#but then some guys exist and my mind goes blank

[kaikaikarasu]

I have no idea why but Karasu thoughts are eating at my brain rn

@someprettyname a little help??

[cacoetheswriting]

i am weak for shy and nervous eddie munson who fumbles when around his crush. imagine him pining over this girl who he’s never even talked to, (maybe they have different social circles) and he just sees her around with her friends and he is smitten and then one day they accidentally bump into each other and she’s like “you’re eddie right?” and you know he’d be so flustered.

pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader word count: 2.2k

content warnings: lovesick eddie, pining, a little self-deprecation and self-doubt, mostly cheese and fluff, adult language - wildly unedited, oops.

“I hate this fucking school.”

The group exchange knowing glances as Eddie sits at the table with a grumble. His lunch tray lands with a low crash, nearly colliding with Gareth’s juicebox and therefore spilling its contents all over. A huff and quick reflexes on Jeff’s part save the group from catastrophe, more importantly, save the homework the boy had yet to finish ahead of next period. 

Eddie however, doesn’t notice the mess he has almost created. Frankly, he’s not paying attention. Even when Gareth tells him to, “Watch it, dude.”. The metal-head flicks his hand to say he’s sorry for whatever it is that his friends are chastising him for, but his eyes are fixed ahead, on the sole reason he’s in such a grumpy mood.

You.

Or rather Steve the dick Harrington, who’s got his arm draped shamelessly around your shoulders, as if he wasn’t just publicly humiliating Nancy Wheeler — since up until mere twenty-four hours ago, Hawkins High thought the blue-eyed girl was the King’s girlfriend, not you.

Eddie’s miserable. When did this happen? How did this even happen?

Last night, Steve and Nancy were all over each other. Eddie knows this to be fact since he saw them together at that party he wasn’t invited to as a guest, but to work because the popular kids always need a fix and he needs to make a living if he’s ever going to leave this shithole town. Anyway, that’s when Eddie saw the “it” couple and yet, now Nancy is nowhere to be seen and you’re snuggling into Harrington.

“I hate this fucking school,” Eddie repeats, sticking his fork into today’s cafeteria lunch. “Everyone is so two-faced and fake. No one has any integrity.”

The guys don’t need to follow his line of sight because they know very well who and what the metal-head is talking about.

“Maybe if you just talked to her, then you wouldn’t be so miserable today.” Jeff notes without looking up from his homework. “Plus, I overheard Charmaine tell Julie that Harrington is continuing to hold a candle for Nancy. This thing over there, that you’re obsessing over, is just friends being friends.”

“Doesn’t look like just friends to me,” Eddie grumbles, then looks at Jeff. “And I tried talking to her. It’s just, every time I do, my mind goes blank.”

Gareth rolls his eyes. “Dude, she’s not some superbeing. She’s a girl from our school. You’ve got no problem talking to other girls?”

Eddie doesn’t say anything because how does he go about explaining to his friends that to him, you’re more than a girl from school. It’s embarrassing enough how he’s never talked to you and yet, you occupy his entire mind and soul. The guys think it’s just another crush. Eddie knows it’s not. He can’t tell them though because they’ll laugh him out of it. Eddie the freak Munson is very much pining after a girl who doesn’t know he exists. Pathetic.

So, as any respectable guy in his situation would, Eddie continues to wallow in his own self-pity. 

He stares at you throughout the remainder of the lunch break, narrowly avoiding your gaze here and there by simply looking away. His downcast humour continues throughout the rest of the day. Since he doesn’t often engage in class anyway, the teachers pay him no mind. Although, their reasons are different: a quiet Eddie Munson is better than one who causes various disturbances. After the final bell ring, he hurries out of the building and blares music the entire drive home, to fizz out his thoughts.

Called into work. Here’s some cash. Go to the diner. 

Wayne

Eddie sighs. The one thing he was hoping for were his uncle's words of wisdom, although it seems that will also have to wait. Eddie slides the note into the pocket of his denim jeans and he is out the door again.

The diner is about thirty minutes away from the trailer, by foot. The metal-head decided to walk it anyway, hoping the fresh air would knock some sense into him because he’s got no business feeling this emotionally shattered. 

Maybe if he wasn’t such a bitch boy around you, things would be different. Unfortunately, for some reason, ever since he first laid eyes on you, Eddie’s default is shy.

Okay, maybe you and Harrington are a thing now, so what? Eddie’s got no claim on you, unspoken or otherwise. You can date whoever, even if it’s Steve the asshole. It’s also not like you and Nancy are friends. Everyone at school knows you two run in different circles, meaning no girl-code is being broken. There is also the possibility of what Jeff overheard from Charmaine and Julie being true: you and Harrington are nothing but friends. Very friendly friends. Touchy, feely. And Eddie would have noticed earlier if it were simply the case of friendship, therefore, he concludes that you are in fact dating Steve the douche Harrington and he somehow has to come to terms with it.

Eddie pushes the door open and makes a beeline for an empty booth. He orders a burger with fries and a soda from the middle-aged waitress, then whips out a notebook from his backpack while he waits. The only one he carries and it’s not for any schoolwork. The numbers scribbled hastily in the margins are easily mistaken for maths, but that’s just business. He focuses instead on the latest D&D campaign he’s working on.

For a moment, the metal-head forgets about today's events. He gets lost in the fictional world he’s creating. The made up monsters replace any harboured thoughts of you with Steve the turd, although one closely resembles Harrington's famous head of hair and he smirks, proud of himself for the immaturity. He figures if girls can write about their demons in journals, he can bring them into D&D. Bring them, then kill them.

He’s just about finished marking a big cross over the doodle of monster Steve when a figure steps in front of the light, creating a shadow over his notebook. Eddie sighs, foot tapping underneath the table in frustration. He’s about to make a rude remark, but when he looks up to meet the eyes of the perpetrator, he’s met with your wide gaze and naturally, he freezes.

“I like your drawings,” you say.

“Uhm, t-thanks,” he fumbles.

“You’re Eddie, right?”

All he can do is nod in response and you smile. Small and charming. Enough to make the brunette’s head spin and pinch his leg because he can’t believe this is happening. Surely, this must be a dream of some sort. He came home and passed out on the sofa. The only logical explanation for why you would be talking to him, complementing his stupid little doodles. The only logical explanation for why you know his fucking name.

“We’ve never officially met,” you begin and reach out your hand. 

Eddie glances at it and without really thinking, he utters, “I know who you are.”

It comes out a little more mean than he intends it to, he knows because you retreat your hand as if you’ve been burned. Eddie’s heart stings. Now he knows it’s real since only he’d be stupid enough to ruin a good thing before it even began. He’s an asshole.

“Sorry,” he mumbles quickly, then straightens in his seat. “Do you wanna sit? I-I have fries.”

He chews on the inside of his cheek for how incredibly pathetic that sounded; fries. You however, don’t notice and you’re also kind enough not to point out how he’s stumbling about his words like a little schoolkid.

“I love french fries.”

And with that, you’re sliding into the booth, across from him.

Eddie watches in disbelief as you help yourself to his food, not just the potato side, as if the two of you have been friends a lifetime. Then, probably to confuse him even more, you start telling him about how your parents locked you out and how it’s nice to see a familiar face, while he’s sitting there in silence, taking it all in, wondering whether perhaps this was some cruel joke Harrington and his band of losers were playing on him.

He wants to ask. Save himself the embarrassment if this does end up being a prank and tomorrow’s gossip: Eddie the freak Munson thought he had a chance. You keep talking, only taking small pauses to take bites out of his food or a sip of his soda, and to Eddie’s surprise nothing happens. No one jumps out screaming, laughing, pointing at him. This is really happening and he is truly baffled.

“Can we get another burger meal and the same soda?” You order from the waitress when she comes around to check the tables and afterwards, turn to look at Eddie, smile ever present. “Kinda ate most of yours.”

“It’s fine,” he manages to say.

For the first time since you sat down, it’s quiet. Now you’re the one staring at him, head tilted slightly to the one side. The smile on your face transforms into something more thoughtful, as if you were trying to read his mind — which is exactly the same thing Eddie was trying to do to you.

“So,” you begin again, “What were you scribbling intently before I crashed the party?”

“Just some stuff for an afterschool thing,” Eddie answers with a shrug, voice a little shaky.

“Mysterious.”

The sparkle in your eyes screams that you want to know more, but the metal-head is hesitant to share. Even though this wasn’t part of some scheme by Hawkins’ finest, it didn’t mean there wasn’t a different underlying reason as to why you were taking interest in him and he didn’t like when people made a fool of him.

Eddie clears his throat.

“Did your parents really lock you out?” He questions.

A brow goes up, it seems you are surprised at his push back. 

“Yes,” you say matter-of-factly, then add, “They do this sort of thing from time to time. They’re big hippies, so it’s not like neglect or anything. It’s weed. They don’t want me home when they’re high because they think it would make me undermine their authority.”

Eddie smirks and you tell him it’s not funny, but he can’t help the chuckle leave his throat. When you throw a fry at him across the table, smiling wide, he’s no longer feeling the nervous bubble. In fact, he’s suddenly quite relaxed.

“I’m sorry that I’m a good daughter. Next time I’ll be sure to pick a less judgemental table” you say dramatically, although the grin doesn’t leave your features.

The brunette lifts his hands in front of his chest in a defence motion.

“No judgement here. My social status requires me to second guess reasons people have for talking to me. I had to make sure your boyfriend wasn’t going to jump me the second we stepped outside.”

“Boyfriend?” You seem genuinely taken aback by the assumption.

“Harrington,” he clarifies, although he’s not sure why he should be.

Until you laugh. It’s soft and tender, but it’s a laugh nonetheless.

“Steve’s not my boyfriend,” you state in between giggles, “He’s madly in love with Wheeler. God, does the whole school think we’re dating? He’s gonna hate that. Poor Nancy.”

Eddie blinks. Seems Julie’s information was correct, but it still doesn’t explain the closeness and the banter the entire cafeteria was witness to. He feels weird for letting this bother him so much and even though he usually has difficulties keeping his big mouth shut, he doesn’t want you thinking he’s some sort of pervert, so he doesn't say anything, simply bops his head.

Although, his silence doesn’t seem to deter you.

“I noticed you staring,” you admit, half a decibel lower. 

A fresh burger and fries land on the table, followed by a large Coca-Cola. The waitress mutters something along the lines of enjoy, then walks away to tend to another table.

Eddie doesn’t know what to do next: admit or deny. He’d rather go back to fifteen minutes ago when you were eating his food and he wasn’t talking. Therefore, he slides the burger closer to himself and in one swift motion, lifts it to his lips, taking a bite too big for his mouth. He doesn’t care what he looks like at the moment, he just needs to keep himself quiet before saying something else he’s going to regret.

Across the table, you’re all smiley again.

“Do you think, when you’re done eating, you could walk me home?” You ask, offering him a napkin. 

As he nods, he reaches for the paper cloth and his fingers brush yours delicately. There’s a zap of electricity, but if you feel it, you don’t react. Eddie’s continuing with the shyness, so he looks down at the burger in his hand and pretends nothing happened to him either.

It’s not until you lean over the table, index finger stretched and inching forward to touch his face, wiping leftover ketchup from the corner of his mouth, that the metal-head thinks maybe, just maybe, you feel some type of way about him too because that’s not what a person does for someone they only officially met minutes before.

Afterwards, you say, “I’ll tell you all about how I’ve been watching you too.”, and Eddie nearly chokes on his food.

thank you for reading & please support your writers by reblogging <3

[munsonsmixtapes]

Just One More

virgin!eddie x fem!reader

You literally fall into Eddie's lap and after doing you a favor, you somehow become his first.

cw: MDNI (18+) smut (p in v)

The party is in full swing when you get there. This is the first one you’ve gone to alone since your messy break up and it feels weird but oddly freeing to not have anyone by your side. You had no one to answer to, to wait on and you didn’t have to worry about being abandoned so he could go talk with his friends and pretend like you didn’t even exist. 

But because you have the most terrible luck, you spot him in the kitchen, flirting with the exact guy that he always told you not to worry about. This all has to be some elaborate joke that life has decided to play on you, that’s the only thing that makes sense. Well, good for them. They deserve each other. 

