#it walks a REALLY fine line where its like an asshole all the time but IT it's self DOES CARE

[creativebrainrot]

hi resending. i would play all of your ocs' routes BUT i would go for kynwyl, rhosyn, and morven first :>

TH R E E O F THEEM!!!!!!

okay SO

Kynwyl is such very a sweetie and hes very attentive to you. hes gonna notice Every Little Thing but not comment on it unless it seems negative and he might be able to fix it or help you feel better. He's picking THE Romantic things like a nice dinner or a nice private boat ride (specifically on a skiff that looks like the Floating Gardens skiff) etc etc. He wants to make you feel so important and cherished!!

He is GOING to show up unannounced now and again with flowers and sweet treats. He likes giving loving surprises to his partners. He would stop though if you hated it or it didnt work for you for one reason or another. He isn't pushy! like, at all.

You'd get his bad end through rejecting / disliking / generally being abrasive about his efforts. He can be a little.... perfectionist, about his relationships, and that too could contribute. He wants to find "The Ones(tm)" and he's a bit of a dingus now and again because of it- but that's not your fault! He is a hopeless romantic and he wouldn't like, drop the entire relationship because of one fight or something stupid like that atleast. More like, too many little, unresolved, disagreements and he'll start losing interest.

You'd get his good ending through working with him and telling him what you did or did not like so he could fix it / find a compromise for the both of you! It helps if you accept his advances, but he'd hate it if you only did that for him, and you actually disliked his affection.

Rhosyn is goin maximum lesbian- you two are GOING to watch the fighting rings she loves with THE BEST seats and THE hottest BEST WOMEN FIGHTERS in the whole of elona! (she pranked her brother into paying for it) You're gonna get so much meat to eat and WAY too much dessert and drinks. She'll respect you if you know your limits or try to keep up with her anyway despite knowing your limits ASKLGJOI

She is so loud in how she loves and she is gonna yell her affection at you, gonna drag you to spar with her, gonna invite you out to the best bars in all of elona like 5 days a week (its fine if you cant go shes just GOING TO invite you out everytime she goes out) Buff lady golden retriever who will hug you so very tight and is gonna make sure you know she's your number one and she's never gonna let you fall down. She will lift you higher than ever before! (whether you like it or not)

also lots of bad stupid jokes and dumb sillyness

Her bad end would come around from you trying to change her :( she's always doing her best and she appreciates kind honesty - she'll compromise with you as best she can manage. she might lapse, forgetting the new agreement a couple times in the next two weeks BUT!! she's trying. Her bad end is u being so very meanies to her :( dont do that </3

Her good ending would come around from you meeting her energy or working with her to find a comfy compromise for the both of you! Enabling her loud and "Warrior-brained" tendencies also helps.

uh, good luck getting Morven's good ending SKJDKHGDFIULSHJGOI Morven LOVES to poke and prod and provoke. If it decides you're fun to play with, uh, I'm sorry. SKJHGSJKGHFJ Seriously though It loves to tease and to provoke it's "targets" its like a really. unique. love language. An autistic type of fixation It has simply never seen good enough reason to NOT do. So, if you can put up with that, that's a good start. If you DO manage to get on It's good side, you'll be well attended too, but relentlessly teased. The words themselves, of the teasing, should hurt, they should feel... somewhat, abusive, so to speak, but you've learned by now that it Just Talks Like That. It's feelings and actions rarely match up with it's words. It makes sure you've eaten but asks in what would be a cruel way if it weren't for you knowing that it was genuinely concerned underneath. I'm sorry- it's Just Like That, like it's not even hiding it's feelings it just thinks EVERYONE else is stupid SJDHFILSDHJFJGHKJF if you can put up with that or for some reason think it's endearing, holy shit ur it's perfect match

It's bad ending would be the result of genuinely biting back when it picks fights with you- it wants you to be the "prey" if you are also a "predator" then it ACTUALLY wants to fight you now LMAO Also- Do Not Touch It's Books. None of them. Do Not go into it's library and touch it's collection it would kill you for that- dont, do that.

It's good ending comes around from you responding like a tsundere when it teases you. It wants you to enjoy the fights it picks with you. It wants you to know it's better than you and agree with it (morven is just like this im so sorry LMAFJDIOGHUJOPSH) Also- listening to and respecting it's rules, and listening to it's infodump monologues about it's interests will get you far, and genuinely being interested will get you EVEN farther.

just, the rest of your life will be it teasing you every single day so. I mean. if you wanted that. You WOULD get fuckin sickass high fashion goth clothing to steal AND very very good breakfast, and meals in general, AND have a partner that would incinerate any threat to you it perceived, no questions asked. also you would unlock the ability to pout at it to get what you wanted (watch it do a really really cool lookin powerful ritual, steal its most beloved, expensive, extra, jackets and dresses, Receive an Honest Compliment etc) soooooo [You Win!]

[violentdelightsandviolentends]

Walk The Line.

Carmen gets a little jealous. You don’t mind in the slightest.

roommate!carmen berzatto x female reader

warnings - smut. cursing. semi public antics.

word count - 2.5k

authors note - ask and you shall receive 😌. i’ll never get enough of roommate!carmy. i’ll be writing him forever. <3

as always, if you enjoyed this, please consider reblogging!! reblogs are the only way to circulate my writing, which generates more of it. feel free to send me a comment or an inbox, too!! thanks, my loves!! <3

series masterlist. masterlist. inbox.

He’s a little out of his depth, admittedly.

The invitation had been slid under your front door, pretty handwriting on creamy paper.

“A… party?”

“Does it say party, Carmen?”

“No, it says ‘mixer.’ What the fuck is a mixer?”

You laugh, scrubbing a mark off the final dish in the sink before placing it down in the drying rack. Carmy is sat on the counter across the kitchen, reading the invite over and over.

“Seriously, babe. The fuck does mixer mean? So it isn’t a party?”

You dry your hands and make your way over to take the paper from him, eyes scanning over it carefully.

“A mixer is like… a get to know each other thing. It’s sort of like a party, I guess, but not really. Just a casual gathering type situation.”

“Sounds fucking stupid,” he grumbles.

You smack his shoulder, rolling your eyes.

“Lighten up, asshole. It could be fun.”

“Fun? You think having a mixer with all the neighbours from our building on a Friday night is gonna be fun?”

“I think it sounds like an incredible time. My ideal evening. I can’t wait.”

You can’t even pretend not to laugh, grabbing onto his thigh to keep yourself balanced. He puts his hands on your shoulders, trying to look serious, but the grin fighting its way up his cheeks gives him away.

“You really wanna go?”

“Carm, if it’s terrible, we’ll just lie and say we’ve got plans elsewhere. We’ll run away screaming if we need to. It might be good for us though, to meet our neighbours properly. It’s good to get to know them, just in case we ever need anything.”

“What, like a cup of sugar? What is this, the thirties?”

“When you’re testing recipes and fucking them all up, you might be grateful to be able to nip next door and borrow a cup of sugar.”

“I don’t fuck recipes up.”

“No? Then why were you yelling at a lavender and oat crème brûlée last week?”

“It was mocking me,” he grumbles under his breath, hanging his head.

You can’t help but laugh, moving closer to stand between his manspread legs where he still sits on the counter. You brush a piece of hair back from his forehead, tracing your index finger in a featherlight touch down the bridge of his nose. He looks down at you, eyes glued to yours.

“I know for a fact you don’t have anything else planned on Friday,” you whisper.

He rolls his eyes but leans into your touch anyway, where you’re still tracing along the features of his face.

“You promise we can leave if it’s terrible?”

“We literally live in this building. We can just walk up the stairs and be home.”

He huffs, but relents.

“Fine. But please don’t leave me alone with all of the middle aged moms. They love me.”

“Oh, I’m sure they do,” you giggle, leaning in to rest your head on his chest. His arms encircle you, pulling you as close as he can.

Is this scene too intimate for roommates? Without a doubt.

Do either of you care? Not in the slightest.

✵  ✵    ·　 ✵ 　　 *  · ✵

It’s not as bad as he thought it’d be.

The middle aged moms have pulled through, actually. The lobby is decorated with fairy lights, tables covered in alcohol set up against the walls. Everyone has a drink in their hand, chatting and mingling amongst themselves.

You and Carmen walk downstairs a little late. He’d finished his shift and run home to shower and make himself look semi presentable before facing the neighbours.

“We need a signal,” he says suddenly, right as you reach the staircase. “In case of emergencies.”

“Pat your head.”

“Real subtle.”

“It doesn’t need to be subtle, it needs to be noticeable for me.”

“Fine,” he mutters, bumping his shoulder into yours. “Don’t leave me alone with that Erica lady. She scares me.”

“Yes sir,” you mock salute, slipping your hand into his momentarily. “You’ll be fine, Carmen. Like I said, we’ll just leave if it’s awful.”

It’s not awful, actually. It’s quite fun.

It’s nice to get to know the people in your building, seeing as you have lived there for a couple of years now. Carmen has been there even longer.

“Excuse me, sweetheart?”

You turn around to be met with an old lady, leaning carefully on her cane.

“Yes, ma’am?”

“I’m Dorothy. I live in 2B, and I just had to tell you that you look beautiful in your dress.”

You smile, pulling out a chair for her, which she takes gladly. You sit down next to her, spotting Carmy chatting with a couple of guys across the room.

“Thank you so much!”

You introduce yourself, telling her your name and apartment number.

“Ah yes,” she hums in recognition. “You live with your boyfriend who has all the tattoos.”

You almost choke on your drink.

“We’re just roommates,” you say eventually. “But yes, that’s him.”

“Oh, my apologies. I just assumed.”

You’re curious, suddenly. You know you shouldn’t be, but you can’t help yourself.

“Can I ask? Why you… thought we were dating?”

She chuckles knowingly before placing a hand on your knee.

“Honey, he’s got a hand on you at all times. He looks at you like you are the sun. Every time you walk past my window, you’re both laughing. Sounds like love to me.”

Her bluntness is refreshing, if not a little intimidating. No one will say it how it is more than a little old lady who can’t mind her business.

“We, uh… we’re close. He’s a good roommate. A good friend.”

She doesn’t look convinced in the slightest, chuckling as she pats your leg.

“Uh huh. That’s what I said about my husband - real good friend. We’ve been married 58 years.”

You smile, shaking your head.

“Is he here with you?”

“He’s upstairs. He can’t really leave the apartment, these days.”

“You know, if you ever need anything, me and Carmen would be happy to help.”

“No, sweetheart, I couldn’t ask you to-”

“-you’re not asking me, I’m offering. Carmen is an award winning chef at one of the best restaurants in this city. He’d be more than happy to make a meal or two when needed. And I can pick you guys up stuff from the grocery store when I go, too.”

“Thank you,” she whispers, grabbing your hand in her frail one. “You’re good kids, you two.”

You grin at her, squeezing her hand gently.

“You know where I am, if you need me.”

She nods, standing up carefully.

“I’m going to go see if that handsome Jeremy will come and fix my shower for me. He did promise.”

You laugh, watching as she makes a beeline for one of the dads stood in a huddle. You catch eyes with Carmy, who’s still chatting away with a few of the younger guys. He winks at you, all cheeky and carefree, and you can’t help but flush, heat prickling across your skin. You shake your head, smiling, winking back.

Suddenly, there’s a hand on your bicep. You spin sideways, to be met with the sight of a very handsome man. Dark hair, big brown eyes, tall - he looks slightly like a movie star you can’t quite remember the name of. You crane your neck to meet his gaze, smiling softly.

He holds out his hand to introduce himself.

“Hi, I’m Daniel.”

You tell him your name, trying to ignore how his hand engulfs yours.

“Pretty name for a pretty girl.”

You laugh, shaking your head.

“Have you lived here long? Think I’d remember a face like yours.”

Now he shakes his head.

“A month, maybe. I live in 6C. I’ve been working a lot, so haven’t had any time for introductions.”

“Ah. What do you do?”

“I’m a model.”

Of course he is.

“What do you do?”

As you start to tell him, his eyes fix on yours, not leaving for a moment. He listens carefully, both of you blocking out the noise and focusing on each other.

Turns out, Daniel is good company. The two of you find a spot in the corner, away from the noise and the wine drunk moms. The two of you laugh, joke, and talk about Chicago as if you’re old friends. Time slips away from you easily, conversation flowing with minimal effort.

“I don’t want to leave, trust me… but I have a super early call time tomorrow. If you wanted, we could grab a drink sometime, somewhere that’s not our buildings lobby?”

You laugh, nodding.

“Yeah, I’d like that. It was nice to meet you, Daniel.”

“You too. Here,” he says, handing you a small business card with his number on, “text me.”

“I might do just that,” you tease as he walks away grinning.

You’re on your way to grab another drink when a hand slinks around your wrist.

“Hi, Carmen.”

You don’t even have to turn to know who it is, recognising the feeling of his calloused hand against your soft skin.

“Where’s your friend gone?” he all but grumbles.

“He’s gone home, got to be up early for work.”

“Haven’t we all.”

“Ooo, okay Mr Attitude. You’re not having a good night? You didn’t give me the signal.”

“Would you have noticed if I did?”

You spin around to face him properly now.

“Yes, I would have. Because we’re in a tiny fucking lobby and not a football stadium, Carmen.”

He huffs.

“Didn’t think you’d notice if the building fell down, the way you were lost in his eyes.”

“I know it’s a foreign concept to you, Carmen, but eye contact is actually a very important part of conversation. Try it some time.”

Carmy rolls his eyes, grip on your wrist tightening.

“Come on,” he mumbles. “Wanna show you something.”

He practically drags you up the stairs, and up some more, and up some more. Eventually, you reach the roof.

The sun is just setting, casting the city in a warm orange glow. Everything is so calm, so peaceful, so serene. It’s beautiful.

You’re admiring the view when suddenly your feet are no longer on the ground. Carmy has you over his shoulder, carrying you across the rooftop to the brick wall.

