#maybe the project ended up in a dead end so he abandoned it not realizing that he actually succeeded

[isekyaaa]

Lazy story idea today, but what about a.... Idk how to describe this. A more lower level basic level robot falling in love with a human, so it keeps seeking to upgrade itself over and over until it has the kind of body that is the closest to that of a human.

[flowerwiththemachinegun]

Sephiroth x Reader Made for You

This was not at all what it was originally supposed to be, original description is at the very end.

New Description: Sephiroth x Reader. Ever Crisis-Crisis Core-ish (Pre-Nibelheim) timeline. 5.9k words. In which you were created to be Sephiroth’s perfect mate. Warnings?: Mentions of alcohol abuse, miscarriages and Hojo’s clammy hands all over you(not like that). Hojo meant for you to serve as a breeding ground to create more perfect subjects. His plans get disrupted as your mother doesn’t have the heart to subject you to more trauma{trauma enters stage left as intense as possible} . In a panic she abandons you in hope that Shinra won’t be able to track you down. Eventually you cross paths with Sephiroth, creating a bond that would last a lifetime. Written in a series of headcanons, I’ll probably re-use reader backstory in other fics but i didn’t want to write this as a full out fic. It is definitely up in the air as to what happens to your mother, let's hope she will won’t be found she deserves death, i don't care if she tried to make it right. No, the dad is not Hojo. The age ranges helped me track what I was typing but I don't think I'll take it away. I’d say probably a year or so older than Sephiroth. Will make a part two for the events following Genesis’ departure-FF7 possibly through Advent Children too.

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Age 1:

 Your mother, Levy, came to her senses shortly after giving birth to you. Taking off in the dead of night to hide her precious child from the cruel clutches of Professor Hojo. When she signed up for this project she didn’t fully realize what she would be submitting herself to, the kind of torment she’d relinquish a baby to, her baby to. She wouldn’t be able to live with the guilt knowing that she gave you the worst possible future. So in a desperate attempt to “set things right” she abandons Shinra, leaving Midgar and taking you to Corel.

Levy knows she can’t stay with you, she’d be far too easy to track down. Besides, Hojo would never let one of his prized experiments get very far. Certainly he wouldn’t want Levy to get away, not after trying to ruin such a delicate process. There are consequences to these actions and everyone gets caught eventually. She needs to make this quick. It's already been two weeks since the two of you escaped, knowing that she doesn’t have the resources or connections to stay hidden for very long sends her into even more of a panicked state.  

All things considered, the decisions she made were already questionable, so it was no surprise that Levy’s poor choices led her to handing you off to some random stranger who reeked of liquor. Granted, he might have been absolutely shitfaced but he did at least seem to have a warm spirit. That was the last time she ever saw you, hugging you tightly and kissing you on the forehead before venturing on to the next unknown location.

The day Levy dropped you off to the strange man was a turning point for your “adoptive father”, Kaiser. Previously he was a drunk with a gambling problem, only picking up odd jobs to fuel his addictions. While he heavily considered taking you to the nearest clinic and dropping you off, another part of him thought the lifestream brought this child to him for a reason. That maybe now his life had purpose again, that maybe if he could do some strange lady a favor that it might atone for the things he’s previously done.

Age 4:

 Kaiser started to pick up his bad habits again, losing every job he’d obtained due to showing up drunk; not showing up at all because he was out gambling all of his funds away, or the icing on the cake that led to his inability to find another job in Corel, stealing. In such a small town word got around fast, yet people still went out of their way to give him a chance, more so for your sake, not Kaiser’s. The townspeople could only be sympathetic to an extent, eventually not being considered for hire by anyone. Following these events led him searching for work outside of Corel, branching out to Midgar where he got a job doing residential plumbing. 

Age 4-10:

It was enough to make ends meet, renting out a single bedroom in the slums of sector 5. Not the most ideal or comfortable living situation but it was better than being on the streets. The move to Midgar at least showed positive signs in your father, but that would only last for so long. He was always still loving towards you, though at times it was hard to tell how much he truly cherished you since he seemed more interested in trying to maintain both lifestyles when he should’ve picked you above all. It was when he discovered Wall Market his presence dwindled down to a minimum. Still claiming that you saved his life and all of that other nonsense while leaving you to fend for your own in the same breath.

Age 10-12:

 Eventually you started leaving home alone, beginning to venture out and wander the slums. After a certain point you couldn’t sit around waiting for Kaiser to feed you, never knowing what he would come back to take care of or even tell you he loves you. This existence was so painfully lonely. Without much direction in life thus far you started getting involved with a group of fellow misguided children. Learning how to break into homes, shops, showing you how to pickpocket people; life was hard enough in itself, these few skills (if you wanna call it that) helped you get by. Despite Kaiser still being around you had to start getting funds on your own, especially when you learned property owners had zero problem throwing a child out on the streets no matter your situation. 

You and your tightknit group of baby thugs manage to bring your string of break ins to the upper plate, securing passes to the top for the oldest of the group (18-20) and the younger of the group would act like they were with an older sibling, negating the need for passes as they were minors. Picking a different plate to explore each time you went up and stole whatever you found valuable or simply wanted out of greed as long as you could discreetly bring it back. Roaming Sector 2 may have been your biggest mistake. Quickly stuffing the tools from a car you broke into your bag, slamming the trunk shut and taking off as fast as possible. It was already a risky area to break into cars at, the spot you chose happened to be a bit too out in the open, you just had a hunch something good would be in the vehicle. All but running around the corner to distance yourself from your crime you bump into someone making you fall right on your ass. 

Twelve years. He’s been looking for you for twelve long years with practically no traces, yet here you were. Had Hojo told Heidegger no at the notion of going out to lunch together you wouldn’t have been sprawled out on the ground in front of him. The minute you locked eyes with the strange man, a menacing smirk spread across his features. Hojo’s nice words betraying his true intention and twisted glee, looking into those e/c glowing eyes Hojo knew you belonged to him. Reaching a hand out to help you up, apologizing for being “clumsy”, asking where your parents are, his grin never leaving his face. Not taking the time to talk to him, you mumble a quick thanks for helping you up, immediately darting off to find the others, a bit shook at the thought of nearly being caught. Surely you had been caught, just not in the way you thought. 

Despite being, in Hojo’s eyes, inadequate due to his lack of presence in your life, you were still valuable. You were another product of the Jenova Project, not quite to serve the same purpose as the First Class SOLDIERS, though you could have been just as strong. He’s missed too many monumental milestones in your growth to achieve similar results as Sephiroth. However, that isn’t going to stop him from trying in combination with ensuring you’re capable of achieving your original use. It won’t be hard for him to track you now, he knows what you look like and where you’ve been. The city is riddled in surveillance and Hojo will see to it you are found, sending out several Turks to monitor you, requesting they take various items from the shared home of you and Kaiser that would contain any traces of your DNA. 

It didn’t take long for Hojo to prove who you were and that you were Shinra property, he was already certain of it after your first interaction. In the short time you were in Hojo’s presence one of the first things he did was take many samples from you. Even without the DNA Hojo had he would be able to find out your identity. Simply drawing your blood would have sufficed but he was forced to go about taking you back in a more “tame” manner. The minute the samples matched he sent the Turks in to snatch you up and bring you in, demanding Kaiser be brought with them. 

Age 12-15: 

Hojo didn’t make it a secret where you came from, telling you early on that you have always been Shinra property, claiming this was your real home. Over time Hojo somehow convinced you this life was better than the life you lived in the slums as well as any of the time you spent with Kaiser. Honestly, it was hard for you to tell as neither lifestyle proved to be healthy. At least you had regular meals and a guaranteed roof over your head, regardless of it being a creepy cold lab, but you were once again back to being alone but now all of the time. Never allowed to interact with anyone, your only company was Hojo, if that could count. Rarely talking to you outside of questioning you in relation to testing or attempting to cram as much knowledge into your brain as possible. Also sharing interactions with the couple of Turks he allowed to train you, Hojo oversaw each training session, cutting off any conversation he felt didn’t assist in your progression. Which were certainly most of them.

An absolute fucking nightmare. Being subjected to Hojo’s experiments was, now, the worst thing you’ve ever experienced, you thought life was challenging before but currently this is a special kind of hell. Being left in mako tanks for weeks on end because you “need to catch up”, being kept awake for the majority of your surgical experiments unless it was really necessary. Forced to repeatedly kill in order to prove your worth, doing things you couldn't imagine just in the hopes to save a “father” they’ve already killed. You don’t know this information, the leverage you think they have against you makes you more inclined to go along with their plans. 

Hojo learned the hard way that your abilities to heal like the others were extremely lacking. On this particular day Hojo was, once again, invading your body. Not so much to alter anything, but taking notes on significant changes from past surgeries and experiments, as well as testing new equipment. He wouldn’t admit it due to his “singular genius” but the machine he created to assist in speeding up surgical processes malfunctioned. In turn severely damaging numerous organs and causing excessive bleeding. While, no, just any organs won’t do, he’s going to piece you together as fast as he can. Refusing to let you go after seeking you out all of this time. Your potential is too great. Quickly pulling out a few cadavers that were failures from the Jenova Project, but due to the genetic makeup, their parts will have to do. Smiling as he pieced you back together, taking organs from the other bodies and replacing your damaged parts.

Something about killing you, reviving you, and nursing you back to health brought you and Hojo closer to each other. Having a portion of his lab reconstructed into a small living quarters so you could be more comfortable while you got better. Between all of his other experiments, you, plus Sephiroth, Hojo found it convenient to spend a lot of time in your space. Partially due to his constant need to take care of you after that last incident, Hojo's day would often end with you. Swooping by to change any bandages, check vitals, asking the usual to help assess your health. You’re not sure what made you reach out to him, or why he surprisingly extended his hand out to you. It came to a point the nightmares were just too much, the nightmares Hojo instilled in you. In spite of all signs telling you to run from him, your skin crawling when you think about Hojo, you still wanted his comfort. Requesting that he stays with you for the night, telling him you were too scared to fall asleep because of the things you’ll see. Hojo rolls his eyes and scoffs at this, nevertheless he settles himself into your quarters. Crawling into your bed just as you wanted, finding himself annoyed by the display of weakness, yet a foreign warmness crept into Hojo’s chest. It was uncomfortable, it was weak, it was welcoming. The smallest smile of content cracking through Hojo as you crawl on him, resting your head on his chest. Bringing one of his arms to wrap around you snuggly. While no, you weren’t his kid, you brought out this almost fatherly sensation out of him.

You would never get permission to leave his lab, being able to occasionally roam about as he monitored your actions. If for once he was strictly doing paperwork related tasks he would allow you out as well, still keeping a close eye on you. Often finding yourself standing in front of pods of lifeless beings, half wondering if you’d end up like them; the other half curious as to what they are, or rather what Hojo did to make them what they are. Eventually you can’t help but question him on some of these things as he takes you back to your portion of the lab. Many times he ignores your questioning, knowing the complexities of each creature would be too much for you to understand, not hesitating to let you know. Eventually your constant questioning led to another connection the two of you developed, starting to take the time to explain some of the creatures, even providing you his research from a few of them. To Hojo’s surprise you caught on impressively fast, here he was thinking you weren’t the most competent finding himself able to have full conversations with you about projects he felt he was permitted to talk about with you. 

Age 15-17

Hojo finally started integrating back into the real world. Allowing you to go on missions with the Turk members who've been training you. Leaving that lab had been viewed as a form of freedom in their eyes, accepting taking you on assignments willingly. Not without a sense of guilt as some of your actions would shape the person you would become, feeling like you were too young to experience such events. Granted, you’ve already been through hell, you just dish it out now definitely still being tormented. Your success rate consistently being 100% never failed to get you praise from Hojo, uttering some nonsense about getting closer and closer to his goal with you. Not that he’d ever tell you what you were really used for outside of “genetic testing”. Well, it isn’t a total lie afterall, you were a walking, talking genetic nightmare and Hojo was the only person that would ever understand what makes you tick.

Meeting Sephiroth was entirely planned on Hojo’s behalf, keeping the two of you out of sight from one another as you grew up. It was simply better to go about introducing the two of you this way. Sending the two of you off on a mission with a few other SOLDIER members to eliminate a former Shirna employee who took off with some very valuable materia. Upon seeing Sephiroth you almost couldn’t contain your glee, finally meeting someone your own age for the first time in four years. The trip to Modeoheim provided a fairly interesting conversation between you and Sephiroth. The look of surprise written all over his face as your words hint at you growing up with Hojo as well. Once Sephiroth pieced it together he was a bit confused, frowning at his own question, “I’ve been there my whole life, why haven’t I seen you before?” You’re aware of what you should and shouldn’t talk about, vaguely going into detail about the small amount of time you remembered in Corel and your life in Midgar but not quite how you were brought to Shinra. Revealing you never knew your parents and having an adoptive father who “vanished” according to Hojo’s words accompanied in building a bridge between yourself and Sephiroth. The two of you could heavily relate to each other, even being able to make dark jokes about the weird things Hojo has subjected you to. That gets a lot of worried glances from everyone around, but nobody is going to speak on it. Following this successful mission you and Sephiroth have the joy of working together on three other occasions before you don’t see him for years.

