#little did I know that during this time there was a bug that made defensive stance reduce fall damage so I could avoided all those deaths

[franticbindings]

A guy I played WoW with briefly almost 15 years ago contacted me to tell me about how the time I showed him the weird untextured places outside the normal bounds of the map was one of his favorite memories of the game.

It was also one of my favorite things, so have some screen shots I took back when you could wall climb.

[italiansteebie]

I could teach you waking up in my t-shirt.

also on ao3 (preferred format) 2.3k Words

Steve Harrington has a really cool T Shirt. 

It was the exact type of shirt no one would expect him to wear, it was soft, and worn, and the design looked hand made, and sometimes there was a long, dark, curly, strand of hair stuck to it, like the person who made it left a piece of themselves there. 

Dustin didn’t know where he got it, or how someone like Steve came across a shirt like this, but any time he asked about it, the teen got… Defensive. 

Once Dustin asked Steve if he could borrow it, and Steve freaked out, like properly freaked out. So he stopped asking about it. It was a little strange how protective Steve was over the shirt, and how he never seemed to wear it to school, or outside of his house. He had to wear it somewhere though, because more often than not that long, dark, hair would be present, and Dustin knows for a fact Steve washes the shirt. 

So where did he get it?

What exactly does “HellFire Club” mean? 

Is it a band?

And Dustin asked all these questions only to be met with a nervous silence from Steve, which was unlike him. So, he stopped asking. There were more pressing matters than Steve’s shirt, like demodogs and Russians under the mall, and the fact that the girl Steve works with somehow knows him better than Dustin, all of a sudden. 

He’s not jealous, though. Well. Not that jealous. But why does she get to know where the shirt came from, and not him? It’s Steve’s biggest mystery, and it was well kept. At least, well kept from him. He remembers the day clearly. He walked into Scoops Ahoy with Steve who already happened to be in his work uniform. He usually changes at work to avoid walking through the mall looking like a Naval monstrosity. He watches the way Robin Buckley smirks, like she’s let in on a secret, “No Hellfire shirt today, Steve-o? Trouble in paradise?” she asks slyly. “Haha. Shut up, Robin.” Steve replies through his teeth, strained. Dustin whips his head around to face Steve. “You talked to her about the shirt? C’mon, Steve! We’re friends!” Dustin whined. Steve pushed his head away, “You’re like, 5, this is grown up talk. Now get back to your mom, she’s gonna freak if you’re late for camp check in.” Dustin sighed, “Whatever. See you later, Steve!” They hugged briefly and Dustin left, the shirt and what Robin Buckley said about it, still rocking around in his brain. 

But then Dustin got back from camp, with a big ass ham radio, a new, very real, girlfriend, and a Russian interception. And suddenly, the t-shirt didn’t seem all that important. In fact, Dustin forgot about it until one fateful day. 

The first day of highschool. 

There he was in all his glory. 

Eddie Munson, and guess what he was wearing.

The shirt.

Steve’s shirt.

So Dustin made it a point to seek the guy out, and in his mission he found that HellFire was not a band, but a DnD club. And that only made him more confused, did Steve secretly belong to a party? And that’s why he never played with them? No way. The betrayal. 

So, Dustin infiltrates the group. 

Along with Mike, and Lucas. 

Because it’s a DnD group, and well… Will’s gone, and they still wanted to play. 

And they become a part of the group. 

It’s fun, and the way Steve’s eyes almost bug out of his head when he sees all of them wearing his shirt is absolutely hilarious. 

Dustin keeps the whole “shirt debacle” to himself. He knows that Steve was in HellFire and didn’t tell any of them. He decided to let him keep his dignity, and put the whole mystery behind him. The only strange thing was, that whenever he brought up Steve during their sessions, the rest of Hellfire got… Weird. Gareth, Jeff, and Grant would smile slyly in Eddie’s direction and Eddie would blush. Did they have some type of falling out? Eddie never seemed to want to talk about Steve, and Steve never seemed to want to talk about Eddie OR HellFire. Why were they pretending not to know each other? It was weird. 

Steve would pick them up from sessions, he and Eddie would share a short wave back and forth, and that was the end of it. It was still weird that Eddie’s hair seemed to get tangled in Steve’s shirt, even though Steve didn’t go to the meetings anymore. In fact, now that Dustin joined, Steve didn’t seem to wear the shirt at all anymore. 

So another mystery was upon him.

But then a cheerleader died, and no one could find Eddie. 

And all of a sudden his face was plastered on the news, his name becoming synonymous with ‘Satan’ and ‘murderer’ which Dustin thought was ridiculous. Eddie Munson was not a violent person, not by any means, in real life. As a dungeon master he could be pretty merciless, but. That was just a game. 

And the newest mystery revolving around Steve and Eddie was put on the back burner.

They found Eddie a few hours later in Reefer Rick’s boathouse, a suggestion made by Steve, the stress too high to consider how he could even know that. But then there was a bottle pressed to his jugular and sorry Eddie, but he needs Steve alive for this. So he pleads until Eddie drops the bottle, Steve’s eyes reading more concern than fear, but Dustin would think about that later. He watches Eddie as Eddie watches Steve be comforted by Robin, wiping the stray tears away, looking back at Eddie with a look that Dustin thought Steve could only give to girls… 

Unfortunately, as entertaining as it was, Steve’s love life was not the hot topic of the moment. So he moved on, and the events unfolded in succession of disaster, like they usually do when the upside down rears its ugly head. And all of a sudden Steve is telling them not to be cute, and Eddie says ‘Make him Pay,’ in a tone that anyone could hear, means something different. 

—

Nancy delivered the final blow, and Vecna was down. But there was a pit in Steve’s stomach. Something was very, very wrong. So he ran. Nancy and Robin were hot on his heels, shouting for him to slow down but he couldn’t. The scene came into view and Steve couldn’t breathe. Dustin was sobbing over Eddie’s prone body, bats from hell surrounding them. 

Steve could only run faster, he reached them, dropping to his knees. 

“Eds,”

“Stevie,”

“Don’t do that Munson. We’re getting you out of here. I swear to god. If you die, I’m going to fucking kill you.”  

And through his grief clouded brain, Dustin knew Steve meant what he said. 

From that moment on it was a blur, Nancy and Robin helped Dustin limp towards the gate, only looking back to see Steve lifting Eddie from the ground in what looked like sheer will. They’re going to make it out. He can feel it. He’s got to figure out the mystery. And maybe that was a stupid thought, but he was only 15, and that was what gave him hope. 

The gate that split in the Munson trailer was beginning to close, and it was a fight to get through, Dustin didn’t get to see the end though, because when his broken leg was met with the force of hitting the right side up, he passed out. 

—

He woke to a steady beep and a pressure holding his leg in place. 

He cracked open his eyes to see his mom sitting in the plastic hospital chair next to his bed, reading a book. 

“Mom?”

“Dusty,” She gasped, pressing the Call button, and reaching to grab his hand.

“E- Eddie?”

“I- I’m sorry baby.” And for a second, Dustin’s heart dropped, “He’s still in surgery. That earthquake really did a number on him. The doctors think he’s going to pull through.” Dustin breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, and Steve was admitted for his wounds. He’s in the next room over. They’re going to put Eddie with him as soon as he’s in the clear, Steve’s request.” With the news that his friends were okay, and the soothing motion of his mom brushing her hand through his hair, he fell asleep. The next time he woke up it was by a doctor, getting him ready to be discharged with strict orders of rest.

He ended up moving from his room, to making a home in Steve’s room. 

It was weird to see Steve in the hospital, unmoving, hair flat against his forehead. It almost brought tears to his eyes to think about his brother like that, the only thing keeping him together was that Steve was here, awake, and the heart monitor’s beeps were steady and reassuring. 

—-

It had been a few days, Steve’s wounds were healing nicely, and he was allowed to go home. 

Eddie had been cleared from the ICU and moved to a long stay ward. 

He was still asleep, but the doctors said that was his body’s way of healing. That’s what they said about Max too. They were confident both of them would eventually wake up.

Dustin had expected to see Steve around the hospital after his discharge, checking Max, and keeping up with his own check ups. What he didn’t expect to see was him and Eddie’s uncle Wayne in what looked like a heartfelt embrace. He didn’t really mean to eavesdrop, but he also didn’t move away. “He’s gonna wake up, son. I know he’s strong. And I know you’ll be right there waitin’ for him.” Wayne's gruff voice floated through the quiet hospital. Dustin didn’t realize Steve knew Wayne like that but, he guesses it’s from Steve’s secret HellFire days. 

He shook off the initial confusion and went to join the two men in Eddie’s room. They would sit and talk. Talk about Eddie, Steve’s interactions with weird customers, how Wayne was settling in to the new government provided house. Anything. Just to fill the room with sound, to let Eddie know they were there when he was ready to wake up. 

Dustin knew it was going to be an emotional day when Eddie woke up for real. 

He’d been opening his eyes, and saying one word responses for about a week now, and the doctors predicted he’d be starting to wake up for longer periods of time real soon. 

“S-tv?”

“Eddie! You’re awake, do you feel okay, can I get you any-”

“Slow down, boy.” Wayne said, resting a hand on his shoulder, Dustin pausing as he does. “Any pain, Ed?” 

“No,”

“Good. They got you on the good stuff.” Wayne chuckled. 

“Steve?” Eddie mumbled, and Dustin was confused for a moment, but he thought that Eddie was probably concerned about the guy that carried him out of hell. Dustin watched as Wayne smiled, “Your boys gone to get some coffee and chips for the kid and I. He’ll be back real soon.” His boy? Interesting… 

Dustin was close to figuring out the mystery, there was just one thing he was missing. He knew these things took time, but this was taking forever, when was he going to figure this out? And right as he finished that thought, Steve walked in. He handed Wayne his coffee and tossed Dustin his chips, floating around the room on autopilot. Wayne and Eddie both watched with familiar fondness, as though they had seen this before. Steve finally let his eyes drift over to Eddie, who was wide awake now, smiling in his direction. “Eddie.” He breathed, eyes wide. 

“Hey, Stevie.”

“Oh, you bastard! I told you not to be cute! I told you,” Steve’s voice cracked, 

“C’mere.”

Steve slumped over to Eddie, basically crawling into the bed with him, and cried against his chest. Dustin felt as though the solution to the mystery was about to be revealed, were they related? No way. Best friends? Secret Best friends? Perhaps… 

“I told you,”

“I know you did, baby.”

Wait. Baby?

And y’know, he shouldn’t have been so surprised at what happened next. 

“I hate you,”

“No you don’t.”

“You’re right,” Steve sighed, leaning up and pressing a soft kiss to Eddie’s lips, savoring the sweet reunion. That is until Dustin breathed in sharply, trying to be quiet so as not to disturb them, but instead choked on a piece of potato chip. He coughed and hacked, and Wayne clapped him on the back and handed him some water, and there was snot and tears running down his face. “Sorry,” He said hoarsely, still partially choking. “I didn't mean to ruin the moment I just-” Steve cut him off with a smile, “You finally put two and two together, huh? Guess I owe you five bucks, Eds.” Dustin watched them carefully. “What?” He asked, only slightly embarrassed at the implication that the two had bet on him. 

“Me and Stevie bet that it’d take us kissing in front of you for you to figure out we’re together. He thought you’d figure it out before that.” Eddie said, smiling through his words. 

“I thought you were smarter than that, Dust. You really let me down,” Steve teased. 

Eddie sighed, “When you saw me in the shirt I thought I had lost for sure, but you never really said anything about it.”

“I thought that Steve might’ve been secretly a part of HellFire…” He trailed, looking down sheepishly. 

Wayne barked out a laugh, “It’s okay, kid. I was bettin’ that you’d figure it out at their weddin.’”

And Dustin gasped at that. “Mr. Uncle Wayne, I'm hurt,” He said dramatically, a hand clutching at his chest. Wayne sighed, “Boy, you are just about as bad as Eddie.”

And both Steve and Wayne shared a good, long laugh when Eddie and Dustin let out simultaneous “Hey!”s. Dustin shook his head, but let a smile rest on his face. This was a better outcome than he could’ve hoped for. 

And if he’d heard Steve and Eddie’s “I love you’s” whispered back and forth as they all settled in for sleep, well. 

He’d just keep that to himself. 

[g0nta-g0kuhara]

The Chapter 4 Essay Part 2: Gonta Gokuhara

A metapost on my thoughts on Kokichi’s overall motivations and Gonta’s actions during ch4. Split into two parts. You can find Kokichi's half here: (LINK)

This section is admittedly a little bit shorter than Kokichi’s, but that’s just because Gonta’s motivations are a lot more clear than Kokichi’s. That being said, I’m also worried that since I am so obsessed with Gonta I might forget something important that supports my point because to me its kinda self-evident. So if anything seems like it’s missing or doesn’t make sense, please let me know!

In my opinion, nothing Kokichi did to Gonta was personal, in both positive and negative ways. He didn’t target Gonta because he hated him in particular, but he also didn’t team up with him because they were already friends. Gonta was just an easy target for him to take advantage of, both for stopping Miu from killing him And in progressing his plan to stop the killing game. Gonta’s actions in chapter 4 are a combination of genuine manipulation by Kokichi using what made him an easy target, and motivation caused by Gonta’s desperation and preexisting insecurities that had been growing since the start of the killing game.

Throughout v3, the one thing that Gonta wants more than anything else is to protect his friends from the killing game. It’s pretty clear that he trusts his physical strength more than any other part of himself. The literal First thing Gonta says in a group setting with everyone else is this:

(prologue)

He doesn’t even know anyone yet! But he’s already prepared to physically defend them from the exisals! He also tries to stop Kaede’s execution along with Kaito and Tenko:

(post trial, chapter 1) (And- wait- is Gonta missing his bug box in this cg? Oh my god….)

Gonta is shown to be most confident when doing things that involve his physical strength. There’s less hesitation and uncertainty in his actions, unlike what you can often see in him during class trials or group discussions.

Gonta is also more than willing to give up his life for his friends, even as early as chapter 2.

(post trial, chapter 2) (he’s the first one to make this suggestion)

Outside of physical defense against active threats, Gonta really just wants to help his friends in any way he can. Here’s a couple examples:

(post-trial, chapter 1) (daily life, chapter 2) (daily life, chapter 3) (investigation, chapter 3)

On the other hand, Gonta has really bad self esteem issues. It’s telling enough that one of Gonta’s common floatlines is literally “Gonta idiot…” When he’s not casually calling himself dumb he’s apologizing for it. For this (and honestly, many other parts of Gonta’s character that I’m pointing out here) I really recommend just paying close attention to Gonta on a replay of the game. I could literally sit here for a week finding and listing all the times Gonta calls himself stupid, but it feels pretty self-evident considering how much he does it. Here’s just one example:

(investigation, chapter 1)

It’s the combination of his deep desire to be helpful and protect the people around him, and the repeated deaths of his classmates, that really start to wear on him as the game progresses. I think this mixes with his already present self worth issues to form a pretty nasty complex; Gonta explicitly blames himself for almost every single victim’s death in the game. Let’s walk through the chapters for a moment here:

Ryoma: “Gonta coulda saved him… No, Gonta shoulda saved him…! // When piranhas attack Ryoma… If Gonta had dived into tank… / Then… Gonta coulda help Ryoma. But Gonta got scared. Too scared to do anything. / Sorry! Gonta really sorry!”

In chapter 3, Gonta joins Angie’s student council out of his desire to protect everyone. This is made clear in how, before pulling him in, Angie compliments Gonta and calls him smart. She then says this:

(daily life, chapter 3)

This time, organized as a part of the student council and with Angie’s god on his side, Gonta hopes that he can finally be useful and successfully protect someone.

Angie: “Maybe Angie got attacked while she sleep in her room, and get brought there? / If so… Gonta coulda saved her! If only Gonta saw! / But Gonta was sleeping… Sorry, Angie… Gonta no could save you!”

…To quote my favourite V3 lets play (shortonegaming) on this moment: “He made up a version [of Angie’s death] so that he could blame himself.”

Tenko: “T-Tenko…! Gonta so sorry… Gonta no could protect you!” and then a little later “It’s all Gonta’s fault…! Gonta fail to protect friends again!” and AGAIN later “Gonta so ashamed…! Why Gonta no could protect friends!?”

That’s two deaths in a row that Gonta (at least believes) he was right next door to and failed to stop. You can see from how he says this repeatedly, with lots of dialogue from other characters in between, the sheer amount that this is impacting him.

Miu: “But… why this happen…!? Why… Miu killed!? / Gonta not understand… Gonta not understand anything… /…But Gonta frustrated and sad! Gonta no could protect Miu! // Gonta so sorry! Gonta sorry he no could protect Miu!” Even with Miu’s death, to which he’s waking up disoriented and confused, he blames himself for failing to stop it.

(Sidenote: Looking at all these reactions back to back makes Gonta’s disorientation after waking up from the virtual world SO much more visible. I left the beginning out of the quote I took, but when you first talk to him during ch4’s investigation, he doesn’t say anything for a few moments. This is very unlike his immediate, intense reactions in the earlier chapters. When he does start speaking it feels kind of disjointed, uncharacteristically calm, and confused before he starts riling himself up blaming himself for Miu’s death. I never really noticed it before looking into this. It’s kind of disturbing)

The only reason I personally think he doesn’t react this way about Rantaro immediately is due to being in shock that someone died to begin with. That doesn’t stop him from saying this not long after:

(investigation, chapter 1)

This complex- made of the desire to protect everyone, self loathing, and feelings of uselessness at being unable to help investigating due to being “stupid” and failing to protect anyone physically, the only thing he thinks he’s good at, every. single. time- only gets worse with each chapter. And in Chapter 4, Gonta finally reaches his breaking point.

