#i think i actually like the way using a mouse gives me a little less control
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curiousstarart · 1 year ago
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Little whale study
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imaginariumwanderer · 2 months ago
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Mkay last post before logging off. Featuring silly pixel art I made w/ my mouse.
This chart was actually made out of pure self-indulgent a while back with no intention of being posted, I ended up scribbling(?) all over the thing. Hopefully it's readable when zoomed in.
It's "my ship in 5 minutes" but I can make it 30 if you want. WARNING: Tons of sappy yapping+pixel art download under cut.
About "tropes": The trope is called Angel-Devil shipping, oh but I don't think PV is an angel. He's more like a God for SM (at least that's my preference)… Thinking at all the possible tropes that suits them make me really wonder why some people consider Shadowvanilla a crack/pro ship. Enemies to lovers or villain/hero ships have been pretty archetypal since the day of olds. Compared to all the ships I've encountered in the past… Shadowvanilla is more or less the "slightly out of the norm" on the "problematic ships scale" <- typing this out make me feel like an old fandom veteran haha
About "how it happens": I have no idea where to put PV on that chart. He's the one who approached first, but not out of romantic intents, him falling for SM is as unexpected as can be. SM fell first and slowly, and in 'slow' I meant decades upon decades. It's inevitable, painfully so, spending all those years watching over this cookie who's so perfect in his imperfections, how could one not feel something? Of course it's not so simple, that 'something' is a horrid mixture of disgust, envy, hatred, understanding, both the need to preserve and destroy… And maybeee the tiniest crumb of affection? SM realized something around the first couple hundredth years mark, he then spends the next thousands in denial of it. No matter. Whether it's PV or the Soul jam, his birth-given rights. SM knows what he wants and he WILL get what he wants. (He's wrong on both fronts. And somewhere in the back of his mind, SM knows that. But he'll never admit it. He'll never ever admit anything. Until it's too late. In a way, the same goes for PV)
About a certain someone who's not clingy, but would die for attention: I think PV gets lonely easily. As he's hyper-aware of himself and considerate of others, appearing clingy is the last thing PV wants. So PV would put extra efforts in taking care of those around him, be it cookies, animals or the greenery in his garden. A healer is always busy, always helpful. If he's always needed by others then he would never be afraid of being alone. Ironically enough, this ended up making PV come off as a little overbearing. As of late, the only ones able to see through the facade are Hollyberry cookie and you-know-who.
Other scattered thoughts: These two are completely different yet can't be more similar, on the various sliding scales they're either stuck to one another or are flung to both ends. On another note, honestly I can't see these two doing anything domestic together, the most I can see is cooking, which is basically the same as magic in the cookie world. Anyways, are they in "love"? Are they dating? Not really, no. It's more of a a parasitic-turned-symbiotic-soulbond, a will-they-won't-they-destroy-the-world situationship (iykyk) I do enjoy relationships that's hard to put into words. Their feelings are somehow romantic, somewhat deranged and something much, much deeper.
My desire to ship these two comes from the desire to see them grow beyound their archetypes. Being with PV does give SM the chance to be horrible as can be, yeah, but I'd like to think SM does have a personality outside of being a villainous tormentor. He spends so long observing others, and now for the first time he's being seen. Now SM have met someone who can see right through him, who can glimpse into those dammed vulnerabilities of his. Being with SM does let us see PV in his darkest moments, but it's at the same time the moments where PV can shine the most, to prove SM that his ideals isn't naïveté or simple platitudes. In canon, SM+PV works well as enemies, but it is the many contradictions born when romance is added into the mix that got me shipping. They simultaneously break down and bolster one another's greatest traits. Like binary stars, they orbit around the other, so close yet so far apart, lest they collide. They could've been so perfect for each other. But not in this life, or the next, or the next...
Pixel art time! I have way too much fun w/ Smilk's many faces, his and PV's combined came to around 22 expressions. These are quick to made due to their small size (25x25 px). Zip file includes both the og and 75x75 sizes. I don't mind if any Vanilla milkshakers might use these, just please remember to read the my art terms and conditions first! (which can be found in my About)
Some disclaimer: some images may have different names. This is the first time I'm using Getuploader so sorry if something broke.
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couldpolyamorysavethem · 4 months ago
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ELIZABETH BURKE, PETER BURKE, and NEAL CAFFREY from WHITE COLLAR
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Justification:
"okay listen this might already be in the queue but i sincerely believe the last three seasons of the show would've gone in a completely different direction if peter got that last little push away from his bullshit cop behaviour by neal pulling some grand romantic gesture for him + el. like, come on man, you've already come to peace with legality not being the same as morality after you ran all those cons and let neal cut and run, but he's so convinced the ONLY way to do good in the world is being an fbi agent that he like, actively makes things worse for neal (AND HIMSELF? AND ELIZABETH?) over and over again just so he can preserve the status quo of neal being his CI + while peter's an active field agent. would kissing about his devotion to their dynamic and neal's rehabilitation and peter's complicity in neal's dehumanisation by the state solve that? maybe not! but considering the alternative is neal fucking dying (he got better) about it i think we should give it a shot!
that previous paragraph was more or less me preaching to the choir wrt this relationship but still here's my pitch:
neal is essentially already the third in elizabeth + peter's marriage, with how much he lives in peter's brain during pre-series sequences, how INVESTED he is in their relationship (reminding peter of anniversaries), and then IN the actual series that only increases when he's coming around to their place all the time
each pair within this trio have supporting but distinct relationships w one another that they all benefit from (and they often need the support of all three dynamics to get through Issues™)
that one episode where peter ends up on the run w another fbi agent and neal gets paired up with that guy's CI, and there's just an unbelievable amount of parallels between the two pairs and their relationship, even after its established that those two are in a romantic relationship and peter and neal 'aren't'. like peter says he'd go to neal first if he was ever in trouble LIKEEE
fucking everything about the run up to the finale of season 2 where we hear over and over again that the only two ways conmen end up are with 'one last score' (which inevitably leads to the next, because they can't help themselves), or going to prison. OR, the 'true love' option, where an ex-conman is able to genuinely settle down and go straight (more or less). this 'secret third option' is literally even spelled out to us IN an episode about a trio of thieves (byron june and ford) who meant the world to each other!
neal uses the engagement ring he was GOING to give to his TEXTUAL 'true love' in order to pay for peter's ransom that one time and isn't even cut up about it??
also like the episode before that neal and peter switch identities (very well) and neal acts like elizabeth's wife, and the only issue peter (or anyone) has with it is that he's also committing the crime of impersonating a federal agent.
season three finale where peter asks why neal didn't run when he just got the score of his life and the first thing he says is 'you, elizabeth', before listing literally anything else. INCLUDING HIS CURRENT ROMANTIC INTEREST?
also the scene before that where neal immediately folds from his season long cat and mouse game with peter and hiding the treasure because elizabeth's in danger! and peter only believes he's not lying abt any of it bc it's elizabeth!
that one shot in the pilot where neal and elizabeth look up at peter and you can so clearly see he has a type.
literally everything about elizabeth + neal's interactions in s1. get you a girl who sneaks you into her house past dozens of fbi agents so you can talk to your handler personally about being framed for a crime that she has no reason to suspect you didn't do other than believe in your and her husband's relationship!
im losing track of my argument at this point. anyway can someone please knock peter upside the head with some kind of bi awakening for the love of god this homoerotic 'partners' situation has an unbelievably high body count not to mention all the violation of civil liberties and frankly you could've all moved to paris and started a detective agency YEARS ago and this show would become slice of life" - @time-is-restored
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mynameisjag · 3 months ago
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The air was nice, a little crisp with the fall weather about to hit.
Usually Wade wouldn’t find himself enjoying the outdoors in a leisurely manner…and he wasn't, he fucking hated it at the moment.
“This sucks!”
Beside him, walking the path at slow pace was Laura, who just raised an eyebrow at him, copycat version of her dad's smirk on her face.
“You've walked longer through rougher terrain,” her eyes flicked to the two bodies ahead of them, her smirk growing into a wide grin, “wonder what you're really upset about.”
“Oh, you know, my secret hatred of birds is showing through-of course its not the walk and don’t you start.”
He wasn’t used to being out and about without his suit, and the giant sun hat he was sporting didn’t really help keep the sun off his more sensitive skin.
But he was doing this for Vanessa.
Vanessa’s boyfriend was…descent…and she wanted them all to get along, they all were close in one way or another and of course she would want the ones she cared about the most to be comfortable with one another.
So…bonding hike…
Which Logan, the feral fuck, actually seemed to be enjoying but that probably was less the family time and more that he was away from large groups of people.
There was a bet if the man was just going to go and take off at the first sight of a deer, which might work out in Wade’s favor if it scared ‘boyfriend’ off.
Listen, he is willing to give the guy a chance, he is a nice guy…but did he really have to click with Logan so fast?
“Pops doesn’t really care that much for him, you know that right? The guy is important to Vanessa, Vanessa is important to you and you are important to him.”
“Fucking, yeah, I know little Miss Voice of Reason, but look at them, walking and talking like friends.”
“The dude is talking, Pops is probably thinking about disappearing into the woods for a week before you hunt him down and bring him home.”
“Like it would take a week for me to find him, we’re connected Baby-wolvs,” he made a heart sign with both of his hands, “the power of saving the universe and Madonna will forever bond us.”
She just rolled her eyes, “Since your so connected, then why are you so jealous?”
“Jealous!? Me!?,” his hands fell dramatically to his sides as he threw his head back in distress, “Okay, I admit it, I’m jealous of the way those jeans make his ass-“
“-Do NOT finish that.”
“I’m still going to think it…hmm…thinking about it hard now.”, he preceded to make grabby hands at the other man’s backside, “going to make the mouse send me a cease and desist with the way my thoughts be going.”
“I hate you.”
Wade just grinned wide at her snarly face, sooo cute, just like her daddy! Speaking of the man, the two ahead of them had stopped and were waiting.
They weren’t too far behind, so it only took a few moments to catch up, Deadpool throwing his arms around the older man and going to swoon knowing he was going to be caught, “Oh, the sun, it makes me suffer, if only there was a strong burly man to slather me with lotion later!”
Laura sauntered up, pushing Wade off her father to cuddle his side, “Thanks for waiting.”
‘Boyfriend’ was helping the mercenary up, smiling and going on about nearly being close to the end of the trail.
Logan huffed and gave a quick side hug to his little girl, “Probably need to get there quick, I can smell rainfall heading our way.”
And then ‘Boyfriend’ was talking about how the weather was reported to be nothing but sunshine and Wade was rolling his eyes and adjusting his hat. He did not pack for rain and if Logan said rain was coming it was coming.
“There’s this lovely little picnic area ahead, we should bring a lunch with us next time! Say, do you any of you like sports, got a few work buddies that we watch the games with. We’d love to have the whole crew over. I can make a mean green bean casserole!”
Their phones went off, flash storms heading their way.
“Oh, thank the Marvel Jesus that is me, welp, looks like it’s time to head back!”, he was going to ignore the way the Wolverine duo were smirking at him as he enthusiastically turned around and started head back to the truck.
“Sorry, are trip is a bit of a bust, perhaps next time weather will be more predictable and Vanny can join us!”
“Sounds nice.”
“Sure.”
“I think jumping into a concrete mixer sounds better.”
And ‘the boyfriend’ was throwing an arm around Wade’s shoulders, “You really are such a funny guy, it’s so good to be able to bond like this!”
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don-dake · 1 year ago
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So I've been playing around with Cāngjié…
And I thought a post like this (similar to a post on Zhùyīn done by linghxr) may be of interest to some.
Edited: 10 Sep 2023
This post has gotten a little popular lately and on scrutinizing my own post again, I've come to the conclusion that I had made some mistakes in my given character examples.
Amended now. Namely, 「唔」 and 「龍」 have now been swapped over in the examples.
「唔」 is really the “3-parts”, and 「龍」 is indeed a “2-parts” character! Amendments are reflected in orange.
What (and who) is Cāngjié?
For those who may not know, Cāngjié is another way to input 漢字/汉字 (Hànzì — Chinese characters). It is way less popular than Pinyin (or even Zhuyin) but it still has its fans, and has a few advantages over the other two.
Cāngjié is also the name of the mythical figure in Chinese legend who is said to have been the inventor of 漢字/汉字, for which Cāngjié (the input system) was named after.
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Would I recommend it?
Yes, if you think you have already acquired a good (enough) understanding of 漢字/汉字, and/or just like a new challenge.
(TL;DR at the end)
Why am I learning Cāngjié (and why you may like to, too)?
1. Mostly for fun.
Have long been intrigued by both Cāngjié and Zhùyīn, and since I finally mustered up the courage to tackle Zhùyīn not too long ago, I thought I'd finally give Cāngjié a try.
While learning Cāngjié does require more effort than learning Pinyin or Zhuyin, it can also be really fun! Inputting 漢字/汉字 with the Cāngjié method is almost like doing a jigsaw puzzle.
The euphoria derived from figuring out and piecing together the radicals that make up a word is something that learning Jyutping (Cantonese equivalent of Pinyin), Pinyin or Zhuyin can't quite match.
And while I know I'll never be as adept with Cāngjié — my knowledge of 漢字/汉字 is nowhere near good enough to ever use Cāngjié efficiently — as I do Jyutping or Pinyin (or to some extent, Zhuyin), it'll still be fun to use Cāngjié every once in a while!
2. Helps with thinking and typing in Chinese.
The upshot of relying too much on using Jyutping/Pinyin/Zhuyin is, I'd tend to think in Roman letters or ㄅㄆㄇㄈ before I'd even think about the actual 漢字/汉字.
But with Cāngjié, because it's based on knowing radicals and joining them together to form actual characters, it'll encourage thinking of 漢字/汉字 first, so I think that would help some with 漢字/汉字 memory retention.
Now you may be thinking, why not just you know, practise actually writing then? That is the tried and proven method to better remember 漢字/汉字 after all?
Yes, of course I can do that — and am doing so occasionally — but we live in a digital age now, and the probability and opportunity to type things out is much higher than actually writing stuff by hand.
The idea here is, more looking to think of and envision characters fully in my head, and trying to lessen over-reliance on Jyutping/Pinyin/Zhuyin.
And this is where I find Cāngjié can be useful, which leads to my next point…
3. Haunted by “What if” scenario.
What if there comes a day (however improbable) where I'm presented with only a Cāngjié keyboard to use for typing Chinese? It has happened with Zhùyīn for me!
That means, no Pinyin or Zhuyin keyboards, no Handwriting tools/touchscreens to write with fingers/mouse, no speech-to-text, and no option to copy-and-paste characters from somewhere else either! What then?
4. Able to type without knowing pronunciation, and with more accuracy.
Cāngjié is shape-based. Unlike Jyutping/Pinyin/Zhuyin, where you have to know what a character sounds like before you can type it out, with Cāngjié, you can type out (again assuming no Handwriting or other tools available) characters without needing to know how to pronounce them at all.
With shape-based typing, you'd also get more accurate hits in the first few 漢字/汉字 that show up, versus sound-based methods like Pinyin where for e.g., typing out “wan” will get you a whole list under the same sound and you may have to scroll through a whole lot to get the exact “wan” you need.
You can also type both Traditional and Simplified characters without having to toggle something or switch keyboards.
So how does one begin learning Cāngjié?
Install a Cāngjié keyboard.
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Duh…but of course! Heh! Gboard offers one, banded under Cantonese language input (Android user here, don't know about iPhones, sorry).
There are two versions of Cāngjié that are prevalent currently. Cāngjié 3 and Cāngjié 5. Cāngjié 5 is supposed to be an improvement over version 3 but I don't find there's much; having a slightly altered version just adds to the confusion and unnecessarily complicates matters, in fact!
If you have a choice, I'd recommend selecting Cāngjié 3 as that is more supported. Some operating systems may not be too compatible with Cāngjié 5 still, for some strange reason.
