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deadgirlwalking91 · 9 months ago

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new update - 'thank you for the venom', chapter 6: 'this isn’t what i wanted but i can’t keep my filthy fucking mouth shut'

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter 6 Summary

Lute bites off more than she can chew; Adam remembers he's not just Lute's punching bag... he's her boss.

Author's note:

Thanks to everybody who has read/engaged so far! I hope you like this one - it was great fun to write. Feel free to comment and inbox away, doesn't have to be about this fic. Happy to chat anything and everything guitarspear!

Cheers to @branded-rose for beta-ing once again; there's a snippit in here that I didn't send you, by the way. You'll know it when you see it ;)

***

Adam and Lute’s Office, Exorcist Training Centre, Heaven

It had been a month since the Great Bathroom Incident, and the Exorcists were beginning to feel the effects of burnout.

Layla collapsed from exhaustion during a gruelling combat tournament that Lute had sprung on the girls one training session. It turned out she had been hitting the gym twice daily to ensure her physical fitness could keep up with the increasingly difficult drills that Lute had been implementing.

Adam also knew for a fact that the gym wasn’t the only thingLayla had been hitting lately, but he was trying this new tactic with women where he didn’t kiss and tell.

Layla was one of many Exorcists who were suffering the effects of extreme fatigue due to their intense training regime. Over the course of a fortnight, there was at least two new injuries or incidents daily that arose, which meant one thing: More. Fucking. Paperwork.

As if he didn’t have enough shit on his plate already, he now had to spend more time in the office with the she-devil herself, who was still a raging bitch to him on the daily.

She was even worse than usual – not that Adam thought it was possible - now that their increased workload meant they had to stay back late each night to ensure the incident reports were completed in a timely manner. If there was one thing Sera got her panties in a twist about, it was overdue incident reports. Which, unfortunately for Adam, meant that Lute was also on the warpath about them.

The moment he stepped into their office on Monday morning, he knew he was in for it.

“Think you could fucking manage to be on time for once?” Lute snapped, eyes not leaving the paperwork she was frantically filling out.

“Think you could manage not to be a raging cunt for once?” Adam retorted, slamming a take-away cup down on her desk. Not that she fucking deserved it. He hoped the coffee was so hot that it would burn her mouth.

Without acknowledging the insult, Lute grabbed the cup and started drinking desperately from it, disgust clearly written all over her face as she chugged the beverage.

“Don’t get me that milky shit again,” she snarled, tossing the cup into the bin. “In fact, stop buying me coffee every morning, would you?”

“You seemed to enjoy it enough,” Adam retorted. “A ‘thank-you’ would be nice though, you rude bitch.”

“Oh, fuck off.” Lute looked up at him for the first time that morning, despite insulting him at least twice since his arrival. Adam couldn’t hold back his wince – she looked awful. Dark bags lined the underneath of her eyes, which were red rimmed with exhaustion, her hair looked like a brush hadn’t been taken to it in weeks and even from where he stood, he could see how physically tense she was.

“You look like hell.”

For once, Lute resisted the urge to retort back, though her eyes narrowed into slits as she glared at him.

“I’m serious. You look like you need a good dicking.” Adam dropped into his seat and started sorting through his own pile of paperwork. “Not that I’m offering. My cock would probably shrivel up and fall off once I stick it in because –”

“Will you shut the fuck up?!” Lute shouted, standing and gripping the edge of her desk so tightly Adam could see the whites of her already pale knuckles. She looked positively rattled, and he wasn’t sure if it was a trick of the light, but her eyes seemed to be glistening. “C-c…” She took a shuddering breath to steady herself and looked around the room, avoiding eye contact, running her hand through her cropped hair. “Can you just…go?”

Adam studied her, frowning. In all the years they’d worked together, he’d never seen Lute lose her cool like this. Sure, she was in a perpetual foul mood, and often directed said foul moods at him, so he was used to her sharp tongue and venomous insults.

But…emotional Lute?

He didn’t know how to deal with an emotional Lute. He didn’t deal well with normal women who were emotional. He’d hate to think of how he’d handle his unhinged second-in-command who hated his guts on any regular day.

And yet… there was a nagging voice, somewhere deep in the back of his brain, that was urging him to cut her some slack. Give her a break.

Adam couldn’t quite place his finger on what caused him to listen to that voice, and there was every chance he’d live to regret it, but instead of kicking Lute while she was down – tempting as it was, given she’d been such a bitch lately - he decided to do the opposite.

He was going to grant her a reprieve.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said simply, staring at her. “You on the other hand, are dismissed for the day, Lieutenant.”

Lute’s head whipped towards Adam, her mouth agape.

“What?” she hissed.

“You heard me. Go home.”

“I’m not going home!” she shrieked. The glisten Adam thought he caught in her eyes earlier were now full-blown tears, threatening to spill down her cheeks. “Who’s going to do all the paperwork? Who will take training today?”

“Nice to know you hold so much faith in me.” Adam said dryly. “You’re a fucking mess, Lute. I need you to get your shit together. I can’t have you taking it out on the rest of the girls, not when they’re already dropping like flies every day.”

Lute gaped at him wordlessly.

“Close your mouth. You’re going to pack your stuff and go home. Now. If I catch you putting a single piece of paper in your bag so you can continue working from home, I’m adding another day to your dismissal.”

“What will Sera say?” she whispered, fear evident in her voice.

“Don’t worry about Sare-bear, she probably won’t notice. If she does, I’ll say you’re unwell. Women’s problems, or some shit.”

Lute let out a shaky laugh. “Great. Just what I wanted her to know.”

“One more thing,” Adam added, leaning back in his chair. “We’re having dinner tonight. You and me.” He pointed back and forth between the two of them. “After you’ve taken the day to wash the sand out of your vagina, and you’re a nicer person because of it, we’re going to go out to dinner and talk through some shit. Finish our conversation from where we left off a month ago.”

“I –” Lute started, but Adam held his hand up for her to stop.

“Shut up. It’s not negotiable, Lute. I’ll meet you at seven. For once, wear something that isn’t workout gear or your uniform. Got it?”

For what seemed like minutes, but really would have only been the matter of seconds, Lute stared at Adam, frowning like she wanted to argue but something was holding her back.

“Fine,” she answered. “See you then.”

Lute’s Apartment, Apartment Block, Exorcist Training Centre, Heaven

Lute sat on the edge of her bed, wrapped in a towel, staring into her wardrobe.

She had no fucking idea what to wear.

This wasn’t a predicament she usually found herself in; the beauty of being as unsociable as she was meant that she didn’t need an array of outfits stashed in her closet for impromptu events such as dinners with her boss.

In fact, her wardrobe mostly consisted of workout gear, her exorcist uniform and a few other select items of clothing. All of it was black. None of it was fancy. Or particularly feminine.

Sighing, she tousled her damp hair. This was stupid. Going to dinner with Adam was stupid. Adam was stupid. She could be using this time to catch up on the paperwork she missed out on doing while she’d been stood down for the day.

Lute would never admit it to Adam, but she had managed to relax for most of the day. And by relax, she completed a two-hour home workout, scrubbed her apartment from top to bottom, rearranged her pantry and finished all her laundry. This was all after she spent a good hour sulking about being sent home and wishing nothing less than a slow and painful death on her boss. Her version of sulking happened to consist of throwing things around her apartment until they broke.

She reached for her phone and tapped out a quick text message, hating herself for initiating conversation with Adam outside of work hours, but what other choice did she have?

Lute: Where are we going?

She tossed her phone aside and flopped backwards onto the bed. Knowing her luck, she’d make somewhat of an effort with her appearance, and he’d take her to a damn fast-food restaurant. Or she’d dress casually, and he’d humiliate her by taking her to a fancy restaurant, which she wouldn’t put past him.

It wasn’t the instantaneous reply that took her by surprise, but more the response itself.

Adam: Do you like BBQ?

Unsure how to answer, her fingers hovered over the screen of her phone before she replied.

Lute: Don’t know. Never had it.

Adam: Didn’t think so.

Lute hissed at her phone and threw it across her bed. Fuck it, she wasn’t going. It’d be a waste of time anyway – no doubt they’d start arguing and she’d probably get so irritated that she’d throw her drink on him and storm out of the restaurant.

Only for the next morning to come and it’d all repeat again. The childish jibes, the insults, the threats of murder…

Her phone buzzed again, unexpectedly interrupting her thoughts. Probably Vaggie asking where she was today. She reached across her bed and tapped the screen.

Adam: It’s not fancy. Hellfire Bar & Grill. See you at 7.

Well. That at least gave her something to work with. Sighing, she got up and started sifting through the clothing in her wardrobe for what seemed like the four hundredth time, wishing she was doing anything but going out for dinner with Adam that night.

Hellfire Bar & Grill, Heaven

For once, Adam had arrived somewhere earlier than Lute. She wasn’t surprised; considering he was highly food motivated she was willing to bet that had something to do with it.

What she was surprised at, however, was the fact that he was dressed entirely in casual clothing. She’d only ever seen him in three outfits before, and they were all different variations of the same robe. It was jarring, seeing him dressed in civilian clothing but still donning his usual helmet and mask.

“Hey,” he greeted her, looking up from his phone as he saw her approach.

“Hi.”

“Have you calmed the fuck down?”

Lute narrowed her eyes. “If you’ve asked me to come here so you can insult me, I’m turning around and going back home.”

“I would have thought,” he sighed, pocketing his phone and opening the door to the restaurant. “That some time off would have put you in a better mood.”

Ignoring him, Lute entered the restaurant and waited while he requested a table. Luckily for them - or unluckily, Lute thought – it wasn’t very busy, so they were seated swiftly.

“What can I get you two lovebirds to drink?” Their waitress chirped, beaming at them both.

“He’s not my fuckin-”

“We’re not dating, babe.” Adam grinned up at the waitress, who at his words, seemed to suddenly be very taken by him. “You and me, though? That could work. Two glasses of your best red wine, thanks.”

Lute shot him a disgusted look, wrinkling her nose at his blatant flirting. Sleazebag.

The waitress was clearly infatuated with Adam, because she giggled incessantly as she flounced away with their drink order.

“How do you know what I drink?” Lute demanded.

“The night I came to your apartment –”

“Broke into my apartment.” Lute corrected him, folding her arms.

Adam waved a hand carelessly in the air. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. You had an open bottle of red wine on the bench, so I figured you drank it.”

“The things you learn when you break and enter.”

Before he could retort, the waitress returned with their drinks. She also held a piece of paper which she slipped not-so discreetly across the table to Adam. Winking at her, he pocketed the paper and Lute had to force herself to look away, lest she start gagging as the woman practically melted on the spot in excitement.

What all those women saw in him, she’d never fucking know.

“So,” Adam cleared his throat, shifting in his seat as the waitress practically skipped away. “Did you, uh, relax today?”

“I did.”

Silence. Lute, not really wanting to divulge any further information to Adam, fiddled with the sleeve of her jacket, staring around the restaurant. To their right was a couple who showed all the signs of being on their first date. Hands entwined atop the table, the angels were staring into each other’s eyes, not talking. Just… staring. With stupid smiles on their faces.

Lute rolled her eyes and shifted her focus to the table on their left, the couple occupying that space arguing in hushed voices, though one of the two women looked like they were dangerously close to tears.

Wonderful.

She lifted her wine glass to her lips and sipped, trying to fill the silence with something.

‘What did you do?” Adam pressed, drumming his fingers on the table.

“I worked out. I cleaned. I did laundry.”

“Didn’t I tell you to relax?”

“I don’t really do relaxing.” Another sip of wine. The way this meeting was going, she’d polish off the entire bottle before she got the chance to even eat.

“You were relaxing the night I came around to talk.”

Lute stiffened at the mention of that night. She set her glass down on the table, frowning as she ran her thumb and index finger up and down the stem. She was unsure how to answer – it would be easiest to tell Adam where to go, but the reality was that she was tired, and wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep up the back and forth between them.

“I haven’t done it since.”

“Because of me?”

Lute felt her stomach knot, her hands growing warm and clammy. She removed them from her glass and wiped them down on her jeans. The last thing she wanted to do was get into a back-and-forth about that incident. Again.

“Why are we here?” Lute asked, her eyes snapping up and glaring at Adam. “What’s even the point of meeting here tonight? For you to -”

“Hey! Are you guys ready to order?” Another overly chirpy waitress was back, her smile almost blinding Lute. Her teeth were so white, it was alarming.

Lute stared at her menu, not registering anything that was on it.

“Usual for me, thanks babe,” Adam said, handing his menu back to the waitress. They both looked expectantly at Lute. Shit. She scanned the menu again, but nothing jumped out at her as particularly enticing. Truthfully, she didn’t particularly care for food – to her, it was just fuel to keep herself going.

“Uh, I’ll just have what he’s having. Thanks.”

Adam stared at her incredulously as the waitress took her menu and sauntered off, her small wings flapping happily.

“I’m not sure that was the best choice,” he said, eyeing her wearily. “I ordered –”

“I didn’t know what to pick, okay? I don’t really eat this stuff.”

“What do you eat, then?”

“What is this, twenty-fucking-questions?” Lute snapped. “I don’t have the time, or the patience to play bullshit games with you. What do you want?”

They both glared at each other from across the table, Lute’s golden eyes boring into the screen of Adam’s mask. For what felt like minutes, neither of them spoke.

The loved-up couple next to them were now tangled together atop a single dining chair, making out sloppily, the noisy smack of their lips filling the awkward silence. Lute’s eye twitched in annoyance, and she had to turn her head so she couldn’t see their tongues being shoved down each other’s throats.

“Shit, that’s annoying,” Adam scowled, taking a sip of his wine.

“If they keep going, they’re going to end up fucking on the table in front of us. Gross.” Lute muttered, also drinking. Their eyes met again, though this time there was the slightest hint of a smirk behind Adam’s mask.

He sighed and looked away, frowning.

“Lute. I’m going to level with you,” he said, leaning his forearms onto the table. “We need to make this work. The stakes for Extermination Day are fucking high this year.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sera – ” Adam cut himself off, frowning. Lute studied him with mild curiosity as he paused, collecting his thoughts, his hand rubbing his chin. “Sera… she’s put a lot of faith in your proposal. And I won’t bullshit you – I thought it was a load of crap when I first read it. Too much math involved. If I can’t do the sum using my fingers, it’s too fucking hard.”

“Good thing calculators have been invented.”

“Wouldn’t know, I’ve never used one. Smartass. Anyway, after you left today, I took the time to read it again. I’ll admit, there’s…potential for it to work. But speaking from experience babe, a few adjustments need to be made.” Adam reached for his glass and swirled his wine, taking a sip once he was satisfied the burgundy liquid had been aerated enough. “Wanna hear them?”

Lute crossed her arms. “What are you getting out of this? I’ve worked with you for many years. I know you don’t offer anything up unless you’re getting something out of it.”

“You’re right. I don’t.”

“Spit it out, then.”

“Fine. Stop being such a fucking bitch all the time.”

“Excuse me?” Lute spat, her eyes automatically wandering to the steak knife set in front of her.

“You heard me, Lute. Statistically, you might be my top girl, but you rank dead last on my list when it comes to personality. Maybe if you loosened up and had a little fun –”

“Dinner’s here!” Two very large, very meaty plates were set down on the table in front of each of them. Lute wrinkled her nose, immediately regretting her decision to blindly order her dinner.

She should have known Adam would have ordered ribs, considering he waxed lyrical about them on an almost-daily basis. There had to be at least two dozen on each plate, all covered in a sticky glaze. Just lookingat the plate was giving her the sweats. She glanced over at Adam, who was watching her reaction intently.

“You know,” he began uncertainly, eyeing the sheer volume of food between the two of them. “You don’t have to eat that. You can always order someth-”

“I’ll eat them.”

“Sure? There’s a lo-”

“I’ll be fine. I bet,” Lute added, folding her arms across her chest, an unknown bravado washing over her, “I can keep up for you, rib-for-rib.”

Adam choked on the sip of wine he’d been taking.

“You’re not fucking serious!” he spluttered, wiping his screen with the back of his hand.

“Did I stutter?” She picked up one of the ribs, instantly regretting her declaration that she’d eat what looked to be her entire bodyweight in meat. Why couldn’t she have picked a normal meal, like a steak? Steak would have been safe. Steak would have been easy. Steak wouldn’t have ignited her competitive streak and didn’t come with potential digestion issues.

But no. She just had to open her mouth. And if there was one thing that Lute did not do, it was back out of a challenge. Especially one that she initiated.

