#i think its their brawl selection

[xrenyaa]

Athena & Simon Sketchdump

[m-ilkiee]

Monsters: Mikey Sano x Reader x Izana Kurokawa

Chapter 1: Warning Signals

series summary: your grievous sin was Emma standing up for you to her brothers. and now you’re going to pay the heavy price for destroying their perfect family dynamic.

chapter summary: being friends with Emma Sano is nice, until you get on the wrong side of the Sano brothers.

content warning: DARK CONTENT, NSFW, misogyny, alcohol/drug use, brief mention of violence, religious and purity culture themes, classism, slutshaming, p*rn mention, sexual assault, noncon, public initimacy, fingering (fem recieving), dacryphilia, gaslighting, manipulation, mention of vomitting, victim blaming.

r-18+ (not suitable for 17 and under)

word count: 10.1k words

note: this chapter has been edited and the storyline shifted to the original plan for the series. consequent chapters 2-5 will follow suit and vastly vary from the og series i posted before.

masterlist||chapter2||taglist

KNOWING how big both the TENJIKU and TOMAN fraternities were on campus, it was a bit awkward being friends with the youngest sister of two of the most popular guys in this school.

Any where you two went, she would always be the center of attention. You didn't really mind being in her shadow because as long as you have her, you’ll be fine. People called you a lost puppy, riding on Emma’s cocktails just to get by in university.

They didn’t know how you both have self-care days where you would paint your nails, wear facial masks and watch “Mean Girls” or “Clueless” on her laptop because you weren’t allowed to watch it when you were young. Or how the both of you always have study dates with hot coffee and exchanging annotated notes so that you both remain at the top of your game. They don’t know about the secrets you both share and the trust you both have for each other.

You don’t have to explain anything to anyone.

Emma is a pretty satisfied girl. Her college tuition is paid for in full and her time here has always been smooth. As far as you knew, she grew up being loved by all three of her brothers and they doted on her to the point she thinks they spoiled her.

-You don’t think they spoiled her -okay maybe a little with the way she spends money, but everyone has a vice. Right?

You could tell she knew what familial love is with how sweet and kind she was to you when you opened up about your family troubles.

The only issue is that her two brothers, Mikey and Izana, have been at each other's necks for some years now. Mostly Izana inciting violence at Mikey and Mikey retailiating; it’s the number one concern in the Sano household the way those two fight and argue.

From what Emma told you, Izana’s provocative nature was the gasoline to Mikey’s volatile mental state, akin to fire. Even the littlest of things that no one would bat an eye for could incite a bloody brawl between them. And as they grew older, more people were involved in their petty rivalry, since neither Emma nor Shinichiro agreed to take their side.

Despite the looming hostility, Mikey decided to throw in the towel and agree for a truce. At first, Emma couldn’t believe it. Until two weeks had passed and they hadn’t fought.

"They haven't gotten along at a stretch like this, I tell ya!" Emma had said excitedly while selecting what she would wear that day. You let out a small smile as she tossed multiple clothes on her large bed. Being the youngest had its perks, like how her oldest brother, Shinichiro paid for her to have the biggest room in one of the dorms all to herself.

You heard that on the front, he had one of the biggest Motorcycle brands and behind all of that, his real business was handling the black dragons, one of the biggest gangs in Japan.

You wonder how Emma feels about her brothers' lifestyle, but judging from her huge wardrobe and expensive jewelry, you don't think it bothers her too much.

Not like you cared either. To you, she was just Emma. Nothing more or less.

The blonde haired girl swiftly turns to you with two options in her hand, a pink sequined dress and a white halter crop top and a pink mini skirt with ruffles at the bottom. "I need to look really good today, which one says 'I'm so happy my brothers are not at each other's necks for once?' " She asked animatedly.

You've never seen her this happy since you met her, unless Draken was involved and somehow it made you happier too. It must be nice to be so close to your family members all the time and be able to mend your relationship with them.

You've never had that. You don't think of your family much. You don't wish to either, ever since your father cursed you out for rejecting a marriage proposal from one of his friends to pursue higher education and your mother stayed quiet, complicit -all the while silently seething that all her training went down the drain. The first time you ever went against their old fashioned ideals after years of obedience was met with immediate punishment.

Ironic.

You don’t regret it, though. Because you wouldn’t have met Emma.

"The second one is a better choice." You said with a smile, gazing at her with adoration in your eyes. “The skirt ruffles makes your legs look good. Pair it with the white strap heels and you’re good.”

The blonde broke out into a wider grin, the clothes pooling at her sides as she rested a hand on her hips. “Look at you giving me fashion advice.” She teased lightheartedly. “I feel like a proud mother growing up!”

“I learned from the best.”

You both fall into a comfortable silence and you take that time to admire her. You’ve always thought Emma was gorgeous, from her bright smile, to the twinkling of her eyes when she’s mischievous, to her enthusiasm for life in general. It was a no-brainer that guys would gravitate towards Emma and try their luck into dating her. Eventually the threat of her brothers or the threat of her equally terrifying friends with benefits who just happened to be the vice president of Toman, Ken Ryugi, would be enough to back off.

You wished you were as likeable and as beautiful as she was. You were always too shy to do anything or talk to people, let alone guys that you liked.

“So have you picked your outfit for the party?”

You’re snapped out of the trance-like state to see Emma standing in front of you, her body so close, you could smell her vivienne westwood. “Me?” You asked her, your tone laced with confusion. “I don’t think I’m gonna go.”

“And why is that?”

You paused, trying to organize your thoughts on how to break this to her without ruining her mood tonight. “I don’t think…” you took a deep breath before saying. “Your brothers would want me there.”

There’s a shift in her look, so minor but you could pick out the way her smile faltered. You both knew that her brothers could be… weird around you. It was something Emma couldn’t understand for the life of her.

Izana was usually very displeased with your presence and makes it very well known he doesn't want you there with snide remarks and forgetting your own order. His friends, for the fear of him, wouldn't speak to you either. It took Emma angrily yelling at him for him to be civil towards you. But the second she turned her back, Izana would go back to his usual self, being rude and peppering it with little acts of violence like pushing your hand so that your drink spilled all over the floor and even pushed your laptop bag to the ground, destroying the device you saved money to buy for months.

Mikey was on the other end of the spectrum. He would ignore your very presence and talk to everyone else but you and the rest followed suit. You’ve tried to at least make small talk with him, anything but he would talk over you. You heard from other people that he’s the nice brother and he’s usually so easy going- you’ve seen it with your very eyes the way he interacts with Emma’s other friends, Hinata and Senju.

And it hurts you. You’ve had a crush on him for so long, longer than you even knew Emma, so you don’t understand why he’s acting so differently with you. Seeing him talk with other girls sweetly makes you green with envy, wishing that it was you. Craving for just a piece of his attention.

Maybe he just doesn't like shy girls.

Only some guy named Takemitchi would try and explain that they don't hate you. It was surprising, considering that you knew people like Hakkai - whom you attended the same confirmation class and high school with- and even he made no effort to at least speak with you whenever you came to the frat house or met on the road.

You stopped bothering to make either of the Sano brothers like you, so long as they let Emma keep hanging out with you. It was obvious that they hold some animosity for you when you’ve done nothing to them.

“Nonsense!”

Before you could say anything, Emma pulled you up by your arm and dragged you off the bed towards her closet. “That’s a load of bullshit. There’s no way I’m leaving my best friend to rot in her room when there’s a Sano party going on.”

“But-”

“Nope!” She cut you off stubbornly, before pulling out some clothes from her closet, trying to match them with your skin tone. Satisfied with the outfit she picked, she puts the clothes in your arms and practically shoves you into her bathroom.

“EMMA-”

“Don’t Emma me, (name). You’re going to take a shower and by the time you’re out, I should be back with a makeup kit that suits you.” You tried to speak again but she silenced you by pressing a finger on your lips. “We’re going to be the hottest girls at that party, whether they like it or not.”

“But these look very short-”

“Sorry, can’t hear you, bye!”

You sighed when Emma shut the bathroom door in your face, locking it so that you would do what she said.

There was no winning with Emma when she made her mind up. Might as well follow through with it.

YOU had no idea how big this party would be.

You've come to the Toman frat house before with Emma to see Mikey and Draken once, and admired how large and spacious the three story building was. Now imagine that large of a space being cramped up with nearly the whole school's population.

Somewhat, you’re grateful that the outfit Emma lent you was as short as it was. The house was so hot, you could faint from how stuffy it was.

You hold on tightly onto Emma's hand, intertwined with each other as the both of you push through the big crowd, ignoring the sweaty, drunk students as you headed for the stairs. She, being used to parties like this, was able to navigate through the raging crowd with some form of ease.

After a few more squeezes, you both finally make it to the stairs.

As you both climbed up, you could see different people, all having fun in their own way. You're rarely invited to parties, so this was still more of a nouveau experience for you. A girl is asking for a light, a tiny blunt in between her teeth until another person lights it up for her. You see some guy shotgunning another girl, before melting into a hot kiss, tongue melding with each other. Someone else is drowning shot after shot and a couple is practically dry humping for everyone to see, a poor excuse to dance with the music.

The obscene sight surprisingly doesn’t disgust you, knowing your background, it just makes you curious. How would it feel to try one of those things? Smoking? Drinking? Making out with someone? Emma had told you about her own experiences; as long as you took it easy, it could be fun. Her first time with anything was with Draken and he was always gentle with her, plus her brothers were fine with it, even making sure whatever she took wasn’t laced with anything.

However, you were taught differently. That your body is a temple that you should keep clean for God and doing any of these things will sully you.

You didn’t believe that as much as you did when you were younger, but you didn’t want to test your luck either in case it ended up being true. Besides, you would look like a complete moron if you tried anything with them.

You tried as much as possible not to make it obvious that you're staring, but that failed when you caught the attention of a tall silhouette smoking. Sharp golden eyes stared you down and you instantly looked away, not wanting to get in trouble with some random guy.

You've heard rumors about Toman or Tenjiku guys absolutely beating anyone up for just staring at them wrong. You don't want to be victim number seventy-five this year.

Finally, you both reached your destination; a room on the second floor where Mikey had asked Emma to meet him. The ground floor was always the place where non-members stayed, trashed and partied. The first is accessible to all members of Toman (and now, Tenjiku) to hang out, have a private party and smoke. The second floor is only for executives and their girls or sisters.

You're a bit worried for yourself as Emma spoke to the person guarding the door. Mikey never said YOU could come along with Emma. You're no executive. You're no girlfriend of their executives and you are definitely not related to any of them. You had told Emma to leave you on the ground floor but she insisted that no one would be angry with your presence.

You've suspected that Emma has been trying to hook you up with someone in either of the fraternities. She was always insistent that you at least get to know them.

"(Name) come on."

Without waiting for your protest, Emma yanked you into the rather pristine room that housed the executives. Your eyes drank in the sight briefly, thanking God that it wasn't filthy or smelly as you had imagined it. The execs were all playing a game of poker, with an orange haired girl -Hinata Tachibana, his girlfriend, perched on Takemitchi's lap, laughing at his bad luck.

Emma's eyes quickly scanned around the room for a brief moment until she saw her two brothers sitting side by side, both engrossed in the game. Mikey’s blonde hair is tousled, like he’s been running his hand through it repeatedly. His baggy white shirt is unbuttoned half way and slips down his shoulder, revealing a black tank top and large jean trousers. Izana is different, white hair falling across his handsome face, leather jacket discarded on the back rest of the chair, leaving him in only a tight red shirt and tighter leather jeans, various chains and accessories hanging from his neck. Two earrings dangle from his ears- you can’t remember the name or significance.

‘They’re really good looking. Really-’

Without a warning, she lets go of your poor arm and jumps on top of Mikey and Izana, tackling them into a hug. Cards fly as she squeezes them hard, to which they discard their initial anger of losing their deck and hugging her back.

"Emma, next time give us a warning, will you?" Mikey pouted. You thought it looked cute, but immediately discarded that stupid thought. The guy hates your guts, don’t think he’s hot. "You ruined my game."

"As if you weren't losing dipshit." Izana teased, his face more relaxed than you’re used to seeing. "She did you a favor. You were down to 100 chips."

"You were down to 50. Who's the loser?"

"Still you."

You could see a smile tug at the corner of her lips lift up as she stands up. "Finally glad that two of you aren't strangling each other for once." She said triumphantly, hands on her hips. Her voice has a pep to it. "Last time both of you were in the same room, it didn't end well."

"Doesn't mean I'm not thinking about it." Izana scoffed. Suddenly, his purple eyes left his sister's face and trailed onto you who just stood a few feet away, awkwardly. You watched in real time as his smile fell, his features darkening the moment he locked gazes with you.

Dear God.

"What is SHE doing here?"

His harsh tone made everyone in the room shift their attention towards you. Your blood ran hot with embarrassment, feeling Izana’s purple eyes scan you up and down in disgust while everyone else just looks at you. Mikey’s gaze burned holes into you as well, silently asking you what the fuck you were doing here.

It was obvious. They never wanted you here. This entire thing was a mistake from the beginning.

"I-I'm glad I could walk with you all the way here, Emma" you stuttered, lying through your teeth. You didn't like the way both brothers were staring at you, like they could walk over to you and wring your neck at any moment. "I'll go join the party downstairs now, so I guess I'll see you soon-"

Pulling away from her brothers abruptly, the blonde girl rushed over to you and grabbed your arm, halting your attempt at running away as she dragged you back in place. You cursed underneath your breath at Emma’s desperate attempt to try to get you to stay.

“Hold on, now (name). I’ll talk to them” Emma whispered reassuringly, before turning to her brothers and increasing her voice in full volume. "She's here with me, is there a problem?”

There was a tense silence in the room as everyone stared at you. Mikey's tone was ice cold as he directed his angry gaze at you, dark eyes scanning down your body. You shuddered when his gaze settled on your legs just briefly before snapping back at Emma’s face.

"Emma. When I sent you that text, I specifically said you should come ALONE."

You felt your heart twist in your chest at the emphasis of that word from none other than Mikey. He really hated you.

"Come on Mikey. This is ridiculous." Emma plead your case. You don't realize you're shaking until your friend squeezed your hand gently in an attempt to calm you down and you squeezed back, wanting this to be over as soon as possible. "Why would I leave her downstairs?"

"Because that’s where all the beggars like her stay."

Your eyes widened the second the words left his mouth, Emma following suit at his words. The shock was soon replaced by embarrassment as Izana looked at you with a devious smile on his face, continuing his verbal assault. "What? I was just making an astute observation. You did say she was poor, so am I really wrong?”

“What the fuck is wrong with you Izana-”

“Wait-” Mikey cuts in again, holding a hand to silence her, his eyes fixated onto your outfit, the wheels in his brain turning as he scanned your clothes from head to toe. You suddenly felt naked in the simple white top and jean skirt you wore, as he actually looked at you properly for the first time.

Your shyness is quickly short lived as his facial expression morphed from one of neutrality to nothing but pure rage.

“Is that the jean skirt I bought for you, Emma?”

Your heart dropped at how loud he barked, completely silencing everybody in the room. All eyes fell on you now, putting you at the center stage of attention. Emma quickly pushed you behind her, trying to shield you from their staring the moment she realized what was about to happen.

“Mikey, wait, I was the one who insisted she should wear it, not her.” Emma started to explain, her tone apologetic. “She had nothing to wear and i gave her those since you complained she dressed like a nun-”

“So you decided to dress her up like a cheap hooker instead?” Izana scoffed nonchalantly, his eyes flickering over to your outfit. “You know your clothes looks so cheap and washed out on her. She looks like she stands on the streets and asks for sex in exchange for money.”

"Izana!”

Emma started to reprimand her brother when Mikey cut in again to join Izana in practically insulting you. “Come on Emma, look at your friend. One wrong move and she’ll flash her panties. Don’t you think she’s looking a bit too desperate?”

