#i know i'm strong but i look weak with all this brain weirdness

[clownov]

hmm anyone else with 'severe mental illness' that will never fully go away just Constantly Embarrassed hahah just me hahah ok just me constantly seeing myself & my life from outside points of view & being embarrassed? haha not to be vulnerable or emotional but like

[laughingfcx]

SMILE FOR THE CAMERA!

02. day2.mp4

cws: as usual, weird yuta <3 implied fighting, mild injury !? somewhat graphic description of death(?) ^_^ // masterlist is linked in the title!

wc: 1.4k!

good morning, afternoon or evening, pretty! i don't know when exactly you'll be watching this, of course, but i do hope you've taken my advice and waited for the next day to watch this! if you're even alive by now, that is! some people just end up dying, y'know, it's crazy.

good morning, yuta okkotsu. wait— why'd you just wish the weird murderer a good morning in your head? is he turning you weird too?

we— i don't have a lot to do today, so we'll go shopping! i mean, i do have to get more food, and running from the authorities doesn't really classify as fun in my brain anymore.

they want to kill me again, i think... see, i'm not against them, the higher-ups, but you gotta go with the flow, y'know? stay on top no matter what. one day, i'll be on top. mark my— actually don't, who knows what'll happen? maybe i'll end up dead! hmm, cherry or peach?

he looks back at the camera.

i'm talking gummies here; my best friend liked the peach ones, but i like the cherry flavour.

a pause; yuta pouts.

if i'm being honest, i really do miss them a lot. but they just don't understand, y'know? "do good, you'll get done good." that's just not a real thing anymore. to get what you want, you have to break the rules sometimes. i guess i broke too many, and now i've basically lost all the people i care about.

the camcorder is set down somewhere, and yuta takes a step back. he holds up three packets of something called happy cherries.

how long d'you think they'll last? eh, whatever— oh, oh shit, wait—

the screen goes black. you hear hurried footsteps, probably belonging to yuta.

that'll be $14.99, sir.

here, keep the change.

thanks.

he begins walking again; his steps speed up until he's running. vague yelling can be heard in the distance before it all just— stops.

yuta comes back into frame. he is in front of a background that suspiciously looks like the sky and nothing else, and his hair whips about messily because of the wind. he barks out a short laugh, one without any humour in it, before his mouth is set in a thin line.

they're not above sending my own friends to kill me now, it seems. rika, can you hold this?

the camcorder appears to be removed from his hands; he rolls his shoulders lazily with a yawn.

too bad none of them are anywhere near as strong as me.

then he perks up.

oh! by the way, i'm flying right now! check it out!

the camera pans around to show that he is indeed moving in midair.

rika's carrying me right now, but she's a cursed spirit, so you can't see her through the camera. but if you're still watching this, that means you can see curses in general. i'll introduce you guys someday!

the camera comes back to yuta's face. he mutters something under his breath.

if they don't kill me before that, of course. but, if i'm being honest, there's probably a higher chance of you dying from... ah... natural causes in the near future than me getting murdered by my old friends.

as if he has not just dropped that terrifying bombshell, yuta continues talking with a smile.

our next stop is the convenience store near my place! i'm really craving some instant noodles right now.

unfortunately, you'll have to go in the bag now.

yuta pouts. the screen goes black after some rustling, and he begins to hum to himself. then:

salmon cod roe.

the fuck?

yuta (you assume) makes a sharp noise in his throat.

inumaki?

mustard leaf.

what are you worried about? i'm fine.

bonito flakes.

that's not true.

yuta's voice is harsh; he seems upset.

i don't want to hurt you, toge. you'd better leave, now.

bonito flakes.

the sound of a— katana? being withdrawn breaks the tense silence.

toge.

a pause.

rika!

don't move!

the two voices ring out at the same time.

with a sudden jolt, your body goes rigid, then slack. you feel... powerless. weak. you can't move. you try to wiggle your fingers, your toes— nothing. somehow, this sudden loss of bodily autonomy is much more chilling than the self-proclaimed murderer who lives in your garage-sale camcorder. the only movement right now is the steady rise and fall of your chest as you breathe; even then, it's relaxed, when you know you would be hyperventilating right now if things were under your control.

huh?

sorry, that doesn't work on me anymore.

silence. it feels like yuta and the other person— toge? are having a silent conversation.

i warned you.

a loud crash, more running.

and then— the sky clears. metaphorically, at least. it's as if you're suddenly aware of everything again, suddenly able to move.

the recording is obviously paused; the screen immediately cuts to yuta. blood dribbles down weakly from a cut above his eyebrow, and there is a bag of frozen peas pressed halfheartedly to his cheek. he looks bored.

welcome home. i mean, my home. for now. as you can see—

he shrugs.

—there wasn't much of a fight. of course, i went easy on him. even if we're on opposite— no, even if we're not on the same side anymore, he still matters a lot to me. i don't want him to die.

but i bet you still have a lot of questions about a lot of stuff. like, why am i so sure about the person i'm talking to right now? what if you were just some old guy?

see, i can explain all of that. i'm not stupid, y'know.

the atmosphere shifts, tenses—

i wouldn't encourage you to think otherwise.

—and goes back to normal..

wait, i'm too low on sugar to do this right now.

he gets up and disappears from view, before returning with one of the previously purchased jumbo bags of cherry-flavoured, cherry-shaped gummies.

i already had the other two, but it wasn't enough, apparently. it's getting late, though. i think i'll tell you everything — or almost everything — tomorrow.

until then, don't die. it'd be so disappointing if you did. i mean, i'd still send flowers to your funeral, of course! but people are so much more entertaining alive than dead, don't you think? although...

when i really dislike someone, i think the best part is when they're writhing and crying and begging to die, when they're dying but they're also not quite there yet.

the smile on his face is bone-chilling, but also oddly attractive. whoa, dude, what the hell? why'd you just think that? what is wrong with you?

yuta pops another gummy into his mouth. his eyes close in appreciation; he looks like an eager, adorable puppy, albeit a concerningly sleep-deprived one, as he chews with a truer smile than before.

mm, i think that's enough for today! as usual, watch the next one tomorrow! goodbye!

he blows a kiss at the screen and your heart skips a beat. you shut your laptop down and get up.

"rika, do you think i made the right choice with her?" yuta asks. he is holding a magazine that was published last month. it is opened to the twenty-third page, which greets him with the title, GOING ON AN INTERNET DETOX HIKE WITH MY BEST FRIEND.

he is looking at one of the pictures in particular, the only one that does not present the scenery of wherever the author went. instead, it is a photograph of two people. the author, and her best friend — you. you smile up at him — only him, he likes to think — so prettily. he really, truly, sincerely hopes you make it out alive. he thinks the two of you would get along great.

rika shakes her head vehemently with a high-pitched cry, and yuta's smile disappears, replaced by a sudden unnerving lack of emotion. "come now, rika, don't be like that. it can't just be the two of us forever."

rika makes another noise of protest; yuta waves her away before closing the magazine.

"whatever, everything will work out, won't it?"

though phrased like a question, it is obviously a statement. as if the only option is for all this to end well. and that isn't really an understatement, is it? yuta will do everything in his power to make sure it does. and the best part is— he's powerful enough to actually do it.

taglist; @stillnotherapy @fishii28 @akaakeis @chososcamgirl @essjujutsu @xnqq @mikikkoo @brideads @schioedtei @starrissm @skullvgirl @satoryaa @aozui @kameyyy @dawnisatotalqueen @nothers @sonotpattismith @babysoo-meu

taglist is open :) i can't tag the bolded usernames!

UMMM YANDERE STALKER WHAT. I DONT LIKE THIS GUYS

im so down bad for him this isn't even normal

iya memorial service gc i will never forget u ("yandere yuta can redacted redacted" — someone in gc 2024)

next chapter will have much explaining also i was Thinking and the reader is so stupid like girl do NAWT [what she will do in the future]

i once had an entire bag of happy cherries while traveling and i felt so sick afterwards 10/10 experience would do jt again

fucking neighbours are setting off fireworks i hope they explode too (they sound like b*mbs actually)

© laughingfcx 2024 do not repost translate or plagiarise

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

What did you think about Jade's role in the latest book 7 chapter? I found it hilarious how between the tweel's dreams his was more chaotic. It was also funny how they brought up Jade's motion sickness since I think the only moments it's been shown was in flight class and I think in Vil's playful land vignette after a rollercoaster ride. I'm really curious about your own highlights ^~^

Honestly, I felt pretty meh about Jade’s involvement in the Octavinelle update 😅

***Book 7 part 10 spoilers below the cut!!***

His own dream segment was alright, it got a few chuckles out of me (though as expected, we didn’t really learn anything significantly new about Jade because of the shallow nature of the dream). Jade’s crybaby dream!Azul was about what I expected, but his dream!Floyd certainly wasn’t. The goofy face on his twin… It made me wonder how Jade truly sees Floyd. Does that weird face mean Jade sees his brother—who comes off as imposing to many others—as cute and harmless? Or does that mean Jade actually looks down on Floyd and thinks of him as a simpleton who likes to eat…? It’s hard to tell (personally I like the former interpretation), but it’s been fun looking at the different perspectives of the same information.

