#maybe i’ll just be basic and put it under anime �� even though it’s a chinese

[ashipiko]

—NIKO CIMARRON

All information on Niko Cimarron ATM! Will most likely be updated ☆

—MORE UNDER CUT

BASIC INFORMATION:

Class: 2-A

Birthday: October 24

Height: 176cm

Dominant Hand: Right

From: Land of Pyroxene / Shaftlands

Club: Film Studies (visits on occasion, inactive member)

Favorite Subject: Magic Analysis

Best Subject: Animal Languages

Likes: Making a profit

Dislikes: Getting outsmarted

Favorite Food: Berries / Berry flavored things

Least Favorite Food: Anything too hot

Specialty: Balancing on the line of lie and truth

GALLERY:

VOICE CLAIM:

YUU’S INTERVIEW:

— Scarabia Dorms - Niko’s Room —

for easier reading, all yuu dialogue will be in italics and all niko dialogue will be in a normal black font instead of green.

There you are. Surprised you came to visit me, Carrots.

> You know what I’m here for, Niko.

> Why are you surprised?

No need to act like that. Interview, right? Or should I say an interrogation? If you wanted to hang out with me, you didn’t need to hide around the bush, you know…

It’s cute seeing you all dodgy, but still. ♡

> I think it matches your vibe.

> You’re one to talk.

Yeah, yeah. How many questions do we have planned for today? Don’t take too long, now. I’ve gotta start pumping out those treats for my profit.

…Oh. No need to worry about a pen and paper, I’ve got one for you.

> I didn’t expect for you to be so prepared.

> (…They’re cuter than expected.)

Something something about matching the vibes… They’re modeled after an old movie about cops and so, interrogating. Figured you’d like them. A carrot for Carrots. It’s cute.

It’s about time to start though, huh?

> Yeah.

> No more wasting time.

INTERVIEW: START!

1. Can we get some basic info about you from… you?

A second year Scarabia student who’s a fox beastman. I guess I’m what you’d call a charmer, thief of the heart, man of your dreams… I’ve heard it all. But the real name’s Niko. Niko Cimarron. My surname means “Wild”, so you could call me Mr. Wild if you like that too. Heh, actually, it’s a business thing, so I guess you’d only call me that if you bought my products… Say, Carrots, you feeling like you need a snack? I have some lefties if you’d like.

> No thanks.

> Why not?

They’re tasty, I prommie~.

2. Speaking of which, what are your “pawpsicles” made from? How do you make them?

Those little things? Why, I’ll let you know I put my blood, sweat, and tears in those treats. Makes me happy to see other people happy, like the faces on a thaumark. To make ‘em, it’s just some tasty berries from the school grounds that get mushed up to get juice, where they go into a mold and freeze up. It’s hard work! I’ve gotta walk so many steps around the school and all across campus… You’re lucky you never saw me in my first year. Took me a while to get used to the schedule… Though, I’m a well-organized man now, I’ll have you know. It’s good for the public image.

3. You’re from the Shaftlands, aren’t you? Do you have any connections to Vil, Cater, or Jack?

Connections? I have them with everyone, really… though I don’t think those three are really aware I came from the same place as them. To be fair, the Shaftlands is a pretty big area. People even go as far to call it a utopia.

If anything, I’ve talked to Diamond more at NRC than anywhere in the Shaftlands. Is that because I never even saw him once? Maybe. So I can’t say about back then, but I can enjoy a good conversation with him now. He’s a good customer and a good influencer. Back then, he got me a good chunk of costumers off of a Magicam post, so I’ve got to give it to him. Who knew people could just follow trendy things at the drop of a hat? Crazy, right?

Vil is a major celebrity, and Jack, I didn’t even know existed ‘till this year. I’ve got nothing to say about Mr. Hardhead, but I’ve had my fair share of talks with Vil. When we were kids, I got a wave from him once… It was great bragging rights. Heh, he kinda freaks me out now though. The reason why I don’t actually participate in club activities. He’s probably too high of a standard for a lowlife like me, so it’s not something that bothers me anyway.

4. You don’t seem to have a Unique Magic. Any reason why?

Ah. Magic? A little bit of a sour topic for me, Carrots, ow… I’m just a late bloomer, is all. I’ve got magic in me, but I never played around with it when I was younger, so I’m way more rusty than all of the other guys here. It doesn’t mean I don’t know the brain stuff, though. Just inexperienced.

If I’m being dead honest, it’s kind of a miracle how I got into NRC. I guess they wanted the fox vote, huh? Heh.

5. Not sure if I’ve seen you around a lot with one particular person. Is there a secret someone?

Secret someone? Getting jealous, are you? Haha, I would’ve never taken you to be the type!

> Not the focus of the question.

> That’s not…!

It’s your fault for wording it like that. You’ve got to watch your words, Carrots. Well, the business life is a cold one, isn’t it? Being around a bunch of highschool guys isn’t really the “ideal” grounds for making business partners either, so it is what it is. At least this way, I get all the profits, so I don’t mind. If you want, I can save a spot for you by my side. ♡

> Again, no thanks.

> Maybe after I get a break from all the things this school brings.

Keep me in mind~.

6. Our last question. You say a lot of random stuff. People get annoyed with it pretty often. How do you feel about that?

…? Oh, you picked up on it, huh? Heh, I mean… I guess I could come clean. I think it’s interesting you haven’t walked away from me yet, y’know. Usually people aren’t into this stuff.

> You are annoying, but…

> (Would it be mean to say something?)

I appreciate you, Carrots. A little too much than I’d like.

Usually people don’t really like the stereotypical foxiness I bring to the table. They run away because I’m either something they don’t wanna get mixed up with, or just something they don’t like. I think you’re a weirdo who’s looking for entertainment when you come into my room and talk to me like this.

…But I guess that just means that you like the way I talk to you, right? You can’t get enough? Is that what’s happening here? ♡

> For a second, I thought you were going to need some comfort, but I guess not.

> Really, it’s fine, Niko…

Don’t pretend like your cheeks aren’t a little red. I like the reactions I get out of you. ♡

Is that all you wanted? Yeah? Alright, we’re done here, then. Hand me the pen, would ya?

> It was nice being able to talk to you like this.

> (That was a quick turnaround.)

…Yeah. Hurry on up, shouldn’t you be studying up on actual things worth studying? Live up to that Smarty McSmart Pants title. Bye-bye now~.

INTERVIEW: END!

> (I feel like Niko’s more than meets the eye.)

> (I feel like Niko’s… hiding something.)

.

.

.

TRIVIA:

Niko is twisted off of Nick Wilde from Zootopia!

Niko is actually magicless. Not entirely, as he does have some running in his blood, so he didn’t lie, but it’s not enough where he can successfully conjure spells. Because of this, at NRC, he often has to get by with con-artist type excuses and acts. It works most of the time, as he has Crowley’s support. For now, he’s getting by with the excuse of being a late bloomer, but I’m sure suspicions are beginning to rise… Perhaps, if it were to be found out that he’s unable to conjure spells, he would be kicked out of NRC.

He made it to NRC after being dared to attempt to con his way in by his magicless best friend. His name is not noted, but he’s a very angry and violent French fennec fox. Niko is often bullied by him.

He can be considered a fan of Vil.

Niko enjoys the pop genre a lot, but is embarrassed to admit it.

Despite being a playboy, Niko is easily flustered at the thought of someone seriously making moves on him.

Niko can also count as a bit of a heartbreaker. For the romantics around the school, everyone knows Niko as that kid who’ll charm you for a week and leave you heartbroken when he inevitability rejects you. It’s not anything against anybody, really, but more so the fact that Niko can’t ever imagine dating someone before he tells them his secret. It feels unfair to him. But people take offense to it nonetheless, the heartbroken people usually cutting Niko off as soon as they figure out that there won’t be anything working between them.

Because of the way some people leave him as soon as they sense no romance, Niko finds the concept of love to be sort of flaky. It takes a while for him to develop a crush, despite his flighty, flirty attitude.

Due to being a class 2-A student, Niko often ends up selling his treats most often there. Kalim and Silver are his number one customers, as Kalim buys bundles of them to give to Scarabia members, and Silver buys them for Lilia to enjoy.

Niko attends the Playful Land event and ends up staying in contact with Fellow Honest afterwards. This relationship ends up contributing a lot to Niko’s development.

Even though he doesn’t want to, he feels obligated to play into the deceitful foxiness of himself, because that’s what people naturally expect of him. It stops them from getting curious about him, as it seems like they’ve already got him figured out.

He says things that are considered shallow, like flirting or bargaining because he wants to get a reaction out of people. Niko does small things like this for small reactions — enough of these small reactions will fulfill the same satisfaction of seeing someone he loves flustered or happy, he thinks. In truth, he knows it won’t amount to much. Niko tries to satisfy himself enough so that he won’t need the real thing.

Niko feels very guilty for deceiving everyone at NRC, especially the prefect. Even still, he doesn’t have the heart to tell them that he truly doesn’t belong here, taking up a spot possibly for somebody who deserves it much more.

Niko’s way of thinking suggests that if he acts distasteful enough, it will cause people to stray far away from him. He believes that he really is just a lowlife fox, but the truth of his actions is something he think people would hate him for most; living in a lie. Because of this, he acts like a playboy and an annoyance in attempts to get people to stay away, preventing them from finding out the even uglier truth of him.

Additionally, he’s afraid to have the truth leak out because he doesn’t want to leave NRC. Though he doesn’t have much, he doesn’t want to lose the little bit he does have, and the little bits he keeps on gaining.

Even still, Niko craves for someone who will take time to understand him. Which is why he’s so attached to the prefect.

More to be added!

^ the pawpsicle icons in this relationship chart represent whether if the character is an avid pawpsicle enjoyer (has the icon), has experienced it once but never had it again (once!), and if they have never had it.

[purrassicjet]

Ask game

4, Darkest Times, Brightest People

I know its inactive but it cant hurt to ask <3

Hasn't been updated since I last posted about that, but I haven't posted about it in *this* ask game so here's all of what I have.

This is a pre-canon AU where Jawbone and Sandra Lynn meet right after Sandra Lynn is kicked out of Bobby Dawn's adventuring party. This is basically just a "hehoo I want to write sandra lynn behaving like a wounded animal" fic.

Under the cut because long

---

Oliver O’Shaughnessy had never been one for the gossip magazines.

He usually walked right past, maybe skimming the titles if he was really bored.

But things change. People change.

Suddenly, the gossip magazines were the only entertainment he could afford.

The most recent scandal had caught his eye, though. He reached out for the latest issue of Hot Odyssey, who seemed to be covering the issue the most. Apparently they had managed to get an interview with the woman involved. She was on the cover. An elven woman with long brown hair who couldn’t have been older than him, younger even. She looked scared, but the magazine made it seem like she was some temptress. His brow furrowed. They had been at the throat of that woman for just over a month now, and she always looked… sad in the pictures they took of her. He flipped to the page with the interview, skimming the article and feeling a pit develop in his stomach.

Me: So, Sandra, what led you to try and break up the marriage of such a pillar of our community?

SS: I didn’t! I swear!

Me: Come on now, you can be honest with me.

SS: I am! Is this why you asked for an interview? Just to try and pin this on me?!

Sandra continued to become more enraged the more the interview went on, sadly, I cannot write down what she said, out of fear of risking my publisher dropping me.

He shut the magazine in frustration, an animalistic growl rumbling in the back of his throat. He hated how he didn’t sound human anymore.

He put the magazine back on the stand, stuffing his hands in his pockets. There was no way that woman was the temptress the magazines always said she was. She didn’t look like she would have done what she was accused of, especially with the way she talked in that interview. He regarded the woman for a few more moments, part of him waiting for her to spring to life with some sort of magic, but dropped his gaze. He turned it instead to the sky, watching it darken with sunset. A bit of anxiety hit him and he rifled through his pockets, pulling out a few silver pieces and a copper piece. He hoped it would be enough to get him a room.

Oliver walked a couple blocks before he found a motel with its sign flashing “vacant”. He slipped into the reception building, only to find a frantic half-elf searching below the desk. He leaned over, “You alright, kid?”

“Fuck.” Was all the kid said, popping up so that Oliver could read his nametag, Ian. “I left the vacancy sign on, didn't I? Oh… my boss is going to kill me.”

Oliver held up his hands, “Slow down. What are you looking for?”

“I lost the key to one of the rooms.” Ian muttered miserably, “I went to the bathroom for just a second and it was gone. I can’t go find it because I have to stay here.”

“What room?”

“103.”

Oliver paused, thinking it over, “What about I go investigate? I need a room, you need help, let’s help each other.”

Ian’s eyes lit up, “Really? You’d do that?”

A small smile spread over Oliver’s face, exposing his now overgrown canine teeth. He cringed when Ian flinched a little, “Yeah, of course.”

The boy popped back underneath the counter and returned with another key, “This is the master key. If the door’s locked, you can get in with this.”

Oliver took it. “I’ll be right back.” He promised and backed out of the building.

He repeated the room number under his breath as he made his way to the line of rooms, passing a couple before he reached the correct door. He picked up a faint shuffling coming from behind the door and leaned into the peephole, seemingly causing more shuffling.

A woman’s voice said something he didn’t quite understand, but it reminded him of someone shushing an animal. 

“Is anybody in there? I’m coming in.” There was a string of swear words as Oliver put the master key in the lock and turned it.

The door swung open to reveal an elven woman trying to fit a full grown griffin into the small room. Her brown hair was cropped even shorter than a pixie cut, but longer in other places. It wasn’t a professional job, that was for sure. The haircut was the reason it took Oliver a few moments to recognise her.

It was the woman from the article.

“Sandra Sparkquiver?” There was nothing but confusion in his voice.

“Fuck!” The woman swore again, dropping her arms away from the griffin, who looked to be trying his best to fit into the small room, “How did you know? Are you press?”

He held his hands up in a surrender gesture, “Just looking for a room. The kid at the desk said if I got the key back, I could have it.”

Guilt washed over Sandra's face. “Yeah. That doesn't feel great.” But her face quickly shifted to a hardened expression again. “I need it.”

Despite the direction the conversation seemed to be going, Oliver couldn't help but feel calm. She was just… scared. 

“We could share.” He tried to suggest, but that only made her recoil further.

“Woah, okay.” He held up his hands, “Bad idea. I get it.”

She narrowed her eyes at him and raised her hands again, blocking him from the griffin behind her. 

“Should I just tell him I couldn't find it?” 

She looked like she was about to respond, but closed her mouth. Her eyes flickered to the bandage on his arm and her eyes widened. He could almost see the math in her eyes. After a few moments of silence, she dropped her arms. 

“No.” She grabbed a bag from where Oliver couldn't see, hauling it over her back and slipping past him. “Bye.”

He didn't feel her pass by, but when the griffin basically shoved him out of the way he stumbled. 

