#niko writes...sometimes

[niko-mesu-the-dragon-dog]

the Q!Jaiden theory of her ALWAYS being part of the Federation and infiltrated with the rest of the islanders as a secret agent but the wall explosion gave her amnesia, and that’s why she couldn’t answer Cucurucho when it asked where did she live before the island and now Cucurucho is trying to refresh her memory by making her revisit the that old Fed building that is now a dungeon to get her back into the Fed.... that theory has done irreversible damage to my brain/pos

[brokentrafficknight]

Blake's Beta Readers Pt 5

Blake: It is not! I resent that. Slander is spoken. In print, it's libel.

[bitchdafuqyousay]

Bad Bread

Nikolaj stared at the vague imitation of a loaf of sourdough on his kitchen counter; his lips pressed into a thin line in a desperate attempt to keep himself from laughing at it.

"Niko, I'm gonna fucking die. Oh my God it's so ugly I'm genuinely ashamed of it. My hideous first born child," His guest, an enthusiastic but slightly hopeless bread baking tutee groaned pathetically, her upper half slumped onto the counter next to him with her face in her hands.

"It's... certainly an effort. So."

She made a distressed keen from behind her hands, a sound he imagined a slowly dying rodent might make, "Fuck this I'm sticking to desserts. The only bread I'll ever make is monkey. God."

That hardly counted as a type of bread in Nikolaj's opinion, but he digressed;

"Maybe not all is lost, Anna, the outside appearance is. Well. We can both see it in front of us but maybe-"

"Niko I swear to whatever higher being you believe in if you it's what's in the inside that counts me right now I'll throw a fuckin' tantrum."

"Frankly, I think you're already throwing one. A small one, but one nonetheless," He pulled a bread knife from his knife block (a recent birthday gift from the woman currently whining over his counter) and approached the almost bread adjacent lump to slice it.

Wow.

"It deflated."

Anna screeched something unintelligible and all but fell to the floor, crouching on his tiles. The crust had somehow completely separated from the actual bread, and was floating down pathetically onto the loaf like a sad, threadbare blanket. Nikolaj once again sucked his lips in to keep from wheezing out a laugh, his friend was having no such reservations however.

She'd gone from woeful humiliation to loud uninhibited squawks of laughter; stifled only by her hands that still hid her face, "Oh my god it's so bad!"

"Air bubbles happen," He was trying for encouraging, "It might be alright."

"Nikooooo-" She wheezed out through peels of laughter, "You know it's shit!"

"Not yet I don't." Despite his placating he was squinting suspiciously at the thing. Truth be told, he had zero inclinations or even a smidgen of faith that it would taste alright. He broke off a teeny piece from the slice he'd cut, steeling himself to try it.

His efforts to prepare himself were for naught, however, because Anna had sprung up whip-quick from her spot on his tiled floor and snatch the morsel from his fingers.

"No. No fucking way. I'll be damned if I let you try this. I'm humiliated as is and I'd sooner throw myself down this building's elevator shaft than let Nikolaj- premium baker savant perfectionist- Kato put this anywhere near his pretty mouth." She punctuated her (ridiculous) statement by tossing the bite of bread into her mouth and chewing quickly like there was a risk he'd take it back from her. He leaned back onto his counter, crossing his arms over his chest and watching the very impressive array of expressions cross her face.

"It's so bad. It is so goddamn bad," was the final review- delivered with a now deadpan face and rounded shoulders, "It's a good thing I brought my own ingredients instead of using yours like you offered. This is a total fucking waste. Of everything. Even air."

Nikolaj snorted and swiped a second small piece for himself, he wanted to know. He was desperately curious, ignoring Anna as she slowly shook her head no, tossing it into his mouth and cautiously chewing.

It really is true that curiosity killed the poor cat.

"Honestly, I'm impressed. It's texture in hand and on first bite is fine but somehow it turns to ash the second it comes into contact with saliva-" He wasn't able to suppress a huff of laughter this time "-it even tastes like ash. I imagine this is what'd it be like to scoop a handful of remains from the inside of a crematorium and try to eat it."

"Niko I am going to fucking kill myself right here in your kitchen."

She said it so dryly (as dry as the bread attempt he was currently spitting into his trash can) that he barked out a surprised laugh, nearly choking on what was left in his mouth. After a second or two she started laughing again, each exhale getting louder and louder.

"It was like trying the goddamn cinnamon challenge all over again!" She screeched and he started to laugh harder, remembering that stupid trend and how it'd gone for them when they tried it. He still had the video of it on his computer, two stupid high schoolers in atrocious 2010s fashion trying to swallow spoonfuls of spice and choking instantaneously- coughing reddish brown powder all over themselves and one another in her mother's kitchen. Her laugh increased in volume; interrupted by loud painful snorting as she tried to say something else. It came out more like the sound of a banshee choking and he had to lean on the counter to support himself as he choked on his own spit.

Her laugh had always taken him out, she'd start squawking and he'd bypass laughter and go straight to wheezing and tearing up. She flapped her hands, drawing his attention to the failed lump of bread on his counter- pointing and shrieking as it somehow deflated even further, the bottom flattening out like a punctured tire.

He guffawed (a very ugly sound, even to his own ears) at the pathetic thing and a sharp cackle bubbled out of Anna's chest at the sound. The high sharp, crack of her laughs merged with his diaphragm deep gasps and rumbly chuckles in the air of his kitchen and he briefly worried about his old as dirt neighbor rocking up to his door to bitch about the noise. He looked over at Anna as she leaned over onto the counter, grinning so big he thought her cheeks might tear as she tried to catch her breath.

Whatever. Fuck that old bag.

Nikolaj smiled back at her, not as big as her smile (no one could ever smile as big or bright as Anna did) but no less genuine or joyful, his own chest heaving as he clutched the counter corner for support.

"Niko, I'm telling you-" she straightened herself up "-I'm sticking to desserts." Her grin was still there, all teeth.

"Anna, I'm telling you," He pointed at the "bread" and smirked smugly at her, "I'm taking that thing to school tomorrow, and showing it to Ira."

"You will not show that to our meanest colleague!" She stomped her foot but her smile widened, no doubt imagining their friend's reaction to it. Ira would absolutely try it and the sharp witted woman would bring them all to their knees with the quips she'd make about it.

"Oh who knows. Maybe she'll like it! It might remind her of cigarette ash," He started and Anna let out a chuff of laughter, "You keep making that bread and bring it to her, and she'll be able to quit in no time. Wean her off with it."

"Ira'd beat you half to death with her office chair if she heard you say that!"

"I'll give her your attempt at bread, say it, then run out real quick to the infirmary so that way even if she does catch me I'll be able to get medical attention immediately."

"Wow, full proof plan. Incredible calculations." She turned to face the loaf completely, planting her hands on her hips and shaking her head, "Seriously though, the hell do we do with this? Put it out on the street, it's so bad I'm willing to chuck it to the birds. Leave my first born to the wilderness."

"Stop calling it that, also, what wilderness? This is a residential block, Anna. In a city. The wildest thing here is my neighbor."

"Oh yeah, for sure. That bitch bites I just know it. If that walking mummy gets too pissed about volume she'll snap and leave her dentures embedded in your arm. Septic bite type beat."

Nikolaj chuckled, "She'd pitch a fit if we chuck this outside, and truthfully, I don't even think the birds in this so-called wilderness will want this."

She rolled her eyes as he came to stand next to her, the both of them staring down at the halfway flat bread in amused silence. He nudged her with his hip to get her attention, "We'll try again next weekend."

She looked up at him and matched his smile, "Yeah. I'll bring my own shit again. Not using up your Grade A baking stuff to bring yet another ugly lump into this world."

[sasakisyndrome]

got asked for more of my thoughts on this!!

