#i still remember the name of their ringleader
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Batfam and Danny, Part 26
At Jason's office at his Gang's Headquarters.
Danny: Nice office.
Jason: Thank you. Now before my governors arrive remember, the Red Hood that they work with is not the Red Hood that works with the Bats. The Red Hood that works with the bats is a wannabe and only wears a simple domino mask, while I am the original Red Hood who wears a helmet that covers my whole head.
Danny (trying not to laugh): And the two Red Hoods have major beef with each other.
Jason (smiling): Yes it's a little dumb, but I can't go around as both a vigilante and a crime lord, I need to keep both of those identities separate.
Danny: But why the same name? You already have two entirely different suits for both Red Hood identities.
Jason: I thought it'd be funny.
Danny: I guess.
Jason: And you're not Phantom, you're my new righthand man, Phantasm, a extraterrestrial child who I adopted.
Danny: I am born of the stars themselves, I have not flesh but am made of stardust, look into my eyes for they hold the universe itself.
Jason (proud dad): Making your skin look like the night sky was a nice touch to hide your identity both as Danny and Phantom, but did you really have to make your face devoid of features except two green voids for eyes? It's a little creepy.
Danny smiled, revealing razor sharp teeth in front of a green void. Jason leaned back, a little scared of his son's flair for the dramatic.
Jason: Case and point... the suit is nice though, I like the sci-fi look.
Danny: Thanks dad.
There's a nock at the door.
Jason (sat up): You may enter.
The doors opened and four goons walked in.
The Goons (happy): Good morning boss!
The four goons walked towards Jason's desk and stood in front of it. Only then did they notice the strange alien child. They looked at Danny, then at Jason, then back at Danny, then finally back at Jason.
Jason: Good morning everyone, I would like you to meet my new righthand man, Phantasm, he is an alien child that I have adopted.
Goon #1: You're a dad?
Jason: Yes.
Goon #2: We have a nephew!
Goon #3: I'm an aunt!
Danny: What...?
Jason (embarrassed): We're all family here, if you wear my bandana you're my family, speaking of here you go.
Jason handed Danny a red bandana with the silhouette of Jason's hood embroidered in the middle with white silk.
Danny: It looks like you.
Jason: That's the idea, that way people know that if you mess with this person, you're messing with the Red Hood's family.
Danny (wrapping the bandana around his neck): It's cute.
Goon #4: It was your dad's idea.
Goon #3: We love it, we may be criminals, but we do crime with style.
Goon #2: By the way welcome to the family, little boss.
Goon #1: "Little boss," that's so cute, can we call you that?
Danny: Sure thing!
Jason (clearing his throat): As sweet as this is, we're here to talk about past month's reports. Sarah, do you mind stating us off?
Sarah "Goon #3": Sure thing boss, the Northern Sector has done well this past month, we were finally able to stop the drug ring that popped up there two months ago, we deposited the ringleaders at Commissioner Gordon's station.
Jason: Good, those bastards should have never showed up there in the first place, we're going to have more diligent in the future.
Sarah: My apologies, the north is my sector, I should have never let that happen.
Jason: It's alright Sarah, we all make mistakes, I wouldn't have made you one of my governors if I wasn't confident in your skills.
Sarah: Thank you.
Jason: Robert, what of the Eastern Sector?
Robert "Goon #1": All is well, the orphanage just opened its new wing, now we can accommodate another hundred kids. The new home ed. classrooms have also finished construction, but we're still looking for teachers properly qualified to teach.
Jason: Let's get working on that, those kids need to learn basic life skills, but remember to do thorough background checks, those kids have been through a lot, they don't need a maniac teaching them how to cook or how to use a circular saw.
Robert: You got it boss.
Jason: Amelia, what of the south?
Amelia "Goon #2": The Southern Sector is doing well, our food bank is still going strong thanks to Wayne Enterprises' weekly food donations. There is one thing however, this week the WE agent overseeing the delivery approached our head of operations for the food bank and said that Mr. Wayne would like to make a direct donation of 100 million dollars so we can expand our current location, as well as open a few more around the city. Elizabeth said she would have to talk to her superiors before accepting such a large monetary donation, the agent is expecting a response by the next delivery in five days.
Jason: How nĚľĚÍÍĚiĚ´ĚĚÍÍc̸ÍĚÍĚşe̡Í̢ of Mr. Wayne, I should pay him a visit to thank him in person. Amelia you can tell Elizabeth that she can accept Mr. Wayne's gĚ´ÍĚ̲e̡ÍĚşnĚśĚÍĚĚe̡ĚÍĚ°ĚšrĚľĚ
̤ÍoĚśÍÍu̡ĚÍsĚ´ĚÍĚŞ donation. I'll also entrust you with setting up a committee to appropriate those funds, simply show me the names for approval.
Amelia: I'll start drawing up a list.
Jason: Henry, what of the west?
Henry "Goon #4": Uneventful, the arts academy is almost ready to open, the whole placed is furnished, we have staff lined up, final details should only take us a few more weeks, at most a month.
Danny: Arts Academy?
Henry: Hood's Academy for the Arts, a school to teach kids more artistic subjects, painting, pottery, acting, dancing, music, photography, cinematography, poetry, and the boss' favorite writing.
Jason: A well rounded education should allow kids to express their creativity, the Academy will hold classes during the weekends, as well as a summer semester for those who would be interested. We will be able to enroll as many as 5,000 students.
Henry: We made sure to hire a large staff, there will be plenty of teachers to ensure each classroom is a reasonable size, as well as many deans, councilors, library staff, and other members of administration, everything and anything that will make the students' time at the academy as easy and assessable as possible.
Jason: Thank you Henry.
Henry: Sure thing boss!
Jason (standing up): Well if that is all, then we're done here.
Sarah: Boss, wait!
Jason: Yes?
Sarah looked at Amelia.
Amelia: We're throwing a party, to celebrate all the progress we've made this month.
Robert: We know parties aren't your thing, but everyone would be happy to see you attend.
Henry: It'll make everyone's day.
Jason looked unsure about accepting the invitation, he looked over at Danny who was giving him a "please dad, let's go" face.
Jason (sighed): I suppose I can make an appearance.
Sarah, Robert, Amelia, and Henry: Yes!
Robert: You won't regret this boss!
Sarah: I'll run ahead and tell everyone!
Henry: Tonight it's going to be lit!
Amelia: We'll party till dawn!
Sarah, Robert, Amelia, and Henry ran ahead, Jason and Danny followed behind.
Jason: Kid, we will not be able to leave that party till well past dawn, my gang are party animals.
Danny: That's fine, besides you still need to introduce me to the gang at large.
Jason: I suppose that's true.
Danny: Come on dad, relax, you guys did a lot of good this month, you deserve to celebrate.
Jason: Ok, one night, but tomorrow it's back to work.
Danny: You got it!
(Master Post)
#Jason's gang is for the most part a conglomerate of different charities that work just outside the boundaries of the law#They're closer to Netflix's Carmen Sandiego and her crew#But Red Hood and his gang are still big scary criminals ignore the fact that they're beloved by Gotham#But yes sometimes they take the law into their own hands and make people âdisappearâ#dp x dc crossover#dc x dp crossover#dp x dc#dc x dp#jason todd#red hood#crime lord jason todd#jason todd writes#danny fenton#danny phantom#ghost king danny#ghost king phantom
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In 1976, after Dungeons & Dragons co-creator Gary Gygax, the most important person in roleplaying games was a Los Angeles woman named Lee Gold. She still contributes to the hobby and still runs a campaign using her Lands of Adventure (1983) game. ...
The shabby state of D&Dâs original rules inspired much discussion, and Leeâs [fanzine] Alarums & Excursions served as the hub of this network. âAll the role players I know, when we looked a Gary Gygaxâs game with its â% liarâ and all its typos said, âthis stuff needs tinkering.â ... Everybody tinkered with D&D because it needed tinkering to be playable. The nice part about D&D was that it obviously needed player help. ...
Soon though, Gary came to hate APAs like A&E. Partly, he seemed to see APAs as ringleaders for thieves, and not just the sort whoâin Garyâs estimationâstole a ride on his coattales. Remember that Lee Gold started with a photocopy of the D&D rules. Early on, copies of D&D, especially outside of TSRâs reach in the Midwest, proved scarce. The $10 price of the original box struck many gamers as outrageous. In the first issues of Alarums & Excursions, some contributors argued that TSRâs profiteering justified Xerox copies of the D&D rules. Gary wrote a rebuttal and Lee told readers that Gary deserved to gain from his work and investment. Surely though, he remained incensed. ...
Meanwhile, Lee published A&E and began writing games. Much of her work showed an interest in history and particularly Japan, where she lived 4 months during A&Eâs first year. Land of the Rising Sun (1980) extended the Chivalry & Sorcery system to Japan. Her game Lands of Adventure (1983) aimed for roleplaying in historical settings. Her other credits include GURPS Japan (1988) and Vikings (1989) for Rolemaster. ...
Meanwhile, the men in gaming tended to suppose that only men contributed to the hobby. Lee remembers visiting the Origins convention and spotting shirts for sale that identified the wearer as a âwargaming widow.â Why else would a woman attend a gaming convention?
After Lee finished writing Land of the Rising Sun for Fantasy Games Unlimited, she met publisher Scott Bizar at a local convention to sign the contract. She recalls discussing the gameâs credits.
âDo you want to say this game is written by yourself and your husband Barry?â Bizar asked.
âNo,â I said. âBarry didnât write any bit of it. He did the indexing, and I gave him full credit for that. I wrote all of the game. Just say the game is by Lee Gold.â
âMost female writers say they wrote a game with their husbands,â said Bizar.
âI donât care what other people do,â I said. âJust say the game is by Lee Gold.â And so Land of the Rising Sun came out as written by Lee Gold.
Her one personal encounter with Gary Gygax revealed a similar bias. Early on, Lee sent copies of A&E to TSR. After a couple of months, she received a phone call, which she recounts.
âThis is Gary Gygax,â said the voice, âand Iâd like to speak to Lee Gold.â
âIâm Lee Gold,â I said. âI gather you got the copies of A&E I sent you.â
âYouâre a woman!â he said.
âThatâs right,â I said, and I told him how much we all loved playing D&D and how grateful we were to him for writing it.
âYouâre a woman,â he said. âI wrote some bad things about women wargamers once.â
âYou donât need to feel embarrassed,â I said. âI havenât read them.â
âYouâre a woman,â he said.
We didnât seem to be getting anywhere, so I told him goodbye and hung up.
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I am very sad.... (ââ¸â) This because you do not have a masterlist for Yuri on Ice. I love your child fic's ŮŠ(^á^ )٠´- , and I want to request can you make omega child reader with Victor and Yuri? (Sorry if I spelt the name wrong)
Title: fight
Fandom: Yuuri on ice
Characters: Viktor, Yuuri, Yuri (mentioned)
Fic type: omegaverse
Pairings: viktuuri
Warnings: male reader, reader insert, child reader, Omega reader, omegaverse, slight angst
Notes:
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Viktor and Yuuri ended practice early, walking into the school seriously and still in skating gear on Yuuri's end, his skates and bag over his shoulder "who attacked our son?" Yuuri seethed, the Omega scanning the area to spot their seven year old sitting with a bruised cheek and muddied uniform, across was a young alpha boy of the same age who looked worse for wear, uniform messy and muddied and a grimase on his face.
Viktor watched Yuuri go mama bear while he went to check on their pup, the young Omega upset as his papa checked him over "you're little hellion attacked my son!" The Alpha boys sire screamed angrily and Yuuri turned his attention to the other, an alpha woman and beta husband "I want to see the camera footage" Yuuri snapped before the Alpha could scream any further.
"N-now..." The principal tried to calm the Omega "no no, my son doesn't just hit other kids, he knows better now show me the footage" Yuuri snapped and Viktor lifted his tiny pup into his arms, the boy silent as he clung to him.
The parents watched the footage intently, little (name) was minding his business with a few of his friends, the boy and the others were really interested in pokemon cards these days as Viktor always got him a few packets when shopping.
Then came a group of boys, the ringleader being the little alpha, (name) seemed confused as the Alpha boy tried to rip off his collar only for (name) to push him back to keep him at a distance, the Alpha boy growing angry and punching him while screaming something the parents weren't privy to as there was no audio.
"We will be pressing charges" Viktor spoke up, staring at the principal and parents seriously who looked horrified "unless your son formally apologizes, you all get therapy and there will be class transfers on your son's end" Viktor was a reasonable man, the others nodding aggressively with panic as there wasn't a family in the area who didn't know about the skating couple.
(Name) Was quiet on the drive home, Yuuri worried as be held Viktors hand and the two glanced at each other.
"Sweety, do you want to talk about it" Yuuri asked as he sat with his pup, the boy fidgeting and refusing to make eye contact "he said... That I'm just a worthless Omega... That papa only married you because omegas were stupid..." Yuuri remembered seeing the rest of the video as Viktor threatened the parents, (name) lunged at the boy.
"You know that's not true, right?" Yuuri whispered softly and Viktor came in with some hot coco, marshmallows and all for the boy "I know... I was just mad"
"Well we aren't happy that it got violent but I'm glad you stuck up for yourself, my smart wonderful little omega" Viktor kissed the boys forehead and (name) huffed "whatever..."
"You're sounding like your uncle now!" Viktor teased as the family turned on a movie, Yuuri going to get the boy some ice from his swollen cheek, just wanting to care for their pup.
#yuuri on ice x male reader#yuuri on ice x reader#yuuri x victor#yuuri on ice#Omega male reader#omegaverse#anime x male reader#anime x reader
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Enough to Go By (Chapter 12) - a Shigaraki x f!Reader fic
Your best friend vanished on the same night his family was murdered, and even though the world forgot about him, you never did. When a chance encounter brings you back into contact with Shimura Tenko, you'll do anything to make sure you don't lose him again. Keep his secrets? Sure. Aid the League of Villains? Of course. Sacrifice everything? You would - but as the battle between the League of Villains and hero society unfolds, it becomes clear that everything is far more than you or anyone else imagined it would be. (cross-posted to Ao3)
Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Chapter 12
Saintess.
You look down at Kazuoâs one-word text, your stomach twisting. Youâve got no idea where he got that name, or what question he was ordered to ask that led him to it. You text back. Is that even a real word?
The question was whether the League of Villains has allies beyond those who were present at Kamino. Kazuo texts back slowly. Too slowly. The typing bubble seems to hover forever. I was unable to give them any more information about the villain known as Saintess.
Kazuoâs careful with his words. If he framed the question that way, then your name would be excluded â even though you pal around with villains, even though youâre the girlfriend of the Leagueâs ringleader, you havenât committed a crime. The word âvillainâ wouldnât apply to you, which means youâre safe. Thank you.
We need to talk in person. Tonight.
Why?
Iâll meet you after work.
Meeting you after work means heâs coming to your workplace, after work. Whatever this is, itâs important. And itâs going to clash with one of your other plans, which is also important â and a lot harder to get out of. You hate yourself as you ask the question. How long will it take?
As long as it needs to. Kazuo doesnât really get irritated anymore, but you can remember what it used to feel like when you pissed him off. Do you have somewhere to be?
