#if i really liked him so much I'd be shouting from the rooftops but I'm not so something is clearly wrong

[chaoskreeves]

God my anxiety has been through the roof recently

[dyns33]

Flufftober 2024 - 29 Eddie Brock / Venom

Y/N had met Vee during a Halloween party.

A little intimidated by the crowd and not knowing anyone, she had stayed in her corner for a good part of it, until this giant with his incredible costume came to talk to her.

It would be a lie to say that she had not found him adorably charming, and she would have liked them to be more than friends, if he had not spent most of the time talking to her about his Eddie.

It was obvious that there was something strong and unique between Vee and this Eddie, even if he did not seem to appreciate him at his true value.

"He never agrees with me… He wants to control everything !" he had sobbed against her shoulder. "He says that I won't even be good at cleaning toilets."

"That's not nice. Maybe this relationship is not very healthy."

"But I love Eddie. He takes care of me and even though he's a stupid loser, he tries a lot. Maybe… Maybe I'm too hard on him."

"It's normal to have expectations from your partner. You need to sit down and communicate, to see what's wrong and find solutions."

"You're right, little morsel ! You're a good friend !"

Obviously very busy, Vee kept in touch with her by calling her almost every night and sending her messages, but never having time to see her.

He used Eddie's phone, while he slept. Before meeting her, Vee had never seen the point of having one, and he contacted her secretly because he found it funny to have a secret all to himself.

"But I'll tell him at some point, because we share everything. We're in symbiosis, we're one."

"That's cute. Do you think he'll be angry ?"

"No. Scared maybe."

"Oh." she wondered. "Is he the jealous type ? He'll be afraid that I'll steal you from him ?"

"I'd rather be afraid that he'll steal you from me, I think he'll love you a lot. And that's why he'll be afraid for you. He'll think I want to eat your brain."

Sometimes she didn't understand everything he said, but she found him funny and considered that he simply had a particular sense of humor.

But after several months of talking to him, he finally ended up running into him while a guy was trying to take her purse in an alley.

Vee jumped from a rooftop, growled at the thief, grabbing him with one hand, before biting his head off. Then he turned to Y/N, smiling.

"Eddie, she's my friend."

"Y/N ?" a voice that seemed to come from inside him asked. "Great, Vee, she's not going to freak out at all because you just killed someone. I already told you to go get some chickens if you were hungry."

"You never let me do anything ! He was mean ! He was attacking my Y/N !"

"Let me talk to her, okay ? So I don't traumatize her more than necessary."

In the end, Venom was an alien, and Eddie his host, a man not as horrible as she had imagined, simply trying to keep his symbiote from doing too much mischief so that they wouldn't be spotted by the government.

They fought often but they couldn't live without each other. Literally for Venom, even if they also loved each other too much to want to be apart.

As he had expected, the human had panicked a bit when he learned that he had a friend, that she didn't really know what he was, and that they were therefore putting her in danger just by talking to her. But Eddie had understood that she was important. He had felt it.

When Vee said that they shared everything, he was dead serious.

"I showed him a picture of you. He got an erection."

"Vee !" Eddie shouted, trying to silence the head floating next to his shoulder. "Shut up ! Those are not things to say ! Excuse him."

"Why ? I like Y/N, and you like her too, and she likes us. Her pheromones don't lie."

"Vee ! You're making everyone uncomfortable, stop."

"See ? He never agrees, he controls everything."

Y/N saw clearly, now understanding many things that had seemed a bit strange to her. She could have run away, but despite this surprising discovery, she really liked Vee, and Eddie seemed as charming as he was.

So she suggested that they spend the next Halloween, all together this time.

[imagitory]

I've never been more heartbroken in my life.

I was gobsmacked in 2016, don't get me wrong. I was devastated and frightened and shaken beyond words. I even had to go behind a wall and collect myself at one point that horrible November 9th, 2016, after colliding with a man wearing a red MAGA hat at work. A good chunk of us at work talked amongst ourselves about it, offering each other comfort.

But this? This is different. I could imagine dumb people making excuses for voting for Trump in 2016 -- saying that they thought a businessman would be good for the economy, saying that they wanted someone who wasn't a "Washington insider" like Hilary Clinton. Sure, it was stupid, but people can be stupid. Quite frankly, a lot of people are stupid, in this country and otherwise.

But now? Anyone who voted for Trump now has voted for a man who not only rounded up immigrants and put them in concentration camps separated from their families; bungled the response to COVID-19 so badly that the American death toll easily surpassed every other country on Earth; has poisoned the Supreme Court to the extent that they overturned years of precedence with Roe V. Wade and has basically given Trump cart-blanche to do whatever he wants while he's president; was the first president in history to refuse to concede on election day; was impeached for crimes in office not once but TWICE; was instrumental to and passionately supportive of the full-on attempted coup at the U.S. capitol on January 6, 2021 that could've very easily resulted in the deaths of his own Vice President and multiple members of Congress; has spoken glowingly of despots like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un and even said he will be "a dictator on day one" if elected again; has both used slogans originally used by modern American Neo-Nazis ("America First") and purportedly told one of his ex-subordinates that he wanted generals like Adolf Hitler's...but also has by the day proven more and more just how mentally inept, vindictive, and mean-spirited he truly is.

And unlike in his previous races, Trump is ahead in the popular vote too. We can't just blame this on the electoral college being antiquated and gerrymandered AF like in the Trump-Clinton or Bush-Gore elections. Even if all of the third-party voters in this country had grown a bloody brain cell and voted for Harris so as to show solidarity against Trump and his form of American fascism, it still somehow wouldn't be enough. We could potentially blame this on lower voter turn-out -- according to what I'm seeing so far, even with all the votes not counted in this race yet, it looks like there were far less votes cast this election than in the last one, though likely still more than the 2016 race. But even so, I don't think that's the only problem. I truly think there were just a lot of people who turned out en-masse to vote for Trump. And all I can think in regards to those people is...

This is beyond stupidity or even selfishness. This is cruelty. This is large swaths of people deciding that they want fellow American citizens to suffer -- because in their minds, if those people suffer, that'll somehow make them happy. This is a large chunk of America saying, "yeah, you know all that crap about 'liberty and justice for all'? Screw that, I want a 'strong man' to bully people different from me for my own amusement." And -- perhaps -- there's also an element of feeling like their vote doesn't really have any consequences for them, so why should they care if the man they voted for is a god-awful person? It's not like that man will hurt them.

I had hoped. I had hoped, seeing the outpouring of support from liberals, independents, and conservatives for Harris/Walz. I'd hoped, seeing how many ex-Trump appointees were standing up against him, how much people were shouting their disdain for Project 2025 from the rooftops, and how many women were protesting in the face of Roe V. Wade being overturned. I truly had started to hope that America would prove we'd grown beyond our country's own original sin -- how our United States preached freedom for all while still being built on the backs of slaves and refusing to grant a vote to over half their population -- by electing a smart, successful, charismatic woman of color who sees our country as great in potential and wants us to pursue that potential as our first female president, rather than backtracking all the slow progress we've made over the last 200+ years.

But now...my hope has faded. My heart is in pieces and the world is so dark. I hardly know how I'll function at work tomorrow, even if I know somehow, I have to try. We'll all have to stand somehow. Somehow, someway...we'll have to find the strength. We'll have to stand, and we'll have to keep moving forward, even when it feels like we're a Little Mermaid walking on knives.

We'll have to stand.

[genshin-obsessed]

Confessions | Honkai Star Rail

So i've been super into hsr recently and I thought I'd get back to doing longer hcs because those are always fun! This time I left out Welt and Sampo and I'm not sure how I feel about it lol ✧ Includes: Dan Heng, Gepard, Jing Yuan, Luocha, Blade ✧ Extra: Something a little weird has happened to my Blade lol, he's just a confused man who really likes the reader. It may be ooc- i have no clue

Dan Heng

For Dan Heng, he doesn’t know how long he’s liked you. He just realized it one day when you said something- a compliment towards him- and he just couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Dan Heng’s not the most outward person, so wanting to confess wasn’t something easy for him. He actually needed to prepare, give himself a pep talk and all. His method is invite you to his room and then just tell you- no beating around the bush.

You’re shocked to say the least- I mean it’s DAN HENG. He liked you?! HE CONFESSED?! You sat there for a good minute just staring at him. He looked calm but kinda started panicking on the inside.

“I-I like you too!” You say before he can speak. You were so loud, he jumped a little. Safe to say, he’s extremely happy you accepted because then it would’ve been awkward afterwards.

“Oh good… good.”

Gepard Landau

Everyone knows Gepard likes you before himself. He can say it’s just been a few months but others know it’s been like a year. It’s just the way he acts and stuff.

Gepard has a VERY hard time confessing. He’ll keep trying to do it, but then backs out at the last minute. He’ll keep saying he wants to talk to you about something important then just doesn’t tell you. Finally, one day… it slips out. You two are alone and he barely realizes it until he sees your face.

You’re happy but also shocked. The guy you’ve liked for like ever finally likes you back! Do you go through the statue phase of freezing up and staring? Yes. Did he start panicking because of it? Yes. Your reaction right after was to throw yourself at him and give him a tight hug.

He doesn’t say anything right then and just hugs you back. You not running away, horrified, probably meant you felt the same. That made him happy- so happy he didn’t even know what to do.

“Thank you… for not running away- oh and liking me back.”

Jing Yuan

His feelings had been around for a few months now, he knew pretty much instantly when he was attracted to you. It didn’t take him long to figure out he was in love with you either. It was obvious, his heart pounded when you were around, he couldn’t stop thinking about you, and he was always worried you’d find someone else.

Jing Yuan confesses fancy style. He’ll invite you out to like dinner or something or maybe just to take a late night walk with him. As you’re walking, he’ll coyly bring up the topic of dating and whatnot. You two chat for a bit, then he just admits it. He makes sure to add the “it’s alright if you don’t feel the same way, I won’t be upset.”

Of course, you do feel the same way! Your eyes widen and you gasp as the reality sets in. The General of the Cloud Knights liked YOU! It took a moment to just process his words, and Jing Yuan stood there patiently, giving you time to think. If you were going to say no, that’s fine, he just needed a clear answer. You found it hard to speak but forced the words out, “I-I feel the same.”

Jing Yuan’s over the moon with this newfound knowledge. He’s so happy, he could shout it out from over the rooftops. Honestly! All he can do is give you a tight hug, not wanting to do anything else if you weren’t ready for it- say a kiss.

“I’m glad. We should go on a date then- a proper one.”

Luocha

Luocha is very good at keeping his feelings to himself. At first, he thought it was just a little crush and it would pass. But it didn’t. It just… kept developing. He tried to manage it, feeling that maybe a relationship right now wasn’t the best option for him. But when his heart would start pounding every time you smiled at him, or his mind went back to you and what you might’ve been doing when you two were apart told me he… maybe didn’t wanna wait.

Luocha’s confession wasn’t exactly grand. I mean, what was there to be super grand about? Especially if you were going to reject him. So he just took you out on a little walk and slyly brought up the topic of relationships. Once you mentioned you didn’t mind being in one, he just said, “will you be in one with me?”

You kinda froze. Deer in headlights situation. You needed a moment to process what he’d just said. He… wanted to date you? WELL GOOD! YOU WANTED TO DATE HIM! You happily nodded, a big giant smile spreading on your face.

There was this emotion he felt when you said you liked him too. Pure, unadulterated happiness. He felt so good about himself, about life, about everything. That emotion spoke volumes and all he could do was hug you. Tightly. 

"I'm glad... because I was really, really nervous you'd say no."

Blade

Ok… hear me out. Blade knows he likes you… when he doesn’t hate you. When you ask him for a favor and he says yes. When you hug him and he doesn’t strangle you- honestly, it wasn’t hard for him to know. Kafka teases him and he just ignores her.

Blade… doesn’t know how to confess. He’s not crazy about relationships or… people. So his entire confession was just confusing. You followed absolutely nothing except: “I like you.” You thought he was just admitting he didn’t hate you. That was good news! But you didn’t realize how good it was. “That’s great! I like you too!” You replied to which he crossed his arms, nodded, and said… “we’re dating now.”

