#no one’s ever mentioned like ‘why aren’t you doing these training videos’ so im sure it’s fine

[bereft-of-frogs]

It’s not that I’m concerned about my job performance, I consistently get good feedback, always finish my tasks, have taken initiative on a couple projects…

But my coworker is always talking about how much of the online training he’s doing once we hit the mid-afternoon quiet period and I’m slightly worried they’re going to be like ‘hey why does [redacted] have so many hours clocked on [redacted training platform] and you have like, none?’

And I’ll have to be like. Well. I was writing star wars fanfiction.

[stargazer-balladeer]

Setting: Kingdom AU

[King! Zhongli x Female! Reader]

Notes: At first, I didn’t know what to write for the Valentine’s Gift in Discord. I was about to just write a Diluc fic when I came across the Cendrillon video. I rewatch it and loved the idea. Zhongli fits the prince (im making him a king here-) perfectly, this is going to follow the Vocaloid Cendrillon version (because the actual Cendrillon is basically the Cinderella movie-), but I’m gonna tweak it a bit. I hope I manage to capture Zhongli’s personality, atleast a little- 😅. Hope ya’ll like this!

Warning: small mentions of being blackmailed, abandonment and blood.

Word Count: 4.7k

» A valentine gift for @zhonglisemptywallet,, I hope you like this- hshshs

“Say, Zhongli, do you know the story of “Cendrillon”?” “Hm… it doesn’t ring a bell, I’m afraid. May I ask why you ask of that?” “I used to read it when I was young. Since you don’t know of it, would you like to read it together? Or are you currently busy?” “I was about to ask you if you want to have tea with me, but since you suggested that, of course I would read it together with you.” 

The warm hue of the light that illuminated the room and the chatter of the people within greeted you immediately when you stepped foot inside. Your eyes darted from person to person, not familiar with any of them. The target isn’t anywhere in the vicinity it seems, perhaps later. The warm atmosphere made you sigh in relief, it was a great contrast to the coldness of night outside. Not wanting to be of disturbance to those entering, you quickly went away from the entrance. You were overwhelmed by the grand interior of the room, walls decorated with golden brown and amber designs, one you usually find in an antique item, waves, vines, flowers, all sort of design. Golden-colored chandeliers hanging in the ceiling in a row, making the room brighter. The golden curtain being tied to the side, revealing the full moon in its finest glory. 

The palace king really likes golden-colored stuff, you noted. Everything looks so ancient, like there’s a history in every design and every item inside. Glancing around, you adjusted your dress, making sure your dagger isn’t visible underneath your skirt. An assassin tasked to kill the king of the Liyue nation. A joke, you thought at first, a child’s play. This task is usually seen in a fairytale, but you suppose it’s inevitable when you have 7 kingdoms, each with their respective king and queens. Breathing out a sigh, you take a glance at the moon. Your task is due at midnight, when the moon is high above the skies. Precise exact hour, no seconds shall pass. If failed, execution shall be your punishment. 

Then a ring rang through the room, gaining many’s attention including yours. You gaze at the balcony-like booths on the second floor, seeing familiar faces of the members of the Qixing. Them being here isn’t gonna make your mission any easier, well, it wasn’t easy to begin with. Quickly switching your attention to the butler, making sure your actions aren’t suspicious. “We thank you for attending this royal ball, hosted by our beloved King. I shall now introduce you to the special guests tonight.” The butler’s voice rang, sounding young yet stern. He nodded to the area of the Qixing members. “Please allow me to introduce Lady Ningguang of the Qixing, miss Keqing of the Qixing and Miss Ganyu of the Qixing.” 

Many people started clapping for them, you decided to join in them in order to not appear suspicious. Ningguang, in her fullest glory, stood up and waved elegantly to the people below her. Her eyes, which reminded you of Rubies, scanned the crowd before befalling on you. You stiffened at the coldness within, was her eyes always this harsh? You thought she was about to call you out but she simply turned around and sat on the throne-like chair. You breathe out a sigh of relief, closing your eyes when you feel the tension on your shoulder being released. But you knew that her gaze on you was a warning. She knew your intention, she could’ve called you out right there but she didn’t. Why? Was she amused that there was an assassin in the ball, wanting to kill the king? It doesn’t make sense.

You tuned out the butler, who was introducing the four Adepti, the counsel of the king. You couldn’t care less about them, but you were still on guard. Although they all respect their king and would kill anyone who dares to threaten his life, the young-looking guy is the one you’re watching out for. The young adepti, Xiao was his name, Conqueror of Demons, swift like the wind. “Now..” Your ears pick up as you look at the butler once more. “The moment you all have been waiting for. May I introduce the host of this evening, please applaud to the king of Liyue, Rex Lapis!” 

And just like that, an applaud of cheers erupted into the room when the king was announced. You joined in with the claps, feeling nervousness rising within you. Now’s not the time to get nervous. This is an important mission. You shall not fail this one. The light in your eyes darkened when the king made an appearance, there in his crowning light was Rex Lapis. With eyes like the Cor Lapis, hair like the soil of the land, and clothes fitting for a ruler. He has a small smile present on his face, as he nodded to the crowd. “Thank you for coming to my ball on this humble night. Please enjoy yourselves to the fullest with the prepared banquet and dance.” His voice is so soothing…

He reached out his hand, snapping his index and thumb. “Let the feast begin.” 

“What?” You breathed out, staring at the man before you with eyes wide and face in disbelief. Not knowing whether to laugh or what. The mission you’re given, to kill the king of Liyue, Rex Lapis. How absurd. “You expect me to kill that wanna-be king?” You scoffed, letting out a few chuckles. You thought it was a prank, a funny joke, and that your superior was made to do by one of his subordinates. You bet your money that it was that “Childe”. You tried searching his face, any sign of him lying or joking, but there wasn’t. He was serious. 

Coughing lightly, you straightened yourself up again, staring at the eyes of your superior. He sighed before placing a document on his desk, facing you, with a dagger on top. “You should be grateful that the Tsaritsa decided to give you this task, if I were to choose, I’d choose someone else. But alas, she chose you. How unfortunate.” He scoffed, shaking his head in disapproval. You paid his indirect insult no mind as you stared at the dagger, which you noticed was laced with poison. The dagger was silver in color, with the hilt decorated with light blue and white snowflakes. The end contains a Cor Lapis gem. 

Hesitantly, your hand rose to reach the dagger. You can feel the sharp eyes of your superior on you, taking note of your shaky hands and hesitated moves. When you finally grasp the well-designed dagger, your superior’s voice rang through the room once more.

“Do not fail this mission.”

How are you going to approach this exactly? You felt your sweat drop when you realized you didn’t prepare a plan on how to kill the king. Which is pretty dumb, now that your thinking about it. Like, what did you expect to happen? You going up to him and just stab him? Before your dagger could hit the king, your head is already on the ground. You groaned in frustration, leaning back on the white-colored pillar. Great, now you're stuck. You sighed, rubbing the nape of your neck, as you gaze at the scenery before you. 

Gazing at the people dancing, you couldn’t help but feel the green of envy rising within you. Unlike you, they have the best life. Once living in the slums of Snezhnaya, many times almost freezing to death. One of those times is when you met the queen of the frozen land, the Tsaritsa. Many wondered why she took you in, a girl abandoned in the streets. From her patience and pitied love for you, she took you in and made you a member of the organization known as the “Fatui”. Trained under a strict teacher, you grew up to be an assassin. An assassin whose hands are stained with the blood of the victims you killed for the Tsaritsa herself. 

“Excuse me.” A voice so silk, maturity evident in it, one that you heard earlier. You look up from your gaze at the ground to meet the eyes like the sun. From the distance, you didn’t notice how his white iris looks sharp, but now upon closer inspection, you can see it clearly. He gave you a soft smile, moving his hand from behind his back and extended it to you. You stared at it, confusion dancing in your eyes before gazing at the man you were destined to kill. “Would you care for a dance with me?” He said, amusement clear in his eyes. You felt your cheeks warmed up at your obliviousness. “Uhm… sure.” You said in a low voice, placing your hand on his. Despite the gloves you two are wearing, you can feel the warmth radiating from within. 

Feeling albeit awkward, obvious tension in the air, he guided you to the dance floor, hand firmly yet gently grasping yours. You weren’t sure if he noticed the air of tension surrounding you two or if he was simply ignoring it. Twirling you around a little bit, he stops your mini twirl by placing his large hand on your waist. You, knowing the dance steps ever since you had to undercover in a masquerade party, placed your hand on his shoulder and took a step back, him following suit by stepping forward. A dance with the king of Liyue, what a cliche moment. You can feel his eyes on you, feeling embarrassed about his obvious staring at you (and the stares you were getting around you), you continued staring at the amulet on his chest. 

“You know, when dancing, one must look at the eyes of their partner. Not at their chest.” The king said in a low voice, chuckling a little. How is he amused at this situation? The king is really a strange person. Flushing in embarrassment for getting called out, you look up to meet his expectant gaze. Seeing his lips quirking up as your gaze met his, he tilted his head slightly as he spun you around in tune with the others and held you close when you faced him once more. “Tell me, where do you hail from? I don’t think I’ve ever seen your face before.” You knew that this was coming, so you rehearsed your answer while going here. “I came from Inazuma, being sent here by my father, Chief Haruki. I came as a replacement for him, he humbly apologizes that he cannot be here at the ball tonight.” It wasn’t technically a lie, chief Haruki was indeed a real person living in Inazuma and was secretly working for the Fatui. 

You noticed how his eyes narrowed slightly, yet his entire face still remains unchanged. Closing his eyes while sighing softly. “I see.” You stared at him a couple of minutes before opening your mouth. “The people around us.. They’re not all nobles, are they?” Asking softly, only reserved to the two of you. His eyes scanning the people around you two before leaning in your ear, his hot breath near your ear made shivers run down your spine. “Quite an eye you have, my dear. But nevertheless, you are correct. Some of them are the orphans I’ve taken in under my wing.” You let out a chuckle. “How noble of you, your highness.” “Call me Morax instead.” Leaning back, he lets go of your waist as he clasps his gloved-hands on yours, dragging you gently. 

You raised a brow at this. “And where do you think you are taking me, Mr. Morax? I have no intention of doing any frisky rendezvous with you.” You can hear him laughing in front of you, turning his head to the side to glance at you. “Rest assured, my dear. I have no intention to take you to bed. I just thought a fresh air is what we need.” He explained, chuckling at the end before facing forward again. Flushing a bit at his laughter, you pouted while glaring at him. “You could’ve just told me that.” You mumbled angrily. He simply ignored your complaints, using his free hand to push open a door leading to a garden. 

You marveled at the sight of it, it was beautifully decorated with glaze lilies and silk flowers. Adding to the beauty were neon-orange-colored butterflies flying around. While you were in awe at your surroundings, you didn’t notice the fond look that the king was giving to you. He lets go of your hand as he steps forward into the enchanting garden. Missing already his large hand against yours, you followed suit, resisting the urge to hold his hand once more. “What a beautiful garden.” “Thank you for your kind words.” He slightly leaned forward to hold a glaze lily in his hand. “Did you know that glaze lilies only reveal their beauty at the sound of music? A pure song, one that used to belong to someone who loved this flower more than any other.” He said, on his face is a gentle smile, yet you noted how sad it seems. 

His eyes and smile so captivating and warm, yet hiding so many secrets. It made you want to know more about the man in front of you, not as the ruler Rex Lapis but as Morax. You stayed silent as you gaze at the flower in his hand. “They used to be everywhere in Liyue, but now… there are hardly any of them left. They are now rare and almost to the brink of being extinct.” He said, not hiding or masking the sadness in his voice as he lets go of the flower. Straightening his back again, turning to look at you, smiling apologetically at you. “Apologies. It seems like I went into my infamous rants.” Morax said, bowing his head slightly. 

You shake your head, smiling in return. “It’s fine. Your voice is oddly.. soothing.” He chuckles at your comment. “Indeed. I have gotten comments about my voice being soothing to hear.” “That’s why I shall suggest that you continue your rant. I can see it in your eyes that you have much more you want to share.” You chuckled. His eyes widened a bit, surprised that you manage to see through him before shaking his head slightly while huffing in amusement. “You are an interesting girl, my dear.”

“Why should I have a ball to begin with?” The question left Rex Lapis’ lips before he could stop them, making every head within the room turn their heads to the king. He doesn’t need to host a ball when there is no special occasion to celebrate as. “Rex Lapis, you must understand that the nation needs two rulers. A king and a queen. It would not only be beneficial for the people, but for you as well.” Ningguang explained, spinning her smoking pipe around her fingers, her gaze sharp as ever. Her red eyes staring at Rex Lapis’ face, curious at what his reaction would be. Rex Lapis only sighed. “I see..”

Closing his eyes as he stands up from his chair, opening his eyes to look at his fellow Adepti and the people in the Qixing. “I think this meeting is over. I shall take my leave now. Good day to you all.” Without any wait for a reply, he quickly left the room. When the door closed behind him, he sighed deeply as he started walking to his sanctuary, the garden. The garden that used to belong to his previous wife, the previous queen of Liyue. Opening the doors, he smiled at the beauty of the garden. It was as if she never left. 

He sat down on a nearby bench, gazing fondly at the geo-Crystalfly, only landing beside him. He gazes at it before sighing once more, running a hand through his hair, messing up his front hair slightly. “‘A new queen’ they said. ‘Beneficial for both the people of Liyue and me’ she said. I don’t understand mortals at all.” Rex Lapis tried to understand the minds of his people, but he still can’t grasp how extreme their minds can be sometimes. And this makes Rex Lapis more intrigued with them even more. The growing desire inside him continues to grow each passing day. Since when did this desire to be one of the mortals began? Was it when his late wife used to speak so fondly of them? He’s not sure but a thought kept lingering at the back of his mind, his attention shifting from the butterfly to the silhouette of Liyue Harbor in the distance. 

Should he leave the crown for good now?

He gazes at the blue-colored sky above, silver linings around the clouds as they form various shapes. “... not yet.” He whispers to himself. “It’s not yet the right time.”