At the beginning of Chapter 4, you can talk to Gonta as Shuichi is leaving to meet up with Kaito and Maki to train. He tries to stop Shuichi, worried about a murder potentially taking place at night (again), but Shuichi reassures him that he’ll stick by his friends and that he can’t break his promise to meet up with them. Gonta responds like this:

(daily life, chapter 4)

Which leads to him saying he’s made up his mind, and has a plan. Which is, of course, to try and take down Monokuma physically, even if it costs him his life. He initially drops the suggestion after Miu starts talking about the virtual world, but the day after, it’s still bothering him.

(daily life, chapter 4)

Almost every free time event you have with Gonta this chapter (except for like, one, where he talks about the “tiny bugs” he can barely see), Gonta is trying to think of ways to help.

(free time, chapter 4) His last possible free time event before Miu takes everyone into the virtual world has this dialogue, which is just so sad to me.

(free time, chapter 4)

“Helping everyone” and not being “useless” are almost the only two things Gonta talks about this chapter. It’s this mindset and motivation that made Gonta an easy target for Kokichi to take advantage of. He’s in a bad place mentally, and nothing he does seems to help anybody. Not to mention, with the student council gone, he’s suddenly just kind of… alone. There’s no one there (other than potentially Shuichi, during free time) to keep him steady.

And yeah, I am definitely not including Kokichi here. A strong reason I don’t think Gonta chose to go along with Kokichi out of friendship was because of this interaction early Chapter 4:

(daily life, chapter 4)

Gonta’s trust in Kokichi was broken because of the events of the insect meet and greet. The insect meet and greet’s implications for Kokichi and Gonta’s relationship are a bit strange, but since it’s not super relevant to chapter 4, I’m not gonna get into it. The point is, regardless of the nature of their relationship in chapter 2, it’s clear that Gonta doesn’t consider Kokichi a very trustworthy person in chapter 4. It’s likely that he doesn’t consider him a close friend either. I hesitate to say that Gonta didn’t consider him a friend at all, because he’s Gonta and he wants to have faith in everyone, but at the very least he was trying to be wary around him.

This explicit distrust in Kokichi might make it seem strange that Gonta went along with Kokichi at all in the virtual world. But in reality, Kokichi was very aware of Gonta’s distrust in him, and used it to his advantage in setting up his plot.

(daily life, chapter 4) (I skipped some dialogue in this exchange, but it hits the main points)

Kaito inadvertently eggs Gonta on here, but Kokichi literally drops the idea at Gonta’s feet. Gonta isn’t going with Kokichi to help him look, he’s going to make sure he doesn’t get into any trouble. And as Kokichi said, he knew Gonta would offer to do something like this if given the chance.

Kokichi uses Gonta’s distrust in him again when they encounter the flashback light holding the secret of the outside world together. Gonta’s immediate instinct was to go find everyone else, but Kokichi yells for him to wait, and then this happens:

(post trial, chapter 4)

He KNOWS Gonta doesn’t trust him, and with that distrust, he can make him doubt anything he says. I’ve already talked about how Gonta is ready to give up his life for everyone else, especially this chapter, so suggesting that he check if the light is a trap set up by Kokichi is guaranteed to make Gonta pause.

But it doesn’t stop there. Kokichi pushes harder:

(post trial, chapter 4)

Gonta thinks for a moment, but this is what made him choose to come back and look at the flashback light himself. Here, Kokichi uses the thing that has been haunting Gonta more than anything else all killing game, especially this chapter. He knows Gonta has tried and failed to protect people, he knows how upset it makes him. What better way would there be to convince him to do whatever he wants than to offer a way for him to finally be “useful” to everyone after failing them again and again?

Anything after this point and before Miu’s body discovery is purely headcanon, so I won’t get into my thoughts on that. But I think this moment shows that Gonta was under a lot more control that people often think. I don’t mean to say that Kokichi is entirely blameless, or that Gonta wasn’t manipulated at all. But AlterEgo!Gonta says himself, “No, [we] not tricked,” because he wasn’t. He made the choice to see the secret of the outside world on his own, and made every choice after that to continue with their plan. There was no trickery involved. It was Kokichi’s carefully chosen words that dug right into his insecurities, doubts, and hopes that directly influenced him into making the choice that he did.

You also have to keep in mind how absolutely unstable Gonta must’ve been at this point. He was already nearing a breaking point with his feelings of powerlessness before going into the virtual world, but then he got hit with the secret of the outside world. AlterEgo!Gonta openly admits that it made him feel suicidal. (“Cuz, when Gonta remember the secret of the outside world, Gonta think… /…it would be easier… to die.”) With the outside world and the killing game both inescapable hells, Gonta just couldn’t imagine any way out. And then Kokichi suggests the mercy kill plan. In his state of mind, Gonta truly believed that this could be the way to finally “save” everyone.

Of course, Kokichi had only just recently seen the secret of the outside world too. Even though he must have known it wasn’t true, he had no idea the extent to which it was a lie versus the truth. He probably wasn’t in a very good mental state either. But still, just like he would do again in chapter 5 to everyone else, Kokichi used the despair caused by the secret of the outside world to get Gonta to go along with his plan.

This is what I believe was the driving force behind Gonta’s half of the Kokichi and Gonta dynamic in chapter 4. Gonta’s self loathing, which was present before the killing game began, compounded with his desire to be useful and protect everyone else from the threats of the killing game. As more people died, Gonta became more and more desperate to do literally anything to help everyone else. Kokichi used these things about Gonta to push him to do what he wanted him to.

…To close off, there’s this moment right before Gonta and Kokichi leave to kill Miu that’s really stuck with me.

(daily life, chapter 4) (Read left to right, top to bottom)

It’s not common for the other characters to defend Gonta’s intelligence. But Kaito, unknowingly, says just the right thing to Gonta at just the wrong time. Knowing that Gonta was about to set things in motion to mercy kill everyone for this exact reason… I wonder if Kaito remembered this moment. Maybe it was just another reason he got so defensive over him during trial 4. I just wish he had said something like this to him sooner.

If you got all the way here and read all this… first of all. THANK YOU! Oh my god. I’ve been working on this essay for several days now between studying for my finals. It feels really great to have it all written out after literal years of loving V3 and loving this chapter. Please, please, please let me know your thoughts! Even if you disagree with me! Chapter 4 is so special to me and I love talking about it!! o/

(Screenshots taken on youtube from justonegamr, Bittersweet Gamers, ShortOneGaming, ProZD Plays Games, and my own copy of v3 on IOS. Thank you @/ishimaruhourglass for helping me find some of these!)

[molarbeardoc]

UPDATE MR AND BIVE THEORY!!!!

I was gonna post this earlier but I fell asleep and couldn’t fight the sleep demons. Plus there were a bunch of spelling mistakes so I fixed them.

Anyway here’s the updated theory

As you may remember from the much older post, I said how MR taunted Bive and drove her insane. But what if it was deeper than that?

Bive is a failed/accidental lab experiment

MR used to be apart of the science team (or is still apart of it)

Perhaps it was trying to make some sort of successor should something happen to it. Considering the fact that MR has a cybernetic God, any angry laser shooting cat, and possibly other enemies after its stony head, it’d make sense. It’d make sense if MR was the one who created Bive on accident.

It saw how she lacked pretty much all the features it wanted its successor to have and would’ve disposed of her but saw no purpose wasting valuable time and energy on such a task. Overtime the young hairy creature followed it everywhere, assisting it in its task to the point of exhaustion.

MR took notice of her loyalty and had a slight change of what little of a heart it had.

This is where the cult comes in. MR found her loyalty to it impressive as he watched her chase anyway any lingering bugs or helped pick up fallen items. It noticed how she never got along with any of the other members on its team and would always come running back to it no matter what. It was from that that MR decided to try teach her its ways, in hopes that she could very possibly lead the cult that follow it. Of which she would lead it, considering they obeyed it and any commands it gave them.

So they got to work. MR taught Bive everything she needed to know and Bive listened to it without any questions. Overtime as Bive grew she became more and more loyal to MR refusing to listen to anyone else who spoke to her. She didn’t even listen to its many victims who tried to warn her. What they said wasn’t what she was taught at all, they were all liars trying to lead her astray. But she couldn’t help but grow curious as to why they were so determined to do so.

Whenever she questioned MR about it, it always dismissed her with the same answer: They didn’t like it very much. It didn’t help quell her concerns and she was usually left with more questions than she had answers.

During this entire time MR was still trying to create a successor. However it never told Bive what it was doing. This led to her asking it about it, MR immediately snapped at her, which it never did before, and told her to leave, which she quickly did. Why was it so defensive about? Had she done something wrong? None of it made any sense.

After many weeks, she had finally had enough. She deserved answers to her questions. She worked just as hard as it, doing whatever it commanded and learning whatever MR taught her. She should have some closure right?

When the time was right, she snuck into its working area. Snooping through drawers and filing cabinets for anything she could get her hands onto. She found everything she was looking for yeah, but then her world was practically flipped upside down.

Everything she was taught, everything she was told, was an utter lie. She found out the truth about it, about the cult, even about the victims it tormented, she found out she wasn’t supposed to exist and was supposed to be disposed of when she was first created, She even saw its plans for creating a successor for if something were to ever happen to it.

She couldn’t believe it, she didn’t want to believe it. But the evidence was sitting right in front of her face. Bive was overcome with a strong sense of shame and was understandably upset. Eventually it stirred into anger and rage. She was angry with MR for lying to her, for causing so much harm. As a result, she took everything. The plans, the documents, even the files for its successor, she took it all and she left. She ran off with all of its work without even looking back.

MR, of course, wasn’t happy about this. In fact, it was absolutely enraged by the fact that the very being it practically raised as its own blood, had betrayed it. All that hard work it put into her becoming the perfect leader, wasted. But there was no use crying over spilled milk. It would get its revenge, and it knew just how to do it.

Bive, now trying to save other people from falling into the same trap she did, began trying to spread the word of it. Unfortunately her reputation had been rather damaged from the rock itself and how she was known to follow it blindly. Very few people looked her way, and fewer listened. Of course it was frustrating but she didn’t give up, not yet at least.

MR, being a being of divine authority, began to haunt Bive within her mind. Giving her nightmares, continuing to fill her with lies, manipulating her into thinking other things followed it. It lied to her about the cult saying how they infiltrated the government as well as lied to her about random nonsensical things such as number 2 pencils, clowns, and the snow soldier militia.

All of these things, along with the fact the very thing she ran away from was now stalking her aroused every corner, both metaphorically and "physically", began to drive her mad. She didn’t know who or what she could trust anymore.

She began not sleeping out of fear that it would be there, causing her to make her special brew to keep her awake. She stopped eating often as well, believing it somehow had control over the food too. Everything and everyone was a threat and possibly worked underneath it. They probably wanted to catch her and drag her back to it.

As a result she hid in the maze, the twisting and turning walls and dead ends would confuse anyone who entered, if Scary Mike didn’t get to them first. It would give her plenty of time to escape with everything important.

However this works well in MR’s favour. It knows no one is actually going to be coming after Bive, at least not yet. No one would actively seek out a crazy person would they? Of course not. Her isolating herself would only make it harder for her to spread the truth about it and its plans.

Now I know what you’re probably asking: "Critter! You said in the other post that Poob also ties into this. But you didn’t explain how!"

Let me get to it damn. So impatient 🙄😒 /j

Anyway, as most of us know, the same spirit that’s controlling MR also protects Poob from the explosion at the Happy House Party. Not to mention in one of the dialogues with Bive, she asks if they had seen "the group", which could very well be the cult members. You’d think Poob would be like "What group? I haven’t seen a group…" and they do! They do say that! But what really sets it off is how they apologize and how their head is fuzzy.

What if MR, after failing with Bive, is now trying to get Poob to become the next leader of the cult? It has no motive to be protecting them from the explosion, it just does it anyway. What if Poob has ties with the cult and MR manages to wipe their memory when needed? Perhaps it’s trying to use Poob to get back at Bive in some way.

That would also explain Poobs strange way of talking to others, with each memory wipe, they become more and more forgetful and basic tasks they originally had no problem completing are not becoming a bit more challenging than before.

It could also explain why Poob is so obsessed with partying. MR could be using the obsession as a distraction to prevent them from asking questions about what’s going on with them as well as prevent them from listening to Bive whenever she’s around.

Of course this was just me yapping but as our beloved Matthew Patrick once said:

Hope you enjoyed!

[vino---delectable]

Our unintelligent squint (Ep 1, part 1/?)

Summary: the beginning of the pilot case, Zack chickens out speaking about the new intern.

Character pairings: Zack x reader, Booth x Brennan, Angela x Hodgins

Word count: 4.6k

Warnings: none

A/N: yay!! I told you I'd get to it! Btw, none of the sayings that don't have anything to do with y/n, or anything that goes to the case obviously don't belong to me.... I just find them necessary for my fic! If you haven't read my prologue, there is going to be a link at the bottom of the chapter. Enjoy!

[No one's pov]

It was late in the night. Zack and Dr. Brennan were still outside at the crime scene, Brennan looking over the remains, and Zack was shooting pictures. They felt in their hair a warm moist breeze blowing from the pond.

Dr. Brennan started speaking in her usual direct tone, "Remains are wrapped in four milled, flat poly-construction sheeting."

"PVC coated chicken wire," Zack added.

Brennan lifts the tarp, "weighted," She looks over the muddy remains, "That's why the body didn't surface during decomposition. The skeleton is complete but the skull is in fragments."

Booth rushes in to ask, "what can you tell me?"

"Not much," Brennan says, a little disappointed, "She was a young woman, probably between-," she takes a small breath, thinking over her best factual guess,"18 and 22, approximately 5'3, race unknown, delicate features."

"That's all?" Booth said, being sarcastic.

Brennan did a shrugging gesture with her hand. "Tennis player," she said.

"How do you get a pretty tennis player out of that yuck?" Booth sounded a little irritated.

"Epiphyses fusion gives age, pelvic bone shape gives sex…" Zack stated factually.

Brennan took over and said, looking over the spot on the body's shoulder, "Bursitis in the shoulder… Somebody this young, must be an athletic injury."

"when did she die?" Booth said wanting more facts. Also wanting to skip past her reasoning.

"Eeehhh," was the quick response.

"Eeehhh," was the even quicker, mocking response, "what does that even mean," he says in a frustrated manner.

Zack responds defensively toward Booth while simultaneously snapping another photo, "it means wait until our bug and slime guy takes a look," the light shines everywhere for a brief second, secretly flashing Booth in the eye.

"No clothing." Dr. Brennan notices.

"well you know, in my line of work, No clothes usually means a sex crime." Says Booth, acting like he knows the situation

And Dr. Brennan gives more insight, "In my line of work, it could also mean the victim favored natural fibers."

Zack speaks to Booth to demonstrate, making it an unknowing comeback, and walking around trying to get more angles, "your suit, for example, will outlast your bones by decades." Booth clearly couldn't tell, because he doesn't know this "squint," that Zack secretly had something on his mind. Brennan noticed, she's noticed it all that day… She just didn't know how to respond to it, so she focused on her work more intently, pretending not to notice.

"collect silt," Brennan orders to Zack, pushing herself up to her feet, "Three meters radius, to a depth of ten cm."

This time, right after taking another shot of the body, he looks at her anxiously and quickly. Before she gives Booth permission for the forensics team, she has to pause herself mid way, as he approaches closely to her.

"Mr. Addy, is there something that you need to say, because there's work to be done?" Brennan was startlingly frustrated, she clearly wanted things done quick and a hurry.

Zack gets in a whispering position, "you know about the new intern you wanted working beside me?"

"Yes, and I hired one. Miss y/n y/l/n. She starts tomorrow morning. I only did it because she was the only one you full heartedly recommended last year."

"Mm." Zack tried to hold in being squeamish, "I did. But are you completely sure of her qualifications for thi-"

"Are you saying you made a mistake in saying that she was the best interview you had? Because I gave you the assignment of hiring another intern with hopes that you would be the one to find one that matches all the qualifications yourself, it was also to test your true reasoning, and good decision making, for those are the type of people fit to work at the Jeffersonian. If you were being lazy, or unsure, means I was wrong, and you weren't really ready. Is this what you're trying to tell me?" Well, she's not one to beat around the bush.

Zack thought, swallowed the lump in his throat, and replied rather standoffishly, "No, Dr. Brennan. I have no doubt in Ms. y/l/n's intelligence, expertise, capabilities and ambitions. I just hope I was right , and didn't look over her resume or personal background too soon."

"Well, that's rather unlike you Mr. Addy. You need to adjust your self confidence to match your work." She turns and informs Booth that the forensic team can take the Plastic and chicken wire.

"Yes Dr. Brennan." Zack sighs, mainly to himself. Now that he pushed himself into it. He had to fix this. This means he must do his best to see y/n first thing , before anyone else gets the chance to. He has to, before it is made known what he hired into the Jeffersonian…

.