Mhm. Yeah. That’s how smooth he is :’) you- you poor soul- didn’t know what he meant at first. So you were beyond shocked when he said what he did. Blade- BLADE- liked you- Y O U- romantically? You liked him too but you never ever expected this. Not in a million years.

You could only manage a dazed nod for a few seconds before a giant smile spread on your face and you practically threw yourself at him. Blade’s usual reaction would be to shove the person away but this was his special person. So… he hugged back.

“That was… rude, I think? Will you go on a date with me?”

[dailydragon08]

I'd love to read about the Falcon gang realizing Luke has a crush on you, and I'm clumsily trying to hide it from them

I love this prompt so much, thank you for the ask! Sorry this one got away from me a little bit, I just really love writing about Luke with a crush/pining Luke.

My masterlist is linked in the pinned post on my page! Don’t forget, if you like the fic, reblogs are greatly appreciated!

Let’s start with Luke and what he’s doing. I don’t know if I would say he’s really going out of his way to try and “hide” his crush from you specifically, per se, but he’s also not shouting it from the rooftops. I could see all eras of Luke not really minding if you figure it out, just so you could maybe talk about it and see if being together is something you’d be interested in. But all eras of him tread a bit carefully at first (in my mind, ESB Luke is the most bold while ROTJ Luke is the most careful), just doing little things or sometimes purposefully giving little hints here and there to kind of test the waters and see how you react, if you like what he’s doing, if you’re starting to get more comfortable around him, etc. But oh boy, does he really want to hide it from the Falcon Gang – at least until he figures out how you feel and what path you’re taking forward. For one, he doesn’t want to annoy or burden them by constantly talking/asking about you, and for another, he wants to take things at his own pace and doesn’t want any of them to try and interfere to speed things up lest you get spooked and run the other direction. The older he is, the more he also worries about how being with him could put a target on your back and wants to make sure you can protect yourself and/or he’s able to protect you.

How clumsily he hides his crush on you would really depend on the era that he’s in. ANH Luke is the most likely to trip over himself, get caught most often staring at you with the biggest puppy eyes, and is always the first to rush forward and help you with something with an excited “I’ve got it!” He’s also most likely to let a compliment slip out that he thought was only in his head, then look a bit like a deer in the headlights when he realizes that was out loud. Once the rest of the gang figures it out, this era of Luke will talk the most openly (not completely spilling every thought in his brain, but just the most willing to talk at all about it) and ask the most questions about whether or not you’ve said anything to them or given them any clues as to your feelings.

ESB Luke is, like I’ve said in previous posts, a bit better about hiding his feelings, but it’s very obvious to those who know him. He still gets caught staring at you often and isn’t the best at looking away before you make eye contact with him. Now that he’s got more combat and Force-related skills under his belt, he’s a bit more protective of you (he always was, but now even more so because of his newfound confidence and rank) and is the most prone to jealousy out of his three eras. I could see both ANH and ESB versions of him going out of their way to try and impress you (and sometimes comically failing) if it seems like someone else is trying to catch your attention. Once he’s found out, he’s a bit more close-lipped, but will admit to liking you and being unsure how you feel about him. He’ll talk for a few minutes at a time about all the things he likes about you before saying he’d just like to take it slow and see where this whole thing naturally goes, but then that’s the end of the conversation.

ROTJ/post-ROTJ Luke is a bit more settled in who he is as a person, what’s happened to him, and who his father is, but he’s still going through a lot. How he handles his crush will really depend on exactly where in ROTJ he is. Between saving Han, finishing his training with Yoda and staying by his deathbed, finding out Leia is his sister, and knowing there’s a strong possibility that he’ll die facing Vader and the emperor, he’s got a ton on his shoulders. For this reason, I could see him becoming more distant because – despite still having strong feelings for you – he’s afraid to get involved and then leave you heartbroken if something happens to him. That, along with Obi-Wan’s ghost telling him to “bury his feelings deep down” and honor the original order’s no attachment rule, he’s also a bit confused on what his future will even look like and if having a crush will even be an avenue open to him. It’s my personal headcanon that post-ROTJ, as he learns more about who he is, the kind of jedi he wants to be, the kind of order he wants to cultivate, and the importance of connection and how it’s different than possession, he decides to do away with the no attachment rule and make teaching about connection (healthy) vs. possession (unhealthy) part of the jedi training. He did save his father because of their attachment, after all. So this era of Luke is the most likely to let himself really experience a crush and falling in love for the first time, in my opinion. He takes things slow and still gives you little hints here and there vs. big, grand gestures – but he also is doing things with the intent of letting you know how he feels while patiently waiting for you to either return the gestures/initiate a talk about your feelings whenever you’re ready, or is watching for signs that you’re not into what he’s doing. He’ll be sad, of course, but he’ll respect your wishes.

Whew, okay, I didn’t realize I had so much to say, sorry. Moving on…

Leia is the first to realize what’s going on. Even if she hasn’t realized she’s Luke’s twin or Force-sensitive yet, she’s always been very in tune with him. If she knows you well, she’s shipping the two of you much earlier in the process and practically banging her head into a wall when Luke says he’s unsure if you return his feelings when to her, it couldn’t be more obvious. In this case, she wants so badly for him to just be direct about his feelings so you can make use of every second you have in your crazy lives, but she lets him make his own decisions. If she doesn’t know you that well, she’s keeping her eye on you to determine whether your interest in him is genuine and not just because of his fame, power, and accomplishments. As she gets to know you better, she comes around. In both situations, she’s doing whatever she can to play subtle wingwoman – especially with her rank within the rebellion, she’s making sure you two are on missions together as much as possible, your rooms are close to each other, you both always happen to have the same days off every time, she’s slipping little comments in to him about what your favorite things are, your hobbies, likes/dislikes, etc. If he really does want to take his time, Leia makes sure he’s armed with all the knowledge to best make use of it. Even though she’s chomping at the bit for you two to get together, she does still try to be (or at least, start out) gentle when she gives Luke advice or asks if he’d like to talk about you or his feelings, and is always combating Han’s horrible dating advice with reminders that he just do whatever comes naturally to him with what he knows about you – because at the end of the day, if you can’t like him for who he naturally is, then there’s no point to any of this.

Han’s reaction depends a bit on Luke’s age. The younger he is, the more obnoxious and frequent Han’s teasing is. Especially if it’s before he and Leia get together, he’ll make comments to Luke about whether he thinks you’d make a good SO for him, or he’ll flirt with you when it’s just the three of you just to ruffle Luke’s feathers. As they both get older and become closer though, the teasing will die down a bit to comments about how Han notices Luke’s doe eyed-stare, suggests you won’t be single forever, and of course, gives the worst dating advice that have Leia and Lando face-palming so hard in the background. Especially once Luke becomes a jedi knight, really the most he’ll get is a gentle elbow in the ribs with some wiggled eyebrows, maybe followed by some prompting to go talk to you when you’re standing/sitting alone. At the end of the day, he really does just want his friend to be happy. Like Leia, if he doesn’t know you well, he’s watching you extra closely for a bit and maybe even trying to get to know you better himself so he can determine whether you’re a good match. Despite his devil may care attitude, Han is very attentive to his friends and is aware of all the pain Luke’s been through – that being said, he doesn’t want to watch him go through potential heartbreak after all that either. Again though, like Leia, he eventually comes around and counts you as one of the Falcon gang – although he’s a bit more oblivious to when you two are having a moment and the others sometimes have to comedically yoink him out of a room before he interrupts and ruins it.

Although Lando also wants the best for Luke, he doesn’t know him or his background that well, so isn’t as protective. However, if you’re a newcomer, Lando is the most immediately welcoming of the group and can tell you’ll be a great addition – whether you and Luke get together or not. Lando is very astute when it comes to listening and watching and waiting for the right moment – so of course, he picks up on the subtle yearning glances, the slight blushes, compliments, any sort of physical affection Luke is willing to throw your way, how much more gentle he suddenly becomes with you (he was already gentle before, but he’s somehow even softer when you’re around), the way his face lights up when you walk into a room, etc. He clocks it immediately and at first, just lets it be since he doesn’t want to pry. Eventually though, when he and Luke get a moment alone, Lando makes a comment about how great you are to gage the jedi’s reaction and how willing he is to talk about it. He strikes me as a great listener and is very validating to all Luke’s feelings and concerns, but gently reminds him that someone like you won’t be single forever and does he really want to live with that regret of watching you get with someone else when he was never brave enough to really make a move? After this conversation, he immediately goes to Leia ready to make the Ultimate Wingman Gameplan and is ready with his full resources, funds, and even wardrobe to make whatever needs to happen a success. He and Leia may or may not orchestrate some “oops, we’re stuck in x situation together” happenings, or invite you two to things like fancy Rebellion/New Republic gatherings where they split up and help the two of you get ready in ways that wow the other, etc.

Once Chewie (platonic) realizes you’re not a threat to one of his closest friends, the two of you become his OTP. He has a sneaking suspicion, but is usually busy with Han and/or fixing yet another part of the Falcon that broke, so isn’t around as much to collect evidence and the others have to fill him in. Not many people can understand his language, so there’s not really a risk of him spilling the beans. But he’s 100% doing little things here and there to meddle, like pulling you both into a giant group hug and squishing you together, pitching the Falcon while he pilots so you fall backwards into Luke’s lap, bumping into one of you so you’re now standing or sitting close together, physically pushing Luke towards you with a grumble in Shyriiwook, etc.

R2 has to be the one to explain what’s going on to C-3PO (platonic). At first, the protocol droid goes, “wait, what do you mean?” But once he figures it out, everyone has to reach to cover his mouth as he starts to cry in the middle of the busy hangar, “oh my goodness! That’s wonderful to hear that Master Luke fancies mph-hmmphh-umph-mmmm!” To be honest, no one really wanted to tell him in the first place because he’s so bad at keeping his mouth shut, but 3PO overheard some comment someone else was making and just wouldn’t stop asking questions. Cue everyone constantly covering 3PO’s mouth until you and Luke get together, as he almost makes comments and spills the secret many times – and sometimes, they just shut him off mid-sentence. He’s not allowed to be alone with you again until after the two of you get together, but when it’s just him and R2, he’s constantly raving about how he’d love for his master to be happy and how he’s using this to study what two humans who are interested in each other romantically do. Of course, he’s been programmed to know about it, but seeing it in real time is fascinating to him and is where the majority of his comments that almost get him in trouble come from.

R2-D2 (platonic), like Chewie, can’t really rat Luke out verbally – but also follows the Wookiee’s example and meddles to get you two closer faster. He even stole Chewie’s methods of bumping into one of you from behind to get you stumbling into each other’s arms and pitching the ship so Luke has to catch you before you fall. When he’s really feeling like a little shit, he’s been known to lock the two of you in tight spaces together for an extended period of time. When one of you gets injured or needs help, he always immediately rushes to find the other, even if there are other people close by who could help – and sometimes even blows things a little out of proportion just to get you two alone together. Like he’ll rush to tell Luke you’re trying to get something up from a high shelf and are about to fall and Luke runs in to find your footstool the tiniest bit wobbly, but otherwise stable while you’re not even that far off the ground.

~~

Taglist: @kaleidoscope1967eyes @masterlukessaber @coffeeorsomething-irl @eveningserenityyy @victorian-nymph @lxstfathier @rogue-kenobi @lavandula-ipsum @sonofthedunes @pomplalamoose @lex-the-flex @ilovemarkhamill

[leonenjoyer69]

I present, from my new Lanyon drinks the potion AU (working on the name), Robert Lanyon and his HJ7 Alter ego!

Taking pictures of colored pencil drawings is the bane of my existence, bc lighting is so annoying.

Anyways!!! I've settled on the first name Elias, bc I feel like Henry would help name him and Elias is a letter off from Alias (which means a fake/pen name), so I thought that'd be funny :3 still working on the last name tho.

