#he keeps going back to thinking of himself as he was as a child in relation to randall

[fandomizedtrash]

Unfinished Business

Remmick x reader

Ask and you shall receive! After almost 500(!) of you responded to my poll, I had to keep writing. Enjoy!

REQUESTS ARE OPEN!

word count: 3.2k

Summary: After your parent's were killed when you were just a child, a secluded life in the Mississippi Delta has been all you have know. But when you stumble upon a stranger whose presence draws you in against your better judgement, you end up with more than you bargained for.

Warning: violence, blood, death, dub con elements!

Growing up, the Mississippi Delta felt like the whole world. The endless blue skies, forests that went on forever, rolling fields as far the eye can see, it was all you knew. It was home. Home to you, your friends, your family, your laughter, and your tears.

As a child, hot summer days and home-cooked meals was all you could think about. But while your mind was preoccupied with the beauty of the Delta, you remain completely unaware of the darkness that lurked deep within the trees.

***

“Do it again”! You demanded your father, who as far as you were concered, a magician. 

He chuckled to himself as he began the trick again. 

“Look at my hands.” His fingers were spread out wide while he turned his wrist around to show that there was nothing there. Then he reached behind your ear and took out a small coin. 

You clapped giddily at the site. Being just 7 it amused you to no end. 

“Give your father a break y/n”. You are going to bore him.” Your mother said, poorly suppressing a smile at the site of your glee as she placed the steaming meal in the center of the table.

“How about you help your mother with dinner?” Your father suggested. You ran over to the kitchen and carefully grabbed the plates from your mother’s hands. As you placed them in their proper position, a knock was heard at the front door. 

It was unusual. Your family’s home was at the edge of town and 50 yards deep into the forest from the main path. Most people wouldn’t find it unless they strayed. 

“Stay put.” Your father warned you as he cautiously approached the door. You ran to your mothers side, nervous at the coming of this stranger. 

When your father opened the door, a tall man with dark hair and an almost uncanny wide smile greeted him. 

“Howdy sir, I hate to intrude on this lovely night but I need someone to help crank-start my automobile. Would you be so kind as to help?” Being in a small town, almost everyone knew everybody. And even if you didn’t, you would have at least seen their face at the store or walking down the street. Even at your young age, you could pick out everyone in town from a crowd of thousands. But this was a face you have never seen before, and it unnerved you to no end. While his smile remaind, you knew in your soul that it was not true. 

“It’s just down the road, it won’t take but a few minutes of your time.” For just a split second, you could have sworn the man’s eyes flashed a dark red color. But in an instant, it returned to their original icy color.  

You wanted your father to say no, to shut the door, and turn back to you and your mother so your perfect night could continue; but kindness was always something that was preached in your household.

“It’s no problem mister.” Your father turned his head back. “I’ll be back in a moment.” He shot you and your mother a smile before leaving with the strange man, closing the door behiind him. 

“Don’t you worry baby.” Your mother said coddling you. “Your father will be right back. Now how about some dinner?” Your mother served you some chicken and beans onto your plate, but just when you were about to bite in, an ear-piercing scream came from outside followed by what sounded like when the town's stray dogs bit into a carcass. 

You and your mother’s eyes shot up from the table to the front door as the screams continued. 

“You stay right here!” Your mother demanded as she went outside.

“Mommy no!” You tried to stop her. Whatever evil was happening to your father was sure to happen to her too. 

But it was no use, she ran out. 

You ran to the wall of the door being a chair. Hugging your knees to your chest in a desperate attempt to protect yourself. 

“NO!” you heard your mother scream. Right after, the awful tearing sound continued. followed by silence. 

By this point, your cheeks are completely damp from the tears you didn’t even realize you have been flowing. Who was this man? What did he want? Why did he come to your home?

“Come out little one.” The man yelled from outside. “I saw you earlier in your mother’s arms. I know you want to join them” he said, taunting you. His voice changed, from what it was before. Some sort of accent you have never heard before. 

“Come on y/n, we both know you can’t hide in there forever.” 

Your breath got caught in your throat. He knew your name. How, you didn’t know.

“Your parents were sure kind people.” He began. “It’s a pity that it turned out to be their undoing.” Suddenly, a fight lit inside you. Your feelings of fear and sadness were firmly swept away as anger started to course through your veins. 

You shot up from your huddled position behind the chair and ran to the front door. Whoever this man is, you were going to stop him with whatever you had in you. 

After swinging the door open, you froze in your spot. The darkness made it difficult for you to make everything out, but you saw enough. The man’s eyes glowed red and his clothes were damp with what could only be blood. 

“Hello sweetheart” The man started, standing several feet from your pourch. “You can call me Remmick.” You shut the door, unable to confront the monster that stood behind it. 

“Don’t you worry sweet thing. I’ll be back for you.” 

The next morning, you discovered that your parent’s bodies were gone. Not even a strand of hair remained, leaving you with nothing but memories. 

***

The years have come and gone and now you live in the middle of town working at a local apothocary shop. You have done your besst to suppress the painful memories of that fateful night. The blood, the screams. While you couldn’t escape the Delta, you could at least forget. 

After all these year’s of waiting for Remmick to come back, you started to believe that he may have forgotten about you, and that maybe a normal life is actually possible. The thought that you will never have to encounter this devil of a man again makes you feel relieved, but also angry. That the closure, the revenge you so desperately want will never happen. 

“Hello y/n, got any cough syrups?” Thomas, one of your regular’s came in shooting you a soft smile.

“Sure thing.” You went to the back to collect the bottles. 

“Mighty warm weather we are having aren’t we.” Thomas said as you were cashing him out at the register. 

“It’s always this warm in the Delta.” You teased. “Lord knows we could use some rain. I’d do anything to cool off.” 

“Well if you need some relief from this heat, I’m more than welcome to accompany you on a night’s walk. The sun finally sets and the night air is rather refreshing.” Thomas flashed his pearly whites at you as you handed him his change. Almost every time he comes to the shop he comes up with some new scheme to ask you on a date, and while he was certainly a charmer (and not bad looking either), you couldn’t find yourself taking him up on the offer. 

“Thank you, but I think I can manage this heat just fine.” 

“Whatever you say little lady. Have a nice day.” He tipped his hat and left the store, the belle ringing merrily on his way out. 

As the day was coming to a close, you finished locking up the shop. After storing away the aliments, soaps, herbs, and medicine in all their proper place, you locked the shop door. 

“Hello miss.” The voice of a stranger startled you as you dropped your keys. 

Bending down to pick them up, the stranger beat you to it. Standing up, a man with dark hair and deep blue eyes, held the keys in his hands.

“I believe these are yours.” He said with a small grin. 

The man placed his hand on top of your palm to return the keys for you to then place in your dress pocket. 

“Thank you sir.” You responded kindly, blushing at the brief touch of contact. Being a yong lady in a small town meant that if a man had the chance to firt with you, he would. But none were certainly as good-looking as him. 

“Locking up shop all by yourself? It ain’t safe for a little lady like you to wander around after dark.” While he spoke with an air of caution, it came off more like a threat.  

You smiled at his sentiment, Living alone, you were no fool to the dangers the Delta held, but you’ve learned how to grow thick skin.

“I promise you sir, I can handle myself just fine.” You rolled your shoulders back and straightened your spine as a puny attempt to show you are stronger than you look. 

“Oh I have no doubt about that.” The man said, taking a few steps forward. 

You stood firm in your ground as he approached you. Maybe you would’ve backed down before, but there was something in the air that night that told you to stay against your better judgement. He soon stood close enought in front of you that if you reached your arm out you could touch his chest.

“Is there something I can help you with, mister?” You uttered carefully, daring yourself to take another step closer. He was attractive, no doubt about it, but it was often the things most gratifying to the eye that ended up being the most dangerous. Even so, your practical side wasn’t the one pulling the ropes. 

“Help me?” He spoke, brows raised. “A tempting offer, but I think I’m here to help you.” His voice became low and daring. “A lady like you shouldn’t be out all by herself, you never know what you may run into in the Delta.” 

“Believe me sir, no one knows that better than me.”

“Aren’t you a firey one.” He said while cocking his head to the side. “May I have the pleasure to escort you home?” You considered his offer. Any other young woman would have sprung at the chance for a nighttime stoll with a handsome mysterious stranger. However, you didn’t want to give him the satisfaction. 

“I think I can handle myself just fine.” Spoken firmly and final. 

“Then I hope you’ll grace me with your presence some other night.”

“Maybe.” You cast your eyes down playfully, unresisting a smirk. “Only if the Delta’s dangers don't get to me first”. 

The man let out a short laugh at your cheeky response. “Believe me miss, I wouldn’t let them get to you even if they tried.” The reply was strange, nevertheless, you let it pass.

“And does this gentleman have a name?” You asked, wanting to leave with at least something to remember him by. 

“Let’s not be hasty now. All good things come with time.” Even more odd. 

Any girl growing up in these parts knew when something, or someone was trouble. Even so, like a moth to a flame, you didn’t turn away. 

“Well you have a good night mister. You know where to find me if you need anything .” You turned on your heel and strod off. 

“Don’t you worry miss, you already gave me everything I need.” You turned around to respond, but the stranger was nowhere to be seen. 

Odd.

Your walk home faced no difficulties. Nonetheless, you kept turning your head every minute, unable to shake the feeling you were being followed. 

***

The next day came and went with no signs of the mystery man from before. As did the next day, and the day after that. Eventually, it got to a point where you started to believe that your loneliness… and your desire, was starting to make you hallucinate. 

Just when you thought that the stranger was nothing more than a figment of your imagination, you ran into him once more. 

“Well if it isn't my pretty little lady.” You were on your way home from work, just reaching the town's edge. 

The man’s steps were loose and unhurried, salvaging the encounter. 

“Good evening sir.” You answered politely. “I take it everything is alright with you?”

“Oh everything just became perfect right about now.” The stranger has haunted your thoughts for long enough, you deemed. It’s about time for your mind to be brought to ease. 

“You aren’t from the Delta are you?” you challenged. 

“What gave it away?”

“You get used to seeing the same faces after a while down in these parts. So where are you from.”

“A place far more ancient than you can imagine.” You scoffed at the answer. Who did this man think he was? This was not your first time dealing with disagreeable folk, and certainly not you last.

Your interrogation continued, “And what brings you to this part of the country?” The question brought a smile to his face. You knew you were dancing with the devil, but at this point in this deadly waltz, you had no longing to stop. 

“I guess you could call it unfinished business.” The answer didn’t sit right with you one bit. 

“And what would that be?” You’ve seen his expression before when you encountered hunters in the forest, one who’s prey fell right in their trap.

“Many years ago I came across this wee little thing in the woods. Before, I wanted her for… well let’s just say other purposes. But now, after seeing her again, I’ve changed my mind. I want her for something completely different.” His answer sent a chill up your spine. 

He started to approach you slowly. “Come on y/n, don’t you remember me at all?” Your heart rate spiked up and your breaths became frantic. 

“No.” It came out barely about a whisper. The memories of that fateful night, the one you have tried so desperately to forget started to break its way back in. 

“Don’t worry, I don’t want to hurt you, at least permanently.” He laughed at his own joke. “All these years, and I couldn’t have imagined the pretty thing you would turn into.” And then, there it was, the flash of red. As he came closer, your survival instincts finally kicked in and you ran as fast as your legs could take you. 

Your house wasn't too far, but you have never been much of a runner, and who knows what he, what Remmick, is capable of.

“There is no point in making this hard.” You heard him say behind you, speaking like a parent trying to make a stubborn child eat their veggies. 

You didn’t dare to look back. All you could think of was getting home. And soon enough, there it was, your four walled sanctuary. 

By some miracle, you made it past the pourch and into the home, placing you back against the wall of the door. You waited a moment to let your breathing die down. But your moment of relief only lasted just that.

“You can pretend all you want, but I could smell how badly you want it.” His southern facade has vanished into that foreign sound you heard before. “It is just in your luck that I can give it to you.”

You paid his words no mind. Shutting your eyes tight, you prayed to whatever God there was to make this devil disappear. 

“I have to say, I feel a little dissapointed. Before you were a child, but I guess you were too weak then and too weak now.” And just like that, your eyes shot open. The fear inside you was replaced with pure rage. You knew enough folklore to know what he was, know his weakness. Grabing the silver kitchen knife, you ran outside screaming. 

Remmick didn’t stand too far from the enterance of your house, and in an instant, you stabbed the knife to the upper left side of his chest. You stepped back after your attack, expecting this to be the end of it.

All it seemed to do was irritate him. 

After he stumnled a few steps back, he pulled the knife slowly out of his torso and threw it aside. 

“I knew you were going to take some convincing but you sure do know how to put up a good fight.” He sounded almost amused. 

You stood paralyzed. Your only weapon now proving useless. In a flash, Remmick ran towards you, hand around your throat as the other pulled you close to him.