“The fuck are you doing?” you cry as he finally puts you down.

He smashes his lips to yours, choosing to shut you up rather than answer you. You kiss back eagerly, confused but not disappointed at the turn in events. Slipping your hands into his hair, you tug him into you, groaning as he grabs at your ass.

“Carmen,” you breathe, “why don’t we just go home?”

“Where’s the fun in that?” he mumbles against your neck, pressing kisses wherever he can reach. When he bites down, you smack his shoulder.

“No marks, asshole. The fuck is up with you?”

Again, he says nothing, just slips his hand under your dress to run his fingers over your underwear. You part your legs instantly, leaning back into the wall to steady yourself.

“Carmen, someone’s gonna see if they come up here.”

“Well then you better come quickly.”

He slips your panties to the side, running his fingers through your wet heat. You keen, knees buckling already.

“Oh baby,” he chuckles. “This all for Daniel?”

It all clicks for you suddenly.

“That’s what-” you choke as he slides a finger into you. “That’s what - fuck - has you so riled up? Daniel?”

“Don’t say his name when I’m knuckle deep, baby. It’s rude.”

You attempt to scoff, but it comes out as more of a moan when he presses his thumb to your clit, circling carefully.

“Am I not giving you what you need, honey? Is that it? Greedy girl just wants more, so she looks elsewhere to get it?”

“No,” you justify quickly. “You know that’s not true.”

“If you can still form sentences, I’m clearly doing something wrong.”

He slips a second finger in, curling them exactly the way he knows you like.

“Carm.”

“He couldn’t make you feel like this, babe. You and I both know it.”

You’re nodding, fingers gripping his shirt tightly as if you’re scared he’s going to walk away. His lips press into your neck again, nipping along the expanse of skin.

“Say it.”

“Hmm?”

You’re dazed, mind hazy with Carmen Carmen Carmen Carmen Carmen.

“Say. It.”

He punctuates his words by curling his fingers harshly. You’re seeing stars, legs giving out.

“He - he… fuck, Carmen, please.”

“So close, honey. Try again.”

You know he won’t relent. He never does, when he’s in a mood. You have to just give him what he wants.

“He couldn’t make me feel this good, Carm. It’s all for you, only you.”

“Good girl. Knew you could do it.”

With that, he speeds up his fingers, his other arm snaking around your back to keep you standing upright.

“Give it to me, baby. Know you want to. That’s it, atta girl.”

“Come for me, there we go. Can feel you.”

“Good girl, good fuckin’ girl. So pretty like this.”

You fall over the edge, clenching like a vice around his fingers as you throw your head back. There’s a sheen of sweat coating your skin, chest heaving with every breath you take. Your vision goes white for a second, gripping onto Carmy’s biceps for dear life.

You rest your forehead against his chest, panting as you try to recover.

“Jealous Carmen is kinda mean,” you mumble into his shirt.

He laughs, wrapping his arms around you.

“You know I didn’t mean it, right? You’re free to date whoever you want. You could do a lot worse than Daniel the hot supermodel.”

You pull back, looking at him carefully.

“I know. I just… I don’t know if I’ll go. Seems a bit unfair to date him when my mind is on someone else.”

You both know exactly who you mean. You both also know that tipsy on a rooftop is not the place to have that conversation.

“Did you ever master the lavender crème brûlée?”

He chuckles, not expecting the sudden change in subject.

“Yes, I did.”

“Do we have any left?”

“We don’t. But I did make chocolate soufflé this afternoon, if that’ll satisfy your sweet tooth.”

“Fuck, yes,” you grin, leaning in to kiss him tenderly.

“I’ll make you a crème brûlée in work tomorrow. Promise.”

“Will you make two extras?”

He quirks a brow in confusion, so you continue.

“We’ve got two elderly neighbours. They’re not very mobile, so I said we’d drop stuff off every now and again.”

He smiles at you, all soft and melted.

“Of course. That heart of yours is too big for your chest, you know.”

You take hold of his hand, placing it there.

“Only sometimes.”

He kisses you again before throwing an arm over your shoulders.

“Let’s go eat chocolate soufflés and drink the rest of that wine you bought.”

“You’re a mind reader,” you laugh, making your way downstairs.

Maybe he is, you think later. You don’t mind in the slightest.

[sukiipjs]

❧ ONLY YOU

°:. *₊ ° . ☆ °:. *₊ ° . ° .•

↳ chris sturniolo x fem reader

↳ words - 1629

↳ summary - chris sees you with another guy at a party, he has to remind you that your his. only his. (this is freaky)

↳ contains - friends with benifits, smut, lowkey toxic 💀, rough sex, oral, gagging, hair pulling, swearing, spanking, mascohism, drinking, praise, degrading, pet names (baby), idk

↳ song - lights down low by maejor

°:. *₊ ° . ☆ °:. *₊ ° . ° .•

°:. *₊ ° . ☆

me and chris have a.. complicated relationship. he’s really hot, like really, but honestly he’s such an asshole. everything he does drives me up a fucking wall. all we do is fuck, have been for a while and its great but nothing more, and even though we are nothing more, everytime he sees me with another guy or thinks i’m with another guy, he gets pissed. but when he’s with another girl who cares? that hypocrite. every time i call him out he rolls his eyes and uses his famous line, ‘they don’t fuck me as good as you baby’

anyways. i’m getting ready for this party, i’ve been trying to ignore and forget chris, so why not go to some dumb partys? i get on a tight mini dress, it’s black and silky with thin straps, deep v neck and a cute bow on the back to match my new nails i got a few days ago, black french tips with some rhinestones. black eyeshadow and mascara, some of my favorite lipgloss, smells like strawberry and has glitter in it, almost half out of it already. i leave my hair down and i put on my black heels and finally i grab my small black purse with my lipgloss, my phone, and a condom that will hopefully be used!

i make my way to the party and when i walk into it, i already regret it. i go straight to where all the drinks are and pour some. i lean on the counter staying by the table of drinks and trying not to look too bored.

i look around seeing if anyone i know is here so i can actually talk to someone. as im looking and drinking some random dude comes up beside me, leaning on the counter next to me with a drink in his hand too. “hey” he nudges my shoulder a little, “uh hey?” he continues to talk to me and annoying me, eventually he says i’m ‘boring’ and goes to some other girl.

over time a maybe two other guys come up to me, annoying but one i’m still talking with, he’s actually kinda interesting, and cute. we talk a lot and laugh but then i feel two arms wrap around my waist, making me almost spill my drink. “the fuck?” i turn my head to see who and it’s chris, i see his eyes stare at the guy i’m talking to as he holds me. i roll my eyes as he speaks to the guy, what is wrong with him. “yeah i’m her boyfriend, so.” wait… im his WHAT? the guy looks a little uncomfortable then looks at me before walking off.

i back off from his arms and face toward him, “what the fuck is wrong with you? ‘i’m her boyfriend’ since when?” he laughs a little then takes a sip of his drink, “okay maybe i’m not but i don’t want him talking to you,” i roll my eyes and scoff, “why? every single time you see me with a guy, you make him leave but when your with a girl it’s all fine? we’re fucking! that’s all, so just shut up. i haven’t called you in a while for a reason,”

i see his eyes narrow as he sets his drink down and grabs my arm, “shut up and come with me,” i try to move my arm away from his grip but he pulls me toward some room, i set down my drink as we walk.

he pulls me into a bathroom and shuts the door, pushing me against the door after, “the fuck is wrong with you,” he holds me onto the door, staring at my eyes, “me? the fuck is wrong with you. you’re such an asshole!” one of his hands go to the back of my head, he pulls my hair making my head lean up to look at him better. he moves his head closer to mine, lips inches apart.

“i don’t remember you saying that shit when i was fucking you all those time, when you begged me to come over? yeah? begging me to keep going, fucking slut.” he spits back, “god chris. fuck off!” i try to put my arms on his chest to push him away, “just leave me alone.” i hear him laugh a little as he pushes down on my head, trying to get me on my knees. “just get on those knees and be fucking good? yeah?”

he manages to get me down, me kneeling in front of him as he still grips on my hair and the other to his pants as he pulls down his pants and boxers, my hands trying to push him away on his thighs, “all you do is talk, talk, talk, maybe you should put that mouth to good use,”

his dick springs out and hits my face as he pulls my head closer and the other hand holding his dick, guiding it on my lips as i seal them shut, or trying to. “cmon baby, open up,”

he pushes his dick more and more onto my lips, and finally i open my mouth and he pushes it inside, the tip hitting the back of my throat. “oh fuck baby,” he put his other hand on my head, both holding me down, pushing his dick all the way in. my hands on his legs trying to push away as i start gagging, spit dripping out of my mouth.

he bucks his hips into me more as i try to push myself away but i just hit my head on the door. tears start forming in my eyes as i try to catch my breath, but can’t with my mouth full. he finally pulls out my mouth, stroking his dick and finishing over my face as i close my eyes, panting. “aww, so pretty” he laughs as he kneels down a little, giving my cheek small pats then he grabs my jaw, making my head turn to him. “get up baby, you got this,”

i slowly get myself standing, still panting as he moves me to the counter of the sink and takes off my dress, a huge mirror on the wall. he’s behind me as he grabs my hair, pulling my head up, “look at yourself,” he smacks my ass with his other hand, i jump a little, opening my eyes as i see myself, “look at that slut,” my mascara and tears run down my cheeks, my hair frizzy and messed up, and his come across my face. i lift up my arm to wipe off some of the mess as he laughs, “mm, aren’t you so pretty?”

his hand moves to the front of me, reaching for my clit as he starts to circle it with his finger, my arms on the counter as my head drops and i start to whimper, “fuck! chris…” he moves faster as his length pokes against me. his mouth moving to my neck as he starts kissing and marking my neck.

he lifts his head to my ear as he whispers, “cmon, you’re mine right? only mine?” i try to nod my head as i moan, his breath on my neck. “no, say it. i need to hear it baby,” he moves my hair out of the way of my neck, to the other side, “i’m.. fuck.. i’m yours chris. only yours. only you, please..”

i feel his smirk grow on my neck as he goes back to kissing me, “good girl” my knees buckle as i start to feel even weaker, about to finish but suddenly he stops and i go back to panting and catching my breath as my moans stop.

“chris-“ he cuts me off, “oh don’t worry baby,” he quickly pushes his dick inside me, making my breath cut off, “fuck!” he pulls on my waist, making my elbows lay on the counter and making my back arch even more than it was.

one hand on my waist, guiding his deep thrusts and one on my head, pulling my hair again, making my head lean up, “watch me fuck you before i stop.” i force my eyes to open as i see him behind me thrusting, i mindlessly moan and whine as he fucks me good, forcing my eyes to not close, and staring at the mirror.

“chrisssss…” i moan as i start getting close again, his thrusts become deeper and faster, knowing that i’m close. “cmon baby, let it go” i can’t help but drop my head again, shutting my eyes as i finish over his dick. he keeps thrusting until he comes too, “oh fuck.”

he pulls out and gives me another smack on my ass, “such a good girl baby,” he speaks as he’s talking to a dog. i stand a bit straighter, my legs weak and shaking as i pant more and more, my eyes closing to rest. his hands come up to my shoulders, giving me a small massage.

“your mine right?” i nod as i try to open my mouth to speak but it takes a minute, “y-yes.. only you chris,” i pant. he takes his hand off me and starts getting clothed and putting my panties in his pocket as i’m still leaning on the counter still.

“cmon baby, i’ll help if you need,” i nod and he grabs my dress, nodding at me to put my arms up, i do and he slides it over me. “sit down,” again, i do. i sit on the edge of the bathtub as he grabs a random towel, wetting it and wiping off my face. “there you go,” he smiles throwing the towel elsewhere and leaning down to kiss me, “such a pretty girl,”

☆ °:. *₊ ° . °

[deadsetobsessions]

As the girl who came up with the Triplet! Tim AU PLEASSEEEEE continue it!!!!! I NEED to see Bruce who thought he had one robin finding out he actually has three separate completely different ones

I gotchu lmfao I think I’ll get to Bruce later? I’m really happy you liked it omg like that idea is so good

——

Their plan was perfect! It would have been perfect, had it not been for Dick Grayson and his nosy face!

Batman might not have known his identity, but Dick Grayson did. He promised to keep it from Batman, but Tim hadn’t exactly thought about his secret identity when he showed up to harass the man into being Robin again.

And now, they’re paying for it.

Tim leaned back and crossed his arms as he watched Dick cradle his head in his hands, looking half a short breath away from a mental breakdown.

“Are you telling me… there’s three of you?”

“Yes, Dick.” Tim sighed, having answered this exact question ten times in the past two minutes.

Dick lifted his head, wide eyes looking a little feverish… no, looking a little manic.

“Tim. Your name is Tim, right? I’m not-”

“Yes, my name is Tim. Technically, so are the others. But the one here with us is Lionel.”

“No, wait, Tim, you understand how this is- insane, right? It’s not even remotely in the realm of mentally healthy.” Dick paused. “Wait, are you skipping school right now?!?”

“Has anyone ever told you your priorities are screwed up, Dick?” Lionel-Tim walked back into the room, hands full of snacks and, most importantly, Dick’s emergency marshmallow bag. Dick turned to Lionel, eyes full of guilt, and grabbed the bag of marshmallows like a dehydrated man in the middle of a desert who’s only couple of feet away from an oasis that he’s been looking for for days.

“Oh my god. I’ve had three younger brothers and I thought they were all the same kid!” Dick wailed, grabbing a handful of marshmallows and stress cramming it into his mouth. Tim threw him a disgusted look.

“To be fair, we made sure to train to act like each other from a really early age,” Tim said, snatching the bag of chips that Lionel chucked at his head. His snack laden triplet plonked himself on the plush spinning chair, shoving a hand inside the bag of gummy worms and cramming it down his throat as he spun around.

