: Shoots a blast of magical energy from his eyes.

-Egg Bomb: Throws an Easter egg, exploding on impact.

-Magic Floss: Uses Magic Floss to lasso, swing around, and throw enemies.

-Magic Chucks: Cosmo and Wanda turn into a pair of nunchunks, which Timmy uses to unleashes a flurry of swings onto enemies.

-Pinata Smash: Has Cosmo and Wanda turn enemies into pinatas, with the possibility of containing goods.

Boosts:

-Cleft the Boy-Chin Wonder: Turns into his famous alter-ego, allowing him to attack enemies with punches, kicks and the Cleft-Arm.

-Crash Nebula: Changes into the costumes of one of his favorite heroes, allowing him to attack enemies with a laser gun and a laser cannon, along with granting the ability of flight.

Passive Skills:

-Godchild's Luck: Increases all resistances, along with granting a natural increase in attack and defense.

-Magic Mastery: Increases damage and chances for criticals done by magic attacks.

-Hammer Time: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by melee attacks.

-Star Struck: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by ranged attacks.

-Remedy: 40% chance that Timmy will have Cosmo and Wanda revive a fallen ally.

Super Attack:

-Balloon Bash: Has Cosmo and Wanda summon a whole bunch of balloons, which then explode all over the place.

Otto Rocket:

-Light Attack: A triple punch.

-Heavy Attack: A roundhouse kick with rollerblades.

-Grab and Throw: A simple pull and push.

-Trip: A sweep kick.

-Stun: A double-handed smack.

-Pop-Up: An upward hockey stick swing.

-Aerial Attack: A downward hockey stick swing.

-Block: Immediately puts on hockey gear and holds hands out in front.

-Dodge: A side-step.

-Ground Slam: A smash with hockey stick.

-Double Jump: Yes.

Special Attacks:

-Skate Strike: Performs a double-kick with his skateboard.

-Hockey Bash: Performs a straight of swings with hockey stick.

-Surf's Up: Rides on a surfboard, knocking down enemies in the process.

-Pucker Up: Launches hockey pucks at enemies.

-Snow Surf: Rides on a snowboard, freezing any enemies he hits.

-Alley Oop: Jumps into the air and spikes down a basketball at enemies below.

Boosts:

-Skate Speed: Rides on rollerblades to increase movement and attack speed.

-Safety Gear: Puts on skating gear, decreasing damage taken.

Passive Skills:

-Pro Skater: Increases chances of dodging attacks, along with granting a natural increase in attack and defense.

-Sports Mastery: Increases damage and chances for criticals done by sport attacks.

-Rocket Bash: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by melee attacks.

-Eye Coordination: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by ranged attacks.

Super Attack:

-Rocket Rush: Skates all over the place, ramming into and knocking down enemies.

Tommy Pickles:

-Light Attack: A triple screwdriver baton swing.

-Heavy Attack: A double-handed screwdriver baton wack.

-Grab and Throw: A simple pull and push.

-Trip: A sweep kick.

-Stun: A screwdriver baton smack.

-Pop-Up: An upward screwdriver baton swing.

-Aerial Attack: A downward screwdriver baton swing.

-Block: Pulls out a textbook and holds it out in front.

-Dodge: A side-step.

-Ground Slam: A smash with screwdriver baton.

-Double Jump: Yes.

Special Attacks:

-Baton Batter: Repeatedly swings his screwdriver baton at enemies.

-Blinding Shot: Uses camera to temporarily blind and stun enemies.

-Reptar Bike: Rides on a Reptar-themed bike and rams into enemies.

-Soda Shooter: Shoots enemies with a special water gun full of soda.

-Rope Whip: Whips enemies with a jump rope.

-Soda Bomb: Launches a shaken bottle of soda, which explodes upon impact.

Boosts:

-Reptar Rush: Rides around on Reptar Bike to increase movement and attack speed.

-Movie Director: Uses camera to film and distract enemies, lowering their defenses.

Passive Skills:

-Determination: Increases all resistances, along with granting a natural increase in attack and defense.

-Gadget Mastery: Increases damage and chances for criticals done by gadget attacks.

-Screwdrive: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by melee attacks.

-Carbonated Crush: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by ranged attacks.

Super Attack:

-Reptar Fire: Rides around the Reptar Bike while it breaths fire all over the place.

Jenny Wakeman:

-Light Attack: A triple punch.

-Heavy Attack: A roundhouse kick.

-Grab and Throw: An Extension Arms grab and toss.