(precanon) brad!charles and janet!edwin are on a case where they need to go to an abandoned castle in the middle of nowhere. there, they meet frankfurter!cat king who is instantly fascinated by edwin and welcomes the two to stay for the party and for the night. edwin is a bit hesitant about the whole ordeal but charles has found himself infatuated with the castles maid magenta!crystal, so they accept. the two learn from colombia!niko about the mad scientist/witch who has created rocky!monty, and he too, seems to be very drawn to edwin…

dead boy detectives rocky horror au…. let me cook

[eli-writes-sometimes]

The more that I'm writing this Niko and Athena story that I've got going on, the more I've realised that I don't think it's ever going to actually go anywhere. I'm going to keep writing it because I love it, but I don't think that I'm going to do much tumblr stuff related to it. Maybe use them as ocs because I love them but not use it for writing excerpts or anything

[scivors]

Andre Nikto head canons

We have little information about Niko but here's what I've gathered..

((Also I'd like to kindly add, hi, hello, my name is Mika and I am a Bosnian. The chances of me adding some accurate slav head canons are always high but never low!!🙏🏻 ALSO IM TERRIBLY OBSESSED WITH NIKTO SO IF ENJOY THIS AND YOU WANT DATING NIKTO HEAD CANONS PLEASE LET ME KNOWWW))

Genuine head canons:

Andre Nikto (Никто) is a (scary) Russian military man, roughly 193/194 centimetres (when you compare him to Simon's height) He suffers with acute dissociative disorder (better said DID) yet is still serving the military cause of how he preforms during battle.., so the military still views him as a ideal soldier for combat despite his disorder..

No hate but from what I've seen in some art works claiming it's his "face reveal" you people have to understand that under his mask, his face is disfigured.. so, no he won't be an attractive super model under that mask of his..

I don't think you people are aware how badass Nikto is as a character, almost SIMILAR as Ghost who's in the military for the same reason as everybody else, to risk their life.

Although judging by Nikto's voice lines, he doesn't care who he's killing..if it were up to him, if his teammates serve him zero purpose he'd care less if they die..(after all, you're just a target..) but being a professional, he can't allow that to happen to his teammates

If you look up closely, Nikto wears a military uniform that is different from everyone else with MP-0 written on it. Now if you don't know, MP stands for Military Police (enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state.) and zero next to it meaning "nothing" and this is important which is what Nikto refers himself as..

Yeah so about that..

I have a theory about Nikto's nickname

After being captured and brutally tortured with whatever sick tendency mister Z had in store for him. It was Mister Z that couldn't really get much Information about Andre.

They would start torturing him while repeating to Andre that he's nothing, he's no one, what he is is nothing but what he is is everything. Those words play in the back of his head and they never seen to go away.

(This is extremely relevant cause Mister Z tried to get to know a bit of Andre by looking through some research come to find his citizenship and language are censored making him a nobody. Keep in mind, if he found any information about Andre viewing from personal life etc. it will be used as blackmail..)

After recovering his scars and taken to therapy after 7 years he was diagnosed with DID

NOW moving on to the DID part

(What I said about the fact that people overlook Nikto's disorder, I mean it..

Some don't really write about his disorder which is fine but when someone does it gets messy. )

Alters aren't easy to deal with, it's actually gonna haunt you till the day that you die cause there's no cure for it. And in Nikto's case it's from PTSD and Nikto is very aware of his alters..

Let me tell you how Nikto's disorder affects him. Switching can be consensual, forced or triggered, Nikto values silence as much as the next person cause he's dealing with much inside his head already. The kind of guy that would "watch TV" while dissociating with a 100 yard glare with very slow blinking and a slight headache..

There are times where his personalities would correct him when hes referring to himself (example: I'm up..(his personality correctes him) WE'RE up..)

"He made us do this" (and other voice lines I can't recall..)

Maybe cut bits of an apple with a knife and eat it while watching TV..

He has medication prescribed for him but he didn't wanna depend on medications cause they're just drugs..they're nothing to him but just drugs..

He has dissociative amnesia too, sometimes he would wander around confused maybe even annoyed. The amnesia appears to be caused by traumatic or stressful experiences endured or witnessed..Although the forgotten information may be inaccessible to consciousness, it sometimes continues to influence behavior

Like I said he likes quiet people, someone who doesn't waste their air on small talk..

Example; don't really talk to him about the weather, unless you have something interesting to say but if the conversation is gonna go nowhere , don't talk..he finds that a waste of time

People assume just because he's Russian that he likes vodka, he doesn't like vodka...-He doesn't like any alcoholic beverage cause it makes his problems a lot worse,...maybe If you were lending him some as an offering, he'll take it but he has SOME self control, he's okay with coffee, though..

It's relevant cause he stays awake at late hours since he finds it difficult to sleep, he'll stay up late with no music, nothing, just a silent room. It doesn't matter if he tries the military tactic where you just close your eyes and turn off your thoughts, it's very different when you have voices screaming inside your head...

Despite everything he's still intelligent, so being smart + strength + sharp reflexes and you got yourself a criminal

Death doesn't phase him, but to him death is like sleeping, he's not scared of death considering that he's been through hell those past few months.

He likes the simple things, don't complicate anything..because he's quick with catching an attitude..be blunt and forward and stumble over your words..

Nikto shows confidence in the battlefield,just like König, except he has a high rush of adrenaline and will laugh at the enemies death.

Fun fact: in this one comic Price calls Nikto "psycho"

And it's without a doubt that he is one.., a sadistic, sociopathic, psychopath

After splitting, his alters can and will get more aggressive and do more harm and damage to others cause they're doing the most at protecting the host.. (depending on the alter, some wanna protect him while some wanna hurt him)

Oh by the way about the intelligence part, I mean he has a good good memory with remembering faces..

He doesn't like people looking at him funny, he'll get angry really fast and annoyed at the same time.., he won't show hesitation when it comes to approaching you and asking you what are you looking at (it's like trying to avoid eye contact with a homeless man Infront of a store, that's how scared you would be)

He's slow with jokes or any form of humor that you throw at him??? You'll be excited to tell him a joke, and when you do he just looks at you and tells you never to do that again..,or just straight up tell you he doesn't get it...??? and probably trying to explain it either he gets it or not he'll still tell you that it's not funny

He doesn't argue, or he does? Arguing with him will costs you avoiding getting objects thrown at you so you can get out of his sight..tragic, now you have a teammate that hates your guts and won't apologize for it.

[caesium-55]

—seven days. [ ii ]

pairing: max verstappen x manager! reader.

summary: as the third time world champion, max verstappen's manager, you function on the belief that whatever max verstappen wanted, max verstappen shall get. but this time, after four years of working as his manager, you can't give him what he wants anymore and that was to stay.

author's note: not beta-read. not edited. here's part 2 folks. part 3 is on the works now. did i write this fic instead of studying for my important quiz tomorrow? yes, yes i did. pls pray for my score.

masterlist.

For Christmas in 2019, Max has gotten you an apartment near his in Monaco. It is a loft apartment good for one on the 8th floor, a building away from where Daniel and Max lived. Originally, he wants to get you the unit a floor below his. You decline quickly, insisting that you are very fine with rooming with Julia and Kendall, who are both members of the Red Bull PR team whom you have gotten close with since your first year working with Red Bull. Max may have beef with the PR team for making him do a lot of embarrassing shit for the views but you're besties with most of them and actually thank them for making Max suffer through PR stuff because you cannot afford therapy and watching Max suffer through PR-related activities is a good form of free therapy. Also, Monaco apartments are fucking expensive. Red Bull might be paying you well but not well enough to afford an apartment in a country as expensive as Monaco.

“I want you close,” he tells you. If you did not know any better, you'd have butterflies fluttering in your intestines right about that moment. Sometimes, Max utter the most heart-fluttering of nonsense without meaning to. It causes your heart to stutter more times than you would like to admit.

“Well, I don't want you close.”

Max will never ever win an argument with you. He knows that. You know that. The best he can do is come to a compromise, a compromise that is usually tailored to suit whatever you want.

So you got that small loft apartment a building away, good for one person only. It's easy to clean and it's cheap, Max already said that, which makes you happy because you can set a payment plan for that. An apartment as a Christmas gift is already too much, borderline giving you a heart attack already. Rich people spending their money give you, a person of the middle class folks, heart attacks. Why can't Max be normal and give you a normal gift? A bracelet? A bag? You’ll even accept it if he gave you a slice of cheesecake. Not even your parents can buy you an apartment.