“I can’t believe I’ve never even checked up on you at your place!! If I did, I would have noticed it way earlier!”

“Probably not,” Lionel mumbled through his mouthful of colorful gummy worms. “You only caught us because Tim got beat half to death by an edgy crime lord teenager.”

Dick hunched into himself, a myriad of complicated emotions- largely, guilt and fury and heartbreak- wormed its way past his face. Tim glared and threw a chip at his triplet.

“It’s fine, Dick. Lionel’s just being an asshole. We’re taking care of it. Revenge prank.” Tim explained.

“He wouldn’t have caught us and you know it.” Lionel grumbled.

“I’ll help.” Dick mumbled dejectedly.

“You’ll have to get in line, Wing,” Tim went back to his laptop. “My thirds got first dibs, and I’m not planning on staying still either. I’m gonna mess with Jason’s slush funds.”

“He’s got a stash of cash locked up in the fourth safe house, but that’s not interesting. Look!” Lionel proudly displayed a duffle bag- from where he got it from, Dick had no clue- and unzipped it to show batteries, lightbulbs, and random bits and bobs.

“What is that?” Dick asked.

“That’s the second lightbulb in his bathroom light! This is the left battery in his TV remote! And this is half of his back up boot laces. I took all of his 10 mm sockets! And the specialized socket he got for his bike! And this,” Lionel grinned, lifting up a piece of fabric. “Is his pillow case!”

“Niceee.” Tim whistled. He tossed a piece of tech at Lionel. “Sneak back into his house and put that in between his pillows. It’ll keep both sides uncomfortably warm.”

“Fuck yeah!”

“Is… this revenge for almost killing you?” Dick asked.

“It’s either this or complete and total financial ruin, social death, and then actual death.” Tim tapped away at his laptop.

“You’re kind of scary, you know that?”

“We know!” Lionel chirped.

“Base, come in.”

“Base,” Tim quickly replied, laser focused on Archy’s call. Lionel and Dick quieted.

“Hood’s lurking outside the school like a creep,” Archy muttered into the comm, papers rustling behind him.

Dick tensed, upset making itself visible once more.

“You still have the container I gave you this morning in your pocket?”

“Yes.”

Tim smirked in a way that made Dick suddenly have a horrible need to shake and lecture him on the moralities of not becoming a villain. “It’s glitter. Purple and pinks.”

“…Ah.”

“Godspeed, Archy!” Lionel chirped again, sounding slightly more demented.

A moment of silence before-

“Oof!” A puff. “Oh, no! I’m so sorry, mister!”

On the other end of the comm, the gruff voice of a beefy teenager spluttered, “What- why do you- egh- my mouth! The glitter went into- pleh, pleh! What the fuck, kid?!”

“I’m so sorry! It was supposed to be for a project! I worked so hard to mix the colors right! Wait, stay still, mister! I’ll help!”

Archy, eyes wide and innocent, patted some more glitter onto the vigilante.

“No, stop! Stop! You’re getting it on my bike!”

“It’s a pretty color- oh hey, this is open-”

“No! That’s the fuel tank!”

“Oh! Whoops! Sorry!”

As chaos spread on the other side of the comms, Tim and Lionel burst into cackles. Dick choked on the marshmallows, helplessly shaking with laughter.

Lionel whacked at Dick’s back, hysterically giggling.

“That’s- that’s Archy?”

“Archy pretending to be Lionel pretending to be me yeah. I hope he got glitter in the fuel tank.” Tim grinned.

“Want me to patrol tonight to see if he got the glitter out of his bike?”

Lionel jabbed his pointy elbows onto Dick’s shoulders. “Absolutely. Distract him, too! I gotta mess with his safe houses. He’ll never feel comfortable in a safe house ever again.”

“Don’t go overboard, Lionel.” Tim looked up. “But also, I changed his WiFi passwords to 123456, so do with that what you will.”

Lionel grinned. Dick mustered up a smile in response, pushing the guilt away. He had a lot to make up to his little brothers, and if terrorizing Jason was how he was going to accomplish that… well, Dick’s not feeling too nice about Jason right now.

——

Batman squinted suspiciously at a humming Nightwing.

“Something happen?” He managed to ask.

“Hm? Oh, no, I got some nice pictures.”

“…I see.”

Batman, regardless of what his history might suggest, knew how to pick his battles. This? This thing that brought Nightwing’s murder smile? This was one battle he was willing to walk away from.

“Hey, B, you ever think about adopting more kids?”

Batman choked and promptly grappled away. Nightwing cackled.

“You can’t escape the question!”

Batman ran faster.

[eggcats]

Radiostatic fic, where when Vox is watching the hotel prepare for the Extermination and is like “they're going to FIGHT?!” he (internally) freaks out and decides to use the opportunity to try to get a deal out of the princess of hell himself. After all, he has the tech to fight - Angelic Security - it'd be remiss of him to not offer it to the princess and raise his status over that old timey prick!

–

“Vox, you of all people know that Angelic Security shit is a scam. Get your ass back in the chair.”

“Nonsense, Velvette! It's simply…untested. And what better way to beta test its worth than by using it against a direct assault from heaven?”

“If you die, I'm taking your room.”

–

So he goes over to the hotel to offer his help.

(Vaggie tries to stab him when he asks for a deal in exchange, and he doesn't know why he's so desperate to help, so he decides to offer it free of charge).

Alastor tries to veto it entirely, citing how all of his technology is both flashy and useless, but he's outvoted by Charlie. (She doesn't trust Vox, nor does she believe in his tech, but she's not in any position to not accept help where she can get it - at worst, she figures it doesn't work and Vox abandons them).

Alastor and him ignore one another to the best of their abilities - they're both too busy (and stressed) to even really bother with their normal hostilities. The most they do are just a few snarky lines whenever they cross paths, but overall it's fine. (Vox will absolutely not admit to himself that it's kind of nice to not be at each other's throats, for once. They've even had to work together once or twice).

So now Vox is struggling to help the hotel with the oncoming assault, and convinces himself that he'll be long gone before any real danger arrives - he's only here on the off chance they survive to up the status of the Vees. (Totally no other reason).

Except. He doesn't leave the night before, and surprises even himself by showing up ready for the fight.

And the fight actually seems to be going really well! (Vox refuses to acknowledge being impressed by Alastor’s shield, even to himself).

But then. Not too long after the shield breaks, Adam appears. And Vox doesn't understand why he feels like his heart has stopped for the second time. He does his best to ignore it, but then Adam effortlessly kills Pentious and all he can think about is the same thing happening to Alastor.

(He can't die like that loser, I'm the only one allowed to kill him! There's no way that pretentious angelic prick took him down!)

When Lucifer finally arrives to take down Adam, Vox disappears. He will find Alastor, because no one but him is allowed to kill him. He refuses.

Vox finds where Alastor was injured, but with him not being there Vox knows there's only one place he'd go - his radio tower. And he's right! He finds Alastor, alive! (Vox does not admit, even to himself, the blatant relief that goes through him).

Alastor does his best to defend himself, assuming that Vox is there to end him. However, Alastor is barely functioning and despite his best efforts, Vox isn't deterred.

–

“I'm here to help you, asshole! Let me see that injury so we can fix it, and then we can try to kill each other!”

–

Vox refuses to take no for an answer, and does stitch up Alastor's injury. (Vox cannot believe Alastor even survived it).

He succeeds in closing his wound, and ends up looking like he's lost a fight to a badger - covered in scratch and bite wounds. Vox complains about it the entire time, but he's secretly relieved Alastor is alive enough to not take his help lying down.

Anyway, after his help, Alastor finally gets himself ready to return to the hotel. (When he first stands up, he falters and tries to catch himself with his staff - obviously it fails with it broken - and Vox catches him instead. They refuse to look at each other as Vox helps Alastor leave his radio tower and walk back to the hotel).

It's not until Alastor asks Vox how long before he can expect to be on the news that Vox realizes he has no intention of letting anyone know that Alastor is injured. (Alastor obviously doesn't believe him, but Vox does keep quiet about it. He doesn't even tell Charlie when Alastor does his best to keep it from her, as well).

It's not until they arrive with the brand new hotel, Lucifer being present, and everyone recovering after the failed Extermination, that Vox realizes he intends on staying at the hotel, even without his original excuse.

(He needs to make sure Alastor recovers, after all).

[satosugusandwich]

𝔏𝔢𝔱 𝔐𝔢 𝔖𝔢𝔢 𝔜𝔬𝔲’𝔯𝔢 𝔐𝔢𝔞𝔫…

True Form!Sukuna x Fem!Afab!Reader (This is an AU!!! Sukuna is not a homicidal maniac cannibalistic murderer! I think he’s sexy and my morals say no dick from crazy murderer BUT dick from crazy 😍)

Cw: once again mentions of violence from first chapter, self hatred, self-sabotage, sukuna is introspective, but he’s still an asshole, mentions of a sex room (context is necessary to understand lmao)

Description: You've been friends with Yuji Itadori for some time now and have seen the best, the worst, and the strange in all your years of knowing him. You've never thought he was one to have any crazy secrets and well... you were wrong. And now the demon bound to Yuji is bound to you too! How fun! Good thing that you aren't stupid and won't fall for a being that by no means should you have ever interacted with! Right? Right...?

*Yuji is aged up but there will be no sexual stuff with him except maybe like a brief mention but yeah*

Also I mentioned this on Ao3 but this work in inspired by “Teeth” by Lady Gaga (also monster by her is so Sukuna coded)

@dressycobra7

Chapter 2 Here!!!!!

Chapter 3: To Hate One’s Self

You were able to sleep way harder than you anticipated. You suspected that the trauma from the whole ordeal would make you unable to sleep at all but there was something comforting about having Yuji with you and even though you didn’t want to admit it, having a demon bound to you was actually pretty fucking reassuring. When you woke up, you immediately decided that you have no desire to even think about going to class let alone actually go. All you wanted to do was lay in bed and rot a little bit. (Only temporarily, Yuji hoped). Yuji offered to go get breakfast for you two and promised he’d be as fast as possible, so you were left alone with Sukuna in your living room while you scrolled through YouTube videos online.

It didn’t take long for your peaceful scrolling to be interrupted by swearing coming from the living room and then an “aha!” You were curious but also scared to know what exactly Sukuna was doing. You decided to remain there until you heard a loud thud. You didn’t bother to fix your hair or your clothes when you peeked out of the door to peer at Sukuna. He had picked up your recliner and moved it across the room, seemingly had thrown it.

“Do you intend to watch me?” He turned his head toward you and rose to his feet from the floor. You realized what he was doing now, eyeballing the tv remote in his hands.

“Uh, no, just—I was wondering where that was.” You stammered. “I checked under there but—“

“It was lodged in the inside of it. I had to shake it around to get it out.” Sukuna interjected.

“Are you gonna… put it back?” You can’t believe you just asked a scary super intense monster demon thing to move your chair back.

He seemed amused but unsurprised by your question. “It was in the way.” His body was fully turned to you now and you couldn’t help but watch his stomach mouth smirk at you.

You opened your mouth to speak but were far too distracted by how one pair of arms crossed themselves while the others sat on his hips like a disappointed mother. “But that doesn’t answer my question.” You finally spoke.

“If you tell that brat to bring me extra food, I’ll move whatever you like.” He grinned.

Food? Okay. Interesting motivation but relatable you thought to yourself. “Yeah, sure.” You opened up your phone and called Yuji, telling him Sukuna wants extra.

“Man, he already eats comical amounts of food… I’m gonna go bankrupt.” Yuji mumbled over the line.

Sukuna had already moved the recliner back to its original spot and was sat, turning on the television after inspecting the remote closely.

Yuji continued. “I think I’ll get barbecue since I can get a whole lot for really cheap. He gets extra needy after he follows a more crazy command. Are you feeling okay?”

You nod, still watching Sukuna. “Yeah. And bbq is fine. I’ll send you my order.”

After hanging up, you walked back into your room and then into the bathroom to fix yourself. You didn’t want to look in the mirror and when you did, you realized you really were right. Your eyes were dark and your skin was so much paler. On top of that, you could see that bruises formed overnight on areas where the men had gripped you extra hard, and not to mention the dryness of your skin, having neglected drinking anything since you came home. Really, you feel ashamed for what you’ve done, you fucked up your life by sucking some shitheads dick and have given your best friend unnecessary stress. You were miserable. Maybe all you should do is rot.

“Hey brat! Teach me how to navigate your technology!” Sukuna called to you snapping you out of your ideation.

A nasty scowl was on his face and his stomach mouth was certainly not smiling anymore. You looked to your tv and realized it was on the wrong input and he was clicking buttons frustratedly, trying to get it off the error screen. You recall that you were playing video games last time you were out in the living room and you must’ve forgot to switch it back.

“Here, press this button.” You clicked the blue input button and it changed to the regular settings. “What are you trying to watch?”

Sukuna scoffed. “I can find what I want myself, I’ve seen the brat do it enough.” He snatched the remote back from you and slowly started to scroll to Netflix and then clicking on the app. It’s fascinating watching him, it’s like watching an old person use a phone.

“Okay.” You waited a moment before deciding to walk to the kitchen, trying to hide the fact that you were curious to see what he’d try to watch.

Sukuna assumed you wanted to watch him, he was tempted to find something that would make you react in an amused way. He didn’t exactly know what, but was determined to get a reaction out of you. He settled on an interesting title, How to Build A Sex Room. Perfect. “Hm.” Sukuna mumbled. “Humans still fuck like rabbits.”

You didn’t know what to say. But what made it worse for you? You had already started watching that show in the past. So it started in the middle of an episode.

“The hell? This doesn’t seem to be right, it’s in the middle of the show.” Then his head was suddenly facing you. “Someone must’ve been watching it.”

You were blushing and even though his face was completely indifferent, you could see his stomach mouth smirking again. “Maybe.” Is all you said. Let’s pray the demon that you just met doesn’t realize that you’re a freak and that he doesn’t understand technology at all.

