#dead spiders live spiders I've seen it all

[orange-orchard-system]

Not terrified of spiders not especially into them but a secret third thing: the kind of mixed apathy and acceptance of their general existence that can only come from continuously waking up to find spiders in your bed

[barghest-land]

someone asked me not a long time ago, why i get upset if anyone kills a spider in my presence. here's my not very little answer. idk. thoughts,,

i like little things. tiny creatures that crawl around here and there. i think spiders are cute, and when i look at one, my brain goes to my childhood, where i was spending time watching cross orbweavers weave their webs every late evening. watching them do that was an escape for me. every summer i had a few spiders in our garden that i would name and check on them every night. what did they caught? did they eat? how is their web? did they molt? how are they doing? lifting rocks was always about finding something under them. going outside in the night with a flashlight was a whole adventure of "who will i see today in the grass" and realizing that after the sunset life is completely different. i was always afraid of the dark, and big pitch black sky with the stars kinda scared me as a child. so when i was overwhelmed by the space and the feeling of how small and meaningless and lost on a rock in an endless cosmos i am, i was looking under my feet with a flashlight to find something even smaller, closer, familiar and calming. seing tiny creatures was always about learning to understand, to be curious, and to be gentle. to understand that even if you don't mean to, you can hurt someone by accident, and they can get scared and bite back, so better be gentle to begin with. it was about learning to be kind. it was also learning about life and death since they live much shorter life. to appreciate a moment that can't last forever. seeing people around them was sometimes a lesson about hate, that was quite confusing to me. i didn't understand why would people just go to something small and smash it. later on in life, when i was bullied in school i didn't try to see a reason. lesson learned, i thought. people tend to hate when you somehow, in their mind, don't belong somewhere. but growing up loving small things was such a nice experience. i've seen a lot. i've learned a lot. i've held so many beautiful creatures in my hands. so yes, i get upset if people kill spiders, insects, crustaceans, worms etc when i'm around. i don't see it being necessary. and yes, there aren't many very poisonous things where i live. still, anywhere you are there are a few options if there's a spider on a wall. so yes, again, i love little things crawling around. during winter, with no little crawlies outside, the world is awfully dead and quiet to me. all little random house spiders are welcome to make their web somewhere in the corner of my room. if a spider is reading this - you are always welcome, i love u

[on-a-lucky-tide]

If you're looking for prompts, I've got a little idea, ,,,, I wanna see Nik fight someone for John. Maybe some asshole doesn't like what he sees when they're outside together, or an enemy, or whatever suits your fancy, but Nik unleashing the beast and maybe going too far but no one touches his love while he's around. Nik losing control of himself for a moment and then waking up, feeling very bad about it all. Angst with comfort, you know :3c (if you haven't written anything similar already, of course !! )

Nik believes Price is dead. He tears the world to pieces in his grief.

cw: extreme violence, torture, child endangerment, no MCD. Nikolai goes off the deepend. (Also for Anon who asked for the same.)

Laswell had delivered bad news many times in her career. It usually started the same way. 'Please sit down...' and then you moved onto the facts of the matter - the ones you could actually tell them - 'they died in the line of duty, they were killed by... they served with distinction' - and finally, you finished with 'I'm sorry for your loss, the United States government is at your disposal if...'

She knew what the relative, or relatives, looked like at each stage. The disbelief, the cracks of emotion spidering through their eyes as they tried to keep themselves together, and then the inevitable disintegration. Some people wailed, others sobbed softly into their hands, one person had roared in anguish and dropped to the floor. Grief looked slightly different on everyone, but she had seen every permutation.

There was usually another family member to pick them up, to offer comfort. It was hard. People got through. They healed, or they didn't. But that, as brutal as it was, was none of her concern. She had no loyalty to them and no history.

Nothing in her career had prepared her for telling Nikolai that Captain John Price had been killed in the line of duty.

John's task force stood with her as Nik walked into the room. She had placed damn tissues in the table. Tissues. Like Nikolai, of all people, would disintegrate into weeping and mucus. Perhaps it would have been easier if he had.

"Laswell," Nik greeted her in his usual manner, eyes crinkled in the corners, his hands spread. He looked at the three men standing around her in turn and instantly noted a fourth missing. The one he looked for first every time. The one that owned his heart and soul. His gaze lingered on Gaz, whose head tilted as if to begin an apology, and then finally Nik looked at Laswell. "Where is the captain?"

"Nik, take a seat." She gestured at the chair next to the table. Nik glanced at it, and then looked back at her. There was no point insisting. He was as stubborn as John was... had been.

The facts. "On 8th October, the 141 were involved in a raid on a base in search of a high value target. The mission went awry, and John was... killed covering the escape of his men." She swallowed, lowering her voice. For the first time since she had learned the news herself, she felt a stab of pain in her chest. "I'm sorry, Nik."

She believed she had seen grief in all its forms, but what she saw in Nikolai's eyes added a new dimension to her understanding. It was like all the light vanished in an instant; the jovial, lively man she had known for years since he turned informant for MI6 dissipated like smoke in the wind. It was a silent death; his face turned hard, his eyes darkened, and his huge body seemed to expand, casting a bigger shadow. The Nikolai she knew, and loved in her own way, disappeared before her very eyes.

"How?" he asked, his voice no more than whisper.

"He was shot," Sergeant MacTavish stepped forward. The scar down his face was still raw; a livid red in the artificial lights. "Savin' us. Watchin' our backs. Like he always did." Soap pulled something from his pocket and slid it across the table to Nik's hands. A boonie hat, Laswell noted. "Don't even 'ave his dog tags tae give ye, I..."

Nik looked at the folded beige cloth in silence, his eyes moving left to right as if he was reading something from it. When he picked it up, he touched the folded rim to his lips and then his forehead, before gazing down at it in his palms. "Who?"

"Nik?" Laswell asked, watching him carefully.

"Who is to blame? Give me the name."

"Nik, I can't--"

"A name, Kate!" His voice snapped like a whip through the room, with all the impact of a gunshot. She saw the fury in his eyes, the sharp edges, the fury, turning his usually warm brown hue into two bottomless pits.

"Makarov," Lieutenant Riley said. "Vladimir Makarov."

"Ultranationalists." It rolled out of Nik's mouth like he was spitting poison from his tongue. The corner of his eye twitched, his lips curling in a sneer. Laswell often forgot how dangerous, how volatile, Nikolai had been in those early days, when his wounds were raw and open, before John had helped him heal into the best version of himself. But she remembered now as she watched those proverbial wounds split open again, rending through psychological scars long since faded. Nik said nothing more, but tucked John's hat into the loops of his belt as he turned to leave.

"Nikolai, whatever you're planning on doing, we must ensure you--"

"There is no 'we', Laswell," Nik said. "There is not even a 'me' anymore."

She watched him leave, her words lodged in her throat. No one else tried to stop him either. They had lost their mentor, their captain, their friend. Nik had lost his heart. She cast a glance at Riley. "If it gets bad, if he goes too far, it'll be you that has to put him down."

Soap scoffed. "Why'd we do tha'? Hope he gives 'em hell."

"The only thing that kept Nikolai on our side was John Price," she said. "And once he's finished tearing through Ultranationalists and realises it hasn't healed his grief, or brought him peace, who do you think a man like Nikolai will come for next?"

They stood in silence.

***

"K��nig, ich möchte dich einstellen."

"Ha! Nikolai? Was ist mit Chimera passiert?"

"Dafür brauche ich eine andere Strategie."

***

"Do your worst. I have nothing to tell you," the prisoner spat, a globule and saliva and blood landing on the floor near Nik's boot. Nik had already torn out three teeth with pliers, broken his ribs and two fingers. The man, one Ivan Yegerov, was tied to the chair with rope and barbed wire, which meant every convulsion tore into his skin, leaving deep welts of rended flesh leaking onto the floor.

He wasn't the first. Not even tonight.

Nikolai had shattered Yegerov's friend's skull with the wrench propped up against the wall nearby. The blood had spattered up his bare torso, matting his chest hair, stained the side of his face. Shirtless, with a buzzcut he hadn't worn since his time in the Russian Air Force, he looked every part the madman he had become. He had ignored Laswell's attempts to contact him, leaving bodies for her men to find, with notes pinned to their foreheads containing their sins. She had stopped trying after two years, but he knew she was still following his blood trail.

Yegerov and his ally had been at the base in Ukraine and, with KorTac's help, it had been a simple matter of extracting key links in the chain for a conversation. Nikolai was tracking them down, one by one, and once he was done there, he would make his way slowly to the top.

"This is not an interrogation," Nik said as he ran his fingers over the tools on the table. "This is revenge. The interrogation will start soon."

Nik selected a serrated hunting knife and turned it over his fingers as he walked towards his captive. Yegerov leaned back in the chair as Nik planted his hands over his broken wrists, seething and whimpering in pain. "Do you know the best way to extract information?" Nik asked. Yegerov said nothing, so Nik squeezed his wrists. "Answer."

"Ah, no! No! I do not."

"They truly do not make terrorists like they used to," Nik said quietly. "I will tell you." Nik ran the tip of the hunting knife down Yegerov's cheek as he spoke, not quite pressing hard enough for it to cut in yet. "You must find a bargaining chip. Every man has something in their life that they cannot live without, a line they will not cross. It is their reason to breathe, it governs their actions, it helps them... find their limit."

Nik stood up straight and reached into his back pocket, his fingers skimming over the folded boonie hat threaded through his belt loops. The picture he pulled out was crumpled and worn, spattered with sweat and blood. It had been pristine when he had snatched it from the overhead screen of his Black Hawk, the rage running in torrents of tears down his face as he had pressed it to his lips.

He had torn himself out of it, because he looked nothing like the man he had; his hair buzzed down to a military shave, his body leaner, his eyes dead. Only John remained, with his big grin and his glittering eyes. Nik pushed the picture close to Yegerov's face as he had done with every man he had killed so far. "He was my line. My reason to breathe. And you took him away."