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You may also come across something called “Quick” (速成) aka, “Simplified Cāngjié”.
This is simply a scaled down version of Cāngjié, it's still based on Cāngjié's formula. So you still need to know how Cāngjié works in order to use “Quick” efficiently.
You'd then need a chart like this. ↓
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* the 重 (Z) key doesn't really come into use. I don't really know what it's for, but it seems to be used (paired with other keystrokes) mainly to type out various punctuation marks.
There are variants out there, some having a little more, or less, radicals shown than in the above example, but I'll say the chart here is one of the more comprehensive ones I've found so far (and sufficient enough) — other charts often fail to highlight the 難 (X) key and what it corresponds to.
You don't have to memorize the chart all at once. Just always have a chart like this on hand to refer to and with enough typing practise, you'll eventually remember which key corresponds with which radicals.
Remember the rules. ↓
“1 part” character (e.g. 寫) = first 3 & last (radical).
“2 parts” character (e.g. 唔龍) = first & last, first 2 & last.
“3 parts” character (e.g. 難) = first & last, first & last, last.
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e.g. 寫 ↓
With radicals 宀,丿,臼 (first 3) and 灬 (last).
Corresponding keys: 十,竹,難 and 火。
寫 → 写 ↓
With radicals 冖,卜,㇆ (first 3),一 (last).
Corresponding keys:月,卜,尸 and 一。
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e.g. 龍 ↓
With radicals 亠,月 (first & last), 卜,コ (first 2),ヒ (last).
Corresponding keys: 卜,月,卜,尸,and 心。
龍 → 龙 ↓ (Simplified 龍 → 龙,a “1 part” character)
With radicals 丶,ナ,ヒ (first 3).
Corresponding keys: 戈,大,and 心。
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e.g. 難 ↓
With radicals 廿,人 (first & last),亻(first & last),土 (last).
Corresponding keys: 廿,人,人 and 土。
難 → 难 ↓
With radicals ヌ (first & last),亻(first & last),土 (last).
Corresponding keys: 水,人,and 土。
Occasionally, you may get a character that looks like a “2 parts” but is actually a “3 parts”. ↓
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e.g. 唔 ↓
With radicals 口 (first & last),一,一 (first & last),口 (last).
Corresponding keys: 口,一,一 and ��。
Or looks like a “1 part” but really a “3 parts”. ↓
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e.g. 奪 ↓
With radicals 大 (first & last),亻,土 (first & last),丶 (last).
Corresponding keys: 大,人,土,and 戈。
奪 → 夺 ↓(Simplified 奪 → 夺,a “1 part” character)
With radicals 大,寸 (first 3; the 丶 is the 3rd component).
Corresponding keys: 大,木,and 戈。
But these are exceptions, and don't occur that often.
And you can start practising!
You can try out this pretty good app called 『五色學倉頡』 (learning Cāngjié with 5 colours), for practise. It's on Playstore, just search for “Cangjie Dictionary” and it should show up.
You have to pay to unlock higher levels, unfortunately. ↓
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Anyway, each character comes with colour coded hints and you can opt to turn them off if you like more of a challenge. There are also hints (提示) and the chart (字根表) to refer to if you're really stuck. Also has a dictionary component (查字典) to check out the Cāngjié input for characters.
Another option would be a website called HKCards. ↓
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You can use it to check the Cāngjié input for any 漢字/汉字, and there's section for practise (倉頡輸入法練習) as well. After inputting your answer with Cāngjié keys (手田水口廿卜), you can click on the “Answer” (答案) button to see how right or wrong your answers were. ↓
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There are 8 characters each time, and you can just hit “Practise Again” (再做練習) to refresh for another 8 to practise with. I've yet to hit a limit.
Unfortunately, this website has lots of ads popping up. And it only supports searching in Traditional characters (Cāngjié was initially catered more for Traditional).
Or you can just try practising randomly with a Cāngjié keyboard and check for mistakes with a Cāngjié dictionary (『五色學倉頡』 app's dictionary comes in really useful here — it appears to support searching in Simplified too).
TL;DR
Cāngjié could be useful (and fun) to know if your 漢字/汉字 knowledge is already adequate, and/or you just like a new challenge.
And if watching videos is more your thing, here's a really helpful YouTube tutorial on how to use Cāngjié (has English subs)!
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tofulune · 1 year ago
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༻skin/flesh/beating hearts
i. SKIN (down to the roots)
ii. FLESH (all that i am)
iii. BEATING HEARTS (new beginnings)
—"Darling, did you mean free from me?"
Vi x F!Reader
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Synopsis: You live underneath Vi’s ribcage as a squiggly, fading stick-and-poke Vi had pressured you into doing.
OR
A series of drabbles in which Vi copes with the loss of her first love (you).
Tags: [1,122 Words], First Love, Tattooing, Petty Arguments, Cuddling
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You live underneath Vi’s ribcage as a squiggly, fading stick-and-poke Vi had pressured you into doing for her.
She never thought you’d actually do it until your shaky hands found its way onto the needle. Vi remembers the quivers with each stroke and the pain hidden behind her amusement for your careful gaze.
It’s amusing to Vi.
“I don’t know why you’re making me do this…” You mumble out.
A secret part of her relishes in the moments where you fuss over her, when you're careful with her. She smirks when you’re not looking.
Even though she’s upset at you right now, one look at you and Vi wants to promise you the world.
“I’m just so…mad! Like, don’t you ever get tired of it?” Vi says and her ribs puff out with each angry sigh she lets out much to your alarm, your eyebrows furrowing in concern as you try to smooth the skin taut again. You scold Vi, but she keeps talking as if waving you off. “That enforcers can just do whatever they want to us because of where we come from?”
“I thought you said we’d stop talking about this.”
“Not until I understand what your problem is.”
This morning, the two of you got in a fight about a job Vi heard about from Little Man. Vi, you, and the others were supposed to be packed and ready to go by tonight, but when you found out the job was in the heart of Piltover you and Vi started to argue which ended up in you guys not heading out anymore.
Now, Vi did not care about what anyone else thought. If Mylo or Claggor had anything to say about a job she’d tell them to suck it up and keep on.
With you it’s different.
She could probably keep on without you…for a little bit anyway. The thing is, that unlike Mylo and Claggor who follow Vi trying to catch up, you plant your stubborn feet into the floor and not too long later Vi’s ego comes running back after you, upset and all.
Safe to say, even if she did leave she wouldn’t even have made it out the door.
You take the needle back huffing and furrowing your brows at Vi and Vi immediately shuts her mouth and holds your wrist keeping the needle there with a determined look on her face.
It’s quiet a moment.
“Tell me your greatest dream.” Vi says still a bit angry, but you can tell she tried to soften her voice.
“My greatest dream?” You reply, raising a brow, confused at the sudden change of topic. Your hand relaxes though and you resume the tattoo on the second loop of the letter in your name.
“It could be anything.”
Vi watches you carefully and attentively as if she’s ready to ingrain your words to memory.
You’re still quiet as a mouse.
Vi grumbles sighing thinking you might not want to talk. Vi looks away with a small frown on her lips though her brows remain furrowed.
You pause the tattoo and sit up a bit. Your eyes wander around the room before a slight sheepish smile appears on your lips. Vi notices it, confused a bit.
“It’s silly…”
Vi’s own small smile appears at your shyness. Did your greatest dream have something to do with…her?
“I won’t judge.”
The room is tense as you stare at Vi, gnawing at your bottom lip before sighing and giving in.
The way you look at Vi makes the butterflies in her stomach flutter. She hopes she’s not blushing as she tries her best to have a neutral face.
“…A princess.”
“Huh…?”
Vi snorts thinking it was some sort of joke and she laughs, which was a mistake because her rib aches and she holds your name (or at least half of it) with a groan.
“I mean it…!” You smile rolling your eyes chuckling at Vi’s agony, the atmosphere becoming a lot less tense. “I really do think it’d be nice to be a princess…”
Vi grimaces as she looks back at you slowly laying on her pillows again. You pull her skin taut and start working on your name again.
“Sure, but why a princess?” She shrugs.
“Well…we always scale those tall buildings when we head topside. Maybe I’d like to be inside one day. High ceilings and all.”
You pause, just taking in the sounds of Vi’s small breaths whenever you poke at her.
“I mean, Piltover looks like a fairytale compared to Zaun. I spent all my life looking up at what could be.” You decide to say.
“Then…I guess that makes sense.” And Vi means it.
When Vi looks at you, you were the perfect princess. She wants that for you and she imagines that for you. You, in a castle with a crown of jewels and clothes that weren’t worn out or faded.
Vi smiles before snorting. “There’s not really an opportunity to be a princess down here.”
“Well…I like being down here with you.”
You say it as if you were wondering if it was such a crime to want to be with Vi. To be safe under Vander’s protection. You two were still just teenagers, you understood that much.
Vi smiles. Though she loves the feeling she gets in her heart when she hears it, she never understood until later that this is enough for you.
She supposes that’s where you two were opposites.
You and Vi were always a push and pull with each other.
You were steady and she would always rock the boat, yet you both were too stubborn to see the other’s side.
You lift the needle off of Vi’s ribs staring at her.
You two were so upset with each other.
Yet there was your name like a promise.
In squiggly black ink is your name, carved into her ribcage.
You don’t move when Vi then takes your hand holding it against her cheek as she closes her eyes.
Vi’s love felt like a curse sometimes. The shield and the blade all at once.
Vi loved so hard sometimes it felt as though you were suffocating.
But someone like you who’s parents are always working in the factories, who didn’t have a brigade like Vi did, her love was all you’ve ever known and you were selfish with it.
“First thing tomorrow morning we’ll go to the penthouse in Piltover.” You say softly laying down and resting your head on Vi’s shoulder.
Vi’s eyes perk up a bit and she raises a brow.
“You think it’s a good idea?”
You nod, “I trust you.”
Though you and Vi had your differences, the love was there. That much was known.
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voiceofthesilly · 10 months ago
Note
Hi, uhm.
Your designs for the voices in STP are..
Genius.
The premise of their design are simple (birds(?) with animal skull heads(?)) yet it makes them so distinguishable!
Also your art is very yummy- It's beautiful.
Ajsjadhdja thanku!! this means a lot, espeically since i love your designs for them a LOT Gonna take that as an opportunity to explain them some bc i havent really done that so beware, long rant under the cut
The general idea was for them to have masks of various woodland creatures, as a general reference to the cabin being set in the woods and to add a bit of a fairytale twist, as often in fairytales guiding voices in form of animals appear But thinking about it skulls are such a sick idea and might use them for less cartoony iterations honestly
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From left to right!
Cold was actually pretty hard to pick an animal for - @3zethe3zr has been immense help figuring those out with various voices and we went through options like wolves and bears before i settled on lynx (quick, efficient and solitary assassin). I wanted Cold to feel big and overpowering, blocking out everything else. In a way that silence is big, sorta. You might also notice that they're the only voice without markings - its partially because everything i could come up with felt too on the nose, and partially because well. what symbol better than vast emptiness. Largest voice! 8'2" tall
Paranoid is a mouse, i feel like the association here is pretty straightforward. Big wings to hide behind and bald patches from overpreening. Their pattern is the eyes, they can't seem to get rid of them. Some on the feathers, some straight on the skin.
Hunted gets a hare mask because i said so and hares have amazing prey eyes. It's rather large, but always crouched over and ready to bolt, making it much smaller than it could be - Hunted always says we're small, but there's a moment where Wild refutes that. Of course it's not in reference to physical size there, but I wanted to use that nonetheless. Target mark on their chest and mask. Eyes on the side of the head - not sure where i heard it first but it was sych a good take i had to do it
Hero !!! I struggled a lot with the animal for them, went through a bunch of deer, wolf, even bird at some point (birds were off limits). In the end went with 3zr's squirrel suggestion - a little kind voice sitting on your shoulder. Hero also gets a cape, as a treat. for being there always. And because they're a hero and im no edna mode. Markings are the slits in a knight helmet!
Stubborn was im pretty sure the first one who got designed at all, due to intense stubborn brainrot. Animal is a boar, due to the mfs being extremely hard to kill, though i did want to go with a wolverine for a while. His mask is moved aside, he's straighforward and has no need for hiding anythin. Masks off and knives out, am i right . He's the shortest voice in the lineup (whole 3'7"). this is because im not tall and i like him. I tried to strike a balance between squarish and triangle build. His wings are proudly on display, and so are his scars - a testiment to our resilience.
Opportunist! my littlest guy who missed being a weasel by like 3 milimeters and ended up fox. because of course he did. He's fucking tiny - i usually like making voices who dont consider us strong bigger than they think, but in this case it felt fitting to make it something he works with. The markings are pointed knives, pretty self-explanatory i feel. Usually partially hidden under the chest feathers. Also, his arms are hidden behind his back here but the palms are red - blood on him hands
Smitten is a deer! They always felt very noble to me, and, well, heart shape in the antlers! The mask is somewhat ill-fitting and she can't see well but that's alright, love is blind. The largest marking by far - he's not one to hide his nature, and his heart is as big as the markings would suggest. I wanted to give her this sorta chivalrous fairytale knight build. Wings folded into a wing shape!
Contrarian is another long boi, i felt it would work well for whatever silly limb contortions hed do. The animal is a natterer's bat specifically - again, 3zr's genious idea
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Neck feathers meant to resemble a jester's collar. Funky patterns meant to be confusing and disorientin. In the lineup in particular i didn't do it, but the idea is that with the mask slightly more up and beak open it almost looks like he has three heads, paralleling Stranger
Skeptic i wanted to have a very solid build, so square he is. The markings are question marks - both on the mask and feathers. He's a little silly with his saying wink out loud, so he gets to have a question mark tie. Wings folded behind mimicking a trench coat. He deserves glasses
Broken is actually second longest! It doesn't matter though, does it. They can be as large as they want, doesn't change anything. Mask is a raccoon dog - felt fitting vibewise. Bald patches around neck, wrists and ankles, as if remnants of shackles locked around them. The markings are meant to mimick both cracks (in shape) and chains (in layout). Mask pulled up for them double sad eyes and because there isnt even a point in hiding
Last up, cheated! Hedgehog bastard. I guess kinda paralleling Razor in that regard? They're not particularly big and their feathers are ruffled. Uses wings for extra expression! Markings meant to both resemble scars and diamond suit
Also, earlier verisons!
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theitgirlnetwork · 1 year ago
Text
Better
Chapter 10: I Want Her
Charlotte's Club Outfit:
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Charlotte's Baseball Outfit (Except Pretend it's a Cubs Jersey:
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A Pic of People Being Subjected to Charlotte and Lip PDA:
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Note: Hiii! This took longer than I thought, apologies, but here it is! It's a little shorter but when I'm less busy we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming. Thank you so much for all of the love I've been receiving on this, it means the world. I hope you all continue to enjoy reading :) <3 Also hopefully I got this damn tag list right this time. Let me know if you wanna be added!
Taglist: @comeonatmebruh @heavenly1927 @th3h0nkz @yezzyyae
“So, you don’t think he’d like a flask with a drunk Mickey Mouse on it?”
Lip chuckles as he balances his phone between his shoulder and his ear. His hands are busy jotting down a string algorithm for one of his bosses that he’d figured out and memorized earlier that morning. “I think Mickey would like us to buy him some shots while we’re out tonight. And I think Mickey deserves nothing but us showing the fuck up.”
“Aww,” Charlotte whines on the other line, Lip can basically hear the pout he knows is on her face. “I wanna give him something to open. Knowing you Gallaghers Ian’s probably just giving him dick for his birthday. He can’t unwrap that. Unless I pick up a bow for him to put on it.”
“Uh, really don’t want to think about you helpin’ my brother put a bow on his dick for his boyfriend, babe.” Lip sniffs, curling his lip up in distaste.
“Such a prude.” she chirps. 