Sukuna found the restart button fast. Yeah, he knows enough. Damn Yuji for being such a movie nerd! And damn Yuji for having a demon that watches him!

“Hey, I got a a question.” You tried to deflect from your embarrassment.

Sukuna remained fixated on the screen. “I suppose I’ll indulge.”

“Do you have to be around me or Yuji? Or can you roam free?”

Sukuna pursed his lips. “Regrettably, I’m stuck with both of you. If I could roam completely free, I wouldn’t be anywhere near here.” He answered honestly, seemingly unconcerned with how you feel toward his answer.

“How far can you go?”

“That’s already two I’ve answered.”

“Sorry.”

He let out a huff of air. “I’m only teasing. The distance depends, there’s no specification. Sometimes it depends on the security of the master. Presently, you don’t feel very safe so I can’t go far. I could’ve gone with the brat and maintained better distance, but I hate being stuffed into his vehicle.”

That makes sense, he was practically in a million different positions trying to remain comfortable in your friend’s car, thinking about the way he was having to sit made you realize it was a lot funnier than you remember. The recliner he was situated in was almost the perfect size to hug his body. You were sure he’s grateful to not have to follow Yuji anymore, but then again, he can’t get that far away from you either.

“Sorry you can’t leave.” You said.

Sukuna didn’t respond and instead focused on the screen. You attempted to shuffle away now, finding yourself to feel very awkward.

“Hey, brat.” Right as you got to your door he spoke. “You went to sleep with that man, right? I’ve heard you speak about your outings with the other brat and I find it pitiful you choose such sad men.”

Oh shit, you can feel that same tightness in your throat coming again as well as embarrassment flood your senses. You didn’t answer him.

“In my era, a woman like you would’ve been thrown to the masses, celebrated. I never had any interest in women like that but the men that did were ones who could not stand on their own. Taking cock from a man like that will ruin you.”

His words took you aback, not just because of his brazen use of the work cock, but also what felt to you like harsh advice. You sucked down the urge to cry and asked him, “why are you telling me this?”

Sukuna pondered over what he should answer with. “I don’t like watching misery.”

You entered your room and shut the door, unsure if he was being compassionate or shaming you. Either way, the words still hurt. Sukuna himself wondered if he should’ve said that, he doesn’t exactly care for you or anything and neither has he cared for anyone in a very long time, maybe it was an inkling of the past coming through. It was true, he can’t stand watching misery, watching someone wallow in it reminded him far too much of his own upbringing and the sense of being rejected. He had to make his way to the top, to earn the title of Sukuna. He’s long forgotten his name, cursed it to the back of his mind, a part of him he doesn’t desire to remember.

Soon after, Yuji arrived with all of your food and left Sukuna with his family sized meal before entering and seeing you bundled up burrito style on your bed. He could see the redness of your face and immediately knew you were crying again or was. He didn’t acknowledge it, choosing to try and keep you in a good mood by talking about the experience at the restaurant. Luckily, because of his stupid attitude, you were laughing pretty quickly.

Then he popped a question out. “What is Sukuna watching?”

You snorted. “How to build a sex room.”

His eyes widened and his nick stretched forward. “Huh?”

You were laughing a lot harder now. “Don’t ask me, he likes what he likes. You got a freak bound to your family lineage.”

Yuji slumped down onto your floor dramatically. “Man, he’s already a handful now, I can’t imagine how much worse he’s going to get with you now.”

A yell came through the door. “I can hear you!” Yuji straightened fast and you couldn’t help but laugh even harder. He’s such an idiot.

Sukuna wasn’t too amused, hearing Yuji so openly trash talk him and very loudly. Your laughter didn’t make it any better and he found it to be out of place after what you went through. He also doesn’t appreciate being called a freak. At least you’re attempting to move on, Sukuna could applaud you for trying.

“If I hear anything else, you’ll regret it, brat!”

“Whatever!” Yuji yelled back before quieting his voice. “He’s all talk, he can’t do anything to us. Unless we tell him to. Also, he tends to say things in a really abrasive way. He didn’t say anything to you, did he?”

You told him what he said and Yuji’s face shifted back into shock. “The last part was kinda funny. Who says cock so casually?” You laughed, cupping your hand around your mouth to try and keep quiet.

“Yeah, he’s a fucking weirdo.” Yuji was too loud.

“ITADORI!” He shouted and soon enough your bedroom door was wide open. “You sure have a lot to say after I saved your friend so kindly, your ass as well, and even stayed behind to protect her. Not a single thank you.” The demon feigned offense. “Shouldn’t you be groveling and worshipping me for doing such a feat for you?”

You could tell he was mostly joking and trying to irritate Yuji, but you really did realize you needed to thank him. You can’t believe you forgot.

“Hey, listen! You are weird, you’re from like a thousand years ago and are watching a freaky-deaky show! You also have bbq sauce on your stomach mouth! You have a literal mouth on your stomach!” Yuji stood up fast but Sukuna’s towering frame made him look like a child yelling at their father.

Sukuna was grinning down at him. “Hah. Your mouth is running exceptionally fast, might I tell her about that time you got so drunk you pissed on your own floor?”

You rolled back on the bed laughing and Yuji was beat red. “You—you saw that!?”

Sukuna wiped his mouth, briefly glancing over to you. “It was entertaining, how could I not watch?”

You put your hand on Yuji’s shoulder. “It’s okay, it happens to the best of us.”

Sukuna scoffed. “Your kindness is misplaced.”

Hearing his words, you were brought back to your thoughts and managed to make yourself stop snickering. You almost forgot again! Rising up from the bed, you stepped between the two men, confusing both of them, then you bowed your head in front of Sukuna.

His grin faded and his expression turned sober. “What’s this?”

“Thank you for saving me.” You remain bowed. “I’m sorry for not answering your question earlier, as well.”

The demon looked at your head hanging before turning around and saying, “Your apologies are unnecessary, but I will take the gratitude.” He closed your door and you lifted your head, turning back to Yuji.

“Whoa, that’s unusual.” He said. “Sukuna is usually a lot more arrogant than that. You must’ve shaken him up or something.”

You stood there for a moment, pondering Yuji’s words. It was strange, he’s someone who seems to think highly of himself but just blew off your apology like it was nothing. Especially since he was framing what he did as a favor, you expected to see more of a jovial reaction or even a degrading one. He doesn’t seem to be heartless, just a little out of touch, so his reaction does make some sort of sense. Regardless, you don’t know him all that well so perhaps something is off about your newfound bonded demon.

Sukuna sunk back into the chair and continued watching the show, or really what he was doing was watching the images while his brain ran. After watching you from the side from time to time, he determined your naive and self-sabotaging habits to be a bore and overall sad, but now that he’s interacted with you, he almost feels guilty for having seen you in such a negative light. To be so grateful to him when he expressed saving you as a favor, as an obligation, shocked him. Should you not be screeching insults and your disdain at him? Are you that much of a self-hating creature? Did he even view saving you as a favor? He didn’t know, he hasn’t felt pulled to anyone since the Heian era or connected at all in that matter. He wondered, would he have saved you if Yuji had not commanded him to? Is he a creature still capable of compassion and empathy after experiencing all that he has?

[deaf-solitude]

In The Shadow of the Valley Pt. 1 (Squire!Thaddeus x Knight!Reader)

Pairing: Thaddeus x Knight!Reader

Word Count: 1.4k

Warnings/Tags: Future graphic violence, injury and blood, no use of Y/N, placeholder knight name for the reader, mostly gender-neutral but reader is called “sir” at some points, the reader is called “my lord” a lot too, reader is also a bit of an asshole but dw they soften up

Summary: You’re a knight sworn to the Brotherhood of Steel, and you’ve just lost your asshole squire to a yao guai. Maybe it’s for the better, as you prefer to work alone anyway. Unfortunately, the Brotherhood thinks otherwise and quickly sends you a replacement. Turns out that the replacement is someone you never wished to meet again, but thankfully, he didn’t know it was you! Not yet, at least.

TDLR; What if Thaddeus was assigned to be your squire instead of Maximus’?

((A/N)) I have no defence for this. I’m so weak for pathetic men it's not even funny 😔 I’m planning on making this a 3 or 4 parter, so this parts a little on the shirt side for simplicity’s sake. Also I swear I’ve been trying to work on some Umbrella Academy stuff, but I got major writer's block for one of my requests that I was super excited to write. I’m hoping this little fallout tangent will kickstart my motivation. Anyway, enjoy my brain rot-induced fanfic bc there’s not enough appreciation for my boy Thaddeus lmao

You really wished you didn’t have to have a squire tagging along with you constantly. Okay, sure, you didn’t want to be carrying that overly-massive bag of shit yourself, but all they ever did was get in the way and die.

That’s how you found yourself in your current position, gripping your radio tightly between your metal-clad hands.

”No, I do not need another squire! Do not send one-“

”A replacement squire is currently on its way to you. Hold position.”

You groaned loudly as you released the call button, feeling inclined to rip the radio out of your suit and be done with the person on the other side of the transmission. You could do this all by yourself. There was no reason to waste yet another squire on a mission that could easily be completed by you and you alone.

Your last squire already had you walking a fine line between focusing on the mission and focusing on not smashing his head into a wall, though the yao guai he pissed off had beaten you to it. You looked back at the cave behind you, where your squire’s mauled body currently resided, deciding to move away from it in favour of getting yourself back on your intended path.

You didn’t stray too far from the general area, however, begrudgingly waiting for the Brotherhood transport to deliver your new squire. You leaned against a tree in wait, sighing heavily as you tilted your head back.

You were starting to regret ever joining this odd faction, though you supposed you didn’t have many other places to turn to as an abandoned child. Some knights had picked you up off the side of the road one day, where you were protecting an injured dog from a small band of rad roaches. You’d been caring for it for days, bringing it any food and water you could scavenge, and you weren’t going to give up on it so easily.

The makeshift spear you made with your small pocket knife tied around the end of a stick made them laugh, and they quickly shot the roaches before offering to take you back to the Brotherhood. They told you that you could help people just like you helped the dog. You, with your big heart and even bigger ambitions, agreed to go with them.

From that foggy interaction, you specifically remembered the look of the squires’ faces when you so readily agreed to tag along. They almost looked remorseful. You understood why now: the Brotherhood was not a very welcoming place to wannabe heroes. You understood that quickly.

…You never did see that dog again.

You weren’t sure how much time passed, maybe a half hour or so, before you could hear the familiar sound of an approaching vertibird. You sighed, pushing off of the tree and straightening up your stance. Here we fucking go.

You hardly had it in you to look up as your new squire rappelled down, the oversized bag he was carrying falling to the ground with a loud thump while he clumsily unhooked his harness.

He had already started talking before he even turned around, sending the rappel lines back up to the vertibird. “Oh, Knight Mire!” You barely registered the familiar voice before you saw his face, and it took everything in you not to scream or curse him out.

It was fucking Thaddeus.

He kept talking even as you froze in place, getting down on one knee and going on some spiel about how he was honoured to be in your charge, but it was drowned out by the ringing in your ears. You were going to strangle this man.

You and Thaddeus didn’t have the… best history. Arriving at the Brotherhood airbase around the same time some other kid—Maximus—did, you were both subject to his horrible bullying for a while. You were able to stand up to him after a while, giving Thaddeus a thorough beating for shoving you past your breaking point in your first few weeks there. You were pulled off of him by some officers and thoroughly scolded by Elder Quintus but returned to normal duties soon enough.

Thaddeus had enough of you after that, avoiding you at all costs as long as you weren’t near Maximus, who was now his group’s primary target. As nice as the younger kid was, he never had it in him to fight back against them. You decided to keep away from him regardless, not wanting to get caught up with those assholes again. Another infraction could’ve meant a much more severe punishment for you, and that was not something you were interested in.

“Uh, Knight Mire?” You were snapped out of your thoughts and looked down at Thaddeus, who was still kneeling and looking up at you with some expression of concern or anxiety. Did he not… recognize you? No, of course, he didn’t: he didn’t know your last name, and as far as he was aware, you were dead as soon as Quintus sent you off base years ago. Being sent off base almost always resulted in death.

Good. That was good.

”Rise, squire,” you commanded, your voice garbled by the voice modifier in your helmet. Thaddeus scrambled to his feet, his posture tense and his arms held closely to his sides. You inspected him a little longer, taking note of his skittish demeanour before brushing past him to resume travelling to your original destination.

“You’ll do,” you commented briefly as you passed him, hardly giving him a second glance to see if he was following.

Thaddeus was a bit taken aback by your words, pausing for a moment to mumble to himself: ”I’ll do…? Do for what?” He blinked and shook his head, rushing to fall in line behind you. He struggled to carry the pack that was nearly as big as he was, stumbling every couple of steps as he tried to balance himself.

”What do we have to do?” He questioned quickly, trying to keep pace with you. Great, still as talkative as he used to be. You could never forget his stupid rants, though they used to be more ill-intended, when he would muster up every possible insult and demeaning phrase he could to try and get you all upset. It worked against him, in the end.

You were tempted to pick up your pace and leave the fucker behind—there was no way he’d be able to keep up with you with that thing on his back—but you decided against it, lest the Brotherhood send you another squire.

”You just have to lug my shit around and try not to die,” you answered begrudgingly, “I will do everything else. That’s all you need to know.” You didn’t need another brainless squire getting in the way of your missions, so you hoped he’d take the hint and shut his mouth. But when did he ever?

”B-but the officers said you’d fill me in-”

You stopped suddenly, causing Thaddeus to run into you. You turned to glare at him the best you could from behind your helmet, but all Thaddeus could see was the intimidating blank stare of your metal face covering as you looked down at him.

“You will follow my command while we’re out in the Wasteland, or you will die. Is that clear?” You growled, taking a step towards Thaddeus while he took two steps back.

