#about where his worth as a person is and how people are supposed to react to his less than perfect battle worn face

[bitchfitch]

hhhnmg wip

[daytaker]

The Gang React to You Giving Them Chocolates on Valentine's Day

And other Valentine's Day miscellanea. I'm going with MC giving store-bought chocolates. I know in some places, it's more common to give homemade chocolates, but I for one do not have any idea how that is done and it's not something that's common where I live, so I'm going to go with what I know, which is very little. Enjoy! (Mostly below the cut.)

The length of these varies. Some are quite short. I just wanted to put out some sort of Valentine's Day themed Thing, even if I'm almost two days late.

Lucifer

"How thoughtful. I don't suppose there's anything deeper I'm meant to read into here?"

He's so smug. Unreasonably so. More than you would expect. Yeah, guys, he got chocolates from MC. But his pride doesn't allow him to flaunt the fact. He has to just hope and pray people actively ask him whether he's gotten anything or where those not-so-discreetly placed chocolates sitting on his desk happened to come from.

Lucifer is very traditional in his treatment of you. When it comes to events like this, he's almost painfully predictable. He'll certainly have roses for you, and depending on your relationship, he might reserve dinner for two at a high end restaurant. And if your relationship is at a certain level, you can expect a trail of rose petals leading to the bed. It's kind of cringeworthy but he means well.

Mammon

"O-oh... Ahem... Is it Valentine's Day? Ha! I thought I was forgettin' somethin'. Heh, uh... thanks, human."

Obviously he didn't forget; he's been stressing over this day for the past week. He needs to get you something, but it can't be anything that's too cheesy or anything that makes him look cheap, so he's probably broken the bank to get you some sort of jewelry that he'll spend the next century paying off, but it's worth it.

When he gets chocolates from you, he plays it off like it's no big deal, but actually, he's so excited to reciprocate that before he has time to think it over, he's acting like he just so happened to have this expensive piece of jewelry on his person so you might as well take it for him. He spends the rest of the day kicking himself because now how in the world are you supposed to know that this was actually a very tactful and expensive gift from the greatest demon in the Devildom?

That, and he'll probably spend the entire day glaring at his brothers and the dateables from the corner as they shower you with gifts and attention.

Leviathan

"Wh...? For me? This isn't a prank, right? Because I'm not gonna forgive you if this box is full of tide pods!"

It's not full of tide pods, so all is well. He's so embarrassed to have doubted you that he tries to just shove his gift into your hands and push you out of his room, but it won't take too much persistence to get him to back down.

His gift is some sort of merch relating to an anime, manga, or game the two of you have particularly enjoyed together. Preferably something cute and evocative of the holiday. He doesn't know. He's never done this before. Why would he? Nobody would ever think to give him anything on Valentine's Day, so why would he bother with gifts? You do remember that nobody likes him, right? He doesn't like them either, so it's fine, but---

Let's just thank him for our gift before he falls too far down the self-hate spiral.

Satan

"I had hoped I might receive something from you today."

Satan is glad to get something from you, no matter what it is, but to be honest, chocolates probably aren't the best choice for him. He'd rather have something a little more heart-felt, that seems like you picked it out with him in mind. Literally anything cat-themed, or a book of some sort (bonus if it's a romance novel).

He's probably gone and done something stupidly romantic like buy you flowers and a book of poetry with certain parts highlighted.

But don't be fooled. Satan's favorite part of Valentine's Day is talking about its gruesome history, from the martyrdom of St. Valentine to a whole host of brutal murders that have taken place on the day. Catch him trying to figure out how to shoehorn the Chicago St. Valentine's Day Massacre into a casual conversation.

Asmodeus

"Oh, for meeee? You're such a sweetheart!"

He adds it to his enormous pile of chocolates, cards, flowers, and love letters. But of course, it's special, because it's from you.

He loves it, but... he's another one who would probably prefer something a little more personalized. Being who he is, he's a very popular demon on Valentine's Day, so seeing you put in a little effort to get him something with a bit of Asmo-flair would thrill him.

Beelzebub

"Chocolates...? This is the best thing I could have asked for. They'll taste even better knowing they're from you."

Well, obviously he loves them. He probably tried to get you chocolates too, but it doesn't matter how much he loves you. Beel's gonna Beel. The box is empty. He's shocked. He was sure he left some.

Belphegor

"...Wait, it's...? ...Thanks, MC. They look really good."

Belphie stares down at the chocolates in his hands, looking tired and mellow, while he internally panics because holy shit, it's already February 14? When did that happen? He doesn't have anything for you. He hates Valentine's Day. Why does it have to exist and lay bare all his inadequacies, like being a procrastinator and forgetting to prepare for things in advance even to the slightest degree?

Diavolo

"Ah, for Valentine's Day! It's a delight to receive this in person!"

Diavolo probably gets plenty of Valentine's Day presents from admirers (and suck-ups) around the Devildom, but most of them come in the mail or are otherwise delivered in an impersonal manner. So when you approach him directly to give him some chocolates, he's reminded why you're everyone's favorite human (himself included).

Also, you'd better clear out your schedule, because Diavolo booked out all of Ristorante Six for a dinner date tonight. Yes, the entire thing. Yes, on Valentine's Day. No, he's not worried about the dozens of disappointed couples who had probably been hoping to eat there.

Barbatos

"Any gift from you is satisfactory in my eyes."

It's kind of embarrassing to give regular old chocolates to someone like Barbatos who's a complete whiz in the kitchen, especially when it comes to sweets. But you figure he'd appreciate the gesture, and you'd be right. Of course, he will turn around and present you with a variety of immaculate, handcrafted artisan chocolates, tailor made to your personal taste. But sure, those store-bought candies you got in the heart-shaped box are completely fine, so stop stressing out about it.

Solomon

"Aw, thank you, my adorable apprentice! I have some homemade chocolates for you! What? Aren't you going to try some?"

Solomon tries to kill you on Valentine's Day...with love, obviously! But seriously, aren't you going to try the chocolates? He put his whole heart into them. And the hearts of several unique Devildom species. They're not toxic, stop worrying.

Simeon

"The fact that you thought of me means more than you realize."

And he means it. The fact that you thought about him, and when thinking about him, made the active decision to buy him something for Valentine's Day makes him stupidly happy.

Simeon strikes me as a flowers kind of guy. He got you flowers. Maybe some homemade treats too, but definitely flowers.

Luke

"Thanks! I got you something too. Happy Valentine's Day!"

Luke made cookies. They're delicious. Befriending this kid is the smartest thing you ever did.

[greycaelum]

Hi ! It's me again, I just wanted to add that I think you're absolutely amazing. Your writing is perfect, and out of all the stories I've read about Satoru, I feel like you have the best interpretation of him, and you do a great job of conveying that in your writing. That's why I wanted to thank you for taking us on a journey and allowing us to escape into a world with Satoru!

I also wanted to make a small request, but of course you can ignore this part if you don't feel like it! The Kaleidoscope series is by far my favorite, and I wanted to see Satoru's wife be a little jealous...he's such a simp for her, and only has eyes for her, so she never has to worry about anything, and I love that, but why not have a little turn of events with lots of fluff.

Thank you!

- Machi ⭐️

Kaleidoscope Series—Clouds and Mochi Chapters: { Territorial }

—Gojo Satoru X Wife Reader

𑁍 Genre: fluff, a lil' wifezilla moment with y/n

𑁍 WC/CW/TW: (1.1k)— champagne moments, homewrecker alert, PDA *in capital letters

𑁍 A/N: midterms put the nail to my coffin, but here's a glass of bubbly to that~🥂

Your husband without question is a fine-looking man. Too fine sometimes. But you could never count how many times girls bat lashes in his direction or even try to snag your man away with their sultry clothes almost showing their souls to him.

Your reaction?

Well, normal.

If you were a jealous woman having Satoru as your man is a big no, no. He catches too much attention for his own good. Both by males at work and girls at the sides.

But it never roused an extensive feeling of jealousy or envy in your side. Albeit after years of being with him that is. Others may call it arrogance or simply the steeled assurance between the two of you... But you've never been put in a critical position where you have the urgency of stating your claim over Satoru. They could kneel and lay down his feet but only you can touch your man.

You sip the champagne served for you at tonight's gala. It's an annual social gathering held by the prime minister for the Jujutsu clans. And the Gojo Clan being at the top of the Three Great Families of the Jujutsu society, you must attend for the formalities or whatnots.

What a bore...

Satoru's attitude must have rubbed on you for finding the opulent hall, with glitters and dazzle to be such a stifling event. Your eyes roamed around and found nothing worth noting except for the chocolate fountain Saika would've gone crazy about if she was here.

On the other hand, Satoru is crowded by both men and women. His mere height makes it hard not to spot him in the room. Not to add the newly tailored montsuki you had for him makes him eye-catching.

You had to ask him to let you sit after standing and greeting other attendees for so long. Now you're here sitting on the corner, catching your poise while passing boredom with your glass of bubbly.

Satoru is holding a glass of his extra extra sweet non-alcohol mocktail. Judging by the frequent sarcasm in his words and scrunched of his nose he will come to you and ask to go home before half an hour from now.

That was what you supposed until a younger lady came forward and started talking directly to Satoru ignoring the people around her as she laughed obnoxiously for your liking.

Call it a woman's instinct when you easily narrow to the side of your eyes as she tries to bend a little lower exposing a bit of her cleavage. Satoru didn't react much and continued talking anyway.

You don't know the girl's family background but from her flashy appearance, diamonds sparkling on her, you could surmise that she came from an influential family enough to be personally invited by the prime minister. She's too... gaudy.

It was only when she tried to offer another glass of champagne to Satoru by grabbing onto his arms and pushing the flute towards Satoru that your brow raised. She wasn't able to touch him because of Satoru's Infinity but it still counts as something uncomfortable for a lady to do with a married man.

People never really learned... It's funny seeing them try so hard, but there should be a limit to it.

Satoru's temple creased as well. But he wasn't able to do anything more when a hand grabbed the flute of the champagne being shoved toward him and a familiar sweet jasmine scent filled his nostrils. The sound of your zori heels against the marble floor broke the awkward atmosphere.

You took the flute from the surprised and confused girl and leisurely sipped the liquor before turning to whisper something to Satoru's ear but your eyes never left the girl. His Infinity dissolved the second you held on to his elbow.

"Hey Baby," Satoru hummed with a bright smile on his lips.

"She's. Annoying. Me." You punctuated the word before baring your teeth and sinking them in his enticing earlobe you only let go when you heard a subtle needy whine from your husband. An arm immediately wrapped on the back of your waist to steady you. Satoru mumbled an incoherent phrase as you hummed back in reply.

The small group was stunned and at the same time flushed at the sudden move from your side. You simply smiled and surveyed your eyes on the people, your eyes took their time to watch the young lady with a scowl on her face.

"My husband is non-alcoholic, I will take this drink for him." You downed the flute of bubbles in one go before giving the passing server the empty glass and bending a little to whisper in the young lady's ear.

There's a glint in your eyes that made everyone look away and slowly withdraw to scatter around the hall.

"There's a thin line between brave and stupid." You stood back straight and softly smiled. "Which one are you, little girl?"

She better thank whatever devil possessed you to drink a lot tonight that you're feeling a little too tipsy to argue. An arm snaked at the back of your waist whilst a hand landed on your hips to steady you.

Like a pup with its tail tucked between her legs, she turned her heel, flushed cheeks, and hunched shoulders as she walked to the other side of the banquet.

You rolled your eyes and looked for the nearest seat but a firm grip on your hips reminded you of the towering man holding you upright.

"Loved your little show~" Satoru chuckled as he tilted your dazed face higher so you could stare into his enthralling blue orbs. "My pretty, pretty Baby, so territorial over me, huh?"

You weren't able to answer back as he took your lips for a quick and sweet kiss, in the midst of the crowd, you both stood there. Him, with a victorious and satisfied smirk, and you, tipsy and in a stupor of the outward display of affection.

The crowd turned away, some gasped, some looked scandalized, and some were grinning ear to ear. Satoru and his penchant for lack of decorum is shining so brightly.

You're not teens anymore, you're both married for more or less 10 years, but damn this sweet man for never failing in drawing you in his touch. You gripped his haori. What's worse is you cannot bring your lips to protest.

Satoru sensed this and finally guided you away from the crowd, only after he kissed your temples one more time.

"My Mrs. Gojo." Satoru grinned.

Maybe you never needed to do this little stunt but for some reason this small pettiness makes your heart beat like a teenager head over heels for Satoru... What's more, is that—

That ought to teach them where he belongs.

—GreyCaelum

PLAGIARISM IS A CRIME

Check out the Masterlist for more

All rights and credits of the Jujutsu Kaisen character(s) mentioned images(s) and songs(s) used, belongs to their respective owner(s)

General/Kaleidoscope Series Taglist: @ice-icebaby @aeanya @gummy-dummy @tender-rosiey @lexiene @nevermoresworld @loml-riri @pelicanpizza @emichou-chan

[vicvinegarandhughhoney]

Dennis Reynolds is AUTISTIC!!!!

(At least, I headcanon him as such).

Here's why:

Sensory issues:

If you've watched the show, you probably already know what I mean, but Dennis really struggles to deal with sensory input. When there's a loud noise, he often covers his ears- like in Family Fight:

or he gets frustrated, lashing out at diners for being too loud (The Gang Dines Out), getting annoyed at Frank for chewing gum too loud.

It's worth noting that later on in this episode, Dennis can hear Frank chewing gum from the other room. He's clearly hypersensitive, and perhaps this even goes to explaining a little bit why his room is soundproofed? Could it be that rather than not wanting people to hear what's going on inside, he's desperate to block the noise coming from outside?? (this was suggested by @kod-lyoko , and I LOVE IT).

There are SO many examples of Dennis plugging his ears (often when the others don't react in such a strong way):

There are way too many examples to list here, and too many images I could give (the above were taken from @dennisboobs ' gif set) but hopefully you get the impression.

Social issues:

I feel like this one is pretty self-evident, but I find deconstructing the things Dennis does super fun, so I'm going to explain anyway: Dennis does NOT know how relationships work. There are a great deal of factors at play to cause this (I would argue that his early experiences in life definitely moulded his view in an unhelpful way) but the systematic way he looks at interactions REEKS of autism to me.

The DENNIS system is hardly peak autism representation (it's certainly not the bright and bubbly stuff people often talk about), but the fact that he has a system for romantic/sexual interactions, both for men AND women, feels super autistic-coded. He quite literally has a script which he follows to make interactions easier, one which he sticks to rigidly. And if anybody tries to implement this carefully thought out system incorrectly? Well, he'll let you know (e.g in The Dennis System episode where he blows up at Mac and Charlie for not getting it right at the fair).