-Trip: A sweep kick.

-Stun: A double-handed smack.

-Pop-Up: A high kick.

-Aerial Attack: A drop kick.

-Block: Holds out the Poppin' Shield.

-Dodge: A side-step.

-Ground Slam: An double-handed ground smash.

-Double Jump: No.

Special Attacks:

-Laser Blaster: Morphs arm into a blaster and shoots at enemies.

-Shiva Swords: Grows more four arms, places scimitars in each one, and rapidly slashes enemies.

-Fire Blaster: Shoots fire from a cannon via her arm, setting enemies ablaze.

-Ice Blaster: Shoots ice from a cannon via her arm, freezing enemies.

-Turbine Hair: Turns her pigtails into massive turbines, blowing enemies away.

-Thunder Fist: Morphs her hand into a giant flail and smashes enemies with it.

-Buzz Saws: Morphs hands into buzz saws and slashes enemies with it.

Boosts:

-Fists of Fury: Makes her fists much bigger and spikier, increasing attack damage.

-Rocket Blades: Morphs her feet into rocket-powered roller blades, increasing her attack speed.

Passive Skills:

-Adolescent Android: Increases all resistances, along with granting a natural increase in attack and defense.

-Weapons Mastery: Increases damage and chances for criticals done by weapon attacks.

-Titanium Tank: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by melee attacks.

-Precise Aim: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by ranged attacks.

-Mechanical Might: Grants the ability to lift and move heavy objects.

-Robotic Flight: Grants the ability to fly.

Super Attack:

-Heavy Artillery: Unleashes a barrage of lasers and missiles all over the place.

Danny Phantom:

-Light Attack: A triple punch.

-Heavy Attack: A roundhouse kick.

-Grab and Throw: An simple grab and throw.

-Trip: A sweep kick.

-Stun: A double-handed smack.

-Pop-Up: An uppercut.

-Aerial Attack: A drop kick.

-Block: Crafts an ecto-energy shield around himself.

-Dodge: A phasing side-step.

-Ground Slam: An double-handed ground smash.

-Double Jump: No.

Special Attacks:

-Ecto-Strike: Channels ecto-energy all over his body and delivers a flurry of punches and kicks, doing more damage with each one.

-Ghostly Ray: Blasts a ray of ectoplasmic energy.

-Creepy Charge: Delivers a flying headbutt at enemies, knocking them back.

-Fenton Thermos: Uses the Fenton Thermos to suck enemies up and spit them out.

-Overshadow: Takes over the body of any nearby enemy, gaining their abilities.

-Ecto-Ball: Throws a massive ball of ecto-energy, which explodes upon impact.

-Frightful Flames: Throws green fireballs at enemies, setting them ablaze.

Boosts:

-Disappear: Makes himself and allies invisible, increasing their defenses due to most enemies not being able to detect them.

-Phase Shift: Makes himself intangible, allowing him to go through walls.

Passive Skills:

-Halfa Physiology: Increases chances of dodging attacks, along with granting a natural increase in attack and defense.

-Ghost Mastery: Increases damage and chances for criticals done by ghost attacks.

-Phantom Pummel: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by melee attacks.

-Ectoplasmic Eye: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by ranged attacks.

-Paranormal Power: Grants the ability to lift and move heavy objects.

-Ghostly Flight: Grants the ability to fly.

Super Attack:

-Ghostly Wail: Unleashes powerful waves of ecto-energy via a scream.

Tak:

-Light Attack: A triple staff swing.

-Heavy Attack: A double-handed staff wack.

-Grab and Throw: A simple pull and push.

-Trip: A sweep kick.

-Stun: A magical discharge.

-Pop-Up: An upward staff swing.

-Aerial Attack: A downward staff swing.

-Block: Crafts a magical shield around himself.

-Dodge: A roll.

-Ground Slam: A smash with staff.

-Double Jump: No.

Special Attacks:

-Juju Blast: Shoots a beam of juju magic.

-Thunder Strike: Summons lightning to strike enemies.

-Juju Bolts: Shoots multiple beams of juju magic at enemies.

-Jaguar Claw: Summons a giant claw to strike enemies.

-Juju Slam: Jumps high into the air and comes back down, delivering a powerful shockwave of juju magic.

-Dragon Breath: Breaths fire, setting enemies ablaze.

-Piranha Swarm: Summons a swarm a magical piranhas to attack enemies.

Boosts:

-Crazy Feet: Uses juju magic to increase the attack and movement speed of himself and his allies.