Yes, that is Hyde's vest that Elias is wearing. Henry gave it to him on his first night alive after clearing everything up with him and Robert about what just happened to him. Since he's near Hyde's size, Jekyll decided that he needed some clothes, at least temporarily, but Elias refuses to give it back now, despite having his own clothes. Why? Because Henry gave it to him, and he loves Henry so much. it's also Hyde's vest, who's part of Henry, so by proxy he's gotta love him too, right? How could he hate any part of Henry?

Unlike Hyde, Elias isn't some self-proclaimed evil incarnate. He's very easy to read emotionally and is very honest to everyone around him. He's very open about his feelings, which are generally very quick to change, especially towards those he cares most about (*cough* JekyllandHyde *cough*-) and he strives for praise. He likes accomplishing things and has more of a liking for "sciency stuff", he also recalls most of the doctor things that Lanyon learned from university and isn't deterred by gross things and blood. He shares hyde's wanderlust and will run around town with him, though Elias prefers parks and nature over the slums of London, and he also enjoys the rooftops.

Timeline wise, Lanyon accidentally drinks the potion after all the blackfog and queen Lucy stuff, when they "kidnap" Hyde. Specifically, it happens right before Jekyll dumps all the HJ7 down the drain- like, right before. Lanyon kinda interrupts him doing that. Henry reenters the room in the middle of Lanyon's transformation, so he's there when Elias kinda "wakes up".

Anyways, please please PLEASE ask me questions about him, I'd love to answer them :3 also, I'm currently working on a fic for this!! The first chapter is almost done I think, I just need time to actually sit down and write.

Also jejvkekkvke character design is SO HARD, shout out to people who do it all the time. Also apologies if the skin looks off in any way, I've never really used colored pencils to color any characters, much less any colored characters, so I kinda had to figure it out as I went lmao.

[sstormyskyess]

Night Terrors

author's note: this is shorter than i'd like but i'm still happy about how it turned out 👍 enjoy!

cw: hurt/comfort, nightmares, canon-typical violence

word count: 1500+

John “Soap” MacTavish / GN!Reader "Brass"

The sky was pitch black while you and Soap waded through the wet mud of the marshy surroundings. “How much longer until we get there?” You groan. Your feet were pruned in your boots, the wetness seeping in through the fabric parts. The target building still wasn’t in sight yet.

“Ten minutes. Less if you stop whining and get your arse in gear.” Ghost’s voice crackles through your receiver and you huff, rolling your eyes. Soap chuckles and glances back at you, shrugging his shoulders. “L.T.’s got a point, Brass. You’d be fair puckled too, though, Ghost. We’re a’ Jock Tamson’s bairns.” You groan. “I don’t know what that means, Soap. Neither of us do.” Ghost hums in agreement.

“You’re just uncultured! You should read up on it in your spare time.” Soap shakes his head. “Just keep walking, MacTavish.” Ghost says, deadpanned. You could almost see the look on his face in your head, making you chuckle. “Aye, L.T.—let’s go Brass!” Soap declares, marching on his merry way.

Getting to the target’s location felt like a breeze from there. Almost too easy. Soap shook that strange feeling off, though; he had a job to do. He stared up at the towering building in front of you both. It was around 40 floors if he had to estimate. He turns to you and nods. “You ready to go?” He approached the busted automatic glass doors and pried them open with your help.

It was surprisingly easy to clear each floor. No major threats, only a few lone shooters and a turret or two. Ghost had gone quiet on the other end of the line, though; that was really the only thing he was concerned about. You were also silent beside him. It was rare for him to get anxiety on a standard mission, but for some reason, his heart was racing.

You make it to the top floor—still silent—and still haven't managed to identify the target. But they had to be here, so if the intel was solid, they were on the roof. Soap stands below the ladder up to the roof, the full moon shining down and covering them in a muddled white light. He looks over at you and motions for you to take first position.

He follows as you climb your way up and scans for threats. You take his hand to help him up and immediately start to walk further onto the rooftop. You didn’t make it very far before a gunshot pierced your ears and he was flat on his back, a bullet through his shoulder. “Fuck—!” Your head shoots up to see the assailant and growl. “You son of a bitch!” You hiss, rushing towards them: the target you were on the hunt for.

“Brass, wait!” Soap shouts, scrambling to his feet and following you. He readies his weapon, but you were already grappling with them. Their gun had been tossed to the floor and you were on top of them, a hand at their throat. Everything happened so fast, and he’s stuck, frozen as he watches the both of you fight. It was like he couldn’t get his feet to move or his finger to the trigger, no matter how hard he tried.

All of a sudden, you lost the upper hand and you’re in a chokehold, struggling against their grasp. You grunt and your feet kick out, trying to knock your attacker off balance and ultimately failing. You were getting hauled to the side of the roof before Soap knew it.

The target was saying something, but the blood in his ears was rushing, and he couldn’t hear a word of it. All he could see was your limbs start to stop their squirming and your eyes drooping. Your hands loosen around their arm and eventually fall to your sides.

Somehow, even through his blinding panic, he heard your voice force out a choked whimper of his name, “Soap, h-help…” But he still couldn’t move. He tried to force himself into action and he was still glued to the floor, staring. He watches you get thrown to the ground, halfway to passed out, and the target puts their foot on your side, shoving it into your ribs.

You claw at the floor, trying to drag your way over to Soap, but it was too late. You were getting rolled off, and then you disappeared behind the lip of the edge, out of sight. “Fuckin’ hell—Brass!” Soap couldn’t do anything but watch as you fell over the edge of the skyscraper’s roof railings. A forty level drop.

The sickening crunch of your bones on the forest floor below is clear as day, the sound sending a rolling wave of nausea through his body. He shivers, eyes wide, and the blinding moonlight takes over his vision.

You groan quietly when you feel the bed shifting to your right. You turn over, fully ready to tell him to settle down because you were trying to sleep, but you frowned when you saw Soap in the state he was in. A deep sigh passed your lips while you watched Soap toss and turn. There was a sheen of sweat coating his skin and it sounded like he was muttering something to himself in his sleep. Nightmare.

No one in this line of work could honestly say they’d never had a nightmare about the experiences they’ve faced, and if they did, you wouldn’t believe them for a second. This job put people through the most hellish situations and scenarios that the human mind could possibly conjure; it was only natural for one’s mind to continue processing those events even into the late hours of the night.

You lift yourself up and over Soap’s chest, plopping yourself down on top of him and wrapping your arms around his shoulders. You sigh again, listening to the rapid heartbeats under your ear. You knew it was a little dangerous to try and shake him awake, so you settle for this. Maybe being a human compression blanket would help just a bit.

When your weight had no effect, you resign yourself to the fact that you’d have to wake Soap up to stop the painful dream plaguing his mind. You don’t move from your spot on his chest, but you start to jostle him a bit. “Soap, wake up, bud.” You make sure your voice isn’t loud enough to be startling but just enough to breach the barrier between Soap’s unconsciousness and the world of the living. “It’s okay, John. Wake up for me.”

It takes a few tries, but eventually Soap’s eyes snap open and his body instinctively tries to jolt up before being stopped in place by you lying on top of him. “Whuh... huh? What…?” His breathing is heavy when he starts to fully wake up. He lifts himself up on his elbow and stares down at you. Soap feels his eyes start to water when your eyes meet and he quickly wraps his arms around you, holding your head tightly to his chest. 

You hum softly and bring your hand up to pet the back of his head. Your heart breaks a bit when you feel Soap trying to hold back sobs. "I'm right here. You're safe." You mumble into his shirt, running your blunted nails along his scalp and through his mussed up hair. You let him have a moment to get control of his breathing before you pulled away and tried to sit up.

"Just let me hold you for a minute,” Soap pulls you back down to his chest and holds you tight against his body. “Please.” His words devolve into a whimper at the end. You nod against his chest, feeling Soap’s thick fingers stroking the back of your head, trying to calm himself down. You were determined to keep yourself awake until Soap was able to get back to sleep as well, keeping your eyes open even though you body was pulling him back to unconsciousness. Soap caressing you definitely wasn’t helping. But, it felt nice to hold and be held by someone.

Being on duo missions with Soap frequently ended up like this: holding each other at night just to finally get to sleep. There were many times that you would try and play it off with some random excuse. Something like ‘It’s cold out here, and you’re the warmest thing I’ve got around,’ or ‘There’s not enough room in here to sleep on the floor, just get in here,’ had been twisted and morphed to fit whatever situation you found yourselves in. As time went on, though, it was near impossible to try stopping yourself from just admitting you were just touch starved and needed someone to help you out with that.

You stay like that for a while until Soap’s breathing finally evens out enough for him to speak without his voice breaking. "I'm sorry I woke you up.” His words are muffled by the top of your head, where his face is buried. He brings one of his arms up to wipe his eyes before settling it back by his side, letting his other arm handle holding you. You hid your smile in his chest and let out a deep breath. “Don’t worry about it, Suds.”

𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

[sakumz]

𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒

𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒

₊˚ʚ ᗢ₊˚✧ ﾟ. [ s. rei x gn reader ]

warning❗: slight ooc

genre 𑁍 : fluff

wc ⚘ :ㅤㅤ𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒𓂃𓈒

" didn't think I'd see your face after eccentric five got disbanded. " the ravenette spat as he looks at you from the door of 3-A.

you, who just got up from your nap, raised your head to stare at the doorway. well after going to another country, you didn't expect yourself to actually come back to Japan and back to yumenosaki. giving him a small smile you can't help but motion him to come closer. he took the gesture and came close, seating across you.

" I'm back thanks to a certain blonde ya know... "

" why? did he pay you to come over? "

as much as you'd like that to happen, you gave rei a face he knows all to well. the face of dread that says it's not true and you won't answer any more of his questions. rei let out a sigh, before grabbing your hands and leading you to the place, you're really familiar with.

the rooftop. the place where you both first met. the place where he introduced the other eccentric five to you. the place where it calms you down after a storm in your head, you could always see people in yumenosaki doing outdoor activities and if you squint hard you can see kanata puka-puka-ing in the fountain. the place where you both confessed your undying feelings for each other, that eventually died. the place where you both argued and the place where you said your final goodbye, or so you thought.

with a suspicious look you direct to rei, he gives you a closed eyed smile. waiting for your questions as the wind slowly blow by you two. he looks beautiful with the wind blowing his hair and the sunset dawning down on him.

" why here? " you start as rei peeks over the railings, looking down at whatever his ruby eyes could see.

" doesn't it bring back many memories? good or bad, this place belonged to you. "

you couldn't help but give him a curious tilt, what's the point? what's the reason for taking you here? honestly, coming back to yumenosaki because of eichi and out of curiosity you didn't plan on crossing path with the vampire. eichi gave you a friendly call on how you should come back and produce for fine just like how you were eccentric five's unnamed producer. no one knew they had a producer but long and behold they actually did, you were allowed into yumenosaki as you were eichi's childhood friend. always visiting and making sure he does have a spot of colour in his childhood memories.

" silent now are we? please don't feel weirden out or anything... can we start back to square one? when we first met, to when we confessed and change everything in between. "

looking at rei's face, one with slight hope and determination you can't help but give in slightly.

" im fine's producer now, you know. "

" fine or eccentric five's producer, you'll always be y/n in my eyes. so what do you say, we go back to being lovers? it's fine if you don't have any lingering feelings for me, at least reject this poor man's heart so I won't have to look forward to winning you back. "

giving you one forced smile, he turns his back and walks away. you wanted to scream at him to stay or to at least not leave you alone with your thoughts everywhere. shouting out his name in hopes he'll stop walking, rei turns to look at you.

" it's not like i hate you or anything but! you could've at least try to win my heart and not throw it away. you know how much I love you. "

" so we're lovers again? "

" whatever you want old man. "

walking past him, he grabs your wrist and then links his pinky with yours. happily trailing behind you like a lost puppy. of course you didn't mind or anything, all you wanted was to grab your bag and go home with rei walking with you, hearing all the stories of yumenosaki from the living legend himself.

