#if we don't find the answer then.....I'm probably gonna have to survive like this for the rest of my life

[honey-skulls]

Huge vent

Yesterday was the welcome thing for the beginning of the school year, only from 15h to 16h30. Still managed to end up late. Nothing to do either, just sit there and listen to the explanation of how the year is gonna go. Still came back home EXHAUSTED

First day of school and I'm already an hour late

They also said that if we come late, the teachers aren't gonna let us in

So now I'm just frozen, sitting on my chair after finally managing to prepare, with no idea on if i waste the little energy i have going to school in the heat only to not be let in

But they also said they'd do that last year, and they never did. So maybe they're not doing it again and I'm just wasting time when they would let me in

I don't know and that's the problem

And even if i can, the mental image of everyone in class turning to stare at me and judge while i enter in the middle of the class, because i spent more than half of last year being hours late if not straight up missing "for no reason" is too much (because this country has dog shit psychology knowledge that has been studied to be around 50 years late, and they know nothing about invisible disabilities. Not like I'd ever even tell them. This class sucks in all minorities fronts)

But also I'm literally already thousands of euros in debt for this damn school and every class i miss is money wasted

I don't know what to do

[nekohime19]

🌟Neko Shadowpeach Au Guide!🌟

I have so many Shadowpeach Au I can't even 😭

This post is mainly for me to organize myself bc I'm beginning to have a lot of ideas for Au, and a lot of Au in general and I need to write that somewhere or I'm gonna get lost, 😌.

But also it's to let you guys know about future Au I would probably write and see if you like them.

Of course if you guys have any questions about any of my Au's, even the unpublished one, feel free to ask, 😁.

alright here we go :

Published

Monkeys silly love life :

Summary : Macaque never met the great sage, nor the brotherhood, he simply lived like a hermit until his lantern was stolen by a thrall. He finds himself coming to Megapolis in search of his lantern, there he meets MK, his friends and one particularly insistent golden-furred monkey who seems keen on flirting with him despite the Lady Bone Demon taking over the world.

Fic : series of three fic on Ao3

Who said you can't flirt in an apocalypse?

Monkeys discovering the wide world of dating.

I know the world is ending but will you marry me?

Status : all fics completed

Vibe : fluff and humor

Heart behind the lie :

Summary : Sun Wukong's mind is severely damaged by the Lady Bone Demon's possession, leading him to act like a beast. Macaque being the only person he trusts in this state, he is designated as his babysitter. Macaque refuses at first but then finds himself needing magic to survive and decides to accept being a babysitter to better steal Sun Wukong's magic. He might became more attached than he planned for.

Fic : fic on Ao3 + being re-published on Tumblr with two chapters a day

Status : uncompleted

Vibe : emotional angst, feels and fluff

Publishing day : At least once a week

Tumblr tag (including fanarts /answers /memes /chapters) : Heart behind the lie

Mini Mac :

Summary : One day Sun Wukong discovers that a little black-furred monkey had been living in the walls of his stone mansion and decides to befriend him. Problem is, the little black-furred beauty is not keen on deepening his relationship with him, thus the sage has to gain his trust first.

Fic : one fic on Tumblr and Ao3

Status : uncompleted

Vibe : fluff, humor and very light angst

Publishing day : Two to three chapters a week

Tumblr tag (including memes / answers / fanarts/chapters) : Mini Mac au

Bimawen :

Summary : What if Heaven actually gave weight to the title of Bimawen and treated Sun Wukong with respect, even if reluctant? Sun Wukong would have never gone on a rampage and quietly taken care of the horses. Years after Sun Wukong has taken his horsley duties Heaven found another celestial monkey, the Six-eared Macaque causing mayhem in the mortal world. The macaque is judged and if he wants to avoid his execution, he has to become the bimawen's assistant. The problem is the monkeys don't really like each other.

Fic : one on Ao3 and Tumblr

Status : uncompleted

Vibe : fluff, humor and feels / JTTW oriented

Publishing day : Once to twice a month (often more bc I'm inspired)

Tumblr tag (including memes / fanarts / answers / chapters) : Bimawen au

Share my glow (co-writing with Pen-Women)

Summary : Macaque never met Wukong in his life. He is known as the Shadow Weaver, a mysterious entity who guides the one lost in the night. His lantern is the last artifact LBD needs to complete her mech and take over the world. When his forest is frozen by the Thrall he has no choice but to follow a troublesome team of heroes with a particularly flirty Monkey King.

Fic : one in Ao3

Status : uncompleted

Vibe : fluff and angst / ABO

Publishing day : Once a week (every Sunday)

AITA for sleeping with the guy my girlfriend is cheating on me with? :

Summary : A reddit style story with interactive comments about Wukong mess of a love life (and his gay awakening). Wukong learns his girlfriend is cheating on him so in an act of pettiness he confront the secret side boyfriend. What he didn't expect was to get along with Macaque and, after explaining the situation and discovering Macaque had no idea he was a side piece, to get hammered and sleep with him.

Fic : on Ao3 and Tumblr

Status : completed (for now)

Vibe : crack and humor

Tumblr tag : AITA shadowpeach

Unpublished

So here is are my ideas for different Au's! Of course, bc those are still ideas in working, summaries might change a lil bit when I actually write them. Idk if I'll write them all though. They're classed from the one I want to write the most after I'm finished with Heart behind the lie and Mini Mac to ideas in passing.

Love Addicts :

Summary : Macaque and Sun Wukong find themselves feeling miserable after season 5. MK lost his powers when he jumped in the pillar, and both monkeys can't help but feel guilty. Sun Wukong then stumbles upon an odd door in his treasure trove and discovers the existence of a bar selling love potions. Despite hating each other, both monkeys decides to drink one potion to recover some sort of happiness, letting themselves be in love for one week. They take another one after the end of this first week and soon become addicted to the taste of love, even if this love is fake.

Fic : will be on Ao3 (debating if I'm gonna add it to Tumblr)

Status : unwritten / I'm planning this one after Heart behind the lie

Vibe : angst, fluff and feel, smut

Die-Hard fan :

Summary : Sun Wukong took the throne of the Jade Emperor after the attack on Heavens orchestrated by the brotherhood. While at first were glad to be free of Heaven's corruption they soon began to fear the whims of their new ruler. Sun Wukong is a beast of pleasure who does nothing but indulges his needs, either in food or treasures, and kills those who doesn't agree with him. One day, he stumbles upon the most famous entertainer of the mortal world, the Six-eared Macaque, and became a die-hard fan. Now determined to be someone Macaque would like, Sun Wukong has to change all his ways and learns to be a good King.

Fic : will be on Ao3 and Tumblr

Status : unwritten / Planning this after Mini Mac

Vibe : fluff and humor

Pacific rim Au :

Summary : For a long time, Sun Wukong and Macaque were the best Rangers in the world. Their performance was flawless, their compatibility undeniable, they piloted the Shadowpeach as if it was a part of their own bodies. But after a particular incident, they were never able to pilot together again. Years after, Macaque is required to pilot with Wukong for one last time. One last mission. Maybe having the world on the line will push them both to rekindle what was once lost.

Fic : unwritten / will be on Ao3 and Tumblr

Status : unwritten : fleshing out the lore

Vibe : feels and fluff, smut

Tumblr tag (including lore) : Shadowpeach pacific rim au

Monkey Cop Mania :

Summary : Both monkeys find themselves being transported to a movie-like dimension in which Sun Wukong is the insanely famous Monkey Cop and Macaque a world-wide known thief accused of murder. If they want to get back to their own dimension, they have to solve a murder and finish the movie's scenario. Problem is neither mystic monkeys turn out to be great detectives.

Fic : unwritten / will be on Ao3

Status : unwritten

Vibe : Humor and feels

Once upon a monkey

Summary : various long one shots of shadowpeach being in different fairy tales.

How to bewitch the witch : Wukong is the prince of the Sun Kingdom and falls in love with the cruel sea witch, Macaque, while said witch was destroying his wedding with the mermaid prince, Azure. Once Azure returns to his kingdom and their wedding falls void, Wukong does everything in his power to court Macaque. Turns out, courting a sea witch is quite difficult.

The strongest of them all : Macaque is a magic mirror with the ability to hear past, present and future terribly in love with his owner, the King Sun Wukong. One day Sun Wukong learns that he's not the strongest anymore, but that he's step-son, MK, is. Macaque, after listening to the future, fears for his King and tries to better the relationship between MK and Wukong.

Fighting Beauty : Macaque is prince Sun Wukong personal guard, in charge of guarding him until his betrothed comes to rescue him from the sleeping spell casted upon him. Things get awkward when Macaque awakens Sun Wukong on his first night on duty. Sun Wukong, impatient as ever, decides to slay the dragon himself and not wait on his betrothed, Macaque is dragged in the quest despite himself.

Midnight Illusion : Macaque is at day the mistreated step-son of the Lady Bone Demon, and at night the leader of the most fearsome thieves of the Sun Kingdom. He's unfortunately caught by the royal guard in the middle of a thievery. He's given two choices by the Sun King himself : either spend the rest of his life in prison, or spy on his own step-mother while also pretending to be the Sun King betrothed. Naturally, he chose the second option.

The Mage and the Monkey : Sun Wukong is cursed by the wandering mage, Macaque, after refusing to give him shelter on a stormy night. He's now the Monkey King, and he'll stay in this beastly form as long as he cannot find true love, according to the Mage, at least. But Sun Wukong is not one to stay idle, he finds the Mage huts after a lot of searching, and bugs him everyday to undo the curse. Macaque is tempted to accept, only because Sun Wukong is getting annoying.

Fic : unwritten / will be on Ao3

Status : unwritten / rough ideas really

Vibe : Humor and fluff and angst

Narcissist :

Summary : Sun Wukong was lonely. He felt like there was a wedge between him and the world, that no-one could ever understand him. Even his successor couldn't hope to breach his shell. Pushed by his loneliness, Wukong stole a forbidden book from the gods with the vilest spells written in it and bring his shadow to life.

Fic : unwritten / will be on Ao3

Status : unwritten / very rough idea

Vibe : angst, fluff and horror (Mac being an eldritch horror)

I'll add Au's to this guide if I have any more that I think of, but that's all for now.

[acapelladitty]

something lost, something gained

Summary: After being snatched by human traffickers while exploring an abandoned schoolhouse, Lucy fights to survive as she waits for Cooper to find her. (3.9k words)

(warnings for: attempted sexual assault, biting, blood, face slapping, groping, violence, murder, aftercare, hurt/comfort, cooper trying his best in a bad situation)

Fic Masterlist

Link to AO3

Awaking with a languid groan, Lucy's eyes flittered open for only a moment before slamming shut again as a dull pain to her temple made her wince and gasp. Raising her right hand to press at the skin, she was surprised to find her left hand moving in tandem and her eyes snapped open as she realised that her hands were bound together.

Gazing down at the coarse rope which encircled her wrists, panic arose in Lucy's chest as she glanced around the small, cell-shaped room and immediately understood that she was not anywhere recognisable. It didn't even look like the same building she last remembered walking into.

"Cooper?" Calling out with a dry, uncomfortable voice, a sense of irritation laced the anxiety which rolled through her. "What the fudge? Why am I in here?"

The door to the cell creaked open and Lucy glanced up from her slumped position to see a man she did not recognise fill the doorway. He was very tall, head almost brushing the top of the door frame, with a mop of raggedy blonde hair hanging limply across his shoulders and something in the way he looked at her made her skin crawl with unspoken danger. An instinctive disgust which made her mouth tighten.

"Finally awake." The man spoke, his voice sharp, light and slightly pitched. "We were worried we'd done some real damage to your head there."

At his words, Lucy finished her earlier assessment as her fingers once again grazed the hard lump which had formed on her temple - the skin feeling raw and wounded under her fingertips. Dragging her fingertips away, she found them flecked with her own blood.

"Who are you?" She asked, wide eyes darting across the limited space. "Did Cooper put you up to this? Or my father?"

"Don't know who any of those people are but we saw you going into that old schoolhouse with a ghoul so we snuck in, waited for you to split, and gently smuggled you out."

Gently smuggled.

The wound on her head suggested otherwise.

"Why?" A reflex question, one Lucy didn't think she wanted the answer to as the blonde man took a small step in her direction to stare down at her with a lecherous smirk.

"Cause you're in our territory and you're ours now. Me and my buddies have a little side business going on and you're our latest catch." His gaze roving across her white tank top and blue pants, one of his hands settled on the visible bulge of his groin as he winked at her. "We take them, break them, and pass them on to be sold. 50/50 share. And, baby, let me tell you, you're gonna fetch us a pretty price."

The panic in her chest now clawing at her heart as she scrambled her back against the cool stone of the wall, Lucy felt sweat break out across her body as she took in his candid admission with open-mouthed horror.

"No. You can't-"

"Yeah. I can smell the vault on you so I know you probably aren't rolling with the same diseases as all the other cunts we pick up."

Flinching at the term, Lucy fell back into what she knew best as old defense mechanisms kicked in to protect her as best they could.

"Let me go and I'll get you whatever you need. Caps, meds, weapons. I know people who could hel-"

"You?" Laughing openly at her offer, the man steadied himself against the doorframe. "Maybe that bulky ghoul we saw you with could have worked some muscle for us but you haven't got shit we need. Well, aside from-"

His hand still groping sleazily against his bulge, the man stepped fully within the cell and kicked the door shut before him. An action which made Lucy jump as her body shuddered and tensed to the point of discomfort, sensing the danger and violence to come.

"You see, cunt. I'm much nicer than my two friends out there and I'm willing to cut you some slack. Wrap your lips around my cock and suck it like your life depended on it, and I'll tell the boys that you're willing to be a good girl for us. They'll even leave their nasty 'breaking in' toys at the door if they think you're gonna be a good girl."

As he spoke, his body inched closer towards Lucy and her fingers shook terribly as she struggled against the rope holding her wrists, vision quick to blur as genuine fear rocked through her body.

He's going to rape me. Repeated in her head like a cruel, merciless mantra. The elders had told them what rape was, explained that they needed consent to ensure that everyone in the vault was happy and able to share their bodies without problem. They knew, in the vault, they all knew what was okay and what wasn't.

"Cooper!" She hollered out, voice breaking on the second syllable as she attempted to back up against the wall enough to scramble to her feet. "Please, fudge, someone help!"

A memory rose, unbidden in her mind as Lucy rolled her back against the wall. Not long after her body had started to change, one of the elders, a slender old guy named Ernest, had caught her in the gardens. He had asked her questions about her changing body, questions that made her heart feel heavy in her chest as a sense of how wrong he made her feel forced her to back away from him.

He had moved to grab her, his hand wrenching her arm away from her chest when her father had appeared from nowhere. He had been causal in his greeting but even as a child, she had noticed how tight her dad's smile was and how quickly he ushered her back to her room so he could have a quick chat with him.

Ernest died soon after. One of the first to be lost to the latest famine as the crops failed due to an unknown blight. She hadn't questioned it then, too many good people had been lost, but now, in this moment where that same childish fear weighed heavily at her limbs, she wondered if her father had killed him for what he had tried to do.

