#in my head this was a mob au but it also works as a non mob au

[monster-cock69]

Au where for whatever reason omega Peter gets bit but has no interest in being spider man but is still like “might as well do good” and beats a robber’s ass one day

Alpha Tony sees him and gets all the info out of him and offers him a nanny position for his kid whose mom was killed. He sends him through self defense and badassery training and everything.

One day they’re attacked and Peter either a) kills them all because bad ass or b) gets kidnapped but the baby doesn’t because badass

[fanartbyherd]

Gotham Map

whoo! I'm not 100% done but if I don't stop now I will never stop.

over a month of work and I can now say I have completed my own map on Gotham!

as well as Bludhaven and summer set,

Bludhaven famously being the sister city of Gotham and primary haunt of Nightwing.

Summerset is a community between the two cursed cities that is just extrodinairaly normal. (I don't know what comic it is but I got the name from one I was looking at.) but here's the panel.

(No idea what issue this is from, I was browsing quickly through a large collection of older Batman comics and didn’t have time to sit and read it yet.)

So! Some Good Golly Gosh Context for the existence of this map. Before someone comes at me for non cannon accurate information and BS I'm about to pull.

This map was created for my use for a Transformative work I started toying with the idea of, that now has a hundred something chapters drafted (note: Drafted dose not mean written only one of those chapters is written and available to read. Dandelion puffs)

found here:

this map is a combination of the (mostly taken as) Cannon Map and the map that briefly appeared in "the Doom That Came to Gotham" film. the main inspiration for the Fanfic Idea. as well as things scavenged from Fannon and my own head cannon. some parts of it are also cobbled together from other bits of cannon, things such as the long halloween, Batman Year one, the one Nightwing comic I have read all the way through, a Batwoman and Catwoman comic, The Arkham Knight games, Actual maps of New Jersey (I mentioned that in my previous post about this map), The Harley Quinn Show, Joker (that movie) especially the subway map that apparently appeared in that film. Multiple Batman films... I'm not actually sure what batman movies I have watched just that one of them had Ra's Al Ghul and the scarecrow in them and featured the Narrows, and the 2022 batman film, and birds of prey. I really should have been keeping track of all the inspirations I used. I do that for Original works... but not for fan works as I'm not that used to making them or something.

this map operates with the assumption that the year is somewhere around 2020. and that in 1920 the city of Gotham suffered from a destructive fire. (see events of the doom of Gotham)

and in the late 1950s suffered from a catastrophic earthquake. (haven't read it but heard through the grapevine about Batman: no mans land. lots of the online maps reference it)

Also opperates under lovecraftian horror rules, because that's what this elderich horror AU...

the colors are a bit hard to see unfortunately, but they are mostly for my own use.

Gangs of Gotham:

Lime Green-Jokerz: they have close ties to the cult of the clown posse. operate mainly around the Amusement mile.

Scarlet red-Redhood: Headed by the mysterious Warlock Redhood. the gang is relatively young but rose to power quickly in 2005. most of Park Row (aka crime ally) and some of the surrounding areas are under the red hoods control.

they took their name from an earlier gang that was wiped out by the jokerz. The higher members of the gang jokingly refer to themselves as Red hood's merry men.

Red hood has a deep hatred for the Joker and Black mask considers him his primary rival.

Cyan Blue-Siloni: A Gotham grown mob, that consists of many different families that merged to become a singular mob.

Indigo-Moronei: Major rivals to the Falconies, they also got mostly destroyed in the same incident that destroyed their rival gang, but there where people to pick up the pieces

Gold-Cosa Nosta: a collection of families mobs originating from Sicily

Grey-Falconies: in the early 1940s the family was nearly destroyed following a series of incidents.

Dark green-Thorn: American Gangsters.

Colbalt blue-Penguin: Took their name after the moniker used by a professor at Gotham university. Rose to prominence in the 1920s during probation as the main go too if you wanted to set up a speak easy. under the leadership of Ms. Ollie "the penguin" Cobb. the gang was nearly taken over by the falcons in the 30s but after the destruction of the original falcon famaly managed to establish themselves. even operate as a half legitimate business a good portion of the time.

Orange-Lucky hare: collective term for the Irish mobs such as the Rileys, Sullivans, and so on.

Maroon-Black Mask: Run by the ambitious warlock Roman Sions Aka Black Mask. dominating he aria of the Bowery, He and the Red hood have a very violent Rivalry. He covet's Red hood's "red burial shroud." and territory. The black mask gang has ties to both the older sionis mob and the false face society.

yellow-Maxia: the gang Run by Maxie Zeus and the twelve olympians. the gang was founded by Greek immigrant Maxine Seuss. former Archeologist who went a bit mad after the death of her husband and daughter. she immigrated to the United States in 1922, after her American husband's death. her son Maximilian took over after his mother.

pale pink-Yakuza: are what they say on the Tin, operate both in Gotham and in Bludhaven.

purple-Scareface: one of the old Gaurd of street gangs. Is headed by “scareface” and his Vantriliquist. Scareface is a man who was opporating in Gotham back in the 1890s and 1910s but was hung by the place that later became Blackgate Penitentiary. He was also the man who ordered the death of Cyrus Gold and the subsiquent dumping of his body in Slaughter swamp.

brown-whispers: the collective name used for the Russian and Ukrainian mobs in the area. They operate partly out of the old subway tunnels. Mainly consists of the Ibansscas and Odessa gangs but there are others referred to by the collective term.

jade green-Evening Dragons: collective term for a good deal of gangs and organizations that have East Asian origins or influences.

this includes the East side dragons, Ghost Dragons, Golden dragons (might see where the name came from) the Lucky Hand Triad, Hanoi tan.

sky blue-Whites: A merger of the Black gaters gang and the Gangs run by Warren White "the shark".

pink-Other: a bunch of smaller gangs, gangs that are not organized or seen as being one of the largest players. gangs that are less well established or gangs that are extremely local to a certain neighborhood.

Intergang (metropolis baisses), street Demonz (local biker gang), the Mutants, sprang bridge soldiers, Burntly Town Massive, Decons, Escabedo Cartel, The stonewall Drug lords, Pealuan cartel, Skevers, Moon, and para military groups like Bane's and TYGER. and on rare occasions when Two-Face's Gang on the periodical basis that they become an issue.

Cults of Gotham:

I'll probably make some other post on a more in-depth chat about the cults of Gotham, the Occult comunity, and how they interact with the gangs, elite and citizens of Gotham. but that's not this post. here's a quick overview.

-Cult of Ghul: its leaders were destroyed in 1920. prior to this they had a lot of influence in Gotham as the guardians of the Lazarus pits that exist below the city. after the 1920s they lost most of thir influence, they still ave plenty of influence in other parts of the world with the surviving al ghul daughter.

-Court of Owls: been around forever want "what's best for Gotham" at least what they think is best, after the dismantling of the Cult of Ghul took over as the head honchos in the city.

-Baset's cats: Catwoman runs this cult, its a sect that broke off from a cult in New Orleans.

-Court of the yellow sign: They're a problem, and looking to make themselves everyones problem. very popular among the elite as it is a lot about pleasure and indulgence, and theatrics. work often and closely with the cult courts and the wounderlanders.

-She who Breaths: has a few other names, but is primairly a fertility and prosperity cult dedicated to Shub Niggurath and simular entities. they have a close and cordial relationship to the Green lady and is well respected among the Gotham and surrounding areas cults.

-Court of winter: the local fairy court.

-False face society: have a lot of pull and sway in the criminal underworld. also deal with the fay and vampire population of Gotham.

-Rail hoppers: A strange and loosely organized secret society whose worship revolves around the public transit system... people aren't really certain what thier deal is. but they're normally harmless.

-Pain: pain anyone? sort of your typical demon worshipers.

-Dead's Dawn Society: they have some weird beliefs around necromancy. the bats and birds is a decisive topic.

-Clown posse: people who believe that they can somehow appease the Entity known as the Joker. its a bit more complicated than that.

-Green Lady: Worshipers of the green.

-Bat and Bird watchers: one of the most yet least organized cults on the list. they aren't always considered a cult by the other cults in Gotham and has many facets to them. the

-Torch bearers: worshipers of Yeb and Nug. more so Nug than Yeb.

-Mad Society: AKA the brotherhood, a section of Gotham vampires worship here and seek to bring about the end of humanity and have vampires rule the world. or something along those lines.

also might want to create an army of werewolf women. this causes issues with the wounderlanders.

-wonder landers: in reality encompasses a great number of smaller cults who are all associated with the dreamland and dreamland deities in some way or another. but the main part style themselves after the book Alice in wonderland, the Avatar of the Elder God Hypnos. the current Batwoman's sister is a member.

-Triad: worshipers of the Earth Gods Lobon, Zo-Kalar and Tamash.

-Court of Dagon: Mostly dock workers and Deep ones who worship Dagon and Mother hydra.

-Court of truth: primarily worshipers of Aletheia, have some loose connections to the order of Saint Dumas.

-Court of stone: a group who seeks the caves of Solomon. spend a lot of time spelunking in the tunnels and cave systems of Gotham.

Stops on the Railway system.

H. Red Line: Redwall, Avalon hill, bludhaven port, the spine, old station, Melville station, Drawbridge station, Mealtide park, span bridge station, Gotham university, Cemetery hill, city council, Gold Gotham station.

8. Sea Line: Arkham, Arkham bridge park, Eastside, dockside, old city hall, memorial park, old Gotham, city council, Cemetery hill, Southside, span bridge station, lainly point station, Mealtide park, train yard.

0. Silver line: Steel st, Wayne Central, clock tower, city hall, central library, Roman st. Ottisburg, Park row, old Gotham

J. Tree line: Ash st. Oak st. clock tower. chinatown, Alder st. park row, Lemur park, spring st. cherry lane. Robinson park, Ottisburg, Roman st. Old Town

K. Central line: Wane central, clocktower, Penguin station, Millers Harbor, china town, old town.

9. the Loop: Wayne Central, Owl station, Burnley, Penguins station, Elliot Center, Precinct station, justice station,

A. Amusement line:Airport terminal, Kane street, Riverside, stadium, blackgate, Sheldon park, city hall, clock tower, Wayne central.

(some stations are not yet named, especially on the silver line, central line and tree line.)

the city also has an extensive Bus and Tram system, but if I drew that I may actually go crazy and try to bite someone's head off.

(stuffs mislabeled slightly on this map below but its accurate enough)

Parks

Robinson park- a park just outside of park row. its said to be the domain of some strange being known as poison ivy.

Memorial park-houses the 1920s fire memorial.

Wayne park- between North City park and Southside park. its located in the Financial district.

Sheldon park- the park next to the amusement mile. it could use some clean up, but is popular with teens and explores as it allows for an easy access to the cave systems of Gotham.

Southside park- houses the Gotham City zoo. and just outside of the flood area of the Cauldron.

North city Park- near the Gotham central hospital.

Lemmars park- in the cherry hills district. it was converted from the old Lemmars and other farm lands when the city expanded.

Arkham bridge Park- a rather large and wild park that takes up much of the eastern coast of Old Gotham Island.

Anders park- a small park south of Robinson park. its well known for cult activity.

I'll figure out the bridge situation some other time, just know that for this Span Bridge is the one that connects Bludhaven to Gotham.

Districts.

1.Bristol- Island home to Gotham's Elite and Wealthy. the entire island essentially acts like a gated community. there is no metro trains to Bristol but there are a handful of bus stops. home to Gotham Academy a prestigious K-12 private school. Wayne manor and Drake manor are both located in Bristol.

2. Old Gotham- Mostly destroyed in the 1920s fire. the revitalization and rebuilding of the district left it with a very Art deco look.

home to the city council, the old city hall, and the Old Library.

3. Downtown-Built in a gothic revival style as an honor to the cities name and legacy. its history has been shifting with its demographic for years. still a rather populated and well lived in neighborhood, even if some businesses have moved to the financial district.

on the other side of the water to the area known as the Cauldron

4. Arkham City- Relatively unpopulated compared to other other parts of the city. is notable for its unique Victorian Gothic revival architecture. a lot of the structures are original to the area as Arkam Island survived relatively unscaved from the 1920s fire and the earthquake in the 1950s. the more populated parts of the island are heavily crowded and home to the failed "ark project" and the failed "wounder city." the most famous feature of this district is located on a small island just off the coast of the larger Arkham Island, and that is the infamous Arkham Asylum.

north of Arkham island are three islands of Founders, Bleake, Miagani Islands.

5. Docks- the main Port and Docking Area of Gotham. there are a lot of warehouses and industrial buildings in this area. also home to plenty of famous food stands and hole in the wall places like Mama Mathew's shrimp, as well as a good assortment of Bars and Dives, such as Sandyhood, Noonan's and Siren's whale (favorite bar of the Gotham City sirens).

the docks also hosts the Empty water tower that has Become one of Omen's Roosts. (note: Omen is Red Robin)

6. Parkrow- More well known as Crime Ally. once a prosperous neighberhood, it survived both the 20s fire and the 50's earthquake and fallout of both incidents. in the 80s, some of the area was redeveloped into "projects", though crime had already been on an upward spike since the 30s. some classic revival buildings survive from the cities heyday.

the old courthouse that hadn't been in use since 1903 was in this district as well as the famous monarch theater. and Leslie's Clinic.

the district has the cheapest renting all of Gotham but also a huge homeless population.

home to the Oldman building, the abandoned fire station, and is well known to be the haunt of the Red hood and the strange spirit known as the red wraith.

park row has its own community culture. you are likely to get stabbed.

7. Narrows- A narrow strip of land between the South (old Gotham) and North (new Gotham) islands. it is densely packed with buildings that frankly are not up to code. its just as densely packed with people. people make the best of the situation they find themselves in.second cheapest rent in the city, largely lawless.

jacks junkyard is a bit of lifeline in the area.

8. China Town- this districts architecture and open-air markets are what the it is famous for. Alongside its colorful nightlife (and we aren't talking bats!) Traditionaly played host to the cities east Asian immigrant communities. some parts of the districts are known as Korea-town or little Japan, there is also the statue street, that traditionally housed a lot of immigrants from India. the district is well known for having its own spin on the cities beloved gargoyles.

9. Little Italy- little Italy and the surrounding areas play host to many immigrant communities from the 1830s to 1950s. it rebuilt stronger and better both after the 1920s fire and the 1950s earthquake.

home to Maroni's pizzeria, leaty tile bar and the falcon statue.

10. Bay Ridge- another mainland district on the east side of the river.

11. Dimond District- the crystal, and glass facade that covers up much of the corruption of the city.

a popular district with locals and tourists both.

houses the main precinct of the GCPD, the County court house

12. Fashion district- An extension of the Dimond district but houses many more shop and places of entertainment. it's known for its 1950s futuristic appearance as it had to be rebuilt after the 1950s earthquake. has few fewer gargoyles compared to the rest of Gotham. relies on a series of flood dykes to keep from flooding. less prone to flooding compared to the poorer district of Coventry.

part of the area known as the cauldron.

13. Burnly-a large district that is a mix of residential, financial and industrial. it's a safeish neighborhood. though there's plenty of issues, but if you follow common sense rules for Gothem you should be fine... probably. its not as safe as some of the rich neighborhoods, or the mainland neighborhoods.

Gotham cathedral is in burnley, the watchtower is at the edge of the district.

14. Coventry- home to the Central library, the Elliot center, Iceberg lounge and millers harbor.

Millers harbor was created by the use of floodwalls and dykes in order to drain portions of the once marshy land and create a new part of gottam city. as a result most of millers harbor and coventry sits below sea level and is prone to flooding.

part of the area known as the cauldron.

15. City hall district- has a lot of crossover with the financial district and Dimond district. City hall, Gold hotel, National history museum are all located in this district.

16. Financial district- home to office buildings of most of Gothams companies. including the influencial Wayne industry. there are also several upscale apartment buildings in the area. Wayne tower is located here and the cities Subway system has its central station

the historic clock tower is towards the edge of the district.

17. Tricorner- a handful of small neighborhoods but the island is less populated, there is several industrial areas here, such as Kane industry having their plant in the area. Fort Damas is located on this island. its an inactive fort, and is now a historical site.

18. Newtown- a residential neighborhood with classic brick houses, different areas of knew town have different and rather recognizable styles.