[thepaintedlady00]

Nepenthe

Character Intro | Chapter 2

Chapter One: The Hanged Man

TW: blood, gore, some very intrusive and vividly dark thoughts about murder killing and so on, this ones gonna be a dark fic so if that's not something you're into steer clear y'all! But, all in all, first chapters pretty tame for the Dark Urge character. I'm going with a Durge that slightly differs from game Durge as she always has a hesitancy to killing and actively "fights" her dark urges from the start which isn't how I feel the in-game character was potrayed, but it's how I wanna do this series so 🤷‍♀️, I also really wanna let everyone know I'll be taking some creative liberties with the story and I'll be making the villains a bit more "redeemable" (mostly Gortash) they'll all still be the villains and they'll still do the evil shit but with Gortash in particular I wanna add some hints of regret and remorse for his wrong doings so I can give the asshole a happy ending! Because I am a whore for redemption arcs and happy endings! 😅😂

nepenthe • \nuh-PENTH-ee\ • noun. 1: a potion used by the ancients to induce forgetfulness of pain or sorrow; 2: something capable of causing oblivion of grief or suffering.

I had been called many names. Thief. Urchin. Whore. Murderer. Assassin. Monster. Demon. They all held some modicum of truth; after all, how else was one such as myself supposed to live? I bore no family name and held no lands or titles. All I had was a dagger and the blood on my hands. All I had to guide my path… To help me understand who… What I was was but an ember. A word whispered on hushed, fearful tongues.

Bhaalspawn.

It was a myth. Some horror story told by parents to keep their children in line. I knew there could be no truth in it… knew there could be no chance of it being a reality. I'd hunted down every piece of evidence I could over the years, and all of it told the same story. The spawn of Bhaal were long dead - all of them.

I could not be this. And yet the word echoed in me, rattling against my skull almost as loudly as the call for blood. And so, I continued hunting this rumor to the ends of Faerun. Hunting and hoping and killing and running. It was a hideous, pathetic life, but it was all I had. All I'd ever have if I stopped searching now.

Most would find the prospect of being some murderous creature horrifying. Most would have stopped searching when it became possible, but they didn't have this hunger. They didn't feel their skull burning, their whole being screaming for blood. They weren't like me.

From my rooftop perch above the city, I watched the people live their boring little lives. The marketplace was full of bodies, bags of flesh and bones and blood, hurrying and shouting and laughing without a care in the world. Sheep. A pen of them, mindlessly baaing to one another, completely unaware of the wolf lurking above them.

How I longed to leap down from that roof, to slither in what shadows I could find and circle them. My mouth went dry as my heart began to race in my chest. All sound faded, replaced by the symphony of rushing blood and beating hearts. I'd pick the one furthest from the group, the blacksmith. He smelt of salt and metal, a large man with a round belly that was practically begging to be sliced open. The edges of my vision darkened as I stared into the forge. He looked strong, but he'd be slow - much slower than he'd need to be to kill me before I did him. It would be easy.

My body drifted forward, leaning over the ledge of the rooftop. Every inch of me hummed as my fingers wrapped around the hilt of my dagger. So easy… Giggling children broke me from the dark fog. They ran through the streets together, playing whatever games normal little children play, as their families watched with a bright look. I'd studied that look often, how they smiled and their faces creased with joy. It was a look I had never known.

I remembered then the simple house with the green door. I remembered how it looked splattered with their blood - blood that oozed between the floorboards and dripped down the steps. The humming of bloodlust ebbed inside me as I pictured the bodies that littered the cobbled path to the house. Their eyes were dull and lifeless, not a spark of that bright thing… Not a spark of anything. The last one still breathing had crawled back inside, not strong enough to run but still not weak enough to just lay and die.

When I'd followed after her, dagger in hand and blood dripping from me like rain, she'd looked at me with a dark expression. Disappointment mingled with fear and disgust. That was the look I knew, the one she'd always looked at me with. As I got closer, the woman who called herself my mother spat her blood at me and growled out one last word before I watched her bleed out, "Monster." 

That house - my house - had been the first. The first time, I'd let the hunger, the insatiable thoughts of bloodshed, win. The family I massacred that day had been my own, but I never regretted killing them, not for one moment that followed. They'd only been the first of many… Too many.

My rancid blood whispered to me: kill, kill, and kill again. This body of mine craved only death. Not my own, but that of others - everyone. In the beginning, I'd hoped it would fade, yet with each death, each lifeless body I left behind, the hunger only grew. The longing to kill again was never far from my mind, and it terrified me. 

What kind of person… What sort of thing had this urge? A dark, twisted urge so powerful it consumed me, possessed me until I satisfied it with the blood and death it craved. My lungs filled with the cool city air, and the blurred edges of my vision slowly faded, replaced by the pain at the base of my skull growing as the urge festered, unsatisfied.

A heavy sigh echoed beside me as the rooftop shingles shifted under the unpredictable steps. "Restless already, young Master?" 

"I just…" My mouth tasted rancid, the intrusive desire to snap my teeth down on my own tongue making the words difficult to get out.

"Which of the lovely little sheep calls to you this time?" He hummed, turning his head to look out into the crowd with an almost gleeful smile. "The baker?" He giggled, jumping in excitement. "No! The shopkeep! He looks like he'd make a particularly fascinating corpse!" Turning, his beady eyes bore into mine again as he examined my expression. "Not him either? One of the children, perhaps?"

"No!" I bit out, trying not to linger on how that prospect appealed to me. "The blacksmith."

The Butler turned his head eagerly and wiggled his fingers, clacking his claws against the shingles. "Oh, excellent! He'll be no match for you, my dear Master. So big and slow, with a copious amount of blood and viscera to work with. A most excellent choice indeed!"

My hands clenched and unclenched at my sides as I forced my lungs to fill with the fresh air. "I'm not killing him. I'm not killing anyone."

"Not this again," The Butler chided. "Young Master, you must–"

"You do not tell me what I must or mustn't do!" My voice was low but a whisper in the wind, but Sceleritas heard it. He heard it as though I'd screamed it at the top of my lungs. For a fleeting second, it looked as though he'd been hurt by my words and my dismissal of him. With a sigh, I shook my head and knelt beside him. "Sceleritas…"

He made a tsking noise and combed his claws through my hair, delicately brushing it back into place. "I live to serve you, young Master. Whether it leads to glorious blood and viscera or not, I live to serve."

I held his hand for a moment. "Thank you."

"I do wish you'd be true to yourself," he said carefully. "But, if you wish to fight your urge, I'll bite my tongue and let you make your own mistakes."

"Sceleritas," I scolded with a half smile.

He quickly shut his lips tightly and bowed. "Since we're not killing anyone, may I inquire as to what we're doing among the sheep?"

Rolling my eyes at his theatrics, I looked back out to the crowd. "Rumor has it this city has been plagued with worshippers of Bhaal. People -" Sceleritas gave me a confused look. "The sheep," I clarified, earning a toothy grin from him. "Are saying there's an old temple somewhere nearby."

"And you intend to find it?" He asked, pride and mischief filling his tone.

"If anyone will have answers for me, it'll be them." I looked down at the odd little goblin-like creature that had been by my side since I first woke, covered in blood. He had leathery skin and a small hat lined with the bones of a snake I'd killed. He kept his clothes neat, even amongst the blood. Sceleritas was still quite the mystery, and everything about him, right down to how his beady eyes watched me with that sparkle of darkness and his claws clicked together as he idly thrummed his fingers together, making it seem like he knew more than he let on. "Unless you, dear butler, know anything about this temple?"

His hands splayed across his chest as his mouth fell open in surprise. "Why, me? Young Master, I've been ever at your side! I know only what you do."

Narrowing my eyes, I watched his lips turn upward in a grin. "Hmm, we'll see."

"Enough chatter!" He plopped down on the rooftop, kicking his feet over the ledge. "You hurry on with your questioning. I'll be waiting right here when you're done."

"I'll be back before nightfall," I assured him, lifting my hood.

"Of course you will. Unless… perhaps, you find a worthwhile distraction," he said, eyes turning away from mine to stare down at the blacksmith, whose full belly jiggled as he laughed.

That longing hum… That dark urge made my head swim for a moment. Kill him, it demanded. Break his bones! Bathe in his blood! Take his life, for it is yours to take! I shook my head and quickly turned away. "I will be back before nightfall."

"As you say, dear Master."

I dropped into a dark alley, my ill-fitted boots doing little to save my knees from feeling the force of the ground solidly meeting my feet. The alley stank with piss and rotting food, a stench that hung over the poorer districts. It was stripped bare of the fragrant roses and perfumers of the upper city. Stripped of everything, with people still demanding more be taken in the name of their lords and ladies and their fine parties and expensive silks.

Baldur's Gate. A beacon of hope and second chances. So many poured through the city gates with those big eyes, spilling with joy and relief, and it would be those eyes I'd see months later devoid of all that sparkle. Joy is a difficult thing to nurture when you're starving and flea-ridden. Baldur's Gate. The city where any and all are welcome to live and create a new life for themselves. A lie.

As I stepped over the multitude of beggars that no longer whispered pleas my way or anyone else's, I held onto that bitter feeling that had festered since I'd stepped foot here. My hands bore the blood of thousands, innocent and guilty alike, but even I was above the cruelty of this city. I was a killer, to be sure, but this city… The cursed Baldur's Gate was just as much a killer as me. At least I didn't pretend to be something else.

I moved among the crowd, ignoring that tingle that sent shivers up my spine at the sight of so many opportunities to slit someone's throat or tear their stomach open. Keeping my head down and my hood high, I kept my feet steadily moving. "You hear about this, uh… Shipment… That arrived late last night?"

"Which one?" The butcher replied, trying not to seem so interested. I slowed, lifting an eye towards them as they stood beneath the canopy of the butcher's stall.

"The metals," the twitchy man continued. "The ones that went straight to that abandoned church."

In one quick slash, the butcher's blade buried into the wooden board before him, slicing clean through the thick red meat. "What 'bout it?"

The twitchy man scratched his neck. "Rumor has it one of the smugglers is a madman. Er'yone that's seen 'im says he's makin' some kinda beast."

"A beast 'O metal?" The butcher laughed, waving off the man with a slab of meat in his hand. "Yer nutty if you believe that! Now get out me stall! Scarin' away payin' folk with yer twitchin'."

I watched them bicker for a moment longer before the twitching little man scurried away. Gossip and rumors were prevalent on the streets, necessary for anyone with no money to their name. Information was just as valuable as gold, but using such currency often required more than one's word. Proof came in various shapes and sizes. Eyewitness, a crumb of physical evidence, or even mentioning names… People higher up on the social ladder than anyone dwelling here. This system served me well. Though plagued by the constant urge to maim and dismember, my mind held information like a vault.

As I walked the streets, it quickly became apparent the well of gossip revolved around some useless arms dealings. I half listened, filing their names and the vague details away in my head while changing my path. If I wanted more than the current babblings today, I'd need to go to the source.

Baldur's Gate held many rivers that information flowed through. The servants working in the Upper City would flow down from those rich establishments and find whatever little pocket of people they belonged to. Taverns, inns, brothels, all little wells collecting information like buckets. Wells that I found most useful in my hunt for the truth. Past the layers of boring city gossip of who fucked who or who wore what lay the drops I required - the drops that would finally satiate my thirst. It was a simple matter of extracting such.

The Elfsong Tavern was bustling with people and flowing with drinks. It was a gem of the Lower City, though its outward appearance did not reflect anything grand or unique. It had ale and wine and clean rooms, which was enough for most people. The chatter that met my ears was akin to that of insects. I brushed past everyone else and quietly stood beside the bar, waiting for a cleaning to speak with the elf behind it.

The barkeeper and owner of the tavern was a soft-faced half-elf, Alan Alyth. He had dark hair and light in his eyes, still hopeful of his future within this city. Unlike the other patrons, he heard everything and saw all, and he wouldn't waste my time with idle chatter. Alan knew nothing about me, but he knew how much I hated talking.

Our eyes locked as the bodies cleared away from him, and he sighed. "What can I get for you?"

"I heard a rumor about Bhaal worshippers and a ruined temple."

Nodding, the elf wiped up a spill. "Few nights ago, two men came in spouting about it."

I set a single coin down on the bar. "I need the details."

