#got flashbanged while looking in the tags and

[urconductor]

// putting this forward rq but reminder to tag ur nsfw/sug.gestive stuff!! ^-^ ppl appreciate it!!

[literalite]

paperbacks.

named after the arlo parks song! a warm and glowing preset meant for ingame shots, intended to be reminiscent of old photography with sepia tones. bloom-heavy so i wouldn’t recommend it to be kept on while playing the game or in cas, especially if you have a lighter cas background

works with reshade or gshade provided you’ve downloaded most of the shaders available

looks best outdoors at sunrises and sunsets and on darker skintones- it’s not going to turn your white sims into flashbangs but uh it’ll be close

you can edit it as much as you want but it’d be nice if i got a tag <3

DL (google drive)

thank u to everyone who tested it for me! some more pics under the cut

[garnetsandroses]

my vic and amy powerswap au concepts! they make guest appearances in a fic of mine that's still in the plotting stage. power/design/alt-trigger details below :>

(warning for talk about canon-typical violence and the dallon-pelham torment nexus)

amy/fusillade: flight, forcefield, projectile mini bombs that look like sparks (bud from mark). when her forcefield blocks hits, it lights up, emulating carol's breaker state. she isn't immune to her own bombs; they can disrupt her forcefield if she's not careful.

-i wanted her to have a kinda boring costume that fit new wave's aesthetics without going outside of the box too much -she triggered pretty young at ~12, so her style hadn't developed and she's not confident enough to ask for a redesign now -white; accent color is a muted red -cape is asymmetrical to reference glory girl's -name starts with f to match w/ flashbang

she triggered when she was hiding in the other room while her parents had an argument. both were worried about the future of new wave, and carol in particular said some nasty things about amy not belonging in the family. mark got angry enough to use his power unconsciously, the blast from the grenade scaring amy on the other side of the wall. it knocked over a photo of the dallons (taken before they had adopted amy), and seeing that last image of the perfect family she was never going to fit into finally pushed her over the edge.

straightforwardly, this contributes to her powers being a mash of her parents with flight thrown in bc i love me a good mover aspect to a trigger. just wants to belong -> emulates the best and brightest aspects of her family. additionally, i think that mark was most parental and present when amy and vic were at this preteen age (based on what he's mentioned doing for them like cooking breakfast), so that contributes to his larger influence on amy's powers.

---

victoria/salva: touch-based biokinetic powers w/ focus on enhancing people’s abilities and creating augments for self (aegis+hookwolf ping). minor brute abilities like enhanced strength, stamina but not notably above that of a very fit, trained young adult.

-cute nurse's outfit that allows for lots of movement. someone said it looks magical girlesque and i think that's just bc i've designed magical girls since 6th grade

-simple white and bright red w/ same half-circles on coat (as seen on my panacea design) to mimic the coils of a caduceus

-utility details: hat has elastic band to stay on head, satchel is insulated so she can theoretically keep biomass in there, jacket is easily removable so her sleeves won't get nasty

-really hard to see but her bag has keychains: a pom-pom, official prt merch of gallant, new wave merch of fusillade's red star emblem

-salva is my attempt to be punny by combining "salve" + "salvo" (the rapid attack/round of applause meanings) + a feminine ending to mimic the "girl" in "glory girl"

triggered around a year after amy (reversing the canon situation) when the latter went on a patrol with the wards, vic tagging along just to see what crimefighting was like. vic had been stewing over being left behind due to not getting powers, but that subliminal jealousy was resolved in the worst way. hookwolf tore into the wards patrol, aegis and amy being the worst off. vic ran forward into the fray to try and save amy while the others retreated, asking herself questions like "why can't i do anything to help," "why can't i be strong enough to do something," etc. it was finally when she laid her hands on amy, red connecting the two of them, that she asked the real question "why can't i have powers too?" and triggered.

active-combat aspect with self-buffing brutes wandering around -> power has limited effect on herself. not only could she heal amy and pump her full of enhancements like adrenaline and natural-brewed steroids, but vic could take the biomass strewn around and graft it to herself, augmenting her abilities slightly. just like in canon where both sisters have yet to realize full control of their powers, salva hasn't started walking around in a biomecha meatsuit yet, but that could theoretically work for her. if she didn't care about not getting put on a watchlist, ofc

[yurihotline]

hi i agree with every point on your yukari post but the use of the ‘megami ibunroku persona’ tag was like a flashbang lmao. crazy that there’s still the same discourse abt my gal so many years later tho

I'm a real personacel, come back next time where I start talking about how the entire plot of Persona 2 wouldn't have happened if tatsuya just joined Eikichi's band

No yeah but the fact that there is still considerable discourse on Yukari is crazy because I remember some years back some popular YouTubers talked about the answer and it kind of poisoned the well of modern persona fandom discussion on Persona 3 as a whole but especially Yukari. Of course the "Yukari is a bitch" rhetoric has been around for a while but I think a couple years ago is when it got really bad in the modern persona community which is weird because if you actually look that the text you would realize how well written the answer is at least in my opinion. I genuinely think if someone still believes that Yukari is a bitch or she regressed They're either parroting the thoughts of a YouTuber or they just do not know what they are talking about.

And I already know the discourse is going to go INSANE when episode aigis drops in p3r. I will be in the trenches the moment it releases

[plague-karm]

Now the gang have woken up in the Hadal Blacksite and wake up in different areas, they’re separated and they finally meet the fish man, bonds are unwillingly formed.

For further context go through the “Hadalpelagic Zone” tag that’ll give you all the lore you need

Bentley

Feels really guilty about Lena and Valen getting dragged into all this

He’s quick on his feet so he’s doing alright, mostly

Is the first to discover Sebastian, oh how they hate each other :3

Bentley is a guy that’s been desensitised to a lot of shit due to the fire so he’s not really all that scared of him, likes pissing him off

Sebastian cannot STAND this guy! Who the hell does he think he is?! Crawling in like he owns the place…

But his hair…why does it look like…?

You know damn well Bentley flashbangs him every chance he gets, manages to leave through the vent before he can get shot or grabbed

Bentley feels more in control when he does this, he hates feeling hopeless and he doesn’t want the situation he’s in to break him down

Lena

Absolutely MISERABLE

It’s too loud, too cold, she wishes she just died in all honesty

Paranoia is at an all time high, 100% believes the others are dead

Manages to find places to sleep despite everything

She just wants to go back home man :(

The only reason she’s still alive is because her adrenaline makes her one hell of a sprinter

Valen

He’s struggling the most :(

He hasn’t been through past trauma like the other two so this is how he gets his

Trying to keep a brave face but he cries himself to sleep every night

Keeps their graduation picture in one of his pockets

Constantly thinking about the bomb strapped to him

His whimsy is withering away :(

Cries himself to sleep every night and prays to god

Eventually everyone finds each other at different times, Bentley finds Valen in an abandoned office and the two cried in each others arms for five minutes straight, they stay together constantly for each others reassurance, they’re trying to find Lena to no avail. Eventually introduced Valen to Sebastian

“What…?”

“Don’t worry mate he just sells stuff, he’s a pain in the ass but look, he’s got batteries. Probably the only bastard in this place that has sentience”

Sebastian messes with Val CONSTANTLY during their first encounters, he’s very easy to tease, Bentley always comes to his defence though and they’re evenly matched in verbal combat.

While running away from something they managed to find Lena hiding in a closet and they immediately got out of dodge, she was so relieved to see them that she started sobbing instantly…the other two could tell she hadn’t slept in ages.

They told her that Sebastian wasn’t an active threat before they gathered in the shop so she was only taken a little off guard by him.

“There’s three of you now huh?”

“Yep”

“Any other idiots I should tend to while you’re at it?”

“Nope, just us, and she’s staying here”

“Are you serious? I’m not a charity!”

“Tough shit, she hasn’t slept in…I don’t even know how long, me and Val have given you good fucking money you owe us”

He sighed in an aggravated manner and begrudgingly agreed

“Fine, but if she does ANYTHING stupid she’s going back out with you”

“That wasn’t that hard now was it-?”

“GET OUT!!”

Valen shrieked and quickly crawled through the vent, Bentley shrugged and followed. Lena was sitting on the floor close to the desk, she looked like a corpse, the only way he could tell she was still alive was by the small twitches in her hands and legs.

This became the new routine, Bentley and Valen would come back with data, Lena would either join them or sit down in a worse state than before, he’d have a back and forth with Bentley, but one question stayed in his mind…

“How the hell were they still alive?!”

Bentley was running on pure spite while the other two had practically given up on everything! He hears what they talk about outside too! They’re stupid! All of them! Every single one of them! If they were put in his position they would’ve croaked years ago! But…they were in his position, weren’t they? Forced here against their will, granted they weren’t experimented on but they were clearly miserable, even if they showed it in completely different ways…when Bentley didn’t show up during his usual quota he felt off.

“Heh…maybe he FINALLY kicked the bucket, thank god, if I had to put up with Valen’s shrieking again I would’ve-“

He stopped himself immediately…why the hell was he using their names?! They’re EXPENDABLES! They’re not people they’re numbers! Lambs for slaughter! They’re NOTHING!

…But still

He found himself missing Bentley when he wasn’t there, yeah he annoyed him but having someone who wasn’t scared of him for once…was actually kind of nice…

Valen was slowly getting used to him and apologised profusely when he flashbanged him a few days ago, he wasn’t as jumpy as he used to be…

And if he was going to be honest with himself…Lena was the one who intrigued him the most, she was the only one who never spoke (whether this was willingly or not he didn’t know) and her eyes…the same blue he had all those years ago. No matter how much he tried to tell himself otherwise, he always thought back to those days, when things were normal, when he actually had a future ahead of him, before all this…

Sometimes he heard Lena humming to herself, it sounded hoarse, maybe that was her coping mechanism? He didn’t know, he actually recognised a lot of the songs she hummed, some Metallica, some HIM, holy shit, he had something in common with someone that wasn’t just “I want to escape this hellhole”. Whenever he wasn’t occupied with something he’d join in, he wasn’t sure if she heard him or not but he didn’t care, he felt normal for the first time in years…

His worst fears were coming to fruition.

He was getting attached.

And he didn’t know what to do.

[heroinejinx]

FANFIC APPRECIATION MEME

Post recommendations for your ten favourite fanfics and tag the authors if possible. Tell us what you like about their work.

Tag five people of your choice to do the meme too.

okay well there’s more than ten because i’m indecisive & these are all too good not to mention!!

for some sense of order, i’ve separated them by ships, and then further by if they’re canon or au, because the 2 are essentially different genres so 🤓 

i’m also not gonna expand too much on what i like about each of these because it’ll just be me waffling & saying ‘i love this ship and this person writes their dynamic so damn well’ over and over lol 

Lightcannon

~~canon-ish~~

- ‘Ill-Fortune and Illumination’ series by @questionablecuttlefish 

ft. scenes of extreme chaos and extreme tenderness, sometimes in the same chapter, always brilliant 🤌

- ‘The energy that pumps through my veins’ by @ghostofyaz

in which jinx is the ultimate masochist & lux aims to please ✨

- ‘Flashbangs and Frag Grenades’ series by @calchexxis (which there’s also a podcast on Spotify for!!🔥)

‘jinx is crazy, lux is crazier’ - a must read

~~au~~

- ‘Bright Eyes’ series by @calchexxis

college au in which jinx is a ‘tattooed punk on a motorcycle’ - need i say more? 👀

- ‘Friction Coefficient’ by @blood-lich-crow

and so they were forced to be study buddies 😙

- ‘Fight and Flight’ by @onegraycat

the closest to top gun i will ever willingly get, ft. angst and planes ✈️

Timebomb

~~canon-ish~~

- ‘My Boy Savior’ by Elssandra on AO3 (idk their tumblr)

wherein jinx’s journey to becoming a firelight is cute, dark as hell, dramatic and frequently heartbreaking - yay 🥲

Pistolwhip / CaitJinx

~~canon-ish~~

- ‘Dancing After Death’ by @prettyaveragewhiteshark

jinx and caitlyn bond over their grief & it hurts & it’s so satisfying to read 💔

- ‘Hollow bones and bird song’ series by @natsukashenby

the fic that got me into the crackship, so much angst and pining, god bless 🙏

- ‘Lithium’ series by @ravenkinnie

okay i need to re-read this asap but the angst in this knows no bounds 🖤

~~au~~

- ‘Love Sonnet aka Escort AU’ series by @ravenkinnie

this fic is so tender and their connection feels so real - idk how else to describe it other than saying just go read it right now 🥺

- ‘Lover, will you look at me now? I’m already dead to you’ by @natsukashenby

ft. caitlyn and jinx bonding a little too much at a party… gotta love the drama

Liquorbomb (Jinx x ‘Chuck’)

@unknownstellardepths has this monopolised lololol thank you for your service

~~canon-ish~~

- ‘Toy Guns with Real Bullets’

jinx turns to ‘chuck’ after killing silco and things get *complicated* ❤��‍🩹

this fleshes out thieram/chuck so so well, and the writing in this? the crafting of the fight scenes, the sex scenes, and character development? yeah, read it.