-Restoration Spell: Uses juju magic to heal himself and allies.

Passive Skills:

-Pupununu Power: Increases all resistances, along with granting a natural increase in attack and defense.

-Juju Mastery: Increases damage and chances for criticals done by juju attacks.

-Staff of Dreams: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by melee attacks.

-Juju Sight: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by ranged attacks.

-Glider Cape: Grants the ability to glide via cape.

Super Attack:

-Juju Surge: Unleashes a massive shockwave of juju magic across the battlefield.

Avatar Aang:

-Light Attack: A triple staff swing.

-Heavy Attack: A double-handed staff wack.

-Grab and Throw: A simple pull and push.

-Trip: A sweep kick.

-Stun: A light gust of air.

-Pop-Up: An upward staff swing.

-Aerial Attack: A downward staff swing.

-Block: Crafts a windy barrier around himself.

-Dodge: A side-step.

-Ground Slam: A smash with staff.

-Double Jump: No.

Special Attacks:

-Air Ball: Hurls a powerful ball of air at enemies.

-Air Scooter: Rides on a ball of air, running down any enemies in his way.

-Air Blast: Sends a powerful gust of wind towards enemies.

-Air Cyclone: Creates a whirlwind that sucks up enemies and sends them flying.

-Water Whip: Whips enemies with a think stream of water.

-Ice Spear: Hurls a long icy shard.

-Water Wave: Rides on a wave, knocking down enemies.

Boosts:

-Air Shield: Crafts windy barriers around himself and allies, decreasing taken damage.

-Ice Shield: Crafts icy barriers around himself and allies, decreasing taken damage.

Passive Skills:

-Avatar Spirit: Increases chances of dodging attacks, along with granting a natural increase in attack and defense.

-Airbending Mastery: Increases damage and chances for criticals done by airbending attacks.

-Waterbending Mastery: Increases damage and chances for criticals done by waterbending attacks.

-Airbending Staff: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by melee attacks.

-Air Aim: Increases damage done and chances for criticals done by ranged attacks.

-Glider Staff: Grants the ability to glide via staff.

Super Attack:

Avatar State: Goes into the Avatar State and unleashes massive amounts of wind and water all over the battlefield.

Well that was Nicktoons Unite: Rewritten!

I really had fun making this one.

Expanding the story and adding more characters and worlds to explore.

You can't tell me this doesn't sound this would be the coolest thing to check out in 2005!

Anyway, let me know what you guys think about it.

And if you could, and me some ideas for the sequels.

Note: Also, I really hope that @nicktoonsunite sees this! I would really like their feedback on this.

[mimomentomori]

Thoughts/Theories for Arcane Season 2 Act 2: Jayvik centered

Potential spoilers so read under the cut if you've watched Act 1!

To recap, at the end of Act 1 we see Jayce, Heimer and Ekko all get messed around with by the Wild Rune, causing anything linked to the Arcane to glitch out and malfunction. Based on the visuals and what we know about the characters it's likely those three will be scattered across time and space to different degrees;

Ekko will be gone long enough to be considered dead by the Firelights but return with his time powers to deal with the final confrontation with Noxus.

Heimer may be tossed back in time to confront his past trauma and be key in getting he and Ekko back to their correct time.

Jayce... He's gonna have the hardest time. He attacked the Wild Rune with the hammer which caused a massive reaction, so as a result he may be the one separated and lost in the Arcane dimension the longest. Based on the new Arcane Survivor Skin preview and the sneak peaks we got in both the newest teaser for Act 2, he'll most likely be stuck in this dimension for an undetermined amount of time, enough that it will affect his hammer directly and fuse the arcane shard in his cuff to his skin. The question is, how does he get out?

I think Viktor will be the key to his escape. Viktor, as we saw in his last scene in Act 1, is now inherently connected to the Arcane and by extension the Void given that he was fused with the Shimmer-tainted Hexcore. His continued use of the Arcane to heal his new followers will continue to destabilise the barrier between the realm of the Arcane and the material plane, but it could also potentially save Jayce.

If we're sticking with the Jesus/religious leader angle, Viktor was already shown to be having visions since he first coughed blood down into the matrix leading to the Hexcore's creation. After being fused with the Hexcore and by extension granted direct connection to the Arcane, he's been shown to be guided by 'Sky,' or at least a memory/fraction of her that now currently exists within the Hexcore and the Arcane.

