#like. sir. why are you paying attention to only one kid. when you have two of them. sir. why are your attempts at being a real family

[lloydfrontera]

btw when i call asterion a bad parent it's not like. a complaint. i love that he's like that. i love that he's such a terrible father i love that he completely sucks when it comes to parenting i love that even when he's trying to do better he still fucks up.

i love that the first time we see him he's basically telling rakiel to give up his birthright and die quietly without making a fuss so it won't cause issues to the royal family in the long run. i love that when theo is almost begging him to change his mind so his brother won't be humiliated in front of hundreds of people he basically tells him to stop caring for something stupid like family and feelings. i love that when rakiel does an amazing feat and almost dies doing it the only thing he does is reprimand him and tell him how much of an idiot he was. i love that when theo has a breakdown after he failed at achieving the one thing he was raised for asterion did absolutely nothing and completely left him on his own. i love that even when he's proud and wants to do something for rakiel he completely ignores what rakiel actually wants and makes him prove himself again just for the right of his wishes not being ignored.

i love that he acknowledges how terrible of him it is to care for his child only now that he's doing incredible things and proving himself and tries to be a better father... while still completely ignoring the other child he has.

he just. he sucks so fucking bad. he's not even trying to be malicious he genuinely thinks he's doing the right thing and that it's for the well being of his sons but he's so awful at being a father it just makes things worse.

it's very funny. and also so fucking good. for me <3 not his kids tho they're having a terrible time someone help them pls

[nocturnalcharm]

A Change in Attitude (Wolverine x Fem!Reader)

𐙚 prompt: everyone knows logan as the gruff man with a grumpy demeanor. but that changes when you’re around 𐙚 cw: sexually suggestive themes (no smut), kinda innocent!reader, dirty minded!logan (heheh i couldn’t resist), can’t think of anything else 𐙚 a/n: thanks for the req! <33 only proofread once bc i was so excited to post hehe

18+ blog!! you are responsible for your own media consumption. if any of the above makes you uncomfortable, do not proceed.

“I’m so glad you accepted my invitation. Well, Charles’ invitation.” Hank was beaming, giving you a tight hug.

“Me too! Being a research assistant isn’t as fun as being an X-Men.” You gushed.

You and Hank had been friends for years, meeting when you were just kids. Your powers developed around the same time, making you lean on each other, since no one else could relate. Recently, he and Charles asked you to join the team, and you excitedly accepted. Who would turn down an opportunity like this?

You didn’t know much about the others, just what Hank told you, which was really just their names and powers, not their personality.

You walked into the building, taking a deep breath and accepting that this would be your life from here on out.

“Everyone’s in Charles’ office.” Hank made you aware. You nodded as he led you there.

Walking inside the office, you saw everyone for the first time. Colossus, Storm, Gambit, Cyclops… and Wolverine.

Logan was looking out the window, not paying attention to anything, while everyone else was thrilled to have a new team member.

“Ah, welcome, (Y/N)!” Charles greeted you. He introduced himself, as if you didn’t already know who he was. He went around the room and also introduced all the X-Men. When he said Logan’s name, he finally looked at you, and your stomach made you feel like you were on a rollercoaster just from his eye contact.

“I was thinking, we could all go out back and give a short demonstration of our powers. Does that sound alright to you?” Charles was so polite.

“Yes, that sounds perfect, Professor.” You smiled brightly.

As everyone shuffled their way to the yard, you caught Logan’s eye again. His frown and furrowed brow faded as he watched you walk outside, staring at you. You blushed, hiding your smile by turning away.

Once outside, everyone spread apart and prepared to show you their powers. They each did a speedy presentation, just showing you what they can do, or explaining their abilities. You cheered for everyone, wowed by what they could do! Yet again, Logan went last.

He stepped forward. “I have regenerative abilities. Oh, and these.” In a flash, he unsheathed his metal claws.

It took your breath away for a moment. “Nice! Very impressive.”

He nodded in thanks, returning to his original spot.

“Your turn, (Y/N).” Hank tapped your shoulder.

“Oh, yeah. Um.. My ability is bioluminescence. My hair glows on command, and I can create and throw light. It’s kinda similar to a ball of fire.” You placed your hands together, generating a small ball of light, before throwing it at a target in the yard, hitting a bullseye. The light ripped right through the fabric mark.

You got a few “oo’s” and “ahh’s” from the others, and from some of the students passing by.

“So that’s why your hair is blue! It’s so pretty.” Ororo ran over to you.

“Thanks! I like your hair too.” You smiled at her. You glanced at Logan to see his reaction, and he was already staring at you (again), with a smirk on his face.

“Amazing! So, (Y/N), tomorrow I want you to focus on combat training. While your ability is powerful, you might not always be able to rely on it. So, Logan will train you one-on-one, since he’s our best fighter. I want to see you two together at 8am in the training facility.”

“Yes sir.” You bowed your head in understanding.

The other X-Men dispersed, besides Hank and Logan.

“C’mon, I’ll show you to your room.” Logan walks over to you.

“Uh-” Before you could answer, Hank interjected.

“I’ve got it, Logan.” He replied.

“We’re gonna be training together anyway, might as well show her around. Get to know her.”

“Since when do you ‘get to know’ anyone?”

“Since now. Beat it, bub.”

Hank muttered a quick “I’ll catch up with you later.” And left you to the Wolverine himself.

Logan took you on a tour of the mansion, showing you just about every room. You had already forgotten where everything was by the end of it, besides the more important rooms. Throughout the tour, Logan was joking around with you, which you thought was strange. Not in a bad way! Just from his demeanor, you didn’t expect him to be the joking type, but you suppose you read him wrong when you first met. He was cracking you up throughout the entire tour.

Lastly, he led you down a long hallway. “The bathroom’s right here. It’s shared, so lock the door.” He winked. “And this is your room.” It was the last one on the right.

“Where’s your room?” You asked, and he pointed to the door right across from yours. “Oh! Convenient.” You laughed, thinking since you two were paired together, it was funny your rooms were next to each others; You didn’t even realize how it could come across as suggestive. He hid his smug grin.

You walked inside. The room was perfect for you. A nice bed, a closet, wardrobe, mirror, and a big window. There was also a small TV mounted to the wall. It’s all you could have asked for.

“Thanks for the tour!” You said as you walked over to your bags. Assuming Logan would leave you be, you started to unpack.

You pulled out the first packing cube in your suitcase, which just so happened to be filled with your underwear. You opened the wardrobe drawer and started to put away your panties.

“Y’need help unpacking?” You heard Logan’s gruff voice right behind you, making you jump.

“I-” You put your hands behind your back, hiding your underwear. “No, thank you.” A rose tint made its way to your cheeks.

“It’s nothin’ to be embarrassed of. We all wear underwear. You just happen to wear panties with little pink bows on them.” He winked at you.

“Oh my God.” You whisper, “I-I’m good. Thank you, Logan.” You usher him to the door.

“You sure? No matching bra I can help you put away?” He jested.

“Nope! No thank you! I’ll see you tomorrow!” You ushered him out, shutting the door, putting your back against it, and sighing.

Once you had most of your clothes put away, it was already 10pm. You didn’t eat dinner, since you felt too awkward to face Logan after the event that took place earlier. You just decided to take a quick shower, then head to bed.

You grabbed your essentials and went to the bathroom. The halls were quiet and dark, letting you know everyone else was likely already asleep. You showered quickly, wanting to rest up since you had combat training in the morning. Rushing through your routine, you were done in about fifteen minutes.

As you wrapped your towel around your body, you realized you forgot to bring your pajamas into the bathroom.

You groaned in frustration, but assumed it was fine since everyone was already away in their rooms. You grabbed your things and decided to make a run for it. Your room wasn’t too far from the bathroom. You unlocked the door, swinging it open and running— before knocking into something so hard, it made you fall backwards.

“Huh?” You hear a rough voice grunt out. Logan.

Of course it’s him.

You quickly repositioned your towel to cover yourself, while he turned around, confused. Looking down at you, he laughed.

“Are you okay?”

“I forgot my clothes…” You ignored his question, and completely forgot to ask why he’s standing in the middle of the hallway at night.. He offered his hand and you accepted, pulling you up like you weighed nothing. It was impressive. He leaned down, grabbing your shampoo and such for you, while you scurried off to your room. He followed right behind you.

“Sorry.” You apologize, as he sets your things on your dresser.

“Are you okay?” He asked again.

“Mhm, I’m fine. Thank you.”

You two stood there, for what felt like forever, staring at each other, only illuminated by the moonlight shining through your open window. You could use your powers right now, to glow, and light up the room, but you weren’t sure you wanted him to see you in a towel.

“I’m gonna get dressed now.” You break the silence.

“Oh, yeah. Goodnight, (Y/N).” He looked pleased.

“Goodnight, Logan.”

***

You’ve been tossing and turning in your bed for hours, with it now being 1am. You didn’t know why you couldn’t sleep; a new place, the thought of spending alone time with Logan in a few short hours, or the fact that your stomach pinged in pain from not eating dinner.

After wrestling with your thoughts, you decided to go downstairs to the kitchen and get a snack. Just a quick one, to settle your stomach.

You slipped out of your room and headed straight for the pantry. There were dried berries, nuts, jerky; lots of healthy options. You grabbed a small package of trail mix and sat at the bar, tearing it open immediately.

Lost in your snack, you didn’t even see Logan enter the kitchen.

“Shouldn’t you be asleep?” His voice startled you, making you yelp in fear. “Wasn’t trying to scare you, doll.” He laughed.

The nickname made your stomach flip. “I didn’t eat dinner, and I couldn’t go to bed.”

“S’alright. Just messing with you. But you should be sleeping. How else are you gonna take me tomorrow?”

“You mean ‘take you on’?” You emphasized.

“Yeah. Sure... Cute PJ’s.”

You looked down at your clothes; an oversized t-shirt and red plaid shorts. “Ha ha. Thanks.” You responded, sarcastically.

“C’mon, you can finish your snack in your room. You need to sleep.” He helped you up from the stool and walked you to your bedroom.

Once he turned around to go to his own bed, you said “Goodnight, Lo.” Giving him a nickname, since he gave you one.

He stopped in his tracks, and turned around. The smile on his face was something you could stare at forever.

“Goodnight, doll.”

***

The alarm on your phone woke you up, after the few short hours you slept. You dragged yourself out of bed and slipped on a tank top and Nike shorts. Then, you went to the bathroom; brushed your hair, teeth and freshened up before heading to breakfast.

Once you entered the kitchen, there was a lot of people— X-Men, teachers, and students alike. Only the X-Men, who were grouped at a table in the corner, noticed your appearance. Ororo waved you over, so you swiftly grabbed something to eat, and sat down next to her.

“G’morning!” You said, cheerfully, trying to hide your sleepiness.

They all greeted you back.

“How’d you sleep?” Ororo asked, making you glance towards Logan, who was trying to hide his laughter.

“Eh. I couldn’t really.” You shrugged. “Just nerves, I guess.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. That’s terrible, especially since you have to train with Claws over there. He doesn't really take it easy on anyone.” She jokes.

“Don’t worry. I’ll loosen up, just for today.” He had a satirical tone in his voice.

“Aw! Claws has got a heart today, huh!” Ororo laughed.

“Just for (Y/N).” He stood up, taking his now-empty plate over to the sink. You ate quickly, wanting to get a start on your day. Logan noticed your clear bowl, which a few moments ago was inhabited by fruit.

“Let’s go! We’ve got a lot to work on.” His tone was dramatic, teasing.

“Okay, Lo. I’m coming.” You stood from your seat.

Everyone looked at you like you had just sprouted another limb from your forehead.

“What?”

“Nothing.” Hank replied hastily, “Have fun.”

“C’mon.” Logan wrapped an arm around your shoulders in order to hurry you out the door faster.

Walking down the endless hallways of the mansion, you two finally reached the training facility. It was a huge, open room with a tumbling mat covering the floor. On one of the walls was a huge window, looking into a room with stadium seating— no doubt to have students watch and learn.

He started you out with conditioning; jumping jacks, running laps, planking, and everything else you could think of. You had already broken into a sweat after 10 minutes due to his intense regimen.

He continued his teachings, showing you how to throw a proper punch (which he made you test out on his stomach), evading attacks, and good footwork.

“You’re pretty agile. Do you have any background in fighting? Or acrobatics?”

“Yeah, I did gymnastics for 14 years. I’d hope by now I’d be pretty nimble.” You laughed, and he had a look of awe on his face.

Hours later, you were finally putting his teachings into use.

“We’re gonna spar now. I’m not going hit you, but you’re going to really hit me. Okay?”

You looked worried, and your eyes dropped to the ground. “Uh, I don’t know—”

“Hey.” He brought your attention back up to his face. “Regenerative healing. Metal skeleton. You can’t hurt me with your fists or feet. I promise.”

You just nodded.

“So, again. Come at me with everything you got. If you manage to knock me out of the ring, you win. If I pin you down, I win. We’ll stop training for today after this.”

“Okay.” Your voice wavered.

You two walk over to the mat with a big, white circle on it, and stand on opposite sides.