You swear you see Johnny look your way and hurry into the living room, backing up as quickly as possible to make sure that they can’t see you, but of course, because this is all still some joke, you end up falling onto something, or rather, someone. A cute someone at that. He’s got curly, dark brown hair and the prettiest eyes you’ve ever seen. 

“I’m so sorry,” you apologize quickly. Instead of being offended like you assume he would be, he just smiles and it’s pretty. 

“I’m not,” he says, his voice taking on a flirty tone. Maybe life is actually starting to be kinder to you. 

“You’re not?” You ask, sitting up and the stranger just smiles wider. 

“Not at all. It’s not everyday a pretty girl literally falls into my lap.” Your cheeks heat at his compliment and you shyly turn away, only seeing that Johnny’s eyes have locked on yours. 

“Can I ask a huge favor?” He doesn’t even know you but is sure that he’d do whatever you asked. You’ve already bewitched him and he doesn’t even know your name. He always falls fast and hard and it never seems to get him anywhere. His heart always gets broken in the end. 

“Anything,” he breathes, not even caring how desperate he sounds. 

“My ex is over there and I really need you to kiss me,” you say, leaning closer and Eddie is standing to wonder what kind of dream he’s entered because surely something as perfect as this wouldn’t be real life, right?

“Sure,” he nods, his lips parting, and you slot yours between them as your arms wrap around his neck. One hand rests against your waist as the other cradles the back of your head. 

The kiss is soft and sweet, everything you could have ever hoped for. It’s like what you’ve seen in the movies but didn’t think was real. There’s a spark there and you already feel sad knowing that you’re going to have to break the kiss eventually. 

You stay like that for so long that you completely forget why you initially asked him, so caught up in his lips that you forget about everything else but him. And Eddie’s not even sure how he’s able to kiss you back since his mind is so fuzzy, no thoughts going on besides your lips. 

You’re straddling his waist now, kissing his neck and all he can do is whine, wanting more, needing more. You’re whispering the most filthy things into his skin. He wants to do everything you’re asking of him. He wants to fully submit to you. To be your good boy. 

“That’s a nice sound,” you tell him, your lips finding his again. “You wanna make it again? Maybe somewhere more private?” 

He wants to, he really does. But he’s never done that kind of thing before. Hell, he’s barely even kissed anyone before tonight so he’s sure that he’d have no idea what to do. You clearly seem to be much more experienced than him and he wouldn’t want to disappoint you. 

So he’s not sure why he agrees and lets you lead him up the stairs to an empty bedroom. His heart is pounding as you close the door then push him onto the bed. He knows he should say something, but his mind goes blank as you start to undress, your lacy bra making his cheeks flush. 

He just stays there, staring up at you as you move onto your jeans, giving him his own personal show and he’s not going to dare to tell you to stop. Especially not when he feels his pants getting tighter. 

He’s adorable, you think. He’s staring at you with drool practically falling from his lips and you wonder why he’s here alone tonight when any woman would be lucky to have him. He’s sweet and kind and you feel so grateful to have fallen into his lap. He’s unlike any guy you’ve ever met and you just know that he’ll be nothing but a gentleman when he finally gets you into bed. 

He’s staring intently, his pupils getting bigger so that his eyes look almost black and you decide that you need him and you need him now. and he needs you too considering how hard he is right now. 

You’re now just in your bra and panties and you make your way for him, placing yourself on top of him, kissing him until he’s breathless. Your hands slide up his shirt as your lips move to his neck again, pushing the shirt up slowly until you can get it over his head. 

“I-I’ve never done this before,” he says breathily. You’re quick to pull away, reaching for your clothes, but he stops you, taking your hands in his. “But I want you to be my first.” 

“You do?” You ask. “You don’t even know my name.” 

“I’m Eddie,” he replies with that pretty smile and you swear your heart melts for just a second. 

“Y/n.” 

“Y/n,” he repeats, putting emphasis on each syllable and it sounds so pretty coming out of his mouth. ”Now I do know your name and I still want you to be my first…if you want.” 

“I’m not very good, just so you know.” Those were the exact words that Johnny had said to you every time 

“How would I know?” He lets out a laugh and it makes your heart flutter. God, he’s perfect. He’s perfect and you’re probably never going to see him again. That’s why you’ve got to make tonight count. So you pull him in for another kiss, sticking your tongue into his mouth this time and he moans, loudly, a sound he’s only made when he was by himself. 

You begin to grind against him and now he’s whining into your mouth and the sound is intoxicating. You need more. You need to ride him until all he can get out is your name, screaming it until he can’t anymore. 

“You gonna be a good boy for me?” You ask as your hands slip between your bodies, feeling around for the button of his jeans. 

“God, yes,” he breathes. Once they’re off, it’s much easier to see his bulge and how much of an effect you’ve had on him from giving him your little show plus your kisses. He’s never wanted anyone so badly and he’s prepared to do whatever, be whatever you ask of him. 

He sees you pulling something from your purse and immediately realizes that it’s a condom as soon as comes into view. You slowly pull down his boxers and he should be shy about you being the only girl to ever see his cock, but he’s not. 

“I’m gonna put this on you, okay?” You tell him and he nods as his boxers finally come off and your eyes widen at the size of him. You roll the condom onto him then quickly remove your panties before straddling him. 

You settle on top of him nice and slow to get him used to it and the moan that falls from his lips is enough to make you soaked. He’s already coming undone so you’re going to take your time because you know he’s not going to last very long. 

“God,” he whines. “This is far better than using my hand.” You’re moving slowly, your hands pressed against his chest as you continue to move. 

“Yeah? You like that? How about this?” You begin to bounce even faster, moving your hands to grab onto his hips, pushing them against yours until he’s able to do it on his own, mimicking the movement perfectly. 

“Fuck,” he whines again. “Does it always feel this good?” He’s moving slowly, trying his best to keep up with your pace and you watch him come completely undone underneath you, his body pouring sweat as he pushes in and out of you, his words quickly slurring by the second.

“To be honest, not really, but with you, it feels just right. You’re such a good boy.” Those seem to be the magic words because not long after, he’s reaching his orgasm and you feel so smug because of how loud he’s being. You did that and you feel even more confident that you made him feel that good. 

When he comes down, you turn to leave because that’s what you’re used to, but Eddie grabs hold of you and pulls you down to lie beside him. You turn to face him and his eyes are pleading. You know what he wants and even though it’s programmed into you to leave, you just can’t. Not when he’s been so sweet and not when he made you feel so good. He’s not like the others that you’ve slept with. He actually cares what you’re into and isn’t interested in using you just to feel something. 

As you pull him into another kiss, you just know that you’re going to go for another round and you give in. You let him take the lead this time, only with a little guidance and he’s nothing but a good boy. He doesn’t even have to ask to know what you like. He just does. As he makes you orgasm, you just know that you won’t be able to sleep with anyone else after that. And with the way he pulls you into his arms after you come down, he tells you exactly that.

Pretty much everyone is gone when the two of you sneak downstairs and out the door. You head outside hand in hand and Eddie walks you to your car. Kissing you again and again, stalling going to his own vehicle and only leaves when he gets your phone number and plans to meet again for one more, but you both know that it won’t be just one more. Not if you can help it, anyway.

[paishoeyeroh]

Bearer And The Bound

☰ Pairings: Sukuna x Reader, Slight Megumi x Reader

✧ Summary: When you stumble upon an ancient ring in an abandoned house, you unknowingly bind yourself to a cruel, powerful demon who thrives on torment. Trapped in a reluctant bond and forced to navigate a shared existence, Sukuna plots your downfall while you fight to survive his sadistic games. But as your fates entwine and secrets of Sukuna’s dark past begin to unravel, the lines between enemy and ally start to blur.

✧ Tags: True form Sukuna, Enemies to Lovers, Dark Romance, Demonic Bonds, Heavy Angst, Slow Burn, Sukuna is Bad at Feelings, Possessive Sukuna, Tension, Forced Proximity, Eventual Smut, College/University AU, More Tags To Be Added Later

✧ Status: Ongoing

✧ You can also read it on AO3

☰ CHAPTER ONE: The First Command

Chapter Summary: A seemingly harmless trip to an abandoned house takes a dark turn when you stumble upon a mysterious ring.

☰ Masterlist | Next Chapter

“There is no way I’m going into some creepy old house. What is wrong with you, Yuji?” Nobara says, her arms crossing over her chest defiantly. “Do you know how many diseases I could get just from walking around in a place like that? It’s probably crawling with mold and rats.” She wrinkles her nose, making a face as if she’s disgusted just thinking about it. And to be honest, you have to agree with her. Yuji first brought up visiting the “haunted house” as he had called it earlier in the day, after having heard about it from his classmates.

“I heard some of the other students talking about it in class,” he exclaimed excitedly. “Apparently, people keep hearing things late at night coming from that old house. They said no one’s gone inside in years, because anyone who does comes out freaked out of their minds. Sounds like the perfect place to check out, right?!”

Since then, he had continued to bring it up, trying to convince you, Nobara, and Megumi to join him.

“Oh, come on, it’ll be fun!” He looks around at everyone animatedly, his eyes shining with enthusiasm. “Just think about it—it’s like the perfect adventure! People say it’s haunted by some ancient spirit or something. Doesn’t that sound awesome? I’ve always wanted to see a ghost!”

Nobara scoffs, still unimpressed. “A ghost? Seriously? You think some lame ghost story is gonna get me to go into that dump?” She flips her hair over her shoulder, rolling her eyes.

Yuji copies her stance, crossing his own arms, a teasing grin taking over his face. “I mean, if you’re too chicken, Nobara, it’s fine. Just say that.”

“Excuse me? Chicken? What are you, twelve?” Nobara snaps, her eyes narrowing. “I’m not scared of some old building or dumb ghosts. I just don’t want to waste my time with pointless bullshit.”

She looks over to you and Megumi—who’ve been watching this whole ordeal in silence—for support, but when she only gets blank stares in response, she sighs in exasperation.

“Fine. But if I’m going, they’re going too.” She points a perfectly manicured finger towards you and Megumi.

You shift on your feet, feeling nervous about the idea of going into a creepy abandoned house, haunted or not. You enjoy watching the occasional scary movie about ghosts or other paranormal entities, but when it comes to the real thing, you’d rather stay as far away as possible.

“I don’t know, guys… what if something goes wrong?”

Yuji turns his attention to you, placing a warm, reassuring hand on your shoulder. “Look, we’ll be in and out. Just a quick look around, and then we can say we did it. It’ll be an adventure! Plus, what if something really does happen, and you miss it? You’ll regret it for sure.”

You chew your lip, mulling over Yuji’s words. Man, he’s more manipulative than anyone gives him credit for, and it’s working. After all, you wouldn’t want to be the only one hearing the story secondhand if something exciting actually did happen. You hate missing out.

“Alright… I’ll go,” you answer, looking to the ground nervously.

“That’s the spirit!” He pats you on the shoulder a little too enthusiastically with the hand that’s still lingering there, making you jolt. He turns to Megumi, expectantly. “Megumi? Whaddya say?”

Megumi rolls his eyes and sighs, looking thoroughly irritated, though that isn’t an out of the ordinary expression for the dark haired boy.

“I had a feeling you’d drag me into this. I’ll come. But—“ he interrupts Yuji mid cheer, “I’m only coming because if I don’t, someone,” he gives the pink-haired boy a pointed look, “is going to end up getting himself in trouble.”

“Yes! This is gonna be so fun!” Yuji exclaims, ignoring Megumi's comment as he punches the air in victory. “Come on, I’ll drive,” he exclaims over his shoulder, already heading to his car.

“Yeah, fun…” Megumi mutters under his breath, as you all start following after him, “until we’re all running for our lives.”

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

Once you arrive at the house, it’s nearing dusk. The sun paints the sky a bright orange, and as you climb out of the car, you can hear the cicadas chirping around you, hidden away in the tall, long-forgotten grass that grows around the abandoned house in front of you. You thank whatever powers may be that Yuji has decided to drag you all here while there’s still daylight, because honestly, it looks creepy enough even now.

