#extra damage but it didn't help either

[stupidsexpotflanders]

“Your loved ones have been used to lure you into Kronos's traps. Your fatal flaw is personal loyalty. You do not know when it is time to cut your losses. To save a friend you would sacrifice the world.”

This was said about Percy,but I feel like it fits Silena like a glove. I don't see her as much of someone who cares much about causes and principles - franky,I don't see her giving much of a fuck about the Titans and the Olympus downfall on itself.

According to TLO,Silena always acted in benefit of herself and loved ones. She became a spy because of Luke - she said he was nice,good-looking and promised her they would save lives - most likely,her loved ones. When it comes to Aphrodite and the Olympus,there was no care for them - whether positive or negative - when Silena decided to be the spy. The opposite of love isn't hatred,but indifference. Therefore,I can easily see Silena choosing the Titans because it's either "the trustworthy nice and hot guy who takes care of youngsters" and "a camp with so many stupid feuds,besides a bunch of indifferent immortal childish men and women".

At some point,Silena didn't want to be the spy anymore. Maybe she thought the Olympians would be the lesser evil. Or she had many friends at CHB and didn't feel like risking them more than she did. There's even a chance that Aphrodite managed to intervene and change her daughter's mind. However,Silena was threatened into keeping her spy work - one of the threats was to "tell everyone". Therefore,Silena was a bit of a coward due to her prefering to risk peoples' lives than ruin her own reputation. Of course,this is a difficult choice,but doesn't paint her in a good light.

Silena Beauregard not only refused to participate in the "rite of passage",but she banished it. Therefore,it's pretty clear she values personal bonds and doesn't really like faking them for the lolz. Besides,she's clearly driven by emotions(an example of that is in TTC,when she wanted to "pulverize" the Huntresses of Artemis for saying that love is worthless. Therefore,Silena didn't have a gruge against her mother at that point). Those traits are why I think Silena was always driven by loyalty to some people. An example of that is the fact that her siblings were kept in relative safety - in TLO,the Aphrodite cabin was untouched. Another one is how Silena decided getting people killed was less important than losing friends. To top it all,it makes her delightfully hypocritical.

I've always liked Silena in the books,she managed to be a great mix of strong and weak,selfless and selfish,caring and callous,gentle and short-tempered,emotional and cold.

[thevoidstaredback]

How To Balance Your Daytime and Nighttime Activities So That You Don't Burn Yourself Out More Than You Already Have

Danny was waiting when Dick came home. "Welcome home, Dick."

He runned the back of his neck nervously, slipping the window closed behind him. "Hey, Danny."

There was a long moment of silence, Dick standing in front of the closed window and Danny sitting on the couch. Danny took a sip of the tea he was holding before setting the mug down on the coffee table with a click. "So," he leveled a small glare at the vigilante, "you gonna apologise to Tim?"

"Who?" Dick blinked.

"The kid you yelled at and then left standing in your apartment as you went out as Nightwing for exactly two hours, fifteen minutes, and twenty-two seconds longer than your new schedule allows."

He cringed back. "Listen, kid-"

"No, you're listening to me, so shut up and sit down." He did, dropping right to the floor. "I don't know what the hell happened between you and Batman, but you don't get to take it out on the people around you, especially not the kid that just trying to help."

"Dan-"

"What did I just say?" He sighed. "Look. I get it. You're grieving, both you and Batman are, but that doesn't excuse your behavior. It doesn't excuse Batman's behavior, either, so don't think that's what I'm saying."

Dick carefully pulled his domino mask off. "What do you want me to do?"

"Several things." Danny stood and walked into the bathroom, coming back a few seconds later with Dick's first aid kit. "First, though, you're gonna let me patch you up. Then, you're gonna use my phone and apologise to Tim. After that, you eat and go to bed; You have work in a few hours."

Knowing he wasn't going to be getting out of this, Dick started to take his suit off. He slipped his arms out of the sleeves and let Danny treat the bruises on his arms and hands. Not much damage that night. He'd only encountered a few petty crimes so it had been quiet.

Without another word shared between them, Danny left to put the first aid kit away before making a quick snack for Dick while he went to change. It'd only been about a week, but they'd fallen into an easy routine.

Dick was quick to change and eat, falling asleep nearly ten minutes after he laid down.

***

Danny made sure Dick was asleep before he left the apartment as Phantom. He'd learned, during his two weeks of not-stalking, that a some criminals hung back until Nightwing had turned in before they came out to play. Phantom was going out for an extra two hours each night to remedy this. Though, he made sure no one ever spotted him before or after he knocked people out. Invisibility was hand like that.

Sure, he didn't have all that much experience as a vigilante, but he'd been traveling for four weeks before stopping. The first lesson he learned was that he needed to learn fast. He was wasn't a genius like the rest of his family, but he picked up on things really fast. Fighting had been one of those things. Though, the lessons from his mom when he was a kid also helped a lot.

Staying invisible was easy, so was intangibility and flight. The three together made stealth easier than if he didn't have them. Though, he did make sure to practice his stealth without them, too. Being caught unawares or without his powers would be disastrous and he was going to do everything he could to mitigate the risk.

Blockbuster, Phantom had learned, was the reason Dick had stayed in Bludhaven. He was also the ringleader of the organised crime in the city. Apparently, he's the second of the Blockbuster name? The giant of a man had his hands everywhere; The Bludhaven Police, as well as the underbellies of New York, Metropolis, and Gotham. With eyes and ears everywhere, not a lot got passed him, which is likely why Nightwing was having trouble getting the crime rates down. So, Danny Phantom was going to help.

He'd heard the name Oracle from both Nightwing and Blockbuster's goons, so Phantom assumed whoever that was was on his side. Unluckily, though, they were now a target. He just needed to get a hold of them without letting them find him.

Phantom had heard the information from several goons since he'd started going out, but he didn't know if Nightwing knew or not. Though, he didn't know how to pass on the information. How could he tell Dick what he knows without letting slip that he'd been going out? Dick would call him a hypocrite and would fall back into his passively suicidal schedule. Danny's not a hypocrite! He just runs on a separate schedule. A schedule that Dick might not like, but one that works for Danny.

The intel Phantom was working with tonight was about some of Dick's coworkers. He knew the corruption in the Bludhaven and Gotham City Police Departments ran thick and deep, so he wasn't really surprised to find out that Detective Soames and Chief Redhorn ran with the less than pleasant people that made their homes and bases in Bludhaven.

Dick knew this, too, which is why he became an officer in the first place.

According to the goons Phantom had spied on, Detective Soames was involved in a drug ring that was doing deliveries tonight. It was timed to be after Nightwing had turned in for the night so that he wouldn't be able to bust it. It was a smart move on the ringleader's part, to have his goons out only after Nightwing was done for the night.

That was the next thing he was going to have to work on with Nightwing. He couldn't have a discernible pattern without someone with him to cover. Honestly, Batman should know better, too. Maybe he'll pass it on to Tim?

While on the road, Danny had learned that his powers were still developing. One of which was a kind of sixth sense. It worked somewhere between hearing and a spider's ability to feel vibrations in the air and webs. He didn't know is reach on it yet, but he was able to cover half of Bludhaven from where the ability currently sat, so he was going to work with that limit for now.

The warehouse he was staking out was where he'd heard goons talk about for nearly a week. They had been careless, assuming that there was no one out to catch them, but it worked in Phantom's favor. It was mostly empty, save for a few homeless squatters looking for some shelter, and was otherwise undisturbed.

Phantom didn't believe it for a second.

He was also going to laugh in Tim's face if the goons in Bludhaven were smarter than the goons in Gotham.

Right on time, just as the clock turned over into the Witching Hour, the homeless people sheltered in the warehouse stood up and met in the center of the building. Together, and armed, they waited for exactly five minutes. Then, the back doors to the building opened and Detective Soames walsted in.

"Gentlemen," the detective greeted with a sneer, "Lady. Do you have what I came here for?"

"Do we look like idiots?" the lady of the group scoffed, "Of course we have it."

"Well, I don't see it," Soames frowned, "Where is it?"

The dirty blond to the woman's right was the next to speak. "Hidden in the walls."

Soames' frown deepened into a scowl. "The hell is it in there for?"

The only other person of the group, a brown haired man, said, "There's rumors goin' 'round about a Spook. Comes out when Nightwing turns in."

Well, well, well. Looks like Phantom's gaining a reputation.

"You believe in ghost stories now?" Detective Soames sneered, "Get my delivery, now."

The three scuttled off the the wall just under where Phantom was hiding in the rafters. He timed ten minutes before they walked back upto Soames with two bricks of cocaine each.

"You're short."

"This is the agreed upon amount." the lady argued.

Soames' expression twisted into something cruel. "Did I forget to tell you? Tsk. Shame." In a quick and fluid movement, he whipped a pistol from his inner pocket and shot the woman and then the blond. He picked up the bricks, tucking them under his arm before taking the last two from the brunet. "I cannot build an empire without a few casualties, right?"

The man gulped, eyeing the gun. "Y-yes, sir."

Soames hummed. "The sands of Egypt were dyed red with blood. The roads of Rome are the same." He turned away from the man. "Twelve bricks in two weeks. You'll have a location shortly."

Phantom watched the detective leave with a frown. So that was the deal, huh? He didn't know too much about Bludhaven's criminals yet, but he was fairly certain that a man like Blockbuster won't like someone trying this shit under his nose.

He was quick to leave the warehouse after that, doing a quick loop of the city - focused mostly on Sin Central and The Spine - before flying back to Dick's apartment. He wrote down everything from the night, complete with drawings of everyone of note that he saw. He'd pass it to Nightwing as soon as he needed to. For now, though, it remained his cases alone.

Part 8 Part 10

[bet-on-me-13]

Unknown, the Wandering Hero

So! We all know the typical Vivisection AU, right? Danny is revealed to his parents and they take it in all the wrong ways. They capture him, Vivisect him, and eventually he manages to escape with the help of his friends.

But what about his Rouges?

Sure, we all like to think of some of the more friendly ones like Ember, or Sydney, or Johnny 13 and Kitty, but he has WAY more Evil Rouges than good ones.

Without Danny there to reign them in, the Rouges spread out across the world to fulfill their obsessions, unhampered by the Heroes and Villains of the world that have no means to fight them.

And Danny? He feels responsible. He was the one to open the Gate, he was the Sacrifice, the one to let them through. And when the going got tough he just up and left? No, that won't do.

His Obsession is Protection for a reason, and nothing has changed. All he needs to do is expand his area of focus a little.

Danny, after healing up, starts wandering the world in search of the Ghosts who have escaped into the Mortal Realm. He battles all of his old foes, as well as many new ones who he hadn't met before.

His travels take him far and wide.

He defeats Skulker in Metropolis, as he is trying to hunt down the Super Family for their pelts. They are the last of their race after all, so he is inclined to try and hunt them. Honestly dealing with Skulker was easy, dealing with the Rich Asshole who was funding him was a nightmare.

He chases down Spectra in Gotham as she tries to feed on the misery of an entire City. (Thanks to @impyssadobsessions for the idea, this Prompt specifically). She is actually a very tough fight, especially powered by both the Misery of an Entire City as well as his Own Misery, but he manages.

He defeats Technus is Central City, as he tries to Raid Star Labs for their advanced Tech. It actually took a while to beat him after he amped himself with all that Power, and he did need help from the Local Hero to deal with him. He's just thankful Technus is one of the more "Harmless" ones.

After every Victory, he sends them back to the Realms using the Banishing Spell that Sam taught him a while back (the only bit of magic he ever really managed to master).

He knows they'll eventually find their way back out, but it's all he can do anymore. It's his eternal Punishment for unleashing them out into the World in the first place. He was the Catalyst for this Situation, now he was tasked with Fixing it, no matter how long it took.

...

The Justice League is caught in a tricky situation a the moment.

In the past few months, they have been encountering more and more of these Extra Dimensional Beings known as Realms Ghosts across the World.

Justice League Dark has had some success in battling them, but even they are getting tired of having to deal with every single incident alone.

They did get approached by a Government Agency known as the Ghostly Investigation Ward that seemed to want to help, but it didn't take long to realize that their main Aim was to Genocide the entire Race. The JLA had quickly cut ties after realizing that, and took what little Tech and Information they had been able to gather.

Still, it wasn't easy to deal with these Entities.

Thankfully, they have had some outside help. An Unknown Being has been routinely showing up whenever a Realms Ghost appears and defeating them, before using a (as described by Constantine) "Rudimentary Banishing Spell held together by willpower and luck" to send them back to their home Dimension. There's honestly no way it should be functional, but he did make it work either way.

They don't know much about this Unknown, aside from the fact that he seems to be the only one able to consistently damage the Realms Ghosts. His Powerset leads them to belive he may be from the same Dimension, or at least drawing his power from the same Source, but as he actively avoids the League and takes every opportunity to not talk to them, they know they aren't getting any answers any time soon.

Over the past few months, they had affectionately started referring to him as Unknown, creative they know, because they could never get his Real Name. Sure, some of the Realms Ghosts seemed to recognize him, but they always called him stuff like "Whelp" and "Punk" and "Usurper", which were not very good names to use when referring to him. Although the last one was a bit concerning.

They had only managed to trade a few quick words with Unknown in the past few months, but it was enough to get the Gist of it. He was just doing his job, sending the Realms Ghosts back where they belonged. There was apparently a Tear in Reality letting them through, but he seemed hesitant to reveal what he knew about it.

After a few months of sparse interactions, they eventually managed to convince him to at least take an Emergency Communicator. Just in case. They even let him take it apart to look for any Tracking Devices, which earned them a small bit of trust. They took whatever wins they could.

Fortunately, it seemed he never did need it. In fact he was getting more and more efficient with every battle, defeating his foes in half the time it would have taken before.

Unfortunately, it didn't last forever. One day, the Communicator went off, a distorted voice quickly saying, "Need backup, some of them decide to Team Up" before cutting out.

They quickly rushed to his location, finding an active battlefield with no less that a dozen Ghosts battling Unknown. And he seemed to be on the ropes.

With their arrival, the combined force of the Justice League and Unknown eventually managed to defeat the Group of Ghosts. Justice League Dark volunteered to work on the Banishing Spells while the others cleaned up the damage from the Battle.

One of them approached Unknown to make sure he was ok, and froze.

During the battle, Unknown's Mask had been Torn off, and they could finally see the face of the Hero they had been working with for the past few months.

And he was a Child.

[ckret2]

Chapter 28 of human Bill is determined to wiggle out of being the Mystery Shack's prisoner, featuring:

Bill eagerly accepts an invitation to Gravity Falls' LGBTQ club. He is not allowed to go unsupervised. Stan (whose masculinity isn't secure enough for this), Ford (who's still hanging out in the closet), and Soos (who's engaged) aren't quite sure what to do. Luckily, Wendy's been looking for an excuse to go.

####

Melody rushed up to the cash register and said breathlessly, "Hey Wendy—I know it's almost your break, but could you stay on register just a little longer? Two of the baby dragons escaped and Soos and I have to find them before the next tour."

Wendy looked at the customers milling about the gift shop. They'd all just gotten out of a tour and were looking over the available souvenirs, which meant in just a few minutes they'd all be lining up to check out. "Ooh, I dunno. I'm pretty hungry..."

"Please, Wendy? You can take an extended lunch!"

Was that worth handling one extra post-tour rush? "Wiiith p—?"

"With pay, you extortionist." There was no real resentment in Melody's voice. She'd worked register duty. She understood.

"Okay, deal."

"Wendy you're a lifesaver." Melody hurried to the curtains to the Mystery Shack museum.

"Hey," Wendy called, "which ones escaped?"

"Orochi and Ryuu."

"Aww, not Oro. That sweet guy will get eaten alive in the real world."

"Right?" Melody turned on her phone flashlight and returned to the hunt.

A deeply tanned tourist with sun-damaged wrinkles approached the cash register. She wasn't holding any souvenirs. Wendy said, "Hey, how can I help you?"

She looked straight in Wendy's eyes and said, "The sun sets a deep blood red."

Wendy stared at her. Why did this place attract the weirdest customers. "What?"

Very clearly, the tourist repeated, "The sun sets a deep blood red."

"Um. If that's some kind of reference, I don't get it."

The tourist let out that sharp little nose-sigh soccer moms made when Wendy did things like refuse to take a coupon meant for a rival tourist trap, shook her head in disappointment, and left.

Wendy got the feeling she was going to regret staying on register.

Sure enough, within five minutes, the line started forming—and on top of that, Wendy discovered, the cash register drawer had jammed shut, preventing her from making change for the customers paying in cash. She was in the middle of explaining to the fourth increasingly irate child-toting customer that he either had to pay by card or in exact change, when two more customers came in the door and made a beeline for the register.

"Wendy Corduroy?"

"Hey," Wendy said tersely, stuffing a customer's t-shirts in a bag. "There's a line."

"We're not shopping, Miss Corduroy."

Wendy turned to face Sheriff Blubs, with Deputy Durland standing close behind him. The scratch cards. Her fake ID. She was going to jail. Dad was gonna find out about her tattoo. "Oh."

Durland said, "Could we ask you some questions?"

"Uhh..." She looked at the cops, and then at the growing line of customers. "Can I... grab someone to cover?"

####

Bill had been sitting at the kitchen table looking at the doorway, waiting for Wendy to appear for several minutes, when he heard her muttering, "Shoot, shoot, shoot..." from the living room. Here she came.

"Hey, Cool Girl. What's the hurry?"

"Goldie!" Wendy turned toward the kitchen. "Have you seen Dipper or Mabel? The cops wanna talk to me—"

Bill's eyebrows shot up.

"—and the register is insane and I need someone to cover—"

"They're both out today," Bill said. Mabel was over at Pacifica's alpaca ranch to help out for the day—but Bill had the sinking suspicion she'd asked to go help so she could avoid him. No clue where the other one had gone. "Sorry!"

Wendy groaned. Then looked at Bill. "Hey. Have you ever manned a cash register before?"

"Yes," Bill lied.

####

"Thank you so much," Wendy said, holding open the "Employees Only" door for someone Blubs and Durland didn't recognize: a woman with no makeup, no bra, and unshaven legs, wearing an eyepatch, a hideous Hawaiian shirt, shorts, and yellow foam clogs. Durland looked her up and down, elbowed Blubs, and muttered, "Hey Daryl. D'you think...?"

"Mm." He shrugged noncommittally.

The stranger took Wendy's place behind the register with an eager grin and called out, "Okay, let's keep the line moving!"

Wendy approached Blubs and Durland. "Thanks for that," she said. "So... what can I help you with?"

"Just a few questions about your weekend," Blubs said. "Where were you last Sunday?"

Wendy blinked in surprise. "On... Sunday?" She paused a moment, lips pursed as she thought back to the weekend. "I visited Shop Thrifty with some friends."

Blubs nodded, like this confirmed what he already knew. "And what were you doing there?"

"Shopping? I got some gift money I wanted to spend on cheap junk."

"What'd you get?"

Wendy furrowed her brows, but said, "Uh... some terrible horror movies, a doll that looks like a cross between a turtle and a teddy bear, and a clock made out of a hubcap?"

"So you didn't go near the men's clothing section?"

Wendy squinted. "Nooo?"

Blubs scribbled that down in his notepad. "About what time did you leave the store?"

"I dunno, probably like three or four?"

"Did you go back to the store later?"

"No? I went home and was there all night, you can ask my family," Wendy said. "What happened at Shop Thrifty?"

"A-ha!" Durland pointed over Blubs's shoulder. "How did you know something happened at Shop Thrifty?"

"Because you're cops and you're asking questions about it."

"Oh."

Blubs patted Durland's shoulder. "Keep trying, darlin'. You're becoming a better detective by the day." Durland beamed.

To Wendy, Blubs said, "But as it happens, we're investigating a burglary." He flipped through the pages of his notepad. "I don't suppose you saw any suspicious figures while you were shopping, did you? Perhaps hanging around... the men's section?" He pulled out a crime scene photo to show Wendy.

Wendy had to stare at the photo a moment to make sense of the empty clothing rack; and then she cracked up. "Did somebody steal every pair of pants in the store?"

"Every pair of men's jeans."

"Oh, man. No, I didn't see any pants burglars hanging around—"

Durland said, "We're calling the thief the Bootcut Bootlegger."

Wendy snorted. "But uh... I guess I'll call you if I see anyone lurking in a dark alley selling jeans?"

"We'd appreciate it," Blubs said. "And, could you tell us the names of the friends you went with. So we can ask them if they saw anything too."

Wendy, who was no snitch, said, "No."

Durland shook his head sadly. "Kids these days. They don't know anything about their own friends. Not even their names."

"Nope," Wendy said. "Is that all you needed, officers?"

"I got one more question," Durland said. He leaned a bit closer to Wendy and pointed at the stranger manning the cash register. "Who's that new gal? I didn't know the shack hired somebody."

