#he’s so evil but i hold him in my hands

[goldfades]

I feel like we need to have a TikTok trend blurbs I just love the ones you did already.

Like when the reader and Luke is going to bed and he says “goodnight I love you and she says thank you”that one can be good

i love these sm HAHAHHAHAA

the apartment is quiet, the kind of stillness that settles over everything once the day is officially over. you’re in bed, tucked under the covers with the bedside lamp casting a warm glow across the room. luke’s in the bathroom brushing his teeth—you can hear the faint sound of the faucet running and the occasional shuffle of his feet against the tiles.

you’re scrolling through your phone, aimlessly thumbing through videos, when you hear him pad into the room. he’s shirtless, wearing the same old pair of gray sweatpants you always threaten to steal, and his hair’s still slightly damp from his shower. it’s a sight you’ve seen a hundred times, but it still makes your chest do that stupid little flip.

“you on tiktok again?” he teases, climbing into bed and nudging your shoulder with his.

“maybe,” you reply, locking your phone and setting it on the nightstand. “what’s it to you?”

he smirks, leaning back against the pillows and pulling you closer so your head rests against his chest. “just wondering what you’re plotting this time. you’ve been suspiciously quiet lately.”

you roll your eyes, poking his side until he squirms. “not everything’s a scheme, hughes.”

“uh-huh,” he says, voice laced with skepticism but too sleepy to argue further. instead, he wraps an arm around you, his palm warm against your shoulder.

there’s a long stretch of silence, the kind that’s comfortable and familiar. his breathing starts to even out, his hand absently tracing patterns on your arm, and you think he’s on the brink of sleep when he speaks up. your phone is already recording, showing half of your face and the curls behind you.

“goodnight,” he murmurs softly, voice low and drowsy. “i love you.”

you pause for just a second—just enough to be noticeable—before answering in the most nonchalant tone you can muster:

“thank you.”

the room goes still.

his hand stops moving, and you feel his chest rise as he takes a slow, deliberate breath.

“...what?” he asks, his voice sharper now, tinged with confusion.

you shift slightly, pretending to adjust the blankets. “i said thank you.”

he pulls back, just enough to tilt his head and look down at you. “that’s not what you’re supposed to say.”

you blink up at him, feigning innocence. “what do you mean? it’s polite to say thank you when someone says something nice.”

his brows furrow, and you can practically see the gears turning in his head. “but—but that’s not how this works,” he argues, his tone half exasperated, half bewildered. “i say ‘i love you,’ and you’re supposed to say it back!”

“huh,” you say, tapping your chin like you’re deep in thought. “weird. i don’t think that’s a rule.”

“it is a rule,” he insists, sitting up now, the sleepiness completely gone from his face. “it’s literally, like, the rule.”

you bite back a grin, watching as he spirals into full-on disbelief. “are you saying you don’t love me?” he asks, his voice cracking slightly at the end.

“no, i didn’t say that,” you reply, stretching the words out.

“then why didn’t you say it back?!”

you shrug, trying to keep a straight face. “felt like switching things up.”

“switching things up?” he repeats, his voice going higher, and you have to physically turn your head to avoid laughing in his face.

“yeah, keeps the relationship interesting,” you explain, patting his hand like it’s the most obvious thing in the world.

“oh, my god,” he groans, flopping back against the pillows dramatically. “you’re actually evil. you’re trying to kill me. this is emotional warfare.”

you finally let out the laugh you’ve been holding in, and he turns his head to glare at you, though the corners of his mouth twitch like he’s fighting a smile.

“i hate you,” he mutters, but there’s no real bite to it.

you lean over, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “love you too, babe.”

he groans again, but this time he pulls you back into his arms, his chin resting on the top of your head. “you’re lucky you’re cute,” he mumbles.

you grin, snuggling closer. “thanks, love you too.”

“stop saying thank you!”

[idolomantises]

Thoughts on Arcane season 2

I didn’t like this season

It’s not bad, but I found it incredibly rushed, cramped and deeply unsatisfying

While season 1 had several protagonists it was also pretty obvious that Vi and Jinx were the emotional core of the entire show so why on earth was their dynamic barely explored here

Vi went from being my favorite character to a character I found deeply frustrating and annoying. What the hell is her personality of getting her sister back and fucking the hot lesbian. She has no consistency whatsoever and it’s something I don’t think the show realizes how batshit the constant flip flopping in. What do you mean you sister tells you she’s going to kill herself and then you start fucking your messy situationship

I don’t really care for Jayvik but I found Jayce’s confession very sweet.

Mel my beautiful queen they’re gonna call you a Mary Sue

What the fuck was with all that Witch shit and Ambessa’s death was incredibly unsatisfying

Victor fans who kept begging the team to not make him a hot buff robot so he can still be a skinny twink pisses me off so bad because now we have an inferior twink robot design. I know fans probably didn’t influence this but I also need to complain about their lack of taste like what do you mean you didn’t want to see a hot buff robot man.

Ekko feels like an incredibly unimportant character and I’m pretty sure fans only like him because of what he can do for Jinx. A part of me wished he actually did hold a grudge just to see how fans reacted.

Season 1 was all about setting up emotional complexities and how nobody was truly evil and the show made it seem like there was no way for anyone to fully recovery from this but everyone is holding hands and singing kumbaya’s so alright nevermind then

This show was honestly a little too in love with Jinx. I did not enjoy her writing in acts 1 and 2.

The jokes were really bad this season

The songs oh my god the SONGS. I didn’t mind them in season 1 but in season 2 it started to remind me of love is blind and anyone who has watched that show would know what a massive insult that is.

Caitvi lesbian sex scene and I couldn’t even enjoy it because the writing was pissing me off

Caitlyn should’ve continued her little fascist arc.

Mel’s arc this season felt like weird fanfiction.

A bunch of random side characters die off unceremoniously after the show gave them so much unnecessary screen time

I hated Isha sorry. I’ve never seen a character more clearly made to die.

Jinx death means nothing to me because I know she isn’t dead so why even do all that lol

I will never call this show sexist but it has done a massive disservice to its female characters.

[wonderjanga]

Here's a stupid dumb crack idea you can't really die in Fawcett City like you can get hurt cartooningly but you can't die like getting hit in the head when it acts of like a mild inconvenience and gives you a headache and a scar but you won't die from it

If you leave faucet for a long time then you can die but everyone there is Immortal and kind of unaging unless you want to age

Captain marvel forgot to tell the Justice League this while fighting a villain who proceeded the flash when acts in the head

People in Fawcett don’t die. That was something the Justice League hadn’t known when Marvel had called them for help to fight some villain. Everything was going fine and dandy at first. They were winning, obviously, but then something just had to happen. A piece of the rubble somehow, you couldn’t ask any of them, fell on the fastest man alive who wasn’t able to dodge for whatever reason?Everyone, besides Marvel and the villain, who were still fighting by the way, went quiet as a mouse.

Supes: *looks horrified* “Oh my Rao! Flash!?” *flies over and lifts the rubble up*

Flash: *wobbly stands up, springing up and down like an accordion* (accordion squash)

Marvel and the villain didn’t even look their way, meanwhile, everyone is trying to get Flash to stop being a human accordion.

Supes: “Keep him still!”

GL: “I’m trying!” *using his ring to try and hold Wally still*

Batman: “Try harder.” *is trying to administer a sedative*

After that whole fiasco…

Marvel: “Hey, guys, I apprehended the villain. Where were you- why is Flash passed out on the floor.”