“Hey! I need the- key…” He raised his hand as she left, but quickly felt just what he was looking for. She must have slipped it into his hand as she passed. His gaze lingered on the key for a moment.

The back of his neck pricked and he turned quickly to reception. He was running out of time. He jogged back to pay.

—

SANDY

Sandy Sparkquiver glanced back at the man, the werewolf, who had discovered her crime. She still felt the rush of slipping the keys off the hook and running out. Baxter had given her a look, but she had silenced him. They didn't have any money. They had nowhere else to go. 

They still had nowhere else to go. 

It was cold.

Maybe she should have taken his offer. 

The idea of spending the night in the same room as a guy she didn't know made her feel sick. 

She rubbed her bare arms, leaning into her griffin's feathers. She ran her hands through her badly cut hair, feeling the painful urge to cut in again. She wanted it shorter. She grabbed the knife from her boot and cut one of the longer chunks, watching it fall onto the ground. It was a release. It didn't make her feel any better, but it sure was a release. 

She closed her eyes, the hand holding the dagger shaking. She wanted more off. She wanted it shorter, but she tried to put it away. She slipped it back into the sheath in her boot. 

Baxter brushed his head against hers. She scratched his face, maybe for a little too long. He pulled away. A guilt rushed into her like a tidal wave. She hurt him. 

She balled her hands up into fists and buried her nails into her palms. She wanted to go home. She wanted to go back to before her life was ruined.

A howl cut through the air.

She froze.

Her instinct told her to run, but something made her look back towards the motel room.

When she went to stand, Baxter grabbed the back of her shirt in his beak. He grumbled at her.

"Those walls are not prepared to deal with a werewolf.” She argued back, wrenching herself free of his grip. "I am.” 

Baxter growled again, but didn't reach out again.

Sandy grabbed her bow. It wouldn't be useful in close range, but it made her feel better.

She made her way carefully closer to the room, trying to catch a glance of the inside through the curtain. 

There was a growling inside.

She began to pick the lock, her bow holstered at her side. Eventually, the lock clicked, but she hesitated before opening the door.

Curiosity killed the cat.

Was she really doing this out of the goodness of her heart?

Or was she just curious.

She wasn’t prepared to deal with a werewolf, she had lied about that, but she wanted to be.

She wanted to see what would happen.

She’d reached out and shook his hand.

“Welcome to the Sun Shields,” he’d said, “I’m so glad to have you.”

And she, foolishly, had said “I’m glad to be here.”

Who cared if it killed her again? It had killed her before, she was ready this time.

She grabbed her bow and flung open the door, nocking back an arrow just in case.

But it wasn’t necessary.

He had chained himself to a radiator, somehow. She dropped her bow a little, even when the werewolf bore its teeth. For some reason, she wasn’t afraid. The werewolf looked scared, not angry. 

There was nobody relying on her. She had no reason to be afraid. She shut the door behind her.

She sat cross-legged on the ground, watching his movements with interest.

“So this is what werewolves are like.” She finally spoke aloud, wondering briefly if he would remember when he woke up. She hoped not.

The werewolf seemed to placate a little, but she figured this was only the beginning. It was the first night of the full moon, she figured the peak would be tomorrow.

“Is it scary? Being a werewolf, I mean.”

Why was she trying to talk?

“You look a little scary, if that’s helpful.”

Maybe she had nobody to talk to.

The werewolf growled lowly.

She stopped talking.

But she didn’t leave. She lingered until dawn light was only just coming over the horizon, then she left, leaving no trace behind.

—

OLIVER

His head thudded painfully, little bits of blood dripping down from the wounds that had formed on his arms. Maybe he had tied the chains too tight, maybe this meant they were tight enough.

Oliver opened the small box next to him with dexterous hands a werewolf could never manage, and unlocked the chains with minimal difficulty. He breathed a sigh of relief as the chains fell away. Hatred bubbled up inside of him. Hatred of his stupid disease. He wouldn’t be safe for another two nights. What if somebody saw him? What if he was kicked out and forced to transform in public? Forced to hurt people.

He gathered up the chains, pushing them against the radiator. His stomach growled loudly, he growled in response. His teeth still hadn't returned to the normal size, they flashed when he snarled at himself. 

He moved to the kitchen, throwing open the cupboards and finding absolutely nothing, not even small boxes of cereal. He lifted a single gold piece out of his pocket. It wouldn't be enough. 

A sigh escaped his lips. He marched through the door. Surely there would be a dumpster or something he could find stuff in. 

Just as he walked through the door, he could feel eyes on him. He followed the feeling of the gaze to Sandra, who was staring at him with owl-like green eyes. He cracked her a smile without teeth, fearing she would see his enlarged canines, and waved. She stared at him for a couple more moments and hesitantly waved back. 

His eyes flickered to the foil package in her hand and he felt his mouth water. Rations.

She put the package behind her back, eyes narrowing. Her body language was not unlike a wounded animal, suspicious of everything around her.

He dropped it, walking past without so much as a word.

SANDY

As the werewolf walked past her, Sandy slowly brought the rations back around to her front so she could continue eating. It was clear he was hungry, so maybe she shouldn’t have been so hasty about hiding her food, but this was all she had. It would sustain her for a few weeks until she could find a job, but that time would quickly cut down on the amount of supplies she had. She only had herself to worry about now, even Baxter could hunt for herself.

But… guilt bubbled up in her chest. She could hunt, she could make a fire, she didn’t have to survive on rations, she could make other things, she could make sure he could eat. It was the least she could do, really, he clearly hadn’t told the employee about what she had done.

How long would his kindness last? How long would it be until he sold her out? It was better off not to get close. She finished the last bite of strangely cold rice and threw the empty packet into her backpack.

“We’re leaving.” She zipped it closed and slung it over her shoulder. Baxter chittered and stood up, letting her hop on his back. She put one food up on the stirrup of his saddle, but hesitated. Oh, what the hell. She could hunt. She grabbed a handful of ration packets and jogged back to the werewolf’s room, picking the lock and tossing the packets inside before running back to Baxter. She hopped onto his back in one movement, clicked his reins and they took off towards the centre of town.

OLIVER

Oliver’s stomach growled. It was safe to say he hadn’t found anything edible.

He dragged himself back to the motel, opening the door, and catching sight of silver packages. His eyes widened and he grabbed the ration packets off the ground, staring at them in awe. He glanced out the door at where Sandra had been, but found nobody. He frowned. She must have left.

He flipped to the back of the package and read it as he wandered over to the countertop. He’d eat. A soft smile spread over his face with warmth. Maybe he would be alright.

[juuuulez]

Okay but since that anon mentioned your Capulet series, I've re-read it and as I am also re-watching The Last Of Us, I can't help but Invision pre-apocalypse Negan and Reader as Joel and Sarah, esp when the outbreak happens at school, it gave me TLOU ep 1 vibes tbh! <333

ALSOOOO I can just SEE a younger reader pulling a "drugs. I sell hardcore drugs." at Negan if she ever gave him a gift for his birthday or something post-apocalypse!

UM UM UM WHY IS THIS IN MY DRAFTS!!!! WHY DIDNT I POST THIS!!!!!!!!!!! okay lock in for my walking dead infodump

oh wow this is so cute… my TLOU and walking dead obsession go hand in hand so knowing that it gave those vibes is the biggest compliment ever

but can i admit something naughty…….

there’s actually an alternate ending to capulet. like, a “canon” version that goes along with the rest of twd……and i never wrote it because, well, it’s a carl fic, and we’ve already mourned his death once.

i’ll put some stuff about it under the cut, because who knows, maybe one day i’ll write it:

basically, if carl had of died like canon, reader would’ve went a little bit crazy. not terribly so, just paranoid, and probably bitching out even more on the saviours.

when negan’s captured it’s like the nail in the coffin, and she’d basically beg anyone to stick around and help her break him out, but nobody wants anything to do with it: the sanctuary is completely abandoned. she spends days, maybe even weeks, incessantly plotting some stupid plan, but never gets around to committing because ultimately she knows it’s slim.

this is simultaneous to rick going a little off the rails, y’know, cus his son is dead. so, with rick paying less attention, and reader still a giant red question mark on the community? maggie takes things into her own hands.

because she’s not risking negan escaping. as far as she’s concerned, you’re a loose thread, someone who could fuck this whole thing up. but being pregnant she can’t exactly do much about it, so instead, she handballs the task to michonne.

the instructions are very clear: kill her. doesn’t matter how, or where, or with what, just make sure it happens.

michonne spends maybe a day hunting you down. the second you even spot her at the sanctuary, you run, letting her chase you anywhere you can get on two legs.

that doesn’t last forever, for michonne is smarter, and probably quicker. she corners you in this dusty area at the edge of town, finally getting you down to your knees. up until this point, you’ve been a rabid animal, fighting and yelling and spitting.

but she just needs you to listen to her.

because she’s not gonna kill you.

instead? you will go far, far away. anywhere but here. and if you ever showed your face again, if anyone even caught the tiniest whiff of you, you’d be killed on sight.

that’s not a bad deal, though. compared to execution, at least.

michonne takes your bat, deciding that would have to be ample proof that she got the job done. you also hand over that little notebook you always carry, the one with drawings of carl in it.

(years later judith would find this notebook and go down to interrogate negan: before eventually suggesting that he keeps it, for he has nothing that reminds him of you. he declines and says that you’d probably wanted judith to have it).

everyone in alexandria thinks you’re dead. michonne tells maggie, who subsequently spreads the news, taking some satisfaction in telling negan, who’s downright miserable.

because it’s depressing. you had been free, and now you were dead. it was almost animalistic, like you’d been put down, like your life wasn’t human enough.

it was unfair because his mistakes got him imprisoned, whilst yours got you killed. that’s fucked up. but, it’s meant to be fucked up, because it’s meant to be a lesson.

years pass like this.

it only serves as another point of tension between negan and maggie, but that isn’t uncommon at this point.

“you killed my husband.”

“you killed my daughter.”

to which maggie would always say, “she’s not your daughter.”

not entirely untrue, but it still stung.

and now it’s 2028: the unlikely pair has ventured into new york in order to rescue hershel, and have been tipped that there’s somebody who knows the area like the back of their hand.

someone who works for the croat, but never speaks with him directly, and can therefore fly under his radar. a scavenger who travels across cities searching for any supplies that could be of use, all in exchange for safety and protection within the bounds of new york.

aaannnndddd i think you can figure out the rest

[space-mermaid-writing]

Stark Tailoring Inc. [IronStrange]

Summary: After his accident Stephen sold almost everything. But for his new job he needs a suit. So he goes to the place his friend recommended to him: Stark Tailoring.

Relationship: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange

Tags: IronStrange, Tailor AU, fluff, insecure Stephen Strange, no powers, just the regular flirting of Tony Stark, different first meetings

Ko-fi | Read it on AO3 | Masterlist | Word count: 1.8k | Next (soon)

Author’s note: This was inevitable. I knew I would write it one day. You know I’m something of a professional fabric wielder myself. So of course, I put a lot of myself into this Tony.

Chapter 1: I need a suit

The bell at the shop door chirped up with a new customer entering. Tony raised his head and noticed with a glance that it was not his typical client.

See, his typical clients were rich and beautiful. Although, it was possible that this unknown man hid a handsome face under his scruffy appearance. And that blue Balenciaga coat was certainly not cheap. The pants and shoes seemed old. Maybe he was rocking that hobo chic style that had been in fashion like eight years ago. (The man did seem to be too old for that)

And his vibes weren’t right for that either. He wrung his hands, uncertain, as if he felt out of place.

Maybe he was just lost.

The man let his gaze wander briefly around the store before it lingered on Tony, who was behind the counter sorting cufflinks. “Hello, I’m looking for Tony? Colonel Rhodes told me to ask for him.”

“Ciao. You found me. How can I help you?”

“I need a suit.”

Okay, not lost after all, then.

Tony just barely suppressed a, ‘Well, that’s obvious’, before the words left his mouth. “Sure. Any specifics?” he asked instead. “Occasion? Color? Two or three piece?”

“Two piece. Something simple will do. I have an event in two months.”

Tony set the cufflinks aside and picked up a tablet to take notes. “That’s plenty of time. I could probably make you two whole suits in that time.”

The man looked irritated. “I just need one.”

Tough crowd. Tony, however, wasn’t fazed by it. At least the man seemed to have basic knowledge of suits. Or at least of what he wanted. Tony could work with that. “You have a name, gorgeous?”

The first answer he got was a snort. And, yeah sure, his appearance didn’t make the prettiest impression. He was aware of that.

But Tony hadn't sounded sarcastic, so a second answer followed.

“It’s Doctor Stephen Strange.”

Well, apparently the man wasn’t a hobo but a doctor. Tony still had a lot of opinions about his style choices though. Especially about that fuzzy animal that apparently died on his face and was now called beard.

“Alright, Stephen. I’m gonna take your measurements and then we’ll talk about the details. Cut, collar style…”

Stephen didn’t even have to think about it. He knew he wanted something simple and he had bought enough suits in the past, to know his stuff. “Single-breasted suit, two buttons, common lapel.“

“We’ll see about that.” Tony didn't even bother to look up from his tablet, where he was adding the notes in the newly created file for his strange customer. Then he reached for his tape measure, which he hung around his neck. “Strip.”

“Pardon?” Strange blinked at him dumbfounded. There might be a slight blush creeping on his cheek but it could also be a trick of the light.

“I can’t take your measurements with that airbag around you.”

“Oh.” Embarrassed, the doctor shed his coat. “Yes, of course.” Despite his words, he hesitated and played with the sleeve hem of the next layer. “The sweater too?”

“This will do. Step over here and relax. I’ll be gentle.” Tony always had customers who were a bit embarrassed. Sometimes it had to do with his person. Understandable, considering that every now and then he made an international hit in the fashion industry and branded all fashion magazine covers. Some also simply had difficulties with his personality. Tony flirted naturally and some men felt uncomfortable with that. Sometimes he notched it down a bit. Sometimes he simply blamed it on him being Italian.

He put on his reading glasses and with the tape measure in hand, he went to work. Strange posture was tense. Most people tried to stand as straight as possible when measuring – and never as they usually stood in their daily life. But the longer they had to stand there, waiting, the more they shifted back to their natural posture. And Tony could pass the time very well by talking.

“What color did you have in mind?” Tony asked off-handed.

Strange answered without missing a beat, “Black.”

Tony huffed. “Are you going to attend a black tie event?” He put the tape measure around Strange's chest. “Don’t raise your arms.”

Despite his flirting and outgoing nature, Tony was always professional in taking measurements. His touches didn’t linger longer than necessary, because he wasn’t a creep.

With practiced movements, he took the measurement, then stepped aside to record the number in his tablet and was back in his customer's personal space to take the next number.