19. Cherry hills- once upon the time used to be orchards. though there was space city earlier, the area was built up a lot on the 1970s. it is a pleasant area famous for the flooring trees that are in the area some still around from when the area was farmland. its also a testament to the fact that Gargoyles never go out of style in Gotham, even when the city dose brutalism. its a popular place especially during in spring. Bech tower is located in cherry hills.

20. the Bowery- the third cheapest place to live in in Gotham. the Bowery suffers a lot from the same issues that its neighboring district the Narrows and Park Row. Most buildings in the Bowery are Brick or stone. Gargoyles are quite popular here.

Black mask dominates the streets. Sal's Dinner and Hogan's ally Bar.

21. Upper Gotham-part of West Gotham

22. Lower gotham-part of West Gotham

23. Robbinsville-East side of Gotham river.

24. Lesser Gotham- the largest district on the new Jersey main land. it's practically its own city and was built up during the 1950s. its got its own police precinct (I feel like that's the wrong word) hospital, fire station and schools. probably one of the safer places to live in Gotham, but its still Gotham. people who move into Gotham from outside and can afford it tend to move here. largest issue is that

25. Gotham town- facing The Atlantic Ocean, its a relatively industrial area housing Star labs, Orion chem, Cobolpot steal and one branch of Wayne enterprise.

26. Ottisburg- A quite popular neighborhood, fox tech is located here.

27. Gotham Achors-located on the east bank of the River. A good deal of bridges that go into Gotham proper are here.

28. Midtown- part of West Gotham. location of Gotham general hospital.

29. Gotham village- part of the suburbs of Gotham, located in the west bank of Gotham River (seriously that's what it's called?) the Gotham Aquarium is found here.

30. East side- connected to the down town area, east side is a nebulous region that includes districts like the docks, millers harbor and down town.

31. South side- relatively industrial area. in recent years has seen revitalization in the form of parks and green spaces. relatively considered a tourist attraction as people from bludhaven will actually visit the area. its water front is relatively clean, and its proximity to Gotham university means that entertainment venues get a good deal of traffic.

the ferries to Gold Island and metropolis leave from that area.

gold island hosts the "statue of lady justice" that stands at the entrance to Gotham Bay.

within south side is the rust district. its still largely industrial and

32. Amusment Mile- Createdwith the intention of it being a boardwalk, it has several venues and pairs that fulfill the purpose. it is mostly safe during daylight hours, but should be avoided by anyone who's not looking to risk thier life at dawn or dusk, and especially it is ill advised to go there at night unless accompanied by a member of the clown posse, even then... the chance is high of encountering a certain clown prince of crime and his carnival of fools.

33. Harthrow Docks- part of East Gotham. A private docking area. was rebuilt in the 1920s. unlike millers harbor in coventry its a natural harbor.

((Also I welcome suggestions and idea on the "personality" of the different districts and locations that exist there and what the places look like.))

A huge thank you to @downtherabbittrail and @theredhoodedcryptid.

the red hooded cryptid gave suggestions on maps to use as resources.

I recommend checking out her cryptid batfam fic its quite nice.

meanwhile I stole (got permission from) Downtherabbittrail to use a lot of the street names they invented for one of their fics.

other street names are scavenged from other sources (cannons or cannons) as well as me just making stuff up.

Here are several closeups of the parts of the maps. Still illegible but it is what it is.

Here is a close up of bludhaven. It’s a lot more accurate to the maps I found online. especially compared to the maps I used for Gotham.

Things to know about bludhaven.

It’s the sister city to Gotham and is on the other side of Gotham Bay.

Bludhaven was founded as a port for whalers. It never saw as large success as its sister city. As the city of Gotham is practically a city state in some regards. The city of bludhaven survived in part thanks to its close relation with Gotham and its businesses.

As well as seeing a steady stream of crime in its waters since the very early days of the settlements existence. The Span bridge crossing over into bludhaven ascos the Gotham straight was built in 1878.

the overall architecture of the city is more modern, but a lot of Americana style brick houses and apartments are around.

Bludhaven districts- I can tell you less about these, as I'm having harder time finding info, might have something with bludhaven blowing up in cannon at some point?

Centeral business district- is what it says on the tin. houses both bludhaven's main hospital and the BHPD (bludhaven police department.)

2. Melville-the older parts of Bludhaven and Bailey's church. (had a goat named Bailey once, my uncle named her because she stared at him the same way his at the time GF did.)

Melville is also the place where Nightwing's apartment and Roost is.

3. Caernarvon- a more inland portion and houses a great deal of industrial areas as well as many places of worship.

4. LAnely- the peninsula its mainly a residential area

The Spine: is what Bludhaven has instead of a Main Street. It is the largest street in Bludhaven and Acts much like a Strip. with clubs, restaurants, hotels and other establishments. it has a reputation but most of the businesses are legitimate during daylight hours. some business or another is open on the Spine 24 hours of the day. the spine goes right along an industrial area of the Bludhaven port and officially ends just before Avalon Hill

The largest crime boss In Bludhaven was BlockBuster between the years 1989-2007

the largest cults in Bludhaven

-Blood hounds: a local vampire cult. they actually have quite a bit of bad blood with the Mad Society.

-Cormorants: An odd Cult who are the self-proclaimed guardians of Bludhaven. thier opinion on Nightwings presence is a bit split and has caused a schism in the cult.

-night doctors: bad news.

-bird watchers: made a jump over from Gotham when Nightwing moved cities. they also watch the activity of the cormorants

-Rail hoppers: because the Bludhaven Metro and the Gotham Metro connect to each other the Cult of the Rail Hoppers extended their reach with the reach of the public transit.

(There’s a good bit of lacking information online about Bludhaven when I went digging, which is surprising as the city has been in publication since 19, certainly it’s not Gotham that’s been a thing since 19, but still. )

Final note about this map is that it likely will have updates, especially as I get around to writing and growing more confident in my research on the whole thing.

[sleepless-in-southlands]

You're Telling Me Lies (I'm Telling You Myths)

Ao3

Summary: As a mob boss in Heremita, Scar's life was an inherently dangerous one. Surviving as long as he had required a certain level of risk-awareness, and the ability to make choices that would prioritize his safety as much as they did his power. So as to why he kept ending up spending time with another mob's right-hand, one who he was fairly certain would happily kill him at a moment's notice… well, Scar was still working on rationalizing that. Content: AU - Mob bosses, open-ended; flirting/threatening/who knows, trust issues, myths, flower language, poor communication, the rituals are intricate and right now that's not helping them ok Pairings: Fruity scarian (the plot is that they won't admit it), background also-fruity-but-not-admitting-it grumbo, platonic scar + bdubs Notes: Part six of the Bloody Fruits au

~

“Just buy a second bed.”

“We generally try to avoid staying overnight. A second bed encourages the opposite.”

“It doesn’t seem as though having only one bed is serving as much of a deterrent.” Grian pointed out, glancing at Scar. “Is it a cost issue? I’m sure the South could afford to supply its ally with another bed.”

Scar huffed, feigning insult. “A cost issue? Have you never seen the goods of the Glass Empire?”

“Goods?” Grian echoed questioningly, staring at Scar in a way that meant nothing but, as of late, hadn’t once failed at getting under Scar’s skin in the most maddening of ways.

“Gems and jewels and precious metals? All of exquisite taste and high cost?” Grian’s expression didn’t change, not that Scar truly expected it to. “You’ve been to at least one of my shops before, you know they’re jewelry stores.”

“Rocks don’t interest me much.” Grian said with a shrug, very purposefully adjusting his amethyst tie clip. Scar rolled his eyes.

“Alright then, what does interest you?”

“My work.”

Scar waited for Grian to say something else, chuckling when it became clear he wasn’t going to. “That’s all? Just your work?”

“Were you expecting something else?”

“What about- I don’t know- your employer?”

“Mr. Eris is rather heavily related to my work.”

“You know what I’m referring to.” “I believe what you’re referring to comes from a time where I was… less than rested, and you were nearly dead.” Grian dodged neatly, ever so slightly tilting his head in mock confusion. “So I don’t know if it’s a trustworthy reference.”

Get an inch, lose a mile Scar thought as he sighed, ignoring the smirk Grian technically wasn’t making but was certainly present. “Still. Nothing else?”

“You know my profession. Would you prefer I not give it my full attention?”

“I mean your out-of-work hobbies.” A blank stare. “Oh, I know you know what a hobby is.”

“My hobbies are also work related.” Grian stated with another shrug.

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Are you trying to tell me, what, you don’t do anything except work? If it doesn’t have anything to do with being a right-hand, it doesn’t have anything to do with you either?”

Scar’s tone was teasing, non-serious; if Grian wanted to keep his hobbies to himself, Scar wasn’t going to pry, but he was going to poke fun. Grian’s reaction, however, was oddly somber. His face shifted minutely, but instead of scoffing or rolling his eyes, his lips downturned into something that could be read as rueful.

“My job is my priority.” He said flatly, the statement shadowed by a hidden meaning Scar could sense but not make out, before turning away from Scar to organize supplies at the back of the bar.

Frowning, Scar crossed his arms over the bartop. He had been at the End Crystal for about thirty minutes, having originally come to talk to Mumbo only to learn the head of the South was ‘busy.’

(“He’s busy with paperwork at the moment,” Grian had told him, which either meant that Mumbo wasn’t there or Grian was forcing him to rest, because never once had Scar seen Mumbo prioritize paperwork over anything, “but I can pass a message if you want.”)

Scar, whose business wasn’t quite worthy of leaving a message over, had opted to chat with Grian instead. Whether or not Grian would have entertained him in usual circumstances was moot, the right-hand having briefly traded his role as overbearing casino security guard for that of bartender, making it difficult for him to escape Scar. The only bartender employed for that portion of the day shift had called out sick, and since the End Crystal was rarely busy enough in the daylight hours to need more than one, they were short-staffed. The next shift worker wasn’t set to arrive for a few hours, and with no extras on stand-by (they had yet to fill the most recently vacated position, and Scar was starting to doubt they ever would- not for the first time, he considered seeing if he could convince them to let him handle it on their behalf), the options had come down to Grian filling in for a bit or closing the bar during business hours. Apparently, Grian bartending was the lesser evil.

Not that Scar was convinced it was any sort of evil. Grian had mostly been sorting and putting away supplies, a task he carried out with familiar ease even while talking with Scar, and the few drinks he had mixed he had done so with deft and clever movements. It was obvious Grian was experienced with working behind a bar, not that he was going to directly acknowledge that to Scar.

(“You’ve worked as a bartender before?” Scar had asked, watching as Grian flipped a bottle in hand and poured it into a metal shaker, arm rising and lowering gracefully as he did so.

“I have more important things to tend to than our drink selection.” Grian had responded, non-committal, as he lidded the container and began to shake it. The ice within the shaker started audibly cracking right away, slamming against itself and the metal around it, tossed about with the strength of arms built by cracking bones. Scar told himself he wasn’t thinking about that.

“You’re pouring drinks as skillfully as you break fingers.” Scar pointed out, earning an amused eyebrow raise from Grian as he did just that, a dark gold liquid spilling out of the shaker into the tall glass he had put onto the bartop beforehand. “You clearly know what you’re doing.”

“Interested in what I can do with my hands, Mr. Chronos?” Was Grian’s only reply, detached and cheeky, leaving Scar to pretend he was glaring at Grian when he was really watching his fingers flex as he smoothly slid the drink down to the patron that had ordered it.)

Grian had moved back to the counter area by the time Scar reemerged from his thoughts, stacking drink napkins underneath the lip of the bar, a silent indication that Scar could keep talking if he wanted to. Scar grinned at the gesture. Even if Grian was playing a passive role in the conversation at best, and even if he was working the entire time, and even if he was most certainly going to abandon Scar the moment he was no longer working the bar, Grian did want to talk to Scar.

Not that it mattered to Scar whether or not Grian wanted to talk to him. Or, it did, but only because it was important for Scar to be on good terms with all his organizational allies, like he was with Mumbo. But not exactly like with Mumbo, obviously, not that he would necessarily be against- wait-

By his Empire, Scar was starting to sound as bad as Mumbo. 

“No hobbies, and the only job you'll admit to working is this one. You're a difficult man to small talk with, Mr. Penemue.” Scar finally said, using the addressing conventions he usually protested in the same way Grian had shoved all the bar knives into a drawer when Scar sat down- automatically. Even Mumbo was only ‘Mr. Eris’ around other people, and Scar wasn't trying to antagonize Grian into using his name. “What can I ask you?”

“You can ask me anything.”

“I thought we weren't using weak moments against each other.”

Grian chuckled, and Scar took it as adequate compensation for having his own wit turned against him. “Playing fair isn't really in our mission statement.”

“Not even for a friend of the casino?”

“Usually? No. But I suppose I can make an exception, seeing as you’re our only one.” Grian looked up from his counter work, shifting his gaze to Scar. “I’ll answer one reasonable question. ‘Reasonable’ is determined at my discretion. How’s that for small talk?”

“It feels a bit more like one of your casino games.” Scar replied, propping his chin against one of his hands. “Since I’m guessing that asking you what counts as ‘reasonable’ is a quick way to end the chat in your favour.”

That pulled an actual smile out of Grian, as if in delight. “You catch on quick.”

“Like I said, you’re difficult to small talk with. Have to be careful not to miss the opportunities I get.” Scar returned Grian’s smile. Thinking of a question to ask Grian wasn’t hard, and choosing might’ve taken longer if it weren’t for Scar having a particular one that had been pressing into the back of his mind for longer than he felt could be considered normal. “What’s with the name thing?”

“How elegantly put.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I do.” Grian acknowledged. “But do you think that’s a reasonable question, Mr. Chronos?”

“You’re the one who decides that, Mr. Penemue.” Scar over-stressed Grian’s name that time, metaphorically gesturing at his point. “But for the record, yes, I do think it’s a reasonable question. I deserve an answer for all the trouble you put me through for it.”

Grian moved to rest his arms on the bar across from Scar, leaning closer to him as he did so, tone amused as he repeated, “Trouble?”

“I’m not the one who’s agreed to answer a question here.”

“No. You make the mistake of doing it for free.” There was an inflection to Grian’s voice that suggested he was teasing Scar. Scar did his very best to not press closer to the counter, to Grian. “But yes, your answer- it’s more respectful to refer to casino guests by their last names, and you know how the End Crystal prides itself on treating its guests as respectfully as possible.”

“Don’t lie, I know you don’t respect me.” Scar joked. “Besides, I don’t come here to empty my wallet. No need to bamboozle me with formalities.”

“You’re still a guest.” Grian said simply, pausing for a moment before adding, “For the sake of business, last names are also more professional. First names can get… personal.”

Silence, for a long minute, as Grian busied himself with refilling a bowl of peanuts and Scar attempted to un-busy himself with watching a mental replay of every time Grian had called him by his first name. He could count the instances on one hand, theoretically quick to run through, but his mind caught on the most recent, layered with thoughts of touch and personal and close.

“That explains me then, but what about Mr. Eris?” Scar asked, pivoting hard into the familiar territory of poking at Grian and Mumbo's relationship. “Hate how I phrase it all you like, I'm not wrong when I say things between you two are certainly personal.”

“Mr. Eris and I are close in a purely professional manner,” Grian lied like clockwork, “and technically that's a second question.”

“It’s a subquestion expanding on my original question, it’s allowed.” Scar argued, like it mattered, like they were in some sort of negotiations, like Grian wouldn’t just stop playing their little game the second he felt like it.

“It’s cheating.”

“So now we’re playing fair?”

Another smile. “Of course not.”

“Then please, Mr. Penemue, answer the subquestion.”

“If I must.” Grian’s attempt at sounding put out was unsuccessful in face of the fact that Grian never said anything he didn’t want to, never disclosed anything without first carefully thinking it through. Case in point: the slight pause in consideration before he spoke again, hidden behind more bar busywork. “You are aware that me and Mr. Eris used to… work elsewhere, I believe.”

Mumbo, panicked, fingers digging into his own chest, convinced old rivals had poisoned him; Grian, staring at Scar’s neck, talking about the right-hand who had tried to kill him, as if he knew something Scar hadn’t said. “I am, yes.”

“This line of work can follow you anywhere,” Grian said casually, conversationally, and if Scar wasn’t watching him so closely he might’ve missed the quick way Grian’s eyes darted around them, “can you blame us for being careful?”