“Y-yes, my lord! I-I would never doubt you, m-my lord!” He responded enthusiastically, albeit nervously, eager to stay on your good side. That was going to get old fast. You turned back around to continue walking, slightly picking up your pace as Thaddeus hesitantly began following again.

”M-may I ask you something, though?”

You were unable to stop the sigh that came out of your mouth, the sound garbled and distorted coming out of your voice modifier. That made Thaddeus visibly shrink back, his mouth snapping shut at your disdain.

”Right, no! N-no time for talking. We-we have a mission to complete!” He exclaimed with a finger pointed in the air, unable to expel the shake in his voice from your previous order. Silence fell over the two of you for all of one minute before it was broken: “Do you think we’ll get in any fights out here?”

You were going to kill him, you were sure of it.

[artaxlivs]

Even Flowers Have Their Dangers

“Henderson! Why, pray tell, is your douchebag babysitter getting out of his douchemobile and coming this way?” 

Fucking Harrington, man. Eddie felt conflicted every time the kids even said his name. His heartbeat always went a little haywire and he wasn’t sure if it was because his flight response always activated around the guy or because Harrington was so fucking hot it was unreal. Considering that Eddie had a type and that type was “dangerous and pretty,” it was probably both.

“Is he?” Dustin looks over his shoulder, grinning his goofy grin. “Hey Steve!” The kid’s hand lifts in a wave as Steve makes his way toward them.

“Henderson. Go get in the car with the other gremlins, I want to have a word with your dragon master.” Steve smiles fondly, nudging the kid toward his waiting car. Guy just screams preppy. Collar popped, jeans so damn tight that Eddie's getting a sympathy wedgie. No boxer line on his thigh which means that Harrington is a brief guy. Not that Eddie is thinking about his underwear, it’s just an observation.

“Dungeon Master, Steve. I swear you’re getting it wrong on purpose.” Dustin sighs, rolling his eyes but starts toward the car.

“Yeah, yeah, whatever.” Steve calls back over his shoulder before turning to Eddie who hopes he wasn’t caught staring. His heartbeat does something funny before he gets a handle on himself and leans into his usual false bravado.

Swinging away from the auditorium door, Eddie throws his arms out in a full extension, lowering himself into a bow, “To what do I owe this illustrious visit, your royal highness?”

Harrington looks uncomfortable now, the ease that he’d approached with, gone, his shoulders hunched up, face looking pained as he tucks his hands into his pockets - well, he tries to - there’s not a lot of extra room in those 501s. “Cut it out. I just wanted to tell you not to leave the kids here alone if you guys get out early. Nothing that you have to do is important enough to leave them in the dark without protection.” His voice is clipped, jaw set, and Eddie realizes that he’s annoyed, maybe even angry.

What the fuck is that about? He’s all chummy when Henderson is watching but now that the kid’s gone, he’s slid back into asshole mode? Eddie knew it. He knew the kids couldn’t possibly be getting the real Steve Harrington if they actually thought he was a good guy. Wonder why he was putting on an act though - was he trying to get Nancy Wheeler back through her brother?

“Maybe I didn’t hear you right?” Eddie says with a hard edge, all flamboyance dropped. “You’re telling me? Not asking me?”

Fuck that. Who the fuck is this prep to tell him that he needs to watch over a bunch of high school kids? They’re like fourteen and fifteen. Eddie was selling drugs at fourteen, some kids have jobs, they walk home, not all of us were born with a silver spoon and a Bimmer - where the fuck does Harrington think they live that its too dangerous for three teenage boys to not stand outside for five minutes?

“Yeah.” He snaps, “I’m telling you. Don’t leave them outside without an adult.”

“Fuck you, Harrington. I’m not their babysitter. They were fine. If you’re that worried, you should be here earlier. I had shit to do.” He didn’t. Not really. He’d just had a shit day, shit week really, and wanted to go home to smoke a joint. He should have waited. He knew he should have but Harrington calling him out on it just pisses him off.

“Seriously, Munson?” Steve scoffs, shaking his head. “I knew you’d be a dick. You know their best friend is Will Byers, right?” Fuck. Eddie did not know that. Just that Mike’s best friend Will lived in California. Not that it was the Byers kid who went missing years ago. Damn. Eddie feels even worse now but fuck if he’s telling Harrington that. Steve’s voice softens though, “Just, please. If you know it’s gonna be an early night, let the kids know so they can radio me to be here earlier. I’m asking, okay?”

“Radio you? Like - you guys have walkie talkies or something?” Were they for real? What is this Cloak and Dagger?

Across the parking lot, Steve’s horn blares and they both look up to see Mike leaning over the driver seat to press on it.

“Keep your fucking shirt on!” Steve yells then grumbles under his breath, “Fucking Wheeler.”

Eddie should just agree and be done with it, he’s not gonna leave them alone after learning about Byers anyway but damn if Harrington and his pompous attitude don’t get under his skin. Instead, he says flippantly, “How ‘bout the King worries about his own court and leaves me the fuck out of it, yeah?”

He doesn’t wait around to see Steve’s reaction, just skips over to his van and climbs in. He’s got her started and is pulling out of the parking lot before he glances back at Harrington. It looks like Steve is already lecturing the kids about something. Eddie just shakes his head and drives off, leaving them to it.

As he’s pulling up to the trailer an hour later with a little more cash and a little less weed, Eddie almost expects to find a fancy rich boy car waiting for him. He doesn’t. He’s going to pretend that he’s disappointed about that because he wanted to argue with Harrington, not for any other reason. 

What he does find though, is a big motherfucking dog. It’s just sitting next to the trailer steps and Eddie’s seen Cujo so fuck if he’s getting out of the safety of this metal box. Hell no. He can wait.

After five minutes of waiting, they’re still in a stand off and Eddie’s thinking about starting his van and just leaving to sleep some place else. What? He’s a coward and that dog in Cujo put him off petting dogs for weeks afterward. No way is he getting out, alone, in the fucking dark to that behemoth of a dog. No one would even come if he screamed. This is a trailer park, ignoring screams is part of the lease agreement.

Just as he puts his keys back into the ignition, the dog tilts his head to the side, tongue lolling out for a few breaths before it gets up and trots over to Eddie’s driver side door. This close, it’s not quite as big as he thought but it’s still the biggest dog he’s ever seen. Some kind of Husky mix or something. He doesn’t know shit about dogs but it looks like a really fluffy sled dog. Poofy tail and everything. It tilts it’s head again and Eddie rolls his window down slowly.

It’s ears perk up and it looks happy. Which is maybe a thing dogs do? He wouldn’t know, honestly. He’s never had a dog. 

Eddie slides one hand out, curled into a fist because he doesn’t want to lose a finger to Cujo here. He needs those fingers for various reasons. Like guitar playing, dice rolling and other non sexual things.

The dog leans in, sniffs the hand, bumps it with his cold wet nose and then nuzzles it so Eddie’s knuckles graze into the soft gray fur on his forehead. Eddie’s barely breathing, his heart is racing and his legs are all clenched like he would run if he wasn’t sitting in his car. Extending his trembling fingers, he scratches the top of the dog’s head. The dog swear-to-god sighs. 

“Hey there, big boy. Whatcha doing?” Eddie whispers softly, opening his door to step out. The dog shuffles back just enough for Eddie to slide out from behind the door. His fur is soft and silky between Eddie’s fingers. “Oh look at you, so pretty. You know you are, too, don’t you?” The dog seems to preen with the praise so Eddie lays it on thicker, “Yeah you do. What are you doing out here? No collar but you must belong to someone, you’re too pretty to be running wild in Hawkins.”

After a few more runs through the fur on his back, Eddie reaches back into the van, rolls the window back up and grabs his bag. He can’t stay out here all night so he heads toward the front door. The dog follows. “Uncle Wayne’s gonna kill me.” Eddie sighs, knowing he’s a sucker and he’s 100% going to let this dog into the trailer.

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[yourwalkingdeadmf]

Blood red l

This is going to be a carl grimes x reader Smith negans daughter

Y/N'S POV

I was there at the line-up when my dad killed those people how could he do that to those people the people of Alexandra I love my dad but I can't be here with him his gone mad so I have decided to leave I don't where I'd go but anywhere but here

CARL'S POV

Its been 3 days since negan killed Abraham and Glenn it been really hard on the girl especially Maggie all I know is that I will get my revenge on him for what he has done my dad I'd pissed but not as much as me and not only that but ever since I got here eind won't get off my ass don't get me wrong I like Eind but as a friend and she doesn't feel that way she wants to date which is weird because she broke up with Ron for me when I didn't even like her and then ron shot my eye out and now he is dead a she doesn't care but u can't tell her what to feel but I so much shit on my mind I need to go on a run

Carl: dad I'm going to go on a run

Rick: no Carl we were just attached by negan you could get hurt

Carl: dad please I need to empty my mind please

I say as I practically give him puppy dog eyes

Rick: fine but take this

He hands me a walkie-talkie

Rick: contact me if any goes wrong and stay close

Carl : thank you

I get up and grab my stuff and leave

Y/N'S POV

It's time I got my stuff and food but u need to get of here will my dad is to busy fucking one of his wife's yes I said one my dad is an asshole and wants more then one woman to fuck

I walk to the gate in the Sanctuary and climb out through a hole It's not big enough for walkers but it's is for me I'm small I get out and start running but then I a walker comes out of nowhere so I hide because I have no weapons I know stupid but I couldn't get any but then the walkers was killed shit

CARL'S POV

I was walking and I see a girl hide and then a walker I slowly go over there and kill the walker and the point the gun at the girl

Carl: get out of there and put your hand up

The girl nods and gets up

Y/N'S POV

I nod at the boy who told me to get up so I did

Carl: what's your name

Y/n: y/n

Carl: how many walkers have you killed

Y/n: I don't know I don't count

I say as I roll my eyes

Carl: how many people have you killed

Y/n: 1

Carl: why

Y/n: he tried to rape me

I look away

Carl: it's ok some tried to rape me too

I look at him

Carl: Carl my name is Carl

He puts out his hand for me to grab so I do

Carl: do you have a group

I nod yes

Y/n: but there bad people and im not I hate that they hurt innocent people

Carl: your from the Saviors

I nod

Carl: I remember seeing you at the line-up

Y/n: I'm so sorry for what happened

Carl: it's not your fault come with me ill take you to Alexandra

I decided not the say anything about negan being my dad just yet

We Start to walk to Alexandra

TIME SIKP CUZ IM LAZY LMAO

AT ALEXANDRA

CARL'S POV

I take y/n in to Alexandra

We walk in to my house

Carl: dad!

I yell and y/n jump a little

Carl: sorry

I say to her and she said it's ok

Carl: dad

I yell one more time

Rick: what is it Carl

Rick walks in and stop in his tracks

Rick: Carl who is this

Carl: this is y/n she comes from the sanctuary yes as in negan but she runaway from them I ask her the normal questions so can she stay

Rick: let me talk to her alone

I nod and start to walk away but y/n grabs my arm

RICK'S POV

Carl nod and starts to walk away but then the girl grab his arms and hugs it

Rick: it's ok I'm not going to hurt you

Y/n: can he stay please ill answer and tell you everything you need to know

I nod

Rick: how many walkers have you killed

Y/n: I don't know

Rick: how many people I you killed

Y/n: one

Rick: why

Y/n: he tried to

Rick: oh hey is ok you don't have to say the word I know what you mean and you can stay but you'll have to sat in this house and in Carl's room ok

The girl nods and yawns

Rick: Carl take her to your room so she can sleep

Instead on letting her walk Carl pick her up bridal style I cab tell he already like her and I'll have my main group come over later to meet her I guess she is one of us now

[queen-susans-revenge]

Things My Momma Taught Me

(reprinted: I actually wrote this years ago, but just stumbled across it again. And we're not too far off Mother's Day, so.)

So I was walking around the Tenderloin looking for stray twenty-dollar-bills that might have fallen into gutters, and I was thinking, as I often do, about my mother.

A few years ago my mom got all upset because she heard that today's youth lacked moral guidance. So she sat me down and she said, "Daughter," she said:

Don't ever cross a picket line.

Work for Greeks.

Don't you ever eat something that you find dead at the side of the road, unless you were in the car that killed it.

I'm not sure where my mom got her fine Depression-era set of ethics, except that I think she heard the last one on a radio show. Her enduring affinity for Greek employers (and her corresponding loathing for the French) probably stems from her experience working as a waitress in Alsace and Italy. Apparently, if you innocently drop a plate full of spaghetti in somebody's lap, and they have to go and make a big stink about it, your Greek boss will defend you, whereas your German boss will take the comp'ed meal out of your paycheck, and your French boss will probably slap you across the face.

Anyway, it's the first point that really stuck with me: I'm convinced that, in the Final Judgement, when the goddess Ma'at weighs our hearts on her golden scales, the murderers will make out better than the scabs. (And bad tippers will be thrown straight into the jaws of the crocodile.)

But speaking of my mom's international wisdom:

It's best if you don't eat raw oysters in a Mexican street market.

Here followed a tale of heartbreak and amoebic dysentery. But my mom survived both the oysters and the French, and pulled herself up by her bootstraps to become the world's leading eastern North-American paleoethnobotanist, which was always a lot of fun to write in the little blank under "Mother's Occupation." Now when she calls me up, her conversation tends to go something like this:

"It turns out you can tell the species of acorn just by looking very closely under the microscope. So that's very exciting. I'm going to have to try that on my own acorns when I get home. Mmph. Excuse me. I was pulling a cork out of a wine bottle, with my teeth."

But all intrepid globetrotting archaeologists need their endearing phobias. For Indiana Jones it was snakes. For my mom it's blimps. I don't know if she was a Hindenburg victim in a past life or what, but it's really no fun being in a car with her if there's a Goodyear Blimp in sight. She keeps scanning the sky anxiously, wondering if it's following her, wondering if it's watching us. Also among her bizarre phobias is the conviction that I'll be sent to jail someday…ha ha! Trés absurd!