Something I find interesting is that the twins’ moments of waking mirror each other’s usual approaches to a task. Floyd usually foregoes a plan and prefers to use his fists to get the job done. However, he is slowly roused by reminiscing about his memories at NRC and the promise of being presented with a challenge. The final blow that shocks him awake is the presentation of a dream!Azul and dream!Jade who attempt to lure him deeper into the dream. Floyd doesn’t fall for it; in fact, he gets mad instead, and that fury, so biting and clear, snaps him awake. The opposite is true for Jade. He is someone who meticulously plans before acting, and would rather control the circumstances and use other roundabout methods before resorting to violence. But ironically, the master manipulator Jade is the one who falls for his own dream’s manipulations—all because he trusts himself above all else. He only wakes up because of a very strong physical force (ie Sebek’s UM) striking him. Prior to this, Jade was putting up a very good fight and the blows be was taking were not sufficient to wake fully him. So… Floyd, the brother who prefers brawns, woke up after reflecting and experiencing strong cognitive dissonance between his fake reality and bis true reality. Jade, the brother who prefers brains, woke up after being smacked the right amount. They woke up after experiencing an intense shock related to what is essentially the opposite of their preferred problem solving strategies.

I liked seeing Jade and Floyd fight! Book 7 is showing us a lot of things that were brief off-handed mentions elsewhere (like how Rook used to be in Savanaclaw, how Lilia is a war vet, etc.). The twins having violent brawls was previously brought up in Floyd’s Beach Wear vignettes, and it’s nice to be able to view the full extent of it ourselves. Floyd was NOT joking when he said they got into serious fights…

I have mixed feelings about Jade’s behavior within Azul’s dream. I’m NOT saying any of this is out of character or that all of his moments were bad. There were lots of little standouts (like Jade’s motion sickness, the passive aggressive “Azul-san”, smashing up the restaurant, and, of course, him and Floyd grabbing onto Azul and then trusting him to make it out on his own before choosing to let him go). Unfortunately, there were just as many examples of Jade wasting time and meandering, which I was a little annoyed about. The world might be done for if y’all don’t hurry it up 😭 You do NOT have the time to casually smash plant pots or to sit idly by and go “…………” while you watch Azul act like an idiot. I know you have a bigger brain than THAT, Jade. If you already knew what Azul’s weak point was, then you should be acting on it much sooner, not wasting my time like this.

I can see the reasoning for some of this to an extent. Jade is the type of person to drag things out; he wants to enjoy the show as others struggle to attain what they desire. The problem is that this segment still feels… forced or artificially drawn out simply because of the already established pattern of “well we gotta dedicate more time to the OB boy, we have so many other novel assets and scenarios to show off!!” There continues to be so little urgency while prioritizing showing off new assets or even things that seem cool in concept but may be lacking in execution because of how fast new stuff is being thrown at us. It’s just so frustrating because it creates this domino effect where the implication is that Jade doesn’t seem to be taking the situation seriously even though he, as an individual who is skilled in reading others + pinpointing their weaknesses AND as one of Azul’s close aide, should automatically clock what would reasonably wake him. But nooooo, Jade doesn’t do it right away because HEY, we need to create contrived scenarios where he, Floyd, and Azul have to use their UMs once each. Why? Because we have to follow the patterns we’ve already established in the updates before theirs! No other reason, we’re not allowed to stray from the formula! This is even worse when you think about how Jade was somehow unable to deduce that Azul would have moved the contracts to his own room… Like shouldn’t that be the FIRST place you think of, Jade????? No??? Is this an excuse so you can waste time using your Mouse mandated UM on dream!Jade to get the location??? 🤡 Okay, I guess…

The one last thing I have to note is that I’m so glad his and Floyd’s Groovies don’t show them crying. I feel like a lot of people were anticipating that because we previously had Kalim and Rook breaking down��� However, it would be remiss to equate all the characters as being as emotional as those latter two are. (Lilia, Sebek, and Ortho were also limited story cards and none of them featured crying.) That’s not to say that I think the twins are incapable of expressing intense sadness, it’s that I don’t think they’d shed tears while attacking each other or Azul. Not crying doesn’t make Jade and Floyd “worse” or “less emotionally available”. It, in fact, alludes to the strength of the trio’s bond. It means they trust the others to be strong enough to take the hits, to fight back and to survive. The same thing is demonstrated when Jade and Floyd willingly let go of Azul and allow him to sink into the darkness, even wishing him well before they do. And to that, Azul just says the same to them (in a smug tone). These three trust each other, and that is why the twins don’t shed tears; how can they cry when they fully believe the ones they’ve chosen to spend their time with are strong enough to make it out on their own?

Overall, I just 💦 do not like the rigid skeleton of these dreams… (which I’ve already expressed before here!) I’m so tired of the same thing back to back, and no matter how many details they try to change to make it cool or feel unique, it always comes at the cost of pacing or, in this case, some character integrity being removed. xbjsvskwjekw Maybe I’m just more sensitive about this since I hate it when a smart character has to actively be dumbed down in order to progress the plot in a certain way. This is a much more subtler of a dumbing down than what book 2 did with Leona, but… It still doesn’t leave me feeling very good 😔 If anyone has played the first Ace Attorney game, this feels a LOT like that part in case 2 where Phoenix is too dumb to check the back of a receipt until Mia literally tells him to. The character has to actively be made stupider because the scenario calls for it, and that really rubs me the wrong way.

[gguk-n]

Tragic Circumstance (Oscar Piastri x Reader)

Summary- In a world where you are destined to be with someone forever, a hopeless romantic lives her life in hope of finally finding her soulmate.

Part 1 Alt ending

ENDING Oscar's POV

I felt uneasy leaving 'my soulmate' behind that day. But that was the right thing. I loved my girlfriend. We'd been together for so long. She was my comfort. I couldn't leave her for some random girl who said was my 'destiny'. I didn't look back, I didn't want to give her false hope. She deserved to find someone, someone who would love her and appreciate her; I couldn't be that someone.

I was genuinely happy with my girlfriend, now fiance. We had recently gotten engaged at a beach in Sydney. The thought of that fated soulmate of mine hadn't crossed my mind in so long, until today. The uneasy feeling was back, my heart started to ache and it was a weird kind of ache, like it knew something I didn't. I spent the next few days with my fiance and family, trying to ignore the ache in my chest. We were supposed to leave on Monday but I couldn't leave not when I felt this shitty. I lied that I missed my family and wanted to stay here for a little longer, she understood and left without me.

Today was Friday, the ache in my chest had increased and my throat was dry and constricted. I tried drinking water and going out for a walk. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know who to go to, so I went to the person I went to for all my problems, my mum. She was making dinner when I asked to speak with her. She told me to wait on the couch and that she'd be right with me. The pain in my chest kept increasing, what if I was having a heart attack; my brain had the most morbid thought. I sat down trying to control my breathing.

My mum sat next to me and smiled, "What did you want to talk about, darling?" It took a lot of effort to speak, "My chest hurts, mum. I think I'm having a heart attack" I said. She looked concerned and ready to call the ambulance asking since how long this was going on for? I replied, "a couple days, this is the reason I didn't leave on Monday." It was like a switched flipped in my mum's head. She gave me a weak, sad and knowing smile; like she knew something. She patted my chest, near my heart and started speaking "I remember when my grandma passed away, she had been sick for a few days. You'd think she was the one in pain but really it was granddad who was nursing a chest ache like no other. He prayed to stay alive until she left and had no qualm leaving with her. The day grandma died I heard grandpa wailing, she took my heart ache with her, I wanted to leave with her. In his hand lay his red string of fate attached to his pinky finger. It was like his heart knew she was leaving and couldn't bear it. He spent the next few years nursing the thread until he passed away one summer morning."

I couldn't understand why she was telling me this. I don't love my soulmate to feel these strong emotions. She gave me a hug and consoled me, "Your soulmate is probably sick or about to pass, that's why you've been like this. I know you rejected her but your connection still persists. She is still your soulmate and your heart will yearn for a love that was meant to be yours." I felt tears well up in my eyes. I looked down at my hand and saw the red string of fate severed at one end. I pulled away from my mother cradling my left hand. My mum saw my hand and started rubbing my back. "She was so young, we were about the same age." I spluttered. How could she have died? A million thoughts ran through my head. "That is a mystery we will never be able to solve, sweetheart. Let's just hope she was able to pass peacefully." my mum spoke. I buried my head in my palms and started crying. The ache in my chest slowly fading. The tears started to pour as the ache subsided. I felt responsible in a way. I shall carry this guilt for the rest of my life.

Me and my fiance got married in a small wedding a year from the day my soulmate passed. I even named our daughter after her. I never found out what happened to her, but that is a burden I am meant to carry. The red string sits in the drawer of my study table, secured in a glass box.

I hope you liked it, there's an alternative ending if you like happy ending

[justatalkingface]

for an op izuku story. it could even make aizawa’s reaction towards izuku understandable in a way. smart, powerful midoriya who came 1st in the entrance exam by a country mile, who was quick to make friends and those friends call him “Dekiru” because he can do it. maybe he couldn’t see past the shiny quirk whose only weakness is being TOO STRONG of all things. he’d still be childish and ignorant but more realistic i think. i stumbled upon your post from last year about op izuku and i thought it was a great read

You want to know the interesting thing? That's almost canon.

The thing about Aizawa's introduction to us is that he spends the entire time lying: not just at the end, where he says he was never going to expel anyone and the entire thing was a 'logical ruse'; he goes through about three different excuses for why he's even doing this: first, that they're 'too happy', which was always... deeply fucked up.

Then he zeroes in on Izuku and starts on about how uncontrolled his Quirk is, and combined with his reactions watching the them apply it makes it seem like maybe that's the reason... but after awhile All Might chimes in, and Aizawa unconsciously agrees with him, in that he's doing this because Izuku is like All Might.

The fact that he's a pure-blood product of All Might's Plus Ultra philosophy pisses him off so damn much that he goes through all this to find an excuse to try and kick Izuku out, knowing his Quirk control is terrible... and, as I've discussed before, when peak!human Izuku and his super throw outperforms a girl whose only power is invisibility, he fudges the results to put him at the bottom.