“Never.” Scar replied, a little too quickly if the raise of Grian’s eyebrows was anything to go by. Scar cleared his throat, producing another ‘subquestion’ to distract Grian with. “Have you ever considered other options? Aliases, codenames, those sorts of things?”

“We like our names,” Grian answered as he tidied the already more-than-neat bar space, “and codenames aren’t great for professional interactions.”

“So you have codenames that you only use in non-professional circumstances?” Scar asked with a smirk. “Y’know, I think they have a different term for those. Starts with a ‘p,’ ends with an ‘etnames-’”

“Purely professional, Mr. Chronos.” Grian repeated, tone flat but not necessarily annoyed. “And I never said we use codenames, merely that they would be impractical for business purposes if we did.”

Scar huffed a laugh. “I take it you won’t be telling me whether or not you two do use codenames?”

“Observant as ever.”

“I try.” Scar quipped back, conversation briefly lapsing past that. Scar had already passed his allotted small-talk-questions quota, but Grian had yet to stop talking to him, and the End Crystal’s atmosphere had Scar wanting to push his luck. “I’m also guessing you won’t tell me if you have codenames with anyone else?”

“If you have a point you want to make, you may as well get right to it.” Grian replied, sounding curious despite the way he cut Scar’s dramatics to the quick.

“The point is maybe we should have codenames. For each other. Since that’s the only time, I imagine, I’ll ever get to know any of yours.”

Grian cocked his head to the side. “Not a minute ago you were implying something very… personal about codenames. Unsubtly, I might add.”

“Codewords, then.” Scar switched to, most certainly not blushing, because he refused to keep allowing his teasing to be turned back on him more effectively than he himself had employed it. “A type of confirmation without being so ‘personal.’ Come on, throw a dog a bone.”

Grian didn’t immediately respond, not that Scar expected him to. Scar had decided the most likely outcome for his conversational gamble was Grian taking his time to prepare a truly devastating remark, one that would then force Scar to flee the casino and make the difficult decision between going back to his base of operations and being ridiculed by Bdubs, or getting shot in enemy territory.

Before Scar could get too deep into thinking through which situation he’d be in more trouble over, Grian picked up a rag, using the excuse of wiping down the bar to lean close to Scar, speaking quietly. “And what would you propose our codewords be?”

“Hmm… let me think…” Scar did his best to sound like he was drawing out his answer on purpose, and not because he didn’t expect to make it that far, “They should share a theme, something easy to bring up in everyday conversation.”

“You’ve really thought this through.” Grian commented, making it clear that he knew Scar was making it up as he went. “Shall we choose each other’s words, then? So we don’t forget them.”

“That’s a great idea. Care to go first?”

“You insult the End Crystal’s hospitality. I insist you pick first.”

“I doubt ‘hospitality’ has anything to do with it.” Scar mumbled, ignoring the professional smile Grian flashed in response and casting his gaze around his immediate surroundings, looking for ideas.

Anything relating to casinos and gambling would be too obvious, so most of the scenery was out from the start. Liquor wouldn’t be quite as conspicuous, but Scar didn’t care for the idea of assigning Grian a cocktail as his codeword. It couldn’t be anything as common as ‘chair’ or ‘floor’ either; the codeword couldn’t be so unordinary as to make it jarring to bring up, but if it was too ordinary, it would be of no use.

Scar twisted in his seat, looking away from Grian. The space adjacent to the bar was filled with a cluster of tall tables, giving patrons a place to sip their drinks and chat in between games. The centerpiece of each table was a tall golden vase holding an elegant, colourful bouquet- tasteful eye candy that was nice to look at without distracting from the End Crystal’s more tempting splendors. Oh, yes, that would do nicely.

Without a word, Scar slipped off his barstool, walked to the nearest empty table, and picked up the vase on top of it. Turning back towards the bar, he found Grian watching him, having paused his work to focus on Scar with an intensity others would likely be concerned by. Scar took it in literal stride, returning to his seat and setting the vase down on the bar between them, pushed enough to the side it didn’t block their vision.

“Flowers?” Grian asked neutrally, still watching as Scar ran his fingers through the bunch. After a few seconds, Scar stopped, fingers curling around the stem of one flower in particular, swiftly pulling it out from the rest of the bouquet.

Taking advantage of the fact that Grian was still leaning over the bar, Scar tilted forward, reaching out and tucking the purple sprig behind Grian’s ear. “Lilac.” Scar corrected, settling back in his seat and admiring the way the flowers seemed to curve around Grian’s head like a half-crown. “How’s that for a word?”

Once again, there was no immediate response from Grian, but the silence came with the uncomfortable fact that Scar hadn’t expected it. He had put a flower in Grian’s hair, for End’s sake, he had expected- again- to be ruthlessly yet efficiently quipped out of existence, or perhaps even get his wrist broken as punishment for putting it so near to Grian.

(A voice that sounded unfortunately similar to Bdubs in the back of his mind asked why, then, did you even put the flower behind his ear in the first place? Technically unable to lie to himself, but certainly willing to try, Scar put the thought aside for later consideration.)

Instead, however, Grian wasn’t doing anything, acting almost as though he had been frozen in place. His expression was the one he wore most commonly around the End Crystal, professional but meaningless, like he wasn’t quite sure how to react and had ended up on a default.

“Mr. Penemue?” Scar said, tentatively, as the silence stretched. Without knowing what was wrong, Scar didn’t know what- if anything- he could do to help, outside of calling Mumbo if Grian proved to be truly unresponsive.

Thankfully, at the prompting of his name, Grian blinked and narrowed his eyes, expression shaping into one of (oddly mild) scrutiny. “You don’t know, do you?”

“I- what?”

Another moment of Grian staring before he closed his eyes, letting out a huff that could have been a laugh, could have been a sigh. Not answering Scar, he turned to the vase Scar had brought over, shifting through the flowers for a moment before plucking one out. Stem pressed tight between his fingers, Grian waited until Scar leaned forward, allowing him to tuck the bright red flower behind Scar’s ear in return.

“Poppy.” Grian said simply, looking as though he knew something Scar didn’t, before he echoed, “How’s that for a word?”

Not for the first time, and almost certainly not the last, Scar found himself envious of Grian's ability to adapt to whatever Scar tried to throw at him, skillfully returning any advantage Scar had held over Grian back to the right-hand tenfold. In his defense, his preparations had been for an outright attack, not… whatever this was classified as.

“Stunning.” Scar said after a moment, the pause dragging out a bit too long. He was still leaning forward. Grian hadn’t moved back. Close. “Er, it’s stunning. Great word.”

Grian stepped forward, the edge of the bar digging into his midsection as he tilted towards Scar, as if staggering, as if tipsy, even with his perfectly professional expression and perfectly steady cadence and perfect-

“Is that all you find stunning, poppy?”

“Well, Mr. Penemue, I do believe I’ve taken up far too much of your time already.” Scar quickly pulled back from Grian like a moth who had finally realized the flame was burning it, the flame himself watching on with no significant reaction. “Have a good day, tell Mr. Eris I’m sorry I missed him!”

Grian watched Scar hurry off, waiting until he had made it to the lobby to sigh. “You’re supposed to be sleeping.”

A moment later, Mumbo was sliding into Scar’s vacated seat, not looking apologetic in the slightest for his wakeful eavesdropping. “I woke up.”

“You could go back to sleep.”

“Later.” Mumbo glanced to the side as one of the casino’s waiters quickly ducked past him, dropping a drink order on the counter in front of Grian before leaving just as swiftly. Despite their standings in Heremita, Grian and Mumbo didn’t usually have to deal with skittish waitstaff, but the still fresh-in-memory firing of the waiter who had tripped had created a tense atmosphere.

(An overreaction, both Grian and Mumbo had acknowledged in retrospect, not that either had been interested in exploring why they had made it. They had their reasons- Mumbo’s boyfriend and business partner, Grian’s boss and organizational partner- but they knew they were excuses.)

Grian picked up the discarded paper, reading the scrawled order and grabbing the first glass he’d need without looking up. Scar hadn't been wrong in his earlier assumption- the road between the Desert and the South had been a long one, and of the jobs Grian had picked up along the way, bartender had been a favourite.

For a few minutes, Mumbo sat quietly as he watched Grian mix drinks. His own favourite occupation.

“You scared him off.”

“I’m trying to make a point.”

“Is it working?”

“Given he keeps coming back?” Grian carelessly dropped an olive garnish into one of the drinks, frowning at it before he adjusted the stick and wiped off the edge of the glass to correct the slight untidiness. “He doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

“Does he not,” Grian leaned forward as soon as he saw Mumbo’s arm moving, making it easy for the mob boss to brush the backs of his fingers past the petals in Grian’s hair, “lilac?” Grian scoffed. “He picked a random flower.”

“It’s accurate, nonetheless.” Mumbo pulled back, allowing Grian to return to his bartending. He moved his hand to the vase beside them, idly tracing the lip. “Yours wasn’t random.”

“I told you, I’m trying to make a point.”

Mumbo’s fingers stilled. He tilted his head, just enough to be noticeable, and Grian didn’t need to be looking at him to know a thread of melancholy had woven its way into his expression. “And you think that will work?”

Grian shuffled the completed drinks off to the side, other hand already reaching for another glass under the bar, ignoring how red the bases looked wherever his fingers pressed into them. “No. I don’t think it will.”

~

“Lilacs and poppies?” Bdubs looked up from the ledgers he had been reviewing to stare at Scar, confused and slightly apprehensive. “You want information on flowers?”

“Yes.” Scar rocked on his feet, tapping his cane for emphasis and balance. Around him, the back offices were bustling with the activity of counting bills and inspecting gemstones. Most of it was legitimate, and only Scar and Bdubs knew all the parts that weren’t. “They came up in conversation while at the End Crystal, and I was simply curious if you knew of anything… note-worthy regarding them.”

Bdubs eyes flicked to the poppy still nestled in Scar’s hair. Scar knew it was far too late to hide the flower, and trying to remove it in the moment would only draw further attention to it, but it was tempting to see if yanking it out of his hair and flinging it across the room would relieve some of the scrutiny being directed at him.

(It wouldn’t, but it was nice to think it would. Scar did miss the days when Bdubs only had to question his decisions when he got himself shot.)

“Flowers aren’t really my area of expertise.” Bdubs pointed out, as though Scar might have forgotten he was a mob boss’s right-hand and not a florist. “I know there's a myth associated with them, but that’s all.”

“A myth?”

“You don't know it?” Scar shook his head. “Well, it doesn't have much to do with the flowers themselves, but it’s supposed to tell how they came to be.”

“And that would be how, exactly?”

Bdubs frowned at Scar. “You’re aware I have actual work to be doing, right?”

Before Bdubs could finish his sentence, Scar leaned over and scooped up one of the ledgers scattered on his desk, holding it open with one hand. He gave it a quick once-over, identifying it as one of their less-than-honest logbooks before he looked back to Bdubs. “You were saying?”

Bdubs sighed before sitting back in his chair, accepting his defeat. “According to the myth, lilacs and poppies were created in a time where gods still ruled over humanity. Every so often, they’d demand a certain number of tributes to fight each other for the gods’ entertainment. Those who died were considered divine sacrifices, and the victor would honour the gods with their glory. Lilac and Poppy were two tributes in the same fight.”

“Ah.” Scar mumbled as he scanned one of the log pages. He did know some myths, after all, and it didn’t take too large of a leap in logic to guess how the named characters would end up correlating to their modern-day flower equivalents.

“The full myth is more detailed, but Lilac and Poppy team up and end up as the last two tributes. Since there can only be one survivor, Poppy offers to allow Lilac to kill them, but Lilac refuses and insists upon a fair final battle. They get one, but,” Bdubs shrugged, “Lilac still wins, and it’s unclear how hard Poppy actually fought back. Lilac, covered in Poppy’s blood, is declared the victor.”

Scar turned a page in the ledger as normally as he could, trying not to think about the flower in his hair. Or who had given it to him.

“Angry at the gods, however, Lilac kills themself as soon as they’re deemed the winner, throwing themself off the cliff they had killed Poppy on. No surviving victor, no glory for the gods.”

“Seems… extreme.”

“That’s kind of the point.” Bdubs replied, glancing towards his pocket watch to check the time. “Anyways, most of the gods hated both Lilac and Poppy for the disrespect of their final battle, but the god of love was touched by their devotion. To memorialize the tributes, he turned the drops of Poppy’s blood and the broken bones of Lilac’s body into flowers, thus giving the world poppies and lilacs.”

Scar briefly leaned against the edge of Bdubs’s desk, resting his cane against it as well. With his newly freed hand, he grabbed one of the pens Bdubs had out, making a quick mark next to one of the entries. “I take it the flowers are typically… paired together, then?”

“All the time, in romantic dramas for teenagers.” Bdubs said pointedly, reaching over to take the book and pen from Scar in a much nicer manner than he had made his implication. “And yeah, outside of movies too. It’s common to find them in the same bouquets, or in two-packs sold to couples to exchange between each other.”

“...Exchange?”

“The meanings of the flowers mirror their namesakes.” Bdubs explained distractedly, frowning at Scar’s note. Still looking down at the book, he made a gesture off to the side, catching the attention of one of the wandering employees. “Lilacs represent dogged loyalty taken to disastrous extremes, and poppies represent devotion above all else, even to the point of ruin. Although the traditional meanings are more watered down these days…”

Bdubs trailed off as the employee approached, focus shifting away from Scar as he started issuing a set of instructions to them. The timing worked out perfectly for Scar, given he needed at least ten seconds to re-school his expression into something a little less ‘openly shocked and possibly panicking.’

Unknowingly, he had given Grian a couple’s marker of intense loyalty. Knowingly, Grian had given him the matching marker of fatal devotion, right before he leaned directly into Scar’s space and called him by it.

Was it a threat? A reminder of who killed who in the stories? A promise between allies? Or… a promise between enemies?

How close do you keep your enemies?

“With that settled,” Scar forced his attention back towards Bdubs, who had handed off the marked ledger and switched to checking numbers in another, “did you ask Mumbo the South’s election counts? In between… everything else you were talking about?”

“I didn’t get a chance to, Mumbo was out.”

A microsecond too late, Scar realized his mistake, Bdubs’s eyes instantly narrowing at the admission. “You weren’t talking to Mumbo?”

“Uh-”

“Who gave you the flower, Scar?”

“Would you believe me if I said it was the bartender?” Not technically a lie, but Scar was fairly certain that wouldn’t change Bdubs’s level of disappointment upon learning who the bartender was.

“Grian was bartending?”

Scar was right- no change. “They were short-handed. And I was just passing the time to see if Mumbo would show.”

“With flowers.”

“With flowers.” Scar confirmed defeatedly. Scar moved a hand towards the incriminating poppy tucked over his ear, meaning to take it out but hesitating a moment before. The motion ended with his fingers briefly brushing the flower’s petals before dropping back to his side, achieving nothing.

Bdubs rolled his pen between his fingers, a little too fast, before sighing. “You should talk to him. Directly.”

“You and I both know how that would go.”

“It would be a start.”

Scar looked away from Bdubs, throwing his attention onto the busyness of the office instead. “There’s nothing to talk about, Bdubs.”

“That’s not-”

“Grian’s only loyalty is to Mumbo, and as either will tell you, that loyalty is entirely professional in nature.” Scar continued, shooting Bdubs a wry smile after a moment. “I’m nothing but the ally dating his boss.”

Bdubs looked up at Scar carefully, expression neutral- not Grian’s neutral, of stainless steel and polished mirrors; his had life to it, schooled away out of personal consideration rather than business etiquette. “The ally with a poppy in his hair.”

Scar just let his smile grow into a grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes, picking his cane back up and shifting his weight off of Bdubs’s desk in the same motion. “Speaking of allies, do you still have the resumes and background checks for our most recently interviewed, but not hired, applicants?”

“I do.”

“Did any of them have experience serving drinks?”

“A few.” Bdubs answered, turning his chair to watch as Scar started to walk away. “Want me to get them for you?”

“Yes please!” Scar called over his shoulder, fully confident as he stepped into his office that Bdubs had heard him and would get to his request as soon as he could. He slid into his chair, dropping his cane into its regular spot and readjusting the bright red flower curling around his ear.

He was going to get the South another bartender, like any good ally would do, and he wouldn’t think anything else about Grian, or mythological devotion, or the act of risking a punch just to get close enough to touch.