After they explained, seeing all their traumatized and scarred expressions, Marvel finally explained that in Fawcett, people couldn’t die. Not unless they wanted to anyways. When most Fawcitizens got hurt, they bounced back very similarly to Tom and Jerry. A wonderful demonstration of this conveniently happened when someone nearby just happened to run off a roof, hovered in the air for a solid fifteen seconds before looking down and then proceeding to fall. They then dug themselves out of the human shaped hole they left, dusted themselves off and walked off like nothing happened.

Safe to say, none of them wanted to come back to Fawcett after this. Though unfortunately, there are still times they have to visit.

Goon: *evil laughs and runs up to Batman and shoves a couple sticks of TNT into his hands*

Batman: *can’t safely throw it anywhere because of the civilians around so it blows up*

Goon: *pointing and laughing*

Batman: *standing there, somehow still alive and covered and soot. He blinks rapidly before grabbing his shark repellent and emptying the entire can on the goon’s face, eyes, and mouth*

As for why Bruce was so pressed to the point where he emptied an entire canister of shark repellent on the man? He could feel the soot everywhere. It somehow got under his mask so he feels it on every inch of skin near the upper part of his torso.

Don’t worry though, this chicanery happens to everyone else too. Like, every single Lantern that has entered Fawcett has taken a comically large hammer to head and has gotten a large bump as a result.

Marvel: *walking by when he does a double take seeing John* “Oh my Gods, what happened-”

GL(John Stewart): “I DON’T want to talk about it.”

Then there was the time Hawkgirl was chasing after a villain one time and they happened to get into Fawcett. She actually slipped on a conveniently placed banana peel. Then, the villain she was chasing stepped on a rake and got a good smack to the face.

Marvel: “Hawkgirl! What’re you doing here?” *flies down, happy to see his friend*

Hawkgirl: *gestures to the villain with a long red line down their face from the rake’s pole* “I was chasing them.”

Marvel: “Cool, cool, cool, uh… what happened to his face?”

Hawkgirl: “He stepped on a rake.”

*silence*

Hawkgirl: “Why do your people just have bananas and rakes laying around?”

Marvel: “What…?”

In conclusion, nobody besides the Fawcett heroes like being in Fawcett.

[nrhshm]

Hello there! If you don't mind, could you please do Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, and Shanks (seperate) reacting to seeing their stoic fem!(s/o) smiling brightly for the first time? Thank you so much if you decide to do this!!

- [💚anon]

Heads up! let's do this ~~ I'll do each two seperately.

Ps. I might've slightly diverted from the original prompt...

This is pt 1:

Luffy and Zoro reacting to y/n, smiling brightly for the first time.

. Reader is gn

. Sfw

. Spoiler free

. Genre: fluff, a bit of gore on zoro's part

Luffy:

Amidst the battle, you trod with a heavy breath across the massive wreck of houses. You've been a hurting witness, seeing that one fishman destroy your hometown without a single shred of mercy. Instead, an evil sickening smirk of ridicule was all he left lingering in your thoughts.

"Y/n L/n" of the strawhats, you were known for your strict loyalty to your captain: the wanted pirate "Monkey D. Luffy". Your train of thoughts drift back to that time he decided you'd join his crew, you were so nonchalant about it! In fact, you barely had anything to do with him IF he didn't passively force you with the biggest smile ever.

"Join my crew!"

"No"

"Why?"

"Because we met five seconds... ago..." You deadpan.

"But you're my friend."

"I-... We've met FIVE SECONDS AGO!!!" You repeat furiously.

"Besides, I know a pirate when I see one, and I'm not planning to involve myself in any shady business you've got."

Luffy's big round eyes stare right dead center into yours, 1 minute, 5 minutes and no response.

"So?" He suddenly blurts out.

"So??"

He takes his hand in yours.

"I like you. Isn't that enough?" He says in with a sneezy smile.

.

.

The flashback cuts off as soon as you catch a glimpse of red and yellow drifting across your peripheral vision. Witnessing Luffy's figure marching up to the edge of the cliff. Bloody and torn to shreds he still insists walking up to your line of vision. He wants you to see the geniune seriousness in his request, the sheer determination that he won't back down till he gets what he wants.

"Y/N!!!" He screams at the upmost top of his vocal cords. You freeze. Eyes fixated on the future pirate king. He stands in all his might and glory.

Luffy's intense glare suddenly melts into the most sincere smile.

"Join my crew."

At this point you couldn't hold it back, the immense relief and the overwhelming goosebumps coursing your veins. You didn't even realise how big you were smiling, till you felt the pinching strain at your cheek, and Luffy's bursting victorious grin.

The future pirate king, jumps from the high roof of the building, landing right infront of your figure.

You regain your composure, wiping your tears away, your expression now turns serious.

.

.

"Yes!"

Zoro:

There it is again. That mesh of mint and green making it's way towards you.

Upon his sight, your hand sneaks around the low cupboards, pulling out a strange teabag. You tighten your hold on the item in an attempt to hide it.

The swordsman lazily seats himself in front of you, signalling his 2 sake bottles and a shot of "the strongest thing you have", as he addresses it.

As a bartender, your acting skills were superlative, essential in situations where drunk bandits try to stir up trouble. You have handled your job effectively for over 5 years, which led to you falling under the eyes of the legendary pirate hero of your town: Doflamingo.

This mission was different from its past predecessors. You were set as a spy back then, setting people in a hopeless stupor to leak out any important information, delivering it back to your -now- master.

This time, you are ordered to kidnap a pirate.

Your hands were shaking again, you were morally doubtful if this was your last day alive. Yet the said man didn't bother to comment anything, as you poured in the mysterious black powder into the mix.

"Here you go sir." You hand him his wine bottles and shot in a false smile, your own heart screaming guilt and reconsideration, but fearing your master pushed all of it away. You are bound to him, a slave imprisoned to do his bidding. You have no way out.

You snap out of your thoughts as he gulps down the whole thing in seconds. And with a loud thud, the green haired swordsman falls into deep sleep.

....

When he does wake up, you stand next to him, sharpening your knife, a couple of guards around you. You looked at the said man with a sneer, which somewhat to Zoro, seemed fake.

He'd already had his concerns about you the moment he had sat at your bar, strangely, in which Zoro usually doesn't pay attention to.

"Here's the Pirate Hunter, as you ordered." You outstretch your hand at the swordsman, showcasing your capture. "Now.."

"Let go of my family."

Zoro's eye widens. Now, it all made sense. He felt that immediate deja vu with a distant memory, where Nami had done the same thing.

Nothing about this is acceptable to him, as Zoro wouldn't allow himself to get captured out of sympathy, but something in his gut feeling kept nudging, insisting to solving this issue.

The mafia boss, turns around, a sign of disinterest is quite evident.

"Really now??" He sneers in disdain. "When did I make such a deal with you?!"

Hearing his sick laugh, your lungs begin to malfunction. Short breaths and wide pupils, the world around you greys out.

"Y-Y- You said... you'd-"

"Kabaji! Did you ever hear me say that?." He points out mockingly, his said assistant laughing in amusement. You barely even notice your knife hitting the rough floor.

"No sir. This woman is spouting nonsense."

You've never felt so helpless. A bartender woman, weak and fragile, with a dull present and an even duller future. The only source of hope and persistence was finding your kidnapped family and escaping this goddamned town.

"LIAR!!" You scream in fury. "YOU PROMISED ME MY FAMILY!!" Heaving cold breaths and bearing your rapid painful heartbeats, your entrapped feelings finally explode.

"You call yourself a leader when your words are nothing but shallow lies!!! And your actions are a testament to your incompetence!" At this point, the whole place was in absolute silence.

It's almost as if you hit a thin nerve in this man, as he immediately shouts for your head to be cut off. Men rush towards you with their glistening swords, and you instantly know: this is it. It's over for you.