Lip ignores her, finishing up what he’s doing and ripping it from the notepad, going back to his computer to check his work. Suddenly, there’s a knock at his office door. It’s so weird for him to say, his office. Well, it's his and the other paid intern’s office to share. All of the poor fucks working for free share cubicles downstairs and the real employees get their own offices on Lip’s floor. But it’s mostly his, the other guy’s uncle is one of the big bosses and he rarely actually comes to work and normally when he does, it’s to play foosball with the other trust fund babies before going to happy hour. “Yeah?”
The door swings open and Eric comes strolling in, tossing a foam stress ball back and forth between his hands, the same douchebag look he always has is painted on his face. “Hey, Gallagher, you got time for a quick favor?”
“Uh, yeah. One sec,” Lip brings one hand to the phone, holding it sturdily against his ear. “Charlotte, I gotta go.” He tries to ignore the immediate irritation at the way Eric straightens when he hears Charlotte’s name.
“Ooh, Charlotte, huh? Someone important must be in the room.” she jokes.
“Oh, shit, the girlfriend. Put her on speaker.”
“I’m,” the blond tries and achieves, albeit poorly, to contain his temper. “I’m not putting her on speaker, man.” 
“No, bubba, it’s okay, I’ll say hi.” her sweet voice intercedes. Lip curses under his breath before putting the phone on speaker. “Hi, I’m Phillip’s girlfriend, Charlotte.”
Eric pulls up one of the extra seats of the room, leaning into the phone rested on Lip’s desk. “Nice to meet you, I’m Eric, Gallagher’s boss.”
Lip scoffs disbelievingly, shaking his head, looking away. He could tolerate shitheads like Eric all day, but with his girlfriend watching? It was a whole new ball game. “Aye-”
“For now,” Charlotte hums on the other side of the line. “But my baby is a genius, he’ll be running that place soon.”
Both Eric and Lip go silent for a moment, the latter trying to work away the smug smile that starts to spread on his face. Eric blinks before schooling an easy look on his own face and offering a laugh that’s a little too loud. “Yeah, I believe it.”
There’s an awkward silence where Lip just watches Eric rock between his two feet, staring at the phone on the desk, waiting for Charlotte to take back what she said, compliment him to even things out, or just politely hang up. He smirks, ducking his head at the fact that this dickhead just doesn’t know his girl. Charlotte would ride an awkward silence until the wheels fell off. Simply because she doesn’t think to fill it. That’s just who she is, she doesn’t fill silence, she doesn’t laugh at jokes she doesn’t think are funny and her fake smile looks more like an awkward grimace. 
After a minute passes Lip decides to take mercy on the poor guy and hang up. “Uh, bunny, I gotta get back to work, alright? I’ll meet you at the house when I get off.”
“‘Kay!” she chirps. “Love you.”
“Yeah, love you too.” Lip leans on the small wooden desk and waits for Eric to recover from the uncomfortable moment. “You, uh, needed something?”
“Right! Right, I did. Do. I need you to run some diagnostics on a program my dad sent over, I’d do it, but there’s so much on my desk right now, and you’re the only one who's as fast as me.” 
“Sure,” Lip shrugs. “Send it over.” 
Eric claps his hands together, a wider smile on his face as he turns to leave. The man stops mid-step, turning to face the blond again. “Hey, Gallagher, what’re you doing this weekend?”
“It’s my brother’s boyfriend’s birthday tonight so I’m gonna go to that. After that, I'll probably just find something to do with my girl, why?”
“You like baseball?” Eric asks. “Cubs are playing, me and some of the guys are going. You should come.”
Lip tries to look disinterested. He knows however much the tickets are he couldn’t pay it unless he dipped into the money he and Charlotte had been saving, and even then, it wouldn’t be enough to sit where these rich pricks sit unless he emptied the damn jar. “I dunno.”
“C’mon man, my dad already bought the tickets. It’s team bonding and shit.” Eric continues, leaning against the door frame. “It’s on Sunday, there’ll be beer and baseball, what more do you need to know? You can even bring your girl, everyone else does when we go. Except the ugly fuckers who don’t have one.”
“Alright, I’ll uh, talk to Charlotte.” Lip says noncommittally, eyeing the other man as he nods, turning away and exiting the office. “‘Fuckin’ weirdo.”
Ian used to worry about his brother a lot. Really. See, Lip is the oldest brother, and he’s never stepped out of that role. Despite coming off as a pretentious, narcissistic asshole, his big brother was actually a decent person. He cares about his family. When they were younger and Monica and Frank were in and out, Fiona and Lip had to grow up quickly. Everyone always talks about how Fiona stepped up. How she became their mom, but no one talks about how even though he was only a couple years older than Ian, Lip became their dad. For the younger kids, Lip is the only steady father figure they know. 
And being real, the kid has fuckin’ issues with women. Probably Monica’s fault, and all of their mommy issues manifested in different ways, Lip and Carl just have the misfortune of being straight. Between that raging bitch Karen who literally got off on fucking shit up for him, that old bag he was fucking at school, that one rich crazy bitch, and Mandy, Lip had been through the ringer. Not that most of that chaos wasn’t self-made. Ian wasn’t blind, he knows his brother is a slut. 
So, when sweet, prissy, little Charlotte Fisher rolled into town with her big innocent brown eyes, wide smile and soft hands that would tell anyone she’s never worked a day in her life, Ian had been nervous. She’s nice, their little siblings love her, and he thought his brother would absolutely ruin her. Sometimes he still does think that. 
But as time goes on, his mind has started to change. Lip has never called a girl his girlfriend outside of trying to get her into bed before. He’s never walked around with a polaroid picture of a girl in his wallet. He’s never tried this hard. This shit might be for real and Ian is happy about it. 
Now, he and Mickey have an actual couple to hang out with.
“Last one.” Lip takes a deep drag from the blunt between his fingers, turning his head in the direction away from Charlotte as he blows out the smoke. He passes the blunt back to Mickey before walking a couple steps away where his girlfriend stands, wrapping his arms around her to share the warmth as she shivers. “Told you you’d be cold. Gonna catch fuckin’ pneumonia.”
“The cold doesn’t make p-people sick. G-germs do.” she sasses, leaning into him, letting out a small sneeze. “Don’t say anything.”
“Too worried about being cute. Should’ve made you put some fuckin’ clothes on.”
“Nah,” Mickey says, flicking the burnt leftovers of the blunt to the ground, walking over. “Princess here is our ticket to free drinks, she’s dressed the part.” 
“We’re not pimpin’ my fuckin’ girlfriend, Mickey.”
“Isn’t she gonna start strippin’ like, next week? What’s the difference?”
“Oh-kay.” Ian interrupts, throwing his arm around Mickey’s shoulder, pulling him closer to him, “Let’s go in.”
“Wait,” Charlotte pauses, before they can start walking up the street to the bar. “Is, um, is Mandy coming? Because, you’re her brother and I don’t wanna, like,” she gestures between her and Lip, “rub it in, you know?”
“Nah, you’re good. M’seein’ her tomorrow, shithead has to work tonight.” Mickey shrugs. “Now, I’m sick of standin’ here talkin’, it’s my fuckin’ birthday and I’m fuckin’ sober, it’s ridiculous.”
The group makes their way into the busy bar. It was one of the few nights they had a DJ instead of a live band which was likely the reason it was so busy. Mickey and Ian shove their way through the crowd, Charlotte right behind them with Lip’s arm around her waist, hand resting on her stomach, holding her to him. 
Once they find a spot with a little space, Mickey turns around and nudges Charlotte. “C’mon princess, this pussy already said he’s not drinkin’ cause he thinks he needs to watch me or somethin’, go shot for shot with me.”
Before the woman can even answer her boyfriend’s free hand is cupping her jaw, guiding her to look back at him, pulling her into a kiss. The word ‘no’ mumbled against her lips. She pouts, and the pair mumble amongst themselves as Ian and Mickey watch. After a few moments Lip rolls his eyes and nods, kissing her lips again before letting her go. 
Charlotte bounces excitedly, grinning at Mickey. “Kay, you wanna see something cool?” Without letting him answer, she straightens, rolling her shoulders back and putting an arch in her back as she walks a little ways away to the bar where a couple of guys are standing. She leans forward on the bar, poking her butt out a little as she looks around, appearing bored.
It’s not long before one of the guys turns to her and starts talking, leaning down to whisper in her ear as his friends behind him stare at her ass. Ian turns his head to look at Lip, who is looking away from his girlfriend, the muscle in his jaw working overtime. 
A couple moments later, Charlotte was coming shuffling back with three shots and a beer balanced in her hands, a bright smile on her face. “Drinks on me gentlemen.” she says, passing two shots to Ian, one for him, one for Mickey and handing Lip the beer. Lip’s finger slips through her back belt loop, tugging the girl to him again as he locks eyes with the guys who've purchased them over her head, sipping the beer they’d just paid for. 
“Bottoms up, princess.” Mickey says, bring his glass to Charlotte’s before tossing it back. The men chuckle as the girl sputters and gags at the taste, one eye twitching with discomfort.  Lip runs his hand along her side soothingly.
“Yuck, I don’t want any more of those.”
Charlotte had several more. Three and a half. She didn’t get a chance to finish the last shot before Lip wrestled it from her hands, slamming it down on the bar and pulling her away from it. 
She, Mickey and Ian had done their fair share of dancing. It mostly consisted of Ian and Charlotte taking turns grinding on Mickey to irritate him and the two men occasionally stepping away to dance with each other, only pausing to scare off whatever guy that was trying to get Charlotte to give them the time of day. Lip lingered at the bar, offering them supportive nods and nursing his beer. He’d chosen not to drink too much considering he’d already smoked and his girlfriend was currently slurring her words together as she stumbled her way over to him.
“Hi, bubba.” she hums over the loud music, swaying to the side a little as Lip’s arm shoots out to balance her, pulling her to him. He nudges her nose with his before looking at her wide smile and lidded eyes.
“Hi, baby. Havin’ fun?” He smiles.
“Yeah.” she tosses her arms around his neck leaning into him. “Stop laughin’ at me.”
“M’not, c’mon.”
“You haven’t danced with me at all, let’s go over there.” she whines, pulling at him and pouting.
Lip taps her lightly on the back of the thigh, “Stop whining” he murmurs in her ear before turning her so her back is against his front. Lip slides his hands down Charlotte’s sides to her hips, pulling her close to him. “I don’t dance.”
The woman in front of him rolls her eyes, placing one hand over his and the other going to the back of his head, burying in the hair at his nape. She turns her head so she can look at him with a sleepy smile. “You do with me.”
Lip leans back on the bar, wetting his lips as he watches Charlotte roll her ass back against him, grinding on his dick. His blue eyes shift between her ass and trying to get a glimpse of her face, one of his hands moving to the gap in the back of her jeans, grabbing the space there to guide her movements, biting back a groan when she bends in further, arching in front of him. 
“Gettin’ sick of this place, ready to go birthday boy?” Ian asks as Mickey yawns. His mission was accomplished, he’d taken his boyfriend out, showed him a good time for his birthday. Tomorrow they’d do the family vibe, with cake, streamers, and his one sane sibling. He slings his arm around him and goes to guide him over to his brother and his girlfriend. The last he’d seen the pair they’d been basically fucking through their clothes against the bar.
The redhead pauses in his steps, laughing disbelievingly at the sight in front of him.
A couple feet away is his brother, his girlfriend in his arms. The pair are quietly laughing and leaning back and forth to whisper in each other’s ears. His brother’s stance is relaxed, the only thing tense on him is his grip on his swaying drunk girlfriend, an easy smile that Ian hasn’t seen in a long time on Lip’s face. If he didn’t know better he’d say he seemed happy. Charlotte’s hands cup his face as she drunkenly presses kisses all over his face, leaving pink lip stains all over his mouth, cheeks and neck. 
Ian didn’t want to break up the scene but he’d really needed to get Mickey home. Once he’s rounded up the group, he and Lip guide their drunken partners to the car, ushering them in, and shushing Mickey’s slurred curses. After he drives Ian and Mickey to Mickey’s home Lip pulls off with a still very drunk but now a lot less rowdy Charlotte in the passenger seat, promising to return the car the next day. 
Ian watches as his older brother climbs into the driver’s seat of the car, checking the girl’s seatbelt and brushing the hair out of her face tenderly before the drive into the night. As much as he’d felt bad for Mandy he’d known that she and his brother would never work. Ian loves her, but Lip didn’t. Not the way she wanted. He couldn’t convince her of that. But Ian almost wishes that she’d seen Lip tonight. He was a different person when he was with Charlotte, not so bitter. Not acting like he was walking around with the weight of the world on his shoulders. As crazy and fucked up he is, Ian knows Mickey is what’s best for him. He’s starting to think Charlotte is what’s best for Lip.
“Fuckin’ Frank.” Fiona huffs, ripping her covers off at the sound of her front door opening. She’d bet all of the dollars she doesn’t fucking have that it’s him. Either way, him or whatever idiot decided to try to rob them were gonna get a bat to the face. She eases down the stairs, wooden weapon in her hand as she flicks the light on. “Jesus, Lip!”
“Shut the fuck up!” he whisper-yells. Slung over his shoulder is a giggling, very likely drunk Charlotte. 
“Shit, is Lottie drunk? Good going genius she’s not supposed to drink ‘til her birthday.” Fiona hisses, running a hand over her hair and dropping the bat onto the couch.
“Well, Mickey decided they’d share today.” Lip grumbles, adjusting his girlfriend on his shoulder before pushing past his sister and going up the stairs, rolling his eyes as he feels her following closely behind. 
Lip rests Charlotte softly on the bed, looking sighing as she flops backward. “No baby,” he pulls her up by her arms. “Up.”
Fiona leans in the doorway and watches in shock as her little brother cares for the girl on the bed in front of him. She’d never seen him be so gentle with anyone they weren’t related to. He chuckles lightly as he encourages the still giggling girl to lift her arms, tugging her tight t-shirt up and over her head, reaching around and unhooking her bra before digging in his drawer and pulling out one of his bigger shirts to pull over her head. “Pass me one of your wipes if you’re gonna stand there.” 
“Oh-” Fiona had forgotten herself, so shocked by the scene, she quickly walks over to the bathroom, grabbing her pack of makeup wipes and handing them to her brother. 
Lip takes the wipes and crouches in front of the girl, resting his hands on her knees. “Wanna go wash your face or are wipes good for now. Can you get up?” Charlotte’s eyes are clearly heavy, she leans her forehead against his, giggling as she shakes her head no, rubbing their heads together. “No? Okay, eyes closed, bunny, or it’ll burn.” The woman whimpers and struggles drunkenly as he drags the cold wipe across her face. Blue eyes sharp with focus as he tries to get every bit off. When he’s satisfied that he’d gotten all he could he kisses her lips before pushing off of the floor and reaching under his pillow, producing a light pink scarf. “Stay still, you know m’not good at this part.”
“Don’t wan’it.” she whines.
“You’re drunk, and you’re gonna be pissed tomorrow, if I don’t put this shit on you. Sit still.” Lip cups her jaw, giving her a serious look, only to be met with a wide grin. Fiona chuckles behind them, shrugging when her brother cuts his eyes at her.
“She’s gonna need aspirin and water for tomorrow.” Fiona offers.
“Yeah, I fuckin’ know, I’ve had her chugging water since the bar-ow!” 
Both Gallagher siblings look down to a now half asleep Charlotte, clean faced with her scarf tied as neatly as Lip could manage on her head, hanging slightly to one side. Her hand is up, offending fingers suspended in the air after pinching Lip’s arm roughly. “Ow.” she mocks, her eyes closing. “Be nice. She’s helping, trying to help me.” she slurs.
Lip rolls his eyes, offering a gruff, ‘sorry’ to his sister, as he nudges his girlfriend to lie down in the bed, kissing her forehead. “‘M’fuckin’ helpin’ you, brat.”