Your hand flies to the edge of your skirt, dragging it down to try and cover up your legs as the gazes of the men leering at your legs. It doesn’t go unnoticed by Mikey, who is quick to point it out. “See? Even your friend knows she looks like a hooker. She’s trying to pull your skirt down because she knows she’s guilty...”

Each word seemed to stab you in the heart multiple times. You quickly averted your eyes to the ground as he continued to berate you about your looks, tearing down your confidence bit by bit with each word until you're reduced into nothing but nerves and silent tears. Everyone was staring at you now, scrutinizing gazes drinking in the sight of your exposed flesh, snickering quietly.

Unwanted attention.

"Next time, she shouldn't dress like this if she wants to tag along with you…"

“THAT IS ENOUGH."

Emma’s voice rang through the entire room, anger evident in her tone. The two brothers sat there in silence, stunned at the kind of tone Emma had just used on them right now, as if they’ve never heard or seen her this angry in their life before. You could feel her tremble violently, her grip on your hand tightening as fury radiated from her body.

You were sure she’s holding back things to say with how badly she is shaking. Like she doesn’t want to say anything that she might regret saying. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it immediately, as if biting her words back.

"We're leaving."

“EMMA-”

“Oh come ON-”

Emma threw an arm around you and guided you out of the room amidst her brothers yelling at her to come back. Your friend is gentle with you, hiding your teary face from prying eyes as she leads you through the stairs. The loud music was enough to mask your uncontrolled sobbing, but it didn’t stop people with prying eyes from turning their gazes towards you, wondering what the hell happened to you.

You had never felt this embarrassed in your life. As much as Emma tried to comfort you on your way to her room, their words kept on reverberating in your head. You knew how hard it was to get out of that mindset and now, every confidence you worked for, has crashed down like a pile of cards. Even the way they looked at you made you feel so sick to your stomach.

You've been drilled into as a young child that you're dressed the way you're addressed and because of that, you have always made sure you looked modest enough. You were used to your brothers calling innocent girls whores because of what they wore, that they were asking for it.

And now witnessing it first hand just made you feel so dirty. From the way they looked at you, to how they spoke about your body. It made you ill to the core.

You’ve never been so humiliated in your life.

The two of you managed to walk back to Emma's room, since hers was closer. Her phone never stopped buzzing all through your journey, even when you got back to her room. You could see the pain in her eyes as she ignored each call, only worsening your guilt. You wished you had stayed back in the dorms instead of ruining her night; she was supposed to be having fun, not walking you back to your room prematurely because you couldn’t take criticism.

"You should pic-"

"No (name)." Emma was quick to assert as she helped you lay down on her queen sized bed, the soft surface. "You don't need to feel pity for them, you're the one they hurt, not the other way around."

You wanted to protest when she fell on the bed beside you, yanking her covers over you both and encasing you in a hug. "You don't have to worry about them. I just want you to feel better." She whispered in your ears, rubbing your back gently. "You looked good tonight."

You could only nod in response at Emma's affirmation, wanting to so badly believe her. You want to believe what Emma thinks about you but you just can’t when you feel like abject filth. Your lips began to wobble, tears rolling down your cheeks once again as their words rang in your ears.

Months of unpacking that trauma, flushed down the drain by a single action.

Emma didn't say anything in response to your fresh tears, she only hugged you tight and rubbed circles on your back to soothe you until you cried yourself to sleep.

   “YOU implied that she’s a fucking prostitute Mikey, what the hell did I misunderstand?”

You woke up with a start on hearing Emma’s harsh tone echo throughout the room.

You opened your eyes groggily, rolling the covers down a little bit to see what was going on. She was standing at the open door, changed into her pink nightgown, her hair cascading down her shoulder as she argued with someone in the hallways. You push the covers a little further to see who she was talking to, catching a glimpse of a blond haired male standing in the hallways, blocking the only source of light filtering into the room with his body.

“Don’t yell at me, I’m still your older brother.”

‘Mikey?’

You perk up at his voice, instantly awake hearing his irritated tone. What was Mikey even doing in the female dorms by this time of the night? You glance at Emma’s sanrio clock on her nightstand that reads 00:00am. By now, no male student is supposed to be here, but knowing how influential Mikey is, he might have bribed the security to let him in.

His quiet sigh interrupted your thoughts and you turned your attention back to them, wondering what was going on. He started talking again, taking a tone much softer than before. “You’ve changed Emma. You blow me off to spend time with a stranger-”

“She is not a strang-”

“She is to me. You have enough friends Emma, what do you need this one for? What’s so fucking special about her?” His voice grows harsh again as he goes off a tangent about you. “You’re gonna get tired of her Emma. She’s a new thing but sooner or later you’ll get sick of her.”

Your heart broke at Mikey’s words. Is that what he thinks of you? This was supposed to be the easy going guy on campus that helped girls cross the street and everyone liked?

What did you ever do to him?

“Stop it!” Emma hissed underneath her breath, trying to keep her voice down but drive her point across simultaneously. “Stop talking about (name) like she’s a pet or a fucking toy Mikey. I care for her and I won’t stand you talking shit about her.”

“Em for fuck sake, just get dressed and get your ass back to the party.” Your jaw nearly dropped at how he’s quick to switch topics, ignoring what she just said. “Draken’s waiting downstairs and Izana’s gonna be pissed if you don’t come back.”

“You’re gonna ignore everything I just said right now, huh?”

“Em-”

“You and Izana can go fuck yourselves.”

“You can’t be seriou-”

Emma didn’t let him finish when she slammed the door in his face, turning the key as fast as possible. Her body sagged on the door, a quiet ‘god’ escaping her lips. Her silhouette stayed in that position for two full minutes before she walked to the bed again.

In silence, she laid beside you, wrapping an arm around your body and dragging the blankets over you both once again. You felt safe.

   THE next few days after the party were eventful.

Emma had spent them with you, hanging out in the library to study and going to your work place after a hard day at school, just sitting and talking with you when there was no customer around. You ended up in your dorm room or hers afterwards, eating the snacks you both got from shops around the school.

It was nice. Emma was usually busy with other things, so having her with you all the time seems so perfect. You enjoy the quality time you spend with her, really.

But guilt wouldn’t let you do so.

She had isolated herself from her friend group affiliated with either of her brothers, ignoring their pleas to at least talk to either Mikey or Izana. Hina or Senju would try to walk up to her on her way to class and Emma would outright ignore them. In a span of days, you’ve seen countless plushies, perfumes, expensive jewelry thrown into the dustbin, either from Mikey or Izana at the back of her dorm- their apology ripped letters ripped to shreds.

You had taken the time to piece one from Izana together and felt your heart bleed at his begging for them to “please work it out. We may not be siblings by blood but you’ll always be my little sister” and Mikey’s “Em I’m sorry for everything. Please let’s talk, I’ll listen to you.”

Your brothers had never done anything like that before. Usually, they would tell you to suck it up or even laugh at you for being too ‘sensitive’.

Then and there, you decided to talk to either of the Sano brothers in hopes you would mend their relationship. A naïve part of you thinks that this is the right thing for you to do; Emma has done so much for you, it’s time to return the favor.

You hadn’t told Emma what you planned on doing, knowing very well that it would make the poor girl far more furious than she was already. She would tell you that you have nothing to apologize for and get angry with you for suggesting to make peace with them, claiming you did nothing wrong.

The last thing you want is to escalate the issue. You just wanted Emma’s happiness.

You gripped the strap of your tote bag firmly, your eyes fixated on Mikey’s Chevrolet that was outside your department, possibly waiting for Emma to come out so that he would talk to her. Gathering all your courage, you walked towards the car and gently knock on the passenger’s seat tinted window to get his attention.

It wound down immediately, revealing the blonde haired man staring back at you with an annoyed expression.

“Are you trying to break my window?”

His rude tone made you instantly regret even trying to talk to him. Unfortunately for you, the decision was made and you stuck to it. ‘The letters, remember the letters’ You whispered to yourself. “I’m sorry Mikey I didn’t mean-”

“Manjiro.”

You blink twice at his interruption, trying to make sense of what was going on. “Huh?”

“Only my friends call me Mikey and as far I’m concerned, you aren’t one of them.”

There it is. That same attitude of that night. It almost made you angry with the way he was talking to you. You had every right to walk away from him - he was the one consistently harassing you, not the other way around, so who does he think he is?

Instead, you took a deep breath, thinking about just being the bigger person and how you want to make peace with him, so that everything returned to normal. “Okay, I’m sorry about your window Manjiro.” You added politely. “Can we talk?”

He narrowed his eyes at you suspiciously and you expected him to roll up his window and just drive away after that.

“Get in.”

You were shocked, but that quickly wore off when he opened the door for you to enter. You settled in quickly, snapping the seatbelt on after closing the door behind you.

There’s tense silence between the two of you as the car moved towards a more secluded part of the campus. You anxiously looked at your lap while he drove, wondering how you were going to start the conversation with him without instantly setting him off. Your gaze eventually drifted up to his face; from his half-lidded dark eyes to his straight nose, down to his soft pink lips.

You could see the resemblance between him and Emma, from their facial structure to genuinely good skin -not to mention they were both attractive. Despite his height, you knew a large amount of girls that crushed on him religiously, you included. You heard he treated any girl he was with, from his ex-girlfriends to his situationships, down to his one night stands with utmost respect and care. And despite everything he’s said to you, unlike his brother, he never hurt you violently or physically.

You just wished he was just as polite with you as he was with other girls. Maybe you could bring it up in discussions.

The car stops, bringing you back to reality. You realized that he had parked behind an abandoned class far behind the rest of the school. According to the university’s history, this was the first ever lecture hall that was built for the school, and eventually they decided not to renovate it as a remembrance from their little beginnings.

Or they didn’t want to spend any money on it.

Mikey switched the engine off, completely silencing the environment between the two of you. It is then that the realization hits you. You’re all alone with one of the most dangerous guys in this school, in a place where no one could hear you even if you scream. The thought makes you nervous, hoping to high heavens that Manjiro doesn’t want to hurt you.

“Well?” He asked, breaking the ice between the two of you. Mikey leaned back on the driver’s seat, turning to look at you. “You wanted to talk? Start talking.”

‘Okay. I can do this’ You whispered gently, exhaling through your lips. You can do this. “Mike- I-i mean Manjiro, I know it’s awkward, after everything that happened at the party and now it’s all a mess.” You cringed at the way you’re jumbling your words, this was not how it was meant to go. “We still haven’t resolved things yet-”

“We?”

You’re taken aback by his shocked tone as if he didn’t remember what both he and Izana had said to you, but when he doesn’t elaborate further, you take matters into your own hands. “Yes. You both said some unsavory things to me that hurt me that day, and it made Emma mad.” You paced yourself, not wanting to start rambling again. “I also want to apologize for disrupting your party by taking those words to heart and if I have offended you in any way, please forgive me.”

There’s an unreadable expression on his face, as if he’s slowly processing all the words you had just said. You watched his reaction morph from surprise to blankness, nothing on his face, which scared you more than any other expression.

“Get out of my car.”

What?

You quickly turned to the man, trying to understand what you had done wrong. This wasn’t how the conversation was supposed to go in your head. You expected that Manjiro would be civil enough to at least apologize for his actions too or talk, not this.  “Wait, Manjiro, what did I say wrong-”

“You don’t even realize you’re the problem!” You nearly jump out of your skin at the sudden increase in his pitch as he bares out his frustration with you. “Em can never fucking shut up about how I need to apologize to you whenever I try to talk to her! It’s always about you, you, you! It’s frustrating.” he snapped. “Ever since you came into Em’s life, she just can’t help herself bringing you up. It’s always shit like ‘Oh, (name) is such a nice girl, you should talk to her, she’s a good listener.’ ‘Sorry I can’t come to the outings, I have to study with (name), you know she can’t go alone anywhere’ ‘Oh, this reminds me of (name), she can’t even say the word sex without hiding her face, she’s so innocent.’ She’s so fucking enamoured with you and we’re sick of it.”

You knew the brothers were extremely family motivated, but you had no idea that you were getting in the way of them spending time together. “I didn’t know...” Your voice shakes, tone apologetic as your gaze falls onto your lap. “I…I didn’t know I was causing a rift between you guys, I’m so sorry. I just want to make up for everything and put this behind us.”

A tense silence followed, and you didn't look up from your lap to look at Manjiro, still intimidated at his sudden outburst. You could understand their aversion to you, their family is quite close and their bonds intertwined; so for a stranger to barge in and attempt to tear things apart, even unknowingly can be frightening for them.

Not like you would know what it is like for family to love you.

Eventually, you feel Manjiro turn his gaze towards you, dark eyes scanning your figure until settling on you. You held your breath as he finally cleared his throat, turning his attention to you fully for the first time, ever as he began to speak.

“You want us to make up.”

His tone was plain, as opposed to how angry he sounded a few moments ago. Somehow, you feel weird, slightly more alert than before as he pauses again, goosebumps littering your skin. ‘What’s wrong with me? Why do I feel so scared as he’s staring at me?’ you questioned yourself, before shaking your head, clearing your thoughts. ‘This is Mikey I’m with. Sure, he’s intimidating, but he would never hurt a girl. He’s a good guy.’

You decided to push your odd feelings aside. You were here for peace, not to think ill of him, not especially when you have a soft spot for him in your heart. And you wanted it to happen by any means necessary. Maybe showing him you were not a threat to his place in Emma’s life would make him feel much better around you. “I know that you may not trust me, but maybe if you got to know me better, and I also got to know you and your friends, you’ll see I mean no harm.”

“Is that so? You want us to know each other better?”

It was slight, but you could hear it. The slight mocking tone in his voice and instantly you felt stupid. It was clear he wasn’t taking you or your request seriously as you hoped he would, opting to see right through you instead as he stared at you, his gaze lingering to your hands lying in your lap.

“I-i feel like you’re not taking me seriously-"

“If you wore a longer skirt, then I wouldn’t have gotten so distracted.”

You instantly felt self-conscious when you realized where his gaze truly was from that moment on, and started dragging down your skirt to cover the space between your thighs and socks. The action only seemed to annoy him. “This is my problem with you. If you knew it was short, why did you wear it then?”

“I thought it was cute-” You felt stupider, uttering those words, but before you could say anything else, Mikey cut you off. “I never said it wasn’t cute, (name). It’s a cute skirt. It looks good on you.”

Your heart jumps in excitement at his compliment, your entire body getting warm at his words. “Really?” You uttered shyly, letting your guard down as a small smile crawls up your pretty lips.

“Yeah, real cute. You’d fit as one of the actresses featured in the schoolgirl category on a porn site.”

Your smile dropped instantly as the words left his mouth. “I’m not a slut.” your voice trembled, but just like arguing with your father, it’s no use. He let out a loud scoff, his gaze flickering from your face to your lap, settling between your legs. “But you dress like one. So might as well just perform for me, hmm?”

Your body tenses as you feel a hot palm grab at your exposed thigh, crawling underneath your skirt. You quickly push his hand off your thighs, earning a somewhat shocked reaction from him, as if he’s not used to being rejected. “I’m not…” you start to explain to him, slowly reaching for the door in a bid to escape. “... I don’t do things like that-”

“Does it look like I fucking care?” The blonde man snapped back at you, his surprise giving way to annoyance and he started to grab at your thighs again, only to be brushed off by you, angering him further. “I know you’re not as “innocent” as you claim to be. Stop fucking pretending. I know you want this!”

“I said I don’t do stuff like that! Stop it!” You yelled back at him, frustrated that he can’t just take no for an answer. You try to pry the door open or undo the latch, only to discover that it was stuck and that there was no way out.