Yegerov squinted, terrified eyes lifting away from the picture of a smiling John Price to Nik's. Before he could say anything, the nearby door burst open and König forced two hooded figures through in front of him, one so small he barely reached his hip. "Ah, bargaining chips," Nikolai stood, throwing the hunting knife to the table. "Shall we find your line, comrade?"

König shoved his hostages forward to stand before Yegerov and then tore their hoods off. Yegerov let out a strangled wail of horror as he drank in the tear-stained faces of his wife and daughter. "No, no!"

"This is how it works," Nikolai said. "You give me name of someone who will know the current whereabouts of Makarov, and I will allow you to choose who survives." It was unlikely Yegerov would know anything. Nik just wanted him to experience the feeling of powerlessness as his loved ones died before his eyes.

The same feeling Nik had felt when he had been considering turning his Black Hawk towards the White House; suicide by F-15. Numb emptiness, desperation, a bottomless, writhing grief that shredded his heart. He had decided then to leave a trail of bodies in his wake first, only then would he join John.

"No, please... please, no."

Nik picked up his M9 and checked the magazine. "I count down; five, four..." He pulled back the pistol slide and turned the weapon first to the woman, who cowered, clutching her child's head to her chest.

"Please, she is just a child!"

"...three, two.."

"Wait! Wait! He's alive!"

Nik's finger lifted from the trigger just as he was about to pull it, settling along the barrel. He looked first to König, and then to Yegerov. "Repeat."

"He's alive... John Price," Yegerov said, almost hyperventilating. "Stop pointing that gun at my wife! I will tell you! Tell you everything. Please."

Nik hesitated. For the first time since this crusade had begun, he hesitated. He returned the M9 to the table and trudged back to his captive, both hands slamming down onto his broken wrists. "If you are lying to me, I will make you watch as I peel every inch of skin from your wife's body while she is still alive."

Yegerov swallowed. "On her life, he is alive. Prisoner 627. He is at a gulag in Petrovpavlosk. Please. He is alive. You can check using my... my passkey in our system. Do not kill my family. Mercy."

Nikolai looked at König who inclined his head, disappearing from the room to follow the lead. The two hostages sank against the wall, whimpering and shivering, and Nik straightened slowly. His fingers ghosted over John's hat, and then found his picture again. Hope was a dangerous thing and Nik resisted the heat of it burning in his chest. "Mercy is for those with a heart," Nikolai said. "You tore mine out the day you took him from me. Pray that we find him."

***

"This belongs to you, sir."

***

Price watched the drills in the parade square outside and wondered whether the drill sergeant noticed the trooper lagging slightly out of step in the third row.

The medics had cleared him to leave. There was a pamphlet about PTSD shoved in the side pocket of his bag, and he had weekly meetings with the base psychologist until they were happy he wasn't going to snap at the wrong moment. He wasn't sure what the road forward looked like, or how to even take the first step, but there was one person who he knew he wanted to be there when he did.

The door behind him opened and Price turned. The man that stood in the doorway was leaner than he remembered, his black hair cut in a military-short back and sides he hadn't seen for nearly a decade. Nikolai looked knackered, no better than Price did, which was understandable given what Price had been told.

Nik walked in tentatively, as if he felt like he was intruding, and that cut Price down to the quick. If there was one fuckin' person he had wanted to see all this time, it was the weary Russian pilot currently stood before him. He surged forward, wrapping his arms around Nik's broad chest and burying his face in his shoulder. Nik squeezed him back, just as desperate.

They held each other in the quiet, confirming, checking they weren't dreaming, until finally Price pulled away to study Nik's face. "Yer hair looks shit," he croaked.

Nik smiled, just as lopsided as Price remembered. "And your beard is bad."

"Least I had an excuse," Price said, scratching at the scruffy stubble on his jaw.

Nik's eyes saddened. "As did I." He lifted a hand and cupped Price's face, bringing their foreheads together. "My life ended when I lost you."

"Ya didn't lose me. Ya found me, didn'tcha? Tore the world to pieces, Simon said."

"My hands got dirty, John," Nik rasped.

"Dirty so that my men could stay clean.'

Nik lifted his face away, studying Price's eyes, looking for condemnation, anger, disgust. He would find none of it, Price was certain. All he felt in that moment was gratitude, relief, exhaustion.

"Laswell has agreed to waive my arrest warrant," Nik said, clearing his throat. "Under the agreement that I am to retire when we have defeated Makarov."

"Sounds fair. I've always thought ye'd make a good stay at home husband."

Nik looked startled, and Price leaned in to kiss the stupid look right off his face. Bewilderment broke into relieved laughter, and then eventually tears. Price held Nikolai's face to his shoulder as the sobs shuddered through his body.

"S'olright, I'm home."

[nightprompts]

&. 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬.

( dialogue  prompts  taken  from the script of  everything  everywhere  all  at  once  (2022),  directed  by  daniel  kwan  and  daniel  scheinert.  feel  free  to  edit  and  change  as  you  seem  fit. )

❛ you look really pretty right now. ❜

❛ stop changing the subject. ❜

❛ every day i fight, i fight for all of us. ❜

❛ what are you doing? what is wrong? ❜

❛ if i have to think about one more thing today, my head will explode. ❜

❛ you may be in grave danger. there is no time to explain.❜

❛ we can make our own way. please, come with me. ❜

❛ don't even talk to me about this because i won't remember.❜

❛ i am not your husband. at least not the one you know. i am another version of him from another life path, another universe. ❜

❛ i’m here because we need your help.❜

❛ sorry, very busy today. no time to help you– ❜

❛ all those years of searching have brought me here. to this universe. to you. ❜

❛ i’m here to tell you every rejection, every disappointment has led you here. to this moment. ❜

❛ i'm not ready to fight yet. ❜

❛ maybe we don't have a choice. ❜

❛ now, you can either come with me and live up to your ultimate potential, or lie here and live with the consequences. ❜

❛ i... want to lie here. ❜

❛ how often do people literally die laughing? ❜

❛ my husband won't even kill a spider. how are you the same person? ❜

❛ we are talking about infinity. if you can imagine it, somewhere out there, it exists. ❜

❛ how did i die? ❜

❛ i've seen you die a thousand ways. in a thousand worlds. in every single one, you were murdered. ❜

❛ what!? who wants me dead? ❜

❛ you’ve been feeling it too, haven’t you? something is off. your clothes never wear as well the next day, your hair never falls in quite the same way, even your coffee tastes... wrong. ❜

❛ maybe we would have been better off if we had never gotten married. ❜

❛ i never said that. ❜

❛ you didn’t have to. it’s the way you look at me. ❜

❛ can’t you see it? how wonderful it would be if you came with me? ❜

❛ i saw my life without you. i wish you could have seen it. it was beautiful. ❜

❛ shhh, you're not thinking straight. ❜

❛ what is worse than death? ❜

❛ i saw your face on a billboard and — this is silly — i wondered if you remembered me... ❜

❛ is it that i can’t be here, or that i’m not allowed to be here? ❜

❛ there is no good, there is no evil. there is only “goovil”. ❜

❛ if you can imagine it, you have fucked it. ❜

❛ do not be so closed minded that you blind yourself from the truth! ❜

❛ don’t make me fight you. i am really really good. ❜

❛ you're capable of anything because you're so bad at everything. ❜

❛ you can't remember anything because your bodies were under the control of other universes. ❜

❛ you were like puppets. and you could do things you normally can't do. you were like, what's that movie... raccaccoonie? ❜

❛ how can you defeat her in every universe, if you can't even kill her in one? ❜

❛ the sacrifices necessary to win this war... i know all too well. ❜

❛ i cannot lose another loved one to the darkness. ❜

❛ i know you have feelings. feelings that make you so sad. that make you just want to give up. that is not your fault. ❜

❛ i'll see you again soon, somewhere out there in all that noise. ❜

❛ just think happy thoughts. ❜

❛ you okay? caught you staring off into space again. ❜

❛ i'm the one you've been looking for. ❜

❛ i’m the one who will defeat you. ❜

❛ you’re finally free, like me. ❜

❛ you don't have to choose anymore. between loving me or hating me. you can do both at the same time. ❜

❛ before, you were asking about "our daughter". it's crazy, but it really got me thinking. what if you had come with me all of those years ago? ❜

❛ all of this time, i wasn't looking for someone who could defeat me. i was looking for someone who could see what i see, feel what i feel... ❜

❛ oh, good, you're here too. ❜

❛ i'm sorry about ruining everything, i– ❜

❛ we're all stupid. small stupid little humans. it's like our whole deal. ❜

❛ everything is going to be okay. ❜

❛ you think i’m weak don’t you? ❜

❛ when we first fell in love all of those years ago, your father would say i was too sweet for my own good. maybe he was right. ❜

❛ please! can we just stop fighting! ❜

❛ you tell me that it's a cruel world and we're all just running around in circles. i know that. i've been on this earth just as many days as you. ❜

❛ the only thing i do know is we have to be kind. be kind. especially, when we don't know what's going on. ❜

❛ i know you go through life with your fists held tight. you see yourself as a fighter. well, i see myself as one too. this is how i fight. ❜

❛ in another life, i would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you. ❜

❛ you know what i say? cold, hysterical, unlovable bitches like us make the world go round. ❜

❛ you aren’t unlovable. there is always something to love. ❜

❛ even in a stupid, stupid universe where we have hot dogs for fingers, we’d all be very good with our feet! ❜

❛ in a universe where we both agree that no one could love you, if we look hard enough, something will prove us wrong. ❜

❛ we are all useless alone. so its good you're not alone. ❜

❛ maybe you win in this universe. but in another, i beat you. or we tie. or we eat crepes. ❜

❛ i don't want to hurt anymore. and for some reason when i'm with you, it hurts both of us. ❜

❛ out of all of the places i could be, why would i want to be here with you? ❜

❛ i still want to be here with you. i will always want to be here with you. ❜

❛ i will cherish these few specks of time. ❜

[fallenfrommars6277]

I didn't see anyone address to this properly, so I'm going to try to put into words something that I've been thinking since my rewatch of Dead Boy Detectives.