“Ready?”

“Lute, this isn’t a good idea, I mean it, the ribs are –”

Staring Adam down, she held the ends of the rib in each hand and tore a chunk off meat off with her teeth. She grimaced – the glaze was sickly sweet, and they were…

“– spicy.” Adam said, wincing.

She maintained eye contact as she chewed, hating herself for not thinking before speaking. The meat burned her throat as she swallowed, the spice hitting her nose and tears prickling at her eyes.

Lute closed her eyes and bit into the rib again, stripping the meat from the bone completely.

“You,” Adam started, picking up a rib of his own and shaking his head, “are the craziest bitch I’ve ever met, you know that, right?”

Lute wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and tossed the bone onto the spare plate on the table. “Try and keep up, Sir.” She reached for another piece of meat and noticed Adam staring at her, an unusual expression depicted on his mask. “What?”

“You called me ‘Sir’.”

“And?”

He shrugged. “It wasn’t sarcastic.”

Lute grabbed her napkin, wiping her nose which has started to run. “Must have slipped out. I can assure you it won’t happen again.”

She watched with vague interest as Adam started eating. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen him consume food – in fact, he regularly ate at his desk in their shared office. It was the first time though, that she focused on the food disappearing into the void of his mask.

Because it did exactly that. It just… disappeared. Almost like there was nothing underneath.

Maybe…maybe that was actually his face, and she’d been wrong about it being a mask all along.

“How does that thing work, anyway?” She managed to swallow rib number three considerably easier than the first two.

“Holy magic, babe.”

“Care to elaborate?” Four down, twenty to go. Her stomach churned at the thought.

“Who’s playing twenty questions now?” he snapped suddenly, glaring at her. “Drop it.”

“So you’re allowed to interrogate me, but I can’t ask you anything?” Another rib done. She was getting hotter, and Lute could feel the sweats starting to kick in. Wiping her glaze-covered hands on her napkin, she shrugged out of her jacket and hung it on the back of her chair. The cool air was welcomed on her skin, and she silently thanked herself for choosing a top with thin straps.

“I didn’t say you couldn’t ask me anything. For example, if you were to ask me if I’m surprised that you own feminine clothing,” Adam waved a hand at her, “I’d say yes.”

Lute scowled. “I’m feminine.” She ripped the meat off rib number six with her front teeth, holding the bone expertly now with one hand. Wiping her mouth with her hand again, she reached for her wine and sipped steadily, using the liquid to help wash the food down.

“You’re the least feminine Exorcist in the fucking army.”

“That’s because I’m the only one you haven’t slept with.”

“Not true. I haven’t slept with the ones that are into chicks.” Adam counted the rib bones on his plate. “I’m at nine, by the way, what about you?”

“How are you at nine? I started before you, and I’m only on seven. And that’s just great. Wonderful. I’m the only straight one you haven’t touched. That makes me feel amazing.” Lute gnawed at her rib, her face flushing in embarrassment.

It wasn’t like she considered herself attractive or anything like that. Truthfully, she’d never thought about it because her appearance had never been of high importance to her. Sure, she liked her hair cropped a certain way, and she’d very rarely wear a small amount of makeup on special occasions, but that was the extent of it.

Moodily, she threw the bone down, not caring where it landed, and reached for another piece of meat.

“Shit – I, uh, didn’t realise you were into dick.” Adam at least had the gall to look somewhat embarrassed. “I just assumed you and Vaggie –”

“You assumed Vaggie and I what?” she growled.

“I’m not judging, babe!” Adam held his glaze-covered hands up in defence. “Love is love, right? And, between you and me, there’s nothing hotter than watching a woman eat pu -”

Lute chucked her eighth bone at him in disgust, cutting him off and hitting him square in the chest. The couple to their left, who had been arguing all night, stopped their bickering and glared at her.

“The fuck are you looking at?” Lute snarled at them, fingers wrapping around the steak knife that still lay atop the table. “You bitches have been going back and forth all night, but me throwing food somehow offends you?” She pointed the blade of the knife at them. “Turn around and shut the fuck up before I –”

The women stood hastily from their table and scurried towards the exit, one of them tossing Lute a scared look over her shoulder. She sighed, satisfied, and grabbed another rib, hand still on the knife’s handle.

“You,” Adam began wearily, shaking his head, “are a fucking nutcase. You know that, right?”

Lute shrugged and kept eating. “I don’t suffer fools.”

“I can see that.”

“Which is why you irritate me so much.”

“I’m no fool,” Adam declared, counting his rib bones out with his finger, starting over once as he accidentally confused himself. “I’m more than halfway done, by the way.”

“Me too. And yes, you are a fool.”

Adam crossed his arms and sat back in his chair. “Before our dinner came, I was trying to explain how, if we tweak your proposal slightly, you’ll have more success with your training plan.”

Exhaling, Lute closed her eyes. She was starting to feel nauseous and if she kept going, she was going to be sick. Maybe she was the fool. “I’m pretty sure you were in the middle of calling me an uptight bitch with a shitty personality, actually.”

He clicked his fingers. “That’s it! Thanks for reminding me.”

Lute opened her eyes and narrowed them at him.

“What? You’ve just jogged my memory. Anyway, you’ve been riding the girls too hard,” he stopped to snigger at his choice of words, and Lute rolled her eyes at his immaturity as she grabbed more ribs. “You need to give them some time off.”

“They already get weekends and evenings off, what more do they need?”

“A night out on the town.”

“You’re telling me,” Lute said, pointing her bone at him accusingly, “that the reason you dragged me out to this stupid restaurant is so that you can propose some kind of night of fucked-up debauchery with your harem of women? And I’m meant to be okay with that?”

“Settle down, Dangertits. As hot as a harem would be, I’m thinking more a night at a bar with a few drinks. Let the girls have a good time.”

“And by a ‘good time’ you mean get them drunk enough so they’ll sleep with you?” Lute snorted, starting on a fresh rib. She noted that there were only a few remaining on her plate. She couldn’t wait to get home and take her pants off, because she felt like she was going to burst from the sheet volume of food she had consumed that night. She was so uncomfortable.

“Hey,” Adam said, sounding slightly wounded. “I’ll have you know I don’t fuck drunk chicks. I might be an animal, but I’m not a predator.”

“Congratulations, you have one redeeming personality trait.”

“That’s rich, coming from you.”

“Oh that’s right, I forgot. I’m the unfuckable, unfeminine, uptight bitch, right?” Lute gulped down the rest of her wine before reaching for her second-last rib.

Adam cocked his head. “I never said you were unfuckable. I said I’d slept with all the Exorcists that I thought were straight. Which, up until about half an hour ago, I was not aware included you.”

Desperately wanting to end this conversation – and the night, Lute held up her final large, juicy rib. “Last one.”

She was sweating, bloated and her throat felt like it had been ripped apart and set on fire, but she’d done it. She’d kept up. Rib-for-rib, like she’d challenged.

Adam raised his eyebrows and downed the rest of his wine. “Fuck me dead, Lute. I thought you’d struggle to get through six with the way you started out.”

Lute shrugged. “Yeah well, I proved you wrong, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, and you also managed to scare the fuck out of the couple next to us. I’ve seen you slaughter thousands of sinners over the years, but honestly, I think it’s your tongue that’s the most terrifying thing about you.”

Lute smirked. “I guess it is.”

And with that, she took the rib whole in her mouth, closing her eyes as she sucked the meat clean off the bone. Once she’d finished, she opened her eyes and set it down on her plate atop the others. Adam was eyeing her with a pained expression.

“I don’t know if I should be turned on or disgusted by that,” he muttered, avoiding eye contact. “But I was definitely wrong about thinking you weren’t into dick after watching you deep throat that massive piece of meat.”

Lute rolled her eyes. “It’s always one step forward and two steps back with you, isn’t it, Sir?”

“You know it, Dangertits. So what do you say? Can the girls have a night of fun?” He extended his hand over the table.

Lute considered it for a moment before reaching forward and shaking it. His handshake was incredibly firm, and she was surprised to discover that the span of her entire hand was almost the same size as the width of his palm. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed how massive his hands were before now.

“Fine. One night out, and then back to regular training.” She quickly let go and exhaled, wishing the remainder of the meeting would come to an end soon so she could go home and unbutton her pants.

After all, how bad could one night at a bar be?

***

Next time: We find out that a night at a bar can be very, very bad. ...or good.

#hazbin hotel #adam x lute #guardrock #guitarspear #guitarspear fic #hazbin adam #hazbin hotel adam #hazbin hotel lute #hazbin hotel fanfic #hazbin lute

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adhdasfuck · 6 months ago

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Russian PsyOps

I recently became aware that a certain user might be Another Russian Operative trying to sway people into not voting or voting third party, this one even said to vote for a non-Trump republican candidate (imagine being any progressive person at all and advocating progressive voters vote for a conservative, that'll show em, NOT).

So I looked into the third party candidate this person endorses:

Jasmin Sherman

I went through a few of the pages on Jasmine's website and have concluded that they're totally fucking full of shit.

They want to keep the death penalty and offer the options of morphine overdose and FIRING SQUAD as the federal standard to make it "more efficient" instead of simply abolishing it like a true progressive, since there are so many cases of innocent people receiving this draconian punishment.

They also want to GET RID OF SSI. They want to replace it with UBI, but congress WOULD NOT pass UBI, and running on any platform that abolishes SSI for any reason at all is a huge FUCK NO! I'm on SSI and shit is hard enough already. What SSI needs is greater support from the government, for the asset limit to be changed drastically or gotten rid of, and for people who are on SSI to not feel like they CAN'T GET MARRIED OR THEY'LL LOSE THEIR BENEFITS. What we don't need is for SSI to be gotten rid of because "it's inefficient and ineffective" are you fucking KIDDING ME?

Also because their platform of UBI was mentioned on their page about abolishing SSI, I looked at their page for UBI and it's completely out of reach. They are advocating for us to implement a system NOT A SINGLE OTHER COUNTRY HAS PASSED. NONE OF THEM. There isn't a snowball's chance in hell that this would get out of the senate alive. They can't even pass the bills to expand SSI and increase the amount of money we receive a month to be higher than 30% of the fucking poverty line.

This is a much more minor problem but they have Minnesota misspelled as "Minisota" on the UBI page, which is such a small problem, but something that should have been noticed very quickly because the graph it is in is supposed to show legitimate data to uphold their UBI proposal.

In short: This person is not progressive, this person is paying lip service while acting as an obvious Spoiler (a spoiler is a third party candidate who pulls votes from one of the other major parties, this is how Bush won the first time). And Russian PsyOps are back on this website trying to encourage genuinely progressive people who don't know any better to vote for someone who Will Not Win because it "feels better" than voting for a democrat.

Sorry it has to be this way, but take it from me, someone who is from Minnesota, with the highest voter turnout in the country, and also some of the most progressive policies. If you want a third party candidate to win, you START LOCAL, and build the presence of the party up from there. That's how we got an Independent for Governor in the late 90s and early 2000s. And you should participate in your local elections both in years like this and for the midterms! You have to Stay Involved for it to get better.

Conservatives worked for decades using that "frog in a pot that slowly heats up til it boils" method of introducing their fascism. We have have a great opportunity here to vote in progressive candidates who can help us push the needle back towards sanity and caring about people. It's going to take SUSTAINED EFFORT. We have to shout at our candidates to do the right thing, but the other side won't even listen, so this is the side we have to choose. Palestinians have LITERALLY SAID Harris is the better option here.

So go out and vote. Not just this election but every election. You CAN make change, it is going to be slow, but that time will pass anyways, so why not start working for a better future?

#us politics #donald trump #kamala harris #tim walz #jd vance #2024 election #jasmine sherman #third party candidate #russian psyop #free palestine #ssi #universal basic income #death penalty #supplemental security income #disability #actually disabled

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redcoralpot · 2 years ago

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Hii, if you don’t mind, could you do a smut Drabble of Peter Parker(any) x Top!FTM reader?

The readers been super dysphoric lately so Peter(being the great boyfriend that he is) buys him a strap-on with a realistic, skin textured dildo, one that also stimulates the readers t-dick. He tells the reader to put it on and Rides y/n. y/n thanks Peter in between moans for the gift and kiss while y/n blows peters back out till they both orgasm and he feels less dysphoric in the end?

I implemented some safety educational things in here, I hope you don’t mind! <33

Warnings: NSFW (18+), dysphoric breakdown at the beginning.

Word Count: 2.1K

Peter Parker (3) X FTM Reader - Crack Me Down

“Babe,” a voice shouted from the end of the hallway, footsteps following.

You had said you would be ready in five, but that was fifteen minutes ago. Your reflection in the mirror aggravated you, making the tight feeling around your heart squeeze harder, and you wanted to rip your hair out. The confidence you had in your masculinity had been stomped out repeatedly this past week— if you were such a man, why could none of them see it? What was so wrong with you, your body, that never made you manly in everyone you ever interacted with’s eyes?

Well, maybe everyone was an overstatement. Peter saw you as the man you are, he’d proven, but during times like these, you couldn’t help but doubt it a little. When it sounded like the whole world was out to grasp you as a woman, why would he ever even go against that? The thought made your ability to breathe harder, tears threatening to spill even when you heard the bathroom door creak open.

A gentle hand rubbed your shoulder, “Hey, uh, what’s wrong?”

You clutched the edge of the sink. Everything was wrong, everything, everything, everything, and yet you couldn’t verbalize it. The edges of your vision only got more blurry as your attention was pinpointed on each and every body part that simply was wrong.

The mirror wasn’t in front of you anymore, and you were strategically placed in the bathtub, with your back being the only thing the mirror saw. Peter was beside you on the edge, playing with his hands and staring. You sniffled.

“Sorry you had to deal with that.”

“No, no— it’s okay, I think it’s good that you got that out.”

“I guess.”

He shrugged, awkwardly, “I’m right, it’s been a really tough week. Do you wanna, I dunno, stay home today?”

“That’d be nice.”

“I think we might have some of your favorite ice cream left in the fridge, but we should maybe talk first.”

You looked down, “Yeah.”

It had been a month since your breakdown, and while it had faded from your immediate thoughts, the dysphoria never got much better. You could tell that Peter was trying his best to help, always going out of his way to introduce you as his boyfriend to anyone you meet, but sometimes that didn’t stop the misgendering. Peter had also been disappearing a lot more often lately, or retreating to the bathroom with his computer late at night when he thought you were asleep. It worried you, but you knew with his responsibilities as Spider-Man that you should just turn a blind eye.

Now, it was the weekend, and the late nights had finally caught up to him. You had to be extra careful not to wake him as you slipped out of bed, eyeing his body when you grabbed your clothes and shuffled out of the room. The last sight you caught before finally closing the bedroom door was that of stuck up strands of fluffy brown hair peeking from underneath the blanket. Yeah, Peter was still definitely knocked out cold.

With your clothes now on, you tiptoed downstairs and immediately slid to the kitchen. You had breakfast already in the fridge, and you only needed to heat it up in the microwave. Now, you leaned against the counter and watched it rotate in the machine, relishing in the quiet environment. Alas, God was out to spite you that day, and a loud knock interrupted the peace you had.

Grumbling, you abandoned your breakfast and opened the door. The perpetrator was already pulling out of the driveway, and you looked down at your feet, where two packages lay. Weird, you couldn’t recall you or Peter ordering anything. Lifting the boxes inside, you turned to see the man staring.

“Good morning, handsome, did the mailman wake you up?” You smiled, but Peter wasn’t looking at you.

He was looking at the packages in your hands.

“Oh, these were dropped off by our door. They’re addressed to you, but I can’t remember if you mentioned anything was coming.”

All at once, his face burst into the worst blush you had ever seen on him, and he cracked an awkward laugh, “Um, yeah, that was a surprise. Or was supposed to be one.”

“What is it?”

“We should go back to bed for this, it’s kinda private.”

His face was still scarlet as he slipped back into the bedroom, and you looked back down at the packages. Peter’s reaction only made you more curious, so you ran after him. His hands were fidgeting as he sat on the bed when you turned into the doorway, and his back was slightly slouched.

His eyes flicked away from you and he turned his back, “Open the smallest one first.”

“Okay.”

Slicing it open with a box cutter, you lifted the flaps to reveal another, smaller box and a dark cloth material wrapped in plastic. Observing the smaller box closer, you could see that the label read “Stand-To-Pee Silicone Packer”. Your eyes widened, a warm feeling bursting through your heart.