Literally, the the Quirk Test 'arc' is build around Aizawa's vendetta at All Might, Plus Ultra, and, as an extension of them, Izuku. And even if Izuku was actually the second coming of All Might, and, like All Might himself, actually able to use the Quirk from the first minute, All Might makes it clear that, no, he couldn't actually stop Aizawa from kicking out Izuku. Even though he's the Number One Hero.

Because Reasons(TM).

For whatever fucking reason, Eraserhead was given an absurd amount of power involving his students, and I don't think there's canonly anything stopping him from kicking out someone he just doesn't like, and the only reason he didn't kick out Izuku was his weird, twisted ethics that said only breaking a finger was such a big improvement he deserved to stay... and then he did nothing with the whole, 'breaking his finger' thing.

I'm not sure on the exact details, I'd need to brain storm it, but in an OP!AU where Izuku was able to actually use his Quirk I could imagine him constantly trying to test Izuku, looking to undermine him with morals and making the right choice in, like, disaster scenarios and what not (you know, that thing we had implied for five seconds before Shigaraki showed up), trying to make Izuku make the 'wrong' choice so he could have a 'good' reason to expel him, since once upon a time that shit actually mattered.

Have you read Ao No Exorcist? The way Rin was treated always pissed me off, and the fact that pretty much everyone did it kinda drove me away, but that kind of attitude is exactly what I'd imagine for this, where Eraserhead wasn't narratively made the Best Teacher and Izuku was allowed to be great, an attitude of constantly having to earn his place, again and again and again, and passing whatever the most recent test isn't proof that he's 'worthy', but that he's just barely making the absolute minimum.

You know, that, or just the energy Sir Nighteye had in general.

(Fuck Sir Nighteye.)

[7nessasaryevils]

I'm back with things that made me clutch my chest, snap my neck, scream into the void etc etc... from ep 6 of Wandee Goodday.

Settle in my loves, we're in for one heck of a ride!

- starting us off strong with Yak waking up Dee, pouting about them not being able to see each other for a week because of the training camp, THE HEAD RUFFLE AND FOREHEAD KISS.... HELP ME IM GOING TO KILL THEM

- we're also back to the elephant pants and I cannot describe my happiness at seeing Yak wearing something that makes him comfortable while being with Dee

- that whole fucking montage... look at these domestic "we're just fuck buddies" assholes. Gentlemen, you wouldn't know "fuck buddies" if they were sucking your dick....

- TOOTHBRUSHES SIDE BY SIDE

- HES WEARING THE NECKLACE

- I had to physically stop myself from smacking my head into a wall at Yak's "I see you (Dee) more than I see her (Taem)" .... insert Scar's imsurroundedbyidiots.gif

- I love the way Dee thinks that Yoryak has no weakness? He genuinely seems surprised that Yak needs to go get trained 🥹🥹 also how worried he is when Yak explains his first loss...

- here's me toasting you Khun Yak for that sex joke 🤣👍🏽

-Patpran would be so proud... BET ERA MY BELOVED (if they fist bump I'll scream... oh phooey they didn't)

- them texting each other about their day... gwenchana gwenchana 😭���😭

- I guess Oishi GreenTea is not sponsoring them 😅🤣

- Yak and Yei... just that scene...

- dee on the couch... quite obviously missing Yak... you dumbass ♥️🥺

- HE LEFT HIS PANTS THE- HE LEAVES CLOTHES AT DEE'S PLACE YOU DUMBASSES ARE SO INTO BOYFRIEND TERRITORY ITS OBVIOUS TO PLUTO!!

- that change in perspective... Golf... I see you and your masterful brain 👀👀👀

- HES WEARING THE PAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNTTTTTTSSSSSSS

- Dee making a mess on the mirror on purpose (I'm not crying I'm NOT)

- sweetheart... you're in love with Yoryak... 🥹🥺♥️

- Cher? My darling? Give Yei a really good blowjob when he comes back because your hubby is fucking SMART (also yak and yei sleeping on a bed together... adorable sibling behaviour)

- me when Yak walks outside: ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh wandee is gonna show up he's gonna show up he lost the bet he's gon- OHHHHH YAK CLOSED HIS EYES AND WHEN HE OPENS THEM DEE WILL BE THERE!!!!

- me when i turned out to be right:

- "the atmosphere here is nice." "It got even better with you here." SOMEBODY SEDATE ME!

- hey pot? I believe the kettle is calling you black.

- give me a kiss... look at these two idi-

- you know when you have to put your phone down because you cannot believe the audacity? Yeah... that's me when Yak points right to his lips. Sir. You dumbass.

- my knees just gave out

- nobody hold me back im about my plant my foot into Ter's face

- KAAAAAAOOOOOOO HI BABY!!

- oh no. Oh no no no no. This is one time I do NOT WANT a whole "oh there's only one bed"!!!!

- side note: is this what happened with Billy and Babe when they went to Japan? 🤔🤔 thank you Kao 🤣♥️

- forget my foot. I'm dropping a fucking ANVIL on this asshole's face- where does Ter get off making decisions for Dee???

- DONT KISS HIM BACK OFF STRANGER DANGER STRANGER DANGER YAK HELP!!! (edit: two mins later I was even more pissed off because Ter knows that Dee has a boyfriend, "fake" as it is, and he still tried to kiss Dee! This dickhead!!!)

- WELL DONE DEE!

- well done P'Golf!! HPV knowledge my beloved ♥️♥️

- Dee no!!! Don't think about that horse-faced dick doctor (if I had a quarter every time I said that, I'd have two quarters only... but weird for it to happen twice - fuck you Dr. Charlatan!!!)

- YAK! Come get your man!!

- I'm all for you two seeing each other again but NOT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET THATS HOW WE DIE!!! MOVE YOU DUMB GAYS! (Edit: Kay but now think of the fact that Dee is terrified of crossing the street and how easily he does it when it's Yak he's walking to...this is okay I'm okay I'm so okay)

- love and the city... p'golf you fucking genius

- kisses in the stairwell... gods they really want me to choke don't they?

- second time I had to put my phone down... Yoryak... I'm this close to drop-kicking you across the country

- my body is yours... and so is your heart you idiot get to that realization faster!!! Pat would be so disappointed!

- Kao coming in with those truths... my utmost respect for you sir 🫡🫡

- oh shit...

- TAEM YOU QUEEN YES!!

- DEE YOU DUMBASS NO!

- hats off to Cher and Yei being adorable and happy in their sex lives which includes phone sex!!! We approve!!!

- the side by side!!!! Interesting to think of it as a couple making love vs. a couple fucking but it's actually two couples in love... awww

- OYEI AND CHER LIP KISS THANK YOU P'GOLF!!!!

- Kao. Sir. I'm erecting temples in your honour. Making merit. Fasting. Praying for you to find someone who loves you the way you want to be loved. I'm doing it all for you because you fucking deserve it.

- the pink on Dee's face... sweetheart you're so in love with him 🥺🥺

- GROUP DATE!!!! And our resident idiot gays are in matching pants.... lord gimme strength

- feeding each oth- breathe Nessie breathe. The idiots know not how they hurt you.

- Yak recognizing that something's going on between Yei and Cher is such a lovely thing. Now if only he could realize stuff about himself and Dee!

- third time I put down my phone... but to cry because Yak remembers Dee's fear and holds his hand I'm fucking fine don't touch me

- oh no... Yei you got yourself mixed up with loan sharks! honey no!

- yak comparing the pics of him, Cher, Yei and Dee to the family picture... this epsiode really said we're going to stomp on your heart Nessie...

- they're still holding hands... fuck

- I'm begging whatever deity is listening to me: please don't let there be a scene where Dee tells the public about yak's secret place

- one more word and I'll kiss you... on the lips. (Okay but the fact that he says this and still thinks he might be in love with Taem makes me feel like this 👇🏽

- Yei you utter romantic sap 🥹🥹🥹🥹🫡

- the story of how Yei and Cher met... fucking fuck 😭😭😭

- and then ending it off with Dee knowing that no matter what his feelings, the fact that Yak is the only person who makes him feel at ease... FUCKING FUCKITY FUCK

this epsiode came for my whole existence and the next one... the next one is gonna have me on the floor THANKS!

[shhh-secret-time]

We need more of that Soulmate stuff! Can we get one with Stan??? I've such a weakness for our goth boy!

Oh and thank you for writing gn! It's such a small thing but it makes me feel good to read! 🫶

Of course you can! I love Stan and soulmate shit so literally any excuse! I'm glad my writing makes you feel good darling!

Warning: Strong Language, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, over use of the word skin and flesh, and a single shit excuse for poetry

Pairings: Stan x GN!Reader

The most annoying habit Stan had was chewing his bottom lip, so many things of lip balm used to try and repair his lips. Little discarded tubes of flavors that were the foulest thing he'd ever tasted, it was Kyle's idea, if it tasted bad maybe he could trick his brain into stopping the habit.

The second annoying habit was drumming his fingers on his desk, he was especially bad about it when he was younger. That was before the little marking on his skin started popping up. Little words and doodles on his forearm dancing on his skin. At first it freaked him out, he was fourteen and these weird little tattoos were popping up on his skin and then disappearing.

The third annoying habit was never learning to not go to his father when he didn't understand something. One would think after it backfiring so many times Stan would learn to go to his mother when he had questions. To his credit Randy did give him an answer. It just led to a whole ordeal of him telling the entire fucking town that his son has a soulmate and that his son was just like him when he was fourteen. It was embarrassing and he hoped that whoever his soulmate was didn't hear it.

Apparently, the little doodles and grocery shopping lists on his forearm was his soulmate’s handwriting and boy did they love to draw on their arm. Stan would be out in the football field practicing his throws when he'd feel the light brush of the pen across his arm. Which always lead to him fumbling a pass. Maybe he had to thank his coach for all the times he yelled at him because it was after one practice that he finally started marking on his arm back.