Your laughter breaking the silence of the night as Rex Lapis finished telling a tale. It seemed like his knowledge about many things concerning Liyue is unending, you didn’t mind listening to him ranting about how the Guhua Plains came to be, how the rocks formed in various places in Liyue, and so on. A blush dust your cheeks as you stared at Rex Lapis who was about to tell a story yet again. Suddenly a sudden gush of cold wind blew your way, making you visibly shiver, cursing in your head for not wearing something suitable for the cold. You blink when you felt something placed on your shoulder, looking up, you noticed that Rex Lapis wasn’t anymore wearing his coat. Connecting the dots, and looking at your shoulders, you felt your face become more warm when you realized he noticed you shivering and gave you his fancy coat. “T-Thanks..” You mumbled, clutching his coat tightly while giving him a shy smile. “It is only right for me to share my coat when I was the one who dragged you out in this freezing evening, no?” He chuckles as he picks up where he left off in his tale. 

You stared at his back, now noticing how well-built he is from behind. You tried your hardest to not stare at his lower area, it is sacrilegious afterall. You let out a loving sigh, but that made your eyes widened in horror. Deep inside you, you felt something unknown yet so familiar. It was welcoming and warm. Heart thumping widely in your chest, the warm feeling spreading, the warm smile and that sigh just now. Realization struck you hard, making you even more scared than before. The horrifying truth you’ve concluded when adding all of your symptoms. You were falling in love with him. 

Rex Lapis noticed that you stopped walking judging from the lack of footsteps behind him, his words trailing off as he turned around to see what was wrong only to be surprised at tears falling from your wide eyes. “Are you alright, love? Why are you crying? Did I say something that made you cry? If I did so, I apologize sincerely.” He was panicking. It was evident in his voice that he’s panicking as he walks to you and wipe away the tears flowing with his thumb. Worry etched his face as he gazed at your [E/C] eyes. You continued to sob, not anymore needing to hide the tears. Why? Why did you have to fall in love with someone you were meant to kill?

What made you even more surprised, and made your poor heart jump, is when Rex Lapis leaned in and kissed your eyes. “Shh.. Don’t cry. Tears don't suit your beauty afterall.” You felt your face heat up at his action, wanting to shy away from him but at the same time, wanting more of his gentle touch and lips. You sniffed as his hands wiped away your leftover tears. Looking at him, you were met with his gentle and reassuring gaze. A smile that says everything would be alright. Lies. You inhaled sharply as your eyes travelled from his face to the clock, conveniently placed, behind him. It was almost midnight. His death is almost due. 

Please don’t let the bells sound for midnight. Please no. 

But you knew you needed to. Despite the limited time you two have, he was able to give you unforgettable memories that you’ll forever cherish with all your heart. Who knew you were into this kind of cheesiness? Childe would always tease you about being secretly cheesy, it seems like he’s right about this one. “... Are you alright, love? Is there something still wrong?” Your gaze shifted back to Morax, who was looking at you with great concern. You take a deep breath. It’s now or never.

You gave him a smile, a smile holding regret and love for the king. Even if your feelings were mutual, it would still remain unrequited as you take his life. “Thank you for this night, my king. This has been a wonderful evening indeed.” Rex Lapis stared at you with a blank face, his smile that you were used to seeing isn’t anymore visible in his face. It was replaced by a hard and stoic face. Deafening silence surrounds you both in this chilly evening, the silence making you shift slightly. After what seems like forever, he opens his mouth to speak. “You sound like you’re saying farewell. The ball hasn’t reached its conclusion yet.” You can feel tears starting to build in your eyes again as you forced them back. “I’m really sorry.”

Before he could make a comment about your apology, you grab your dagger and try to stab him through the chest but thanks to his fast reflexes, he was able to dodge at the last minute. Your dagger grazing at his clothes slightly. His eyes wide, maybe he was surprised at your betrayal? Was he furious? Would he call for the guards now? You cannot hesitate, not now. Not when you’re so close in fulfilling your mission. You went for the kill again, and without missing a beat, he dodge, catching your hand in the process. “Stop this, my love.” He whispered in your ear. You inhaled sharply, feeling your heart fluttering from the closeness, but you shouldn’t let this feeling of yours get in the way of finishing the king. 

Summoning a dagger made out of water, using your ‘delusion’, on your other hand, you strike him with it. Rex Lapis eyes widened as he tried to dodge your incoming second dagger by jumping back, but he wasn’t fast enough as it stabbed him in the side. He groans, placing his hand on the wound. The blood was staining his shirt as he clicked his tongue. You huffed, breathing in and out before opening your eyes, clouded with bloodlust and nothingness. It was glowing beneath your bangs. “Target spotted. Killing target now.” Your voice resembles a robot, a mindless slave. 

His eyes saddened at the thought of what you have been through to be like this. He knew you were after his life, Xiao and his fellow Adepti warned him about this. But he was intrigued by you the moment he laid his eyes on your lonesome figure. Even though you tried to hide it, he noticed how your eyes shone with awe as you gaze at the ornaments decorated the room. Cute, that was his thought. A childish girl behind the cold facade. Interesting. He knew you were part of the ‘Fatui’. He knew that you were ordered to kill him before midnight. He knew and yet he didn’t care. The possibility of dying in your hands still lingers at the back of his mind, yet he can’t help but get drawn to you. You were special in his eyes. A glaze lily, so rare and beautiful. 

You could even say he was falling in love with you with each passing second he spent with you.

Rex Lapis lets out a chuckle at the thought of his fellow Adepti reprimanding him for falling for you, but he can’t do anything about it. A heart wants what a heart wants, he knew that perfectly. And from his foolish love for you, he allowed you to strike him in the chest, piercing the amulet in the process. Your eyes widened at what you did, not believing what you had just seen. Why didn’t he move? He could perfectly dodge it like he did earlier so why? While your mind is in a frenzy, he allowed himself to hug you in his chest as he bled out. 

“W-Why-? Why didn’t.. you dodge?” You whispered in pure disbelief. He chuckles, running his hand through your hair, destroying its style earlier. “Who knows..? Even I am wondering that.” Feeling himself weakening, he pulls himself away from you as he gaze tenderly in your wide, frightened eyes. He smiles gently, moving closer to kiss your forehead. “You should probably get going, my love.. You wouldn’t want to get caught by the Millelith now.” He whispered. You didn’t say anything as you pulled away from his hold. Looking at his eyes as he nodded his head, urging you to go. Without saying anything, you run away. Stumbling a bit with your heels, you felt it slipping from your feet but you could care less about it as you continued to run, leaving the shoe behind. 

Watching as your figure disappeared from view, he placed a hand over his wound, feeling himself healing from his wounds. He knew he wouldn’t just die from a simple stab. What he didn’t account for is that the dagger you used is laced with poison, making him weak, to the point he has to sit on the ground. Huffing and puffing his eyes landed on the forgotten glass slipper, chuckling a bit. “Maybe.. It is truly time to depart.” 

“Eh? What do you mean Rex Lapis disappeared?!” 

“Calm yourself, Keqing. There must be an explanation for this, I presume?”

“We don’t know, lady Ningguang. We tried searching for his highness everywhere but he can’t be found. But there was blood in the garden along with a glass slipper.”

“Hm… I see.”

“What should we do then? We can’t just tell the people that Rex Lapis just mysteriously disappeared.”

“I speculate it was an attempt of assassination. But the question is, where is he? Where is his body?”

“An assassination for the king?! Who would dare to do such a thing?!”

“Hm… let us think this thoroughly with the Adepti. Now that Rex Lapis is gone, we must take over as the Qixing of Liyue.”

“... alright.”

“You. Call the Adepti. An important meeting is about to happen.”

“Yes, lady Ningguang.”

“.. Your highness?” Appearing before you like the wind was the king himself, but you noted his appearance changed. Despite still appearing all regal, he seems more lax than the last time you appeared before him. Guilt consumed you when memories of that night came rushing to you, but it made you wonder. Why was he here before you? Why was he still alive? Weeks passed since you ‘killed’ Rex Lapis. But it appears you failed your mission since his highness is before you, looking healthy and alive. Questions filled your mind, making you more confused than ever. The Qixing and the Adepti have already announced his passing, his Rite of Passing was due a few days from now. So what exactly happened-?

“It seems my appearance has confused you, my dear.” He chuckled, calm as ever with the same amused glint in his eyes. You tried searching for anger or resentment in them, for ‘killing’ him but you couldn’t find any. All you saw was amusement and affection. “Why are you still alive..? Did the Qixing and the Adepti lie about your death..?” You asked, your voice barely a whisper. “.. may I at least come inside? I’ll explain it to you once we’re out of the public eye.” He said. You numbly nodded, still couldn’t wrap your head around Rex Lapis still being alive. Did the poison not work? Did I fail my mission-?

“By the way… you mustn’t call me Rex Lapis or Morax anymore.” He said, entering your humble home. Staring at you with the eyes you fell in love with, the same one glinting beneath the moonlight and under the light of the dozen chandeliers. “Call me Zhongli.”

[x] Main Page || [x] Liyue Page

[lassieposting]

skulduggery/alt!serpine for the getting together ask game?

I’m bored, so. Send me two (or more) characters for a headcanon on how I’d have them get together

OHOHOHOHO SEE THIS IS A GOOD ONE BC

ive already been thinking about this and im. Lowkey really glad im not the only one

See I always hated skug with any serpine, like I was a passionate anti from 2007 - about three months ago but. I enjoyed their dynamic in phase one and then i read like three of their interactions from sow and got converted or some shit apparently idfk, anyway u know i love an angsty ship

this got really long so tldr; enemies to vitriolic hate-sex buddies to lovers, painfully slow burn, but they'll both die claiming they still hate each other

It begins with China.

She orders him to kill Serpine, and he refuses. He's not even 100% sure why when he does. It's not like they're friends. He's killed people he liked a good deal more than Nefarian Serpine under orders.

But she says, "kill him" and he says, "no", and then things spiral so quickly that it's actually a few days before he even has time to think about her parting shot, flung at him as he walked out on her: "if you want to keep him, you'll be the one looking after him. He's your responsibility, not mine. And if he hurts someone, you -"

He'd shut the door on her at that point, but he knows what she was going to say. You look after him yourself, you train him yourself, and if he hurts someone, you kill him yourself. A wonderfully old-world way of looking at things. He's fairly sure he remembers getting the same speech from the housekeeper when he tried to bring home the ugliest feral tomcat he'd ever seen as a small boy.

(This will come back to bite him. He's not sure how or when, but it will. That's the way of things, whenever he turns his back on China Sorrows. Her last parting shot - a classic "you'll regret this" - ended up getting him killed.)

But then there's Mevolent, and cleaning up a city in the aftermath of its latest Traumatic Event, and putting a size 10 to the backsides of the City Guard, so his priorities get reshuffled somewhat, and it's almost a week later that he thinks to ask, "Heard from Serpine lately? He's being oddly quiet."

Valkyrie blinks at him from the passenger seat. Her fingertips tap tap tap at the touchscreen. She's messaging someone. He doesn't know who. "He's...around."

"Why the pause?"

"Hm?"

"You paused," he points out, switching lanes to get around a hatchback dawdling along at 60. "He's...around. You're trying to hide something from me. I'm aware you still talk to him, you know."

She doesn't deny it. He's gotten used to that, in the last few years. She doesn't tell him things anymore. It's that distance, the distance he can try to banter over but never truly remove. She's a lot further away than his passenger seat. "He's been looking for somewhere to live, like. Now that he's here for good. So, you know. That's probably keeping him busy."

Nefarian Serpine is living out of a stuffy first-floor rented room above, of all things, Vaurien Scapegrace's pub.

He knows this not because China was having Serpine followed (although she was) or because plenty of old faces from the Sanctuary still owe him favours (although they do), but because he receives a text from Scapegrace at a quarter to midnight, in the middle of a grisly murder scene.

have u beaten anyone up lately? do u want to? think thrasher just rented one of our rooms to a war criminal

He taps out a response, half-focused on the screen and half on Valkyrie examining the photos on the dead man's mantelpiece. She looks like she's just figured something out.

Which one? Thrasher, or the other guy?

By the time he's dropped her home, said hello to the furball and returned to the city, morning is bleeding into the sky. He knocks sharply on Nefarian Serpine's peeling rented door, and then again when there's no response.

From inside, a thud.

Then another, followed by some deeply impolite language, and then the door jerks open. Serpine, wearing an impressive bedhead, a scraggly attempt at a beard and a pair of patterned socks with a hole in the toe, squints out into the hall and snaps, "D'you have ANY IDEA what time it is? This place is supposed to - ah, shite. It's you."

"It is," he agrees.

Serpine gives him a sulky jerk of the head - an invitation - and vanishes back inside. He follows, closing the door gently behind him. Inside the room is dark and depressing and smells faintly of mildew and sweat. There are clothes on the floor.

He pulls the curtains open and looks out the window, giving Serpine some privacy to get dressed.

"Found me at last, have you?" Serpine asks from over by the bed. There's a rustle of fabric and the sound of a belt being done up. "What do you want? Come to take my other hand?"

That's it. That's what's different. "Other? You don't seem to be missing any at present, Nefarian. Valkyrie's work, I take it."

Serpine sits down on the bed with a squeak of springs, and when Skulduggery turns to face him, he's smirking and, thankfully, wearing trousers. "Ever so nice of her, wasn't it? Doesn't work like the old one, though. You know. The one I used on you."

He sighs. "And here I thought this last week would've given you time to come up with some new material."

Serpine shrugs and spends a moment picking out a pair of shirts from the wardrobe beside the bed. If it's a test, it's a painfully obvious one. Almost an invitation. Go ahead, shoot me.

No, this is something Skulduggery knows far more intimately. A display of brittle confidence in the face of a threat. I'm not afraid of you. Do your worst.

Serpine is afraid of him. Afraid of being arrested, maybe, or killed, or worse. He'd have relished that fear, once. Delighted in flipping the tables.

He leans back against the desk, ankles crossed and arms folded. After a moment, Serpine turns around with a shirt on a hanger in each hand. He holds them up for an opinion.

Skulduggery points wordlessly at the green one, and the blue goes back in the closet. "If you're not here to kill me, what do you want?"