“I thought it might help after our talk last month,” Peter’s voice interrupted your speechless joy.

“You thought right!”

As you giddily grabbed his face to give him a kiss, he added, “I ordered the matching underwear for it too, is it in there?”

“Oh, yeah, it is,” You pulled out the next item and cut off the wrapping, revealing tight, black, boxer-style underwear that had a hole in the front.

“It—well, according to my research, it should hold the packer in place and allow you to pee at the same time.”

“How do you clean it?”

He shrugged, “Water and soap works, but boiling it is apparently the most effective way since it’s silicone. If you’re not sure, it should come with cleaning instructions. We can look at that together if you want?”

“Yeah, sure, do you just dry it off with a towel?”

“Air drying preserves the color and from what I’ve heard from trans men that’ve been using them for a while, you should dust it with cornstarch too.”

“Why?”

“Prevents it from becoming sticky.”

“Huh, interesting.”

With that, you reached for the second, larger package. Peter tensed up beside you, and you saw the tips of his ears heat up again from the corner of your eye.

“What’s wrong?”

“Just—,” he hesitates, “don’t judge me.”

You gave him a questioning look; why would you ever think badly of him simply because of a package? The inquiry just made you more curious, and you practically ripped the poor box open. Inside was a box holding a realistic silicone dildo and a soft, underwear-style harness.

In other words, a strap on. As reported by some writing on the side of the box, it also had an additional vibrating part that would stimulate the clit of the user.

You looked up at your boyfriend in awe, “Babe.”

“Yeah?”

“This is awesome, genuinely,” He avoided your gaze.

“Really?”

“Yeah! In fact, do you want to try it out right now?”

“Woah, woah, not so fast. Really, I’d really love to but I also did safety research.”

“Is this what you’ve been up to at night?”

“…Yes. But as I was saying, it’s good to just wear it around the house before we actually use it.”

“Okay, I can understand that.”

“Wait, you weren’t asleep when I was doing research?”

The wait was hard for you, how could it not be? You were tempted to try it out as soon as Peter walked out, but he didn’t give you the chance. He kept you on the bed and told you absolutely everything he had learned. He had even been kind enough to give you his notes on the subject, some of which you had been skimming through for the past week.

Lately, however, your boyfriend seemed to be fidgety. Now, being fidgety was typical of him, but it was over the top. You couldn’t help but notice it and today, you wanted to talk about it with him.

You waited until you were both in the bedroom before dropping the big question, “What’s been up with you?”

“What?”

“I can tell something’s up.”

“Nothing’s wrong,” He sounded unsure of himself, and you gave him an unbelieving stare.

“Sure, spill it.”

He must have realized that there was no way out of the conversation, and surrendered, “Okay, I was being honest when I said nothing was wrong specifically. Something’s just been on my mind.”

“And?”

“Fuck, I don’t know how to say it.”

“Is it negative or positive?”

“Positive,”

“Uhuh?” You got closer, rubbing your thumb under his jaw.

He cracked.

“I really, really wanna ride you,”

You froze in shock, and he took that opportunity to hide his head in your neck, “Please, put it on, I’ll do all the work if you want?”

The frozen moment melted as quickly as it had come, with you starting to sink into your role. You slid your hand up to the back of his hair, pulling his face out of its spot.

“Wait on the bed and take your pants off,” you ordered.

Peter took a sharp breath before you let go and sauntered to the bathroom. No, it didn’t take you long to set yourself up, not with the thought of Peter Parker, the city’s most rebellious vigilante, sitting half-naked and obedient on your bed stuck in your mind. You were greeted with such a sight when you returned, except a million times better.

Your boyfriend was there on the sheets, his ears cherry red and his fingers twitching. His eyes lit up as you stepped in, and oh my, it was definitely a vision to witness. Anticipation was eating at you, so you eagerly sat at the head of the bed, popping the cap of a lube bottle open and squirting a healthy portion into your hand.

“Do you want me to prepare you?”

His voice cracked, “Yeah,”

He climbed over you, balancing his weight on his knees and his hands on your shoulders. Peter shivered when he felt a cool finger circle his hole, before it pushed in. He sighed at the familiar feeling, rocking back on your hand as an open invitation to add more.

“Color?”

“Green, really green.”

“Good boy.”

With that comment, you could feel him gasp and clench down. Slowly, you took the opportunity to add in more fingers, pumping them in and out. It wasn’t long before you slid them out and silenced Peter’s whine with a nip to the neck.

He wasted no time after this, positioning his strong thighs in order to sink down on your strap. You flicked a button on a remote in your shirt pocket, and the strap, along with the additional part, started to vibrate. Peter was caught by surprise, throwing his head back and slapping a hand over his mouth to suppress a moan, while you bit your lip and sat your hands on his waist.

“F-fuck,” he panted, legs shaking.

“Go ahead, sweetheart, you wanted to ride me.”

He groaned, fucking himself on your dick. His head fell on your shoulder as he did so, tears pricking at his eyes, “Did you— d-did you like your gifts?”

You sounded breathless in his ear, heat pooling in your stomach, “Shit, of course I did.”

“Really?”

“Uhuh,” you moaned, “let me show you how— unh— thankful I am.”

Your hands gripped his waist harder, taking the control from Peter. With as much bravo you could muster, you thrusted up into him, and he sobbed. You bounced him on your cock with him drooling over your neck.

“Thank you, fuck, thank you so much,”

“Can I cum? I’m so close, please, please, please—“ he begged, his fingers digging bruises into your shoulder.

You nodded, and he only became more desperate, “Oh god, oh shit,”

You didn’t even have to control him anymore, he thrust himself mindlessly again and again as he chased his high, and you were getting just as close to yours. His body trembled before he whined your name, slowing his hips and looking down. You didn’t have to in order to know what happened, leaving sloppy kisses along his arm as you came too, thighs shaking.

Fingers numb, you reached to the remote and flicked it off. Peter sighed, lifting up his head to give you a long, soft kiss.

“You’re the best boyfriend ever,” you mumbled against his lips, grinning.

#peter parker #spiderman #tasm peter parker #male y/n #trans male reader #peter parker x reader #x male reader #dom male reader #male reader #peter 3 #tasm!peter x reader #tasm fic #x reader #x y/n #trans ftm #transgender

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blackjackkent · 1 year ago

Text

The Ebbs and Flows of Programming

I got a very nice shoutout from @vexacarnivorous the other day as part of their writeup of resources in the codeblr sphere. It made me smile and I very much appreciated it. <3

It also made me think a lot.

Vexa shouted me out for the fact that I offer free programming tutoring as part of my Twitch livestream - which is very true, and I welcome anyone requesting it. I love helping people, especially those just getting into the industry. If you would like to reach out to me for assistance, learning, or just chatting about code, please, please do; I am always available for it.

Anyone paying attention, though, might have noticed I haven't done my coding stream except when tutoring in a number of weeks or really posted much about coding at all. The truth is, I haven't really done much programming outside of work for several months.

I've been hesitant to term it "burnout" because it hasn't come with the hallmarks we typically associate with that word - I don't feel depressed, I don't feel resentful or stressed really. But really it is a flavor of the same thing, and I think as someone who prides myself on representing what being a developer is Really Like, I think this sort of thing bears its own round of discussion.

Sometimes you just won't want to code, and that's also okay.

I think this is a difficult thing to conceptualize when you are a new developer. In my experience, those early years in the field are full of excitement and promise. You have so many ideas and there is so much to learn and every bit of new technique or technology feels like opening a treasure trove. For years, I was the poster child for this level of enthusiasm - late nights working on side projects and coming into work with dark circles under my eyes.

And I am not for a moment saying that's a bad thing! Ride that enthusiasm train as far as it will go whenever it comes into the station. :) This is an exciting field and I love seeing anyone get excited about an idea, implement it, run with it, feel fulfilled by making it.

What I want to talk about, though, is the days when it doesn't feel like that - because you will have them. Everyone has them. Personally, I'm 34 and tired. XD Sometimes I go through periods where I just want to play video games and not think about anything after work. And just as often, the urge to work on a project eventually comes back - probably quicker when I don't force it - but it's really easy to be too hard on myself for those periods where the enthusiasm isn't there.

The reason I think this is important to discuss is that there is a LOT of stigma, spoken and unspoken, in the industry against people who leave work at work. There's the concept of the 10x engineer - a developer whose productivity and output matches that of 10 "regular" engineers, and who is constantly in the trenches. There's the vocal admiration for people who drive themselves to distraction, working 80 hour weeks to achieve their vision of some killer app, side project, or even their company's product. This is viewed as the apotheosis of developer-hood, but in truth, it's unhealthy - both for those grinding that way and those who don't want to but are stuck with the image all the same.

I struggle with this image myself. The last few months, a recurring throughline in my therapy session has been - what am I bringing to the world if I'm not producing project output All The Time. It's been a little humbling stepping into the spaces of young developers to offer my help, and realizing that they are full of that exuberance and energy when I am in a slump where I am not.

But what I want to say here, ultimately, is this, and most likely it goes for other callings as well - sometimes you will feel the fire burning within you, and sometimes you won't. Don't get caught in the trap of feeling that your worth as a person (or as a developer) comes in passionate, all-consuming output. The important thing, always, is whether you are doing work, or living life, in a way that makes you feel fulfilled. And I, for one, am proud of you (and learning to be proud of myself) no matter what that looks like.

#bjk talks #codeblr #programming #software development #coding #this turned out kind of rambly and i'm not sure it matches the image of the post that i had in my head XD #but hopefully it helps someone

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biinarysttars · 1 year ago

Text

Making a quick masterlist of all of my TES OCs so that if someone feels compelled to ask me about them they have the names to do so :)

Arena

Evelara Wicking, the Eterenal Champion - a smart, stubborn, and dedicated member of the Imperial Court. She is a Breton Nightblade. Her parents both died following her unjust arrest-- so her desire to eliminate Jagar Tharn is borne not only out of loyalty to the Empire, but out of pure, unadulterated spite and hate.

Ivyrandil Athaere - a sexual deviant Altmer Healer cast out by his noble family after literally being caught with his pants down. He likes making potions and being a cunt to people (and loves being knocked down a peg.)

Ereld - a 16-year-old Bosmer Barbarian who was adopted by a small Nord village. He spent his whole life trying to make his village proud before opting to travel with Evelara and Ivy.

Daggerfall

None yet ;) I will add them when I play the game!

Morrowind

Travlse, the Nerevarine - a carefree Dunmer Withchhunter. He can find the silver lining to any situation, and while he seems completely self-serving, there is nothing he wouldn't do for someone if they asked.

Vivyne Faewatch - the future Queen of Morrowind, following the events in Tribunal. She is kind of a hopeless romantic, and is stubborn and patient beyond measure. She has a good heart and knows right from wrong, and she doesn't care who she pisses off about it.

Alavesa Faewatch - a baby that Vivyne found abandoned close to the end of the initial plot of Morrowind. Alavesa spends her first year or so of life travelling with Travlse and Vivyne.

Oblivion

Ko'Yana, the Hero of Kvatch - an ex-slave Khajiiti woman hailing from Morrowind. She was completely fucked over by the new Queen's sudden and poorly-implemented anti-slavery laws, and forced into a life of crime. She was arrested promptly following a hit she took out on a member of the Imperial Court. Usually I design a custom class with a focus on unarmed combat & destruction magic for her.

Everlara Wicking - a close friend of the late Emperor, and wife to his second-born son. She'll wring Mehrunes Dagon's neck herself if she has to, and she'll protect Martin with everything she has.

Skyrim

Etheara Reverie, the Last Dragonborn - an empty-headed manual labourer that travelled to Solstheim in a last-ditch attempt to revive Raven Rock Mine. In doing so, he encountered a Daedric force far, far beyond his mental ability to grasp, and he pays for it.

Vanyarintil Korothaeus, a False Dragonborn - a strong and silent chosen of Hircine. He was travelling to the Imperial City and overshot by a good bit, and ended up stumbling into a raid at the border and was arrested. He has a natural talent for learning Dragon Shouts, so it was thought for a very long time that he was the true Last Dragonborn. Also I may be making him transfem but I'm not sure how that impacts the story, or whether it impacts the story so we'll see.

Melanarto Korothaeus, a False Dragonborn - a passive and quiet priest of Mara. He travels Skyrim preaching her word, always returning to Windhelm to stay with his close friend, Revyn Sadri. They are very close. When he was a child, he happened upon a dying dragon that gave him an amulet. This amulet has the ability to absorb and keep dragon souls, so it was thought for a very long time that he was the True Last Dragonborn.

Kyryi Orah - a Maormer man that was somehow stranded off the coast of Winterhold. Because of the historical tensions between the Maormer and the Altmer, he assigned a keeper: Ancano. Somehow, his circumstances are simultaneously a dream come true and his worst nightmare; all he has ever wanted was to study magic-- but why did it have to cost his family and whole world?

Terarae Isevryn - a commanding officer in the Imperial Legion. She is a Snow Elf, but her family clan (which was large at one time) adored travelling and adventure-- so they were on the other side of the continent during the conflict with the Dwemer. Now, she is the last member of her family, and had returned to Skyrim with the hopes of being embraced by her people. But since the Falmer had become what they did, there was no place for her-- so she threw herself into the easiest work she could find: the military.

Aster Reverie - an innkeeper on Solstheim. He didn't want to let Etheara travel alone at first, so he and his fiancee moved with him and set up an inn near Tel Mithryn. He seldom hears from his twin anymore.

Anira Mirlayn - an innkeeper on Solstheim. She never had many plans for the future, so when her finace suggested moving to Solstheim to be close to his brother, she agreed. She is bright and friendly, able to draw any recluse from their shell.

#The Elder Scrolls #TES Arena #TES Daggerfall #TES Morrowind #TES Oblivion #TES Skyrim #TES OCs #The Elder Scrolls OCs #OC Masterlist

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shikai-the-storyteller · 1 year ago

Text

QSMP PURGATORY FINALE

Liveblogging Phil's POV - Part 1

[ Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 ]

Strap in lads, this is a longgggg liveblog.

NEW BOLAS EMOTE LETS GOOOO

Aw, the idea of a shared playlist is so sweet.

Yeah I'm sick of Purgatory it's super stressful watching it and seeing the Fandom being stupid about it. If they keep Purgatory going (which I doubt they'd do, but One Fear and all that) I might stop watching stream as much. It's really not my vibe. If I do watch I'll probably just solo Phil's POV and that's it. I've been watching Fit more than Phil lately (for once) but that's been stressful).

Whenever Phil and Roier interact I gain a +10 boost to my mood

Oh, Maximus was streaming? OK yeah he's definitely set off that bomb today LMAO

Noooo they're all shouting over Maximus and he just goes silent noooo :((( SHUT UP AND LET MAXIMUS SPEAK GOOD GOD

Thank you Phil and Mouse for answering him I was losing my mind

Roier and Etoiles arguing about stupid stuff with each other is so funny, I'm so glad Purgatory made them become so close

LMAO Etoiles I'm so sorry, your team just loves dying

It's sad that Maximus didn't log on more, I wish more people knew how funny he is and what a good RPer he is :(

Mouse is so funny too I wish I had time to watch her

44m - Phil: Do we have a choice? Tubbo: We always have a choice. Banger convo

46m - Etoiles: I could kill them naked You sure could dude

NOOO ETOILES DONT SAY THAT THE EGGS ARE GONNA HAVE A DEATH BATTLE MY HEART DROPPED INTO MY STOMACH oh nvm "Dapper clears" made me laugh. Pomme would be awesome too.

52m 30s - Two coffee beans and a wooden hoe I'm DYING

Cellbit was only holding back his murderous tendencies on the Island because of coffee (and Roier)

POP OFF ETOILES I KNOW THAT SONG!!!!

The pure serotonin of hearing Etoiles sing a Spanish song I know :')

Poor Maximus coming back after 30 minutes. Surely he isn't working on his bomb (copium)

LMAO Maximus and his new server

58m - Maximus: Gays, any news?

I love him

OH CRAP CUTSCENE

"I SPY WITH MY GIANT EYE" LMAO

Oh Phil is gonna wipe the floor with Tubbo

LMAO of course he says stick fight

Poor Etoiles he's suffering

"Switch your hearts to Hardcore" Ok, Slime said that as a joke but that'd go so hard

Thank god Phil is going to be honorable about it, I know Tubbo will be too.