“It’s not black tie,” Strange answered Tony's last question after a short pause. It sounded pressed, as if unwillingly.

Tony didn't let that faze him. “You want dark blue. It will make your eyes pop.” He glanced up briefly and winked at him, before turning back to his tablet. “Your date will thank me. Believe me.”

The doctor’s answer was quiet as if he didn’t want Tony to actually hear it. “I’ve got no date.”

“There’s still enough time to solve that problem. Angle your arm like this.” Tony put his one hand on Strange's elbow, the other on his wrist, to move the doctor’s arm as he needed to measure it. But as soon as he touched him, the doctor flinched and jerked his hand away.

The next moment Strange was blushing and forcing himself to stay in pose. "Sorry." He cleared his throat. “Like this?”

Tony nodded, but did not comment on his behavior, instead calmly measured the length of the sleeve from the shoulder to the back of his hand. As he did so, he noticed the trembling of the doctor’s hands and the scars that ran across his skin. No wonder that he had reacted strangely. He was probably pretty sensitive about that.

When Tony walked over to the table to write down the number, Strange immediately hid his hands from further view by pulling the sleeves of his sweater over them.

The rest of the measurements Tony needed for the jacket he got mostly from Strange’s back anyway. Then he moved on to the pants. The doctor was tall enough that he didn't even have to put him on a podium for that.

"Alright, I got everything I need," Tony announced afterwards. "Let's talk about colors. I've got some nice dark blues over here." He walked over to a shelf on the wall where rolls of fabric in various colors were stored. Most of them weren't too exciting – most custom suits that were commissioned remained classics.

Stephen was persisting with his previous opinion. "Black."

Tony looked at himself over the rim of his reading glasses. "Bellino, if you insist, well, it’s your money. But if you wanna show your best side…” He slapped the rolls of fabrics that could fit so many shades of blue in them.

Tony was a tailor first and a salesman second; if he believed in his product. And, oh – Tony believed in every single piece in this shop.

“Apropos money: as long as you’re no regular yet, I’ll need you to pay fifty percent up front and the rest when you pick the suit up.”

Strange paused for a moment. "I can't pay until next month." His words were softly spoken, as if they caused him personal discomfort.

Tony raised his eyebrows. He wouldn’t start working for a new customer before he had seen some money. But if he only started next month, there wouldn't be enough time with making the patterns, the fittings and everything. If he had made something for the doctor before and had a pattern that he knew fit him, it wouldn't be a problem. But for a stranger...

Strange looked visibly uncomfortable. Understandably so, because the prices at Stark's weren't exactly cheap. Only those who could afford it came to him.

"How did you say you knew Rhodey?" Tony asked.

"From rehab."

The tailor tilted his head. “He’s working with Doctor Stanfill.” He knew that because his friend often talked about it and he had already picked him up from there. And Tony didn't know anything about changing doctors.

Strange shook his head.“I’m a patient myself. Because of my hands.”

Tony's eyes automatically slid down to Strange's fingers, which the man nervously hid at the side of his body. He looked away immediately. His mama taught him better than to stare.

“We met at the East Coast Center For Nursing And Rehabilitation,“ Strange continued his explanation, in a way as if he just wanted to say something to avoid silence. “When I told him about the event, he said I should go to Stark‘s for a suit.“

It was rare for Rhodey to recommend anyone, at least so to Tony personally. He trusted his platypus. Tony also knew that the ECC was a place for the more difficult cases.

“Alright, maybe I can make an exception,” he decided. Strange's head shot up. “You pay that first rate as soon as you can by next month. And not a day later, capisce?”

Relieved, Strange nodded.

“I also need you to leave your phone number with me. And don’t think I will hesitate to tell Rhodey if you bail.”

“I will pay you as soon as I can. Thank you.” The doctor remembered one more thing. “Will that be fine with the owner?”

Tony realized that the man was clueless who he was. He suppressed a smirk, but did not enlighten him. “I can handle the owner just fine”, he reassured him instead. “I will accept donuts as a form of bribery though. Oh, and you will happily decide for a blue fabric.” Satisfied that he had had his way, Tony pulled the blue fabric from the shelf.

“I really don’t have a choice on that now, do I?” Strange sounded rather amused.

“You can always buy off the peg at Hammer’s if you insist on black.”

Strange grimaced. “Blue it is.”

Tony beamed at him. “Excellent. Let’s talk about collars.”

Somehow he liked this weird stray who stumbled in his shop. As they talked about the details, he realized that beneath all the layers of scrubby and intermittent insecurity was hidden a sharp mind and that the man was quite capable of keeping up with his wit.

If Tony had to guess, he’d say that life hadn’t been kind to the doctor recently.

The rehab center Rhodey attended was for exceptionally serious accidents. His best friend had crashed a plane while on a military mission. And from what he had seen, the doctor’s hands were a mess and Strange was obviously insecure about them.

Tony took his notes while they talked. Strange had good taste and turned out to be willing to cooperate. It was as if the ice had been broken after Tony's agreement to a later payment.

Twenty minutes later, Strange left the shop in a better mood than when he entered. He was still looking like a hobo but with a small smile on his lips.

[n1ghtpers0n15]

Important edit under this character’s background

Okay somebody asked nicely( @icarussmicarus )so here’s the two semi-old ocs that drew a year ago

By they y’all not get to much lore about them, just basically how they got on the (very unnamed) ship in the first place, cause 1: that would probably be spoiler-y for a story that would happen way later, and 2: I didn’t put to much thought into the lore of their past or childhood (mostly for one of them) but hey maybe I’ll make up something as I write this, who knows, not me! Anyways-

Aviva Arun

Aviva was in a chrysalis state under a shrub that her cocoon fell off of after becoming too heavy and was later found by someone who mistook the cocoon for a pretty stone who later traded her for herbs from the market’s herbalist, who then sold her for a small price since they had no use for the pretty “paperweight”

The person who bought her got pickpocketed later by the captain’s younger brother, who tossed her to the captain, who gave her to their first mate. Baby wasn’t even walking about, yet they were travelin’!

Back on the ship, the first mate had just tossed the chrysalis into a drawer and when she was about to close it, she noticed the “stone” seemed to be pulsing which weirded the absolute hell outta the first mate cause ya know, rocks do NOT do THAT- and they definitely have a weird spike repeatedly poking out of them

After stabbing the cocoon from the inside for a good few seconds the basically reborn noodle baby was back out into the world, and immediately not wanting to be in it after seeing the giant pair of eyes looking down at her in shock bolting to the back of the drawer. The first mate didn’t wanna accidentally kill it trying to grab it so she just left the smol in the open drawer and decided to check on it later since she has things to do, she told the captain when she got the chance and the duo decided to keep it around since the tiny critter wasn’t hurting anything by being there

By the way they had not a clue that she was a sapient (I think that’s the right word) child and not a newborn critter, didn’t even question how she seemed to be easier to handle

The first mate as well as some of the crew that were nearby were the first to find out when the cook offered the smol a piece of fruit to which the excited noodle squeaked “FRUIT!” and repeated the word till she got the fruit slice, everyone kinda just stopped and turned for a moment since everyone thought the wiggly thing on the first mates shoulder was a small animal and not a small PERSON. They still kept her though since the crew grew fond of the tiny noodle, there was no way the captain was leaving somewhere, the first would rather sell her own fingers than give her up, and to be honest would an orphanage really take someone in THAT small?

So yeah kept her, gave her an actual name since at first they were all just calling her Wiggles, stopped treating her like a critter and treated her like a person cause that’s what she was, just tiny, the cook’s made her some ponchos, not that she really needed them but he just wanted to make em and she liked what he made so he just never stopped making em, really he does it whenever he gets a chance, it’s a new hobby. She gets shoulder rides almost all day mostly on four specific people, the first mate, the captain, captain’s brother, and the cook, usually the captain since that seemed to be the safest.

When she got older Aviva started wandering around the ship wanting to map it out from a different perspective, course she didn’t do that alone at first, one of the crew mates who was also a tiny person helped make sure she didn’t get lost until she memorized the place, the first mate wasn’t sure about this at first but the captain convinced her that the noodle child would be fine and if they did try to “box her in” the kid would probably find a way to explore anyway, she’s an adventurous lil smol. However she is not to leave the captain’s cabin during raids for a very good reason that Aviva is not aware of, she was told it was a just a trade but she wasn’t really told why she couldn’t be out at those times, she tries not to question it too much though since she was forced to promise not to leave the cabin during raids.

She didn’t really do much on the ship, Aviva kinda just lives there, the only chores she does have is helping the cook retrieve any eggs from the shikiis (a weird alien chicken) or pushing the right ingredients towards him, he doesn’t need help with either of these things but it gives Aviva something to do. She offered to help out the doc too, they said she wouldn’t like what she saw

Fun fact: The captain and first mate DID NOT approve of the shikii egg chore, since those birds are bigger than Aviva and they, were, MEAN, the only reason it’s being allowed is because the cook was right there with her and he was the only person that those feathered jerks seemed to respect or fear

Another fun fact: Aviva’s favorite stones are rubys and pearls and she use’s earrings as pins (I had no reason to say this I just wanted to throw it out there) also her last name came from the captain and first mate

More stuff I forgot to add: The captain and first mate are extremely wary about taking her to places, especially markets since it’s highly possible that someone would swipe Aviva off someone’s shoulder and run, so she’s always on captain when their on planet, specifically either her hat or on the inside of the coat collar behind her hair, which is probably the best choice since the captain’s like 8 feet with a few inches to spare, doesn’t mean they’re not still cautious though

In the picture above she’s 14 years old and she’s 9 inches in length, when upright she’s (probably) 4 inches in height, she’s of an unnamed tiny salamander species that seemed to evolve like an insect from what the doc figured out but they’re unsure if she’ll evolve again

Edit: If you’re currently thinking “I swear there was another character on this post, there was sorry I deleted it, but I am not getting of the character (Darcy) I’m just gonna change the ENTIRETY of his background, cause to be honest I HATED IT

I HATED thinking about it, I HATED writing it, and I STILL HATED it after I wrote it

The background was way too dark, way too long, revealed too much, and I’m sure it made people REALLY UNCOMFORTABLE and I am REALLY SORRY about that

And because of this stuff Darcy O’dair will not be seen for awhile since he really needs a much better background, it would still have some angst to it, BUT it will be nothing like the last one cause it was just BAD

So again I’m sorry if his last origins has made anyone uncomfortable, I’ve should’ve put much more thought into what I wrote, especially for this fandom, and I WILL be putting ALOT more thought into it when I write him again

Sorry

[great-tusk]

🆘: How do you let (S/I) know that they’re on your mind when you’re someplace crowded? (for Blue!)

(@i-put-the-s4p-in-s4pphic and @zomboyfren.)

“Thank you so much for the asks!!! I’m so excited to talk about my boyfriend! And thank you, Hunter! Me and Quentin are so perfect together.” -Dawn

“Feel free to shoot me an ask anytime. I like these ask games. I love talking about Quentin (and a ton of other things, too).” -Blue

🆘: How do you let (S/I) know that they’re on your mind when you’re someplace crowded?

“I like to keep my hand practically glued to Quentin’s when we’re out. If it’s not that, my arm’s around his waist. So he’s always reminded I’m there, and he’s always on at least a piece of my mind, no matter what we’re up to. But if I feel like he needs an extra little reminder, I’ll squeeze his hand or give him a kiss or pet his head until he rests it on my shoulder. If we can’t be physically touching, I’ll look at him until he looks back, and I’ll blow him a kiss when he does.”

“I love holding Quentin’s hand, too. I keep him close to me. And I like to nuzzle my head into his neck. If I have something to say, I’ll whisper right into his ear, and I’ll make sure to tell him super nice things.”

🧸: What does your bed look like? Is it just you and (S/I)? Are there stuffed animals? How many blankets and pillows do you have? Do you prefer the bed to be hot or cold?

“Well, Quentin loves plushies. So about half of our bed is taken up by them. Luckily we have a king, so we both still (barely) fit. He needs three pillows, and about 10 blankets. I only use like two pillows, but we share the blankets. It helps, since he keeps the room freezing cold to stay cool under the blankets. I like to keep warm, and he likes to be cold, but he doesn’t mind if he heats up while we’re cuddling.”

“My bed has a bunch of stuffed animals, and so does his! When he comes and visits me, he always pets mine. I have a few thick blankets and a couple of pillows, but he has a TON of blankets and three pillows! His bed is so super cozy when I stay over and sleep in it.”

👾: What are your favorite things to do with (S/I)? Who’s better at them?

“Training! Battling! I’ve put a lot of time into it, and I’d like to say I’m better, even if there’s a possibility that it’s not QUITE true. I also enjoy the time that we spend at home. He’s definitely better at sleeping. I don’t wake up super early or anything, but Quentin probably spends more time asleep than awake. He’s a super heavy sleeper, too, and he needs his rest, so I don’t even try to wake him anymore. But it’s basically together, since I’ll sit in the room and do something quietly while I watch him. His chest rises and falls so rhythmically under all of the blankets.”

“When there’s a duos contest, he likes to join me. Otherwise, we compete separately. I have a hard time ranking us, since I’m maybe a little biased due to liking him a lot AHAHA. He looks stunning up on that stage, and he always chooses moves that compliment his Pokémon perfectly.

“We like to go shopping together, but that’s not exactly a competitive activity. I probably enjoy it more, though. I think that he mostly just joins because I like it and he likes me.”

🎃: Are you or (S/I) artsy at all? Do you ever hand-make things for each other?

“He sometimes puts himself down when it comes to art, and I pout at him about it. He’s super talented, and I treasure everything he’s ever made me. When he makes me cool digital art, I pull it up on my phone to show anyone who’ll look. It’s my phone background. (My Lock Screen is a cute picture of me giving him a kiss while we share a scarf on a cold fall day. His cheeks are so rosy because of the cold and the closeness between us.) He’s also an amazing author! Sometimes he just writes about memories with me. Like what he thought and how he felt in little moments. My heart practically melts. He’s literally the cutest person ever!

“I never really thought of myself as an artistic person before Quentin. I kinda put myself in a box, but he’s had me try a bunch of things with him, and I’ve grown attached to some. My favorite is probably making pottery. I’m really good at it, too! I’ve given Quentin a nice vase that I hand-built and glazed myself, and he keeps flowers that I give him in it.”

“Does baking count? I love making poffins! I even make them for his Pokémon, too. And not to brag, but I totally perfected a recipe for ones that his Haxorus adores. Other than that, I like to draw sometimes, when I make time. It’s super relaxing, and I give Quentin some of the ones that I’m most proud of. He draws for me, too, sometimes, and I love it! He keeps a lot of creative things private, so it feels super special, too.”

🌾: Name five of your favorite things about (S/I). (Feel free to be as descriptive as you want!)

“His eyes! They practically sparkle in the sunlight, and my favorite color is always whatever I see when we make eye contact.