At first it was just to try and get whoever his soulmate was back. Taking a sharpie to the underside of his forearm, the big blocky letters spelled S-T-O-P. He remembers tugging down his sleeve with a grumble, thinking he would be free from the torment. Little did he know this was a declaration of war.

You were sitting in the science lab when it happened, working on your assignment when the letters appeared. Up until then you never saw something like that happen, so when it did you nearly dropped the beaker. Soulmate or not, who did they think they were to send such a passive aggressive message?! You excused yourself and hurried to the bathroom, ignoring the look of your partner. You pulled up your sleeve and glared down at bright silver words.

Stan furrowed his brows as his eyes scanned over the new message.

"Who uses a silver sharpie?! Are you kidding me?!" You hissed.

Well, you couldn't take that sitting down, could you? Your hands dug into the pockets of your pants to pull out the pen you always kept on you. Dragging the tip of the cheap pen across your skin, you wrote your little soulmate a loving note.

"Eat shit."

The font lit a fire in him as his eyes narrowed. Stan took the lid off the sharpie and drew a crude middle finger on his palm. Once he was satisfied with it, he pulled his gloves back on, maybe his soulmate didn't have gloves and would have to deal with that.

From then on Stan carried that damn sharpie everywhere. He would be in the middle of talking with his friends about something when he'd feel your words sketch onto his skin again. He would stop even if he was in the middle of something just to read whatever rude thing you'd come up with. It was Kyle who finally approached him about it.

"Dude you're gonna get ink poisoning." Stan almost missed the way Kyle scolded him, to focused on writing.

"I don't care Kyle! They're insulting the Broncos!" Stan hissed back.

"How did you even get on that topic?" Kyle rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I-...I don't know but I'm not going to just let them shit on my favorite team!" He looked up towards his best friend, Kyle could see the fire behind those blue eyes and almost chuckled.

"This person is supposed to be your soulmate, ya know? Like your forever partner."

"I know that! But it's like they know exactly what to say to get under my skin!" Stan groans as he caps the sharpie and slumps back against the park bench. "I mean...was it like this for you? You found yours recently."

The red head raised a brow at his friend, the question catching him off guard. "Hm...no? We got along pretty much instantly. Guess it helped they found me before I found them?"

Stan watches as Kyle presses a thumb into his palm. A warm smile plays across his lips as he rubs the golden letters. Rumors of Kyle and his soulmate spread quick, they were the talk around campus for a while much to Kyle’s dismay.

"But I get what you're feeling."

"You fight with your partner like this?"

"What? No! Not yet at least...I mean it's bound to happen eventually, but I mean the thing you said about their words getting under your skin." Kyle shook his head making the green straps on his head swing back and forth. Before Stan could respond Kyle held up his hand and continued. "They'll text me or say something to me and it just...feels like my heart is going to explode. The first time we kissed it felt like my skin was on fire, it felt intense. So... I think that might just be a side effect of having a soulmate. Everything is kinda turned up to eleven."

Stan just sat there and listened to him. He pushed his hands in his coat pocket and squeezed the sharpie, letting the words sink in. Leave it to Kyle to make him think about it more. Stan responds with a long sigh.

"... Maybe."

"Hey at least you can talk to yours. We had to go based off each other's thoughts...it's hard keeping my thoughts in control."

"Yeah, I don't know if I could live with that, probably end up cutting my hand off." Stan chuckles and looks down at his forearm.

Maybe he could swallow his pride a little and just take it easy. It certainly made sense now why your words were having such an effect on him. If everything was turned up to eleven like Kyle said, then maybe he needed to take a step back and try something else.

It wasn't until he was sitting in class bored again that he got the idea. He even went out of his way to use a different marker, one with a smaller point. Pressing the tip to his arm, he watched the bright blue ink bleed into his skin. Stan didn't really know what to write, it was hard to go from writing stupid insults and drawing crude things to something just mundane. He pressed his lips together and stared hard at the little blue dot until his hand started moving. Stan wrote best when it was in song lyrics or his poems.

Watercolor running down my skin.

It's supposed to feel cool but all it does is make my head spin.

You get under my skin like fire.

The tip of your pen bleeds me like sharp wire.

He pulls back and looks down at it with narrowed eyes. Stan can already feel the warm embarrassment spreading over his face and up to the tip of his ears. Quickly pulling down his sleeve again, he tried to push it out of his mind for the rest of the day. An hour went by before he felt that all too familiar feeling, it was something he was getting used to at this point. He looked down and his eyes widened in awe.

"Did you write that? It's good."

No smart-ass comment about his poetry. You didn't make fun of him for putting his words in a silly simple format. You just complimented it. Stan could feel his heart speeding up as he re-read the small sentence under his poetry over and over again.

"Yeah. I'm not good at communicating normally."

"Poetry is just easier for ya huh?"

"That or music."

"Really? You play?"

Stan grinned down as he started running out of room on his forearm, having to move to the surface of his arm now. His face getting closer to his skin as he hunches over his desk to keep writing.

"Yeah, guitar and a little bass. They're kinda similar."

"That's cool!"

"Do you play any?"

And soon his entire arm was covered in back and forths. Talking about music to whatever else the two of you could come up with. He learned about all your hobbies just as you learned his. You started keeping a little journal of all the poems he wrote you, all the little songs he'd write down across his. It was when you'd wake up to a poem, first thing in the early mornings. The sunlight caressing your entire body, wrapping you up like a hug.

The poems spoke of things like how he was excited to talk to you throughout the day. Asking you if blue was starting to become your favorite color. Did you think of him when you saw it? Things like how he was so happy to see you respond and that he thinks of you every time he strums on his guitar. You were just thankful he couldn't hear your heartbeat or see the way he made your face flush.

But there was that longing to finally see this person. You learned your partner was a he but the thought of asking him his name didn't seem to matter. It was like you'd known him your whole life, and because of him blue was starting to become your favorite color. So one night as you sat at your desk, you decided to just go for it.

"Hey. I just thought about how I don't know your name!" You had to move to writing with your non-dominate hand which made your handwriting a little shaky.

You giggled at the little doodle that came up next to your statement. It was a horrible drawing of Kirby pointing at the writing, but his face was scrunched up in disgust.

"I dunno. Didn't think about it."

You waited after reading his sentence, thinking he was going to continue. Nope. Nothing.

"Well, what is it??" You asked as you doodled next to the Kirby, a little frog wearing a hat joining the fray.

"It's Stan."

"What?! No way!"

You circled Stan's name with your pen and drew a bunch of exclamation marks. You knew a Stan; he was the quarterback at your university! He had three little friends that always seemed to follow him! He was the kid who brought a guitar to-

He brought a guitar to class sometimes.

He wrote in his notebook when he thought no one was watching.

He made your heart beat and the butterflies in your stomach flutter.

He was your soulmate.

Did he even notice you like you did him? Did he know you sat across the room from him in history? Or that you were his soulmate? Of course he didn't! He doesn't even know your name.

You break out of your spiraling thoughts when you see the blue ink across your skin again. "Pretty sure way. That's the name my mom gave me."

"You know what I mean dick! I know you! You're Stan Marsh! You live on that farm that's like an hour away from here in South Park!"

There was nothing for a while. Maybe you shouldn't have said all that, but the faster your heart sped the faster you wrote. You didn't think to slow down until you looked back at how hastily everything was written.

"You go to my university, don't you?" He asked.

"South Park college. Go cows." You doodled a little cow next to the response hoping to relief a little tension.

"Go to Stark Pond in an hour."

"What?! Dude it's like 6:30! I can't just leave this late!"

"I wanna meet you and I don't wanna wait. I'm already in my truck."

You could tell from the way the letters were spaced out and slanted. It was almost gibberish, gibberish that had your blood pumping. In a manner of seconds, you learned the name of your soulmate and you were actually considering going out. It would be around seven thirty before he actually showed up. You bit your lip and looked over at your car keys but only for a moment. When the thoughts of how he wanted to meet you were so bad he was willing to drive out again to see you. To see who you were. The fear of disappointing him did cross your mind, what if he hyped you up too much.

You knew Stan Marsh. You knew how pretty he was and how he could make a group of people follow him. You knew he had those beautiful baby blue eyes that seemed to go forever.

God you loved the color blue.

With a huff you grabbed your keys and put on some decent clothes. You waited at Starks Pond for that hour, you could have stayed home to wait but your anxiety wouldn't let you. Not the way your heart was still pounding, every minute that passed felt like agony. Pulling your jacket closer to your body, you almost leapt out of your skin each time a car would pull up; only to be disappointed when anyone that wasn't Stan got out or drove off.

When finally, a beat up brown truck pulled up next to yours. Your breath hitched when you saw movement, breathing out when you saw a familiar pair of red shoes. A blue hat that looked well-loved over shaggy black hair.

He was standing by the water looking around, he looked as nervous as you felt. Just when he thinks you're not coming do you finally find the strength, the feeling, in your legs to step out of the car. The cold air nipping at your skin, it felt like ice right now from the way your skin set ablaze. The sounds of your footsteps crunching against the snow makes him look back and his jaw drop.

"It's you."

"It's me." You respond with a little smile, your voice barely above a whisper.

Stan takes the initiative and meets you halfway, the two of you meeting on the worn out walking trail. It isn't until he steps into the moonlight that you realize he's not wearing his jacket, but you notice the ink going up and down his arms.

"You actually came. I didn't think you would."

"I almost didn't...it's cold you know." You shoot him a little smirk, changing the tone in your voice to a lighthearted tease.

Stan let's out a breathy chuckle, you can see the little puff of air that escapes his lips. He takes a step closer towards you. You can feel the heat coming off him, radiating around your body. "Yeah guess it is. Forgot my jacket."

"Were you that excited?"

