#Trying to speedrun two chapters

[ep2nd]

It's been awhile since I posted anything, i lost ideas for what to fill in, but hey I got some snippetes!!

I want to finish two separate chapters before New Years, and get the first finished, but I kinda got busy, so we'll see

Totally have not been binge play Botw I got from Christmas.

Well, time to speed run two chapters before New Years

We both are different

"So, how we getting out?" Impulse asked, his yellow clawed hands ready to slash at anyone who came near his family, "only Tango and I can fly, and we won't be quick enough to run or carry Etho out without getting shot." The silence after he finished was enough of an answer. Tango turned his head to every direction, hope swelling in his heart, but as he saw only soldiers with death in their cold eyes, his heart bled as he realized there was no hope, no way out, no second chance.

=

We are in the now

He could have an emotional breakdown later, but right now- he needed to prepare and plan.

They were going to save Scar, no matter what.

[byoldervine]

What Common Writing Phrases Actually Mean

For years I assumed a lot of the common writing phrases that get thrown around were just generic things that were never actually going to help people write because it doesn't actually tell you what to do. But recently I've been able to work out the meanings for a few of them and I'd like to share them with my fellow writers, especially for my fellow NDs with literal thinking

"Write what you know" - it doesn't mean that you should only write what you're already familiar with, it means to do your research, gain knowledge and go from there; if you haven't done the research, don't write about it *until you have*, not just shrug your shoulders and find something else without ever trying to write it. Additionally, things will have more of an emotional impact if you write about things you yourself have experienced, or when you tie in your own experiences to something; you’ve probably (and hopefully) never had acid thrown in your face, but you’ve probably gotten shampoo in your eye and can amp that experience up

"Writing is a discipline"/"Write even when you're not motivated" - my reaction to this was always that, since I was only doing this for fun and didn't have any deadline to meet, why should I force myself to write even when I don't want to? But what they're trying to say with this is to make sure you have some level of consistent progress, even if it's only one sentence every week; having a minimum level of progress you can count on is an absolute lifesaver when writing, as well as being motivating in its own right

"Edit as you go" - this one really doesn't mean to change up your entire chapter every single time you get a new sentence down, it means to take breaks from writing new chapters to reflect back on what you've previously written and make sure to fix up any inconsistencies while the next few chapters are still fresh in your mind. Outside of SPAG mistakes or quick one-sentence-or-less tweaks I generally wouldn't advise properly editing the same chapter you just wrote simply because you could easily burn yourself out speedrunning to the final draft before you even get to chapter two

[i-would-like-some-tea]

The White Lotus Gambit (1794 words) by DeadlyJellybaby Chapters: 1/3 Fandom: Avatar: The Last Airbender Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Hama/Kanna (Avatar), Aang & Iroh (Avatar) Characters: Aang (Avatar), Hama (Avatar), Kanna (Avatar), Iroh (Avatar), Aunt Wu (Avatar), Piandao (Avatar), Kuzon (Avatar), Pakku (Avatar), Bumi (Avatar), Original Characters Additional Tags: basically: Aang is found 50 years earlier than canon and befriends the White Lotus crew, this is just an outline (at least for now), trying out the muffinlance emergency outline system, mostly gen but Kanna & Hama's lesbian energy was just too strong to resist, Iroh is obsessed with his destiny, Aang is obsessed with speedrunning Iroh's redemption arc, airbenders are still around but in hiding, Azulon is a shitty father, Iroh isn't the best brother but at least he's trying ig, (Not Yet Aunt) Wu joins the Gaang because why not, heavily influenced by MuffinLance's fics, so assume any of her OCs and creatures are canon in this world Series: Part 1 of 50 Years Early AU Summary: 50 years into the war, two young Water Tribe women find a boy frozen in an iceberg. A runaway northern noble and the south’s last waterbending master embark on a long and dangerous journey with their new friend who might be the world’s only hope. Hot on their heels is a prince looking for his destiny and running from the reality of his broken family. The Avatar will meet friends old and new and in the shadows grows the White Lotus.

[garycxjk]

Why everybody gets 100 Girlfriends wrong

I've been seeing quite a few comments that completely misinterpret The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You, so I'm gonna break down to you the series a bit, trying to not spoil it for anime onlies. This is mainly in response to someone wondering why they don't just "speedrun girlfriends".

100 Girlfriends, first and foremost, is not a romance manga. It's a comedy manga with focus on romance, yes, but first and foremost, it's a parody manga. It's parody in the same sense that Gintama is a parody. Yes, it's an affectionate parody, but a parody nonetheless.

It already starts with the premise that the main character has 100 girlfriends. The focus actually isn't the 100 girlfriends, it has always been the girlfriend archetypes. The pervert, the tsundere, the non-communicative one, the kuudere. They deconstruct, then reconstruct each and every single one. This is why it also does not speedrun the girlfriends, because it shouldn't.

In fact, the first seven chapters (up to episode 5) do show this already, it has a slight pacing problem. Not because it takes too much time to get to each girlfriend, but because it doesn't take its time to give us the deconstruction and reconstruction phases. It is only from the next two chapters (or episode 6) on that it basically uses each girl's traits and shows us creative ways they work with them.

But they had to speedrun at least the first four girlfriends to give us an idea of what the premise is. Rentarou is an impossible protagonist who actually manages to make a polyamorous relationship work. I'll get back to that later, but keep this in mind. It needs to establish the actual rules.

We know the visible rules, that if Rentarou rejects a girlfriend, she'll die. However, chapter 3, and by extension episode 3, establishes directly that Rentarou doesn't just make these girlfriends his because they'd otherwise die, he actually genuinely starts caring for them, and wants to love them, while at the same time he wants them to care for him.

This is one of the manga rules people miss, because, forget the rejection means death rule. That rule hasn't been important since episode 3 anymore, and hasn't even been brought up that much in episode 5, and that's the initial mistake many manga readers made when getting to chapter 7. However, from chapter 8 on (the next episode), something magical happened. We finally figured out that this manga has never actually been about playing the romance part straight. It was always a comedy first and foremost.

You see, the fourth wall breaks, the absurd situations, the literal physical abuse Rentarou gets (from Karane of all people). Heck, even the anime opening. Especially the first point, the fourth wall breaks, those should tell you that the manga never really takes itself too seriously. Yes, it does take the romance parts seriously, but that's because if you don't do that, it doesn't work as a parody.

Take Gintama. It's a parody of shounen manga (and by extension anime). However, it is also a shounen manga in and of itself, that part it still plays straight. If it was just riffing on shounen manga, do you think it would have been as successful as it has been right now?

Or take the many films by Mel Brooks, and one in particular, Spaceballs. Spaceballs is a parody of science fiction films, but Star Wars in particular. However, it still is a science fiction film in and of itself, it still takes that part serious enough to make the parody work.

Compare that to the later Scary Movie films or those other movie parodies. They didn't work because it became pop culture reference, the movie, instead of being a parody of the genre while still playing that genre straight enough to make it work. They fundamentally forgot how parodies work, which is why the parody film died.

So let's go back to my comment about Rentarou being the impossible boyfriend. Many manga readers joke about Rentarou being the chad, or Chadtarou. However, by now we've realized one thing about him. He's literally an unrealistic standard when it comes to boyfriends.

There's a reason the meme "Chapter 1: I want to become Rentarou, Chapter X: I want to be Rentarou's." We realize that we literally cannot be Rentarou, nor would we even want to be Rentarou, because, face it, his job sucks. He has to take care of, what, four girlfriends at this point, which already seems like an impossible task in real life, but Rentarou goes above and beyond to make sure each girlfriend is equally loved. Not proportionally, no, equally. And with each new girlfriend, he doesn't divide the love he has between his current girlfriends and his newest girlfriend, no, he adds on top of it. It's like, at the start, Rentarou's love capacity is 100%, but then he gets two soulmates. Does he just divide his love in two, 50% for Hakari, 50% for Karane? No, he gives 100% to Hakari and 100% to Karane.

At this point, we'd just rather be Rentarou's **girlfriend**, because at least we **know** we can and will be loved by him 100%. Rentarou deliberately sets an impossible standard for the harem protagonist, because it's a standard that should never be reached by any living being. Rentarou in and of himself is the ultimate parody of a harem protagonist, and the reason for that is so that the manga and anime can safely parody every single romance trope that exists.

So, to break down the five episodes for you, to explain why it's paced like this:

Ep. 1: It explains the premise of the story, and how it's going to subvert your expectations.

Ep. 2: It shows an explanation of such subversions.

Ep. 3: It shows you the more serious side of this anime.

Ep. 4: It subverts the harem narrative.

Ep. 5: Basically the same as episode 3, combined with trying to deconstruct and reconstruct the archetype of the week.

And you will notice that with each new girlfriend, it will do the deconstruction and reconstruction in one episode. It needs to explain an archetype, show how it would actually work in reality, and turn it around and make it actually work in the bigger picture. Then, in the following episode, it will... well, you will have to find out soon I guess. But there is a pattern.

To sum it up:

1. This anime isn't a harem romcom. It's a parody of romance manga.

2. Each girlfriend represents an archetype that gets deconstructed and reconstructed.

3. Likewise, without going too much into spoiler territory, any situation is a parody of an existing romance trope.

4. Rentarou isn't your typical harem protagonist, because he isn't meant to be one, he's meant to be a parody of one.

5. The reason it doesn't speedrun girlfriends is to give each girlfriend enough time to parody.

[review-anon]

Thoughts on Kokichi Ouma?

Oh boy. Kokichi.

He's a complicated mess as if you recall my tier list he's quite low down.

Yet characters of a similar archetype to him are way higher so what gives? Does he rub me the wrong way?

I'll explain Kokichi's...unusual tier placement soon but for now let's talk the easy stuff which is his character in the game.

When Kokichi was first revealed and everyone was fawning over him I wanted this guy to be a bastard. An complete and utter bastard that does something truly henious that nobody expect the kinnies will forgive him for.

So did I get what I want? Design wise he definitely looks insane as no normal person would wear a straightjacket. This has let to the fun theories he was an escaped mental asylum patient. And when the V3 fake spoilers were running around, fun times, they said he was part of a despair cult. Its certainly a unique look.

He's an absolute blast personality wise as he says the most outragious stuff and often riles the other characters. Saying Kiibo has a dick? Speedrunning Maki trying to kill him? And him messing with Shuichi?

The lying is something that you do need to read the lines between. Its not pathological lying as Kokichi would lie even when in situations its better for him to tell the truth, so its more like compulsive lying.

All of these are so much fun to watch and Derek Stephen Prince was a fanasatic VA as I could really hear the Digimon Emperor from his voice when doing Kokichi, and he delivers the lines and his vocal changes as Kokichi has one of the most dynamic vocal ranges. I was amazed he didn't have a second VA because some characters like Junko needed multiple VAs due to how wild the character was.

His actions are interesting to unpack because while he is a shit-stirrier like most rival characters, unlike say Byakuya and Nagito who are out for themselves, Kokichi has everyone's interests in mind but due to the nature of the Killing Game, he decided to play the villain someone for everyone to band against.

Problem is; this worked a little too well as everyone hated him and then after Chapter 4 which despite his bombastic display, he was definitely affected by, he decided to create a unsolvable murder case. Which got solved because gameplay.

Many more qualified people have done more in-depth analysis on why Kokichi is such a interesting character. In fact if it wasn't for the real reason he's so low, he would be around B/A tier.

So why is he so low? Well its not nothing to do with what Kokichi does in the games...but more of what he did to me. Putting this under the cut because its a very bonkers reason and I understand if you think this is a stupid reason and that is the reason why he isn't bottom tier.

For starters its got nothing to do with his lying. I've like liar characters like Nikei and David in the past so again the archetype isn't the reason. Its also got nothing to do with the fact he kills Miu and Gonta. I never liked Miu and yes Gonta dying is sad but its a Killing Game.

Its also got nothing to do with the fact he killed Kaito as yes the two bash heads a lot but its more to do with the secondary theme of emotions vs. logic rather then Kaito hates lying little shits.