"Oh, Goldie? We didn't exactly hire anyone, he's just staying at the shack a while—"

"Ha! 'He'! I knew it!" Durland smacked Blubs's shoulder. "I told ya! Didn't I tell ya?"

"Heh. You sure did."

Durland cupped his hands around his mouth. "Whooee, you at the register!"

"Sorry, I can't make exact change, so I'll do you a favor: just round it to—"  Goldie blinked and turned toward the heckling cop. "Yello?"

"You're queerer'n a three-dollar bill, aren't you?" Durland called. Wendy cringed and quickly pulled out her phone to shield herself from the scene of public humiliation.

Totally unperturbed, Goldie replied, "I'm probably the queerest bill you've ever met! Why?"

Soos wearily trudged through the curtains from the Mystery Shack's museum. "Hey, Wendy. We found Ryuu, but we still can't find..." His gaze fell on Goldie and his voice died. "Wendy? What's he doing—"

Durland walked past the line of customers to lean on the counter in front of Goldie. "Hey, how long are you in town? You oughta come to a Rainbow Club meeting!"

"It's the local LGBTQ support and social group," Blubs explained. "We meet weekly at Town Hall. We're actually meeting this evening at seven!"

"We haven't had any new members in ages," Durland said. "Please say you'll come. We're so bored!"

The more they spoke, the more a grin spread across Goldie's face. "Gentlemen, you had me at 'rainbow.' I'd be thrilled to come! My schedule's free! I've been spending all my evenings cooped up in the shack because I don't know anybody in town." He slowly turned his grin toward Soos, who was watching in slack-jawed horror. "But hey, it's not like I'm locked up in here—right, officers?"

####

When the last customers trickled out and Wendy returned to the cash register, Goldie flashed her a quick smile. "Hey, Cool Girl." He nodded toward the Museum. "I saw Questiony tug you aside, are you in trouble?"

"Nah, not really. I guess he's just bothered I grabbed a non-employee to sub instead of getting him or Melody."

"I won't call the labor board if he doesn't." Goldie handed a wad of bills to Wendy. "Here."

"Thanks." Wendy looked around for somewhere to stow it until they could get the cash register drawer unstuck. "Hey, how'd you handle the customers paying in cash?"

"Told 'em I'd give them a discount for the inconvenience: if they were willing to round up to the nearest dollar from the sticker price, we'd eat the rest of the sales tax so they didn't have to fish for loose change. Everyone was thrilled."

Wendy processed that. "Oregon doesn't have a sales tax."

"Sure, but how many out-of-state tourists in a hurry remember that?"

"Ha! You went to work for the wrong twin, Stan would've loved having you in the shack."

"The Pines just don't appreciate what I bring to the table," Goldie lamented, swooping around the counter. He walked up to the "Employees Only" door, stopped, surveyed it like he wasn't quite sure what to do with it, and then very casually made a right turn into the curtained entryway to the museum.

A minute later, Soos escorted him back, an arm around his shoulder. "Museum's closed, dude," he said sternly. "We're looking for an escaped baby dragon."

"'Baby dragon'?" Goldie echoed. "You mean a lizard with fake wings glued on its back?"

"I mean—we're not telling the tourists that, but yeah."

He pointed toward the cash register. "Like the one stuck in the cash drawer?"

There was a pause. Wendy dropped to her knees to peer at the crack at the top of the drawer. "Oro! Can you hear me, boy? Are you in there?" She heard something rustle. "Holy—Soos!"

Soos shoved Goldie into the living room and hurried over to help.

####

"Less than five minutes," Ford muttered. "He's unsupervised in a public space for less than five minutes, and he makes contact with local law enforcement and sets up a social engagement. This is why he's not allowed out of—" He pushed up his glasses to pinch the bridge of his nose, grumbling.

Ford, Stan, and Soos were seated around the living room table, discussing how to handle the situation. With the sheriff and deputy expecting Bill, they couldn't not let him go, lest the cops come by again to ask what had happened—and the odds that they'd be satisfied by an answer from anyone but "Goldie" were slim.

"This is what he's been waiting for," Ford went on. "He's been biding his time for an opportunity exactly like this."

Soos said, "I'm sorry, Dr. Pines. It happened so fast! I wanted to go all, 'No, you can't go,' but then the cops would have gone, 'Why not?' and I didn't know how to not say he's our prisoner—"

"It's not your fault, Soos," Ford sighed. "It's not even Wendy's. She doesn't know how risky it is just to let him talk to the public."

"So, what do we do now?" Stan asked.

Soos said, "Maybe make him an 'I bite tourists' shirt?"

Ford said, "I suppose... we let him go. And one of us will have to supervise him."

Stan asked, "At the gay club?"

"At the gay club."

Stan, Ford, and Soos—two of whom had grown up in a time when "gay" was one of the worst things a person could be accused of being, and one of whom came from a very Catholic family—eyed each other uncomfortably.

From the doorway, Bill called, "Can I choose? I'm trying to decide who'd be funniest."

Without looking at him, Ford snapped, "Go away, Bill."

"Fine. I'll be upstairs." They listened for Bill's footsteps to recede up the stairs.

Stan spoke first. "Not it. No way. Absolutely not. What would the ladies think!"

Wryly, Ford said, "I doubt any ladies you might meet there would have been interested anyway."

"Well, what would the guys think! What if someone flirts with me, would I have to flirt back to maintain my cover? I'm not that good an actor. It's not gonna be me." He crossed his arms in finality, then looked at Ford expectantly.

Ford hesitated, then shook his head. "Not me." Stan cocked a brow, but when Ford didn't say anything else, he just glanced at Soos.

"Uhh." Soos tapped his fingers together. "I guess I might be kinda sorta willing? I mean, I wouldn't really mind? But, the thing is, I'm engaged, to a woman, and like, Melody would understand if I explain it's just to keep an eye on Bill. But what if people think me 'coming out' right before the wedding is because I'm cheating or—or dissatisfied or something?" His eyes lit up. "Hey, maybe Melody could come too! We could pretend to be bi. It could be like a date! Would that be weird? Two straight people at the queer club on a date pretending to be bi? It—it feels weird." His eyes un-lit up. "I think that's probably weird. It seems disrespectful. Yeah, no, maybe I shouldn't do that—?"

"Are you guys talking about Rainbow Club?"

The trio started and glanced toward the door to the gift shop, where Wendy was leaning in.

Soos said, "Yeeeah, haha, it's kinda awkward, but, Goldie wants to go, but he can't go by himself... so somebody's gotta take him... it's this whole thing..."

"Oh? How come? It's not that far a walk if you cut past the old church."

"Uhh..." Soos looked at Stan and Ford for help.

After enjoying exactly three seconds of awkward silence, Bill called from the doorway, "I'm under a curse that makes it impossible to open doors!"

"Wow dude, sucks for you!"

"Haha, I know right!"

Ford stood, slammed a hand on the table, and pointed at the doorway. "OUT!"

Bill raised his hands, rolled his eye, and left.

"So, hey," Wendy said. "Rainbow Club's for 16-year-olds and up, and I've... kinda been trying to work up the nerve to go for a while, actually. Just to, you know, explore... options?" She shrugged, grimacing self-consciously. "Maybe this is my excuse. So, if you need someone to open doors for Goldie, I could go?"

Stan, Ford, and Soos looked at Wendy with the blank surprise of two men raised in the sixties and one man raised Catholic who sometimes forgot that the categories of "queer people" and "people they knew" might overlap. Then Ford said, "You're not walking there with him."

"I can drive you," Soos said. "I'll just wait outside in the pickup. It's cool, I've got a lot of comics to catch up on."

"I don't know if it's safe letting him walk openly from the truck into Town Hall," Stan said. "Wendy, how do you feel about being handcuffed to him?"

Wendy stared at him. "What."

"That's not necessary," Ford said. "We can use the chain bracelets."

Wendy stared at him. "The what."

"Listen. Kid." Stan stood and put a hand on Wendy's shoulder. "I know we gave you the abridged version of Goldie's history, but lemme make this clear: this freak's on house arrest, and if you're going out with him, you're his ankle bracelet. Do not let him out of your sight. Don't even leave him alone in the restroom if there's a window big enough for him to squeeze through."

"I think his curse covers windows," Soos pointed out. Ford nodded.

"I don't wanna risk it."

"It's okay," Wendy said. "Treat him like a dangerous criminal. Got it. I've got crazy lumberjack ninja training, I can handle him."

Stan eyed her appraisingly, then nodded. "You're all right, kid." He clapped her shoulder and let go. "And if you're into girls, that's fine by me."

"Um," Wendy said. "Thanks? I'm actually not sure if... Thanks, Stan."

"All right. We've got a plan." He waved off Soos and Wendy. "Go have fun with the gays."

####

Wendy sat in the back seat of Soos's truck, staring at her phone, trying to figure out what excuse to give her dad for staying out late. She didn't think he'd mind her going to Rainbow Club—but it wasn't a conversation she was ready to have. Finally, she texted him that she was hanging out tonight with the Mystery Shack crew—which wasn't technically totally wrong—and put her phone away.

Goldie stared out the shotgun seat window as they drove past the sombrero-shaped Los Hermanos Brothers restaurant. "Hey. Can we get nachos?"

"You'll be late to your meeting, dude."

"Can we get nachos after the meeting?"

Wendy piped up, "I'd be cool with a taco run." Easier to tell her dad she'd been having dinner at the shack.

Soos considered that. "I don't see why not." He shrugged. "Gotta get them to-go, though."

"Yeah, fine," Goldie said, a tad irritably. He slouched down, kicking his feet up on the dashboard and crossing his ankles. "I'm not plotting anything nefarious in the restaurant, I just want nachos."

"Then sure, that's cool," Soos said. "Hey. Isn't it kinda... weird for you to eat nachos?"

Goldie turned to face Soos. "Weird how?"

"I mean. You know. Considering you're..."

"Considering I'm what?" Goldie grinned. "What about me would make it weird for me to eat triangular corn chips covered in yellow cheese? C'mon, Questiony. I wanna understand."

Soos glanced toward Wendy in the back seat, and then away. "Never mind," he mumbled. Goldie laughed.

Wendy wondered what on earth Goldie could possibly be that would make it weird for him to get nachos. After a moment of deliberation, she concluded the answer was probably "lactose intolerant." She cleared her throat. "Hey, thanks for giving us a ride, Soos." Even if it probably would've been faster to walk.

"Oh yeah, no problem dude," Soos said. "Hey—aren't you sixteen now? Are you gonna get your own car sometime soon? I don't mind giving you a ride. I'm just curious. Making conversation."

Wendy groaned. "No. I haven't got my license yet, and I don't want to. As soon as I can drive, I'll be useful. Dad's gonna ask me to drive the boys around, and I'll be the friend that gives everyone else rides, right? And being a taxi sounds like crap." She paused, remembering where she was sitting. "No offense, Soos."

"None taken."

"But it's starting to stress me out. My dad keeps asking when I wanna start driver's ed. And I've started having stress nightmares about needing a car in an emergency and not having one? And then Gideon's dad swoops into the dream to offer a Reasonably-Priced Discount Used Car?"

Soos laughed. "Oh man, like all those commercials he's been running on the local stations? 'There's no need to barter—'"

Goldie and Wendy both completed the line, "'—you can drive for a quarter.'"

Wendy groaned louder. "All those annoying Gleeful Auto jingles are seeping into my dreams. How does that even make sense! I don't understand the economy, how do you sell a car for a twenty-five cent down payment and make a profit off of it? What if the customer just doesn't pay the rest?"

Thoughtfully, Soos said, "I think it has to do with interest."

"Well, I'm not interested. Especially when I'm asleep."

"I think Mabel's got a pile of books on controlling your dreams right now," Goldie said. "You could ask her about them."

"Do any of those books teach you how to install dream ad block?"

Goldie laughed. "It can't hurt to check!"

####

"Easy, there," Stan said, watching from his armchair with a can of cider as Ford paced in the entryway, back and forth past the living room. "You're gonna wear a hole in the floorboards."

Ford did not stop pacing. "I should have gone with them," he said. "What does it matter that I didn't want to. Somebody who understands what Bill really is should be in that meeting with him."

"Come on. As long as he doesn't get an opportunity to escape, how much trouble can he really get in? What do you think he's gonna do, kill the sheriff with a folding chair?"

"I'm more worried about his opportunities to network. I don't want him making friends on the outside. That's more people he can manipulate."

"Okay, sure. But how could you stop it if you were there? What would you do, scold him every time he acts nice to somebody?"

A sigh. "I suppose you're right. I just... don't like not knowing what he's doing there."

Stan took a sip from his cider; swirled it a moment; and then cleared his throat. "Hey, Ford, uhh. You know what? Crazy thing, but—I was surprised you didn't volunteer to go to the gay thing? I mean..." He unnecessarily cleared his throat again. "Ever since high school, I always kinda thought you... I mean, I assumed... not in a bad way, mind, but I just sort of figured... Well, I must've assumed wrong. So. Sorry, I guess."

Ford had stopped pacing to look at Stan. He waited for him to finish stumbling through ellipses; and then, hands stuffed in his coat pockets, he said to his feet, "You didn't assume wrong."

Stan waited. "Uh-huh?" he said encouragingly.

Ford shuffled into the living room and took the chair next to Stan. "Truthfully... I can't tell you exactly what I am. When I should have been figuring that out, I was busy writing dissertations and hiding in the woods. Exploring scientific oddities instead of—well—exploring myself. And then thirty years away from Earth, and now that I've only been back among humans for a year... well—I've never figured myself out." He shrugged ruefully. "I can tell you more about eye-bats and gnomes than I could about my own... inclinations. But whatever I am, it's not heterosexual, I know that."

"Huh." Stan nodded slowly, trying to wrap his head around the idea that you could just not know. He could maybe imagine a girl not knowing—the inner workings of a woman's body were still pretty mysterious to him—but in his experience most guys had a compass between their legs that was magnetically attracted to point toward what they desired, whether they wanted it to or not. What was going on with Ford?

Looking firmly at the wall, Ford added, "For one thing, I think there's been too many aliens for me to be straight."

Stan snorted. "Aliens."

"Aliens."

"Well okay, Captain Cork—"

"Stanley, please." A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"Leave it to my brother to even find a way to be queer in a weird way." Stan grinned crookedly. "You know—when we were getting close to graduating, whenever we talked about treasure hunting and getting babes, somewhere in the back of my head, I was making peace with the fact that maybe you'd find a sailor instead. I was fine with it! I just wasn't expecting you to go for the kraken."

"Stan!" Ford laughed in surprise.

"What! Not your type? What does it for you, Dracula? The wolf man? Mothgar?

"I am not telling you what does it for me."

"Okay, okay, fine." Stan probably didn't wanna know, anyway. Aliens. Yeesh. But who was he to judge, he'd gone on a date with a spider lady. "Is that why you don't wanna go to that club meeting? You don't want to talk about the aliens?"

"Not exactly," Ford said. "Attending a support group for queer people would mean opening up about a private, unexplored... scary part of my own identity. With Bill in the room. Maybe I should go to some of those meetings—but not when he's there." His smile from a moment earlier was gone; his mouth was set in a grim line. "When I thought he was my friend, I—offered him far too much vulnerability that I shouldn't have. I'm not letting him have any more."

And a couple minutes ago, Ford had been beating himself up for not putting himself in that position just to keep an eye on Bill. Stan said, "And he's not gonna get more vulnerability outta you. You don't have to tell that freak anything." Rummaging through his brain for the most supportive brotherly words he could find, Stan added, "But—I'm glad you told me."

Ford nodded. "So am I."

####

When Wendy and Goldie walked into Town Hall's main assembly room, Blubs and Durland were standing at the front chatting. Durland immediately waved. "Hey! You made it! You too, Wendy?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, thought I'd check it out."

"The more, the merrier," Blubs said. He gestured for them to follow him to a door at the front of the room, to the left of the podium. "A larger group uses the meeting room, so we meet in the mayor's office."

The door to the mayor's office was clearly marked by the folding table with snacks across the hallway and a stand next to the door holding multiple flags—American, Oregonian, rainbow, trans, and "Take Back the Falls" battle flag. Wendy paused to puzzle over the eleven varieties of bread on the snack table; when she glanced at Goldie, he'd gingerly plucked up the battle flag by a corner to inspect it. There was supposed to be a ban on acknowledging Weirdmageddon, but Wendy supposed the mayor could get away with showing a little pride in his citizens' resistance movement. "Were you still in the shack during... all that?"

"Hm?"

"The big fight." Wendy lowered her voice, just in case the sheriff felt like enforcing the ban. "That's the flag we flew when we kicked the crap out of Bill's stupid pyramid butt."

"Oh. No. I was locked out of the shack," he said flatly. "Must have missed that." He let the flag drop. "I only remember the part where he kicked the shack halfway across the valley with its own leg."

Tyler Cutebiker waved from inside the office. "Wendy, hi! And a new person! Come in, come in! You're just in time. How's your dad?"

Wendy had been expecting that. "He's good, he's good. Y'know, busy."

"Uh-huh?"

"He's been swamped with work since he got the contract for the deathball arena. He's broken like eight axes, so, I think he's really happy."

"Oh, great!" Tyler beamed. "When we were deciding who to give the contract to supply lumber for the new facility, I thought, 'I know just the man to get it!' I'm so glad we could support our local lumber industry." He hesitated. "By the way, do you know if he ever... thinks about coming to a meeting? I've invited him a couple of times, maybe if you brought it up..."

"Listen. Tyler," Wendy said. "You're cool, but if my dad ever shows up at Rainbow Club, I'm never coming again."

"Okay, all right, that's fine, just thought I'd ask."

The mayor's desk had been pushed up against the office windows, and several folding chairs were set up in a tight circle that pressed to the walls. A couple extra chairs were quickly put out for Wendy and Goldie, and Goldie immediately claimed the seat on the mayor's right. All in all, there were less than a dozen attendees, and Wendy guessed she was the youngest one there by at least five years. One empty chair was left open hopefully by the door.

Once everyone was seated, Tyler said, "Okay, it looks like we've got a couple of new folks here today, so let's all go around the circle and introduce ourselves. Please share your names, your pronouns, and anything you want us to know about how you fit under our rainbow umbrella. There's no pressure, just whatever you feel comfortable with, this is a safe and supportive place for everybody. I'll go first: hi, I'm Tyler, and I use he/him pronouns!" He turned expectantly to his left.

Blubs said, "Hi, I'm Daryl, uhhh he/him, and I..." he turned to stare in Durland's eyes, "am in love."

Durland quickly said, "Hi, I'm Edwin, I'm a boy, and I'm in love too!" They grabbed each other's hands, giggling.

"Aww," Tyler cooed, "aren't you two sweet." He nodded toward the next chair.

"Hello. My name is Tad Strange, my pronouns are he/him, and I'm a cisgender heterosexual ally."

Seriously, Tyler said, "And we appreciate your support, Tad. And the snacks you bring every week."

Introductions continued around the circle. Wendy sorta knew a couple other faces, but didn't know anyone personally. The only other girls in the room were an intimidatingly beautiful woman whose gaze seemed to pass right over the awkward teen with unstyled hair and baggy flannel, and two little old ladies in a throuple with a little old man. 

The introduction spotlight finally landed on her. "Hey guys. I'm Wendy, she/her, and I'm, uh... questioning, I guess? Sorta?" She shrugged casually. "Yeah. Questioning."

Tyler said, "Since this is your first time—we keep things pretty casual, here, but I want to make sure this group supports everyone's needs. Do you think you could tell us a bit about what you're looking for in our little club?"

Wendy could feel every eye in the room boring into her. She fought the urge to shrink into her seat. You're sixteen. You're the cool girl. Act cool, girl. "Oh, nothing specific I guess. I'm just... exploring my options, you know. Exploring myself. Doing the self-discovery journey or whatever. So... I dunno what I'm looking for? I figure I'll know it when I find it."

Tyler nodded. "We've all been there," he said. "And I know I speak for us all when I say we're honored to be part of your journey."

And then, to Wendy's mortification, Tyler started clapping, and the rest of the group joined in. She smiled stiffly, feeling her youth even more intensely. What the heck, Tyler, you were supposed to be the cool adult. Wendy trusted you. Politics changed you.

To Wendy's gratitude, Goldie cut the awkward moment short by piping up before the last of the applause petered out. "Hiya! I'm 'Goldie,'" he put air quotes around his own name, "I've never cared what pronouns you people call me before and I'm not about to start now, and I do not have the patience for all the paperwork to figure out my sexuality so we'll just wonder together!"

Tyler laughed. "Oh, you're funny!" A couple other attendees chuckled.

"I'm just getting started!" Goldie blinked his unpatched eye. "Wink. Anyway, I'm here to meet new people and have some fun!" He turned an intense smile on Tyler. "So tell me, mayor—where do the people in your fine town go to party?"

####

By the end of the meeting, Goldie had collected six phone numbers—"I'd give you mine, but I'm between phones right now, long story"—and four loose commitments to do something somewhere sometime soonish. Wendy was simultaneously relieved to have some of the pressure taken off of her as the new person, slightly miffed that she hadn't gotten to know anybody, and resigned to the fact that as the only high schooler in the room they probably wouldn't have had much to say to her anyway.