Closing your eyes, you anticipate the harsh pain that'll penetrate your neck , but all that was heard were the clash of swords, screams of agony, and the quivering words of men begging for mercy.

Most importantly, you felt a sticky substance on your forearms. The warm texture trailing down to your apron.

You finally look up, and you're mortified by the sight of the bloodshed and corpses. The once powerful mafia leader and his cronies reduced to these headless cadavers.

Most importantly, Zoro stood amidst everything, a bloody sword in hand, and the look of a bloodthirsty berserker.

He turns back to you, and look of sympathy becomes evident. "Are you hurt?"

"No." You immediately answer. You try to cover your trembling hands, but they don't go unnoticed.

"Are they on the island?"

You pause, not fully understanding his inquiry.

"Your family, I mean." He elaborates. You flinch at that.

"I believe so... the mafia headquarters aren't far from here."

"There's no time to waste then." He sheaths his swords, walking past your shaken figure.

"Wait!" You grab his wrist. "Are you seriously helping me, after all that I've done to you?" The last few words coming out as a whisper.

Zoro stands still, his expression becomes unreadable. The weight of silence gets bigger by the passing second.

"I'm just doing what my captain would have done." He states with a confident smirk.

His answer takes you aback. And you find yourself smiling tearfully...

'Maybe, not all hope is gone... I can still do this.'

"Let's go." You nod, a newfound determination surging through your body, you begin feeling estatic about finding your beloved people.

With all that in mind, you fail to notice zoro's unusual look of admiration, as a genuine smile slowly traces his lips.

'Ba-dum!'

[musicforastylesrestaurant]

Skydiving.

word count - 1.4k

The camera then cut to a video of you walking up a grass hill towards a big house, you were wearing a white play suit, your hair tied up in a pony tail as you fiddled with your wedding ring, something that you often did when you were nervous.

You walked up to the house, walking through it and letting your feet lead you outside.

You peered your head around the corner, making eye contact with all of the contestants.

Oti Mabuse,

Tulisa,

Danny Jones,

Dean McCullough,

And Jane Moore.

“Ahh!” Tulisa ran towards you the second she saw you and embraced you in a hug. You recognised all of the people in front of you which you were glad about.

You had met Tulisa a few times over the years, a few times when Harry had performed on the x-factor.

“It’s so nice to see all of you,” you grinned, after Danny Jones brought you in for a hug.

“Can’t believe Harry Styles wife is stood right in front of me,” Dean couldn’t wrap his head around it. “— think you can give him my number when we get out of here?”

You laughed, embracing him.

Danny smiled, before bringing everyone around him into a hug.

“Campmates!”

The sound of helicopters in the air brought you out of the hug, you lifted your head up, linking arms with Dean.

“What is that noise?” He asked, mouth falling agape.

“It’s a helicopter!” You exclaimed, pointing your hand up into the air. “— holy cow!”

Soon enough, six helicopters could be seen.

“Six?” Danny widened his eyes. “Are you having a laugh?”

Jane pointed to one of the helicopters. “It’s Ant and Dec!”

The six camp mates started jumping up and down, you had to admit that you were a little bit excited.

“Six helicopters,” Danny could hardly contain his excitement as he counted all the people around him. “One, two, three, four, five, six!”

It felt like something out of a movie as the double act walked towards the six of you, you gulped.

“Here comes trouble!” Oti gasped.

“Look at you, you all look gorgeous,” Ant grinned and held his hands out.

Dec smiled. “— welcome to Australia!”

“Now take in all that’s around you,” Dec continued, an evil glint to his eye. “— because you won’t be here long.”

You gulped, one foot kicking the heel of your other foot out of nerves.

Was it too late to back out?

You and Dean exchanged a look.

“You all about to take part in a race to become the first leaders of camp,” the shorter host began explaining. “— down there are six helicopters, each for one of you.”

“Oh god,” you eyes widened slightly. “I know where this is going.”

Ant pointed at you all. “Before you take off you might want to grab yourselves a parachute! Because you’ll all be skydiving out of your chopper!”

Danny started pumping his hands up into the air.

“Someone’s excited.”

Danny let out a laugh. “— I don’t know why I just thought I’d celebrate.”

That got you laughing.

“Once you landed, you’ll meet your other celebrities.” Ant continued. “— you will then have to pick a celebrity to partner up with.”

Dec instructed. “The pair who win the race will become the first leaders of camp and that comes with perks.”

“You’ll be sleeping in the comfort of the leaders lodge and will be exempt from the first bush tucker trial.”

Ant then remembered something as he turned to his best friend. “I’ve just realised we’re terrible hosts, we haven’t offered them a welcome drink.”

“I’m fine thanks.” You smiled, making everyone laugh at you.

Just as you said that, a waiter came walking over, holding a tray of drinks in his hand.

“The welcome drinks are not very welcoming,” Dec expressed, “— this is blended bull’s penis and fish eye with vomit fruit garnish.”

Oh god, you were going to be sick.

“The order in which you finish your drinks will be the order in which you jump out of the helicopter, which will then result in the order you pick your partner.”

The six camp mates then walked over to pick up one of the glasses and you made the grave mistake of smelling the contents.

Your never doing that again.

“The race is about to begin,” Ant stated. “Ready…steady…go!”

You placed the vomit fruit up to your mouth and chewed on it as fast as you possible could, your eyes were closed, focusing on anything but the food in your mouth.

You then brought the drink up to your mouth, drinking through the straw, you pulled away and gagged, nothing came up but you were close.

When you looked up, you noticed Danny was almost done and Tulisa was close behind him.

There was no way that you were going to come last.

The straw came back in connection with your mouth and you drank like your life depended on it.

Danny finished his drink first, placing his drink on the table, and Tulisa came third, followed by you in third, Jane in fourth, Dean in fifth and Oti in sixth.

The next think you knew, you were running down the hill towards the helicopters, a man with a parachute waiting for you.

Up, up and away.

As Harry approached the beach area, was when he spotted a few other celebrities stood there.

“Harry!”Melvin exclaimed, running over to give the man a hug. “— long time no see!”

“Hi, how are you?”the singer asked, stepping away from the embrace.

“I’m good,” Melvin smiled. “You?”

Harry nodded his head as he fiddled with his wedding ring. “Yeah, m’good, tired but good.”

The next camp mate approached, it was Colleen Rooney.

So then everyone was there.

GK Barry,

Alan Halsall,

Barry McGuigan,

Colleen Rooney,

And Melvin Odoom.

“So this is it then?” GK asked, looking around at everyone. “— honestly im shitting it, not going to lie to you all.”

Suddenly a ringing sound became known to the celebrities, Harry pursed his lips.

“What’s that?” Colleen asked, hands on her hips.

“Shall we have a look?”

Alan leaned forward and hesitantly pressed the button, Harry stood there, eyebrows furrowed.

The ringing stopped.

“Celebrities…” it was Ant.

“How are you all feeling?”

“M’palms are sweaty.” Harry murmured, wiping them against his shorts.

He was wearing a pair of cream shorts with a white tank top with a matching cream top over the top.

“Well we can help with that because you are about to take part in a race to become the first leaders of camp and they will sleep in the leaders lodge and will be exempt from the first bush ticket trial.”

“However, the race has already began, five of your fellow celebrities will be skydiving down next to you and will be picking one of you to be part of the team.”

That was when Harry realised that one of those contestants would be his wife, and he knew for a fact that his wife was immensely scared of heights.

So scared that on the flight out of here, she was practically in his lap during the take off, he had to hold her down in the seat.

“Once your picked, you will then leave the beach and continue the race.”