Another hand reaches out, this time to roughly tap him on the cheek. “Thank you, bubba.”
Fiona snickers again. “Bubba?”
Lip huffs, now starting to get himself ready for bed, flicking his sister off as a cue for her to exit. Fiona quietly closes the door behind her and returns to her room. 
As she climbs into bed, she thinks to herself about all of the times she’d been embarrassed about her brothers’ behavior with women and men alike. They were sluts, the both of them, minus Liam and Carl. And often selfish, rude and disrespectful. But now they’d both found people who made them better. Who taught them how to care for people the right way, outside of the family. She was happy to watch them experience young love, no catches, no conditions, no reason to be hard all the time. They’d found people who looked at them like they were worth something. Worth everything. Fiona resolves to herself that she would find that for herself and hope her remaining siblings would do the same. She hated not being able to chat with V about the extent of Lip and Charlotte’s relationship. But maybe it was worth it. Maybe Charlotte and Mickey were. Even if they are extra mouths to feed. 
Eric takes a sip of his beer and nods along with another dull conversation with his coworkers that he was forced to pretend he was friends with. They’d been here for fifteen minutes and thus far, two of them had disappeared to do coke in the bathroom, several of them had fought with their girlfriends/wives/fiancés and the rest had been droning on and on about the stock exchange, something that he truly knows nothing about. His fucking accountant handles that shit for him. He was bored and annoyed to say the least. The game hadn’t started yet and Rebecca had been a bitch all morning. She was mad because she didn’t feel like coming to sit through a baseball game, despite the fact that they’d not only have a box but an open bar pre-paid for. The only thing that got her dressed was a promise to take her out for sushi after. Eric fucking hates sushi. 
Really, he was waiting on Gallagher. He’d actually been surprised with how much he liked Lip. He figured they’d have nothing to talk about, but the guy was pretty quiet in general. He was a great listener, and when he did say shit, it was actually important. Sure he seemed a little wound-up but he’d heard from his dad that their family friend, Ms. Helene helped him get this job because he’s broke and has got like, a family of 9 or something. Eric found the little snippets of Lip’s life he shared interesting. Like…well…his hot sister who’d stopped by for lunch one day. And his even hotter girlfriend he has a picture of on his desk, next to the picture of the 5,000 kids he lives with. 
Lip shows up with Charlotte fifteen minutes before the game is about to start. The pair walk up, hand in hand, matching pace with his easy strides and her peppy steps. When they approach one of the guys from legal (Eric thinks) says what they’re all thinking under his breath. “Goddamn.”
The woman is wearing a cropped, long sleeved black top with low hanging black pants, her sparkling belly button ring on display. Over top is a button down jersey she’s left open and on her head is a matching Cubs hat, her long, silky black hair hanging down over her shoulders. 
Lip is wearing a similar outfit, but with a black fitted sweater, his larger fingers intertwined with her smaller manicured ones. 
Eric forces himself to stop ogling the girl, clapping his hands together and welcoming them over. “Gallagher! You made it, glad you came.”
“Uh, thanks for having us.” he pulls the girl closer by her waist, obviously noticing the eyes on her. “This is my girlfriend, Charlotte.”
“Hi, nice to meet you.” The girl says sweetly, offering him a smile as she leans into her boyfriend. 
Eric urges his eyes to stay on her face, and off of their body language. But the way Lip’s thumb is rubbing along the skin on the girl’s waist, the way she’s staring up at him so adoringly, Eric felt like he was being excluded from something, despite fully being part of this conversation. 
He doesn’t realize he hadn’t spoken until Lip takes it upon himself to introduce him. “Bunny, this is Eric.”
“Oh, uh yeah, I’m Eric, I uh-” he remembers her negative reaction to him referring to himself as Lip’s boss and flounders for an alternative. “I work with Lip.” 
“Yeah, he told me.” she chirps, rocking on her feet a little. “Thanks for inviting us. I’ve never gone to a baseball game. I’m gonna try my best to keep up, Phillip tried his best to explain to me on the way here.” 
“Aw really? Well, my girlfriend Becca is an old pro, I drag her here all the time, she’ll teach you the ropes of how to keep occupied while we watch the game. Go join the ladies, she’s the one looking like she didn’t know she was coming here in slacks.” Eric smiles. His smile drops slightly as he watches the couple exchange a look. 
Lip tilts his head downward, lowering his voice to a murmur Eric strains his ears to hear. “Do you wanna go?”
Charlotte mulls it over for a second before shrugging and patting his chest. “Yeah, it’s fine, hang with the guys, I’ll come back over if you miss me too much.”
“Yeah, whatever, brat, go make nice.” The blond banters back, patting his girlfriend’s ass as he kisses her before playfully shoving her in the direction of the women gathered around the drinks. Lip sidesteps a little, blocking the crowd of men staring at the woman’s ass as she makes her way over to the other girls. “You, uh, guys make bets already?”
Trevor, some guy from…marketing (Eric swears he’s seen him on that floor) sighs, “No, thank God you brought it up-”
Suddenly, they’re a very lively bunch, placing bets that Lip is apparently calling, pulling off his own hat and placing the money in it. Eric tries to focus on the fun and Lip’s apparent godlike memory that allows him to remember who said what, but his eyes keep drifting. He watches as every couple of minutes, Charlotte and Lip look at each other, checking in without saying a word before returning to their respective groups. Once, Charlotte had come over to bring Lip a beer once she’d noticed all the other guys had one. The only time Rebecca had come over was when she wanted money for a fresh pretzel and even then, Charlotte had been in tow. Apparently, the two women had been getting along well. Becca had demanded enough money to get Charlotte a pretzel too, to which Gallagher immediately reached in his wallet and produced money Eric knew he didn’t have to spare, and gave it to the woman. When they’d come back, Eric’s girlfriend had a pretzel she was already eating and Lip’s had chicken tenders and fries for them to share. 
As the game got more interesting and the men started shouting and getting excited, the women grew antsy, Charlotte included. Seth’s girlfriend was really intrigued by the game, but that may have also been because she’s into baseball players. Becca was posted up in the corner, on the phone with the restaurant she wanted to go to and Charlotte was standing behind Lip’s chair, hands on his shoulders. 
“Come sit, baby.” he says, patting his lap. Charlotte huffs as she makes her way around the front, plopping down in his lap and resting her cheek against his. “Lemme hear it.”
“I’m bored.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah and this game is long and you didn’t mention that.”
“You done?”
“No, and it’s cold.” Charlotte sighs. “Now, I’m done.”
“Now you’re done. Cool, I can go back to watchin’ now or what?”
Oof. Eric thinks, waiting for her to start yelling, throwing a fit until Lip offers her something to calm down. That’s what they all want, he thinks. Instead, her brows furrow and she glances at Eric before grabbing the color of Lip’s shirt, tugging his ear to her lips to whisper into it.
Blue eyes go wide for a moment before a ‘uh, fuck yeah, I wanna do that.’ is murmured and she’s hopping off of his lap. “Uh, hey man, we’ll be right back, do we need a code to get back in or…”
“Oh, no, man you’re good. You guys okay? If you need something they’ll bring it in here if we call down-”
“I left something I need in the car.” Charlotte intercepts, pulling at Lip again, leading him out of the suite. Moments later Rebecca sits down in Lip’s seat next to Eric, letting out a sigh.
“So, Phillip’s girlfriend gets to leave and I don’t?”
30 minutes later and the pair comes back, looking relatively the same, despite being slightly disheveled and what appears to be a fresh hickey blooming on Charlotte’s neck. The game is almost over and immediately Lip gets back into wheeling and dealing. He starts settling up on bets while Charlotte collects the numbers of the other girls.
“No seriously, we need to keep in touch.” Rebecca smiles, hugging the girl tightly.
“Yeah, girl, I’d love that, we should hang out soon.” Charlotte hugs back. “Maybe we’ll even let Phillip and Eric come on our date.”
“Maybe, but we’re gonna have to hang out without prying ears too. I’ve been watching you two, you’ve got to tell me what type of shit you’re pulling in the bedroom, you’ve got blondie wrapped around your finger. Eric told me you’ve only known each other a couple of months and at this rate you’ll end up with a ring before me.”
“I…I’m sure that’s not true.” Charlotte says quietly, letting her eyes travel over to her man, unsurprised that he looks over to her as soon as she reaches him, eyes locking. They’ve been in sync like that a lot lately. “How long have you two been together?”
“Since high school,” The girl huffs. “He’s dragging his feet as all men do. I mean, I’ve played my part, even got mommy and daddy’s approval. On both sides. We’re all fucking waiting on him. You’re smart, getting in on the ground up, not picking one that was born with a golden spoon shoved down his throat. But my parents wouldn’t settle for less. Guess yours are trusting the process.”
“Um, exc-” Before Charlotte can finish, Eric gestures Rebecca over and the girl pats her arm one more time before going to her boyfriend. Charlotte makes her way over to Lip, thoughts heavy. They are getting more serious. Despite being together for a short amount of time, she can’t imagine her life without him now. She’d been dodging the concept of introducing him to her parents for a while because she knew how’d they’d act. She’d seen a live demo of it with Kev. They’d treat him like white trash, the last thing Charlotte thought of him as. They’d be condescending, and mean. But it’d happen eventually, because…well she doesn’t plan on going anywhere, and she hopes he doesn’t plan to either. 
After everyone gets separated in the crowd of people leaving the game, Eric waits on the sidewalk for the car he’d called for him and Rebecca. She was babbling about something or another he didn’t care about when he saw Charlotte and Lip. The woman is giggling loudly as the man tickles her, the two of them damn near bumping people every few seconds as if no one else was here. 
“I’m never going to a game with you again” the girl breathes, gasping in air as he stops tickling and starts holding her hand. 
Eric watches as Lip rolls his eyes, pulling her into him as he walks her to the passenger side of some old, beat up truck. “Yeah, okay,” he laughs, opening the door for her, “I can hear you now when I try to go without you, ‘bubba, please, take me with you, I’ll be bored without you,’” he mocks.
“I don’t sound like that.”
“No?” he snorts, closing her door and going around to the driver’s side. 
As he watches them interact Eric can’t help but think, he wants what they have. There’s a small pang of jealousy that rings in his chest. But it isn’t until he watches Charlotte lean over to manually unlock the door on the driver’s side so Lip can get in that an even more intrusive thought enters his mind.
I want her.
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missmartian101 · 1 month ago
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𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐁𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 ━━━ ❥
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ᴡᴀʀɴɪɴɢ : ʏᴀɴᴅᴇʀᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅᴀʀᴋ ᴛʜᴇᴍᴇs, ɢᴏʀᴇ, ᴄʀᴇᴍᴀᴛɪɴɢ, sʟɪɢʜᴛʟʏ sᴜɢɢᴇsᴛɪᴠᴇ ᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇɴᴅ, ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴs ᴏғ ᴀʙᴜsᴇ. ʀɪᴠᴀʟ ɪɴ ᴠɪʟʟᴀɪɴʏ ɪs ᴍᴀᴅᴇ ᴜᴘ, ɴᴏᴛ ᴀᴄᴛᴜᴀʟʟʏ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍʜᴀ ᴜɴɪᴠᴇʀsᴇ.
ᴍɪɴᴏʀs ᴅᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ɪɴᴛᴇʀᴀᴄᴛ
ᴘʟᴏᴛ : ғᴏʟʟᴏᴡɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʀᴇᴍᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏғ ʏᴏᴜʀ ғᴀᴍɪʟʏ ᴀғᴛᴇʀ ʏᴏᴜʀ ʜᴏʀʀɪғɪᴄ ɴɪɢʜᴛᴍᴀʀᴇ, ᴅᴀʙɪ ᴅᴇᴄɪᴅᴇs ᴛᴏ ᴘᴀʏ ʜɪs ʀɪᴠᴀʟ ɪɴ ᴠɪʟʟᴀɪɴʏ ᴀ sᴄᴏʀᴄʜɪɴɢ ᴠɪsɪᴛ.
ᴘᴀʀᴛ ᴛᴡᴏ ᴛᴏ ɴᴏᴛ ɪғ ᴛʜᴇʏ'ʀᴇ ᴅᴇᴀᴅ
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The sound of combat boots hitting the concrete pavement was the only thing audible in the sleeping city. Smoke was still emitting from his arms and body, but he couldn't care less. He wasn't done with things yet.
His azure flames, burning far behind him, were still cremating the remnants of your parents. He could faintly smell the scent of his loyal quirk, licking at every part of the filthy people they called "your family" as it continued to turn into nothing more than ashes.
One Down, One To Go.
His smirk dissolved into a sadistic grin as he continued to stroll along the neighborhood, away from your parents' burning house. Or rather, what were your parents. Dolls like you didn't deserve families. They don't get anyone but him.
And he made sure to remind you that every day. And he'd make you repeat it back to him, whether you liked it or not. He could hear his own words echo through his head, replaying his sentences like a Talkboy recorder.
"I'm all that you need, doll. Dolls like you don't deserve filthy people like them. They'd just use you for entertainment and throw you away once you've become a hassle."
"That's not true!"
"Oh yeah? Why hasn't anyone come after you then? Why hasn't anyone tried to "save" you from me like the fucking heroes they are? Your family, your friends, those sullied bastards know that you're all mine and that it's best to keep it that way."
"N–No. You just b–burn all of th–them for trying t–to save m–me from y–you."
"And I do that for us, babydoll," he'd coo in your ear, activating his sickly sweet voice to lure you in. "I do that to protect you from them. They don't understand love. They don't understand what I have for you."
You'd crumble into tears, just the way he likes it, giving him an open opportunity to pull you into his arms.
"There, there, dollface. It's alright. I'm here to protect you from the world outside. I punish you to teach you a lesson. To not go out there again. They'll hurt you doll, they're all ruthless. Like the brothers of Satan. I'm doing this because I love you."
"Y–You're just br–brainwashing me. Y–You're just using it as an e–excuse for your h–horrible acts."
That always earned a derisive laugh from him. His sadistic howl always sent shivers down your spine.
"You don't think I know what love is, doll? Trust me, I know love more than you ever will! You have no idea what love is. If you did, you'd damn well know that love... true love, is selfish. Love is a prison, you naive little fool. Love is possession. Love is obsession. You might think I'm insane for this, but you can't understand what love like this is like. You think love is all sunshine and rainbows. Going on cute little prances and meeting their parents for dinner. Well, it's not. This is what real love is. This is what true devotion looks like. I'd do anything for you, doll. Even burn the whole fucking world into ashes for you. Until it's just the two of us. And you'll regret for ever thinking otherwise. Over my knee. NOW! I'll make you repeat every fucking word on what true love actually is with every spank I give."
He smiled at that memory, adoring the way you broke into sobs two minutes into his lesson. He loved holding you close after punishing you and cooing his little half-assed apologies in your ear, calming you down with kisses and nibbles. But you never believed he was sorry.
And you were right. He wasn't.
Because why should he be when you were acting like such a brat? He won't lie, it did feel nice, playing the cat-and-mouse game with you. But he also won't deny that it irked him when you kept pushing it. And bad girls like that deserved to be punished for it.
But he didn't have to punish you frequently nowadays. Because now, you had already acquired your Stockholm Syndrome and broken completely for him into nothing more than his sweet, compliant doll. And he savored every minute of it.
He was broken from his obsessive daydream by the sight of an old warehouse in the distance. Perfect. His pace started to gain a little speed as he continued to saunter to his next victims. His hands were shoved into his pockets, still smoking from his previous cremation.
He lifted his right leg, kicking the door open with a loud bang. Bits of cobwebs and grime unlatched themselves from the dirty walls, falling to the floor. The sudden action made several heads turn up, alerting everyone of Dabi's entrance.
The yandere stitched a smirk, hiding his gleaming cerulean eyes that could make the strongest men shiver behind his spiky bangs that fell over his forehead. Not enough to make them unseen though. It stood out in the dimly lit room and the other dull-colored orbs of his victims.