While Serpine is doing up his buttons, Skulduggery retrieves the folded sheaf of paper from the inside pocket of his long coat, and holds it up. "I came to drop these off."

Serpine's vibrant eyes narrow. "What is that? An arrest warrant?"

"A list of landlords in Roarhaven willing to rent to refugees. Valkyrie mentioned you were looking."

Serpine blinks at him. Skulduggery doesn't often bother with the facade in Roarhaven, but if he had a face right now, he'd be blinking back. It's a weirdly awkward moment.

"...thanks," Serpine says after a moment, tentatively reaching for the papers; Skulduggery leans forward to pass them over. "That'd be...helpful."

He sounds very uncomfortable saying those words. When Skulduggery responds, "You're welcome," he feels much the same.

Serpine unfolds the papers and skims them. Three pages of property listings. Tipstaff had printed them off for him with only a raised eyebrow and a, "Never thought you'd move out of Dublin, Detective."

"What brought this on?"

He looks up. "Hm?"

"You show up here at an ungodly hour of the morning, nobody to rein you in, and you're being helpful? I don't buy it. I know China as well as you do. She told you to kill me, didn't she?"

"She did," Skulduggery acknowledges, and a very old, very spiky part of him gets a kick out of watching the blood drain from Serpine's face. "I told her no."

"Bollocks."

"Hard to believe, isn't it? But it's true. Ah, don't look at me like that, Nefarian. It's got nothing to do with you. I was just feeling argumentative that day. And, if nothing else, I can always rely on China to argue with me if I tell her no."

"So -"

"For my sins, she made you my responsibility, see. I'm supposed to keep an eye on you, make sure you don't get up to any of your old tricks. And if you do, then I'll kill you. I'll be checking in on you to make sure you're behaving yourself. Think of me as a...probation officer, of sorts. With benefits."

More blinking. This version of Serpine is not a morning person. He bets his alternate self got to sleep in far later in this Serpine's dungeon. "I'm not seeing any benefits."

"The benefit is I get to kill you if you step out of line. I never said the benefits were for you."

"Are there any benefits in this for me?"

He considers this for a moment. "You get to live. Because of me. I saved your life. "

Serpine's face is emotionless and his voice is flat.

"Oh," he says. "Yippee."

He's interviewing a witness when his phone rings.

He politely excuses himself, and steps out into the hallway to answer it. "Pleasant."

"Hello!" Serpine says brightly, and launches immediately into, "I want a car."

Skulduggery's fake face blinks at the sigil-embossed wallpaper. It takes a second to even register the voice, and another to pick up on -

"How the -? Who gave you this number?"

"Valkyrie." Serpine sounds completely unapologetic. "And you're supposed to be teaching me to drive."

Serpine can't see his head tilt. He does it anyway. "Am I now? And what gave you that idea?"

"I'm your problem now, remember? Besides, you agreed to it," is the smug answer. "Before our little holiday back to my dimension, I said I wanted a better house and a latte and a car. And driving lessons."

"I never agreed to that."

"Well, you didn't say no. That's agreement by default. Sorry."

"Plenty of people can teach you to drive, Nefarian. You could teach yourself, even. Watch a video on Youtube."

"Detective Pleasant, I am shocked," Serpine teases, suddenly dripping with insincere concern. "Think of all those poor defenceless mortals I could run into. There's an advert on the television about how you're specifically not supposed to hit them with cars. It kills them, apparently. How will I cope without you there to make sure I resist temptation?"

Skulduggery grinds his teeth. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Immensely. I'd completely forgotten how much fun it is to have you at my mercy. And you did say you're supposed to keep an eye on me."

Skulduggery goes quiet for a moment, focusing on reining in the urge to hit something. Serpine's face. He wants to hit Serpine's face. With a chair. Trust him to figure out that being Skulduggery's responsibility meant he could go to him for help.

"Fine."

"Excellent! And now you have my number, so you can let me know when you're free."

"Since when do you have a mobile?"

"Since today," Serpine says airily. "Tanith helped me pick one out. I can talk to anyone, anywhere, whenever I like now. Isn't that great? I mean, I only have two numbers, three now that Valkyrie's given me yours, but still. Now I'll always have someone to talk to."

"This is a work line. It is not for social calls."

A passing sorcerer startles a little at his tone, and he gives her an apologetic smile. As an afterthought, he rolls his eyes in a you know how it is gesture. But she's already walking away, so really he just rolls his eyes at her back, which is probably rude of him.

Serpine is still talking. "- can send little moving pictures, and I've downloaded all these little applications, so now I do all sorts of fun things. Do you use...whatsit...Snapchat? I have Snapchat now. And I've got Angry Birds and Candy Crush and Grindr."

And that? That right there? That is more than he ever needed to know about Serpine.

"Goodbye, Nefarian," he says firmly, and hangs up.

He checks in on Serpine once a week, officially. Unofficially, he clocks more hours than he'd like to admit parked in an alley outside Scapegrace's pub, waiting for someone to scream bloody murder. Serpine spots him a couple of times, gives him a jaunty wave with his newly-regrown hand on his way to the off-licence, mocking and unconcerned.

But nobody gets murdered. Serpine seems to be...behaving. For now.

"I've volunteered you for move-in duty," Valkyrie says, apropos of nothing. When he blinks at her, she shrugs and takes a sip of her coffee. "Serpine's found a flat. He needs some furniture shifting."

He's not going to throw anything at his partner in this busy mortal cafe. He's not.

"I see. And you thought that has anything to do with me because..."

She polishes off the last dregs of her drink with a slurp. "I can't float stuff up stairs."

The apartment Serpine is moving into is a decent two-bedroom on the fourth floor of a six-floor block in a quiet area with a history of minimal unexpected-demolitions-by-overpowered-supervillain. Skulduggery idly wonders, as he pulls up in the parking area behind the building, whether a mass murderer moving in - and the frequent visits by the other mass murderer charged with keeping an eye on him - will bring down housing prices. China will hate that, when she wakes up.

Serpine is waiting for him out front, surrounded by boxes and furniture, already looking a bit frazzled. His outfit is stylish and his slicked-back hair is sticking up in places where he's been running his hands though it. He startles and looks up at the sound of footsteps, and seems to breathe a sigh of relief. "Ah! You came. Valkyrie said you'd know how to go about getting all this, you know. Up there."

"You can hire people for this, you know," Skulduggery tells him. "Removal men."

"With what money?" Serpine asks, a little helplessly. "Valkyrie gave me some of her old things, but I got most of this from - what's the word? - second hand shops, and the refugee aid centre. I've been looking for work, but...you know." He gestures at his face. "This is my criminal record."

Which...is a fair point, so Skulduggery rolls up his sleeves and moves to one end of a squashed two-seater couch. "Fair enough. Grab the other end."

Serpine's mouth almost drops open. "You want to carry it? Like peasants? I thought you were here to float the damn thing!"

Well, he could. But the world isn't actively ending right now, so he can afford to be petty. "I don't use magic unless I have to, these days. We'll be doing this the old-fashioned way."

"But." The last time he saw someone look this aghast was when Valkyrie realised how the citizens of Roarhaven saw her. "But that's manual labour!"

"A little manual labour will do you good."

"Gods, I hate you," Serpine tells him as he moves to grab the other end of the couch.

Skulduggery turns the facade on specifically to give him a smug smirk. "I know."

By the time they're finishing up the boxes, Serpine's new neighbours have come out into the hall to see what all the banging is about. They seem young, mostly - too young to recognise him from the war. Skulduggery is starting to suspect that Serpine has accidentally moved into student housing, but he keeps his mouth shut. Serpine is being chatty and charming, holding court in the corridor, and Skulduggery mostly lets him get on with it in between trips to the bottom of the stairs to pick up more boxes, until a young woman who holds Serpine's front door open for him and chuckles, "Left you doing all the work, has he? He's a talker, your boyfriend. I bet you don't get a word in edgewise."

It's not often that Skulduggery Pleasant is lost for words. "I. I'm sorry. What?"

Fortunately, Serpine chooses that moment to interrupt the conversation he's having and interject, "Oh, no, darling. We're not together. He's just here to make sure I stay out of trouble."

There's something off about how he says it, though. There must be, because the woman taps her nose like he's just confided a secret, and Skulduggery can't help but feel like he's just been made the butt of a joke he doesn't fully understand.

He checks on Serpine once a week. Occasionally Serpine texts him. A blurry photo, usually paired with a caption like, "what the hell is this?"; a set of traffic lights, or a lollipop man, or a chihuahua in a little jumper. Sometimes he responds, but sometimes he doesn't bother.

It's not like they're friends.

The sun is shining, the birds are singing, Roarhaven's shopping district is bustling, and Nefarian Serpine is late.

Skulduggery's been people-watching, drumming his fingers on the tabletop, for fifteen minutes when he finally shows up with a to-go coffee cup in one hand and a stack of books under the other arm. He's frowning.

"You're late," says Skulduggery, by way of greeting.

Serpine shrugs, taking the seat opposite. He dumps his books on the round table and gives the menu a cursory glance. "Sorry. I was at the library. Almost missed the bus."

A waitress approaches wearing a shirt stamped with the logo of the little bistro they're sat outside, and while Serpine orders lunch, Skulduggery idly examines the titles stamped along the spines of his book mountain. Some of them look old, leather bound tomes with fancy gold lettering, and the rest seem to be...textbooks, of all things.

"A little light reading, Nefarian?"

"Huh?" Serpine - busy watching the waitress walk back inside - swivels round to face him, and shrugs. "Oh. Yeah. I want to see if they match up with the slanderous shite they're teaching at the university."

"Excuse me?"

Serpine shrugs. "Vapid and Ty - you know Ty, weird hair, lives next door - thought it might help me adapt if I learn more about how your world is different to mine, so. I've been sitting in on some classes. Unofficially. History. Mortal Relations. That kind of thing. You have battles here that never happened back home, you know."

Skulduggery folds his arms across his chest and leans back in his chair, amused despite himself. "Mortal Relations? You're going to Mortal Relations lectures. You."

"Shut up," says Serpine, pointing a finger at him. "You don't get to laugh. You're not the one nobody wants to hire. - because that's still a problem, by the way. Aren't you supposed to be helping me with that?"

"I'm supposed to be making sure you don't kill anyone or make a nuisance of yourself. Sorry to disappoint."

"Would it kill you to write me a character reference?"

Skulduggery coughs conspicuously into his gloved hand with the throat he doesn't have. He picks up the top book from Serpine's stack and flips idly through Religion & Warfare: The Rise Of The Church Of The Faceless In The 15th Century . "Think about that one for a minute, Nefarian, and you'll remember why it's not happening."

"Fine. Be like that." Serpine's shoe nudges his leg under the table. "Here, were you at the Battle of Black Rock?"

He has to think about that one for a second, then hums in the negative. "Hm. No. I missed that one. I think that was when I was holed up in Cork with a broken leg. Why?"

"History 201," Serpine muses. "I tagged along this morning. It was mostly about that fight, but it never happened in my dimension. It was borderline slanderous, honestly. The professor is an imbecile."

"You're dying to vent, aren't you?"

"Would you mind terribly?"

Skulduggery pulls his ornate pocket watch from his waistcoat pocket and checks the time. "You've got fifteen minutes. Better talk fast."

Time goes by.

He checks on Nefarian once a week. They have coffee, sometimes. Valkyrie knows not to cross the line of bringing Serpine to Skulduggery's home, but she adds them both to a group chat and neither one leaves.

Nefarian wrecks his first car, and Skulduggery makes the drive out from Dublin at 5.45am to rescue him. He calls the tow truck while Serpine sits, pale and shaken, in the Bentley's front seat, drenched from the rain and squelching miserably every time he moves.

He apologises for calling so early, and for once he sounds like he means it.

Skulduggery takes him through the McDonalds drive thru to cheer him up, and as Nefarian tucks into a box of fries with gusto, he thinks, oh no.

They're not friends. They're not.

"Is this a date?"

Skulduggery tilts his head, hand stilling over the car keys. "I'm sorry?"

Valkyrie tosses another piece of popcorn into her mouth. She's already in her pyjamas, fluffy ones with dogs on them, and she's flicking through the Netflix queue. "You're all dressed up. Is this a date? Have you two finally gotten over yourselves? God knows it's been long enough."

He snatches up the car keys and sniffs, disdainful. "After all these decades, Valkyrie, if that's what your expert detective skills are telling you, I have failed as a mentor."

"And now you're getting defensive."

"I'm doing no such thing. Where's Tanith, by the way?"

She laughs and does double fingerguns at him. "And that's deflection!"

He sighs - dramatically, for her benefit - and as he checks his pocket watch, she continues, "And, she's on her way. Get out, already. You have a date to keep and we have movies to watch."

"It's not a bloody date," he complains, patting his pockets to make sure he's got everything. "And I originally asked you."

"Yeah, but opera's boring. Here, is he meeting you there or are you picking him up?"

"Goodbye, Valkyrie."

"See?!" She shouts after him as he shuts the front door. "Date!"

[sasster]

HELLO MY NAME IS CHASE TODAY I REALIZED I NEVER MENTIONED ANY OF MY ALIEN OCS FOR THE SPECIES I WON’T SHUT UP ABOUT SO WITHOUT FURTHER ADO.

Tbh now that I’m doing this I noticed that I don’t really have any Geruginga, Reenait, or Plulea ocs that I’m ready to share publicly.

So this will be about my Isopod and Cardali ocs.

(im working on a google docs version please don’t roast me)

Isopods: an insectoid race, they are known for their engineering capabilities.

Soaren > An architect that kind of has a hard time connecting with other people. Especially people outside of their own race. They spend much of their time either building something, or watching videos on how to build something. They don’t typically engage with people outside of their family unless forced, you know how it is.

Kale > Soarens baby brother! He's just a ball of sunshine, he's recently gone through one of many isopod rite of passages -- When you find and hone your skill, you gift your first project to someone who either means a whole lot to you or helped you hone that skill. He just got into pottery!!! :-) He's gonna be an expert sculptor one day.

Celeste > I have not a lot on her but she does origami and paper crafts like that. Which she kind of hates because it's not "real work" in her own eyes, but she is supported by her friends and family, so it's kind of a self doubt thing el oh el.