“Ready?” He cocks his head with the faintest smirk on his face, knowing you had just about no chance of winning. Of course you were unaware of that.

“Mhm!”

“Set. Go!”

He immediately runs at you, and the first thing you can think of is to kick his side. You raised your leg, and struck his ribs as hard as you could.

Quickly, so quick you didn’t understand what was happening, he grabbed your leg and pulled, sweeping your legs out from under you. You landed on the ground with a thud. It shocked you, unable to think for a moment.

But that moment was all it took for Logan to pin you to the ground, straddling your stomach. You tried to wiggle your way free, pushing his body with all your might, but it was no use. You were immobile.

You tapped his shoulder, signaling your loss. He got up and extended a hand to help you.

“I thought you said you were gonna go easy on me.” You fake-pouted.

“Oh, c’mon doll.” He grinned, “You did good. We’ll keep working on training tomorrow, okay? Same time.”

You nodded, right as you heard the doors behind you open to show Hank.

“Hey, (Y/N). Do you wanna eat dinner with me?”

“Ah, yes!” You jumped with enthusiasm. “We have some catching up to do.”

“Cool. Is she good to go?”

“Yeah, fine. Good work today.”

“Thanks, Lo!” You ran off with Hank, needing to shower and get ready.

***

“So, how’d today go?” He asked, taking a bite of his food. He ended up taking you to a really nice restaurant to congratulate you on your first day.

“So good! I feel like Lo taught me a lot, honestly.”

“Before I forget, did Logan ask you to call him ‘Lo’?”

“Uh.. no? Why?” You worried.

“It’s just… Logan is really friendly with anyone. He doesn’t do jokes or nicknames. It’s a little shocking you called him ‘Lo’ and his claws didn’t immediately come out.” He laughed.

His words left you even more confused. Hates joking around and nicknames? That’s the opposite of how he acts around you.

“But, he plays around with me? And he called me a nickname first. I thought he was okay with it.” You were nervous that the nickname you’d given him had somehow upset him…

“Yeah, that’s why it’s so.. out of the norm. Maybe he’s got a crush on you.” Hank’s voice dripped in mischief.

“No, that’s definitely not it. Lo’s just—” You corrected yourself. “Logan’s just like that with everyone. He doesn’t have a crush on me.” You couldn’t, didn’t, believe that someone like Logan, The Wolverine, would like you.

Hank chuckled, “(Y/N), I’ve known him for years. He isn’t like that with anyone.”

There was silence as he continued to eat, but you just sat there, butterflies in your stomach, unable to think.

“What did he call you? The nickname?” He asked, casually.

“Doll.” You mumbled, barely audible, embarrassed.

He nearly choked on his food, “And you think he doesn’t like you?”

“No…I think he was just being nice.” You responded, genuinely.

“Yeah... Okay.”

You finished your dinner with Hank, changing the subject and ignoring talking about Logan altogether, and just catching up with each other. You indulged in a few drinks, which was probably a mistake. You were not really a drinker, and definitely a lightweight, leaving you more than tipsy as you left for the mansion. It was late when you finally arrived, and most everyone was asleep.

You two both headed for your rooms. You quickly changed into another oversized tee and crawled into bed. But just like the night before, you couldn’t sleep. This time, for a different reason. It was definitely the alcohol talking but you needed to talk to Logan.

You threw on a pair of shorts and snuck out of your room. His door was closed, so you knocked. With no response, you quietly turned his doorknob. Once open, you saw him, asleep. His messy hair, in combination with his bare torso being exposed, made you feel sick.

In a good way…

In the best way…

You tiptoed over and shook his shoulder. “Logan. Wake up.”

He didn’t budge. “Looogaaann!” You whisper-shouted, and immediately you heard metal unsheathing.

His eyes flew open, “(Y/N)!” His claws retracted. “What are you doing? Did I hurt you? Are you okay?” His panicked state made him stutter out his words.

“Shh! You’re so loud. You’re gonna wake up the whole neighborhood. M’fine.”

“Are- Are you drunk?” He rubbed his eyes in confusion.

“Hehe.. Maybe. I needed to talk to you, though.”

“What’s wrong, doll?” He scooted over and patted the edge of his bed, wanting you to sit. You followed his order.

“Nothin’. Do you not want me to call you ‘Lo’?” Your words slurred.

“What? No, I like it.” He grinned but his brows were still furrowed in perplexity. “Why do you ask?”

“Hank said you don’t like nicknames. Or jokes! But we joke!”

“Don’t listen to him. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

“He said you have a crush on me.”

He held his breath, “Okay, maybe he does know what he’s talking about.”

“Y-You like me?” You hiccuped.

“Of course. How could I not?”

“I like you, too.” You whispered, almost scared of him hearing you.

“You do? Not just because you're drunk?” He quipped, pushing your hair over your shoulder and exposing your neck.

“Definitely not just because I’m drunk.”

You made your hair glow, wanting to see his face more clearly; wanting to study his expression, and never forget this moment with him.

[colourstreakgryffin]

hii! could u write headcanons of Alastor x Male (preferly) Overlord Reader who is the opposite of him? Rarely smiles, isn't very chatty and is rough? and since Alastor loves dancing and singing, maybe Reader is shy about it and doesn't like the way he dances and sings?

You know what! I am gonna kill two birds with one stone and make us an Ink Demon! Overlord. So, we’re basically like Baby Bendy from the second BATIM game. Don’t know it? Look it up. One side is harmless and adorable and the other side is monstrous and vicious— however. Here, it’ll just be causal demon form than evil demonic Ink Demon form! Anyway. Let’s goooo. I’ve been doing a lot of GN for Alastor, this time we got a man! I don’t know if you want us to be romantic, I am just gonna guess platonic

Alastor- Follow Me

You look pretty cute and friendly. Black and white, cartoony, with adorable stereotypical demon features like arch-like horns and a long-thin tipped tail. Most importantly, your entire body is made of ink. Only your clothing is touchable, otherwise, your ‘skin’ is so soft, liquidity and stains anything it touches. For that reason and one more, you harden yourself up and avoid conversation

Alastor, the Radio Demon, is not a fan of making friends with men. He prefers women, they are just easier to talk to. However, you’re not as vile and unlikeable as most men with your personality is. You’re the strict, stern, responsible one of the Overlords, ordering the other Overlords to pay attention to Camilla Carmine

Alastor doesn’t know why but he finds you interesting

Your uncontrollable Ink Demon side is extremely violent and merciless so you had to develop a thick shell, in order to make sure nothing can make it trigger at random. It’s too much of a risk, hence why you behave in the way you do. It’s a self-defence mechanism and it’s a protection method to everybody else around too

Alastor doesn’t even care that you’re untouchable. He will touch you anyway, getting annoyed by the black ink forming your body in a in-fact, solid fashion, getting onto his sleeves or hand but he ignores it to converse with you

Alastor also ignores the gruff warnings you give out when he approaches you. That you’re dangerous and that the Ink Beast will try rip him to pieces if it’s let out. If anybody thinks Alastor would be scared of the Ink Demon, they have another thing coming. He’d actually like to face off this Ink Beast one day

It looks like, to every other Overlord, that Alastor is talking to a brick wall when he talks to you. Since you’re not responding not even looking at him, just focusing on Camilla and her statements with the most bland and rough expression, not a single hint of a grin. You’re the opposite of Alastor and yet, he’d like to befriend you

Alastor keeps trying and trying without even halting. He’s quite the persistent man and when he wants to befriend somebody, he won’t stop until he gets what he desires and at this moment, it’s to make friends with you, rather you shut him down and bark at him to stay away

Alastor finds your overall appearance cute. You look like you were drawn for a kids cartoon in the early 19th century. Possibly around his own time of the 1920s-1930s. You’re bendy and mendable, you defy all laws of logic and have cartoon physics on your side. You’re like if a kids cartoon demon tried to be a big bad mafia boss and ruled a part of Hell itself, and he isn’t filtered when it comes to this opinion. He straight up tells you all that

Alastor, overtime, ends up succeeding like the little I don’t take no for a answer brat he is in getting you to agree in joining him out to the Hazbin Hotel and accompanying him for a nice little tour. Throughout the tour, he notices that some music in the Lobby is blasting and without even hesitating, he drags you over to join him into a dance

“Come, my dear sir. Let us dance this tension away!” Alastor chimes out rather excited, immediately leading you into a half-messy dance performance with him as the head. You just stumble along, slightly gritting your fangs in discomfort but it won’t be acknowledged by Alastor in the slightest. All he cares about is putting a smile on your face

Alastor laughs warmly as you attempt to try keep up with him during this dance he had dragged you into. You’re clearly quite timid, not enjoying the way the Deer Overlord dances and sings but you either don’t care enough to shut him up or you are too kind to try shut him up

Alastor likes to tease you about your behaviour and your looks. He isn’t frightened or intimidated at all by your beast side and you’re too colourless and squishy to be scary, he does actually view you as a wonderful friend. Even whilst you’re cold and dismissive, he can get you to acknowledge him and be polite to him so it’s a win for Alastor in the end

It’s been a long time since Alastor got a male friend so he can be more crude and snarky with you, without actually needing to be sensitive, like with his women friends

“My good fellow. You don’t need to act so broody. Smile now, you’re safe and whatever you are worried about, it’s not going to do anything to you or me or anybody in this Hotel”

[harunayuuka2060]

Leona's child self and Riddle's child self: *both looks grumpy*

MC: Erm... Are you two alright?

Leona's child self: What do you think?!

Riddle's child self: Staying in Heartslabyul isn't fun at all...

MC: ...

Malleus's child self: I thought I made myself clear that you two should never go back.

Leona's child self: Why should I listen to you, huh?!

MC: Malleus.

Malleus's child self: *pouts*

Riddle's child self: *goes to hug MC*

Riddle's child self: MC, I'm sleepy...

MC: *carries him* Didn't you get any sleep in Heartslabyul?

Riddle's child self: People there were always poking my cheek...

MC: ...

MC: Alright. No one's going to bother you here, Riddle.

Leona's child self: Hey, how about me?

MC: Do you want to be carried too?

Leona's child self: Obviously.

MC: *sigh* Okay. Hup! *scoops Little Leona with their other arm*

Malleus's child self: ...

Lilia: What are you doing here, young lord?

Malleus's child self: My bride isn't paying much attention to me.

Sebek: How dare they! My liege is the cutest kid in their care and all they have to do is focused on him!

Malleus: And you left only because you were feeling jealous. Does the child of man know this?

Malleus's child self: No...

Silver: I suggest that you return to Ramshackle now, sir. MC must be looking for you right now.

Malleus's child self: I don't want to. They're not the same when we first met.

Lilia: Hmm... Young lord, I think it is unfair to compare them to their young self. The time you have met them isn't the same now.

Lilia: Plus, your present self has fallen in love to this Prefect. *chuckles*

Malleus: *clears throat* You didn't have to say that to him, Lilia.

Lilia: I'm just making a point.

Malleus's child self: ...

Malleus's child self: But I don't want to end up like you, Lilia.

Lilia: ...What?

Malleus's child self: You fell in love to my mother and father, and you got neither of them.

Malleus: ...

Sebek: ...

Silver: ...

Lilia: *shocked face*

MC: What did you do and you ended up getting banned in Diasomnia? *carrying Little Malleus in their arms*

Malleus's child self: I made Lilia mad.

MC: Huh. That's rare. Often, it is the other way with other people. *chuckles*

Malleus's child self: ...

MC: Hm? Is there something on my face? You're staring.

Malleus's child self: Bride, will you marry me in the future?

MC: Er- Hm... Sorry. But I don't think you should be the one asking that.

Malleus's child self: ...

Malleus's child self: *smiles* Then that means you prefer to hear it from my adult self?

MC: Yeah... That.

Malleus's child self: Okay! I think I can return to my timeline now.

MC: Huh? Already?

Malleus's child self: *nods*

Malleus's child self: *gives them a quick peck on the cheek*

Malleus's child self: I'm excited for the future to come. *disappears into hundreds of floating, green lights*

MC: ...

Grim: Where's Baby Hornton?

MC: He left.

Grim: Already?

MC: Yeah...

Grim: ...

Grim: What's wrong with you, hench-human?

MC: ...

MC: I think... I think I've seen a ghost before he left.

Grim: Like the ghosts here?

MC: No- Ugh. I can't explain.

*Just a few seconds before Little Malleus left*

MC: *has caught a glimpse of someone staring directly to them*

*That person smiling, seemingly satisfied, before they disappeared from sight.*

[spahhzy]

When little Jaune Arc got to the playground, he honestly thought it would be the same old playing by yourself thing. Most of the other kids were in the process of being trained by their families in the way of being a huntsman.

Jaune sighed. He, too, wanted to be a huntsman... but for some reason, his family never wanted to train him. No matter how many times he asked or begged, it was still a resounding 'No' from both mom and dad.

Jaune feet kicked up some dirt as he made his way towards the swing set, but to his surprise, instead of it being empty, their was actually someone sitting in the swing next to him.

Timidly, Jaune got into the swing next to the stranger, feeling a bit uncomfortable as the stranger face was covered with a hood, but Jaune did his best not to pay attention to the stranger but them sitting and NOT doing anything wS beginning to scare him.