Viper, the leader of them all, raised his tedious gray eyes from the documents to the intruder of their meeting, staring at the pyromaniac villain before him. His dry lips turned into a sleazy smirk, lifting himself off his high chair.
"Well, well, look what the cat dragged in. If it isn't the burned pig on steroids."
The other men howled at his witty comment, jeering a couple of insults after that. Dabi just chuckled, lifting his head just enough for his piercing turquoise eyes to be on show. That silenced everyone immediately.
He took a few steps forward, keeping his lazy saunter on as he eyed them with underlying disgust and hatred. They'd be reduced to ashes in a matter of few minutes, so why not just let them have their last time of glory?
Viper followed his movement, taking a few steps toward him too, matching his sauntering gaze. He looked like a sleazy man who smoked, his lips dry and cracked, a faint odor of stale tobacco lingering around him.
"So, what brings the patchwork to our humble abode?" Viper sneered, keeping an air of bravado and cockiness.
Dabi's smirk widened as he let out a wry chuckle, replying in his cold tone filled with mockery.
"And here I thought some fights with me would've given you a bit of common sense. You really shouldn't say things like that in front of someone who can turn you into a pile of ash."
The laughter in the room died down a little at his words. Viper's smirk faltered, but he maintained his sneering composure, scoffing right at his scarred face.
"What? You think an empty death threat would make us back down?" he jibed, folding his hands across his toned chest. "That's cute Dabi, but you're really making yourself look like a puppy if you think a few flames can scare us off. You're all bark and no bite huh?"
Dabi's eyes darkened with malice as he stepped closer, causing the atmosphere to thicken from the tension. The other minions held their breaths, all exchanging nervous glances with each other. Their boss was playing a scorching game with fire here. And Dabi knew it too.
"Oh, I don’t need to scare you off Viper," he said, his tone darkening with his eyes. "I know you know what I'm capable of. I just need to give you a reminder."
He lifted his palm, igniting a little flame of bluebell, and letting it dance around his palm and fingers, casting an eerie glow of sapphire around the dimly lit room.
"You distressed my doll Viper. And I never let what hurts my doll live."
Viper's persona broke, a flash of confusion and fear flickering in his eyes.
"Has all those years of insanity meddled with your burned brain or something? I've got no idea what you're talking about."
"I know you don't. So why don't I fill you in with a little story of what happened?"
Dabi's lips smirked as he played with the flame in his palm, twirling it around his fingers menacingly. His slender legs moved to circle around Viper like a predator would to its prey.
"My pretty doll woke up upset a few hours ago, Viper. She had a little nightmare of you killing me and kidnapping her as your captive. And her parents paid you handsomely to do so. It's obvious why it has angered me so much because I've never seen her cry as bad over a nightmare as she did tonight."
Viper's silver eyes widened, taking a step back from him. His voice still came out in a sneer, though it had an underlying tone of confusion and slight fear.
"And how does this concern me?"
Dabi chuckled, stopping a few feet away from Viper's left. He twirled the flames around his index, watching it lick his calloused skin with no damage done.
"I thought you had the measure me better than anyone Viper. I don't let what hurts my doll live. Her parents are still burning some miles away, I'm sure, probably crumbled to cinders."
Viper felt his throat tighten at Dabi's words. Never once in his work of villainy did he actually feel pity for a person dying without a cause. But in Dabi's eyes, it was for a cause. The cause to protect you.
"You're just being foolish now, Dabi. Burning people for something could never d–"
Dabi didn't give him a chance to speak, cutting off the last of his words. His tone turned low and eerie, almost too eerie for their liking.
"Foolish, am I? Foolish, am I, for wanting to keep my doll's fears six feet below where they belong? Foolish, am I, for wanting to burn anything that hurts my little pet in any way? You think I'm playing around Viper? You think I came here for just a midnight chat?"
"Oh, so it's clear now, that your insane stupidity has no ends to it."
That was the last straw for Dabi.
"You're a bigger idiot than I thought... lemme show you just how idiotic."
In an instant, Dabi's hand was raised and bluebell flames ignited, flying out of his palm and latching onto the meeting table, licking hungrily at the wood. Several men yelled, causing chaos to erupt in the room.
The scent of smoke and carbon dioxide filled the atmosphere within minutes. Viper, who looked visibly shaken and angered, hissed his command, pointing his finger at Dabi.
"GET HIM!"
But his command was shot too late. Dabi lifted his palm so the flames surged higher, lashing and engulfing the nearest man there. The man howled in pain, his screams bouncing off and echoing through the room.
The others roared, charging at the scarred man. Dabi’s laughter rang out, dark and triumphant as he lit his flames onto them too, aiming with great preparation and calculation. Each one burned after the other, feeding his greedy and vengeful ego.
"See how everything crumbles," he purred in a deranged manner, relishing in the screams and cries of Viper's minions. "This is what happens to foolish people like you who think they can play with fire and not get burned."
Viper stumbled backward, fear finally emerging on his features.
"You’re insane! You're fucking insane! This isn’t how it’s supposed to go!"
Dabi let out a laugh close to maniacal, echoing through the room as it mingled with the screams and cries of Viper's minions. Flames tangoed around the room with a burning passion of its own, lighting anything that came in its way as though to impress its owner.
Dabi's smirk twisted into a dark smile, stretching onto his face.
"Maybe I am insane. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. You're still the real monster in this situation."
He stepped closer, the sound of combat boots hitting the battered floor, singing through the smokey atmosphere. Flames licked a side of his face as they erupted from his corrupt anger, springing into action, waiting for his command.
"Look around you, Viper." he sneered, his tone worthy of Viper's own sneer, or maybe even more. "This is what happens when you threaten my doll."
Viper's eyes darted around the fumes-covered room, trying to find a way of exit from the yandere maniac in front of him. Dabi's flames were loyal to him, just as loyal as you were to him, blocking every exit they could so Viper was cornered with no escape.
"Wait, WAIT! Please! We don't have to do this. J–Just let me go, okay?"
Any part of cockiness had faded from Viper's persona, leaving him trembling in fear and desperation. Dabi's eyes darkened at his disloyalty, sending a flicker of flames shooting down his ankle. Viper howled in pain, clutching his blazing ankle, trying to put it out.
"I've lit your worthless goons on fire, and all you care about is your own life. Pathetic! This is exactly the kind of disloyalty I protect my doll from. From vermin scums like you!"
"You've already burned their bodies down to cinders. There's nothing I can do."
A smirk of satisfaction drew on Dabi's face, scoffing at his mindfulness.
"So now you know what I'm capable of. After I've burned your lousy crew into nothing nothing more than ashes."
"We can talk about this, okay?! Just let me go! Let me go and I won't come near your doll ever again."
Dabi leaned in closer, his face now just a few inches away from Viper’s. The heat of his flames radiating off him was almost unbearable.
"Oh, we can talk, alright. But I don’t think you’ll like what I have to say." He said slowly, twirling another flame in his other palm he sprung alive around his fingers.
With a swift motion, Dabi grabbed Viper by the collar and yanked him forward, forcing him to meet his gaze.
"You see, unlike scumbags like you, I know a thing or two about loyalty and love. You think you can run a gang and call them friends, but you don’t know the first fucking thing about real devotion. I would burn this whole entire fucking world to keep my doll safe, and that includes you too, Viper. Love is a twisted game where you kill the worthless to keep your doll protected. But how would you know? The best you must've ever got was the kisses your mother ever gave you after the pity she feels for not holding you in her womb long enough for you to die of oxygen right then and there."
Viper’s heart raced at Dabi's cruel words, his face flushing in embarrassment. He opened his mouth, stammering our pathetically.
"Y–You’re delusional! You think she cares about you after all–all this?"
Dabi's expression darkened, smashing Viper's head down on the fiery floor beneath him as he had done to you in your dream. And just like he wished, blood dripped out of his unruly black hair, burning with the fire he emitted.
"Care? No, she loves me! She loves me like the little compliant doll that she is. Like the doll I've broken her into! And I love her in a way so true I'd light her a match with my flames to burn the world with me. Call me a psycho, call me what you want, but I’m her protector, and I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her from harm."
"Y–You’re insane. You’re–You're going to kill me? Over a nightmare?!"
Dabi chuckled wryly, amusement lacing his tone.
"Ding ding ding! We have a winner. Let's make it clear how, shall we?"
Before Viper could scream, Dabi lifted his palm and emitted the hottest flames he could, sending them flying straight at his next victim. Viper's screams rang through the burning warehouse as he crumbled along with his crew mates.
Dabi watched in cold satisfaction, smirking at the sight before him The flames brought him a sense of comfort, the scent of burning flesh filling the air as Viper’s desperate cries faded into silence. He relished in the crackling of his flames, having done their work obediently.
As the last remnants of Viper and his goons fell to cinders, Dabi turned away from the inferno he created for you. He couldn't help but feel satisfaction, knowing he made the world a little safer for his doll. And that was all that mattered.
The sound of combat boots hitting the concrete pavement filled the sleeping city once again, alerting the morning of 1 AM that he was retreating back home from his late-night activities. Back to his sweet little doll, who was probably still sedated and fast asleep.
Maybe if he dove in between your plush thighs and ate you out till you cried, you'd feel better. He could already feel himself drooling as he pictured your wet folds, eagerly waiting for him to pleasure and cum. That would oughta do you some good from the nightmare.
He didn't look back at the blazing warehouse behind him. He didn't look back at his hostility. Not if they were to keep his doll safe. After all, if someone was going to hurt his doll...
Why Bother Living?
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miivrs · 4 months ago
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talking about my faves, my wording will not be scholarly or intelligent rather completely zany and incomprehensible
god i LOVE the entire junkyard killer arc + the relationship between malcolm and john and just how complex it is to me. there was SO much going on and every scene, line, etc. burns a hole in my retinas. watkins was our first non “villain of the week” and that’s probably why im so attached to him, but god i love that we really get to see and understand why he does what he does. and he’s smart , I LIKE THAT. i like that he makes malcolm really truly struggle. i love their little cat-and-mouse type thing. john makes malcolm go through hoops and plays him like a stupid little fiddle and i love it. he makes malcolm’s brain (and body) hurt.
and the dialogue they share on the phone/in the basement is AN ABSOLUTE FEAST FOR ME and i love reading way too much into it. seeing how the power dynamics flip LIKE FOUR TIMES is just. UGH. their first call where things are mostly neutral, their second call where things get CRAZY, then FIVE MINUTES LATER their first face-to-face and john traps malcolm, their THIRD call where john now realizes he can manipulate malcolm and finish his mission, and then we get an ENTIRE EPISODE of what im 1000% sure is watkins leaving a breadcrumb trail JUST so he can get malcolm alone(remember guys, john is actually smart), which leads me to ALONE TIME. THE WHOLE EPISODE. and now they’re both fighting for dominance, malcolm with his new knowledge and watkins with his. well, aggressions LMAO.
their meeting was totally by chance (watkins definitely says otherwise), and i wonder what things would be like if malcolm had maybe met watkins under different circumstances (like NOT breaking to a junkyard to look for an abandoned station wagon because, lets face it malcolm, you broke in) because during their first call watkins seems..fond? of the whole junkyard meeting..he even SAYS he doesn’t want to hurt malcolm, so maybe at this point he’s over it?? so i wonder, if malcolm wasn’t a killer catcher and let watkins do his thing, would that have been the end of it? would either of them seek out the other? but that would be BORING im glad they decide to chase eachother its fun.
jesus they make my brain hurt. alone time shows us how they both try to hit jabs at eachother and stay superior, and really no one’s winning lmao. malcolm’s eating john alive via psychoanalysis and john has malcolm STABBED and CHAINED TO THE FUCKING FLOOR. oh i love them…
now, i have many MANY personal thoughts about them, but specifically john and his side of the relationship. the things he says/does to malcolm feels obsessive, and characters like that are always my favorite to dissect. hes so goddamn manipulative and its great. probably once of my favorite things about this arc is when he just ABANDONS HIS MISSION???? (M: “Force me to atone to my sins?” J: “I’m finished with that work.”) and for what??? just one guy? because this one guy who stabbed you when he was 10? we already know that john actually does not have a deep grudge against malcolm for that (or maybe he does…) so why bother trying to LEGITIMATELY CONVERT SOMEONE when you could have just killed them???
because he needs malcolm. like how he needed martin. (sort of but now in a cool new fresh way)
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SIRENS ARE BLAAAARING IN MY HEAD. who wrote this dialogue you need to be shot dead (positive). malcolm not afraid to call him out and say “hey you’re a little bit of a codependent freak aren’t you??” also the “I don’t care what you think.” “Of course you do.” DONT. TALK. TO. ME..
why does he need malcolm?? because he’s the nearest target? because he’s the next best thing to martin? because they share such a complex connection spanning 20 years that he can’t left go of? WE MAY NEVER FUCKING KNOW..and mannnnnn dont even get me started on this shit..
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this is about YOU and ME and that fucking scar. and them he gives him AN IDENTICAL ONE (probably much less painful but still) god WHAT was the POINT of that. and to that i say it is because watkins feels the need to deepen their connection (or he’s just fucking kooky but thats boring) and now they have matching scars wow so best friends core now they’re intertwined (even more than they already are..) fate (by the hand of god) brought them together and now he needs to make sure it stays that way.
and then we get this..
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“Face it, you’re just like me. You judge, you hunt.” oh my GOD im gonna be SICK……… “mick hes just misreading malcolm’s character because he’s narcissistic” im gonna stop you right there because this is my blog and john watkins is my character ever since the pson writers made him complex and then threw him in a damn box (which is another scene i will ramble about at another point) if you use your brain that is literally the bare bones of what malcolm does, what defines his job. john has found the median, the simile, the connection (the one that he NEEDS so he can excuse himself and his actions and also to cope)
AND THEN..AND THEN…….
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during this scene AND I SWEAR IM NOT TWEAKING as malcolm is trying his last ditch attempts and stopping watkins from actually murdering his family we SEE JOHN HESITATE..we see it i swear to god. i swear god for just a fleeting moment he actually considers what malcom is saying. but alas. he says “if i get help i’ll lose my sparkle” and goes anyway…
and then the fucking box scene, our very last look at watkins.
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i hadn’t noticed it the first time i watched it because i was so hyped but around my second or third rewatch i caught it and heard it and physically shriveled up and died. our very last scene of him and (to me) its GUT WRENCHING. malcolm kept to his word and locked him up in the dark. but i find it so peculiar that watkins is crying. because, if anything, wouldn’t he be pissed?? kicking and screaming and rolling around in that damn thing? makes me wonder…what might have happened in the time between when malcolm wallops him with a fucking crowbar and when jessica reunites with him. what did malcolm say or do??? malcolm bright youre an awful sly little manipulator and you’re damn good at it and yes you use it for “good” but the way you did a 180 on those power dynamics. malcolm you are dangerous..
and that’s my extremely unnecessary deep dive and extreme analysis of john watkins and his relationship with our beloved malcolm bright. watkins really is one of my favorite characters that i feel could have been so cool if they had just given him a little more time or something like that. they are so complex to me in ways i haven’t even mentioned in this text post/probably forgot while i was typing this but i really wish we could see more of them even though what would happen. lots could happen, that’s what. now here’s my pitch for season 3 that revolves around just them where-
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mintmatcha · 1 year ago
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You should totally write it; you’ve got an amazing way with words, and I really like how you write adult readers who don’t fit the “perfect” reader-insert box
lol heres some more of my fake book--- now with the OTHER love interest
“Some of us-” Lex types hard enough that the keys chunk with every hit,  “Don’t have a lot of dating options.”
Ian sits up just enough to peer over his glasses and computer monitor, eyebrow quirked. He, as always, looks unamused, dark eyes narrowed suspiciously thin as he takes her in. “What’s that// supposed to mean?”