And yes I did see thoses terrible YouTube videos which claims Kokichi is poorly written. That Youtuber is a terrible elitist analyst who clearly hates Kokichi as a character and is using smokescreens and the delusion they are more educated to persuade you otherwise. Its up there with the more terrible Game Theories.

Finally the Love Hotel scene is more on the tame side and its the sole reason why everyone and their mother makes Kokichi Joker whenever one does a Persona/Danganronpa crossover.

So if its got nothing to do with that then what gives? Why do I not like Kokichi? Is it to do with something personal?

Yes. Yes it is because during the entire year of 2017, I had to deal with a non-stop stream of lucid nightmares where Kokichi Ouma was a psychopathic yandere towards me. The entire thing was like a living A Nightmare on Elm Street and I still wonder to this day how tf it even happened in the first place. The dreams are like what I described them as; Kokichi was in love with me and wasn't gonna take no for a answer.

I'm normally lucid in my dreams so at first I just tried waking up early, but to my horror I would later learn that Kokichi himself was fully aware he was in my mind and every time I end a session prematurely while he couldn't obviously stop me, he could punish me next time I go to sleep since you know humans need sleep, and would use every dream mechanic you could think of to trap me.

These dreams completely fucked up my sleep schedule as I would often get 4-5 hour sleeps because of them, and while normally when I wake up in the night I would go back to sleep, to do that would mean more Kokichi and more horrors so I would often stay up at like 4am.

I studied as much dream theory as I could and tried all the tactics I could find to make these stop, but nothing worked and Kokichi would often mock me when I did so.

Clearly I don't suffer them now so how did I get rid of him in the end? Well I won't disclose how I did it but let's just say look at how Bill Cipher in Gravity Falls was killed and that should give you a good idea how I managed to get rid of that Kokichi in the end. Expect of course I didn't lose my memories.

Don't ask me how this happened, because I don't know either. As while I do have wild dreams I had nothing on that magnitude before or since then. The dreams had two lasting effects on me. Firstly, its made me scared of Doki Doki Literature Club as while Monika is a million times tamer then my psychotic Kokichi was, its still too close to home for me.

And the second is that its given me a bit of a sour opinion on Kokichi. Not because the character sucks but because its very hard to look at a character when something wearing their face and behaving almost exactly like them, was your personal Freddy Krueger for a little over a year.

TL;DR Kokichi is a good character and under normal circumstances I would have loved him but my brain decided that it was illegal and gave me lucid nightmares about him for over a year and that's made me hard to like him.

[ashprince-of-bel-air]

Came Back Wrong: Part 3.

I am a very intense person, it is the undiagnosed ADHD/Tism. but when I get fixated on something I need to do it. I reckon only 1 person likes this fic but I will do it for them and speedrun it. Anyway plz enjoy. @emily-reading-fanfic not sure if you wanted to be tagged but you liked my previous chapter (im so anxious tagging you)

The excursion thus far was uneventful, it was a pleasant day, you finally felt as if you had room to breathe. You cared for Gale, you truly did, yet his behaviour had become somewhat stifling as of late, you knew why he was being clingy, it was his brush with death and you were the one to bring him back, almost as if him seeing you as he was brought back to the mortal coil had made him intensely connected to you. Today was a good day, you already felt uplifted that Gale was finally starting to heal, letting himself enjoy the silence of the camp, not wanting to act as your shadow, mirroring your every step, moving alongside you as if you were both magnets.

The day was pleasant, the sun was out in full force, streaming through the canopy of trees above you, it was nice to finally have a respite from the horrible weather that had been plaguing you, though one person was enjoying the sun more than the rest of you, Astarion. Years of living in the shadows, forgetting how the sun could warm his skin, how the light could make things more beautiful, Astarion would never admit it but he was beginning to love days like this, days where he could walk with his head held high, basking in the beautiful rays of the sun. You watched the sunlight bounce off of his pale skin, there was nothing romantic between the two of you, yet even you could admit he looked beautiful in this moment, chasing the light and letting it envelop his body, savouring every moment of the sun as if it could be his last.

Your party walked on at a leisurely pace, Astarion would wander in and out of your line of sight, chasing the rays of sun that would break through the treeline, you had told him many times to stay with the group but each time he would just retort. “Darling, if anything happens to me, it just means I’ve gotten sloppy” You would roll your eyes each time yet still implore him to stay nearby, the threat of the absolute growing by the day meaning that the world was not safe. Today was a simple supply run, nothing of consequence, you and your party needed to collect some more food and water and then return to camp, a simple job really, not expecting to encounter any foes you all had your guard down somewhat, laughing and joking together, trying to pretend that your tadpole problem was not real. All was perfect for a while, far too perfect, until you noticed Astarion had been missing for quite some time, he would normally roam away for a few minutes at a time, returning just as promptly as he had left, this time he had been gone for a good half an hour, this was not right.

Alerting the rest of your companions you went into panic mode, this was not like Astarion and you were ever anxious about outside threats, knowing that The Absolute was on your tail did not do much to calm your anxieties. After what seemed like an eternity you happened upon him in a thicket of bushes, heavily wounded. You were not aware that Vampires could bleed but there he was, covered in blood and half conscious, maybe it was his blood or maybe it was the blood he took from you, you did not know, either way, you knew he needed immediate help. Your voice echoed through the trees, begging your campmates to help you with him, tears now streaming down your face as you saw Karlach lift his helpless body into her arms and walk back to camp.

It was your idea to go out and supply hunt today, this is why Astarion got hurt is what you told yourself. You watched Karlach place Astarion on the bedroll in his tent, placing him gently so as not to aggravate his wounds further. Karlach called Shadowheart over to try and help heal him but her powers only did so much, placing him into a magical coma hoping his body would do the rest for him. You stood there with the thousand yard stare, you could not believed this had happened on your watch, not knowing how to process this, watching everyone bustle around Astarions limp body as you stood there helpless. After it was confirmed from Shadowheart that Astarion was somewhat stable for now, you began to breathe properly, no longer holding your breath in your chest causing your blood pressure to rise.

In the camp everyone was bustling around Astarion, you were thankful for this as it meant he had a great chance of survival if everyone pitched in to his recovery, yet Gale came straight to you. He wrapped a warm blanket around your shoulders and coaxed you into his tent, whispering words of comfort into your ears as you finally felt tears spill from your eyes. Gale placed you upon his feather soft bed roll and went to make you a hot cup of tea, something that he had promised would help with your feelings of anxiety.

Once you were away from the outside world and in the safety of Gales tent, you found that the tears began to flow freely, sobbing heavily as you sat on Gales bed, muttering incoherently to yourself, asking how this could happen and blaming yourself for it. Gale sat beside you and held you within in his arms, cradling your head against his shoulder.

“Tav my darling, this isn’t your fault, we are living a dangerous life and cannot always be prepared. We all know what potential perils we face when we leave camp, we know what we signed up for when we decided to travel together.” His voice was soft and comforting, Gale kissed the top of your head and stroked the tears away from your cheek as he spoke. He had been the only person who had comforted you and helped rid you of your guilty conscious. You held onto Gale tightly as you cried on his shoulder, as if you were scared he may disappear in this moment before you.

The feeling of you gripping him with such desperation made Gale’s heart soar, whilst his plan had not fully worked, he wanted the Gur to kill Astarion, yet the state he was in it was dubious as to whether he would live or not at this point. One thing was for certain was that he had your dependency, only he had comforted you, only he wiped your tears away. He would become your safe person, the one you would always go to, regardless of what it was about. He had you now in his tent, a crying mess, curled up on his bedroll clinging onto him for dear life. The only way the outcome could have been better if I the Gur had finished the job, regardless Gale would take what he had now. You clinging to him, desperate for his affirmations and his gentle touch. He would offer you a place in his tent if you needed company, thrilled that you accepted straight away, not wanting to be alone for the coming nights.

Though his plan had not gone as intended, ridding him of Astarion permanently, he was pleased that the effects drove you to his arms, dependant on him, feeling safe within his arms and his tent, refusing to be anywhere without him.

[coffeeghoulie]

Kinktober Day #22: Sexting

The Ghostober prompts were put together by @kroas-adtam, and divider made by @gothdaddyissues, thank you both so much!

Pairing: Swiss/Dew

Summary: Dew and Swiss's teams play on opposite sides of the country, but that won't stop them from getting up to their usual antics.

Takes place in a scene mentioned in chapter four of Five Minutes for Fighting, but if you don't want to read a 15k fic right now, Swiss and Dew are on opposing hockey teams and speedrunning an enemies to lovers arc. They're about 75% of the way there in this fic. I wasn't comfortable enough writing smut to write this scene out when I posted that chapter, but I am now. Tada!

Contains mutual masturbation, phone sex, and two idiots pining for each other.

Tagging @forlorn-crows, @nocturnalghoul, @askingforthesun, and @highdefinitions for hockey ghoul reasons <3 and a special thank you to @highdefinitions for helping me with Swiss's team's name.

Read under the cut or on AO3!

Dew flops down on the hotel mattress, a bit too firm for his taste, and grabs his phone off of the nightstand. In the time it took for him to wash the sweat from his hair and change into comfortable clothing, he's gotten a new message.

S: Saw the highlights from the Ghouls game tonight. A lot of those clips were you.

Dew preens, even though he knows the other man's just trying to butter him up. He did play well. When he really applies himself, when he gets in the zone, when he's not picking fights with Swiss for fun, he's one of the top scorers on the roster.

He runs through the game schedules in his mind, trying to remember the next time the Popestars, Swiss's team, and the Ghouls play. It's not for a couple of weeks, but Dew does remember that the Popestars were scheduled to play the Holy Hitters a few hours prior. Dew opens his phone, starts texting back.

D: Didn't you skate tonight? When the fuck did you have time to watch Ghouls highlights?

S: At the hotel now. You took some big hits tonight, spitfire

Dew groans at the reminder, sore ribs and shoulder lighting up. He had been checked pretty good, slammed into the plexiglass by defensemen almost twice his size trying to steal the puck away from him.

S: Got me all worked up, watching you get tossed around like a ragdoll.

D:Real subtle. You don't want to praise me for my good game, you just want to burn off that adrenaline.

S: So? What's the difference between me texting you and me railing your ass in your locker room shower?

Dew groans, even as his cock twitches in interest at the memories. He palms at himself through his sweatpants.

D: The difference is that you're on the other side of the fucking country and can't actually fuck me.

Dew can almost hear Swiss's chuckle as the text bubble pops up.

S: Oh, so you wouldn't mind if I texted you what I'd want us to be doing if we were in the same timezone?

Dew takes a deep breath through his nose, hair fanned out under his head. He presses the heel of his hand harder into his dick, groaning.

D: Fine. Yes. What would you want?

Dew turns his head to groan into the pillows as he palms himself, reading Swiss's reply.

S: I keep thinking about the night you snuck into my hotel room, the night your captain really fucked me up? The first night I got to have you in an actual bed. I want to do that again. Really take my time with you.

Dew fumbles one handed with the drawstrings on his sweatpants, texting back with his dominant hand. He pushes his hand down his sweats and boxers, palming himself with a groan.

D: You wanna take me apart again? You gonna be real sweet about it, like you were then, or do you want to push me around like in the showers?

S: I was thinking about how easy it would be to manhandle you, take you how I want. I know it's a bit of a sore point, but you're so much smaller than me. My hands nearly wrap all the way around your waist, spitfire. It makes you quick and hard to hit on the ice, but fuck, if it doesn't get me going. Wanna hold you down and make you take it.

Dew groans loudly. wrapping his hand around himself properly, his length beginning to spit precum. He shoves his sweats and underwear down, freeing himself, giving himself more room to work.

D: Yeah? you gonna make me take it rough, split me open on you? You want me to fight back or take it nice?

S: I don't think it was gonna be rough. Sure that's how we started, but I liked being sweet on you, making you feel good.

Even though there's no one there to see him blush, Dew turns his face into the pillows and whines, high and feminine. He steels himself and scowls, typing frantically.

D: Fucking sap.

S: You liked it. You were the one who asked to take our time to begin with.

D: Fine. You caught me.

S: I'm calling you. Pick up.