I've seen some people saying that Edwin's punishment in hell doesn't make any sense because he doesn't belong there and honestly I don't entirely agree. I mean, Edwin's designated afterlife isn't hell of course, but I think his punishment has a meaning.

We can see that hell is shaped quite like Dante's hell and we can only suppose that it works like it as well, so the souls receive a punishment that is an analogy or a contraposition to their guilt, that means that the punishment is somehow similar to their guilt and what they did in their life or the complete opposite.

Therefore, we see the lustful people indulging in their pleasure, the greedy people eating and vomiting, the slothful not being able to move, Maxine tearing her letters and of course Simon. He keeps tearing the pages of a book with the initials of himself and Edwin, his secretly and impermissibly loved one, causing himself little paper cuts that seem no big deal, but they are endless: an infinite number of little hurts, that put together of course aren't so little anymore. But what's the meaning behind his punishment? Well, I think it's an analogy to the feelings he must have felt when he was alive, I mean, he was gay in a male boarding school and he was in love with Edwin, he must have suffered a constant little pain reminding him of his "guilt".

And Edwin's line "if you punish yourself everywhere becomes hell" kinda pairs with it: it's not like he's in hell because of his sense of guilt, of course he's there because he participated in the ritual that killed Edwin, but we see that his designated afterlife isn't hell, he's stuck there because he thinks he's guilty, not of having killed Edwin or at least not only, he feels guilty for his feelings for him.

Moving to Edwin, I think that it's the same thing. He goes to hell only because he's the victim of a sacrifice but he's also stuck there in his endless and cyclic torture: he is chased by a giant spider made of dolls, that no matter how hard he tries to outrun (or maybe precisely because he tries so hard to run away) catches him and tears him apart and basically eats him "alive".

Finally getting to the point, I don't know if I'm delirious but I see an analogy between this punishment and Edwin's life. I mean, I don't think that he's finding out now that he likes boys, I think that now he's being able to acknowledge it to himself and to others, but if we think of the scene at school when Simon goes to him and he runs away (he then points it out clearly saying that he used to run every time he tried to get closer), I think that it's actually clear that he's feeling something. Of course, they're feelings that he's not allowed to feel (or worse, they're feelings no one talks about at his time, it's like they shouldn't even exist), but you can't stop a feeling, you can act in denial, tell yourself and others that it's nothing, but you still feel that feeling, whether you want it or not. And that feeling pressed down to your core tries every way to burst out and if it can't find a way, it simply tears you apart and eats you from the inside.

So, just like when he was alive he kept running from his feelings, that eventually would have broken him into pieces (because if he kept living he probably would have had a life torn apart between who he really was and how he had to appear), in his death he is condemned to run away from the spider made of dolls (why the dolls? I don't know, maybe they refer to his "feminine side", the boys that sacrifice him call him Mary Ann after all, but I'm not sure) that tears him apart and eats him whole.

Again, maybe I'm just obsessing real hard, but either way I don't think that Edwin's punishment is just meaningless.

[remember-the-fanfics]

Imagine the first time Gen z Overlord meeting Angel Dust for the first time when Charlie and Vaggie brought Angel Dust to the hotel while GenZ reader was in the hotel preparing the welcome party preparations with Razzle and Dazzle, GenZ reader ignores Angel Dust's attitude and is kind and respectful to him by giving Ángel Dust cake that Genz reader for him?😃😃

"Razzle, Dazzle! This has to be perfect for Charlie and Vaggie will be back with the first guest!" Yelled (Y/n) decorating the not completely burned cake, the last two burnt cakes will be eaten by them or the tiny dragons.

"No- alittle to the left! No Razzle, that's down- finally thank you!" (Y/n) yelled watching the two put up a sign. "Okay, so I don't want to pressure whoever is coming so I think 'HELL-O (the o is silent)' is funny, it's a pun. I'm totally not feeling stressed about this." (Y/n) voiced to Razzle and Dazzle as the two came over to see the cake, words looking like it was blood and covered in rainbow sprinkles.

The pair looked at (Y/n) blankly.

"I used all the white with the actual frosting and being in hell most colors are red, black, and death."

"-and this is the entrance and Oh wow." (Y/n) heard Charlie say, they brought the cake towards the group. "You really decorated well, (Y/n)."

(Y/n) sees Charlie leading a fluffy yet skinny spider man sinner from the doorway with Vaggie trailing behind.

"Thank you, it was mostly Razz and Dazz since I was baking a cake for the guest." (Y/n) said putting the cake on a conveniently placed table, dusting off their hands. "Who are you?"

"You live under a rock? I'm Angel Dust, everyone on the streets knows me or wishes to." He said and (Y/n) blanking starred up at him.

"W-well (Y/n) here doesn't usally watch what you usally star in Angel." Said Charlie.

"Oh! He's an Actor then? I don't often watch TV, I'm usually working or helping Charlie." Said (Y/n) before Angel Dust started to laugh.

"I've never meet anyone who hasn't already seen all of me if you get what I mean." He finished and looked at the cake. "Hah. Funny if it didn't look like a rainbow was trying find me but thanks. Just know I'm only here for the free grub and room."

"Well I hope you atleast give a chance one or twice." Said (Y/n) before a sound from the kitchen was heard. "Shit, they're trying to eat the burnt cakes." They yelled rushing towards.

"How many did you burn? Razzle, Dazzle. Don't eat to much!" Said Charlie speeding after them.

"You never said you had child labor." Said Angel Dust taking a bite of his cake.

"(Y/n) was technically an adult when they dead also they are an Overlord."

"That explains why they've never watch porn with me in it-. Wait. How the hell does that child have that much power?! That's like giving a toddler a knife."

"I questioned it everyday."

-

"Isn't Angel Dust a drug?" Asked (Y/n), sharing the last burnt cake with Vaggie and Charlie because Angel Dust kept his.

"It another word for PCP." Said Vaggie, slightly cringing on how the cake was somehow raw and brunt at the same time.

"Like a pipe for plumbing?"

"That's PCV, kid. How do you not know these things?" Asked Angel.

"I died before I could I guess, my parents would probably kill me if they ever saw me with any drugs." Said (Y/n) shrugged. "So what kind of actor are you? I feel like i heard your name before since you mentioned it earlier."

"I'm porn star."

"...Well that explains alot of why people would be weird when I asked who they were talking about. I hope you enjoy your stay."

[ttkinnie]

Tokyo Revengers characters as animals 💖 (for no reason)

Kazutora: let's start with the most obvious one, our resident tiger. Which is funny considering he gives 0 tiger vibes. Or maybe rescued declawed tiger from an abusive circus. Wait a sec... Hanma and Kisaki have a circus theme going on... why did I never notice this? This starts well. Saddest tiger pic I could find

Baji: A black gray wolf of course. 'nuff said

Chifuyu: A cat. Kitty kitty meow meow. Not crazy enough to be orange, but he's gotta have green eyes and a kind face. This tuxedo:

Koko: Talking about cats, here he is. Most obvious choice I've ever made. Black cat of course, very fancy, will knock shit off the counter and eats only the most expensive wet food

Inupi: second most obvious one because you've gotta pick the race of the dog too. I say he's the only serious golden retriever you've ever seen.

Takemichi: A mouse. He is squeaky and scared, looks like he eats cheese. Very cute. Big eyes.

Hinata: A doe, beautiful and kind but will ram into you if you touch her loved ones

Naoto: a buck because I am unoriginal. he does give off buck vibes tho

Hanma: I know the official art makes him a caracal but I love being contradictory so maned wolf it is. Plus look at its long legs and creepy demeanor, it's him

Kisaki: Listen, I am not the most partial person when it comes to him. He's my little meow meow, I wanna put either cat or bunny ears on him and squish his cheeks. But! Let's be honest, that boy is a snake. The deadliest snake in the world, the saw scaled viper, not the most venomous but highly aggressive. He eats mouse Takemichi for breakfast. Also look at its scales, they remind me of his adult hair.

Mikey: A honey badger, small and cute but will bite your balls off and kill your family for fun.

Draken: A lion, beautiful mane and a symbol of strength. Lives among a tribe of lionesses (lucky him)

Mitsuya: I do not like spiders. At all. But an animal literally producing silk is the only choice for Mitsuya. However I am not masochistic so i won't put a spider image, just the web

Taiju: Great white shark. Very smooth skin. Anyone who tells you they have sandpaper skin is lying.

Hakkai: A seal, same eyes, same innocence, favorite prey of the great white shark

Yuzuha: An orca, beautiful but deadly. Only predator of the great white shark. Also eats seals but let's not comment on that. I support women's wrongs.

Pah-chin: it's too cliché to put warthog here, so i won't. He's a cane toad, one of the stupidest animal on Earth, one of their most common cause of death is eating shit they shouldn't because they stuff their mouth without thinking. They also hump anything, including dead animals from another species, and lay their eggs anywhere, which leads to a high mortality rate among their offspring. Why did I give so many facts? I don't know. Look at it.

Peh-yan: A tarsier. it's the eyes.

Sanzu: Arctic hare, crazy eyes and a gift for divination if you can understand his language

Senju: a cutie baby. Bunny x2, will kick you.

Takeomi: a rat. I am not a hater, rats can be cute, but this guy definitely gives off rat vibes

Wakasa: So very pretty. White leopard of course.

Benkei: A bull. I always thought his tattoos were a bull, but I was wrong I just looked it up. Still a bull.