"Are you kidding? Yeah! It's not fair you knew what I looked like!"

And when you giggled Stan felt himself walking on air. The way you made his heart soar from that alone. He'd never write something funny on his arm again, if he had something funny to say you'd hear it just so he could hear that laugh.

"Then I hope you're not disappointed."

"Wh... what? Of course I'm not disappoint- You have no idea how much I'm trying not to throw up right now."

"What?!"

"No! Hold on! That came out worse than I meant! I mean I'm nervous because- because you're so beautiful and-....and I'm fucking this up, aren't I?" You watch the panic in Stan's eyes as he scrambled to try and find the right words.

You broke his mind when you laughed again. If your hands didn't come out to take his he would have bolted, ran off to find hole to crawl into. Instead, your hands anchor him to that spot, your smile brings him back down just for him to get lost in your eyes.

"You do suck at communicating." You whisper and press a kiss into his cheek.

"Uh...yeah well...you're the one kissing me. So ...I must be doing something right." Stan mentally kicks himself for that comment, but he can't help that little competitiveness in him.

Stan doesn't let you get whatever you're about to say out, his lips meet yours eagerly. He knows whatever you're about to say is only going to make his face turn a deeper shade of red. When he pulls away and sees your eyes are shut and your lips still slightly parted from the kiss, he knows he's already in deep. Especially when you cupped his face and brought him in for another.

Everything felt like being turned up to eleven. Everything felt right. You felt right being in his arms like this. He never wanted to come down from this feeling and he was sure you felt the same.

[hurtspideyparker]

What do you think about Marvel's move bringing back RDJ but now as Dr. Doom. I just wondered how this would affect Peter...

At first I was like OH MY GOD ROBERT DOWNEY JR. because I just adore! him! And of course I would love him back in Marvel, cuz I'm a sap and RDJ as Tony Stark revolutionized superhero cinema. Also "new mask same task" and striking the Tony Stark T pose? Legendary stuff.

Then I actually thought about the implications and the character, and I'm just not a fan. Bringing Downey back as anyone but Tony Stark is really weird, and doesn't make sense. Feels like an insane Tony Stark+Dr. Doom plot, which they made up just to get RDJ back cuz he's the money maker. Plus Dr. Doom deserves a new unique actor, especially a Romani one. I do love Dr. Doom as an MCU villain though, if he is cast properly. If they were gonna bring a Tony variant into the MCU make him a TONY variant, using Dr. Doom isn't it. Although under different circumstances I'd love to see more of RDJ as an antagonist, he's an incredible actor (his 1998 film US Marshalls started a fire in me for him to play more villains).

ANYWAYS - ignoring all the negative stuff, let's talk about Peter Parker!

I'd like to imagine a scene where Peter is fighting Doom - he's using his usual quips, being silly. He thinks it's just another day, another villain. Doom is incredibly strong and it's a tough fight, but Peter just manages the perfect hit to tear Doom's mask off.

Then he hesitates.

While scarred and cruel, the sight is still unmistakably familiar.

"Tony?"

Doom doesn't waver, he strikes Peter with deadly and immediate force in his moment of weakness.

Peter goes flying backwards, smashing through glass and brick.

He's hurt, badly, lying still on the floor beneath Doom. Bloody and torn Doom leaves him there, a pitiful and easily distracted kid. He doesn't know what he said, nor does he care. Von Doom just squashed a bug.

Left alone, Peter suffers from the ache in his body, the hit to his ego, and the biggest question - what did he see?

He questions whether he was drugged, or having a stress-induced hallucination. It doesn't make any sense for this to catch up to him in the middle of a battle. That's usually when he's most focused and level headed.

Sure, he used to see Mr. Stark. In billboard models with goatees, in the kind smile of a professor, in the corner of his eye when walking down the street. He never thought it was really him though, and it's been years since he's been struck so painfully with memories of his old mentor.

This, this is completely different. He stared right at Tony's face as clear as day.

Maybe Peter drags himself to the nearest hero. Still bloody and bruised, but he has to tell someone what he saw. Who is there? Who can he call? Hawkeye? Bruce Banner? Daredevil? They may not know Peter Parker, but he's still Spider-Man. He has a big name, and I'm curious who's taken notice.

Personally, I'd kill to finally get a Spider-Man and Fantastic Four team up in theatres. With the FF movie coming out and Doom being a big nemesis to the team I'm really hoping we get some Fantastic Four and Avengers interactions.

Anyways. Peter warns them, or does research on his own. He obsesses over this Doctor Doom.

Fast forward, maybe Doom and Peter work together against another evil, or Doom's own invention. Or maybe they're just near each other enough to get to know one another.

Doom and Stark do have some things in common, and I think that would strike a chord in Peter. Doom is an intellectual, a scientist, he's a self-absorbed perfectionist.

Doom commends Peter on his genius, his capabilities. Offers him a deal to join him and put his brain to good use. It would hit too close to home for Peter. A kid who wanted nothing more than to be like Tony Stark, to be strong and intelligent. To have his old mentor look at him and acknowledge his effort.

It messes with Peter's head and brings up his unresolved issues with Tony. It makes him sick.

Peter Parker got erased, and now it's like he's reliving his youth and trauma in some twisted and dark remake.

Maybe there's something bigger at play here. Maybe someone is haunting him, torturing him.

Laughing at him.

[lazyvase]

TMNT LEGENDS: Class Fit Ranking 3

There are five classes in TMNT LEGENDS: cunning, might, tech, spirit, and swift. These classifications are largely inconsequential, for they don’t affect stats and abilities. All they determine is how much damage you do to an enemy, and how much damage an enemy does to you.

As such, I can rate the matchup between a character and a class purely superficially. All I need to consider is the character and the connotations of the word. We may also consider the characters they are weak and strong against (class wise) if need be.

The matches will be graded 1 through 5. 1 meaning that they should’ve been a different class. 5 meaning that they must be this class.

Today we go over:

SPIRIT

Leonardo: 5/5. Gee. I wonder if the class based specifically on this character will be the perfect fit.

April O'Neil: 5/5. Her psychic powers make her a perfect fit.

Snakeweed: 3/5. He does have the uncanny ability to live after death. He's also a bit spooky. The Might class would've made a bit more sense.

Justin: 1/5. ???????????????????????????????????????????? Kinda monstrous and weird and spooky. Laser eyeballs. The Might class would've made a twinge more sense.

Pulverizer: 3/5. I think spirit in this case is less supernatural and more "He's a little confused but he's got the spirit." In all fairness, I don't think any other class would fit him at all.

Michelangelo (Vision Quest): 5/5. In his Vision Quest journey, Mikey learns to focus and rely on his senses. This is akin to having spiritual awareness. It's perfect.

Muckman: 2/5. ???????? I guess he affects the turtles' senses. Once again another high-spirited character as he's a public superhero. His conscious has its separate identity. I guess that's rather spiritual.

The Creep: 5/5. One of the creepiest (looks at you knowingly) characters in TMNT, The Creep evokes many classic horror villains, which are often supernatural in nature. His ability to drain mutagen is analogous to soul sucking. The whispers that follow his appearances bring to mind ghosts and haunting. What lands him perfectly in the spirit class is his little mutagen shrine.

Leonardo (Classic): 5/5. Gee. I wonder if the class based specifically on this character will be the perfect fit.

April (Kunoichi): 4/5. Now, I know that you think this should be 5/5. After all, April's psychic powers are stronger than ever in season 4. However, there's more ways to look at this, namely in the Might class. First of all, her sheer power level from her psychic powers pushes her to Might. She was going toe-to-toe with Super Shredder. The Power Inside Her shows her easily overpowering Shredder's henchman. Second, Might also represents her developing skills. April's a full blown Kunoichi by this point. Her fighting prowess has never been better. Especially when she delivered The Dragon's Tail right to Tiger Claw's fur patch. Regardless, I do find it hard to argue against the psychic character being in the spirit class. I don't find it hard to be disappointed that a character's variation is the same as the original.

Bebop (Movie): 3/5. In the movie Bebop and Rocksteady are high spirited. They’re always having a laugh, having fun fighting the turtles and Casey Jones, and are always gassing each other up, "My Man" indeed. Still, with the two being more brawn than brains than ever before, the Might class would've made a twinge more sense.

Leonardo (Movie): 5/5. Gee. I wonder if the class based specifically on this character will be the perfect fit.

Leonardo (Space): 3/5. Space Leo should've been Tech class. First of all, I swear he's the one who uses the space blaster the most this season. Second, he's able to fly a spaceship all on his own, which is shown when he hijacks the scout ship after discovering Fugitoid's dark past. Third, as a big Space Heroes fan he would be (and is) geeking out over all the high tech space stuff. I'm still fine with him being spirit as I imagine his spirits were kept high with the Space Heroes esque adventure.

Pigeon Pete: 4/5. Very much a case of having high spirits. Though Pigeon Pete's spirits are high enough for him to get away with it.

Raphael (Original): 1/5. What the fuck. Not only are the turtles in the mirage not the most spiritual, but Raph especially isn’t with his temper and speed to kill. Why did they do this?

Rocksteady (Bunny): 2/5. High spirits being in a bunny costume. Call me a rubber band the way I'm stretching far and snapping violently.

Usagi Yojimbo: 5/5. Very confident and sure of himself. It would be accurate to say he has a strong, defined spirit and will. Also parallels with Leo.

Conclusion

Total Score: 3.77/5. Spirit required a lot of stretches. In all fairness, someone's spiritual abilities are much harder to keep track of. Though many characters given the Spirit class had no spiritual abilities at all. Instead more focusing on emotion.

Next time we'll go over what Spirit counters: Swift.