Kicking out with her feet as the man dropped to his knees before her, his fingers were quick to lock around her ankles - pulling her free of the wall and stealing the breath from her lungs as her head collided with the floor.

"Please, no. Don't do this! No!"

"First times always the worst."

Flashing rotted teeth at her as he straddled her waist, his hands pinned her own roped palms to her stomach as he burrowed down into her space. His breath was awful, smelling foul and rancid, and it sparked a retch in Lucy's throat as she twisted her head to the side. His tongue trailed across her cheek, tasting the grime on her skin as he growled in her ear.

"Just gotta remember to be a good girl and-ARGH!" Breaking off into a pained scream, the man reared back as blood poured from his mouth to drip down on her tank top.

Spitting out the large portion of tongue she had ripped free with her teeth, Lucy used her attackers moment of stunned pain to knock him free of her body. Crawling on her knees, she almost made it to the door when a rough hand wrapped around her hair.

"Stupid cunt!" The words lisping due to his injury, the man's hand was like fire in her hair as he snatched at her scalp viciously. "Gonna break your fucking nose for that."

Yelling as her hands locked around a small shard of metal that lay by the closed door, the man's foot having accidentally knocked it within the cell as he entered, Lucy gripped it tight as she spun on her knees, digging the shard deep into the closest foot she could reach before pulling it free with a vicious twist.

A fresh cry of pain broke free of her attacker as he crashed to the ground, his hands tight around his foot while he snarled obscenities at her.

Fuelled by adrenaline, fear and rage, Lucy pounced on him like a cat, knocking his back flat to the floor as she stabbed the metal as roughly into his throat as she could. Memories of her fraudulent husband flashed before her eyes and she hollered a vicious snarl as she dragged the metal through his skin until the blood flowed and the gurgling of his throat ceased.

Breathing heavily, she stayed in that position until his glassy-eyed stare repulsed her, the scent of fresh blood making her heave anew. Body shaking and mind rattling, it was only when a new voice broke the silence that she jumped as though an electric bolt had fired across her spine.

"Fuck, Petey. She's killed Owen."

Rolling off the corpse, Lucy was quick to take her earlier position - her stained fingers clutching the metal shard as her back pressed against the wall once more.

"Owen was always a dipshit. We'll be better off without him." The taller of the two newcomers added.

Looking just as filthy as the first guy, Lucy's eyes were wild as she pointed the metal at each of them in turn.

"L-let me go. I'll do the same to you." She stuttered, a sinking feeling of despair making her skin feel cold and clammy. "I've killed people before and you'll be next."

Glancing between themselves, both men burst out into a cruel laughter and their movements were quick as they descended on her. Fingers already trembling, it was easy for them to wrestle the metal from her hands and pin her to the floor; their much larger bodies easily holding her knees apart as they pressed them to the floor with their own legs.

Rough hands fished inside her tank top and Lucy found herself unable to do much but bare her teeth and fight off a sob as her chest was pulled free of her bra; breasts spilling over the fabric as matching grunts of approval escaped her attackers.

"They'll do nicely. Fuck, might not even sell this one, what do you think?" The one named Petey asked, his free hand gripping at her chin painfully as he tilted her head to the side in a crude inspection.

Cupping her left breast as though weighing it in his hand, the other man flashed a yellow smile at her.

"Could play with her for a few weeks without going to the others. Would you like that? A few weeks with us and then a ten minute walk up north to meet the rest of the boys?"

Refusing to answer as a fat tear rolled free of her eye, Lucy chose to remain quiet and not give them anything as she struggled in vain.

"You owe us for you did to Owen." The second man continued, his face an open leer as he released her jaw. "So I'm gonna fuck you and then Petey is gonna fuck you and then we're both gonna fuck you. Then you're gonna open those pretty lips wide for-"

"No."

A sharp hand collided with the side of Lucy's face, the blow catching her across the mouth and bursting her lip open in an instant as the taste of copper flooded her mouth.

"Not asking, cunt."

Their hands were all over her, one set fondling her breasts while the other pulled at the hem of her tank top to expose her stomach. They were everywhere and the feeling of them, hot and heavy atop her body, made her feel sick - her throat constricting and panicking as her breaths came short and fast.

The vague sound of the door slamming open touched at her senses but it felt so far off that she didn't think much of it until all hell broke loose.

A fresh splatter of blood sprayed across her face, the sensation matching by a booming gunshot which made her ears ring in the small space as the taller of the two, Petey, collapsed dead atop her - a hole leaking blood and brains from the front of his forehead to her exposed chest.

In shock, both Lucy and the remaining man stared at the corpse for a second before Lucy felt half the weight on her body disappear as the final attacker was pulled free. Her eyes unfocused and blurred with tears, she saw the flash of familiar, tattered leather which hurled her would-be attacker against the wall.

Sounds of exertion were quickly followed by a fresh death gurgle as Cooper's knife flashed in his hand for only a second before being drawn across her attackers throat; the arterial spray swiftly coating Cooper's clothed chest as he let go of his prey and allowed the fresh body to drop to the floor.

Not trusting her eyes, Lucy tilted her head back and cast her gaze to the dingy ceiling as her thoughs spiralled into a messy haze.

After a moment, Cooper's face swam in her vision and the close sight of him sparked a myriad of emotions within her; shock giving way to genuine relief before settling on fear as she took in the genuine fury which blazed in his stark white eyes as they darted across her battered face and disjointed clothing.

He wasn't angry with her, she knew that, but the sheer rage which rolled from his coiled frame made her want to curl into a ball and hide away from it. He smelled of leather and blood, the scent of fresh violence making her nose twitch as the corpses of her attackers lay motionless, crowding the floor of her cell.

"S'alright, I got you, sweetie." Cooper's hands were firm but gentle as he wrapped them around her shoulders, hoisting her enough that she were able to lean against the wall in a sitting position.

Despite everything, his voice was like a balm and she relaxed into his touch as her trembling fingers were gripped within his own - his knife glinting once more as he quickly severed her bindings and let the rope fall to the floor. In an instant, her knees snapped to her chest as her arms looped around them, her body curling in on itself as a wave of nausea made her throat feel tight.

Still on his haunches before her, Cooper studied her for a solid moment before matching her position as he leaned against the opposite wall, his legs outstretched and his back straight against the cool stone.

"Fix yourself, darlin'. I'd offer but I don't think you want another monsters hands on you before the day's out."

Keeping her knees tight, Lucy brought trembling fingers to her chest - her relief at being saved having made her forget about her state of undress - and she tucked her breasts away back into the off-white bra with a lifeless motion, the skin feeling sensitive and sore due to their abuse. Made decent, her arms were quick to loop around her knees once more, her chin sitting atop her knees as a gloomy, far-off expression graced her features.

"Did they-" A half question which Cooper quickly thought better of as he abandoned ship and adjusted it on the fly. "You okay?" It was a quiet ask, the words so low that Lucy knew she could ignore them if she wanted to.

"No," she stuttered, feeling weary despite the adrenaline which still pulsed in her veins, "but I have to be because what else is there. So I have to be."

Making a small noise of agreement in his chest, Cooper's gaze rose to the ceiling as he plucked his hat from his head and dropped it to the floor by his open lap.

"That you do, darlin'. Nothing else for it."

They sat in silence for a bit, the only slightly pained sounds coming from Lucy's throat as she adjusted to the various aches which afflicted her body. Her face was the worst as her temple throbbed like a bitch and her burst lip felt huge and ugly against her mouth. The bodies forever doomed to lay in messy piles, Lucy's eyes ghosted over them and settled on the growing patches of blood which each steadily leaked to the cell floor.

"You killed them all?" She said, already knowing the answer and unsure why she even asked.

"Not all of them. One of them was already dead when I got here and I'd recognise the teeth marks in that hunk of ripped tongue anywhere." Despite the guarded nature of his tone, there was a spark of warmth as he flashed his, well, her, finger at her, and Lucy swore she heard the slightest hint of pride leaking through. "You did good, sweetheart. You fought like a hellcat and you didn't let them win."

"Didn't win." Lucy mumbled miserly. "You did."

"Oh, I have no doubt you would have gotten them both in the end. They might have taken a few strips from you, but that fire in your belly would have scorched them dry."

Mouth upturning at the praise as she fought off the urge to cry, Lucy swiped at her eyes with the back of her hands as her breathing quickly grew erratic.

"All these bullshit lessons you've put me through and it still wasnt enough." She blurted out with a desperate gasp. "They're evil. I hate it here. I hate their cruelty. I hate their hurting. I hate-"

Finally unable to hold back the swell of emotion which threatened her, Lucy broke off on the final word as a heaving sob replaced any chance she had of cohesive speech. It was something raw and unfiltered, mourning the loss of some part of herself that would never be returned as she was forced to mold herself into a creature of violence and hate just to survive in their world.

Cooper, to his credit, let her cry without any false sympathies or interference. His face lacked any judgement, the hole in his face flexing slightly as he inhaled and exhaled steadily, eyes never shifting from Lucy's sobbing frame. Something difficult to pin down flashed through his gaze as though a multitude of possible outcomes were pushing at his thoughts.

After some internal debate, a grunt slipped free of Cooper's lips as he leaned across the short space and pulled at Lucy's shoulder.

So lost in her own misery, Lucy didn't fight the pressure of his strong hand as he pulled her to the side, dropping her to the floor in such a way that her head pressed against the upper part of his legs as she faced away from him. It did nothing to stop her tears, but it did give her something to lean on as he immediately retracted his hand to fold his arms fully across his chest.

Cooper's thighs were like unyielding steel beneath her head, giving Lucy something solid to pin her senses on as she fought to quell the quiver of her lip and the shudders which continued to wrack her body. Their journey had been hard and the hunt for her father was a disaster of interference and dead trails of information.

This was just the latest set-back in a long list of utter shit.

Offering her no other physical support, unsure if it would cause her to act out or break down further, Cooper waited until her breathing was a little more even before speaking again.

"Be sad." He paused, allowing the rare piece of advice to sit heavily in the air between them. "Be angry. Feel that fire in your gut burn so hot that you get the fear it's gonna burst free and raze everything around you to the ground. Hell, curse the day your momma brought you into the world if that's how you feel. But don't break."

Stopping once again, Cooper felt a rare moment of genuine pity for the woman as he glanced down at her. Lucy Maclean, who foolishly tried to choose peace in a peaceless world, still had a lot of learning to do when it came to the way that same world worked.

He could only show her so much, some lessons had to be learned the hard way, and if she could take them, then he would do his part to keep her whole.

"Whatever they do to you, survive it. Skulk off, lick your wounds, come back stronger. Get that revenge your blood sings for." Speaking as much to himself as her, Cooper allowed her a peek into his own thoughts, an insight he knew she wouldn't fully understand quite yet. "Never let them break you. Better off dead than broken in this world."

Gathering herself enough to shakily speak, Lucy gripped Cooper's knee with clawing fingers as she clung to him like a lifeline.

"There's more of them. Ten minutes up north. That's who they were- who they were going to sell me to."

"More side-tracking bullshit." Cooper sighed but his voice grew more contemplative as his gravelled tones mused on her words. "That said, been a while since I hunted down some proper vermin. No bounty. No rules. Might be fun to let loose for once."

He let the idea hang in the air, curious if she was hinting at what he suspected she was.

"You coming with me?"

"Yeah."

Unseen by the shaking Lucy, a pleased smile split Cooper's lips as he glanced down at her steady answer.

It wasn't often he took on a companion, far less one that he'd actually indulge, but the odd woman intrigued him with the hypocrisy of her very existence. A vaultie with a edge, naive blood screaming out for wrongs to be righted just like his own as she fought alongside him like a harpy.

It did help that they both wanted her dear old daddy strung up like the traitor he were.

But revenge would see her right.

She was owed a debt by those who had tried to take her, a debt of honor, and he would see that she avenged it in a glorious explosion of violence that would help keep her nightmares at bay as they would leave no doubt that the beasts responsible were well put down and unable to haunt her.

By gun or by knife, she would get at least that.

He had seen the broken ones. The ones used and abused by so many across the wastelands that they gave up everything and became husks even more devoid of humanity than the ghouls who lost the battle and went feral. It was a fate worse than the many deaths he'd experienced in his time.

No one deserved that.

Especially not Lucy Maclean.

His hand ghosting over her head, fingers only an inch away from her fine head of mousy hair, Cooper tilted his head to the side as he took her exhausted frame in.

"Sleep for now, vaultie. Time for this little killer to save her strength. So take it for what it is and when you wake, we'll see about righting some of the wrongs that happened here."

Feeling more safe with the violent ghoul who had shown her the new reality of her world than any other of the awful creatures she had met since leaving her vault, Lucy's eyes fluttered close as his voice washed over her and exhaustion claimed her before she could do anything to muse on that odd feeling of safety.

Links to the rest of the series:

Part 1

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

[twstfanblog]

This is more of a worldbuidling question but what do the commoners live like in each district??? I'd there more of an emphasis on art in the west and everyone has like. Crazily painted houses or elaborate gardens, and do southern commoners have a higher cost of living because it's so expensive to shop there? In southern schools, is there a surplus of those kids that bring snacks to school and sell them because if how ingrained business practices are? Or is it just normal? I want to know more about the more middle class characters like Jack and Trey T_T. Speaking of which how did Ace and Deuce become Riddles servants 🤔?

Also what about the slums and Ruggie? Are there more slums in a certain district, I'd assume he'd be placed in the east... maybe the kingscholars like to cut costs and corners to make more profits, even though it leaves the general population poorer? Also do leona and ruggie ever meet in this au???

That's all my questions for now! I'm probably gonna have more but if you don't want to answer them that's totally fine! Hope you have a good day ^^!

*Cracks knuckles*

Ok, here we go. Long Answer coming!

The price of living increases the closer you get to the capital. So the slums of each area are around the edges of the district on the opposite side of where the palace sits.

Class-wise, the southern district is mostly populated by nobles since no matter where you go, it's considered prime real estate. So the South doesn't really have a slums, since its main population are rich commoners and business-owning nobles.

Oh the kids try...but the schools are already running school stores where you can purchase lunches, snacks, school supplies, small plots of land. You gotta be a very crafty school child to get your foot in the door starting a business while still in school.

Schooling is pretty standard across the empire, the southern district puts a heavier focus on math and reading though, just because most of the kids who do attend school normally end up working for their family business. East has a number of culture studies, the west has so many electives to pick from it's almost scary. Northern children basically get funneled into the military (The fuck are you feeding these kids? Why do they all grow up to be TANKS????)

Lord the West district is a nightmare to HOAs. So many houses all with different vibes and color palettes. The scholars who picked the middle ground and became architects building the most insane 'shouldn't be standing against a strong wind' kind of houses. The theming gets more uniform the closer to the capital, but that's just because that's the more tourist area, where all the big theaters and conference halls are.

Speaking in terms of just size, the East has the biggest slums of the empire. Since they are the main resting point for visiting diplomats, it became a culture hub and most of the immigrants moved their because it was more familiar to their homelands. in turn there's just A LOT of people there and sadly not enough work for everyone. at this point it's just cheaper to live on the edge of the empire than moving to the second cheapest housing; the West slums. The Northern slums are basically just living on a mountain and surviving off the land.

