#and that definitely impacted Zero Mission for me

[coldgoldlazarus]

It's kinda funny how scattershot my approach to the 2D games has been lol.

AM2R: Beat, 100%

Zero Mission: Beat but haven't/won't complete percentage

Metroid: Completed percentage but haven't beat

Dread: Working on it

What a skip lol

I want to play Super and Fusion and the other two versions of Metroid II properly, I've watched enough playthroughs to have a good feel for them but it's no replacement for actually experiencing them myself. But I do think I want Return Of Samus to be the last one, (until future releases anyway) but not in a "putting off the worst until all other options are exhausted" way, more a "saving the best for last" way. I already know I'll love it for the story and how that's conveyed, but I want it to be special.

[stsgluver]

synopsis. after too many years, gojo has his family together again.

wc. 810

tags. lovers-to-strangers-to-lovers!au

series link !

"so are you two back together?"

you and gojo share a surprised look that that was the first question that tsumiki asked. yes, you had acknowledged the status of your relationship would be brought up in this small cafe meeting with tsumiki and megumi, but admittedly you'd hoped it would've come up far later in the conversation. if at all.

beyond your initial comment about how leaving him had impacted you, there hadn't been much discussion on anything regarding the two of you together. the jujutsu world was one of heartache and pain and neither of you were brave enough to take the dive into another heartbreak that would surely kill you both.

you cleared your throat, ignoring the heat that had risen to your cheeks as you shook your head, "no, no, we are just friends." gojo gave a tight-lipped smile and nodded in agreement.

just friends aren't still deeply in lo-

"-being away from this place wasn't as... cleansing for the soul as i'd hoped it to be so i came back," you explained and tsumiki eyed you both suspiciously.

tsumiki had been thirteen and megumi twelve when you had left. they had always been insightful children and knew something was wrong before you and gojo officially ended things. neither had expected you to leave them, however, and it had taken megumi some convincing to come to the cafe at all to see you.

he'd barely acknowledged you at jujutsu high.

"so you're back for good?" tsumiki asked and you nodded, causing a wide grin to appear on her face, "yay! i've really hated being the only girl in the house-"

"-she's not moving back in," gojo cut her off more harshly than intended and he bit his tongue, sending you an apologetic glance.

you brushed it off, leaning across the table to lightly squeeze tsumiki's hand, "i'll definitely come over and visit. I've missed our friday girl's nights." it wasn't enough to make her smile as it had before, but at least one night a week was definitely better than the zero she'd had for three and a half years.

"are you sure you should be coming back?"

everything around you stilled and you're once again reminded of how observant megumi was, even as a young teenager. it reflected his muddled childhood and you felt a pang of guilt for only further causing an issue which forced him to mature more quickly than he should've had to.

"i'm okay now megs, i promise," you said sincerely, "everything was just getting a little too much and i could barely focus. i didn't want to get someone hurt on a mission because of my mistakes. you're stuck with me now though. forever." your promise did little to subside the unease that megumi felt but he nodded his head in recognition nonetheless.

the silence of a thousand unsaid words settled between the four of you, each of you deciding that staring at your drinks were more fascinating.

gojo decided that this was his opportunity to make his coffee to just his liking and began pouring in several tubes of sugar at once.

you scoffed at his behaviour as he reached for three more, "how do you have any teeth left?"

gojo gave your drink a disgusted glance, "if you tell me that you like the bitter flavour of coffee, i'll be the one who leaves this time." whilst you'd like to say that you were shocked that he was making jokes so soon, you'd be lying. this was how he coped. had it not been for the circumstance, you think you would've been a little happier for that - this gojo was still your gojo.

you diverted your attention back to megumi, "you still remember the pins to gojo's cards right?" he nodded with a smirk in gojo's direction. "perfect!" you placed your hand on gojo's forearm that rested on the table as you grinned up at him. he did his best not to visibly react to feeling the warm of your touch, even through the fabric of his shirt. "we'll be okay without you." however, the way your fingers naturally hold onto his shirt a little bit tighter than necessary screamed otherwise.

gojo dramatically rolled his eyes, tsking as you 'ganged' up on him, "oh so now you're all using me for my money? shocked but not surprised."

"well it's definitely not your personality that keeps us around," megumi quipped and gojo gasped as he clutched a hand to his shirt in faux agony. for a boy who so often kept his emotions hidden beneath a facade, no one missed the quirk of his lips into a small smile.

for a moment, a very brief fleeting moment, gojo was content. in front of him were the three most important people in his life and, relationships aside, his family was together again.

tag list below cut:

@trinityimagines ! @karmcrim15 ! @sagekko! @hoejosfavhoe ! @hilzup ! @planetnini ! @mariapierce789 ! @deegausserr ! @shoutoandsatorubrainrot ! @keilaq1 !

if you have any suggestions or any ideas for this series please let me know!!

[bruhhhh-huhhhhh]

yooo is there any chance I can request parent headcanons for the safehouse crew (cod: bocw)??? been replaying the bo2 campaign and the Adler is Graves' father theory has a grip on me esp recently now that that mf is coming back

I imagine that Adler is a pretty distant parent, what with work in the CIA taking up most of his time and probably isn't able to see his kid much to begin with after the divorce, no doubt his ex wife has full custody of any of the children they had during that marriage. he's the kind of dad to buy his teenage kid expensive gifts to make up for the times he couldn't be there, usually related to something they were mildly interested in when they were like 7. And that thing is probably one of the only things he knows about them because they ranted about it to him when they were really young and naive. Russ is not as good as vocalizing his affection, but he's observant, and would zero in on any information and likes that his kid has when they express it... It's just that the usually don't with the distance between them. I think he does genuinely care about his child and still wants to show that they appreciate them, but just doesn't know how to properly connect with them on an emotional level, and usually doesn't even have the time. I don't think he'd treat his kid much differently based on their gender, he's still an emotionally-supressed mostly absentee father that his child would kind of just grow to resent as they get older. Adler is the 'he tried' dad. (I hc that Graves his kid is also the most likely to have a wild rebellious teens phase, and he'd kind of just let it happen so long as they aren't getting into any legal trouble because at that point their relationship would be so strained and he's just kinda apathetic about it. I think he's the type that would come home late to catch his kid smoking, and the only thing he'd do is ask why they started and if they know the consequences of it, then promptly asks for one and never brings it up again.)

Hudson, on the contrary, would be the perfect dad. Girl dad 100%, this man has a wife and two daughters (I think, might need to double check this one, but point still stands because I think he'd be good with girls). This man deserves a bo burnham 1985 edit. I think that he's really the type of guy who tries to squeeze in as much quality time with his family even with his work, and is the type to frequently show affection and pride for his children. Jason is completely soft for his wife and children, in contrast to how much of a no-nonsense hardass he is on the job. I am utterly convinced that this is the man who would always play along with his daughter's tea parties when he has tine and would never miss any of his son's games (he'd ask Jenny to record it for him if he's knows he's gonna be on a mission for a long time). I imagine that he really goes the extra mile to be the best role model for his kids, being both responsible and loving even with the limited presence he has because of his job. Hudson is the father figure some us needed in life ngl.

I don't think Mason would be an abusive dad contrary to what most people would take away from the one interaction we see with him and a very young David. I definitely think he'd have some major anger issues though, no doubt that trauma from The Numbers™️ and all the shit he's gone through as soldier and later CIA op would have an impact on him. He would never lay a hand on his own kid, but he's definitely shouted at them pretty frequently and has likely broken objects around them when he's angry. Much more so after his wife's death and being left as a single dad who barely has any idea what he's doing, and the only other person who can rein him in from it is Frank. I think he's more affectionate and less emotionally distant than Adler, but still just not as close as he should be to his child. He'd apologize for his outbursts and all but, being raised with traditional values from the 30s-40s, he isn't really the type to have those heartfelt talks about feelings because men are supposed to be strong and being emotional makes you weak and all that crap. Would be tougher with a son, and stricter with a daughter. Alex would become a lot more understanding and open over time when his kid grows older, and mellow out as an old man and just be proud of how they turned out despite how he was. The anger issues never really dissipates, but he learns to control it and be better for his kid for the remainder of his life. Mason is the dad you'd resent and have so much anxiety over in your teens and twenties but eventually make up with and get closure by your late thirties or so.

Woods would definitely be more of a fun uncle than a dad. More of the tough love type, but will always remind his kid that they're appreciated at the end of the day. But I also imagine he's a lot more reckless snd clumsy, specially as a first-time father. May not be perfect, has his own shortcomings in a lot of places, but he's really trying his best. I imagine that he probably tiptoed a lot when it came to raising David, trying not to yell at him too much and tried to be his anchor as much as he can after he was tricked into killing Alex (and then promptly going off on him when he shows face again after thirty years). Frank would be considerate and very vocal about his appreciation for his kid despite . Woods is the lovable old man that you'd have a lot of funny memories to look back on, and cussing you out is just his own way of saying he loves you.

I don't have as much thoughts on them but I think Park would be very overprotective, especially if she had a daughter. Would shelter her child and be very strict with them, making sure she knows how and where her kid is all the time, who her kid is with, and how safe they are. Would make her child wear a tracker watch and tell her all and any people they meet or see. Madam Shell's betrayal and her brother's death have definitely left a mark on her, and she would excessively worry about them at all times, to the point of it being suffocating and very invasive Lazar is the balance to this, more lenient and lets his kid have a right to privacy and freedom. Sure, he still worries a lot, but he has enough faith in his child to let then go off on their own when they're at an appropriate age. I also imagine that he gives the best best hugs. Sims would be somewhere in between, albeit more leaning on the stricter side.

AHHHH THIS TOOK ME SO LONG TO ANSWER I'M SORRY

bUuuuT

i love this idea so I'm gonna do silly little headcannons for it

How the Safehouse Crew treat their kid

Russell Adler

He's absolutely an absent dad

It's not that he does it on purpose, it's just what happens with his job

Russell tries so hard. So hard to be there, but a lot of the time he just can't because of work

If his kid does any sports, you can bet your ass that he's gonna be at any games he can

Now, that's not a lot, but still

Adler absolutely cheers the loudest anytime that his kid does anything

He'll also argue with the refs or umpires about dumb calls

Has been kicked out multiple times

Russell also buys his kid anything that they want

Christmas with him is like out of a damn movie

Presents are practically stacked to the roof and each one is more extravagant than the last

Is definitely the type of parent to dump a bunch of money on his kid for whatever they want

It's his way of making up for barely being around

Has missed his visitation days a lot

Every time he does, Adler sends money and presents as an apology

One time, his kid was staying over at his house because they got into an argument with their mom

He came home late and was met with the sight of his only child smoking cigarettes in the living room

"You know what those do to your lungs?"

The kid just stared for a second before nodding in shock

"Good. Don't be surprised when you get lung cancer. Lord knows I'm already getting close to that. Give me one."

The kid hands over the whole pack, and Adler takes one, lights it, and hands it back. "Don't tell your mother."

On the times that he actually has off and has the kid, he tries to make a whole day out of spending time together

Adler takes them to an amusement park or something, and its just plain awkward the whole time

But, by the end of the day, they're just a little closer

Mainly because they had a heart to heart on the car ride home

They even hugged!

Yay!

And then nothing changed

Boo >:(

Jason Hudson

Girl dad 100%

He's the dad that everyone needs

So supportive, no matter what

Jason does, in fact, have two girls. And, if I remember right, he loves them more than anything

This man absolutely has been caught playing princesses and knights with his daughters by his wife

His favorite thing is to sit at the tiny tables and have a tea party

Loves his kids so much

If he had a son, Hudson would teach him how to throw a football

Definitely would push him to join a sport

If he does, Hudson goes to every game

Just like Adler, he cheers the loudest

If his girls get boyfriends, you can bet your ass that he's going to let them know that he has multiple guns and absolutely knows how to use it

#WillThreatenToKillThem

Jason has to be told by his wife to leave them alone

He only does because he loves his wife so so much and he'd kill for her

Lots of physical affection

Hugs and all that good stuff

His kids definitely won't be touch starved

Is absolutely who they go to first whenever something happens and they need help/support

If he ever catches his kid doing something that they shouldn't, like smoking, he has to try really hard not to yell at them. He pretty much has to walk away to cool off before he can approach the conversation in a way that he wants to

Hudson and his kid are going to have a long talk that ends in a hug and a promise not to do it again

Overall his kids are well behaved and he's a good dad

Alex Mason

My poor boy

I love him so much, anger issues and all

Any time that he screams and breaks things in front of his kid, he calls Woods to come and pick them up so he can take care of things

He always feels horrible after he yells. Alex never wanted to hurt anyone. Quite the opposite, actually. He just doesn't know how to control his anger

Throughout the kids developmental years, he tries his best not to yell or get angry, but a lot of the time he can't stop himself in time

In comes one Frank Woods, who ends up coming over and taking the kid out for ice cream or to the park or just for a drive

He ends up being that cool uncle that the kid goes to when something happens

When he gets discharged (Honorably) from the military, Mason ends up going to therapy

And anger management classes

Only reason he does is because his kid ends up yelling back when he gets angry

And he realizes that he fucked up :(

So that helps him mellow out for his kids later years

Definitely apologizes to his kid for how they were raised

Alex won't over explain or get all mushy, but it'll come up as a simple "I'm sorry for how you were raised," and leave it at that

Will express his feelings through gifts or spending quality time with his kid

If he gets grandkids, Alex will take that as the time to make up for his kids shitty childhood

Best granddad for real

When he's older, he won't mind as much when it comes to telling his kid that he's proud of them

Lots of praise

Frank Woods

HE'S SO BABY GIRL I CAN'T

LOOK AT THIS GIF

Anyway

Definitely the type of dad to pretend that his kid is in trouble and then it turns out to be a prank

He would absolutely do it just like he did in the scene of the gif

Frank wouldn't yell at his kid, more just yell in general

He'll scream over football games, tv shows, dropping something, anything

He does not care

His kid would be used to loud noises by double digits

Woods would absolutely not know that his kid was sneaking out until Alex caught them

He doesn't particularly care, but he's a little disappointed that they didn't ask him if they could go

Instead of yelling, he would sit them down and have a serious discussion

Lots of "You could have just asked," and, "How many times have you done it?"