You let out a scream before he placed his hand over your mouth

“Shhh, we both know that won’t save you now.” Your eyes started to brim with tears. Whatever dark plan he has instored for you couldn’t be good. 

“There is no need to be scared. I’m about to give you everything you could ever want.” Your fear turned into confusion, and soon enough, his lips were on yours. He kissed with longing, with need. Like it was something he was waiting to do for a very, very long time. For all you knew he was. 

As the kiss deepened, he started to touch you in an area that in these parts was reserved for your husband, certainly not him. You couldn’t resist letting out a soft moan. It was hard to remeber the last time you have gotten such pleasure. 

“There we go.” Remmick whisphered in your ear. Slowly, his mouth widened to reveal his fangs. Once your eyes opened, you remembered exactly what you were doing, and exactly who it was with. 

You pushed yourself out of his grasp. “GET AWAY FROM ME!” You fell to the ground, picking up the discared kitchen knife and holding it in boith hands, pointing it towards him.

Remmick let out an exasperated sigh. "Just when I thought I had you, you had to act up.” 

Your hands trembled while clutching the knife. He won’t get me. He won’t. 

The devil in disguise took four long strides towards you before standing over you looking like he just caught your hand in the cookie jar. 

He crouched down slowly, taking the knife from your grasp steadily as you sat powerless to fight. 

He ran his finger up and down against your cheek. For a beginning as ancient as him, his touch was softer than expected. 

“You’re perfect.” He stated. 

Just like that, not wasting a moment of time, his fangs pierced their way into your neck. 

You let out a scream, but soon, the initial pain started to fade, and in its place was something wonderful, something blisful. 

After Remmick pulled away, you looked at him and felt everything he was feeling. His love, his hurt, his desire. 

“That wasn’t so bad, was it?” You smiled foolishly at him. How could you have been so disagreeable before, when right here, right now, was the man who would give you everything.

@spikedfearn

[riskybite]

the hooker clan seems to do just about everything together. when mae needs to rescue caleb from the daylight, they all hop in the camper to help her. when they stop at motels, they all share a room (even if it means somebody’s gotta sleep in the bathtub). and when caleb struggles to kill his prey, they all take him to a dive bar to show him how it’s done. the only time the clan ever separates is when they hunt for the night. and that’s probably just practical. if they slaughtered en masse every night, they’d get a hell of a lot more attention from the authorities.

so when severen separates from the clan to hunt down caleb, it’s a deliberate choice. maybe it’s intended as a sign of disrespect toward caleb. sev hunts him alone like caleb’s been reduced to nothing more than weak prey in his eyes. one pathetic boy’s not worth getting the others involved. sev plays with his food like it’s just another night.

until it’s not. then there’s nothing left of sev but his spur. and it doesn’t seem like he told the clan he was going after caleb, either. jesse appears, his stolen car stopped short in the middle of the road, doors flung open wide. like he was hauling ass to catch up with severen before he did something stupid. did sev think caleb had some tricks up his sleeve after all? maybe he didn’t want the others in danger.

or maybe something else motivated sev to strike out on his own. something like mae revealing that caleb had cured himself.

no doubt mae mentioned it to the clan when she ran back to them. she doesn’t know how caleb’s human again. all she knows is he’s warm. sev probably recoiled at the thought. sev thrives as a vampire. he wouldn’t want it any other way. that bastard caleb is a fuckin’ coward for giving up that kind of power.

but sev knows the others might not feel the same way. for damn sure homer doesn’t. it’s no secret homer hates being stuck in his child’s body. he’s probably wished for a cure almost as long as he’s been undead. and it’s possible diamondback may be tempted by a cure as well. she shows some maternal instincts toward homer, so she seems to want a child of her own. and in plenty of vampire lore, females can’t conceive. if we assume that’s the case in the near dark universe, then she might embrace a cure if it means she can finally have a baby with jesse. and if diamondback wants that cure, it’s only a matter of time before jesse consents to it himself. he wouldn’t give his mate up. he’d give up being a vampire to keep her even if it was the toughest decision he ever made.

but sev can’t give any of them up. the hell with a cure. the hooker clan might be the only real family sev’s ever had. he’s not about to let some bumpkin like caleb take them from him. seems like a hell of a good reason to split from the others and go after caleb alone. if he kills caleb, he can easily convince mae she was mistaken about caleb’s warmth. there’s no proof and dead men tell no tales. then things can go back to the way they were. sev gets to keep his family. and that must be worth risking his immortality for. or he wouldn’t have went after caleb by himself that night.

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

pez dispenser update, yay!

I am Very Interested in the direction you're taking izuku here. He seems to have come out the other side of this breakdown going, "no look! I trust you guys! Here, I trust you guys so much! You can know about the severe injuries I had as a child that never got a police report!"

It's funny to read izuku's pov vs aizawa. Izuku is just like, wow this all needs to end so I can get back to being the Normal And Awesome Deku I have turned myself into, and aizawa is like thirty seconds from having his own panic attack at having a few months to turn this kid into a functional human being.

You can truly tell that with how izuku keeps insisting on that he's got this by himself, with no understanding how crazy it is to expect his friends and teachers to back out and let him take over, that he, still, still, STILL has simply 0 faith or expectation that his teacher is driven to help the little kid in izuku that he's buried so deep down there. That an authority figure who isn't all might wants to save him. I want to eat his unthinking, warped by trauma thought patterns, they are delicious.

Kinda touching that midoriya foresaw and tried to avert the all might conversation issue. Rip, dude really tried, but baby izuku is like one of those puddles in flooded old buildings you can find videos of people dropping a rock in -- it doesn't look that deep, but if you tried to put your foot in, you would be getting a whole lot more than your shoe wet.

Yeahhhhhh Izuku’s really not handling it the best.

Izuku genuinely didn’t keep everything a secret all these years because he didn’t trust his friends. It wasn’t that he thought they’d react poorly or hurt him with the information or spread it around or anything like that. This was purely due to his own internal issues around it.

But they’re three years deep into being in the fucking trenches together. And Izuku very much is considered a bedrock of the class. You can see it in their internal monologues—everyone trusts him implicitly. It’s Izuku. If one of them was going through something sensitive or painful, he’d be at the top of the list of people to turn to. For like, the entire class.

And while Izuku isn’t per se aware of the fact that the entire class views him as the best of them, he is painfully aware of the fact that they’ve opened up to him over the years. And that this is making it look like he didn’t tell them a single detail about his life before he came to the school. Which is fair, because he sort of didn’t.

So he’s overcompensating. He doesn’t need privacy because he trusts them so so much and this proves it, right?? They can totally know the sordid details of the past he’s in active crisis over.

He’s scared that he’s going to lose the people who have trusted him over the years because he seemingly didn’t trust them back. But they all trust him so much that they’re more beating themselves up than blaming him.

Todoroki and Mirio were in that scene like “uuuuhhhh you look like you’re a second from a panic attack we can totally give you space if it makes you more comfortable” and Izuku’s in a spiral like Why Would I Need Space I Trust You Both Implicitly Please Ignore The Obvious Distress.

Fundamentally, Izuku has never processed what happened to him as a kid. He didn’t tell them because he wasn’t ready to confront how bad it was back then. It wasn’t about trust. Telling them meant saying aloud what happened. He just wasn’t ready for that.

And from the path canon took, I don’t really see Izuku trusting adults. His childhood did absolutely nothing to make him think teachers would protect him. And for all Aizawa did right, I think this is one bag in canon he legitimately dropped.

I want to be clear—Aizawa was working at a severe disadvantage. He didn’t even have a lot to tell him the problem existed, let alone how to address it. But it’s specifically the Hero Killer Stain Arc that makes me think that Izuku only would trust Aizawa to a certain point.

After the Hero Killer Stain Arc, Aizawa canonically calls out Iida, Todoroki, and Izuku in front of the entire class. He doesn’t mention what it's about, but he makes it very clear that he knows what happened and that he disapproves. And his criticism is specific: In instances where you are out matched, it is better to run and get help. Iida, Midoriya, and Todoroki need to understand that

The thing is that Izuku and Todoroki both considered that as their first option and then correctly deduced that they'd be burying Iida if they did that.

I will actually die on the hill that is that Izuku and Todoroki did everything right when it came to the Hero Killer Stain. Iida caused the problem, but the fact that he made mistakes was the point of that arc for him. But Izuku and Todoroki?

They both reacted perfectly. And if they had done a single thing differently, they'd have two dead bodies.

When Izuku realizes that Iida's in danger, the city is on fire, Nomu are attacking the train, and his supervisor has fucked off to fight monsters attacking the city. He does not have an adult hero who is free to bring with him, and we know for a fact that he did not have time to hesitate or try to find other options, because he arrives the second before Iida dies as-is. When he's on scene, his absolute first instinct is to run. Izuku canonically clocked the fact that he was out matched, evaluated whether he could safely retreat, and realized he’d never be able to get out of there with Iida and Native. He’d have to leave one or both of them to die.

So he asked for help the safest way he could: sending out the mass text and stalling for time. And canonically, he wasn’t hoping a classmate would show up to the fight. He was hoping they’d report it to their supervisors and get him help, which is exactly what multiple of his classmates did.

Todoroki, for his part, correctly clocked that something was wrong with Izuku when he got the message. And he didn’t just fuck off without telling anyone where he was going. He evaluated the situation, realized the city was on fucking fire and there wasn’t a single hero free to go with them, and told the heroes with him that they needed to go to this exact location the first second they could. And he didn’t have a moment to hesitate or figure something else out, because he also showed up at the very last second before Iida took a sword to his spine.

Frankly, Todoroki and Izuku couldn’t have possibly handled the situation better, but they got absolutely shit on in the aftermath. I don’t recall a single adult who told them they did the right thing, except maybe Native. They had the fucking chief of police telling them they were no better than the guy who tried to kill their teenage friend with a sword and their teacher publicly calling them out in front of the class without the benefit of context.

If I was Izuku, I would have walked out of that entire thing having my preexisting distrust of adults affirmed. Like. There isn’t a world where Izuku realistically looks back on his actions and thinks “damn I really should have left Iida die.” He’s not going to change a fucking thing in what he did. Every single time, he’s going to go save his friend. The only realistic take away Izuku could have from Aizawa’s call out was “wow, that guy is not going to have my back if I have to make a tough call. So if I have to make one, then I’m just not going to him for help.”

Which is kind of where we're at in pez right now, and Aizawa's starting to realize it. Don't get me wrong, Izuku trusts Aizawa more than any teacher he ever had growing up. He doesn't think Aizawa is going to be actively malicious to him. But he also doesn't necessarily think Aizawa's going to have his back.

The crux of it is in chapter 4. Tiny Izuku says that Mr. Aizawa is already on Izuku's side, and Izuku's immediate reply is, "I promise you that Mr. Aizawa has never once been on my side." He back pedals fast, clarifies that he thinks Mr. Aizawa is fair and not on anyone's side, but his knee-jerk reaction is undeniable.

And to me? It's because Aizawa genuinely has not been on Izuku's side since he came to UA. And I don't mean Aizawa has been malicious to Izuku. Fundamentally, the issue is that he misdiagnosed the problem.

Aizawa has spent his entire time with Izuku mistakenly believing that the source of Izuku's issues was the same as Bakugou's. He is only now realizing that his issues were more like Shinsou's.

Fundamentally, Aizawa correctly recognized that Izuku's problems came from the fact that he was raised in an unjust system. But he misunderstood what Izuku's position in it was.

Here's what Aizawa knows, from the jump: Izuku and Bakugou came from the same school. Both have very powerful Quirks. Both have obvious issues with the other. Izuku specifically moves and looks like he had a professional trainer, meaning someone invested in his training as a hero. Bakugou talks like someone who's been told his entire life that the sun shines out his ass and never got punished for being a little shit. Izuku's more muted, but he came from the same school. Two kids with powerful quirks? Likely were getting away with the exact same shit.

When you have an unjust system, you have the people running it, the people benefitting from it, and the people being victimized by it. If the teachers at Aldera were letting kids with powerful quirks get away with murder, both Izuku and Bakugou were likely benefitting from that. And it is absolutely vital that Aizawa undoes that damage before they debut.

He doesn't even need to think Izuku, specifically, was abusing his position in this power imbalance. The damage is done from how the teachers at aldera were likely treating him. Teachers that produce kids like Bakugou tell talented, powerful kids that they're special, that they're above the rules, that they've got something so fundamentally important about them that they can get away with more. Even if you don't chose to abuse that narrative in the moment, that's a hell of a formative experience.

They're about to have a ridiculous amount of power. They are about to be in charge of enforcing the rules. And people who are in charge of enforcing the rules and think they're above them turn into Endeavor.

Aizawa's approached Izuku from a sort of tough love perspective from the jump. He didn't cut him an ounce of slack, and it's because he genuinely was trying to do right by Izuku. No, he's not going to get to smash up his body and make himself a hazard. Figure it out, or go home.