~~au~~

- ‘Scissors and Heartstrings’ 

more thieram and jinx antics - can’t get enough tbh 🫶

Honourable mentions for some non-Arcane fics I adore:

SPOP (Catradora)

~~canon-ish~~

- ‘Falling feels like flying (till the bone crush) by ehj on AO3 (idk their tumblr)

what if catra and adora started secretly fucking while still at war with each other? yeah this is that & it’s bloody great 😌

~~au~~

- ‘Break a Leg (and break the bed)’ by @dandyvela 

catradora as stunt workers who are secretly fuck buddies, minus the friendship & add on a whole lot of repressed feelings. genius 💖

- ‘Take me home’ by feistypants on AO3 (idk their tumblr)

exes running a farm together and slowly confronting the past… when i tell you i cried 😭

Killing Eve (Villaneve)

~~what everyone in the old fandom wishes could’ve been canon~~

- ‘Saving Eve’ by DontShoveTheSun on AO3 (idk their tumblr)

okay i’m not exaggerating when i say that this fic has improved my mental health lol anyone still reeling from that abysmal finale needs to read this. this whole thing is like the most comforting hug ever & idc it’s canon to *me* 🥹

tbh i’d also extend this rec to anyone who enjoys the murder wives trope in general, even if you haven’t seen the show - this fic truly delivers everything that kind of story needs. can’t praise it highly enough.

okay, this was super fun to do so i’m tagging all the authors mentioned here, plus anyone else who wants to do it! 💕

[raetttriestowrite]

First & Last Lines

Rules: Post the first and last lines of the last 10 fics you posted. WIPs are welcome. Not super strict!!

I was tagged by @mirrorthoughts so thank you! Everything I've posted is from Bless This Mess, This Mess Is Mine series so let's see how this looks all laid out. 😂

I'll Keep You Like An Oath - Part 13 Booker recognises the flashbang for what it is as soon as it's tossed into the room, closing his eyes and bracing without a moment's hesitation. - Booker would do anything, here and now, to keep that.

When the Lonesome Whistle Cries - Part 12 Desmond comes out of sleep to the low murmur of voices somewhere in the room and the smell of coffee on the air. - Every thought is molasses slow and syrupy and Desmond. Sleeps.

I'm Standing Here Until You Make Me Move - Part 11 The world is still fuzzy at the edges, hard to grasp. - His apartment in Paris is obviously compromised, and he'll need something set up for when he needs to leave.

You'll Find a Man Once Lost at Sea - Part 10 It had never really clicked before, but Desmond is realising now that he's not very good at taking orders. - Previous offer stands if anything else comes up.

Take the Photographs and Still Frames in your Mind - Part 9 The Victor Safehouse turns out to be a somewhat ramshackle building at the edge of Tsaritsyn, a town which is itself just outside of Volgograd, Russia. - Your suite in Rome is no longer empty.

After I Count Down, Three Rounds - Part 8 With nothing better to do than wallow in his own guilt and misery, Booker spends 6 months testing the limits of his liver. - Shit, he thinks, blinking at the view, the floor to ceiling windows are a nice fucking touch.

Isn’t There A White Knight Upon A Fiery Steed - Part 7 The temple hums around him, alive with power. - He doesn't need to know which name is the right one, if he knows that.

I Am The Opposite Of Amnesia - Part 6 They drive until dawn, crossing the border into Germany and continuing on. - "Sure, count me in. Not like I've got anything better to do for a while."

And So He Wandered Down The Road - Part 4 Desmond is sitting in what must be the most uncomfortable chair known to man, staring at the woman he's been running from for fucking months, and feeling like a god damned idiot. - "Yeah," he says; steady, steady, "Just get us out of Amsterdam."

Killing Idiots from Acre to Dumbass - Part 3 Altaïr is a novice the first time he sees her. - Altaïr files that away in his mind - another piece of this puzzle - and hums.

hmm. idk what to make of that. i cant even recognise any patterns O.o but! there you go! 😊 imma tag @frogwithapen, @tkwritesdumbassassins and anyone else who wants to do it!

[ravagedarkness]

Spider-Man: Home Rebuilt, Chapter 50: Arrival

The next morning came around.

After we all got cleaned up and ate, we were at the table of weapons. Kitty did take that FN Five-seveN for herself. Craig took the specially made Mossberg with the yellow furniture and Carmilla took the AA-12 along with two Beretta M9s. Joanna grabbed a black rifle which I later learned was an M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle, along with a Beretta M9 and three flashbangs. Scott and I decided not to grab any weapons for ourselves. Instead, I worked with Edith to create a few presets for my webbing.

After that, most us relaxed for a while as Scott made his way to the roof to take in the sunlight. As Kitty explained, his powers depended on ambient energy – normally in the form or sunlight – to function properly. I asked if that meant his beams were made up of solar energy.

“Nope,” Kitty answered with a shake of her head. “His beams are pure concussive force.”

After about two hours, Scott made his way back down to the lobby. He looked around at all of us. After taking in a breath, he nodded.

“I’m going to put in the call at The Daily Bugle,” he said. “After that call is made, I want everyone in uniform with your coms ready. We’ll be going by codenames from that point on.” He frowned slightly. “This is going to be a dangerous situation. And I have zero doubt that Scorpion and whoever else Hammer sends won’t hesitate to kill is pushed to do so. Needless to say, on a scale of one to ten, the danger level of this situation will, at least, be a solid eleven. Remember plan one, look out for each other, and if things get too hot for you, run for cover and ask for help. Is that understood?” We said our confirmations. “Okay.”

Scott made his way over to the exit and stepped out. During this, Craig pulled out a phone and unlocked it. He beckoned us all to gather behind him. Carmilla and Kitty flanked his left and right side respectively as I stood to Kitty’s right. Joanna stood behind Craig. We all watched as he opened up The Daily Bugle app.

“That place has an app?” Carmilla commented with disgust.

“Yup,” I confirmed. “We have a lot of things, even ringtones and alarms for cellphones, as well as Daily Bugle supplements.”

“Are those even worth the price tag?” Kitty asked.

“They’re not,” Craig muttered. We all looked at him. He sighed. “They were handing out free samples to college students at NYU. I was there because DJ Veras was working an event and she needed me to help. There were some samples left. Each sample had enough for five days’ worth of supplements. I took three. I started using them. They were… okay, I guess. But with the price they’re asking for and the fact that, according to an article someone wrote, the supplements don’t have as much of the vitamins and minerals they flaunt on the bottle, you’re better off sticking to Centrum or One-A-Day or even a store-brand multivitamin.”

At that, Joanna scoffed. “You’re braver than I am,” she stated as she shook her head. “Those supplements look sketchier than the pills advertised on porn sites.” She then smirked. “…Do you know if those were worth the price, Craig?”

Craig tilted his head up and glared at her. “…Now sis…” This prompted us to laugh before we looked back at the screen. Craig tapped the screen a few times with his finger, bringing up current programming. From what I could tell, some host… Bill Price, I think… was interviewing this senator from Massachusetts. I didn’t get a chance to know what they were talking about because a “Breaking News” graphic flashed across the scene. The camera cut to J. Jonah Jameson, who was behind his desk.

“We interrupt normal programming with breaking news!” Jonah barked out. “On the line, we have none other than the leader of the group of menaces known as the X-Men, Cyclops!”

After that, a chuckle was heard. “You know, there’s a certain irony here,” Cyclops stated. “You call us X-Men menaces, and yet you helped bankroll Justin Hammer’s initiative against us. I don’t mean to judge, but I think Hammer’s track record speaks for itself.”

“We’re not here to talk about past indiscretions of a man who’s been redeeming himself! What do you want, Cyclops?! Did you call here to waste my time?!”

“As tempting as that would be, no, that’s not why I’m calling. I’m calling because it’s been three days, and I still see that Justin Hammer is still active in New York. It’s a shame, really. I was somewhat hoping he’d listen to reason. But… as they say… a promise is a promise. Justin Hammer wants us? He can find us in Westchester at the Ravencroft Institute – all six of us.”

“Six?!” Jonah yelled out. “I was told there were only four of you?!”

“You were told wrong,” Cyclops replied matter-of-factly. “We grow stronger day by day. Some days ago, we were four. Today, we’re six. I wonder how many of us there will be tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?!” Jonah shook his head. “Your very hours are numbered! Once Justin hears of this, he’ll send everything he has after you!”

“We’re counting on it. Have a good rest of the day.”

After that, there was a dial tone that was heard. J. Jonah groaned in annoyance before he spoke again.

“You heard it straight from the mouth of that menace! To all of the degenerates who support the X-Men, cherish them while they last!”

At that that, point, Craig closed the app before he handed the phone to Kitty. Kitty phased her hand through the phone, causing it to short circuit.

“It’s a good thing I stay with a burner phone,” Craig commented with a shake of his head. During this time, Scott walked back inside. He took in a breath before he looked at all of us.

“We won’t have much time,” he stated. “Everyone, get suited up.”

After we made our way to the top floor, we did just that, putting on our outfits after getting our coms in our ears. I donned the Black Dahlia Armor. Craig was dressed in the new armor MJ and I created for him, which he dubbed The All- American. Kitty changed into her black spy suit. Scott dressed himself in his swat style uniform. Joanna wore the same outfit she had on when we invaded the base. Carmilla was donning a skin tight blackish green suit that left her defined abs exposed. While her right sleeve was short, her left sleeve was long, disappearing underneath her gauntlet. On her feet were grey boots that reached halfway up her shins. On her right hand was a glove that matched the color of her suit. On each of her shoulders were black polymer pads. Over the bottom half of her face was a black gaiter mask.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you in this suit,” Craig commented as he walked up to her and nudged his shoulder against hers. “You look great in it, as always.”

“You’re only saying that because you like looking at my derriere,” Carmilla teased as she looked at him.

At that, Craig chuckled. “You’re right.” He then looked at the ceiling in mock-thought. “I might even be a bit distracted when things go down.”

Carmilla turned and fully faced him. “So is that’s the excuse you’re going to use when I have to bail you out when things get hot?”

“Maybe. Or maybe I just want your company.”

“Oh get a room you two,” Kitty stated in mock annoyance as she adjusted her own mask. She smiled. “But seriously, it’s great to see you in your old costume. It feels like the good ol’ days.” She chuckled. “I can’t wait until we expand, though.”

“Yeah, about that,” Joanna interjected. We all looked at her. She took a moment to double check the magazine before she inserted into her rifle. She then lifted her head and looked straight at Scott. She dropped her rifle, letting it hang from the strap that was over her shoulder. “So, six X-Men, huh?”

“To be honest, I was going to ask you to join after this was over,” he admitted. Even though his mask was on, something told me he had on a sheepish expression. “…Sometimes, my propensity for speeches can get the better of me.”

Joanna sighed. “You know, I don’t whether to be touched by the fact that you want me on the team, or mad that you put a target on my back.”

Scott tilted his head. “I’m hoping more of the former, but I can make it up to you if it is the latter.”

Joanna smirked. “Oh you will.” She walked up to Scott slowly. The rest of us looked at each other curiously before we looked back at Joanna. Once she reached Scott, she brought her hands up and grabbed the bottom of his mask. Scott stiffened up a bit, but didn’t make another move. Slowly, Joanna peeled the mask upward until his lips were exposed. “Consider this me calling it even.” She leaned forward and placed her lips against his. As the two kissed, Carmilla, Craig, Kitty, and I exchanged high fives. The kiss lasted for some seconds before Joanna pulled away. She fixed Scott’s mask before she smiled. “Consider me an X-Man. Oh, and by the way, we are now a thing.”

Scott didn’t say a word, merely nodding in response.

“Well would you look at that,” Craig teased. “Joanna got my man speechless!”

Joanna chuckled as she turned to face us. “I tend to have that effect on people.”

“I can’t wait to tell the rest of The American Idiots about this,” I stated. “I know they’re going to have a field day.”

“They’re not allowed to come to the apartment anymore,” Scott grumbled, causing all of us to laugh. He took in a breath. At that moment, I knew things were going to take a turn for the serious. “We’re using codenames from here on out. I don’t expect us to have more than an hour before Justin, Scorpion, and their forces to arrive. We all know our respective specialties. Be smart and stick to the plan. But in case there is a breakdown… well, I have contingencies.”

“Heard,” Frenzy replied.

So, we made our way up to the top floor and into the headmaster office. I looked at the sandbag barriers that backed the tungsten paneling. Metal paneling aside, it was no different from the sandbag barriers I’ve seen in war movies.

“Doesn’t this kind of remind you of Fallout New Vegas?” Carmilla asked as she walked up to my right side. “Like, when you walk up to the NCR bases?”

“It does Car-” I quickly closed my mouth, reminding myself that we were using codenames. “I’m sorry, are you going by Scorpion for your codename?”

“Well, I will when we knock off the knockoff.” She paused for a moment as if she realized what she just said. She then sighed as she shook her head. “Let’s pretend I didn’t say that. But, for now, just call me Greenie. Calling me Scorpion while we’re fighting Scorpion is just going to confuse everyone.”

“Okay.” I nodded. “I’ll call you Greenie.” I tilted my head. “Who gave you that name?”

“One of the people who trained me,” she replied. “She’s a SHIELD agent by the name of Melinda May. She looks tough on the outside – and believe me, she’s not one to mess with – but she’s really cool. We still keep in touch. I even saw her when I met with SHIELD later on. She told me if I ever cut ties with everyone again, she’ll kill me. Of course, that’s her way of saying she was worried about me.” She chuckled.

“So you’re still a part of SHIELD?”

“Yup, but I’m suspended without pay for three months.” Greenie sighed. “It’s a good thing Frictor is covering my would-be share of the rent. I owe him a lot.”