‘No, no, no, no…’

Your heart starts hammering loudly in your chest, dread filling your veins when you realized how alone and utterly fucked you are.

You’re beginning to realize that Manjiro driving the both of you to a secluded place in the middle of nowhere was most likely intentional. He must have planned this so that no one would hear you both.

“Manjiro open the door or I’ll- I’ll-” 

“Or you’ll what?” He spat back, dangling the keys before your very eyes before putting it somewhere you couldn’t see. “You wanna open the door so bad? Get the key from me then.”

You’re quick to react, lunging forward in an attempt to snatch the key for him. He easily resisted you grabbing at his body while laughing at your repeated screams to stop. It was like the more you begged and pleaded for him to let you go, the more he liked whatever game he was playing.

“THIS ISN’T FUNN- MANJIRO!”

Your screaming did nothing to deter him from practically jumping on you and pinning your arms against your chest with one firm hand, a leg separating your thighs. You twisted and turned, trying to fight your way out of his tight grip but to no avail. He was heavy and stronger than you had imagined, holding onto you like you weighed nothing at all.

His other hand reached underneath your skirt, skimming through your panties, making you squirm in your position at the feeling. Panic rises against your chest as he pushes the crotch part aside, revealing your pussy. “Wait! Wait, please Manjiro, I’m a virgin-” you try to reason with him as he traces through a streak of your hairy vulva, curling a strand in one finger before moving to your clit.

“You don’t shave?” His tone is so casual, like he isn’t doing something very abhorrent and wrong right now. His question is left hanging in the air as his finger starts to slowly circle around your clit. "Not like I care, it's better this way, anyways."

You’ve never been touched before. You’ve never touched yourself there either. You grew up in a household that taught you that anyone who isn’t your husband touching you is wrong. Your body is a temple to be kept for your husband.

So when Mikey’s slow and sensual movement against your clit begins, your body nearly seizes up with sensitivity. A loud gasp escapes your lips, followed by heavy breathing, your body shuddering with something unfamiliar and electric, sending signals that you didn’t know how to respond.

He strokes you faster, rubbing your sensitive nub in circles that has your eyes glazing over and your hips moving to feel more of his touches, wetting his car seat and your skirt with arousal. Mikey watched with interest the way you closed your eyes tight, your head lolled towards the side as your chest rises and falls, quiet ‘oh’ leaving your lips. He started to take it a step further, leaning over to your neck and trails kisses from your pulse point, to your jawline. He moved up to your ear and his long tongue darted towards the shell, licking it.

“Manjiro-” You gasped at the foreign wetness, with each flick of his tongue, sending pleasurable shivers down your body to your very core. Encouraged by your somewhat positive response, he continues licking your earlobe, his teeth occasionally grazing the shell as his fingers progressively leaves your clit, gathering your slick between his two fingers and tracing the outline of your hole.

“Shit” he groaned, feeling how wet you were. “You’re so wet right now, I could just slide in your pussy with ease.”

You wanted to protest when you felt two thick fingers inch into your unused hole. You wanted to push him off you and run out of the car until you were far away from him. Every part of your mind, your heart, everything in you wants Mikey OFF you as he forces your hole to accept his fingers.

And yet, you couldn’t even scream, you couldn’t claw at his face to scratch his eyes out for doing this to you. No. Instead, you’re arching your back and breathing his name into his ears over and over again, your hands clenched tightly in his grip as his fingers stretched your pussy out. All you do is tear up and let this sick pervert lick the salt rolling down your cheeks off, before going back to kissing the sensitive spot behind your ear.

“You’re so pretty when you cry f’me. Come on, keep making those noises.” 

He curled up his fingers, experimentally looking for that spot as the burn graduated to a pleasurable stretch, repeated moans leaving your lips. He fingered you, progressively increasing his speed and pleasure overriding your senses as he circled his thumb over your poor nub, simultaneously with him curling up your g-spot.

Your body responded to his touches, lips kissing up and down your neck, licking your pulse point before sinking his teeth and mouth on it, making you gasp loudly.

Everything was too much. Your pussy tightened around his fingers, thighs trembling as he brought you closer to the edge. His lips left your neck and kissed up to your jaw, then the corner of your lips, pumping into you faster until you started to spasm.

“M-manjiro I-i feel, I feel- hngh-”

You arched your back uncomfortably with a strangled cry, soaking his fingers as your vision went blinding white. Your body trembled as he fucks and kisses you through your orgasm, shaking in his grasp until you fall limp on the chair, well spent.

You’re catching your breath as his fingers slid out of your pussy, a string of your cum connecting them. Manjiro looked at his soaked fingers with interest, before popping them in his mouth and humming to himself in approval. The sight feels so wrong to look at and you can’t find the strength to look away as he licked his fingers clean of your musky taste.

You don’t say anything when he let go of your wrists and adjusted your panties so that it covered your pussy. The blonde haired man climbed back to his seat, starting up the engine of his car again.

He doesn’t say anything when you start sobbing.

   “I GOT you food.”

You didn’t respond to Manjiro, hanging your face as tears rolled down your face. It’s the position you had assumed since he climbed off your body, something he couldn’t get you out. He thought that maybe if he got you some food, maybe you’ll ease up and eat.

He couldn’t have been more wrong.

Kissing his teeth, he entered back into the driver's seat before closing the door behind him, tossing the food at the back seat. You could tell from the way he was muttering underneath his breath that he was growing more annoyed with you. “Honestly, I don’t know why the hell you’re crying. You’re still a virgin. I didn’t force myself on you.”

You didn’t know what else to expect from him. That he would even offer you a shred of apology for what he did? The way his words are so callous, lacking any form of tact in the way he’s brushing off what he just did tore you apart.

Emma had painted this man as someone who would hang the moon and stars for her. Someone she knew she could call if anything was going to happen to her, who would fight through hell and back for her safety. She had told you of how he beat up anyone that touched her wrongly and how he would try to make her forget anything unpleasant. To Emma, Mikey was her knight in shining armor, her hero.

This was a man you had loved with all your heart. Manjiro was your first ever crush, and the more good you heard about him, not just from Emma, but from other girls too, the deeper you fell for him. You had admired him from afar, your heart set onto him as you hoped to be at least close to him. Despite everything, he was the sun in which everyone revolved around, the heart throb of your dreams.

But when you turn to look at him through your teary gaze, watching him rev up his car engine with a nonchalant expression on his face, all you see is a vile soul.

You felt sick.

“I’m going to tell Emma.”

Your voice was quiet, hoarse from all the sobbing but the anger was evident. There was no way you were going to let him get away scott free. You knew that the police would be as good as useless because you’ll have no evidence by the time you manage to file a complaint. The school authorities won’t help you either as Shinichiro Sano was one of their biggest benefactors and everyone in the faculty loved Manjiro despite his tendency to be disrespectful.

But if you told Emma, you know she’ll believe you. Even if the entire world was against you and for him, you would still be able to get her to take your side and stand with you.

You’re sure name dropping his little sister would make him scared at the very least. Mikey loved her to death, she had this perfect image of her sweet older brother that he has to uphold at the very least.

Without skipping a beat, he dropped his own phone straight onto your lap before continuing to focus on the road. Eyes wide, you turned your head to Mikey to see any form of reaction, even him flinching slightly.

Nothing.

Your mouth hung open at how he just blankly stared at the road ahead of him, his grip on the steering wheel normal as he drove you back to campus. As if he’s innocent, like he didn’t force his fingers into your panties and violate you.

His nonchalance irritates you; it’s as if he doesn’t care what you say or do to him.

“What?” you questioned him, wondering where the hell he dropped his humanity? Any other person would have reacted; begging you, threatening you or even giving a flimsy apology. “-why did you drop this on my lap?”

“You wanna call her? Go ahead.” He shrugs his shoulders. “Not like you told me no when I was fingering you.”

“That’s not how it works!”

“Then how does it work?” He cuts you short, taking a right turn to park outside of your faculty building. He puts the car in park before turning to face you. “You walk up to my car to ask me if we could talk, wearing that kind of skirt that gave me access to you. When I told you to get out, you didn‘t leave. You never told me to stop and you didn’t struggle. You know what you did instead?”

“Sto-”

“Ah ah- Manjiro” he mocked you in a high pitched voice, making you cover your ears in humiliation, not wanting to hear anything from him. You wanted to throw up, ruin his car. You want the ground to swallow you whole, anything that would take him far away from you. “Ah, mmh Manjiro, mmh mhhh ah ah- you moan like a pornstar by the way. You seem like you enjoyed being treated like that.”

You opened your mouth to speak, but all you felt was bile rise up to your throat. A part of you nagged that he had a point; you never said anything that sounded like ‘stop’ or ‘no’ and how you positively responded to his touches. ‘You even orgasmed.’ A gnarly disgusting voice bubbles up in your head, in defense of Mikey. ‘It was obvious you enjoyed it. Every second of it.’

You tried to deny it. Try to block out that voice as you attempt to remember everything you were told about assault. You’re fighting a war in your head, against the intrusive voices as you picked up the phone to tell Emma. ‘She’ll believe me. She’ll believe me-’

“Face it. You’re just overreacting because you liked what we did.”

Those words were the final nail to the coffin. The phone lies in your limp hand, finger just above Emma’s line to call her. Everything that led up to this point involved your choices. To stay in his car. Not fighting harder. Never screaming no.

You let him dirty your temple.

Mikey spared you one more look, dark eyes scanning every inch of your crumpled form. He slides the device out of your hand, placing it back in the middle of his car before grasping your hand in his.

“Alright, stop crying.” he soothed in faux sympathy, thumb tracing over the back of your palm. “I’ll take you shopping and buy you new clothes, hmm? And I’ll buy you anything else you want. Okay?”

You should known better to believe him. After everything he has done to you, from consistently insulting you, to assaulting you and then making you feel guilty for giving him the opportunity to do so.

And yet, you’re nodding along, agreeing with him and letting his warmth engulf you. “Okay.” You said in a small voice, your free hand grasping the hem of your skirt tightly.

“Look at me.”

You felt another hand grasp your chin, forcing you to look at his face, dark eyes peering at your face. “I don’t like that look on your face.” You wince as his fingers tightened around your jaw, your heart hammering against your chest when he commanded you once again. “Smile.”

You don’t know what else to do. With Mikey, it’s like going to a war knowing fully well you would lose.

And so you do as you’re told. Your lips lifted at the corners forcefully and you gave your best smile. He returned it with a smile of his own, genuine to the point his eyes dilated.

“Good girl. You look so much better.”

Your mouth went dry at his statement when he withdrew from your body and unlocked the door for you. Deciding not to ponder on it, you reach for the handle to leave. You had a class in an hour’s time and you were supposed to meet up with Emma beforehand to return her laptop that you borrowed for her project.

“Wait.”

You paused in your tracks, your hand hovering above the door handle. What else does he want from you?

“Your makeup is ruined. Fix it. You don’t want to give anyone the wrong idea that I hurt you when we were just playing with each other.”

Bile rose into your mouth once again at his words, but you hold yourself from doing anything that would set him off. You only nodded in response before opening the door and exiting the car. Tears threatened to escape your eyes as you hurried off to class, your throat burning with anger as you gripped both your tote bag and the food he had gotten for you, hard. Your body shook with each step feeling the intensity of his dark eyes burning into you.

You never touched the food, throwing it in the trash bin due to your appetite eluding you, replaced with a sinking feeling of pain and humiliation into your stomach. You don’t make it to the rest of your classes either, opting to lock yourself in a toilet, a loud cry ripping from your throat into your palms as your heart breaks into tiny pieces.

How could this have happened?

Bonus Scene:

MIKEY never tore his gaze from you as you disappeared into the building. Dark eyes watched as your ass bounced in that jean skirt you had worn today, nearly reviving the boner he had prior. He had to admit, notwithstanding his absolute disgust for you, you were a sight for sore eyes - pretty, naive, inexperienced and tight. So goddamn tight.

He’s never been with an inexperienced girl before. Not even when he lost his virginity in high school. It didn’t hurt that you also had the sexiest thighs he’s ever seen either, soft and doughy underneath his touch.

You weren’t as stupid as he thought -far from it. Mikey knew your strategy; picking your battles carefully. You’re rightfully afraid of both him and Izana. You were even more afraid of losing face with Emma, the only friend you managed to make here, which is why you came to him because you felt guilty for making her mad at them.

If played right, they could have you underneath their thumb like they do with the rest of Emma’s other friends. All this was to keep an eye on their little sister in the long run, to restore the natural order and balance that was their system. Family came first, then the gang, then their friends and finally, if they cared enough, their lovers. It’s a cycle that Mikey is used to, being the center of attention in Emma’s life and sharing that space with Izana. Even Draken knew that there are times he shouldn’t intrude when the two brothers are with her.

But you had no regard for the order of things. You just tried to insert yourself into his and Izana’s circles, as if you were somebody of any importance and not just another, a little gnat.

To Mikey, you deserved to be crushed like the annoying gnat you are. Seeing you cry and tremble underneath his touch, hearing you moan and beg him like a slut made him feel good.

Mikey looked at the building again before looking at his watch. He had to attend his criminology lecture by 3pm since he had a presentation today and it was already 1:30pm, having taken out time to talk to you. The frat member he gave his presentation to edit must be waiting for him at the coffee shop.

“I might not be able to meet up with ‘Zana.” He muttered, picking up his phone to dial him up instead. Finally, after the fifth ring, his line went through, his rough voice echoing through the phone.

“Mikey? What is it?”

Mikey could hear a bit of shuffling from the other end of the phone, and a quiet “Izana” spilling from a rather feminine voice, only for Izana to bark at the girl to shut up, effectively silencing her.

“Did I catch you at the wrong time?”

“No.” He grumbled. “Do you have any updates on Emma?”

“In a way, yes. I do.”

“In a way?”

“I have a feeling you’re not going to like my plan, regardless.”

Izana sighed from the other side of the line, probably sick and tired of the constant mind games Emma was playing with them and to be fair, even he was sick of it as well. Their little sister was easy to annoy but easier to please; so for her not to be as forgiving this time was frustrating. Mikey had played every game in the book he knew to please Emma and even Izana had put in far more effort than he cared to, but nothing worked.

Unless…

“It involves her, doesn’t it?”

Mikey could hear the irritation in his brother's voice, but then again, if they wanted peace to reign and for Shinichiro not to get directly involved in this issue in your favour, they were going to have to play it the smarter way.

“Not like we have a choice. Emma’s attached to that girl by the hip. You’ll just have to trust me on this one.”

Also, it doesn't hurt to have a little fun on the side.

author's notes: reblogs, comments and asks are highly appreciated. my taglist for all my fics are wide open, so do ensure to sign up. please be very patient with me as for updates, school has started and i may not be able to be consistent, but i will try my very best to finish this story this year.

I do not consent to my works being promoted, published or translated on any site or social media without my permission.

taglist (please turn on your mentions in 'settings' before filling the form.): @officiallyjaehyuns @haikyuusboringassmanager @ilybbg @merrymerrykiss @cockonoi @Rindou24689 @short-cxke @kokoch4n3l @GenAwi @ryuguji-sana @nuyoo @getonite @anxious-chick @reiners-milkbiddies @kiwixpi @gh0stgirl333 @brisssaaa009 @fushiqruo @kawaiikoalagarden @damidamimongalam @raven-nevra

[fraux140]

Some König Headcanons and Hottakes

So I want to preface this by saying no hate to anyone. These are just some opinions that I think some people might disagree with which is totally fine. This is also a little bit of me pointing out some of his flaws. I love him though.

He is not a shy little uwu boy who would have a panic attack if a cutie looked at him a certain way. If he was so prone to panic attacks and his anxiety was that crippling then he wouldn't have been in the special forces and he wouldn't be in a PMC - which are highly selective.