Alan examined me for a second but took the coin and continued to speak, "Dunno much, but they said they believed the entrance to this temple or whatever was somewhere near the docks."

Without a word of thanks, I turned and exited the establishment, my feet moving quickly and my heart pounding steadily in my chest. I longed for this to be the one - for this rumor to lead me somewhere. The docks were even busier than the tavern, with shipments coming in and out, people selling fish right out of the barrels, and captains and crews inspecting their vessels. 

I could catch a ride on one of the ships, I thought. It would be easier to sail away from this horrible city and find a secluded place to live the rest of my days alone. Still, the nagging feeling wouldn't go away no matter how far I sailed. I would still always wonder what I was… If I belonged anywhere.

I remained near the docks, listening, watching, and even searching for hidden doors or loose stones that could have contained a clue, a hint even. There was nothing. No talk of Bhaalists or odd symbols. Nothing but the stench of fish and the annoying voices of the sheep. As the sun set, it became increasingly clear that this had been another dead end.

Waste of time, I scowled as I walked the now clear paths of the dark city. It'd been foolish of me to believe that anyone would have anything of substance. Why would idle gossip lead me to some long-lost hidden temple? It was foolish. Hopeful. 

My body roared with disappointment and anger. The feeling of it made my skin itch and my limbs ache. Curse that damned hope, I thought as I neared the rooftop where the butler would be waiting. I felt more breathless with each step, a sickening feeling washing over me as the edges of my vision swam with shadows. 

Don't fight it, that dark part of me urged. The bellows of nearby fire sparked in my ears, accompanied by the clash of steel. I sucked in a deep breath, halting my steps to try and regain control of my thoughts - of my own hands as they shook. Give in. A tang of ash and a tingling of metal filled my mouth. Give in to yourself. I stumbled, my feet shuffling of their own accord away from the rooftop towards the hazed orange light. 

Kill.

My fingers curled around the hilt of my dagger.

Kill.

My body hummed as the heat of the fire washed over my face.

Kill.

My lips curled up in a happy, satisfied smile.

The stone ceiling of the blacksmith's workshop was coated in billows of dark smoke and embers. They danced along the top of it for a moment, sparkling and crackling before being swept up in the midnight breeze and lifted out the tall open windows. My chest heaved with each breath, the air tasting sweet as I drew it deep into my lungs. I felt lightheaded, exhilarated, and satisfied. My mind felt clear for the first time in weeks, and my skull didn't throb. 

The sensation of thick, sticky liquid rolling down my neck pulled me from the enjoyment and relief. I lifted my hands to touch it but found them to be wet. All at once, my mind became my own again, and the sweetness of the air suddenly became heavy with blood. My fingernails dug into the skin of my neck as quiet whimpers filled my throat.

"Oh, how inspired!" Sceleritas purred with gleeful claps. "Artistry as always, my dear Master!"

My neck strained as I lowered my eyes to the corpse I straddled. The blacksmith lay lifeless beneath me, utterly unrecognizable. His eyes, filled with playful mirth and pride this morning, were now raw pits of exposed blood and muscle. The dark hair that once filled his head was scorched off, still smoking and singed with embers. One of his arms had been torn off, hanging from his anvil where the hand had been bludgeoned until the bones turned to dust. Long, intricate cuts lined his remaining arm and torso, leading to the gaping hole in his stomach. His insides were strewn about the room, hanging like dripping vines. And there, plunged into one of the many stab wounds in his chest, my dagger gleamed in the firelight.

I wanted to throw up, to scream and deny, but all I could do was sit there and stare. A prideful feeling simmered in my gut, finding beauty in the gore surrounding me. It was wrong… Beyond wrong… It was demented, deranged, sickening. Yet the feeling remained just like it always did. Sceleritas dug my dagger out from the blacksmith's chest and smiled as he held it out to me with a bow. Then, he noticed my grip on my neck and quickly tutted.

He placed my dagger back in my sheath and gently pried my hands from my skin. He dabbed the angry welts left by my fingernails with a small cloth. "I'm a monster…" I whispered.

Sceleritas' claws poked my cheek as he forced me to look at him. "You are perfect, Master." He combed his fingers through my hair, tucking it from my face. "Absolutely, positively perfect."

I closed my eyes, fighting back tears as the surrounding houses awoke, likely coming to see what the noises had been. They'd come, they always did, and they'd find me covered in the blood of an innocent man, a friend even. From there, things would be exactly as they always were. I'd be forced to flee, vanish, and always be apart like the rest of the monsters.

"Come, we must go," Sceleritas whispered, moving to check the streets.

With quivering breaths, I blinked away tears. What was the point of fighting if the urge would win out eventually? What was the point of any of this fucking life? Pushing myself to my feet, I wiped my hands on my shirt, as if it'd help clean them of blood, before turning to follow Sceleritas when a blink of movement caught my eye. 

There, standing in the doorway to the home attached to the workshop. His eyes were fixed on the body, the guts that hung from the room, filled with fear and despair at the sight of the larger man's lifelessness. Guilt and disgust warred within me against the satisfied bloodlust and pride. The child's lips quivered as tears began to stream down his cheeks. "Pa…"

Sceleritas' hands gently wound around my arms, tugging me away from the pitiful scene I had orchestrated. "Away, young Master. Come away."

The streets blurred together as I followed Sceleritas' sure-footed steps. I could hear the angry shouts and the calls for justice as the sheep turned to wolves. Tears burned my eyes as I considered stopping and submitting to my fate. I deserved it. I deserved to be torn apart just like I'd torn the blacksmith apart or any of the others before him. I was a monster.

Sceleritas turned then and slid to a halt just beneath an old archway. He scrambled, clawing the debris and dirt away from the small sewer cover. "This way!" He hissed. "We will find safety with the others!"

"With the others?"

"The worshippers of the Lord of Murder, of course!"

 "You knew where it was from the start," I bit out, glaring at the creature. 

"We haven't the time for this conversation, Master. Quickly! Come!" He screeched, desperately waving me towards the sewer entrance.

The ground shook with the rushing footsteps of the mob, a thundering anger filling the air like lightning. Grinding my teeth together, I slid through the small, dark opening and landed in the muck. The butler followed close behind, closing the opening just as quickly as he'd uncovered it. I could see the shadows of the mob pass overhead.

Sloshing through the putrid liquid, Sceleritas kept moving forward. I glared at him, using my anger to ignore how the smell burnt my nose and threatened to choke the air from my lungs. "Where are we going?"

He turned, teeth glistening in the low light. "You wished to find the temple, did you not?"

I followed him a few feet forward, watching as he flicked his clawed fingers, and an array of resting magic forced the stones ahead to part, revealing the ruins behind it. Sceleritas bowed, gesturing towards the opening. "After you, young Master."

The dark path forward appeared to be part of the city once, blocked off and locked away… Left to crumble and decay. The air hung heavy with a feeling of hopelessness, death whispers filling every crack and corridor. I followed what paths I could, weaving past fallen stone and broken statues. What had it looked like in its prime? I wondered as we passed through one intact doorway.

Stones shifted beneath quick feet, alerting me to the presence of others surrounding me. The darkness had eyes that watched me as I continued to the second door. If whatever creatures took issue with my presence, they didn't make it known. I could feel Sceleritas' excitement. "Friends of yours?"

"Friends of yours, Master," he replied. "Soon to be subjects if all goes to plan."

I turned my head to glance at him, so many questions wanting to rise from my throat, but none of them could. How many years have you led me astray? I wondered. How long was spent pulling at my strings for this plan?

A shallow river of sewage split the large room in two, forcing me down the right-hand path that looked to have been patched up with wood scraps. Whoever it was that had taken up residence here had clearly put work into trying to remain inconspicuous. The twists and turns should have confused me, but my feet felt steady… Like I already knew the way.

As I stepped out into a larger clearing, the stench of sewage faded slightly. Water trickled from cracks above, and the ruins grew more solid. "This was the Undercity," I observed, peering up the old stairs that had long been barricaded off. 

Sceleritas stood beside a circular platform, flicking his fingers again and lighting two hanging braziers. "A wretched place." He hummed carefully. "But, like most ruins, it wasn't always such." Waving his hand, I could see a marvel in his eyes. "It was a glorious temple once. A place of the highest caliber! Worshipers would come from near and far to pay homage, and many found a home here."

"What happened?" I asked, a wave of solemn sorrow softening my voice.

Sceleritas shook his head with a bitter sneer on his lips. "Many things. The worshipers of Bhaal have been culled many times throughout the ages."

"Like the Bhaalspawn." I shook my head and looked at the butler with teary eyes. "Is that what I am?"

"You are-"

"Perfect," I interrupted him. "I know, you've said that before. But answer me this, please, Sceleritas?"

With a humble nod, he finally replied. "You are one of the last living Bhaalspawn. The Lord of Murder's flesh and blood."

My teeth ground together. All this time I'd spent searching, looking for answers, and the one person that had been with me from the start had them all along. "Why not tell me this from the start?"

"You were not ready then," he replied with a sigh. "You may still not be ready."

"Well, what happens now?" I asked.

Sceleritas only grinned. "You open the door."

The tall door blended in with the surrounding stone, only really noticeable but the too-perfect cracks where the two sides met, tightly sealed. As I approached, I had an itching feeling that this would not be as simple as my loyal companion made it seem. Pressing on them with my hand, nothing moved, but a voice echoed around us in a soft but powerful whisper.

"Do you have proof of your faith to our lord?"

"Proof?" I questioned with furrowed brows. "How does one present proof of faith?"

Sceleritas cleared his throat and pointed to my still-bloody dagger. "You've all the proof you need, dear Master."

I unsheathed it, grimacing at the sight of the blacksmith's blood. The image of the weeping child filled my mind. I didn't utter a word nor lift the dagger higher than my eyes, but the door saw it as if it had looked through my eyes. "A small thing, but a show of faith nonetheless. Walk in blood."

The door cracked, and the path forward appeared before me, along with a choice. I could turn back and face what I'd done. Or I could continue on this path, wherever it led me, and finally learn the truth. Sceleritas took hold of my hand and squeezed. "The choice is yours, Remora, my dear Master. I can only urge you not to run from what you are." He smiled. "I can only assure you that you are perfect, just as you are."

Bloodshed, death, murder… None of it appealed to me beyond that itch of my darker urges, but I'd killed so many. My hands were forever stained in blood, and nothing, not even facing judgment, would clean them. I'd kill again. I knew it to be true. What choice is there? I asked myself. Nothing will change unless you see this through. "It'd be a waste to turn back now." I smiled down at him and squeezed his hand back. "Besides, what would I do without my most loyal butler?"

We walked hand in hand down the decrepit staircase where the abandoned stone building came into view, nestled overtop a straight drop into nothingness. Sceleritas led me over the bridge of fallen pillars and through a low archway. I held his hand tightly in mine, using his presence as some reassurance to ease the fear and hopelessness rising in my chest. No matter what I found here, Sceleritas would be beside me. He always was.

Bright red lights illuminated as we traversed the winding, bloodstained path. Statues spoke to me, but I couldn't grasp their words beyond the sound of my heart hammering against my ribcage. The bridge stretched across, lit with fire and dark magic. Up a small set of stairs, another door stood closed. Sceleritas released my hand and skipped up the steps, turning to bow before me. "Oh, my Master! Welcome! Welcome to your royal home!"

The doors opened behind him as if on their own accord. Now or never. I ascended the stairs and walked through the doorway with my head held high. From the high ledge, I could see every corner of the room, the lights and the bodies of people gathered, but what I noticed most was the large pool of blood that stood on the opposite side of the room where a skull with bleeding eyes had been carved into the stone. 

Bhaal. My father, if Sceleritas had spoken the truth. With another deep breath, I moved past the robed figures and down towards the center of this congregation. As I passed, the cultists whispered praises, words of great joy at my arrival. Sparing Sceleritas a glance, I quickly asked, "They were expecting us?"

"You, Master," he happily replied. "They've been expecting you for quite some time."

"Praised be the Lord of Murder!" One of them softly exclaimed. 