Dew freezes as his phone rings, blaring the Popestars' goal song. It had been a funny joke, assigning that song to Swiss's contact, but he's pavloved himself on the ice when they play against each other. He wants to hear it more than he wants Mountain to make the save.

He picks up, and the warm sound of Swiss's voice filters through, a little tinny from the speakers. "Hey, spitfire," he groans, and Dew's stomach flips as he hears the wet noise of Swiss touching himself.

"You get started without me?" Dew says, trying and failing to mock him.

Swiss laughs, the sound fading into a low groan. "You can't tell me you haven't started. I know how flustered you get when I talk dirty, spitfire."

Dew rolls his eyes, grateful Swiss can't actually see it. He presses the heel of his hand into his dick, biting back the resulting groan. "Yeah, and what about it?"

"You blush so pretty," Swiss says, and Dew can picture him, sprawled out on his hotel bed over the covers, his dirty clothes strewn in a pile on the bathroom floor, one hand wrapped around his cock, the other pressing his phone to his ear. "You turn cherry red from the tips of your ears all the way down to your nipples, makes your piercings really stand out. You know your dick turns the same color when you start to drip?"

Dew can't bite back his whimper, and he curses himself as he hears Swiss's hand falter on himself. "Shut up," he whines.

Swiss chuckles, and Dew privately, secretly, wishes he could record the sound, replay it whenever he wants. "You don't want me to shut up, spitfire. You want me to keep talking so you can get off to it."

Dew sets the phone down next to him on speaker, biting the heel of his hand hard as he starts jerking himself off again. "What- what about it?" He pants, trying to keep his cool as Swiss's voice makes his dick twitch.

"It's okay, spitfire, I know what gets you off, want to make you feel good even though I can't do it myself," Swiss coos, voice slightly tinny. "Jerk yourself off for me, want to hear how good you feel."

Dew can't help but obey, rubbing his thumb against the tip of his dick, watching fascinated as it drips precum down his shaft, easing the way for his hand. He knows there's a travel size bottle of lube in his go bag, but he can't be damned to get up and get it. He doesn't want to leave his phone behind, even though it's on speaker and he'll still be able to hear.

"Swiss," he whispers, scared one of his teammates will be able to hear on the other side of the wall, even though he's safe behind soundproof hotel walls. "Swiss, fuck, please."

"Yeah, spitfire?" Swiss replies, sounding entirely too collected as he strokes himself vigorously on the other line. "Tell me what you want."

"Wanna be with you, want it to be your hand on me, want to get my hands on you," Dew whispers, face hot and eyes squeezed shut as Swiss makes him describe his desires. He strokes himself faster, reaching down with his free hand to pull at his piercings. He keens, and he can hear Swiss's responding groan, the wet noises from the other end speeding up.

"Want to get my mouth on you again, spitfire," Swiss groans, and Dew speeds his own strokes up to match Swiss's pace. Swiss only lets the pleasure affect him when he's close, and Dew doesn't want to be too far behind when he cums. "You tasted so good, such a sweet mouthful for me."

Dew sobs, cock kicking in his hand as he pinches his nipple hard, pebbling the pink flesh. "Close," he whines, jerking himself off furiously, his cock weeping precum.

"Yeah, spitfire, baby?" Swiss moans. "You gonna cum for me? So far away from you but I'm still gonna make you cum, spitfire."

"Yeah, you are. Fuck," Dew whines, muffling the sound into his hand.

"Hand off of your mouth, baby. Need to hear it, Dew, need it so bad. Need you so bad," Swiss whines, and Dew can hear his breath hitch as his hand speeds up. "Gonna cum for you, princess, gonna make a mess just for you."

"Do it," Dew pants, "I'm gonna cum, Swiss, please cum with me."

Swiss shouts wordlessly, and the slightly-warped noise is all it takes to send Dew flying over the edge himself. He shoots ropes of hot, pearly cum over his knuckles, pooling in his happy trail, wailing the whole time he works himself through it.

"Good boy," Swiss groans, and Dew's seen him in the aftermath enough times to picture his face in perfect clarity, brows furrowed, eyes shut tight, chest heaving as he breathes heavily through his nose. The mental image is enough to make his dick kick valiantly between his legs, but he ignores it, still floating on the high.

"Fuck me, Swiss," Dew laughs, trying to catch his breath. "I just got out of the shower. Wouldn't have washed up if I knew you were just gonna make me make a mess again."

Swiss chuckles on the other end. He hears the rustle of him running a hand over his curls. "You wanna send me a picture, spitfire? I'd like to save that for later."

Dew groans, tilting his head back into the pillows. "Fuck, Swiss, you can't just say that."

"Well, I did," Swiss laughs, but Dew can still hear his heavy breathing. "How about this, you send me a picture of your mess, I'll send you one of mine. Deal?"

Dew moans at the thought, his cum still dripping from his fingers. "Yeah, I'll do it, give me a minute."

"No rush," Swiss says, voice evening out. "Just wanna see what I do to you. Bet you look real pretty, spitfire. It's a shame they're not my bruises on that pretty body."

"Possessive," Dew laughs, chest still heaving. "Give it a couple weeks, you can bruise me up all you want. Make me bleed, even."

There's a long silence, and Dew's suddenly unsure of the words he's just said.

"I don't think I want to make you bleed anymore, Dew," Swiss says, something strange in his tone. "Bruises, marks, sure. I don't think I want you to bleed."

"Huh," Dew says eloquently. "Okay. No bleeding, then. We can work with that."

Swiss sighs, and Dew can imagine him nodding. "Alright. I do mean it, Dew. You played well tonight."

"Thank you," Dew whispers. "I'll look for your highlights after I shower. After the picture, I mean."

Swiss chuckles. "Tonight wasn't my best game," he admits. "I didn't play nearly as well as you did, spitfire."

Dew cackles, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his clean hand. "I'll be the judge of that, Swiss. We play again in what, three weeks?"

"Yeah, think so," Swiss says.

"Think I'm gonna let you go in a bit," Dew says, hesitantly, trying not to show how clingy he wants to be. "I'll get you that picture, and then I'm going to run up this hotel's hot water bill. Got a bus ride in the morning and I hate sleeping on the bus. I'll see you at the next game?"

"Yeah, spitfire," Swiss says fondly, and his voice almost feels almost like a caress against his hot cheek. "I'll see you at the next game."

There will be no next game. Swiss gets traded to the Ghouls a week from this moment, but neither of them know that yet. How could they? For now, they bask in the afterglow, listening to each other breathe thousands of miles apart.

[decks-writing-blog]

Whatever the Fuck Benrey is: Epilogue

Chapter One

Previous Chapter

~

Turns out dating was a lot like what they’d been doing before. Except now sometimes they kissed and touched more in general, even in public. They also went on dates which was just the two of them going someplace without inviting the rest of the Science Team. Half the time one or more of them showed up halfway through anyway, it was a small town after all.

It was nice though, comfortable and relaxed. Gordon still had his occasional nightmares and couldn’t bare to be alone for long and Benrey… wasn’t okay either. But they helped each other and other than that, things were good. The best they’d ever been for Benrey. He didn’t want it to end.

He shifted his gaze from the TV, playing a cut scene that was going a bit too long, to Gordon sitting next to him, his right arm around Benrey, holding him close as they shared the controller. It wasn’t easy but they were getting better at it, more in sync and all that. Benrey was going to have to try to get him to attempt speed running something together like this. They’d get a world record by default, right? The fastest and only two person speedrun of whatever game they chose. Later though, first…

“You know how we talk occasinally ‘bout me getting a job and my own place or whatever? What if uh… I don’t ever wanna get my own place?”

Gordon looked at him. “You wanna stay living with me?”

“Yeah. Might still try to get my own money and stuff so I’m not a bum.” Especially since Gordon had brought to his attention that he could potentially make money off his gaming skills. That sounded like it’d be a lot of fun. “So it cool if I stay even if I do get a job or whatever?”

“Dude, I would prefer it if you stayed so yeah, totally cool.”

“Okay. I’ll stay then. Thanks for uh… offering the option though.” Choosing to stay instead of just rolling with being here because this is where he happened to end up made it better and more meaningful. He was here because he wanted to be and because Gordon also wanted him to stay.

~

[A/N] Wow, this fic ended being quite long. I sat down to write it initially thinking I was gonna do a one shot but then it became this. I had a fun time with it though so I hope if you made it all the way to the end here, you did too. Thank you for reading! 💖

[kyriolex]

Boruto Chapter 11 Cliff Notes

So Himawari has broken out of her tree prison, and she is absolutely DONE with everything.

She hops to the ground with her backwards foot already reset and healed. Then she uses her prehensile hair to lift Inojin off the spike.

Shikadai tells her to be careful, because it's risky to shake somebody with a gaping wound in their torso. But then he gets a better look and realizes Inojin is healed. How does Shikadai know his friend's okay? Because he can see Inojin's abs. (This is a running theme through the entire chapter.)

Himawari says she's not 100% sure she healed Inojin right, on account of she has never been to medical school, so Shikadai and Chocho should take him to a hospital. Himawari says she'll fight Toupee Man alone, because 'with great power comes great responsibility." I know that's not the exact translation Viz uses, but trust me, Himawari is basically pulling a Spiderman.

Chocho doesn't want to leave Himawari alone, but Shikadai convinces her Team 10 should quit while they're ahead. Chocho reminds Himawari she has to survive because they promised to go to the new pancake shop together. And Himawari responds, completely deadpan: "I haven't forgotten. I love pancakes."

Toupee Man is very confused. He knows these kids aren't idiots, so what is driving them to behave so irrationally? Is it the same phenomena that caused Himawari's sudden evolution? What could possibly-

POW! Himawari punches Toupee Man before he can spend the next 5 pages waxing philosophical about the mysterious power of friendship. Then she tries to shoot a Biju Bomb at him, because she is speedrunning the entire Jinchuuriki powerset.

Toupee Man shoots a Biju Bomb back. Poor Shikadai is basically running for his life while chakra nukes go off in the background.

Meanwhile, we see Notsuke on the ground, having just gotten his side blown out from Sarada's Chidori. He sinks into the the black bands, then comes out fully healed. Ikemoto demonstrates this point by dedicating an entire panel solely to Notsuke's chiseled abs.

Everyone starts grilling Notsuke. Who is he? How can he use Chidori? What is his connection to Sasuke? Notsuke then snaps that he doesn't know who he is. The whole reason he's hear is to figure that out!

Sumire warns everyone that Notsuke's target is likely Sarada. But her warning does absolutely nothing, as Notsuke sneaks a hand out of a black band and electrocutes his daughter. Sumire gets electrocuted shortly after and falls unconscious.

(I'm starting to wish Sumire had never been included in the manga. When she first showed up, I was excited, since an artificial jinchuuriki could have been an interesting foil to Boruto and Kawaki's artificial Otsutsuki status. Instead Sumire's been reduced to color commentary.)

Notsuke one-shots the scowling jonin. He turns to Mr. Goatee Man, who gulps and freezes in terror. He's defeated without Notsuke lifting a finger.

Konohamaru at least puts up a good fight. He reveals a new Rasengan shield that can withstand the Chidori's power. Notsuke still beats Konohamaru, but it takes him several hits instead of one.

Back outside the village, Himawari is losing, because while she is quite talented, she is fighting a god. Toupee Man does some kind of blink attack, and Himawari's shirt tears away. The attack was supposed to disembowel her, but as we can see by Himawari's abs, she is okay thanks to her near-instant healing factor.

Kawaki is trying to get there as fast as he can, while Delta roasts him for being weak. Then they see Boruto zoom past. He saves Himawari, then does a Flying Raijin to teleport to Sarada and Sumire's location, where he saves his love interests too.

On one hand, I wish the girls could have won their own fights. But Konohamaru lost too, so I don't think this is a sexism thing. I suspect Himawari and Sarada lost merely because they are not Boruto. Everyone in Two Blue Vortex loses their fights because they lack that protagonist swag.