Shinichiro: This one was though, but I'd say a koala. I'm partial about it, but I feel like he would give his children poop to eat, and their reproductive habits are also not a good look on them.

Emma: Japanese dwarf flying squirrel because I play favorites and that's the cutest little furball ever. it looks like it's wearing eyeliner

Izana: Another small but deadly thing, the Australian box jellyfish, found notably along the coast of Malaysia (I feel so clever right now)

Kakucho: Fiercely loyal dog, he's a Rottweiler. Don't tell me Izana and him don't have some kind of puppy play going on.

Ran: Secretary bird. Canonically hates Kisaki which explains why he stomps snakes to death. Wears killer eyeshadow and looks like they hate your fashion style

Rindou: Did you know a group of male Pacific tree frogs is called a chorus? me neither, which is why Rindou is a Pacific tree frog. Peace of music, yeah

Mucho: Polar bear, cold and aggressive. Plus arctic hare and polar bear, there's a theme

[professional-jaywalker]

Vermin

a short essay about being bug hearted, and killing bugs.

I think one of the most cruel thing to love might be invertebrates. Insects. Arachnid. Worms. Pest. With any other animal, it is seen as unreasonable to want to eradicate. Some insects do manage to earn human's favors, bees (but only the useful ones), moths and butterflies (but only the cute ones), and if you're facing a true bug lover, beetles and dragonflies and perhaps even spiders and centipedes and scorpions. But not all, and it's still simply reasonable, to hate even seeing them.

I've loved bugs since I was a kid. I think it felt wrong not to, because people didn't like them, and people didn't like me. I don't think I've ever understood what in how they move felt less alive for people than a puppy. Still now I love bugs. I love mosquitos and I love botflies and I love hornets and tiny annoying ants that crawl through the windows and cockroaches and the wasp that stung me on the thumb when I accidentally grabbed a stick she was resting on when I was 9.

You cannot possibly live a human life without killing countless things. It's impossible. The most vegan, most peaceful human, refusing to walk on grass to not harm the grasshopper that didn't jump fast enough, will not be able to live a life without killing an insect even accidentally. It's something I have thought about a lot overall. I'm not vegan. I've thought about it. It would make sense, I don't see a lot of difference between my own flesh and the flesh I eat. But somehow it feels even more insulting, to be something that kills, and to pretend I don't. I eat insects, too. I wouldn't be able to tell you exactly how I feel about it all.

Maybe it makes me an hypocrite, to be so perturbed about the way people treat insects when I still eat meat. But it's, I think, in the end, the fracture between someone seeing a dead cow, and a dead fly. Most people wouldn't have the courage to kill a cow. They would feel guilt. In fact, a lot of people already hide the fact that meat is flesh and is, strictly speaking, part of a cadaver. People who refuse to eat a fish with the head. Pork, not pig. Beef, not cow. I hate that too. But insects ? People kill a fly without even thinking about it. It's annoying, then it's dead. A dead fly doesn't elicit guilt.

People expect me to be the same. Even knowing I love insects, it's seen as amusing that I acknowledge them as more than a mindless automaton, and, if I can, if it costs me nothing, avoid killing them. I have killed countless insects. I've had to, purposefully, many many many times. But it is, in fact, killing. I just want to be allowed to recognize that.

I work in a lab, on ants. We dissected more than a hundred, ovaries, poison gland, brains, understanding how they work, how differentiation happens and how they communicate it. Reconstructing brains to evaluate changes in different structures, measuring how many proto-egg each individual has post-dissection and correlation to dominance, reading articles and articles about theory.

These specific ants like shallow humid grooves for their nest. Today we tested a large foraging arena, brightly lit for the cameras, dry, wide, open, empty. Ants panic after being picked up even with the least harmful tools we have. When in an unfamiliar space, we've had them in the past run until they died of exhaustion, unable to find the entry of the nest to hide. Two of them were placed in the foraging arena to test the cameras, test if we could read the tags they have on their back. Again and again, they like to follow the walls, possibly because it feels less exposed. And again and again, they stop, groom each other, and calm down if they meet, huddled into each other.

I can't claim to know what's going on in ants brain, whether they feel things similarly to us. But it's hard not to project.

Ant tagged 16, and ant tagged 12, close, unmoving.

[thesummerstorms]

The other thing that I think I would want in an Annabeth Wayne AU that I don't think I've seen so far is Bruce being absolutely pissed at Athena.

It was bad enough with Talia and Damian, but Athena is a literal god of wisdom who should know better AND he doesn't even have the "culpability" of having slept with her.

She one hundred percent saw Batman, tactician of the Justice League, was drawn in by her aspect of the Goddess of Strategy, and proceeded to create a child without his consent, a daughter who she didn't even raise before the child became a weapon.

And like whatever else, however fucked up Damian was by his own training to become a child-weapon, at least Talia loved Damian.

Whereas Athena loves Annabeth in the way a Goddess loves, not the way a Person loves, and I don't think Bruce, whose entire identity is so fixated on his relationship with his own parents, would recognize that as love at all.

And, like, Talia put Damian through a lot of shit. I think Bruce would be angry there too. But when push came to shove, she at least at some point brought him to Bruce because she thought it was in her son's best interests.

Athena actively lead Annabeth away from Bruce and into the streets at the age of seven, which Bruce would never see as in her best interest, whatever Athena's godly perspective is, however badly he reacted after Jason's death, even though he couldn't see (and dismissed the idea of) the spiders and the monsters. She was seven. In the streets of Gotham.

Athena let Annabeth fight a major role in two wars back to back without being there to train her or protect her or love her or even advise her. Athena advocated for the cold blooded murder of the other children who had actually tried to keep his daughter safe. Athena sent Annabeth against Arachne when Athena's children have universally died on that quest for a thousand years.

Athena let Bruce think he had gotten Annabeth killed because of his own inability to handle his grief. Let him think his daughter was dead or worse for years. Would have let him keep thinking that if the Fates didn't have other plans.

And just, in true fashion for all of my ideas on a PJO x DC crossover, everyone really comes out more traumatized than before. This includes Bruce.

Because now he wasn't just used unknowingly for a child just once, but twice. And in both cases he's going to have to live forever with the guilt of not having been able to protect his kids from what their other parent wanted to make of them

(On top of all the ways he has directly failed them and made any complexes worse, of course )

[vendetta-if]

With recent superhero movies like The Flash and Across the Spider-verse dealing with things like time travel and alternate univierses. I'm curious about what would happen if similar happened and the MC wound up encountering Viktor from the Dead Man Walking AU?

Oooh that's angsty 😰 It would be filled with a tearful and heartfelt reunion. For those who haven't read it, I have made the Dead Man Walking AU side story public a while back and you can read it here (Part 1) and here (Part 2). Also, I've compiled a list of all the publicly available side stories here 😀

Viktor from the Dead Man Walking AU is really a husk of the man he once was. He has become someone who's very bitter and cynical, and he won't stop at anything to make those who took his child away from him pay in the worst way possible. The only reason he's still alive is out of pure spite; there's no way he's going to die as long as the killer is still alive.

So, yeah MC would be in for a bit of a surprise to see just how different their dad is from the one they know and remember. But Viktor would be even more surprised to see his kid all grown up now. He would definitely break down and cry while hugging MC tightly, not wanting to let go.

MC would tell him everything that has been going on in their life and for the first time in years, Viktor genuinely smiles--even though it's a wistful one. At least, he feels something other than the numbing pain, hatred, and anger. Rather than telling MC what he has been up to all these years, he would rather ask more about MC and what they like and stuff, whether they still love the same ice-cream flavour, and he would carve all those little details all his heart.

Funnily enough, meeting Viktor would end up being a good thing overall for MC and Luka and Grandpa from the current Vendetta universe. Hypocritically, Viktor would make the three of them promise to stop their foolish endeavour to avenge him, saying he never wanted or expected it from them. He would tell them to live their lives to the fullest and he would also make sure Luka knows that he's not at fault at all.

Basically, he would tie up all emotional loose ends that his alternate self had tragically left, and yes, even with Grandpa as well. As much as they had beef, they still care for each other. I think that will help MC, Luka, and Grandpa heal once Viktor returns to his own universe.

But for Viktor, once he returns to his own universe, that encounter just makes him sadder, angrier, and more spiteful. How could one not when he has seen what he could've had, what could've been? While MC and Luka can continue with their lives, for Viktor, MC was his future and everything... There is no moving on for him, only more burning desire to avenge his kid. And once he somehow manages that... Honestly, he has not expected to go that far.

[alotofpockets]

Midnight meeting | Kate Bishop

Pairing: Kate Bishop x Spider-Woman!Reader

Summary: After not being able to help a civilian in need, you decide to clear your head in a dimly lit park. You didn't expect to see anyone at this hour, especially not your Avenger coworker Kate. [Full request]

Masterlist | Marvel masterlist | Words: 1k

All you ever wanted to do was help people, so when you got these abilities, you put them to good use. Spider-Woman, that’s the name the media chose for you. And when people started to see more and more of what you were doing, they proclaimed you The Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Woman. You lived by this status, so when you weren’t able to help people like they expect you too, it’s hard on you.

Sadly, tonight was one of those nights. You had already changed back into your regular clothes, not feeling worthy of wearing the Spider Suit that Tony had made for you. Going home didn't feel right, and going to the Compound felt even more wrong. That's why you were walking around a park at 11pm. 

It had been a while since you had seen people around, so when you heard a voice call out to you, it scared you at first. When the person came closer, you recognized her from the Compound. "Y/n, right?" You nod your head, not really in the mood to have a conversation with someone you barely know. The woman continues nonetheless, "Kate, Kate Bishop. I've seen you at the Compound right?" You nod again. "What are you doing out here so late?" She asks. It's the first open question, so you won't be able to nod your head in response. "I could ask you the same thing." 