It has only been three years since the keys are passed on to your ownership and people say three years is enough time for a person to make a place home. But your apartment doesn't even feel like home, only a place you’ll sleep in if you happen to be in Monaco for the evening.

Home is that humble, two-storey house painted in red and yellow in Lynnwood Avenue, Vista Del Pueblo, Austin, a total picture of a picket fence dream. Home is Abuelo's old farmhouse in El Paso where you spent your childhood riding horses and driving ATVs across the dusty dry earth. Home is the retro milkshake place owned by the sweet old couple that has been in the neighborhood longer than your entire existence. Home is the tree-lined streets where you walked the family senior dog, Niko. Home is the Austin Fire House, your Dad’s workplace that you visited a handful of times back when you were a child to deliver cookies that your Abuela baked so your Dad could share it with his co-workers. Home is your mom’s clinic in the middle of downtown, always smelling like eugenol, disinfectant, formaldehyde, and her perfume. Home is not glitz and gold and glamor and cash cash cash. Home is not seeing wealthy people left and right. Home is not Monaco.

And it is not like you stayed long in your place either. You're always off traveling around the world with the Red Bull team and accompanying Max wherever he needs your presence. You don't even spend your breaks in that apartment because you immediately fly home to your family once a break is graciously given to you before flying off again to watch Max collect trophy after trophy.

Six days from now, you're going to be flying off to Texas. That means you have six days—less than six days actually—to pack all your crayons and go. Of course you're going to pack up the day before you leave. Doing shit last minute makes your life exciting, and it's not like you had a lot of shit to pack anyway. All your belongings can be tucked into a total of three suitcases. Three years worth of belongings in three suitcases.

you: you doin good there?

Max has been holing himself up in his penthouse since your arrival from Abu Dhabi, probably dealing with his breakup with Kelly. A shame, really. You thought the two looked good together. (Do they really? the asshole part of your brain thinks.)

And P. Thank God for that child’s existence. You hate children but P is an exception. P brings the best out of Max. Max has gotten the chance to act as the father he never had. It's heartwarming, to be honest.

him: not really no

him: can you bring me coffee

you: on it champ

Fifteen minutes later, you’re knocking on the gigantic double doors of his penthouse, a tall styro cup of espresso from that cute café two streets down and a slice of blueberry cheesecake because you’re thoughtful enough to buy him his favorite cake. You experienced a breakup before. A cake and an icecream work wonders when it came to healing broken hearts.

“You're fast,” he immediately says after opening the door. You kind of expect that he’d look worse, snotty and messy and looking like he ran from hell and back. But no, he looks……fine? His sweater and shorts look absolutely neat and comfortable and dry of snot. His hair is a little fluffy from lying on his bed but not too messy. He doesn't even look like he was crying. No red-rimmed eyes. No red nose.

You fake gasp, putting a hand on your chest for additional dramatic effect, “The fastest racer in F1 callin’ me fast. Truly honored.”

A smile plays on his lips, sidestepping and beckoning you in.

You frequently come by Max’s home, for work purposes of course, but you still cannot help but be amazed by the enormity of it every time you enter. Max’s penthouse is twenty times bigger than the apartment you currently live in. One man and a big house—it must be very lonely now that P and Kelly are no longer around. Now, you’re even more worried about what will happen the moment you go back to Texas.

Oh… You still haven't told him yet.

“Coffee,” you hand him the warm styro cup to which he accepts gratefully. He utters his thanks, taking a whiff before sipping, letting out a pleasured moan.

You make your way to his gigantic kitchen, navigating your way through his cabinets in search of a plate and a fork. You slide the cheesecake on the plate towards Max, who followed you to the kitchen and sat on the empty stool in the kitchen counter.

“Thank you,” he says, picking up the fork and taking a bite. He glances at your feet, eyes trained on your YSL. The obnoxious sound of the heels clicking against the floor as you walk probably is the one that caught his attention.

“You know, you've been wearing the same shoes since 2019.”

Points for Max for noticing. These YSL Opyum heels are the first luxury items you bought for yourself after saving for three years to buy one pair. You saw a rich international student wear it once back in university and you liked how sophisticated it looked compared to all the pairs of converse or platform boots you owned. So you made it your life’s goal to own one. In 2019, after doing tons of part time jobs in university and working with Red Bull for a whole year, you managed to buy yourself one on your birthday and you’d been wearing them to work ever since.

Your regular work uniform consists of a Red Bull polo shirt, a pencil or a slit skirt, and that specific pair of heels. Around 2021, you bought another pair to replace the old one because the old one broke. And 2022 again.

“What's wrong with ‘em?” you ask, brows furrowing as you followed his train of sight. Your heels might be a year old already but they still look fine.

Max blinks, “No, there's nothing wrong. Just…Do you think you would want to wear some other design?”

“No,” is your reply. “I like ‘em just the way they are.”

“Okay.”

Your conversation drifts into something else as Max finishes his coffee and cake. You spend the rest of the day in Max’s penthouse, lying on his plush couch while a slasher movie from the 2000s played on his wide TV. He has given you access on his Netflix account so you abused it to your heart’s content because you don't even have. a Netflix subscription. You can absolutely afford one, you just choose not to. You have opted in using your phone mid-movie because the movie is beginning to get real scary but you do not want Max to think you're a coward so you acted like you're disinterested instead.

“Oh look, Charles is also back in Monaco. Do you want to hang out together?” you nudge Max with your foot, who swats it away from him, face contorting in disgust. You show him the post on Charles private IG—yes, you were mutuals in each other's private IG because whoever is friends with Max was friends with you by extension—on your phone.

“Stop makin’ that face, my feet are nice.”

Your toenails are a glorious red now. Ferrari red actually and they suit you better than the Red Bull red. Huh, maybe you should have considered applying for Ferrari instead of Renault in 2018.

“No, it isn't.”

You roll your eyes, pulling it away from him and sitting up, “Do you want me to schedule you a dinner with Charles? You might need the bro time, you know? Dad said bro times are also important, but not as important as family time, of course. My bro broke up with his sweetheart back when I was still in uni and his best buds were the reason he was back up in tippy top shape by the end of the week.”

Max stares at you blankly, “I think I understand the words individually but not the sentence entirely. I don't know if it's the accent or you Americans just have a strange way of structuring your sentences.”

“Point is, hang out with a friend because a friend can help you move on from a pussy.”

Max hurls a throw pillow at your direction, which you luckily avoided thanks to your non-racer level but still considerably good reaction time, but unfortunately, this action causes your center of gravity to shift and before you know it, you're falling from the couch. Unconsciously, you grab Max but then Max doesn't expect that you’ll grab him so now, you’re both falling off the couch and onto the floor.

You groan.

“Fuckin’ ass, man. That was uncalled for.”

He flips you off.

Nevertheless, Max ends up following your advice though and calls Charles to hang out the next day. Lestappen fans should be thanking you on Twitter the next day for bringing those two together on an off-day in Monaco. Maybe they'll hang out and eat together in a restaurant? Maybe they'll go on a yacht picnic?

Except Max sends you a message at high noon.

him: sos

you: is your kitchen burning

him: no

him: but this is still an emergency and you need to come quick

him: he’s with his girlfriend and i don’t want to thirdwheel

you: succ it up

him: you can’t do this to me

him: i just got my heart broken in abu dhabi

you: where are you

him: home

him: i also need help in cooking

Charles is the one who answers the door when you knock. He looks genuinely surprised when he sees you and you deduce that Max hasn't told him that you're coming over.

“Babe, who’s that?” you hear Alex’s voice behind Charles and you light up immediately, quickly moving past Charles to throw your hands around the sweet young woman.

“Alex!” Alexandra laughs and hugs you back. The sound of her laughter is as pretty as she and God definitely has favorites because why did he sculpt this twenty-one year old like the daughter of the Aphrodite while you look like you were born from one of Hephaestus’ sperm that lost the gene pool contest? The world is unfair. You always get the short end of the stick, may it be career-wise or appearance-wise, and you can't even bring your personality to the table because normally, without the whole act of professionalism and sophistication you put on, you act like an extroverted American frat boy on a good day and a sassy drag queen slash war freak on a bad day so yeah, you guess that's the short end of the stick, too.