.

.

(Click for prologue)

[aita-alternia]

aita for Eating a bee and blaming it on my coworker? 

i [12 indigo] am an apicultural engineedler for [a Large company name redacted]. we Provide a live software service so realtime support and updates are very Important. recently, a concentrated Effort has been made to port our old and Exceedingly convoluted network onto a new beehouse mainframework to comply with silicomb 2.0 standards and drag our Very tangled Very old codebase into the present decasweep. it has been a lot of effort over almost a full sweep, but the new mainframe is beautiful and well worth the time and will make it much easier to debug and re-bug the network going forward. 

due to our service being live, our small team of developunishers were required to supervise the migration of our bees between mainframe overday, which we turned into a little Shindig since if all went well there wouldn't be much to do once Everything was underway. one of my coworkers [14 violet] who I will call aparna for this story brought faygo for us to celebrate with [she is Not a practicing juggalo but she still talks about growing up in the church All The Time. it is frankly Quite grating. we do not need to hear again about how you chose your paint aparna you do not actually paint anymore i fail to see how it is presently Relevant. and she Always seems to talk about it louder when she notices im listening]

anyway it was getting close to migration time and Most of my coworkers were there. we opened bottles of soda and began to prep the signal drones. [not like Her Imperious Condescension's drones, these are apicultural beenary signallers that serve signposts for the queen for the interframe migration. basically Her Smaller Majesty the Hive Queen Who Makes Our Code Work needs to know where to go to get to the new mainframe but we can't move her there directly since she's too vicious to be handled directly. instead we move the drones who we can manually override and she follows them into the new beehome.] this step of the process is Usually pretty smooth. the Most difficult part is usually when the queen moves and the Entire hive follows her; the multithreading can be somewhat difficult to manage and if the beestreams begin to cross over too much, they can jam the entrances to the new beehome, causing the formation to collapse and potentially bringing down the network. that's why we have to supervise the migration closely. 

however. a Mistake was made. and it was made early. 

at some point during setup one of the signal drones was knocked loose of its designated position. i do not know how this happened [but it's probably aparna's fault. she is always making these kinds of very Small mistakes. never anything Severe but little things. annoying things. many of them.] this is usually easy to correct except that it went unnoticed and, drawn by some instinct of insects Everywhere, found its way into my soda. 

which i then drank.

i could tell the bee was in there right away, but my instinctive self defense reaction was to swallow and crush whatever was buzzing in my mouth with my Powerful esophageal muscles. so that is what I did. the signal drone died Swiftly in my throat. i was safe from the Threat of its sting - and we were down an essential component for the migration

i Panicked. i turned my head and frantically coughed up the signal drone, passing it off as the soda going down the wrong pipe. this dislodged the signal drone into my hand. i knew that if i were caught it would Not go well for me. if i got in Trouble at this job my lusus might start trying to push me toward the cavalreapers again. i could not let that happen. 

then i noticed that someone's soda was open on the table next to me. 

i invite you to guess what i did next. i also invite you to guess whose drink it happened to be.

it took some time for the absence of the signal drone to be noticed, but eventually aparna took a drink of her faygo and spat it out along with the body of the drone. it was Very clear what had happened and she took the blame for the subsequent Disaster of having to emergency patch the signal formation, as well as the debugging required to fix the resulting path collisions during the Full migration. 

aparna will be fine. our boss likes her Very much overall and is Extremely unlikely to get rid of her [i would likely have come forward by now if i had done this to Any other coworker, but aparna is in no danger and Also she deserves it for being careless and Also it was probably her who knocked the drone out of formation to begin with], whereas i would Very likely have been fired had they known it was actually my fault. however i am concerned that aparna may be on to me. she has been glaring at me even More than usual for the past few days. i have glared back as i will Not be Cowed by a juggalo - and a lapsed one at that. she'll have to do better than an annoyance if she wants anything out of me.

so. am i the Asshole?

[kelpiemomma]

That post about kayaking got me thinking about something. About Akari living in the Highlands with Ingo close to/during winter where snow is slowly starting to cover the area. About Akari being upset about something but she won't talk to Ingo about it. She insists that she's fine but as her dad, he knows better than that. If he can't help her by getting her to talk about it, then he can help by getting her mind off of it for a little while. By engaging in a snowball fight. She's fairly annoyed at first. Until one of their Pokemon throws one at Ingo in her defense. It quickly turns into chaos and they even manage to drag an unsuspecting Melli into it. Eventually the father daughter duo settle down by the fire to warm up and she's finally able to tell him about what's bothering her.

THIS IS SO FUCKING CUTE THO???

Akari is so used to the adults just giving her things to do, putting yet ANOTHER responsibility on her shoulders, that while she doesn't expect Ingo to do the same she's like... "well obv i am an adult now and I must keep my problems To Myself" and Ingo is like "darling child, you are a baby" bc Akari is still... idk. 13-15? That melodramatic age all teenagers go through where they think they're alone made worse by people going "also do this or die :)"

And Ingo is so Irritated by it but he doesn't have the power to tell ANYONE putting all these things on her shoulders to knock that shit off, that she's a kid, because she was doing it all before she met hm and he has no "legal" control over her. He tries to put her at ease as best he can but he's unwilling to confide in him bc she's an Adult doing Adult Things and he can't change her mind to ask for help or express her frustration.

So winter hits and she's been spending time with him, Melli over to visit and bug them both (he'd never admit he's been a little lonely, that he sees the warden and his adopted daughter as something like his closest companions in the highlands), and one night a blizzard blows in and covers EVERYTHING nearby in snow. Traveling too far is impossible by foot, and her pokemon are so blasted tired that she can't bear to ask them to take her anywhere. The snow is deep enough that even lord wyrdeer and lady sneasler and lord braviary are like "darling child, fuck no" so Ingo takes Akari with him to clear out the worst of the snow just from where he lives. And Melli is bitching about the cold and Akari is pouting and frustrated and snaps at him that she has too much to do, too much to handle, she can't be WASTING TIME here...

And Ingo throws a snowball at her.

It catches Akari in the face, gentle, but catches her off guard. She's standing still, confused and angered about what just happened, and Ingo does it again. Because he has very few memories, but he DOES remember someone important to him spiraling, and that he needed to help distract them, and so he did something they'd never expect. So he does it to akari. And she starts yelling (not as loud as Ingo can get) and he just throws another snowball and says if she wants him to stop, shes going to have to make him.

And the snowball fight starts off angry on Akari's side because she's stressed and scared and frustrated, so she starts yelling at Ingo except Melli joins in and also throws a snowball at her. She has no choice but to throw snowballs back (the idea of goin back into Ingo's home never occured to her) and at first she's mad, but then Ingo makes a move to dodge one of her throws except he slips, goes pinwheeling into Melli, and they both land in a snowbank. Melli immediately gets up, complaining about being cold, and goes inside to warm up but Ingo and Akari stay out a little while longer until theyre just chasing each other through the snow and laughing. Akari manages to shove a handful of snow down the back of Ingo's tunic, and he retaliates by filling his hat full of snow and slamming it onto her head.

And when they go back inside, the fire already lit with Melli snoozing in front of it, Akari's eyes start to water and then dribble with tears. And as they dry off and change clothes, pulling blankets around them as they sit in front of the fire, she curls up into her dad's side and quietly, fighting back tears, tells him about how scared she is of what she's doing, how she knows she can't say no. Ingo holds her close and promises that if she wants to stop, he'll help her, and if she wants his help, it's always ready to be given. Whatever she needs, if he can provide it he will. And for the first time in what feels like forever she relaxes, takes a deep breath, and lets herself be helped.

[beybladefanboy]

A brief(ish) review of every Beyblade Metal Fury episode

Well, this was a long time coming. Let me be absolutely clear: I did not put this off or abandon this rewatch because I dislike Fury. Not at all. Fury is actually my favourite of the three seasons. The reason I stopped this rewatch was two main factors: 1: it was around this time that I got really sucked into Yugioh VRAINS and with how chaotic my life had been during that time, I decided I would rather spend my free time watching new content than rewatch a show I’d rewatched many times at that point. And 2: I didn’t want to rewatch Ryuga’s death. Yeah… I mean I’m not gonna lie about it.

So after a certain episode, which I will say, the reviews are mostly from memory/rewatching specified scenes/skimming the YouTube uploads and episode descriptions. (Most of these however were written at the time I finished rewatching each episode.) Trust me that I’ve seen this show enough for me to be able to do that and I just didn’t have the time to rewatch all these episodes. However, it bothered me leaving this incomplete so today, I had some time and was thinking of Beyblade so I figured I could finally do it. Now, without further ado, my at first brief, but later not so brief at all because I have so many thoughts on and defenses of Fury, reviews of every Fury episode.

Episode 1: Star Fragment 8.5/10

The best first episode of a season. I love Kyoya and Gingka’s battles in general and seeing them go all out against each other, using the environment itself as weapons against each other is really damn fun. It also sets up the star fragment thing beautifully, instantly showing off their power and hinting at the greater story very early.

Episode 2: Legendary Bladers 7/10

A lot of this episode is exposition but it’s at least interesting. I can’t get over the fact that Beyblade took a real life end of the world prediction and made it part of their plot. The battle portion of this episode is also fine. I can’t tell if I like or hate Johannes based on this episode.

Episode 3: Lynx, The Monster Cat 8/10

Okay, I like Johannes now. He’s funny. And he miraculously gave Gingka a good fight, establishing him early on as a competent blader. Still a little silly that Gingka followed Johannes to a place where he should’ve known his bey would’ve been weaker though.

Episode 4: L-Drago Destructor 8.5/10

I don’t really have much to say on this episode outside of “I like it.” I like the scenes of them play-battling with the little kid, it’s the most light-hearted the show has been in a while, and I love Ryuga so obviously I love his presence in this episode.

Episode 5: Awaken, Anubius! 9.5/10

Ryuga slays three fools in a row and roasts people non-stop in this episode. Well, Yuki’s not a fool, he’s kind of a boss actually: shedding his anxious demeanour in a fit of rage to stand up for his friends. These characters are both amazing, they really shine in this episode.

Episode 6: Requirements of a Warrior 9/10

Having Gingka, Kyoya, and Yuki acknowledge that they need to actually master their beys and working to do so is really good and needed to be brought up. Also, that fire escape scene is really intense. The idea of being trapped in a fire really freaks me out so this could just be a me thing but it’s legitimately a well crafted scene. And Yuki, Kyoya, and Gingka fighting a volcano is the silly yet epic fun I expect from this show.

Episode 7: Kenta’s Determination 7/10

Oh boy, this episode. I both love and hate this episode. Well, not hate. I hate one scene of it that lasts a minute and really doesn’t affect the episode. The stalking though… I don’t know, it could just be me but it bugs me. Not as much as it used to, I’m willing to give this episode a fair score because it is really cute. Ryuga is a boss like usual and he shows a hint of his softer side for the first time in his scenes with Kenta. It’s pretty subtle, and easy to miss if you don’t know Ryuga all that well, which I like. This episode trusts that the audience knows Ryuga well enough at this point to know that him waiting on Kenta in the desert and later giving him food and letting him stick with him isn’t something he would do for just anyone. They’re small hints, which is all they needed to be, and they make the second half of this episode for me. It’s honestly one of my favourites to talk about and analyse, even if I feel that there are some… unwanted implications.

Episode 8: The Crimson Flash 7.5/10

The first half of the episode is pretty typical but still fun. Then we get to the second half and the moment they said that someone challenged the entire school to a battle, I was already dying of laughter and the rest of this episode straight up killed me. Johannes is so funny, I can’t take it.

Episode 9: The Greatest Tag-Team Tournament 9/10

The first half of this episode had me cry-laughing, between Johannes’s utter ridiculousness and the absurdity of some of these other opponents. Then the second half of this episode is Yuki depicting an accurate representation of one of my anxiety episodes which makes me instinctively want to shield him from all harm. Great episode overall.

Episode 10: A New Roar! 8/10

I love Kyoya, and this is a Kyoya episode. A Kyoya episode where he slays a fool and creates a new special move. His opponent is Johannes, who I've grown to love on this rewatch and find to be really entertaining. So why didn’t I give this episode a higher rating? Easy: the Motti stuff makes me uncomfortable. Johannes snapping at her and knocking both her and Benkei out (in the most cat-like way he could) was a good pay-off but that entire stretch of them kinda sexualizing (or at least romanticising) this underaged girl was really uncomfortable. It wasn’t as bad as I remembered (for some reason I remembered Johannes acting creepy during this and was exceedingly relieved and glad that he actually didn’t), but it does detract from an otherwise great episode.

Episode 11: Cosmic Tornado 8/10

This episode is ten times worse than the Gingka vs Ryuga Fusion battle for people with a fear of heights (me). At least in that one you could see the bottom. This is a bottomless pit full of mist that two teenagers are constantly dangling over. Like jeez, do you wanna give me a heart attack?!

Other than that, it’s fine, I like most of the characters and the ending is chilling but man does this episode give me anxiety.

Episode 12: The God of Saturn, Kronos 8.5/10

The title of this episode is so dumb, but the episode itself is good. The Beylin Fist are an interesting group and this battle is so back and forth I genuinely wasn’t sure who would win. Cool ass episode.

Episode 13: Showdown at the Tower of Babel 10/10

Ryuga, Kenta, and Tsubasa all in one episode battling in and eventually destroying a historical building? This should be my favourite episode ever! :D And I do love it, definitely the most out of the Fury episodes so far. It’s got a hint of Johannes toward the beginning, a nice treat, shows that Kenta has already grown a ton since he started following Ryuga (despite his loss he still gave Tsubasa a hard fight), has Tsubasa as basically the main character we follow throughout the tower, and has Ryuga make a new ultimate move, kick Tsubasa’s ass, and knock over the Tower of Babel (the symbol of humanity’s arrogance and pride from what I understand) like the total badass he is. I love everything about this episode.

Episode 14: New Team Dungeon! 7.5/10

The opening of this episode is a bit spooky. I forgot how much of a cult the followers of Nemesis really are. I actually 100% see how these characters fell for this stuff. “The world is a constant cycle of destruction and rebirth, only through great darkness will a new dawn occur.” Does actually sound legit. Villains are far scarier to me when you can see their reasoning and how people can fall prey to it…

The rest of this episode is mainly set up and exposition but it’s interesting stuff that brings Masamune, Toby, Zeo, and Tsubasa into the main plot, giving Toby and Zeo new beys, and even giving Team Excalibur a bit of screen time. Good stuff.

Episode 15: Destroyer Dome 8/10

This is my favourite stadium in all of Beyblade. That seems like a weird thing to draw attention to, but the Destroyer Dome itself is so damn cool. The way the beys circle around the whole thing like comets, sticking to the ceiling and walls and looping around in every possible direction. It’s a stadium Captain Capri would’ve loved- OH MY GOD THEY BROUGHT HIM BACK JUST TO BATTLE IN THIS COOL ASS STADIUM?! HELL YEAH! I love this episode.

I do have one major gripe with this episode though: the Garcias faking a fight was… well, kind of a waste of both time and potential. It would’ve been so much more interesting both as a story and for them as characters if the fighting was genuine.

Episode 16: The New Striker is Complete! 8.5/10

JACK MY BELOVED MAKES A CAMEO! AND KING THE FUNNY ADORABLE LITTLE SHIT IS INTRODUCED. OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!

Oh yeah and the Russian team and Masamune and some other people are there I guess. It’s a fun battle royale. I really like the part where Lera reveals she has a special move and it makes Jigsaw visible again. Good stuff, even if it ends too quickly.

Episode 17: I Am the Champion! 9.5/10

DESTROYER DOME AT NIGHT, DESTROYER DOME AT NIGHT, DESTROYER DOME AT NIGHT, OH MY GOD IT’S SO PRETTY. THE BEYS LOOK LIKE FIREWORKS AS THEY CLASH OH MY GOD-

Also, the destroyer dome becomes a giant hamster ball and King and Masamune run with it like they’re on a treadmill. I dunno how the others got out when it was made clear by Blader DJ last episode that there’s no way to get out of the stadium once you get in but it’s cool so I’ll let it pass. But yeah anyways, King’s backstory gives him an honestly really uplifting reason that he’s so arrogant and reckless, which does lower the annoyingness of his previous and future actions a lot. He’s excited to be battling and not thinking of anything else in that excitement. He acknowledges that Masamune is someone he can use his full strength against and he respects him as an opponent. It’s nice and very sweet and all that mushy stuff. I love it.

Episode 18: The Maze of Mist Mountain 7/10

Half of this episode is just the main characters, and returning side characters Nile and Demure (nice to see them again) wandering around some mist. … okay then. The other half is a decent battle between Gingka and Ryuto. It’s a decent introduction to this story arc. I like the new character, Ryuto, even if he doesn’t really add much.

Episode 19: The Lion’s Pride 9/10

The travelling segments of this one are a lot more interesting than last time, being more than the characters just wandering around in some mist. And the battle portion is just really damn good. Team Wild Fang is back! Heck yeah! And Kyoya vs Aguma is a constant explosion match (both literally and figuratively) and Nile, Demure, and Benkei taking on Johannes, Bao, and the Beylin Fist bladers is also a fun side battle.

