#he looks so evil there I promise he’s not evil

[multifandomfix]

I Never Promised You A Rose Garden — Regina Mills

Summary: You’ve always loved Regina, but her actions as the Evil Queen finally become too much to bear. Will she see the error of her ways in time or will it be too late to make her amends?

Word Count: 1,377

Warnings: Angst, grief, no happy ending

You’ve always loved Regina.

You were there before Daniel, before the eventual heartbreak that followed in the wake of his death, before she became the Evil Queen. From the moment you met her, you knew she was special. She was kind, passionate, and full of life. When she fell in love with Daniel, you saw her happiness and swallowed your own pain, choosing instead to support her.

You remembered the first time you saw her with him. The way her eyes sparkled and her laugh rang out, pure and unrestrained. It was a beautiful sight, even if it broke your heart. "He's everything to me," she had confided to you one day, her smile brighter than the sun. You nodded, forcing a smile and hiding the turmoil inside you. You told her you were happy for her. In part, at least, you were.

When Cora killed Daniel, you were the one who held Regina, comforting her through her grief. "I can't go on without him," she had sobbed, clinging to you like a lifeline. You wanted to whisk her way and protect her from the world’s cruelty then, but before you’d had a chance, Leopold came with his proposal, and she was drawn into a grander life that you couldn’t follow her into. "I have to do this," she'd said to you, mere days before she was to depart, and this time it not only broke your heart, but hers. Cora had made this decision for her, and no matter what you said, you knew her fate was sealed.

When Leopold died, Regina found you again, asking you to be an adviser in her court. It wasn’t an offer you could refuse, not that you had wanted to. You were happy to be by her side once more, even though something felt different. In private, she was still your Regina, soft and caring, especially with you and her father, Henry. But around others, she had become the Evil Queen, cold and ruthless. It was a dissonance you struggled to reconcile.

"Why are you doing this?" you asked her one night, after a particularly harsh punishment to one of her guards.

"Because I have to be strong," she replied, looking away. You thought to argue that there were other ways she could be seen as such, but you could tell by her demeanor that she would hear none of it.

You, along with Henry, tried to dissuade her from casting the curse you both knew was coming, but again, she wouldn’t listen. "This isn't the answer, Regina," you pleaded. "You can't build your happiness on others' misery."

She looked at you, eyes hard. "Happiness is a lie," she snapped. "Revenge is all I have left."

Watching the woman you so ardently adored become this cold, unloving and merciless queen had hurt you more than you imagined. You debated leaving more than once, but your devotion to her and the person she’d been stopped you each and every time. You still thought you could get through to her.

However, her sacrificing her father to enact her dark curse was the breaking point. You couldn’t hold back any longer. "Regina, stop!" you shouted, rushing to her side. "I can't let you do this."

She turned to you, eyes cold. "You don't get to tell me what to do," she said. "Not anymore." You could tell the last part wasn’t meant for you specifically, but Regina was so lost in her own hatred, she wasn’t being rational.

"This isn't you," you cried, tears streaming down your face. "I don't recognize you anymore. What happened to the woman I loved?"

Regina's eyes widened in shock. "Loved?" she repeated, incredulous. "You... loved me?" For a moment, you glimpsed the Regina you used to know.

"Yes," you said, voice trembling. "I've loved you all these years. Even when it hurt, even when you pushed me away."

And just like that it was gone, that lightness in her eyes darkened once more and Regina snapped, refusing to believe you. To her, the only happiness was making Snow White suffer. Your confession was seen as a weakness, an obstacle in her path to revenge. "You're lying," she spat. "You're trying to weaken me, to stop me from getting what I deserve."

"No, Regina, please," you begged. "I'm telling the truth. I love you."

But it was too late. She had her guards seize you, and you were left to watch as she prepared to cast the curse. "Get out," she ordered, voice breaking slightly. "And don't come back."

It was too late for Regina to turn back. "I can't stop now," she whispered to herself, tears in her eyes as she moved to complete the curse. "I can't."