“Seriously?” you look up and saw Max holding a frying pan, staring at you unimpressed. You roll your eyes and slowly pull away from the hug, gaze returning to Alexandra.

“How’ve you been, sweetie? Been a while since I last saw you.”

You didn't get a chance to talk to her in Abu Dhabi and in Las Vegas.

“Good,” she replies, smiling sweetly and ugh, you want to pinch her cheeks so bad. But Charles is pulling you away from Alexandra before you can do so.

“No, no, she is mine, yours is right over there,” Charles says, pointing at Max, who's still standing there in the corner. “Go on. Shoo.”

You roll your eyes before walking up to Max, “‘Sup?”

Max raises a brow at you, “So Charles’ girlfriend gets a hug and I get a sup?”

“Well, she's Alexandra Saint Mleux and you’re just….” you look him up and down. “Nevermind, what you trynna cook?”

“I haven’t decided yet.”

“I thought you said you were cooking.”

“I said I needed help with cooking.”

Your eyes narrow into slits, “You’re going to let me do the cooking, aren't you?”

“You know that pasta you made in September that you said was your mother’s recipe?”

A sigh escapes your lips as you roll the sleeves of your button-up to your elbows and power-walked your way to the kitchen, the sound of your YSL heels clicking against the floor bouncing against the walls of Max’s kitchen.

Lunch goes great. Charles and Alexandra love your cooking. Max has even asked for seconds. Good to know that he's eating well. Somewhere down the line, champagne is served even though it’s mid-afternoon and the four of you're sitting in Max’s balcony, staring at Monaco scape below. Thankfully, it is a cloudy day in Monaco. The heat of the sun isn't too harsh on the skin. Despite that, you hand Max a sun screen.

“Sorry about Kelly, by the way,” Alexandra says. Your conversation has drifted towards Max’s failed relationship now.

“That is very nice of you to say,” replies Max, smiling slightly. “But I’m okay.”

You give him a look, clearly unconvinced. Admitting vulnerability gives him hives so he's definitely lying.

“You look too okay for a guy who ended a three-year relationship,” Charles muses and his words get you immediately thinking.

Oh? So they’ve been dating that long? You never noticed.

“Even [Name] looked worse when she broke up with that Williams mechanic two years ago and they dated for like what? Barely a year?”

“Unprovoked!” you exclaim. Alex and Max laugh.

But yeah, Charles is right. When you broke up with Leo in 2021, it was not the prettiest sight. He entered Williams mid-2020 as a mechanic and he immediately caught your attention. He's kind and handsome and a very sweet guy. You have similar interests—engineering—and a similar sense of humor and you just….work so well together, you know? You were sure he was your soulmate the moment he cracked up that Physics pickup line and you know it was the same with him. You swore to God that you’d run away from all the British charming assholes but Leo made you eat your own words and gave you a run for your money.

But alas, 2021 season came and Red Bull Racing became busier than ever because Max and Hamilton got crazily competitive and Max demanded your full attention, needing you as a support system to win.

And Leo. Well, he’s busy, too. Engineers are always busy. But he felt neglected because all your attention was on Max. He felt like he was competing with Max for your attention and it shouldn't even be a competition in the first because Leo was the boyfriend and Max was not. And you cannot even deny that you prioritized Max that year. You wanted Max to win. You needed Max to win, so he can finally ask Horner to move you to the engineering team.

Losing Leo is devastating but Max won the WDC title that year and while you spent nearly a month crying over Leo after the breakup, you're hoping that at least, in 2022, you’ll finally get that damned engineering position at the cost of losing your soulmate. That the tears you shed and the broken heart you carried inside your ribs will be worth it if it was in exchange for your dream. Then, it does not happen. The job isn't given to you and you spent the early months of the 2023 season wishing that you have chosen Leo instead of Max Verstappen.

“You’re still friends with him, right?” Charles turns to you.

“Of course,” you say honestly. You're still mutuals on IG and he still hearts your IG stories at times. You still talk, too, on the freer nights where there's a lot of time to waste. “We ended on good terms.”

“How about you, Max?”

“Can we not talk about this please?”

The four of you empty that bottle of champagne and once the sun has begun retiring for the night, Alex and Charles also left. You're soon to follow, fixing your tote bag and going through the mental checklist in your head so you will not forget anything and not waste energy returning here to pick it up.

“You can stay for dinner.”

Max’s offer surprises you.

“No.”

His face drops as quickly as your answer came.

“You're goin’ to let me cook again.”

“No, I’ll cook.”

You give him an unimpressed look. Clearly, you're not convinced.

“I swear, I’ll cook.”

“What if I get poisoned?”

“You won't get poisoned.”

When you continue staring at him, he sighs.

“Just stay please?”

Of course, you stayed. He asked after all.

You keep your eyes on him as he makes dinner with clumsy hands and a bit of unsureness behind his actions.

“You're goin’ to burn it, honey,” you point out.

“What honey? I didn't put any honey in it.”

You blink. He blinks back.

“You’re gonna give me aneurysm one day.”

Shaking your head, you walk into the bathroom at the end of the enormous hallway, lock the door behind you, lean your back against the door, and slowly slides down until your ass meets the cold bathroom floor. You slap a palm against your forehead and purse your lips to stop a scream from erupting.

God fucking dammit, Max is too adorable back there and this is not doing good things for your heart.

[vaguesxrrow]

can u plsss write one about charles with an american reader? like the inspo is the olivia rodrigo song so american lol. like maybe him making fun of her accent and her doing the and back and like the differences between the two cultures?

ACTUALLY INSANEEE bc right before seeing this i was singing that song in my head (i dont listen to olivia but i probably should tbh). alsoo i wasn't sure if you wanted a fic or hcs, so i kind of made a 2 in 1. hope you dont mind! xx

a/n: im not american nor british and ive never been to the usa or the uk... so excuse any inaccuracies pleaseee

tags: g!n reader, american!reader, alive!reader

you shivered and exhaled sharply, your breath misting out in front of you. the moment you stepped outside, you knew you should have piled on more layers, but edwin had been eager in whisking everyone out the door to carry out an investigation for your current case.

you burrowed closer to charles. obviously, he couldn't provide any real body heat, but being near him was a boost in morale to keep going despite the temperature.

"alright?" he asked, putting an arm across your shoulders.

"i should've put on more layers," you grumbled.

charles laughed as he kissed the top of your head. "you can have my jacket."

shaking your head, you declined. "it's fine, it's not that cold. and besides, i wouldn't want to strip you of your british glory and your british coat."

charles snorted. "so it's my british glory, now? who was the one making fun of my accent literally just yesterday?"

"litch-rally," you parroted, grinning. "why is it that all your t's turn into ch's?"

"hey, you're one to talk - what is it you were ordering at the restaurant yesterday? a glass of wa-der, was it?"

"bite me, charles."

he raised his jacket up and engulfed you with it in a bear hug. you shrieked with laughter and wriggled in his hold, but didn't protest when he demanded you hold your arms out so he could put the jacket on you.

"what are you, a soccer player? i thought i was your [boy/girlfriend/partner], not your competition," you teased.

"soccer?" he mocked, outraged. "soccer? it's football, mate."

"mate?" you scoffed incredulously, although you were smiling. "way to friendzone me after months of dating."

"oh, come on, you know you could never get rid of me." charles pulled you in again, this time by your hand. "and for the record, you look cute wearing my clothes."

a few beats of silence, in which you two looked at each other with similar expressions of fondness and exasperation.

"yeah, okay, now get away from me, you victorian fossil." you shoved him playfully, and sprinted away to catch up with the other three. niko waved you over, giggling at charles, who was jogging to keep up.

"victorian fossil? i grew up in the 80s!" he exclaimed. "you know this!"