Ruggie and Leona do meet! As he gets older, Leona's fights with his dad get worse. One night it was bad enough that Leona just ran away and was missing for nearly a week. Ruggie finds who he assumed was a homeless man and helped him out a bit 'We've all been there man'. In his time in the slums, Leona finds a bit of purpose and wants to help the people he technically rules over.

Leona is found and leaves without saying goodbye to Ruggie. YEARS LATER, a servant of the Duke Kingscholar comes to the slums asking for Ruggie to come with him. Farena is slowly taking over the Duchy from their aging father and Leona listed Ruggie as a good choice for a consultant. Ruggie actually does pretty well in the role, just gotta give him a crash course in etiquette before every formal dinner he has to attend now.

Let me list where everyone is!

North

Jack lives with his family after his mother secured a tutor job for a noble child when they first came to the empire. Once in the north, his family of wolf beastmen flourished and lowkey are treated as untitled nobles.

Sebek's family has strong ties to the royal army since his grandfather served and is friends with THE LILIA VANROUGE. Sebek's dream is to join the army to continue his family's legacy (And maybe see the prince. HE RESPECTS HIM OKAY!? DON'T TEASE HIM ABOUT THE POEMS HE WRITES!)

Epel lives with his family on one of the many farms contracted to supply produce to the palace. As such they have very high standards of their produce and won't let you talk down to them even if they aren't nobles.

East

Ruggie moved to the empire with his 'grandma' in a big group of refugees when he was very young. He does odd jobs around the district to help support his community.

Rook was born and raised in the upper-middle-class East District. He only moves to the West District to further his art career once he comes of age. From there he meets Vil and they fall in artist love.

South

Azul's mother owns a very popular seafood restaurant. It's half in the water and displays the first shell coin her great-great-great grandmother made in the sea (For luck!). She married into nobility with Azul's stepfather who accepted Azul as his own.

The Tweels family aren't titled but with how many dirty dealings they've done with the various shady business owners, they might as well just buy a title. A very wealthy and dangerous commoner family

Trey's family owns a very nice bakery! With the high-quality baked goods and fair pricing, they're normally packed by commoners and noblemen alike.

West

Vil and his father live and breathe the theater. They've been living in the West since Vil's dad moved from the capital to help an old friend establish his theater.

Riddle lives with his mother and live-in attendants and is lowkey miserable but working hard to achieve in his studies. They use to live in the South, but his mother said he was distracted too easily there.

Deuce lives in fairly cheap housing with his mom and grandma. Deuce's mom travels from the West to the capital to work for a week then to come back for a week off.

Ace has a similar situation to Deuce with his mom AND older brother going off for work. It's why they take the jobs to be aids for Riddle. Also known as 'Riddle's mom had to buy him friends'.

The Capital

Cater's dad is a senior member of the imperial bank! He and his family live pretty cushy lives even though they don't have a title. Cater's looking to change that and has been studying how to bag a noble beau every social season since he was seven.

Silver lives in the palace with his father and Malleus since Lilia brought him home. His curse is slowly getting worse with age but he's still working hard so that he can try to pass the army entry exams.

I hope this answers everything! Let me tell you guys, world-building is much FUN!!!!

[gavillain]

AGATHA EPISODE SIX SPOILER DISCUSSION; HOLY SHIT THAT WAS A GOOD EPISODE!!!!

A LOT happened in this episode, and we got a LOT of answers!

I'm really glad we got Billy Kaplan/Billy Maximoff's full backstory here at the midway point, and I really enjoy the way this episode bridged the gap between WandaVision and Agatha All Along. I'm just really excited to see Billy's story getting adapted here in general too. Obviously it's a bit different from the comics, but they kept a lot of the core ideas of it in tact. And I'm super happy to see that they explicitly kept his Jewishness in tact as well given the MCU's unfortunate habit of erasing or neglecting Jewish identities. We find out here that Billy Maximoff's spirit is inhabiting the body of Billy Kaplan, who died in a car accident the day the Hex came down. We also find out that Lilia was the one who put the sigil on Billy after reading his palm and seeing his broken life line (I was surprised but I thought that reveal was very satisfying). We find out that Billy's boyfriend's name is Eddie, so he's not Teddy Altman and thus probably not Hulkling, which I personally never really thought but other people were theorizing.

Oh and RALPH BOEHNER RETURNS!!!! :D Honestly, I didn't think I would care, but my boyfriend and I went WILD when we saw him pop up. A+ callback right there :D And I like him being the one to sort of facilitate Billy going to Westview after Agatha. After how little he did in WandaVision post-reveal that he wasn't Pietro, it was nice to see him get a bit more relevance again in the overarching plot.

Agatha pulls herself out of the mud and survives, and I also really loved how Agatha wasn't mad or vengeful towards Billy. She was legitimately excited to see him and know who he was. Their relationship is one of the most interesting parts of the show, so I'm glad to see that it's not totally being burned to the ground. Obviously, Billy is fully in the right not to trust Agatha, but we're now at a juncture where the two of them are going to be more open and honest with each other, and that has me excited! We just saw Agatha last episode prove why she is still very much a villain, but we also saw that Billy has a bit of a dark side in him too. I think we're gonna see Billy be torn between good and evil as the show goes forward and deciding what type of witch he wants to be, with Agatha being the proverbial devil on his shoulder. I made the comparison a few weeks back about Agatha and Billy being Maleficent and Riku from Kingdom Hearts in another font, and that seems to be the direction we're heading, which excites me.

Theory wise, there's not a whole lot of new theories for me at least, other than the ones continuing from previous episodes, but I do have a few more scattered thoughts: *Eddie uses the black heart emoji for Billy, so does that mean HE was the black heart that Lilia wrote on the list instead of Rio? If so, it's kind of weird that HE would be a "black heart" in any way. But also this still has me thinking that Blackheart may yet be involved. Not as Rio (who we pretty much know is Death due to leaks), but maybe somewhere else? I dunno, I'm not giving up hope that he or Mephisto are involved, even if it's just as an after credits scene.

*BILLY HAVING A BLACK CAULDRON POSTER IN HIS ROOM MADE ME SO FRIGGIN' HAPPY! To see Disney acknowledging that movie always warms my heart, but to know that Billy is a fan in this universe is REALLY cool and gives me a sort of kinship with him. Love to the underloved!

*Rio is still MIA since Alice died. Is she still tending to Alice or is she doing something else?

*Lilia and Jen aren't dead, and we know as much, but they didn't escape the bog with Agatha, so I'm wondering if the next trial will see the get out or maybe see them waiting there for Agatha and Billy.

*Billy is apparently on the road to find Tommy, which makes a lot of sense. I know people are upset that he's not after Wanda, but I genuinely don't think Wanda's return to the MCU was ever going to be in another TV show. I think, if Wanda returns, it's going to be in Avengers Doomsday, much like her return in the comics during Children's Crusade. But I'm excited to see if Tommy DOES return in this show or if Billy's ambitions are going to remain unresolved at the end of the road. I'm excited to find out!

NEXT EPISODE WITH SPEED PLEASE! I have a MIGHTY need to see Billy in that Maleficent cosplay in what I assume is the next trial… yes, I am, as ever, myself XD

[unreliablesnake]

Escort (Simon "Ghost" Riley x reader)

Summary: When Simon sees a picture of you with another man, his thoughts go wild. But he wasn't prepared to find out his girlfriend is a high-class escort. Can your relationship survive this?

Warning: No warning applies.

Simon never asked how you could afford your loft in London, how you could travel around the world, how you had money to buy designer clothes, the newest phones, and other luxury items. He always assumed you came from a wealthy family so he never wanted to ask questions you might find uncomfortable.

"Hey, Ghost, isn't this the girl from your lock screen photo?" Johnny asked one day, showing the lieutenant an article on his phone.

It was about some charity gala in New York with a bunch of famous and disgustingly wealthy people. Johnny was looking at the gallery when he bumped into the photo, and this discovery sent Simon into a spiral. There you were in a breathtaking royal blue dress, standing next to some guy who was at least twenty years older than you.

Maybe he was your father. Or an uncle. Or a stranger the photographer asked you to pose with. There was a chance you had a perfectly good explanation for the photo, all he had to do was ask who it was. He took a quick look at the name of the event then stormed out of the living room of the safehouse to send you a message.

Simon: I saw you were at a fancy party in New York last night.

You didn't read the message right away which was odd because you always had the damn phone in your hand. But as soon as he thought about the time zones, he remembered that if you really were in New York, you were probably sleeping. Damn it, he would have to wait more for your answer. He would go crazy until then.

But then his phone suddenly pinged.

You: How do you know?

Seriously? Simon quickly searched for the article Johnny found, saved the photo, then sent it to you.

Simon: I found this.

You: Didn't know you were reading such articles.

Simon: Who's the guy?

You: A friend.

Simon: Family friend?

You: No.

Simon: He's older than your usual friends.

You read the message but went silent. He waited for a while, hoping you had a reason for your absence, like being away from your phone for a couple of minutes, but you never replied.

Simon: Radio silence? Really? I'm gonna ask again. Who's the guy?

You: We'll talk about it when you're around.

Simon: Are you about to break up with me? Because if so, we can skip the meeting.

You: I don't want to break up, but it's complicated.

Simon: I'll be there on Friday. How about meeting at your place around seven?

You: Sounds good. I'll go back to sleep now.

He used a breathing exercise to calm down after this conversation, but it didn't work. His mind kept returning to the photo, all the little details like the guy having an arm wrapped around your waist, keeping you close. It was too intimate to be a relative's touch, and you surely wouldn't let a stranger touch you like this.

The following days passed painfully slowly, with Johnny once bringing up the photo again to ask if he knew who the man was. When they returned to England, Simon quickly left the group and headed to London to see you. His mind was in overdrive, the only thing he could think about was the possibility of you cheating on him.

He rang the doorbell and you opened within half a minute. You were obviously waiting for him, seemingly nervous as you let him inside. Whatever it was that you wanted to tell him, it clearly affected your mental state as well. Hopefully this would result in you being perfectly honest with him.

"Can I get you anything?" you asked with your hands behind your back as he sat down on the couch. Simon shook his head and motioned you to sit down as well. "All right, I guess you want to skip the small talk. You know, while I was in college, I soon realized that I needed a good job, something that pays well. A friend of mine… So…"

You stopped talking and let out a sigh. Whatever you wanted to say, it made you look away from him.

"She worked as a high-class escort. She told me a lot about it, introduced me to some people, and… Well, I ended up doing the same thing," you admitted, finally looking back at him out of the corner of your eye.

Fucking hell. The idea of you doing something like that crossed his mind but he never assumed you were stupid enough to actually do it. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he stood up and began pacing in front of you. What was he supposed to say? None of the words he could think of seemed right.

You stood up as well and reached out to take his hand that he immediately pulled away. "Simon, please, say something," you begged him.

"Did you ever love me?" he asked, finally looking you in the eye.

"I still love you. Listen, you're the most important person in my life, the only normal thing I have is this relationship. Don't take it away from me, please."

"You're sleeping with other men for money! What the fuck am I supposed to do? Stick around and cheer you on?" he asked with a desperate laugh. "I'm not staying for that. It's over, Y/N."

With that he began to walk towards the door to leave, but you quickly ran after him and stood in his way. "Simon, please. What do you want me to do?"

"Would you quit?" After some consideration, you bit on your lower lip and shook your head. "Thought so," he said with a sigh. "Money is more important, right?"

You opened your mouth to say something in your defense, but no sound left your throat. Simon shook his head and sidestepped you to leave the apartment. He hated you at that moment, feeling disgusted at the thought of having been sharing you with other men when he thought he was the only one.

This breakup took its toll on him, causing several sleepless nights while he was at home between missions. He often found himself looking at the photos of the two of you together, wondering if he should delete them all to get rid of you forever. In the end he copied them to a thumb drive which he hid in the back of a drawer.

Six months. That's how long you had been together. Six months that somehow felt like a year or two. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get you out of his mind. His thoughts kept returning to you, wondering what you were doing, whether or not you were also thinking about him.

After the breakup he had blocked you in the app that you used for communication, but one night, when he was somewhere far from home on a mission, he unblocked you and opened the chat. For a while he just stared at the screen, trying to decide if he should write to you or not.

Johnny had been right, he was grumpier than usual in the past month or so. All because of you. Why would he act like that, why would he still be angry if he didn't have any feelings for you anymore? Maybe he should just swallow his pride and see if it could work out, if he could ignore the fact you were doing what you were doing.

Simon: What's up?

He didn't expect you to reply. It was a desperate shot in the dark, so he turned off the screen and put the phone beside his pillow before lying down and looking at the ceiling. Simon let out a sigh and closed his eyes, wishing not to see your face in his dreams.

"Hey, Ghost, are you awake?"

Opening one eye to glance at the door, Simon saw Gaz standing there. "I am," he replied.

The sergeant flashed a wide smile at him. "Soap got us booze, why don't you join us? A little team building."

"I'm not in the mood. And is it a good idea to drink during the mission?"

"The Captain even joined us since the mission is technically almost over. Come on, don't waste your time here," Gaz tried.

But Simon didn't really hear the last sentence because the phone next to his head beeped, and when he glanced at the screen, he saw it was a message from you. Damn, he didn't expect anything. Clearing his throat, he picked up the device and sat up. "I'll be out soon," he lied to Gaz, hoping this would make him leave.

You: What's up? Really? You unblock me after almost two months and that's what you can come up with?

So you were mad at him. A part of him understood, while another believed it was him who had the right to be angry. With a deep growl he stood up to walk around the room, keeping an eye on the phone the whole time. What should he do? Sure, he was mad too, but he also missed you like crazy.

Oh, fuck it.

Simon: I didn't know what to say. Are you okay?

You: What do you think?

Simon: Can we talk?

You: Not now.

Simon: You're not alone?

You: I'm not.

Simon: Working?

You: No.

The next message was a photo of you and a few of your friends in a bar. Simon smiled when he saw you because he hadn't seen your face in weeks. When you were together, he never followed you on social media, but since the breakup he deliberately avoided your profiles so he knew nothing about what was going on in your life. This was his way of building a healthy distance.

Simon: We just finished a mission so I'll be home soon. Why don't we go out for dinner?

You: You sure it's a good idea?

Simon: I miss you.

Taking a deep breath, he wondered if he should tell you that he wanted a fresh start. Or maybe it was too soon. No, you should know the truth in advance because he didn't want to waste his time if you would say no anyway.

Simon: I want to find out if I could handle your job. Would you be willing to give our relationship another shot?

You: Are you sure about this?

Simon: I am.

You: Well, I'm not. You were right, sleeping with other men while we're together? It's crazy, I shouldn't have put you through this.

Simon: Don't say this, not when I'm finally about to accept it.

You: Bye, Simon.

You blocked him. Simon thought he was imagining it, but you really did block him. He raised his hand with the phone and was ready to throw it against the wall when he realized he shouldn't lose his temper. It wasn't the end, he knew where you lived. All he had to do was visit you when he got back.

And that's what he did. He sneaked into the building and, since you seemingly weren't there, waited for you in the hallway. After a while he lost track of time, and when he finally looked at his watch and realized he'd been waiting for five hours now, he pulled out his phone and decided to call you.