SHAKING MY SCREEN PLEASE STOP TALKING OVER MAXIMUS EVERYONE!!! This is a topic we’ve talked about a billion time but man, I wish they could implement translations / subtitles into their group chat as well, every conversation during events is biased in favor of English speakers. Aypierre was based for speaking only French with Bad and Fit the other day.

I love Etoiles he’s so funny

I LOVE THAT PHIL AND TUBBO ARE TALKING THIS OUT, AGH!!! I LOVE COMMUNICATION I MISSED THIS!!!!! I hated the lack of communication during the first week and a half of Purgatory

LMAO CELLBIT BEING SO TOXIC TO BAGI I LOVE HIM HE’S SUCH A TERRIBLE LITTLE BROTHER

Awh, Fit checking in on Maximus :’)))) Fit’s always been so sweet to the OG Spanish-speaking members of the server, it melts my heart. He brings them up every so often during his streams and he’s always so kind.

I CANT BELIEVE I MISSED THIS GAMBA IM SO SAD

LMAO I was gonna be like “Aw Tubbo being sweet about the kids” and then of course he’s like SCREW DAPPER, classic Tubbo

TUBBO HAD DREAMS ABOUT CELLBIT CHASING HIM DOWN WITH A KNIFE??? LMFAO This does not surprise me, somehow.

The only real winner of Purgatory is Antoine, he knew better than to log on while Purgatory was going on.

OH GOSH THE TRANSCRIPTIONS ARE A NIGHTMARE ok so it was definitely a good call to watch an English streamer for this. I know better than to rely on the transcripts / translation box during an event day with THIS many people online

PFTT ElQuackity wandering through

The gasmasks make me crack up so much because they remind me of a fly and also an old Majora’s Mask mask

“May the cursed team win” STOP BAITING THEM TBH I think they’re either all cursed or there is no cursed team

NOOOO I’m so sad I can’ hear the music Phil played during this fight

Screw it, pausing the VOD and pulling up my own hype music

I love seeing Phil going into sweat mode, his whole posture and expression shifts

Yeah no surprise there, Phil is cracked

Aww Bagi being so supportive of Tubbo is sweet

LETS GOOO WAY TO GO SLIME LMAO EVEN THE ADMINS WERE LIKE “FRICK THIS GUY” based

Wait noooo I just realized Pac isn’t online :(((((((((

Uh oh ladies

“I had my fun shuffling those friendships around” man wants to be taken seriously so bad with his little villain of the week speech PISS OFF oh ok just a few more games PHEW I thought he was ACTUALLY gonna pull a “Purgatory 2: Electric Boogaloo” on us and I was about to straight up turn off my computer and go to bed.

THE EYE IS GONNA PARTICIPATE????????

That’s sick as hell actually LETSGO I wanna see them wail on this circus clown

Phil: KILL HIS ASS KILL HIS ASS Phil just like me fr

“I’ve been close to you this entire time” Mouse: I’m gonna kill Quackity Based. Everyone immediately attacking the frickin admin I’m cackling LMFAO THEY ALL JUST KILL ELQUACKITY everyone be like “THIS IS FOR SENDING US TO HELL FOR 2 WEEKS THAT WAS SO STRESSFUL”

OH??? LETTERS NEXT TO THEIR NAMES??? Everyone except Aypierre, Bad, Fit, Baghera, Cellbit, Foolish, and Slime… Hmmmm… G I L G H S C M Ok well that’s a bunch of nonsense. I’m pausing the VOD I wanna try and work this out. Yeah I got nothing, I’m gonna keep watching for now lmao. I wonder if this is related to their tickets maybe? Though that doesn’t match up

Bagi has a 4 now??

I’d say “Maybe this is another ploy by the Eye to make them suspicious of each other and fight” but I think it’d be more interesting if the Eye was saying the truth this time

Aypierre (ha– “EYE-pierre” I wish someone made that joke) and Max having a private convo??? I’m sure there will be no major lore repercussions from whatever they’re talking about! (Copium)

LMAO I’m glad one of them was finally like “Is this a trap? Maybe we shouldn’t ALL run head-first into whatever this is.”

I swear if Quackity logged out to switch accounts or something–

I always wonder what “logging out” would translate to in the world. Would it just be like, the character falling asleep? Phasing out of existence? Hmm…

NOT ANOTHER FRICKIN ROULETTE WHEEL

1h 48m - Bagi: I think the one who should spin it is Phil! Phil:

Big mood Phil

I wonder if this is gonna determine what Egg we get back… will we only be able to rescue one? OH ACTUALLY NO – the Eye talked about multiple games. Maybe each game is about getting one of the Eggs back? That seems to easy though, I’m starting to wonder if they only get one Egg back. That would suck though because it implies that they’d have to do a whole Purgatory-esque event again for EVERY single Egg, and if they did that I’d drop dead.

Fit I love you, thank you for telling everyone to shut up and listen to Phil. Too much chaos.

Slime: I think I misclicked SHUT UP LMAOOO Oh so the Eye told Phil to spin it too, so they were right.

I FRICKIN KNEW IT THEY ONLY GET ONE EGG BACK

Poor Phil :(((( That’s so much pressure on him

THE WORKER HAS AN EYE WTF Lmao Roier immediately laughs at it Is that supposed to be the thing that was “close to them” all along? That doesn’t make any sense.

Ok cards on the table here: my first choice would be Richarlyson. I know this is all RNG based, but he’d be my first choice of all the alive Eggs. I’m almost certain it won’t be him though, I feel like it’s gonna be Tallulah or something.

Number 7? Roier: Vegetta? 777? Pftt

LMFAO NO SHOT SLIME ACTUALLY SCREWED IT UP

They should’ve just had Phil be the only one in the room– OH DOOR? Slime: YOU COULDN”T AFFORD A FASTER DOOR? GET THEIR ASS SLIME LMAO

Foolish: I’m drowning! Oh wait no, I meant the opposite of that. Pfttt

That frickin one-eyed worker looks so tired I wonder if that’s the worker Cucurucho sent, and it just got possessed by the Eye dude since the Eye didn’t have a physical body or didn’t want to show them its actual physical body or something? Hmmmmm.

RICHARLYSON AND POMME??

OH WAIT ITS ALL THE EGGS OH NO

OH NO DO THEY HAVE TO PICK ONLY ONE???

OH THANK GOD THEY CAN GET OUT wait but no they're blocked by glass still?

RICHASSSS CHAYANNE SOBS!!!

RAMONNNNNNNN FIT CALLING FOR RAMON IM GONNA CRY, THAT'S HIS BEAUTIFUL BABY BOY MADE IN HEAVEN BY GOD HIMSELF

I'm so sorry Chayanne but that did make me laugh

Phil: You did well Me: *BURSTS INTO TEARS*

LMAO Why is Tallulah just dancing

Ramon: Took u long enough to find me Me: *BURSTS INTO TEARS EVEN MORE*

Bro I missed the Eggs so much dude :( I know we probably won’t get them all back rn but it’s so nice just seeing them

FRICK OFF, DON’T MAKE THEM STAY HERE I’LL KILL YOU MYSELF

Slime: My sleep schedule, no–

1h 55m - Foolish: CUCURUCHO, BREAK US OUT! FRICKIN FOR REAL, CUCURUCHO GET THEM OUT OF THERE IM LITERALLY GONNA DIE IF I HAVE TO SEE ONE MORE DAY OF PURGATORY

Cucurucho please get your ass over here

FRICKIN REAL AS HELL ETOILES

Genuinely though, if they kept this event going any longer I think so many streamers would actually quit and I wouldn’t even blame them. I’d probably drop it too for a while, it’s just way too much stress.

WAIT NO RAMON DOESN”T HAVE HIS MOUSTACHE oh wait no

Tallulah: So he is not here? again? :( I hate to be that guy but literally what did you expect LMAO his ass is NOT coming back for some random Purgatory event

Phil: Don’t worry, I am here. HELL YEAH YOU ARE!!! BEST DAD PHIL

Oh… Phil running between Tallulah and Chayanne breaks my heart a little bit :(((

I wonder if Chayanne is separated because he’s the leader / eldest of the group. :(

Maximus: Guys, I’m gonna explode an atomic bomb. Phil: WHAT?

IM FRICKIN CRYING, MAXIMUS PLEASE, THERE IS A TIME AND A PLACE BUT NOW IS NOT EITHER

THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD”VE FRICKIN LISTENED TO MAXIMUS EARLIER!!!!!!!!

Head in my hands everyone is STILL talking over him while he’s doing this big important lore thing. I am dying. Maximus you deserve the world I am so sorry.

On a meta level, I wonder how many creators actually KNEW that Maximus had a bomb because I know for a fact at least a few of them were genuinely in the dark

This is miserable actually, I’m pulling up Maximus’ VOD rn because this is genuinely frustrating me. “Everyone always talks over everyone else in an event” and all, I know I know, but it still sucks to see.

MAXIMUS’ VOD INTERLUDE

OH DANG HE REALLY JUMPED STRAIGHT INTO THE LORE Lmfao not the cutesy hello in the midst of tense music, Max I love you.

Bro I’m about to start posting Sapo Peta clips, I NEED people to know how insanely good this man is at storytelling and RP, nobody frickin Gets It

I’m jumping to his conversation with Aypierre.

Aypierre: I’m a little curious Maximus: You can keep that “curious” in your mind. I love him.

1h 16m - Maximus: When all of this is finished, you won’t need my trust anymore. Banger line.

Aypierre: …Are you gonna kill yourself, Maximus? No, don’t do that. AGH.

Maximus: Maybe. AGH!!!!!!

Head in my hands, Maximus saying hi to Tina and getting no response, I think she was AFK

1h 18m - Maximus: I don’t trust you.

LMAO not Aypierre saying “I won’t kill you anymore.” Completely normal thing to say.

Aypierre: Will it kill only the Federation, or everyone? Maximus: *dead silent* Me: YEAH ALRIGHT, BUCKLE IN BOYS IT’S GONNA BE ONE OF THOSE DAYS

Maximus what the hell is wrong with your facecam

Maximus just laughing after the Eye said they couldn’t leave. Badass.

Nobody listening to Maximus. I am chewing a live wire.

Bagi I love you but your volume is so frickin loud in everybody’s POV I’m dying

OH WTF ITS THE EYE THING????

THAT”S FRICKIN TERRIFYING WHAT THE HELL

That being said: absolutely badass of Maximus to just reveal where it is

AYO WHAT IS *THAT*

THAT SKIN IS FRICKIN HORRIFYING WHAT *IS* THAT QUACKITY

LMFAO POOR CHAYANNE JUST HIDING IN THE CORNER WHILE FRICKIN ELDRITCH MONSTER ELQUACKITY IS STANDING 2 FEET AWAY FROM HIM

I hit the word limit so I'm splitting this liveblog into 3 separate posts! Please see Part 2 and Part 3 here for the rest.

#i talk #qsmp talk

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rayquazing · 3 years ago

Note

Hurt Levi pls

I normally don't take tumblr prompts, but for you, anon whose identity is a total mystery to me, I will accept

NSFW under the cut. Also warning for some torture that happens about midway through. Nothing too graphic tho.

Kenny captured him as they dueled in the streets of the capital. Levi didn't see the net coming until it was too late. His eyes were locked on the gunslinger, body moving like water as he spun past bullet after bullet, slate eyes trained on Kenny's exposed jugular.

When the net struck him it took his balance with it, and he tumbled two stories to the ground, confused in a pile of weights and rope. He landed with a sickening crunch, the right side of his body slamming brutally into the paving stones.

Levi was stunned, body wracked with agony as his broken bones screamed in complaint.

He could hear his squad calling out for him; "Heichou!" But he could not make out their faces as his vision blurred and dark shadows began to loom over him.

One of those shadows- the tallest, the most menacing- laughed, and then spat in his face. Kenny.

"Gotcha, runt," Levi could hear the sneer in his voice, words dripping with the venom of sordid joy. He struggled, breath coming ragged as panic began to set in.

"Knock him out," Kenny ordered.

A sharp pain radiated up the side of Levi's skull, then everything went black.

He awoke in a dark cell, suspended by iron manacles that dug harshly into his wrists. His shirt was gone, body coated in a fine sheen of cold sweat that shimmered in the dim light of a single, paltry torch.

Levi's head throbbed painfully. The right side of his body was mottled with blue-black bruises. It hurt to breathe, to blink, to think.

But Levi was a survivor, so he pushed through the pain, recalling everything that had brought him to this point. He remembered battling on the streets of the capital. He remembered Kenny shouting his name boisterously. He remembered Nifa's brains being splattered across the rooftops, and he remembered falling, and falling, and falling.

"Shit," he cursed, and he pulled at his restraints. The movement only served to dig the metal more painfully into his flesh, fresh blood running hot down his forearms.

Levi drew in a ragged, fortifying breath, then shouted with all of his remaining might, "Kenny!"

The low tenor of his voice echoed through the subterranean dungeon. A peppering of dust fell from the rafters, disturbed by the sudden noise.

Panting, chest heaving as he bit through another full body wave of pain, he shouted again, louder, with more power and rage behind the name; "KENNY!"

His muscles went limp, body hanging weakly from his shackles, toes dragging on the filthy floor. Everything hurt. It hurt so much. Every fiber of his being seemed to be crying out in red hot pain. His head throbbed, eyes pulsing in his skull. There was a constant pressure in his chest, digging into his lung, a broken rib, more like than not.

Levi huffed a broken sound, hanging his head. He was useless like this, strung up like a fresh kill. He shut his eyes, waiting helplessly for his fate to arrive.

Hange would come for him. He knew she would.

He recalled their parting moment, the people she had loaned him, the people he had gotten killed. He remembered the trust she had placed upon him, that had swirled behind those wine-colored eyes, and somehow he felt even more broken.

"Hange..." He sighed her name, lids fluttering.

He'd been so caught up in his memories that he hadn't heard the telling sound of footsteps on the bricks. Two grizzled, calloused hands gripped the bars mockingly.

Kenny grinned at him from the darkness of the corridor, freshly shaven. Face porous and lined and aged.

"Hey there, runt," he goaded, fingers drumming softly on the bars. Two more people appeared beside him, men, their faces obscured behind black torturer's hoods. Their black eyes flashed menacingly in the torchlight.

"We have a few questions for ya," Kenny produced a key from around his neck and slipped it into the lock. The heavy, barred door opened with a metallic shriek and a muffled kerthunk. He slipped into the cell, body long, thin and skeletal. Behind him the two torturers followed.

Now that they stood in the light Levi could see that they wore the instruments of his torture across their bodies like bandoliers. The knives and scalpels and scrapers all gleamed orange by the light of the torch.

Levi swallowed thickly, giving another weak pull at his shackles.

"Now," Kenny's smile never waned. He laced his fingers behind his back, standing up straight and proud. "Are ya gonna cooperate? Or will we have to do this the hard way."

Levi's lips curled into a snarl. They wanted Hange's location, the location of his squad.

They could rot in hell.

He demonstrated as much by spitting onto the floor in front of Kenny's boot.

"Fuck off."

Kenny puffed his cheeks amusedly, and took a small step backward to make way for the torturers.

"These fellows are good at what they do," Kenny explained softly as they began to pluck their implements from their chests. "They were loaned to me by the king himself."

Levi bared his teeth, refusing to give Kenny anything more than his ire.

Kenny cracked his knuckles, smile shifting to lopsided and entertained, "Alright then, let's begin."

Levi stayed strong. Through it all, he endured. He kept his lips sealed, biting on them until they bled like his exposed nailbeds, like the parallel lines they drew across his belly with their razor sharp knives. He endured when they began breaking nailess toes, and he endured when they moved on to his fingers, peeling the skin back to the first knuckle.

His blood painted the floor in crimson-black drips. His grunts of agony echoed through the dungeon halls in a torturous symphony.

"Where is Hange Zoe?" Kenny asked, obviously beginning to grow exasperated.

Levi showed his teeth, red with blood, red dripping from his nose, "Never." He choked, tasting rust in his mouth. He would die before he gave Hange up. It was her face that lingered in the back of his mind, that bolstered his resolve against their blunted rods as they beat his already broken ribs.

He remembered her smile. Her laughter. They way she smirked when she teased him over his height and cleanliness. He remembered her touch, the fire she awoke inside of him, in his skin.

He remembered Hange. His Hange. And he endured.

Eventually they left him alone. Making sure to snuff out the torch as they went, Levi dangled weakly in the dark. The only sounds were that of his own breathing and his blood dripping steadily onto the floor.