*****

For twenty eight years in Storybrooke, she thought about you, regretting the day that she let you go and longing for your presence. With no magic in this land, she couldn’t track you down. She didn’t even know if you’d made it here when the curse covered the land. She had no way of knowing for certain. Not unless she saw you. And for all twenty eight years, she’d not even seen you in passing once.

Finally, when Emma broke her curse, Regina disappeared to her vault and cast a spell on a necklace of yours that she had kept for all these years. The spell led her to a spot in the back of her garden where a bush of wild roses grew. Confused, she went to Gold, who gave her a potion to show the last memories of the person she thought about.

Once safely home, she drank the concoction down, damning any side effects that may come with it. She had to know where you were. Her vision clouded over and a scene played out in her head.

It was back on the day she cast the curse, you had broken free from her guards, the ones she’d ordered to take you away from her. You tried to reach her, in one desperate last chance to stop her. If you’d made it to her, you still would been too late, somehow she knew that, but as she watched you run, trying to make it back in the castle, she felt an ache grip her chest. And there it was, you, stumbling up the stairs in your hurry and alerting some of the castle knights. Thinking you were an ally of Snow White and Prince Charming, they pursued you, catching you easily enough after your fall. And Regina collapsed onto the floor when she witnessed one of them stab their sword through your chest.

As the fog of the memories lifted from her eyes she realized, if her house here in Storybrooke represented her former castle, then the bush of wild roses in her yard marked the very spot where you died.

Regina was completely broken by the vision and by your loss, but she made a promise to herself. She hadn’t been able to protect you in life, but she would take care of those roses until her dying breath. The bush grew there at the back of her garden because you had almost reached her when the curse was cast. Now, the place of your death had become a silent testament to her loss.

Every day, Regina tended to the roses, pouring her love and regret into their care. "I'm so sorry," she whispered to the blooms. "I was blind and foolish. I should have listened to you."

As the years passed, the roses flourished under her care, a living memorial to the love she had lost. Regina would often sit by the bush, talking to the flowering bush as if you could hear her. "I miss you," she would say, tears glistening in her eyes. "I wish I could reverse it all, make things right."

In her heart, she vowed to honor your memory, knowing that she had been too blind to see the truth when it mattered most. The roses became her solace, a reminder of what she had once and had lost, and the depth of her own folly. And as she tended to them, she hoped that somehow, somewhere, you could feel her love and her regret, and forgive her.

For @annalestern

Forever Tag: @baubeautyandthegeek, @ghostsunderstoodmysoul, @immyowndefender, @valencethefriendlychangeling, @crimsonwidow666, @rebelbossheart, @thedailyspiritualist, @orangeisnttheonlyfruit, @woman-simp, @aperol-with-izzy, @leonoralessoem, @ellepossum69, @lakita-fisher, @trexsuit, @analuw, @luvlesavyy, @malfoyfeed, @aliciabrower, @sparrowspixie, @imaginationismyworldlypleasure, @og-kxsh-420

Regina Mills: @dancingwith-sunflowers, @riveranddoctorsong123, @the-disorderly-writer, @ladysc, @reginassecretlover, @sarah-paulsons-bottom-lip, @ejcoolgirl, @xscarlettxbelovax, @iciclesandsnow, @the-bearr, @akeldamasemele, @geekyandgay98, @yetanotherattemptatanaccount, @academiagaymess, @lady-darkswan3, @babygirlscout, @myfriendtuvok, @axel-barnes

[imissthembutitwasntadisaster]

If you watched the my lady jane show and hated it I promise promise promise you have to read the book because the show looks nothing like it and everyone who's seen both say the show is so much worse but the book is a treasure. If you haven't met either let me convince you to read the book by telling you the male lead keeps having to lie to everyone and say he's out cavorting in taverns and sleeping his way through the entire female population of England because he's hiding his deep evil secret that he actually goes to read his poetry at Tavern Poetry Night.