As the club members milled around the snack table having bread, Goldie elbowed Wendy and muttered, "I can't believe they clapped for you but not for me. Is looking for a good time not a noble enough quest?"

"Pfft. Dude, are you jealous?"

"Insanely."

Thirty years in the ghost dimension must do weird things to someone's need for attention. "When I introduce you to my friends, I'll tell them all to clap for you."

"I appreciate it."

The club loosely migrated through the assembly hall and toward the front double door. Durland reached it first, opened it, and quickly closed it. Agitated, he said, "Daryl! They're out there again."

"Oh, no! Again?"

The group came to a stop. Tyler took over, cracked open the door, and tutted his tongue. Goldie curiously peered over his shoulder, and Wendy took that as permission to look too.

Standing on the sidewalk in front of Town Hall were a dozen tough-looking men dressed in leather, heavy denim, and sharp metal accessories. They filled the sidewalk, arms crossed or fists on hips, glowering toward the doors. Tyler muttered, "Oh, every time we have a meeting. I wish they'd knock this off."

"Who're they?" Wendy asked. "Homophobes?"

"Oh! No no, nothing like that," Tyler said. "That's the weekly ex-convict rehabilitation support group—they use the bigger meeting room. They're actually a very open-minded bunch."

"That's right," shouted the tallest of the group, a muscular bearded man. He pointed at a leather pride patch pinned to his vest over his heart. "Love is love! We support queer rights, trans rights, uh... women's rights? What else."

"Immigrant rights?" a man with a gray ponytail suggested.

"Immigrant rights, that's a good one. And... any other rights, too! Except pig rights."

Another man shouted, "No cops at pride!"

The Rainbow Club turned to look at Blubs and Durland.

They heaved sighs. Durland said, "We'll go out the back."

The group out front visibly relaxed when the Rainbow Club came out without the sheriff and deputy. The bearded leatherman focused on Tyler as he passed. "Ty."

Tyler started. "Oh! Hiii, Ghost." His cheeks went bright red. "W-we missed you at Rainbow Club this week, again. Any thoughts about coming across the hall from time to time?"

"Those cops still showing up?"

"Well, yes."

The leatherman—who Wendy recognized now as Ghost-Eyes—shook his head. "Pass. But we can catch up next time you're at Skull Fracture."

"Oh—okay, sure. I'll see you there sometime."

"I'll buy you a drink," Ghost-Eyes said. "I like your new boots, by the way."

Tyler went red from his hairline down to his shirt collar. "I—well—you too, Ghost!" He quickly trotted off, giggling to himself. Wendy watched him go, then glanced over Ghost-Eyes—tall, broad-shouldered, auburn-haired, bushy-bearded, and as muscular as a bull on steroids—and noted wryly that Tyler had a type.

A high voice from approximately ankle height said, "Oh, hi Wendy!"

She looked down. "Gideon," she said. "Wow! ... Hi."

"Imagine running into you here! I feel like it's been forever! How're your folks doing?"

"Oh, great, great. Uh, yours?"

"We're all fantastic, thanks for askin'. I haven't seen you 'round here before, this your first time attending?"

Ah, great. Of all the people to find out Wendy was trying to sort out her identity. "Yep. Just checking it out. How's... the ex-con support group?"

"Oh it's just wonderful! Highlight of my week, honestly. It's good to talk to people who have gone through the same struggles as you."

"Aww," Ghost-Eyes said. "You're the highlight of our week too, Li'l Gideon."

Gideon started. "Oh, where are my manners! Blathering on like this. Wendy, you remember my friends, right?" He gestured around him.

"Yeah—the Discount Auto Mart Warriors, right? You guys are still hanging out?"

Ghost-Eyes said, "Of course! We have a brotherhood forged in the fires of battle against a chaos god's tyranny. Also, the court requires us to do group therapy, so it's easy to hang out."

Gideon said, "And I'm sure all of you remember Wendy."

The Warriors nodded in recognition. Ghost-Eyes said, "Weren't you the one driving through the weirdness bubbles last year? To get that kid to his sister?"

Wendy looked up at Ghost-Eyes. "Yep. That was me. No hard feelings for the whole trying-to-break-your-arm thing, right?"

"Of course not! You were fighting the man. At that time, we were the man."

Gideon said, "Really a terrible error in judgment on my part, I can't apologize enough."

"Aw, come on," Ghost-Eyes said, "it wasn't all your fault. We were all out there, too."

"No no, I take full responsibility." Gideon reached up to pat Ghost-Eyes's knuckle. "You all trusted me to steer you true and I let you down."

Wendy felt a slight tug on her wrist—and only then realized that Goldie had been a little too quiet, a little too long. She looked in the direction her magic bracelet was tugging, and spotted him waiting just up the street, leaning against Soos's truck, hands pressed to the small of his back.

"It was cool to run into you guys again," Wendy lied, "but I've got friends waiting for me, so..."

"Oh, of course, of course," Gideon said. "Are you working at the Mystery Shack again this summer? Tell Mabel I said hello!"

Wendy flashed Gideon double finger guns. "I will not do that." She power-walked away from Gideon's fan club.

As she caught up with Goldie, she said, "Hey. Sorry for making you wait." She squinted. "You okay?"

Face tinted a deep angry red and wearing the most sour expression Wendy had ever seen, Goldie said, "Sure. Why wouldn't I be okay?"

"You don't look okay."

"I don't control what my face does." At Wendy's skeptical look, Goldie pointed toward the Discount Auto Mart Warriors. "I was—thinking over something ridiculous they said. About fighting a chaos god's tyranny."

"Oh, they helped fight Bill—"

"I know that," Goldie cut in. "It just seems... weird to call it that!"

Recovering cultist, Wendy reminded herself. "What would you call it?"

Goldie considered the question. "Fighting a chaos god's anarchy."

She'd been half worried that Goldie was about to start defending Bill. Instead, Wendy tried to puzzle out the specific differences between tyranny and anarchy, and why it mattered to him. "Huh."

"No rules, no laws, freedom from time and physics..."

That was starting to make sense. "I don't know what Weirdmageddon felt like in the mindscape, buuut everyone I knew was still experiencing a lot of physics. When we weren't being turned into statues or imprisoned in tapestries," Wendy said. "Maybe Bill and his minions had no rules and no laws; but when only the guys in charge can do whatever they want, and everyone else is either serving them or, like, getting hunted for sport? I'd call that tyranny."

Goldie's sour look deepened, but there was something thoughtful in his averted gaze now. Like he was searching for a retort he couldn't quite find. "Huh."

Soos rolled down the passenger window. "Hey, are you dudes ready for nachos?"

####

The gossip grapevine moved faster than Soos's truck. By the time he'd dropped off Wendy and brought himself and Bill home, Wendy had texted a quick summary of "Goldie's" anarchy comment to Mabel, who passed it on to Dipper, in case this was a red flag they needed to keep an eye on; and Dipper in turn had passed the info on to Ford.

Ford wondered if Bill really didn't believe he was a tyrant, or if he just didn't want to be seen as one.

When Soos and Bill came in, the first thing Bill did was snatch his hoodie off the coat rack and pull it on, like a snake that regretted shedding its skin and was desperate to slither back inside. Cheerfully, Soos said, "Hey, Dr. Pines!"

"Hello, Soos. Everything went well?"

"Yeah, no problem! We got nachos on the way back, hope that's okay. I left Bill in the truck. Without the keys."

"I almost died of heat stroke," Bill said.

Already headed toward bed, Soos said, "Don't lie, dude. I cracked a window for you."

"Okay, okay. I was fine."

Bill drifted into the kitchen to finish his nachos. Ford drifted after him, leaning in the doorway. Bill had pulled his hood up. He typically only did that when he was in a foul mood, but he'd seemed to be in high enough spirits as he bantered with Soos. Maybe he felt exposed after going into town without his "body" on. (Three decades ago, during the weeks when Ford had been wrestling with Bill for control over his sleep-deprived body, Bill had hidden a vicious little note in Ford's third journal where he mentioned taking off his "exoskeleton" to feed. Ford wondered if Bill saw this hoodie as a substitute exoskeleton.)

"Well?" Ford said. "How was it?"

Bill turned. The false eye on the hood stared blankly through Ford. "Excuse me?" Bill laughed. "Are we on friendly conversation terms now? You want to hear about my day? Or are you just hoping I'll slip up and confess something interesting."

If Bill didn't already know the answer, he wouldn't have bothered asking. "You can't blame me for trying." Wendy hadn't shared much. Ford hoped that if Bill didn't know what the humans had been saying behind his back, he might give away more about what he'd done at Rainbow Club. Talk of tyranny and anarchy was worrying.

Ford could feel the corners of his mouth turning down as Bill's half-seen smile widened. Bill said, "I thought you said you weren't playing games with me anymore." He turned to sit on his chair backwards, legs straddling the seat. "Okay, Stanford! I had a great time! The regulars welcomed the Cool Girl and me with open arms! Fresh air, unfiltered sunshine, an hour of conversation with a roomful of people who don't detest me, a snack table with eleven kinds of bread—"

Ford's grim determination veered sideways off the road. "Wait," he said. "Eleven breads?"

"Yes?"

"Why were— What else did they have? Condiments? Sandwich materials?"

"Forks, napkins, and water bottles. That's it."

"Forks?" Ford echoed. "Forks?"

"Forks."

"Why did they have eleven breads and forks?"

Bill threw up his hands in an exaggerated shrug. "So it's not just me! I looked at that table and thought, 'This seems lopsided,' but who am I, I don't know everything about humans! One grain product or another is just about the most stereotypically human food I can think of, so—"

"No, it wasn't just you, that's—I can confirm that's weird. Why did they do that?"

"I don't know!" Bill laughed. "I don't know, no one else questioned it so I didn't say anything! I wasn't about to out myself as the alien in the room! I just grabbed a Hawaiian roll and made small talk!"

Baffled, Ford ventured, "Maybe it's a... a gay culture thing I haven't heard about?"

"It's not one I've heard of," Bill said, with a tone that suggested if it was a gay thing, he ought to have heard of it. "Hey, the club's token straight guy is in charge of bringing snacks. Maybe he thinks it's a gay culture thing."

"Maybe." It was a somewhat reassuring thought, that perhaps the bizarre spread was somebody's misguided idea of support.

"Glad that mystery's solved," Bill said, as though to him a theory was as good as an explanation. "Oh, speaking of mysteries—thought you'd find this interesting—the mayor's desk is still haunted by bears." He said it as casually as though he were picking up a conversation from a week ago, not thirty-three years ago.

That wasn't a mystery Ford had ever thought he'd get any follow-up on. "Really? Still?" Ford instinctively tugged his journal out of his inner coat pocket and searched for a blank page. "How many?"

"Just two that I saw. I don't know that the third one wasn't roaming the halls, though. I'm not quite the spy I used to be!" He gestured down at his regrettably human body.

Ford waved off the not-exactly-an-apology. "Of course. The limitations of human sight and flesh. Which ones did you see?"

"One male, one female. The smaller female."

"I find it hard to believe the mother moved on without her children. She's probably around Town Hall somewhere."

"If I see her next week, I'll let you know."

"I'd appreciate that." He started taking notes. "Why would they still be there? I would have thought after the last election..."

"I know, so did I." Bill stood and crossed the room with his nacho tray to peer over Ford's shoulder as he lightly sketched out a desk and a couple of black bears lying atop and in front of it. (Ford hadn't seen the mayor's office in over thirty years, but he'd rough out the shape now and fill in the details once he got a look at the desk again, that was how he always did it. Bill had invisibly watched him fill countless journal pages like this.) "The desk was wider. Nacho?"

"Thanks." Ford absentmindedly took a nacho between his pinkie and sixth finger without putting his pen down, and corrected his sketch at he chewed.

"I've got two theories," Bill said. "One: the bears weren't haunting the desk because ol' Huckabone was using it, but because of something he put in it. A cursed talisman or something!"

"Mm. Mayor Befufftlefumpter didn't tend to mess with forces like that."

"Maybe he didn't know it was cursed. Most people can't see the bears. No one else at Rainbow Club acknowledged them."

"And if there is a talisman of some sort, why don't you already know about it?"

"Just because I can see everything doesn't mean I pay attention to everything," Bill said. "I'll snoop for one if you want! Anyway, theory two: they were here for Huckabone, but they don't know he's passed on, and they'll hang around either until they're reunited with his spirit or somebody dispels them. But I don't like that theory as much," he said thoughtfully, "it's not as satisfying. I prefer the intrigue of a good cursed talisman. Don't you?"

"I doubt that whether it's satisfying is relevant to whether it's likely..." Ford glanced toward Bill and almost jumped out of his skin when a wide white eye stared back at him. That stupid hood again. When had Bill gotten inches from Ford's shoulder? His skin crawled retroactively. "What are you doing?"

"Helping?" Bill ate another nacho and offered the paper tray to Ford again.

Ford stared at Bill, stared at his page full of bear ghost notes, then snapped his journal shut and shoved it in his coat pocket. He was an idiot. Ford stalked off toward the guest room. Remember who you're talking to. There might not have been any bears at all. There might not even have been bread.

Bill called after him, "Maybe you should come next week. I think you'd fit right in."

Ice ran through Ford's veins. What did he mean by that? It took a force of will to keep walking to the guest room rather than turn around and confront Bill again.

He shut the door, closed his eyes, and reminded himself: how Bill's eye had glowed stoplight red when he'd threatened to torture Ford's gniece and gnephew; how Bill had shrieked with laughter when he'd invaded Ford's brother's mind.

Ford had been distracted by talk of ghosts and talismans and, and—and bread. (Bread? Really?) Mysterious and mystical talk made it easy to leave those dark memories sleeping undisturbed.

And that scared Ford. Because he thought, for a normal person, it shouldn't have been possible to forget those things, much less easy.

You'd fit right in with my freaks.

He opened his journal, scratched out half his notes about the bear ghosts, and spent half a page untangling how Bill had lured him into a conversation...

And finally concluded that Bill hadn't done much luring at all. He'd just... talked.

He finished with a "DON'T TRUST HIM!!" and underlined it twice.

####

Well. If Bill and Ford were playing verbal games now, Bill had easily won that one.

He'd peppered in twice that he planned to attend Rainbow Club again next week, and Ford hadn't protested. Ford had even said he'd appreciate it. All that, and Bill hadn't had to reveal that he was busily making friends with the local mayor, sheriff, and deputy, or that he now knew where to find his own wayward one-time "sheriff."

All the same. As much as he appreciated getting a win, he wouldn't have minded going 2 out of 3. Bill had done most of the talking. (One of his most endearing flaws, he thought.) He kinda wondered what Ford thought about the bears haunting the desk. Ford had a tendency to overthink everything in such interesting ways.

Patience. This was the longest conversation he'd had with Ford in decades that hadn't consisted of pure, grim business. He was making progress. Maybe next week he could bring home a haunted bear talisman, see where that got him.

He wondered what Ford had thought of his birthday gift.

####

(Thanks for reading! This is probably the longest chapter we've had so far, but I didn't want to cut off before they even got to the club. If you enjoyed, I'd appreciate hearing what y'all think!)

[tarjapearce]

dancing to sexy latin pop or reggaeton music with miguel. he's got two left feet and slight rhythm but he's also very turned on by you 🤭

Another Pre-Soccer Family and how they keep flirting? Yes. 🤭

Couldn't help but imagine this with these songs 🤭

Even though the little outing after soccer game you had invited Miguel to was success, your wallet surely suffered some damage.

The man ate. He was kinda quiet mostly of the time, but surely enjoyed the food you had treated him with. You were just taking mental notes of what he liked and what not. The spicier the better, definitely a Horchata team man, and of course, a carne asada man. The conversation was sparse, but it was nice. You were as nervous as he was, didn't actually think that he would accept.

He loved meat. And once you finished you drove him home. He ended up 'telling' you about this upcoming party at Peter's to celebrate MJ's birthday.

"If you wanna come, though."

"Are you... inviting me?" You gave him a smug smile and he just cleared his throat and shrugged.

"I'm just telling you."

You pursed your lips, smile fading.

"Oh... okay. I might go. "

"Might?"

"Hmm." You parked outside his home, "Not sure if I can make it that day. But let me see what I can do"

-----

Miguel gave Peter's house entrance subtle glances here and there. He was busy with the food, Peter had asked him for the details of your date which, he plainly just shrugged off as a normal outing.

"Did you invite her to the party?" Jess spoke

"I told her about it." He frowned at the disappointment in Peter's and Jess, even Gabriel's face.

"Telling is not the same as inviting! It's the etiquette rule to invite someone, when you want to see them again that is. No wonder she looked kinda bummed out."

"Yo tampoco vendría si me lo dijeran así." (I wouldn't come either if I'd get told like that)

His deep red eyes glared at his brother's comment.

"Si viene, mínimo baila con ella." (If she shows up, the least you can do is to dance with her.)

"Okay, okay. Leave the guy alone. He hasn't dated someone in ages. But yeah, you're a dumbass. C'mon." He offered a beer, Miguel took a long swig of it.

------

He didn't had your phone and certainly approaching Jess was out of the equation. She'd tease him to no end before anything. Party had started two hours ago, and still no signs of you.

He rubbed his face, deep in thought on how he had possibly screwed it up as he nursed his Horchata glass in the kitchen. He was preparing an extra plate of food when your voice echoed through the entrance.

"I'm so sorry for the delay! Got too carried away picking a gift" You hugged MJ.

"You hungry?" Jessica spoke as your voices approached. His grip on the spoon tightened.

"Ah, don't worry. Kinda ate in my way back. Maybe later."

Your eyes met his. His jaw tightened and you just gave him a little smile and a wave before disappearing back with Jessica.

Awkward.

----

You had been dancing the last few songs in a row with Jessica and MJ, he just watched you from afar. You had rejected a couple of men that had asked you to dance.

"He keeps staring" Jessica mumbled and you shrugged.

"Can't do everything myself. Besides, correct me if I'm wrong, but he doesn't seem too keen in making an advance either"

"You kidding? He's been staring holes at the door waiting for you to come." MJ whispered at your ear.

"He's just... shy I guess?"

The music was a bit upbeat, the lights were down, you refreshed yourself before going back again at the dance floor. You saw him across the room, bored out of his mind, and taking swigs of his beer that was warm at this point.

He nearly choked as you approached him.

"Let's go"

You offered your hand and he looked away.

"No puedo bailar" (Can't dance)

"No te preocupes. Yo tampoco pero te enseño" (Don't worry, Me neither but I'll teach you.)

He took a last swig of his beer and stood. He didn't know if it was the alcohol or it was the whole thing that was about to happen that made his ears warmer. The beat changed into something more slow and mellow. A bachata.

You giggled as you stood before him.

"Now what?"

"We are supposed to get closer"

He crushed your heeled foot with his boots

"Sorry... fuck." He rubbed his neck awkwardly.

"Relax, it's fine. It happens alot."

One of your hands went around the small of his waist as he took your hand. Delicate and small snuggled against his calloused and big one.

His heart skipped a beat when you guided his other hand on your waist.

"Right"

"Bachata is easy. It's just swaying your hips left and right. It's the easiest dance" You stepped closer, and moved with the beat. He could feel your curves moving. His feet followed. Clumsy, step dances were enough to make you laugh. He frowned.

"Perdón, perdón. Ya, no me voy a reír" (Sorry sorry, Ok. I won't laugh)

"Suelta esas caderas, mano" (Let those hips go, man)

Your hands went to his hips, and moved them.

"One, two" Your hips swayed to accentuate the little whip move at the end of the second step. He gulped.

"Eso, Miguel!"

You clapped softly, he just chuckled.

"Now, just do that to the left and right and that's it."

"Really?" He took your hand in his again and placed the other one on your lower back.

"Yeah." Your lips stretched in a bashful smile.

For once you were glad the lights were down as you danced. You still could see him. And of course still could feel his feet crushing yours. People stared your way, but neither of you cared, too focused in teaching eachother things as you laughed out of nervousness.

The song changed, into something more Sultry, yet danceable.

That was definitely one of Gabriel's songs.

"I don't know how to dance this one, does the previous dance moves apply to this one too?"

His technicism in speaking was plain endearing to you. You giggled at his pouty face.

"Not really, but if you feel comfortable with-"

"Enséñame, pues." (Teach me, then)

That shut you giggle off. He smirked.

"Estás seguro?" (You sure?)

He shrugged and crossed his arms on his chest.

"We're already making a fool of ourselves, so..."

"Me gusta tu entusiasmo, Dracula" (I like your eagerness)

"Qué te digo, me gusta aprender." (What can I tell you. I like learning.).

You slapped his chest playfully then took his hand and guided him to a wall, like many other people around. His hands were on your waist again, and this time yours rested on his neck. The lyrics of the second song only added a little sizzle to the mood.