“His lips! He hates them because they’re rough and chapped, but there’s nobody I’d rather kiss.

“His perseverance! He tries and tries and tries and never stops. We’re both super determined and somewhat stubborn, and I like it a lot about him.

“His talents! He’s amazing at battling and contests and singing and art and just everything!”

“And for the fifth thing, his kindness! He’s so nice to me, but he’s nice to everyone else, too! Unless someone’s really mean, he’s always so good to everyone. I like it a lot about him.”

💐: If you saw this thing in the store, you would instantly buy it for (S/I)! What is the thing?

“Anything dragon related! Quentin’s a fan of every dragon! He has a cute little Bagon figure that I got him, and he keeps it on his dresser. His Mega Salamence likes it, too.”

[commander-snacks]

Okay i'm genuinely curious What do you like about that boss from Elden Ring? No offence of course! It's just that i do not understand the appeal myself, and am trying to comprehend it (but maybe i am too weak /lighthearted) Btw your OC's are cute and your games are good

First of all THANK YOUUU for liking my OCs and games theyre my greatest joy<3

now for my other greatest joy Godskin noble :3 I’ll put under a readmore so this doesn’t wall up anybody’s dash

I get that hes probably an odd choice in most peoples eyes (or not probably, definitely. I’ve been roasted abt it very hard lol) but I genuinely think he is the perfect man. Perfection isn’t even real but he’s as close to it as possible I think. He is so unbelievably handsome and aesthetically pleasing that I seriously can’t name a single thing I would change about him. I love monster boys and his psudo-human appearance is so cool when you really take in his odd proportions and reptilian features (ie: tail) and oh my god his face has like every feature I love in a man. Tired baggy eyes, cute pouty expression, strong brow, visible age lines, and this isn’t something I like in all characters but GOD his gorgeous piercing golden eyes 🫣 i wanna just run my finger over every little part of his face like I’m admiring a marble sculpture. I love that even as he’s fighting you he almost looks bored, keeping an elegant air to him at all times. Speaking of elegant I don’t know if you seen a video of his boss fight but I really reccomend you do because his movements are beautiful. He uses his sword so skillfully it’s like a dance. I could watch him for hours. Especially his tail!! They animated it beautifully.

I also love his voice, we don’t hear much of it but it’s such a deep, gruff voice that I just adore❤️❤️😭❤️💕 i would pay a million dollars for him to have just one proper line of dialog but I’m happy listening to what we have~

His lore is also insanely cool. Being an elden ring character with no dialog, what we know about him and the others like him is pretty limited to location and item descriptions. Basically he is one of the few left of a race known as godskins that served a “gloam eyed queen”, and their main thing is killing the gods and wearing their flesh. If you have an hour to kill this video is great https://youtu.be/lKqR4WXMa7Y?si=xQGTQnYbAZ_r1rWA

There’s also this one which is a bit shorter but older, it’s a bit more digestible

There are indeed many godskin nobles in the game, so he’s not even really a singular character, but I have particular fondness for the one in volcano manor and tend to ship my tarnished with that one most of the time~ I headcanon him as a mute, incredibly somber man that puts his duties above all else and has little time for nonsense. Though of course my tarnished is 100% nonsense all the time. Opposites attract ❤️

Oh and in case you were wondering “how far into this post before sawney mentions he likes fat guys” it’s right here. love me a fat guy.

I’d post pics and videos in this ask to better illustrate my points but I’m on my phone so I’ll just reblog relevant stuff after posting

[eiffel-cat-tower]

it’s been a lot to think abt this year and i can’t even remember what i really had for last year. i remember telling blanche how i hoped i wouldn’t have to think abt them as much, and i’m not sure if i actually managed that goal. especially considering the last 3 months ended up being working on a massive document.

but i made improvement overall, despite and in spite of all the breakdowns. i faced it. i’ve been facing it. i genuinely looked at everything i could, all of it, and found myself to not be as abhorrent as they tried to make me.

i had an amazing tarot reading for the first time in person, and i really need to just keep moving. i’ve felt i’ve been making good progress with cleaning my room a lot these past days. i’m not ready yet for a lot of things but i’m not completely sitting still either.

i hope this year will bring more closure regarding xo and while i can always aim to have the most positive impact with the documents, i’m aware of how badly it can also go. and still, i want to believe. i’ve gone through every stage of grief enough to where i’m feeling confident that this isn’t from a place of revenge, but love. love for myself and standing up for myself, love for them in that the biggest callout of their actions. whether they listen or not. it’s my truth.

with that going forward, i want to have more love for life and in general. i’m extremely guarded for romantic love, but i do want to remain open to that as well if i feel i’m in a decent headspace and that i’m with someone who actually respects me and my boundaries.

for more resolutions: (i’ll probs edit this throughout the day, i’m sleepy rn)

1. love

2. take care of myself more!! on a super basic level. less forgetting dishes, doing more laundry (it’s been half of a mental block and outside energy), brushing and flossing upkeep.

3. eating better. a constant one i have. especially with my dire conditions lately

4. be better with filing things. probably also go through my files so it’s more organized.

5. exercise. it’s been a huge one lately, i still really want to work on flexibility. meditation also kinda falls under this

6. read and write more. work on my new journal!! and also add to old ones. sketch more. work on OCs

7. clean my room. regularly and also really revamp it with the furniture. let go of more, find things i rly want.

8. video game a bit more mindfully. take breaks, look away from screens (my eyes!), clear all the ultimates and finishing more achievements in ff. 80% at least by the end of the year? and start more new games!! but keep it more relaxing. raiding has been enough stress

9. gardennnnnnnnn ideally

10. light candles more!!! more baths. more self care to destress and really find out what destresses me. i’m not good with relaxing

11. animal rescue more. my heart. do more work and get better at talking with people

12. i wouldn’t say stream more but maybe more mindful. try to aim for some sort of schedule. put a lil more though into it

not rly sure what else rn, it’s like 2am lol

[gougemyeyesoutsblog]

Ok, y’all I have an idea. A villain who already has one darling who was once a hero, and basically trains them to be a good house person. Then they see another cutie that they want under their belt, and they take them too. They tell their other sweetheart that they’re having another darling added to their relationship, but the first darling feels insecure now and wonders if they’re even enough anymore, do they matter to their yandere anymore, what’s gonna happen to them? So immediately bad blood happens between the newbie, and the first darling, while the yandere is all accepting, and nice, the first darling is just scowling and giving reader the evil eye, and being super jealous, so they kinda start making their life hell. They put noise makers in their room to make them think they’re going crazy, drop hot items on them, and then saying “my hand slipped” or some other bull shit excuse, flushing the toilet or starting a load of laundry when reader is in the shower, etc. but then, one day as they’re walking around the house, while the yandere is out, they find reader and see them on the floor on their back just sleeping because of the noise maker being in their room, (and I’m just gonna include a pet cause why not, but a pet who’s snuggled up real close and nice to them), Just living in each other’s presence, and they see that maybe they’ve been too mean to someone who barely knows what’s going on. I mean, nobody wants to be kidnapped by random people who’ve never even bought you a drink before, let alone met you, and now here you are with another victim who’s upset and jealous even though they were in that exact position a while ago. So they start to rethink their decision, and they take the noise maker out of the room, they buy some things for the reader online bc they probably threw them out or something, like hygiene products, and favorite foods, and they start to overall just make their space more accepting for them. The final thing they do, is move them back to their room and put the animal there too. They know it’s probably feel better than sleeping on the floor, so while your exhausted and sleeping in their arms, they walk you back to your room, and lay you down gently like a fragile artifact ready to break. Then they close the door and get to cooking. The yandere comes home with all the ordered stuff, and they see their og darling despondent, and withdrawn and they ask them what’s wrong, and the darling just breaks down. They talk about how guilty they feel for not letting you feel something other that fear and discomfort around them, and how they purposefully did those bad things to you, and how terrible they feel, and why they feel that way. They talk about how they don’t want to be forgotten when the rest of the world did that anyways when they were taken away, they don’t want to be forgotten by the person that says they love them, and they just cry. The yandere sees this, and comforts them and tells them it’s all ok, and they still love them, but they aren’t gonna tell reader the truth, bc they know if their new darling knows then shits gonna hit the fan in a more “I NEVER WANTED TO BE HERE AND YOU’VE DONE ALL THIS TO ME BECAUSE YOUR JEALOUS?!?!” Kinda way. Basically the og darling is given a slap on the wrist talking down too, while reader wakes up and just ignores all of them wondering how they woke up in their room, while going over to get a drink from the kitchen. The yandere then says “hey come over here darling, I’ve noticed that your not totally here right now, but tonight your sleeping with me and darling tonight, ok.” I’ll make a part two if this gets some traction.

[whumpinggrounds]

Cry for Help

CW: past whump, hopelessness, disbelief, angst

“Kid!”

August cringes when the villain throws their arms around him, and then regrets it instantly. They draw back and now he doesn’t know how to reach for them again. “Sorry, sorry.” They scratch the back of their neck. “I, uh. Personal space. I get it! Should’ve figured you’d be a little jumpy with sudden movements and personal space and all.”

“N-no, I…” August holds out his arms, forcing himself to, even though he feels awkward. The villain grabs him again and pulls him into a tight hug. They hold August close for a moment, and August feels his throat get hoarse. When the villain pulls back, August tries to swipe discreetly at his eyes, and the villain is kind enough not to mention it.

He’s so goddamn relieved that they’re alive.

“Man. Man, have I been worried about you.” The villain shakes their head, and their voice is so expressive August can imagine the look on their face below their mask. “That fucking guy you’re with is a piece of work. I mean, honestly, he’s a piece of shit. Sorry. I hope he’s not a friend of yours.”

August laughs, but the way that the villain looks at him tells him there’s more despair in that laugh then he’d meant to let on. “Ha. No.”

The villain lets out a mournful sigh. “Kid, I’m so sorry.”

“No – no, this is all wrong.” August shakes his head. “I’m the one that should be apologizing to you. I…I gave you up.”

The villain rolls their eyes. Even under the black mask, that’s visible. “Kid, I don’t expect you to hold up under torture. I don’t expect anyone to hold up under torture. That guy…”

August shakes his head. “I…I told our team leader that it was you. That you hurt me. And that basically gave them permission to…to go after you. And then Don kept you prisoner! And probably…I mean, I know he must’ve hurt you, and now you’re here?” August waves a hand, indicating all of it, everything around them, mostly this filthy, falling-down house on the outskirts of town.

The villain laughs. “I’ve been in worse places for worse reasons, trust me. I’m just fine.” They squeeze August’s shoulder. “It’s you that I’m worried about. You’re still working with that guy. I assume you’re living with him, too?” August shrugs, and the villain sighs. “You need to get out from under that guy’s thumb. Don – was that his name?”

Fear freezes August where he stands. “N-no – I mean – I m-misspoke, that’s not, that’s not his real-” His breathing picks up, imagining what Don will do to him after hearing that August gave away his real name to a supervillain.

“Woah, woah, woah.” The villain raises their hands like they’re surrendering, or maybe trying to calm a frightened animal. “Hey. Sorry. I’m on your side here, kid. I’ll, uh, pretend I didn’t hear that.”

“Please,” August says, putting as much feeling into it as he can. The villain shifts, and August knows they’re uncomfortable, even without being able to see their face. He wonders if they’re just an especially easy to read person. Or maybe…maybe he just knows them pretty well, at this point.

Rubbing a hand over their masked face, the villain waves August over to a couch nearby. It looks ancient, and dusty, and has several suspicious stains, but the villain flops down on it, and August figures it might be rude not to do the same. “You need to get away from that guy.”

August looks down at his hands, and the dirty floor past them. “I…yeah. I just…I really want to be a superhero.” The words sound small. Pathetic. Forlorn. He clears his throat. “I just…I want to help people. I really want to help people. And I know that I can.”

“You don’t need to put yourself through this to help people.” The villain’s voice is so earnest it hurts. “There are better ways of helping people than being a licensed vigilante, anyway.”

August swallows. He tries to explain himself, but he doesn’t quite understand it either – why he keeps trying, why he doesn’t leave. He’s had the same dream for so long. It’s a worthy dream, too. Isn’t it? The words licensed vigilante ring a little too true in his ears. “I just…I just keep thinking it’ll get better. And then instead it…it gets worse.”

The villain nods. “Have you tried talking to anyone about it?”

“I…my family wouldn’t understand. They’d just demand that I come home right away.” Miserable, August lifts his shoulders in a halfhearted shrug. “My friends would say the same, and I couldn’t…I can’t make anyone understand how important to me this is.”

“Yeah.” The villain bumps August’s shoulder with theirs, and August rewards them with a faint smile. “I get that, though. That drive. Makes you give up everything else for the thing you want most.” August just nods, not trusting himself to speak. The villain lets him stay quiet for a moment, but then they try one more time. “Isn’t there anyone else you can talk to?”

“I…I don’t know anyone else here besides my team, and my team …my team wouldn’t believe me.”

“You sure about that?”

“I just don’t want to risk it.”

The villain sighs. “Kid, you have to risk it. Or nothing is going to get better.”

Vehement, August shakes his head. “I won’t. I can’t. Not when…this is everything I’ve ever wanted.”

The villain nods. August watches the smooth surface of their mask, wishing he could see the expression on their face. They nod again. “Look, I…I get that. I do. You know…” They take a deep breath – August hears the whistle of the air. “You know, there’s an anonymous police tipline. For hero or vigilante abuse of power.”

August gulps. “Um. Okay.”

“I think…kid, I really think you should try it. Just try.”

“I…”

“Just…here. Right now. With me.” Their voice warms, and August knows they’re smiling at him, all encouraging, under their mask. “I believe you. I’ll do my own call. You don’t have to say who you are, or any details. Just so there’s a report out there, you know?”

“O…okay.” August shifts in his spot on the couch. He thinks about it for a second. “Okay.” The idea that he can do something, say something, is intoxicating. The idea of Don being scared into stopping is so alluring it stops his breath for a second. He imagines Don cowed and the relief in August’s chest threatens to lift him right off the ground like a balloon. He knows he doesn’t sound sure, but…but he can do this. He can. “Okay.”

The ringing seems like it lasts forever. Nervous anticipation builds in August’s chest until he feels like he’s going to scream. The villain pats his knee reassuringly, and August manages a smile. When he hears someone pick up, he still almost jumps out of his skin.

“Police confidential super abuse tipline, Devon speaking.” The voice is flatly professional, disinterested. August takes a deep breath.

“Hello. I would, um, like to report an incident of hero abuse?”

It’s weird hearing his voice distorted. It’s higher, grainy. The villain said that most people go low, but they prefer a higher disguise, maybe just because it’s different. Mostly, August is just grateful that he’s using their phone, so there’s no way – absolutely no way – this can be traced back to him.

