#if they're not making up a funny name for it they're naming the blade itself

[kinnoth]

I know on the outside from a civvie perspective, it's all "doctors work with nurses work with doctors" but I can tell you straight the fuck away right now I can name you like 3 nurses who can point out which instrument is called a "double action rongeur" and maybe 1 who can tell you what it's used for. I can't think of any who could tell you what order it should appear in a discectomy, if it does at all.

(I'm just saying nobody, not even the original podcast, thought to interview the techs who worked with this man. I can tell you right now when we have had bad technical surgeons, it is every tech shit talking them and writing them up for shit. If a nurse is doing it, it's bc you have a tech who doesn't know where the safety report hyperlink lives)

[callahanisms]

all you need is more radaway

save a horse. ride a cowboy. ;)

anyways i really loved the tv show and i love the game. and ghouls are just chef's kiss. or maybe that's because i love monsters. sad that i finished it so quickly. :(

perhaps i can put what i learned in my western class to good use lol

character: cooper howard aka. the ghoul

it's never easy surviving the wasteland. you don't know how you managed to survive for this long. perhaps because you seemed to have been blessed with incredible luck.

and building up endurance, of course.

you felt little to no side effects from the radiation of the food you were eating. which just meant you had a lot of radaway and rad-x stocked up.

to make ends meet, though, you had to start hunting. scavenging and scrapping by wasn't enough. you needed the extra caps.

thus your rivalry with another bounty hunter was born.

"well, well. aren't you far from home, sweetheart?"

you were used to comments about your outfit. a vault suit. yes, you came from one. you had been exiled after your father was revealed to be managing the experiment behind it. the child pays for the sins of the father always.

"you're not the first and you won't be the last." you pull the head off the body as clean as possible.

"now i don't know if you should do that."

"and why not?"

a bullet flies past you and burrows itself into the ground. you finally look up. a cowboy hat. the face of a ghoul. his gun pointing right at you.

but you weren't afraid.

"because he's my target." he pulls out a piece of paper. "and he's mine."

"seems unfair if i did all the work. and you just collect his head and the prize." you pull out the same piece of paper. yours is a little more worn out though. and covered in dried blood.

"that's the way of the wasteland sweetheart."

"if you believe so."

your hands were fast. two bullets lodged into his right left and when he looks up, you're gone.

of course, you learned from the best: western holotapes. you really liked them when you were growing up. claimed to want to be a lone hero.

in some ways, you were. the wasteland was just a new version of the wild west, wasn't it?

"spaghetti? like...the pasta?"

more like spaghetti western. he knew that, of course. but no one in the wasteland knew what a spaghetti western was. they were remnants of a past long gone and one only accessible by holotapes in the vaults.

"that's their name." the person says. "why? you have business with them?"

"perhaps." the ghoul was looking to return a favor.

"don't even try. they're far more formidable than you think."

"we'll see about that."

your rivalry was an exchange of bullets, more often than not. thankfully, you always stocked up on bloodbags and could make a stimpack from your heavy (but useful) travel chemistry kit. you were smart like that.

surprisingly, it became something to look forward. mostly because the ghoul preferred if he tried killing you, so he managed to get you out of a tough situation by killing the other people trying to kill you.

and you returned the favor. there was something satisfying about lodging a bullet into him again.

unfortunately, this left you two stuck on a job once. captured by raiders. you had been knocked out with a drug. and he had collapsed from...something.

"fuck." you mutter, pulling at the ropes binding you. your luck had run out for the day it seems, because your arms were tied to the ghoul's around this godforsaken pole. the metal was also uncomfortably rubbing up against your skin.

"you got a knife or anything sharp?" he looks over at you. it's rare to see him without his cowboy hat. his head was rather smooth.

you chuckle a little.

"something funny?" the ghoul asks.

"nothing. you're just...shaped like an egg."

"very funny."

"let me guess. your answer is no?"

"i don't have a knife up my sleeve, sadly. think they took it."

"shame." the ghoul shimmies something out of his own sleeve. he flicks the blade out and begins sawing at the rope. "watch your fingers."

you keep your fingers tucked in. eventually, the rope on your wrists comes undone and one arm soon after. the rest comes off and you rub your skin. "fuck these guys. always hated raiders."

"well, we both got sold out. we need to find that thing now. or else we'll be dead by sunrise." he tugs on the door of the jail cell and clicks his tongue.

"i don't have sharp objects. but i do have these." you pull out the bobby pin taped on the inside of your sleeve, alongside a mini screwdriver.

the lock wasn't very complicated, so you picked it with ease.

as you both are grabbing your equipment, you hear footsteps up above. light ones and heavier ones. and the sound of a muffled, altered, robotic voice.

the brotherhood of steel was worse than raiders, honestly.

"you go left, i go right. how does that sound?"

"i don't usually like taking orders from my rivals." he reloads his gun. "but for you? sure."

the event left the both of you soaked in the blood of your enemies. on the other hand, you guys left with plenty of loot and an idea of where your target was: dead. at the bottom of a lake.

it was a journey to get there, wherein you learned the details of each other's lives. you didn't think he was paying much attention to your sentences. after all, you came from a vault.

and yet, you saw a hint of sympathy in his eyes.

he seemed less keen on sharing details about his life, aside from his former name. cooper howard.

undeniably, as a fan of westerns, you recognized his names. from the holotapes.

"they had those?" cooper shakes his head, taking sips of water. "no way."

"yes way! it's where i learned to shoot."

"from watching my movies?"

"yes!"

"that is...a pleasant surprise." cooper leans back.

"that also makes you over 200 years old."

"that it does. something wrong with that?"

"no. the wasteland changes people." you maintain your attention to your suit, sewing a tear up. "just...you're looking for something, aren't you? everyone's always looking for something up here."

"are you looking for something?" his voice hardens and he sits up straight.

"i was. and then i found it. and i stopped." you tie the thread to seal the stitch and then tear the thread with your teeth. "i hope you find what you're looking for though."

"well, that's awfully kind of you, sweetheart."

"i have a name, you know."