Personally I don't fully believe that he was a colonel. The only hint we have gotten of that is a one of the 'Bad Brothers' loading screens which just says 'Colonel König' with no more context. Colonels aren't really active on the battle field and it is very unlikely you would see one in action. Officers ranked that highly are seen as too valuable to be 'wasted' in infantry combat.

Continuing from my last point, even a lot of majors and Lt Colonels aren't battle prone. Considering he would have had to have passed through those ranks to become a colonel means that he would have spent a lot of time behind a desk and commanding teams such as platoons and battalions. We don't know enough about him to say that he isn't a good leader, after all he is simply an operator with a few paragraphs of text as a background. However, his voice lines and little text we do get about him tells us he is not one to enjoy standing by and having others fight on his command. He would MUCH rather be in the brawl.

And I know that Alejandro is a colonel and very active duty, however we can assume that this is largely due to his ambition and personal attachment to his home, which he wants to protect from the cartel. I'm not saying a colonel doesn't fight, but it is exceedingly rare.

My last anti-colonel theory point - why would a colonel wear such DIY gear? I just want to say if you hc him as a colonel that is absolutely FINE, those are just reasons as to why I don't :/

Moving on, I believe him to be a sore loser. For example, he was deemed unfit to be a sniper, and so he wears a sniper hood and has that voiceline "And they said I couldn't be a sniper". Dress for the job you want, not the job you have ig?

I believe he wants to prove people wrong. Getting rejected as a sniper wounded his ego so A LOT. I hc him to be between 32-37 and if he joined jagkdo/KSK (old bio said he was German and in the KSK, newer ones said Austrian and JagKdo, now there's no mention of sf so idk??) while he was younger, say around 23-26, he's had a lot of time for that wound to heal and yet it hasn't. This man holds hella grudges.

Because of this, I think that a fear of failure might also contribute to his anxiety. If he was asked about being scared to fail he'd smirk and say there was no way. But deep down in his core it eats away at him.

This might also bleed into his social life. He's fearful of relationships and remains single for a long time. He'd rather not ask you out instead of having you reject him for trying. He'd have to REALLY like somebody and also have some reassurance or signs that they liked him out.

Cannot accept accountability for simple mistakes. He knocked your coffee mug over? You shouldn't have left it there. Hit you a little too hard in training? You should be stronger. You should have dodged it. Not his fault you're not as good as him.

Is a show off. If he is obviously better at something then you'll never hear the end of it. Better driver? Better fighter. Yeah, he's bragging about it. Again, his fear of not being good enough rears its ugly head. He deflects it on to those who are weaker - they could never be him.

Damn this was a list of negatives, but I love him in spite of all of his flaws. What kind of list should I make next? I should probably do one with some positive traits lmao.

Anyway, I don't mind at all if anyone disagrees with these this is just how I see him. Maybe one day I'll write a fic where he acknowledges his demons and starts to heal.

[plainclothesdisaster]

Red Knight Chapter 5 - Curses & Couches

DP x DC | Dead on Main

Jason Todd encounters one Danny Fenton in the streets of Gotham and suddenly he's thrown into a world of ghosts and monsters. Will he embrace this life? Or will it just end up with him dead again?

Read on AO3 | Beginning | < Prev | Next >

——

The night after the brawl in Danny’s apartment Jason was out as Red Hood scouting a possible arms deal when he spotted it— a Curse Ghost, vaguely beastly and oozing black goo, just as ugly and unsettling as the one from Danny’s place. Jason texted him.

Found one.

So you didnʼt lose my number after all. Iʼll be right there.

Jason sent him the location- a rusted sewer grate at the edge of crime alley that he’d seen a curse ghost vanish into. Danny arrived minutes later in jeans and a jacket, same as always. Not like Jason had been expecting any different, but he had gotten used to working with the Bat. Capes and masks came standard. Danny was anything but standard.

“You bring the gear?” Danny asked as he stepped up toward the sewer gate Jason stood beside.

Jason opened his jacket to reveal he had strapped all kinds of whips and tasers and lasers and launchers to his holsters. He even wore the invisibility cuffs. And the sword.

Danny grinned. “I also brought something extra I think youʼll like.” He reached into his own jacket and pulled out, with great panache, a pair of plain white gym socks.

Jason scowled. “A selection from your laundry pile?” Still, he took them as Danny handed them over.

“If by laundry pile you mean my pile of genius inventions, then yes.”

“Iʼll pass.”

“Suit yourself.” Danny shrugged. “If getting sewer water in your shoes is your thing I won’t stop you.”

Jason frowned.

And then he found himself wearing Dannyʼs socks (back in his boots, mind you), hunting the curse down the drain tunnel, hovering inches above the water instead of sludging through it.

“Real flight just wasnʼt doable with the tech, but these still have their uses.” Danny commented from ahead, his voice echoing down the tunnel completely careless of stealth. He also hovered, simple as if gravity had just turned off for him, none of the wobbles or wavers in balance that Jason was currently trying to hide. Forty feet into the darkness of the sewer and Jason was relying on the night vision in his helmet. Meanwhile Danny seemed just fine.

As they approached a junction in the pipe, Danny slowed. “Its here,” he whispered. Jason sensed it too, somehow. The air was colder and more alive somehow, the colors more warped and saturated.

They peeked silently around the corner and there it was, lounging half submerged like an overstuffed crocodile. Black ooze seeped into the water all around it, making it hard to tell where the beast itself began.

Danny threw him a look, anticipation dancing in his Lazarus green eyes. And then without further warning he pounced.

Hopes of keeping their socks dry vanished. Danny was quickly sopping, no thanks to his outfit choice. Still he fought like a terror, ducking out of the way of massive dripping jaws that threatened to halve him as he returned blows and blasts in kind. Jason watched with trained curiosity. Heʼd been so preoccupied with not dying last time he hadnʼt learned much. This time he bit down his fear enough to make sense of how the curse ghost moved- like water and like a rockslide- and how Danny countered- like mist and lightning.

The curse ghost turned toward Jason and like a firecracker hid anger ignited and lost any inclination he had to stay on the sidelines. He instinctively reached for his guns but then thought better of it in close quarters. Instead he pulled the sword off his back. He swung with stiff determination, slicing through black crocodile hide. He felt a grim thrill as the beast roared.

Jason fought with less caution this time. More rhythm. In the end they overpowered it, beating it down deeper into the sludge until Danny sucked it up with the thermos, neat and tidy.

Danny smiled at him. “Nice work.”

Jason kneeled where it had fallen. Traces of black goo remained on the walls. He ran his fingers through it and it stuck to his gloves like slimy tar. “What the hell are these guys made of?”

Danny kneeled next to him, also inspecting the sludge remains. He pursed his lips. “It’s corrupted ectoplasm.”

Like Jason’s, Danny didn’t say. Didn’t need to.

“These guys are more solid than regular ghosts. It didn’t just phase out of here. It splashed in the water.” Danny rubbed the goo between his fingers before shaking it off.

“You said they’re Gotham’s curse, right? Makes sense that they’d be solid here, more than the regular ghosts.”

Danny looked at him, studying his face as if his mask wasn’t there. “Yeah. I think you’re right.”

Why did he feel such a surge of glowing pride at Danny’s acknowledgement? Like passing another test. Earning his way into this world.

He caught himself. What the hell did he need to prove? He knew he was a great detective- and he could do it all without all the fancy tools and access that Bruce and his flock had.

But solving the curse ghosts was one thing. Solving Danny was what he really cared about. And to do that he needed Danny to trust him.

//

During the days that followed he tried to tend to his other cases, and he thought about Danny.

Mid stakeout of an upstart drug trafficker his mind wandered. Danny, going to class like some normal college kid. Eating lunch. Making friends. Did he have friends? Jason considered tailing him again to find out, but he thought better of it. If Danny caught him snooping now it wouldn’t be easy to explain it away, and he’d lose the burgeoning trust between them. Or burgeoning friendship. Were they friends?

Jason had made allies for less before, but with Danny he couldn’t let his guard down, not completely. Jason remembered how he took down four thugs like it was nothing. He remembered how Danny looked at him with icy eyes right before he’d dropped him off a building. Every instinct reminded him Danny was dangerous.

The back alley door he’d been watching opened and it took him two seconds longer than it should have for him to react. The men nearly saw him as he ducked his head behind the corner and out of sight.

He eavesdropped on the drug deal, mentally filing away details on where the money was going. He watched as the men got in a black car, noted the license plate. It all felt a bit pedestrian compared to the Lovecraftian beasts he now knew to be lurking in the shadows.

He’d dealt with his fate share of meta weirdness and science experiments gone wrong in Gotham. But he wondered if this was how Bruce felt after coming back from dealing with Justice Leage level business. How was he supposed to focus on small time drug trade when a supernatural threat loomed large over his city?

Amity Park continued to yield no answers, even when he deepened his search. Going out of his way to delve into Gotham library archives wielded no new leads. Newspapers, business reports, even government documents- all missing or, more worrisome, heavily redacted.

When he looked again for the scientific paper by the Drs. Fenton, it had also disappeared from the net. Good thing he’d made a backup when he first discovered it, but it meant someone wasn’t taking too kindly to him poking around.

None of what he found explained what Danny was. Or, maybe more importantly, what kind of person he was.

He remembered something Alfred had once told Bruce after long nights of fruitless research. Some things you can’t solve while holed up in your cave. Some you have to do personally.

He didnʼt remember agreeing to it but he found himself meeting up with Danny nearly every night. Even if he tried to work on his other cases, inevitably a curse ghost would show up and derail his evening plans.

Danny speculated that they sought out Jason more now because he’d proved himself a threat, the same way they came after Danny. “Now that they know your ecto signature-“ whatever the hell that was- they’ll come looking. Territorial bastards.”

“Easier than hunting them down I guess.”

“I like the positive attitude.”

“Don’t get used to it.”

They established a meeting place on the roof old hotel that sat in the heart of crime alley. There had been texts exchanged at first but as the weeks went on they became unnecessary. Jason knew that when he swung up on to the roof each night that Danny would be there waiting for him.

That particular night he landed on the roof with barely a sound. Dannyʼs eyes still flicked over immediately. He sat where he typically did on the roofs edge, and his lips turned up in a half smile as soon as he saw Jason. Excitement buzzed in Jasonʼs skin like neon. Adrenaline. Just the anticipation for the upcoming hunt, he told himself. Certainly nothing else.

They weren’t waiting long before sirens and burglar alarms rang like beacons a few streets over.

“Shall we?” Jason cracked his knuckles.

“After you.”

Jason tipped himself forward off the building, diving in a short free fall. As he neared the street he didn’t reach for his grapple gun, instead he pulled on that energy under his heart, focused on his socks and hovered the last few feet to the ground. Danny followed behind in lazy twists and curls like a leaf in the wind.

They caught up with the curse ghost on the next block over. It ran through the street, a mangy goopy dog, as tall as a truck with too-sharp teeth. As it passed lights in doorways flickered and went dark, cars honked in the streets as drivers cut each other off, the cops on the corner stopped a group of teens with hands itching at their hips.

Jason felt it too, the way that whisky burns down your throat, riling you at your core.

“Ooh it’s a real nasty one,” Danny quipped. Was it Jason’s imagination or were his teeth even sharper than usual?

So far Jason had only encountered the beasts in places already filled with death and fear and aggression. It made his skin crawl to see the effect work the other way. The beast crashed through the street like an invisible wave, spreading misfortune, inciting aggression. He tasted acid at the back of his throat.

Danny had told him the curse caused suffering and then fed on it, a cycle that perpetuated ending with it getting stronger and stronger. All at the expense of Gotham. It struck Jason as blunt as a crowbar to the side. No matter what he did as Red Hood, no matter what any of the bats did— peace in Gotham had less than a snowball’s chance in hell. Not with these beasts running wild.

He ran after it wordlessly, Danny by his side. They followed the trail of misfortune through the streets of crime alley and then into downtown proper. Jason had half a though about truces and territories made with Batman in where he could and could not operate, but any qualms blew past him as his vision tunneled on the beast.

Heat churned under his skin and he felt a swell of rage despite the fact that Danny still kept pace beside him. This rage wasn’t sharp and bright like the rage he intimately knew, instead it burned oily and black.

They rounded a corner and real heat smacked him in the face. Ahead of them a building burned vigorously, flames eating their way out windows on every floor. He watched as the curse ghost dove through the open front door into the inferno.

“Shit,” Danny hissed beside him. “I’m going in.”

Without further warning Danny disappeared, presumably diving in after the beast.

The rage still burning in his gut egged Jason on to follow. Then, a cry from above. In the window, two kids framed by an orange inferno. Below on the street other people covered in soot pointed up, desperation in their voices.

Sense snapped back to him like an ice bath, priorities set. He strode toward the building and launched a grapple line, zipping up to the window.

“Grab on tight.” He hoisted two little girls off the windowsill and they followed his instruction, clinging to his midsection. He lowered them all down just as a loud crack came from the building above as the beams began to burst.

As he set the girls on the ground the older one spoke up, her voice barely a squeak. “Our brother-“

Fuck. Jason looked back up. The window frame was nearly devoured in flame. Fuck.

The wail of sirens echoed steadily closer, but not fast enough. He couldn’t just rush in unscathed like Danny had, he wasn’t wearing the jacket that made him intangible (supposedly, he hadn’t yet made it work all the way). But he still had to do something. He gripped his grapple gun and steeled himself.

And then Danny shot out of the second story window like a comet, landing haphazardly beside Jason. Around his neck, wrapped safely within his arms, was a little boy.

The sisters cried out with joy and Danny passed the boy to them, dazed and soot covered but still breathing. Danny smiled up at Jason, ashes tangled in the mess of his black hair.

“Red Hood?”

Shit. He would recognize that voice even if he were still dead.

“Batman.” Jason turned and saw his former mentor illuminated in firelight.

Fire trucks and EMTs arrived moments later, tending to the civilians and doing what they could against the blaze. Out of the corner of his eye Jason saw a flash of the iconic red and yellow on the roof. Robin was deploying some kind of fire extinguishing smoke bombs from above.

“What happened here?” Batman was never one to mince words. Still, Jason didn’t appreciate the accusatory undertone.

“Isn’t a guy allowed to save a few kids from a burning building once in a while?” He retorted.

“You’re outside of Crime Alley. Any particular reason?”

“W—“ he glanced over his shoulder. Danny was nowhere to be seen. Good. “I was just passing through. Helped how I could. But now it seems like you and Gotham’s finest have got it handled so I’ll be on my way.”

“Wait—“

Jason in fact did not wait. He shouldered his way past running firemen and slipped deeper into the shadows behind the crowd. He remembered the invisibility cuffs and with a bit of focus he made extra certain Batman couldn’t follow.

He waited till he was safely back inside the streets of crime alley (he chuckled to himself that anyone could think of these streets as safe) before he dropped the invisibility.

He found Danny waiting for him on top of their hotel.

“You okay?” Danny asked as Jason sat next to him on the edge of the roof.

“Fine.”

“Sorry I bailed so quickly, I-“

“Batman can not find out about you,” Jason interrupted. Meta or not, Batman wouldn’t be pleased if anyone as powerful as Danny was roaming around Gotham unchecked. If Bruce saw him, if he got any sense of his capabilities, he’d certainly confront him, or worse.

“Yeah, exactly, way ahead of you,” Danny breathed. “The Dark Knight is not on the list of heroes I’d like to meet.”

Jason hummed in the affirmative, satisfied.

“You get the curse ghost?”

“What? Oh, no. Forgot about him as soon as I saw there were still people. in the building. I think I got them all out before the B man showed up.”

“You’re a hero then. Or vigilante.”

“Was. I’m retired.”

“You don’t seem retired to me.”

“It’s complicated.”