Also, while I was disappointed with how this character arc was resolved and the way it starts is a little weird (I’ll get to that later), it was still a really interesting idea to have Kyoya basing his self-worth on his independence, and seeing it as a weakness to rely on others. It’s a very toxic mindset that fits his character and would’ve been great had it been properly addressed. But I’ll get to that when I get to that.

Episode 20: Guardian of the Temple, Dynamis 8/10

Dynamis has probably the best introduction out of all the legendary bladers. All the others just kinda walk in like “hey I’m so and so and this is my goal.” Dynamis though? He speaks to the group when they’re lost in the mist as if he’s speaking from the sky like a god or something, then when they finally get into his temple he challenges them to a battle, smirking like a sassy little shit as he wins. Also, he literally can hear the stars talk, I forgot this detail. My point is Dynamis is hecking cool.

Episode 21: The Legend of Nemesis’ Revival 8/10

Gingka vs Dynamis is a good battle but then it gets cut off without an outcome and then the rest of this episode is exposition. Out of all the exposition dump episodes in this show, I do think this one is the best as it’s the most interesting and action-packed but there is too much information in this spiel. If there’s any part of Fury that I can agree is rushed, it’s this. I wish the exposition in this episode had been shortened and maybe some of it spread out to other episodes so it’s not all dumped on the audience at once. The main things we really needed going forward from this episode was the origin of Nemesis, the way they were defeated long ago, and the fact one of the remaining legendary bladers is the Venus blader with a Quetzalcoatl.

So while this episode wasn’t the best way to convey most of its information, it’s still interesting and important information for the story, which I do think is a good story. So I’m giving this episode a somewhat higher score than what it probably deserves. I just enjoy Fury’s lore and Dynamis and the commentary on humanity and its history that much. I can see how this episode could bore and there were times the over-explaining bogged me down while watching but overall it was still a delight.

Episode 22: The Four Season Bladers 8.5/10

Okay, this exposition is a lot simpler and easier to follow. It takes up far less of the episode and cuts to the chase much quicker. Then the rest of this episode is the craziest battle royale of the entire show so far, ending when Kyoya reaches his breaking point which has been building over the past few episodes. He allowed what may have been just a small feeling at first to fester on the inside since he refused to tell anyone what he was going through until he eventually just snapped, which is pretty relatable to me personally. Kyoya’s arc in these episodes is well done. I understand the criticism that it’s strange he took Aguma’s words to heart so much when Kyoya doesn’t really know him and normally wouldn’t care about taunts like that. I want to argue it wasn’t specifically Aguma, or even what he said, it was Kyoya’s own internal realisation that he wasn’t living up to his own standards of strength. He internalised the idea that relying on others was showing weakness, an idea he carried yet simultaneously seemed to have been contradicting even before the start of the show. That kind of life shattering realisation is going to cause a huge reaction, no matter what prompted it. If Kyoya’s character arc this season had been resolved better (which again I’ll get to), it would be one of my favourite arcs of the show. I cannot stress enough how good of a setup this really was and how much potential this had.

Episode 23: The Battle of Beyster Island 8.5/10

“tHaT gUy lOoKs iNtErEsTiNg.”

I love King, oh my god. He is so freaking excited and happy to be battling that even when Aguma reveals a move that could defeat him, King just goes “that is so awesome!” I love his energy so much, he’s basically an excited fanboy and I love it. This episode was fun overall but King is the one who shines the brightest in my opinion.

Episode 24: Two Big, Fierce Battles! 9.5/10

I can totally understand how the back and forth switching between two unrelated battles might be off-putting… but I don’t have that issue. I love all these characters. I love seeing Kenta’s growth and Gingka acknowledging him. I love getting more of those subtle hints that Ryuga has grown to care about Kenta, and of course, the banter between Ryuga and King. There’s a reason I created a ship between these two. Even though they only met once in this battle, King not knowing who he is and just being excited to battle a strong opponent and Ryuga being confused/annoyed with him is really fun. Kenta and Gingka’s battle is definitely the more plot relevant one (and oh my gosh I love that scene on the beach) while Ryuga vs King could definitely be called fan service, but it’s great fan service that fits right in perfectly dammit! It’s something kid-me wanted to see ever since King’s reverse rotation was introduced and it’s great!

Episode 25: The Unseen Opponent 7.5/10

Chris’s introduction episode. It still annoys me how insistent the characters are that Masamune has to be the Legendary Blader and ignore Chris entirely and Chris’s bey’s physics are impossible but the battle in this episode is still good. And my god do I love Chris. He’s already a huge mood with the way he talks about his job. “I’ve dealt with much worse than this!” “If I lose, I will not be able to survive in this world!”

Episode 26: Orion’s Whereabouts 8.5/10

This episode is so chaotic, I love it. Everyone is just in a mosh pit of madness, with King defending his friend, Gingka trying to get him to chill, Chris instantly sucking up to his new boss, Ryuga showing up to wreak havoc, it’s all so damn fun. Stand out moments from this episode definitely include Kenta hugging the evil out of Ryuga, King cheering Masamune up, and that chilling ending. It’s great fun, and could be the last really fun episode of Fury as soon we get into the emotionally intense stuff…

Episode 27: The Lion in the Wilderness 7/10

Yu is such a brat but in a charming way. I can’t stay mad at the little guy, especially when he’s the one to call out Kyoya for not knowing shit about lions. Haha if only that weren’t the closest thing to resolving this character arc. Overall, fine episode. I like Tithi just fine and Kyoya and Yu are at least funny. Next episode though…

Episode 28: The God of Venus: Quetzalcoatl! 5/10

Yu and Tithi’s battle is pretty fun, it’s a good official introduction to Tithi. The first half of this episode is fine, fairly enjoyable if a bit standard. The second half though… ugh. I wrote a whole fanfiction rewriting this which… should explain how I feel about it. What Kyoya does here feels so out of character at this point and even if it’s not, it’s just irritating and the destiny moral is really fumbled here. Every other episode says the choices of the legendary bladers will decide the fate of the world and the narrative of this very episode even supports that: Kyoya chose to leave the heroes and then chose to return. Destiny didn’t actually force him to do anything. Kyoya just claims it’s his destiny out of nowhere. It fumbles the “destiny is a choice” idea and feels like an excuse to get him to return quickly without acknowledging the reason he left in the first place. Yu saying lions hunt in groups isn’t good enough because Kyoya doesn’t even acknowledge that or think about it… at all. So yeah it’s lazy writing and really disappointing considering how much potential Kyoya’s arc had. The final scene is pretty cool though, good setup for the next episode.

Episode 29: The God of Destruction’s Revival! 10/10

(This is the point where I start reviewing the episodes based on memory/episode descriptions.)

I’ll be honest, most of the episodes that were originally two 11 minute episodes flow pretty seamlessly as one put together episode. This is the only one where I can tell this was originally two episodes, as the two halves follow two completely different sets of characters. The first half is the revival of Nemesis, a chilling, tense spectacle, while the first half almost exclusively, and a little out of nowhere, is a battle between Kenta and Ryuga. That being said, while I definitely prefer the second half, both halves are fantastic. A little odd when put together, but tonally they mesh well enough and I love how much Kenta has grown in this episode and his plan to beat Ryuga is so good that even though I knew it wouldn’t work, I see how it could have worked. Plus, y’all know I love their friendship, it’s just so damn wholesome, I can’t-

Episode 30: The Child of Nemesis 7/10

Hello, obviously Doji in a top hat and trench coat. Why are you here exactly? Yeah I know his first appearance was in the last episode but I have less to say about this episode than I did that one so I’m gonna talk about the Doji thing here. Bringing Doji back was almost completely unnecessary and weird but honestly, after seeing how much more poor and ill-fitting his presence in Shogun Steel was, his appearance in Fury feels pretty inoffensive and just… whatever. He’s pointless but not unbearable.

Otherwise, cool ass raid episode, I like evil Dynamis and Kyoya showing up at the end. Nothing else really sticks out about this episode but it’s not bad. It’s just… not one that I can instantly point to and go “ah yes, the episode where this happened!” The main battle is Gingka vs Evil Dynamis. We’ve already seen Gingka vs Dynamis and they don’t even get to finish their battle. The episode is still fun but… feels like it could’ve been trimmed back to tighten the pacing.

Episode 31: Four Hearts 8/10

Okay, this episode is much more memorable. Kyoya vs Dynamis and Aguma vs Tithi are both fun battles (even if I don’t get why the Planet bladers were descendants rather than reincarnations when the latter makes way more sense with what’s presented in this episode, is that just a dub thing?) and the bulk of Gingka vs Chris actually happens in this episode. I could’ve sworn that happened in its own episode but… yeah this episode and the previous and following one kind of blend together in my mind because all of them take place in this temple and flow directly into each other. That’s not a knock against the episodes, it’s just how my memory works. This one moves the plot along more than the last one and I love Chris so most of the episode being focused on his battle with Gingka is good in my books.

Episode 32: Come Together, Legendary Bladers! 9/10

Also known as the episode where Ryuga fucks everything up. And every battle from the last episode also ends. A lot of Ls were taken in this episode. By the characters, the episode itself is damn fun. This episode also has two halves that feel a bit pasted together, with the first half focusing on the fallout of the three battles and the second half being the part everyone remembers where all the Legendary Bladers attempt to join together only for the aforementioned Ryuga hecking up everything but these halves mesh much better as it focuses on all the same characters as the first half so there’s no random sudden shift in focus, it’s just the next logical event in the plot.

This episode also features the scene where King and Masamune pose like magical girls. I’m just bringing that up because it’s cute not because it’s relevant.

Episode 33: Diablo Nemesis 8.5/10

The temple getting wrecked took up more time than I remembered but oh well, the first half of this episode is a good display of Rago’s power and while the second half is tonally different, it’s the most logical direction for the plot to go. Plus it’s a nice chance to see the Legendary Bladers interact, in some cases meet, in a way that’s more low-key. As much as I love Fury, I do wish it had more scenes like that, more chances for the characters to just breathe or establish bonds.

Episode 34: To The Final Battle Ground 7.5/10

So for some reason, the official source for Beyblade on YouTube incorrectly titled this and the next episode and also put them out of order. Episode 136 is titled “To The Final Battle Ground” and has that episode’s description but the episode is actually “Episode 137 The Lost Kingdom” and vice versa for the next episode. While I’m not fully rewatching these last eleven episodes due to time constraints, I did check my DVD for Metal Fury (which is an official release) and it didn’t make that mistake, the episodes are titled correctly and in the correct order so this was a mistake the YouTube channel made and I don’t know why it happened or why they haven’t fixed it even 7 years later. For anyone watching Fury, be sure to get the correct order! The show didn’t skip over Aguma’s redemption, the channel just put the episodes in the wrong order!

Anyways, the episode itself. Yeah, it has Aguma’s big redemption moment and… I actually do think it works pretty well. It’s nothing super deep, but he comes to the logical conclusion that saving the world comes before the Beylin Fist’s feud with Beylin and shows his commitment to the group by helping them fight off Johannes and his goons and save their helicopter. The rest of this episode before the battle is just the characters training to prepare for the final confrontation as they don’t know the whereabouts of Nemesis before they get a clue to said whereabouts and decide to go there. Not the most eventful episode but it works well enough. Besides… the next episode is… more eventful to say the least.

Episode 35: The Lost Kingdom 8.5/10

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to have pure pain directly injected into your heart? I don’t have to, I watched this episode.

Try as I might, I cannot get through this episode, or the following one, without crying. Some movies or shows that try to depict a character fighting to their very last breath with every ounce of their strength before ultimately fighting to their last breath, cannot convince me that the character gave it their all. This is not one of those moments. This battle is as long as it needs to be and every moment is there to further the struggle, the slow fall of the once invincible-seeming Dragon Emperor, and I feel every bit of it. It’s the reason I… couldn’t bring myself to rewatch these episodes again at the point in my life I was at when this rewatch occurred. I was already getting my heart violently ripped out by a new show (and general life events that I won’t go into) and didn’t want my comfort show also causing me pain. So while this episode is great, phenomenal even, it’s… the second hardest episode for me to revisit. Entrusted Emotions only barely edges it out because that episode literally traumatised me to the point of developing a phobia. This one… is just a really sad episode that I always grab tissues before.

Doji’s also in this episode and while I don’t feel like his presence in this season was necessary (and in retrospect, it may have just been there to set up Shogun Steel, which I overall didn’t care for), I will say having him specifically there to mock and enrage Ryuga makes it more painful, at least to me.

Episode 36: The Missing Star of the Four Seasons 10/10

Most of the episode, after the gang reacts to the death of Ryuga which is… also… really damn painful… is them struggling against Nemesis, unable to form the barrier to seal him away due to the passing of Ryuga and… yeah it captures that struggle well. The weight of the world is on the group’s shoulders and it is a hopeless impossible battle and you can feel that in the way they get knocked around despite their teamwork and despite them fighting at their hardest. Maybe it goes on a little too long but this is essentially the final battle and the feels are all there throughout and… the scene everyone remembers from this episode…

I did rewatch that scene (and a couple other scenes in the next episode), and my god is it still just as impactful all this time later. The build up, the atmosphere, the feels, the ANIMATION, holy fuck the animation. And the sound design, Ryuga’s harsh breathing, those final words. I don’t even know what to say, this moment is just phenomenal, my favourite in the entire series without question. Really, when I put Flash Sagittario in my top five Fury episodes all that time ago, it included this episode. Both are such a tense fantastic emotional spectacle that flow into each other beautifully.

Episode 37: Flash Sagittario 10/10

Everything I said about last episode applies to this episode, only now the tides have turned in the heroes’ favour with Kenta’s evolution into a legendary blader, with his new Flash Sagittario, which the episode shows off very well. That moment where he defeats Pluto with Diving Arrow gives me all the feels. If I have one gripe in this episode, it’s that there are more flashback sequences than they probably needed but it’s a final battle and the flashbacks don’t take away from or affect the pacing in any major way for me.

Episode 38: Hades’ Persistence 7/10

Oh, right, the last two episodes weren't the final battle. Honestly, could’ve fooled me, with a proper epilogue afterwards, that battle would’ve worked perfectly as the final battle, it shows the Legendary Bladers all working together and while it excludes a few older characters, the setup is cool and unique and fits the teamwork themes even better than Masters’ ending did and the battle itself is entertaining enough for me to forgive its shortcomings.

This… is just the fate of the world coming down to Gingka again. And everyone giving him their power. Again. Fusion did this first and did this better. Because that coming down to Gingka made sense, he was the one with the greatest connection to the villain, Fusion was very much his story and while he’s still the protagonist, he isn’t more important than anyone else in Masters’ final battle of the previous battle of Fury. This… ruins that, it feels really generic and phoned in. It’s not bad though, I do love Kyoya’s speech to Gingka before he and the others give Gingka their power. That does bring everything together really well and makes this otherwise pointless battle more forgivable for me. It’s a slip up for sure but it’s still entertaining.

Episode 39: A Ray of Hope 8/10

“Every bey has a Star Fragment in it so we can all contribute”… okay…? Well, that’s not incorrect or anything, it does fit the lore of the series and brings everyone together for the final climax in a way that episodes 36 and 37 didn’t but… eh, this never did much for me.

Now the epilogue post battle though? That’s some nice stuff. The gang have been through hell but now that it’s over, they pick themselves back up and start to heal. Enough so that Gingka and Kyoya are even willing to have a battle, a no stakes fun battle to see who the true victor between them is, just like old times. A great final note to a great show.

[negligenceatbest]

Where we Start is Where we End. (Where we Live is Where we Die.)

Summary: You lost everything in the apocalypse. Everything you ever cared about, that is. After bouncing from survivor groups to other survivor groups you decide you can't live like a rule book anymore. So, you decide to travel the map and end up in Baltimore, MD.

You expect nothing more than to find a place to lay your head down and sightsee for a few months before keeping it going to the next place, like you had before. The apocalypse was a free vacation Afterall.

Maybe it'll start to cost you one day.

Relationship(s): Yandere Cult leader Hannibal Lecter x Reader

Chapter Five: Anti Fruit Snack Association.

Words: 2.2k

A/N: this took me forever to post it was basically done but was sitting in my drafts bc i had to rewrite some parts. to those still reading this series ty for ur patience and without further ado let’s get into it :))

Sometimes, you wonder what life would be like if the apocalypse didn’t happen at all. If on that spring evening so many years ago, the sun didn’t fall, and the human race didn’t turn where you would be? And though, it’s inevitable and probably (certainly) nothing you could’ve done to stop it, what if you could have? What if someone could have?

To be known as the hero who saved all of mankind. And to be known as the hero who helped. What would that have been like? You didn’t know and wouldn’t know in this life, but it was still fun to think about. To be looked at differently than who you once were. Then who you were now.

But even if it wasn’t you, and there was somebody else, somebody with more credentials and more experience or maybe just somebody who looked better on screen to say that they saved the human race… What kind of life would you be living right now, in that universe?

You would probably have finished high school and would have made something of your life. You would have traveled like a normal person, maybe meeting that guy you met the other day and his dog like a regular person. Making blatant conversation that did nothing but further your relationship that was yet to come. Then, you could’ve been regular friends. Like regular people in regular situations. Maybe become something more like regular people do.

That would be your preferred normal future.