"what is it?"

"(y/n)."

getting personal in the wasteland was something cooper wasn't adamant about. but the circumstances seems to call for it.

"guess we're even now."

the body of water was daunting. it was murky and dark. you pursed your lips and dumped your bag. "well. guess we have no choice."

cooper looks over at you then quickly turns around when he sees what you're doing: taking off your suit and going down to your underwear. "what are you doing?"

"i'm going to go get that head. that's how we get paid, right? easy three thousand caps. 15 hundred split evenly." you stretch.

"i think you might die."

"i'll be fine. i've done it before." Aquaperson perk.

"i can also swim, you know."

"i'll be fine cooper." you pop a rad-x pill just in case. "be back in a bit."

you dive like a swan, making minimal splash into the water. your form disappears beneath the darkness.

you're gone beneath the water for over an hour. cooper's heart was beating against his rib cage. you should be out by now. it should not be that hard. did something get you? things lurked beneath the murky waters always.

"fuck!"

he drops his equipment and begins stripping down, until he is just in his pants. he would need to dive after you. if you were dead, then so be it. it was fun while it lasted.

suddenly, you emerge. you take in the oxygen of the surface and hold the head up high. "got 'em." you swim over to the shore and walk out of the water.

there was something about how...wet you were that got him feeling hot and bothered.

"something happen down there?"

"couple of mirelurks. no big deal. which reminds me." you set the head on the ground and go back into the water. within minutes, you're pulling out the bodies of the mirelurks you had killed. "dinner."

while cutting the mirelurks open, you observe the way he walks around you. his muscles bulging a little as he cuts a mirelurk open and takes the meat. he was kind of...attractive?

"were you going to come after me?" he stops cutting hearing your question. "in the water, i mean."

"so what if i did?" cooper averts his eyes.

"that's sweet of you. i didn't know you had a soft spot for me."

"i don't."

"sure." you can tell he was lying through his teeth.

dinner was a nice, cozy meal. it was delicious. a nice surprise considering the nature of the wasteland.

cooper notices the way you're looking at him. and he looks at you the same way.

though how does this work exactly?

"do you want to..." you try to find a decent way to say this. fuck is a good term. but it felt a little vulgar in the moment.

cooper already knows what you're asking. "absolutely. if you can handle it." he smirks.

it's so cute when he smirks.

you glance over at your bag, looking at your stash of radaway. you had plenty. plus your stash of rad-x too.

"i absolutely can."

[bitter-me]

Shanti

Blade | M. Reader

----------

"I’ve got the perfect job for you, so come and follow me."

----------

Blade remembers the day he officially joined the Stellaron Hunters all too clear.

It was a day he could never forget.

"Oh? a new merchandise?"

The man said with his head slightly tilted. He looks at Blade with full interest in his eyes like someone eyeing an item at an auction, a "merchandise" he said.

The man welcomed him with open arms.

There never was an instance where he would lash out in frustration or annoyance. He always has a confident smile on his face, he never voices any of his negative emotions as if he's someone who's working in an industry. A customer service smile always plastered on his face. Day in day out.

After a few days, Blade would rather call him a merchant rather than a Stellaron Hunter. His behavior speaks for itself. He even speaks with merchants as if he's one of them and is sharing stories and advice he learned in his journey.

That got him wondering.

How could this "merchant" be a Stellaron Hunter? It confuses him to no end, someone so warm like that doing something like this? It's quite questionable. That is... Until he was partnered with the man on a mission.

That man... That once merchant-like man who always has a confident smile.. Shows his true colors...

He sees everyone and everything as nothing but items. He showed it repeatedly like how he said. "If it's alive, it’s a customer. If it's dead, it's merchandise."

He didn't even bother to call them with a more fitting word. He just straight up calls them "it." They're all nothing but customers and merchandise to him.

"No flaws, no waste, it’s a business of buying and selling." He said with a wide grin on his face. 'It's merely business. So no hard feelings right?' That's probably what crosses his mind every time he is given a mission by Elio. People are nothing but items in an auction to him as he raised the bid, it just goes to show how valuable you are to him as an item. The higher the bid.. the more valuable you are to him..

"Night in Aurum Alley never sleeps. It's all my turf!"

"So you’re selling blood, makes sense."

"Shut up and sit down. Punch them. Tie them up. Dismember them."

Such words are said with the sweetest and softest voice you'll ever hear, it's like honey, and you can't help but do what he says.

It works like a charm.

How could a man like this posses such a honey-like voice? Such a cursed man...

.

.

"Oh Bladie~"

"What."

[Name] only smiles at Blade's response, aside from Kafka, he is the only one that can call him "Bladie" and the man clearly took pride in it. "Oh nothing~" The man looks at Blade and eyed him up and down as he opens his mouth to say something Blade already cut him off. "No." "But I haven't say anything!"

Blade glances at the other as if he's silently judging him. "You've asked the question many times already."

"Which is?"

"Come work for me."

[Name] groans at Blade's response, that was so not him! He didn't just say it like that, who did he think he is? A barbarian? Where's all the other sweet honeyed words? "I did not say that."

"It's the point of it." "How harsh~"

Blade remain silent as [Name] continues to pester him. This is an everyday thing to him. If not for the fact that [Name] is a valuable member he might have killed him long ago.

----------

"Hello Mr. [Name], I see you got a new "merchandise"... is it---" "My apologies, but he's not for sale."

"He's a merchandise meant for me and me alone~ and I don't like customers who takes what's not theirs~ do anything funny and you'll be my next merchandise."

"Don't worry~ I heard a coat rack out of bones sells well in an auction~"

[dullgecko]

Two things, 1) sorry if this is long and I ramble and 2) even if this is a pretty light hearted headcannon, I'm going to add a trigger warning just in case because I don't wanna trigger anyone on accident.