His vision began to fade, sounds growing distant, as though he were submerged beneath dark waves of white hot water. He struggled to breathe, to keep his eyes open.

Ultimately his struggle was in vain. He fell into viscous, black unconsciousness.

Hange Zoe had never before known fear like this; this terrible, gripping thing that settled in her chest and constricted around her lungs like a parasitic snake. It radiated outward from her center, down her limbs and into her fingertips, numbing them as she gripped the triggers of her ODM gear.

He had to be alive. He had to be.

How would she survive if Levi were gone. What would she do? She couldn’t imagine it, that agony which she was barely holding at bay. Were the worst to come to fruition it would surely consume her.

They busted through the doors of the anti-personnel squad compound. Shattering through them with a battering ram, shards of broken wood raining down on the occupants of the adjacent room; splintering and slicing them.

Hange grabbed the first man she saw by his collar, hoisting him into the air as her muscles burned. She pressed the edge of her blade to his throat, flashing her teeth, vision blurring red with complete and utter rage.

“Where is he?!”

Moblit and Levi squad apprehended the others in the room. Binding their hands and feet. Hange simply wanted them dead.

The man dangled in the air, grasping weakly at Hange’s wrist where she held him aloft, “I- I um...”

“Spit it out or you won’t have a tongue to speak with!” Hange demanded, pressing her blade more insistently to his throat.

“D-downstairs,” he pointed towards a door with a shaking finger.

Hange grunted and threw him roughly down onto the floor, leaving him to the rest of the squad. She rushed for the doors, prying a torch off of the wall as she descended into the dark depths of the dungeon.

Let him be alive, she chanted to herself. Please, whatever gods there may be, let him be alive.

Kenny was nowhere to be found. The fighting upstairs cleared quickly and soon all of Levi squad was trailing the Section Commander through the dark labyrinth.

It only took another few moments for them to discover him hanging by his wrists in the dark. He was filthy, covered in blood, sweat, and bruises. His eyes were closed, chest barely rising with stilted breath.

“Levi!” Hange rasped, gripping the bars. “What did they do to him?”

She ground her teeth to the point of pain, leaning all of her weight into the bars like she could bend them through sheer force of will alone. The sight of his blood pooling on the floor made her stomach twist, her heart ache. Her mouth was dry and a salient mixture of horror and utter rage pooled in her center.

Armin was already working on the lock. But it wasn’t fast enough.

Hange shoved him out of the way and slammed one of her blades down into the rusty lock mechanism over and over. It creaked, shuddered, and then cracked in two under the force of her assault.

Leaving the rest of the squad in the dust, Hange rushed to Levi’s side, wrapping her arms tenderly around his waist and lifting him so his wrists were no longer being cut by the shackles.

“Hange,” he choked her name weakly, then spit blood onto the yellow of her shirt. His slate eyes were hooded and distant, dissociative from the pain.

Armin and Mikasa were working on his restraints.

“I’m here,” Hange breathed, careful only to touch him where she had to. “I’m here.”

She wanted to scream at the sight of him. His body was a warzone; brutalized, left sallow and broken. His skin was clammy, breath tinged with the scent of blood.

“Levi...” she exhaled shakily, and finally the manacles came lose and Levi crumpled into her arms. He buried his face against her neck, and she heard him inhale sharply, painfully.

Hange bit her lip, cupping the back of his head, stroking his greasy hair gingerly.

Moblit cupped her shoulder gently, his eyes wide with concern, “Section Commander, we need to go.”

Hange nodded, lifting Levi protectively into her arms. She wouldn’t let anyone help her. She couldn’t bear the thought of anyone touching him but her. She guarded him carefully all the way back to their hideout, keeping his head nestled safely in her lap as their cart wheeled bumpily along the city streets.

Hange treated his wounds as best she could. She wrapped his tortured fingers and stitched the wounds in his abdomen. She tied his broken toes to unbroken ones and gave him water each hour on the hour. As for his bruises? She could only hope that they were not set too deeply into his muscles and organs. She could only caress delicate fingers over his cheek and pray to whatever merciful gods might exist that he would come out of this trial relatively unscathed.

Though he would always bare the scars. Reminders of her own failure to protect him; the man she...

She utterly refused to leave his side, not even to report to Erwin. She sent Moblit in her stead.

And how could she leave him? Her Levi? Her partner in crime? How could she possibly rationalize leaving his side when he was so close to death, when she had nearly lost him.

She cried softly at night, sat up against a stark brick wall, just feet away from the Captain. She cried because she realized for the first time that she really, truly loved this man. She loved him with each individual fiber of her imperfect being. She loved him, and she had nearly lost him.

Levi had nearly died.

“I feel so helpless,” she whispered, blinking back her tears. “Levi, I’m so sorry. If I had just gotten there sooner you might not-

“Shut it, four-eyes,” Levi groused painfully, blinking to wakefulness. His voice was groggy, eyes blurry, but he still managed to reach out and touch Hange. He laid his bandaged had over her own.

“You’re awake,” Hange exhaled in relief, and she leaned over him slightly, scooting nearer. She could feel the reassuring heat of his body, watch the steady rise and fall of his chest.

“Did you...” Levi let out a painful wheeze when he tried to rise onto his elbows. Hange gently coaxed him back into the sheets. “Did you treat me?”

Hange nodded, sniffing, “I did. We’re still in hiding so we couldn’t call on any actual doctors.”

Levi swallowed thickly, wounded fingers curling gingerly around her own, “Is Kenny dead?”

“No, he wasn’t there when we raided the compound.”

“Shit.”

“Levi...” Hange leaned closer, looming over him. Her eyes flashed with genuine concern. Her throat suddenly felt too tight, too hot.

Levi went very still, and for a long moment they simply stared, gazing into one another’s eyes. There was a spark of recognition in Levi’s grey as he reconciled the emotion swirling in Hange’s russet irises.

“Hange...”

She kissed him, leaning carefully over his body and sealing their lips in a wet, tearful kiss. Her tongue traced along his lower lip, and he granted her entrance with a soft moan, mimicking her action in turn. Hange cupped his cheek, thumb brushing along his chin.

When they parted a soft sob wracked through Hange’s body, breath tickling along Levi’s parted lips, tears peppering his cheeks.

“I almost lost you,” Hange choked.

Slowly, Levi raised his good arm and cupped the back of her neck, pulling her in for another; slower, more reverent kiss.

Hange shifted her position over Levi’s body as their tongues and lips worked in tandem. She straddled his left thigh, her own thigh pressing very near to the crux of his legs where he was obviously hard, wearing only a thin pair of sleep pants that Hange had scrounged for him.

“You almost died,” she said when they parted again. Then she peppered his face with kisses from his forehead to his chin. “I almost lost you, Levi.”

“We’re soldiers,” Levi spoke, but there was no conviction behind his words. “Soldiers die.”

Hange shook her head, more tears welling. She bit her lip painfully, and when she opened her mouth to speak only a pained noise managed to eek past her lips.

“I knew that you would come for me,” Levi admitted after a moment of uncomfortable silence. “I knew you’d be the one.”

Hange nodded fiercely, then kissed him again. Her fingertips teased along the waistband of his pants, and he hummed in silent consent. Hange needed this, they needed this. This kairotic moment to which they had been building for years. This physical expression of their shared need, desires, and- though they did not give it voice- their love. All of it precipitating from such exquisite pain as nearly losing one another.

When she sank down onto him is was with a soft sigh. He filled her up, made her feel whole in a way she had never known she was missing. She was careful of his broken body, setting a slow, even pace that drove the both of them mad.

“Hange,” Levi whispered her name. His bandaged hands lifted to hold her hips as she rode him.

“I love you,” she admitted, ducking her face to hide behind her hair. “I love you and I almost lost you, Levi.”

Tears continued to pepper his face and chest as they made love, Hange gliding gracefully back and forth on him. He even managed to cant his hips slightly to meet her, drawing a quiet moan past her lips.

They reached climax quickly, peaking together in a moment which Hange could only describe as one of pure light.

Afterwards she tucked herself into his good side, head resting on his shoulder, cum dripping between her thighs.

“I love you, short stuff. I love you so much it hurts. And to see you so broken, in so much pain... I can’t.” The tears were flowing again, dampening the sheets.

“Easy,” he touched her hair. “I’m alive, four-eyes. You saved me.”

“Not before-

“Hey, enough of that shit,” Levi demanded, though his voice was soft. He inclined his head to kiss Hange’s hair. “I’m alive four eyes. I’m alive because you came for me.”

Hange blinked away her tears and nuzzled into Levi’s neck. Muffled against his skin she breathed, “I love you.”

Levi closed his eyes. Body still aching, in tatters, but with Hange by his side he felt as though everything might turn out okay.

He loved her, too.

#levihan #my writing

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mintelepathy · 4 years ago

Text

"You are my safe place"

idol!jimin x reader/oc

word count: +1.2k

summary: oc goes to their home country, gets stuck there because of quarantine, and then finally goes back to korea without telling jimin so oc could surprise him.

FLUFF so much fluff

masterlist

Getting stuck in your country because of quarantine wasn’t in your plans when you went to visit your family earlier this year.

At first you were going to stay there for a month, but from one day to the other your flight back to Korea was cancelled, and the president had decided to implement a strict quarantine due to the increase of covid cases.

Everything was a mess and there was nothing you could do.

The worst thing was that this happened all of the sudden, and maybe if you had known beforehand you could have moved your returning date forward.

“You still don’t know when are you coming back, do you?” you watched him through the screen of the phone.

Even though you were at the other side of the world, and it was hard for Jimin and you to find the right time to facetime each other, you made it work.

Even if that meant that one of you had to stay awake late at night you’d always find some time for each other. Your times zones were so different that every time you texted him he would text you back hours later because either he was sleeping or working, and the same happened when he texted you, you were either sleeping or.. yeah sleeping.

You’ve been talking for an hour straight now and he was the one awake at 3 in the morning.

You noticed how tired he looked and somehow you felt guilty for talking too much and making him stay with you on the phone for so long.

“Sadly there’s no news, but I’ll let you know if something happens”

That was a lie, you actually had some good news, actually great news but you didn’t tell him because you wanted to surprise him.

Tomorrow at that very right moment you’d be sitting on a plane.

A few hours ago you’ve received an email which said that the permission you requested was accepted.

This permission allowed you to fly out of the country, and it was only possible because you had a reasonable motive to ask for it. Of course you mainly wanted to come back because you missed your boyfriend, but there were lots of important things you had to take care of in Korea, such as the new job you'd be starting in two months.

“You know what I’ve noticed these past few weeks you haven't been here?” you watched him as he rested his cheek in the palm of his hand.

“Tell me” you copied his action.

“I’ve realized how important it is to me to have you physically here” you raised your eyebrows twice and smirked at him just to tease him.

“You dirty minded” he smiled and tilted his head ��but seriously, most of the time when I arrive from work you are always there waiting for me, and now when I get home it just feels so empty, or every time I wake up and turn around I hope to see you there sleeping besides me, but then I remember you are not here, and the list goes on and on” you pouted at his words.

“You don’t have idea how much I miss those things too, and I have something to confess too” he nodded and waited for you to tell him.

“You know how bad my experience with my ex-boyfriend was, sorry to mention him, I won’t go deeper into the subject because you already know but‐” you took a second to breath in before continuing, you always felt a lump in your throat every time you mentioned him. “but what I’m trying to say is that after him I was so afraid to try it again with someone else, I was so scared to get hurt, and then I met you, and you showed me in so many different ways how real love is, of course I’ve experience love before with family or friends, but I’ve never felt the same way I feel with you with anyone else and it’s just so beautiful. You are my safe place Jimin”. You didn’t notice you were tearing up until now.

Jimin couldn’t stop smiling at you. “You are also my safe place babe, I’m trying so hard no to cry right now, shit. I hope you can come back as soon as possible” you let out a chuckle.

“Me too babe, me too..”

———————————————————————————————————————————————

It’s been more than two weeks since you last facetimed Jimin and more than two weeks since you arrived.

You told him your phone fell and your camera stop working so he wouldn’t find out you were already in the same country as him, and it seemed he didn’t suspect anything.

You would phone call him every day anyway.

You wished you could have seen him as soon as you got there, but you were a responsible person and you didn’t think of breaking the safety protocol for covid, you also got tested and the results came negative so now you were more than ready to finally see him.

The only person who knew you were already there was Hoseok, and he had texted you earlier saying that him and Jimin were going to their dorm after practice so you could go and surprise him later.

You were so excited to finally see him, that was for sure.

A few hours later you’ve received the message you were waiting for. Hobi and Jimin were already at the dorm and it was time for you to go.

Hobi told you to let him know when you were there to help you go through security, and that’s what you did as soon as you got there.

He was so fast to welcome you that you were already greeting him with a small hug.

“Jimin is in our room watching videos of cats on his phone, I’ll let you have your moment alone” you couldn’t stop thanking him.

You felt your stomach spinning as you walked in, you were so nervous, but not in a negative way. They were happy nerves if that made sense.

The door was closed and you didn’t know if you should just open the door and run towards him, or knock at the door. You went for the second one because it was the safest considering you can cause him a heart attack.

You knocked five times.

“Come in” you heard him shout but you kept insisting and knocked five more times.

“Hobi hyu‐ WHAT THE HELL?” he opened his eyes so big, like he was trying to see if you were actually standing there in front of him, if you were actually real.

“Surprise!” you opened your arms at him.

He didn’t waste a second and embraced you so tightly and hard that you ended up falling to the floor.

“I can’t believe this is real, am I dreaming right now?” he pinched himself and you couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction, he was so shocked and happy just like you.

“Totally real Park” you kissed him how you could because you weren’t in a really comfortable position.

He deepened the kiss as he helped you to place yourself on top of him. It was so much better now.

He suddenly turned you around and now your back was against the floor.

He started to give you small kissed across all of your face and then he put his arms around you to hold you tight.

You didn’t know for how long you’d stay like that but you did know that neither of you would let go.

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songbirdsingingthings · 4 years ago

Text

Common Sense - Shouto Todoroki x Reader

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of these characters, they belong to Kohei Horikoshi

MHA Masterlist - Main Masterlist

A/N: So I got this idea, ran with it, and then somehow 3,000+ words came out of it. Honestly, I’m kinda really proud with how it turned out and I hope y’all like it too.

Warnings: Swearing

Word Count: 3.1K

If there was ever a phrase that Shouto Todoroki hated, it would be ‘common sense’. What a weird phrase, he would think, because the use of common sense implies that it’s something that everyone should know, but in most cases, he didn’t. Unfortunately, that phrase left the lips of his friends quite often. He knows they mean no harm or ill will towards him, he was sure they would stop using the term if he ever mentioned how he felt about it, but he didn’t want to make them feel uncomfortable. The first time it started to get on his nerves was when he, Midoriya, Iida, and Uraraka were at the mall on a rare weekday off.

“Wow, hey, look at that!” Uraraka had exclaimed, running as quickly as her feet could carry her over to a newly implemented little wishing well that had been placed in a small corner of the outdoor mall. Midoriya and Iida quickly followed her, but Shouto hung back.

“C’mon Todoroki, let’s go make a wish!” Midoriya urged, beckoning him over with a wave of his hand. Shouto followed him, albeit a little confused, over to the well.

“Does anybody have a quarter I could use? I forgot to bring change with me, I only have bills in my wallet.” Uraraka blushed, her expression a bit embarrassed.

“Of course!” Iida said, fishing two quarters out of his billfold, handing one to Uraraka and keeping the other for himself. Todoroki watched his three friends close their eyes and then flip their coins into the well, taking note at how they sank slowly into the water.

“Todoroki, aren’t you going to make a wish?” Midoriya questioned, a patient smile on his lips. The expression of confusion remained on Shouto’s face.

“What merit do coins have on wishes?” He asked, genuinely curious as to why his friends would technically throw away money in turn for a wish that would most likely be out of their reach or unrealistic. “Also, aren’t we using money to pay for things within the stores here? I thought that you were saving up for that new jacket, Uraraka.” He wondered, turning to look at the pink-cheeked girl. She just smiled and shook her head.