Kate laughs at your response, "You're right. I couldn't sleep, so I decided to take a walk. Your turn." You quietly say, "I messed up." A frown makes its way onto Kate's face. "What happened?" The tears start forming in your eyes. "I wasn't fast enough, I couldn't save him. He's dead because I wasn't fast enough." You tell her how you went straight to the location the notification told you, and that when you got there the dying man's wife was crying by his side. He had suffered a heart attack and help wasn't fast enough to bring him back.

Kate is quick to reassure you that you didn't do anything wrong. "You did everything you could, it's not your fault. You got there before the paramedics did. You were there first, there was nothing anyone could have done." Kate places a hand on your shoulder in an attempt to emphasize her words, and even though you don't know her well, your emotions get the better of you and you break down in her arms.

She holds you while you sob in her arms. When you feel like you've cried all your tears you step out of her arms and thank her. You look her in the eyes, expecting judgements or pity, but instead you see compassion and understanding. Kate took you by the hand and guided you to a nearby park bench. You talk about anything and everything, until you feel raindrops falling from the sky. 

"Come on, I’ll walk you home." Kate says. She sees the hesitation on your face and is quick to offer a second option, "Or we could go to my place? I live above a pizza place, so we can have some food, and maybe after we can watch a movie. How does that sound?" You nod, "Sounds good, I don't really want to be alone tonight."

As promised Kate bought a pizza to share before heading up to her apartment. You ate it while watching your comfort movie. She made sure you had enough blankets and pillows to spend the night on her couch, which you were very grateful for. The next morning she made sure you had some breakfast before you both had to head to the Compound for combat training. 

When you arrived at the compound together, everyone's eyes were on you. No one said anything, but they were glad that you had found each other, whether that was as friends or more. The two of you were around the same age and were from similar backgrounds, the team didn't want to force any relations but they had high hopes for the two of you connecting. 

Kate didn't leave your side at any point. When she wasn't your partner during the exercise, she made sure to be next to you. She was making sure you were alright, especially after you told her that you didn't want to be alone. It was comforting to know that there was someone in your corner. 

The only moment that she wasn't near you was when Natasha took you aside. Kate wanted to follow, but you told her it was okay. "Hey malen'kiy pauk [little spider], I noticed Kate keeping an eye on you the whole morning and I just wanted to check if everything is okay." You smiled at the nickname.  

She had told you that since the day that Tony had brought you to the Compound, it gave you a sense of comfort. "Yeah, I'm okay. Something happened last night, and Kate was there to help me and take care of me. Thank you for looking out for me, Nat." Natasha nods, "Of course, if you need anything let me know, okay?" You let her know that you will before heading back to training. "Everything okay?" Kate asks between punches. "Yes, all good. She just wanted to check on me."

When the training is over you desperately need a shower. You walk up to Kate, "Do you have plans today?" You ask her. "Not really, probably just hang around the compound for a bit." You take her phone from her hand, add your number to her contacts and send yourself a text before handing her phone back. "Text me when you're ready? I'll come pick you up." 

And so she did. You picked her up from her room and took her down to the game room. You spend the rest of the afternoon playing all sorts of games on the big screen. Clint and Natasha smiled when they heard your laughter coming from the game room as they walked by, they instantly knew that the two of you were going to be okay.

💗 If you enjoyed this fic, please consider leaving a tip. Funds will be used to see my (long distance) girlfriend. 💗 

[musedisorder]

𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫?

A collection of my favorite lyrics from The Great Impersonator. Feel free to change as needed! Some of my favorites were too specific for roleplay so I did not add them. Namely from I Believe in Magic and Life of The Spider which are two of my favorite songs.

❛ Do you think they'd laugh at how I died? ❜

❛ I think I'm special 'cause I cut myself wide open as if it's honorable to bleed. ❜

❛ But I'm not lucky and I know I wasn’t chosen. ❜

❛ The world keeps spinnin' without me. ❜

❛ I wake up tired, think I'm better off dead. ❜

❛ I'm nervous what you'll think of me now. ❜

❛ I'm hoping that someone comes around and helps me figure it out. ❜

❛ I'm all grown up but somehow lately I'm acting like a fucking baby. ❜

❛ I'm really not as happy as I seem. ❜

❛ I'm still a little kid that can't make friends. ❜

❛ I wanna be invited, but I won't attend. ❜

❛ I wanna be cool, I don't wanna be pretty. ❜

❛ Nothing's as it seems. ❜

❛ I don't like the lie I'm living. ❜

❛ I'm way too nice and too forgiving. ❜

❛ It's all done now, who am I kidding? ❜

❛ I'm doing way worse than I'm admitting. ❜

❛ I'm really not that happy being me. ❜

❛ I'm trying to be positive. But oh, it's really hard. ❜

❛ I'm a loner, I'm a loser. ❜

❛ I'm on a real short leash, but I like it tight. ❜

❛ You know a mercy kill is what I seek. ❜

❛ I didn't ask to live, but dying's up to me. ❜

❛ Well, they say all dogs go to Heaven. Well, what about a bitch What about an evil girl left lying in a ditch? ❜

❛ Tell the three people who asked that I am in a better place. ❜

❛ 'Cause I'm not old, but I am tired. ❜

❛ I'm not strong, I'm very weak. ❜

❛ I have seen enough! I've seen it all! ❜

❛ I don't wanna hurt so get it over with quick. ❜

❛ Please, God, I wanna be loved. ❜

❛ I don't wanna be somebody that they wanna get rid of. ❜

❛ Every time you lean in closer, both my knees can't help but shake.❜

❛ I think you're a danger to my health, or so it seems. ❜

❛ Is it love or a panic attack? ❜

❛ Is a heavy heart too much to hold? ❜

❛ Because you make me fucking nervous and I don't know what it all means. ❜

❛ My spirit has been broken. ❜

❛ My optimism's getting sore. ❜

❛ I don't know if I can see you anymore. ❜

❛ I don't like to complain, but I'm saying sorry. ❜

❛ When I met you, I thought I was damaged goods. ❜

❛ If you knew it was the end of the world, would you like to stay a while? ❜

❛ Would you leave when it gets hard? ❜

❛ When I met you, I said I would never die. ❜

❛ The joke was always mine 'cause I'm racing against time. ❜

❛ Nothing good is free, but oh, it should be. ❜

❛ I still believe in Heaven, if they'll never let me in. ❜

❛ I think I might start tryin' because I haven't been. ❜

❛ Could all just be an answer to thosе prayers that came delayed? ❜

❛ Please, God, I don't wanna be sick. ❜

❛ I don't wanna be somebody that you're tryna get rid of. ❜

❛ There ain't a reason on this earth I'd go back to my hometown. ❜

❛ You know, I never felt like anyone, I was a paradoxal lie. ❜

❛ I didn't think that I was special, but I was too afraid to die. ❜

❛ I was trying to love you through an open wound 'cause everything I put inside there just fell right through. ❜

❛ If you only knew how bad it hurt me too. ❜

❛ You can rest your head down and not feel any shame. ❜

❛ I never loved you in vain. ❜

❛ You never listen and I'm terrible too. ❜

❛ If you stopped, I would've kissed you. ❜

❛ I almost thought I heard you call my name. ❜

❛ They say that God makes no mistakes, but I might disagree. ❜

❛ You all know something that I don't. ❜

Well, I was born all by myself It's not unlikely that I'll die that way as well. ❜

❛ I always knew I was a martyr. ❜

❛ I was built from special pieces that I learned how to unscrew. ❜

❛ I can always reassemble to fit perfectly for you. ❜

❛ So where do I go in the process when I'm just an apparatus? ❜

❛ I'm reduced to just a body here in someone else's bed. ❜

❛ When you're done, you can discard me like the others always do. ❜

❛ Your human starter kit came incomplete. ❜

❛ Fool me twice, the shame is on me. ❜

❛ Am I a victim in your game? ❜

❛ Can I take the blame for everything you hate? ❜

❛ The punishment and crime are not the same. ❜

❛ Somebody will love me for the way that I'm designed. ❜

❛ You smothered out the glow I grew for you, but it was mine too. ❜

❛ Have you ever been broken and thrown down? ❜

❛ Have you ever given the world to somebody as a gift and had it returned? ❜

❛ Did you know the father's DNA stays inside the mother for seven years? ❜

❛ Have you ever woken from a dream just to realize that you're still asleep? ❜

❛ Do you ever wish you were still asleep? ❜

❛ Do you ever wish you wouldn't wake up? ❜

I'm only small, I'm only weak.

❛ God, how could I even think of daring to exist? Looking just like this, I'm hideous.