[witches-dream]

The way Smoked Cheese says "I'm looking forward to it" right after Burning Spice says "your destruction shall be my greatest pleasure" makes me think they want us to believe that he's gonna be on Spice's side. Option 1: it's correct and Smoked Cheese doesn't get redemption, cuz when he's allying with a beast you know he's too far gone, after such a thing it wouldn't make sense either for us nor Goldie to forgive him. Option 2: it's a red herring, he could be saying this as in "I'm looking forward... To seeing you FAIL" or he pretends to be on Spice's side. There's two reasons for me to believe this. One is the end of chapter 18 where Goldie forgives him and he looks sorry for a moment there. The way that that moment was written makes me think that redemption is a logical next step for his character. Two is Mozzarella, it's that she pretended to be by Smoked Cheese's side, only to betray him last second and reveal she was still loyal to Goldie the entire time. So if Smoked Cheese does this, it would be a great way to have us on edge, wondering if he has really committed to the path of a traitor, or if he's fooling all of us, but also it would show that he has learned from his mistakes and learned from Mozzarella as he would be doing the same thing she did to him. I think the second option is more likely cuz i don't see Smoked Cheese being wholly evil as a character. Cuz i feel like, unlike Affogato, a similar character, he doesn't have traits and motivations that makes him as likeable of a villain; so if he is made wholly evil, he'd just be a mean jerk and nobody likes that. Anyway that's my theory i will pull for him no matter what cuz i love him and i have faith in the writers at devsis to make him and all the new characters awesome as hell either way

Edit: i forgot about this while writing, but i do not think Smoked Cheese would want Burning Spice to destroy Golden Cheese. He wants her kingdom for himself, and he's fucking dead and Goldie is the only one who can revive the kingdom, so if she's dead then he's dead and the kingdom's dead. And even if it can be revived through other means, like if Burning Spice will promise Smoked Cheese to revive the kingdom for him to rule, Smoked Cheese will obviously not believe the Beast of Fucking Destruction saying that, like?? So when Smoked Cheese reveals he was fooling Burning Spice all along, he'll be like "don't think I'm doing this for you, Your Radiance, I'm doing this for MY kingdom" and Goldie will be like :") he's still my sweet greedy child.. (not literally, you get what i mean). So those are my predictions

[curioushabitforarivergod]

Twenty-Four Seeds

(Harrymort Ancient Rome AU)

So much context for this piece. Historically this is the 1st century BCE and all these fruits (and more) were available to Romans. Everyone had slaves — figures suggest 1/3 of people at the time were slaves. Pliny the Elder wrote about the potency of Campanian wine made from grapes grown on Mt Vesuvius' slopes. Religions were referred to as cults, and Christianity wasn't around quite yet (Judaism was). Hades and Persephone is obviously a Greek myth, but the Romans were heavily inspired by them in everything. 954 words.

"Harry," Voldemort says quietly. His voice carries in the empty dining room. "Come here, Harry. Eat for me."

Harry's lips curl upwards as he suppresses the shiver of delight that runs down his spine. He steps towards the chaise where Voldemort reclines, decedent displays of fruit — apples, figs, grapes, quinces, berries and currants of all kinds, melons, pomegranate, medlars, numerous more Harry cannot count — resting on the low tables beside him.

Harry kneels beside Voldemort's chaise lounge, pressing his face against the cool, skeletal hand that belongs to his Lord. It should feel demeaning, debasing to kneel like this, but it is far from an act of submission. Harry has power and Voldemort knows it; he sends the slaves out with a wave of his hand because of this fact.

Alone, Harry presses his lips softly against the palm of Voldemort's hand. The skin is soft, like he hasn't worked a day in his life, but this is a lie. Voldemort toiled for years to create his empire, fought wars, wielded sword and magic as easy as breathing. In creating the perfect version of himself, he removed those callouses and Harry delights in this power to fashion himself into perfection.

"My Lord," Harry says. "Voldemort. My Tom." Each word is said more reverently than the last. "And I your humble servant."