The urge to jam her foot into her mouth hits Lex like a truck. While her dating life has been less than spectacular, Ian’s has been nonexistent. In the two years he’s worked alongside her, he’s only ever mentioned one date-- and his mood was soured for weeks afterwards. In fact, the topic always made him dour, even when Lex talked about her own spectacularly awful dating life. 
“I didn’t mean you,” Lex peeks up at him and catches his steady gaze,  “It’s just hard to date when you’re not a pretty girl.”
He processes this for a moment, then sinks down and resumes working. The little figurine on the top of his desk waggles as he works.
“Well, that’s kind of a moot point. You’re attractive.”
Lex can’t even process what he says at first. She just scoffs, then thinks, then scoffs again. “You don’t have to lie to me.”
“I have been working on this code for eight straight hours,” he says simply, pecking away,  “I don’t have enough neurons firing to lie to you right now. You’re attractive. The end.”
A chill runs across her skin. He says it so easily, so clearly, in ways March always seemed to skirt around. The flourish and the dance of flirting always worked on her, but directness is a luxury.
“Ian-” she says, voice softer than she wants.
“People just don’t date you because you’re pessimistic and self sabotaging.”
The moment is gone. She returns immediately to the onslaught of emails ahead of her, grumbling under her breath. “And here I thought you were finally being nice to me.”
“Again- not nice, just the truth.” He pushes away from his desk with a sigh, standing. He looks lankier than usual, towering over her when he passes. “I’m grabbing an energy drink.”
“Those things will give you kidney stones,” she calls after him, “You should drink water. And eat something.”
Ian turns on his heel, hands jammed into his hoodie pocket like a moody adolescent. “Don’t talk about my kidneys. That’s weird.”
“Take a proper lunch and I’ll never talk about your kidneys again.”
When he returns ten minutes later, he has the energy drink in question, along with a bag hooked on his elbow and a coffee in the other. He slides the warm beverage on to the corner of her mouse pad wordlessly before flopping into his seat. 
She regards it carefully, peeking at the label on the side. It’s her order-- the same thing she gets every Friday morning from the shop downstairs. Did he ask the workers about her? Or did he just… pay attention? Both of those options sound ridiculous. Lex writes it up to a lucky guess.
“Thanks,” she says. The earnesty makes her stomach unsettled, so she throws in a jab, “I prefer iced though.”
Ian stands again, reaching over both monitors. “Fine, I’ll drink it then.”
“Hey now!” Lex snatches it back and swears her coworker actually smiles for once, rolling his eyes as he sits back down.
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olderthannetfic · 2 years ago
Note
Sorry to drag an old corpse out of its grave long after it turned to dust, but in hindsight, what bothers me about the Hogwarts: Legacy discourse is the language and tactics surrounding the issue.
I am a Disney boycotter. I don't purchase anything attached to the mouse and I do my best to inform the people around me about why it's not a good idea to give them more money. I vote with my wallet, and as little as an impact it may have, I feel good about not contributing to the company. However, if I see someone wearing a Disney merch item, subscribing to Disney+, or enjoying a Disney movie, it has never occurred to me to call them all sorts of heavy names that should be reserved for people who actually hold bigoted beliefs. I never felt the urge to end our friendship.
Enter Hogwarts: Legacy. I had no interest in the game whatsoever, but then it started trending. "Support this and you are a transphobe", plain out there in large quantities. "Support our bullying or you are evil. No, I'm not throwing trans people under the bus for my own gains. What are you, a transphobe?" I did my own research and found out that this is a product I would not buy either for the same reason that I don't buy Disney products, but much less money goes to people I do not want to support in this case than for Disney. The huge campaigns to bully people, take away their choices, and misuse trans people and jewish people for the sake of petty hatred of intellectual property and their love for discourse made me think so little of the boycott movement that I ended up watching a livestream of the game to check it out and found that it was not nearly as offensive as the people who got angry at it say it was.
The takeaway from this is that there are ways to protest without using oppressed identities as your shield and alienating your loved ones who are just regular people that like a piece of entertainment. If the H:L protesters informed people about the reasons why they shouldn't purchase the game but told them it's perfectly fine if they make the decision to buy it anyway, then the boycott would've been far more successful. Our job as boycotters is to offer people the information they need to make the decision that they don't wish to support a cause, not to make them so afraid they yield to us and end up following our demands out of fear of being targeted for something small. This tactic causes people to double down because no one wants to yield to bullies. Now, the boycotters will be remembered as those bitter people who made a stink about a video game but who didn't do anything except make people think trans people and jewish people are annoying nags when the majority of people who complained don't even care about those two groups, they just used them as a scapegoat.
Don't be like the H:L protesters. It hurts your cause. Daryl Davis is a good name to look up in this case.
--
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randomwriteronline · 1 year ago
Text
Warriors wasn’t exactly well known for being incospicuous or particularly quiet in his movements.
He had a tendency of stomping his feet a lot - walking like he thought he was running, ending up too heavy on the soles of his boots, which were thankfully less likely to fall apart than his old ones were. It was one of many not necessarily healthy quirks he hoped to unlearn now that the war was dealt with and there was no longer a constant need to sprint from one place to the other.
But if he wanted, and if he put a lot of thought into it, he could will himself into a perfectly relaxed stride; and, if he put even more effort into it, he could even become quieter than a mouse in a barn.
Still, he knew better than to scare a hare by getting the jump on it from the back, so he opted to knock gently on the wooden table instead.
Ravio turned around without actually looking, used to the signal enough that he didn’t even flinch upon hearing it - though he did startle a bit when the face that greeted him turned out to be indeed fairly similar to his own, but not as perfectly identical as he’d naturally assumed it would have been.
“The well-off relative!” he squeaked with a small smile, seeming a bit nervous.
Warriors grinned back: “The very same,” he replied with a wave that was more of a flourish and half a curtsie.
His relaxed appearance eased the tension in the merchant’s shoulders as well as he chuckled a little bit, playing with one of his long sleeves more out of habit than to dispell his nervousness. The captain eyed the tic fondly, and the familiar motion gave him just enough courage to try his luck.
If it was too early for it... Well, he hoped he would at least still manage to make a good first impression.
“I couldn’t help but notice your hood earlier,” he said simply, leaning a little on one side as if that way his antsyness would just seep out of his foot: “It has a peculiar design, doesn’t it?”
“My...? Oh, yes!” Ravio remembered. His fingers grabbed the portion of cloth immediately, without thinking, but for some reason he stopped himself short of pulling it over his face, fingertips playing with the gold trimmed edges. “Made it myself, see?, as we all used to do in my family. We’re pretty good tinkerers, my aunt would say way back when, but even better tailors, eh...”
“Might I see it?”
“Pardon?”
“The design on it,” Warriors repeated: “Might I see it again? I didn’t get a good look at it back then, but it seemed beautifully embroidered.”
Maybe to comply, maybe to hide a slight rush of blush on otherwise almost squalidly pale cheeks, the other man blinked once or twice and then pulled the hood right back up, hiding away his entire head beneath the rabbit face as though it had never even existed in the first place.
Knowing full well he was being seen, the captain made a big show of holding his chin in his hand and tilting his head thoughtfully.
“My,” he started off with, “I was right, that is an awfully impressive work of art. Look at those golden details around the eyes - lovely colors for them, by the way, you’ve got quite a lot of taste - and those teeth even, not to mention the ears! If I’d only heard of rabbits and never seen any I’d mistake you for one.”
The weird compliment worked, as a little laugh accompanied delighted fingers drumming against the purple fabric.
Warriors smiled fondly; then suddenly he sighed, shaking his head: “Ah, but I’ll admit, it gives me the weirdest kind of feeling - like I’ve seen a hood made just like that before, like I know it well, you know? A sort of deja-vù...”
“Well that just ain’t possible,” the merchant replied quickly as his shoulders straightened in pride: “This one’s a Ravio original! Trademarked and all! Only one you’ll ever find around! Save for any mediocre imitations you might’ve had some sleazy retailers sell you for the real thing, that is, but I’d bet those pale in comparison to the genuine article as I’m sure you can see for yourself here right before you.”
“It’s certainly very distinctive,” the captain agreed, subtly stepping forward.
If Ravio noticed that, he made no comment on it - perhaps too busy patting himself on the back as he goaded: “Of course! Gives my brand a real distinct image, don’t it? Really makes it clear you’re dealing with the one and only! Sorta like, uh, that scarf of yours, if... If I may.”
Even despite those unmoving embroidered eyes covering any semblance of expression Warriors had the distinctive feeling that the man behind them was getting a little redder beneath the shade of his hood, as he could parse from a small nervous movement of his fingers as the hero smiled wider and absentmindedly passed his thumb over the blue fabric gently settled around his shoulders and neck.
“One of a kind too?” the Lorian asked, not without a certain cautious fear.
“You’d be correct,” the other replied.
The amount of fidgeting with purple fabric increased steadily as a cascade of rambling left the hidden mouth: “Ah, yes, yes, I imagined - I mean, with that red trim over there at the end and that emblem on it, clearly something made for royalty or the like, see?, and the quality - no way some imitator could make something like that without putting in way too much effort or doing just a plain bad job, right? But, uh, ah - well ain’t that awkward now, I think you’ve put a bug in my ear ‘cause now I’m thinking I’ve seen that before, like you’ve seen my hood, but, eh! Eh, but that can’t be now, can it! Eh, nope, no, cannot be like that - but it really does look like I’ve seen it, I swear! Maybe a little dirtier, some splotches on it, some grass and, and, well and stuff that maybe I shouldn’t be talking about in a kitchen, ah ah, you understand? But it’s, it really... It really does, uhm... It... Really... Looks... Like...”
By the time he hushed, Warriors was standing a mere few inches away from him, the not particularly large difference in height between them magnified slightly by the merchant’s slouch as he’d closed in on his own shoulders a little, looking up at the grin on the rosy face. It would have definitely seemed like an intimidating scene, and by all means it was; but the tilt of the hodded head was more expectant than scared, and the little nervous smile peeking from beneath the gold trim of the fabric didn’t come from any fear.
In one swift motion the hero pushed back the hood, cupped the other’s face in his hands as though it would have escaped him, and landed a chaste kiss on his cheek with as much passion as possible.
Surprise tore a laugh out of Ravio and had his arms wrap in a bout of euphoria around the captain’s shoulders, bending his neck under the pressure of a mouth smacking into him over and his back over a hug that ensnared his waist tight enough that he could have been lifted at any moment.
Then he recollected himself, and pushed the other’s face away with a nervous chuckle: “Hey, hey - this is a kitchen!”
“Oh please,” Warriors huffed playfully, rolling his eyes, “There’s eight more people in this house including your ‘landlord’ and you think I’ll lay you for the first time in the middle of the kitchen?”
Instead of answering, Ravio decided to slip right through his grasp and scuttle away between his divaricated legs, making him stumble (since he’d put his entire weight onto the merchant) and grab onto the counter just a moment before his face collided with it in a less than graceful manner.
“Maybe!”
“Come on, I’m better than that!”
An airy laugh came from behind him with a quick squeezing hug: “You are,” the merchant reassured him, though he was very much still smirking dastardly. “And besides it wouldn’t be your style - I mean for cryin’ out loud, you took your sweet time tellin’ me you were who I thought you were right now, didn’t you?”
“What!” the captain argued back, snapping around to face him with a wide smile: “I couldn’t well just kiss you on the mouth out of nowhere!”
“I can promise you I wouldn’t have complained.”
“Time’s a fickle thing, you know that - what if you hadn’t met me yet? You would’ve thought me a maniac!”
“But I hadn’t ever seen you before I ended up on that battlefield, Lily-of-the-Valley,” Ravio reminded him as he tried to grab his nose between his index and middle fingers, “So we sure couldn’t’ve met earlier than that, don’t you think?”
Warriors lifted his hands in defeat, gently swatting the merchant’s own away in the process: “You got me there.”
“Course I did,” the other gloated: “I’m the brains and brawn after all.”
The flick of a wrist had his hood right back on his head: “Harr harr,” he heard an amused fond grin say, “And even if it were true, pray tell what I’d be left with?”
Without missing a beat, Ravio tapped his nose: “Beauty, of course!”
He counted the little snort as a victory.
“Don’t push it,” he was still playfully reprimanded.
The merchant chuckled in response, shoulders jumping a little with his voice. His gaze grew unbearably soft for a long, interminable second; then, with a sharp sigh, he allowed his forehead to fall forward so that it would on the taller man’s chest, and with his eyes closed he savored the solid reality of that contact together with the faint press of a hug.
He took a deep breath, catching a scent much more pleasant than the one he’d grown to expect to cling to that scarf, that tunic, and exhaled: “I missed you.”
Warriors leaned enough to press a kiss to his dark hair: “I missed you too.”
The rabbit in his grasp hummed very, very softly.
All of  this - that voice, the pressure on his sternum, the quiet between them - was distinctly, sweetly familiar.
He wished it didn’t bring back memories of laying on the ground, both soiled with sweat, dirt, blood and varied other disgusting elements after the horrid symphony of clanging steel had finally quieted down across the fields, breathing heavily, trying to stifle the adrenaline making his heart explode at least enough to properly feel the body breathing heavily as it laid almost draped across his chest; but it also brought back the silence of peaceful nights, of trying to fall asleep to one another’s heartbeats, and he focused on that, drowning the worse recollections in those hushed breaths in the dark.
His musings were interrupted as he felt the other wriggle in his loose grasp ever so slightly, and he undid the fastening of his arms around him to let him pull back in case he needed it.
Ravio waited a little before doing so, maybe to try and commit this moment to memory better than all the other ones he had alowed to simply slip by, as one can never know when the chance to encounter a lover from a different time once more might happen - a thought that hadn’t struck him until only after they had bid each other a barely adequate goodbye for what could have very likely been the last time they ever saw one another again.
“I’ve been, ah--” he stammered a moment as he pushed himself back up on his own feet, “I was tryin’ to, ah, find a way back to you, actually, y’know? I mean, I found one for here, so, there oughta be one for there, don’t you think? It’s - ah, ahah! It’s a weird situation, my whole...”
His hand made an incredibly vague motion in the air, pointing all at once to everything that might have been both in the room and outside of it.
The information made Warriors furrow his brows slightly and tilt his head not unlike a dog that hadn’t understood the command: “I thought you were pretty homesick, back then,” he muttered, a little confused.
“I was! Goddesses know I was!” the other was quick to reply: “And I was so glad to be back home even though I had... A lot of stuff to handle still like you know, my house being a mess and everything else, but I was happy! I swear! But, eh, I’m here now, right? And it’s ‘cause I... I got homesick for here too, if you can believe that? And so I came over because I missed this sun and this house and, and then I got homesick for your place too, or maybe, maybe just for you, I think, I didn’t really - sorry if it’s rude, but I don’t got really good memories of, you know, er... But, but the point is - I keep gettin’ longin’ for all these different places all at once and so I end up makin’ myself scramble all over all the time, it’s - it’s a mess, is what it is, but I can’t help it! I don’t know how! I can’t - I can’t choose, I guess? I want t’ be in Lorule, and also here, and also with you, and it just sends me runnin’ in circles over an’ over an’ over an’--”
"Hey,” a quiet voice reached him together with a hand on his shoulder, and his rambling came to a halt.
He sunk in the collar of his robe: “Sorry,” he peeped. “Got carried away.”
“I missed you so much.”
There was no follow-up.
Ravio realized his vacant stare had been fixed a little above the captain’s belt buckle for a while now, and raised his head. Link was looking at him without any real feeling, his expression set on a near total, mildly relaxed neutrality - which made the vague air of melancholy bubbling in his eyes a little harder to spot for someone who might’ve notbeen looking for it.
Without really thinking, the Lorian put a hand to one of the somewhat squallid sienna-colored cheeks. He felt it sink into his palm.
“You thought of comin’ to see me?”
Warriors just nodded.
He laughed gently: “Well, I oughta made your job real hard then, huh?”