You were shitting it.

There was no way that you would be able to jump out of this helicopter.

Oh god.

Oh golly gosh.

The professional skydiver was sat behind you, attached.

You looked out of the window and watched as Danny exited the helicopter and shortly after Tulisa did the same.

Now it was your turn.

“Are you ready?”The skydiver asked, shimmying the two of you closer to the open door.

“I don’t think I can do it.” A start tear fell down your face as you contemplated the idea of skydiving.

And then your mind drifted to Harry.

What would he be saying to you if he was sat next to you.

“Y’got this m’sunshine.”

“M’so proud of you already.”

“Let’s do it.” You took a big intake of breath as you were shuffled even closer.

And when the light turned green you were propelled out of it and flipping through the sky.

A scream ripped through your chest.

But once you had stopped flipping, it was one of the most amazing things you had ever seen.

You were above the ocean, you could see things for miles.

“This is amazing!”you exclaimed, as you fell.

Danny was the first to land and he partnered up with Barry and Tulisa picked Alan.

When you landed, you fell softly but rough on the sand, you were quickly unclipped and you ran forward to pick a partner.

And when you approached, you got the biggest surprise of your life.

“H?”

He grinned up at you sheepishly whilst rubbing the back of his neck.

“Sunshine!”

taglist: @luvr4miya @thurhomish @shanice

[apollowhoo]

hello!! I love your Alastor x Child Reader stuff you wrote. So can you please write an one shot of Alastor with a child reader who's the oppisite of him? What i mean is, Alastor is lowkey nonchalant but the reader is actually insaine. I hope i explained enough.

soo... you didn't say anything for a plot so i just made them meet, i hope that's alright with you<33

ALASTOR X INSAINE CHILD!READER

Hell was always the same with the chatter of sinners and the painfull screams all around. Alastor, strolled through the streets, his cane tapping rhythmically against the ground. His wide grin never faltered, though his sharp red eyes darted around, observing everything.

Then he heard it—the most evil laugh, high-pitched and absolutely unhinged. Alastor stopped, tilting his head, the sound was coming from an alleyway just ahead. He adjusted his tie and strolled over to the alleyway.

What he found was... surprising.

A small child, no older than ten, stood over what used to be a rather unfortunate demon. The remains were scattered about in a chaotic mess of black goo . The child, held a jagged piece of metal in one hand, the other smeared with the remnants of the "fun." They're wide eyes shimmered with manicness.

"My, my, what a display!" Alastor exclaimed. "I must say, it’s rare to find someone so creative with their time."

The child turns to him, eyes glowing. “Did you see? Did you see what I did?! He said I couldn’t take his hat—so I took everything else!” They gesture dramatically at the mess behind them.

Alastor chuckled, twirling his cane. “Quite the overachiever, aren’t we? But tell me, dear child, what drives you to such... theatrical carnage?”

They tilt their head, clearly unbothered by his casual tone. “Why not? It’s fun! It’s exciting! Don’t you think so?”

Alastor’s smile twitched. “Ah, yes, but there’s an art to it, my dear. A balance. Chaos is like a radio frequency—too much static, and the signal is lost.”

The child seemed unimpressed. “Static is fun. It’s loud, and no one can ignore it.” They grin wider, holding up the bloodied piece of metal like a trophy. “Want me to make some for you?”

Alastor’s chuckle turned into a full-blown cackle. “Tempting! But I think I’ll pass. Watching you is entertainment enough.” He leaned in closer, his grin sharp. “But do be careful, little one. Hell is like an ocean full of fish, and not all of them appreciate someone making such a mess.”

They automatically lean in just as close, their smile never faltering. “Let them come. I’ll make it fun for them, too.”

Alastor pulled back, his laughter echoing down the alleyway. “Oh, I do believe I’ll enjoy keeping an eye on you. You, my dear, are a star in the making.”

And with that, he tipped his hat and strolled away, his cane tapping the same rhythm. The child curiously follows him.

After all, it wasn’t every day they found someone who appreciated their particular brand of madness.

[redstringraven]

Fika

characters: don, klunk, leo, mikey and raph rating: g content warnings: n/a word count: 4288 relevant tags: sick fic, sick leo, post-episode: good genes

(n.) a moment to slow down and appreciate the good things in life a leo sick-fic, requested by @sakuradiva for @tmnt4p !

[ read on ao3 ]

You may as well have called the first sneeze an alarm bell. The instant it echoed through the reservoir station, each and every one of them in range perked up, heads swiveling like a bunch of prairie dogs.

Raph seeks out Don first. He scans the open first-level of the reservoir station until he catches Don’s eye--a second after Mikey does. Don glances between them, his expression at first wide. Then his lips curl downward, and he huffs. “—that wasn’t me.”

There's no attempt to hide the irritation in his tone (and Raph couldn’t blame him); a week or two of one helicopter sibling is annoying enough. Don had three. Plus Master Splinter. Plus April and Casey. Plus Leatherhead. Seven people in a semi-constant state of worry, hovering, asking questions, growing tense with anything that could be a small sign of 'relapse'. It had to get smothering at some point. And even Don had a limit to his so-called infinite patience.

“—Oh!” Mikey says. He pauses, his eyes darting from Don, to Raph, and back again--clearly scrambling to deflect from what Don had drawn attention to. “—Well. It wasn’t ME. My sneezes are a lot more… uuuuh…”

“Needy?” Raph offers.

“Yeah!” A beat. Mikey's eyes widen, then he shoots a squint at Raph. “—Hey, wait.”

“Sorry.” Leo moves out of the kitchen, mug in hand, having lowered the heel of his palm from his beak. “I, uh. I think I might’ve stirred up some dust while I was looking for the chamomile.”

Mikey relaxes, likely happy to accept this answer and move on, but Raph’s brow arcs. “Thought you’n Mikey gave the cabinets a good wipe-down earlier this week.”

“We did,” Leo says. He shrugs. “Guess… some of it must still be in the air. I dunno.”

...lying, Raph thinks, though he’s careful to keep the suspicion from reaching his eyes. He shifts his attention to Mikey just in time to catch the tell-tale signs of worry: a sudden stillness, like a deer in headlights, and the slightest strain around the eyes. It’s gone as soon as it arrives, and Mikey replaces any sign of it with an impish grin.

“Looks like someone was slacking on cleaning duty,” he jabs, knuckles propped on his hips. He tilts his weight forward and tuts his tongue. “For shame, Bronardo.”

Leo sends Mikey a passive smirk. He huffs and starts up the steps toward his room. His free hand finds the stair-rail and stays there. Raph locks onto it. He can't help but notice Leo's not resting his palm on the metal; he's holding it.

“I’ll be back in a few minutes with an idea of what we need to knock out today,” Leo says. There's a slight wilt in his posture—and now that Raph thinks about it, he realizes Leo's feet drag just enough to make his usual silent steps borderline audible. Raph shifts his weight and fixes his jaw, forcing himself to hold his tongue. Leo looks back over his shoulder after reaching the threshold of his room and continues, “Donnie, I’d appreciate it if you sat it out another day.”

Don sighs, but he waves a hand lazily over his head. “Heard loud and clear, boss.”

Leo’s door shuts, and silence settles back over the station. Raph remains by the weapons rack, and Don keeps his attention on the blueprints he has spread across the table he'd claimed as his temporary workbench. Only Mikey moves, plucking at one of his wrist bands, becoming increasingly uncomfortable with the subtle rise in tension.