He's had plenty of time to learn how to manage his quirk, after all.

With Stain? I don't think Aizawa, if he knew the full circumstances, would genuinely say the right call is to have Iida's fucking funeral. I think he'd agree with the decisions Izuku and todoroki made. But he didn't have all the information, and, fatally, he didn't ask. He assumed.

He's got three powerful, bullheaded students who end up in a back alley in the middle of the night, having all separately ditched the heroes they were supposed to be joined at the fucking hip with. He absolutely thinks that they either planned it together or that, when they realized what Iida did, Todoroki and Iida went after him in secret to try to keep Iida from getting in trouble--and almost got them all killed in the process. There is absolutely no way Aizawa knows that they actually tried to run and get help at every turn.

Aizawa made assumptions. And a big reason why he felt comfortable making those assumptions was because he thought he knew what Izuku's problem was. He thought Izuku, like Bakugou, had been benefitting from teachers turning a blind eye to his misbehavior for years. But the problem was the exact opposite. Teachers had been turning a blind eye to his victimization for years.

He shouldn't have been treating him like Bakugou. He should have been treating him like Shinsou.

Aizawa's trying to correct the damage of past teachers. If they've spent years telling Izuku he's god's gift to mankind and it doesn't matter what he does because he's a hero and that makes up for it, Aizawa needs to hold him to the fucking rules. He needs him to understand that he's not special, he's not the main character, he's not intrinsically better or more important or above the rules in some magically important way. He doesn't want to hear excuses. He doesn't want to know why this time it was different. Izuku needs to understand that he has to live by the rules too, because he's going to be in charge of enforcing them soon.

But if they've spent years telling him he's worthless, that people can hurt him and it's okay, that he can never, ever expect help from them because he's not worth it? Then fuck, Aizawa needed to do the opposite. He needed the same end result, don't get me wrong--an understanding that the system equally applies to everyone--but he needs to make Izuku believe that the system will protect him again. That Aizawa will protect him. And Aizawa's combing over every fucking interaction they've ever had, and realizing that he hasn't done that, because he spent all his time trying to correct a problem that didn't exist.

I think Aizawa's been beating his head against the problem that is Midoriya Izuku for the past three years. Because Izuku's a hard-worker. He is brilliant. He is a natural leader. He is the fucking cornerstone of the class. He is shining so bright that it's going to kill him, because Aizawa knows how to recognize a star that's burning out.

For three years, Aizawa has tried and failed to get Izuku to realize he can and should ask for help. And he has failed because he thought the problem was that Izuku didn't think he needed help, when the problem was actually that he thought no one would give it to him.

In this last chapter, Izuku finally said aloud the reason behind the core issue Aizawa’s had with him his entire time at UA: Growing up, he thought that there was literally one man on the planet who would care enough to save him. He was the most hero-obsessed boy Aizawa’s ever met, and he thought All Might was the only hero alive he could count on to care if he lived or died.

There it is. The exact answer about every scrap of self destructive behavior that Aizawa’s been trying and failing to remedy for years. Why the fuck would he ask for help when he needs it? He’s spent his entire life living in a world where people wouldn’t piss on him if he were on fire. Aizawa needed every day of those three years to reverse that kind of damage, and he’s out of fucking time.

Aizawa is legitimately terrified that he fucked up and that it's going to kill Izuku.

Izuku’s Quirklessness is the missing piece of the puzzle that makes everything fall into place—which is why he’s so pissed at All Might for not telling him. Aizawa’s actually kicking himself for not noticing the obvious discrepancies in Izuku’s past. The fact that he grew up with a powerful Quirk was the factor that made him return to the same incorrect conclusion again and again. There were enough hints that he feels guilty for not figuring it out anyway, but if he had known about Izuku’s Quirklessness from the start? He would have figured it out in seconds.

Now that he knows, Aizawa’s changed how he handles Izuku. He doesn’t let there be a single doubt about what he’s doing or why. He makes Izuku explain himself, so that way there’s no more miscommunications around what he means. He makes sure to compliment him whenever he does something right—he’s trying to change courses, but he’s panicking that it’s too little, too late.

And now he’s got this goddamn criminal investigation that Izuku wants to bury, and it’s killing him. Because that’s his student, and he was hurt horribly. And his student just cannot comprehend why Aizawa cannot let it go.

And then there’s All Might.

All Might’s conversation with baby Izuku, for me, forecloses the possibility that explaining OfA is a solution here.

All Might really went in and knocked it out of the park with the best possible attempt at convincing Tiny Izuku that he’s himself. He immediately failed, albeit, but he honestly couldn’t have done better.

There he is, Izuku’s lifelong hero. And he’s there to say the things Izuku’s spent his whole life wanting to hear. All Might met him, and Izuku inspired him. He reminded him of himself when he was young. He thought he could be a hero. He was so impressed he offered to personally mentor Izuku.

And he loved him. Believe you are him, because I loved you too much to ever let anyone take you from me. There is a fundamental flaw in your theory that simply no one cared enough to notice or stop him, because I love you with all of me. I would have noticed. I would have saved you.

If there is absolutely anything that could have convinced Tiny Izuku, it would be that. This isn’t about quality of the explanation. There’s an internal issue that needs to be fixed before Tiny Izuku will believe any of this.

And I think Izuku recognizes this, on a level. As much as he and Tiny Izuku clash, Izuku gets him. He can typically predict Tiny Izuku’s exact responses to things.

But he’s never approached Tiny Izuku like someone he can explain this to. He’s spent this entire time trying to cheat code his way out of this situation. He wants Mr. Aizawa to erase him or to go find the Quirk user and find away to negate the Quirk. He’s never actually even considered explaining this all to himself as a solution.

Because he knows that there’s some kind of fundamental impossibility about it. Even if he can’t say exactly what it is, he knows that there’s an internal issue that means he’s not going to be able to just tell Tiny Izuku the truth.

Voice of God, he is dead fucking right about Tiny Izuku not buying OfA and being liable to tell everyone out of spite. Tiny Izuku would have that shit on the news.

Fundamentally, Izuku is aware that there is a deeper problem driving Tiny Izuku. He knows that it’s not about the quality of the explanation. There is something deeply, profoundly wrong because of what happened to him that makes him absolutely unable to accept that Izuku is him.

But Izuku has never known how to solve the mental wounds his childhood left him with. He still has them himself. He’s been burying them for years, and he can’t anymore.

When action opens in pez, Izuku himself is not okay. He’s just… bleeding internally. He knows how to hurt in ways people can’t see. But you can see how much his childhood is still bothering him in his defense of Mirio. He has never been able to let go of what happened to him. The wounds never healed.

And he doesn’t know how to go to these people he loves and tell them that what they’re trying fundamentally will fail, because he knows he’s been hiding this fucking shipwreck of his own mental health for the past three years but they don’t have a fucking clue at the scale of the problem.

At the end of the day, All Might went in there because he wanted to save Izuku. And Izuku told him not to because he cannot imagine himself being saved.

[tinylilacbun]

Could you do more little!rafe I’ve literally been obsessed with the idea it’s literally so cute maybe where he has a bad day and reader comforts him as he is in little space (I absolutely love your fics they comfort me sm hope you have a amazing day/night and God bless you (and yes I am a Christian who is an age regresser lol)

Another day, another argument with his dad. Rafe just can't seem to do anything right in Ward's eyes, the constant rejection hits him deep but obviously doesn't show it in front of others, keeping up his walls whenever he's around people, even his family.

Ever since Rafe started to embrace his inner child more often, he found this strange feeling of contentment whenever he feels himself slipping into this vulnerable headspace.

At first he couldn't stand it at all, showing this much weakness to someone is something he never allowed himself, he couldn't, until you came into the picture.

Your sweet and overall motherly personality is the exact thing he had been missing for a long time, someone who listens without judging, who understands him and doesn't push him away even though he lets his temper flare often.

To you, he's just a broken boy who needs gentle handling, a safe space where he can just turn his brain off from all the bad thoughts that consume him constantly.

You don't dare to tell him what exactly it is that he's slipping into sometimes after doing some research, those times where he's a little boy without realizing it fully, it's the only thing keeping him from spiraling completely and so you're just being there for him, like today.

You're in Rafe's room, laying in the middle of his bed as you mindlessly scroll on your phone, trying everything to distract yourself from the shouting match that Rafe and his father are having downstairs, every muscle in your body screaming to go and tell Ward to go screw himself and leave your boyfriend alone.

Poor Rafe, you feel so damn sorry for him that you could cry every time he walks up to you like a kicked puppy, only letting his walls down when it's just the two of you in the safety of his room where he can let everything out and have his moment of peace in your arms.

You hear a door slam shut and then Rafe stomping his way up the stairs, pushing his bedroom door open and kicking it shut with his foot again, starting to pace in front of his bed as he mumbles to himself.

You stay seated on the bed, not wanting to overwhelm him even more by accident and give him a minute to collect himself and his thousand thoughts. "Rafey?"

He doesn't react, doesn't even glance at you as he curses loudly and suddenly punches the wall in a surge of frustration.

Not being able to stay quiet anymore and seeing him hurt himself you quickly get up from the bed, going to stand in between him and the wall as you scold him. "Hey, no, stop that."

It takes him a second to eventually look into your eyes, his breathing ragged and his hands slightly shaking by his sides as he tries not to lash out again.

"Don't do that. Hurting yourself isn't making it go away." You remind him, gently taking his bruised hand and inspecting it for any major damage before pressing a soft kiss to his knuckles. "Wanna talk about it?"

He thinks for a moment. "He- He just- I didn't even..." He tries to form a coherent sentence but is seemingly struggling with it, so he just shakes his head, leaning into your touch when you reach up to cup his cheek in your hand.

"It's okay...come." You whisper, taking his hand you lead him towards his bed, climbing on first and beckoning him to join you.

He hesitantly moves to lay between your legs, his head resting on your chest and closing his eyes when he feels your fingers going through his hair, wrapping his arms around your middle.

"I got you, baby..." You murmur softly, your other hand drawing soothing circles on his back. "I'll always be here for you."

"Thanks...mommy." he mumbles under his breath, not being able to stop himself from calling you that, he just feels so safe with you that his resistance starts to falter.

You smile, kissing the top of his head. "Not for that."

"I don' like this." He slurs a little, his brain shutting off slowly. "S'weak an' pa- path- mmm." He almost whines when he can't pronounce the words properly.

"Shh, I know, I know, but it's fine. You're actually really brave for this, y'know? It's not easy to just let go of everything. My strong boy." You assure him, making sure that he knows that it's completely okay to be vulnerable around the right people sometimes.

Reaching to your left and under Rafe's pillow you grab the small light brown teddy bear he hides there, carefully tucking it under his arm, it's the only thing left that reminds him of the actual good times in his childhood.

He subconsciously moves his one arm from under your body to curl it around his comfort item, almost instantly melting even more against you as he feels exhaustion wash over him.

"I love you so much, baby." You remind him one last time just as he falls asleep on top of you.

[amazingmsme]

A Gift For Gabbers

AN: Damn it feels good to be back! Been writing a lot of different things & had this one on the back burner for a while. Of course it’s an epic fic, what did you expect? It’s another oc fic, but this time it’s about Leander, & I had a blast fleshing out his personality! Still might be a while before I get around to sifting through my askbox, but I do see them. Anyway, hope y’all enjoy!

Leander had always been fairly talkative, especially as a child. He would speak at inappropriate times and get scolded, or harshly shushed. It had made him feel guilty just for being friendly, and he would try his best to keep his mouth shut until he felt it was okay to talk again.

Growing up in a war certainly didn't help. He was young and lively, blurting out whatever came to mind, no matter what his comrades seemed to be doing. He remained oblivious to their annoyance, for the most part. If he hears a particularly heavy sigh, or if they say something, he'll reign himself in. The last thing he wants is to be annoying, but he fears that he comes across that way, more often than not.

He knows he's not the sharpest sword around, but he's a lot smarter than they give him credit for. He just has a hard time focusing, jumping around from thought to thought, and why wouldn't he talk to his friends? When people look at him, they just see a big dumb jock; someone who's only good for fighting and hard labor. He supposed they were right, but that didn't mean he couldn't have a personality.

Leander is just an open, loving guy and he enjoys sharing his passions with those around him. Even if they don't particularly care.

"You ever wonder what might be swimming under the ship?" he wondered aloud, helping Perimedes and Elpenor tie up the sails before a coming storm.

"Nope."

"Not really."

"I think about it every time I look out at the water. I mean, the ocean's just so huge! Who knows what all is out there!" he rambled on, staring at the horizon in awe. Perimedes snapped to get his attention.

"Less chatting, more working. Hand me the rope," he demanded. Leander did as he was told, but continued speaking.