First try. You declined the call.

Second try. You declined the call.

Third try. You declined the call.

But just when he was about to give up, you finally answered. "I'm gonna block your bloody number if you don't stop," you snapped at him.

"Where are you?" asked Simon quickly.

"I know you're waiting for me so I'm not going home."

With a frown he looked over at the door, and there it was, a video doorbell camera. He should have noticed right away. "Look, I just want to talk."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Y/N, please, come here," he tried, his voice suddenly dropping into a tired whisper.

Simon could hear you let out a sigh on the other end of the line. "Fine. I'll be there in twenty," you said before ending the call.

As you promised, you got home soon, and Simon stood there in the hallway with his hands behind his back as he watched you carefully. He was good at interrogation, he knew perfectly well how to read people. But you were an enigma. For some reason he couldn't see through your anger.

Once inside the loft, you stopped in the door while he walked into the living room. Simon looked at you with raised eyebrows, trying to figure out why you weren't coming closer. As he waited, his eyes found a framed photo of the two of you on a shelf near the window. Could it be that despite your anger you still loved him?

"Y/N," he began quietly as he took a few steps towards you. "I might have overreacted when you told me the truth. Look, it took me by surprise, I wasn't prepared to hear you say that. But--"

"It's okay, I get it," you interrupted him after walking a little closer to where he was.

Shaking his head, Simon closed the gap between you and stood in front of you toe to toe. "No, you don't," he said quietly, putting a hand on your cheek. "I had time to think and as long as you come home to me, as long as you introduce me as your boyfriend, I'm okay with it. I think. I don't know for sure, but we should give it a shot."

You gulped loudly as you thought about his words. He was terrified to hear your reaction because something told him you were hell-bent on staying away from him. It wouldn't matter what he said, you were too stubborn to change your mind.

"Why?" you suddenly asked.

"Because I love you. Because I wasn't myself after we broke up which tells me you're the only person who can keep me sane. I'm selfish and I need you," explained Simon as he leaned down to rest his forehead against yours. "Please."

Closing your eyes, you put your hands on his chest and let out a quiet chuckle.

"What is it?"

"My friends said I wasn't myself after you left me," you said, although something told Simon that it wasn't just your friends who said that. No, he couldn't think about that. "I wish I could say we should try again, but I don't think you could handle the thought of me being with others. I can't make you go through that pain."

Simon kissed you, hoping this could convince you that he was serious. Your hands moved from his chest to his neck as you returned the kiss, slowly getting lost in the sensation which gave him hope. And courage. After months he could finally touch you again, so he made you walk backwards until your back hit the wall then grabbed your ass and lifted you up so you could wrap your legs around him.

Despite doing exactly what he wanted you to do, you still pulled your lips away. "Stop this," you whispered with a sad look in your eyes.

"Why?" Simon began to place kisses all over your face, his heart beating fast from the mixture of anxiety and arousal. "Don't do this to us, don't ruin this. Do you love me?" You thought for a moment, but then you nodded. "Then stop overthinking."

It worked because you kissed him again, this time being hungry and passionate, immediately waking old memories in Simon's mind. He began to walk to the bedroom with you, but before you could get there, you pulled away and jumped off of him.

"Shit, it's already this late?" you asked as you looked at your watch again. "I'm so sorry, Simon, I don't have time for that now."

"Meeting a client?" asked Simon sourly.

You shook your head at this. "No, that's tomorrow. Today I'm gonna meet my parents for dinner. They don't come to London often so I wanna take them somewhere nice," you explained with a sweet smile.

With a relieved laugh, Simon kissed you again. "Okay, get ready then. I don't want to keep you up."

Although you began to walk into your bedroom, you suddenly came to an abrupt halt and turned back to him. "Why don't you stay here?"

"You mean…?"

"I'll give you spare keys so you can move around, but at least you would have a place to stay in London. Also it wouldn't be bad if you were here when I get back from the restaurant. We could pick up where we just left off."

As you talked, you slowly began to strip for him, flashing a wicked little smile at Simon when you heard him gulp then clear his throat. You knew perfectly well what you were doing to him, so he walked up to you and ran his hands down your bare sides.

"If you keep doing that, you're gonna be the death of me, sweetheart," he told you as he pulled you closer.

"I'll die first anyway," you noted with a laugh.

"I'm the soldier and you're the one saying that?" he asked with a frown. "Why?"

With a seductive smile on your lips, you put your hands on his shoulders then began to move them down his arms. "Have you ever looked into the mirror? Your broad shoulders alone will kill me one day," you said, completely mesmerized by the sight.

Simon let out a laugh and kissed the top of your head. "Weren't you late a minute ago?" You looked up at him and nodded. "Then go. I'll wait here."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

[blortch]

You've probably answered a question like that before but what would you say was your favorite episode of each of the rlm "shows" (for lack of a better word) if you had to pick one from each? Interpret "favorite" however you want

I actually haven't gotten an ask of this sort before! The closest I can think of was when I ranked the Halloween BOTW sets. I know you prob meant like HITB, BOTW and Re:View but like I'm gonna go a bit more extensive and include other small series they have. I'm gonna leave out anything Spitballs bc idc and anything Plinkett-related bc in the 100 years I've been watching them I skimmed through like the first part of the phantom menace review and Nothing Else.

Going to start with Re:View bc it's fuckin' easy. It's Obviously the FWWM Re:View. It's what got me into Twin Peaks, and it means a lot to me. In hindsight Jay's kinda off with some of his takes (nothing Bad, just a different perspective as a massive Donnie Darko fan and projecting too much of that dynamic into the movie):

BOTW-wise this might be a super normie pick but like it's a good BOTW for a reason. Best of the Worst: Wheel of the Worst #16. Jackpots guy followed by Surviving Edged Weapons was too great. You can kinda see that They themselves Knew this was going to be a BOTW Classic because when Mike tells Jay to talk about the tape he's Legitimately Nervous over Talking about it. ("Oh man...this is a lot of pressure...I don't know if I can do this..."):

For HITB...I'm sorry but this one's going to be a complete cop-out, (but hey at least I didn't choose the Death Cure HITB...) it's Half in the Bag Episode 138: 2017 Movie Catch-up (part 2 of 2). When I think of what I want from them review-wise it's honestly like... pointed discussions about a movie or show and this delivers exactly that. Whenever they go a little too deep they often dig themselves into a grave of either caring about something too small and inane or something they think is funny but isn't at all (cough Mike's tangents cough) so honestly letting them talk for only a few minutes tops about a movie is the absolute sweet spot. The reviews where the entire discussion is good are rare imo:

Of __ and __ Talk About I wanna say... probably Rich and Jay talk about the Boys? Just because it's the only show/movie I gave a fuck about among this series? I don't get what Rich sees in Garth Ennis' work specifically bc he's kind of a suckass but the show itself was interesting to find out more about regardless through them:

Of Nerd Crew I have to go for The Nerd Crew: Episode 2, the bit with the nerd box+geek crate was fucking hilarious. Not to mention the ending where Rich knocks over the cameras... I imagine Mike prepared the Nerd Box and Jay the Geek Crate? Just because Mike seemed to comment a lot more on the nerd box' contents (Rich said too that the knock-off Rey figure inside it was his doing) and seemed bewildered by the geek crate while Jay laughed nervously at everything Rich took out of it. Jay's such an asshole for making poor Rich gag uncontrollably with those sliced up sausages if so 😭:

ig by now they've put together enough Mini Docs to have a playlist for them so I'll pick one out of those too - I have to go for We Finally Watched Nukie: The VHS Grading Video just because the fact that it lead up for years from them collecting all those Nukies to joking about donating to charity in their trivia video, their tape destructions etc...And the entire video is just legitimately well-put together:

Talking about Trivia...of those videos I like the first one (Star Trek Trivia Showdown: Mike vs Jay (Episode 1 of 2,873)) the best just because it tortured Jay specifically. That's it that's the entire reason I shan't pretend otherwise. He was flustered throughout its entirety and also seemed smitten by the suggestion in the patreon bts of it to be compensated with a Twin Peaks trivia after:

From the Dudebros I have to go for Dudebros Episode 3 - The Dinner Surprise, ig out of all of them it was on the meatier (no pun intended) side (unlike Too Glose for Comfort) and the choices in this one are the most bizarre out of all I think...I'd like to have been a fly on the wall as they decided that Nate should cum in his pants over watching Tommy and Ronnie eat:

I'm not gonna name a season from the Grabowskis I think it would be too cheap for me to not pick a specific episode so I'll go for the third season episode where Honey gets chosen as the Face of the company Wings and Things and Cliff thinks she's gonna leave him. The whole ep makes me think that they cared a lot about the show at some point, or at least enough to make a cute little pigeon trap prop:

Out of their horrible, horrible 48 hour film projects (Das Foot, The Great Space Jam, the Western Ore Musical) I'm gonna have to go for The Western Ore Musical... just bc it was like... something as opposed to Nothing... Das Foot is very Jay I think and respectively The Great Space Jam is very Mike which makes them both super embarrassing and unwatchable:

ty for the ask! t'was fun to put together B]

[bluejaysandblackbats]

Hair Trigger

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam, Superfam, YJ98

Summary: A junior at Gotham University, Jason finds it difficult to conceal his worsening mental health from his family and his friend, Jon Lane Kent. Family secrets are revealed and boundaries are pushed as Jason and Laney struggle to navigate through school, their romantic feelings, and their trauma. Could the reintroduction of Laney Kent be more trouble than it's worth, or is it just what Jason needed to confront the demons of his past?

I will also do trigger warnings for chapters and if there is smut I have the chapter(s) tagged so you don't have to worry about nsfw in the fic if you're just here for the story itself.

Chapters: 25/?

Characters: Jason Todd, Jonathan Lane Kent, Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Cassandra Cain, Tim Drake, Conner Kent, Natalia Knight, Jonathan Samuel Kent, Cassie Sandsmark, Chris Kent, Bart Allen, Original Character(s)

Relationships: JayLaney, Clois, TimKon

Additional Tags: University AU, No Powers AU, Sharing A Bed, Romance, Angst

Chapter Twenty-Five: Cutting Class

Jason cut through the park on his way home for lunch, and he let himself in. Soft music played in throughout the apartment. "Honey, I'm home!" Jason announced. Laney sat on the floor next to Gus. Laney never even looked up. Jason sat across from him and touched his hand. "Baby, you okay?"

Laney nodded and hugged Jason. "Hi, Jay," Laney whispered, "Sorry if I'm being weird. I just woke up from a nap. I did your laundry and met your laundry buddy."

"Nana?" Jason asked. Laney nodded.

Jason leaned forward and kissed Laney's forehead. "Jason, I made paninis. It's in the oven... Two for you two for me." Jason smiled and put on a mitt to get the paninis out of the oven. He put them on a plate and sat back on the floor with Laney.

They ate quietly, and Laney chuckled. "Taste good?" Laney asked. Jason nodded and covered his mouth as he smiled. "Let me see you smile."

"Laney, my mouth was full," Jason smiled, "But thank you so much for lunch, Lane. Do you mind if my mom comes over for dinner?"

"Did you already invite her for tonight?" Laney asked.

"No, not for tonight. Sorry... I meant Saturday night," Jason explained, "Just the three of us. I was thinking we could go out to a little restaurant." Laney nodded and smiled as he ate.

"What does your mom think of me?" Laney asked.

Jason furrowed his brows and looked at Laney. "My mom sent me a text the other day asking if I was being nice to you," Jason leaned over and took a bite of Laney's sandwich. "She knows without you, I probably wouldn't have been so open to forgiving her."

Laney finished eating his sandwich and lay his head on Jason's shoulder. "Well, you know how my parents feel about you. My parents have all but planned our wedding," Laney answered, and Jason gave Laney a bite of his sandwich.

"If our families can survive Thanksgiving at my dad's, they can pick the date," Jason joked, "And then you, me, and our brothers are riding to Chris's game in a week or two." Laney kissed Jason on the cheek and put his plate in the sink. Jason finished his sandwich and washed his hands in the sink before answering emails on his phone.

"What's that?" Laney asked as he nudged Jason. Jason grinned and handed Laney his phone. "Get the fuck out of here!" Laney exclaimed as he jumped up and down before nearly tackling Jason in an embrace.

"It's only the first part like Bart, and I haven't even started printing yet, but I—." Laney kissed Jason and grabbed his face. Jason blushed and pressed his forehead into Laney's shoulder. "I can't remember what I was gonna say."

"Can I see the book?" Laney asked. Jason kissed Laney's neck. "Is that a yes?"

"No. I want you to see it as a hardcover," Jason replied, "I gotta go back to school in a minute, but I was thinking we could take a walk..." Laney nodded, and he got up and put his shoes on. Jason grabbed Laney's hand and his bag, and they walked around the park in circles. Jason swung Laney's hand as they walked ad thunder cracked in the background. Laney's face lit up as lightning struck, and Jason smiled at the feeling of Laney squeezing his hand. "It's gonna rain. It'd be a shame to miss such a nice storm—."

"Jason, you don't have—."

Lightning flashed as they kissed in front of the fountain. Laney walked around the border of the fountain, and Jason tugged at his hand. They walked deep into the center of the park, and as the rain began to fall, Jason whispered, "Remember during winter break when we were kids, and it rained in Metropolis? You told me that nothing was more exciting than watching lightning strike." It started to sprinkle on them.

"You also forgot to mention that we stayed up talking that entire night. You were the first boy I ever opened up to, and it felt good. Like I know you always get on me for not telling you how I feel about things, but you're the only person outside of my family that I'll even talk about my feelings with," Laney replied. Jason softened and looked at the sincerity in Laney's eyes. "I've been thinking about everything that happened lately, and I have some really bittersweet feelings on what I'm about to say—."

"You're breaking up with me, aren't—?"

"What the fuck? No! I wanted to ask you something. Please just listen before you jump to conclusions," Laney chuckled, "Sylvia is moving out, but she's not gonna move in with her girlfriend until I find a new roommate." Jason stopped in his tracks, and thunder roared, startling them both.

Even after the momentary fright wore off from the thunder, Jason stood frozen. "Are you asking me to move in with you?" Jason asked. Laney nodded.

"The nice thing is if you get tired of me, there's another bedroom. Then Gus is getting a little attached to you, and I know we've been together a little less than a month, and I've probably given you high blood pressure in this little bit of time... When I wake up and know you're there, I hear music," Laney whispered, and Jason chuckled. "No, I know it's corny, but I've only ever felt this way around you. I can give you your space when you need it. I can reorganize the spice rack, I can buy different laundry soap—." Jason kissed him.

"Shut up. I have to give thirty days' notice," Jason smiled, and lightning flashed. "Can we tell my mom at dinner?"

The rain poured down harder, and Laney shivered. "Yuh-huh. Now let's go get a coffee. I'm freezing," Laney whispered. Jason gave Laney's hand another little squeeze, and they were on their way.

Once they got their coffees, Jason and Laney walked back to Jason's apartment. "Laney," Jason stopped him after closing the door. "Your clothes are soaked." Laney chuckled and threw off his wet clothes. Jason did the same, and he went back to his room. "I'm gonna throw on some sweats. You want something?" Jason whispered. Laney nodded.