“...--you think I can squeeze in just enough Resident Evil 4 that I can get far away from a save point, and he’ll have to wait until I reach the next one to turn off the game?” Mikey asks. He doesn’t wait for an answer; instead, he flashes Raph a wide grin and bolts for the couch with a cackle. The televisions flash and hum to life, and Raph lets out a blend of a sigh and a growl. His eyes shift to Don.

Don’s already looking at him. Even with the faint purple stains under his eyes, the mild sag of his skin, there’s a sharpness in his stare. Raph recognizes it. He knows they harbor the same concern.

“Donnie?”

“Yeah, Mikey?”

Mikey huffs as he enters Don’s room, scratching at his cheek.

“Have you seen Klunk? He was snoozing on me like usual this morning, but… I kinda didn’t want to get up and give him his breakfast just yet." A terrible betrayal, if he were being honest. But he'd really just wanted five more minutes (which turned to ten, to fifteen, to twenty), and Klunk grew bored of swatting his face. Totally lost track of time after that. Mikey frowns, sending another short glance over his shoulder to eye the station. "He must’ve gotten cranky and left, but he wasn’t in the kitchen.”

“No,” Don says. He rotates a bit more in his chair to face Mikey and sets his pen aside. His jaw tightens, shivers as he points toward the door (an attempt to redirect attention as he stifles a yawn). “But--uh. I know he’s really fond of that one spot by the water?”

Mikey shakes his head. “Checked. Nada.”

“Oh…” Don’s brow furrows. “Well… --have you asked Leo? He might’ve seen where Klunk ran off to; he's been up a while.”

“Good idea. Thanks, Donnie!”

Don grunts a sound in place of a “you’re welcome”, and Mikey jogs back into the heart of their new lair.

There is, of course, a risk he ran entering Leo’s room: he’d narrowly managed to wiggle his way out of work yesterday, and he doubted he’d get similar results today. Leo may not be… grumpy anymore, but he was still Leo. A bit of a stickler—a: wet blanket, one might venture. You could only keep up a single ruse with him for so long.

Leo's door is open when he reaches it (a welcome sight, considering how often it’d been closed in the months before), and Mikey allows himself to cross inside. The space is rather bare--with little left to salvage from the second lair and a mutant outbreak to clean up, they found themselves back at square one in terms of decor. But Leo still found a way to make the few things he had feel clean and in order. Mikey could feel almost a rhythm in the way he'd stacked books on the floor, where he placed candles, and where Leo chose to sit when he meditated. He’s also quick to spot the ball of orange fur settled into Leo’s lap.

“Hey, Leo!” Mikey chirps, careful to keep his voice just low enough so as not to startle either of them. He waits a second for one of Leo’s eyes to open before continuing, “mind if I steal Klunk off ya?”

Leo smiles. But it’s… a tired? smile? Mikey can’t remember the last time Leo looked tired in the morning (y’know; like a normal person).

“I’m surprised you didn’t come get him sooner,” Leo mutters. He closes his eye again. “Sure.”

“Thanks!”

Mikey takes a wide step into the room and crouches. He digs around in his belt, locating one of Klunk's favorite snack-tubes.

“Oh Kah-looooonkkkk,” he says, putting on his best sing-song-I-totally-got-treats-for-you-love-me-please voice, “you want some tube~?”

Klunk lifts and tilts his head. Rather than get to his feet and trot to Mikey’s side, he shifts his weight, tucking his legs securely under his body. Mikey blinks.

That's weird. Klunk never turns down an offer for tube.

Even Klunk seems to acknowledge this; his tail twitches irritably, and his ears flatten out. It's like he wants to get up but…

“...hey, Leo?” Mikey props his elbows on his knees, frowning. “Has Klunk been with ya like this all morning?”

Leo’s shoulders lift in a half-shrug. “Guess so.”

“Huh.” Mikey pouts. Klunk hated a late breakfast. There hadn’t been scraps in his bowl, so no one had fed him yet. Why isn't he screaming for food? ...he's definitely still sending me dirty looks.

Mikey drums his hands on his inner knees. He opens his mouth—another question forming on his tongue—but snaps it closed when Leo suddenly sniffs. It's a wet, strained sound, and his posture rolls forward a little. Almost like he’d just gotten dizzy, or the breath had taken more effort than it should've. Come to think of it, it... did look like Leo was breathing through his mouth more than his nose. His lips were parted slightly. Mikey squints—glances from Klunk to Leo—and straightens up. “...your, uh... nose still bugging ya, bro?”

“A little.”

“...iiiis that all that’s bugging ya?”

Leo frowns, but he keeps his eyes closed. His brow wrinkles. “What do you mean?”

“I dunno,” Mikey says, “iiiit’s just… y’look kind of tired? And… Klunk super doesn’t wanna leave your lap. Which is weird! Because he hasn't had breakfast! And I offered him a tube! He ALWAYS wants tube.”

Leo opens his eyes and frowns as he looks at Mikey. Mikey shifts his weight and wrings his wrists in his lap. Leo didn’t have that needling look in his eyes like he had a few months ago, but… guess he’d started expecting a half-hearted glare and a growl.

Leo must have realized this, too. He winces, and his features weaken.

“Mikey, I’m okay,” he says. Mikey's lips twitch into a weak smile, but it must not have looked convincing. Leo sighs, "really, I’m just… Maybe I've just got a cold.”

“—a cold?” Mikey echoes, all at once alert. His throat tightens. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he knows it's irrational, but he doesn't care. He searches Leo’s limbs—any visible section of skin. But nothing looks open, or irritated or… mutated. They'd gotten separated in Bishop's lab for a while after Don got loose. Leo hadn't said anything about encountering other feral mutants, but...

Mikey rolls his lips together, eyes snapping up to meet Leo’s. “You… didn’t get, y’know. Stung. Or anything and didn’t tell us, did you?”

Leo’s expression drops. “What? --no, Mikey. Why would you—”

“—I should get Donnie,” Mikey interrupts, springing to his feet. “Just in case!”

“Mikey, I didn’t—”

“—I’ll be right back!" He jabs a finger at Leo and shakes his head. "Don’t even think about going anywhere! Klunk's loafing on you for your own protection!! DON'T DISRESPECT HIM!”

And he bolts before Leo has the chance to respond.

Don hadn't been the only one tailing Mikey back to Leo's room. Raph followed close at their heels, but he took to leaning on the corner wall rather than hover at Leo's side. Something Leo, admittedly, found himself grateful for.

Quick to busy himself as always, Don took to checking Leo for scratches, bites, stings--any possibility Mikey listed off, thought about or began to fuss over. Klunk, his duty now fulfilled, had grown tired of Don's close proximity, and he swiftly sprang from Leo's lap, trotting to headbutt and rub against Mikey's heels instead. He still circles them now, a soft, steady purr vibrating in his chest. Leo wonders if all cats are like this: aware and attentive of who needs their comfort, and so eager to provide. Or if it's something unique to Klunk... like the little animal knew Mikey had given him a better life, here, and he was in their debt. 

He almost snorts at himself. Probably silly to think cats thought in transactional ways... and something he still needs to work on, himself.

“You’re SURE he's not sick?” Mikey asks suddenly. He fidgets with his mask-tails, unable to stop himself from glancing in Don’s direction. “Like..." he winces, but hints anyway, "sick-sick?”

Don huffs, keeps his eyes down.

Leo frowns, and he shakes his head. “I didn't get stung or bit by anything, Mikey. I promise."

Unless we’re counting that mutant the dragons had set loose. There's a brief second where the thought sends a wave of alarm through his chest, but it's quick to settle. That happened months before the mutagen outbreak in the city. Surely, if it was a similar kind of illness, it would have made itself known by now. He'd been bitten long before Don had been stung, and Don's symptoms began surfacing in the following weeks. His brothers must be thinking something similar; Mikey continues to send looks in Don's direction, and Raph remains oddly quiet. The silence starts to feel heavy, and Leo winces. “Sorry, Donnie.”