You wouldn’t have had to scavenge for your food, visiting stores with high claims secretly just so you could get your fix not to starve. You wouldn’t have to wear the same outfit for days on end just to ensure you had enough clothes before you could find some place to wash them again.

There were many things you wouldn’t have to do again, and vice versa. You wished you were in that universe now.

But unfortunately, you aren’t and will never be. You will grow old on this planet that houses living corpses that seek food in their warm counterparts. They will always seek you out, cold eyes gazing into your warm ones. You will keep moving and they will always be slightly too close behind. Always a little too close for comfort.

You, a warm counterpart, will keep killing until you die. Whether it be for self-defense or for food. It’s a kill or be killed world and you will never have the hands of a saint.

*****

Lightning bugs only coming out during the summer was one thing you were regretful to learn multiple years ago, their tearful existence leaving you like the seasonal apple trees your grandmother used to plant in her field over the acreage of her farm.

You had only seen them a couple of times in your life, their beauty lighting the dark and bringing you to a path of wonder you would follow blindly on your own accord, a trail of bright light following behind you as you went. These bugs had lit up the dark and you had experienced fireworks in your own hands. These bugs were wonder and faith, you would wait plenty more summers if it meant having a chance to see them again. Even in the apocalypse.

Right now, you sit in a tire swing far from the house you squat in, humming a song you grew up listening to and reading the journals you just couldn’t seem to stop reading. This time, the writer, Will Graham, talks of his childhood. Nothing too explicit, and nothing too subtle. Mostly of his adoptive father and this Hannibal character. You were growing curious if the writer would ever come back to the house. You would like to put a face to the penmanship.

Most of the writing in these journals were comedic in a sense, but you can tell the writer has struggled. You shook your head at the thought and realized that everyone alive had struggled now. Still, it wouldn't be fair to pity someone who didn't ask for it.

Your legs kick slightly as you swing softly in the tire and chew on some fruit snacks you had gone to find the other day. They tasted a lot like if fruits were chemicals, but they were still good, so you didn’t care. You turned the page with your free hands pinky and thumb and read that page as well, hoping you wouldn’t finish these journals all so soon and if you did that there were more somewhere else.

Maybe reality shows were onto something when tv was still a thing. People really were interesting sometimes.

You continued to read one page after another, never growing tired of what they had to say. On one page you had read of Will finding an abandoned dog he named Winston, a male dog who was terribly hurt and not much of a people person himself. The writer had gotten close enough by feeding him and being as non-threatening as possible. Soon, after Will gave the dog treats, they became inseparable. You wondered if it really was the treats or if it was true animals could tell good people from the bad ones.

You counted back the date, thinking of the already older dog being even older by now. Winston probably was already a senior citizen by now in dog years. It would be nice to meet the dog before you left if you could.

If you couldn’t, you wouldn’t be so surprised either. It wouldn’t be the first time something didn’t go right. You really started to wonder about the owner of the house now, thinking that maybe he had moved elsewhere.

It would be sad, but plausible. You had done so as well, why couldn’t he? You shrugged to yourself subconsciously.

Tires rolling over gravel halted your thoughts as you fell out of the tire swing and back onto your blanket that held your booklets and fruit snack wrappers. The ground was soft as you fell with an ‘oof.’

The house seemed farther away now that someone was here and you kind of sighed as you wished you had brought your binoculars. It was probably the owner anyway so you weren’t that worried, but you hoped they wouldn’t be that freaked with someone lounging in their house.

You mean, imagine if you came home and someone was sitting on your loveseat reading your diary entries laughing at your painstaking memories and was eating fruit snacks that you weren’t even sure we’re safe to consume. To your defense though, they were the good type so that does kind of make it better. Anyways, you suddenly really wanted to hope the owner would be a good person.

Maybe you were too nonchalant about staying in another survivor's house. You should have just looked elsewhere. Somewhere without a fireplace or hot water or plumbing. Yeah, no. You would take your chances fighting off the anti-fruit snack homeowner (if they were anti-fruit-snack.)

You doubted it.

You slowly made your way back to the rustic house and trying to put on a welcoming face. You thought about how you would tell the person you had been staying in their house for days without them getting mad. You didn’t know if they would take that well at all, so you decided to just not add any more fuel to the fire and not tell them about reading their diaries.

Hopefully, it all goes well.

*****

After Will had finished talking to Hannibal in his office, he decided to look for Kylo. As tired as Will was, his dog was more important than sleep. He was family. Family doesn’t leave each other behind.

If Will was being honest, the temptation of a silk duvet and matching pillowcases to rest his head on were something he had all but wanted to say no to. He had all but wanted to decline Hannibal's invitation, but he concluded long before that the safety of his dog (his family) was more important than sleeping like a king. Will would rather sleep in his dog stuffed barn, covered in fur and kisses and warm as a coat than to even choose leaving his dogs behind for a one-night arrangement of velvet comforters and feather pillows.

What good would a night of comforters and cloud like wonder do if after all that, his dog was nowhere to be found or even worse? If he had took that offer, if he had even thought for a second that it would be something worth more than finding his dog alive, then Will would have truly succumbed to the world he lives in now. Will would then know that he was better off being dead then ever being compared to anyone in this stupid suburban hell.

But Will wasn’t that person, not yet anyways, and somehow he knew he wouldn’t be-even if it was only for awhile.

The night was pitch black and cold, drawing a shiver from Will as he walked in silence. The small amount of light illuminating from street to street was sadly only coming from inside the curtain covered windows. It had shown a pathway, all the way down to the third to last house before the street ended with a turn, it was the only house without lights on and Will had known that that was Arleen’s house. If not because of her upkept garden he could slightly see, then because of the sleek cruiser parked out front that hadn’t been driven in years.

Damn, Will thought to himself, that is one hell of a ride.

And it sure was, too. Though Will wondered if there was any way to get it back up and running again. It wasn’t a priority in the first place so he didn’t care. Will had made it to the house, walked around to the side door and knocked once, twice, thrice before he stopped and looked around, still on edge. He waited a while, before he knocked again and heard a hard bark.

Will sighed as he heard that bark, a relieved feeling swaying over his nerves. A feeling almost like he had been high and was as relaxed as ever. His adrenaline crashed downwards and he felt himself sway as he stood. He was so tired. Will soon saw the porch light and urged himself awake for a little while longer. He would be asleep soon, it’s fine, he told himself.

The door opened and Arleen peeked over in her white night dress and curler filled hair, she sighed in relief finding it was Will. Not even saying anything she urged him in and pushed him into the living room, guiding him to the sofa. She guided his sitting figure to a laying one and pushed off the extra pillows to where he only had one for his head to rest.

Will followed blindly, trusting her undeniably and opened his mouth to speak as she left the room for a moment. She came back in less than a minute with a comforter and thick blanket to stack on top of each other. Will took them from her and just as she was about to leave and turn the light off he had called out to her, noting how everything went so fast.

“Mrs. Bradshaw?” Will queried.

“Yes, William?” She turned around with a small smile, she could tell his night hadn’t been well and she hated seeing the boy like that. Such a sweet child who’s only flaw was having one too many dogs, it didn’t matter though because as she saw it, he was doing them a blessing.

“Uhm..” He hesitated, “Are you not gonna ask me why i’m here?”

“I already know. It’s written all over you.” She laughed, “Plus it wasn’t like I wasn't expecting you since I woke up with Kylo scratching at my door.” She finished. Will nodded in understanding and assumed Kylo was in the house somewhere. He let out a small hum and opened his mouth to say something else before he was interrupted by a tired voice.

“Let’s talk in the morning over breakfast, okay? Beauty sleep is required of those over 50.” Will nodded, sinking further into the warm blankets. “Now, goodnight.” She said and Will returned the words and blinked as the room turned black. Soon, Will was laying down staring at nothing in particular except for the dark and only then did it occur to him how drained he was. He felt like he had never slept, and his only hobby was seeing how long he could go without blinking.

His eyes burned and he closed them, cuddling more into softness. It’s okay, he knew it, Hannibal would take care of the mess he made, and maybe he would finally kick them out. No it wasn’t a maybe, Will thought, He would.

It was handled in a different way, obviously. But We all know that.

[madbox91]

Today, I caused chaos on Twitter and Mobox and friends didn't like it lol Part 2

And why is he saying that he's drinking cold water? I feel like his messages were dragging out and dry. I really feel like he was trying his hardest. I don't think bro had anymore ways to make his harassment attempt very effective besides those ways.

Yes, his bait was a long time ago but that doesn't mean it's bad 💀. Also I highly doubt that he changed from a long time ago because clearly he's still acting the same so that easily disproves his statement. I can tell that he wasn't annoying me and so he just leaves because there's nothing he can do about it. I think he realized that I knew on what he was doing or he realized out that something was different about this interaction. I guess he find that impressive as to how unaffected I was and called me interesting and brave for that. Of course that also might be him teasing me. If he was being fr by calling me interesting and brave then uhh thank you I guess. That's some pretty positive words but think you. I think you mean pretty unannoyed but it's ok. Interesting, brave, funny are pretty good feeling words if you are trying to harass someone. Joking aside, he's just dick riding at this point, no matter how sarcastic he is. This isn't a good way to annoy someone if that person seems to be not annoyed at all. In fact, it seems to be uncertain as to if both parties really did annoy each other. I know I wasn't because I was pretty pumped that he was even talking to me (remember this is something that I always wanted). Of course in his delusional mind, he thinks he has won and he annoyed me or something and gotten his entertainment. Anyway he says this, "well I'm bored now, *gets a stroke in Spanish or something* have a nice night". If I have to be honest with you, I thought he said he was going to sleep or something. I don't know why, maybe my ass was tripping, I mean I was being so excited when I was talking to him and so I didn't focus on wtf he was saying so maybe that was the reason I don't know but this made me motivated. Like this mf made me more excited than I am already am during this time. When he blocked me, my mind snapped and instantly created ideas as to what to do to disturb his what I thought sleeping and thought more possibilities to do more not so nice things to do. Like how come it's already over? I guess he didn't want to deal with me for too long but now I am left with pretty cool and fun ideas. At this time I was doing some quick thinking and keep getting some good ideas on what I should do next. If he doesn't like and is sensitive to people saying anything negative to mobox87 then I should do more of that. it seems like he gets pretty offended and defensive when her closest friend keeps receiving anything remotely negative from people like me and the mobox critique. In my mind, I have some speculation based on this and why he chose to harass me. Of course this could be just him doing it for the fun of doing it but ngl I have a big feeling that I have offended him or mobox got offended by me and so sent or motivated Nikolai to go after me and somehow stop me. I don't know but what I do know that shit started after mins of making this thread

So I just have a good feeling that I might have offended or immediately got his attention (aka things I want) him. I mean I did made this to grabbed his attention so it worked. If any of my speculation is correct then big w for me. Anyways speculation aside, if the only way to bugged him and offend and annoy him just a little bit is to slander his closest friend with jokes and at the same time facts then well big w for me. Maybe his greatest enemy to make him upset is himself lol. But anyway, he did say that he wanted to stop impersonating her best friend aka something that he doesn't like so why not give him more of something that he doesn't like and make that up to higher level than before. This was the idea I built and something that would be super fun to do. Think about it, if they block me then that just tells me that I annoyed them and they don't want to deal with me anymore. And if I am lucky, I could get even more attention out of it. At the end of the day, I was just a pretty non offensive Twitter account who use mobox's identity for goofs and laughs with no big attraction what so ever. I was no harm at all besides ruining mobox's image of course (liked that already happened countless times). I was just being a ridiculous silly billy when I was impersonating mobox, nothing too serious. I guess my Twitter account was a little bit too much and aggressive for both mobox87 and Nikolai. But hey, you heard what the young man said, after all sometimes annoying people adds a little bit spice to life, right? So it can only be fair if I do the same so let's put that into the test and find out what happens if I do that to Nikolai and mo-

Oh...

💀💀💀

Maybe he shouldn't have said that. Uhh oopies uhh oh well 🤷‍♂️. But here's how I did it

You already know shit got bad shit insane. I basically created a new Twitter account to add little bit of spice into life if you know what I am saying. This is where the greatest mobox fan of all time within me was starting to act up. It's strangely felt like Nikolai gave me more power instead of decreasing it. After all he pretty much got me what I want.

Wanting attention ✅

Having a some kind of reaction to my shit ✅

Making my dreams come true ✅

Giving more material to slander, poke fun at, and mock at ✅

Making him look dumb in my posts ✅

Being called the most positive things (he called me funny, interesting, and brave) ✅

I got entertained and just overall excited ✅

Wasted his time (should've ignored me. His life wouldn't be harmed if he did) ✅

Now I'm about to make more fun out this idea I made up thanks to him (I love fun) ✅

You know, looking at the bright side to life can be an advantage. That's a lot of cool stuff I got from him. This dude was just dick riding at this point. He was the one responsible for the creation of the new Twitter account to do the thing that he doesn't like so yeah. He made me more hyper than I am already am during that time. I mean yes, maybe Nikolai did got his entertainment but it made his own detriment on himself. Now I'm doing something that he really doesn't like and now rubbing it on his face and splitting out negative shit about his closest friend. He just made the situation of stopping me worse and now I'm just constantly doing it and there's nothing he can do about it. And guess what thanks to him, he give me more attention and attraction to me because now mobox has posted this

I have done it again. The second time 💀

[lovebillyhargrove]

Wake me up when July is around

Chapter 6

Chapter 7/?

***

Remember the yellow camaro, a glimpse of which we got in the Halloween party episode? I do.

And, imo, Steven extremely frustrated, sexually.

Also, Max hasn't met El yet.

***

On Monday Billy puts the tray on the table where Andy's having lunch with his girlfriend, takes a seat and asks:

"Your car runs okay now?"

"Yeah, man. You did a great job. No more funny noises or anything."

Billy knows that, but he's just checking.

"When's the race then?"

"Uhm .. Thursday? .. Friday?"

On Thursday Billy's working at the garage, on Friday some Susan's relatives from a nearby town are coming for dinner, so Neil has made it very clear - no plans for Friday evening. Gotta stay home and pretend to be a perfect family.

"Busy. Saturday?"

Andy's looking at Tina for confirmation and she nods.

"Yeah, alright. Evening time?"

"Anything after 4."

They decide to make it at six thirty, perfect time in terms of light. The sun is not gonna be getting in the eyes, but the visibility is still gonna be great. They talk some more about the track. Tommy who's been sitting with Harrington the whole time changes tables and is joining in because of course he has to, how can preparation for a car race between Hawkins High students can happen without him taking active part in it. Billy notices King Steve does not like it when his jester wanders off.

He gets distracted for a split second because

The King's pout is an entertaining sight.

But he quickly regains his focus.

The three boys choose an approximately seven-mile-long stretch of the road, starting from the abandoned Brimborn steelworks factory till the bridge over the Fall Creek. The track is almost a straight line with four or five curves, which aren't too tricky. Boys wanna rev the engines, but it's not Formula 1, there is no need to make it too dangerous. They will need people at the start, and at the finish. The road is on the outskirts of Hawkins, and rarely used, so the chance of running into cops is very little. As well as the chance of risking having a car coming towards you. Also, the guys who are gonna be waiting at the bridge can stop any vehicle coming from the other side of it, apologize for the inconvenience and politely ask to wait till the race is finished. No-one wants to come face to face with two wild teenagers' cars speeding on both lanes in your direction.

The Fall Creek bridge is old and has only one lane. Two cars can't possibly fit in there. Whoever's on it first, wins.

They are racing for the win, but also, to make it more interesting, for a six-pack. Tommy says he'll let everyone who might be interested in watching a race know, and people are gonna bring beer, so that everyone can celebrate, and at that all major details have been settled.

***

Nothing really happens this week, Billy doesn't even bug Harrington during basketball practice that much. Can't explain it, just doesn't feel like it. Maybe making each other's noses bleed has helped him let some steam out. Or maybe thinking about Harrington when Vicky's mouth was literally on his dick means that Billy should ease off for a while, let himself cool down. Besides, he's got other stuff to worry about. Like the upcoming race, he has to make sure his baby is ready. He's working Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and at the weekend, so when Vicky asks him if he wants to go out sometime this week, he has to blow her off. Billy tries to make a sad face like he's really disappointed they can't spend time together and asks for a rain check, but in his defense his plate is full these days.

Max, surprisingly, has been on her best behaviour so far this week. Always on time. He's seen her talking to the same boys from the week before, so she is hanging out with them. It's fine. Until Neil sees the whole gang. Billy just hopes she's gonna be smart about it and not bring anyone home. He should also probably warn her against mentioning "guy friends" at this family dinner on Friday. Cause the question about school and new friends will definitely be asked. If Max says, yeah my best friends here are actually four boys, they are the coolest, and she doesn't even have to mention that one of them is black, Neil .. he is not gonna be happy. Billy's not sure what's going to happen, cause he's never seen dad go after Max, everything is always Billy's fault anyways, so things might just get more chaotic in the Hargrove-Mayfield household. Or Neil's going to make Billy Max's watch dog 24/7, which is gonna be nauseating. So far he's been her chauffeur. However, Max is growing and soon, Billy's afraid, Neil will find the way to make it his problem.

It's only a year. Less than a year. Eight or nine months to hold out.

