#it’s either in his chair which would destroy his old man back

[acepalindrome]

Rook realizes that half the party has the most dogshit sleeping arrangements imaginable and decides they won’t rest until they get the whole team a decent bed.

[nuhuhwinniethepooh]

Pt.2 to Prodigy! Gojo Satoru (Readers pov : From the beginning)

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Baker's granddaughter!Reader who was raised by your grandparents your whole life after a tragic accident that took away both your parents, making you an orphan in just a day.

Baker's granddaughter!Reader who excels in all your classes with the bare minimum, hiding your true talents for years on end just so that you don't have to leave your grandparents behind. You know that they'll force you to move away for further studies if they find out afterall, they love you and want only the best for you.

Baker's granddaughter!Reader who adores helping out in the bakery, why waste money in hiring workers when you're right there? You're eager and young; your grandparents pleads with you to study and enjoy your last year of middle-school life instead but no, you don't need to. Having a photogenic memory has its advantages, add your problem-solving skills and easily adapting body with it and you're unstoppable so no, you're not gonna let them work alone.

Baker's granddaughter!Reader who notices that your grandmother is coughing a lot more than usual and your grandfather is clearly hiding something from the two of you. You saw him shred a piece of paper almost furiously which was very unlike him, he was usually the calm one. You catch sight of a shredded piece of paper on the floor with the letters 'ojo' on it .

Baker's granddaughter!Reader who panics when you find your grandmother lying on the floor, breathing shallowly. Anyone would think she's dead, you hurriedly rush her to the hospital.

"It's old age. It's finally catching up to her, nothing we can do about it," they say. Holding her frail, unconscious hands upto your lips, you kiss it gently.

Baker's granddaughter!Reader who breaks the news about your grandmother collapsing to your grandfather and watch his heart shatter, your own heart quickly following after his. He finally breaks down and tells you the news that had him stressing for weeks on end, the bakery had to be sold. You can't believe your ears, the bakery had to be sold?!

"What do you mean, grandpa? You're selling the bakery?!" You whisper-yell, your mind unable to process the information as you watch your grandfather tearfully nod his head.

"But why?! Is it because of grandma?! We have enough money to pay for her hospital fees! Besides, we've been running this bakery for so long! We can't just sell it," you say softly, tears springing up in your eyes.

"I don't wanna do this but I have no either choice. Either we sell it or we get evicted with nothing to our name," he answers tearfully, his trembling hands holding onto your hands.

"But why?" Your voice cracks, feeling pathetic for the first time in your life. "Something about a construction, sweet pea. This foolish grandfather of yours destroyed the paper before reading it and now you have to face the consequences, I'm sorry," he whispers. You reassure him tearfully that it wasn't his fault, hugging him tight.

Baker's granddaughter!Reader who finds out that the whole neighborhood was being bought one by one and the bakery was the last man standing. Unwilling to part with the land, you have a firm hold on it despite being so young; it wasn't a particularly hard concept to understand, for you at least.

Baker's granddaughter!Reader who's closing the bakery up for the night but gets an unwanted visitor instead; you watch a black sedan pulling up, a white set of hair popping out of the back seat and gazing at the bakery sineage.

"He's weird," you think, creeped out by the fact that he was wearing tinted sunglasses at night. Who even does that? You clear your throat as you watch him enter, " we're closed for the night."

"Is it though?"

"It is," you answer, biting back a remark at his smug smile.

"Well, it's open now," he says, pulling down one of the up-turned chair and sitting on it, "manspreading of course, I'm not surprised," you sigh to yourself.

"I want a hot chocolate, lots of marshmallows with it," he orders, flicking his wrist at you as he looks around the bakery with a satisfied hum. You roll your eyes," coming right up," you mumble, opting to get it done and over with.

Baker's granddaughter!Reader who's surprised by his eyes as you put the mug down in front of him, catching a look of the bright cerulean blues from above, hidden beneath the glasses.

"Shame that I didn't find this place sooner, the hot chocolate's good," he says between sips, looking at you...well at least you think he is, his glasses makes it difficult to know where he's looking. "Well now that you know you're welcome to come again," you answer with a small smile at the compliment, the bakery's hot chocolate was good. A skill your grandparents made sure to drill in you, the art of making hot chocolate.

He shakes his head," that won't be possible since this place is getting sold anyways, a shame really," he says, making you freeze. "It's not going anywhere," you say firmly, confused at the amused glance you're getting. Gulping his drink down, he slams the mug on the table with a smile," We'll see about that," he hums, pulling out his wallet and putting down an exorbitant amount of money on the table. You clear your throat, staring at him with surprise," that's too mu-"

"For your troubles," he cuts you off, you catch a quick sight of his ID before he snaps it shut and walks off. 'Gojo Satoru'. 'Gojo'.....you think back on the letters you saw before- 'ojo' and suddenly it all clicks; the white hair, the visit, the attitude.

Baker's granddaughter!Reader who researches up on him and finds out that he's only two years older than you. Graduating middle school after two months, you cheerfully rush to the hospital to visit your grandma to tell her about your day, only to find out she died an hour ago. Your find your grandpa collapsed besides her bed unable to bear with the grief.

Baker's granddaughter!Reader who is forced to sell the bakery to take care of your bedridden grandfather and continue your schooling simultaneously, rage running through high-school. Applying in the same university built upon the land that you grew up on, your fond memories and life all erased with no hint of it ever being there.

Baker's granddaughter!Reader who blames the Gojo clan for your misfortune, you were perfectly happy before they came and ruined your life. Your childhood home, gone. Your loving grandmother, gone. Your grandfather, bedridden and in a comatose state. "It's all their fault," you think.

"Only if they never interfered," you say bitterly, voice soft as you hold your grandfather's hand in yours. The beeping machine besides him the only proof that he's still breathing, still living. "I'll get our revenge for all the things they put us through, I promise," you continue, letting go of his hand and kissing his forehead softly.

"I'll give them what they gave us ten-fold, grandpa. You just wait and watch, I'll be back."

Vengeful! Reader who gets in the university with a whopping never seen before percentage and an ever-growing conviction; you were gonna burn this university and the Gojo clan to the ground, slowly but surely.

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Series? I don't know what we call it but yea. Part.2, a small outlook on your life.

Pt.1 Prodigy Gojo Satoru

Should I write a spin-off where Reader is just a normal student without the tragic backstory?

Tags : @ritsatoru @virtuapicklequirkreader @sharkluver

Masterlist

[bluegalaxygirl]

Amnesia (KidKiller X Reader) P14

Plot: After an explosion reader wakes up in a hospital with no memory of the past few years, her parents want to take her home so she can recover and get back to a normal life while the Kid pirates want her back on the ship where she belongs.

Warning: Bad language, Family issues, Mental abuse, Body issues/shaming, mentions of eating disorders, reconstructive surgery, Blood, domestic abuse and Violence.

Reader is Female, Poly Relationship, established relationship, Kid X Reader X Killer, Reader is a member of the Kid pirates and is in charge of the money, Budgeting and negotiating the best price.

< Previous part …. Next Part >

The Victoria was oddly quiet mainly because most of the crew where either on the deck doing cleaning work and look out duty or off the ship heading into the shopping area to get the supply's they ordered days ago, Kid of course is mad about it wanting to head into those shops and demand the stuff for free or just take the stuff after such a long wait but Killer and Wire managed to calm him down a little and shove him into his workshop which is where he's currently working on odd things. His leg bounces hating having to wait a whole day to see you and not getting to beat the shit out of anyone, again it would be much easier to destroy this place and take you with them, but he knows you well enough to know that if he does that and you get your memories back you would be overly angry with him and become less trusting of him. Your no stranger to violence and killing but Kidnapping and being forced to do something against your will is something you never tolerated, he laughs at the memory of you calling yourself a hypocrite since you didn't mind doing stuff like that to your enemies. A knock on the door jolts the captain out of his thoughts, swiveling around in his chair he flicks his hand using his devil fruit to unlock the door and open it seeing Killer, Wire and Heat all at the door "What?" Kid growls as the three enter the room, Wire closes and locks the door behind him which makes the red head raise a brow "Heat has found some info for us" Killer stands walking to stand next to his captain before turning to look over at a very tired looking Heat, the bags under his eyes are a lot darker and his eyes are blood shot.

Crossing his arms over his chest Kid sighs hoping they have something good they can use and not just some useless info "Go on then, get on with it" The captain snaps, Heat jumps slightly being brought back to the real world from his slightly sleepy state, cleaning his throat the stitched man runs a hand over his tatty hair knowing he needs a good show but what he found was more than he thought and the deeper he dug the harder it was to pull away. "There's a lot to go threw, i left Mohawk and Narbe, at the library in town, they managed to get in contact with a few people who used to work for the family, its surprising how willing they are say what goes on behind closed doors. Most of the books there though are strange to say the least, all are based on the history of entertainment and old newspapers that only show big achievements and positive views" Kid groans throwing his head back in annoyance not wanting to know how they got the information "Hurry up Heat, i'm loosing patients here" With a gulp Heat nods ruffling his hair a little to get his head in gear, its common for him to ramble when tired so Wire places a hand on his friends shoulder patting it a few times in reassurance and motivation to go on. "R-right, sorry. So Y/n's farther is the 7th owner of most of the companies he owns, all of which was passed down to him from his father and his father before him and so on, but he is the first to make a deal with the world government to supply not only medical equipment but also weapons, the guns the marines use are made by his company but before that they were sold to mulish groups, how he got away with it i honestly don't know. There's only one company he owns that doesn't involve the world government or the marines but there's little to nothing on that one, i only know that its based in the north blue."

Killer nods at the information, its surprising how much your farther caters to the world government, and yet he hasn't called in the marines yet, it makes the masked man anxious. "How many companies in total does he own?" the blonde asks wanting to know how deeply involved your farther is, getting rid of him might work in their favor if you agree to it at the end of all of this. "Four in total, the third one that provides to the world government has something to do with clothes. He also has shares in other companies and places but most of them are medical, he actually owns half the hospital here." Kids taken aback by this new information but it does make sense now why they brought you all the way here and why the staff, other than the nurse, always seem to take your families side. Wire raises an eyebrow removing his hand from the stitched man's shoulder to cross his arms over his chest "I thought they had their medical license revoked, they can't own a hospital without one" The tall man comments makes Killer hum in though his mind running to try and figure out what is going on, its clear they need you for something otherwise they wouldn't be going this far, do they need you in order to get that licence back? if so this seems way to drastic for something so small. Heat shakes his head with a sigh "That is kinda true, they got their license to make medication revoked, i couldn't find much on it but there was this drug they made that ended up killing a lot of marines that were using it, so the government took their license away. They can still make medical equipment, bandages and stuff like that though"

With a loud groan Kid leans back not seeing much point in all this information, so what if your father owns all that stuff and the place your staying in, they still can't tell him what to do or stop him from doing what he wants, your not going to be their hostage, he'll make dam sure of that "Is there anything else?" The captain asks looking back at Heat who quickly looks away while rubbing his arm, the energy in the room shifts to one of nervousness and slight sickness, Wire tilts his head at his friend a pit forming in his stomach knowing its bad if Heat is reluctant to talk about it "Shit.. this about Y/n or the family?" The tall man asks hoping its nothing bad to do with you but deep down he knows it has everything to do with you, Killer stops his pondering to look at the stitched man, his anxiety rising making him feel physically sick, Kid grits his teeth both his hands gripping onto the arms of his chair threatening to crack it under his grip. "Heat… Get on with it" Kid growls in a low tone, one he rarely uses, his anger spikes the longer Heat takes to talk but when he does the three of them stop in their tracks of high emotion "Y/n… she- she used to do beauty contest and pageants from a young age-" Before he can finish Kid bursts out laughing, the anger he once held gone at how stupid it sounded, Killer next to him lets out a long sigh relaxing his shoulders and moving to lean against Kid's workbench trying to calm his beating heart down. Wire slaps Heat on the back giving him a shit eating grin while letting out a small huff of a laugh "Are you fucking kidding me man, thats it?" The tall man rolls his eyes.

Kid leans forward slapping his knee while trying to calm his laughter down "Oh! t-thats f-funny… Imagine our N/N in a fucking puffy dress… she would rather be burned alive then do that shit" Kid laughs hitting Killer on the arm lightly managing to get a laugh out of his partner but the masked man quickly stops himself as Heat growls taking a step closer to the two with bright red cheeks "No really, she's won a bunch, and… She looks good in all of them but.." Heat yells only to stop himself and look down the redness in his cheeks fading away as anger starts to overcome him, Kid raises an eyebrow at his friend wondering why there would be a 'But' in that sentence while Killer looks the stitched man over frowning under his mask. A pit forms in Heat's stomach thinking his captain and maybe even Killer will kill him for thinking your hot but it has nothing to do with that. "I'm not hitting on your girl or anything Captain, its just, I'm concerned some of them are… provocative for a young girl.. i mean the newest ones i could find was when she was 16" Heat tries to explain backing up a bit in hopes his Captain won't kill him, Killer's shoulders tense his hands turning to fists at his side, anger flows through him, not at Heat's commenting on your body, but he can see what his friend is starting to get at. "I don't think she wanted to do it, she always has this fake smile in the photos and her mother is the center of any article about her wins. All she talks about though is weight loss, beauty is pain and shit like, heck there's a part in one new's paper where she openly praises eating disorders" anger boils inside the stitched man making his body start to warm up and smoke start to leave his mouth.

Wire takes a step back not wanting to get to close to the now fire angry man his gaze flicking to the captain secretly asking if he should step in but Kid's eyes are angrily locked onto Heat who continues to rant "I mean if thats what she says when Y/n is winning then what the fuck is she saying when Y/n's losing? I found out from one of maids that used to work there that Y/n had to have reconstructive surgery on both her ears after her mother deiced to piece them with a hot needle and an ice cube, she got other pageant moms to hold her down and then forced her on stage after to prance around in a pretty dress and for what? Winning a gift card… yea thats the fucking prize, a 50 berri gift card and a plastic crown. How stupid is that? The shit that lady made Y/n go threw is ridiculous, i mean calorie control books, daily weighing, restricting or even locking away food if she weighed even a little over, pulling her out of school to be pretty and proper like some little lap dog and almost beating her because she cut her hair without permission. That Bitch is crazy and as for her farther he's just as bad he-" Heat only stops his rant when Wire grabs him pulling the stitched man into a hug, one arm around his waist and the other holding his head to the tall man's chest, thick smoke coats the air as Heat pants making the room stuffy but none of the men move to open the door. Kid's hands shake as they grip together, his body now leaning forwards and his elbows on his knee's letting his mind go run through all the strange stuff you used to do and say.

It all made sense now, why you never got your ears pierced, why you always insisted on working out even when tired or in pain, why you never wanted to wear makeup or dresses and why you hated people commenting on your body, it makes him sick to think he used to tease you over this stuff, liking getting a little rise out of you but now he just feels like a dick. Killer grabs the edge of the workbench making it squeak under the amount of strength he's using, he has his own personal image issues and you've been nothing but sportive thought it, always knowing what to say and how to comfort him, he's done the same for you but hearing this just makes him so mad. You never minded talking about food or helping out with food but you never wanted to know anything about Calorie's or fat content, its clear now why, and he's just thankful that you don't have an eating disorder now, the past might have been different, so he'll make a mental note to talk to you about it tomorrow, he needs to know how deep this goes, he doesn't want you to end up like him, hiding behind a mask and unable to look at himself in the mirror with feeling a sickness growing inside. Before he wouldn't lay a hand on your mother only for your sake but after hearing this he wants nothing more than to wrap his hand around her throat and make her bag you for forgiveness before ending her life weather you like it or not.