[blitzsicedcoffee]

Hellatober Day 12 Ficlet- Murder

(My take on a 'Blitz is hired to kill Stolas' au)

Blitz loads up the guns and angelic bullets into the back of the van. When he started IMP he knew it would be dangerous. Killing hell's Elite is harder than killing anything really. Because everyone on every side hates you for it.

Just a few months in and their office has already gotten raided by police, raided by the mob, raided by angry elite family members that sick their hellhounds on them. And Blitz himself has probably five different mugshots by now? But what else are his options? It's not like an imp like him has any other ones.

Loona had to get a job at stylish occult cause he decided it was too dangerous for her to hang around the office. And Blitz drives Millie and Moxxie to and from work every single day. Just to make sure they don't get jumped by people sour about their hits.

"Sir before you do this last one can you take us home?" Moxxie asks as he polishes his gun.

"Sure Moxxie, Millie, get your stuff", he replies and grabs his keys, closing up the back as Millie jumps in the passenger and Moxxie jumps in the back.

"And you're sure you got this one on your own?" Moxxie asks. Blitz rolls his eyes, M&M are so protective. He's supposed to be the ones protective of them.

"Yeah Moxx, I got it. Spend a nice evening in, Kay? I'll text you when it's done", he stops the van in front of their apartment.

"Okay B we'll be expecting that text!" Millie says and squeezes his shoulder then they head inside.

He makes sure he sees their living room window light turn on then he leaves.

The person who wanted this chump dead didn't really say why. But Blitz about a month in also stopped asking. It wasn't his business. Killing someone he's told to is.

He parks behind a wall where there's a small cracked opening and slithers into a well maintained garden. Checking that he has the angelic blade and enough bullets, he continues with his rifle slinged over his back.

Like a salamander, he slithers past bushes and up a tree. Taking station. He sets up his rifle and puts in the angelic bullets. They mildly sting against his fingers so he pulls his gloves down a little bit to cover them.

Luckily the rich bastard left his balcony wide open. There is a nice breeze in the air tonight but it's foolish. Comfortable. He looks through his scope and aims straight at the grey figure in the bed.

"Gotcha bitch..", he whispers when the grey figure stirs just as he pulls the trigger. The figure moving throws him off and the rifle slips a little and shoots past the bed. Blitz covers his mouth. Trying to slow his breathing as the grey figure puts on a robe.

Suddenly there's magic underneath him, floating him upside down over the balcony and into the room, plopping him onto the bed. Leaving his rifle in the tree. He stares at the figure as it walks out from the shadows. A Goetian prince. He knew this of course. But he never likes to see their faces.

Blitz fumbles his hands to his side and pulls out the angelic dagger, pointing it towards the Prince.

"Tch, I'm guessing my wife paid you for this, hmm?" He says non chalantly. Blitz's eyes dart around the room.

"Uh..maybe", he says. Still holding out the blade towards him. Stolas sits next to him on the bed.

"I'm not going to hurt you", he says and Blitz smirks, "Then you're naive", and attempts to tackle the prince but he freezes him with magic again, Blitz's insides cold and paralyzed a moment as Stolas grabs the dagger and throws it to the other side of the room, it landing in a chair cushion. Then unfreezes him.

Blitz holds his chest and looks to the prince in well- not fear but-hesitancy.

"There. That's better. Now. What's your name", he says. Blitz blinks, 'Uh..." Stolas chuckles, "I won't bite you know".

"How do I know that?" He replies which makes Stolas chuckle again. Blitz smirks again.

"I still have to do my job you know", he points to the knife across the room. Stolas sighs, "What if I made you a better proposal".

Blitz thinks, "What like more money to kill your wife?" Stolas shakes his head, "Satan-no. As horrid as she is, I don't want her dead. My daughter needs her mother. I mean- what is it you want or need. Anything".

Love. Companionship. Belonging.

Blitz narrows his eyes, "Are you bluffing with me? This some prank for a Voxtech show?" He scooches away from Stolas.

Stolas puts his hands up, "No, no of course not. I wouldn't lie to you".

"Then why offer me anything?" He cocks his head. Stolas shrugs, "I don't want to die?" Fair point.

Blitz thinks for a moment. "Well, do you have a way to earth? I'd rather kill humans than the elite in hell. So much easier", he says and Stolas is taken aback but looks in his Grimoire, flipping through pages.

Stolas points, "Hmm. Would an Asmodean Crystal do?"

Blitz's eyes grow wide and he coughs, "Y-you'd get one of those for me?"

"I have connections, I could try at the very least", Stolas replies, closing the Grimoire, "Would that suffice?"

"That would more than fucking suffice", he says and hops off the bed, looking back to make sure Stolas isn't going to freeze him with magic again.

Stolas walks over and pulls the dagger out, ignoring the pain in his hand from the hilt and hands it to Blitz.

"We have a deal, then?" He asks, smiling.

Blitz takes the dagger back and stows it. Shaking his hand, "Deal". He attempts to let go of the prince's hand but he is still squeezing.

Blitz looks up at him nervously, "Uh, your highness...my hand". Stolas blinks, "Oh, sorry", he replies and relinquishes Blitz's hand.

Blitz hands Stolas his phone and Stolas puts his number in. Blitz names it "The Prince".

"So you'll tell me when you have the crystal?" He asks. Stolas nods, "I will". Blitz backs away and hits his back against the balcony doors.

"U-uh okay I'll be going now", he awkwardly leaves over the balcony as Stolas waves.

"Farewell".

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Helloooooo Steph! Hope you're doing well at the moment 😊. Was wondering if you have any fics where Sherlock grovels specifically? Bit of a specific ask, but hope you can help me here with this. Thank you for you do for the fandom, we'd be lost without you ❤️

Hey Nonny!!

Thanks! I could be better, it's been a rough week at work. I'm trying my best though, and thank you for your appreciation! 💜

As for "grovelling" fics, ah, nothing comes to mind that I've read, but I did a quick tag search on my MFL list for "begging" and here's what I got (since "grovelling" brought nothing up). PLEASE NOTE I haven't read any of these fics so I don't know if they're what you're looking for:

Bound by Charname (E, 7,007 w., 1 Ch. || Rape/Non-Con Elements, Abduction, Tied Together, Mind Games, Vicarious Torture, Psychological Distress, Unwanted Arousal, Begging, Forced Nudity, Friendship) – Sherlock and John wake on a strange bed, naked and bound together. When Moriarty enters and reveals his intent to rape one of them, they both expect him to focus on Sherlock. He doesn't.

Collections of Clues by ianavi (E, 8,922 w., 1 Ch. || Library AU || Alternate First Meeting, Librarian Sherlock, Mutual Pining, Age Difference, Virgin Sherlock, Flirting, Begging, First Kiss / Time, Oral Sex, Anal Fingering, Mutual Masturbation, Praise Kink) – There was no sleeping that night. And not due to the awkward stammering in the stacks of the library. Or the phrasing of what felt as a sudden dismissal. All Sherlock could think about was John's gaze on his neck, lips, reddening cheeks. How heated he felt under that gaze, how alone when John left. He was itching with desperation to not just be looked at but also touched. It was juvenile fantasy. But he was alone in his bedroom, it was past midnight, and he could indulge. He imagined John's hand reaching to touch his cheek, his fingers brushing his lips. He buried his head into the pillow and groaned. Could John ever see him like that, ever want him?

All That Glitters by AtlinMerrick (E, 17,417 w., 9 Ch. || First Time, Begging, Oral Sex, Pining) – So. John and Sherlock. Sherlock and John. Getting together. Romantically. How'd it all start, anyway? Well, essentially it was Glitter's fault, and you can take that to the bank.

Deflowered - Director’s Cut by Lorelei_Lee (E, 328,535 w., 51 Ch. || Mafia / Mob AU || Rape/Non-Con, Dub-Con, Boss John/Rentboy Sherlock, Bottomlock, Virgin Sherlock, Pining Sherlock, Jealous John, Prostate Milking, Sounding, Anal Beads/Plug, Anal Sex / Fingering, Spanking, Begging, Blow Jobs, Riding Crops, Begging, Romance, Desperation, Minor Character Death, Implied Self Harm, Violence) – It should have been strictly business. Being a Mafia boss with a sadistic sexual streak, John had long since realised that his playthings were in it for the money only. Being a masochistic rent boy, Sherlock seemed too good to be true. Little did they know…

====

If anyone has something more specific for Nonny, please add them in the notes or reblogs!

[abyssal-ali]

Fic Showcase Game

Thanks for the tag @river9noble!💕💜💜❤️

Rules: Go to your published works on AO3 and list the first fic you ever published there, the last fic you published, any fic that you wrote for a fandom/ship only once, your favorite fic you wrote in the fandom/ship that has the most works, the fic you wish more people read, the fic you agonized over the most, the fic that sprang fully formed from your mind without any effort, and a work you are proud of—for whatever reason.

Oh boy~

-> First Fic Published: Ice to Meet You

Maribat, Damian Wayne x Marinette Dupain-Cheng • A short and sweet meetcute inspired by my parents' story.

-> Last Fic Published: There Is Just No Stopping This Thing Called Love

(I'm not counting my half-a-fic JaySteph dating alphabet headcanons)

DC, Jason Todd x Stephanie Brown • It's a Gotham by Gaslight AU I wrote in about two days (JaySteph really gets my fingers flying across the keys😆) that I'm pretty proud of. I did a lot more research than I thought I would because I'm a perfectionist who wanted historical accuracy.

-> Fic I Wrote for a Ship/Fandom Once: Hard Right to Greece

MLB, Luka Couffaine x Marinette Dupain-Cheng • This was a co-write, but so far it's my only Lukanette/MLB-only work. It was my first collab fic and I really enjoyed the process. My co-authors (who I'm sure did most of the writing) were lovely and it was a great experience overall. (Check out the lukanette server hosted by @/quickspinner). Road trip plus mutual pining? What's not to like??

-> Favourite Fic Written In My Largest Fandom: toss-up between Burned my Wings and The Best Bat(?)

DC, Gen • Can you tell I like hurting my already traumatized blorbo? I enjoy exploring character's reactions to what Jason has been through, because we all know DC is a coward.

-> Fic I Wish More People Read: Rival Mob Boss Jasonette Series

Maribat, Jason Todd x Marinette Dupain-Cheng • I don't go into my stats expecting large numbers so I don't get the no-dopamine crash. That said, I did think the series would be more popular.

-> Fic I Most Agonized Over: Hmmmmm maybe The Very First Night?

Maribat, Jason Todd x Marinette Dupain-Cheng • The agonizing is usually over getting the motivation to write than struggling what to write. I tried a new writing style in it (non-linear narration), so I was unsure how it would turn out. I'm happy with the end result, though.

-> Fic Sprung Forth Fully Formed With No Effort: Long Live all the Magic We Made

Maribat, Jason Todd x Marinette Dupain-Cheng • I had been plotting a bit more of this fic every tike I listened to Long Live, so by the time I sat down to write it, it only took 2 or 3 days.

-> Fic I'm Proudest Of: Invisible String or Stars Around My Scars

IS: Maribat, Damian Wayne x Marinette Dupain-Cheng • My first songfic and probably my longest fic (only about half is posted; the epilogue is as long as the main work😆). I got some absolutely lively comments that I will forever cherish, which makes me proud that people liked what I wrote so much.

SAYS: Maribat, Jason Todd x Marinette Dupain-Cheng • This was originally a short 2k fic I wrote to get out of my head. A couple years later, I dusted it off and polished it up, and then the ideas wouldn't stop flowing (I still have several outtakes and bonus scenes to write & post). I'm proud of myself for sticking to it (it was my longest fic on ao3 for a while) and not rushing it when the dopamine high faded. I think it's a testament to my improved writing skills and it's special to me, as it was my first long fic for the Maribat Fandom that I posted. I also became close to the absolute love of my life @sarcasticbambi, who was my beta for the fic and gave me some lovely, absolutely heartwarming and forever-remembering-worthy compliments that really boosted my confidence in my writing.

No-pressure tagging @boldlyanxious @velveteenshadow @wildbookcat @the-coffee-fandom and anyone who wants to play, consider yourself tagged!💜💜

[stonyauniverse]

July 20th - August 19th

If you want to be included in the Round Up, you must fill out the Fill Submission form.

Thanks as always to our lovely fanart mod, @suchmadnesss, for the fanart in our banner!

Without further ado, come peruse our bingo-goers wonderful creations!

There he was, like double cherry pie by Wolfsheart

Rated: T

Tags: May Parker (brief), James Rhodey Rhodes (mention), Pepper Potts (mention), Referenced Bobby Drake, Referenced Xavier School for the Gifted, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Bakery, Minor Bucky Barnes/Loki, Minor Bruce Banner/Thor, Minor Harley Keener/Peter Parker, Minor Pepper Potts/James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Bakery and Coffee Shop, Bakery Shop Owner Loki, Bakery Shop Owner Bucky Barnes, Coffee/Tea Shop Owner Clint Barton, Coffee/Tea Shop Owner Natasha Romanoff, Bookshop Owner Thor, High School Science Teacher Bruce Banner, Food Porn, Food, Dessert & Sweets, Gratuitous descriptions of pastries and pies, 5 times + 1 time, Artist Steve Rogers, Cake artist Steve Rogers, Mechanic Tony Stark

Summary: Five times Tony comes into the bakery to flirt with Steve, and the one time Steve goes to the garage to flirt with Tony.

Teacher, Teacher, Can You Reach Me? by @polizwrites

Rated: G

Tags: No Powers AU, Teacher AU pre-serum Steve, artist!Steve, young!Tony, Tony&Rhodey BroTP, Dares and Bets

Summary: After spotting a flyer at a new coffee shop, Rhodey dares Tony to attend a Sip and Sketch class; turns out the twinky blond barista is also the class instructor.

You Live Like This? by Sayah1112

Rated: E

Tags: Rape/Non-con elements, Mob boss Steve Rogers, Twink Tony, Angst, Face Fucking, Forced Blowjob, Mob AU, Non-consensual bondage, Blackmail, Humiliation, Enemies to lovers, Violence, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Howard Starks A+ parenting

Summary:

Mob-AU in which Steve Rogers in the head of the organized crime ring known as the Avengers. They rule New York with an iron fist and a take-no-prisoners attitude. Howard Stark has been getting in his way, bungling his deals, and selling SI weapons on the black market to the Avenger's enemies. Not to mention he is actively helping the police track down and capture his people. Steve can't let that stand. What better way to get back at man then to capture his only son?

Tony is out of the frying pan and into the fire. Living under an alias in a rundown apartment in Brooklyn, it's been a little over a month since he escaped out from beneath the press of his father's thumb. Disowned for the crime of being gay, Tony has been flying under the radar and trying to keep a low profile. That is, until he is captured by his father's enemies. They want their money back, and someone is going to pay.

Tony knows it won't be Howard.

I born in a messed up century by Hadrian

Rated: G

Tags: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Summary: Steve shouldn't be surprise: human never change.

Or, maybe, they can still surprise you, in their own way

A Cure for Every Ailment by @kandisheek

Rating: E

Tags: No Archive Warnings Apply, Sounding, Doctor Tony Stark, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers

Summary: Doctor Stark is testing his new experimental treatment for erectile dysfunction on a group of volunteers. It works very well on Steve Rogers. Just not for the reason Tony thinks.

Or: Tony doesn't realize that sounding is a kink, and Steve never knew he had it.

The Quest by @scottxlogan

Rating: T

Tags: Alternate Universe, Treasure Hunting, Archaeologist Steve, Swearing, Action/Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Implied/Referenced Sex

Summary: Archaeologist Steve Rogers finds himself in the thick of danger and adventure after teaming up with his former mentor's son and current sidekick Tony Stark to chase down a rare treasure set to unlock all of humanity's mysteries along the way.

Shape of My Soulmate by @sivan325

Rated: M

Tags: Alternate Universe, Art Professor Tony Stark, Nude Model Steve Rogers, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Tattoos, Blushing Steve Rogers, Sorry Not Sorry, Fluff and Crack

Summary: Soulmate AU in which you could draw your soulmate's body before you know them.