So yeah, it kinda happens that Billy robs Harrington of his attention this week, but Harrington seems to be the one asking for it? The slicked-and-styled-hair preppy boy is getting under Billy's feet, and on his nerves, the whole time during the game. As if his bloody nose wasn't enough. As if he wants more. Harrington throws subtle glances at Hargrove in the showers and during classes. The fuck he's doing that for, can anyone explain it to Billy? He probably wants to say sorry for being such a bitch about the room at the party last Saturday. When he fucking walked in on Billy getting a blowjob from Vicky in his majesty's quarters.

This is my room, get out of my room! Mommy, mommy, they are in my room, tell them to go away!

What a whiny ass.

No-one needs your apologies, you dick. Go figure your shit out with your girl better. It’s becoming more and more depressing to look at those two. They are gonna break up soon, that's for sure. There's something in them being together that just doesn't sit right.

***

The family dinner is boring and ceremonious, as expected. Why are adults always so fucking pretentious, like do they really enjoy it, do they feel comfortable like that? Or, it's not about feeling comfortable, it's about painting a pretty picture, rubbing it in the faces of others, look what a nice family we have, how well behaved the children are, how hardworking and serious the husband is and how good the housewife is. Who fucking needs it?

It's suffocating.

Billy wants to get out for a smoke, to take a breath of evening air

But he can't do even that now. Would be disrespectful, and they have zero disrespect tolerance in this house.

Susan's cousin, Aunt Shirley and her husband Uncle Dean are the hickiest hicks possible. Thank god they didn't bring their kids, if they have any.

Billy behaves himself very well in his light blue button up, which he ironed yesterday. He always takes care if his clothes himself, Susan never touches his stuff. Helps Susan set the table while Neil entertains the guests in the living room. He can see that Max is suffering too.

When they were driving home from school earlier today Billy asked Max if she had made any friends who are girls. She looked at him as if he was thoroughly stupid and exclaimed a defiant "Yeaah!??"

"What is her name? Or names?"

"Why do you care??"

"Just trying to be a good brother, Maxine."

Max scoffs

"It's not your business."

"Just tell me your friend's name."

"Just leave me alone."

"Tell me the name, and I'll leave you alone."

"It's uh .. Jenny. Jenny is her name."

"Jenny?"

"Yeah! Jenny!" Max is hissing like a cat. "The hell is your problem today?"

Billy doesn't answer this pointless question.

***

When the table is set and Susan takes meatloaf from the oven, there's usual dinner chichat

"Here you go, Dean. Shirley ..?"

Aunt Shirley is tasting the food

"Mmm, Susan, the meatloaf is amazing! Where did you get the recipe?"

"It's actually Grandma Judy's recipe, do you remember how she used to cook it?"

"I do! It's perfect!"

When the food pleasantries have been expressed, Neil and Susan talk about life in San Diego a bit and how they decided to move to Indiana to be closer to Susan's family and also because Neil wanted a quieter life.

"How did the kids handle the move?"

"Well, they seem .. fine, right, honey?"

"Do you like your new school, Billy?"

Uncle Dean is mostly busy eating, but his wife seems to be very talkative

"Yes, ma'am."

"Have you already decided what to do after it?"

Get the fuck away from here, that's for sure

"Are you planning to study or start working?"

Aunt Shirley does like asking questions, huh

"I don't think he has any chance of getting into a university. With the lifestyle he's leading? Partying and what not. Right, son?" Neil is cutting in

"Dad, it's not only .."

"When I was your age I already had two part-time jobs, and although colleges were not an option for me, I pretty much supported myself and have decided on the future occupation."

A piece of meatloaf gets stuck in Billy's throat and he coughs lightly

"I actually have a job, dad."

"Oh? A job?" Shirley's asking

"Yes, I fix cars in the .."

"I really don't know who would hire you. Just look at the haircut. And the pierced ear? Kids are given too much freedom these days, I swear."

Billy holds back an eye roll

Dean stops chewing for a second

"That's true, I don't remember having a haircut like this when I was your age, kid."

"If I were the one to hire I'd tell you to go to the hairdresser first, son."

Dad, stop.

Billy's biting his lower lip.

Fucking stop.

Susan is sing-songing an obliging

"Dean, would you like more meatloaf?"

"Oh I sure would love to, cousin."

She's looking at Neil.

"Honey?"

"Please. It's delicious."

Well damn, Billy hasn't even said anything, but he already feels like he's been covered in shit from head to toe.

Can we please just fucking get to dessert, or better skip it, and then wave you a heartfelt goodbye?

Aunt Shirley decides to switch to Max.

"What about you, sweetie? Do you like your new school?"

"Yes, I really like it. I've joined AV club, it's really interesting."

"What's AV?"

"AV stands for audiovisual .. it's working with audio or video materials, recording something, editing it .. It's fun."

"Oh. Sounds more like a thing boys would be interested in?"

"Uhm ..there are boys and girls, it doesn't really matter.."

"Have you made friends at school already?"

Auntie sure is a nosy one.

"Well, yes .. they are from the club mostly."

"Who is your best friend, sweetie?"

"Uhm .."

Max is quickly glancing at Billy, but his eyes are cast down.

"Jenny. Jenny is my new friend here. She's nice."

Susan remarks politely

"You should absolutely invite Jenny for a visit sometime, sweetie. Right, Neil?"

Neil's nodding and chewing.

Susan adds

"We'd love to meet her."

"Of course, mom."

At least, the shitbird had enough brains not so say something wrong. Susan's gonna be asking her about this imaginary Jenny now, but it's a problem for another day.

The adults finally leave the kids alone, and Billy can eat some food although it all tastes bland now for some reason.

Billy's used to being belittled in front of others by his own father, but it stings every time like a knee skinned afresh.

After dinner when Neil, Susan and the guests have talked some more in the living room, it is finally time to say goodbye. Auntie and uncle want to get back to their Hicksville before the darkness falls.

Max helps clean up the table and is allowed to go to her room. Billy's in the kitchen washing up. Neil comes to the kitchen from the bathroom.

"I'm disappointed in you, son."

You're always disappointed in me. The fuck did I do this time?

Billy's circling the sponge on the same plate, over and over, until he stops.

"Were you not able to answer the questions and maintain a semblance of a decent conversation? Sitting there with a long face and mumbling? What will they think of you now? That I have an imbecile with a pierced ear for a son?"

Are you kidding me right now? You interrupted me every time I was actually saying something!

Billy doesn't know what answer is expected from him. He squeezes out a robotic

"I'm sorry, sir."

Is the safest bet in most cases. Not in one hundred percent of them though.

Susan who is drying and putting the dishes away decides to ease the tension a bit. Once every half a year she does that.

"Neil, honey, please.. it was such a nice evening."

"And it would've been even nicer if my son here had put more effort into making an impression like he really cares about your family's visit!"

Fuck, dad, whatever I do, you're never happy. What the fuck do you want from me? You know what? I don't even care what it is. Just leave me the fuck alone.

Billy just goes on washing the damn dishes. What else is there to do, huh. Like he can start smashing plates on the wall.

Susan is actually trying her best

"Shirley and Dean are waiting for our call next week to let them know if we're going to come for Thanksgiving."

Oh fucking shit no

"I would really love to go. A whole lot of my relatives are going to be there, would you like to go, honey?"

Neil is considering the idea

"I believe it would be nice, to get to know everyone. We'll talk about that when we're alone though. Can you get me a beer from the fridge? Gotta catch up on the evening news."

Susan is handing him a can of beer and dad's off to the living room to watch TV.

It seems that Billy's off the hook for now.

"I can finish here by myself, Susan. If you have something else to do."

"Oh, would you really? I'll go sort out the laundry then. Thank you, Billy."

Not the fucking trip to another bumfuck town for Thanksgiving. Fucking hell, please no.

The evening sucked, but all in all, honestly, it could've been worse.

When Billy's lying in bed he remembers how his mom used to praise him when he was little. Doesn't remember much, cause memories have faded with time, but he can still hear her soft voice

You're doing such a good job, baby.

Billy's trying to hold on to these crumbs of memories. They keep on fading away, time is doing its job of erasing them slowly, and sometimes Billy wonders if he even had a mother. The notion seems like from another lifetime.

Maybe he can still do something right one day. Maybe he's not a total screw up.

Or maybe his dad's right.

***

When Saturday comes Billy goes to work first thing in the morning. He again checks his car, everything runs smoothly. Billy's kinda excited for the evening. What are the chances of having two camaros, identical models, in the same little town? While the other camaro is the original Z28, Billy's car is a bit different cause back in San Diego after hauling it away from the scrapyard he had to come up with inventive decisions to bring it back to life. Guys from the garage helped him get the hood for his car from a sports coupe camaro. It's also missing a badge, and it's been repainted.

Billy loves his baby to pieces.

He kinda doesn't care if he wins or loses, there's no shame in losing to this yellow black striped beast. When Andy brought his car to Old Joe's garage, complaining about the noises, Hargrove personally went through every tiny part, fixed the problem and now the engine worked like a well-tuned clock. Both cars are basically the same on the inside, they are equals. It'll probably be a draw. Billy can live with that.

They meet at a quarter past six near the Brimborn steelworks plant. Roy, Danny, Mike and Tina, as well a couple of girls whose names Billy doesn't remember are there. As soon as the race starts they are gonna jump in their cars and catch up with everyone at the bridge. They are gonna miss the finale, but Tina insisted on waving the checked flag - god knows where they got it from - and she demanded company.

At six thirty sharp the flag is waved and two cars take off from the start line. A Camaro Z28 can reach its maximum speed of 120 mph in under twenty seconds, so it's gonna be fucking fast.

It's a sight, these two, blue and yellow with black stripes.

The cars are going hood to hood, light to light, engines roaring, rubber squealing.

A couple of turns are behind, there are two more ahead, and although sometimes one car seems to get ahead of the other, they are moving in sync.

It's gonna be a draw. They'll be getting to the finish line in no time.

"There they are!" Vicky is shouting in a shrill voice

Harrington is watching.

At first he didn't want to come cause

Asshole Hargrove and the fight

But Tommy roped him in anyways

"Oh come on man, it's not like we're having a goddamn race here every day!"

All the people who are waiting at the bridge are watching, holding their breath. They've parked their cars at a safe distance from the bridge in the field and some kids are leaning on them, some are just standing near, but all of their eyes are glued to the road.

Both camaros are like two flashes of lightning, coming towards the bridge at a breakneck speed.

Billy releases the gas pedal just a little, then floors it with all his force, and the blue Camaro pulls forward, but just a couple of inches, at most

They are flying towards the final goal, and the bridge is right there, right in front of them, they won't fit on it together, with two lanes merging into one.

Why is neither of them slowing down?

Good thing Tina stayed behind because she would have a heart attack

It's not even a matter of minutes now, it's a matter of seconds

It's either one of them lets the other overtake him, and not by an inch or two, or they are gonna crash. At this speed? They are going to fucking die.

Hit the brakes, dammit! Someone has to give in

Andy needs to understand that Hargrove is not gonna slow down. It's not about whose car is faster anymore because they are both fast. It's about who's crazier.

Holy fucking hell, they're gonna crash.

One of them has to brake.

He has to.

Steve's heart is jumping out of his chest. This is too intense. This is also hella beautiful, watching these two beauties speed down the road

But one of them fucking has to slow down and let the other one win!

In the blink of an eye the yellow camaro drops the speed abruptly and swerves to the side, and Billy has a fraction of a second to turn the steering wheel and not crash into the bridge railing.

The blue car flies on the bridge and over it, and the yellow one is left behind on the side of the road.

Andy is getting out of his car and Tommy and other guys run up to him

"Dude, that was insane!"

Andy's shaking his head, not quite processing that they were this close to crashing

"No that .. that guy is insane. He's got nerves of .. of fucking steel. I swear I was ready to brake any second cause it was .. clear it's a draw but .. he had no intention of slowing down at all."

He exhales loudly

"I need a cigarette. Where's Tina?"

"She's coming, man, they're coming."

Billy's camaro is standing on the road for a minute, engine running

The hell he's standing there?

In a minute it's turning around and driving back over the bridge to the gathering of teens.

Roy, Tina and all the starting point crew arrive at the finish.

Tina is getting out of a red ford escort and running to Andy

"Baby, did you win?"

He's shaking his head again, still not being able to believe what just happened

"Nah. I thought it would be a draw till the very last second. Hargrove won."

At last Billy arrives at the spot where everyone's standing and gets out of his car.

He comes up to Andy, stretches his hand out for a shake

"Great race, Goldman."

Andy shakes his hand and Tommy gives Hargrove an already lit cigarette

Billy accepts, his fingers are shaking, just a little

Andy looks at Hargrove

"You're crazy, man."

Billy's chuckling nervously

"Yeah. My fucking bad."

Tina opens the trunk of the ford and hands Andy a six-pack which he gives to Billy

"For the winner."

Billy puts it on the camaro's hood. He takes out another six-pack from his own car.

"I really thought it would be a draw, Goldman. Your car is a beast."

It is, and Billy truly did. He just changed his mind last second.

Two six-packs, and Roy whispers something to Tommy and they go to Harrington's BMW and come back with even more beer, and Billy takes a can and after shouting

"To all fast and beautiful things in the world!"

He's shotgunning it,

Tommy yells

"Fucking preach!"

And the guys are whooping and more cans are being opened, and the girls are laughing and the beer flows, and the evening is relatively warm, and the sun almost reaches the horizon painting the sky and the clouds a beautiful palette

Heartbeats get back to normal, more or less

Andy turns on some music in his car and opens the doors

They are young, and still carefree, and no-one crashed during the race which is a good enough reason to celebrate

When Tommy comes up to Billy a couple of minutes later, Hargrove already has Vicky on one arm and Jennifer on the other, and Vicky looks like she's ready for a cat fight

"Dude that's the craziest car race I've seen. I mean .. at the fucking end of it .. dude."

Tommy is looking at Hargrove in awe. He looks at him like he wants to kiss him on the mouth but is never gonna

He turns and kisses Carol instead who's hugging him from behind

Some couples are dancing, Andy and Tina are making out

Harrington is moping cause he's without his princess

Someone says it's gonna rain because the clouds are building up, but no-one gives a fuck

And when the rain does pour down, and they dance and drink some more under it, everyone finally gets in the cars, soaking wet, laughing, drunk and happy

And so so young.

***

***

When Steve gets home that night it's close to 10 pm already. His dad is up in the bedroom and mom's watching tv downstairs.

"Steve, is everything alright?"

"Of course, mom."

"Where have you been?"

"Just hanging out with guys."

"But it's pouring outside?"

"Yeah, just uh .. it's not a big deal."

"Oh .. Dad and I wanted to talk to you about.."

"I know, I know .. colleges and stuff. Not tonight though, right? It's late."

"No, of course not. Also, not just colleges, you need to keep in mind other options as well in case .."

"Mooom. It's late, 'm tired. And I really need to change, okay? Love you. Good night."

"Good night, honey."

Steve takes off his wet clothes, jumps in for a quick shower, brushes his teeth. He's still feeling excited, from watching the race, from sensing the danger. He's known Andy for years, and despite the fact that the dude's capable of doing something crazy, like climbing on the roof of the house drunk to proclaim his love for his girlfriend, or, case in point, racing, he is generally in his right mind.

Hargrove, on the other hand? He's a total nutcase. Risking his life like that? What for? Why? Is winning so important for him? Or is it not just about winning?

Harrington was among those who were at the finish line, sitting on the hood of his BMW, and he saw the finale.

It's like Hargrove almost doesn't care if he lives or dies.

A race is a race, but risking your life for that?

Maybe Steve should be careful playing that game that he wants to pursue. He might be playing with fire. He probably should call it off before anything even started. A smart thing to do would be to stay away from Hargrove.

Harrington's not so sure anymore what he's doing.

That motherfucker is batshit crazy

Does Steve find it attractive?

Hargrove has been so distant this week, minding his own business, it was strange. Wasn't that what Steve wanted? For Billy to leave him alone?

Yes. But also ..

Also what?

Steve shakes the towel wrapped around his waist down, throws it on a chair, finds a clean t-shirt to put on for the night. He gets under the blanket without any underwear and turns on the belly, shutting his eyes.

He hasn't come for five days already. Last time he jerked off in the shower on .. what was it, Sunday?

Steve starts humping the bed slowly, his cock painfully hard.

He's grinding against the mattress, lazily moving his hips and thinking about today.

The sounds of engines roaring, impatient, hotheaded.

Music booming in the open air and rain coming down from the sky

He's thinking about the party when Steve walked in on that couple about to fuck right here, in his room.

He's seen Hargrove's dick in the showers. Not that he looked. How would it feel to .. to touch it? To feel its weight? How would it feel to be standing on the knees in front of Billy, looking up at his face?

He was here, in Steve's room. With his dick out.

Does he have sex like this too, unhinged and hot to the point of burning down to ashes?

Harrington's pressing into the mattress and then releasing the pressure, and he can feel his orgasm building, building to the point of..

Suddenly Steve opens his eyes

Ugh, fucking stop. You have a girlfriend. Just .. stop, jesus fucking christ, enough. Think about her boobs for christ's sake.

Steve hasn't seen or felt Nancy's boobs in a while now. Is this what a serious relationship is, is this what marriage generally is like??

Boobs. Boobs. He has to think about boobs. He grabs a playboy from under the bed in frustration, opens it at a random page

There they are. Nice and full and so soft to the touch.