"The green sweatshirt in your drawer," Laney replied, and Jason went through his drawers and pulled on a pair of sweats. "And can we talk about how you take your coffee black?"

"That's how my dad always makes his coffee," Jason replied. Jason came out of his room with the sweater for Laney in one hand, and he carried his hamper in the other. After Laney put on Jason's sweater, they sat on the couch, and Laney took his coffee off the table. Jason lay his head on Laney's lap and turned the tv on. Laney ran his hand through Jason's hair, rustling his fingers through it gently.

Jason curled up and closed his eyes. "I used to hate thunderstorms... When we were up that whole night, we sat close to each other, and all I wanted was to hold your hand. Something about you makes me feel so small in a good way," Jason confessed. Laney smiled and leaned down to press a kiss on Jason's forehead.

Jason's phone rang. "It's Dick... Don't ask me how I know, I just do," Jason mumbled as he sat up and answered the phone. "Hey, Dick."

"You're not in class?" Dick asked. Jason answered with a noise. "Good, are you busy?"

Jason looked at Laney, and Laney shrugged. "I'm with Lane, but we're just watching tv. Why?" Jason asked.

"Oh, tell Lane that I said hi. I actually called to ask about him. How's everything going with you two?" Dick asked.

Jason muted himself. "Can I tell him the good news?" Jason asked. Laney nodded and kissed Jason's cheek.

"Wait, no, let me tell him. Put it on speaker," Laney whispered. Jason un-muted himself and put the phone on speaker.

"You there?" Dick asked.

"Yeah, sorry. Laney just wanted to ask me something... We actually have some good news—."

Dick let out a loud noise over the phone. "Jason, you gotta let me be your best man—." Laney laughed.

"No, we're moving in together. Well, Jason's moving into my place, but not until late next month," Laney announced. Jason smiled and kissed Laney's neck.

"Aww, congrats! Wait, what about your roommate?" Dick asked. "Jason said you had a roommate."

"That's the bittersweet part. Sylvia's moving in with her girlfriend, but not until Jason's officially ready to move in," Laney replied, "How are you?"

"Good, I'm gonna be in San Francisco for a few days, but I wanted to know if everything was good with everybody before I go," Dick replied.

Jason lay back down on Laney's lap. "Why are you going to California?" Jason asked as he closed his eyes.

"Scouting stuff, and I'm visiting some friends," Dick answered.

Laney gave Jason's head a playful scratch, and Jason let out a soft noise. "Did you just purr?" Laney whispered. Jason smiled and touched Laney's hand as an invitation to continue. "Sorry, he's going to sleep. We'll call you back," Laney whispered in his soft tone.

"Goodnight, Jason. Goodnight, Lane," Dick laughed, and he hung up.

"Baby, don't go to sleep," Laney whined. Jason mumbled something, and Laney leaned close to Jason to listen to his voice. "I can't hear you."

Jason opened one eye and mumbled, "Behind my ears again." Laney grinned and rubbed his thumbs in little circles behind Jason's ears. Laney went back to scratching Jason's scalp.

Jason hummed as Laney massaged his head, only stopping to play music on his phone. "I like this a whole lot," Jason whispered. Laney bent forward and pressed a bunch of little kisses to Jason's face. "What song is this?"

"I made this," Laney answered. Jason sat up and opened his eyes. "No, lay back down. It's not even done yet." Jason took Laney's phone and held it up to his ear. Jason sat on his knees on the couch, and Laney pulled him back down. "Come back down."

Jason gave Laney his phone back, and he climbed over Laney to get off the couch. Laney grabbed his waist, and Jason let out a laugh involuntarily. "I'm gonna go shower," Jason laughed, and Laney let go.

"I wanna come with you," Laney playfully whined.

"You can come and sit in there while I shower, but I shower alone," Jason offered. Laney chuckled and took his hand. "You're so cute. Come on."

[alyswritings]

Favoritism

Request: hii! would you be able to write a john b x twinsister!reader story where they both have different perspectives of their dad (like, john b and his dad idolized each other while the dad always left the reader "behind"), maybe moments when their dad disappeared and when he was back? i don't have a lot of ideas but maybe fighting between the reader and john b, or reader and big john and john b taking their dad's side. just something that ends in some kind of comfort lol thank you sm, i love your blog💗

John B Routledge x sister!reader

Summary: Y/N feels like the odd one out.

Warnings: none really

a/n: sorry it took a while for me to get to this! hope y'all enjoy!

(gif not mine)

When Big John went missing, Y/N was effected, of course. But she never took it as hard as her twin brother had. John B was dead set on his father coming back alive some day. Y/N on the other hand wasn't too shocked that they possibly lost their father to his ridiculous gold hunt. It's all he ever really cared about, spending all of his time in it.

Big John always included John B in everything, often leaving Y/N out. The two would spend hours in Big John's office, the man usually brushing Y/N aside whenever she asked to join. It was obvious from a young age that the man favored his son.

Y/N picked up most of the slack when Big John went missing -- making sure the house stayed clean, that John B didn't go off the rails, etc.

"Don't you care that dad's gone? I mean, do you even give a shit?!" John B questions, following his sister into the chateau.

"Why should I? It's not like he would care if I ever went missing." Y/N remarks.

"So you just don't fucking care? What the hell, Y/N?" John B asks.

"John B, why would I be deeply hurt by a man who barely gives me five minutes? Yeah, I was initially concerned, but it's been months! He is gone!"

"No, he isn't!"

"Nobody survives that long, you idiot! Just accept it! Dad is dead!"

Y/N storms into her room and slams the door shut.

- - -

The pogues dropped Sarah and Y/N off at the chateau, the two finding John B asleep on the couch on the porch. While Sarah and John B reunited, John B claiming that he found his dad in Barbados, the three teens are now in the yard.

"Dude, did you get some drugs or something? Are you high right now?" Y/N asks as John B insists that Big John is here.

"Y/N, I'm serious. I found dad." John B insists.

"Okay." Y/N rolls her eyes.

"I wouldn't believe him either." The three look over at the man as he walks over. Y/N freezes, her eyes widening. Sarah lets out a noise of shock while John B immediately questions where his father was.

While Sarah greets her father-in-law, John B continues to question his dad where he was, not receiving an answer.

"Hey, there, sweetheart." Big John greets his dad. "What? No hug for your old man?"

"How in the hell are you alive?" Y/N questions.

"Well, that's a long story." Big John chuckles, pulling her into a hug. "Good to see you again, kid."

- - -

"No. I'm not going with you guys." Y/N denies.

"Why not?" John B asks.

"Because dad gets all obsessive and he gets super annoying and I'm not dealing with it." Y/N says.

"Y/N--"

"Come on, boy." Big John calls to his son. "She don't wanna go, it's her loss, not ours. Probably just slow us down anyway." Y/N rolls her eyes.

"Just go." She tells her brother, going into her room.

- - -

"I'm sorry. You-- you found this and you didn't tell the others?" Y/N asks.

"Yeah." John B mutters.

"Why the hell not?" Y/N questions.

"Dad said it's gotta stay between us." John B says.

"And you're gonna listen to him? John B, what the fuck?"

"Y/N--"

"No! No, they are a huge part in this treasure hunt, and you're not gonna tell them shit? What the fuck is wrong with you? Hell, you won't even tell Sarah?"

"Dad says it's best to keep it small for right now."

"Oh, my God." Y/N rolls her eyes.

"Y/N, we aren't telling anybody about this damn thing! We can't trust anyone!" Big John exclaims.

"I think we can trust our friends who have been there for us through everything!" Y/N yells back.

"No! Now, it's between the three of us! And if you're not happy with that, then get out!" Big John shouts.

Y/N rolls her eyes and turns to her brother.

"John B?" She asks.

John B glances between the two before eventually stepping closer to his dad. Y/N scoffs, ignoring the sting of tears in her eyes that she does her best to hold back.

"Whatever." She mutters, rolling her eyes, and storming out.

- - -

John B and Y/N sit on the dock of the chateau. They got back from finding the city of gold yesterday but haven't talked much since their father died.

"Hey." Y/N mumbles, crossing her legs, slouching.

"Hey." John B whispers.

"You okay?" Y/N asks after a few minutes.

"No." John B answers.

"Yeah." Y/N mumbles.

"I assume you're okay." John B mutters.

"Mm... no. No, not really." Y/N denies.

"I thought you hated him." John B says.

"No. Dislike, sure, but... I loved him. I just... wanted him to love me back." Y/N says. "He never really cared about me that much. Least it didn't seem like it. Always fighting, always getting brushed aside, you getting picked over me. His favoritism was definitely obvious. But him dying... watching him die... it still hurts."

"Yeah." John B mumbles, the two sitting in silence for a little bit.

"Least we're not left wondering this time." Y/N says.

"Mm-hmm." John B nods. "I'm sorry." He tells her. "For taking his side all the time. You were right a lot of the time, but I just... I took his side, anyway. Not that I love him more than you or anything, I just... it was just instinct or something. I didn't want him to get pissed at me or anything either."

"Well, you two are more alike than you think. At least when it comes to the gold sometimes. Granted, if somebody had a gun pointed at your kid, I'm sure you would give up whatever information you had a lot sooner than he did." Y/N says.

"You know I love you, right?" John B asks.

"I know." Y/N gives him a small smile. "I love you, too."

John B wraps his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into his side, and he kisses her on the head.

Taglist: @glxwingrxse @venomsvl @wildieflower @aliciacat20 @allyson15 @gabbylovesreading @mrvlxgrl @star-wars-lover @champomiel @myissuesworld @ironmaiden1313

[dragon-kazansky]

Spirit of the sea

Izzy Hands x Reader (GN)

SEASON 2 CONTENT AHEAD!!!

Blackbeard rules the sea. Despite wanting his captain back, Izzy realises his mistake. Protecting the crew is his concern. Protecting you is his life mission. Stede's return brings hope, but there's a lot of work to be done before this crew becomes a family.

{Masterlist}

{Previous Chapter} - {Next Chapter}

Warnings: Spoilers. Izzy's depression spiral. No real unicorns were harmed in the making of Izzy's new leg. Things get a little steamy at the end.

Chapter Thirteen - Loving touch

♡♡♡

Stede had gathered the crew, minus Izzy, to talk to them all. Turns out Ed woke up. You swore under your breath when you heard that. No way is that man going to be happy with any of you.

"What happened to your face?" Pete asked Stede who was standing to a bruise on his cheek.

"Bet Blackbeard did that, didn't he?" Wee John asks.

"It was an accident. Okay? I think Ed just sat up too quickly," Stede says.

"That's what they all say," Roach states.

"As you know, he's gone through quite the ordeal and he does need to regain his strength," Stede explains.

"Yeah. He'll probably get around to killing you after he's rested," Jim says, looking Stede in the eye.

"Yeah, I'd say it's a pretty obvious mistake letting him get strong again," Lucius points out. You nod.

"Kick him off the ship already!" Jim yells.

"We just don't banish people, do we?" Stede says. "That's not us. Let's give him some time, perhaps to rebound a bit."

"Medically speaking, the man can't speak, and his brain is maybe couscous." Roach points out. "Also, gonna need that steak back. It's dinner."

"Right. Yes, aye."

"Maybe we should put it to the vote," Fang suggests.

"Do we have to do this now?" Stede asks.

The crew start yelling.

♡♡♡

Stede got his answers from the crew, that much was clear enough. As you head out, Stede catches up to you.

"You were awfully quiet in there."

"Don't get me wrong. I agree with them, Ed has to go."

Stede's expression falls.

"I know you like him, but that man... he did things. He hurt people like I've never seen before. He hurt Izzy..."

"Ah yes, Izzy. How is he?" Stede asks.

"He's been better."

"Where is he anyway? I didn't see him in there."

"Drinking probably. He, uh, he's stopped talking to me at the moment. He won't talk to anyone."

Stede frowns again. "He's stopped talking to you?"

"I think it's the constant drinking... It's making him... upset. Like, more than before."

"I see..."

You shrug lightly and sigh. "Look, I'm not looking for sympathy. You're the captain, sort this out."

You walk off. Stede watches you go, his heart feeling heavy. Maybe he could have a word with Izzy for you.

♡♡♡

You sit on deck with the wooden sparrow in your hands. After everything that happened it had survived. Izzy had kept it in his cabin. You had found it when you had gone in there to find him. Izzy was nowhere to be seen, but the sparrow was sitting on his desk. There was a slight chip in the wood, right on the wing, but for the most part it looked good.

You sigh as you run your finger carefully over it's little head. Did Izzy even notice it was gone? Probably not.

"The atmosphere around here sucks," Lucius sighs, sitting down next to you. You notice the cigarette between his fingers, but you don't ask. "What's that?" He nods toward the wooden bird.

"Marietta."

"Marietta?" He looks at you with a funny expression.

"That's what I called it. It was a gift for Izzy from me. I dropped the first one in the sea while I was angry at him... so I remade her." You hold the sparrow up. "She's a little beaten, but still in nest condition."

"You carved him a bird?"

"Look, I can't draw like you can. I can't make sew like Frenchie, or knit like Wee John. I can, however, whittle."

Lucius smiles a little. "I like it."

A moment of silence passes while you play with the bird in your hands a little more.

"So, you and Izzy?"

"So, you and Pete?" You reply, sarcastically.

"We're fine," he says defensively. "What's going on with your boyfriend?"

You raise your eyes to Lucius. "Blackbeard abused him. Punished him. Took his leg. He's a little upset at the moment. Rightfully so."

Lucius stands up a little defensively. "We've all been through shit," he says.

You narrow your eyes at him. "I'm not saying you haven't. We thought you were dead!"

"Well, I wasn't." He puts out his cigarette. "I've suffered too and it's all his fault!" He points to where Blackbeard is tied up on the deck.

"He's fucked everyone over, Lucius. Just need Stede to get his ass in gear and do something about it."

Lucius sighs. "Do you think anything will ever go back to how it was?"

"No," you admit honestly. "But I do believe things can get better. In time."

Lucius says nothing. He glares at Blackbeard and then leaves. You sigh and return to holding the bird, caressing it again gently.

"Oh, Izzy..."

♡♡♡

Stede found Izzy at the front of the ship. He was leaning on some of the rope rigging, his wooden leg propped up on the railing. In his other hand was a bottle of rum, of which he was drinking merrily.

He looked a mess.

Stede offered him a smile as he joined him, ignoring the look Izzy was throwing his way. He means over and notices the unicorn is missing it's head.

"He's seen better days, hasn't he?" Stede asks in a lighthearted manner.

"At least he's still got both legs!" Izzy yells.

"Yes!" Stede joins in. "He can't hear you, he's go no head. You've got a head, though, which you should look after."

Izzy down his rum. Stede sighs.

"What do you want, Bonnet?" Izzy asks, not really in the mood for conversation.

"Well, here's the thing. The crew, they're in a bit of a deadlock over the whole banishment of Ed thing and I just thought, seeing as, well, you were the one who kept his body aboard, maybe you should weigh in. You've already murdered him once. Seems like a pretty good payback." He chuckles softly. "So, what do you think?"