Laugh, damn you.

Anyway, back to the blimp thing. For a woman of science, Mom is actually very attuned to signs and portents. There was this one time that a headless pigeon fell from the sky, literally at her feet.

These are bad times.

"These are bad times," she told me. "Bad times, when headless pigeons fall from the sky." And I can't deny it.*

But the last thing my mom taught me, the biggest thing really, and more important than Fortean events, is the definition of love. I remember when I was a little kid, I got worms. Just like a dog. Tiny little white wrigglers that squimed around in my asshole. And they itched and would keep me awake at night. So I remember that, in the weeks it took for my de-worming pills to work, my mom would spend an hour or so every night picking these worms out of my butt so that I could get to sleep.

That is love, in all its shocking profundity. When you spend hours picking worms out of somebody's buttcrack, that is love.

So, I love you too, Mom. Thanks for picking the worms out of my butt. Thanks for getting me drunk all those times. Thanks for teaching me right from wrong, and thanks, in advance, for posting my bail.

Happy Mother's Day.

*later she called me back up to tell me it was a good portent actually. It happened because a hawk had moved in to the neighborhood.

[quietwingsinthesky]

You’d like the show Lucifer simply because the guy who plays Lucifer is hot as balls

oh you fool you have no idea the minefield you have just walked into that is my opinions on the tv show Lucifer.

for one, he’s fine, not really my type, but what was more interesting to me is what a handle he had on the character as written in the first few seasons (and hell, he had the charisma to keep me watching long after the show fell the fuck apart, if not to the very end.) Not only the charming-smug playboy aspect, but the incredible amount of anger boiling just below the surface. admittedly, lucifer’s my type of character, and not just cause he gets bonus points for being the devil, but. well. fictional characters who came out the other end of abuse not soft or easy but. fucking difficult to live with. he’s just kind of an asshole, for all his better qualities, and i love that about him.

and oh but if nothing else, i think i’d revisit s1 for just how well it Gets it. the cop show bit of lucifer was always the weakest bit, sort of rote but fun procedural drama (imo also at its best in s1 because of the tension chloe was dealing with in the workplace/with dan as a result of The Case That Went Wrong but it was never great.) but everything else? the way ‘lucifer goes to therapy’ could play both humorously and also for serious drama? that was fantastic. and s1 didn’t feel the need to pull its punches about what was happening here: this is the devil, and what god did to him was wrong and fucked him up.

which is. you know. more than the later show can say about itself or the takes it had on the dynamic between lucifer & god. (if i think about the way the show slowly began to dismiss lucifer’s trauma as it went on, how by the time we got to. what, s5? and we have a scene where god himself describes lucifer’s fall as a temper tantrum, it’s not a moment of horrifying dissonance between what we know about how lucifer was hurt vs how his father is portraying it, but a moment where we’re meant to laugh and agree, yeah, it probably was, lucifer is so dramatic and god is right. and if i think about that coinciding with the show removing lucifer’s agency in the bad shit he did do, literally just having a different character act the role of the devil and removing the whole point of a show about what the devil has to do for redemption- i get quite frustrated. is what im saying.)

s1 left scenes seared onto my fucking brain, though. the show just. Got it. in a lot of ways that i think were lost, especially after the netflix buy-out. early lucifer is so fucking good at fantastical events as allegory for abuse. i cannot get the scene of linda deadnaming him out of my head. (which is just. what’s happening. like lucifer may not canonically be trans (and their commitment to even making him pan as advertised was :/) but oh my god. we just Have a scene of him being deadnamed and its painfully fucking real.) because on the surface, we’re literally just saying fun biblical facts, hey did you know the devil was also called this, once? but the way lucifer reacts to his name, to linda trying to tell him that no maybe god did love the devil, and the way that builds up until it explodes. violently. and he just. flees. tries to literally cover it up. its a good fucking scene. someone in that writer’s room has been trapped with a therapist getting all their information from your family and not listening to you, i swear, because i don’t know how you could get it that accurately stressful without the experience.

or or or. wing scar scene can we TALK about the wing scar scene ive been dying to talk about the wing scar scene. because now it’s not only us the audience reading between the lines of the metaphor to understand lucifer but chloe herself. the wing scars are, in canon, a result of lucifer choosing to cut them off

(and we gotta at least mention what a radical crossover of self-harm and self-determination that act is, esp combined with him keeping them locked up and later burning them completely, and how later seasons dIDNT GET THE POINT AND JUST GAVE HIM THE WINGS BACK YOU DONT GET IT- (they almost did. too. one of the best moments later is amenadiel finding the many, many wings lucifer has to keep cutting off of himself because they grow back. it’s body horror, it’s one of the few moments where we get to see lucifer’s wings being back as the violation of his self and autonomy that it is, and then they fuck it up by going eh he just needs to accept himself and this thing that will forever serve as a connection to his father.) man i wrote a fic about this thats how bad it wormed into my brain.)

but the wing scars. ohhhh that scene. because the literal explanation isn’t what we’re meant to take away from it. it’s fantastic use of emotional whiplash, straight from sex jokes to chloe’s horror at seeing them. lucifer is quite literally honest about what’s happened, but to chloe, he’s dancing around something incredibly fucked up, hiding behind metaphors. and. well. isn’t he? however casually he tries to dismiss it, the scene still ends with him needing her to back off, don’t touch and don’t ask further questions. and. i mean, we’re talking about the guy who has fucked his way through more than half the city, hesitation over being touched is. not really something we associate with him. and yet. it’s a good fucking scene, the scars themselves are still rattling in my brain, and im never gonna stop thinking about what a loss it was that the show eventually started being all silly all the time rather than using the silliness of the character and his antics and him being Thee Literal Devil to disarm you for moments where we have to look in the eyes that Something Horribly Fucking Wrong Happened To Him.

(even the way lucifer himself is a character he’s constructed to live in means that chloe’s insistence that he’s not and can’t be the devil is true, if not literally, because the devil is both a persona developed in response to and labelled as such by trauma.)

i was never really in the lucifer fandom, per say, didn’t participate much. so i dont know how much my opinions on the show reflect other people’s. but yeah, my core enjoyment of it came from it being willing to lean into how fucked it would be for lucifer to have to exist as he is: to be both rejected and still beholden to his father’s whims. to have to serve as warden for his own mother’s prison. to be the devil and lean into it hard when the other option is to buckle under the weight of that role.

man. they had all the pieces. and then they lit the puzzle on fire.

[donghoonie-3]

New Manager???

✧.* Part 9: Lies and Fights ✧.*

m.list ♡ previous ♡ next

Warnings: fights, heeseung hurts yn physically, drunk sunghoon, asshole heeseung, yn is a heavyweight and hyung line get drunk apart from Jay. Yn only gets tipsy.

NOTE: This is a written chapter!! So don't forget to look under the cut <3.

You looked at yourself one last time in the mirror, making sure you look pretty before leaving you room. As soon as you open your door your eyes meet with the tall person standing opposite you in front of his room. Both your rooms are opposite each other.

"You look really pretty, yn" the boy says as his cheeks get pink. "Thank you, Sunghoon" you smile shyly at the pretty boy. "You look really good too" you tell him which causes him smile from ear to ear, revealing his cute dimple. "Thanks" Sunghoon says.

"You guys ready to leave???" You both turn your heads to the direction of the voice which seems to be Jay calling out to yous. You and Sunghoon awkwardly laugh before you make your way down the hallway and down the stairs, exiting the apartment.

You all make your way to your car. You're walking in between Sunghoon and Jake until out of nowhere you feel a hand on your arm and tugging you away from a conversation you were having with the two.

"Sorry..uhm..wanted to tell you that you looked good" Heeseung, the guy that startled you, said. "Oh! Thanks haha" you reply awkwardly, you think the guy is nice but you really didn't like how he grabbed you like that. "I WANT FRONT SEAT !!" You hear Jake yell as he runs to your car, already waiting by the front door to the passenger seat.

Quickly, you all made you ways into your car with Jake beside you and the other three squished in the back. "Sorry, I hope yous aren't too squished back there" you genuinely apologies as you turn to look back at them, your seat belt already in. "It's fine don't worry!!" Sunghoon gives you a smile and you smile back at him.

Once you arrived at the destination which wasn't too far by car, you all got out of your car and you locked it. Now making your way into the place.

"Hello, we booked a place in the vip table under yn and sunghoon" Sunghoon tells the waiter which he nods to and brings yous over to the place which is in a complete different room to the rest of the place, it has almost no people if not, no people at all and of course, a lot more quiet. You all say thank you to the waiter after he seats you and gives you each a menu. You sit in between Sunghoon and Jay. Jake sits down beside Sunghoon and Heeseung beside Jake.

Everyone took a couple minutes to look at the menu that has been given out, thankfully you and Sunghoon were able to find a place that serves food until later than most places. "Okay so" Jake speaks out after a couple minutes. "I think I'll get pizza" he continues.

"Yeah I'll get pizza too, wanna share?" Jay says and Jake nods his head in agreement. "Should we all just share pizza then?" Heeseung asks and everyone agrees. You all make up your drink choices too and soon enough the waiter comes around and take your orders.

"Make sure to not drink too much again, hoon" you giggle, looking at Sunghoon. "No promises" he jokes. Heeseung of course notices this and gets slightly annoyed at Sunghoon, as if it's his fault. He hates that you always call Sunghoon by a nickname but never call him by a nickname. Its to the point where he speaks up about it.

"Hey what's with the nickname?" Heeseung asks and you let out a hum in question. "You only give him a-" Heeseung gets interrupted by the waiter, coming with the drinks. "Here you all go" the waiter smiles before walking away.

"What were you saying?" You ask Heeseung as you take your beer and take a sip. "Nothing, doesn't matter" he says bluntly and you shrug. Jay of course, witnesses that all, seeing how Sunghoon looks at you then at Heeseung when the older brought up the nickname you use. It's pretty obvious to Jay that Sunghoon likes you and that you seem to have no interest in Heeseung. He just hopes this doesn't cause any fights between the both boys who like you. He could deal with a new manager if you end up leaving for whatever reason but a fight in the group could cause something more upsetting.

"Okay so!! Now that we can finally relax and chill with you, yn. We should get to know you more! Tell us about yourself" Jake says which snaps Jay out of his thoughts. "Ahh yes" you say before starting to talk a bit about yourself.

You start of by talking about the first group you had and then the second group you had which was your favourite out of the two. A girl group that sadly disbanded, you weren't with them for long, only two years since their previous manager also left. The girls were so nice and you wish you were still in contact with them.

You continue talking about why you wanted to be a manager and how you became one. You shared some funny stories which thankfully made the boys laugh. Soon enough you all started talking as if you were all friends for years...Well the boys were already friends of course but you weren't friends with them for as long as they've been. You're really glad that they're nice.

After a good couple of drinks and finishing the pizza you all shared, the boys were drunk apart from Jay, who's going to drive you'd back. You being the heavyweight you are, are only tipsy so you order another beer wanting to get on the same level as them. You make sure to keep your eye on how much Sunghoon is drinking, not wanting him to get too far with it.

"Dude dudes" Heeseung says, obviously drunk, and you all look at him. "We should play spin the bottle" he winks at you when he says that and Sunghoon notices. "With only one girl?" Sunghoon quickly say, looking at Heeseung with anger. "It's not gay to kiss the homies" Jake says, putting his hands up. "Wait yn, are you single?" Heeseung ignores Sunghoons stare and looks at you, who seems to be too busy looking at Sunghoon.

"Yn" Heeseung says again, trying to get your attention. "Huh? Oh yeah, I'm single" you answer him. "Do you like anyone?" He gives you another question. "What is this? Say it or shot it" you laugh as you drink from your glass. "It could be" he answers. "So?"

"I think so" you answer his question. "You think you like someone?" Heeseung asks you, again. Jay and Sunghoon watching the whole thing and Jake, being in a world of his own. "Yeah.. he's my type but, I'm not sure" you don't continue your sentence. "Not sure what?" Heeseung says, you don't really know why he's asking so many questions about your relationship status and who you like. "I'm not sure if it's a good idea to like him" you say truthfully. Heeseung sits back and sighs before taking a shot.

After a couple more talking and laughing, forgetting about that weird situation. You feel Sunghoons head resting against your shoulder. "I miss Gaeul" Sunghoon pouts. "Gaeul?" You ask, wondering who it is.

"My dog, she's so cute. I'll show you a picture!!" You find him cute like this, his voice slightly higher pitched than usual and his cheeks flushed pink with the alcohol getting to him, way too gone to think straight. Sunghoon shows you some pictures of his cute dog while still having his head on your shoulder. "She's so cute!!" You coo and he nods in agreement.

Heeseung, sitting opposite you both seeing all this happen and getting more annoyed. How can his best friend sit with his girl?? But the thing is, you're not his girl but hes too delusional for that truth.

Sunghoon reaches his hand out for the shot glass that's already full, lifting his head from the comfortable position to take the shot. "No hoon, you already had enough" you quickly stop him, holding his hand that's holding the tiny glass. "But!!!" He pouts and look at you. "I payed for this" he whines. "Then I'll pay you back, okay? You told me yourself you didn't want to get as drunk as last time." You let go of his soft hand to reach for the shot glass he's holding. "Can I?" He let's you take it and sees you take the shot instead of placing it on the tabke and he let's out a tiny hmph sound then resting his head on your shoulder again. But he does think seeing you take that shot like it's nothing was hot.

"Wait you know how drunk he got last time? How?" Heeseung asks and instead of telling him how Sunghoon started texting you, you lie, not wanting to embarras him. "He texted me the day after and told me he got really drunk and said he didn't want to go that far again, that's why I'm trying to stop him" you reply. "Oh, okay" Heeseung says, still annoyed at Sunghoon for getting all your attention.