In truth Jason had been relieved when Danny flew out of the building with that kid. Relieved for the kid of course, but equally relieved that Danny had chosen the civilians over the curse ghost. It meant that maybe he was just as altruistic as he claimed to be.

“So are these ghosts better or worse than the ones in Amity Park?” Jason ventured, pushing what trust he’d built.

Danny stiffened at the mention of Amity Park.

“I never mentioned Amity.” A hint of dangerous green glinted behind his eyes. Jason swallowed.

“I know. I was curious.” He replied, as breezy as possible. Like he hadn’t spent hours scouring through old records and obscure blogs to even get this scrap of information.

Danny pressed his lips together. “I haven’t been back in a long time.”

“Not even to see your parents?” Jason was getting reckless now.

“No.” Hard and cold as stone. “They’re not there anymore.”

Noted. Fenton parents were a subject to avoid with Danny. And a subject he would need to redouble his research on.

“And yeah. All ghosts are similar everywhere. Aside from the Curse Ghosts.” Danny offered, the chill fading from the air.

Getting info off of him was easy if Jason asked the right questions. Figuring out the questions was the hard part.

“How did they even get here then? The Curse Ghosts.” Jason asked. “Is there a portal close by?” Portal like the one the Fentons may or may not have created, like the one that supposedly killed Danny.

“No, they’re special. They form here in Gotham, no portal necessary,” came Danny’s unguarded reply. His gaze was far off, down into the streets like he could see them there.

“Actually,” Danny got that conspiratorial look as he turned to Jason, “Come with me.”

//

“Iʼve been trying to find a pattern for where the curse ghosts show up.” Danny sat at the messy desk in his apartment. Jason leaned over his shoulder as he pointed to a map on an outdated monitor.

It was Gotham, with red points dotting various locations. Jason recognized a few as locations theyʼd fought Curse Ghosts together but there were dozens more spots that Jason hadnʼt been at.

“Crime Alley is one obvious hot spot. Plenty of misery here to feed off of. But also— here by the docks, in the business district, by city hall, at Arkham.”

“So, anywhere.” Jason deadpanned.

Danny shot him a look. He clicked a key and another layer of dots showed up on the map.

“News stories of note- strange deaths, corruption, theft. Thereʼs always a surge after a beast shows up.”

“Seems obvious. And unhelpful.”

Danny huffed. “Yeah, well, usually one of your seventeen resident vigilantes shows up and restores order before things get too bad. Starves ‘em out a bit, unlike the big fish we were after tonight. But this is still helpful to get a bead on those to avoid real disasters.”

Jason studied the map layered with articles. “There has to be a way to predict where they’ll form.”

Danny hit a few keys and tossed him a thumb drive. “Knock yourself out.”

Danny leaned back in his chair. He looked tired.

Jason changed the subject. “So what do you study?”

“Huh?”

He gestured to the GU hoodie and various homework-esque bits around the room.

“Oh. Mechanical Engineering,” Danny replied with limited enthusiasm. “What about you? You go to school?”

“Not since I died.” Jason replied. Danny winced. “But itʼs okay. Not really my scene.”

“Oh cmon. There must be something youʼd want to study.”

“Maybe- no. Itʼs stupid.” Jason sat down on the arm of the sofa- the one that was still mostly intact.

“They have all sorts of weird degrees you can do now. You could do Crimonogy. Physicology. Extreme weightlifting with a minor in anthropology.”

“Or Literature.”

“What?” The corners of Danny’s mouth quirked up as he turned toward Jason.

“You know- the classics. Novels. The poets. That kind of stuff.”

Dannyʼs face curled into a smile. “Didnʼt peg you for the type.”

“You donʼt know me.” Jason was thankful the helmet hid the heat rising to his face.

“Touché.”

“Why mechanical engineering?” Jason countered.

“My grades were so shit in high school it was kind of a fall back.” Jason raised a doubting eyebrow.

“No really,” Danny continued, “I grew up around my parents tinkering. I couldnʼt help but pick it up. Much easier than studying Literature.”

“But do you actually like it?”

He shrugged. “Iʼm good at it. Isn’t that basically the same thing?”

Jason snorted. “Not at all. You still get to choose.”

Danny turned away, hiding his face. The silence stretched on for a long moment. Then, “So why are you a crime lord instead of a literature professor?”

Jason considered the question. Truthfully it hadn’t considered doing anything but what he did. This life he lived felt a bit inevitable. On his worst days maybe he’d considered giving up, but then his anger would always come snarling back. Anger at Bruce, anger at the Joker, anger at Gotham itself. Fighting was his only reprieve.

Or so he thought, before he met Danny. Before the irrationality of his rage had been doused completely for the first time since his death. For the first time it felt like he had room to consider. Room to choose.

“Gotham needs someone like me. As soon as it doesn’t you can catch me in the lecture hall teaching Jane Eyre.”

Danny considered him with a hint of a smile. “I’ll be sure to register for that credit when you do.”

//

“Gargoyles,” Danny proclaimed one night after theyʼd successfully captured a curse ghost.

Jason replied with an eloquent, “Huh?”

“Thatʼs what they kinda remind me of,” Danny spun the thermos in his hands. “The curse ghosts. They're like really messed up gargoyles.”

Jason thought about it and he was right. The curse ghosts were like if the gargoyles on Gothamʼs buildings had 20% more limbs and teeth and were made of goo instead of stone. Fitting really, for the embodiment of a curse on Gotham.

They perched on the roof of a building not far from an old tire shop where the curse ghost had reared its ugly head. A few gargoyles perched with them, thankfully all stone and completely motionless and definitely not cursed. Shadows crawled across them as occasional car headlights passed in the street below.

“The real question is if they're less nasty or more nasty than other curses you've fought?” Jason didnʼt know if Danny even had fought curse ghosts specifically before, but it seemed likely all things considered.

Danny paused, contemplating. “Every city has ghosts that haunt it. But none as bad as this, at least that I’ve seen. None that have such a distinct form. And none that have had such a strong effect on the living.”

“Arenʼt we special,” Jason grumbled.

Danny chuckled. “Very.”

“Good thing you came here to stop them.”

Danny frowned. “Well. Not exactly. If Stanford had accepted me Iʼd be bumping heads with the ghoulies under Alcatraz, but GU was my next choice.”

Jason’s train of thought came to a skittering halt. Danny wasn’t here to fight these ghosts specifically? He made it seem like taming the curse was the only way to keep Gotham from eating itself inside out. And it was clear that he was the only one actually trying to do something about it. Maybe the only one that could.

“Wait. Fixing the worst curse ever is just what you do in your free time between lectures?” Jason folded his arms.

Danny sighed. “Iʼm not a hero, remember? And I’m trying not to do ghost stuff full time. To do that I need to do human things. Like get a degree.”

“Who says you need a degree?” Jason’s voice pitched up, betraying his incredulity.

“NASA, definitely.” Danny wasn’t looking at him anymore. Instead he tilted his head up to the sky, toward the few stars that dared to poke through the fog.

Jason bit back a laugh. He couldn’t be serious. Crime fighting- ghost hunting- whatever, it wasn’t something that you just did on the side. If there’s one thing Bruce taught him it was that civilian life was an afterthought, a persona that they had to play. Their real life, the life that mattered, was what happened once they donned their masks. And after Jason died he’d been freed from the responsibility of being a civilian at all.

Yet looking at the melancholy on Danny’s face he knew he was being sincere. It struck Jason that Danny had dreams, like real dreams, ones that didn’t involve stopping crime and saving cities and meting out justice.

It twisted something in his stomach. Dreams were a luxury Jason hadnʼt ever been able to afford. Not when he was young and fighting and stealing his way through the streets of Crime Alley. Not when he was fighting beside Bruce, desperately eager to fill the mantle of Robin. Not now, especially not now, when there was only the work of purging the rot from this city. The work that sent him back to the gutters and the alleys night after night, always looking down.

And there Danny was beside him, just as capable of fixing Gotham (or even more capable, he did begrudgingly admit), and it hadnʼt completely consumed him. He was still selfish enough to dream.

He was still looking up at the sky.

A pang of something like hatred smacked at the back of Jason’s teeth, ugly and hot. He couldn’t believe Danny’s selfishness. His naivety. Both incredibly stupid things to have in this line of work. And still Jason felt something else– a rumbling and an ache from the place under his heart. A pulling that tried to stretch across the space between them. He bit his tongue and shoved that feeling down.

//

Later that night when Jason couldn’t sleep he scoured the net for any more hits on Danny. He knew it would be easier if he just asked Tim for help. He bet that little creep could have the full dossier delivered within an hour, everything he wanted to know about Danny Fenton, but that would open Jason up to way more questions than he wanted to deal with. He still needed to keep this as far away from Bruce as possible for as long as possible.

His less than ideal search methods still yielded him a yearbook photo he hadn’t seen yet. The sister Danny mentioned– Jasmine Fenton. Turns out she was attending Stanford, psychology major. Stanford, where Danny could have been instead of Gotham. Fighting some other city’s ghosts. And Jason would have continued to be unaware of and unable to do anything about Gotham’s curse. Or his own.

He turned his attention to digging up anything he could on the Fenton parents. No real estate records, no taxes, not even driver’s licenses. But no death certificates either. Jason didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing. What he did know is that they were equally as erased as their son.

He found himself drifting away from Fenton research and on to the question that nagged at him in a different way– how to predict where the curse ghosts would show up. The data from Danny’s thumb drive was already on his computer and he dutifully logged the coordinates and relevant details from that night’s encounter, another dot among hundreds on the map of Gotham.

Jason had already whittled through all the possible easy connections. Haunted places, typical goon hide outs, historic sites, even fucking ley lines– none of them had enough correlation to be a valuable predictor. Or even a decent lead.

As much as he had practiced taming his frustration, another fruitless night with no answers had him sulking. He felt certain that figuring out the curse ghosts would also help him figure out Danny. And figure out himself. He couldn’t deny that he hadn’t felt even a hint of the Pit’s clawing rage since his nightly escapades with Danny became more frequent. He considered Danny’s offer– to make the fix permanent. And Jason believed him now, that he actually did want to help.

But he couldn’t accept that offer. He wouldn’t. Not until he was sure what it really meant. Maybe if and when they solved the curse problem for good, maybe then he would accept Danny’s help.

But not yet.

//

“Try something for me.”

Danny stopped mid patrol loop of known curse hotspots. Jason followed his gaze and saw a curse ghost rummaging through a demolition site where a condemned apartment once stood.

“Blast it-” Jason pulled a gun, finger ready at the trigger- “Wait!” Danny held up his hands to stop him. “First, see if you can hold the energy back before you release it.”

Danny held his palms out over one another and a ball of familiar green energy formed between them in demonstration. “Let it build up and grow.”

He focused for a moment and the ball grew larger, spun faster. He widened his palms as the ball grew, crackling with potential energy. He let it linger just a moment before— a twist of his wrist and it dissipated.

“I don’t think it works like that for me.”

“Just try it,” Danny cajoled. “I’d be a bad ghost mentor if I didn’t try to teach you how these powers work.”

Jason rolled his eyes. This felt like some kind of test, and the way Danny looked at him with rapt attention all but confirmed that. Did he truly want to help? Or Did he want to gauge how much Jason could push the limits of this power? Still, Jason’s own curiosity won out in the end.

He began by focusing on the feeling he got when he shot his usual energy bullets, allowing it to prickle through his chest and underneath his skin. Rather than let it out immediately, as he’d always done, he did as Danny instructed and held it back. He focused on his pistol. As he did, a small green sphere formed at the end of the gun.

Slowly he fed more energy to it. It grew, just as Danny’s had, spinning faster. His heart accelerated at the same pace, straining against the pull of the power. He gritted his teeth. His head felt hot, like it did when he let his rage get the better of him. Danny’s eyes glinted, reflecting the green glow with impish delight.

The sphere grew to baseball size, then basketball. Then it grew larger than that, so large he couldn’t even see the beast he was aiming at anymore. Danny said simply, “Now.”

Jason pulled the trigger. A massive green fireball exploded out of the end of his pistol, burning across the pile of wreckage. The ghost finally looked up just in time to take the blast directly to its side. It wailed in terrible unearthly tones as the green fire swallowed it.

Danny whooped in triumph. Meanwhile, Jason’s knees wobbled and he fell to all fours in the dirt. He felt suddenly cold, in that terrible clammy way right after a fever breaks.

Danny looked over as if to share the celebration but his face fell as he saw Jason.

“Shit,” he said, kneeling next to him. “You okay?”

“Yeah I— yeah.” Jason panted, swallowing a few dry breaths.

Every time he’d used this power before, he’d let it out instantly, through his guns or his gadgets. He’d never actually let it sit or take the time to feel it properly. Now he wished he hadn’t.

Using that power felt like his worst memories of the Pit, unnatural and cloying like he could still feel the waters dripping off of him. It tasted like grave dirt in his mouth.

But as he raised his head he saw the damage he’d done. There was a fucking crater the size of his living room blasted through the remains of a concrete foundation. No sign of the curse ghost. He did that.

He laughed, all shaky breath. Maybe he could get used to it. He’d have to. He didn’t have a choice but to use it against the curse ghosts. He’d be useless in fights against them otherwise.

“Let’s head back,” Danny offered.

“Yeah.” Jason ignored the small tremor in his hand as he holstered his pistol and started to get his feet back underneath himself.

Jason was halfway to standing when out of nowhere he took a hit. A force crashed into his gut from behind like a cannonball and he barely registered a curse ghost underneath him- it looked like a rhino with way way too many horns- before it flung him ten feet across the demo site and sent him careening into the rubble. He tumbled over broken concrete and snarled rebar, hard-trained muscle memory kicking in to relax his muscles enough to not take the worst of it anywhere he didn’t want to.

He blinked the dizziness from his eyes as he settled. Fuck that hurt. He felt a trickle of blood running down his face. The helmet was padded just enough to protect him from concussions. Didn’t help much with the biological nightmare that was the human nose though. He took the helmet off to keep the blood from pooling in his mouth, leaving him in just his domino mask.

“Jason?” He heard Danny shout.

“Mmfine,” was what he managed to reply as he pushed himself up. It took him a few tries to find his legs. They were still wobbly from the expenditure of power before.

Across the demo field Danny fought the new curse ghost with his usual evasive style. His mouth a hard set line as he ducked beneath swipes from many-angled horns and he responded with blasts of his own, cornering the ghost handily.

Then his gaze landed on Jason and he paused, eyes wide.

His stance went rigid. He snapped around unnaturally fast to face the curse ghost, a total shift from his flighty movements from a moment before. His gaze was sharp, cast in stark shadows from the streetlights, and impossibly, dangerously green. He raised a palm toward the ghost, slowly. And then a nuclear blast went off.

Or at least thatʼs what it felt like. Jason lifted an elbow to shield his eyes from the blinding green light. Surprisingly it wasn’t hot. Instead it felt like the air pressure had been turned up, as if the whole atmosphere was somehow heavier around them, pressing in from all sides, making it harder to breathe.

It lasted only a moment. When Jason lowered his shielding arm there was no sign of the curse ghost. No other damage from the blast either. Just scraps of shadow floating on the wind, dissipating as they rose up.

Danny lowered his hand. A bit of a glow still lingered around him like a halo, a silver outline that shimmered on top of his skin. Jason’s heart raced drunkenly as he stayed rooted to his spot. He wasn’t sure he trusted his legs to move. Danny still looked at the empty space where the ghost had been, his gaze still burning with an overwhelming power. One that Jason was very thankful to not have directed at him. Still, something stirred in his chest like a tug on a wire. The sweet sharp tang of adrenaline saturated his fear. He wasn’t sure if he could stomach that oppressive attention, but a reckless part of him craved it.

Then Danny shifted his stance again. He seemed to shrink back into himself, the glow dimming to a level that passed as human. He turned to Jason with something like guilt on his face, no hint of the commanding presence he held a moment earlier.