With the room oddly silent it gives everyone time to go through their own thoughts and feelings on the matter but Heat knows there's more, he's only talked about your mother, he hasn't even gotten onto your farther yet and there's still more stuff to go through. The beauty contests seemed to be the main problem to everyone who used to work for the family, but he knows you well enough to know that its just the tip of the iceberg, it runs deeper, and he's not sure if he wants to find out how deep. "No wonder she hates being called pretty and beautiful, imagine a bunch of old sweaty judges, family and so called friends commenting on your body for years, judging you on your looks and nothing else" Heat sighs letting the flames in his throat die down and the smoke in his mouth starting to thin out, patting his friends back Wire lets go to unlock the door and open it, letting the smoke flow out of the room, stepping out he looks both ways down the long hallway seeing a cabin boy mopping the floor with wide eyes. "There's no fire, head up top and tell everyone to stay away until further notice" Wire blankly states earning a nod from the boy who quickly grabs his bucket and mop before rushing down the hall and up to the deck, now the area is clear the tall man turns back to his friends letting out a sigh, he tried not to get too angry about it all but even he has his limits. Wire is extremely good at hiding how he's really feeling, even better than Killer which is saying something but even know he's finding it difficult to keep his straight face.

Kids leg bounces as a growl leaves his lips and his amber eyes travel from the floor to the stitched man now leaning against the wall "Her Farther… what did he do?" The captain pushes those words through gritted teeth wanting to know everything before he storms off and releases some steam, with a sigh that releases a little more smoke Heat turns his head to look at the door annoyed at himself for letting the smoke get this bad "Mohawk managed to dig up a few things but there isn't a lot, he's still an ass but at least it sounds like he didn't physically hurt N/n" Killer rolls his eyes not feeling any better about this even though he knew his friend was trying not to make himself and everyone else more angry "Mohawk found that the company in the north blue was having some money issues for almost a year, at the same time Y/n stops doing any kind of contests or pageants, once the issues was resolved though Y/n started doing them again. I think he got Y/n to do all that work just to cast her aside after she was no longer useful, what a prick." Heat slumps against the wall now looking up at the ceiling in order to try and control the fire starting to burn in his throat again, Wire sighs walking over and patting the stitched man on the shoulder, he know something like that would hit you hard. They all see the way your eyes light up when ever you get praised for your work, your also very dedicated making sure everything is in order and perfect. "She's does has siblings but only the youngest who's the first boy in the family is the air to the companies, i couldn't find much on him other than he's still very young" Heat concludes glad he got all of it out, but he wonders if this information was even useful, there is a chance they could remind you of all the shit your family did and that will make you come back but at the same time you remember all of it and still somehow chose to keep them around.

Killers hand grips the desk hard enough for it to crack a chunk off, he flinches slightly bringing his hand up to see the chunk of wood and a bit of metal still gripped tightly in his hand, the anger inside of him is still there, and he knows he needs to calm down before he breaks more of the ship. Kid growls while leaning back in his chair, his hands shaking with anger and the need to lash out, his mind races with things he wants to do and say to your parents making his mind block out the destitution between Wire and Heat "So what about the marines? Why ain't they here if their so buddy buddy?" The tall mans asks feeling like something is off about all this but Heat just shrugs "I don't know, he seems to be friends with most of the lower level marines but other than that i can't find anything too useful." Without a word Kid quickly stands his hands grabbing the arms of his chair and flinging it back into the wall before storming out of the room, his anger getting the better of him, Killer quickly follows with no intention to stop his partner while Wire and Heat rush out unsure of what their captains plan is. Slamming the door to the deck open the crew who are there jump in surprise most moving out of the raging captains way, those who didn't are shoved aside with a gruff huff or a warning growl, the captains eyes are fixed on your parents ship currently five rows over, the guards in duty stand tall one on either side of the ramp while servants run around none of them noticing the heavy aura that starts to emanate from Kid, he knows exactly what he wants to do, destroy their ship and make your parents pay.

He can't hold back any longer with anger reaching an almost overwhelming level, storming down the dock his eyes are fixed on the almost royal looking ship as his boots stomp heavily across the wood making it crack in places and splinter in others, it isn't long before his actions draw an audience of his crew, the men and women of the ship running to the railing of their ship in order to see what's going on. Killer along with Heat and Wire make their way up too knowing know what is going to happen, Heat lets a large smile form on his face as he takes a step towards the ramp leading down onto the dock wanting to join in the distraction only to be grabbed roughly by Wire "Shit, Captain wait" The tall man yells knowing its reached his captains ears since he earns a middle finger in response "Stay here" Wire growls down at the stitched man who growls back while crossing his arms over his chest, he wants to join his captain but Wire can be very scary when he gets mad so opts to do as he's told. Running off the ship the tall man quickly turns back expecting Killer to be right behind him only to see empty space, looking back onto the ship the masked man hasn't moves from his spot just watching his captain angrily make his way to the last dock. He should stop Kid, if he does the captain will listen, they might fight about it later but, no, after everything he's heard he won't stop his partner, they deserve what ever comes to them, you might hate them for it but at this point he doesn't care. A part of him wants to order Wire back to the ship but with his anger seething inside he can't get anything through his gritted teeth and clenched jaw.

With a groan of frustration Wire runs off his longs legs making it easy for him to catch up to Kid just as the captain starts gathering metal around his arm hoping to sink the ship which is now just down the long dock "Captain… Kid stop" Wire rushes in front of the red head trying to stop the man from doing anything too bad, he wants these people to pay for what they've done but there's too many things to consider, one, the marines might get involved which means another big fight and them unable to stay here for too long, two, they have no idea how your going to react when finding out, you might not come back with them which leads to them just taking you by forth which won't go down well and three, the captains rage won't just stop at the ship, it'll carry on until he's satisfied which means the whole island will be burning including the hospital your in. "I know your angry, and they deserve what ever comes to them but not now" Wire still tries to convince his captain while starting to step back seeing the red head not slowing down or stopping, he knows if he stays in the way he'll get shoved aside or worse thrown. "Get the fuck out of my way, i'm gonna tare them apart, rip them limb from bloody limb, make them beg for forgiveness then deny them the sweet relief of death until I'm satisfied" Kid growls with a sickening smirk, one that just oozes blood-lust almost making his mouth water, the captains metal arm becomes huge casting a shadow over your parents ship which is now only a few steps away.

The guards on the deck rush over with guns and swords but their weapons are pulled out of their hand adding to the still growing fist, those in the ship either cower in fear, frozen unable to move or run around calling for people to get off the ship and onto the deck "Eustass Kid, what the meaning of this?" The familiar grinding voice of your farther yells out from behind the captain getting the red head to turn his head, burning amber eyes glaring at your Stoic farther who's walking down the dock to his ship surprisingly calm for a man now in the eyesight of a raging supernova. "You bastard, What the fuck do you want from her?" Kid's voice echo's out as his metal hand grips onto the mast of the ship the once perfect glistening white and chestnut wood splintering at his light grip, he wasn't going to destroy the ship just yet, plus if your mother is on there he doesn't want it sinking yet, he wants to take her out himself. Your farther's eyes narrow as he crosses his arms over his chest "She is my daughter, i would do anything for her" The blatant lie causing another wave of anger to wash over the red head his metal hand unctuously gripping tighter until the mast cracks and splinters into pieces, the part above his hand creaking and falling into the ocean, screams and cry's call out as more servants and guards rush off the ship as it rocks from the waves. Some guards run up attempting to punch or kick Wire only for the tall man to kick them into the water and send a glare to anyone else who gets any ideas, he knows know there's nothing he can do to stop this so has no chose but to watch what ever unfolds and take out anyone who gets in his captains way. "Bullshit, if you actually cared you'd have kept her away from that bitch of a wife"

A gasp is heard from the crowd of people gathered at the end of the dock your mother pushing her way to the front with a frown clear on her face "How dare you, i gave that ungrateful child everything she could want" Kid's burning eyes slowly turn to look at the woman, its clear now she was acting back at the hospital, this is the real her "You conniving, vindictive cow" The captains voice sounds almost inhuman almost like a wolf drooling and snarling over its pray, Wire quickly moves out of the way as Kid lets go of all the metal he had been collecting letting it rain down into the ocean and onto the ship impaling wood, shattering glass windows and slicing through the rapes and sails so the captain can storm over to your mother. "Get away from her" Your farther yells but makes no move to get closer, guards moves to try and protect your mother trying to stop the man from getting any closer as the woman backs up becoming scares for her life. Killer's fists shake at his sides his anger also starting to grow at seeing your mother again, he can't hear what is being said, but he knows their certainly not apologizing for what they've done, honestly it wouldn't matter if they did or not they still deserve to pay, Heat growls his hands gripping into the wooden rail of the ship threatening to break it, his throat starts to warm up and smoke starts to leek out the corners of his stitched mouth. Neither of them can hold back any longer, in unison the two walk off the Victoria earning gulps, wide grins and looks of confusion from the crew watching on, neither of them knew what they were going to do once they made it to your parents but it wasn't going to be good.

[thelampisaflashlight]

A Lack of Engagement Pt. 1: Ancient Rite

[Rain learns his actions (rubbing a giant metal dick) have consequences (marriage). The RainDrop series y'all doomed yourselves to in the poll... with some mild tweaking.] Below the cut.

It starts with a rumor among the siblings.

Something Rain isn't ordinarily interested in -rumors, or the siblings to be honest- but with a heatwave keeping them all locked down inside the abbey, and a desire to avoid doomscrolling on his phone, again, for the third day in a row... he'd indulged in a healthy bit of eavesdropping, hoping to hear something juicy, and instead learned of a curious addition to the abbey's art collection.

A giant statue of a penis.

Not the first one in the church's possession, but, according to the siblings -and this is the part that amused Rain the most and nearly drove the ghoul to tears- if you rubbed the head while linking hands with your lover, the devil himself would appear and give his blessing for you to be wed.

Rain thinks it's the funniest shit he's ever heard, or maybe it's just the heat fucking with his better sense of judgement, but it's either grab a friend and give a handjob to a statue or go back to lurking in Swiss' likes on his social media pages playing, "When will I find softcore porn?" and honestly, as much as he likes seeing the multi-ghoul be horny on main, he knows a fiery little demon who would get a kick out of something like this.

He considers texting Dew about the statue, but the idea of missing the look on the hybrid's face when he hears the words, "Giant Dick" is not something he can readily pass up.

Ultimately, it isn't that hard to find him either, Dew stays in one of two places when it's hot as balls outside; The abbey's indoor pool -which Rain knows he can't be in, because EVERYONE is in there right now, and Dew likes it all to himself- or the library.

It's surprising to hear, unless you've met the man himself, but Dew is an avid reader in his downtime.

In fact, in the time that he's resided in the abbey, he's read about a solid third of the books in the library, and has donated quite a few from his own collection over the years.

His room would be overflowing with them if he hadn't purged so many in the last year or so... to make more room for new ones.

Rain is sure it's partly to spite Mountain for having so many plants in their dorm, taking up every available surface that Dew hasn't claimed outright, but neither of them complains when a new fern or book on said fern appears in their room.

They work oddly well together as roommates in that sense.

Their space feels like an even mixture of the both of them, not like when Rain had been stuck rooming with Aether for a year and a half...

If you want to test the strength and boundaries of a friendship, listen to your best friend destroy your shared bathroom after eating two week old meatloaf from the back of the fridge and see how you feel.

Bless him, Aeth's a great guy, Rain loves him like a brother, but goddamn there were times where Rain wanted to throttle him.

You live and you learn.

Stepping through the heavy wooden doors leading into the library -locked in place to avoid another... unfortunate squishing incident- Rain scans the nearly empty room for signs of life, but a cursory perusal of the patrons has him coming up short one white haired, pointed eared devil... which can only mean one thing.

"He's up in the loft." a helpful voice informs him, and when Rain glances over, he sees the librarian sat back in his chair at the front desk, gesturing upwards with his chin for emphasis before returning to his crossword puzzle.

Rain isn't sure whether the man knew he was looking for Dew because of his appearance -having forgone his glamour- or if he simply looked like he wasn't there to study, like the siblings he sees sequestered in a far corner, pouring over a large tome and muttering in tones just above a whisper, but he thanks him anyway and heads for the first set of stairs up to the library's second floor.

There are three tiers to the abbey's library; The first floor, where the siblings of sin attend lectures and study various texts to learn their secrets -or, as he has seen quite a few doing, taking online classes to learn skills that will take them to careers beyond the church-, the second floor where all of the more adult books are kept to avoid any of the young wards of the abbey getting their hands on them, and the third floor, which is barely bigger than your standard storage closet, the loft.

The loft was built well before Rain's time on the surface, and had been meant to be a private office for Sister Imperator, but age and a desire to remain close to the papas had resulted in her room being moved to the first floor instead, and the room itself had fallen into disuse, and thus, when the library underwent a much needed renovation, so, too, did the room upstairs.

That being said, very few of the siblings bother trekking up that far in the library to read, and the narrow, ladder like steps leading up to it are a turn off for most wanting to ascend with an armload of books, but Dew manages it just fine somehow.

Walking with purpose, Rain debates calling up to the ghoul, but remembers that shouting in a library isn't exactly smiled upon, and he can feel the librarian's gaze upon him the moment his mouth opens a bit too quickly.

Thinking better of his initial impulse, Rain instead ascends the ladder and pokes his head up out of the hole in the floor, half expecting to see Dew surrounded by a mountain of books, but what meets his eyes first is, well, Dew's eyes.

He barely contains a yelp as he comes nose to nose with the other ghoul, who's crouched on at the top of the ladder, arms crossed.

"...Hello." he greets, watching Rain compose himself.

"Hi-" Rain starts, "-do you wanna go touch a dick with me?"

"What-"

.

.

.

"-in the merciful fuck is this gorgeous thing doing in a place like this??" Dew cackles, rounding the giant bronze dong, "They sculpted veins and everything! How'd you even find out about this being here, Rainy??"

"The siblings were blabbing about it earlier, and I needed to see it for myself. Had to bring a friend, of course, because apparently it's not just a giant dick-" Rain says, wiggling his fingers, "-it's a magical giant dick, ooo~"

Dew snorts and steps back from the dick, which is, hilariously, just a bit taller than him.

"So what's it do?" he asks, casually leaning on the statue, which stays rooted in place thanks to the flared out base at the bottom, "Aside from looking like some kind of absurdly sized dildo?"

"According to the siblings, if you rub it-" Rain and Dew share a giggle at that, "-if you rub it while holding hands with your lover, Satan himself shows up and, boom, you're married."

"To Satan? Or each other?" Dew questions, seeking clarification, "Also why would the lord of Hell deign to marry two mortals together? It's such a weird concept to begin with, like one of the romance novels I read with the sisters in our book club last year..."