After a couple minutes you all agree to leave. You all split the bill and payed for your food while also leaving a tip on the table. Jay and Jake already making their way out before you three. You, Sunghoon and Heeseung are standing while Sunghoon is patting his pockets "wait I think I *hiccup* lost my phone *hiccup*" he says before trying to look for it, before you could say anything, Heeseung grabs your arm and pulls you away from the table.

"What the? You have to stop with pulling my arm like that" you say, thinking he'd let go of your arm but he doesn't, he only continues to drag you away from the table Sunghoon is still at. "Why are you pulling me away??" You say as you try to get away from the death grip Heeseung has on you. "You're drunk, let's go. He can catch up." That's a lie. You're not drunk you're only tipsy, you can walk straighter than Heeseung can.

"No but, we should help Sunghoon find his phone, what if he gets lost? He said he hasn't been here before and hes really drunk" you say, genuinely worried. "So? Why do you care? It's not like you like him or something" Heeseung snaps, he knows you must like Sunghoon, and Sunghoon likes you.

You notice that you're already at the exit of the building and once again you try to get away but his grip is too tight. The other two must already be at you car, waiting, since you don't see them anywhere. "Heeseung let go!!" You shout which makes everyone stop talking and look at you both.

"Why are you acting like a bitch?" Heeseung shouts back "I'm just trying to help you walk" again with his lying just to drag you away from Sunghoon who isn't to be seen anywhere when you look behind you. "The fuck? You're more drunk than me, just let go!!" You shout back at him.

You hear a random person shouting to let go of you and so he finally does and walks off. You quickly make your way back to the table Sunghoon was left at, hoping he was still there and not lost and thankfully he was. He was sitting back on the seat with his coat on and phone in hand. His arms folded and his head in between them. Worry fills your face again.

You sit beside him, "hoonie" you say softly and intertwine you hand in his hair. "Sunghoon" you call out to him softly again and he hums. "Sorry, heeseung dragged me out" you say and he lifts his head up to look at you, those pretty eyes again. All starry and almost innocent like. You take your hand way from his hair when he lifts his head up.

"It's okay" he says before looking down, noticing your rolled up sleeve and the red hand mark left on your arm. His eyebrows furrow. "Did...did heeseung do that?" His words slightly slurred. You look at your arm and pull down your sleeve. "That doesn't matter now. Come on let's go" you tell him and he just stays silent.

You both get up and you make sure he has everything. He almost trips over himself and holds onto your hand but his hold was more gentle than Heeseungs. "Can I *hiccup* hold your hand?" The hiccups showing up again when he asks. "Of course, hoonie" you smile at him as you let him hold your hand. "You should drink some water as soon as we get some for you" you tell him and he nods, his hiccups not stopping. "m sorry for drinking so much again" he looks down while you both walk towards the exit. "It's fine, hoon. You have nothing to apologise for" you tell him.

"But..aren't you *hiccup* mad?" He looks at you. "No I'm not. I'm just worried that's all, I don't want you to... throw up or feel unwell the next day" you say truthfully. "Oh, well okay!" You smile at him as you look up at the drunk boy. You notice that cute pout of his again and it makes you want to kiss him, but you don't.

Soon enough you make it to the car and as you unlock the car and give Jay your keys, Jay and Heeseung notice your hand holding Sunghoons. Jay smiles however Heeseung just gets more pissed off and sits in the front. The car ride was silent. Sunghoons head resting on your shoulder again and your head resting on his as yous fall asleep in the car. Your hands still together. Jake also asleep, resting his head against the car window. Jay and Heeseung being the only ones awake.

Once Jay parks the car he turns to look at Heeseung. "You go up to the apartment room now" he tells him, knowing there would be conflict if he didn't go before everyone else. "Why should I?" He says, still annoyed at Sunghoon. "Heeseung just do it, you and I know damn well it won't end well if you don't go up now" Jay tells him, his voice serious. "Fine" Heeseung finally agrees after a bit of silence and leaves the car, making his way to the apartment building first. Jay wakes up the three of yous and you all make your way to the room.

Once you enter the place you all share you make sure Sunghoon makes his way to his room safely. "I'll be back in a second with some water, you get changed okay?" You tell him and he nods. You make your way to the kitchen and unfortunately seeing Heeseung. You try to ignore him, getting a glass and filling it up with water. "You like Sunghoon, don't you?" Heeseung asks while looking at his phone. You keep ignoring him as you go for the exit to go to Sunghoon but he speaks again.

"I'm better than him" he says. "You're saying that as if you didn't try leaving Sunghoon alone in a place he's never been to before and not to mention he was almost blacked out drunk??" Heeseung rolls you eyes at your words. "As if he'd get lost" he says.

"Do you know how I found him? He was almost passed out at that table, Heeseung. I don't care if you like me, he's your friend for fucks sake !! You don't just leave your friends behind like that" you say as you turn around to tell the guy who's now looking up at you, the guilt coming onto him now. "So you don't like me?" He asks anyways. "I can't believe that's what you're worried about right now" you sigh.

You enter Sunghoons room with a knock. "Hey, sorry for the wait" you say softly. Something about Sunghoon just always makes you feel more at ease. "It's okay" he smiles at you. You hand him the glass of water and he almost chugs it all. "Thanks for coming back for me" he says while looking up at you. "Don't Thank me hoon, no one should've left you alone." You say and he looks down and nods slightly.

"Did heeseung hurt you?" Sunghoon asks again, remembering the mark he seen on your arm. "It's nothing, I'm sure it'll-" he interrupts you before you can finish. "I won't let him or anyone hurt you again" he says as he looks back up at you and you smile. "Thank you, hoonie" you say. "You should get some sleep though" you reach your hand out to rub his hand and he blushes slightly at the contact. "Mhm, you should too" he says shyly. "I'll see you tomorrow, hoonhoon" you say before leaving his room and he's left with wide eyes at the nickname you gave him that he loves.

Taglist: @hoonieswhore @en-happiness @beommii @stellarpsh @thisisnotjacinta ( If you wanna be added to this taglist, let me know!! Please have your age in bio. )

[scxttershot]

So I copied this over from my Discord rants last night - a brief text-based analysis of Floyd Lawton's character depth.

Re. Possessing no outward feelings except sarcasm and general assholery, suppresses everything else, subconscious belief that we deserve to be punished, chronic intimacy issues probably stemming from how fucked up his family is, actively suicidal with a death wish, debatably has 0 redeeming qualities on the surface, generally homicidal [bitch me too to all of this!!!!]. Despite everything, Floyd cares. He wouldn't be around other people by choice if he didn't. Waller has canonically offered him the chance to walk several times, as he's served multiple sentences. He wouldn't have damn near agreed with Peter/Ragdoll saying the Secret Six were his family if he didn't. Wouldn't have manipulated a doctor at gunpoint into telling a young woman who he at that point barely knew that she didn't accidentally cause her father's end stage lung cancer re. Lori/Black Alice. Also yeah his flings with Jeannette, Michelle, etc. were a lot more than just sex if you read Deadshot: Bulletproof or Gail Simone's Secret Six series, there's actual romance and protective feelings there. Susan Lawton who knows, it's hard to say and I really think what they had completely fell apart after their son was murdered, + her character wasn't super developed. In any case it's the classic machismo thing of "showing human emotion makes you weak and a liability" coupled with what I'm damned sure is PTSD. The reaper follows Lawton like a shadow. re. The Get Out of Hell card, he specifically steals it because he doesn't want to watch the Six tear each other apart over it. Also re. Floyd cares, 1987 Suicide Squad: he went with Digger to Digger's mother's funeral as a plus one and stuck around without even being asked. Meanwhile the entire time he's claiming not to like Captain Boomerang.

 And eventually, Floyd breaks out of that hard shell a little. It takes fucking RAGDOLL calling him [and Catman] out over it, and it's literally the final issue of the 2008 Secret Six series, but he's genuinely concerned and pained when Catman gets shot. For reference. If the guy who replaced all his joints with cybernetics and banged his own sister calls you out and makes an actually good point while doing so, that is both concerning and something you should probably listen to. Earlier in the run he also cares enough about Thomas to ask him personally to chaperone a date with Jeannette because Floyd is legitimately scared she'll take advantage of him, also. Is that referring to physically? Sexually? Emotionally? Probably all three. But nothing happens. Like. Damn. There's not a lot of content that goes out of its way to specifically show that a lot of Floyd's generally abrasive personality is an act. AS IT STANDS given pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths Floyd Lawton, lately DC has made him far too sympathetic for a homicidal contract killer. There is a very fine line between "likeable asshole" and "this is watered down to the point where sometimes it's but the vapor of a character". We need a balance, DC. And I hope, one day, someone can write that again.

[arcplaysgames]

THE TENSION IS BAD IN HERE. THE VIBES ARE BAD. BOY FUCKING HOWDY like the way the mob mentality grows so quickly over this cowering man.

It JUST SO HAPPENS that the Midnight Channel comes on and... somehow.... Namatame's Shadow? Starts speaking directly to the team, and talking about how he failed and its their fault but the cops won't be able to keep him anyway?

This shit feels off. This makes me wanna scream. What the actual fuck is the Midnight Channel? Like, images aren't supposed to be clear unless the person is in the TV. Namatame is not. And he's denying the shit the Shadow is saying.

Also like, the game is specific enough to say "Other Namatame" and not "Shadow Namatame."

Hang on, I have literally 6000 screencaps, I need to check something.

Yeah, in other instances, the speaker is plainly stated to be "Shadow NAME," unlike here. But the "Other" Namatame tries to make it seem like Namatame was in his full and understanding mind as he did all this shit.

fucking Naoto points out that we can just kill him here and now. Naoto, usually our voice of reason (and, okay, admittedly also voic eof stupid questions), brings up the idea that we should just ensure justice will be done and kill him now before the guards return.

And oh man, the mood feels like you're holding out a hand to try and slow down a runaway train.

Kanji and Yosuke are gonna kill Namatame until the game gives me the option to talk them down and BOY HOWDY. THIS IS WHERE IT BRANCHES HUH.

FIVE dialogue checks, I think? I almost looked them up but then was like "EH FUCK IT I have a safety save" and I think.... I got the right choices. I really get the feeling if you fail any of these checks, you get a bad end like if you killed Ryoji.

maybe I'll go back and watch that later.

NAOTO, BUDDY, YOU WERE THE ONE WHO HANDED EVERYONE A METHOD TO KILL THIS GUY its fine, we were all upset, everyone makes mistakes. But man, Naoto's still waters run deep and angry, and he's good at making his impulses sound like well-reasoned presumptions. Dangerous.

IRL I was like "Ah, Judgement time?"

YEP. JUDGEMENT TIME. Instead of Investigation Team, we are the Seekers of Truth. Which is a stupid name but I'm just glad we didn't murder a guy.

Outside, everyone tries to basically rewind to reopen the topic of the entire case, from the announcer lady up to Nanako.

Adachi is listening in and man. MAN.

WHAT IS KILLING ME is that I don't fucking trust Adachi even remotely, but like. He's a hapless fucking gofer for the most part.

The only things that really make me distrust him are

some of his line reads really really make me stop and squint at him, and this is a game with frankly impeccable voice direction

he's a stealth asshole and doesn't like people, and it veers from "affable everyman joking about his mean boss" into actual simmering contempt a little too often

that FUCKING moment when he stopped swaying, like he forgot to play the role of a harmless dude for a second

i think he lied about the diary. he says that Namatame made "advances" on Konishi but that doesn't track with what we know.

ryoji vibes

But functionally, so far he has been a decent facilitator to the team, both wittingly and accidentally. I would think he's just being a reasonable, good guy if not for the FUCKING swaying moment that haunts me.

Somewhere, Elsewhere, Teddie is alone on a blank, featureless road, walking.

NANAKO FUCKIGN SURVIVES

I feel like I just matrix-dodged a bullet. Or, five bullets, to be exact. In the bad ending, does Nanako just legit die?

I don't understand what happened here, like how would Teddie even get back to the TV World from here? Did he somehow sacrifice his sit-up-conjured body to save Nanako's life?

Where IIIIIIS HEEEEEEEE.

God this game happens so much.

[time-was-over]

(Surface)

4 17 29

(Sunlight Zone)

8 20 24

(Twilight Zone)

4 5 8 27 29 30

(Midnight Zone)

13 15 19 20 21 22 23 29

(Abyss)

1 2 3 12 27

(Trench)

3 7 13 14 18 24 30

Unsure if it was an ask game or not but I'm asking anyways. Answer each question for the character(s) you'd have most fun with their answer for, feel free to skip numbers or add ones if there's any you really want to say that I didn't put :)

*cracks knuckes* let’s go. i’m doing this with the agents because i have a more solid understanding of their personalities than my other splat ocs

surface

4: i’ll answer this one with sigma (agent 4). her species of squid (bobtail squid) is nocturnal but she functions diurnally

17: iota (agent 8) is really good with hardware for electronics (especially computers). if you have a virus he’ll hit your computer with a hammer and it’ll work fine. he’ll explain what he did in excruciating detail if you ask.

29: iota absolutely cries easily. he cries when he drops his ice cream scoop on the ground. he would cry the hardest if he was all alone and didn’t know where anyone was.

sunlight zone

8: epsilon (cap) cannot cook. like. at all. they have a tragic lack of vegetables in their life because of this and orders food from fast food restaurants all of the time.

20: sigma has LOTS of friends. not a lot of deep-bond friends, though. if you asked her, she’d probably say something like “idk man. like at least 12.” she only tends to make surface level friends because she doesn’t really think too hard about friendships. she’s independent.