TW: Knife

I feel like Fabian would buy the bad kids knives. It started with Kristen, she is their healer and only has her staff as a weapon. Then it was Adaine and Fig because they are also magic users and, even though they have better weapons than Kristen, it is always nice to have a secret knife. He made it very clear that he knows they can all hold themselves great in battle but it is good to have a weapon that none knows about. He got ones for Gorgug and Riz because he didn't want them to be left out and also just in case. He also got himself one. Riz is scary with knives. I have a few thoughts about what kind he would get them but I wanted to know what you think he would get them!

Kristen LOVES her knive, Fabian got it when he went to visit his grandfather over a long weekend. Its small and the blade is as sharp as a scalpel which he thought was fitting given it was for their primary healer (thats also what she ended up naming it, because she thought it was funny). It wasnt specifically forged for her but Telemaine had a lot of elven forged blades lying around that he had apparently forged for 'practice' thousands of years ago and had just tossed in a corner that he let Fabian take. Its incredibly light, and the handle is covered in beautiful engravings that Fabian did himself with the help of Telemaine. He even gave her a matching scabbard, so she can clip it to the back of her belt so she has easy access if it's needed.

Once he decorated one for Kristen he realised that it would be weird to just gift ONE friend a custom blade, so he just decided to engrave one for all of them.

Adaine gets a very short dagger, small enough to be kept hidden under her jacket as a backup. She hasnt acually used it in a fight yet but it makes an EXCELLENT package-opener. Even though she's constantly using it to cut through cardboard, the dagger hasnt lost any of its sharpness yet.

Fig doesn't seem to really understand the concept of a HIDDEN blade, given that she's constantly fidgeting with hers at every opportunity. Hers is an incredibly thin stilleto dagger that when she's not messing around with it she keeps it tucked into one of her boots.

Gorgugs, Fabian thinks, was his grandfathers attempt to make a machete. It's massive for a half-elf but just the right size for their barbarian to keep hidden on his person. Somehow, despite being made of the same elven metal as all the others, it's also incredibly /heavy/. The heft of it probably would help a normal blade cut through thick vegetation but the keenness of the blade makes the weight totally unnecessary. Gorgug dropped it once and it buried itself up to the handle in concrete like it was hot butter.

Fabian had a tough time finding something that he thought would be functional for Riz, given his size, but he ended up settling on a pair of karambits with rings on the end so the goblin could spin them around to adjust his grip. He thought the claw-like shape and small size suited the goblin the best and he was pleased when he absoloutly LOVED them. Riz immediatly ended up readjusting his loadout to incorporate them in a holster hidden against the small of his back under his vest. They become Riz's favorite close-range sneak attack weapon and Fabian thinks of them as his friends 'backup claws'.

Riz is by far the best out of all of them at combat with daggers even though he prefers to fight long range and USUALLY if he gets in close he defaults to his claws and teeth. He'll use blades up close if he knows whatever they're fighting tastes bad though (he has a particular dislike for biting undead enemies), some things he also just doesnt want in his mouth (plant monsters can be tricky and he has more than once had to pop some allergy medication after a fight because it left his mouth incrediby itchy).

[thebloodbrothers-archive]

Interview with Jordan Blilie of the Blood Brothers by Scott Batiuk

(transcribed from sandiegopunk.com on 07/19/2002)

The Blood Brothers signed to ARTISTdirect Records, and Ross Robinson is producing their next album. Ross Robinson of all people, though. His production is responsible for making bands like Limp Bizkit and Korn the multi-platinum monstrosities they are today.

But have you heard March On Electric Children (the Blood Brothers newest album)? The perfect pick-me-up when you're suffering from a bad case of the Warped Tour blues; for when you think the world is doomed to be permanently overrun by boring, cookie-cutter pop-punk and all of its mall/jock-core brethren.

There's two vocalists. Both sing, both scream. But not in a Linkin Park brand of vocal wackness. It's more like that screaming humanoid creature in Aphex Twin's 'Come To Daddy' video. Except it hopped up on goofballs. And there's two of 'em.

The lyrics:

'The flock of grinning octopi drop like tears from a varicose thigh singing''do you want to live forever? Nail your crotch to the hive of pleasure!''

or:

'The theater wails like deceased violins, high heeled castanet clicks rape harmony. Youth decays in 4/4 time.'

March On's guitars alternately bludgeon and hack you to pieces; jittery bass segments; jangly keyboard whines and seething undercurrents of static; it's blistering, grimy, and unwholesome.

But Ross Robinson and ARTISTdirect'

Well, the Locust signed to Epitaph-subsidiary Anti. Cattle Decapitation signed to Metal Blade. Is this a sign that the bigger labels are starting to wake up a little bit? There's no way in hell this stuff is going to catch on in the mainstream, is there?

I guess we'll see what happens when the new albums come out. In the meantime, San Diego, go watch the Blood Brothers play Oops! The Tour with the Locust, Harkonen, Arab On Radar, and Lightning Bolt at the Epicentre on 8/7. You'll be hard-pressed to find a freakier, more fucked up night of music this side of a Creed concert. But in a good way.

Scott: Some people describe your guys' music as hard core. Some people say it's punk. What does Jordan say?

Jordan: Oh, what does Jordan say'um, I'd say it'd be kind of just a terrible hybrid of both. I think that there's elements of both in our music, but I don't think that either one would really predominate.

S: For March On, you guys did kind of a concept album.

J: Yeah.

S: Are you going to do that again for the next one?

J: No. We actually did the exact opposite. Whereas all the songs are tied together on March On, we just tried to make every song as unique to itself as we possibly could. It was a fun thing to do for that record, but it was also a little bit limiting as well. You can't really get that many ideas out using that format, so we just wanted to make every one as different as possible.

S: What was your first reaction when you found out that Ross Robinson (Korn, Limp Bizkit, Vanilla Ice) wanted to produce your record?

J: We erased the email that was sent to us and just kind of laughed about it. And then later on, we started to think about it more, and then we just eventually called 'em back and got a hold of him. We thought this was kind of ridiculous and funny at first. We didn't take it too seriously.

S: Honestly, how the fuck did that happen? How did Ross Robinson get into you guys?