An odd feeling of warmth suddenly erased the fear from my body. Never before had I been waited on… Met with soft words of joyous welcomes. They wanted me here. They felt some kind of love for me, and I enjoyed it. "They… like me?”

Sceleritas scoffed. "They adore you, Master!"

At the bottom of the steps, all the cultists bowed their heads. "Welcome home, Bhaalspawn. We have waited a very long time for this day."

"What day?"

The woman, who seemed to be the eldest, chuckled. "For you to ascend and take your place as Bhaals Chosen, of course!" She turned, gesturing to the pool of blood. "Go on, submerge yourself, and all shall be revealed."

By my side, Sceleritas urged me to go forward into the blood. My dark, featherless reflection hovered over the thick liquid. There was a moment of hesitation, a moment where I knew deep inside me that this wasn't what I wanted. Sceleritas' voice was soft as he seemed to answer my deepest fears. "Do not deny what you are, Remora. For it is beautiful, beloved, holy. You are perfect, just as you are."

I took the first step, giving into the deepest desire to be loved and accepted. Maybe this was the only way for something like me to achieve such. Maybe this was always what I was meant for. As the blood enveloped me, I felt warm… Safe… Powerful. Flashes of bodies torn apart and skulls growing from trees filled my vision. "Child of blood, go forth with divine purpose."

When I emerged again, the first thing I heard was Sceleritas clapping. Then, all that stood before me bowed. "All hail Bhaal's Chosen!"

This was my future - my life. All the years I'd spent trying to be anything other were wasted. Thief. Urchin. Whore. Murderer. Assassin. Monster. Demon. All those years of fighting, scraping, bowing, resisting… It had all been futile. This was what I was, who I was. Bhaalspawn.

Bhaal's Chosen.

[aalissy]

Rescue

Andddd here is chapter 2 for today! I hope you like it <3. If you do, lemme know your thoughts! I love writing marichat banter hehe.

AO3

On a quiet evening in Paris, Marinette and Chat found themselves playfully bantering on the top of her rooftop. He had begun coming over more and more often lately and she had to admit, she certainly loved his company. It was nice talking to him. Especially when they were teasing each other.

Chat leaned back against her railing, his cat-like grin playful. "You know, Marinette, for a civilian, you handle yourself pretty well in sticky situations."

Not one to back down, Marinette smirked back at him. "Well, I learned from the best.”

“Of course you did.” He flexed his arms, his green eyes gleaming with pride.

Letting him enjoy the moment for a brief second longer, she nodded her head, her lips twitching. “Yep! Watching Ladybug summon a random lucky charm and figure out how to save the day with it is very enlightening. I think it’s helped me come up with even more plans.” Rocking back on her heels, Marinette couldn’t help but giggle as his face dropped.

“Hey! What about me?!” Chat pouted.

“Oh, but of course,” she sighed. “How could I forget about you? Watching you prance around and make puns has also been quite the help," Marinette’s voice dropped teasingly.

Chat chuckled, twirling his baton between his fingers. "Ah, but my puns are a crucial part of my hero persona. Can you imagine Chat Noir without his charming wit?"

Marinette pretended to ponder, a playful glint in her eyes. "Hmm, I suppose you'd just be a stray tom cat then."

Chat Noir gasped dramatically, placing a hand over his heart. "Ouch, Marinette! That's cold!"

Marinette couldn't contain her laughter at his dramatic reaction. "Don't worry, Chat. I'm sure you'd find a way to charm your way back into everyone's hearts. Including my own."

"That's more like it.” He grinned, before his voice turned more thoughtful, a small frown creasing his mask. “But you know, Marinette, I don't think I've ever needed to rescue you. You're always so resourceful and quick on your feet."

She swallowed harshly. Well, that wasn’t good. She couldn’t have him going around getting ideas. Her secret identity was meant to be secret, thank you very much. She had to do something. And quickly.

Marinette raised an eyebrow, a playful challenge in her eyes, hoping to stop wherever his train of thought was heading. "Are you implying that I don't need saving?"

Chat leaned closer, a mischievous glint in his eyes and she relaxed slightly. "I'm just saying, you're more than capable of handling yourself. Although, I wouldn't mind being your knight in shining leather if you ever needed one."

Marinette felt her cheeks redden slightly at his words, a mixture of amusement and warmth flooding her. "Oh really? And what would my distress signal be? A call for puns?"

He grinned at her, his tail swishing behind him. "Exactly! If you ever find yourself in trouble, just shout 'Chat, puns needed!' and I'll come running."

“Good to know," Marinette replied with a playful wink. "But let's hope I never need to use that signal. I'd hate to see you exhausted from all that pun-making."

Chat chuckled. "I'll take my chances. After all, what's a hero without a damsel in distress to rescue?"

Marinette rolled her eyes playfully. "I'm not a damsel in distress, Chaton. I'm a damsel with a plan."

He laughed, enjoying their banter as always. "Fair enough, Marinette. But remember, even damsels with plans can use a little help from time to time."

As they continued to tease each other and enjoy the peaceful evening, Marinette couldn't help but feel grateful for Chat Noir's presence in her life. Whether it was fighting villains or just exchanging playful banter, they certainly made a great team, always ready to support and uplift each other.

[itsscromp]

Idea! Insomniac Peter and Reader (Peter's sidekick since even before Miles) talking just after taking down Fisk? (Would prefer Peter and reader's relationship to be platonic or found familial, but that bit's up to you.)

Insomniac Spider-Man x Reader

I love this idea so very much !!!!, Reader would ask so many questions and peter would have so many stories to tell. Word count:912

"Finally off to Rykers huh ??" You said as you landed on top of the police van alongside peter.

"You know, I think you've got more enemies in there than I do."

"If you think this will be more than a minor inconvenience..."

"Whoop-- gotta go" Peter then swinged off.

"But hey, Good luck Willie, I have a feeling you're gonna need it." You finger-gunned him as you joined Peter and swung off.

"Idiots !!! I'm the one who kept order in this city !! One month !! In one month you'll wish you had me back !!" Fisk shouted at you both before then being transported to rykers.

Now for the backstory part of this, You and Peter Parker have been best friends since you two were in school, Both doing everything together and being there for each other. You were the first person he revealed himself as Spider-Man to, and not too long ago, you too have been bitten by a radioactive spider, You were excited and scared at the same time. But Peter was with you every step of the way. You two were now a crime-fighting duo, you did try to opt for 'The Spider-Pals' But that motion was shut down. But anyway off track, Fisk was your first supervillain and you couldn't be any happier.

"Peter did you see that ??!!" You said excitedly as you caught up to him.

"I did, I'm so proud of you dude !!" He smiled brightly under his mask.

"YAHOOOOOOOOO !!!!" You pulled off an air trick before stabilising yourself.

Peter has never seen you this happy and excited before, it was practically infectious.

"YEEEEEHAWWWW !!!" He barrel rolled, joining you on your excitment.

"I can't believe I did it, My first super villain."

"And there'll be plenty more to come, don't worry buddy"

"Say, I always wanted to ask, What was the first super villain you ever fought ??"

"That is an excellent question y/n, one I will happily answer over pizza"

He then rang tony's and got the usual rooftop delivery.

"Oh that looks so good"

"I love you, But now I must destroy you" Peter then scoffed the first slice down.

As you two ate the pizza, Peter told you about the very first villain he ever fought as Spider-Man.

"So, back when I first started high school, vulture decided to pay a little visit, you see his old research partner, Greg Bestman taught at ESU. Vulture tried to take Bestman out, I tried to stop him"

He even did some of Vulture's voices but ended up coughing shortly after.

"Sorry, that's my best vulture" *ahem*

"Anyway, continue" You bit into your pizza as you listened into the story.

"I'll tell you what y/n, That fight was hard, Then, just as I thought I might actually win. Vulture's evil twin brother showed up to help him !!"

"What... I don't remember him having an evil twin" You giggled.

"Yeah... No, he actually rope-a-doped me. I was exhausted, and He was barely winded, but man it felt like two vultures"

"Wow... This fight really was tough"

As he continued on with his story of the vulture and his "Evil twin brother" You two shared laughs, oh how he knew how to make you smile.

"That fight taught me I'd always be a kid from queens at heart, But I could carry that strength anywhere, To Manhattan, to the West Coast. Heck, even to Symkaria. Weird to think, But I owe it all to an old man in a bird costume, I should really write him a thank you note, but anyway. That my dear y/n, was the story of my first supervillain" He smiled and puffed his chest out proudly.

"Woah... That's so damn awesome !!!" you really were mesmerised by how well the story was and how wise peter was too.

"Have you also ever thought of voice acting, you could be pretty good in a video game" You playfully punched him.

"Unless they make a full-fledged version of Speed Nonagon, I won't by lending my talented voice anytime soon"

You giggled again and looked out over into the city.

"I really wouldn't be here today without you Pete, You helped me through so much even before I became like you" You smiled at him.

"We're a little team y/n, Spider or no spider. Heck you saved my bacon many times I could count from my run-ins with flash"

"He was such a jerk, But yet again like you said about vulture, I guess without flash we wouldn't have met."

"You know... That is kinda true actually" He smiled

"Maybe I should write him a thank you note... Nah I think he gets the memo" You chuckled.

"Your probably right buddy, I wouldn't have this any other way though, Your my best friend through and through" Peter smiled and raised his fist for a fist bump. "Don't leave me hanging"

"Well..." You toyed with him

"Not on my watch y/n, come ooooonnnnnn"

And you gladly fist bumped him, both giggling.

"Your too much man" You smirked as you watched the city go by until peter's phone rang.

"It's Captain Watanabe, she needs to see us" He then got up and put his mask back on. "You ready Spider-pal ??"

"I'm ready Spider-Pal" you patted his back and the two of you swinging to the chinatown police station.

Oh you two would have so many adventures together, so so many.

a/n. I love insomniac peter so damn much, he's such a lovable goofball !!!

Taglist: @callofdudes @fun-k-board

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

So, you know how I know a guy in London who goes to comedy shows all the time and gets to see all the cool comedians who perform in London and it's so cool? And you know how this afternoon, a bunch of comedians including Sam Campbell and Nish Kumar got on the roof of the Bill Murray pub to do a comedy gig where they shout at the crowd below like fucking Beatles? Well guess what? Guess what, guys? That guy got Sam's entire set on video. And because that shit happened in the open air and was free to anyone in the area, that was fair game to film and it's fair game to share. Anything a comedian doesn't want posted on public social media, they shouldn't shout from the rooftop of a building in an urban area at 2 in the afternoon.

It's so fucking cool. Up there with the most jealous I've been in the last few years, of people who live in London and can see this shit all the time. But then I got to see it anyway, because it's on video.

Watching this made me realize that Sam Campbell is sort of an exception to the rule that we want to see musicians do old stuff but comedians do new stuff. So much of Sam Campbell being funny comes from the delivery, so no matter how well I already know his material (which is fairly well by now), I'll still find it funny to hear it said again in his voice. I found myself excited when he introduced my favourite bits, which is not how it normally is with a comedian doing a new set, where you hope they'll have stuff you haven't heard. Nope, Sam is just as funny as the first time I heard it. Do the one about the wet guy in the hotel again! Do the tennis joke!

This set also made me realize that Sam Campbell shouting from a rooftop is the same auditory volume as Sam Campell doing a normal comedy set inside a theatre. The primary difference seems to be the lack of weird animations behind him, which I think is fine, as I'm not particularly into weird animations. He doesn't need them.

I did feel pretty cut up by the crowd work that consisted of "You look like the kind of guy who's really good at downloading a YouTube video. I bet you use Y2mate or Converto." Given that I heard him say that on a video I had just downloaded off YouTube with Y2mate. And I recommend that others do the same. Always save the media you like! Picture me shouting that from a rooftop in a Sam Campbell voice. It's very important. Anyway, to misquote Pierre Novellie, comedian destroys audience member who's 5,000 km away with accurate assessment of what she does on computers.

I enjoyed this so much. On purely how physically hard they make me laugh, Sam Campbell might get to me more than any other comedians. There might be other comedians I rate higher than him overall, for various reasons, but I don't think there are any other comedians who are so difficult for me to listen to on the bus. Something about what he does makes me laugh out loud, really loudly, every time. It's nearly a problem. I think he was the only comedian to make me laugh so hard I had tears in my eyes during 2023.