Age 18-23

Hojo had no intentions on letting you be a part of SOLDIER directly, stating that it would be a waste of resources, making it clear that wasn’t what you were trained for nor born for. As time passes on Rufus decides to make you an official member of the Turks with Hojo’s permission. You’ve taken on missions from them as is; working hand and hand with Tseng many times in which you gained his approval as well. Rufus wanted Tseng to retrain you personally, your skills already being a cut above the rest. However, Rufus wasn’t present for a majority of your original training. No worries though, Tseng is going to help you brush up those already near perfect skills. Making sure your physical training was consistently up to date and your wits were as sharp as ever. The mental training with Tseng was far more grueling than the physical training, taking you through espionage-esque simulations that could last for weeks. He had to be positive that your critical thinking and adaptability were to his liking. Not to mention making sure you were capable of making difficult and immoral decisions at the blink of an eye with no hesitation. Gaia, when the objective was to outsmart Tseng you’ve hardly passed. An accomplishment that’s a near impossible hard feat to achieve, after attempt after attempt he finally gave you a pass. Though you can’t call it a win, not when Tseng told you “Not good enough to trick me, but a mass of the population wouldn’t pick up on it.” In the end Tseng turned you into what he would consider a perfect Turk, well near perfect. The duo of Reno and Rude would certainly taint your more serious demeanor, teaching you how to properly slack off and to time inappropriate jokes so you could grate at Tseng’s nerves. Even coming up with your own Turk-Two Step for each one of the iconic duo. Joining the Turks was like joining a family, a really fucked up one that carried out a lot of unethical tasks together, but a family nevertheless. 

Once you became a Turk you finally moved out of Hojo’s lab, getting your first apartment. You would still be residing in the Shinra building, instead on a residential floor. You seemed to be loyal to the company, either it stemming from a genuine place or the knowledge that there is no escaping Shinra. Being as deeply involved as you were, it isn't like they’d let you go easily  and you had nowhere to run off to. Shinra really was all you had. So letting you venture out on your own just didn’t seem like it would be problematic. Besides, who else would take care of you except for Hojo, he was probably the only person on the planet that could. As sickly as you could be, it would be foolish to stay away from him, common medical practices wouldn’t be of any use. Which is fine by you, the connection you developed with Hojo is still strong. It was an odd relationship but you cared for him in a fatherly sense. Hojo was far from being an actual father figure but when you squint your eyes and tilt your head it made sense. Seeing that he took care of you for so long, teaching you practically everything you know, showing you in his own twisted way that he cares for you. You still go in for regular testing, sometimes extra experiments if Hojo wants to try something new. These days the extra “modifications” would be made less and less. To make up for your lack of presence in Hojo’s lab you make it your job to pop up as often as possible, interrupting his research unless he was working on something live. 

One of the days you pay Hojo a visit, you find Sephiroth sitting on an examination table, shirtless as Hojo checks his vitals. If it weren’t for a few obvious factors you wouldn’t have recognized him. He’s grown a lot since you worked together 5 years ago. Tall, muscular and his hair had grown an ungodly amount. You had seen pictures around but that was nothing compared to physically seeing him. Quickly turning your gaze towards Hojo, giving him a hug before swiftly greeting Sephiroth and rushing out the door. Attraction was certainly a foreign experience, not having anywhere near enough time to dabble in dating or any relations that would fall under that category. To Hojo’s delight Sephiroth would ask if he knew where to find you and without hesitation he gave Sephiroth your floor and residential number. By all means, Hojo already retrieved the necessary means to reproduce between the two of you. He would much rather this process occur naturally, carrying the child yourself would very well give different results. He’d love to compare the difference between a child naturally conceived between you and Sephiroth and a test tube version.

It didn’t take very long for Sephiroth to come looking for you thinking that perhaps he may be going a step too far coming to your home. He simply couldn’t stop thinking about you, one of the only people he felt he could relate to on an entirely different level. A part of him viewing the small amount of time the two of you spent together as unfair, he deserved to be showered in more of your presence. You left Hojo's lab with such haste that he could barely catch a glimpse of you. So here Sephiroth stands, in front of your door staring at it like it might attack him. Ah, he forgot he was completely socially inept, being positive that he’s never felt this type of fear even on the battlefield. It’s okay, he’ll be spared a bit of the anxiety that came with knocking on your door as you sneak up behind him. Staring at your front door with the same amount of curiosity before questioning him, “Is there something wrong with it?” The look on his face said it all. Shock, embarrassment, you could practically feel the tension rolling off of this man. There was no denying the small smile tugging at Sephiroth’s lips as you asked if he found what he was looking for, telling you that he “certainly did”. Now that you were up close you couldn’t help but examine him, asking yourself if you were sure this was the same man from your first missions. A few moments of silently looking each other over passes before inviting him in with you. The two of you sit in an awkward silence for a bit before you take charge of conversation to ease his obviously wary mind. Guiding him through conversation seemed to fair far better, he had always been a bit awkward but dare you say it got worse. Not that it bothers you, it’s adorable watching the world’s strongest man trip over his words while talking to you. By the time he left it was nearing 1am, promising to come back, hugging you tightly before he departed. You could feel him stiffen as he hugged you, but the rapid beating of his heart told you everything.

Over the course of the next couple of years, your relationship with Sephiroth would strengthen. With Sephiroth finally being sent back to Midgar you were able to see him more and more. Of course he was still busy with his role in SOLDIER, but he made sure to make an open slot for you any chance he got. There was never quite a verbal discussion as to where your relationship was going, neither one of you knowing how to go about initiating a relationship normally. Your unspoken loyalty to each other was clear though, he was yours and you were, without a doubt, his. At some point Sephiroth starts getting you out of the Shinra building if your schedules align for it, he’s tired of seeing Shinra walls and thinks you should be too. Taking you to restaurants Angeal and Genesis would suggest he take you to, sometimes wandering the streets in the dead of the night, away from prying eyes. It took a lot of adjusting to how much attention Sephiroth would draw on your outings, jokingly offering to “take care of them”. There had to be a balance of course, you couldn’t be in the public light very much as a Turk, so having your face plastered everywhere as Sephiroth’s significant other wouldn’t do. That worked out in both of your favors, never caring to be in such a crowded scene. You would start spending nights at his place; whether it was due to Sephiroth or being outside of Shinra walls, easily could’ve been the combination of both, you could finally sleep easily. Falling into routine (Sephiroth’s subtle ways of begging for attention) at some point you abandon your apartment, only stopping there if work keeps you over too long or to grab any items you need along the way.

Being sent on missions became difficult for you, it wasn’t due to any difficulty spikes. You were more than capable of handling any tasks they sent your way, it was the distracting thoughts and incomplete sensation you got when Sephiroth wasn’t by your side. Finding it hard to fall asleep on missions just as the time you first began venturing out into the world. It was even worse when you would come back to Sephiroth being deployed on a mission. Though you missed each other dearly the distance would never come between each other, in fact the two of you were certain nothing would. You were made for him, something he tells you often, unknowing the true depth of his words. There were at least perks to being away from him for extended periods of time. The way Sephiroth would take care of you after a mission was unmatched. No, he couldn’t cook, making him stay far away from the kitchen after his first time making you a meal (you got food poisoning and it tasted exactly like military rations). However, he would do sweet things if time allowed, like having flowers waiting for you, running baths, giving you massages to help soothe your aching muscles after a rather rough time on the field, not to mention the sex. And boy, did he have a list of kinks. The longer you were away would at times dictate how intense he would fuck you when you got back. Amongst all things he was there for you after all of your missions, not all of them made you feel guilty enough to cause much turmoil. But as we know, you work doing Shinra’s dirty work, and at times the things you had to do to keep Shinra in good lighting were downright atrocious. Sephiroth being able to thoroughly understand your mental state after particular missions helped in comforting, while you were unable to talk about most events that occurred during missions, you didn’t have to. He has you and he’s going to hold you until you stop crying, just as you do for him when Sephiroth’s guilt tears him to shreds.

Discovering you were pregnant had to be the second most terrifying event in your life. Finding Sephiroth sitting at the dining room table reading, you break the news to him, not feeling keen on hiding anything from him. Sephiroth borderline passed out at the news but he was happy “You don’t seem to reciprocate the feeling, is this not what you wanted with me?” Sephiroth has said in the past he wanted a family of his own, expressing his desire to create a healthy environment, to be a parent to his offspring. He just wants to give his child the life he wanted so dearly. God’s it certainly was, but it wasn’t at the same time, explaining how reliant you are on Hojo due to your health. A reminder that nearly causes him to flip the table over, this was probably the loudest you ever heard him get angrily shouting that he “doesn’t want that monster anywhere near my child!” Watching the emotional breakdown he had as fear crept in, he might not have a choice but to let you deal with Hojo for the duration of your pregnancy. In addition to the chance Sephiroth may even have no choice other than to let that “sick fuck”  run tests on them, easily became one of the most heartbreaking sights. Holding him tightly you dually decide to keep it under wraps as long as you can, knowing it couldn’t last long as you have regular checkups just as Sephiroth does.

Hojo can sense something isn’t right, your lack of presence makes that part obvious. Coupled with you avoiding appointments the last 4 months, coming up with some work related excuse that he knew was bullshit. He gets access to everything you do, everywhere you go, he could damn near tell you what the last batch of paperwork you signed for Tseng entailed word for word. Once again giving your cellphone a call knowing today was an off day for you, letting out a frustrated sigh as you let it go to voicemail. He has time today, he’s going to call until you answer the damn thing. Even stopping by your apartment, by now he knows you’re rarely there. Often spending your time at Sephiroth’s loft, showing up there was a thought but he had a hunch your lack of attendance had something to do with Sephiroth. Sephiroth probably wouldn’t answer the door for him or lie about your whereabouts. During his walk back to his lab Hojo is pleasantly surprised to see your name show up on the screen of his phone, immediately asking why you haven’t showed up to any appointments. Hojo was well on his way to lecturing you about how fragile and unpredictable your health could be before being cut off by Sephiroth's worried voice. He was speaking in a jumbled mess, being able to make out bits of what Sephiroth was saying as he was talking a million miles per second. At Sephiroth’s explanation, if you could call it that, Hojo tells him to bring you in. Hearing the hesitance in Sephiroth’s reply Hojo utters out coldly “or would you rather y/n bleed out?”

Upon running an ultrasound Hojo determines you were roughly four months in. “Four months in with no heartbeat.” Anger was an absolute understatement, due to you and Sephiroth’s combined stupidity killing a perfectly good specimen. Hojo’s concern hardly lied with you, but he was going to act the part so well it had Sephiroth questioning himself as to why Hojo never shared that same amount of care. The very moment Hojo was done cleaning you up and checking your vitals once more, he asks to speak to Sephiroth in private as they let you rest. Hojo would use this moment to gaslight Sephiroth to no end, directing all of his aggression at the silver haired man as soon as were far enough from your room. Venom laced Hojo’s tone as he asked what the two of you were thinking. Sephiroth had no problem stating his distaste for Hojo, in great detail, furiously stating that Hojo wouldn’t “fuck up my kid as you did me.”  In Hojo’s mind he was throwing an absolute fit. There were no words to describe the fury coursing through his veins at Sephiroth’s words. “If I’m hearing you correctly, your reasoning is because you are scared of me?” That was the straw to break the camel’s back, Sephiroth snatching Hojo by his coat, shoving him against the wall so hard it leaves a dent. The action surprised them both. While Hojo wasn’t scared, he was taken aback. Hojo hardly had time to register Sephiroth’s movements as grabbed him up in a flash. Knowing Sephiroth wouldn’t go through with hurting him, Hojo continues his mental assault. Stating in a matter of fact way “Had you brought y/n to me the minute you knew, they both could have been fine, but now we’ll never know."  “Your paranoia led to their deaths.”  “And to think, y/n told you a long time ago they need me.” Making it very clear the amount of danger the two of you naively subjected your child Hojo’s creation and yourself to was reckless. “What were you going to do if they were sent on assignment?”  “Next time, show y/n you actually care, get them the help they require. Not everyone’s life operates on your terms.” After those words Sephiroth releases Hojo, defeated in a way he’s never felt before. Walking back to your recovery room, refusing to leave your side until you're cleared to go. 

Sephiroth wouldn’t sleep well for a while following these events, the guilt keeping him up for months. Not showing up to work, skipping meals, moping all of the time, notable of all Sephiroth’s refusal to leave your side. At times unable to cope, truly feeling as though the loss of your child and the risk your life was in was entirely his fault. Hojo’s words playing over and over again in his head like a broken record. Sephiroth never told you what Hojo said that night, he’s not even sure why he didn’t, mostly due to him believing everything Hojo said. He would break down from time to time about it, crying and apologizing profusely for all the pain he caused you, despite the million times you told Sephiroth he’s done nothing wrong. He would try his hardest to stay strong around you, knowing you would easily feel worse than him. You were the one pregnant afterall, the one to fully experience the impact of a miscarriage. Then why does it feel like he’s shedding more tears over this than you? It made his sense of guilt go through the roof. You definitely cried a lot after you lost your baby, falling into a depression, finding yourself not leaving Sephiroth’s arms for hours as you too sulked around. Despite Sephiroth feeling like he wasn’t supporting you enough, the reality was you both were a source of strength for each other and he too has a right to feel sadness. You would pick him back up, as he would do the same for you. Eventually falling back into old routines. Going on outings again, enjoying the night breeze, having spontaneous little date nights, or just spending your time in comfortable silence. Yeah, sometimes the pain would come back, it was hard not to dwell on it, but at least life felt normal between the two of you once more. Well, as normal as it could get with your lives. This peace would only last so long as Genesis deserts Shinra, leaving Sephiroth’s mental state to begin declining again. At least he had you and Angeal, not to mention the little baby growing in you again. Let’s just hope your pregnancy goes smooth this time and Genesis returns soon.

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Lollllll Christ I'm sorry I couldn't just let ya'll be happy but that's not how it's going. I'm kind of happy with the direction this went vs my original description which is...questionable at best. It's 5 am now so im gonna get some fuckin sleep

Original description: NSFW? But not really NSFW? Warning might change I dunno yet. Hojo x Reader headcanons. Sick little freaky old bastard I have no idea why I love him. I’d real deal take that dick for some SOLDIER juice. I prefer the idea of Hojo rejecting me though, makes me feel good and desperate. Warnings: idk this sounds like grooming but unintentional. I still want arranged breeding with Sephiroth. This isn’t incest, halfway through my mind said “aye dawg the lines are kind of blurred here”, we don’t know who the father is but it won’t be Hojo cause if we were doing that with anyone, he is not the guy. 