J: One of his friends, he's this guy named Casey, he sings for a band called Amen, and he acquired our CD and liked it and passed it on to him. So then Ross had his manager email us, and that was how it all pretty much started.

S: That's just so weird, 'cause I mean, that guy did Vanilla Ice's record!

J: I know (laughs). I know. I mean, it was pretty bizarre. We were all a little bit taken aback.

S: So is ARTISTdirect giving you total freedom for artwork and music and everything?

J: They just pretty much fund whatever we want to do. Like now they're giving us tour support, so tour's a lot more comfortable than it has been in the past. You know, recording budget and stuff like that. What else'I mean, pretty much everything that a band would need to be a band, they basically provide.

S: Do they ever shoot down ideas like on the artwork, for example?

J: No. No. They're perfectly content with what we want to do. They pretty much made that clear to us right off the bat. We just recorded the record and we did like 13 songs, 12 of which are going to go on the album. You know, there's no one there telling us to 'Write more of this sort of song. These need to go. Where are your choruses? Where are your verses?' Pretty much, all of our lyrics are going to be as fucked up as they always have, and our music as well. The artwork will probably go along with both.

S: So how much say did Ross have then?

J: Umm, let's see'he would offer ideas, like you know, say we were playing a part like six times, he'd go, 'you know, I think maybe you guys should play it four.' We'd try it out, and if we liked it that way, we'd work with it that way. If we didn't, we'd just say no, we don't want to do it this way, we want to do it our way, and it was perfectly fine. There was never any pressure to do anything that he wanted us to do that we didn't want to do. It was more like just having another objective person to bounce ideas off and maybe to get us to think about things that we hadn't really thought of between the five of us. The whole experience was really open, really constructive. I think we all walked away from it feeling good. It was really positive.

S: So, for the record, your next CD will NOT be rap-rock?

J: No. Well, I mean, I HAVE been honing my skills as an MC a bit. But'no.

S: Maybe for the future?

J: Yeah, you know, maybe the next one after that.

S: It's just weird. What do you think it means that a bunch of bands like you guys and the Locust, who are pretty inaccessible, are getting, not major, but bigger label interest? Why do you think this is happening?

J: I just think that music has become so fucking stagnant in the past 5 years that labels, especially like upstarts, are looking to sign bands that sound completely different from what's out there right now. That's pretty much the only possible reason I can see why anyone would want to sign either us or the Locust.

S: You don't think it's gonna be the big hit sound of the summer? Like if I turned on MTV2 and I saw a Locust video, I'd probably shit my pants.

J: (laughing) You'd love it wouldn't you?!

S: It would be cool, I guess, but I don't know how I would respond to that.

J: No, it's like there's nothing I want more than for, you know, just to be cruisin' the beach, you know, spring break, Daytona, Fort Lauderdale, and have our songs be the soundtrack for that. Basically that's what it boils down to.

S: Yeah, and then next thing you know, you're gonna have the Vans OOPS! Tour.

J: (laughing) Yeah, yeah, exactly. We'll be hittin' you know, some domed parking lot'summer, you know'

S: Carson Daly will be emceeing it and everything.

J: Mm hm.

S: So, what do you guys think of the Punk Rock Tour of the Summer aka the Warped Tour?

J: (laughing) The Warped Tour! I DON'T think about it. There's no bands on there that interest me whatsoever (laughs). I mean, the Warped Tour! It's pretty ridiculous to me.

S: It's laughable, but it's amazing how popular it's become and'

J: Yeah, because I remember it like a few years ago when I was still, even in like junior high, early high school, it seemed to be something that was actually an alternative to what was going on at the time. Namely Lollapalooza or any of those big rock tours. It was something that I thought was actually pretty cool. I mean, I remember Rocket From The Crypt did a year. I don't know who else. I stopped paying attention to it. Now, like you said, it's just completely laughable.

S: I keep thinking that it'll die out soon, but more and more of the generic, mediocre pop-punk shit just keeps comin' up.

J: I mean, you hope it would die, but you know (laughing), it just doesn't seem to. You're right.

S: And I really wish someone would just take a shit on Good Charlotte.

J: You know, really. Especially'especially, have you seen their show that they host?

S: Oh that's AMAZING.

J: (laughs) It's jaw-dropping entertainment right there!

S: It's like I'm repulsed. It's disgusting you, but you have to keep watching.

J: Yeah. Or you could just turn it off (laughs).

S: (laughing) Well, I don't know. Maybe if you're weird like that.

J: (laughs)

S: So if someone was stuck in a rut of that generic, mediocre pop-punk stuff, what would you recommend to get them out?

J: Uh, Liars. Chromatics. Electric Light Orchestra. Anything old. Neil Young. Pretenders. Let's see'Pretty Girls Make Graves, Cancer Conspiracy'uh, who else'that's about it. I don't really listen to that much new music. Hip hop. Nelly. Go pick up Nelly's new CD. I mean, you can at least dance to it, you know?

S: It sure is 'Hot In Herre.'

J: Yeah, I mean totally! That's my summer anthem right there.

S: I could go off on that, but I don't want to take up too much more of your time here. Um, so you guys are doing the OOPS! Tour in the next couple weeks right?

J: Yeah, we hook up with that I think in about'I think it's like nine days now. We meet them in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and then just go through the mid-west, and then back home.

S: That seems like it's going to be the freakiest tour you're gonna see this summer. Kind of like the opposite of the Warped Tour.

J: Yeah, yeah.

S: What do you guys have in store for all the kooky kids who come out to that?

J: Ummm'I don't know, we're just gonna play our songs, hopefully reasonably well. Um, you know, I mean, stage dives abound, brah! Let's see, what else'I mean, we don't really have any gimmicks planned or anything like that, but it should be fun regardless. I think that just watching us is fine enough.

S: Obviously, obviously'.

J: (laughing) I'm joking! I'm just kidding.

S: I mean, the tight pants and everything, you can't'

J: Oh yeah! You can't go wrong with that!

S: I really think you guys should go for the drummer in the cage, upside down, fireworks type thing.

J: Yeah, yeah, totally. Spin him around a bit. Mark told us that he wants to be spinning.