“Todoroki, a small little coin wouldn’t have much effect on my savings. Besides, it’s kinda common sense to enjoy the little things like this and not pay too much mind, right?” Iida and Midoriya nodded enthusiastically, nudging the red-and-white haired boy closer to the water-filled wishing well. He sighed and thought over Uraraka’s words. It’s kinda common sense to enjoy the little things? He thought as a quarter was forcibly put in his hands. He closed his eyes to humor his friends and dropped the coin in the well. He was then afterward given smiles and some reassuring pats, and as much as he knew his friends were making efforts to include him, he couldn’t help but feel a bit… coddled. He knew that as a child he was always shielded from the world, but was he really kept away from this much? Was he seriously hidden from such superficial subjects? He tried to ward away those questions that poked and prodded at his brain, but he couldn’t seem to shrug them off as he observed his friends dart in and out of multiple stores with shopping bags in their hands. Shouto ended up bringing nothing back to the dorm with him, except for a sudden slight contempt for a tiny little phrase.

The next circumstance was when he and Bakugou were at the remedial lessons. While Shouto wasn’t incredibly enthused about going through extra lessons in order to gain his provisional license, he understood why he needed to go and appreciated the effort and lengths that the teachers went to so that he could have another chance. Well, he, Bakugou, Inasa and a girl who just introduced herself as Camie to him and the explosive-quirked boy.

“So, who’s this smoldery looking two-toned boy?” She had chirped, her hand clutching the brim of her Shiketsu high cap. “You’re, like, super hot. I’m crazy siked to train with a babe like you!” Even Shouto had to admit to himself that this girl was coming onto him really strong - and not exactly in the most flattering way possible. She greeted Inasa briefly, but then dug into her pocket to grab her phone, holding it out in front of Shouto. “Seriously, can I, like, have your number?” Hesitantly, Shouto responded.

“Uhh, sure.” He replied, but made no effort to grab his own phone that was safely tucked away in his blazer pocket. He found her interactions with others to be quite shallow in the way that she really gave no information about herself. Camie tended to project more onto others, he figured. As he and Bakugou walked to the changing room specifically set aside for UA students, Shouto noticed the look of disapproval on the blonde’s face. Shouto just quirked an eyebrow at him, knowing that he didn’t need a vocal cue to get Bakugou to start talking.

“You seriously agreed to give your number to that chick at the drop of the hat? Do you not have any standards, Icyhot?” He growled, Bakugou’s signature scowl now adorning face.

“What do you mean? I just assumed she would need it in case of emergencies.” Shouto explained. With a roll of his eyes and a look that conveyed Bakugou wanted to rip his own hair out, the blonde glared at him.

“YOU DON’T JUST GIVE A NUMBER TO A GIRL YOU JUST MET! GET TO KNOW HER OR SOMETHING YOU HALF-AND-HALF BASTARD! IT’S JUST COMMON SENSE!” Shouto was used to Bakugou’s outbursts and never took any of what he said personally, but now that was the second time the phrase common sense was used at his expense… and it irked him. Shouto’s eyes narrowed as he watched Bakugou trudge and stomp his way through the door and into the changing room. And, not unlike the first time he heard it, the saying ‘common sense’ left a foul taste in his mouth.

Finally, the most recent time he heard it, was from the person he probably despised the most. His own father. Shouto was visiting his home - which happened rarely and the time he spent there was brief - to speak with and catch up with his sister, Fuyumi. Unfortunately, just as he was about to leave, the number two Pro-Hero walked through the door.

“Shouto, you’re home!” He bellowed, a grin plastered under his flaming mustache. Shouto frowned and narrowed his eyes as he navigated around the stocky man, making his way out of the door. He adjusted the strap of his shoulder bag after it was jostled by unintentionally brushing roughly past his father, but a heavy hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks. With narrowed eyes and a frown-turned-grimace on his face, he turned around to face the fire-quirked man.

“Do you have something to say or will you let me be on my way?” Shouto glared, making Endeavor bristle.

“Yes, Shouto, I have something to say indeed!” The flames on his body seemed to grow larger, proving another example of a concept Shouto recently learned in class: direct variation. “You haven’t bothered to return any of my calls or my text messages to you regarding personal training! It’s no wonder you didn’t pass your provisional licensing exam!” Flames emitted from his father’s body out of rage, and as much as Shouto tried not to let it out, a small wisp left his left side.

“I’m not interested, and I’ve told you as such.” Shouto grits out, resuming his previous pathing of making his way out of his childhood home.

“You respond to your father when he reaches out to you! IT IS COMMON SENSE!” Endeavor shouts, causing Shouto’s body to go rigid. He clenches his jaw and twists around. His father saying that hated term was the last straw for him.

“IT IS NOT COMMON SENSE IN RELATION TO YOU!” Shouto barks out, frost and flames growing on their respective sides. And, with that, Shouto finally leaves the metal gates of his home, slamming them behind himself as he left. He cringed a bit at the loud clanging noise it left behind, but he was too furious to really care. He did feel bad for his classmates as they saw him enter the doors of the dorm building with a scowl almost comparable to Bakugou’s, not even sparing them a word as he left them in the common room and shut himself up in his dorm.

At the current moment, Shouto is shifting somewhat uncomfortably on one of the many cushions that were dotted around the main floor common room. It was late in the evening, but the energy coming from the Class 1A dorms was much larger due to it being a Friday night. After a particularly hard week at school, Mina Ashido and Eijirou Kirishima had proposed the idea of a Class 1A slumber party in the main room and that everyone had to come. There were no exceptions to this rule, they explained - even a glaring Bakugou was nestled into the corner of the room with a weighted blanket on top of him and a pillow. It was truly a wonder that he hadn’t tried to escape or fall asleep yet, but the rest of the class didn’t dare to ask him. Denki had tried it earlier and was greeted with a small explosion to the face and a few very choice words spat at him. This was a first for the red-and-white haired boy - never had he had a sleepover, much less a slumber party, so the pillow fights and truth-or-dare games that were being played were more or less foreign concepts to him. However, here was one thing he did know. It was that he found a sense of peace when looking at you. As a strong and powerful hero-in-training, he had always kept an eye on you in training to try and better prepare himself for an attack. But recently, he noticed that his gaze always gravitated to you whenever he was in the classroom or in the dining room. Whether it was the sun shining on your Y/H/C hair or the smile that sprouted from your lips whenever someone cracked a joke, he found them much more interesting since they were coming from you. Before long, the two of you had developed a solid friendship that involved everything - from studying together in the library to going on late night soba runs, he found you to be a much needed source of support in his life. What he didn’t realize would happen, though, was heat creeping up onto his cheeks when you locked eyes with him. You did nothing to make him feel embarrassed - just offered him a kind smile and began to make your way over to him, but the blush on his cheeks was unrelenting. He even tried to activate his right side in the hopes of cancelling it out, but to no avail. Thankfully to him, you didn’t seem to notice.

“It’s getting kinda crazy in here, huh.” You say, trying to spark up a conversation between you and him. Shouto, not finding any words, merely nodded his head. “It’s fine to be overwhelmed,” you continued, “I remember the first time I had a sleepover when I was nine years old. I had to call my parents to pick me up early because I felt like it was too suffocating,” you laugh, poking fun at your younger self’s obseredity. This cracked a small smile on Shouto’s lips. “Tell me if you need an excuse to get out of here - I have several stored up in here from previous uncomfortable situations.” You say, pointing a finger up to your temple.

“I think Bakugou would benefit from that,” Shouto muses as both of your gazes flicker over to the sulking blonde. The sound of your laughter does wonders to soothe the antsy feeling he had previously in his chest.

“Okay, well, us girls are going to get ready for bed in my room! We’ll be back any minute, so no need to worry!” Mina announces, sending a smile to the boys as the girls got up one by one and grabbed their pajamas. You gave Shouto a smile and a pat on the shoulder before standing up. You stretched your arms above your head due to the ache that was ever prominent from the endless days of training finally catching up to you.

“Alright, I’ll be back soon. Save me a good spot?” You ask, backpedaling slowly so that your face was still turned towards Shouto. With a small smile, he nodded.

“Sure thing.” With a quick thumbs up and a little spring in your step, you spun around to quickly follow the rest of your female classmates. As soon as the door was shut, Denki had motioned for all of the guys to come to the middle of the room. Shouto, figuring that they were just going to talk about how they should figure out sleeping arrangements, shuffled closer as well. Oh, how wrong he was.

“So, now that the girls are gone for a bit, I gotta know. Who do you guys think the prettiest or, my preferred adjective, hottest girl in class is?” Immediately, Shouto’s eyes widened at the subject of conversation and how unabashedly forward he was. The red-and-white haired boy was even more shocked when the rest of the guys started talking.

“Well, we all have to admit that Momo is very pretty.” Sero says, earning nods from around the room.

“I think I know who Midoriya is gonna say,” teased Denki, nudging the green-haired boy’s side with his elbow.

“I-I don’t really know what you guys are on about?” Midoriya said, his voice octaves higher than normal. Snickers erupted from the boys as they all - even Shouto unconsciously - came to the same conclusion that Midoriya was thinking of a certain pink-cheeked brunette.

“I think that Hagakure is pretty.” A small voice peeped. All heads turned to face Ojirou who had a shy smile on his face. The next few minutes of conversations were filled with the boys commenting on how pretty the girls were in their class, going from Tsu to Mina, and then to Jirou.

“We all know you have the hots for Jirou, Denki, you don’t need to hide it.” Sero said, a mischievous grin laced across his face. The electric blonde’s jaw opened and closed like a fish before quickly changing the subject.

“W-well how about L/N?” He said, trying to get his nerves to dissipate. At her name being voiced, Shouto’s head perked up and, before he could stop the words from his mouth, he spoke.

“That’s just common sense.” The room went quiet as soon as Shouto’s words were spoken, all eyes on him. He couldn’t believe himself. That phrase, the one that irked him so much, he actually used. As much as he wanted to cringe at the use of it, he couldn’t help but understand why he used it. He had looked up the exact meaning of the phrase online before, and every site he found yielded the same results; a practical judgement concerning everyday matters. If someone were to lack common sense, then that person would usually be regarded as a simpleton or unintelligent. Well, Shouto couldn’t help but agree that if people had thought of Y/N as anything but gorgeous, then they were definitely lacking common sense.

“Uh, care to elaborate?” Kirishima asked, trying to prompt the red-and-white haired boy to spill his inside feelings that were usually never exposed to the rest of the group. Normally, Shouto would’ve put that iron gate back up around his mind and heart, but like a dam bursting and overflowing with water, he couldn’t help but let his drowning thoughts of Y/N consume his better judgement.

“It’s common sense that she’s pretty because she encapsulates everything it means to be as such.” The boys all leaned in closer to hear more, but were interrupted by a door swinging open.

“Okay, we’re back! Now, what movie should we watch? I’m kinda partial to Game Night, but am open to suggestions.” Mina chirps. The boys quickly dispersed from the middle of the room and back to their original spots. Shouto tried to find his bearings as quickly as possible since you were making your way back over to him.

“Hey! Sorry we took so long, Hagakure brought up the subject of Hawks and the girls just kinda latched onto talking about him and wouldn’t let go,” you joked, rolling your eyes playfully and settling down next to him. “Thanks for the spot by the way, it’ll be kinda cool sleeping next to each other!” Shouto looked down to where he had left your pillow and blankets and swallowed.

“Oh, uh, yes.” He said. That’s when he finally got a solid look at you. Dressed in soft-looking shorts and an oversized crewneck, you looked as cozy as could be. It was like a warm hug embraced his heart as he watched you shimmy under your blanket, shifting around to find the most comfortable position in order to watch the movie.

“So, what movie do you wanna watch?” You asked, offering him a giddy smile. Shouto’s smile grew larger as he too began to crawl under his blanket.

“I’m not sure, but I’m sure whatever the others decide on will be a suitable choice.” He said. You nodded in return. In the end, the class decided on a random rom-com they found while scrolling through one of the various streaming services the UA campus TVs provided. The overhead lights of the common room were turned off, so only the blue-ish light emitting from the TV made your faces visible to each other.

“Umm, Shouto?” You whispered. Shouto turned his gaze away from the movie and onto your face. With an expression that showed he was listening, he encouraged you to continue your thoughts. “I just wanted to thank you for your compliment earlier, I… I thought it was super sweet.” Shouto’s mind ran a rerun of the day, trying to think of the specific compliment he had given you, until he arrived on the one he indirectly gave you just an hour earlier. His eyes widened and his heart began to beat more quickly as you nudged your way closer to him. “I think it’s common sense that you’re pretty, too.” Shouto drew a shaky breath as your nose brushed against his.

“May I…?” He asked, his voice so trembly that he couldn’t create a full sentence. Thankfully, though, you seemed to understand.

“Mhm” You hummed, meeting him halfway. It was perfect. Slow and sweet, showing how he was truly savoring the experience. A hesitant hand made its way up to cradle your cheek, his thumb brushing lightly across it. While the rest of the class was indeed there, this moment was incredibly private to the both of you. Just you, Shouto, and the common sense shared between you two that you were irrevocably and incandescently in love with each other.

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lesbianrobin · 4 years ago

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Which characters in ST do you think would vote Republican?

to preface this i’m not necessarily thinking about Eighties Politics because i don’t feel like looking shit up right now so i’m kinda just going off of general/current politics.

alright so obviously ted and karen vote republican we know this for a fact. lonnie Would but he doesn’t care enough to actually go out and vote. definitely tommy h. carol probably wouldn’t though she’s a libdem who just acts like her boyfriend being a republican is some cute little quirky difference they can overcome. you know those girls? shout-out to my friend grace from high school who argued with her boyfriend all the time about whether gay people deserved rights and would regularly tell me, her openly gay friend, about these arguments in an “oh he’s so silly!” tone. that’s tommy and carol. anyway.

in terms of the mains literally none of them would vote republican except for erica who is thankfully a child. hopper doesn’t vote unless he Really hates one of the candidates for whatever reason and then he goes to the polling place just to vote Against that person. i think as a vietnam vet he’s pretty anti-war in general so usually his hatred is directed toward republicans, so he ends up voting dem. however i think he also likes having guns and would vote for a republican if their opposition was big on gun control. usually though he just doesn’t bother to vote at all because he hates the government and everyone in it. murray Never votes at all because he hates the government and everyone in it and doesn’t trust that the democratic process is even legitimate.

nancy might lean republican in terms of economics and all that shit but i think she’s a single-issue voter and that issue is that she’s pro-choice because one time she was like two days late on her period and within that two days she was already drafting her speech to steve asking him to pay for the abortion. so she votes for whoever’s pro-choice.

i think s1 steve would vote republican because that’s just what he’s been taught and he has literally never questioned it at all because he doesn’t like thinking about politics. s2 steve would vote dem because nancy would tell him to but he would have no clue what he was actually voting for. s3 steve finally knows a little bit about politics because of robin and realizes that his political views are actually extremely far left because he just thinks all that stock market capitalist shit is dumb because if money is made up why can’t we just give everyone the money they need? robin tries explaining inflation and he’s like fine then why can't we take the money that rich people are just spending on like yachts and shit and give it to poor people? and she’s like steve you’re a little bit of a commie and he’s like what no i love baseball and movies and she’s like what and he’s like you know the communists they don’t have like fun stuff and robin’s like i mean that’s not exactly a tenet of the ideology in itself just a symptom of the ussr’s implementation of it and steve’s like huh and robin’s like whatever just vote for these guys. and she writes him a little note to take into the booth with him so he won’t forget what he was gonna vote for because that happened the first time he voted and he ended up just filling in whichever person’s name had better vibes.

anyway yeah i think that’s about it? OH and obviously the dead racist would vote republican but he’s dead.