[marukrawler]

I was wondering (maybe you already answered it somewhere else) since I stumbled upon your old post about how Gus is the worst and how he and Spectra were actually the ones that deserved to die so it got me thinking: what if Clay, Spectra, Gus, and Zenoheld all kicked the bucket while the remaining Vexos would survive. What would they do, and where would they go, would Mira get a much-needed character development now that her family is dead? I'm asking because I don't know what Hydron would do or what Mylene and Shadow Prove would do as the last two were very committed to their cause too while Hydron doesn't have any place to go. Could any of the Vexos reappear if Spectra is dead instead?

Hi! Sorry for the late reply!

Long post incoming.

I haven’t talked about it here much, but I’ve definitely thought about what a rewritten S2 would look like and also talked a little about how fitting it would be for Spectra to die as the result of his own hubris. Canon also seems to support this, given these references:

Spectra’s ambition to becoming the new ruler of Vestal is what leads him to alienate himself from the rest of the Vexos and for his comrades to conspire to betray him. It’s entirely possible for Spectra to die at the end of NV1, with no allies to help him escape (Gus being imprisoned) and his former teammates responsible for the events that caused his death (Mylene convincing Hydron to abandon and blow up Vespalace.)

Gus could either die with Spectra or survive the explosion and carry on Spectra’s work (I can easily imagine a scarred Gus wearing Spectra’s mask and continuing the Ultimate Bakugan project in his honor. Perhaps Helios survives, too?) Gus would still try to bring Zenoheld to justice for sullying his master’s name posthumous, resulting in Gus dying to his loyalty to Spectra.

When it comes to Mira, I’ve always thought her story should’ve focused on her eventually besting the older brother that she idealized, as well as realizing that the Resistance is her true family. You know, the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb and all that. The mid season finale of S2 could've been the perfect opportunity for Mira to have a final showdown with Spectra. Her character arc could've been complete with her finally gaining the upper hand after years of catching up to him, with Mira rejecting Spectra's corrupt ideals and the person he had become, thus severing their siblinghood.

It would be tough, but she had a support system to fall back on, so she’d be alright. Ace already viewed the Resistance as his family and frequently sympathized with what Mira was going through, so I could easily see him, Baron and Mira becoming really close. I wish Mira had interacted with Baron’s family more and used them as a reference for what a happy family looked like instead of Dan’s family, but I digress.

I don’t think that Clay and Spectra need to be dead for Mira to get her character development, but I also can’t help but think that Mira would’ve been better off if Spectra was dead and gone. It really depends on whether you want Spectra to stick around or not. I would personally have Spectra die from his own ambition (flying too close to the sun, wink wink) at the end of NV1 (the same way I would’ve liked Gus to die to his own loyalty in episode 39) because I think it’s fitting, and I want to preserve his cool factor as a villain at a point where he hasn’t lost to Dan yet a million times. Clay could die after the BT System was thwarted. . .I distinctly remember his laboratory being blasted by a backflow of energy that was sent from across dimensions (Drago’s attack) so him being killed by a Bakugan after trying to massacre all the Bakugan on New Vestroia is also fitting.

In any case, I would personally highlight the found family aspect between Mira and the Resistance members so that way, it’d be easier for her to cut ties with Clay and Spectra.  

As for the Vexos, I think it could go two ways depending on whichever version one prefers.

The Vexos disband similarly to canon events.

Volt is the first to leave the Vexos, of course, when the creation of the BT System and his continued run-ins with the Resistance cause him to reconsider his allegiance to the monarchy. I really like the idea of Volt sabotaging the BT System, thus allowing the Resistance to prevent its activation. He leaves for his hometown during the chaotic aftermath of the Vexos’ second major defeat, teaching the youth about Bakugan battles and helping the Resistance during the final battle.  

Lync is the next to leave the Vexos. I imagine that his reasons for leaving isn’t just because of Alice but because he takes a liking to the planet, too. We also shouldn’t forget that Dan invited Lync to come along with them to Japan. Maybe we could see more of his time spent with Alice in Moscow. Maybe his brief job as a florist opened his eyes to the beauty of nature which didn't exist (or wasn't valued) on Vestal. Eventually he realizes that Volt was the one to sabotage the BT System and it spurs him to leave as well. His escape attempt isn’t as covert, so Hydron is quickly sent to Moscow to dispose of him. Alice spots them outside her house and joins the battle just in time. Or Lync is nearly pulled into the Death portal and Alice warps him out just before it gets dicey, leaving Hydron to believe he finished the job. Whatever works. Lync is most likely staying at Alice’s place, giving the Brawlers all the information he has on Zenoheld’s plans, and joins the final battle after Dr. Michael fixes Aluze.

Mylene and Shadow’s deaths would still occur the exact same way as in canon. I really like how they stayed true to themselves and died together. Very touching!

Hydron’s death, while tragic, is also very appropriate given what we know of his character. Starved of any kind of parental love and approval, he died with his father as both an act of atonement and because being by his father's side was the only place he had left to go. Zenoheld chastised him for his weakness and we saw Hydron return to his father's side yet again during the final battle. . .it was all he knew. A stark contrast to Mylene and Shadow's final moments where Shadow chose to keep her company in the afterlife. Here Hydron is choosing to kill them both and making sure that his father can't escape from him. Something, something, “you are coming down with me, hand in unlovable hand. And I hope you die. I hope we both die.”

2. The one where the Vexos all survive.

I don’t have a solid foundation on how this version would be written but what I’m basically thinking is Vexos found family (as in Hydron, Mylene, Lync, Volt and Shadow.) It’s fairly easy to see in NV1 how divided the Vexos are, with Spectra and Gus forming one group and Mylene, Volt, and Shadow forming another group (Lync kind of floats in between the two depending on who he spies for lol but I’d still place him with the majority because even when he was discovered to be spying for Spectra, the others gave him a chance to rejoin them instead of leaving him to die with Spectra and Gus.)

Anyhow, in this version Hydron’s bond with the Vexos would be expanded upon further, especially since we know that Hydron was involved in the Vexos recruitment process and handpicked them himself.

However, Hydron’s dynamic with the Vexos in NV2 shifts because he’s no longer their superior and has been stripped of his royal title. He no longer commands them and is, in fact, made to be equal to his underlings by replacing Gus. This can allow for some interesting interactions between Hydron and the others, seeing as how they can disobey him and even express their distaste towards him without the fear of being punished. Likewise, since Hydron no longer has any authority, he can now start to act more like a boy his age instead of being expected to act like a prince. The other Vexos members could begin to like him more as a person this way.

We’ve seen glimpses of camaraderie between the Vexos members and know that they care about each other to some extent, so it’s possible to have Hydron become closer with the group that he previously bossed around. Mira and Hydron could mirror each other in the found family aspect, just like how they're already similar to each other in other aspects, such as seeking love and validation from a disinterested parental figure, using the Subterra attribute in battle, and recruiting the teams that they are respectively in charge of.

I'm not exactly sure how NV2 would transpire in this version but I’m thinking that the Vexos are still more likely to survive here. They’d probably fight Zenoheld in the final battle to save themselves the universe but unrelated to the Battle Brawlers. Once he’s gone, I imagine they might take the Vestal Destroyer and roam around the cosmos since they can’t return to Vestal…I’m not sure if I buy that Mylene accepts that outcome and won’t be swayed to take over Vestal herself LMAO but whatever. It’s an idea!!

So yeah, those are my thoughts lolol 

[tangledinink]

Ok ok hear me out cause I'm not expecting this to be canon but wanted to send this anyway for funsies!

So every time the Swanatello turtles fight someone (Which isn't as frequent anymore? Cause they're doing research all the time now?) the villains ask "where's the purple one?" And they just have to respond "he's busy" right?

What if after this goes on for so long (how long has it been?), with Donnie ALWAYS being "busy" the bad guys start to think that he's actually either

A. Missing/Kidnapped (technically not wrong)

B. They had a HUGE fight and he abandoned them

C. He's SUPER injured

Or D. He's literally dead and the kids just won't admit it to them

So with all of these options being very not great :/ some of the bad guys start to sympathize with the bros.

Maybe they're like "Dang these kids are having a really rough time, I won't hit em as hard" or "They seem really sad today, I guess I'll let them win this one" Or would some of them even start helping them a bit? Idk I just love hearing about the villains

And does not having Donnie there effect their fighting? Maybe they mess up a lot more since they're so used to him being there?

Also what's Hueso up to? Is he worried about them?

Sorry for the super long ask I'm just absolutely obsessed with Swanatello right now <3

Hehe, I love this concept. I think all the villains definitely have quiet conspiracy theories in their heads as to why they've been seeing those turtles so much less-- and haven't seen hide nor hair of the purple one for months. I think Hypno and Warren are most likely to end up sympathizing with them based on the conclusions they've come to themselves lowkey...

They're still capable of fighting without Donnie, though it's certainly more of a challenge, but nowadays they typically leave a majority of crime fighting up to Casey and Casey Jr. while they focus on Donnie.

Hueso definitely ends up worried at some point. He's not necessarily unused to the Purple One going MIA for periods of time, given his tendency to go through periods of anti-socialness while obsessing over projects, but when he realizes he's seeing the others a lot less, too, and it's been a while, he starts to get suspicious. These stupid boys have already given him a heart attack once when they all nearly killed themselves with that whole alien thing, and so he's quick to grow nervous over their wellbeing, not that he'll ever admit to it.

When Leo shows up with a broken wrist, however, he'd definitely demand some answers. Leo's not really in any kind of condition to put up much of a fight and would tearfully recount the whole story to Hueso after minimal prodding.

And Hueso feels awful, but there's not much he can offer but some awkward, gentle encouragement, a listening ear, and free food. He doesn't know anything about lake magick or curses any of that other stuff, but he quietly digs through any resources he and Piel can scrounge up in his free time, hoping that he can find something, anything useful that he can offer the family.

He always asks how Donnie is doing any time any of them come in, and has on multiple occasions sent food with one of the brothers to deliver to him.

[my-plot-thots]

Ff7 time travel plot idea:

After everything happens the planet sends Cloud back in time to prevent things from happening that will kill the planet in the first place. He is warned that he will be the only one to remember this current timeline, as well as the fact he will not be sent to his same body, and that his original self will still be alive. The planet tells him that he found a suitable vessel that is enhanced and matches their purposes. Cloud tries to argue but ends up already ejected to the new timeline.

Cloud wakes up in a small, cramped space, once again surrounded by Mako. He breaks through the glass and finds he is in an old abandoned lab with experiments that have long ago expired despite the fact they are in storage tanks to prevent them from decaying too badly.

Before breaking out, he accesses an old computer that seems to be running the facility. He needs to find out what the timeline looks like and when he ended up awaking.

He comes across a file with the project number on his tank and gets curious and clicks it first. After all, he needs to know a little about his new body’s past to better sell his part moving forward.

The documented case that is described in this folder is about a young woman who came to town just as the first snow storm of the winter was due to arrive. Heavily pregnant, the scientist decided to stay behind for the winter and let the rest of the group he arrived with move ahead while he tidied up for the winter, knowing he wouldn’t be able to leave until the spring thaw. Once the others were out of the way, the subject gave birth to two identical twin boys.

It’s too good of a chance for the scientist to pass up. To learn of the true impact J cells have on a subject by having a baseline as well as an enhanced? Not to mention the connection many people say twins have due to sharing from the livestream when born. And to have such subjects fall into his lap?

He injects the smaller of the two, the one born first, with a syringe that makes it appear dead to the mother. He leaves the other more healthy looking one with the mother, and sets her up with a sturdy but small house at the edge of town where she can raise him and he can stop by to check on the baseline. She is none the wiser, thinking he is a kind and helpful man who pitied her situation.

Once finished, he set up a tank and got to work. He gave the project the name “Cloud2.0” after the brother.

The subject took to the testing well, though Was never awakened from its sleeping state. Eventually, the scientist detected lacking signs of brain activity. He decided to keep the subject alive “even if in body only” so he could track and measure the physical differences between the subject and the baseline one day, even if his theories on twins and j cells couldn’t be tested the way he wanted.

After finishing his reading, and getting to a point where it was obvious the scientist hadn’t done any follow ups in years, he sat back and realized how much Shinra had taken from him, even things he didn’t realize the first time around.

He had a brother. He was a twin. Was that why he felt so empty and disjointed growing up? Like he was missing something? Was that why he had such a hard time connecting to people?

And then he realizes he can sense his other self, his original self, through the connection they have through the life stream. A twin link.

He finally looks at the date and realizes this is the time when he ran to Midgar the first time. To join Shinra. He feels his other self draw closer and realizes that maybe, his obsession with soldier and Shinra and needing to get to the city was more because he felt a connection as well, but just didn’t know what it was.

Cloud2 realizes he doesn’t care what he has to do in this timeline. He will save his brother this time, to make up for the fact that nobody saved the brother whose body he is currently inhabiting in the first place.

Cue him breaking out of the science labs and causing mass panic in order to hunt down his brother and protect Cloud this time like a good big brother should. Cue the Angeal, Sephiroth, Genesis and Zack all being called and alerted to a high level and potentially extremely dangerous test subject on the loose that caused mass damage to the labs and other test subjects as well as structural damage to a lot of the testing chambers and shinra property.