S: (laughs) 'Cause I mean, what good is a show if the drummer isn't spinning in circles, you know?

J: I know. No shit. Really

[beaningeneraldenial]

Grian meets a guy, a bad guy

The rift spit him our in the middle of a park, in the middle of the night. Enclosed, shady, unprotected park with more than a few shady people walking around. He can already smell trouble in the air before he sees it.

Sadly, he sees it soon enough.

After getting his bearings and looking over his shoulder multiple times, Grian decides to leave his impromptu hiding spot behind some hedges and walk on the main path of the park. It's empty enough to warranty a safe place for him to rest and look for his friends after.

This small... inhibition, per se, of the rift –splitting them up and throwing them gods know where– has made this mission quite troublesome for him. While he could reach for his powers, tucked away in a metaphorical coffet, Grian likes a good challenge.

Finding Mumbo is a challenge in and of itself.

In the corner of his mind, he knows that he's being followed or at the very least, watched. No, he isn't paranoid. He just caught a glimpse of someone walking behind him at some point and when he turned to see –to ask for directions too– there was no one there.

He shrugs and continues walking. The entrance of the park is just up ahead, he'll probably make it without issue.

Aaaand that is where he is proven wrong, apparently, because he is shoved towards a tree trunk face-first, his back hitting the bark of it when he is spun around at the last second. The back of his head bangs against it, too, and goodness, he hopes there aren't any splinters in his head now.

His wings have been awkwardly caught between him and the tree. They're in a position where he can't flap them without risking all sorts of injuries that he can't heal. The rift took away all his equipment, inconveniently, meaning that he has no health potions on him and no weapon to strike back with when the cold blade of a knife is pressed to his throat.

He looks at his assailant, who is close enough to obscure everything from the neck down– Brown hair, gray, shining eyes, black mask pulled over his mouth and nose. Grian huffs a chuckle because this guy thinks his identity can be hidden that easily from him, which he finds funny. The guy, obviously, lacks a sense of humor. The blade is pressed firmer against his skin.

Granted, this is a stranger and there is no way some random guy would know that Grian has weird ways of knowing things but...

"Waffles or pancakes?"

That– That question leaves Grian at a loss.

"I– what..."

You'd think a man who has a knife to your throat would be demanding your bag or mugging you at this point.

"Waffles...", the guy insists, "or pancakes"

"Waffles?"

"Hmmm..."

For a second, Grian panics. Did he answer wrong? Was the answer neither "waffles" nor "pancakes"?

And then the guy pushes himself off of him and Grian subconsciously rubs his throat. Thankfully, the knife didn't do any damage there. That's good.

"Parker", the guy says, extending a hand to Grian. Is that his name? Grian doubts that it is. He shakes his hand anyways –if only to establish contact and leave a mark on him.

"That was really unnecessary", he tells Parker.

He takes the offered distance as a chance to examine the rest of him. Blue and yellow bomber jacket that has definitely seen better days and a simple pair of jeans. Grian wonders how many pockets the jacket has.

"Oh, it was completely necessary", Parker responds, stuffing his hands in his pockets, having out the knife away a second ago. "Waffles are superior to pancakes"

"Oookay, then", he hums to himself, unsure what to make of that. "Have you seen anyone who fell out of the sky by any chance?"

But he may as well use this guy as a way to find his friends, regroup and finally find Mumbo.

"Uh... no?"

Or maybe he can skip the first part of that list.

Oh and sure, Parker can look at him like he is the crazy one out of the two of them. That makes sense.

[overflowchute]

tron's deck in ygo zexal is heraldic beast. it's not one i feel super strongly about, but i appreciate it as a deck theme nonetheless. there's no extremely strong conceptual core to how the deck plays, but i like that it provides a nicely delineated idea. i think the deck choice is meant to fit to a few things

tron is unique in ygo at this point b/c his main role in that he's an abusive patriarch whose whole family duels. a major aspect of his arc and zexal 1 in general is the father-son relationship, his deck represents affinity. the arclight family is tragic because tron himself was actually a pretty good dad, but after going through the experiences he does before the story he gets warped into a horrible creature that uses his family's pre-existing love for his own goals.

when he comes back, he grants his family the power of his "crest", which seems to give them terrible power that ultimately exhausts and damages them if they ever lose or use it too much. so the choice to make his deck revolve around heraldry directly mirrors that ofc

i like the emptiness of the association - heraldry is the symbol of nobility, not the things that make it a family itself.

anyway, this is all an elaborate set-up so i could talk about tron's signature monster, genome-heritage. gh is a very odd looking guy, i think its art is framed poorly

but you know, there's actually a lot i like about this thing, especially seeing it in the context of the show. it has that princess mononoke "weird-ass noble beast" energy to it, where it scans like a deer but really not at all like one if you look closely. in the anime, genom-heritage uses its strange antler hair as a sort of feeding tentacles, wrapping them around the targeted monsters to steal their effects and form, but it keeps its face...

which leads me to consider that, the white nearly mask-like face is probably directly meant to mirror tron himself. really the entire creature - both of them are empty shells of a family symbol that steal people's memories. indeed, its japanese name is genome-HERITOR.

honestly the more i look at it the more i like aspects of its shape. the not-hair not-antlers. the garish colors and odd shapes do call to mind overly designed coats of arms and noble ostentation. i think my favorite element is the bizarre blade-like hooves?

the way it wears clothes with human-like arm shape design on its front legs disturbs me for some reason. it doesn't look like a beast, it looks like the idea of a beast, which is perhaps the point! and indeed, it is a Psychic monster, not a beast itself

so overall id say i like heraldic beast, they're a very middle of the road archetype, but the anime context combined with a reasonable attempt to make them do Something Specific in the game creates a perfectly ok set of weirdos

one last side note. a unique element of genome-heritor in the anime is that it doesn't just copy name, it STEALS the name from things, deleting the original monster's name. this is really funny to me and also kind of cool. they avoid doing this in game for various reasons though. there are very few cards that let you change the name of monsters willy nilly in ygo, mostly just ones that let a single monster copy the name of another. in the anime this is actually integral to how heritor wins one duel, so it's a bit sad it can't do that in the game. still, there's something i love about that conceptually: it's just a weirdly petty thing, that it takes your identity from you completely. an interesting creature to imagine in a fantasy context, wouldn't you say?

i suppose there really is a king of beasts...