"Sorry, here you go. But we've already seen so many amazing things, just think of what's lurking just out of sight! Dolphins, whales, sharks, sword fish, flying fish-" he listed off, unaware of his friend's growing annoyance. Elpenor was zoning out, or else he would've tried to stop Perimedes from what he was about to say.

"For the love of the Gods, will you just shut! The fuck! Up!" he yelled, cutting him off. Leander froze, snapping his mouth shut as his eyes grew wide with fear. Perimedes yanked the rope hard, fastening the first sail in place. "I swear, you don't know how damn annoying you can be."

"Okay, that's enough!" Elpenor scolded, shocked by the sudden outburst. He looked over to Leander, an apology on the tip of his tongue, but the damage had been done. He looked absolutely crushed.

"O-oh. Yeah, I-I didn't know it bothered you so bad. I'll... I'll just be quiet," he mumbled, staring at the ground as his eyes filled with tears.

Perimedes finally looked at him, wincing when he saw the deflated look on his face. "Hey, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," he apologized, reaching out to touch his shoulder, only for Leander to flinch away. He never did that...

Perimedes was already feeling guilty, but Elpenor's judging glare made him feel worse.

He tried to lighten the mood, to spark conversation, but Leander didn't take the bait. His words cut deep, and it would take more than a shallow apology to mend the wound. So, they worked in silence.

By the time they fastened the last sail, the first raindrops began to hit the deck. The pair ran below deck while Leander lingered behind. Elpenor turned around when he noticed he wasn't with them.

"What are you doing? Come inside!" he yelled as the wind picked up, the sparse raindrops beginning to fall faster.

"I'm just gathering the loose barrels. Don't want anything going overboard," he brushed off the concern. Elpenor hated leaving him like this, but he doubted he would accept his help.

He ran into Eurylochus in the hall, frantically explaining what happened and how Leander was still up  on the deck.

"I'll talk to him. Just go to your bunk to wait out the storm," he ordered. Elpenor nodded, walking down the hall without another word.

When Eurylochus made it to the deck, he saw Leander carrying a barrel over one shoulder and a box under the other arm, stacking and tying them against the far wall. His hair was wet and matted to his face, his clothes already soaked through and clinging to his body. He was panting, though it was hard to tell if it was from frustration or exertion.

"Let me give you a hand with that." His voice startled him, but he settled once he saw who it was.

"Oh, hey Eurylochus," his demeanor was quiet, almost snuffed. It felt... unnatural. He watched him from the corner of his eye as he helped fasten the last of their equipment. He barely spoke a word the entire time. And while he would normally welcome the silence, he knew what had caused it.

Once they were done, he placed a comforting hand on Leander's shoulder.

"That's the last of it. Why don't we go back inside?"

"Sure. That sounds nice."

~~~

Asterios was watching the storm roll in through the porthole window when the door slammed open.

"Well don't you look... soggy," he deadpanned, looking Leander up and down. His teasing smirk faltered when he saw the look on his friend's face. "Leander? What's wrong?"

Those words were the straw that broke the camel's back. Leander sniffled, wiping his eyes before collapsing in his friend's arms. "What the hell happened, are you okay?" Asterios questioned, patting his back comfortingly, but the movement was still a bit stiff and awkward.

"Am I r-really that a-annoying?" he stuttered, choking back tears. Asterios felt a fire light inside him; whoever has said that was going to pay.

"What? Of course not, big guy. Who the fuck said that?" he questioned, trying to keep the anger from his voice.

"Don't be mad at him, he was just being honest," Leander defended. Asterios pulled away, leveling him with a stern yet caring look.

"Bullshit. Now who was it?" he asked, despite knowing the answer.

"Per-"

That was all he needed to hear before storming out.

Perimedes was lying face down on the bed, hiding his face in the pillows. Elpenor sat next to him with his knees tucked to his chest, looking rather guilty.

Asterios barged in, startling them both. "I hope you're fucking proud of yourself, dick," he hissed, dragging Perimedes up by the shirt. "You like making grown men cry or something?" he questioned, jerking him around.

"Shit, I made him cry?" Perimedes asked, genuine remorse knitting his brows together. Asterios glared at him long and hard before letting go.

"Yeah, well, he's a sensitive guy, and you're an asshole," Asterios said, backing off slightly once he realized how sorry he truly felt. "Just... go make it right," he added before seeing himself out.

When he got back to their room, he found Leander in his bed, wrapped under the blankets.

"Hey bud, how ya feelin'?" he asked, sitting on the foot of the bed. Leander shrugged.

"Fine. Why'd you leave?"

"Just had to go teach your little problem a lesson," Asterios said with a smirk. Leander sat up, staring at him skeptically.

"Oh Gods, you didn't punch him, did you?"

"No, I didn't punch him. But I should've." That made Leander chuckle.

"Thanks," he sighed, leaning his head against his friend's shoulder. They stayed like that for awhile, and Asterios rubbed his shoulder comfortingly. Leander hummed and leaned into the touch.

They both jumped when someone knocked at the door.

Asterios stood and answered the door, frowning when he saw who it was. "Oh. What the hell do you want?"

"To apologize," Perimedes answered shyly. Asterios softened, glancing over his shoulder. Leander nodded in approval, and he stepped aside to let them in before slipping out the door to provide privacy.

Perimedes and Elpenor sat down on either side, sandwiching Leander in between them.

"Are you okay?" Perimedes broke the tense silence. Leander scoffed.

"I guess," he answered curtly. They both frowned at the lackluster response.

"Well that wasn't very reassuring," Elpenor said, smiling when he saw a hint of a smile grace Leander's features.

"I'm fine, really," he insisted, but he didn't even sound convincing to himself. Perimedes sighed and threw an arm around his shoulder. 

"Look, I'm real sorry about what I said back there. I just- I was annoyed, and I lost my temper. So... I'm sorry," he apologized, feeling genuine remorse as he looked at his friend.

Leander smiled and leaned into the touch, wrapping his arms around each of them. "Thanks, I forgive you. But I'll try to keep quiet, I promise," he assured, yet there was an underlying sadness to his words that he couldn't shake.

"You don't have to do that," Perimedes argued softly, guilt gnawing away at his chest at his words.

"Yeah, we love listening to you!" Elpenor chimed in. Leander pulled away, staring at them skeptically.

"Really? 'Cause it seems like you don't..." he trailed off, curling in on himself as he tucked one knee against his chest, wrapping his arms around it.

"We do! It's just... you kinda tend to ramble on, and it can get a little boring," he said before he could think better of it.

Leander gasped, staring between the two. "So what I'm basically hearing is that I'm annoying, and boring, so I should just shut up," he snapped defensively, shocking them both.

"What the hell?"

"That's not what I said!"

"It's what you meant," he stood firm in his stance, arms crossed over his expansive chest. Perimedes sighed.

"I already said I'm sorry! What else do you want from me?" he pleaded, and Leander shrugged.

He truly didn't know what it was that he wanted from Perimedes, but he did know that he wasn't quite ready to forgive him yet. His words had cut deep, and the scars had already settled. The apology was a nice sentiment, but at this point, it might as well be like putting bandages on a stab wound; it could only help so much.

"I dunno. But I really wish you'd just leave me alone right now," he muttered, and Perimedes couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Okay, you're spending too much time with Asterios. It's making you all broody, and I don't like it," he decided. Leander snorted in amusement.

"You don't like a lot of things," he quipped sarcastically, making Elpenor stifle a giggle.

"Okay, that's it! We're not leaving until you have a smile on your face," he boldly claimed.

Leander raised his brows in shock. "Better get comfortable then," he challenged. Perimedes growled and grabbed his hair, flopping back onto the bed in frustration. He glared up at him mockingly.

"Since when did you get so stubborn?" he questioned, sitting back up.

"Since you hurt my feelings."

Leander tensed up as soon as he realized what he just admitted. Perimedes deflated at his words, and Elpenor winced. Apparently, they still needed to work things out.

"C'mon, I said I'm sorry! I didn't mean anything back there!" When Leander didn't answer, he rested his head on his shoulder, laying a hand on his knee.

"You mean that? You're not just saying it to make me feel better?" he questioned, looking between them with wide, sad eyes.

"I don't tend to sugar coat things," he smirked, patting his friend's leg with a friendly squeeze to the knee.

Leander instinctively jerked away, his lips twitching upwards in a shy grin. He had just barely held back a giggle, and he tried to casually hide his smile behind a hand. Elpenor and Perimedes shared a knowing look behind his back, and he repeated the motion, earning a startled gasp and flinch.

"I think I know how to cheer you up now..." Perimedes said, and despite his words, Leander couldn't help but see it as a threat. He leaned away as far as he could, bumping straight into Elpenor.

"Do tell," he taunted, wrapping an arm around his shoulders so he couldn't escape.

"Guys, you don't have to do this," he tried to reason, but a nervous, giddy smile was already playing at the corner of his lips. It wouldn't be the first time he fell victim to one of their attacks. And he'd watch them go after the others often enough to recognize the warning signs. He knew he was trapped.

"Oh, but we do! We gotta make sure you're not upset anymore," Perimedes insisted.

"I-I'm not!"

"You don't sound so sure."

When he opened his mouth to speak, Perimedes began to squeeze his knee, latching onto his other leg for added effect.

"Wahait!" he barked out a laugh, wrestling the offending hands away.

"And what am I waiting for, exactly?" he asked, arching a brow quizzically.

"Um..." For once, Leander's mind came up blank.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Perimedes taunted, going right back to squeezing his knees.

He caved immediately, curling in on himself as he fell victim to bright laughter.

"G-guys, c'mohohon! Behe nihihice!" Leander whined, falling back on the bed in a fit of giggles. For all his protesting, he wasn't trying very hard to protect himself; merely wrapping his arms around his belly as his legs scrambled across the mattress.

"But this is us being nice!" Elpenor taunted, scribbling his fingers between each rib. Leander shrieked and tried to crawl away, only for Perimedes to drag him back by the ankles.

Leander was lying on his stomach, hiding his face in a nearby pillow as he laughed his worries away. Perimedes straddled his legs while Elpenor struggled to pin his arms overhead.

He realized he could probably escape if he really tried, it's not like either one of them were very strong. But... that would be pretty rude, wouldn't it? After all, they were just trying to cheer him up! He's done the same on more than one occasion, so he supposed it was only fair.  Besides, he never turned down a good laugh.

"Yeah! If I wanted to be mean, I'd do this!" he demonstrated by shoving his hands inside his sandals, scribbling against his trapped soles.

"NOHOHO! Gehehet out!" he shrieked, kicking frantically, but all his struggling was useless.

"Aw, what's the matter big guy? Too ticklish here?" Perimedes taunted, lacing his fingers between each toe, making him snort loudly.

"YEHEHES, OHOKAHAHAY?" he admitted through hysterics, and his tormentors couldn't help but to laugh along.

"Is that so? Good to know," he purred, scratching his blunt nails against his arches.

Elpenor added, "Uh oh, you shouldn't have said that. I mean, I can be trusted, but Perry, not so much."

"Oh shut up! Unless you wanna be next!" Perimedes growled, pointing at him threateningly.

"See what I mean?" he asked, pinching up his ribs towards his armpits.

"You're bohohoth hohorrible!" he whined,

"Oh yeah? Who's the worst?" he teased, flashing a proud, cheeky grin.

"Rihihight now? You," Leander managed to huff, bucking his hips in an attempt to throw him off.

"Wow, you hear that Elpenor? He says you suck at this," he goaded, snickering to himself when he heard Elpenor's gasp.

"Excuse me?"

"Nonono I never said that!" he tried to back track, but there was no reasoning with these two. He yanked on his arms, but it was mostly for show as a giddy smile twitched at his lips.

"Eh, it was implied," he shrugged, siding with his partner in crime. He finally reached his destination, swirling a single finger around his exposed pit. Leander jerked away with a bark of laughter, straining to look away as a blush dusted his cheeks.

"Elpenor, plehease! Ihi'm sohohorry!" he whined, arching his back and twisting from side to side.

"Oh so you did mean it!" Elpenor accused, drilling his thumbs in the center of his pits without warning.

"THAHAT'S NOHOHOT WHAT I MEHEANT!" he cackled, muscles straining to yank himself free.

"It's not? Maybe think before you speak," he teased, wrestling his arms back above his head.

"Hehehey!" he whined through boisterous laughter.

"Hay's for horses!" Elpenor shot back, giggling at his own joke as Perimedes reached back to give him a high five.

"Thahat's nohohot even funny!"

"Oh yeah? Then why are you laughing?" Perimedes asked, cocking his head to the side innocently.

"You KNOHOW why!" Leander argued, and he would roll his eyes if he could, but he was a little busy at the moment.

"Really? I don't think so. Elpenor?"

"Beats me. Why are you laughing, Leander?" he played along, darting back down to his ribs to keep him guessing.

"Fuhuhuck ohohohoff!" he sassed, sealing his fate.

"What did you just say?" Perimedes growled, pausing his attack to turn and glare at him.

Leander realized his mistake and began to backpedal, "N-nothing!"

"No, I swear it sounded like you told us to fuck off!"

"That's what I heard," Elpenor chimed in helpfully.

"Just shuhut up ahahalready!"

"Oh you're not in any position to make demands," Perimedes snarked, turning around to face him before clawing at his knees. He kneaded up the side of his thigh towards his hip, slipping his other hand underneath him to attack the side pressed against the bed. Leander snorted and shook his head, trying in vein to curl in on himself.

"Ihi'm sorry! I'M SOHOHORRYYYYY!" he screamed when he found a particularly bad spot where his thigh and hip met.

Perimedes backed off to give him a breather, and Elpenor did the same. Leander laid there gasping for breath, a dazed, giddy smile plastered on his face.

"You promise?"

"By thehe Gods, yes! I promise!" he huffed, rolling his eyes fondly.

"Good. You feel better now? You don't hate us or anything?" he asked, his tone more sincere. Leander blushed and avoided eye contact.

"I could never hate you guys... But yeah. If you need an answer, we're cool," he admitted, unable to stop the way his lips twitched upwards in a smirk.

"Glad you had fun, big guy," Elpenor grinned, reaching over to ruffle his hair before his hand was smacked away.

"What? I-I never said that!" he stammered, cheeks flushing red.

"You didn't have to," Perimedes teased, but there was a touch of tenderness to his words. "You made it pretty obvious," he added with a wink, laughing at the way Leander's gawked at him.

"You can leave now," Leander hinted not so subtly, unable to come up with a witty retort.

"I don't hear you denying it," he goaded further, helping when Leander pounced on him, attacking him with a nearby pillow.

"Because arguing with you is like arguing with a brick wall!" he quipped, hitting him over the head with it. Perimedes giggled as he weakly fought back, shielding himself from the cushioned blows.

"Whatever you say," he purred, and Leander rolled his eyes before smothering the pillow over his face.

"Don't think you're off the hook either," he warned, shooting Elpenor a warning look.

"I would never," he smirked, holding his hands up in surrender.

Leander snorted in amusement and let Perimedes go, but not before thoroughly messing up his hair.

"You two are insufferable."