He masks his social deficits well, but sometimes things don't go to plan. Sometimes, the girl on the cruise ship runs away, and Dennis announces that 'that's not supposed to happen'.

He comes off as creepy, but that's not his intention. He doesn't understand the way he's perceived by others in general- he thinks he's the King of St Joseph's, not realising he was actually an outcast all along. Just like a lot of autistic people, he didn't understand that he was on the fringes of society until it was thrust in his face, and that hurt.

Speech:

While Dennis often appears to speak pretty normally, there are a few occasions where his frustration causes this mask of normality to slip.

In The Gang Finds a Dumpster Baby, Dennis is caught off guard by the hipster's reading of him, and immediately goes back to Frank and Charlie, parroting almost the same words he heard right back to them, despite not seeming to understand them at all (perhaps a form of echolalia?).

"I'm out here trying to make a difference, and you're over here rummaging around in the trash like a couple of narcs! Okay, you can't just come down here with your mainline cashmere, mousse... quaff... hairspray, and start being like, a suburban tool!"

It's also worth noting that even the poetic way he speaks when he's angry could be a trait ?? As a recently diagnosed autistic person, in my report they spoke about how I used 'idiosyncratic' language (basically, peculiar language lol), and listed terms like 'connoisseur', which I guess were deemed pretty formal for casual conversation.

And it got me thinking, who else do we know who uses VERY idiosyncratic language? Dennis. Reynolds.

"The thunder of my vengeance will echo through these halls, like the gust of a thousand winds"

"Begone, vile man, begone from me!... I am untethered and my rage knows no bounds!"

"You didn't tell me there was to be pollen!"

Etc... etc...

The way he repeats 'savages, idiots!' during his rage at the frat bros feels very autism coded to me. Repetition of certain words and phrases is common!

Heightened emotions:

Again, something that I didn't know until I myself was diagnosed is that for a lot of autistic people, we spend most of the time at a pretty 'flat' emotional state, but when we do experience emotions, we experience them intensely. Frustration turns into anger, sadness turns into despair, happiness turns into ecstasy- it's why some autistic people might be misdiagnosed with bipolar disorder!

This, of course, fits well with the way Dennis experiences emotions. He spends a lot of the time believing he doesn't have any at all, and when he does feel something, it's overwhelming.

"And I have feelings! Of course I have feelings, I have big feelings, okay? And it hurts."

These lines hit hard regardless of the extra weight you put on them, but when you see them through the lens of autism, through the lens of a lifetime of misunderstanding and overstimulation, it makes them hit even harder.

It hurts him to feel. His emotions are so strong that they're painful, and he's never been taught how to deal with them, because nobody even knew he had them in the first place.

Stimming:

Finally, I think Dennis stims. A lot. If you search up 'Dennis Reynolds autistic' on this very site, you'll find gifsets and videos illustrating this.

He has a few very common ones, like tugging on his earlobe when he's anxious, playing with his fingers, etc, but if you pay attention to him even when he's in the background of scenes, you'll pick up on a lot. Dennis is constantly moving, and while you could suggest this is simply a result of Glenn's ADHD, I'd argue that some of these stims happen so frequently in Sunny specifically, that there's no way they're coincidental.

Glenn makes a lot of very specific acting and directorial choices in Sunny, so why dismiss these as choices too?

That's all I can be bothered to type up now, but here's my case for Autistic!Dennis ! Of course, he's a complex character so there's always room for different interpretations...

but as an autistic person, I hereby claim him as One Of Us™.

[commsroom]

as an extension of how hera reads as trans to me, hera/eiffel resonates with me specifically as a relationship between a trans woman and a cis man. loving hera requires eiffel to decentralize his own perspective in a way that ties into both his overall character arc and the themes of the show.

pop culture is baked into the dna of wolf 359, into eiffel’s worldview, and in how it builds off of a sci-fi savvy audience’s assumptions: common character types, plot beats, or dynamics, why would a real person behave this way? how would a real person react to that? eiffel is the “everyman” who assumes himself to be the default. hera is the “AI who is more human than a lot of humans,” but it doesn’t feel patronizing because it isn’t a learned or moral quality; she is a fundamentally human person who is routinely dehumanized and internalizes that.

eiffel/hera as a romance is compelling to me because there is a narrative precedent for some guy/AI or robot woman relationships in a way i think mirrors some attitudes about trans women: it’s a male power fantasy about a subclass of women, or it’s a cautionary tale, or it’s a deconstruction of a power fantasy that criticizes the way men treat women as subservient, as property. but what does that pop culture landscape mean in the context of desire? If you are a regular person, attracted to a regular person, who really does care for you and wants to do right by you, but is deeply saturated in these expectations? how do you navigate that?

I think that, in itself, is an aspect of communication worth exploring. sometimes you won’t get it. sometimes you can’t. and that’s not irreconcilable, either. it’s something wolf 359 is keenly aware of, and, crucially, always sides with hera on. eiffel screws up. he says insensitive things without meaning to. often, hera will call him out on it, and he will defer to her. in the one case where he notably doesn’t, the show calls attention to it and makes him reflect. it’s not a coincidence that the opening of shut up and listen has eiffel being particularly dismissive of hera - the microaggression of separating her from “men and women” and the insistence on using his preferred title over hers. there are things eiffel has just never considered before, and caring for hera the way he does means he has to consider them. he's never met someone like hera, but media has given him a lot of preconceptions about what people like her might be like.

there’s a whole other discussion to be had about the gender dynamics of wolf 359, even in the ways the show tries to avoid directly addressing them, and how sexual autonomy in particular can’t fully be disentangled from explorations of AI women. i don’t think eiffel fully recognizes what comments like “wind-up girl” imply, and the show is not prepared to reconcile with it, but it’s interesting to me. in the context of transness (and also considering hera’s disability, two things i think need to be discussed together), i think it’s worth discussing how hera’s self image is at odds with the way people perceive her, her disconnect from physicality, how she can’t be touched by conventional means, and the ways in which eiffel and hera manage to bridge that gap.

even the desire for embodiment, and the autonomy and type of intimacy that comes with it, means something different when it’s something she has to fight for, to acquire, to become accustomed to, rather than a circumstance of her birth. i suppose the reason i don’t care for half measures in discussions re: hera and embodiment is also because, to me, it is in many ways symbolically a discussion about medical transition, and the social fear of what’s “lost” in transition, whether or not those things were even desired in the first place.

hera’s relationship with eiffel is unquestionably the most supportive and equal one she has, but there are still privileges, freedoms, and abilities he has that she doesn’t, and he forgets that sometimes. he will never share her experiences, but he can choose to defer to her, to unlearn his pop culture biases and instead recognize the real person in front of him, and to use his own privilege as a shield to advocate for her. the point, to me - what’s meaningful about it - is that love isn’t about inherent understanding, it’s about willingness to listen, and to communicate. and that’s very much at the heart of the show.

[ushys]

⸻ spider-verse characters reacting to your jealousy

characters: miles, earth-42 miles, miguel, hobie

a/n: i was thinking of making it a story but i thought you making it into little sections with different characters would be better.

cw: fluff, cussing, jealousy, a small mention of killing, gn! reader, that’s it :p

MILES MORALES: he’s kind of oblivious to that kind of thing, which makes it even worse for you. so, when you see him talking to someone who is obviously into him, you’re mad. you’re mad because they’re trying to hit on him and he laughs it off, not knowing their true intentions. it made your blood boil. they would touch his shoulder, laugh a little too hard at his jokes, all that. you walked away and miles noticed this. he said his goodbyes to the other person and chased after you.

“is everything okay babe?” he questioned, brows furrowed as he was confused. “everything’s fine, go talk to your other bae.” you said rolling your eyes and speeding up. “wha? babe what are you talking about- oh. are you jealous?” you stopped and turned to look at him. then you quickly turned around again and said “no.” yup, you were jealous.

“my love, there’s no need to be jealous. they’re just a friend and i would never leave you for them. i don’t even see them like that! i’m sorry for for making you feel this way, i just don’t know what’s wrong and right and i didn’t think they were doing anything weird.” now you felt guilty. “i’m sorry, you didn’t know and i just overreacted.” you later took him to your room and started talking about different ways people hit on others. he made sure to take notes to not upset you ever again.

EARTH 42 MILES: you were on a date with your boyfriend, walking around and looking at different displays that different shops were showing when suddenly, a stranger goes up to him and compliments him. “wow! your jacket is so cute. where did you get it from?” she giggled as she started touching his arm. miles was obviously uncomfortable and shot you a quick glance, watching as your expression went from a content smile to a rude glare towards the girl.

“my bae got it for me.” he replied as he puts his arm around you, holding you close. they quickly change expressions, now having a hurt look on their face. “oh..! haha, i didnt see her there. they’re your s/o..?” they said as he replied instantly. “yeah that’s what i said. why? do you have a problem with that?” “no. whatever. the jacket was ugly anyway.” they said walking past you, purposely bumping into you.

you were about to turn around and confront them but miles stopped you from doing so. “baby, they’re not worth it” he said planting a kiss on your head. “you were jealous weren’t you though?” he smirked as your eyes widen. “nuh uh” “yuh huh” “nuh uh” “it’s okay baby, you’re the only one for me.” he said, making your face warm. “i could never be jealous of them, they’re the one who was jealous. i hate how good looking you are, having to keep going through that” you pouted. “you’re good looking too, you’re ethereal, you get hit on too.” he said, sarcastically rolling his eyes. “but there’s a difference, i talk bad about them, you plan on killing them.” he laughs and shrugs. “oops?”

MIGUEL O’HARA: he would take good care of you, occasionally. his work has been a huge problem between your relationship, you guys could barely hang out a lot. so, to get closer, you decided to join the spider-verse team with him. as his assistant. you were happy he let you be his assistant, even though you practically had to beg him to let you because according to him, “it’s too dangerous” “”you could get hurt” “too much stress”. it’s a good thing that he wanted you to be safe but shouldn’t he let you do what you wanted?

well anyway, as his assistant, your job was to make sure everyone knows what they’re supposed to be doing and helping new members who are joining the spider group feel more comfortable in this new area. so when a new spider-woman joined the team, you knew what you had to do.

“and this is where miguel usually is at! miguel! come down and greet our new member!” you yelled out calling for him. “it’s best if you don’t bother him when you see him doing work, he can get a little.. harsh.” you say as he makes his way towards you. you look at the spider-woman who seems to be biting her lip and smirking. ‘is she okay?’ you thought to yourself as you looked at her and miguel. “welcome, y/n make sure she’s gotten a full tour of the entire building and understands what her job here is.” “oh, but is it okay if you were to help me instead? she’s not that good at explaining things” the woman lied, obviously just trying to get miguel’s attention.

miguel can sense your jealousy as he knew that the woman was trying to hard. he grabbed the woman’s hand, guiding her to another part of the building while he left you there, standing alone, in shock. ‘what?’

after a while, he came back and saw you sitting in your chair next to where he would usually do work at. he walked up to you and questioned you. “is everything all right mi amor?” you ignored him. “amor?” nothing. “silent treatment huh. why is that?” nothing again. “are you okay?” “yeah i’m fine go talk to your other bitch though. ask her if she’s doing fine.” you said, not looking at him and continuing whatever work you were doing. “you were jealous weren’t you.” “no.” “it’s okay mi amor, you don’t have to worry about a thing.” “and why is that” you questioned. “i sent her back to her dimension. she’s never coming back any time soon.”

HOBIE: “babe?” you called out wondering where hobie was. you’ve asked multiple spider-people wondering where he was but they had no idea. until gwen came up to you. “oh hey gwen what’s up? have you seen hobie?” you asked. “oh yeah, i have. that’s what i wanted to tell you. i know where he’s at.” “you do?! oh thank god, i thought he might’ve gone on a mission somewhere and could’ve gotten hurt. so, where is he” you asked, raising an eyebrow. “don’t get mad, because i don’t know much about it, but i’ve seen him walking with someone and i have no clue who they are. i think they’re new. i’ve seen them go into the lunchroom right now. they’re probably still there” someone new huh? that’s weird.

“thank you gwen, i appreciate it.” you hug her as you start walking away. you head to the lunchroom and suddenly you caught eye of hobie with the other person. “who is that?” you whispered. you then saw them getting real touchy with hobie. ‘what the hell are they doing?’ you furrowed your eyebrows, a disgusted look planted on your face. you can see hobie slightly trying to dodge their touches. you let out a small smirk. so, they don’t get the hint that he doesn’t want them.

you started walking up to him and you suddenly appeared next to him. “hello my love.” you planted a small kiss on his cheek, making sure the girl noticed. “hey baby. where have you been?” hobie asked, turning to look at you and putting his arm around your waist. “that’s what i should be asking you, who is this?” you say pointing at the new person, who was clearly furious. they closed her eyes and smiled. “oh! i’m alex! and you are?” they asked, a vein appearing on their forehead. “they’re my s/o.” hobie replied for you. alex slowly opened their eyes and gave you both a blank stare. “oh is that so? sorry to bother you, i’ll be on my way.” they said walking away, not wanting to face the both of you.

“jealous huh?” he said as he smirked at you. “no.” you lied, not wanting to admit it. you were embarrassed. “yeah you were. thank you for saving me. they were making me uncomfortable” he said in a sarcastic tone, even thought what he said was true. “i don’t want anyone taking away what’s mine” you said looking away. “don’t worry, that’s never happening.” he said giving you a kiss on top of your head.

girls next fr 🙈

[everydayyoulovemeless]

How would fo4 companions react to sole introducing them to their boyfriend Porter Gage?

Fo4 Companions Reactions To Sole Introducing Gage As Their Boyfriend

➼ Word Count » 1.2k ➼ Warnings » none ➼ Genre » platonic

MacCready will grimace but try to smile for your sake. It’s clear he’s not genuine with any nice thing he says but he does try to seem excited. After a minute he'll ask if he can talk with you in private and ultimately tells you that it's not worth it. He's been with the Gunners long enough to know that Raiders aren't any better. He knows from experience that you don't want to be caught up in all that and will plead with you to understand how awful your boyfriend is. It's your life at the end of the day, and he'll stick around with you regardless, just know that his vote is on you two splitting... and you're not going to be let around Duncan until Gage is out of the picture.

Nick will just stare at Gage when you first bring him into the Agency. After an uncomfortable amount of time passes, he'll sigh and ask if he can talk to your boyfriend alone. He'll sit him down at his desk and ask him to interview him, wanting to get a handle on his character before he jumps to any assumptions. However, since he's Gage, he fails almost every question on Nick's test, which makes the detective increasingly more disappointed in your taste in men. Later in the day, he'll offer to walk with you around Diamond City to tell you how he disapproves of the relationship. You've done countless cases together where you take down guys just like him. Is that really the future you want for yourself?