Voldemort lets out a hiss of laughter. "You are not humble, Hadrian." He uses the praenomen, Harry thinks, to tease him. "Greedy, jealous, powerful, certainly. Never humble."

Harry grins into Voldemorts palm before kissing it again. "You said you would feed me. Do you break your promises so easily, my Lord?"

Voldemort snarls and draws his hand away from Harry's mouth, but after a few seconds, an apple slice is placed at Harry's lips in apology.

"Do you know," Voldemort says conversationally, as Harry's teeth scrape against the pads of his fingers, "there is a cult of men who believe that a snake tempted woman to eat an apple, then woman man and this was the First Evil?"

Harry shakes his head, reaching for the goblet of wine on the table. "I didn't," he says, taking a sip. Campanian wine — far more potent than most, grown on the slopes of the mountain. "Does this make you the snake or woman?"

Voldemort hums, as if considering. In truth, Harry can feel the eyes watching him as he drains the goblet, setting it back down on the low table and liking the dark wine from where it has stained on his lips.

Readjusting his position, Harry looks up at Voldemort through his lashes. "Or are you the First Evil?"

Voldemort hums again, this time amused. "We should not put so much faith in the religion of men," he says, his bony fingers stroking the side of Harry's cheek in a singular movement. "After all, there is no god who holds the same amount of power over me as you."

The words give Harry head-rush. Voldemort, dictator and war general, the man who holds Rome in his palm, is powerless to Harry. He knew already, of course he did. But the confirmation… and he thinks of how a god could submit a human like him.

"I worship you," Harry says, voice low and catching in his throat. "Entirely, utterly."

Voldemort's lips twitch. "I know, my soul," he murmurs, voice soft.

His hands draw away from Harry's face, almost embarrassed of his emotions, reaching once more at the table. After a moment, a fig presses insistently at Harry's lips, drenched in honey. Harry bites.

Honey is slow moving. It is made by bees who spend lives searching in flowers and nature. Yet it drips down Harry's chin, too fast for him to capture. It bursts across his tongue, sweetening the already jam-like taste of the fig. Saccharine.

The honey spread across Harry's lips and tongue makes Voldemort bite back a smile. Harry watches through dark eyelashes as his Lord presses another fruit to his lips — a plum this time, and it drips down his chin again, slipping across his throat — before Voldemort presses his goblet to Harry's mouth, forcing him to drink the wine.

"Messy," Voldemort chides.

He doesn't mean it.

His eyes are dark, his skin cool. He feeds Harry far more gently than one would a pet, pressing each fruit, each delicacy to his lips, rather than throwing scraps on a bone. This is a mutual worship; the lines between god and human would blur if Harry didn't take each fruit with whispered gratitude.

Harry's head hums with alcohol, his belly with food. Digging into the flesh of a pomegranate, he draws twelve seeds.

"Persephone," he says, aching, "ate six seeds to stay with Hades for a half-year. As per myth, if I eat twelve I'll stay by your side forever."

The seeds burst across his tongue. The outside is slightly bitter, a singular hard husk on each that disappears as soon as Harry tastes it, replaced by a sweet richness that he never wants to wash away. He'd never eat another thing if it meant the promise stay on his tongue like this. But the last seed slips away.

For a moment, Harry thinks Voldemort might kiss him. Draw him to his feet, drag Harry's body onto his own and share heat. Instead, his Lord reaches for the pomegranate abandoned by Harry.

Voldemort digs his own bony fingers into the fruit, staining their whiteness with a light blood. Harry imagines those same hands plunging into skin like it did in Gaul. Bodies destroyed, mutilated, beautiful in their bloodiness. This is a god, this is the promise Hades and Persephone never got to fulfil.

Voldemort draws out twelve seeds and eats them. One by one.