"My vote?" Izzy leans in a little closer to Stede. "A rotten let's got to come off."

"Right. Just to confirm, was that a nay or yay on the banishment?"

Izzy just drinks some more.

"Right... I suppose I just mention that our Spirit of the sea is worried about you. You've stopped talking to them apparently..."

Izzy says nothing.

"Don't push them out, Izzy."

Izzy just drinks from his bottle again. Stede sighs and takes his leave.

♡♡♡

"So! We, the crew of The Revenge, have voted and we've chosen banishment, unfortunately." Frenchie states, announcing the result. "So, yeah. Effective immediately. Your complimentary dinghy awaits you portside. Now leave, please."

"Fuck off," Ed hisses, walking past him. You watch him closely.

"Alright, rude."

"Fuck you," Ed laughs softly, walking past Olu.

"First time I've been on this side of a walk of shame," Wee John comments.

"Way to make this awkward, bruh," Archie says.

"Shitty sailing with you." Jim chimes in.

"You're making it really hard to look up to you, man," Pete sighs.

"Hey, made you this sandwich for the trip," Roach says, holding it out to him. Ed slaps it out of his hand and Stede catches it

"You don't want your sammie?" Stede looks sad.

Ed slaps it out of Stede's hand and it hits Lucius in the face. You have to cover your mouth to stop from laughing. Lucius bites back his laughter too. It really isn't a funny moment, throwing someone off the ship, but at least you can find something to laugh about, you supposed.

"Ed, say something at least."

Ed turns his head and looks at Stede.

"You're not a fuckin' mermaid."

You knit your brows together in confusion by that statement. Stede looked equally confused.

"What?"

Ed climbs off the ship and into the dinghy. Stede looks down and watches him, you and Lucius part with the rest if the crew, not hanging about to watch any longer.

Ed was gone. That was that.

♡♡♡

"Is it me or does the energy around here seem off?" Wee John asked.

"By 'the energy,' do we mean him?" Roach nods over to Lucius who was smiling and freaking out a little. "Or him?" He gestures over to where Izzy is still standing at the front of the ship yelling at the unicorn.

"Well, mythical creature?" Izzy yells. You sigh as you watch him from where you stand. He still wasn't talking to you much. "Anything to say to yourself? Fuck you!"

"Or them?" Roach asks, looking at Jim, Archie, Frenchie, and Fang scrubbing the deck of any "possible" bloodstains left over from where Edward had bled out.

"Do you still see blood?"

"Yeah. We'll get it. Just keep scrubbing."

"They're lookin' this way." Fang says.

You tune out the rest of their conversation to watch your stupid drunk pirate curse at the unicorn some more. If only you could talk to him. He would surely listen to you.

It was breaking your heart to see him fall apart like this. Izzy hadn't held you since you got back onto The Revenge. He was shutting you out, suffering on his own.

You hated it.

You try not to let the tears fall as you walk away, letting Izzy do whatever the fuck he wanted.

♡♡♡

Olu had invited you to join the crew for a surprise. Jim had speculated they were planning to kill you all off for being disturbed after sailing with Blackbeard. You thought it was a bit of a stretch, but you wouldn't put it last them either.

You were all guided below deck where the surprise was.

"You gotta close your 'cause it's a surprise." Olu says.

No one does that, everyone sceptical. Frenchie leads you all behind Olu. You find Pete and Wee John waiting.

"Ta da!"

Wee John moves to reveal the surprise.

The crew all jump and startle, hiding the knives they were all carrying behind their backs incase of an attack.

"Fuck!" Lucius sighs, jumpy enough already.

"Guys, it's called a pine-ata." Pete says.

"Yeah. So, you just pull this string and then--" Olu tries to explain.

"And then you hit it with a stick!" Pete demonstrates.

Everyone is triggered. PTSD from the storm, from Blackbeard.

"Time for blindfolding." Wee John tries.

"Stay the fuck sway from me!" Jim yells.

"You won't want to stay the fuck away from this came!" Roach says, brining the cake in.

You feel your stomach churn at the sight of it. It looks like the wedding cake...

"God's sake, take it away!" Fang screams.

You all draw your weapons. Yeah, even you. This is too much, too soon. This how it ends up at a stand off.

"One-half of this room has some serious emotional damage," Jim explains, holding Wee John in a choke hold. "And it's not us."

"Well, it's not us!" Wee John says back.

You have your knife pointing at Olu.

"Right, so, is everybody else's arms and various limbs getting tired?" Frenchie asks.

"Alright, look, look, look, look. I think there's actually an easier way to resolve this." Olu days, eyeing your knife. "Yes? Right. So you all think that we're plottin' against you?"

"Yeah," you nod.

"Which, in hindsight, maybe was inaccurate." Frenchie says. "I don't know, you tell me."

"Okay. So, can we all agree to just not jump the other crew and solve this as fuckin' adults?" Olu asks.

"You're saying this is like a space that is safe?" Jim asks him.

"Yeah, babe." Olu looks at them.

"I love that."

"A safe space."

"Yeah, okay."

You all lower your knives. You take a deep breath. Nearly lost your cool there.

"A lot has gone unsaid," Roach speaks. "I think now is a great time to discuss lingering issues."

"Yeah, yeah, absolutely." Archie nods. "Can we talk about the fucked-up sleeping arrangements?"

"Excuse me, do you even have a name, new guy?" Wee John asks her.

"Yeah, fuck you is her name." Jim starts, drawing their knife again.

"Hey, stupid name for a person," Roach draw his knife on Jim.

"You know my name is Archie," she point her weapon at Roach.

Everyone draws their weapons again. You sigh and point your knife at Olu again, but he doesn't sense any actual malice from you.

The sound of something thudding against the floor draws everyone's attention to the door. You turn and your heart skips a beat at the sight of Izzy. Two wooden legs at his feet.

"There! It's done!" He yells. "Maybe next time he'll think twice about not doing his fucking--" Izzy's peg leg breaks from under him as he raises his crutch and he falls harshly to the ground.

You gasp and drop your knife, hurrying over to him. He shrugs you off.

"Get off me! Fuck off!"

You sit there on your knees as he rolls over and starts crawling down the hall. Your heart breaks watching him.

"Leave me alone! I'm already gone." He mutters. He starts repeating a phrase over and over again. "You're born alone, you die alone. You're born alone, you die alone."

You can feel tears building up again. God, only Izzy could ever make you cry so much.

"Yeah, he's definitely more disturbed than any of us," Lucius says, watching Izzy go.

You try to hide your teary eyes as you get up and leave.

♡♡♡

You're sat up on deck with yours curled up wiping away the tears that were falling. If only you could get that stupid man to talk to you. You just wound to heal his internal wounds, and soothe his external wounds.

You don't hear the door open, but you do hear footsteps coming over. You turn your face away, but you know it's Fang who is now sitting beside you. He has one of the unicorn legs in his hand.

"You okay?" He asks softly. Fang was a soothing presence.

"Spectacular," you mutter.

He look down at the wooden leg and then back at you.

"We, uh, we had an idea for Izzy."

You wipe your eyes again. "Yeah?"

"We're gonna make him a new leg. You wanna help? It would sure mean a lot if you gave it to him after." Fang smiles.

"You want me to help?"

"I think Izzy would like that, don't you?"

You shrug quietly. "I don't know. He's not exactly talking to me right now."

"Aw, listen. He still loves you. He's just hurting, but maybe we can help. Let's do something good for him."

Fang offers you a small smile.

You find yourself smiling back. You reach over and take the leg from him. "Okay. Let me see what we can do."

Less than 30 minutes later the leg is being constructed, the crew are gathered to help. Fang constructs the leg into a strong, comfortable, and practical leg. Lucius had got some gold paint to add something that little bit extra.

You smile as you paint the leg.

"The gold was a gold touch."

Lucius smiles, happy he could help.

You leave the leg to dry and then Fang returns to your side with it. You sigh as you take it, looking it over.

"We sure it will do?" You ask.

"Its been measured and made just for Izzy. It will more than do. Oh don't forget the note." Fang holds out the parchment.

You take the leg and take the note.

"Right..."

"Just leave it outside his door if he doesn't want to talk. I can assure you he'll talk to you again soon."

You nod and make your way to Izzy's cabin.

♡♡♡

As you approach Izzy's door, you don't hear much. It's almost too quiet for your liking. You hover outside the door, the leg in hand. That's when you hear his voice. He's talking to someone.

"And you? What's your excuse?" You hear him say. You lean a little closer to listen, worried about him. "I mean, what even are you?"

You knock on the door hoping he'll answer.

"Fuck off." You hear him shout. You knock again firmly. "Fuck off!" He yells again.

You sigh. Telling him it was you probably wouldn't make a difference. You prop the leg up but the door, tucking the note and Marietta, Izzy's carved sparrow that you still had, into it.

You knock again and hurry away, disappearing down the hall.

"You are harassing a cripple! Fucking twats!" Izzy yells, no longer realising the person has gone from behind his door. He limps his way over and opens it, looking down the hall.

He sees no one.

His gaze drops down to the item waiting for him. He sees the note and the bird. He reads the note first, all emotion clogging up in his throat.

Those little shits.

He cries. Izzy covers his mouth as tears overwhelm him. He looks up down the hall, trying not to break down.

"Fucking cocksuckers."

He sees the sparrow and picks it up. It's then he realises you had been the one knocking. His finger close around the bird and the tears fall freely.

Shit. He's been really shit to you.

Izzy hold the sparrow against his chest and takes a few deep breaths. He grabs the leg and hobbles back inside his room.

♡♡♡

It's the early hours of the morning.

Izzy stands on deck with his new leg on. It's a good fit. Made really well. His hair is slicked back against his scalp, out of his face. His face is a little cleaner. No rum in sight.

In one hand he's clutching the ring he wears under his clothes, hanging from a string of twine. He smiles as he looks down at it.

In his other hand is the note. His eyes drift over to the words written on it. His heart feels full.

'For the new unicorn.'

Izzy smiles.

With the dawn of a new day comes a new Izzy. A healing Izzy.

He's going to be okay.

No. He'll be more than okay.

He just needs to talk to you first.

♡♡♡

The sun hasn't even risen yet when Izzy wakes you. You've been sleeping with the rest of the crew since Izzy stopped talking to you, so he had to be quiet when waking you. You're startled awake by something hitting your face again and again.

You wake up to find little balls of paper being thrown at you. You look up to see Izzy waving you over. You look at him confused. He wasn't talking to you befkre, and now he wants to?

That's when you notice the leg and your heart begins to race.

You climb out of bed and make your way out of the room, not waking a single person. You follow Izzy into his cabin and enter cautiously. He looks tidier, cleaner, more content.

"Izzy?"

He stands there and looks at you. There are several emotions flickering in his eyes, but he finds his words in no time.

"Thank you."

You stand there awkwardly. "I didn't do anything."

Izzy inhales loud enough for you to hear as he looks down at his leg, his hand resting over his thigh. "You did this."

"It was the crew's idea."

Izzy holds up the sparrow. "I noticed it was gone, but there was only one place it could be."

You nod your head softly.

Izzy puts the sparrow down and walks over to you, closing the distance between you both. You find your heart rate picking up as you look into those beautiful eyes of him.

"I love you," he whispers.

Just like that he's reaching out and kissing you. You're in his arms again. You return his kiss, having missed his lips. Having missed him. You reach out and take hold of him.

The kiss is hot, passionate, desperate. It's significance lies with the fact that you two spend all your time wanting each other, but when you're hurting, you don't reach out for one another.

You remove his scarf, taking the ring around it and carefully placing it down. It belonged to his mother and you know he would definitely curse you if you lost it. You begin to undress him, and he, you.

Clothes land on the floor. The soft thud of his wooden foot taps lightly on the floor as he moves you over to his bed.

Doing this right after the emotional rollercoaster you both has been through probably wasn't the best idea, but this time no one could stop you both, and this was long overdue.

You push Izzy down on the bed and take care of him, admiring him. You notice the other ring around his neck. You had seen it before, but it's origins you hadn't known. He was wearing it last time you did this too.

Still, your mind was focused on other things.

Safe to say, both of you are going to be a little late getting up tomorrow.

♡♡♡

@grippleback-galaxy - @askmarinaandothers - @godlikegallagher - @for-fuck-sake-im-alive - @whiskeyswriting - @lxsm2 - @bloody-bunni666 - @the-chocoholic-writer - @bugbugboy - @callmemana - @the-shenny-of-azkaban - @cool-ontherun-world - @outer-space-beech - @ahewi24 - @grace585 - @innertimemachinegirl - @dmitrytherat - @emilynissangtr -

[marksbear]

Just had a thought and immediately ran to your blog, ok so- sugar daddy Aaron Hotchner x sugar baby reader where Aaron’s been paying the reader for companionship and shit and maybe Derek and Penelope get suspicious that he’s seeing someone and they go snooping and find out about the reader and so they try and contact him and they find out through the reader that Hotch is actually his sugar daddy and their just like “HOLY FU—“

Idk if this is a good request but it just came to mind so feel free to entertain my weird thoughts or don’t🤷 ❤️‍🔥

OHH YEAHH I LOVE THIS THOUGHT THANK YOU FOR SHARING WITH ME @prismuffin! Gonna do headcanons and a oneshot at the same time because I'm like that.

Warnings: U/n= University name H/c= Hair color, implied sex, Sugar daddy and baby, gentle hotch, Nosy Penelope and Derek, Y/n is a uni student. Y/n and his friends flirt and kiss on each other but FULLY PLATONIC, flirty reader to his friends.

SUGAR DADDY AARON HOTCH X SUGAR BABY MALE READER.

Your three roomates dragged you to some rich fancy party. Most people who were there are police, firefighters, veterans and current soldiers. You didn't know how you were dragged in like you were a broke college that majoring film with lots of your friends.

At first you didn't wanna go because like I said you were broke barely surviving university financially. A lot of times you and your roommates combine money just to go to places and eat. And goes to parties stuffing whatever into your shirts and bags like drinks and sometimes food in containers.

So when your friend invited here you said a blunt no. "It's not because I don't want to...It's because there are a lot of fancy people there with their dresses and suits. I don't wanna go there and be the odd one out." You say to your friend Jules. She smiled at your answer and went to her closest opening and pulled out a fancy suit.

"I knew you were gonna say that so I asked a certain someone to buy me this." She laughs and sits on the bed next to you placing the newly bought suit in your lap. You glance at the price tag and let out a gasp "350!? Jules what the hell who do you know!?!" Jules smirks at you and stands up giving her hand to you waiting for you to take it. "Baby, come with me then i'll show you the guy who bought me this. And if we get lucky you'll find your own guy like mine." She looks at you with pleading eyes and you sigh taking the hand and her squealing pulling you off the couch rushing into the bathroom with you.

Once yall get dressed together in the bathroom and check yall selves out you both step out showing off yall looks to the other roommates who just joined. All of you are dressed and ready to go all of you hyping each other up before walking out the door yall join hands walking outside. "Is that a fucking limo!" You shout looking at Jules who's giggling pulling the group inside of the car. Once all of you are set you begin to drive to the life changing party. Jules words. One of the roommates John takes your guys pictures and posts them online just having a great time.