Nowhere Near as Fun as it Sounds by ABrighterDarkness

Rated: T

Tags: No Archive Warnings Apply, Body Swap, Enhanced Senses/Over-sensitivity, Minor Character Injury

Summary: “You’ve never said anything. At all. To anyone,” Tony blurted, the words and realizations that smacked him straight in the face in the most bizarre way possible. Mid-mission, at that. Terrible timing. But…he felt like this was one of those things he should have somehow already known. Something he’d have somehow already addressed and fixed. And not just because he was the one that was now suffering from the lack of knowledge.

“Neither have you,” Steve said, quiet and solemn.

Out with the Old by @scottxlogan

Rated: M

Tags: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Non-serum Steve, Alternate Universe - 1980s, Alternate Universe - 1990s, New Year's Eve, New York City, Dirty Talking Steve Rogers, Dirty Talk, Swearing, Sexual Content, Alcohol, Hook-Up, Hopeful Ending

Summary: AU: Alone on New Year's Eve in 1989 in New York City, Tony decides to go all out in throwing a solo party for himself until sexy cashier Steve offers him a better alternative to a night of drunken loneliness.

The Journey by @scottxlogan

Rated: E

Tags: Established Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Anniversary, Threesome - M/M/M, Polyamory, Spanking, Sub Bucky Barnes, Dom Steve Rogers, Dom Tony Stark, Light BDSM, Sexual Content, Fluff and Smut, Restraints, Aftercare, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Role Playing, Dirty Talk, Feelings Realization, Friends to Lovers, Pole Dancing

Summary: Steve and Tony decide to take a special trip for their anniversary together. To spice things up they decide to gift each other a vacation with Bucky who is ready and willing to be what they need to make their anniversary even more memorable. Will it prove to be exactly what they needed to strengthen their marriage or will they find something more in their playtime with Bucky?

The Iron Captain by @kandisheek-art

Rated: G

Tags: Movie Poster, Old Hollywood

Summary: Tony and Steve star in Nick Fury's new movie.

All the World Below Me by Steph

Rated: T

Tags: no triggers or warnings

Summary: The trio finally has a chance to talk about some cultural (and biological) differences

Just like that...Back To Love by @scottxlogan

Rated: T

Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, Idiots in Love, Feelings Realization, Past Peggy Carter/Steve Rogers, Swearing, Light Angst

Summary: Super spy Steve Rogers reflects on the mission he and his work partner/on and off lover Tony Stark put behind him and what it means to their future moving forward where matters of the heart are concerned.

[barnesafterglow]

tiff!! my love!!!

it girl, interrupted - fic recs or your top faves from this past year you'd recommend anyone and everyone to read? 👀😘

SEE this is such a hard question bc i've been so bad at reading x reader and i've read SO much stucky so i'm gonna rec some of both. i have a terrible memory so i'm probably just going to do from the last few months or ones that really stood out bc i could tell you maybe 3 fics i've read this year off the top of my head

forever and always will scream from the rooftops to read time after time by @intrepidacious. the massive amount of work nika has but into this story and its intricacies have me literally in awe and it is one of my favorite fics i've ever read

rising tide by @pellucid-constellations is one of my favorite steve fics and we all know i love a good au so surfer!steve is such a treat

after and the garden boy @wkemeup were another couple favorites. i absolutely adore all of kas’s work but if we're talking about ones i've read just this year, these are great

in the embers by @foreverindreamlandd (i forgot to tag you when i originally posted this im so SORRY) is SUCH a good ff!bucky and i still think about it at least once a week

all of @kinanabinks's mob!bucky and fairy series!!

where you decide to stay by @imaginearyparties just made me so ahhhh it is phenomenal

every single fic on @heli0s-writes's brooklyn after dark masterlist

the expedition by @scrumptious-delusion oh my godddd

pedantic affections is a vigilante!steve x detective!bucky reader and is soooo cute and good

put it on repeat, it stays the same is such a good modern stucky and it made my heart twist with angst AND fluff

voxofthevoid writes some of the best stucky smut ever and my soul and my youth (it's all for you to use) is one of my favorites. another really good one is if you're looking for jesus (then get on your knees)

okay i think that's all i can do for now i hope this is a good list!

also honorable mention for a non-marvel fic is the road to hell which is a alex stern/darlington fic for anyone that's read ninth house!

join the party

[enpr-ss]

mp100 atla au headcanons

just getting stuff out of my head:

everyone thinks tsubomi is an airbender or a waterbender, but actually she's a non-bender and gets annoyed with it all. she doesn't know any combat skills or martial arts, only basic self-defense.

this is a really cool scene that will not let go of me: someone is shooting lightning at Ritsu, who bends a spoon / pole to catch the lightning and redirect it away. literally the fastest bender alive. everyone thinks it's really cool and that he's utterly insane for having practiced for this exact situation. Ritsu's just thinking oh wow I thought I was going to die I can't believe that actually worked

Shou's the one who had to learn lightning redirection the hard way

No one but Ritsu understands how powerful Mob is until he enters the Avatar State and pulls down a whole mountain / idk Sozin's Comet or something onto their heads

Mob has the dubious honor of being the first and only plant-bending Avatar

also it could work that mp100 atla takes place after legend of korra, as Mob would be the next male Earth Avatar

Teru goes from bloodbending to being a healer

Reigen is the same as in canon, but offers acupuncture and heated stones as well as his massage services. People think he's hiding his bending abilities, but can't agree on what element

Mogami is an airbender

So is Takenaka (he can't control his bending that keeps bringing him breezes upon which floats snippets of conversations that he didn't ask to overhear)

Sun Psychic Union is an Dai Li off-shoot

Kurosaki Rei is a descendant of the famous fortune teller Aunt Wu

[birdstooth]

Omg so full disclosure I haven’t read this YET but I’m reblogging for later bc I saw the SOCCER descriptor and was like yyyaaaassssss, finally something I have a clue about😭😭😭 

a lot of random speculation under the cut

Side note: Does anyone else feel like they are missing out on some aspect of the story when they don’t have a full understanding of the AU concept??Mob!Character?  Yeah… idk how the mob works outside of goofy Italian stereotypes and SNL skits. Biker!character? Not really sure what the vibe is like in biker gang tbh. Best Friend!Character? Brother, I haven’t had non-hostile interaction with another human being since I ate my sibling in the womb so idk what to say here either (jk… I was an only child in the womb) 

Anyway, I feel I have an adequate knowledge of soccer so here’s my pregame analysis of the story based solely on the moodboard/graphic. I look forward to reading the fic after and being completely wrong about everything lmao.

FIRST, I’m looking at the jerseys.

The colour scheme says Argetina (lol I prob only thought this bc the WC is still kinda recent in my mind), but the lions say EPL.

Next thought: Is this a reference? An homage to some player? A basis for one of the characters? Who has worn those jersey numbers in the past?? 

With that in mind, here’s my list of the most notable (to me) players who have worn 7 or 17 from some of the more well-known teams in recent-ish history

Chelsea:

#7

Ramirez

Scott Parker (to all the naysayers - yeah maybe he’s a mediocre player that isn’t in the same league most of the others on this list, but he still deserves a spot ok. Why? Bc I’m pretty sure he was England captain in a friendly PLUS, his haircut makes him look like a handsome ww2 RAF pilot)  

Didier Deschamps (!!)

#17. Eden Hazard 

SPURS (COYS♥️):

#7. As much as I love Sonny (Son Heung-mi), there’s no one really famous famous that has worn this number

#17. Kevin Prince-Boateng (aka the brother that’s that’s not Jérôme lol), Moussa Sissoko

Manchester United:

#7. The man, the myth, the legend… CR7 himself lmao 

#17. Nani

Manchester City:

#7. James Milner

#17. Jerome Boateng, Kevin De Bruyne

Liverpool (my dad’s home team haha):

#7. Luis Suárez (the guy that bites people) , James Milner (with his second appearance on this list!)

#17. Álvaro Arbeloa

Arsenal:

#7. No one??? Or maybe this is just my spurs bias showing omg sorry lol

#17. Alexis Sánchez? 

Sorry if your fav team didn’t make it on the list lol 

So looking this over, no one really jumps out as being particularly “Bucky” or “Steve” characters (other than Scott Parker…for his haircut). Like, even if we take the most lauded player CR7, his diva attitude kind of rules him out as the basis for either of these guys so I guess OP just liked those numbers or maybe I missed another hint??

If I had to choose players to base them on tho, I can definitely see Bucky being a midfield maestro like Schweinstieger just based on that one post someone made explaining how he had to do mad quick algebra equations in his head to accurately snipe people, so yeah, he seems like he could be a "see the big picture"/orchestrate the plays kind of dude.

And Steve I can see as a Neuer-like team captain, not just bc they are both tall, stoic blonde ppl, but they both have this calm leader energy on one hand, and boundless enthusiasm on the other (Neuer’s post match heat map.... dude wants to play midfield lol it gave me a heart attack everytime he left his post) 

But neither of those fellas is a striker and I feel like the moodboard implies that one of them should be, so I have zero conclusions here. I mean I can also maybe picture Bucky being like a cocky Giroud kind of striker? idk idk. 

What Just Happened?

Pairing: College!SoccerPlayer!Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader and College!SoccerPlayer!Steve x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 2.4K

Summary: Fed up with having your feelings played with you decide to have some fun with a with your friend Steve.

Warnings: 18+ MDI. There's no actual smut but defo some mature sexual themes the whole way through. Little bit of angst, feelings and some swearing too

A/N: This is my first time writing college Bucky and I certainly didn't set out to make him an athlete too but the story went that way so yeah! I'm excited!!

Divider by the amazing @firefly-graphics and mood board by me ☺️

Masterlist | Marvel Masterlist

You knew it was wrong to play with people’s feelings, it was never your intention to hurt anyone. You were left with no choice, you had been an innocent bystander when hurricane Bucky Barnes tore through you and wrecked your heart.

It was hard to put him out of your mind, but you’d be damned if you were just going to sit and pine over him until the day you graduated.

If anyone else had been around that night you probably would have gone for them, but Steve was there, he was cute and down to have a good time with you.

If anyone else had been around that night you probably would have gone for them, but Steve was there, he was cute and down to have a good time with you.

You and he were in identical situations, you were crying into your ice cream tub over Bucky and he was completely hung up on Natasha. You were just two friends messing around, hopelessly trying to forget someone else.

Most of all, you were painfully aware of how stupid it was to fall in love with your roommate and your best friend. It’s not like you had any control over it though.

You and Bucky clicked from the moment you met freshman year. He’d come rushing past you in the library all in a fluster, completely lost, looking for the same seminar room you’d given up on finding minutes before. He threw himself down in the chair beside you, grumbling apologies as he intensely stared at a crumpled map.

Despite the first week nerves bubbling in your stomach, you pushed through and offered him a strawberry Mento and a friendly smile. He was the first person you’d built up the courage to speak to and you were so happy you did.

You sat and spoke for hours, the seminar long forgotten about as you made fast friends. You shared everything with one another, from your big dreams to deepest secrets. It was like you were meant to meet.

You were the founding members of your friend group, you’d both brought everyone together piece by piece until the puzzle was complete. You’d created a family away from all of your homes.

You weren’t sure when your feelings changed for Bucky, you always loved him but being in love with him had developed over time. I had crept up on you out of nowhere.

It’d been easier to ignore when you were living with Wanda, but by the end of junior year she moved in with her boyfriend and it seemed that Bucky was the only person on campus with a spare room.

Being thrown into close quarters with him all the time added pressure to your friendship. It brought feelings bubbling up to the surface that you’d pushed down for so long.

Now that you lived together, it was harder to stop the casual flirting; you didn’t go out of your way to touch each other, somehow you just always were. It was all just too easy and the way you both liked it. You’d created the perfect recipe for a disaster.

Despite the constant battle with your feelings, you thought you had everything under control. Until the touching and the flirting crossed over the line.

It started five weeks ago. You began sharing secret drunk kisses, hidden in the dark corners of some sweaty frat house.

It never went further than a steamy kiss, Bucky always stopped it. No matter how good it felt to have your lips on his, to have his arms wrapped around your body, he always stopped it.

I don’t wanna compromise our friendship.

That was his excuse, his reason for stopping. And each time he stopped, you stood there, nodding breathlessly as his cologne flooded your nostrils, sending your fuzzy brain sky high. You understood, but it was still a bitter pill to swallow.

Bucky was the perfect guy, but he had serious commitment issues. He never understood how much he was hurting you when he bought some random back on the same nights he made out with you. It was the purest form of torture having to listen to his night time activities through the paper thin walls.

You knew all of them meant nothing and somehow that made it hurt more. It was all fine, that’s what you kept telling yourself, until it wasn’t. Until it became too much, the constant, never ending heartbreak for you, all the while Bucky continued to dangle himself in front of you like the most delicious doughnut in the bakery.

So you snapped.

Steve was already sitting at the usual table in your most beloved bar with an empty whiskey glass and the saddest look in his eyes when you arrived.

A couple of poorly played pool games and an unhealthy amount of alcohol led to you both spilling your secrets all over the sticky tables. Sharing things you’d vowed never to speak out loud.

You don’t remember who suggested what, but within a few hours you were back at your apartment. Your clothes tangled up in dribs and drabs from the front door to your bedroom. You’d left the perfect breadcrumb trail for Bucky to find upon returning home from practice.

You were too wrapped up in Steve to care about Bucky’s feelings, for once you were putting yourself first. Steve knew exactly how to make you writhe underneath him, he had you whimpering his name brokenly loud enough to travel through the walls.

For once you fell asleep satisfied, not miserable, lulled to sleep by Steve’s soft snores.

As you stirred awake, a foreign serenity settled over you with Steve’s strong arms wrapped around your body, pulling you into him. Blinking your eyes open, you smiled as his lips grazed your length of your neck, reminding you of the night before.

“Morning.” The gravel in his tone, set off a kaleidoscope of butterflies in your tummy. “I had a lot of fun last night.”

“Me too, Steve.” You giggled, he was so warm and playful in the morning, it really took you by surprise.

Steve sat up against the headboard, sleep still dusted over his feature. The sunlight streamed in from the window and illuminated his pale skin. His usually perfectly styled golden hair were now flat and messy.

“What?” He asked, meeting your gaze.

You sheepishly pulled your lip between your teeth and shook your head quickly, “nothing, just admiring a pretty face.” Steve laughed loudly, his eyes fluttering shut.

“Thanks for getting my mind off of everything last night.” He held his hand out to you, lacing your fingers together and pulled you into his lap. “Can I cook you breakfast, as a thank you?” His large hands squeezed your thighs gently.

A smile fought its way onto your lips, your hands resting on top of his. “Only if you make me pancakes.”

“It’s like you read my mind.” He chuckled, pressing his lips to yours softly.

Steve carried you giggling from your bed to the countertop, offering a stern order to stay put while he cooked, followed up with a sweet kiss.

So you sat there on the counter in his oversized training shirt from soccer. Your feet were dangling and your fingers were tapping the side in time with the soft music playing from the radio.

Steve whipped up the fluffiest looking pancakes you’d ever laid eyes on and brewed the perfect pot of coffee. He was a natural in the kitchen, the sight of the food had you salivating.

It was as you watched him cook and ate you delicious breakfast that you pondered over the whole situation. You and Steve had always been close but Bucky remained an unspoken boundary between you. Last night you’d broken that down barrier and it had you questioning why you’d never done it before, because you got on so well.

Everything about the morning was so easy and fun. Under all the smiles though, a pebble of fear settled in your stomach, it was scary how natural it felt with Steve, but that was a crisis for another day.

The sound of Bucky’s door flying open sent a knife piercing through the lightness in the kitchen. The apartment walls trembled nervously as his door collided with the wall. Steve flipped his final pancake and promptly placed it on top of his stack.

Your appetite died almost instantly, but you continued to munch on your maple covered pancakes, even if it was out of fear.

As his footsteps grew louder, so did the blood rushing to your ears. You wanted to sink into the ground, but Bucky was standing in the kitchen well before hell decided to swallow you up.

“Morning Buck!” Steve sang over his shoulder as he finished up with the toppings on his pancakes. He was totally oblivious to the deep blue stare burning a hole in the back of his head.

Bucky’s eyes flickered from Steve to you and back again, he’d seen your clothes on the floor last night but seeing you both in the flesh together felt surreal. You were completely frozen in place, each time his hard stare met your guilty eyes, your heart leaped out of its chest.

A lump formed in your throat as his eyes travelled down your body, taking in the sight of you in his best friend’s jersey. His eyes stopped mid thigh, where the shirt stopped and then he met your eyes once again, a vacant look in his eyes.