My theory is, the more he settles into his new role and newfound connection to the Arcane, I think he'll start having visions of Jayce in the Arcane dimension and endeavour to get him out. While 'affection kept them together,' I think it's more than that now. They built hextech and the gates together, and with Jayce now directly affected and trapped by the Arcane they have a mystic connection to each other through the Hexcore. Despite their abrupt and bitter parting, I think seeing the main object of his affection trapped in such a state and clearly not yet fused to it like Sky is, he'll extend his power to get Jayce out.

Inevitably, this would lead to a potential clash/confrontation over both men's involvement of destabilising the Arcane in Zaun and Piltover... But I think in the end they will always do what they feel is right to save eachother.

I also want to add real quick that Ekko's criticism of how the Hexgates were built to send all runoff and potential fall out to the Undercity is valid and a gross oversight on Jayce's part, Viktor being from the Underground would have had to have a say in its design too so he will have possibly overlooked or felt confident this detail would be unlikely as well. Jayce and Viktor were partners on the project despite Jayce being the face of it; i.e. they're both responsible for what happened with the corruption and the Wild Rune.

With time being a key theme being shown in both the opening credits and how Ekko operates, it's looking like the theory that Viktor is the mage that saves young Jayve and Zimmena may be more likely than we think. But at the same time, even though we see in Viktor's new poster that he is able to thrive for some time, the plants that they experimented in did eventually wither and this may be a problem for Viktor as the next two acts progress.

Whether this means Viktor accepts or defies this rot to be in line with League Lore... I'm putting my faith in the writers on that one.

Let me know your thoughts!

[radiance1]

Alicorn parole au.

So, Billy Batson managed to successfully make friends with the two alicorns he kinda walked in on and learned their names. Pariah and Clockwork, he doesn't know how long they've been here but he knows that they're probably really old, like he pretends to be when he's Captain Marvel.

He doesn't tell them he's Shazam or the campion of magic though since they only just met, and it is a secret. Though he did have to leave to go back after he lost track of time and it is almost time for the field trip to end and he doesn't want to get left behind.

Clockwork gently nudge Pariah to go along with the boy, which confused Pariah since the boy already made to them without injury so he could obviously make it back. Except he's lost and Pariah realizes Clockwork wants him to guide the boy instead of protect.

Which he could do.

So he walks with the boy, and Billy found the silence pretty awkward so he talks to fill the silence. It's mostly a one-sided conversation and Billy felt like he was talking to a wall not going to lie, and he realizes that Pariah is listening, very intently in fact, about everything Billy is saying. Most of which was school stuff, then slowly changed to superhero stuff, Billy stops talking for a while when he realizes that maybe he's saying much more than a bystander should know and it would risk his identity.

But then it's okay because Pariah, genuinely, doesn't know anything about this world or its inhabitants.

Then he just, disappeared after Billy found one of his classmates and went back to Clockwork.

Billy then finds himself going back to visit his new friends, mostly when he had nothing to do, he memorized the way so it was pretty easy. Pariah keeps grumbling about how and why this mortal child could keep finding and passing through his barrier, which Clockwork chuckles at.

Clockwork, he finds, offers varying amounts of wisdom out of blue, wisdom that Billy does find himself using actually. Nor does he seem surprised when anything happens and just easily going with the flow more bemused than anything (a perk of being an all-knowing watcher of timelines for eons is that most things don't surprise you) while Pariah seems to be ready for a fight at a moments notice and seems to really want one.

One moment he's calm and composed, like Royality. The next he's acting like a warlord ready for a battle at the drop of a hat.

Overall, they act pretty different despite being of the same species (at least he's pretty sure they are).

A while after meeting them, Billy is given a piece of paper by Clockwork that Billy is supposed to rip apart in case of an emergency and both of them would come to his aid. Which he thought was nice, but he knew he probably wasn't ever going to use it since he's Shazam!

He still kept it though.

He never thought he would've had to use it, but his class being held hostage while on a field trip to Gotham city of all places was not something he expected. Nor did he even have an opportunity to turn into Shazam without risking his identity, and his teacher was at risk of death while trying to buy time for Batman or any of the birds to come and save them really.

So, he rips the paper.

He realizes two things that day.

One, his friend Pariah just might be (or was) an actual Warlord out for his enemies' blood and two, Batman's questioning glare is still scary no matter if he were Shazam or not.