[angryteapott]

Sorry to still be going on about this but still not over the divorce arcs' impact on the ending because

In the beginning Fang Duobing is too pushy and Li Lianhua owes him nothing. Like what, he made a throwaway statement to a kid ten years ago and now he's got to take responsibility for him? This kid runs up to him and forcibly says we're best friends now and he's supposed to go with it? No way. So it feels fair that Li Lianhua tricks and uses him relentlessly before abandoning him, because even if he enjoys Fang Duobing's company that doesn't mean he owes him shit beyond eh he's my shixiong's son gotta make sure he doesn't die. And eventually Fang Duobing gets sick of it but it doesn't feel like Li Lianhua owes him emotional vulnerability or anything just maybe an apology for the blatant manipulation because Li Lianhua has made him the opposite of promises.

But then Li Lianhua gets sick, Fang Duobing forgives him, and Li Lianhua realizes he does value this affection and understanding of his goals. So they make up, and Li Lianhua officially labels them as good friends.

But he doesn't stop tricking Fang Duobing or start letting Fang Duobing have a say in the overall plan, even if it's done with high handed affection, and he doesn't give Fang Duobing anything to work with in terms of emotional honesty. This comes to a head again despite Fang Duobing's deliberate trust with the Li Xiangyi reveal, and now way more cards are on the table and Fang Duobing is rightfully way more devastated.

This is the place where Li Lianhua could go I can't give you what you want, I don't want to owe anyone anything. I'm no one's companion. He could let Fang Duobing go. But while he's too guilty and hurt to let people close he DOES want Fang Duobing's trust and affection (as well as Fang Duobing's resources), so he draws Fang Duobing close again. Then Li Lianhua lies uses and tricks him again instead of hammering out a plan honestly together, going as far as turning himself in to break a man they just captured out instead of just discussing things and planning together.

Then the three questions, which felt so fair. But then Li Lianhua gets hurt again, Fang Duobing forgives him, and Fang Duobing says we've been truly honest what really matters, which is that we care for each other. I consider you my confidant. You don't have to tell me everything, I'll listen to you and obey. Just be healthy.

And instead of Li Lianhua saying he's tired of treatment or admitting how he actually feels and what he wants, not "oh I'm already dead" in his casual tone because what does that even mean but having an emotionally vulnerable conversation, Li Lianhua tricks him again lies to him again and abandons him again after he's served his purpose. He's unknowable not just because of others projections but because he refuses to truly incorporate anyone into his decisions or even just tell them his side. Yes it's because he cares, it's because of guilt, but how arrogant is that guilt? Because even if he's explicitly invited Fang Duobing's affection, it can only be accepted and reciprocated on his own wants, plans and terms, never any of Fang Duobing's, and never with Fang Duobing even knowing what those conditions are. And by the end, Li Lianhua did owe him more than that. He really did.

[savebatsartedition]

Whumptober 2024 Day 4:

Summary:

Fireworm feels her heart ache, and she doesn’t know why. Prompt pieces used: “You're still alive in my head.”

Notes:

Basically, this is an au/headcanon that Fireworm and Snotlout got along with each other because I love them. Words: 1,120 Content Warnings: Death of a loved one, crying, former war and a lot of other death, also mentioned slavery

(Also under the cut)

The dragon rebellion was over.

Fireworm twisted her tail through the air, trying to remain as snarky and independant as she always had. Her wings shivered as the remaining smoke from the burned out islands shifted her way. Her blood red sides, heaving with heavy breaths as the cheers rose from the peaceful beings of the archipelago, ached as if longing to cheer with them.

“I heard that it was that weird stringy boy who caught that Toothless looser,” a fellow berk born dragon was whispering nearby, “I hear he killed that awful Alvin fellow and forgave the great Furious,”

“He was getting quite a name for himself,” the dragon's friend whispered back as the two of them whizzed past Fireworm, “I heard he even got some of those extra bad Alvin's men-“ he said the world like he was spitting venom, ”-to join his side,“

”I guess I can't say that only good human's a dead one anymore,“ the berk born dragon joked, ”Since that Alvin fellow's a dead one,“

”Oh yes,” the second friend said, his voice fading as the two made it out of earshot, “Dead as a baby bird at the bottom of the ocean,”

Fireworm tucked her nose under her wing, pretending to pick at flees (which of course she didn't have). She'd heard of that Hiccup runt and his escapades. Of course, she'd never liked him very much herself, especially not with that rude Toothless “daydream” with him, but she was growing worried.

As more and more humans began to call for their former dragon slaves (many scoffed and flew the other way, just because this was the end to the dragon rebellion did not mean it was the end to their FREEDOM...), she heard no calls of her name. If she had been “trained” the way most dragons had been on her now destroyed island, maybe she wouldn't feel this way.

As it was she did her best to scoff her fears away. After all, even if the rebellion was over, the only good human was a dead human, right?

But it was then that Fireworm realized that she hadn't seen her master for quite some time, even when she'd been doing her best to keep tabs on him. (She'd convinced herself that it had been so she could wait for revenge, but if that had been the case, why hadn't she taken it any time she'd seen the man alone, sulking so carelessly at the edge of a dock, or wandering so aimlessly through the burning woods.)

Though she'd always bitten and snapped, somehow she still felt herself missing the scratches between her horns, and the gentle massage of the muscles in her wings before a good hunt. She'd always laughed at the dragons who made fun of her for not abandoning when she had originally planned it, for giving up in her fight for freedom before it had even begun.

Of course, they'd always been wrong, and she'd always been right, and there wasn't much many of them could do against her superior claws and fangs.

There was a reason why the best human on the island had chosen her as his hunting dragon. There was a reason why he'd gone against the rules of the tribe to do it, and a reason why no one had ever really dared to challenge him in his right.

Fireworm bared her teeth at the memory, scaring a nearby Gronkle as a thin ribbon of smoke lifted from between her blood stained teeth. She spread wide her wings, feeling the stretch in her bones as she made herself appear even bigger, even more powerful than she already was.

A Monstrous Nightmare had no reason to fake its fear factor, and Fireworm was not going to let her old master become that reason.

She lept from her perch in the ember filled forest and took to the skies as it cracked and crumbled behind her. Her burning scales met the cool air of the night and sizzled like fish on the fire. The sounds her wings made were like the noises of a blanket being thrown repeatedly over a bed. The glow of the lesser dragons and their celebratory flames shot through the air like flaming arrows at a funeral.

She dove down fast, skimming the rough surface of the ocean a little close for comfort, knowing that what lay below it was nothing but death and bones and rotting rebellion fighters. She flapped her wings, and felt them drag in the cold of the ocean for a split second as she did, shocking the salty cold through her body as she lifted them once more.

She shook the water from her ears, but stayed close as the waves shot by like endless mountains just a claw's reach below her.

Snotlout had always said she was a fast dragon.

(For some reason, the praises from her former rebellion rebels just had never felt the same.)

She felt her bright eyes begin to smudge with the unfamiliar sting of tears. She flew faster, flatting her body as much as she could as she blasted between rocks and giant waves and the ghosts of half sunken ships, wedged somewhere between a rock and the claw of some huge dragon.

Her flames boiled in her gut, making the fire holes in her throat itch as the tears began dripping down her face.

They were hot, nearly boiling off her fire red scales the moment they touched them. They didn't hurt, not exactly, but the quiet bursts of flame as she coughed her way through another loop of waves, that seemed to hurt.

She'd heard the word on the breeze about one of those stinking humans dying at the hands of the others. She'd heard the word of the arrow piercing clear through his chest, as if those horrible monsters had seen him as no less than they had ever seen a dragon like her.

She'd hoped maybe it had been that runty mistake, Hiccup, for a while everyone had seemed to think it was. She'd hoped it had been that terrible Alvin himself, maybe then the final battle wouldn't have been quite so much of a threat.

But no, she could never be that lucky.

Because even in the rebellion, even finally free, she was still chained down by her love, her regret, her hopelessness. She was still chained down by her master, now sunk so deep below the waves that even Fireworm would feel the creep of the darkness if she were to follow.

She flew and flew, but she knew that when she landed, she would have nobody to massage the ache out of her wings.

[rlyc00l]

Maybe Rhys is adjusting to his new life as an outlaw. Maybe he can make this work. He hasn't died yet, and he's even getting used to the place's smell. But, on second thought, he wants to go home and never set foot on Pandoran soil again. Getting rich in the process would be a nice bonus.

(Chapter also posted under cut)

— — —

Rhys didn’t move from Knuckle Dragger’s corpse until the Vault hunters finished dispatching the last few bullymong. It took as long for his heart rate to return to normal, and his left hand to stop trembling. 

When it was done, he had to step around dead bullymong, through blood-spattered snow, to reach the others. They’d all been wounded, except maybe for Zer0, who’d walked off as soon as the last bullymong fell. Salvador had been bitten in his forearm, Maya had a gash on one calf, Axton’s face was swelling up after being hit with a hurled chunk of ice, Gaige had a huge bruise on her right arm, and Krieg was so covered in blood it was hard to tell how much of it was his. They were taking a breather to rest and tend to their wounds. 

“Now where’d my eye get to?” The Claptrap had gone into panic mode again during the fighting. Now he’d reemerged and started ping-ponging a path through dead bullymong. 

“Just stay still for the moment, we’ll get it,” Maya called after it, impatiently. She’d taken a seat on a bullymong corpse as she bandaged her leg—wounds like this didn’t warrant wasting precious instahealths.  “Zer0 took it,” Rhys said. “Dunno where they went.” 

She sighed. “Of course they did. I guess they won’t go too far as long as we still have Claptrap… You’re missing a shoe, by the way.”

“Oh, yeah.” The star pattern on his right sock had darkened with melted snow and blood. His blood, he realized. He must have stepped on something as he’d run away, and it sliced through to the bottom of his foot. It was bleeding profusely, but it didn’t hurt yet. 

“Hold on.” Maya dug through her little first aid kid, producing a couple of square-wrapped antiseptic pads and a roll of bandages. “Krieg drank my saline wash, and I wouldn’t trust the snow here. You’ll probably want to clean it better when we get to Liar’s Berg.” 

Rhys knelt, setting the gun down close to him (he needed a better way of carrying that thing around). The snow melted into his pants as he cleaned the wound, he was getting accustomed to that discomfort. Once bandaged, he half-hopped back through the shipping container. He found his shoe half-buried on the other end, wiped it out, and put it on. The stun rod wasn’t far from that, sticking out of the ground, no worse for wear. 

After retrieving his belongings, he searched out Zer0. They’d gone further up the path on their own. An abandoned Hyperion drop barge blocked the way forward. On one side was a steep drop back to Knuckle Dragger’s lair, the other an impassable cliff. Zer0 was looking at the barge’s door, ellipses projected from their helm. 

“Hey, uh, Zer0,” he greeted. This was the part where he was the bigger person, the guy who inspired loyalty in his underlings, the workplace relations guy. 

They turned to him, the ellipses changing into a question mark. “I just wanted to thank you. For before?”

“I needed the space.” They produced another gun from their holster, a black and yellow Dahl pistol. “This one is superior. / And, it’s corrosive.”

“I mean, yeah, thanks for that too, It would have been nice to have that from the start, and all but.... I was trying to thank you for saving me back there.” 

“You disappointed,” they said. “Next time, aim for the beast’s throat. / A more certain kill.” He stared at them. “Have you ever talked to another person, like, ever?” 

“Yes.” They turned back to the barge. There was a door on it with a little digital-optical scanner on the side.   

Hyperion tech like this was easy to open with his ECHOeye, and he guessed he owed Zer0, but it was hard to want to repay that debt. He’d wait for the others to catch up first. 

That wasn’t a long wait. The Claptrap sped ahead of them, chattering. “The road to Liar’s Berg’s on the other side of this barge. What say we cut through it, chums?”

“You’re not gonna be–” The Claptrap rolled right past Rhys, to the scanner. “Aaand OPEN!” 

“Intruders detected. Locking door,” an automated voice replied, predictably. 

“You’re discontinued tech,” Rhys said, activating his ECHOeye. “I can-” 

“Let me get that for you.” An unfamiliar woman’s voice spoke in his head. Projecting from the barge’s scanner was a woman’s face. The same one he’d seen when he’d collapsed. “Executing phase shift.” 

The door opened. 

“Yes! I knew I’d get it eventually.” Claptrap rolled on ahead of them. 

“You’re welcome! Perks of being an artificial Intelligence. I’m networked into almost everything in this planet,” she said.

“Is um, is everyone hearing that?” Rhys asked, still half afraid he had a virus. 

“Yep,” confirmed Maya. “She spoke to us a little after Jack tried to blow us up. You hadn’t caught up by then.” “So… Uh…How exactly..?” “I think she’s eridium powered,” Gaige said. “You put enough eridium into anything and it’ll start breaking the laws of physics. Among other things.” 

“I guess that tracks.” He’d heard plenty of murmurings of “weird Eridium shit” back on Helios, and he’d seen a few E-tech demos. The best summation of eridium he could manage was “It’s basically magic”. Plus, he was standing five feet away from a siren, who was even more “basically magic”. 

It was a downhill trek after the barge. The small town, Liar’s Berg, lay at the bottom. “Town” might be a generous word for what it was. It was more a cluster of frozen little buildings surrounded by a wall made from blocks of ice and scrap. But it did somewhat resemble civilization, Rhys had to give it that much. 

Zer0 had gotten ahead of them again. By the time they reached the ridge overlooking the town,  Zer0 was already set up with a sniper rifle, picking off townsfolk. 

“Bandits,” they explained, before anyone could ask. Rhys decided that was credible enough.  Besides, by Jack’s most conservative estimates, Pandora was ninety-five percent bandits, between Dahl’s former prison labor force, abandoned Crimson Lance soldiers, and the lawless treasure hunters that swarmed the planet like flies. Decent people just didn’t come to this planet. 