~~~

Things hadn't changed much, but Leander did make an effort to talk less. If he noticed interest waning in the topic, he'd either change the subject or trail off into silence.

He tried not to let it bother him. He'd brush off the annoyed sighs he'd get in response to his enthusiasm, downplaying his own enjoyment to match theirs. Thankfully, no one really seemed to notice, or so he thought.

Polites noticed how he wasn't as talkative as he usually was and had brought it up to Eurylochus one day. He explained what had happened a few weeks prior, but assured him that Leander was fine now.

"Is he though?" Polites questioned, arching a brow skeptically.

"What do you mean?" Eurylochus asked, unsure where his friend was going with this.

He shrugged. "He just... seems a little sad when he thinks no one cares what he has to say."

"You don't think he's just tired, like the rest of us?"

"No offense, but you're not exactly in tune with people's emotions."

"Fair point."

And that had been that. A short conversation out of concern before the topic was dropped, but it lingered in the back of each of their minds.

Now they sat side by side, rowing in time with the men around them. They had a strong tailwind carrying them, and only a handful of them needed to row. The rest of the crew worked above deck or milled about the living quarters.

Leander sat on the row in front of them next to Asterios, with Perimedes and Elpenor across the aisle. The blond was on another one of his tangents, going on about his favorite kinds of trees.

"And we had this huge mulberry tree in our front yard, and every summer my sisters and I would spend hours sitting in the branches eating berries, and still pick plenty for jams and pies. But my favorite tree," Leander continued rambling on about an old maple tree atop a hill on the outskirts of town, oblivious to his audience's dwindling attention. That is, until he heard a stifled yawn from behind him.

He cringed at the sound, but hoped no one noticed.

"But what about you guys? Anyone else got a favorite tree?" he asked, trying to pass the conversation on to someone else.

"I know the captain does," Eurylochus joked softly, glancing over his shoulder to make sure his friend wasn't there listening. Polites and Eurylochus bumped shoulders, chuckling to themselves.

"Oh lay off him, I think it's romantic," he defended. "I hope I can find someone who makes me feel like that. I didn't have very much luck with the ladies back home, believe it or not," he started on a new tangent, only to hear a heavy sigh.

That was definitely Eurylochus, he knew that sound all too well. He curled in on himself ever so slightly, shoulders hunched.

"But you don't wanna hear about that!" he chirped, forcing a cheerful tone. Asterios cast a worried glance his way, but didn't say anything.

"I do!" Polites reassured, shooting a pointed look at Eurylochus. He rolled his eyes, but stopped when he noticed their friend's shift in demeanor.

Great, now he felt bad.

"Nah, it's okay, I know I'm being boring," he admitted with a shy chuckle.

"No you're not!" Polites gasped, nudging Eurylochus for back up.

"Yeah, what makes you say that?"

Leander scoffed, leaning back as he rowed to stare at him upside down. "For starters, I heard you yawning," he stated bluntly, smirking at the way his jaw dropped in shock.

"I didn't-"

"It's okay, I get it. I know I talk too much, but hey! I'm workin' on it!" he spoke casually, but his movements were faster- more jerky, and Asterios struggled to keep up with the new pace. Elpenor and Perimedes adverted their gaze, sharing a nervous look. They knew what it was like to be on Leander's bad side, and they weren't keen on repeating that mistake.

"You don't talk too much," Polites said, a frown etching his features.

"Whatever you say," Leander sighed, figuring it was better to drop the subject than argue. Polites watched him from behind, brows furrowed. He looked to Eurylochus for help, subtly nodding towards their friend.

He mouthed the words, "do something," and was met with a bewildered look.

"Like what?" he silently asked. Polites shrugged, at a loss for ideas. Eurylochus noticed Elpenor waving frantically across the aisle, trying to get their attention. He nudged Polites and pointed, prompting him to look.

Once he had their attention, he pointed at Leander and wiggled his fingers, sporting a mischievous smirk.

"No," Eurylochus shook his head. Even silent, he tried to seem stern.  Elpenor and Polites both nodded emthusiastically. He caved, throwing his head back in defeat.

Polites cleared his throat and spoke, "Lee?"

"Hm?"

"I'm sorry if we made you think that."

Leander sighed. "It's fine."

Which clearly meant it wasn't.

"... Are you mad?"

From where Asterios sat, he could see his nostrils flare at the question.

"No, but if you keep asking I will be," he mouthed off, earning a quick chuckle from Perimedes and Asterios. His lips twitched in a proud, but fleeting smirk.

"Come on, don't be like that," Polites whined.

"Like what? You're the one dragging this out," he noted. Polites scoffed in disbelief, and Eurylochus didn't need any more convincing.

Leander yelped when he was grabbed from behind, strong arms hooking themselves under his, pulling him backwards until he was halfway between the seats. 

"Look, we're sorry if we don't always pay attention to your stories, but you do tend to ramble on about pretty boring things," he began, startling just about everyone with his blunt words.

"Dude!" Asterios hissed, whipping around to glare daggers.

"Eurylochus!" Polites yelled in shock, watching the way their friend deflated at his words, adverting his gaze. He had practically confirmed all of his fears and anxieties...

"Gee, thanks. You have such a way with words," he muttered sarcastically. Eurylochus rolled his eyes and shook him in his hold, just to grab his attention.

"But, you're our friend, and we enjoy your company, and that's what matters. You're always so passionate about what you're saying, and we enjoy seeing you happy. It shouldn't really matter that we don't know what the hell you're talking about half the time," he finished with a light tease, but barely got half a smile in return. From his position, it was hard to cross his arms, but Leander managed.

A little more blunt than he intended, but he hoped Leander knew what he was trying to say.

He stared up at him from his lap, unimpressed.

"So what I'm hearing-"

Oh no...

"Is that no one listens to me because I'm b-boring, but that shouldn't matter because I'm a happy guy?" he reiterated, voice cracking from held back emotions.

The situation was spiraling out of control, and fast. Polites watched on in shock as Eurylochus scrambled to correct himself.

"I'm sorry, that came out wrong," he tried to explain, but Leander was done with the conversation and struggled to free himself. From his position, he could only wave his arms uselessly and squirm in his seat, so he didn't get very far. He continued, "You know I'm bad with words-"

"Even worse with feelings!"

"Thank you, Polites," he huffed in annoyance, but was unable to keep his smirk at bay. "But yeah, I'm not great with either. I guess what I'm trying to say is, no matter what you talk about, or how many tangents you go on, we're still gonna be your friend, and we do enjoy listening to you. There, was that better?" he clarified, waiting for his response with baited breath.

"A little," Leander conceited with a shrug, not entirely ready to drop the petty act just yet.

"Only a little?" Eurylochus asked, arching a brow.

"Yeah..." he answered, looking him up and down skeptically. He caught sight of Polites lurking closer, sporting a mischievous grin, and he began to struggle.

"And where do you think you're going?"

"Away from you!"

"Really? Well we're on a boat, so good luck with that," he deadpanned, reaching down to pinch his sides.

"Hehey wait aha second!"

"Yeah, don't get started without me!" Polites cheered and began scribbling across his belly. Leander barked out a laugh, scrambling to protect himself from the double attack. He nearly succeeded before Eurylochus adjusted his hold, trapping him in a hug from behind.

"Nohoho don't!" he whined, legs scrambling against the floor.

"Don't what, buddy?" Polites asked innocently, shifting his attention to his flailing legs. He latched onto his knees, drawing out frantic cackles interlaced with a few snorts.

"Tickle mehehe!" he answered; naive and all too trusting. Whatever, Polites knew what he meant.

He knew he was just answering the question; he wasn't thinking straight, he couldn't think straight. Maybe it was mean to take advantage of that. But it was the oldest trick in the book, so if he didn't see that coming, it was his own fault, really.

So yes, Polites knew exactly what he meant. But that didn't mean he had to act like it.

"If you insist!"

"Whahat? WAIT NOHOHO!" he realized his mistake a moment too late, throwing his head back in defeat as deep chuckles rumbled inside his chest.  "Y-you trihihicked mehe!"

"You say that like it was hard," Polites taunted, scribbling behind his knees.

"Hey whahat's thahahat supposed to meHEHEAN!" Leander shrieked and scrambled to escape as ticklish jolts shot through legs, worse than any Charlie horse. He accidentally kicked Asterios in the back, shoving him forward.

"Ow! Y'know, if you guys are gonna do that, can you at least hold him down?" he requested, scooting further away to avoid any more flailing limbs.

"Traitor!" Leander gasped, this time purposefully kicking him between the shoulders, shoving him off the seat.

He whipped around to glare at him, growling, "Okay," as he wrestled his legs down to the bench.

"Thanks!" Polites flashed a grin before attacking his trapped knees.

"Yeah yeah," Asterios brushed him off, looking away to hide the fond smile on his face.

"Guhuhuys! Thihihis ihisn't fahahair!" he whined, trying to twist and squirm away.

"Life's not fair," Eurylochus teased, pinching down his ribcage. Leander arched away from the touch with a giggly scream, falling in the space between benches.

"Seriously?" Leander cried out in frustration, squirming as his friends laughed at his plight.

Eurylochus chuckled and patted his shoulder, "What'd I tell you?"

"This is your fault you know," he grumbled playfully, using his new position to his advantage and squeezing along his thighs. Eurylochus screamed and pulled his legs up out of reach, heat rising to his cheeks.

"Oh shut up."

"Aw, what's wrong? Can't take what you dish out?" he taunted smugly.

"Can you?" he challenged, snatching both his wrists in one hand and raising them above his head.

"Wait ihit's just ahaha joke!" he begged through helpless giggles, tugging weakly on his arms.

With his other hand, Eurylochus wiggled his fingers threateningly, closing in with each passing second until he reached his target. Leander giggled with anticipation, shaking his head frantically despite the giddy smile on his face. He practically screamed when Eurylochus dug under his arm, blunt nails scratching against sensitive skin.

"Please what? For someone so talkative, you sure are having a hard time using your words," he taunted with an evil chuckle.

"Well geeheehee, I wonder whyyYYYY!" Leander scoffed indignantly, shrieking when Polites started pinching down his calves.

"Aw, you're ticklish here? How funny!"

"Shut uhuhup! Don't behehe mehehean!" he whined, kicking weakly as his hands crawled higher to scratch the back of his knees.

"I'm noooot!" Polites taunted, feigning innocence. "If I was mean, I'd do this!"

Leander didn't even have time to guess what he was about to do before he felt hands latch onto his knees, squeezing relentlessly. Deep, bellowing laughter escaped from his chest, legs kicking the air uselessly as he struggled to free himself from between the seats. As soon as he freed himself, Eurylochus snatched him once more.

“GAHAHAH! Lehet gohoho!” he shrieked, scrambling to slap his hands away, only for Eurylochus to snatch his arm once more.