The other shrugged with a small smile: “Didn’t do much about it, actually,” he replied, a little sheepish. “I got cold feet about asking. Since...”
“Hm,” now it was the merchant’s turn to nod, “I get it.”
He gently squished the captain’s face in his hands a little tighter, causing him to huff through his nose as he attempted a smirk. Emboldened by the power of being able to do whatever he wanted without repercussions, Ravio swayed the blond head left and right with his fingers as his soft grimace turned into a more mischievous grin.
He only stopped once he heard a muffled ‘watch it’ that made him giggle a little as he raised his arms away from the captain in a show of innocence.
Dusting his palms on his robe as if to better hide the tender playfulness of the gesture (though it was an action not at all motivated embarrassment, but merely yet another of his many nervous quirks) his voice suddenly turned casual, as if he were a humble innkeeper addressing a customer: “So how long will you be stayin’ over?”
Warriors shrugged again with a weary sigh: “I’ve told you, time is a fickle thing,” he answered, “Who knows where and when we’ll be told to leave.”
“But you do stay around a while, right?”
“That we do.”
“So maybe we could work together, no? To, ah - figure out, maybe, kinda, a way to make this... Not, the last time we meet?”
Green eyes gleamed at him hopefully.
“Because-” Ravio added quickly as he waved his hands about to try and mask his eager antsiness, “-If there was a way, y’know, to come see you anytime, or even just some specific times, but surely, for certain, without fault... Y’know. I’d hop right on it.”
The captain smiled.
“I would too.”
A bucktoothed grin shined right at him: “So we should get to work, eh?”
“I reckon we should.”
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aurora567 · 1 year ago
Text
Little Mouse Ch. 2
Warnings this fic will contain mature themes. Such as but not limited to teasing, kidnapping, Stockholm syndrome, very unhealthy relationships, some elements of non-con/rape, threesomes, drug use, breath play, voyeurism, branding.
Summery: Rin is about to get a taste of what it is like to live with Dabi, and she is not exactly a fan.
Word count: 5025
Last Chapter
Chapter 2
“That's perfectly okay, that’s not what we need you to do. And as long as you do what you're told then we will not have an problem’s Miss Nakano,” the cloud of smoke answered, sounding almost like they were discussing business matters rather than her life.
“Dabi you will be responsible for her, and remember try not to kill her,” the scratchy voice called out as a red eye glanced at her from behind the hand on his face. As his fingers scratched at the skin of his neck softly.
“Oh hell no, I am not spending any more time with this asshole,” she growled as she jabbed her thumb at the dark haired man behind her who had shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants less than pleased himself but he had been aware that he would be stuck babysitting the woman before hand. But that didn’t stop her from glancing around at everyone else in the room.
“Hell I’ll willingly stay with anyone but him,” she growled softly as she looked around. Even though she didn’t know any of the people in the room. She would have rather been dumped on them. Though Toga looked like she wanted to kill her, the lizard looked unpleased and bored, a man hid behind a mask made it impossible for her to tell what he was thinking. A large man? okay maybe it was a woman, stood back mumbling about how unlady like she was being. Another man seemed to be arguing with himself? Well fuck no wonder the man who kidnapped her was the one who was stuck babysitting it seemed he may actually be the most sane of the group.
“You think I’m pleased to have to babysit you princess?” Was the growl of a question that came from behind her. She was quick to turn her head and glare back at the man. But honestly she didn’t have a comeback that wouldn’t start a war, as she glared at him. Her jaw clenched as she tried to keep herself from starting a fight with the man again. It also made sense to have him in charge of her. He was clearly well skilled at fighting and his quirk probably was the best for dealing with her.
“Whatever,” she mumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest, still not happy as she was pretty much pouting. But no longer was she going to complain, at least not at this moment.
“We’re done here then,” the rough and raw voice called out to everyone. And with that she watched them all start to make their way out of the building. Though two stayed back. It was clear the man with the hands all over him was the leader of the group and the cloud of smoke was his right hand man, or at least that’s the impression she got since the two were the ones giving orders.
“Well you heard the boss come along princess,” the voice behind her called out as he turned to leave.
“Don’t call me princess,” she hissed at him as she followed after him.
“Alright then little mouse,” he called out over his shoulder.
“I have a name,” she growled at him as she followed him out of the building and down the street. She didn’t have a clue where they were going.
“Like I give a damn,” was his lazy response to her growling at him. How annoying. Rin hated the man and how annoying she found him to be and she had only spent less than an hour with him. She had a feeling these days to follow where going to be hell. This man made it clear he didn’t like her, and she made it clear she didn’t like him. She wondered who was going to try and kill who first. This was not going to be fun at all. She nearly groaned as the thought crossed her mind as they walked to a rather nice looking apartment.
She was rather surprised to find the man living in a rather nice looking place. Maybe it was a bit unfair but she had almost assumed they would be at some dump of a place. But it seemed the man had at least a decent taste in places to live. Wasn’t no 5 star place but it was far from the dump she had expected. She followed the man into the building and up the stairs. It seemed he wasn’t a fan of taking the elevator, was it simply due to her being with him or a different reason? She wasn’t sure nor was she about to ask him. Though she didn’t like the idea of climbing all the stairs to reach the top level, she had a feeling he just wanted to watch her suffer as she climbed the stairs, her tired body protesting the work.
She kept her complaints quiet as she forced herself on as finally out of breath and tired she was happy to see no more stairs as she followed him down the hall staying only a few steps behind him as she watched till he stopped in front of a door and pulled a set of keys from his pants pocket. She watched him open the door and look over at her waiting for her to walk in before he followed after her ensuring she couldn’t try and take off running once he walked into the apartment. She slipped her shoes off but was hesitant to walk further into the apartment before a rough hand pushed the middle of her shoulder blades forcing her to stumble forwards.
“Hey!” She hissed spinning to glare up at the man who looked unconcerned with the fact he had roughly pushed her forwards when she hesitated.
“Move it,” he growled down at her, his pale blue eyes hard as he glared down at her. She had to bite back a reply of ‘make me’ as she knew he would. Though it seemed he could see her rolling over the thought of giving a snarky reply before she glared at him and huffed before turning and walking into the apartment. She could hear the low chuckle from him but chose not to say anything as she glanced around softly. The place is definitely a lot nicer than she expected and yet looked so normal. Then again what exactly was she expecting from a villain? It wasn’t like the man was gonna have some weird sign above his front door announcing a villain lives here. Not that the place was some dump, or even a dark looking place.
She was still a bit skeptical as she walked in and glanced around the place. It was neat and tidy also, surprising she had not met too many men who could clean up after themselves. Then again it may not have been fair comparing him to the men she had previously dated after high school. But still the place was clean, modern fly decorated. Though she quickly noticed the lack of personal effects in the home. No pictures on the walls, no family photos, no photos of himself even. Then again maybe it was a safety precaution? Not wanting anyone to know his real identity since he was a villain. She forgot easily how much different he and her probably lived their lives. She had photos of her friends and herself hung up around her place. An old family photo of herself with her parents when she was a wee child, she didn’t have anything to hide. More importantly, she was unaware that she had pride in her family and who her parents were.
But at the moment she was tired, and still weary as she glanced back over her shoulder at the man as she walked into his living room. He just walked past her and plopped himself down onto the couch. He didn’t seem to have a care that she stood in the middle of the room awkwardly and uncomfortable.
“So what? I’m a prisoner of yours now or something?” She asked her voice hard as she looked at him trying to hold her ground as she watched him sit deep into the couch. His legs spread apart and his arm’s slung over the top making himself look nice and comfortable.
“Yep, so don’t try to run off or I’ll enjoy watching your body burn to a crisp,” he said, the corner of his lips tugging up slightly. She glared at him but didn’t argue. She knew he wasn’t bluffing, he would set her body ablaze if she tried to run for it and escape, and he would probably enjoy it too.
“What ever fine,” she growled, turning on her heels to leave the living room. If she was going to be stuck in his home she was at least going to make herself at home. And that meant she really wanted a shower and some sleep. She was also hungry but sleeping and a shower pulled at her mind first. She was accustomed to skipping meals but she never did well when she skipped sleep. And with the stress of the last hour she could feel a headache coming on. All the more reason she wanted to get cleaned up and find somewhere to sleep.
It seemed her kidnapper, or Dabi as he had been called by his colleagues didn’t seem to care when she left him in the living room to start rummaging around his home. She knew it was rude to just open doors and look into the rooms taking in the layout of the rather large sized apartment. She found two bedrooms, a small hall closet that held towels and sheets and a few random things. That’s what she had been truly looking for as she grabbed herself a clean towel before continuing her search for a bathroom.
It wasn’t hard to find that room either as she happily stripped out of her clothes as she started the water for the shower. The room was already filling with steam by the time she jumped into the shower. The water was incredibly hot when she first slipped under the water. But after the day she had she welcomed the scolding water wishing she could burn away the day. She stood under the water for a rather long time before she finally looked around for some shampoo, body wash and anything she may be able to use. She didn’t care for the scent of his body wash, but then again she didn’t care for the masculine scents of most men's body wash but she didn’t have much choice. She was just thankful the man had more than one of those all in one bottles of hair, body and face wash or whatever cheap all in one bottles she saw way too many men buy and use for every inch of their body.
Finally the water had started to run cold and she couldn’t turn the heat up any higher and she was forced to flee the cooling water. Her skin was a soft pink after the hot water and vicious scrubbing she had given herself while showering. Running the towel over her body and up into her hair she froze with her hands over her head running the towel over her hair when she realized she showered, but now had no clean clothes. She gritted her teeth as one word continuously crossed her mind.
FUCK!
She wasn’t about to put her dirty panties and bra back on. And she really would have rather had something clean to sleep on, she also was not about to just walk around naked either. She may have had no issues making herself feel at home in his house but she wasn’t about to walk around naked in front of a stranger either. That left her with the option of asking to borrow some of his clothes, a shirt at least while she tossed her clothes in the wash so she could put them back on as soon as they were dry.
She was stuck standing naked in the bathroom weighing up her options as she tried to figure out what the hell she was going to do. She really didn’t like the thought of wearing her clothes again. And even if she put them back on how long could she wear them for? She didn’t have any other clothes currently that she could wear. And she doubted Dabi was just going to go out and get her more. But either way she was going to have to ask him for clothes. She sighed, wrapping the towel around her body as she now glared at the bathroom door trying to grow the courage to walk out and beg that man to lend her clothes. She didn’t like that idea at all.
Dabi on the other hand was still in the living room, the tv on but volume turned down and he didn’t even know what was playing. It did not interest him so he wasn’t paying attention. He had watched her storm off before he heard doors open and close as it seemed she was maybe looking for something? His question seemed pretty well answered when he heard the water running for his shower. Seemed she had been looking for the bathroom. But as he sat there listening to the water run he was a bit surprised she just didn’t ask him where the bathroom was. Then again she seemed to be a rather stubborn woman. Finally the water stopped running after what seemed like an easy hour. During the wait Dabi had grabbed himself a beer from his fridge drinking it as he waited. And now he was fetching a second as he heard the water stop. About time he was about to go bang on the door and tell her to stop wasting so much water. Returning to his spot on the couch he flopped back down taking up the same position as he sipped slowly at his beer. It was at least half a can of beer down before he finally heard the bathroom door open. Turning his gaze to the tv he still wasn’t actually watching it as he listened to the soft footsteps slowly make their way towards the living room.
She stopped only poking her head into the room seemingly trying to hide from him. Looking over at her he could see why. Her red hair was still damp and clung to the bare skin of her shoulders and face. The towel wrapped around her body was apparently the only thing on. Dabi felt an eyebrow arch before the corner of his lips tugging up wildly as he felt his skin pull at the first staple that sat closest to his lips.
Nakano’s face was nearly as red as her hair was as she tried to hide herself from his view which was hard as she could feel his eyes watching her every move.
“I need some clothes,” she called out softly, unable to look over at him or meet his gaze as she struggled to contain her embarrassment.
“What was that?” The question was completely mocking her and they both knew it. But still Dabi was going to enjoy this.
“I need some clothes…… please,” she spoke up a little louder and hesitantly added a please to the end before she finally forced herself to look over at the man who was grinning ear to ear enjoying watching the woman swallow her pride, and ask him for clothes to wear.
Oh how Dabi was clearly enjoying watching the woman squirm and try to hide from his eyes as he sat on the couch watching her tightly grip the towel that was the only thing covering her body from his gaze. Her embarrassment was easily visible as a solid pink flush had gone from one cheek over her nose and up the other cheek, even her ears had started to heat up. And Dabi was just simply enjoying this as he watched her as she went from embarrassment to anger as he simply sat back and didn’t even hide his entertainment.
“I’ll take your silence as you're not going to help me, that’s fine I’ll just turn your towel into something to wear,” she threatened with a hiss as Dabi simply let out a deep chuckle.
“Don’t get your panties in a knot,” he said as he chuckled and pushed himself up to his feet before he strolled over towards her before a wide grin pulled at his lips as he looked down at her, “that is if you're even wearing any.”
She wasn’t sure if she was looking at him in disgust or embarrassment or a mixture of both as she wasn’t even sure what to say to the man and his rather blunt words. He sure as shit spoke his mind and it seemed he liked to enjoy watching people’s reactions to his blunt words. As he stepped closer she found herself stepping back wanting to get away from the man as she didn’t trust him at all nor did she wish to be close to him even if she wasn’t nearly naked.
“You’re a cocky son of a bitch aren't you,” she hissed at him trying to keep herself from shivering under his hard gaze after a moment of pause as she hadn’t been sure how to reply to him.
“Oh little mouse you don’t know the half of it,” he said with a deep chuckle as he watched her.
“Whatever. Are you gonna lend me some clothes or not?” She asked glaring up at him as he watched her with that wide shit eating grin on his lips.
“Oh but I think I’d rather watch you walk around naked,” he mused, still grinning down at her.
“That’s fine I’ll just go help myself to your closet then,” she growled up at him. He still looked so entertained even as she rudely attempted to help herself to his clothes not even caring if rummaging through his closet would be rude. He didn’t have the decency to let her live her life in peace so she didn’t see a reason to be nice to the man who was keeping her a prisoner.
“Alright alright little mouse I’ll get you some clothes just calm down,” he said laughing as he walked past her and headed towards his bedroom. She wasn’t sure if she should be following him but she did. She kept herself a good two steps behind him trying to stay out of his arms reach.
She followed him down the hall before she hesitated in the doorway of his room. He strolled into the room without a care while she lingered in the doorway before slowly walking into his room. It felt all sorts of wrong to be stepping into a strange man’s room. And even worse over the fact she was nearly naked. It didn’t help that she did not trust Dabi at all as she stood back watching him closely.
“For a helpless little mouse you’re really trying to glare daggers into my back,” came a deep chuckled remark from the man as he walked over towards his closet not even looking back at her. Though it’s not like he needed to, her gaze had been glaring at him the entire time. If looks could kill he would have been six feet deep already.
“Maybe I’m hoping if I glare hard enough one will materialize,” she hissed at him, still standing a ways back in the middle of his room not taking her eyes off of him for a second even if she was curious to look around the room.
“Feisty for a mouse,” he said with a laugh as one of his cool blue eyes glanced over his shoulder to watch her stand there as she crossed her arms over her chest while one hand continued to hold the towel tightly not risking losing it.
“Just shut up and get me a shirt or something to wear,” she hissed barking an order at him as if she wasn’t a prisoner in his home.
She was fearless, and had been the entire time so far. She met the league, learned she’s a prisoner, and that everyone around her now was clinically insane. And yet she didn’t back down. If Dabi didn’t find her annoying and insufferable he might have found those qualities sexy. But that bright red hair instantly irritated him any time he looked over at her. Even though he knew she had no ties to his own family it didn’t stop him from hating the colour with a burning passion. With a simple white t-shirt in hand he turned towards her. The grin still pulled at his lips as he watched her.