⌦ ---

- you do know very well that charles grew up in the 80s - you frequently ask him what it was like back then, because naturally, you'd take an interest in your boyfriend's life

- however, charles loves how you're genuinely interested, and get how watching times change can feel a bit lonely for him sometimes

- you're a great listener when it comes to this (which you think you should be greatly accredited for; charles' good looks can be very distracting at times)

- imagine: you and charles in your room as he looks around, inspecting the decor you have on display as he rambles about life in the 80s

- he tells you about a huge movie premiere he went to:

- charles: "get this, right - a ridiculously long line outside the movie theatre. the weather is absolutely miserable, and so are the people. no one's talking at all. i think everyone was just hungry - i saw this lady have tea delivered.

- you: 'i keep forgetting you have stuff like tea times. and did everyone really have the patience to wait for that long, in silence?'

- charles, with a fake american accent: yeah, dude. in silence.

- you throw a pillow at him.

- you also like telling hilariously bad jokes relating to his accent

- you: psst. charles.

- he turns towards you, already expecting another jab at his british-ness

- you: what day do british people eat the most?

- charles, in a deadpan: what day.

- you: chewsday, innit-

- he yells 'NOPE' and walks through the wall, leaving you to wheeze-laugh on your own

[niko-mesu-the-dragon-dog]

I love your Arknights drawings and especially moslapp

I can just imagine them doing the dumb shit while Tex and Fia watch on like gods damn it not again

thank u :D!! the arknights brainrot is hitting hard and yeah they're so done. Fia had to drag them to the hospital before they kept poking each other with Lappland's unsanitized sword and contracted unknown diseases. Texas would def not care if Mostima got sick, she'd actually encourage Lappland to keep poking her with her sword

[mayhaps-a-blog]

OK but really Crystal is so interesting on a rewatch, because you can see it! You can see the Mean Girl(tm)! She's bitchy and she's pissed off and she's picking at the boys and she straight of tries to insult Charles for literally no reason!

But then...

Charles doesn't respond. You can see how taken aback she is: she insulted him, he's supposed to get mad, the answer is yes. Get mad, get angry, write her off and leave her alone like everyone else - but he doesn't. He smiles! He chuckles, he flirts, he completely flies past that moment like it never even happened.

Crystal gets angry, gets scared, gets frustrated, and takes it out on other people. Mostly the boys, because they're there, and Edwin does respond - he does get angry, he does talk down to her, and that, that gives her ammunition. She's manipulative, finds ways to get people talking - good and bad. Jenny with the Devlin House and her letters, Charles and his history, twitchy Richie and the kids at school - and she loved dealing with Richie. Scaring him, pushing him around, showing off her power - she loved it!

And why wouldn't she? We don't know much about her life - but given her parents didn't even notice her missing, it hasn't exactly been great. Being mean, well, it helps, doesn't it? Piss off enough people, maybe even her parents would notice - actually look at her.

And then, well... it's a safety, isn't it? She's a psychic. How many times has she been caught talking to herself? Talking about ghosts? And kids, especially rich kids like her, can be so cruel. Better to be mean first, right? Get it out of the way. Ahead of it, even - better to be the mean girl than the crazy girl, right?

But then she meets Charles, and he... doesn't think she's mean, or crazy. Just scared, and needing help, and with a big heart that she tries to hide sometimes. Like him. And Edwin, who doesn't like her - but helps anyway, and even comes to care. And Jenny, who's awkward but tries to help anyway, and Niko, who refuses to even consider that Crystal could be mean! Suddenly, it's not working anymore - more than that, it's not something she needs anymore. Her heart, how she can help - that's what matters now. She's allowed to care.

[vctrvn-ls]

Hellooo, could you write a '3am though ' about the Boys being clingy? Cause I feel like everyone is clingy in a different way hehe

Types of Clingy | Beta Squad |

Chunkz

His clingyness would show through being a little too co-dependent. I’m not saying he wouldn’t be able to make independent decisions at all, but most of the time he would definitely want your opinion…on pretty much like everything. New shoes, place to stay while on a work trip, where to eat, how to dress for the weather and on and on. Sometimes it’s nice to know that someone wants to hear your point of view, but other times it could be very very annoying.

Sharky

Sharky’s thing is definitely constantly texting or like somehow communicating through his phone 24/7. Doesn’t matter if you’re calling, chatting or just sending each other goofy snaps, he needs to constantly talk. He’d always send “update” messages out of nowhere, like imagine he decided to go to the store to buy some fruits and he’s in line, waiting and bored and suddenly some drama happens between a customer and the worker. He’d whip out his phone in a fraction of a second and begin describing the entire situation to you. Most of the time you don’t mind it, the opposite, you actually like it, but sometimes Sharky can get a little persistent and if you don’t reply while he’s currently bored, he’s going to spam your phone, asking where are you and “why are you ignoring me?”

Niko

Time is money to this man. Quality time is gold and Niko definitely wants it. He’s a busy man himself but if he finds out you have even a small 20 minute break from anything, you best be ready for him to appear and persuade you to do something together. Maybe you’re at work and you’re having lunch, in which case he’d offer to drive you to the nearest coffee shop, maybe you’re at uni and you have a free period during which he’ll sneak you out to have some ice cream. And when he’s done with work for the day, the first thing he’s doing is calling you and saying that he’s finally free from whatever, after which he would definitely suggest going somewhere, no matter how tired he was.

AJ

“Lisa are you dumb? AJ hates human contact, he said so himself like 100 times! You’re not telling me he’d be the physically clingy one!”

Hahahah - is my response guys. AJ. Would be. Possessive. (as fuck) Okay yes he hates it when people touch him BUT YOU AREN’T JUST PEOPLE! He wants you to constantly hold his hand or arm, he needs it. And for him it would be a totally normal thing to have his arm around your waist at all times when going out. He wants people to know that you’re with him, that you’re his and that nothing is getting in between the two of you. Doesn’t matter where: party, grocery store, at a fucking dentist appointment, this guy couldn’t care less, just as long as he’s somehow holding onto you or you’re holding onto him.

Kenny

This one a bit sad. I think Kenny would be a little insecure. Like ok we know he’s the sexiest man alive but in his eyes he’s still not good enough for you. And that’s exactly what gnaws at him. Sometimes arguments would spur between the two of you out of nothing. Imagine you went out and didn’t tell Kenny, just forgot to mention or you were in a hurry. When you finally come back home he’d be like “where have you been?” , “why didn’t you tell me you were going out?” , “who’d you go out with?” , but it wouldn’t be in a controlling sense, you get me? Like he’d be worried, paranoid even and to you sometimes it would seem stupid. Like you shouldn’t be constantly explaining things to him. But no matter how mad or pissed you wanna be at him, you can’t. Why? Cause it’s Kenny and Kenny is 🔛🔝 of everything <3

[deconstructthesoup]

Thoughts on a Leverage-Dead Boy Detectives crossover that I'll probably never officially write but still:

-The Leverage crew (Redemption timeline because it lines up with the DBD show, but Hardison's there in person) is staying in London for a little while, mainly because Sophie's trying her best to reconnect with Astrid again

-They get hired by a woman who says that her younger sister, who was a student at St. Hillarion's (which went co-ed sometime in the 90's), died mysteriously and she's absolutely sure that the school covered up the circumstances

-And guess what? Meanwhile, the DBD crew's been hired by the ghost of the girl who died, and while it is a pretty personal case for Edwin and Charles, they agree that not solving the case would be a disservice to themselves

-So, the two teams make gameplans---Hardison, Eliot, and Parker infiltrate the school as teachers (Breanna is Hardison's TA, much to her irritation) while Sophie and Harry act as shady lawyers who tell the headmaster that they're very good at burying secrets; and Crystal and Niko get enrolled as exchange students while Jenny gets a position in the cooking staff (the Night Nurse absolutely refuses to actively take part in the case-solving, and of course Edwin and Charles don't need aliases)

-However, things start to go south for both teams pretty quick

-For starters, Sophie and Harry know Crystal, at least by way of her parents---Sophie attempted to pull a con on Maddy back in the day, failed, and convinced her to con her rival instead, and Harry helped the Surname-von Hoverkrafts out of some legal trouble when they still lived in the States

-Not to mention, Breanna's very tapped into the social media circuit, and she knows that a) Crystal used to be the epitome of the entitled rich showbiz kid, b) that she dated some guy named David and then went completely off-grid for weeks, and c) she's suddenly had a complete personality and lifestyle change