???: Don't be afraid friend.

Lil Jaune's blue eyes widened as he heard the stranger speak, how did he know!?

???: I promise you I mean you no harm, I'm just here to think is all.

Jaune: o-okay...

???: Why are you here all alone?

Jaune: ...uhm cause I-I don't have any friends.

???: Really, well, that makes two of us...I too don't have any friends....well, that would be a lie...I had one good friend but I haven't seen him in a long time.

Jaune: Wow... I'm sorry, I'm sure you guys were very good friends.

???: You betcha, you could say we were inseparable!

Jaune: Wow... I wish I had a friend like that... Everyone is just off being cool heroes and stuff...

???: You want to be a hero?

Jaune: Oh boy, do I, that's like my dream!

???: What does a hero usually do?

Jaune: Hero's....uh they help those I need, like in the stories and fairytales.

???: So you want to help people?

Jaune: Mmhm! I wanna help everyone!

???: Everyone, you say, hmm? You know what, you're going to be someone hero one day, I can already see it.

Jaune: Really, sir, you mean it?

???: Mmhm! And you know what, if I may, could you help me out? Think of it as part of your hero training.

Jaune: But I'm not a hero...

???: Not with that attitude you won't be. Think of this little request as the stepping stones of your training!

Little Jaune pondered for a moment but reluctantly nodded if he could begin to start being a hero in training then he would help the stranger.

The stranger reached into his cloak before pulling out...

Jaune looked on in awe...their in the strangers hands was a small blue sleeping... kitten?

???: Can you watch after this little fella here? They have been through a-lot...

Jaune paled...he couldn't bring home a cat, his mom and dad would be upset!

???: I know what you're thinking, and don't worry, only you and some other folks can see them.

Jaune: Really...

???: Oh, most definitely! Your mom, dad, and sisters will see nothing.

Now Jaune was beginning to have doubts...a invisible cat?

Jaune: Wait...who are the other people who can see them?

???: Bad bad people, they tried to hurt the poor fella. I don't have names, but I can tell you one will have a metal arm with red eyes, another will be snow witch with a scar on eye, another will have gold eyes and cat ears just like our friend here and another one will have silver eyes and a large scary stick...

Jaune just gulped. These people seemed like real villains. Why would they want to hurt this poor cat!

???: lastly, watch out for the silent double colored terror... she will be the most persistent.

Jaune just nodded as the stranger gently handed him the blue kitten.

???: You're gonna be a great hero, Jaune. I can already see it in you.

Jaune: Y-you think so?

???: Oh yes, I already see a little bit of my friend in you, and he was my greatest hero.

Jaune: Wow!

???: Yep, but it's time for me to go now, little hero. Remember, take very good care of our little friend here, and when the time is right, I will meet you again in a land where fantasy comes to life!

Jaune: O-okay, uhm...

???: J.C.

Jaune: J.C?

???: mmhm!

Mama Arc: Jaune, honey, come on its time to go!

Jaune: coming mom...uhm thanks J.C for...giving me a chance to become a hero.

Jaune then carried the kitten close to his chest as he turned his back to the stranger, who waved at him, Jaune turned and waved back before finally returning to his mom as they both left the park, and Jaune found it weird but he thought he saw bright blue eyes coming from the stranger...ah well must have been a trick of the light.

The stranger watched as Jaune and his mother left the park before looking at his hand that began to fade away.

???: Yes, you will become the hero, Jaune...my hero!

A gust of wind blew around him as his hood fell and revealed a mess of blonde hair and a slightly old face marred with a disturbing chesire grin and bright blue eyes.

CCJaune: My hero forever!

[blacklegsanjiii]

Hc about the Twins!0&3ji au

Robin has probably seen the siblings plenty of times, but, somehow she never conected that the cook of the crew was the polite girl that walked around Baroque Works and seemed to be one of Crocodile daughters (much to her surprise). Sanji also never noticed because Robin always had a hat on and was called "Miss All Sunday" by everyone.

She only notices this the day after Sanji telled she was one of the adopted kids of five Warlords. When herself, Sanji and Nami are sunbathing and the three boyfriends of the blonde and the redhead are around the deck, Robin is looking at Sanji and something just clicks, making her laugh and say "So, it was you, right?" at Sanji, making the blonde look at her confused and the other pay attention.

"What do you mean?" Sanji asks, "You and your siblings used to stay at Baroque Works sometimes, right? I was Miss All Sunday" Robin answers, making Sanji gasp and laugh, the same thing clicking in her own head. Much to the other four people around confusion.

"What are you two talking about?" Nami asks, looking both her girlfriend and the dark haired girl, "Well, I just noticed I already knew Sanji for 11 years" Robin says with a chuckle, making the others excetp the blonde ask WHAT?!

Then, she starts to tell. The times were she would just see them from afar, the times were the redhead (who she now knows is Ichiji) would go at her office to ask about history, the times were Sanji or the pink haired girl would help her with books, when one of them would ask something if she wasn't busy. Sanji is smiling remembering, and Luffy, Usopp, Zoro and Nami can't help but find it really cute.

After talking, Robin makes a comment about how cute Sanji and her siblings were. And also about how much the blonde and Reiju looked alike in appearence, except from the hair.

I love this so much. I do but I feel like Sanji would recognize Robin because I headcanon Sanji has Over Sensitive Observation Haki and just being raised by who she was she learned to identify everyone. So while Robin doesn't recognize her and it has been years from Sanji staying at Baroque Works because she moved to Baratie to work. Sanji never brought it up because hiding parentage and she figured she and Robin would catch up on eventually.

They didn't until after the time skip when the crew finds out who her parents are. She also has a foul mouth and is a true pirate now so Robin in her head is going 'blonde child + crocodile is one of her dads + siblings = Sanji was the smaller twin from Baroque Works' and Robin looks at her, because the three of them are in lounge chairs sunbathing with drinks Sanji had made. Sanji looks at Robin with cocked eyebrow as Robin is giggling to herself.

"Something funny, Robin?" Sanji asks.

"I just remembered you were the blonde child who would wander around Baroque Works. I can't believe I didn't make the connection until now." Robin laughs lightly with a big smile. Sanji just loses it.

"Huh? What's going on?" Nami asks, looking between them as the boys start keying into the conversation.

"I've just realized I've known Sanji for years." Robin answers. "You were so small back then. Your redhaired brother would often come find me for history books whenever he was in Alabasta."

"Ichiji was always fascinated with history, though I do suspect it had more to do with military tactics than interest in culture." Sanji nods. "Niji, the blue one, was the one who was interested in martial arts specifically and Yonji, the green one, was the one who made science based cooking, not in a nutritional sense but I think he would have done well with a chemistry set but I understand why he didn't have one." Sanji grins.

"Hold on, you know Sanji's siblings?" Zoro asks.

"Yes, well, being the adopted children of Sir Crocodile, my former boss, they would be in Alabasta from time to time. All of them were rather cute and adorable in their own senses." Robin says. "Sanji was almost the same size as her brothers, Bentham often enjoyed dressing her and Reiju up."

"Bentham?" Luffy asks.

"Bon Clay." Sanji and Robin answer in sync.

"What size was that?" Usopp asks with worry.

"Oh, you two were ten and your brothers were five? Maybe a little older?" Robin questions.

"FIVE?" Usopp yells drawing the other Strawhats out as Sanji looks at Robin with slight betrayal.

"Five what? Why is Usopp-bro yelling?" Franky asks.

"She knew Sanji when she was a kid! And Sanji was almost the size of her brothers who are five years younger!" Usopp yells. Jimbei starts laughing, full bellied and loud as everyone looks at him.

"She was rather small, used to fit in the palm of Doflamingo's hand. I believe Hancock has a photo somewhere of Mihawk threatening him while he has all five of the kids on him." Jimbei nods.

"Mmn, you and Reiju look very similar, almost identical if it weren't for the hair." Robin says.

"And the eyebrows." Sanji hums.

"There's family photos?" Zoro grins at Jimbei and Sanji.

"Absolutely not." Sanji snipes.

"A lot of family photos." JImbei grins back.

"You're both dead to me." Sanji gripes as Zoro grabs Sanji and throws her over his shoulder. "Hey!"

"You worried Usopp, so now we're going to go calm him down." Zoro responds as he grabs one of Usopp's hands to pull him.

"I'm coming too!" Nami yells as she gets up. "I was worried too." She pouts at Sanji who looks shocked and apologetic.

"I was ten!" Sanji defends herself. "Put me down!" She yells at Zoro.

"Luffy, we're going to cuddle, do you want to come?" Zoro yells at the captain as he starts heading to their room. Sanji is trying to get free but Zoro just holds her tighter.

"Huh? Yeah! Cuddle puddle!" Luffy cheers as he follows them.

[gatitties]

Not in my world

─ Strawhats, Heart Pirates & Kid Pirates x isekaed!student!reader

─ Summary: you find yourself in a totally different world and trying to adjust

─ Warnings: none

Part two / Part three (Kid Pirates)

─ Then, you were comfortably asleep in your bed, completely passed out from studying so much for the exam you had tomorrow, however, surprise! out of nowhere you were on a boat with a rubber guy, a thief, a guy with moss on his head, a lovesick cook, a reindeer, an archaeologist, a liar, a cyborg and a living skeleton.

─ Screams and screams, confused on your part, scared on the part of Nami, Chopper, Ussop and Luffy… he just joined in the screams because they were all screaming and he wanted to too.

─ It took you a good week to assimilate that you weren't in your world, but you got over it thinking about the end of exams, the stress and the panic of losing your scholarship, you were literally like "I'd rather be a pirate than do my homework on integrals and derivatives."

─ Although it was hard to get used to all that stuff about pirates, marines… there was a lot of history behind it that you didn't understand but just keep going, you've still been lucky to have the best team on your side.

─ Luffy would ask a lot of stupid things about your world, God bless you because the boy was completely taking patience away from you, "Yes Luffy, for the tenth time, we poop just like you, stop asking the same question."

─ Zoro stood on the sidelines, just looking at you as if you were going to stab them in the back, while you looked at him and said "sir, calm down a bit, I can barely walk without tripping over my own feet."

─ Nami would be glad to have another bath partner, the only bad thing for her is that you had no money to go into debt with, so for now you were on her good side.

─ Ussop began to be your faithful friend, like Nami and Chopper on some occasions, you added to his ranks as one more scared, although you certainly had good reasons to be more scared than them.

─ Chopper got very worried when he noticed your irregular hours of sleep, you explained to him that it was all part of your school schedule and that it would take you time to change it.

─ Just like you had shitty sleep schedules, your eating schedules went hand in hand, Sanji thought you were worse than Luffy, not because of the amount you ate, but because of the hours you ate, he always scolded you when in the middle of the night he found you in the kitchen, as if you had never been fed in your life.

─ You were closer to Robin, there was something in her that screamed 'motherhood', something that reminded you of your mother and made you see her as one, so every time she spoke to you or explained things of this world, your mind simply writhed thinking, you would end up crying later that night.

─ The one you looked at the most carefully was Franky because what the hell is going on with his hair? You spend hours looking at his hair, wondering what physical laws apply to stay like this or how much damn hairspray he spends in a day.

─ Well, your first impression with Brook was that you had taken drugs or something (same with Chopper tbh). Skeletons aren't supposed to talk in your world, but anyway, over time and after a few punches for his insinuations towards your underwear, you ended up liking his music a lot, you end up asking him to play songs from your world, trying to make them similar.

─ You were running down the street because you were going to be late for your psychology class, not paying attention to the 'cut off for construction' signs so you ended up falling down a sewer and the fall was too long, long enough to give you time to assimilate that you were no longer in your world.

─ Your theories were confirmed when you landed on top of a poor bear, but hey, at least the fall was less painful.

─ Bepo and you shared silent glances until you both spoke at the same time, "Sorry!" "Wait why are you apologizing? One second HOW CAN YOU TALK?" "I'M SORRY!" "DON'T APOLOGIZE FOR THAT!" No, you definitely have to have been high to understand the class you were going to and having a bad experience.

─ Unfortunately no, it was worse than taking drugs, you were in another world, one full of dangers and pirates, no, no, you weren't going through that, you were too tired to assimilate it.

─ The first time you see Law he almost cuts you in half if it weren't for Bepo, you already adored this bear. You had to stay inside the Polar Tang because unfortunately they were on a route in the middle of nowhere.

─ "So now there are two depressive whores in a submarine" you muttered giving the captain of the ship a last look while he left you in a room to talk to the others.

─ The good part, no boring classes, the bad part, what are you supposed to do locked up here? Law didn't trust you so most of the time you had someone on top of you watching you.

─ Your saviors were Penguin and Sachi, they had that energy of idiots who share half a neuron that made you amused, oh, you would cause Law so many headaches for doing so many nonsense with these two men. "Who the hell put bread in my food?!"

─ You didn't have anything fun to do and now… you can assemble your body like it's a puzzle for annoying the captain.

─ Ikkaku and you didn't take long to connect, being the only two women in the cold submarine, you found in her someone to turn to if the change of environment overloaded you at times, because yes, you liked to collapse thinking about your old life when you were alone.