“Hmm I don’t think you're in any position to be barking orders at someone who you were just asking for help from a moment ago,” he said as he held the t-shirt in his hand before slowly walking towards her. He could see the uncertainty flicker in her eyes as she hesitantly took a step back. That was what Dabi wanted to see as that flicker of fear seemed to get his blood pumping. He knew he wasn’t allowed to kill the woman but Shigaraki had not given any other specific orders for what he could or could not do with the woman.
Her face lost some of its colour as she watched him walk towards her stopping a mere foot from her. She could almost feel the heat coming from his body. The smell of smoke and was that tobacco she was smelling? She didn’t think the man smoked? Then again maybe he didn’t and it was an odd similar lingering smell. Her knuckles were turning white as she gripped at the top of the towel that wrapped around her body.
“You want something to wear? Well then you better earn it,” Dabi said with a wide grin as he looked down at the woman who was struggling not to cower under his intense gaze as he waved around the shirt he was holding.
Was it really worth this? She could just go back to the bathroom and put her filthy clothes back on. As much as she hated that idea. And yet why had a sinking feeling she had fucked up. He looked over her smirking as he toyed with her. She doubted he was just going to let her go get her old clothes and get dressed. She struggled to swallow as a lump formed in her throat as she struggled to keep herself calm as she forced her eyes to look from the shirt in his hand up to his eyes. He was toying with her and he liked it. That only caused her to glare at him which didn’t help as he seemed to enjoy it.
“And how am I supposed to do that?” She slowly asked through gritted teeth. As she looked up at him.
“Oh that’s a good question. Hmm, how badly do you want some clothes?” He was humming to himself not actually expecting her to answer him and of course she didn’t. It was true how badly did she want some clothes? She had a feeling now she was stuck between a rock and a hard place as she stood before the man who looked to be similar to her in age. He suddenly seemed to come up with an idea as his eyes seemed to shimmer and she swore if that shit eating smirk grew any wider it was gonna rip out a staple or two from his face closest to his lips.
“Well let’s start with the towel, lose it little mouse. Let’s see what my new play toy looks like,” he said, expecting her to lose her composure. And his assumption was correct as she was both irritated and flustered by the request.
“Go to hell. I am not your plaything,” she hissed at him. Which caused his empty left hand to shoot out wrapping his fingers around her throat giving a good squeeze as he watched her eyes grow wide. Her hands let go of the towel and now clawed at the scarred skin of his wrist.
“I don’t think you truly understand your situation, little mouse. Shigaraki may want your powers and knowledge but you yourself are disposable. He left you to me so I’m gonna do with you what I choose,” he said smirking down at her as he leaned in and seemingly to make his point clear he ran his tongue over the soft skin of her right cheek. She struggled to inhale a deep breath of air into her lung's as his grip remained tight around her throat. But more so his thumb and fingers were well placed. Applying their pressure over the carotid arteries slowing down the blood being sent to her brain. She could breathe well enough to not normally black out but his fingers were slowing the blood to her brain. It didn’t take long for her head to start to spin and black dots to start threatening her vision.
“Please,” she begged softly, trying to force the words from her lips though she couldn’t even hear him. Seemed that she must have at least been able to make the words audible enough for him to hear as his fingers slacked a slight bit allowing the much needed blood to travel to her head allowing her to fight off the black dot’s.
All Rin could clearly see was that arrogant smirk that pulled at the man’s lips. It made her want to slap that smirk off his face. But right now all she could do was grip his wrist that still held her neck in his grip. Her head was still spinning but now it seemed manageable for her to remain conscious. She could feel him lean in towards her. His warm breath glanced over her ear as he spoke before he pulled away.
“You should know I always get what I want,” was the taunt that filled her ear as he leaned in towards her. She could feel the warmth of his body against hers as he leaned in. The feel of his white t-shirt against her skin.
Wait!
She could feel her breasts glance across the material of his shirt. Panic set in as her hands left his wrist and flew down her body trying to cover herself and what was now exposed as the towel she had been wearing sat on the ground as a crumpled mess at her feet. Her left hand flew down to cover her lower region while her right arm wrapped around her chest trying to hide as much of her chest as she could. This action seemed to entertain him as he leaned back and laughed before finally letting go of her neck and stepping back to watch her as she stood there trying to cover herself as she glared at him.
“Alright you got what you wanted now hand the shirt over,” she growled at him contemplating if she should just try to take the shirt from him. But then that would require her moving one of her hands and she had no desire to do that either.
“Hmmm I don’t know,” he hummed simply toying with her as he watched her face turn nearly as red as her hair. He assumed it was a mixture of embarrassment and rage that drove her face to change colour. Either way he was finding it entertaining to watch the woman become flustered before him. He wondered how far he could push her buttons, “maybe if you beg.”
“I’d rather rip your throat out than beg you for anything,” she growled up at him as he told her to try begging.
“I would love to see you try,” he said, smirking down at her before he finally tossed the white shirt at her. Moving her right hand instinctively she reached out to grab the shirt before it hit the floor.
“Asshole,” she hissed before she quickly turned around and freed up her other hand as she raised her hands up to slip the shirt over her head pulling it down. She could feel his eyes on her bare backside as she pulled the shirt down her body before growing as she looked down at it. Her hands tugged softly at the hem as she realized it just barely covered her. She pulled the front of the shirt down a little more cussing the back side to lift up revealing the bottom curves of her ass. She wanted to ask him if he had any sweatpants or something else to wear to cover the bottom half of her body. But after the hassle of trying to simply get a shirt from him she wasn’t about to ask for anything else. With that she turned and started to leave the room wanting to get as far away from Dabi as she could. And yet to her disapproval she could hear him silently following after as she walked to the bathroom to gather up her filthy clothes. She kneeled to grab her clothes, not wanting to bend over knowing she would flash Dabi a good view of her lower regions.
“Take a photo, it will last longer,” she hissed as she gathered up her clothes and stood up turning to face the man as he was leaning against the door frame of the bathroom door.
“Don’t think I’ll need to. You ain’t going anywhere soon so I’ll enjoy the view all I want,” he said as his hands were stuffed into his pants pockets as he watched her grind her teeth together as she watched him.
She gave a simple huff deciding to not say anything else as she tried to walk past him as she tried to ignore him. She wanted nothing more than to find somewhere to hide away from those cold blue eyes that watched her every move.
Next Chapter
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gregorygerwitz · 8 months ago
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also i just saw this beauty in your WIP list (Shattered (Mouse-centric angst, past Mouse/OC, eventual cozy trio) and now I need it!!!!
Hello hello hello!
Shattered is such an old WIP now, and I really do love it and I want to finish it one day, but I haven't touched it in a while! I don't even think it made the transfer from Google Docs to Microsoft 365 when I switched last year. So it's just a 7k+ document I haven't touched in 9+ months. But! Like I said! It's a concept I really love!
It definitely is going to be very, very angsty. Which, I know most people aren't surprised by, when it comes to me, but this one will require more trigger warnings than even I usually put on my fics? Simply because there's two different timelines that I'm following - the first timeline is where the fic starts, with a 3am call made to Jay because Mouse got into a fight with his boyfriend and needs somewhere to stay for a night or two while things get fixed; the second timeline is told through flashbacks, and that relationship Mouse has had with his boyfriend over the last year, and how it started, and how it really fell apart and turned into something toxic and abusive. I get to play with Mouse's mommy issues and how they affect other parts of his life, and I'm really excited to explore that when I have time again!
This fic did start with me saying "for Mouse to initiate touch and/or allow physical comfort, I would have to completely shatter him." Hence the name of the document/in my WIP list. I just want him to be broken down so completely that he will let people hug him and actually comfort him in ways that he wouldn't normally allow. I'm giving him a happy ending, I promise. He gets to live with Jay and Hailey and recover and heal from a whole year of some really shitty treatment, and then yes, eventually, Mouse/Jay/Hailey my beloved polycule.
As a little treat, I'll include a little snippet of what I have so far! 💜
Hailey walked ahead of him to open the door to the back seat, and he tried to move quickly while not being rough. The head that had come to rest against his shoulder made him want to run, to use every ounce of his energy to get them to the hospital faster, as if that would be any better than using the truck. At least the truck had warm air and blankets, and it was safer with the potential for ice with the weather the way it was. But he still wanted to hurry, especially when a hand weaseled past the edge of the blanket to weakly grip the edge of his jacket.
Bad sign.
Worst sign.
Catastrophic sign.
"I'm sorry. I have to put you down so I can drive. The truck is warm, I promise."
The hand only held onto his jacket that much tighter, still weak but no less than absolutely determined. It wasn't going to be easy, getting him to let go so that they could get somewhere safe, and gentleness was the only tactic that Jay knew how to employ. Forcing the fingers clinging to him to let go would only cause more problems that they could easily avoid dealing with. He had to be gentle, or they risked being fought back against, and while his first desire when they arrived was to cause the biggest scene possible, he was more aware of the situation.
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asm5129 · 2 years ago
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RWBY v9 e4 Thoughts and Analysis
Genuinely might be my favorite opening of the entire show. 
Also, genuinely, screw everyone who ever said Ruby didn’t have a character arc. 
RWBY is really, really good at keeping stories going in the background even as the main focus shifts around. So just...stop with that shit, okay? CRWBY are very particular with what they choose to do and when. Not everything's perfect, but if you get hung up on things you didn’t like from the past, you’ll never be able to fully appreciate what’s happening now. It’s always gonna bother you in the back of your mind. Ruby wasn’t always the most important person in the show. Let it go so you can talk about what led us here, to this exceptional story. We good? Good. 
“You do not go to the tree, the tree goes to you! Unless of course you’re me, you see?”
Yeah, so the Curious Cat (referred to as CC from here on out) is definitely in some position of authority in the Ever After, but they do not control it or anything like that. I suppose we shall find out their role soon enough. 
Regardless, it seems that the Tree decides when you’re ready to leave, not you. CC can bypass that it seems, but i doubt that will work for our heroes.
If the residents of the Ever After exist to facilitate a story, then the Tree will let them out when the story is done. 
Maybe the Ever After only rained when Ruby was sad (rather than, for instance, Weiss) because it’s deemed her the protagonist of the story that must reach it’s conclusion before RWBY and co are allowed to leave? Just a thought.
“it’s a matter of perspective” that’s an intriguing line
Also, Little does not have a history with CC like I thought they and the other mice might. However, that’s not to say CC liking to eat mice has no impact on whether the mice know what a cat is, especially since last week Little wasn’t even completely convinced they were a mouse.
It’s been said before, but CC really is a standout character. The design, the performance, the power set,  even the dialogue make literally everything about them engaging. As does, of course, the characterization, cuz this Cat is just as impossible as any cat irl. Now i actually like cats, but I’ll be the last one to say they don’t tend towards being completely absurd and impossible in their behavior
CC just takes that to the next level. Honestly though CC is basically just ADHD: the animal
Craving a steady stream of interesting conversations to keep them focused
too real 😅
“Got ‘im! Totally roasted”
From the tone of Yang’s voice, i genuinely think she was just throwing poor Weiss a bone here  😄
Missed a chance to have CC making a cat video tbh, but “Luminous Rectangle” and “why is it printing tiny flat versions of me” is still amazing
CC just briefly giving voice to some of the common complaints about RWBY is kinda nice
its CRWBY saying “We’re listening. We hear you. We are working to address your concerns, but only to the point that it won’t compromise our story.”
Also roasting the gods is fun. Does seem like it’s clear that the Gods have nothing to do with the Ever After then, though, if CC both didn’t know and is super comfortable calling them out this way
More information about Alyx, from a new source. Love how everyone who speaks about her has a different take, it makes her really interesting. 
Also rare smiling v9 Ruby Rose sighting
I love that CC is still a cat, with all the usual catlike behaviors. Would've been easy to anthropomorphize them more, I’m happy that didn’t happen.
“Each acre is made specifically for it’s inhabitants and their roles”
Intriguing. So...does CC not have an acre to call home? If not, why not? What makes them unique among this world’s rules?
a grogurt parfait, huh? Sounds gross. 
“Well I’m sure we’ll cause a lot less trouble once we’re back to normal” oh Weiss, honey, I wouldn’t count on that  😂
Ugh CC Blake’s right, they've got enough problems without you reminding them of what’s happening in remnant
“Oh no, i wasn’t paying attention” Ruby you are one of 5 people and your entire bag of trauma just got poked, it’s not your fault. You gotta work on that self-blaming instinct, he says knowing full well how hard that is from personal experience (seriously, i see so much of myself in Ruby)
The Lonely carpenter and the rusted Knight
one sweet, one handsome
Guessing we’ll meet them soon enough
Also that confirms the Knight in the trailer and intro isn’t Jaune. the Knight was in the original book.
So yeah was wrong about the Chekov's butterfly
Couple interesting lines here
First
”I’m the herbalist. Until I’m not, anyway” 
Our first hint that roles are not set in stone.
and second
“Everyone needs help these days. Everyone.” Who else is Herb referring to?
“Huntresses are heroes. We protect those who can’t protect themselves” Blake is really following in Ruby’s stead, this is literally the line Ruby gives her all the way back in volume 1 when they talk about their love of books. Of course, she’s doing it after going through all the healing Ruby hasn’t done yet.  It is cool to see this dichotomy of Blake stepping up and embodying what she valued in Ruby while Ruby becomes more like she was in volume 1 and 2
Also, I like that Ruby’s answer to “What does a huntress do” is “fight monsters”. it shows that she’s still thinking about things wrong
“In order to help you become whatever it is you need to become, you really ought to have a better understanding of what you are now”. Great line. Cuts straight to the heart of the issue.
.”This is how a king winds up a prince”
So...the Red Prince used to be the Red King? And he became the Red Prince, perhaps because he didn’t understand who he was, and thus who he wanted to be wasn’t quite right? We’ll see. But clearly there’s a much more complicated transformation process that can happen here than we expected. Perhaps a far more literal one, as well.
“You don’t have to go forward you know. You could go back. Back to before.”
Before she lost her arm. It’s not about her arm though--it’s about everything. It’s about going back to what things were like before beacon fell. Going back to who she was like before beacon fell.
Yang is shocked--but she doesn't immediately reject the idea. Unlike Blake...
“You could just be human. Or just a cat. It’s up to you.”
“Why would i do that?”
“I told you. It’s simple. Much simpler than trying to be a bridge between human and faunus. Why struggle with that responsibility?”
So it’s clear now. The reason Blake wasn’t front and center on injustice during the Atlas arc. 
This is what she was struggling with. Well this, and taking the life of an actual living, breathing person
Doesn’t matter that it was Adam, he was still a person.
So for a couple volumes she just...stopped trying to be that bridge. Focused on proving to her loved ones that she had grown, and that she wouldn’t run away again. Showing them--and especially Yang--that she loved them.
“You could be a nobody. Isn’t that what you want? to be free?”
God i’m so proud of these girls. This is such a beautiful scene. It’s so well directed, so well written, and there’s so much we can all learn from it, purely on an emotional growth level..
And then we come to Ruby. And unlike her friends, she doesn’t have it in her to reject the part of herself that appears here. Instead, she gets this brutal face-to-face with all of her worst insecurities, worst impulses, all her imposter syndromes and her habit of putting everything on her own shoulders. honestly this section deserves a deep dive all its own.
“You don’t even have to be Ruby Rose. So. Who are you gonna be?” 
Ruby is gonna go through a major transformation this volume. I can only hope it’s the one she needs.
I’m really curious why exactly CC was so angry about what Herb was doing. What exactly did he do wrong? Hopefully we will find out tomorrow. 
the “That’s a bit much” lien from herb intrigues me though.  Was he affected by the pain the girls--and Ruby in particular--were being forced to confront?
“Take a little bit of my heart”
Really curious about CC’s powers
and little being adorable again. Can’t wait for tomorrow!!
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