[yunkiwii]

~23:46~ {hongjoongxgn!reader, fluff, slice of life, tattoos, wc:700}

"why did you get tattoos on your back?", you ask quietly, not worried about how dumb this kind of questions might sound anymore.

hongjoong shrugged his shoulders chuckling at your very random question. he was laying on his stomach right next to you, as you sat with your back against the headboard of his bed with his right arm resting on your thighs. the book in your hands was long forgotten as you got distracted by the black lines that drew mesmerising designs on your boyfriend’s back.

"which one is your favourite?", he retorted at you, turning his head to face you with a cheeky smile as he supported himself on his left elbow.

you let the book fall open on your lap to caress his hair, still half-wet, and with said movement a scent of sweet almonds invaded your senses.

"hm, let me look closer at them", you let your hand rest at the back of his head as he lets himself fall down on the mattress again.

"you've seen them plenty of times, jagi", hongjoong chuckles once more, his right hand tapping your hip lightely before resting there.

you, on the other hand, slid down on the bed just a little to become closer to him. your fingers tracing his skin from the back of his neck to the middle of his back, following the abstract lines that created an irregular path. you loved the unorganised organisation of that path, stopping right above his last rib, as if it was made to tell you he liked to be kissed there.

but as much as you loved the thicker lines, your eyes always diverted to the finer ones on both his shoulder blades.

"the cherubs. the cherubs are my favourites."

"and why's that?", hongjoong pulls you closer to him, placing a soft kiss on your bare shoulder.

"the design itself is very pretty, but the fact they are facing each other in such a perfectly symmetrical way, it's like the lines in the middle work as a mirror. the whole thing is very pleasing to look at."

"glad to know im also pretty from behind", your boyfriend laughs into your neck, his hot breath tickling and sending shivers down your spine.

"oh, so that's the reason why you did them!", you look down at him with a faked surprise before pouting, "cute..."

you both fall into a quiet laughter once more, partly because you found yourselves funny like that, but mostly because you felt the most content with each other.

hongjoong took the book from your lap, placing it on the nightstand only to lay his head there instead, beginning to drift in and out of sleep.

after a while, with your restless mind still hung up on his marked skin, you called his name through a whisper, almost inaudible, "hongjoongie..."

"hm.. yes?", you bite your lip at the sound of his raspy voice, mentally slapping your forehead for waking him up.

"uh, nothing... nevermind, sorry i woke you up baby.", you take his hand in yours, bringing it to your lips as he turned to face you, eyebrows furrowed and sleepy eyes.

"no, what is it? is everything okay?"

"it's kinda stupid joongie..."

"it's okay, you can say it. it's just me", hongjoong sits up, resting his back against the headboard and pulling you into his embrace.

"the cherubs aren't my favourites just for being pleasing to look at...", you hesitate a little, hiding your face in the crook of his neck, too shy to look him in the eye, "i also like to think they're there to protect you when i can't"

with the lack of verbal response, hongjoong simply holding you a little tighter and chuckling lowly, you felt your cheeks heating up.

"i told you it was stupid! its embarrassing!"

"no, no, its not! trust me, it's not stupid or embarrassing.", hongjoong lifts your chin and your eyes are met with the ones of a smiling man, one who cups your cheek before pecking the tip of your nose, "it makes me very happy to hear that. i just made them because they looked cool, but now i will forever associate them with you."

taglist: @su-lix @bobateastay @serialee @leihey ♡

⇢ let me know if you want to be added or removed from the taglist ♡

[mcsdiamonds]

More Choices opinions

Troy is actually not that bad. I am not a VIP player, so my latest chapter was 10 Another World, and it's honestly taken me until his diamond scene in this chapter to warm up to him.

To me he fell into PBs flirtatious goofball archetype, which I never find myself attracted to. They're never smooth enough to overcome the goofiness, even when PB tries to give them some tragic backstory. But something about Troy's diamond scene was written juuuuuust well enough to square that circle of "being the comic relief" and "being a viable love interest."

In particular I kind of compare him to Mal from Blades and Maxwell from TRR, but there's so many like "funny best friend who is also your LI" characters that the role has kind of become an instant no for me. Maxwell has his place in my heart for various reasons (I should make a Maxwell post.....❤️), but by the time Mal came around I was burnt out on the trope because, as I said, the circles never squared. If you're a goofball dork whose only function is to make pop culture references, in what context should I find you sexy?

Troy's diamond scene made me see his character different. If I hadn't played it, I would still see him as just another one of those archetypes, a character whose whole spot in the narrative hinges on having known you before the plot took off and whose actions barely justify being present. And someone whose humor is said to be covering up for something but for whom there's not really a dark enough background to be covering up for?? Idk, I feel like there's a lot of those.

But actually, everyone has lost someone in this apocalypse, so the humor is a good mask for coping. And actually Troy noticed something was up way before you did and was planning to leave the Tower the same night you did regardless of your plot unfolding.

(I sat there while playing through his explanation and thought, hey wait, that's actually interesting. Why didn't they have him leave before us and then we got in trouble for being close to a deserter and that's when our sister saw our name on the list, why did they write it to be so coincidental, why were we put on that list for such a bullshit unrealistic reason. You could have met him on the outside, either having found Eli first or just surviving on his own and having to explain himself to you, it could have even been like 1 or 2 chapters difference so it didn't seem so drawn out and it would have made him a way more interesting character off the bat and fixed the "mc is a dumbass" vibe, because the current problem of "wow even the comic relief saw it coming" solves itself. It makes him more cunning and us more Innocent instead of circumstance making us both look Dumb. Why does PB have such loose writing when things could be done so tightly with more grip jfc.)