#asks #em talks #stranger things #lesbianrobin.canon #yes im putting this in my meta tag. its important

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gothicprep · 3 years ago

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you really hit the nail on the head with your "woke-culture" post, it definitely feels like too many supposed "leftists" are just using recycled sj language to express what are essentially right-wing bigoted beliefs (shit like "anyone notice how feminine dressing men tend to be abusers?? it makes me sooo uncomfyyy, and if you point out this is transmisogyny youre actually gaslighting me and invalidating my feelings and also my trauma 😞 which is abusive and toxic", or idk, people supporting prison abolition then going "x criminals should be executed without trial" without considering what actual consequences implementing something like that would actually have)

then again lots of people behaving like this are teenagers and i tend to not really expect someone to like, have a properly developed and refined political/moral compass at an age where you are still kinda finding yourself either, but for people who are like 24+ who still behave like this... i dont really see them as an asset to leftism tbh

i think the really unfortunate thing i've noticed as i've gotten older is that an alarming amount of people i know, in their late 20s/early 30s still do this stuff.

the prison abolition issue is the most frustrating one for me because, like, my position has always been "since we're working within the confines of the current system, we should push that people shouldn't be in prison unless they seriously hurt someone. we should also make noise about how prisons should serve an evidenced-based rehabilitative function rather than a punitive one. when that inevitably works for the greater good, we should gradually experiment with implementing other abolitionist theories to help with criminality". the latter can mean a lot of things, many of which involve improving conditions outside of """correctional facilities""".

inb4 i'm sorry for being an incrementalist lib. sadly we gotta play with the hand we are dealt.

here's the thing, though: people tend to respond better to this shit when a stranger's dead body becomes a symbol. shouting down "no angel" rhetoric is easier when it's someone you don't know, and whatever crimes they've committed in the past don't hit on something emotional. introduce the variables of it being someone they know and dislike, who has authentically done horrible things. one minute, it's about how state violence is bad. the next, "i hope he goes away for a long time" in spite of their (i'm assuming) knowledge that prisons are just retribution cages, and we have recidivism statistics to show it.

this is the sort of dissonance born of dogma. arriving at one's positions, not because of any rational reflection, but social pressure. "if i disagree with this larger concept, i'm a bad person" with a severely lacking/upsettingly incomplete understanding of why it's good, and no acceptance that sticking to your guns isn't always going to be emotionally convenient.

the really, really uncomfortable part of being a leftist is staring down someone who you may find abhorrent and saying "they're still a person and need to be given the considerations as such". that's fucking difficult. but we're nothing if we can't believe in one another's capability.

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ninjago-happens-here · 3 years ago

Text

'Bandages come in many ways. There are gauze bandages, treating all kinds of wounds the Ninja may have. There are bandages used to prevent injury in Martial Arts. What P.I.X.A.L. is wondering, is that if mankind has a bandage for the heart.'

@ninjago-angst-week am I late or what? Sorry but I think spewing out 21k words over teh course of 3 days killed my motivation. It took 3 days just to write 6.1k words.

Summary:

P.I.X.A.L. notices that the store of bandages is running low. She thinks about all the times she had to use them on one of her teammates, and its purposes.

“Hey Pix! We’re running low on bandages. Can you help us order some before we go to Shintaro?” Nya’s voice came from the medical bay of the Destiny’s Bounty. The Ninja and Master Wu were going on a trip to Shintaro. Unfortunately, Pixal never got an invite, but she has long been used to being left behind. It’s not that it was a bad thing, per se. Pixal knew the importance of having a backup, and having someone watch over Ninjago whilst the Ninja were gone. Still, to distract herself after placing a digital order, she thought about anything that could distract her. That thing just happened to be about bandages.

Bandages. Neat, white little things that wrap around any land or sky creature. According to Wikipedia, a bandage is a piece of material used either to support a medical device such as a dressing or splint, or on its own to provide support to or to restrict the movement of a part of the body. When used with a dressing, the dressing is applied directly to a wound, and a bandage is used to hold the dressing in place. Other bandages are used without dressings, such as elastic bandages that are used to reduce swelling or provide support to a sprained ankle. Tight bandages can be used to slow blood flow to an extremity, such as when a leg or arm is bleeding heavily.

At first, that was all P.I.X.A.L. knew about bandages. Given that she was built with the main purpose of being Cyrus Borg’s assistant, her primary knowledge consisted mostly of the ins and outs of Borg Tower, emergency protocols, customer service skills, and basic first aid, given that her maker was frailer than your average Ninjago citizen.

Of course, the longer she worked under Cyrus Borg, the more she learnt about the medical field. Curious about Mr Borg’s special circumstances, she was permitted to look through the internet for more information. In no time at all, she learnt about surgery, prosthetics, all different kinds of medication, and how to diagnose illnesses. In her given free time, she studied all the information available on the internet about the medical field. Even though the information was useless to her, an android who had no physical weaknesses like the humans do, her system determined that whilst the knowledge was a bit excessive, it only helps to prepare her to care for Mr Borg.

She never really needed to apply all that knowledge about serious and fatal cuts, but when Borg gets even the slightest injury, P.I.X.A.L. was there to offer her assistance.

A year after she had been created, Cyrus Borg had offered her to take a test of the field in medicine. P.I.X.A.L. had immediately felt lighter and better somehow. When asking Borg why she was feeling this way and if robots could get sick, Borg had laughed in surprise and shock.

“That feeling is happiness, P.I.X.A.L.! It’s an emotion that all living creatures feel, you included.”

“But I am not living-“ Mr Borg cut her off.

“Technically, you are right, P.I.X.A.L., but you are intelligence, and intelligence is what defines life. You can adapt, change, and overcome as all living beings do. Don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise! Because that would be an insult to my intelligence!” Cyrus Borg said encouragingly. “And robots can technically get sick, from a digital virus. But I created you to be strong, stronger than I ever will be. You should not have to worry about them.”

P.I.X.A.L. nodded her head to show her understanding. “Then I will go to the exam.”

P.I.X.A.L. didn’t pass on her first try, but Mr Borg told her that it was alright, given that she still did very well considering that she only had the free internet to look for answers to a test she was unprepared for. It was human for her to have failed.

“So why did you send me there with no preparation?” P.I.X.A.L. asked with a shaking voice.

“To prepare you for failure, my dear!” Cyrus Borg said patronisingly. “Since I’ve built you, you’ve been perfect in many, many ways. And that isn’t a bad thing! But life isn’t that simple. You may fail in one way or another in the future because like humans, the circumstances may not be what you desired and plans can fall apart due to errors. What I want you to know is how failure feels like, and I will help you recover from it.”

P.I.X.A.L. nodded. It won’t be long before she faced her first, real big failure.

- Lloyd - The first time she had to really apply those skills that she learnt was when the team had seen Lloyd in the village. After he was pulled out of the ocean because he had to escape from an exploding plane that the Digilord had trapped him on. The locals had wanted to help, but Lloyd wasn’t feeling like having strangers cut him up, so they offered him some basic and outdated medical supplies.

P.I.X.A.L. could see him trying to treat himself and to stay awake, and she could see him hiss as the alcohol drizzled on his wounds.

“LLOYD!” Kai shouted in a tone that conveyed panic. This made the young ultimate spinjitzu master look up from his handiwork and immediately break into a smile. As the team had rushed forward to greet him, P.I.X.A.L. could see that his shoulders were sagging, probably from relief.

“I’m so sorry that I got caught guys,” Lloyd wheezed with an apologetic smile before keeling over, to which Cole caught him with shaking hands.

“Oh god, Zane, quick, do your thing!” Kai panicked even harder, hands jittery as if he was in an internal debate about whether he should do something or not. “I’m trying Kai! I just- my hands keep shaking for some reason!” Zane gritted his teeth in frustration. “I’m gonna run some diagnostics on him” “Okay, Cole, lie him on a flat surface- medic! Medic!” Nya screamed out.

It was at this moment that P.I.X.A.L. knew that was her chance. To repay Zane for his heart. To prove to the team that she was useful. To finally implement her knowledge. Sometimes, she wonders if she’ll ever have what Zane has with the other humans, but for now, she is glad that she can separate her emotions from her work.

“Let me handle it,” P.I.X.A.L. said authoritatively. Running a scan with her own diagnostics, P.I.X.A.L. isolated the most dangerous injuries before telling the group out loud, staring at her apprehensively.

“Master Lloyd has suffered a concussion, lung damage due to smoke inhalation, and fractured bones in his tibia. He also has a sprained ankle and several bones on his upper chest area have several bruises. Luckily, there is no internal bleeding. He also has some first and second-degree burns, but those look like they have been treated by the ocean water. However, he is at risk of hypothermia should he not change out of those clothes. Other cuts and bruises should not be life-threatening as long as we keep the infection away, and-“

“WE GET IT! Can you just PLEASE start treating Lloyd NOW?” Jay shrieked in frustration. P.I.X.A.L. blinked. Oh right, the ninjas are still panicking.

“Apologies, can I have a look at the medical supplies?” Taking a scalpel out of the medical box, P.I.X.A.L. removed Lloyd Garmadon’s shirt and so multiple bruises as well as the look of someone who’s emancipated. It didn’t really make any sense to her, but she supposed that being drained of his elemental powers must have caused some damage.

“To treat his concussion, he needs peace and to rest. I would like if all of you can speak in whispers from now on,” P.I.X.A.L. began. The soup suddenly looked ashamed and guilty, with Jay whispering a soft ‘sorry’.

“To treat his hypothermia, we would need blankets-“

“Why can’t I just warm him up with fire?” Kai cut across. “Well, the extreme heat can damage the skin or, even worse, cause irregular heartbeats so severe that they can cause the heart to stop. However, starting a campfire some meters away could help a little. using this fire, we can make some warm beverages and some food.”

“Just say what we gotta do doc, we’ll listen!” Nya begged swiftly. P.I.X.A.L. thought for a moment, before choosing to sort people out based on their perceived abilities.

“Kai, Jay, Cole, Sensei Wu, and Sensei Garmadon- please look for blankets in the village and start a campfire over there,” Pointing at a spot a satisfactory distance from Lloyd, P.I.X.A.L. continued with giving instructions. “Start making some sort of soup- not too heavy. Zane, Nya- you’re with me.”

Garmadon, who was silent all this time, started to protest. “I cannot leave my son, Pixal.”

“Fine, you may stay and just keep tending to the campfire,” P.I.X.A.L. conceded, not wanting to waste time arguing. There was the matter of fact that the smoke inhaled by Lloyd Garmadon could be fatal, but there was not much that she could do in his location. All she could hope to do was to treat his minor injuries before ensuring that Lloyd is stable enough to go to a hospital in Ninjago. Which would have been impossible, given that the Digilord had control of the city already. What could she do? Maybe there’s an elemental master of the air who could treat Lloyd?

“Pix, do you not have any ideas on how to treat the smoke inhalation?” Zane looked at her with kind and understanding eyes. Pixal nodded, defeated, before preparing a cast. “We need concentrated oxygen and a nose tube or a tube down his throat. Unfortunately, there is nowhere in Ninjago where we can get to such technology.”

Hearing this, Nya immediately perked up. “But we can make them. Zane, do you have any wires that you can spare for a bit?”

“Redirecting power from the right hand,” Zane replied as he opened up his arm to take out a tube. He’s so self-sacrificing. For some strange reason, P.I.X.A.L. felt her heart beating faster. Maybe Zane was nervous? “Nya, if you could please clean this?”

“Of course. HEY KAI!” “Yeah, sis?” Nya was looking at P.I.X.A.L. expectantly. Oh yes. she was supposed to know this, wasn’t she? “Can you get us 10 cups of potable water and 1 cup of vinegar? Also, get some detergent or soap.” “Okay Pix, not gonna question this at all!”

Meanwhile, Nya was using pure H2O to just start blasting the tubing As much as they wanted Lloyd to not die from smoke inhalation, they also didn’t want him to be infected. Speaking of infections…

“Ow!” Lloyd woke up sleepily as Zane used one hand to dab his cuts. Looking sheepish, Zane immediately offered an apology before Nya cuts in and admitting her mistake.

“Go back to Lloyd,” Nya said, petting his hair. Once Kai had returned with the necessary materials, Nya sanitised her hands before delicately cleaning the tube with 10 parts water and 1 part vinegar.

Tightening the wrappings around Lloyd’s ankle, Pixal studied her handiwork. The splint was holding up nicely against Lloyd’s leg, and all the infections on Lloyd’s legs were taken care of. Seeing as Zane is treating Lloyd well enough, P.I.X.A.L. immediately began to start diagnosing Lloyd’s burns before seeing blood flow from Lloyd’s back.

“Oh, dear.” In her hast, P.I.X.A.L. had forgotten to check Lloyd for injuries from behind. Maybe she wasn’t as professional as she thought. There was no other choice. Looking at Zane firmly, they pushed Lloyd onto his side as he gave a pained groan.

P.I.X.A.L.’s mechanical heart sank. Lloyd had a reason for sitting up without any support. There were several pieces of debris stuck to his back, and they were all pushed in due to them lying Lloyd on the desk. Nya looked up from her task in horror.

“I’m so sorry Lloyd, I didn’t know-“ “Nya, please focus on your task,” P.I.X.A.L. cut her off before she could begin crying. She felt bad, but what’s done was done. Blocking Lloyd from’s Nya’s view, P.I.X.A.L. picked up a pair of tweezers before picking up the small pieces. But the large piece of metal stuck in his shoulder blades- Pixal had to cut Lloyd’s skin to get that out. Eyes narrowing, hardening her resolve- P.I.X.A.L. lightly cut Lloyd’s skin using the scalpel before pulling up a long shard of bloodied glass. Picking up some of the unused water, P.I.X.A.L. quickly cleared Lloyd and the flat-surfaced of their blood. Applying pressure to those wounds would be hard from this angle, so after disinfecting the openings, P.I.X.A.L. took several rolls of bandages before tying them around Lloyd’s chest. Not too tightly, that would further bruise his ribs- but tight enough to ensure a sense of security and staunch the oozing bleeding.

“Zane, do you have an oxygen filter?” Nya asked, having been satisfied by the cleanliness of the tubing. Sanitising her metallic hands, P.I.X.AL. heard Zane sigh before declining.

“I do. Mr Borg wanted us to be at least a little environmentally friendly, given that the Nindroids would be using large amounts of energy every day. So I can filter out excess greenhouse gases in the air and store them in their solid form before giving the raw materials back to Borg Industries,” P.I.X.A.L. offered.

“You’re a lifesaver Pix,” Nya said in relief, handing P.I.X.A.L. the tubing. P.I.X.A.L. smiled. She supposed that she actually was. Opening Lloyd Garmadon’s mouth, P.I.X.A.L. inserted the tubing down his throat with NIndroid precision. Connecting the end to her oxygen filter, P.I.X.A.L. adjusted the settings so that she was inputting air composing of at least 60% oxygen into young Garmadon’s lungs.

As Zane finished applying some frost to Lloyd’s burns, the 3 of them stood there and watched as Lloyd breathed in and out.

“If you guys don’t mind, I’ll go find what the guys have been doing,” Nya informed their group. “I too will go into the village, but to ensure that we have permission to stay here for the night,” Zane stated, giving a nod to P.I.X.A.L., before walking away into the dusk, right hand locked and useless.

P.I.X.A.L., knowing that she can’t really move, sat next to Lloyd Garmadon as she watched the campfire grow as shrieks from the ninja team rose. At the end of today, all P.I.X.A.L. wanted to do was to just shut down and recharge. She knows she doesn’t need to know that she had half of Zane’s heart (which just skipped another beat for some unknown reason), but all she wants was a break.

Too bad that being a ninja means that you don’t really get to choose when to stop. P.I.X.A.L. thought to herself.

But at least today, I’ve proved my usefulness. I can repay Zane for his heart.

- Kai - Having been stuck alone, disassembled and scrapped, P.I.X.A.L. found that she really, really missed the Ninja team. She also missed Zane, though he was in a cell next to hers. He’s been offline for such a long time, P.I.X.A.L. had fears that he would never wake up.

But he did. And the ninja had rescued them from Chen. But along the way, they had lost Sensei Garmadon, and the year apart had caused some major issues.

Kai doesn’t know that they’re here. But he shouldn’t be here either after Zane had ordered that everyone go to rest after this long day. Still, the glint of red from his eyes even scared P.I.X.A.L., but she would never tell anyone that. She watched as Kai shredded the bandages he wrapped around his hands by destroying a metal training dummy, before turning around to wrap some more.

“Why is he doing that?” P.I.X.A.L. wondered from inside Zane’s head. Zane started whispering, “He… has some anger issues.”

“I get that Zane, I mean why’s he wrapping his hands in bandages?” P.I.X.A.L. corrected herself. Zane quirked an eyebrow but continued with answering P.I.X.A.L.’s questions. “Well, martial artists wear hand wraps and bandages because they can prevent injuries and improve the power of their punches. Wraps and bandages also protect the martial artist’s skin and soften the impact on hard surfaces.”

“I see,” P.I.X.A.L. stated whilst both of them cringed, as Kai delivered a particularly hard blow to the metallic dummy that Zane was supposed to fight with.

“KAI, PLEASE SHUT UP!” came Jay’s voice from down the corridor, moving closer towards them. Zane and P.I.X.A.L. watched in apprehension as Kai breathed heavily, staring down the metallic dummy before all the tension from his shoulders sagged.

The Nindroids watched as Kai cleaned up the training room and head out to use the bathroom to wash up.