Basically he'd get his kid to quit because he knows it's a bad habit

I can't remember if he's a smoker or not, but if he is he would go through the process of quitting with said kid

Helen Park

She's kind of a shitty mom, ngl

Park can be good at it when she wants to, but she's got her own shit that he's going through

She can't handle a kid

In the early years, she's a little neglectful and absent

Then she does a full 180 and goes full over-protective mom mode

Trackers, constant phone calls, reassuring messages

The whole nine yards

She'll try her best to stop if her kid says something, but her anxiety is way too high to stop fully

Definitely the kind of mom to apologize through gifts

One fond memory that her kid would have of their younger years is her sneaking into their room and climbing into bed with them

She just sat there and held them, silently telling them how much she loved them

Helen thought their kid was asleep, not awake and hearing everything she was saying

Park definitely let her kid sneak into her bed when they had nightmares or got sick

She secretly loves it and is sad when they stop doing it

Okay that's all I got-

I didn't mean for this to take so long to make

[lemon-muncher]

I was thinking some Shalnark x Dom reader? The gender and particular flavour is up to you :3 whether you're in the mood for sadism, bondage, pet play, whatever really. I just want to make him whine and feel so good he cries ✨😌

I LOVE HIM SO MUCH GOOD LORD SOMEONE HOLD ME BACK FROM HIM

Doing this headcanon style so I can add a bunch of stuff for him <3

I'll be keeping this gender neutral and have separate mini headcanons in some of them for female and male genitalia :]

Shalnark is definitely a crier. As much as he hates to admit it, the second he gets the tiniest bit overwhelmed, his eyes water like crazy.

Considering he's a manipulator, both as a person and as a nen user, giving up control isn't something he's use to. But the second his partner rips the control from under his feet, he's at their mercy without complaint.

Definitely a switch... Like I said, he's a manipulator and needs control to do pretty much anything but he finds it nice to let o of all the stress every once in a while.

He's kinky... THERE I SAID IT!!! He may have a cute and innocent face but the things he searches on his phone will get him sent to horny jail! Dude as 50 taps open dedicated to porn and twitter threads of some of the most foul things. I'm talking the hub, X Videos, probably some sketchy furry roleplay is mixed in there too.

Lets get into some of the specifics:

Chocking: He has the biggest turn on for breath play and he has ZERO clue where it came from... Whether you're riding him, plowing into him from behind, or forcing his head deeper into you sex, if you restrict his breathing in anyway, his eyes are immediately rolling back.

Hair Pulling: Another one that'll get his eyes rolling. He has the prettiest blonde hair and who wouldn't take the opportunity to pull him up by it. He has a really sensitive scalp so the slightest tug will have him yelping. If you snuggle after the deed, and you scratch his head he'll quite literally purr

Impact Play: I have nothing to say about this just know it's on my mind...

Roleplay: Yeah...

Feminization: Put this man in a pink frilly skirt! Call him princess and throw some thigh highs on him. Another one of his kinks that he randomly developed. Probably started from a twitter video to be honest. But he loves if you dress him up all nice and pretty and takes him out. Call him 'your girl' or 'princess' out in public and he'll pull you to a nearby alleyway.

Exhibitionism: Will have sex with you anywhere. And I mean ANYWHERE. The alleyway I mentioned, yeah, that's a frequent quicky spot for you guys. He already has to be careful about being spotted since he's a criminal but the thought of being spotted in such a vulnerable position has his holding back moans

Voyeurism: I guess you could call watching your own sex tapes voyeurism... But he always has his phone recording during sessions between the two of you. Even if its just making out, he has it on tape. If either of you are away on a mission and he's horny, he's going through his achieves of the two of you.

Mommy/Daddy Kink: He randomly whined mommy/daddy while you fucked him and quite literally caused you to freeze in place. Not cause it's a bad thing but because he pulled that shit straight out of his ass and surprised the both of you. Wants to be babied from his mommy/daddy but also wants his back blown out by them.

Anal Play/Pegging: This man thrives off of prostate orgasm. Loves the feeling of having endless orgasms without spilling a drop of cum. Whether it's your fingers, tongue, buttplug, or cock/strap-on, he'll end up shivering from it the feeling of being full. I'd like to think he sent you a porn link of anal play on 'accident' just to give you the hint of what he wants.

[i-t-guy-in-the-sky]

Tracy Log: 03/08/2066

RESCUE REPORT:

Call received at 13:26, reports of a rambler trapped in an abandoned missile silo some 8 meters below ground.

Call sent by companion (uninjured) stating that the victim had climbed to the apex of the hill- created after the covering of the shelter entrance- in order to film a segment for their YouTube channel.

Upon reaching the top they started filming but the ground they were standing on began to shift, having become unstable due to nearby building work causing heavy flooding in the area.

The platform upon which they were standing -which doubled as a the lid to the silo- crumbled and they fell straight down into the silo.

Thunderbirds 1 and 2 deployed with Scott, Virgil, and Gordon aboard.

Victim knocked unconscious on impact, and didn't regain consciousness until Scott reached the danger zone.

Scott used our jetpack technology to lower himself down in order to assess the victim and secure them for transport.

Unfortunately, due to the nature of the fall and the subsequent injuries, although victim regained consciousness briefly, they were in too much pain. Scott issued painkillers to make them more comfortable, but they succumbed to their injuries before Scott or the team on Thunderbird 2 were able to help.

Reports will be sent, along with our video footage, to the local police force for processing and our standard letter of condolence, as well as resources, has been sent to the bereaved.

END REPORT.

John leaned back, allowing the freedom of Zero-G to support his body as he pressed save on his screen and swiped it away.

He could still hear, could still see, the devastation on his brother's face as he reported that their mission had not been successful. Scott had tried to stay businesslike, to report the facts as they appeared, but John knew it was never that easy.

He watched every rescue as standard, ready to help in any way he could, and he had heard the laboured breathing of the victim, their pain filled crying and the wheezing, rattle in their chest.

They had asked Scott for help and he had promised them he would get them out of there. And he had, he'd helped the only way he could, by making them comfortable and holding their hand as their life had slipped away. And then he'd done his job and gotten them out as promised, just not in the way any of them would have wished.

Losses were inevitable, and they were lucky enough that they didn't have to deal with them that often, but that just made it all the harder when it did.

He wanted to be down there to support his brother, knowing he would be beating himself up about it even though there was nothing anyone could have done, but he still had to file the report with the local authorities and alert the bereavement counsellor they kept on retainer in case the victim's family were in need and couldn't provide their own.

Still, he had a secret weapon that he was merciless in deploying when a situation called for it, and this was definitely that situation.

He pulled up his screen again and touched the little symbol of a witch’s hat.

-x-

Scott’s eyes flew open as the first pounding notes of a song blasted through the speaker system of the lounge.

There went his peace and quiet. Couldn't a man brood alone in this house without some idiot feeling the need to disturb him?

“Why am I not surprised?” he bitched when his sister-in-law slid into the room and struck a dramatic pose. Please don't let her start to sing. He loved her but his temples were already throbbing and he didn't think his nerves could take it.

Thankfully -if you could count that- she stuck to lip syncing along as Tina Turner blasted out her most famous number.

“I call you when I need you, my heart's on fire,” Selene mimed, holding her hands over her heart as she rocked back and forth on the spot. “You come to me, come to me wild and wild.” She gestured to him to stand up and join her, but he folded his arms and resolutely refused, he wasn't in the mood for such silliness. A man had just died, did she not understand that?

“When you come to me, give me everything I need,” Selene continued as if he wasn't glaring a hole into her, she just gyrated on the spot, her head bobbing. “Give me a lifetime of promises and a world of dreams, speak a language of love like you know what it means.”

She settled into a power pose stance and prepared for the first big moment of the song.

“Mmm, and it can't be wrong, take my heart and make it strong, baby…” She paused in her bouncing sway to make sure he was paying attention before she belted out the words along with Tina.

“You're simply the best!” She pointed her finger directly in his face. “Better than all the rest.” Powerful head pumping. “Better than anyone.” Arms swaying above her head. “Anyone I've ever met.”

She clutched her hands to her heart as she swayed along to the words, miming along for all she was worth. She knew how to give a rousing performance and he deserved it.

“I'm stuck on your heart

I hang on every word you say.”

“No you don't,” Scott argued, but he was beginning to feel a little amused.

“Tear us apart,” Selene mimed then stuck her tongue out at him. “Baby, I would rather be dead.”

Scott's lips twitched, just a tiny bit, but she saw it and knew that she'd got him. He was hers now.

She moved closer until she was directly in front of him and carried on lip syncing along, pantoming the moves.

“In your heart, I see the star of every night and every day.”

She grabbed him by the hand and dragged him to his feet, ignoring his protests.

“In your eyes, I get lost, I get washed away.”

She kept hold of his hand, but stretched out their arms so that she could spin herself in against his chest in what she thought was the slickest move ever. He automatically grabbed on, holding her in case she fell.

“Just as long as I'm here in your arms, I could be in no better place…”

She wound up to the next line, tipped her head back onto his shoulder, eyes closed as she belted out the words like a woman possessed. “You're simply the best.”

She swayed from side to side, forcing him to move with her or lose his balance. “Better than all the rest. Better than anyone, anyone I've ever met.”

She felt the shaking of his shoulders as he started to laugh, but she couldn't hear much over the music. Not that that mattered, she knew her plan was working.

“Ooh, I'm stuck on your heart, I hang on every word you say.”

She wound her way out of his arms again in true ballroom dancing fashion but kept hold of his hand.

"Don't tear us apart,no, no, no. Baby, I would rather be dead!”

Scott span her again and she latched her arms around his neck, moving together now. This time he joined in, actually singing, which she now joined in with, uncaring as to how bad she sounded.

“Each time you leave me, I start losing control,

You're walking away with my heart and my soul.

I can feel you even when I'm alone, oh baby, don't let go!”

They danced a haphazard path around the coffee table and up the steps to a clear spot of floor just in time for the next part. They bounced around, Scott mimed playing a saxophone as Selene did her best Tina Turner gyrations -if the woman herself could move like that in her 70s Selene had no excuse to let the said down.

“Ooh, you're the best, ooh.”

Arms were waved as they sang. Selene had managed to grab Kayo's discarded hairbrush off a side table and was using it in her best teenage girl sleepover fashion.

“Better than all the rest. Better than anyone, anyone I've ever met.”

Scott took her outstretched hand and wound his fingers through hers, allowing her to swing his arm around as they sang the next lines.

“Ooh, I'm stuck on your heart, I hang on every word you say. Don't tear us apart, no, no, Baby, I would rather be dead!”

She let go of his hand and threw her head back to scream the next line.

“You're the best!”

They broke apart to dance on their own as the music pumped winding up for the finale. Scott was fully in the grove now, his face losing the haggard sadness she'd seen when she'd first entered the room. They were karaoke masters, they knew how to match actions to the words and they did it with style.

"Ooh, you're simply the best. Better than all the rest. Better than anyone, Anyone I've ever met!”

They bounced on the spot, singing at the top of their lungs, heads thrown back as they let the music and the fun of the moment wash away the disappointment and sadness of the day.

“I'm stuck on your heart, baby. I hang on every word you say.” Heads bobbed, fingers clicked, booties shimmied, hips gyrated as they let themselves go. “Don't tear us apart, no, no, no. Baby, I would rather be dead!”

Selene was very out of breath now, and why shouldn't she be, she been carrying this performance after all, but he was worth it. They bounced back together again, and she grabbed his hand, squeezing it tight to make sure he was fully understanding the reason behind her song choice.

“Oh, you're the best. You're better than all the rest

Better than anyone, anyone I've ever met.”

She locked eyes with him as the song wound down and spoke the last words directly to her very best friend in the entire world, and thankfully he was right there with her. “Ooh, you're the best.”

She was there to catch him in a huge hug as the music died away, leaving them panting for breath. The man could run the length of the island but make him dance and he'd be puffing like an old steam train in minutes.

“Beer?” she offered, kissing the top of his head where he'd faceplanted her shoulder.

It took him a moment, but finally he mumbled, “Yeah, that’d be good. Thanks.” That last word meant everything to her and told her that he appreciated her efforts more than he would probably admit.

She nodded and gave him another squeezy hug before she let him go, confident that she'd made her point. He was the best, the best brother, the best friend and the best rescuer out there. And whenever he doubted himself she'd be there to kick his arse until he realised the error of his ways.

-x-

John smiled to himself as he watched the live lounge feed. His wife was certainly unconventional in her approach but she got the job done.

And, until he could get home he knew his brother was in the best hands now. She'd make sure that he remembered that he was the best.

[visionsofmagic]

⎯ one in nine realms [mini series] “chapter 7”

[masterlist]

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▸summary: heimdall feels anger, y/n have fun with it.

▸wc: 2.3k

▸warnings & tags: reading minds, jealous!heimdall, thor’s and y/n’s bond, y/n having big sis energy, fluff, anger, monologues, inner thoughts (so much), hei become a dickhead, pov switch, hei!pov, cutie!atreus. [clue for the next chap; intimate moment of hei and y/n ^^]

  Heimdall was angry. Definitely. He was angry and he didn't know why.

Maybe he knew but he would never admit his anger to himself because of the fact that he began to feel it, raising beneath his skin, after seeing the scene in front of his eyes that can see everything purely and entirely; you are being so close to Thor, Odin's other son who has no brain at all to use, like he is one of your friends, like he is not your enemy like other Aesir people.

From the corner he was standing, leaning to a huge wall, he was watching your conversation with Thor. There was so much noise around the realm that disturb his hearing abilities but from reading both your and Thor's mind, even if he had zero thoughts to going on because of his stupidity.