─ Definitely the reason why Law didn't throw you in the middle of the sea or abandon you on some random island was because Ikkaku liked you and he also felt a little sorry for you, so a little more help in the Polar Tang never hurts.

─ Just when you were going over a bridge you decided to take a look, the water moved calmly many meters below you, your intrusive thoughts "jump in and finish all the shit from the studies" while your reasonable part "no, not yet you are young, this is just a small stone in your way."

─ You got rid of all thoughts but oops… someone careless who was riding a bike pushed you enough for your body to fall into the void, well, it seemed that someone had chosen for you.

─ You expected to die at least, hey, you didn't have to go through all the stress, but you definitely didn't think of ending up in another world, falling directly into a ship, strangely you didn't cause any injuries but…

─ "Who the hell are you!?" A deranged redhead grabbed you by the collar of your shirt looking at you as if he was going to bite your throat out. You were scared to death "Is this hell? I knew I shouldn't have cheated on tests."

─ Killer prevented Kid from killing you at that precise moment by indirectly calling him a demon.

─ "I'll throw you overboard you damn brat" In fact, that sounded pretty good after discovering simple things about this world and its brutalities, "bro, I'll throw myself overboard" someone had already pushed you off a bridge, you were ready to die so you didn't care much.

─ "What the hell are you two doing?" Killer just watches as you prepare to jump into the sea while his friend laughs at your stupid bravery. Yes, the blond prevented your possibly second death that day.

─ You find yourself spending more time with Killer because he seems like a mother and you miss yours, he was the most 'understanding' with your situation.

─ Kid just used you to do all the shit work that nobody wanted to do, since you were on his ship you weren't going to sit idly by. But he ended up making you overexert yourself with some things.

─ This caused Heat to see your first stress attack in this world, oh lord, he didn't know what to do when he saw you shaking and crying while pulling some of your hair strands too hard. He just gave you an awkward hug hoping you would stop crying.

─ They found out the hard way that you weren't good at dealing with situations under pressure, you stuck a fork in Wire's hand because they were pestering you at dinner with so many questions and teasing about your world.

─ Kid began to worry when he saw you trying to blow your brains out with one of his guns, at first he thought you were a stupid reckless, but the truth is that you were just a depressed student.

─ He decided that you could stay with them as long as you were not a 'nuisance', the thing is that they ended up becoming fond of you, especially Killer, now you were like his child and he was taking care of you whether you wanted it or not since you will never know when you will return to your old life.

[epicstuckyficrecs]

Epic Stucky Fic Rec | February, March & April 2023

I'm alive! 😅 I started making a fic rec for February and March in the beginning of April and then I completely forgot about it... and then by the time I remembered, April was almost done so I figured I'd wait 😆

Should I make a new banner? yes. Will I? Maybe ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Complete

💙 Additional Information series by notlucy/ @notlucy (Modern AU, Coworkers, Sugard Daddy/Daddy Kink, BDSM | Explicit)

Proprietary Information (85K): Okay, so Bucky Barnes has a crush on Steve Rogers. The guy's gorgeous, talented and, oh yeah, the Chief Design Officer of the biggest tech company in the world. In other words: he's so far out of Bucky's league that he might as well be in a different stratosphere.

Preoccupations (6K): Steve doesn't usually pay much attention to the new hires. But there's something about this kid.

Brooklyn's on Fire (4K): Steve's turning thirty-seven and he really only wants one thing for his birthday.

Gimme Danger (6K): Bucky doesn't have time to explore his exhibitionist kink. He's very busy. He asks Steve about it anyway.

Remember You Well (in the Chelsea Hotel) (5K): Steve can't quite believe he has Bucky back. It seems too good to be true after the hell he endured while missing him. The universe, however, is full of surprises.

Close Call (6K): Bucky and Steve make it through two weeks of living together before the inevitable "first fight" of cohabitation. They (mostly) handle it like adults. And the makeup sex is killer, in Bucky's not-so-humble opinion.

To Sir, With Love (10K): Steve recognizes that his jealousy over Bucky's infatuation with one of his professors isn't rational, but that doesn't make it any less real. And, hey, if you can't beat them, join them, right? Besides, he's always wanted a tweed jacket.

Mergers and Acquisitions (41K): Steve and Bucky are going to the chapel, and they’re going to get married. Meanwhile, Peggy and Natasha…

💙 a day in the life by powerfulowl (StuckyFlangst) / @stuckyflangst (Post-Endgame Fix-It, Time Travel, Groundhog Day | 20K | Explicit): Steve Rogers wakes up on Tuesday October 30 1956, and doesn't seem to remember his life that well. Why does every day feel so familiar? And why does he keep getting visited by tall, dark, handsome men who remind him of Bucky?

The Day After, the Aftermath, or Whatever It Is That Feels Like a Hangover, Christmas, and His Birthday All at the Same Time by buckybarnesdeservestobehappy (hutchabelle)/ @buckybarnesdeservestobehappy (Modern AU | 1K | Mature): Bucky wakes the day after his thirtieth birthday with a hangover, a hardon, and a beautiful man sharing his bed.

Tell Me I Can Have It All by HaniTrash/ @hanitrash (Stucky in Wakanda | 1K | Explicit): Steve is tired of Bucky trying to push him away after he comes out of cryo in Wakanda. Rehashing the same argument brings up some new information that Bucky can't ignore, and makes him second-guess his decision to keep Steve at arm's length.

I'd Fuck Me by fandomfluffandfuck/ @fandomfluffandfuck (Evanstan, PWP | 6K | Explicit): When unexpectedly given a unique hotel room while on a Marvel press tour, Chris Evans ends up spending his evening alone, yet still making the most of his room... (Part 1 of Fuck This)

I'd Fuck You by fandomfluffandfuck/ @fandomfluffandfuck (Evanstan RPF | 8K | Explicit): Armed with nudes that contain enough raw sexual energy to cause nuclear explosions, Chris decides it's time to fucking blow Sebastian's mind... (Part 2 of Fuck This)

Captain Orgy 69 @ gmail.com by Gfawkes/ @gfawkesphoenixchokingonashes (Evanstan RPF, Friends to Lovers | 12K | Explicit): Or, Chris and Sebastian finally star in that rom-com they've been talking about.

My Heart Belongs to Captain Rogers by lavenderbucky (Canon | 3K | General): Steve wakes up late for his run, wears one of Bucky's shirts in public and goes slightly viral on Twitter. You know. Just an average day in his life.

5 Times Bucky Styled His Hair + 1 Time Steve Did It For Him by lavenderbucky (Post-WS | 8K | Teen): Steve is so happy to have Bucky back. His best friend is a little different to how he was in the 40s, but in some ways he's the exact same. But even if Bucky is his favourite person in the world, and even if Steve thinks his hair is really, really pretty, Steve's feelings for him are completely platonic. Right? Or: a love story, told through Bucky's hair.

WIP

💙 This is (not) a Ghost Story [COMIC] by PottersPink/ @potterspink​ (Post-WS | 11/31 | General): Steve moves into a haunted house. Well — everyone else is convinced it’s haunted, anyways.

Countermoves by cable-knit-sweater (cable_knit_sweater) (Evanstan RPF, CATFA | 11K | Explicit): Sebastian knows about Chris Evans, has to take his shot when he sees him. Chris doesn’t have a clue who Sebastian is, aside from being a pretty guy he meets in a club. The attraction is instant, and Sebastian takes Chris home, with a little detour or two. Chris thinks it’s just a one-night stand he’ll be thinking about for a long time, cursing himself for not getting the guy’s number. Until a couple of months later, he has the first table read for Captain America: The First Avenger, and he meets him again.

💙 Whip Crack by Quarra/ @quarra (Canon Divergent, Tentacle Monster Steve | 15/? | 119K | Explicit): Tentacle Monster Steve is captured by Hydra. They send in the Winter Soldier with a bull whip to break him, but as far as Steve’s concerned the most beautiful creature he’s ever seen walked in to his cell and started waving a sexy black tentacle at him. It’s love at first sight.

💙 hey now, you’re an all star (get your game on, go play) by buckyismybicycle/ @buckyismybicycle (NHL Hockey AU | 20/? | 63K | Explicit): Boston Bruins trade notorious party animal/human disaster Bucky Barnes to the Dallas Stars, and captain Steve Rogers is not impressed when Fury puts him on babysitting duties. But, as he gets to know Bucky - really gets to know Bucky - he wonders if maybe the media has got it all wrong - very, very wrong.

Re-Read

💙 Latte Art and Slow Dancing in the Dark by deadonarrival (Modern AU with powers, Daddy kink | 89K | Explicit): Bucky is a somewhat well-adjusted former army sniper that got his shoulder blown out. He took his discharge and went home to finish school. His best friends and roommates (Nat & Clint) are CIA agents and tip him off that their local Sbux is hiring. He gets a job there and meets none other than the hottest guy on earth. So how does one get a date in the most top secret government location in the US? What happens when that guy is more than just a hot dorito and wants to give Bucky everything he wants? 

Now! That’s What I Call 90’s Slow Jams by deadonarrival (Modern AU | 11K | Mature): Steve goes home for the wedding of Becca Barnes and while he’s there he runs into his old crush. Her brother. Except now they are both hot as shit. Oh no whatever will happen.

Brooklyn by togina/ @toli-a​ (Post-WS | 8,7K | Teen): "Captain America, what’s your stance on gay marriage?“ Everyone knows that, by now. Everyone but Bucky.

[angelbroad]

"I know you better"

Type: Fanfiction

Fandom: One Piece

Characters: Sir Crocodile, Donquixote Doflamingo

Relationships: Implied Dragon/Crocodile and Doflamingo/Crocodile

Marineford was brutal.

That is something that was naturally expected when someone like Whitebeard led the pirate forces against the Navy on a rescue mission for Ace. How cruelly ironic, Crocodile thought. Even when he was young, having his father save his biological children rather than the ones he found on the streets seemed impossible. Looks like it still was. He wouldn't even be here if it weren't for Monkey D. Luffy, whose presence in Impel Down served to have Crocodile spiral into a near heart attack.

He had only found out when he was in prison, the truth about the kid. And truthfully, he was more than ready to kill both Dragon and Garp for leaving him in the dark for so long, but letting the kid grow into craving the life that would put the most massive target on his back. Regardless of his feelings, one thing was certain.

Crocodile could never let Luffy know who he was to him.

It would be for his own good, he rationalized. Crocodile himself was probably the least emotionally competent person he knew, and he knew that Luffy could and would do better than him. And that did not just apply to Luffy, no one else could know. The last thing Crocodile wanted from his newfound freedom was someone using the strawhat as leverage. Those boundaries he had unconsciously set really started to clash after he had helped Luffy get past Mihawk. If the Hawkeye knew something was going on, he did not say.

Crocodile was glad he couldn't sweat, even when his eyes kept darting around for Luffy as Mihawk was occupied with something else. The kid was trying to get to Ace, up the wall.

"Hang on.", Crocodile said as he tried to use his sand to give the kid a boost, only for it to dissipate shortly after so Crocodile could dash in front of Luffy to block an attack.

Strings. Strings followed by a laugh so infuriating it had burned itself into Crocodile's brain. Donquixote Doflamingo was here.

Crocodile clenched the base of his hook, maintaining eye contact with the taller man as he addressed Luffy. "I will take care of him.", he said, "Just go."

Luffy looked hesitant for a moment, but he gave a look of determination before he turned on his heel to keep going. Crocodile allowed himself one last look before that obnoxious bird opened his mouth again.

"Crocy!", he said with delight, "And here I thought the next time I'd see you again would be behind bars."

Crocodile would not entertain this, all he had to do was keep this man down here.

Doflamingo pouted at his silence, "Did prison make you mute?"

"No. You are just not worth my words.", Crocodile responded, to which Doflamingo tried to wrap his strings around him. Crocodile easily transformed into sand, and that was the start of their brawl.

Their hits became so powerful, that anyone around them would be blasted away from the shockwaves.

"Hard to make me convinced you're here for the runt on the execution slab, Crocodile.", Doflamingo said as blows were exchanged. The taller man was dancing around the hook, caught in a familiar tango between Crocodile and himself, "Is it Whitebeard?"

"None of your godamn business.", Crocodile responded, the two now stuck with Doflamingo's foot on Crocodile's hook. "Why would you even be so confident to assume I wouldn't make an attempt on the man's life after this?"

"Cause I know you better, Wani dear."

God, he hated this. The taller Warlord had always been a pain to deal with, but this was neither the time or place for Crocodile to deal with his so called shenanigans. Still, Crocodile was somewhat glad that he knew Doflamingo well enough to be aware most of the man's attention would be on him and not the kid. He barely payed any mind to the combatants around him, why would a random kid bother Doflamingo?

That is, until the kid started to falter and nearly got killed by the Admiral.

"Luffy-", all it took was a moment for Crocodile to falter before he found himself being kicked backwards. He had used his hook to pierce the ground to not go to far. Once he realised what he had done, the look Doflamingo was met with once Crocodile lifted his head was of pure panic.

"Ahh, so it is something else!", Doflamingo said, not moving from his spot.

Crocodile lifted his head, "You're fucking delusional."