-And on the flip side of things, Charles is a little too interested in the weirdly high-tech things that the new computer science teacher and his TA have hanging around, which means that Breanna and Hardison are convinced that someone is sabotaging them when it's really just Charles accidentally breaking their gadgets

-This comes to a head when the OT3's having a lunch break on the grounds, Parker points out Niko, and Hardison and Eliot immediately begin making fun of the stuffy-looking kid in a bow tie that she's talking to... and when Breanna comes up with her sandwich in hand, she's incredibly confused, because all she sees is Niko talking to herself

-So, naturally, Hardison, Parker, and Eliot wind up scouring the school records until they eventually find a boy who matches Edwin's description... who, of course, vanished mysteriously over a century ago, along with five or six of his classmates

-Hardison talks Eliot and Parker into doing a stakeout of the computer lab, and they wind up catching Charles in his "fiddling with electronics" act---and, well, it turns out that a) Eliot can beat up a ghost, even one who's a fairly decent fighter himself, and b) Parker carries a pair of iron cuffs with her (why? she's Parker, next question)

-There's a little interrogation action between Charles and the Leverage crew... except, of course, Breanna and Harry still can't see him, and they don't understand why all of these legendary thieves are yelling at an empty chair

-And then the electricity cuts out and everyone hears whispers

-And suddenly someone puts their hands on Hardison's shoulder and he's thrust back into that time with the coffin

-And Eliot turns around and sees the mean goth from the kitchens pointing a knife at him, and the two of them wind up facing off

-Everyone else is stuck in a full-ass vengeful haunting, but Parker notices Crystal holding onto Hardison, Niko sneaking over to Charles, and Edwin standing at the center of the room with his eyes glowing and a hellish aura radiating off of him

-Parker does the sensible thing and, after getting Sophie to pull Crystal off of the boys, takes the cuffs off of Charles's hands

-The haunting immediately stops, Breanna and Harry can definitely see Edwin and Charles... and both teams have some explaining to do

-Once they figure out that they're here for the same reason, Niko's the first to suggest that they work together

-There's a lot of arguing over that, but the general consensus is that they're after the same goal, they're on the same side, and clearly if they don't actively work together, things are gonna go sideways

-Also, once they start talking, Breanna is very psyched to know everything about the supernatural side of things, and Parker decides that she's going to make Niko her apprentice (mostly because they have been getting along in the girl's gym class---and yes, St. Hillarion's does have different gym classes for boys and girls, despite it being co-ed now)

-Once they begin comparing notes, Charles mentions that he recognizes the headmaster---it's the same one he had when he was a student, and the man was already ancient then

-And... yep, turns out that the headmaster is a supernatural entity that's been doing some seriously messed-up shit in order to stay alive

-The two teams settle on a double-pronged attack---some of them will figure out how to get rid of the headmaster for good, while the others will figure out a way to expose the school's habit of covering up hate crimes

-I don't know how it finishes, but... uh, yeah, if anybody wants to take a crack at this, in fic form or comic form, you're free to

(Also, Eliot pretty much adopts Edwin and Charles the second he learns how messed up their lives were, there's also a few schemes from Niko, Crystal, and Breanna to get Payneland together, and Sophie somehow finds out Nate's afterlife placement and is beyond relieved to find out that he's living his afterlife in peace after all)

[milaisreading]

I will be his Valentine... right?

AN: This was kind of a suggestion from @chxxrybxxmb and I found it fun to write! Hope u like it!

Warnings: Reader uses she/her, but since she is crossdressing, the guys use he/him. Requests are open

⚽️Blue Lock belongs to Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura ⚽️

It was the night before Valentine's Day, and the boys at Blue Lock for the first time were invested in the day. Emotions were high and the tension was all over the place in the 5 stratums. Everyone was either nervous or excited about the upcoming holiday, excited to give their gift to a certain captain, who looked dead inside half of the time. Currently, it was bedtime for the players, and while most of the were asleep, the captain included, a certain group of people was wide awake and talking... as civiliy as possible.

German stratum🇩🇪

"What did you get for (Y/n)? I found this chocolate brand he wanted to try for a while." Hiori grinned as he showed off the box, the rest of the group looking at their wrapped up items.

"A-ah... I found a perfume and some other things I know he would like." Isagi said as he glanced at his present. He pretty much lied on that one. He remembered (Y/n) say how she wanted to try out make-up and mentioned a specific brand, but couldn't get it because her parents would get rid of it if they found it. So, he went and bought it when they had a day off. Yukimiya nodded his head and looked down at his present, which was wrapped up in pink and silver wrapping paper.

"I found some limited edition plushie at the Sanrio store. He did say he liked those items. I was lucky since it was the last one."

"I heard him mention he likes collecting sport cards. So I got them and an album where he can store it." Kurona added in, smiling proudly as Gagamaru remembered his present that was back in his room.

"I got him flowers! Heard roses are a good gift for Valentine's Day."

"My sister said something to keep your loved one warm is the best gift, so I got him a scarf." Kunigami chimed in as they all looked at each other. Silence fell among the players as they eyed the presents that were in the room.

"He will be my Valentine, just so you know." Yukimiya smiled, causing the rest to look at him in bewilderment.

"What? My present is clearly the best."

"No way! (Y/n) will be my Valentine! My present is a 100x better!" Isagi glared at the model, earning tsk sounds from Hiori and Kunigami.

"I am clearly the best pick here. (Y/n) needs someone who is gentle and calm."

"Oh please, Hiori. We all know that your facade doesn't work on anyone. You can't fool me. (Y/n) would probably want someone who is more reliable like me." Kunigami rolled his eyes as the cyan-haired boy looked at him while smiling.

"Didn't hear you correctly, muscle head. Repeat that."

"I am a good pick, as well! I know that! I know that!" Kurona added in as Gagamaru frowned a little.

"(Y/n) would like my gift way more. Plus, the two of us have more in common. I am a better pick."

French stratum 🇫🇷

"What did you just say, bird head?!" Rin yelled out as he looked at Karasu, who sported his signature smirk as Tokimitsu tried to calm Rin down.

"I saaaiiddd," Karasu said in a condescending manner, annoying Rin even further.

"I am going to be (Y/n)'s Valentine. I bought the best gift for him. He is closer to me than to you. And, we get each other's humor more. What do you two have in common, again?" Karasu's smirk widened as Rin's face turned redder.

"You?! You are literally beneath him. You can't even dribble the ball properly. Why would (Y/n) pick you? If anything, I am the number 1 pick."

"Not everything is about football." Tokimitsu chimed in, a little annoyed by the two of them.

"I am sure he connects with me the most. You know, not everything is about football skills. Sometimes personality wins." This sparked a even louder argument between the trio, each one of them trying to say why they are the ones (Y/n) would want.

Italian stratum 🇮🇹

Niko nervously wrapped up the gift he prepared for (Y/n) as Aryu and Barou were having their own conversation... more like mini argument. It started off as a calm conversation between the older two, but soon turned sour as they tried to justify why (Y/n) would pick just one of them.

"I am the one (Y/n) is closest to. Why would he pick a drama queen like you? Also, I bought a better gift." Barou glared at Aryu, who just rolled his eyes.

"It's not about the gift, Barou. It's about who makes (Y/n) feel the most comfortable and happiest, and that's obviously me. I always give him my skincare, always share my food with him. I have a way better chance." Aryu chuckled as Barou's face turned red in anger.

"I do way more for him that you do! He likes me more, just give it up."

"Over my dead body."

As the two continued arguing, Niko finished packing up the present. A small smile and blush decorating his face as he thought of the captain.

'I hope he likes it. It's the least I could do after he scared those bullies away that one time...'

English stratum 🏴󐁧󐁢󐁥󐁮󐁧󐁿

"Chigiri, I need you to be so serious right now and leave (Y/n) alone." Reo said, sending Chigiri a fake smile, something that the redhead returned to him.

"I am serious right now, Reo. (Y/n) wants me around, and probably would pick me to be his Valentine over you any day. After all, I am not the one who tried to throw him away as friend." Reo flinched a little from the last remark, but quickly recovered.