Cardali are a peaceful and knowledge seeking race, they are essentially shapeshifting space goo and the closest things to Gods as we might know them.

Diollea, Valias, Inoirae, and Axenas are all gods, they already have their own theology posts so I won’t dwell on them for too long.

Inohredíe >They're a baby! They're one of many Cardali who were born like off world and don't really know whats what about being a Cardali. By Cardali standards they're a baby, but they're like 40-50 human years old (Cardali live a LOOOOng time. longer than you're thinking) They're still learning how to be! They just learned how to shapeshift I love them a lot.

Deas'Illy/Bellator > She is the Divine Right Hand to the Goddess Inoirae. That's just fancy speak for she works for God, and she's specifically in charge of Cardaliths "Invasion Specialists". Basically her job is to train up her branch of the military and help thwart invasions. Like literally just protecting other planets from Empire Like alien species that like to invade and shit. She also finds it difficult to connect with people, but she does her best too. She's kind of envious of her brothers ability to just fucking DO IT without thinking about it ||

Liam > He's Bella brother! He works with the information gathering part of the "military" it's not even consider military ANYWAY. He travels across the universe and just learns about the locals and life there. The "crew" he's part of is basically like.. The first step of "Cardali Intervention" wherei t's like if they run across something fucked up (a planet of people enslaved to another species, planets ravaged by war, etc) they can like reported it back and be like hey uhm... Some fucking SHIT is going on here. And that starts the ball rolling and stuff. He's pretty sweet and kind of always in the mood to make a new friend. You know that type of guy? Who is just always friendly and has some kind input to give? Yeah he's that guy. 

Noelaeti > Or better known as “Bigger Star” is a Cardalith Roboticist, pretty straight forward. They build robots and other AI adjacent things. Unlike most (homeworld born) roboticists, Noelaeti has taken to traveling the the unvierse with one of their “younger brothers”. They don’t really engage with people outside of their family, either, and tend to keep mostly to their work while their brother trapezes around the universe making friends.

Ralzeame > the Divine Right Hand to the god Valias, unlike Bella, Amy’s job is right at home. They are responsible for making sure any refugee or other alien denizens of Cardalith get acclimated and accommodated for, they spend much of their time getting to know and working with people from war torn planets or who have outright gotten their homes destroyed. With a crew, of course, because no one can actually do that work alone lmao. They are considered an ambassador in many rights. They don’t do al ot of things outside of work, which is why Valias has ordered they take an extended vacation effective immediately! (Ugh, they just wanna go home)

Thiosellia > Have you ever met a baby that was also a God? Well now you have. They aren’t really like RP-able because they are literally an infant. I just want you guys to know that there is a God Baby and their name is Thiosellia. Thank you so much for coming to my TED talk

~HONORABLE MENTION~

Star > Now I know what you’re thinking. Chase, dude. Star is a human. Correct! But he, along with his two older brothers, were raised on Cardalith. He is a roboticist by hobby, but by trade he does much the same as Liam, and if you guessed that he was Noelaeti’s “younger brother”, you were right! He’s very charming and charismatic. We love star! Also he knows about six alien languages. What. The. Fuck!

[theawakenedstate]

Live Workshop - Expand Your Heart Chakra & Step into Receiving

I am doing something I have never done before and it's been bubbling up inside of me for weeks - I am soo excited to share: I am doing a LIVE  WORKSHOP EXPERIENCE On the Topic that truly started it all for me and created what is The Awakened State today. The Heart Chakra Join me on a journey into the portal of your heart space as we do deep into the depths of Expanding, Opening, Making Space, Softening, Your Heart Chakra. There are tons of new downloads, codes, upgrades i've been having on The Heart Chakra and now im ready to talk about them. I've only briefly mentioned this in an instagram post or two but I've been healing a lot around External Validation and Fears of Rejection from my childhood over the past few years and it's been drastically causing a lot of uplevels in my manifesting, my magnetism and my heart Chakra space. Including going into the layers of our Giving and Receiving Dynamics that we have with all of life, our relationships and how we're even manifesting. In This Workshop, I want to share with you what i've been learning as it connects deeply into AWAKENING your Heart Chakra and it's connection to our Self-Worth & self-Love. I want you to imagine what it would be like to really step into your unapologetic worthiness and potential

To Feel into Unblocking what is causing the sabotage in your life - and Realize you can Oblierate it with a flick of a switch

To Open your Mind and see the way Magnetism is influencing your Relationships whether romantic or career or business or family or any of it.

To Go deeper into what it means to really love yourself from the inside out and how this can consciously uplevel your own Magnetic Attraction Power.  

Across all Areas of your Life This is what the Heart Chakra is truly about, it is more than just a healing practice of self care bubble baths, and saying I love you in the mirror... mmm we must go deeper - Deeper into the core of who you are, I'm honestly not sure if I can teach things surface level, ever - it is never the answer - so why focus on it, when you can go deeper and deeper into the Quantum of Who you are and unleash your Magnetism with How you're Giving and Receiving through all energetic conversations you're having with life, with yourself, with every aspect of you -

It all begins in the Heart Space. The Heart Chakra is the Bridge between the Spiritual Self and the Physical self, therefore when we learn to bridge the gap between the Heart space - We Begin Naturally Allowing in more Receiving as the connection to the Spiritual self and the physical self are now Free-flowing as ONE - aka Alignment ;) So What does it mean to really tap in fully to this space? It means going BEYOND the Healing and into the Empowement of the Heart Chakra Space - which honestly feels delicious

As the Heart Chakra unlocks our natural ability To feel The Full Acceptance of Ourselves

To Love more deeper who we are and our spiritual self -

To Feel more Self-Empowered - What would that look like? To BE more Encouraged, To keep dropping layers and layers of Ego, as you walk forward in more Confidence and Certainty

To Believe Deeper in yourself than ever before and allow yourself to be Self-Led When we're in the energy of Self-Love - We don't even begin to realize there's a CASCADE, a RIVER FLOOD of Unapologetic Receiving, Upgrading and unleashing as we continously drop ego, drop the noise, drop all the heaviness we are carrying to the point where it begins to UNLEASH, ooze out of you LOL and basically The Flood gates are now open as abundance, receiving, knowledge, insight, solutions, creative epiphanies to your problems suddenly become available - because you finally got it - you finally stepping through and leaped

You finally said yes I am available for this because I love myself and I Accept myself fully -

Therefore the cascade opens and Floods of Truth come pouring out of you as you open up

To Unapologetic Receiving. Or you can continue to feed the bullshit that is stopping you and sabotaging you... I know because i did it repeatedly lol Until I got it...and I continue to apply it, It's always only a choice away -

HEART AWAKENING LIVE WORK SHOP Step into Love, Own your Worth and Expand Your Receiving capacity how it is going down: 10 Day Workshop Experience. Official Live Trainings in real time - New Material channeled from Soul 5 Video Trainings 5 soul Work implementation:audio, video, workbooks, meditation, etc. Support group. BONUS: Ultimate Heart Chaka bundle And For FREE you Receive immediate Access to the Bonus Bundle: The Ultimate Heart Chakra Bundle - Receive Lessons from Both Empower the Chakras and Daily Habits, Daily Flow with the Chakras - Bundled together for an Empowered Foundational Lesson on the Heart Chakra to guide you in Healing& empowerment. High Value - Low price for a Fun Summer Sale and to celebrate doing my first live workshop, The price is low because I want this workshop to be accessible, and to reach as many people as possible. these are lessons that have drastically helped me Heal and Awaken my own Heart Chakra, This work will help you: Heal Self-sabotaging habits that are keeping you stuck and unconsciously blocked Heal Relationships: toxic or imbalanced that are keeping you in imbalanced dynamics that aren't serving you: either people pleasing, overgiver under receiving, unhealthy relationship dynamics, attachments, Understanding your Magnetism like WOAH - Why is it some people get manifesting and others are freaking out about how it never works? Let's clear this up - This can connect to Love Attraction, client attraction, Receiving, abundance, um your entire life. Going into Deeper Quantum concepts like - Giving and Receiving through Energetics & magnetism, what does it really mean to understanding the Mirror Concept.   And of Course we also work on Healing & Empower the Heart Chakra Space through Mind body healing, Magnetism, Embodiment and Reprogramming. If you're feeling the vibe, Join me Below:

>>> Heart Awakening Live 10 Day Workshop >>>

We Start June 28th!

Enrollment closes June 27th

Love ya,

[haro-whumps]

Box Boy Plurality: 02

Second whumpee won the poll. Be warned, this chapter’s a longer one

CW: Dehumanization, slavery, creepy + intimate whumper, brainwashing, manipulation, illegal business practices

Tag List: @thatsthewhump​ @whump-it​ @ashintheairlikesnow​ @fairybean101​ @finder-of-rings​ @comfortforthepain​ @shameless-whumper​ @that-one-thespian​ @burtlederp​ @castielamigos-whump-side-blog​ @raigash​ @im-not-rare-im-rarr @spiffythespook​ @whumps-the-word​ @frnkieroismydaddy​ @whumpity--whump--whump​ @michelleswhumpyreblogs​ @jo-castle​ @newandfiguringitout​ @lumpofwhump​ @infested-with-blood​

Masterlist

Ren looked up from their work computer, eyebrow arched. It wasn’t time for Yanni to come in and complain about the broken clasp on her phone charm, which Ren would ever-so-generously offer to replace for her. She wasn’t due to notice it until her midafternoon coffee break, since she wasn’t overly invested in checking the thing during work hours. 

It wasn’t Yanni, unsurprisingly, but it also wasn’t anyone Ren could say they recognized. Oh, sure, they’d seen the man’s face around before, but they’d never spoken with him, and they weren’t even sure what department he worked in.

“Mx. Pavlish, is it?” he said with a friendly, though nervous smile. He was an okay actor, though. They could only discern his nerves due to their practice at it.

“Hello,” Ren said, carefully, pleasantly neutral. “I’m afraid I can’t recall us ever meeting.”

“Ah, we haven’t spoken,” he said, taking the somewhat-cramped office chair they kept available for visitors and dragging it over to their desk. “My name is Mike.” 

He offered his hand for shaking, and Ren inwardly cringed at the feeling of his sweaty palm against their own. They took a squirt of hand sanitizer immediately after, and Mike chuckled with a self-conscious little rub to the back of his neck.

“So, Mike, what brings you here?”

“I work in security,” Mike said, and Ren felt every nerve in their body become immediately alert. “I know, uh, about your little ploy.”

Blackmail, then. He was here to blackmail them. They very, very carefully sized him up. 

“And what ploy, exactly, is that?”

“You unplug the ethernet cords to Jasmine’s and Cassandra’s computers just so you can be the one to fix them,” Mike stated, and Ren’s eyebrows shot up.

“You’ve been sitting on this for a while,” Ren mentioned, “I haven’t done that in going on three months now.”

“Wait have you been doing something else?”

“Is that relevant to this conversation?”

Mike chuckled again. “I guess not. But hey, listen, I get it. We all want to impress pretty ladies, right?” He gave Ren one of those nudge-nudge wink-wink kind of smiles, and Ren tilted their head consideringly. Maybe not blackmail? His tone and mood weren’t exactly right for it, but Ren couldn’t rule anything out. “Look, my cousin’s friends with Jasmine, I could have her set you two up on a ‘blind’ date, if you want.” Mike even made the little airquotes around the word. Precious.

“And why would you do that?”

“Because I’ve kinda got a favor I’d like to ask you?”

Hm. Wishy-washy. The threat of tattling on Ren for the sabotage hung, but distantly, left on a backburner that Ren could be aware of but neither would necessarily acknowledge, while Mike offered a perceived reward instead. Ren lifted their finger to their lips, pressing it horizontally along the line.

“I’m listening,” they stated evenly, curious.

“So, I saw you on the news. And your box boy has been, ha, everywhere. And you’re kinda like, the model citizen of whumpee-ownership, yeah?”

Ren blinked slowly, and said, “I might be.”

“God, ha, kinda cagey aren’t you?”

“I prefer to know what I’m dealing with. Continue.”

“Right, so,” Mike shifted in his seat, hands moving from the armrests to scratch at the side of his nose and then back on the armrests, “the law states that pets cannot be held legally accountable for crimes they committed under past owners. The idea is that the new owners will discipline them better, yada yada, behavioral psychology babble, you get the drift. Anyway. I am in possession of a particularly… let’s say, criminal box boy. Defiant and loudmouthed and it turns out he’s been getting into trouble while I wasn’t looking. Ha, pretty embarrassing for a security guard, huh?”

Yeah, no way in hell this guy hadn’t been using his pet to do the things he was too chicken-shit to do himself. It was a smart move, though, Ren would give him that.

“So basically, I need to do some... let’s call it whumpee-laundering. Change hands before the cops get the dna work back. He’s a good lad, y’know, don’t want anything bad to happen to him, much less for him to get locked up. So, howsabout you, oh model pet owner, take him for, what, a week? Two weeks? Just long enough for things to simmer down. I’ll take him right back off your hands as soon as this whole mess blows over, and I will definitely get you a date with Jasmine. Yeah?”

Ren stared at him contemplatively. Definitely not blackmail, this guy was in a bad way, and didn’t want the cops to have custody of a defiant whumpee that would talk the moment it was taken in. He needed Ren to say yes to this deal. But contemplative silence on a man already squirming in his seat worked wonders to sweeten the deal.

“And hey, I mean, he’ll be legally yours, right? So, like, whatever you wanna do to him while he’s at your place, you can do it. I mean, as long as you don’t kill or sell him, I do want him back. But like, if you wanna, fuck, I dunno, chop off his arm or some shit? Be my guest. As long as I get him back alive I don’t care, no restrictions, right? It’ll be fun, he’s got a pottymouth but if you gag him he’s not a bad looker, all things considered.”

Ren hummed, tapping a finger up and down against the back of their own palm, hands clasped loosely in front of their chin, elbows on their desk.

“Say, Mike?”

“Yeah?” he answered eagerly, body jumping lightly in the chair, sitting up straighter.