“You really don’t,” Frictor called out. Greenie and I turned towards him, seeing that he was leaned up against a wall. “I told you, it’s the least I can do since I have as much of a hand in you cutting ties with us as you do.” He then tilted his head briefly. “But if you’re so bent out of shape over it, then just take me out to dinner or something. It’s all I ask for.”

Greenie chuckled. “Sure thing,” she replied. “I’ll even throw in a backrub.”

Frictor tilted his head. “…Now you know dang well what that does to me.”

Greenie put her hand on her chest as she feigned innocence. “Oh do I?”

At that, Frictor scoffed as he shook his head. “All I’m saying is don’t start what you can’t finish.”

“Seriously, do you two need a room?” Frenzy called out.

I couldn’t help but chuckle before I walked away and sat on one of the barriers.

After waking up Edith, I spent the time watching the feed of the Spider Cameras I placed. It was about an hour until we saw something. During that hour, different X-Men came and sat with me, conversing with me on different things. Frenzy and Cyclops checked up on me, making sure I was okay. Shadowcat came by and asked me if I ever heard of this island nation known as Genosha before she went on and told me about it. Greenie came by and asked if MJ and I would be down for a double date with her and Frictor in the future. Finally, Frictor joined me and…

“Okay, can I be real with you for a moment?” he asked.

I turned my head towards him and raised an unseen eyebrow. “What’s up?” I asked.

“I didn’t expect someone like you to be Spider-Man.”

I scoffed as I shook my head. “Is it because I’m a teenager?”

“No, no…” He trailed off for a moment. He then nodded. “Well, yes, but that’s not the main reason. It’s just that… You’re from Queens, you got that suit, and you help a lot of poor people…” He trailed off again before he tilted his head briefly. “I just thought you were black.”

I slumped off of the barrier and down to my knees in an extremely slow and dramatic manner as I kept my eyes on Frictor. “DUUUUUUUUUDE!!!!”

Frictor held his hands up defensively. “I’m just sayin’! I’m just, sayin’!”

I laughed as I shook my head. I slowly stood up, about ready to respond. That was when Edith spoke up.

“Spider-Man, I’m sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I picked up something on the Spider-cameras near the gate,” Edith informed. I quickly stiffened up.

“Would you kindly show me the best shot?” I asked. As I said this, I beckoned to everyone to gather around me. A feed from one of the cameras took over my HUD. I saw it – a whole swarm of vehicles at the gate. The vehicles in questions were black Hummer EVs. There was a man in tactical gear using a bolt cutter to deal with the chain that held the gate closed. After that, he pushed the gates open before he entered one of the Hummers. After that, the hummers drove in. Slowly, but surely, the front lawn was taken over by the vehicles. “They’re here.”

“Oh, awesome!” Frictor exclaimed as he clapped his hands together. “I was getting tired of waiting for them!”

I kept on watching the feed. The doors of the Hummers opened, and men in tactical gear filed out. I thought that was all who was going to file out of the vehicles until I spotted on particularly large vehicle. One of the doors opened. My eyes went wide.

Justin Hammer was on the scene.

“Guess who’s here?” I said aloud.

“I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Hammer has made an appearance,” Cyclops commented.

“Yup!” I watched as Hammer made his way to the front of the crowd. During this, I heard the sound of helicopter rotors. Using Edith, I had the spider aim its camera upward. That’s when I saw The Daily Bugle Helicopter. I sighed as I shook my head. “The Daily Bugle is on the scene, too.”

“I’m so shocked,” Shadowcat deadpanned.

I had the spider aim its camera back at Hammer. He was speaking to who I assumed was the head of these forces. After some time, the leader turned and addressed the gathered men. After a few minutes, the forces moved out, splitting up into smaller groups as they spread out over the premises. There was one group headed towards the main building.

“Edith, how many people are headed towards us right now?”

“Counting now,” Edith stated. After a few moments of silence, she spoke again. “A group of 80.”

“There’s 80 heading for us right now while the others are searching the other buildings.”

At that, Frictor scoffed. “Oh that’s cute,” he laughed out as he clapped his hands together three times. “They think that’s enough.”

“It’s even cuter that they think all 80 of them are going to reach us,” Shadowcat added.

“Don’t get cocky,” Cyclops warned. “This isn’t The Friends of Humanity we’re dealing with. These men most likely have military training. Letting your guard down even a little bit can spell disaster for you.”

“We already know, Cyclops,” Greenie assured. “We’re just putting on a brave face.” She sighed. “We’re all nervous, aren’t we?”

“I know I am,” I admitted. “But we got this, though.”

“Yeah we do,” Frenzy agreed. “But, Spidey, do me a favor.”

I tilted my head. “What’s that?”

“When we face Scorpion, please don’t pull that anime protagonist ‘I’ll take him on by myself’ bullshit.”

“I won’t,” I assured.

“You bet your behind you won’t,” Cyclops reinforced. “Even if you wanted to, we won’t let you. We’re X-Men. We may not kill, but we don’t fight fair. When Scorpion appears, we’re jumping him the first chance we get.”

“True story,” Greenie added.

“…I like being an X-Man already,” Frenzy stated with a wide smile.

I smiled at the group. Internally, a part of me wondered how things would have turned out if they were in my life earlier. Maybe I would have been able to take down Toomes easier. Maybe I would’ve taken down Mysterio before he could ruin my life with that doctored footage. But, as they say, better late than never, right? What mattered was that they were in my life now, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I was taken out of my thoughts when Edith spoke.

“Spidey, you received a message from MJ,” she announced.

“Oh?” I responded, caught off guard a bit. “What does it say?”

“‘Kick their asses’. Should I compose a response?”

Underneath my mask, I smiled. “Yes. Tell her I said ‘Gladly’.”

[applebortongenes]

Act Like You’ve Never Seen A Moggie

Chapter 2 Scars Kept Unattended 

Everything was extremely hazy… I remember the shouting of soldiers both on my side and against me. I remember hearing Viper over the radio, screaming for a medic for Sips. Who previously had been shot in the upper arm and was losing blood extremely quickly. Then quiet as the helicopter started to ascend to my rendezvous location, as quick as it went into the air the piercing light took over my scope and eyes like a flashbang then the sound around my ruptured. When I came to and looked through my scope though I saw it… The bright flames scorching the helicopter flipping in the air as it falls cascading down in a spiral. It hits the ground as the sound finally fills my ears a deafening crackle then BOOM follows in tandem. I called out on my radio but everything stayed silent. I panicked and rushed to the crash site only to find 4 corpses- I say corpses but in actuality they were only skeletons burned and charred skin attached to them. It was horrifying, borderline traumatic.. To see the group that I had been with since joining the military be murdered. In their own evacuation helicopter, then it hit me as I walked around the burning pile of ash flame metal and human remains I gathered the shark teeth from my teammates and their dog tags- though barely recognizable and sat there watching their bodies burn. My body had gone numb by the time I reached the site, all emotion was dragged out on the way down till now just a numb feeling overwhelmed my sense to where I couldn’t even see or hear the swarm of soldiers zeroing in on my location. Till I was knocked out. I remember waking up to sharp pains everywhere from my scalp to my toes. When I came to, I could feel and taste the irony liquid filling my mouth, Blood. I started to hack and cough to get the dreadful taste out of my mouth to no avail my mouth was clamped open with 4 rusted metal hooks while my hands and feet where no different my right leg having a hook driven straight through my ankle while my left going through the palm of my foot and the hooks on my hands one going through the wrist and one through the hand. ‘Show No Weakness’ a fellow who served once told me, but how do I show I am not afraid when I am being hooked like a boar they had just caught. A man in a white suit came over- I say it was white in reality it was stained. Stained with blood, I am assuming none is his own. I remember the words he said to me “You serve a pig, you shall look like one when we are through” as he flipped the rusted knife in his pocket out and tightened the grip he has on it he brought the blade to the corners of my lips slowly applying pressure. There is a camera directed at me and in the lens reflection I can see it, the hideous face I was given a giant smile coming from my lips to the middle of my ear, my nose broken, the blood pooling into my mouth. As he turned my face I could see my teeth as my cheek was fully open and exposed. I blacked out after that, not waking up till I was chained in a cage. As the man walked up to the cage he smiled wickedly “I hope you enjoy becoming food for the creatures that crawl in this desert they hunger just as we of course” and left. The sun bore into my back for days till I broke my hands to free myself, learning that I was not going to be saved was the easy part, not giving in to the willing arms of death was the hard part. I eventually got out by using the shark teeth as lock picking devices. I walked for days using cactus as a water and food source growing numb to the ache of needles being in my skin as I continue to grog my way through this wasteland. I obtained a friend on my way. A small Magpie had been left out by its family so I decided to help it, if anything it could eat me after I died for a long while. I couldn't talk anymore due to the fact of my mouth throat and lungs growing raw from the constants of sand being blown into it my tongue being split and my uvula basically dissipated since the sands brutal attacks, as I began coming up on a large wall I realized this could be my ticket out of this hell hole. I buckled down and continued to walk, though now making a much faster haste than the previous. An officer saw me and rounded me up, I don’t remember much after that though.

-- Present--

I can hear the helicopter buzz as it jerks to a soft landing as I stand and collect my things, Soldiers filing past me as I haul my Tac-50 over my shoulder and grab my duffle bag swinging it almost hitting one of the soldiers walking past me with my free hand I readjust my goggles and Mask making sure the voice modifier is on so I will be audible enough to be legible… still breathing. I walk out to be met with the face of the captain himself Captain John Price the one who had made the call to Laswell for my arrival. I noticed no other soldier walked to him all going to a variety of different areas seemingly having already been given orders. ‘Fuckin’ Robots if ya ask me’ I mumble under my breath as I walk over to Price looking up at his eyes I spot in the distance about 6 to 7 men walking towards us. “Lynx reporting Captain Price,Sir.” I let out in the best ‘I swear I am focused on this task voice I can muster. How could I pay attention though when I saw people wearing masks just like me on this team. “ Got yourself a team of mismatched bandits and roughians I see Captain.” I let out a huff as he chuckles “You yourself added now, hope it was a good flight soldier.” He starts to walk off to the group now seeing them closer as I follow Price. Two people wore masks like me though one full faced with a skull sewn on ‘wonder if its real...’, while the other having his hair out still, another sat with a ballcap on looking down at a tablet seemingly looking over notes for their next mission. Then the one with the mohawk who has been watching me like a hawk gitty to pounce on its prey or a dog with a new toy. He was the first to greet himself, his name was Soap, kind of stupid if you ask me but hey who am I to judge. Next was the second masked guy, his hair bouncing slightly as he got up from his seat to shake hands with me introducing himself as KillSwitch, K.S. for short, next was the ballcap guy who is called Gaz and 2 mexican special force operatives named Alejandro and Rudolpho otherwise called Rudy, and finally the big masked man. All he said was Ghost as he stared down at me with an intensity that screamed ‘you don't belong here’ borderline territorial, but I had gotten it enough from my brother growing up so I was fine with the look after chatting a small bit my voice and throat started to burn and I signed to Price asking if I can be brought to my room. Seeing the puzzled look on his face made me realize Laswell forgot to mention my voice. Till KS chimed in before I could get a word out “ She wants to go to her room sir, says…. Her voice hurts?” He looks puzzled as I explain it through ASL “She has a severely damaged throat that makes it difficult to talk for long periods of time, I can show her to the rooms sir I know you need to inform Laswell of her arrival.” Price nods with a sigh and hands the keys to KS as they both begin walking. They talk through sign L:‘Didn’t think anyone would know sign in this place’ K:‘yea I was taught by my neighbors, lucky you hmm’ Lynx just nods and continues walking till they reach the door. 

Log 728 ‘.141.’

New beginnings....

-Lynx

[alexcaninnit]

I SAW WHAT LOOKED LIKE A NEAT TAG WHILE TAGGING THAT LAST PRIDE POST AND WENT TO LOOK IT UP AND IMMEDATELY GOT FLASHBANGED BY SOMEONES STRAP ON LIKE GOOD FOR YOU AND YOUR FEMME BUT GODDAMN

[yeojaa]

Can I request more smut for A&A couple?? I love sexy jay and jinny RYFUIOOIDEWETYUKOJK

[ read angels & airwaves ]

pairing.  jjk x f!reader.  rating.  explicit.  tags.  gamer!jjk deserves his own warning.  but also cockwarming and a gross amount of love between these two.  wc. 1.5k.  beta reader.  @hobi-gif because she is the pb to my j.  author note.  this is probably less sexy and more soft, but i hope you enjoy and i’m sorry it’s so late! ✨ 

He’s playing Overwatch - unwinding after a long day, dressed down in sweats and little else - when his chair starts rolling back, pulled by an invisible hand.  (Luckily, he’s only in queue, not yet matched into a game.  It’s easy for him to leave, exit out of the waiting screen as he continues his journey away from the desk, releasing his hold on his mouse, letting his keyboard hand fall into his lap.)  Feigned surprise trips across his expression, a subtle widening of his eyes, the softest hm? slipping like sandman’s dust from his lips.

“Play with me,”  you say in that way of yours, deceivingly sweet, lilting like the chorus of his favourite song.  (He thinks that’s what you’d be if you were anything else, played over and over in his thoughts, quiet in the background of his everyday life.  A kind reminder of your love, of your giggles and that cheekiness you offer in spades.  A heartfelt melody in A minor.)

(Jungkook wants to write something for you - because of you - he realises.  Of course he does.)  

He echoes your words back, pairs it with a quirked brow and a sing-song laugh that makes his eyes crinkle, long grooves dug into the bridge of his nose.  Sunshine pours between his teeth, lights up his entire face.  “You wanna play?”