And yeah, that makes him seem a lot more sly than he did before. In my version of things he comes off as even more resourceful, but you know, Pixelberry isn't perfect because they don't have me on their staff :) But, all things considered, he was at least way more aware than I gave him credit for because the original scene where he pops up on you in the woods like hours after you escape was just eye-rollingly coincidental. Of course you survived, I was able to romance you, you weren't going anywhere and I question why you just weren't part of the escaping group in the first place. Loose writing, very loose writing.

What wasn't loose writing was how he didn't miss a beat when you told him he didn't have to deflect everything with humor. He said something to the effect of "I don't know what you're talking about 🙃", which, okay. Mal from Blades had this moment too, but I honestly don't feel like Mal thought his situation was shit. Maxwell has also had a moment or two like this, but he's much more like Lily from Blood Bound where it's like, no this is just how they are? There is no mask they are just happy people, it's possible to be happy people. (Maxwell could have been more mask-y, but honestly the writing is just not behind it. When I rewrite TRR it will be there, but in canon it's much more his personality than a mask.) But Troy knows his situation is shit. It made me realize just how many dangerous situations he has been in and why he had that mask in the first place. I think it's because it's balanced out by a seriousness here, the ever-present danger and constantly fearing for your life, like just being in this abandoned park felt like a risk (seriously why were there no zombies im this loud as fuck park, the whole thing felt so suspicious), so of course he is going to try to keep up group cohesion with humor, he needs that cohesion to SURVIVE. Like these kind of characters need to be shown being serious about SOMETHING, and that was well on display here.

Honestly, the whole book is elevated by the setting, it's why I hate how many modern-era books they make. PB, you know your fantasy series are in a completely different league, can you stop pussyfooting around and actually commit to quality over quantity already. Oh what's that, your only fantasy series in now on hiatus and the most anticipated sequel has been pushed back ANOTHER year? Oh okay, guess you DON'T want my money.

Back to Troy: So in addition to being a lot more cunning and deep than I previously gave him credit for, he was actually SMOOTH in this chapter! He so far has not been super flirtatious with me as I have this thing about picking dialogue that I actually feel a human being would say, and shoehorning in how hot you find someone every conversation is definitely not how normal human beings talk. This chapter was my first or second romance decision with him, and I chose, "you're lucky you're pretty" because that's how I felt a friend would actually mock you if you have nasty taste in food. Because of this I feel like he's been pretty subdued; the game assumes if I am not throwing myself at him I am not interested, which is fine. I went into his diamond choice expecting to choose all the friend options and be done with it but he surprised me and the moment was written as such that I actually felt it was right to kiss him despite not choosing romance options for him in the past.

He also does that wall lean over you at one point and says something flirty, but also like relevant to the situation at hand, and I felt my mcs brain short circuit. That's hot. Why don't more choices characters act more subtly hot, why is it always extremely aggressive flirting, have PB staff never been flirted with before? Usually if a character is to suavely lean over you they'll give you the dialogue equivalent of "Are you from Tennessee? ;)" and you're supposed to act like that was a natural conversation progression and not just virgins writing pickup lines or harried clean up writers desperately trying to get the scene to work. Whoever wrote this scene actually knows what successful come ons actually entail, because this was it.

And it's really sad that I might have missed this if I hadn't been buying all the scenes for the Sanctuary bonuses. Regular people should know that Troy is actually hot!! It's totally unfair. Do you hear me, regular people??? He's hot!! He's HO—

[aki-draws-things]

Hi Aki~ I know you prefer to hurt Tybalt, but for BTHB "Dying in their arms" how about hurting Mercutio instead? (T could still be the focus). In a Tycutio way I reckon that would hurt T a lot anyway. Maybe M is protecting T against someone (lord C?), or they're fighting someone together. And then when the situation is resolved M doesn't realise he's been hurt - until Tybalt looks at him, horrified (cue angst, blood, and tears).

You asked for angst, You’ll have angst. Also written in a single sitting, which is a very good thing.

Prompt: Dying in their armsFandom: Romeo et JulietteShip: Tycutio

@badthingshappenbingo

Tybalt didn’t hate Romeo, why should he? He was his cousin’s husband, Juliet loved him so much she challenged death itself for him. - Maybe he could hate him a bit for that. Just a tiny little bit. - In the end he didn’t hate him, not really, not as everyone believed. But he did hate Lord Montague, and he had every reason for that, his hate was justified, the Prince would even allow him to hate him even more.

“What are you doing here?” The voice reminded Tybalt so much of his own uncle and unconsciously he took a step back, just a bit farther from his reach, in case he decided – But that was not Lord Capulet. - And yet that fear settled on his chest and refused to leave, a cold hold around his heart and a too deep instinct to cower. He hated himself so much for such a childish reaction. -

“I need to speak with Juliet.” He finally said looking back up. “No need to be afraid, Tybalt. You’re not a child, don’t act like one.” He thought.

“No.”

Tybalt blinked confused for a moment. No? Was he – Was he refusing him to see his cousin? That made no sense.

“No Capulets here. You may want to leave before I call a guard. Or worse.”

He noticed how the hand slipped to the hilt of the rapier at his side. Were really his uncle and this man so similar? Hands and swords always quicker than words? He had been the same, he couldn’t deny it, but he was younger, he could learn, and he did learn not to let anger lead his hand. Those men were the one supposed to teach them that. Instead here he was, threatening him for such a simple request.

“I just need Juliet for a second, I –”

“I thought I had been clear.” Tybalt took another step back as the blade shone catching a ray of sun. He wasn’t scared, not really. - He simply valued his life. -

“I won’t even get inside, please, I –” He almost tripped on the two steps behind him when Lord Montague stepped forward. He wasn’t scared, Tybalt tried to convince himself, he wasn’t. He still preferred to be far from his reach and from his hand, scared or not.

He left without even see his cousin, let alone speak to her. It wasn’t like he had to ask her much, it was only a little proposal. Extremely little. He needed a witness with him, only for a moment, some minutes, not even long, and of all the people he knew she was the only one who cared enough for him to accept. The only one who would understand. - The one who would be overjoyed for him. -

“How did it went, love?” Tybalt muttered something sitting on the couch and curling against Mercutio’s side like an overgrown cat.