Imagínate en mi cuarto

Comiéndote a besos

Your body swayed, it took a little for him to get your rhythm. And it was almost intoxicating for him, borderline overwhelming. The closeness of your bodies didn't help, the lyrics of the song only made his eyes to stop at you lips, Your fingers had ended up entwined, and certainly that little red dress you wore didn't help the upcoming override in his system. The song was over, but it didn't matter.

One of your hands caressed his nape and he shuddered, you bit your lip, he inched closer to your face. Nails raking softly the exposed part of his skin underneath his neck, his breath fanned over your lips. But one finger stopped him, said finger separated your lips from his.

"Nuh uh. No me invitaste, recuerdas? " (You didn't invite me, remember?)

With a smirk you separated your body from his. His eyes blinked, trying to process what was happening

"Thanks for the dance" You smiled oh so sweetly before disappearing into the kitchen, leaving him there, a flustered mess. Mind was in 404 error.

Dios mío...

[thelibrarian1895]

Bruce is the restraining bolt

Let's say that Bruce "dies" again. Tim, of course, figures it's another temporary thing and bonus he doesn't need to risk another organ to prove it this time. That being said, Bruce isn't around to stop them now. Dick doesn't feel the need to be the dad this time since Bruce will be back. He's the big brother, the babysitter at best. Jason has never felt the need to step up into a parental role for any of his sibs before and he's not going to stop now. Cass won't kill, that is her line, beyond that, she's not anyone's parent either. Tim is one bad day away from being a supervillain, he seriously needs a vacation but at the same time he needs something that will keep him busy or he will get paranoid (thanks B for the trauma) and so he's not going to stop anyone, Duke doesn't have the experience to know when or if he should stop any of his sibs, steph and barbara are staying out of it as while they are family they consider themselves cousins at best no matter what B says, and no one is going to let Damian boss them around.

That being established, B is gone, Alfred is fretting but not inclined to stop anyone anyway, the kids decide that while the bat is away...

When Bruce returns, Alfred is just returning from a spa trip his beloved grandchildren insisted that he go on since he deserved a nice break and they even investigated to make sure the spa wasn't a scam or front! While Alfred was gone and Bruce was "dead", all Black Mask's warehouses had been mysteriously destroyed with large explosions that Bruce had previously forbidden because he was worried about collateral damage since some of those warehouses were sandwiched by other storage facilities and places where people squatted. (Steph and Jason, both very affronted because they are professionals B! And yes, there were also glitter bombs involved, it made the fire extra pretty with the different colors).

Furthermore, Lex Luthor is no longer the majority shareholder of his own company anymore, that would be Tim now, and all of Lex's employees are rejoicing since they're all getting a pay raise that brings them from the legal bare minimum to not just a living wage but twice that plus benefits even for those who aren't full timers (which is basically everyone, lex never wanted to get benefits for anyone). Lex is also being investigated for embezzling, money laundering, domestic and international terrorism, and the trafficking of minors (kon). Lex chose a very bad time to make Kon sad and Tim took that personally.

Bruce also discovered that Tim's childhood home, aka the drake's old place next door for the given value of next door, has been demolished and that whole area is now a botanical garden and registered wildlife sanctuary. (Damian with assistance and permission from Tim since technically the land was in Tim's name, Damian persuaded Poison Ivy to help while also monitoring to ensure she didn't slip in anything detrimental and also breaking up the exotic animal smuggling ring that B had been trying to keep from him to prevent this very thing. Tim, in the meantime, just happened to have a number of people on hand more than happy to work in a botanical garden/wildlife sanctuary and no, none of those people were ever formerly ninja who answered to Ra's before realizing that Red Robin was a far better employer, why would you ever think they were?)

And of course, the Joker is dead. None of his kids are fessing up to this. If pressed, they will cry, even Jason, and say that they thought Joker killed their dad and they wished it had been them because they missed him so much! (It was Dick and Barbara, Babs faked the paperwork for Dick to go in as an orderly, Dick, in disguise, gave the Joker altered medication via injection and made sure to get some air bubbles in for good measure, official COD was a totally natural brain aneurysm, so sad, no autopsy needed, burn the body)

Duke was a bit of a wild card and ended up hanging out with Selina, picking up a few extra skills, and using those skills to break into various mansions and apartments of the filthy rich to steal back stolen art and artifacts and return them to museums in their country of origin so they can be enjoyed by everyone (he watched indiana jones recently and the "it belongs in a museum" popped into his head a lot, he did wear a particular hat while he was committing his heists) It was nice potential step mother and step son bonding time

And finally, Cass causes Ra's Al Ghul to lose a particular appendage, one that the lazarus pit hasn't been able to grow back for him thanks to a little consultation with Constantine beforehand. She then went to hang out at Themyscira and got some very pretty bracelets.

Bruce is thinking very hard about just turning around. He takes a nap instead and then he lectures his beloved nutcases about personal safety, the law, respecting what is essentially dibs on certain super villains, and all the other boring stuff he's tried to impose on them over the years.

[taffycandyqt]

Please No

You can't sleep and seek company in your misery through your best friend. However he's not at home.

Masterlist

Request Rules

OH MY GOSH IM NOT DEAD! In all honesty I haven't been super motivated lately but I started this personal project a LOOOOOOONG time ago and felt I couldn't move on to other requests before I finished it. When I started this I felt really inspired to make it solely because I feel there is simply not enough Donatello fluff in this world, especially in 03' and 12' s case. So I hope you like it!

2012 Donnie x reader

Aged up, all characters are college/older adult age, depends on how you want to read it.

Fluff, slightly angst if you really want it to be there

Fem reader

Sleeping was always a struggle for you. Logically you knew you needed sleep, physically you felt tired, but mentally you just couldn't bring yourself to do it. Your body hated the idea and actually laying down and sleeping, so you went to the only person you KNEW would be up right now.

Casey Jones.

He was annoying when you first met him be he was chill enough that he grew on you pretty quickly. Not to mention that if it weren't for him you wouldn't have met your now boyfriend. You always enjoyed spending time with Donnie but trying to pin him down was hard especially since you didn't know where he lived. He didn't want you to meet his brothers just yet, says he wants time to adjust to your guys relationship before being teased. Which, fair. SO! To Casey's you went. You two usually met up at grueling times of the night so it was customary to clime up each other's fire escapes and practically break into the other person's house. You'd either scare each other awake or find the other sitting in their kitchen shoveling cereal into their mouth watching conspiracies on YouTube.

Tonight though, nothing. Like the dude up and vanished. You checked the kitchen and his room. You even went as far as to check the bathroom. THAT WAS HIS WHOLE APARTMENT! Did he have just as an abhorrent sleep schedule as you? Yes, but he never left the house to make it a strangers problem. So to ease your nerves you decided to call him, if that doesn't work, your gonna pray Donnie is awake enough to answer the phone.

One ring. Two ring. Third ring...

"This is THE Casey Jones." You breathed out a sigh of relief. He isn't kidnapped, dead, or lying in a ditch high of weed somewhere.

"Hey man, just dropped by your place, where you at?"

"Oooooh, one of those nights huh?"

"Isn't it always?"

"heh, I feel ya. Here I'll text you my location so we can chill." after that you heard talking from the other side of the phone. Someone that wasn't Casey. But before you could ask any questions Casey quickly responded to whatever it was that they said.

"SHUT UP! ILL KICK YOUR BUTT INTO NEXT WEEK, BUD!" ending with extra sass on the 'bud'.

That's when you got his text. Perfect!

---

Orrrr not. You swear you followed the directions exactly, so why are you standing in the middle of an alleyway being told to go forward when THERE IS NO FORWARD! Being the reasonable person you are you blamed it all on Casey and let him know of your little predicament.

And, 'wait there, just a sec was his reply.' You didn't think Casey would be the kind of person to plot someone else's demise. Not that he he hasn't caused someone else's demise, he just doesn't have the forethought to think ahead about it. However this whole, standing in an alley in New York at 2 am alone, is really starting to feel like a plot.

Once again, your nerves started rising. You looked around the old bricks, worn with water damage and scraping and covered in graffiti. The dark distorted your surroundings making it unclear if you were really alone in that alley or not. The stench of the trash bags shoved as close to the corners and walls as possible started to get to you. Your breathing got a little heavier. The ominous lighting from the street lamp didn't help either. Then a sound rose above the scampering feet of rats. You turn to see the man hole cover slowly scrap along the concrete as a large gloved hand shoved it away. The darkness of the alley clouded the figure and with the covering gone the hole left seemed like a endless pool of inky nothingness. You were stiff as a board and you could hear your heart thrashing in your ears. This is it. This is where you die and it's all Casey Jones's fault.

"Hey you did make it! Nice!"

Your threw a scrapped can square at his face.

"Ow!"

"CASEY! YOU SCARED ME!"

"Yo chill! I told you I was coming to get you!"

"YOU TOLD ME TO WAIT, I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THE FRICK YOU WERE DOING! GOSH CASEY! WHAT WERE YOU EVEN DOING DOWN THERE!?"

"Hehe, come on. I'll show you," he winked at you before gesturing you to enter into the manhole first.

"No."

"Oh come on! Don't you trust me?"

"NO! Also gross. I'm not going down there just for the heck of it Casey. I have never been curious what New Yorks sewer system looks like."

"It's not about the sewers! We just have to walk through the system to get to the place," he told you mildly annoyed.

"And your purposely being suspicious about 'the place', because?"

"Because that's a surprise,"

"Oh joy. I just love surprises at 2 in the freaking morning, in the sewers, wearing my pajamas," you snarked as you lowered yourself down the manhole scowling slightly.

Casey led you through the sewers keeping a brisk pace. You asked him about the voice you hear over the phone earlier and all he told you was that it was part of the surprise. To which you rolled your eyes.

"You seem pretty confident on where your walking," you remarked.

"Well I sure hope so!" he laughed to himself, "I've only been coming here since highschool."

Him saying that struck a possible idea of what his "surprise" could be. But you couldn't be sure.

You initially met Casey in college. Not that he went to collage, he just crashed a class that you shared with his friend. He called her red, talked about her a lot too. You didn't really know her outside of that one class. It felt strange to know so many details about someone you've never talked to. He did mention that she was Donnies first crush but Donnie never talked about her though so you didn't really care much for that detail.

You knew that Casey had known Donnie, his brothers, and "red" since high school. He told you about their adventures all the time. Sometimes it made you feel a little disconnected, especially since the only people you ever knew from the group were Donnie and Casey. But you tried not to let that feeling get to you. It would simply take time. Besides, even if you're newer and don't know the whole group, neither Donnie or Casey ever made you feel like you weren't a part.

The thing is though, is that Casey only mentioned highschool when talking about the turtles. So while it is a loose assumption, you had an idea of what he might be planning. Part of you really hoped it wasn't what you were thinking. The other part really REALLY wanted it to be what you thought. But the majority part was to tired to care and just wanted something to do.

After a short walk you noticed the sewer transition into an abandoned subway station. That's when you heard the sounds of videogames and people. The smell of pizza lingered in the air the closer you walked to the sound. Eventually you got to the part of the station where lights lit up the dark space.

When you got to the entrance, you saw two turtles playing videogames. Pizza boxes littered the floor, some of them containing pizza, some completely empty. You were a little stunned honestly. Donnie had a genuine reason for not introducing you to his family, you didn't want to cross that line. But at the same time, you really needed a brain rotting distraction. You hesitated. But when Casey gestured you to go first through the turnstile first, that hesitation crumbled. You just wanted some pizza, was that so wrong? I mean you were already here, might as well just commit. You and Casey passed through and neither of the brothers tired to look at you. The one in red acknowledge the sound by saying,

"Welcome back Case."

"What didja need to do that you left so fast brah?" Asked the orange one.

"My best bud needed A.M. pizza, so I figured here would be the best place for her to get some," Casey told them patting your back before taking his seat next to the orange brother and picking up an abandoned controller. You followed, feeling out of place, you sat beside him.

This got reds attention.

"I'm sorry, she?" He paused the game to look over at you.

"WHAT?! CASEY WHO THE HECK IS SHE?? YOU CAN'T JUST BRING RANDOM PEOPLE DOWN HERE!"

"Dude chill out! First of all, shes not random, she's y/n," reds eye twitched, "Secondly, it's no biggie, she already knows Donnie, she's no snitch."

You smacked Casey's arm and shook your head.

"Hey! your already here aren't you?" he whined at you.

"Wait, how do you already know Donnie?" orange finally spoke up.

"Yeah, who are you anyways?" red questioned you.

"I-um. Hi, I'm y/n" you stiffly introduced.

You felt very awkward about this whole situation.

"And you know Don, how?" red reiterated impatiently.

You decided to play dumb.

"What do you mean?"

"How do you know Donnie?! Oh my gosh are you dumb?!"

"No, I get what you asked, but in what way?"

"THE FRICK DO YOU MEAN 'IN WHAT WAY?' HOW DO YOU KNOW MY BROTHER?!"

You both went back and forth like that for a while. Little did you know that this was Casey's plan all along. He had talked to Donnie about introducing you the family but he always said it "wasn't the right time". You and Donnie had been dating for almost a year now and had known each other even longer. Yet his brothers had yet to know you even existed! Knowing you, you wouldn't push the issue because you didn't want to pressure your poor boyfriend. You were under the false pretence that he would come around eventually. The truth is, he wouldn't. And it wasn't because of his brothers teasing.

They would still tease him yes, but they've grown, they know the line. The real reason Donnie hadn't introduced you was because one; he wanted you to himself. And two, the biggest reason; he was embarrassed of where he lived. Yes his home was cleanly and all but it was still a sewer. It had taken a long time for him to begin to believe that you actually thought he was attractive and not some kind of monster. Living in the sewer though? What if that breaks your entire image of him? What if you think he really is some slimy gross sewer monster after? He couldn't bear the thought. After being with you for so long, he doesn't think he could live without you.

It took a lot of nagging but when Casey finally broke him and that was the explanation he gave? Casey was so done. So he took matters into his own hands. He waited for the opportunity to present itself and tonight was the night.

"Dudes!" orange interjected, "Chillll. Ever consider that maybe she won't say cuz we haven't introduced ourselves yet?? Hmmmmmmmmm?"

He chewed red out. Red just scoffed and rolled his eyes.

"Hi, I'm Mikey, and that grump is Raph," he told you, "He's been awake too long, he gets fussy without his nap."

You giggled at this, but before you could say anything back Raph had tackled Mikey to the floor. As they rustled you made a small laugh.

"What is going on in here so late?" you heard someone say from behind you. You turned to where it was coming from and saw the third brother you had yet to meet. Blue.

Before he could say anything to Raph or Mikey though, he made eye contact with you.

"Who are you?"

"This is my best bud y/n. Y/n, the fearless leader Leo," Casey introduced.

"Don't call me that Casey," he told him sternly. He walked over to you guys and took a seat in the other side of you.

"You know Case, if I wasn't half asleep I'd be way more upset about you bringing a stranger to the lair."

"She's not a stranger though, she's known Donnie for a while now. Besides we already got yelled at enough by Raph," Casey told him.

He humm and nodded in a 'that makes sense type' of way.

"So you've know Donnie for a while?" he asked.

You felt like could tell Leo just as much as you could tell Raph. Which was nothing. But you felt like Leo would be more receptive to a reasonable answer then Raph was.

"I'd tell you, but I'm not at liberty to say right now," you said.

"That's not suspicious at all," he teased.

"Hey!" you laughed at him and he laughed back.

Casey elbowed you and smiled proudly. He acted like he deserved a thank you for introducing you to your boyfriends family behind his back. All you did was elbow him in the ribs. That was he really deserved. You would be lying though if you said it wasn't an oddly fun situation.

That's when Raph had pinned Mikey and he started screaming.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY? I COULDN'T HEAR YOUR BEFORE?!" Raph yelled at him with this hands pushing Mikey's head to the floor.

"AAAAAAAAA!!" was all Mikey said him response.

Leo sighed next to you, "I guess I'll be taking care of that."

Before he could make a move though, you heard a familiar voice.

"What is going on out here?! I can't work with all this RACKET!" Donnie grumply shouted.

He stopped right in his tracks when he saw you though.

The only time you had seen Donnie that worked up was when an experiment failed or his brothers got on his nerves. Even then though, it was just venting after the fact, so you never witnessed the brunt of his frustrations. Safe to say you were a little startled, not put off or anything, just surprised mostly.

"Y- y- y- y Y/N?! What in Earth are you doing here?? At this hour? Here? I- ??" he was completely flabbergasted and udderly mortified.

He looked a mess, bags under his eyes, mask lazily pushed above his eyes, and not to mention yelling like an angry old man! Oh nononono. It was bad enough you were in his sewer home, there's no way you don't think his a monster now!

"Would you look at that, guess you did know Don after all," Raph said, head in hand while an elbow laid on Mikey's head.

You turned back to Raph, "Why would I lie about that?!"

This boy was unbelievable.

"Raph get off Mikey," Leo told him.

"Not until he says it!"

"Really Raph? I though you stopped doing that when we were teens."

Deciding that you needn't be involved in that conversation, you turned back to Donnie who had a horrified expression on his face.

"H- how long have you been down here?" he asked quietly.

"Not super long, Casey and I only got here like, a few minutes ago," you answered him.

Donnie took a deep breath, he looked like he was about to loose it. You didn't blame him honestly.

"You. Brought. Her. Here?!" he asked Casey. Clearly hanging by the thread of his last nerve.

"Yeah, s'not like you ever would have, so I took matters into my own hands. Besides she's my friend just as much as she's your girlfriend, I have a right to introduce her to my closest buds."

"Wait. Did you just say, girlfriend?" Mikey asked. Leo was helping him off the floor with a displeased Raph standing to the side. They all froze after Casey's statement and started at you and Donnie with wide eyes.

"JONES!" you both yelled at him in unison.

"What? They were gonna haft'a know eventually, I just got the awkward part out of the way for you," he shrugged and winked at you both.

You were gonna kill him. And by the looks of it Donnie and you were on the same page.

You pinched the bridge of your nose and let out a sigh.

"Okay, I think Donnie and I need to have a private conversation. When we're done we'll clear everything up with you all. Okay?"

"That sounds good," Leo nodded while everyone else complained.

You turned to Donnie signaling to lead the way to wherever you two could have some alone time. He seemed nervous and jittery, but led you none the less. He let you in first through a big sliding door that opened up into what seemed to be a garage. It had tables with tools and other electronic equipment strewn around. There were chemistry supplies as well along with some posters in the walls.

"So," Donnie started, fixing his gaze on the floor, "you wanted to talk?" He adjusted his mask to fit back over his eyes.

"Uh, yeah," you answered. Why was the air so thick all of a sudden? Donnie was so closed in on himself it was almost like he was afraid of you. Honestly, you wanted to ask him why Casey said he would never take you down here. But now wasn't the time for that.

"What do you want to do now? I know you wanted to introduce me on your own terms but now that that's not really a possibility. So where do you wanna go from here?" You asked.

You figured it would best to have a game plan before explaining everything to his brothers.

"I understan- Wait what?" He looked at you confused.

"Uuhhh, where do you want to go from here? Ya know, now that your brothers know?" You repeated yourself. Now you were confused.

"I. Wha. That's all you have to say?" Donnie said mouth agape, shocked.

"What? I mean, about this situation yeah? I mean, I am curious why Casey felt the need to do this but that's not really my first priority right now. Am- am I missing something here?" You asked him.

"I- I thought... I live in a sewer," he told you.

"You thought you lived in a sewer?" Your confusion increasing, "Like. You didn't know?"

"No! I know that! I just... you don't care?"

"Why would I care? I'm sorry," you put a hand to your forehead, "did you think I would judge you for your living conditions? Which are honestly pretty cush. Who do you take me fore Don?!"

"I! Well it's not that I thought you would judge me, it's just... I'm a mutant. Living in the sewers just- I don't know. The only things you think of living in the sewers are creepy gross monsters or rodents. On top of that it's the sewers! Most people find that pretty gross."

"Donnie. We've known each other for longer then a year. If I was disgusted by you, you would know by now," you spoke dryly.

"All this time I thought you just needed to get used to things. But you were just assuming the worst about me? What the heck Donnie?" You were hurt. You loved him so much, and he thought you would leave him because of where he lives? He really thought you were that judgemental?

"What?! No! I wasn't assuming the worst about you! I was just afraid you'd realize you deserve better than me!"

"BUT YOU'RE ALL I WANT!"

He stopped and looked at you, eyes wide.

"Really?"

"Yes! And I hate it when you talk like you're not deserving of love just because you're mutant."

"I just... I just don't see what you see in me," he admitted.

"Then stop assuming things and closing yourself off. Talk to your family, talk to your friends, talk to me. I never worry about whether or not you love me, you've seen me at my worst and never left my side. You're so scared of how I'll react to your worst you never even give me a chance to show you," you grabbed his hand and looked him in the eye.

"You don't get to decide how I feel or what I think, only I do."