"We, as in Nagi, (Y/n), and I made up already. Stop being mad on his behalf. And even so, he knows me the best. Of course he will pick me as his Valentine. And I will make sure to rub that in your face tomorrow."

Chigiri's eye twitched for a moment as he saw the billionaire's smirk.

"(Y/n) preferes personality, Mikage. Something you don't have."

"You little bastard..." The two started shouting at each other while Nagi was sleeping soundly on his bed while hugging one of his pillows. In his dreams, it was already Valentine's Day, and he was out on a date with (Y/n) while he made sure to rub his victory into his teammates' faces.

Spanish stratum 🇪🇸

The atmosphere between Otoya and Bachira was surprisingly calm for the most part. Bachira was in his corner and Otoya was in his. Both were either preparing their speech tomorrow or making finishing touches on the packaging. Bachira smiled warmly as he looked at his present, already imagining (Y/n)'s reaction.

'Bachira, this is the best gift I could have gotten! Of course I will be your Valentine!' The boy giggled as be imagined the scenario.

Meanwhile, Otoya could feel his heart racing as he thought of all the possible outcomes. He can't really remember when the last time was that he was invested in the holiday.

'You are the best, Otoya! This is so sweet! Of course I will date you!' The boy sighed dreamily at the thought.

"(Y/n) will definitely be my Valentine." The duo said at the same time, causing them to look at each other.

"What did you just say?!"

"No! What did you just say?!"

The next day, the air in the dining hall was pretty tense as they waited for (Y/n) to come and eat breakfast. The Blue Lock team tried to stay calm and subtle, but prepared themselves to fight each other to be by (Y/n)'s side as soon as she walks in.

"Hmm? What's up with you all?" Loki wondered as he left his table to go talk with Rin, Karasu, and Tokimitsu.

"Nothing-" Karasu spoke up, but stopped himself as he saw (Y/n) walk in, holding a beige wrapped present.

'A gift?! For who?!' The team wondered, excited to see who will get it.

"Hmm? Good morning, you all! Hope you slept well." (Y/n) smiled at the team before walking over to where Loki was.

"Happy Valentine's Day! Here, hope you like it!" She cheered while giving Loki the present. The French prodigy smiled as he took it, then started guiding (Y/n) out of the dining hall.

"Thank you. My present for you is back at my stratum. Let's go and get it."

The team watched in horror and confusion as (Y/n) got taken away by Loki... Julian Loki of all people! How could they compete with him?!

'No way...'

'Why him?! Why not me?!'

'I knew (Y/n) for way longer than that guy! This isn't fair.'

The team gulped, sending each other frantic looks. They couldn't lose their captain like this!

"We need to separate them. As soon as possible." Rin spoke up as he slammed his hand against the table, earning nods from the rest.

[shuuuuush]

DUMB EXCUSES [NIKO HEADCANNONS]

Summary: All of Niko's dumb excuses to be near you or do things with you

Warnings: none

A/N: Starting of short for Niko, then full fics I promise! Gotta write for my boy Niko, can't believe I've neglected him 😔😔

*** ***

*** ***

DUMB EXCUSES FOR HOLDING YOUR HAND

Honestly you don't know when he decided to start holding your hand all the time, you haven't even started dating when you did.

"Your hand looks heavy let me hold it for you." was a classic excuse he would use with you. It was cheesy, yes, but it got you to hold hands with him regardless. Making him smile like a cutie.

When walking on the side walks he would hold your hand, just to "make sure no one tries to kidnap you on the side of the road"

He would also walk on the outer edge of the sidewalks as well while doing so.

When you did finally start dating, holding hands was one of his key agreements in the relationship.

Sitting beside each other? Holding hands. In the car driving? Holding hands. Well, one hand on the wheel the other with you ;)

STAYING CLOSE TO YOU IN A ROOM FULL OF PEOPLE

When you're at a party with the beta squad or filming a video, especially mafia. Niko always seems to be by your side.

Magically, always teleports to your side, and when you laugh, you automatically clutch someone's arm next to you. And Niko wanted to be that person, so you best believe he's sitting next to you or standing beside you.

And if you're at a party, he would definitely stay by your side. If any guys try to hit you up, he's scaring them away with 1. His height and 2. The fact that he can look intimidating when he wants to.

And it will kill the other guys ego off instantly and make him avoid you for the rest of the night.

Speaking of parties, if you didn't like them much and wanted to step outside for a bit of air. He would come with you, and he would make sure you had a good time, whether that would be going to eat somewhere or just staying under the moonlight in each others arms.

He would want you to be comfortable at all times.

BRUSHING HANDS UNDER THE TABLE

This is when you were dating because if you weren't, best believe Niko ain't getting much courage to do this.

He's a brave guy, but when it comes to you, you honestly take that courage away when you weren't dating, of course. But now that you are, he's gonna be impressing you left and right and "trying to be the bigger man." (Last part was in chunkz words)

Sometimes, if you both were at a gathering, when he was bored, he would take your hand and just draw on it with his finger to pass the time.

Or just squeeze your hand, signalling to you that he wanted to leave, but wanted to be discreet about it. So you would make up something awfully more important than this, to excuse both you and Niko and off you go, you've escaped the boredom!

I'll leave it to you to can guess where you end up ;)

DUMB EXCUSES FOR STEALING GLANCES

When you first met, he would've looked at you a lot. Most likely stunned by your beauty, and you would often catch him looking at you and then looking away faster when you caught him, almost always earning a small giggle from yourself.

If you're right next to him and caught him looking at you, he would come up with an excuse since he knew he wouldn't get away with saying nothing.

His excuses would either consist of violations:

"Oh, sorry, I just thought I saw a rat infestation right in front of me."

"Can I have the name of your hair salon? I need to know where not to go."

"You do a great job combing your hair. It’s impressive how you’re able to hide the receding hairline." "Yeah, I learnt it from you."

Or would consist of him stupidly denying it:

"Yeah, you're imagining things because I was just scratching my eye, and you happened to be in front of my view."

"I was looking behind you. Not at you." "Niko, you're behind me..."

Taglist: @b4tasquad @p3drii @n1kodl @elora-k @slutforpablogavi @enhacolor

[chefwhatnot]

A Too-Close Analysis of the Double Exposure Treatments from Duskmourn (1/2)

Happy Prerelease Weekend everyone! During the announcement stream for Duskmourn, Art Director Ovidio Cartagena said that one of the goals of the "Double Exposure" Alt-art treatments was to capture the inner psyches of Legendary Characters. And that immediately tickled my neurons, so I decided to write a bunch about the different Double Exposures and what exactly they suggest about the different characters! This post will feature all the characters from Duskmourn who appear in the Main Story articles, with the rest coming sometime tomorrow probably.

(EDIT: Part 2 is out now! You can find it here)

The Wandering Rescuer-

In profile over the Wanderer is one of Duskmourn’s demons, seeming to show similarities to the demon depicted on the card “Vile Mutilator”. This demon in particular, and presumably other Duskmourn demons, possess the ability to kill survivors’ glimmers. The Wanderer is the only character we see in the story who has a glimmer, potentially because her will and connection to her home plane are strong enough to manifest one before any other members of the party can. So, having that connection to her home, to the place she has sought after for so many years and finally had the chance to return to post-March of the Machines, taken away by a monster… yeah, I can see how the Wanderer might be afraid of that.

Valgavoth, Terror Eater-

Unlike the other double exposure treatments, Valgavoth is the upper layer of this double exposure: he is the nightmare. He blends seamlessly into the door behind him, which is carved with a simulacrum of his core form. He is the House, and the House is Valgavoth. There is no escape from his grasp, etc.

Tyvar, the Pummeler-

Tyvar looks forward, fists raised in a fighting pose. His position suggests fearlessness, but a Cellarspawn still taunts him over his shoulder. “Oh why’d he be afraid of some random Cellarspawn” well he’s not, he’s afraid of what it represents. I posit that this Cellarspawn is the one Tyvar copies when he puts himself and Zimone into House camouflage in the main story. That action, while clever, nearly led to both of them being subsumed into the essence of the House if not for Zimone’s fateshifter. It represents bad change, the possibility that Tyvar isn’t infallible, and the way his transmutation abilities feel uncomfortably similar to that of Phyrexian compleation. But still, Tyvar stands proud and stares forward, ready to courageously curtail whatever may come. Also, only noticed this a bit after originally writing this section, but compare Tyvar’s Double Exposure card to Kona’s. Notice anything? The colors are inverted. Tyvar, the subject of the card, is rendered in magenta, perhaps showing how he is to be feared.