More Harrymort Ancient Rome

Laurel Wreath / Twenty-Four Seeds

[saxandviolins88]

TF: ONE - My thoughts

Spoilers? All of them

First of all, Transformers as a franchise and cinema have a tumultuous relationship. The 86 movie is definitely dear to me, but I can't deny it was made with a clear commercial purpose, and it shows how eager they were to clear the cast and add new toys. It has interesting ideas, sure, but those ideas were only to gain form in the third season of the cartoon (which is good, you guys are just mean.)

Now the Bay movies... It may come as a shock to all of you, but I actually enjoy those movies, not as a Transformers fan but as an enjoyer of non-sensical gory violence and cool robots. Though these movies succeed in being brain fodder, anytime they try to tell a compelling story (if they even try), they fall flat; not only for not understanding the characters people love... but also not understanding their own characters and universe. So when the worst qualities of Bay join together in a confused movie with bad designs and sub-par action... You get franchise killer TF5. (fun fact, but that was the first TF movie I sat down to watch and try to get into the franchise... it took a few years for me to recover...)

After that, TF movies turned into course correction and tried to get TF back into the mainstream. Don't get me wrong, TF IS mainstream... But movies are what the public wants. (easier to consume and don't waste your time.)

I gonna say, the Bumblebee movie is a good movie... With TF things slapped on it. Generally speaking, Bumblebee (2018) is a modern Herbie, the Love Bug, a Travis Knight vanity project. I'm being a little evil here, but it is what it is.

Now... ROTB... It is a movie. It has all the aesthetics of a movie... And there are transforming robots in it. Look, I like ROTB, I saw it on debut day and I was hyped, but it makes so many weird decisions... From Optimus's weird unfocused character arc, Unicron... Mirage... if I can even call him that. It's a bullet-list movie with a few funny moments. Oh and Beast Wars cast, but they're the most nothing-burger characters ever in that movie.

NOW TF: ONE

It is a good movie!

A course correction movie, but a good movie. It's a more or less safe bet by Hasbro. It hits the re-start button, so new audiences won't be intimidated by MCU-ness AND it is animated, easy cash with the kids and their parents who'll have to buy two tickets.

ANIMATION AND VISUALS

They fucking lied when they said it was "spider-verse levels", like bruh.

BUT the animation of TF: ONE is very good. Sure, some places had more care than others, but the final product wasn't affected and it was a smart choice. I'm more impressed by the fight scenes, which are well choreographed and spaced while using the characters' transformations creatively - and in that, I have to commend TF: ONE for doing something I always wanted to see - transformation isn't something these characters just happen to be able to do, it's an essential part of who they are and this also plays into the plot. Another thing I'm very pleased with is the character acting in general, you get the feel these animated robots are real people, and this is done through their facial expressions and body language (though, this is more notable on D-16 and Orion Pax.) The designs are nothing to write home about, serviceable at best, and boring at worst. Still, I'll have to give this one to Megatron, but ONLY because he hasn't had a good tank design since... I wanna say Armada, but part of me says it's G2. Sentinel Prime is boring, but he has the fucking Titans Return toy knees, wth? Great design just on this basis.

Now WRITING AND GENERAL PLOT.

One thing I'll applaud this movie for: It knows what it is.

When I saw the first trailer, I had a nagging feeling in the back of my skull that this would be one of those movies... where it promises you stuff while not doing it and overstuffing it with half-assed characters, thoughtless plot points, and uninspired dialogue. (I'm a DC fan, I see the abysm every year or so... Kal-el no😦!)

Well, I am happy to say that wasn't the case.

If I had to describe TF:ONE in one(lol) word, it would be: focused.

It knows its runtime, it knows its audience(s) and it knows the franchise(the good, the bad, and the controversial.) It's a break-up story between two friends - where one falls from grace and the other ascends.