“I appreciate the offer to set me up with Jasmine, but I actually have no interest in dating her. You’re right; it is the simple act of showing off that I like the best.” Mike visibly began to panic, and Ren took a small mercy on him. “But there is something you have that I would be deeply appreciative of receiving.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“I want full access to company surveillance cameras and audio recorders, on my devices, and no record of my permissions.”

“Oh.” Mike blinked, and then grinned. “Oh! Oh, yeah, of course, easy as pie, I can so do that for you. So you’ll take him? Tonight, ideally?”

“When I meet him, I will assess him,” Ren stated. “If I perceive that he is any threat to my own box boy, the deal’s off.”

“Oh, oh no, I’m sorry, I gave the wrong impression!” Mike said with a much more relaxed laugh. “He’s got a defiant mouth but he won’t act up. His bark is way worse than his bite, don’t worry, he isn’t a fighter.”

“I’ll see that for myself, but very well. Bring all of his paperwork with you,” Ren said as they wrote down their number on a notepad. “Text me. I’ll send you my address. Meet there at 5:30, and no earlier. Bring any disciplinary tools you own along with him.”

“Not gonna use your own?” Mike asked with a glance at Ren’s hand sanitizer. 

“Don’t own any. I have the blindfold and sensory deprivation hood that came along with my pet’s box, but I haven’t used the blindfold since unboxing him and I’ve only touched the hood to put it away somewhere in the basement.” Actually, where had they put that thing? “My pet is too well behaved for such things.”

Mike whistled. “Nice. You get an expensive model?”

“Well, he wasn’t cheap. But he was exactly what I wanted.”

“Ooo, custom?”

“In training. His appearance was already precisely suited to my desires.”

Mike laughed and extended his hand again, before seeming to think better of it and he shot Ren a two finger salute. “I’ll see you tonight then.”

Ren nodded in return with a pleased little. “See you tonight.” Ren thought of one last thing. “Oh, and Mike?”

“Yeah?”

“Have you told him that you only plan on selling him temporarily?”

“Ah, no, just recently came up.”

“Don’t tell him this isn’t a permanent arrangement. He’ll be easier to mold, that way.”

“You’re the boss,” Mike said with double pistols, and left their office.

The moment the door closed behind him, they pulled out a notebook and began jotting down a list of pros and cons. Their agreement had been deeply tentative, not that they’d let Mike know that. They would thoroughly scrutinize the concept, and then rigorously test the box boy himself once he was brought over.

The idea of having someone to yank around, though. To punish, perhaps with some of the tools Host had listed in their disciplinary video… Ren swallowed, their mouth watering. Skin that they could pinch and cut and bruise, not deeply, nothing permanent, nothing too mean. Someone they could sink their claws into and throw away in a week or two, leaving their home unblemished and perfect, just Soren and them. Just a quick little fix. Just a nice little treat.

The potential cons outnumbered the pros, but the potential pros were of a much higher quality.

They drove home quickly that night, bidding Yanni a very short goodbye, citing business that needed attending, and they weren’t even lying.

“I bet you just wanna get home and cuddle your boy,” she teased them, sticking her tongue out.

“And I bet you’re going to do the same to your babe,” Ren teased in return, wiggling their eyebrows at her. Yanni giggled and admitted to being guilty as charged, and didn’t whine or cling any longer. See? Convincing her to get her own pet had been such a wise decision. So useful. 

“Soren!” they called the moment they walked in the door.

“Exalted!” Soren called back, and they noted the sound of a hair dryer cutting off. “You’re home earlier than usual!” Soren said as he rushed down the stairs. His hair was still a little damp, they noted, as they pulled him into a hug.

“I am. I have a big evening ahead,” Ren stated, handing him their lunch bag and prying off their jacket. 

“What’s on the agenda, Exalted?” Soren asked, hanging up their jacket for them and following them into the kitchen.

“Tonight, depending on how introductions go, we will be adding a new box boy to the house.” Ren snorted, pulling down a glass and opening the fridge, digging around for their ginger ale. “Well, a used box boy. I’m taking him off a coworker’s hands.” They “casually” glanced over their shoulder to see Soren’s reaction, and he was white as a sheet.

“E-Exalted? I, I don’t…”

“Soren, baby?” they asked sweetly, pretending not to understand.

“If-If I haven’t,” Soren stuttered shakily, eyes wide and vacant, staring somewhere far past the kitchen tile, “If I’m not, pl-pleasing you, if this, is,” he raised a shaking hand to his hair, a front lock, one of the beautiful portions he might have turned into bangs, “is about, what I almost did, I’m sorry, I can do better, I can be better, please, I don’t--I can’t--please, Exalted, I just need to know, just tell me and I’ll do it, I want to, I, I need to, please, just tell me, tell me anything I’ll do anything Exalted please, please, I can be good, I want to be good! I want to, I want to be good, I want to, Exalted, I want to be good for you just tell me please I’ll do anything, I’ll do anything!”

Ren sipped idly at their ginger ale, not bothering to mask their face with concern or pity when he clearly couldn’t see them anyway. God, he sounded so pretty like this. Tears budding up in his eyes, his hands shaking so visibly, his body trembling in a more subtle, yet equally delicious way. It was all so perfect to watch, to listen to as he broke down. They knocked back the rest of their drink and set the glass down on the counter.

“Soren, angel,” they crooned, face twisted up artfully and voice sweet as honey. They gently pried Soren’s hand from his hair and placed it on his collar, which made him gasp, eyes blinking rapidly, immediately grounding him. They caressed his face, then tilted it up. Petting at the lock of hair he’d just been tugging at, they smiled pityingly. “My sweet little bird, no no. You haven’t done anything wrong, pet. I’ve forgiven you for hurting me so badly, it’s in the past my darling angel, weeks in the past. My precious, sweet Soren, shush now, shush. Nothing bad is happening to you. This will be a good thing! Just because I’ll have a new plaything doesn’t mean I’ll neglect you, Soren, sweetheart. And you’ll have someone lower than you on the pecking order! Won’t that be nice?”

“I--I--”

“Shhhh, Soren, shhhhh, shush now. It’s okay, it’s alllllll alright. You’re my favorite, darling, you’ll always be my favorite plaything, don’t worry.”

“Th-thank you, thank you Exalted, thank you.”

“There, there’s a good boy. So well mannered, saying exactly what you’re meant to.” Ren hugged him tightly, too tight, but only just a little. “Don’t forget, my pet. You will belong to me forever. You will kneel at my feet only, you will eat only when I am the one to give you food, you will never set foot outside this house without me and you will never belong to anyone else. You’re mine, mine alone, and mine forever, Soren.”

“Yes,” Soren said, sounding grateful and relieved, just like he was meant to. “Yes, Exalted, thank you, thank you so much.”

Ren grabbed a fistful of hair and kissed him, and he kissed back eagerly. 

“Soren, tell me you love me,” they ordered sweetly, and Soren beamed. 

“I love you, Exalted! I love you, Ren!” He leaned against them and they let him. “I won’t ever love anyone as much as I love you, Ren.”

“I know you won’t, my angel, you’re so good.”

And that was when the doorbell rang.

“Right on time,” Ren mentioned with a glance at the kitchen clock. “Come along, pet, let’s go interview our new potential plaything.”

“Yes, Exalted.”

Mike looked no less awkward standing up than he did sitting down, Ren thought, as they opened the door. He held himself like an adolescent trying out for theater who had no idea how to act and was in possession of limbs too long for his body. Behind him and to the side, a box boy carried his box on his back, looking very much like he was about to be crucified or somesuch.

“Come in,” Ren welcomed, “Take off your shoes.” Not that it mattered. The boy was filthy and bloody. Every room he set foot in would need to be thoroughly cleaned. Honestly, Mike couldn’t have even given him a bath before bringing him over? He really was in a rush.

“Set the box down; let me get a look at you,” Ren ordered. They observed the box boy, a young man with short (ugh) brown hair, too short to even grab efficiently. Nothing to yank him around by, and no time to grow it out. Whatever, they'd just have him wear a leash or somesuch. Brown eyes, tan skin, ambiguous ethnicity. Somewhat muscled, but half-starved and visibly exhausted, so he moved with a weakness. He let the box thunk down on the carpet, and when he raised his eye he met Ren's boldly. 

“Position two,” they said with a snap of their fingers, and they heard a pair of knees hit the floor before they saw the new boy kneel. They turned with surprise and saw Soren kneeling, which prompted them to laugh. 

“Oh no, no, Soren, angel, sweetheart, no. Both of you, position one. Soren, now, listen--haha! You just stand there and look pretty okay?” They pet his hair, admiring the way he flushed with embarrassment over his mixup. “You just stay put right here and watch. I'm interviewing the new boy and testing his behavior, alright? You stay put.” They kissed him and turned back to the boy. He was, at the very least, standing in position one, his chin tilted up just a little too high for submission but that was something that could be beaten into him. “Position six,” they ordered, and he held out his wrists with a silent glower. But, ah, to listen to his breathing, was that fear they could detect?

He was bruised and bloody and tired, in all ways just in a horrible state of disrepair. He would require so much fixing, and honestly that thrilled Ren. They took his barcoded wrist and read off the numbers tattooed underneath it. 843-902. 

“02, huh?” Ren mused aloud. “I think that’ll make a fine nickname for you.”

“Oh, his name is--” Mike started, but Ren cut him off. 

“Irrelevant.”

02’s nostrils flared. “If I'm going to buy him, and I think I will, then the creature he was before coming into my service is entirely irrelevant.”

“Oh, good, you'll take him then?” Mike asked, sounding nervous and relieved. Ren delighted in how much control they had over him, at that moment. 

“I'm not done deciding yet.”

Mike’s flash of nervous panic was so delicious, really. As was 02’s confliction. He didn’t know if he wanted to stay with Mike or be taken by Ren, aww, how cute.

“State your type,” Ren ordered, and 02 snarled. Honest to god snarled. Ren had to swallow, salivating at the thought of how much fun it would be to break that.

“Fff-” 02 choked on his own word, conditioning clearly warring with whatever it was that he was trying to do, and Ren arched an eyebrow. “Fuck you.”

They saw Mike twitch agitatedly in their peripheral, but didn’t pay him any mind.

“Position five.”

02 dropped like a rock, his forehead actually hitting the floor, and Ren chuckled. His Processors had done well with him, whoever they’d been, but not quite well enough. The image was all too clear now. Mike had bought himself a box boy, discounted for his bad mouth, and used his excellent behavioral obedience in order to commit whatever crimes he’d forced the boy into, while tolerating his naughty little words as nothing more than a background nuisance. Or, given the bruising, knocking him around for the disobedience, but never bothering with legitimate training.

“State your type,” Ren repeated, their tone taking a special quality that meant firm disappointment. Soren eeped behind them, and they got to watch 02’s chest seize.

“Combination, Ren.”

“Oh no, darling,” Ren said with a laugh, “You don’t get to call me by name.” They nudged his temple with the side of their foot and stated, “Position two.” Once within range, Ren gripped his chin and forced him to look at them. “You will refer to me exclusively as Exalted, or, if you feel I am in a particularly good mood with you, you may call me Honored One. My name is not to come out of that filthy little mouth of yours. Not until we’ve cleaned it thoroughly. Understand?”

They released his chin but he continued to hold their gaze. “Yes,” he stated, “Honored One.”

“Aww, Mike,” Ren cooed, turning to him. “He thinks he’s cute,” they intoned, sounding very much charmed, like a child had just fallen over while dancing. 

“I know he’s got a big mouth but he really does obey,” Mike assured.

“I can see that,” they said airily. “Come join me in my office, we’ll discuss price and the paperwork. 02, take your box down into the basement and stow it in the back corner of the laundry room, on top of the other one there. Take Position two in the center of the room when you are done, and wait. Soren, heel pet.”

They led Mike and Soren away from the foyer, not checking if 02 was obeying and not needing to. He might hesitate or linger, but Ren knew with full confidence that by the time they were done signing the papers and lightly harassing Mike for the evening, 02 would be exactly where they’d told him to be. 

“Actually,” they said at the door of their office, turning with raised index fingers. “Soren, baby, why don’t you go ahead and get started on dinner for us, mm?” Ren kissed him and patted his cheek sharply, twice. He nodded, worrying his lip, but scampered off to do as he’d been told.

“He’s beautiful,” Mike commented, before Soren was entirely out of earshot. “Even prettier in real life than in the ads, and I mean, wow,” he said with a chuckle, “you know?”

“I do know,” Ren said, gesturing for Mike to take a seat as they closed and locked the door. They pulled up their surveillance cameras on their computer, turned away from Mike, and got their scanner ready to make copies and digital files of the documents. “Did you bring the tools I requested?”

“Sure did,” Mike said, patting his backpack. “Retractable cane, whip, two different gags and a muzzle, which, heh, he hates so much, let me tell you. Handcuffs, too, those too.”

“And the documentation,” Ren prompted, watching him pull them out of the bag.

“You are, heh, quite the presence, you know that Ren?” Mike said as he pulled out a manilla envelope, a cheap blue folder, and some--GOD--loose leaf papers. The fucking audacity, really. The messiness, the lack of professionalism. He couldn’t have haphazardly shoved them into the cheap folder? He really had to go around carrying official legal documents loose leaf? Their BLAW405: Filing and Organizational Systems professor would’ve made a five minute ordeal of tearing this poor, poor fool a new one. Ren tried to make themself pity Mike’s incompetence, because it was just about the only thing preventing them from feeling an unseemly amount of rage.

“Like really, I’m a security guy, you know? I’m kind of hired because not a lot of people intimidate me but you’ve just got this, uh, aura, I guess? Just sorta the way you talk and hold yourself and--oh, yeah, you just, yeah go ahead,” he cut himself off as they took the papers from him and skimmed over them, sorting them into some semblance of a reasonable order to be holding these files in, and read over them quickly but carefully one by one. They were familiar with most of this--they did, after all, possess a box boy of their own--but it never hurt to be thorough.

“I have a certain way with people, it’s true,” Ren commented idly as they shifted through the papers. “Sign here. You’re quite fortunate I am in possession of a notary’s stamp and can forge an impressive signature, you know that Mike?” Ren asked, pulling the stolen (well, illegally purchased. Their mama was a persuasive woman in her own right, and there was little on the black market she could not or would not acquire for her child, at their asking) stamp from one of their locked drawers.