Yall arrived and walked up the steps staring at awe at the large house. Jules looks at all of you telling each one of you to take a deep breath and all of you do what she says and give each other one last big squeeze with your hands before walking in the party.

The party is busy and some parts of the part segregated from different jobs like firefighters with their own people and soldiers with each other. You begin to feel nervous like you and your roommates are the only people who are young really and don't have a single lived saved badge. Since the whole party probably saved a life before it begins to make you feel like you don't belong. You glance at your third roommate Quin and take her hand as support. Quin was always your emotional support buddy ( Fun fact she makes lots of short films about the group and their problems.) Quin quickly interlocks her hand with yours leading through the party looking for a decent spot to drink at. You two find a quiet bar and sit at ordering drinks and having a calm conversation. You and Quin stay there for a good nineteen minutes before getting found by Jules and her kidnapping dragging you two away from there and into a private booth.

Jules quickly sits yall down and you turn to see John sipping on his drink looking at the two of you smiling. All four of y'all sit together chatting up a storm with loud laughs and screams. You all crack jokes and tease each other until some women and men come into the booth looking very serious. "So juley these are the people you always talk about?" One of the men asks staring at you,Quin and john all three of you side eyeing each other trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

"Yes! Wasn't I right they're the cutest!" Jules squeals out walking towards the man who's talking and sitting on his lap. "Especially Y/n! Hes the cutest out of all of us!" Jules says smiling at her friend who has not a clue of what's going on in his face. All of the women and men turn their gaze to Y/n. Y/n leans back into the seat leaning on Quin a little who is smirking at him.

All of the women and men seem to study Y/n once they're all done they all look and nod at each other approving. Jules giggles and gets off the man's lap and skips towards her friends sitting back down with them. Jules introduces everyone to each other. You didn't bother at trying to remember all of their names but one had stuck out to you. "Here is Agent Hotchner..." You didn't listen to the rest of your mind only focusing on the man. You stare at him in awe you never had seen someone so handsome like him before. Your heart begins to pound and your chest flutters and your body begins to feel hot staring at him. You feel like a teenager again palms sweating and mind rushing. You never believed in love in first sight but this time you wonder if it is true.

Then suddenly his sharp and dominant eyes shoot back at you making heavy eye contact. You flinch back and stand up rather quickly excusing yourself and rush out the booth. Leaving your three roommates confused until John lets a "Ohhh..." When John says oh the other two light bulbs switch on and they all giggle about Y/n and tease him about his childish acts. "Is he okay?" One of the women says being confused at the trio seems calm after their fourth member rushing out of the booth. "It's a normal thing for him. Him crushing on someone until they make eye contact and running like hes a deer when spooked." John answers with a laugh teasing the deer like man.

Hotch excuses himself out of the booth and walks around looking for Y/n. He sees the h/c enter a bathroom. Hotch quickly follows inside and locks the door behind him. "Someones in here!- oh its you..." Y/n says shyly. He was just washing his face trying to calm down but efforts were wasted when hes alone with the man again feeling all hot and shy again. "Do you want me to go?" Hotch offers but quickly gets told no.

The pair get into a silence with lots of romantic and sexual tension in the room. "So why is a uni film maker doing in a party like this?" Hotch asks getting closer to Y/n and leaning on the wall. Y/n swallows deeply and shyly tilts his head away from Hotch. "Well Jules dragged me here. One for free food and drinks. Second she wanted me and my other roommates to meet someone special to her and if we were lucky i'll find my own that what she said at least in her words." Hotch hums and thinks for a second before taking his large hand cupping your jaw and forcing you softly to look at him. You slowly look up into his eyes in awe staring at his features up close.

"I guess you were lucky today. How about we make a deal? You be my companion like my boyfriend. Your job is simple take care of my needs and sometimes treat each other like we are a couple. In return you can get a five-hundred pay each week and everything you want in your dreams okay?" Y.n thinks about it and says "I aspect the deal. Like your my sugar daddy." You giggle and kiss the tip of his nose. Aaron kisses the top of your head and wraps his arms around you cradling you.

HEADCANONS NOW!!

You sitting on Hotch lap every time you have to take a seat. And always choosing Hotch straddling his leg or sitting on his lap fully. He always pull you to his lap even though it can be like seven open seats.

Him and you taking faceless pictures all of the time. Hotch feels kinda insecure of his face always getting told he looked scary or mean. So you thought of a way so it doesn't make him uncomfortable when you take pictures of him. And plus you both look hot together in the pictures like you sitting in his lap while his veiny hand on your thigh. Makes the two of you look hot when you post it and everything.

He buys you clothes that go with your style or aesthetic. Like if you wear street wear or something like in the 90s or 80s he'll buy it out of kindness.

Trying to keep your relationship hidden from the team. You both don't mind showing pda at all and actually you both are quite seen as a handsy couple. But he just doesn't want his nosy co-workers to be in his business all of the time.

Him teaching you how to defend yourself and his worst fear is seeing you in a case as an unsub or a victim. It's one of the other few things that keeps him awake at night so that's one of the main reasons why he tries to keep you away from his work.

You babysit jack when hes away at work so it kinda pushes the boundary of just Sugar daddy and sugar baby. To which that you both don't mind pushing the boundary it makes the both of you feel closer together and let other hidden feelings out.

He sends you food and clothes and other things you enjoy when hes gone for a while.

You and him go to fancy dates and places as dates but when you both feel lazy yall have a picnic or an in-home date. And sometimes go out for lunch between work or going to the movies.

He probably likes taking those aesthetic couple pictures like the ones you see on tiktok a lot. It makes him feel that he caught up to the trends with you. It makes you happy so hes happy.

OKAY BACK TO THE ONE-SHOT

Y/n and Hotch have been doing the deal for a couple months now everything is running smoothly with no arguments or anything toxic. Hotch had to leave work with an excuse that "Jack needs me" Which wasn't a total lie. The messy duo Derek and Penelope felt like something fishy was going on and left in secret to follow their boss. Once Aaron arrived at a McDonald's he walked inside fast. Derek and Penelope give each other a look before putting on a childish disguise before heading in. They walked in just in time to see Aaron wrap his arms around a smaller man kissing him deeply. And pull away once they hear Jack shout "Ewww! dad and papa!" Penelope mouth drops the floor and takes pictures of the unknown man and Derek pulls his shades down a little making sure hes seeing what Penelope is seeing.

They spend thirty minutes there until the family gets up leaving the fast food place. Derek and Penelope hurries off to the window spying on them. Hotch bends down and gives Jack a big huge kissing his head before standing up taking the unknown man's waist before pulling him into a makeout. The couple pulls away when they hear Jack whining about going home. The couple pulled away getting into a quick hug before going into their separate ways. Penelope and Derek bolt out of the place and get into the car driving to work passing the speed limit. The duo makes it there before Hotch and they go to Penelope bat cave. Penelope loads up pictures of Y/n and does research on him

"His name is Y/n m/n L/n hes a junior in U/n and majoring in Film. Hes been arrested once for fighting and jumping the people he jumped with are John lakey, Quin beck and Jules McLean and them three are his current roommates." Penelope proceeds to dig deeper on him going into his social media stalking him and gasping a little when she sees the huge amount of followers. "These pictures are...erotic.

Always faceless with a lewd or romantic poses." Penelope says pointing at the veins. "Thats boss man's hands." Derek says leaning in closer to the screen."Never knew he was into those types of young men." Penelope checks Y/n following and hes only following one person. She clicks on it and the user name is called "The only4" It has even a bigger amount of following. The pictures and videos are just Y/n and his roommates. "They seem to be close." Derek says point at a video where Jules and Y/n are making out. "Do you think they're a y'know?" Penelope says scrolling down on their pictures and videos and stops at one letting out an exaggerated gasp. The picture is the four of them sitting on a people who looks rich and tough but faces are blurred out leaving only the roommates faces are seen. Penelope zooms in on Y/n and shows Derek Hotch watch hes wearing. Derek hears footsteps and quickly shuts off everything. "Hotch has a sugar baby! WHAT THE FUCK!" Penelope whisper shouts at Derek. "Holy hell, the big man got some game." Derek whispers back looking at Penelope back. The door opens by Spencer saying that we got a case.

At the round table Penelope has to show some information to the team with her laptop. No problem for her only that she forgot to close out of Y/n Instagram. She connects the laptop to the TV to present and she opens her laptop. And the whole team gasped. The TV screen is showing Y/n shirtless wear saggy pants and a cowboy hat while Jules is kissing his neck. The team room gets quiet when Hotch opens the door staring at the screen confused and puzzled. He looks at the team then looks at Penelope and Derek looking guilty together.

"Garcia and Morgan my office now!"

[pardonmydelays]

what do you love the most about twenty one pilots?

i fucking love this question, but there's no easy answer to it. i guess i'm gonna have to try tho, because sometimes i feel like maybe some of you don't really understand WHY i totally changed my entire blog when clancy came out (it's kinda like me loving this band was my biggest secret for such a long time, idk. i still remember how a few months before it i've mentioned something and anix literally yelled at me like "WHY THE FUCK YOU NEVER TOLD ME YOU LIKE TWENTY ONE PILOTS" lmao. anyway).

first of all, no one has ever made me feel so seen and understood. there's real magic in tyler joseph's lyrics, you might hate me for what i'm about to say right now, but speaking of tortured poets - for me it's not taylor, it's tyler. and the scariest part of it all is that i very often relate to his lyrics. but that's also beautiful - it's therapeutic in a way. so when clancy came out and i realized i relate to pretty much EVERY song on this record, i just thought to myself, oh lord, how did i survive this long without their music. it's always been them for me. i will never abandon them again, i swear.

second thing, the lore. you all know i'm a slut for stories told through music (*cough* musical theatre *cough*). also, if the plot of the story is complex and weird as fuck, there's a pretty big chance it will become my favourite thing in the world. the entire lore is an insane metaphor for mental health struggles so, obviously, i can find a part of myself in it. i would die for their lore, honestly. it's all i can think about. and clancy will always be my fucking blorbo.

another thing i love a lot about them, and it's something you don't really see if you don't watch their interviews or live performances, they are literally just two dudes. both josh and tyler have always been very anxious and awkward and weird and that's what makes them more human in my opinion - just two fucking idiots who are best friends, lmao. they are so relatable in every possible way. they are also the funniest dudes in the entire world. and their friendship is so fucking beautiful. the only difference between us and them, truly, is that they are extremely talented and they have their own band.

also, they care about the clique so fucking much, this was probably mentioned on my blog before (maybe even today in a previous ask). they don't care about the charts, about awards, about anything really, all they care about is their music and fans. they don't do it to be the best band in the world. they do it to save lives - our lives as much as their own (if it wasn't for this music i don't know how i would have fought this). and that's what makes them different and honestly, better than the other artists.

they are also pretty much unproblematic. i wasn't really sure if i should mention that, but i feel like i need to. tyler joseph made one stupid mistake a few years ago - the way people reacted to this still breaks my fucking heart. he realized he was wrong tho, he apologized. the other day i saw a post here on tumblr about how he's fucking problematic and racist and the worst man on the planet etc etc. can we... fucking stop, please. it was just a stupid joke and he knows it was dumb and unnecessary. most people wouldn't even apologize, but he did. end of story. i will defend him with my life (not saying he is perfect, but shit, if you want to cancel him for one mistake maybe you should look at yourself first).

i feel like there are thousand different reasons but i'm just gonna stop here, because it's too fucking long already and no one will read it anyway.

[kaplerrr]

Uhm, idk ?

TW: self indulgent, fluff mainly, tiny bit of angst, talking about insecurities through a mug, slight mention of scars, obnoxious lack of self esteem, Kintsugi, bad grammar bc english is not my first language, probably ooc

König can defend himself alone but im ready to throw a fit if anyone disrespect him, even if "anyone" is him

I just wanna hug this giant gremlin tightly and never let him go, is this too much to ask ???

____

The sound of something breaking in the kitchen makes you jump.

You rush to the kitchen and see König sheepishly starring at a broken mug on the floor.

Your mug.

"Kö, are you all right ?" You ask, already grabbing a broom to gather the pieces.

He nods stiffly before taking the broom from your hand, slight guilt and frustration in his pale blue eyes. "Ja... I'm sorry, I dropped it. I didn't mean to, I just-.. Sorry." He sighs as he lowers himself to pick up the shattered mug.

You shake you head with a soft smile as you reassure him "Hey, it's not that deep. I can buy a new one."

"But I know you liked that one. It was your favourite..."

He sounds upset and you're not sure to know why. It was just a mug. Sage green on the outside, white inside. Not the hardest mug to find you thought.

Your gaze travel from his troubled eyes to the remaining of the mug and you see clean cuts. You watch the shattered glass and smile, an idea blossoming in your mind. You grap his wrist as he was about to throw them away.

He stills, waiting for you to say something as he looks at you with curiosity.

"Don't throw them away yet, I have an idea !" You quickly grab a few items in your room and go back to the kitchen, a mischievous grin plastered on your face "Let's fix it!"

You sit and start to pour epoxy in a little container. As you grab a brush, you notice that König is not moving, looking at you awkwardly.

"Well ? Why don't you sit down and grab a brush ? We're doing it together." You say softly. You can't feel totally satisfied as you notice he hasn't gotten rid off that guilty look. You try to lighten the mood.

"I feel like in a Grey's Anatomy episode. "It's a beautiful day to save lives" Oh, I've always dreamt of saying those words" you giggle as you see König chuckle lightly.

Here we go.

"You should smile more often, you're absolutely precious when you do" you said matter-of-factly, still smiling. You see König blush but his smile doesn't leave his face.

Good.

"So, ready to save M. Mug ?"

He nods and adds bashfully "We should name it.."

Again, you laugh. Delighted.

"Absolutely ! Any idea ?" When he shakes his head, you pause to think about it. "What about Steve ?"

"Steve ?"

"Steve." You say with confidence. You see König's shoulders shake as he laugh quietly, a warm feeling blossoming in your chest.

"Steve it is then."

You both start to glue the pieces back together as you explain the concept of Kintsugi to König. He listens to you religiously as he tried his best to be delicate with the pieces he was holding.

As you pause your talking, he sighs and apologies again for breaking Steve in the first place.

"König, it's alright, you did nothing wrong. Steve fell, Steve broke but Steve's strong, he's gonna survive and be the most unique mug of the kitchen." As you were applying golden powder on the cracks, you look at him, knowing he wasn't done talking.

"But what if Steve couldn't be fixed ?"

You felt an unwelcome feeling pinch your heart as you answered "It would have been an accident. Accidents happen." You add "But see ? We are giving him a second chance to live. Not because he was shattered before means he's useless now."

You don't resist the temptation to take his hand and brush your thumb against his scarred knuckles, leaving traces of golden powder. You were always hesitant when touching König because you didn't want to force your touch on him, knowing full well he wasn't always comfortable with it. You often wondered if he was tolerating your touch or if he was too gentle to say something. However, you know it was ok when you feel him squeeze your hand delicately.

"There's beauty in flaws, Kö. A beauty you want to embrace and highlight. That's the art of Kintsugi" you say softly. He nods, throat feeling tight.