“Are you okay?” Danny spoke gently, but his fists were still clenched.

“Yeah. Yeah Iʼm fine,” Jason replied before he even really took stock of his injuries, but as he did he saw he hadn’t lied. The bleeding from his nose had mostly stopped. It hadnʼt been that bad in the first place.

“I think thatʼs enough for tonight.” Danny breathed, finally, releasing the last of his tension. He wouldnʼt meet Jasonʼs eyes.

It had been a while since anyone had saved him. He didn’t have anyone who watched his back, hadn’t for a long time. Strictly speaking, tonight he would have been fine even without the save. Probably.

While he was thankful that Danny covered his ass, it also annoyed him that he thought he had to.

“Thanks,” he grumbled, and then finally Danny looked at him with soft attention.

“You’re sure you’re okay? If it’s a concussion-“

“I’m fine,” Jason said, using his thumb to brush away the drying blood under his nose.

Danny just looked at him with naked concern, his fingers twitching like he didn’t know what to do with them, mouth pressed in a firm line. He took a breath as if to voice another worry but Jason cut him off with a resigned sigh.

“Look, if you're so worried why donʼt you come back to mine.” If it got Danny to stop nagging he didn’t mind burning a safehouse.

Danny nodded, mutely accepting the invite.

Jason led him back to his latest safehouse, a corner loft of an abandoned building, only accessible by rooftop. The walk there had proved that Jason wasn’t hurt bad, though Danny’s eyes kept going back to the blood on his face.

Once inside, Danny sat down on the couch. It was the only real piece of furniture in the house besides his half-broken bed. Jason felt less like a shitty host because truly it was equally as dingy as the one in Danny’s own apartment.

“Want a beer?” Jason asked from the kitchen, as he finished up rummaging his way through some makeshift first aid. The slapdash brace on his nose wasn’t his finest work, but eh. It would heal fine. It always did.

“You drink?” Danny seemed suspiciously surprised. “For me the accelerated healing makes any normal alcohol consumption pretty pointless.”

Jason froze with his hand on the fridge. “Oh. Huh.” That would explain why he had to down a whole handle and a half to feel anything. “No shit.”

Zombie-like he pulled a six pack out of the fridge. He set it down on the coffee table in front of Danny as he fell onto the couch next to him.

A part of him had still not fully believed the whole half ghost thing. Fighting ghosts was one thing. Being one was another. The tech helped maintain the illusion quite well- he had ghost power cuffs that made him invisible and ghost power socks that let him float. That explanation was easy to swallow.

But no gadget could explain why wounds that should take weeks to recover from only took him days. Couldn’t explain why he didn’t get drunk.

But there was a good explanation. A simple one too.

He wasnʼt fully human.

Shit.

Jason grabbed a beer from the coffee table, popped it with his thumb, and downed it in one long pull.

“Batman doesnʼt like metas in Gotham.” He didn’t look at Danny. He wasn’t really even talking to him. He tossed the beer bottle to the floor.

“Weʼre not metas,” Danny said, a gentle echo of what he’d said the first night they met.

“It doesn’t matter. Meta, supernatural, itʼs all the same. All are a dangerous liability in this city. You- we- count.” Jason opened another beer. Downed it. Waited to feel any hint of the alcohol hitting him. Nothing.

He could, however, feel Danny looking at him. “Iʼm not afraid of Batman.”

Jason didnʼt look back. He fiddled with the empty beer bottle, tossed it on the floor with the other one. Of course Danny wasnʼt afraid of Batman. Jason had no doubts which way that fight would go if it ever came to it.

That was an awful image to consider– Batman getting his ass handed to him by some nobody punk in jeans– and all the more reason that Bruce should never know about any of this. The curse ghosts, Danny, Jason’s own burgeoning ghost powers- more secrets he had to keep. More reasons to keep all the Bats at arm's length.

And if they ever did find out? No way their shaky truce could weather that. It’d be another war.

“Heʼs- well, they all are I guess- kind of my family. All Iʼve got left of one, anyway.” The words spilled out. He didn’t want a war with them. He never had.

Danny let out a long breath. “Oh. Family.” He laughed a sad laugh. “My parents tried to kill me. Multiple times actually. I donʼt blame them– theyʼre ghost hunters and well, they looked at me and saw a ghost.”

Danny reached for a beer. He pulled out two and handed one to Jason. He took it. “So at least it canʼt be as bad as that with yours?”

Jason grumbled. “Judging by how it went the first time I came back from the dead? It will be an absolute shitshow.”

Danny clinked his beer against Jasonʼs and took a long swig. “I dunno. I think Bruce might come around if you give him a chance.”

Jason straightened his spine, suddenly alert, alarm bells ringing in his head. “Bruce?”

Danny deflated, suddenly sheepish. “Ah. Whoops.”

That all but confirmed it. Jason groaned. Just when he thought it couldn’t get worse, Danny somehow knew one of Gotham’s most dangerous secrets. “How did you find out?”

“You can probably guess.” Danny rubbed the back of his neck. “It wasnʼt hard with a little ghostly snooping. It was one of the first things I did when I got to Gotham. I wanted to know just to double avoid him, honest.”

It wasnʼt hard to imagine any number of ways Danny could have uncovered Batman’s identity. Heʼd recognized Jason with and without his mask, but he figured that was because Danny had a sense for ghosts and, well, whatever he was. He hadnʼt considered how easy unmasking the Batman would be for him even without that trick.

“If he finds out you know, you’re dead.”

“I already am. Besides, I thought Batman had a strict no-kill policy?”

Ultimately this changed very little. Just another nail in the coffin of the strict Batman avoidance protocol. Still, he wished Danny would be a little less blase about the whole thing.

Fuck it. In for a penny, he couldn’t un-learn all the ghost shit that had turned his life upside down. He downed the beer. Danny was right the first time. It didnʼt matter what Bruce thought. He couldnʼt stop them from fighting curse ghosts. And it was truly none of his business. Danny sipped his beer with a grimace. Jasonʼs heart twisted.

“How do you stand the taste of this stuff?” Danny asked, a hint of a smile.

“It’s not about the taste. It's about the feeling.” Or lack of one. Jason thought maybe he felt the slightest tingle of tipsiness, but it could just be placebo.

Danny looked at him with that same casual intensity. He could tell his eyes lingered on his half-broken nose. Still worrying over him. Why? Why did he care if Jason got hurt? Jason stared back, trying to get a read on any of the real thoughts behind Danny’s eyes.

The silence stretched out, wide open.

Danny broke it first. “Sorry, uh. I guess I should get going.”

Jason took a beat and remembered how to breathe. “You good? Donʼt drink and fly.”

“I donʼt feel a thing,” Danny smirked. “Still, Iʼll walk.”

“You sure? You could always just crash here tonight.” The words spilled out of him before he could think better of it. He and Danny both froze, like the air has been sucked from the room. He stared at the empty six pack on the coffee table, swatting away any thoughts that dared surface, fighting the rising heat in his cheeks and desperately trying to keep his face blank.

“Itʼs okay,” Danny said finally, quietly releasing Jason from his turmoil. “Iʼll see you tomorrow?” Jason dared a look at Danny then. Warmth in his half smile like a sweater, a glint in his eye that made him feel lightheaded.

Danny stood and left, closing the door gently behind himself. Jason breathed out into the empty apartment. It felt suddenly cavernous and dead without Danny in it.

It shouldn’t mean anything but it did. Friends crashed on each other’s couches regularly, didn’t they? Jason didn’t have much experience with friends, if that’s what he and Danny were. This invitation certainly crossed that threshold. But he’d been careless. All the unknowns were still dangerous. He couldn’t let this be more than a working relationship. A partnership of convenience.

He pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. Pain, tender and sharp, sprung up beneath them. He sighed at the comforting familiarity of it. Then he flopped face first onto his bed, alone.

Next >

[7grandmel]

Todays rip: 13/05/2024

Stickerbrush Queen

Season 1 Featured on: SiIvaGunner's Highest Quality Rips: Volume L [Side A]

Ripped by toonlink

EIGHT. Years later. And we're still jammin'. I can't believe I missed the anniversary to such a historic part of the channel's legacy. I hope the world can forgive me for being a whole day late and that we can all recover from this scandal together.

Stickerbush Symphony is one of the most revered songs within VGM to a degree I don't think I can describe accurately. The original version from Donkey Kong Country 2 is still arguably David Wise's magnum opus and continues to touch hearts everywhere through its various YouTube reuploads, wheras the equally-beautiful remix in Super Smash Bros. Brawl has its hooks in an entire generation of Wii kids who are forever attached to the theme through its prominence in the Subspace Emissary campaign. It of course has a huge presence on SiIvaGunner too, one I've covered multiple times before, most notably in Sidelined Symphony. Yet the song's presence on SiIvaGunner has branched out into something entirely different, an outright franchise of bangers based on the already banging Brawl remix - all of which started with Stickerbrush Queen.

Yes, you'll have to forgive me for Toonlink-glazing once again...it's likely that not even this will be his final appearance on here, but it genuinely cannot be overemphasized just how much of Season 1's spirit was defined by his contributions. Rips like The Great Weed and Dr. Soulja are just quintessential SiIvaGunner to me, and were my go-to rips to share back in 2016, their comedic timing near unmatched, but Toonlink's versatility as a ripper extended to genuine bangers as well. Case and point - Stickerbrush Queen, the first-ever rip of Brawl's interpretation of Bramble Blast, and one that hit the nail on the head right away with an utmost brilliant idea - to use the track as the backing beat to a rap mashup. Whether or not you have attachment to Trap Queen or Fetty Wap before listening doesn't matter - the two halves of the rip lift each other up in such perfect harmony, that it starts to feel wrong to listen to them in isolation afterward.

In my eyes, a huge part of what makes the mashup work is that its playing to the traits of Trap Queen rather than lifting it into a completely different environment - its beat in the original version has a very similar bright, sparkly sound to Brawl's Bramble Blast, and the contrast between it and the vocals are likely part of how Trap Queen was envisioned. More drastic tone changes in rap mashups can certainly bang, I fucking love Sweatpants Select for that very reason, yet there's something just so elegant about how Stickerbrush Queen does it - it still FEELS different, the Bramble Blast instrumental is undeniably emotional, yet its able to balance itself out through the steady rhythm of Trap Queen's vocals. The break in the middle of the rip, at around a minute in, hits extra hard though - the instrumental additions to Trap Queen changing in turn make it such a memorable part of the whole and unify the two songs amazingly well.

Being uploaded so early into the channel's very first season, during the period of time in which EVERYONE's eyes were on this weird new music uploading channel, Stickerbrush Queen slowly garnered a sort of legendary reputation. Perhaps that was just my view of things, but it was one that got validated more and more as the channel went on. More Bramble Blast and Stickerbush Symphony rips were made over the months and years, ones like Stickerbrush State of Mind and more, that all felt like they were paying tribute to the very beginnings of it all. Eventually, those tributes would become direct - The premiere to Season 6 of the channel, Bramble Blast Collab, includes direct nods to this one rip, and its only one of several examples - most notably, a direct tribute to it on Season 7's RIP² album. This release, 7 YEARS LATER AND WE STILL JAMMIN', is of course also notable for referencing perhaps what the rip is most known for these days - the persistence of one sole commenter who returns to Stickerbrush Queen once a year on its anniversary to remind everyone that, yes, all these years later we ARE still jammin'.

Eight years, huh...that's nutty to think about - and yet even with its age, this one sole rip continues to be referenced all over the place on the channel. Stickerbush Symphony, Bramble Blast,whatever you want to call it (even StickerBRUSH Symphony if you're wrong), continues to live on, celebrated as the legendary piece of VGM it always has been - yet the contribution Toonlink made to its legacy all those years ago feels everpresent in a way that's really fun to see - almost EVERYONE following the channel has heard that one mashup at one point or another. Be it the aforementioned direct arrangement of it on RIP², or this fucking stupid tweet that blew up around the rip's fifth anniversary...its the kind of rip that just brings the community together any time we get to hear a trace of it. The definition of an enduring classic - and yes, we are STILL Jammin'.

[flfverse]

traditional dynamics, part 1

so, like anything, there are still many different paths to take in practicing the traditional d/s dynamics in this world. however, this is going to include some of the most common ones.

traditionalism has mostly fallen out of fashion outside of older generations and the upper-upper class, but plenty of people still practice it, or mix parts of it with more modern norms. it is also very often used as a mask or excuse for abuse, bigotry, etc, but it is not inherently such.

in traditional frameworks, dominants are strong guardians and confident guides, while submissives are gentle caretakers and fierce protectors. true traditional doms are aware that a submissive can rarely be forced into anything, and that their communities (their circles, if you will) are incredibly strong. still, subs have needs that dominants do not, and they need to be properly cared for in order to thrive.

some more tenets, in no particular order, because i cannot be bothered:

all traditional relationships involve 24/7 dominance and submission. the exact intensity varies from relationship to relationship, but it's always present

common examples include submissives kneeling rather than sitting, especially at meals; public discipline; errands and chores framed as acts of service; doms choosing outfits, activities, meals; subs not being allowed to speak to doms alone, or at all without permission

the dominant is the head of the house, but the submissive is its heart. doms will speak to strangers and guests, take care of major decisions, etc, but if the sub is unhappy or distrustful of something, you best listen

(of note--a cultural holdover of this can be seen in Cross the Line chapter 5, when katsuki asks izuku if their friends can come into their home)

claimed submissives should always be obviously marked when in public. in some very strict beliefs, they aren't allowed out alone at all except for select (read: sub-only) gatherings

dating typically includes arranged contracts and bondings, often while the partners (or at least the submissive) are still underage

some are more lax these days, but the most staunch traditionalists still believe subs shouldn't work outside the home, since they are too vulnerable. a few groups have taken this to the logical end that doms shouldn't work outside the home, either, since that would leave their submissive unguarded at home, or that submissives should accompany their dom to work

("vulnerable" to a certain sense of the word, anyway. sub circles have been a known phenomenon for centuries, so there was/is a decent chance of your sub getting into a brawl while out and about instead of being taken advantage of)

in the case of a polyamorous relationship, there will be a hierarchy among the members, which can lead to one submissive having a certain level of power over another, etc. this can be based on age, who entered the relationship first, or any other factor the partners decide on

doms and subs alike tend toward corporal punishments above others, and tend to be stricter and harsher about even minor infractions

in some types of relationships, subs do not have a safeword, but instead have scheduled periods where they can renegotiate their limits if they choose. this is now illegal and very frowned upon, but still continues to be practiced (ie just because your contract has to say that you have a safeword doesn't mean you have to use it / technically you dont have to have a contract). obviously this can get very messy if anything goes wrong

obviously all traditional ideas are built pretty firmly on the idea of doms & subs only, so historically switches have had a difficult time fitting into them. there is a lot of pressure for a switch to either lean heavily into one side or the other or enter into a poly relationship where they can have both a dom and a sub. even switch/switch relationships don't really "work" due to the 24/7 nature of the thing

that's all for right now! i'm positive i'll think of more things later, and of course if you're curious about any of this and want me to expand on it, shoot me an ask!

[psychedelic-charm]

What Your High School Group Says About the Games You Play

Google Play Store ran an editorial where they listed a selection of games for its users that were inspired by school cliques. Check out these games, and tell me in the comments whether you were a star athlete, a brainiac, an artsy free spirit, something in between or something different entirely!

Sports Stars

These games are for those who have a competitive streak. From intense showdowns on the football field to epic clashes, experience the thrill of competition and camaraderie of team spirit.