You do, actually. Tenko is supposed to negotiate with Overhaul tonight, and he wants you to be there with him. Overhaul wants you there, too â when you listened in on the phone call, you heard him mention âthe one in greyâ specifically. What is this about?
The Shie Hassaikai.
Shit. Hold on.
You turn to nudge Tenko awake and find him watching you through half-lidded eyes. He doesnât sleep much, but when he does, he sleeps like a log. He barely stirred when your alarm went off. âWho are you talking to?â
âMy friend Kazuo.â You brace yourself. âI canât go with you to meet Overhaul. I have to meet him instead.â
Tenko doesnât look happy, and heâs still half-asleep. Itâs going to get worse. âYou have to go with me. He asked for you specifically. If you donât go, heâll suspect something.â
âTell him we canât tonight,â you say. âEven if weâre supposed to be allies, we shouldnât jump just because he says so. That looks suspicious, too.â
âMaybe.â Tenko looks like heâs considering it for a second. Then he shakes his head. âTell your friend you canât.â
âI canât do that. I have to meet him.â
Tenkoâs eyes narrow. âWhy?â
âHe has a quirk called Search Engine. He works for the HPSC gathering intel.â You try to figure out a good way to phrase it, then realize there isnât one. âHe knows about you and me.â
âAnd heâs a hero?â
âNot exactly.â You wonder if thereâs anything else Tenko needs to know. âItâs not relevant, but I dated him in high school.â
âWhat?â Tenko looks like heâs going to blow a fuse. Youâre pretty sure the structural integrity of everything heâs touching is in danger at the moment, regardless of the gloves. âHeâs blackmailing you. Thatâs why you have to go. Iâll kill him.â
âHeâs not blackmailing me.â You canât let Tenko meet Kazuo. You canât let anything happen to your old friends because of your new ones. âHeâs been telling me how to stay clear of his searches. This morning he texted me to let me know that my code name popped up, but nothing else.â
âHeâs a hero, but heâs helping you,â Tenko repeats. His expression darkens. âHe likes you. Thatâs why. Do you like him?â
âHeâs my friend,â you say, exasperated. âHalf the reason I dated him because he reminded me of you.â
Tenko coughs. âWhat?â
You decide to pretend you didnât say that. You unlock your phone and show Tenko the conversation in question. âHe has information about Overhaul. We need that. Before we meet him?â
âWhy would he know you needed information about Overhaul? What does his quirk do?â
âSearch Engine â it lets him find the answer to any question he asks,â you say. Tenko looks â well, youâre not sure how to classify that expression. Somewhere between skeptical, pissed, and panicked. Whatever it is, itâs uncomfortable. âThe problem is that itâs hard to come up with a query that excludes every answer except the one youâre looking for. And all that information comes in at the same time, so itâs hard to sort through. He ââ
You trail off, trying to figure out how to explain. âHe went to UA, but they pushed him too hard. His mind broke down and he dropped out, but the HPSC conscripted him to help find you. And since Iâm with you, and Iâm his friend, heâs helping me avoid getting caught.â
âWhich means helping me, too.â Tenko looks really skeptical now. âI donât buy it. No hero would help you if it meant helping me at the same time.â
âHeâs not a hero,â you say. âThe heroic system ruined his life.â
That seems to land a little better with Tenko than your previous explanations. He hands your phone back to you. âSo he knows something about the Hassaikai that he wants to tell you,â he says. You nod. âAnd the stuff heâs told you before has been useful.â
You nod again. âThen Iâll tell Overhaul to shove it,â Tenko decides. A smirk crosses his faith at the thought. âWeâll meet him tomorrow instead. Heâs not the only ally weâre considering. He can wait his fucking turn.â
You text Kazuo back, confirming the meetup while Tenko reads over your shoulder. At first heâs just looking. Then his chin notches against your shoulder, his arms wrapping around your waist. Heâs wearing the gloves he went to bed in, and you let him rustle around for a few moments, getting so close heâs practically glued to your back. Thatâs going to be a problem in a few minutes. You have to go to work. But at the same time, you arenât ready to go just yet. Lately you only feel normal when youâre with him.
âThat guy,â Tenko says after a minute or so. âDid you really date him because he reminded you of me?â
âI was always going to be friends with him, but he made me think of you, and thatâs part of why I dated him.â Itâs embarrassing to admit this. You donât like thinking about how much of your life has been marked by losing Tenko. âHe was what I imagined youâd be like. If nothing had changed.â
You hadnât realized that there was something else to it at first. Kazuo was brilliant, and he was funny, and he was kind. Half the girls in your class had a crush on him, but he wound up with you, because you made sure you were there. If there was something he needed, you had it. If he needed a partner for an assignment, you were right there, on top of everything, ready to pitch in and make sure his ideas shone. If he wanted to talk, you dropped everything to listen. You werenât playing a part; more auditioning for one. The job of Kazuoâs sidekick, in theory. In practice, his girlfriend.
He was your second boyfriend. Your first one was an asshole who cheated on you with Mitsuko, who dropped him when she found out and made you drop him, too. That was how the two of you met, and youâre still amazed that the two of you are friends rather than mortal enemies. Kazuo was different than that, almost perfect, a version of Tenko all grown up, without the scratching and the father who shouted and a heroic quirk. You know he loved you, and you were close even after the two of you broke up, until UA pushed his quirk past its limit. And you loved him, too, in a way that was probably healthier than the way you â feel â for Tenko. Like Kazuo said, all those months ago: He never tried to kill you. And youâd never step in front of a bullet for him.
âWhat I would have been like,â Tenko repeats. âYou must have been disappointed when you saw how I turned out.â
You elbow him lightly. âWhat part of me chasing you down the street said âIâm disappointedâ? Donât be dumb.â
âDonât fall in love with any more heroes, then.â Tenko lifts your phone out of your hands, drops it somewhere in the blankets on the bed, and pulls you back down with him. âI already locked it down.â
Heâs kissing you, one of his hands flirting with the edge of your shirt, slipping beneath it. You touch the screen of your phone and wince when you see what time it is. âI have to go.â
âIt wonât take long.â Tenkoâs hand slides all the way under your shirt. âI know what you like now. Iâll be fast.â
Heâs probably underestimating how much time it takes for you to get fully turned on, but then again, it feels different with him. And itâs not something you want to get into before work. âI bet I can be faster.â
âHuh? You can after I ââ
You twist out of Tenkoâs arms and push him onto his back. He was already half-hard when he was holding you. By the time you disappear under the blankets, thereâs a noticeable tent in his sweatpants. You havenât asked if heâs okay with this, but when you catch the waistband of his pants, he lifts his hips to let you pull them down. His voice is raspy when he says your name, and before you can ask for his consent more directly, his legs shift apart, making more room for you between them. That strikes you as an invitation. You get settled a little more comfortably, although youâre not expecting to stay here for long, before you lean in to drag your tongue across the tip of his cock.
Tenkoâs hips jerk. âHold still,â you say. âOr I stop.â
âWhy do I have to hold still?â Tenko freezes anyway, and you almost laugh. âItâs not fair.â
âI said I was going to be fast. I need your help. You can help by holding still.â
âSo youâll stop if I donât.â
âLet me think.â While youâre thinking, you lick the tip of his cock again, and this time, Tenko stays still. You reward him with a kiss, and slowly open your mouth, tasting him for a long moment before pulling away to speak. âI guess if you donât hold still, Iâll have to hold you down.â
His hips jerk again. You feel the muscles in his thighs go tense. Is that an idea he likes? You were just being playful, flirty, but suddenly your head is full of the idea of pinning Tenkoâs hips to the bed and teasing him until he canât take it any longer. You donât get the sense that it would take very long, so you carefully shift your weight, to the tune of a sharp intake of breath from the head of the bed. Suddenly the sheet shifts back, and you glance up to find Tenko propped up on his elbows and staring down at you with glassy eyes. He wants to watch you suck his cock. Thatâs fine with you.
Unlike the first time you touched him, Tenko keeps his hands to himself. Theyâre curled into fists at his sides â no, grasping at the sheets â no, grabbing a fistful of his pillow and holding on tight. You keep your attention focused on the tip of his cock, since youâre not confident in your ability to suppress your own gag reflex, and you really donât want to ruin Tenkoâs first blowjob ever. But youâre not going to say it isnât tempting. Every time you glance upwards, heâs a little more undone.
Youâre just considering whether itâs worth a shot when Tenkoâs mouth opens and a plea spills out. âI need it. I need you.â
He needs you. You wonder if something so simply can really be the magic words, the thing that takes you from unsure to dead certain, but youâre already taking him further into your mouth, your tongue flat against the underside of his cock as you breathe through your nose. Tenko shudders, gasps so sharply that could almost be a whine. You struggle to think of a way to signal your approval and finally settle on running your thumb over the exposed crest of his hip. You had one hand free when you started; now you have two, because youâve taken his cock so far into your mouth that thereâs no room left for your hand.
With Tenkoâs hips held down, thereâs no risk that heâll thrust and trigger your gag reflex. You draw back partially, then sink down again, far enough that the tip of your nose brushes the coarse dark hair at his groin. The thought crosses your mind of how disastrous it would be to sneeze right now, and shortly afterward, you discover how difficult it is to laugh with a cock in your mouth. Your throat convulses as you struggle to hold it back, and Tenko moans, so loud and desperate that your face flushes and head floods through you.
Youâre not laughing anymore. You draw back and sink down again and again, trying to keep the motion as smooth and effortless as possible, and Tenkoâs body seizes beneath you. His back arches, and he stammers out something like a warning. Itâs late. Youâre not a fan of the way cum tastes â you havenât met anyone who is except Yoshimi, and you think sheâs probably lying about that â but you find that you donât mind so much when itâs Tenkoâs. There are a lot of things you donât mind so much when itâs him.
You pull away once he begins to go soft, then duck back in to kiss the spot on his hip you were running your thumb over. He doesnât make any move to pull his sweatpants back up, so you do it for him, and you take the opportunity to look him over. You thought he was just worn out. Now you think he might be passed out. âAre you okay?â
One hand catches you by the front of your pajama shirt and yanks you down for a kiss. You try to hit the brakes â kissing after a blowjob is iffy, and youâre not sure if Tenko knows that â but he wonât let you, and your lips crash together hard. He speaks without letting you pull away. âYou just sucked my soul out through my dick. Of course Iâm okay.â
âI think those two statements contradict each other.â
âI donât care.â Tenkoâs other hand comes up, landing half on your hip, half on your ass. âMy turn now.â
âNo.â You pull away and scramble out of bed. âMaybe later. I have to go to work.â
âMaybe later?â Tenko looks affronted, or he would if he wasnât struggling to keep his eyes open. âWhat? Do you think Iâd be bad at it?â
âI donât think that. I just have to go to work. And you need to go back to sleep.â Youâre pretty sure his soulâs still attached, but you definitely sapped most of his energy. Not enough to stop him from pouting, though. âDefinitely later. Is that better?â
âNo.â Tenko yawns. âBut Iâll take it.â
He lets you go, already half-asleep as you pull your hand free, and you head to the bathroom to brush your teeth, noting an odd spring in your step. You havenât felt this good waking up in a while. Maybe you should start the day like this more often.
Nobody else is awake when you head out to the living room and kitchen, which isnât a surprise. Compress has been sleeping a lot, which is good â an injury like his requires extra rest. Twice goes to bed early, like an old man, according to one of his two personalities. Toga stayed up late. So did Spinner, and so did Dabi. Dabiâs the only one who stirs when you start picking through the kitchen for breakfast. âIf youâre gonna fuck him before seven am, tape his mouth shut first.â
Half of you cringes at the thought that Tenko was audible from the living room. The other half, though â âNobody made you listen.â
âKinky. Maybe we should change your code name, Saintess.â
âIf you think thatâs kinky, you really need to educate yourself.â
You probably would have thought not caring if someone was eavesdropping was kinky back in the day, but then you met Mitsuko. She and Dabi would probably hate each other. Then again, Mitsukoâs not above a bout of hatefucking. Maybe that would be good for her. Speaking from personal experience, thereâs nothing like getting intimate with a villain to exorcise some of your hatred of heroes.
It doesnât matter, because thereâs no way youâre introducing your friends to the League. The fact that Kazuo knows is bad enough. You make tea, pick through the kitchen for something to eat on the walk to work, and put on your shoes. It occurs to you that you should probably say something Dabi, because heâs awake, but you canât figure out what it should be. âUm, have a good day.â
His response comes back dripping with condescension. âYou have a good day too, Saintess.â
You lock the door, struggling to suppress an eyeroll. Heâll probably give Tenko a hard time once Tenko wakes up, but hopefully the blowjob high will insulate Tenko from caring about it too much. Thatâs not the only thing youâre hoping itâll insulate Tenko from. At some point today heâs going to remember that youâre meeting up with your hero-adjacent ex-boyfriend after work, and the less time he spends thinking about that, the better.
Youâre worried work will drag, but it speeds past, keeping you busy enough that you donât worry too much about the fact that the League is still holed up in your apartment. Kurogiriâs looking for another potential hideout, but you donât get the sense that any of them are in a particular hurry to leave. After all, your place is a guaranteed roof over their heads, a source of running water, a source of internet access, and a semi-comfortable place to sleep, more comfortable now that youâve invested in an air mattress that sleeps two. You wouldnât want to leave, if you were them.
Youâre not sure you want them to, either. When youâre with them, you donât have to lie to anybody about what youâre doing. When youâre with them, youâre not worried about being found out. When youâre with them, youâre with Tenko, and you â like him. You like him so much that you stepped in front of a bullet for him and gave him head with absolutely zero prompting. Youâre not sure which of those is more out of character for you.
Your last patient of the day has a weird injury, weird in that even when you rack your brain, you canât think what could have possibly caused it. It seems like his handâs been degloved completely, then flipped inside out, with veins and muscles and layers of fat on the surface and skin enfolding his bones. âThis was a quirk,â you say, once youâve clenched your jaw and concealed the surprise. The patient nods. âWhat happened?â
He shakes his head. âSorry. I shouldnât have asked that. Itâs not our policy to ask questions like that,â you say. The patient shrugs. Heâs not the most talkative, which is fine. You get his permission and take some pictures, getting as many views of it as you can, before you render a potential treatment plan. âIâm going to call a doctor to look at this, but based on what Iâm seeing, this is a hospital matter. Weâll most likely prescribe you some painkillers for the trip and wrap this up to prevent any more exposure to bacteria. Do you have any questions?â
âAre you sure you canât fix it here?â The patientâs expression says he doesnât want anything to do with the hospital, which isnât a surprise, but youâre fairly sure the doctor will be able to talk him into it. âThey fixed whateverâs wrong with your hand, right?â
You glance at your bandaged hand, surprised. Youâre still covering the scratches Tenko left, just because the scabs keep cracking. âThatâs different. Mine are superficial. Yours is â just sit tight. Iâll grab the doctor and she can explain.â
The doctor on call is on break, and not happy to be interrupted. âSorry,â you say. âThe patient in Exam 3 â his handâs turned inside out. He doesnât want to go to the hospital, but ââ
âWhat do you mean, turned inside out?â
âI mean, the muscles and blood vessels are on the outside,â you say. The doctorâs eyes widen. âHe might need emergency surgery to keep the hand, and itâs probably infected already. I canât talk him into going to the hospital. Iâm just a nurse. Maybe if you explain ââ
The doctor sets her bento aside and gets to her feet. âDid he say how it happened?â
âIt was a quirk,â you say. âI took photos already. Iâll add them to our database while you talk to him.â
âName, age, quirk.â
âHe didnât give a name. Early thirties. Quirk â I donât know what itâs called, but his hair looks like arrows.â Sometimes quirks are easy for you to guess. Sometimes not. âHeâs a little guarded, but he came here for help. That counts for something, right?â
The doctor nods. âUpload the photos. Iâll go talk to him.â
You added the photos to the clinicâs shared drive already, and you steal the doctorâs chair to upload them to the database that covers all the clinics in the network. Keeping a database of quirk-related injuries helps identify trends, develop treatment protocols, and tailor supply and personnel distribution. If a lot of burn injuries are showing up at a particular clinic, itâs helpful to be able to supply that clinic properly. But youâve never seen an injury like this before, and when you add the photos to the âopen woundsâ folder in the database, you realize that no one else has, either. Thereâs nothing even remotely close. What kind of quirk could do this?