You quickly finish to apply the golden powder, your hand still wrapped with König's. You smile widely "Good as new !" König watches the green and golden mug with a soft gaze before looking at you, awe and gratefulness overwhelming him.

You blush slightly as you're putting the epoxy and the powder away. You smile at him.

He smiles back, eyes free of any guilt or any other negative emotions.

You silently vow to yourself to protect this smile.

_______

I do have a mug named Steve 👁️👄👁️

[aquaticptato]

I had a dream last night that is an actual plausible theory and I want to put it here so I can look back at it when the show either proves or disproves it.

First off, in the dream, Jax was one of the workers for C&A who knew about the circus's development. Maybe he was a programmer, or a random intern, who knows.

Now, Gooseworx said that Jax is going to do something "unforgivable" later in the show. Many people are speculating that he's gonna make someone abstract, aka kill them. But I had a thought- maybe he's not going to do it, but he's already done it and we'll see in a flashback or lore drop? Maybe... he's the one who got volunteers to try out the Circus? Maybe he was the "marketing team," so to speak, who convinced people to come try out this new VR and led them to their doom, even maybe KNOWING what would happen?

Gooseworx also said Jax is the newest member of the circus (besides Pomni, of course) and that he had the worst reaction out of everyone when he realized he was trapped in there.

I think maybe someone at C&A forced the headset onto Jax and trapped him there after something went really wrong, like the project needing to be hidden. A "No witnesses" situation, where the 22-year-old guy whose job was literally to tell people about it was too much of a loose end. Of course, if he was already in the know about the project, he'd instantly know he was f@#$&d, since Goose revealed that the circus members do remember their lives, just not their names.

(I think Pomni then found the headset years later after it was hidden and put it on at the computer we see in Episode 1, which is how this theory is still continuity-compliant. It's also why the headset itself looks old.)

Now, one more thing: I don't think anyone in the circus can escape. I think they're actually trapped forever. And Jax knew this, too, hence his freakout upon arrival.

Why?

Well, another thing Gooseworx posted was a list of warnings about the show. One of them was "corpse portrayal."

Additionally, when answering an ask about whether the show was going to have any major blood/gore, they said: "do decaying dried out corpses count?"

(YES, GOOSE, THEY DO.)

And I'm pretty sure we're all thinking the same thing.

Those corpses are the bodies of the circus members.

Entering the Amazing Digital Circus transfers a person's mind and consciousness into the digital realm. How could a body survive that? Be real here!

So, Pomni is dead. Jax is dead. Zooble and Gangle and Ragatha and Kinger and Kaufmo and Queenie and all the others whose names we don't know - they're all dead and decaying.

Which means, how can their consciousnesses escape the computer when they don't have a body to go back to?

And if putting on the headset really is a death sentence, then hoooo boy... Getting people to put it on even when you know they're doomed would be a pretty unforgivable thing to do, eh?

So, to summarize:

-Everyone in the circus is DEAD.

-Jax is the one responsible for everyone (except Pomni) being stuck in the Circus and therefore dying.

-We're going to see their bodies. They probably all got thrown in a cellar somewhere by C&A to hide the evidence. A fitting parallel to the Abstraction Cellar.

I sure hope I'm wrong, but I can't find any evidence against this so far.

Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

-Aqua🌊

Edit: Corrected the part about where Goose mentioned the corpses and got a screenshot, which I shall put here:

[kyellin]

9-1-1 7x10 speculations

So! With the stills that came out today, and mildly silently freaking out because I was at work, I have many thoughts!

So tentative timeline at the beginning of the episode.

Eddie and Buck talking / Madney talking with Hen -> Eddies Parents arriving -> Buck and Tommy's date night / Bathena house fire -> Hospital -> Athena investigating the fire ->Chris going back to Texas

I think it will start with the aftermath of Chris and Marisol discovering Kim. So I feel like Marisol dumping Eddie's ass and Chris locking himself in his room will be off-screen and Eddie is gonna be explaining everything to Buck in the aftermath because we see him gesticulating wildly and running his hand through his hair about why Buck is trying to understand what happened

The only thing that I am unsure of is why the Diaz Parents are in town? But I feel like it was a surprise that they show up at Eddie's house, and they stumble upon this situation and Eddie has no choice but to explain what happened, especially when you see the still where I'm pretty sure Eddie is showing a picture of Kim.

I also feel like Buck will try to talk to Chris and Chris will angrily say that his Dad is a hypocrite because he is dating two women, paralleling how Chris got the talk on how he is a player at the beginning of the season by dating multiple girls.

After that Buck gotta leave because of date night with Tommy and Eddie insists that he leave to make it in time.

So date night is going well, but oh no! Buck receives a call from the Hospital? May? Chim? about how Bobby and Athena are in the hospital. Tommy drives Buck to the hospital because he physically cannot.

Eddie also gets the call from another member of the 118 and leaves Chris with his parents to go to the hospital too.

The Madney and Hen scene will happen at the same time as the Buck and Eddie aftermath scene. Henren probably got good news from Deidre/the judge about how Mara's adoption will go forward despite the councilwomen's attempt to block it. You see Madney and Hen smiling throughout the stills of that scene.

Then when Hen is going to social services or the courtroom, she'll get a call about Bobby from a member of the 118.

Athena's still shows that it will be after the events we see in the promo. Athena is gonna find out where Amir lives and she will confront him. Sorry guys, I really feel like she pulls her gun on Amir while showing whatever it is in her hand because she feels convinced that it is Amir who sets fire to her house after how Amir reacted when he was in her home last episode. Amir is going to say something that convinces Athena that it is not him because he is a red herring!!

Anyways, going back to the stills. One of the last scenes is how Chris announces to Eddie that he will be going back to Texas with his grandparents for the summer because he is so mad at him. Eddie stricken by all the events, will let him go back. But before Chris goes, Eddie will say to his son how he loves him that he is gonna work on himself, that he can call anytime, and that he will do his best to answer, because you know, work. Buck will also be there to see off Chris. Other theories that are floating in my head:

The Cartel that Herman is part of is responsible for the Bathena fire. The propane tanks are set up for a criminal fire! And it doesn't feel like it's Amir. Even if we see Amir angry about how Bobby has a family, I don't think he is vengeful.

The 118 will be split up at the end of the season and Captain Gerrard will take the place of Bobby as interim captain, while Bobby is recovering. Because I am 99% sure that Bobby will survive his heart attack and will come back in season 8 as Captain after recovering and going to more therapy!

Anyways, back to the interim: Even if Hen was a hero in the cruise disaster, she did disobey orders from Chief Simson and will be penalized. At the same time, the councilwoman or someone else will see how the 118 is too close as a team, too family-like, and someone doesn't like it and will take to the appropriate people to disperse the 118 across various fire stations in LA except for Buck and Ravi. In turn, Eddie will feel isolated just like Ryan said in the interviews, and will spiral in between seasons.

I feel like the still with Chief Simson will announce any of the ideas in the above paragraph.

Interesting tidbit. We see Eddie reading from the prayer book in Bobby's hospital room with Buck beside him.

To end all of this: Buck and Tommy are thriving! ✨ Even with all the failed dates we have been seeing!

So! With the stills that came out today, and silently freaking out because I was at work, I have many thoughts!

So here is my tentative timeline at the beginning of the episode.

Quick rundown:

Eddie and Buck talking / Madney talking with Hen -> Eddies Parents arriving -> Buck and Tommy's date night / Bathena house fire -> Hospital -> Athena investigating the fire / the 118 at Bobby’s bedside ->Chris going back to Texas

The details:

Eddie/Buck scene:

I think it will start with the aftermath of Chris and Marisol discovering Kim. Marisol will be dumping Eddie's ass and Chris will be locking himself in his room will be off-screen and Eddie is gonna be explaining everything to Buck in the aftermath. We see him gesticulating wildly at Buck and running his hand through his hair about in the stills. Buck tries to understand what happened and will counter-argument on the actions that he did while also being compassionate about the situation.

The only thing that I am unsure of is why the Diaz Parents are in town… But I feel like it is a surprise that they show up at Eddie's house, and they stumble upon this situation. Eddie has no choice but to explain what happened, and shows a picture of Kim. Helena reacts to how similar Shannon and Kim are. Understandably, Ramon and Helena are disappointed in their son, but hopefully they are compassionate about the whole thing even if it is wrong. 

I also feel like Buck will try to talk to Chris and Chris will angrily say that his Dad is a hypocrite because he is dating two women, paralleling how Chris got the talk at the beginning of the season on how it is wrong to be dating multiple girls.

Buck/Tomy scene:

After all of that, Buck gotta leave because of date night with Tommy and Eddie insists that he leave to make it in time.

So date night is going well, but oh no! Buck receives a call from the Hospital? May? Chim? about how Bobby and Athena are in the hospital. Tommy drives Buck to the hospital because he physically cannot.

Eddie also gets the call from another member of the 118 and leaves Chris with his parents to go to the hospital too.

Madney/Hen scene:

The Madney and Hen scene will happen at the same time as the Buck and Eddie aftermath scene. Henren probably got good news from Deidre/the judge about how Mara's adoption will go forward despite the council women's attempt to block it. You see Madney and Hen smiling throughout the stills of that scene.

Then when Hen is going to social services or the courtroom, she'll get a call about Bobby from a member of the 118.

Athena:

The Athena stills show that scenes that are shown will be after the events we see in the promo. Athena is gonna find out where Amir lives and she will confront him. Sorry guys, I really feel like she pulls her gun on Amir while showing whatever it is in her hand. She feels convinced that it is Amir who sets fire to her house after how Amir reacted when he was in her home last episode. Amir is going to say something that convinces Athena that it is not him because he is a red herring to mislead us all!!

Chris/Eddie

I’m pretty sure that one of the last scenes in the episode will be when Chris announces to Eddie that he will be going back to Texas with his grandparents for the summer because he is so mad at him. Eddie, stricken by all the events, will let him go back. But before Chris goes with his grandparents, Eddie will say to his son how he loves him, that he is gonna work on himself, and that he can call anytime, Buck will also be there to see off Chris as seen in the stills and provide support and comfort. Other theories that are floating in my head:

The Cartel that Herman is part of is responsible for the Bathena fire. The propane tanks are too well set up! And it doesn't feel like it's Amir. It is too well organized, although I don’t feel like Amir is a sloppy guy, but still not him. Even if we see Amir angry about how Bobby has a family, I don't think he is vengeful enough to try and kill Bobby and Athena. When Bobbys truck was stolen by the cartel, the cartel probably found his insurance stored in the truck because everyone does that, including me, and found his address through those papers. And then set up the fire during the night.

I am 99% sure that Bobby will survive his heart attack and will come back in season 8 as Captain after recovering and going to more therapy!

The 118 will be split up at the end of the season and Captain Gerrard will take the place of Bobby as interim captain, while Bobby is recovering. 

Even if Hen was a hero in the cruise disaster, she did disobey orders from Chief Simpson and will be penalized. Chief Simpson appointing Captain Gerrard as interim Captain for the 118 instead of Hen is her punishment. To go even further, I feel like the councilwomen is angry that Henren adoption went through, and she pulled strings and also whispered in Chief Simpson ear saying the 118 is too close to each other, too family-like, and that it would be better that they separate the 118 across various fire stations in LA except for Buck and Ravi, who stays at the 118. In turn, because the 118 is dispersed across the city, Eddie will feel isolated just like Ryan said in the interviews, and will spiral  and maybe understand himself more in between seasons.

I feel like the still with Chief Simpson will announce any of the ideas in the above paragraph.

It doesn’t go in the theories of 7x10, but I feel I should include it here. When Bobby felt the metal being heavy on his chest when he was talking to his father in his dream in 7x09, it was a sign that he was starting to have a heart attack. Because of his father waking him up and the adrenaline of saving Athena from the fire, it staved off the heart attack long enough to get outside of the house.

Interesting tidbit: We see Eddie reading from the prayer book in Bobby's hospital room with Buck beside him.

To end all of this: Buck and Tommy are thriving! ✨

I'm starting to have theories for season 8, but that is another post for another day!

@whollyjoly <3

[chibiisukee]

Some chapter 13 thoughts

First off: I really liked the way they used POVs this chapter. It was way more fluid to read it than some previous chapters

Okay, now to the real discussion

On fate, unbreakable loops and the despair of hopeless endeavors

So, for starters, the whole chapter is asking one question: "If fate is unavoidable, why struggle against it if you know it's a hopeless endeavor?"

The first POVs in the chapter give us lots of variations of this question and little by little we uncover the characters answers.

Siege's question is: You lost Norport, you have a useless piece of metal and everyone expects you to be their savior king. Why won't you answer their expectations?

Reunion's question is: You fight for the Infected, but is it for all the Infected? Should you fight for the Infected that are not different from those who opress the weaker?

The Sarkaz mercenaries question is: What do you fight for? For Kazdel? For yourself? For survival?

And lastly, Amiya's question is: Can you really do anything to change your fate as the Lord of Fiends? Can you even help the Sarkaz? Can you even stop this pointless war?

I won't spend long on Siege, but she's kinda defying fate by doing what needs to be done in her own way, fighting dirty just like Glasgow did in the streets of Norport, charging headfirst into danger with her hammer, ignoring the fancy metal stick and not siding with the Dukes.

Different mercenaries have different answers to their question. But it's a bit sad that Hoederer's answer is a tired one "I fight because I want to go home, to Kazdel." But really, at this point Kazdel might not even be a place anymore (I know it's in ruins, physical Kazdel is a no man land destoyed by catastrophe and war). At this point, Kazdel's simbolism might be the same as Tara, mostly a simbol and a reminder of a painful history.

Amiya... poor Amiya. The power of the Lord of Fiends is one of the worse fates someone can have, and yet, she's the only one who can actually defy the vicious circle of war and strife related to the civilight eterna. And that's because she's not tied by blood by it. When the Sanguinarch mocks her, and try to destroy her, Amiya proves once again why she's the only one who can stand up to that fate. Amiya knows it's naive to try to save everyone, but she doesn't see hope as pointless. And because of that she'll stand against that fate and try to change it. Maybe the event itself is set in stone, but if we can change the outcome, it's still a victory.

And I finally got to the part I actually wanted to talk about: Reunion. We got to see a bit of how Victoria's Reunion thinks (thanks Percival!) and also a bit of how they operate. But the main point here is: Reunion is repeating the circle and Nine is going through the same path Talulah did in chapter 8. And we know how that path ends, in ruin. Guard's POV actually parallels events from chapter 8 in some points. A fracture that starts with the death of a innocent infected. A great fire. Important decisions that need to be made because of what happened. Right now Reunion is between a rock and a hard place. Either they find a way out, or history is gonna repeat itself. Luckily, they seem to be aware of it, and I think that Talulah will stand up to protect them if needed, just like she did when facing Eblana.

Now, all the sides are converging in Londinium. I believe chapter 14 might be the last of this arc. But I'm certain of one thing: Victoria will probably end up fragmented after this whole mess, but it won't cease existing. Because I really doubt the mastermind (or the immortal, we don't know who this person is) behind Victoria will let it be totally destroyed.