Your answer is a shake of your head, freeing tousled strands from the haphazard bun you wear - the one that goes up any time you’re half-asleep (or gaming or simply too lazy to do anything else) - too many pieces askew to be sophisticated.  (It’s cute still, one of his favourite looks on you.  Messy, sleep-addled, real.)  

“I want you to play.”  The way you enunciate, throw heavy meaning into your words has him curious, chin canting when you round the chair, step to the side and brush a delicate hand through his crown of curls.  You push velvet away from his face, tuck it neatly behind his ear and smile so prettily he swears his heart might leap out of his chest.  The same hand falls over his with meaning, your own eyes the size of saucers.  Were you trying to communicate as if you were psychic?  He thinks you must be when you stare for longer than you need to, mouth pulling and pursing adorably, a wavering wall against whatever you want to offer but won’t.

When he relents, it’s with his hand curled around your wrist and a gentle tug of you closer.  (Because he always wants you closer.)  “Let’s play then.”

It takes you no time at all to settle into his lap, legs dangling around the back of his gaming chair, arms locked around his neck.  He imagines it isn’t the most comfortable position in the world but, well, Jungkook’s not going to complain that his girlfriend wants to cuddle.  Can’t even fathom the thought when you’re so warm and your weight feels like some sort of top-tier blanket.

“Good?”  

You simply nod into the small of his neck, cheek cold against his shoulder.  Maybe you’re just tired.  You haven’t been sleeping well the last few nights, if you could even call it that.  They were more midday cat naps, laid up in his arms on his free days.   

(Don’t worry, you’d said.  He did, anyway.)

When he wins his next three games, he thinks you might be a lucky charm - his own personal blessing, all his good karma offered in the form of victory.  The headshots are clean, the flashbang-right-click combos flawless.  Gold damage is his the entire time;  he’s racking up gold medals left and right with you there with him.

(It’s almost as good as when you play together, your damage boost enabling him to obliterate the enemy without worry.  Granted, the Mercy on his team isn’t bad either - but she’s no you.  Not the girl that makes his heart pitter patter in his chest, play some silly crescendo that feels like a sugar high.)

But then he begins losing, missing shots that should be easy, sends them into the dark, strangely distracted.  He doesn’t realise by what until it’s too late and the next roll of your hips makes him whine, the sound tripping off his tongue in a whimper.  

“Angel.”  The word is practically choked out, broken despite being only two syllables.  You’re still snuggled into his chest, seemingly innocent, unaware of the tension that grows, turning bone to brimstone.  He’s half-worried he’s getting riled up over nothing - turned on by only your closeness - when he feels the damp of your teeth, the sharp edge tickling over muscle.  For what it is, it shouldn’t flood his stomach with heat, have electricity tracking up his spine as if struck by lightning.  “What’re you doing?”

“Play with me.”  You repeat the words into his hair, thread them between the midnight strands as you stamp a sweet, chaste kiss right below his ear.  He thinks he might be able to resist you - until you’re tugging lightly at one of the silver hoops that line his ear, laving your tongue over the sensitive spot that has him seeing stars.

He parrots the words back to you but it isn’t a question this time.  More a promise, tenderness turning his smile soft, needy, utterly in love.

“Let’s go to bed.”  Not because it’s late - though it is, half past two in the morning now - but because he wants to feel you wholly, watch you fall apart in the comfort of your bed.  No more distractions, just the two of you.  Just how he likes it. 

“No.”  That surprises him, throwing him off his axis.  He’s halfway to a pout when you press a kiss, steal his brattiness away with one sweep of your lemon-lined mouth.  “You keep playing.”

Oh.

The time you take to slide his sweats down - taking his boxers with them, fingers hooked into the black band that hugs his hips - should be criminal.  It’s as if you’re doing it on purpose, tugging the material down carefully, balanced above him by his hands on your waist.  

(He steals the softest touches while you’re there, thumbs grazing the undersides of your breasts, fingers laying themselves into the rungs of your ribs.)

When they’re halfway down his legs, he kicks them off, lets them gather in a pile somewhere by his feet.  Forgotten - because he’s got much more important matters to attend to.  “Your turn,”  he hums - almost begs - when you settle back against him, straddling him as you had before, still dressed in his favourite grey shirt and your plain black thong. 

“Nope.”  You’re smiling down at him, more devil than angel, smile so sinful he feels his cock twitch against his stomach, hard and leaking pre-cum from the tip.

“But—”

The turn of your head further dislodges strands, has shadow throwing your features into muted light.  That’s not what has his attention, though.  

It’s your hand dipping between you, curling light around his length.  Pad of your thumb massaging over his head, slicking arousal until the glide is easy.  With a gun to his head, Jungkook couldn’t help himself from moaning, a keening sound that tickles your cheek and has heat flooding his own.  (You’ll be the death of him, he swears.)  “Baby, please—”

“Play,”  you repeat. 

He does, rolling himself forward, finding his mouse and keyboard with trembling hands.  

It’s cruel, what you’re doing.  (It’s also everything he could ask for, offered by the hand of the girl he loves most.  Even through the haze of desire, there’s affection that paints him pink, lights him up like a Christmas tree.)

(All he wants to do is fill you, fuck you full until you’re coming apart, crying his name out in that breathy way that drives him wild.  Playing his favourite song again again again.)

But he’s a good boy for you - always is - so he says nothing as he queues once more, tries his damnedest not to make a sound when he feels the press of his cock against your cunt, the heat that engulfs him when you take him in one fluid motion.

It’s as if his brain short circuits, as if you’ve rewritten all the code that makes him who he is.  He chokes a sound - a whine, a laugh, a cry - when you sink fully into him, curl those arms back around his neck.  You’re absolutely perfect, wet and warm.  Split wide open by how deep he is, clit flush against his pelvis, velvet walls yielding to the fullness.  

Whether he wins or loses his next games, Jungkook doesn’t care.  He’s already got everything he could ask for. 

tag list.  @neverthefirstchoice @youwannabelostandnotbefound @snackhobi @codeinebelle

[flashbang-througthe-door]

Harv and the accident

Ship: Sharp

Tags: @samatedeansbroccoli

Tw: flashbang malfunction, swearing, non-sexual nudity, sexual humor

Description: during a training run, a flashbang malfunction cause Harv to lose his sight for a bit

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

"Check the corners, throw flashers" Harv calls out "shit" he heard someone call out and he picked a what he thought was a dud flashbang but felt something kinda heat and dropped it covering his ear but was late to closing his eyes.

"Found him, Sir? Sir, can you hear me?" Guts ask patting Harv's chest "Let's get him up to the infirmary" Harv felt himself be lifted and carried "Corporal, go find the General...he won't be happy about this" Guts sighs it's only been a few months since Harv recovered from his bruised throat. Seem all this year Harv was getting hurt, in some bizarre ways. "Harv, you can hear me right?" "Guts that you" "I'm right by your side, I sent that Corporal we both don't like to get Shepherd" Guts helped Harv sit down watching the medics clean Harv's eyes and face. "Guts?" "I'm right here" Guts pulled up a chair and rubs Harv's back. The Medic wrapped gauze around Harv's eyes "Shepherd is coming" "how?" "I know how everyone walks" Harv mumbles as Shepherd got closer "Dismissed, not you two. Harv, my level of anger is offset by my worry for you. What happened?" "Flashbang to the face, he thought it was a dud...I'd do the same..." "Gus you're dismissed too" Shepherd sighs as Guts takes off, Shepherd sat next to Harv and puts an arm around him. "I'm not mad at you...I'm not even disappointed...this year...you've been hurt way more than any other year since we've been together" "I'm just doing my job...working hard Tommy..." Harv went to get up and then sat back down "I can't see..." He sighs "Come on" Shepherd helps Harv back to their office

Shepherd sighs softly "just sit here and look pretty" he sat at his desk filling out paperwork. Harv sat up listening and tilting his head "John Price is coming" He sits up "I-" "Shepherd, I know I'm showing up without, What happened to Harv?" Price was sidetracked from his asking for grenades "Training accident" Shepherd replies "Hi John..." Harv mumbles "Hi Harv, how's Guts?" "His aim is getting better...his timing on the other hand" "Well he's been late his whole life" Price chuckles shaking his head "Anyway I need to borrow 300 grenades" he nods softly "Borrow you do realize that you can't borrow grenades" "I need em" "Go see Private Price, he'll get them to you," Shepherd says waving Price away "Thank you Sir" Price left as Harv stood up and then sat down "Got a problem?" "I need to pee" "Alright I'll hold you up, and you shoot" Shepherd helps Harv to the bathroom "Tommy, don't look" "I've seen it a m-" "Don't look" Harv mutters as Shepherd looks at the ceiling "I love you" "Your just saying that because I could pee on you" Harv mumbled zipping his fly and washes his hands "No, no...I'm pretty sure I love you" Shepherd chuckles kissing Harv's cheek.

Day four of Harv being blind was less pleasant he was holding a book in his hands. "Whatcha got there?" "I have no clue" Harv looks up closing the book "How about I help you bathe today?" "As thrilling as that sounds...nevermind help me get clean" Harv made grabby hands ready to get clean, he hates being dirty for too long. Shepherd helped Harv to the bathroom and sat him on the toilet. "I got your spare fatigues, now just look cute while I get the shower started" Shepherd sat on the side of the tub turning the shower on. Harv had this part down he unbuttoned his shirt and set it down then pulled his tee-shirt off. Shepherd turned to face Harv and help him take the rest off and helps into the shower. Harv was sitting in the tub as Shepherd removed the gauze. "Harv, close your eyes," Shepherd says softly as Harv shuts his eyes "I can't see anyway" "Shampoo in your eyes will still hurt" Shepherd sighs gently massaging the shampoo into Harv's hair "How was the briefing?" Harv mumbles as Shepherd washes the shampoo out "Same as always, long boring and same thing as normal" Shepherd sighs softly washing Harv's arms "Sounds about right" Harv mumbles softly "Harv?" "Yes, Tommy" "How have you been dealing with this?" "I'm okay, just tired" Harv mumbles

Day eight now that was fun, Harv was propped up against the wall bandages still on his eyes. "Hi, Harv" "You know you're day was here two days ago?" Harv fixes his sleeves "Yeah, I uh...mhm...he wasn't in the best moods...he was thinking about mom" Guts shrugs softly "Your mom was an American soldier? I never knew that" "Yeah, that's why I wanted to become a ranger" Guts itches his neck sighing "So how are you in two militaries at once?" Harv stretches tilting his head "It's like having two parents, I'm with the S.A.S for six months then with you guys for six months" Guts cracks his back and stands up straight "Roach like it?" "Mhm, Kinda" "Oh, I'm blind, not stupid Guts" Harv sighs shaking his head "Bossman is coming" he perks up turning his head to Shepherd's direction "Talk to you later Guts" "Yeah" Guts jogs off "Kids am I right?" Harv chuckles putting an arm around Shepherd "take me to bed" "Oh? Feeling frisky" Shepherd teases taking Harv to bed like a good boyfriend "You know, I am but... let's do that when I'm not blind, I'd like to see that" Harv giggles as he lays down "okay, whatever you like Dollface" "I can't wait to see you again"

On the final day, Harv sat in the chair so many days ago he was getting his face cleaned off. "Okay Harv, shield your eyes," the Medic says as Harv did as he told the gauze was removed. "Okay now slowly open your eye" medic threw the gauze away. Harv slowly opens his eyes "Ow... it's bright" "Okay close your eyes" the Medic sighs "What's wrong?" Shepherd was confused "Well General, the Sargent's eyes are sensitive to the light still...we give it a few minutes" the Medic rolls his chair over to a table "How are you holding on Sargent Rose?" He asks rolling back to Harv "Really happy to be able to see soon" Harv mumbles fiddling with his fingers and then moved on to fiddling with Shepherd's sleeve with his free hand. "Okay, Sargent slowly open your eyes" the medic smiles as Harv slowly opens his eyes "Oh, was the world always this ugly, oh there's my happiness" Harv chuckles looking at Shepherd "I love you" "Love you too"

[dessarious]

The Angel of Death Pt33

Inspired by this Story Starter by @someone-ev

AO3   Prologue   Beginning   Previous   Next

It took five hours to shoot the video. By the time it was over Tris was exhausted but she’d learned a few things. First, her Nonna and Trixx were a perfect match and should never, ever be left together without supervision. They’d somehow managed to set Fu on fire for real and both had found it hilarious. Second, the Agrestes and Chloe were completely useless for creating a realistic murder but were very good at coming up with things to amuse themselves and distract everyone else. Third, somehow in this dynamic she was the adult in the room.

Fu, Wonder Woman, and Gina were constantly getting into disagreements. Mostly over things that didn’t matter, at all. Tris had to refocus them every ten minutes and still ended up planning everything herself. The Kwami were just as bad. Plagg and Trixx kept tricking the others and pushing their buttons. At one point Duusu had a full on meltdown and Tris had to spend half an hour calming the Kwami down while Fu and Gina yelled at each other about whether or not she was responsible for controlling Trixx. Adrien and Chloe kept giving out useless suggestions but at least they weren’t causing problems. Mme. Agreste seemed unsure who’s side she should be on and kept changing her opinion on everything which just spurred the others on to get her to agree with them. By the time they were done Tris was ready to murder all of them or just leave and never look back.

“Where are you going?” Fu’s sharp tone was less annoying than the looks of disapproval she got from all the adults. Were they seriously going to pretend to be responsible now? She felt her eye twitch and only barely kept her temper in check.