❛ I worked real hard on the last one but the last one got me here. ❜

❛ I'm minding my own business but my presence makes you curse. ❜

❛ I should be getting better but I'm only getting worse. ❜

❛ And, God, how dare I even think of choosing here to die? 'Cause then, I'm just a problem that you have to take outside. ❜

❛ I know you hate the sight of me, I haunt you when you're fast asleep. ❜

❛ If only I had eight more lives. ❜

❛ You don't like it when I cry. ❜

❛ You would break me if you tried. And you will because I dared to be alive. ❜

❛ I'll never be like him. ❜

❛ You know my father isn't dead, but it don't feel like he's still here. ❜

❛ And my eyes tell me that he's harmless despite what my heart has to say. ❜

❛ So maybe just forget. Maybe move on, don't regret. ❜

❛ Or maybe this is just another trick that hasn't happened yet. ❜

❛ I thought that it was my fault and now sometimes I still do. ❜

❛ I can't bear to fake a smile when you walk into the room. ❜

❛ Everybody, get in line to meet the girl who flew too high. ❜

❛ Did it all to be included, my self-loathing so deep-rooted. ❜

❛ When I die, I won't have time to spend my money. ❜

❛ But I hope that you still love me. ❜

❛ A problem child, I was rough. But what do you do with a difficult grownup? ❜

❛ I thought I changed so much, nobody would notice it, and no one did. ❜

❛ I told everybody I was fine for a whole damn year. ❜

❛ Please, God, or whoever you are. ❜

❛ These days I get less calls 'cause no one wants to hear my voice. ❜

❛ I miss the days when I was gettin' texts that I could just avoid. ❜

❛ I don't ever wanna leave him, but I don't think it's my choice. ❜

❛ I don't think my pleas are heard because I'm screaming in the void. ❜

❛ Please, God, oh, you've gotta be sick. ❜

❛ Why do you make it hurt, and why's it over so quick? ❜

❛ Please, God, I'm finally loved. I finally found somebody I don't wanna get rid of. ❜

❛ You took a little while to respond to my prayer. ❜

❛ Please, God, no, this doesn't seem fair. ❜

❛ I'm tryin' not to show it, but I'm terribly scared. ❜

❛ They don't know I'm lonely. ❜

❛ They don't know I'm kind. ❜

❛ Does a story die with its narrator? ❜

❛ This is a cry for help, callin' for assistance. ❜

❛ What happened to the girl I knew? ❜

❛ I think I've been awake for days but it's so much fun. ❜

❛ I took another dose but I don't think it's micro. ❜

❛ Can't you see that I'm an imposter? ❜

❛ Where's the fun in doing well? ❜

❛ The good girls never kiss and tell. ❜

❛ I don't belong here, how 'bout you? ❜

❛ I still get punished for good deeds. ❜

[brionysea]

if you know me, you may know that I love animation. I think it's beautiful and deserves a lot more respect as an artistic medium than it gets. I still live with my parents, and they don't agree; they think it's for children, which makes it worth less. I put on my favourite film (Into The Spider-Verse) while they were in the room once, in a sneaky attempt to share something I love with them, and they were just on their phones the entire time. if I'd been more open about what I was doing they might have tried more, but as it stands, it didn't even cross their minds that something animated could be worth their time.

I say all this to lead into the fact that I've also never been able to get them to watch Avatar: The Last Airbender. again, I was watching something I liked while my mum was in the room, but just because I wanted to this time. I was watching the North Pole episodes. my mum likes badass female characters in media, so I told her to pay attention to Katara's fight with Pakku, but even that didn't pull her in (although she did note that Katara was "fiery"). she was bored, wanted the TV for something she liked now (I'd had it for a while), but I wanted to finish the 2-parter first. we decided on one more episode. we reached the part where Zuko kidnaps Aang and runs into a blizzard with him, and Katara, Sokka, and Yue find them. Katara, of course, outmatches Zuko in seconds. Sokka frees Aang and suggests leaving Zuko to die in the blizzard, and Aang - being who he is - says, "No. We can't leave him here."

and my mum, barely looking up from her phone, says, "Why not? He'd leave you."

bear in mind, she hasn't watched the show. she doesn't know these people. she doesn't know Zuko. this is a single glimpse into a single moment of his life, one of countless mistakes made by a lost teenager, where someone else had to decide whether or not he was worth saving. I got this sinking feeling, imagining a world where Aang didn't listen to his beliefs in this moment; a world where Zuko died in the blizzard, where Iroh lost another son, where Aang never got the chance to learn firebending from him - a world where Zuko never realised his destiny, all because he was left for dead in a snowstorm.

but my mum didn't know this show, didn't know all the reasons why that shouldn't happen, so all I could think of to say in response was a small, devastated, "He's sixteen."

and I'm looking back on that feeling now, at the judgement made on a boy she didn't even know, and I'm thinking: what gives you the right to decide he's done? that he's not allowed to grow anymore? that he won't be missed? that he should die, and that Aang should be complicit in it?

this may seem silly. animated or not, Avatar is just a show. but it's a show that got me invested, a show that made me care about the characters and what they have to say about morality and philosophy and the world. it's a show that made me not want Zuko to die alone in a snowstorm. it's a show that made me not want Aang to become a murderer at 12 years old.

but that mentality of judging people by their worst moments, of not seeing them as full human beings who have worth and a future and limitless potential for change because you, personally, haven't seen it, translates to real people too.

it's reductive.

I think of it like this: what they decide says something about who they are, but what you decide says something about who you are. are you the kind of person who would let someone die when you had the chance to save them? are you the kind of person who invites more pain into the world? who allows it without protest? who believes it's possible to reach a point where people don't deserve your compassion anymore?

Aang isn't.

I didn't have much of a plan going into this post, but looking at it in full, I think this is the value of redemption arcs. and while on a practical level, you can understand why so many people pushed back against it at the end of the show, I think this is the value of Aang's philosophy: it lets you be more.

[sjsmith56]

Bumps in the Night

Summary: Bucky moves into a house in a small town. Rumoured to be haunted, he deals with some surprises that wake him in the night.

Length: 4.2K

Characters: Bucky Barnes, several Avengers, original male character.

Warnings: Cursing, talk of death and haunting.

Author notes: Just a little something for Hallowe’en.

It all started when Bucky Barnes bought a house in a small, quiet town, one that sat empty for over a year because the previous owner died there.  According to the rumour mill, she had been murdered and haunted the house.  According to the realtor she died of natural causes.  Bucky didn't care either way.

"I've seen a lot in my life, and I don't believe in ghosts.  The price was right, the inspection showed being empty for a while didn't hurt anything, so I made an offer, and it was accepted.  I'll fix it up, clean up the yard, and plant some flowers.  I figure in a short time I'll have a nice little place to get away from all of you."

The "you" being the other Avengers who loved to play practical jokes on him.  It wasn't that he didn't like them but there were times where their presence irritated him and he wanted a place of his own to do what he wanted, when he wanted, without interruption.  On the day Bucky took possession of the house, several of them stood in front of the property with him, shaking their heads at the foot tall grass, overgrown shrubs, and dried out plants that didn't survive not being watered regularly.

"It looks like a ghost house," said Yelena, her face scrunched up in disapproval. 

"I gotta say, Buck, she's right," added Sam, stepping gingerly onto the porch, testing the wooden boards.  "I wouldn't stay overnight here.  You don't know what's living in the walls or under the floorboards."

"It's Old Mary you should be worried about," said an unfamiliar voice.  They all turned to see an older man out on the sidewalk, who gestured at the house.  "She was a strange one, always muttering about the noises, especially the ones at night.  You wouldn't catch me stepping foot into the place, much less living there.  I doubt you'll last the week."

He sniffed then kept on walking.  Sam and the others looked at each other then at Bucky, who shrugged and stepped inside.  Hesitantly, they stepped inside to join him, wrinkling their noses at the musty smell of a place that had sat empty and closed up for too long.  A layer of dust was on everything, and several visible spider webs lent a spooky air to the place.  As far as Bucky was concerned it was a place full of potential and he soon directed his friends, who had agreed to help him clean the place before he moved his furniture in, towards various tasks.  With cleaning supplies handed out to everyone, they swept, dusted, vacuumed, washed windows, and opened them to let in the fresh air, and bagged up any remaining trash left from when the company hired by the trustee finished clearing the house the previous year.  By the end of the day, everything inside the house looked and smelled better.  Once he was settled, he would repaint everything.

Returning to the rental house they booked for the weekend, Bucky treated them all to pizza and beer, thanking them for their help. 

"Tomorrow, we'll move my furniture in," he said.  "The appliances will be delivered, and we can set them up.  By tomorrow night, I can officially start living in my house.  This rental is booked for tomorrow night for the rest of you."

"What about the yard?" asked Joaquin.  "Do you want help with that?"

"Sure." 

Bucky listed off all that needed to be done there, including mowing and edge trimming the lawn, cutting back or pulling out shrubs, pulling out dead plants, pruning the trees and identifying anything on the outside of the house that needed fixing.  With a couple volunteering to tackle the yard Bucky was sure by this time on the following night, the house would be transformed. 

After making everyone a full breakfast, Bucky and the others went to the house, waiting for the moving company to drop off the pod that held his furniture and other possessions.  He already bought a lawn mower, and some assorted tools.  Joaquin volunteered to assemble it, then went for some gas to power it.  While he was gone, the pod arrived, followed shortly by the appliance delivery truck.  As the delivery people set up the appliances everyone else moved the furniture and boxes in.  Working throughout the day, the whole operation rivalled any mission they had ever planned or executed.  Everything was in place inside, the lawn was mowed, a pile of pruned branches and pulled out plants waited for disposal at another time.  Before the sun got too low, Bucky made a quick visit to the grocery store, buying the makings for burgers he cooked on his barbecue grill.  He made sure everyone had a cold drink as they sprawled over some previously purchased lawn chairs in the back yard.  Raising his beer to his work colleagues and friends, he thanked them again for their hard work on his behalf.

"So, if any of you wish to spend the night, I have two spare bedrooms," he announced.  "Otherwise, I'll feed you all breakfast tomorrow before you head back to the compound."

No one took him up on his offer and they said their good nights, before returning to the rental, leaving Bucky behind in his home.  He finished cleaning up from the meal, wiping down the counters.  Then he looked around with satisfaction, turned off the lights and went to the master bedroom.  After washing up and brushing his teeth, he changed into sweatpants and a T-shirt then slipped under the covers of his bed.  Turning off the bedside lamp, he lay in the dark, pleased that he had good friends willing to help him make this house a home.

Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak.

Bucky opened one eye.  With a grunt, he closed it and snuggled back into his pillow.

Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak.

"What the hell?" he muttered, sitting up, listening, then checking the time.  "What is that?"

The sound came again, and he got out of bed, using his enhanced hearing to trace its origin outside.  He followed the sound to a small ornamental windmill in the yard, that was spinning as a breeze had come up in the night. 

"I don't remember there being a windmill," he said aloud, going over to the lawn ornament.