"You're in a book club?" Rain raises an eyebrow, then shakes his head, "Anyway, I just wanted to see if there's any credence to what the siblings were yapping about, and so far it checks out; I mean, I'm standing in front of a giant dick... and a bronze statue of a penis."

"Oi." Dew swats at him halfheartedly, "Jerk."

Rain stretches his arms and cracks his fists dramatically, "I intend to."

"You're an idiot..." the other huffs, sounding almost fond, "So why'd you bring me along?"

"Well, you know it takes two..." Rain smirks, "...and plus, we can find out if it's actually magic or not. You and I aren't a couple though, so it would probably be a net zero in terms of results, but it'd still make for a funny story though, and I know the others would be jealous that we got to the giant dick first..."

"Swiss is gonna be so mad when he finds out we found it before him." Dew agrees, nodding, "Okay, I'll bite."

"You really shouldn't use your teeth for something like this, it's a sensitive area." Rain teases, then extends his hand to Dew, "Wanna rub one out with me?"

Dew scoffs and links his hand with Rain's.

"Sure, why not? Worst case scenario, someone's gonna jump out with a camera and go, 'HA!' so might as well get the show on the road."

Approaching the statue together this time, the pair slaps their free hands down on the head and, with another fit on laughter successfully held in by the virtue of NOT making eye contact with each other -"Don't look at me during." Dew whispers, almost breaking Rain's concentration- ...nothing happens.

"Well, that was kind of lackluster." Rain comments, letting his hand drop down at his side, "I was hoping it would at least, like, glow or something, but-"

"Hear me out." Dew says suddenly, turning to Rain, "What if we... told the dick we're a couple?"

"Huh?"

"Magic and shit is all about intent, yeah? But it's also about respect, sort of." Dew explains, "We're not being serious enough about all of this, so the dick is... being a dick."

"Okay..." Rain draws his mouth into a line and gives the statue a thoughtful look before turning back to Dew, "You wanna try tricking the dick?"

"I want to trick the dick... for science." he says, holding his index finger up like a nerd emphasize his point, "Just to see if it actually works."

Rain sets his hand back on the dick, his other hand still holding onto Dew's, "And if it does work? What then? What do you think magical penis marriage entails?"

"You're the one who asked me to come." Dew points out, placing his hand back on the statue, "You tell me, shark nuts."

A pause.

"Do sharks even have nuts?" he wonders aloud, and Rain smirks, "What?"

"I mean, I do." he says and Dew rolls his eyes, "I thought you would know a lot about sharks seeing as you have that big ass marine biology textbook I gave you for your birthday last year."

"Hey, I do, I-"

Before Dew can finish, the ground begins to shake beneath their feet and the two find themselves clinging to one another to stay upright.

"What the fuck?!" Dew shouts, holding onto Rain for dear life, "Earthquake?!"

Rain stumbles forward, taking Dew with him a few steps before regaining his footing, "It's been a bit since we've had one this intense... We should get under cover before shit starts falling down!"

However, just as the duo is about the slide under a nearby table, the shaking stops and-

"...Uh, Rain, does the dick look... bigger to you?"

Rain makes a face.

"This isn't the time to-Oh my fucking god it is."

Standing nearly twice as tall as it was before, the bronze statue now looks over the both of them, its mighty girth casting a shadow from where it now blocks the light coming in from the windows.

An eerie glow emanates from the tip, which is now leaking... something.

Rain hopes it's just water.

"I think-" Dew starts, than yelps, "Ow!"

"What's wr-Ouch!" Rain winces as the skin around his ring finger begins to burn, strange runes scratching into his flesh, "What the fuck..."

"Thou hast attempted to invoke the ancient rites dishonestly, and are justly punished." a voice as loud as thunder booms, "May these binds remind you daily of your new found commitment... to each other."

And then, before either of them have the time to process what has happened, the ground shakes once more, and the statue... recedes.

Rain stares at the now flaccid statue, at the puddle of mystery liquid on the floor, and the markings on his ring finger.

"...Rain."

"...Yes, Dew?"

"...What the fuck."

.

.

.

In spite of the odd, borderline drug trippy experience with the dick, somehow, some way, the pair manages to put it from their minds by the evening.

The more they try to dwell on it, the hazier and more dreamlike the situation becomes, until it becomes just another nagging feeling that they forgot something important... and then, by midnight, it's as if nothing happened at all.

Rain's memory of overhearing the rumor is replaced with him scrolling on his phone in bed, and Dew's brings him back to the library, to the book he'd left sitting on the beanbag chair he finds himself slouching into now.

Absentmindedly, Rain fidgets with the silver band on his ring finger, plainer than anything he'd buy for himself, but, for some reason, it feels too... special... to want to take it off.

Dew does similarly with the gold band on his own hand, never one to wear jewelry like this, he slides it down his finger and feels a pang of... something... in his chest that makes him slot it back into place, feeling almost guilty for trying to remove it in the first place.

Overall, nothing feels different to either of them, but when Dew goes to his room and is met with a confused, half awake Mountain mumbling something along the lines of, "Did you leave something behind?" he can't help but ask what the tall man means.

"You must really be tired..." Mountain yawns, "You and Rain are in the room across the hall, remember? C'mon, let's get you back to your husband."

"My what now-"

At the same time, Rain finds himself staring at his phone screen, having remembered taking a picture of an interesting bird the day before, he'd wanted to find and edit the photo before posting it online, but now he's...

"Rain!" Dew calls to him in a panic, entering the room and all but slamming the door shut, "Mountain said-"

"-you may now kiss the groom."

Rain's eye twitches as he looks up from the video he'd found, "...Dew?"

"...Yeah, Rain?"

"...What the fuck."

What the fuck indeed.

[theonlymanny]

you’re a bender in the batfamilypt.2

Blood bender

At first you didn’t want to be adopted you wanted to be by yourself. It was like that since you were born

Your dad killed your mom because he wanted you to follow his steps. Become a blood bender. He told that every 100 years the avatar would appear, what is an avatar? Well according to your dad the avatar was an evil person who would try to destroy the world…..Liar

After you discovered the truth which was until you were 13 years old. He tried to get rid of you. “It doesn’t matter I’ll just get another kid and if he doesn’t do as I say I’ll kill him to!” You were tired… so you killed him, yeah you got used to it by now. But that certain day that you changed orphanages.

“Listen up everyone! Is either you all shut up or you all die!” The joker said laughing loudly. Great you just changed orphanage and you are already in danger. A woman nearby started crying, the joker notices and pointed his gun at her. “Ohhhh someone wants to die today!” The joker said.

You wouldn’t gonna let the poor woman die so… you bended the his blood to puppet him and break his bones. “AAAA WHAT THE HELL!?” Once the Joker was dead you stoped. The police showed up and some men in weird costumes who not gonna lie they looked scary.

After a long time a man in a fancy suit showed up and started talking with the people who runned the place and they were looking at you. You had a bad feeling.

Here were you at a weird guy’s car. “So M/n that’s your name right?” Oh boy… “yeah” Bruce was curious, you weren’t as scared as the other kids were. “How old are you?” “14” “… and how do you feel about… being with a new family?” You knew he wasn’t good at asking questions “I mean I prefer being alone. Which means don’t ever talk to me unless is necessary.”

Bruce knew this was going to be hard. Why did he have to adopt another kid? And one that seems that he hates his life? Yeah no. You two got out of the car or limousine. Either way it wasn’t like he didn’t have both.

“Kids this is M/n, M/n this are my children, Dick, Jason, Tim, and Damian.” “Hi” that’s what you said before you bolted upstairs. Jason couldn’t hold himself together. “ well! Another brat!” Jason said before looking at Damian. “Who are you calling brat you-” Dick hold Damian back before he tried to kick Jason. “Guys he’s probably just overwhelmed. He just had an encounter with the joker and he’s probably traumatized. Right?” Jason snarled at Jokers mention. “It doesn’t matter Dick. The joker is dead and I have to find out who killed him.”

“Hey M/n can I come in?” Dick asked outside your door. “Why?” “Just you know hang out to know each other” you opened the door and let him and his brothers inside. “what do you all want” Jason was loosing his patience “ didn’t you hear we want to know you! And help because well no one is the same when they interact with the joker” that last part he didn’t scream. “How do I say this the nicest way possible…umm I prefer being left alone and I’m not interested in talking with any of you.” You said as you left the room

It was like that until Dick started questioning himself if he was a good brother. Damian didn’t like it which meant Jason was gonna join him.

You were knocked out and tied into a chair. When you opened your eyes you were surrounded by two people one adult and the other one looked like a 15 year old.

“Where the fuck am I?” The taller guy grabbed a bat and the smaller one grabbed a knife out of his pocket. “WOW! Dude you said just to scare him!” You recognized that voice. Jason. Damian carefully knocked out Jason.

Damian was so close to cut you with his knife “how dare you hurt my brother!” So close to making the cut and you using your bending abilities the door opened. “Damian stop!” Dick screamed which startled Damian who accidentally crushed his knife into your skin. “AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!” That really hurt. Dick tried to help you but you pushed him away and used blood bending against Damian. “I’m not letting any one hurt me again especially you, you stupid piece of shit!” While Damian twisted and screamed on the ground Dick tried to stop you. “Stop!” You used your own blood to do a cut in his arm. “AAAAH” you ran away. “Tim follow him!” You saw a person in a weird suit running towards you. “ what’s goin on!” Jason said waking up. “There’s no time let’s go!”

You saw a way out a pond. You used your abilities to go under water and then you were gone… no signs of blood nothing. “Where is he!?” “ he is there” they were so worried that they didn’t notice a wave going towards them. “Hey guys…” “not now Jason” Jason tried to tell Dick and Tim but they wouldn’t listen . “ how did you lost him!? Your Red Robin you’re telling me that he outran y you!?” “ it wasn’t as easy as it looked dick he is really fast!” Jason tried to push both of the arguing brothers. “Moveeeee!”

You were runing out of breath. “Shit!” You were bleeding really bad not like it’s new. It’s always been like this…

you’re alone.

—————————————

Hey yall! This is an alternative version of pt 1 where you male reader are a blood bending master. Hope yall like it! 😊

[spell-cleaver]

Portrait of an Empire

Angstober

Day 30: Nothing Else To Tell You

The red guards brought Luke to his throne room in binders. They weren’t binders that cut him off with the Force—that cruelty had not yet been called for—but they were ones with a sufficiently tricky mechanism that it took time and focus for even Force-sensitives to break. And for once in his life, Luke was too busy holding his head high to fiddle around.

Sheev watched him from atop his throne, affecting the same casual stance and expression he always wore when a prisoner was dragged before him. The guards forced Luke to kneel. Luke didn’t fight too hard, but he didn’t bow too low, either.

“Leave us,” Sheev commanded. The guards did.

Sheev shook his head. “Explain yourself.”

Luke shrugged, a bitter twist to his mouth. “I don’t know what you want me to tell you.”

“The truth,” Sheev’s fingers started to tap rhythmically on the arm of his chair, “would be a start.”

“I know you’ve seen the message I left my father.”

“So that was it?” Sheev’s mouth curled into a mocking smile. “You simply cannot stand us anymore? You have more noble causes to which to dedicate yourself?”

“I won’t stay here. I won’t stay in a palace that worships evil.” Luke looked him up and down. “With a cult that worships pain. The galaxy deserves better than this. I deserve better than this—and so does Mara. What is this all for, Grandfather? Power?” His voice rose, until it echoed off the ceiling. “What’s the point?”

“Mara,” Sheev repeated. “Did you have to ruin my favourite agent alongside yourself?”

“Favourite? You never showed her that. It took so long for her to stop hating me for the fact you seemed to love me, and it took even longer for her to realise that your behaviour was not her fault. She deserves more than anyone freedom from Sith corruption.” He shook his head. “Do you understand love?”

“Of course.” It made people weak. It meant he could manipulate them.

Luke shook his head. “You don’t know anything.”

“I certainly know more than you, boy.”

Luke looked up at him. Then he got to his feet.

He stood there, hands still cuffed in front of him, feet spread wide and strong. His shoulders were set. He stared up at Sheev, and for a moment he could have rivalled the greatest generals for gravitas.

“I mean it,” he said, “when I say that I will not stay here. One way, or another. I will not be party to the Empire. I will never join it. Do you understand me?”

“If I could understand you, we would not be here.”

“I will not stay,” Luke repeated. “But I love you. And I believe that you love me. It’s a karking stupid belief. Mara has told me that. My father has told me that. But I think you’re a sad old man who’s spent so long choosing hatred that he doesn’t know the other paths. And I think when you said that you haven’t tried to kill me in years, that’s the best I could have expected from you.

“So I have some demands of you. I think you can do them, if you choose to. But if you don’t…” Luke trailed off. He looked infinitely sad. “There’ll be nothing else to talk about.”

Sheev tried to inject amusement, and not deadly terror, into his voice. “And what demands are these?”

“I know you can’t build anything. All the Sith can do is destroy. Everything significant you have ever created has been on the backs of others’ suffering. You cannot heal without inflicting pain. You had to rot the Republic to make this shell we live in today. And even this building,” he waved his hands around, “is the ghost of a once great Jedi Temple.”

“Get to your point.” His voice was tight.

“So this should be a simple ask, Grandfather.” Luke’s tone flattened. “Burn it all down.”

Sheev laughed. “The temple?”

“The Empire. Make it a trading community, or a commonwealth—I don’t know. Diminish it. Destroy it. And destroy that starsforsaken Sith Temple below our feet. The Sith have been eating their young for as long as they’ve existed. Your philosophy will self-destruct. You hated your master. My father hates you. But I won’t train ever again. There are no more children to feed to the fire of this vanity!”

Luke stared at Sheev, a fire in his eyes. And Sheev found himself at a loss for words.

“You were captured in your attempt to abandon us,” he said. “You are hardly in the position to be making demands.”

“I’m making them anyway.”

His lips pulled back from his teeth, and then further, into something that was half-smile, half-snarl. “Let me know your decision.”

He turned and walked out of the throne room without being dismissed.

[whump-me]

Obscure: Chapter 13

Chapter 13 of Obscure, novel-length interrogation whump about a rebel leader who can erase memories with a thought, an interrogator who can see inside his subjects’ minds… and the connection they share that neither of them suspects.

Masterpost | the Mind Games universe | Read the completed novel on Patreon

---

Elias

It hadn’t been a full day yet.

Normally, no matter how soon after the start of the interrogation session Kirill left, the guards didn’t haul Elias back into the interrogation room for another round until the next morning. But his evening meal hadn’t come yet. The lights hadn’t dimmed for sleep. It wasn’t the next day.

Unless it was. Unless this was Kirill’s way of messing with him—delay his meals, leave the lights on, destroy his sense of time.

It took a long time for Kirill to come in. When he did, Elias stared. The man looked… broken. His eyes were red, like he had been crying, although there were no tear tracks streaking his cheeks. His skin seemed to sag, like gravity was pulling it off his bones. His face had turned a grayish hue.

Another act. Elias had fallen for this one twice before—when they had first met, and then when Kirill had pretended to be a victim like his son. He wouldn’t fall for it a third time.

Kirill collapsed into his chair with a rough exhale. He stared at Elias, and kept staring. He looked at him like he had never seen him before. Like Elias was the answer to a question he had only just remembered to ask.