“To sleep for a few hours then look through possible contracts and decide which will give the most exposure and seem the least connected with anyone or anything in Paris. The whole point of this is to keep people from looking for me here after all.” Her tone was flat and cold. It seemed to stun everyone in the room for a moment. Tris didn’t even have the energy to wonder why.

“I can help with that.” Gina’s tone was confident and held a hint of demand. Tris narrowed her eyes at the implication.

“I don’t need help. I’ve been choosing and planning my own missions for three years. The last thing I need is interference from someone with limited knowledge who thinks they know better just because they happen to be related to me.” She wanted the words back as soon as she heard them come out of her mouth. While it was true, the hurt look her Nonna gave her made her stomach clench. She couldn’t apologize though. It would be a sign of weakness she couldn’t afford to have the others see. She couldn’t afford for any of them to see her as less than a ruthless assassin right now. There was too much at stake.

“And why are you taking the Box?” Fu’s question was slightly less demanding but she still let out a frustrated breath. Tris really hated having to explain things. Especially things she knew didn’t make sense to other people.

“If I leave the box with you one of them will likely try to take it from your care.” She gestured to Gina and Wonder Woman. Both pretended to look affonted at the charge but she knew better. “I don’t have the time, energy, or patience to talk them out of it right now, so the box will stay with me until I’m certain no one will do anything foolish.” She really needed to sleep so she could get her bluntness under control. She was never good with people but at the moment she couldn’t even try to empathize with them.

“And where are you planning on taking it?” The question came from Wonder Woman and Tris could only shoot her a bland look. Was she an idiot or did she think Tris was? If she was afraid they’d go after Fu for it, what could possibly make the woman think that Tris would just tell them where she was going?

“I would like to know as well.”Tris just rolled her eyes at Fu.

“Why so they can torture you for the imformation? Honestly, I can’t tell if you want to die or if you’re just that oblivious.” Everyone was staring at her now. With the exception of her Nonna all their expressions held shock. Gina just looked thoughtful and Tris wasn’t sure if that was good or bad at this point. She really needed sleep. “Mme. Agreste, I’ll follow you and Adrien home so I can retrieve your Miraculous. Same for you Chloe.”

That started a whole new round of arguments. Wonder Woman was insisting that she take the box and all the Miraculous while Fu bristled at her for daring to infringe on his territory. Gina was trying to calm them down while Mme. Agreste, Adrien, and Chloe all pleaded with Tris to keep their Miraculous. She could feel a dull ache start up behind her eyes and knew she was headed towards a full blown migraine at this point. Great, one more thing she didn’t want to deal with. As everyone continued yelling she reached into her vest and began fingering a canister, wondering if it would work on Wonder Woman as well as everyone else. After a few minutes she decided it was worth the risk just to stop this nonsense.

She threw a flashbang first, just to make sure everyone was disoriented, then popped the top on the knockout gas. Her mask had a filtration system in it so she remained standing while everyone else fell to the floor. She let out a sigh of relief before collecting all the Miraculous, including Fu’s just because she knew he’d come after her otherwise. Now for the fun part.

“Was that really necessary?” Tikki sounded confused rather than accusatory and Tris gave her a tired smile.

“Probably not but I’ve reached my limit of dealing with people so this prevented me from stabbing anyone.” Nooroo let out a small giggle before he caught himself but Plagg just roared with laughter. Duusu and Tikki couldn’t seem to decide whether to be amused or horrified. “I’m going to use Kaalki to get everyone home or somewhere safe unless there are any objections?” The Kwami didn’t say anything so she took that as permission. She dropped the Agrestes and Chloe at their respective homes then dropped Fu at a safe house with a note explaining where he was and why. As for Gina and Wonder Woman, she just left them in slightly more comfortable positions in the warehouse. She thought about taking them to the bakery but in the end she didn’t know enough about their relationship with each other to chance it. Once that was taken care of, she made a portal to her dorm room. Fu might look for her there, or Chloe and Adrien might come back, but she knew the others would assume she left Paris entirely and that was what really mattered.

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[miracle-sham]

Instead of Dead, Become Two Dragons in Red.

| {MaribatMarch2020 — Week 1, Day 5: Transformation} |

| [Ao3 Link] | | [Masterlist Link] |

| {Repost due to original post disappearing from the tags.} |

| Triggers/Warnings: Violence/Implied Violence, Animal Transformation, Explicit Language/Some Swearing, Implied/Referenced Character Death (but not really), Polyamory (not really a trigger/warning but if you don't like Polyamory then this isn't for you). |

| For Gotham vigilantes, rampaging magic-users always make for an interesting fight, that is of course, provided one doesn't get hit by any stray bolts of magic. However for Parisian heroes, it's just your typical Tuesday Akuma situation. |

| Word Count: 3232 |

==‹›==

| A/N: Hi! I'm not dead, sorry for how long I took to respond to comments, I got hit by a nasty cold then sinusitis so I lost basically all my Maribat March prep time thanks to that, so I just barely managed to finish this ficlet/oneshot for today, anyway I hope you guys enjoy, and if enough people enjoy it, I'll make a second part to this oneshot because I had to cut so much material and it'd be nice to be able to use it still. |

| If you want to be tagged in future oneshots/fics, or a specific Au, then comment or send me a DM/ask! |

| Also side note, Don't Like? Don't Read. Also also, please do not criticise any of my writing. This was written for fun and receiving criticism, even in a compliment/criticism sandwich, is the exact opposite of fun. |

==‹›==

Zzzzt-crackle-woosh, a purplish-black bolt of unstable magic flies through the air, just barely grazing passed Dragonbug's side as she flips across the gap between two buildings. Cheerfully, she calls out “Missed again!”

The villain, an amorphous black shadow with dripping molten gold eyes and donning a ruddy patchwork hooded robe (which suffice to say, looks suspiciously like a rip-off wizzrobe from the Legend of Zelda, that or a faceless Gregorian based cultist extra from a film or TV show), scowls furiously, “Oh fuck you! I'm trying my best here!” and blasts another bolt of purplish-black magic towards her.

Conveniently located on the roof she just landed on, is an air vent. She cartwheels behind it and manages to dodge the bolt by a good metre or so. “Well, your best sucks and so does your aim!”

The wizard-villain screeches in fury, “Well my aim wouldn't suck if you didn't keep moving like a goddamn Duracell bunny!”

Dragonbug snorts. “Yeah but firstly, I'm dragon and ladybird themed, not bunny-themed; the bunny theme's already taken anyway. And secondly, where's the fun in that?”

As soon as she says that, her earpiece crackles as Red Robin pipes up on the comms channel. “Ready to see some fireworks?”

“Oh, you bet!” She responds, all too gleefully.

There's a faint clink-woosh-woosh-woosh and out of the corner of her eye, Dragonbug sees a blur of a small round silver ball arcing through the air towards the wizard-villain who's quite stupidly standing in the same place. As the silver ball disappears from her view, she hears a clatter of clink-clink-clink followed by a bwoosh and a bright flash of white light. At this moment, Dragonbug is so glad the Miraculous suits protect against flashbangs of all things.

The wizard-villain screams and once the flash of light fades, Dragonbug can see that they've fallen to their knees, in the middle of the street.

Dragonbug frowns and eyes their form, then double-taps her comms. “Hey, is it me or does our rip-off wizzrobe-magic-cultist look somewhat unresponsive?”

Her earpiece crackles again as Red Robin answers, and really someone should give these things a maintenance check, the crackling can be so distracting. “Our wizzrobe-magic-cultist is looking pretty unresponsive to me too. It could be a trap though because I swear I didn't use one of my knockout flashbangs.”

She nods, despite the fact he can't see her; which upon realising this, she flushes red in embarrassment. After clearing her throat to compose herself, she tilts her head to the side. “That's concerning, unless our rip-off wizzrobe-magic-cultist is susceptible to flashes of light.” She pauses, frown deepening, “You don't think they've got epilepsy do you?”

There's a slight rustle before Red Robin responds, “No, that's not what an epileptic seizure looks like. Again this could be a trap, or they could just be stunned. Either way, we should hurry but be careful.”

“Right.” Dragonbug scurries over to the edge of the roof then flips her way down to the ground. As she lands, she just spots Red Robin vaulting across an overturned car. As he catches sight of her, she gives him a thumbs up, which he returns.

Dragonbug then nods to him and he nods back, silently communicating their plan. They both start to slowly approach the wizard-villain in a pincer movement, her to the left and him to the right.

Red Robin reaches to his bandoliers and whips out a pair of manacles. He skulks behind the wizard-villain and goes to handcuff when the wizard-villain starts cackling maniacally. The laughter is quickly followed by a forming orb of purplish-black light—the same light as the magic bolts.

Oh, fuck! Is Dragonbug's only thought as she immediately dives at Red Robin, who's started backing away; she uses herself to try and block him from the still-forming orb. Please let the Miraculous magic protect us both! She silently begs as the orb expands exponentially, unfortunately enveloping them both completely in a fraction of a second

The maniacal laughter is the last thing they both hear as they're violently launched backwards into an alleyway, and everything fades to black.

==‹›==

Kagami's lounging on the sofa at Tim's Nest and binging Netflix, when the red alert rings across all the comms units.

“Shit,” Oracle falters, “Red Robin and Dragonbug are down. Dragonbug's signature has disappeared from our systems and her comms aren't responding. All Red Robin's vitals are down, his suit isn't registering any more signs of life. But I'm still getting warnings that the villain they were fighting is still active, so everyone available needs to converge on Red Robin and Dragonbug's last known location.”

Fear immediately seizes Kagami's heart, no please, please don't be dead my loves. She double-taps her comms. “I'm suiting up as Kuro Neko, I'll be at the location in three.”

With that said, Kagami flings herself off the sofa. She glances around the room for Plagg who's halted in his eating of cheese and giving her a sad but cryptic look. Her eyes flicker to the window and he nods almost imperceptibly.

“Plagg, claws on.” There's a woosh as the poisonous green light washes over her, donning her in the Kuro Neko suit. She flexes her claws for a split second, tail whipping back and forth furiously, before darting over to the window and vaulting out of it.

As soon as she's out the window, Kuro Neko extends her baton down and begins pole-vaulting her way across the rooftops and over towards where her significant others were last.

==‹›==

When Dragonbug returns to consciousness, the first thing she notices is that she can't move, nor see, nor hear. But she can feel, and unfortunately that means she feels a strange painful pulsing throughout her entire body, as well as an excruciating aching sensation. The second thing she notices is that she's curled up on the ground and her head, or the world, is spinning somewhat. Anyway, I can safely say I'm not doing so good right about now, big ouch.

The first of her other senses to return is her hearing. Which immediately makes her hiss in pain from the sudden cacophony seemingly coming from somewhere above her? She pauses, then realises that something's not quite right, hey wait a minute, why'd my hiss sound so weird? Something's not right, although I suppose that's kinda obvious now, but still! Oh god, what if I'm dying, or I've been body switched, or—or—or—

Her thoughts are interrupted by a sudden scream of fury, ringing out from above. Which is good because it means Dragonbug doesn't get time to dwell on that particular string of anxious thoughts, but it's also bad because it's loud and causes her to whimper in pain from how loud it is.

“Where the fuck are they? What the fuck did you do to them?” A voice sounding very similar to Kagami yells out.

Wait a second, that doesn't make sense, Red Robin and I didn't call for backup, so why would Kagami suit up on her night off? Dragonbug muses to herself, brain immediately latching onto the next train of thoughts. As she muses, she slowly realises that she's starting to regain the feeling in her limbs. Which is another positive? However, the feel of said limbs, causes her mind to immediately blank and lose the train of thought. While her brain tries to figuratively perform an error message, she does finally manage to crack open her eyes, yay sight.

It's at that moment, Dragonbug's superhero experience/training kicks in. She quickly takes stock of her surroundings and quietly thinks to herself, oh fuck.

It looks like she's in a giant—no massive—version of Red Robin's suit. Have I been shrunk? She wonders for only a brief second as something moves, just out of the area of her view. She turns and squints at the movement. Not a second later, a roughly cat-sized red lizard shuffled into sight.

She squeaks in surprise, then has a minute of wait what because her squeak sounded weird and very concerningly not-human-like.

The red lizard tilts its head to the side and coos at her.

Dragonbug glares at the lizard and tries to back away. Emphasis on tries, because as she does so, she ends up tripping over herself? Confused and extremely concerned now, she glances down and oh.

What. The. Heckles. She slowly spins around, checking out her new form, because she's clearly no longer human. No, she's got a snout, scales, fur—well mane—, claws, a long snakelike body, and a tail. Spinning around, she catches sight of a gleaming piece of shiny silver metal. So does what anyone would in the same situation as her, and scuttles over to it to use it as a makeshift mirror.

The reflection that greets her is… frankly quite adorable but also she's now a tiny little lung/long dragon. Which to be fair, makes quite a bit of sense as she was using the dragon Miraculous and Longg is a lung dragon. Her scales are a pretty red with shimmery golden accents and her mane is a dark red-almost-black colour. Her eyes still have the golden yellow iris and sclera that the dragon Miraculous gives. And the rest of her is all done variation of the gold, brighter red, and darker red. So at least her colour palette doesn't clash. Okay, so the colour palette isn't the most pressing issue here, but also I don't know how to fix this or change back so y'know, I'd rather potentially be stuck like this permanently with a nice colour palette, than one that clashes. But also oh god please don't let this be permanent, there has to be a way to undo this!