[a-cloud-for-dreams]

Ok so I've mentioned this a bunch of times on my blog by now but I've been trying to speedrun all of the Choices books and I'm so glad I am because there are some underrated gems out there! I'm almost done with TC&TF Book 1 and that book had a ton of love interests so I was inspired to make a top ten list to organize my thoughts. This post will be under development as I play more books or change my mind lol

Top Ten Books/Series

Bloodbound Series - This book is literally one of the best series PB has ever put out. To be fair, it should be under Blades and TC&TF, I would argue that these three books deserve top place. But it would be harder to combine my Bloodbound explanation with the other two fantasy books so here you go. Contrary to most, I did like the first book, wasn't my favorite, but it was a good intro to the series. I like that the world slowly grew as we learned more about vampires and it felt complete and like it had something to say. Thank @gaiuskamilah for my further obsession with the series lol

Blades of Light and Shadow Book 1/The Crown and the Flame Book 1 - I couldn't choose but they're both AMAZING BOOKS ugh I can't say enough good things about them. The choices actually matter and the plot was so good. Every chapter had a purpose and the conclusion felt so satisfying. The scoring system and skills for both books was super cool, we need more books like them <33

Crimes of Passion Series - Definitely a Top Tier MC!!! I liked the mystery (Book 2's reveal wasn't great but the chaotic Thorne siblings make up for it) and Trystan is the best single LI we've had in a while, their dynamic with Rose was *chef's kiss*

Perfect Match Series - I LOVED this series and our friend group/love interests so much. They all felt like unique people with their own experiences and the plot was so amazingly intense. The finale of Book 1 was UNMATCHED we won't ever live to experience something that iconic ever again smh. It took a while for the plot to kick in, which is why it's lower on the list

The Elementalists - I'm a sucker for elemental magic systems/magic schools, and I love our friend group/family so much. Atlas is the coolest twin, and the whole sun/moon dynamic was fun! Being a powerful Sun-Att boosted my ego astronomically. I wish we got another book to see our mom more though

It Lives in the Woods - I like that the premise was relatively simple, along with the game mechanics. Your actions had real consequences and it was more immersive. The flash-forward in the last chapter was super sweet too and I like that the anthology was interconnected. This series also gave us an amazing friend group and set of LIs so I'm thankful <3

Open Heart Book 1 - Simply iconic, grounded in reality, and actually put together imao. It was one of the peaks of our fandom. This book is super nostalgic for me because I'm interested in the medical field, and it's the whole reason I'm posting Choices content here in the first place

Ride or Die - I adore this book. It felt complete on its own EVEN IF IT DESERVED A SEQUEL *side-eyeing PB* and it's a great coming-of-age story with a realistic teen MC. The ending was bittersweet and you felt changed by the experience playing the book

Nightbound - I liked the vibes and the idea more than the execution if that makes sense? I love the idea of Lamrian and how the MC is half-fae and super powerful, but the book didn't have enough time to showcase the supernatural world compared to Bloodbound, which focused on vampire lore. I can probably make a whole separate post on this but yea

The Royal Romance/The Royal Heir - I think, again, I like the vibes of the series more than the flawed execution, but because it went on for so long I kinda of got attached to the characters (mind you I didn't play or finish any of the books) but it's super fluffy and sweet and iconic for Choices history so here <3 a lot of the books like ROE, TRM, and TC&TF are interconnected so it's part of the foundation for the PB Choices Multiverse :) to be fair, it looks like they did a somewhat decent job writing the conflicts for each book?

I have a feeling when I finish Endless Summer, this list is gonna change...

EDIT: I totally forgot about The Heist: Monaco, but it was amazing! TRR/TH should be bumped down to honorable mention, I'll change it at some point-

Honorable Mentions

A Courtesan of Rome - The book took awhile for me to get through but my MC is legendary and carried the book so it's up here lol. I also liked that it felt like a historically accurate book?

Platinum - Cool commentary on the darker sides of fame and the music >>>

Veil of Secrets - The plot was interesting, one of my fave mystery books they've written! Also the characters >>>

Mother of the Year - Wholesome and felt finished, def one of the best single books. Also the antagonists were properly despicable so...good writing

Wake the Dead - It wasn't perfect, but I love zombie apocalypse stories and the idea of rebuilding our camp was so cool so idc how flawed it is <3

Foreign Affairs - The ending was rushed and the premise should have been rewritten but more on that on a later date. It was still fun for me to play

Desire and Decorum - I finished book 1 and I really liked it! it's basically the Choices version of Bridgerton, not historically accurate but super entertaining. The vibes and the LIs were amazing

Kindred - Pacing issues but still entertaining, I love the witch lore that they had in the book and the focus on building both platonic and romantic relationships so I'm not complaining

Top Ten Love Interests In No Particular Order

Trystan Thorne

Bryce Lahela

Kamilah Sayeed

Damien Nazario

Kaine Bell

Raleigh Carrera

Aerin Valleros

Jax Matsuo

Colt Kaneko

F!Hayden Young

Honorable Mentions (Again, No Particular Order)

Drake Walker (listen LISTEN I don't like that he sidelined other LIs, and I absolutely HATE how his character was a total contradiction, it was executed poorly, but I like the idea of his route if that makes sense. Some of the banter was cute and I love the whole grumpy x sunshine trope. I'm pretty sure he took a bullet for me lol)

Raydan Lykel (Solely because I haven't finished the series yet)

Mal Volari (He would have been in Top Ten but I had to bump him down because his Book 2 Route isn't working)

Tyril Starfury

Nia Ellarious

Prince Hamid

Tatum Mendoza

All of the Nightbound Love Interests are amazing I just couldn't fit them on the list

Gaius Augustine

Alana Kusuma

Rainier (Kindred)

Thomas Mendez

Flynn O'Malley

Olivia Nevrakis (she had so much potential omg)

Robin Flores and Sofia Russo (in my world, they're LIs just shush)

[lilith-little-world]

Character ai is a mess. I went back to it and lost myself in it again, but I'm back now but idk for how long. So I'm gonna like speedrun all of my writing and editing for this and the 2nd chapter. Cause holy shit, I'm gonna be hella busy in a few months. Also found out I have a small and harmless heart condition...yeah so this month been crazy.

Also made a little drawing since I was gone for a while. Hopefully I’ll be back with weekly updates now I’m off of character ai and started to take meds for my heart.

I Saw You Once In a Dream, Maybe Pt 9

Is it too late to kick him out? He stares up at you and smirks. You can feel your face get ready as the embarrassment hits. You can't be seriously asking for him to tag along.

You might as well beg for him to come.

“Can you please, come with me? I would appreciate it, if you can. I'll even buy something for you.”

It took everything in you to stare back at him. The urge to smack him increased when his smirk widened.

How the fuck did you two got married in the future?

“Oh, of course, I will come along. Especially when you asked so nicely.” He stands up and heads to the front door, giving you one last glance.

You sigh and try to calm down. Ever since running into him, your day has been…well you can't even describe it. Was it bad? Good? Meh?

You lock the door and catch up to Monkey King, who was waiting for you on the sidewalk. He gives you a soft smile.

“So which way are we going?”

“There's a small market nearby. It's just a short walk, 5 minutes tops.”

You walk off and try to block out any thoughts of how you prefer that smile on his face.

Monkey King nods and follows you.

“So what are you planning for dinner? I'm not much of a cook but I can help!” He stares at you with that same soft expression.

What the hell happened?! Why is he acting all calm and sweet all of a sudden?

You continue to ignore your thoughts and how your heart was fluttering.

“I don't know, I guess we'll find out when I buy the groceries. I'm not much of a cook either. I just fall asleep and skip dinner for most nights.”

“I don't think that's healthy for a human.” He mutters. You can see he wanted to say something more.

“Maybe, but I never had a reason to make dinner. A snack or takeout was enough.”

“So why not tonight?”

“Well…” You felt nervous and embarrassed. “It's been a while since I had someone over at my house so I just thought…that maybe I should do something different- something special.” You didn't need to see your face to know you were blushing. You wanted to scold yourself for getting all flustered for no reason yet all your thoughts stopped when you glanced at Monkey King.

He stares at you with wide eyes.

“You're cooking dinner because of me?” His eyes seem to shine like stars. Beaming with fondness and affection. “Looks like someone is falling for me.”

“What?! I just met you!” You nudge his shoulder. You wanted to get mad or at least annoyed but you just laughed. Monkey King laughs with you as he bumps his shoulder with yours. “Sneakily” holding your hand. Intertwining his fingers with yours, his grasp firm.

You smiled at him and held his hand back. Leaning on his shoulder as you both walk to the grocery store.

Even though you two spent an hour there. You enjoyed his company. Monkey King, helping by grabbing items or just joking around and having fun. What had always been a chore for you, felt fun when he joined along.

Okay, maybe you're starting to understand why you married this idiot.

Also, you managed to buy a little more than usual since he could carry a lot of things. That was a huge plus for you, since you refuse to use your car for anything. Does that thing even work? Oh, wait, pretty sure you lost the key to it and are too lazy to get a new one.

“Thank you again for helping to carry the bags back. You can place it on the counter.”

“You bought a lot of things, how empty is your fridge?”

“Shhhh, we don't talk about that. I bet you don't even have a fridge, so don't judge.”

“There's literally nothing in here.” He said placing a few items in the fridge.

You blow a raspberry at him and put the refrigerated items in the fridge.

“I told you I usually eat a snack or takeout. I hardly cook.”

“Is it because you don't know how to cook? How worried should I be, when you serve me my plate?”

You roll your eyes.

“If you're so worried, then I won't serve you anything.”

“Hey now, I said, I would be worried but that won't stop me from eating it. Edible or not, you're serving me food you made! No way I'm passing that opportunity. Maybe I can pretend, my darling spouse made me the best dinner after a long day of work.”

“Ha-ha, very funny. Are we really going to roleplay being an old married couple or what? We barely met, Monkey King.”

“Wukong, you can call me Wukong.”

You raise a brow at him.

“Alright, Wukong. So we are on a first-name basis now huh?”

“I mean-” He glances away, but you can see his cheeks turning red. “I really want to have a relationship with you and it'll be weird having you calling me by my title.”

It was weird to see him so…embarrassed and flustered. Throughout this whole day, he has been teasing you. Maybe there were a few moments when you saw him more softly. You just laughed and ruffled his fur in his head.

“I guess you're right about that, so Wukong it is then. Now put on a show we can watch while I cook. Nothing fancy or crazy, just some regular easy and fast food.”

Wukong chuckles as he heads to the living room.

“Alright, fine, but no complaints about what I pick.”

You put away the groceries and left the ingredients out. Once in a while, glancing at the tv to see what Wukong was searching for. You head to the trash can to throw something away when you spot the stuffed toy.

A part of you felt bad for throwing it away but another part of you felt embarrassed that you even bought the toy. What would Wukong think? Would he tease you about it or be hurt that you threw it away? That's if he found out. I wonder what will be the consequences for this?

[krispdreemurr]

I'm not necessarily trying to change your mind or anything but I do wanna point out that Kris and Berdly do seem to enjoy each other's company at least somewhat. In chapter 2 Berdly says he "always saw some potental in [them]," and in Queen's mansion, he asks Kris if they want to have Susie go wait in the other room while they solve the puzzle together, so he seems surprisingly okay with sharing the spotlight with them. We know from the comments on Noelle's blog that Kris and Berdly have a private minecraft server together. There's a couple times where the game says they play video games together, and speedrun against each other too. Overall it seems like Kris is probably the person Berdly likes to hang out with the most, other than Noelle.

ok I looked up the context of that quote bc I suspected things and as I thought the context is Berdly being deeply shitty to them (and Susie, who we know Kris is protective of!)

(the two options are if you join or refuse if you're wondering. the dialogue dump isn't that well laid out)

yes they can get along for gaming. yes it seems like Kris has some fun at least playing games w him. but when it comes to romance, every single time Berdly talks abt Kris it's in the context of them being inferior to him, acceptable at best as a second in command and probably more of a servant, etc. he makes one tiny incremental step towards getting better about that but it's entirely because of his reading too much into Susie - there's no real sign he regrets anything abt how he talked to his so called friend for probably years.

and that's what I mean by people treating Kris as a reward to Berdly for Getting Better. Kris does not seem to have a high opinion of Berdly, at all. they try to sign him up to get hit by a brick in ch1. after all this maybe their friend hangouts will be easier and have less of Berdly insulting Kris' intelligence, personality, behavior, history, etc, but that doesn't erase the past and it doesn't make them romantically compatible.