[lazaruspiss]

sladedicktalia??????? i am LISTENING

there's like. 5 fics. im so starved. i think theyre so hot and funny together!! im obsessed. also this got long so im adding a readmore. whoops.

SlaDick: classic enemies to lovers. they may try to kill each other half the time but they respect each other more than anyone else. OBSESSED with each other, Slade knows he's weird about Dick and couldn't care less but Dick is so in denial about it. they could both give explicit consent but be so antagonistic about it that it becomes unclear if "yes i want to have sex with you" is actually code for "die right now" and i think that's beautiful.

SladeTalia: they fucked! in canon! there was some bullshit plotline where Talia tried to give Slade Damian and pretend he was his son instead! ex fuck buddies who show up just to make each other's lives harder bc they wanna fuck so bad it makes them have stupid brain. also they're both hot as hell. i'm weak for big strong milf/dilf idk idk.

DickTalia: LISTEN TO ME. TALIA WOULD TREAT HIM RIGHT. THEY BOTH KNOW HOW EMOTIONALLY DEVASTATING IT IS TO LOVE BRUCE. LISTEN TO M- ok aside from that. Talia is someone who tried so hard to be good, to choose to be kind. She loved Bruce because she saw how hard he tried to do good in the world. Her character has gotten considerably colder over time, in huge part due to a certain writer writing about her despite knowing nothing about her, but in universe i try and rationalize it as a growing cynicism stemming from both her father's gradually increasing cruelty and Bruce's failure to support her or commit to her or to even just respect her. She hasn't been shown to have very many people in her life who she can really trust and be close to. She used to have a good relationship with Ra's, she used to have Bruce, she's even lost Damian at this point. She feels like such a lonely character to me. And I think Dick would be able to see that, be able to understand it better than most. He's always had people who loved him, people he could turn to, but he's also ended up perpetually isolated for one reason or another. Dick and Talia both feel to me like characters who are so lonely the further they get in their lives. I could see a silent understanding there. The kind of people who would be able to find solace in simply sharing a space with each other. Neither of them like to talk about what they've been through, I think they'd like to have someone who just gets it. Trauma for trauma, you know?

SlaDickTalia: several angles available here.

1) Dick deserves some sexy older lovers who would wine and dine him and also rail him within an inch of his life and also kill for him. i am not immune to the aesthetics!! to the allure of a hot older duo double teaming their young spitfire partner!!!

2) corruption arc. u know u wanna.

3) Dick's fear of abandonment x the 2 most devoted people on the planet. if they were dating nothing bad would happen to Dick again, Slade and Talia just wouldn't allow that. smth smth, couldn't get rid of them if he tried <3

4) Bruce would hate it and that's always fun :3 not that that's hard tho, Babs is like the only one of Dick's partners that Bruce liked and that's bc he wants to keep it in the family.

5) healing.... sobs...... esp when it comes to feelings around parenthood. Those three have shit to work out and i think having some company would help.

6) They all need more people time but 2/3 of them don't get along with anybody so they're kinda stuck with Dick. that kid will forgive anybody if u bat ur eyelashes and behave well enough. He's also more likely to still see them as people despite everything they've been through, and when you're a military experiment and a semi immortal daughter of an immortal terrorist... It can be hard to find someone who looks at you like you still have a chance at humanity.

7) Slade and Talia playing a Cat Vs Dog type game with Dick in the middle. I think it's funny.

[kneelingshadowsalome]

So I was wondering - is this the only version of Engel, that would truly work out with König? I'm kinda referring to the ask where he gets positive attention from a fellow female team mate. That really got me thinking. (Thanks other anon! ^^)

Imagine she doesn't run away when she sees his true colours (Great, I've got Cyndi Laupers "true colours" stuck in my head now. Thanks brain.). She also knows, that there is no fixing him and she still falls for him. Having a little itch for madness herself and not judging him for his flaws and weirdness, understanding his brokenness, the trauma behind this odd guy. But she is a mature, collected and confident woman and would not put up with his shit that much. She would be more standoffish with him, demanding a relationship that is on eye level, she knows her worth. But she means well, is caring and attentive towards him and wants to give him love. She is not afraid of him and wants to learn how to work with his issues. She thinks he's worth it, despite everything.

Maby after building trust and (if we follow the team mate thought) seeing how confident she handles work, how much she has her shit together, he could relax a bit. Trusting her and let loose a bit, looking up to her instead of looking down and having the constant urge to control and protect her. Let HER take care of HIM. Feeling safe himself for once, because he knows how strong she is and he admires that about her, despite it challenging his views of woman as fragile and in need of protection immensely.

He'd still be a maniac, you couldn't change that of course, but even the maddest of madmans should get a break sometimes. And don't get me wrong, after all, the possessiveness and controlling is his way of loving, he doesn't know better, but she would put him in his place, if he takes it too far and then he'd turn it down a notch - out of respect for her. And then he'd do it again of course. It would be kind of a Sisyphos situation with him.

I would love that for him, but maby he's too twisted to be able to allow something like that. Maby that dynamic with Engel, where he can fully live his obsessions and possessiveness is the perfect outcome for him. And in that case, I'm happy for our lovely lunatic killing machine. :)

Aaah this one gave me brainrot! Such a beautiful and wholesome take. I wrote that "strong soldier lady complimenting König and making him flustered for a change" -bit without thinking much about what would happen next…

And I’m a bit of a party pooper when I agree with that last paragraph 🥲 I think König’s need to be in control would make him want to break a strong person no matter what it takes - and by breaking, I mean manipulating, seducing and bullying them under his will.

He cannot bear the feeling that someone is a step ahead of him (even if it meant she just wants to meet on equal grounds!) König wouldn’t feel safe because his view of relationships and power dynamics is so distorted. A powerful, confident, independent woman who tries to love him in a healthy way, is a treat… and a threat.

There’s no mistake he would be in love. If she gave him compliments, gave him attention, flirted with him and showered him with a healthy dose of kindness, he would be in heaven. But boundaries? König would try to push through those boundaries every chance he gets, and he would try to find her weak spots so that he can infiltrate and start to dominate her.

He wouldn’t be physically violent with these attempts, no! But his possessiveness and manipulative behavior would go absolutely bonkers. It would drive him crazy if this green flag girl refused to play by his rules and escaped his traps or tried to “train” him in any way.

If nothing else worked, if they arrived at an impasse, König would try to dominate her through sex and his physicality. If she was willing to surrender to him and became more submissive, he would view it as a way to finally manipulate her. A-ha, she's just a brat that needs to be tamed! (Just imagine this confident, capable soldier babe slowly crumbling inside, waiting for her Austrian dom to come to her and teach her how to behave, slowly driving her to sweet madness…)

[lixenn]

HELLOOO!!! (〃＾▽＾〃) These are for Dan, Dave & Rina!!! 💖

🌼- What's your favorite thing about this oc?

☁️- What is this oc's clothing style like?

Heya there Ein! My angel! Thank you for coming in and delivering some questions 💜✨

Dan

🌼- What's your favorite thing about this oc?

This is difficult to answer because I love a lot of things about Chief. Hmmmm... I like his competence and ability to roll with the craziest bullshit. Yes, some stuff the Varia pulls will have him stumped especially when he's tired (brain takes longer to process things) but he will put his confusion and questions on the back burner and just get shit done. I'm a sucker for competent people Ein, it's one of my weaknesses 😔

☁️- What is this oc's clothing style like?

Dan isn't really a fashionable person, he prefers comfort and practicality over style. He wears the Housekeeping uniform while working (so pretty much 24/7 OTL). The standard uniform looks a bit formal, it's basically dress pants (black), dress shirt (depends on division but as Chief of Staff Dan's shirt is also black) and Varia boots. Since Dan wears his uniform a lot it kind of misleads people into thinking that it's his prefered way of dressing but it's not. His personal style is way more casual. Hoodies and sweaters, cargopants (he lives for the cargo pants, he needs the pockets so bad), mostly in earth tones. Green, brown and grey are his go to colours sometimes he mixes in some black. He still wears the Varia boots in his free time too because they are the best boots 🫡

Dave

🌼- What's your favorite thing about this oc?

My favourite thing for Dave is his complexity. He started of as just some silly comic relief with his comments in the Guide but he quickly grew into a very complicated character with lots of layers and hurts. I like how he developed into someone life like, someone who's a lot little bit broken, hiding the his true self under a mask.

☁️- What is this oc's clothing style like?

Dave also wears the Housekeeping uniform while working but unlike anyone else in the division he doesn't stick to one shirt colour. Dave exists in a weird twilight zone where nobody actually knows what his place is. He's just ghosting around in Housekeepings command structure doing whatever he likes which includes wearing all the different shirt colours of the different departments lmao.

As for personal style... It varies on mood, he often goes with punk deliquent kinda style, ripped jeans, lots of jewellery, leather jacket, fishnet, matching the chaos gremlin energy. But sometimes he likes something soft and cozy too, with oversized sweaters and slacks. Again it depends on what he feels like in the morning. Just know that Dave is pretty fasionable (unlike me and Chief OTL) and cares a lot about his appearance.

Rina

🌼- What's your favorite thing about this oc?

I love Marina's ambition and ruthlessness. She's a powerful woman, but not for her abilities in battle. No, Marina fights with words and social influence. Sweet praise, hiding dripping poison underneath. Nudging someone in the right direction with just a few comments. A manipulator in the shadows, often dismissed as just another pretty face (which she fully takes advantage of). Politics is her playground and oh boy is she winning at it.

I love strong female characters but I wanted Marina to have a different kind of strength. So yes, she's ruthless and has high ambitions, but she fulfils her desires in a social setting instead of in a fighting one.

☁️- What is this oc's clothing style like?