You were smiling. So much even. There were a few touches that exchanged between the two of you; you touched his big chest, he touched your shoulder to squeeze it. From the thoughts you two had, he can clearly understand that you were just an old friend for Thor, he really loved Sif and surprisingly, he was feeling - happy to see you. On the other hand, you were happy to. You were treating him like he was no Aesir, the enemy of Kratos, your dear friend as he saw in your thoughts. To save Atreus, to help Kratos, you came all these ways. He knew you and Kratos had a bond but he didn't expect you to have a friendship bond with Thor as well.

He knew you two didn't have a intimate bond other than friendship but well, he couldn't help himself; the odd feeling, which would call as jealousy, landed right into his heart and mind. He didn't like what he saw; you with Thor. No, he didn't like it at all.

So, when you really laughed happily, his hand became a fist. Why he was feeling - mad? You didn't mean anything to him, not a single thing. You were just a Goddess who could be enemy of his people anytime. He shouldn't trust you - he shouldn't think about you. He should make you leave the Asgard as soon as possible, the realm he had to protect, his home but an inner voice kept saying how he wanted to make you stay, in Asgard, with him.

Your unexpected impact of him wasn't something he could avoid. It was attacking to the body, mind and heart like a void. He was having a weakness because of you. He was - thinking. Something he didn't want to because when he would begin to think, his mind goes crazy, he knew that.

To stop his thoughts, to stop watching you have a discussion with Thor about Atreus and the mask mission, he turned to other side only to see the Valkyrie he talked a few days ago while you two were riding on Gulltoppr. Valkyrie walked towards him after meeting with his gazes. He even didn't notice her presence around, looking directly to his direction because of your existence in his mind that makes him just focus on you.

"Heimdall," Valkyrie's seductive voice didn't work on him but he kept a cocky expression on his face. "It's good to see you finally," She looked at you, "Alone."

Smirking, Heimdall said, "Well, it's not a secret that I have quite popularity in Asgard. It's hard for me to have a available moment."

She looked at him with a well-knowing expression. Pointing at your direction, she added, "They said she was an outsider. Someone as low as her should not allow in -"

"She is All-Father's guest." His voice was higher than he intended to. "Are you trying to say his choice about guests is wrong?"

Valkyrie tried to defense herself, waving her hands in front of Heimdall, "You got me wrong. I didn't mean to judge All-Father's choices."

Heimdall looked at her eyes, not wanting to continue this argument any longer. He was mad but not to Valkyrie but to himself because after her speech, Heimdall didn't protect Odin's wishes, no, he protected you.

He realized that Valkyrie was putting you in a lower life form and without a particular reason, he felt offended. No one but except him could make fun of you or saying harsh things. You were - you were on his protecti - no! not protection, he said to himself, you were on his watch.

While fighting with his own feelings and thoughts, a voice coming from other side took his interest.

As he looked that way, he saw half-breed, running towards you. A smile grew on your face as Heimdall's gazes traveled your pretty face -

"Will you come tonight?"

Valkyrie asked, making Heimdall realize her presence again. Without saying anything, he waved his hand towards Gulltoppr. "Dunno. Just keep what you are doing." Then, he got up on the top of Gulltoppr.

° ° °

"Y/n!"

Atreus' happy voice came from other side, making you jump at his high pitch sound. "Atreus!"

Opening your arms, you hugged his smaller body, welcoming his arrive happily.

"I missed you."

"Me too!" He turned to Thor who was standing silently. "Oh, Thor, ugh, hi?"

Exchanging glances with Thor, you tried not to chuckle at Atreus nervous behavior.

"It's okay Atreus. He has no harm." Turning to your old friend who now had his arms crossed on his huge chest, you furrowed, "Right?"

Nodding slowly, Thor said, "As long as he doesn't think to play with me."

"Of course not!" Atreus defended himself, "So," He pointed you and Thor, "How come you know each other?"

Smirking, you said, "It's a long story. I will tell about it as we go back to your room, okay?"

Nodding to you, Atreus smiled. "I have lots of adventures to tell, y/n! Thor and I already found another piece for the mask! Do you want to see it?"

As he made a move to pick up the mask he had on his back belt, a voice you missed to hear suddenly came out of nowhere, "Well, well. Isn't this a beautiful sight to see? Three people under All-Father's orders became one."

Rolling your eyes, you looked at Heimdall who was riding his horse, Gulltoppr while smirking playfully. The sun's light was licking his pretty face and good looking body features as his eyes' color began to shine more.

"Heimdall," Thor's deep voice interrupted your shared look with Heimdall, "Where is All-Father?"

Heimdall smirked, "In his personal room of course. Why are you asking though? Will you try to tell," He waved his hands to point Atreus, "How you become friends with this half-breed? Or," He pointed at you, "Will you say how his other guest who is another enemy of our people is already friend of yours?"

Oh, you thought, how you expected him to see you as a friend, not an enemy of his people. You thought you were really having a bond, he was - liking you but you were wrong. Heimdall was a God that only cared for himself and All-Father. He didn't need anyone's friendship, especially you, the enemy.

Well, maybe - A complex thought caught you and before Heimdall read your mind, you acted.

"He already knows it." You said to him, referring to Odin, "He was the one who helped us to meet, isn't that right Thor?" You smiled, "Do you remember the first time we met?"

Thor smiled too, showing how he remembered it and felt happy. The first time you met was for another day to tell but you had a relationship with ups and downs because of your marching personality; hard-headed warriors. He was the one who made you realize what you were doing. He was covered in blood already, head to toe but he wanted you to go, to reach the freedom you deserve. He was, maybe, the only Aesir God who you would have so much fun with.

Turning to Atreus who was looking at you and Thor with his cute little eyes, you said, "C'mon, we should get going." Taking him by shoulder, you even didn't give a short look to Heimdall who was silent felt like an age. Smiling to yourself, you realized how funny you found his silence posture. Well, he wasn't the only one who had cocky attitudes after all.

"See you soon Thor."

After that, you left two sons of Odin with Atreus. As you believed, they had a discussion to make.

° ° °

You were playing with him. Heimdall knew it with all his heart. Reading your filthy and complex mind became an addict for him that he want to do every moment of the time you two had.

He hated liars, especially those who thought they could lie to him particularly. However, you weren't them. No, you never lie to him or to yourself. You weren't hiding your thoughts, yes, sometimes you made it more complex for him to understand but it was a defensive manner, he got it eventually. But you never lied. Even right now, you didn't hide how you wanted to make him mad and even jealous about your relationship with Thor. You expressed your own feelings about Thor and the bond you had while not being afraid to show it to Heimdall who was standing there like a statue, feeling a little anger coming out of you. He knew the source of this little anger; him calling you an enemy.

He didn't mean to actually, he didn't mean to be a cocky God this time. It was just his nature. His defense mechanism.

Jealous he felt before he came to your side made him act like this; hostile.

Even if he knew what you were doing, making him mad and jealous, he couldn't help but feeling them. You were right about thinking that the whole thing you had with his dummy step brother would touch his nerves. You were enemy of his people, yes, but right now, he wasn't sure whether you really was an enemy of his or not. He wanted to take you in but he simply couldn't. It was not his nature.

"She is long gone." Thor said, making Heimdall turn to his side as he stopped looking at the direction you went.

"What are you talking about?"

Heimdall wasn't reading his mind, not wanting to see what Thor's dummy mind had on it.

"You are looking to that direction for too long but she's already gone." Moving with his huge body slowly, Thor smirked, "You are like any of us after all."

Anger that Heimdall felt this particular day was enough.

"I will not deal with your nonsense. I have better and more important work to do." Making a sarcastic bow to Thor, he began to ride Gulltoppr again. As he was leaving Thor and all events that happened behind, he heard his last words, "Whatever you say."

Deep down, he knew what Thor thought - he thought how Heimdall became fond of you, how he - he was acting like the way Thor acted when he found Sif.

No! - Heimdall shouted to himself. He didn't want to think. He just needed to leave this place, to shut his mind down.

In the end, he was heading towards the Valkyrie's practice area. He needed to turn back the way he was before you entered to the Asgard, to his life.

° ° °

“Then, Thor helped me to take the piece! He didn’t leave me to death. I think he is not a bad guy after all.”

Smiling to Atreus’ exciting posture while he was telling you the adventure he had with Thor, you caressed his hair, “He is just broken. I assume you already saw that too.”

Nodding sadly, Atreus added, “He looks like he is lost.”

“Indeed he is,” Sitting on the bed of your room which Odin gave you as thanks, you said with a serious tone, “But we can’t trust any of them. They are still see us as their enemies. They can do whatever they need to do if Odin just orders. So,” You touched both of Atreus’ arms gently while he listened you carefully, “We will be careful and we will hold each other’s back. Got it cutie?”

Rolling to the nickname you used for him, he stand up from the bed, “Don’t call me that!”

Chuckling to his cute expressions and eyes, you waved your hand, “Okay, I will not. But if you give me a promise.” You rose your little finger, “Promise?”

Nodding to you, Atreus took the little finger you gave him with his smaller one, “Promise.”

Holding him by his little finger, you smiled, “Don’t forget I am here only for you Atreus and no one, even Thor, can hurt you. I will not let them.”

Admire he felt towards you occurred on his blue eyes who held skies on them, making you feel like a protector and even his big sister. Everything that came out of your mouth was facts; no one and even Thor who was probably a lot stronger than you now can not hurt him. You would not allow them to. You would cut their head off if they try to raise a hand towards Atreus. Giving him a short hug, you kissed his cheek which he cleaned immediately but having pink color on his cheeks. You laughed, “I will leave you now. I have to speak with Odin. Then, we can go to travel the realm together. Would you like to do it?”

Atreus nodded happily, “I would love to!”

“Wait for my return, then.”

As you made your way out of the room, Atreus’ shy but happy voice came from behind, “Y/n,” he said. You looked at his smaller body while he was scratching his back hair shyly, “I am glad you are here. With me. Thank you so much.”

Feeling so happy that you give him a big smile, “Me too, Atreus, me too.”

Then with that, you left him alone to speak with Odin. You need to make new arrangements, especially about his favorite boy Heimdall.

TO BE CONTINUED.

taglist: @iinterdimensionals , @Konigdi1ks0ck , @onlydeas​ , @hayleethefrog​ , @tartagliasrighthand​ , @whywouldiknowsstuff , @importantvoidpolice​ , @itsnat​ , @armanibxtch​ , @dott-up​ , @chiyausu​ , @lokigirlszendaya​ , @potentplant​ , @milf-to-be-anny​ , @elizabeth-hatake​ , @kuinnoa​ , @anna6anana​ , @animebestofriendo ^^

♡

sorry for make you wait so long because of my semester’s ending, lots of works, etc. but I hope you liked the chap! I promise you the next one will be better because I already want them to get into “real” action,  so, be ready! ^^

[likes, comments and all other things are appreciated! thank u so much!]

[magebunkshelf]

was there anything that inspired the facility? ive always found the concept of a group of people studying there unusual really interesting so when i listened to the first moth demihuman listener audio i was immediately hooked on your channel

Aww, thank you!! Really gland you enjoyed it!

There's definitely a little of the SCF Foundation in there, but that's definitely not the main inspiration, and I try to be mindful not to get too close to SCP stuff. It's in the same sort of shadowy org genre, and I don't want to do the same thing. I think the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood is probably a greater inspiration to me than the SCP-F! I even borrowed the name Retcon from there too.

The Facility was actually originally something I was making in Minecraft like seven years ago! I'd started a little series on another channel originally just to look at things that had changed in the game in snapshots, and decided I needed a base of operations. I built an underground complex for the videos that I called the Research Facility (which is what "RF-Control" stands for in the Lunar Mission audio), and eventually just The Facility. Naturally the videos had zero audience, but I had fun coming up with a whole bunch of lore stuff on my own!

Some time early in 2022, I figured out the direction I wanted to take the collective universe of Mitch's World, which up until that point was vaguely connected in a sort of "eh don't worry about it" way. I definitely don't have anything similar planned so don't read much into this, but Redacted's Inversion event got me thinking about my own stuff on a more macro level; I wanted to build towards something that would have a bigger impact. I knew I needed to introduce an organisation involved in investigating the origin of demihumans and why they have only just started to appear more frequently in recent years, which lead to the first Moth audio and the introduction of the Facility, and the subplot involving the Moon... It's been a slow burn in that direction but- Actually I won't spoil things. You'll be hearing more from the Facility in the future!

I've added a Facility playlist on the channel, it's near the top on the front page and the thumbnail is static; anything directly related to that subplot will go in there even if, like the Moth audio, it's part of another series too!

[neversetyoufree]

Hey! In your recent post about Noè and asexuality, you mentioned there being more evidence displaying that Vanitas finds Noè attractive than vice versa. As soon as I read it, I found myself agreeing but when I stopped to think about it I couldn't recall a panel that really suggests that, off the top of my head. This also isn't a view I have seen a lot of other vnc fans talk about so I'd really appreciate if you could expand on it / unpack it a bit more. Anyway, love your blog!

[Image Description: An anonymous tumblr ask. It reads: "Hi! I have just recently found your Tumblr blog and have been loving all your analyses. I only found out about the vnc manga a few months ago and some of your posts have been so useful in explaining some deeper themes/subtext that I was confused about. I was reading your ace Noé post and saw that you mentioned that there is more canon evidence that supports Vanitas finding Noé attractive than the other way around. I was hoping you could expand on this?" End ID.]

First of all, thank you both so much for your kind words! It makes me so genuinely happy to hear that y'all like what I post.

And for anyone curious, here's the ace Noé post that both anons mention.

Now as for your question, that's kind of a difficult one. I said that there's more evidence for Vanitas being attracted to Noé than vice versa (in terms of traditional physical attraction, not blood stuff), and I do stand by that. However, Noé has shown pretty much no physical attraction to Vanitas in non-blood contexts, and more than zero doesn't necessarily mean a lot. This whole post is going to be tiny details and subtext, because "Vanitas is attracted to Noé" is definitely not a major or certain thing.