“—don’t,” Don hastens, frowning at him. “Really.”

"So," Mikey starts, "he's not sick-sick? He's just... siiiiick-sick?"

Don sends him a dull stare. "You can just say 'infected', Mikey."

"Sorry."

"It's fine. But, no. I don't think he is." Don glances at Leo and shrugs. "There aren't any 'entry points', like he said. And I doubt he ate anything at Bishop's."

Leo grunts and wrinkles his nose. Mikey shifts his weight, unsatisfied. "What... --what about that thing we stole from Karai? --he's the one who touched it first. Do you think it cursed him?"

"Mikey--"

"--don't act like it's not possible, Don!" Mikey interrupts, clenching his fists at his sides. "We've time traveled! Space traveled! There's a whole city under our feet right now! --And--what about that... that big, red alien-monster thing that almost got Angel's bro?! --That old guy--he was totally cursed and stuff!! What if--"

“--it ain’t that deep,” Raph grumbles, his voice low but sharp enough to cut Mikey off. He pushes off the wall, propping his hands on his hips. “I bet it’s ‘cuz this bozo got back from Japan and hit the ground runnin’. Ain't stopped since.”

Leo squints, and Raph holds up a hand, 'counting' off his fingers as he continues, “I doubt ya slept on the boat trip over. Y’came lookin’ for each of us—got us all back in one place. Fought Karai. Got us back on our feet, the station up 'n runnin'. The first few mutants start showin’ their ugly heads. We get sent back to the jurassic period—”

“—cretaceous,” Don mutters, and Raph scoffs.

“Whatever! --Look, my POINT is, y’ain’t stopped movin’ once. You probably went and wore yourself out! Even more than usual!”

“You were kinda training like crazy for a while,” Mikey adds, rubbing his neck. “Like. A lot a lot. All the time. I guess maybe you chilled while you were in Japan, but... also not really.”

“Raph… has a point, Leo,” Don says. He looks to Leo and shrugs. “April’s talked about this sort of thing before. Like, when she was in college? She said during the holiday breaks, she’d come home and not have anything to worry about, and it was like her whole body released a ton of tension all at once. She’d have a horrible stomach ache for that first day home. Maybe… this is your version of that.”

“This is the quietest it’s been since…” Raph pauses, growls, and shakes his head. “It’s the quietest it’s been in a good, long while.”

Leo frowns. He can't think of any kind of argument. Or, at least, all the arguments that were coming to mind wouldn’t help with anything. Either Raph would get irritable, or Mikey would get antsy and more nervous than he already was. And Don... while Leatherhead had been confident there wouldn't be a chance of relapse, they'd decided not to risk anything. Guess it'd be pretty hypocritical of him to go on insisting he was fine, when they'd all decided he wasn't.

What was it the Ancient One said about surrender? Leo almost couldn’t help but smirk and chuckle to himself. “Alright. I guess I could take a few days to do nothing. Join Don in being a couch potato.”

“Sounds ideal to me,” Mikey says.

Leo’s smirk widens. “I bet it does.”

“If anyone deserves a ‘nothin’ day ‘round here, it’s you two workaholics,” Raph says, pointing a finger interchangeably between Don and Leo.

“And Klunk will make sure you both stay sitting down!” Mikey scoops Klunk off the floor. The cat mews in protest, wiggling for a moment before tucking against Mikey's chest. “He’ll be making the best biscuits this side of Brooklyn. Aren't you lucky?”

 Raph snorts, and he thumps a fist against Mikey's shoulder. “Mikey and I will finish what needs t’be done around the lair for the day. Take a load off. Enjoy free biscuits from the stupid cat, and be ready for movies and a hot meal t'night.”

Leo could hear Mikey and Raph in the kitchen, but he couldn’t tell if they were bickering or just talking. Guess those were one and the same when it came to those two.

He and Don had taken to the couch, as promised. Don tinkers with his shell-cell while Klunk watches from his lap, and Leo, settled under a thick blanket, adjusts the book in his hand.

It'd been surprisingly difficult to pick which of his few books he'd wanted to start, and there was something bittersweet in the reminder that he'd have to rebuild his library a second time. He'd selected one of the fiction novels--an old fantasy, filled with mists, magic, and a winding world. He'd already read it a time or three, but the familiar pages were comforting and easy to get lost in. A small voice in the back of his mind still grumbled and tutted that there was work to do, things to check, responsibilities and tasks he'd been setting aside for higher priority items. But he ignores it (for now).

Klunk stands and arches his back. His mouth splits into a large yawn, and he gives his tail a lazy little flick before carefully padding out of Don's lap. Leo smiles and chuckles as the cat moves onto his legs instead, already purring loud enough to drown out whatever conversation fills the kitchen.

Don smirks. “Looks like it’s your turn to get cat-sat, Leo.”

“Yeah.” Leo opens a hand so Klunk can headbutt it, and he ruffles his head with the heel of his palm. “Guess it is.”

Don chuckles. He sits back against the couch again and sighs, letting his hands and the shell-cell drop into his lap. Leo slants his eyes toward him. His smile sinks a little as he watches Don tug one of the throw blankets higher over his chest. “...feeling alright, Donnie?”

“Yeah,” Don huffs, “my energy just gets totally sapped after a certain hour. It’s really annoying.”

“I’ll bet.”

“Mn. ...what about you?”

Leo’s brow furrows. “I… think so? I mostly just feel… heavy.”

“Yeah.”

“But not… --not the same kind of heavy I felt before, just…”

“I know,” Don murmurs. There’s something… different in his tone, now. Leo can’t quite put a word to it. Don continues, “I think Raph hit it right on the money. You get back from Japan and… we get you back… but you haven’t really let yourself have much time to breathe, have you?”

“I could say the same to you,” Leo says, “you’ve been working to get the reservoir station up, functional and livable since we got here. Even while you were getting 'sick'.”

“Maybe. But… I hadn’t just come back from a huge trip with a completely different timezone—a-and, I hadn’t been…" He pauses, cautious. "...I dunno. ...struggling...? At least not like you."

Leo frowns. “Donnie. Whether you’re drowning in an ocean or drowning in a puddle… it’s still drowning.”

Don blinks, glancing at him. There's a moment where Leo can't quite read his eyes, but he remains quiet. Then, Don smirks, and he lets out a weak chuckle.

“I guess you’d know about that better than anyone,” he says, “considering you’re the one who dove in after me when my toy car almost got me waxed.”

“It’d be a pretty embarrassing way to go out," Leo says. "Especially for a turtle.”

“You’d also know a thing or two about that, wouldn’t you? Embarrassing ways to go out.” Don’s eyes glint, and his smirk sharpens. “Big Foot?”

Leo lets out a laugh, ducking and shaking his head in attempt to mask any show of sheepishness. “—Jeez! A guy steps on a landmine one time.”

“It wasn’t just a landmine. It was a landmine in clear water.”

“Please don’t remind me.”

Don laughs. There’s a small pause as his smile softens, and his shoulders sink into a more relaxed position. “...it’s good to have you back, Leo.”

“Hey.” Leo shifts his weight enough to gently jab his elbow into Don’s upper arm. “Right back at you, bro.”

“Alright, sickos.” Raph rounds the couch, his arms held out flat on either side of him. Two large plates balance on either inner-elbow, and in each hand he has a second plate and bowl of steaming soup. Its warm, soothing smell somehow seeps through all the congestion in Leo's nose and throat, and he sighs, letting it fill his ribs. He sits forward and extends his hands, offering to take one of the sets from Raph's person. Raph shoots him a knowing smirk, and he leans just enough to let Leo lift a plate from his arm. “Grilled cheese and tomato soup: comin’ in hot.”