Cait is completely against it and will be very vocal about it. She’ll grip her bat that’s slung over her shoulders and sneer at the raider standing beside you in disgust. She knows exactly what kind of person he is and will demand outright that you break up with him. She cares for you, and she won’t let you ruin yourself with this guy. However, if Gage starts arguing with her, she'll swing at him so quickly. There's not a universe where these two ever get along with each other. It's best you don't introduce the two at all.

Out of all the good men in the Brotherhood, you chose him? Danse is not only confused but disgusted that you'd ever think he'd be ok with you dating a raider. As your higher-up, he'll demand you end things with him or he'll have no choice but to send a squadron to slaughter him and the rest of the raiders in Nuka-World. You're choice.

Preston is not only baffled but distraught as well. Did you not realize what he was? You’re technically not from this world, so maybe you missed the signs?? He’ll pull you aside, hands firmly planted on your shoulders as he tells you you need to end things with him. He’s not an ally of the Minutemen, he's the exact thing you've sworn to be against. If you refuse to see it from his perspective, he'll have no choice but to exile you from the faction. You actively put people in danger by bringing him straight into the Castle, and he won't have anyone die needless deaths at the hands of someone like him.

Codsworth lets out a quiet "oh my!" when he spots Gage. He's quite the change from your old spouse, isn't he? A lot more rugged than he remembers your type being, but that doesn't mean his personality is much different... right? Codsworth is incredibly concerned for your well-being when you bring your boyfriend around. Are you sure you aren't sick? He's not keeping you hostage? He's snarky about the entire relationship, and won't stop making conversation awkward by bringing up your dead spouse, but he'll reluctantly be supportive. As long as you're happy, he supposes.

Piper will shove him away from you and threaten to get security if he doesn't get lost. She's amazed at the fact you chose him instead of literally anyone else in the Commonwealth and, as much as she loves you, she'd not going to blindly support a relationship she knows won't end in anything good. Piper will be annoying about how badly she wants you both to break up and won't stop pestering you until you do. Just be sure to keep an eye on Gage, if she keeps putting hands on him, he might start doing it back.

Curie is confused when you introduce him. Mainly because she only ever remembers the two of you shooting at raiders, not being friendly with them. Nevertheless, she's happy for you and will clasp her hands together excitedly at the prospect of you being in love! How cute!

Strong is probably one of the only ones on this list who approves. He feels incredibly proud that you've found additional groups of people to lead toward violence and holds a lot of respect for how brutal Gage can be in combat. It's something he really admires, however, he thinks the car parts that he wears look stupid, and he's very vocal about that.

initially, Hancock will act all friendly and kind, welcoming Gage to Goodneighbor and introducing him to the townspeople but, what you didn't know was that he'd arranged for him to be jumped while he was visiting. A sniper shooting at him from a window, a scaver yanking him into an alleyway with a hoard of triggermen, or Kleo simply attacking him; Hancock will hurt him somehow. It's all in your best interest. He'd hate for you to be a part of the wrong side of history, and besides, how could he ever live with himself if he knew he'd let some slave-owning, murderer date you?

Deacon is similar to Hancock in that he puts on a friendly facade when you finally bring Gage around. He acts as if they've known each other for years and will sling an arm around his shoulder and distract him with all sorts of outlandish stories before bringing the Deliverer out of his pocket and shooting him in his side quickly. He knows you'll be upset but, there's no way he'd let you run off to an amusement park filled with human-trafficking victims with this guy. He cares too much about you to let you follow a bunch of raiders.

X6-88 doesn't even wait for you to say anything before he shoots at him. He can tell just by looking at him that he's dirty and not a good fit for Institute life. If anything, he reminds X6 of Kellog, which isn't necessarily a good thing. The only way he'd be willing to accept the relationship is if you proposed for the Nuka-World Raiders to ally with the Institute to do all the heavy lifting on the surface. But that means the gangs would be willing to do something like that. It's a heavy offer, but he'd be content with it.

Old Longfellow will run stressed hands down his face as you and Gage sit opposite of him in a booth at the Last Plank. You can't be serious. Him?? This is the guy you'd been telling him about? It's a no from him before the two of you can even sit down. He wants you to find a man who will take care of you. Someone who's a gentleman. Don't ever bring another raider to meet him, he's never going to approve. He'll tell you that you're an adult and you can make your own decisions, but that he hopes you'll find an honest, hard-working man instead.

[the-raven-lady]

Astartes blood making a person infertile is (from what I can recall) kind of old lore that might not be fully accurate to the current canon. And I think that an ink-infused-with-blood tattoo would function differently than a full on blood transfusion, since the blood is supposed to stay in one specific place acting as a kind of human microchip rather than as a means of actually replacing blood.

Also space marines are notoriously poisonous (like have you seen those guys??) their bodies contain all kinds of fucked up chemicals that get carried around their body via the bloodstream. So if a human got a direct blood transfusion from a marine I think they’d just straight up die. But a blood tattoo could be less lethal, of course it would still be injecting poison into your body, but it would be in smaller amounts and also a more gradual process. People can die from that too if they’re in poor health or have conditions that severely weaken the immune system. But for an average person it’s pretty survivable, though it would leave them ill for a week or so while their body gets used to having the blood of someone who can eat solid rocks inside it.

So imagine getting the tattoo and feeling the aftermath of it nearly immediately. You’re sick, you have a fever, and at this point you’re not even aware of your surroundings. Your Night Lord owner moves you to his quarters, letting you rest on his bed while you get better. He keeps an eye on you the entire time, trying his hardest to take care of a fragile mortal like you.

Soon enough he can’t help it, he takes off his gauntlet and (very gently) runs his fingers through your hair. And you (in your unknowing state) lean into his touch. You’ve thanked him before, yes, but always through words. And at times he wondered if you were just putting up an act, if you did all of this just to rise up through the ranks of serfdom. But now he knows how foolish those thoughts were. Right now you’re nothing but a small and frightened animal, you don’t even know where you are, and yet you’re holding on to his hand and looking at him with such trusting eyes.

He wonders if this is how his cousins feel when they rescue a baseline from a battlefield, if this is what it’s like when they describe their eyes lighting up at the sight of the astartes. Awestruck and relieved at their heroes protecting them.

You shift a little bit, your other arm tries to wrap around his shoulder, trying to hold him closer to you. And he obliges, but then tries to suppress a whine when you press the side of your face against his. Mumbling something incoherent into his ear. Showing him such genuine affection.

He wonders if this is how the serfs feel when they talk about falling in love.

Between you and Misty's most recent drop, I'm making a Night Lord OC for this immediately.

I am someone who will often ignore certain aspects of canon that I find to be either stupid or unfun, I am absolutely willing to shuck off the 'infertile' part of Astartes blood.

But! To be able to take canon and twist it, the Astartes that have canonically given blood to humans only shot a vial's worth into them, which is not an incredibly significant amount. I was literally just talking with someone about how the human lymphatic system would easily be able to break down small amounts of blood around the tattoo ink generally, but I also am a huge fan of Astartes blood just being like "no <3" and staying right where its put.

I think I am personally of the volition that an Astartes blood-ink tattoo would be more like getting a powerful stimulant than a powerful poison because I actually liked that part of canon, but I also think that it would be so much more accurate to human biology to say that everyone just has a different reaction to it. Some people react like they've just been given a shot of morphine, some react like it's pure cocaine, others straight up die, and some just get violently ill.

Poor little serf being of the group that gets delirious with fever, needing their Astartes to take care of them?? Please, won't you touch me? Please, I just need you here. My light in the dark.

UGH that fills me with such strong emotions. Jaded old night lord learns how to love (colorized), circa 31st millennium. You wrote that so beautifully and I am inspired.

[nuttyhatter]

The one where Sutekh is a good boy...

Ok, look, this makes abso-fucking-lutely no sense. Like, at all. But still, I'm writing it.

I don't know what/who Sutekh was in previous Doctor Who seasons, but going by what I just saw (and I already watched Empire of Death), I want Sutekh to be Doctor's multiversal dog.

I don't know why, but that's what my mind chose to stay with.

I think about Sutekh traveling on the TARDIS and watching the whole universe and time with the Doctor and meeting, if only as an espectator, all those who traveled with the Doctor.

Warning: Liberal use of curse words.

----------------------------------------------------

Imagine Sutekh watching the Doctor risk their own life time and time again to save other people.

Imagine how he could have reacted to the Doctor meeting Ruby, someone who was so ordinary, yet along with her mother had touched so many people's lives. Imagine Sutekh watching them risking it all to get to the goblings and save a baby they met maybe an hour ago, only to end up singing in front of the gobling king.

And then the Doctor freaking out and going to save Ruby.

And then this dog-looking entity finds the mistery of Ruby and starts to get curious about a person, someone who is alive and is not the Doctor.

And Ruby stars traveling with the Doctor (and with him) on TARDIS, and one day, they get to the babies.

And Sutekh never saw much sense in life when everything in the end would be the same, but then he watched the Doctor and Ruby meet all this babies who shouldn't be babies anymore, who shouldn't be living there, pretty much by themselves, terrified of some strange being who lives in the lower part of the ship. Babies who were deemed mistakes, who were supposed to be abandoned, whose lives should ended years ago, who shouldn't even had come into existence.

And the Doctor and Ruby again do their best to save them because even if every other person decided that those kids weren't important, weren't good enough, weren't worth it, they both cared.

And you know what? That weird baby monster (whose origin Sutekh decided to pointedly ignore) with the power to inflict fear even in the Doctor by growling at the right frequence was kind of interesting... I mean, it wouldn't live forever, and Sutekh would make sure of that, but maybe, just maybe a little more time to see what thosee spacial-babies got up to...

Sutekh didn't appreciate Master showing up and causing a ruckus by stealing all music. He didn't get why the Doctor and Ruby cared so much either. It was just music, some noise all put together in some semblance of order and repeated time and time again.

He wasn't expecting the fucking End of Times because there was no music and humans decided to collectively fuck shit up-

And how was it that he still couldn't bring his Empire into existence with this crazy assholes at the proverbial wheel of this world? You take away music and they destroy the planet? Give the world back to the dinosaurs, that's what he says! (But not the cats, NEVER the cats, they already have too much of an ego for his liking...)

Anyways, that's when they go back and try to re-insert music in the world. Ruby plays the piano. She is... not bad.

He was actually not-hating it (he wasn't liking it, he doesn't do "like") when Master decides to show up and interrupt by trying to still the music from Ruby.

Things get really insane from there (but what else is new?) and Master is about to kill Ruby (which doesn't bother him at all, of course) when a Christmas carol starts coming out of that too strange but somehow still perfectly, reasonably ordinary girl. What...?

John Lennon and Paul McCarthy found the chord that expelled Master from this plain of existence. That doesn't surprise Sutekh at all, they were geniuses after all... Not that he knew anything about the Beat- that band he knew nothing at all about.

The Doctor stepped on a mine. The Doctor. Stepped. On a fucking MINE!

Centuries, maybe eons across the galaxy and the time lord goes into a war zone without looking and steps on a mine. Of course they do. Go throw your life away after battling the literal embodiment of death! See who cares!

The tube was a corpse. He didn't know how. He didn't want to know either.

There was a girl then, and even Sutekh knew that a girl of that age in that place was every kind of wrong. That soldier who came looking for her was exasperating. Couldn't she see that they were a bit busy right now trying not to explode?

Right, the Doctor is a time lord, he would make some interesting fireworks all over the planet... And the TARDIS. The TARDIS he was currently on. Shit.

Alright, the soldier had an idea that perhaps may work and- Where the fuck did that came from?! Who did this?! WHO-?!

Ruby was dying and that idiotic ambulance wouldn't do shit to help and the Doctor was still on the mine and WHY was that girl still here?!

The mine would activate eventually regardless of what the Doctor did and those two soldiers could not hack the system to make it help Ruby or the Doctor and the girl was talking with an hologram of his late father and watching photos and everything was wrong. Wrong, wrong. WRONG!

Ruby was still on the floor and didn't seem to be breathing and the Doctor was talking and... what did he mean? He didn't understand? The system? The ambulances? The war and the-?

THEY WERE A BUNCH OF FUCKING IDIOTS!!

This "soldiers" had been going to die at the hands of stupid robots thinking that they were at war with some kind of hostile alien race that probably was not even real and they were getting hi-Ruby and the Doctor killed!

And they had the gal to doubt the Doctor when he was basically spelling it out to them!

And did that guy really just confess his love to the other soldier? Now? Really?!

The hologram was the actual father of the girl yet. Sort of. Somehow. Somewhere. Sutekh didn't know. He didn't know either how the Doctor managed to convince it (him? Who cares!) to hack the system to help them, but they managed and-

The ambulances were attacking them. Great. Why not?

And the Doctor was still standing on the mine. Sure, whatever. Then-

Go, you weird hologram who definitely shouldn't be so sentient and have so much capacity for decision-making!!!!!

He released a great sigh when they left that planet (finally!). Ruby was alive, the Doctor hadn't exploded and Sutekh was on his spot over the TARDIS.

See? This was a clear show of the reasons life was simply ridiculous and way too chaotic.

Death was the final answer... Or not so final if the hologram of the girl's dad was anything to go by. Sutekh had never cared too much about what the living thought happened with them after death, he already knew... or thought he knew...

Nop. Not today. There had been more than enough stress already.

Sutekh then decided to rest. He got himself comfortable over the TARDIS and laid his head over his crossed paws, slowly falling asleep.

He suddenly opened his eyes, unable to decide if he should hit his own head repeatedly against TARDIS' roof or simply throw himself into the void and disappear along with his own sheer stupidity.

The woman in the ambulance. The ambulance. It was his, one of the multiple copies he made to plant across the universe. It was all him. His fault. He nearly killed Ruby and the Doctor. He...

Doesn't care. That's pretty much what he's trying to do, anyways. So what?

He settled back to rest and tried to sleep. It wasn't as comfortable as before.

Every person in this planet is so annoying, Sutekh cannot even begin to describe it. They were being eaten by slugs. Fucking. Slugs.

And those things ate over half the population before these idiots realised.

No, allow him to correct himself: Those things had had a feast with over half the population by the time Ruby and the Doctor stumbled across this planet and decided to try and save this stupid, ungrateful shits.

The girl couldn't walk. Sutekh gave up. This was more than what he was able to tolerate. It was just too much.

Then that boy appeared and wasn't a complete dumbass. So maybe Ruby and the Doctor's efforts weren't completely wasted... Not that it was worth anything, anyways. Everyone dies in the end.

The dots were behind the attack of the slugs. Honestly, couldn't they swith sides and help the dots instead? They were nice and easy to carry and could play music. How many of the fuckers in this planet could do that, huh?

He felt it, the moment the other boy's heart stopped beating. Then the girl met with Ruby and the Doctor by the river and said something about him going back to save others.