The bandits that were foolish enough to peer out of cover to return fire fell quickly, and before long, the town looked lifeless. Zer0 stood, shouldering their gun. “I counted twelve more. / They took shelter in buildings. / I will kill them there.” 

“At this rate, I’m tempted to stand back and let you try that,” Maya said. 

Zer0 was already heading down the incline. And maybe the Vault hunters followed Maya’s leadership in some respects, but they didn’t wait for her orders to advance. Except for Krieg and Rhys. 

Krieg paced like he was barely restraining himself from running down the hill after them. “The shiny one’s innards aren’t suffering yet!” 

“Eh. It might be fun,” Maya allowed with a shrug. “Let’s go.” Rhys had hoped to hang back again, let the others do the fighting. The cut in his foot was starting to hurt. But there were more bullymong holes in the walls here, he didn’t want to get caught alone with another pack of them.

He limped after the two of them, allowing himself to fall behind. 

He walked into the town, holding the gun at his side. The ground here had been trampled by numerous footsteps, revealing the dark stone beneath the snow. He passed a burn barrel still flickering with fire. A dead bandit was slumped over it, his face and shoulders charred. More corpses lay in the street. Many of them had no marks but a single hole through their head, Zer0’s work, but there’d been more deaths since. A lone, dismembered leg. A body sliced open vertically. Another covered in bullet wounds. A huge hole blown out of one’s chest. 

The sounds of combat had moved further into town. Rhys followed the gunfire, not in any hurry. If he timed it right, he’d catch up as they were finishing, without making it obvious that he was intentionally sitting things out. Vaughn’s high school gym class strategy.  

A man stumbled out from behind one building. He wore a mask over a pair of goggles, obscuring his entire face. Acid had eaten away the side of his jacket, revealing the melted flesh underneath. He looked straight at Rhys. Worse, he pointed his shotgun straight at him.

“You also worth a million? Jack’s offering a million for Vault hunters.” 

“Do I look like a Vault hunter?” Could he lift his pistol to shoot the guy before getting shot himself? 

The bandit looked him up and down. 

Oh god, wait, would the pistol even shoot? Was it even loaded? It would be just like Zer0 to empty the gun before giving it to him. 

“You look Hyperion,” the bandit said. “Exactly. I’m important up there. You kill me, you and Handsome Jack are gonna be having a problem.” Wait, did this thing have a safety? Was the safety on? How did he tell? 

“Already have a problem with Jack.”  …Shit, he should’ve tested it earlier. 

The bandit shifted, barely an inch. Rhys lifted the gun and pulled the trigger, again and again until the gun stopped firing, and then some after that. 

The bandit fell, dead. 

Rhys stood, frozen, staring at the corpse. The holes the gun made looked tiny. There didn’t seem to be much blood, considering how many times he’d shot him.  

He’d made it far in Hyperion without ever killing anyone. It wasn’t a moral choice, it just didn’t seem like his style. Now that he had, he didn’t even feel bad about it. Hell, he felt great. He laughed, strangely giddy. And a little shaky. Somewhat nauseous. 

“You have surprised me. / I thought he’d blow your head off. / Congratulations.”  

Rhys turned around to see Zer0, sitting on a dumpster, legs crossed. They projected a smiley face. A bucket of sewer water on his victory. 

“...Were you there the whole time?” “I was after him.” Zer0 gestured to the body. “Coward. Ran when I shot him. / But you found him first.” “I could have used some help.” “He didn’t kill you. / And you proved entertaining. / Hyperion guy.” 

He felt his face heat up. “I had to try something! He was pointing a gun at me! I didn’t know if this thing would work!” 

They stood. “The first shot killed him. / You wasted all that ammo. / You should search the corpse.” They flashed him a “:D” and walked away. 

“Ugh.” At least they hadn’t taken the shotgun. A Jakobs double barrel, old and worn-looking. They probably already had something better. 

The bandit wore a belt with a few pouches slung across his chest. Rhys unbuckled it and checked the pouches. Those netted him a handful of loose bullets and a half-empty box of shells. He wasn’t sure how to reload the pistol–shameful, for a Hyperion employee–but a scan with his ECHOeye gave him the necessary instructions.  

Afterward, he attached the belt to the shotgun, turning it into a makeshift sling. If he was going to be stuck on Pandora for a while, he’d need to get one of those digi-holsters the others had. And if it was gonna be this cold… Nearby lay one of Zer0’s victims, a bandit, lying on his back with half of his brain blown out. He was shorter than Rhys but much broader, and his jacket was far from the most disgusting thing Rhys had seen on this planet. It had a few duct tape repairs, a seam on one shoulder had worn apart, and there were a number of questionable stains, but there was barely any blood on it, and Rhys was tired of being cold. 

He unzipped it, pulled the limp arms through the sleeves as far as he could, then flipped the body to yank it the rest of the way off. 

— — —

Liar’s Berg had one living, ostensibly non-bandit resident, Sir Hammerlock. Hammerlock was a fellow cyborg, and despite his esteemed prefix and general air of class, his robotic parts were even more shoddy than Gaige’s. Still, he gave them a warm enough welcome, offering up his home to the Vault hunters for the night. He even had real food, bullymong-meat-free. Granted, it was all canned stuff, but canned beans on thawed-out toast felt like a luxury.

“Hyperion, are you?” he asked, upon introductions. Rhys had made the mistake of taking off his newfound jacket in the heated house. Betrayed by his uniform again. “I hear it’s not easy to defect from a man like Handsome Jack. At least, not without dying horrifically. Well, good on you, I say.” 

Rhys, for his part, managed an awkward laugh and a, “Yeah… We’re definitely gonna…gonna show him.” He tried not to think too hard about Jack’s earlier ECHOcomm. None of the Vault hunters seemed afraid of Jack, but they all possessed some strange deficiency in the fear center of the brain. And they didn’t know the man. They’d never had their coworkers disappear, only to learn their last known location was Jack’s office. Jack was a fantastic leader, but he was not to be crossed. The best Rhys could hope for, as a “traitor”, was to keep his head down and somehow survive Jack’s scourge of Pandora. He could take it day by day. Now? He’d faced a bullymong and killed a man. That had to be something. 

That night was spent on a couch in Sir Hammerlock’s house. He fell asleep almost as soon as he lay down, his dreams of Helios. He’d shoved Vasquez in the airlock and shot him out into space, and was swiftly promoted to associate vice president of Security Propaganda. Zer0 was ther. Dream logic deemed them his secretary. They wore a pair of horn-rimmed glasses over their helmet and carried a clipboard.  

“Next time, I’d recommend not shooting him out the airlock,” they told him in much too long a sentence. “You’ll have more fun if you’re there with him. A knife, perhaps… By the way, you have a meeting at seven with–” 

“So, Rhys was it?” Handsome Jack said, entering his office. 

Rhys perked up. “Yes, sir! Is there something you need? Always glad to be of service, Handsome Jack, sir.” “Are you seriously asleep already?” 

“Wh-what? No, I was just preparing the report on the–” 

“Wake up dipshit!” Rhys jolted up, gasping. Jack had sounded so real, he had to look around the room to reassure himself he wasn’t there. “You up? Good.” Jack’s voice again.  

“J…Jack?” He lifted his right hand. Was it his built-in ECHOcomm? The screen wasn’t on… “I can imagine you’re freaking out, so I’ll spell it out: you’re hearing my voice in your head, dumbshit. Yeah, yeah. Relax. It’s a feature all Hyperion ECHOeyes come with. Fine print stuff. So, about earlier.” “I can explain—I—” “Shh. Don’t talk. You can text me through your ECHOeye, but for right now? Shut up for a second. Obviously, you’re a loyal Hyperion employee who got screwed over, right? I got the whole story out of ol’ Wallethead.” 

“W-wallet—?” he started, before remembering he wasn’t supposed to talk. 

“Anyway, here’s the deal: these idiots think you’re harmless, right? Maybe they even think you’re one of them? You’re gonna use that, help me out a bit here.” “What do I do?” he sent. Using the ECHOeye to send text was new to him, it was harder to control than just using his arm interface. 

“Nothing big. For now? You’re a Vault hunter. Fight alongside them, gain their trust. Once you get into Sanctuary, I have a few things I’ll need you to hack. A little spying, a little sabotage. That kind of thing. Easy, low-risk stuff.”

Rhys nodded, half terrified, realized Jack couldn’t see him nod, and sent him an “Ok.” 

“Don’t do anything stupid. I’ll contact you again when I need you.” “Yes, sir.”  “You let me down? I’ll be sure to personally strangle the life out of you—after reclaiming the Hyperion tech in your skull. Capeesh?” “Yes, sir.” 

“Attaboy. You do good, and I’ll send a shuttle to get you back up to Helios, where there’s a promotion with your name in it. How does President of Security Propaganda sound? Don’t bother answering. Hell, I’ll throw in a couple turbo mansions. Now, get some sleep.”

Sleep was impossible, after that. Part of him was exhilarated, just when he’d lost hope of ever going home, Jack had given him the chance of a lifetime. The kind of chance he could have worked on Helios for the rest of his life without ever getting. And it was the only chance he had at surviving, he knew that now. 

The other part of him was terrified. He didn’t know which would be worse: failing Jack or getting caught by the Vault hunters. The latter was a risk he’d have to take. They already trusted him, Jack had made sure of that by labeling him a traitor. He could be sneaky, he’d already stabbed plenty of backs on Helios. 

There was a third part, too. A small part that kept welling up as much as he tried to push it down. It wasn’t a part worth paying attention to. These people were doomed anyway.

[randomfoggytiger]

On this lazy Sunday I would love to hear some of your Mulder/Scully early relationship and post-revival headcanons if you feel comfortable sharing 😊

**Note**: No beta testing, we ghost edit later like men.

I'm not a Revival girlie; but I shall play fair and by the rules! >:DD

Hm. I think the Jackson story line would have made more sense if Jackson was a clone from one of Scully's ova, ala Emily or the Kurt Crawford project. But that aside, I think...

I haven't seen the Revival, so these are speculations.

I think Mulder and Scully would have reduced their workload, if not retired. Not because they could but because the second pregnancy would necessitate a "time out" for them to heal. It's their second chance; and with Mulder saying "what am I, if not a father?"-- horrible phrasing of that aside-- his focus would be hardwired in that direction. Requiem all over again: "there's more than this."

CSM's dead, right? Jackson's out there-- his expression from one screenshot after Scully's confession on the dock leads me to believe he knew she "gave him up" for his sake, and he'll be returning sooner rather than later. Jackson's Mulder's son.

I do, unfortunately, believe Miller and Einstein will be worked into the basement somehow, someway. I think Monica Reyes dies ala a Diana Fowley betrayal; but I'd love to see a confrontation between her and Scully on Monica's deathbed-- maybe a way to air grievances or work towards redemption? Skinner's forced into retirement, bless him: he did so much for his agents only for them to eat up his emergency cash on muffins. Maybe take up a position that allows him to get things handled while leaning on a cane? ...In that case, he probably wouldn't retire.

The baby's a girl, her name's Lily, GA and DD have spoken. Her parents never could decide on a middle name for her with all the lost people to honor. Maybe Lily has powers? Probably not-- there's no Messiah undercurrent to her story (...yet.) She adores Mulder and Scully, they adore her. Mulder tries to teach her words Scully will snort adoringly over. Scully tries to hone her motor skills faster-- in vain-- so Lily can pitch or toss or catch a baseball with Mulder. Her interests change daily and neither of them can figure out who she takes after more. Her hero is Horton, but because of the story where he hatched someone else's abandoned baby, not the Who one. She loves to lose things, purposefully: walking over a bridge, she'll toss her favorite toy in the lake below just to see what happens. She's not only the baby but the only niece on both sides of the family-- she is over-spoiled but philosophical with her wealth, handing them out to the unfortunates (her older male cousins) as an expression of her love and benevolence. Scully watched her like a hawk for a week when Lily's eyes grew wide and determined after Mulder told her about "Mommy pretending to eat a bug once."

On Mulder and Scully's early relationship: I wrote a LONG dissertation that I'm sticking under a "Read More" section.

Mulder and Scully were drawn to each other immediately, Scully's interest in his abilities turning into a crush in his basement turning into a tempered understanding after his Samantha revelation-- knowing him transformed him from "idol", in a way, to a human, a friend. She falls in love with him somewhere after, realizes it ~Darkness Falls or Tooms, but doesn't start acting on it until Little Green Men through her abduction. Mulder doesn't fall in love until ~Darkness Falls or Tooms; and doesn't realize it until One Breath (while Maggie knew by the end of Ascension and Melissa knew after their first few conversations.) Season 2 was tender healing, Season 3 was unhurried friendship-- the type where you can jealously cross lines and shove other kids on the playground outside the inner circle with a claim that hasn't crossed into romantic possession, strictly.

Early Season 4 began the shift for Scully: not that she wanted them to change, but that she felt that something should without realizing why-- not wanting to settle down in Home, but entertaining thoughts of Mulder's genetics; not wanting to believe in soulmates but aching that she wasn't Mulder's; believing it was the endless line when really it was Mulder's focus on that endless line instead of what was between them. Never Again taught them both lessons: Mulder became more attentive, tailoring Leonard Betts to her expertise and Scully walked away from more complicated issues (like she did later in Detour.) Memento Mori shifted from "we" are fighting this to Scully looking deep into her soul and making this battle-- not just her cancer, but also the mission-- HERS. Mulder was delighted; then began to panic as her condition worsened. Scully, seeing he couldn't handle her weakness-- out of fear-- became strong for him as well as her mom.