[sometimesijustfeellikescreaming]

Apparently, Boot Camp Doesn't Have Lessons in Subtlety

Rating: T - Word Count: 3.5k

Read on Ao3

SUMMARY:

Benny DeMarco doesn't get paid enough to sleep in the same barrack as the Bucks at the POW camp in the winter months once everyone has to start sharing bunks…

Buck and Bucky are sharing a bunk and let's just say they are not subtle about anything that is going on in that bed. If anyone was oblivious to the feelings going on between the two of them before, it's never been more obvious than now.

Benny DeMarco is pretty over it, but he'll also defend them to his dying breath. Oh, and he's taken to gossiping about them with John Brady.

OR

A companion fic to my 5+1 Clegan bedsharing fic In your arms (I think I might survive) giving a humorous outsider perspective from the men of the 100th and those sharing the barrack with Buck and Bucky.

Benny DeMarco does not get paid enough to put up with petty shit in life. Specifically, the Bucks. Specifically how not subtle they are about their obvious feelings for each other.

God, could they be more obvious?

It was obvious from the moment Bucky came walking in the gates asking if Buck made it. Sure, the two were best friends and that was a normal question, but anyone who has eyes could've seen the way Bucky's whole demeanor changed once he caught sight of his "best friend."

Best friends my ass.

Best something, though, that's for sure.

It's usually not horribly distracting or overt, though. They pass as friends most of the time unless Bucky is drunk, Benny supposes, or they're arguing in which case they act like a goddamn married couple. They fly under the radar pretty easily at the prisoner-of-war camp for that reason. No danger, really. The Nazis would have their heads for any kind of association. Everyone knows how the Germans feel about that sort of thing. It's not spoken about. Hell, most people everywhere don't look too kindly on it, but DeMarco's not the kind of man who thinks somebody should be murdered because of the way they're living their life. It's not like some happiness in another person is worthy of the death sentence. That's just madness. And Buck and Bucky are some of DeMarco's best friends, he could never feel hatred toward them.

Annoyance? So much. And in increasing amounts...

See, they were fine until it got cold at night then Benny is certain everyone in the whole of their Barracks became painfully aware of the fact that they were painfully in love with each other because — goddamn it — they were sleeping in the same bunk and if it wasn’t obvious before that the two were hopelessly smitten with each other, well, after that it certainly was.

For one thing, Buck Cleven has the worst case of puppy dog eyes that Benny has ever seen. He’s had it bad for a while now (since before Benny went down and was still back at base) with his little soft smiles that he thinks he hides so well and mostly (mostly!) only gives Bucky when he’s not looking — but everyone else is.

LORD give him strength.

And then there’s Bucky.

That man antagonizes the fuck out of Buck at any given chance and Benny doesn’t even think he realizes it. And the worst thing is they both seem to like it. It’s the strangest thing and Benny is sure that this is their way of flirting.

Which is entirely infuriating because it’s the most annoying thing in the universe to be around.

Bucky’s antics only increase once they start sharing a bunk, and Benny’s not sure if it has more to do with his close proximity to Buck or his general cabin fever due to the German winter at the Stalag. Whatever the cause, Bucky is incorrigible, and his behavior at times is nigh impossible to deal with. Though, Benny has to admit, the moments of levity do bring several of the other men out of their low moments more often than not, himself included, so he can’t fault Bucky too much for his attitude. Even when he pisses Benny off, he is a light in the dark camp.

Still makes Benny want to punch him in the face half the time, but in a brotherly way.

And if the two of them are bad during the daytime, that’s nothing compared to how transparent they are when they’re actually snuggled together at night.

Now, Benny’s not an idiot. It’s winter. Even he is sharing a bunk. It’s cold as fuck outside and even he understands the necessity to shove aside pride and get in close quarters with a buddy for the foreseeable future. But, the Bucks have taken this situation and turned it into a nightly slumber party.

After the lights turn out they stay up whispering and giggling with each other like a couple of school girls. He’s convinced if their hair grew out long enough while they were here in the camp, the two of them would spend the nights braiding each other’s.

It’s not like Benny is especially complaining that they’re talking. They’re not that loud; he can’t even tell what they’re saying and he’s not sure anyone could even those in the bunks closest to them (though, the men in the bunks above and below them soon found themselves migrating away due to the way the Bucks consistently stayed up talking at night— nobody wanted to be in their bubble. They were a whole world unto themselves. Again— not subtle). So, it’s not the volume that bothers Benny about their conversations at night. It’s not even really that he’s bothered. It’s just that, really? It’s every night. And maybe Benny can admit to being just a little jealous because it’s not like he has a best friend here. Or anyone to talk to. Not that he would really want someone so important to him to be experiencing the Stalag alongside him, but it’s significant that in a place like this, the Bucks have each other. They seem to be holding together better individually because they have one another.