Steve is back at humping the bed. He really needs to cum, his balls have been feeling literally huge for the last couple of days

The moment Harrington closes his eyes again

A sensation of Hargrove's body grinding on his own during basketball comes to Steve's mind and he moans in frustration.

Boobs. Think about boobs, come on now.

Steve's touching Billy's sweaty pecs with his elbow trying to push him away

But the asshole's persistent

What happened this week? Why didn't Hargrove bother him? What's wrong?

His mind comes up with another image that flashes through Steve's fogged up brain, it's Hargrove's nipple's grazing on Steve's elbow,

He's increasing the tempo

Fuck.

He really needs to come. To hell with it.

Steve stops running away from all these images.

He stops and lets them take over.

He doesn't need much, he's already on the verge.

The nipple .. small and hard, sliding on Steve's skin

Another flash is Hargrove's broad shoulder blades, Steve pictures him swimming in his pool, blue lights all around and he looks like a magic creature, only he's not magic

He's real

Very real

Steve loses all the rhythm, humping the bed erratically

How would it feel to .. fucking .. touch ..

Steve cums panting in his pillow.

He almost falls asleep like that.

When he cracks one eye open, he thinks that

He should probably jerk off before taking a shower next time

Whatever

He wipes himself with the sheet, throws it on the floor, finds some boxers lying near the bed, they smell clean

Tomorrow he'll definitely tidy up his room, all this stuff lying around

And sleeps without a sheet cause looking for a new one and putting it on the bed seems like too much work now.

The last coherent thought that Steve's having tonight is

Okay, listen man, that's enough. That's the last time you let yourself think about Hargrove. Stop doing that when you're pleasuring yourself.

Steve's very disappointed with himself.

However, the orgasm felt great.

***

Chapter 8

[carewyncromwell]

“Everyday people, in their own sweet way, Like to add a coat of paint and be what they ain’t! That’s how our little game is played, Livin’ like a masquerade, actin’ a bizarre charade, While playing the saint!”

~“Facade” from Jekyll and Hyde

x~x~x~x

Ahhh, no!! Carewyn!! D:

Ahem -- yeah, this is a counterpoint to a piece I’ve done in the past about Jacob and how he got ensnared by Charles Cromwell and R’s web...but this is going to take a little bit of explanation! First, though, my musical accompaniment while working on this includes Things Are Not What They Appear from Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World, Elsie Lovelock’s cover of Trust in Me from The Jungle Book, and Wolfsong by Omnia. 😊

Okay, right to it. Those of you who know Hogwarts Mystery, there’s a moment toward the beginning of year 6 where MC meets Jacob in his old room at Hogwarts, after following Sickleworth the Niffler, who’s carrying a white quill that it turns out is a threat from R, reminding MC that R still intends to “collect” on one of their friends’ lives. Well, this scene has always bugged me, because Hogwarts is supposed to be nigh impregnable, to the point that even Voldemort couldn’t get inside during the First Wizarding War -- so how does a non-Hogwarts-graduate like Jacob get in so easily?

My answer -- that is not really Jacob. In my canon, the person Carewyn instead meets is an agent of R, who -- with inside help from another agent who plays as the newest Defense Against the Dark Arts professor -- was able to sneak into the school and impersonate Jacob with Polyjuice Potion. And this agent impersonating Jacob is none other than Carewyn’s maternal uncle and heir to the Cromwell Clan, Blaise. 

Blaise Cromwell is a character who -- quite honestly -- I think deserves multiple punches to the face. He is ridiculously possessive of his family, seeing them as akin to prized toys that no one else is allowed to touch but him, and his sister Lane and her children are no exception. Blaise is just as determined as Charles is to force Lane, Jacob, and Carewyn back into the fold of the Cromwell Clan, and he has no moral compunctions that might temper that desire. He’s more than willing to lie, deceive, torture, or even kill to achieve that goal. And because he was raised by Charles -- who like Jacob and Carewyn was born with immensely powerful Legilimency -- Blaise became a master of Occlumency at a young age, all in the effort of maintaining some privacy in and control over his own mind. This Occlumency and Blaise’s rather convincing act makes it so that Carewyn at first has no idea that she’s not speaking to her brother...at least, not until Blaise as Jacob collides with her in Knockturn Alley, while Carewyn herself is disguised as Patricia Rakepick. But for now, Carewyn is completely unawares...not just because Blaise was so good at capturing Jacob’s mannerisms and overall attitude, but because he sounded so sincere, speaking of his desire for their family to be as it once was. It made it so that when he so “reluctantly” accepted her help with the Vaults on the condition that she not involve her friends “unnecessarily” the way he did Duncan and Olivia, Carewyn didn’t suspect anything amiss. And well, Blaise does want his family as he once had it. He wants his sister Lane back at the Cromwell estate...and he does want her children there with them. Sure, for her and them, it’d be a cage, but they’d learn to accept it. They were family, after all -- the Cromwell estate, and the Cromwell Clan, was where they belonged. 

For however terrible of a person Blaise is, however, I will point out that the moment Blaise collided with Carewyn in Jacob’s old room was the first time he’d really been able to interact with his niece. And however much he was focused on his goal, it didn’t mean he felt nothing, seeing her for the first time. 

Lane had been Blaise’s favorite sibling when they were young -- admittedly largely by default since they were closest in age and Lane was both intellectual and disinterested in social gatherings enough that Blaise enjoyed her company -- so her departure had a profound impact on Blaise, just as it did the rest of the Clan. He missed his third sister dearly, and hearing that she’d not only married a Muggle, but that that wretched man then proceeded to abandon her and her children upon Jacob’s Hogwarts letter arriving at their door, Blaise felt a surge of overprotectiveness toward both Lane and her children. They deserved better than what they’d had to live with -- they deserved to live well, not in poverty; they deserved to be treated like high society, not like freaks; they deserved a real home with the Clan, not living in a Muggle gutter. Jacob and Carewyn’s experience with their father should prove to them the superiority of wizardkind over Muggles -- not drive them further into the arms of Muggle lovers like the Weasleys or Mudbloods like Olivia Green or Ben Copper. With Blaise himself a widower and single father, he’s imprinted some of those twisted paternal instincts onto both Jacob and Carewyn as well -- and when he met Carewyn for the first time while disguised as Jacob, he witnessed her capacity to love first-hand. For while he wore her brother’s face, this usually stoic, pretty little teenager fussed over Blaise, fixing his robes and expressing sincere and open concern for his safety. The closest comparison point Blaise had for Carewyn’s behavior was that of his own deceased mother, Marilyn -- and yet there was no sense of asserting control here, with Carewyn. Charles only used “concern” as a means to an end -- to get a better read on who he was talking to. Even Marilyn would express concern by taking some authority over her children -- telling them to sit up straight, fixing their collars and hair to make them look perfect, because she wanted them to succeed, which would also reflect well on her. But not Carewyn. Her caring was given with no caveats or conditions -- no semblance of dominance or control. It was so...selfless.

Blaise had had no concept that any relative of his could be so weak-hearted. And yet all it did was make him want to bring her into the fold more.

People are rife to take advantage of a child like this. The people around her already have taken advantage of her. These ‘friends’ of hers that she’s so desperate to protect from us...what have they done, to deserve her caring? Who are they, to deserve her loyalty? Muggle lovers, Mudbloods, paupers and orphans...they are not her family -- we are her family!

The thought made Blaise’s inside flare with resentment and anger. 

And I intend to treat her like it. 

At one point during their meeting, Carewyn asked the man she thought was Jacob if something was wrong. Blaise tried to play this off, simply claiming he was lost in thought. Sensing Carewyn might be starting to pull away from him, Blaise offered a shred of vulnerability. 

“...It’s just...the last time I saw you...you were only a child. You still would be a child, if not for the Cursed Vaults...”

Some resentment slipped out despite himself. As much as he wanted his family back together, and as much as he knew his father Charles’s word was law so long as he was head of the Clan, Blaise really hadn’t wanted his son or any of his nieces and nephews to be involved with R. He’d fought hard to keep Tristan and Pearl and Claire’s children out of this whole mess. 

“...I wish I could shield you, Pip. I wish that...things could be just the way they were.”

Carewyn’s eyes softened. Feeling compassion in her heart for who she thought was her brother, she then opened up her arms and encircled “Jacob” in a hug. The gesture made Blaise flinch. 

“Me too,” Carewyn murmured. 

The warmth of her embrace flooded Blaise with a strange, trembling kind of pain -- an ache he hardly knew the origin of. He so rarely received hugs as it was, but this kind of hug in particular -- however much it comforted Carewyn as much as him, once again, there was no sense of transaction, no sense of control. She was just offering him comfort, and she found comfort herself just in giving it...such a weak-hearted gesture, and yet expressed by such a firm, warm embrace. 

Abruptly, before he fully knew what he was doing, Blaise had lashed his arms out and seized hold of Carewyn, cradling her against his chest the way he did his own son, Tristan. The strength of his hug made Carewyn give him a light squeeze in return, which in turn made tears clutch at Blaise’s throat. Forcing them back fiercely, the heir of the Cromwell Clan simply held on tighter, resting his head on top of Carewyn’s as a choked song drifted absently from his lips. 

“The other night, dear, as I lay sleeping, I dreamed I held you in my arms... When I awoke, dear, I was mistaken, So I hung my head and cried.”

Blaise hardly knew the origin of the old song anymore, aside from it being his main choice of lullaby for his son, Tristan, when he was young. Carewyn seemed to know it, though. Her lips even curled up in a small, sad smile of her own as she sang the chorus with him --

“You are my sunshine...my only sunshine... You make me happy when skies are gray... You’ll never know, dear...how much I love you... Please don’t take my sunshine away.”

Patricia Rakepick had told Blaise that Carewyn was a true Cromwell, when she sang. Seeing what she meant, by hearing the warm, trained tone of his niece for the first time, made Blaise squeeze Carewyn that little bit tighter.

Oh, if only his mother could’ve heard her, Blaise thought of Marilyn at the grand piano so many years ago...if only she’d had the chance to hear Lane’s daughter sing...

“We can’t forget Laney’s baby. We must get something for the baby...”

When Blaise finally forced himself to let go of Carewyn, he cleared his throat, trying to pull himself together as he turned away. 

“...I should go. The longer I’m here, the more of a chance someone’ll see me. Can’t afford to get you in more trouble, on my account...”

Carewyn frowned. “Mm...”

Even with how disappointed she looked, she still nodded. Blaise turned to her much more seriously. 

“Best not tell anyone I was here, Pip,” he said. “If your friends are anything like mine...I doubt they’ll just stand back and watch, if they know you’re helping me with the Vaults.”

Carewyn’s eyes fell away as she nodded again grimly. She clearly didn’t need to be convinced -- she’d already come to that conclusion herself. 

Good, thought Blaise coldly. The more she separates herself from them now, the easier it’ll be for her to let go of them and return home to us. Then she’ll know what home and family truly are.

The memory of trying and failing to completely modify Ben Copper’s memory outside the Ice Vault -- of seeing him fearfully mumbling Carewyn’s name in his sleep in the Hospital Wing, after he was recovered -- made Blaise’s fist clench around his wand as he left the room and disappeared down the hall. 

Everything would be the way it should be, Blaise thought, once he brought Lane and her children home. He’d make sure Lane, Jacob, and Carewyn had everything they could ever want, once they came home to the Clan. He’d make sure they were content -- that they’d have everything they needed, at home, where they belonged.

Then they’d stay. They’d stay, and never leave again.

[blissfulalchemist]

2, 12, 13 for sahar AND a ff clown of your choice

Thank you Macy! Sorry this took a hot second! But you get three characters because I couldn't resist talking about my ffxvi girlies :')

2. Is your OC a loner or a social butterfly? Are they satisfied with how they come across to other people?

See Sahar used to be a social butterfly, and typically had plans most weekends, but this all changed when she had her psychotic break and was back on her own after her inpatient stay. After that she really isolated herself and didn't like to interact with people for fear of their judgement, not that she had any care to what they thought no not her, which led to her doing things like taking on the overnight shift. Less people at night, never mind the other stuff she was trying to ignore. However, once meeting with Marc and the rest of the Midnight Mission she gains a bit of that social butterfly aspect once again and it can be a little jarring to those that don't know her all that well. Frankly this in between-ness that she has going on within the Mission leaves her the most satisfied because it really is the best of both worlds for her and feels more authentic than the social butterfly she was before. The whole better to have 3 devoted friends than 300 superficial ones.

I'm gonna talk about both ffxvi babies cause I love them but also not what you would expect. Between Alma and Clídna the more social of the two is actually Clídna!

While Alma can certainly be social she's more content to be by herself or with a select few people, which can all be attributed to her only really having her parents and needing to keep hidden, to then becoming part of a secret society, and then once again keeping her identity a secret so her main interactions that were for fun was limited to Joshua and Jote. Many though percieve her to be more social than she actually is and it wasn't much of an issue because it got what was needed, until she got older and had that attractiveness about her that meant men would just come up and keep conversation going long after she made it clear she wants to be anywhere but there (and rip Joshua can't go slightly jealous bf on them during this time).

Now Clídna likes being around people and having someone to talk to. She's always had a bigger community around her growing up with her father being in the military in both the Northern Territories and then once moving to Rosaria, she was around loud and boisterous men because he had to take her with him once her mother died and there was no other family to care for her while he worked. And despite the trauma she endured this aspect never waned and in fact she used it to her advantage. Jill was always someone that she wanted to protect and it started at first as this sense of women in a bad situation solidarity but then they became friends and Clídna was finding that as the two got older simply standing up and demanding the men leave them alone or at the very least Jill wasn't enough, so she befriended them and put on this different mask of social-ness so that should anyone get any ideas on wanting Jill she could just as easily step in and give them what they want, saving her friend (and eventual girlfriend) from having to partake in something she didn't ever want. Even when in the Empire's military she used this social aspect to keep herself safe being one of the few women among a lot of men, except for ol' Clive who was far from social at that time and man did it bug her that she couldn't befriend him like the other men. However after getting a bit closer to him she found so much relief in not having to put on this act for him and could let her social battery reset in a person she felt safe with. Upon first glance with her scarred face, muscle, and guardian demeanor many don't find her to be social and in fact almost down right scary, which she doesn't hate after using her sociability as a means of defense but she dislikes that it keeps people away because she does love people and the world and still holds out hope that they have good intentions. She's used to community and being seen as scary means being ostracized and that's well the opposite of community.

12. Is your OC cynical or optimistic? Who or what shaped their outlook on life?

Sahar has always been a bit of a cynic when it comes to life. She just has this underlying understanding that people won't ever see her in the correct lighting or just will dislike her for reasons unknown to her right off the bat. This can come from living around New York and being muslim and from the Middle East, along with the fact that her brother never really liked her and it showed and she never knew why. While she doesn't have an immediate bad faith interpretation of people it does underline everything she does. Before the hallucinations she never let herself get close to Steven Grant even though it was obvious that the two wanted to be in the few interactions they had, as she had a feeling he would just leave seeing there wasn't much to her. By the time she meets Marc she doesn't see him as trustworthy because something seems off and so keeping him at a distance is safe and boy was there some vindication when she found out about his DID and he knew for a long while that his alters knew her prior. Like to her there is always going to be another shoe dropping its just a matter of when.

Alma is cynical with people and their intentions, an optimist that life will be better, and a realist when it comes to her profession. Alma since she was young was always undercover to a degree and was warned against people she didn't know, as they could discover something they shouldn't and based on what happened with her parents being turned in to the empire of Sanbreque resulting in them being branded and then a life of slavery its understandable. She also just has always had such a small circle of people be close to her that makes it harder to branch out, but if those people trust or say someone is decent then she does the same because she trusts those closest to her to not put her in danger. Alma though has hopes that life will get better, she’s part of the change and since joining more of the outside world so to speak she sees there’s more people than she assumed also working for something better, it is also the only comfort she has because if there is no hope then why live at all? (And she saw a boy who should have and was pretty much dead come back from that trauma and still see good in the world around him) And lastly Alma is a doctor and she knows the dangers of false hope when it comes to promises about badly wounded people, she never promises unless she is absolutely certain she can follow through with it.

Clídna is an optimist overall, she has her hesitations with men but considering the abuse she’s been through it’s not a surprise. But Clídna wants to believe in the best of people, she sees each day as a new beginning, and god does it drive her to keep going. She is so so protective over it too that it is what drives her to be a guardian and fighter.

13. How important are romantic relationships to your OC? Do they prefer casual sex, short flings, or long term relationships? Do they want to get married or are they content with what they have? Or do they have no interest in romance whatsoever?

Sahar never planned on getting married or having a family and this is still true overall. She never put romantic relationships at the top of her priority list so they kind of went to the wayside as she focused on her career. She had a few relationships here and there with at least three of them being long term enough to live with one another (and one of those defacing her couch cushions when she broke up with him), but they didn't work out for various reasons and she was typically the dumper. Marc was a bit of a surprise really and was the one person she moved romantic relationship higher on the priority list, this was also true for Steven Grant back in the day, and she was pretty darn close to asking Jake Lockley out when he was her taxi driver. She's still on the fence on marriage but she was never outright opposed to it, especially when her parents were still alive, she wanted the fanfare of it if it felt right with the right person, but if neither of them wanted it they'd take to being the common law or courthouse married. She doesn't ever want to marry comic Marc but she wants the long term commitment to him, so they'd never make it official but won't correct anyone if they called them wife or husband. MCU Marc she has much more consideration for it but that would be years down the line maybe when they're a bit older and greyer.