“So knees are a good spot? Noted,” Eurylochus hummed in observation, nodding sagely despite his teasing grin.

“NO! It’s bad! It’s sohoho bad!” he let out a giggly whine, head thrown back in mirth.

“Same difference,” Polites said, giggling when he heard Asterios mutter, “What the fuck, no it’s not.”

“Sure it is! It’s just bad for him and good for us!” he clarified, playful giggle taking on a slight menacing edge.

“You’re evil,” Asterios deadpanned before going back to work, one of the only few left rowing, even if Elpenor and Perimedes were doing a half-assed job while they watched.

“Coming from you that means a lot,” he quipped. Asterios sputtered in shock, whipping around to glare at him for a split second before turning back around, elbowing him as he pulled the oar back.

“Ow! It was a compliment!”

“Mine wasn’t,” Asterios taunted, tilting his head ever so slightly, just enough for Polites to see the tug of a smirk playing at his lips.

“Hey! Do I have to get you next?” he threatened, noting the way Asterios bristled at his words.

“Hell no, just keep doin’ what you’re doin’,” he brushed him off, excusing himself from the conversation.

“Whahahat? Nohoho! C’mohon guys, hehehelp me out!” he begged, expecting at least one of them to come to his aid.

Nothing.

“Plehehease?”

“Sorry, you’re on your own,” Perimedes said, rubbing at the back of his neck sheepishly.

Leander gasped in shock, nearly choking on the laughter caught in his throat. There was only one option left.

"HEHEHELP! THEY'RE KIHIHILLING MEHEHE!" he called out desperately, seeing as no one down there was keen on saving him.

"Oh don't be so dramatic!" Polites taunted as he scribbled behind his knees.

Eurylochus barked out a laugh of amusement, cupping one hand around his mouth to shout back, "NO WE'RE NOT!"

Asterios, Elpenor, and Perimedes couldn't help but chuckle along, too amused to save him from his plight.

Eurylochus shifted his hold to more of a hug, taking the opportunity to dig into his sides. Leander doubled over as best he could, deep, rumbling belly laughs filled the air, reaching the upper deck.

At first, Odysseus was happy to ignore the sound, having grown used to the crew's antics by now, and besides, they could fend for themselves.

But then he heard the poor soul beg for help…

The group below deck was far too preoccupied to notice the footsteps walking down the stairs, nor the fact that their captain now stood in the doorway. He watched on with an amused smirk, shaking his head fondly.

Finally, he cleared his throat, announcing his presence, but only Perimedes seemed to notice, trying his best to tip them off to his presence.

"Really guys?" They both jumped at the sound of his voice. Eurylochus dropped Leander in shock, and he fell to the floor, still trapped between the benches. Polites didn't seem to care about that, taking the opportunity to scribble over his belly. "I expect this sort of thing from Elpenor and Perimedes-"

"Hey!"

"We're right here!"

"But I thought you were more mature than that," he teased, yanking on the back of Eurylochus's shirt as he walked by.

Eurylochus shrugged, flashing a smug smirk. "Morale was low."

"Uh huh." Odysseus didn't believe him for a second.

"He totally needed this!" Polites added, reaching over to tweak his side, earning a giggly yelp as he flinched away.

"Lihihiars! They're harahahahassing mehehe!" Leander spoke up, sporting a wide, dopey grin as he tried to squirm away, scrambling to pull himself upright in the tight space.

"Nu uh, we're just cheering him up! Right Asterios?" Polites argued, calling for back up. Asterios glared at him from the corner of his eye when he was suddenly dragged into the discussion, wings pressed flat against his head in annoyance.

"Why d'you gotta drag me into this?"

"'Cause you know we're right!"

Odysseus chuckled, looking to Elpenor and Perimedes for guidance. "So who's really telling the truth?"

The pair shared a look before Elpenor answered with an innocent smile, "Eurylochus and Polites had nothing but good intentions."

"That's bullshit, Captain!" Leander gasped in shock.

"I dunno, I trust my first mate to know what he's doing. If he says morale was low..." Odysseus trailed off, clicking his tongue. "Then maybe you deserved it."

"Whahahat?" he cried out in disbelief. "Noho I dohohon't!"

Polites and Eurylochus barely held back their own amused laughter as their captain came to their defense.

"Don't you always say laughter is the best medicine?" Odysseus asked, feigning innocence with a sly chuckle.

"Y-yeah, but nohot for mehe!" he whined, finally managing to crawl to the main isle and sit upright, heaving for breath. He shrieked and tucked his legs close to his chest when Polites tried to swipe his ankles.

"Okay, hypocrite," Perimedes taunted, having heard that justification used on him.

He rolled his eyes, breaking under the light interrogation. "Okay, fine, so maybe I was being a little difficult-"

"Oh only a little?" Polites taunted, giggling as he dodged a playful kick.

"You know, I was debating whether or not to get revenge, but you just made that decision for me," Leander teased right back.

"Nooo wait," Polites whined, staring up at him with his best puppy eyes as he leaned against his shoulder. Leander scoffed in amusement, but didn't shove him off.

"Nope, too late, you can't stop it," he rambled, ignoring the indignant sounds of protests from his friends.

"Uh oh, looks like you better sleep with one eye open tonight," Odysseus can't help but chime in, earning an eye roll from Eurylochus and a betrayed glare from Polites.

"Very funny, Captain."

"It was, wasn't it?" he mocked, flashing a smug grin. "But if I leave, can I trust you to get back to work? I'd prefer if the ship were actually moving," he said pointedly, nodding to the abandoned oars.

The men sheepishly picked them back up and began rowing once more.

"That's more like it. You can torture each other on your own time," he teased, cackling at the way they yelled at him as he trotted away.

"He's one to talk," Asterios mumbled once he was out of earshot. Leander shook his head and chuckled as he took his seat.

"Yeah, I wonder where these two get it from," he said, pointing a thumb behind his back where Eurylochus and Polites sat.

"Hey, I'll have you know I actually taught him a thing or two," Polites spoke up rather smugly. Eurylochus looked at him from the side, arching a brow skeptically. "Don't act shocked!"

Eyrylochus smirked, looking straight ahead and shrugged, "Didn't say anything."

"I know that look."

They bickered back and forth, all the while Leander listened in with a fond smile.

Yeah, they liked him, even if he did tend to ramble. And damn it if he didn’t like them back, as annoying as they were.

[bleedingichorhearts]

Warhammer and bioshock crossover where a custodes found themself down there which after a bit of wandering comes across big daddy reader who is mauling another big daddy so the sisters can more easily leave the quickly flooding city and reader is probably dying from obtaining less and less adom.

"Wow, let me see what I can mix with this one. The Custodies is not named, and Big Daddy’s (from what I read) do not necessarily need ADAM to survive, could be the Little Sisters job however." - Ichor

Summary - "A Custodies finds himself in a... city underwater with creatures that seem to be of chaos..."

TW// Violence?

|°𝕄𝕒𝕤𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕃𝕚𝕤𝕥°|

The Custodes has cut his way through this... abandoned, broken underwater city for a bit now. Staining his glaive with the blood of these chaos tainted baselines that speak a bit weirdly, and have the balls to charge him with little, heated fishhooks in their hands. Earning a very quick thrust of his weapon into the stomach. Which, his show of power has scared the rest off them... Not that he would let them go away that easily. The Emperor must have sent him down here for a reason, right?

He grunts beneath his helmet as he pulls out his glaive from the mutated baseline. The pure weight of him and his armor crushing the already dead baseline below him; cracking the cement below before he looks around once more. Looking for anything else that might have the Emperors' wrath upon them.

Groans sounds out, vibrating the walls of the glass keeping this city from being overflowed with water of the deep. The Custodes recognize these sounds. Something old that's barely in the books anymore, depending on which planets you go to. Whales, it sounds like, or what he imagines what they sound like. He wasn't one in the libraries too much like his other golden brethren.

The same, low sound comes out again and the Custodes looks around for it in the seas, but nothing pops up against the flickering neon signs of the city. That is if you count just the tiny schools of fish that dwell this far down under the water levels: 2,000 meters from the surface. (The true depth of Rapture varies.)

His helmet snaps to the side of him once he hears a clash of metals and thuds however. His eyes searching for the source while he moves forward at a regular pace. Glaive at his side, ready to serve him once more. No hesitation to move off needed.

The clash and groans happen again; louder as he gets closer. His ears picking up something different: A girlish scream…? More childish? What were children doing do here? Unless they affected by chaos themselves. Truly unfortunate if they were, but if the Emperor wants to lay them down to rest, deep beneath the sea… he isn’t going to be below it.

He paused when he sees a girl, clearly scared scrambling back from a glass tunnel. Holding some sort of stuffed animal from their times, but… she was clearly mutated. Nothing was right about how she looked: her skin color was different, and her eyes glowed yellowish. Not to mention she was holding a syringe. Did she survive the mind of chaos?

His eyes follow as she runs and hides in those circular vent things he’s seen about since his time wandering. Thinking, as he had no urge to pursue that child. She didn’t exactly feel chaos tainted, but something weird was going on. Despite that, he’s more worried with the clashing. He doesn’t want to be in this strange city when it cracks and falls to the effects of the sea.

Turning his attention back-to the clashing and groans turned growls, he moves forward again. Rounding the corner and into the tunnel when that child had scrambled from and stepped into it. His eyes observing the situation at hand: Two unlikely, unidentified being fighting. Drills in their hands and smacking each other with them. It would be amusing if they were some twinks, but that was not the case.

The Custodes thinks it was Nurgles creations at first, but the more he studies his potential enemy in front of him? The more he understands they were test subjects underneath all that animosity. It was clear with how they smell, but not so much of his they look. Smelling like dimethyl sulfide, phaeocystis, a hint of copper and something else he has yet to identify in this underwater world.

He watches as the victor roars out in succession, but seems… wounded. Though, that doesn’t stop the creature from observing and spotting him in the process. Their once green portholes shifting to a yellow. Something he gauges that it was to show if they were aggressive or not considering they both fought in a red light.

“Daddy! Daddy!” The girls voice comes back, her bare feet padding against the floor with the stuffed animal in hand. Calling out to the being in some weird armor. “You’re okay!”

The being turns, flashing from yellow to green again. Trying to decide what its instincts tell them to do: should they fight the other Big Daddy in gold? Or protect the Little Sister? It doesn’t seem like the golden being isn’t a Big Daddy like their self however…

The little girl paused before both the beings, snuggling her stuffy close and swing it side to side. Suddenly having a bit of self-aware of the being in gold. Her eyes looking him up and down. “Are… are you a friendly Big Daddy?”

“…I’m not a… Big Daddy…” The Custodes informs deeply, shifting. Using his Glaive more like a staff. His answer surprising the little girl as her eyes widen.

“Daddy! This Daddy speaks!” The small child exclaims, jumping up and down to the… true Big Daddy, ecstatic. Their stuffy bouncing with them before they rush forward into the hands of the offered hand of the Big Daddy and crawling up to his back.

Hmm, at least they don’t seem affected by chaos… so far.

“Let’s get some ADAM, daddy!”

“@kit-williams, @egrets-not-regrets, @bispecsual, @gallifreyianrosearkytiorsusan, @sleepyfan-blog.”

“+@c-u-c-koo-4-40k, @marcela2000, @passionofthesith, @insanity6666, @ilovewolvezz.” - Tagged

[bluebasie]

Loki Season one was not good- The repercussions of turning a character into an idea and product rather than a person.

I haven't posted in..a while..but since Tom Hiddleston was confirmed to be in Avengers Doomsday, I just got thinking about how Loki was going to be integrated back into the story considering the ending of season 2. Like, is the Loki we see in the LOKI series going to make a comeback, is the Loki from the original timeline going to suddenly appear and the audience is going to be told that he somehow escaped Thanos via classic Loki style, or is a new variant of Loki going to show up as a new character? But while I was thinking about this I got sidetracked and now I just want to rant about how the writers of LOKI did the character so dirty and how the character of Loki could be portrayed in further films and media.