It pisses Benny off as much as anything else does. It’s not rational, but it makes their voices carrying across the room at night irritate him. He tries not to let it get to him because it’s not fair that them having a sliver of happiness should make him feel that way, but he’s just a man.

He starts to get over it when he starts gossiping with John Brady who is in another barrack, but also from the 100th and knows as well as he does what it is to know the Bucks.

“Brady, you have no idea— Bucky has it so bad. Yesterday we were all sitting around shootin’ the shit after lunch and— I swear to god— Buck gave him this look like he was being an idiot — because he was — and Bucky just leaned in real close to him like none of the rest of us were even there, face almost touching, no sense of personal space whatsoever—“

“Well, hey, it’s not like Bucky’s ever been good at personal space with his buddies much anyway—"

“Yeah, but usually he’s drunk. But listen to this next bit. Bucky leans in real close to Buck, fully sober, grinning like an idiot, and says ‘I could show you a thing or two.’” Benny lets it hang in the air, waiting for Brady’s response. He has his hands splayed in a well? gesture. Brady’s eyebrows fly up and he leans toward Benny in interest.

“You were all talking about baseball, right? But still, that is… very not subtle. A blatant flirtation.”

“I know.”

“Buck must know that too, right?”

“Please, Buck is always flirting with Bucky. He just does it differently. That man is not subtle either.” Brady seems confused by that, not convinced.

“Wait, what do you mean, I’ve never seen him flirt with anyone. Doesn’t he have a girl back home he’s writing to? I thought they were pretty serious!”

Benny makes a placating gesture and leans back in his chair. “I’m not saying he’s not serious with his girl back home or anything, but the way he makes eyes at Bucky is not a made-up thing. And anyone who’s ever read the Bible knows a man can have more than one lover.”

“Benny!”

“I’m just saying…”

But the thing is, the Bucks really aren’t subtle. Like, at all.

And if Bucky thinks he’s quiet in any sense of the word then he’s a damn fool.

Buck may be able to keep quiet most of the time in the daylight, being that he keeps mostly to himself and is pretty private, not saying too much, and isn’t overtly given to random outbursts of sound. But Bucky? Bucky is the pure opposite of Buck. In the daytime, he’s impulsive and will make stray comments on any conversation whether he’s a part of it or not, whether it’s appropriate or not. The only time Benny has ever seen Bucky hold his tongue is when it’s in a professional capacity in front of a superior officer, and even then half the time Bucky is mouthing back and risking his career.

To say this translates to the situation with the Bucks is to say that the sky is blue.

Meaning in December everyone in the Barrack with the Bucks is aware there is a change in the nature of the relationship between the two of them.

They are not subtle. Heavy breathing and the occasional low moan from their bunk is not an unusual occurrence starting sometime in December with increasing frequency.

Nobody says anything about it.

The Bucks are both happier for the shift in their dynamic and anytime somebody goes to complain about it, all of the men from the 100th noticeably stiffen and glare. They’re protective of their Majors to the end. All of them would likely die for either of the Bucks, let alone sucker punch anyone who criticized the men for finding happiness in wartime.

It’s not really a conscious decision on Benny’s part, to defend the Bucks and their relationship, it’s just that any time he hears anyone start to get a little tetchy about it, he gets defensive. So what if they’re keeping you up a bit? Shove off, put some wool in your ears, and deal with it, it’s the damn war. Stop being such a damn child about it.

They don’t complain anymore after that.

It’s just the way it is after that. Nobody says anything about it to anyone else. If the 100th is this protective of the Majors for mere comments, imagine how they would be with an actual threat? DeMarco’s not sure the 100th would be able to leave a man alive. Or at least unscarred— probably scare a man into secrecy if they even thought about saying anything about their Majors.

The days surrounding Christmas are perhaps some of the most awkward days of DeMarco’s life. Not only because it’s Christmas and he’s trying to ignore the holiday, not get caught up in his complicated feelings about the Holy Day that he wished he was spending with family back home, or even on base in more favorable circumstances with more friends, but also because the Bucks are acting weird. There’s a definite tension between them like they’re fighting. It carries into the next day too and the itchy feeling permeates into the air like a bad smell and affects everyone. It’s frankly awful.

