#i need to think of a backup plan but brain is refusing to work

[ununotter]

i remade this old gif because i wanted to put it in my next class presentation, then i cut it from the presentation slides cause i thought it was getitng too long and off topic, then i had a minor breakdown over the presentation itself and had to message my teacher to ask if the topic i picked was okay after all

so really me and this clip of Wada have been through a lot this evening and i'd appreciate it if you appreciated it

[kiwibirbkat]

You can pry Marcy streamer AU from my cold dead hands

Marcy Wu Streamer AU!

Started streaming as a backup while waiting for her webcomic to blow up

When their account gained traction they used it to help advertise their comic

They do both for a living now

They game on it and sometimes do vlog type streams

She does a lot of charity streams (angsty charity week fic anyone???)

Annual subathons

Lives with the girlfriends (Anne and Sasha)

Sleep schedule? Non-existent!

Anne and Sasha are fan favourites even if they do end some streams early to force Marcy to sleep

She does sub only drawing streams for their comics especially after a hiatus

Or they do public drawing streams of intermission episodes

Anne and Sasha sometimes come onto a stream with them

Marcy has a lot of guilt from Amphibia still :(

(And scars)

Not fully disabled but they need a walking aid sometimes and a wheelchair if the pain gets really bad

They still have traces of Darcy her head but they can't control her they just give advice

Or complain that Marcy won't kill anyone

They can't go to Amphibia but they can call/text through dimensions since Anne gave sprig her phone and Polly figured out how to make more

Marcy refuses any type of therapy (they don't think they deserve help)

But she will break down crying in their girlfriend's arms sometimes

She/they (realized she liked they/them pronouns after everyone referred to Darcy as they seeing as they were multiple minds)

Anne has a pet cat that looks like Domino and she lives with them

Marcy has that gaming posture (atrocious)

They post all of their VODs on YouTube

Marcy has crocheted all of them plushies of their family in amphibia (Sasha with Percy, Braddock and Grime, Anne with Sprig, Polly and Hop-pop, and Marcy with Olivia and Yunan (and a secret andrius plush that they can't look at most days))

None of them have their powers but they do have traces of energy, which is why Darcy stays in Marcy's head instead of just shutting off

Marcy dyes some of her hair green in reminder of when they had cool anime powers

Also, she's worked a lot of aspects of Amphibia into their comic so they have an excuse to make Amphibia merch

Marcy speaks Spanish, French, Italian, Chinese, Thai, Portuguese, and Ukrainian and voice over all of their streams in these languages to post them on their separate VOD channels

Most of their fans are worried about her because she's always up so late

They're trying to learn more (Greek, German, Russian, ect.)

Because of Darcy and her wit powers they learn easier (super brain)

All of her fans theorize on why them and their girlfriends went missing for like a year seeing as frogvasion has been wiped from the media

The calamity trio know most of the Disney protags (Dipper, Luz, Molly, Star, and the other people in included in those franchises)

They all live in the same world (-star, Marco and Tom but dimensional scissors yk?)

Luz reached out to Anne for help building a portal, Dipper and Mabel met Molly while ghost hunting

They have all separately run into Star while researching energy levels that came from Stars weird dimensional travel

Therefore Marco added them all to a discord server and the rest is history

They sometimes guest star on Marcy's channel

June has programmed Marcy a game before

Sasha is planning to propose (shhh don't tell Anne and Marcy)

Marcy has cut contact with her family (I don't care what cannon says her parents aren't good people)

(She would not cling onto any sort of affection this much if their parents loved them)

(Fight me)

Marcy hates going to the doctor or bathing (the bath reminds her of the rejuvenation tank and she just generally distrusts the government after Anne told them about the whole thing with Mr X)

The only doctor they trust is the dentist for some reason???

When asked Marcy just shrugs

And the vet but they aren't the one getting tested at the vet and she cares about Domino 3 too much not to go to the vet

Marcy Wu=autism

Marcy has severe anxiety

Marcy has depression

Marcy streams from bed sometimes just because they're in too much pain to walk and their girlfriends aren't their to put them into her wheelchair but she has that grind set for their stream dates

Marcy has crocheted enough Olivia and Yunan plushies to give a small army

They give them away during giveaways as beta designs for some of her characters

[lemonmatronics]

I cannot hold it in any longer—

I have been having so much fucking Brainrot over Bluster’s family line and I like, CANNOT stop thinking about them and need to get the brain puddle out there

I’m fully convinced that basically everyone that was ever leader has some sort of sibling issues going on or at least some baggage that they make an attempt to cover up. And because they cover it up it just repeats every single time

Keep in mind that literally every single bit of this is based off NOTHING and I am literally just making it up, but I LOVE royal drama sooo :P don’t be shocked

Anyways I believe that old dead Bluster isn’t the only look-a-like here and that he had a sister. You already know where I’m going with this. Doubt she had the same name though, obviously.

So Robbie Lookalike is the older sibling of the two and next in like for leadership. In fact she actually does have a brief reign that doesn’t even get to last a year. Her plans as leader to attack and once in for all destroy the Care Bears, as their conflict is only growing.

Dead Bluster believes this is the worst way to handle this, and tries to plead with her to stop these plans, fully believing all out war could destroy their entire society. (Which for the time,, yeah. They’d get cooked) But she does not listen, shaming him for not wanting to defend his people.

Conflict only rises before between the two until Dead Bluster feels like he has no choice. He has to keep her from attacking the bears.

The fight between older sister and younger brother breaks out. Neither of them wanted death. Despite the fights and disagreements, they both still loved each other. But in both of their eyes it was now down to one life vs the many, and only one remained.

A week later the peace treaty was signed.

Fast forward further into the future, two twin girls are born. The patterns on their fur fitting each other like gloves.

Their family so happy to have Nad and Mona both. But as twins, only one could take the throne while the other was left behind. A mere backup.

As they grew up Nad was the more proper of the two sisters, keeping composure when needed and handled things with smarts. Mona, however, was not like her sister. She did not want to learn what was already known, she looked for things to discover. The nosey child never knew when to stop pushing for answers.

Nad was the one chosen to be trained and cared for as their future leader while Mona was pushed away into the shadows. Praise be the child prodigy to one day lead them, Mona couldn’t even feel jealous.

At first she was thrilled at the news, happy her sister would take the burden of ruler instead of her. But as the family pushed her way further into the dark, she only found more. Answers to questions she never asked, faces of the dead revealed to be liars.

If they had cared enough to keep her occupied she never would have found that room. Hidden behind the walls, door covered to look as if it never existed.

She did not tell a soul what she saw for years.

Everything inside was burnt to a crisp, almost everything was ash and charred. She could only identity two items. The large, framed, shredded painting that laid flat on the ground. The wood work around the unrecognizable portrait all to similar to the ones used for the portraits of for her family’s royal line.

As she lifted the dusty, charred image, she found a folded note underneath. Protected by the destroyed painting.

Her family noticed the sudden change with her, none of them understanding why Mona suddenly insisted that she was better fit to rule. Her sister being bombarded with the demand to break the peace treaty the second she was in charge.

Nad didn’t understand why her sister wanted this, she never gave a reason, she only commanded her sister either do as she says to hand over her entire future.

Both demands that Nad refused to meet. As calm as she was, she was no coward. She would not give up everything she worked for for something her sister wouldn’t even explain her reasoning.

But how could Mona speak up?

She would simply be erased too.

Years went by like this, closer and closer to the day Nad would be announced as their new ruler.

Nobody knew why it was Mona that showed up that day. Nobody knew where Nad had gone. Despite the fact she was one step closer to completing her goals, Mona did not smile once that day.

The new queen was not stupid, she realized over the time of her waiting for the throne, that her people were not suited for a war. Only the ones with the same blood as her had powers. And as cruel as they may be, they were not fighters. The Bear’s magic was too strong.

Mona ushered in an new era of progress. She poured everything she could into the technological progress of her home, to utterly fantastic success.

Harnessing bad seeds into a source of magic, using bad vibes themself to power their entire society, weapons galore being created as she funded almost all of it.

It was perfect. Everything she wanted it to be. Creative minds all across the bad crowd creating machines and finding discoveries that would not only help them with war, but the basic living of her kind as well.

Within mere years everything changed for the bad crowd. And she did not see the finale of it.

Mona did not get to break the peace treaty herself, murdered beside her husband before her plan came to fruition.

However, as boss, it was the very first thing her son did.

[iviarellereads]

Artificial Condition, Chapter 5

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For the link index and a primer on The Murderbot Diaries, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

In which Murderbot has to trust.

MB meets the humans at the embarkation zone, with its mostly superfluous knapsack. The main thing it needs is the comm interface from Art installed in a compartment inside its ribs, which will maintain contact even from down on RaviHyral proper, to take the place of the HubSystem and SecSystem it's used to.

The three humans we met are all being seen off by their collective, which is registered as a group marriage. Once the others leave, MB approaches the trio. Rami is optimistic that Tlacey bought them passage on a public shuttle, but MB knows it's a terrible sign. It has Art scan the shuttle, but it detects no anomalies, which just means any explosive is inert for now.

The only human crew is an augment(1) who just checks for shuttle passes, the transport is driven by a bot. MB immediately wrestles for control of the security system, which isn't directly linked to the driver, despite that being the norm.(2) The augment says there are only three registered, but when MB doesn't respond, Tapan says it's their security consultant, and the augment checks the voucher again, but doesn't argue the point.

MB gets control of the ShuttleSecSys, and refuses to let it notify the driver or human that it's compromised. None of the passengers look like threats, but MB wonders if they plan to shoot the shuttle down from the moon once it's underway. Art acts suspiciously, and on questioning, admits it has a debris deflection system. MB knows the only way to deflect debris like that is using weapons, but Art is still cagey about it.(3)

MB has the ShuttleSecSys inform the driver bot that it's authorized by transport ring security, and the driver pings MB happily. The augment is in the cockpit, but not as a pilot, just reviewing her social feeds and doing admin tasks. MB would love to sit back and watch a serial, but it has a hunch, and keeps monitoring the bot pilot.

Then twenty-four minutes forty-seven seconds into the flight, as we were on approach, the bot pilot screamed and died as killware flooded its system. It was gone before ShuttleSecSys or I could react; I flung up a wall around us both and the killware bounced off. I saw it register task complete and then destroy itself.(4)

This leaves about seven seconds until the shuttle crashes. MB calls for Art, and nudges ShuttleSecSys, which sets off the cabin alarms. Art asks for MB to let it in. It's not sure it wants to give Art full control of its brain, but with just three seconds left to save the shuttle, it has no other choice.

It was like the sensation humans describe in books as having their heads shoved underwater. Then it was gone and ART was in the shuttle, using my connection with ShuttleSecSys to leap into the void left by the erased bot.

Art manages the controls and guides the shuttle into the RaviHyral main port. The augment hails the Port Authority, who could upload emergency landing protocols, but none of the humans could have saved the shuttle in time.

Rami touches MB's shoulder and asks if it's okay. MB replies with a terse yes, then thinks better, and says it's got sensitive hearing. Rami nods sympathetically. Nobody else notices anything unusual except the alarms.

Still in the cockpit, the augment explains to Port Authority that the pilot bot is gone, and she has no idea why the shuttle is following its route and not crashing. When ShuttleSecSys starts trying to scan Art, MB quietly takes it over, turns off the alarms, and deletes the whole trip from its memory. The passengers murmur with relief.

MB asks Art to send an error code to Port Authority, who assign a new berth on the emergency dock. MB figures better safe than sorry, if there was a backup plan for the killware not working. Maro eyes MB suspiciously, asking if it knows what happened, but MB remembers it can hedge now, with this persona, and says they'll discuss it off the shuttle.

Art lands in the emergency dock, and erases all traces of its presence.(5) Emergency services personnel are present, though thankfully unnecessary. MB herds its clients out before anyone can think to stop them.

MB tests the security as it finds an open area with no recording devices it can detect, and tells the team Tlacey just tried to kill them, and MB's friend loading a new pilot module is the only reason they're alive. MB suggests they could go back to the transit ring, a public shuttle leaves in eleven minutes that Tlacey shouldn't have time to trace them to and hijack, but all three decide to stay.

MB tells them they can't go to the meeting. Tapan says it's their only chance, but Maro hushes her. Rami asks what else they should do.

MB thinks how they don't have to be its problem anymore… but they're its clients. It couldn't bring itself to abandon the clients it didn't choose, when it was still company property with its hacked governor module, it's certainly not going to leave the clients it chose to sign on with.(6)

It suggests they pick a spot and make Tlacey come to them. It's at least a tiny bit safer than the original plan. They pick a fast food place, notify Tlacey of the change, and wait. MB infiltrates the public area's security, which isn't much more difficult than the shuttle was, and focuses on the area around it.

In the mean time, it's going over the publicly available maps, looking for potential Ganaka Pit locations in the missing and misleadingly cut off areas. It also notes that Art was correct, and SecUnits are available for contract here. They wouldn't come through the human areas, but the people would have seen them. And, worse, if a SecUnit saw MB, it would absolutely recognize it, even with the alterations, and be obligated to report it by their governor modules.