“He’s being too hard on himself for the death of Lloyd’s father,” P.I.X.AL. commented blandly. Zane shifted from his position. “I’m afraid that that’s not the only reason. Do you remember Jay telling us that Kai had almost killed both Lloyd and Skylor using Chen’s staff?” P.I.X.A.L. stayed silent.

Bandages come in many ways. There are gauze bandages, treating all kinds of wounds the Ninja may have. There are bandages used to prevent injury in Martial Arts. What P.I.X.A.L. is wondering, is that if mankind has a bandage for the heart.

- Jay - It was only a few days after Master Wu had been lost in time. Whilst the Ninja team were recuperating and in shock, Pixal has been remotely using Samurai X to patrol the cities whilst maintaining in the current Ninja’s headquarters- the electronic system of Yang’s temple. P.I.X.AL. had really wanted to go full into Samurai X, but she knew that she could not just desert her teammates at this moment. But there wasn’t much she could do, other than counting reps for Lloyd. (You skipped a number, I know what you’re doing Pix, and I ain’t gonna stop training-) helping Jay prepare breakfast (Jay! The pancakes are burning!) or accompanying Zane as he retrieved bits and pieces from all the fighting. (Someone has to clean up Ninjago city, and I guess that that would be me and Samurai X.)

P.I.X.A.L. knew that she shouldn’t be keeping Samurai X a secret, but she couldn’t help herself. She felt a strange sense of duty, and the ability to finally be on the front lines, fighting the same enemies as Zane. And she wanted some secrets to herself.

Still, it surprised her when Jay had demanded her full attention during one of her free times.

“Hey, umm… Pix? Do you- do you think you could maybe check out my left eye?” Jay stammered whilst twiddling his fingers. Pixal was curious, but she’s already moved to Jay’s laptop. “Why do you ask so? Did your eye get hit sometime recently?”

Jay had flinched at the word ‘hit’, but shook his head at the word ‘recently’. Huh. Maybe it was phantom pains? Still, Pixal had run a diagnostic on it.

“I can’t seem to find any physical abnormalities, but if this is a case of phantom pain, over the counter pain relievers should work.”

Jay nodded whilst his eyes were blank seemingly off to another world or lost in his memories.

“Jay? Jay, can you hear me?” Pixal once again ran a diagnostic scan. It seems that Jay was slipping into dissociation. Dimming the lights in his room as well as all the screens the blue ninja had put into his room. Pixal started playing a calm Ninjago lofi mix from the speaker she was in. She gently called Jay’s name and he slipped back into reality.

“Jay, just take 2 doses of ibuprofen. They’re at the lowest shelf at the kitchen counter. If it hurts again, tell me and we’ll bring you to a professional.”

Jay who was nodding at the instructions froze at the thought of being taken to the hospital. Still, he slid off his bed and made his way downstairs. Pixal filtered through the electronic system of the temple, landing new the smart fridge and watched as Jay swallowed 2 pills dry.

It seemed to create some results because Jay stopped shivering and shaking. Pixal wondered if that was just a placebo or an actual effect. Still, watching Jay’s face relax in bliss, free from whatever pain that was bothering him, Pixal knew that she made the right call.

- Nya - S9, fight with SOG

It had been brutal. Pixal was just treating the training injuries Lloyd had when Skylor came into the noodle house, helping Nya to walk as her left arm dangled without any purpose. Immediately, Pixal stood up and took quick strides, scanning Nya for all her injuries.

“We were getting supplies when a bunch of Harumi’s goons jumped on us, we had to be quick so that none of them could call up for back up, when-“ “When- fuck, when this dude pulled out a fucking gun,” Nya said, pained and heaving as Skylor slowly helped her to sit on the training mat.

“So you were shot?” Lloyd’s voice came from behind Pixal as he took the medkit to the mat. Nya eyes looked everywhere but at him. Gesturing to her limp and bleeding arm, she gave up all her dignity. “Yeah, right here.”

“Okay, Nya, here, take these.” Lloyd handed her 2 tablets of ibuprofen and a cup of water. “W-what? No, I can’t take these!” Nya hissed in pain.

“Yes, you can!” “What if we need them later? What if one of us loses an arm or something happens where we have a worse injury?” “That does not matter, Nya. Look, I’ve been shot in Ninjago city before, I know how it feels.”

Pixal immediately flashes back to the nights where she had to help Lloyd through a computer screen, and her metallic fingers curled up. It was horrible, watching him choking down painkillers before trying to pull the bullet out himself. Never again.

“Nya, it would be alright, just take these- we can always go out to get more,” Pixal tried coaxing Nya to just swallow the pills.

“Take them or I’ll force you to take them, Water Ninja.” Skylor admonished. With the combined strength of their motley crew of 3, Nya hesitantly reached for the medicine, almost choking as she had swallowed too much water at one go.

“Okay, good, now we just need to pull the bullet out,” Lloyd reached into the medkit, pulling out a pair of tweezers. Pixal watched as his hands, fatigued from all the trains, couldn’t stop shaking.

“Wait, Lloyd, let me see if the bullet should be removed at all.” Pixal interrupted, taking a more in-depth scan at Nya’s shoulder. In the meantime, Lloyd started to check through Skylor, who said that he was all clear except for a few knuckle bruises. Of course, Pixal would check on her later, but now she had to make sure that Nya would be alright.

“The bullet has missed your major arteries and it actually isn’t in too deep, possibly because of the protection offered by your suit-“ “Just tell me when you’re gonna remove it!” Nya snapped as her brow furrowed in anticipation. “Well, let’s see… first, we need to remove the clothing around the area of the wound, which-“

“AHH!” Nya shrieked as Pixal twisted and pulled out the bullet without any warning. “Sorry Nya, sometimes fear of a thing could be greater than the actual danger that it poses,” Pixal explained as Nya stared at her with a look that could only scream betrayal.

Dropping the bullet to the ground, Pixal took up some disinfectant and sanitised the area around the entry wound. Nya hissed as Pixal gently presses a cotton gauze to stop the bleeding before finally applying some sort of disinfectant cream. She finished off the wound with a bandage around Nya’s arm, with extra padding using gauze at the point where the wound is at.

“Alright, so now you should not move this arm too much for the next few days, and in the next few weeks, you would not be able to raise it over your shoulder. But in a few months, you can use it again and in a year it would be pretty much healed up so that you may do your weight lifting sessions with- with Cole again…” Pixal said, starting brightly but dropping to a small whisper.

The mood suddenly went from cheery to depressive. “Remember to take lots of rest,” Pixal finished lamely. As Lloyd escorted Nya to the sleeping bags they had gathered, Skylor picked up the bullet Pixal had removed.

“Girl, you were quite mean back there,” Skylor began. “And I think that you’re cool. One problem- the pharmacies have not been able to continue business as normal. All the drugs have to be given to the Sons of Garmadon. In the meantime, all supply chains are disrupted. Over the counter medicine won’t be so easy to find. “

Pixal kept quiet. “Well, I’ll have to keep this bullet as a souvenir for Nya. FSM knows that she deserves this.”

Of course, the bullet would be lost later as they were hunted down throughout the city. But every time Nya changed into her swimsuit, Pixal could see the bullet wound. The scarring left wasn’t pretty, but Pixal thought that the courage Nya showed made her the most beautiful woman she’ll ever have the chance to meet.

- Cole- Cole was alive. Cole was alive!

Pixal watched as the Ninja went into a momentary stop before cheering and becoming more alive. She saw Nya pass the Scythe of Earth to Cole, who promptly swung it into the oncoming Oni. Pixal was trying her best to fend off the Oni herself, but her mind, or rather, motherboard, was spinning really, really fast. How did Cole survive? It should have been impossible!

Pixal heard that Cole justify his survival, stating that the Oni clouds must have broken his fall. He didn’t know how he wasn’t attacked at first, but many tendrils then came to attack him.

Still, this was impossible for Pixal to figure out. Was it because Cole had been a ghost? Maybe it was his elemental power protecting him? Or perhaps it was divine intervention? Either way, Pixal was going o scan him later if there was even a later.

“Watch out!” Pixal saw a blast of green hit the Oni in front of her. I can’t afford to get lost in thought now! Come on Samurai X, focus! She chided to herself.

Yet, as the battle once again turned tides, and the elemental masters got together to do the Tornado of Creation, Pixal watched from her position behind the holding doors to see Lloyd Garmadon get thrown out of the tornado, hitting his head with an earth-shattering crack as he collapsed against the walls of the monastery before debris-covered him.

Frantically approaching him, Pixal saw out of the corner of her eye that the rest of the ninja were left dizzy, exhausted, and possibly some having passed out. That was alright. It was time for her to do her duty anyways.

However, whilst lifting slabs of concrete, Pixal felt her heart drop. The calculated survival rate of the impact sent shivers down Pixal’s circuits as the percentage just kept. Dropping. Lower.

Heaving the last piece of concrete off the young bearer of green power, Pixal heard her teammates rushing into the scene. She could have warned them, said something, said anything. But her joints were frozen in place with something much colder than what her sensors had detected when she went into the Oni cloud.

The motley crew, now only 5, took the last piece of debris off from their teammate.

“Lloyd. Buddy, wake up,” Kai pleaded, desperate. “He-He's not moving!” Nya exclaimed, voice shaking as tears start to form. She looked at Pixal, asking for anything, anything at all. “Someone find Wu. Where’s Wu?” Cole ordered.

In no time, Master Wu arrived and lifted Lloyd’s arm, checking his pulse. He would find nothing there.

“You can do something, right? Right?!” Jay panicked. With a defeated look that Pixal knows is mirrored in her eyes, Wu shook his head and said, “There’s nothing to be done.” Nya finally cries out, sobbing. “Oh, Lloyd!”

PIxal wanted to cry as well, but she never could. When rebuilding her body, she had used the same blueprints that Cyrus Borg had with some upgrades. One thing she didn’t consider adding was the ability to cry because there wasn’t any time. She had to save Lloyd from the vermillion. But what she can’t save Lloyd from, was from an early- early- d… fate.

There’s nothing Pixal could do. And she felt hopeless.

She watched from the corner of her eye as Garmadon backed away from their small group, and in a flash, she felt her wires burning. She couldn’t just let him leave. Not after what he’s done.

Yet, just as she was about to boost straight towards the Oni and tackle him off the mountain, Lloyd started to cough. Lloyd. Started to cough.

Whipping around to see a golden petal float away, she watched the team cheer as Lloyd started to breathe. How- this was impossible! Pixal almost short-circuited from shock. There had been no way! No way! She didn’t even go through all 5 stages of grief yet.

And not too soon, Lloyd woke up from a sleep that she was sure that he never would.

Catching him mumbling something about the First Spinjitzu Master, Pixal smiled. Divine intervention had definitely happened at least once today. The first time being….

“Cole, please come with me to the med bay,” Pixal requested with a smile. Divine intervention or not, five-sixths of the Ninja team knows how to hide a serious injury, and she had to be certain. Cole, who looked shopped, resigned himself and walked with Pixal o the medical centre. For now, she trusted that Zane was doing all the scans that he could to make sure that Lloyd was right in the head, and sought out to take care of her own, albeit selfish, worries.

Scanning Cole on both sides, Pixal noticed a particular bad bruise on Cole’s spine. Yet falling from that height and the fact that Cole isn’t paralysed due to spinal injury made Pixal reaffirm her theories that the First Spinjitsu Master was alive, just in another realm.

“You know, Lloyd might have actually seen the First Spinjitsu Master,” Pixal began, which led Cole to choke on the water he was ordered to drink. “No way, he must have just hit his head hard…”

“I’m sorry Cole, but the injuries you have is comparable to sleeping on a rock hard bed for one night, not falling from a height of 500m, even if your fall was broken by the Oni cloud, you should still have been paralysed,” Pixal explained.

“So God is real and Lloyd’s sharing a fourth of his blood? Neat! Next time tell him to not scare us with a fake-out,” Cole brushed it off.

At this time Pixal was about the shutdown and delve deep into theorising. Lloyd technically had a fourth of his grandfather’s blood and possessed the same power, could he possible have powers that control life and death-

Yet, she watched as a steady stream of Ninja enter the medbay, and resolved her thoughts to her inner GPU. She can think later. For now, she had to make sure that everyone is okay, and everyone will be okay. Even if she threatens Loyd to shave his head so she can get a better look at his skull, to which a chase around the monastery ensued. Her family was alright for now, and the concerning mortality of humans was left deep in the recesses of her mind.

- Zane - Too soon, Pixal had to face her own mortality. Being a Nindroid, her lifespan would naturally be much longer than a Ninja’s. But she still could be erased, dismantled, destroyed, sent to another realm-

The days waiting for the group of 6, not 5, to come back were some of the hardest. Even though all Pixal wanted to do was to shut down, lie on her bed and stare into the picture they had taken on their first date, Pixal knew that the team was entrusting her to keep Ninjago safe. Even if it means recapturing escaped convicts. Even if it means fighting the… undead-dead Preeminent (Pixal still hasn’t figured out how she worked). And they had to find ways to reach the Never Realm, by going through different infusions of travellers tea.

Yet, all the waiting and longing was worth it. Pixal prefers a Zane stuck in another realm for 40 years as to no Zane. There was no other choice. Yet, as she sees her loved ones trudging out of the frosty realm, some of them had worst frost bites than others. Even though all Pixal wanted to do was to smother Zane in a hug, she can see the edges of Lloyd’s skin turning a deep, dark black. From the corner of her eyes, she can see Nya taking care of Cole whilst Jay and Kai attempt to remove the ice from everyone else, including lubricating Zane’s frosted joins. She had not a single moment to lose. This kind of frostbite was not exactly lethal immediately, but losing limbs could mean the end of Lloyd’s ninja career. So calling everyone to attention, she went all in to salvaging Lloyd’s limbs, doing everything she could.

Later that night, Pixal spotted Zane wandering around the outskirts of the monastery whilst the Ninja finish up dinner. She watched as Zane’s hands gripped the staff so tight that the wood would be snapping in 3…2…1.

A harsh crack and splinters flying out later, Pixal could see the shaking in Zane’s hands as he cursed, something that the Zane she knew never would.

For her, it had been a hellish week. But for Zane? It must have been a hellish 40 years.

“…Zane?” Pixal called out from the monastery doors. Zane immediately whipped around before pointing the tip of the staff towards her, to which Pixal reflectively grabbed. Zane, eyes widening in shock and horror, immediately released his grip on the now shorter staff, before turning around, trying to run away. Pixal won’t let that happen.

“Zane,” Pixal said once again, hand now gripping onto the collar of Zane’s Gi. “Please don’t run away from me.”

Zane, froze, hands twitching before dropping them to his side. Pixal released her grip before tapping Zane on the shoulder, asking him to turn around.

“Pixal, I’m- I’m sorry…I just can’t- I can’t trust myself right now,” Zane vented out hands fidgeting with each other. Pixal smiled sadly. She knew that not everything could go back to normal so fast, but still, she had hoped that it would have been easier than this. “If you don’t trust yourself right now, why not spend some time with me?”

“Pixal- I…I could hurt you-“ “Yes you can, but don’t think that I can’t protect myself,” Pixal snapped back whilst carefully reaching to hold Zane’s hands. Once she made contact, Zane flinched back, before slowly reciprocating the action. “C’mon Zane, let’s go back into the monastery-“

“No!” Zane protested, wrenching Pixal back. Pixal clasped her other hand on top of Zane’s. “Not to the dining room. I’m thinking med bay.”

Pixal could see Zane’s processing unit cycle through his thoughts, noticing that it had considerable frost damage. Before long, Zane nodded his head, allowing Pixal to pull him into the light.

Opening the cupboards, Pixal took out a few rolls of bandages before carefully wrapping them around Zane’s hands. The ice ninja watched with curiosity as Pixal carefully finished tying and tightening the strips of cloth.

“Why are you doing this? You and I both know that Nindroids don’t need bandages,” Zane asked. Pixal smiled, looking at Zane’s now steadier hands. “Maybe bandages can’t fix our metal skin, but it still makes us feel better.”

Zane paused, looking down at his hands. “I don’t know how you’re right PIx, but they do make me feel more sure that my powers won’t hurt anyone accidentally. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Now let’s get back to dinner, we have some desserts to bring out.”

Bandages. As much as PIxal uses them and finds them efficient, she can’t help but hope that team doesn’t need to use as many. But this time, t’s just a trip to a legendary city full of peace and prosperity. Maybe this time, Pixal doesn’t need to bandage their wounds away.

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