Youâre puzzling over it, wondering if itâs worth querying public records over, when you hear a door open and shut down the hallway. At first you think itâs the doctor coming back. Then you hear the exit door at the far end of the hallway open and shut, too, and thirty seconds later, you realize that somethingâs wrong.
You race down the hall, skidding into Exam 3, and find the doctor sprawled out on the ground, conscious and aware and bleeding from a superficial scrape in her upper arm â but not moving. âWhat happened?â
She tries to answer you, but sheâs speaking with agonizing slowness, almost completely unintelligible even when you try to read her lips. You hurry forward, checking her respiration and heart rate, horrified to find at least thirty seconds passing between each beat of her heart. What is this? How is she still alive? The first answer is clear: A quirk. Your patientâs quirk, which you didnât ask about, because itâs policy not to ask. The second answerâs in doubt, and although itâs never happened while youâve been on shift in three and a half years of working at the clinic, you know what protocol mandates when a staff member is attacked.
You press the panic button taped to the underside of the desk â why didnât the doctor go for it? â triggering a clinic-wide alert and placing an automatic call to the emergency line. Then you turn your attention back to the doctor, the doctor you sent in here alone, checking for pupil movement, for pallor, for anything to tell you whether you need to call a code along with the alert.
Emergency services get there before law enforcementâs even left the station, and because you had contact with the attacker, too, youâre sent along in the ambulance to Yokohama General. You spend the entire way there trying to stay out of the EMTsâ way and trying to apologize to the doctor before letting this happen, until one of the EMTs tells you to can it. ���If youâd known, you wouldnât have sent anyone, but you didnât. Put the blame where it belongs.â
Thatâs hard to do. Lately youâve been so used to placing the blame on yourself that itâs turning into your default position, but this time, it really isnât your fault. You never would have sent the doctor to check on the patient if thereâd been any indication that he was dangerous. You didnât know. Thatâs all.
At Yokohama General, the doctorâs whisked up to intensive care, while youâre held back in the emergency room. Youâre not sure what theyâre looking for â you touched the patient while you were unwrapping the bandage heâd tied around the wound, and nothing happened to you â but you hang out in an exam room anyway, with nothing to do but nap behind a curtain and text Kazuo. Might be late. Somebody attacked a doctor at work and Iâm at the hospital.
âI know.â
You nearly jump out of your skin. The curtain peels back and reveals Kazuo standing there, wearing a pair of glasses and a suit jacket over his usual white shirt and slacks. The man standing next to him is wearing a suit and a pair of glasses, too â but his suit is grey, and his hair is green with streaks of yellow, and â
Sir Nighteye. You shrink back in horror, and the third member of the trio, a blue-skinned woman with a mask over her face, pipes up in a hurry. âDonât worry, weâre here to help! Sir is very friendly! He loves to laugh!â
Sir Nighteye glances briefly at you, then looks to Kazuo. âIs this your friend?â
âI would give her space,â Kazuo says. âShe was attacked on her way home last year, and was a first responder to the incident at Kamino Ward. Therapy for these traumatic experiences has not progressed as far as those who care for her might have hoped.â
You give Kazuo a dirty look, which he ignores. âI see,â Sir Nighteye says, and takes a notable step back. âI understand you had contact with the individual who attacked your coworker.â
âYes. I examined him.â You wonder how Nighteyeâs quirk works. How long it works for, and if he uses on you, how far ahead in your life heâll be able to see. âIf I had known what he was going to do ââ
âThat wouldnât have been possible,â Nighteye interrupts. Maybe itâs eye contact. You bow your head. âDescribe the injury to me.â
âUm ââ The word that comes to mind is âhorrificâ, but after what youâve seen over the last few months, your bar for horrific is pretty high. âIt looked like his hand had been turned inside out. Skin on the inside, veins on the outside.â
âI see. Did it appear to be clean?â
âWhat?â
âThe separation of the skin on his hand from his wrist,â Sir Nighteye says, impatient. âWas it jagged or clean?â
âOh.â You think of the photos you took. âJagged.â
âBut the skin was otherwise intact?â
âYes.â
âI see,â Nighteye says again. What does he see? You need to know. You need to know if you can go home tonight, or if you have to stay as far away from Tenko and the others as possible to keep them safe. âYouâve been working there for three and a half years. Have you seen an injury of that type before?â
âNo,â you say. âNot in our database, either. He said it was caused by a quirk, but our protocols donât allow us to ask more than that.â
âKiyohara.â Nighteye doesnât say more than Kazuoâs family name, but itâs clear what he wants. âNow.â
Kazuoâs hesitating, and you know why. âThat question is too broad,â you say to Nighteye. Nighteye pushes his glasses further up the bridge of his nose with his middle finger, eyebrows raised. âIt has to be more specific, or the information influx will risk overloading his brain. Since you donât care about his health, maybe youâll care about the fact that he wonât be useful at all after a grand mal seizure.â
You havenât blown up on a hero, ever. Suddenly you get why Mitsukoâs been doing it. It feels good, and Nighteye, unlike the sidekicks, doesnât rise to the bait. âIs that so?â he asks Kazuo. Kazuo nods. âWeâll secure as much information as possible before you make the query. As of now, youâre off-duty. And youâre free to go.â
That last is to you, but a warning look from Kazuo keeps you seated on the bed until Nighteye and his sidekick are gone. You open your mouth and he holds up his hand. It pisses you off. âDonât shush me. What was that about?â
âNot here. Outside.â
You grit your teeth and follow Kazuo out through the emergency room and onto the street. Itâs dark, and with autumn well on its way, the wind whipping between the buildings is cold. You follow Kazuo for two blocks, then into a park, before he stops walking and turns to face you. âYou shouldnât have spoken up. I told you â you canât save both of us.â
âSo I was supposed to just sit there while he made you overload your quirk?â Youâre already out of patience. âNo. Tell me whatâs going on. Right now.â
âThe Nighteye agency is investigating the Shie Hassaikai,â Kazuo says. Your jaw drops. âTheyâve enlisted the help of dozens of unaffiliated heroes. Itâs the largest operation any hero has conducted since Kamino, and it will be far better planned than Kamino was. Sir Nighteye wonât act until heâs certain of victory.â
âWhy are they investigating the Hassaikai?â you choke out. âIs it because of ââ
âYour friendâs involvement is tangential. They arenât after him this time.â Kazuoâs hand rises to his temple, and you catch it, pull it back down. You spend a lot of time dragging your friendsâ hands away before they can hurt themselves. âNighteye has been pursuing the Hassaikai since before Kamino. Their investigation is related to the distribution of Trigger. Youâre familiar?â
You nod. A solid thirty percent of your patients who show up in costume are showing up after experiencing the adverse effects of Trigger. The compound boosts quirk activation at the cost of everything else, and itâs one of those things youâll never understand about people with quirks â that constant desire for more of it, more power, more everything. âThe Hassaikaiâs involved with that?â
âTheyâre distributing an inferior version of it,â Kazuo says. Tenko didnât know that. You know he didnât, because he would have told you. How much else doesnât he know? âAnd lately theyâve been distributing something else as well. Bullets that erase quirks.â
âI know,â you say. Kazuo looks surprised. âItâs temporary, but they work.â
Compressâs quirk came back within twenty-four hours, but you know itâll be a long time before anyone in the League forgets what happened in that warehouse. The bruise on your shoulder is fading, but the creepy red lines havenât. âNighteye believes that Chisaki is pursuing a more permanent version of the quirk-erasing bullets, and doing so through less than ethical means,â Kazuo says. âEvery use of my quirk in the last six weeks has been related to this investigation. Your new name came up in my queries because you crossed paths with Chisaki once. If you, personally, aid him in any way, youâll become one of the investigationâs targets. So will your friend.â
Chisaki must be Overhaulâs family name. You wonder if heâs got a family. âI donât think weâre planning to help him,â you say, and see Kazuoâs eyebrows lift. âHe killed one of us and maimed another one. Thatâs not forgivable.â
âIndeed.â Kazuo sits down on a bench, and so do you. Itâs quiet for a little while. âSo. Saintess.â
âI didnât pick it.â
âI know,â Kazuo says. Of course he does. âIâd have advised you to choose a name soon regardless. As this escalates, youâll need to shield your true identity.â
âSo I wonât go to jail,â you clarify.
âSo you wonât be killed,â Kazuo says. You stare at him. âIâm aware of the â position â you hold in your friendâs organization. If his enemies believe they can use you against him, they will do it, and since targeting you when youâre with him will be difficult, theyâll do it when youâre alone, as a civilian. My query indicated that you havenât been found out, but today was a very near miss.â
That should make sense to you. You force yourself to think. Why would the Nighteye agency care about an attack in a free clinic on the rough side of Yokohama? They wouldnât, unless â âWas that guy one of the Hassaikai?â
âSir Nighteye suspects he is. He wonât know for sure until I search,â Kazuo says. His phone buzzes. He checks it and sighs. âMy parameters are in. Iâll let you know what I find.â
âKazuo ââ You donât know what to say, and heâs already getting to his feet. âWhy are you helping me so much? You could get in trouble.â
âI donât care about that,â Kazuo says. He barely cares about anything anymore. Seeing the apathy overtake him for the past three years has been agonizing. âThe world your friend wishes to create, a world without heroes, is a world where this would not have happened to me. Itâs too late for me, but there are others who could be spared.â
You look at him, feeling your throat tighten and your eyes burn. âIâm sorry.â
âI told you,â Kazuo says, for the third time today, over his shoulder as he starts the walk back to Yokohama General, âyou canât save us both.â
Youâve always thought he meant himself and Tenko when he said that. Now you wonder if he means himself and you. You wonder what saving either of you would mean. And you wonder if itâs too late for you already.
Your phone buzzes, and you look at it. Itâs the new group chat, the one you made because you couldnât face the thought of never seeing Sho or Hironoâs phone numbers pop up again. Mitsukoâs texting you. And Ryuhei. Quit being a stranger. Come hang with us.
Tenko and the others are already expecting you to be out tonight, and you never said how long youâd be gone. Where are you?
Look up.
You look up, and sure enough, your friends are strolling towards you. âKazuo dropped a pin,â Ryuhei calls once heâs in earshot. âWe never see you anymore.â
Itâs been a while since you saw Ryuhei, but Mitsuko? âWe saw each other five days ago, Mitsu.â
âYeah, but that wasnât exactly fun. And you had to run off to your stupid job.â Mitsuko rolls her eyes. âCome on. Letâs go out. I swear I wonât get wasted and spit on any more sidekicks.â
âAnd no peeing on the All Might statue.â
âFine.â Mitsuko heaves a dramatic sigh, while Ryuhei cracks up. âDrinks first.â
âDrinks,â Ryuhei agrees. âI found a maid bar, and theyâll treat me like a creep if I go in there alone.â
Youâre pretty sure the three of you together look weirder strolling into a maid bar than Ryuhei would have by himself, but nobody who works there comments on it, and theyâre nicer to you than you expected them to be. One of them knows you â sheâs one of the people who uses the clinic as a primary care provider, so youâve seen her a few times a year for the past three years. She cracks a joke about how Ryuhei would look better in a maid costume than she would, which leads directly into Mitsuko bullying him into trying on the headpiece of one of the costumes. You take a picture before you can stop yourself and drop it in the group chat. Kazuoâs busy, but now thereâs a record, and youâre pretty sure itâll make Yoshimi laugh.
Youâve been most comfortable with Tenko and the League lately, but itâs nice to have a night out with your friends, too â one thatâs not complicated by your involvement with your childhood best friend turned boyfriend, who probably fits the criteria of a domestic terrorist and whoâs been living in your apartment on and off for the past six weeks with his gang of domestic terrorist friends. Mitsuko and Ryuhei are the most irreverent of your group, and they live the closest to the edge. Ryuhei has a record that isnât his fault â his quirk is entirely unconscious, and when a sidekick launched a quirk-based attack at him while he was running away from a building heâd graffitied, he couldnât stop himself from reflecting it back. Mitsuko doesnât have a record, but the cops in Yokohama know her too well to ever give her the benefit of the doubt again. They might have the privilege of having quirks, but youâve always been able to complain with them in a way that you havenât with the others.
After the maid cafĂŠ, you find yourselves at karaoke. You collectively suck at karaoke. Ryuheiâs got the best voice, but his enunciation is the first thing to go when heâs drunk, and you canât listen to him slurring his way through a song without laughing. Mitsuko is tone-deaf, but makes up for it with enthusiastic dance moves, and thereâs absolutely nothing about your performances that stands out. Youâre such a nonevent at karaoke that Sho used to fall asleep when it was your turn to sing.
It should be fun. It used to be fun. But youâve lost two friends now. One of your friends is sick, while anotherâs being forced into work that could snap his mind in two. Mitsuko isnât okay; youâre not okay. Ryuhei isnât, either, and when the three of you are alone and you run out of things to talk about, thereâs no point in pretending otherwise.
âEverything sucks now,â Ryuhei says in a break between songs. âNot just since they died. For a while.â
âIt sucked the whole time. We just didnât admit it.â Mitsuko is facedown in one of the pillows on the couch. Her voice is muffled. âIt was always bullshit. When they were here, it was easier not to think about it.â
âI miss them,â you say. Your voice wavers, but only once. âI wish they were here.â
âYeah. They should be here, and those heroes shouldnât.â Ryuheiâs words are slurred, but heâs getting his point across just fine. âIf theyâre so great, how come nine hundred people died on their watch?â
They sound like Tenko. Heâd be happy to hear this, and like youâve summoned him just by thinking of him, your phone pings with a text from the burner phone Tenkoâs been using to call people â Kurogiri, Overhaul, and you. When are you coming back?
Iâll be back tonight.
When?