“Oh, fuck, we gotta get a notary for this?”

“Some countries do not require it, and I hear the American legislation on transfer of ownership even varies from state to state, but our homeland is a little more meticulous in these matters. But like I said,” they took the signed paper from Mike and aligned the stamp carefully, before bringing it down with a satisfying thunk, “you’re in luck.”

“You are,” Mike said, chuckling nervously, kind of breathy and rather high, “really something, huh Ren?” They loved his discomfort.

“Mm,” they hummed, pleased, preening a bit, but hey, they deserved to. “Sign here.”

Four signatures later, Ren tapped the stack of papers against their desk, bringing them all nice and neatly in line, and then set them into their copier. “Now, the access files I requested?” Ren prompted, extending their hand. He unzipped an interior pocket in his windbreaker and produced a thumbdrive. “Perfect. You’ll have 02 back as soon as you’re ready for him.” Their copier whirred to a halt and they took the stack of copies from the tray, then slid all of them into the manilla folder, rather than breaking them up like a moron. They held it out for Mike and flashed him a darling smile. “It’s been a pleasure doing business with you.”

“Yeah,” he said, sounding a little dazed, taking the folder like it might get up and start moving. “You, you too. Ha, wow, you are efficient.”

“It’s why I have the job I have, and why I lead the life I live.” Ren stood and ushered Mike out of their office, then out of their home. “See you next time.”

“Yeah, thanks again!” he called, and they waved with a bright smile.

“Exalted?” Soren said behind them once they shut the front door, “Dinner will be ready in 40 minutes.”

“Perfect, Soren. I’m going to go greet our new addition, you may come if you want to.”

“Yes, Exalted, I would like that,” he said, wringing his hands anxiously. They placed their palm on top of that worried movement, and Soren stilled instantly.

“Shhh, pet. Remember, you’ll always be my favorite, alright?”

Soren nodded rapidly, but did not appear soothed. Hmm. “A-are you,” Soren hesitated, searching for the words. “Are you going to punish 02 for his defiance, Exalted?”

“I am,” Ren admitted easily. Soren twitched, distress increasing. “Oh, sweetheart, you’re worried for him?”

Soren nodded. “You’ve always been so good to me, Exalted, I don’t want, um, I don’t--I…” Soren pulled on a lock of his own hair, and they shushed him again, caressing his cheek.

“He’ll only get what he deserves, my precious angel. I can treat you well because you’re a very good boy for me, Soren. I’ve rarely had to punish you; you only occasionally fuck up. But my coworker clearly hasn’t given 02 the structure or discipline he needs in order to make him good, so I’m going to have to fix him. And fixing him will require punishing him. Don’t worry, though, pet, I won’t be cruel. The punishment will fit the crime; he won’t get anything done to him that he doesn’t deserve. I promise. He’ll deserve everything that happens to him, baby, sweetheart, I promise, I promise, absolutely all of it.”

Soren nodded again, gripping his collar and relaxing, a little. It was so nice to see him keyed up and anxious. It was so nice to make Mike squirm and sweat. It was so nice, knowing that their own personal chew toy was kneeling painfully on the concrete floor of their laundry room, just waiting for them to go down and bloom a few more bruises across his skin. Perfect, perfect, all of this, perfect. Exactly what Ren deserved.

“Yes, Exalted.”

“Come along, pet,” Ren beckoned, and Soren followed them down the stairs.

02 greeted their arrival by spitting on the floor at Ren’s feet.

“Oh, disgusting little bug, aren’t you?” Ren asked mildly, stepping over the splotch. They gripped his chin again and he glared up at them. “Tell me, 02, which do you consider to be worse? Death, or refurbishment?”

02’s eyes went wide, suddenly struck with fear. Ren of course would do neither, this was a temporary arrangement, after all. But 02 didn’t know that.

“...Exalted?” 02 asked in a voice that was very very very small.

“Answer the question. Which is worse?”

02’s chest began raising visibly, rapidly. Hard to miss, with how thin he was. “D--”

“And don’t even think about lying to me, slave.”

02’s breath caught, a delightful little gagging noise escaping him. “Refurbishment, Exalted.”

“Hm. Then allow me to make something very clear to you, 02. Soren outranks you in every capacity. You will not eat until he has eaten, you will not sleep unless he has first gone to bed, you will not so much as speak if he has something to say. And if you decide that that makes you jealous, or angry, or if you just decide you don’t like my precious boy for some miscellaneous reason, allow me to make it entirely understood that if you harm so much as a single strand of hair on his head, I will personally instruct the Processors to make sure you beg for death before they put you up for resale.” They released his chin with a small flick of their fingers into the soft underside, and were gratified by the little jerk, and the way his eyes stayed on them. “Do you comprehend?”

“You--you’re warning me to keep my hands off your pet?” he asked, fearful and yet still incredulous.

“Of course,” they said, placing a hand on the front of his close-cropped hair and slowly stroking his skull, cradling his head. “Soren is my precious little bird. And you?” Ren moved their thumb sweetly, back and forth, against his prickly hair. “You’re nothing more than some worthless mutt.”

Next

[badwolfwrites-sometimes]

Drawn Together: Chapter 16

I may or may not have forgotten to post this chapter here for a while... Anyway, there are 5 references to other pieces of Hetalia work, see if you can get them all right. 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18923374/chapters/57211975

♡~Feli~♡: Ludwig

Ludwig: Yes?

♡~Feli~♡: Im sad

Ludwig: Why are you sad?

♡~Feli~♡: Mirror me is ugly ♡~Feli~♡: I have these dumb fat cheeks and this stupid baby face and this fat body ♡~Feli~♡: No matter how hard i try i cant lose them ♡~Feli~♡: Ill never be manly enough for girls to like me

Ludwig: Feliciano are you crying?

♡~Feli~♡: Ofc im crying ♡~Feli~♡: I just look so dumb no wonder ppl call me stupid

Ludwig: Okay, take a deep breath Ludwig: You only look ugly to yourself because you are crying Ludwig: You aren't dumb and you aren't ugly Ludwig: And I am pretty sure there are some girls out there that will like you Ludwig: Have you eaten anything today?

♡~Feli~♡: No ♡~Feli~♡: Im already fat enough i dont deserve more food

Ludwig: Feliciano Ludwig: Losing weight isn't about not eating at all Ludwig: Not that you have any to lose, you look perfectly fit in your pictures Ludwig: Once you stop crying go eat something Ludwig: You will feel much better

♡~Feli~♡: But ill still be fat and ill still have this stupid baby face

Ludwig: They are alright Feliciano Ludwig: They are barely noticable Ludwig: Now will you please go eat something

♡~Feli~♡: Okay

Ludwig: Good Ludwig: I am worried about you, do you think we could have another video call?

♡~Feli~♡: Let me dry my tears first

Feliciano took his time calming down. He made himself some tea and grabbed the leftover pizza from the fridge. Today, he was alone in the house, a feeling that worsened his melancholy. There was no one to hold him and cuddle him and tell him that things are okay. There was no one to yell at him and tell him to pull himself together and do something useful in life before whispering to him that he's beautiful. Feliciano craved those moments today.

He didn't even warm up his pizza before eating it like it was straight out of a famous Italian restaurant. His tea left forgotten as he dined, only the soft smell of cinnamon strong enough to calm his nerves down. It wasn't the time to be depressed, he had Ludwig to talk to. Finishing off his pizza, he grabbed his tea and retreated to his room, turning on Skype.

♡~Feli~♡: Okay im calm you can skype me now

Ludwig: Alright, let me just turn on my laptop

A few minutes later, Feliciano got the Skype notification on his computer. Accepting the call, he was met with the usual Ludwig business, bringing a smile to his face.

Ludwig was dressed properly, nothing too fancy, but also not in pajamas like Feliciano was. His hair was neatly slicked back and his room as tidy as always. Same couldn't be said about Feliciano.

On top of wearing pj's all day everyday, Feliciano was tightly wrapped up in a thick blanket like it was in the middle of winter and not plain old May. His eyes were still noticeably red and puffy, but Ludwig wouldn't comment on that even if it killed him. To add to the sad wintery atmosphere Feliciano had going on, between his hands, he was cuddling a colorful cup covered in stars.

Said cup was the first thing Feliciano noticed Ludwig was staring at. "Do you like it? I made it myself when I was a kid." He smiled.

Ludwig nodded, clearing his throat. "Yes. It really fits you, I must admit."

Feliciano giggled, feeling a bit of a sting from his eyes. He will probably have a headache in the morning.

"Are you feeling better?" Ludwig continued. "Did you eat anything?"

Feliciano nodded. "I had some leftover pizza so I ate that. And now I'm drinking tea to feel good about myself."

"Good. That is good."

"I guess."

"Do you feel better now that you had something to eat?" Ludwig asked, his concern for Feliciano noticeable in his voice.

"Yeah, I think. Sorry I worried you like that."

"Don't be. If anything, I am glad that you spoke to me about it. I know how you feel. I was a chubby kid too."

"How did you lose weight?"

"I didn't. Growing up, my weight just transferred into muscles and I trained for a while. None of it went away."

"Well, that's comforting." Feliciano sighed sadly. "I can't keep a training schedule to save my life. Especially now that I am out of school and do nothing all day."

"You just need something to push you to do it." Ludwig said. "How about a dare?"

"A dare? Are we playing truth or dare?"

"We can if you want to."

"Okay. What's your dare?"

"I dare you to do 3 pushups every day for the next month."

Feliciano nearly spat out some of the tea he was drinking. "Three?! I can barely do 1!"

"It is a dare, you have to do it." Ludwig almost smirked.

"Only if you do something as well."

Ludwig was about to start regretting his decision. "What is it?"

Feliciano thought hard for a while, before coming up with a challenge long and hard enough for Ludwig to do it. "You told me once you weren't much of an artist."

"Yes." Ludwig was definitely regretting playing this game.

"I want you to paint me a picture of what made you happy that day. Every day. For the next month." Feliciano smirked.

"Does it have to be a painting?" Ludwig meekly asked. "You know how busy my schedule is."

"No, but it has to be colorful. And I want them sent to me by 11 p.m. ever day."

"You really like challenges, don't you?"

"You dared me first. Now you have to do it too."

"Fine." Ludwig relaxed in his chair. "It is my turn I believe." He took his time thinking about the perfect question. "If you could only see one color for the rest of your life, which one would it be?"

Taken a bit by surprise, Feliciano thought for a while, looking around to spot a color which stood out the most to him. The sea was calm today, that got his attention, so calm it was almost calling for him, so, so very... "Blue." He said out loud, without realizing it.

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me." Ludwig's voice pulled Feliciano out of his trance. "I would like to see brown mostly."

Feliciano's face almost twisted at the word brown. Why brown? It doesn't even stand out that much in nature, it's just darker orange and an ugly mix of colors together. "Why?"

Ludwig smiled. "My dogs are mostly brown." Well that explained a lot.

"I should have expected that." Feliciano laughed. "My turn. Have you ever had a girlfriend?"

An awkward question to ask Ludwig, Feliciano noticed. His cheeks have gotten a shade or two darker than usual, something that would probably go unnoticeable if he wasn't so pale. Regardless, Feliciano just had to know.

Ludwig breathed in. "No. I don't even have a female friend that isn't family to me."

"You've never dated?" Feliciano asked in surprise. And Ludwig was so good looking?

Ludwig shook his head, slightly embarrassed. "I get it that I haven't, but you? Look," Feliciano started, "when I come to Germany, we'll go hunting for ladies so that neither of us are single ever again, okay?"

It was no use in arguing over girls with Feliciano, so Ludwig just gave in. "Why are you so obsessed with them anyway?"

"Is that the next question?" Feliciano asked.

"Yes."

Feliciano thought for a bit. "I think it's because I have multiple personalities living inside of me." He pointed to his chest. "One is your regular flirty Italian, the other is a sad bastard and the third one is just a huge lesbian."

Ludwig laughed, but Feliciano continued. "I think we all have a female part inside of us, mine just happens to like girls more than normal."

"Okay, if you say so." Ludwig still had to recover from his laughing fit.

"Also, lately I've been having these strange dreams. Like, one time I dreamed I was stuck in a dreamworld and it was all really beautiful and nice, but I would die if I stayed for too long. And you were coming to save me." Feliciano rambled. "Would you come save me from the dreamworld, Ludwig?"

"Of course I would." Truth to be told, Ludwig wasn't following Feliciano much.

"Aw, thank you. Anyway, that's not even the weirdest. I dreamed about this guy Steve one time, only he wasn't actually a guy but some alien creature. And he had this big mansion and I was stuck in there and I couldn't escape and it was so horrifying." Feliciano shivered at the memory of his dream.

"I must admit that it does sound horrifying. Especially if you happen to be claustrophobic." Ludwig said. "Now that you mention it, I've been having some strange dreams as well. And for some reason, you are always in them."

That peaked Feliciano's interest. Not that he wasn't interested in the first place. "Oh, I wanna hear! I wanna hear!"

"Well, one time I was a pilot during World War 2 and I was stationed in Italy and I met you, but then something happened and I had to leave. My plane crashed and I was imprisoned and you came to save me, then..." Ludwig stopped. "I don't recall what happened next, but it ended nicely, I think. I just remember flying a Messerschmitt Bf 109."

"Mrs. What?" Feliciano asked.

"Messerschmitt. It was a German fighter plane in World War 2. It was a rival plane to Spitfire and had a yellow nose."

Feliciano laughed. "I'll forget it's name, but at least I'll know it had a yellow nose."

"That is all you need to know." Ludwig continued. "Then I had another dream and it was poker themed. I was the king of hearts and you were my queen. That is pretty much all I remember from it."

"You must think so highly of me to make me your queen, I'm flattered." Feliciano giggled. "What do you think these dreams mean?"

"No idea, but I wish I knew. Maybe, they represent our bond with each other as friends."

"Maybe. Maybe they are telling us of our past lives and all that. Like your war one."

"I want to stop you because if you start talking like that, we will never leave the topic of dreams."

Feliciano laughed, glad that Ludwig was listening to him by stopping him from going too far with his talking. "When will you come to Italy, Ludwig? We could have so much fun."