"You're right, I'm sorry. Sorry for assuming things, things about you, and for taking so long to introduce you."

You kissed him on the cheek.

"Thank you," you smiled at him. Then pinched his neck and pulled him to you.

"Ow ow ow ow!"

"And never do that again," you let him go.

"Yes of course absolutely never again," he nodded and smiled at you. You smiled back and patted his chest.

"Now before we continue the conversation of how to approach your family, I feel like we should address the eavesdroppers in the room," you said pulling back the door all the way. It was already cracked open to allow the peepers better visuals for your conversation.

As it slid open you noticed Casey and the three brothers trying to run away from the door.

"What! Guys! What part of private conversation do you not understand?!" Donnie yelled at them.

"I told you guys you shouldn't have done that," Leo scolded them.

"YOU LITERALLY JOINED RIGHT AFTER SAYING THAT!" Raph pointed an accusatory finger at him, "AND FOR THE RECORD IT WAS MIKEY'S IDEA!" He yelled moving his pointing to the youngest.

"Wow dude, I thought we were in this together," Mikey put a hand on his chest hurt.

"Well in the end it doesn't matter cuz it already happened right?" Casey shrugged and took a seat on the couch again.

Out of everyone here you and Donnie were most ticked at Casey.

Both you and Donnie approached him from behind and grabbed one of his shoulders.

"W-what? Uhhh. You dudes need something? Eh heh..." he stuttered nervous. Only just now did he realize the hole he had dug for himself.

"Why don't we have a chat Casey," you smiled but it was less of a question and more of a statement.

"Privately," Donnie finished, no smile to be found.

You both were gonna have fun with this. Then Donnie could take you home and tuck you in. What a great boyfriend girlfriend bonding activity!

------------------------------------------------------------Listen y'all, I know Google maps don't work like this, but just for the sake of plot pretend like it does.

[cheezeybread]

I just finished finals and I need the twst boys to suffer. I need a oneshot with the first year squad needing to solve algebra, chemistry, Literature, etc. All the crap we've had to put up with in normal school I wanna subject them to it. Ace making fun of us for not understanding magic homework? Tough shit, now the bastard has to solve these functions and figure out some parabolas!

Make the boys suffer, I can get behind that idea 😎

Also, I saw somewhere that someone hc'd Deuce as having a learning disability or some type of dyslexia? I think it works so well with him saying he had issues with school and not having good grades no matter how hard he worked at it.

⚛》》》◆《《《⚛

"I hate this!" Deuce muttered harshly, his eyes watery and half-closed. He had been staring at the same problem for the past twenty minutes, nothing more than an erased question mark to show for all his efforts.

"Boohoo, bastard, try being as clever as me, maybe," Ace shot back, sounding like the confident prick he was. However, when you glanced down at his paper, you could see tear stains on it, and the sheer amount of damage done to it by being erased so many times.

You sighed, leaning your head back on the sofa. Sitting on the floor, working on your seperate homework on the coffee table, were you, Ace, Deuce, and Grim (of course Grim was piled up on a bunch of books to be able to see his work. And so that you could make sure he wasn't cheating). Unfortunately for everyone, it was the time of year for exams. Right before winter break let out, you had to fight for your freedom. And unfortunately for the boys, NRC was a college- which meant that while it was also a "Magic-specialized" school, it had other classes, as well. Such as basic World History, English, Non-magical science, and math. Fortunately for you, the Math and English were close enough to the same ones back at home that you already knew most of it.

So you were coursing through the classes with grace and ease, leaving your friends stumbling and begging for help with their own classes.

For once, you were at top! No more were you this magicless human that they felt like they had to defend....well, you still were, technically, but now you were more known as the smart person who could help tutor the other Freshmen.

And since they were oh, so desperate for your help, you were able to charge thaumarks per tutoring session. With special discounts for your closer friends, of course.

Maybe the amount of power was starting to go to your head. Or maybe Azul had finally rubbed off on you. Either way, you had some extra money in your pocket for once, and you could afford to buy snacks! Snacks! For you to eat! And other fun little gidgets and gizmos that you could only stare at wistfully in shop windows!

Through the sessions, you had learned everyone's weaknesses and what subjects they needed help on the most.

Deuce had issues with English classes- mainly reading difficult passages and understanding them. You suspected he had dyslexia or some other type of learning disability. But you found that if you read the passage out loud slowly, he was able to retain the knowledge better.

Ace had issues with math. Specifically graphs and the mathematical equations that went with them. Parabolas, Quadratic formulas, you name it! it made him want to tear his hair out....and it made you want to bash his head into a wall just helping him. But if you worked out a problem a few times, he would eventually understand it. Maybe. Until the next problem, and then he'd forget it all over again.

Jack had issues with World History. All he kept saying was that if he couldn't smell it, it didn't matter well enough. To which you always had to reply with "that's dumb". Dates and times were definitely not his strong suit. But! If you mentioned Riddle during your tutoring sessions, Jack would work much harder at memorizing information. It was almost like he wanted Riddle to be impressed with him...even though Riddle was never at any of the study sessions.

Epel also struggled with English. He didn't understand why he had to find out what the text meant with a whole buncha "metaphors" and stuff. "The author meant what they wrote, didn't they? Why should I have to put a buncha words into their mouth???" But once you explained to him that the teacher wanted to see what Epel himself thought about the text, it all clicked for him. Now he just made up some semi-passable nonsense as his answers.

And Sebek...well, he was Sebek. He struggled a little bit with all of it, in his own way. But having Malleus sit in with some of the study sessions was remarkably helpful. You only had to help Sebek twice before he started doing better on his own.

"YNnnnnnnnNNNNN!" Ace groaned, giving up his false sense of confidence "I'm tiiiiiiired." There was a thud, and you glanced over to see Ace's head up against the table.

"Hey, back to work," You said, thumping the side of his head "Or you could keep resting and just pay me for another session. You know what, honestly, do whatever you want. It's your exam you're gonna flunk, not mine."

"You're such a tyrant..." Ace grumbled, begrudgingly lifting his head just enough to be able to write on his paper.

"No, even Riddle doesn't charge us for study sessions," Deuce chuckled tearfully, rubbing one of his eyes "They're more like Azul."

"Boohoo, bastard," You stuck your tongue out, mimicking Ace's insult from earlier.

Deuce opened his mouth to retort, but his expression changed to confusion "Actually, wait- where's Grim at?"

A glance towards the empty spot at the table, and it was clear the direbeast was gone.

"Crap," You hissed, standing up quickly, wondering what sort of mischief he had gotten into now.

There was a thundering boom from the kitchen. Grim had stuck his homework in the oven to hide it from you, but put the oven at 500 degrees to get rid of the evidence quicker....which led to the old thing exploding.

Needless to say, Grim did not earn any more tutoring sessions from you.

⚛》》》◆《《《⚛

[24kvlaks]

Psychopath

(Michael Myers x reader) I tried to do canon and a fanon ending! (prompt: Michael comes back hurt)

"Michael!" You saw him in the doorway. Covered in blood, it was clear some of it was his by the loud huffing. He usually either came home covered in victims blood.

Or a victims damage.

He ignores you blissfully, he never took care of his wounds. He just ignored the pain, ignored everything.

You didn't even know if you two were actually dating. He just started to kill the men around you, or stalked you until you got the demand.

Though it was as if he only tolerated you, of course when you stepped out of line he'd be sure to remind you that he'll kill you for the hell of it.

occasionally scaring you or even to go as far as warn choke you.

"Let me help you-"

You went to grab his arm and he flung you down and vanished in the hall which led towards that room.

He was either gone, or in that room. You couldn't tell either because he was silent. You couldn't enter that room.

You couldn't leave as much, and when you did only for stuff you actually needed.

You only saw him psychically once a month, but you knew he was there, it was weird always having eyes on you unbeknownst.

You liked him, you liked him for his personality and psychical appearance. So there was obviously something wrong with you too.

I mean how wouldn't there be? You liked him, despite the mourning families, traumatized survivors.

But that's what bonded you, the unexplained evil in his heart, and the attraction to madness in yours.

Something you get once in a lifetime and you couldn't let this go to waste.

You sat on the floor, waiting for him to be done.

you were waiting for hours, so just incase you slept on the couch.

CANON HALF

-

FANON HALF

For two days he's been gone and its not unusual for him to be gone so you didn't think to much of it. Until two days became four weeks.

So you did, you looked everywhere for him. Staying up extra late just to make sure he was okay, another week flew past and nothing.

So like any worried lover they'd check the house for them.

So you checked that room, without warning he opened the door. you were ready to apologize until you saw his face, he had mini bandages on his face. He looked silly, and handsome with a his face out.

He looked at you and shoved the box of band-aids in your hand. He sat on the edge of the bed with his cut back exposed.

A smile crept on your face and you practically squeal. Maybe this was his apology. You understood it, being a psychopath it must be hard to show emotion.

But he tried. Something you never thought you'd say.

Eventually you finished and you two just sat there. This was a way of saying something, sitting and staying with you he even let you lean on his shoulder.

You looked out of the window together. You were practically jumping out of your skin. He heard your giggles.

Though he was beginning to go over board- you two were sitting there for two hours. He was standing up for two hours, you didn't know how he did it. Eventually you went to sleep, you were happy.

And even happier when you woke up at midnight and saw a sleeping Michael next to you.

[bekolxeram]

I swear this is the last time I bring up that air tanker in 2x14 voluntarily. The bottom line is, if you believe Tommy did fly that plane, that makes him not even superhero level cool, but Jonny Kim level cool. If you believe he didn't, then he's just as cool, always knowing a guy from all walks of line, ready to help out with whatever resource on hand the second Chimney says the word. At the end of the day, he saved the 118 and a bunch of civilians either way, and he did it again in S7 flying to that cruise ship. He'll always be our cool heroic pilot no matter what.

With that being said, I have some thoughts about the CAL FIRE line from the news reporter in that episode. If you're not interested, please read no further. And if you don't want to see this kind of posts at all but still want to read my other content, please block the tag #aviation realism.

I know Bobby said "217 incoming" when he saw that C-130, only the news reporter mentioned it was with CAL FIRE. That's why I suspect the CAL FIRE line was shoved in after the actual scenes were filmed, because they realized or someone explained to them how impractical and dangerous for an urban fire department to own a giant air tanker and just dump tons of water all over the city.

I saw the same technique utilized for the tsunami arc in S3. Anyone who has taken geography in high school can tell that in reality, there is no megathrust fault capable of generating Indian Ocean 2004 or Japan 2011 scale tsunami off the coast of SoCal. So where did the tsunami come from? In 3x02, before Sue asks Maddie to "triage" the dispatchers, you can hear once again a news reporter saying the tsunami is triggered by an earthquake off the coast of Alaska. This takes the fictional tsunami scenario from having zero basis in real life, to possible in extreme cases and greatly exaggerated for dramatic effect.

I thank whatever divine intervention or persistent technical advisor that made the CAL FIRE line possible.

2x14 was first aired on April 15, 2019. What you might not remember or realize is that something notable happened across the Atlantic on the very same day: the Notre-Dame fire. The entire world watched the cathedral burned for hours while over 400 firefighters all over Paris tried to contain the flame. A certain f...... former US president then suggested on Twitter that "perhaps flying water tankers could be used to put it out."

The French immediately responded by pointing out that dumping large amount of water from an aircraft at low altitude could "weaken the structure of Notre-Dame and result in collateral damage to the buildings in the vicinity." A retired FDNY battalion chief also told the media that water bombing would likely make the situation more dangerous, as civilians on the street might be hit if you miss the target.

The entire internet was clowning on that stable genius for such an innovative idea all afternoon. Imagine if 2x14 aired later that evening with not even a smaller single engine one, but a large 4 engine airtanker somehow belonging to the LAFD, that would come off extra stupid, even meme inspiring. But with the CAL FIRE line, they could at least claim that it was the extreme and rare circumstances requiring additional assistance from other agencies in the area, and it was not part of 911-verse LAFD's normal operation.

If the writers had done their homework beforehand and the CAL FIRE thing was always part of the script, good for them. If it was indeed shoved into the scene last minute, then they should thank their lucky stars.

I can already imagine the headache Bobby is going to have working on Hotshots as a consultant.

[brokenpieces-72]

I READ “Reunion” AND OOOOOO

HOW WOULD THE BOYS REACT TO READER GETTING CAPTURED AND SOMETHING HAPPENING WITH HER PARENTS???? 👀👀

So admittedly this was going to be a future story. For some extra context, the reader's father I haven't decided whether he exists yet or not, but the mother is... admittedly also undecided in terms of what she is. When I started writing this I intended it to be a drabble and now it’s… yep. Enjoy!

Reset

Massive trigger warning!!! Abuse, kidnapping, torture, poor eating mentions, cannibalism, angst, let me know if I missed anything.

First and foremost you know they tried, all of them. You saw it before everything went dark. Johnny was screaming for you, ready to tear everything apart just to keep you safe. He didn't care who the bitch was, you were his sister. Konig already was tearing everything apart, only he didn't notice your situation until it was to late. The cadejos had nabbed some shadows to rip up with Alejandro and Horangi grabbing at more, trying to restrain themselves from just ripping into them. As you were taking off, Kyle went so far as to try and chase after you, but had his wings shot at, making you scream and fight to try and help him. Ghost had been too far away to try and grab at the heli. Price would have burned the whole thing down but you were inside, and not fire resistant.

Seconds after they'd lost you, Hunter got Kyle into the infirmary to fix his wings but they were still garbage. The entire team is anxious and worried about you. They'd all learned as much as they could about your relationship with your mother but could only imagine what she wanted from you now.

Simon wasted no time. He dragged thrall after thrall into interrogation, demanding answers of where they could be taking you. Being brutal and pissed he put any humans they were able to take alive in the room to show he wasn't playing around. If a thrall wasn't willing to talk, the human better be ready to scream and beg.

Price and Laswell and working around the clock to get everything they can on your mother from medical records, to bank statements. The two friends are keeping each other calm, as best as they can when they are as fired up as they are. Laswell has to step out of the room more than once because of Price releasing smoke to keep himself from getting too heated.

To the surprise of many, Horangi contacts KorTac. He's getting information on... well anything. While he keeps to himself, he can't deny your presence hasn't been welcoming. The team was up in arms, and the last thing he wanted was to sit around and do nothing while he waited for this to be fixed. KorTac can look into any jobs or contracts they may have gotten from Graves or your mother as a one off. Maybe someone gave up information thinking it was just an innocent missing persons report. Maybe your mother had tried contacting KorTac before Graves. Whatever he can get to make this go faster.

Alejandro and Rudolfo did the same, contacting other bases to see if they may have run into Graves or thralls recently. If they mapped out previous locations they could find a pattern. They even went back to facility where they'd first encountered your mother, seeing if there could be any signs of where she might have gone. Aside from that they had taken the initiative of running everything on base, giving the rest of the team more time to focus on you.

Kyle is pissed because he couldn't do anything to help. His wings were too damaged to fly anytime soon. All he could do was join Alejandro and Rudolfo on recon. He hated wasn't about to just sit, wait and heal. He wanted to help now. Alejandro and Rudolfo aren't about to stop him either.

Konig became restless, and the percht was practically beating against him. It wanted nothing but violence, blood and revenge. Konig just wanted his little friend back. You'd helped him even when there seemed to be no hope.

As for Johnny... it's something everyone gives him space for. Simon is one of the few who approaches him. He's restless and the full moon approaching makes it worse. All the wold wants to do is to find you, and Jonny wants the same. Sleep is near impossible, and he's started going to your room in order to do so. Your scent is still there, smelling like earth, grass and pine. If he isn't trying to find you, it's like he's trying to remember you. After 24 hours of you being gone Simon found him.

"Did you tell your mom?" He asked. Johnny looked up from where he was sitting on your bed. Simon was in the doorway looking at him, mask off for once. The question is one Johnny never wanted to think about. Telling his mother he'd lost her new baby. Johnny just stares down at his hands. Simon comes in and sits next to him on the bed, picking up a small plushie. The last thing Johnny needed was his pessimism. Simon didn’t have high hopes for you but he wasn’t going to give up on helping you. Johnny still hasn’t said anything so Simon took out his phone and offered it to Johnny.

“You need her too.” He said. Johnny took out his own phone, and dialed his mother. Simon stood up to leave but Johnny asked him to stay. He didn’t want to be alone for this.

The call goes well at first. It’s short-lived. As soon as Johnny told his mother you were taken Simon could hear her asking questions. Johnny answered as much as he could but regretfully most of the answers were “I don’t know”. By the end of it, he was fighting tears, with Simon putting a hand on his shoulder. Johnny’s mother asked Johnny how he was doing, and if he was okay. He was fine. He was going to find you. He promised. He hangs up and his breathing is unsteady. Simon didn't say anything or move to comfort him knowing a lot was going on underneath the surface. Johnny was honest enough to tell him if he needed it. There was silence for a while until Johnny took a deep breath.

"What kind of a shite brother am I?" He wondered aloud.

"One that will find his sister even if he has to do it barehanded," Simon answered. Johnny looked at him. Simon looked back and just gave him a nod.

For a while, you thought every moment you had experienced, every smile, every joy, every triumph, every bad day, every victory... you thought it had all been some mental episode of escapism. A dream your mind had put you in to save you from the torment of your mother. You don't know how much time has past, but it's been long enough for her to try and starve you and feed you more raw flesh. The more feral part of you is starving and ravenous. You want to eat so bad but you know Graves probably put something in it to make your feral state more powerful. You're chained to the wall with a collar and cuffs on your ankles and wrists. Waking up had sent you into a panic attack where you passed out. When you woke up again, the food was there, staring at you with vacant eyes. Dead bodies were not something new to you, but in this setting it just awoke you trauma. This wasn't the first time you'd fought your hunger. You turned away facing the wall, trying to hold your breath so you wouldn't smell the carcass. You held your nose when you needed another breath. Next you took the chains and wrapped them around your limbs to make them shorter. You knaw on your shirt to resist.

Then your mother came in. Your spine went frozen, your whole body tensed, and your held sped through the horrible moments her voice awoke. The way she talks is like burning sugar.

"Hello my little bunny." She said, soothingly. It's not soothing, she is not soothing, the only thing she would soothe was her own heinous actions. Little bunny was her name for you. You didn't know your own name because she would just give you pet names. All you want right now is to do the same thing you had done to innocent people who got lost in the woods. She'd set you on them, letting you hunt to the feral monster's content. "Come on, I want to see you. Can you look at me? I want to see how much you've grown. They took you away from me, my sweet girl."

No. They saved you. There had been missing person reports pointing to the woods you'd grown up in. A hunter came, properly armed to deal with hybrids, with some blurry photos capturing your image. He'd saved you with his hunting party. They'd found you feasting on an elk, starting to come back to your normal state. When you tried to flee, a hunter shot you, wounding you. You curled up on the ground they gave you a sedative. You were too small, and they weren't about to kill a kid who was probably just running on instincts. They saved you from your mother, continuing to search the woods.

Your mother moved closer, voice staying motherly and warm. "Please sweetheart? I'm sorry it had to be like this. I just wanted you back."

No more. You wouldn't give her anything. You didn't care what punishment she would give you. Whether it was burns or cuts you wouldn't give in. Your whole body shivered and tensed up as you felt her gentle hands on your shoulder and back, kneeling behind you. Your mother rubbed your back and shoulders, trying to coax your body to relax. When she tried to tug on your shoulders, to pry open your balled up position, you yank away.

"How did you get tangled up like that?" She asked noticing your efforts to keep you from the food. You don't look at her but you can hear her shuffling. There was a horrible wet sound as she moved back to you. You covered your nose, breathing through your teeth, as she tried to give you the meat. "Come on sweetie you need to eat. You want to be big and strong for mommy don't you."

You cowered, blindly swatting and pushing her away. In any other context her reaction would be that of a mother trying to keep her child from hitting her. You know it's a facade, the setting was evidence of that. "Now now bunny don't hit your mother."

"YOU'RE NOT MY MOTHER!!" You shrieked at her. The wendigo, the guardian state could be heard within your voice. Your mother stopped.

"B-but... l-little bunny-"

"I'm not your little bunny you fucking bitch! You are not my fucking mother! You are nothing but a psychopath who made me eat the closest thing I had to a friend! I'm not your daughter!" You yelled, not looking up at her, head covered by your legs.

"I know baby, I know, I am so sorr-"

"No! No you're not! If you were sorry you would stay behind bars! You would have moved on when you got out! You would have walked away knowing how much damage you did." You argued. There was no excuse for the crimes she had committed. Your mother didn't say anything for a while. You heard her toss the meat to the floor.

"Fine," she said, sounding like she was biting back heartbreak. "We can try again tomorrow. Please eat something though. I don't want you to starve."

"That's exactly what you want." You said, your voice overflowing with poison.