A small section of it rubbed against the frame, producing the offending squeak sound as it turned in the breeze.  Using the strength in his hand, he bent the section back, so it was no longer making contact.  He stood there for several minutes, making sure, before he made his way back to the house.  Getting back into bed, he breathed deeply several times, then closed his eyes.

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

"What now?" he said, sitting up in the bed.  He checked his phone for the time.  "One hour.  One fucking hour."

Scratching his head, he shifted so he was sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for the sound.  It didn't come but he was awake now and with a sigh, he went into the kitchen, got himself a drink of water and sat in the semi-dark of the living room, lit only by the light of the full moon that leaked in from the cracks in the blinds.  After finishing his drink, he laid back on the couch, only to be awakened an hour later by the doorbell ringing.  Startled by it, he jumped up and unlocked the door, yanking it open, only to see no one there. 

"What the fuck?" he exclaimed, then opened the screen door and went out onto the porch, then onto the sidewalk, watching and listening for anyone who might have pressed it as a practical joke.  A practical joke.  "Alright, you guys.  Fun's over.  I'm going back to bed now."  He listened for the sound of laughter, or a suppressed giggle but there was nothing.  "I'm going back inside now.  Here I go, walking up my sidewalk to the house."

For a second, he thought he could hear something like a tiny sneeze, but there was nothing more and he stalked back inside, locking the door, then he looked out the window for several minutes before returning to the couch.  Damned if he was going to let his so-called friends spook him on his first night in the house.  Stubbornly, he sat there, his arms folded over his chest, and a scowl on his face, just waiting for the next sound.

His cell phone ringing in the bedroom woke Bucky up from his position on the couch, and he automatically raced there to answer it.  Sam's number was on the call display.

"Hey," said his friend.  "We're about ready to leave here.  Does that offer of breakfast still stand?"

Bucky blinked his eyes, then checked the time on the phone.  It was after 9 am.  He never slept that late.

"Bucky, is everything okay?"

"Um, yeah, come on over.  I slept in, that's all.  I'll unlock the door in case you get here while I'm still in the shower."

Bucky started up the coffee maker then headed for his shower.  After he finished and got dressed, he went to the kitchen, where Sam had already started making breakfast.  He turned as Bucky entered, then frowned when he saw his friend's face.

"Hey, what happened?" he asked.  "You look terrible."

"Do I?  I woke up several times during the night," replied Bucky, pouring himself a coffee.  "Just getting used to a new place, I guess."

Feeling better after he had more coffee, he made up some pancakes while Sam worked on the bacon and eggs.  Everyone ate their fill and helped clean up after.  Once again, Bucky thanked everyone for helping him out, then walked them to their vehicles for a final goodbye.  Finally, he was alone, and he stood in the middle of the living room.  There were several boxes of books and records that needed to be unpacked and shelved.  That didn't take long, and he unpacked the remaining few boxes of assorted bedding and other linens.  He made another trip to the grocery, buying essentials as well as enough to make some meals for a few days.  After some lunch he worked on setting up the double garage, large enough to hold his truck and motorcycle. 

Throughout the afternoon, several more neighbours walked by, curious to see the man who bought Old Mary's property.  A few came closer to say hi and introduce themselves.  All had heard of him and were either too polite to comment on his past or truly didn't care.  They were actually quite friendly, considering Bucky was a stranger.  Only one person brought up the rumour that the property was haunted but dismissed it as Mary not being very sociable.  They thought she spread the tale to avoid having company.

"Can I ask you a question?" Bucky looked hopefully at the guy.  "Do the kids around here do pranks ... like ring the doorbells at night?"

"No, most people have those video cameras on their doorbells," replied the man.  He leaned closer and lowered his voice.  "Anyone who rings it at night is recorded.  Ringing doorbells haven't been an issue for a while just because of that.  People around here take their privacy pretty seriously.  You have one on yours, don't you?"

Bucky shook his head.  The man showed him the brand information on his phone, texting it so that Bucky could get his own.  It was something to think about and he seriously considered picking one up but didn't get to it before the stores closed just after the dinner hour.  By the time Bucky went to bed, after a very quiet and pleasant evening spent reading and listening to music, it wasn't even a priority for the next day.  That's how relaxed he felt.  With several yawns, Bucky snuggled under the covers of his bed, ready to embrace sleep.

Only a few hours later a loud crack made Bucky sit upright in the bed.  It sounded like wood being broken and for a moment, he wondered if someone was trying to break into the garage to steal his motorcycle.  Leaping out of bed he went to the kitchen, looking out the window at the separate building but there was no one there.  The cracking sound happened again, making Bucky's head swivel in the direction of the distinctive noise.  It was coming from the pile of pruned branches still in his back yard.  Something was in the pile. 

With the sound of his own heartbeat pounding in his ear, Bucky grabbed a flashlight and opened the back door.  Quietly, he stepped onto the patio, then approached the debris pile, the sounds of cracking wood getting louder and louder.  Turning the flashlight on, he was startled by the reflection from two eyes, low to the ground.  Then the eyes looked elsewhere, and the light revealed a furry creature with a flat tail ... a beaver.

"Jesus Christ," sighed Bucky, then he laughed.  "Where the hell did you come from?"

The beaver ignored him, then succeeded in dragging a branch out of the pile.  Bucky watched it disappear into a wooded area at the back end of his property, remembering there was a pond about half a mile away.  That was a long way to go for wood.  He stood in his yard with the flashlight off, looking up at the night sky, pleased at how many stars were visible.  That was when he heard his doorbell ring again and he quickly crept around the side of his house peeking out towards the front door.  There was no one there.  The porch was empty, as was the sidewalk and the street, as far as he could see in either direction.  Who was ringing his doorbell in the middle of the night?

Returning to the back door he went inside, locking up and leaving the flashlight on the counter.  Was his house haunted?  Almost at once, he discounted that.  He didn't believe in ghosts or an afterlife.  Just like there was an explanation for the squeak sound last night and the wood cracking sound tonight, he was sure there was an explanation for the thumping sound and the doorbell ringing.  First thing after breakfast he would go to the hardware store and pick up a doorbell camera.  In the meantime, his bed was calling.  With a groan, he buried himself under the covers, closed his eyes and breathed deeply, hoping for sleep.

Something falling on the porch woke Bucky up and he leaped out of bed, rushing to the front door.  Unlocking it, he stumbled out onto the space, startled to see a gift basket on its side; its contents strewn over the porch.  Where did that come from?  It wasn't there last night, was it?  There was a card sticking out that he picked up and opened.

Welcome to the neighbourhood! 

We hope you enjoy this little offer of hospitality from your friendly Neighbourhood Watch Association.

Why it was delivered so early in the morning was beyond Bucky, but perhaps the people who delivered it were early risers.  It just seemed strange that an organization dedicated to keeping the neighbourhood safe would drop it off without any word.  Sighing, he kneeled down and put everything back into the basket, then picked it up and took it inside.  It was a standard gift basket of coffee, cookies, crackers, some different flavoured jellies in small jars, and a salami with teeth marks in it.  They weren't human teeth marks as they were too small but perhaps it was a wild animal, like a raccoon, or something.  The thought of Rocket trying to steal Bucky's gift basket suddenly filled his head and he chuckled.  Then, he became serious quickly.  If the night noises were because of a raccoon he needed to make sure it couldn't get into the house and set up a nest anywhere.  That meant checking the foundation, soffits, and vents for any access points.

"Guess I have my day cut out for me," he said to himself.  "Homeowner problems."

After installing the doorbell camera that he bought in the morning at the hardware store, Bucky checked the foundation for any sign of small animal entry but didn't find anything.  He went up a ladder next and checked the soffits and air vents, not finding any signs of animals trying to get in there either.  A neighbour stopped by while he was doing it and said there weren't many raccoons around.  

"There are squirrels and some feral cats," he said.  "Old Mary used to feed the cats.  Maybe they think she's back after being away for a while.  The county will lend you some traps if you want to take that route.  Of course, they'll go to the animal shelter and likely be put down."

That didn't appeal to Bucky, but he could stay up and monitor the front door.  It was no different than a stakeout and he had done enough of them in his life.  With the doorbell camera installed he could easily find out who the offending party was and go from there.  If it was a person, then he would have a face to look for.  If it was an animal, then he could set a trap.  Either way, he would find out who or what was interrupting his sleep and deal with it, once and for all.

By the time it got dark, Bucky was ready for what the night would bring.  He charged his phone and tested the app that would give him access to the doorbell camera.  Just in case it was a person doing this he went through his normal routine of watching some television before turning out the lights and going to his bedroom.  It would let them think that he didn't have a clue.  After a few minutes there, he turned out the lights and made his way to the kitchen, making himself some coffee in the dark.  With his mug in hand, he settled in the living room, sipping his coffee and waiting for the moment when the perpetrator rang his doorbell.  He waited, drank more coffee, and waited, and waited some more.  Feeling the need to go to the bathroom, he quickly went there.  Right in the middle of relieving himself the doorbell rang.

"Fuck," he swore, willing his bladder to empty faster.

Zipping up he went to the window closest to the door, but the front porch was empty.  There was no one there and from what he could see of the street it was quiet.  Silently fuming, he picked his phone up and brought up the footage from the last 10 minutes.  Carefully, he watched it.  There was nothing visible to him, until suddenly something jumped from just out of frame and hit the doorbell button.

"What the hell?" he muttered, replaying it.

The screen on his phone was too small to make out what it was so he turned his TV on and looked up on his phone how to transfer what he was seeing on that onto the TV screen.  Over and over, he watched the scene, not quite believing what he was seeing.  It defied belief, really, that it was even possible.  At least now, he could plan on how to deal with it.  In the meantime, there was one thing he could do and all it would cost him was a bit of food.