Elias shivered and looked away. Another trick. But if Kirill meant to unsettle him, it was already working. Unease spread through Elias, and a trickle of memory leaked from his mind. Old fears. Moments when he hadn’t been able to make sense of what he was looking at, except to know it meant nothing good. A shadow on the wall where no shadow should have been; a raised voice from a parent who normally never stopped smiling. Childhood fears.

But he was an adult now, and Kirill was very real.

“Elias.” Kirill’s voice was rough with ragged wonder. As if Elias was some long-lost treasure he had dug up from a forgotten treasure map. As if they hadn’t seen each other that very morning.

“I give up,” Elias said after a moment. “What act are you putting on now?”

“Elias,” Kirill said again, which wasn’t an answer. “I’m so sorry. I’m sorry I never remembered.” He let out a soft, broken laugh. It felt like broken glass against Elias’s skin. “But I guess that’s your doing, isn’t it?” Kirill said.

As Elias stared into those pale eyes, another shiver came over him. Photo negatives…

“You didn’t know either, did you?” Kirill asked. “It’s me.” And even though Elias knew it was impossible—he would have known if it was him, he would have recognized him—they said the name together. “Max.”

“I asked if I could change it,” said Kirill. Elias couldn’t bring himself to think of the man as Max. “My name. The old one would have been too much of a reminder. It might have broken the obscuring.”

Obscuring. Kirill had never used the right word for it before.

Elias had seen the resemblance, of course. He had noted it the first time they had met. But there were a lot of people out there with pale hair and pale eyes, even if most of them weren’t as pale as Max. And in the rest of his face, there was no resemblance.

Kirill’s face was a mask. It showed whatever he needed it to show. Mostly, it was cruel. It was only kind when kindness served Kirill’s purposes. And even then, his brand of kindness bore no resemblance to his memories of Max.

The man in front of him now wasn’t Max. He was Kirill—whoever that was. Whoever he had become without Elias by his side.

Whoever PERI had made him into.

Memories spilled out of Elias. He didn’t realize it until Kirill gave a soft, sharp gasp, his eyes defocusing. Memories of Max. Of all the times Elias had worried he couldn’t protect him. The hornets when they were six. The unexpectedly deep pool in the marsh when they were ten.

The fire.

“You threatened my son,” was all Elias could think to say. What had PERI made of him, after Elias had let him go?

“I didn’t know who you were.”

“If you had, would you have done it?”

Kirill’s silence stretched on too long.

“I turned off the cameras,” Kirill finally said.

“You’ve said that before.”

“It’s true this time.”

“I have no reason to trust you.”

Kirill rocked back like Elias’s words had been a blow. “You have no right to judge me. You made me what I am.”

“PERI made you what you are.”

“You took away who I used to be.”

“You chose to leave first,” Elias reminded him. “I obscured you because I wanted to spare you from pain. You broke my heart, but I understood why. You were tired. You were scared.” He had sympathized with Max’s choice back then. Now he looked into Kirill’s eyes and saw nothing there he could feel sympathy for.

“Maybe if you hadn’t taken everything I was, I could have been something besides what they wanted.” As he spoke, Kirill’s eyes widened slightly, like he hadn’t expected his own words.

“Don’t blame me for what you’ve let yourself become.” Anger threaded through Elias’s voice, and through his memories. Stupid, petty childhood grudges. Max stealing the last bite of cake from his plate when they were five. How had those things ever felt like life and death to him?

“You can make mistakes, Elias. Your judgment isn’t perfect. It never was.” If Kirill was putting on a mask now, it was the mask of a teenage boy, his voice shaking with fear, rough with unpracticed rebellion.

“I never thought it was.”

“But you always thought you knew what was best for the two of us. You still think I made the wrong choice by leaving, don’t you?”

“Don’t you?” Elias countered.

“We would have died. Or gotten caught.”

“I survived. If you had stayed with me, you would have, too. I would have taken care of you.” His voice sounded thirty years younger now, too.

“You did get caught,” said Kirill. “Look where you are now.”

“I helped our people for fifteen years. What have you done with yourself?”

“Our people died in that fire. I don’t feel some kind of connection with a bunch of people I’ve never met just because we share the same genetic glitch. Getting my memory back doesn’t change that.”

“What have you been doing for all that time?” Elias asked. “How many children have you tortured while I’ve been saving lives?”

Kirill’s head flinched to the right. His eyes closed slightly. He rocked back. Elias remembered that gesture. It was what Max had always done when he thought someone was upset with him.

But he recovered quickly. “I’ve been saving lives, too,” he said. “Probably more than you. PERI lends my skills to whoever needs them most. I’ve interrogated serial killers, terrorists, foreign spies. I stopped a US soldier from blowing up his own base. I learned the name of a killer’s next victim the night before he was going to kill her.”

“And you had Sammy brought here to be tortured,” Elias said evenly, even as the memories bled from him in a steady stream. “All so you can help them track down everyone I’ve been working with to stop PERI from killing more people like our family.”

“Don’t use our family against me. That part of our past was over a long time ago. More than half our lives.”

“Then why tell me at all?” Then Elias’s eyes widened. “For the memories. You want emotion from me.” He had told himself he wouldn’t fall for any more of Kirill’s tricks. And yet here he was, doing it again.

He just hadn’t thought Max could be so heartless as to use this, of all things, against him.

But this was Kirill, not Max. And he should already have figured out that Kirill’s cruelty knew no limits.

How much had Elias’s obscuring hollowed him out, to make it possible for him to become this?

No. This wasn’t Elias’s fault. He had done the right thing.

It had been the right thing. Hadn’t it? He had been so sure.

Kirill shook his head, his face contorting with actual emotion. Denial. Disgust. A hint of anger. “No. I wouldn’t… no. I don’t want the things you’re putting in my head. I don’t want to remember.”

“Then what do you want?” Elias asked. “Why are you here right now?”

“I want…” Kirill looked lost. Empty. He looked the way he had when Elias had asked him who he was under all the masks. “I don’t know. Until a few hours ago, I didn’t remember you existed. The other you, I mean. The other me.”

“I never forgot you.” Elias’s voice was softer than he expected. Maybe he still felt a little sympathy after all. But for Max, not for Kirill.

“I wouldn’t have forgotten you,” said Kirill, “if not for your obscuring. It was strong. Strong enough that it didn’t even break when read your name in your file, or saw you the first time.”

“The strongest I’ve ever done,” Elias agreed. “That’s why your face who was a blur when you looked inside my memories. It must be. I tried not to think about you, but whatever I said earlier, I never actually tried to forget you. You were too much a part of who I was. It would have been like forgetting myself.”

“It would have been,” Kirill agreed. He sounded like he was about to cry. He sounded, for a brief moment, like Max.

Elias looked away.

This wasn’t his fault.

Was this his fault? This empty automaton in front of him? This cold-eyed vessel for the cruelty their parents’ killers had poured into him? This man who could threaten Sammy like it was nothing?

“What now?” Elias asked, forcing himself to meet Kirill’s eyes again. This time, he could almost see it—Max lying drowned at the bottom of that clear and empty pool. “What happens next?”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s up to you.” Elias held up his wrists, jangled his cuffs. “All right, so you’re Max. That doesn’t change anything for me. You’re the only one with power here. You’re the one who has to make a choice.”

“I don’t have as much power as you think. I’m not the one who brought you here. I didn’t even want this assignment.”

“So you came here tonight to reminisce about old times, but you’re not going to let me go? You’re still going to hold my son’s life over my head?” Elias’s memories took on the flavor of hot, sharp anger again. “That’s not how it works.”

“I told you, I don’t want those memories you’re putting in my head.”

“You never told me what it is you do want.”

“Because I don’t know!”

“So you want me to tell you? You came here so I could figure it all out for you?” Elias shook his head. “You didn’t want me protecting you anymore. You walked away. And what do you think I can do for you like this?” He rattled his cuffs again, slammed them hard against the metal table with a discordant clang.

“I wanted to see you. To… to make it make sense.” He blinked hard. His eyes glittered.

The old protectiveness flooded Elias. Memories spilled out on a wave of fear for Kirill—no, for Max. Half a dozen times, he stepped into the body of his childhood self. He clutched Max’s hand. He stood between Max and danger.

But he wasn’t a child anymore. And Kirill wasn’t Max.

He treated it like one more emotional attack. He breathed in. Breathe out. He looked Kirill in the eye as if Kirill wore the face of his grief. He didn’t let himself look away, and he didn’t let the fear consume him. He stepped back, holding it at a distance.

That fear had already come true.

Max had faced a danger Elias couldn’t pull him out of. He had died, and Kirill was what had replaced him. Elias had grieved that loss. He had come to terms with the fact that some wounds left deep scars.

“I can’t help you,” he said. “Not like this.”

“Elias…” Kirill looked at him with a helplessness that sent Elias back thirty years. Maybe it was a mask. Maybe he had finally reached what was underneath all the masks.

It didn’t matter.

“You’re not him,” Elias said. “He wouldn’t have tortured anyone.” He held out the wrist with the electric shock bracelet. “He wouldn’t have threatened children.”

“I didn’t know.”

“You do now. And you can’t have it both ways. You can’t call on our old friendship because you’re afraid of the memories, and also keep on working for them because you’re afraid to leave.”

“I can’t walk away. You don’t know what they would do.” Kirill spoke almost in a whisper. His eyes skittered away from Elias’s.

What he had said was true, except in one detail—Elias did know what they would do. But Elias knew it wasn’t the whole truth.

“You don’t want to leave because you don’t know who you’d be if you left,” said Elias. “Just like you didn’t know who you’d be if you left me, all those years ago.”

“I can’t.” Kirill looked down at his hands. Over Elias’s shoulder. Anywhere but at Elias.

“You chose for yourself once,” said Elias. “You can do it again now.” His voice lowered to a plea. “You can leave them.”

“Help me.”

“I can’t help anyone like this,” Elias reminded him. “You’ll have to help me first.” He kept breathing in and breathing out. His voice was steady and merciless. No emotions leaked out, and no memories.

Finally, Kirill looked at him again. “Look into my eyes,” he challenged, “and then tell me you don’t care. Do it without feeling anything. I’ll know if you’re lying. I’ll see the memories.”

“I never said I didn’t care. I said that if you want to leave, it’s up to you. But you don’t really want to leave, do you?”

“I want it to make sense.”

“Does it make sense that our entire family died?” Elias asked. “Does it make sense that I lost my son? That he’s working for the people I’ve spent the past fifteen years fighting? Does it make sense that you’re here in front of me right now? Nothing in life makes sense, Kirill. Not until we decide for ourselves what it means.”

“My name is Max,” Kirill said, but he pronounced the name as if it were alien to him. “And you knew what I meant to you once.”

“I knew what Max meant. But you’re not him anymore.”

“And are you the same person you used to be? Elias would never have turned me away.”

That was true. And back then, Elias had never questioned whether that was for the best.

“Look in my eyes,” Kirill repeated. “Do it.”

“What will it gain you if I do? I still can’t help you. Not unless you make a choice first, and let go.”

But his eyes found Kirill’s against his will. Once, he hadn’t known how to say no to Max. More than a decade had passed since then, but some habits were impossible to break.

He stared into those clear pools of nothing. But Max was still under there, at the end of that long dive into emptiness. The friend he had lost. The friend who had betrayed him. The friend he had never stopped missing.

Max was dead—a pale, bloated corpse buried deep inside Kirill. Max was an emaciated wraith, his mouth open in a silent cry for help. Max was a wide-eyed boy crouched on a tree branch, shaking, afraid to come down.

The memories came. They spiraled out from that one image of Max trapped up a tree, and became a kaleidoscope of long-past images. In each of them, Max was in danger. In each of them, Elias knew he had to save him.

Elias struggled to focus on Kirill’s face. Kirill’s eyes had defocused again. Elias waited for the hungry, satisfied smile on his lips. He waited for Kirill to bring up his network and shift the focus of the memories.

Kirill did neither.

“It’s still there.” Kirill’s voice was a whisper. His eyes were still unfocused. “What we used to be… it’s still there. You can’t make yourself feel nothing.”

Elias took a deep breath. Another. He stared into the wide eyes of that boy stuck up the tree until the memory receded.

“I never said I could,” he said again. “But that doesn’t change anything. If you want my help, it’s up to you.”

“I don’t know what I want.” Kirill’s eyes slowly came back into focus. “I just know I don’t want to be alone anymore. I don’t want to be hollow inside. I want what you took.”

A hint of anger came into his voice. It sounded different than Kirill’s feigned emotions had. Rougher. More hesitant. Like he was unpracticed at showing emotion—like he was unpracticed at feeling.

“You made your choice,” said Elias. “I said I wouldn’t obscure you if you didn’t want me to.” He had only wanted to spare Max the guilt he knew would come. He had only wanted to spare his friend the pain. Even with his heart freshly broken.

“You said it was for the best,” Kirill said. “I trusted you. When did I ever say no to you?”

“When I asked you to stay with me.” Elias stood. He held his cuffed hands out to Kirill. “You made a choice,” he said. “Make another one. Or take me back to my cell.”

A moment ago, Kirill had begged Elias to look into his eyes. Now he turned away until all Elias could see was the hard line of his cheek. His face had been all softness the last time they had seen each other. Even after years of going hungry.

“I’ll have the guards escort you back.” With every word, a little of the emotion drained from Kirill’s voice, and a little of the vulnerability hardened into something smooth and opaque. “I’ll be back for you later. We’re not done.”

---

Tagged: @cakeinthevoid @suspicious-whumping-egg

Ask to be added or removed from taglist.

[svturn-exe]

some snipes info bc i love that guy <3 long post under the cut !

⚡ sniper's trenchcoat is missing the left arm. this has a practical purpose (not getting in the way of his weapon arm) but is also a reference to his sexuality, being a gay man. literal cut-sleeve

⚡ his grasp on things like morality and social convention is tenuous at best. sniper was created somewhere in the ballpark of a week before the apocalypse, so he didn't have much time to spend around people in a "normal" environment then of course everything goes to shit and the chaos brings out the worst in most people. sniper spends somewhere around 50 years around the gradually dwindling human population, during which he really gets to see some of the worst of what humanity has to offer. he eventually had enough of this (read: "if it sucks, hit da bricks") and went on his own way, mostly ignoring and avoiding other people (human, machine, & synthetic alike) for another ~100 to 150 years

⚡ snipes got the grand majority of his scars during those 50 chaotic years immediately following the end of the world, including the injury that stripped a lot of the skin and muscle from his jaw & lower cheek area

⚡ he has difficulty emoting because a lot of the muscles that would control facial movement (the bottom half of it, anyway) are either damaged or completely gone. he can move his upper lip, but not much. most of sniper's emoting is done via eyes & brows

⚡ sniper clacks/snaps his teeth when he's angry. it IS a threat, and will often be the last warning you get to back off before you get the electric chair treatment (thank u to michael for the idea :3)

⚡ it's also difficult for sniper to clearly pronounce some sounds, and he just straight up can't produce 'm' or 'p' sounds because he doesn't have a bottom lip to use

⚡ i mentioned in the tags of another post that sniper gardens when he isn't electrocuting people. basically, while exploring the ruins of a city, he happens upon a lab/bunker, and inside he finds these rows of pods. inside these pods are human children in suspended animation, locked away by their parents who were hoping to spare them the worst of the calamity in the hopes that things would get better one day. sniper decides they can wait a little longer. it'll be hard enough for them, waking up 200 years in the future with their families all gone, but there's no reason they should then also have to live in a destroyed scarred wasteland. so he makes it his mission to green up this city and make it a nicer place to live :] i'm sure his methods for doing so will be very normal and not at all kind of fucked up! ⚡ sniper kills his fellow organic machines & synthetics to harvest their "hearts" to use to power drones he pieces together to assist in the task of tending to the city garden. this is what i meant when i said he electrocutes peopl e

⚡ eventually, kitbash (another oc i have to draw eventually .) shows up at the city garden and while she's marveling at the patches of greenery in an otherwise barren waste, sniper tries to kill her. they're pretty much at a stalemate because girlie is an engineer/mechanic. she's Strong ok. eventually she says the magic words that prompt snipes to stop trying to kill her and start trying to give her a tour and showing her how everything works :) the whiplash doesn't kill her but it comes close. they get to the part where sniper tells her the garden is powered by peoples' hearts and she says that's fucking stupid you're stupid there are better ways to do this shit I'm Taking Over. and sniper goes uh . ok??