Canât he just trust you? Youâre about to text back that youâll be home when youâre done when Mitsuko scoops the phone out of your hands. âYour new boyfriendâs kind of clingy, huh?â
âNo,â you say. Part of you gets a stupid little thrill out of admitting that Tenkoâs your boyfriend. âNot clingy. He knows I was meeting Kazuo tonight.â
Mitsuko makes an error sound. âBad move. Telling the new boy about the former boy makes the new boy insecure.â
âNo ââ
âEspecially if the first guy is Kazuo,â Ryuhei says. âFucking hell. If I was dating his ex and she went out to meet him â and she didnât tell me when she was coming back â Iâd probably shit a brick.â
âThanks. I really could have done without that picture in my head.â Even as you return fire, youâre wondering if theyâve got a point. If itâs not just that Kazuoâs working for the heroes. If any part of it is that Tenkoâs jealous of the guy you dated before him. âWhat should I do?â
Mitsukoâs still holding your phone, and to your horror, she sends a text. This is Mitsu. Your girlfriendâs not banging her ex, sheâs hanging with us. Chill out.
Tenko texts back immediately. Two words. Prove it.
âHe wants proof,â Mitsuko announces. âSelfie time! Look cute.â
You canât manage looking cute. Youâre too stressed to look cute, and too distracted by the stupid faces your friends are making. Mitsuko snaps a photo and sends it off, followed by a text. Your turn.
For what?
To prove youâre not banging your ex right now.
You cringe. âHe doesnât have any exes.â
âAww, youâre his first? No wonder heâs acting like such a freak.â Mitsuko snickers. âItâs fine, anyway. We already know what he looks like.â
Something about that strikes you as odd, but before you can ask, Ryuhei pulls a phone out of his pocket. Not his. This one has a cracked screen and a case with an Endeavor pinup card taped to the back, and all at once thereâs a lump in your throat. âIs that Hiroâs?â
âYeah. They released her personal effects, fucking finally. I was her emergency contact, so I got them.â Mitsuko takes the phone from Ryuhei, your phone forgotten even as it pings again. âYou know she was conscious under there?â
Your stomach clenches. âNo.â
âLike the whole time. When I unlocked it, there were a whole bunch of undelivered messages, to all of us. I guess the wreckage blocked the signal.â Mitsukoâs voice is flat. Her eyes are filling with tears. âShe recorded a message for us. Here.â
You donât want to listen. You donât want to see. Not when you had something to do with the disaster that killed her, not when itâs partially your fault. The screen is black, but you can hear Hironoâs voice, rough and choked with dust and tears as she tells all of you that she loves you, that she hated waking up most mornings except that you all made her stupid life worth living. No jokes about Endeavor. No picking on you for being boring or Mitsuru for being a simp for his latest girlfriend or Mitsuko for whatever item of clothing she bought that Hirono hates. Just Hiro saying she loves you. And Hiro saying goodbye.
Youâre crying by the end of it, messy, stupid tears. Ryuheiâs teared up, too, but unlike you, heâs still able to talk. âThat was the last audio clip,â he says. âThere were a bunch of others. While she was trying to grab the phone, I guess. The first one was really interesting.â
He presses play on it, and you know instantly what itâs recording: The fight between All Might and All For One, audio that the news helicopters couldnât have picked up, audio that would have been suppressed if anyone had gotten ahold of it. All For One is taunting All Might over his failures, mocking him for his ideals, the same words you can imagine Tenko using but with thousands of times more glee. And then you hear it, All For Oneâs voice chilling your blood even through a recording: âThere is one thing you might be interested to know. Shigaraki Tomura, my apprentice? He was once known as Shimura Tenko â your beloved masterâs grandson!â
You freeze in place. âThat name sounded kind of familiar,â Ryuhei says, after heâs hit pause. âWe couldnât figure out why at first. Yoshimi was the one who got it. Shimura Tenko was your friend. The one who went missing.â
âWe all told you he was dead, but you were right and we were wrong.â Mitsuko sprawls out on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. âWe figured there couldnât be two, so we checked with Kazuo, and then we asked if we should tell you. If it wouldnât be too hard on you with everything else going on. You know what he said?â
You can guess. âHe said, What makes you think she doesnât know?â Ryuhei mimics Kazuoâs frozen voice. âAnd then it all made sense. Why youâve been acting so weird. Why you havenât been around. Where you got that weird scar on your wrist ââ
âAnd that bite mark on your neck,â Mitsuko adds, and your hand flies up to cover it even though itâs long gone. She waves your phone at you, the screen lit up with texts from Tenko. âIâm texting Shigaraki Tomura right now, arenât I?â
You could lie. You need to lie. But even as youâre stammering through the first sentence of your denial, you know itâs too late. Your friends know. Kazuo as good as told them. And in some weird way, youâre relieved. You donât have to lie any more. You can let it go. So you stop talking, except for one sentence. âPlease donât tell anyone.â
âAre you kidding me? We donât want to rat you out,â Ryuhei says. âWe want in.â
You stare at him. âWe want to meet him first,â Mitsuko says. âSince youâve been hung up on him since you were a toddler and your judgment with guys isnât usually garbage ââ
âBut we want in,â Ryuhei interrupts. âLike we said. Itâs been bullshit for a long time. At least your psycho boyfriend is doing something about it.â
âSo?â Mitsuko looks at you expectantly. âWhen do we meet him?â
Your phone pings again, and again â and then it starts ringing. Mitsuko holds it out to you, and you answer the call. âMy friends want to meet you.â
âIâm not jealous,â Tenko says. Someone guffaws in the background. âIâm not. I thought someone had â when are you getting back? Itâs ââ
âMy friends want to meet you,â you say again. âDo you want to meet them?â
âThey want to meet me,â Tomura repeats. He sounds just as confused as you feel. âLike, me, or â?â
âThey know. I didnât tell them, they guessed.â
âWe want in,â Ryuhei says loudly, and you jump. âDo we have to audition or something? Iâve got a record.â
âIâd have one if I hadnât blown my arresting officer,â Mitsuko adds from your other side, and someone on the other end of the line â probably Spinner â breaks out in a coughing fit. âSo?â
Tomuraâs quiet for a second. âIn a few days,â he says. Ryuhei digs an excited elbow into your side. âTell them theyâd better know exactly what âinâ means for them.â
âIâll tell them,â you say. Heâs stressed. You can tell. This is your fault. âSorry.â
âDonât. When are you coming back?â
âSoon,â you say. âI promise. I ââ
Whatever you were going to say gets drowned out by Mitsuko making incredibly loud kissing sounds right next to the microphone. You hang up and shove her away, hard. Not that it bothers her. Sheâs cackling to herself. âHe said yes?â
âIn a few days. And youâd better know exactly what you mean when you say youâre in.â
âNice!â Ryuhei gives you whatâs probably a friendly punch in the arm, and you recoil with a hiss. He hit just above the impact point of Overhaulâs bullet. âOh, sorry.â
Mitsuko has a weird look on her face now. You decide not to overreact to it. She might just be drunk. When Ryuhei hops up to go rent your karaoke booth for another hour, she turns to you. âDoes he hurt you?â
âWho, Ryuhei?â
âNo. Your boyfriend.â Mitsukoâs expression is serious, maybe more serious than youâve ever seen it. âThat thing on your wrist. I remember when your voice was fucked up, too. Thereâs more, right? Somethingâs up with your shoulder. Did he do that?â
You shake your head. You didnât step in front of the bullet on Tenkoâs orders. He was mad at you for doing it. âBut heâs hurt you before,â Mitsuko says. You open your mouth and she talks right over you. âYouâre going to say he didnât mean to, right?â
But he didnât. The first time, he didnât remember you until it was almost too late. When he bit you, he didnât realize how hard he was doing it, just like he didnât realize heâd activated his quirk the first time you touched him. When his nails tore up the back of your hand, it was because you put your hand there. âHe didnât mean to,â you say. Mitsuko makes a derisive sound. âDonât. I know him and you donât. He didnât mean to.â
âJust because heâs sorry doesnât mean he didnât mean it,â Mitsuko says. âI know guys like him. I know them better than you do.â
Guys like him. Magne said something like that, too. You didnât try to talk her out of it, and you donât try to talk Mitsuko out of it, either â just like youâve given up trying to talk Tenko out of the lies his master told him for now. âYouâll meet him soon. You can make up your own mind.â
Ryuhei comes back, and you and Mitsuko shut up in unison. âWe got another hour, but then theyâre kicking us out,â he reports. âWe got another few songs. Who wants to sing?â
You donât to. Mitsuko does, though, and after two songs from her, Ryuhei commandeers the mic and forces you to sing. Like always, youâre boring enough to send at least one of your friends to sleep, and with Mitsuko passed out on the couch, you hand the mic back to Ryuhei. Heâs in a good mood, at least partially because heâs drunk, but youâre most of the way to sober, and you canât help feeling like youâve screwed up. You wanted to keep your friends out of this, and theyâre in. Youâre this close to getting Kazuo in trouble, too. And youâve let Tenko down. Again.
You text him, wondering if heâs still awake, hoping he isnât. Iâm sorry.
Donât. We still need allies, and if you trust them, I can trust them, too. Tenkoâs response comes back fast, and the weight of his trust knocks the air out of you. When are you coming home?
Weâre leaving soon. I should be home in an hour or so.
Good. Tenkoâs immediate response gives you that weird hit of normalcy again. Itâs a normal conversation, the kind youâd be having if youâd grown up together and gotten together and moved in together, if nothing had gone wrong. I miss you.
I miss you too.
âHey,â Ryuhei says, and you look up. âIâm putting on the performance of a lifetime here. You two arenât even watching?â
âSorry,â you say. Mitsuko sits up, then lies back down with her head in your lap. âGo for it.â
Ryuhei gets back to it, aiming slightly sulky looks your way, and you settle in. You keep your eyes on him, but your mindâs left the building. Itâs already on the train, halfway back to your apartment, all the way back to your apartment, through the front door and home to your best friend.
#shigaraki tomura x reader#tomura shigaraki x reader#shimura tenko x reader#tenko shimura x reader#shigaraki tomura#shimura tenko#shimura tenko x you#shigaraki tomura x you#shigaraki x reader#shigaraki x you#x reader#reader insert#please hold#man door hand hook car door
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Underneath the Black Veil: Jude Jazza Epilogue

This is from Ikemen Villains EN, Cybird owns everything.
It was our wedding day.
We'd made a vow of love that was more like a curse, binding ourselves to each other until death.
Kate: "Jude, I'm really okay now."
Jude: "That's for me to decide."
But right after our wedding, several armed thugs attacked us with weapons.
Amidst the scuffle, I couldn't help but think how beautiful the shower of broken glass how beautiful the shower of broken glass was as it gleamed through the air.
The ringleader of the attack had been rendered unconscious by my groom's merciless kick. Apparently, he had some kind of grudge against Jude.
Speaking of my husband, he was currently examining every inch of me to make sure I was all right.
My wedding dress was barely hanging onto me.
And that wasn't the work of the thugs, but my husband's.
Jude: "Oy, I can't see. Look this way, at me."
Kate: "Jude..."
This wasn't the first time he'd seen my bare skin.
But that was precisely why my body was reacting to his rough touch.
Kate: "N-ngh..."
I bit the back of my hand to suppress the moan that threatened to spill out as his fingertips grazed my skin.
Kate: "I told you I'm fine, so you really don't have to check so thoroughly!"
Every time he touched me or looked at me, I felt my body heating up.
Jude: "I need to see every scratch on your body, so I know just how to torture the bastards who did this."
Jude: "Tch... I'm gonna find out who leaked the damn info 'bout our wedding, too."

As I listened to him muttering with irritation, I remembered how reluctant he'd been about having the wedding.
(Maybe...)
Kate: "Is this the real reason why you were against having a ceremony...?"
Jude: "Huh?"
He glare at me, scowling.
The fact that I actually adored that expression on his face meant I was too far gone.
Kate: "So that I wouldn't end up in danger?"
Jude: "First you're lookin' 'round at the pretty sparkles, now you're grinnin' like a fool. The hell's your problem?"
Kate: "You didn't deny it."
Jude: "Cuz you're just gonna interpret it however ya want anyway."
Kate: "Aha, that's true."
Jude: "Go on 'n laugh now. But one wrong move 'n they coulda stabbed ya to death."
His long fingers slipped down from my breasts to my stomach.
Kate: "Ahh, mm..."
The stimulation only made the desire inside of me build more, and a moan slipped out.
Jude: "...The hell are ya moanin' for?"

Kate: "I was just surprised!"
Jude: "Oh yeah?"
Without warning, he roughly pushed me down onto the bed.
He loomed over me, his hands gripping onto my waist.
Jude: "I forgot. There's still places I gotta examine."

He pushed up my wedding dress and lifted my legs into the air, spreading them.
Kate: "Jude!"
I shrieked his name in surprise, heat bursting across my cheeks and deep in my belly.
Jude: "So that's the sound ya make when you're just surprised, huh?"
Jude: "Lewd."


Kate: "H-hold on a second."
Jude: "Hm? What was that?"
A sharp pain raced through me as he nipped at the tender flesh of my inner thigh.
Kate: "Nngh!"
Jude: "That hurt?"

I nodded. But he already knew that pain wasn't the only thing I felt when he did that to me.
Every time he sank his teeth into my feverish skin, my heart raced and a sweet throbbing sensation built up inside me.
And as his tongue sweetly traced the bite marks he'd left, an even deeper desire pulsed through me.
Jude: "Ya really love pain, don't ya?"
I bit my lip hard when I heard that teasing tone in his voice.
Kate: "You made me that way."
He was the one who turned pain and shame into pleasure, who made me get off on it.
He was the one who changed everything I thought about what made me feel good.
Jude: "Mm, I love that sexy look on your face."
Jude: "I won't let ya go even if you cry or scream tonight, just how ya like it."


A sweet shiver ran through my spine as his eyes glowed with a sadistic passion he didn't even try to conceal.
With him, I'm sure it would be heaven even if he made love to me on a bed of nails.
==========
Jude: "We're both outta our minds, ya know that?"
He murmured as he lightly caressed my left hand, my fingers uncurling from the sheets to lace with his.
He wore an identical wedding band on his left ring finger.
And I couldn't help but grin when I saw it.
Jude: "Now what're ya grinnin' at?"
Jude: "What's so great 'bout that foul contract we made, huh?"
Kate: "You said so yourself. Those who will break the vow will break it. Those who can keep it will keep it until they die."
Jude: "How the hell can ya remember somethin' I said so long ago in that lil brain of yours?"
Kate: "That last part was unnecessary."
Jude: "How can that bird brain hold so many memories?"
Kate: "...I feel like the insults are just getting worse now."
Jude: "So what?"
Kate: "You're the kind of person who won't break his vows, no matter how foul they are."
Kate: "And because I know that, I'm happy."
Kate: "The fact that you made a vow to me..."
Kate: "Means you're going to keep to it, no matter what."
Jude: "...Even though y'know it'll just hurt ya in the end."
Jude: "The fact that you're happy there's no escape from me for the rest of your life means you're hopeless."
The man I loved was a dangerous man who earned people's grudges and got attacked in broad daylight, even on the day of his wedding.
But I knew a long time ago that being with him meant facing endless danger.
Kate: "You're the one who made me like the pain."
Jude: "Oh, so now you're blamin' me, huh?"
Despite his sarcastic tone, his touch was gentle as he stroked my hair.
Jude: "Nasty lil princess."

End Epilogue
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Wakfu The Great Wave : Chapter 16
Beware of spoilers and mentions of child abuse/mutilation.
Chapter 16 starts with Lilotte's lookalike. I call her Linot, but she was introduced as #13 in this chapter. Here she is, presenting the stolen jewel to the ringleader of her group.