That said, I do think you can make an argument for the idea.

For starters, let's go with the classic Vanoé bait panel: Vanitas's reaction to Noé's excitement over Paris.

Vanitas is at his most performative in the early chapters of VnC, and though he does sometimes act borderline flirtatious (like when he gets up in Noé's personal space to poke him in the chest), I'm not inclined to give those moments actual weight. It's all too much a part of Vanitas's act to be good evidence for real feelings of attraction.

However, in this particular scene, that argument doesn't hold. Vanitas will play up his flirty persona in order to change the subject when he gets uncomfortable, but there's no reason for him to do that here. There's no need for him to change the subject, and Noé's not paying him any attention. His expression here is just his genuine reaction, not part of a performance made to influence Noé, and it's such a fond reaction!

Vanitas has only just met Noé, but here he is so softly entertained by Noé's glee. It speaks to an immediate draw to and enjoyment of Noé on Vanitas's part, and that doesn't have to mean romantic attraction, but it certainly fits well with that argument. Noé is extremely cute here, and Vanitas likes that about him. Make of that what you will.

Even more than that scene, though I think the most explicit moment of Vanitas's attraction is one of his reactions in the bell tower.

In the middle of Noé's speech to Vanitas in chapter 11, he smiles at him properly for the first time. This is also when we the audience first see Noé smile for the outside of a flashback, so you know that that moment is important both for Noé and to Mochijun. And it also makes quite an impact on Vanitas.

Noé tells Vanitas that he wants to stick with him and see out his "salvation" mission, and then there's an extra beat, a panel for just Noé's smile, and only then do we see Vanitas's reaction to all this.

He's so struck! Noé has a huge effect on Vanitas in this moment, even before he's finished his whole speech. His words have a big part of it, of course they do, but the way the page is paced (with an extra, albeit cropped panel for that smile) makes me think that Noé's appearance itself is also pretty key for provoking that reaction. If the way Noé looks while smiling didn't need extra emphasis, Mochijun could've given him the smile in the panel above these where he's speaking, rather than give it its own shot.

Noé looks at Vanitas like this for the first time, and Vanitas's eyes go wide with awe. Because Noé is a goddamned vision. It's even more apparent in the animated version, because the animators weren't bound by paneling constraints and could show us Noé's whole face.

I have had irl lesbian friends tell me how attractive they find Noé in this moment lmao. He's just pretty. So I don't think it's unreasonable to say that Vanitas, in this moment, is affected by how pretty Noé is. Absolutely anyone would be.

It isn't irrefutable proof that he's in love with or generally lusting after the guy, but it is a good argument for a moment of appearance-based attraction, which is something we haven't really seen from Noé toward Vanitas. (We've had Noé staring at him in awe when he does his Book stuff, but never an "oh shit he's hot" moment like this one).

There might be other small moments as well, but these are just the two big ones that I can remember with out combing back through the manga in detail. And though there's no certainty here, these are a pair of scenes that can be read as Vanitas being very struck by Noé's appearance in a way that I don't think we've gotten in reverse.

Any positive number is still more than zero, lmao.

[sepublic]

Anthony Higgs, Mauk, and Kreatz

Fun fact! In the Zero Mission manga, Samus has two Federation comrades named Mauk and Kreatz, a Simian and Elfin respectively! They’re ride or die teammates, going along when Samus jeopardizes what is supposed to be a purely reconnaissance mission to instead save the inhabitants of Jigrad from Space Pirates. Later, when Samus defies orders to go to Zebes and rescue her home from the Space Pirates (she fails), Mauk and Kreatz also defy orders to accompany Samus, and later escape with her.

What’s interesting is that according a captured Space Pirate from Jigrad, Kreatz’s Elfin species is looked down upon by the Federation, as they’re blamed for the ‘Species War’ (whatever that is). Likewise, the Simians are seen as so primitive that they weren’t even considered for Federation membership until the Chozo pushed for them to be recognized.

That last bit intrigues me because it definitely gives new meaning to Mauk’s dynamic with Samus, who is half-Chozo; Did he ever find admiration for Samus’ heritage, ask about the Chozo? Express appreciation, and mourn when they were driven from the galaxy by Mother Brain’s betrayal? Did he empathize with Samus’ own grief to some level, being supportive that way?

I dig these characters, and they’re surprisingly slept upon! They’re Anthony Higgs before Anthony Higgs, and given how much the fandom (rightfully) loves him, I’d like to see more of Samus’ other friends from the Federation.

Speaking of Higgs: From what I can tell, I think “Remember me?” is partly so memed upon because it’s that same gag of Remember that Guy, where we’re introduced to a character for the first time as someone who the MC or someone else has apparently always known and they’ve always been there. And it made me think of how the line could’ve been so much more impactful had it been Mauk or Kreatz who said it, returning years after the manga was published.

And it made me think; For a Metroid show, why not consolidate the elements of Mauk and Kreatz, as well as Anthony, as friends from Samus’ time in the Federation? Specifically, by making Anthony part of that same squad; We know him and Samus fought together in the same unit, so instead of Samus having two separate teams, let’s just do the one. Seeing Anthony in S1, before finally returning nine seasons later, would be great.

Likewise, I want to explore the concept of Samus’ old squad because in the source material, it’s comprised of non-humans who fight in a distinctly non-Federation way, save Samus; But even her power suit is non-conventional. We have Kreatz’s energy whips, as well as Mauk’s brute force blows and punches. There’s definitely this implication of them as a special unit of non-humans.

Additionally, I want to radical redesigns; I love how the manga gave us Federation aliens that could be good or bad! I just wish a character like Kreatz was more alien, because as his own species name shows, he’s basically just an elf; A human with pointy ears. Similarly, I do want to give Mauk a radical redesign for the same reasons, though he’s more forgivable. I also want to incorporate this idea I’ve had for Metroid worldbuilding about species who don’t fit within the same frame as others, and struggle for it.

So Kreatz is now this plant alien; Resembling Plant 43 from Resident Evil 2, the original version, with a three-petal mouth, vines for arms and leaves at the ends as fingers, and gnarled trunks for legs. He can lurch back to then hurl forward a glob of acid. In homage to how his pointy ears were the only distinguishing aspect of him, Kreatz has two leaves on his head, one on either side, acting like ears that can go up or down to emote.

The Elfin are a race of sapient plants; They can spew acid and have flexible vine arms. This has rendered them to a special fighting style centered around energy whips they can flail around their bodies with perfect control, with their whirling whips acting as both offense and defense for them, slashing apart enemy and enemy fire. Should an enemy get close enough, they get acid in their face.

Being plant-based organisms, the Elfin don’t speak with sound; They rely on pheromones. With most species relying on sound, this creates a huge communication barrier, with the Elfin being expected to put in the work to bridge it. Hence, many Elfin have devices attached that can translate the pheromones they emit into words; Similarly, these devices can interpret words and translate them into corresponding pheromones. It’s not perfect but it works.

The reason Kreatz’s name is so human is because his true name cannot be translated into letters, due to being pheromones; So it’s like how some PoC have an ‘English’ name to get by. For Kreatz, he’s in the Federation military, as part of the army; The army is comprised mostly of humans, so he uses a human name to appeal. The same applies for Mauk.

Mauk is also of an ‘unconventional’ species, deemed ‘abstract’ by the majority. She (gender change because we need more women) is a clam-like creature; She comprises of an armored shell on top that is impervious to damage. Beneath that shell are folds of muscles that can crush any prey beneath her, to then devour and digest. It can be a bit sobering to see Mauk drag a Space Pirate beneath her shell as they scream in agony, their legs obliterated, before she finishes them off by crunching their lower half; This method avoids exposing Mauk’s vulnerable underside to any weaponry, wielded by the arms.

To move, Mauk has four soft yet muscular limbs, short and stumpy, arranged around her body; They fold underneath her shell. She can use these arms to prop herself up, or drag prey beneath her. Mauk uses these limbs to handle technology, and each is equipped with a device that translates her thoughts into words; She can hear sound just fine. Otherwise, Mauk’s species communicates by tapping rhythmically.

The Federation has always employed esoteric species; So it makes sense for them to have special units for the purpose of utilizing the unique talents, methods, and capabilities of other races. Especially the stronger ones, some of whom could qualify as bosses in the games in another context… Samus is a part of this unit, as she is a hybrid, half-Chozo, half-human, and uses a unique Chozo power suit. Samus finds a lot of camaraderie with Mauk and Kreatz for not fitting within the typical military mold.

So how does Anthony Higgs factor into this? I don’t want him to be their human commanding officer, because I feel that does take away a bit of the camaraderie that would otherwise come from them all being in the same trenches together, so to speak. I did consider Anthony being the same rank and lacking authority, only there to remind the others of standard Federation protocol. I didn’t want to make Anthony an alien because it felt like whitewashing to me; Not the same exactly, but the same in effect of erasing characters of color.

But I’ve considered another idea; He IS essentially human, like Samus, while also being an esoteric species; But not in the way Samus is. Anthony isn’t a hybrid. Instead, he’s a host, to his wife. His wife is of a sapient parasite species, one that bonds with a host when they become old enough; To them, it’s marriage, and the host has to be consenting. Ordinarily thìs species evolved with another sapient one, or maybe they relied entirely on animals before making contact with other planets.

Regardless, in the present day they all need a host upon adulthood; Or are expected to. Some don’t fit that mold, amongst a species that already doesn’t fit the mold of the Federation or Space Pirates or other groups. But in the case of Mrs. Higgs, she was happy to meet Anthony and bond with him for life. She lives inside of his body, enhancing it and maybe emerging to attack and defend. Only Anthony can hear and understand her; The two mutually agreed to serve the Federation. People address Anthony, and sometimes allude to his wife, who like most of her kind prefers to remain private. It’s a truly mutual relationship where they both make decisions together in the heat of the moment.

So technically, Mrs. Higgs is the ‘esoteric’ one within this unit, and Anthony is just along for the ride, or IS the ride. Regardless, he’s another unusual case, which adds to the sisterhood he experiences with Samus, Mauk, and Kreatz; A clam, a parasite, a plant, and an android. Samus isn’t an android, but many mistake her for one due to her constantly being clad in armor; It’s a callback to the NES manual speculating her as such, and how the name Metroid was originally assigned to Samus (combining Metro and Android), which makes the jokes of “Why can’t Metroid crawl” even more understandable.

With the exception of Anthony, the others didn’t really go through Federation boot camp, not the typical kind at least; Given how the Federation has already employed and worked with other species before, they were essentially loaned/recommended soldiers from their own worlds. The Federation accepted, and after a proper training period where they were taught Federation protocol and familiarized to its environments, Samus and the others were assigned to one another. This special forces unit answers to Chief Hardy, and are assigned to do recon on Jigrad.

We’re first introduced to the squad via Mauk and Kreatz; A Space Pirate patrol stops so one can relieve themselves upon on a small tree, singling it out by reasoning that “Plants actually appreciate what I have to offer, unlike some regular rock.” Speaking of rocks, another notices a strange one and realizes it’s not a rock at all; It’s Mauk, who goes still, withdrawn in her shell to avoid attention, trying to blend in. Due to not being intimately familiar with Jigrad’s ecosystem and possessing biases, the Space Pirates assume this faceless creature as just one of the local fauna. One tries to shoot Mauk for fun but is disappointed when she’s unharmed; The Space Pirate is mocked and they all leave with the other one’s business finished.

That’s when tree in this scene moves out of their posture, facing Mauk; This a sapient individual named Kreatz, also unrecognized by the ignorant Space Pirates. He apologizes to Mauk for having to go through that; He speaks by grabbing a stone to use the rhythmic taps of Mauk’s species, a language the Elfin can learn to accommodate without relying on technology. Mauk reassures Kreatz that it’s all right, and anyhow he’s the one she feels sorry for. Kreatz admits it’s actually quite all right; That Space Pirate was correct, that WAS refreshing for him, and the most those pricks have ever contributed for the Elfin!

The two return to where Samus and Anthony are hiding; Samus has also mastered the rhythmic language, but Anthony struggles and laments this. Kreatz uses his device to speak, reassuring Anthony that it’s all right; He still struggles sometimes himself. The group alludes to “Mrs. Higgs,” whom Anthony reassures them on, while reiterating she prefers to be private to assuage any concerns.

The story goes about as you expect, just with Anthony (and technically Mrs. Higgs) present as well. Anthony appears to be a regular Federation soldier and that’s how the Space Pirates underestimate him, just thrown in so the others can be reminded of the Federation’s authority, until Anthony shows off what him and Mrs. Higgs can do together. Samus is the only one not underestimated, something that precedes the intimidating reputation she earns amongst her enemies.

Anthony, Mauk, and Kreatz are all ride or die friends who remain in the Federation when Samus leaves. When the Metroid crisis begins, we get a scene showing what they’ve been up to, and how they attempt to survive this new threat. It’s sobering when an indestructible shield such as Mauk, who often props herself up to protect others, is told to retreat because it doesn’t matter how impervious she is; If a Metroid latches on, she’ll be drained and killed like any other victim. It’s a testament to how Metroid is unlike anything anyone has ever faced, and a true threat.

Like in the manga, we get a scene of the trio fighting back against the Space Pirates on Mauk’s homeworld of Jamoru; After Samus completes her Zero Mission, there’s an aftermath episode acting as the season finale where we check up on her old comrades, who help turn the tides against the Space Pirates. They hear the rumors of a bounty hunter named Samus Aran single-handedly defeating Mother Brain, and express admiration, having always believed in her.

Cue all three disappearing for basically the whole show, until nine seasons later, when one of them returns on the BOTTLE ship, working as part of a new special forces unit… More on that later. Anthony asks Samus, “Remember me?” And this time the viewer actually does, with the same elation and disbelief as Samus.

[oraclesthroughthedark]

Fandom Awareness

"Seems like we're all done with the preparations! I do love when a plan comes together seamlessly like this~!"