That's about when MB feels the ping. If its governor module weren't hacked, it would have been compelled to answer. Something is looking for SecUnits, specifically, nearby.

Three humans approach the table. Rami remarks in the feed that Tlacey herself came. One of the men comes closer, and MB stops him, noticing that he's armed. He asks who it is, and Rami says it's their security consultant. The man looks back at the others, uncertain. MB doesn't move, thinking it has clear shots at all three, but not even augments have energy weapons in their arms, so using them would be a dead giveaway.

MB takes the moment of diverted attention to look in the security cameras for what's pinging it, and finds… a sexbot, officially ComfortUnit but essentially sexbot. Walking around in human areas, where it shouldn't be any more than MB should, if working properly.(7)

Art pokes MB out of its reverie about the sexbot, to catch the discussion. Tlacey asks the team why they need security, MB tells them in the feed to not answer that, stick to business, on another hunch that Tlacey's expecting an angry confrontation after the murder attempts. The team has an advantage they should press it.

The team acknowledges, and says they want the files back, as their deletion wasn't part of the contract, but they will agree to returning the signing bonus as requested.

MB keeps one part of its attention on the negotiation, and the other on scanning the local public feeds' archives from around the time of its incident here. With Art's help, it also notices two more augments, in addition to three other people at different tables around the facility, showing calculated disinterest in the negotiations.

In the feed archives, MB finds a hint at the route to Ganaka Pit because of a transport line that had closed abruptly, without the usual bankruptcy filings of such events.

The conversation concludes, and Tlacey leaves. The team is upset. Tlacey promised to come back tomorrow, but Maro says there's no reason she couldn't hand over the files immediately. MB suggests they go talk about it somewhere more private. As it guides the team, one of the potential threats follows them.

MB sets up a trap for the threat while the humans go into the lobby of a hotel they can't afford, but that promises high security. Two more humans have joined the threat, and MB now reframes them all as targets.(8)

MB waits, unobtrusively, until the targets get close to the team, then strikes when their guard is down, as they think they've accomplished their mission. All simple humans, even armed they stand little chance. The team is lowkey horrified at the targets, and the violence MB inflicts on them. MB nudges them to go wait for it in the lobby. Tapan asks if they should notify security, but MB says the targets told someone to cut the camera feeds, they have an insider, which is why the team needs to go, and not look panicked.

MB deletes the temporary storage on the cameras adjacent to the one that got cut, to help obscure the record for anyone trying to investigate the issue. But it knows Tlacey and her two guards saw it.

MB heads to the hotel, where the team finally believe that it's right about Tlacey never giving them back the files. Rami asks what they do now, and MB suggests they let it get them out of here.

=====

(1) I run in too many video game communities to not want to just shorten this down in my head, so I'm just gonna start rolling with it since it's coming up more often and "augmented human" is so many extra syllables. (2) The second terrible sign. (3) Let Art have a few of its illusions, Murderbot! Its brain is so big it can only maintain a few. (4) I think we're supposed to take it for granted that this is 100% effective at covering the kill switch's tracks, but so little is ever guaranteed in technology, data storage especially, without care. (5) Can you imagine what explanations the authorities are going to come up with for this one? (6) MB has so much empathy, so much conscience. I don't think any reader really thinks it chose to attack the humans four years ago, by this point. The only question is what really happened. But, the fact that it knows that these humans are only its responsibility by choice, and still keeps helping… It just gives me the feels, you know? (7) Just what is a sexbot doing, acting like a human, and looking for SecUnits? (8) I love the way this is done so casually. Threat, threat, threat… then, when MB knows it has advantage and its clients are safe, target.

[mirei-nari]

Just when I think I'm not learning or retaining anything bc I end up gettingg frustrated at the current problem I'm suppose to solve, my brain suddenly kicks in and says "Bitch you didn't give me time to power up. We are old. You know you gotta let me absorb information completely before we apply it" when I work on the same problem the next day.

I really just need to take a step back and keep reminding myself that Rome wasn't built in a day and that I need to slow down sometimes. But it just feels like I'm on a time crunch bc I'm unemployed, to get these certifications that probably won't help much short term in finding a job. Like I know for sure fact that it will help me LONG term, but all my life I've always told myself that I wasn't going to live to a certain age so what's the point in doing anything, but now I'm here past that age. Past multiple ages that I thoughts it would be the end.

Is this what healing is like? Probably not necessarily the healing I need, but I'm slowly working through my problems and I'm seeing progress. I think. At least it seems like I'm progressing. Because for the past 2 years, every single day I wake up, in order to get myself to do things, I've said to myself "you either do THIS or you kill yourself." And I just couldn't go on living like that bc up until I quit my job, I was getting closer and closer to killing myself. I worked as a small family owned restaurant so I shouldn't have been as stressed out as I was, but I just couldn't take it anymore. This year was worse that precovid in terms of work load. And I get it. It's hard times right now, but every single fucking shift, unless I had another old timer her worked there, I was doing 3-4 different jobs while also doing my own fucking job plus babysitting all the high-school kids we had and I couldn't take it.

But since I've left there, I haven't had to tell myself "do this or die" and honestly I've been happier than ever. There's also a constant nagging in the back of my head saying I shouldn't be happy bc the money I had saved up is gonna be gone within a few months bc of bills and I refuse to go back into a food industry job again even though when I was younger, that was my dream lmao. I know everyone learns things on their own time, but there's this fucking near nonexistent time crunch. And like the tech industry is notoriously hard to get into especially if you don't have connections. Web design? I love it. I love learning how to build these silly little pages, but is it really going to get me anywhere?

These are the fucking thoughts I have and like its hard bc I KNOW my family doesn't understand why I would quit a job when I had absolutely nothing lined up. At all. And I'm scared to even leave my room to make myself food bc I do not want to be interrogated by people who refuse to even try to understand that I WANTED to die so bad that I needed to leave that place whether I had a backup plan or not.

So here I am. Jobless. In today's crumbling economy. In my family's eyes, just sitting in my room all day doing nothing but playing games. Which is funny bc I don't even have the energy to play games sometimes. I'm in here learning a tech skill that I don't even know will be applicable bc I have NO connections in the industry. But I mean people have all started somewhere, right?

My brain is just a real hot mess but at least it's not hell anymore.

[star-anise]

I read your post about trauma and I'm trying to make sense of my parents treatment of me as well as my own diagnoses. Is anxiety itself trauma? Or a result of trauma? Its the stress response itself not calming down. I think I was and am emotionally neglected. My parents are not sympathetic. I'm adhd anxiety depression my whole life. That post about learning new social situation techniques really resonated. What are the treatments for neglect? Besides plain old cbt and mindfulness and anti anxiety meds

Trigger warning: Child abuse, child neglect, emotional neglect

Anxiety can happen because of a wide variety of reasons, from medical to situational to genetic. It could happen out of the blue to a totally healthy adult. Or it might be a symptom of trauma and a bad childhood. PTSD used to be classified as a kind of anxiety disorder, but we now understand it's a lot more complicated.

I'm very sorry your family aren't sympathetic and don't get what's up with you. I want to make it very clear that it is not your fault that they aren't sympathetic.

It's not your fault for not explaining things clearly enough. It's not your fault for not being a more lovable child. It's not your fault for being emotional or oversensitive. It's not your fault for not communicating your needs in a way they can hear. Their treatment of you is not your fault.

That's important not just because it feels good to be absolved of blame. It's not a meaningless platitude. It's a nicer coating on what can sometimes be a very bleak truth. That truth is:

There is nothing you can do to make your family be sympathetic to you.

I am so, so, so sorry. You can spend your entire life turning backflips, you can learn interpretive dance, you can become the world's leading expert in your field, you can get hit by a car and find out you have cancer, you can be as sympathetic and understanding about their reasons for neglecting you as they could possibly want, you could do everything in your power to be a good child, and none of that will ever give you the power to make your parents be sympathetic to you and what you've been through.

Sometimes parents do learn and grow and change and work to repair the damage done while their kids were children. But that's because of their own issues and experiences and reasons, not because of anything their children have done. Many parents keep being oblivious and neglectful even when their children have become everything a parent could ever hope for.

Actually, an amazing number of my adult neurodivergent friends have had the absolutely excruciating experience of hearing their parents say, in essence, "Hey adult child! The other day someone I respect way more than you told me about [your condition], and I was astonished! They told me that thing you've been telling me for years, and it blew my mind. I now realize that this is a real part of your life! Wow, it sure would have made a difference if I'd done that thing you've been begging me to do for years now, huh? Hey, have you heard about this handy behavioural technique you've been doing every goddamn day of your adult life? It sounds like it would really help!"

Like, even if your parents ever Get It about your specific disorders and conditions, they're extremely likely to salvage their self-esteem by refusing to ever seriously acknowledge how much it's hurt that they've failed you.

And what that means is: You have to plan the rest of your life as if they will never be sympathetic.

That might mean never giving them any say over your medical care or personal life choices. It might mean not living with them, not turning to them when you need a supportive community, or not letting them play a large role in the lives of any children you yourself may have. It might mean having to build your own support network that doesn't include your family at all, because you can't count on them to care when you're in distress. It can really suck to have to keep giving up the dream that one day you'll be able to count on your family to nurture you emotionally, but I promise that it sucks less than being continually disappointed with no backup plan.

Researching emotional neglect can be really difficult because a lot of the best research psychology as a field has achieved on the topic comes from really extreme forms of neglect and abuse. Exactly the kind of neglect and abuse that society waves in the face of the "merely" emotionally neglected: "So what if you didn't get hugged enough! You had enough to eat, a roof over your head, and they never hit you! They weren't even mean or malicious! Stop whining!"

And... look, if you've just broken your legs and you're in a wheelchair, who would you rather learn about using a wheelchair from: someone who can easily walk everywhere all the time, or a double amputee who's been using a wheelchair for years? The first person can probably get around more easily, but the second one can tell you a lot more about the specific challenges and skills that will be central to this phase of your life.

That's the frame I propose for research: Your life might not have been as bad as the case studies you read (though it's probably worse than your family is willing to admit, because invalidation is itself a form of emotional neglect, and this is so common there's even a poem about it) but the issues they encounter and the skills they require are probably useful to you, too.

With that in mind, check out books about early childhood neglect and trauma like The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog by Bruce Perry, which talks about the parts of the brain and developmental stages that can be impaired by toxic stress in childhood, and the various forms of treatment that can address each one.

As far as CBT, remember to focus on behaviour, not just cognition. Reading about using touch to self-soothe is good, but less powerful than using that knowledge to find a blanket you love to touch, and wrapping yourself up in it whenever you're upset. Neglect means that you failed to get repeated, predictable experiences of being comforted. Healing therefore means getting that practice in as an adult: Creating thousands of daily, repetitive experiences of being cared about. Caring about yourself, and finding people who will care about you.

Maybe also give Dialectical Behaviour Therapy workbooks a try? They're designed for Borderline Personality Disorder, which can be seen as a specific subset of complex trauma. Like, if the effects of childhood abuse and neglect were a rainbow, BPD might be red-orange. But what makes DBT useful is that it has examined which skills and coping mechanisms vital to emotional health people with BPD most commonly weren't taught/never learned/need more practice on. The curriculum might not overlap completely with your own needs if you fall into the yellow, green, blue, or violet aspects of C-PTSD, but it's a good starting place when you're inventorying skills and habits you want to strengthen.

Good luck? I hope this helps!

[pa-panda-heroes]

Hey u seggsy mf 🙄☝🏻 could u do hcs for nanami, sukuna and megumi where they get into a fight w fem!reader and something bad happens to her before they reconcile? Angst that ends w fluff basically haha. Okay ily bye 😽💕

Angst with fluffy ending is apparently something I’m good at so LETS DO IT. Idk how I feel about these omg send help. I hope you enjoy!!

Nanamin, Sukuna, and Megumi fighting with reader and she gets hurt!

Nanamin:

Nanami Kento doesn’t fight over trivial things. Maybe there’s a slight disagreement, and he’ll move on, encouraging you to do the same. It’s not worth the time or energy, he thinks.

There’s not much he would argue about, actually. He’s a reasonable man, he doesn’t mind compromise where reasonable. But he likes to stick to his routine, his ways, his preferred methods.

So whatever you got into a fight over must’ve been big, something that wasn’t at all trivial enough he (and you) could brush it off, something that might have involved a life or death situation for at least one of you (and potentially a civilian or more) whilst on a job.

Nanamin doesn’t worry; he’s adept putting himself in control of a situation where need be. He plans five moves ahead of the move he’s currently making, he comes up with backup plans - he’s a quick thinker, even when his temper might be flaring at you. But he won’t do what he’s told. He has his own ways.

He’s angry, to be sure. You had made one move that totally changed the situation on top of your previous spat and everything was getting worse - even more so when you were hurt after getting separated. It looked pretty bad. You were okay until you fell unconscious, then he was worried.