In her panic, Marinette doesn't notice the red lizard slinking closer to her. As it reaches her, it gently prods her with one claw; startling her badly and causing her to squeak again, loudly.

The red lizard flinches back and Marinette realises that maybe, just maybe, that's not a random lizard. And that maybe the not-a-random-lizard is actually a drake. A European dragon that hasn't got wings. And Tim. Tim's surname is Drake. A coincidence? I think not! It's got to be Tim!

She stares at the probably-Tim dragon and makes a chirping noise because dragons don't have the same vocal cords as humans, so she can't exactly ask him if that's him or not. A minor nuisance, to say the least.

The red drake mimics her chirp. Then cautiously slinks up to her again.

This close, Marinette can see that she's probably around the size of a ferret, in comparison to him being roughly the same size as a cat.

He flops down half beside, half against her and makes a series of clicks and chirps. She can't help but to tense as he flops but as the seconds pass, she finds herself relaxing bit by bit until she's also flopped over.

Enjoying the peaceful impromptu not-quite-a-cuddle cuddle session with one of her significant others, Marinette does try to keep an ear out for any goings-on above, just in case. But all seems well.

That is until, not even three seconds later, the peacefulness is abruptly shattered by a cacophony of screams, yells, zaps, and loud bangs echoing shrilly from above, before ceasing just as abruptly as it started.

However, the unexpected cacophony still manages to cause Marinette to panic. She tenses with a low whine, hunching slightly, and holds her breath. Alert and anxiously vigilant, she can't help but survey the immediate vicinity again and again and again—looking for anything she missed initially or if anything's changed.

Tim shuffles and stumbles into a sitting position. He nudges her gently in the side of the neck with his snout. He makes a cooing noise, followed by a soft rumble—as if he were trying to imitate a cat's purr.

It takes a few seconds, but his actions start to help calm her down. She takes in a deep breath and mentally reassesses the situation. We've been turned into tiny dragons. We're inside-slash-underneath the Red Robin suit which is on the ground. Before we woke up like this, we were battling a magic-user villain who tricked us. We didn't get time to call in backup before we got hit but it sounds like backup arrived anyway. As far as we know, no one is aware of what happened to us or that we're in-slash-under the suit. We are currently safe for now.

As Marinette reaches the end of the reassessment, she feels much calmer. She makes a low trill-like-purr noise to signal to Tim that she's calmed down.

He sticks his tongue out in a blep and mimics the low trill.

Their second moment of calm is then also interrupted because apparently fate hates peace and calmness or something like that.

“I will ask you once more, Where. Are. They?” Kuro Neko questions.

There's a loud thump-snap, followed by the wheezing cackle of the Wizard-villain. “They're gone! Dead! Erased! Exterminated!” With its piece said, the wizard-villain continues to wheeze and cackle maniacally.

Marinette can't help but shiver in fear at the sound, barely able to squash the rising nausea.

A harsh snap sound echoes loudly in the street and the wizard-villain starts choking wetly.

Kuro Neko hisses something but the red robin suit muffles the words to the point of being indistinguishable.

The minutes drag by and the only sounds of note from above, are inaudible mutterings and the clattering of handcuffs and car doors. They must've handed the wizard-villain over to the police, Marinette thinks.

She's about to go nudge Tim to try and communicate that they probably need to go find somewhere to stash his suit and a place for them to hide until they can figure out how to turn back when a conversation between the vigilantes who arrived for backup catches her attention. Partly because of the topic, and partly because of how close the voices suddenly sound.

“They can't be dead, Red Robin's suit is still there.” Dick—or well more like Nightwing, since he probably arrived as backup as well—stresses.

“But Dragonbug an' her suit's gone. You'd think maybe that there'd be a little more left if just organic matter was destroyed.” Jas—Red Hood mutters, the vocal distorter in his helmet making his tone of voice sound strange.

Or maybe that's just a side effect of getting tiny-dragon-ified, thinks Marinette, things sounding stranger. Although I've not really noticed anything bar the distorted voice sounding weird.

“The Miraculous suits are made of magic, and anyway, Plagg says he can't feel Tikki or Longg's presence anywhere,” Kuro Neko admits, reluctantly. “If all living things in the vicinity of the orb were destroyed, then the Miraculous would have still been left behind.”

“And how d'you know that?” Red Hood asks, sounding both genuinely curious and mildly concerned.

There's a split second of almost icy silence before Kuro Neko responds with a clipped tone. “Akuma.”

“Ah, o'course.” Red Hood comments, voice getting closer again. “Hey, d'you think B will want to stick the Red Robin suit in a memorial case like what he did with my Robin suit?”

“Hood!” Nightwing exclaims in a horrified and almost scandalised tone of voice.

Red Hood snorts.

Marinette flinches, and so does Tim beside her, although probably not for the same reasons as her. I don't think I'll ever get used to how flippantly Red Hood jokes about his death. Even if most Parisians who've died in Akuma attacks use the same sort of gallows humour.

There's a few seconds of silence before someone grabs the Red Robin suit and yanks it upwards, causing Tim and Marinette to tumble out of it with a series of startled squeaks and clicks.

Red Hood is the first to respond to the situation, with an eloquent, “what the fuck.”

Marinette glances up and sees Kuro Neko holding the Red Robin suit and looking rather shell shocked, with Red Hood and Nightwing a few steps away.

“Oh, thank fuck they're alive.” Nightwing half mumbles, dragging a hand down his face in exasperation.

“My loves,” Kuro Neko murmurs leaning down and scooping up Marinette and Tim, “I'm so glad you're okay.”

They both squirm for a minute before relaxing into her arms.

Nightwing frowns. “We should bring them back to the cave, maybe call Zatanna and Wonder Woman.”

“To the cave then.” Kuro Neko nods, hugging Marinette and Tim carefully, making sure not to accidentally hurt or squish them.

Marinette looks up at her significant other and bleps. She then trills, content to be held for the journey back to the Batcave.

Tim however, wrinkles his nose and chirrups in protest, he squirms and tries to escape Kuro Neko's hold—probably wanting to return to the Nest and deal with this on his own instead.

Kuro Neko gives Tim a deadpan stare before expertly pinching the correct pressure point to temporarily paralyse him.

Red Hood gives her a quizzical stare.

“Akuma, as well as kwami.” She responds, sagely.

“Right…” He slowly mutters, shaking his head.

Marinette can't help but burst into laughter at that, only because she's currently a ferret-sized lung dragon, the laughter comes out as a stream of trills and chirps.

Red Hood narrows his eyes at Marinette. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, danger noodle.”

Marinette pouts, whilst internally promising herself that revenge will be swift and pasta themed.

==‹›==

When they finally arrive back at the Batcave. They're greeted by the sight of Batman and Robin at the Batcomputer.

Robin turns and sneers at them. “Of course, trust Drake to pull such an attention-grabbing stunt as this.”

Marinette immediately looks up from her snuggled up position in Kuro Nell's arms and hisses at Robin; Tim however, lets out a world-weary sigh.

“Robin.” Barks Batman, but the reprimand does nothing to quell Robin's hostility.

Fixing a glare at Robin, Kuro Neko starts to stroke Marinette's scales like an evil villain would stroke a cat (much to Marinette's delight). “Need I remind you, how you hesitated upon hearing Oracle inform us that Red Robin's suit ceased reading any signs of life.”

“That was not hesitation! I was merely preparing for Grayson or Fatgirl to become hysterical in their distress.” Retorts Robin, who then stalks away, scowling and red-faced.

Nightwing dithers between going after him or staying to check on Tim and Marinette.

Kuro Neko shakes her head. “Go after him, Marinette and Tim will be fine without you hovering like a mother hen.”

Nightwing flashes her a grateful smile and scampers after Robin.

Kuro Neko then heads over to the medical bay and gently plonks the two dragons onto a cot. “Batman, I believe we will need to do as Nightwing suggested earlier, and call Zatanna and Wonder Woman. As this is a magic situation and I am not as skilled or knowledgeable in regards to magic as my love is.”

“Hhrrm,” Batman growls, already calling up the Watchtower.

Kuro Neko smiles softly as she glances down at her significant others, eyes twinkling with mirth. “Let's hope they arrive soon, otherwise who knows what sort of trouble you two could get into.” She winks.

Marinette chirps, tail flicking side to side eagerly. Whilst Tim perks up slightly and tilts his head to the side, mind probably racing with hundreds of pranks and shenanigans they could pull off whilst in dragon form.

==‹›==

| Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this little oneshot! Comments, likes, and reblogs are much appreciated! |

| @maribat-march2020 | | @vixen-uchiha |

[capricornus-rex]

Two Sides of the Coin (9)

Chapter 9: A Sense of Familiarity | Jidné Sheedra x Cal Kestis

Summary: Hell-bent on exacting revenge and retrieving the Holocron, the dreaded Darth Vader is now on the hunt for the young Jedi Knight, Cal Kestis. Under the assumption that he still possessed the artifact, while fueled by the intrigue of the boy’s strength and skill with the Force, the dark lord hires the bounty hunter, Jidné Sheedra, to track him down and have him delivered alive. However, the task becomes a trial for young Jidné, as she faces a conflict that tests her beliefs of a scarred past she had hidden for so long.

A/N: I am way overdue, so so so sorry about this!! ;;A;; I had to recover from yesterday’s COVID-19 testing because I have EXTREME needle phobia, I passed out minutes after being needled. On the bright side, I came out negative of the virus, yaaay!! ^^ Hope you all are staying safe and healthy 💞 Friendly reminder to wash your hands ;3

Also tagging @silver-is-in-too-many-fandoms​

Also in AO3

Tags: Fem OC, Jidné Sheedra, Force-Sensitive! Fem OC, Bounty Hunter! Fem OC, Jedi! Fem OC

Chapters: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 | Previous: Part 8 | Next: Part 10 | Masterlist

9 of ?

Dawn broke and the badlands met the sun’s rays.

The desert animals poke out of their rustic homes to bask in the first few minutes of sunrise—from the tiniest lizard living inside an animal skull to the apex predators emerging out of their dens.

Cal decided to venture out into the badlands as well, it occurred to him that he had only seen the forest and the town—whose name he learned to be Diitana, thanks to BD-1’s diligent scanning from yesterday; he gave the badlands a try.

“I’m sure it’s not that bad,”

“Beeee!”

The Jedi was careful to avoid the eyes of the hulking beast with a pair of great horns on its head and another on the end of its muzzle, a thin mane wrapped around its leather neck, the skin was color ranges from stone gray to a shade of burgundy that matches with the color of the sand or the unique breed of grass in the region.

These giants eagerly protected their turf and grazed at the same time, letting the females and the young play around within their circle. BD-1 leaned forward and forward, until his legs were at the edge of Cal’s armor straps.

“I know you want a scan, BD, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to get close. Those horns look sharp,”

Cal and BD-1 continued their trek, the Jedi had his eyes on the island across the great lake. He squinted his eyes, used his hand as a visor over his brows, and surveyed the distance if it was safe or not. Choosing to walk would take longer as he would go around the road until he reaches the island, swimming wouldn’t be so bad. The water crashed and pulled at his feet, he cautiously dipped his boots into the water to get a feel of the depth; he went further from the shore, then the shallows, and eventually paddled his way through the water.

It wasn’t a long swim, neither was it a short one. He simply kept his eyes on the objective.

The Jedi climbed out of the water and found himself in the island situated in the center of the lake—whose channels branched out and turned into more rivers—the animals that resided there were mere medium-sized vermin, perhaps contesting with the size of the Bog Rats back home in Bogano or the Scazz in Zeffo, but these local animal were completely docile.

“Alright then, I guess you could scan these since it’s safer here… I hope,”

“Wooo-wooop!”

The tiny white droid hopped out of Cal’s shoulders while the boy wrung the water off of his shirt and shook his legs dry. Meanwhile, little BD-1 skittered left and right, ahead and back, flashing his blue scanner lights at anything that won’t jump and attack him for the sake of standing too close. He even managed to scan a skull of the same beast back in the mainland.

“Oh, so that big thing’s called the Uroda,”

“Beee-woop!”

“Yeah, I agree. Best we take a look around, you go on ahead and scan around—just be careful,”

With Cal’s permission, BD-1 scanned whatever and wherever he pleases; meanwhile, the boy explored the islet which was significantly big for one, nevertheless it fascinated him. Something lured Cal and so he brushed his way through a patch of tall reeds, leading to the other side; when he pushed down the grass that was blocking his view, it was too little too late for him to realize that it’s become his undoing.

A Haxion Brood hunter was idling on the other side of the island. He heard the rustling of the reeds and anticipated the Jedi—for all that hunter knew, it could have been an animal, yet he was full of conviction that it was Cal. Before the boy brushed away the grass that draped him for protection, the hunter flicked the safety of his rifle and rested it on his shoulder…

Until Cal found him—or the other way around.

“There ye is, Umah!” the hunter snarled and squeezed the trigger, Cal dodged the shot by an eyelash.

The hunter was accompanied by another human with cybernetic limbs, apparently named Umah, only this time the second one donned a jetpack—making him extremely inconvenient for the boy.

“Aww, too easy to kill, innit, Pavo?!” the second bounty hunter, a rough-voiced female, barked.

With the push of a button, Umah went flying off the ground with her jetpack—literally having the high ground and the advantage, her flight lessened Cal’s odds of winning this skirmish, which somewhat boosted her confidence that she and Pavo would get the bounty for the Jedi.