Lies.

Sutekh didn't want her on TARDIS. She wasn't worth it, she wasn't worthy and she... she could be dangerous for Ruby and for the Doctor. He needed to do something before-

Those people were speaking, saying something in response to the Doctor's (too generous) offer to come with him and-

MOTHERFUCKING RACIST BITCHES!!!!

Go and keep your stupid planet, and stupid forest and slugs. Without WIFI. Do you know where you can find WIFI? In TARDIS, that's where!

Sutekh's mood was definitely awful by the time he heard the screaming Doctor.

He didn't get it. Why did they care so much? This people didn't deserve their care.

But nevertheless, the Doctor yelled himself hoarse and cried in despair.

Ruby hugged him.

Sutekh felt a very uncomfortable knot in his chest.

They were visiting the past-Earth so Ruby and the Doctor could have their "Bridgerton experience". That didn't mean much to Sutekh since all knowing and ever present entities didn't care about such trivialities as human entertainment.

(Also, Penelophe deserved better.)

The Doctor met some random guy who invited him to go outside... And wasn't that a bit foward for this time?

There was a space ship. Random-guy was a bounty hunter and thought that the Doctor was from some shape-shifting alien race that killed people and took their places in a twisted play that had no point in Sutekh's opinion.

Also, the guy called himself Rogue. Took the name from DND. Huh...

Doctor, you don't keep flirting with the dude who is threatening to kill you, that's not how it work!

Why did it work?!

And why is he on TARDIS? He is not Ruby, he is not the Doctor either. He is not an anomaly, he is not interesting. Why is he on TARDIS?

Why would the Doctor want this guy to come with them? He's another of the thousands of bounty hunters that roam the Universe with the sole purpose of earning money. And ok, that wasn't bad, per se. But it wasn't funny either... Not that he'd been having fun watching the Doctor and Ruby.

Oh, right, the shifter was still on the party with all those people... AND RUBY.

Fuck! Doctor, what are you waiting for?! That girl can be a real trouble magnet!

With some luck, she is still with that other boring girl.

The Doctor and Rogue were dancing and making a scandal of themselves, trying to attract the shifter. The Doctor also looked very... content, not like they did with Ruby but...

Maybe there was something to this Rogue- guy after all, if he could make the Doctor so happy with only a short dance.

He seems a bit rusty in the acting department though, the Doctor was carrying the whole show over his own shoulders and-

Wait, is Rogue kneeling? He is! He did! And he has a ring too!! And-

*cough cough*

Not that Sutekh cared. He doesn't give a damn about some fake marriage proposal of some fake gay couple.

Nevertheless, he is willing to allow Rogue on TARDIS after such and improvisation. He is gracious like that.

There were more shifters. And they liked the Doctor, they wanted to replace him too (as if they ever could...)

The shifters got to Ruby. They got to his the girl.

Now the shifters were celebrating a fake wedding with fake-Ruby as the bride.

The Doctor and Rogue got the shifters trapped into the portal and were about to send them away when fake-Ruby started a last ditch attempt to save herself by saying she was the real Ruby, but that couldn't be, for the mannerisms and even the scent of fake-Ruby was like that of the shifters Sutekh had encountered throughout his life.

Then the shifter that attacked Ruby appeared. Fake-Ruby was no fake and she was now trapped in the portal with the other shifters. She'd be sent to a desolate nightmare dimension with those creatures and she'd be on her own, if the Doctor didn't do something, anything. But there was nothing to do now, or the shifters would escape and break havoc.

Ruby was crying, all the while reassuring the Doctor, saying that it was ok.

It fucking wasn't.

Rogue asked the Doctor if they could give up a friend for the world. The Doctor said they couldn't and Sutekh... Sutekh thought he might understand.

Then Rogue kissed the Doctor. He took the detonator from their hand. The Doctor was crying and Rogue looked so fucking sorry.

Was he going to sacrifice Ruby? If he dared to...

Rogue jumped toward Ruby and pushed her out of the still inactive portal.

He threw the flowers at the Doctor.

'Find me'. That was all the bounty hunter said before activating the portal and falling with the shifters into some remote part of the Universe.

The Doctor kept trying to act as if everything was fine. As if they were fine. They weren't and they had no reason to.

Sutekh had been bringing death to this Universe since the Beginning and he knew loss, if only by watching it in others. People needed to mourn. This wasn't right.

But Ruby was there and she cut straight through the Doctor's bullshit.

They hugged and cried.

Sutekh, at the end, didn't dislike the bounty hunter. And Rogue had saved Ruby. He did it for the Doctor, didn't he? At least, that was all Sutekh could assume.

Why though? Why give it all for the happiness of someone you just met?

Perhaps Rogue was an anomaly too, after all.

An anomaly that was lost in some knot of the immense tapestry that were time and space. Imposble to track.

At least, impossible when you are not a death-deity with the ability to sense every living being in the Universe.

As things were, Sutekh was and could. So, he'd guide TARDIS. A little deviation from its intended course to the place were he had tracked the bounty hunter.

Then, Sutekh would add him to his collection of Oddities.

(And if it made a certain Doctor happy, so what?)

The hardest part was convincing TARDIS of cooperating with him instead of the Doctor for once. But she complied once he told her about his plan.

The TARDIS was stuck in a death-world while Ruby and the Doctor went out to find some piece of metal to fix the (very much not at all broken) TARDIS.

They were attacked by one of the shifters, but the creature was swiftly dealt with. It was also easily recognised.

The search for metal quickly changed to a search for Rogue.

They found him hiding away, dirty and hungry, in quite the deplorable state. But, and this Sutekh knew, Rogue was very much alive. The man was strong and had a good survival instincts.

Rogue was disbelieving, half convinced the Doctor and Ruby were the shifters. The Doctor reasoned that the only way for the shifter to replace them was by killing them. For that they had to be there and if they were there, there was no way the shifters got close enough to attack them and succeed. A bit of a twisted logic, if you ask Sutekh, but Rogue seemed to take it. The man was exhausted and probably desparate, so...

In their way back to TARDIS, they found the rest of the shifters.

On the upside, Rogue was sure now that Ruby and the Doctor were real. On the downside, angry and violent shifters.

But Ruby, the little marvel, had put on her earrings.

Sutekh had never seen such a graceful and impecable display of violence. He may take a look into MMA tournaments some time in the future... For research purposes, of course. He couldn't care less about these mortal petty activities.

They reached TARDIS, with a couple of the remaining shifter on their tail.

That's when they realised they had forgotten to look for a piece of metal.

It didn't matter, TARDIS wasn't broken. The Doctor surely would make another attempt at restarting TARDIS and she would function just fine. Except that she didn't.

Sutekh questioned her about it. He suppressed the urge to face-palmed, hard, when she explained that she didn't want to trick her creator, so she broke herself. It was just a minor thing, really, but now she truly needed a piece of metal.

The shifters were back now, banging at the door, the wood quickly cracking under the relentless assault.

The three passengers were frantic, looking for some metal chunk that'd work to fix TARDIS.

Sutekh was mad. At TARDIS for being so reckless, but also at himself for unknowingly asking such a thing of her.

But he wasn't just angry. There was and awful ball of something twisting in his stomach when he thought about TARDIS hurting herself at his request. About Ruby, the Doctor and Rogue, in danger because of his carelessness. It was the same feeling that had assaulted him a while back when they were leaving that war-zone of a planet and he realised the ambulance had been one of his creations. He felt bad, but he didn't understood why he cared. He felt... was this guilt? He didn't like it. He didn't.

Ruby screeched in fear when a big chunck of the door flew past her head, the shifters still banging at it.

The sound brought Sutekh back to reality.

Metal, they needed metal. A big piece, the Doctor had said. Something around the size of a human fist, something like...

Sutekh quickly undid his own collar and maneuvered one of its rings out. He put it inside one of TARDIS' compartments and she let it fall at the Doctor's feet. They used it to fix TARDIS and leave the planet.

Ten minutes after their departure and a heartfelt embrace from Rogue and Doctor (coupled with a Ruby Sunday patented hug for Rogue as a thanks for saving her), Sutekh could finally breath again.

Only for his own brain to halt when he realised a tiny, little detail about the previous ordeal. Not only had he guided TARDIS to Rogue and plotted with her to find and rescue him, but he had also helped Ruby, the Doctor and Rogue to fix TARDIS. This time, he hadn't been just a witness of the events. He had helped.

He had helped.

He had helped.

He had helped.

He had helped.

And with a pitiful whine, Sutekh covered his head with both paws and tried to sleep his shame and confusion away.

TARDIS laughed at him. The fucker.

Things pretty much fell into a rutine after that. Or as close to a rutine as it could be with the Doctor.

Rogue and the Doctor grew closer by the day while Ruby tried to (not-so-subtly) get them into different date-like situations. Sutekh learned about the new concept of "ships" and "shiping". It has noting to do with sailig, but it is a bit interesting. Only a little bit.

And of course, the trio fell into uncountable dangerous situations.

Sometimes they got themselves out of troubles all on their own. But there were times when they didn't. Those times, Sutekh teamed up with TARDIS to rescue their Oddities. (Usually Sutekh wouldn't share, but TARDIS was a very valuable ally and he also appreciated her input and their conversations. Sutekh ignored TARDIS when she threw in the word "friandship".)

And so, there was the time the space-pirates tried to feed them to the intergalactic kraken and the TARDIS teleported "on her own" to a spot conveniently located below them before they fell into the mouth of the crearure.

Or that time when those huge quimera-like creatures were about to get them, and the rocks over the cliff they were under fell all over the monsters.

Or that time when the key-card of that guard "slipped" out of his pocket and fell just into Ruby's reach so she could get the three of them out of their cells.

All in all, it wasn't bad. Sutekh had his spot over TARDIS and his little Anomalies lived and went on adventures and helped people around the galaxy. All the while unaware of the strange and unlikely being who reluctantly (not really, but shhh...) got them out of the most difficult troubles (it'a pronounced "taking care of them", but he is not ready to say it yet).

Then, one day, the three of them were cornered by a group of dream sucking, mosquito-lizard beings. They suck you dry and leave you as a shell of your former self. Most end their own existence after that.

There was no rocks to throw, no void to jump into, no door to be magically opened. So he did the one think he knew how to do best: He blew his sand.

Immediately the disgusting creatures turned to asshes. The trio ran away, back to TARDIS, ancient artifact they were retrieving in hand.

The Doctor set course back to the mother planet of the ugly rock they were in. Ruby and Rogue decided to call it a day and go to sleep.

Around an hour later, the Doctor started talking. It wasn't weird, not even uncommon, for the Doctor to chat with TARDIS.

Except...

'Sutekh,' he called.

The dog-like deity debated with himself for long seconds. Should he keep hiding? The Doctor clearly knew he was there, but maybe-

The Doctor started looking for something in one of the inside pockets of his jacket.

'I wasn't sure where I had seen this before,' they started saying, showing of the ring Sutekh had taken off his collar so the Doctor could fix TARDIS. 'But I knew I had and it gave some very unusal lectures when scanned by TARDIS'. The Doctor was smiling at noting in particular, speaking loud enough to be heard in the room, but not too much, in order to allow the rest of TARDIS' small crew thir due rest. 'And today, with that sand...' The Doctor didn't continue, chuckling and denying with his head instead, as if amused at some ridiculous story someone was telling him.

'Show yourself, please' they asked then, quietly, carefully, as if speaking to a scared child.

Sutekh should have been very offended. Instead, he materialized in front of the Doctor, using a smaller version of his usual form. The Doctor was actually taller than him now.

The time lord sat on the floor in such a way it was Sutekh now the one towering over them.

'So...,' the Doctor started. 'Care to explain yourself?' They sounded curious. Not angry, scared or resentful. Just curious, as if discovering the embodiment of death in your time maching was an every day thing.

'I hid,' Sutekh chose to start with. 'When you intended to throw me into the void, I got to TARDIS. I've been hiding here since then.'

'And weren't you planning your revenge? A way to make all life end and create your own desolate galaxy?' The tone was playful, but there was wariness underneath it all.

Sutekh didn't answer. He wasn't sure why, but the idea of confessing his previous plans was somehow worse than being discovered in TARDIS.

He had just enough time to realize he refered to his own plans as a thing from the past, when the Doctor spoke again.

'What's changed?'

Sutekh wasn't sure what the Doctor had seen in him during the few seconds he stayed silent, but he sounded less uncertain and more exited.

And he didn't know why, but that was a good thing.

'I belive...' he said, thinking over his answer. 'I belive, it was me.'

That realisation was as terrifying as it was exhilarating. And Sutekh had no idea what to do with it.

The Doctor stood up then, swiftly and gracefuly, as he always did. He walked to the controls of TARDIS, then looked at him with a broad smile.

'Then?, they asked. 'Where should we go next?'

Sutekh couldn't help but return the smile.

He was unsure, painfully so, and for the first time in his very long life. There was still a lot of bad blood between them, and even if Ruby didn't know who he was, Rogue was sure going to know something about him.

But looking at the smiling, lonely and too fogiving Doctor in front of him, with the bipping sounds of TARDIS in the backround, Sutekh decided that it was ok.

They had time to dealt with it all.

[captain-mj]

Oh I’m so happy you also like SoapGhostRoach!! Is it alright to ask for a fluffy/angst one shot, where Soap meets Roach for the first time because of Ghost; however Ghost forgets to inform Soap that Roach is mute. So Soap goes and thinks he made a bad first impression with Roach all over the lack of information, and Ghost has to help Soap learn sign language. Only for Soap to just jump right into flirting with the two in sign language, because he apparently has a thing for men in mask.