“Oh, sweet,” Don says.

“Think you mean savory, dude!” Mikey chirps as he vaults the couch (and their heads). Leo passes Don the first bowl and plate, and he looks Mikey’s way as his brother drops to his knees to slide the remaining distance to the television set. He spots a DVD case in one of Mikey’s hands and realizes he recognizes it.

“—wait,” he starts, sitting up, “is that what I think it is?”

Mikey turns, flashing him a toothy grin. “Iiiiiiif you mean Kiki’s Delivery Service?”

“Where’d you get that?!” Leo asks, unable to hide the excitement in his voice.

“April,” Raph answers. He chuckles and hands Leo the other plate and bowl, “figured it was time t’start usin’ her access to things to our advantage.”

Don arches a brow. “Like we weren’t doing that already?”

“I mean, sure,” Raph says, “but Kiki’s a classic! Gotta look a bit harder t’get your hands on one’a those; ‘specially a copy that ain’t totally trashed.”

“And because she’s totally awesome, she SPLURGED!!” Mikey says, jamming a finger against the DVD player's eject button. “This one’s got behind the scenes—interviews--storyboards even!!!”

“He’s real excited about the storyboards,” Raph mutters, though he fails to mask the fondness coloring his tone. He ambles back toward the kitchen, likely to retrieve food for himself and Mikey.

Leo settles the plate and bowl into the blankets on his lap. Klunk rises from where he'd curled between Don and Leo, and he pads onto one of Leo's knees in attempt to sniff the tomato soup. Leo gently nudges him away. “No, Klunk.”

“Let’s put you on the ground until food’s eaten, little guy,” Don says. He scoops a hand under Klunk’s stomach and lifts him off the couch. Klunk protests with a soft, but long, meow. He allows himself to be placed on the floor, but the look he sends Don—paired with a flick of his tail—is more than enough warning that he’ll be back before food’s finished.

Raph returns with a second round of plates and bowls, and Mikey finishes setting up the DVD. He sprints to the light switch as Raph eases their meals onto the coffee table. The lights shut off, and they’re left in the cool wash of the screen’s glow.

What comes next is a feeling Leo can’t quite put into words. Mikey slides into the open seat on his right, and Raph settles into the nook at Don’s left. The room fills with a familiar score—A Town with an Ocean View, if he remembers the track name correctly--and Don thanks Raph for dinner as the two pass down napkins. Mikey shifts his weight, taking care to move and tuck the blanket so it's evenly distributed between himself and Leo. Then, he curls up, bowl in lap, and lets himself lean into Leo's side. He takes a napkin when Leo offers it to him, and Don and Raph begin banter over who gets the remote for the movie's run time.

Leo has trouble putting a name to this feeling... and even more trouble recalling the last time it fell over him, warm and soft, like an old blanket fresh from the drier.

A sense of peace. Familiarity. Safety and home. He wants to wrap himself in it and stay. Let everything else sink away.

"Remember the first time we watched this?" Don asks. He fixes the plate on his lap and settles a napkin over one of the grilled cheese pieces.

"Feels like years ago," Mikey says.

Raph lets out a soft snort. "'Cause it was years ago."

"Think we were eight," Leo mutters. "It was the first and only time Mikey ever wanted to be near a broom."

"You're just mad 'cuz I won the race," Mikey sniggers. He wiggles enough to poke his elbow into Leo's bridge. "Totally left you and Raphie in the dust. Which you had to sweep up."

"Oh, brother," Don sighs, and Raph rolls his eyes, letting out a low growl.

"Leo? Smack him. I don't wanna spill my soup."

Leo smirks. He shifts his weight, gently jabbing one elbow into Mikey's arm. Mikey whine-groans at him, but the end of it is colored with a chuckle.

Raph (apparently having won whatever game he and Don were engaged in) lifts the remote and hits the center button. The town's melody quiets, and the room goes dark as the title menu fades to black.

[wcrldcffantasy]

Something in Sano's head snapped as he turned his head, sensing dark energy coming their way.

"Ami, take the deer and the girls and run."

The flute player looked confused for a second before he grabbed Maria's hand and started to run, as Bambi was already nudging their head to make Hime move.

Bringing out his large steel sword, he smirked and easily swung it towards his front side and held it strong, "Been a while since I fought some evil bastards. Let's see what you're made of~"

Grotesque and glass like looking creatures were snarling and growling at Sano as he readied his sword, and soon pushed forward with a cry as he made his first attack. Some of them shattered, some of them got a few hits at him, but Sano stayed strong...

That was until an arrow whizzed past him and hit one of the monster dead center at his head. Watching the creature fall, Sano looked up and then snorted, "Wow...is my eyes deceiving me?"

"Shut yer gob 'an keep fightin'!" Merida huffed as she shot more arrows, even shooting a fiery one in the sky as a rain of magical arrows aimed at her targets.

"Yeesh, what ugly looking critters," Hak hummed as he looked at the monsters and held up his own weapon on his shoulder, then smirked over at Sano, "A pleasure to be figithing alongside you, Sagara."

Sano blinked, before he snorted and was prepping up his weapon at the ready and grinned, "Dunno who you are, but if you're here with Princess Fire Hazard, then you must be an ally,"

Both men let out a war cry as they kicked off to attack, Merida covering their backs.

Meanwhile, Hime was backed into an alleyway with Maria holding her close, Bambi letting out angry bleats and Amiboshi holding his flute up. Some of the monsters came out of the shadows to corner them, and Amiboshi was soon playing a tune to get them to fall asleep...or at least fight each other so they will be distracted enough to let him and the others escape.

Hime clasped her hands together, closing her eyes as she was about to let off some Clow energy, hoping to dispel the monsters. Please, please, please work...

Davion closed his eyes as he then let a tear fall for a moment, but then sighed as he was opening his eyes again and moved a hand to bring Beelzebub closer, squeezing the hand.

"I thought...even when I died, that Yun's suffering would end. That at least you're here and maybe it was wishful thinking that there will be no more things that could hurt him and give him happiness..."

Davion looked back at Yun and felt his heart ache.

This time. I'm not going away. I'll fight anyone that tries to take me away from them again...

"And miss out on reading in the Sacred library? Plus, keeping you company was always my aim if not being stopped by Ed and Al," Milo said in a cheerful tone as he was walking over to the pale man and patted his arm gently, giving a bright smile, "Another book today?"

Eric did shift a little at the mention of Ivory and Li, almost wanting to say something about it and Milo sighed.

"Eric, if you did want to go and see them, you can. I'm sure that I'm plenty company for Wěi qí~"

Eric hummed a little, "A-are you sure?"

Milo nodded his head, "Yeah, yeah I'm sure~! Not to mention I'm pretty sure they miss your company anyways,"

Eric tried not to look flustered about that, before he then was waving goodbye to them, and Milo turned back to Wěi qí and softened.

"Anyways, I thought maybe we could look into one of your favorite readings today?"

Alphonse yelped when he was pulled by Iago and then felt his cheeks fluster at the affection, although his own heart melted as he smiled and reached to pate his head.

Edward was indeed surprised. But relieved that it seems that they were receiving good vibes and even talking about a possible wedding. While it was all happy and well, Edward still had the inkling in his brain that there was still some questions to ask.

That if Zen had a hand in bringing Davion back? If not, then who? And who else are they going to expect in this development?

Edward took a breath as he looked around the room.