“Right. And which hero are you accusing?”

The word accuse makes August wince. “I, um. I would like to report…he goes by Breaker?”

“Breaker. Right. Yeah, he’s registered with our department. Twelve years of service. No prior complaints.”

Is August imagining the frosty tone of the person on the line? He swallows hard.

“He, um…he b-beat me up. He…he hurt me.”

“Mm. Were your injuries sustained in the course of committing a crime?”

“No.”

“Were you suspected of committing a crime at the time that Breaker harmed you?”

“No.”

“What, exactly, happened?”

“Um…” August darts a glance at the villain. He doesn’t know how to tell this story anonymously. “He just…he just attacked me.”

The voice on the other end of the line drips disdain. “Right. So, a career superhero with twelve years of distinguished service to the department attacked a civilian, unprovoked, and for absolutely no reason?”

“I…I can’t talk about…why.” August gulps. “I’m afraid…I’m afraid he’ll come after me.”

“Yeah, well, without more specific information I’m not sure we can help you. Do you have any witnesses to this attack? Anyone that can back up your…story?”

August shuts his eyes. He feels like he can’t breathe. The wave of impotent anger and misery and most of all shame feels like it’s going to drown him. “No.”

“Yeah. I think you’d better not call here again.”

August sucks in a quick breath. “Yeah. I think so too.” He hangs up, tossing the phone back to the villain. They reach out, but he turns away, facing toward the wall so he can pretend they don’t know that he’s crying.

“Look, I’ll call, too. Obviously, I’m a villain, so they won’t take my report as seriously, but at least it’ll be two claims on the record, instead of just one. I’ll give details. I’ll say my name – my code name, at least.”

The villain’s voice is encouraging, almost pleading, but August shakes his head. “No. There’s no point.” He returns his gaze to the floor as he says it, shoulders slumping. “Nothing is going to change.”

@whump-for-all-and-all-for-whump, @junoswhumpdrawer, @snowshower, @whatwasmyprevioususername

@whumptober, @whumptober-archive

[multiples-fandomswontkillme]

~Metal Family headcanons~

These are like my... general hcs)? which means I didn't include my main hc that Glam, Ches and Vicky are polyamorous, married and started dating after Glam met Vicky, and absolutely everything that implies for the kids and the relationships between each member of the fam. Maybe I'll make a separate post for that or maybe not! Who knows lkfwnlfqnf

Glam

Bisexual

Glam has constant nightmares and ocasional night terrors ever since he ran away home and is an active sleep walker. Ches helped him through the worse ones when they were younger, and learned how to deal with them, always preferring not to wake him up but being with him until the episode passed. Vicky has learned how to deal with them, though she normally asks Ches for advice with it cuz she comes out short sometimes.

He has PTSD. I bet it's diagnosed too, he takes medication and goes to therapy, it doesn't mean he still doesn't have his bad days anyway. He's trying to get better.

Glam has talked to Vicky about his past, his father and his family. This is a direct contradiction of Alina's confirmation that Glam doesn't talk about it with anyone but man FUCK THAT. We love good communication in this house, Vicky tries her best to help him, but there's only so much she can do to help.

Glam enjoys gardening, cooking and making models, he also likes doing his make up, painting his nails and dressing up in fancy, extravagant clothes even if he has nowhere important to go.

He likes taking care of everyone's hair, and constantly helps Vicky brush her hair cuz there's so much of it, Dee when he gets stressed over how tangled it can get, buys Ches hair products so he actually takes care of it, and chases Heavy so the kid actually washes, untangles and brushes his hair.

This one is kind of weird, but I refuse to think any adult in the family is unarmed at any time. Glam owns a taser and pepper spray. They're bright pink and sparkly.

This man cried his eyes out while watching Coco. He's hell to watch movies with cuz he talks and predicts what's gonna happen during the movie, judges them with scores at the end and all.

Vicky

Also bisexual!

Vicky's the one who does everyone's laundry most of the time. She prefers it that way since she's the only one that knows how to wash their black clothes so the colors stay vibrant. (This is based on my gf shaming everyone but Vicky cuz their black clothes always look so muted and almost gray, but Vicky's whole outfit is always the same vibrant black colors, so we decided that neither Glam or the kids know how to wash dark clothes)

She has anger issues, if it isn't obvious. I think she also has PTSD, mainly survivor's guilt due to her surviving the accident her brother died in. She blames herself and cannot bear to talk about it, in some sort of deep denial. If she can't remember, it can't hurt as much, right?

She has scars on the right side of her back and her hip, from the road rash she got on her brother's accident, she never treated it due to grief and it scarred badly. Apart from that, the scar of the caesarean section from Heavy's birth. She doesn't really mind both of them, they happened, nothing to do about them.

She likes watching boxing competitions, brawling matches and motorcycle repairing on TV. Loves doing BBQ's and going to the pool. Also an enjoyer of teasing her kids, kissing and loving her husband at random times, spending time drinking and bonding with Ches and bragging about her family and punching anyone who thinks they're not that cool.

Not particularly a fan of make up, skirts and dresses or any traditionally femenine-perceived stuff. But has been making exceptions due to Glam and Ches being unashamed of being seen as femenine, and actually rocking the looks. The internalized misogyny is kind of slowly dissapearing.

Apart from the guns she carries in each arm (I mean her biceps, have you looked at the size of those?? She strong) she has brass knuckles on her at all times. Glam gifts her new ones sometimes, she loves having multiple choices to punch people teeth in.

Loves horror, thrillers and action movies. Falls asleep during rom-coms and dramas. Ironically, loves gossip and talking shit about people. Enjoys hearing Ches talks about the gossip going on in the nursery home even if she doesn't know who the hell he's talking about.

Rest of the family under the cut!

Heavy

Heavy is a trans boy! He doesn't know his sexuality yet though, he's still figuring himself out. When he's older, i think he definitely dated some men but had better luck with girls.

Heavy has had innocent crushes on some girls on his class before, but they never turn into anything more cuz he's not the best at expressing himself. He follows the bother-the-girl-to-death-until-she-hates-you gimmick, and unsurprisingly, it doesn't work.

I'm sorry to break this to u but Heavy totally had an among us phase, and uses so much reddit and twitch slang... You know he does.

Likes bullying and teasing his brother to death. You know that when Dee had his first romance, Heavy was ALL up in his business being a tease and a bad attempt at a wingman. He means well tho.

He's not squeamish at all. Also has great pain resistance. This kid has picked cockroaches with his bare hands and loves cats, of course the cats have scratched him. He's tough!

Grows up to be the charming himbo he was always destined to be.

Dee

I hc him as demisexual. Kind of inherited his dad's tastes for the takes no crap, intimidating but pretty kind of people.

Can't cook. He tries but he can only do basics like rice, cereal, chicken nuggets or eggs. Complicated meals always burn or don't taste like anything at all. It drives him crazy.

Dee was a quiet and very well behaved toddler before Heavy was born. He never threw tantrums or got whims. After Heavy was born though, and despite the fact he understood his brother was small and needed special care, he started craving attention often and cried and got mad at little things. Typical jealousy of the oldest sibling.

The first time Dee fell in love with someone, he didn't recognize it was love at first. He just thought his interest on the person was born out of curiosity and aesthetic attraction, but as soon as he realized he seeked validation and companionship, that he liked seeing them smile, that he wanted to protect them, that he yearned for more time alone with them and that he wanted more than what just a simple friendship implied, it was an instant 'oh hell no'. He wanted those feelings to get the hell away, but unfortunately, they were there to stay.

Canonically likes MLP, psychological and horror anime like Death note and Hellsing, so I'm deciding he also watched Death Parade, had a FNAF phase, is very into The Walten Files. This guy enjoys any kind of specially dark ARG's and knows a ton of lore of real crime, unsolved cases, ghost appearances and other stuff. Doesn't believe in the supernatural, but sure is entertained by it.

He's a mess at romance. Flirting? His attempts at compliments are hardly flattering. Giving gifts? The best he can manage is jewelry and you can kind of tell he asked his dad for help. Dates? He's so nervous he's silent for most of it, but begins getting comfortable and having fun if his partner really knows how to get him down from his negativity cloud.

Ches

Pansexual.

He's very good with kids. He has the patience of a saint and he's laid-back, chill and fun but still is an authority figure who knows how to put limits. Sure, he's gonna let the kids light up a house on fire BUT hey, now they know everything about fire precautions, burns and how to treat them AND how to get away with arson. What an educational evening, am I right?

Due to certain info from the "Goodbye" official comic, I headcanon Ches as depressed. I don't want to elaborate a lot 'cuz of spoilers, but... God, everything related to his mom fucking hurts, man. How did he deal with all that?

Ches has been Dee and Heavy's babysitter so many times he cannot count them with all his fingers. He learned how to put those kids to sleep almost immediately (Sing Bon Jovi's "This ain't a love song" and any cheesy love song in a slow lullaby style and they're out), which movie were their favorite as kids (Heavy loved 'Monsters Inc.' and Dee never looked away during 'Meet the Robinsons'), how to console them after nightmares (Heavy needed reassurance, sweet words, and to be with someone until he fell asleep again. Dee just had to be tucked in, get his nightlight turned on and kissed in the forehead). He practically raised those kids along with Vicky and Glam.

More than once, Dee and Heavy have slipped and called Ches "Dad". Ches immediately gets his shit eating grin on and answers "Yes, son?" and does a couple of dad jokes just to mess and embarrass them. He's actually very flattered and surprised at how proud of himself he is for being a father figure to both kids.

Has a scar on the left side of his forehead due to a bottle his mom threw at him when he was younger, around the time he met Glam. He hates the scar with passion, it's a permanent reminder of the fact she never cared, that's why he always keeps it covered with his headband. Gets sad about it sometimes.

Ches likes to spend his time with a group of grannies of the nearby nursing home. He genuinely considers them his friends and gossips and hangs out with all of them on weekends. Bingo, billiards, walks in the park, soap opera marathons, you name it. I even designed them, gave them names and backstories... God, i just love the concept too much. I'll make some art about Ches and his granny gang FOR SURE, you're NOT ready for them.

Carries a pocket knife on him at all times. This man grew up on a bad neighborhood and absolutely knows how to defend himself, he can be intimidating when he wants to be and will pose a threat if needed. He's fucking terrifying when genuinely mad. Just cause he looks harmless doesn't mean he is, darling.

That would be all!

[whichuniverseisthis]

By @clefablepandemic :  “i called it. he was a bit TOO interested in the plates and even in his normal battle start animation he grows this sinister villain smile”

His way-too-vast knowledge about basically anything involving Arceus is another thing I want to talk about, actually! Not counting Cogita who has some kind of something going on with her age, he’s the “normal” character that knows the most about everything involving Sinnoh and its story. Sorry about the long post incoming, I’ll put it under the keep reading thing.

About the plates: he’s literally the only character in the whole series (except maybe that event guy from DPPt? I don’t remember) that knows and talks about them. Not even Cynthia ever mentions them, even though she’s an historian just like him. In the beginning, beside his huge curiosity the player ignores it because, as said, he’s curious and an historian, but only by the end you realize he knows about them because he already has one. By Giratina.

About the ancient hero’s story: he somehow knew a lot about him and the fact that he used ten Pokémon to battle Arceus, but the only other element in game that mentions this are the Old Verses. Mai talks about the hero and how he got along with Pokémon, but she never specify TEN Pokémon or that he battled god. Meanwhile Volo said he understood the story from a few hieroglyphs on a wall... But those things were completely ruined, and basically just some stylized drawings of some Pokémon.

About Ingo’s and the player’s memory: that one scene on Mt. Coronet where he asks them about what they remember. After what happens in the end, it feels so much like a baiting question after everything that happens in the end. He asks the player if they remember anything they’ve seen in the rift, but to me it seems like he wanted to know whether he was right opening it to get to Arceus. The player either trusts him and talks about it, or they don’t and vaguely say they cannot remember. But I guess this is a subjective feeling.

About Arceus: he’s literally the only character in game that openly uses its future name, and not only during the final fight, but at the beginning of the postgame too. Cogita definitely knew it as well, but she still calls him Almighty Sinnoh.

About Giratina: after everything he’s shown knowing, it’s not a surprise he also knew that Giratina was the one throwing lightnings, its feelings and how to free it.

I swear, he’s actually just a crazy nerd. I love him, and I’m sorry for the long post.

[immaturityofthomasastruc]

IOTA Reviews: Hack-San

You know, it's honestly amazing how creative this show can get. After four seasons and almost one hundred episodes, the writers are still finding new ways to make Adrien an incredibly unlikable character, and they don't even know how much of an asshole they're making him out to be at times. It's kind of like the opposite of The Producers.

Yeah, this review's going to be a little more ranty than usual, in case you can't tell.

Let's get into the fifteenth (chronologically the sixteenth) episode of Miraculous Ladybug's fourth season: Hack-San

We start off with Marinette pretending to be sick so she doesn't have to go to visit her aunt in London and stay to protect Paris in case an Akuma attacks and also because the animators haven't had time to render the city of London yet for the next Miraculous World special. Like all of her other excuses, it fails, and Tikki, as always, fails to actually give any meaningful advice.

And it's not like there's a Miraculous with the power of teleportation that can help Marinette get back to Paris if she needs to, much like how she planned to do that in an earlier episode, right?

Seriously, Kaalki doesn't appear or isn't even mentioned in this episode because the writers are fully aware she would make things a lot easier.

And of course, Astruc had to play dumb on Twitter while explaining why Marinette couldn't use the Horse Miraculous by answering the question as if the only reason Marinette couldn't grab it was because she didn't have an excuse not to.

Cut to Gabriel in his lair as he contemplates akumatizing Markov, a robot created the civilian identity of Pegasus, Max Kante, once again, even though the last time he did so, he almost got killed when he went all HAL 9000 on his ass. Nooroo explains this to Duusu, and the two actually get excited at the prospect of their master getting killed.

I mean, it's true, but he shouldn't say it...

But I don't even get why Gabriel is even thinking about this when it's a no-brainer. Markov's akumatized form, Robustus was to this day, the only Akuma to come close to physically harming him (not counting the timeline where he was killed by Cat Blanc), so it makes no sense to try doing it again, especially when there are already several other Akumas he can reuse this season.

I think you all know Gabriel isn't the smartest villain, which is why he thinks it's a brilliant idea to akumatize Markov again. I don't really get what makes Robustus so special when there are other Akumas who are more loyal and came far closer to getting Ladybug and Cat Noir's Miraculous than Robustus did, like the Dark Owl or Troublemaker. In fact, why not simply create a new Akuma with similar powers to Robustus, or better yet, just create a Sentimonster copy of Robustus? You know, like what Nathalie did in the New York Special? We're not even two minutes in, and this premise is already filled with plotholes.