I love this ship so much!! So happy to get an ask on them!! If you guys have any more, throw them my way!

~~~~

Soap was fine! Just a little nervous, but that was fine. He was meeting Ghost’s best friend besides himself. But it was fine. 

He stood in front of Roach, a little taken back. For one, Roach was shorter than him. Two, he had a mask on. 

Roach looked up at him, dark eyes barely visible through his glasses. Soap smiled. 

“Johnny Soap MacTavish. You’re Roach, right?” He waited for a response but he just got a half assed nod. Soap glanced down at himself, making sure there wasn’t something immediately off about him. He had all his clothes on and he looked fine. Right?

“How long have you known Ghost?” Roach held up a few fingers before looking away. Soap didn’t know how to react to that. He shifted back and forth on his feet.

“Do we know each other?” Soap asked, thinking maybe they had met before and he had done something rude. He’d apologize of course. Besides the fact that this was Ghost’s friend, he also didn’t like people being mad at him. 

Roach just shook his head and stared back up at him. Ghost came back, thank God, and talked with Soap. He occasionally talked to Roach but Roach just shook his head or nodded before just fucking off. 

Soap bit the inside of his cheek hard. What the fuck? They were supposed to be meeting? I mean technically they were there because they happened to be on a mission together but meeting was important!

The mission was slow going. Especially because Roach was clearly still holding whatever grudge he was holding before. He would just glance at him blankly and nod if asked a yes or no question he thought was worth his time. Soap tried to keep it to himself, but he didn’t understand why. 

He went over ever moment since he had gotten off the plane. He didn’t understand what he did to offend Roach and he really, really wanted to be on his good side. It didn’t help that Roach was also his type which was boiling down to “men in masks”. Not even tall men anymore apparently. Just men. In masks. 

What a joke. 

He’d see him and Ghost talking. Or...well he thought they were talking. They’d stare into each others eyes and make hand gestures and they seemed to just get teach other. 

It drove Soap crazy. 

He sighed and realized only one person could hopefully clear this up. 

“Hey, Ghost? Can we talk?” Soap made sure Roach wasn’t around when he asked. 

Ghost cringed a little. “Sure.”

“Why is Roach upset at me?” Soap felt like a middle schooler. This was so stupid. He was already regretting this.

“What are you talking about? Roach likes you.” Ghost looked down at him.

“He won’t talk to me. He ignores me when ever I talk to him. I can barely get him to acknowledge me.” Soap sounded exasperated and Ghost stared at him for a minute. 

“Johnny. He’s mute. What were you expecting?” Ghost sounded startled.

“Simon. How the fuck could I have known he was mute??” Soap put his hands in his hair. Those were hand gestures. Oh God. 

“I told you!”

“No, you didn’t!” 

“Oh. I didn’t did I?” Ghost winced. “Okay. No big deal. He can’t speak at all.”

“I must’ve seem like such a fucking tadger, just yapping away while he sat there unable to respond back!” Soap started to pace. 

“Do you want me to teach you sign?” Ghost offered. 

Soap looked at him. “You’d do that?”

“Yeah. It’s the only way you guys can talk. I’m not going to make Roach right everything down.”

“Okay. I’d like that, Ghost.”  Soap sat down. “Can we start with a hi and “sorry, didn’t know you were mute and that’s why I acted like a bawbag?” 

Ghost stared at him blankly. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure bawbag isn’t a fucking word, so.” He took his gloves off. Soap felt like a man catching a lady’s ankle under her fucking renaissance dress. 

“Sit down, MacTavish.”

“Yes, sir.”

Soap should’ve known Ghost would teach just like he trained. Grueling, quick to point out mistakes, but damn it was effective. 

Soap still couldn’t hold a conversation, but it was passable. If Ghost was there to translate a couple signs, he could, theoretically, communicate with Ghost. 

Unknown to his LT, Soap may have done a little research on his own. Just... a small bit. Fill in a couple of gaps. 

Soap walked up to Roach and noticed that he did immediately turns more towards him instead of the person speaking. Maybe Ghost was right about Roach liking him. Who knew. 

Soap awkwardly signed. “Hi! How’s your day?”

Roach visibly brightened and started signing back. “Good! Yours?” He signed slowly and Soap had a feeling it was for his benefit. 

“Better now that you’re here.” 

Roach’s hands froze and he blinked slowly at him before narrowing his eyes. “Do you know what that means?”

Soap spoke since he wasn’t sure how to sign this. “I checked everything Ghost taught me, don’t worry. I know exactly what I said.” He smiled at him and thanks to the mask, he couldn’t be sure, but he swore he saw him blush just a little. 

“I see. Learn this just for me?” Was Roach flirting back???

“Yep. Wanted to be able to have a proper conversation.” Soap leaned in. “Still a beginner, so go easy on me yeah?” Roach’s shoulders shook like he was laughing and he moved in closer. 

“You like it easy, huh?” Roach signed back and Soap wondered if he was smirking. Soap flushed more. 

They started to flirt more and once Soap realized only the three of them could hear it, he started flirting with Ghost too. 

He pretended it was all in good fun, even if he maybe had a few more feeling than he should. 

Roach was watching Soap’s hands as he signed, but he kept glancing away. Soap paused, about to ask him what it was when something heavy draped on his back. He almost fought back before noticing the smell of Ghost. 

“What are you doing?” Ghost pinned both of Soap’s arms behind his back and Roach stepped forward, hands on Soap’s stomach.

“Uh, guys?” Both of them were utterly silent and without their expressions, Soap had nothing to go off of. Roach slid his hands up and grabbed his pecs, making soft humming noise. It was the loudest noise he had heard from Roach. 

Soap gasped softly when he felt lips against his neck. Ghost had moved his balaclava just enough to get his mouth free, pressing it bruisingly to Soap’s skin. Roach slid his hands back down and squeezed Soap’s hips before sliding to grab his ass. 

Soap was too flustered to speak, biting his lip so hard he thought it’d bust. 

They both pulled away and Ghost slapped his ass before leaning in. “Stop being a goddamn tease, MacTavish.”

[moony-2001]

Lore Olympus ep. 255 critique

Boy oh boy.

No remorse and tonal whiplash

We open this chapter with Persephone waking up not dead, total shock in Hades' arms, asking him if what happened was all a bad dream.

When Hades responds that what happened was not all in her head, we as the readers would expect Persephone to react with shock, remorse, something. Nope. Instead, we get this:

"Oh dear" with the most expressionless face ever. Our empathetic, caring protagonist everyone.

Now maybe I'm being too harsh. However, I feel like most people upon being confronted with the fact that they caused mass destruction would be pretty upset, if not incredibly so. But that's just my 2 cents.

We immediately transition into a party that's being set up for Persephone by all her friends and cohorts. We're then treated to this lovely image:

Thanks Captain Obvious.

While Hermes and Megaera argue over whether or not carrot cake is good, Thanatos pulls Hecate aside and notes about the massive uptick in incoming deaths which confirms what I said in my last critique post. While initially denying it, Hecate quickly realizes that something is very very wrong and that's when Hades and Persephone burst through the doors. Persephone bursts into tears and we get the most tone-deaf sentence ever:

Wow. Haha so funny. Comedy. Given the context of what just happened, this attempt at humor fell so flat.

I feel like the first third of this chapter kind of speaks for itself in terms of the writing and art, which is not good. There's just no emotion at all. I get the feeling that we're supposed to feel bad for Persephone and I just... don't. I don't have a whole lot more to say about this portion of the chapter; just that when I read it, I strained my eyeballs from rolling them so hard.

Hades tries not to make everything about himself challenge: Impossible

We transition into the post-party disaster cleanup where Persephone is hiding out in a greenhouse and Hades and Hecate are inside. Hades takes this opportunity to make everything about himself.

First of all, you're not and you're not.

But on a more serious note, this is not the first time we see Hades take a situation that has either nothing or almost nothing to do with him and make it all about himself. In fact, this is something he does frequently throughout the comic. Hades, in my opinion, very much has a "me, me, me, it's all about me" mindset.

One instance that comes to mind is this scene that happens in early s2 after Persephone opens up about her childhood and AOW. She barely has had time to share and process her traumatic experiences when Hades decides that this is the perfect time to dump 2000 years' worth of pent-up trauma onto a girl he's known for maybe 2 weeks at that point. Yet, he refuses to actively seek help during his time before meeting Persephone and even calls his therapist a hack.

Another instance is when Persephone confronts Hades about ripping out Alex's eye in s1 (when she was still somewhat empathetic to nymphs and whatnot).

Hades, when torturing Alex, very quickly shifts from the mentality of "you could've really damaged Persephone's reputation" to "I'm going to punish you because I view Persephone as my property and how dare you do this to me?"

Hades even outright admits it when confronted. He took a situation that had nothing to do with him and completely made it about himself.

Another instance is when Persephone tells Hades about what Apollo did to her and Hades flies off the handle and makes her trauma about himself. About what he is going to do even though that is not his decision to make.

It baffles me how conceited Hades is despite claiming to care about Persephone. I don't understand how you can look at a person who is going through a hell of a time and think "Let's make this about me". But that's a whole other post for the future

Zeus and Apollo

Skipping to the end of the episode, Apollo calls Hades (with Zeus' phone?) and tells him that he wants to take Persephone off Hades' hands.

Straight up, I don't like Hades and Persephone either as characters or together as a couple. I think they bring out the worst in each other. But Persephone is not some dog that needs to be rehomed and frankly, the whiplash Rachel is giving her audience in regards to Apollo's character is going to put me in a neck brace for life. She keeps flip-flopping between trying to make Apollo this sad, sympathetic anti-hero and the most egregious villain to walk the earth. You can not be both Zuko and Azula Rachel. You need to pick a lane and stay in it.

Apollo reveals that Zeus is in a coma and Hermes conveniently has the news up and running so we as the audience can be greeted with this:

"Attempted murder" you say? Of a being that literally can't die? Rachel, do you even know what attempted murder means?

"The defendant took at least one direct (but ineffective) step towards killing another person" and "The defendant intended to kill that person (malice aforethought)" -> California Law and Sentencing

While both of these are true in the fact that Apollo took the steps to kill Zeus and also intended to kill Zeus, they're gods. You can't murder a god. In order for murder to be attempted, or to even happen, the person in question has to be able to die. But then they're a human, not a god.

I feel like a more accurate report would be something along the lines of "Zeus has fallen victim to what seems to be a violent coup that has left him seriously incapacitated." Maybe that's not the best sentence to ever grace the writing scene, but hopefully my point is clear.

Also, how are people still oblivious to the fact that Apollo is, at the very least, incredibly suspicious right now. I mean his father has just been announced to be "dying" and instead of taking the time to mourn or even appear upset, he immediately slides into the position of power as King of the gods.

This chapter definitely wasn't as bad as 254, but it did make my brain hurt. Merry Christmas Eve and Happy Holidays to those of you who don't celebrate Christmas. See you all soon.

[4thwallbreakerdraws]

IT IS TIME PEOPLE

Since Kat asked to show off Self-insert OCs for the Blank Script AU, I thought it would be the perfect time to introduce my own self-insert OC to you.

Meet Xaviar Bellon, businessman and employees at Innova Corp. who also works as correspondent between his and Black’s company.

Basic information:

Xaviar is 26 years old, male and goes by he/him. Neck, part of his face and back as well as his complete right arm are replaced through cybernetics. They cannot be removed as they are parts of his body. He’s your typical rich boy who often acts like a snob and putting his main focus on the profit.

Personality:

Like mentioned before Xaviar often comes of as a snob who likes to brag about his wealth. He’s also very cocky to those around him, not afraid to give a snappy comment. However, he’s also a massive coward, immediately losing his entire attitude when he feels like his life is threatened and becoming a nervous wreck. Xaviar does not believe in actions without benefit or rather doesn’t see the significance I’m actions if they don’t benefit him. So love for him is just people wanting to use him or his money, same goes for friendships.

Deep down Xaviar is deeply insecure about his looks and existence. Without money he thinks he’s worth nothing and weak. Ever since he got parts of his body replaced, he also questions if he’s even really human anymore, reacting especially aggressive when someone calls him a robot.

Backstory:

Xaviar grew up in a rich family with two younger brothers. Due to their successful and wealthy status it made them targets in the eyes of people who felt mistreated, gangs and other criminal groups. While his parents always warned him about leaving home without any sort of security, Xaviar ignored them until the day he was kidnapped and held for ransom.

Due to his family refusing to pay ransom, Xaviar was supposed to be killed, but managed to free himself and fight his kidnappers. However this quickly escalated and ended in an explosion that killed almost all of the kidnappers and injured Xaviar heavily.

But even in that condition, his family did not pay his treatment, leaving it to Xaviar to pay everything on his own and making realize then that without money you’re nothing and that it’s the only thing you can rely on.

Despite that however he never founded his own company, instead traveling from company to company who often searched for any way to get rid of him due to his cocky behavior.

His little travel eventually led him to Innova Corp. where every employee immediately started hating him in the span of a few days. However, the boss is too afraid to catch a bad reputation by firing him so this is where Xaviar resides for now. That doesn’t mean however that his boss doesn’t send him to a certain life threatening parable.

Xaviar and the parable:

Before we go into the specific people and how Xaviar thinks of them it should be of note that Xaviar does not like visiting the parable. It creeps him out, it makes him question his sanity and he would rather not think about half the things he witnesses there. Yet he still continues to work there for the money. His job is being the middleman between Innova Corp. and Black, informing the narrator over new business ideas, opportunities and offering some advice.

Black:

Xaviar doesn’t know what exactly it is about the Narrator that creeps him out more. The eyes? The height? The weird heavy feeling he gets whenever he’s around? Maybe all of it. Fact is that the Narrator has his whole respect and attention whenever he grazes Xaviar with his presence.

Stanley:

Now Stanley is another story. His introverted attitude and slightly malnourished look don’t exactly make Xaviar respect him in any way, if anything he’s below him. Still, Xaviar is aware of Blacks and Stanley’s relationship and therefore does his best to be as nice as possible to Stanley in the Narrators presence. That fake smile however immediately drops when they are alone.

The Children:

The stuff of Caviars nightmares. You would have to pay him very good money to get him anywhere near these monstrosities. Unfortunately he had a meeting with one right on his first day in the parable which left him a bit traumatized even though he didn’t even saw it’s face. If anything keeps Xaviar out of the lower levels, it’s them.

The Maiden:

While they are still creepy to Xaviar, he doesn’t fear them as much as any the Children. They are robots, they work on calculations and orders. He knows as long as he doesn’t accidentally get on Blacks bad side, he doesn’t need to fear them. They even protect him. So he’s a lot more relaxed with them. At least after he got used to them randomly showing up out of now where.

Mariella:

Much like Stanley, he doesn’t have an ounce of respect for her, but he stays away. There is something about this woman that makes him think that she wouldn’t hesitate to stab or beat him up right in the spot.

I don’t know Xaviar, maybe it’s because you have a very punchable personality

Other Blank Script AU Self Inserts and Xaviar:

Sies ( @corelex):

Since Sies gives him a similar vibe to Black, he is decent enough to know when to back off with the short jokes. Yet, he also doesn’t get as appalled from her as from the others, as he understands her to some degree or at least what it’s like to be judged based on rumors. He’s also trying to get to hire her as her bodyguard but fails miserably.

Steve ( @xandyprojects):

While the chef is by far one of the most neutral inhabitants of the parable, Xaviar can’t help but get slightly nervous whenever he takes a knife in his hand. Steve’s no food gets wasted rule and his spoiled mannerisms also slightly clash which often ends in him getting picked up like a wet cat.