While Steve had gobbled down his pancakes at lightning speed, yours remained half eaten on the counter next to you. He grabbed his coffee from the side and took a final swig.

Bucky’s eyes widened in a way you’d never seen before, if he was a cartoon character you were certain they would have fallen out of his head.

“Is that my coffee mug?” He spat venomously.

Steve’s brows furrowed, inspecting the Team’s Best Striker mug, that you’d bought Bucky for his birthday, firmly in his grasp and shrugged. “Uhh…yeah, it was on the draining board this morning. Sorry Buck.” He shot his friend a confused look before putting the empty mug in the sink.

You cast your eyes to the floor, unable to stand the weight of your guilt dragging the mood down in the room, it’d soured the happy start to the morning. Every second that ticked by the tension grew thicker. You felt awful for parading Steve around the apartment in front of Bucky, it was selfish.

Another very awkward beat passed between the three of you until Steve’s phone chimed. The sound was a rude awakening from the self-loathing pit you were spiralling into at a rapid rate.

“Ah shit, gonna be late to practice, I gotta shoot.” Steve announced, grabbing his keys from the counter beside you. “I’ll text you later,” he grinned, leaning in to kiss your cheek softly. “You coming Buck?”

“In a minute.” Bucky grunted under his breath, barely loud enough for anyone to hear. Steve took the incoherent mumble for what it was and headed towards the door.

“Wait Steve, what about your shirt?” You called out, cringing as the words left your lips. You felt yourself making the whole situation worse, but it was like word vomit.

“Keep it, it looks better on you anyways.” He shot you a wink and sprinted out of the room.

You could feel the steam rising from Bucky’s body, you could hear how harshly he was grinding his teeth. He was doing everything in his power not to launch at his best friend and punch him in the throat.

The dust settled into the uncomfortable silence as the door slammed shut. Bucky remained in his place, his cheeks flushed, jaw wound impossibly tight, blue eyes flaming.

“Buck I didn’t know you’d be home, I’m so-” The words tumbled out of your mouth in a nervous jumble, but Bucky held his hand up to stop you.

“Please don’t speak for a second.” He muttered.

“Okay.”

It felt like you sat there for a hundred years as he processed everything, you waited and waited. And yet, everything happened in such a blur, so quickly.

One moment you were metres apart and then he was right in front of you. He slotted himself between your dangling legs, his cold metal hand ran up the length of your thigh, along the curve of your body. Carefully exploring your body over Steve’s t-shirt.

His other hand cupped your cheek and pulled your face towards his, smashing his lips down onto yours. He kissed you with a neediness and passion that shocked you.

Your lips reacted before your brain could stop you, your fingers clawed at his body desperately pulling him closer to you. You matched his need with your own, it was a clash of teeth and tongues.

Bucky’s metal fingertips hooked under your knee, pulling you forwards into him more and wrapped your legs around his torso.

He pulled back and placed kisses all over your face, stopping when his lips hovered over yours once again and breathed you in.

His minty fresh breath attacked your senses, perfectly balancing the sweet and sour scent of the pancakes and coffee lingering on your breath.

You tipped your head upwards, your nose brushing his and reconnected your mouths again. This time it was slower, but you felt the passion he poured into your lips.

His vibranium hand held the back of your neck firmly, keeping you in place. Your fingers tangled through his messy brown locks and tugged gently. A soft moan erupted from his check, it was the most heavenly sound you’d ever heard.

Bucky’s warm hand traced soft patterns along your thighs pushing up the shirt higher and higher until his fingers ghosted over your soaked panties.

You whined into his mouth, your hips bucked into his hand desperate for more from him.

“Bucky, please.” You whimpered into his mouth.

Bucky’s movements stilled, your words awoke him from whatever jealous spell had overcome him. He pulled away from you, his chest heaved steadily as he caught his breath, his lips were swollen, his cheeks tinged pink.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.” He breathed, before backing out of the room and making a run for the front door.

You sat there for God knows how long replaying the moment over and over in your head, trying to make any sort of sense of it.

You weren’t sure where he’d gone or why he would leave so suddenly, but it didn’t feel like he’d truly left you. You could still taste the minty reminiscence of his toothpaste on your tongue, feel his lips moving against yours, his handprints marked on your body.

Now your head was truly fucked.

Tagging: @delaber @elemenhoepe @theselilwonders @ramp-it-up @nikole-witha-k @mkirk12776 @rivers-rambles21 @turbolisedcomet @im-a-marvel-ous-hoe @aquariusbarnes

[princefado]

Fic Rec Tag Game

tagged by the lovely @haljathefangirlcat to rec five of my fics!!!

i'm still pretty new to actually publishing my work, so i'll do my best!!! under the cut for length (and subject matter). most of these are going to be Explicit, about Ace Attorney and involve Gumshoe/Edgeworth because I don't really write much else at the moment 😅

my baby's got a gun, Explicit, tagged with Rape/Non-Con for safety but is actually consensual, in which Gumshoe and Edgeworth dabble in some harder consent-play and take on the roles of Home Invader and Abusive Boss, respectively. I am still very very proud of this one. I tend to write a really soft D/s dynamic for these two, so this fic pushed me out of my comfort zone into writing more mean dialogue for Edgeworth, and I think it flowed together really beautifully.

Desperado, Explicit, tagged with Rape/Non-Con, but for real this time, in which Damon Gant manipulates Edgeworth and Gumshoe to their breaking points. I have a lot of things I wish I had done differently with this fic. Namely I don't include scenes with Lana or Phoenix, which I think is a shame when it comes to Gant. But, once again, this pushed me out of my comfort zone and got me to write my first fic over 10k words. And it was a gift for a certain someone, and they liked it a lot. So I'm rather proud of that.

Benefits and Considerations, a short, G-rated ficlet, about Mafia AU Gumshoe and Edgeworth, and marriage. But I really like the tone of it, and what you can glean from how the rest of the universe is different by how they interact. And Edgeworth being soft, even when he is the head of the mob.

best laid plans, Explicit, Rape/Non-Con (into Romance), a Horace Knightley/Simon Keyes fic written as a gift, in which Simon makes the best of his stupid best friend's incompetence. Writing Simon was a lot of fun; I usually tend to write the reverse of him, characters who sound mean but are actually quite soft on the inside. I'm proud of how I balanced his scheming internal dialogue with what he actually says, and the hints that he's lying even to himself. I'm also happy with this one because I know it was written for someone who loved it.

an out-and-out success, Explicit, a fluffy and messy aphrodisiac-induced Barok/Albert Harebrayne fic, which was also written as a gift. I fell in love with these two when I first got to the case Albert appears in, and I knew I had to write it as my exchange option. I struggled a little with this one, because I was so new to the characters, but I'm very happy with how it came out, and that my recipient loved it. I think I did a good job of balancing Barok's secret tenderness with his outward menace, and making Albert just as funny as he is in the game.

I do wish I had more non-Explicit options to rec, but I love writing smut so much! So I won't apologize for that.

I'll tag... @forkflinger and @ultraviolet-ink. I don't know that I really have any other mutuals who write who haven't been tagged already! If I didn't tag you and YOU write, you should @ me so I can see your rec list!!!

[midnightswithdearkatytspb]

Mob bucky/seb or mob chris/andy recs??

Updated 07/04/21 ✨ = Just Added

To be added please tag me in your future works!

Hey Anon! I’m so glad you asked this because Mob/Mafia! Any version of those boys is my favorite. In my previous fic recs I recommended...

If love was an option by @mianorth » Bucky Barnes x Reader — Part 1 🦋 Part 2 🦋 Part 3

Good Little Wife & Good Little Girl by @donutloverxo » Mob!Andy Barber x Reader – A little dark and it has some really good smut in it.

Blackmail by @stargazingfangirl18 » Soft!DarkMafia Andy Barber x Female Reader — You were just doing it to protect your family, at least that’s what you kept telling yourself, especially once you started to like it. (One-Shot)

Blow Sweet and Thick by @angrythingstarlight » Mafia!Bucky x Reader — Bucky is having a bad day, you can help him feel good. (Part of Mafia Monday’s)

Run To You by @bestofbucky » Mob!Boss Bucky x Reader — Mob boss Bucky Barnes hires you to be his bodyguard. (Series)

Can’t Run, Can’t Hide by @angrythingstarlight » Dark!MafiaBucky Barnes x Reader — When you get noticed by the infamous mob boss, you flee. But Bucky doesn’t like to be denied anything and he’s coming for you. (One-shot)

Six Feet | Ch.1 ⚰️ Ch.2 by @queenoftheworldisdead » Dark Mob!Steve x Reader + Dark Mob!Bucky x Reader — Your family’s small funeral home comes into financial trouble. In desperation your father finds the most unlikely solution to solve his financial problems. | (Short Series)

Bankrupt by @mypoisonedvine » dark!40’s!Mob!Stucky x Reader — Your husband’s gambling addiction quickly got him in hot water with the mob, and you by extension. When some debt collectors come by to settle what is owed, you realize that you have a lot more to worry about than money problems.

Partition by @angrythingstarlight » Mob!Bucky Barnes x Reader — Bucky comforts you after a bad day, and your boss learns why no one messes with his girl. —> Part 2: Let Me Show You — You wanted to know what your mobster boyfriend did, lucky for you he’s more into the show then tell.

Say the word and it’s yours by @angrythingstarlight » Mafia!Bucky Barnes x Reader — Your mobster boyfriend rescues you from a long, boring day at work. Bucky always said, “ask and its yours”

Lost Without You by @angrythingstarlight » Mafia!Bucky Barnes x Reader — Bucky Barnes would be lost with you. You’re his everything and he plans on spending Valentine’s Day proving it to you.

All Dressed In White by @angrythingstarlight » Dark!Mafia Bucky Barnes x Reader — You were going to marry someone else, Bucky won’t let that happen. You belong to him now and forever. Till Death Do You Part.

Thick As Thieves by @angrythingstarlight » Mafia!Bucky Barnes x Reader x Mafia!Steve Rogers — The only thing the Mafia hates as much as snitches are thieves. And you’re planning on stealing from Bucky and Steve, what happens if you get caught?

Won’t Let You Go by @kind-of-crazy-butthatsokay » Mob!Bucky Barnes x OFC!Kori — Kori met Bucky in one of his clubs, out to get shit-faced with a couple of friends to forget about her worries and maybe take home a guy to further rid herself of her numerous frustrations. Little did she know that the one-night stand with Bucky would turn into so much more than that.

Tell Me What You Want by @angrythingstarlight » Mafia!Steve Rogers x Reader; Mafia!Bucky Barnes x Reader — Your mob boyfriend, is none other than Steve Rogers and he is willing to get you whatever you wanted, all you have to do is ask. And be careful what you ask for because he’s going to give it to you over and over again.

To Have & To Hold by @slyyywriting » Bucky Barnes x Mob Boss!Reader — Bucky is trying his best to provide and care for his daughter who just entered first grade. Everything was alright until she asks why everyone else seems to have a mom except for her. You’re just a plain mob boss who wants to turn a new leaf. Challenges arise when the world refuses to let you take a softer, non-violent route. A little girl helps you navigate a compromise.(series)

✨ Mob!Sugar Daddy!Stucky Moodboard by @brattycherubwrites » Mob!Stucky x Reader

✨ Laced Around Your Throat by @angrythingstarlight » Mafia!Steve x Reader, Mafia!Bucky x Reader — Your Mob boyfriend knows that the only thing that looks even better than his hand around your throat is his custom made necklace. You’re his girl and the world needs to know it.

✨ Hidden Gems by @jtargaryen18 » Mob!Steve Rogers x Mob!Daughter Reader — Your father is the head of one of the most powerful crime families in Boston but he’s protected you from that life. In your quiet home outside the city, you’ve been cared for and protected. When the desires of a more powerful man with the will to dominate bursts into your life, all your illusions are shattered as he comes to claim what is his.

Necessary Arrangements by @stargazingfangirl18 » Andy Barber x Fem!Reader, Ari Levinson x (Different) Fem! Reader ft. Ransom Drysdale » One of my favorite series, chapters are decent sized and the smut is so good!

Hugs My Love by @thatfuckingweirdo » Mobster!Bucky Barnes x Reader — You just really need a hug, and Bucky is the only one you want it from.

my old man is a tough man, but he got a soul as sweet as blood red jam by @cloudystevie » Mob Boss!Steve Rogers x Fem!Reader — steve gives you what you want… kind of.

Brooklyn Wars by @world-of-aus » Stucky x Reader

Petals and Bullets by @revengingbarnes » Mob!Bucky Barnes x Reader (One of my all time favorites series)

I would check out @sinner-as-saint’s Masterlist they have quite a few Mob!Bucky series and one-shots that I have loved in the past.

Special by @buckycuddlebuddy » Bucky Barnes x Reader — this one-shot is really hot.

Love, Honor, and Obey by @constantwriter85 » Bucky Barnes — This one is good and I need to catch up on.

Mafioso by @captain-barnes-writes » Bucky Barnes x Reader — Please do yourself a favor and read.

Lipstick and Crayons by @oneoftheprettynerds » Dark!Steve Rogers x Reader - In Progress

A really good DarkMob!Steve Drabble called Please Hurt Me by @gotnofucks *chefs kiss*

The Mobster’s Little Girl by @smutsonian » Steve Rogers x Reader

off to the races 🐻 off to the races 2 by @harryspet » Soft!Dark Steve Rogers x Reader

The Ignorant Beauty & the Beast by @mysterioh » Steve Rogers x Reader – With 21 parts sadly it hasn’t been updated in 8 months, it’s one of my favorite Mob!Steve Roger fics out there. *Thanks to @inactivewhore I found out this story was moved to AO3 and is now called where angels fear to tread it was last updated on 13/11/20*

What It Takes by @cherienymphe » Bucky Barnes x Reader — You left Bucky once you found out who he really is. The one thing you thought would guarantee your safety ends up sealing your fate.

Welcome Home by @punani » Chris Evans x Black!Reader — He’s been away for awhile, but he knows that his girl’s loyalty to him knows no bounds. Knows she’s been waiting for him after her adamancy in telling him there was no other option. It’s only right to make the reunion a memorable one. | So, so, so, so freaking good!

These are what I found on Tumblr that I plan on reading.

Handmaid by @extremelyblackandwhite » Sebastian Stan x ingenue!Reader — y/n works as a handmaid for the daughter of an influential mob leader who is promised to the new boss of the most powerful mob family in new york, sebastian.

AO3 Website Reccomendations

Satellite Heart » Stucky x Reader — You used to be Steve and Bucky's girl. Then they fucking left without saying goodbye. Little did they know, you were pregnant. But life went on. You raised your Talia to the best of your ability. But one day, everything goes to shit. Now your boys are back in your life. And they're not planning on leaving anytime soon.

Little Fox A/B/O Series » Soft!Dark Bucky Barnes x Soft!Dark Natasha Romanoff x OFC! & Peter Parker x Soft!Dark Tony Stark — So I can’t stress this enough you need to read the tags for this series and I kept getting confused as I read this story as to how old Violet Mason is. But this series takes you on a roller coaster, I like it, my cousin didn’t finish it, I need to catch up.

Pelmeni *finished* » Stucky x Reader — James Bucky Barnes has a good life, as a member of a powerful organized crime syndicate. His best friend Steve is a member too and his literal partner in crime. Bucky's got a problem though. You. His longtime love and secret girlfriend. Unfortunately, your father is his boss and has plans for you that involve normal life. Steve has a problem too. Steve wants in on your relationship and more than the semi-regular/occasional steamy threesomes. You don't have a problem, you're just busy with a big mob wedding coming up, which means a big celebration, that you're busy catering for.

Dying For This Love » Dark!Bucky x Reader — That was before. When you were Bucky’s girl. Now, you have a score to settle. That’s why you’re wearing Bucky’s favorite red satin dress, the one with the cuts that reach right up to the tops of your thighs, the tennis necklace he gifted you for your anniversary, and are fresh off of a mani/pedi and hair appointment. He’s going to regret the day he fucked with you. | This one is intense and a tad bit dark, but the smut is good.

off to the races » Steve Rogers x Reader — In which you call the kingpin your Daddy.

The Mobster’s Little Girl » Steve Rogers x Reader — what happens when the big bad mobster gets blackmailed by your father to marry you? (kind of fluffy kind of not. kinda dark kinda not.)