From then on, the routine continued, with a new body put in every other day or so. Your mother continued to coax you to eat, giving you kind and gentle praises. She's changed truly, she just wanted her cute little bunny girl back, her precious baby. Then she tried gaslighting you, burning and cutting your skin, only to hurry away to retrieve a first aid kit, acting like you'd come to her with a scraped knee. Oh dear did you scratch yourself too hard? Don't worry she'll fix it. Do you want mama to kiss it better? No? Then she'll get Mr. Graves to come in and talk to you about the mean things you did to his thralls. Maybe he can get you to eat something too. Open wide, here comes to airplane. Don't spit it out!

It goes on... and on... and on...

Your stomach churned. Food you need food... there's some right there. You don't smell anything wrong with it... no... no not again...

When Price found you... damn. You were back to your feral state but this seemed to be worse. Blood drunk, but hopefully not on Graves tainted shit. It had taken them some time, too much time to track you down. Right now Johnny and König were making for a good distraction tearing into the thralls in fully shifted forms, Johnny having the full moon on his side. Kyle, now fully healed and flying again was keeping overwatch dive bombing anyone who might try to take up a sniper position. Rudolfo had the cadejos tracking your scent. Horangi was keeping Hunter safe, using the clouds for their cover. Simon was moving through the bunker looking for two other people, Graves and your mother, shadows keeping him from being noticed. Of course he also yanked a few thrall into them, as they tried to make it out to Soap and Konig.

"Captain, what's your status?" Alejandro asked through comms.

"I found the target." Price said. "Soap keep on the thrall. Lieutenant, what's your location?"

"South Hallway." Ghost replied, voice quiet.

"Have you located the other targets?" He asked, holstering his gun slowly approaching. Your blank white eyes looked up at him, and you launched yourself at him. Your chains snapped taut, making you fall back. Shit. You were still yanking and pulling on your chains to try and reach the fresh food that had stepped into your cell.

"Not yet. Wait, the cadejos may have found something." Simon replied. Before Price could get Simon's help, Alejandro came up beside him. He stepped back when you tried to lunge at him next.

"Fucking hell." He said under his breath.

"Horangi, get Hunter to our location, east side, second floor." Price said.

"Copy." Hunter said.

"She needs to be restrained." Price said. They needed to wait for Hunter, but until then you needed to be pinned down. Alejandro understood shifting to the jaguar form and stalking in. The meat was coming closer. You shrieked, getting on all fours, watching him closely. The meat kept his eyes locked with yours. It's growling, it won't let you eat without a fight. You screech back at the meat, encouraging some play before you feasr. Your body tightens in a crouch as you move back a little, readying yourself. You strike, but you can't. A huge weight is put on your back and you thrash around. Your arms are pinned behind you. No! You're hungry! You have fresh food right in front of you! Price wasn't about to let you enjoy Las Almas cuisine. Alejandro backed away the moment Price put his full weight on top of you. Hunter arrived a few minutes later, and Horangi stayed close. One sedative wasn't enough. Two wasn't enough. They gave it time, ut you weren't relaxing fast enough. One more. The world slowly goes dark. Hungry... you're still hungry.

You're released from the chains, but bound in them again. Simon acquired a blanket after trying to pursue your mother. He had a feeling he knew what Graves was actually doing and what was going on with your mother but he could wait. You're the priority. Your unconscious body was rolled up in the blanket, with the chains wrapped around to keep you restrained if you woke up. Johnny was demanding updates to your status, still outside with König, waiting on orders. Price ordered them to head to evac, and they had the target restrained. Johnny didn't like that answer but doesn't argue.

When he finally saw you, Gaz made sure to be in between you and Johnny. Johnny got out of the chopper and came over, back to his human state, clothes destroyed. Price wasn't about to deny his sergeant, even when he wasn't shifted. Johnny took you from Price and held you tight. The look on his face was focused as he got back in the heli, and the whole ride back he said nothing. Hunter got to work immediately giving orders for the medics on base to be ready. As soon as you woke up you would be hungry again. despite this Johnny just kept you close, as if you didn't show signs of being feral, or wouldn't try to dig into his flesh as soon as you woke up.

The healing process takes time. You're kept under for a very long time. Hunter had to get a feeding tube so you would return to normal. Your wounds are cleaned thoroughly, and you're put in a safe place. The team visited and stayed with you in shifts. The feeding tube was not a tested method for you yet, and Hunter was concerned about over feeding you, thinking it may cause you to vomit or get sick.

As expected Johnny had to be pried from your side more than once. Ghost did it to spar with him, knowing Johnny had plenty of aggression built up, and he could take the hits. The last thing he wanted was for a punching bag to receive that kind of treatment. Once you had been put under observation, Johnny called your mother. Your real mother. She'd relieved to hear you are okay, and asked Johnny if you would be able to stay with her for a bit to help you recover. Johnny would talk to Laswell about it later, you needed to wake up first.

When you finally wake up they’d already taken out the feeding tube, your state much more relaxed. You wake to see Johnny had fallen asleep in the chair next to you, his head rested on the bed. You sort of squirmed down further under the blanket to press your forehead to his. There are silent tears down your cheeks, as you feel a great sense of relief. Johnny woke up and pulled away to look at you. He wanted to pull you close to him, but he didn’t want to overstep. You sat up and he held your face in his hands, pressing your foreheads together again.

“You came to get me.” You said.

“Made a promise. Wouldn't go into the dark unless I 'ad to pull ya out.” Johnny said. You threw your arms around him and he gently returned the gesture. It was perfect. It was safe. You had your family back, and to make it better they had come for you.

The next while isn’t fun. Well a few times you enjoy yourself, but it’s mostly filled with recovering and exhaustion. Your mental state was damaged, your body was sore, and your hunger was difficult, as you were craving food but couldn't eat as much as you wanted without getting sick. Hunter does an amazing job of helping your body heal. While you do have a healing factor, the wounds weren't healing as much as they should. Your team's medic sits with you when you eat, keeping the portions smaller than you'd usually take, but they gave you snacks to sustain your stomach in between meals. Once you were out of the infirmary Price granted you a week off. Johnny was still in the process of getting you a month or so away from base.

For the most part, you became Johnny's shadow, if he wasn't yours. Part of it is because the wolf is now more protective over you, and well Johnny is too. He'd told you about getting time off and honestly it would be really nice to have it. Outside of that, you found yourself snuggling up with him. Johnny had done a good job at sleeping in his own bed since your return. Now though, you'd taken to curling up with him at night. He didn’t mind, finding your presence comforting. Seeing you asleep in his arms brought him peace.

Johnny still has tasks to do on base though so he can't be by your side 24/7. You go to the others on the team who don't mind having you nearby. You did a little where you could, like retrieving items or doing prep work. Sleeping and lazying around wasn't your thing. Hunter let you help them with prepping the medical supplies and take inventory as usual. The rest of the team either made something up or just let you observe.

König had taken to standing in when Johnny was too busy. He was grateful and happy to have you back. This was also a chance to return the favour for all the hard work you’d put into getting him in control. At one point you had a panic attack, accidentally knocking over a bowl had created a loud noise. Before anyone could step in König had you in a tight hug, talking to you. He ran you through the process of naming things in the room you see, smell, hear, touch and taste. Panic attacks were a first hand experience for him, having his own social anxiety. While he didn't know what exactly happened when you were in captivity, he wasn't about to let you suffer through the small triggers by yourself. König had promised he wouldn’t go into the dark. He wasn’t about to let you go through it alone.

If neither Konig nor Johnny was shaodwing you, Simon was quite literally shadowing you. In that he would peek in on you through your shadow just to be sure you were okay. He doesn’t hesitate to talk to about what happened. Abuse is something he will never forgive. Simon for the most part though would stay out of the way. You deserved some privacy, and a chance to heal on your own. Until another soldier was a little too clumsy and made a mess of the ammo bins. The crash is loud and you jump back, as the other soldiers raise their voices to hound him. Bloody idiots, keep yelling when there’s a startled kid! You back into the nearest corner and start to breathe heavy. Your ears ring, and Simon found you. He goes through the piles of ammo cartridges and suddenly the argument is muffled, and there’s only ringing. Until Simon’s voice broke through, and you looked up at him. You see you’re surrounded by darkness but Simon looked normal. His mask was on, but his focus was on you. Just take a minute. You needed it. This happened again, but only when you doing really bad.

Kyle hasn't stopped spending time with you, and if you're struggling to get up to the roof you guys like to sit on, he'll help you up. The wings are always around you, which can really help. It makes you feel like you're alone with Kyle, even if there are soldiers down below running drills or moving supplies around. You don't talk as much, but Kyle talks a bit more to fill the silence. Sometimes you guys don't talk at all. That's fine. Yeah, you could lean on him if you want. His arm goes around you, avoiding any scars you have.

The cadejos paid you a visit in your room one day, and they had... a ball? Rudolfo poked his head in and asked if you wanted to play some fetch for the dog spirits. You didn't think they played fetch but you don't say no. You follow them outside and throw the ball for them. The white spirit comes back like a golden retriever each time, front paws tapping away, tail whipping about, tongue lulling with happy pants, all while waiting for you to throw the ball. The darker spirit is a little less trained. When it caught the ball it sped back to you causing you to flinch. Rudy got his hands on your shoulders pulling you back, reminding the black cadejo to be gentle. Your body tenses but when Rudolfo checks in you tell him you're okay. Just startled a little. If you want to come out with the spirits again, you can ask.

You went to Alejandro and Horangi directly, asking if they could show you some better self defense techniques. You could fight, but you wanted to be better prepared if someone grabbed you again. Alejandro is hesitant because the last thing he wants is for you to have a panic attack in the middle of it. Horangi however is all for it. Knowing that stuff had saved his own ass more than once when he was building up debts. Why shouldn't you be able to drop captors like a sack of potatoes? Small bonus, he could make Alejandro be the one that got dropped on his back a few times. After all Alejandro had him outweighed, so learning more built attackers would be beneficial. Throughout the demonstrations, they do check in after check in. He was going to grab your wrists next okay? Alright, then he would whip you around, yep don't let him turn you around. Still good? Perfect.

Soon it was your last day off, and tomorrow you would be on leave with Johnny. It would be nice to see Scotland again. You wandered into the rec room where you saw Price on the couch. The tv was on likely watching the game. You sat down next to him, a blanket around you, and he gave you a smile.

“Are they winning?” You asked.

“Not who I’d like.” He admitted. You played on your phone for a bit and then started to nod off. Everything felt so much better. You were safe. No one could hurt you with your pack nearby. Price didn’t pay much mind. He assumed you came to the break room to have some privacy, and he kept his voice down for you in front of the tv. Until he felt the couch move. When he looked over, he saw you trembling. Fuck. He got off the couch and knelt down in front of you, shaking you awake.

“Come on kid, it’s not real. It’s not real!”

“NO!” You cried out, waking up and found Price looking at you, shaking you awake. Tears ran down your face. Nightmares were becoming more frequent again. All because that witch decided to force herself into your life again.

“You broken?” He asked. A gentle but calloused hand going, resting on your head. You gave him a hesitant nod. “Okay.”

Without asking he picked you up giving a playful roar. It surprised you, but you couldn’t help but laugh. He sat back on the couch, reclining so you could rest against his chest. You never noticed how warm he was. His wing wrapped around you unconsciously as he went back to the game. The captain’s heartbeat was calming against your ear.

“I’m sorry-“ you start to say.

“Don’t say sorry. You can’t control it.” He said. You continued watching the game until he turned it over to a show he saw you watching earlier in the week. Slowly you fell asleep again. Price found himself subconsciously stoking your ears as you relaxed into him. Before Price didn’t know what to make of you. Right now, he was worried about you. At first you were a requirement, something he was obligated to take on. Then you proved yourself, showing value to the team in more ways than one. Now… you were part of his hoard. You were a treasure worth protecting. His team had been doing better, and much better now that you were back.

“John I hav-“ Laswell walked in and looked up to see a scowling Price, shushing her.

“Just fell back asleep.” He said voice very low. Laswell raised a brow with a small smile. You shifted a bit and Price hushed you, not wanting you to wake up. John ran his claws gently through your hair, keeping you relaxed. Even Kate can’t deny you’d exceeded her expectations. When she first met you were about a terrifying as… well as a rabbit with antlers. You’d grown so much.

“You ever expect this to be a scenario we find ourselves in?” Price asked her.

“No. The time off has been approved… but there’s an issue.” Laswell said. Price looked up. “Colonel Vargas has offered an alternative.”

“What does that mean?” Price asked, a slight scowl at the word ‘alternative’.

“The program still has some authority, and with what’s been going on with the mother and the kidnapping they think sending her back with Johnny might put her at risk.” Laswell explained.

“…Alejandro has offered to take them in instead?” Price asked. Clearly the program wasn’t concerning themselves with separation anxiety.

“I’m trying to convince the program to let Johnny go with her. They’re proving difficult.” Laswell said.

“But she’ll be safe?” Price asked. Laswell nodded. Price got up, carrying you with him, still swaddled in your blanket. “Taking her to bed.”

Price took you to your room where he saw your things ready and packed. He set you down on the bed, and you shifted, rolling to your side. You would be safe. He knew that. He trusted the colonel, he was just worried about you. You’d only been back for a short while, and instead of going somewhere you knew, you were being tossed into a whole new environment. Hopefully Johnny would be understanding.

@yourlovely-moon @kaoyamamegami @h0n3y-l3m0n05 @sans-chara @1mommyrose4ever29 @smitten-haematite-quartz @talia-the-gemini @yuki2129 @whitetiger846 @graystorm444 @chibiduck @reaperxxxxzz @danielle143 @sobbingnshtting @cringeycookies @cryingpages @dcnocap207 @reaper-chan666

[theautisticwriter]

The Owl House characters being paired with you for a school project

Characters- Luz Noceda, Amity Blight, Willow Park, Gus Porter, Hunter, Young! Edalyn Clawthorne, Young! Raine Whispers

Show- The Owl House

Genre- romantic, crushes 

Summary- you are paired with the owl house characters for a school project

Warnings- reader gets referred to as "pretty", usage of the word "hell", usage of the acronym "wtf", that's it I think??

Word count- 1.7k+

Extra notes- these are headcannons

———————————————————

✧Luz Noceda✧-

✰ when she found out she was partnered with you for the school project she ran home and dived onto her bed

✰ screamed into her pillow like there was no tomorrow

✰legs flailing and everything

✰ part of her was dreading working with you incase she did something wrong

✰ and the other part of her was swooning at the idea of spending more time with you

✰ eda was giving the worst advice ever like holy-

✰king declared himself the 'king of wingmen' and decided to help Luz in her flustered state

✰Luz asked around the school what your favourite food was so she could have it ready for when you came round

✰hooty was banished from speaking to you

✰poor fella

✰gave you a house tour and rambled on about all the intricate details due to her nerves

✰she got that neurodivergent swag

✰could not sit still the whole time you two were studying

✰was very interested in the topic but would bounce on the bed whilst you read out loud to her

✰king kept appearing in the room to try and wingman

✰was kicked out before he could make significant damage

✰lots of blushing and awkward giggles

✰you told her she was smart and she just broke

✰was fumbling over her words so bad

✰"haha yeah- thank you, you're uh, pretty too- PRETTY SMART- pretty smart too..!" bless her soul omg

✰eda did in fact make your favourite food and it warmed your heart that Luz put in so much effort to make you feel comfortable whilst you were there

✰eda was spying on you both to make sure you were suitable enough for Luz

✰she approves

✰all in all you two barely passed bc you both either got distracted or were interrupted by the other residents of the owl house

✰definitely got closer to each other though and you both are excited for the next school project

☾Amity Blight☾-

✰she was so ready for this

✰school was her thing, and doing something school related, with you?? she was thrilled

✰planned the entire evening so you both would have time to study, complete the project, eat and engage in conversation

✰wouldn't mind doing the project at her house, but would much prefer doing it at yours

✰if you both went to her house she would grab your hand (bold move, her heart was racing) and literally run to her room to avoid contact with her family

✰could not avoid her siblings however, as they were waiting in her room for you two

✰they teased the two of you like crazy

✰amity literally tackled them out of her room and barricaded the door

✰rough start, but we perceiver

✰you two 100% passed with top marks because our girl was not letting you fail on her watch

✰got briefly distracted as she thought about maybe asking you out for future study dates

✰she tried to ninja her way down the stairs to with you to get some food and take it back up to her room but her dad caught you both

✰just nodded at you in acknowledgment and instructed that you both didn't stray from the task you'd been given from your teachers

✰ate in her room and talked for a good while

✰she had conversation starters on little flash cards

✰"so, y/n, what is your favourite subject?" listens so intently at your answer

✰gave you a kiss on the cheek as you left

✰10/10 would study with again

✰and that kiss sparked a blossoming relationship :)

✿Willow Park✿-

✰told her dads about her nervous she was about you coming round for the project

✰they were excellent hype men

✰when you entered her home it was a very welcoming atmosphere

✰she gave you a bouquet of your favourite flowers

✰"I got you some flowers, I hope you like them :)!"

✰you spoke to her dads for the first 15ish minutes

✰guided you to her room with a hand on the mid-section of your back

✰she gave you her comfiest pillow and blanket

✰put the flowers in a vase while you two studied

✰you both had a pretty good balance of working and having fun talking

✰definitely passed with at least a B+

✰once you both finished the project you laid down on her bed and you both just stared at each other as you spoke about whatever was on each others minds

✰her dads helped organise a future hangout between the two of you

✰gave you the biggest bear hug before you left, and gave you the vase and flowers

✰very wholesome experience, it went very well

☘︎Gus Porter☘︎-

✰had his fists clenched to his chest and a very wobbly straight lipped expression on his face when he found out

✰he was trying not to look flustered

✰very awkward organising process, but it was cute watching him move his hands around like an insane person as he forced words out of his mouth

✰was stood outside his front door waiting for you to arrive

✰opened the door for you and stood to the side as he gestured you in

✰a true gentlemen

✰his closet was bursting to open because he'd thrown all his human nicknacks into it beforehand so his room would look less messy

✰pulled your chair out for you at his desk

✰he's trying so hard to impress you it's so cute

✰info dumped about the subject and you were astonished at how much information he knew

✰he did a lot of research before you came over to appear smart

✰you two would get distracted a lot but always found your way back to the project

✰passed, and that's all that matters

✰checking every five minutes that you're comfortable

✰"are you sure you're comfortable? I can get you another pillow if you'd like!"

✰just an absolute sweetheart, when you left after giving him a hug goodbye he collapsed onto the floor and just melted into it

✰phoned Luz and Willow to tell them every little detail

✰squealed once or twice whilst talking about it

✰'twas a lovely experience, 10/10

乂Hunter乂-

✰had no idea what he was doing

✰look he's just getting into this whole 'school' thing, and now he has to work with you?? how will he prove himself a worthy suitor if he's in uncharted territory

✰literally barged into the owl house in full blown panic mode

✰Luz told him to just be himself, and gave some good advice about how study sessions and projects normally go

✰eda teased the hell out of him and he was RED

✰went round your house cause he's kinda homeless

✰was stood like this🧍‍♂️when you opened the door

✰forgot how to breathe a good few times

✰he was determined to impress you with his knowledge, and would literally beam whenever you slightly complimented him

✰after a while he got more comfortable and was able to have some good banter with you and ease up a bit

✰was still very aware of his movements and actions, but was able to calm the tension in his body down and speak more freely

✰you both did that cliche where you reached for the same pen and your hands collided in the middle

✰"ah-! I'm sorry, no, you take the pen, I didn't mean to invade your personal space like that or take your things." give him a hug wtf

✰his fingers felt all tingly afterwards

✰you reassured him that you didn't mind at all, and found his apology to be really sweet

✰you both passed!

✰as he left your house for the night he blurted out "we should do this again! soon!", nodded his head quite violently and then bolted

✰you guys did do it again and it was great :)

⁂Edalyn Clawthorne⁂-

✰this is the only time she actually did her work istg

✰was unbelievably nervous but did not let it show

✰when you arrived at her house she opened the door, put her elbow against the frame, put one leg in front of the other and smirked at you

✰she then lost her balance and fell but we don't talk about that

✰gave you a tour of her home, and you said hello to Lilith before going up to her room

✰was really struggling to focus but she tried so hard cause she didn't want you to fail because of her

✰if you have hair, she would end up randomly grabbing a bit of it and messing with it absentmindedly

✰or she would grab your poke you at random times and then smile at you when you looked up, denying that she ever poked you in the first place

✰a menace

✰used many pathetic pickup lines on you, with full confidence it would woo you

✰it did but that's a you problem

✰you both barely passed tbh, but she was chuffed with herself when she heard about your grade

✰asked you on a date at the end and you said yes

✰almost cried out of joy to Lilith when you left

♪Raine Whispers♪-

✰very calm and collected when they found out they were partnered with you

✰just very happy abt it

✰stares at you whilst you work out who's house you'll be going to and what time you'll get there with love in their eyes

✰very willing to just follow you around wherever you go

✰just like with willow you both find a good balance between work and fun

✰nods and smile whilst you ramble on about the project or your interests

✰plays you a little song at the end of the evening

✰they wrote it for you

✰you both passed!!