To you others out there, I’m always happy to let our sillies interact more🫵

Other Fun Facts:

Xaviar loves to skateboard and is quite good at it

Despite his declaration that children are like the plague, he likes them (but would never admit it)

he goes to therapy

Xaviar gets freaked out by fire and loud noises

Xaviar can often be seen scratching or brushing over his prosthetic arm

he doesn’t like looking into mirrors

Despite trying to avoid his family, he still visits their parties to keep up his image

He would scam you

he’s the type of businessman who you immediately shut the door in the face

Xaviars cybernetic face parts can extend into a full face mask, but he rarely uses it as it makes him look even more inhuman

Other images:

Bonus:

X, my self insert Maiden who I’ve been neglecting lmao

WOW YOU HAVE REACHED THE END!! Can you tell who of these two OCs is my favorite? /silly

@blackkatdraws2

[chaifootsteps]

Okay, so jumping here. I've been thinking and imo the 'Lilith' is Eve in disguise and Rosie is Lilith theory still holds true. This is brought to you by me going "We know Viv is a shitty writer, so from the writing already available, where would she lead the plot NOW?" and by my tinfoil hat.

We know Lilith is somewhere in Heaven (maybe even in Eden itself). Unless she pulls the weirdest explanation out of her hat for why she took a small vacay for 7 YEARS abandoning her daughter (with whom we know she had a good relationship with, IF that part of the pilot is still true. She never stopped to explain what parts of the pilot are still true, ffs.), Lilith would never. I don't even think she:

1) Would be allowed in Heaven, even by making a deal with Adam.

2) Adam's pride is too big for him to simply accept such a deal and Lilith's pride would be equally big imo. This interaction would never work.

So that has to be Eve. And Adam *has* to know that that's Eve. Or he doesn't, idc. Point is, it's far more likely by normal logic for that to be Eve. By Viv logic...? Not so much.

Which brings me to my second point! Rosie and her character. I did kind of feel the Mary Poppins vibes a bit, ngl. Horrible redesign, but oh well... The way she reacted to Charlie, her going "yeah, singing totes works here, in the *cannibal* colony!" and her giving that love advice + "we all did things we aren't proud of" + the fact that she's a "hellborn"? She has to be Lilith, sorry. Also also I feel like cannibalism isn't even such a big deal??? In the show I mean. It's literally so cartoonish it simply becomes a hellish quirk for some inhabitants. Sure Alastor, you're a cannibal, boo-hoo. I don't feel threatened by any of them, is what I mean. And even irl, I feel like yeah, it's gross and most likely getting yourself sick, but what makes cannibalism truly bad is the act of *killing* that person, ye know? In Viv's Hell that can't even happen, they'll just respawn, no problem.

And my final reason issss: Viv just ran so fast past 4 seasons worth of plot that imo she backed herself info a corner. The only things keeping the plot going are...Alastor's deal and who he made it with. It's probably Roo or Eve (or Lilith if Rosie is just Rosie), but I have a feeling like it can't be so simple with her, she has to pull a super complicated sayan explanation to make it seem like she just had us all guessing the wrong things, she's suuuuch a literary genius. And she loves musicals a bit too much (Adam is literally just Beetlejuice minus everything interesting about him), so pulling a Sweeney Todd sounds very in-character for her.

Now, speaking of Alastor....I haaaate how she destroyed his character with all the swearing and the petty edgelord-ness. She's not smart enough to write a smart chaotic presence/maybe potential villain. There, I said it. She should open a psychology book or some shit (she should've hired psychologists to coach her about writing about topics such as SA, addiction, sadistic/criminal personalities and so on, but we know she never put such thought into her work). Or at least a sensibility reader for her plot, smh. The overall tone of the show is jumping around faster than a bunny on electrolytes.

And as always, Alastor and Rosie have more chemistry than Charlie and Vaggie literally the "main" couple. They seem like a 30s married couple, tbh.

Also also super confused about Alastor's microphone and how she can hand it over to Charlie??? Why would he do that??? Are we supposed to understand he now cares about her? Handling his (presumably from the Adam fight) source of power to her just like that?? TWICE?!?

I understand his final lyrics are supposed to be "holy shit, I almost died for these people, what is wrong with me???" in a nutshell (+ that part about the contract), but we were never SHOWN how he became more attached to them??? We just have to believe him based on the talks with Rosie and Niffty respectively. What a joke. (Niffty got partially restored in my brain, at least).

-idk, Broadcast🎭 anon- (I know I DMed u, but yea)

Honestly? Even if this leak never comes true the way Viv planned it back then, I for one am having a great time speculating.

[my-fancy-hat]

Most romance novels follows an scheme of what love should it goes, how people have to meet and follow a certain path and archetypes to correctly fall in or out of love, that what's makes this kind of stories predictable and boring to some people, but what about love that evolves? love that exists despite the desire for romance/selfishness? what about friendship? family? what if we choose to love ourselves too? to love the path we choose? I think that what Ao no Flag is majoritary about, romance as we know in a love triangle it's just the surface the tip of the iceberg of what this story is about, series of choices where we pray for them to make us happy, to make our loved ones happy, because we want to be brave about the things we love.

The four cour characters are put in one of the most troublesome and chaotic times of every person who had access to the system education can experience: final year of high-school, the deadline between childhood and adulthood, to accept reality on how it approaches us, the fear of rejection and failure of what we are of what we do. Many people incluided me had wished to have been more wise, more patient, more accepting yet strong about our chosen path, and that's what Ichinose, Touma and Futaba had to learn and eventually guided them toward their happy end. Not just that, but the experience many queer people had to endure avoiding the social suicide of showing to the world who we are, this ilustrated with Touma and Masumi's characters, and (subtly yet quite importantly) Ichinose. How can I exists in their world if I live like this? will my parents accept me? they will still think about me as someone successful and worth of their last name? will they disown me? hate me? will my best friend who I am in love with reject me in disgust? It's so easy and understandable to succumb to a hatred that you think you deserve, because at the time it was less painful to play along lying to your loved ones about this secret than "revealing the truth", they deserved to know yet you failed, and this loneliness is what you get. If this is how the enviorment wants you to feel, then isn't it expected that the individual would desire for freedom of it? that's what Touma wished for his future to be, not concrete answer more than to exists without regrets.

The desire for romance can be rightfully observed by its selfish nature, to own the right, the demand for them to love us back, but it can be the exercise to accept ourselves as well. Touma wanted to show Taichi his heart without fears, despite if he would love him back or not, in doing so, he would be walking toward the ideal happiness he dreamed of. To openly love is the call for the indifferent cruel world to see in us the desire for goodness, that in this place can exists kindness too.: Touma most than anything, wanted for Ichinose and (by extention) Futaba, to be happy, to share their 1000+ points of best friend power and make everyone happy. That is, the core of love, to wish the best for your dears, and see them smile.

But accepting and not to, can be actually be the same. Masumi had to constantly fight with herself, with the inavility to change what she can't, to live with the fabricated idea of what she is supposed to be and what she is supposed to do, and what other people would react about it. That's why that, even if I have my reservations about her ending, I find it really meta for Masumi end to end up in a het marriage, making us conclude that at some point she gave up on Futaba, but paradoxically, accepted herself and her reality by coming out as bi. Us readers expected and rotted for her to confess to her crush and end up in similar terms like Touma and Taichi did, but this ending make us putting the lesson she learned though her character arc into practice: what people may think or not about our decisions, is their problem, not ours. Life can be so treacky and unfair, but no matter the circunstances, we can still find and make our place. We deserve it.

A friend or a lover, what is the difference if you just want to share our happiness with them?

That's how you humanize your characters, by expossing through them the good, the bad and the absurd, to tell a story in each how the circunstances molds them, but to oppose what damage us is quite a brave thing to do, even if it's our own mind, and that's what Futaba character speaks to me. The desire for wanting to change, to (once again) accept and not-to-accept. She's a weakling, clumsy girl loaded on self-hatred for her unability to live just as the others do. The fear of have reached your maximum potential and there's nothing else for you to do about it, that you born to live like this for the rest of your life. But she sees in Touma an example of hard work and due to her admiration (mistaked at first for a crush), wants to prove herself that life can be something else. To break our self-stablished limits and see what's beyond, to surpass your limits and try to understand what scares you. To be confident enough to think you have the right to live too. Failure reafims the truth that you are better off muted; what bother trying if it will end up in misery anyways? but the beauty of humankind is the unbeatable hope that things will change, to not give up, and without noticing, we'll feel blessed for have born in this time, in this place.

This as a result inspires Taichi's way of viewing life without him realizing too, just as how Touma's pure-lover heart expeled his sincere feelings ever since they started talking again, to the point to even sacrifice his leg and career for Ichinose: How can I exists and make it up for such people like you? what can I do? It's easy to fill your heart with resentment for the things you couldn't live, to feel prideful as consolation for a lonely life you didn't choose, as the left overs. But what we think makes what we are, if you keep on your days thinking you exists for the things you believe you deserve, to live in the imaginary unbreakable rules you made for yourself, then nothing will change. Touma, Futaba and Masumi changed Taichi's life forever, in the driving force of his spirit to pursue a better version of himself, to live driven by the desire for freedom, for love, and not care of what other people may see this choices.

That's why I think the final chapter is such a piece of art that makes the pay off so satisfying. What tortured him when Touma confessed wasn't that his best friend was gay, or that he lied to him about the nature of their friendship (he didn't): it was the though of losing him, so he chose both options at the end (if the analogy can't be more in the face). But as Yorkie said, it part of the course of life to most likely break up with your first gf, more less if they go to different universities, so them going their separate ways wasn't a surprise, but what made me happy about it that they still ended up in good terms and respected each other deeply for what they lived together. The surprise though comes from the actual realize of which POV we're following at the end, that reveals that Taichi had become Touma's husband. This is where I think Ichinose teach to the audience the lesson he learned from his former classmates, where he reaches for Touma above the lines that divides panels, to reach his husband's hand, the hand he shouldn't hold, and walk together toward home: he surpassed his own limits, his barriers and knew where his happiness lied.

A lot of queer people had *the realization* in their 20s (me included as nb), finally giving an explanation of all our past behaviour. I know before-hand most people got shocked for Ichinose to get reveal as bisexual, but isn't the story already gave us an idea this would happen eventually? when Futaba and Ichinose confess to each other, it's Touma's (and Masumi's) heartbreak that it's on spotlight overlaying their conversation, how Taichi and Touma hand-holding is such a central element for the story telling (literally it ends with them holding hands), and much more? Even Futaba suspected it before himself realized years later.

(it happened twice that when Taichi thinks about Touma what crosses his mind is his well-build chest/cleavage area like, ok)

But what makes the different between friendship and love? can a boy and a girl be friends? can a gay boy have male friends? can I be friends of someone I love and viseversa? can I forgive and maitain what we have? The only certainty I have right now, in this moment, is that I love you so much. I'm so happy to have meet you.

This got too long so to grap my final thoughs and make myself more loose right at the end, I'm so happy for have read this story FULL BLIND OMG I was so conviced that no one would end up together lol the only thing I knew of it is that it talked about queer drama and, textually: "had the ending it deserves". It genuinely made my perspective on some things change for the better. I actually loved so much how this story handles with such maturity a pretty much easy-target for comedy and bitter angst (bury your gays) the premise of "bff is gay and in love with the main character since they were kids". Not only that, but not picking sides of "who deserves who" taking leads between Touma vs Futaba, is quite refreshing for the genre: it humanize and treats fairly each member of the cast, giving proper space for them to explain themselves (worth mentioning Mami I loved her character so much you have no idea). Most of the drama in romance comes from missunderstandings or the lack of dialogue, when everything can be solved if the characters can actually sit and talk their feelings and thoughts out! and Ao no Flag is a masterclass on this manner. The explanation, exposition and introspection of every character struggle, the script, monologues, are so compelling and to the bone, I can't choose which interaction of the cast is my favorite. The pay-off is spectacular because we can actually follow each person train of thoughts and choices in which these end up in, with the faith that this path will make themselves and his loved ones happy, because even if we aren't certain about anything we do, we'll still find meaning in the absudity of destiny (or the lack of it?).

[faegoddessog]

Woman in Red Ch 1/17

Chapter 1: Afternoon Coffee

Summary: She's a very successful woman who can't seem to find a partner that can keep up with her. He is just wanting to find someone who likes him for HIM, not his fame. Neither of them are prepared for what hits them when she walks into that coffee shop.

Chapter Warnings: Flirting, mentions of his cock and her cleavage.

A/N: This was supposed to be a wee one shot that jumped into my mind. Apparently there is more to this story than I originally planned. More chapters will be forthcoming as I finish them.

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Here is the Woman in Red Masterlist

Here is the link to all my posted work: My Dirty Little, and not so little Stories.

@purejasmine @slowsweetlove @richardslady121 @austinbutlerslovers

Chapter 1: Afternoon Coffee

She wore red today. Because a woman of her age can wear whatever the fuck they want and she was feeling the Spring day deep in her bones. She wasn’t old, nah. Never old. Just perfectly seasoned. And everyone knows that seasoned things are more tasty than basic boring things. Yeah, she said it, the young were boring. Most didn’t really know themselves yet and were burdened with too many fucks to give. Youth was easily pretty, but when you dig deeper, they tended to be bland. It’s not their fault, they just don’t know what they don’t know.

Her seasoning was confidence and self worth, the kind that only really comes when you make it through the lessons life gives you and you realize that all those fucks you had been giving were completely misplaced and futile. Fucks about how people you’d never meet again judged you on your body. Fucks concerning all that bullshit societal programming around female sexuality, about how good girls didn’t crave sex. Fucks about how people would react if they knew that the reason she ‘couldn’t keep a partner’ was that really because just one couldn’t keep up with her. She was voracious. Now she saves her precious few fucks that she has left to give for things that really mattered: pure unadulterated joy and things that made her feel delicious and sexy.

It was a beautiful day, warm and full of that awakening potential of springtime. She felt glorious. She had decided to walk from her office to the coffee shop for an early afternoon pick-me-up. Almost on the prowl, eyeing every beautiful person that passed behind her dark sunglasses. There were several lovely specimens. She walks into her favorite coffee shop to wait in line behind a blonde man. He was tall, about 6’2’. Her eyes scan down the lean triangle of his back, covered by a white shirt. She takes in his well muscled arms and lean waist and the outline of his fine ass under his light jeans. She notes the heeled boots, ah, so more like 6ft. Damn, from this angle this man was an outstanding specimen. “Mmm,” her appreciative moan is louder than she realizes. He turns around in response.