To start this off, when I think about the character of “Loki” I think about a character who has always felt different and inferior in his life due both to the expectations and pressures of his people to be something he is not, as well as the obvious difference in race that causes him to be literally different than others. I think about how Loki’s goal his entire life was both to be seen as “worthy” as well as to be accepted as helpful to his family and his people. I think about how he grew up as an Aesir and was surrounded by a society who would often talk down about the Jotuns and boast war stories promoting discrimination against the entire race just to find out that he is the being that children and adults alike would be afraid of. The realization expectedly led to a descent into madness and desperation to “prove” himself as “different” from the “evil and savage frost giants” by destroying the entire race as many of Aesir wanted for eons. I think about how his feelings of rejection and hate for his own biology and place as an adopted child in the royal family as a son and a brother led him to eventually attempting suicide. I think about the innate desire to rule to prove himself as worthy of the role as a royal and a ruler as well as having the contrasting desires to be accepted by his family and to remove them from his life. Overall, during Loki’s arc in the original timeline and cannon pre-endgame, He starts by doing everything to prove himself as worthy among his family members and to play the role crafted for him by Odin before attempting to separate himself from them and play the role of “savage and evil” that many thought he would be due to his heritage before finally acting not out of the roles and wants of others but his own desire to help his people during Ragnarok despite the threat of Hela and the opportunities of Sakaar to craft a life that's truly his, Loki returns to aid in the fight to save the Asgardians and eventually sacrifice himself for a shot for Thor’s survival, not out of an obligation forced upon him, but through the love and care of a brother who he accepts. His story starts by being found and “saved” by Thanos and hurting others to fulfill a role and ends by being killed by Thanos and sacrificing himself for a person he genuinely cared about regardless of a role and obligation.

Keeping all of this in mind, I truly believe that the Writers of LOKI, specifically for season 1, really did not portray Loki in ways that actually showed complex characterization and prioritized his strengths as well as his weaknesses. Season one essentially gives Loki what I call the “Love and Thunder” treatment in which it oversimplifies Loki and overly humorizes him in ways that undermine previous serious characterizations. I also really think that they did not preserve the cannon timeline repercussions in ways that made sense because in the original timeline, Loki essentially learned his entire life was a lie, committed Suicide, fell seemingly endlessly, dealt with the horror of Thanos and the Other, fought a long battle with his brother and the avengers before losing and being taken into custody and essentially told that he is not strong enough to conquer and rule like Odin and yet despite all this, at the start of LOKI, He seems completely unaffected by these events and uncaring like he did not go through constant pain and misery over the last 1-2 years before finding out that nothing matters and he was forced to do everything and he truly has no freedom from the TVA. Despite all this he just accepts the whole situation?? Why is it when he gets the tesseract he just goes to some random dessert rather than maybe one of the many branches in Yggdrasil where he actually has the upper hand or connections that he has built over the past centuries and obviously knows more about but no- he goes to a deserted part of Midgard- the realm he knows virtually the least about and the realm he is currently being hunted for. And then, instead of actually running or making a plan, he just gets on a rock and makes a stupid speech to people who do not understand English. Also, side note, why wouldn't Loki know Mongolian? He's shown to know quite a few languages, and he has the All-Speak in the comics? But whatever. I'm going to skip to the scene after Loki has been taken into custody at the TVA and Mobius is showing him his life film. Overall, I think this scene was very interesting to watch because it basically confronts Loki with his choices in a way that shows the viewers the straightforward reactions Loki has to events in his life in a way that we don't really get to see in the movies. However, I feel like the series kind of just used this scene as a cop out to actual growth made through the movies for Loki. Like this scene could have been better later in the series but the series just kind of has moments like this so they don't actually have to show growth in Loki's character. One major criticism I have about season 1 is that when it actually comes to Loki's characterization the writers just kind of “say not show” it by having Loki just straight up say things about his character for the viewers to watch without actually showing this growth or these characteristics at play. Like when Loki talks to Mobius after viewing his death and when Loki calls himself a narcissist in the Sif loop, we don't actually get to watch any change in Loki's behavior, we just get to watch him talk about himself. It feels both unsatisfactory and like the writers just don't care.

Then there is one of the biggest screw ups that the LOKI series makes: The absolute nerfing of Loki’s fighting and magic. Loki is a god. Regardless of the situation, he has still lived for more than 1000 and spent most of them years studying magic and fighting in battles. Compared to the comics, Loki in the movies is still kind of underpowered compared to his comic counterpart, but even compared to the movies, Loki in the series, specifically in season 1, is absolutely weak and useless. In the Avengers movie Loki goes hand to hand with Captain America and Thor, and he was shown to be quite a competent opponent against the avengers but in the series? Noooo, Loki is pathetic and cannot hold his own in a 10 second battle with Sylvie despite having actual training compared to Sylvie just having to rely on limited resources and teachers in apocalypses. Also, OH MY GOD JUST USE YOUR SEIDR LOKI. like Sylvie was shown to have significantly less magic range compared to Loki yet even she uses her magic more the literal character that this show is named after. Like it is so freaking underutilized. In almost every scene there is something that Loki could do that could turn the tides in a battle but in almost every instance he chooses to do nothing which causes him to lose constantly. We as the viewer see that he still has the ability to do magic in scenes such as when he uses telekinesis to lift a falling building but like- where was this power in any of his previous battles? I understand that there is a budget but like the majority of the budget was being used on useless things. There are so many things in the series that I would be fine giving up to see Loki even have a fraction of the power that he has in the movies.

Then there is the blatant stupidity that Loki expresses through his choices throughout the series. Time and Time and Time again he just makes dumb decisions, and he never tries to do anything. When he is in the Sif loop, he doesn't try to leave, when he is out of the TVA, he doesn't try to attack any of the TVA keeping him hostage despite having his magic back, when he is on Lamentus he just gets drunk and ruins everything. Loki is smart! He is a strategist! Why is he just so stupid in the series! It makes absolutely no sense! Why does he just accept everything at face value? Loki is literally the god of artifice, trickery, mischief, etc. Why does he never try to do anything smart or cunning? Like he tricks Mobius in the first episode by snatching the Tempad but after that it's like he just gives up. It feels like the writers truly did not care about Loki and cared WAY more about the other characters in the series.

Then there is the dumpster fire that is the relationship of Sylvie and Loki. Objectively I love Loki in the Movies and I actually quite like the character of Sylvie in the series and I see her motives. She may not be the most likeable character and she's brash and annoying but at least her character is kinda constant. Like she holds a grudge, wants revenge, and doesn't care about its repercussions long term. It may be annoying but that's just her. However, the relationship between the two does a huge injustice to both characters. Like you're telling me that Loki and Sylvie meet, spend like two days together, argue constantly and are just total dicks to each other, then suddenly fall in love for some reason? Within two days? Also, there's the question of the ethics because they do have the same parents and Dna…(it's weird I know) I can't believe the MCU actually included self-cest in the canon. Like I'm not actually gonna comment on whether it's wrong or not (but it is kinda weird) but even if you yourself do not think it's “wrong”, The character in the show reiterates how wrong and weird it is over and over again. Like it's one thing if the writers just ignored the fact that they are LITERALLY the same person and it's another thing when Mobius calls it a weird and twisted infatuation to Loki’s face and everyone is just okay with it after. Also, Loki says a line later in season 1 that goes something like, "I have betrayed everyone I met but I've changed now,” when talking to Sylvie…BRO NUMBER 1, LOKI DOESN'T ACTUALLY BETRAY EVERYONE HE'S KNOWN, AND SAYING HE DOES REDUCES HIM TO ONE TRAIT AND NUMBER 2, IT'S BEEN TWO DAYS?!?! Then Sylvie tells Loki that he just wants the throne and his response is, “I just want you to be ok..” Loki. seriously. Your ONLY goal of doing anything you're doing is just for Sylvie? You met her a few days ago and instead of fighting for your free will, fighting to go back to Asgard and to your mother and Thor, or even fighting to have any life he wanted. But no, all you care about now is the variant of yourself who doesn't even care about you. It's just depressing to watch ngl. The kiss scene felt sad and undeserved. Their relationship reduces their characters to single traits (can't trust and can't be trusted) and almost satirizes them as people. Also, there is the constant inconsistency of their similarities and differences as variants. One second, they're “completely different” and in the next they are the same. Make up your mind Sylvie. Please.

In my opinion, Season 1 of the LOKI was just not good overall. The essence of the writing turned Loki into a flat, one dimensional, shell of what he once was. This was due primarily to the writers trying to turn Loki into something of a product that an actual person that the show needed to capture to succeed. We see time and time again that his character was not consistent- rather, a weird conglomeration of too many traits trying to take center position at all times. We get a Loki that goes from sad to silly to empathetic to psychotic within mere minutes. It just doesn't work. There were some fun points, and it had A LOT of wasted potential but despite this, Season 2 was a HUGE step up from the horrible place that season 1 left the story. Like it felt like season 1 has a completely self-indulgent story that felt almost like a badly written fanfiction with plot holes, selfcest, a lowkey self-insert love interest, and an awful plotline. It did Loki so dirty in his own show. Despite all this, season two picks up on the disaster of season 2 and brings back so many aspects of Loki that are actually true to his character. HIS CHARACTER. Not anybody else. Thank you season two for actually focusing on the character that we’re all here for. It makes him a bit more powerful. He's smarter. His motives are clearer and fit more for his character. His status as a god was actually real and not just some cruel joke that he had to delude himself into believing to cope, and his choices were overall better. It wasn't perfect. Far from it. But what is? In my opinion it was genuinely good, and you could tell that the writers for season 2 actually cared about the characters they were writing about. Loki is written better, Mobius is written better, and Sylvie is written better. All of the characters are written better, and the character relationships are written better. The characterization is taken seriously. And the story is more interesting and captivating. I was actually really interested in the plot, and I really liked the darker tone it took. Considering the place season 1 left us, season 2 did the impossible and literally redeemed the show and turned a lowkey obnoxious show into one that is deep, thought provoking, and raises Loki, a character who was reduced to nothing in season 1, into one of the most powerful characters in the Mcu. It had a great ending and even the humor was a large step up from the lackluster humor of season 1. I could talk for ages about the implications of season 2 and about what it means for the characterization of Loki and the others (I pretend season 1 didn't happen) but it is safe to say that the writers of season 2 seriously deserve a raise because they kind of saved Loki and a lot of the crap season 1 introduced for the Mcu.

Overall I'm super excited to see the route they take with Loki in doomsday and I'm super excited to see Loki interact with some of the other characters in the Mcu other than the characters in the LOKI series and I really want to see how the reunion between Thor and Loki goes considering it's probably Loki from the series that will be featured in the new avengers film but there is still a chance for the Loki that appears to be a variant of some kind. Regardless, if you have read to the end then I thank you for humoring my criticisms. I still love Loki as a character, and I probably always will and I truly only want him and his story to be taken seriously. (Please Loki fans don't come at me for shitting on season one it wasn't completely awful, just a lot of parts of it were…questionable...) Anyways. If you're interested in seeing me do an analysis on the character of Loki or anyone else in the Mcu tell me cause I would love to talk more about the positives rather than focus on the negatives of the Mcu and I'm also really looking forward to the Thunderbolts coming out and have a lot of good expectations for the film. Some characters I'm super interested in are Yelena, Nebula, Thor and like a ton more characters and I'm probably gonna get into it some other time but for now I think this a good part to end this little rant on. As always if you have any comments on the things I said, please share!

Thanks for reading, and if it's all the same to you…I think I'll have that drink now.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Who is this sassy lost child?

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[thedrotter]

was gonna save this one for later posting with other doodles but I'm really happy with this one so i couldnt keep it to myself( ；∀；) so here's alice in wonderland yuu!!! my cchild

[smile-files]

as someone who isn't agere but believes in their beliefs... i think henry's like that a little bit. he was forced to grow up incredibly quickly and take on that "older brother" role, when you can imagine he much preferred being the "younger brother"... randall protecting him, making him feel brave... you can imagine he fantasizes about being little again, just for that. he was forced to become an archetypal adult and he longs to take a break from being grown-up. he longs to be able to cry again and to have his brother dry his tears

[texeoghea]

i found my sketchbook guys. returning to my roots

[melancholic-pigeon]

Okay this is the *actual* last comment, for real, but I just found out Spider is now smearing me as a convert and accusing me of being involved with drama I was not involved with because he mistakenly attributed my apologies for his public temper tantrum as being about something unrelated.

THIS IS A FALSE ACCUSATION and I do not appreciate having yet another bit of fake malicious intent falsely ascribed to my actions and* attributing a completely unrelated attack to me.

Also, it's very sad and disappointing whenever a Jew gets mad at a convert because something else is going on in the Jew's life and the convert happens to be in the splash zone and the Jew falls over backwards to smear the convert and invalidate her faith.

Just....the childish aggression is making me so, so sad and disappointed, from someone I used to think very highly of, who is now lying about me and publicly smearing me with false accusations based on a conflict he started because he misinterpreted something I said and I went out of my way to give him the benefit of the doubt when trying to clear up the mistake HE MADE that led him to decide bullying and attacking me for three fucking days was appropriate and okay and that I'm the bad guy for saying it's wildly unprofessional to behave like this in public to a former customer face.

Sorry, but facts, reality, linear time and the truth of what I actually said and did are on my side here, and I will not stand for being smeared and attacked and shat all over because I had the gall to try to kindly resolve his uncalled for, unjustified temper tantrum.

I am also not sorry that I left a side note in the tags that it was also unacceptable for HIM to drag his daughter into a stupid internet slapfight based on his own reading comprehension failure. Because it was and is unacceptable, and she needs to hear that message from someone.