✰shows off their magic and the tips of their ears go pink if you compliment them about it

✰100% attempts to make you join the bard covern

✰you both hang out a lot more after that :)

[bluegalaxygirl]

Amnesia (KidKiller X Reader) Prologue

Plot: After an explosion reader wakes up in a hospital with no memory of the past few years, her parents want to take her home so she can recover and get back to a normal life while the Kid pirates want her back on the ship where she belongs.

Warning: Body shaming/issues, Family problems/mental abuse, bad language, Violence and Blood.

Reader is Female, Poly Relationship, established relationship, Kid X Reader X Killer, Reader is a member of the Kid pirates and is in charge of the money, Budgeting and negotiating the best price.

Next Part >

The firstborn of the family always carries on the family name which is why high class families want their first to be a boy, so when you were born a girl you were a disappointment from the start. It didn't matter from that point on, what you did or what you accomplished in life, you would never be good enough for them, but you still tried. You wanted to be smart like your farther and prove to him that you can one day run the several companies that he owns, they were inherited from his farther who inherited it from his farther, it goes on and on. Your farther is very old-fashioned, men should work and women should stay home to raise the next generation, Your mother agreed with him on this so tried to raise you to be a lady, be pretty and proper. You wanted to please both of them, so they would finally look at you with love and respect but the more you tried the less happy you became. Still trying for a boy your parents had 4 other girls before finally having a boy but during that time of waiting they decided to put what they had to use. Beauty competition and pageant became your life and the things you actually liked to do had to be dropped in order to make time for all that. Your mother became more controlling sometimes scaring you with how far she was willing to go just to get you to win, she told you what to eat and when to eat, you were never aloud to cut your hair since it had to be longer and better than the other girls. You were measured and weighed every day, if you were over a certain weight then she would withhold food until you were back down to that weight.

Your mother broke down in tears when it turned out you needed reading glasses stating that it will damage your nose, you tried contacts, but they hurt and caused eye irritation, despite that you grinned and bared so you could continue to read and do your school work trying to impress your farther while also pleasing your mother. Even though you were only doing extra math's lessons to try and get your father to notice you it was something you began to look forward to, your teachers praised you for your work and even moved you up a year, because of this you enjoyed it more and more some times forgetting the reason you were doing all this in the first place. Unfortunately your sisters were pushed to the side most of the time, your mother stayed focused on you and trying to have a boy for your farther while your farther was either locked in his office or on business ventures, a lot of resentment formed between you and your sisters, they wanted mothers attention and you wanted less of it hoping it will take some pressure to being the most beautiful off of you. Things got better when your farther's company took a turn for the worst, he actually needed you and you were more than happy to help, hopefully making him proud of you in the process. It was hard work and you spent a lot of late night but your Farther made sure your mother didn't interfere because of this she turned her attention to your sisters finally giving them the attention they wanted.

It took months of work but you managed to fix the problem and found a way to save more money without hurting anyone who works for your farther, despite all that you didn't get a thank you, just sent back to your mother. It broke you seeing how he would easily throw you aside once he had what he wanted and things got worse when your brother came along. You were 14 when your brother was born, you didn't even know him and yet you hated him, your farther now had a son and it didn't matter if he grew up to be stupid or ugly, he would still have farther's praise. Your farther did most of the work raising your brother making sure he would one day be the head of his companies, it broke you even more seeing how your brother who was still a baby had more love and respect that you ever did or ever would. It didn't take long for the anger and hurt to boil over, you started acting out and rebelling, it started out small, going down stairs for late night snacks, ripping a dress you were going to wear just before a contest making it seem like an accident, missed pageants to go to business lectures or extra classes. To get your anger out you took up late night defense classes and a bit of kickboxing, it helped you calm down, not do anything rash and gave your brain a break from thinking about everything. Building up muscle made you feel better in yourself but when ever you would get weighed your mother would become angry since you put on weight. It didn't matter to her if it was muscle weight or not, a girl shouldn't have muscles, she should be thin and fair skinned, she didn't make you food but you would sneak down and make your own pissing her off even more.

Over time, you got more and more brave while also learning how to deal with your mothers anger when ever she would yell at you. The first time she truly yelled at you the poor maids had to come in and hold her back from hurting you, what made her so angry? You cut your hair up to your shoulders, you didn't want to do pageants or beauty contest anymore, you wanted to be your own person, you wanted to do the things you actually like and make a life for yourself that didn't revolve around pleasing your parents, but she never took you seriously until you cut your hair. She was losing control of you but gripped on tight, everything you did to rebel was met head on by something she would do and in turn you would do worse. She pulled you out of school, so she could home school you to become a lady but you sneak out and sit outside a class room listening through the open window while taking notes, because of this she hired security to have you on 24 hour watch. After a few weeks you got their routine and shift changes down so would use that time to sneak out either going to the school or going to the local gym. She would send them out to get you but over time you started to fight back refusing to go home until you were done with what ever you were doing. It wasn't long until those men quit finding you too hard to handle, your mother hired people after people, but they kept quitting and soon word got around making it impossible to hire anyone else knowing that you would physically hurt them. You 1, Mother 0.

Your mother still forced you into pageants by threatening to break something you loved or tricking you in some way, she would lie to you getting you to come back home or to a hall where the pageant was held, it got to a point where you stopped believing her even when she called to tell you your grandmother died, you thought it was a lie so just hung up on her but it turned out to be true. The main things she threatened to break was your glasses or what ever book you were reading at the time, one time your called her bluff causing her to break your glasses and then going through your room to break other stuff. You 1, Mother 1. Your mother would cook meals while keeping a food and calorie book for you, she watched what you ate and when she realized things weren't adding up with the amount of food used, she put chains and padlocks on the fridge and cupboards. Your farther had to step in on the argument you and your mother had over this telling you to do as your told but you refused to give up, it took you a while to figure out a way around it while not destroying the kitchen but you managed to get your hands on the key and make an imprint of it so you could have one made. It was going great until she caught you, from then on she would change the locks regularly, you didn't have the money to keep making prints to get a key made so you thought, if she's not going to be sneaky then neither am i. You bought bolt cutter and cut the chains and locks, she would put new ones up but you would just cut them again, it was another thing she had to back down on since your farther was getting upset with how much money she was spending on this. You 2, Mother 1.

You managed to save up enough money to get your first tattoo at 16, by working as a cleaner at the gym and tutoring other kids, It was hard work but you actually found joy in it. You wanted to go for a collar bone piece since your mother loved for you to wear sleeveless dresses but luckily the tattoo artist convinced you to go with a less painful area for your first time, so you got it on your forearm. A stack of books with a steaming cup on top, your favorite flowers, chocolate cosmos scattered around and leaves poking out from between the books. Your mother was beyond pissed when she found out and tried to get you to lazier it off but since you were 16 it was your chose medically so when you refused there was nothing anyone could do. During pageants or beauty contests she would use make up to cover it up, you hoped getting a tattoo would deter her form putting you in skimpy dresses but it seemed to make her worse. You didn't know if you won or lost on that one but as the outfits got skimpier you decided as much as you love your tattoo and would never get rid of it, she won that time. You 2, Mother 2. Your farther often had to get involved when your mother yelled at you since you'd just stare at her blankly waiting for her to calm down so you could talk but this would make her even more angry, her yelling could be heard from all over the house and it could last for almost an hour or until her voice gave out.

You know there's no point in trying to talk to either of them when they get angry, what ever you have to say will be met with more anger and mean comments, there's no point in yelling back. Your farther used to be mad that your mother was too loud when yelling at you but that soon changed to him yelling at you since your the problem, if you just did as you were told then your mother wouldn't be yelling and spending more money than needed to keep you in your place. Why they didn't give up on your or kick you out? Its most likely to save their reputation, having to kick out their eldest would put them in a bad light. You wanted to leave home as soon as you could, so you kept working, unfortunately it wasn't enough to get a boat and have money over to survive on out in the water especially when you'd have to buy new glasses whenever your mother break them or pay to fix broken things in you room. The money you saved up would come and go depending on you mothers mood and if you were willing to do as she says that day. You didn't have enough money to leave but you did it anyway on your 18th birthday when your parents did something you can't forgive, It was the straw that broke the camel's back as they say, so you gathered all the things you could and grabbed what money you had before leaving. Your parents didn't come after you which you were thankful for, but they probably hoped you would come around and not run away like you were planning on.

You bought a small boat that had a small hut, it was shabby at best but the engine worked and you just wanted out. It lasted longer than you thought, after a few islands the engine gave out but you managed to get to an island before that happened, some of the wood panels were coming loose and when you turned the light on inside the cabin to check things it sparked and a fire broke out. Luckily you managed to put it out quickly but the wiring was all kinds of messed up, no wonder the boat was cheep, it's a fire waiting to happen. To make matters worse this island isn't the friendly's, they don't mind outsiders, but they will charge you extra just for being one, It was hard to get a good price on anything but you managed to get a few things with what little money you had. You spent over a month on that island trying to fix the boat you had no idea how to fix while working in the village doing their taxes for little money. It was hard work and you felt like you were never getting off this island but surprisingly it was better than home. After another day of lots of work and hardly any pay you went to by supply's to fix your ship only to find two pirates that needed help with the cranky shop keeper over pricing them. You helped them in exchange for a ride to the nearest island with a village, their crew was a strange one but fun, of course you hid things from them, you never once mentioned your family and gave a fake last name when they asked. They may be fun to hang around with but their still pirates at the end of the day.

As you spent time with the crew you became very good friends with House, the ships new Doctor, well she was the best person they could find for the job. She didn't know how to fight at the time so you taught her a little on how to defend herself, she was sweet yet crazy and you didn't want to leave knowing she could get badly hurt. The other person you became close with was surprisingly Heat, you were a little scared of him but you refused to show fear around anyone in case they take advantage of it, he liked you for not being fearful of his appearance and for not flinching when ever their captain yelled or lashed out in anger. Kid's anger wasn't normally directed at you but most people run and hide when being anywhere near the angry or drunk captain. You didn't mind doing things around the ship since you were staying on there for free and even sorted out some of their finances with Killer looking over your shoulder most of the time, Killer and Kid were impressed that not only did you save them money on land but now you were saving them money out at sea too. It was the first time you got praise for your work, normally people would just hand you the money and watch you leave but you didn't charge them for any of it, and they actually thanked your for it all. When it was almost time for you to leave the ship, Captain Kid asked you to join his crew, It was a big surprise but you couldn't pass up the opportunity so you joined.

At first, you were mostly a cleaner and helped Kid or Killer with the money while they watched your every move until they could fully trust you. After a year not only where you put fully in charge of finances, budgeting and negotiating but Kid and Killer got together, you knew the two had a thing for each other and you, along with the crew were relived that it finally happened. There was a bit of hurt in your chest though, as much as you were happy for the two and enjoyed seeing them together you still had feelings for the both of them, time should have gotten rid of those feelings, but they only grew more and more as you got closer with them. As the crew grew you felt more and more at home, the crew was your family and the Victoria Punk was your home, you started to act more like yourself and how you wanted to be with no repercussions. The collection of tattoo's on your body grew over time, either relating to the things you love and things that remind you of the crew but you refuse to get your ears pierced, Kid wanted to do it for you but thanks to some past trauma you refuse. A few years went by before Killer and Kid pulled you into their room to talk, it turns out they felt the same as you did and after a long time of talking about it the two decided that they wanted you to be a part of their relationship. How could you say no? Your feelings for them never went away and you wanted nothing more than to be loved by them and show them how much they mean to you.

The hole crew knew about your relationship, it was no secret and no one had a problem with it so the three of you didn't mind a little PDA, Kid's a bit more closed off when off the ship and can get flustered easily when the two of you tease him or show affection when out in public, he'll yell at the two of you to shut up before storming off. There has been some fights and arguments between the three of you, well mainly between you and Kid but at the end of the day you all felt better when sleeping in the same bed. After Kid lost his arm you started painting his nails for him, it was the first time you actually enjoyed doing any kind of make up so ended up doing it more often for both of them. Even though you trust the two and fully love them you still haven't told them about your past and who your family was, you only said that it wasn't a nice place to be so you left, they never pushed you on the issue but some times worried when ever you'd lash out over someone commenting on your looks or waist line. They learned not to call you certain names or nicknames like, pretty, beautiful, Sweetie, princess, Darling, Doll ect, they all brought you back to what your mother used to say or what judges would call you, once you almost killed a guy for calling you "Just a pretty face". The only thing you didn't have a problem with was your height, muscles, scars and tattoo's which are all things your happy with, you worked hard for you muscles, love your tattoo's and your proud of your scars since you fought through some tough battles.

----- The battle -----

Speaking of battles, getting into a fight with the marines is how you ended up losing most of your memories in the first place, you could blame kid since he's the one who started the battle but the marines were carrying some good stuff that even you couldn't pass up on. While Kid and Killer were off fighting on other ships you were with Heat and a few other crew member's taking out the marines and trying to find what treasure they were carrying, unfortunately the treasure wasn't what you exacted, barrels of explosives. Making your way up to the deck you spot Heat about to use his fire breathing again as a bunch of marines run at him, in fear of him setting the ship ablaze causing the explosives to go off you jumped into the crowd of marines. "What the hell Y/N" Heat yells unable to use his fire with you in the way, kicking and grappling onto the marines you take a few out before Heat joins you slashing his swords to take out the rest "This ship is carrying explosives, i don't want the ship being blown up with the crew still on it" You yell as your foot connects with a marines face sending him flying back into the side of the ship, Heat sighs while slashing another marine knowing he can't use his fire breathing "If the treasure isn't here it must be on one of the other ships" The scarecrow like man calls back turning to face you now the deck is clear, turning to face him you nod before looking over at the marine ship next to this one. "I think its best if you head off to another ship, I'll set the ship to head towards the reinforcement and get the rest of the crew off" You state over the loud noise of fighting and cannon fire, Heat thinks for a second then nods "I'll inform the captain, be safe" he yells before running off and jump over to the next ship.

You know the best thing now is to get control of this ship and use it against the others marine ships that are starting to close in. Foot steps running towards you gets your attention getting you to spin around ready to fight only to see a member of your crew "Bubblegum, there are explosives on this ship get anyone off who uses gun or fire, I'm gonna gain control of the ship and set it on cause out to sea, hopefully we can get it to crash into the reinforcements" You call out to the blue haired man who nods at you heading off to tell the others on the ship. Heading to the control room you have to fight more marines on the way but soon get to the control room, opening the door you have no chose but to duck when a marine in a white coat swings his sword at you, it cuts the door in half as you slide under his legs to get behind him. The Lieutenant is fast though turning around and swinging his sword down, dodging out of the way you push off the floor using both feet to kick the man in the face. He stumbles back giving you time to stand up and jump kick him back further into the wall behind the door, with a sigh you head over to the control panel seeing the ship has set cause straight for the Victoria Punk, you had a feeling they were planning to doing the same thing as you were going to do, use the ship to blow up the other one. Before you can change its cause the marine's reflection in the glass gets your attention seeing him standing behind you and swinging his sword across to hit you. Barely managing to dodge to the side your shoulder gets cut pretty deep as his arm swings out grabbing you by the throat and throwing you window looking out onto the deck.

Glass shatters some piercing your skin as your body hits the slightly wet wooden deck rolling before managing to find your feet and skid to a stop "Y/n" Boogie a man with teal hair yells out going to run over to you when the lieutenant lands just in front of you bringing his sword down, flipping back words you avoid his swings before going under his legs again and kicking him in the back forcing him away from you "Get to the control room, this ship is on a direct cause to the Victoria." You yell as Bubblegum runs over to join Boogie, the two nod seeing you have this handled while also hearing the commanding tone you used. "So you figured it out, how smart" The marine yells running over to you while swinging his sword at you, dodging you manage to miss a few swings but get caught on the last one, the sword grazing your side as you use the palm of your hand to hit the marine in the throat. He steps back coughing from the hit as you grab his arm and round house a kick to the side of his head forcing it down onto the wooden deck while pulling his arm behind his back, he yells out in pain as his face breaks the wood under him and how your pushing his arm up further than it should go causing him to release the sword in his hand. With the lieutenant unable to move and the marine ship starting to turn around heading away from the Victoria Punk you feel a sense of relief, the marine under you stops struggling his eyes glues on something as he starts to laugh.

Pushing his head further down with your foot you growl wondering what's so funny "FIRE" The marine yells out making your eyes widen as the marine ship across from the one your on fires a cannon ball straight into the hull of the ship hitting the explosives inside. Everything happened in a flash, the ship lighting on fire as wood splinter and breaks apart, the ship creaked and roared as it split apart starting to sink into the ocean. You felt the fire hit your legs along with pieces of wood and metal before cold salty sea water engulfed you, still conscious you tried to swim to the surface above as body's and piece of the ship sink past you in the water. It was getting harder to breath but you soon made it to the top, bursting through the water you gasp for air while trying to gather your surrounding. A loud snapping sound catches your attention but you only had time to look up as the marine's mast breaks in half and falls right on top of you. Blood filled the water around you as your body was dragged down, deeper and deeper into the depth, your head hurt and your vision became blurry but a figure swam over to you just before your eyes closed letting darkness take over your vision and mind.

[greenflamedwriter]

I know you | Bingyuan

Story Prompt:

Imagine if Shen Yuan went to sleep, after reading PIDW and ended up IN PIDW, he thinks he's dreaming [but he's just astral projecting]

And he ends up seeing Binghe and helps him.

Yeah he thinks he's lost it, and each time he helps Binghe he decides to write a journel about it and began to write fanfiction of PIDW of a spirit guiding Binghe and people like that MORE than the canon material-

So anyway. he appears when Binghe is three and ends up talking to him and cheering him up. Then he goes forward and ends up when Binghe is a little older.

Binghe likes this gege until his mother laughs, "Ah Binghe are you playing?"

"Yeah this is Shen Yuan!"

Instead of greeting his strange friend with his short hair and weird clothes she only chuckled "You and your imagination come on and help with the chores."

Shen Yuan hummed "She can't see me."

Luo Binghe gazes at him in horror and Shen Yuan blanches "I'm not a ghost!"

But as he sleeps and appears again, he see's the washer women take all of her savings and see's the excitment on her face-

"Binghe do me a favour, tell your mother there are some weirdos in town selling false goods for triple the price."

Luo Binghe told her and she faltered before smiling, "If that was true, they would be run out."

Shen Yuan knew what would happen, then they wouldn't have enough money for medicine then she couldn't work, and when she couldn't work she won't be payed.

Shen Yuan followed her,

...and when she questioned the man at the stall he raised his voice, "Hah? Are you causing trouble?"

Shen Yuan couldn't take it when she stammered and almost payed extra-

He tried to pull her back, but with one touch, he blinked as suddenly he was gazing down at the man-

"Well?"

Shen Yuan huffed as he raised a pale hand and picked up the fake jade "If this was real, then it wouldn't be damaged hmm?" The mans eyes widened as Shen Yuan struck.

And of course, a chip appeared in the Jade Amulet.

The man mouth fell open and the other denizens stared speechless.

"This is supposed to be authentic jade? What do you see?"

"Y-you damaged it- you'll have to pay more than that!"

"A real jade wouldn't scratch. So if you admit to the damage then you admit to the authenciticty." She placed a hand on her hip hand still clutching the jade looking down on him.

"And this one deserves a discount. This one is marked," She turned to the man next to her "See?"

The man nodded "Hmm hmm. That is one big chip-"

"I payed full price!"

All of a sudden a stir erupted, the women dropped a tiny coin, barely change and walked off with her prize.

Shen Yuan walked a few ways ahead, panicking.

"I'm sorry- I didn't mean to- I'll try to let go."

It wasn't until they got home, hearing Luo Binghe play, Shen Yuan inhaled and tried to relax, clear his mind and leeett-

She cried out falling backwards, alerting Binghe.

"Mama!"

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"

Luo Binghe gave him a dark glare that trapped the words in his throat, "What did you do!?" He cradled his mother glaring at Shen Yuan.

"Binghe? y-your imaginary friend-"

"He won't hurt you anymore Mama-"

"No no it- it was a shock...he didn't mean to, he was just as scared as I was."

Luo Binghe blinked, surprised. "It was awful, losing control of my body but...I felt strong." Her voice filled with emotion then she started crying.

Luo Binghe and Shen Yuan felt more worried, after they went inside, and she was given tea she explained everything that would happen and gazed at the Amulet sadly.

"I wanted to get you a real one."

"Not worth it,"

Luo Binghe glanced at him, and his mother leaned close, "What did he say?"

Luo Binghe looked to Shen Yuan who sighed, "A real Amulet means nothing, you can't eat it or plant it to grow food. And your mother almost lost her life savings to it- a harsh winter is coming and if either of you fall sick you won't pay for a doctor."

After relaying the message tears sprung to her eyes.

"An angel."