He is just standing there, minding his own business, hoping no one would recognize him. Thankfully the little coffee shop is not at all busy. One other customer is in front of him, placing a big order. He had just come from a much needed haircut. Mira was amazing in so many ways. She was so down to earth. It was easy to talk to her in her friendly garage barbershop. He told her how he was single again and how he didn't think he’d find anyone who’d want him for him. The women he’d dated recently all seemed to be with him just for the fame of dating him. Mira had hugged him and counseled him to hold out hope, “they are out there,” she had declared, “they just might not be where, or who, you think they should be.” He is mulling this over in his mind as he waits in line when he hears an appreciative noise behind him. Weird he hadn’t heard anyone come in behind him. He must have been really in his head. He glances over his shoulder and sees her. A woman in red. He tries to look away but can’t help turning back. His gaze passes over the flare of her skirt with the big black buttons trailing up the side of the dress and contouring her curves. The square neckline just teases at her ample cleavage and the thick straps at her shoulders draws his attention to her long hair. Her dark sunglasses did little to hide the fact that she is staring right at him with a little smirk.

He liked to think of himself as a student of human behavior, in a way. She had obviously been checking him out. He was used to this, women oogled him all the time. Usually from behind barriers at red carpets and near press locations. Although lately it had been happening everywhere, even in his own neighborhood, where people had been seeing him for years. Women called his name across the street and sometimes cried when he waved at them. He knew it wasn’t really HIM they were gaga over, but the illusion, the idea of him. It was all mixed, he knew, with his portrayal of Elvis. How could The King not have had an effect on his public persona. But she is different. She doesn’t giggle nervously, doesn’t shake or fawn over him. It’s like she just doesn’t know. She pushes up her sunglasses to the top of her head and looks him in the eye. Her smirk spreads into a sly smile across her face and she nods at him with a flick of her eye brow. An unexpected jolt hits him in the gut.

She watches him glance over his shoulder, then do a double take. ‘Yup, that’s right sir… take in the awesomeness,’ she thinks. His eyes travel up her body and land on her face. She pushes up her sunglasses, looking him right in the eye. His blue eyes go wide at her blatant acknowledgment of his once over. Once he turns around, she sees that the backside of this man is just the amuse bouche. She swears he looks familiar. He is objectively handsome. His sharp jaw is shadowed with a little scruff. His slightly unruly hair is not at all what it seems, but styled so every hair is in perfect place to look disheveled. Suddenly she is thinking what his hair would look like actually mussed, and in between her legs. As though he can see her thoughts, he looks down a little bashfully, then back at her licking his lips. His beautiful, full lips curl into a smile and his high cheekbones pop. She can’t help the intake of breath as his smile sends sparks to her stomach.

“Can I help you?’ says the barista, who had been waiting.

He turns back around, a little addled by the wordless exchange. “Yes, sorry, um… I’ll have a sugar free caramel oat milk latte please.” he says, then decides to be bold. “And whatever the lady would like,” he turns to her, “if I may.”

She looks at him, licking her lips. His voice is deep, resonant and reaches into her belly and tightens. "You may, but only if you will sit and drink it with me,” she counters. He nods. “I’ll have the same, but make it a cappuccino, I love the foam,” she says with a wink to him, “ oo and a blueberry scone please.” He adds a cinnamon scone to his order as well. “Can I get a name?” the barista seems bored at the flirtation they are witnessing. “Austin,” he says. As he pays, she goes to sit at a table in the corner.

He can’t quite believe he is doing this. He is not this guy! But there is something about her that pulls at him. She is definitely not his usual date. He had been dating actresses and models for years, girls so thin he thought he might break them. She was voluptuous and seductive, even though he didn't think she was trying to seduce him. Every move she made said she really lived in her body, a woman who knew herself. He suddenly found it very sexy.

“I’m Austin, by the way,” he says, putting down the plates of scones and putting his hand out. ‘Yes, I heard,” she takes his hand, “I’m Aya. Thank you, Austin,” she says, pulling a plate over. He sits, nervously rubbing with the ring on his right hand. “Do you do this often?” she asks, taking a bite of her scone. “What, get coffee?” he says. “No, check out women and offer to buy them drinks,” she smiles. “Oh no,” he shakes his head, blush rising in his face, “Well to be fair, I was checking you out too, so we are even there,” she winks playfully at him, taking another bite. “No, I don’t ever…I’m actually really shy,“ he looks bashfully away. “Oh hunny, I’m sorry, I don’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable,” she says, dialing down the flirt level. “No, it’s ok,” he looks back at her, eyes bright, “I like it, I am, uh, weirdly drawn to things that make me uncomfortable. What about you, do you usually take men up on offers to buy you drinks?” he asks, putting his focus on her. “It happens less than you may imagine these days,” she confesses, “most people are too involved in their phones or social media to notice what’s around them. Plus, this is LA and if you are not rail thin with something fake somewhere, people don’t think to look at you twice. But that’s fine, I am me and me is good.” “I don't think what people look like matters nearly as much as how they carry themselves or care about themselves,” Austin says with a little blush in his cheeks. “Preach!” she says, throwing her hands in the air. “Order for Austin” says the barista. Aya jumps up to get the drinks. “No, let me” he says, going to get up. She turns around holding out a hand as if to say, ‘I got his, just sit.’ She saunters over, hoping to god he is watching her round ass swish her skirt back and forth. He is. “Honestly,” he continues as she sits, “I can’t imagine anyone NOT seeing you twice. You are beautiful.” “Thank you Austin, that’s very kind coming from someone so objectively handsome and probably ten years younger than me.” He gentlemanly refuses to walk through the ‘oh how old ARE you’ door, instead he just smiles and blushes again. Damn he has a winning smile. “Wait a second, ‘see me twice’? Does this mean you’d like to see me again?” a devilish smile crosses her face teasingly. She dips her finger into the foam of her coffee, licking it off. “Yes, I would,” he says quickly and seriously.

They spend the next half hour dancing on the edge, flirting with one another. His shyness gets less and less the more they talk. Her joi-de-vivre shines through the flirtation. The spark between them is palpable. They are so absorbed in one another, that they don’t even notice the people coming and going from the coffee shop. Aya still has this feeling in the back of her mind that she’s seen him before, but she can’t quite put her finger on it. He said he was an actor, so maybe she’d seen him in a thing or two, but let’s be real, this is L.A. and everyone is an actor. Austin is happily astounded that she doesn’t recognize him, even when he mentioned he was an actor, although he didn’t say his last name. It was like a breath of fresh air, one he didn’t know he needed. In this moment, he got to be just a man meeting a woman. He looks at his watch, “I uh, I have a meeting I need to get ready for, I’d really love to see you again.” “I’d like that too, give it here,” she holds out her hand for his phone. He opens it and hands it to her. She taps in her number and sends herself a text before handing it back. Her phone buzzes. “See, it’s actually my number,” she holds up her own phone. She abruptly stands up and shoos him over in the booth, sitting next to him. She leans back against him and takes a selfie with him. “There, I always put pictures in my contacts.”

When Aya puts her hand out for his phone, Austin doesn’t even think twice about handing it over, something he never did upon meeting anyone. There is just something about her that makes him feel… safe. When she perches next to him and leans her body against his, he can barely think straight. Luckily, his selfie smile is so ingrained as to be second nature anytime anyone holds up a phone. She lingers against him as she fills in the contact info. He finds himself staring over her shoulder right down her cleavage. Oh fuck, she smells good too, like sweet oranges and vanilla and clean. “Um.. yeah th-that’s a good idea.” He holds his phone out, she leans in closer to him, hand on his thigh. It takes all of his acting training to not let out a little whimper at her touch. Did Aya know what she was doing when she touched his thigh? Of course she did. He said he liked things that made him uncomfortable, so she decided to push him a little and see what he’d do. After taking the picture, he covers her hand with his, holding it there.

“What are you doing tonight?” he asks all of a sudden. The breath of Austin’s words flow over her shoulder and down her cleavage. The warmth of his unexpected hand makes her breath hitch slightly in her throat. She turns her head to look up at him and she is lost in his gaze. His blue eyes sparkle from this close distance, his plush lower lip quivering just slightly. A little lean in and she could capture that lip. And suddenly she wants to kiss him. It takes all her willpower NOT to kiss him.

His thumb strokes the back of her hand lightly. He barely knows he’s doing it. In fact he is unsure exactly when he covered her hand with his own. Her fingers feel slightly chilled to his warm hand. There is no time for self doubt as he blurts out the question. All he knows is that he wants to spend more time with her. Thoughts of unbuttoning those large black buttons, unwrapping her from that red fabric, and burying his face in her cleavage come unbidden to his mind. He was about to shake them from his head when she turns to look at him. His thigh tenses and his cock twitches. She is inches from his face. A little dip of his head and he could touch those daring red lips with his own. He wants to kiss her; almost needs to kiss her. It takes all his will power to keep himself put.

“What?” she blinks, realizing the meaning of his words fell apart when she turned to face him. “I asked what you are doing tonight,” he says surely, quietly. She swallows her first response, which was ‘hopefully you’. Nope, a little too forward for a shy guy. A shy guy who is holding her hand on his leg, still grazing it with his thumb. Maybe he won’t be that shy for long. “You tell me,” she settles for a safer reply. “How about I pick you up for dinner at 6?” he says, “and we can figure the rest out from there.” “Ok. How, uh, fancy do I need to dress?” she asks. “Oh please,” his eyes glance down,” wear what you have on. It’s… perfect.” She can tell he is imagining her red dress falling to the ground, perfect indeed. “Then I’ll have you pick me up from my office, it’s near here,” she pulls her hand away and texts him the address as he tries to gain control over his burgeoning hard on.

She stands up and he tries in vain not to look at her ass. He adjusts himself as he stands. They walk to the door, he holds it open for her. “Would a hug be out of the question?” he asks on the sidewalk. He wants to feel her body against his again. “Oh no, I am a hugger,” she replies with a smile, opening her arms to him. Aya rises onto her toes when he leans in to embrace her. Her arms wrap around his neck and shoulders, pressing her torso close to his. She doesn’t give him any room for doubt about her physical boundaries, or lack thereof. She inhales. The fresh scent of his hair and light woodsy essential oil mixing at the crook of his neck. A soft ‘mmmm” floats from her throat to his ear, as her arms tighten around him and she presses close for a few seconds before releasing him. She does not miss the swell of his cock pressed against her belly.

He wraps his arms around her waist albeit politely, tentatively at first. But she shows no such qualms, pulling herself into him. Her body is warm against his, he can’t help but imagine what it would be like being skin to skin with her. He tucks his head down, breathing in her refreshing yet intoxicating scent. She tightens her arms around him. The little sound of pleasure she makes almost causes him to abandon being a gentleman altogether. Flashes of taking her somewhere private and seeing what other noises she makes fill his mind as her body presses gently into his.

She pulls back but not away, hands on his shoulders. Her lip curls into a little smile as he unknowingly smolders at her. He slides his hands lightly to her hips, not realizing how familiar he is being with this woman he met not 45 minutes ago. Slowly, reluctantly, they both let their arms fall away, yet neither take a step back. The tension of their attraction is palpable between them. “I look forward to tonight, Austin,” she says, fisting her hand to stop it from cupping his crotch. He takes a deep breath as though just remembering that breathing is necessary. “As do I,” his voice is low. “Until tonight then” she takes a slow step away, unwilling to stop looking at him. “Until tonight,” he nods. Aya turns with a swirl of her skirt and starts walking towards her office. “Behold my dramatic exit,” she throws the words over her shoulder, raising a hand with a flourish. Austin shakes his head and laughs, watching her walk away. ‘Dear god,’ he thinks,’how am I ever gonna be able to focus for the rest of the day?’

[spacesapphi]

"Moving Forward and Spiraling Downard"

GUYS... first multichapter SDV fic has been started, chapter 1 is on AO3!

This one is mostly a Shane-centric fic (hooray!!) and follows his life leading up to the main events of the game, from the time when his best friends had passed and left him to raise Jas (not hooray!!)

CW for this chapter specifically lays in a lot of talk of death, funerals, and hospital settings

AO3 link is here:

Moving Forward and Spiraling Downward - Chapter 1 - SapphiresStars - Stardew Valley (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own]

Tumblr version below the cut:

Hell was the only proper way to describe where Shane was now. But even still, that felt like too weak of a word for what he was going through. His 25th birthday should’ve been the best night of his life. It was the best night of his life, at least it was until one selfish, stupid person stole it all away from him. His best friends in this world, Jason and Amelia, gifted him tickets to go see the Tunnelers in the last game before finals. They were going to go as a group, him, them, and their little girl Jas. The game was perfect by all measures, a historical 22-1 win for their favorite team, and in the semi-finals no less! The four of them were absolutely bursting with adrenaline and joy, nothing could’ve made the night any more perfect!

For a moment, everything was just right, and for once Shane didn’t feel some kind of looming sense of dread. He was with his friends, his family, and everything was good. He was happy. But on the ride home, one selfish act destroyed all of it. None of them had enough time to react. Before they knew it, the heat of a truck's headlights was upon them, barreling into their car at a grotesque speed. The last thing he could remember was instinctively lunging over to protect Jas's car seat, then it all went black. The next thing he knew, he was waking up in the hospital, his aunt Marnie at his side, and his life was changed permanently. His drea, of going pro at gridball was dead now, an injury he sustained to his knee made sure of it. He would never play again, the biggest passion in his life torn from him. But even worse, the absolute nightmare of it all, was that Jason and Amelia were gone.

Now, everything was completely upside down. It was wrong, it wasn’t fair. If Yoba was real, though Shane was now certain they weren’t, they didn’t care about him. They didn’t love him. Aunt Marnie raised him to believe in a “kind and forgiving” deity from a young age, but any god that would do this didn’t deserve to be seen as kind.The last shred of his belief had withered away, and was replaced with an unrelenting anger. If Yoba existed, he hated them.

And hearing all the empty platitudes from those around him, oh how it made him want to snap. He didn’t want to hear another person talk about how this was “Yoba’s plan” or tell him that they were in a “better place”. How could any deity worth worshiping plan to steal away the lives of 2 innocent people, and let the bastard that killed them live? What place could possibly be better than sitting at home, raising their daughter and being his friend?

It had been a week now since it all happened, and today was Shane’s first day home from the hospital. The pain, both emotional and physical, was still unbearable. He could barely look at himself now, avoiding any mirror he could to ignore the haunting way he looked now. His long hair that he was so proud of had been cut incredibly short, deep gashes on his head stitched and throbbing in pain. Marnie had done her best to shape it up, keep as much hair as she could while making the style look intentional, but he still hated it. It wasn’t him. Just one more thing the accident took, he supposed. Why stop at taking his friends? Take his dream, his identity, his pride, along with it. He didn’t care anymore.

Before the accident, Shane’s apartment was always very bare bones. Only the most necessary furniture was inside, not much decoration besides the occasional piece of gridball memorabilia, and the folk art Marnie insisted he take with him so he “wouldn’t forget his roots”. But now, the little studio flat was stuffed from wall to wall with baby items. He had taken everything he knew Jas needed when cleaning out Jason and Amelia’s place this morning, her furniture, clothes, toys, and dishes. Every counter and spare space was filled with her belongings, and he was still in awe with just how much one baby could need.