The old Ouginak, who looks like a walrus and must smell like one too, berates the kid for getting caught when she was stealing the ring.
Walrus guy, colourised :

This is when his cruelty is displayed for the majority of this short chapter. Walrus forces the starving urchins he "took under his care" to steal for him, and doesn't hesitate to beat and mutilate them as punishment. Several children are shown with scars and missing limbs and eyes.
You don't need a business degree to understand that thieves and pickpockets need those body parts for their questionable activities. How is butchering those kids going to make them more efficient or Walrus any richer? The only way would be if the kids were to beg in the streets, once they are too maimed to steal. Awful business model, terrible, in the long run, BUT at least it would make more sense than this blind violence. Oh well, trash will trash.
There might be no justice irl, but there is some in Wakfu!
While the wretched walrus was waving that blade and yelling like a chihuahua, a lone hero appeared. HIM !

Obviously, Joris was ready to save the day and clean up the trash (off-screen).
That panel with Walrus hearing the boss music was chef's kiss!
After dealing with Walrus, Joris then guided the children to his shop. It was so sad seeing them walk among the population. Some of the kids were looking around anxiously, making themselves small, etc.
Me, when Little #27 called Joris "master" and my boy immediately shut that down because there was no way Joris Jurgen, first of his name, was EVER going to be associated with that child abuser or let those kids think for a second that they'd ever have to fear him. You drop this, King đ
...only to remember his title is literally "Master Joris" (MaĂŽtre Joris, in the French version).
I know it's not the same, but it's still a bit funny if not ironic, especially with how Joris turned up in Waven.
Well, this looks like the beginning of found family wholesomeness with Little #27 hero-worshipping Joris and #13 (Linot) looking ready to take on the world! So much hope!
...until Tot and co remind everyone this webtoon is rated MA for "Mostly Angst".
Here come Yugo and my beloved Amalia, ominously sitting in the dark like some emo kids. One Adamai is one emo too many.

That accidental eyeliner carried Season 4! đ¤Ł
Look at Yugo! Those bags under his eyes look so deep Amalia's closet could fit in them. That belladonna poison really did a number on him.
Random, but tell me why Yugo looked a bit like :

I don't think Yugo is angry or suspicious of Joris, his long-time ally. Instead, I believe the Eliatrope went to his friend for intel on Rasalar and possibly to brainstorm how to bypass the dragon's ultimatum with the person who knows this new enemy the best : Joris.
Indeed, Joris was the guardian of the Ebony Dofus with Rasalar possessing his body since infancy. Their "partnership" lasted for a while before the two separated. According to the lore, it was because their visions no longer aligned, but the webtoon has yet to mention this bit.
On a side note, Wakfu is really light on the nobility protocol thing.
This mission is a delicate matter, maybe even a State secret now, but why didn't the only two acting royals of the Sadida and Eliatrope kingdom(s) stay home and discreetly call for Joris instead ? Yumalia is out there all the time like their kingdom is not on fire !
There are still some pressing issues outside a mewing reptile threatening bodily harm. What of the aftermath of a king getting poisoned during a mixed wedding? What happened with a queen who fought against and kicked out a foreign monarch and the consort of late King Armand (allegedly pregnant with an heir to the Sadida throne)? What of the growing tensions between the cohabiting Sadidas and Eliatropes?
Don't Yugo and Amalia have anyone trustworthy and useful among their people? An envoy to contact Joris? Anyone but two high-profile royals coming incognito (I hope it was incognito) to a small shop in Bonta, the City whose queen was extremely wary of anything Eliatrope ?
What about AdamaĂŻ? Did he leave to find help elsewhere? I hope he didn't just hop and leave after chapter 13 like...
That why I really wished Amalia had more ties to her kingdom. Apart from her now dead family and those two eunuchs, Amalia doesn't seem to have anyone close to her. A Sadida princess with only one friend, a Cra who used to be a bodyguard and now lives peacefully far away from the Sadida kingdom ? So many people, yet there's no other noble or commoner to befriend apart from Evangeline ? Even during the years they were apart? I know the whole "it's lonely at the top" but come on!
Yugo is no better, but he has the excuse of not being among his people for most of his life.
*Sigh* I have never seen (fictional) key political figures doing so much to get out of their kingdom. It's not even funny any more! It feels like Amalia and Yugo are doing everything but rule their kingdom.
Seriously, it's great that Wakfu is not really a typical political fiction, because Yumalia would have been out of a crown with a quickness with all their mess đ¤Ł
The chapter concludes with the dark look on Yugo's face as more key players enter the fray.
Next chapter will be out on 28th February, so stay tuned!
You can still participate in the Kickstarter for Wakfu Season 5. Click HERE or use this link : http://kck.st/41aL7R8 until 12th March 2025.
#wakfu the great wave#wakfu la grande vague#wakfu spoilers#wakfu webtoon#my review?#wakfu joris#joris jurgen#yumalia mentioned#wakfu kickstarter 2025
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Hi! Hope your August is off to a good start. Could I send a prompt for Talk Shop Tuesday?
Feel free to ignore the prompt if not!
Some or Several of the trainers look at the babies with their alor's face that said alor wants them to train for a war and go "we think the fuck not.
@somestorythoughts Sorry I did not answer yesterday, it took me a bit to get my thoughts in order for this.
Look there is never a bad time for me to receive a prompt, a question, or a random message. It brings me great joy.
Now For the Prompt:
Some or Several of the trainers look at the babies with their alor's face that said alor wants them to train for a war and go "we think the fuck not.
My first thought, before anything, is that Mij is the ringleader. There is no doubt that the medics would be the ones to spearhead this and Mij, of all of them, best remembers both Jaster and little Jango.
I also think that the medics do not really know what the babies are really there for at first. If we think about the Psychology of Jango Fett- Orphaned twice over, a leader too early, the death of his people (that he 100% will not face is partly his own fault-as he shot first) and his own enslavement, semi forced addiction to Spice from the aforementioned enslavement. While none of these things makes Jango evil, they do make him a bit broken. I do believe that in this one he is lying to everyone.Â
He is telling the Kaminoans that he is training what will be the GAR (it does not matter if they know the full plot or not, Jango thinks they donât). He is telling Dooku that he is honing the clones into a weakness for the republic and a wake up call for the Jedi while knowing Sidiousâs actual plan for the clones. Of the trainers, he is telling some that the clones will be a trap for the Jedi, others that they will be getting some enormous payment, while telling still others (like Mij) that he is planning to steal the clones to rebuild the True Mandalorians, assuring the interested groups that he is working for the best of Mandalore.Â
Most of all Jango is telling himself that he has not become worse than any of the crimes committed against him.Â
It is all lies.Â
For the first year, this house of cards remains standing. Jango has convinced most of the groups he is lying to that he is lying to everyone but them. Not that all of them care, but some do. Â
It is such a small thing, in the grand scheme of things, that tips Mij off. Jango has managed to explain away the numbers (to give the clones a chance to name themselves), the lack of armor (that much armor is expensive), and other such discrepancies as necessities for âtrickingâ their employer.Â
It starts with a single look. A microexpression when Mij asks Jango to hold the toddler A-17 during a routine check. Disgust. It stuck in Mijâs mind all the harder, as he had just witnessed Jango with Boba not 10 minutes prior.Â
Mij started to, discreetly, poke around. It takes him all of a week to find the chips. The slave chips embedded in the heads of babies. The babies with Jangoâs face and slave chips in their heads.Â
Mij has made an error. Mij.exe is also experiencing an error.
Everything is an error.Â
Now Mij has a choice, and both those choices involve breaking a vow he swore so many years ago to Jaster Mereel, and later to Jango Fett. He could choose ignorance, and follow his Alor, convince himself there is a good reason for what he is seeing; pretend that there is any good reason for slave chips. And thus dooming untold children, untold babies, breaking his moral code irrevocably. Or he could choose the babies, could undermine his Alor, betray the trust that Jango had in him. Be one more person to abandon Jango, the boy that Jaster had adopted and loved.Â
The choice was not an easy one, and it hurt. It hurt worse at how careful he had to be, gathering allies. The remnants of the True Mandalorians were bound by trauma and shared hell. It was excruciating, having to keep secrets, but Mij knew that not everyone would make the choice he had. Not everyone would choose the babies. He could not begrudge them, but he could not trust them either.
It took another month of wrestling with their choices before Mij and his allies, 14 other former True Mandalorians, came to a decision. There were not enough of them to wrest control of Kamino, not enough to take the 10s of thousands of babies away and keep them safe. They debated going to the Jedi, having realized that the Jedi ordering the Clones was just another lie, but the Jedi were bound to the Republic. They could not protect or free the babies.Â
There is only one group that could, politically, if not physically. One that Mij did not want to go anywhere near. Knew that he would have to give up what made him Mandalorian; that he would have to give up the Mandalore Jaster Mereel had envisioned. By the end of the month, all 15 were in agreement that there was no other way. Â
Though it took time, and careful planning, Mij makes sure to be holding a now toddler A17 when his call finally connects to Satine Kryze. He can feel her gaze slip to the baby in his arms as he pleads his case to the Duchess of the New Mandalorians. As he agrees to whatever hoops she wants them to jump through, if it would mean that the children are safe and loved.Â
His Ancestors who marched ahead would be angry that he would give up their culture, but they would despise him for abandoning the babies to their fate.
#star wars#star wars the clone wars#star wars au#mij gilamar#jango fett critical#jango fett#satine kryze#the clones deserved better#talk shop tuesday
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ŕźşA Golden Momentŕźť
ŕźşSummaryŕźť
Astarion shares a tender moment with Aristen, his beloved Bhaalspawn, and contemplates the future
ŕźşPairingŕźť Astarion x Aristen (Female Durge / OC)
ŕźşWarningsŕźť None
ŕźşWord Countŕźť 1018
ŕźşA/Nŕźť Thanks to @icybluepenguin for the beta, as always my creative partner. This fic is for @aristenfromwarsaw as a thank you for the lovely photos she did for me of Serafina and Astarion. Aristen is her wonderful Durge. Thank you again!
âShe doesnât look like murder,â Astarion thinks to himself as he watches the elf run her fingers through the water in the fountain outside of Sorcerous Sundries.
Aristen then laughs and flicks some of the water playfully at the tiefling child she was bantering with. One of the brood from the Grove they had run across in the city, Astarion canât remember a name, only the idol thief, Arabella and Mol, the ringleader, really stood out to him.Â
âShe looks like a hopeless do-good type, an aspiring hero.â It makes his stomach clench almost instinctively.Â
For Astarion, thereâs only two types of interactions with heroes, being forgotten by them to languish in hell for centuries or possibly being hunted by them for being what he is.Â
But Aristen is different.Â
The tiefling child laughs and flicks water back at her. The droplets in her pale hair sparkle in the sunlight like gemstones. Itâs idyllic, the sun, the laughter, the warmth of the day seeping into his skin.Â
Aristen is not like other people who would call themselves heroes and put on a display of the good they want to do. Sheâs different because she has seen real darkness.Â
Even after her true nature as a Bhaalspawn had been revealed, she kept going on, trying to do the right thing. She pushed so hard, she made Bhaal himself try to take her life.
Astarion shudders involuntarily thinking of that moment. He'd stood there speechless, numb to the world, terrified to grasp what he'd just lost. If it hadn't been for Withers, or whoever he actually was, that may have been the end.Â
The sun is starting on its downward path and the tiefling child waves farewell to Aristen before running off with his friends. For a moment, she stares after them wistfully and he wonders why.Â
Perhaps they remind her of the simpler life she wanted, the life she thought she would have when she came to the city. The life that was all a lie.Â
Or perhaps she is fearful of what could happen to them. The group will move on Gortash soon, and the confrontation with the brain isn't far from that.Â
Those blue eyes suddenly turn his way. âWhat are you staring at Astarion?âÂ
He feels caught somehow, like he's almost embarrassed to have been seen contemplating her.Â
âNothing, just thinking about how delectable you look.â He smiles, trying to convince her.Â
âIs that so?â She gestures to the spot on the edge of the fountain next to her, returning his smile with a knowing one of her own.Â
He scoots closer to her and loops his arm around her, feeling her sun-warmed skin beneath his fingers. âBut of course, my sweet. Would I ever lie to you?â
âI can think of a few times when you did,â she teases him and snuggles closer to him. Â
âThat has been awhile,â he insists with exaggerated hurt at the teasing.Â
âAstarion, youâre playing far too innocent.â Her sweet smile hides her intentions as her fingers dip back into the fountain and she splashes him with the cold water.Â
There isnât anyone else who he would allow this from, but Aristen is different.Â
âMy curls, you wretch!â He lets go of her for a moment to defend himself, putting his hands in front of the watery onslaught, as the two of them both begin to laugh.Â
It feels good to laugh. After everything they've been through and what was still to come, they need it.Â
Gradually, it dies away and he puts his arm back around her, pulling her close.Â
âWhat was it really, that you were thinking about?â She lays her head on his shoulder and looks back off toward the horizon.Â
Heâs not even sure why heâs keeping quiet, sheâs seen the worst of him, what else is there to be embarrassed about?Â
âEverything- the past, the future. What all of this will ultimately mean, what will our lives be from after - well after it.â He canât quite get himself to describe what they still have to do, the grim possible outcomes weighing his tongue down.Â
âThat is a lot to be thinking about. Was there anything you wanted to say in particular?âÂ
He isnât sure they have the time right now for all that he wants to say. He hums indecisively. âI suppose if Iâm facing the end of the world, Iâm glad itâs with you. And whatever comes after too.âÂ
âYouâre too sweet, loveâ she says, tilting her head up to kiss his cheek.Â
The square around them gradually grows quiet as shops close for the day and the crowds head home. Astarion knows from dreadful experience that other businesses are just beginning to get busy, the taverns and brothels of Baldurâs Gate will soon fill with patrons. On past nights with such mild weather, hunting would have been easy, so many targets to choose from, he might even be able to dally a bit and remain away from both Cazador and his potential victims.Â
They should move on, the rest of their group is probably wondering where they are by now. But the peace of the moment is like an enchantment, one word and it all could slip away like the ephemeral strands of the Weave that Gale is always going on about. And it is so nice to watch the night fall without the dread of Cazador or Bhaal looming over them.Â
âWe should probably get back,â Aristen finally breaks the magical silence and the world comes back into sharp focus for him.Â
âHmm, I suppose we canât let everyone go too long without us. Who knows what trouble they could get themselves into.âÂ
Astarion reluctantly lets go of her and rises from the cooling stone of the fountain. He extends a hand, the very picture of gallant chivalry, to help her up. The blue of the sky is fading into pinks and purples, colors he may not ever see again soon. But he has today, they have today.Â
Arm in arm, they walk back to the Elfsong, one day closer to destiny.Â
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all pages of pozzol broyer from vast error.... (pwetty pweaseeeeeđĽşđĽşđĽşđĽş) (you dont know who i am) (please...)