"I'll be right with you, girls, I just have a few things to set up before I leave Leanbox for a bit. It pains me SO to leave my DARLING Vert to handle things on her own for even some days... but alas, I have so many duties. Now let me update my social media real quick..."

((This post is just to make people aware of franchises which I'm most familiar with. Since I'm crafting missions around the characters I get, the most familiar I am with the series, the more confident I will be on my posts and the less research I'll have to do, which might result in faster posts. Due to OneHeart's ability to mimic people or take forms that people know, it also requires more research from me if I don't know the series that well. Please note, however, that this blog is open to ALL FANDOMS and OCs. This list is just for light referencing, and knowing me, I definitely forgot some so I'll update it a bit along the way:))

Major Fandoms [Extensive Knowledge]

Ace Attorney

Danganronpa

Deltarune

Fire Emblem

Hazbin Hotel

Honkai: Star Rail

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Persona (3, 4, 5)

Pokémon

Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Touhou Project

Undertale

Yu-Gi-Oh!

Major Fandoms [Partial Knowledge]

Bleach

Borderlands (2)

Digimon (up to Frontier)

Dragon Ball (Z)

Final Fantasy (except XI, XIII and XV)

Genshin Impact (up to Sumeru)

League of Legends

Legend of Zelda (mainly OoT, MM)

My Hero Academia

Naruto

Overwatch

Pretty Cure (Soaring Sky)

Resident Evil (mainly the first 4)

Saint Seiya

Silent Hill (1, 2)

Sonic the Hedgehog

Steins;Gate

Tales of (Symphonia, Zestiria)

Wuthering Waves

Yakuza (0 & Kiwami)

Zenless Zone Zero

Minor Fandoms [Extensive Knowledge]

Cardcaptor Sakura

Chrono Cross

Chrono Trigger

Clock Tower

Deep Rock Galactic

Disgaea (5 and under)

Doki Doki Literature Club

Dynasty Warriors

End Roll

Hyperdimension Neptunia

Ib

King of Fighters

Koihime Musou

Mad Father

Made in Abyss

Mana Khemia

NEEDY STREAMER OVERLOAD

Noragami

Payday 2

Petal Crash

Princess Tutu

Puyo Puyo (& Madou Monogatari)

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

Shaman King

Shantae

Stardew Valley

Tantei Opera Milky Holmes

The World Ends with You

Virgo VS The Zodiac

WIXOSS

WORLD OF HORROR

Minor Fandoms [Partial Knowledge]

Arcana Heart

DRAMAtical Murder

Dept. Heaven (mainly Riviera & Yggdra/Blaze Union)

Lobotomy Corporation

Monster Prom

Pillars of Eternity

Reverse: 1999

Rune Factory (1/Frontier, 3, 4)

Sailor Moon

[cavewolf]

chris' legitimate pokemon scarlet review broken down into categories for your viewing experience (spoilers duh)

CHARACTERS: love the guys in this game. all of team star are so delightful arven is great and nemona is a new fav rival. i wasn't expecting to like clavell as much as i did but he was super fun. gym leaders for what they are (they play very minor roles but thats just how pokemon is aside from bw1 where they show up at the team plasma castle) are super good i especially liked ryme she's awesome. i felt the character writing was a lot better than last gen and they balanced the 3 rivals a lot better tho this could partly just be because of the three split stories focusing on one each.

POKEMON DESIGNS: mixed bag. loved a lot of them like tinkaton the ancient paradox pokemon and tatsugiri. meowscarada quickly became one of my fav starters i love its design and personality. but some of them didn't really do it for me. especially the bugs

HUMAN DESIGNS: really nice. i'm glad pokemon is continuing to diversify the body types of its female cast. i love the women + girls in this game. mela, eri, geeta, sada, rika, katy (I LOVE HER!!!!) and ryme were especially standout designs for me. the guys have cool looks too. i like brassius' edgier take on a grass gym leader and atticus autism warrior!!!!!

STORY: really good. i'm not kidding like god damn. i loved it in this game. it's easily in the big leagues with sun/moon, the gen 5 arc and pla for me (though i just like pla because it's rehashed pmd lol). the starfall street plotline was cheesy but i loved it , i love to see autism friend groups. they're very sweet. path of legends has an excellent motivator in 'your buddy's dog is sick' and like FUCK dude i'm not letting this guys dogy die!!!! arven is a very sweet character so it's nice to help him out. victory road is more standard fare but i liked the new take on the elite 4 (the interview and there being multiple champions). but obviously the closing act really sells it for me. i've seen people say it makes less sense in scarlet because sada is caveman themed, but i honestly think this made it more interesting. if i was playing violet i wouldve been like ohh yeah of course the guy in the glowy robot space suit is an android but the juxtaposition between ancient and futuristic stuff in scarlet makes it more impactful imo. i like how a futuristic ai can only function with the power of ancient crystals, ties it into both games nicely. plus sada sacrificing herself is a little sadder since i doubt there's more chargers in dinosaur times than the far future (she's double DEAD dead). i'm also just a sucker for evil ai and glitch effects anyway

MUSIC: gooooooood!!! there's been some mixed reception on the gym leader theme but it grew on me. penny's theme is one of my favs but all of the team star related ones are good. the area zero theme is genuinely incredible

GAMEPLAY: it sure is a pokemon game. i had some performance issues mainly loading times before/after battles and after cutscenes. i crashed randomly once during the orthworm mission when i went into its tunnel but nothing to the extent i've seen online (not to say it didn't happen). for what it's worth, i was playing it in handheld. but the basic pokemon battle formula always entertains me. the new gimmick is pretty so i like it.

VISUALS: it absolutely could be better but it's not distractingly bad. it's more just servicable. the updated textures (and sometimes models!) of pokemon look good and the humans look good too. definitely improved some animations (but i missed gloria's unique little tiptoe animation downstairs from swsh). the environment flops a lot, especially when it's not in towns.

[animusiem]

Billboard USA Exclusion Zone Episode 9 (04/22/2023)

Hello there and welcome to my weekly show where I look at the new debuts from the Billboard Global Excluding US chart. Yes I didn't do this last week. Part of it because I had final thesis to revise. But also I didn't feel it with most of the debuts and the less I said about Melanie Martinez...the better.

Anyways this week is definitely more interesting than last week because we have three j-pop songs and one of them came from the most hyped anime this season Oshi no Ko. We also have some k-pop too and even some surprises. Let's do this.

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

16. "People Pt. 2" by Agust D ft. IU

Another day, another new solo song from a BTS member. Now we get Agust D who usually do the rap portion of a lot of BTS songs with this being another rap song. This reminded me of early 2010's rap song where you have a singer doing the hook and it just reminded me that Airplanes is now could be considered as retro...next.

23. "Search & Rescue" by Drake

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz (this is shit)

30. "I AM" by IVE

I love a lot of IVE songs and I will say that After Like has the best obvious sampling last year. Which is why it's kinda disappointing that this didn't clicked with me as much as it did. The production is tiring and it's basically "I'm back bitch" singles.

80. "Un Finde Crossover #2" by Ke personajes X Big One X FMK

I was vibing to this...then the farty synth and the laser beam sound appeared.

83. "Baby Don't Hurt Me" by David Guetta, Anne-Marie & Coi Leray

This is just sad now. Like I think this song that made me realized that maybe AI music isn't so bad after all when anything David Guetta made in 2022-23 sounds like AI generated mush.

102. "Mera Na" by Sidhu Moose Wala, Burna Boy & Steel Banglez

First and foremose Rest In Peace Sidhu Moose Wala. Secondly this song is just a well produced Punjabi rap and the addition of Burna Boy here is needed.

135. "Idol" by Yoasobi

And here it is. The song that might be the center piece of Oshi no Ko. Anime series based on critically acclaimed manga made by the same guy that did Kaguya-sama. Now even though I haven't watched the anime, I have been spoiled by the manga and well the reason why I swelled up while listening to the song while reading the lyrics...yeah this song is something special.

141. "Kizuna no Kiseki" by MAN WITH A MISSION x milet

Oh hi it's another Demon Slayer song but tbh might be the worst one imo. Yeah this song is great but it's typical for shounen anime to have banger OP at this point and nothing could beat Gurenge.

146. "Never Felt So Alone" by Labrinth (uncredited: Billie Eilish)

One of my favorite content creators Spectrum Pulse coined a term "Riverdale-core" to describe songs with bombast but no substance tackling social issues but with the gaudiness of a vaudville villain. Well for this song I wanna coined a term "Euphoria-core" which is lowkey mostly RnB song with strings and mechanical production.

154. "Zero" by NewJeans

Now I am interested what NewJeans will follow up after the big success of Ditto and OMG. And seems like they are making...a drum and bass song about Coke Zero....okay then.

162. "Chanel" by Becky G & Peso Pluma

Now we will see more impact next week, but what a year it is for Mexican music. Seems like the sound of the trumpet plus that bassline is caught on (tbh idk what to say at this point like after listening to Idol with subs on I'm a jsdhjkdsh)

178. "LADY" by Kenshi Yonezu

WHY IS THERE TWO COKE COMMERCIAL SONGS???

I highly recommend everyone to listen to these songs.

[levi-my-beloved]

Hii so i was wondering if i could possibly request a oneshot where the reader gets badly hurt on a mission but tries to hide it from Levi because he’s so overprotective but she ends up passing out. then afterwards he’s SUPER protective and sweet and takes so much care of her. ahhh idk just fluffy angst?

When The Battle’s Over

Pairing: Canon!Levi x F!Reader

Word Count: 7.2K

Warnings: Canon typical violence, severe trauma, descriptions of blood and injury

A/N: PLEASE this was the request that got me writing again i love it so much. i maaaaay have gone a little overboard with it… but i have zero self restraint AND i'm a sucker for fluffy angst. i hope it’s what you had in mind ^-^ also this hasn’t been proofread so please forgive me hehe

Tagging: @peace-for-levi (u asked be to bb)

The thundering beat of hoof-falls just about managed to drown out the thundering beat of your heart. Expeditions beyond the walls were always hit or miss, and today’s was definitely a miss. It was supposed to be a simple recon mission. The Scouts were, quite literally, scouting, and unfortunately, your squad was placed as the backup’s backup. You were the Less Special Ops. You were the Pretty Damn Good squad. If the Special Operations squad failed, it was your job to pick up the pieces. Not that you ever expected them to fail.

That was, until now.

Too many smoke signals, not enough time.

And not a Levi Squad member to be found.

Dread bubbled and coiled in your gut. This was very unlike them. This was very unlike him. Levi was never one to just disappear without a reason. Usually word would get round to all squads that Humanity’s Strongest had to withdraw for some reason or another. Very rarely was there radio silence to accompany your terror. You had spotted a distress call from a few miles away, and since you hadn’t heard of any course change or direction shift, you ordered your squad to continue on, and promised you’d catch up with them. But once again whatever fates had decided how your day was going to play out, had not been merciful.

The village had been completely decimated. Most buildings had been almost flattened, with nasty, fractured-glass-like shards of wood piercing the skies from where they stood, mourning the loss of their structure. Phantom screams haunted this place, and bodies littered it. Limbs strewn about in awkward places and at awkward angles. It was harrowing, but not the worst you’ve seen in your time as a Scout.

You urged your mare on with a few clicks of your tongue, instantly noting how the beast listened to your command, and understood your urgency. Red smoke now danced with black. Red was never good. Black only worsened the dread in your gut. Praying to whatever cynical gods there may be, you gently pulled on the left rein, darting down what must have been a small gap between houses, but now stood as open plains, tile and brick pounded into dust on the ground.

But the further you galloped, the denser the structures became. This didn’t seem so much of a village, but rather a small town. Grass and earth occasionally broke out into the remains of a cobblestone street, and you promised to nurse your horse’s poor hooves when you returned home.

If you returned home.

Rounding the side of what looked like the town hall, you realised what all the fuss was about. There was barely enough time to engage your ODM gear before a 15m four legged titan was upon you, swatting at you like your mare’s tail in the summer months. You’d been here five minutes and the plan had already gone to shit. Feinting to the right, you allowed yourself to roll off your horse, the ground impacting your shoulder as you allowed the momentum to carry you. It threw off your pursuer, now confused between your fleeing horse and the small woman lying in a crumpled heap.

Not your smoothest dismount ever, but you didn’t have much of a choice. Not when your life had been put on the line so soon after arriving. But you weren’t a captain for no reason. You’d been placed within this duty of care and leadership for a reason. Stumbling onto your feet, you took a running start before engaging your gear, once again thanking those cynical gods that the damn thing still worked. The familiar hiss of gas rushed behind you as your anchors pulled you into the air. You couldn’t tell if this titan was either showing intelligence, or immense stupidity. You watched wide, hazel eyes follow you as you zipped past it’s bulbous head. For a second, it seemed almost human, as if you could read some emotion within it’s large eyes. But after your blades sliced through it’s nape like a hot knife through butter, you realised it must have been your own dream playing tricks on you.

This area was a mess of blood, screaming and smoke. And yet Levi still hadn’t shown up. You weren’t the type to worry about him, just like he wasn’t the type to worry about you. Okay, that’s a lie, he did worry about you. Far too much, if you were being honest, but you weren’t the type to worry about him. He’d always get there, always find you, but shit if he wasn’t cutting it a little close. Instead you switched your focus to the monumental task at hand. This town must have been attacked only a few days prior, the fresh bodies having only just started the decaying process. You breathed a heavy sigh, before jumping into the frey, assisting whoever squad had managed to get themselves caught up in such a massacre.

You didn’t count. You couldn’t count. Miche could shove your little competition up his ass, now really wasn’t the time to be tallying up how many monstrosities you’d managed to fell. And yet you found yourself slicing through yet another nape, saving yet another life. Riding your kill to the ground, you deftly jumped off, running to assist the injured soldier. She didn’t look too badly hurt, just perhaps some broken ribs from where she’d been grasped.

“Hey, what the hell happened here? Who’s squad are you on?” you questioned, and though your words were a little harsh, your tone was anything but. You knew she was scared, she didn’t look any older than sixteen for fuck sakes. She was just a kid.