The poor thing was curled up on his chest, wailing pitifully as he tried his best to comfort her. Nothing Shane did seemed to calm her down, her cries only getting more piercing by the hour. He was growing frustrated, fighting back the urge to cry himself. He had no idea what he was doing, as much as he wished he did. Maybe it was a mistake for those two to have trusted him to be a godfather. How good of a guardian could he be if he couldn’t even get her to stop crying? How good could her life be, living in this tiny apartment? He could feel his mind begin to spiral, the self doubt and anxiety bubbling over, until a gentle hand touched his shoulder.

“Let me see her, schatz, you look tired,” Marnie spoke, voice soft and sympathetic. She took the fussing baby, listening to her cries for just a moment, then holding her so she was laying on her side. Like magic, Jas seemed to calm down almost instantly, her shrieks replaced by discontent whines.

“Holy shit, how did you do that?” Shane sighed, leaning back into his seat. He looked frustrated, and incredibly embarrassed. He couldn’t calm her down to save his life, but here his aunt was, doing it in seconds. Marnie smiled sweetly, looking down at the baby in her arms, “There’s different sounds babies make when they cry, it’s slight but it’ll help you know what she wants. That little “owh” sound means she’s just tired, holding her like this helps.”

“How did you even figure that out?” Shane questioned, “I've been trying everything and she just… kept crying.”

“Raising you, mostly… Learned a lot that way,” Marnie mused, “You’ll catch on fast, I promise.”

“What if I don’t?” Shane mumbled, wringing his hands, “I have no clue what I’m doing, aendi… what if I mess this all up?”

“No one does at first…” Marnie assured, “But you’ll both be just fine, I know it.”

Jas finally closed her eyes, face scrunching as she yawned and finally drifted off to sleep. It was the first time in hours that she was resting, and both Shane and Marnie were relieved beyond measure. Getting everything brought to the apartment and setting up was already difficult enough considering Shane’s injuries, and even harder with how fussy Jas had been. It was a miracle they were able to get everything they needed done today.

Shane just hoped she wouldn’t cry too much tomorrow. He would be doing enough for the both of them, that was for sure. It was the day he had been dreading all week, the day of the funeral. Preparations had been a nightmare. His friends were a lot like him, little to no family, all either passed on or estranged, so all planning fell square onto his shoulders. Having to fill out all of that paperwork, choosing the final resting places for the closest thing he had to siblings, all while hospitalized no less, it was too much. This shouldn’t have happened now, they were all in their 20’s, they were so young. Too young.

Having his aunt here helped, though. Marnie had been his saving grace through it all, helping him get everything set up for Jas, showing him how to do things like make bottles, watching her when he needed a break, she was an absolute angel. Most importantly though, she let him talk about everything. Every moment he needed someone to lean on, someone to listen, she was right by his side. After all, she had been through nearly the same thing 20 years ago when his mom passed. If anyone understood what he was going through right now, it was her.

“I think it’s time we slept too. You’ll need the rest…” Marnie mused, looking out to the dark night sky through the window, "I'll need to be back at the hotel soon."

Shane nodded slowly, rising from his spot on the sofa. He winced as a shock of pain ran through his knee, nearly making him stumble, “Yeah… I’m sorry I don’t have a room for you to sleep here…”

“Don’t you worry about that, the hotel’s been just fine,” Marnie assured. She handed Jas over to him, both of them praying the shift wouldn’t wake her.

“You’re coming to the funeral tomorrow, right?” Shane questioned, a sense of unease in his voice.

Marnie nodded, her expression turning solemn, “Of course… I would never make you go through that alone, schatz,”

She hugged the two of them tight, not wanting to let go. He didn’t want her to let go either. Marnie knew she’d have to leave after tomorrow, go back home to her lonely house in the valley, leave Shane here alone to figure everything out. Oh, how she wished things were different, that they had left the game just a few moments earlier that night. If they did, maybe all of them would still be here. But they didn’t, and they weren’t. Nothing would ever be the same again, for her, Shane, or Jas, and that’s the part she mourned the most. No matter how good the future could be, this event would loom over them for the rest of their lives, casting a shadow over even the happiest moments. She reluctantly pulled away from the hug, giving Shane one last empathetic look before turning towards the door.

Marnie left quietly, whispering a soft “goodbye” and leaving for the night. He’d been dreading this, the first night fully alone. When Marnie was helping with Jas, or just listening to him, he could distract himself to some extent. He could think of something besides the medical bills on their way, his injury, and the fact that he had no one else in this city. But now there was nothing to distract him from his thoughts, nothing but the siren call of sleep. He turned off the lights, leaving only the little lamp on the coffee table lit, and made his way to Jas’ crib. Holding his breath, he carefully lowered her down onto the cot, fearing any sudden movement would jolt her awake. He let a relieved sigh escape him when she didn’t.

Climbing into his own bed barely a foot from the crib, he stared at the ceiling with a vacant expression. Everything had been moving so fast, but felt like it was slow motion all the same. Being discharged, cleaning out the apartment, making all the preparations, and now raising a baby. He remembered just how honored he was when Jason asked him to be Jas’ godfather, just how proud and excited it made him feel to be that important to them. It was a beautiful sentiment, and he had hoped it would just stay that way, just a sentiment. Never in his life would he have wished for this role to be fulfilled .

He had always thought it would be the three of them, staying together through it all. They were a strange, ragtag bunch but family to him nonetheless. Hell, even Marnie doted on them. She saw Jason and Amelia as family by extension, offering her home on holidays and special events when they had nowhere else to go, no one else to turn to. There was a gaping hole in their hearts now, a piece of themselves and their family that they could never get back. Good things rarely stayed in his life forever, it was a fact he had come to accept, but it didn’t make it hurt any less.

As he drifted off to sleep, images from the night of his birthday kept invading his mind. He couldn’t tell which parts were memories, which ones he made up. No matter how much he wanted to, he just couldn’t wake up, continuing to live the moment everything was destroyed over and over again. He kept dreaming of different scenarios, ones where they all survived, or at least one of them surviving with him. But the scenario that gave him the most peace, for a reason he couldn’t quite place, was the one where he was the only one that died. Shane didn’t feel grateful or glad for surviving. He felt guilt, overwhelming, soul crushing guilt. He felt his dream was a way to atone for it, a necessary pain to suffer through as the price of living.

Getting ready the next morning was surreal to say the least. Shane had exactly one suit, the one he inherited from his grandfather. It was entirely ill-fitting and out of date,  but it would have to do for today. Looking into the mirror made him grimace. What a sight for sore eyes he was. His face was pale and gaunt, dark circles already forming beneath his eyes. He looked nothing like himself, and he felt disgusting. The only thing worse was seeing Jas dressed for the funeral, a black dress with little puffed sleeves and buckle-up shoes. She was so young, just under a year, she shouldn’t have to be here, sitting at her parents’ funeral. Just seeing her made him want to sob. It was yet another cruel reminder of just how unfair, how fucked up, this entire situation was.

Then seeing everything put together, the funeral hall decorated, soft hymnals playing on speakers, and the mourners shuffling in, it made him sick. The caskets were closed, not even allowing him to see the faces of the people who had made life worth living one last time. He didn’t even want to begin thinking of why it needed to be closed casket, and a part of him selfishly was relieved that it was. Maybe they weren’t even inside, maybe this had all been some awful, despicable joke, and any moment they would walk out to greet him like nothing happened. He would be angry, furious with them, sure, but it would be better than the absolute soul crushing reality he faced.

Two bouquets sat cradled in his arms, one for each of his friends. It was a sappy gesture, and one that wouldn’t be expected coming from him, but he felt he needed to. It was the one thing about all of this that felt right.

Jason loved daffodils. Shane remembered back to a day when the two of them were at practice, resting for a lunch break. Jason had excitedly shown him a small patch of the flowers underneath the bleachers in their college’s gridball arena, a little patch of sunshine where there was only darkness. It was a lot like Jason in that way. Shane had visited the patch one last time on the drive over, sneaking in to pick the best and the brightest of the bunch to send off his dearest friend.

And for Amelia, an arrangement of fairy roses. She absolutely adored them, talking at length about the old folk tales about them attracting fairies, Junimos, and all sorts of mythical creatures. Amelia loved a good fantasy, and saw everything in life through a beautiful, magical lens. He remembered staying over at their place for the night, listening to her read off little fables and fairy stories to Jas to get her to sleep. She had the brightest, most excited, voice when it came to storytelling. Shane was going to miss that so much.

He placed the bouquets on their respective caskets, looking upon them with a pained expression, “I’m going to do right by you… I’ll make sure Jas is taken care of, don’t you worry.” he whispered. There was only silence in response. Deafening silence.

He turned back to look at the seating area, seeing how pitifully empty it was. In the front there was Marnie, dressed in a dark gown, holding Jas on her lap. She was trying her best to keep the baby distracted for now, bouncing her up and down, and speaking in a silly, quiet voice to get the baby to not fuss. Further back were a handful of old teammates from his and Jason’s varsity gridball team, men whose faces he barely remembered now. They looked shaken, speaking in soft whispers amongst themselves. Shane wasn’t the best of friends with them, falling out of touch after graduation, but he knew Jason was close with quite a few. Unlike him, that man was always the social butterfly. Two girls had shown up for Amelia, some highschool friends she sometimes invited to hangouts. He didn’t know them too well but appreciated them coming even still. It was pitiful how little they had though, how few people were in their lives that the hall could be this empty. They deserved so much more, they deserved the world.

There was a sudden tap on his shoulder, making him jump. Shane turned to his left, looking up to see the director standing just beside him.

“I’m sorry sir, but if you’d like to give some final words, now's the time,” the director motioned a hand over to the decorated podium standing just in front of the caskets. Shane swallowed, nodding slowly before making his way up to the podium. He grasped the solid wood frame with clammy hands, looking out onto the small crowd. They looked at him, expecting expressions upon their faces. But he had nothing planned, nothing written. Where would he have found the time? All he had was what he felt in his heart, and that would have to do.

“I couldn’t say enough about Jason and Amelia. They meant the world to me… I don’t know how I would’ve survived moving here if it weren’t for them. Being their friend changed my life for the best, and I wouldn’t be the man I am now without them. They made life worth living. Amelia was so smart, she was going places… Jason too. They were amazing people, and even better parents. Every day’s been awful without them. I hope they knew how much they were loved. I never had siblings, but I think they were the closest thing to it. They were good people, great people, and I’ll never stop missing them. ”

Shane took a shaky deep breath, feeling the heat of embarrassment rise on his face. He knew that was no good, no proper way to send off some of the most important people in his life, but he couldn’t do this. He couldn’t bring himself to say another word. Giving a short nod, he stepped down from the platform, returning swiftly to his seat next to Marnie, bouncing his leg anxiously. She gave him a sympathetic smile, taking his hand, “You did great…”

“Be honest, that was awful,” Shane whispered bitterly, “I-I didn’t have time to prepare anything..”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, you did your best,” Marnie’s voice was sweet, that motherly tone that always seemed to calm his nerves. It didn’t help much now, though.

Tiny hands grabbed at his sleeves, Jas making babbling noises as she reached out for him. Her purple eyes were focused on him, a little smile on her face. He forced a smile back, taking her in his arms. The baby babbled away, waving her hands around excitedly. It was adorable, but just so jarring. The poor girl had no idea what was going on, what scene was laying in front of her. Maybe that was for the best, but looking behind her to see those caskets laying there, her parents inside, was such a hard blow.

In just a few moments, workers shuffled in, ushers speaking to the other guests. It was just about time to go, to head to the final resting sites. Oh, how he dreaded it. The car ride there was hell, and so was the ceremony that accompanied the burial. It was so… wrong. He just couldn’t shake the thoughts of their faces, their laughs and excited chatting in the car. They should be here now, hanging out with him at their apartment, sitting around the tv and putting on the finals, cheering on their favorite team with him. But that wasn’t possible, not anymore. Seeing that final bit of dirt being packed on top of their gravesite pulled him out of the denial stage. It felt completely real for the first time, and that little glimmer of wishful thinking that this was all a nightmare was snuffed out. He stood close to Marnie, feeling her wrap an arm around his back as they looked upon the site. It was just them and Jas standing there now, the other mourners long gone at this point. His leg was killing him, an ache growing from standing so long, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave the site.

“I can stay longer, if you need me to.” Marnie offered, looking at him earnestly.

Shane shook his head, “No, you’ve got the ranch at home, they all need you there…”

“Then come back to the valley! Everyone misses you, especially Emily. She was heartbroken when she heard what happened, she’s been asking about you.”

Shane furrowed his brow, “You told Emily?”

“Not on purpose… She was around when I got the call that…” Marnie trailed off, shuddering at the memory of that night in the hospital, “Just come home, Shane…”

He opened his mouth to respond, but quickly closed it, grimacing. He wanted nothing more than to take up the offer, to run into her arms crying like he was a little kid again and go back home. But what was there waiting for him? He had debts that were slowly piling up, expenses to be accounted for, and there wasn’t exactly a surplus of jobs back in the valley. Marnie had told him all about how local businesses were struggling with some fancy new corporation trying to encroach on the area. He wouldn’t be able to survive there, and he sure as hell wouldn’t take a handout at his aunt's expense.. He shook his head, mumbling softly, “I’ll think about it…”

“You know my door is always open…” Marnie gave him an encouraging look, “If you change your mind, just come home.”

Shane nodded solemnly, finally letting tears escape his eyes. He tried so hard today to keep himself together, so hard to be the strong person that could handle this. The reality of his situation finally fell square on his shoulders, the weight crushing him

“It should’ve been me…” he choked out, “I wish it was…”

“Schatz…” Marnie started, a slight scold in her voice, “Don’t say that, please.”

“I just…” Shane took a deep, warbling breath, wiping the tears off his cheeks with his sleeve, “If it was me, Jas would still have them.. She needs them, I can’t replace her parents.. They’re her only family…”

“You’re my only family too.” Marnie reminded him, “Do you know how devastated I was when I got that call? I was so scared you’d be gone by the time I got to the hospital. I already lost your opa and your mom, I can’t lose you too.”

Shane’s face was stoic, face still wet from tears, “How did you… How did you get yourself back together after she died? How did you get over it?”

“Well, having 20 years to process it helps,” Marnie mused, “But I never got over it, and I don’t think I ever will. And as much as it hurts to tell you, you’ll never get over this either.”

Shane scoffed bitterly, “Well thanks, that’s good to know…”

“What I’m trying to say is, it won’t go away, but it does get easier... Your life won’t be the same anymore, but one day you’ll be okay.”

Her nephew turned to her, his bright green eyes glossy and red, “What do I do until then?”

Marnie pulled him into a tight embrace, feeling tears bite at her eyes, “You cry….”