He dealt with the curse as quickly as he could safely, ensuring it kept a decent distance away from the worry-inducing, unconscious you. The entire time he fought the damn thing off, he thought about your wound, whether it was superficial or deep, how much blood you lost, and how quickly he could get you aid.

Nanami pretty much gets so intent on cleaning this mess up and getting you help, that the next thing he knows, you’re laying in bed, bandaged up, and resting.

Once you’re stabilized, he’ll get you flowers, he thinks. The kind you like best. Maybe he’ll snatch your preferred snacks, if the kind doctor allows you to eat them. He can be stuck in his ways, he knows that. He has his own ways of doing things, but so do you. Next time he’ll have to figure out a way that makes you both happy.

Sukuna:

Getting into an argument with this bastard is way too easy. As intimidating and menacing as Sukuna can be, he can also be bitchy and stubborn as hell. Maybe even prissy, if you think about it.

So whatever argument you get into was very likely not your fault. Sometimes you have to wonder if he does it for entertainment, but then you hear the “human matters are trivial” bullshit that makes your blood boil. No, he’s just an ass sometimes. Well, he is a curse, you suppose.

All that said, he was always quick get over your little lovespats, and it’s not like he ever threatened or attacked you (in any way, much to your surprise) personally - it was just his attitude, usually. It’s not like you constantly argue in some never-ending cycle.

But nevertheless, when you’re arguing, you are pissed. Maybe he earned the title “King of Curses,” fine, whatever, but the entitlement it gave him was still aggravating. Not as aggravating as getting hurt, though.

...although, that wasn’t half as aggravating as getting hurt and... needing his help. You’re going to avoid that like the plague, you tell yourself, trying to sew up your side on your own. That’s what you get for trying to go solo, you supposed. You were up for it, you knew you were! How did this happen?

Thankfully the wound was superficial enough, but it’s hard to do when your hands won’t stop trembling. Doesn’t help that it hurts and you’re light headed, probably from blood loss. Maybe you’re crashing from the adrenaline spike of battle. Who turned the lights off?

Apparently you’d passed out. And apparently, he helped you out, because when you awake you see that shit-eating grin sitting across your bed. You can tell him to shoo all you want, but it won’t work. You’re stuck with him, now, and he’s going to give you so much grief, because he told you not to do the mission solo. And he was right. He’ll never let you live it down.

You pout and refuse to say anything, crossing your arms and looking away. He teases you and gives you a proud “I told you so,” yet you still say nothing. He lets you rot in silence, although his patience fades away and he makes his way to you, grabbing your neck and pulling you toward him as he plants a tiny kiss to your forehead. You’ll never let him live that down, you decide.

Megumi:

Pretty boy here is fairly quick to argue. When he wants something done, he wants it done his way and usually his way only. He can be argumentative. Dare you say that’s the Zen’in blood in him? Anyway.

He does get to a point where he’s just, done arguing and sometimes gives up. Most of the time he’ll suggest you both take a breather and come back to the issue later. But this time he just kept going, to the point you forgot what the initial problem even was.

Megumi didn’t, though. He told you another sorcerer had his eyes on you in a very not professional manner, and you simply scratched your neck and told him you not to worry and that you didn’t think so. No, he knew so, and he was a little hurt you blew him off like that.

Maybe his jealousy and lack of sleep was clouding his judgement, because he told you how he felt, and when you became defensive he just continued arguing. Megumi wanted the point across, he wanted you to look out for yourself more - there are guys out there you ought to be wary of.

But because his brain shuts down when it comes to you, he didn’t get that point across like he wanted. Instead, he came off as aggressively jealous and, quite frankly, a bit of an asshole.

He’s not a possessive boyfriend at all, you know this by now. But seeing another guy after the oblivious you had him seeing red. Honestly, he didn’t trust the other guy even before you met him. He was a half decent sorcerer, but he was just in it for the money.

To say that Megumi felt like banging his head against a wall was an understatement. So when he finds you in the hospital hurt, he feels even more like utter shit. Flowers weren’t enough. No, not chocolates... Animal plushies? No, that’s not it. He wracks his brain but falls short. Use your words, Megumi!

Finally he gives up and decides to talk it out with you. Luckily for him, you realise what he was trying to say for the most part, so he doesn’t have to trip over his own tongue explaining. With a sigh at his fortune (that you picked him of all people), Megumi sits on your hospital head and pulls you close for a hug. Your bedside table is bare and the room is honestly boring. Maybe flowers weren’t a bad idea, after all.

[mookybear12404]

Mooky, I saw your tags on the exercise post; do you have any tips for starting out weightlifting? Including tips for getting over nerves about going to one's college's gym?

YES VERY MUCH I DO

(I'm not sure what level of beginner you are so if any of this advice is too basic or you are left with questions just hmu I'm always down to help! Lifting has really helped my confidence a lot and has been like a miracle for my adhd/mental health/chronic pain so I'm super happy to share!)

Going to the gym at first can be TERRIFYING but I promise that once you get used to it, you'll find it really isn't so bad When you're in that initial phase, my #1 recommendation is to have a plan of action prepared for your first visit. That way you don't feel flustered when you get there and ruin the workout experience for yourself. Deciding before you go what you want to do, (what muscles you wanna work out, if you wanna do free weights or machines, if you're planning to do cardio (running) there, etc) can help lessen anxiety. It's also good to have a bag that is your designated "gym bag" where you can have everything you could possibly need during workout ready at a moment's notice (Like a backup hairtie, waterbottle, spare headphones, deodorant, etc)

Naomi King is a youtuber who helped me a lot when I first started out! She has several videos where she explains how to use specific machines step by step, including all of the details that regular gym goers might not realize aren't intuitive (like how to adjust machines for super short ppl ;_;) If you don't know what kind of exercises target which muscles, she (and other youtubers) have plenty of videos that could help!

You can certainly do a fullbody routine if you'd like, but I find personally that it's a difficult workout to maintain. If you are limited to going once a week then it makes more sense, but otherwise it can take a good hour or more, to do a full body workout. I personally really enjoy being able to pop in and out of the gym in 20min every other day and feel the "gym high" gradually throughout the week Personally, my gym workout routine looks like this:

Day 1: Biceps, (muscle on top of your upper arm, used when lifting a weight up), and back muscles. Day 2: Triceps (muscles on the bottom of your upper arm, used when pulling a weight down), and chest muscles.

Day 3: My favorite! Legs and shoulders. Between each day is a day of rest where your muscles can recover.

Each day should also include some sort of core workout. Core workouts can include crunches, planks, sit-ups, and ab machines. My cardio schedule is honestly just. Whatever days line up with my hair washing schedule. (I refuse to run and then show up to work sweaty LOL). Bikes and treadmills are my favorite, but you should also try stairs and rowing if those are available!

Besides just having a plan, here are a few other tips that could help!

Have a buddy. If you have a friend that is non-judgmental and safe, I highly recommend going together. It helps to keep your focus off everyone else and also keeps you accountable for showing up!

Have a treat waiting for you. I REALLY love Gatorade, and even though its not really a necessity for hydration, I keep a stock of them that I'm not allowed to drink unless i'm working out, so now my brain associates yummy drink with exercise! When I'm with friends, I like to go out for bagels or smoothies afterwards. On weekends when I have more time, I'll make my favorite coffee protein shake as a treat :D

If you're working out alone MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC MUSIC. Have a playlist made ahead of time or else you'll spend forever picking songs between machines. It helps keep you motivated and focused on yourself. For longer cardio workouts, I like to have a podcast ready

Perspective is an important part of going to a gym. PLEASE know that nobody there is judging you or thinking about how you look/are performing. From my experience, they're too busy absorbed in their own thoughts to care about you. Seriously.

This sounds stupid but If you have glasses? Take them off. I sometimes don't wear glasses or contacts in the gym even though I have pretty bad eyesight because that way I can't see other people. Out of sight out of mind I guess?

Some other tips include:

Be careful what your reasoning is for going to the gym. Are you going for health? Confidence? A hobby? Exercise is an excellent way for me to improve my chronic pain and mental health, but if you're going just to change your body you're probably gonna hate it and spend the whole time hyper focused on how your body looks. Learn to pride yourself in your improvement and your commitment to caring for yourself.

DON'T PUSH YOURSELF TOO HARD PLEASE I hate those internet memes that are like "If you don't feel pain the next day you weren't working out hard enough!" ACTUALLY NO THAT MINDSET CREATES INJURIES WE DON'T WANT THAT

I know this sounds dumb but like. What you do outside the gym matters JUST as much if not more than what you're doing in the gym. When you're lifting, your tearing apart your muscle fibers, and if you aren't providing your body with the proper hydration, protein, and sleep it won't be able to repair those muscle fibers with newer and stronger ones, and you will be left instead with several days of muscle soreness and no progress to show for it.

Hopefully this helps!!

[kyloswarstars]

ROOMMATES • Part 2

Divergent • College AU • Eric x Reader

ROOMMATES masterlist 💫 Divergent masterlist

You escaped your current living situation by moving in with your friend Christina – and five other college students. Little did you know that one of them was the guy who was your ultimate pain in the neck since your first semester. Now, you had to find a way to not strangle him in his sleep out of pure frustration. Also, you had to find a way to get rid of those weird butterfly feelings for him that slowly grew in your stomach.

Words • 2k

The enemies to lovers story no one needed.

/////

The donut shop had air conditioning. It was pure heaven. A donut shop was heaven to you 365 days a year anyways. The AC, though… yes.

Christina chewed on her third blue glazed donut and refused to answer your questions. First, she refused. Then, she tried to talk her way out of it. In the end, she mentioned the friendship code, which applied in this case to Eric, and therefore she couldn’t say anything.

The confusion was real. You didn’t understand anything when most of the time you always understood everything. Following things you knew:

A) Eric always entangled you in debates. Sometimes it was a civil exchange, most of the times he got your blood boiling until you were close to lose your temper. This happened in class and other college surroundings, where you talked about a study related topic.

B) Until last week you always thought it was because of his ego and pure strive to demonstrate his intellect why he went for, at some point, the silliest of statements you had ever heard.

C) You also thought he did it just to piss you off.

D) Then last week happened. Then this afternoon happened and left you entirely confused.

E) Christina must know another reason why Eric constantly sought for an academic dispute. His statement from a couple hours ago, that there was ‚no reason‘, was highly suspicious. But Chris also didn’t tell you the reason.

F) That only led you to one, logical guess on what that unsaid reason could be.

„Is this about him having a long planned strategy to become the number one student of our year?“ Him seeing you as a serious competition to that title was the only reason you could think of. It wasn’t too odd of an assumption since after all those debates, silly statements or not, he was one of the smartest guys you had met so far.

Chris swallowed a bit of her new donut. Donut number four. „He isn’t in our year.“

You had sipped on your milkshake and instantly looked up. „What do you mean?“ Having to ask that question again frustrated you.

„That he’s way past us. He just finished his third year of medical school.“

„Excuse me?“ You got up from your seat and started wandering around the empty donut shop. „I’m surprised my body hasn’t taken the form of a question mark yet,“ you slowly talked yourself into a frenzy. „Christina, you’re telling me that Eric, who keeps pissing me off in two of my classes, for the last two years, isn’t even in my year? That he’s studying to become a doctor?“ Please behold me from chopping off a finger or something and him helping me.

She looked a little guilty for not giving you more information. Also a little amused.

„I am studying to become a damn mathematician. Why on earth would a medical student attend those classes?“

Christina had the audacity to laugh out loud. „I’m sorry, Y/N.“ Karma came around instantly and made her choke on a piece of donut for a few seconds. You hurried over to harshly pat her back until she coughed it out. „All I know is,“ she was still gasping for air, „he sometimes takes random classes for fun. Or for one of his big assignments.“

That was all. You wouldn’t get any further information. She crossed her arms and ignored all of your remaining questions. At least she left the donut shop with a stomachache and you knowing that Eric wasn’t even a math student.

/////

Once a week all roommates had at least one dinner together. ‚To strengthen the community‘ Uriah mumbled to you while you helped him turn the groceries, he and Chris had bought today, into a prober dish. Rice with a lot of veggies was the meal for tonight.

You were the last one to sit down and were surprised, and a little nervous, to find Eric sitting in the spot across from yours. He must’ve come home while you were still concentrating on not letting the veggies burn to death.

Christina hardly ate anything after her five donuts. Being a reasonable adult, you only had one donut at the shop.

„Who chose to put mushrooms in there?“ Eric didn’t look too glad when his fork discovered a tiny mushroom.

„Me,“ you stated, not afraid to have another silly debate. This time probably about how mushrooms shouldn’t be harvested because it takes away a food supply for deers.

„Next time just roast it short. Don’t turn it into these rubber–“

„Shut up, Eric.“ Four intervened. „Be glad someone made dinner.“

Exactly. You smiled at Four for his backup and continued eating. Even though you highly concentrated on the bowl in front of you, your eyes occasionally moved to Eric, to see if he had found another thing he disliked about the meal. And every single time his eyes met with yours.