The house looms in front of you, a decaying remnant of what must have once been an impressive structure, though time has not been kind to it. The roof sags in the middle, as the weight over the years has bowed it down, and several of the windows are shattered, jagged shards of glass still clinging to the frames like broken teeth. Vines crawl up the sides of the house, their tendrils weaving through the cracked wooden siding as though they’ve been trying to pull the house down into the earth.

The front porch is an even sadder sight, the wood rotted and splintered from years of exposure to the elements. A broken rocking chair lies on its side, one leg missing, and the front door hangs slightly ajar, swaying ever so slightly in the breeze, the action producing the faintest creaking noise.

Even the air around the house feels different—thicker, heavier. The chirping of the cicadas and the rustle of leaves seems to die off as you approach, leaving an unnatural silence hanging in the air, as if even nature itself is avoiding it.

“Alright, let’s get this over with before I change my mind,” Nobara says, standing in front of the house tapping her foot impatiently, her voice firm.

Yuji grins wide as he steps ahead, pushing the door open further with a loud creak, revealing the dark, dust-filled interior. The door scrapes against the floor, half off its hinges, and it stirs up a cloud of debris, making you choke.

Megumi waves a hand in front of his face, trying to clear up the dust cloud. “Jesus. Watch where you step, guys. This place looks like it could collapse at any minute.” His voice is laced with caution as he glances around warily, his eyes scanning the decaying wood that makes up the floor.

Your nervousness increases as you step inside, the heavy scent of mildew making your nostrils flare. The floor groans underneath every step you take. You look around, surveying the environment. The wallpaper is peeling in long strips, and there’s holes in the walls underneath, revealing the skeletal remains of the structure. The furniture, looking like it was once grand, now lies in tatters, draped in cobwebs.

The house seems to breathe around you, the creaks and groans making it hard to tell if someone, or something, might be lurking inside. It makes your skin start to crawl.

Nobara walks ahead of you, waving a hand in front of her face to swat away a cobweb. “Ugh, this place is disgusting! I swear to god, Yuji, if I get tetanus from this…”

Yuji, already way ahead of both of you, clearly excited to explore, is shining his phone’s flashlight over every corner of the room. “You won’t! And just think of the story we’ll get to tell afterward.”

“Assuming we all make it out without the house collapsing on us,” Megumi replies dryly, trailing behind everyone. The beam from his light reveals a staircase over to the left, looking like it might crumble if anyone dared to step on it.

The group moves through the entryway and into what looks like an old living room. Everything is covered in thick layers of dust, and the once ornate carpet is faded, stained, and torn. Your flashlights cast long, eery shadows across the room.

Suddenly, there’s a faint sound, a soft scraping noise that seems to come from the far corner of the room.

Nobara spins around. “Did you guys hear that?” she asks quietly, her eyes wide.

Everyone freezes, the sound echoing in the otherwise silent house. You grip your phone tighter as your heart rate increases.

“It’s probably just the wind, right?” Yuji laughs nervously, his grin faltering.

Megumi looks at him, his voice tense. “Wind doesn’t make that kind of noise.”

You all stand still, listening intently. The scraping noise comes again, followed by rustling. Nobara raises her flashlight, shining it toward the noise, and just as she does, something small and quick darts out from behind a piece of furniture.

A rat.

“God, seriously? It’s a fucking rat,” Nobara groans in disgust, her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose. “I knew it. I knew I shouldn’t have come here.”

Yuji laughs, his hand coming up to rub the back of his neck, “Phew, for a second there I thought we were gonna see something really freaky.”

You continue to explore the house, passing by broken picture frames, shattered glass, and the remnants of what was once someone’s home. Everything seems frozen in time, like the house has been abandoned for centuries. It fills you with a sense of sorrow, knowing that a family probably lived here once, creating happy memories within these walls.

You enter another room. A small, dusty study, by the looks of it. The wallpaper here is even more faded than the living room, barely clinging to the walls. Shelves line the walls, filled with old, crumbling books, and there’s a desk in the corner covered in papers that look too fragile to touch.

Your flashlight sweeps over the room, and as the beam lands on a small, unassuming wooden box in the corner, something catches your eye. The moment the light hits it, a soft glow reflects back at you. A ring.

The ruby stone set in the center gleams with a beautiful glow, as if it’s beckoning you toward it.

You kneel down, your fingers hesitating just over the ring.

“Woah,” you exclaim, mostly to yourself.

You carefully pick it up, turning it over in your hand. The metal feels cool and heavy, and the stone is striking—a deep, blood-red ruby that catches the light in a beautifully mesmerizing manner.

Nobara peers over your shoulder. “That’s actually… pretty nice. You should take it. I bet it’s worth something.”

“Can it really be worth something if it was left in a place like this?” Megumi asks, stepping closer to inspect the ring.

He’s probably right, you think. Although, maybe someone dropped it accidentally while they were inspecting the place, much like you’re doing now. The chances of that are slim, though, as it seems as if it was placed perfectly in the center of the wooden box you plucked it from. Like it was waiting for someone to find it.

Despite the warning signs rising in your gut, you slip it onto your right ring finger, just to keep it safe. It fits perfectly.

After another fruitless search through the rest of the house, you all decide it’s time to go.

Yuji looks disappointed, his hands shoved into his pockets as you make your way out the front door.

“Aw, man,” he pouts, glancing back at the house, “I really thought we’d see something cool. All that build up for nothing.” He throws his hands up toward the sky, falling to his knees dramatically. “This sucks big time!”

Megumi sighs exasperatedly, pulling Yuji back up to his feet by the collar of his shirt, pushing him toward his car.

“Like I said, it’s just an old house, idiot. What, did you expect some ghosts to come running out to greet you?” Nobara scolds, shaking her head.

You all pile into Yuji’s car, the atmosphere lighter now that you’re outside again, and as you drive away, you can’t stop glancing down at the ring on your finger. It seems to shimmer faintly, even in the dark. Almost like it’s alive.

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

You step inside your apartment and flick the lights on, happy to finally be home. As you kick your shoes off and make your way over to your bedroom, you let out a yawn, rubbing your tired eyes.

The adrenaline rush from being in that house has left you exhausted; you don’t even bother with your usual nightly routine, instead preferring to slide underneath the blankets and straight into your bed. As you switch your bedside lamp off and the room is engulfed in darkness, you can’t help but feel like something is… off.

An unsettling feeling has suddenly washed over you. You try to shake it off.

Relax, you tell yourself, you’re just on edge from the events of the night.

Even if nothing paranormal happened in that house, it was still utterly creepy.

A few moments pass. Just as your eyes start to feel heavy, the wind outside your windows lulling you into the beginnings of sleep, your consciousness starting to fade…

You hear something.

What, you’re not sure. It’s faint at first. A creak of the floorboards, perhaps, or a barely-there whisper you can’t quite make out. It makes your heart skip a beat, a sense of dread settling itself in your gut as you lay there, unmoving, waiting to see if you hear anything else.

And you do. Louder this time.

A low, rumbling laugh. It’s mocking, and it cuts through the silence like a knife.

Your eyes snap open, panic fully rushing through you now. A sudden chill spreads through the room, the air now feeling heavy and cold. The ring, still placed on your finger, long forgotten in your exhaustion, suddenly burns hot, a searing pulse spreading from the ruby stone through your hand, making it throb. You hiss as you flex your fingers to try to ease the pain as you sit up in bed, your eyes quickly darting around the darkened room, trying to find the source of the sound.

And once your eyes fully adjust, you find it.

In the corner, just barely illuminated by the soft moonlight filtering in through your blinds, stands a figure. Tall, imposing, and unmistakably not human. His form is casted in shadow from the night, but his four glowing red eyes pierce through the darkness, locking right onto you. His grin, wide and sinister, is the only other thing you can make out in the darkness.

Your heart pounds wildly in your chest, your breath caught in your throat. He then speaks, his voice deep, rough, and dripping with cruelty.

“Did you really think that ring was yours to take, little girl?”

The malicious, pure evil in his tone makes your blood run cold. You hastily reach over to flip your lamp back on, hoping the warm light will save you, prove to you that this is a dream, that you’re just hallucinating. Surely this cannot actually be happening. But the light provides you no such comfort. If anything, it only sharpens the nightmare before you.

In the now dimly lit room, you can make out the details of the creature standing before you. His size is massive, his stature incredibly broad, with tattoo-like markings adorning his forehead, running down his cheeks, all the way to his chin, and a lone streak swiping across his nose. Blush pink hair adorns his head, flicking up off his forehead haphazardly. He looks to be wearing some sort of traditional Japanese robes, the color of deep crimson, embroidered with ancient looking symbols. That’s when you notice this entity has an extra set of arms, each of the fingers long and clawed, each nail sharp and black as night. He stands motionless, ominous energy rolling off of him in waves that make it hard for you to breathe.

Your scream finally breaks free from your throat, as his sinister laughter fills the space around you. You scramble backwards on the bed in the opposite direction of him, your instincts taking over in a rush to get as far away from him as possible. You fall off the bed with a heavy thud, landing on your back, pulling another sharp cry from your lips, this time from pain.

In one swift movement, faster than you can blink, the figure stands over you crumpled on the floor, his face gleaming with a wicked delight. He raises one of his hands, his long, clawed fingers curling, as if preparing to strike. Your arms fly over your head in response, trying to protect yourself from whatever impending blow he was no doubt about to impose on you. You shut your eyes tight as frightened tears start to spill down your cheeks.

“Please,” you sob, “don’t kill me.”

Your voice cracks with desperation, and to your surprise, the room falls eerily silent. You stay like that, waiting.

Nothing happens.

After a moment, you peek through your fingers. Sure enough, the entity is still there, his hand still raised mid-strike, as if he’s frozen. A look of frustration has overcome his features as he lowers his hand, taking a step back. He studies you for a moment, his eyes narrowing.

“Now look what you’ve done, foolish little human,” he spits. “Don’t get too comfortable. This game is far from over.”

Without another word, he turns to head back to the darkest corner of your room, his form melting into the shadow, and then he's gone.

The room falls silent once more. Your breaths come in ragged gasps, your body trembling uncontrollably as you remain huddled on the floor, tears still streaming down your face. Your mind spins, trying to make sense of what just happened.

What the fuck was that?

The figure—no, the monster—had just disappeared into the shadows as though he had never been there at all, but the weight of his presence still lingers, making it feel cold, empty, wrong. Your eyes dart around the room, waiting for him to reappear at any moment to finish what he started.

But nothing happens. He’s gone.

You sit up slowly, wiping at your face with shaky hands, trying to gather yourself, but your fear doesn’t fade. The memory of his cruel laughter, his piercing red eyes, and the sheer malice radiating from him is burned into your mind. You can still feel the heat from the ring pulsing against your skin, a reminder of what just took place.

Did you really think that ring was yours to take, little girl?

His words echo in your head. Your eyes fall to the ruby stone on your finger, shimmering in the faint light. You try to pull it off, figuring the ring was the reason any of this was happening in the first place. You tug as hard as you can, nearly dislocating your finger in the process, but it’s no use. It doesn’t budge. It’s as if it has shrunk, melding itself into your skin.

You give up, crawling back onto your bed, hugging your knees to your chest as you try to steady your heart, but your thoughts are a jumbled mess. Why was it doing this? Why was he doing this?

You think back to the way he moved, the way he seemed to freeze when you begged him not to kill you. There had been a clear look of frustration in his eyes when he lowered his hand. Why did he stop?

The questions swirl in your mind, each one heavier than the last, with you realizing there’s something you’re missing. Some piece of the puzzle you can’t quite see.

There’s no way you’re getting any sleep, not with this fear still gnawing at you. The room feels too small, too suffocating, and every tiny sound makes you jump. The wind outside rattles your window, making you flinch.

All you can do is wait, now. Wait for morning. Wait for answers.

Wait for him to return.