It's cool as fuck, getting to experience, even vicariously and just through a screen, a London comedy rooftop concert like they're fucking Beatles. In this particular video, Sam Campbell does a bunch of stuff I'd heard before but it still killed me again, a few bits I hadn't heard before, some left-field crowd work, and talks some shit about Nish Kumar. It's very much worth a watch, and worth a download with Y2mate.

[therottenkingsreckoning]

Chapter 5! Sorry this took so long, mostly on account of wanting to get the OC art done as supplementary material. Promise it'll be the only time that needs to happen, and also that this will (probably) be the last time Frank stresses out over dumb shit in this story. Smooth sailing from here!

~Little Flame, Chapter 5~

The rest of the evening went as it usually did, comfy routines and familiar chatter being a welcome reprieve from the stress of the week. But Frank kept mulling over what Sally had said to him. Was it really so easy to tell what they were? How many others knew already? Not one had given an indication of open or silent judgement, always treating him with the respect they'd shown anyone else, and still clearly quite happy to seek (or demand) his company. But how could he tell if that was with knowledge or lack thereof? Could they be trusted to know?

"You're worryin' again, bug," Eddie said, snapping Frank out of their thoughts. "I can tell when you are."

"I'm not-" Frank began, but really it was no use. Eddie knew him too well, knew all the little ins and outs of his various moods in a way that only someone who truly cared about them would. With a sigh, he spoke.

"Well...I guess I was thinking. Things went...decently well earlier with our friends finding out about...that. Especially considering I wasn't out to Sally yet."

"Mhmm," Eddie nodded. "Not out to most folks around here, as far as I remember."

"Well, t-that's the point," Frank continued, "if it went well with her, I..." he trailed off, finding the words and confidence to say it out loud. "Eddie, do you think...they'd accept it? If I told them?"

Eddie's gaze softened, and he gently placed a hand on their shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Frank, I understand that you're scared. I'd be too in your place. But I promise, there ain't no one here that'd judge you. They all love you, just as much as I do." He chuckled. "Hey, they hardly mind that Poppy is trans, or when you'd told 'em y'ain't a man."

This gave Frank pause. It's true, they hadn't even thought of her, or how the last reveal had gone. Those did inspire quite a bit of confidence. Yet, just as soon as he'd begin to find resolve, the fears crept back. Those nagging doubts that said what if this time's too far?

They groaned in frustration, covering his face with their hands. "And it's not just that, I need to tell them about the baby too! But I can't say that without..." he sighed. "Tell me what I should do."

"Darlin', if it were up to me I'd be shouting it from the rooftops by now," Eddie stated confidently. "You know that. But it ain't my decision to make. You're the important one here!"

Frank gave an exasperated huff, still not looking up. "Why can't it be someone else's decision? That'd be so much easier."

"You... want someone to out you?" Eddie raised an eyebrow at this.

"No no," Frank sighed, defeated. "Look, I'll...think about it."

Eddie kissed him, gently cupping their face with his hand. "There's time enough to think. S'pose they'll have to know eventually though- only so long you can hide a thing like that."

"Again, you're right," Frank grumbled. "Geez, I'm hungry right now. I'm gonna get some food."

~~~~~~~~

It was later on that night, while the two lay in bed, nearly asleep, that Frank turned to his husband. "Eddie?"

"Mmm?"

"I think I'll tell them tomorrow."

~~~~~~~~

It was all well and good to say that during the night. But when tomorrow came, Frank was pacing in circles round the kitchen table, Egg cradled in their arms.

"Can't keep 'em waiting forever," Eddie said, glancing out at the gaggle of neighbors stood outside.

"Yes I can," Frank protested. "I've kept them in the dark about it this long, I can go longer."

Eddie narrowed his eyes. "That's not what I meant and you know it."

"Oh, why can't we just forget it? We'll send them all home, and try again never."

"Nope," the man's tone was firm but gentle. "You've come this far, shooin' em off now now won't do ya any good." He put an arm around love reassuringly. "Look. I'll be right here beside ya. You'll be fine."

Frank let out a desperate whine and buried his face in Egg's soft white fur for a moment, the cat purring soothingly. Then, taking a deep breath, they set him down, and looked directly into Eddie's eyes. "Ok. I'm ready."

Outside the door to the yellow house, the others waited impatiently. "What's takin' em so long?" Howdy huffed. "I've got work to get back to."

"Dunno," Barbie said with a shrug. "It must be something important, 'ol Frankie seemed real anxious to tell us about it."

Sally and Julie merely shrugged, each trying their best not give away that they knew too much.

Finally, the door swung open, and the couple emerged from inside, Frank still held close by the one-armed embrace of his husband. "Good afternoon everyone," they stated calmly, though Eddie could still feel them shaking just slightly.

"Hi Frank, hi Eddie," Wally answered jovially. "How are you?"

"Are you well?" Jaya asked. "You seemed terribly anxious when you told us to meet you here."

"I'm, well..." Frank swallowed hard. No turning back now. "I brought you all here for a reason. As you know, I am non-binary."

"Mhm.." the others all nodded agreement, seeming a little confused. Where was he going with all of this?

"Well, I...haven't been fully forthcoming with all the details in that regard." They straightened up, shutting his eyes and steeling their resolve. "I am also trans."

"What, you're a girl now?" Honey asked quizzically after a moment, readjusting the baby she held. "It's fine if you are."

"Catching labels like you catch your butterflies," Barbie added with a laugh.

"No! No no," Frank snapped frustratedly, waving the question away with their hands. "I've been through all that before and I hated it. No, I mean the gender, the...well, maleness I have now is by choice. Transmasculine."

"That's what you wanted t-" Howdy began, before stopping short at the death glare Eddie shot him.

"Wow, that's cool," Wally said, voice calm though he was (to all who knew him) still clearly excited. "Nice to know I'm not the only one."

"Wait, you are?" Frank asked incredulously, head whipping around to look at him.

"Yea," the demon answered simply. "Not as fancy as yours is, but I'm trans."

"That's four of us then!" Poppy stated cheerfully, gathering Frank to her breast with a soothing coo. "Oh come here sweetheart, I'm proud of you for saying it. I know how hard that is to say."

Frank felt lighter than air right now, all the stress lifted off of them in an instant. I really should stop doing that, he thought absentmindedly, hugging her back as they spoke up again. "Well now that that part is out of the way, I can tell you about the other thing."

"And what's that?"

"I'm pregnant."

Dead silence. For a moment, the scientist feared the worst. Lifted up by the rising poof of Poppy's feathers, they met her widened eyes.

"What?" she squeaked.

Frank chuckled nervously. "Surprise? I-"

Words cut short as the bird grabbed his face with her wings, looking directly at them with a mix of many emotions but primarily love. And fear. "Oh goodness, Frank! T-that's wonderful news! Are you feeling well? Healthy? Will you need any help? I can-"

"I'm doing fine, Poppy, really, I am," they reassured. "Plus, I have Eddie with me."

Eddie beamed at this, proud papa vibes on full display.

"They're doing well thus far, from what I see," Jaya stated confidently, gently prying her girlfriend away from the other. "Just about six weeks in most likely. When things progress further, then you me & Bea can step in to help things along. But they can handle this part himself."

Poppy fussed a bit more, still clearly full of her usual worries. But she finally, reluctantly let go, giving room for the others to step in and offer their congratulations.

"Heh, welcome to fatherhood, big guy," Jack said, giving Eddie a light punch in the shoulder with one of his many arms. "You'll do great, I know it."

Eddie laughed softly. "I-I sure hope so. Thanks."

"Suppose it does explain one thing," Barbie said with a gesture towards Frank. "You smell different now."

"Oh?" they asked, raising half of his unibrow curiously.

"Yeah!" she continued. "Thought at first it might've been a different shampoo or somethin', but that didn't make sense to me." Chuckling softly and rubbing her neck, she added, "plus, I don't know of any shampoo that'd make me suddenly really wanna hug you."

Frank smiled warmly, heart full of love, and held open his arms. "You know what? I'll let you do that, just this once."

"Wh- really?"

"Yes, what the hell. I'm feeling good right now. Come here."

Tail wagging, she cheerfully embraced them, gentle as she could. Soon Eddie joined them, then all the others as well (even Howdy). It feels nice to be held, Frank thought. Nice to be so loved and cared for, by all of my friends. "I love you guys," they sighed, contented. "I couldn't ask for a better place to raise a family."

"You're awfully sentimental," Sally teased.