This dinner wasn’t like all the previous ones you had here since moving in. It was unusually quiet. Everyone headed pretty fast into their rooms after finishing up and collectively cleaning the dishes.

Eric lingered around and was actually the last one to help you with putting back the plates and cutlery to where they belonged. You leaned to the countertop and tried not to stare too obviously when he stretched to place some glasses on the top shelf. He wore a t-shirt where he must’ve cut off the sleeves and the way his arm muscles moved, with every glass he put on that shelf, should be forbidden.

What? Oh man. That you caught yourself thinking that way, even though Eric didn’t notice it because he was still occupied with the dishes, made you feel uncomfortable in your own skin. You hid your hands in your pockets to act casual. That’s when you noticed one of the many papers that were spread in nearly every clothing pocket and backpack of yours.

One of the many habits – coping mechanisms, actually – you had, was to write down unsolved problems in mathematics and brood over them whenever your brain was close to panic itself into a breakdown. To sit down and concentrate on a problem and search for a possibility to solve it, was what got you to study the most hated subject in the first place.

You pulled the paper out and checked what it referred to. The Riemann zeta function.

You tried to recall if any of the many debates with Eric ever had been about mathematics. They had never been about math at all you realised. The classes he had gone to were the social orientated ones. Those, where you discussed scenarios and ways on how to solve problems with a mathematical solution. Or at least help out along the way. And the debates were mostly about the logical or philosophic aspects. The reason why it had always been so easy for Eric to pull you into those discussions was because you didn’t study mathematics just for the sake of it. You didn’t want to become only a professor to teach others about it. You wanted to help people with all the abilities math provided. For example the study you worked on right now: a mathematical model to predict the success of immunotherapy for patients with cancer.

This is perfect.

There was no way Eric could enter a serious debate about the zeta function and not show that he studied something completely different. With a grin on your lips you cleared your throat to get his attention. Eric crossed his arms as he turned to you.

The game is on.

„Since you know everything better than me, and us living under the same roof now, I was wondering if you would take a look at some equations. I’m kinda stuck.“

Something in his face changed but he still said: „Sure.“

That’s a mistake, my friend. You handed him the paper, which he had to unfold his arms for again to take it. Those arms were bigger than the pile of books next to your mattress. Why did you never notice his muscles before? And why did you never notice that sharp jawline?

The concentration on his face didn’t give away that he had absolutely no clue what was on that paper. Time did. A minute or two went by without him looking up or saying a word. „That seems like a serious problem. I’m passing.“

„What are you studying again?“ Your voice as innocent as you could manage it to be.

„Why would you ask?“ He played it off. The crooked smile on his lips let you know he had a feeling for where this conversation would go, though.

„Because someone studying mathematics, like I do, would recognise the famous zeta function whose solution would earn you a reward of one million dollars.“

„I never said I study mathematics, Y/N.“ Eric grinned like you were the fool here. Like you had overseen something big. Like your little trap hadn’t worked.

„But you attend four full semesters of classes that aren’t necessary? Are you having such a big problem with me that you just can’t stay away?“ His stupid grin made it worse. That rage came rushing in because those ludicrous disputes sometimes had you thinking you were a complete idiot. „I mean no normal person would take those two extra classes for four solid semesters on top of damn medical classes. What’s wrong with you?“

„I like the extra knowledge.“ He simply stated, snapped a bottle of water from the countertop and slowly made his way down the hallway to his room. „And debating with you.“

/////

For your own wellbeing, and not to flip every time you thought about Eric being the biggest prick on this earth, you decided he was just a little sadist. Who had probably his only fun by infuriating you. You were glad to know about that hobby of his now and could focus on the more important things in life until next semester.

He just didn’t make it easy at all. Living under the same roof had diverted the debates from class to the dining table. Plus it had added a lot of other intentional disturbance on his part.

For a while you tried to just ignore it because he was a sadist, as you declared. On the other hand he exactly got what he had aimed at. Your anger.

„Eric,“ you shouted at the wall, knowing very well that he could hear you because you heard perfectly fine what kind of little movie he was watching. It paused for a few seconds and you breathed out in relief. Then it started again. So you raised your voice another time. „Use damn headphones!“

The only thing that happened was Uriah peeking his head in your room, with some incredibly high raised eyebrows. „Are you okay?“

„I am not.“ You buried your face in your hands. „Eric is watching porn and I can’t concentrate,“ you stated in despair.

„I’ll handle it,“ he smiled and was fast to knock at Eric’s door and enter his room after a ‚come in‘. They discussed for a while and Uriah gave you a thumbs up as he passed your room on his way back to the kitchen. Problem solved? Sounded like it. No noise from the other side of the room anymore.

The newest data had come in for the study this morning and you didn’t get anywhere yet. You just hadn’t been able to because of… picturing Eric watching porn. Ban it from your consciousness. With another deep breath, you started working in the newest data and focus only on your task. And it worked for a couple of minutes. Until Eric decided not to use headphones anymore and his porn noises echoed through the wall again.

I will strangle him in his sleep one night.

/////

A/N • I'm enjoying this way too much so there will soon be another update. probably next weekend. ok bye

Taglist • @longlostinanotherworld

Wanna get tagged too for future updates? Lemme know 🖤

[mojaves]

1, 2, 3, 7, 18 and 25 for sebastian my utmost beloved,,,,,

1. Do they sleep with a stuffed animal? If they have multiple, who’s the favorite?

he doesn't but he Does have a big cushion that he sleeps with bc he needs Something to hug while he sleeps or he will go insane. or just. not sleep very well. he had an actual person to hug once but ALAS!!! DIVORCE!!!! very funny but also not at all. im so sorry king.

he doesnt have many plushies, but he definitely needs more bc i think they would fix him. he's got like... 2 little rat plushies from when he was younger and theyre kind of falling apart but he refuses to fix them. for the Authenticity. also bc it would take away the charm and they remind him of his siblings, so if anything happened to them he'd be in complete and utter shambles

2. Can they take care of a plant? What about a pet? What about a child?

he could NOT look after a plant or a child he does Not have the time. he couldnt bring them with him to work. he barely spends time at home. but he DOES have a cat that goes everywhere with him. and bc the cat is there, well. he can easily feed the guy whenever. he is almost always asleep on seb's lap. or climbing up his arms. frankie stromboli my most favourite little menace.

3. Ask them to describe their love interest.

AURHGFDHghh he can barely talk about his own feelings. you expect him to be able to talk about his feelings about someone else?? i'm doing it for him. i'm taking the thoughts out of his brain. prettyboy. most specialest tired little guy that he loves so much. when you and a guy try killing each other so many times and Fail. each and every time. and then you end up holding hands??? true love baybey. the trust is there. theres so much about it that i could scream about. im going to throw up. this is incoherent. i am aware. there is just. so much going on in my brain about that. aguhhgh [explodes]

7. already answered and i could say more but i shan't. it would be an essay. im already vibrating too much

18. Kissing: tongue or no tongue?

he is beyond touch starved of Course he is going to go absolutely ham sloppy style. he's allowed. do what you will with this information.

25. Safety or possibility?

SAFETY 100% everything needs to be accounted for at all times. a backup plan for every backup plan. he can't stray away from that. bc his life is always on the line so he can't take any chances. No Fun Allowed. but,, he eventually starts to loosen up a bit. he needs to live a little. send the mf to a theme park. put him on a rollercoaster. Please.

[phoebenavarro]

the more things change

rarepair time! I have not known peace since mag117. feat backup archivist martin with beholding powers

the magnus archives, martinelias, 2100 words, warning for dubcon kissing

read on ao3 here

“Jon is in trouble,” Martin says as he bursts into Elias’s office. A few months ago, the concept of doing something so brazenly rude to Elias would have made him freeze on the spot. It’s funny how things change, Martin thinks bitterly, and how things stay the same. He’s still terrified of Elias, although now for completely different reasons.

“Martin,” Elias replies, “Come in. What can I do for you?” He glances up at Martin briefly before returning to his paperwork.

Martin’s brain stutters. He didn’t really think this through, and he didn’t expect Elias to be so nonplussed.

“Jon’s in trouble,” Martin repeats, some of his anxiety chased away by a need to do something slowly creeping back in, “and I’m worried,” he finishes, summoning back the indignation he feels towards Elias at all times lately.

“Did something in particular happen?” Elias asks, “Because ‘worried’ seems to be a constant state of being for you.” He sounds bored, and that makes Martin angry, angry that Elias clearly doesn’t care about Jon’s well-being, and deeper down, angry that Elias doesn’t take him seriously.

Martin scoffs, but he realizes he can’t really explain what actually brought him to Elias’s office. He clenches his jaw.

“I don’t know!” he grits out, “Jon was fine, on the bus in America, then he was at a rest stop and a woman came up to him and forced him into her car.”

That makes Elias look up, and his gaze is even more piercing than normal, like he’s trying to rip through Martin with his eyes.

“How did you know that?” Elias asks, his tone so severe that Martin folds in on himself.

“I-I don’t know!” he squeaks, and he frowns. He realizes he really doesn’t know how he knew that. “I just— I had a feeling, I guess…?” He trails off. Even he knows how weak that sounds.

“I don’t think you did,” Elias says, raising one of his perfect eyebrows at Martin, “You just knew, didn’t you?”

Martin stutters, trying to come up with some explanation, but he realizes that Elias is right. He just knew.

Fuck, Martin just knew. He sinks into the chair across from Elias, stunned. Elias’s face breaks out into a grin. He chuckles quietly.

“See, this is what I like about you, Martin. You don’t lie to yourself. Oh, you may spend all your time lying to everyone else, keeping them at arm’s length because you’re terrified they won’t like you if they get to know the real you, but you’re honest to yourself.”

Martin stares at Elias, thrown off-kilter by being told such intimate things about himself so matter-of-factly. He wonders if that’s how Elias sounded when he did whatever it was he did to Melanie. “W-what?”

Elias leans back in his chair, grinning. “You know, when I asked you to start recording statements, I never expected you to progress quite this quickly.”

Martin’s eyes harden. “Are you saying I have freaky eye powers now? Like Jon?” Of course Elias planned for this, wanted this, and Martin just went along with it. Elias stands and crosses to the other side of the desk, perching on it across from Martin.

“Not quite like Jon, no. Jon is the Archivist. I’m sure your own Becoming will be different.” Elias turns his gaze back to Martin, but this time it feels more appraising. Elias leans forward, and Martin feels cold dread pooling in his gut. “I’m actually quite pleased. This is a promising development.”

“R-right, but what does that actually mean, though?” Martin asks, trying to stay calm and refusing to think of the implications of him being able to just know things. Elias wants to knock him off balance, keep him a stammering mess so he won’t get any answers out of him. “Is this going to keep happening? Will I develop other… abilities?”

“Yes, it will keep happening as you get stronger. As for if you’ll gain more abilities, I don’t know, Martin.” He leans forward. “But I’ll enjoy watching.”

“O-Okay, but what does that mean? Practically? I mean, the Eye’s not giving me these powers out of the goodness of its heart. What do I have to do? Can I stop it?”

Elias smiles at him with an almost unbearable fondness, which Martin has never seen from him before, and it makes Martin uneasy. “I’m afraid there’s nothing you can do to stop it at this point,” he says, and Martin sighs. Figures. “You don’t need to be doing anything you won’t be doing already, just reading statements.”

“Right, as I become less and less human,” Martin spits.

“Being human isn’t everything, Martin. You’re not going to stop being yourself.” Elias’s smile turns cruel. “But maybe you’d like that, to stop worrying about being good and nice all the time. Doesn’t it get exhausting?” Elias asks conspiratorially.

Martin narrows his eyes at him, refusing to rise to the bait. “You knew about my CV the whole time, didn’t you,” Martin says. It’s not a question, but Elias answers anyway.

“Oh, yes,” he chuckles, “It’s why I hired you in the first place. It impressed me, honestly. Such a bald-faced lie, you were so terrified, but you barely even flinched. It was charming, really.”

“Charming,” Martin repeats skeptically.

Elias tsks. “Come now, Martin, I know you don’t think highly of yourself, but is it really so hard to believe that someone would find you charming?”

Martin seriously doubts that anyone has found him charming in his life. Cute, maybe, but charming? No.

“Why…” Martin begins, but he shakes his head, “It doesn’t matter. What about Jon?”

“What about him?”

“Is he in danger?”

“Almost certainly,” Elias smiles, “but he’s survived worse. You’ll just have to trust me.”

Martin starts laughing. “You— you cannot expect me to trust you, after you trapped all of us here, after you let Sasha get killed— for God’s sake, you admitted to murdering two people! And now! I’m getting monster powers because of you.”

Elias rolls his eyes. “Martin. Don’t start lying to yourself now. I gave you the push, but you embraced the Eye on your own.” He places his hand on Martin’s shoulder, his thumb resting against Martin’s neck in a possessive way that makes Martin’s heart skip a beat. “Your need to know more hasn’t been as fervent as Jon’s, but it’s there. You tell yourself it’s to help Jon, but really, it’s all you.”