☰ Masterlist | Next Chapter

[moodyboozewriting]

red flags and long nights (ghost x soap)

pt. 2/? // pt. 1 // pt. 3

hey y'all, this ended up much longer than i had intended so enjoy. i have a part 3 planned, so let me know in the comments or in my dms or reblogs if you'd like to be tagged when it goes up. as always, please read the warnings.

warnings: sexual references/mentions, mentions of Simon's childhood (child abuse, neglect, etc)

special thank you to @purplekitten12, @despairingrat, and @mayan2006 who wished to be tagged in pt. 2. i appreciate the support more than you all know, let me know if you want to continue to be tagged. i hope you guys enjoy this part

It’s some time before Simon calms, taking in air as if it’s his first time. Johnny’s comforting hands are on his shoulders and behind his neck, and his voice seeks to soothe the hurt from Simon’s heart. Johnny moves to get up, and Simon is powerless to stop him. He stares hard at the ground as he hears shuffling, his mind already beginning to spiral. But as quick as Johnny is gone, he’s back. He’s placing a cool glass of water into Simon’s hand, encouraging him to take small sips and gently rubbing his back. It’s so much, and it makes Simon want to break into tears all over again. But with nothing left to cry, Simon just stays where he is, staring at the floor. As much as he tries to run away and hide in the parts of his brain that feel safe, he’s forced back to reality by Soap’s gentle touch. 

“It’s late, Simon. You need to rest,” comes his ever-discerning observation.

Simon attempts to make a sound of affirmation, only for it to come out as more of a grunt instead. It’s times like these, he determines as he pushes to his feet, that he wishes he could be Ghost. Ghost has strength and resilience to him: Ghost doesn’t feel, he doesn’t need to. Simon is Ghost’s pitiable counterpart: he’s weak and emotional, a wreck of self-pity. They’re two sides of the coin that is him. He wishes he could be Ghost all the time, but you can’t have one side without the other. In this withered vein, Soap has what he can never achieve. Soap is Johnny, and Johnny is Soap. The perfect blend of a balanced person. Something that Ghost-Simon can’t even fathom being. He’s the empty shell of a man who never existed to begin with. 

“Soap-” 

“It’s Johnny. Here, now, I’m Johnny.”

Simon frowns as Soap guides him to sit on the couch. “Got a problem with tha’?” He almost teases, settling in next to him. Soap doesn’t sit too close, but he’s still within arms reach and Simon is eternally grateful.

“You’re always Johnny,” Simon starts hoarsely. “And you’re always Soap too.”

Soap Johnny shakes his head, seeming to struggle in finding his words. “I’m not always Soap. Just like how you aren’t always Ghost, I-” He takes a deep breath to regain his footing.

“I want to be John, when you’re Simon.” Like a freight train, a thought strikes Simon, and he’s glad he’s not standing because of how weak it makes his knees. He quickly recalls a time he’d overheard Gaz and Soap talking in the common room. Soap was eager to hear about Gaz’s family, but when Gaz asked about his in return, he abruptly shifted the subject. In the blink of an eye, it was like the question had never been asked. Ghost had shrugged it off then- that’s exactly what he’d do, so it can’t be that abnormal. 

The times when Ghost becomes Simon, he’s always alone. Whether in the cold, gray comfort of his lieutenant’s quarters or the blank emptiness of his flat, he was only Simon when left alone. If that’s how he experienced being Simon, when did Soap get to be John? Was he ever really allowed to? Is he comfortable enough to? It’s in this rapid succession of thought that Simon comes to a sound conclusion: for a fact, he had been wrong. Soap and John were never one in the same. Rather, all he’d ever experienced was Soap. Ghost presents so drastically different to Soap that Simon had altogether overlooked this as a possibility. So caught up in his mangled ideas, he entirely misses the way Johnny’s eyebrow twitches in slight curiosity. 

“Simon?”

He snaps to focus again, which he seems to be doing a lot of tonight. Despite how vulnerable he feels with his emotions written on his bare face, he stills his mind and takes a breath as he reaches for John’s hand. Johnny did this for him. More than anything, he wants to do it for Johnny too. John’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise at the action, but his hand grips Simon’s tightly in response. Simon drags his gaze upwards, daring to look John in the eyes and hoping he doesn’t subsequently drown in them (at least not too quickly). 

“I’m not good at this… at talking. I’m afraid of messing this up. I’m afraid that if I do mess it up, that I won’t get another chance to…” Simon slows, taking another breath as Johnny squeezes his hand. He knows the gesture was meant to be reassuring, but he can’t stop the way it makes his heart beat vigorously underneath his ribs. 

“...that I won’t get the chance to show you how much I care about you.” 

Zoned into his own mind, barely even seeing John’s reaction despite staring him in the face, Simon marches forward. Even with his surge of determination, his last statement comes as a meek whisper.

“How much I love you.”

When Simon zones back into reality, he can only stare at John as his stomach churns in abject horror. There are tears streaming down John’s cheeks, his brilliant blue eyes flooded with no sign of easing up. Aside from it all, Simon can’t help but notice how beautiful Johnny looks with his skin flushed and eyes wide with emotion. He squeezes Simon’s hand impossibly tight, and Simon does his best to squeeze back as he begins to swallow rising panic. He made John cry twice in the span of about ten minutes, already kicking himself for having done so. 

“I’m- I’m sorry Johnny, I’m so sorry. Please don’t cry Johnny, please,” he mumbles quickly, using his free hand to brush away John’s tears as best he can. 

He desperately gulps down his fear and John shakes his head silently, taking a few moments to gather himself together enough to speak coherently.

“Don’t be sorry. I love you too.” 

“But I made you- wait what?”

This makes Johnny laugh. An honest to god, genuine laugh. It may have been through tears, but it’s more than enough to make Simon’s heart buzz pleasantly in victory. Johnny wipes the remainder of his tears, taking both of Simon’s hands in his. He gives Simon that soft, effortlessly dazzling smile as he repeats his words again.

“I love you, Simon.”

Simon just blinks at him, before something deranged in his mind takes over and he has to muffle his laughter. Johnny giggles too, and it’s perfect. They sit for a moment to hold each other’s hands and catch their breaths from all the emotional turmoil. Just like that, Johnny grins and opens his arms to Simon.

“C’mere ye bampot.”

He doesn’t have to ask twice (barely has to ask once) to send Simon careening into his arms as they crash land sideways on the couch. Simon’s nose finds a home in the crook of John’s neck, his arms wrapped tightly around the other’s midsection. 

“Dunno what that means but it better be sweet,” he mumbles into Johnny’s skin. 

Simon can feel the rumble of Johnny’s chest against his when he laughs, and it makes his heart immeasurably full. “Yer an idiot” “Maybe. As long as I’m your idiot though.” Johnny laughs again, Simon can’t help but grin. 

“A Brit belonging to a Scot? Now imagine tha’” 

“Don’t have to imagine, Johnny.”

“Right you are then.”

There’s a moment of silence between the two of them, and Simon has never felt more comfortable with another person. He takes a deep breath, and it feels like he’s breaching water after drowning for hours. The thought makes him shudder a little, which he tries to cover up as a random jolt, but nothing gets past John. 

“Simon? What’s wrong, love?” God, the nickname makes him feel all sorts of warm and fuzzy and downright sinful. Despite the desire curling in his lower belly, he still can’t shake the tears springing to his eyes as he attempts to burrow his way into Johnny’s skin. He gently pries Simon from the comfort of his neck, and Simon lets out a disgusting whine that he did not intend to let see the light of day. He’s too much of a mix of emotions, the pain in his heart warring with the fire in it, a dreadfully even match-up. He opts to squeeze Johnny tighter, not wanting to face those sharp blue gaze he’d surely crumble underneath the weight of. Curse Johnny, in all his love and adoration. He lifts Simon’s chin gently. The last time he was touched so gently, it was by his mother as she comforted her terrified boy. He never knew what it was like not to have a debilitating weight on his shoulders. His mother helped him through it, before he failed her. Now Johnny’s lifting it, and it kills Simon to know he’ll never deserve such tender treatment. When Simon looks up guiltily, he’s genuinely surprised at the sight. Johnny’s gaze isn’t jagged and piercing like he’d anticipated, but incredibly soft and swimming with held up tears. It makes Simon frown on instinct. Johnny shouldn’t cry. He should never cry. God, he didn’t want to make Johnny cry again. 

“Please don’t cry,” he tries to comfort, but it comes in a whisper. It’s a scared, despondent statement, and Simon feels like a child again. He doesn’t want his mother to cry anymore. He tries his best, but he’s only ten years old, and his mother continues to weep. Johnny lasso’s his memories and pulls them away, and Simon’s mother fades from his forethought. He reaches out for her, silently begging her to stay with him, but she just smiles sadly as she disappears with his thoughts. That’s right. She’s not coming back. But Johnny is here. And Johnny smiles at him. 

“I only do it when I worry about you,” Johnny says, like it’s easy to love Simon. 

“You shouldn’t.” 

The statement comes before he can even think about it, and it’s Johnny’s turn to frown at his words. 

“I should. I get to decide what’s worth worryin’ about, aye?”

Johnny cups Simon’s jaw, and Simon leans into the touch like it’s his first time feeling such a thing. And it is. At least, it’s the first in a long time. He closes his eyes, sighing in both defeat and contentment. 

Simon doesn’t even realize how far he’s leaned into Johnny’s space until he feels the other’s soft breath against his skin. He lets his eyes flutter open, and Johnny looks nothing short of angelic underneath him. His pupils are blown out, but not far enough to conceal those beautiful blues. It makes Simon smile. For once, Johnny seems nervous as a faint pink creeps up his necks to his cheeks. 

“You’re so pretty,” Simon mutters without even realizing it. 

All it does is deepen Johnny’s blush, and Simon is oh so fond. 

Simon watches intently as Johnny’s adam's apple bobs, suddenly feeling the urge to sink his teeth deeply into the other’s exposed throat. 

“What do you need, love?” Simon asks, weaponizing that sweet nickname against its giver. 

“Kiss me. Please. God, I need it,” It all comes out in a jumble, and Simon can’t do anything but oblige. 

He leans down and presses a kiss to Johnny’s lips: as soft and sweet as he can manage. And it’s perfect, the way that Johnny kisses him back with equal softness and desperation. At this moment, everything is perfect. Johnny is perfect, and Simon feels elated.

[unyandere]

Yandere kidnapper x cringe reader who reads THAT kind of fan-fiction - pt. 1

Tw: mdi, yanderish behaviour (kidnapping), mention of omegaverse Fanfictions, mention of NSFW acts, good ending (?)

Part 2

✨Yandere kidnapper who at first kidnapped people for a ransom or to traffic them since he didn’t really have money

✨Yandere kidnapper who was actually planning on kidnapping your bestie to sell her to some of his clients, but, while stalking your friend to decide how and when kidnap her, sees you and his mind gies blank

✨what makes him lose his calm the most is your smile while you talk with your friend… You have such cute expressions and from now on he wants to be the cause of all your happiness

✨at first he just steals some of your clothes and uses them to please himself while thinking about your smile, but it’s not enough

✨So… He kidnaps you

✨When he brings you on the van you’re first surprised, then your mind decides to make you think about all the Fanfiction you’ve read (and written) and you start asking the guy questions in the most cringe, japanenglish tone

“Ara ara kidnapper-kun when are you taking someone as kaway UwU as me?”

✨the Yandere kidnapper needs to remind himself of your smile to NOT kick you out of the van

✨ He finally arrives to his house and brings you to his room bridal style, needles to say that you tell him in an even more cringy tone

“Oh my, kidnapper-kun, are you taking me to your room to sell me to the alpha mafia boss lead of a boyband to pay off my father’s debts?”