Redux II: emotional openness Mulder couldn't express at any other time. Detour: a return to his status quo because he, again, wasn't ready-- same with Fight the Future to The Beginning and Dreamland I. Scully was willing to wait not because he was dying over him but because he and the work fulfilled her; and she knew post Redux II (and was affirmed again in Fight the Future and Amor Fati) that he returned her singular devotion. In the meantime, she worked through her own pain and struggles, her own inability to trust attachment.

I believe Millennium was their first time, not just because of the IVF timeline I broke down, but also because Mulder had to see the alternative without her to set aside his last excuses and live a life with her. Then Samantha was found, and he was free... and then he ditched Scully to run off to England. Scully's unresolved issues from Never Again rose up in a new way: "did I make the right choice?" was called into question after so much of her life had changed but nothing really had, at all. By the end, she realizes it had, it did; she had, she did. And this was the perfect life for her, just as she'd always chosen. And she needed to accept it fully, like Mulder had post Amor Fati and Millennium.

[mamamittens]

Spooktober 2023

Here will be the masterlist for the 2023 Spooktober event where I intend to link all the fics I post for it with the requestor tagged so they may find this post easily.

Please mind the tags on each post and titles may change. (If the summary sounds wrong for your fic, please message me so I may clear up any misunderstanding on my summary list)

(Vampire) Of Noble Blood - @sabo-has-my-heart

Astra never expected to be swept off her feet by a charming man at a Halloween party, but she's not against it either. But Sabo has a secret he's been keeping from her--and it's only a matter of time until someone endangers them both.

Vampire!SaboXOC(Astra)

(Werewolf) Room for One More+18 - @marco--the--phoenix

Marco and Ace are two lonely werewolves hoping to fill out their alpha/beta/omega trifecta. And they believe they've finally found him, whether he knows it or not. Now it's only a matter of finding out if the transformation blesses them with an omega of their own.

Marco!Alpha!WerewolfXAce!Beta!WerewolfXOC(Omega!Werewolf!Ray)

(Siren) High Note of a Punchline - @idiashroudds

Anna had never heard such an enchanting voice. And Buggy had never met anyone who genuinely liked his song.

Siren!BuggyXOC(Anna)

(Serial Killer) STALKED IN THE WOODS (NOT CLICKBAIT!!!) - @raptures-finest

Andreas, wild at heart, only wanted to explore abandoned places with his friends. But this time, while venturing into the woods to find a forgotten mansion, he seems to have bitten off more than he can chew. And his list of friends shrinks as their corpses start piling up.

The Blair Witch Project (1999) inspired SaboXKoalaXKakuXOC(Andreas!Urban explorer)

(Dullahan) Don't Lose Your Head about It - myself

Thatch supposed he should ease up on the partying if he always ended up lost somewhere away from his body. Though he'd argue that this time, at least, it wasn't his fault. He's been found by a very helpful and lovely lady though, so really, he has no room to complain until that bastard Teach decided to come finish the job. Hopefully he can reunite with his body before it's too late.

ThatchXOC(Nikia)

(Mob/Gang) High Price for a Date+18 - @spitfire-of-the-sea

Saki's considered a lead in her field of research in the secretive government sector. Classified information is basically all she's handled for well over a year now. But apparently not all of it. Now she's seen something she shouldn't have and has to book it into arguably more dangerous territory. The Whitebeard Gang's territory, to be specific. Where she finds herself in the arms of one of the most dangerous men in the city. Sparks fly and she finds he's more than willing to pay for her safety, in exchange? A date... and maybe something more.

(Kraken) A Great Big Family - myself

There are many dangers at sea. You've known this all your life and had lived to tell the tale. This may be where you meet your match though, as everyone knows how ferocious krakens are. As well as territorial. Now, if only someone told them that they're not supposed to be territorial over people.

You're not dead, but at what cost?

Sweet Child Reader & Kraken!WBP

(Old God) Dreams and Rebirth +18- @bookandyarndragon

She'd dreamed of a song her whole life. Faint and distant, it called to her with such beauty she'd been compelled to follow. But he had been patiently waiting long enough. Now that she was in his grasp, it was time to claim what has always been his, and start his family anew.

Marco!OldGod X F!Reader

(Demons) Prosperity and Sacrifice+18 - @cebwrites

An investigator follows the trail of misfortune and murder across an entire continent. And when they finally reach the end of the trail--they realize this is one mystery that should have gone cold.

Law X OC(Kirin!Demon)

(Ghost) Beetles and Juice, Tricks and Treats - @flamingoblubber

Beetlejuice had gone all out for what was arguably the most important holiday for himself. Thankfully, his sweetie, Jay, is willing to reel him in so he doesn't toe the line too hard or scar the neighborhood for life. He still stands firm that a few sand worms would really liven up the place.

Beetlejuice (1988) X OC(Jay)

(Scarecrow) A Heart Made of Straw - myself

Being a professional scarecrow is honest work. And Nikia has contracted with the Whitebeard farm for a few years now with no complaint. The job would be easier if she wasn't so fond of one of Whitebeard's sons, but it wasn't like she expected anything to come of it. Unfortunately, it appears as though he may be onto her... but she'd quite literally rather die than give herself away. So, who will win this stalemate? An honest country boy or an awkward introverted scarecrow?

(Boogeyman) Nothing to be Afraid of (Every Reason to Run) - myself

You never quite liked the wardrobe your new family got you. For weeks you could have sworn something was watching you from it. Stefan and Kotatsu both raising their hackles anytime it creaks open. But you didn't want to raise a fuss. But maybe you should have--if you had, then you wouldn't have been stolen from your bed in the middle of the night.

It's okay though, Echo says they know the way out.

(How our Seeds Grow) child!reader & OC(Echo)

(Mummy) Piece by Piece, You'll Come Back to Me - @sunken-diver

For thousands of years, Zoro has had an uneasy rest. Cursed to never die for his traitorous desire, he waits. Until one day he is awoken and finds he no longer has to wait to reunite with the object of his desire. They're right here. Ripe for the taking.

Mummy (1999) inspired Ft. Mummy!Zoro and AMAB!GN!Reader.

[winterpinetrees]

Nerd Behavior (The Gap Years Part 19) 

July 1st 2019

Coconino National Forest, AZ

Everyone is a nerd here. The road trip group gets a beach episode and talks about movies, the Mercurali play board games, and Amedi discovers what a Wikipedia rabbit hole is.

..............

“You know what I just realized about the Project Excalibur site?” 

Sierra Bracken is trying to distract the rest of the party from her current predicament. They’re back at high altitude, over seven thousand feet, and by the shores of a reservoir that looks more like a winding canyon. To be more specific, the so-called shores are rugged rock faces fifteen feet high, and Sierra is stuck at the bottom. It turns out that two elves, a man who climbs abandoned buildings for fun, and a tall varsity recruit are all outliers when it comes to scrambling up wet rocks. Sierra is five foot three on a good day and a little cursed at the moment. Also the sun is starting to set. 

“What did you realize?” Brian shouts down. He’s smiling, but it’s not exactly an encouraging smile.

“Excalibur is like, the reverse Area 51,” she says and clambers up, again, onto one of the huge brown stones. “They’re both in the Nevada Test Range, but one is where humans study aliens and one is where aliens study humans!” 

Clay has one arm inside of Marin’s fashionable messenger bag. He turns to him, “are you aliens? Also that’s not funny”. 

“Marin and I decided that elves count as aliens only when it’s funny. And it is”.

“We did do that,” Marin replies solemnly. He’s down on one knee drying out his long dreadlocks with a towel. Like Brian, he isn’t very concerned. 

Some time passes, not long, maybe two minutes, but they’re all eighteen and don’t really expect to reach September alive. Sierra does not succeed in getting any further up the rock face. 

Brian fakes a theatrical accent and crouches down. “I don’t suppose you could speed things up?”

“Don’t you dare quote The Princess Bride at me”. She pauses for a moment, half-way up a large rock. Sierra has a heavier build, but a lot of her upper body is muscle. It’s just the curse making her left shoulder sluggish causing this whole situation. Sierra rolls her eyes and gives Brian his response in the same fake voice. 

“If you’re so anxious to hurry things, you could lower a rope or a tree branch or find something useful to do!” Then she says something in Spanish that she knows Brian won’t understand. 

“Already on it!” Clay says quickly. He looks over the edge of the cliff, winks at Sierra, and tosses her the end of a rope he’s taken from the bag. Then he shoves Brian as hard as he can. 

“Not while I’m down here, idiot!” she yells back. Fortunately, or maybe not, the champion wrestler does not fall. She remembers too late that Brian has two older brothers (and they’re both not great guys) as he clamps a hand around Clay’s wrist and threatens to drag them both over the edge. They hang there in the golden sunset light before Clay throws himself backward. He slams into the dirt and Brian comes with him. Everyone is shouting now and Sierra is still at the bottom of the cliff.

Eventually they do make it back to their campsite. Zerada left the reservoir before them, and she sits alone, slowly feeding wood into a small fire. Her amber eyes reflect the flames, but Sierra doesn’t think they’re actually glowing with magic. She matches the scene well. In fact, Zerada doesn’t seem to own much that isn’t her family’s burnt orange. Marin only really wears emerald green when he has to be formal. Most of his outfits have been olive and tan. 

The humans pull folding chairs from the car and Marin sits down on a log. They’re in the dead center of Arizona, so far from city lights that there’s a state-of-the-art telescope twenty miles away. Despite that, they’ve chosen a real campsite instead of the side of a back road. That means they have the best of both worlds. Running water, and a location so deep in the woods that there’s no way they will be found tonight.

So they talk. Marin was confused by their reference to The Princess Bride and by some oversight they didn’t bring a CD of it (but they do have every Star Wars movie, so that’s something), so the humans try their best to act out the story themselves. It turns out that Clay is a shockingly good pirate. Brian takes every character that is either blond or seven feet tall, leaving Sierra to pick up the role of a swordsman chasing revenge. However, revenge stories get a bit more complicated with elves around. It’s been exactly three (human) weeks since a coup killed both of their own fathers. The list of casualties made that very clear. Zerada’s father was killed by Arjuna Kotija Mercuralis, an assassin and illusionist who is also the husband of the new apex. Marin’s father was killed by an upstart noblewoman named Hebe from a less powerful genus. They talk like all of it’s normal. Their parents died fighting like all nobles should, and the humans shouldn’t worry, but even Sierra can tell that they aren’t being honest. Marin may be happy enough to follow Brian's instructions and pretend to be a Rodent Of Unusual Size for one of the scenes, but he’s an orphan now, and that’s got to leave something behind. 

Or at least how Sierra would feel. He hardly ever talks about his parents. His mother was the old apex, and she lived in the human world for decades. She doesn't know anything about his father at all. Maybe he's glad they're gone. When a person is so used to power, children can feel like just another thing to own. She's lucky to be close with both of her parents, but Brian and Clay aren't. Still, Sierra’s starting to wonder what they’ll do if this adventure lasts longer than the summer. They’re all taking a gap year, but they did have plans, and it’s not like they can be on the road forever. It’ll be a national scandal if they don’t come back for the big Christmas party. More than that, she doesn’t want to be off at college if the world ends. She’s thrilled to be going to MIT (meeting people with her interests who aren’t like 30!) but, well, her weird little family is close.  She’ll wreck the Audacity, the crazy passion project that she built with her mom, if she has to, but losing her family to a doomsday plague is just not an option. Not her parents, not her siblings, not even the two idiot boys beside her. 

By the time they finish the “movie”, the sunset is over and the light of one of the darkest skies in America glows through the ponderosa pines. After a week in Vegas, the silver arc of the galaxy stuns Sierra as though she’s never seen it before. Jupiter floats near the horizon with bright-red Antares, but most of the stars Sierra knows are lost in the clouds of light. She's used to the Summer Triangle being the only thing in the sky, not it being the three brightest dots in a sea of stars. Sierra rubs her hands together. It’s not cold, but they’ve started to shake again. Hopefully from the climb and the rope, and not the curse. She nearly jumps when she realizes that Zerada is standing beside her. Elves are too quiet for their own good. The noblewoman lifts a hand to point to the center of the stellar triangle. 

“Can you see those two stars?” she asks. Sierra’s a little confused. They haven’t talked much before.

“No". Well, that was rude! She tries again. “I mean, you’re pointing at the band of the Milky Way. There’s a lot of stars”.

Zerada scoffs. “First, that’s a stupid name. Your society should stop listening to the Ancient Greeks. Second, there is a constellation. Humans call it Vulpecula, "little fox’”. 

“So we should only listen to the ancient Greeks when they make you look good? Tiny little constellation anyways". Zerada gives her a very fox-like grin. Sierra sighs and sits back down. She’s had quite the evening, and has this headache, and would rather just be quiet.

………

“Ryn! Ishtar! I have an urgent question about wild human society!” Amedi Kebero bursts into the Apex's living quarters while the family play dice games that even a master tactician like Ryn can’t always win. The sky outside the wide windows is deep indigo between the clouds. They’re a good deal west of the pine forests, and the sun has only just set. 

“You should probably ask your seneschal unless it is about science fiction,” Arjuna explains. He’s a very serene man, despite his legendary kill count. 

“She’s busy wrangling the computers to track license plates,” Amedi replies breathlessly. They sit cross legged beside the low table.  Fen is stealing his sister's dice to make an even taller stack. “I know the general location of the humans- deep in a pine forest beside a lake, there’s only a few options- and I’ve already sent an update, but I have a question”.

“Then ask it, Councillor. We’re rather busy”. Even sitting down playing a board game, Ishtar Mercuralis is larger than life. She's physically strong in a way that high nobility never are, and there's a depth to her dark eyes. She smiles down at Amedi, but well, she’s still smiling down. 

“What in the worlds is The Princess Bride?”

Everyone looks at Ryn. He’s spent the most time in the human world by far. “A film, I believe?” 

Amedi’s shoulders sink. “The humans have been talking about it all evening. It is a film, but also some sort of European folktale? They’re obsessed”.