“We’re not done yet!” Pavo snarled and tossed a flashbomb, he cloaked his eyes with his gauntlet while Umah flew a bit farther from the blast radius.

The din of the skirmish didn’t reach far in the expanse of the badlands, but the faintest sound was enough to alert the right person.

“Beee?” ID-3 inquired after noticing that Jidné paused from gathering desert plants.

“Something doesn’t feel right, ID-3,”

Jidné and ID-3 stared at one another, but she was listening carefully for the sound. The distant echoing of a barrage of blasters made her ears prick up. She lousily stuffed the bushel of plants she’s collected so far and, out of instinct—or perhaps, of impulse—she followed the din of the battle. Jidné hurried to the direction of where the sound was coming from, with every step she took, the louder the sound.

I’m close! I’m in the right track! The fleet-footed bounty hunter thought to herself, leaving plumes of dust at her footsteps’ wake.

It got louder, every minute. Battle grunts could be heard, explosions of bombs popped in her ears, and the humming of a lightsaber sung hollowly in the empty trenches. She’s now close by the island, she kept her momentum was perfectly constant—instead of swimming, she made stepping stones out of the logs and the rocks sticking out of the water until she’s set foot on the island. She arrived unnoticed.

As Jidné ran, she spotted Umah floating about in her jetpack. There was an inclining boulder at the edge of the island, she brandished her lightsaber as she ran over the rock to gain height in order to reach Umah. While the enemy was unaware, Jidné severed the wing of the jetpack, causing it to immediately malfunction and plummet Umah hard to the dust.

Cal was too focused on Pavo that he didn’t noticed that Umah had been incapacitated until her face skidded across the shore.

“UMAH!!!” a startled Pavo exclaimed.

“Mind if I even out the odds?” Jidné blurted, landing flat on the balls of her feet after her jump attack succeeded.

“Jidné! Am I glad to see you!” Cal quipped back.

Umah brought herself up to her feet, even underneath the overhanging rim of her helmet and the mask that covered half of her face—it doesn’t need much thinking to figure out that her fury against Jidné is through the roof, along with her fatally wounded pride of having her face shoved into the sand.

This display of assertion didn’t intimidate the younger bounty hunter, frankly, it excited her more. With Umah’s eyes glued to her, Cal could keep himself busy with the Pavo fellow.

“I’M GOING TO GUT YOU OPEN AND STICK A FLASHBANG IN YOUR INSIDES!!!” Umah roared.

“Oooh!” Jidné mockingly shuddered at the threat, and then gripped tight around her lightsaber hilt. “That’s imaginative of you—even for a crook!”

With the bounty hunter seething with blinding, reckless rage, Jidné has the upper hand. Umah ditched the jetpack and produced a vibroblade from the holster clipped to her belt; upon seeing the weapon, the Jedi girl positioned herself into a defensive stance—anticipating for Umah to come charging towards her to avenge her damaged ego.

While Jidné’s engaged in melee with Umah, switching between kicks and slashes of the lightsaber; Cal is attempting to get a jab at Pavo, who kept himself safe behind his compact shield that folds into his gauntlet. It was tricky for Cal, but he managed to make his own luck by using his Force abilities. The redheaded Jedi anticipated the moment Pavo was open and vulnerable without his shield, and then inflicted Force slow on the enemy—when that tactic was successful, he didn’t spare a second in dawdling and dashed towards the hunter with an overhead strike.

“Come here, you little shit! I’ll have that pretty face delivered to Sorc!!”

“You can see me through that damn roof on your head, you wench?!”

The taunt did it. Umah raises her vibroblade, both hands on the hilt, and makes a running attack on Jidné; the young girl managed to evade the incoming attack, Umah quickly recovered and twirled around to afford another hit—but Jidné denied it in the blink of an eye. The vibroblade’s glow flickered out for a second against the blinding purple gleam of Jidné’s saber.

Jidné pulled away and immediately followed through with a diagonal slash to finish off Umah. The crook’s body thudded lifelessly on the sand, Jidné’s head jerked to the sound of Cal’s cry of pain—Pavo had knocked him down hard using the shield. Thinking fast, she lobbed her saber at his foot—the only body part unprotected from the shield—and gashed his shin, then mustering all her Force energy, Jidné sent out a powerful push against Pavo and sent him into the water.

Both Jedi caught their breaths, Jidné walked up to Cal and was the one to offer him a helping hand this time.

“You okay?”

“Yeah,” he takes her hand and she pulled him up his feet. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. I owe you one after all, from those Bashiji cats the other day,”

“Right,” he nodded, recalling his rescue for her in the jungle.

He absentmindedly fixated his eyes on the girl’s hand and then to her alternately—he recalls the faint ripple of the Force that he sensed the day he landed into Ombari, and that ripple grew until it became stronger the moment he discovered Jidné. There was something unusually warm about her—aside from the fact that she was also once a Padawan and a survivor—Cal simply found it easy to talk to her and that she was easy to be around, despite being someone who carried a similar burden.

At first he thought it was a fluke or a trick, but today otherwise proved it to him. He and Jidné had an uncanny knack of finding each other in the right time—even if they never expected it.

“Um, Cal…”

“Yeah?”

“You can let go of my hand now, pretty sure you can stand without a support,” Jidné weakly chuckled, eyeing on their conjoined hands and then shifting her look back to Cal.

Cal slightly tilted his chin up, his fingers slowly unfurled and his palm slipped away from Jidné’s grasp. He looked away to shield his reddening face from Jidné’s eyes. The boy did all sorts of fiddling across his person just to shake off the awkwardness.

“What brings you here in the badlands?” he initiated, trying to divert her attention from his blushing.

“I was collecting some desert plants and herbs. A vendor in Diitana told me she’d give coin to whoever can bring them to her. And you?”

“Just wanted to take a better look at Ombari,”

Cal walked up to the edge of the island, scooped up a handful of water to splash it on his face; he combed his fiery scarlet locks with his damp fingers as he turned to face Jidné—from her view, the sun perfectly tinged its rays on the sheen of the top of his head, it was like watching fire dance softly. Goosebumps pelted her skin, she could feel them underneath the sleeves of her beige jacket, and the hairs at the back of her neck stood up—her hand impulsively reached for her nape and rubbed it to calm her nerves.

Jidné pensively surveyed the island, “Not bad for an itinerary.”

The two Jedi laughed at the lighthearted joke, they were so caught up with their giggling that they didn’t realize Pavo was still alive. The crook swam upwards, as quietly as possible and caught a glimpse of Cal’s leg; as Pavo neared the surface, his right cybernetic arm clawed its way out of the water and hooked around Cal’s ankle—it all happened within a flash that neither Jedi was able to react against it in time.

“CAL!!” Jidné shrieked, she jumped into the water seconds after Cal was pulled in.

Pavo had his arm wrapped around Cal’s neck, the boy kicked wildly as bubbles foamed out of his nose and mouth while trying to loosen the crook’s arm around his neck. In the blur of the lake’s water, Jidné paddled as fast as she can, apparently Pavo was armed with little turbines on the ankles of his boots to speed up his swimming and she only had her breather on her.

She swam as quickly as she could, her shoulder joints were beginning to ache but she didn’t care, her legs were gradually cramping from the forced paddling until she got closer to them; she pulled in Pavo, who still had Cal in a chokehold, and Cal suddenly headbutted Pavo in the middle of the pull—allowing himself to break free at least a few inches away from the bounty hunter—and then Jidné ignited her saber through Pavo’s chest. The hum of the saber was muffled by the bubbling of the water and she gave a slight push of the body away from her and Cal.

The dead bounty hunter’s arms opened and limped in the water, Cal paddled towards Jidné and gawked at the glowing purple beam—his jade eyes were wide in bewilderment, and then air bubbled plumed out of his mouth, forgetting that he needed to breathe. They both swam to the surface, but Pavo had pulled in Cal so deep that he’s lost most of his breath trying to break free—his hands desperately searched for the breather in his pocket until he found it and attached it to his mouth. His lungs were relieved to finally suck in some air and he was able to keep up with Jidné. Both Jedi sprang out of the water and clutched onto the sand, too tired and heaving to pull themselves up, they dragged their bodies to the shore as they greedily panted for air whilst their droids skittered off of their shoulders to shake off the water that seeped into their bodies.

“How…” Cal gasped. “Your lightsaber… How did you…”

“It’s… ahh…” Jidné heaved, her chest rising and falling. “A modification I made… a long time ago. My master had it too.”

A series of breathing was their only exchange after that.

“Can’t yours work underwater?” she added.

“Nah… doesn’t…”

“I can help you with that,”

Cal turned his head to the side, examining Jidné’s face riddled with water droplets trickling and drawing from her cheekbones and forehead. Tiny rainbows reflected on the beads of water on her skin thanks to the sunlight; he had a glimpse of the silhouette of her profile—the slight parting of her lips, the defined bridge of her nose and the curving scar across her cheekbone.

“You will?”

“Yeah, it’ll come in handy the next time something like that happens to you,” and then Jidné chuckled before uttering her follow-up. “And I won’t be around to save your ass if that happens.”

“Well, I’d rather have you around,”

Jidné shifted her head to her left side, she finds Cal facing up in the sky with his eyes closed as he continues to catch his breath—but his breathing has calmed, the slow rhythm of the rise and fall of his chest disturbed the fabric of his drenched jacket—she spots a little smirk curling at the corner of his mouth that faces her.

Her heart pounded wildly again, so much so that she had to clutch her chest to calm it down—she felt like it would rip through her shirt if it beats any faster. Emotions flooded and then conflicted her with the objective in mind. She bit her lip as she zoned out, staring back at the blue sky hoping to find enlightenment to this confusion—to her dismay, there were only white plumes of clouds hanging above their heads, no answers, no clarity to these feelings that have muddled her ever since she found her sweet, redheaded target.

“Think you could help me modify it today?” asked Cal.

“No problem, but you’re gonna need another crystal,”

“You mean, another kyber crystal?”

Jidné looks at the Cal straight in the eye to prove that she’s not joking and then nodded.

“Well, I guess we’ll have to make a cutting trip to Ilum then,”

Cal groaned, Jidné sensed the disdain in his voice. Going there must feel like a chore—a very cold chore.

“Would you like to come with?” he added.

Taken aback by the invitation, her eyes shifted around, quickly thinking of an alternative. She wouldn’t want to leave the Scarab one planet away—she simply couldn’t leave her baby in the middle of nowhere! Even if she activated the cloaking device on the ship, there’s no guarantee that scavengers or animals would bump into it sooner while she’s gone.

“O-Oh, I don’t know, Cal…”

“Oh, I wouldn’t wanna push it on you. We could still meet after I come back from Ilum, then you can help me modify it!”

“Are you always this… optimistic?”

He lightly chuckled, “Well, you’re the second person to say so.”

Eventually, the two arrived at a stalemate whether or not Jidné comes along with him to Ilum. She told him that she couldn’t leave her ship behind—that was hiding amongst the trenches in the badlands—he understood her side, and so there was a compromise.

Jidné ended up being left behind in Ombari.

“Just promise me one thing,”

“What’s that?”

He took both of her hands into his, and gave it a quick shake before speaking.

“Swear you’d wait for me?”

Her heart jumped. She blinked which prompted Cal to reiterate, constantly assuring her that Ombari was close by Ilum’s system.

“I promise it won’t take much time, so long as you promise me you’d wait for me and you’ll help me,”

His eager, emerald eyes shone brightly right in front of Jidné’s dark, earthen eyes. She can feel his fingers caging her knuckles tighter by the second, she never thought she’d find herself lost in his eyes and that kind, innocent smile. She could feel her heart sinking down and joining her butterfly-filled stomach.

She sighed and pursed her lips, “Okay. I’ll see you soon, then.”

His hands gently clutched her arms and exclaimed happily in reaction to her reply. As a matter of fact, it startled her, but she’s still too prideful to admit that it felt nice. Once again, she felt genuinely wanted or needed—not because they want her to get rid of a target, but for honest reasons such as Cal’s. It almost made her tear up, she couldn’t remember the last time she felt this way.

Jidné almost didn’t want Cal to let go—he didn’t want to admit it, rather he was too bashful to say so—but he did, she sensed the hesitation in his withdrawal and compensated with an awkward bidding of goodbye.

Cal searched for a way out of the island, and then he turned to Jidné as if asking for a hint. She pointed at the same path she took when she got to the island.

“Just a hop, skip, and a jump there, ginger.”

“Thanks, Jidné.”

“You’re welcome… Cal.”

The young bounty hunter watched the boy cross the logs and stepping stones across the river until he landed on the other side and then disappeared out of the badlands.

Oh… Oh joy… the voice in her head groaned.

“Trill, beee!” ID-3 sang in high-pitched notes.

“Ha-ha, real cute, ID-3,”

ID-3 argued with his owner, further insinuating that Jidné is starting to get “attached” to Cal. The droid went as far as using the “Attachments are forbidden to the Jedi” card.

“Whoa, whoa, since when did you pick that up, lil’ guy!?”

“Beee-beep, chirp!”

“Have you been scanning my journals?”

The guilty droid lowed a soft chirp, Jidné chuckled and patted his head, reassuring him that she’s not angry with him, but could’ve just asked her to lay out all her manifests for him to expand his databank. Meanwhile, the conflict within her continues to swirl like a storm—her feelings battled with her sense of duty. As she watched Cal’s figure shrink the farther he goes, all she could think about is the warmth that she gets from him during their interactions and it always drew a little smile out of her.