i know who you are edo...... i was gonna do this anyways but since you asked so nicely /j
EVERY PAGE POZZOL BROYER FROM VAST ERROR IS IN
plus dialogue
PART ONE
from page 936
from page 937
from page 947
ELLSEE: ThÎŁrÎŁ's no anglÎŁsÂĄÂĄÂĄÂĄ Just thÎŁ full honÎŁst truthÂĄÂĄÂĄÂĄÂĄÂĄELLSEE: I don't ÎŁvÎŁn know what a liÎŁ isÂĄÂĄÂĄÂĄÂĄÂĄELLSEE: WÎŁ abolishÎŁd thosÎŁÂĄÂĄÂĄÂĄÂĄÂĄÂĄÂĄ ThÎŁy'rÎŁ illÎŁgal nowÂĄÂĄÂĄÂĄÂĄÂĄÂĄÂĄ POZZOL: abolished EH?POZZOL: begging THE pardon OF my INHOSPITABLE intrusionPOZZOL: BUT my POSSE and I have BEEN told DIFFERENTLY
from page 948
ELLSEE: OhÂĄÂĄÂĄÂĄ Loving thÎŁ... sÎŁvÎŁrÎŁd handÂĄÂĄÂĄÂĄ StylishÂĄÂĄÂĄÂĄÂĄÂĄELLSEE: ÎŁxtrÎŁmÎŁly chic, rÎŁally cool. POZZOL: went OUT and EARNED it MYSELF in THE name OF the RAWED brothers DOCTRINE
POZZOL: a TROPHY of MY victory AGAINST these SOCIETAL injustices THE unnurtured TRY and STUFF down OUR crusty HAMHOLES
POZZOL: but IT doesnt MEAN too MUCH to ME if YOURE speaking SOME hard TRUTHS or NOT ELLSEE: RightÂĄÂĄÂĄÂĄ I'm surÎŁ you havÎŁ your rÎŁasons for your... viÎŁwpoints. POZZOL: so IF abolishment IS on THE two ABOVES table
POZZOL: WHY dont YOU take THIS sweet TIME you HAVE with US to UNPUZZLE a FEW of OUR maddened INQUIRIES about IT ELLSEE: Y-yΣah¥¥¥¥ SurΣ¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥ELLSEE: What kind of quΣstions do you havΣ¿¿¿¿ POZZOL: if I were TO ask ONE thing
POZZOL: AND only ONE thing
POZZOL: WELL
POZZOL: i FEEL as THOUGH i SPEAK for THE entire CREED of MY age OLD mirthamaniac HEELS and FACES when I pose ON you THIS
----
POZZOL: whats IT gonna LOOK like
POZZOL: WHEN you BLEED
from page 949
---
from page 1023
TALALD: wowie zowie!!!!!!!!!!! that whole thing was exhilarating!!!! POZZOL: well I suppose WHEN youre RIGHT you TEND to BE right MISSUS dirty CLAY
from page 1024
TALALD: i cant believe it!!!!!! this is all really working!!!!!! i mean i knew it was going to work but the fact that its still working puts me in stitches!!!! TALALD: i didnt even know what ed meant by reconnaissanceing the stronghold until now, but we should definitely do it again sometime if these are the results!!!!!
POZZOL: and WHAT results THEY decided TO be
POZZOL: FOR a CHANGE i THINK you GOT more THAN one REASON to BE a LITTLE boisterous OVER something TALALD: and youre just happy we had steamed hams in the city and you got to smash that one red guys face into the counter and take his hand arent you????? POZZOL: HE got MY triple DECKER order FENANGLED all OVER the PLACEPOZZOL: was THE only FAIR trade OFF if YOURE asking ME TALALD: he didnt work there though!!!! our food materializes through the power of automated paste science thingies!!!! thats what the sign said :ooo POZZOL: surprised YOU remembered EVEN that MUCH of THE picture
POZZOL: BUT it AINT like WE didnt GET granted A fast PASS out OF the GREASEPAN on BOTH occasions
POZZOL: MADE me EXPEL a FEW wasted GRACES on OUR sour LIFEBOUND soulfriend BUT i NEVER once DOUBTED your EXCEPTIONAL guesstimation SKILLS
POZZOL: least NOW shes GOT something TO chew ON until OUR joint PROPHECY gnaws AT her TALALD: big als real good at keeping things in check!!! TALALD: wed have been pancaked just like that guys face if he hadnt zooped us out of there!!! heehee!!!!!! POZZOL: WHY dont YOU go ON and TAKE your VERBAL jingle OVER yonder TO ring THEM in FOR us TALALD: are we really good??? did we really really really really really make it without tripping in our skipping?!?!?!?! POZZOL: SEEMS more THAN solid WERE you TO be GETTING my SENSE of IT all
from page 1025
POZZOL: LETS bring ON the CAVALRY
from page 1032
NEILNA: |yo|ringleader| POZZOL: lay IT on ME strongarm
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POZZOL: looks LIKE she PUT up QUITE the SCUFFLE amongst YOU KEIKSI: She doesn't re@lly listen to re@son, sir!! KEIKSI: I me@n, you told us th@t if she disobeys we should pin her down... right? @A@ POZZOL: i SUPPOSE that WAS indeed THE case WASNT it
POZZOL: QUITE the TASK to ASK of YOU two ALL things CONSIDERING
POZZOL: now BACK to YOUR stations BOTH of YOU
POZZOL: i WANT all ENTRANCES on FULL lockdown FOR this ONE you HEAR
POZZOL: if I find ANOTHER regulator HIDING in WAIT to LET more MATCH picks LOOSE then ITS bound TO be YOU and ME after THE juniors BOUT NEILNA: |what about|her boss| POZZOL: she AINT your FUCKING problem
POZZOL: THIS is ON me NEILNA: |aight then|we'll bounce|
from page 1034
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from page 1035
POZZOL: YOU got DRY eyes THIS time YOUNGBLOOD
POZZOL: guess YOU know BETTER by NOW
POZZOL: or MAYBE you ONLY understand WHAT pains TAUGHT you TO avoid
from page 1036
POZZOL: SO why DONT you TELL me
POZZOL: TO what ENDS do YOU believe THAT running DOES your HIDE any GOOD here
POZZOL: YOU cant BE thinking THAT youd JUST scurry ON up AND leave US TAZ: ~...~ POZZOL: GUESS you DONT gotta SAY much EITHER way
POZZOL: THERE aint NO marks OF tears STAINING your CHEEKS but TO me THERES a BLEMISH much MORE investing TO witness
POZZOL: THE way YOU hide THE active BLESSING she GRACED you WITH
POZZOL: shame STILL radiates OFF you LIKE a FESTERING ailment YOU cant SHAKE
POZZOL: the SIGIL of THE fortmistress WEIGHS heavy DONT it TAZ: ~please jus+ le+ me go.~
from page 1037
POZZOL: you REALLY think THERES anything WAITING for YOU out THERE kid?
POZZOL: THAT eventually SOMEONE is GONNA end UP dropping WHAT theyre DOING just FOR your SAKE? because THEY think THEY know WHO you ARE?
POZZOL: feel THAT theyll EVER cheer YOUR name THE same WAY we DO in HERE?
POZZOL: there AINT nothing UNCONDITIONAL like THAT beyond THESE here RINGS freshmeat
from page 1038
POZZOL: YOURE only ACCEPTED so LONG as YOURE placated AND restrained POZZOL: YOU were NOT made FOR them POZZOL: THE bountiful AND the UNGRATEFUL POZZOL: you DONT fit THIS carbon COPY mold THE folks UP in THE big TOP wanted YOU squeezed IN from THE second YOU popped OUTTA the REDUPLICATOR POZZOL: the FORTMISTRESS? she ENSURED you HAD a PLACE where YOU belonged POZZOL: SHE handcrafted YOUR name AND made DAMN sure YOU had SOMEPLACE to GO POZZOL: lotta GOOD people INCLUDING myself MADE sure HER will WAS carried OUT POZZOL: if THEY hadnt GIVEN you OVER we WOULDVE laid WASTE to THAT faux SHELTER they THINK amasses ANYTHING close TO the UTOPIA this PLANET used TO be POZZOL: ALL for HER word POZZOL: ALL for YOU tazsia POZZOL: YOURE this WORLDS heel POZZOL: THE folks WANDERING about OUT there WITH their THINKSTUBS so FAR up THEIR own BACKEND wont SEE who YOU really ARE POZZOL: they CANT comprehend YOUR purpose AND they SHOULDNT try TO POZZOL: you WERE made TO be FEARED POZZOL: so WHY are YOU so AFRAID of WHO you REALLY are? POZZOL: ANSWER that FOR me WHENEVER you FIGURE it OUT POZZOL: and DONT worry POZZOL: IM a PATIENT man TAZ: ~...~
from page 1039
POZZOL: FOR now YOU have A gauntlet TO run THROUGH POZZOL: easy PICKINGS for THE fortraiser TO be POZZOL: YKNOW i REALLY dont LIKE to INFLATE the WHOLE situation POZZOL: BUT youre ACTUALLY so FUCKING lucky POZZOL: THERE was A life PLAN set OUT for YOU from THE start POZZOL: YOU didnt EVEN have TO figure OUT the TRUTH on YOUR lonesome POZZOL: WISH i HAD a SITUATION like YOURS growing UP POZZOL: took ME far TOO long TO get IT POZZOL: deadlock LAID the GROUNDWORK all DOWN for YOU to RISE up POZZOL: FOLLOW the RIGHT steps AND wipe SOME nasty LOWBLOODED soul SAP off YOUR face POZZOL: AND you GOT it MADE POZZOL: loyalty TO the CAUSE is ALL it TAKES POZZOL: you SHOULD be HAPPY TAZ: ~wha+ if i don+ wan+ +o be~ POZZOL: begging YOUR illmade PARDON TAZ: ~wha+ if +his isn+ wha+ i wan+~ TAZ: ~wha+ if i +ry +o run again~ POZZOL: then THATS gonna BE your PROBLEM POZZOL: ive BEEN very UNDERSTANDING so FAR tazsia POZZOL: BUT you REALLY think THIS is ABOUT what YOU want INSTEAD of WHAT this PLACE needs? POZZOL: YOUR ancestor FIGURED that SHIT out BECAUSE she HAD people LIKE me AROUND her TO keep EVERYONE in LINE POZZOL: and IF you KEEP this LITTLE rebellious STREAK of YOURS up AND going FOR very LONG POZZOL: if YOU dare TO defy HER wishes
from page 1040
POZZOL: THEN you CAN expect TO have SOME goddamn SENSE beaten INTO you REAL quick
POZZOL: OR youre GONNA die A disappointment
POZZOL: EITHER way IS fine BY me
from page 1050
POZZOL: its RARE form TO see YOU so LOST in THOUGHT during THE sport
POZZOL: MAKES one WONDER if YOUR heart IS really INTO all THE carnage VILCUS
from page 1051
VILCUS: ăÂŤ far as i'm concerned, our hearts have always been in different places. Âťă
POZZOL: befitting OF an ELDER brother
POZZOL: LESS so OF a CURRENT speaker
VILCUS: ăÂŤ you're sayin' that as though you'd ever let me speak as i pleased. Âťă
POZZOL: IT does US all A load OF good WHEN you STICK to THE assigned SCRIPT
POZZOL: as ONE might BE able TO misconstrue INTENTIONS otherwise
POZZOL: MY thoughts ON the MATTER are IMPARTIAL
VILCUS: ăÂŤ so i've heard. Âťă
POZZOL: and SO youd HEAR even BETTER if YOU bit YOUR tongue WHEN necessary
VILCUS: ăÂŤ 'nd what's your angle with that, then? Âťă
POZZOL: A simple SMATTERING of INTRIGUE sauced UP with A little EXTRA musing
POZZOL: VAGUELY wondering AS to WHAT exactly MIGHT not HAVE interested YOU in TONIGHTS set
POZZOL: SOME of THESE small BLESSINGS are GOING to BECOME genuine ARTICLES within THE next COUPLE of SWEEPS
POZZOL: the LITTLE poemme PERFORMED admirably AND snagged MORE than A fistful OF trophies
POZZOL: AND yet WHEN you LOOK at HER your VOICE rings HOLLOW
POZZOL: even AS the CROWD bursts WITH the ADRENALINE you SHOOT up INTO their SPIRITS
POZZOL: whenever YOUR eyes LAND on HER i CAN feel THE chucklevoodoo FADING
POZZOL: why IS that
from page 1052
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POZZOL: SECRETS only EVER last FOR so LONG vilcus POZZOL: YOURS lasted A healthy TWO sweeps POZZOL: IT impresses ME still POZZOL: I wonder WHAT it WAS that YOU told HER POZZOL: what YOU pawned OFF under YOUR two-faced GUISE of TRUTH POZZOL: in FULL honesty AT first MY instinct WASNT to PUNISH you POZZOL: IT was SIMPLY to FIND out WHY from HER POZZOL: why TO this DAY she STILLS feels THAT others WILL liberate HER
from page 1059
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from page 1060
POZZOL: but THEN i DID a LITTLE digging
POZZOL: AND it CHANGED my PERSPECTIVE
POZZOL: granted THAT in THE end A day LIKE this WAS always BOUND to COME
POZZOL: i NOTICED you WERE lacking WILL from THE moment I stepped UNDER the RIGID carny TEETH that WELCOMES us ALL
POZZOL: and IT aint LIKE its HER fault THAT you GAVE her IDEAS which FURTHER warped HER already DENTED sensibilities
POZZOL: THAT she COULD ever FIND common GROUND with SOME garish OFF shade OF bronze
POZZOL: BUT it TURNS out THAT you WERE never REALLY all TALK all THE time WITH no BITE like I once THOUGHT
POZZOL: you REALLY believed EVERY single WORD that YOU said DIDNT you
POZZOL: AND not ONLY that
POZZOL: YOU carried IT out IN practice
POZZOL: RENEWING your SKIN vows WITH a RUSTIE who NEVER even KNEW your TRUE squandered COLORS
POZZOL: shouldve SEEN the LOOK on HIS face WHEN we BUSTED down THE door
POZZOL: THE sweat AND tears POURING down HIS cheeks
POZZOL: THE way HIS heart ALMOST burst
POZZOL: BEFORE i BURST his CHEST open FOR him VILCUS: ăÂŤÂ FUCK YOU. ă POZZOL: I want TO remember THIS
POZZOL: and I want YOU to REMEMBER it TOO VILCUS: ăÂŤ SO, WHAT? I COMMIT THIS "SIN" YOU FIND SO EGREGIOUS AND YOU WON'T EVEN FUCKING KILL ME LIKE I KNOW YOU'VE ALWAYS WANTED? Âťă VILCUS: ăÂŤ YOU FUCKING COWARD. Âťă POZZOL: i DONT need TO do ANYTHING
POZZOL: by THE time YOU step OUT of HERE
POZZOL: their BLOOD and YOUR face WILL be DOING all OF the TALKING for ME
POZZOL: the OTHERS will DECIDE your FATE past THAT
POZZOL: its OF no CONSEQUENCE to ME
POZZOL: ive ALREADY relished IN the SMALL drops OF satisfaction YOU allowed ME to HAVE during OUR acquaintance
from page 1061
POZZOL: IF only MOMENTS like THESE lasted A little LONGERPOZZOL: right BROTHER?
from page 1065
POZZOL: IM genuinely IMPRESSED with YOUR drive TO act IN this SITUATION
POZZOL: to COME to ME after WHATS all SAID and DONE
POZZOL: announcing THAT youre WILLING to TAKE on EVERYTHING theyve SO distastefully ACCRUED in THEIR stead
POZZOL: TO be FEELING that THIS is A burden I would LET you BEAR just BECAUSE you MADE some GRAND gesture OF ill FITTED loyalty TAZ: ~I+'s a par+ of +he code.~ TAZ: ~You +augh+ me how +his works.~ TAZ: ~+he only way +o absolve +he sins of one associa+ed wi+h +he dark congrega+ion is +o wash i+ away in blood.~ TAZ: ~Be i+ in a +ransferral of +heir vice or in +heir dea+h.~ TAZ: ~+ha+'s +he only way you can be freed from +his place.~ TAZ: ~And +hey're gone.~ TAZ: ~+heir blood is lingering on my fucking skin.~ TAZ: ~+ha+'s +he impuri+y you feel so s+rongly abou+.~ TAZ: ~Bu+ i+'s MINE now.~ TAZ: ~+hose are +he rules.~ POZZOL: LEMME go AHEAD and TELL you SOMETHING for POSTERITY
POZZOL: the THING about RULES is THAT they AINT what SOME would CALL ironclad
POZZOL: RULES only STAY in PLACE as LONG as THERES a SILENT majority WILLING to FOLLOW them
POZZOL: OR someone UPTOP whos INVESTED in PRACTICING a BOUT of ENFORCING
POZZOL: you FOLLOWING?