“I-I was on uhm, I w– I was w-with Squad Leader Kris?” you took a brief moment to process the information. The left wing had been majorly compromised it seemed. There was no way Kris could reform his squad after this, if he was even still alive.

“Alright, you did well, can y–”

“Isn’t it strange how much blood the human body can hold?”

You blinked, confused by her question.

“I grew up on a farm,” –she continued– “I used to help my father slaughter pigs for meat. Do you know that saying? Bled like a pig? Well they would bleed. They would squeal and they would bleed and they would scream and I hated it and I hated it and I hated it so much but I had to do it please he made me do it I didn’t want to do it he made me please i’m so sorry i’m sorry i’m sorry i’m sorry–” she had gone into shock. The kid was barely sixteen and she’d witnessed more trauma than anybody ever should throughout their entire lives, let alone at her age.

Trying your best to ignore the screams of the soldiers around you, you crouched down to her level, attempting to look the poor girl in the eyes.

“Hey, it’s okay, you didn’t have a choice–”

“NO YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!” her outburst had you reeling back, steadying a hand behind you so you didn’t fall. “You don’t understand! People have that much blood, she was screaming like the pigs, screaming and squealing as she was being slaughtered and I did the same as I always did and watched as she bled and bled and screamed,” –she gasped for breath, her breathing becoming erratic– “we used to play together, we used to play all sorts of games with all the animals, we would play horses and house and adventure and she loved the piglets so much but I couldn’t tell her we’d slaughtered their mummies and daddies because she would have screamed like she screamed when she was–” the girl stopped in her tracks, eyes wide and unblinking, entire body shaking like a leaf in the wind as you witnessed her mind shatter. She fell silent as you pieced the fragments together. She’d just lost her sister. Younger sister, from the looks of things and recounting of her story. You felt for the girl, you really did. You knew there was no way she would recover from this. She was a child, and already traumatised for life.

You stood, thankful that no titan had found you, and whistled for your horse. No response. You whistled again, a little more urgently, and found ice slowly drip-feeding into your blood. No, you had to get this girl out of here. You had to take her to the medical team and let them take care of her as best they could, there was only so much you could do. You were just about to whistle for a third time, before the angelic chorus of hoof-beats once again graced your ears, and you could have wept in relief. Two sets, to be exact.

Turning back to the girl, you placed an arm around her back and hoisted her to her feet. Her expression hadn’t changed. Her face hadn’t moved. It was like she was stuck reliving that moment over and over again. In fact, she probably was.

The soldiers in charge of the spare horses were honestly the unsung heroes of the Scouts. You’d definitely underestimated them beforehand, but thank fuck they were coming in clutch now.

With your focus entirely on the girl, you helped her onto the mare you knew all too well.

“Hold on tight, okay? You’re going to be alright, you’ll be safe where you’re going, I promise. They’ll look after you.” you tried your hand at reassuring her, but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears. With a look of defeated regret, you spoke to the second soldier. “Take her to the centre of the formation with the injured. She’s given all she can,” you instructed, not taking your eyes off the traumatised teen.

“Since when do you give me orders?”

An amalgamation of every emotion under the goddamn sun flooded your system. The primary one being relief. Rounding your mare, you finally came face to face with those silver eyes you’d fallen in love with. Despite your situation, comfort wrapped around your head and heart, your lips managing to pull into a smile as he dismounted from his gelding.

“And where the fuck have you been?” you asked, with no bite to your tone. From the looks of him, he’d been extremely busy elsewhere.

“We stopped to take a shit. Hey you! Where’s Squad Leader Kris?” When the girl didn’t respond, Levi turned his attention back to you, nodding slightly as you gently shook your head. He understood instantly. She was too far gone. “What happened?”

“Sister. Watching her die triggered some sort of childhood trauma, as if watching your own younger sister torn apart isn’t traumatic enough,” you explained as Levi’s expression softened slightly, instantly showing the more human side to Humanity’s Strongest Soldier.

“Do we know her name?” he asked, the tone of his voice softening along with his expression. You sighed again, telling Levi everything he needed to hear. Running a hand through his hair, his other found your arm, prompting you to turn to him. “You okay?” he asked, though knowing there was no way he’d get a straight answer. You never told him when something was wrong, he always had to drag it from your unwilling lips. But this time you looked as if you were genuinely being truthful as you answered.

“Yeah… yeah, it was just... a lot,” you breathed, pity still throbbing in your heart as the girl gently swayed in your saddle, still lost in her nightmare.

“I know,” whilst on the surface it may not have seemed like much, but those words brought you more comfort than anyone would ever realise, because he did know. He knew more than most. More than anyone, in fact. He’d seen more death than a morgue, and you were perhaps the only person who knew how he really dealt with it. Many, many nights spent in a tearful embrace as you caressed the nightmares away. You took care of each other, whether that be running a bath or shower, changing sweaty sheets or on particularly bad nights, clearing up the remains where whatever that evening’s dinner had been hurled up. He knew tonight would be a bad one for you, and with those two words he affirmed that he would be there to help you through it.

You smiled a little weakly, before the moment was interrupted by familiar shouts behind you. Your head snapped back to the girl, hoping she hadn’t been startled by the new types of volume, but she still seemed to be consumed by her own mind.

“Captain!” you recognised the three as Oluo, Petra and Gunther, three members of Levi’s squad. You glanced at Levi, who also seemed to have noticed the missing member.

“Where’s Eld?” was his immediate question, and it was only because you knew him so well did you detect the slight urgency in his voice. It was a testament as to how much he really cared about his squad.

“He stayed behind to escort some stragglers from the town, ordered us to find you,” Gunther explained, glancing between the two of you and the teenager sitting on your horse. “Who’s that?” you opened your mouth to answer, but Levi swiftly waved off the concern.

“Doesn’t matter. Petra, Oluo, I need you to take this one to the centre squad, get her medical treatment, then return to me immediately. No detours.” you watched with quiet awe as the two squad members saluted in sync, both barking a quick “Yes Captain!” before each taking one side of the girl’s reins and prompting your mare into a swift gallop.

“Gunther, with me. I can’t imagine things are going smoothly with Eld…” there was no spoken word between you, only an understanding that of course, you’d be accompanying them. Without so much as a knowing look, you gave the obsidian gelding a quick pat on the neck, before bouncing into the saddle behind your lover, securing your grip around his waist for stability. Gunther didn’t do so much as acknowledge the proximity between the two of you. Though never explicitly confirmed, your relationship with the Captain was pretty fucking obvious, to Hange’s overwhelmnig delight.

“He’ll be fine,” your words caressed his ear as you gently squeezed your arms around him, providing what little comfort you could on the scene of a battle. Nevertheless, he seemed somewhat reassured by your words, sending you a soft-eyed glance over his shoulder, before his heels dug into his gelding’s flanks and he lurched forward into a gallop, in the opposite direction and back where Levi had come from.

You couldn’t help but let your mind wander back to the girl, thoughts about her childhood plaguing your mind as you tried your best not to envision what she must have seen. You were no stranger to bloodshed, and you’d lost your fair amount of friends and relatives to the jaws of titans, but she was so young.

“It wasn’t your fault,” as if sensing your thought spiral, Levi’s voice carried down the wind to you, prompting you to huff gently in protest.

“I should have been there sooner…”

“You shouldn’t have been there at all. Where’s your squad?”

“I left Nikos in charge. He’s capable enough,” you explained, gently resting your chin on Levi’s shoulder, feeling the comfort spread through your chest like wildfire. “I couldn’t just let them die Levi,” a hand left the reins to gently hold your arm around his waist, as if acknowledging your resolve.

“I know. You never can. And as much as it worries me, I love it about you,” despite the hair whipping your face and your heart racing like a freight train, you still managed to find a sort of domestic happiness in his words. But any thoughts of relaxation promptly died as you came upon the scene Levi had left. Eld hadn’t exactly failed, but he wasn’t really succeeding either. “Stay close to me.” Levi quietly pleaded, however, already knowing your answer.

“You know I can’t do that.”

“I know, but I thought I’d say it anyway.”

With a definite nod, and being mindful of Levi’s positioning, you drew your blades from their scabbards, reading your gear as the ravenette did the same.

“Don’t go dying on me now.” you smiled, planting a small kiss against his neck before firing your anchors and launching yourself from behind him. Levi had just enough time to whisper;

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Before he followed suit, Gunther too joining Eld in the fray. And as much as you hated to say it…

There was no way of saving everyone.

You’d been fighting for ten minutes and you were already painted crimson, and it wasn’t evaporating. Civilians and soldiers alike dropping like flies, teeth and tongue acting like sprinklers for the blood of the unlucky. God you hoped your squad was alright.

And that was the thought going through your head, the singular string that pulled you off balance. The final tap to shatter the spider webbing glass as an abnormal leapt from below. Not to eat you, but to simply swat you from the skies.

The one time you weren’t on your game.

The one time you’d missed the mark.

And you came crashing down.

You had no time to act. No time to think. Only the reflex to protect your head as sudden pain jolted your exhausted system, followed by a harsher stab of agony, consequently pulling you from your stunned daze.

Every sound was muffled, even the weak cry that flew from your lips didn’t meet your ears as white noise consumed your mind. Though adrenaline was still pumping through your veins, you knew you’d been hurt. Badly. And as the dust and debris finally settled, you realised what had happened. You’d been flung through a roof, slate, brick and wood scattered around you and on top of you. Managing to bring your senses back down to earth, you could hear clearly the battlefield sounds from beyond the four decrepit walls you’d been haphazardly catapulted into, and though fear once again trickled ice into your bloodstream, you made yourself look down.

And instantly regretted it.

It wasn’t huge, but the placement wasn’t exactly ideal. A large wooden splinter currently plugged up the scarlet dam behind your flesh, protruding from the side of your stomach. Removing it now would be a death wish. There was no way you could bandage yourself up in time to stop yourself from bleeding out. You didn’t even have bandages with you, you weren’t a medic. Tearing your wide eyes away from the most prominent injury, you held your arm out in front of you. Only a few small cuts and bruises littered your limb, and much the same for the rest of your body. A few would heal over and leave scars, but most would be nothing but a whisper of this past mistake. The fucking wood in your gut, however, might be more of an issue.

You thanked the soldiers who had lost their lives today, not only for their sacrifices, but, as morbid as this may sound, their blood. Coated in all shades of red, it was difficult to decipher if any of it was yours. There was no way Levi had to know about this. He could stay blissfully ignorant of this injury until after you get medical treatment. Although honestly, knowing yourself, you knew full well you were going to remove it and bandage it yourself as soon as you all got back to camp.

If you made it back to camp.

Panicked calls of your name brought you to your feet. Adrenaline sure was one hell of a drug. Though you could feel the slight thrum of pain, you knew this was nothing in comparison to what you would feel later. At least you could walk fairly well right now, as you tried not to limp your way to the door currently hanging from its hinges.

“I’m here! I’m fine!” you shouted to the skies, listening as the panicked calls stopped. You removed your hand from your side just in time for Levi to hastily land a few feet away and immediately run to your side. Knowing he would start looking for any sort of injury, you threw your arms around his neck, whilst keeping him at an awkward distance. It was a good enough distraction for him whilst simultaneously letting him know you were okay.

Even if it was a lie.

“Fucking hell, when I didn’t see you after we’d cleared them all out I thought–”

“It’s okay, I’m here, I’m fine. I was just a little reckless, that’s all,” you hushed him gently, wincing as he tightened his arms around you, before roughly pulling back. His eyes held a cold glare, and you knew a reprimand was coming.

“Don’t. Do that. Again. Didn’t I tell you to stay close to me?” you rolled your eyes. It was a familiar conversation after a familiar scene. You managed to get hurt some way or another, he reprimands you for being reckless. But the system went both ways. You never shied away from giving him an earful whenever he’d do something stupid and reckless. But, you supposed, he was honest when he had hurt himself. You on the other hand…

“Yeah, I know, I’m sorry. Just got distracted by the hundreds of titans around the place. How’s Eld? Is he alright?” taking extra effort to steady your voice, the adrenaline in your system was starting to drain, leaving you with an ever growing pain pulsing through your nerves. You couldn’t convincingly stand for much longer, your body screaming at you to remove the foreign object from your stomach.

“Yeah, he’s fine. He managed to cope well all things considered. We’ve had the signal to withdraw back to camp. No doubt Erwin is gonna rack his brains to try find a different route,” you were only half listening if you were being honest, too focussed on trying to stay conscious. But you heard the word withdraw and relief greeted you like an old friend.

“Let’s get back then. I’m done with today,” exhaustion accompanied your now throbbing agony, making it difficult to breathe. Levi was a perceptive man, especially when it came to you. He’d lost too many people in his life to lose you too. It would break him. But with your entire body soaked in blood, it was difficult to tell if and where you’d be injured. He just had to hope you’d be honest with him, despite knowing you never were when it came to your health.

Wordlessly, Levi mounted his horse, holding out his hand to assist you in doing the same. Fear briefly flashed in your eyes before you quenched that spark, taking his hand and stifling a pained gasp as your leg swung over the saddle. You hoped he wouldn’t think anything of your deathgrip on his shoulders, nails digging into the cloak and jacket as every galloped step brought another bolt of lightning through your system. You just had to hold on until you got back. Just hold on.

It wasn’t that the journey back was particularly long. You were lucky enough not to encounter any Titans, so all in all it would have been considered a success. For you however, you just wanted to find a quiet corner where you could finally sort yourself out. You’d been drifting in and out of consciousness throughout the entire ride to camp, passing it off as that aforementioned exhaustion whenever your raven-haired lover enquired about it.

What you didn’t anticipate, however, was how useless your legs had become. As soon as Levi brought his gelding back down to a walk, you dismounted, knees buckling beneath you as they thudded against the ground. Another torturous stab through your nerves had you whimper through gritted teeth, jaw clenched and eyes shut as you tried to focus on the feeling of the wet grass in the palms of your hands. Levi’s small questioning of your name brought your back to reality, having you realise you were still kneeling.