[suzteel]

I had so much fun putting together my rec list for last month's Rec Fest that I decided I would try to do a rec list every month or so and continue to spread the love. Unfortunately, due to life, I didn't get to do much reading this month, but I wanted to put a list together for February anyway because I loved what I did read. So here you go! Short and sweet.

CANONICAL VEGASPETE

[The theme of this month seems to be trauma, as all four of these are short but heavy character studies dealing with either Pete's or Vegas's traumatic responses to canonical or post-canonical events.]

Deep Dive by Zaatar

After the safehouse, Pete goes back to underwater restraints training. It hits differently.

This is a Pete-centric fic set between the safehouse and the coup which focuses on how not okay Pete really is as he tries to go back to his usual routine. The characterizations in this are spot on and the sensory details are simply gorgeous. Literally stole my breath.

A Change of Clothes by Lise

Pete's in limbo. Also a mess. Figuratively and literally.

Another Pete-centric fic, this one set in the immediate aftermath of the coup. I've read so many good ones during that period and this is another to add to that pile, but what appealed to me especially with this one was the focus on clothes and blood and metaphor. Also a very quick read if you are looking for something short and good.

Isolation of the Cruelest Kind by ellieellieoxenfree

Frightened of his own anger, Vegas tries to deal on his own.

I won't lie, this one is not an easy read. It viscerally captures the process of spiraling into self-loathing and self-harm as the result of trauma. It's painful. It's also incredibly written and a devastating post-canon Vegas character study. And it has a gentle end. Well worth the read.

Lapping at the Edges by fleet_off (wip)

“You should hit me,” Vegas says. Even blind he knows he’s struck something, because the words hang like blood in the air. They snake back down his throat and settle in his lungs with a wet, heavy rightness that Vegas hasn’t felt all night. It would all be okay, he thinks, if Pete hit him. It wouldn’t remove him from his body; it would center him. And Pete’s fists can remold him better, punish him, free him from the filthy guilt-ridden jumble of what he is. They have before. Vegas lifts his cheek and braces his jaw to take the blow.

In which Vegas comes home drunk and speedruns setting off emotional landmines.

This is a WIP with a final chapter coming, but I feel like the two chapters that already exist stand very well on their own. I really love this one because it tackles how difficult breaking patterns of abuse is and the conflicts that arise at the intersection of the pain of past trauma and the fear of duplicating it. It's messy and painful and overall just really good.

VEGASPETE AUS

[Just one for right now. I have several AUs I'm following and enjoying at the moment, but I think I'll save most of those for a future rec list. But this one had to be mentioned.]

Sanctuary by sparkly_butthole (wip)

“You were just waiting for someone to lay claim to you," he realizes. "Am I just someone, then?” “No.” Pete’s giving him a highly self-satisfied look, which Vegas wants to wipe off his face with kisses and bites until his eyes are hazy and he can’t even talk right. “But you are the one who claimed me.” “Obviously.” Vegas��� hands shake with longing even as he runs fingers through Pete’s hair. Pete looks close to purring; how is it possible to yearn for someone who’s one step away from falling to his knees right in front of you, for you? “Do you regret it?” “Why would I? I belong to you.” Pete says it like it’s an immutable fact, like the tides, like gravity, and maybe it is.

This fic! I'll be the first to admit that soulmates as a trope is not a favorite of mine, but the way this author uses the conceit to hurl them together with all the intensive obsessive codependency developed in canon and then multiplied even further by the soulbond at an earlier part of the story is absolutely brilliant. The writing is gorgeous—fervent and slightly manic to match their intensity—with fantastic characterizations, and I am so weak for secret relationship AUs. This fic only has one chapter thus far, and it's already probably my favorite AU to date. Highly recommend.

Happy reading! ❤

[xi-off]

roleswap! it's shou time :D

i like to call this set "shou gets harassed by his sisters forever" lmao

anyway yeah this is for for the silly ghost head sequel rambling i mentioned in the last post. (said sequel is set ten years after the first game and follows yuu and shou on their paranormal investigating adventures.) im planning 3 cases to match up with the 3 chapters in the first game ^__^

some point during case 3 yuu is shown a theoretical timeline where she died before the events of the first game ft. the takano family being entirely alive (which i also wanted to draw today but getting these two pics done killed me -__-). shes offered the choice to make that timeline a reality, at which point a route splitting player choice happens:

decline: game continues towards ending A (im trying to 1:1 all the first games endings lol)

accept: fujika breaks out of getting puppeted around by as-of-yet-undecided entity and shoots yuu, which "resets" shou to the beginning of the first game entirely sans yuu. he still remembers the second game up to the point fujika shot yuu, so he freaks out and then speedruns up to ending H. i havent decided what happens after that except fujika reveals shes been stuck in a timeloop or something because this is the only in-universe explanation i can come up with for her random behavior in the first game lmaooooo. anyway yeah that's ending H the second and first pic above

consider: yuu gets punted back to the beginning of the first game but with a proper timeline recalibration. yuu (going by rin) is now the malevolent ghost and shou (going by yuu*) is the delinquent murder child dropping in osaka. this one heavily implies shou is the dead twin theory but idk if im confirming it for this ending yet. also i dont really know where this is going either besides The Disaster Zone. and thats ending D , second image above, yay

*yuu is a pretty common unisex name and uh . i was trying to find some kind of pattern between shou and yuus names (since rin is heavily theorized to be a slight match with the takano kids season-based names) but couldnt find anything that looked intentional. so shou gets to suffer our guy takashi's naming skillz because i thought shouyu (t/n: that means soy sauce) was funny. and calling him shou like a normal person was the quitters route

ok that was incoherent ! thanks for reading :D as reward for scrolling this far here is a terrible observation i made while figuring out shous hair

[mika-writes-fanfics]

Healing Touch

Dabi x Fem!Reader fan fiction

Synopsis: You encounter an injured Shigaraki and offer your healing quirk to his aid. Little did you know, healers were hard to come by in the underground and Shigaraki takes a liking to your skills. To further his cause, he kidnaps you and holds you captive under the watch of the LOV. You play the role of the LOV's little healer while you think of a way to escape. Unbeknownst to you, the pyromaniac with a cold heart begins to melt in your presence. Your compassion and wit draw him in, all the while he swears it's only curiosity he feels toward you. But when your touch heals his burns and your personality soothes his anguish, Dabi begins to wonder, what exactly is he feeling for you? And why the hell does he feel so torn up when you slip away?

Warnings/Tags: canon-typical violence, Stockholm syndrome, kidnapping, female/afab reader, healing quirk, aftermath of hideout raid

Author's Note: Okay a lot happens this chapter but bear with me, I’m speedrunning to the smut because I promised within 3 chapters and I’m trying to fucking deliver. I originally wanted to have reader also be teleported away with Bakugo since it would be closer to the canon, as AFO tp’d bakugo since Shiggy thought he was important. I went with this instead because the other idea did not translate well in writing. Waaaayy too much action for a fic, I’ll take a plot hole instead, thank you very much. You guys pick if you drink tea or coffee (if you drink neither I'm sorry lol). Anyways, rambling aside, I hope you enjoy

Word Count: 8.1K

Link to AO3

Chapter Eight: Pizza Delivery!

Dabi can tell you’re much more distant now, no doubt because of what Compress said, or rather, what the league had done. You try to hide your feelings behind a mask of neutrality, but Dabi is perceptive. He’s good at reading people, especially you. You’ve spent so much time around him and you’ve occupied so much space in his head that it’s become second nature for him to memorize your face. Besides the fact that he’s noticed your face is no longer as carefree, it’s easy to see how much differently you’re acting towards him. You heal his hands over without any comments and your touch doesn’t linger on him a moment longer than necessary. You’ve completely withdrawn from him, it seems.

“Let him out of the marble in a minute, we need time to prepare,” Shigaraki orders. “Kurogiri, get the stuff.” 

Kurogiri nods and bows, leaving the room to fetch the required restraints. You watch in slight horror as he returns with a chair, hand restraints, and a full-body harness equipped with locks. They must really think this kid is a danger to them to go to those lengths. You weren’t even restrained like that when Shigaraki abducted you, but to be fair, your kidnapping was more spur of the moment and less planned out than this. If snatching this kid was the whole purpose of the mission, the LOV has been gearing up for at least a week. You remember hearing Magne say this plan will humiliate UA, and you know Shigaraki’s main goal is dismantling hero society. You’re not entirely sure how the two are connected, but there’s one thing you’re sure of: Shigaraki will use any methods necessary to achieve that goal. 

You’re glad you finished healing Dabi when you did. Touching him after seeing the methods they intend to use on a child would confuse you more than you already are. You want to ask him just what the hell was he thinking, why did he even agree to this, and what methods would he stoop down to in order to achieve his own goals. You want to know, no, you need to know, as if understanding would make the hurt go away and would repair your now tainted view of him. This situation makes you realize how far you’ve fallen, how desensitized to their crimes you’ve become. Seeing the league’s humanity and domesticity has done a number on your mind. What part do you play in this? Are you helping them commit these atrocities? Or are you really just looking out for yourself? The questions and racing thoughts burn through your emotional energy. You feel so damn drained. 

As confusing and depressing as your situation is right now, you have to ask yourself: What can you do right now? You don’t have the power to run away, to change their minds, to condemn their behavior, to break the kid out of captivity. But what you can do is heal the kid if he’s hurt, share with him what you’ve learned, and provide him with anything that could possibly be useful. If this kid has a fighting quirk, he has the best chance of getting out. If he manages to pull it off then maybe, just maybe, he could tell someone where you are. People aren’t looking for you because it looked like you either disappeared into thin air or ran off entirely without telling anyone. If the authorities know where to look and who you’re with, it’s possible you can get out sooner. The moral dilemmas will come after you’ve made it out, but not a moment sooner. Carrying on is all you can do besides give the kid all the tools to escape. 

While you’re in your own head rationalizing everything, Dabi takes notice of you. He sees the gears turning in your head and the expressions of sadness that accompany them. It wrenches his chest, a bit, to see you so despondent and to experience you acting so distant. He’s grown used to the banter you share. Your laughs, smiles, and mischievous expressions have become simple pleasures he looks forward to after a long day of tainting his hands and staining his soul. All good things must come to an end, he’s especially cognizant of that fact of life. Still, it stings to know the good slice of his life that is you will be ripped away from him so soon. He convinces himself it’s for the best. Growing closer to you is a distraction from his life’s purpose. Losing you is part of the price tag that comes with buying into revenge. 

The two of you are stirred out of your thoughts upon Kurogiri setting everything up under Shigaraki’s orders. The chair is placed on the opposite side of the room, far away from everyone else. With all the restraints weaved through the chair legs and backrest, it won’t be easy for this kid to just break free of the bindings. Shigaraki gives the go-ahead, allowing Compress to release his quirk. The kid emerges from the marble and lays out on the floor, unconscious. Seeing the kid completely unresponsive makes you sick. Intrusive thoughts make you picture this poor kid getting knocked out before his abduction, which only worsens your spiraling mind. 

“Well that’s definitely Bakugo Katsuki,” Shigaraki comments. “Why’s he knocked out though? I told you all to not harm the target.”

“Looks like he fell asleep in that marble,” Compress reasons. “He was unharmed when he went in, but he’s been compressed for an hour or two. I suspect he was bored in there.” You find yourself feeling somewhat relieved upon hearing this information. 

“I guess this is to our benefit. He’ll be easier to restrain this way,” Shigaraki settles. “Kurogiri, you do it. If he wakes up, you know what to do.” Kurogiri follows his orders and gently places Bakugo in the chair, clasping all the restraints around him. It’s kind of amazing how he’s able to sleep through it all.

‘This kid is one hell of a heavy sleeper,’ you think. 

“Since he’s still asleep, we’ll go over what happens next,” Shigaraki announces.

“Should we really do this in earshot of him? If he wakes up, he’ll hear everything,” Dabi criticizes. 