POZZOL: ill GIVE it THAT you GOT a WIDE set OF pheromonal SACKS to STEP up TO me AND try TO sell A couple CRISPY licks IN my DIRECTION
POZZOL: got ME to LISTEN to SOMETHING i REALLY have NO business IN hearing OUT
POZZOL: the WHOLE ordeal IS veryPOZZOL: CUTE
POZZOL: for LACKING in OTHER words TO describe HOW this IS all SHAKING down RIGHT in FRONT of MY eyesPOZZOL: BUT the ONLY thing KEEPING me AWAY from YOU
POZZOL: from THEM
POZZOL: and FROM your LITTLE bronzeblooded BOYTOY
POZZOL: is MY own RESTRAINT
POZZOL: i RESPECT the FACT that YOU actually FELT strongly ABOUT something FOR once AND stood YOUR ground THOUGH
POZZOL: and WITH such CREATIVITY tooPOZZOL: SO alrightPOZZOL: IF you WANNA talk RULES
POZZOL: lets SET a FEW up AS a BASELINE
from page 1066
POZZOL: you WANNA get OUT of HERE so BAD?
POZZOL: then YOU earn IT like EVERYONE else
POZZOL: YOU go PRO
POZZOL: when WE call YOU come RUNNING
POZZOL: when WE say JUMP you ASK on WHOS head
POZZOL: WHEN we GIVE you SOME poor FUCK we WANT gone FROM this PLANET you DISPOSE of THEM TAZ: ~So...~ TAZ: ~every+hing I've already been doing, +hen?~ TAZ: ~If +his is a deal, I don'+ really unders+and wha+ you ge+ ou+ of i+.~ POZZOL: i DONT always HAVE to GET something MATERIAL to FEEL content IN my ACTIONS
POZZOL: sometimes THE knowledge OF the SITUATION is ENOUGH to KEEP ones INTEREST alivePOZZOL: AND i LIKE knowing THAT even WHEN youre OUT of SIGHT
POZZOL: you STILL belong HERE TAZ: ~Are +hose your only +erms?~ TAZ: ~You won'+ do any+hing else so long as I'm s+ill chained +o +he sec+?~ POZZOL: i SHOULDNT have TO do ANYTHING else
POZZOL: BECAUSE what ALL of THIS shows ME
POZZOL: is WHAT makes YOU scaredPOZZOL: WHAT keeps YOU from YOUR true POTENTIAL
POZZOL: your HEATHEN mentor ACTUALLY taught ME a LITTLE something TOO over THE course OF all THIS insubordination AND tall TALK
POZZOL: its THAT whenever YOU think SOMETHING can LAST forever
POZZOL: IT always ENDS up RUINED by THOSE who WANT it THE most
POZZOL: SO why ARE you SO willing TO fight FOR that?
from page 1530
from page 1531
from page 1532
POZZOL: what I would LIKE to BE getting IS your REPORT on THE situation
POZZOL: HOW did YOU tango WITH that MEGAPHONE mouthed MUTANTBLOOD TALALD: i did just what you asked!!! TALALD: sure enough my lil bopper has put him to rest!!! TALALD: he's going to be sleeping like a little grub swaddled in osmosis goo!!! TALALD: all nice and tuckered out :))) POZZOL: youPOZZOL: WERE supposed TO kill HIM TALALD: huh????? POZZOL: bitch AM i RIGHT up AND standing BEFORE you WRITING out VOCAL passages IN pretext
POZZOL: I told YOU to FUCKING slaughter HIM TALALD: hmmmmmm nope! i dont think you did!! TALALD: i think i would have known what you meant if you were using a secret code!!! im the one who actually memorized the signals yknow pozzy puff! TALALD: tap means bitty bopper! rest means lil bopper! play means big bopper! TALALD: kill isnt even a real word probably!!! TALALD: you and your crew have such a weird way of talking about really simple stuff!
from page 1533
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#dirkspanelcollection#msfpa#homestuck panel#homestuck panels#vast error#vast error panels#vast error pozzol#pozzol broyer
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For Audrey -- âwhat they said back there. is it true?â + delight + at work, far later than you should be? đ
hi killy! thank you so much for the ask :) oi had a lot of fun with this one!
John sighed, and let his head drop between his shoulder blades. His desk light glowed brightly beyond his closed eyes, and he groaned. Everyone else was gone for the day, and there had been no word of a mission tomorrow. They were expecting their Air Exec, their ringleader, to come out to the Officerâs Club and raise a little hell. Bucky groaned again, glad that no one was around to hear him.Â
Three weeks ago, his life had been fucking fantastic. Drinks, dances, dames, and not a worry under the goddamn sun. Now, he had boys watching him every hour, waiting for a sign of what to do. Watching him, watching Bucky with the sheepskin jacket, watching Major Egan the Air Exec. They watched, and John performed, and sometimes he couldnât tell what was real and what wasnât.
âMajor Egan?â a smooth voice called. Johnâs head jerked up, and he started trying to tame his unruly curls. He then gave his uniform a once-over - his tie was crooked again, even though Gale had straightened it before he went off to dinner with Benny. John sighed harshly through his nose, and the voice sang out again.
âItâs Audrey, Major,â she said. âNo one dangerous.â
John chuckled and peered towards the door. âOh, I bet youâre plenty dangerous, Audrey. Come on in, sit down,â John said. Audrey rounded the corner wearing her typical blouse and dark wool trousers, with her blonde hair tucked up neatly.
âThank you, Major, but Iâm not staying. Iâm on my way back to the barracks, actually. I have some letters to answer.â
John nodded, feeling his eyes glaze over. Letters, like the ones he still had to write. He felt another sigh brewing.
Audrey moved closer, the lamplight catching on her cheeks. âI told Major Cleven Iâd look in on you,â she said, smiling conspiratorially at him. âHe said you missed dinner.â
John let the sigh fall. âWhat else is Buck saying?â
âNothing,â Audrey said. âBecause it doesnât take a genius to tell that you ought to take a break.â
John rolled his eyes, letting his stress fester. âAnd what? Go see Bennyâs damn dog or some shit?â As soon as he finished speaking, he cringed. Audrey was one of those least deserving of his wrath, of anyoneâs wrath for that matter. But she stood firm.
âWhat, you think Iâve never taken an attitude before?â she said with a raised brow. âIâm from the exact same Philadelphia as Benny DeMarco, Major. And his dogâs name is Meatball, remember?â
âHe told you?â
âNora did,â said Audrey with a laugh. âShe wonât stop fawning over them - Benny and his dog.â
John let out a matching laugh, getting swept along in Audreyâs delightful distraction. She knew she couldnât convince him to up and leave, but that probably wasnât her goal. Just a change, a momentary reprieve, a stay of execution. And God, it was helping. She was more than people gave her credit for, Audrey Morris was.
âThanks for coming, Audrey,â John said softly. âI mean it.â
âI know,â she said simply.
John smiled at her. More than people gave her credit for, that was for damn sure. John let the silence linger, and his voice was even quieter the next time he spoke.
âAnd itâs true, right? What Buck said to you, back there?â
Audrey sighed and smiled at him. âOf course itâs true. People donât always worry because theyâre angry. They worry out of care, and out of love. And it doesnât take a genius to see that you and Major Cleven are like brothers and that you care and worry like brothers, too.â
John smiled back at her, overwhelmed. âThank you,â he said.
âYouâre welcome.â
#asked and answered#basilone#jj writes#mota#mota oc#mota fic#on the other side of the sky#audrey morris#original character#audrey the genius you are#i love her my quaker queen
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An excerpt from the Book of Death
The complete annals of the cult of The One Who Waits, this entry by Brean, annalist and chief advisor
58th day of summer, year 83
A visitor approached the cult grounds today, an eagle who gave no real name, calling himself only "Lookout". Presumably, it's his position aboard the ship on which he sails. I invited him to share lunch and asked, as I often do of travelers, to tell me something of the world away from the Heretic's Coast. He told me a tale of a place across the sea, and I chose to record his words verbatim, and set them down here.
Sail a day south from the old lighthouse near here, then turn to meet the rising sun. East across the open water for 8 or 9 days will bring you to a rocky coast. Now, if ya meet that coastline and follow it south for a bit, all depending on how the winds have pushed you about, but perhaps a day's journey, you'll find a city goes by the name of Kolo Mala. The folk there are a weird bunch. Hardly an honest creature like you or I to be found. LIke skinny gorillas without all the hair they are, and less slump to the shoulders and back. I've only sailed under one captain brave enough to anchor there, and we were told to be on our best behavior and stay near to the docks. There's a couple of taverns that allow "our kind", and it seemed to me that's where most of their gold came from. The tavern keeper there tells me that the folk call themselves tangata, "humans", but folk like us get called manukaina. Now he translated the word as "beastkin", but I got the impression that was the polite version. Anyway, he tells me that the folk there believe we're humans that were cursed by their gods to be like wild creatures, and they keep us as slaves. There in Kolo Mala, there's a big arena where the rich folk go to watch us manukaina be made to fight each other, or fight mosters. Tells me he doesn't believe in it, but there ain't a thing he can do save run his tavern and keep those of us that land in the port safe. So you can imagine how I paid for my drink and spent the rest of my time there aboard. I can't tell you how pleased I was to see that place fade into the horizon.
Lookout wasn't able to tell me much more of these "humans" or their culture, but shared a snippet of a legend that the tavern keeper related to him that I found quite interesting.
So this barman tells me that the folk there treat us beastkin real rough, 'cause sometime way back when, there was some sort of rebellion. Seems a bunch of the slaves they made fight in the arena got tired of playing the game and took the fight to the folk of the city. Carved their way to the docks, freein' every slave along the way. The ringleaders, just 6 of them left by then he said, led all the slaves onto a couple of ships. Tore the crews apart and left their bodies in the bay he said. Seems no word of those ships was ever had in Kolo Mala again, but they still remember those 6 as the manutau. Legend goes that if these manutau ever return, the waters will rise and reclaim the land under the city, or some such madness.
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Ooh ooh ooh Do you think you could do a masterpost for Dishonor and Honor titles? As well as maybe renames/the general Meaning and etiquette around names?
Yeah I really need to sit down and do that. You should know me by now though, brain goes 200 MPH and picks a random thing to focus on!
I'll slap down a casual list though just of everything I remember
HONOR TITLES:
Daylight -> Clawface Given by Brokenstar after a really bloody battle to boost Clan morale. One Clawface wanted because he didn't like his 'poetic' old name and wanted to sound cool and strong.
Meltpelt -> Ratscar Given by Brokenstar for surviving being buried in rats at Carrionplace. Broken was fond of honor titles.
Leafstripe -> Leafpool For discovering the Moonpool
Lizardtail -> Hallowflight For heroics during the Great Battle, running a marathon to fetch help and betraying the Dark Forest
Stormpaw -> Crookedjaw Disappeared to fully train himself, discovering how to fight and hunt with his injury and killing an old fox alone.
Hoprunner -> Deadfoot Created a battle technique where he distracted with his good paw, and clobbered with his bad one. Eventually created a "bonker" for the arm that would keep the wrist firm so bonkings didn't cause recoil damage.
Bluefur -> Bluemoon Unsure how she got the title though, still working that out
Stormcloud -> Monsterscar He will get this as first order of business after Bramblestar retires, or when Stormcloud dies in-canon
Thorntuft -> Shredtail He earned this title after he killed a boar, but it wasn't THE ONE who ate his family so he kept going.
DISHONOR TITLES
??? -> Maggottail Unsure how exactly, but this one is definitely a dishonor title.
Brightpaw -> Swifthound Dishonor Titles do not mock scars or the surviving of grievous injuries. Those things are VALUED in Clan society. Dishonor titles are abstract, meant to mock mistakes and follies and publicly shame the cat. Brightpaw was being reminded, every day, of the fact she got Swiftpaw killed violently. It was considered cruel and disgusting to do this when her cousin dying should have been punishment enough.
Stonefur -> Heartworm Tigerstar is calling him a deadly parasite that must be dealt with before he destroys the Clan from the inside out.
Mistyfoot -> Festerberry Similar to Stonefur, this is the Clanmew word for an abscess or pustule.
Featherpaw -> Silverpaw & Stormpaw -> Graypaw To liken them to their codebreaking parents and to say that they are the reason their mother is dead. Their father isn't even decent enough to pay for his crimes, so they will be punished instead.
Breezepelt -> Rottenheart Great Battle involvement. For being the little ringleader in WindClan.
Sunstrike -> Brokensun Great Battle involvement. References an extinguished sun that no longer shines.
Furzepelt -> Fleapelt Great Battle involvement.
Harestar -> Darkseeker Great Battle involvement. References how he sought the Dark Forest to meet Mudclaw
Mousewhisker -> Stupidhead Great Battle involvement. Same word in Clanmew as 'Mousebrain.' Meant to reference how he had no bad intentions, but still ended up on the side of the Dark Forest by not thinking through the implications of training in hell. Backfires massively because it's REALLY funny, and a perfect example of Bramblestar being an awful namer.
Spiderleg -> Spiderbite Great Battle involvement. For almost killing his son, Toadstep. In Clanmew this word is, "Spider-Doing Cannibalism," a rough translation to English.
Blossomfall -> Shredbloom Great Battle involvement. More direct translation would be "Removed-Bud" referencing a flower bud plucked before it could become fruit.
RiverClan and ShadowClan didn't apply any Dishonor Titles for Great Battle involvement.
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A Duellist's Redemption
Summary: A comfortable life, a well-paying Ministry job and a loving familyâ you would have had it all, had you never met Victor Rookwood.
Instead, blood fills your days and nightmares haunt your nights.
The rise and fall of an Ashwinder Duellist, whose conscience finally caught up with them.
[Y/N-You POV, gender neutral.]
TW: Blood and violence, emotional abuse, emotional manipulation, gaslighting, physical abuse, implied/mentioned child abuse, implied/mentioned animal (magical beasts) abuse.