“M’ fine, just tired.”

“You keep saying that.” Levi’s remark was accompanied by a gentle thud as he too dismounted, delivering a few quick pat’s to his horse’s neck before cautiously kneeling down before you.

“Maybe because it’s the truth?” you raised a sarcastic brow, finalling lifting your head to look him in the eye for the first time since you’d left the site of the battle. You looked like death. Pale face, sunken eyes struggling to focus, your head was spinning, the stinging throb of your injury still at the forefront of your head. Levi’s eyes widened, worry now creasing his brow as he went to gently hold your bicep, only to have you flinch away and quickly rise to your feet, stumbling back a couple steps. “Pretty sure I said I'm fine. I just need to rest.” you snapped, feeling no guilt as you turned away.

It took every fiber of self control not to hold the side of your stomach as you walked, but as soon as you were out of sight and earshot inside your tent, your hand immediately flew to your wound, trying everything to calm the raging pain.

Shaking your head of the dizziness swimming in your vision, you haphazardly stumbled to your camping bed, bracing yourself on the frame as you began rifling through your pack. Though you may not carry bandages out with you in the field, you were all issued a roll before you left, as military standard. You placed them atop your camp-bed, alongside your canteen of water and a small hand mirror you’d packed just in case. Sometimes you really appreciated your past self for the random shit she did.

Sucking in a breath through your teeth, you braced yourself for the sight as you lifted your shirt, only to realise you were not prepared for what you were about to see at all. It’s all very well being able to deal with wounds and injuries on other people, but it’s a whole different ball game when seeing a jagged spear of wood stick out from your stained, swollen flesh. Your breathing quickened, slowed only by the fog in your brain clearing just enough for you to remember you needed to calm down. Going into shock now might just end your life.

“Okay… fuck, okay…” you took large, steady breaths as you brought the mirror in front of you, giving yourself a better look at the wound. It was impossible to tell how long the spear was, maybe because you weren’t a fucking medic, but you knew it was in deep, and it was stuck fast. Since it was impaled in your stomach, there was no way you could apply a tourniquet either. One of the few things you actually knew how to do. You would have thought, having been in the Scouts for so long, you would have picked up a few more medical treatments or techniques, but you vaguely guessed you were too busy slicing the shit out of titans.

Taking your canteen, you unscrewed the lid with your teeth, once again taking some calming breaths, before ice met fire.

All that escaped your lips was a small, strained hiss as water gently trickled down the broken skin, cleansing the wound as best you could before the main event. Were you stalling? Probably, but you couldn’t blame yourself. If cautiously pouring a small amount of water over the site hurt this much, just how much would yanking it from your abdomen hurt? It wasn’t a thought you wanted to mull over for very long, realising you would probably need something to bite down on. For once thankful that the tents didn’t come with built in floors, you grabbed any old stick in range, wiping it on your bloodied trousers so there was no visible dirt, before shoving it between your teeth.

Wrapping your palm around the intrusion in your gut, you briefly wondered how much Levi would look at you in disgust if he ever saw you with a random stick in your mouth, before you pulled.

Hard.

Agony ripped through your system as the spear was pulled free, a broken cry flying from your obstructed mouth as your hand tried to plug the hole in the dam, unsuccessfully. Discarding the literal thorn in your side, you floundered for the bandages on the camp-bed, your cold hand quickly warming as your own blood now soaked the floor. Desperation clawed its way into your heart, forcing it to beat faster as you began wrapping bandage after bandage around your midsection, hoping and praying the bleeding would slow to a low trickle, and this wouldn’t kill you.

Tucking in the end of the bandage into itself so it was secure enough, you looked down in slight horror to see crimson already seeping through the ivory. Not enough to soak the fresh, more comfortable clothes you were about to put on, but enough to keep that racing heartbeat. You knew you had to calm down, panic would kill you faster, but you couldn’t help it. You always thought you’d meet your end in the jaws of a titan, not from some stupid fucking mistake you made which led to you being thrown into a building and impaled on some stupid fucking piece of wood. But, what you did know, was that your stubbornness would be your downfall. If you’d just told Levi earlier when he’d asked. If you’d just been honest with him, his overprotective nature be damned, you should have been honest with him. And now, you’d likely die because of it.

You didn’t have the energy to clean up, looking at the pile of bloodied clothing, half used bandages, your empty canteen, a now stained mirror and the almost black puddle left in the grass, your fuzzy mind almost found it comical, like the scene of a murder. You supposed, in a way, it was.

You found the rest of the veterans sitting in a circle around a small fire, though the warmth failed to seep into your bones. Taking a seat on an empty box you knew was meant for you, you raised your head to acknowledge the group, taking in a headcount before realising one of them, the most important one to you, wasn’t there.

“Where’s Levi?” you asked, you tone so much quieter than you would have liked. Hange winced in pity, clearly having heard the day you’d just had. Miche and Nanaba stayed quiet, Moblit focussing on the drink in his hand and Erwin looked between you and Hange, concern written on his face.

“He mentioned going to find you earlier. I’m going to assume he didn’t have much luck,” you wanted to laugh, but your ever-growing exhaustion and sluggishness prevented you from finding humour.

“Oh…” you responded, eyes falling to your pale hands as you mulled over her statement. You finally felt guilt twist in your already tired heart. You’d snapped at him earlier. He was only making sure you were alright and you’d snapped at him. Yes, he was overprotective sometimes, especially after you’ve been hurt, but this… what you were doing… he didn’t deserve this. Fuck.

A sharp, panicked call of your name had you sitting bolt upright, the rest of the vets too immediately flew to battle stations, wondering what the hell had Levi so worried, since they all recognised his voice. In the small rush of adrenaline, you jumped to your feet, swivelling in place to see your lover, eyes wide with terror, running towards you. But upon seeing he was okay, you smiled, adrenaline draining from your system as your blood-loss finally caught up with you.

It wasn’t just Levi shouting at you then, you heard a chorus of your name, the dull tumbling of boxes falling over as your vision faded to black

Levi had been concerned ever since you stumbled from the dilapidated building. He knew something was wrong, his gut was screaming at him, but he ignored it in favour of believing you were telling the truth. But now faced by the scene of your lies, Levi took in the bandages, the canteen, the pool of blood. But what worried him most, was the crimson tipped spear of wood. Piecing together what had happened wasn’t difficult, and a surge of emotions raged through his mind. Betrayal, that you had once again lied to him. Anger, that you had endangered your own life in order to keep this from him. Guilt, that you felt as if you couldn’t tell him about this. He was more than aware of how protective he was over you, but he never thought you’d do something like this. And terror, that somehow he’d been too late, and you were already lying somewhere in the camp, bleeding to death.

And it was that emotion that jump-started his search. Fleeing from the scene, Levi scanned the camp as he ran, hoping against hope that his eyes would catch sight of you. He couldn’t lose you. He couldn’t lose you to his own fear of losing you. That’s where his overprotective nature stemmed from. He knew that, and you knew that.

Cold breath burned his lungs as he kept running, his instincts taking him to the small gathering of the people he considered friends. And it was there he finally saw you. But no relief calmed his system, only panic spurring him to run faster and shout louder. When he saw you on your feet, he questioned whether he’d pieced the puzzle together correctly. You seemed fine, a bit pale and a bit worn, but fine nonetheless.

And then you smiled gently at him. Then you staggered backwards, eyes falling shut. Then you collapsed, and Levi barely made it in time to catch you as you fell.

“Hey hey hey, stay with me, come on, stay with me,” he breathed, hands cupping your limp head and neck before resting you against his chest. Two fingers checked your pulse, a small reprieve from panic as he felt the faintest thumping against his fingertips. You were still there, but barely. “Shit, shit shit shit, HANGE–”

“I’m here, what can I do?” Levi managed to tear his eyes away from your unconscious form to briefly look at the scientist.

“Help her… please,” Levi, who was usually so calm and collected, was starting to lose his grip on his sanity. He saw recognition flash in Hange’s eyes, watching as they realised they would have to take control of the situation. Something the usually stoic captain would thank them for later.

Nobody had even seen your wound, and yet they knew this was a life or death situation. You were hanging on by a thread. And it was Erwin who spoke first.

“Nanaba, Miche, find a medic and bring them here as quickly as possible. Moblit and myself will be on standby.” before he’d even finished his orders, the two vets had taken off at a jog to find the nearest medical tent, but Levi couldn’t help thinking they weren’t moving fast enough. Your shallow breaths adding another layer of desperation to the situation, listening to them growing fainter was a timer he really didn’t need right now. His eyes immediately shot to your midsection as Hange lifted the comfortable shirt you’d thrown on, almost choking at the sight. All Levi saw was red. Figuratively and literally. The bandages you’d haphazardly wrapped around yourself had done nothing but absorb as much blood as they could, before letting the rest spill over. He’d never felt such paralysing fear in his life, not when Hange’s face dropped in defeat, refusing to meet Levi’s gaze.

“She’s lost too much blood…” they whispered, hands still pressing on the wound despite how fruitless it now seemed. It was then everything seemed so far away. Every sound made was muffled, every movement made was blurry. At some point Levi felt himself be dragged away from you. Felt himself fighting back, struggling against a force he couldn’t even decipher. Only vaguely registering Hange talking to two soldiers, the medics brought by Miche and Nanaba. But all he could focus on was you. Pale faced and dying. You were dying. Or you were already dead. He only realised he’d been shouting for you, screaming for you when he could no longer recognise his own voice, only the cracked, raw sobs of a broken man as he continued to fight against whatever held him back.

“Levi, you have to let her go.” deep, sympathetic tones of the commander cut through the grief stricken haze. He didn’t even know where he was. He didn’t know where he’d been dragged to. His eyes had stayed glued to the last spot he’d seen you before he was taken from the scene.

“Don’t ask me to do that. Please, don’t ask me to do that,” Levi stared at his hands unblinking, silver eyes taking in the blood beneath his fingernails, crimson lining the creases of his hands. He’d been sat down somewhere away from the commotion, Erwin staying by his side as they tried to save your life. He couldn’t help but feel like it was his fault. If you felt like you could tell him about your injuries, none of this would have happened. If he wasn’t so overprotective over you, none of this would have happened. He knew you would tell him it wasn’t his fault, just like how he told you the fate of the girl wasn’t yours. But guilt still twisted his mind and heart into knots.

“Levi–” Erwin started, before he was interrupted by the arrival of a grim looking Hange, their own clothes and hands too seem stained in your blood. Looking up from his hands, Levi tried to read their expression, but found himself coming up with no answer to the most prominent question in his mind. Erwin voiced it for him. “Is she…”

“She’ll be okay. She’s lost a lot of blood, and is extremely weak at the moment, but she’ll recover. She’s currently resting, but the medic squad said you can see her.” For the nth time today, another wave of emotions crowded Levi’s tired mind. Unutterable relief that you would be okay. That he wouldn’t have to somehow continue on without you by his side. Rising from his seat, he immediately crossed the tent Erwin had dragged him to, pulling the flap to the side before Hange’s hand on his shoulder stopped him. “Just, be careful. Her stitches are fresh,” with a sharp nod, too afraid his voice would break even further if he spoke, before ducking beneath the tent-flap and finally realising where he’d been taken.

Time must have shifted, because how the fuck Erwin managed to get him all the way across the camp in what seemed like only a few short seconds he would never know, before reality dawned on him. It had been half an hour since you’d collapsed. Dusk had settled to night, torches and campfires illuminating his path as he strode through the quietened site, making a beeline for the medical tent.

The relief he felt when he heard you were okay was nothing compared to the crippling sense of gratitude he felt when actually seeing you, alive, asleep on a camp-bed. The slow rise and fall of your chest calmed his own heartbeat as he knelt by your side, smoothing your brow with his thumb.

“You scared the shit out of me.” he whispered, pressing a kiss to your hair before resting his forehead against your own.

“Sorry…” Levi drew back a bit, mouth agape, searching your face just as you turned your head slightly to face him, eyes cracking open. He looked terrible, but you didn’t think you’d seen anything so sweet in your life. “Levi, I’m so sor–”

“Damn right you are. I’ve never been so fucking scared in my life. I thought that was it. I thought I’d lost you,” though his words seemed harsh, there was nothing but gentle relief in his tone as he returned his forehead to yours, a hand coming down to squeeze your palm just to make sure you really were alive and this wasn’t some grief conjured hallucination. “Please… just tell me next time. I know I can be cautious and overprotective but I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you. I was so fucking scared my fear of losing you had somehow killed you.” you brought your free palm up to cup his cheek, gently guiding his face so you could look him in the eye.

“I know this is a really bad time to say this, but I can look after myself–”

“She says, from a hospital bed.”

“Yeah yeah, I know. But you don’t have to go into overdrive everytime I get a splinter,” –Levi raised a brow, eyes flicking to your now bandaged wound– “okay bad example, but you know what I mean.” you smiled at his soft chuckle, relishing as his lips once again caressed your hairline. He interlaced your hands, squeezing softly as his mouth trailed gentle kisses down the side of your face, to your cheek, and finally capturing your lips.

“I know. I’m sorry… but you’re fucking crazy if you think I’m going to let you lift a finger for the next three weeks at least.” it was your turn to chuckle lightly, wincing as it strained your newly stitched abdomen. Noticing your discomfort, Levi’s brows pinched in concern, thumb still smoothing over the curves of your face. “Is there anything you need? Food? Water?” he asked, looking around as if to catch one of the medics walking by, but you shook your head.

“Just… stay. Please.” his expression softened, nodding before dragging a chair to your bedside. You both stayed in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, before inevitably your mind wandered back to the girl from before. “The girl from before… Do we know what happened to her?” you asked softly, worry lacing your tired tones. Levi shook his head gently, hating how your eyes fell in sorrow. You’d just almost died, and yet you were still concerned for others. It was something that had him falling for you right from the start, your compassion, and he would do anything to protect it.