"Hmm..maybe you're right-oops!", Doflamingo said as he suddenly moved and had his strings cut the area right behind Luffy, which he thankfully dodged. He was so close to getting to Ace.

That moment of fear had Crocodile transforming to sand and rapidly throwing Doflamingo inside of a sandstorm. He would not be getting out. Doflamingo would struggle to open his mouth for longer than necessary as he worked on parrying and dodging blows from both hand and hook with his limited sight. The sunglasses did serve as a protective barrier between his eyes and the sand though.

"So, here for the kid? Doesn't make a lot of sense, y'know."

"Then forget it."

The fight went on.

"I mean, he's the reason you were in Impel Down-"

"Quiet!"

"Really, the only reason you even let the kid get this far would be...wait a minute.", Doflamingo's smile somehow got wider as Crocodile was caught by the throat, too frightened to focus, "...Wait a minute~" Doflamingo then slammed Crocodile into the icy ground, breaking through it and having the man's head touch the water.

The sandstorm subsided, and Crocodile's head was dragged back up as he coughed up the water. Shit. He furiously worked on drying his head and hair as Doflamingo taunted him from above.

"My my, Mr Crocodile. Of all the things I expected, I did not take you for a family man!", that cackle was the worst cacophony Crocodile had ever heard, "Who on Earth did you have to fuck to pop that one out?"

Doflamingo was slammed to the ground with a hook at his throat, and he was still smiling like he was remembering good memories. Crocodile still hadn't dried off completely, but his face stung slightly from the furious scrubing.

"I am going to fucking kill you.", he spat, not caring if water or spit got on the man's face.

Doflamingo chuckled under him, "I'm right then, aren't I?" 

Strings wrapped around his left arm and side and shoved Crocodile aside. On the bright side, the air wheezing past him dried some of the ice water. Getting up, Doflamingo's attention was still on him. A blessing and a curse.

"I always wondered what your life was like before I came around. You were always so closed off."

"I wonder why.", Crocodile said sarcastically.

Doflamingo laughed again, licking his lips. That move never failed to have Crocodile cringe.

"Now now, Gator man. I won't do anything to your darling son, as long as you hear me out."

"What more do you even have to say to me at this point?", Crocodile asked, his patience slowly reaching its breaking point.

"You know we make a good pair, don't lie to yourself.", Doflamingo said, "This war will leave a power vacuum like no other, which leaves a place for both you and me in the New World."

"That is a fancy way of saying you want me to be your underling."

Doflamingo chuckled, "Ah, you still know me."

"You're not exactly a hard man to read, Doflamingo."

Now completely dried off, and with his refusal being made final, the two giants continued to clash. They both knew neither would perish from this conflict, it would be too good to be true. But now Doflamingo posed a bigger threat that before. Crocodile knew he was being a hypocrite, having nearly killed his own child more than twice, but he would never subject him to the physical and emotional torture that was Donquixote Doflamingo. 

That punishment was reserved for Sir Crocodile alone.

[gaiathemexicanbeauty]

UHM

Boss

Can I have headcanons of the Mad Dog of Shimano watching his crush play with a toddler and he realizes he's in love </3

Boss <\3

majima crush headcanons

warnings: mention of alcohol but mostly dumb fluff! :3

reader is gender neutral! :D

idk who ur calling boss but if its me HEYYY SIR YES SIR I CAN WRITE FOR YOU 🫡

also i know you only asked for the crush with a toddler but this will be just a general crush headcanon list as well!

thanks so much for requesting! i’m steadily getting through the requests i have but make sure to check out my ask box! thanks for reading! <3

i think if majima had a crush on someone i feel like he wouldn’t really know it at first, he is most definitely the “we look like a couple of besties” guy but not on purpose

that or he’s completely ignorant and when (if you ever do) tell him, he’s like “????? REALLY??”

BUTTTT!! when he finally realizes it, he is so distraught; he’s the guy that thinks about it at night and he’ll toss and turn before finally laying on his back

he stares at his ceiling with his fingers intertwined over his stomach before he growls and gets out of bad to go out and find something to do to get rid of the giddy feeling in his stomach (he wouldn’t tell you that, though, he punches anyone who insinuates he has a crush)

so he obviously doesn’t tell you when he has a crush on you

and i think when the two of you are alone, he feels a lot less inclined to be all “HEHEHE HAHAAH IM CRAZY AND INSANE” to impress you but he’ll act funny when you’re in a bad mood

had a really vivid image of you and majima maybe at one of those rooftop bars or maybe ur just on a rooftop hanging out (for whatever reason) and you’re telling majima all about your day and how you need a drink but you may as well have stopped talking bc he wasn’t paying attention, he was looking at you and taking in the view of the moon and the way it was shining on you; not that you would really notice bc of the completely unbothered front that he puts on

i think seeing you with a kid is what really reels him in, though, he’s almost scared of the way his heart leaps in his chest

you and him probably head for a park (there’s like two in kamurocho if i remember correctly, it’s been a long day guys) after a night on the town

majima is laying on a bench with his arm over his eyes while you sit by his feet and change your shoes for something more comfortable before a toy runs into one of your shoes and knocks it over

“hey, you got in the way of my car! you’re sitting on my tunnel!” a shrill voice says, running up to the bench you are sitting at and snatching the car away.

majima has most definitely woken up from his very light state of sleep, one of his arms hanging off the side of the bench and the other laying on his stomach as he watches you start to playfully argue with the kid

and he regrets it

he doesn’t say anything while he watches you make a “racetrack” (it’s really only sticks that you and the boy can find around the park) with the small boy, he’s afraid he’ll spit up a butterfly or something from how many are flying in his stomach right now

you’ll occasionally look up to see what majima is doing and he’ll feign disinterest, picking at his nails or something to make it seem like he totally he wasn’t looking at you

“MISTER! DO YOU WANNA PLAY TOO?!” the boy shouts from inside the slide, making majima sit up as you shrug your shoulders at him and gestures for him to join you two

and how could he say no to that?

the three of you spend what only feels like a couple of minutes making the rest of a racetrack before a group of small boys catch the small boy’s attention and he leaves\

“you sure can hold your own with a kid.” majima mumbles from behind you, sitting down in the exit of the slide and leaning back on his hands

“what can i say? kids like me.” you say, shrugging softly before you crouch down to majima’s height inside the slide

you boop him on the nose with your finger which makes him jump before you say “which is probably why its so easy to be around you.”

majima’s face goes beet red before he swats your hand away, making you giggle as he grumbles about how he ‘hates’ you

IM SORRY IF THIS WAS LITTLE TOO LONG AND MAYBE WASNT WHAT YOU ASKED FOR HELPPP 

i reallly tried to make it obvious that he had a crush on you but imo, majima himself isn’t the kind of guy to be really obvious about who he likes unless he’s drunk

but either way, i got so excited to write this and had so much fun! :D i hope you enjoy it! <33

[berry-messy-scribbles]

Lend me a helping hand

Pairing: Jesse Pinkman x GN!Reader

Summary: You and Jesse Pinkman attend the same class back in high school days. One day both of you become study buddies after Walt decides to pair you up to help him with chemistry. Little does he know that you two won’t pay much attention to textbooks, as a mutual crush begins to unfold.

Words: 3,131

Tags: SFW; gender-neutral reader; general fluff that turns a little angsty in the process but don’t worry it ends on a light note; reader and Jesse are younger due to this being set in his high school times.

Warnings/triggers: curse words; mentions of smoking cigarettes and drug use.

A/N: Reader’s implied favourite subject is chemistry so the plot can include Jesse’s trouble with White’s class and having him assign you as Jesse’s tutor.

“ This is my first piece ever writing Jesse so I apologise in advance if it seems out of character but we can all agree that our boy deserves more loving.” - Mod Berry

Ever since childhood, your eyes were set on an academic pursuit and it certainly didn’t change in your high school years. But the effort wasn’t just for any other subject than your beloved chemistry, which took up so much of your free time. Staying up all night to pass Mr White’s exams with flying colours wasn’t something you were unfamiliar with. All those sticky notes and underlines made with fancy markers in vivid colours present in your textbook were a plain sign, that you struck to be one of the smartest if not the smartest in class. One of your classmates specifically caught your eye – no other than the troublemaker by the name of Jesse Pinkman.

After all, you've been taking the same class for over a year now so you observed all sorts of shenanigans unravel. He’s mostly known as that one kid that always has some snarky comments ready and is an absolute menace to the teacher. At first, it would be making paper planes to throw at Mr White. Gradually it evolved to him drawing caricatures of the old bald man on the whiteboard with captions such as “Sit on an Erlenmeyer flask dick”. The doodle obviously showed in detail a figure of him sitting on the described object. It led to many visits to the principal’s office. Even after all this time you barely have spoken to each other, maybe besides the occasional “Can I borrow a pen” moments.

It seems as no surprise that when this certain student known for not caring about anything really, had you assigned as his study buddy. That is why one day after class Mr White decided to pair you up as study partners.

“Y/N you surely know of Pinkman. The one that barely makes any effort? I told myself if I can’t get through to him with my lectures that maybe someone his age would. I am sure that he could use a positive influence like you.” 

He then murmurs to himself while looking outside the classroom “Maybe then he’ll make something out of himself.”

You never understood why he was so hard on Jesse, sure he wasn’t an easy student but immediately shutting him down as a hopeless case seemed too harsh for you. Either way, you decided to help him.

“Don’t worry sir. I am sure Jesse and I will get along just fine.” 

But fine was the last word you would use to describe this situation, in fact, it was one of those times when you weren’t sure how to react. On one hand, you two barely spoken to each other. On the other hand, you were eager to chat about your favourite subject. But what other thing were you supposed to talk about really? Your only similarities ended in attending the same class and that fact certainly didn’t make it any easier. However the next day you gathered as much confidence as you could when you approached him after class.

‘‘Hi, Jesse. I don’t mean to bother you but -” 

You are then interrupted midsentence by Jesse.

“Uh Hi Y/N right? Look I know what this buzzkill Mr White told you but you don’t need to do all that teaching me crap. ”

“Okay wait wait, don’t be silly now. It’s not a problem for me at all. In fact, I’m glad I can finally ramble to somebody about chemistry, haha and maybe just maybe I’ll be able to change your mind about it” you respond with a smile.

That smile certainly caught Jesse off guard by how pretty it looked on your face. He felt strange? Were you doing this out of pity for him or were you seriously this kind? He wasn’t sure but decided to continue the conversation playfully.

“Pff I’d like to see you try. Anyways Mx teacher when and where are we going to have our first study session?”

“Already with formal titles, I see. Hmm since it’s a nice day outside so would you like to have our first study session in the library? I promise I won’t make it as boring as it sounds.”

“Geez, I don’t know. Do you seriously see me as the kind of guy who regularly goes to libraries? You flatter me Y/N but I hate to break it to you the librarian is probably going to have a heart attack when she sees me.”

“Come on now I don’t think there is a “kind of person” - it is for everyone. Whether you want to admit it or not the library lady will see you just as another plain guy. Or are you scared of being called a nerd huh? you teased him.

“Whatever. So are we going or what?”

That’s how your weekly chemistry study sessions started out. In the beginning, it would be at Albuquerque’s public library, where you two spent time together. It is worth mentioning that the first time you were there the old librarian lady Judith made an embarrassing remark at the time:

“Y/N dearie it is so nice to see you again but who could that young man be? Oh are you two perhaps...”

“Study buddies. We’re study buddies! Yup, nothing more than that haha.” you quickly responded as you didn’t want to make Jesse feel uncomfortable. Hoping that he didn’t catch your face flush bright red for a moment there, you headed to the quiet area with a spare desk and quickly took out your books. 

Those study sessions over time evolved into more casual hangouts such as going to a park, café and so on. Sometimes they would also include obligatory smoke breaks or buying sweet treats for later. There was this one time when you both went out to grab some doughnuts beforehand and Jesse had to get himself the popular pink glazed doughnuts, which resulted in one of your puns:

“Ah, so your last name obliges you to buy them? Huh, Pinkman? Get it?”

“All that time spent buried in the books and it is the only pun you could come up with? Shame on you Y/N shame. To think an egghead like you would get more creative.”

“Oh shut up we’ll see how creative you’re gonna be when we will be solving tasks from the textbooks and workbooks I have.”

Something you began to look forward to during your week was seeing Jesse. He seemed as if he could listen to you for hours and hours. That is why you began to feel comfortable around him - like you could finally be yourself around somebody else. It can be said that he was your best hypeman by saying things such as “Yeah Science bitch!” or “Right on!” even when you explained the most mundane of things. There was this one time when you let yourself go and started ranting about your hobbies such as writing and reading books ( or whatever you like to do in your free time, he’ll be so supportive anyways ) so when you finally realised you were getting distracted you quickly added the following:

“Oh sorry I’m just used to people not caring about my special interests or  straight up finding it annoying.”

“Are you kidding? Fuck them. I’d like to get to know you more, other than the fact that you are a huge nerd. Also, I think you’d make a great teacher or something because hey you’ve managed to make me pay attention."

That response definitely warmed up your heart.