Martin finds himself unable to move away, despite how much he wants to, almost hypnotized as Elias moves his hand up to cup Martin’s cheek. His breath catches in his throat. He has no idea the last time he was this close to someone, and even on his loneliest nights, he never thought Elias would be the next person to touch him like this.

Martin has no way of knowing if Elias is actually telling the truth, or if he’s just trying to manipulate him. Probably a bit of both, he thinks.

“I just don’t know how you can keep letting Jon get hurt,” Martin says, trying to push on like Elias is not tenderly cradling his face, “I mean, he’s your archivist, whatever that means. I’d think out of all of us, he’s the one you’d care what happens to.”

Elias sighs. “I don’t like it much either, but that’s how these things go. It’s necessary for Jon to grow into his potential.”

“So, what?” Martin stares at Elias defiantly, “You’re just going to leave us in the dark? Let us get killed? Do you care at all?”

Elias strokes Martin’s cheek with his thumb, and Martin shivers. “I am sorry about Sasha,” he says quietly, “I didn’t want that to happen to her.”

And Martin, God help him, believes Elias. Maybe that’s why he still doesn’t pull away when Elias’s other hand comes to rest at Martin’s hip, when he leans in to press his lips to Martin’s. Martin freezes as Elias kisses him, but Elias doesn’t seem bothered that Martin isn’t responding.

“What are you doing,” Martin breathes as Elias pulls away briefly.

“I thought that was obvious,” Elias quips, and he settles into Martin’s lap, straddling him. Martin makes a surprised noise, but he doesn’t push him away.

“Why, then?” Martin asks, looking at Elias warily.

Elias squeezes his hip. “Because you’re mine,” he says with a predatory glint to his eyes. Martin’s blood runs cold, and now he tries to push Elias away, but Elias’s grip on him tightens, and Martin can’t get the leverage he needs. “The others may also be tied to me, but none of them have embraced their roles like you have. It has been truly a pleasure to watch you come into your own over the years.”

Martin looks away, his eyes burning. He thinks about his younger self, when he started at the Institute. He had been absolutely terrified of Elias and the way he seemed to see right through him, but also because he thought Elias was gorgeous. He still does, he supposes, especially with Elias so close to him. They’re so far beyond that now; Martin wishes Elias was just a normal, intimidatingly handsome boss. Elias brushes one of Martin’s curls behind his ear before leaning in to whisper in it.

“Do you want to know what I think? Being trapped working at the Institute doesn’t upset you as much as you think it should. Where else would you go? You’ve worked here your entire adult life, and few places will be as open to your lack of formal qualifications. You want to be angry like Tim, but you’re actually relieved. For the first time, you’re not worried about losing your job. You hate the way reading statements makes you feel, but you love feeling useful. For Jon,” he nibbles on Martin’s earlobe, making Martin gasp, “And for me.”

It’s horrible, but what’s more horrible is how Martin doesn’t want Elias to stop. He doesn’t want Elias to stop touching him; he doesn’t want Elias to stop telling him all the awful things about himself Martin usually buries deep within.

Elias grips Martin’s chin and forces him to look him in his grey eyes. Eyes that are unusually warm, and Martin’s face is so hot that he’s sure Elias can feel it.

“Oh, look at you,” Elias croons, “You’re lovely.” And that is finally too much for Martin; it feels like Elias is mocking him, there’s no way he can be sincere.

“Stop,” Martin says, and it feels far too much like begging for mercy. Elias frowns.

“Alright,” he says, “But I do mean it, you know. You are lovely like this.”

“Get off me,” Martin says, and he tries to make his voice sound as commanding as possible, but it comes out breathy and weak.

“Is that what you want? Really?” Elias asks, idly running his hand up Martin’s flank.

No, Martin’s treacherous brain says, and Martin desperately tries to remind himself that the man sitting in his lap is a murderer. Elias grins like he heard that, and hell, maybe he did; Martin doesn’t know how his powers work. Martin doesn’t know what he wants at this point, clearly, only that the weight of Elias in his lap shouldn’t be as comforting as it is.

Elias presses one more chaste kiss to his lips before climbing off Martin with a contented sigh.

“Well,” he says, “I think this development is worthy of celebration, don’t you?” Martin stares at him, slack-jawed as he continues. “Would you like to get dinner tonight?”

Martin knows he should say no, should tell Elias to fuck off, and he should tell Elias off for kissing him and touching him like that on top of everything else, but. It’s an opportunity to get Elias alone and maybe get some answers out of him for once, and Martin can’t pass that up. He knows that’s giving into the Eye even more, and he can already hear Elias’s smug voice telling him just that, but he can’t keep living like this, constantly in the dark, not knowing what’s going on or if Jon has been kidnapped again. Martin’s going to get a stress ulcer at this rate. And well, if it’s true that there’s no way out of this for him, then at the very least he’s going to use this to help the others as much as he can. (Martin ignores the way he can still feel the ghost of Elias’s lips on his own, or how he doesn’t actually hate that Elias had kissed him.)

Martin shrugs. “Sure, if you’re paying,” he says, and he doesn’t miss the way Elias gives a genuine laugh at that. Elias acting so openly… fond of him will take some getting used to, but as they walk to the restaurant Elias has chosen, Martin finds himself thinking of ways to exploit that affection.

[winterskywrites]

some sort of follow up to the latest bad batch episode?

Tech is holding the ship’s controls so tightly that his knuckles have gone white. Every second they fly takes them further away from Hunter, further away from Tech’s brother.

This is the second brother he’s been forced to leave behind. It’s not any easier the second time around.

Omega is sobbing behind him, but Tech tries not to listen to her. It feels cruel to ignore her distress, but he can’t keep moving if he doesn’t. Wrecker is sitting with her, and Wrecker is better at comforting her than Tech is anyway.

The reg they rescued is behind him too. Tech doesn’t let himself think about him either. He knows it’s not fair to blame him for what happened to Hunter, but a small, spiteful part of him does anyway. He knows it’s not really the reg’s fault, though.

Tech was the one who flew the ship away.

“Tech,” Echo says quietly. He’s sitting in the copilot’s seat as usual, and Tech can feel his eyes on him, although he refuses to look up and check. “What’s the ship’s heading?”

“Ord Mantell,” Tech replies, and his voice comes out surprisingly raspy. He clears his throat and adds, “It’s the closest thing we have to a base.”

“We have to go back,” Omega says behind them, her voice small. “We can’t just leave Hunter behind.”

“We need a plan,” Echo says, “and we need backup. We will get him back, Omega, but we can’t do it quite yet.”

“We can ask Rex,” Wrecker suggests. “We helped him, he can help us.”

Tech should turn around and join the conversation, but he can’t. His hands are still tight around the controls.

“They won’t keep him there,” the reg says. Gregor, Tech reminds himself, his name is Gregor. “Not after I escaped and then you broke me out. They’ll bring him somewhere more secure.”

“You said you trained them,” Echo says. “Do you have any idea what they’d do next?”

“Depends on how badly they want your friend. Bring him back to Kamino, maybe.”

Tech’s stomach twists. If the Empire brings Hunter back to Kamino, their chances of getting him back plummet.

“Do you think we could intercept him before they get there?” Echo asks.

“Probably not, especially if we’re finding backup first.”

“So we go to Kamino,” Omega says fiercely. “We can get him back there.”

“Omega-”

“We’re not leaving him!” Omega cries, half frantic. Tech can’t bring himself to turn around and look at her face. The fear in her voice is already bad enough. “We can’t just abandon him! He’d never leave any of us behind.”

Tech’s stomach rolls again. Hunter wouldn’t, he’d go back for them, he wouldn’t flee like Tech did-

(Except, that is what they did to Crosshair, isn’t it?)

“We won’t help him at all if we all get ourselves captured too,” Echo says firmly.

“Unless that’s part of the plan,” Wrecker suggests. “That’s how we got Omega off Kamino, remember?”

“I don’t know if we could pull that off again,” Echo replies. “We barely managed it the first time, and they’ll be more careful this time. Besides, we don’t even know for sure that they’d bring Hunter to Kamino. We need to tap into the Imperial network somehow.”

“Oh, I might be able to help with that,” Gregor offers. “But we’d need something to slice into.”

“Tech and I can help with the slicing,” Echo says. “What sort of terminal do you need?”

Tech knows the answer to that, or at least he thinks he does, but what if it’s something else the Empire has already changed? His codes in the base were wrong. His information now might not be any better.

If he hadn’t put in the wrong codes, would they have all been able to make it out? It would have given them a bit more time, and then the ship may have been able to be more stable, and perhaps...

“Tech,” Echo says, with the air of someone saying something for at least the third time. “Can you do that?”

Tech tears his mind away from his spiraling thoughts and finally uncurls his fingers from around the controls. He turns to face the others, hands twitching uselessly in his lap.

“I apologize, I was distracted,” he says, and his voice sounds distant to his own ears. “What do you need me to do?”

Echo’s eyes narrow a little. His concerned expression looks very similar to Hunter’s, Tech notices, and then he tries not to think about it anymore.

The problem is, Tech’s brain is ever so good at thinking.

“Gregor,” Echo says, “see if you can contact Rex. He was in the middle of something before, but he might be done by now.”

“You’ve got it,” Gregor agrees, saluting.

“Omega, Wrecker, can you fly the ship for now?” Echo asks. “Tech and I should start working on the data spike.”

So that’s what Tech needs to do. He can do that. Data spikes are easy. He’s prepared them so many times he hardly needs to think about it now. He doesn’t really even need Echo’s help, but there’s something about the way that Echo’s looking at him that makes Tech think Echo wants more from him than just a data spike.

Wrecker and Omega agree to take over flying, and Tech follows Echo to the middle of the ship, where they sit at his workbench. Tech immediately starts reaching for the supplies he’ll need for the data spike, but Echo doesn’t move.

“Tech.”

“What are the parameters for the data spike?” Tech asks, beginning to slot pieces into place. This is good, this is mindless, this is something he can do. He always thought he was good at most things, but ever since the activation of the inhibitor chips, ever since they went on the run, he’s found out that perhaps he’s not as good at things as he thought he was.

“Tech, can we talk for a minute first?”

Tech would rather not. “What are the parameters for the data spike?” he repeats. Perhaps if he ignores the question-

“Tech,” Echo says, with more force behind the name this time. He puts a hand on Tech’s, stilling his quick motions. It stills his work on the data spike, but not, Tech notices, the way his hands are trembling. He doesn’t know when that started.

“What do you wish to talk about?” Tech asks, glad that his voice is steady even if his hands are not. It still sounds distant, but it’s not like this is the first time this phenomenon has occurred. It used to happen sometimes during the war, during the worst missions. Hunter always noticed, just like Echo is noticing now, and he would normally leave Tech to work through it himself. Tech would carefully compartmentalize and regain control of himself, and the problem would be solved.

If Echo would leave him alone for a minute, perhaps Tech could do the same thing this time. He doesn’t think so, though. The missions during the war could be awful, but they were a different sort of awful. Tech would have to watch people die, or he’d have to kill people himself, or sometimes they’d come so close to losing-

But they never lost anyone, not like they did today. They never had to leave someone behind.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Echo says, and the words slice into Tech like a knife.

“I set off the alarm,” Tech says, trying to keep all emotion out of his voice. “I couldn’t keep the ship steady enough for him to make it onboard. I flew the ship away.”

“Hunter ordered you to leave,” Echo says. “You know there was nothing else we could have done. We wouldn’t have helped anything if we’d stayed.”

“I left him,” Tech says, venom in his words. There’s a burning behind his eyes that he identifies as tears, and he blinks furiously in an attempt to keep them from falling. “He’s my brother, and I left him.”

“It wasn’t your fault,” Echo says. His hand is still on Tech’s, but he twists it slightly so he’s holding Tech’s hand instead. “We didn’t have another option. And we’re going to get him back.”

“The Empire-”

“The Empire is going to regret the day they messed with us,” Echo says. “We’re going to get him back, Tech.”

The odds are not in our favor, Tech wants to say. We don’t know where they’re going to take him. We don’t know if we can get there in time. We don’t even know if he’s alive.

But Echo is looking at him with faith and fury in his eyes, and Tech can almost let himself believe it.

“We’re going to get him back,” he says, tasting the words on his tongue.

“Yes,” Echo agrees. He doesn’t smile, but his face relaxes somewhat. “It’s going to be okay.”

I will get Hunter back, Tech thinks to himself as he reaches for the components to the data spike again. This time, Echo lets him do it.

I will get him back, no matter what it takes.

[ask-spider-man-61610]

So I think you’ve talked about your Doc Ock a bit on here... but have you ever encountered any other Ocks in other dimensions? How do they match up to yours?

Yes, I have. Doctor Octopus might not be exactly a universal constant, but it's certainly a common enough title that I've crossed paths with a fair number of them. I'm going to give a short little rundown of each of them, and why they should go to hell. This is gonna be a salty list. If you didn't want that, you should've come to someone else.