“I think she’ll be assigned to the psych ward. Hopefully they’ll be able to help her in some way, but I dou–” seeing your expression sink further stopped him in his tracks, his heart clenching painfully at your response. Lifting the hand he still held in his own, he gently kissed your knuckles. “She’s alive and safe because of you. You saved her life. I know you think you should have been there earlier but truth be told, it’s impossible to tell whether you could have saved her sister as well. You did what you could, and that’s all any of us can do.” he murmured against your hand, prompting a teary smile to creep across your face as you nodded in affirmed agreement.

“Thank you.” you whispered, your body too focussed on recovering to do or say much else as you drifted back to sleep. A small, fond smile pulled at Levi’s lips, mirroring your expression as he leant down to kiss your forehead.

“Get some rest, sweetheart. I’ll be right here. Always.”

[favefandomimagines]

Warm Welcome (r.c)

Summary: on a mission to find sarah and get his family back together, rafe runs into you. 

AN: okay SO this is slightly canon rafe! i’m taking out the murder of peterkin but everything else that has happened in season 2 did happen. this takes place after the Cameron’s and the Pogues leave the OBX and the reader is rafe’s estranged SO.

This does not have a happy ending, i’m sorry!

Also, so sorry I’ve been MIA. I’ve had zero motivation and inspiration to write anything. This was from my drafts and decided to post it. I have an Ace from Nancy Drew fic that I’m working on that will be posted soon and then maybe a Thomas Shelby one coming soon.

It had been three months since the Cameron’s had up and left the Outer Banks and you hadn’t heard from any of them. 

Kiara, JJ and Pope are missing, Rafe left you without a single word and you were very confused on John B and Sarah. Everyone who ever had an impact on your life had just left. Left you without ever letting you know. 

Topper had come to your house moments after he had discovered the empty house on Tannyhill. You didn’t want to believe him at first. You didn’t want to believe that your boyfriend of two years would just leave you. 

Rafe always had problems, especially with his mental health. You had finally convinced him to go talk to someone and get help just days before he left. You thought he actually wanted to get better but clearly his demons told him otherwise. 

He had always told you he’d always be there but you knew that was another one of his empty promises. 

You were walking down the sidewalk toward Hayward’s, like you did every other day. You and Pope were always friends to one another even after you changed social classes. 

Your mother married a Kook and you made the transition from Pogue to Kook and Pope was the one person who didn’t see you as a traitor. Since Pope went missing, you stopped by Hayward’s to help the married couple with whatever they needed. They were always kind to you and you just wanted to pay them back. 

As you were walking, you checked a notification on your phone and bumped into someone. “Oh god, I’m so sorry, I wasn’t-” You started until you looked up and saw the person you ran into. 

You felt as if you were hallucinating or seeing a ghost at the sight of him. Rafe Cameron was standing in front of you and you almost rubbed your eyes to see if he’d go away. 

“What the hell?” You questioned. “Where’s Sarah?” Rafe asked. That question felt like a dagger to the heart. He didn’t even care about you or how you were doing. He came to get what he wanted and didn’t care the slightest about you. 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” You swore. “Where’s Sarah? Three months since you just left, three months since I’ve seen you and all you have to say is where’s Sarah?” You sneered. 

“Y/N, it’s complicated.” He said. “You’ve been saying that for a year.” You muttered. “You don’t understand. I need to find Sarah.” He replied. “She’s gone. Her and the Pogues have been missing since you left.” You answered. “You mean they aren’t here?” Rafe asked. “That’s usually the definition of missing.” You said. 

Rafe clenched his jaw and ran his hand through his hair as he took a couple steps back. You scoffed and began to walk away from him when he grabbed your wrist. 

“I missed you.” He said. You ripped your hand from his grasp and took a couple steps back. “I don’t believe you.” You said. “I can’t believe a single word that comes out of your mouth anymore. You said you’d always be here for me. You’re a liar.” You added.

“Y/N, I-I had to. My dad is alive, we’re leaving to become a really family again. We got the gold, I got the cross. We just need Sarah.” Rafe explained.

You could see he was severely manic and all the information he spewed at you was a little too much to process when he turned up out of the blue after three months.

“You can come with me. We can be together without all the bullshit with the Pogues. We won’t have to worry about anything, I can take care of you.” He added.

“No, Rafe, I’m not coming with you. I was an after thought to you this entire time and now you want to be with me? That’s not fair.” You said. “We’re done, Rafe. We’ve been done for a long time.” You added. “No, no, Y/N, you can’t do this.” He begged. “I’m not doing anything. You made the first move, I’m just making it official.” You said. 

Rafe clenched and unclenched his jaw as you attempted to move past him. He grabbed your elbow to stop you, but neither of you made eye contact. “You promised me you wouldn’t leave.” He muttered. “You promised me the same thing. I guess we’re both liars.” You replied. 

He let you go and kept his back to you when he felt you were safe distance away. But then he turned to watch you walked towards Hayward’s. Everything you said was right. He had no right to show up after so long and act like nothing happened. 

Rafe yet again ruined the thing that could have saved him

[seshiiru]

A brief analysis of Drakengard/NieR Repetition mechanic and its role in the neverending cycle of death of the Taroverse.

(This is a personal analysis so it doesn't mean that anything I say in here is true and that it is Yoko Taro's intentions )

After replaying NieR Replicant and a rewatching a Drakengard LP, something actually striked me in the "Play the game again" mechanic so unique to Yoko Taro's games. Where Drakengard is more of Hack&Slah Ace Combat hybrid devided in chapters, NieR games are a bit closer to Action RPGs. Yet, the games follow a similar narrative construction and a way of doing endings, with multiple endings you can unlock by tedious grinds or hidden secrets, with each offering a new reality.

The mechanic is clearly more accentuated in NieR Replicant's/ Gestalt because this repetition serves as a way to make you question your decisions and right to kill the shades, with run B obliterating all of your expectations and beliefs. Where few games do question the meaning behind the killing, the delusional vision of a right or wrong world, none does it as strongly as NieR. By the repetitiveness of the game, reenacting the killing, you, the players are confronted once again to every life you took throughout the game. Which end up much more impactful than knowing you've killed for wrong reasons but aren't facing truly the consequences. And NieR Automata is reusing that mechanic, in an even smarter way than its predecessor.

Then, why, even confronted to our horrendous actions do we keep going? Do we keep on doing that long and tedious farming? Simply because we want more, we want a better ending, we wish that somehow, someway, the game gives us back some companions lost on the way, we wish to see our hero finally end the cycle. And that's the powerful thing about Yoko Taro's game. The player is the one that keeps the cycle of killing ongoing. And it is a cycle that actually started at the very beginning of Yoko Taro's universe and never stopped.

It starts way back at the very beginning, Drakengard 3. Through the character of Zero, we kill countless enemies, without much an explanation than just that she wants to kill her sisters. And then we learn the truth, we understand Zero's character but Mikhail dies. Then we keep going and more people die at each endings. More people die at every grind. We are never satisfied. We hope that the game finally gives everyone a happy ending but it never does. Finally, the event of Drakengard's 3 final ending put you the player, Zero and Mikhail at rest, yet doom another world: Drakengard's.

In the same way as Zero from Drakengard 3, we kill countless enemies through the bloodlusty Caim. Despite the chaotic nature of Caim, the player understands that there's bigger threats to the world so we fight. At the end of this massacre, our sister and dragon dies. We want a better ending. We want more understanding of the world . So we keep killing, replaying to get all the weapons, upgrading them, replaying missions countless times, achieving endings after endings, until finally, this world is free of the cycle. But it's to another world that we brought the cycle : NieR's.

Unlike Zero and Caim, the protagonist of this world seems definitely more righteous. We willingly kill shades because it's necessary, it's for a good cause. But after all this adventure, we understand that he's just as ruthless and selfish as Caim or Zero. Despite saving your sister, the only reason why you slaughtered all the shades, the player keeps on going. Keeps killing shades for a new ending, for Kainé, for Emil. But then you lose Kainé and then the protagonist itself. But then the game gives you a final hope. You replay the first part of the game, back as the innocent boy, hoping that everything you've gone through could be changed. And the game rewards you, it gives you the so hoped-happy ending; not knowing that this happy ending is gained at the loss of the entire humanity.

And the cycles continues to Automata. You could have stopped at Ending A, with that lovely ending but you want more. You keep going and you keep losing. First 2B and then 9S sanity. Pascal and the twins. Adam and Eve. But you keep hoping that they'll finally have the ending desired, just like the ones you've got in every games before. And it happens, but this time, the cycle is no more. Because you, the player, who kept going, decided to sacrifice yourself so the characters you cared so much about finally got free of the cycle you've been perpetuating for so long.

You are most likely the god who was in charge of that cycle all along. You can find evidence across all of Yoko Taro's games. "Is this the land of the Gods?" from ending E of Drakengard is the first hint towards that. "You and I are the same, tools in the hands of a master" from Devola to Nier in NieR Replicant/Gestalt. Then comes the Automata introduction quote "We are perpetually trapped in an never-ending spiral of life and death. Is this a curse? Or some kind of punishment ? I often think about the God who blessed us this cryptic puzzle and wonder if we'll ever have a chance to kill him". And recently, I ended up with another hint when I pulled for the Replicant characters in Nier Reincarnation :

Yes it echoes to their games but I can't stop but seeing the 4th wall broken in each of these statements and knowing the man, there's a high possibility.

And that's through that last bit of Automata that you see how Yoko Taro's philosophy evolved throughout the games. With each game giving a more hopeful message each time. And Automata ending on your sacrifice for a good ending. You ended that cycle. Because the god of their world made the sacrifice so that they could all be free of the cycle. You lose your data, the meaning through which you kept the cycle ongoing.

The repetitiveness of Yoko Taro's games can be seen as annoying, and tedious (oh lord the grind ). But I can't stop but think it's what makes his games all the more incredible and rich in lessons and meanings.

[another-rational-deception]

sending a few asks to help you get started✌🏻😗

class 1a (idk your limit for people so just do whoever you want) with an S/o who has a cat quirk?

Tbh im still finding my limit aswell. For now ill go with like 3-5 max characters depending on how im feeling.

D*rk content/n*fw blogs don’t interact with me at all.

Tokoyami, Shoji, Mina, and Toru’s s/o w/ a cat quirk

Fumikage Tokoyami -

Depending on how much your quirk impacts your instincts, you might have tried to pounce on Dark Shadow outside of quirk training (or in quirk training when DS was just chillin)

So it may have taken a bit of convincing on Fumikage’s part for Dark Shadow to give you another chance

People find it kind of odd that of all things, a cat and a bird are dating. Weird fuckin world

He finds cuddling to be very intimate, (he’s not really used to physical affection) so when you curl around him he’s as stiff as a board

Zero idea what to with his hands

Also desperately fighting Dark Shadow internally to shut the ever loving fuck up about this situation

Probably not as keen on petting you as the others are

Actually, he probably likes to be pet himself

The way your claws combined with your soft finger pads feel on his head and between his feathers is enough to make him fall asleep

Because cats are just naturally very sassy sometimes, I feel like Dark Shadow would definitely go back and forth with you just sassing each other off

Mezo Shoji

Mildly less nervous around you because part of your quirk is a physical mutation, like him

He’s a gentleman, probably panics internally when your tail brushes against him

Gets flustered when you nuzzle him or ask him to pet you (he loves it he’s just a ball of nerves around you)

Cuddles are on another level with this guy. How fuzzy and cuddly you are combined with his arms and size is a recipe for the PERFECT cuddles.

(Did y’all see how Mezo was sleeping during the training camp? That was so cute, I can totally imagine him sleeping like that with his s/o in front of him w/ their back against him)

When you’re facing him during cuddles, he subconsciously strokes your back and ears during his sleep

He won’t comment on your purring, just know that he’s trying not to jump up and down

He might ask you to help him with his balance and agility during training. He’s a big guy, and the bigger you are, the harder you fall. He knows this and doesn’t want to be caught off guard

He will absolutely hold you if you ask him to (he holds your in like a little basket, think of Tsu during the provisional license exam)

He learns to read your body language very quickly, such as a thrashing tail, or the low yowl that starts in your throat when upset. Or your tail swaying softly and blinking slowly when calm and happy

Mina Ashido

Loves everything about your quirk

LOVES to scratch your ears and pet you

Fav thing is when cuddling with you, taking turns doing each other’s hair (or running one another’s hands through each other’s hair)

Or just snuggling you while you curl up around her like an oversized heated blanket

And when you PURR

She’s about to CRY you’re so cute, she can’t handle it

She’s lookin like Izuku when Uraraka asked him to be in her group at the sport’s festival

Also thinks your claws are the coolest thing ever, she will ABSOLUTELY help you sharpen them (and then paints them. You try to get out of training so you don’t ruin her work, Aizawa really doesn’t give a shit)

Absolutely comes to you to help her with her agility and balance (kind of like Mezo)

You two spend a lot of free time training together. You help her learn how to balance so she doesn’t slip while gliding on her acid and how to stick her landings, and she helps you out with your flexibility and stamina with dancing lessons.

Speaking of: she has a b l a s t dancing with you. She’s amazed by your flexibility

Toru Hagakure

ALL OVER YOU

Literally the first time she saw you in class she asked if she could touch your ears or tail

Probably gets you claw caps to protect your claws outside of training (they’re sparkly pink, change my mind)

Cuddling is her favourite, just hold her

She has a d e a t h g r i p on you. But once she falls asleep her grip loosens (I feel like she tosses and turns in her sleep)

Squeals when she hears you purr (she tells ALL of her friends about how cute you are)

Rests her head on you during lunch when she’s not eating. (Kind of random but I feel like she would do that if she were tired)

Like Mina, I feel like she would just dance her heart out with you. She loves the way your tail twirls with you and how graceful you are

Like Mezo and Mina, she also trains with you, although her training is more on grace and stealth than that of battle, considering her whole thing is stealth missions

She probably buys little cat ears for herself (the rest of the class finds this an absolute blessing, they can finally tell which way she’s looking)