⚡ one day sniper finds an artificial (human) heart in an old world hospital and decides he can do something with this! people are apparently not typically ok with being killed (oops) and while the majority of the bodies of the organics & synthetics he wrecked to harvest their cores are in Very bad shape, there has to be enough usable material between them to mash them together and make a New one. this is a great idea i'm sure

⚡ sniper pieces a bunch of salvaged parts together into a new body, puts the artificial heart in there, and as he's getting ready to dr frankenstein that bitch kit walks in and is like . why the Fuck are you making. weird corpse effigies in here and sniper goes oh that's a wonderful name for them actually ^_^ and eletrocutes the body until it wakes up and that's how effigy is born

⚡ snipes' weapon arm can grow back if it is cut off, but it'd hurt like hell and he would prefer not to have to go that

⚡ sniper's body produces an immense amount of bio-electricity that he must discharge periodically or else risk causing damage to himself or his surroundings in the event of violent accidental discharges. the nerves in sniper's arms are mutated & highly specialized

⚡ he can project electricity from his hands over distances of up to 50 yards, but it's definitely a lot less precise. it's definitely at its most effective when he can physically get his hands on whatever - or whoever - and just really pump it full of volts

⚡ his body is adapted to be able to handle a ton of volts, but he's only resistant, NOT immune. if sniper goes overboard he can seriously fuck himself up

[canyouhearthevoices]

HALAZIA: First Reactions

Many people are, justifiably so, saying this is a HALAteez song. At this point I am pretty convinced that actually, we haven’t seen any HALAteez yet, and that FEVERteez are their own thing, same with TEH WORLDteez (who need a better name). I imagine that one of them (most likely THE WORLDteez) become HALAteez after some kind of disaster/failure. I’m still on the ‘Precious’ hype train.

The thing i found most fascinating about this one (other than the world losing gravity) was the monument to HALAteez - perhaps the people of the city, and/or the underground movement, remember HALAteez and the good they did, and thus semi-worship them? It’s also kind of funny that it is positioned like a scarecrow and possibly scares away the Guardians/government. It also has banners and chains hung over and around it like Nepalese prayer flags, which i found interesting. 

I also wonder why the old man (I think his name is One-Eye?) doesn’t show up here.

Anyway, I’ll just point out the things my film student brain noticed - full initial reactions below the line.

The same megaphones from previous MVs - correct me if wrong but I think they showed up in The Real and THANXX?

When I die I want a HALAteez scarecrow over my gravestone - not some angel.

This is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.

This is what I mean about it looking like a scarecrow and Nepalese prayer flags. The megaphone are also, of course, key to ATEEZ breaking the control the government has over people, and are used to play their music. 

This space mirrors the round building they were in in Guerrilla, but it’s not the same place I don’t think. Eithe way, it’s in the process of being destroyed, and this is our first image of gravity being a bit kooky. The impression that this gave me was that the government restricting people’s thoughts and feelings was so wrong that even the laws of nature started to go a bit haywire too. Or perhaps it is just another indication of the Cromer and its misuse/being broken destroying the world slowly. Think the dimension convergences and the gravity issues they created in Thor: The Dark World.

And Hwa is of course with the statue and the other followers of ATEEZ.

Please no this reminds me of the Maze Runner. Anyway, San (sue me I can’t quite recognise the members by silhouette despite my best efforts) is not having a fun time in this abandoned shopping centre (?) I mean shopping centres don’t ever seem to exist in dystopia for some reason - perhaps because they’re so essential to capitalism and a lot of dystopias emphasise dictatorships only? Either way, it’s dead. I don’t like that this leads me on the path of thinking ATEEZ think capitalism is good, however, I would agree that it is, to some degree, a form of self-expression which would also be stamped out by this government.

It also has this ball which floats because of kooky gravity - does anyone have any clue what this is except for it reminding me of the ball-shaped megaphone/speakers from Guerrilla?

It’s a horrid screenshot, but I spy with my little eye the room from ‘Answer’ - another connection to HALAteez (and Treasureteez but tbh I wonder if we’ll ever see them again).

I’m liking the Woo lone-wolf thing - it again reminds me of him knowing things and possibly being some sort of traitor. And of course, I don’t think anyone missed the Black Pirate hat he has (found???).

And of course the HALAteez flag.

Earthbender Yunho?!?!?!?!

More gravity, and note the speakers in the back. This is also a very royal-toned scene, with the gold chair and columns, but the sand makes it seem like this kingdom is past its prime. Also, can we just imagine a flashback to every time Yunho has been on a chair in a wonderous set in ATEEZ Mvs?

There’s definitely something up with Yeosang (but we all knew that). He’s been imprisoned and left alone a lot - this makes me think that he was chained before he became the symbol of peace from The Real. But nevertheless, he is chained - just like the HALAteez monument, and he watches the city burn. Or maybe it’s just pollution and Strictland loves its coal - it probably does, actually. 

Note that the background is all grey, but near Yeosang there are bits of grass and other plants. A key theme throughout ATEEZ’s Strictland journeys is that they have most of the colour in the MV, while the city is largely in grey - we can see this in the gold of Yunho’s scene, the cream colours from the ‘Answer’ set, and the grass in San’s scene + the matching gold of Seonghwa and the HALAteez statue. This also alligns with them calling the world a ‘grey city’. Or was that TXT? Shit, the struggles of following storylines with similar themes.

I’m certain they both used that description at one point - it’s just that TXT used it metaphorically and ATEEZ used it literally. 

Jongho gets to be the head of an army this time. I despise the weird white-eye effect they did on him - that’s the creepiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Reblog of he’ll appear in your room at night.

Oooooh yeah, Woo.

He knows something. But we also knew that.

 I just love this shot.

Again - he is the only colour, other than the green building (which reminds me of a toilet block) and is also very close to him.

Yunho vision time. Being seen through the eyes of the Guardians? Or did he just eat some shrooms?

There are either pictures being taken or lightning going off as Hwa becomes the Black Pirate. Very dramatic - either the photographers or the lightning sends a cool message. 

And please do note the Jesus imagery.

Omg they’re all there. From here the ball reminds me of the earth, but it has been smothered by grey - pollution and the loss of individuality and the arts.

Omg okay.

Well Joong has his throne/stage - as he should. And, of course, note the broken telephone pole, the followers around him, and the broken down car - they’re also in the courtyard of the same building from San’s scene (and presumably the rest of the MV). The colour literally frames and backs him up. 

He also has his Captain’s mark.

Mingi also shows up in the ‘Answer’ scene and is wearing gloves and a black hat - they’re not quite the same as the HALAteez ones, but that’s not the point.

I love this shot of him. He is, again, surrounded by and makes the colour, with his hair. Also note the ‘freedom’ written on the side of the monument, and that the base is surrounded by speakers.

I am IN LOVE with the ink staining on Mingi’s fingers - it’s a symbol of a writer and a creative, but also potentially of someone who is going a little crazy. Does anyone know how to do this? I want to wear my fingers like this if I get an opportunity to go to an ATEEZ concert.

Well, rip for Yunho sitting in a chair. He still gets to sit though, and this mirrors a similar angle shot from ‘Say My Name’ (and also of Yeosang in INCEPTION and Turbulence).

Omg I’m only halfway through the MV.

I know that this is just where the statue is kept, but this makes me think that Yeosang is going to fight in the Colosseum - which I imagine is something that the director of the MV considered.

So now we have three of them with the statue - Yeosang, the symbol of peace/prisoner, Mingi, who was by himself in The Real, and Seonghwa, arguably the most powerful member. 

Omg Woo, why?!?!!?

Traitorous behaviour, my dude.

Perhaps the black pirates weren’t able to fulfil their quest - or they are moving on to the next step.

Okay, they’re all there now. But it’s also a dance scene, so the importance is debatable.

I do love the choreo tho.

Yes, Yunho, arson is the way to go.

Dang, okay, something really went wrong with the Black Pirates, and I guess this version of ATEEZ are taking over. 

All of the followers are trying to pull the earth down again - to protect it? Destroy it? Heal it or something else? Goodness knows with ATEEZ. I never thought they’d burn a monument to the Black Pirates but here we are.

Is edgy Joong with a mic my favourite Joong? No and it’s not close, but I still like it.

Dang okay San.

Note the water - which is often used in the storyline to show that something is a dream. Especially when it’s also with my dude San.

He’s gonna die!

Alright, nevermind. What was the point of that? Was the ball just a dream?

Perhaps he’s just reached enlightenment, or become the demon.

It starts (snowing?) and these dudes, who I assume are from the government, turn up, too late. Makes me think that the ball thing was some type of MacGuffin.

But we do see that there is at least one bird left alive in this world, which is definitely a good sign.

And that’s it! An interesting piece of music and art to say the least. 

As far as the lyrics - they are relatively typical - they have lost their voices, they have lost their emotions and need to fight to get their freedoms back, they want to reach utopia and feel the actual sun and waves, and to have actual dreams and the freedom to follow them. 

I’m feeling a prequel to HALA HALA, since they talk about wanting to be alive, but the whole point of HALA HALA is that they are alive (until the song is over....)

And no one still has any clue what HALAZIA stands for - I would honestly be surprised if ATEEZ know, either.

What do you think? I love hearing other theories!

[gemwing1988]

Cuphead show: Dreamstones Edition Sneak Preview 8

In the Underworld, the Devil is in his private study, sitting in his large and comfortable chair and holding a book.

It had been a couple of days, even months since his last tried and failed attempt to steal Lexie and Cuphead’s souls, as well as Natty’s magic wand and kidnap Katie and making her his queen. He decided to take a load off and try to do some light reading to take his mind off this business with taking the soul of an infuriating kid with a cup for a head and a stubborn bride to be.

He crossed his legs and raised an eyebrow as he turnsed the book ap around to read the cover which is titled, “Controlling Your RAGE”.

The Devil opens the book to the very first page, reading it.

“Hmm…” he hummed before he licked his thumb and began to calmly turn the page, only to slowly rip the page and tore it out in sudden rage and tossed it away.

Scowling angrily, the Devil tore out more pages and threw them about all over the place. As he did so, Henchman walks, pushing in a dining cart which is carrying a golden teapot, an elegant teacup with a golden handle and a glass vase containing water and some flowers, which are a small sunflower, a daisy and a rose that are yet to bloom.

“Duh, hey!” Henchman greeted. “Looking great, Boss. Your fur’s almost all grown back.”

The Devil just growled furiously in answer and tore out more pages from his book, grunting while tossing the ripped out pages about.

Henchman gulps nervously as his eyes darted to one side. He then glances back over to the dining cart and got an idea.

“Oh! I think someone needs soothing tea poured into his favourite cup!” Henchman suggested happily as he picked up the teapot.

The mention of “cup” caught the Devil’s attention as he stopped and paused at ripping a few pages halfway.

“Cup?” The Devil echoed, looking up from the book.

Henchman smiled calmly as he gently lifted up the teapot and carefully poured in some steaming tea into the teacup. Suddenly, the Devil had a hallucination of his favourite teacup suddenly morphed into Cuphead’s… er, cup head.

And then, the flowers bloomed open, revealing miniature, fairy-sized versions of Lexie, Katie and Natty each sitting inside the rose, sunflower and daisy respectively.

“Hey, dummy! Lexie and I still have our souls!” The hallucination of Cuphead taunted.

“That’s right, Ol’ Scratch Butt!” The Lexie illusion added. “And I did NOT lose at Soul Ball! Get it through your thick skull and give it up already!”

“And I would NEVER marry you even if you were the last man on Inkwell Isles!” The illusion of Katie scoffed as she turned her away.

“Preach!” The Natty hallucination chimed in. “And there’s no way you’d ever get your grubby claws on my magic wand either, you overgrown ally cat! It works only for me, NOT some creepy old demon who throws a tantrum like a 5-year-old!

The hallucination of Cuphead made faces at the Devil while exclaiming mockingly before laughing obnoxiously. Even the illusions of the Dreamstones were laughing along.

The Devil gasps in shock before he drops his book, losing it big time.

“RRRRAAAAGGGHHH!!!” He half-roared, half-screamed.

Standing on his chair, the Devil got out his pitchfork and fired at the hallucinatory teacup and flowers, destroying the dining cart. Meanwhile, an unscathed yet startled Henchman was left stunned in shock as he was still holding the remains of the shattered teapot, unconsciously pouring tea onto the floor.

“That’s it!” The Devil snapped angrily as he slammed his pitchfork to the floor. “I’ve done everything I could think of to get Katie to be my bride and get my hands on that pink pest’s wand as well as that blonde brat’s soul!”

He continued seething as he breathed heavily in anger, he walked away from his chair while putting his hands behind his back with an evil glare.

“I’m throwing everything I’ve got at those humans and that cup!” The Devil growled.

Just then, Henchman peeks in as he pipes up, “Head!”

Annoyed, the Devil closed his eyes, trying not to take his frustration out on his minion over a simple correction (and this fic’s running gag).

“Thank you, Henchman.” The Devil replied. It’s true he had thrown everything he could think of but now it would seem that he would have to resort to extreme measures to get what he wants. He knew that the three human females are very powerful with their magic and abilities to transform into mythical creatures as well as armed with magical weapons. They are also cunning. He needs forces that will be more than a match for them. Powerful enough to subdue even Katie while not harming her. He does want his bride to be in perfect condition for their wedding after all.

Straightening up, the Devil commanded, “Now bring me my FINEST DEMONS!”

[starry-bi-sky]

got reminded of this again and it's still my fondest memory of BG3, it's just so sweet and funny. We were in the Shadowlands and iirc this was just as I was about to start fixing up the shadow curse. I'd been taking frankly, quite a bit of long rests because I liked talking to the companions and seeing if they had anything new to say.

I remember taking a long rest and swerving the camera around in a full circle, and out loud said "anyone got anything new to say? no? nobody wants to talk to me? aw :(" while I made my durge moon druid Anakin physically make her rounds around the camp. And I was feeling pretty bummed about her not having a romance partner.

"Karlach you got anythng new to say? Gale? No?" and I'm just imagining this happening in game is Anakin was going around trying to make small talk but everyone was just too tired to talk much, so she went to go talk to withers.