"Or a ghost,"

Shen Yuan fidgeted uncomfortable, "I promise I won't do it again," The mother shook her head "Only in dire situations will I allow it. You saved us." Shen Yuan flushed looking away and Binghe beamed, for a moment he thought he lost his friend.

But now he knows he wasn't crazy!

____________

Shen Yuan posseses one of Binghes bullys chasing the others off hands on his hips.

"S-Shen Yuan?"

He turned beaming "Yep!"

"Play with me!" Luo Binghe pulled his arm and Shen Yuan allowed himself, after all, Binghe didn't have any friends and...Shen Yuan never had much friends either-

Being the son of the well renowned Shen Family, his social circle was small.

So playing tag and hide and seek, and other such things he felt like he was living out the childhood he never had. As they went home, the mother looked concerned to see the son of one of the lords behind Binghe.

"Mama it's Shen Yuan!"

He bowed, "Nice to finally make your aqquiantence ma'm."

Instead she placed her hands on her hips, "Shen Yuan. Are you possesing a child right now?"

He paused, "Uh yeah?"

"Undo it right now, that poor boy is probably having the fright of his life. How would you feel if someone took over your body?"

"Pretty bad."

"Yes, now let him go-"

"i uh- not here, he'll think your practising demonic cultivation, I'll take him home."

She hummed, "Be quick." its like he was having a lecture from a real mother.

Of course...things didn't go to plan.

Shen Yuan did plan on taking the boy home but...

He decided to walk towards the river, rousing the spirit to wake up and hear and understand what he was about to say.

"If you bully Binghe ever again, I'll make you hurt yourself." He stepped into the water, the water calmly pushing against his legs, but the further in he'll get the worse it'll be.

"I could drown you right now," His hands were trembling, the boys fear.

"Don't bother them ever again." He let go with a snap, wanting to make it awful. The kid began to bawl and started crying when he ran home.

What he was saving his life! Binghe repays those tenfold, now he won't have such a problem!

____________________________________________

Shen Yuan decides to teach Luo Binghe how to read and write, then decided to teach him how to book bind. "If you make Bestiarys, you can sell them. They are priceless, say your father was a cultivator and left notes behind it has just been officially edited for final print, teach your mother too."

And both were bemused how Shen Yuan taught them and soon they began to use the money that would've been wasted on materials to make their own copies.

Luo Binghe absorbed everything like a sponge, but he was nearing the proper age.

"Binghe should learn to cultivate, it'd be better if we moved."

"We?" Even the mother who was cooking, listened as Binghe was the translator.

"Yes, travel and sell the books, be closer to Cang Qiong mountain while Luo Binghe trains, I have taught him everything I know- but cultivating and learning the fundamentals is not my expertise." Although if he could get to the mountain and spy he COULD.

"Mama should we go- the townspeople have already bought all of our copies of the Bestiarys, there's nothing else to sell." She hummed then nodded, the thought of going back to washing dyed clothes was not something she wanted to do.

"Yes, maybe we should leave."

"Tell your mother to dress as a man, a women and child traveling will cause trouble."

When Shen Yuan woke up- he did not know he was ACTUALLY in PIDW and changing Binghes life.

The mother saw Luo Binghe's disapointed look it seems as if Shen Yuan has left.

"Mama do you think he's a demon?"

Possesing people, and having so much knowledge did seem demonic...but...teaching them to be independent, sharing the knowledge and even making Luo Binghe a cultivator.

Didn't seem like something a malevolant spirit would want.

"He may be a heavenly official."

Luo Binghe brightened, "Why is he helping us?"

Well the Heavenly Official seemed especially fond of Binghe, who knows.

________________________________________________

And so continuing on, thats when Binghes mother, later known as Qian Xuan [Note I first wrote Xuan Qiran and thought is that even a good name???? then google was like QIan Xuan was a scholar- and I'm like YES that one]

She had decided that once Luo Binghe begins cultivating, how on earth was she and Shen Yuan supposed to communicate? So she decided that she would allow him to posess her during that time.

Shen Yuan blinked as she sat before him trying to look him in the eye when she couldn't see him.

"Only when nessecary, such as creating the manuals or documenting beasts or flora, and once that task is done Shen Yuan should create diraries or messages for this one to follow."

Shen Yuan glanced at Binghe, then back to his mother- who in the story should be dead by now.

Shen Yuan opened then closed his mouth.

"She's aware I'm a man right? it just- doesn't seem right for a man to posess a women," Shen Yuan looked so uncomfortable and when Binghe translated she laughed.

"It's fine, it's not like there's any virtue to lose it's just for little tasks and to communicate with one another. We can't rely on Binghe being our translator all the time."

Shen Yuan sighed then nodded "Tell her if she feels uncomfortable at any point she can say no."

She smiled, "See? How can I not trust you when you are so kind?"

Luo Binghe watched Shen Yuans face flush scarlet, then looked away pretending it didn't happen. Shen Yuan couldn't help but think if he was a suspicious person how easy it would be to take advantage then again, if this was real having the protagonist being indebted to him would be seen as manipulation.

But Shen Yuan wasn't getting thing out of this dream other than a really good fanfiction once he woke up!

And so they began their journey, they thought Shen Yuan would act as their body guard when faced with monsters hah! as if, he was a recluse and has never fought in his life!

So of course when they were apprehended by bandits, because of COURSE THEY WERE-

Shen Yuan thought he lead them to their death! Thankfully he picked up some pollen, that put demons to sleep, it was wife #40 did to Binghe for um...dubvious purposes, so when all the demons fell into a slump that was one thing-

But seeing some still standing was another as he realised that they had human demonic cultivators in their party! THis was a bit overkill wasn't it just for some petty thieves in the night!?

As both Qian Xuan and Luo Binghe began to run for their lives, Shen Yuan realised belatedly he could possess them!

So he leapt into one bandit, stabbing his comrade then jumped into another one, and kept repeating.

"Hey what are you doing!?" Of course they weren't going to stand their nicely while being attacked by their own men, and Shen Yuan of course didn't know how to kill them fataly, their cultivation healed them dammit!

And he lost the surprise, so after jumping into another cultivator realised he was going to have to go the extreme. All the demonic cultivators watched in horror as one slit his own throat screaming in agony.

"What the hell!?" Soon they stopped pursuing Binghe and his mother, while Shen Yuan jumped into another, that was awful, and he felt it, ugh and he was going to have to do it again.

"WHose doing that-"

"A ghost!?"

They looked pretty spooked, especially as another did the same thing soon their was only four left.

"L-lets get out of here,"

"Just exorsise it!" Shen Yuan had no idea if it would work, and panicked jumping into the man holding up a talisman ripping it in two and laughed as creepy as he could.

"You think petty tricks like this would work on me?" He slowly slit the throat eyes forced into a grin, as the body slumped Shen Yuan almost cackled to see how spooked they were!

"That family is under my protection! Suffer the consequences!" As they fell only one more remained, looking shit terrified as his final brother in demonic cultivation stood above him raising his own sword against him.

"Do you want me to do the honours? Or do you want to put yourself out of your own misery?"

The man shook and raised his own blade ending his life quickly. Shen Yuan blinked, oh he didn't think he could do it. He grunted as he felt the one he was possesing fight back, "Oh your still alive in there?" Shen Yuan hummed, finding the weapon in his hand twirling easily, just from muscle memory alone he began to experiment and realised he suddenly knew how to wield the blade, he could tap into the memories and muscle memory of the stance.

He could protect them with this body-

That train of thought was immedietly shut down as he staggared to his knees. "Hmm, I don't feel like keeping you anyway," He spoke to his hands flexing them. "Your a demonic Cultivator, your reputation may make things more difficult along the way." And he now knew how to kill people lethally and non-lethaly.

"Be thankful, I had no idea how to kill someone painlessly, so your better of than your comrades."

His mouth stuttered as it forced itself open, this body was strong-

"Who are you?" The man asked, and Shen Yuan raised his weapon thinking one thought as he plunged it into the heart.

"Peerless Cucumber."

As he joined up with both Binghe and his mother he told them it was all good! And so they continued on their journey, but decided it was safer during the day. Still periless in the world of PIDW but a 'little' safer.

_________________________________________________________

As both Shen Yuan and Qian Xuan watched Luo Binghe go up the mountain, looking clean and healthy, not the starved child he was supposed to be, and both were teary eyed.

"Ah our bun is all grown up."

Stop crying, Shen Yuan. Binghe's mother spoke and he hated to admit but the whole sobbing mess was all him. "Shh, don't let him know, he'll think it's all you." She waved him off then returned to their home.

Shen Yuan had to haggle the price as the realtor was obviously thinking a mother with a child would be desperate, but Shen Yuan put his foot down. After being a ghost and listening to the prices the man gave to other citezens his quote was drastically different. Shen Yuan refused and after showing the money that they had earned on the road the mans eyes bulged and then began to change his tune at the thought of losing out on so much money. After all better someone pays for a room, rather than no one paying for a room period.

And so she got to work, by printing.

Shen Yuan tried this once at a workshop his University was hosting and to say he hated it would be an understatment, Germany had these floor tiles [very flammable and toxic] but they were great for carving after trying himself it wasn't fun. But now the fact that they were in the past in China, Shen Yuan found himself carving illustrations and words to reprint their manuals, Qian Xuan wiped her forehead, she had deliveries for so many smaller sects. "We should have a name, afterall-" Qian Xuan spoke, "It's not like I'm the one who wrote this."

Hmmm, "Maybe Peerless Cucumber? It's a title I go by back home." Qian Xuan paused then continued on, Peerless Cucumber? So he was a heavenly official! and such a renowned title too!

"Okay, we'll use that title and claim it was Luo Binghe's father if anyone asks," She nodded that was a good plan.

___________________________________________________________

When Luo Binghe finally snuck away down the mountain, both Shen Yuan and Qian Xuan berrated him, "You'll get in trouble! Ah we missed you!" She hugged him close and Luo Binghe beamed basking in it. "This Binghe missed you two, Mama, Shen-gege."

Ah right, Shen Yuan coughed then let go, Luo Binghe's mother laughed then froze eyes wide as her eyes glanced at Shen Yuan then did a double take-

"I can see you!" She pointed at Shen Yuan and he gaped too. "How- is it prolonged contact?"

She frowned, "Strange I can't hear you yet...maybe if we keep going..." that was strange, why Luo Binghe can see him but she couldn't until now.

__________________________________________________

When Shen Yuan woke up, he knew something was wrong. "Huh-"

"Mr Shen! He's awake!"

Huh?

He was in a hospital, why was he in a hospital and not home!

The doctors told him he was in a coma, asleep for five days before anyone knew and barely managed to get him on fluids straight away.

Then he was in the hosiptal for longer.

When Shen Yuan slept again returning to the world of PIDW he slipped into an even deeper sleep that had the doctors and even Shen Yuans parents concerned, and when he woke up again it had been months.

"I'm afraid if he goes to sleep again it'll be harder and harder to wake him up."

___________________________________________________________

"Hmmm, it'd be better if I had a body..." Now that he thinks about it, Luo Binghe is a heavenly demon. and sure he and his mother were doing fine but what if something happens, at least a body with cultivation could protect them. If demonic cultivators were strong enough to almost eject him, then strong demons like Mobei-Jun or cultivators like Shen Qingqiu could exorsice him-

A/n: When Shen Yuan finally gets the mushroom body looking like himself, exp wih long hair, when he goes to sleep he finds himself a ghost back at his world, eyes wide to see him on the bed flat lining. And when he slept again saw he was a ghost in his world and PIDW was his reality, minor freakout aside he was lucky the next time he slept he had no dreams at all.

But came to realise that this world was really and his actions had consequences...no big.

________________________________________________

Out of all the times for something to happen...

"So this is where all those...intersting manuals came from."

of course when Binghe was given a fake manual, he knew right away and started bringing his own which was confiscated and SQQ thought he stole it, and Luo Binghe proudly claims his mother not only made it but sold them. Their pen name was Pe-peerl--

It was difficult to pronounce but they got the jist. So SQQ goes down the mountain and see's the madam at work.

They have a bigger home now, with a courtyard and all fancy, Qian Xuan never dreamed she could live like this. And being in charge of printing.

Carving onto chinese wood tiles then flatening the ink to make it flat Shen Yuan told her to go by the sound and after a time she noticed the technique and was able to print thousands of copies by hand. Now she can afford to pay for help!

Her! A women paying others to help instead of the other way around! Because of her experience ended up being a kind and forgiving boss, but thanks to Shen Yuan kept people in line to not take advantage.

Shen Qingqiu looked handsome, if it wasn't for his fan and the way he sneered at their books did Shen Yuan recognise him. Worse, both were sharing a body. Shen Yuan wasn't sure if he moved if the cultivator would suddenly sense it. "It's considered rude to enter another persons home without announcing yourself." Shen Qingqiu eyes flicked up, intense. "This Master is Peak Lord Shen Qingqiu of Qing Jing Peak. Your son is my disciple." Shen Yuans lips twitched, wanting to scoff himself. hah disciple in name only! This man was unfit to being called Shizun.

"Odd, you are not a cultivator and yet seem to be selling wares to the common people claiming to be an expert. Selling faulty Manuals could end in thousands of peoples death."

Shen Yuan would spit blood- how dare he!? After giving Luo Binghe a fake manual- yes he saw it Mister!

they cleared their throat, "Well since we are in the presence of a Cultivator of a prestegious sect, why not validate wether this is misinformation?" Shen Yuan asked. "Although, if it is as bad as you say it is. This humble one would like a second opinion, if the damage is done this one would take responsibility to rectify that, if you have someone from Qian Qao peak free to supervise and even give insight to help those who have gravely been hurt by this ones misinformation."

Although no ones complained yet. Shen Qingqius hummed, "Where did you aquire this information Madam Luo?"

"This ones name is Qian Xuan, and my late husband who had passed kept diaries of Cultivation and this one decided to share that with the world."

Shen Qingqiu sneered openly, "So you decided to print thousand of copies to depserate fools only to put money in your pocket?" She hummed nodding, "Well being a washer women unable to feed my child it seemed harmless." She walked over to a drawer opening it up and revealing the parchment.

God I want to lamenate it so bad

She showed it to Shen Qingqiu with an amused tilt.

"Since the Tian ti Temple approved a vast number of shipments for their own youngest disciples and had even verified that the information is correct." Shen Qingqiu glared at the official seal approving and even commisioning this women!

Oh his face aha!

"Of course since Cang Qiong Mountain is the best peak with Huan Hua close second I figured that maybe these methods were outdated, if the Great Master Peak Lord Shen is offering his services to help those below his station this Xuan would be grateful."

His eyes narrowed, already caught in the trap, coming in here to accuse her of lying and selling faulty goods when she has a sect to back her up- suck it!

"Since Master Shen came all this way would he perhaps like some tea?" And Shen Yuan guessed he would say no, go off in a huff and Shen Yuan would wave then stick up his middle finger when he's turned around. "That would be lovely, thank you."

...oh...that asshole.

[darrowfire15]

TF2 Angels and Demons AU

Angels

- Heavy, an angel of Humility.

- Engineer, an angel of Kindness.

- Soldier, an angel of Temperance (and God's favorite).

- Demoman, an angel of Diligence.

- Cmedic, an angel of Chastity.

- Chemist [OC], a slightly tainted angel of Patience.

Demons

- Medic, a demon of Lust.

- Spy, a demon of Envy.

- Pyro, a demon of Gluttony.

- Sniper, a Fallen Angel of Greed.

- Scout, a demon of Pride.

- Cheavy, a fallen angel of Wrath.

Angels and demons cannot use their magic against each other (weapons, blasts of holiness/sinfulness), it destroys the ethereal peace treaty set between God and Lucifer.

Angels and demons can purify and taint one another. Angels can purify demons and demons can taint angels. However, it all depends on who initiates it first. This can lead to either one completely switching to the other side if the process was completed.

Some extra stuff

- Sniper fell because he did one sinful thing that cost him his position in Heaven. He thought he was doing good. He tried to explain it to the other angels, but they didn't accept his explanation and he was thrown out.

- Heavy isn't swayed by Medic's temptations to sin, instead rebukes it by leading him to do acts of good.

- Soldier and Demo are best friends and married.

- Scout is Sniper's self-deemed buddy in Hell. He follows him around and talks for hours. Sniper hates him even more for it.

- Medic and Cheavy constantly fight for territory in Hell. They're big known rivals. So big that all other demons stay away when they want the same territory.

- Sniper gets angry at Heaven a lot for casting him out. He once got so angry that he turned into his full demon form. Engie almost broke the ethereal treaty when he got close to the other angels. Spy and Medic had to calm him down.

- Demo, Soldier, and Heavy are the strongest angels both physically and magically.

- Spy and Medic helped Sniper adjust to Hell when he first fell. Spy immediately identified him as one of Heaven's swiftest.

- Engie and Sniper were best friends before Sniper fell. He watches Sniper from Heaven, but will sneak off to see him.

- Chemist was tainted by Spy, who almost encouraged Chemist to sin. He was saved by Engineer, but the damage was already done. Some of the feathers of his wings are black.

- Miss Pauling is a human who has a hard time believing that angels and demons exist. And she hates Scout for his failed flirting attempts.

- Because Chemist was tainted, he was put in the care of Engineer. Engie is his personal nurse.

- Cheavy and Cmedic were sweethearts before Cheavy fell. They still kind of are? It's hard to determine their relationship.

[zarla-s]

Man it's been a long time since I've done an ask cluster! Let's see if I can get some down...

He's an extremely fun character to write for and play with! So in that sense I'm fond of him, haha. He's such a huge disaster of a person, there's always something fun to do with him. Well "fun" in a relative sense.

I don't have anything to forgive him for, he didn't hurt me. |D He hurt the brothers!

I do have an idea for a cute feature inspired by Six-Eared Macaque! I should really sit down and do that already... and finish the one I half started but never finished...

I don't think my opinion on any of them changed! I love them all, haha. Which ones I drew comics about just depends on which ones I get ideas for really. Sometimes I get Alphys ideas and sometimes I get Goatparents ideas! Inspiration is fickle!

I don't have any solid plans or anything. :B Just gonna keep chugging along with silly comics and art! Work on Defrag and such. I'd like to finish a Ladyverse comic I've had lying around forever, and I had vague plans for doing a doujin for them too I could work on... and also seeing if I could format Handplates into a book format... I've always got a bunch of projects, haha.

It works on that level! It wasn't intentional though. |D

I do enjoy speculation! I don't really have much of my own though, I didn't predict anything in chapter 2 so now I'm assuming I can't predict anything in the future chapters either, haha.

Emesis Blue is great! Some really beautiful visuals in there, very striking! Love the mood of it too and a lot of the surreal imagery. I think it helped spur me back into TF2 again, haha. Medic and Scout's relationship was so cute.

I have thought about this! It has its share of challenges though... I outlined them more in this post. A pdf would be more doable though... could even include some extra stuff as well! Hmm...

I can see that! He'd probably spend as much time out in the rain as he could just doing whatever to stay outside.

It was pretty much always going to end like that. I always wanted it to end on a hopeful note! Which might seem weird with how dark it is at the beginning. I DID for a brief period at the very beginning of Handplates think about stopping with the Pacifist run, but that was only because I thought going where I wanted to go would take too long and already the project seemed so dauntingly huge at the time, haha. But it was always going to end in a positive way!

Gaster talks about what he originally intended to create here, and he explains a bit about the physical experiments he runs on the brothers here. They aren't really a solution in and of themselves so much as tools to try and find a way to break the barrier. Really though, Gaster got stuck in the sunk-cost fallacy lol.

I don't really have opinions about what canon Gaster would be like. |D Handplates Gaster is his own thing really. Canon Gaster, who knows! Deltarune Gaster, who knows! I will say I hope Gaster stays a mystery in Deltarune and never actually shows up but I think the odds of that are really low at this point.

I thought about doing a script along those lines! I did a few rough drafts of one, but it never really went anywhere... it'd end up dead-ending or kind of meandering off. I might see if I can get an actual script down for a side-comic or something in the future... it might be better suited for a fic.

I was just thinking about this lately! I was picturing Gaster totally forgetting about that until he sees Papyrus squinting and is like OH GOD YOUR EYES THAT'S RIGHT D: and goes to get him looked at lol.

I couldn't come up with a good idea for Flowey which is a shame, I do like him, haha. If one comes to me though I might make a little side comic about it!

Gaster's LV is complicated... his stats in-game are ludicrous if I recall correctly. Did he carry the damage from his murders into the void, even if those murders weren't his in the new timeline? Deep thoughts.

He fed them anything he could find, haha. Which is why sometimes they just ended up with chocolate bars (which he intended as dinner for himself). He probably fed them more often than he fed himself lol. He did feed them fairly regularly though.

Not about skeletons, probably. |D

Man I know I had an explanation for this but it was so long ago... it's hard for me to remember. It could be that the Riverperson is just weird and has weird insight into elements of things, had a prophetic dream... I don't know! It bugs me now that I can't remember this, haha.