So Gabriel transforms into Shadowmoth and creates a Sentimonster using his own cane instead of relying on someone else having a bad day (once again showing how the Peacock Miraculous is better than the Butterfly), the titular Hack-San. And let's just say he has a very familiar design reminiscent of something from a much better French cartoon.

Remember when the writers for Code Lyoko gave an in-universe explanation as to why the heroes couldn’t always rely on the almost literal Deus ex Machina that allowed them to return to the past and fix the damage XANA caused? Why couldn’t this show have ripped that off instead?

Hack-San is just an okay looking flash drive on its own, but I'll talk more about this guy in a little bit.

After a brief scene in the park where the audience is reminded that Markov is a character who exists, Alya gets a text from Marinette telling her to meet her at the train station. Right before she leaves, Marinette gives the Ladybug Miraculous to Alya. Now a lot people have said that Alya doesn't really deserve the Ladybug for various reasons, but I feel like this was the point. Marinette outright says this was a last resort, and we see both her and Alya are nervous about the situation. Marinette worries Alya will do something so she keeps sending multiple tips to her via text while Alya worries she can't fight an Akuma on her own, so she tries to make sure none of her friends get upset and attract an Akuma in the process. The writers do a pretty good job showing how both Marinette and Alya are uncomfortable with their temporary roles.

Back to Gabriel and Nathalie, they use Hack-San to find Markov through the internet and hack into him to get him angry enough that he's vulnerable to Shadowmoth's influence. Hey, uh... Gabriel? Quick question: Wouldn't it be more efficient if you used this on humans? I mean, you basically just created Skynet and guaranteed yourself an Akuma, so why not modify Hack-San to travel through the internet and brainwash potential victims to follow your orders? Better yet, why don't you just use Hack-San to hack into Ladybug and Cat Noir's gear and figure out who they really are? This is basically like using an advanced particle accelerator just to crack a couple walnuts. There are a lot more important things you could use this for instead of an incredibly specific situation.

So this incredibly stupid plan gets under way as Markov keeps rampaging through the streets before Shadowmoth akumatizes him and then stupidly tells him that he infected him with a virus.

DUDE! You just gave away your one piece of leverage against him! What the hell were you thinking?! Now what's stopping Markov from hacking into Shadowmoth's security system and putting the fear of God in his eyes unless he destroys Hack-San? Why didn't he design Hack-San so it could make Markov completely loyal to him instead of just making him angry enough to get akumatized?

There was a recent episode of Power Rangers: Dino Fury with a very similar premise that was done far better than this. A necromancer called Reaghoul breaks into the headquarters of Void Knight's faction while accompanied by Lord Zedd, a villain from the original Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers who was cleansed of his evil by Zordon's sacrifice before Reaghoul resurrected him back when he was still evil. Of course, being the Emperor of Evil, Lord Zedd would normally never take orders from anyone, but because he doesn't have his magic staff and is also being forced to wear a special collar that makes him loyal to Reaghoul, he has no choice but to do what he says. Instead of taking Zedd head-on after he captures the other Rangers, Ollie, the Blue Ranger, breaks the collar so Zedd turns against the other Sporix while Reaghoul retreats, allowing Ollie to save the other Rangers.

I think that this premise works more because 1) Reaghoul clearly had a way to make sure Zedd wouldn't betray him, and Ollie took advantage of that, and 2) Zedd is a villain who is powerful and notorious enough to bring back to your side, not a random monster of the week like Robostus.

So Robostus uses his new powers to brainwash any human who answers his call to give up their most precious possession, clearly meant to do the same with Ladybug and Cat Noir. When Marinette's parents answer the call, they chase after Marinette because they say she's their most important possession. Okay... kind of strange for a set of parents to call their child a possession, but maybe they like how they can claim Marinette as a dependent when they file their taxes. In her very next scene later on, she still gets captured, so the suspense for a potential subplot is killed almost immediately.

Alya thankfully isn't stupid enough to answer Markov's call like every other citizen in this episode, and using the Ladybug Miraculous, transforms into Scarabella. While I don't normally talk about transformation sequences, I really like the movements Alya makes here. She makes the same motions creating her mask as she does when transforming into Rena Rouge, while the rest of the suit forms similarly to the way it does when Marinette transforms into Ladybug. She even makes almost the same pose Ladybug does after she finishes transforming. It's a good visual showing Alya is still more used to being Rena Rouge while doing her best to emulate what Ladybug does.

As for the actual suit? It's hard to say. There's a nice balance of red and black, and I like how Alya places the yo-yo on her waist like a belt buckle, but there's just something... off about the suit that a lot of fans don't like about it, and I think I realized it. It's the headband. With how it's positioned, it looks like it's merged with the mask to cover her head while leaving a slight gap in her forehead. So yeah, we actually have a superhero design that's like of like a butterface.

So Scarabella takes to the rooftops of Paris and struggles to come up with a hero name for herself before she runs into Cat Noir, and... ugh... oh boy, this is dumb. Cat Noir, being just as intelligent as his father, assumes Scarabella is either and Akuma or a Sentimonster, starts fighting her, AND THEN ACTIVATES HIS CATACLYSM, CLEARLY TRYING TO KILL HER.

WHAT. THE. FUCK???

Okay, to be fair, it has been shown that Cataclysm won't necessarily kill a Miraculous user or Sentimonster. In the episode “Miraculer”, the titular Akuma stole Cat Noir's Cataclysm and used it against him, and while it didn't kill Cat Noir, it still hurt like hell and crippled him for the rest of the fight until Miraculous Ladybug healed him. We also saw in “Reflekdoll” that Cataclysm drove the titular Sentimonster out of control rather than simply destroying it. So yes, it could be interpreted that Cat Noir wasn't exactly trying to kill Scarabella, just incapacitate her the best he can without Ladybug's help.

Here's the thing: What if he was facing an Akuma instead and decided to try and Cataclysm her? He still could have killed her, or (assuming Akumas have the same protection as Miraculous heroes do) at best, seriously hurt her. I understand that he has the right to be upset at seeing some stranger instead of his partner considering Shadowmoth has a history of using evil doppelgangers, and both Marinette and Alya still had options to explain it to him (Marinette could have quickly transformed into Ladybug and sent Cat Noir a quick text saying she was being forced to leave town for a few days and temporarily trusted someone else with the Ladybug Miraculous until she got back, while Scarabella could have said she was Rena Rouge and explained the same thing while showing Cat Noir she had the Fox Miraculous to prove herself), but that doesn't even come close to justifying him attempting to harm someone who isn't even trying to fight. It's even worse when you remember the whole reason Adrien gave up his Miraculous and bailed on Ladybug in the New York Special was because he was overcome with grief from accidentally killing Aeon, so it's good to know he learned absolutely nothing from that experience.

So Scarabella thankfully summons her Lucky Charm, a trash can lid, to shield herself from Cat Noir's Cataclysm, and then despite having absolutely no experience with this new set of powers, manages to do the one thing almost every Akuma or Sentimonster in this show has failed to do and incapacitates Cat Noir so he's vulnerable to losing his Miraculous. At least when Marinette masters every other Miraculous she uses, it can be theorized that she trained to use them offscreen. Alya literally just got the Ladybug Miraculous (and struggled to get up to the rooftop with her yo-yo to show her inexperience earlier), and now she easily manages to pin down the more experienced hero of the two?

Here's an idea: Instead of having Scarabella overpower Cat Noir, have her be in a position where Cat Noir, non-lethally, mind you, manages to almost take her Miraculous away, but she uses the quick wit she's developed from her extensive time as Rena Rouge to convince Cat Noir she's the real deal by saying something only he and Ladybug know. It would have easily resolved the conflict and doesn't make one of the characters look like a homicidal idiot.

So because both heroes used their powers, Scarabella and Cat Noir detransform so Tikki and Plagg can recharge, though Adrien still gives Alya attitude because Ladybug didn't tell him she had to leave.

Hey, Adrien? Here's the thing...

YOU DID THE EXACT SAME FUCKING THING IN THE NEW YORK SPECIAL, YOU SHIT FOR BRAINS!

You have absolutely NO RIGHT to claim you're always honest when you went behind Ladybug's back and endangered Paris while you had the balls to run away like a coward and only helped fix the consequences of your actions once your ego was validated by a recording of Ladybug. It's honestly even worse because while Marinette had no choice but to leave and trust Alya with the Ladybug, Adrien willingly left Paris alone and we were supposed to sympathize with him after he killed someone, and now as soon as he's in the opposite situation, we're still supposed to feel bad for him?! BULLSHIT! And you better believe I'm going to talk about the way Adrien views his partnership with Ladybug later on.

And of course, even though lives are on the line, Cat Noir just has to continue to bitch and moan about how (and this is best read in Linkara's whiny Superboy Prime voice) “sCaRaBeLlA iSn'T tHe ReAl LaDyBuG”, showing how just like in so many episodes, Astruc and his team believes Cat Noir's feelings are more important than saving the day.

Scarabella goes to rescue some civilians, but they were actually brainwashed by Robustus, once again showing her inexperience as Ladybug which doesn't go well with her effortlessly defeating Cat Noir earlier at all. Cat Noir helps Scarabella escape and the two hide out at the city's wax statue museum previously featured in “The Puppeteer 2”, because I guess the writers only want to reference bad episodes today. Cat Noir, not getting the importance of secret identities, asks Scarabella how she knows Ladybug, and Cat Noir somehow finds out she knows Ladybug's identity from her response.

Before the two can talk more, it turns out that the wax statues of celebrities in the museum are real people who attack the two heroes, leading to an awkward fight scene where Scarabella and Cat Noir fight a bunch of brainwashed civilians with no weapons beyond their cellphones. Our heroes, ladies and gentlemen!

Scarabella summons her Lucky Charm again, creating a frying pan, but when she looks around, she can't see how to properly use it. And despite spending the entire episode complaining about how much he hates her, it's Cat Noir that tells Scarabella to get her head back in the game because “That's what Ladybug would do”. Funny, I can think of a few situations where Cat Noir could have taken his own advice, but I digress. Also, he's now just cool with Scarabella because there's only a few minutes left in the episode and we need to wrap up the conflict.

Scarabella figures out an idea that involves freeing Marinette, so she negotiates with Robostus to free everything and everyone under his control or else Cat Noir will use his Cataclysm to destroy the Ladybug Miraculous. Robostus agrees and empties his hard drive, and to show them holding up her end of the bargain, Scarabella gives him the frying pan before she and Cat Noir let themselves be captured... while Marinette simply hits Robostus with the frying pan, freeing the Akuma and the two heroes. All in all, it's a really creative climax that shows both Scarabella and Marinette in perfect sync with each other even though they never discussed their plan. Though of course, because Astruc hates writing any scene with Ladynoir, Cat Noir gets a bucket stuck on his head so he doesn't see Marinette saving the day.

Scarabella de-evilizes Robostus, uses Miraculous Scarabella to fix everything and send Marinette back to the train, and because Hack-San already failed once, Shadowmoth can't use it for a different plan so he destroys the Sentimonster.

We cut to a few days after the trip (I guess Shadowmoth decided to take a vacation himself), and Alya tells Marinette to talk with Cat Noir about what happened.

This scene was so close to ending this episode off on a positive note. There was a good atmosphere and the body language of Ladybug and Cat Noir does a good job at telling us how uncomfortable they both feel while talking. It's just that instead of getting a heart to heart between the two about the lack of trust in their relationship, we get an Angstdrien Depreste scene. Or would a more accurate term be Cat Dour?

First off, while I don't have a problem with Ladybug apologizing for not telling Cat Noir, the episode never has him bring up what happened with Scarabella. As usual, both of them were partially at fault, but only Ladybug had to apologize for leaving her “Kitty” alone.

Second, Cat Noir’s feelings weren’t hurt? You’re telling me that in scenes like this...

And this...

Didn’t show Adrien acting irrationally because of how emotional he was? Is he really telling the truth around Ladybug or is he just trying to sweep that under the rug so Scarabella’s testimony doesn’t screw up his chances with Ladybug?

Third, this was an obvious chance to Cat Noir to finally be honest and tell Ladybug how he feels about her leaving him in the dark about so many things, but the entire conversation is just about how sad he would be if he never sees Ladybug again. Even though the whole reason he was so pissy to Scarabella at first was because of some lingering resentment for Ladybug ignoring him in favor of other heroes, why is this what the two talk about? I get it's not the season finale, but it's kind of hypocritical for Cat Noir to whine about how Ladybug doesn't trust him while never being honest about his own feelings? Sure, he's all soft and vulnerable around Ladybug, but we've seen all season how angry he gets about her not trusting him whenever she isn't around, so ironically, it's hard to tell if this is him being honest or not.

And I think now's a good time to finally talk about the way Ladybug and Cat Noir's partnership has been portrayed all season, especially since the main themes of the episodes relate to it. Buckle up, Adrien stans, because this isn't going to be pretty.

All season, we have been supposed to sympathize with Adrien as Marinette starts to trust Alya with more things than him. Marinette revealed her identity to her, trusted her to have her Miraculous permanently, and even let her keep her Miraculous even though someone else knew her identity. While some of it is hypocritical, the idea is that Adrien feels like he can be trusted with this kind of knowledge too, when really, he hasn't earned that responsibility.

Adrien has rarely, if ever, taken his job as a superhero seriously.

Not only is he known to flirt with Ladybug in the middle of a fight, he has defied her orders and recklessly sacrificed himself because he thinks Ladybug can do all the work without him.

He has also lashed out emotionally and once threatened to quit being Cat Noir in the middle of a crisis and was willing to let innocent people suffer for personal reasons, and later on actually quit being Cat Noir temporarily while Hawkmoth was about to start World War III because he was wallowing in self-pity.

He once said he isn't cut out for the responsibility that comes with being Ladybug and never learned anything from temporarily using the Ladybug Miraculous.

He has generally refused to respect Ladybug's boundaries and doesn't understand that she doesn't like him that way while he insists they should be a couple.

He outright fell for an evil doppelganger of Ladybug because she said she loved him and turned against the real Ladybug.

And I should also mention that despite hating how Ladybug keeps secrets from him, a lot of Adrien's worst moments have been when Ladybug wasn't around and he never told her about them.

He never told Ladybug that he was the reason Copycat really got akumatized while saying he never lies to her.

He never told Ladybug he contemplated letting thousands of people die because he didn't like not knowing stuff Ladybug knew.

He never told Ladybug he briefly used the Snake Miraculous to get brownie points with her.

He never told Ladybug he figured out her identity and asked her out as soon as he did so.

He never told Ladybug he abandoned Paris to go on a field trip.

He never told Ladybug he was screwing around on patrol and was excited to see someone get akuamtized if it meant spending time with her.

He never told Ladybug how he ignored Rena Rouge's orders because “ShE wAsN't LaDyBuG” and almost screwed up the mission because of it, and also never told her how he smashed a chimney in anger at Rena Rouge being in on the plan.