“You should ask the reference clerks to find out, if you are still curious,” Arjuna says.

“Or… you could go to the human world and search for it there!” Suen replies. She’s lived her entire life in the age of advanced human technology. When Amedi was born, humans hadn’t even discovered radiation. Now “human computer” means a thinking metal box instead of a human that computes. It’s kind of infuriating because magic makes it all glitch and break down.

“Thank you! Good night!” They untangle their limbs and dash for the door. The table shakes and Fen’s tower of dice scatters. Suen shouts goodbye back. The adults are laughing behind them. 

Not long after, Amedi all but kicks down the heavy door leading to one of the computing rooms. There are around thirty uniformed humans sitting at desks, even this late at night. All of them are working to manage the data that wild humans could handle with a few lines of code. They all look up and stare. There’s a separation between humans and elves. No one with a vambrace ever intrudes in an office like this, not when they have seneschals instead. Amedi calls out for Esther and one of the clerks points towards the supervisor's office. They tear that door open too. 

Amedi stands in the doorway like an outlaw back for revenge. Scars and a bioluminescent tattoo stand out on their dark brown skin, and they look built for a battlefield, not an office.  The two humans had been arguing, but they both fall utterly silent. 

“Esther?”

She turns, eyes wide. “Is something wrong?”

“No, no, nothing to worry about. I need your help in the human world. Tech stuff”.

“Oh! Of course. I’m very skilled with technology”. She is! Esther can hack. It’s really impressive.

“All I need are a pair of hands that won’t corrupt the stuff”. That’s an exaggeration. Nobles can use human technology, it's just unreliable and breaks down over time. The vambraces that all graduates of the Conservatory wear are at the limit of processing power before the magic of a high noble starts messing with the hardware. Fifty years ago, that limit could run programs that seemed like magic to wilders. Now it’s about as powerful as a fancy calculator. 

Amedi is already turning to leave. “Grab some clothes that look wild. We’re switching worlds”.

There’s no arguing with that. Esther ends her conversation and follows behind them as they walk back to their living quarters. She starts to say something, but hesitates. The girl doesn’t do that often. If anything, Esther is typically too honest. 

“What is it?” Amedi says. 

“There are ways to access the internet from the palace, but I assume you want to visit San Francisco anyway”.

“Unrestricted internet? That works?” 

“Well enough for us seneschals to stream workplace comedies, Dee”.

Amedi scoffs and moves to ruffle Esther’s hair, but they’re really just petting the top of her head like a dog. “So that’s where you disappear to! I’d been wondering if a raptor picked you up and flew away”.  

“I promise that none of Genus Tiercel are trying to abduct me, especially not with my family history”. She moves their hand away, “and I’m not that short”.

Esther leads Amedi through servant’s passages deep into the palace. The walls are solid concrete and they can recognize the lead lining around the door. 

“Isn’t this a bit far from seneschal quarters?” they ask.

Esther smiles and opens the door, “Callum would kill me if I shared our secrets. This is for the maintenance staff. What are you looking for anyway?” 

The room is… a lounge? It’s windowless and loud from fans, but the room is full of chairs and tables from a dozen different styles. Maybe two dozen humans watch television and play cards. They look at Amedi with clear reverence, but most glare at Esther. Amedi glares back. Their seneschal deserves respect.

“Marin’s companions keep talking about this movie called The Princess Bride?”

Esther starts typing into one of the unused computers. “I’ve heard of it”. She opens a search engine and finds her way to the Wikipedia page before leaving Amedi the chair. The elf sits and begins to read. Wild humans are so, so, strange…

And someone is shaking them by the shoulders. They turn and raise a jagged dagger of red magical light, and Esther flinches away with terror in her eyes. They’ve missed her neck by only an inch. 

“Councillor, I-” 

“Life and death, Esther! You know you can’t sneak up on me like that!”

She takes a breath only after Amedi lowers the knife. “Yes. I know better… but you’ve got to get some rest. It’s nearly midnight”. 

The room has no natural light, but the people have changed and the television is playing a different film. Oh not again. The computer screen glows with the wikipedia page for fixed-term elections in the United States Senate. How did they get here? Maybe it’s for the best that the elven world doesn’t have this sort of infrastructure. They’d never be able to get anything done. 

“Thank you, Essie,” they smile to try and relieve some of the tension. “Maybe Marin’s humans have the right idea. I’ve got to get outside more”. 

“We should both touch some grass,” she adds.

“What?”

“Wild human internet slang”.

Amedi stretches like a cat and laughs. “I’m going to tell Ishtar’s kids all about it”.

….….….….….

Every day is a good day to think about The Princess Bride.

Esther has a fully functional computer in her room (Part 15). No, she is not going to tell anyone. 

The phrase “touch grass” is a slight anachronism (it didn’t really become popular until COVID) but I think it's funny. 

[kumamoto-division]

Strange magic Isekai Outfits

Inspired by @toyama-division

Aoba-"the guardian of knowledge" (winter sorcerer)

Quote:"this library is a place of knowledge if You disturbe it choose one,be a ice statue or be burn to ashes by me"

Born in a normal family since he was a child felt attracted for cold a fire in a strange contrast, his father who had knowledge in magic tried teach him but unfortunaltely he died and his cruel mother abandoned him and his sister, both wandered in the forest for a few days but they were found by a spirit of, mountains the snow and cold who noticed his potential in magic and taked both siblings under his protection. but like his power in the cold magic his fascination for fire was growing. one day the spirit died and both siblings decided to separate temporaly, on that time separated from his sister he founded out he was blessed since his birth by the fertilty goddess for "give life from inside" but it don't matter him and he foccused on lear more of all things that intereseted him and develope his project about his own fire magic...until he fall in love twice for two different mens related to fire but both ended bad...one left him after certain events that broken the ice sorcerer for lose their daughter who never born and he left the second man after realized that he never would accept his darkest side. now with a inhuman control of his ice and fire magic and his sanity and mind slowly fragmenting currently live in a kingdom out from the Chuokhu queendom as the librarian of "the infinity library" a magic library with all the knowledge in the worl but during the night nothing one would suspect of how this youngman dress up like a dark lady in a masquerade ball and use his cold fire to causing chaos with a goal...burn all the worl for all people feel all the sadness pain and sorrow that once he felt helped for a couple friends of him and his sister with he reunited after arrived at the kingdom....but recently after all the suffering his cold and sad heart started beat for someone...a king with fame of be cold as ice

"my heart felt so cold.... why it beats so hard for him?"

Kunio-"the artist of roses" (bard)

Quote:"go ahead and pass to my theater! All are welcome here!"

Borned in a rich family contrary to his brother he had a natural talent in magic but he choosed use it in tricks and perfoming arts constantly giving shows on the streets to middle class people in the streets for his family dislike but he always ignore it,after found out the crimes and corrupt acts of the royalty and his own family he decided left all away and living as a ambulant artist until join to a famous theater in other kingdom were meet a librarian with a very powerful magic who he became friend and a youngman with ability in poisons with he get married after saw him sang and dance in a fest,but like the librarian he have a goal, overthrown all the corrupt royalty (and maybe murder them) to finally end with the class system since the shadows with help of his allies and his apprentice in the sens of perfoming and the...darkest arts on the theater/information guild but strangely he have another goal,stop his brother's goal of rewrite all the timeline for evoid the disaster that will happen if he do it

"I need to stop my brother...if he go ahead with it of"rewrite" the timeline he will do a disaster..."

Natsume-the poison "lady" (pocionist)

Quote:"calm down sweetie, You don't will suffer"

After his father's dead his mother collapsed and started abuse his son but he was foccused on develope his talent in the art if adivination but after she tried kill him he decided lear about the art of the potions and poisons and with it,he poisoned his mother and escape from home,after it he decided wandering singing and dancing in parks and taverns and offering his services as fortune-teller but after discover that much persons was abused by others (and nobles) he used his knowledges in poisons and started to sell them and poison people for money,in one of those "jobs" he danced in a street and meeted an informant broker who helped him with his "objetive". After that event for his fascination for the actor/informant he decided stay in the kingdom still offering his services as pocionist and poisoner and working in the theater/guild singing and dancing while he help the informant and his now husband and his friend the winter sorcerer on his plan to overthrown all the corrupt noblesse

"what's you need from me,a luck charm,a tarot reading...or a deadly poison?"

*coming soon, double face and Ryukyu isekai outfits*

[breesays]

This will be our year --

Moving and transitioning and ending and searching. Spicy popcorn and texts just to check in. K.Flay and drawing with the right pens and making up words. Fizzy water and Lorde and ace community immersion. Thinking of the worst responses possible and keeping them to myself. Anna Banana workouts and binge reading and lemon gum trees. Yellowcard's "end" lasting exactly as long as my marriage. The Crane Wife and roles and relationships. Done lists over to-do lists and taking back nostalgia and seaweed snacks. The trivial and monumental, interwoven. Fall Out Boy's best album and again feeling like I NEED to be at certain shows. Hearing "Space" at WWWY. Watching lives fall apart and be stitched back together again. Realizing I have so many more questions than the ones I am asking - how can I be the next Barbara Walters? Planks and patio projects and tingling in my toes when the gummies hit just right. Facing the Instant Pot and failing a little but also making it work, a few times. Glass Animals and Goldfinger for Des and counterspace after the downstairs neighbors that gave me PTSD. Book club(s) and 6 pack of peaks and having friends to send sad text messages to. My 20-lb cat sleeping on my chest and framing mantras and having a few morning dance parties with Des. From "I made the mistake of reading your blog" to scrivener to hold my hand while we fall asleep. Booking The Warning and listening to Nosebleeds and feeling sleepy at The Hollywood Bowl during DCFC. To groupchats and moms club(s) and buying a dining table. Olivia Rodrigo and Paramore and Kesha and also wasn't 2008 a great year?

When I wrote this: It's my birthday. I'm celebrating but still also kind of mourning and my kid had a winter show today where he performed 3 songs from Grease (which is maybe the most I've ever seen of Grease) and it was the cutest thing I've ever seen and then got my friends into a show I didn't care to see but wanted to be out, doing something. I also knew there were words, sentences bubbling up inside of me. Eat a grilled cheese, talk about life, get home before you spill over. Too bad we couldn't find the warm floor of an abandoned basketball court to watch for shooting stars. In this smog? Well, we're optimists.

I've embarked on a personal project to go through all of my 3200+ LiveJournal entries. It's self-indulgent, I know. It's not without purpose. I'm writing a book about all the relationships I've navigated while not (really) knowing I'm Ace and I wanted to make sure I got the timeline and the sentiments correct. It's easy to be a badass in retrospect - but I don't want to lie to make myself look better. I've loved with my whole heart, with one ankle bearing the pressure of a door plenty of people had try to -end scene- me with.

Two things can be true? Actually, ten things can be true.

Can you believe how many lives we've already lived, inside of this one?

PJ already has 7000 words. He always said he said he felt small compared to me. The reason for his tall tales. I've been courted and carried and loved and weaved into the fabric of other beings and yet this shitbird from Missouri - he opens me up like its arterial. He's dead, and I'm still bleeding. I don't know what the LESSON is here. Worse - maybe there isn't one. Maybe I just feel bad until I feel better.

Overall, though - I guess this is progress. I'm feeling my feelings, even if they seem overdramatic, irrational. Future me is going to be back here, searching - so I give her this: You were sad. Your friend cup was overflowing and everyone wanted to celebrate with you, but you didn't have the energy (or money) to plan anything. You were going to a lot of shows. Reading like a fiend. Getting Desmond into OK Go. Forcing yourself to workout for the endorphins. You love where you live, in Studio City. The giant window, the patio, trees, the hummingbirds - the smallest things make the hugest impact. You have so much to look forward to.

Celebrate your friends birthdays because they are not guaranteed. Reach out, reach back, reach wherever and tell people that they matter. Spread your wings, take up space because this is it. This is it.

[3fling]

I have a lot of thoughts about character development and their reception

(Obvi focusing too much on ghost and soap, which lead to focusing too much on project freelancer, and I’m reading too many books that are sparking the hyperfixation too atm, but if they inspire me to think then that’s fine.)

I love mischaracterization when they’re funny or just objectively good fandom choices. I don’t mind that much when characters are mischaracterized either. That’s not the point tho. The point is the depth of/implications made by really good character assessments.

Probably gonna be major spoilers for Red vs Blue, and the entire Mistborn series beyond this point.

(Maybe also for modern warfare 2 but I’ve never interacted with the source material and everything I know is from fan content so I don’t really know?? Anyway proceed with caution I’ll try to tag stuff as I talk.)

But like. Okay yes Wash is the tired dad guy in RVB post-freelancers. It’s very funny bc he’s a seasoned soldier and the reds and blues are pretty much useless. I’ve been rewatching seasons 9&10 lately, and I’m realizing just how much Wash has changed. He’s still a bit of a dick (which is fine), but when he was a true freelancer he was… personable? Optimistic? I would even say excited about being a soldier. Fast forward through 1.) losing everyone he’s ever known (yes Carolina too, but I’ll come back to that), 2.) being betrayed by some of the people he trusted the most, 3.) being forced to work with the animated corpse of his best friend and teammate and ultimately almost get killed by him before watching him die, and 4.) losing his last sliver of connection to the person he was before — we get to present day Wash (circa season 14, I haven’t watched past that). Wash is a broken man. Like so entirely and inescapably broken.

It takes him such a long time to start caring about the reds and blues bc he’s seen people he believed to be invincible get slaughtered. He watched his family get destroyed from the inside out. Every single person he knew all those years ago is dead, including the people he and Carolina used to be. He gets portrayed like “haha isn’t it funny how this seasoned vet has to hang out with these guys who have no idea how the military works?? Lol” and then at the same time he is just so desperately trying to persist. Not even survive. By the time Maine dies, I genuinely feel like Wash felt he had lost too much. He’s so reluctant to trust in and care about the reds and blues because he has been to the absolute depths of despair and loss and he doesn’t want to go back there.