“Well we can’t just leave him alone,” Shigaraki refutes. 

“Look at him, do you really think he’ll be able to get out of that?” Dabi points out. Shigaraki seems to consider the idea, though he doesn’t budge quite yet. “It’s your call, but I think this is stupid either way.”

“Fine! We’ll talk about it in the kitchen,” Shigaraki throws his hands up and relents. The rest of the league files out of the room. You’re about to follow before Shigaraki singles you out. “And you,” he points at you. “Go to your room.”

“Me? What did I do?” You ask, incredulously. Somehow this feels like a punishment. 

“I’m not risking you breaking out the kid and ruining my plans while we’re busy,” he justifies. “You’re going upstairs.” 

“Okay mom, how long am I grounded for then?”

“Until I say so. Go fuck off to your room, now,” he warns, crimson eyes glaring at you in annoyance. His tone and choice of words let you know he’s in no mood for your antics or sarcasm today. Shigaraki seems tense. This plan of his is evidently high stakes, but so is yours. You take the warning and head up the stairs, pretending to go into your room. Your feet stop just short of the top of the stairs, carefully peering around the corner and listening out. 

Shigaraki pulls them all to another room to start discussing the plan, detailing the reason why he asked for Bakugo’s kidnapping. You’re ever thankful that the league tends to be loud as it makes your intentions much easier to pull off. You slip past the door and carefully tiptoe to the kid. Your luck must finally be turning, as you see the kid slowly start to regain consciousness. He blinks a few times, carmine eyes adjusting to the light. You see a flash of panic on his face upon seeing the new environment and feeling the restraints constricting his body. 

“I’m sorry this happened to you. Did they hurt you?” You whisper, expressing your condolences. He seems to be a fiery kid, as his face twists in a sneer. 

“Get the fuck away from me, wench,” the blonde kid bites. You back up and raise your arms, despite the fact he’s completely tied to a chair. You’re starting to see the intimidation factor that seems to surround this kid. 

“Woah there, I’m like you, kid. I don’t want to be here either, they kidnapped me too,” you negotiate carefully. 

“So what, you just decided to fight for them after they kidnapped you? That’s pretty pathetic if you ask me,” he insults. Your eyebrow twitches. You’re trying to help him, does this kid really need to rub salt in the wound?

“One, I didn’t ask you. Two, I can’t fight, I’m here because of my healing quirk. And three, I’m trying to help you,” you lecture. 

“Oh,” he says, in a rather small voice. It’s clear the kid is at least a little ashamed of his outburst. 

“Yeah, jump to conclusions much?” You sass. You try to reign in your exasperation and approach the situation gently. “Now, one more time, are you hurt?” 

“I’m fine, they barely even scratched me. Though that one stapled guy had a death grip on my neck,” he complains. Your heart drops at the revelation.

“Sounds like Dabi,” you inform, trying to cover up your saddened tone. You push your emotions to the side and focus on helping the kid. A quick visual pass over his neck doesn’t reveal any injuries, thankfully. “I don’t see any bruises, so it looks like you’re okay.” 

“How long have you been here?” He asks. You can almost detect the faintest bit of sympathy in his voice.

“You know, now that you mention it… I’ve kinda lost track,” you say somberly. “But that doesn’t matter right now. Do you know if your friends or teachers see it happen? If they know why you’re gone and who took you, they’re probably already looking for you as we speak.”

“Oh they saw everything alright,” he snorts. You’re surprised at that, you would have figured with all the sneaky quirks up their sleeve that the LOV would have done this stealthily. Though, remembering how Magne remarked that this plan was supposed to humiliate UA, which you’ve come to realize is a school, makes you see that stealth was never the point. 

“I have a feeling the heroes will at least try to rescue you, but if you have a strong quirk, you might be able to make your own way,” you explain. “But listen to me, do not brute force an escape. Take the opportunity if it presents itself, but don’t put yourself in danger. If you get out and I don’t, keep going. You can just tell the heroes where I am.” 

“Like I’d leave a civilian with them. I wouldn’t be a hero-in-training if I just left you here. We’ll break out of here and pummel those bastards, I promise!” he says with conviction. His spitfire personality grows on you a bit in that moment. Even though he was a little rude to you at first, you still want to help him any way you can. You fill him in on what you’ve learned about the league, mostly giving him information about all their quirks and potential weaknesses. The league’s chatter in the other room seems to slowly die down. With the remaining time you have, you warn him not to attack and that subtly is safer, to which he seems incredibly appalled by.  

“I’m not much of a faker,” he says with pride. “I make my own opening, my way.” 

“We’ll talk about why that’s such a terrible idea later, I gotta go back before they notice,” You hurriedly advise. “You gotta pretend you didn’t see me, alright? I wasn’t supposed to be down here with you.” He gives you an understanding nod and you take the chance to scurry away. You’re actually thankful you’ve been at the league’s base for so long, as you’ve recognized which floorboards creak the most and which path is the quietest. You slip away and head to your room, unnoticed. It’s incredibly lucky that you haven’t been caught scheming. Your ears strain to pick up on everyone’s footfalls until the sounds become more clear, before eventually stopping entirely. It seems they’re done with the debriefing process and are back in the bar. 

“Y/n! Shigaraki said you’re not grounded anymore!” Toga calls out. You don’t hesitate to take the opportunity and you head downstairs, joining the others. Everyone seems to be staring at Bakugo in either anticipation or caution. They seem to avoid getting near his space, as evident by the distance between Bakugo and the others. The atmosphere is incredibly tense, no doubt due to the seething expression on Bakugo’s face. An uneasy silence settles in the room. Even the more talkative members of the LOV refrain from talking. Shigaraki is the one to speak first, breaking the silence and establishing his control over the situation. 

“Dabi, take off his restraints,” Shigaraki commands.

“You know he’s just going to try to fight us, right?” Dabi asks, doubtful of his leader’s plan.

“It’s fine, if we’re scouting him, we need to treat him like equals,” Shigaraki dismisses.  Shigaraki’s words fail to convince him. 

Dabi looks at the kid, sizing him up. He must not like what he sees as he offloads the responsibility onto Twice. “Twice, you do it.”

“Why me?!” Twice exclaims. Even he doesn’t seem too thrilled about the idea.

“Just do it,” Dabi insists, exasperated by Twice’s hesitance. 

“No way,” Twice denies with exaggerated gestures, before dropping the resistance entirely. Twice ends up walking over to Bakugo and unlocking all the restraints. You try to shoot him a look as a reminder about what the two of you secretly discussed: don’t be stupid and do something obvious. The warning is lost on the kid as he ignores your intense gaze and lunges for Shigaraki. An explosion hits the leader in the face, clouding him in a bit of smoke. The kid quickly backs away from Shigaraki’s space, taking advantage of the initial shock.

You stare at Bakugo, dumbfounded, with an expression that can only communicate, ‘What the fuck are you doing?!’ 

You feel yourself sweating out of stress. Shigaraki seems completely stunned, but despite his initial lack of reaction, you find yourself growing anxious upon realizing that his hand mask is on the floor. You’ve never seen him take it off. He’s gotta be especially protective over that thing. Bakugo seems to be eyeing the situation, eyes darting back and forth between everyone, clearly cooking up a plan to escape. It’s then you realized you forgot to tell him all the doors are locked. You feel a dawning horror invade your emotions. This is going terribly and you can’t help but feel it’s all your fault. 

To your surprise, Shigaraki doesn’t respond with malice. Rather, he commands for everyone to leave the kid unharmed. He specifically instructs Compress and Kurogiri to put him back to sleep. The mercy the LOV leader is showing is incredibly unlike him, but welcome nonetheless. Shigaraki’s orders make you release the breath you were holding and relax. Still, you don’t tear your eyes away from the scene unfolding, staying alert in case you can help the kid out in some way. Compress carefully begins to approach Bakugo. The kid sizes up the situation and seems to brace himself for the chance he could dodge Compress. 

A knock on the door makes everyone halt in their places, momentarily pausing the confrontation. “Pizza delivery!” A voice says from behind the door. The league members look at each other in skepticism. 

“Did one of you idiots order a fucking pizza, I swear to god-“ Shigaraki questions, cut off by a loud crash that sounds off to the right of them. You turn to look, seeing the wall blown in by people donned in capes and bodysuits. The sight makes you want to cry in relief. It’s the heroes, the two of you are saved. You even see All Might amongst the heroes, the man who’s known internationally for being the unbeatable symbol of peace. You just hope that All Might remains unstoppable in the face of the League of Villains. The heroes don’t hesitate a second longer, as everyone springs into action. Tree branches reach for all the villains, ensnaring everyone, including you. It's then you realize how your situation must look from the outside. The heroes think you’re a villain.

Fuck.

How do you convince them you’re not a threat when there’s not even time for you to speak?

A flash of blue fire erupts from Dabi’s head. If the heroes don’t neutralize his quirk, he’ll definitely burn the branches restraining you all until nothing remains but ash. You were hopeful you’d get out of here, but you’re feeling doubtful now. The situation is incredibly hectic and ever-changing. A flash of yellow zooms past you, moving far too fast for your eyes to fully comprehend. When you turn your head, you catch sight of an old man in a yellow cape kicking Dabi on the back of the head. Dabi’s eyes seem to roll back and he slumps forward into the branches. The scene makes you absolutely dumbstruck. Dabi is knocked out cold.

With Dabi ‘dispatched’, his flames are no longer an issue. The only blaring issue that remains to you is figuring out how to convince the heroes you aren’t a criminal. You’re not really given an opportunity, as All Might’s booms over yours. The sheer volume of his voice commands the room, there’s no way you can speak over him. All Might is completely focused on Bakugo, fussing over him like a concerned parent. They have a quick, heart-to-heart conversation, something about how terrifying it must have been for Bakugo to handle this on his own. Even in such a sincere moment, Bakugo’s personality shines through, as he vehemently denies ever feeling scared at all. The heroes are gloating as Shigaraki seethes at the scene, twitching from rage. You swear your eyes catch sight of something in the air, some red string that keeps catching the light. You’re straining to see what it is when the thread thickens. A face emerges from the thread, startling you. You’d jump on the spot if you weren’t completely immobilized. 

“Oh? Who’s this? It appears our intel failed to find out a new villain joined their ranks,” the face muses. You open your mouth to counter his accusation, but you’re beaten to the point. 

“Edgeshot, she’s not a villain!” Bakugo yells. “She’s just a civilian.” 

“Not only did you abduct my pupil, but a civilian too?” All Might condemns, before confidently continuing. “It’s over. The childish pranks end now.”

All Might’s words must have enraged Shigaraki and pulled him out of his stunned stupor. Shigaraki shouts orders at Kurogiri to open up a warp gate, but the heroes have thought ahead. Kurogiri is pierced through the abdomen by who you understand is the hero Edgeshot, and promptly slumps over, Kurogiri’s body seemingly completely limp. You’re aghast in horror until the hero reappears from the thread and claims to have merely put him to sleep. You feel like you’re on a rollercoaster, with constant ups and downs, getting scared and worried just to feel slightly more at ease before the cycle happens again. 

All Might seems to ask Shigaraki a question, something that seems important to the heroes, but you don’t pay it any mind. You can’t seem to focus on their conversation. Something just seems off. It appears there’s something in certain spots of the air that distorts, rippling in a way that’s reminiscent of water. You know it’s not the thread hero again, as he’s already materialized. These distortions are much different anyways. It’s almost like a dark spot is appearing, floating in space. Your suspicions are confirmed as black ooze seems to drip down out of thin air. The viscous mixture seems to grow in size as it pours down until you see pale limbs reaching out. Strange, humanoid beings come out of the sludge. Several of them have their brains exposed and completely uncovered by a skull. You feel sick just at the sight of something so unnatural and grotesque. What the hell are these things? 

Whatever summoned these creatures takes advantage of the chaos. Black sludge erupts from the mouths of all LOV members. It encases the villains in a shroud of darkness and their bodies disappear into the inky depths, without a trace and leaving behind empty space where they were once restrained by branches. Bakugo seems to have been transported out of the room as well. His disappearance causes All Might to frantically yell upon failing to grab him. You’re shocked to see the hero look so caught off guard and genuinely emotional. He’s always been known to smile even in the face of danger. The fact he’s so openly shouting in distress is more than alarming. 