Kaito, Bane of Nightmares-

Kaito is surrounded by gaseous Cellarspawn who shy away from him, flinching back as though in pain. This, combined with his title as "Bane of Nightmares" suggests that there is something about Kaito that the House instinctively cowers from. Which, upon thinking things over, makes sense. He is a planeswalker: he has the ultimate trump card to ignore and escape the horrors of Duskmourn at any time. Plus, he is the only person we’ve seen who was actually able to pose a significant threat to Valgavoth, stabbing him through the chest at the climax of Episode 6. The ghastly cellarspawn are Valgavoth’s creations, and Kaito may be the only one they fear. (Kinda expect Kaito and Valgavoth to have an Ajani/Bolas or Elspeth/Norn relationship maybe.)

Niko, Light of Hope-

Niko is both layers of their double exposure, one calm and confident, the other in pain. Niko’s fears are all internal: fear of not measuring up to their ideals, fear of being forced to go along with whatever plans the powers that be have in store for them. Just as their magic creates reflections, the hand that skillfully balances five of their magic shards is reflected in agony on the "internal" layer. Yet, simultaneously, them being both layers of the double exposure seems to break the rules shown by the other cards. Extremely fitting for a master of their own destiny, wouldn’t you say?

EDIT: @greatdinn pointed out that, in the “internal” art, Niko’s eyes appear to be missing. It could be read as them squinting, but if that is the case it could suggest that Niko’s biggest fear is going blind and losing their skillful accuracy.

Marina Vendrell-

Kinda similar to Victor’s Double Exposure treatment, the wings of a moth is overlaid on top of the subject’s face. However, Victor’s moth is covered in eye patterns, while Marina’s has the shape of a skull on its wings. Victor sees Valgavoth as a source of knowledge or power, Marina knows he brings only death. Notice, too, the way that Victor stares forward, making himself a part of the moth, while Marina glances to the side, attempting to reject its existence. Marina’s only safety now is that of denial: accepting how her actions doomed the plane to an eternity of nightmares would undo her.

Nashi, Searcher in the Dark-

Hey remember that time Nashi was trapped in a cage by a group of wickerfolk who slowly picked off the other Nezumi he cane to Duskmourn with and turned them into wickerfolk? Remember how a similar thing happened when Nashi ran into Tezzeret during that one side story and Tezzeret killed a bunch of Nashi’s friends? Remember how Tezzeret ALSO killed Nashi’s birth parents and everyone else in his village? Remember how everyone who gets close to him meets a horrible fate, to the point that eventually Nashi must find it easier to push other people away, to remain isolated because the only reasonable explanation is that he must be somehow cursed to bring ruin to the people he loves? Yeah.

Winter, Misanthropic Guide-

Winter pinches his forehead, deep in thought. Layered over him is a dagger with a strange handle that morphs into the hand of a corpse. This blade is a reminder of how he betrayed and sacrificed his friend in the house in order to escape Duskmourn. The blade faces the same direction as him, as though primed to stab into someone’s back. The hand is either the hand of his friend, desiccated and decaying, and/or represents the agency he had in the betrayal. Despite his claims that anyone would do the same, it is ultimately a decision he made, a path he followed, and consequences that he is responsible for.

Zimone, All-Questioning-

Over Zimone's face is a book, cover detailed with gnashing teeth and pages flipping ominously in the wind. But, as the story points out, how can there be wind inside the house? Zimone does not know, but she wants to. She wants to know everything, regardless of how outwardly intimidating the container of that source of knowledge may be. The spine of the book makes it look like her eye is closed, which combined with the reflective lens gives her an appearance of sleeping reverie. Her desire for knowledge blinds her to other potential threats, which the House knows and uses to sow the lures of her destruction.

That's it for now! Stay tuned for when I release the rest :)

[lnights]

Hey! As someone who's only kinda recently started getting into Blind Channel, can you "introduce" the band members to me/tell me any fun facts? 😊

It's okay if not, I just feel like it's so fun hearing it from other fans than trying to dig it out myself LOL

Welcome friend 🖤

You're about to get an essay 😂 anyone please add in, this isn't an all inclusive list of everything about them.

Let's start with Joel - vocals (and guitar depending on if you're going back to the first couple albums)

Joel is the oldest member of the band at 30, has ADHD, has dealt with insomnia, talked about being bullied in highschool, handles the band's social media, has a wine and has made a lot of references to dating his hand 😂

He is one half of the (t)error twins with Joonas, such named by the other members of the band for their chaos and having the same birthday, one year apart. He has said more than once that Joonas is his closest friend and they're found hanging out a lot outside of the band, they have been called an old married couple, always squabbling (but with a lot of obvious brotherly love)

Joonas - guitar

Second half of the (t)error twins, sings backing vocals, has been photographed with his dick out on more than once occasion, has a naked painting of himself, he's (sometimes questionably) a fashionista, and is known to have a rather sensitive digestive system.

Joel met Joonas in highschool after their own bands ended and became friends, eventually decided to form their own band, Joonas had already been in a band with Olli and their now tour manager Santeri, and previously in one with Tommi. Joonas, Olli, and Tommi are childhood friends prior to highschool.

Niko - vocals

Niko went to the same highschool as the other founding members, but hung out with a different crowd. Joonas, Olli, and (maybe) Tommi were at a house party, Linkin Park’s In The End came on, Niko rapped Mike's parts and Joonas invited him to join him for the band’s first practice the next day. Joel picked him up, even though they hadn't met.

He plays and teaches piano, writes most of the band's lyrics (though there is collaboration), has a kitty named Rommi, has a long term girlfriend, Joonas lived with them for a while. He has a large band symbol on his side with roses for each of the band members (minus Aleksi, but he does have a matching tattoo with him)

Tommi - drums

Papa bear himself! Lot of bear references with him, he has the nickname nalle (teddy bear in Finnish) from the band. He used to drive the band around when they were still in vans rather than tour buses and his job in the band is to “have final say”.

There's a single brain cell in this band, and most of the time it seems like Tommi has it, but every once in a while he's as dumb (affectionate) as the rest of them. He and Olli are the only two still in the band's hometown and as far as we know he is the only member of the band without tattoos. And he's a nurse!

Olli - bass

Called the most beautiful member of the band by his bandmates and known to eye-fuck any camera that happens to be focused on him.

Or if you happen to be watching them live 😳 it's intense.

He used to have gauges. There are several photos and videos of him and Joonas just holding hands 🖤 (lots of love in this band)

He can come off as a bit of an airhead, the biggest example of this is his poor bass Simba (rip) that he left on top of a van at a gas station, didn't realize until they had left and was far far down the road. He did eventually get it back but it was destroyed.

He designed their newest stage outfits and even sewed the patches on himself. He used to work at a hospital transporting patients.

Aleksi - DJ/percussion

Newest member of the band and only non-original member.

Had/has a solo DJ career and career as a producer as Alex Mattson, and accidentally ignored Joel in 2016 when he reached out to talk about a collab.

He ended up meeting Joel and Joonas at a Bring Me the Horizon concert in November of 2016 (where they also met Joonas (Johnny) Parkkonen) and they cleared up the accident and became friends.

He collaborated with them and help with song writing/production before he officially joined the band in 2020

Baby of the band and a menace. He got his first tattoo with a couple members there to hold his hand, I think it was Joel and Niko, Joonas went with him to get his band tattoo.

He grew up around the music scene (his dad is a booking agent) and was a drummer in a band as a kid. He has a little dachshund named Rilla

Joel, Joonas, Niko, and Aleksi all have the band's symbol tattooed on them. Joel's is in his arm, Joonas has it in his hand, Niko on his side, and Aleksi near his wrist.