Even Brady, who’s not in the same Barracks takes note of it at meal time.

“Benny, why does it feel like Mom and Dad are fighting and it’s my fault?”

“Thank GOD I’m not the only one who noticed!”

“I mean, look at them! They’re sitting right across from each other, and they keep glancing at each other when the other isn’t looking and they’re all moping sad eyes! What is going on?”

“Fuck if I know, Brady.”

“How long until they make up?”

“God, I hope it’s soon.”

Brady has a wild smirk on his face. “My bets are on tomorrow night. By the next morning, they’ll be acting back to normal— just you see.” His eyes are like a madman and Benny can’t see any logical conclusion to what he’s saying.

“No way in hell, kid. I’ll take you on that.”

But when he wakes up the next morning to Bucky’s horrible renditions of the birthday song, Benny knows he’s beat. That little shit knew too much. If Benny had known today was Gale Cleven’s birthday he never would have doubted that the Bucks would reconcile today.

And reconcile they do.

By the end of the night, Benny is convinced anyone in the Barrack who didn’t already know about the Bucks surely does by now because—

They. Are. Not. Subtle.

Or QUIET.

GOD.

Sometimes Benny wishes he could bleach his brain.

He loves his friend, but really, the two of them are colossal idiots.

There was more moaning tonight than usual and the culprit was none other than Buck, which is honestly surprising too since he’s the quiet one between the two of them for most of his life. But it is his birthday.

And— goddamn it— Benny does not need to think about what kind of present Bucky must be giving Buck tonight. Because that is just way too much.

But really? REALLY? In front of all of them?

Benny DeMarco is not getting paid enough to deal with the Bucks.

Benny shuffles into the mess in the morning and sits at his usual table waiting for Brady with his head in his hands. When he sees the Bucks walk in shoulder to shoulder, practically glued to the hip once again, talking quietly about the fuck knows what Buck smiling with his eyes and Bucky practically vibrating out of his skin with wild energy—

Well, Benny knows he’s lost the bet.

Damn, Brady.

Speak of the devil. The younger man takes a seat at the table across from him with a smirk, inclining his head toward the smitten couple a ways down the mess, but doesn’t say anything.

“Oh, shut up, Brady, I got enough of an earful last night.”

Brady’s eyebrows go up comically high at that. “Wait, no! Now you have to dish!”

Benny glares. “As if you didn’t know already that it was Cleven’s birthday yesterday.”

Brady has the decency to look sheepish at that. “I’ll admit, I may have had some insider knowledge there— but how was I supposed to know you didn’t also know? All’s fair, and that.”

“Whatever. You really sure you want to hear this one, Brady?”

“Since when have you been shy about the exploits and drama of the Bucks, Benny?” He’s sure his face must be red. Benny glances over his shoulder where the men are sitting across from each other, chatting like the tension of the last few days never happened.

“Okay, fine. But don’t say I didn’t warn you. They— well, obviously I don’t know anything for certain, but…”

“But what? Spit it out, Benny!”

Benny covers his eyes with his hand. Why is this so hard to say? Is it because it’s his friends? Is it because they’re men? He doesn’t know, but it feels so secretive like he can’t say it in the daylight. He takes the hand away and leans in a little closer. “Well, I’m pretty sure that Bucky got Buck off last night. There was so much moaning and most all of it was Buck. Some sort of birthday surprise. It’s never been like that before, ya know?”

Brady’s eyes go comically wide, his jaw falling slack just so. His eyes dart over Benny’s shoulder to where the Majors are. Benny wonders if he’s broken the poor kid. After a moment, the biggest grin Benny has ever seen splits Brady’s face.

“OH MY GOD! FINALLY!”

What.

Benny is so confused.

Several people around them look over at Brady’s outburst.

“Brady, shut up!” Benny hisses between clenched teeth.

“Sorry! Sorry, it’s just. I mean, it’s kinda romantic, innit? I mean, you know they met at bootcamp, right? They always tell stories about falling in love during hopeless circumstances and how love overcomes everything— to actually see it happen? I mean, c’mon! Look at them! They’re beating the odds! They keep surviving everything and even though they both got downed in Germany, they both made it here to the same place? Beating the odds again? How can I not be excited that their friendship destined for more is becoming that? And that they’re making it work despite that?” Brady’s staring off into the distance, a goofy-looking smile on his face, his eyes practically filled with hearts, and Benny—

Benny is just staring at him with a dumbfounded expression.

What the actual fuck is going on here.