On the surface, both of you seemed like total solar opposites but maybe that’s why you two connected so well. As you often put it in your mind “positively charged objects attract negatively charged objects”. Jesse would probably groan at the thought that you had to compare your friendship to some nerdy topic. During that time, you noticed that there was so much more to Jesse than people thought. For instance, his notebook had pages that were entirely covered in drawings of figures done in a comic book art style, some of which were superheroes while the others were villains. Initially, Jesse was nervous that you found them but then all that doubt disappeared when he was smothered in positive feedback from you. You eagerly asked about their names, superpowers and origin stories and then proceeded to listen to his explanations with joy in your eyes. That alone made Jesse feel so weak around you - you were actually interested in spending time with him and in what he wanted to say ( and by god we all know how much he needs that in his life ).

Up to this point, you didn’t realise that you started to develop feelings towards Jesse, but when he didn’t show up at your usual meeting spot you immediately started to worry. It’s not as if Jesse wouldn’t let you know if something bad happened, because he had felt sick before. The significant difference is that he always called or texted when he couldn’t make it. This time however it was total silence. At first, you tried calling him, then you moved on to texting multiple messages saying “Are you alright? Did something happen?” followed by “I hope everything is okay Jesse text me whenever you can”. You weren’t sure if you were overreacting a bit, but you didn’t care – the most important thing was his well-being. Time passed and it has been a week since your last message and there was no sign of him at school either. Now you were certain that something felt off… Maybe that’s why you decided to take matters into your own hands when you visited the Pinkmans’ residence. You were more than thankful, that you remembered where it was located since Jesse never really invited you over. The only time when you two were near his house he’d quickly brush it off as if he didn’t want to attract your attention to it.  When you arrived and knocked on the door a short blonde woman opened. She was clearly confused by your presence.

“Can I help you with something? I don’t believe we have met before?” 

"Oh hi, you must be Jesse’s mother. My name is Y/N nice to meet you, I am Jesse’s friend.”

It was strange to call him that since you weren’t sure if Jesse considered you his friend, but you certainly considered him to be yours. A small shocked expression appeared on her face, however before she could say anything you continued:

You didn’t quite understand her passive-aggressive response. At the same time, she was glad that you thought about her son but also said something about being an “unusual” friend of his. What did she mean by that? Was she trying to insult you or her own son? You thought that to yourself but decided to shrug it off as there were more important things right now.

“Listen Mrs Pinkman I am so sorry to bother you but Jesse hasn’t been responding to my messages for the past week and he also wasn’t at school so I wanted to make sure that he’s okay.”

“Hmm I have to say you don’t seem like Jesse’s usual kind of “friend”, but it’s nice that you worried about him. Pleasure to meet you too.”

“Listen Jesse has been lately um I am not sure how to put it...” 

The older woman seemed at loss for words. To your surprise at that moment a taller older man came up behind Mrs Pinkman, which you suspected probably was Jesse’s father.

“Is there a problem here dear?” and then Mrs Pinkman had to assure him there was none but also had to explain why you were here in the first place. 

“Oh, you are here for Jesse huh? Well then colour me surprised, to say the least. About our son - you’ll understand what my wife wanted to tell you in a moment. How about I show you his room, then you can go ask him yourself.”

The tension in that conversation caught you off-guard. For some reason, both of them seemed angry inside but they covered it in their nice suburban behaviour.  Before you could even properly react to that exchange of words they both walked into their house, gesturing you to follow them. 

They stopped at the door, which you could only assume belonged to Jesse’s room. His father then proceeded to knock on the door while saying “Jesse you have a visitor.” and then both left you alone in awkward silence while standing outside his room.

A couple of minutes passed and then you heard a loud thud and steps of someone approaching the door. Then the door swung right open followed by:

“Uh. I didn’t want you to see me like this Y/N.” Jesse sighed.

The room looked as if a tornado came through - all his belongings scattered on the bedroom floor. From his usual baggy clothes, beanies and a used bong to boxes of frozen pizza with few slices left untouched. The air in the room was heavy and the atmosphere was even heavier when you noticed Jesse nervously looking at you in the doorframe.

You have never seen Jesse in that state before. His usual entrancing blue eyes were all red. Not only that but it appeared that even weighty eyebags began to show on his face. Jesse anxiously held his arm around you. He was so afraid that sooner or later you would witness him like this. He expected the worst to come from your mouth and was preparing himself for the harsh reality of that situation to unfold, but then he heard a quiet sob coming from you.

“I was so worried that something bad happened to you. I am so glad that you are okay you asshole!” you immediately hugged Jesse.

“But um Jesse what happened? Is there something that worried you so much, which lead to this state?” you gestured at the room and him.

Jesse was knocked-out at that moment. Out of all the reactions he suspected he would get from you a warm embrace wasn’t on that list.

“Next time check your goddamn phone you hear me? A simple “I am alive” would be great you know?” you quickly added as you let go of that hug.

“I don’t want to come off as nosy or anything but just so you know you can always talk to me. I’ll make sure to be of help to you.” you added.

Jesse was absolutely stunned at that moment. Nobody ever cared about him that much and you didn’t even judge him? You didn’t think of him less after witnessing him at his worst? After all of that, you still wanted to know what was wrong? What exactly was happening? He finally responded:

“Heh I don’t know what to say Y/N. Look for the past few days I haven’t been feeling very well. You probably met my parents - we don’t exactly get along.” before he could finish that sentence he made sure to close the door so they wouldn’t hear what he says.

“So about a week ago they found my secret stash and went fucking crazy. It wasn’t only about that oh no no no. Mrs and Mr Perfect had to bring up my shitty grades and how I will never amount to anything. Parents of the year huh? After that, the only thing I knew would make me feel good is smoke some weed and spend time alone. My buddies suggested meeting up but I wasn't feeling like it. I just felt like a burden to everyone I have ever met."

"God and the fact that this dickhead White told my parents I was a lost cause was just a cherry on top of that shitshow." he added with frustration building inside him.

Seeing Jesse in that vulnerable position made you even more motivated to comfort him. You carefully started:

"First of all you are certainly not a burden, how could you even think that for a moment? Look even if your parents are acting like assholes towards you they don't define your worth. "

"I am so sorry that your parents and White told you those awful words but if you asked me I think you are pretty great. Sure you aren't the best at certain things but you are getting better each and every single day. If it makes any real difference to you I'm rooting for you, Jesse."

"And hey just a friendly suggestion when you do succeed you can rub it in their face you know? That certainly is something to look forward to right?"

That made Jesse chuckle a bit.

"Thanks, Y/N. I am very glad that you came here."

"No problem at all. Say do you need any help with cleaning your room? And before you say you don't want to make me do your chores I don't mind and also I insist."

Even if he said no you would help him so after that you and Jesse got up to start cleaning his room and of course had some more heart-to-heart conversations while doing so. It brought you two closer than ever and you both realized that your feelings were more than friendship.

Since that day some time passed and your first study sessions came faster than expected. Jesse was so happy that he could finally spend more time with you and so were you. You took your usual path to the library and sat in an empty desk. This time you decided to start with organic chemistry, in particular, a topic revolving around saccharides. Before you could explain anything Jesse asked you:

"So today we are doing what? Saccharides? What a mouthful. Why do eggheads always come up with the most idiotic names instead of calling it oh I don't know... something anyone can say outloud?"

"Pff you can always just call them sugars you know. It is still a correct nomenclature so feel free to use that one."

"Yeah but I would rather call you sugar." he responded without a second thought.

"Wait what did you say?" you felt blood rush to your face.

Silence fell between you two. Expression or sheer shock on both of your faces. Jesse couldn't believe he said that out loud. The silence was then broken by him coughing and finally adding:

"Y/N I didn't mean to make any of this awkward I just... I just think that you are sweet."

"Well if that makes any difference I think you are cute too Pinkman." you responded and softly placed a kiss on his lips.

Truth be told that day you didn't do any of the material you had planned in advance. The only chemistry that was on your mind was between you and Jesse.

[brisquad-unit-4402]

infinity thoughts

ok so 🍰 anon asked me about my infinity thoughts and an explanation here but unfortunately i'm american and got access to the song with the official mv release, so when i answered it i was in a post-negibanana haze and unable to comprehend abstract thought. sorry!

so anyways it's such a fire song. easy top 10 nijien songs. i'll be honest and admit i don't pay attention to a lot of niji music, even for some of my oshis, but hear me out. infinity bangs slaps bops jams etc

i'd like to point out the parts that i adore/can explain a bit

imma player imma play my game / imma slayer and i claim the fame

i'd like to imagine this is a double entendre for being a heartthrob AND a #gamer lmao. especially with the tiny internet/vtuber references all throughout

i make the dream that make believe

that should be "make-believe," with a hyphen. never catch 'em slippin

not a lyric but i'd like to formally thank yga for deciding that shu should be wearing a sleeveless hoodie and a turtleneck and a half-off jacket AND an arm garter. that arm garter is carrying everything

not a lyric but also thank you lord for giving sonny a scarf. he looks cozy and i'll be thinking of this factoid later. also the lightning effect in the rain/monster line 💛

we stay young forever

lol i see u anime boy png reference. also the ad libs here are peak. wait hold on classic og lxm fans: shu was the one that did the brr woo right? ...that a callback?

(yes sir)

YES SIR?

YES SIRRRRRRRR

i am not mentally well about an ad lib of all things. i'll be there for him. with open arms. and open legs. and an open mouth

better move that body that the big man gave ya

this is just funny to me. like yea this is what i wanted to hear in my kpop inspired dance song by two anime boys. a line that just barely dodges religion. that's hilarious and i want someone to sample this line specifically for a rap beat

ain't no gravity in my galaxy / we soar like planes, like birds, like angels

i get why they end the lines with "angels" (ethereal, beautiful, a body that the big man has given) but... if it ended with planes... it could be a slant rhyme with sonny's next lines

hundy degrees

also just funny to imagine sonny unironically saying "hundy." i can only see him in my mind's eye saying it when he's putting on the Big Stereotypical Bogan Accent. not so out of character for him now is it

you on your knees

ok wait hol d on hwat the fuck

tell me are you ready for me

ye s

honestly that whole bridge just fucked eternally and again, will not stop thinking about it. what tf are those high notes. knees, huh. the whole theme going on through the entire lyrics where the singers r nonstop but everyone else needs to be prepared/can't go on as long as they can (tehe stamina joke). whatever they were doing with the ascending "are you ready for me." whatever SHU was doing with that high note into the chorus SIR ?

so when this got announced post-ar live i threw the preview into my playlist bc it was just that good, and i always imagined it as one of those radio bumpers. so so so so so happy it was everything i dreamed of and more.

i love negibanana as a duo a lot and i'm glad they were the first to get an encounter, since neither have a original/cover song on their channel yet. especially for sani. he's my oshi but tons of tons of tons of people have expressed he's a very underrated and very talented singer, and if you don't happen to be there for karaokes or his features on other songs (ringo! mogire! beaaaaaam!) then it's easy to sleep on him.

and what can i say about shu that hasn't been said before. his voice is lovely and his high notes shine. negibanana is such a good duo because of their strengths. you can really tell that shu's at his best when he gets to use his falsetto and show off vocal runs, and sonny's energy when he raps is so infectious.

but never forget the goofy bits 💛 shu has no idea how to whisper sexily like "infinity yeaah" in the beginning sounds like a kid trying to learn how to do a death metal scream without waking their parents in the next room 💛 what was the entire verse about your neighbor and the big man who wrote that 💛 every time the pre-chorus hits i wait for the hyphen in make-believe and yet 💛💛💛💛

peak nijien in 2024 experience tbh

[thatruperson]

I'm Glad It Started Raining

Happy Holidays to @hananono !! I was your Secret Spirit gifter this year! I hope you've had a great year and an even better one next year! You asked for for tft SeriRei, happy/silly Serizawa and fun outfits! I tried to combine them. I hope you all enjoy this little ficlet. :) Thanks for hosting @mp100secretspirit ! ~~~~~~~~

The rain came on unexpectedly and they ducked into a shop, cursing their luck, not really paying attention to what it was. He looked around curiously. Odd clothes and accessories littered the place, along with rolls and rolls of cloth stacked atop each other and photos of families and couples. Before he could ask Reigen what he thought the place might be, an employee appeared and gave them her best customer service smile. “Welcome to Photopalooza! We’re having a Rainy Day sale, 20% off all our photo packages! Would you be interested in looking them over?” She hands them each a pamphlet. 

“Er…” He says as he blinks down at the shiny laminated sheet in his hand. He’s five seconds away from apologizing and saying they’re there by mistake when he sees Reigen bouncing on his toes. “Ooooh, Katsuya, check this one out!” And then there’s a pamphlet that is way too close to his face. He pushes Reigen’s hand back a bit so he can see the one he’s pointing at. “Fantasy Playplace Package: Be the Hero or Villain of Your Own Story!” He reads it off dutifully. He blinks. “What?” When he meets Reigen’s eyes he has that gleam that tells him he’s excited by whatever this place is and the man waves a hand around dramatically. “Forget the movie! We can see that anytime. This is fate, Katsuya! We don’t have any photos of just the two of us! Let's fix that here and now!” That is true…Most of their photos together included the kids or clients or his Mother. He takes another look around the shop with new eyes. He smiles, warming up to the idea. “Yeah, sure, why not!”