The Otto Octavius of Earth-1512 was the first alternate Ock I ever encountered. Unlike most of the Ocks on this list, I don't know or care what his deal is--I just spent an hour in my first ever alternate universe before I saw a man in armored green and yellow throwing cars around with mechanical tentacles. He was also working with the Green Goblin and holding civilians hostage at the time, which in my opinion is reason enough to put him in the ICU like I did. I've never been back to this universe and never will, but presumably he's just doing the same shit every month or so.

The Otto Octavius of Earth-8363, colloquially called God Ock because I guess we can't fucking help but stroke his ego, was the Ock I met during my first outing with what'd eventually be the Cluster. He's a weird edge case. First we fought a robotic duplicate of him, then his actual self after he'd done the dumbest thing I've ever seen an Ock do and integrated an extradimensional energy source into his fucking body in a bid for omnipotence. I suspect he was already basically dead when Gwen ripped the Shard out, but he had a backup personality on a secret hard drive and so we've met his AI self. He agrees it wasn't his smartest move. Still, fuck this guy. He apparently stabbed my alternate self in the back so he deserves what he got.

Oliver Octavius, of Earth-42711a, isn't a doctor. I refuse to call him Doctor Octopus, but he's calling himself that because he claims to be the son of Otto Octavius. Knowing Otto, I'm more than a little skeptical of that claim, but that doesn't change the fact that in a bid to be just like Daddy he dropped out of college to become a supervillain. When Melly noted that this plan was less than stellar he interpreted that as a personal betrayal and has sworn revenge on her. He's temperamental, idolizing of a man he's never met, and has an ego more fragile than sugar glass--and he's not even good at villainy. I walked into his lair, kicked his ass, and walked out again in less than five minutes. Oliver's pathetic. And he knows it, because he's scrambling to compensate with a desperation that anyone with half a brain can see is going to kill him very, very soon.

The Otto Octavius of Earth-22701 needs to fucking leave Morgan alone. The Peter Parker of that universe died like a century ago, and that Otto's engineered a way to stop aging so he doesn't even need to fight superheroes anymore. But no, he reads about a kid in New Orleans with my powers and decides that that's obviously his dead enemy having, I dunno, reincarnated or something. Instead of being the result of the spider-related experiments that he funded. I don't have a lot of respect for this Otto's intelligence. I've only met him in-person once, when I was going on the warpath and beating up everyone who's ever tried to kill Morgan, but for some reason having an actual Peter Parker knock two of his teeth out wasn't enough to deter him from his theory about Morgan being me. I'll try again as soon as I get a chance.

Odyssia Octavius, the Ock of Earth-777, is probably the least scientist and most mad of all the mad scientists here. Also the one who leans the hardest into the Octopus aesthetic, because alone among the Ocks she's a marine biologist. Now, unlike certain counterparts of mine I could mention, I actually don't give a fuck about her decision to serve an eldritch sea monster for power. Nor am I opposed to her overall goal--obviously we gotta save the environment, and obviously we're gonna have to fuck up some industries to make that happen. That's fine. My problems with her are more related to her habit of painfully twisting people she's got a grudge on into horrific monsters and then siccing said monsters on the populace. Even if that wasn't fucking abominable and evil beyond all recompense, it doesn't exactly convey the green message she's trying to go for. Maybe the Writhing One is modifying her logic to suit its own ends, using her as a puppet to get what it wants. Maybe she just fucking sucks. I've only ever spoken to her through the Internet, but if we ever meet face to face I'll be sure to ask which one it is right after I kick her ass and rip off big handfuls of that magic tattoo.

October Otto, the Doctor Octopus of Earth-2, is the only person in this list who I'm not inclined to attack on sight. It took me a little while to get to that point--when the me of Earth-2, Pax, introduced us I was pretty suspicious. But out of all the Ocks I've ever met, this is the only one who's not...nefarious. They're a little eccentric, more than a little shy, but overall a very well-meaning and selfless biologist. I'm glad I met them, even if their tentacles make me a little nauseous to think about. They and I still communicate occasionally, and after what happened to Pax I've been checking in with them to ask about their progress on a cure. This is one of the few people with whom I've ever felt the need to share my files on the Oz virus. I hope it does them good.

With the exception of October, all of these people are fucking awful. But none of them are as dangerous or as detestable as the Otto Octavius of Earth-61610.

The Otto I know is an unrivalled genius. His entire existence is devoted to biorobotics, and over the years he's integrated man and machine on a level that makes the Iron Man armor look like a remote-controlled action figure. He's modified his tentacles to counter my super speed, he's designed and redesigned a zillion different personal helpers, he's made himself the center of a technological superpower controlled solely by his mind. And unlike a lot of Ocks, he's not being manipulated by his tentacles. Nor was he driven insane by the accident that fused them to his body. No, this is a perfectly sane, rational prosthesis engineer who got so frustrated with the bounds of the law that he decided he had the right to start snapping necks.

He's a futurist, is the thing. A man with a grand vision of the technological utopia he could turn the world into, who thinks without a shadow of doubt that he knows what's best for the world and everyone in it, and who's decided that if you try to stop him from realizing that vision that the best thing to do is Remove you from the equation. Worse, he's written off massive swaths of the human race off as expendable--as little people whose lives are a perfectly acceptable sacrifice to bring about his future, who maybe even should be thanking him for the chance to finally mean something.

Every Octobot contains at least a few pieces of human brain. He kidnaps people, lobotomizes them, and integrates parts of their central nervous system into his systems to make his robots more adaptable and independent than purely mechanical systems could be. He's seeded mass-produced medicine with nanotech that hijacked the nervous system of the people who took it and turned them into unconscious parts of a worldwide neural network. On more than one occasion, he's tried to turn entire cities into his own personal laboratories, and everyone inside into lab rats.

Otto Octavius is a monster. No other Ock I've ever met even comes close.

[yandere-mha-blog]

Chapter 7: New lease on life

words: 2335

You weren't headed towards the police station but the building of the Hero public safety commission, so they were liars as well, it was very fitting for them. When they did stop they grabbed you by your arm and harshly pulled you out of the car.

“Wouldn't you normally take me to the police station?” You said

“We would if you weren’t involved with a high stack villain.” The man said, “Also word of advice, start talking right away to avoid the negations.”

“What?” you asked looking very confused as the two of you went into an elevator and he pressed the down button

“I thought you would be smarter than this, weren't you in school to become a surgeon, to think you would throw that all out.” He said, you rolled your eyes, as the elevator dinged and he escorted you down the hall outside a door where someone was waiting and he handed you off to them and left down the hallway, the other guy opened the door and shoved you down on a seat

“Stay still if you make any movements we won't hesitate to take drastic measurements.” He said leaving the room, how classy of them. You waited, and waited and waited some more before someone came in a familiar face.

“Hello again (last name).” The president said

“OH it's you, you know you didn't have to do the whole sending a squat team and escorting me off-campus in the biggest way possible,” you said

“I think you have bigger things to worry about.” she said putting the note down “I think you know what this is.”

Way to be caught between a rock and a hard place.

“What about it?” you asked

“We know this was front eh nighthawk, and the whole thanks for not snitching on me, I found very interested.” She said, “Now we need your cooperation.”

“Why would I do that?” you asked “I don't like you guys very much, so far you have arrested me twice and brought me to some shady underground interrogation room.”

“(name) the Nighthawk isn't someone you want to get mixed up in, we know he killed Akio, now tell me the whole truth.” “You really want to know the real story?” you asked

“Very much so.” She said

“Well okay, there I was trying to get some girl out of being assaulted, and Akio jumps on me and started strangling me, I was going to die, but then what happens, suddenly he is off me and pinned to the wall, this Nighthawk told me to leave and to take the girl,” you said

“So you were lying to us?” she asked

“You guys have exactly proven you are the most sympathetic people.” you said “But I don't know anything about him.”

“Why didn't you report him, or tell the police?”

“Not like they would have taken it seriously.” you said “and then once I left the police station, you go and stalk me and get so many of your employees hurt.” “I too am curious as to why he attacked them, they weren't after him.” She said

“Ask him not me, oh wait you can’t,” you said

“(name) we can have you put in jail for a very long time if you refuse to cooperate.” She said

“I’m calling your bluff, if you wanted me in jail you would have taken me there instead of here, I anti helping you,” you said

“Guess we have to convince you to cooperate another way,” she said getting up and leaving, as two men came in and grabbed you again dragging you off to another lower level and strapped onto a chair.

“Do what you need to get her cooperation.” The president said as another man walked in

“Quirk?” he asked, you stayed quiet “I’ll ask you again, quirk?”

“Why does it matter?” you asked, he raised his hand and placed a stinging slap across your face

“One more time your quirk?” he asked, you didn't answer and he placed another slap across your face, you just spat on his shoe.

“Fine be that way.” he said looking at your file.``He said, “Okay, you have talons, you flex your fingers and sharp knives like talons emerge from under your nails.”

“IF you had my record why the hell are you asking me for it?” you said, as he got out pair of pliers

“This should do it,” he said and you balled your hands in a fist, guess these people here saw you as nothing more than an accomplice to murder.

“Shit shit shit.” Hawks was thinking to himself as he was flying to the HPSC, this wasn’t good as he landed in an alleyway, it was hard to sneak around when you had two giant pairs of redwings on your back. They took you during the day something down there was near impossible, just what exactly were they planning, he knew they had taken you down to the sub-basement, well it was impossible for him to sneak down there without getting caught, he knew of one guy who would be able to get him down there and yoink you out of there in one piece, he didn't like who it was though.

As hawks flew down to a seemingly abandon bar he was confused, he looked at the card that the guy who was covered in mist said saying if he changed his mind come here, Hawks was looking around the location and seemingly nothing, he didn't have time to waste so he banged on the back door if this was some sort of sick joke he wasn't laughing, he was just about to leave when a black portal opened up, guess that was the cue to go in.

“Glad to see you have changed your mind.” He heard and looked towards Kurogiri

“Well not really changed my mind, I am not interested in joining any type of group, I need a favor.” Hawks said

“Forget it.” He heard another voice saw who was at the end of the bar, he never got used to the hands covering his face, didn't it smell.

“Now Tomura this is where negotiations come in.” Kurogiri said, “Still If you are expecting a favor from us without expecting us to ask something of you, I am afraid you are flying too high.”

“Because the lack of oxygen is messing with your brain,” Tomura said

“Hey look here, I am all for repaying favors here.” Hawks said

“Well, we don't need you.” Tomura said, “I already have my ace in the hole for the first plan of attack.” Tomura said “And I have more than enough players for it. You are too late, now piss off.”

“Okay...harsh.” Hawks said, “But think of me as a backup plan.”

“I already have a backup plan.” Tomura said, “Still I suppose having you as a player in the future would be useful, but what exactly is your favor you want from us?”

“Well I kinda got this person mixed up and the HPSC is keeping her in the sub-basement, and I can't sneak in that far.” Hawks said, “Look you hate heros', I hate who they work for.”

“What exactly is your goal here?” Kurogiri asked

“I want to see the HPSC crumble.” Hawks said, “But now it's just personal.”

“Hmm, tell you what bird brain, if I have my Kurogiri teleport you down there and back, you will owe a favor no questions asked, got it.”

“Got it.” Hawks said

“Kurogiri, you know the location of the sub-basement right.” Tomura asked

“That is correct but chances are once my quirk is activated down there it will set off an alarm, you will have to move quickly,” Kurogiri said

“Well, that's what I'm known for.” Hawks said

You were seeing white from pain, your left hand was shaking as blood was dripping out from under your nail, you looked over in pure shock, you saw your left thumb talon laying on the desk, so this was their plan huh, rip your nails out till you agree to work with them. You were just about to pass out with pain when the man slapped you across the face again.

“Wake up, don’t be passing out on me, now you want to have your right one out next, or your left pinky finger?” He asked, “Or we can skip all this and you can just be corporate.”

“If...if you think, for one second I am going to be anything but cooperative with you after you ripped out my talon, you must have something wrong with you,” you said as you were dry heaving

“Okay, pinky finger it is then.” He said, you gritted your teeth as he presses your pinky talon out right before a loud blazing alarm went off

‘CODE RED, CODE RED, INFILTRATOR ON THE SUB-BASEMENT LEVELS’

The man who just ripped your talon off ran out and locked the door and this must of been your lucky day, your hand was shaking front he pains till you heard a loud ‘thunk’ again the door which could only assume to be a body before the door opened and you saw hawks

“There you are-Holy fuck what the hell did they do to you!?” Hawks said looking at your thumb that was dripping blood, you had better days, he was horrified but not surprised as he ran over and tried to undo the straps that were keeping you on the chair “OH screw it I'm taking the chair, hey I kind of need to portal now.”

To your shock, you managed to get out of there and we're in a weird bar, maybe the pain was making you hallucinate, still, as hawks were tugging on the straps Tomura spoke up

“I thought you said it was someone important, not your damn girlfriend.” Tomura said, “Like someone who was actually useful.”