You’re even more taken aback when you see the creatures begin to lunge for the heroes, forcing All Might and the rest to fight back. It’s clear to you that whatever the hell these monsters are, they’re far from friendly and they are numerous. The creatures seem to be even outside of the bar, as evident by the shrills of terror. It sounds terrible out there, you can hear screams, bullets, and the sound of fighting. 

As you watch the scene unfold, your eyes accidentally make eye contact with a monster. One seems to turn in your direction and hone in on you. Your wide eyes stare in horror at the creature as it rushes towards you. It leaps and lunges at you. You flinch and screw your eyes shut, unable to do anything else besides steel yourself for the inevitable. The wooden hero creates a wall of branches between you and the monster, blocking off its attack. 

“There’s too many! Kamui, get her out of here!” You overhear Edgeshot shout. Kamui, who you’ve come to realize is the tree hero, follows Edgeshot’s orders. The branches pull you from the room and out from the gaping hole in the wall, away from the chaos and combat. You’re lifted onto a nearby roof, still tightly bound by Kamui’s quirk. He stands near the edge of the building, seemingly scanning the surroundings, probably looking for a safer place to deliver you. You look over the streets as well, seeing destruction everywhere you look. It’s clear there’s no escape from the turmoil just yet. You catch his heroic posture faltering, with his shoulders drooping ever so slightly. No words are shared between the two of you as you both wait for the conflict to die down, unable to tear your eyes away from the morbid scene. 

Eventually, enough bullets are spent and enough blood has been shed, as the strange creatures are put down. Kamui makes the descent down from the roof with you in tow. You’re delivered in front of a flaming hero, with a permanent scowl on his face, conversing with a police officer. Their attention immediately snaps to you. The large, flaming man looks at you with disinterest, but the officer seems perplexed by you. 

“And who is this supposed to be?” The hero grills Kamui.

“Don’t know, we saw her in the base with the League of Villains,” he answers. “Kid believes she’s a civilian.” 

“Civilian, huh? That’s rich,” the flame hero scoffs. The hero turns his attention to the police officer and gives him an order. “Put the quirk cuffs on her, we’ll process her like any other villain until we have actual evidence saying otherwise.” 

 The police officer looks skeptical and doesn’t make an effort to move. Instead, his eyes narrow at you and he looks at you with vague recognition. The hero takes notice of his hesitance and asks, clearly annoyed, “What’s the hold-up?”

“Endeavor, with all due respect, I don’t believe she is a villain,” the policeman objects. 

“Don’t tell me even you are falling for this ruse,” the hero sneers. “She was surely a part of some plan to trick the student. She probably lied to him and posed as another victim in order to gain his trust.”

“I worked a case a while back. A University student went missing without a trace. She matches the description,” he informs. The hero, who you assume is named Endeavor, remains unconvinced. The officer sighs, and compromises, “Look, we could ask her some questions, and if her answers match, then she’s actually a civilian and telling the truth.” Endeavor seems to think it over, relenting upon seeing the officer’s determined expression. 

“Fine, ask your stupid questions, but she’s going to Tartarus if her answers don’t check out. Mark my words,” Endeavor warns. The officer gives a curt nod and turns to you. 

“What’s your first name?” He opens. 

“Y/n,” you answer. 

“And your quirk?” 

“Healing skin.” 

“Seems like her,” the officer gloats. Endeavor remains skeptical, as is evident with his narrowed eyes and mouth pressed in a scowl.  

Endeavor counters the officer’s claim, “Couldn’t she be pretending to be your missing university student? If it was all over the news-”

“It wasn’t,” the officer interrupts. “So many people go missing in this district that one more hardly makes the news. It’s her, there’s not a doubt in my mind.” 

“What were you doing with the League of Villains?” Endeavor interrogates. He seems incredibly suspicious of you. You suppose you can’t really blame him. Edgeshot assumed you were in cahoots with the league back at the hideout. From an outsider’s perspective, you really did look suspect. Still, you have an opportunity to clear your name. The most you can do is tell your story and hope they believe you.

“Shigaraki knocked me out when I ran into him one night. When I woke up, I realized I had been kidnapped,” you explain. “He liked my quirk and thought I’d be useful. If I didn’t heal the league like he asked, he said he’d disintegrate me.” 

Endeavor lets out an exhausted sigh, before rubbing his temples with one hand. “Take her to HPSC headquarters. The commission is gonna want to hear about this,” he orders the officer. 

Kamui takes this as a sign to unhand you. He finally releases you from his quirk’s hold, much to your relief. The officer speaks into the radio on his suit, updating the situation and requesting a squad car, before leading you away. He escorts you away from the aftermath of the raid, guiding you through the scattered piles of debris, until you arrive at the police car, parked on an intact street with another officer waiting expectantly outside. The additional police officer opens the door to the backseat for you and you climb in, after which she shuts it behind you. Sounds of sirens and yelling are muffled in the car, giving you a momentary respite from all the commotion and the ability to finally process what happened.

You sit in the back of the squad car, contemplating everything that has happened while staring out the window. Just a few hours ago, you were healing the league and even laughing with them. After you realized they kidnapped a kid and then the heroes broke down the wall, everything seemed to just crash down at once. Somehow, you developed a sort of camaraderie with the lot, despite not subscribing to their goals and actively wishing to be away from them. You adapted to it. Life with the league became your new normal. But what will your normal be now? You doubt your life can just rewind back to the way it was before you were kidnapped, not since you escaped the clutches of the league. Speaking of, would they come back for you? Would they punish you for escaping? Would you ever see him again? These are questions you never thought to ask all the times you were fantasizing about fleeing. Now that you’re here, the questions are unavoidable and unfortunately, without answers. 

You’re so lost in your thoughts that you don't care to listen to the officers radioing their superiors. You only process that they started the car when you see the scenery whizzing by. The drive to headquarters is simultaneously overwhelming yet quiet. The officers haven’t spoken a word to you since loading you into the car, leaving you to drown in your own head. 

You thought you’d be happy to see the outside again, but now that you’re here, it’s incredibly overstimulating. The lights are too bright, the buildings are too big, and the radio relaying updates is far too loud. Your hands ball up in your lap, knuckles turning white from your anxious clenching. You worry your time in captivity has ruined you, and the thought only serves to heighten your anxiety. 

The car eventually rolls up to a large building and parks on the curb. One of the officers opens your car door after getting out herself, and you step out and onto the sidewalk. They both lead you into the building, where they freely walk into the lobby, filled with heroes coming and going. The receptionist doesn’t bother to stop the officers, instead giving them a look of recognition and an understanding nod. You all shuffle into an elevator and rise to the top floor. The ascent is silent until the elevator dings and the metal doors slide open. You all step out of the elevator and into a sort of waiting area, where a man with crimson red wings greets the officers. They exchange polite greetings all the while you stand there awkwardly, unsure of what to do in the situation. The pupils in the hero’s yellow eyes seem to narrow to slits when they dart to you, sizing you up with interest. 

“So this must be the little dove found at the hideout,” the feathered hero muses, as he looks at you. 

“You’d be correct,” the officer confirms. “We’re supposed to escort Miss y/n to the Safety Commission President. Would you know where she is around now?” 

“Don’t worry about it, I can take over from here. You two must have a mountain of paperwork after the Kamino raid, ” Hawks offers. They seem to be grateful for this, as you’re handed off to the bird-like hero. The police officers say their thanks before heading back down through the elevators, leaving you alone with yet another new person. 

“The name’s Hawks. Nice to meet you, y/n,” he introduces, rather informally. 

“Y-yeah, likewise,” you stutter, feeling a bit nervous in the company of a new stranger. “Um, Hawks?”

“Hmm?” He hums. 

“Why am I here?”

“You’ve piqued the interest of some very important people,” he explains. You must look worried as he quickly adds, “They just want to know about what happened to you and what you know, that sort of thing.”

“I see…” you reply, voice trailing off. 

You’re led through the halls and into a sort of conference room. Five strangers in formal business wear sit behind a slightly curved desk, arranged in a sort of panel. Hawks ushers you to the center of the room, leaving you to stand in front of them as he posts himself near the door. You’re not sure what is going on. Your palms start sweating from nervousness. It feels like you’re in a courtroom, on trial. One of the five people sitting behind the long table presses a button on what you assume is some sort of audio recording device. The questions feel endless, just one after another, all asking about the LOV. Over time, they seem less suspicious of you and your story, especially after explaining Shigaraki’s initial threats. The meeting, or rather, the interrogation ends with a question about Shigaraki and Dabi. 

“Do you know their real names? We have reason to suspect their current identifiers are just monikers. Nothing is known of their real identities. Anything you know could be useful,” one of them explains. You shake your head. 

“They never revealed their true names and I never cared to ask,” you inform. There’s a look of disappointment on her face before she shuts the recorder off. 

“I see. That’s a shame,” she responds. “As a precautionary measure, we’ve arranged for you to be housed in a safe location, where you will stay until the League of Villains is captured. It’s unlikely they will try to find you given the severe blow the raid inflicted on them, but please, bear with us until then. We appreciate your cooperation.”

The door clicks open and you take that as your cue to leave, eagerly walking out with Hawks trailing behind you. You’re relieved for the process to finally be over. That damn interrogation was anxiety-inducing to say the least. Your apparent discomfort must be noticeable to Hawks, no doubt from your loud sighs, as he places a comforting hand on your shoulder. 

“You alright?” Hawks asks. There’s this small hint of genuine concern in his voice, something you picked up on. From the interactions you’ve had with him, he always seems to have this sort of carefree and upbeat personality. 

“I will be,” you offer. You rub at your eyes, feeling the effects of your hectic day wearing down your energy. “Some sleep would help. I’ll probably feel a bit better in the morning.” 

“I hear ya,” he responds. “Come on, I’ll get you out of here so you can rest, follow me.” He notions to the elevators with a nod of his head in that direction, and proceeds to walk over. Hawks calls for the elevator and you follow him in when the doors open. He tucks his large wings closer to his body, so that they don’t take up as much space. You weren’t able to see he pushed the up button, so when the elevator rises to the roof access, revealing the night sky, you’re more than a little confused.

“I thought you were taking me out of here?” You ask.

“I am,” he responds, almost matter-of-factly. 

“But why are we on the roof?”

“Why walk when you could fly?” 

“Oh hell no,” you refuse. 

“I’m fast, it’ll be over before you know it,” he bargains. “It’s more secure this way anyways. You can’t be followed as easily.” 

“Okay, okay. Fine. Just… don’t drop me,” you relent, understanding his point. 

“I wouldn’t be a very good hero if I let you fall,” he laughs. “You’ll be fine, hold on tight.” 

He scoops you into his arms and you tightly cling to the fabric of his shirt. His wings flap, sending powerful gusts of wind, until you’re both lifted off the ground. The roof grows farther and farther away from you as he ascends into the sky. True to his words, he’s incredibly fast, as the skyscrapers seem to whizz by, almost blurring together. The experience is equal parts nerve-wracking, exhilarating, and freeing. It had been so long since you’d last seen the night sky, and now it feels like you’re seeing it much closer than ever before. Had you not been in the arms of a reliable hero, you’d be more scared-shitless and less naturally wary of this experience. 

He eventually lands on the roof of what looks to be an apartment high-rise. Your legs feel wobbly from the adrenaline when he finally sets you down. You’re thankful he gives you a few moments to recollect yourself, before showing you down a flight of stairs and into a hall of apartment doors. He opens the unlocked door to your provided room and ushers you in. 

“You should be safe here,” he assures. “Most of your neighbors are heroes. You’re in good hands, but just in case, I’ll be checking in every so often.” 

“Thank you, Hawks,” you say, relief clear in your voice. You offer him a grateful smile. 