Chapters: 11 (fully published)
Full fanfic:
First chapter: Act I - The beginning
You didn't really know how you got where you were.
Once, you were a regular, naive, boring student and now⌠now you could hardly look at yourself in the mirror.
It all started in the Defence Against the Dark Arts class, after a mock duel like many you had fought before; but that time your opponent was a boy named Victor Rookwood. You had seen him around before, strutting in the hallways like he owned the place but you didn't really know him, nor did you know any of the boys who seemed to escort him wherever he went.
Not that it mattered. You fought, you won, Victor got mad and threw a tantrum, the lesson was over and your life would go on the same as always, or so you thought.
You couldn't have known that day would have been the beginning of the endâ of your end.
As mad as he had seemed in class, Victor Rookwood actually approached you a few days later, all smiles and arrogance, complimenting your skills like nothing had happened. He invited you to the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer and, Merlin knows why, you accepted.
Now, you cringed at the memory. You cringed at how much fun you had had that day with him.
Days and weeks and years blurred together and while life went on, you and Victor were always at each other's side. You knew everything about each other, about your families, about his fatherâs⌠business. Even that didn't deter you.
You, a regular no one from a family of regular no ones, didn't mind that your friend was the son of a gang ringleader. On the contrary, you found it fascinating, alluring even.
Man, you were dumb.
The first crack came in the middle of a summer night, when the air was warm and the fireflies danced under the moonlight.
You were twenty-two years old, doing odd jobs to make ends meet while you waited for a response from the Ministry; just a few days before, you had applied for a job in the Beast Division, with a stellar recommendation from your beasts Professor. You were hoping to end up in Troll Patrol or Werewolf Capture Unit but anything was fine really.
Victor had hated the idea since the beginning and tried to discourage you in any way he could but you hadn't budged.
You still remembered what you had told him the day he found out you had applied, and the words now felt like venom in the back of your throat: âVictor, I love you and I will always be there for you, but my future is at the Ministry. And if they reject me, I'll become a Dragonologist or something.â
Heh. Jokes on you. Jokes on that placid summer night. Jokes on your dreams and your future.
A tenday had passed since your fight with Victorâ if you could even call it that, since he had stormed off without a word.
The night was warm and you couldn't sleep, worried about the long silence from the Ministry.
As you tossed and turned, a knock on the door was bound to change your life.
You had never seen the man in front of you, nor did his name mean anything to you, yet it only took a sentence for you to follow him into the darkness: âVictor sent me. Heâs in trouble.â
Your heart raced in your chest as you took the strangerâs arm and, moments later, you were outside the Rookwoodsâ mansion.
You had been there thousands of times during the years but the faces that haunted its hallways that night were all but familiar to you. Dozens of people stood watch, as still as statues, as you were escorted into the dining room, into a future that you would've never thought for yourself.
Your friend, Victor Rookwood, stood next to the dining table, his face bloody and raw and his clothes ripped and stained. He smiled a crooked smile when he saw you.
âGood, you're here. We're all here, then.â He growled, his voice hoarse and strained.
You noticed a few known faces in the room: old mutual friends from school, a couple of people Victor had met during the years and that you had gotten familiar with, and⌠Mr. Rookwood sat on a chair, slouched over the table with blood pooling under his head. He was mumbling something but you couldn't understand him. You couldn't understand anything.
Your heart rate sped up again, as your mind tried to come up with a reasonable explanation.
âSee, father? Even [Y/N] came to say goodbye.â
Goodbye? Why would youâŚâ Mr. Rookwood spat a bloody drool and Victor slammed his head âagain, apparentlyâ against the wooden table.
You froze. It was as if time itself had stopped.
âNow, now, where are your manners, boy?â he laughed as he quoted what his father used to tell him time and time again, usually before beating him bloody.
Was that what it was? Was that Victor finally snapping? If so, why were so many people there? Why were you there? Why did he send for you?
It took you years to realise what had happened that night, the manipulation and coercion that he used to get you there.
But you didn't know then. All you knew was that your friend needed you and that no matter what your bleeding heart thought, his abusive father deserved everything that was happening to him. Or at least that was what Victor had told you after. After his father was dead, after he had become the new Mr. Rookwood, leader of the Rookwood gang, and he needed you.
Your skills in a duel were unmatched, he said.
He didn't trust anyone else to watch his back, he said.
The Ministry will never hire you now that you're an accessory to murder. He didn't say that, and it took you years to realise that that was the reason why you were really there that night.
He wanted you: your wand, your skill, your loyalty⌠your dreams were a hindrance he could no longer tolerate.
So you pledged yourself to him; to keep him safe, you said to yourself as you laid awake that night, Mr. Rookwoodâs death mask seared into your mind, as guilt and fear and horror bubbled in your guts like a cocktail of poisons.
âMy closest friend, my Ashwinder, my Duellist.â
You still remembered his smile while he said that, his hands, still smeared with his father's blood, cupped around your cheeks.
You felt bad for him, then. Now, you wished you had punched him right to daddy dearest.
#hogwarts legacy#hogwarts legacy oc#ashwinder#natsai onai#poppy sweeting#professor fig#professor garlick#professor sharp#professor weasley#sebastian sallow#victor rookwood#hogwarts legacy fanfic#hogwarts legacy fandom#gender neutral y/n#reader pov#y/n#hogwarts legacy fanfiction#ashwinders#theophilus harlow
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Hello, Gravity Falls!
*The curtain rises on Mabel Pines standing in the middle of the Tent of Telepathy. Her brother is standing behind her, mostly obscured by her and the fog he's releasing from his amulet.*
I'm your darling host, Mabel! But please, we're all friends here, aren't we? Call me Belle.
*Cheers erupt from the crowd.*
Oh, you're all too kind! But alas, I will only be here for a little bit. I've been sent-
*She pauses for exactly three seconds to build suspense. The crowd is starting to get antsy when she finishes.*
-to therapy.
*The crowd gasps.*
I know, I know! It's truly a tragedy. But don't be too afraid! My darling brother is here!
*They swap places and he lifts a hand, shining a light through the heavy fog. He also cuts it off and lets it dissapate naturally.*
I know I haven't been on stage much, but rest assured I love you all! You're a great audience and I'm happy to have you. I'm Mason Pines, but you can call me Beau!
*He winks and someone in the crowd faints.*
And I'll still be here, just maybe not as often.
For anyone who's new, you can submit asks in the back. Please have fun and remember -
Don't waste our time.
Hello everyone, I'm the mod @abyssal-author-and-artist, he/him or it/its for me. This is my rewrite of my original pinned intro because Beau's stage name changed and there's been some uh. Developments.
RP Blogs I mostly interact with (though others are allowed and encouraged!) @gleeful-northwest-fam - Rev!Falls Pacifica, Gideon, Preston, and Bud @reverse-falls-stan - Reverse Falls Stan, run by the same person as above @reverse-falls-ford - Reverse Falls Ford @william-will-cipher - pretty sure this is the right blog for our Will (Hi Waffle!)
Both of them will have three moods - a stage persona and a more honest one where they're little annoyances who will insult you for fun, as well as a mood where they're just deeply damaged people trying to get by. Mabel tends to be more in her stage persona while Mason sorta just hates being here and will roast you for existing - though both will do both and I will take requests if you want one of them to act either upbeat or pissed at everything.
Please don't take it too hard if I insult you in character - I'm just trying to be in character and there's no hard feelings there, I swear!
My asks are open! Ask them anything (check DNI for exceptions).
Tags: #belle of the ball - her stage persona - Belle #mabel's coffee - her offstage persona - Mabel #lonely star - her most honest persona - Mabes #ringleader - his stage persona - Beau #why did you disturb me - his offstage persona - Mason #little dipper - his most honest personality - Dipper #pay no attention to the man behind the curtain - ooc posting #audience requests - asks #let belle and beau be kids - me letting the 12yos be 12yos
DNI - No shippy asks - they're still children guys. (And yes, that includes insinuating relationships with ocs) No homophobia/transphobia/racism/etc GoFundMe asks will be deleted - this just isn't the place. I'm sorry.
I will expand this as needed. Don't make me have to.
#belle of the ball#ringleader#pay no attention to the man behind the curtain#gravity falls au#reverse falls#pinned intro
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Going Home in a Box: Chapter 72- Teaser
Her box was tipped to assist in getting her up some short steps, with Mike and Fritz swearing and snickering respectively as they got it up onto the stage and rolled it into position. Mike gave a couple knocks to the top of the box, Charlie quietly knocked back, and then listened as their footsteps retreated.
It was almost immediately after that when she heard some thumping in movement back towards the steps of the stage. She had a suspicion what it was, but it was only confirmed when she heard something getting wheeled up beside her. Baby.
âYouâve got this! Youâve GOT this!â Ennard whispered loud enough that she could hear it. Baby gave a near silent hum of agreement- one that Charlie did not hear- and Ennard was off the stage as fast as he had come on.
Baby only waited long enough for the audience to not be as suspicious when she suddenly came to life and then went straight into character. Her voice light and bubbly.
âHello, everybody! My nameâs Ringleader Lizzie and weâre going to be having a singsong in just a moment. I hope you will join me! My, thereâs so many happy faces out today!... And so many stars and stripes!â Baby gasped. âIt must be⌠The Fourth of July! I love the Fourth of July! Is there going to be fireworks? Oh, I shouldâve brought sparklers- Oops, Iâm getting a little off-track.â
Charlie could hear her wheeling her roller skates back and forth to emphasize. âBut Iâm not celebrating alone today. Iâve brought a friend with me!â She knocked on the top of the box quickly. âWake up, Sleepyhead.â
That was her cue. Steading herself one last time, Charlie got into character and popped out of her box. Though took care not to lose her flag printed visor and taped on sunglasses in the process, a few Fourth of July themed accessories to replace her too-hot jacket. Babyâs only additional accessories was her plush pig covering her claw and a cluster of red, white, and blue star-studded balloons that had been tied to her back and bobbed in the air above her as she moved.
It was also only now when she caught sight of the Fourth of July celebration in the middle of Hurricane. The parade had been earlier in the day, but the crowd still hung around for the food stalls, carnival games, an oversized bounce house, and the impending fireworks once it got dark. It was still a long way from dark though, with a bright blue sky dotted with clouds stretched above the town. The smell of fresh cut grass and grilling meat hung on the air. It was the perfect summer day for a holiday like this.
 Charlie rose from her box in a stretch, yawning like she had roused from a nap. Baby presented her with a wave.
âLottie the Puppet, everybody! Give her a round of applause.â
While they clapped, Baby rolled back just a little bit so she would be able to lean forward without bumping heads while they were exchanging banter. Much to Charlieâs relief, she still remembered the lines they had written together even now that she was out of her box and under the gaze of a couple dozen onlookers and whoever decided to pass by in the meantime.
âHave a nice nap, Lottie?â Baby asked. She leaned forward and cocked her head cutely.
âIt depends. Where are we?â Charlie asked. She looked around and tilted her own head in confusion.
âWeâre at-! Umm, Iâm not sure. But thereâs a lot of people here just dying to meet you!â
âOh, okay.â Charlie fanned herself with her hand. âYikes. Did we have to do this on the hottest day of the year?â
âMm-hm! Besides, you could use a little sun. Youâre looking a little pale.â
Charlie looked off stage at the audience.
âBut itâs supposed to be sunny! And thatâs because⌠itâs the Fourth of July!â
âOh, Boom Boom Barbeque Freedom Day?â
âNo! Hot Dog and Family Time Day! And the freedom to stuff your face and spend as much time with your family as you can stomach. But not just family, friends too!â Baby turned her attention to and addressed the audience. âLottie and I are best friends! We go back a long, long way. Weâve known each other since we were babies!â
âIn pigtails and onesies, daycare days,â Charlie agreed.
âWe spent so much time together. When we were kids, we used to have sleepovers every weekend for the whole summer!â
âWe didnât get much sleep.â
âBut we had plenty of fun in the sun!â
âI wasnât so pale back then.â
âSo, we wrote a song about it!â Baby chirped. âAnd you all are going to be the first ones to hear it!â
âMaestro, hit it!â
#Fnaf#Charlie Emily#Baby#Security Puppet#Elizabeth Afton#Chapter 72#Teaser#Mike Schmidt#Ennard#Fritz Smith#Home Series#GHIAB#Going Home in a Box
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[Tape recorder clicks on. Wood clicks as Marione sits down across from Styx.]
Styx: You're really sure you want to do this?
Marione: I'm remembering more, I'd like to tell you before I change my mind.
Styx: [sigh] Okay. Statement of Marione, regarding the event of his becoming. Statement begins.
Marione: My parents really tried. I know they did, but they didn't know what they were doing. They really wanted to protect me, keep me safe. But it was suffocating.
Everything was planned out for me. In hindsight, it felt like I was a puppet then too.
[Slightly hysterical whispered laugh]
Marione: I used to sneak out, go explore abandoned places. They tried to stop me over the years, but once I moved out they couldn't do a thing. "For your own good" only lasted until I cut the strings.
They wanted me to become a doctor. I found that boring. I went along with it for a bit, then left. Now, what I thought was really interesting was when I went exploring.
The abandoned places always caught my attention. They still look like what they were meant to be, but all wrong. Tables covered in dust, wooden steps sagging and broken. Things worn down until they give you a sense of wrongness to look at. I used to chase that, looking for the familiar and puzzling out how it came to be like that.
I was naive to think it wouldn't hurt me. I just thought it would be something mundane. Black mold, maybe falling through an unstable floor.
The last place I went through was a wax museum. I don't remember what it was called, but I got a tip about it from my roommate. She claimed she hadn't said anything when I told her where I was going. I shook it off. She had a bad memory anyway.
It was a really cool place inside. I thought it was so interesting that none of the figures had dust on them, though the place had been abandoned for years.
Then the calliope music began. The figures started moving. A mannequin was up on the stage, wearing a coat that a circus ringleader might wear. It spoke to the figures, though I couldn't understand what it said. Something about the dance about to begin.
The sense of wrongness that I got from that dance was a bad one. Not like the one I chased, not when some of those figures looked almost human. I got swept up in it, a mannequin with many arms moving my limbs along with everyone else. Jerking, contorting, I couldn't stop it.
I saw a few other actual people caught in the dance. A short scarred one, a second with pockmark scars who looked like he wanted to burn the whole place down, a lady with a snarl on her face, and I barely got a glimpse of the last. I saw how they fought the figures, trying to understand when they didn't even know their friend's names. I didn't want that. The more they fought the more the ringleader spoke to them, confused them. My unwilling dance turned into a performance, a smile plastered on my face. The ringleader pestered them, while I gave myself a little more control. I don't know when my performance stopped being one.
The crowd of figures moved closer to the other people, pushing me in that direction. I caught a piece of the conversation between the ringleader and the angry one.
"-I know. But I can hurt you."
Fire. I was behind the ringleader when it all went to hell, but that didn't save me. I remember the feeling of the heat, then being thrown back and torn. Broken and shattered like an old toy.
Next thing I know, I'm falling out of a cocoon in the library, in a completely different body. I guess I really was the puppet.
[Tape recorder clicks off]
#oc: marione#oc: styx#tma oc#tma rp blog#oc post#tma#fan statement#((pretty happy with this one#it isnt the best or exactly how i wanted but it works))
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