Brooklyn Sweethearts » Dark!Stucky x Reader — Bucky and Steve had always been meant to keep her safe and happy. As far as anyone else was concerned, that was their sole reason for being alive. Unfortunately, the things that kept her safe were not always the things that kept her happy. Lately, she was making it pretty damn hard for them to compromise. | Probably one of my all time favorite Mafia!Stucky stories I have ever read, just sadly it also hasn’t been updated in like 8 months and I keep hoping it will get updated.

Hot Doll » Skinny!MobBoss Steve Rogers x Reader — Steve Rogers is on the rise in the New York underground as you’re trying to keep your own place there. | Dark and good!

Doctor Doctor » Steve Rogers x PlusSize! Reader — (1940 Mobster AU!) You're a war widow down on her luck; and the King of Brooklyn, Steve Rogers, takes notice. | Another one of my favorites. A little bit dark as well.

The Widow » Dark!MobBoss x Reader — It’s the 1920s and everyone’s having a roaring time but you. | Trust me it’s just dark enough.

Those are just some on AO3, I would just go through Mafia AU tag and go to filter and click Avengers or Captain America.

[shigayokagayama]

actually ive decided to be mentally ill open this to gaze into the abyss (my ageswap au)

ok so the main driving premise is kind of a roleswap like

mob <-> serizawa

tome <-> reigen

teru <-> toichiro

instead of finding mob or ritsu, dimple found teru and gave him the whole “if you team up with me you can become a god” schtick and teru was like “oh boy godhood!” and formed an organization that i am calling claw just for convenience but is functionally kind of a combo of claw and LOL? the absence of mogami and mob means that dimple is still full power so theres a lot less violence involved in maintaining their structure and a lot more brainwashing espers by making them feel happy just by being around dimple which dissuades them from leaving

mob was kind of their golden ticket to moving forward in the whole “taking over the world” thing. teru was going around recruiting espers and in his research learned about an extremely powerful esper who caused some sort of accident that left some girl dead (ill get to this in a second) then disappeared years ago. turns out its mob and he’s been in his room for 14 years ala serizawa. teru tracks down ritsu, convinces him that he works with an organization that helps troubled espers, then takes mob for the purpose of being a normal claw member.

at some point during the “assessing his abilities” part of this process they discovered mob has the power to give/take energy and teru and dimple’s plan shifts to “take over the world by brainwashing people the old fashion way” to “take over the world by convincing everyone theyre godsents who have the ability to give people psychic powers”

also during all this theyre still doing the whole “kidnap and brainwash kids” thing with the added bonus of teru being able to learn the powers of people he fights. so hes just. collecting powers like pokemon cards by beating the shit out of kids. and teru really really wants to learn how to do that energy thing mob can do so he starts trying to get closer to him to see if he can learn it through observation (cause he knows if he actually fought him he’d get his ass kicked) but slowly starts to become actual friends with him and is like. wait. is this what human connection feels like???

meanwhile on the non-claw side of things we get reigen, serizawa, and tome. tome and serizawas dynamic is essentially reigen and mobs from the normal universe. in this universe mob did join the telepathy club because he didnt really have enough personal agency to choose to join the body improvement club, so he and tome were friends and when he went missing they lost their fifth member and the club got disbanded which led to her becoming very jaded and giving up on her alien dreams (which she generally looks back on as cringey and embarrassing :( ) and without really having a clear direction ended up starting s&s, with serizawa coming to her for advice after losing control of his powers and hurting his mom as a kid.

reigen is a super troubled adhd “gifted kid” who is seen as a general nuisance by just about everything. he switches fixations constantly, hes always quitting things after getting super invested in them for short periods of time (which is REALLY pissing off his parents), and his newest fixation is psychics. after serizawa saves him from a spirit in that haunted ass forest that was created by that one weird psychic accident mob caused years ago he ends up convincing tome to let him work for spirits and such, partially because hes interested in the paranormal and partially because he needs money after his mom cancelled his WOW subscription in retaliation for him quitting kung fu.

serizawa, who spent most of middle school just trying to do his work and keep his head down, ends up not only getting reigens attention but also toichiros. toichiro is a transfer from another school who got expelled for attacking another kid and is generally surrounded by a lot of bad rumors. he immediately latches onto serizawa as the first esper kid he meets at this new school and starts trying to convince him that theyre better than other people, which serizawa doesnt buy. also, his esper gang from his old school is disappearing, as are all the other esper kids around town, which is kind of scaring the shit out of him

i deliberated over what to make toichiro and shous relationship for so long. like, it feels weird not to make him his dad but it feels even weirder to make shou randomly like 10 years older than everyone else. so my compromise was that hes his older brother and legal guardian after their parents died in an accident which shou is pretty sure toichiro caused (i chose sibling and not uncle because shou and toichiros normal relationship is supposed to be a direct parallel to mob and ritsus).

shou is a character i feel is done super dirty by every ageswap. guys. look at me. there is no universe where shou is the leader of claw. if shou being brought up by toichiro left him a generally good person if a bit inconsiderate of other peoples feelings and kind of “ends justify the means”-y, shou being brought up by literally anyone else would leave him a normal well adjusted person.

just to give him some connection to claw instead of letting this poor guy live his dreams of drawing dragons and shit im making him a government esper spying on claw. ritsu also works with the government but since he never went through big cleanup or met dimple he has 0 control over his abilities and instead just works in the division that knows they exist and deals with them. hes friends w shou and they both fuckin hate their jobs but feel like its their duty to make the world a better place. also ritsu is desperately trying to reach mob but mob has spent too much time with claw and become convinced ritsu is just trying to hold him down.

also that accident ive been mentioning? yea im going to try to lead people to think its the confession arc gone wrong for as long as possible before throwing in a minori curveball. yea tsubomi is not involved in ANY of this, she isnt mobs tragic backstory and she gets to live her own life.

this is just all the set up not getting into the actual plot uhhh what did i leave out? oh mezatos a reporter investigating the claw stuff and gets involved with tome (this happens a bit into the story so i wont get into detail) and emi is a ghostwriter. takenaka is basically a spy for hire at claw because most jobs dont let you just wear earbuds at work and overstimulation sucks, the awakening lab kids at claw because there are not a lot of other options there are so few kid espers in mob psycho.

also while im here ive been consuming so many recently so im curious

favorite mp100 au ?? if u have one !!

ok so im going to preface this by saying i am the pickiest person in the world when it comes to fanfiction. like. i am not joking, i have closed fanfictions before because i thought that the writer made a character's music taste ooc.

im a big fan of ageswaps IF they acknowledge the far reaching consequences reigen not being present in mob's early life would have on him and everyone else in his generation. the vast majority of ageswaps are not to my taste because theyre a bit too generous with how everyone would have grown up without the influence of a mob who met reigen.

specifically teru is generally made like, kind of a self obsessed celebrity when like.

i mean.

come on.

[beyondspaceandstars]

A Simple Housewife

Relationship: Mob!Bucky Barnes x Reader AU Warnings: non-graphic violence, angst Summary: Mob!AU - A new member starts getting too friendly with you one night, forcing Bucky to show a side of himself you’ve never seen before. And possibly never want to see again.  A/N: in my list of favorite AUs right under soulmate!au is mob!au........idk why i can’t explain it but I love it it’s such good content. and i realized well i can contribute to it as a genre so here I am lmao. (also, for reference, the work contains college-age peter parker - i aged him up fyi)

Masterlist

You liked how you two worked as a team. Bucky liked to hold meetings at your home, and you liked to host them. It was an unspoken agreement every time he’d come home and rattle off who was going to be around the next night.

These instances always sent you into a frenzy, but a good kind of frenzy. It gave you something to do. While a simple housewife per your husband’s request, these events meant you could fill your days planning menus, table settings, wine pairings, grocery shopping… It was therapeutic in some ways and even nicer knowing it would be appreciated.

His men loved to fawn over your perfectly cooked food or premium hand-picked wine and you simply adored it. While it sometimes rubbed Bucky the wrong way seeing you all giggly over compliments from other men, he typically let it slide. It was never very serious and certainly never went beyond sweet comments. You embraced your hosting duties while pretending to ignore the conversations that would go on in the next room after the meal, much to Bucky’s content.

The night had started like any other. Bucky came home the previous day and told you there was going to be a meeting tomorrow night and to expect to host ten of his men. That seemed like such a smaller crowd than he normally had over, so you inquired, curious.

"Only ten?" You asked, already rushing to grab your pen and paper for the planning.

Bucky nodded, leaning against the counter. "Yeah, we’ve got someone new coming on and I don’t want to overwhelm him."

"A new guy?" Your eyes lit up. "You mean someone who hasn’t tasted my lasagna?"

Your husband couldn’t hold back the chuckle at your innocent awe. Moments like these made him wonder how someone so warm could ever deal with someone like him. 

You weren’t totally clueless about his career, you knew at least a general description of what he did for a living, but, on the other hand, you hadn’t ever seen it. You roughly knew there were… multiple sides to him but those all seemed so distant, so pointless, at the time. In this home, with you, he was just Bucky. Your Bucky. Your husband. The one who showered you with love and appreciation.

"Yes, doll," your husband confirmed. "There’s someone who hasn’t had your famous lasagna."

"Wonderful!" You clapped and started writing out the menu. "Are there any requests? I certainly don’t want to mess anything up. God forbid the new guy thinks I’m a bad host or something."

You heard Bucky sigh as you continued making your notes. A hand came to your shoulder softly, halting your actions. You turned to face your husband, who was looking down at you with a soft smile, easing your worries nearly completely.

"Everything is going to be just fine," he said, placing a loving kiss on your forehead. You helplessly melted into the touch. "There’s nothing to worry about."

***

You were running around the kitchen like a mad man when Bucky came home the next night with a couple of men already following behind. He called out to greet you like some cheesy sitcom entrance. You force yourself to halt your panic, knowing it was in your best interest to go greet him and the first guests. Smoothing out your apron, you double-checked nothing would explode in flames upon your absence and made your way to the foyer.

"Hi, honey," you smiled as your eyes landed on your well-dressed, sophisticated-looking husband. For all the time spent together, he never did fail to make you swoon simply by just standing there.

"Hey, doll." Bucky matched your smile and gave you a kiss on the cheek knowing you would stress even more if he dared to smudge your lipstick.

When you two parted, your eyes wandered over your husband’s shoulder to the two men standing in front of the door. The one staring at you two exchanging welcomes you recognized right away as your husband’s right-hand-man Steve. Ever so strong and important looking.

But the boy standing next to Steve was a mystery. He was a bit smaller than them both but still had some height on you. This didn’t take away, though, from this timid look. He gazed around your home seeming so in awe of it all. He didn’t realize you were staring at him until Steve nudged him.

Bucky picked up on your curiosity and immediately jumped into introductions. Motioning towards the boy, "This is Peter. He’s the new member I was telling you about."

"Oh, of course," You smiled, outstretching your hand. Peter accepted the shake, a little on the enthusiastic side. "Very nice to meet you."

"It’s very nice to meet you too, Mrs. Barnes." The boy responded, holding slightly too much eye-contact, but you couldn’t blame him.

Your hands disconnected and you chuckled at the formalities, waving a hand in dismissal. You told him to call you by your first name. "The whole misses thing feels so serious," you insisted.

Peter just smiled, a twinkle in his eyes almost. He seemed to relax at your casualness. After the introductions, you led the men into the front room, offering up drinks and hors d’oeuvres. They helped themselves as you started to make your way back to the kitchen. For some reason, you decided to look back at the group. Your eyes met Peter’s immediately. The other men didn’t seem to notice, engrossed in some conversation as they poured their beverages. You simply smiled at the boy and headed back to the food.

It wasn’t too long after the first arrivals that the rest of the members started arriving. You didn’t have time to personally greet them all but Bucky assured you that was never necessary. You two had your own things to run, he liked to joke.

With everything places — food, silverware, centerpieces — you called the men into the dining room. They oohed and awed at the spread of lasagna, bread, veggies… All food groups were represented, you thought. As predicted, they began praising you for the meal as if it was the first time in their life that they’d ever eaten and it made you giggle. These were some of the toughest people you’d ever known and yet a simple baking dish of pasta and sauce could amaze them.

Once everyone was seated and digging in, you took your seat at the other end of the table, directly across from Bucky. As you began passing around the bread, you surprisingly found Peter sitting next to you.

"They made you sit down at this end?" You asked, handing him the breadbasket. Usually, the members dreaded sitting near the wife. While they were all so kind, in moments like these, they’d rather be at the other end looking so important.

"New guy," Peter shrugged, taking a piece of bread and moving it along.

"I thought this meeting was, like, for you," you said, cutting into the slice of lasagna one of the other men were so kind to serve you.

"No," he shook his head, beginning to eat. "At least that’s not how Mr. Barnes described it. Doesn’t matter, though. It’s just nice to be here."

You smiled, delighted by his optimism, having not seen many new members in your time with Bucky. "I hope the foods okay. I got nervous when Bucky said there’d be someone new coming around."

Peter scoffed as if finding your worry crazy which eased your mind a little. He took another bite of food. "This is easily one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time."

"Thank you, Peter," you said, taking a sip of your wine. Peter copied your motion, looking at you above the wine glass rim as he sipped.

"You did everything, yeah?" He asked, holding his wine while motioning towards the tables and surroundings. "Foods, plates, all of it?"

You nodded, probably coming off a bit more eager than you should’ve, but you couldn’t help yourself. Sure, Bucky’s guests loved to compliment your cooking but no one ever acknowledged the other pieces put into the meal.

"I try to change the table setting every season," you said, "and I like the food to be seasonal, too. There are some lovely markets around and I just adore browsing them… Oh! And the centerpieces, I got the flowers there, too…"

Your rambling died down as you caught Bucky staring at you from the other end of the table. One guy was trying to talk his ear off but he seemed interested in your conversation. Curiously, you started eying your husband back as you picked at your food. His face held an unreadable expression but, eventually, his eyes left yours and were now more focused on the one sitting next to you.

Appearing oblivious, Peter continued the conversation. "Well, I think the flowers are a nice touch," he said. "Pretty flowers picked by a pretty girl."

Your heart skipped a little at that comment. You couldn’t ignore the fact it was quite bold. While you were away of the gazes you got sometimes and the possibility you were talked about behind the scenes but to say it here? At the dinner table? With your husband just in earshot?

But at the same time, you had to consider, he was nice and probably just trying to butter you up hoping for a good word put in with the bossman. There was no doubt people thought they could get to Bucky through you but, in reality, you didn’t stick your hands in any of it. Nope, you just married into it.

Not completely sure how to respond, you simply accepted the compliment, "Well, thank you. That’s very sweet."

Peter smiled at your words, looking a bit proud of himself. You turned back to your plate and tried to eat your meal in silence.

Once everyone was finished, the group started making their way out of the dining room. You shooed them, promising to be out with coffee in a bit.

You were deep into cleaning, having finally carried all the dishes from the dining room to the kitchen when someone entered.

At first, you didn’t explicitly hear them as the faucet was running heavy from your battle of scrubbing dishes. Suddenly, you could sense a presence right behind you at the sink. Turning around, you nearly jumped out of your skin as you came face-to-face with Peter, looking almost amused at scaring you. You were surprised and also… not surprised.

"Sorry," you let out a breathy chuckle. "I didn’t hear you come in."

"That’s okay," he said and motioned towards the dirty plates lining the counter. "Do you need any help?"

"Oh," you frowned. "Shouldn’t you be in the meeting with everyone else?

He shook his head, "Mr. Barnes doesn’t want to start until he’s had coffee."

"Well, you can let him know it’s brewing away," you said, trying to keep your tone serious as you could. You turned back to the sink, praying he got the hint.

He hadn’t, you realized, as Peter came around to stand at your side, leaning against the counter. He stood, arms crossed, watching you.

It was weird — actually, this entire situation was weird. You didn’t think anyone but you or your husband had been in this kitchen before let alone actually know where it was in your home.

Despite how odd you found it, the last thing you wanted to be was rude. You didn’t want to think about what could ensue from your husband losing a guy.

"It’s kind of sad, Mrs. Barnes," Peter crossed his arms, seemingly ignoring your previous request to call you by your first name. You glanced at him, confused. "You’re so kind to do all this and none of them even offer to help you clean up."