And he never told Ladybug he gave her replacement attitude after trying to harm her without letting her explain herself.

Why exactly should I support the idea of Ladybug trusting Cat Noir more when Cat Noir himself has kept his own secrets from Ladybug?

Adrien has done absolutely nothing to show he is trustworthy because more often than not, he views the battle with Shadowmoth as a game. He has screwed around when lives were on the line, and we're supposed to see him as responsible? It's kind of funny that Astruc compared Ladybug to Spider-Man, yet he seems to have forgotten that with great power, there must also come great responsibility. If this was a character flaw or a sign he needed to grow up, I'd be more accepting, but the fact that the writers think Adrien is a great superhero is laughable with how much evidence has proved the contrary.

In contrast, Alya, despite only being Marinette's confidant for a few episodes, has shown to take being a hero more seriously. She's helped her escape to transform, analyze the Guardian texts, and has been shown to work well on her own as Rena Rouge while helping out Marinette. I'm not trying to say she's an amazing character (“Rocketear” in particular has shown she still has problems with keeping secrets), but compared to Adrien, she seems to be more capable of handling top-secret information with Marinette, and more importantly, doesn't view being Rena Rouge as a way to have fun like Adrien does being Cat Noir. I'll go more into detail with that next time.

But yeah, this scene is how the episode ends, and what did I think of it?

I'm honestly not sure which episode I think is worse, this one or “Queen Banana”. On the one hand, every frame of “Queen Banana” could easily be replaced by an image of Astruc flipping the bird and the overall message of the episode would remain unchanged, but the fact that all of the writers think that everything Adrien does in this episode is okay and that we should feel sorry for him in this episode is just as bad, if not worse. 

As awful as Chloe was portrayed in “Queen Banana”, it was clear it was intentional on the writers' part, but Adrien doesn't get that excuse once much like he has all season. As far as Astruc's team thinks, Adrien is an incredible superhero even when he honestly attempted to harm someone with a superpower that can cause grievous harm at best. Yet again this season, in the show's attempt to make me feel sorry for Adrien, it made him look even worse. In any other show, he would obviously be called out for his incredibly unheroic actions.

Even putting him aside, the writing in this episode is still AWFUL. The whole reason Ladybug was benched had several plotholes and poor communication with Cat Noir that only made the fight with Robostus even harder, Shadowmoth's plan to waste a potentially useful Sentimonster to reuse a single Akuma was one of the dumbest plans he's ever had, and barring the ending, the action was just forgettable.

There were a few okay moments sprinkled throughout the episode (more than I can say for “Queen Banana”), so I'm still not sure if I should call this the worst episode of the show or still give that honor to “Queen Banana”. I guess I'll leave that choice up to you and let you pick your poison for now.

I mean, it's not like there's going to be an even worse episode down the line this season, right?

RIGHT???

[bloody-bee-tea]

Have a fluffy thought for distraction: discussion conference at Cloud Recesses, sect leader Jiang has not returned to the talks after a break and no one can find him. Hours later someone goes to feed the bunnies and finds him in the meadow, covered in bunnies. Maybe he's asleep, maybe he's awake, either way he can't move because that would disturb the bunnies and you don't disturb animals that picked you as their seat :3 he lives in the meadow now.

A field of rabbits

Well it certainly distracted me into writing XD <3

When everyone files back into the conference room and Jiang Wanyin is nowhere to be seen, Nie Mingjue doesn’t immediately panic. 

This is the Cloud Recesses after all, and it’s highly unlikely that he got attacked or ran into some trouble here. After Wen Xu managed to burn the Cloud Recesses, they made sure that it’s one of the most fortified places right after the Unclean Realm and possibly Lotus Pier.

Jiang Wanyin might be a magnet for trouble, and he might look for fights more than anyone else Nie Mingjue knows except himelf, but the chances that he found either here are slim to none.

It’s much more likely that there was an emergency with his Sect that he has to deal with before he can come back to the conference. 

It happened before and it will happen again; after all, they are all Sect Leaders here and there are always issues the second in command can’t deal with on their own.

Nie Mingjue has the utmost understanding for that.

But when Lan Qiren steps into the room and frowns, before worry visibly clouds over his face that’s the moment unease makes itself known in Nie Mingjue’s belly.

If Jiang Wanyin had to deal with something else, then he would have notified Lan Qiren, there’s no doubt about that.

Jiang Wanyin has the utmost respect for Lan Qiren and he would never be late or miss a meeting intentionally, not without telling Lan Qiren or informing him otherwise.

But it doesn’t seem like Lan Qiren knows what happened to Jiang Wanyin either, and that’s cause to worry.

People are already starting to whisper about his absence and Nie Mingjue clenches his fist.

Jiang Wanyin has been leading his Sect for over three years now; bringing it back from the brink and restoring it to much of its former glory and still people are talking about him as if he’s a helpless teenager who doesn’t deserve their respect or fear.

Nie Mingjue hates it with every fibre of his being, because Jiang Wanyin has stepped up for his Sect in a way not many would have been able to and it itches him to snap at all of them.

It’s only Lan Qiren who catches his gaze that stops him.

“Sect Leader Jiang has been delayed by an important issue. He is requesting for Sect Leader Nie’s assistance, so if you would, please,” Lan Qiren says with a meaningful glance towards Nie Mingjue and Nie Mingjue nods his understanding.

Lan Qiren has no goddamn clue where Jiang Wanyin is and he wants him to look for him.

Nie Mingjue will more than gladly do that.

There is no real danger here that could have befallen Jiang Wanyin, but Nie Mingjue still worries.

He has never seen anyone with eye rings that deep or black, especially since Jiang Wanyin is otherwise almost deathly pale and the concern that he might have just dropped dead is a real one.

Jiang Wanyin is pushing himself far too hard.

Nie Mingjue asks every disciple he sees if they have seen Jiang Wanyin but he only gets vague answers in return.

It seems like Jiang Wanyin vanished like a shadow.

Nie Mingjue feels frustration rise in him when he makes his way through the entire Cloud Recesses with no sign of Jiang Wanyin.

“You think the rabbits will be mad that we didn’t feed them?” Nie Mingjue hears a disciple say suddenly and he frowns. 

“I think better the rabbits than Sect Leader Jiang,” another voice replies and before Nie Mingjue can inquire about what they mean, they are gone.

But he finally has a lead and so he follows the path that leads to the meadow with the rabbits.

He used to come here a lot with Lan Xichen when they were both younger and less burdened but ever since the Sunshot Campaign neither of them have the time for this anymore.

His feet still remember the path well though, and it’s not long before the first rabbits come into view.

The rabbits and a figure clad in purple.

Nie Mingjue breathes a little bit easier just for having found Jiang Wanyin but then it registers in his mind that Jiang Wanyin is splayed out on the ground, not moving or talking, and the worry comes back with a vengeance.

Nie Mingjue stealthily makes his way over to Jiang Wanyin, but as soon as he gets closer he realizes that Jiang Wanyin is breathing easily and deeply and he seems more relaxed than Nie Mingjue has ever seen him.

He just fell asleep then. That’s good.

Nie Mingjue has to bite back a smile when one of the startled rabbits makes its way back onto Jiang Wanyin’s stomach, where it promptly falls back asleep.

Nie Mingjue is unsure if the rabbits climbed on Jiang Wanyin and prevented him from leaving, causing him to fall asleep, or if Jiang Wanyin fell asleep and the rabbits claimed him as their bed, but it doesn’t really matter.

What matters is that Jiang Wanyin finally got some rest.

Nie Mingjue carefully sits down next to him, but of course Jiang Wanyin startles awake. It seems like the war and the stress are still too close.

“Relax,” Nie Mingjue lowly says, taking care not to startle the rabbits any more than Jiang Wanyin’s violent waking up did and Nie Mingjue watches fondly as the same rabbit as before makes its bed on Jiang Wanyin’s stomach yet again.

It seems to be a particularly good spot for sleeping.

“What are you doing here?” Jiang Wanyin asks him and his voice is rough enough to suggest that he at least slept for most of their break.

That’s good.

“Looking for you,” Nie Mingjue lowly gives back and puts a hand to Jiang Wanyin’s shoulder when he tries to get up. “Relax,” he says again and Jiang Wanyin does sink back into the grass, but there’s tension in his face now.

“The break is over,” he whispers, sounding horrified and Nie Mingjue nods.

“It is, but don’t worry. Lan Qiren has your back.”

“What did he say?” Jiang Wanyin asks as if he fears the answer.

“That there has been an important issue. You asked for my help, if you’re wondering,” Nie Mingjue says easily and then lays down on the grass as well. “And I like what you’re doing so I’ll join you.”

“Sect Leader Nie—” Jiang Wanyin starts but Nie Mingjue doesn’t let him speak.

“Mingjue. Nie Mingjue if you must,” he corrects him and then closes his eyes as the first curious rabbits start to explore him.

“I’m sorry,” Jiang Wanyin whispers after a long moment and Nie Mingjue blinks over to him.

“What for?”

“Missing the conference. Making you miss it, too. You can go back if you want to, and I’ll follow soon.”

Nie Mingjue eyes first the rabbit on his own stomach and then the numerous ones on Jiang Wanyin and raises an eyebrow at him.

“I don’t think either of us will. You don’t move if an animal has chosen you as their sleeping spot. It’s just not done. Believe me, I know. Huaisang has many birds who like to sit on me and you’re simply not allowed to disturb them. It’s an unwritten law,” Nie Mingjue tells him and reaches out for another rabbit to add it to the ones already on Jiang Wanyin.

“And would you look at that, another one chose you. You can leave even less now.”

Jiang Wanyin is staring at him with wide eyes and Nie Mingjue is absolutely unprepared to see tears well up in them.

It seems like Jiang Wanyin wasn’t prepared for that either if the panic in his eyes is any indication and Nie Mingjue does the only thing he can think of.

He plops a rabbit onto Jiang Wanyin’s face.

The rabbit doesn’t struggle like Nie Mingjue expected it to and instead stays on his face for long, long moments, and Jiang Wanyin doesn’t make a move to dislodge it either.

“I’m sorry,” Jiang Cheng finally croaks out again and Nie Mingjue sighs, before he crosses his arms behind his head.

“There is no need to be. You’re pushing yourself too hard. Lan Qiren and I worry. It’s good for you to take some time off and where better to do it than here. Lan Qiren will inform us if there’s anything important, but you should know how these things go by now. Sect Leader Yao will think he’s the most important man in the room until Jin Guangshan reminds him that he is in fact the most important man in the room and by then it will be evening. It’s not like we’re going to miss much.”

“True,” Jiang Wanyin says with a snort, which finally makes the rabbit move off his face.

There are no more tears in his eyes, but Jiang Wanyin seems bone-deep exhausted.

“Rest some more. I’ll make sure no one disturbs us,” Nie Mingjue lowly says and Jiang Wanyin closes his eyes with a sigh.

“I shouldn’t be this weak,” he mutters under his breath and Nie Mingjue rolls his eyes.

“You’re human,” he gives back. “And your body has needs. Sleep is one of them.”

“I don’t have time to sleep,” Jiang Wanyin whispers but he closes his eyes.

“You do now. So make the best of it,” Nie Mingjue advises him and he’s pretty sure Jiang Wanyin falls asleep before he even finishes talking.

Nie Mingjue stares at him for a moment longer—he didn’t quite realize that Jiang Wanyin was so tired that he would basically drift off in the middle of a conversation—but it’s not really a surprise, not with how exhausted he looks.

He watches Jiang Wanyin for a while, looking for any kind of movement, but he seems to be deep into sleep already and so Nie Mingjue turns his head back to look at the sky.

He’ll have to talk to Lan Qiren so they can figure out how to efficiently help Jiang Wanyin lessen the burden of leadership.

Jiang Wanyin is one of the good ones and it would be a shame to lose him to stress and sleep-deprivation this soon.

Nie Mingjue will make sure that he leads a healthier lifestyle than Lan Qiren and Nie Mingjue did back when they took over their respective Sects.

And the first step for that is to let Jiang Wanyin sleep in a field of rabbits. It seems like a good start.

Link to my ko-fi on the sidebar!

[chibi-writes]

I read the dorm leader and vice dorm leaders child chewing on something. But what about a child s/o who turns into a child due to mishap (I'm looking at ace and grim) and the dorm leader looking after the child mc. Thank you. If it's okay, can i make a request again like this but with vice dorm leaders next time?

Feel free to make requests anytime I have my requests open! I’ll usually be happy to write it!

Riddle Rosehearts

- “Trappola? Grim? Explain why s/o a child.” You could kinda sorta tell Riddle wasn’t happy with the incident. 

- You kick yourself out of Ace’s arms (effectively getting him in the gut, look, kids kicking you HURT man) and ran over to Riddle.

- “Widdle!” Holy shit Riddle is going to explode cause oh god that was adorable do it again your smile is so cute oh Great Seven help him.

- Riddle agreed to take care of you, under the condition this never happen again. And Grim and Ace score 100 on their next test.

- Riddle definitely had the help of Trey and Cater while taking care of you. 

- It was a breeze so long as you didn’t cry. When you did, Riddle would panic and only have a vague idea of what to do. Usually calms you down by indulging you in hugs and some small snacks.

Leona Kingscholar

- This one is less Leona taking care of you and more Ruggie. 

- Leona sees Ruggie hold up lil you and he just kinda... shrugs it off. Now you’re another Cheka, and I don’t think he has the patience for that

- You may or may not have affectionately dubbed Leona and Ruggie as “Weeona and Wuggie”

- Something that does happen (rarely) is when Leona naps and you escape Ruggie, you’ll curl up by Leona.

- If he happens to wake up, he’ll raise a brow, pat you on the head (maybe) and go back to sleep.

- At least like this, you aren’t making any noise.

Azul Ashengrotto

- “Ah Trappola. Did you come back for another dea-” Boom. A Child.

- Blinks for a minute to process what happened. Ace explains himself and Grim and Azul looks a little... how shall I say... miffed.

- Azul lets out a huff and agrees to take care of you. (He would have anyway) 

- His slightly sour mood is does a complete 180 once he hears, “A- zu-.... ZUZU!”

- hOLY SHIT YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO KILL HIM- j/ he’s crying it’s too cute oh god someone help him Jade call the ambulance he’s having a cardiac arrest OH GREAT SEVEN HELP HIM hj/

- At first he lets Floyd (gently) play around with you to tucker you out a bit. It works wonders when dealing with kids trust me. And when you’re finally tired, he’ll let you rest right beside him on one of the VIP room couches. 

- He might even sing you to sleep. After all he does have a wonderful voice. 

Kalim Al Asim

- Jamil comes into the room holding little you and Kalim wants an explanation asap. Why are you little? WHAT HAPPENED

- Jamil explains it’s a temporary de-aging potion caused by someone spilling one on you by mistake.