Which is what I go to do, except I was very surly about it. "Fine I'll just go talk to Withers then, old man you got anything to say?" and this fucker goes "yeah i do actually. why are you single."

to which i said outloud, "oh fuck you." But in game I think I either just made an excuse about the dark urges and her worry about them or said something about how no one's caught her eye yet. (I reloaded the long rest after the wyll cutscene to see if my response to withers had effected it. It did not.)

I can't remember what he said after that, but I figured I was just done for the night. Fuck yall im going to bed.

I hit "long rest" and BOOM! Like the universe just decided to go 'you want to romance a charming magic man? here's WYLL coming in with a STEEL CHAIR and a DANCE". Like I've barely interacted with the man this whole campaign because I don't know how to utilize his character class that well (but damn if im not going to learn to now).

So all i'm imagining is that in-game, Wyll noticed Anakin looked pretty down about not being able to talk to anyone, went to go speak to her, overheard some of her conversation with Withers. Then promptly decided "nows my CHANCE" and rushed back to the campfire to meet her there.

Let me tell you my utter disbelief when I got this cutscene. The IRONY. the COMEDY. I couldn't believe it. However, despite not using Wyll in my party that often, I was still very endeared by him since his introduction. The few times he was in my party I really enjoyed hearing him speak, and his little "do you believe in love at first sight, Lae'zel?" line was very very sweet to me.

So i've been lowkey very twirling my hair around my ear and going "i could talk to him for hours" in the back of my mind. But I wanted to try and romance Gale because he stole my attention first.

But safe to say I was very flustered the entire cutscene. I am also a big ol romanticist. Wyll's whole speech during that cutscene had me just utterly swooning, like AW? YOU'RE SO FUCKING SWEET? I WOULD DIE FOR YOU NOW?

It didn't help that the dynamic between a Wyll x Durge romance is just gold to my poor writer's heart. Like wdym it's monster x monster hunter? You would've hunted her down in the past, she is the very evil you have sworn to destroy. Except she's here in front of you with no memory of her past and is actively choosing to do good. She is trying to be good, and she is horrified of these urges she has.

Like I am eating that shit UP. Anyways Wyll Ravengard you have my heart

one of the funnier things that's happened to me while playing Baldur's Gate was that in Act 2 I still hadn't romanced anyone because I slept through the tiefling party, but I still wanted to romance a companion. And when I took a long rest I was disappointed to see that no one had anything to say to me, so I went to go talk to Withers. And upon starting the conversation the first thing he says to me is basically "why are you single".

Which, okay, damn old man. I'm glad I'm not the only one who noticed but also it's not like it was on PURPOSE. I wanted to romance Gale because he's charming, but no dice despite having 100 approval. I was not having much luck.

So after finishing up the conversation and having no one else I needed to speak to, I decide to go and take a long rest and finish up the day. Bam. Immediately upon long resting I get Wyll's romance cutscene where he asks us to dance.

Funniest chain of coincidences in this game so far. I like to imagine that Wyll overheard the conversation and, having been pining quietly, decided to shoot his shot. And it worked.

[weirdoofoz]

The Fire Is Coming From Inside The House

Rak hadn’t wanted to attend this party, and from the looks of it neither the king nor any of his chummy pals wanted him here either, but Tess had insisted he come so now he was here. Tess was a close friend of the king’s highest advisor, Artorius, and given her disgusting optimism she often times did not see the truth behind these parties. Inconveniently for Rak, Tess was also smart enough to recognize her own ignorance, and often relied on him for his insight. Officially he was just a guard, which given his years of experience fighting off the darkest elements of the world, he functioned quite well as. He groveled plenty about the job, even if the coin he got for it was ample enough. The fact that he wasn’t hired to bullshit was an upside he did have to acknowledge, despite his cynicism.

The party had proceeded without a hitch so far, Rak had gotten plenty of stink eye from all the knights who paraded into the room, armor clinking and clanking obnoxiously. Their desire to start a brawl with him was palpable, but they all knew they would lose, unless they had breached honor and attacked him all at once as a horde of clinking idiots. This is why we drink.

As some drunken singing came to an end one of the knights stood on his chair, and rapped a spoon against his goblet and with some time silence came. He spoke, his bellowing voice filling the room “I propose, a Toast! To Lancelot! This terrifying bear of a man has finally destroyed the gorgon of innsmouth cave, a feat we all thought impossible! And he’s still got all his fingers, and toes, and both arms, I can hardly believe it, to you my boy!” All the knights raised their goblets and drank heartily. Rak drank deeply, to quash the unpleasantness. The knight continued “And let us drink a toast to king Geoffrey, who has funded the greatest push to rid this world of the terrors that befall it. Geoffrey has gotten more done in the last 5 years than his father would even attempt to do in a fully century! What a blessing it is to have a king on the throne who actually acknowledges the worsening condition of this land, and puts the necessary effort in not just to maintain it, but to restore it!” Rak tilted the cup as high as it could go, he drank deeply until it was all gone, it was all he could do to block out the cheers.

“Drinking on the job?” Tess was unsettlingly quiet whenever she crept up on him like this

Rak placed his cup on the nearest table, “It’s not like you need the protection.”

Tess handed him a new cup of meed “Don’t say that so loudly. Here, I am a poor defenseless lady, and you will treat me as such.”

Rak said what he always said when he didn’t give a shit “yes m’lady.”

Tess swatted his elbow, but grinned, a moment later she continued “So what’s your take on the festivities?”

“They’re all liars.” Rak said into his cup, finishing his sip he continued “They’re patting each other on the back for doing the bare minimum to combat the darkness while contributing more to it than they destroy.”

“That can’t be true.” Tess said, fully aware of how Rak would respond, but determined to play the optimists advocate. “Lancelot killed the gorgon, and Gwyn desolated that den of goblins a week ago. Riene’s got the vampires running to the mountains, and ever since Robert started hunting the werewolves have been nowhere to be seen.”

Rak cleared his throat as he gathered his thoughts on all of this. with a deep breath he began “Riene is a lying bastard, he’s just been accusing peasants too weak to defend themselves of being vampires, and then feeding them to the vampires as punishment.”

Tess’s face dropped, “And how do you know that?”

“A vampire could never tolerate pretending to be a peasant, not even for their own protection, and if you haven’t noticed Riene is filthy rich, he’s the wealthiest man at a table of wealthy men. He has his hands in the pockets of some very old money, I can smell it on him.”

“Oh,” Tess responded.

Rak was feeling the blood rushing through him as he pushed on “Anyone with half a brain knows that the goblins are native to this island and only become threatening when their territory is encroached upon. Gwyn of course needs space for his cows to graze to make milk for his cheesemaking. And do you know what happens to the land when it’s overgrazed and goblins aren’t there to tend to it?”

“What?” Tess said, her smile as large as her incredulity. She thoroughly enjoyed Rak’s rants when he got this worked up.

“The land smoulders, and the mold gives way to horrid smokey slime, and it contributes to the darkness.” There was a moment where Tess thought she might need to interject but Rak simply continued “Robert is beyond imbecilic, because he has driven the werewolves out of the open into caves, and with the stress he’s put them under their conditions are all bound to worsen, and they will breed, and be back in larger numbers in 20 years time. So sure, he may have limited the darkness of their hunger for now, only to worsen our fortunes for the future. Now who did I miss?”

Tess giggled, “you’ve forgotten Lancelot.”

“Ah, yes, Lancelot.” Rak took a deep drink of meed, focusing on the sweeter notes in an attempt to lighten his mood “The gorgon is, or I guess was, the result of an experiment the king’s wizard attempted on the king’s daughter after he learned that she was actually Lancelot’s daughter. If anybody had taken the time to listen to her they might have even known.”

“I wondered why the king was so remorseless at her funeral.“ Tess thought for another moment, “So did Lancelot slay her as some way to apologize to the king for sleeping with his wife?”

Rak grunted, “I guess.”

“So what was conversation like with her, in that form?” Tess asked.

“Deeply unpleasant, she almost killed me in blind rage twice.”

“Terrific.”

The drinks continued to be plentiful, it was the only way that Rak managed to tolerate his job of condensing the complex stories of the terrors that people were facing in the real world into bite-sized stories to tell these people. They were bureaucrats, they were responsible for the hardships he recorded and reported on. But regardless of what he wrote or said, it seemed like they only ever understood it as a sort of dream. No matter how dire he made circumstances sound, not a single one of them was ever driven to action, even Tess was disappointingly slow at times.

Rak could smell something, it was faint, but persistent, something was burning. The smoke was odd, more alive somehow, it engaged his hindmind, he must find the source of this smell

A moment alter Tess noticed Rak’s absence, and searching the room with her eyes, she found him leering by the door, sticking his head out into the open. It was a beautiful summer’s day, exactly the kind of day the king’s vacation home was built to take advantage of. The house was a marvel, somehow always pleasantly cool even on the warmest of days. The windows were also so charming, at the back of the house a beautiful stained glass mural of a blossoming tree, which colored the light beautiful. Tess was always enchanted by the mural over the door, where Rak now stood. She got a good look of it while she walked over to him, it was a detailed depiction of King Geoffrey grandfather, Wilhelm who had originally commissioned the summer house.

Before Tess could reach Rak he suddenly turned and called to the entire banquet hall “Take cover!” and in a fluid motion drew his sword. Not a moment later a ball of writhing fire breached directly through Wilhelm’s face, and threw torrents of fires into the room. Rak turned to Tess “That’s a fucking fire elemental!” and immediately got to work providing safety.

Many of the knights had already turned to flee, but those that remained were uselessly flailing their swords at the fire, some had sought shields and were doing better by blocking the spouts of flame that charged at them. But some were already catching fire, and making more work for the servants who would have to douse them, and soon the rest of follow. Kicking and screaming and rolling around on the floor.

Rak called to the fire in its native tongue, and being adept at crafting swearwords in flemmeth he soon got its attention. And soon they were in the dance of one sided combat, licks of fire pelted at him, but he was just as fast as the beast, deftly dodging attack after attack. The burned and wounded were given cover to escape, but Rak could already feeling himself tiring, and the fire’s life force burnt bright with intention, and it had no intention of calming down any time soon.

Rak stood his ground and channeled the will in his heart into his sword, and braced for the onslaught. The elemental gathered itself understanding the challenge, and channeled itself directly against him in the opposite direction. The gush of flame beat against his sword, but was repelled, and yet it continued. Rak’s will to remain against a torrent of chaotic bright brave freedom. And as the heat intensified, Rak’s will slowly melted away, and flame bent itself around his sword until he stood in an unrelenting corridor of fire. Rak’s shoulders tensed themselves with the difficulty of their task as his will expended itself.

Right when he thought it might be a good time to give up, to give in, to become one with the flame a torrent of water shot out and struck the beast. Tess was siphoning off of the nearby stream across the road. The fire lessened and went, and Rak had the opportunity to lower his arms and watch Tess work the stream. She bent it into shape, her shoulders tensing with exertion as beads of sweat appeared upon her brow, and directed it towards the elemental’s heart. With an ancient word and a decisive gesture the stream froze, and struck it right in its center, and the fire vanished.

“One of these fucking assholes imported a fire elemental from the east!” Rak cried. None of the other people left lingering in the wreckage of the room was present enough to be offended by his remarks.

Tess crossed her arms, “What for?”

“Smelting.” Rak sheathed his sword and stormed off to tend to the wounded.

All the knights congratulated Rak on the kill. He didn’t try to clarify that he hadn’t done a thing to kill the beast, because he knew none of them would believe him, Tess enjoyed the anonymity anyway. They would all continue to hold their positions and possessions. The town criers would blame the “arson incident” on eastern immigrants the next day, citing the fact that fire elementals are native to their region. Sir Godwyn who had employed the elemental until it breached its containment never even faced a fine, Rak never even found sufficient evidence to put him on trial.

[maximwtf]

“Stressed.”

                    Lucifer x stressed reader

words: 1760

google docs pages: 3

warnings: mentions of stress from school, slight anxiety

opening: Exams are coming up and you’re stressing about them. Lucifer sees this and wants to try and help.

AN// reader can be any gender! Last old obey me fanfic!^^

                   “Stressed.”

You were at the dinner table, eating quietly. The brothers were talking with each other while eating, but to be honest you didn't really even feel like eating. There were a lot of big tests coming up and you knew how seriously Lucifer took these things. You being you, even the thought of disappointing Lucifer and Diavolo made you stressed.

Last night you had stayed up until the early morning hours, studying for the up coming test that was somewhere around next week. You weren't sure if you were able to hide the eye bags with concealer this morning because you were in a hurry, but you sure did hope so. Because if no one else will notice you knew for a fact that Asmodeus was about to notice them and ask if you slept at all, and if you said no he would go on and on about how bad it was to stay up and not sleep and how it would destroy your skin.

Just as you were in the middle of thinking about Asmo's skincare tips, he poked your side. "You look a little tired-" He started before you got up, pushed the chair under the table and stormed out of the dining room. That was it. You already had a headache and someone pointing out that you looked tired was just too much to handle at this point.

As you were speed walking through the hallways, you heard fast steps from behind you. "Not now Asmo..." You commented quietly, trying to walk faster to maybe get away from him. "Y/n, stop." A much deeper voice than Asmodeus' replied. This took you off guard and you turned around to look at who it was. To your surprise it was Lucifer who had been following you. "I ask for you to follow me to my room, now." The demon of pride said, turning around just expecting for you to start following him.

You didn't want to say anything. You were already feeling a mix of sadness because of the way you had let yourself to look like, feeling stress because of the tests and feeling anxiety because of all of this. To put this together it was a mess that you wanted to hide from.

Lucifer's foot steps stopped. You didn't know if he was mad at you or if he actually wanted to help you this time, but it didn't really matter. If he was following you just because he wanted to yell at you, it wouldn't hurt much at this point. "Y/n, I asked nicely once. Now please, follow me." The demon asked again. His voice didn't sound like he was mad to be exact but this man was hard to read sometimes anyway...

You decided to follow him after he had looked at you intensely for a long enough time that you had felt uncomfortable. He lead you to his office where he pulled out a chair for you and him.

there weren't many lights in the room but it didn't matter since the fireplace that was behind you was lighting up the room and making it cozy. In front of you was a wooden table that had a whiskey or a cognac bottle on it with two glasses. A long candle that was on the table too was bringing some light in the otherwise so dark room. Lucifer's office wasn't filled with different kinds of things but it fit his aesthetic. There was a skull on the wall and next to it was a shelf filled with fancy alcohols. The only thing that had a chance to bring in some natural light was a big window at the back of the room which was behind the office table.

You sat down but you didn't dare to say anything. You weren't sure if it was because you were feeling down or out of spite since you were forced to come here. Either way this all felt a little uncomfortable but then again all of this was taking your mind off of the stress. "Mind telling me what's going on?" Lucifer asked from behind your chair. He had been looking at the fire and before he sat down on the other red chair he threw a log into the fireplace. As he was pouring a drink for the both of you, you were looking for words. What were you supposed to say?