That night, he set the trap, with some cat food and waited for the sound of it being sprung to tell him he caught the cat that was jumping up to ring his doorbell.  Why it did that he didn't know but apparently it was something that some cats figured out and did because they could be little shits.  The cat, maybe a year old at most, was a little feral.  But once it realized that it couldn't hurt Bucky as he bathed it in flea wash, it settled down pretty well.  It was a she, a white furred thing with the prettiest blue eyes and an attitude that he suspected was caused by deafness because she sure ignored his words those first few days.  But Alpine, as he named her, settled in quite well and the two became quite friendly with each other.

Later that week, when the sun was low in the sky and sending a golden glow out over the abundant trees in the street, Bucky sat on his porch, taking in the ambience.  With Alpine on his lap, he listened to the sounds of life that reached him from much of the neighbourhood.  The laughter of children, as they played tag or hide n seek made him smile with some fond memories.  He could hear the sizzle of steaks or burgers on a barbecue grill from places where the residents were having a late supper.  The sound of television stations playing Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune reminded him his cable TV set up was the next day.  Then the old man who had stopped by on moving day to warn Bucky of Old Mary shuffled by, stopping again at the end of the driveway.  He peered at Bucky from under his straw fedora.

"You still here, young fella?" he asked.

Bucky smiled, knowing he was likely at least 20 years older than this guy.

"I'm still here, old timer," he replied.  "Join me for a lemonade or a beer?"

The old man considered it, then nodded and slowly walked towards where Bucky sat.  With a groan, he sat in the wooden deck chair that was assembled just that day.  Bucky raised the lemonade pitcher, but the old man shook his head.  Reaching into the cooler beside his chair, Bucky pulled out a beer and twisted off the cap, handing it to the old man.  He raised his own beer to the man, then waited for him to sip from his bottle before he drank from his own.  They both sighed after, looking out over the street, then the old man gestured to the cat.

"Feral?"

"Yup.  She was ringing my doorbell at night and trying to get in a window.  I think something was chasing her."

"Yup, that'll do it.  She's a pretty little thing.  Looks like she'll be a good companion to you."

The old man reached over and scratched Alpine behind the ear.  She actually allowed it, bursting out in a loud purr which made them both smile.

"It's a nice town," said Bucky.  "I think I'm going to like living here."

"The noises didn't scare you off?"

"No.  I figured out what was making them," he answered.  He looked at his gloved hand.  "I can handle myself."

"I know that," said the old man, who then extended his hand.  "Fred Harris.  Recognized you that first day.  You've had quite a life."

Bucky smiled.  "You could say that.  Now, I just want some peace and quiet."

Fred nodded his head, then sipped his beer.  "Don't we all?"  He was quiet for a bit then cleared his throat.  "You ever deal with werewolves in your line of work?"

That was a surprising thing to ask. 

"Why?"

A slow smile spread across Fred's face.  "Let's just say that we have a bit of a problem every full moon.  I figure with your background and expertise with a sniper rifle that you can be of service to the community.  It was likely a were wolf that was chasing your little kitty there.  She's probably the last one to survive.  He got to Mary, you know.  Finished her off in the back yard.  Very gruesome but she would go out at night and feed the feral cats."

Bucky looked at Fred in disbelief.  Then the old man drained his beer and stood up, before offering his hand to Bucky once more. 

"I best be getting home before Antiques Roadshow comes on.  You know, having you here has made everyone feel a lot safer.  I'm sure you'll fit right in, Bucky.  Welcome to Wolf Heights."

He tipped his hat and slowly walked back out to the street, returning in the direction he came from.  Bucky watched him, a growing sense of dismay filling his whole being.  Then he heard the sounds of kids being called in as the streetlights came on and something flipped on inside of him.  With a deep breath, he scratched Alpine behind the ear.  This town, these people, needed Bucky Barnes.  It's why they had been so friendly to him.  They were waiting for someone like him to move into the community.  He had vowed never to take another human life, but werewolves weren't human, not anymore.  With his skills, a rifle, and some silver bullets, he could protect the people in this town, his town now.  Yeah, this was home.

One Shots Masterlist

[iztarshi]

I think Phantom Tales of the Night has the most varied monsters I've seen in a manga. Not physically, but in the way they think, so that even the monsters themselves can struggle to understand one another.

Spoilers ahead, because figuring out how these monsters think and what they're doing and even which people are monsters is a lot of the manga's mystery.

You've got Butterfly, very young by monster standards and with his youth extended by his recurrent amnesia, who is born from a collection of lost human souls although he's not human himself. Even the older monsters trying to parent him don't really know what he is or what he should be so their attempts to guide him into "growing up" can hinder him as much as help.

Bone Monk is blunt and practical. He only wants to gather the bones of the dead and make them into pottery, which might seem morbid but seems genuinely to be born of compassion. As Owner puts it he gathers up the broken and discarded.

Spider used to be human and although he thinks differently after hundreds of years he's still human at base.

The Foxes are malicious and careless, gambling for humans in order to steal their skins and lives only to discard them when they get bored. But we also meet a Tanuki who takes the skin of a dead human out of compassion in order to raise her daughter instead of leaving the child an orphan, so Beasts are not always like that.

Sasaki, as a being who can regenerate from a single bone again and again into a half-skeletal man, is probably a true-born monster and was never human at all. But he thinks exactly like a human, and a compassionate and level-headed human at that, which leads to him trying to spend lifetimes among humans. He understands humans the way they'd understand each other, but always feels he's hiding a terrible secret.

Owner, as a formless creature of darkness, is revealed to have probably had good intentions in the end but his approach to problem solving is so alien that that "probably" remains. He only gave himself a face and identity so Sasaki (after one offer to be friends with him made as a tiny bone) would be able to find him again and it remains his nature to be ambiguous. The blurred line between monstrous curiosity, wanting to learn how humans act in circumstances he sets up including cruel ones, and strange ways of helping, which often include letting humans blame him if it would be easier than blaming other humans or themselves, always lingers.

[sol-consort]

Cyberpunk progress so far

I met the most drop-dead gorgeous npc in the history of npcs and did a photoshoot

I've only attended like 2 or 3 ceromones so far but

I've decided that this man will be my sugar baby from now on and the donation money is just his daily allowance, I'll keep giving him as much as the game allows me too, he's MY babygirl <3

Talking about money, I've collected a shitton from doing everything but the main quest progression, like 51k so far. Went back to pay my ripper and...

when I first started I thought it'd be cool not to have any cybernetics at all, like just a fully organic human and do badass shit. But when offered the choices of any amount of chromes I could afford when paying the doc, I couldn't resist the temptation

apparently, I'm the type of person who'd fully stuff themselves with cybernetics at the first given chance. I plan to go even higher.

I'm sure there is a correlation somewhere between living with chronic pain, a weak immune system, an uncooperative body, and general fatigue & fainting to becoming "synthetics ROCK fuck my fleshy mortal prison" type of person pipeline.

So now we know what my fate would be in cyberpunk, neat.

No game breaking glitches, but there have been funny moments every now and then. Like this npc who died in the "praise the sun" position. Or that one time I summoned my car and it fell out of the sky, upside down, onto the nearby parking spot. I tried to flip it over but I couldn't so I just gave up and walked the distance.

Walking in this game is genuinely super fun? You always find something new. Not necessarily a mission, but just general interesting things to see. Like that one time I saw a guy abusing his gf near my apartment and I beat him up, or that other time I was driving home and came across a police/gang shootout. The ads never disappoint, so global warming is in effect and still taking a massive toll on the planet, whole countries are flooded, and the media's reaction is to celebrate opening the first android sex club in Antarctica.

When the TV segment is something I've seen before, I just look at the ads!

Like this one ad about a whole mechanical unicorn oh my god fuck me that is the most cyberpunk thing ever. I was so excited and imagined riding it on the street instead of a motorcycle, does it also gollap like a horse? Is there a knight outfit I can wear? this is so fucking cool please let it be a real mount I can buy. I want my robot pony and I want it NOW!

And then.

I noticed the horn moving a little too... much.

:(

They weren't selling a robot horsie motorbike.

I was doing a mission and came across this view

I was genuinely shocked. What kind of sick individuals would tie a guy to the window and leave he starve to death? What a poor fella, what a horrible way to die. These goddamn gangs are so disgusting. Were they torturing him??

But then, when I went outside a second time, I recalled a very familiar window.

Oh.

This is the window where I killed some rando punk before going in.

They didn't do this to him.

I did.

I've also met the hottest woman alive, I want her, I NEED HER. When she yelled at me and called me bitch after her goon bonked my head, I swear my heart fluttered.

I took her money, of course I did! I would've taken a strand of her hair if only she'd allow it. Hell a used tissue would be welcomed as well.

But I didn't use the money, I just killed the guy instead :)

Because

It's HER money, It's a priceless souvenir. I'm keeping it with me at all times.

He called me princess, what a fucking creep.

I'm not paying for something I can steal I'm not an idiot

I want the extra xp

Jackie looked at me like a kicked puppy when I told him to sit down, that scum was as good as dead the second he started harrasing MY BROTHER.

And if you're wondering how my sniper build is going. HORRIBLY, that's how it's going. I'm like a captain with no ship, a spider with no prey, a tiger with no claws. I haven't found a single fucking sniper since I started and I'm lvl11 now. I've visited different shops multiple times and not one of them sells a sniper? I've been rocking with a pistol and it's super embarrassing. I feel like an action movie barely clothed woman side kick who's only given a pistol to carry in that dumb hands raised next to her head stance while the main coolguy protag has TWO rocket launchers on his shoulders with a big obnoxious grin.

Lastly, I figured out you can swim! That was a pleasant surprise. And it's not just empty water. There are kelp and algea growing in there. Haven't stumbled upon any fish yet, but the thrown trash and electronics in the water might be the answer to why.

I'm currently at the heist part of the main mission, I went back home and changed V's hairstyle, haircolour, and eyes for full immersion since it's undercover and all.