✨the (poor) Yandere kidnapper just looks at you with a puzzled expression, sighs, puts you on the bed and goes out of the room to smoke a cigarette and ask himself wtf you meant with alpha mafia boss lead of a boyband

✨so he searches it on the internet… and gets to read the most traumatic smutty omegaverse x omega reader Fanfiction that has ever existed

✨Yandere kidnapper who now looks at you like the degenerate you are, but still likes you… somehow

✨But after three months of living together he can’t stand you anymore

✨You’re the epitome of the worst roommate. You eat food and don’t clean you plate, you don’t flush the toilet, you never clean, in the bed you always take all the blanket for yourself, you verbally assault him, but when he makes you notice things you tell him to stop being the victim, you always talk about Fanfictions and force him to read the worst works that have ever seen the light of day… he still likes you, but he’d prefer if you two never saw each other again, he has abandoned his obsession to make you his and just wants you to leave him alone

✨So, one day , he decides to make the video to ask for a ransom to your parents… but your parents never answer

✨He feels bad for you, but he can also understand your parents… so he tries to give you some comfort and buys you some mangas

✨You both continue to live at his place, he doesn’t want to sell you, since he still cares about you, so he thinks of punishing you to make you stop talking… but then he remembers the Fanfictions you read and decides against it

✨so you two start living as roommates from then on

[resart]

Wrath of the Righteous features a roster of splendidly written and enjoyable companions, but the majority of their interactions are, sadly, easily missable on individual playthroughs. A collection of camping banter made by the amazing @neverwintrians remedies this issue to some extent by making some of the dialogues easily accessible for all the players. Since the characters’ input goes much further, a good while ago, I started a project to record all their comments and interjections. The idea was to copy-paste them from the localization file into a convenient spreadsheet. Since a new wave of players pick Pathfinder games after playing Baldur’s Gate 3, and we have more DLCs on the way to reignite the interest of the old fans, I figured it’s about time for me to share the results so far. Whether you want to use it for all sorts of analyses, as an inspiration or a reference for fan content, are simply curious, or want to get a few laughs: here you go.

Now, a few notes to keep in mind.

The data is still incomplete. My current playthrough goes very leisurely, and I only finished Act 3 recently. Almost everything past this point, save for some crucial parts of the story I revisited, comes from the run during which I wasn’t yet using Toy Box. I intend to continue slowly patching the holes as I go on, but please take what you see in the later chapters with a grain of salt for now (and don't expect to see Ulbrig's lines there).

Having that said, the branching, especially in later acts, gets crazy, so naturally, I wasn’t and won’t be able to find every last bit of dialogue on my own. What you see is based on my Angel playthrough, in which I haven’t even activated most of the romances. I managed to cheat my way into some interactions that normally would be unavailable to me, but the results were mostly confusing. Cells highlighted in yellow contain dialogues that I found via game files but either have some of the information missing, or I simply wasn’t able to trigger them while playing. There are also red cells that include lines that, to my knowledge, might not have been implemented since I found them in localization files, but the blueprints folder doesn’t confirm their presence in the game.

So here’s where I have a request for you all. If anyone can help me fill in the already existing blanks or spots a dialogue is missing and can provide a screenshot or a transcript of it, please contact me. I will add it to the document and credit you. All I need to know is when and where the conversation occurs, what/who the companions are reacting to, and if there are any specific requirements to see it.

The areas of special interest are:

mythic path exclusive interactions,

romance exclusive lines (especially in Acts 4 and 5),

Greybor’s, Arueshalae’s, and Lich companions’ lines during the celebration in Heaven’s Edge

late game dialogues for corrupted Arueshalae

I also want to thank GardathWhiterock from Pathfinder reddit, who advised me to look into the blueprints folder. Once I figured out how to work with it, filling up the majority of the blanks became super easy.

I will most likely edit this post in the future to note some important updates and milestones. For now, I just hope you guys will find anything of interest in what I have gathered.

[oh-no-its-bird]

Favorite Naruto Character?

Impossible question!!! It changes by the day depending on what fic I'm reading tbh

I feel like if I'm asked this on the street on a time limit, my default answer would probably be Tobirama? But like in part just bc hes what I'm known for/started out writing, so

But like, in the running for favorite uhh

Kakashi is amazing, forever and always. Specifically team Ro era him, I have a mild obsession w his younger iterations bc of the edge factor and also just how fun it is how he fucking shapeshifts into a new guy depending on his stage of life. U can get functionally, like, 4 or 5 completely different characters out of him purely based on how old he is, it's fascinating

Orochimaru. My beloved. He fascinates me. His gender. His crimes. His snakes. I love snakes. I love him. The unbeatable comedy of him being a fucking housewife in Boruto never ceases to amaze me. On me and my girlfriends first date I spent an entire 20 minutes talking about Orochimaru. She did not and does not know anything ab Naruto. This is a true fact you can ask her. I do not regret a single minute of it.

Tobirama, ofc, I fucking love mad scientists and maybe he isn't Orochimaru crazy but by god is he some brand of lunacy. His morally grey (arguably, at times, black) ways and rizless autism has enchanted me...I can not let him go

Izuna is way up there too, fanfiction has convinced me to love him and he remains one of the characters I find easiest to write. Somehow he worms his way into my fics and aus without even meaning for it to happen. The Izuna Sickness(tm)

Ok now imagine a little space here as I mention my runner ups / secondary favorites

Gaara. I love Gaara. I need more Gaara centric fics. I have very little to say or write about him myself and I never talk ab him on here but I love him. He is The Character Most Ever in my heart. Every day I scream and cry over the fact I've probably read all the Gaara centric time travel and crossover fics out there. So fucked up. I don't trust my own skill to write him. My hands are not shaped for it. I read a Gaara/Izuna/Tobirama time travel fic once and it changed my life.

HIKAKU. HIKAKU IS ALSO ON THE LIST. NOT REALLY BUT LIKE. HES UP THERE. FUCK. I LOVE HIM. He is a blank slate and it's arguable if he even fr fr exists but I don't care he means the world to me. The strong Hikaku warriors of ao3 (mostly Domoz) showed me the true beauty that is Hikaku. I fell in love with him. He exists in the back of my mind constantly.

Obito is not The Favorite but he's also up there. Specifically like. The deranged takes of him. Obito being a freak is my bread and butter, but this may also be linked to the fact that Kakashi is in the running for The Favorite(tm) so like. Maybe I'm just projecting my own love for Kakashi onto Obito then having way too much fun making him comedicallt weird ab it

The list goes on tbh, there are SO many naruto characters out there it's kind of insane. I became a little bit infatuated w Utakata at one point but the tragically little content for him lead to me getting distracted by characters with characters w more content for them. Sasuke and Neji I also find super compelling and occasionally have fits of tearing ao3 apart in search of content for them.

Ik u didn't ask and this is a ship and not a person but like. Also Kiba/Kankuro. Honey Honey Honey by @late-cambrian changed my brain chemistry forever and made me spiral for a little bit as it convinced me to love Kiba and Kankuro as a ship and as characters. I think I've talked about the fic before actually, it remains a favorite. I need more Kiba content, I fucking love dog boys (as I'm sure u can tell)

I'm sorry u asked me a simple question and I went on a rant, oops. In my defense it really is impossible to choose— ask me again in a month and I might give u a different answer, who knows

[pardonmydelays]

what's your favourite thing about three houses - favourite song, favourite lyrics?

i think my favourite thing about three houses is that it exists and i can listen to it whenever i want (still can't believe it btw), i don't really know how to answer this question without being absolutely chaotic so here's a bunch of other things i absolutely love about it:

the way margo seibert sings "one gets in your shoe" in birch trees (actually the entire song but this one line does something to my brain because of her voice)

"when you're nursing a heartache sometimes you look back trying to find the reasons ​your life has gone off track, ​parents and grandparents, every branch along the tree ​trying to trace the tumor that ended up in me, ​and the birch trees stand like ghosts oh the birch trees stand like ghosts!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

pookie! (as someone who's deeply obsessed with dragons i just KNEW i was gonna fall in love with pookie) - every single time i hear her "pook pook pookie!" i just can't help but smile. "HELLO MISS SUSAN, I HAVE SUCH WONDERS TO SHOW YOU!!!" and "tidy tidy tidy! pook pook pook! tidy tidy pook pook pook!" and "​ooo miss susan! ​i know you'll like this! special bottles! special pook!" hello i love pookie so much oh my fUCKING GOD-

"i am a speck! i am a speck! i am a tiny tiny tiny tiny speck!!!"

"maybe that’s what i really want from a partner: you tickle me for a bit, ​i tickle you for a bit ​and then you go the fuck away" SUSAN- 😭

"AND I AM SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW! I KNOW THAT I SHOULDN'T BE HAPPY BUT I AM SO HAPPY RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!"

the berries and the plums... "​i can’t leave yet, ​the berries and the plums, ​their harvest time has come, ​you MUST SAIL AWAY WITHOUT ME. ​and i'll come and find you both when all the work i have is done, some day... when all my troubles here are over" I AM KILLING MYSELF DAVE MALLOY I MEAN SERIOUSLY WHAT THE FUCK-

the way mia pak screams "and the house was fucking great!!!!!!!!" in the desert

"see there's this clicking in my head ​when certain things line up when like is put with like ​and there is order"

"we plank! we plank! ​until our mind goes blank!" WHAT THE FUCK ZIPPY HJBHBEKBJHJE 😭

missing... the entire song because it's fucking relatable but i especially love the "sometimes it feels like half of me is mis-sing, sometimes it feels like half of me is gone"

quarters. quarters. quarters. i've had this on a loop for fucking days before the album was released on spotify. "quarter in. ​rooooooooooooll. ​clink. ​push push push push push push. nothing falls ​nothing falls." IT SCRATCHES MY BRAIN. guys. go listen to 2:02-4:02 and you will get it (no you don't need the context it's not about the lyrics it's about what happens to your brain while you listen to this part)

haze

"my heart broke ​and then the world broke ​and then my brain broke too ​and i don't know which one to blame, i just know i'm not the same, ​i've been drifting, ​drifting through the haze!!!!!!!!!!"

"LISTEN TO THE STONE, LAY YOUR HANDS UPON THE STONE, FOR THE STONE STANDS WATCH FOR A THOUSAND THOUSAND YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"but love never lasts love always leaves you in the end love never lasts love always leaves you in the end. love always leaves you and love always leaves you and love always leaves you in the end!!!!"

"either the one you that you love slips away, ​sinks into the ground ​or into the crowd... or the love in your heart falls apart, withers and wanes"

"the way she looked at me ​as her hand pressed on my knee; i won't let anyone ​feel like that again. and if i have to be ​all alone that's what i'll be ​i can shut out all this darkness and pain" WHAT THE FUCK BECKETT WHAT THE FUCK- 😭

i think love always leaves you is my favourite song at the moment

the way beckett asks "WHY AM I LIKE THIS?????" in the clochán

"I CAN MAKE A CLOCHÁN!" lmao me at any minor inconvenience (i'm gonna start using this phrase now)

"​yes beckett, shut yourself in! ​deeper and darker! the basement is mine, all mine!!" FUCK YOU SHELOB

"a house made of stone where i can't hurt anyone, ​a house made of stone ​where no one can hurt me, ​a house made of stone ​where i can't hurt anyone, a house made of stone ​where i can't get hurt!!!!!"

"​dance with the wolf, ​pin a flower to his chest, bite his lip ​and caress his neck, ​this is who you are, ​it will never go away ​so dance with your wolf" and "dance with the wolf, ​hold him close, squeeze him tight, ​let your bodies dissolve into sky, ​this is who you are, ​it will never go away" AND "​so smile and embrace your darkness, ​sing and scream in its gaping maw, ​offer him branches and blankets, hold him as he howls, ease his pain" AND AND AND "dance with the wolf, scratch his chinny chin chin, meet his eye, say his name, breathe him in, make him a plate, ​​because this is who you are, ​​it will never go away" DAVE MALLOY WE NEED TO TALK WHAT THE FUCK I AM THROWING UP I CANNOT DO THIS ANYMORE-

"​the three of us smiled as one... ​as we looked back at the houses we had come from, and we looked back at the people we had been, ​and then we looked forward toward whoever we were each ​about to become"

ok, i'm done.

[alatismeni-theitsa]

I've got a strange question about Zeus' affairs... Do Ancient authors elaborate on these supernatural seduction stories or do they just day "Zeus seduced her taking the form of X"...

Like, do they tell us if, after catching the girl's attention Zeus goes back to a more human form, or does the "deed" take place while Zeus has an animal form (that would be more weird)?

I don't want to seem offensive / graphic, I'm just curious about how Ancient writers and storytellers tell this stories, a story can be very different depending on how you tell it and I suppose "a beautiful swan caught my eye, then turned in this handsome divine man and I wanted to bed him" is a much more compelling version of events than "a strange swan flew where I was sitting and assaulted me, that's why im pregnant".