“I didn’t ask her.” He revealed after a while.

“Why?”

Tybalt almost lied. It’ wouldn’t be fair of course, he promised to be honest, he wanted to be honest, but Mercutio was also so close to the Montague’s family that for a moment he feared he wouldn’t believe him.

“I didn’t see her.” Small steps toward the truth, maybe it would be easier that way.

“Was she out? You could have waited for her a little longer. You don’t have a curfew.” Tybalt didn’t move from his position against him. He wanted to lie, he couldn’t risk to break something Mercutio held so dear like his friendship and association with the Montagues. “Tybalt? My good Tybalt, what’s wrong with you today? What happened?” He inquired worriedly turning and taking Tybalt’s face in his hands. He so wanted to lie. And yet he couldn’t.

“Lord Montague didn’t let me see her.”

“He what?”

“I could have insisted, I know, but he put a hand on his rapier and I…” Mercutio was looking at him in shock and Tybalt lowered his eyes in shame. He was supposed to be fearless, he was supposed to be the best swordsman of the Capulets, of all of Verona. He used to be one of the best. -He still was if he wanted. - Instead he backed away once a man put the hand on the rapier, like a child. Scared and trembling. - He had every reason. His uncle’s actions made him fear sudden movements like those. He raised his rapier against him in the “good name of a lesson”, he would say. -

“How could he?” Shock turned into rage. “How dare he?!” Rage turned into fury. Tybalt took his hands in his and held them tight.

“It doesn’t matter. I can write her a letter and –”

“No. - Mercutio stood and held a hand to him. - We’ll go there and he will let you see Juliet. Right now.”

Making him change his mind was almost impossible, Tybalt had learned it long ago, before they eve started to be something more than just enemies, or friends, or occasional lovers. Mercutio was a hurricane, unstoppable once he set his mind on something.

- Never like in that moment he wished he could have changed his mind. It would have saved them much pain and tears and – It was too late now. -

Tybalt almost remained on the door of the Montague palace when a servant opened the door and gestured them to enter, so used to Mercutio’s presence around the place.

“Come. - He said taking his hand. - You have nothing to fear with me, I promise.”

He felt a bit stupid for a moment, acting so much like a scared child, letting Mercutio protect him, shield him. He should be the one protecting the future Prince, not the other way around, it was absurd.

What was absurd for Mercutio, on the other hand, was how Lord Montague shot up from his seat at their sight and pointed a finger at Tybalt.

“I said no Capulet here. You’re testing my patience here.”

“Funny coming from you and then taking in a Capulet. Go ahead, go to her.” He mouthed a quick “My love” that in another moment would have made him blush. Tybalt moved to Juliet just a bit but as soon as he stepped away from Mercutio Lord Montague stepped forward, rapier already in hand.

Everything blurred for a moment, someone moved, someone screamed, people stood from their seats. It was all almost surreal.

“You really are a fool.” Mercutio said and it was his voice that cleared Tybalt’s mind from that fog. - He wished it didn’t. - You are the fool, he wanted to say, biggest fool of all.

When Mercutio turned Tybalt’s eyes were wide, tears already forming and fear, so much fear painted on his face that made Mercutio want to reach out. Instead he fell in his arms with a groan, blood seeping through his doublet, through Tybalt’s desperate hands, dripping on the floor beneath them.

“Oh… closer than expected.” He muttered, more blood coming from his lips. Tybalt’s hands slipped slightly as he tried to hold him against himself, Mercutio laid his head against Tybalt’s chest. “Don’t cry, love. - He brushed a hand on his cheek drying the tears for a moment. - You know you’re so much prettier when you smile. And you said you would keep tears for the big day, didn’t you?”

If possible that brought more tears from his eyes, he clutched at his doublet and a sob escaped his throat.

“It’s all right. I’m here, in your arms, what better place?” Mercutio covered a hand with his, caressed gently his knuckles before letting it slip down at his side, too weak to keep it there. “That’s my favorite place to be, you know? - Tybalt wanted to nod, of course he knew, Mercutio always said it. But it wasn’t fair, not right now. Who gave him the right to say it now? He caressed his cheek drying the tears that in the end fell from Mercutio’s eyes. Everything around them was still, like the world stopped for a moment to give them time. A little more time. Just a little more. - I wouldn’t change it.”

Tears turned into sobs, something Juliet never heard before coming from a person, something almost unnatural, even more coming from her cousin.

The world started to spin around them again, faster than before, to make up for the lost time. Guards in neutral colors came forward and took the blade from Lord Montague’s hands, they dragged him away and no one dared to stop them. Two of them knelt by Mercutio and Tybalt, they whispered something and Tybalt almost pushed them away, but they were kind, they understood, he knew them, and in the end he let one of them take Mercutio’s body from his arms. - He promised, profusely, to be careful as he carried him away. - The other, younger one waited for him, kneeling on one knee by his side, never touching him but close enough, until Tybalt took his hand as a support to stand.

“I’m –” Romeo’s voice was broken as Tybalt walked out of the palace.

“Don’t. His sins are his alone. You are guiltless. Don’t apologize.” Apologies, he thought as he walked to the Escalus palace in a sort of daze, won’t bring him back to me.

The Prince was waiting by the door when he arrived, the young guard made a quick bow and left swiftly, Tybalt kept his eyes on the ground, too scared to look up and see that man he could have called uncle blame him. Because of course he would blame him for Mercutio, he blamed himself. He was the one who should have changed his mind, the one who was supposed to protect him, the one –

The Prince walked closer, stopped right in front of him and raised a hand. Instinctively Tybalt flinched and screwed shut his eyes. The hand touched his cheek, slipped behind his head, under the hair and pulled him closer until he was resting against him, his other arm wrapped around the shoulders and held him close.

“Come, nephew, - He said after some minutes, when he heard the sobs slow down a bit. - let’s get you inside.”