I found this movie quite enjoyable in the dialogue and character writing aspect too. Each character feels distinct enough and they're so quippy, it's a joy to watch them talk to each other. However, the crux of this story is D-16 and Orion, and they REALLY succeded in selling not only their friendship but also the rift in their relationship. This movie isn't afraid to touch on some dark themes; a political scandal disguising itself as a MacGuffin hunt is very welcomed in the MacGuffin Hunt franchise. (still has a MacGuffin tho, it's logically IMPOSSIBLE to write a Transformers story without a MacGuffin)

Sentinel is a perfectly serviceable villain, uniting all existing versions(minus G1) into the ultimate jackass. D-16 is a good voice of reason that breaks into Megatron, his descent into evilness was believable enough for the runtime. Orion is the hero's journey circle. Elita-1 is a supporting character who sometimes delves too much into Hollywood girl boss, but at least they didn't insert the inevitable romance in this movie but still made her valuable to Optimus. Badassatron is a funny comedic relief that could be removed without changing the plot too much (and he didn't have any reason to be Bumblebee.)

To cut an already long post short. I expect the sequel to focus on the Quintessons, I do NOT care about more thirteen primes content (MAKE IT STOOOOOOP), and I also really want them to keep Megatron complex (make him doubt his cause, make him remember his gay little roommate, DO something with the character you've developed.)

and uh... just so I don't lose my brand

*cough cough*

I want the Constructicons in: "TF: ONE: 2: Electric Boogaloo"

[sisaloofafump]

Clark. CLARK. This is not how you’re supposed to win a boxing match.

(Full ridiculous scene below)

From Superman #168 (April 1964). He’s hanging out in 1906 and working at a San Francisco Daily Planet office but his editor (Luthor in disguise!!) keeps sending him on weird scoops like sparring against the current heavyweight champion.

[yuwuta]

itfs + reader is so real to me and it works like this: you’re megumi’s childhood best friend, somewhere along the way he meets yuuji, yuuji asks him out, and somewhere along the way—probably mid blowjob or something becuase that’s definitely when yuuji would be thinking about it—yuuji’s like “hey, so do you know you’re in love with your best friend or what?” and megumi literally chokes, and avoids him for like a week but eventually he does admit that he does know, but he also does really like yuuji and if they were normal, they’d break up, but they’re so very far from normal that it becomes a whole thing for them to get off while talking about you, for yuuji to taunt megumi about how he wishes you were here between them and tease him about naughty it is that he fantasizes about his best friend while getting sucked off by his boyfriend, and for megumi to tell him to shutup but then he babbles about all of he pent up fantasies about you anyway. yuuji likes messing with megumi’s guilt about this, and megumi hates how much he likes that yuuji is also into you, and somehow you being oblivious to this is a whole other kink they’ve got going on and have no idea how to sort out

[alderaanplacesss]

My favorite category of survival horror games is when you’ve got a

wife guy

who is trapped somewhere dark and spooky

and cannot escape the not-entirely-human bad guy who is obsessed with him in a very homoerotic way

[blusandbirds]

eli moskowitz - "am i making you feel sick?"

[laurents-secret-diary]

Can we see any of your drawings you may have had for the side characters please??? 👉👈

I only got a couple so far! I think I'm gonna do Nicaise next

[gildedmuse]

Listen.... Trafalgar Law is like Opposite Pick Me Girl.

Evidence:

He stole Doffy's whole look down to the shirtless sluttiness, feather coat and the earrings.

He COPIED DOFFY'S ACTIVATION METHOD. How "notice me, senpai!!" is THAT!?

Like Doflamingo, he acts as though your attempts at torturing him are absolutely precious.

Law straight up based his jolly roger on Doffy's. Like it's not even kinda subtle. (Not that Law does subtle. Which is weird for someone trying SO HARD to be dark, mysterious, and edge-y as Kikoku. )

Trafalgar spent years of his life travelling around the world, gaining notoriety and power, putting into place a series of intricate moving parts that all had to come together in just the right way all so Doflamingo would notice him and remember his face forever.

Law: Please, Young amaster-sama! Oh, please pick me!

Law: To kick your pathetic, subhuman ass.

[Thanks to @revlischarm who gave me this idea.]