Ten minutes later a very pleased employee, happy for her sales commission, shows them to a room. There are a few heavy looking trunks and she explains that they’re filled with various costumes and props. She then cheerfully explains how to change the backdrop and the various buttons to press to change the camera settings and timer. “Just call for me if you need assistance, sirs. And remember, if you break anything it gets added to your bill.” With that said, she’s gone. 

“I’ve never done anything like this before.” He says, thrumming with excitement as he pulls out a costume from one of the trunks and looks it over. “Neither have I!” Reigen says, holding up a pink, flouncy princess dress to himself with a grin. “I definitely want to see you in one of these.” He snorts a laugh. “I haven’t worn a dress since I was seven, ‘Taka, that’s all yours. Besides, I don’t think they’ll carry one of those in my size.” “These things don’t count as dresses.” Reigen scoffs. “It’s a costume! Theater!” He strikes a dramatic pose. “Is the size thing the only thing holding you back?” He chuckles at Reigen’s antics. “Well, when you put it like that, I suppose so…” “Great!” The blond replies and is sticking his head out the door and calling for help before he can change his mind.  Soon enough, the employee has brought them an equally pink and somehow even frillier dress than the one Reigen had held up earlier. “Wow, you really do have one in my size…” He says in surprise. She laughs and hands it over. “Of course! The only demographic that rivals little kids in wanting to wear one of these for photos are grown men having a good time!” His smile broadens as Reigen says, “See? What’d I tell you!” He places one hand on his chest and throws the other up in the air. “Theater knows no gender boundaries!” They quickly pull the dresses on and help each other zip up. They take one good look at each other in the cheap, plasticky dresses before collapsing on each other in laughter. “Oh my gosh, we look like off brand Barbies.” Reigen wheezes against him and they spiral into laughter again. They complete their looks with conical hats that strap beneath their chins and take a few pictures like that, acting regal in one, undignified in another, before he tosses his off and puts on a dragon suit and chases Reigen around the room, the other man shrieking in as high a pitch he can manage. Things quickly devolve from there.  “Oh my god, ‘Taka.” He pulls out a lightsaber from one of the trunks. “We gotta do this one.” They bicker for a while over who is going to play the sith and who will play the jedi. Katsuya refuses to play rock, paper, scissors as he still hasn’t figured out how Reigen always wins that game. But Katsuya wins in the end with his superior puppy eyed look and gets to play the jedi like he wanted. They don their robes and set the camera to take multiple pictures as they recreate their favorite scenes, yelling and whacking each other with the cheap lightsabers. It turns out Reigen is scarily good at laughing like Emperor Palpatine and he feels justified in making him play the sith. After that they take a stab at being mimes, completely failing at being silent. “What are you doing?!”

He laughs at Reigen’s exasperated face. “I’ve lasso’d you and I’m pulling you in, obviously!” Reigen rolls his eyes but grins and pretends to be pulled into him. Katsuya rewards him with a kiss that would have continued longer had the timer signifying the end of their booking not gone off. They stand at the front of the store in their normal clothes once again, the sun shining in through the window as if it had never rained at all. They laugh as they browse through the photos they took and choose their favorites, adding silly special effects before printing them out to keep. They choose one of the classic photobooth strip layouts, and print out three copies. One for each of them and one for the office. He thinks the professionalism of them dressed as princesses and things is debatable but Reigen disagrees and says it adds a fun element to their office and well…he can’t really deny that. He can still feel the residual joy bubbling up inside him as they leave the shop hand in hand. He brings their joined hands to his lips, pressing a kiss to Reigen’s knuckles. “I’m glad it started raining.”

[arcticwolfpaws]

chapter 10: A night with the bat

As always link to my Ao3 and the rest of the chapters

https://archiveofourown.org/works/56481082/chapters/150854434

P.O.V: Batman

After I made sure Faraj was in bed tucked in and asleep I headed down to the bat cave. Alfred and Jason was waiting for me and Jason spoke first.

“Bruce I-” I cut him off.

“I don’t blame you, What happened today wasn’t your fault.” while my tone was firm I didn’t want to leave any room for Jason to doubt me on that, Faraj couldn’t be monitored 24/7 and he seemed to be alright at least mostly… Jason looked down and after a long moment he took a deep breathe before he spoke again,

“I-” He paused trying to collect his thoughts before he nodded. “I think the reason they snuck up on him might have been my fault.” He stated his head down I frowned, not sure what to think however one way or another I knew fully well that Jason wouldn’t have done so intentionally and there was a high likely hood he was beating himself up over it, I turned and set my hand on his shoulder his gaze on the floor, he flinched as I touched him and my heart ached for him but I spoke in a calm even tone doing my best to show I didn’t hold him at fault.

“Jason, I know you I know that without a doubt you gave him those to help not to cause more problems with him. You had the best intention at heart. However I would like to know why you handed him ear plugs.” it seemed to take him a moment as he took a deep breathe trying his best to keep his thoughts straight,

“During lunch I watched as he walked in with that kid he was talking to at the Gala, he looked suddenly sick and he and the kid left when they didn’t come back for around five minutes, I went looking for him and found the two of them in the bathroom, Faraj was under the sinks and The kid… I think his name was Tim, told me he thought it was a noise problem. So I went to my locker and get him my ear plugs.” Jason’s statement caught my attention, I’d have to do some research on Tim drake I wanted to make sure Faraj wasn’t hanging out with any trouble makers, and I’d have to see about giving some kind of permission from the school so he can use a head set or something. I smiled softly before shaking my head.

“It wasn’t your fault.” I told him again, “Things happen and even if the ear plugs were why he didn’t hear them, I don’t think he would have had enough time to get away.” I was firm and he sighed looking down before nodding his head slowly, I wasn’t sure he believed me at first but when he headed to the Bat-mobile he seemed like he was handling it alright. I followed him slowly I glanced back at Alfred wanting to ask him to keep an eye on Faraj.

“No need to worry sir tonight I’ll be keeping a close eye on him, and I’ll ensure he doesn't end up needing medical attention.” He stated I gave him a soft nod as he walked off and headed back up to the manor, I stepped into the bat-mobile and looked at Jason, I sighed internally I normally wouldn’t do this as Jason was to impulsive. “Jason, I need to speak to Slade I want you to patrol the city and call me if something happeneds, Do not engage.” my tone was firm and the young man paused for a long moment before nodding before sliding into the drivers seat, I really wasn’t sure about letting him drive however I let him go. Turning back to the zata tube, I was quick to set it to take me to black gate. I stepped into the blue light and found myself at black gate causing several people to jump. I only payed enough attention to ensure I knew them, as the guard step forward from his post I made a mental note of who he was, Jackson Mcclain age 30, retired military Marine, he spoke pulling me from my thoughts.

“Batman, You normally give us some warning.” He stated and I grunted as I started walking past him he walked with me as I did, “Is there something you need?” He asked, I paused and spoke calmly,

“I need to speak to Slade. alone.” I stated pointedly the man paused for a long moment,

“Yes, Sir I’ll make sure you remain undisturbed.” He stated pointedly, as he followed me unlocking the doors as we went once I was in front of his cell he walked away allowing me to Speak to Slade.

“Slade.” My voice was little more then a low rumble but he didn’t speak, I wasn’t surprised but I knew how to make him talk. “What do you know about an Albino boy named Faraj?” I watched as Slade tensed slowly turning to look at me before he speaking in a harsh tone

“how do you know about him?” I could hear the under ton of protective anger in his voice, and for a moment I thought about telling him the truth however that seemed like a bad idea seeing as if he broke out he could come looking for Faraj and I didn’t need to scar the poor child more then he already was,

“A friend located him, he’s safe.” His eye narrowed at me, I would have been surprised if he hadn’t left Faraj in Gotham and more then anything I was hopping to find some insight into Faraj himself but I knew I had to be careful about it.

“And why are you telling me this?” He asked me, slowly crossing his arms as he leaned against the far wall his eye focused on me,

“I need to know if the boy is a threat” he scoffed at that,

“A threat?” He repeated then shook his head. we both knew that one wrong word would give the other to much information but he let out a huff it was almost like a laugh as he waved me off. “Batman, he’s a child what threat could he pose? You think I’d train someone so young? You might see me as a monster but I’m not inhuman.” He stated but I knew better then to take him at his word, “And even if the boy was, He’s to soft he wouldn’t hurt anyone.” He stated and there I had my answer. If he had been trained he had to gentle a nature to kill or Slade simply had never gotten the chance to let him try, that was good and if he wasn’t trained… my mind went back to that had happened tonight, that would make much more sense.

“Anything else you care to share? Allargies? Favorite food?” I asked I realized how strange it might have sounded but if I was going to care for him I would rather know more about him and maybe just maybe he’ll slip up and tell me more then he intended. Slade just raised a brow at me and stayed quiet for a long moment before speaking slowly as if he didn’t trust me.

“I never found anything he’s allergic to.” He paused for a long moment before speaking again however his tone was softer now, “The boy likes fruit, a lot… “ Another pause as he trailed off seemingly lost in thought for a moment. “He doesn't like loud noises, they scare him and sometime it hurts him easier then most.” As I had suspected, I’d have to see what I could do about that.

“What else?” I asked and he frowned at me clearly about done with this conversation, however he did choose to speak again,

“He likes to draw, and he’s smart likes chemistry, beyond that pick up a damn book on Albinism I’d do you some good.” I knew what he was getting at, and I realized that was likely the reason that Slade had avoided training him. I was about to ask something else but decided not to, it was likely already that he’d realized that I was caring for the boy now, I left still pondering on what I would do for Faraj, and what I could set up to make him more comfortable, it had been something I had done to Jason but right now I need to get back and maybe talk to Alfred and see if Faraj needed medical care.

🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇🦇

The computer announced my return to the cave, I glanced at the file open on the bat-computer and sighed softly shaking my head as I kept walking I changed quickly not wanting Faraj to see me in the bat suite. Once I had changed I headed up to the manor stepping out of my office I found the house quiet I wasn’t surprised by it but it was just as easy to picture a younger Dick jumping and bouncing around me as I walked to Faraj’s room, Alfred was standing out side the door when I got there and I raised a brow as I spoke in a soft voice,

“Is he?” I trailed off and he gave me a momentary soft smile as he spoke,

“He’s fine, Sleeping soundly unlike his father.” I rolled my eyes at the playful jab,

“Gotham needs me.” I stated and the look he gave me was sharp but he opened the door letting me see the Albino asleep in his bed.

“Gotham may need the batman but don’t forget that your son needs you, however you’re son is handling it fine, and seems to be sleeping.” He stated it was more pointed this time a reminder that I couldn’t just forget about the boy like I had almost done to Dick when I first became his Ward. I ran a hand through my hair and paused to think.

“I’ll see about spending tomorrow with him,” I stated and Alfred raised a brow before shaking his head,

“Sir he has school and you have several important meeting… perhaps you should take him to the movies? Get to know the boy, he isn’t like Dick or Jason if you want him to open up he needs time to see you aren’t a threat.” He stated and I sighed again he was right as he often was Faraj while he was drugged and been very talkative but as time had gone on and the drugs have worn off he had become quite reserved. I reached over and closed the door as I started to walk away with Alfred following,

“I did get a chance to talk to Slade, the best that I can tell his training is basic just self defense,” I started and Alfred was quick to cut in when I paused.

“Allergies? Favorite foods?” I smiled at him glad he was not only willing but almost intent to ensure that Faraj was properly taken care of.

“Well to start his comments on fruit weren’t a lie, And Slade was unaware of any active allergies.” I told him, the older man nodded clearly thinking for a moment, “That reminds me, when you have the chance he Slade stated that the liked to draw.” I knew I didn’t need to say anything else, Alfred would ensure Faraj had access to whatever he wanted when it came to art supplies, I smiled at the thought of his childish drawing attached to the fridge, I decided that if he gave me any I would put them in my office.

“Actually I think it might be a good outlite for him, Can you look in to art classes?” I asked when I glanced back to him I saw his blue eyes warm and clearly pleased,

“Of course Sir. And I’ll ensure you can join him.” I was about to argue but he had already walked away, I paused thinking wondering if maybe he was right

[moonstone27ls]

Chucky season 3...

Warning...

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Spoiler warning....

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After this I'm done warning....

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I warned you.....

Sooo quite a bit happened. Some of it felt crazy, maybe it was rushed. But considering they went through a writers' strike, etc. And its Chucky in general, I kinda let some of it slide. It was still a decent season. And I'm hoping they'll give it a fourth season. Especially since it ended on a cliff hanger.

Ep 6 was pretty decent. I mostly felt sorry for Henry, poor kid was manipulated so badly and all that he saw. He's gonna need a lot of therapy.

I almost can not get over that out of all the things Chucky wanted he wanted to blow up the North Pole, just to ruin the kids belief in Santa. In fact his last words were "Fuck Santa".