I love your posts on Greek Myths, especially the oned related to Perseas and Medusa. XOXO

Hello! Thank you for the good words! I like those posts as well xD

Well, Greek myths were not meant to be taken that literally, or given so much thought. The deed takes place when Zeus is back in a more human form, usually, except in the case of Leda where he was in a swan form, and she birthed eggs that hatched.

But even in Leda's case, it's implied that there was some type of.... affection on her part?? Which is definitely weird because when you like a swan the next logical step is not "I want to bed it". But from what I read the coupling was more... divine in nature and beyond human logic. Like, Leda didn't bed an actual swan and she knew that it wasn't a swan. I'm just trying to explain it. I definitely don't mean that humans and swans should do anything else than look at each other in the park 😅😂😅😂😅😂

Usually, when the deity has an animal form, the children also have animal forms. (Poseidon raping Demeter as a stallion comes to mind)

Again, we are not meant to seek the logistics of these couplings. They were more like explanations than stories, and one needed the context of the time to fill in the blanks. So the story goes "Zeus wanted this woman, he seduced her in the form of X and from their coupling, she gave birth to our Hero and King. The End." It's often that simple, and the focus point is the result, aka how the hero/god/king/deity/genealogical line came to exist. The other details are unnecessary.

Sometimes we might get an extra story about how the hero/deity etc had to defend their mother from Hera or someone else's wrath which is only a means to another explanation of why a mountain/river/sea/animal exists. Again, the focus is on the result.

Which makes sense if you think more of it like this:

Imagine if, in the tale of Snowhite, we started asking "Is there an economy of magic mirrors? Is there a theme of exploited labor when it comes to The Mirror? Does the court system work in favour of the mother or father? And can we assume there is welfare for Little people in the Snowhite universe?" These are... possibly related questions to the story, but the story chooses not to explore them, and - let's be honest - we don't ask ourselves about those. Because they are so beyond the point.

Finally, the stories weren't probably created by one random guy who wanted to entertain the kids around the fire. The stories were most likely the result of divination or oracles and visions since they were about the gods. That's why they don't have all the characteristics of a traditional tale that is meant to entertain.

The first paragraphs from this post will answer your question additionally, I think!

[sevensoulmates]

Greetings, I really want to know your opinion about this topic I saw. Something about metrics, so my friend was saying there's is a shift big enough in the fandom favorite characters because the buck/tommy ship is the most popular pairing now than buddie is and abc was waiting to see the fans reaction to decide the future story of buddie and the possiblity of buck tommy is bigger now. Are tv studios really measuring this data? I knew they did this with ratings but not this, how exactly fans get this kinda info and statistics? And shows like this one usually listen to the audience this way? I just thought it was interesting but don't know if is true.

If networks only went by what fans trend then buddie would've gone canon back in season 2b/3. That's when they had their first big surge in numbers like right now. Buddie was so popular it was beating out seasoned pairings like Destiel!

And yet...the networks did what they wanted and buddie stayed just platonic friends. Regardless of how popular and profitable buddie was/is.

And I don't believe bucktommy is more popular than buddie. There's a surge in popularity, yes, because they're brand new and Buck is confirmed queer for the first time, so of course there's gonna be a lot of new and excited eyes on it. It's the shiny new thing everyone's curious about. They're almost ENTIRELY a blank slate that people can project all of their desires for a canon pairing to have. It's far easier to trust a pairing that has two confirmed queer characters than it is to hope that the show will do the same for Eddie. There's a lot of factors that go into it, that make it seem like bucktommy would suddenly be the new fan favorite, but you also gotta keep in mind....it's only been a month. It's still fresh in people's heads. Buddie has survived seven years. It all goes down to infatuation vs. love. A crush vs. commitment. You'll see.

And yes, some cynical buddie people or people who just want Buck to get with a guy period and don't care about a love story will jump ship easily. But they are NOT the majority. They're just being super loud right now (which makes sense again it's huge news!) so it FEELS like there's a lot of them.

Myth: eVeRyOnE'S jUmPiNg sHiP to bUCktOmmY

Reality: Most bucktommy shippers are also buddie shippers and are just enjoying a new cute ship while it lasts and multi-shippers are allowed to exist. Just because one ships something doesn't always mean they want it to happen in canon. Two things can exist at the same time.

I've said it before, I'll say it again: I don't think they would've taken the leap to make Buck queer in the first place if they weren't AT LEAST strongly (and I mean strongly) leaning towards making buddie canon down the line. Majority of fans are going to EXPECT it now, and as Tim said, he tries not to let fans dictate what happens in the story, but he IS aware of what fans want. If he's making a decision like this, he is committing to being hounded literally non-stop about buddie until they actually become canon. I don't think he would do that unless that was the end goal, even if it's not for another x amount of seasons.

Yes, networks do keep track of fan metrics because it directly correlates to views which earns them money. BUT just because they know something is popular RIGHT NOW doesn't mean they're gonna just jump and immediately do it or scrap other plans. Especially when those other plans might be something that earns them MORE money down the line. I've talked extensively already about how buddie would be extremely profitable (more profitable than bucktommy sorry).

Fact of the matter is Tim and Co. know how loyal and dedicated most of the buddie fans are. They know they can weather any storm and still come out of it annoying as hell badgering them for the same thing.

Finally, despite Tim Minears many many flaws, I do have faith in him as a writer that he at least TRIES to do right by these characters. He's flawed, he has bosses that he has to adhere to. The same goes for the Kristen Riedel seasons as well. BUT, I think that Tim knows his characters well, and at least has SOME kind of vision of where they need to end up. I trust that Tim is going to be true to his word and is not going to let fandom trends dictate where he takes his story. I hope Tim knows what he wants, and with the approval of the networks, does it.

Edit: You can also think of the Bucktommy vs. Buddie popularity like Spotify monthly listeners. Just because a new popular artist with a trending song suddenly has more monthly listeners than someone established, like say Beyonce, doesn't necessarily mean this new artist is more popular than Beyonce or has more dedicated fans than Beyonce, it just means that person is the hot new thing and is trending so they have more listeners than Beyonce AT THE MOMENT, but not long term. Does that make sense?

[mr-cia-adler]

just bought black ops 3 and I'm going in completely blind come read my live commentary with me

spoilers I guess

----

literally what the hell is the menu? who is that handsome masked chap 😉 and free run? gunsmith?? nightmares??? I ain't seen this before what the hell

why is there a chicken in the distance

🗣CUSTOM OPERATIVE 🗣 CUSTOM OPERATIVE 🗣 CUSTOM OPERATIVE nvm there's not much customisation lmao

apocalypse revolution cold war robots?? oof

"if this goes wrong? you never existed." rude

I bet ya Hendricks is the bad guy like Jane Harrow folks

"so keep your mouth shut" don't give me attitude I can give it back ten fold

I'm so used to seeing like Mason and Woods and adler yadda yadda these are completely new characters???

bug #1

hendricks and Taylor got some weird tension between them

Diaz complimented me he's my favourite character now

Forget Diaz its Hall now 😳 She's wow

give you cover? yes ma'am

okay so robots=bad

bug #2 lol

A ROBOT RIPPED MY ARMS OFF AND BROKE MY LEG WHAT THE HELL

FOLKS IM AN ANDROID PFFFFFT

MY OC HAS A CYBERNETIC ARM THEYRE TWINSIES AHHHHHH

he keeps saying train go boom

do you think black ops 7 will be as futuristic as this, but black ops 3 is set in 2055(?) and blops 7 is 2035 idk

Black ops 3 is literally just mirrors edge and helldivers like

okay stop saying train go boom it's getting annoying now

yep okay so I assume I'm being drugged?? used as a weapon? sleeper agent??

SAFE HOUSE SAFE HOUSE SAFE HOUSE FOLKS THERES A SAFE HOUSE 🗣

jesus christ I can't even say what just happened tumblr won't be happy with me

lmao basically the whole blops team part from me and hendricks is actually bad

won't lie I still don't know what's going on

I KNEW TAYLOR WAS BAD LOL called it

bug #3

my character is so sassy it's hilarious "what, no plan D?" "NOW. IS NOT. THE TIME."

Did you have to drive through the fire?? who'd you think I am, Harper? (bad joke lmao)

hendricks mad at me :(

goh bro heh

it makes me kinda uncomfortable when they get like right up in your face like! like when you talk to Woods and Mason in cold war and they jokingly intimidate you

So they're using test subjects brilliant I am LOST on the plot lmao

DIAZ IS DEAD I OFFED HIM FUCK

Raul Menendez mentioned 🗣 Also Hendricks is starting to lose his minddd uh oh

Hall is dead. Offed her after fighting in WW1, dire wolves and a wave of zombies 🥲

Hendricks ain't happy that me and Kane are planning our dream future smh jealous much? but I ain't joking (Rachel) Kane and me got some tension

Maretti is DEAD. smh why not that's 3 out of 6. He got impaled 🫶

God FINALLY we've been tracking Taylor for days now we finally got him wait where's he going why is he walking away-

BIG BOSS BATTLE FINAL MISSION TAYLORS DEAD

folks I actually lied that wasn't the final mission also I have been impaled help

lmaoooo top gun be like

Cool so apparently it turns out I am also going to go crazy at some point and my whole black ops team has gone insane 👍

Kane pretty much said "run off with me into the sunset" 😳 I mean like if I had the choice-

Remember me saying that I bet hendricks was the bad guy? lmao I was right he was BUT he is also losing his mind he can't help it poor pookie bear 🫶 ME NEXT 😏

Remember me when im gone Kane 😩 Dream of white pickets fences and a dog for me, for US 🫶 (I'm not dying I'm dramatic)

KANE FUCKING DEAD NO NO NO fucking nova 6 dude I remember seeing this happen in black ops 1 gross

lmao I just point blanked hendricks haaaaaaaa he deserves it.

haaaaa? okay so I USED to be alive but I just shot? myself? This blops team is officially over.

And? Then? Like 40 minutes on some weird ass sequence of memories? why is there a massive beating heart? Taylor I thought I killed you-

Why did I say my name was Taylor my name is obviously Player duh 🙄

And it just ends 😭 what

[zmediaoutlet]

okay first of all. Lovee the takes on each character/ship dynamic. second this one is kind of a given so I completely get it if you don't really have any opinions at all about them but I was wondering what your thoughts are on Sam/Jess. Obviously most people just think about them in the existing dynamic of the show but idk! Personally I find their dynamic to be really interesting in the context of what Jess is representative of to Sam. Especially in that time of his life. So I guess it's more of a question of if Sam/Jess is interesting to you, what makes it so and your thoughts on that.

As a backup question to that, thoughts on Dean/Jess? Dean/Jess/Sam?

eyyyy continuing the wine party into post-workout saturday morning tea party --

sam/jess:

to be honest friend, I'm falling into the "most people" category here because my real opinion about Jess is that she... basically isn't a person. And I love that for her, sincerely. Some characters really are tools in a story to spin in forward, and I am soooooo tired to death of all the carrying on about "fridging" and whatnot. Some characters are characters and some characters are narrative tools and, yes, bad luck to the angry ladies out there, spn is a show built on super classic-traditional bones about men who are getting revenge for the dead wife and what they learn along the way. That's good and fine. I'm into it.

with that aside, and given that she is a tool, I just -- don't... care about her. Like I thought about writing a fic one time as a demonstrative exercise called "Five Personalities Jessica Moore Could Have Had," because she's such a blank-slate (again, correctly!) in her like five minutes of screen time. We can't even count the djinn dream of Jess, because that was a pretty vision dreamed up by Dean to hurt himself worse, lol.

but as you say, her being representative of something to Sam is legit interesting -- he didn't fully engage in the relationship, he was gonna marry her without telling her the truth -- like a gay man desperately hitching himself to a nice wife in some misguided attempt to "fix" it. Like if he just tried hard enough he would be someone other than who he is. Which is the whole Sam-at-Stanford story, really. And it's an important part of his story -- the hero has to go away from home and return to it with a better sense of who he is -- but it makes Jessica entirely figural and metaphorical instead of being, again, a person. Like when Sam says in whatever late season ep that he "still thinks about Jess," I'm left going... really? Because even by late in the first season he's reoriented into the family revenge story, not specifically the for her revenge story. But if we reorient that to "I still think about the life I could have had" -- that, I believe. And she'd be part of that. Whatever her actual personality was. Apparently she made cookies. How... fridged wife of her.