[frenchonionsoop]

fandom dont turn character who has any even mildly feminine appearance into a shy, soft, sweet archetype challenge (impossible)

[tatarella]

Dragon daddy.

[fazgoo-connoiseur-1987]

okay i know youve drawn him alive like. twice (and drew him as a dead man another two times) but i just wanna say

ur phoney is very silly <3

PAUL!!! PAUL GRAYSON!!! Guy who hasn't had a day off since 89' and has been 'Employee of the Month' since Freddy's opened.

He has a beautiful and wonderful wife called Kaycee and he's never worked a normal day in his life.

[billy-cockblock]

REV AU one shot: Chris finds out

Crawls out of my hole covered in blood and mold: I don't know why this was so hard to write, but the writer's block is hitting me hard. I could see several parts of this scene so clearly in my head, but my brain just really didn't want to put words to paper. Once my brain's better I'll probably come and edit this a bit, but I hope y'all enjoy it. It's definitely one or the favorite scenes I've come up with.

He quickly lifted heavy limbs, picking them up from the ground. Leon’s vision had gone dark, but his rapidly came into focus. 

He fumbled for the gun dropped when they went flying, foreign hands finding familiar purchase against the metal. Taking aim, he let off a volley of shots at the monsters encroaching on them. 

They were tougher than infected he’d faced before; the center body of the strange knife-whipping tentacles needing to be basically shredded before they died, and bullet holes slowly sealed over with black tendrils if it wasn’t killed completely. 

He felt like he was wasting ammo, but it just took so many bullets to drop the monsters. The larger one that’d flung them across the room and slammed Leon’s head into a desk was getting closer, lumbering steps slow. He tried to shoot its head like the rest of them, but the gun only clicked.

He swore under his breath and pulled Leon’s knife out; he hated close-quarters combat, but he didn’t have time to reload. Diving past flailing, dangerous limbs, he buried the knife in its main body. It grabbed and sliced at them, but he kept stabbing and cutting until it was too shredded to keep moving. He shoved it with more strength than he was used to, and it fell to the ground, dead.

Head still on a swivel, he made sure there were no more infected. The room looked clear, but there were a few desks and filing cabinets something could hide behind. 

While he checked the room over, Ethan took a breath. He felt bad for having to break his promise of not taking control, but Leon wasn’t waking up in time. He’d pull back once Leon woke up, but it felt like he’d gotten a concussion with how hard he’d gotten his head hit. He spread his mold, stitching closed the scratches and scrapes Leon’s body had accrued. Skin and muscle was easy to regenerate, then pull his network from, and it’d almost become second nature since he’d gotten permission from Leon. 

Nerves were a little harder. The mold naturally liked to cling to the nervous system, trying to take control and upload a person’s consciousness to the megamycete. It preferred to envelop or take over nerves, and that took more coaxing from Ethan to get it to untangle. 

That’s why he was hesitating trying to do something about the concussion. He’d done his best to take control of Leon’s motor functions without getting the mold too tangled with his brain, but he’d have to root even deeper if he wanted to heal it. He subconsciously felt along his connection from the megamycete to the brain-

He froze. Damaged cartilage, more mold present, fractured vertebrae, and frayed nerves. A lot of frayed nerves. 

He reached for the back of Leon’s neck, both with the body’s hand and his mold. The joints in the spine felt like they’d been misaligned before snapping back into place, nearly severing Leon’s entire spinal cord. His brain still sent and received continuous waves of signals to and from the body, impulses carried across the gap by Ethan’s mold network tangling with Leon’s nervous system. 

Ethan felt like he was going to be sick. Or, as sick as he could feel in the state he was in. He didn’t think Leon hit his head that badly, but he guessed his neck did snap in a weird angle when they hit that desk. 

After the horrific stories Leon had told him, a desk is what would have done him in?