"it's the exams that are coming up. There are like four next week-" You started. "three." Lucifer corrected you calmly and pushed the round glass closer to you.  "whiskey." He added, waiting for you to continue. You were a little taken back by the correction but you brushed it off. "I'm not really sleeping well because of them, and it effects my mood. But I keep telling myself that i'm just not used to the way you do your school work here." You muttered, while trying out the drink. "I do understand your stress over this topic, but there isn't too much I can do since all of these tests have to be taken." Lucifer said. The light from the fireplace was shading his face with warm tones, as he was taking a sip from his drink.  "I can move them all on separate weeks if that would ease your mind." The demon of pride added as he moved his gaze to you.

You didn't expect Lucifer to be this nice to you, so him telling you that he can move the tests caught you off guard. "You would do that? Why..?" You asked in confusion. Was he falling for y- "Diavolo's orders. I must take care of you, and if it seems that you are getting too stressed and it's making living hard for you I have to do something about it." Lucifer explained to you. No, this absolutely wasn't out of love towards you, but it made you feel better to think that he did this because he did actually care about you in that way. "Oh- Well I would appreciate it if you moved them on separate weeks. Thank you, Lucifer."  You replied in a thankful tone.

The demon of pride didn't say anything for a while, he just seemed to be enjoying his drink. Soon he put the glass down, and walked up to his office table. "I'll move them all on different Mondays." He said quietly, as he took a pen and crossed something over from a piece of paper and wrote something on a different page. After doing that he came back to sit with you. "Do you want the rest of your dinner? You can eat it in here if you'd like?" Lucifer asked as he looked at you. "No thank you, I'm fine. I just feel like sleeping right now." You replied.

As you were about to get up to leave, Lucifer stood up too. "I'll walk you to your room, I know my brothers are looking for you since you left the dining room with such attitude." He stated, and went to open the door for you. You followed after him, not wanting to look up just in case one of the demon brothers saw you. You didn't realise where Lucifer was taking you, until you felt like you had already passed your room. It wasn't this far from Lucifer's office. You didn't dare to ask Lucifer about this, you just followed him.

Soon Lucifer stopped and opened a door to a dim room. You looked up and realised that this wasn't your room. This was the demon's room.

In the middle of the room was a huge black bed with 2 bigger pillows in the middle and 2 smaller ones next to the bigger ones. The bed cover was also black with a brown bed scarf at the end of the bed. On top of the bed frame was a huge black and white painting. You couldn't really tell what was going on in the painting, but Lucifer seemed to like it since he had it in his room. Around the walls were small candles in a candelabra that brought some light into the otherwise so black and dim room. In the right corner of the room was a human like skeleton with a ripped piece of clothing, "holding" the corner piece of the room up. The same wall the skeleton was on was a fireplace with pictures on the wall on top of it. On top of the fireplace were five things. a phonograph that looked like it was straight from 1877, Two bottles of something, one of the bottles was made out of glass and a candelabra at the corner of the fireplace, holding 3 candles. In front of the fireplace was a small wooden table that had a chess board on it. Around the small table were three grey chairs. In front of the black bed was a glass table with a long grey couch behind it. There was a chandelier on the ceiling and the black walls had golden decorations on them, nothing too much but the gold looked elegant. It matched the mood Lucifer gave off.

"what are we doing in here? I thought you were taking me to my room to take a nap?" You asked. You weren't mad at him, but this did come as a surprise. Maybe you should look at where you are going even if you are with someone....

"I think it's better if you sleep here. The brothers will knock on your door constantly, until you open it, if you go in there. Here they won't come." Lucifer replied and sat down on the couch. "I have some paper work to do, so you can sleep in peace." He mumbled and began to look through the papers he had brought with him.

You took couple steps closer to the bed, before sitting on the side. The bed looked like it was really hard but surprisingly it was really soft. You took your shoes off and got comfortable on the bed. A minute ago you were sure that you would have felt uncomfortable if the demon of pride was in front of you working but it didn't feel weird at all. You felt comfortable knowing that he wasn't going anywhere. Before you knew it you were asleep. The last things you were able to hear was the wood burning in the fireplace and Lucifer sighing every once in a while as he was writing. The pen he used didn't make much noise.

[nnyhil]

Johnny lifted a brow at the man's statement. "Really? You aren't worried about the police or anything?" He asked out of curiosity. There was a time in his life where he didn't worry about the police either, but he had long since past that. The thought of getting caught because he murdered people was a genuine concern of his nowadays. If he wasn't careful with the kills, he had to do a decent job of cleaning up and getting rid of evidence. Every time it happened he would always think that he wouldn't do it again; that he would learn from the consequences, but no. He always killed again. His self control was nearly non-existent.

Then he shrugged at the question. "I dabble here and there when I can, if only to try to cover my tracks. I'm more of a mechanical type person, honestly. Like with cars and bigger machinery." Johnny explained and took off his backpack. He put the bag on the counter and unzipped it. He gave the big guy a glance as he noticed that he kept calling him 'roundhouse'. It wasn't the worst nickname in the world, but he realized that they didn't know each other's names. "By the way, my name is Johnny." He mentioned as he pulled out a pair of black gloves from his pack. God, he did not plan on doing this tonight since it would be hard work. At least he wouldn't have to worry about hiding the body. "But you can call me 'Nny' for short if you want." He said as he pulled on the rubber gloves with a snap. It was time to get to work.

"Now where is the...? Ah, there." Johnny quickly spotted a camera behind the counter, on the ceiling, in the corner. Before he hopped over the counter he picked his knife back up. He then looked around for something to climb on to get to it. Thankfully there was a chair nearby. He slid it over, got onto it to get to the recording device. "Looks pretty old..." He noted, and cut the wires that were sticking out the back of it. "Cutting the wires take away its connection and power source, but sometimes the cameras store information inside themselves too." Johnny explained as he literally ripped the thing out of the ceiling. "Doesn't hurt to be safe." He threw the camera onto the ground with enough force for it to break in pieces. Then he jumped down to stomp on the pieces with his heavy boots until it was nothing but small bits of plastic and useless technology.

It was that moment he noticed he had been leaving blood footprints everywhere. "Ah, shit..." Johnny cursed and scowled at the blood on his boots. "I might need to wipe some of these away. Unless you're the only other killer in the world who also wears uh... pointed boots." He gestured a boot with his knife. They were buckled and had steel tips on the ends that looked similar to hooves. "This is not how I wanted to spend my Wednesday night." He groaned and stretched his body a bit.

"I bet there's a room in the back where he stores CDs or whatever the camera's caught. I have to destroy that too before leaving." He rounded the counter and walked up to the other killer. Johnny paused and stared at the taller man for a few moments. Suddenly he reached for the body and pulled the key ring off its pants. He needed those in case the back room was locked. "I don't mind an audience, but if you want to you can help." He told the big guy and began to look around for that room he described earlier. This time he carefully avoided the blood puddle, not wanting to refresh the red liquid on his boots. There was a small hallway with a couple of doors. One was clearly marked as the bathroom and the other said 'EMPLOYEES ONLY'. "I just wanted a damn freezy..." He sighed as he started to go through the keys to figure out which one unlocked the door.

"Take the blame for most things 'round these parts." he grunted, before turning to face Nny again, one brow raising "Oh? Y'good with that techie stuff; roundhouse?" Bob gave a small chuckle "Well, I guess I can't say no to an offer like that."

The man tilted his head to the side, shifting the body on his shoulder a bit "Alright; roundhouse....show me what ya can do." he leaned against the counter, eyes half closing as his grin widened.

[thatonerandomchick1]

Who’s Your Daddy?

Hey Loves! I hope you enjoy this one-shot. It was definitely something that was living rent free in my head that I am now glad to have written for your enjoyment. Sorry for Typos. FYI: The reader is the same age as Gojo and Shoko. 

It was a hot summer day in the busy city of Tokyo and I wanted nothing more than to go back home and relax in the AC.

However, it was my only day off and I’ll be damned if I don’t do something worth wild.... and by worth wild I mean go to the nearest coffee shop and sit in their AC. It was boring, but sometimes I crave such normalcy, especially with my line of work. 

I was sitting by a window reading my book while taking little sips here and there of my Frappuccino. I heard the little bell on the door ring, signifying that someone is either entering or leaving the coffee shop. However, with this ring I could feel an immense amount of cursed energy enter into the space. I glance from behind my book to see Fushiguro Toji standing near the front of the coffee shop looking as if he is searching for something. His eyes then land on me, he smirks, and starts walking over. 

Damn, I think he found it. 

I position my book to cover face, all the while I can here Fushiguro  pulling out a chair and sit down. 

“Are you trying to hide behind that book?”

“What makes you think that I’m hiding?”

“Because I can’t see that beautiful face-”

“What do you want Toji?”

“Can’t one old friend meet another in a coffee shop?”

“So you know someone else here? Good, go sit with them.”

Toji reaches out to pull the book out of my hands. I’m stubborn so I didn’t let him pull it out of my hands. We ended up in a tug-of -war match and tore the book in half. Toji let out a hardy laugh that caused others in the coffee shop to look in our direction. I was shocked and enraged by the destruction of my book and threw my half at him. I was almost to the end too. 

Somehow he laughed harder and caught my side of the book before it could hit him. “Now c’mon baby, don’t be like that. You have the day off and I’m free too. What do you say to us getting out of here?” 

“You know what? That sounds like a great idea.” I stood up gathered by belongings (including my destroyed book) and headed for the door of the coffee shop. Toji looked surprised that I actually agreed to his proposition without much of a fight. He was quick to recover and was hot on my heels. When we stood outside the coffee shop, Toji began to walk to the right and took my happy ass to the left. 

As I rounded the street corner, I ran smack into a brick wall. That brick wall being Fushiguro Toji. 

Damn it.

His hands moved from my arms to circle my waist. I felt myself begin to melt into him as I could feel everything that he was working with pressed flush against me.

Damn it.

His hands began to run up and down my sides and teasingly across my lower back. He lowered his head down until his lips brushed against my ear. “C’mon baby. Don’t be like that. Let’s go home now, Daddy’s thirsty.”

Good Lord, give me the strength. 

Toji lowered his head down as if to give me a kiss. He stopped just short of my lips, his breath splaying over them, and moved to gently brush the tip of his nose against mine. 

“I guess you should have ordered something at the coffee shop,” I retort smartly. 

By smartly I mean, breathy and barely clinging to any sense of my sanity. This man was hot. This man was sexy and pressed closer to me than white on rice.

Toji didn’t like my response and rather than respond, he kissed me full force. His lips were hot on mind and it was a hot, seductive, slow kiss. When we separated, I looked up and stated that he’d have to work harder than that.

Toji then gave a bright smile, lowered his head and kissed me again. This kiss was different from the first because it was full of promise of the things he would do to me later. I moaned into the kiss, to which excited Toji even further and he began to softly grind into me. I didn’t want to, but I pulled away from Toji. We were still in public after all. 

“One hour. That’s it,” I stated holding up one finger. He grabbed my finger, looking me straight in the eyes, and placed it in his mouth. He slowly pulled my finger from his mouth and it released with a pop. “That’s all I need.”

 I was late for work the next morning. 

[mypoisonedvine]

𝖗𝖔𝖈𝖐 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖇𝖔𝖆𝖙 || pirate!Jefferson x reader

summary: Captain Jefferson is feared by every would-be sailor, every tradesman of the British isles, even his fellow pirates; yet, he's oddly gentle with you... for now.

word count: 4.2k

warnings: smut (dub con, this is a dark fic! mostly soft dark tho!), unwanted creampie, verrryy slight breeding kink, implied/threatened noncon, unwanted touching, lots of praise, mentions of the plague (but this time it's not the current one), pregnancy mention, alcohol consumption, religion mention, use of a knife (not quite knife kink but not violence either), slight yandere vibes

Perhaps if you had woken up sooner, earlier in the siege of your ship by the pirates, you would’ve had more time to flee and make it to one of the lifeboats. If you hadn’t been so exhausted from a long day beforehand, you would’ve surely roused from sleep at the first signs of trouble. If you had thought to put on boots and not tried to run from your room barefoot, you might have made it further before the invading crew had taken over.

Then again, this all could’ve been avoided if your fiancé had helped you onto the lifeboat instead of leaving you behind to die. Useless fucking bastard. Now here you were in the hands of your ‘saviors’ who pulled you from the flaming wreckage of the ship they themselves had destroyed. Their intentions were anything but altruistic, though; you weren’t a survivor, exactly, but a captive. Survivors didn’t typically have their wrists tied in front of them.

“Pretty,” one of them growled as he ran a finger down your cheek; you turned away as best you could but you couldn’t do much with them holding your arms and circling in so close around you. Another finger pushed against your lips and probed your mouth, the salt of his skin easily the worst taste you’d even experienced.

“Got all her teeth, too,” he noted. “Must be rich.”

“Who gives a fuck if she’s rich?” yet another sneered, reaching to start pulling up your skirt as you tried to kick him away. “All that matters is she’s warm.”

“You know we have to bring her to the Captain,” someone behind you noted.

“Yeah, but can’t we have a little fun first?”

“No,” the voice answered back firmly, making all the men around you visibly deflate.

“Fine then,” said the man in front of you as he dropped your skirt, and you were relieved slightly just to know they had to leave you be for now. “You’d better be a good girl for the Captain, then,” he informed you through his rotted grin, “and maybe we’ll get reacquainted when he’s done with you.”

With that, though they didn’t seem too ecstatic about it, a few of the men in the crowd guided you across the ship, bringing you to a windowed door. at the stern of the ship. It was likely the first mate that knocked; you were too busy being restrained to do it yourself, and the other men were too busy restraining you.

“Come in,” a voice answered from the other side.

The door creaked a bit as it was opened, and you felt the need to recoil further when you saw the man in his chambers, staring you down coldly.

“We found her in the wreckage,” the first mate explained, “figured you would know what to do with her.”

“Oh, I know what to do with her,” he agreed flatly, and you heard a few snickers behind you. “Bring her here.”

You figured ‘bringing’ would involve more walking, but instead they essentially threw you into the room, laughing as you stumbled to the floor since you were unable to catch yourself with bound hands.

The door slammed shut behind you unceremoniously, and you were left to look up at your new, singular captor with watery eyes. He wasn’t nearly as repulsive as the rest of his crew, he was even… not bad looking, if you tried hard enough to see him that way. It helped that he was better dressed and groomed, though he still looked plenty erratic in his own peculiar way. At least you were indoors now, protected from the cold ocean breeze of the evening, and with someone whose gaze was a bit less ravenous than the others that had been on you so far.

He offered his hand to help you up, but you defiantly made your own way back onto your feet.

“A bit of an independent type, I see,” he noted with the slightest smirk. “You must really hate this, then.”

“Would anyone enjoy being captured by pirates?” you asked, voice a little too shaky to really sound properly indignant.

“Many prefer it to drowning in the Indian ocean,” he frowned tightly. “Some might even be thankful to those that show them mercy.”

You were about to ask what he considered mercy, but then he took a knife from a leather holster at his side, stepping closer and carefully slicing the ropes off of your sore wrists. “Th-thank you, sir,” you whispered, rubbing the tender skin, raw in a few places.

“Captain Jefferson,” he corrected instantly, voice tense even though his body language was still relaxed; nonchalant, even. “You’ve yet to enlighten me to your name, darling.”

For a moment you watched him twirl his knife around in his fingers and almost forgot your own name to answer him with. When you did stammer it out, he gave you a smile that lied just between friendly and predatory, white teeth sparkling in the dim light of his lanterns as he sheathed the blade at his waist.