"Let's not be celebrating just yet, there are still some things we gotta take note. With Davion back, there's gonna be word spread in the White Faction and they might try to come and investigate. Even call for Davion to come back with them to meet with Zen,"

"Don' go doin' that to yerself, Davi. You and I both know that Rex was never going to survive. We did all we could, Rex knew that. He's probably been reincarnated to live a more peaceful life." Beelzebub replied with a sigh.

Gods, today is really reopening a lot of old wounds. "Turns out, Akhir and Hope were also starting to affect Yun's mind by accident. Hope hadn't realized that some of his more traumatic memories slipped through and merged with Yun's-that was one helluva fun talk..."

Hearing her name, Beelzebub had to rein in his own temper. "We don' talk about her in this house." He replied. But knowing that Davion earned an explanation, the Deadly Sin told him what happened between Yue and Yun. "The long and short of it is they had a pretty nasty fight, where Yun finally told her everything and what he's been holding back. And when I say nasty, it nearly became a brawl, and you know how much damage our dragon can do."

And with Yun not holding back, Yue would have been seriously crippled or worse.

"I know Shiro was your friend, Davion. Yun, an' I won't stop you from trying to have a relationship with her. Just be careful."

Back with Citalee, the Ars Goetia-like demon looked back at Alphonse and told him that he would need to trust in Beelzebub to get to that at some point.

Davion had just been resurrected and, by now, possibly learned of Akhir. And at Edward's concern, Citalee reminded him that the council members were chosen by Sai Gong himself because they all got along with Yun in the first place.

"I'm still shocked by also thrilled at this, Sir Edward. This will benefit us all, especially King Beelzebub in their bedroom."

"Gross, Cita! I didn't need that image!" Iago whined and startled the Ars Goetia demon. The tiger demon apologized before pointing out that he just overheard that Davion was back. "Anyone inform the kids?"

"We will handle that after the meeting, Iago." Citalee replied before sighing softly.

Upon entering the room, Iago made it to his seat but not without grabbing Alphonse so that he could cuddle next to him as Citalee took to his place. From there, Edward got his answer about Davion's return: It was a good reaction. Many, if not everyone, were excited about the news, and Carmen, the Councilwoman of War, even asked if they should prep for another wedding.

As with Milo and Eric, Wěi qí slowly opened his door to reveal himself. He looked ragged and tired, the same as usual, but he was a lot paler than normal for him. "Milo. Eric. I thought you two would be with Ivory and Li down at the cottage."

"Do not fail me this time." A voice from the depths growled at the monsters.

[celestialstarzz]

its. so c!fable. oh my GODS.

“i see a song of past romance.” he was married to isla, had a child with her. under the crazy, he loved her at one point.

“i see the sacrifice of man.” this is,, so many things actually. the sacrifice of his brother, the sacrifice of all of the mortals that fought in the war with him, the sacrifice of his son—who he used for his own goals—he was willing to kill icarus, guys. he was going to until centross stepped in.

“i see portrayals of betrayals.” he betrayed his family and fellow gods. him attempting to kill off all of the other gods was a betrayal, especially people like his siblings and like len & vorago, ect ect, that was a betrayal in its own right.

“and a brother's final stand.” the alerion death cutscene is the entire explanation for this. in the song it’s talking about a fight between two mc’s, swap that over to the fable/alerion fight where fable fucking stabs his brother??? eating that shit up.

“i see you on the brink of death.” post-cathedral of war centross/fable fight where centross stabs fable with the scythe and took his immortality, fable was on the brink of his own death.

“i see you draw your final breath.” the ENTIRE conversation between c!icarus & c!fable during the finale, it’s just- them coded. specifically icarus saying, ‘you don’t always get a happy ending, you just get life as it is.’ fable DIDN’T get a happy ending, the world wouldn’t have allowed it. it wasn’t his fate. there’s only so much blood you can have on your hands before you drown in it.

“i see a man who gets to make it home alive, but it's no longer you.” fable kept isla because he wanted it all to go back to ‘normal’, he wanted to go back to the desert—back to gilded—and have his post-war, pre-fsmp life back. he doesn’t get that. the rest of the server does, icarus himself will get it eventually. but fable doesn’t. it’s no longer him.

[twinstxrs]

so much happened in this whole episode but i’m still on fig infiltrating ruben’s dream, making it look like the place where his friend was murdered, and then disguising herself as kipperlilly & repeatedly saying different variants of “somebody needs to take the fall for this, and it’s not going to be me. it’s going to be you.” while adaine as the elven oracle shows up next to her. can you imagine waking up from that, the idea of a horrible truth being pinned on you by your friend to save her own skin while the personification of fate and destiny stands there, almost as a promise that this is GOING to happen to you. we don’t even know if this kid is guilty. my god.

[sketchy-tour]

wait is that Moreau from Resident Evil: Village??? I love him sm! I literally did not think anyone (or many) liked him that much!! It’s great to see someone giving luv to a character that’s not Lady Dimitrescu or Heisenburg (no hate to them lol, I love them too)

Late to answer but YES YES! I'm in love with the nasty fish man from RE Village.

Hes just so tragic. My heart aches to hold his hands and kiss his face and give him the companionship he so clearly aches for. When it shows his collection of romance films he watches alone I just!!! AUGH!!! It's okay Sal bby I'm also a hopeless romantic lemme hold your hand and dance awkwardly in the rain with you. 🥺

[hplonesomeart]

Heyo I have come back from my animation hermit hole with some work to show. It was a blast to make and I think it turned out pretty nice! :33

This is an animation part for the Halloween MAP @the-lion-guard-88 is hosting by the way!! Make sure to stay tuned for the full release of it at the end of this month. And also if your willing, you could also check out the livestream on her channel happening on 26th I believe—should be fun 👍✨

Also I have to include this somewhere—it’s my civil duty as a Puzzle enjoyer. Behold the really poorly rushed Procreate photo mashup edits of Puzzles that I snuck into animation as a fun goofy Easteregg detail lol. Same thing with the SMG3 plushie in the corner—although he was included solely because I noticed other people had him in their MAP parts. So I wanted to keep a little continuity going to connect all parts together. We love sillies here <3

[jellophoid]

mithan in college thoughts,,,💭

and then no face ethan for funsies:

[jalo-parker]

My laptop charger got accidentally left at my other parents house for the week so all I have is playboy bunny outfit helsknight.. 😁😁 I am so normal and sane i promise <- hes very clearly lying

I have no explanation for this.. hope you fellow helsknight fans enjoy..?

[todayisafridaynight]

i cant capture it in a single picture but the pain and agony i felt watching this shit in front of my very eyes. this was evil <- needs every frame of it in a museum

[spookieloop]

Torturing myself with thoughts of Durge potentially having a very unintended experience the first time she goes on that little weave date with Gale.

.

What if she intends to kiss him in the weave, but her fractured mind conjures up the image of Gortash instead after she pulls away.

It's who she really wants, she just doesn't remember.

Gale is none the wiser, until the weave slips away to reveal a panicked Durge...

Trying to explain what she saw?

Trying to brush it off?

Who is that man burned into what's left of her brain matter? Who was he to her that the weave would pull him forth when she made the decision to pursue Gale?

And laying eyes on him again for real, at Moonrise...

Maybe she finds the Prayer for Forgiveness, and her hands are shaking as she reads, knowing that she penned this.

To her father.

Her God.

To Bhaal.

Scelaritas's words suddenly make sense.

"He would forget his god for you, but you won't for him. Of that I know."

She did forget her god once, it seems.

For Gortash.

After that, she goes to Wyrm's Rock to meet him alone, because she has one burning, inescapable question.

"Who are you to me?"