Madden NFL 25 Mobile Football

Brawl Stars

EA Sports FC Mobile Soccer

Stumble Guys

Brainiacs

These games are for those who embrace their inner geek and enjoy immersive, imaginative, and strategic gameplay. Celebrate the thrill of mental stimulation or just have some plain, old nerdy fun. Whether it's challenging puzzles, trivia quizzes or comic-book adventures, let your intellect and passion guide this trek to fun.

Learn Chess with Dr. Wolf

NYT Games: Word Games & Sudoku

Marvel Snap

orange by indie game developer Bart Bonte

Theater Kids

These games are for those who love a bit of drama. Whether it's swooning over a powerful on-stage performance or dining out on the latest tidbits of gossip overheard in the hallway, these games are all about pivotal moments. Direct the story however you want, just don't be surprised by your lights, camera, action!

Choices: Stories You Play

Episode - Choose Your Story

Mystic Messenger

Love Island: The Game

Art Aficionados

These works of art are for those who enjoy creative challenges, have an eye for aesthetics, or want to create masterpieces without fear of losing marks. Explore your artistic passions on a new canvas.

I Love Hue Too (I should really finish the first game, huh)

Art Puzzle - Jigsaw Art Games

Alto's Adventure

Monument Valley 2

Music Magicians

These games are for those who love music and want to step into the shoes of a rock star, classical composer or a hit producer - putting together beats and instruments to make intricate melodies come alive. Whether you want to beatbox with the best of them or raise musical monsters, there's something for you.

Deemo II

Incredibox

Beatstar - Touch Your Music

My Singing Monsters

Alternative Crowd

These games are for those who revel in the edgy, unconventional, and eerie - and are willing to embrace the emotional. If you're drawn by the allure of the macabre and the beauty of enigma, then these games are for you.

Limbo by Playdead

Cube Escape Collection

Beyond the Room

Opus: Rocket of Whispers

Pranksters

These games are for those who enjoy a laugh and pride themselves on their sense of humor. Get ready for a spunky dose of amusement and light-hearted fun with these otherworldly games!

Dumb Ways to Die 4

Goat Simulator

Clusterduck

Octodad: Dadliest Catch

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion

Trendsetters

These games are for those who want to solve design challenges for the style-conscious or were once crowned prom queen or king. Live a virtual life as a fabulous fashionista and make choices to keep your life interesting.

Roblox

The Sims Freeplay (I've been on and off with this one)

Design Home: House Makeover

Pocket Love

Wallflowers

These games are for those who prefer to stick to the sidelines and disappear into their own little world, where things are nice and cozy. Embrace the solace of solitude as you enjoy these games.

Stardew Valley

Amaru: The Self-Care Pet

Sky: Children of the Light

When the Past was Around

Rebels

These games are for those who think rules are there to be broken. Let out your inner rebellious streak as you break all the limits in these action-packed games.

Need for Speed No Limits

Free Fire MAX

Into the Dead 2

Shadow Fight 2

[thewritinggrindstone]

🔫 FREEZE this is a STICKUP

gimme 5 great lines that you wrote (whether you’ve posted them or not) and 5 great lines someone else wrote (whether published or fanfic) and nobody gets hurt!!

oh trust me, noony, you don't have to resort to threats to earn yourself a choice selection of lines I love. have some words <3

first five are from my various projects, last five are taken from some of the best fics I've read in the last year

His hair is tangled, she notes maybe the fourth or fifth or tenth time she catches herself staring at it, trying not to think about the way his shoulders bunch beneath her hands or the way sweat drips off his brow as something molten and foul inside him tries to eat its way out. —that tiny mer wip

Her hand aches more from the loneliness than the lingering memory of the sharp pressure. —orange desert blooms, rusted

He can feel Erik’s attention land on him, a stone falling from orbit. —back alley brawl project

Satisfaction bleeds across Nines's body like a filter being applied to a photo. —a fork in the path

There's no officially recognized medical procedure to measure stupid per brain, but Sixty nevertheless watches in what is almost real time as the percentages in Gavin's tip entirely the wrong direction. —(where we find) the only hope within this place

The stairwell was dark and rust. —A Strange Comet by windyfiend

I think about this line—this chapter, truthfully—basically every single day. it haunts me. haunts me.

He was too tall, naturally stern-looking, and built like sentient Kevlar, and Sixty had the feeling Nines wouldn’t have to fight to establish himself like his predecessors had. —See the Metal Heal and Grow, Almost Alive by beebot

self-explanatory. 10/10 no notes

“You’re a dick,” Markus said, “but not a private dick. Please do not become a private investigator. You’d be insufferable.” —they'll fix you by yellow_cabellero

genuinely one of the funniest stories, funniest writers, on the planet.

“You should have asked,” he spits, louder and hoarse, a half-step away from a scream. —cynics come undone by cosmoscorpse

the other story that haunts my every waking moment. this story is poetry in motion. literal perfection, I aspire

Connor stares with those eyes plucked straight from roadkill while Hank’s heart throbs out a wild beat. —Spitting Image by Thwippydippy

one of those lines I reread an entire story to enjoy in context again <3

tagging @druidx and anyone else who wants to play

[shiningdesignersreflections]

Chapter 1: Mecha Girl

Narrated by Netga.

Narrator: The garage walls are vibrating with the punk EDM I’m blasting. Holed up in my pod, I’m busy testing mecha functions.

Narrator: This garage is the workspace where I recycle and modify discarded mechas.

Narrator: Lined by the wall are mechas of various styles and designs, all of them my handiwork.

Narrator: Unfortunately, the clients I have on the island don’t have much taste, and my wares aren’t selling that well.

Narrator: Putting on my sensor set and immersing myself in the vibrant music, I tap on the interface.

Narrator: And I enter the simulated test environment.

Narrator: “Select Environment: Flying/Combat/Project/Party...” The menu pops up in the air in front of me.

Choose either “Party mode?” or “Isn’t that quite an array of features?”

If “party,” ...

You: Why would a mecha have a party mode?

Narrator: Why not? I’ve designed a full set of audio, lighting, and motion effects for this mode. Perfect for getting into the partying mood.

If “features,” ...

You: Sounds like this mecha’s got a lot of functions.

Narrator: The island I’m on is part of some ruins. Mechas are widely used in all sorts of scenarios here, a staple in daily life.

--

Narrator: Low altitude flight, high altitude flight, obstacle course, homing shot, stealth mode... I check the features one by one.

Narrator: Mechas can be seen everywhere on this island.

Narrator: Some use them as transportation or in construction work. There are also popular mecha contests held regularly.

Narrator: Besides, brawls break out often on our streets, and mechas are helpful in solving conflicts.

Narrator: That’s my specialty - to come up with fun, cutting-edge functions for modified mechas in various scenarios.

Narrator: Machines are cold, intricate, and boring. They only follow orders and never deviate from what they’re told.

Narrator: Mechas are different as they have personalities. That’s my design philosophy, at least.

Narrator: However, in this city, people are mainly interested only in the large, intimidating, destructive mechas.

Narrator: My unique modifications aren’t that popular on the market, so I settle for adding bonus functions to the more boring designs.

Narrator: This often results in returned products and complaints.

Narrator: Right now, for example, a scar-faced, buff dude is hammering on the door with his robotic arm, demanding a refund.

Narrator: Behind him, a huge, macho-type mecha grins and greets me in a booming voice.

Giant Mecha: Baa!

Scarred Man: You better explain! Why does my mecha say “baa”? It sounds like an idiotic sheep!

Narrator: The owner of the mecha yells, his face all red.

Scarred Man: And why does it choose the flashiest moves in combat? What’s with that, huh?

Narrator: Scar Face rambles on about my modifications and how they totally embarrassed him in front of his opponents.

Scarred Man: Especially this funky “face” screen it’s got! What the heck is it?

Netga: It’s my newly developed emotion feedback device.

Scarred Man: Emotion? You kidding me? I don’t need my mecha to have emotions, at least not idiotic ones.

Scarred Man: Take out these stupid features, or gimme a refund!

Narrator: Come on, these are what give the mechas life, inspiration, and personality! Besides, they’re totally free.

Narrator: I mutter, but I have bills to pay after all, so I connect the wires to the terminal and rid the mecha of the extra functions.

Narrator: Scar Face is finally gone and I can continue with my tests. I glance at the small, round mecha next to me.

Narrator: I pet its round head, and a huge smile appears on the electronic screen.

Narrator: I guess a dumb smile like this would indeed make it the laughingstock on a mecha battle arena.

Netga: My clients are a boring lot. Don’t you think so?

Narrator: The screen flashes. A smile again.

Narrator: The feedback so far doesn’t have much variety. Further developments are needed.

Narrator: Still, no matter how I optimize the features, the fact remains that such a function and mecha style aren’t mainstream.

Narrator: “Ding! Monthly bills alert!” The sudden notification blares from my speakers at full volume, making me jump out of my seat.

Netga: Ugh, what do I do about the bills?

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

[duckdotcom]

you have been entered into a fighting competition against the band the beatles, who will be fighting as a team. you are allowed to select one band or musical artist who will fight on your behalf. who do you pick?

depends on the type of fight. if it's a knife fight obviously I pick british musical artist Sting. he may have failed miserably to win a knife fight with paul atriedes in david lynches dune (1984) but that's just television and I think the experience with knife choreography gained in filming will help him here.

if it's a full on brawl, hand to hand? gotta be polish group Pudzian Band, whose lead, Mariusz "Dominator" Pudzianowski, was a strongman with a 70% victory rate, considered the greatest strength athlete of all time.

Although to be honest, and this is a cheap shot, my final answer in all categories would have to be El Sistema Nacional de Orquestas y Coros Juveniles e Infantiles de Venezuela, or The National System of Youth and Children's Orchestras and Choirs of Venezuela, which at its largest consisted of 8,573 people. Hard to beat numbers like that!

[once-was-muses]

@dcwnthercbbithcle | Misc. Asks

KIRBY I JUST THOUGHT OF SOMETHING! Well a question really but I was wondering if lore-wise you had an explanation for why Phil is completely alone in all of his maps & not forced to share (unlike Sally, Anna & Evan) it almost vibes to me like an additional punishment from the entity bc Phil deserves to have a pal and not letting him have any would be further detrimental to him. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, maybe it’s on purpose and not to punish but more so protect bc there is no way Phil could be *civil* with some of the killers that have been placed with others! Either way, I’d love your take on this as a Phil expert!

I JUST REALIZED I WASNT VERY CLEAR, by civil I more meant Phil looking at the very unsavoury killer roommate he got, going ‘no,’ and rebelling against the entity by refusing to remain in his own realm!

[ I'VE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS. A TOTALLY NORMAL AMOUNT jdjjdksksk ]

[ I think it's simultaneously a punishment and an attempt to keep some peace among the killers. Philip is very much an introvert that dislikes large crowds, but he also does not do well totally alone; he's prone to spiralling, mental and emotional self harm, letting his depression swallow him up and pull him in deeper without someone else around to keep his head above water so to speak. He gets paranoid when left isolated for too long, evident by his need to investigate every little disturbance he detects in Autohaven and stalk any uninvited guests while cloaked to try and deduce what purpose they're skulking around his realm for. While the Entity has concocted a great many tortures for Philip's stubborn disobedience and noncompliance, She's also learned that he's very good at torturing himself. ]

[ On the other hand, you're right in your assumption that Philip would not appreciate having to share his realm- but more in a "constant fistfights" way than a "pout in another realm" type of situation. Phil has zero tolerance for the majority of the other killers on a good mood day. The select few exceptions there being those like Carmina and Suzie (who also didn't and don't want to be killers), Rin and Sadako (who were horrifically wronged and, in his mind, are justified in their violence), and Hell's Priest and to a lesser degree Herman (those he's been forced to reevaluate his black and white catogirizing of through events in threads or in my own behind the scenes verse building.) While sticking Philip with the worst roommate imaginable would generate a buffet of emotion with the constant squabbling and physical brawls that would bring, it also has the high likelihood of breeding more rebellion; the other killer may interpret being stuck with someone that so openly hates them as an undeserved punishment and react accordingly. ]

[ Leaving Philip alone and frankly alienated, in a realm constructed of his final catastrophic mistake and its consequences, is ultimately killing two birds with one stone; keeping him in a constant emotionally agitated state, and dissuading him from hunting down and harassing the other killers. ]

[musicals-n-cartoons]

As threatened, I turned Luz into a sim. Specifically, the version of Luz in Thanks to Them, as that was set in the Human Realm. This version was made with no mods or DLC.

A lot more pictures under the cut.

Nothing controversial for the gender and sexuality section; I made Luz into a biromantic bisexual ciswoman. Sims are by default pansexuals who are exploring romantically, and so that's what I leave for the people with no canon sexuality, but as Luz is canonically bi, I turned the exploration option off for her.

The traits are the first place where I really struggled against the game's limitations. How can I compress Luz's personality into just two traits? Traits that could have fit include Cheerful, Creative, Goofball, Bookworm, Geek, Ambitious, Childish, Good, and Outgoing. But none of these traits really scream Luz to me. If I were to describe her in two words, I would have said kind and impulsive. In the end, I decided that Luz showed both her caring nature and her depression above all in Thanks to Them, so I picked Good and Gloomy. Tho now that I think about it, Outgoing and Gloomy sounds like a lot of fun.

There's no option to become a witch in the base game, so I gave her her backup aspiration of being a bestselling author. Completing that aspiration gives you the ability to "capture life itself in a book, and wield it to bring back someone they've lost" which sounds like a really fun fanfiction idea.

The hair is the second place where I struggle against the limited selection of the base game. There are not a lot of options for wavy hair that goes down to the neck but doesn't cover the ears. This is basically the best I could come up with.

Converting Luz's simple animated face into the more detailed Sims 4 style was a struggle, I must admit. I'm still not 100% satisfied with it, and I feel like I can spend forever going back and forth on the eye shapes. Or the eye size, the eyebrows, the nose, God, can one even turn her tiny animesque nose into a real one? And now that I think about it, her upper lips should probably be bigger. The base game doesn't even have any facial scars...

This is her everyday outfit. I based it on what she was wearing in the school scenes of Thanks to Them. The key piece of clothing is the varsity jacket which is, while the wrong color for Eda's jacket, still pretty nice. It's also classified as masculine, so a win for gnc Luz.

Her formalwear was of course based on the iconic Grom outfit. No tutus, unfortunately. Also, excuse the different poses. These sims can never stand still.

The athletic wear was based on her Boneburough Brawl design.

Sleepwear was based on her Thanks to Them pajamas.

I don't think Luz has ever worn anything like a party outfit, so this one was inspired by her Azura costume, on the logic that Halloween costume parties are a kind of party. I said "inspired" because I couldn't find any tailcoats, or even any purple and white suit coats. There is also a shockingly limited variety of hats available.

Luz's original design was too iconic to ignore, so I based the hot weather outfit on it. Strangely enough, I couldn't find a two-colored t-shirt. The lack of high-waisted clothing is the biggest sign that the Sims 4 is showing its age.

I wanted the cold-weather outfit to be based on her Adventure in the Elements design, but none of the clothes remotely fit, so I just put the alternative Thanks to Them design instead.

Here are the other people I made. I put far less effort into them than into Luz, so I won't show them in detail. I especially don't like how the boys turned out. I should do another crack on them at some point. I plan to do Eda and King later, just need to think on how to humanify King properly.

Now, I'm not going to pay a single red cent to EA, but if I were, what DLC would I use?

Realms of Magic is of course mandatory so that the witches can be converted into spellcasters (complete with pointy ears!). Cats & Dogs add a world with New England flavor, perfect for Gravesfield, and a vet clinic business for Camila. As these kids are teenagers, might as well add Highschool Years for more of Luz's angst (tho maybe a homeschool mod for the rest of the hexsquad?). Finally, Vee's shapeshifting disguise could be represented with either aliens or mermaids.

Fun fact: Sims can't be both Childish and Evil, thus proving that the Collector will be redeemed.