Part of Alma's optimism towards the world does involve a better life happening for her in having a marriage, kids, the whole picture. She is a lover at heart and while it wasn't a goal necessary it was something she was on the lookout for in a way. While she fell for Joshua pretty hard, if it didn't work out with him she would have looked to others but all of them would be with the intention on finding a long term relationship, but thankfully the feelings were reciprocated and she holds onto the fantasies of the future with Joshua. It is actually within the story that he does ask her to marry him or commit to him whatever makes her happy when the world is saved, to which she says yes and the two eventually do and have three children. So I would say she's pretty happy with how things are currently between them!

Clídna for a long time wasn't looking for any kind of long term relationship, there was too much danger in it and frankly no time for such things. It wasn't until she and Jill started to fall for one another that she wanted more than casual relationships (though due to circumstances she still maintained the ones she had with the men). However once losing her Clídna goes back to casual and stays that way until she's allowed to have more room to consider if there was more than just a feeling of safety with Clive now that they were in each other's lives again. And it turns out that there was more between them just the survival instinct overrode anything other than safety and physical needs. Clídna's feelings for Jill never waned either and that was who she was holding out for in having a long term relationship with once more when they found one another. While things were a bit awkward in the beginning its not long after Cid's death that the three of them lean on each other more and come to the agreement that there is no point in anyone picking one over the other and just became a three way relationship. Their relationship isn't put out in the open very much because they don't want to have to explain it to everyone but its also obvious and everyone in the Hideaway and their associates know and just don't say anything because what business of it was theirs. Clídna is very much happy with how things are between her and her loves Jill and Clive.

[darkx-the-dragon-kn1ght]

Chapter 7- Part 15

Er- I’m sorry, is that a disco floor? Are we gonna have a Pokémon battle or a dance battle? Is it gonna go all rainbow while Caramelldansen plays in the background?

Honestly, I can see Julia blasting Caramelldansen during a Gym battle, seems on-brand for her as she blows up a poor unprepared Trainer’s Pokémon.

Also on-brand for her- those decorations!

At this point, combined with her love of explosives, this power plant is gonna be more like the Fire Hazard House of Cheer.

Case in point-

CASE IN POINT-

Wasn’t expecting to be held back on, and I wouldn’t want this any other way!

Here we go, everyone, it’s now or never- time to see if my planning and preparations really paid off!

Um- am I seeing that right? The Minun’s at Lv. 12?? Did I…did I overlevel myself for this Gym? No, that can’t be right- maybe the rest of Julia’s Pokémon are much higher-leveled, especially her Electrode. Don’t get cocky, X, that’s how these tough boss battles get you!

Also- hey! I know this battle theme! It’s GlitchxCity’s remix of the Xerneas/Yveltal battle theme, I’ve listened to this track on my own time plenty of times before! This is this game’s Gym Leader theme? It was one thing using a remix of a Legendary Pokémon theme for the Team Meteor Grunts, like- those guys were dangerous, they’d probably kill Xera if given the chance, the intensity of the situation made sense. But this is a Gym battle- yeah, it’s meant to be a difficult fight, but Xera’s not fighting for her life here!

…Well, actually, given how much Julia loves blowing things up, Xera fighting for her life might not be so inaccurate after all…

Regardless, to begin the actual fight- Glare upgraded from Leer to Screech, which I’ll have her use on this Minun. Sure, the Minun paralyzed her with Nuzzle in turn, but a Defense drop is a Defense drop!

Now, I was going to have her start Biting, but Minun used…Encore? Locking Glare into Screech? Uh…

…Yeah, sure buddy, that’ll work out very well for you.

Regardless, this Encore is a little inconveniencing, so we’ll switch in to Whiskers.

With Minun’s -4 to Defense, Zen Headbutt ought to do good damage, if not knock it out…but not if Julia switches out to Alolan Geodude!

Alright, a Rock/Electric-type, eh? We’ve got the perfect counter for this- time to deploy the bug!

It’s possible for this Geodude to have Sturdy, but even if that is its Ability, Whisker’s Zen Headbutt would have broken it, so Mud-Slap’s quadruple effectiveness shouldn’t be hindered by anything-

Oh, and it extra doesn’t matter because, based on the text that showed up when Geodude used Tackle, its Ability is in fact Galvanize! So nevermind about all of that, time to use that boosted Speed for all its worth-

BOOM, ONE SHOT!

Aha, I knew she was gonna have the cheerleader bird! Let’s bring Glare back in to try and Screech it, even if she is still paralyzed.

Lv. 14…did I seriously overlevel myself for this Gym?? No, no, don’t jump to conclusions, we still haven’t seen her Electrode yet…

So, Screech hits while Oricorio uses Work Up to undo Intimidate and boost its Special Attack too, that’s a little scary. I tried to Poison it with Poison Sting, but the Poison didn’t proc and Glare took a chunk of damage from Air Cutter, so let’s bring in Whiskers again.

AAAH…?? Okay, that +1 to its Special Attack is doing a lot here, holy heck. I have no definitive answer to this thing (oh, to have a Rock-type right about now…), so I think I just have to hope Whiskers outspeeds and hits a Zen Headbutt. I doubt that’ll happen, but uh...do we have a choice in the matter…?

…Ooooh no, this bird is gonna be a problem.

Previous

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[lynn-writes-things]

little spider, big problem - megumi fushiguro x reader

the one where Megumi saves you from a spider in your room (then scares you with it like a meanie)

wc: 1.2k

cw: bug mentions!

notes: no pronouns used, tried to keep this as gn as possible :)

Megumi was spending the afternoon studying, when all too suddenly there was a rapid pounding at his door - not heavy enough to be Yuji, and Nobara didn’t knock, just just yelled through the door. Gojo also never knocked (ever), so he knew that it had to be you, even before your pathetic little cry of “Gumiiii, helppp!” came from the other side.

He opened the door with the faintest hint of a smile on his lips that only grew when you hadn’t been expecting the door to open, and consequently fell forward against him, covering up your embarrassment by wrapping your arms around him in a hug. But Megumi took it in stride, wrapping his arms loosely around you in return, thankful you couldn’t see the pink dusting his cheeks.

“What’d you do this time, dummie?” He feigns annoyance, but his cheeks burn even hotter when you only pull him closer with a small whine.

“There was a bugggg!” Your pathetic admission makes Megumi snort, giving your body a squeeze.

“A bug? Really?”

“..It was a big bug..” You pout, and from your closeness you can feel Megumi trying to hold back his laughter. In his defense, he’s seen you take on some seriously disgusting, scary-looking curses, and yet your greatest fear remains regular little bugs. “If you won’t help me then I’ll just go find Yuji to protect me instead-“

“No,” He shot your bluff down before you even got it out of your mouth, his tone just a bit too defensive, which made you giggle. “Come on, stupid.” He grumbles, the two of you going to your dorm, with you clinging to him for the entire duration of the short walk. When he opens the door, you stand behind him, pinching the back of his loose-fitting t-shirt and peering around his side. “Where was it?”

You pointed to where you had last seen the furious beast, and Megumi went to investigate, only to find a spider the size of a nickel.

“..Seriously? This is it?” He almost starts laughing.

“Shut up!” You whined. “I don’t like spiders..” Megumi did chuckle now, but he had no plans to kill the harmless little guy now that he saw it. Cupping his hands around the bug, it hesitantly crawled into his gasp, and he cupped his hands to prevent it from escaping, approaching you with an evil little grin, that only grew with each step closer.

“No!” You gasped, realization hitting that he was walking towards you with the spider in his hands. “Megumi Fushiguro, don’t you dare!” Your voice rose in pitch, stepping back for each of his steps forward.

“What am I doing?” He teases, still coming towards you despite you now walking backwards through the hallway.

“Get that thing away from me!” Tears are pricking at your eyes now though you can’t tell if they’re from fear or your nervous laughter. By now you’re running down the hallway, but you know he’s right behind you - letting you stay in front of him, because you both know he could outrun you in a heartbeat. But he lets you keep the lead, until you get outside, where he sets down the spider while you’re not looking, only to continue the chase, except he allows himself to catch up with you now.

Somewhere during your panicked squeals of “Megumi, stop!” and fits of giggles, continuously checking behind you to keep an eye on him, you trip, and fall to the ground. Megumi’s on top of you before you can wiggle away, still acting like he’s holding something in the hand that isn’t caging you in, chuckling at your weak attempts to push him away.

“I don’t even have it.” He laughs.

“You’re lying!” You cry, actual tears rolling down your cheeks despite the anxious laughter. To prove his point, Megumi opens his hand - directly over your face - making you yelp and squeeze your eyes shut. Seeing your tears does make him feel a bit bad, and before he can even think to stop himself, he’s leaning down and kissing them away, before abruptly stopping as realization hits him and he freezes, pulling back but not getting off of you yet. Your eyes open, wide with surprise, but your cheeks are burning about as hot as his are.

“I-I’m-“ He tries to start apologizing, but before he can, you grab both of his cheeks and bring him back down to you, pressing your lips against his in a kiss that leaves you both speechless for a minute after you separate, though you’re both smiling.

“…The spider really was gone, right..?” You ask timidly after the shock of finally kissing your crush wears off. He chuckles, broken from his trance as well as he nods.

“Yeah, I set it down by the door.”

“Jerk.” You giggle. “You owe me another kiss for scaring me.” He doesn’t hesitate this time, connecting your lips for the second time, only to be interrupted by a certain white-haired bastard.

“Woah, in public? Come on now, kids, keep it in the bedroom.” His teasing tone makes the boy above you groan, getting off of you and coming to stand, you following suit.

“Why don’t you-“

“Hey, sensei?” Your sweet voice interrupts whatever threat or sassy remark that Megumi was about to make, Gojo grins and tilts his head to the side slightly like a puppy, humming his response. “Did you see that centipede in your office anywhere? I saw it crawl in under the door, it was pretty big.. But you killed it, right?” To anyone with a less trained eye, Gojo looked unfazed, but both you and Megumi caught the way his body stiffened ever so slightly.

“Ha! Of course I did! I’m the strongest, that little centipede never stood a chance!” His words are slightly more rushed than usual, his cocky tone of voice a little more forced. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve uh.. got some paperwork to get to!” His anxious chuckles follow him as he turns to leave, but after he enters the building, there’s a muffled yell of “Nanamiiii!” that’s clearly panicked, making you and Megumi both burst into laughter.

“How did you know about that?” The spiky-haired sorcerer asks you after calming from his laughing fit.

“Oh, he was helping me fill out a mission report once and this big ass beetle-thing landed near us. Guess it caught him off guard, ‘cause we both screamed when we saw it. He made Nanami come to kill it.” You giggle.

“Didn’t know I was dating an evil genius.” Megumi chuckles, before his eyes go wide and cheeks flush red when he realizes what he had just said. Your own expression matches his, save for the smile stretching across your lips. Beaming up at him, you wrap your arms loosely around his neck, and his hands don’t hesitate to come rest on your hips.

“Didn’t know we were dating now.” You tease, raising an eyebrow at him.

“I- W-Well, I mean.. Uh..” With a giggle, you cut off his rambling by pecking his lips.

“You’re such a dork, Gumi.” Your lips kiss both of his cheeks now, before placing one last peck to the tip of his nose. “My dork.”

“All yours.” He smiles, nothing short of love in his eyes as he rests his forehead against yours.

[skunaskitten]

Her Charm

Paring: Sukuna x you

Summary: Through all the time of his life he missed his love but it was her charm that kept him alive.

Warning: fluff, sukuna threating, death mentioning, angst, sad curse king.

Yuji was brought to a room with gojo to show him a golden bell with seal symbols carved into it and a red ribbon tied to it. Gojo gave it to yuji telling him to bring it out when sukuna gets out of hand. Just show it to him whenever he feels he needs to. Itadori held the bell for a while thinking it was something to hold down sukuna little did he know what the bell really was.

Sukuna was getting out of hand since eating most of his fingers,  the king was starting to feel his power. Starting to taunt his vessel seeing the nightmares that sukuna has caused. Something in yuji snapped when sukuna appeared on his cheek laughing and threatening to kill everyone. Yuji held up the bell not hearing a ring but sukuna heard the jingle of the bell. 

Sukuna stopped and saw the bell being silent so long that yuji was confused but happy it worked to shut up sukuna. "Where the fuck did you that brat!? Where?! Tell me!" Yuji put up a hand in defense. "Calm down gojo gave it to me saying to use it on you I don't know what it is. It just looks like a stupid bell it doesn't even jingle." "Dont call it stupid punk! You have no reason to have it or to hold it I am the only one allowed to have that. It belongs to me!"

Yuji was still confused as he stuck it into his pocket saying, "whatever it got you to shut up, if you don't behave I might as well toss it." Sukuna raged inside itadori. "If you toss that bell or damage it I will have your head on a stick! As for everyone else I will slaughter them all if that bell gets touched or destroyed!" Yuji sighed, rubbing his head, already getting a headache and annoyed with sukuna throwing a fit.

The next few days sukuna bugged yuji about the bell making sure it was safe and had in sight. A strange order by the king, itadori was told to put the bell on a pillow while he went to sleep. What was up with this bell? It was time to ask the king. It has been a while now since it was given to yuji. 

"Sukuna, I wanted to ask you. What is this bell?" His mouth showed up on his hand smirking. "None of your business brat. If you were not alive during my time then you have no reason to know just keep it safe." Yuji grunt holding his own wrist. "I demand to know you live in my body so tell me now!" "You dare order me around, fool. You will get yourself killed. But fine if you wish to know, let's go for a walk. Take us out to the forest alone I will tell you. No question, just do it."

Itadori followed the commands and went to a forest to an open field of flowers and took a seat. "We are here now." Sukuna showed his mouth on his hand letting out a sigh. "That bell I had made, when I had turned into a curse. I made it for someone who was very close to me. They have known me ever since I was human but even after I changed they still stayed by my side. I made this bell so that only I can hear it ring just to know when they are close by and where they are." "What? Was it a girl, your girlfriend?" Sukuna growled then said "you want to lose a hand."

Yuji smiled at his hand and looked away. "Oh so it was a girl. Was she pretty?" "More beautiful than you think brat." Yuji snickered thinking what she could look like. "How much of a curse was she to be with you." "Brat watch your tongue. She was no curse. She was human. Our plan was to have me try to make her curse or find a way to let her live forever so she could be with me to rule the world." Itadori soon realized that if that was the plan then where did she go. "Where is she now can we find her? If she is around I can help you?"

Sukuna scoffed "why help me I am trying to kill you all besides she is no longer alive less thing for me to worry about." Yuji looked at his hand in shock. "How can you say that? Don't you miss her? How did she die?" "Of course I miss her brat. You ask too many questions." Sukuna stayed quiet for a while then spoke again. "She was killed by you sorcerers after they captured me." All yuji could say was sorry and the conversation was soon over. He headed back to jujutsu high that night. Sukuna was sitting on his throne of bone with memories of her crossed his mind.

Remembering her smile as her hands caressed his. He barely remembers anything from when he was human but he remembers all from when he was with her. She used to always play with his hands, all four of them. Even placing small soft kisses to his tummy mouth as he let it lick her face making her laugh or giggle. When he turned to a curse she didn't fear him or tried to kill him. She was shocked and confused more worried than anything but he would never hurt her and he never did. 

Sukuna took this chance to take over the brats body when he fell asleep. The tattoos that appeared and his four eyes opened and looked over seeing the bell. Sukuna sat up taking the bell into his hands hearing the jingle. He felt his heart begin to fill with guilt and sorrow. A strange feeling for him to have but it always appeared when he thought of her. A pain that spread through his chest. "My love, my queen." Sukuna spoke as his clawed thumb traced over the carving on the bell that read my heart.

Sometimes he still hears her voice speak his name as if she was still here with him. Sukuna shut his eyes and held the bell with a tight fist fighting back the feelings dare to form in his eyes. "I am sorry I could not protect you." Then he felt something wet trickle from one of his eyes as he quickly wiped it away seeing his wrist wet. Am I crying? He remembered seeing her cry every time he got hurt and she worried so much about him.

Sukuna rolled the bell in his hand looking at it with a frown on his face. "Are you alright wherever you are? Are you still my queen? You know I will always be your king. My love." Sukunan let out a sigh holding the bell as he laid down, switching back out with yuji. Itadori had woken up just after he switched back not saying a word about what he witnessed with sukuna. 

Instead yuji would go to a remote area that sukuna wanted to go to and switch out just so the king could hold the bell as if he was spending time with her again. It was the only time the king of curses showed a soft emotion to anything. The only time he showed having a heart for the woman that gave him one. Sometimes yuji swears he hears the bell move just a little thinking it was because he had sukuna inside of him that it jingles for a moment on its own. He was excited to tell sukuna that he heard it. Maybe she was still around looking for her king all this time.

Sukuna felt she was around and could always fall in love with her charm over and over just from hearing the jingle of her bell.

Hello hope you all enjoy the read. I honestly love the sad and angsty stories. I love the idea of sukuna holding on to something dear to him that was part of his heart. How lovely does the bell look in sukunas hand.