"As soon as I have some more free time, I will pay you a visit."

"Yes! We can go on tour of Rome and I could show you the Colosseum and The Pantheon and Bocca della Verita and I could show you our beaches and we would have so much fun!"

"You sound like you have already planned everything out."

"That's just one possibility. I could give you a tour of all of Italy if you want. You just have to come here first."

Ludwig attempted his nicest smile. And failed. Feliciano was so excited about all of this. "Would you show me the Rialto Bridge as well?"

It would be a lie to say Feliciano's eyes didn't glow at this point. "Of course I would! And maybe you can bring your girlfriend, if you get one in time, and you can do the kiss scene from the book! You can even get married! Can I be your best man, please?"

"You will have to fight Gilbert for that position. I doubt he would just give it away."

"Gilbert, you are a worthy opponent. But I must take you down for the sake of providing myself the glorious Best Man position." Feliciano delivered the speech. "I can do best wedding speeches, I think Gilbert is already losing."

"We will see." Ludwig laughed. "But wouldn't you want to be your brother's best man?"

"I'm the odd one out, they got each other. Aside from you, I don't have much options on who else to have as my best man." Feliciano sighed.

"Well, that is really sad. I probably won't marry at all, so if you get married, I can still be your best man." Ludwig said.

"Really? You'd do that for me?"

"Yes."

"But what about Gilbert?"

"I admire you for believing that he would get married, but I doubt that would be the case."

"Harsh truth." Feliciano laughed. "I hope Lovi can get married. If not here, he could get married somewhere else."

"One day it might be possible."

"One day when the world isn't as hateful as now. I think he'll hate having to be married outside of Italy."

Silence fell upon them, just as the front door of Feliciano's house slammed shut. A soft, but loud voice could be heard. "Feli! I'm home!"

"Romeo is home. I'm not alone anymore." Feliciano commented.

"Do I suddenly not exist?" Ludwig asked, a bit offended by Feliciano's statement.

"No! I meant that I'm not home alone anymore. Don't go anywhere, I'd be sad if you stopped existing." Feliciano corrected himself.

A sound of footsteps coming up the stairs could be heard, but Feliciano failed to hear them.

"I won't be going anywhere then." Ludwig said, just as the door to Feliciano's room opened.

"Hi Feli." Romeo greeted. "Who are you talking to?"

Feliciano jumped slightly as the door opened, but smiled to his brother. "Ludwig. Come say hi."

Romeo did as he was told and greeted Ludwig. "Hi Lud."

"Hello." Came a response.

"Feli, nonno said he'll be coming home the day after tomorrow. We should probably prepare Lovi just in case." Romeo said.

"Good idea. I'll be down when we're done and we can plan the thing out." Feliciano responded and Romeo left him to wrap things up with Ludwig.

"So nonno is coming home soon. Which is bad. And we need to prepare Lovi for it. Which is worse." Feliciano explained the situation to Ludwig, seeing as the latter didn't know much Italian.

"I see. Basically, you get to be a pigeon again." Ludwig remarked.

Feliciano laughed, partially glad Ludwig still remembered that from a couple of months ago. "Probably. Maybe it works out okay in the end, but I doubt it."

"I am here whenever you need me. Except when I am at college or at work, but other than that..."

"Thanks." Feliciano laughed. "I gotta go. Me and Romeo have to plan this out carefully."

"Before you do, it is Romeo and I. Remember it."

"Yes, yes, Romeo and I, okay. Talk to you later, Ludwig!" Feliciano said, waving goodbye to Ludwig.

"Good luck!" Ludwig simply said and gave Feliciano a small wave before ending the call. They talked for good 3 hours, but to Feliciano it only felt like a couple of minutes.

He walked downstairs to discuss things with Romeo. Getting his brother and grandfather in the same room again won't be easy and Feliciano just hoped it would turn out okay in the end.

[mister-lady]

All the Ask Games with Logan?~

oh. my. g. o. .d thANK YOUU. IM SORRY THIS ONE TOOK SO LONG TO GET TOO, BUT THANK YOU FOR THIS, I WAS VERY HYPED LAST NIGHT WHEN I SAW THIS SO I DECIDED TO SAVE IT TILL THE MORNING TO ANSWER ✨✨✨✨✨💕

1. “High Risk, Low Reward!” How do you and your f/o prefer to travel? Car? Boat? Train? Spaceship? Walking?: Normally be walking cause its really peacful and you can take your time and hold hands, but if we gotta get somewhere out of proper walking range we’ll go by car uwu

2. “Grifters Gonna Grift” Has anyone tried to hurt you or your f/o? How did you/your f/o react?: hmmm... Well, there was one time Logan got attacked by Remus but I wasn’t really there to do anything.. other than that no one has ever really tried to hurt one of us, but there was this one time where someone was trying to flirt with Logan, though Logan wasn’t the best at realizing he was being flirted with so I had to shoo the girl off and explain it to him later.

3. “Watch Out For The Wet Spot” Have you met your f/o’s family? Do you get along with them? Does your f/o get along with them? Vice versa as well - what would it be like if your f/o met your family?: I’m not entirely sure Logan has a family since he’s just a side? If he does, he’s never mentioned anything about it to me. However some people in my family are....interesting to say the least. He new my opinion on them ahead of time so I was a bit nervous about them not really liking him. My dad seemed to get along with him fairly well though he wishes he was a bit more loose and joking. My brother doesn’t really mind him and doesn’t really care who I date, as long as they don’t do anything bad to me. My mom was a bit uhm... iffy about the whole thing. I kinda saw it not going well with my mom ahead of time so there wasn’t much I could do really. My mom didn’t seem to get along well with him and Logan didn’t seem to care much for her either so we decided to make it a short stay..

4. “9INE” Do either your or your f/o fight? What types of weapons do you use? Or do you use something other than a weapon to fight?: Nope, neither of us fight. Though that is an interesting concept to think about......

5. “21 the Hard Way” Have you met your f/os friends? How about your f/o meeting your friends? Does everyone get along, or is there conflict?: When Logan introduced me to his friends uhmm... i got a bit too close to his friends if you get what i mean nKJSLD ahhahahaha poly relationship jokes, im soooo funny. On the Other hand when Logan met my friends, they were a bit stiff towards him and didn’t seem to like how he took everything literally and didn’t really have a sense of humor or enjoyed playing video games. They were a bit confused on how I fell for someone like him.

6. “Unfettered” Are there any secrets you or f/o had to keep from each other? Did you end up sharing them? Were there consequences?: There aren’t any BIG secrets that I can think we’ve kept from each other that resulted in consequences. The only secret I can really think that we’ve kept from each other consequences is the fact that we were in love with each other before we started dating and that obviously resulted in something good!

(can I mentioned that I died a bit while writing this? (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)) 7. “Lady & The Kid” How would you and your f/o describe the other person? Would they focus on looks or personality, or maybe even tell a story about the other person? Write in character if you can!: I’m going to try and keep this short cause you guys know once I start talking about Logan I’m not going to stop kdndhnjk. Where do I start? I just truly love everything about him, I don’t see how you couldn’t like him! I love his voice, I adore the facts he tells and I love listening to him, he’s adorable when he tries to show his emotions aand I love his appearance, I just cherish everything about Logan. He’s always trying to help the sides when they need it and he’s very good at helping people with their problems. His singing voice is beautiful and I think it’s cute how he has a passion for poetry too! I could really go on forever about what I love about him.... <<33

Logan: What do I love about Madey? Well, many things to say the least. She’s very good with emotions and how to handle them. She’s very kind and sweet and a bit shy around certain people, but it’s nice that she has open up around me. I don’t mind the excessive amount of affection she gives me. She listens to me and often asks me for more information on certain topics. I like her looks too and I wish she could see why. --------------------------------------------------------------- 8. “Turnbuckle Ex-Machina” How do you and your f/o generally react to strangers? Do you make friends quickly, or are you more likely to make enemies?: As I mentioned before I tend to be very shy around strangers and just do the simple, typical, polite thing strangers normally do to each other. I tend to make more acquaintances but they don’t always last long. Logan is also polite to strangers but is certainly not as nervous. He is very reserved so he doesn’t tend to make many friends, but I wouldn’t say he makes enemies either.

9. “Lullaby of the Stars” Do you or your f/o sing? Are either of you good at it? How do you feel about each others’ voices?: Logan rarely sings and you’re lucky if you catch him doing it. If you do hear him singing its normally 99.999% about Crofters (A jelly brand). Sometimes he’ll hum for me but even I don’t hear him sing often. I like singing though I sound like crap while doing it so I don’t do it in front of people unless I'm really close to that person, and even then I’m really nervous about singing in front of them, so I don't really sing unless I'm home alone.

10. “Squeaking Springs Afternoon” Do you and your f/o ever go on vacation? What was the best vacation you and your f/o went on?: We don’t go on vacation a lot, but my personal favorite one that we went on was the time we went to an amusement park! I was a bit nervous since there were many big crowds there but I was having a lot of fun to distract me! I played a lot of the carnival games there and actually won a few prizes! I still have some of them sitting on my shelf. We were both worn out at the end of the day and got some rest in each other's arms and had a good night uwu.

11. “Innocence Lost” How do you and your f/o support each other when times are rough?: Logan will normally provide company for me and let me know that he is here for me. He’ll rub my back and lay on top of me and bring me things if I need it. If I need to talk he’ll listen and give advice if he can. I will tend to do the same for him and nuzzle up to him whenever I can or I’ll let him rest on me if he wants or give him space if that's what he needs. I tend to spoil him a bit as well.

[cgirat]

i’m not always proud

brain big so this is a bandersnatch (2018) and pride (2014) crossover fic purely because theyre both set in the 80s and i think that joe & stefan would be a sweet couple. title is from thos moser by gupi ft fraxiom because im like that

joe cooper/stefan butler

Pride 1985. Joe marches proudly; lesbians and gays do support the miners, it's an act of solidarity as they're both treated unfairly by the government and the police. It's the best feeling being proud of who he is because for so long he'd hidden it for fear of how his family might look at him, he was out to practically everyone but the people that were meant to be closest to him. Within just a few months a lot has changed, he's moved in with Stephanie, he's working at a café near Gay's the Word, the pastry chef likes him enough they Joe gets to help out sometimes and the activism is going well so life is really looking up. It's a new way of living and he's getting used to it and overall he's happy with it.

Love does not seem to be something that's going to happen for Joe. He deals with that as best as he can, he doesn't try and force anything, if he goes to the bars and a man there wants him he's okay to make out. But no one asks him out or seems to be looking for commitment, he gets it they're young and he's still early into adulthood so it's whatever.

A young man seems to be loitering after the march is over with his hands in his pockets, eyes wide open and lips set in a straight line. Joe sees him across the street while Steph's abandoned him for some goth lesbian and they make eye contact for a brief moment before he looks away. Joe finds him a weird kind of beautiful, something about him is sharp and Joe doesn't look away. He wouldn't have crossed the street towards the man if he hasn't looked back at Joe. Pride is as good a time as any to be friendly.

Close up the man is shorter than Joe. He's still weirdly handsome at this distance and his dark hair and green eyes are intriguing.

"Did you have fun at the march today?"

The dude looks startled if wide eyes are anything to go by. "Uhhh, well, I didn't catch much of it, I was just on my way back home, actually."

"Oh cool, you should come to next year's march it'll be bigger and better hopefully." Joe smiles politely, getting the cue that the dudes not like him and he's prepared to turn around until he hears him speak again.

"Stefan. Me, uh. I'm Stefan." Stefan falls over his words, smiling sheepishly, revealing rows of shark teeth. His smile is endearing. He puts his hand out for Joe to shake.

"I'm Joe." he accepts Stefan's hand in a shake and Joe notes that his hand is warm but his shake isn't very confident.

They smile at each other for a bit even though it's awkward when Stefan releases Joe's hand and his own retreats to the pockets of his jacket.

"Well if you're not in a rush home feel free to come to our post pride party. It's at Gay's the Word; last years was good so hopefully, this year will be too."

Stefan smiles again. It's toothy and contagious.

They spend the rest of the night getting to know each other. Stefan isn't as closed off as Joe was a year ago, he talks about work and geeks out over computers and video games. He works at Tuckersoft and has already developed a "choose your own adventure" game based off of a book that received decent reviews. Joe thinks he's probably being modest. When he talks about it it seems very complicated and Joe instantly knows that Stefan is way smarter than he'll ever be because he knows smart, educated people things. It's like looking into the past, Stefan is 20 and he's closeted? Straight? Joe doesn't want to ask as it's none of his business no matter how much he wants to kiss him a little.

Joe and Stefan walk arm in arm to the bus stop and stay linked there while waiting. Stefan is a little drunk and so he talks a lot but Joe welcomes it. Joe's laughing at Stefan who can't seem to get over the fact that Joe's nickname is so shit.

"Bromley, of all the town's to be named after-"

"Even now I wonder if it's meant to be cute or if they're taking the piss."

Stefan huffs out a laugh, "I'm thankfully uninteresting so I don't have any nicknames." He pauses. "Having two friends helps as well, one of them is my dad but he's not the nicknaming type."

"It's lonely in the office?"

"Very." Stefan rests his head on the glass of the bus shelter. "Especially today, I wasn't even supposed to be in but my therapist forgot to tell me that she'd moved my appointment to Tuesday so I went there instead. I bet she was at the march today." he pauses for a moment. "Why does she even do appointments on Saturdays? Overworking is my thing."

Joe can't take his eyes away from Stefan's face. His eyes are closed and his face glows in the orange of the street lights.

"She's a lesbian?" He may be curious but whatever Stefan goes to therapy for is none of his business. He wants to know, though, one day.

"I'm not sure, I didn't ask, but you know when you can kinda just tell?"

Joe gulps. "I didn't meet a lesbian until my 20th birthday."

Stefan laughs, eyes opening and staring at Joe incredulously. "Wow, you were incredible sheltered. Can't you just tell? Like Colin's girlfriend, I don't think she's a lesbian because she's dating him but something about her isn't.... Normal."

It's past midnight. June 30th. It's officially his birthday and Joe can't catch a break. "I'm Bromley, remember?"