“She is important to me.” Hawks said getting your arms undone then working on the ones around your ankles “And she isn't my girlfriend either.”

“Well, you got her back so now you owe us Hawks.” Tomura said

“I know I know I'm not one to go around breaking my word.” HE said as got out and looked at your hands “Oh those ...can’t believe this.”

“Well whatever you're going to go on a rampage about isn't going to happen here, Kurogiri you can send them away now,” Tomura said as Kurogiri opened a warp gate

“We will call for you when we need it,” Kurogiri said as hawks slung you over his shoulder

“Noted.” Hawks said stepping through and finding it a bit odd that they knew the location of his hideout, not that he stayed in one place for long. You still looked out of it, what happened in there all he knew was that your thumb was bleeding and you were in searing pain, he had some sort of pain medication around here right?

He sat you down on the floor as he was searching around.

“Hawks….what are you doing?” you asked “Who were those guys, and where the hell am i.”

“One question at a time please.” Hawks said handing you a glass of water and some Tylenol

“I'm going to need a strong opioid for this,” you said but taking what you could, you did take the medication.

“(name) what exactly happened down there?” Hawks asked pointing to your left thumb

“Oh that...they wanted my cooperation for something but when I refused, they took out one of my talons,” you said

“....they did what?’ Hawks said trying to remain calm, you just nodded your head

“My left thumb talon, the guy ripped it out, he was going for my pinky one but luckily you came in time.”

“I saw some guy leave the room you were in and I thought him against the door, didn't know he did well...that. He said pointing to your thumb

“I’ll be okay, I just need some bandages.” you said “But where the hell am I?”

“Well at my place.” Hawks said, “I don't usually hang around one palace for long so it's a little under furnished, I'll go try to find some bandages.” Hawks said as you nodded your head using your shirt to put pressure on your injury. Hawks came out with some gazes and you took them from him. “You want some help?” He asked

“I know how to wrap up wounded better than you.” you said “Don't take that offensively but the number of scars on your arms shows that you don't exactly know how to treat a wound.”

“Haha well, you're not wrong.” Hawks said, “So what are you going to do now?”

“What do you mean, according to them I'm an accomplice to murder, of one of the most dangerous villains in japan, got broken out by a said villain, I can’t just go back to school after this.”

“That's kind of what I'm referring to, you don't know anyone in the underground that you can just crash with-”

“Ahem.” you said staring him down “Sorry buddy but as of now you are kind of stuck with me.”

“Ohhh I see, that makes the most sense, and since this is my fault, okay I'll take you under my wing.”

“Stop with the bird puns.” You said “Look I'm not exactly the most athletic type, but I am smarter than most, so tell you what, you keep me from the HPSC, I'll be your medic.” you said

“Well that sounds like a sweet deal, you would be valuable there aren't a lot of medics in my line of work.” Hawks said doing air quotes around the word work.

“So look you keep me from getting arrested and provide me with basic food and shelter, 'll help in what way I can in your goal, along with being your medic, do we have a deal?” you said sticking out your right hand

“Sounds like a deal.” Hawks said shaking your hand, this was the start of your new life.

[boop-le-snoot]

PARTY FAVOURS I CHAPTER 18

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TWs/Summary: We stan ✨women in science✨. Bruce uwu. Twitter social media AU nobody asked for. Stephen and Tony are dicks and I'm not talking about their anatomy. Setting up mood for Bruce smut, ngl. PTSD makes things spicy. I'm depressed so please be kind ✌🏻💀🙃

"I really do wonder how can you two fit those egos of yours in your pants," I kept my tone forcefully casual, cheerful even. "Why don't you just fuck already?"

I was met with stunned silence. Suddenly, the room seemed far too large and the people in much too quiet, staring at me with various expressions of horror obvious in their faces. As the strange friendship began developing between me and the team, my "outbursts" - how Steve liked to call them - lessened considerably. I had no need to provoke them into giving me attention, just striking up a casual chat was enough. The Avengers were great conversationalists, to my surprise.

Tony and Stephen, when paired, were the exception. I could count on one hand the amount of times they successfully came to a conclusion without fighting like cats and dogs. It was like each man had made it a personal mission to verbally top the other, more often than not resulting in a thirty-minute shitshow ending with one storming off in a dramatic flourish. It was mind-boggling how two supremely intelligent men could not find a way to communicate efficiently without infuriating the rest of the team.

Plus me. One way or another, I was almost always around. In the beginning, it was hilarious to see the free circus but it got old really quickly when they couldn't decide on dinner or a movie, leaving the rest of us starving and bored. Or the great Cloak debate - that one lasted days and the fussy thing was so upset, it point blank refused to part from Peter for a substantial amount of time. It's pretty fucking creepy that a semi-sentient, ancient piece of outerwear watches you when you sleep - just sayin'. I personally interjected with my own snark and sass whenever Tony and Stephen got too heated, successfully drawing the attention to myself. The fight broke up and I had amazing sex with Tony later, it was a win-win scenario.

Yet, Tony and Stephen didn't stop. To me, their way of "talking" (and I use that term loosely) looked a lot like unresolved sexual tension. Stephen frequently used his greater height to tower over Tony in a childish attempt to establish dominance; the engineer was no rookie and responded with extravagant peacocking such as "subtly" tapping the bracelet that hosted his nanotech suit or parading at dinner in a $30,000 custom made designer outfit. Because Tony could.

I was pleasantly surprised when Natasha started laughing at my remark. Full-blown, belly laugh. Those were rare, coming from the Widow, her usual mirth was quiet, sophisticated, just like her. Deadly (adorable). Bucky followed suit, snorting together with Clint and Loki.

Steve looked none too pleased with me. But then again, was he ever? "Doll, don't be rude."

"Brat," Bruce said at the same time, palming his face.

"People always call me a brat. And guess what, Steve?" I popped my hip, twirling a cotton candy pink coloured Dum-Dum between my fingers. "What can you do about it? Nothing," I shrugged, leaning my head against Bruce's shoulder affectionately.

Steve just shook his head in disappointment. "Can we get back on topic? Please?"

"Captain, I think that Stark..." Strange began talking with Tony dramatically groaning in the background and I instantly tuned out the useless babble. Steve should've been smarter and revoked speaking rights from Tony and Stephen. Or asked Loki to magically render them both mute for ten minutes.

"You're not wrong," Bruce quietly whispered next to my ear. "Ten bucks says Wanda meddles and those two finally work out their frustrations," The scientist hid a grin against my head. I felt the amused, giddy energy radiating off him like a plasma beam.

"I don't even have to bet," I rolled my eyes. "If she doesn't do it, I will."

Both Tony and Stephen were throwing me equally infuriated glances. One promised me a good, hard fucking and the other saw me a short, poisonous lecture on appropriate behaviour in the nearest future - you can guess which is which. If I had it my way, I'd skip the lecture and go straight to a hot, filthy threesome with two men twice my age. I wasn't blind, Strange was hot as hell and could be decent and even nice once in a blue moon.

He could, but he wouldn't be. I wanted that raw, unadulterated lust, tension so concentrated it walked the razor's edge between violent craving and repulsion. Ever since the incident with Clint, I had this ugly mess inside of me, like a live wire about to snap. My brain was constantly racing, darting between how utterly useless I am in a group of supers and embracing my normal-ness, amplifying it by hosting game nights and spending time trying to convince people to start a dungeons and dragons campaign. Or something.

My sleep was like Swiss cheese, riddled with holes where I stayed awake for one or two hours at a time in the middle of the night after waking up sweaty, with my heart hammering out of my chest. Sometimes I dreamt of Clint's lifeless, sickly white body, sometimes the whole room flooded with blood and I couldn't stop it no matter what, there was so much of it, I drowned in it, I startled up with the taste of it in my mouth. Rarely, the worst of it came - the one where Clint was alive as millions of millions of little fluorescent, poisonous jellyfish burst out of him and he screamed and screamed and screamed...

I had PTSD. Yay, me. As if my uselessness wasn't enough of a burden, my brain decided for me that it wasn't good enough that I saved Clint and now it was punishing me for being close to a group of people who routinely saved the WORLD.

I contemplated my usual habits - going to a party, getting trashed and dancing until my legs were numb. I just wanted to shut my brain off for a moment, give it a hard reset so-to-say, but with Tony on my back like a jet-pack, I didn't doubt he'd show up to the place and drag me out of there even if I was kicking and screaming. And he was a Stark, a billionaire, so visiting my dad in Cali wouldn't be possible on my own. Tony would gas up the jet and the rest of the team would find and excuse to tag along, too. As much as I loved being the baby menace who could get away with anything, I hated the way they all herded me, like I was an actual child. I couldn't get away from myself, not even for a moment.

I had the backup-backup plan and I was going to have to execute it. Desperate times, desperate measures. "I don't doubt y'all enjoy listening to Tony and Steph flirt," The nickname escaped unmoderated from my lips before I could catch myself. "But what are we doing for Halloween? I need to know if I gotta get a costume," Bruce chuckled next to me and wrapped an arm around me, happy for the distraction. Unlike me, the scientist was obligated to listen and participate in the avengers-themed discussion. Which was difficult because the engineer and the sorcerer constantly bickered, inadvertently taking over the talk.

"Halloween?" Steve groaned.

"We should do something," Bucky side-eyed his boyfriend. "For the children." Something told me he wasn't thinking of the children, at all. The man was positively leering, probably thinking about what kind of a tight suit he could convince Steve to squeeze into.

"A party!" Tony immediately exclaimed, interrupting Stephen mid-setence.

"Tony, no," Steve stated firmly.

"Tony, YES!" Clint perked up. "A snack bar. A bar-bar."

"I will not be helping you all if you get alcohol poisoning," Stephen crossed his arms.

"So it's a party," I stated firmly, throwing a contemplating look at Wanda and Pietro. The twins looked unsure but excited. I knew I could count on fellow young people to support my decision to have fun, dance a little, drink a little. Let loose. To nail my point, I turned to Bruce with a mischievous smirk. "Fifty bucks says Stephen is too stuck up to show up in costume."

"Beg pardon?!" The sorcerer exclaimed. His eyebrows threatened to meet his hairline.

"I think you give him too little credit, Princess," Bruce winked at me and we solemnly shook hands. It was great having a fellow partner in mischief. Loki's approving smirk just sealed the deal for me.

"It's not my fault you sometimes act like you have a stick up your butt," I gave in the way of explanation, shrugging my shoulders innocently in Stephen's direction. "I'm just pointing out the obvious."

"I don't dare to imagine what's been up yours," The sorcerer retorted dryly, in an uncharacteristically childish fashion, arms still crossed. It almost looked like he was pouting.

"Tony," I simply said, leering salaciously at the man.

"Ooh, kinky," Clint reached over and we promptly high-fived each other in the wake of multiple embarrassed groans emanating around the room. "Strange, you're a boring old man, get over it."

"And you regularly end up in dumpsters, Barton," Strange retorted quickly. "Not my idea of fun."

"You wouldn't know fun if it hit you in the face!" Tony grinned triumphantly, confident in his superiority over Strange. Look at that, the team was doing the work for me and I didn't even have to try.

"I'll show you fun," Stephen retorted darkly. It was obvious the man was planning something.

"Ok, boomer," I raised my eyebrows in muted satisfaction before turning around and grabbing Bruce to drag along with me. "I'm confiscating your best scientist to amuse myself. I am bored. We will go and do actual science whilst y'all argue. Bye."

My patience had run out. We were examining the parasites we found in the murder-anthropods-from-space, codename MAFS, courtesy of yours truly, and their amazing properties to penetrate cell membranes and feed on metals in organic life forms. Without Bruce's help I understood maybe half of it but he had the patience of a saint and dutifully and understandably explained to me the finer points of studying aliens. Signing half a dozen NDAs was never more worth it.

Steve's sigh consisted of 99% suffering and 2% disappointment. Natasha face-palmed silently in the corner, clutching a mug of coffee, a poster child for existential dread.

"Wait for me," Tony whined, going for the door and promptly being stopped by Steve pointing out the team needing his input on one mission or another. The engineer sighed. "Baby girl, don't let the green mean to start any experiments without me." Tony instructed, pointing an accusatory finger in our direction.

I clutched at Bruce dramatically, feigning hurt feelings and was rewarded with a swift motion of his arms. I shrieked delightfully at being thrown over the scientist's shoulder as he hastened his pace towards the elevator, hightailing it out of there. "I'd never snitch on science daddy," I wiggled my eyebrows in Tony's direction, sticking a hand down the back pocket of Bruce's pants, dangling over his shoulder like a happy sack of potatoes.

The lab smelled strongly of alcohol and bitter chemicals, the solution that Bruce developed to ensure the optimal state of the alien pathogens. The man's genius never ceased to amaze me: Bruce came up with the needed formula in the span of a few hours while running low on sleep, post a Hulk-out session.

We put on our protective gear - "science onesies" I called them - along with a respirator and goggles and set to the segregated part of the lab where the specimens were kept under a blue light. The glass wall between Bruce's and Tony's lab was dimmed; I reflected in it, looking positively futuristic in my double-stacked white platformed boots and white hazmat suit.