Marina is pure elegance. Beautiful dresses, nice pair of heels. Often times simple but still stunning. Her usual go to are dresses and skirts but she also rocks a pant suit occasionally. Colourwise she's not that picky but tends to go for warm colours over cold ones. (She's also fond of green like Dan).

oc ask game

[galaxywrites]

Yay Trans! Tomás! And Stryer/Kabal? Yippee! That being said can we get more revenant incorrect quotes? If you can

Ask and you shall receive! 😊

Stryker: So these are marvel comics

Kabal: And these are DC comics.

Tomàš, currently being swaddled with blankets and a cup of hot cocoa in hand: ... When you guys said you'd help me reconnect with my inner child, this isn't quite what I thought you had in mind.

-

Kung Lao: Is letting someone win at chess sapiosexual bottoming?

Nightwolf: Can everyone in this godforsaken group please learn the skill called "Think Before You Speak"?

Liu Kang: Ya know... it might be.

-

Kung Lao: Well please don’t let Liu Kang do anything stupid…

Nightwolf: Stupid by my standards or yours?

Kung Lao:

Kung Lao: Stupid by my mother’s standards.

Nightwolf: Smart. Liu Kang will live longer.

-

Jade, learning how to drive: What happens if I press the gas and the brake at the same time?

Kitana: The car takes a screenshot.

Tomàš: Please pull over. I’m driving now.

-

Nightwolf: What’s your biggest fear?

Kung Lao: That I’ll never be good enough for anyone.

Tomàš: Everyone hates me and talks about me behind my back.

Liu Kang: Zombies.

Kung Lao: ...

Tomàš: ...

Liu Kang: BUT they can open doors.

-

Jade: If I punch myself and it hurts, am I weak or strong?

Tomàš: Strong.

Kabal: Weak.

Kitana: An idiot, is what you are.

-

Nightwolf: I'm a nice person, but I'm about to start throwing rocks at people.

-

Stryker: In your opinion, what is the height of stupidity?

Kitana, turning to Tomàš: How tall are you?

-

Tomàš: Look, I know we don’t always see eye to eye but—

Jade: Thats because you're too short to do so.

Tomàš: ...Listen here you fucking—

-

Stryker: Just say when.

Kabal: When.

Stryker: I-

Stryker: Now or later?

Kabal: Oh.

-

Kitana: Pardon me, but it sounds like you’re questioning my authority!

Nightwolf: Not at all, Kitana. Merely your primitive methods.

-

Jade: I've connected the two dots.

Kitana: You didn't connect shit.

Jade: I've connected them.

-

Stryker as a child: I can’t wait to grow up and have cool adventures!

Stryker now: I can’t wait to go to bed.

-

Tomàš: I feel like I can be myself around you.

Jade: You’re weird and quiet around me.

Tomàš: Yes.

-

Kitana: Nightwolf said its my turn with the brain cell.

Jade: Square up.

-

Tomàš: I can’t do this, it’s against my moral compass.

Nightwolf: YOUR MORAL COMPASS IS A ROULETTE WHEEL!

Tomàš: …Your point?

-

Liu Kang: You look mentally ill.

Tomàš: I am. Let’s go.

-

Kung Lao: Oh, fiddlesticks! That really ruffles my feathers!

Tomàš: Please, just say fuck.

[p-perkeys]

Hi hello it’s me again with head cannons :

So regarding the whole Scout/ Honey Badger thing for Gabby. Do you wanna know what would have been a better story line then what was in the comics?

If Bellona had “come back” to Gabby and Laura. She wouldn’t say where she had gone or why she was sporting those new scars and looking like she was dead inside but Gabby was just too happy that she was back and Laura knew a thing or two of keeping secrets because that feels better than admitting weakness.

During the time that they were together they still have the adventure with the robot clone and instead of Gabby being the one who gets attached it is surprisingly Bell. Because she understands. She knows what it’s like. To be a number. To be less than human. To have metal inside you that you do not want and to not heal.

SHE is the one who gets angry. Who gets attached. Who wants to name the robot who has her face (her sisters face. How many of her sisters have died? How many of them looked at her with those same dead green eyes?)

She doesn’t have a code name. Not like Gabby who received a name from their brother, a man who Bell does not trust or like (he looks at her with a softness that she does not want to call pity but it is the only emotion she can think of when he stares at her) and Laura had chosen her name to honour the man she was cloned from.

But Bellona? She does not choose a hero name because she is not a hero. She was a killer. An assassin. Not a person. An animal on a leash who has been sent to spy on woman she has been cloned from to keep her fellow clone safe.

But when this robot woman bleeds and stares at her with pleading eyes that looked so much like her many dead sisters, she can help but think that she needs to honour the nameless sister clone that she killed by pressing that button. And all the other robot women in that wear house too.

So she brainstorms. She looks at the armour she had stolen and comes up with a name. Something she has never dreamed of doing.

She has a designation. Something they used to call her. Those men in white who would bark orders at her and her fellow clones. Something used to dehumanising the nature of her being a clones weapon.

She has a name, Bellona. Chosen by and with her sisters. They had decided that they were going to have names. Like real people. And that they were sisters. The horrible scientists may have mocked them by calling them The Sisters but that was what they were in the end. Sisters.

And now, now she will be Scout. She will take this name. She will used it. Hold it close as she works towards finding away to snap the leash that chokes her.

She will protect her little Sister Gabby. She is the only one out of their ten sisters that Bellona has left. It is up to her to protect her.

And Bellona will protect X-23 from those who seek to use her and do her harm too.

Because at the end of the day, Bellona is a Sister. A cloned sister. If she doesn’t track down and find these other clones, other weapons of men in white coats, and protect them then she is not worthy of her title of being a Sister.

She will be Scout. She will find her sisters. She will save them all.

Hello, friend <3 I love to see your headcanons! I'm so sorry for the delayed response </3

As always, your brain exhibits nothing but geniuses. Let's divulge, shall we?? *takes your hand and plummets off the cliff of canon into the valley of what should've been*

I love the idea of Bellona coming back.

She goes with them after watching Laura kill Kimura, which also isn't long after she watched Zelda get killed too. And sure, even though Kimura was Laura's tormentor first, Bellona can't shake the weird feeling of grief that clings to her. She belonged to Kimura too, even if only for a moment, and even if Kimura only saw her as some distorted version of her beloved little Animal. But even though she feels a nauseating blend of grief and guilt over Kimura, she also feels a strong force of comfort radiating off of Laura. Laura... the person Bellona should've been. Laura, the opposite of Bellona. Black hair in contrast to white, green eyes in contrast to red. Laura with no scars, at least not visibly. Laura who saved Bellona in ways she didn't know, all by holding Kimura down in the water. She doesn't tell them where she got the new scars or why she looks emaciated and older than her years. As you said, Gabby was happy regardless of this, and Laura? She understood.

Bellona and the robot clone do have a lot in common, and Bellona realizes it immediately. Just a number. Less than human. The robot clone, like Bellona, also isn't a feral mutant. They're both in genetic limbo. In ways, Bellona envies the clone who looks like all her other sisters. To feel nothing must've been better than feeling the rage that burned inside her.

But the clone isn't all bolts and wires. She has soft skin and rosy cheeks. She's human a little, isn't she? Just like Bell. Just like the others who died. Like Zelda. And it isn't right. It isn't fair. It never has been. Cursed with mortality, Bellona knows her fate as well as she knows the clones. Does it ever end? Or are they the only ones who will end?

Bellona doesn't have a code name because she isn't a hero and she isn't on a team. No one looked at her endearingly and hand picked a title that picked her oh so perfectly. And she didn't pick one for herself because 'Bellona' is vacant enough to represent the things she feels she is. It's not a name her mother cooed. It's not a name a school teacher called out lovingly. It was only a branding. A logo. A way to tell her apart from the other copies when their numbers got mixed up. Something her sisters came up with that was mocked by the men and women in lab coats. Prior to meeting the cloned robot, Bellona never even thought it necessary to have an alternative name.

And then the clone dies. She's part wires and bolts, but she's part human too. A lot, actually, based on all the blood. It's confirmation. She was real. A real girl. A real body. A real soul. A real sister. Another one, gone. Another one, lost. Forever. No name. No legacy. She was there and then she wasn't. Bellona doesn't want the same fate for herself.

Maybe she's more human than she thought she was too.

In the height of unprocessed emotions, Bellona desperately claims the codename Scout. It isn't a loud moment, not proud or boastful, but sad and sick and horrified. She won't let them win. Them, being anyone. Them, being all of them. It's her and her sisters against the world, and she'd use every minute of her undoubtedly short life to avenge them all.

She'll protect Gabby, as she had once set out to do. And she'd honor Laura too. Her sisters didn't die in vain.

The robot - the sister - didn't die in vain.

The name itself, Scout, has multiple meanings. Bellona takes a liking to this one: making a search for someone or something in various places.

She would find herself.

She would find herself.

She would find herself.

[cephalog0d]

20 questions for fic writers

Thanks for the tag @babblingbookends!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

89! (tbf a lot of them are drabbles XD)

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

62,284. Higher than I thought!

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Mostly Batfam, occasionally branching into other DC, occasionally gift fics for others and original work.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Bomb Sing Se (arguably the fic that got me to actually write and post things instead of just keeping stuff to me and a couple friends)

Comfort Food

Bower Birds

Relation

Bat Math

5. Do you respond to comments?

Absolutely! I try to respond to every comment I get, I appreciate every single one so much.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Well Relative Velocity is the only time I've ever used the "Hurt No Comfort" tag so.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Most of what I write is silly humorous nonsense so I think most of them are happy endings? I like the fluffy siblings ending on Midnight Snack a lot.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not anywhere I've ever seen it, luckily!

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Nah, not really my thing.