Benny gets it on a superficial level. What the kid said makes sense in a girly romance-novel sort of way, but it doesn’t connect for him the same way. The Bucks are just his friends and they’re just two guys who like each other and maybe had sex last night way too close to him in the barracks.

Brady is something else.

“Right.”

After that, everything escalates. The Bucks are all over each other day and night it seems, and Brady is always either talking to Benny about them or hounding him for information. It’s like the Bucks bring Brady hope in the camp, but Benny is concerned that it’s bordering on obsessive. As for the Bucks themselves… well, they’re still flying under the radar during the day to anyone who doesn’t know them, but for the love of all that is holy Benny just must know them because it’s like all he can see are their little glances and nods. The way they leave things around for each other in hidden gestures that mean something to the other. How one of them will quirk an eyebrow or leave space for the other to fill.

He doesn’t mean to notice things. He’s trained his whole life to be an observant man! It’s in his nature to pick up on interpersonal dynamics. He could do this with his eyes closed. (At night he does this with his eyes closed and he wishes he could just knock himself unconscious but he swears those men are making out in the bunk across the way. He just knows it).

So, when it’s Valentine’s Day and Buck gets a letter from his sweet, sweet Marge and Buck absolutely shuts down, Benny really should have seen that coming. It surprises him that he didn’t see it coming, actually.

“Brady they’re acting like idiots.”

“Why? It’s Valentine’s Day! They’ve been dating since at least Buck’s birthday— what could possibly have happened?”

“That’s the thing, Brady. I have a theory.”

“Uh-oh. What is it.”

“Listen here, kid, I dunno how well you’ll take this.”

Brady’s eyebrows draw together.

“You don’t think they broke up on Valentine’s, do you?” Brady sounds horrified even at the thought. Before Benny can get in a word edgewise to calm him down, Brady is talking again. “But even if they did have some big blowout fight— Benny! They would never stay apart for long! Look at those two through everything! I mean—“

“Brady! That’s not it at all!”

All the stress instantly drops from Brady’s frame and is replaced with confusion in a moment.

“It’s not? Then… what is it.”

Benny heaves a sigh and runs a weary hand through his hair. Not paid enough for this…

“Listen, Buck got another letter from Marge today, right, ‘cause it’s Valentine’s and all, and Bucky got all sad about it—“

“Right! That makes sense.”

“Stop interrupting me.”

“Sorry!”

Benny glares.

“Sorry,” Brady says again, hands up in a peace offering.

After another moment of staring Brady down, Benny continues. “As I was saying, Bucky got all hurt about the letter, so my theory is that these two idiots,” Benny leans in closer and drops his voice for security’s sake as he continues, “have been dicking around this whole time and never actually talked about the fact that they’re both in love with each other.”

Brady gasps— loudly. He looks even more horrified than when he thought the Bucks broke up.

“NO WAY!”

“SHUT UP!” Benny hisses, looking around to make sure nobody is watching them. “But think about it for a minute.

“There’s no way they haven’t talked about it, Benny! You said so yourself, they’re always up at night talking and whispering— for hours sometimes!”

Benny gives him a wary look. “Yeah, but you honestly think either Buck or Bucky is willingly talking about their feelings for hours and hours?”

Brady purses his lips. “You got me there.”

There’s a beat of silence between them as they both sit with the revelation of it all.

“What happens now, then?”

“Well, one thing is for sure, if Bucky mopes around the barracks for one more goddamn minute I’ll lose my fucking mind, so I’m going to go tell Buck that his boyfriend is being an idiot. And frankly? That he is too.”

“Well, you better let me know how it goes tomorrow! This is SERIOUS, Benny!”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure whether I want to or not, you’ll find a way to get it out of me.”

Brady does, in fact, get the story out of Benny the next day.

“OH MY GOD HE WHAT????”

“Brady, would you calm down? And shut the hell up? I just told you what happened!”

“I know, I know! I just can’t believe it. You really mean to tell me that Bucky was moping in his own bunk after MONTHS of sleeping in Buck’s and when Buck confronted him about it he stood at the foot and talked and then suddenly aggressively climbed on top of Bucky for some sexually charged fight until they eventually just started making out?”

“That’s what I just said, Brady, yes.”

Brady starts laughing and doesn’t stop until there are tears in the corners of his eyes.

“I’m also pretty sure they said I love you, but I never can actually hear them. Just from the context.”

“OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOD THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE.”

“Brady SHUT UP!”

~Fin