"Wait," I motioned to Bruce to come over.

"Oh, right, our music," He was already half-way to being in total Science Mode. "Friday, please put on the "Get Schwifty" playlist, 60% volume."

The playlist that me and Bruce came up with for our lab sessions. The man was such an adorable dork. Thirty percent my music, thirty percent of his indie rock shit and forty percent 00's bops. In other words, utter perfection.

I finally managed to fish out my phone from my pants. "No, let's take a selfie," I struck an impressive pose and pointed the camera as Avril Lavigne sung the first verse to Sk8r Boi.

Bruce laughed but abided by the request, giving me bunny ears in the photo, tapping the fingers of his other hand on my waist to the rhythm of the song.

"He was a skater boy, she said see ya later boy!" I sang along, switching my Instagram to stories and posting the short clip of us just vibing with the caption #sciencetime, Bruce laughing openly behind his respirator. I looked cute and silly in my outfit.

"Send the video to me, I'll post it on my Twitter," Bruce requested. I indulged him then put my phone away, ready to conquer the world of microbiology. Or die trying. Science was calling...

THE TAG LIST IS NOW OPEN! @another-stark-sub ​ @mostly-marvel-musings  @vozit ​ @littlegasps ​ @pilloclock ​ @shereadsinquiet @downeyreads ​ @hermione-grangers-wife ​ @individualistfem ​ @sleep-i-ness @capbrie @lillsxd @agustdowney @dee-vn @justanotherblonde23 @fanngirl19 @persephonehemingway @softie-socks @schemefrenzy @letsby @cutenessloading @romeo-the-cactus @jelly-fishy-babie

[votederpycausemufins]

I finally know how this thing is going to end, but it might go over 30 chapters. Whoops! This chapter could also be longer, but I wanted a bit of a cliffhanger.

@petrichormeraki @helleborusangel

“That isn’t fair! I found him so you have to keep up your end of the deal!” Grifter yelled at Death, but he barely reacted.

“That wasn’t the agreement.”

“The agreement was I was supposed to find out what happened to Theseus, and I did that! He kidnapped the wels version of his admin and revived Nightmare and it backfired. He screwed up and you wanted to know how he was doing, so I brought him here so he wouldn’t fucking die without you around. So, now you know what happened, how he’s doing, and I kept him safe. That’s like, three times what you wanted. Now uncurse my husband or you won’t be death anymore.”

Death glared at Grifter. “I thought you said you weren’t after that.”

“I said I wasn’t going to try and kill you for your power because now I have Sense, but if you cursed him so I can’t easily be around him, that’s gone. If you’re not planning to reverse the curse, then I’m going to get something out of it.” Grifter smiled at then pulled out a crossbow. “Now, you’re going to uncurse Sense, or you won’t be around much longer.”

“You still need to finish your end of the bargain.”

Grifter froze, his brain trying to comprehend what had been said before he growled in anger. “We just fucking covered I already did and more! I don’t need to do anything more!”

“Part of it was making sure Theseus was safe. You haven’t done that. He may have moved to a new dimension, but he refuses to officially unlink himself from Nightmare’s world. Nightmare, in his hubris, has decided to try and claim his wels dimension world in his current revived state. I don’t think I need to tell you what will happen if he fails, and at this point, he will.”

“So I need to keep the bastards alive, sure. Is that all?” Grifter sneered, crossing his arms.

“Not quite.I would prefer Nightmare dead, but no one will take his title, so Theseus will just try again with no one stopping him.” Death explained. “Listeners are quite powerful on their own and can link worlds, so you wouldn’t lose Sense, but I’m sure your kids would love to meet their family.”

Grifter rolled his eyes. “Like they would want to meet Wile and Euro. They’re only still alive since you keep them from dying. They’re too cowardly to do anything right.” Death glared at Grifter, who scoffed. “Fine, whatever. I guess they might like Fleur and Sadie. At the very least trying setting it up for me while I’m gone. I’m gonna be busy backing up the wels world before I do anything.”

“I can agree to that.”

“Oh, and can you pause the curse while I deal with Nightmare? It might be the only chance for us to do something so fun and I don’t want to miss out on that opportunity.”

Death glared before answering. “If you stop on your job, it’ll kill him, but sure, I can do that.”

“That’s great!” Grifter smiled, bouncing a little. “I’ll just make a little stop and then I’ll start! See you soon enough!” He started to walk off, but then paused to turn back to death slightly. “Oh, and remember to warn Euro. We don’t want him exploding again!”

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The moment Grian was in the SMP, he started using his Watcher magic to look around. At the very least, it didn’t look like Grifter was around. It should have been obvious with his name not on the comms list, but if he had messed with the list before, he could have done it again. Fortunately that wasn’t the case.

Next he did what he could to find Grum, which was pretty easy. Grian already had a bit of tracking for Grum on his comm, and while before it wouldn’t have been enough to really help in another world, the fact that he could also track Watcher energy made it work. He was a little concerned that it felt weak, but he hadn’t really noticed it in the past, so likely Grum didn’t have much in the first place.

Either way, he knew where Grum was now, so he started flying that way. Grian wasn’t sure exactly what he would find there, so he got his sword ready for the worst case scenario. When he landed at the quartz mansion, he tried to be as quiet as possible. Peeking through a window, he couldn’t see anyone around, which was concerning. At least the demon should have still been there. This was his home, wasn’t it?

“Hey, what are we doing at the window?” someone spoke as they stood behind Grian, making the avian’s wings puff up before he whirled around and pointed the sword at. 

“Wil? Is that you?”

“Hi Xel! I haven’t seen you in ages. Though other than Phil and Techno, I haven’t really seen anyone for a while. I was sort of trapped in Te-” Wilbur started rambling before Grian clamped a hand over his mouth.

“I don’t need to hear all of that. Where is everyone?” Grian asked before slowly pulling his hand away.

“Right! Well Dream showed up again, though he’s a bit different. Dad went after him along with the others and they haven’t shown back up yet. Well, I mean, Tommy and Techno are still here.”

Grian looked at the building. “Techno’s here?! But Grum’s supposed to be here!”

“You mean the robot kid? He’s okay. I’ve barely seen him, even as a ghost.”

Grian didn’t bother to keep listening, moving into the house. Techno was supposed to be a great fighter, so the only upperhand Grian might get is taking him by surprise, which was pretty much all he had the last two times. But those two times might have been enough for the warrior to get his tells. That would make it risky and-

“I’m not his unc- did you just take a picture.”

“Yeah, say that again when I don’t have this photo.”

“Delete it before I make you delete it.”

“Whoops, too late. I already sent it to Tubbo! Maybe now you’ll be able to watch Michael.”

“Why would I want that?”

“Cause he’s a piglin too? And not like it’ll ruin your image now Technosoft.”

“Tommy…”

“Ah ah ah, you might wake Grum up!”

Grian slowly opened the door to find Tommy awake and chilling on his bed, just messing around with his comm. Techno was standing nearby with Grum asleep in his arms, plugged into the charger. Grian wanted to rush in, but his first thought was that if he did anything, it would be easy for Techno to do something to Grum.

“You think I would care about that?” Techno asked after rolling his eyes.

“Bitch, this kid might affectionately beat the anarchy out of you. You’re gonna be the favorite uncle whether you like it or not.”

Techno grumbled, but didn’t actively try to refute it, especially when Grum stirred slightly, snuggling up closer to the piglin. It made Grian hesitate. They had gone through a lot these past few days. And for Grum it had been around a month. While he wasn’t a fan of Grum being near Techno right now, he didn’t really want to disturb him while he looked so peaceful.

Tommy and Techno both looked up when Grian lightly knocked on the door. “Hey Tommy. How’d you get here before me?”

“Heeey Big G. Pretty sure Grum fixed whatever was wrong with me and that brought me here. He did the same for Wilbur and he’s outside.”

“He acts a bit more like Ghostbur did if you ask me.” Techno huffed, adjusting Grum in his arms.

Grian shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. I haven’t seen him in ages. Did see him outside though.” He then sighed and looked to Techno. “You haven’t done anything to Grum, have you?”

Techno managed not to flinch when the eyes glaring at him glinted a dangerous purple color. “Of course not. I even helped him out earlier.” He answered, kicking Tommy when he whispered another ‘Technosoft’ at that. 

Grum whined a little when the piglin moved, and Grian took that as an opportunity to take Grum into his own arms. The bot stirred a little, but still stayed asleep, making Grian furrow his brows. “He’s asleep…”

“Yeah, and?” Techno asked, crossing his arms. He didn’t know what was so surprising about that, but next to him, Tommy did.

“Grum doesn’t sleep. Neither of the boys do. I mean not really. They have a sleep mode, but that’s not really like actual sleeping.” Grian explained. “Here… let me test something.” He checked Grum’s power reading before unplugging the bot. They all waited a few minutes in silence before Grian checked again, eyes widening. “He’s charging himself.”

“What the fuck?! Really?!” Tommy shouted, though not loud enough to wake Grum. “How did that happen?!”

Grian shrugged, almost at a loss for words. “I… I don’t know. I didn’t think something like this was possible. I mean… I’ll look into it more later… but now really isn’t the best time.”

“You know, I wonder if it’s got something to do with their hels versions. When I was still stuck over there with Grifter, he said their versions of the bots weren’t built.”

“How does-” “Fundy.” “Right, nevermind.” Techno huffed, finally pulling a chair over and sitting down. “Well I have no clue how that place works, so for all we know, that’s what did it.”

Grian shook his head. “No, I doubt it. Normally hels is affected by us, not the other way around. The Listeners developed after the Watchers, Helscraft has fewer seasons than us. Theseus wasn’t in Helscraft until a while after Tommy joined us.”

“Yeah, but they had their kids back when they were in their previous season.” Tommy piped up. “There was no way for them to make them after you build Grum and Jrum since Grifter was stuck in their season four. For all we know, it works both ways.” Grian rubbed his chin, thinking about it, but then he suddenly started looking around, wings flared out. 

“What’s wrong?” Techno piped up, but the most he got in terms of an answer was Grum being handed to him again. The bot stirred a bit more, actually waking up this time. Before anyone could say something more, the world shuddered and a wave of green light suddenly passed through them. “What was that?”

“World backup. Watchers will do that sometimes, but it’s never noticeable.” Grian quickly explained, drawing his weapon.

“Then why the fuck did we notice that?” Tommy asked, a bit concerned.

“Because.” Grian turned around, wings shifting colors. “Green magic is what Listeners use.”

The_Grifter joined the world

PerfectSense joined the world

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Grifter pulled Sense in close to him before sending out a ring of lit tnt that exploded around them. It was powerful enough it made the ground shake and rumble which just made the Listener smile more. “Oh Seesee! Look over there! A castle! Let’s go over there!”

“That sounds good to me.” Sense replied, picking Grifter up bridal style and walking towards Pride Palace. He had a little trouble getting through the newly formed rubble, but before long they were at the gates. Someone in a crown and sunglasses tried to approach them, but Sense quickly pulled out a death ray and shot them with it.

They reached the throne room and Sense set Grifter down. The Listener ran over to the throne and stood on it, a giant smile on his face. “I’m king of the castle! I’m king of the castle! Oh! Do you think there’s one just like this in the hels world?”

Sense chuckled. “Probably not exactly like this. And that’s if it isn’t rubble.”

Grifter pouted and fell down onto the throne to sit. “I guess that’s true. Well, when we leave I can throw some puzzle blocks together for this place to bring it over. Then we can make some improvements.”

“Why not start with them now?” Sense asked, shrugging with a little smile, which Grifter matched with his own grin. Sense tossed an axe to Grifter, who turned the pink metal more of a viridian. “Now, I suppose I’ll have to find someplace to sit.”

“While I would love to offer you a lovely seat up here, the throne will unfortunately have to do. I need to make sure Nightmare comes here.” And Grifter got up, summoning a communicator made entirely out of magic. “But I’m sure he won’t want to waste time, so you won’t need to wait too long.”

Sense moved to stand behind Grifter, putting his head on the Listener’s shoulder and looking at the comm. “Hmm, looks like Tommy’s here. He was the other version of Theseus, right?”

“Oh yes he was. I’m sure Nightmare would be much more convinced if we had him with us. He wouldn’t want Theseus dying by proxy, now would he? And it’s not like he knows I need bitch boy alive.”

“Have I ever told you how hot you are when you scheme like this?”

“Mmm, tell me again.” Grifter leaned back before a noise from his comm made him look back. “Hmm, seems we have a slight change of plans. Looks like Grian’s trying to interfere. Can you hold down the fort while I make a mess of things?”

“Of course. Have fun my darling.” Sense replied before letting Grifter go, the Listener using magic to quickly shift back to looking exactly like Grian, even changing the appearance of his wings. Sense held out a bucket filled with water and lined with soul sand which Grifter tossed an enderpearl into. The scientist put the bucket next to the throne before sitting down on it, watching as Grifter created an exit for himself and flew off.