10. Do you write crossovers?

I've done fandom fusion ones like Venom!Steph but I don't know if that counts as a crossover since it's still all characters from one setting, just with setting elements from another property.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of, luckily!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of, but that would be super cool!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Not yet! But we'll see. :)

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Uhhhhh I'm gonna say Leverage OT3? (I don't really have a lot of strong "this is my thing" ship opinions.)

15. What's a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

*quietly sliding my giant WIP/fic idea spreadsheet under the rug to hide it* I have too many. So, so many.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I like to think I'm good at the banter thing. I really enjoy writing back and forth dialogue, especially for humor, but also for serious conversations. It's often the part I think about the most and spend the most time on. (I think I'm also pretty good at world building stuff, but that doesn't always come up with fanfic.)

17: What are your writing weaknesses?

The focus to finish plotting/writing long stories is definitely one I'm not great at. I have the ideas, but my brain sees another shiny new idea and goes "but what about that". It's something I'm working on.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

It depends? For one thing there's the whole thing of having the knowledge/resources to actually have accurate translations, which may or may not be difficult to do, but also I think it depends on who the POV character is. If you put in dialogue in another language people can look it up and see what it means, so it can be a fun way to have a little easter egg that the audience knows and the POV character doesn't, but if you don't want to give stuff away it's better to just say they're speaking X language, or maybe POV character recognizes a word or two but not the whole statement.

19. First fandom you wrote for? 

Batfam stuff is what made me actually start interacting with fandom instead of being a weird internet lurker talking to my friends about things I like so.

20. Favourite fic you've written?

Oh boy, I don't even know...I'm gonna say Finders Keepers because I really love that AU and that's the one that started it.

And that's that!

No pressure tags for @outtoshatter @2dents @teleportationmagic @kayrielwrites @sepia-stained-sunset !

[catierambles]

"Ask you somethin'." Sy said, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Shoot." Annalisa said, still looking at her computer monitor.

"How have you been gettin'....you know?"

"Blood?" She asked simply, looking at him and he nodded.

"Not from me, right?" He asked and she shook her head. "Who, then?"

"Donors at the club."

"There are people who volunteer for this?"

"Yeah, apparently it feels really good."

"Any dudes?"

"Sometimes." She said and he paused, "No, Sy, I didn't sleep with any of them. It was a transaction, nothing more."

"What about..."

"And I didn't sleep with any of the women, either."

"Where do you...uh, take from?"

"Babe."

"What?" He asked and she sighed, pushing up from her chair to stand in front of him.

"If this makes you uncomfortable, we don't have to talk about it."

"I started it and I'm curious." Sy said and she nodded.

"Brachial artery, in the bend of the elbow."

"Not the neck?"

"Too personal." She said, "Besides, the angles are weird with the neck."

"How so?"

"Well, straight on is the jugular vein and venous blood is..." She pulled a face, "Bitter, and sour, and kinda sludgy. Blech."

"Okay."

"But closer to the wind pipe is the carotid artery." She said, "Arterial blood is sweeter, lighter, and it flows better."

"Okay..."

"But in order to get at that, I would need to take a different approach."

"How's that?" Sy asked and she reached up, running her fingertip down the side of his neck.

"Jugular." She said and and moved around behind him. Her fingertip ran over his skin again, this time closer to his throat and he swallowed heavily. "Carotid. I'd have to be behind them in order to reach the carotid easily and they'd have to be sitting in front of me with their back to me. A little too intimate for my liking."

"But you..." He swallowed again, "But you take from the elbow?" Her hand slid down his arm, her fingers wrapping around his and she lifted his arm, keeping it straight.

"Here." She said, running her fingertips over the thin skin in the bend of his elbow. "Brachial artery. There's another artery that's easy to reach, but it's very personal."

"Where is it?"

"Femoral artery." She said, "Inner thigh. I'd literally have to be between their legs to reach that one."

"Ah." He said, memories of her looking up from between his legs running through his brain. "You've never done that with me, right?"

"I already told you I've never fed from you."

"But if you were uh...down there, would I notice?"

"I would be doing other things that divided your focus." Annalisa said, "But like I said, I've never fed from you."

"Switchin' gears." He said, his voice a little tight. "If you take from the artery because it tastes better, how do you keep'em from tappin' out after a couple minutes?"

"Two things." She said, letting go of his hand and moving back around him, "You know how a snake's fangs work with the venom?"

"The fangs are hollow, yeah?"

"Same deal with mine." She said, "I have two sets of glands at the back of my throat where my tonsils and adenoids used to be, one set contains a very weak muscle relaxer, and the other a very weak anti-coagulant. When my fangs register pressure, the glands contract and the compounds are injected, for lack of a better word, into who I'm feeding on. The muscle relaxer keeps them from tensing up, and the anti-coagulant keeps it flowing. My saliva, on the other hand, contains a very strong coagulant and anti-septic. I take what I need, I run my tongue over the wounds, the coagulant in my saliva overpowers and cancels out the anti-coagulant I injected, and the anti-septic cleans in the wounds to bar against infection. Their body breaks down and disposes of whatever is left naturally."

"Oh."

"And you remember how you got all loopy when you were taking those muscle relaxers that time you tweaked your back?"

"Yeah..." He said and she gave him a pointed look, "Ah."

A few weeks later and he looked up from the game on TV as she walked through the living room, her heels clicking on the floor.

"Where you headed, babe?" He asked.

"Tempest." She said and he paused.

"That's the new place that opened downtown, yeah?" He asked and she made an answering sound. "You gonna...I mean, is anyone donatin' tonight?"

"Probably." She said and he paused again.

"Oh." He said, looking forward again and heard her sigh before she came around to slide into his lap.

"Hey." She said and he wrapped his arm around her waist. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

"It's no different than you going out for a burger." She said and he nodded. "You're the only one I want, now and forever, but I can tell it makes you uncomfortable, so I won't ask you."

"'Preciate it." He said and she pressed a soft kiss to his lips before sliding off his lap again.

"I'll be back late, you don't have to wait up."

"Still will."

"I know." She said and he heard her leave, the front door locking behind her. He gave it an hour, the longest hour of his life, before he got up, getting changed out of his lounge clothes and into a nicer pair of jeans and a clean t-shirt. His boots were scuffed, but they would have to do.

He stood in line at the club, knowing he was getting looks from the other patrons as he didn't really look the scene with his leather jacket and ball cap. Leather, fishnet, studs, and spikes was the standard fashion. He finally got to the bouncer, who gave him a once over.

"Will you be donating tonight?" An innocuous enough question if you didn't know the weight behind it, but he did know.

"Yeah."

"Patron?"

"Annalisa Caulfield." He said and got another once over before the bouncer shrugged, grabbing a vibrant purple elastic wristband that kind of looked like a smart watch or a fitness tracker.

"Okay, then. Wear this. When it vibrates, head to the VIP section. Someone will be there waiting."

"Thanks, man." He said and slipped it on, heading into the club. The lights immediately made his retinas sting and the driving music pounded into his temples. Really not his scene. Not really hers either, but she did what she had to. Probably wouldn't find many volunteers at a sports bar.

Sy stood leaning against the end of the bar, sipping at a neat scotch when the wristband started to buzz against his skin. Setting the glass down, he moved away from the bar, heading to the back where he saw more bouncers. Holding up his wrist, he showed them the band, and they opened the door to the back area for him.

"For Lady Caulfield?" He was a squirrely looking guy, short and skinny.

"Yeah." Sy said and got his thousandths appraising look for the night.

"Okay." He said, "If you'll follow me, you'll join the others."

"Others?" He asked as they walked.

"Yes, there are about five others who have volunteered to be her donor tonight. She makes the final decision."

"Oh."

"When--if she doesn't choose you, you are to leave immediately. No arguing, accept it and go."

"No problem, man." He said and the guy shrugged, leading him into another with a few others. Again, he felt very out of place among the dark velvet and brocade, the appropriately dressed club-going donors giving him yet another once-over.

"Lady Caulfield will be in in just a moment." The guy said, "Again, if you are not chosen, there are to be no arguments or you will be removed." Sy got the feeling that that was directed at him and he sighed, leaning against the wall as the guy left. A sort of nervous energy ran through the room that missed him entirely and he looked them over, wondering if there were any repeats among them. None of them seemed her type, but then they probably thought the same about him. Another door opened and she walked into the room.

"Good evening." She said with a pleasant smile, "I want to thank you all for your interest in being my donor and--" Her eyes settled on him and he pushed away from the wall, taking his cap off and tucking it in his back pocket. There was a pause where she just blinked at him before she started laughing. There was some confused giggling from the others, a couple of them giving him more than a passing glance this time around. He met her in the middle, her arms sliding around his neck as his hands wrapped around her waist.

"Hey, baby." He said with a smile, "Have I mentioned how much I love you in this skirt?"

"Ladies and Gentleman, thank you again, but I've made my decision. Have a nice night." Her eyes didn't leave him as she spoke and he saw the others leave, whispering to each other and giving them looks.

"Lady Caulfield?" The guy was back and seemed shocked at her choice.

"Martin, this is Kyle Syverson." She said, "My other half."

"This is Sy?" Martin asked and she nodded, still smiling, biting down on her bottom lip briefly.

"Buddy, I know you probably don't have control over it." Sy said, "So I want you to pass this on to who does. Take her off the patron list, no more donors."

"Sy?" She asked.

"She ain't gonna need'em." He said, "Now or ever again."

"You son of a--" She pulled him into a kiss that made his eyes close, his arms wrapping around her waist and his hands pressing into her back. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Let's go home." She said, "The back rooms of a club is inappropriate for what I have in mind for you."

"Yeah?"

"Fuck, I need you naked."

"Baby, you know I love it when you get needy." He said and pressed another soft kiss to her lips, seeing how her pupils had blown wide, her fangs peeking out from under her lips. "Yeah, lets go home."