24: psi (new agent three) HATES talking. like he does sometimes, but he finds it way more interesting when someone else is talking. she is also socially inept.

twilight zone

4: HOH BOY. epsilon isn’t quick to anger, but when they do get pissed, uh. don’t expect to not get decked when they see you. with petty opinions nothing really comes to mind except for like. hating the french jellyfish because he’s an asshole

5: psi has scopophobia. it hates being perceived at all actually

8: sigma has a tattoo of a steelhead on her forearm because her partner is a steelhead that moved to splatsville because it got bored. she looks at it whenever she’s sad. bonus: her partner has a squid tattoo on its right fin

27: epsilon has a shit ton of piercings. they went to a place to get them done once and got their ears pierced. they went back a week later. they got them because an old woman had a lot of body mods and they were like ‘what if i was a cool old person. with piercings’

29: oh my god okay. so epsilon talks really slowly and uses filler words a lot. so they’ll be like ‘and so ummmmmmmmmmmmm. you should uhhhhhhh.’ for the entire conversation. sigma talks really, really fast and really really loudly. she wants to hold your attention for as long as possible. she also breaks eye contact all of the time and will walk in circles when excited or agitated. iota is mute but when he uses sign he’ll accidentally sign words twice. psi will not make eye contact at all and litters his speech with swear words, even when around young children.

30: all of them do. most common to least common:

psi, sigma, epsilon, iota

midnight zone

13: psi defaults to flight. as much as she’d like to pretend she’s tough, her brain automates to running away from difficult situations, which also catalyzes a lot of problems she has.

15: epsilon loves writing. they will write constantly. they keep a little notepad in their pocket with lines of dialogue they come up with suddenly. they have an extensive vocabulary and are pretty eloquent (except for the fact that they go ‘uhhhhhhhjhhhhhh’ every two seconds)

19: so all of them have pretty good vision except for iota, and even then, his vision is moderately bad. he can’t read well on a whiteboard from 20ft away, but honestly, who can?

20: iota just. cries. he worries about everything, but he isn’t completely helpless. he does what he can to stop stressing and goes out of his way to get rid of the stressor.

21: epsilon used to not be able to, but they’ve started to get into poems. they help a lot with relaxing

22: i feel like iota would have splatoon geocities as his only form of social media. he would have an incredibly elaborate theme and 500 blinkies

23: sigma likes cheese puffs or even just cheese. yum. she keeps processed cheese in her locker inside of a cooler so she can eat it in between matches

29: psi would use the dab for The Funny

abyss

1: epsilon steals things from makomart sometimes.

2: if tearing armies apart counts then yes for all of them. they were just kinda like ‘please have respawn machines bro’

3: sigma has a ton of scars because most of what she does is salmon run. she gets bit by chums and cohocks. the few exceptions are from her running into doors.

12: psi did that when he was younger, but he’s trying not to. she still does it in small ways, but nothing major, and she tries to apologize afterwards

27: boring answer, but no. psi probably used to believe in whatever religion is most commonplace but stopped

trench

3: (cw: sigma sees her mom dead) when sigma was 6, her mother died from cardiac arrest. it was jarring. her father was especially heartbroken and became extremely depressed. he began to neglect his kids because of this. the memory that stands out to her is walking into her parents’ room and seeing her mother slumped over in her chair. she thought she was asleep and didn’t say anything until her dad walked into the room and saw her. at first, she blamed herself for that, but she received counseling.

7: epsilon struggles with balancing work and life. they work themself to exhaustion and have no time for hobbies. iota has to make them stay home when they’re sick.

13: sigma is enigmatic. nobody really knows what’s going on with her. it’s not really because she doesn’t let people in, it’s just that nobody really asks. the few people that she’s told everything about herself to are her girlfriend and marie.

14: to psi, love at first sight is a fairy tale concept that doesn’t have any place in real life relationships. in his mind, you can’t really love someone in a romantic way until you really know them and you’re willing to give everything to them. she’s also never had a partner, so take every she says with a grain of salt.

18: iota loves watching pet videos. they make him laugh a lot and it relaxes him. it’s very easy to make him nervous so if he pulls out his phone and starts watching videos, it’s because he got scared.

24: no but i do have a couple non agent ocs who have

30: sigma got her arm bit off by a maws once when she couldn’t get out of the way in time. she walked off of the helicopter and stood in front the mr grizz statue before he said ‘Holy shit.’

[shaelashaela]

Side Story: Foot in Mouth

Side stories are scenes that I wanted to write, but they don’t fit into the narrative of the main stories. They don’t advance any particular plot, but provide some more depth to the world and characters.

[reading time] 6½ mins.

Drowsiness threatened to overtake me. In a high-backed chair, I enjoyed a tome on magical ley lines, but the laziness of the afternoon blurred my focus. I couldn’t let myself fall asleep, though. Rayna would scold me if I took a nap in the middle of her store.

Ding-dong! The electronic chime announced a customer, the first one all day. I was in the back, though, behind rows of stocked bookshelves, so I couldn’t see them. Not that I needed to; Rayna was still the proprietor and preferred to handle shoppers herself.

I considered for a moment whether I should relocate upstairs to take a nap, but then her excited voice rang out from the front of the shop. “Sylvie! Sylvie, are you back there?”

The outburst piqued my curiosity. What could she possibly need me for? I set my book on the arm of the chair and stretched, coaxing my body into a standing position. “Coming,” I yawned.

Walking through the store was a treat, anyway. Old books on every imaginable topic crowded the shelves, and I enjoyed the bitter smell of their aging pages. I took my time getting to the front desk where Rayna spent most of her day. Now, though, she was standing near the front door with a man I didn’t recognize. He was about her height, with dark hair and eyes. His biceps reminded me of my friend Mal, built like sturdy tree trunks. He looked far younger than our usual clientele, and he wore a plain grey tee shirt and jeans.

I stopped a few steps away from them. “Who’s this?”

Rayna beamed. “Sylvie! This is my little brother, Robbie.”

He waved one hand, more of a slight tilt. “Yo.”

My eyebrows lifted. “Oh! Rayna’s mentioned you a few times. It’s nice to finally meet you.”

Robbie laughed, a genuine sound of amusement. He definitely reminded me of Rayna. “Hope she only mentioned the good stuff. Can’t say I’ve heard of you before, though.”

He directed the latter remark more at Rayna, and she bowed her head in sheepish resignation. “Sorry, you know how messy my love life’s been. I wanted to wait a little while before I said anything. Not really sure what to say to Momma, either. I never got around to telling her I’m bi.”

His eyes widened. “You said you were gonna do that like five years ago!”

“I said I never got around to it!” She looked at me momentarily, and her tone turned apologetic. “I also don’t know how I’m going to tell her that I’m dating an elf. Maron’!”

“Fuhgeddaboutit. You know Momma’ll be fine with all that.”

He smirked and followed up with a quick whisper to Rayna in Italian. I mostly understood a more classical version of the language, so some of the nuance escaped me, but I got the gist of it. Indignation rose inside of me, filling my face with burning heat.

Rayna bit her lip. “Uh, Robbie… Sylvie speaks Italian.”

No waiting for a response. I pushed my way between both of them and hit the door so hard it rattled on its hinges, the cheerful ding-dong just infuriating me more. I stomped off down the sidewalk, suppressing an urge to light Rayna’s idiot brother on fire. He was lucky I wasn’t carrying my reagents, or I might not stop myself.

“Sylvie! Sylvie, wait!”

She ran and caught up to me quickly. I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, but I couldn’t bear to look at her. Tears built up in my eyes as my fury turned to pain. Rayna slowed to a walk as she got close, and she reached out to put her hand around mine.

I shook my hand free of her grasp. “Don’t touch me,” I spat, choking on my own tears.

She slipped her hands in her pockets. “Sorry, I won’t. Look, I’m really sorry. My brother’s an asshole.”

The first tear rolled down my cheek. “Is it… is it true?”

“Is what true?”

“What he said. Am I just a new fetish of yours? Is that what this is?”

Horror spread across her face, and her arms moved to tell me she really wanted to hug me, but she kept her hands firmly in her pockets. “Oh, God, no! I know there’s no easy way for me to prove that, but I swear to you that our relationship is not like that at all.”

I wiped at my eyes with my sleeve. Passersby on the street stared at me, which made me feel even more foolish than I already did.

She continued. “If anything, Sylvie, I’m terrified. I’m terrified of your mother and what she thinks of me. I’m terrified of what my own mother will think of you. I’m terrified of growing old while you don’t. But despite all that, I still love you. You’re worth it all to me. This isn’t a fling or a fetish.”

There it was. I overreacted, but she had a way of putting things into perspective for me. My eyes rose to meet hers, tears still streaming down my face. “I’m sorry.”

The corner of her mouth turned up in a half-hearted smile. “Don’t be. We’re both a little messed up in our own ways. Do you want a hug now?”

I nodded. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me, and I buried my face in her neck. Quickly, I remembered why this felt like the safest place on earth to me. She was kind enough to let me stand there in the street with her, draining my heart of all its blubbering.

After I quieted, she placed a delicate kiss on my forehead. “Feeling better?”

I sniffled. “A little. Do you… do you really think about growing old with me?”

A nervous chuckle escaped her mouth. “Uh… sometimes. I promise it’s just a thought. I’m not getting ahead of myself.”

“No, no… that’s fine.” I gently disentangled from her embrace. “If you don’t mind, I’m going to spend some time alone in the park.”

She nodded. “I understand. I need to go back and give Robbie a good smack across the mouth, anyway.”

I laughed just a little, and Rayna shot back one of her usual toothy grins.

“And don’t you dare fall asleep out there again,” she chided. “It took me hours to find you last time!”

Night was well underway by the time I headed back to the shop. When I got there, voices carried down the stairs from above me. No doubt they were engrossed in their conversations, so I stayed downstairs and busied myself. I turned on the little lamp at the front desk and let it struggle against the darkened store.

I picked up a book I was working on yesterday and sat down at the front counter. By the soft glow of the lamp, I took needle and thread and wound them through the book’s spine, a comforting and repetitious movement of my hands. Repairing unloved books was a new hobby of mine since I moved in with Rayna. She told me it wasn’t necessary since most of them only sold for a pittance, but I wanted to treat every tome with love and respect. I didn’t mind giving them my time.

After but a minute, footsteps echoed down the stairs. Rayna walked up to where I sat, all smiles, as if nothing had happened earlier.

“Sylvie! You’re back. We were just about to head to the corner store. Can I get you anything?”

I glanced over at Robbie momentarily. He stood a few feet behind her, trying hard to avoid eye contact with me. I shook my head. “No, thank you.”

“Alright… well, see you in a bit.”

They headed for the front door, and I followed them with my eyes. The door shut behind them, triggering a soft chime in the still room, and I watched for a moment longer. I saw the outline of their bodies through the windows, silhouetted by the street lamps. Robbie smoked a cigarette while they talked. I was glad Rayna wasn’t prone to such habits. To my surprise, she eventually waved to him and continued on down the street, but her brother came back into the store.

My hackles raised as he approached. Why did she leave me here with him?

He stopped a few feet short of where I sat and scratched the back of his head, looking uncertain. “Uh, Sylvie? Mind if I say something?”

A petty part of me wanted to respond with “you already said enough,” but I stopped myself. I sighed, set down the book and my tools, and with some reluctance, I circled the desk to stand and face him. He seemed unnerved that I said nothing in response. Good.

He faltered for a second before continuing. “Look… I’m really sorry about what I said earlier. My mouth sometimes works faster than my brain. I hurt you, and I’m sorry.”

Well, it was a start. “Did Rayna put you up to this?”

Robbie laughed. “Nah, nah. Well, she did give me a what-for that I totally deserved, but I’m being sincere. She can’t stop talking about you. It’d be a shame if we didn’t get along. I also feel like a right dumbass. I know what it feels like to be othered, and I shoulda known better.”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, I guess Rayna wouldn’t have told you. I’m trans. Not that I’m saying it’s exactly like your situation, but I know what it feels like to have people say shitty stuff about you.”

My brow creased. “I don’t know that word.”

He chuckled, a little uneasily. “Oh, ha, yeah… um, I used to be Rayna’s sister, but now I’m her brother, if that makes sense?”

I considered that for a moment. “Oh! I think so… we have a word for that, zephorim.” I waved one hand in the air, searching my brain for the explanation. “Um… it translates to something like, ‘one whose soul struggles against the body.’”

Robbie grinned, pleased. “That’s poetic. I like it. Anyway… I’d love it if we could start over.”

“… Yeah, me too,” I relented after a moment to think. “I should apologize too. I think I overreacted a bit.”

“Nah, fuhgeddaboutit. You seem like a nice girl. Rayna’s really happy, yeah? I haven’t seen her like this in years.”

My cheeks warmed. It felt nice receiving a little third party validation, even if he might be biased. “Thanks. You seem nice, too. I never had any siblings. I’ll admit I’m a bit envious of Rayna.���

He beamed. “Ey, c’mere!”

Before I could protest, he wrapped his arms around me and lifted me off the floor like a grizzly bear. No one had ever hugged me so violently before. It wasn’t entirely unpleasant, but it disconcerted me. Thankfully, he set me back down after only a second.

Robbie winked at me as I smoothed out my skirt in a fluster. “You’re practically family, yeah? I don’t mind being your bro, too.”

“Thanks… I think?”

The chime sounded again as Rayna walked back into the store carrying a six-pack. A wry smile crossed her lips. “Did I just see you two hugging? That’s what it looked like from outside.”

“More like I was hugged,” I complained.

Robbie guffawed and jabbed a thumb in my direction. “Don’t worry, we’re besties now.”

She set the beer down on the desk. “Well, that’s a relief.”—she pulled a small bottle out of her jacket pocket—“Even though you didn’t ask, I got you that green tea you like.”

I grinned sheepishly and accepted the gift. She knew me too well.

Her brother folded his arms across his chest. “Y’know, I was thinking maybe tomorrow we should all go over to Momma’s place for supper? I think she’d really like Sylvie.”

I looked to Rayna for guidance. “Oh, are you sure?”

“Why not?” She forced a smile, but her eyes said "hell, no."

Robbie grabbed us both in a hug. “Fantastico!”