"I blame the hormones," he replied.

~~~~~~~~

When they finally broke apart, Frank turned to head back inside, a big part of them still eager to call the ordeal over. But a tap on their shoulder stopped him, and he looked up to see the smiling face of a certain shopkeeper.

"So...about that test you stole..."

[kingwuko]

is the concept of virginity a thing in secret? like its something u hold onto cause its special or u just do it? i wonder if wu felt any shame for not waiting until marriage or something like that

WOW. I'm genuinely fascinated that this question is being asked!! I'm cutting it because I may have gone on a small rant at the end 😅

This is such a delicious question you have asked me. Because in Secret, I made a VERY deliberate choice to never mention the concept of virginity, or describe anyone as being 'a virgin'. I wasn't sure if it was something anyone would notice or care about, but it was very intentional.

The short answer is, No. The concept of virginity is not a thing in the world I have created for Secret.

The reason it isn't is purely because it would have been just. TOO MUCH. I literally could not handle trying to add that in. Like. The story itself was already exploring the very fraught topics of internalized homophobia and the fears around coming out. Those topics were kind of the cornerstone of the central plot of Secret. It's the reason they keep their relationship a secret! Wu basically had a whole journey where he came to terms with his sexuality and exploring and experiencing sex with a very safe person, eventually leading to him feeling comfortable with coming out for a few people.

If I wanted to throw the concept of virginity in there too...? I'm just not sure how that would have impacted everything. It also probably would have been more than I have the emotional capacity to explore. Obviously the topic of homophobia is deeply personal and painful to me, and it's been a really interesting thing to explore through writing these characters. The concept of virginity is also something deeply personal and painful to me, but for reasons I'm not sure I can articulate, I don't want to explore the concept through writing. If I ever did explore it, I'm not sure this world and these characters are how I'd want to explore it anyway.

So basically, in the headcanons I have for the avatar universe and for my fic specifically, virginity is not a thing, there's no expectations to wait to have sex until marriage, and the definition of 'sex' itself is kind of nebulous anyway. There is homophobia and heteronormativity, but it varies based on the region and the demographic of people. Where homophobia does exist, the origins are based mostly out perceptions of what's 'natural', tradition, expectations around having children, and keeping up appearances so as not to shame your family/people.

But the act of having sex itself does not hold any deep significance in any of the cultures of the avatar-verse, not the way I imagine it.

I'm sure it doesn't need to be said, but I'll say it anyway because I love shouting this from the rooftops. Virginity, (as in; the concept that there is something about yourself that you can 'lose' by having sex), is not real. There is nothing different about a person before and after they have sex for the first time. The definition of sex itself is dependent on the people involved and how they themselves define having sex. Virginity has historically been nothing more than an imagined state of being unfairly burdening women and used to objectify, control and commodify them.

If someone considers themselves a virgin because they have not had sex, I would never try to disagree with that. You can label yourself however you want! But the overall concept of virginity is a construct. Nothing changes about you physically if you have sex. the only way that sex can change someone's body is if it results in a pregnancy. It's possible that having sex with someone can result in emotional changes but that's not a universal truth.

I'm sorry that was probably an unnecessary amount of detail to answer this ask 😅 No, Wu's not feeling and shame around having sex before marriage. At first he was solely struggling with being gay, and admitting his feelings for and having sex with Mako started him on his journey to shed his internalized homophobia and becoming comfortable with himself and his sexuality. But at no point did he think that he had 'lost' his virginity and feel any guilt or shame about having sex to begin with.

[animephantom]

Delicious in Dungeon, Episode 5: Snacks/Sorbet

We're back again, albeit a couple of days late. Shouting from the rooftops again, DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE MANGA OR WATCHED THE EPISODE IN ORDER TO AVOID SPOILERS. REPEAT, THIS IS A SPOILER WARNING.

With that out of the way, I'll start by saying I have high hopes for this week's episode. While I had complaints about the previous one, I feel like the plot's been set up to a point where things are about to start moving for real. To be fair, assuming this is a 12 episode season, we're almost halfway done, so I'd really hope to see SOME movement here.

@collectoroflovelythings has advised me that this should be a 24 episode season, and that's so goddamn nice. More episodes means a much gentler pace than your usual faire, and it gives us time to appreciate the world more!

With the intro and hopefully enough content to hide spoilers from casual eyes, let's get into this week's episode, Snacks/Sorbet.

I really like that we start off seeing a different party eating at a tavern. It gives us contrast between the main characters and the rest of the world. Doing things the way they do is absolutely not the norm, and seeing the way other parties function is really cool.

Can I get into the character design for a sec? Because how cool are these guys? Like, Kabru's armor is actually practical? And I really like how he and his crew are just people. Perhaps a bit overconfident, but I think we'll see that corrected when they meet Senshi and co.

This guy's also a prankster, and I'm always a sucker for that archetype. He's hella cute, isn't he? And I love that the caster in the party has little time for his bullshit.

So we join them on their trip into The Dungeon. And unlike Senshi's crew, they're practically rolling in gear, cash, but sometimes more money really means more problems.

Speaking of money problems, holy shit the monster design in this show is so fun! Gold Coin Scarab Beetles? I figured the treasure would be cursed or something, but no, we've got a swarm of insects capable of taking out well equipped parties!

Seriously, look at these guys. There's beauty in simplicity, and it's very clear what's supposed to be happening with these guys. Like mimics, they lie in wait for unsuspecting adventurers to touch them before revealing their true selves and the threat they pose.

Of course Marcille is terrified of them. At least she blasts a stun spell instead of a fireball or something. If I used these guys in one of my D&D games, they'd be getting nuked so fast, but I still think they're so cool.

Something I've noticed is that this show tends to eschew typical supernatural stuff like curses or possession, instead opting to create a space in the Dungeon's ecosystem for new ideas like this. I love how this translates to the Adventurers having their own niche in that ecosystem too. It's as though the Dungeon wants adventurers to come in!

Also, the show didn't have to show us that the insects are sexually dimorphic, but I fucking love that it does. Straight up, it's detail like this that keeps me coming back.

I wonder how you'd eat them? Are we gonna make Bugsnax?

We are!

This episode's first recipe is a variety of snacks and what looks like a jelly.

Sometimes, when delving the Dungeon, you're a little hungry, but not so hungry you need a meal. That's when you have a snack instead! A little pick me up to make the trip a bit nicer. Personally I love the necklace Dango. I'd one hundred percent eat these guys.

An interesting thing Senshi brings up is that Dungeon monsters are always tastier than surface monsters. I wonder why that is? Is it the environment? And they taste better from deeper in the Dungeon too.

It's also really nice to see Laios bonding with Keisuke, his sword, who warned him to the danger the Treasure Insects presented. It's just cute to see the two of them begin to form a symbiotic relationship. Not a new plot point, but always one I like.

Leave it to Senshi, who cares not one whit about fortune, to neglect mentioning that the inedible 'bugs' were real treasure. No further commentary, I love this man and deeply wish to play him in a D&D game.

Remember how I said the show doesn't go for the supernatural? I wasn't quite right, because it's here we're introduced to ghosts. The party tries to leave, and in the process of fleeing Laios drops his sandwich, getting his ass frozen by these grabby assholes.

It's also nice to get some characterization of other people who've been in the party. We haven't seen much of Laios's sister, Falin, but it's so cool to see her resolve problems without violence, opting for the kindest possible option to handle a ghostly encounter of her own.

I hope that when she's rescued she retains this gentle demeanor. To me it makes the show feel that little bit kinder, which is one of the reasons I wanted to even watch it. I was looking for something comfortable and kind, which is exactly what I'm mostly getting from it, fantasy racism aside.

This is so fucking cool. The party's being chased by ghosts, and it looks like there's no way to fend them off, but the ever resourceful Senshi has an idea: let's make holy water out of what we have on hand! As a DM, I fucking LOVE when my players have wild ideas like these. "No cleric around to bless, so let's try using a bunch of different items that folks consider holy, like salt, but I'm gonna use sugar instead because I don't have salt, booze, candles and fire to keep that evil the hell away from ya."

This man is so iconic, I really love him. I really wanna play him in a game. It's obvious he's making it up as he's going along, but I would 100% allow this to work. It's so clever, so ingenious, I'd be insane to say "Despite your cleverness, the mixture appears to have no effect."

Seriously, just look at this fucking man! This guy has been playing D&D for a very long time and he's just having fun with the character at this point. He built something weird, and he knows it.

And when the party joins in on the insanity, it's all the better.

This also happens to be the second recipe of the episode!

Exorcism Sorbet, made by combining the ingredients for our Intercultural Holy Water in a jar and swinging that jar through ghosts until the mixture combines into a soft, delicious frozen treat!

I'd have preferred a screencap from the anime, but alas Netflix is dumb and prevented me from taking one.

I think it's really funny how hesitant Marcille and Chilchuk are to eat this, even after all this time eating 'questionable' foods made by Senshi and Laios. I mean, you'd think they trust their party members by now! But that's also just a part of the episode formula. Senshi and Laios make food from thing they fought, Chilchuk and Marcille ask if it's even edible, Laios takes the first bite and proclaims its deliciousness, and everyone else eats, marveling at how good it is.

This isn't a complaint, by the way! I actually really like this part every time.

It's also always funny to me when Laios says something weird that catches the party off guard, like "We're kinda lucky my sister got eaten by a dragon, or we'd never be having this sorbet!" Like, dude. Even Senshi's like "Some things are better kept to yourself." Way to stick your foot in your mouth, my guy!

This week's episode was so fun. I enjoyed every part of it, and can't wait to see the party from the beginning of the episode again! I want to see how normal adventurers feel about our odd duck cohort. 9/10, would watch again with no hesitation.

With that, we close out until next time. Tune in again next week for more reviews of Delicious in Dungeon, but only partway through because I write these live.

[chiss-ticism]

Art by the wonderful @/bugcouncil!

I realized that I'd been on-and-off Percy posting without having actually laid the groundwork out for everyone else to see, lmao. Let's do something about that (salute emoji) Blood and Silicon players pwetty pwease don't read this: I may use Percy as a back-up character and wouldn't want you to be spoiled :)

His (current) character sheet is a mash-up between V5's character creation rules and some of V20's Merits/Flaws. I'd keep some of them for subtext were he to need a V5-Only character sheet. Just a heads up :)

BASIC INFORMATION:

NAME: Percival. Percy to allies. Sir Percival, Caine's Anointed in formal address.

PREDATOR TYPE: Alleycat.

CLAN: Ventrue [Antitribu]

GENERATION: 12th.

SECT AFFILIATION: The Sabbat. [Anarch Movement too, if Pauline dies or something.]

D.O.B: May 13th, 1900.

D.O.D: February 20th, 1942.

APPARENT AGE: Late 30s, Early 40s. [42]

HEIGHT: 5'6'' | 167 centimeters.

BACKSTORY

Boxer in life, a Templar in death; Percy's feverish devotion to the Hand's assortment of causes is, in no small part, exacerbated by the fact that he had the displeasure of being on the frontlines of the Week of Nightmares back in the Summer of '99. Tasked with aiding the Sabbat's (numerous) failed attempts at claiming domain within Asia, his (notably Ravnos) Priscus was called on for aid and what is a loyal knight to do but follow in her stead? This, unfortunately enough, put them on the frontlines for [Ravnos'] awakening a few miles over in India even if the pack never had the misfortune of laying eyes on the Ancient themselves. He and his pack spent the better part of three days attempting to watch over the torpid form of their packmate and leader within the winding, vacuous corridors of a hotel. They'd staked her with the intention of pacifying her until whatever illness besetting her took its leave, but there was only so much a handful of Cainites could feasibly do. In the end they were ultimately unsuccessful in keeping the veritable horde of her cousins away, on the verge of final death amidst all of the gore and viscera, Percy had a reaffirmation of faith in a wicked way. He's devoted the entirety of his being to the Sabbat and its overarching goals; [Ravnos]' blood plugging any holes the Sabbat's propaganda machine may've missed. He's not incompetent enough to go around shouting his allegiances from the rooftops, but his disdain for the Ivory Tower is as self-evident as the gray hairs that adorn his head. Timeline One [where I'm currently using him :)] - Percy's Priscus meets Final Death, unconsciously. Percy comes out of it in one piece and still serves the Sword of Caine dutifully. Timeline Two [Blood and Silicon, should it be necessary]: the Priscus was never staked and Percy himself was beaten into Torpor before being brought back to the United States for recovery once the fighting had ceased. He would've woken up, his Faith reaffirmed tenfold, to find that the Sect itself had all but collapsed during his nap. Their old haunts having been taken over by the Anarch Movement or, Caine forbid, the Camarilla and none of his sect mates to call upon for an update or guidance of any kind. A man out of time, wandering aimlessly, and forced to contend with the knowledge that there really are ancient evils in dire need of putting down, but with no feasible recourse against them. Languishing in the company of blind Cainites whose knee-jerk reaction would be to take his head if they knew what he truly was, a shell of his former self

NOTABLE ATTRIBUTES:

Strength (••••) You are a prime physical specimen, likely with very visible musculature.

Dexterity (•••) Your agility is impressive, and your coordination is as good as any trained amateur.

Stamina (•••) Several days of hard hiking with a backpack is no problem for you.

Wits (•••) You can analyze a situation and quickly work out the best escape route.

NOTABLE SKILLS:

Firearms (•••) You've been in the shit ("Seen the elephant" if you're older than a century) and come out the other side.

Melee (•••) Your skill with a melee weapon is known throughout the domain.

Awareness (•••) You can see through most disguises and sense concealed dangers or hidden clues.

Occult [S: Noddism] (••) [in regards to Noddism, specifically] You have firsthand experience of something inexplicable, even by Kindred standards.

MERITS/ADVANTAGES/FLAWS (a mix of v5/v20. will mark appropriately):

I Was There (•••) [V5] [Merit] [Loresheet: THE WEEK OF NIGHTMARES] You didn't just hear about it, you were on the front line. Your reputation as a survivor and on-the-spot veteran of the Week of Nightmares grants you Status among Kindred historians, occultists, Ravnos, and Gehenna cultists alike.

Blessed By St. Gustav [V20] [Merit] Many Ventrue antitribu replace their traditional affinity for Presence with an aptitude for Auspex by means of the ignoblis ritae known as the Prayer to St. Gustav. For your piety and devotion to the Sabbat cause, you have been especially blessed and have an affinity for both Disciplines.

Resources (••) [V5] [Background] Middle Class: nice apartment or small house, several cars, high-end equipment.

Nightmares [V20] [Flaw] You experience horrendous nightmares every time you sleep, and memories of them ahunt you during your waking hours. [Ravnos] raging, [their] flesh rending.

Tic/Twitch [V20] [Flaw] You have some sort of repetitive motion that you make in times of stress, and it's a dead giveaway as to your identity. He tends to tap one of his feet, normally his left, impatiently.

Eerie Presence [V20] [Flaw] Mortals have an unconscious awareness of your undead nature, which makes them anxious and ill at ease in your presence. He's too still & doesn't blink anywhere near as often as he should.

TIMELINE OF EVENTS:

July 1999: Ravnos Moment.

MISC.:

He'll refer to Cainites by their proper form of address, a Bishop as "[your] Excellency" for example, and would rather be damned a second time than do otherwise. He's exercising his freedom by choosing to adhere to the formalities.

His Sire supported the Lasombra War Effort during the Second Sabbat Civil War, making the mass defection smart that much more. He was Embraced 11 years too late to have actually partaken in it himself but he has Opinions.