[rmorde]

Still at it!

HUNTER SORCERER AU: JINCHUL INNATE CT

Jinchul's CT is Energy Transfiguration. Basically, he can transform anything that uses energy into its "optimum state".

Energy in here can mean anything: mana, cursed energy, potential energy, kinetic energy, etc. To put it simply, everything is fair game for Jinchul to transfigure.

"Optimum State" here means to be "Anything Jinchul believes to be its perfect state/form." This is largely inspired by this badass scene below from the manhwa:

Jinchul credited his intact arms after getting in between Yoonho and Dongsoo as them holding back their strength at the last second. His status as a top A Ranker likely meant he had enough endurance to tank the rest of the force that were not restrained by the two S Rankers. The electricity visual is probably for cool effect.

BUT!

I'd like to think it's because Jinchul has a unique Enhance skill. For a certain amount of time, he can select a skill to Enhance to Optimal Level. When it activates, it looks like electricity is running through his body.

So, let's say Jinchul's MAX Strength as an A Rank is 85. He cannot go higher than that no matter how much he trains. However, if he uses his Enhance skill, he could boost that Strength to Optimal Levels aka S Rank (90-100) or, if he does not mind dying, National Rank (100+).

In the scene above, he enhanced his Durability to tank the two brawling problem children. In the Double Dungeon, he probably used it to boost his Speed.

Basically, I headcanon that Jinchul can briefly punch above his A Rank stats. The drawbacks are time limit and backlash. He can fight like an S Rank for a few precious seconds but he would be exhausted after. The longer he uses Enhance, the higher the chances he sends himself into a coma or worse. So, he uses it only for absolute emergencies. He never attempts to enhance himself higher than S Rank levels or longer than 4 minutes. He instinctively knows it'd kill him.

It's still a handy skill tho which I think would suit Jinchul's job as S Rank wrangler/babysitter.

*IN SHORT: Jinchul can "enhance" his body like Dongsuk but his version of that skill is more powerful and refined.

ANYWAY!

Going back to his CT, Jinchul can activate Energy Transfiguration by touching his target and willing it to change. It is easier said than done.

Jinchul, naturally, is touching Air for example. Air has energy. He can transfigure it but he has to want it first. Unless, Jinchul desires or wills it, the Air will just be Air.

The second hurdle in his technique is the "Optimum State". Jinchul not only needs to desire for change to happen, he needs to have a clear vision on how the end result should be - result being "the perfect version of this thing he is transfiguring."

Let's use the Air again as an example. Jinchul desires for it to change. If he has no Perfect Vision of its Optimum State, the Air will remain Air. However, if he wills for it to change into a barrier, the energy within the Air will transfigure it into an Invisible Barrier. If his Perfect Vision is an Invisible Barrier shaped like a sphere, it would become a Spherical Invisible Barrier. If he envisioned it to be a square, then it will become an Invisible Barrier Box.

In summary, Jinchul's CT is just my headcanon of his Enhance skill on steroids. However, it is tricky to use because it requires Touch, Will, and Vision for Jinchul to efficiently use it. If Jinchul doubts that something must or can be changed, his CT won't work. If he has no idea what the fuck the result of his Transfiguration will be, it also won't work.

The only limit to Jinchul's ability is his own mentality. He needs to be a greedy visionary. Satoru can help him there... after they finally figured out what the requirements to Jinchul's Energy Transfiguration are exactly. It takes them a bit of trial and error. However, thinking about the physics of his ability helps Jinchul with his Perfect Vision. So, Satoru gets the opportunity to show off his genius in science.

RANDOM THOUGHTS!

Does the level of energy affect Jinchul's ability?

No. Something just needs to have energy (even 0.000000001J) and it's good to go. That's why his CT is OP. Jinchul can change anything into whatever he wants. He literally can make something out of "nothing".

The problem tho is the psychological aspect of it. Jinchul is limiting himself by thinking logically all the time.

Let's say Jinchul has a glass of water. By all means, he only needs to touch the water inside, envision the life-size Eiffel Tower, and will it to transfigure. South Korea would have a perfect replica of the tower in Seoul instantly.

However, Jinchul cannot envision something like that. He's a logical guy. What will happen instead is he will touch the water (and gauge it), envision the Eiffel Tower (while recognizing the amount of water is small), and then transfigure it (as he keeps in mind that his water is only enough for one glass). At best, he'd produce a Eiffel Tower standing as tall at 12 in. At worst, he'd get a keychain out of it.

Can Jinchul upgrade another Hunter?

Yes. He can even induce an Awakening too. The problem, again, is that the process is entirely psychological. Jinchul needs to desire the change and have a Perfect Vision of the end result.

Let's say Jinah wants to become a Sorcerer. She must convince Jinchul to be 100% on board with the idea. She also has to persuade him to have a specific idea on what she would be as a Sorcerer too - stats, technique, and all.

In fact, Jinchul can also heal others. He may even be able to reverse Mahito's Soul Transfiguration. He just need to touch his target, absolutely desire to change it, and be super specific at imagining the results. Confidence plays a role too. He really needs to will the perfect result into existence.

It's just that... Jinchul is logical and as stubborn as the Earth. The guy is like a rocky mountain in his principles and beliefs but his CT demands extreme imagination and flexibility. Jinchul is capable of that tho. But he needs to be convinced first that the change must 100% happen which is the difficult part.

Another reason tho, tbh, for me to make this as Jinchul's CT is the opportunities to:

Save Kokichi. If Kokichi knew there's another person who can help him fix his body other than Mahito, he will never betray Jujutsu Tech. I want him to have a happy ending and I can do that in this AU thru Jinchul.

Explore a new Gojo Dynamic. -> Satoru taught his students but let's be honest, for technical aspects of the education, he passed Yuji to Nanami + Todo plus Yuta to Miguel. It's not a bad decision for his part and it's actually admirable. He knows his limits and acknowledges when to yield to someone else that is better than him at something. He is not going to sacrifice his student's potential for his ego. HOWEVER! He can't do that with Jinchul. Satoru really is the only guy around that can help Jinchul understand his CT and eventually master it. He really has to teach. -> Satoru does not have any "older brother" relationship with anyone. It would be a novel experience for him. -> Satoru being driven into insanity in frustration with Jinchul. He sees how powerful the man can be. He knows Jinchul can be as strong (or even stronger) than him. IF. JINCHUL. JUST. LEARNS. TO. BE. ILLOGICAL. Satoru: You can do it, Jinchul! You can do anything! Be like Alice! Believe in six impossible things before breakfast! Jinchul: I believe that I will get full eight hours of sleep, that I will get three full meals, that my subordinates will finish their paperwork on time, that the Chairman Go will tell the government to fuck off with their probational prisoners pet project, that the Hwang brothers regret betraying Korea, and that all S Ranks will behave and not cause me more grief! Satoru: ... Jinchul: What? Satoru: Let's try something different later and we'll do that Alice thing next time. Maybe after therapy. Let me call Shoko.

[miloscat]

[Review] Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl (PS5)

A strong—if barebones—platform fighter.

After Ludosity’s excellent and irreverent Smash-like platform fighter Slap City, Nickelodeon apparently asked them to make another using their cartoon properties. This would be a revamp of sorts for Nick’s long-running Super Brawl series of shallow browser- and phone-based fighters. Bringing on Costa Rican studio Fair Play Labs as co-developer, Ludosity turned out a solid contender in gameplay and polish, if not in features.

Like fellow Smash clone Brawlout, their focus seemed to be on honing the fundamentals rather than adding bells and whistles, but as a primarily solo player the perceived step down from Slap City’s robust story mode was a disappointment to me. I love this genre, but I need something to do that will encourage me to keep playing. The only option is Arcade mode, a straightforward series of randomly selected 1v1 fights at five difficulty levels. Completing this with a specific character unlocks some gallery images and a jukebox track, and that's about it. At least there are a decent selection of settings to customise matches, as well as the return of Slap City's ball-based mode for some variety.

The game was even more barebones at release, but postlaunch free updates added some big features like items (sadly, items do not spawn in Arcade mode) and full voiceover for all characters (many of which are the original VAs reprising their roles). Two extra characters were also added, as well as three DLC characters, all with accompanying stages. Not a bad record of support, although improving the single player experience was evidently a development opportunity for the sequel which I plan to play soon.

As a licenced game, NASB does a great job portraying its characters and locations. Compared to Slap City there's more detail to the art and animation and everyone looks great, which is an achievement when converting traditionally animated 2D designs into 3D (this can't be overstated, the game looks fantastic). The good-sized roster serves me well as a 90s kid with lots of classic Nicktoons along with other properties that Viacom has acquired (Garfield, TMNT), and even the few characters I don't really like or don't recognise have fun movesets. [Aside] I'm sorry but you could not pay me to be invested in the ninja turtles...! So I'm glad there's only two of them, avoiding the bloat that other Nick ensembles games suffer from by shoving all four of them in. Rant over.

The main reason I’m playing this now is as part of my current Avatar fixation, so having Toph in was a really cool choice alongside Aang and Korra, and their stages (the multi-level Western Air Temple, Omashu with its interesting layout and hazards, and Harmonic Convergence aka Final Destination) look amazing and have fun animated background details. Korra was my favourite, a straightforward heavy hitter with high-mobility specials.

Which reminds me, I should talk about the gameplay. Like Slap City and Brawlout it’s streamlined a bit compared to Smash, but the way they’ve done it works well. The main difference is the removal of smash inputs and separate side attacks, with two distinct buttons for fast and strong attacks (both with aerial variants) in addition to specials. But they’ve kept guarding, grabs, and air dodging so it doesn’t feel too compromised. There seems to be a lot of depth with wavedashing and strafing and a paper-scissors-rock directional priority system if you want to get into it, but I think it still remains accessible. Maybe I can’t really judge that. What I will say is the basics are incredibly solid and polished, and I enjoyed playing around with different movesets. As always, it's fun to spot individual moves that are direct Smash lifts/homages as well as discovering the nuances of the new ideas.

Ludosity was a great choice to make a licenced game that's not crap, and Fair Play Labs appear to have ably assisted as well. They nailed the fundamentals of platform fighter gameplay as well as the authenticity and flat-out fun of seeing these characters in action (especially with the VO added in), making for a pleasing celebration of Nickelodeon's past. It's just such a shame that the game isn't more fully featured, which I assume was simply a time/budget reality. I guess that's what the sequel is for... I'll find out soon!

[who-is-muses]

[ ask moved from prior blog] @dcwnthercbbithcle | Misc. Asks

KIRBY I JUST THOUGHT OF SOMETHING! Well a question really but I was wondering if lore-wise you had an explanation for why Phil is completely alone in all of his maps & not forced to share (unlike Sally, Anna & Evan) it almost vibes to me like an additional punishment from the entity bc Phil deserves to have a pal and not letting him have any would be further detrimental to him. BUT AT THE SAME TIME, maybe it’s on purpose and not to punish but more so protect bc there is no way Phil could be *civil* with some of the killers that have been placed with others! Either way, I’d love your take on this as a Phil expert!

I JUST REALIZED I WASNT VERY CLEAR, by civil I more meant Phil looking at the very unsavoury killer roommate he got, going ‘no,’ and rebelling against the entity by refusing to remain in his own realm!

[ I'VE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS. A TOTALLY NORMAL AMOUNT jdjjdksksk ]

[ I think it's simultaneously a punishment and an attempt to keep some peace among the killers. Philip is very much an introvert that dislikes large crowds, but he also does not do well totally alone; he's prone to spiralling, mental and emotional self harm, letting his depression swallow him up and pull him in deeper without someone else around to keep his head above water so to speak. He gets paranoid when left isolated for too long, evident by his need to investigate every little disturbance he detects in Autohaven and stalk any uninvited guests while cloaked to try and deduce what purpose they're skulking around his realm for. While the Entity has concocted a great many tortures for Philip's stubborn disobedience and noncompliance, She's also learned that he's very good at torturing himself. ]

[ On the other hand, you're right in your assumption that Philip would not appreciate having to share his realm- but more in a "constant fistfights" way than a "pout in another realm" type of situation. Phil has zero tolerance for the majority of the other killers on a good mood day. The select few exceptions there being those like Carmina and Suzie (who also didn't and don't want to be killers), Rin and Sadako (who were horrifically wronged and, in his mind, are justified in their violence), and Hell's Priest and to a lesser degree Herman (those he's been forced to reevaluate his black and white catogirizing of through events in threads or in my own behind the scenes verse building.) While sticking Philip with the worst roommate imaginable would generate a buffet of emotion with the constant squabbling and physical brawls that would bring, it also has the high likelihood of breeding more rebellion; the other killer may interpret being stuck with someone that so openly hates them as an undeserved punishment and react accordingly. ]

[ Leaving Philip alone and frankly alienated, in a realm constructed of his final catastrophic mistake and its consequences, is ultimately killing two birds with one stone; keeping him in a constant emotionally agitated state, and dissuading him from hunting down and harassing the other killers. ]

[meeblo]

Once again, huge agree to basically everything you said. Gacha games, especially the most popular ones, are not at all known for their story. I shudder to think how bad the average is when people hold up stuff like Genshin as being above average. I'm very thankful that the person who got me into Arknights let me know that the story was worthwhile from the beginning. I was dubious at first, but trusting their assurance was totally right and giving the early parts of the story the attention they deserved made everything after hit even harder than it already would have.

I feel like the biggest thing Arknights' early story suffers from is that they just weren't entirely utilizing their format to its fullest potential yet. There's almost no narration whatsoever in the story at launch. Whenever an action is shown, it needs to be inserted into dialogue of characters commenting on that action. Sometimes this works, but a lot of the time it feels stilted and more like telling then actually showing anything. This, combined with less tight of localization making phrasing feel flatter, I feel is why a lot of people check out of the story early on and don't give the later episodes a chance. When they do start using narration as needed, making the phrasing of lines more deliberate and impactful, utilizing movement of the sprites and sound effects more, it all comes together. The anime was very eye opening for me. The early section of the story, while still not reaching the peaks of ep6, 7, and 8, is so much stronger when it is able to have its presentation updated. The story is roughly the same, in places recreated scene for scene, but being able to show the action and movement visually rather than awkwardly inserting it into dialogue and cutting out scenes that only served to be explanation for why you're fighting people in the level without actually advancing the narrative does wonders for it. I reread it in game after watching the anime and was shocked at just how many scenes that hit in the anime were still there in the game, but had not had any impact on me when I first read them.

I also agree that the gameplay does a really great job of melding with the story and characters. It's not every single level, but there's so many excellently designed stages, bosses, and operator kits that express the story at hand or the character perfectly. Bishop Quintus is a great example as you've already mentioned.

The music in Arknights is so good, another thing I totally didn't expect going in. Whether it's an EP for an operator with lyrics tying into their character (Standchen and Sentenced are great picks as you said), or a specific track used in game at the perfect impactful moment (Lullabye, Requiem, Wrathful Cerulean Flame, even stuff like Speed of Light at the end of Code of Brawl), the songs are not only good songs and diverse in their selection of genre, but they almost always feel like the perfect fit for where they're placed. The only exception is really going from a somber scene right into the mission success screen, but otherwise the music pretty much always fits the mood.

tags from @obsessedwithkirby on one of my posts

Glad you liked my analysis! I totally agree, it's a shame that a lot of people skip the story. I've been feeling the pain of convincing someone to play arknights only to have him skip all the story; at least I got him to try the anime.

I do enjoy the gameplay and aesthetics of arknights, but the writing and worldbuilding are what really have their hooks in me. I'm continually impressed by the breadth of the worldbuilding and variety of subjects the game touches on. Critiques and commentaries on heavy, real-life issues that take care to express the complexity of the subject without oversimplifying it or providing an unrealistic happy ending solution.