"Oh, no, It’s okay-,"

"It’s really sad," He repeated, completely cutting off your attempt at a defense. You frowned and went back to cleaning the plates, praying your attempt to ignore him would encourage him to walk out. There was a weird feeling growing in your gut.

"Such a pretty girl shouldn’t have to do so much," Peter said, softly. "It’s not fair to you."

And that’s when you felt it. His hand slowly came up to rest on your lower back. You immediately tensed under his touch, mind spinning. What the hell had you ended up in? Should you have tried harder to get him out? Gosh, but he seemed so harmless-

His hand started inching upward and then back down, creeping a little lower each time with the motion. With your stance frozen, all you could do was focus on the soapy water in the sink, unsure of your next move. He took the hesitance as a chance to close the gap between you two. A few more shifts and he could have you fully pressed against the sink.

But before you could even ponder about his next move, the swinging kitchen door busted open. You both flinched at the sudden noise but Peter didn’t seem to move. You looked over to find it was Bucky in the doorway, gun drawn and pointed directly at Peter.

Your heart sank when you saw the weapon. Sure, you knew there was weaponry stored in the home but you had never definitely seen it. You could sometimes make out outlines of guns in suit pockets but now you were on the other end of one. While it wasn’t meant for you, with your poor positioning, a single shot and you could be taken down. And by your husband-

"What the fuck are you doing?" Bucky finally spoke, never taking his eyes off the person nearly towering over you. The gun was very steady, just like his words. But everything else about him was unlike anything you’d ever witnessed before. His eyes were dark, his features so harsh. This felt like a man you had never seen before.

"We were just talking," Peter answered. His voice was casual but you could feel a slight tremor in his hand. Or maybe that was just your body shaking uncontrollably. You couldn’t tell. "I offered to help her clean up."

Bucky cocked the gun. "Get your hands off her."

"Honey," you spoke softly, your voice slightly cracking from the tears that were beginning to form. "Please put the gun down."

"Not until he gets his hands off you, doll."

"Bucky, please." He wouldn’t look at you. He was determined to look beyond you and it scared you to death.

"You have five seconds to back away from her," Bucky took a step closer. "Or I’ll be forced to mess up my girl’s lovely kitchen."

You gasped at the sharpness in his voice, the entire darkness of it all. You started begging under your breath, hoping whoever or whatever heard the helpless prayers.

Finally, after what felt like hours to you, Peter stepped away from you. You turned to look back at the copy water where your hands were still submerged. They shook as you removed them and you let out a breath you hadn’t even realized you were holding.

Regaining some composure, you backed away from the sink and turned to your husband. Bucky still had the gun pointed at Peter, completely focused on him. Slowly, you approached him, your hands raised as if surrendering. You just needed to get the gun put away and then you could run to your room for some solitude. Fuck the other people probably oblivious, just relaxing and joking in your front room. This was typical business for them, they probably encountered your husband’s dark demeanor day in and day out, but this was going to take a toll on you.

"Honey, his hands are off of me," you whispered, slowly tiptoeing closer. "Put down the gun."

"He put his hands on you, doll," Bucky was answering you but he somehow sounded so distant, so consumed. "I let someone into this house that was going to do God knows what to you."

"No, no," you shook your head and you meant it. You didn’t think Peter was totally malicious. Just someone with a crush, high off excitement in a new place. "I really don’t think he meant harm."

"You’re too kind," Bucky scoffed. "You’re too kind, too innocent, too naive-,"

He held the gun stronger, seemingly preparing to shoot any second now. You were at the end of your rope with the realization. The waterworks were flowering uncontrollably now.

"James," you said, anger breaking through the tears. He seemed to freeze ever so slightly at your usage of his first name. "You really want to do this in front of your wife?"

Something clicked. You could feel it, you knew it. He didn’t answer and instead slowly lowered the weapon, placing it on the counter. Your husband turned to you. Seeing his opportunity, Peter sped past you two out of the kitchen. Neither of you really registered it. You were staring at one another, watching each other even begin to realize what had happened.

Now you were actually clueless. Were you meant to talk about this? Or did you just deal with it in time? The silence was killer but all your mind could focus on was the coffee machine that had gone silent, telling you it was done brewing. It was such a stupid, random thing to even focus on but you felt like your brain would explode if gave anything else the time of day.

"The coffee is ready for your meeting," you said, pulling off your apron and throwing it on the counter. Bucky watched you as stormed out of the kitchen, looking completely stunned and equally clueless.

You sat at your vanity in the bedroom. Thankfully you were able to avoid the front room, having no desire for anyone to see you in with mascara running down your cheeks.

You furiously scrubbed off your make-up despite it already almost off from the tears. Your emotions were just all over the place at this point. You didn’t know if you were angry, surprised, sad…

Mostly, you realized, you felt dumb. You could parade around being a little housewife, pretending she lived a normal life with a normal husband who had a normal job but that just wasn’t it. That wasn’t your reality in this moment. As much as you knew what his career entailed, seeing it up close like that was a whole new level. You thought you knew. You thought you knew so much.

You were just finishing changing out of your dress when the bedroom door opened. In the mirror, your angry eyes met Bucky’s worried ones. He entered slowly, shutting the door behind him. Part of you was pleased with this situation. He chose to check on you, pausing his meeting, but at the same time, you didn’t know if you could deal with anyone right now.

"How are you doing?" He finally spoke up, voice cutting through the tension.

You scoffed, "I just saw my husband pull a gun on a person in our fucking home."

Bucky shook his head and made his way over to the bed, where he sat at the edge, facing you. He wanted to get at you for swearing but much worse things had happened tonight that he didn’t know the point in it. Bucky never wanted to bring anything like that home.

He didn’t take care of that kind of "business" in this house. The meetings were routine, typically check-ins, but any deals or assignments were handled off the premises in fear of something turning ugly. He just wanted to keep you from that ugly. His sweet, soft wife who got excited over making lasagna and picking apples at the farmer’s market was never meant to be thrown into any of this. Especially not in the kind of way that just went down.

"I didn’t mean for that to happen," Bucky said. You rolled your eyes and turned quickly in your chair to face him. He ignored your attitude. "He had his hands on you. He was practically on top of you. Do you understand that? Please tell me you understand how that would make me angry."

"God, Bucky, you pulled a gun on an unarmed person!" You exclaimed. "I understand you were upset, I completely get that, but what… What was that? Who was that?"

His head tilted, confused, questioning. You shook your head in disbelief. Did he not even realize the mode he went into? The whole other person he seemed to encompass in those few minutes?

"You… you weren’t yourself," you mumbled and averted your gaze to your fingers which were fidgeting, restless. "You were scary. Disconnected. I didn’t know that person."

Bucky didn’t say anything at first. He got up from the bed and walked over to where you were seated at your vanity. He crouched down, trying to get you to look at him. Your heart pounded furiously at his close presence.

"You shouldn’t have seen that," He said. "You shouldn’t have seen any of that, doll."

His hands came to grasp yours. You wanted to pull away but you weren’t fast enough. He gripped your hands firmly as if scared you were going to vanish. Your head was swimming with even more confusion as he avoided your questioning.

"Can you even explain yourself?" You asked, finally looking up at him. Bucky’s worry seemed to have melted away and was replaced by something you once again couldn’t put your finger on.

He shook his head. The grip on your hands got tighter. "You have to understand when things come up I must act accordingly."

You didn’t understand but you had to understand. You knew you did. He was right. While jarring, that other side of Bucky did exist out there and he was probably the reason he could be so successful. And while that was something you could work on accepting, you didn’t want to see it in your home.

But for now, you didn’t want to deal with it. Emotions for you both were running high and there was no telling what could come out of your mouth anymore. You’d come back to it and work it out. There was no way you could avoid it. You didn’t think you could ever be scrubbed clean of what you saw.

"Okay," you mumbled and felt his hold on your hands loosen. "Just… Please don’t bring your work home for the time being. We can discuss this in the morning."

Bucky nodded, running his hand from your hands to your shoulder, lovingly. He mumbled okay and you sighed in relief.

For a second you wanted to just sit there, engrossed in the comfort his touch was bringing, completely and fully enjoy that you had your Bucky back, but then your brain remembered the people downstairs.

"Oh, honey," you said, "the guys are probably waiting for you."

"No," Bucky’s head shook. "I sent them home. You’re more important."

You melted at the words. Yes. Confirmed. Your Bucky was back to you. The man you loved and gave everything. He was putting you first.

"You didn’t need to do that," you mumbled, bashfully. Bucky chuckled at your reaction.

"Of course I did," he insisted. "I was worried. I never wanted you to see that. You didn’t sign up for that."

"No, Bucky, I really didn’t," you shook your head.

He sighed, "And I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you."

You looked down again, suddenly worried you were putting too much guilt on him but at the same time, that felt silly to even consider. You weren’t sure anymore. The day was overwhelming as the minutes continued.

"Could we just go to bed now?"

Bucky removed his hands from your shoulders and stood, allowing you to get out of the chair and make your way to the bed, under the fluffy comforter. Your husband watched, waiting until you were comfortable.

"I’ve got a few phone calls to make but then I’ll come to bed, okay?"

You nodded, eyes shut already halfway into your dream world. You heard Bucky chuckle as he turned out the lights and shut the door quietly.

You lulled yourself to sleep, head still spinning from the earlier acts. The whiplash your husband gave you was starting to catch up but how much more could you think about it? It’d come back and you’d have to deal but for now, you could pretend. At least while you slept, you could go back to putting that distance between yourself and any side of Bucky that wasn’t husband Bucky. For just a bit, you could pretend you didn’t know so much.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

taglist note: i chose not to tag in this work b/c it is an AU and was unsure if people were comfortable with being tagged in such.

[redorich]

So if Dream never got put in the Prison how is Sam doing? Does he still manage the prison even if no one's there? The prison took a big toll on his mental health so is he doing better in this au? Also does Las Nevadas exist at all in Hermit Canyon? Kiniko Kingdom too does that exist? Basically i just wanna know if Karlnapity and Sam are ok

The Hermits-- there are more than one, apparently-- come crawling out of the woodwork in groups of twos and threes. They're never alone, but they mean no harm. Just like the animals at the zoo, they seem more afraid of the Dream SMP folk than the Dream SMP are of the Hermits, even when they really have no cause to be.

There's a group which lingers around the prison, poking around it like they would love nothing better than to delve deep into its guts and see how the empty behemoth works. The group is led by a white-haired man with a permanent snicker etched into the lines around his eyes. His second-in-command, as far as Sam can tell, is the dark-haired man in the blood-splattered apron. He looks for all the world to be a normal butcher, save for the strength of his swollen muscles and the conspicuous lack of interest toward most animals.

Sam wonders, just for a moment, what this man's prey is. Humans? Mobs? Children, perhaps?

The most interesting of the three by far is the bottom of the totem pole. By all rights, the man called "Doc" should be at the top of the food chain, given his sibilant, scratchy voice, mottled green skin, and quite frankly pants-shitting scary metal prosthetics. This man is the only other creeper-person Sam's ever met (he has to be the same person as the invisible creeper-man he met once in the canyon, no one's gunpowder has ever called to him like this one's).

One thing's an issue, though: Doc's an absolute coward.

If it weren't for the sizzling allure of his gunpowder (a memory comes unbidden of the man hissing we! and meaning a thousand different things) Sam would think Doc to be a chicken, rather than a creeper. Seriously, the man consistently trails far behind the other two ("Etho" and "Beef"), clamoring for protection from mobs and humans alike, constantly on the lookout for Dream SMP natives who might attack.

Sam approaches the group warily. "Hey," he says, greeting them in English for the benefit of the non-creeper people.

Beef, the butcher, visibly startles and Doc yelps.

"Hey," Etho greets him, then turns right back to the weird mass of sticky pistons and shards of what remains of the natural laws of physics, all glued together with redstone and a dream. The machine is pressed up against the wall of the prison, as though...

"Are you trying to break in?" Sam asks despite himself.

"Yeah," Beef nods eagerly. "We wanna see how the redstone works."

"Doc wouldn't stop complaining until we went with him, actually," Etho smiles. "Right now we're just trying to find a way around the mining fatigue."

"Or you could, you know, come in through the visitors' access?" Sam says. "I am the warden, you know."

"You are?" Doc demands, all hesitance forgotten in the face of Cool Redstone.

Sam squints at the group, thinking fast. "Yeah. I'll let you in... If I get to ask some questions of my own. Quid pro quo, yeah?"

"Yeah, sure," Doc says, completely at ease even though this is potentially an exchange of very sensitive information. From what Sam has heard, the Hermits are weird like that.

Sam nods his head, motioning for the group to follow him. They don't even bother picking up the redstone bits. (Sam notes where the machine is, and makes a note to scavenge the parts later when they're not looking.) As they walk, he cuts to the chase.

"Doc. You're the only other person I've met who's like me." He doesn't bother elucidating just how they're alike. It's obvious.

"As far as I'm aware there aren't a lot of us mob-people out there," Doc says speculatively.

Sam notices that Doc doesn't mention how he came into being. Perhaps, like Sam, Doc doesn't know.

"So, what's up with the arm?" Sam says. It's probably a sensitive question, and as soon as it leaves his mouth he realizes that Doc is going to clam up and not say anything--

"Fought God and won," Doc says easily.

Sam does a double take. "Sorry, what?"

Doc shrugs, while the other two Hermits laugh at the non-sequitur. "I was the first mob hybrid," he says as though that isn't an absolute bombshell. "Mojang couldn't decide whether I was sentient enough to let live, so I challenged Dinnerbone to a fight and won."

"With big brain tactics," Beef pipes up helpfully.

"I didn't explode even once," Doc says proudly, as though not exploding was more of an achievement than fighting God and winning. "He took my arm, but I got independence for all mob hybrids that came after me."

"Hey, Etho, tell him about your IOU," Beef says.

Sam is afraid to ask. Luckily(?) Etho doesn't need the prompting.

"Uh, Agnes thought my redstone pioneering was impressive," he says, scratching his neck. "She offered me anything I wanted on behalf of the Mojang pantheon, but I didn't really want anything so I asked for an IOU."

"... Didn't really want anything," Sam parrots disbelievingly.

Etho responds cheerily, "Nope!"

Sam abruptly decides that he's asked enough questions.

[queerspacepunk]

Have you read any good ed hurt/comfort fanfics?

[first off thanks all for your patience i was going to try and do these in order of them coming through but I've lost track of that between here and notes so they're all over the ol' place but i am very much getting to them!!]

i'll admit here that the line between 'angst' and 'hurt/comfort' isn't always the clearest but i gobble this shit up like a SPOON okay? blanket warning to check the tags on all of these and feel free to check in if you need more detail!

Don't Fuck Up The Rhythm by MightierMango (now an orphan account) | 7862 words | Explicit | post reunion

this fic is one i really really love, it's from ed's perspective as he Deals With Some Shit after the reunion, including some spiraling into OCD -- it's a heavier one so mind the tags but it's honestly just delicious.

we were warnings by mia_ugly | 13156 words | Explicit | post reunion

look it's a classic for a reason? non-linear story, great angst, love the way ed slowly reconnects with stede and the crew, excellent!

it’s what isn’t in the name by tciddaemina | 41,022 words | Mature | canon-era au with daemons

this is a daemon!au that I actually just finished rereading. I loved how the author navigated the changes that having a daemon would make to both of them, and thought their daemons were really well fleshed out, plus as someone who grew up on HDM (did i read the subtle knife far too young? yes. did i once dress up as lyra for a book week thing and try to bite the classmate who tried to touch my daemon? also yes) the angst hits HARD, but so does the comfort.

stuck in the middle (of the ship, by a sword through the gut) by sometimeseffable | 2649 words | Teen | missing scenes at the end of episode 6

we were ROBBED by not having this scene and i will read every version of this scene that people offer me! this one was in my bookmarks and is very good!

and of course the series a love that won't sit still by the dear gangnamstles which is many words (a completed long fic; four? shorter pieces; and a long fic sequel which is nearly complete) (plus a very sweet fic about a dead dog by some weirdo)

modern!au where ed is an ex-mob enforcer and stede still works for his dad. angst, drama, mental illness, healing. if corporate was asking me to find the difference between this series and a dbt workbook i wouldn't be able to... okay that's a lie bc i ENJOY reading (and rereading) this fic!!! i'd say this universe lives in my head rent-free were it not for the fact that it is in fact and honoured guest