“Lovely,” he cooed. “It suits you. That dress on the other hand,” he frowned slightly as he looked you up and down, “is atrocious.”

“It’s only a nightgown,” you defended, “and it was much nicer before it was torn and sullied by your men outside.”

“Well, I’m afraid it just won’t do,” he decided. “You see, I have a lovely dinner prepared this evening and I couldn’t allow you to dine with me in tattered rags.”

“You’ll feed me?” you realized aloud.

“If you choose to accept my hospitality,” he clarified, and the way he said it made your skin crawl; there were no friendly dinners with pirates, you knew that much.

“Your kindness is… appreciated,” you half-lied, “but I cannot accept. I’ll go to the brig.”

“No, you won't. You’ll be spending the night in my quarters. With me,” he added, making his intentions exceptionally clear.

“I most certainly will not!” you defended, incensed. His jaw tightened as he glared at you, just for a moment, before he turned calm and polite again.

“I could leave you to my crew,” he offered casually. “Forty-eight drunken sailors who haven’t seen a woman since we left port eight months ago... I imagine they would be considerably less kind with you.”

You swallowed, but the lump in your throat didn’t go down.

“So, get changed and join me for dinner,” he instructed. “There’s something you can wear in that closet over there,” he explained as he motioned to it, “and a screen you can change behind.”

It was an odd request, but frankly, you were in no position to refuse it. He walked to the other end of the expansive quarters to examine something on his desk, and you awkwardly made your way to the closet to acquire the garment before you ducked behind the screen.

You didn’t really feel comfortable changing at this point, and you didn’t really trust that he would give you privacy; you stalled for quite some time, just waiting for him to suddenly appear and try to catch you nude, but the moment never came, and you finally relented and began to undress.

Admittedly, it was nice to peel the wet, cold nightgown from your skin and slip into something warmer. The dress he’d provided was a burgundy silk pattern, much more flamboyant and revealing at the bust than anything you would wear in your spare time, but you still indulged in running your hands over the soft fabric and toying with the lace hem of your sleeves briefly. It was slightly old-fashioned and it made you wonder how he’d come upon a dress like this in the first place, let alone what compelled him to keep it.

You tried to tie the lace up the back but couldn’t quite get them all, bending your arms awkwardly to try to reach but sighing as you realized it was useless.

“Um… Captain?” you called out sheepishly.

“Yes?” he answered immediately, voice echoing from across the room.

“Could you help me with the bodice here?”

You didn’t really see him step behind you, but you heard him come closer and felt the warmth of his presence. He delicately brushed his fingers over the back of your neck, ostensibly to make sure your hair was out of the way, before taking the strings in his hands and lacing your dress the rest of the way, tightening it slightly. “Not too tight, is it?” he asked quietly.

“It’s fine, thank you,” you nodded as he tied them. You expected him to walk away but when you turned around he was still there, staring down at you with eyes that were darkened at yet sparkling in the candlelight. “Should I put on jewelry as well?” you asked nervously.

“No, this will do nicely,” he announced, his voice a little deeper than it had been before, his fingers reaching up to brush over your exposed clavicle. “You look beautiful.”

“Um, thank you,” you answered hesitantly, glancing away from his all-consuming gaze.

A heavy silence filled the space between you before he finally broke it with a smile. “The table’s set, you can take your seat,” he explained, stepping back and giving you room to walk to the dining table; it really was a fine meal, one you recognize as stolen from the kitchens of the ship you had been on before, the one that was rubble at the bottom of the sea now. “Is it to your liking?” he prompted, making you realize you were forgetting to mind your manners. It was probably best to stay on the good side of such a dangerous and unpredictable man.

“It looks delicious, thank you,” you rushed as he pulled your chair out for you, and you flattened your skirts to take your seat.

And it wasn’t a lie; around the candelabra was an array of meats, cheeses, and fruits, even some small tarts presumably for dessert. Any other circumstance and you would feel comfortable digging right in.

He didn’t sit across from you right away, moving instead to a liquor cabinet which he knelt before. “I have red wine, aaaand some mead,” he offered as he searched through bottles, picking two to show you. “Or are you a moonshine sort of girl?” he asked with a wink.

“I’ll just take the wine, thank you,” you mumbled. He nodded and poured you a goblet, unsubtly eyeing your cleavage from his new vantage point. You motioned that he’d given you enough, leaving him to pour his own drink and cork the bottle again before taking his seat.

“I hope you don’t mind if I pray before the meal,” he interjected suddenly, “I’m a devout Catholic.”

“Oh, go ahead,” you nodded.

He chuckled slightly, making you feel foolish. “I’m joking, obviously. I’m a pirate.”

“I didn’t want to make any assumptions,” you mumbled. “I’ve heard pirates are superstitious, after all.”

“So religion is superstition?” he mused, lifting his goblet to take a drink.

“That’s… not exactly what I meant,” you compromised as you shifted in your seat.

He just looked at you, seeming to relish in your discomfort, as he began to eat from his plate, still staring at you. "You're not eating," he finally noticed.

"I suppose I've lost my appetite," you weakly explained, pushing a grape across the plate with your fork.

"Is it me? Do I… repulse you?"

You couldn't determine if the question came from insecurity or was some sort of trick. "Um… no," you answered. "But it is the circumstances you've put me in."

"I really mean no harm. It's been many years since I've had a chance to enjoy the company of a beautiful woman for dinner, that's all."

"But I'm spending the night here?" you remembered.

"Yes," he agreed.

No harm indeed, you thought to yourself as you nearly rolled your eyes. "You dishonor me," you protested. "My fiancé—"

"I think we both know he's dead," he interjected sternly.

"He made it to a lifeboat," you informed the Captain.

"Do you not hear the storm outside?" he scoffed, standing up to approach his window and throw open the curtain, revealing the heavy rainfall and lightning strikes on the water. "No lifeboat could withstand that."

Just as you hoped to find something to say to break the silence, something that would distract from his obvious and unfortunate truth, but he spoke again first.

"Say, shouldn't it have been the women and children first?" he realized with a furrowed brow, turning back from gazing out the window to examine you. "How did he make it on and you didn't?"

"There… there was only room for one more…"

"He took your spot," Jefferson realized, before suddenly bursting into laughter. You frowned and felt your eyes sting as you looked at the napkin in your lap. "And you say I dishonor you, when your betrothed left you to die so he could save himself!"

He walked closer, and you tried harder to fight your tears as he leaned in right in front of you.

"We really should thank him for his cowardice, shouldn't we? He's made you the only survivor of the wreck of the Princess Marianna," he grinned, and in a moment of weakness to your anger, you looked up and slapped him across the face.

"It wasn't a wreck, it was a siege," you corrected with shaking anger as the Captain rubbed his cheek, "and I'm not a survivor, I'm a prisoner!"

"Is this how you think prisoners are treated?" he snapped, grabbing your wrist tightly when you reached out again. "Dressed in silk, given fine wine?"

"Stolen wine," you grimaced, "and I assume the same for the dress?"

"No, the dress wasn't stolen. It belonged to the woman I loved before she died."

You straightened suddenly, stunned by his confession. You hadn't even considered that a pirate could really love. "I… I'm sorry."

"So forgive me if I can't muster much sympathy for your dead fiancé, it's just that I can't imagine claiming to love someone and choosing myself over them," he explained with ill-concealed contempt, looking away. "I'd have given my life to save her. But there are no lifeboats in a plague."

Your eyes that watered with rage before now brimmed with sympathy; the hand that reached up strike him before now delicately cradled his face, soothing where his cheek began to turn red. "My mother…" you trailed off. "The plague took her as well. It's cruel to see someone you love rot away."

He looked back at you again and you felt exposed to his stare, like he could see right through you.

It made a chill run up your spine, but it was oddly pleasant. He held out his hand for you to place yours in, guiding you to stand before him as he drank in the sight of you.

"You haven't had any wine," he realized softly. "Drink."

Hesitant but entranced by him, you grabbed the goblet from the table and took a sip. His hand gently tilted the bottom further, encouraging you to drink more, until you were gulping down the whole portion. As you finished, a drop fell down from the corner of your lips; his thumb wiped it away, and he brought the digit to his mouth as he sucked off the flavor from his own skin.

You didn't even mean to watch him dart his tongue out and lap up the liquid, but it made your thighs clench of their own volition. "Sweet," he whispered, and you forgot he was talking about the wine.

He took the goblet from your hand and set it down, turning his attention back to you as he ran his fingers over your shoulder, gentle enough to make little goosebumps prickle your skin all over. His gaze trailed over your face in the same pattern that his fingers did, his delicate touch making you shiver as he caressed your cheek, your jaw, your lips and finally your chin which he lifted slightly.

“Kiss me,” he requested softly.

More willing than you expected or were willing to admit, you leaned in closer to him and pressed your lips to his, chaste at first before he started to pull you closer and move his lips with yours. It was him that traced the shape of your mouth with his tongue before sliding it between your teeth, breathing heavier through his nose and wrapping his arms around you tighter.

You found yourself being pushed back, guided to his Captain’s desk, which he lifted you just enough to set you on. Without breaking the kiss— though it did become much hungrier and more intense— he roughly hiked the skirts of the borrowed dress up your legs, grabbing you tightly as he held you by your thighs.

Perhaps you could blame it on the alcohol, but you weren't even really feeling it yet and you were melting into his touch, moaning softly against his lips. Just when you were beginning to really like his fingers rubbing circles on your inner thighs, he removed his hands from your skirts. Instead his hands fumbled at your back to loosen the very same lacing he had helped you to tie before, releasing you from the dress just enough that he could tear the front down to expose your breasts, which he instantly reached up to grope in the palm of his hand while you both sighed a little at the feeling.

"Beautiful," he sighed as he started to kiss his way to your ear, biting gently around it. "So beautiful…"

You were devoid of words or even thoughts, operating only on primal instinct as you shuddered and fumbled with his coat and vest, hoping to see more of him in return. He smiled against your skin, apparently pitying you enough to lean back and help remove his layers of clothing. When you pulled his scarf away, you gasped at the sight of a scar that encircled his entire neck.

"How did you—?" you began to ask with a concerned whisper.

"I was sentenced and hung for piracy," he explained quickly. "It didn't take."

He kissed you again as he kept stripping with your rushed assistance; you didn't get it all off, just enough to leave him in a loose-fitting undergarment that revealed his scarred, masculine chest which moved with every deep breath he took.

Your fingers trailed down the expanse of skin, your breath a little heavier as you found the belt of his trousers. He grinned and opened it himself with one hand, while the other moved under your skirts again, drifting higher and higher until he finally swiped a finger through your sex.

The feeling made you choke on nothing, and he did it again, gathering and encouraging your arousal. You never got a look at his member, your clothes blocking you from seeing anything useful, but you could feel the shape of it pressing into your thigh.

You didn't know enough about what to expect to be sure that it was particularly large… but you were intimidated either way.

His forehead rested on your shoulder as he guided the thick, spongy head through your folds, seeking your entrance hastily. Even just that pushed your lips wide apart, your head getting dizzy as you realized he intended to put that inside of you. When he found it, just barely beginning to push forward, he straightened up to stare down into your eyes.

“Look at me,” he demanded. “Look at me when I take you.”

Blinking quickly, you did as you were told, looking up at him and feeling your gut sink and your heart twist at the idea of being stripped of your decency in such a way by this man. It was hard to believe it was really happening; it was hard to comprehend the way it titillated you.

All at once, he shot his hips forward and filled you, making you nearly scream though you managed to suppress it to a gasp. He watched you closely the whole time, giving only one moment of stillness to adjust before he began to pull back and start the cycle all over again, each movement stretching you wider than you had ever dared to imagine.

His expression was almost blank, almost unreadable, except for his eyes; they burned with enough passion to consume you in the flames, seeming not to blink as if he couldn’t miss even a moment of your pain and your pleasure.

Releasing you from his stare, he looked at your lips instead which he captured in another dominating kiss, one that trailed over your jaw as he began to really find his pace and increase the brutality of his body carving its space inside yours. More than anything, you focused on keeping your eyes shut and trying to distract yourself from it so wouldn’t audibly moan.

His tongue and lips laved your neck as he thrusted into you, the shadow of stubble on his face just enough to scratch your skin while his hands guided your legs to wrap around his hips. You would surely fall limp onto the desk if he didn’t cling onto you so tightly, strong and calloused hands clutching your back.

When he reached some very specific place inside you, a jolt of energy through your body shot your eyes wide open and your hands up to clutch at his shoulders. “Oh—!” you choked, gasping for air as he drove the head of his cock right into it again. He pulled away from your neck to smile down at you proudly, watching you moan and shiver at the overwhelming sensation.

“Didn’t know it could feel good, huh?” he taunted huskily. “Didn’t think you’d like it?”

He continued his assault on your neck, sure to leave a mark now, and it was all you could do to hang on for dear life as he slammed into you, the loud noises of his skin on yours filling the room.

Pressure built and built inside you, threatening to seize up at any moment. His speed kept increasing, kept pushing you to the edge faster and harder until you cried out, your nails digging into his shoulders as your body tightened and relaxed rhythmically.

“Oh god,” he moaned, right against your ear, “beautiful… you can’t imagine how wonderful it feels when you let go for me.”

He didn't slow down even slightly, keeping you suspended in pleasure with every desperate thrust into your pliant body.

"Do it again," he demanded darkly, but you were already spilling over the edge and sobbing at the onslaught of sensations filling you from the top of your head to the ends of your toes (which curled without you even realizing). He grunted as your walls gripped him with every wave of pleasure, his fingers digging into your supple flesh, sure to leave marks in the morning. "That's it," he purred, "give me everything."

You realized with dawning horror that his moans were getting louder and deeper but he showed no signs of stopping to finish outside. “Wait—”

“Fuck,” he hissed against your ear, holding you tighter as you started to squirm. “You’ll make me come.”

“Not inside,” you whimpered, swinging your arms to try to push him away, “you have to— please take it out—”

He growled and grabbed your wrists roughly, making you yelp a little. “You’re mine now. I’ll do with you what I please.”

“No, I can’t,” you whined.

“You can,” he promised through his teeth. “You can take all of it, beautiful… you can take every last drop of my seed inside you.”

You sobbed and struggled but ultimately as you felt his cock begin to flex against your channel and heard his panting breaths against your ear, you knew it was too late and he was spilling himself within you. He groaned and you let out one last weak whimper, going limp in his arms as you felt warmth begin to bloom from your core where he’d filled it.

The only grace he could’ve given you in that moment was just to leave you alone, toss you into the brig like you would’ve preferred in the first place, but he couldn’t even do that: he stayed inside you, holding your face and kissing you slowly while he caught his breath, mumbling praises you didn’t care to parse.

He carried you to his bed, undressing you from the gown until you were bare and had only his body to shield you from the draft in the room.

"I never told you something about my beloved," he whispered in your ear as he cradled your body under the blankets of his bed. "When she passed, she was with child. I lost both of them… and now you'll be filling their space and giving me what she couldn't, what I'm owed."

You blinked blankly through silent tears that streaked down your temples.

"Oh! And I never told you the name of this lovely vessel you'll be residing on," he realized with a breathless chuckle. "Welcome, darling, to the Devil's Fortune. I hope you enjoy it here… because I won't ever let you leave."