He tried to pull the nerve fibers back together, but the mold that had taken their places was stubborn. It had locked itself firmly in place to keep the cord from coming detached and shutting down Leon’s body functions. He’s glad it obeyed when he tried to program it to protect Leon without his input, but he needed the mold to move if he wanted to heal it enough that he could remove it. He’d have to work to remove his network from his nerves anyway, so he might as well work on healing the concussion. He could practically hear the megamycete sing in joy as he spread to repair the battering Leon’s brain had taken-

“Close call, huh?” a familiar voice asked from behind them, making him tense up. 

“Y-yeah, no kidding,” he replied, trying his best to speak like Leon. He nearly enveloped the man’s brain to speed his healing; he needed Leon awake now. 

“I got worried when I saw one of them toss you, but I knew you’d have it handled,” Chris Redfield continued, none the wiser that he wasn’t talking to the real Leon. Ethan could hear him do that dumb slow pace he does while talking, where he wouldn’t look at him; dramatic asshole. Leon would’ve been dead if he didn’t have the mold. “You aren’t hurt too bad, though? Or infected?”

“No, I’ve had worse,” he replied, echoing what Leon said every time he’d close his wounds. He did his best to keep casual while hiding every inch of skin he could. His dark veins under Leon’s skin were visible even on his hands, and Ethan was sure his face was worse. 

“True, but this is my case,” Chris stopped his pacing and sighed. “This wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t lost control of E-003.” A bolt of white-hot anger flared through Ethan’s entire network, and he felt a tingle from Leon’s brain. “Someone got to her, and-“

“What did you call Rose?” a voice, distinctly not Leon’s, left his mouth. Ethan whirled around without thinking, face pinched in anger, before freezing, rage forgotten. 

He met Chris’s eyes for the first time in sixteen years, and it was like the horror and dread never left them since that day in Europe. 

Without breaking eye contact, Chris pulled his pistol from its holster but kept it trained on the ground. With his other hand, he clicked the radio on his shoulder.

“Redfield reporting,” his gravelly voice didn’t give anything away, but Ethan couldn’t let him finish. “Kennedy’s been-”

A pillar of mold extending from Leon’s arm slammed him in the shoulder and enveloped the radio. He rolled with the force and raised his gun. The bullets aimed straight for Leon’s head harmlessly embedded themselves in a thick, carapace-like shield formed on his other arm.

Ethan had to get them out of there. The door was behind Chris, but the windows behind them were busted. They were on the second floor, so climbing to the roof would be better.

With half a plan, he tried to form tendrils to drag them back while he kept guarding their front. The mold twisted up in the space the megamycete laid in and instead formed four long, spider-like legs from Leon’s back. 

Whatever, I can work with it, he thought, sending a tendril off his arm to pull Chris’s feet out from under him. He lifted them off the ground, pulling them back to the window. He found it with the limbs and hooked them outside the frame. He grew claws over Leon’s hands to scramble up the side, earning him a bullet to leg once his guard was dropped. He ignored Chris’s shouts as he climbed over the edge of the roof and jumped for another.

He strengthened his legs and used the spidery limbs to get him as far from Chris as he could. He wouldn’t let Leon get found out, he wouldn’t let him get killed, and he’d only stay until he knew Rose was safe. Now he just had to find a place to settle down enough to finish Leon’s healing.

A sudden stab of pain to his consciousness nearly sent him careening off a roof. He thought it might’ve been something from the megamycete trying to fight its way out before he heard him.

What the hell was that?! Leon mentally shouted; he was wrestling for control back to his body, and was doing a damn good job of it. You promised! And why did you attack Chris?!

Ethan pulled any mold back back from his skin and shoved control back so fast, Leon fell to his knees.

I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry… he said on repeat. He felt Leon’s shoulders loose a little tension as he shakily stood to find cover behind an air conditioner. Once he’d gotten settled down, he laid a hand on his chest over where the megamycete rested.

“Hey,” he said, tapping his chest to get Ethan’s attention. “I feel like I missed something while I was out. Mind filling me in?”

[rawrsatthetree]

I have never seen The Boys. I will never watch The Boys. Everything I know about The Boys has been against my will. But I know I could make this man worse.