[realfuurikuuri]

Chapters: 6/? Fandom: Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (Cartoon) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Mao Mao/Tanya Keys, Mao mao/badgerclops

MissingArm!AU: When escaping the cave, it wasn't his tail that got crushed. In exchange for his innocence, he gained a sordid past. The Pure Heart Valley seemed like a good place to escape. To start a new life with a new family to forge a new identity. However, when the past rears its ugly head Mao Mao's forced to step up or be put down.

MissingArm!AU Chapter 6: The Torment of A Son

CW: Graphic Depiction of Injury and Body Horror

This one took some time to put out. Finals are a bitch (I say that, but the lowest grade I got on any of them was a C) and I've been busy playing games during winter break. I'm going to need to edit some tags after putting this up. This chapter is a perfect 10 pages which I really do like and is the second of the 3-part set, so there's that. If it's been too long since you read the last chapter and you don't exactly remember it I would recommend going to read that again since the set is a single story split into 3 parts. The song recommendation here is You're Insane - Escape the Fate. Heads up, if you followed @spookylovesboba on Tumblr you're going to want to do that again because their account got nuked for some reason.

Direct Link to Chapter 6 on AO3: XXXX

Chapter Below the Cut

Mao Mao struggled to look at his father. He’d like to say it was the sun, shining off his armor like a flashbang, but something in his chest hurt more than his eyes. Mao Mao licked his lips and rolled his tongue. There was something he wanted to say, however, he did need time to figure out what it was. He nearly bit his tongue when Papa slapped him on the back again.

“So, you gonna invite me in or are we just gonna chill outside.”

“Right, right, right…” Mao Mao droned off, shaking the handle when it didn’t open.

Did he drop his keys, or did Jǐngtì take them? He’d have to make a copy when Badgerclops got back.

“You lost your keys? Tsk, tsk, tsk, you gotta learn how to be more responsible to take care and be aware of things.” Shin simply walked through the door, doorframe, and wall, smashing the front of the house.

Mao Mao barely caught himself from calling the hypocrite out, but he bit his tongue and swallowed his anger. He looked at the sky making a mental note to do something with the hole before it stormed tonight.

Mao Mao carefully stepped over the broken wood while Shin looked around. He watched his father prowl around the room, finger to his chin, lips moving as he mumbled. If he tried he could probably understand the mumbles, but he let the words gloss over his ears. It was the best way to be near his father. Mao Mao would rather not listen to this jackasses’ bullshit.

“Hey, Mao Mao,” Shin said, making Mao Mao turn up his head. “You’ve set a solid little place here. I’ve got to hand that to you.”

Papa laughed and walked into the kitchen. Mao Mao balled his hand into a fist and followed him.

Papa was making himself quite at home. Mao Mao watched him search through cabinets and drawers from the doorway. He could tell his father wasn’t moving aimlessly; he was looking for something. Mao Mao was going to ask when Shin glossed over the fridge and then doubled back. Mao Mao wondered if the idiot was looking for a bite to eat when Papa pulled off one of Adorabat’s drawings. He stared down at it intently: brow creased, rubbing his chin with a “hmm” sound.

“What’s this?” he asked.

“A drawing.”

“Of course, but…”

He handed the drawing to Mao Mao. It was crude and done in crayon, but there were a few unmistakable things about it. Lined up on a grassy hill was Adorabat, him, Tanya, Jǐngtì, and Badgerclops. He had to wonder how long it was up there. He never noticed it. The picture had a distinct family photo-like quality to it. He had to find some way to spin this.

He handed the picture back. “It’s a picture from an admirer. A small child called Adorabat. She’s the blue one.”

“Odd color… who names their child Adorabat,” Shin mumbled.

Who names their child Mao Mao Mao?

“Who are the other people?”

He blinked a few times. “Those are just… some people I know. The one with the eyepatch -the black spot on his face- is Badgerclops. My partner. The brown one is Tanya Keys: a bounty hunter who was here a little bit ago.”

“What about this one?” Papa pointed at the brown cat.

Mao Mao took a deep breath. “That’s Tanya’s son.”

“Feel like I’ve seen his face before,” Papa snapped his fingers with a clang,” yeah. I’ve seen his face on wanted posters… in Queen’s Putland.”

“He’s... been headed down the wrong path,” he said.

Mao Mao didn’t notice himself drifting off. He only snapped back when Papa cleared his throat. “Well, I’m sure his mother can get a handle on him,” he said.

“I hope she can.”

Papa picked up the magnet and stuck it back on the fridge.

He didn’t ask about the other pictures.

Papa moved on, sifting through drawers before he sighed and scratched his head,” Hey, do you know where you keep your fist aid kit?”

“Yeah, it's in the bathroom. Under the sink," Mao Mao continued,” why? You cut yourself or something?”

Papa gave him a look of utter confusion. An eyebrow raised, lips parted slightly, like he Mao Mao wasn’t speaking the same language. “What? No. I’m getting it for you. You’re trackin’ blood all over the place. You look like you gave someone an arm and a leg,” he chuckled uncomfortably.

Mao Mao looked behind himself at the splotches of blood he’s tracked all over the house. His first thought was how hard the blood would be to get out of his nice hardwood floors. Then the dull pain reminded him of his wounds. He felt some kind of concern; a need to drop everything and call for help. It was the dying gasp of whatever self-preservation instinct he had left. All that just seemed so exhausting. He didn’t come home to start stitching wounds or deal with his father. He just wanted to rest.  

“I’ll clean it up,” Mao Mao said, already walking to get the mop when Papa grabbed him by the shoulder.  

“I’ll get the first-aid kit,” Papa said,” Why don’t you just... go have a seat.”

Mao Mao did as he was told. He limped his way to the living room couch and waited. He could hear his father rummaging around in the bathroom before coming back with the first-aid kit between his massive metal fingers and washbasin under his other arm. Everything always looked so small compared to him.

Mao Mao took the kit without hesitation. Papa sat down and watched him work. Only having one arm made things harder, his tail did help, but some things were more difficult than before. He started with his feet first, washing them in the basic, applying ointment to the worn away paw-pads, and then wrapping them in gauze.

The shard of glass in his side was next.  A foreign object lodged in his lower right side below the kidneys and above the intestines. He supposed it was similar to a gunshot wound (although the shard of glass was larger and jagged), so he treated the procedure much of the same. He wrapped the gauze tightly around his torso seat-belt style to staunch the blood before getting a pair of tweezers to play a game of operation. He reached in, tightly grabbing the shard of glass. He ignored the fatigue burning in his only arm as he did his best to slowly and carefully pull it out.

Mao Mao did his best to focus on what he was doing, yet his mind naturally wandered. It bounced from fleeting topic to fleeting topic, although a few questions liked to show up. Jǐngtì was one of them. More specifically, why did Jǐngtì hate him? The question was like a hot stove. Every time Mao Mao got close he was burned by a stinging well of emotions. He turned his attention away from the stove but cattish curiosity always dared him to put his fingers to the burner.

Curiosity killed the cat, as they say.

It didn't help that the next thing curiosity would lead him to was his father which was arguably worse. He watched Papa out the corner of his eye. He intently watched his son work without being direct, sneaking glances or watching him in the reflection of the stupid golden armor. He leaned forward, dominant hand folded over the other. He wanted to do something; he wanted to help.

Papa did nothing. Of course, he did nothing. He never does anything. The only thing Papa ever taught him was to do everything on his own.  If Papa really wanted to help he’d explain why Jǐngtì hated him.

A sharp pain yanked Mao Mao out of his thoughts. It's what he gets for not paying attention. He quickly set aside the freed shard of glass, parting the wound with his hand to get a good look.

It was a fountain of blood. Deep breaths. A racing heart won’t help.

Be calm and quick, he reminded himself. The first step was dabbing most of the blood away and cleaning it with water, check to make sure no debris is in the wound, then grab a needle and thread. There was a prick of pain as it pierced his skin, and the sting as the thread was pulled through.

Mao Mao didn’t let his missing arm stop him from doing things; his tail could work as a replacement more often than not, but there were some things best done with two hands. He held the needle in between his claws trying over and over to get the needle the other side. He grimaced at the painful pricks that were too shallow to pull the needle through. The bleeding hadn’t stopped; he was beginning to feel woozy. The tips of his fingers were numb. Was his anxiety from blood loss or knowing that he was having this much trouble just trying to finish one suture?

The needle fell from Mao Mao’s paws that were slick in his blood. Mao Mao scrambled to pick up the needle. He was so busy that he didn’t notice anything around him. It was only when Papa placed his paw over his son’s did Mao Mao stop.

“I’ll do it,” he said,” just be still.”

He didn’t have to tell him to be still; Mao Mao already was. He didn’t worry about blood loss either, because he was sure his heart had stopped.

Papa was out of his armor. Papa was out of his armor. He didn’t know anyone who’d seen him out of it. Not even his sisters had seen that. He was sure of it. He’d asked Brunhilde about the armor and she said it’d been grafted to his skin in a battle with a fire demon. Minori said that the armor was cursed by magic so he couldn’t take it off. Each of his sisters had a different story. All of them agreed on one thing: that Papa couldn’t take his armor off

There he was. A small shriveled up mockery of a man dressed in a weird-looking jumpsuit. And he was helping him. Was this Papa an imposter? Was it some stroke of luck? Did he fall into some strange alternate universe where Papactually cared about his son?

“What happened?”

“Huh?”

“How’d you end up like,” Shin gestured vaguely,” this?”

“I got into a fight.”

“Did you win?”

Mao Mao stiffened at the question. Whether he won, wasn’t important.

“Why’d you visit,” Mao Mao asked, quickly shifting the topic.

“You didn’t visit for the summer. We had to celebrate Tanabata without you.”

Mao Mao sank back into the sofa. He’d completely forgotten Tanabata was last week. This was the first time he’d missed Tanabata since he lost his arm.

“How’s the family,” he asked flatly.

“They’re fine. Nothing really, although everyone was asking about you. News that you’d settled down as a sheriff traveled fast. Funny, I always thought you’d stay a vagabond.”

Mao Mao felt something. It was a warm feeling that nearly made him cry. It reminded him of a hug from his mom. Had Papa finally grown a heart?

“Is that why you’re here?”

“Yeah, you're mother asked me to check on you.”

Of course, he didn’t.

“Turn around so I can stitch up the wounds on your back,” he said,” Moo Moo. Moo Moo.”

Mao Mao didn’t move.

“Turn around, Mee Mee.”

“No.”

“What?”

“No,” Mao Mao shouted as he stood up,” and get out!”

“Wha- no! I’m not leaving you in… this shack.

“That! What is that? You suddenly walk into my home and you give me the vaguest hope that your not terrible, but every other second you act like the biggest asshole I’ve ever met.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“You break down my goddamn door, you openly admit that you came here because my mother sent you instead of giving a shit yourself, and you ask if I’ve won the fight when you should be asking if we’re going to a goddamn hospital, you even call my house a shack. It's not a shack! It’s where I live!”

Mao Mao could hear his thumping in his ears. “All you do is antagonize me at every chance you get.”

“That’s no way to talk to your father.”

“You barely even count as my father. You treat every single one of my sisters better than me. I play sixth fiddle to every one of my sisters.”

“Now that’s just preposterous. Give me one example of how I treat your sisters better.”

“You know what to call my sisters, so I’ll ask this.” Mao Mao loomed over his father,” what is my name?”

“I-, uh-,” Shin stumbled over his words.

“I’ll give you a hint: it's yours too.”

“...Shin junior?”

Mao Mao didn’t know what came over him. All of the cold pain and sorrow that had built up suddenly burned red hot. He lashed out at his father. He only missed his father’s neck because Papa was as quick as he was short. He tossed the basin at his father’s head, flipped the table, and threw anything he could as he chased after him. He chased Papa through the kitchen, through the bedroom through the dojo, knocking, breaking, destroying anything and everything.

Eventually, the fire burned out. The chase ended where it started. Mao Mao slowed down, climbed on the couch, huddled himself into a little ball, and cried. He just felt so tired.

“Hey, don’t cry,” Papa said, tentatively taking a step forward.

“You,” Mao Mao sobbed,” you are why I’m always the last to show up on the holidays and the first to leave. You always manage to get under my skin....the reason I blew up this time is that...I just thought… you might have changed, or at least learned your lesson.”

Something clicked in Mao Mao’s head.”So that’s why he hates me,” Mao Mao said under his breath.

He’d heard those words earlier today. From the son to the father, and again from the son to the father. The tears had stopped; the sadness was replaced by an immense, deadening sorrow. He had become the thing he hated, the thing he detested with every fiber of his being without even trying.

“Did you know your grandfather?” Mao Mao blurted out.

Papa seemed genuinely shocked by this. His eyes went saucer-wide, and he stumbled back. “I’m what?”

“I have a son. He did this to me.  I tried to keep him from suffering from the stuff you did to me, but it turns out that I did it to him anyway. Probably worse.”

Mao Mao let out a chuckle,” God, what is this shit? Genetic?”

Papa stayed quiet.

“You should go,” he told Papa.

Quietly, Shin slipped back into his armor, turning to face the door. “Goodbye,” he said.

Mao Mao stayed quiet.

He stayed huddled up on the sofa. He didn’t know how long it was, but by the time he started moving the sky was black and thunder howled. He got up and went to the kitchen. I the fridge he grabbed every can of beer he could find; in the cabinet, he grabbed every bottle that was and wasn’t covered in a layer of dust. He sat on the floor, cracked open the first of a long set, ready for the trip down memory lane.