Bigger picture wise (yes I know its a horror/comedy but I still have a right to nitpick 8B)... I am a LITTLE surprised that the military did not even remotely question the "President"'s orders to blow up those designations. You would think one would be "Uhh... sir why the North Pole?". I mean you'd think one person would question whats happening the moment they hear him go "Abort" later that it should been a big red flag to turn EVERYTHING off.

And also.... though its the North Pole and climate change in all.... still feel there should have been some effect from blowing up the North Pole oO;. What I dunno. I'm not a scientist but still should have done something.

Ep 7: Feel like the Underworld was a nod/or inspiration from Beetlejuice lobby scene. And I dunno if its because they're all "ghosts" still... a bit confused why Chucky's victims were there with Damballa. Since you know they assuming didn't worship him.But I enjoyed the scene still.

I really did enjoy his banter with his god. Lol Damballa's own surprise to hear he killed the President. And he's "Oh well of course I wasn't paying attention, YOU cheated on me with other gods".

Though... and yes I'm nitpicking. Chucky's other chance... Damballa said he needed to kill without a body. I thought it was already achieved when he killed the three people at the seance... but I guess Jake's killing in the next ep still counted? Or maybe that was just an ad on for "kill counts". And as confused as I am where G.G. stands (good/or villain wise). I did like the message they left their mother

Then we get onto the finale... as much as it was interesting to see world of the dead/limbo, etc (I dunno). It honestly felt a bit obvious it was a trap. Why... because as much as Jake kept stressing there was "good chucky".

That was technically brainwashing. Brainwashing that was never really proven/or even successful. Cause... they did that in what in a couple of days. That can take weeks or months, maybe years. Not to mention all the other Chuckys. I dunno don't think thats how death works. But this was probably more fun I guess.

Did enjoy Jake's scene with him forgiving his dad. Though I do feel they missed a good opportunity for him to make up with all his family. His uncle, aunt and even Junior. (cousin) Junior I think especially considering, Junior died with no resolution between his animosity with Jake. Yes, yes I know Lexy "love". Butt doesn't scrape off the kid died with issues. He murdered his father (whom he had daddy issues). He spent his last days either bullying/or hating his cousin. Whom from I can see Jake didn't hate him, it was like his dad. He just hated how he was being treated.

But oh well, maybe they couldn't reach the actors/or didn't have time.

Not entirely surprised the CIA group would bomb the house to "cover up things". Would be shocked/or sadden by the medium Timmy dying... but he was only there two eps. The impact isn't as strong/or surprising. Did enjoy Pyrce was somewhat haunted by the ghosts before he died. I dunno feels almost poetic. Though it was cute Grant saw the ghost of his father holding hands with his baby brother Joseph... felt so sad/or bittersweet.

Then there's Tiff's escape.... uhh don't get me wrong I was okay. She's practically part of Chucky's entourage. And I'm not shocked she'd get out/maybe even reunite. Its just the continual luck that baffles me. I mean again this Chucky, so I went with it. But still lol.

She was so adamant about having those dolls. Making it implied she needed them or her spells wouldn't work(though I always find it strange her "dolls" influence feelings is a stretch). But literally they all come to her without even touching them. And if its the case they're all acting odd, you'd think someone family/or staff would notice oO. And I'm not buying that a random convict is that good of a shot at killing a sniper. Lol but I guess Chucky's gotta have his kill count.

And also how DID Tiffany know to come RIGHT to Wendell's house or that he'd be there oO. Had they been talking about that plan and when? But oh well. They brought back Chuck/Tiff which I'm okay with. There aren't that many "horror" couples and I feel they just kinda fit. Like a horror verse of Dr Girlfriend/Monarch.

I admit it was cute they actually tried to make these two like normal parents. And were nostalgic about G.G and wished to hear from them.

Then we have Caroline.... guys I'll say it again I have mixed feelings with her. And I'm gonna give fair warning, this is MY observation. I know I don't speak for a whole community. This is just from what I HAVE seen and read from other commentators on such topic.

Now bigger picture. The evil kid trope is not shocking or even unheard of. Same for killer kid trope. And if done right, they become icons like Children from the Corn, Rhoda Penmark, Sadako, and Damien (young Damien). And no just to make obvious, I'm not expecting Caroline to be an automatic icon.

To explain better... its that she's been hinted to be autistic. And for that matter her automatic switch to evil while its not completely out of the blue... feels problematic. Again I am NOT autistic and I know I shouldn't get on a pedestal and rant about something I'm not a 100% familiar with. But I bring this up for one reason, (there might be others but this is the only one coming to mind) The Predator made in 2018. Several people were not fond of how the portrayal was used. Furthermore making her a killer/or would be killer felt like it was going with a bad trope/stereotype. Again this is my understanding.

Do I think Mancini did this on purpose? That he's being an ableist following a stereotype. I ... don't think so. But even good creators can make mistakes. I think for the most part... this feels bad because this came out of no where and had no development. From all acounts Caroline was a normal, sweet kid. That judging by the writing was struggling to be understood by her family.

Yes that part I got. Cause I can imagine its tough for parents with a child thats most likely autistic, while the other one isn't (Lexy). Yes she ignored some of Chucky's violent stuff. But with no REAL development you can chalk it up to she's just a kid. Orr yes they'll just go "oh she's autistic".

In all honesty her going to the "dark side" was more of a plot twist for season 2. HAD we seen actual signs or development it'd be different. Show Caroline showing a big interest in dissection or tormenting animals. Have her be actual violent. We've seen Chucky influence children. They could have done that, SHOW Chucky telling her how to think. Show her enjoying it/or even questioning before giving in. But up until then we had NOTHING.

So her abandoning her family because Chucky told. So her "thats why I never fit in" and "this is who I am now". While I don't think Mancini meant to bring a bad representation. But without real development or something. It just looks like "oh she was evil cause she's autistic". That this is who I am moment just feels like a BAD allegory for autism. Sooo.. yeah have mixed feelings on Caroline.

But all my griping aside. Thats not to say I didn't love this show. No it was still good. The effects were great, you still had feels for the First family. Anddd we still had everyone alive. And although I'm sure some were hoping we'd get Andy and Kyle. I'm okay with it. Because it means they're still alive. And thats all I want. I want the originals to still be alive. If Mancini wants them to retire and let the new kids handle evil, thats also fine. Just don't kill off the original kid heroes.

Then we have the unknownnnnn.... SEASON 4!! Will we get it? Hope so cause that was a cliffhanger and I hate cliffhangers, lol.

Is there anything I want for season 4 if its greenlighted. Uh... I dunno. I'm okay with Chucky getting away (I'm sorta use to it from watching Elm street and Jason movies). Killer dies, comes back or you get a clear hint of sequels but heroes are still alive so you can be happy.

I know there are rumors? or confirmation Mancini was given a greenlight to make another Chucky movie. But as the show, if he wants to continue it I'm all for it. I would just like one episode to have Robert Englund. Cause I heard rumors of a Freddy/Chucky crossover. And while I don't know if it'd work for a movie. I think its a great chance for a season/or at least couple of episodes. Get Englund and Dourif together before I dunno they get/or feel too old to voice the roles again. Yes I said voice, cause I can imagine 76 yearold Englund might not wanna go through that make up process again. I dunno get a double to wear it and let him voice act. Fiona did her dad's "younger self".

Keep Tiff/Chuck together. Let Andy and Kyle live. I would like to see G.G. just at best to know what are they? Evil? Good? Good but you can't poke too much cause they'll go Norman Bates on you. Let Nica... let Nica get therapy oO;;. Poor gal couldn't win this season.

I don't have much aspirations for our new gen of heroes. They're okay but most of their conflicts feel resolved (aside from cliff hanger)... so yeah I guess skip them. Though I do wanna know what they did with their bodies. For that matter Tiff's ... no Jennifer to go back to her old body... so does that mean she just died?

Figure out... what the heck do they plan to do with Caroline. The rant I just wrote aside... what is there to do? Kill her off? Send her to a home for delinquents? No seriously I dunno.

[coffeeangelinabox]

Whumpril Day 19: I Need You

The three of them that are left stand in the Commodore's briefing room at uneasy attention. Their section of 8 is down to less than half: discontinued from the programme, training accidents and their most recent loss - Maugrim - to friendly fire. 

“But how did it happen?” Beowulf asks, grief pushing him to demand answers instead of giving the well trained acceptance demanded. How can he protect the remaining two if he doesn’t understand what to watch out for?

They take him back to the room after that, remind him of his place and responsibilities and of their expectations for his conduct until he stops asking. They neglect to make him forget. 

*

They never disagree with missions, even amongst themselves. Bitter experience has taught them they are always being observed and that speaking out against their superiors leads to inexplicable disappearances. Luna never returned after criticising one set of orders, that’s how Beowulf ended up in command of the group. 

Now though, looking blankly at the instructions downloaded on his digi-screen, Beowulf feels fury that their idiocy roil through him. They’ve been sent on difficult missions before, tasks they’ve barely limped home from with broken bones and scars and concussions despite the best training the Domain can offer and millions upon millions of credits in the best urban warfare tech money can buy in any system. 

This though. This is suicide. 

Perhaps, Beowulf thinks treacherously, the Domain doesn’t want them to return. 

If that’s the cost for him he’ll pay it and gladly, he believes in his cause, but he won’t sacrifice the only family he’s ever had so wantonly. He reads the briefing again and sighs.

“Well?” Fenrir demands, propping himself up on an elbow on his bunk and looking over at him.

Beowulf shrugs. “An error, I think. I’d best go and clarify with the commodore.”

He’s lucky they don’t kill him for his insolence, his reputation as a superlative strategist the only thing that saves him, but they send a full company of regulars instead of Beowulf’s team of three so he counts it a win.

*

“Kids?”

“Yes.” The Commodore sounds impatient. 

Beowulf knows he’s pushing his luck (all their luck) just by asking, but he has to know. “Why?”

The Commodore sighs, regards him beadily and then, in the overly patient voice of a primary school teacher that puts Darrow’s teeth on edge says, “Because we want a homegrown peacekeeping force to deal with the insurgents. They’ll be less likely to pull some of their stunts against their own, and kids can be raised to have no dividing loyalties.”

Logical. A plan worthy of him. So why does it make his stomach creep?

“Is there a problem?”

“No, sir.”

*

“You have to stop this,” Romulus says, helping a shaking Beowulf to a seated position and steadying his trembling hands so he can sip some water. The pain in his head is blinding. “They’ll kill you, you know.”

Beowulf mumbles something like agreement.

Romulus sighs and rocks back on his heels by the low bunk. They both know Beowulf won’t stop, but they can’t talk about it any more without bringing down the consequences they fear. “Just-”

“I will.”

*

The transport is out of commission, every system fried. No power, no heat. They’re just lucky this planet has a fairly temperate climate and the local vegetation is palatable. They can wait for extraction. 

It’s peaceful actually, like camping.

“I used to do this with my brothers,” Romulus says suddenly, randomly.

Beowulf looks over in surprise. He’d never heard Romulus mention brothers before, though now he wonders if those are the names he sobs out occasionally when his injuries are bad enough to push him to delirium. 

Fenrir jerks to his feet. “We’re your brothers,” he snaps. 

Beowulf reaches out and takes hold of Fenrir’s elbow, restraining and soothing all at once. The import of Romulus’ words hit him. A family outside of them, outside of the Domain and, for the first time in a decade, no surveillance. 

A silence, a breath, it’s one thing to question orders another to take this step, but…”Shall we go see them?”

Romulus turns a considering gaze on him, thinks for two, three heartbeats and agrees.

Fenrir rips himself out of Beowulf’s hold. “You’re shitting me? You wouldn’t desert?”

“I-” But when it comes down to it…”I would, Fen. We’re…all of us…all of this…It isn’t a good thing, and they…they don’t care about us. They’ll use us up and let us rot.”

“And that’s our purpose! We’re weapons!”

Beowulf snarls himself now. “No. No, you’re more than that! Both of you!”

Fenrir is on his feet now and Beowulf rises to match him. They’ve tussled before, in sparring and rage, strong willed men in too-close quarters, but Beowulf can feel that this will be different. This will be no bloody nose, this will leave one of them broken and bleeding. 

Romulus gets between them. “Come with us,” he urges Fenrir. “You’re my brother too. I won’t leave you.”

“And betray my oaths?”

And in that moment, they might have stayed. Romulus speaks truly. They’re family and Beowulf wouldn’t leave Fenrir to face the Domain alone. He’ll abduct any number of children and burn out the villages of an infinite number of innocents to protect Fenrir, it’s honestly that simple. He sees his truth reflected in Romulus’ eyes. 

One last effort. “Come with us, Fenrir. We need you, too,” but the pleading words already hold a note of surrender, an acknowledgement that they won’t, that they will stay, the remnants of a section until the Domain has no more use to them. 

“I would never-” Fenrir spits out. “I’m not- I’ll see you both in front a firing squad for this.”

Just like that, Beowulf’s heart stops. He would stay at Fenrir’s side, even to death, even to condemnation and execution as a traitor, but not Romulus. Not for the crime of having a family.

They leap forward together, and with two of them they are able to subdue Fenrir and leave him safe and alive and with the majority of their supplies, and they run. 

*

Despite what it costs them, Beowulf is never able to regret not killing him when he had  the chance.