“Don’t mention it,” he accepts. “Lock the doors and get some rest, you’ve more than earned it after what you went through.” You do as you’re told when he leaves your new apartment, turning the locks and deadbolt. Silence settles upon your new home as you’re left completely alone for the first time all night. The realization feels so foreign to you, as you remember how even at the LOV base, you were never truly left alone. There was always at least someone around you, some pair of eyes and ears attuned to you, preventing your escape. Despite how odd it feels, you press on and find your way to the bedroom. You immediately crawl into bed and fall asleep, still in your clothes, lacking the energy to even think about changing out of them. It’s when the bright light of the morning shines through your windows, waking you up, that you realize all your things were back at the LOV base. 

In the light of the day and now refreshed from sleep, you take the time to explore your new flat. The apartment is neither extremely big or claustrophobically small, instead sitting at a nice medium between the two extremes. It seems mostly fitted with all the necessities. When you look in the closet, you even find there’s already a small selection of neutral clothes, ranging in size. You reason they must keep this place preemptively stocked for cases such as yourself. 

You go about your morning, trying to ignore how odd it feels to be on your own for once. Going through the motions of showering, changing into comfortable clothes, and making breakfast seems to distract you from the feelings. When you’re out of things to add to your routine, you decide to turn on the news to understand what happened last night. The reporter goes over the major events of the hideout raid, most of which are things you already knew, though, both you and the public alike are left in the dark as to what those strange monsters were. Your knee bounces nervously upon just seeing those things again. The reporter then updates the public on what happened to Bakugo. You feel immense relief upon seeing the news reporter happily report that the UA student has been returned unharmed. 

Your doorbell rings, tearing your attention away from the segment. Suspicious, you slowly walk to the door, peering through the peephole. Through the fish-eyed glass, you’re able to see a familiar shock of blonde hair and red wings waiting patiently at your step. You let out a relieved sigh and unlock the door to allow Hawks into your home. 

“Heyo,” he greets. “How’s the new place treating you?” 

“It’s nice, definitely beats staying at the hideout,” you answer. “Say, speaking of, will I be able to get anything back from there?”

“Yeah, about that, I have some bad news,” he starts. Hawks informs you that damage done to the LOV’s base meant that almost all of your belongings were destroyed. Not much was salvageable in the aftermath. Speaking of the aftermath, he warns you that the heroes have been unable to apprehend the league yet. Their current whereabouts are completely unknown. Despite this, Hawks assures you that it was unlikely the LOV should seek you out again, given the rationality that there are other healers out there and they were dealt a huge loss. You suppose it made sense, but you can’t shake the concern. 

“So what does this all mean for me?” You ask. 

“Well, until they’re found, you’ll have to stay here,” he explains. 

“I guess that’s not so bad,” you accept. “This place is much closer to (campus/work) so my walk won’t be as bad.” He grimaces at your comment, clearly knowing something you don’t.

“No, you literally have to stay here. Unless it’s an emergency, you can’t leave. I’ll be dropping by to check in on you every few days though, so you won’t be completely alone, at least,” he clarifies. Your face drops at the information.

 “Oh! Before I forget,” he adds, seemingly remembering something. He pulls a phone from his jacket pocket, one that looks extremely familiar. “I also managed to grab your phone from the evidence locker. The police took it from the scene of your disappearance. You can call your family or friends, let them know you’re alive. I’m sure they’ve been worried about you.” You accept your phone from his hand. Although your phone is dead, you’re sure there’ll be a million calls on your lock screen once it’s turned on.

“Yeah, I’m sure they have,” you agree, a bit solemnly.

“Just… don’t tell them where you are. It’d defeat the whole purpose of hiding you from the league, you know?” You nod, accepting those terms. It’s ironic, you think, how you were supposedly freed, yet you were not granted freedom. You were still locked away, prevented from leaving. Yes, you understood the rationale behind it, but that didn’t mean it erased the fact the situation felt eerily familiar. 

Hawks would do regular check-ins. First a couple times a day, then once a day, until slowing down to every two days. When he had the time, he’d stay a little longer to talk and the two of you would hang out in your living room. You got to know the now number two hero fairly well from all those moments. The two of you mostly made small talk, though there were some moments in which you two seemed to genuinely laugh at some stupid joke or share the same opinions on a controversial topic. Sometimes, he’d ask about what your life in the league was like. You were (mostly) honest with him about it, telling him stories about your interactions with everyone. It was a bit fun to see his eyes widen in shock when you recounted some of the things you said to Shigaraki. He seemed a bit aghast to know you made such snarky comments and survived to tell the tale. But, you always were careful to conveniently leave out the details about Dabi. You weren’t sure what he, and the HPSC, would do if they heard you nearly made out with a wanted villain. Some things were better left unsaid.

 When you weren’t accompanied by Hawks in your home, you’d spend your time distracting yourself rather than unpacking what happened. Without a therapist, you’d get nowhere. You’d rather bide your time rather than spiral into blaming yourself or justifying the league. You fear it has already begun with your cynicism towards the HPSC, which is why you desperately wish to talk to someone you can trust. Not only that, but your dreams were often about Dabi. Despite what he had done, you seem to still hold a fondness for him. You still desired him. These dreams confused you to no end, but you were never able to rationalize them. It was frustrating, to be locked away, supposedly in safety, but not even granted the ability to talk to a professional about what happened to you. The HPSC claimed due to the high-profile nature of this case, you’d have to wait until the LOV was in custody before you could begin your visits. They seemed to defend their actions by claiming a therapist leaking your case would draw attention to their investigation and endanger you by confirming where you are. Not only that, but they said the risk of Twice’s clones or Toga infiltrating your appointments was too high to justify. 

Over time, the weeks of isolation slowly turned into a few months, the passage of time aided by endless distractions. You were starting to get in the swing of things. Being alone no longer felt as foreign, it was becoming natural again. Unfortunately, your whole routine was about to be disrupted. Unbeknownst to you, miles away in Deika City, Shigaraki begins plotting something. A plan to shake up the confidence of the hero commission, starting with you.  

“The heroes took something from me. I need to teach them a lesson in stealing what is mine,” Shigaraki states to his lieutenants in the PLF army. “It’s time to return our healer.” And with his command, the plans are set in motion. 

Hours later and back to your place, you hear a knock on your door. Figuring it must be Hawks, you shout from your kitchen, “Hold on, I’m coming!” You make your way to the foyer, not bothering to look through the peephole and  open the door. Instead of meeting with Hawks, there’s another hero at your doorstep. 

“You’re not who I was expecting,” you say, a bit suspiciously. “Normally someone else checks in on me, has this changed?”

“Oh, just for today. I’m just filling in. You know how busy us heroes are!” He answers. 

“R-right, I suppose the hero lifestyle can get hectic,” You mumble. You still can’t shake your suspicion.

 “H-hey, do you mind showing me your quirk? It’s part of the protocol, you know, to make sure there’s no imposters,” you lie. 

“Oh, my bad! I must have missed that part of the report,” the hero apologizes. He buys your lie, which seems a bit suspect, but he shows you his quirk nonetheless. “Slidin’ Go, signature slide!” He slides on the floor, without resistance. Pretty useless quirk, in your opinion, but given how he can still use it, he’s not Toga. You doubt Twice could have obtained all the measurements of a hero that’s not declared missing, so there’s no concern in your mind it’s a clone. Relief washes over you and you wonder why you were so jumpy in the first place.

 It’s safe. 

You’re safe. 

Everything is okay.

“You mind letting me in? Just need to do a check around, make sure you’re actually alone and all,” he requests. You suppose that’s what Hawks has been doing when he hangs over. It makes sense, but it stings to know the social contact you had was all due to a protocol. 

“Oh, right, sorry. Come on in,” you agree. You open the door and allow him to enter inside. He looks around your apartment, walking from the entryway down the hall until he stops at your living room. Your (tea kettle/coffee maker) sounds off from your kitchen. The suddenness startles you momentarily. You shut the door behind you and pad past him down the hall. “Sorry, I was in the middle of making (tea/coffee). Just one moment,” you excuse, awkwardly. 

“No worries, take your time. I’ll be in the living room while you do that!” He cheerily dismisses. You offer him a polite nod before trotting off to your kitchen, pouring your drink into a mug and carrying it with you. 

When you return to the living room, you realize he’s nowhere to be seen. Concerning, but not enough to make you panic. What does make you start sweating is seeing puddles of a gray, clay-like substance on the carpet. Your stomach instantly drops, and your mug slips out of your hands, further sullying the carpet. You remember that conversation between Toga and Muscular, how Toga’s quirk leaves behind pale silt. 

FUCK.

Since when could Toga use other quirks?!

You’re about to bolt for the door to attempt to run away when you feel arms gripping your waist. You look down and see no other than Toga. 

‘Holy shit, she’s gotten so much stronger,’ you think, the realization stirring up a panic in you. You try to wriggle out of her grasp, but she just doesn’t budge. She quickly snakes one arm to the collar of her shirt and speaks into it. 

“Mission accomplished!” She announces, to whom, you’re not quite sure. You’re not left with time to think about it, as you feel an odd sensation rise up your throat. Black sludge pours out of your mouth, enveloping you entirely in darkness. The sensation is nothing short of gross and uncomfortable. You’re thankful it doesn’t last for long, but when your lungs finally clear of the substance, you realize you’ve been transported somewhere completely unfamiliar to you. 

“Looks like Toga managed to pull it off after all,” you hear a familiar, smoky voice drawl. The recognition is instant. Your body freezes and your eyes trail over to the source. You lock eyes with none other than Dabi. “It’s been a long time, hasn’t it, y/n?” 

Your mouth feels dry, but you speak anyway. “It has.”

[birgittesilverbae]

… first favourite chapter of the books? 👀

this is probably unhinged of me, but TSR ch 47 The Truth of a Viewing

strong opening with parallels to Mat's tactics post-being-filled-with-men supporting Siuan's leadership qualities

the slow-rising horror for the reader as you realize how much information she has but both you and she know how little she can do with it. within the opening two paragraphs it's a dread that only ratchets up as the chapter carries on.

the hints to what's to come by the end of the chapter, "Three Sitters for three different Ajahs had proposed holding all plans close in the Hall" and thus ensuring that the general population of Aes Sedai would be unaware that Siuan had been (somewhat) transparent

how thoroughly her one safe space is torn away from her, and still she has the wherewithal to ensure she snaps her box of secrets shut.

layering on insult after insult, shielded and forced to watch the invasion of her chambers, the powers she'd always hoped might free her used to bind her instead

the internal monologue consistently downplaying the situation even as her physical reactions are amped up to the max, and still she's the schemer they make her out to be, running her mouth to give herself time to think and seed doubt in Elaida's party

the slip when Elaida reveals that this is personal. "Do you think I - we - would allow you to destroy the Tower?"

dragged out past her dying Warder and still turning immediately to planning. pushed and stumbling but refusing to lose her footing, still fighting not to show Elaida any emotion no matter what she does to her, even twenty years after that "training" bordering on torture. (the indignity she'll shortly feel in this streak having been broken)

the absolute asshole wording that is "Siuan opened her eyes, stirred, winced, and was still."

waking up stilled and immediately reframing her situation [the luxury of knowing she was still breathing]. another indignity in stripping her bare as they have stripped her of the source. unable to grasp saidar but at least she can grasp the physical pain. always always trying to focus herself, to regain control

trying to speedrun acceptance as she confronts becoming rudderless now, trying to face the bastards on her feet. getting knocked down and picking herself up over and over and over again, resilient, relentless

the response to the Tower breaking that Moiraine will mirror to Egwene in that TFOH chapter

plying Min for information and recalculating, recalculating, reframing, parsing all of it into something approaching meaning

kneeling for Elaida, knowing what must be done no matter if it kills her to do it

realising the oaths don't apply anymore and immediately using that as a tool, as a weapon, trying to internalize it as an advantage

it's just everything I adore about Siuan packed into a single chapter that finds her at her lowest point and tilts her head up towards the distant light of the surface.

Even now, after Elaida has stripped so much from her, Siuan is still buried in layer upon layer of ice and rage and purpose, flailing about beneath it all to try and keep her head above water. As long as she repeats it to herself often it will become truth. There are advantages to this, she just has to find them. It's horrendous, but she can't undo it, so she fights to move past it, fights to move forward, fights to hold herself together. She may have lost this battle, but the war has only just begun.