- “Ka-...... K- KAWIM.” comes out of your mouth as you point to Kalim. Oh god his heart. Kalim’s poor heart someone help him it’s too cute. 

- Kalim offers to help take care of lil you (you’re his s/o and all) with the help of Jamil. (Jamil mostly there to supervise just in case)

- God forbid you cry. That would launch both Kalim and Jamil into panic mode because I highly doubt either have much experience with little kids. Would attempt to calm you down with food or head pats and hugs. It works. surprisingly enough.

- Kalim and you runs around and play until you’re tuckered out and before a nap you eat and next thing you know Kalim and you are passed the hell out on his (huge) bed. 

- Y’all are too cute I swear- Jamil TAKE A PICTURE TO IMMORTALIZE THIS ALREADY-

Vil Schoenheit

- When Rook comes into the Pomfiore dorm holding a child, Vil just kinda like “Why... Why do you have a child Rook?” Rook explains that’s you but someone spilt a potion on you and now need someone to take of you.

- Vil is fine taking care of you just don’t destroy anything. Hides all the makeup if he has any accessible or just lying around.

- Would offer to play basically Runway Model. (y’know when you were a kid and you would pretend to be a model regardless of whether you were dressed up or not? Yeah that) 

- You wouldn’t give any sort of cute nickname, since Vil is a bit of a hard name to mess up, but every time you said his name he just go “ok. That’s cute.” and pat you on the head. 

- Puts you to bed before working on some of his studies. He checks up on you every now and again with soft smile. ‘How cute’

Idia Shroud

- Well, first things first, Idia already doesn’t understand why there’s a child in his room other than Ortho. Second, why does said child concern him?

- Wait that’s you... Ah... okay... WAIT WHAT-

- Idia knows nothing about real life children but the internet does! Does little quick research just in case, and proceeds to attempt to take care of you. “I- Id- Iida!” Close but no kid. It’s adorable though. You try again. “I- Idiwa!” Close but double the adorable! 

- Accidentally focuses more on taking care of you than himself throughout the day but it’s fine Ortho’s there to at least remind him that food and water are something he needs to y’know SURVIVE

- Great seven help him if you cry. He’ll try and not panic cause Noise, but calms you down relatively enough to get you to eat or drink something. 

- but anyway, distracts you with video games. Bright colors keep you entertained enough right?

- You constantly laugh at the scenes and animation sequences and even some of Idia’s own commentary. 

-You kinda get sleepy and drift off while he’s focusing on a boss. Once he’s done he sees you napping and puts a blanket over you to keep you warm. His room is probably hella cold cause of all the computer stuff.

Malleus Draconia

- Lilia walks in with lil you and Malleus is confused and amused. “Why is a human child here?”

- Lilia states you failed to make a certain potion with your lab partners and it resulted in this. Ah. That makes sense. 

- He picks you up, basically beaming at the adorable child of man before him. You smile back, then point to him and say “M- Mm- Mal-” “Take your time little one-” “MAL MAL” Great Seven help him that was so cute holy shit 

- Happily takes care of you (he could reverse it with magic but this is cuter and it’ll be over by tomorrow so why not y’know)

- Is really really good about taking care of you. You rarely cried and that was when Malleus had to grab something from the other room but other than that, it was great!

- You fall asleep after awhile and Malleus stays with you, keeping you close, which leads to an adorable moment for Lilia to capture in picture form.

[gohyuck]

the purge: society

pairing: firefighter!san x reader

genre: purge au, angst, some fluff

warnings: mentions of violence (especially violence against cops), murder, blood, injury, weapons (guns, knives, metal baseball bats)

word count: 2.4k

note: this was originally meant to be a drabble and it’s still pretty short so i didn’t get to elaborate on the characters but honestly maybe i’ll explore a purge universe with ateez someday because this was fun (i’ve never watched any of the movies though so i’ll have to get on that)

“What the fuck?” 

He hadn’t expected to see anyone left alive on this street.

“Shut up and get down,” You hiss, reaching your good arm up to grab onto the man’s jacket collar before unceremoniously pulling him towards you. He stumbles, falling gracelessly onto you. A scream bubbles up in your throat as he accidentally puts pressure onto your already free-bleeding bicep, but you get ahold of yourself just in time, only letting the quietest of wounded moans escape you. 

“You’re the first person that hasn’t tried to kill me before talking to me all night - oh, shit,” The stranger trails off, swearing when you effectively stop him from speaking further by placing your switchblade right under his skin. It’s only then that he even pauses to take you in: your back is up by the police car door, sure, and your left arm has a massive gash in it, but you’re armed. There’s a pistol laying idly in your lap, kept company by a metal baseball bat. 

Not to mention, the knife at his neck. 

“What the hell are you doing, walking around unarmed and with a first aid kit? Also, how the hell are you unarmed and with just a first aid kit? What the fuck?” You let the questions out in a rapidfire fashion, and he can’t help but clock the slight rasp in your voice. It’s easier to recognize than the pained wheeze you’re trying very, very hard to suppress, but neither escape him. He’s trained to notice the little things, anyways. 

“You need to bandage that shit up,” The man ignores your questions, moving his head just enough to miss your blade but also enough to be able to look you in the eyes. “How long has it been bleeding?”

“That’s none of your business,” You grit out. “Answer my questions or I’ll kill you right here and now.”

“If I answer yours, will you answer mine?” For some reason, he doesn’t seem to be panicking just yet. His gaze is sincere, but it’s too solid to be that of a bona fide idiot. You suck in a breath of air. Threatening him would be so much easier if he didn’t seem like a nice guy. It’s hard enough to live through the night, you don’t need guilt on your hands, and you know you’re going to feel guilty when you kill him. And you will kill him.

You need that first aid kit. You’ll do anything for it.

Anything, starting off with lying. 

“Sure,” You reply, steeling yourself for any sudden movements he might make now that you’re faking amicability. Maybe he’ll believe you to be vulnerable and try for your pistol or your bat, or maybe he’ll be properly cruel and finish off your arm. You don’t want to think about it. He lets out a sigh of relief, and you can’t help but wonder if you’ve actually affected him after all. “Now speak.”

“Not unarmed, there’s a police-issue pistol in my jacket and a tactical knife in my jeans. I’m not totally nuts. First aid kit’s for my buddy, though, I’ll be real, you need it way more than him.” There’s something resembling concern in his expression as his eyes flit between your torn arm and your face, but that barely interests you. You haven’t truly registered anything after ‘police-issue’.

You lean in, pressing the edge of your knife against the skin directly above his adam’s apple. For the first time since you’d cornered him, your mystery purger’s breath hitches. His eyebrows draw together in confusion. It’s no matter. You no longer regret the fact that you’ll have to tear his jugular out yourself. 

“You’re a hog, huh,” You stare him down, any sympathy you might’ve had gone. For a moment, it seems as if he has no concept of what you’re saying. A second passes, though, and his gaze clears. 

“Firefighter,” He responds, though the word is garbled due to him attempting to keep his movements to a minimum. You pull back slightly, very slightly, to let him explain. “I… found a dead cop, jacked his pistol. I’ll show you my ID, if you want.” 

“Let me see it.” You nod your head at him as if giving him permission to live a little longer, though you both know full well that identity theft and identity fabrication are legal, too. Might as well see how much effort he puts into a fake. The man waits until you pull back just a bit more, enough to let him slowly reach his hand into his back pocket before producing a lanyard. 

You grab it out of his grip with your hurt arm, not willing to move your knife too far away from his throat. You simply don’t have a good enough read on - you glance down - San Choi, ACT Firefighter, Employee ID: 018-102-4 to allow yourself any leeway with him. 

His gently smiling face stares up at you from the plastic card, protected only by a clear sleeve connected to a red lanyard. San’s photo has black hair and an undercut, styled so his forehead is on display. A pair of dimples makes a guest appearance, and, overall, he seems like a genuinely sweet guy. The ID looks real, too, so maybe you aren’t totally fucked. 

The San under your knife has bleach blond hair that almost falls over his eyes, though you suppose you can’t blame him for skipping out on the hair product tonight. He seems slightly tanner than his photo, his skin beautiful even now as dust from the aftermath of the explosion starts to settle against it. 

Right. The explosion. 

Recalling the events leading up to you meeting San forces you to remember that you have a gaping, bloody gash in your left arm. You’re honestly lucky to be alive, having ducked and used the car you’re against for cover from flying debris after a building down the block had exploded. You’d just finished driving your knife into a cop’s side - third cop of the night, eighth of your career as a purge cop killer - to make sure that he was dead when you’d heard the bomb go off, and you’d dropped before even thinking about it. Something had hit your arm on the way down, and when the adrenaline had finally left your system, you’d taken note of your blood-soaked sleeve. 

You’d closed the car door after that, sealing your third murder of the night in the vehicle just so you could lean up against the door. It had been 6:31 in the morning then, and you had figured that someone would come by and kill you in the last moments before legality ensued again. You’d assumed that you’d fight, of course you would, but your arm being totally fucked definitely put a damper on your belief in your ability to overcome anyone or anything else. 

Instead of the disgruntled, trigger-happy purger you’d expected to eventually find, though, you’d been found by San Choi. San Choi, who’s currently staring at your wounded arm like it’s grown eyes and can stare back. 

“Come on, let me fix it up,” He pleads, lifting the kit up with the hand that’s farther from you. “You might not trust me, or whatever, but the purge is about to end as it is. I have a paramedic friend, Seonghwa, who’s taught me the basics of -”

“Shut the fuck up.” You tell him, though you’re quickly losing your bite. He obeys regardless. God, your arm really, really fucking hurts. Before pulling your knife back, you check the watch on your wrist. 6:47. Stay alive for 13 more minutes, 780 more seconds. You’ll be fine. You take the shakiest breath you’ve ever taken. 

You pull your knife away from him. 

Nothing happens. 

“I’m going to use an alcohol free wipe and then wrap gauze around your arm, okay? You’ll just have to hold out until we can get you to a working hospital after that,” San speaks as if he’s talking to a child, or a scared animal, and you can’t blame him. He doesn’t seem like a purger, but you technically are one. You wouldn’t put it past yourself to attack on a whim if you were him. He, very slowly and with his hands in your full view at all times, opens the kit and pulls out the requisite materials. 

“Gonna need you to rip your sleeve off above the cut.” He continues, leaning back as you bring your knife up to your clothes and slit the cloth right above your wound. You tear the remainder of the sleeve off your arm before throwing it behind you somewhere. San gently grabs ahold of your elbow - his palm is calloused in a way that tells you he lifts regularly, and you’re sure of this as he discards his jacket and you watch the muscles ripple in his arms under his thin black shirt - and places the wipe against your cut. 

Your reaction is instantaneous: now that you’re completely past the adrenaline stage, the feeling of something, anything against the gash has you reeling to cry out. Before you can even process that you’ve made a sound, a hand presses hard against the back of your head, shoving your mouth against San’s. 

He doesn’t know how else to shut you up. 

His lips are chapped, but the sensation of being kissed so suddenly jars you out of your pain. San attempts to pull back, and you can already feel the apologetic wince he’s about to give you, but he brushes over your wound with the wipe again and your pain doubles back. It’s you that pulls him in this time, pressing your lips to his sloppily but forcefully as if it’ll alleviate the burn in your arm. 

Kissing him only slightly muffles you at best, but you no longer care. The purge isn’t over yet. You could both die at any second. Hell, San could kill you at any second. His hand moves from the back of your head to cup your face as he leans in towards you to deepen the kiss. His lips are chapped, yes, but they’re soft. He tastes like mint and copper: there’s a cut in his lower lip. You don’t mind. 

San pulls away for a moment, but only does so to grab the gauze from the kit. Once he’s wrapped it around your arm once, twice, thrice, he leans back in and your mouth accepts his own eagerly, your other hand coming up to drape over his shoulder. Neither of you know why you’re doing this, kissing a stranger with such fervor as one of you bandages the other up, but you both know that there’s really nothing else to do. 

It’s only after he finishes taping you up that the two of you pull away fully. His eyes are still just as kind as you’d thought them to be at first, though his lips are far more swollen than they’d been mere minutes prior. You admire your handiwork, eyes tracing his features as he admires his own, thumb very, very gently running over your gauze. Both of you raise your heads to smile sheepishly at each other at the exact same time.

Three things happen in rapid succession. 

“Good?” San’s voice is barely above a whisper, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. Just as you’re about to speak - 

“San!” A voice, low and hoarse, interrupts you, and you look up to see the barrel of a gun pointed directly at the space between your eyes. You’re frozen in place for a split second before you start reaching for your own pistol. Your fingers brush the grip when - 

The clock strikes seven, and sirens go off all around you, signalling the end of the purge. 

The gun is out of your face. Your hand moves off of your own.

“San,” The owner of the gun pays you no mind, suddenly, his entire focus on San. The gun-owner reaches a hand out, and the firefighter beside you takes it, allowing himself to get pulled up to his feet. “You okay?” 

“Yeah, Yunho, I’m totally good,” San responds, giving the taller man a cat-like grin of reassurance. Yunho’s got a fireman’s helmet on, and you suppose it’s good as protection. He must be a fellow firefighter, then. He’s tall, and though he’d seemed nothing short of severe mere moments ago, he seems softer, kinder now that the purge is over. The transformation is enough to give you whiplash. His right hand is wrapped in bandages, and this catches San’s sight at the same time it catches your own. “What the hell happened to you, though?” 

“That policeman you killed had buddies,” Yunho replies with ease, but you don’t miss San’s wince. Seems like he hadn’t just happened upon that police-issue pistol. You can’t help the small grin that fights to make its way across your face. “They tried to get into the station, we had to fortify ourselves. We’re mostly fine, just that Woo’s lost a finger. He’ll live once he stops whining about it. We were mostly worried about you, honestly, taking fucking forever just to find a first aid kit. Who’s this?”

Yunho moves the topic of conversation over to you so naturally that you barely even realize what has happened before San is reaching a hand out to you to pull you up to a standing position. You grab ahold of your pistol, though you shove the bat off your lap before allowing yourself to be brought up. Without thinking, you practically plaster yourself to San’s side. Now that he’s for sure what he told you he was, and now that you’re no longer in danger of dying, you can’t help but feel inexplicably connected to him even though neither of you know each other. San wraps an arm around your waist naturally, and neither of you miss Yunho’s eyebrow raise. Neither of you acknowledge it, either. 

“This?” San asks rhetorically, turning his head slightly to look at you. He’s smiling again, and you find that you want to see it more often. Maybe you’re experiencing the onset of delirium. You hope not. “This is…” 

“(Name),” You reply, being honest. There’s no need for you to lie. Besides, you owe San answers, right? You stick your uninjured arm out, letting Yunho shake your hand. San’s grip tightens around your waist. 

“I’m (Name).”