WITH all that said, what I'm most interested in with stories that circle around Jess are stories that completely ruin that relationship, haha, because the whole point of it in the larger frame-story of Supernatural is that it has to end so Sam can get back to his real life. So -- if it's an AU where Sam for some reason stays at Stanford and they do get married, I'm only interested if their marriage kinda sucks and they get divorced by year five. (e.g. maybe, like his mother, he pretended he could be 'normal' but he keeps sneaking out on hunts after all, and Jessica thinks he's cheating, and they end up dead bedroomed, etc etc.) Or, if it's set during Stanford, I'd go for an almost horror-story dramatic irony fic where she's introduced to this tall hot guy by her smiling blond classmate Brady and we can see fate rearing up to grab her by the neck, and she feels almost compelled to stay, and she doesn't know why when Sam keeps obviously not telling her things but she forcibly dismisses it from her mind and goes he'll tell me someday. And then it's November 2nd. :)

Dean/Jess similarly I guess I'd only be interested in from a symbolic sense -- Dean attempting to get closer to Sam any way he can in the period of not-talking. I have no interest in Jess living -- her job is to die -- so it'd have to be still at Stanford, and it'd be a really tight window to make it work in a way that wouldn't screw up everyone because Dean isn't a piece of shit and Jess (being a figural Nice Girl who Dies) can't be a cheater. Maybe in the very early Sam and her have only gone on like one date but they're not an 'item' yet, Dean sees her at the bar after Sam leaves and decides he'll take her for a spin...? Eh, that's too mean. So, I guess not for me. And I never like ot3s so the other one is not for me either. But if you can make it terrible and Jess dies at the end anyway, maybe!

[blade-liger-4ever]

RWBY X Transformers Partnerships 4: Optimus Prime and Mercury Black - Peacemakers

"It's just....after everything I've done, it's still hard to believe a chance to change exists for a guy like me."

"There is always hope for redemption, Mercury. However, I believe you are missing one crucial factor regarding your past."

"Man, you talk in the most ancient way. Alright Boss Man, I've told you about myself, no lies. I was trained to be an assassin, made to kill others, and steal, then killed my own father. What 'crucial factor' am I missing?"

"The fact that you were an innocent child born into a hard life. I do not deny that you were forced into committing vile acts, or that, in some aspects, you perhaps enjoyed it. However, I know that you had no say in the matter, and that until you befriended young Ruby, you felt you had been caged in the occupation of an assassin. But by choosing to escape that life, and proving your reliability since then, you have shown to be capable of changing for the better. I believe you were meant for more, Mercury Black, and if you are willing, I would be grateful to help guide you on your new path."

".....You mean it? Even though we just met like, what, a month ago?"

"I refuse to lie to you on such matters, Mercury. In my spark, I am certain that you will achieve more than you could dream is possible."

"I...well, Ruby believes in me, but I - I never had an adult give me a chance like that. Until Tai and the others, but even then, they're..."

"Cautious?"

"Heh, to put it mildly."

"I assure you, Mercury, that such caution will not be exercised by myself. Should you need anything, you can always speak to me."

"....Thanks, Optimus."

Mercury is used to adapting. As an assassin, you have to be ready to switch tactics on a dime, or create a new plan on the fly when your old one goes up in flames. It'd been drilled into him (he had the scars to prove it), and even when his perspective on life had been shattered and reconstructed by Ruby, Mercury was able to pull himself together and adapt to the change in time for the Fall of Beacon.

However, living in his sort of/definite girlfriend's house with her family and now having to deal with the revelation of giant alien robots bringing their war to Remnant is more than probably even Marcus could handle.

In order to process this curveball, Mercury decides to keep by Ruby's room, detach himself from the world, and analyze the residents of Patch while this new pattern settles in his brain.

Tai is a kind man, and though he's surprisingly tame, Mercury has caught glimpses of the senior Xiao Long's fire that has been passed on to Yang. Speaking of Yang, the fiery blond is returning to her old self, albeit more restrained than before. To be completely honest, Mercury is grateful for that progress; seeing Yang in a shell-shocked, blank state had actually hurt him. Her boyfriend Neptune has perked up on account of this, and although he gets along with him, Mercury is still confused about how he's so accepting of the existence of literal alien robots. Then again, this guy's dating the Sun Dragon, so he shouldn't be surprised that Neptune was actually excited to hear that Qrow had brought home over-sized guests.

Oh, right. Qrow Branwen.

Although the Huntsman's reputation precedes him by a wide margin, and though the hairs on the back of his neck still tingle when Qrow's eyes land on him, Mercury's initial fear of the man has morphed into suspicion and a deal of resentment. Tai can claim he was adopted into the family all he wants to, but Mercury had been taught to look for patterns and anything unusual. And the uncanny facial resemblance between Qrow and his "honorary niece" is blatantly obvious. And the scythe weapon? Please, it takes a genius to build something like that, never mind maintaining and operating it with the ease he and Ruby exercise. So yeah, the chances of two unrelated individuals having the same genius to build an intricately designed scythe weapon are a million to one - and those odds have already been stolen by the 'Cybertronians' who'd fallen through some portal onto Remnant.

Mercury is still trying to understand that, but between monitoring Ruby and the house, he's getting there.

Wheeljack is similar to Qrow, which Mercury automatically associates with the words "dangerous" and "unpredictable". He's a good engineer, judging by the doo-hickey he's cooked up on the island, but the scars and sparky look in his eyes tells Mercury that the...'Wrecker-scientist', is just as capable of destroying as he is of creating. Ironhide is what every drill sergeant wishes he could be; the giant 'Autobot' barks orders and gives assignments at great speed, usually practiced as he takes over a task from one of the others when they move too slowly. Despite that, he's surprisingly careful when dealing with Miko - and Mercury does his best to avoid her and her explosions. She's innocent, he knows that, but by Remnant, she has too much energy for his liking.

Sideswipe is...loose. Mercury can't quite put his finger on it, but he knows that Sideswipe, in spite of his bravado and snark that rivals Yang's, is fast. If he had to bet, the younger Autobot is used to moving at speeds that allow him to dish out pain with little detriment to himself. Good qualities for sure, but the way he acts like a twenty year old and carries himself like that hits a little too close to home for Mercury's comfort. As for Smokescreen, it's obvious he's the team baby - the short Autobot has the same kind of energy for justice as Ruby, as well as the excitableness and easygoing nature. Because of that similarity, Mercury's willing to spend some of his free time with him, though there are moments of eerie silence from Smokescreen, as well as a distant gaze, that makes him wonder about the guy's inner thoughts. However, the kid brushes it off with swagger, and Mercury's too deep in his own concerns to bother trying to coax an admission out of him.

However, the one he can't seem to pin down is their leader: Optimus Prime.

The Autobot commander towers over them all, with only Ironhide standing even remotely close to Optimus' height. Optimus walks steadily, with a silent strength and confidence that Mercury has never seen in anyone else's stride. Moreover, he can feel the guy's power when he enters a room, almost as if it were a supernatural sensation. Heck, even when he's standing still, Mercury can sense that power at rest, waiting to be used and capable of unleashing itself in a breath if Optimus wanted to cut loose.

But that's not what boggles his mind the most about the Autobots' superior.

It's the way he speaks.

Optimus' voice is deep and carries far, easily putting every other male's baritone and bass to shame. And yet, despite that, despite the sheer force in his voice, Optimus always speaks in a calm tone. He always uses full sentences, never utilizes slang or contractions (That's wild), and not once - ONCE - has Mercury heard his voice rise beyond an octave. It should be intimidating, should make him question this guy's status among the Cybertronian race.

And yet...the absolute warmth in Optimus' voice reaches something inside of Mercury. It reaches in and stirs something, something like a small child, to consciousness, and makes the child want to reach out to Optimus for something like comfort, and safety.

The only time Mercury can actually remember doing that is a time when he was eight, shortly after his mother had died. And his plea for consolation had been answered with a severe punishment from Marcus.

That memory makes all of his instincts scream to stay away from Optimus emotionally. Ruby understands him, accepts him, and so far her opinion outweighs the realistic worries of her family, which has given Mercury more time to continue improving himself and showing that he has changed from his upbringing. But since he's gotten to know her, he's become friendly with the other people in her life, although he can't help but keep some of them at arm's length for a while yet. Tai lets him roam the house free, Yang's willing to spar with him while Neptune cheers and mediates on the side, while Mercury and Qrow keep their distance based off a mutual, silent understanding of Ruby's true parentage between them.

So finding himself almost unconsciously following after Optimus whenever a meeting ends is more than a shock for Mercury.

It happens to him three times. The first time is when they meet, and Mercury had still been processing the Autobots' arrival. He'd all but locked himself in the guest room, and stayed in Ruby's room for a week to figure things out. The second time was when Wheeljack had finished half of the doo-hickey out in the woods, and required new equipment that required everyone's presence. Mercury had all but run back to the cabin from the shock of that lapse, and seeing that Ruby had woken up had kept him occupied for the next five days, and given him a reasonable excuse for avoiding the Cybertronians, their leader especially. However, his time with Ruby, while relieving and rejuvenating for them both, came to a head when Wheeljack stuck his metal foot in his mouth and openly identified Ruby as Qrow's daughter when they were working on Branwen's scythe.

He knew she was going to run, knew she was going to be too fast for him. But Mercury still tried going after her, mildly surprised that Smokescreen shifted into a sporty racecar to take after her as well. It seemed that he reacted instinctively too, as the short Autobot drove off without thinking to offer him a ride, and Mercury found himself chasing air and dirt before logic made him stop.

As he stood there, Optimus entered the area from the side, and Mercury's whirling thoughts consisted of one realization that the Autobot had been nearby when the fiasco began. To his surprise, Optimus asked him what had happened, and with a quick scan of the place around him, Mercury saw that Qrow and Wheeljack had disappeared - whether to chase down Ruby or not, he had no idea.

Resisting all his better instincts, Mercury summed up Ruby's real parentage and how he and Qrow had been trying to avoid it until Wheeljack ruined it. To his immense surprise, Optimus listened with keen interest, and once he'd finished, the leader thanked him and advised they let Smokescreen find her, as (apparently) the kid had ways of bonding with "human youth". Mercury quietly scoffed at the phrasing, then mumbled about the strangeness of this alien leader.

That dour sarcasm evaporated when he looked up and saw that he was trailing Optimus' moving feet.

Certain he was losing his mind, Mercury froze and tried to think of a way to leave without being spotted. However, Optimus paused and spoke his name, the patient, quiet underlying command of "stay put" rooting him to the ground. Turning around, Optimus revealed that he was aware of not only Mercury's unconscious tailing of him, but how he'd been avoiding him for the past two weeks as well. Optimus told him that while he respected his privacy and actions, he wished to know why Mercury fears him, as he only wants to be a friend to him.

The words make everything that's been building up inside of Mercury snap, and he can't help it. He yells at Optimus, blurts out that no one can be as good as he is, that adults aren't as inherently kind like him and that anything like those qualities are destroyed somehow in short order. He lashes out that he can't figure Optimus out because he's so different, so good, and honest-to-Remnant heroic, and that no one can - can...

"...Make me feel like a kid. A defenseless kid, who never....never had what Yang has with Tai."

Mercury stuffs his hands in his pockets, then stares at the ground and hopes against all reason that the world will just go back to making sense. Optimus takes two careful steps forward, bends down, and to Mercury's shock, picks him up. His hold is gentle, and he brings the hand holding him to his chest, where Mercury notices a pale glow emanating from somewhere behind the glass before the comforting warmth of his metal body distracts him and makes Mercury relax. As Mercury processes this, Optimus quietly speaks, telling him that many people are too weak to be either good or heroic, and that yes, many can be good, but will have their better qualities destroyed. Oftentimes, the latter is a personal choice, such as the Decepticons' leader Megatron, who Optimus once considered a brother before their war broke out. As Mercury detects a faint humming inside of the Autobot's chest, Optimus adds that many can and do choose to be good, and that while some possess those qualities to greater degrees than others, it does not make the entire adult world cruel.