End of story. Keep digging that hole as long as you like, Spider. It's not helping your case and is continuing to make you look progressively worse and more unreasonable, and the only person you have to blame is yourself.

*revised for clarity

[prlssprfctn]

Since we all agree that people of the Alley of Crime adore Red Hood and believe in him, I think it is time to imagine Jason in a scene similar to the one from OG Spiderman, where his identity is accidentally outted in front of crowd of people, and they all are just choose to protect him and help him out.

So maybe Gotham is facing especially nasty trouble, and vigilantes are on the receiving end this time. So maybe Jason is thrown at the dirty Alley in his part of town, wounded, with helmet flying off, and there is just a crowd of people staring as bleeds out, astonished. And Jason thinks, oh, that's the end — he can go and shoot himself, honestly, because he just failed the man rule every vigilante have: never show your face, never reveal your identity.

But people are... helping him? His eyes are half-open, breath laboured and pained, but all he hears is gentle murmuring:

'God, he is just a kid...'

'He must be younger than my son.'

'Poor child...'

He feels soft elderly hand against his cheek as someone from the crowd, an ex nurse, comes closer to bandage his injuries, while a kid, barely with the size of his helmet, brings it back, sticking out their tongue as they try to place it back on his head, to hide his face.

'It is okay,' the old woman reassures him. 'You are safe with us, son. We hadn't seen anything.'

Jason's eyes sting, because, oh.

It is his people. He loves them. He will die for them.

And they love him just as much.

He still waits for someone to out him, though. But the week ends, the villain is out of the picture, and no one says a thing. The only proof that it ever happened is civilians, who keep waving at Jason — not Red Hood, just Jason — when their paths cross somewhere in the shops or streets.

And that's how he knows that it is them; it is them, and they keep him safe as much as he keeps safe them.

[apatheticsunday]

Gotham TikTok

AKA "Danny moves to Gotham and records TikToks with absolutely deranged captions. He films Get Ready with Me in Gotham videos, fit checks, and even A Day in the Life of a Ghost in Gotham! Except everybody is freaking the fuck out in the comments" prompt idea!

No, you don't understand, I'm obsessed. Like, what if Danny's idea of "safe" is just... anything that doesn't actively try to kill him? So Metropolitians, Star City, and Central City citizens are literally biting their nails and sweating bullets every time he posts, because what if he gets merc'd by the "Eight Heads in a Duffel Bag" Red Hood?? And that's one of the nicer villains in Gotham. And Danny's just like wow, this place is niiiiiice, I haven't even been murdered yet!

Maybe Jazz took a 12-year-old Danny to Gotham to escape their parents. Gotham's cheap, dirty, and doesn't ask questions: it's the best place to go to disappear because damn near half the city's population are either super villains, hostages, dead, or vigilantes. She gets a job at an understaffed hospital as a clinical psych intern. She enrolls Danny for online schooling because she's scared a public high school would be too easy for their parents to track.

Which leaves Danny alone for hours. He makes a TikTok account called "Danny Phantom" because, c'mon, he's a kid. And, like most kids, he doesn't really comprehend the idea of a digital footprint or that his account is public, accessible by literally anybody.

He's also a little shit. So, the first TikTok he uploads is of a man getting carjacked, but the caption reads: love to see people helping each other. remember it's always okay to ask for help! it's okay, I don't know how to parallel park, either :)

And you just see this guy in a mask shove a businessman away from his car, gesturing with his gun, before getting into the driver's seat. Except the car is parallel parked so the carjacker just slowly inches back and forth between a Prius and a Honda until he can wedge himself out of the parking space. And then gets stuck in stand-still traffic. The TikTok goes viral. It's talked about on the Gotham news and Gothamites are losing their shit, pointing out the exact moment you can see the carjacker start to soundlessly cuss through the car's windshield or the way the businessman is just... standing on the side of the road, watching with a deadpan look.

Danny doesn't know about it being on the news, but he sees all the comments, likes, reposts, and feels something. He wonders if this is what Ember feels every time people listened to her music. So, he keeps posting. Usually, it's short three-second videos of a hilariously unexpected situation with an even more deranged caption. But then he's accidentally caught in the reflection of a store front while recording and doesn't know, posts it like he always does; only for this TikTok to go viral, too. Because "Danny Phantom" is a child??

He doesn't notice the shift in his comments, but the public opinion quickly changes from wow, Gothamites are just like that huh lol to what the FUCK, kid, get inside!!! anytime he posts.

Except Danny never gets hurt. Even in the most dangerous situations, when you'd think this kid is a goner for sure, he's just happily yapping in the background. He's so different from Gothamites because he lacks that dead-eyed, despair-inducing aura of someone who's lived in a hellmouth their whole lives. (A couple people post that Danny kind of reminds them of Golden Boy Brucie Wayne, all air-headed and unrealistically optimistic, and suddenly there's memes of "what happens when you've never gotten shot in Gotham" or "how i act when Commish Gordie accuses me of shoplifting again" with them side-by-side.)

And then Danny's posts go viral again and again. Danny doing a fit check with a blond-haired woman with a checkered outfit, she ruffles his hair and kisses him on the cheek. A picture of him wearing an old jean jacket with a bright red lipstick smear on his cheek is trending for weeks. Spoiler, fully suited up in an all-purple vigilante attire, and him shoving gas station hotdogs in their mouths. He even has videos of him clearly in Killer Croc's lair, with comments of are you in the sewers??? DANNY??? and he responds, no, i'm in mom & dad's basement :) (Waylon Jones is actually sitting behind him in one of the videos, intently watching a TV show on an iPad.)

Everybody adores Danny - Rogues, Gothamites, even the Bats. (There's at least six videos of Nightwing teaching Danny how to do backflips, handstands, and other acrobatic moves. Even the youngest Robin has been caught on camera quietly talking with Danny, a shocking lack of violence that left half the city's population suffering from cuteness aggression for the kids.)

So, yeah, Danny belongs to Gotham.

But the internet is widely accessible and Danny made it so, so easy to find him. Jazz obviously didn't know he was posting videos of himself publicly; she was too tired after back-to-back 12 hour shifts at the hospital that she hadn't even checked social media in months. Otherwise, she would've told him to be careful, to never show his face or post his real name on the internet. Then again, Jazz would never have expected all of Gotham (and Superman himself, totally endeared by the kid after Kon and Jon showed him a couple TikToks) would beat the absolute shit out of anybody going after Danny.

Imagine GIW's surprise when they track down Amity's former residential Ghost only to find an entire city frothing at the mouth to protect their Phantom.

[creepyclothdoll]

The Devil's Wheel

The Devil’s Wheel

“If you say yes,” said the Devil, “a single man, somewhere in the world, will be killed on the spot. But three million dollars is nothing to sneeze at, missus.”

“What’s the catch?” You squint at him suspiciously over the red-and-black striped carnival booth. You’re smarter than he thinks you are– a devil deal always has a catch, and you’re determined to catch him before he catches you. 

“Well, the catch is that you’ll know you did it. And I’ll know, too. And the big man upstairs’ll know, I ‘spose. But what’s the chariot of salvation without a little sin to grease the wheels? You can repent from your mansion balcony, looking out at your waterfront views, sipping a bellini in your eighties. But hey, it’s up to you– take my deal or leave it.”

The Devil lights a cigar without a match, taking an inhale, and blowing out a cloud of deep, sweet-smelling tobacco laced faintly with something that reminds you of rotten eggs. If he does have horns, they’re hidden under his lemon yellow carnival barker hat. He wears a clean pinstripe suit and a red bowtie. No cloven hooves, no big pointy fork, but you know he’s the Devil without having to be told. Though he did introduce himself.

He’s been perfectly polite. 

You know you need the money. He knows it too, or he wouldn’t have brought you here, to this strange dark room, whisking you away from your new house in the suburbs as fast as a wish. Now you’re in some sort of warehouse, where all the windows seem to be blacked out– or, maybe, they simply look out into pitch darkness, though it is the middle of the day. A single white spotlight shines down on the two of you. 

“Wait a minute, wait a minute,” you say. “I bet the man is someone I know, right? My husband?”

“Could be,” the Devil says with a pointed grin. “That’s for the wheel to decide.”

He steps back and raises his black-gloved hand as the tarp flies off of the large veiled object behind him. The light of the carnival wheel nearly blinds you. Blinking lights line the sides. Jingling music blares over speakers you can’t see. The flickering sign above it reads:

THE DEVIL’S WHEEL

“Step right up and claim your fortune,” the Devil barks. “Spin the wheel and pay the price! Or leave now, and a man keeps his life.”

You examine the wheel. 

The gambling addict

The doting boyfriend

The escaped convict

The dog dad

The secretive sadist

“These are all the possible men I can kill?” You ask, thumbing the side of the wheel. It rolls smoothly in your hand. Then you quickly stop, realizing that this might constitute a spin under the Devil’s rules. He flashes a smile at you, watching you halt its motion. 

“Addicts, convicts, murderers– plenty of terrible options for you to land on, missus!”

“Serial wife murderer?”

“Now who would miss a fellow like that? I can guarantee that the whole world would be better off without him in it, and that’s a fact.”

The hard worker

The compulsive liar

The animal torturer

The widower

The desperate businessman

The failed musician

The beloved son

“My husband is on here too,” you say. 

“Your husband Dave, yes. The wheel has to be fair, otherwise there’s simply no stakes.”

“I know what’s gonna happen,” you say, crossing your arms. “This wheel is rigged. I’m gonna spin it around, and it’ll go through all the killers and stuff, and then it’s gonna land on my husband no matter what.”

“Why, I would never disgrace the wheel that way,” the Devil says, wounded. “I swear on my own mother’s grave– may she never escape it. In fact, take one free spin, just to test it out! This one’s on me, no death, no dollars.”

You cautiously reach up to the top of the wheel and feel its heaviness in your hand. The weight of hundreds of lives. But also, millions of dollars. You pull the wheel down and let it go.

Clackity-clackity-clackity-clackity

Round and round it goes. 

The college graduate

The hockey fan

The Eagle Scout

The cold older brother

The charming younger brother

The two-faced middle child

The perfectionist

The slob 

Your husband Dave

Clackity-clackity-clackity.

Finally, the wheel lands on a name. A title, really.

The photographer

“Hmm, tough, missus, but that’s the way of the wheel. But hey, look! Your husband is allllll the way over here,” he points with his cane to the very bottom of the wheel, all the way on the other side from where the arrow landed. “As you can see, it’s not rigged. The wheel truly is random.”

“So… there really isn’t another catch?” You ask. 

“Isn’t it enough for you to end a man’s life? You need a steeper price? If you’re really such a glutton for punishment, I’ll gladly re-negotiate the terms.”

“No, no… wait.” You examine the wheel, glancing between it and the Devil.

You really could use that three million dollars. Newly married, new house, you and your husband’s combined debt– those student loans really follow you around. He’s quite a bit older than you, and even he hasn’t paid them off yet, to the point where the whole time you were dating you watched him stress out about money. You had to have a small, budget wedding, and a small, budget honeymoon. Three million dollars could be big for the two of you. You could re-do your honeymoon and go somewhere nice, like Hawaii, instead of just taking two weeks in Atlantic City. You deserve it. 

Even so, do you really want to kill an innocent photographer? Or an innocent seasonal allergy sufferer? Or an innocent blogger? Just because you don’t know or love these people doesn’t mean that someone doesn’t. 

The cancer survivor

The bereaved

The applicant

Some of these were so vague. They could be anyone, honestly. Your neighbors, your father, your friends…

The newlywed

The ex-gifted kid

The uncle

The Badgers fan

“My husband is a Badgers fan,” you say.

“How lovely,” the Devil says. 

Then it hits you.

Of course.

The weightlifter.

The careful driver.

The manager.

The claustrophobe.

Your husband Dave lifts weights at the gym twice a month. You wouldn’t call him a pro, but he does it. He also drives like he’s got a bowl of hot soup in his lap all the time, because he’s afraid of being pulled over. He just got promoted to management at his company, and he takes the stairs to his seventh-story office because he hates how small and cramped the elevator is.

“I get your game,” you announce. “You thought you could get me, but I figured you out, jackass!” “Oh really? What is my game, pray tell?” The Devil responds, leaning against his cane.

“All these different titles– they’re all just different ways to describe the same guy. My husband isn’t one notch on the wheel, he’s every notch. No matter what I land on, Dave dies. I’m wise to your tricks!” 

The Devil cackles. 

“You’re a clever one, that’s for sure. I thought you’d never figure it out.”

“Thanks but no thanks, man,” you say with a triumphant smirk. “I’m no rube. No deal. Take me back home.”

“As you wish, missus,” the Devil says. He snaps his fingers, and you’re gone, back to your brand-new house with your new husband. “Don’t say I never tried to help anyone.”

[transmasc-tabris]

More screenshots (bonus, managed to find Bull a shirt and don't know how to feel about that)