Carolina, too. Like I didn’t realize the first time that she and York met before enlisting. That they enlisted together, that they were canonically romantically-involved like long term throughout all of the freelancer arc. They were a perfect match (I genuinely believe this, but I’m not going to take more space on this particular post to explore it). Then Carolina thinks he’s betraying her when he starts working against PFL and ends up abandoning him to die. She doesn’t realize until she’s also betrayed for real by active freelancers how wrong she was. The scene where she finds the Delta unit hit so much harder the more you dig into her and York’s story. Even after she abandoned him, York had faith he could win her back. He was planning to propose to her for YEARS. Even after she left him. He had so much faith that she would see the truth and they would make amends. She knows that now that it’s too late and she has to live with that knowledge for the rest of her life.

She was also betrayed by Maine, the man who took multiple shots for her and defended her with his life, only for him to turn on her and try to kill her just to loot her body. (Again I realize there was more to this plot point than that, but from her POV he had just lost it and betrayed her). Even Washington crosses her at some point. By the time she realizes how fucked up the entire PFL situation is, almost everyone she’s ever known has been murdered or is MIA-presumed-KIA and she has to live with the guilt of surviving that while defending the very thing that killed them all. So yeah, she and Wash “survived” but they are NOT the same people from the start of the story.

With Mistborn: The Lost Metal, seeing into the depths of Wayne’s regret and pain really fleshes his character out in a way I had assumed Brandon had already covered. Wayne didn’t just ruin that girls life, he’s ruined a lot of peoples lives, including his own. The worst part is, he can’t bring himself to do anything to change it and he’s fully aware of that fact and it makes him feel even worse. When he says the worst thing in the world is someone who wants to be like him, because he knows him and he hates that man… when MeLaan confessed that she didn’t really love him she was just sort of passing time with him and his conclusion is that it was because he wasn’t good enough for her?? God that hurts. But it’s so real and I feel like people aren’t talking about that aspect of Wayne enough. He’s goofy and stupid as a form of self-medication (since he can’t drink away his problems) in order to distract himself from his crushing guilt, regret, and self-loathing. He doesn’t want to be funny just to be funny. It’s almost entirely self-serving as a way to give himself a sense of worth and as a distraction, and his character deserves to have that recognized.

With Mistborn Era 1/Secret History, I’ve seen a lot of people complain that SH betrayed Kelsier’s character and motivation, but I think it solidified what Brandon had been hinting at all along. While his motivation may have initially been to fulfill Mare’s dream, over time it transformed into a desire to destroy the upper class/Lord Ruler as pure, unadulterated revenge. Marsh says something at one point I think to the effect of “is this what Mare would have done? Would she have wanted you to do this?” And Kelsier just sort of tells him to fuck off, but he’s RIGHT. Marsh tells us that Kelsier is a little crazy, biased, ambitious, and takes things too far. In my opinion, his decision to give up the afterlife in lieu of getting to keep living and furthering his personal goals is a clear decider. I’m not saying he doesn’t still love Mare or want to make her proud, but his own ambition now usurps his desire to do what Mare wanted to do. He’s willingly turned his back on seeing her again in favor of continuing his work toward his goals. I still love him as a character, but I can’t understand how people miss this critical character flaw and chalk it up to bad writing on Brandon’s part.

Anyway this all came from seeing someone talking about how if we were gonna be honest Ghost isn’t baby girl and instead would be:

Very wary, scared of forming attachments

Anti-touch, loathe any and all physical contact

Terrible at empathizing or connecting or communicating

And how basically all the really sweet and wonderful aspects about his babygirlification would unfortunately not happen as he is (much like all our other war veterans in this post) a DEEPLY broken man.

Idk that’s all I’ve just been thinking about that a lot lately.

[roosterbox]

Fic Rec Friday 5/19/23

Title: can’t you hear me?

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: M/M

Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016)

Relationship: Steve Harrington/Eddie Munson

Characters: Eddie Munson, Steve Harrington

Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Abandonment, Eddie Has Abandonment Issues, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt, Protective Steve Harrington, Hurt Eddie Munson, Eddie Munson Needs a Hug, Soft Eddie Munson, Crying, Sickfic, Sort Of, Arguing, Eddie Munson is a Sweetheart, Past Abuse, Panic Attacks

Summary: Eddie and Steve get into a fight and Steve gives him the silent treatment so that he doesn’t end up saying something he doesn’t mean. Only to be reminded of Eddie's abandonment issues and this only makes matters worse.

———

Angst city, boys. We in it this time.

Usually my preferred Steddie angst vehicle is Steve - perhaps his parents? His Big Gay Realization? Or maybe just all of his concussion consequences finally coming home to roost? - but this story goes a different route. A different, but somehow even more emotionally wrenching one. As much as I love seeing Steve deal with trauma (sorry Stevie!), I tend to neglect the fact that Eddie has a metric fuckton of it too, and not all of it is Upside Down related.

For someone like him, who seems very tactile and in need of a sort of emotional grounding, I imagine the sensation of being ignored by the person he loves and trusts most is scarier than any demobat or demogorgon. And that’s conveyed in this story beautifully. But also it really fucking hurts. I can’t explain why exactly, but Eddie getting emotional enough to cry - really, really cry - hits me right in the chest and will not let go.

It also hits because I’m the type of person to shut down into silence mode when I’m angry too. I try to at least convey to the person/people I’m with that I’m not ignoring them to make them feel bad or anything, I just need to process quietly for a bit; in that case, I’ve got one up on Steve. But that’s the other thing - they’re still young. They make mistakes. And then? They weather them. Chalk it up to a learning experience. And hopefully Steve knows now to never do this again, no matter how mad he is, lol.

———

Next Week: Time for some more Gay Lawyers! Also, more angst courtesy of Miles Edgeworth and his Dead Father Issues. That is a plot well that keeps on giving. Much like with Stevie baby, I just love throwing my boy in the wringer.

Bye bye for now!

[youmissedone]

He was failing hard at not seeming like a clone, he knew. Every time Rain looked at him like he was nuts, Carlos knew he'd screwed up. He had to try to keep this up, though. If he couldn't kill her - and he knew he couldn't, not by himself and not again someone who can come back from all this - then he had to delay or sidetrack her somehow to give Alice and the others time to escape. What happened to him at this point... didn't matter. Protecting them was the mission now.

As he listened to her story, Carlos wondered if it was even true. This ice was thick as hell, he knew. Not many firearms could penetrate it enough to break through and make a hold wide enough for a human being to fall through it. Hearing that Jill had given Alice a Kriss Vector put things into perspective. The rounds from that could definitely have gotten the job done. "So it wasn't any kind of ruse... Valentine really did defect," he said, trying to sound either disappointed or discouraged by that when he was actually so glad to hear it.

When she asked if he'd been hit on the head with a surprising amount of genuine sincerity and curiosity, Carlos had a eureka moment. That... could serve to explain some of his deviant thoughts and behaviors. And he didn't even have to lie. He did get hit on the head, and he had an egg on the back of it to prove it. It wasn't all that bad, he hadn't even lost consciousness, but it'd hurt like hell. "Yeah, I did, actually," he said, rubbing the back of his head where the egg was. "I got tossed around a bit when the facility flooded. I'm not sure what I hit, exactly. Concrete, maybe."

As Rain said they didn't leave orders uncompleted, Carlos chuckled cynically, drawing from emotions that still resided within him from that fateful night in Raccoon City. "Yeah, we don't, do we..." he said darkly. "We do whatever we're told, with little to no information, no backup plan, and if we die, so what, right? And what has it ever gotten us, Ocampo? You're right, we don't leave orders uncompleted. But have you ever asked yourself why? Let's say we find Project Alice and kill her. Great. Mission accomplished. Now what? This facility's destroyed. Where do we get our next orders from? Wander to another facility and hope they accept us? Where does it end?" He knew he was on shaky territory here, but hey, he'd taken a hit to the noggin and wasn't thinking straight. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Her severe reaction to hearing the Red Queen referred to as a computer reminded Carlos of exactly who he was talking to. Not that he'd forgotten, but when someone wore the face and used the voice of your friend, it was sometimes hard not to slip back into nostalgia again. "I don't know!" he exclaimed, still going with the idea of the head injury having done something to him. "I don't feel like myself anymore. Maybe it was the crack on the head, maybe it's hearing that Valentine abandoned us, maybe it's losing our entire team... again... I don't know. I'm just getting tired of all the bullshit, I guess."

"You want to find Project Alice, fine, I'll go with you, I'll help you. But... for all anyone knows, we're dead. So if we were ever going to cut our losses and break the cycle, be something more than just expendable slaves... that time is now," he said, hoping he wasn't about to get shot in the head or something. "Maybe Valentine realized the same thing. Have you thought of that?"

Despite her being a clone of Rain, and despite the creepy way she lacked a lot of Rain's emotion, some of it was peeking through. Carlos could see desire to pay Alice back, not just to follow orders. He could see anger and some amount of affront at being treated as expendable. It was there. Maybe buried, or maybe reduced, but it was there.

When she mentioned DNA and several versions of him, his brow furrowed, pretending he didn't know, that he didn't see that disgusting room with hanging tracks of clone blanks being cycled like clothing on a dry cleaner's rack. Pretending... that he didn't know Becky had been created from combining his and Alice's DNA. Probably the only kid I'll ever have, he thought grimly. "What do you mean?" he asked. Whatever she wanted to tell him, he wanted her to say it. Information was power, and the more of it Carlos had at his disposal, the better off he knew he'd be.

"Oh no, you're not scraping me off that easily. I'm coming with you. We're stronger together," he said firmly. If Rain was really dead set on finding Alice, he had to think of a way to slow her down or of something to do once they got there to prevent something terrible from happening. This is gonna be interesting...

[Sooo... saw that ask about Carlos and clones, and it made Bad Rain wanna say hi] Rain silently assessed the man in front of her from behind the dark-tinted goggles of her gas mask. After her little dinner date in the ocean, her retinal implants started malfunctioning and she could no longer discern if this was a new Carlos or what. "...I thought you were dead," she stated.

Carlos was pretty sure he was the last man standing as far as whoever was still left inside the quickly-failing facility. On their side, that is. There were still plenty of clones running around, and Jill had beaten him to the midget submarines with whoever she still had with her. At least nobody had noticed he was still kicking, or that he'd taken one of them for himself. He barely knew how to work it, but right now it was his only chance. The failing facility was quickly flooding from every angle, so he had to get out of there fast.

Alice and the others were long gone as well - he hoped, anyway - and Barry... Well, Barry hadn't made it. Maybe that was for the best, considering the injuries he'd gotten from that uber licker had probably doomed him anyway unless they could locate some of the antivirus. Carlos had stood by him until the end, hoping they'd bought enough time for Alice and the others to escape.

Carlos wouldn't have figured Alice would agree to leave him behind, but... hey, there was a child involved, and someone had to buy time somewhere. Barry was already screwed and Carlos... was kindof used to taking one for the team. His narrow escape from death back in Nevada was proof of that. He didn't blame Alice one damn bit for taking the opportunity and getting the hell out. At the end of the day, people like her and him were protectors, and sometimes protectors didn't walk away with their lives.

That didn't mean he wasn't going to try. Laying down and dying for no damn good reason wasn't something Carlos was about. He was gonna try to fight his way out of here, or he was gonna make his death useful in some way. So he'd taken one of the midgets subs, donned the trappings of his clone from whatever Umbrella commando attire he could find stored in it, and set out. He didn't know who he was going to run into, after all.

It was a while before he encountered Jill's sub, with any and all communications having been wrecked by all that water. And of course, he didn't have the benefit of any retinal implants. Surfacing so he could get out and see what had gone down, he was met with a disappointing scene. There was no sign of Alice, Becky, Leon, or the rest of the strike team. Except... for Luther. Poor bastard. Luther had been a good guy, and Carlos was sorry to see he'd met his end here. Jill and her clone army wasn't anywhere to be seen either, though. Where did everybody go?

He turned when he suddenly heard Rain's voice, of course knowing she was a clone. Any Rain he ran into anywhere was a clone at this point. He'd heard Alice's tearful accounts of what had happened to the original Rain enough times to know for sure that she was completely dead. Silently, Carlos told himself to be careful, play the part.

When she said she thought he was dead, he had to resist the urge to crack some kind of joke. That was what came naturally to him, something to the effect of , rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated or, I'm a lot harder to kill than that. But clone Carlos wouldn't make jokes. About himself... or the fact that Rain was drenched. What'd you do, decide to take a dip in the ocean? Nope, he had to play it straight.

"No. And neither are you, it seems," he answered flatly, still holding his rifle at the ready, acting like he was suspicious of her for a moment, before lowering it. "Rest of the team is, though. Whatever that explosion was let half the ocean in and took everyone out. I'm blind here, save for the GPS system in the sub. No comms, no maps, no target scanners, nothing. The salt water fucked with all of it," he said, acting annoyed yet also restrained about it. "Where's Project Alice and the rest of the intruders? What about Chief Valentine?" he asked, remembering the various monikers he'd heard the Red Queen use inside the facility.

There just hadn't been enough time, though, to perfect everything before Rain showed up, and Carlos knew these clones were smart. They were engineered that way. So he hoped his outfit was on correctly, that all his major scars were covered, and that he didn't have too much of a haggard five o' clock shadow. Anything like that could give him away, and he knew he couldn't take on a clone version of Rain alone... especially when he knew the clones had access to Las Plagas enhancements that made them damn near indestructible...