"Life itself is cruel, and I feel you know that better than many your age do. However, if you will allow me to, I would be pleased to help you heal and learn to trust others again, Mercury."

Mercury's not sure if this is how it feels to have a father, but even if it isn't, he's gonna fight to keep it the same way he'll fight to keep Ruby safe.

Optimus and Mercury form a close bond after this, with Optimus often making sure Mercury is both safe and emotionally well after a long day. He knows when Mercury needs a push to go to bed or otherwise take care of himself, but more times than not, Optimus can tell when he should speak sternly to the boy over his sleep schedule, as well as when to put his foot down over Mercury's regular time of training, reconnaissance, and other habits. Similarly, Mercury has learned tricks of getting Optimus to take a much needed break, usually by asking for some alone time that he's reluctant to admit he needs. They make a strong team on and off the battlefield, with Optimus helping to refine Mercury's techniques while Mercury tells him about Remnant's stars and history. The Autobot leader's fascination with learning their culture softens Mercury a tiny bit, and - perhaps - leads him to learn of Optimus' past on Cybertron....

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

Lord Almighty, last year drained me more than I realized! Sheesh, I thought for sure I'd get them done sooner than this!

Anyway, I had this team up in my head almost from the get-go. Mercury needs a real father, and Optimus is the manifestation of Team Dad, so it only made sense to buddy them up. For their name, I chose Peacemakers because Optimus wishes and fights for peace, while Mercury needs to find peace - though I admit, I was partly inspired by the weapon of the same name.

Pray I get more done sooner than this, folks! I love these two franchises, and I want to get back on track for this series I started so long ago. See you around, and remember the wisdom of the greatest Prime in history:

"Hold on to your dreams. The future is built on dreams."

[choicesmc]

okay i've been dying to know about fiona

12. Open the notes/note-taking app on their phone. What’s there?

15. Describe their computer. Is it a sticker covered laptop? A high-tech gaming computer?

16. Let’s look at their search history. What are the last 5 things they searched?

also how is his 'process' like? say he's looking up info for a case online, where is he usually inclined to start the discovery process? and how is his research process like? chaotic w/ 7 million tabs open? slow and steady - one tab at a time, collecting links in a docs or taking notes by hand' person?

ahhhh, glad you’ve taken an interest in him!! Fiona is very very pleased xD 

12. Open the notes/note-taking app on their phone. What’s there? 

First things first: there are so many of them. And none of them are blank, they have writing in them. There’s a couple of shopping lists/item orders he has jotted down but those are droplets compared to the amount of memos he has in them. 

The memos can be literally anything: Gigi’s new outfit is stellar, Beau wants to check out a new restaurant, Gabe’s wearing his best suit, he found some music Aislinn might like, a briefcase Martin would adore etc. 

It’s really an observation log of anything and everything Fiona notices. Sometimes he reminds himself to tell the other person whatever it is he’s noticed. Sometimes his observations live and die in his memos.  

On slow days at the office (so a blue moon day) he goes through and sorts all his notes into folders for easy access later! …He has so many folders. Enough that it defeats the point of sorting all his memos into folders. (but he doesn’t mind.)

15. Describe their computer. Is it a sticker covered laptop? A high-tech gaming computer? 

Beau picked up his laptop case, weighing it in hand, “It’s a really nice color.”  Fiona glanced over from his meal, the soft green never failing to put him in a better mood, “Yeah, it’s why I bought it.”  Cracking a smile, Beau chuckled, “Fair enough man. Who’re the makers?” Fiona leaned back, “Hah, wish I knew. Literally can’t find anything on it. It’s like it doesn’t exist anywhere but in my house.”  Beau fell silent for a couple seconds before speaking again, “What’s this flag?”  “Which one?”  “The green and white one. I know the others: the bi flag, the trans flag, pride, but I can’t place that one.” “The green-white-green one?”  “Yeah.” “The Nigerian flag?”

Fiona has two laptops 1) for work and 2) personal. His work laptop is clean and sleek. While he doesn’t decorate the laptop itself, he did switch out i’s case for a sweetgreen one (hex: A5D56E –it's really pleasing to look at!) and he hangs small knitted flags from it.  

His personal computer is an older model. He was close friends with one of the IT guys at the university Fiona used to work at who let him have it. Said they were planning to throw them out anyway. 

So his personal laptop has been with him since a little before quitting his job as a professor, going through law school, and his first couple years as an actual lawyer. 

Safe to say, it’s had better days. It’s covered in stickers, mostly from his teaching days (he doesn’t add more these days). And he mostly hooks it up to his tv anyways so he can watch downloaded movies on full screen 👍 

Fiona really doesn’t do much with his personal laptop. He already looks at laptops/computers so much at work that he is all laptop fatigued when he gets home. 

16. Let’s look at their search history. What are the last 5 things they searched?  

explaining gunshot wounds 

hibiscus flowering season 

ugh, food for bad moods 

name of 2nd circuit judge 

gifts for shameless men 

*based heavily off where he is in this series [don’t let this be the last time] 

If Fiona’s memos are observation logs. His search history is a damn diary. He’s got a process going on: 

have a thought -> search it up -> thought satisfied -> go back to serious stuff 

Though, he does this stuff on his personal phone. Even he’s not confident enough to search half the stuff he thinks up on a company issued device. 

also how is his 'process' like? say he's looking up info for a case online, where is he usually inclined to start the discovery process? and how is his research process like? chaotic w/ 7 million tabs open? slow and steady - one tab at a time, collecting links in a docs or taking notes by hand' person? 

Mads, can I just say I love your questions? Like they make me think and consider stuff I hadn’t considered yet. (and it’s also why it takes me forever to get back to you 😭)  

His method definitely falls into slow and steady territory. Everything done in order from top to bottom, do not disturb the order –it’ll distress him. 

Every case starts with one tab, a legal pad, and a nice, dark pen. He takes his first notes by hand just free-guessing potential ways to approach a case. It’s real messy with tons of things scratched out and asterisks and arrows pointing nowhere. Anything that might help gets placed down regardless of how possible or helpful it’d actually be. This is all just brainstorming. 

Then he goes back in red ink once he’s understood what he wants to do. Circling and starring the important stuff that he actually wants to keep/can make use of. It helps him double check his work along with making sure everything seems like a reasonable game. 

Finally he puts his ideas into a memo that he can share with whoever else he’s working with, if any. Even when he’s not working with someone, Fiona finds that memo writing helps him think through everything and ensure he’s not making any logical jumps.

[fisheito]

friend fish!!! do you have any super specific headcanons for nucarni you'd want to post about? like from the serious to the silly. im talking from like how did little yakumo deal w humans and snakes hating him and then his grandparents loving him to who are the left handed mfs and who are the right handed mfs. how did kuya handle huey disappearing vs can garukaru wink. i like your brain and i like the very specific little things that come from everyone's brains and just wanted to see if you wanted to post any sillies or seriousies :3

why, friend anon, it seems like You are the one bursting with ideas... if u wish to share with the class i shan't object ohoho

MMM>....UUHHHHH boy ain't it just appropriate that once u hand me the microphone, my mind blanks hmmm........ ............(leaves ask and comes back in several hours)

OH I got one!! yakumo and chickens

s o one day, i wished to draw yakumo holding a chicken. just snekboi holding an absolute buff orpington orb of chicken, because it would be, how u say,... grotesquely adorable, yes??

but before i could, i wondered.. is that possible? do chickens like yakumo? or would they sense his snakeyness and hate him? was it ever discussed in the story?

my immediate thought was of those chickens who get hypnotised into a catatonic state when u draw a straight line in front of them. u know all those gifs of the chickens that just go [plop] with HARD FOCUS on the line? and as soon as line was erased, chicken blinked back into existence/Killer Peck mode?

i remember ppl hypothesising that it was bc the lines reminded them of snakes and the chickens were like shhhhh play ded the snakes will want nothing to do with us.

i can;t remember if they ever actually found the answer to that behaviour. i wish i knew. but i don't. so instead i imagined eiden placing a 🧍‍♂️yakumo horizontally in front of a chicken to see if the trance could be replicated

the whole thing made me think about yakumo's relation to animals, especially farm animals, bc idk if his grandparents ever farmed animals or if it was JUST produce. the story so far seems to say vegebls only but *I* want *FARM ANIMALS* and *YAKUMO* ***toGETHER*(*(***** so we continue the train of thought

yakumo has pulled Princess-Snow-White-shenanigans in the past (Idol Fest). those forest animals didn't have a problem rolling up to yakumo just to listen to him sing. i don't remember if exact animals were mentioned in the story, but i'mma assume it was lil guys like rabbits, birds, rodents, deer. i mean... snakes have been known to share habitats with these guys... so it would make sense for some of them to be scared if yakumo's energy is more snake>human.

but then KUYA??? he's a fox. yet he's got parades of adoring forest worshippers everywhere he goes, regardless of predator/prey status. so maybe the vibe of Yokai overrides whatever trophic chain dynamics are supposed to exist in this world. So instead of EEK! A SNAKE/FOX! the animals be like Yokai=cool nature powerbeing let's hang out ?

but then i wonder if the Yokai Vibe is moderated by Yokai expertise. bc kuya of course has way more experience as yokai... he's more likely to embrace his foxy traits than yakumo with his snakey traits (what is this.... a competition of self acceptance now??).. so maybe the animals all trail after kuya bc of his confidence,,, but would they do the same for yakumo who hasn't yet transcended to that Power Strut Aura?

which relates to childhood yakumo. to surrounding animals, what was his vibe? snakey? human? yokai? did it matter? he mentioned that the other snakes used to bully him .. and that people also used to chase him away... so his vibe was. what? like the king cobra who eats other snakes, and can bite people? at this point, it's not like yakumo has the self-control or self-acceptance to consciously manipulate his outward appearance. his vibe is his vibe.

so, in this unsure, untrained, scared snake-self stage of his life, he still appeared as a Threat to other snakes (and probably other animals that typically fear snakes). i imagine that if i were to introduce yakumo to farm animals at this point, they would react like they saw a potentially dangerous snake. chickens angy. cows might stomp u. goats might eat u

and yet Grandma and Grandpa , like many humans, promptly threw convention out the window and went [lol what threat?? he scared. let's give him some soup]] -> for further proof of ppl being like that, look at. any dangerous creature. cute as heck. i'll fawn over apex predators. angry bear incapable of empathy? deserves my respect. sure i'll share my room with a snake if it looks like it's crying . self-preservation? why would i care about that if i have the chance to make the snake less sad??

i mean, farm animals are domesticated so they're supposed to be pretty chill. i like to think that once yakumo spent more time on the farm with a loving family, his energy became more stable and more human. and surely with daily exposure, those farm animals would acclimate to yakumo's presence. maybe even grow to like him if he takes care of them.

THAT IS TO SAY even if the animals initially shun him or treat him like Danger... they eventually associate his energy with the good times. and yakumo would learn how to act around each specific animal so as not to upset them (just like any good zookeeper!!). As both parties build upon their experiences, the likelihood of positive interaction between yakumo and another animal goes up up 🆙☝!!!

IN THE END, ALL THIS MEANS is that, simply bc i like animals, i'm gonna pretend that yakumo's grandparents also farmed creatures (dang, an undertaking for 2 elderly ppl. i know. but this is gay fantasy isekai). ok, maybe more believably, a neighbour farmed animals and yakumo was the only young'n around to help. and because of all that, yakumo has experience dealing with animals.

according to my made-up timeline (😄) if i drew him at human age ~7, it would make sense if it was a pic of a cow chewing on his hair (being bullied by ungulates. he's crying), or chickens pecking him en masse

and if i drew him getting ALONG with those same animals, it would more likely be a yakumo at human age -- well- older than that. he's got some working experience at that point.

(slams fist on table) SO I CAN JUSTIFIABLY Draw A FLUFFY CHICKEN RESTING HAPPILY IN YAKUMO'S ARMS AND IT COULD BE IN-CHARACTER.

i crave interspecies friendships. humans do nonsensical things to befriend other critters. why can't the chickens override their snake fear for this one special boi. it is what i want to see and i will twistturn canon until i see it.