Stefan's laugh is glorious to hear. It's aided by a few cans of beer but welcome nonetheless. "Well happy gay birthday Bromley." he laughs, gesturing to the pin on Joe’s jacket that he’d forgotten about. of course he blushes, that’s all he’s capable of doing.

Stefan’s bus comes too soon after that. Joe says that if ever he wants to meet up again he should just go to Gay's the Word and ask for him. Then he's gone. Joe's heart flutters.

-

The next time they get the opportunity to hang out Joe ends up going to Stefan's workplace. He brings pastries and coffee which Stefan's boss eyes and makes a point of mentioning how disrespectful Joe is to come to the offices without offerings. Like the weakling he is, he gives Thakur the pain au chocolat that was meant for himself. Stefan laughs to himself, even if he keeps his eyes trained on his monitor. He and Stefan spend the day there, Joe dicks around on the computer next to him and they talk easily about the game, the book and work. Stefan reveals he wasn't really planning on releasing any games after Bandersnatch but he just kept on living after its release and with nothing better to do he started coding again. Joe hates being presumptive but he sees why Stefan's seeing a therapist.

On the way out, they swing round the record shop.

"I told my dad about you. I told him I have three friends now..." But he quickly looks up looking for reassurance from Joe, "if that's alright with you. If we aren't friends he won't be surprised if the number goes down I'm not the easiest person to get along with so-"

"Of course we're friends. You compliment my baking and photography I'm an easy man."

"Really? How easy?"

Joe flushes.

"Bad joke, sorry I didn't take my medication."

"Your medication makes you less inquisitive to your friend’s private lives?"

"Well yeah. I found out most of what I know about Colin when I was flushing them."

"Funny how that works...."

Stefan rolls his eyes while he picks out a record. Pearl jam. Steph loves them.

-

Stefan's a welcome addition to his life. He's easy to get along with, not as loud as Joe's other friends and he makes time for Joe.

He's helping at the book shop (filling shelves, taking some books upstairs for storage) with Mark.

"Y'know Bromley, I'm surprised you have time to be here between work and that boyfriend of yours." He says offhand.

That strikes Joe because boyfriend? He's been single forever having never dated seriously. He tries to never think about that because he's only getting older. He pauses from flipping through the book that he's holding.

"Boyfriend?"

"The one from pride. How'd you not know your own partner, the one with the dark hair and leather jacket?"

"Stefan?" Joe can feel himself flushing. "We're friends, what?" He laughs nervously.

"Oh, poor naive Bromley. You sheltered folk sure do congregate." Mark laughs. It's a joke that Joe doesn't really get it. It's not funny because they're not into each other that way. Joe rationalises it to himself, how Stefan and him just wouldn't work out because Stefan seems preoccupied and Joe doesn't fight for attention. He won't.

[cruddyborderlandstheories]

alright alright alright it’s long overdue, but here’s my “Angel returns” theory from way back when her actress posted an image of her on twitter.

tl;dr: Angel is back and we see her getting digistructed in the dev trailer in the giant electricity machine thing

There’s some Commander Lilith spoilers below (main story and side quests) so if you haven’t beaten the whole dlc yet, don’t read!!

Alright so this obviously was kickstarted by the Sirentology quest lol 

I didn’t wanna say anything above the cut about that cause that’d be a dick move

let’s start with the thing I first noticed as soon as I walked into the prototype chamber!

ahahhaha yeah.

and if you’ve been following me since I replayed tales, then you might see where this is going

we see something similar here

this is from TFTBL, in the biodome where you find one of Gortys’s pieces (chassis? i don’t remember lol. the big ring one). It’s holding it up, like it’s being suspended in the air. I imagine this is the same technology Jack used to build Control Core Angel, keeping Angel suspended above the Vault Key. So this was built by Atlas, just keep that in mind, I’ll bring it back in a second.

You can see when Jack brings Lilith to the Vault itself, it keeps her stuck in the air, charging the Key

so obviously jack needed to improvise because he wasn’t about to bring Angel to the Vault with him, he wanted to wait until the key was fully charged.

I think Angel definitely got a little bit of leeway compared to Lily, though. I also think, since we don’t see any wires, the Vault key is sorta pulling the Eridium through Angel to process it and absorb it? and the thing above her is a pump/shield generator/suspension. As i understand it, in the new dlc we’ve seen Lilith actually flying with her wings in the final battle, and I do think Angel is using hers to move around (above), but I do think the Vault Key/machine thing is holding her suspended in the air. 

Anyway, the reason I’m bringing all this up is because of how Tannis acts in this DLC. @humphreyhornbeam commented on one of my interview posts with a great point and that is that “[Tannis] may or may not have blueprints and/or information that Jack used to create the Siren Collars and she may be the only one alive that has this info”. Which, oh fuck

Lemme point out some lines that are very suspicious from her just to let that sink in for a bit

we know Tannis has been studying Lilith for some time now, since the Assassinate the Assassins quest, and she has apparently dubbed such studies as “Sirentology”, hence the name of the quest.

so she wants to know exactly where Siren powers come from and how they act/appear over time (Understandably, we’ve seen Lilith’s exposure to Eridium allowed her to start teleporting)

we end up sending her the data through a console hooked up to the chamber

we don’t exactly get a choice.

normal reused console from other areas, with a little projection coming out of it (I’ll get to that soon)

Lilith comments this:

which… y’know… “she could have been so much more”. im not saying the devs are regretting killing Angel, but… that very well may be foreshadowing. Yeah, I’m getting there.

and Tannis is pleased (don’t think she quite cares about Angel).

so… i imagine Tannis is going to have some sorta hold on the story in the next game (”Tannis is not what she seems” is still relevant). Interviews have already confirmed this next game is focusing HARD on Sirens. This quest was 100% put in because of that. There’s no way they’d throw this in otherwise, it doesn’t make sense. 

This entire DLC was the devs’ way of ensuring we were prepared for bl3, and that means for (7? I’m pretty sure this dlc takes place about a year after the end of bl2) approximately 6 years, Tannis has access to some of the most in-depth Siren information. Ever. Remember, before BL2, Jack was smashed in the face with a Vault symbol and apparently got a shitload of information from it before that. I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he learned some stuff about Sirens through that. He’s even the one who first confirms there are only 6 Sirens in the universe(s) afaik.

so what’s going on here? What’s Tannis going to do with all this information? We don’t really know a lot in regards to what she’s trying to study. As I understand it, she’s mainly focusing on Eridians in general, so her study of Sirens makes sense. We know she had a large stake in what happened to the Vault Key in the DLC (she’s very upset Mordy is just leaving his drinks in it). We know she’s extremely interested in what happened to Typhon Deleon (which I don’t think is coincidence considering what her focus is).

I want to believe she’s trying to use this information to simply discover more about the Eridians. I don’t wanna believe she’s going to use it for evil. Her introduction as a Dahl scientist stranded on Pandora seems super legit, so I can’t see her being of alien origin. I suppose I could see her teaming up with something of alien origin trying to find out where the Eridian homeworld is, since she’s wildly smart and I imagine would have at least 1 or 2 leads (concerning the Vault Symbol on a slab/floor tile we see in her infirmary on Sanc-III). 

Also, I know it is largely assumed the CoV thing is a broadcast from the twins to their cult, but that just… doesn’t make sense to me. I’m gonna go wildly crazy here and suggest that the broadcast wasn’t from the CoV, but instead the Children of the Vault are another entity and the cult picked up the name after hearing said Broadcast. I mean, seriously, do you really think a bunch of crazed lunatics are going to want to call themselves “Children of the Vault” without a larger influence?

HEAR ME OUT.

okay, I do not play battleborn. at all. so idk what the deal is, but looking at videos that show the morse code easter egg shows this

now i did a little looking, not a lot because I am not a fan of battleborn and my disinterest made me terribly bored BUT

this is what i think a “Varelsi” (the enemy faction of Battleborn) portal is SUPPOSED to look like: 

so, you know, there’s a difference. probably the reason it’s called “anomaly”.

And we know the code we get from those anomalies is in morse code

which translates to this (thanks reddit. It’s been 2 years since I upvoted stuff on that post, btw. time sure does fly.)

And y’know, I JUST did a analysis trailer of We are Mayhem, and you know what was in that trailer? Maya’s Phaselock.

let’s take a look at that, shall we?

so we know that Maya’s ability “allows her to lock an enemy in another dimension, preventing the desired target from fighting back for a short while”. Do you see where I’m going with this, yet?

yeah.

Compare the phaselock to the easter egg “anomalies”, they’re both cracks in our dimension, though Maya’s is white, and they’re both cast against a space-like/starry background which I think is our look into the “other dimension” her description mentions.

in fact, let’s look at some other Sirens we know of, more specifically, let’s take a look at Amara’s arms

I think that’s all the same “stuff”. idk what to call it. just… “STUFF”. yeaaaahhhh.

Anyway, this is all a convoluted way for me to say that I think that morse code message we hear is coming from that dimension that Maya can open a rip to. She uses it to imprison people? yeah. Probably the same dimension Lilith can phasewalk through. idk the deal with Amara’s arms but I assume they take their power from that dimension as well. I imagine that dimension is also tied to the Vaults. We know the Traveller “teleports” places, I imagine he’s doing something similar to Lilith: jumping into the other dimension then quickly jumping out. (okay yes i just likened Lilith to Kurt Wagner, whatcha gonna do?).

Consider the idea that Sirens are this dimension’s connection with the other dimension we see within their powers, and that’s where this message is coming from. I think that’s why Sirens can be used to charge the Vault Keys. But wait, there’s more.

(Sorry i totally lost my train of thought, i got SUPER distracted.)

I think Eleseer (the inside of Elpis in TPS) is connected to this dimension as well, or traveled to through this dimension.

the holograms of planets, the stars- I mean the whole thing looks like a giant void, and I get it, the moon is HUGE, but you think at some point you’d see the outside crust or something. You’d think at some point the mines would’ve caused the planet to cave in or something. Fuck, even the Crackening, which we all kinda know was caused by the Eridians, you think that would have shown this GIANT cavern inside the moon.

I think the whole above bit, Tycho’s Ribs, the huge Eridian base thing, is powering a large rift or something into another dimension, the dimension that the TPS VHs drop into on that giant platform with the cutscene and everything. I mean…

COME ON. is all that seriously inside a MOON?

there is even a bubble shield surrounding the platform they get off on, something very similar to the shields Axton has around his turrets. I think that may be to prevent the atmosphere from escaping, anything visiting from getting out, or, possibly, things from getting in. If this actually is somewhere out in space/another dimension, then it would make sense that they’d wanna keep their magical floating future-seeing platform from getting knocked by asteroids or raided by other aliens

Okay, and I know the “planets” all appear as holograms, but look at that galaxy. the nebulas. Those aren’t holograms. 

Eridian writing on the outside ring there? Oh boy bl3 theories here i come. That’s looking very familiar right about now after my We are Mayhem analysis.

cloud/nebula. clearly not a hologram

there’s even a fucking galaxy down here like… Yeah guys I don’t think we’re on Elpis anymore

Even the entrance to the Vault which… y’know isn’t that normal Vault-y shape is a giant hunk of eridium with a huge crack in it. 

and when you touch it, what happens??

You teleport inside, and it even plays the same animation as when Lilith teleports you during the Hunting the Firehawk quest. 

It probably looks less organic than the one in bl2 because this is powered by Eridian machinery, but it’s definitely the same concept- you fade back in all purple and shit

then this asshole shows up out of an actual Vault symbol, which makes me wonder why we traveled all this way and if Vault symbols are actually gateways somewhere and by walking inside one (unlike every other VH), Rhys and Fiona really DID get teleported somewhere

also, a little off-topic but does anyone else think this is what the eridians are gonna look like?

just… the face after u shoot the mask off.

how did i get to this topic…??

oh yeah Tannis LMAO SORRY

Okay POINT BEING

I think that the easter egg message is coming from whatever dimension all of THIS is. If it IS the Eridians, then maybe humans (or the Vault Hunters- the Crimson Raiders?) are the “Children of the Vault” and the Cult took the name because they heard the broadcast. Because as it stands, “Do not open the Vaults” just doesn’t make sense coming from the Calypsos’s perspective. They WANT the Vaults opened. You know who doesn’t? The Eridians.

So the line: “Tannis is not what she seems” then wouldn’t be coming from the CoV, but instead from an outsider watching us. You know… someone getting info to whoever is in that dimension… like the Watcher maybe? Or maybe the Eridians are just watching us in general, like they can see things from their dimension or homeworld or whatever. They had the Elpis Vault that could see the future, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they could see the present anywhere. 

Anyway

TANNIS

I don’t want her to be evil is what I’m trying to say. but you know what? I didn’t even get into the MEAT AND POTATOES of this post yet

here we go

you know this thing? It’s from the dev trailer for bl3. looks pretty similar to the above stuff, doesn’t it? And it’s powered by electricity, because if you watch the tubes get filled up/emptied out in the video. I’m still trying to determine if the footage was reversed or not because the lava (?? I think???) outside the window is falling upwards when it’s playing normally.

So you might be wondering? Why bring this up?

Cause I think it’s possible Tannis has built this using the blueprints she got from Angel’s prototype room. and why is THAT important? 

Well, hear me out.

this is what a digistructer looks like. Imagine 2 of those facing opposite each other, supercharged by electricity

Now we know Tannis has built Digistruct peak to create fake enemies for us, but maybe those don’t last long/aren’t stable enough

and yeah I think you know where I’m going with this

I think it’s possible Tannis has somehow created a machine to digistruct Angel for us.

and you might be wondering

“why the fuck would she do that”

BECAUSE

IF YOU LOOK AT THE CONTROL PANEL WHILE YOU’RE UPLOADING THINGS FOR TANNIS

YOU CAN SEE ANGEL’S FACE APPEAR FOR A SPLIT SECOND

which only ever happened while she was speaking using her powers!!! I don’t even think you actually could “record” that because that’s her using her Siren powers to talk in your brain!! It’s not a part of your ECHO or a tv screen, that’s literally part of her powers

so what if Angel uploaded herself into Helios, then when AI Jack came barging in she had to hide somewhere she wouldn’t be found/overwritten by him

and please tell me if I’m wrong, i’ve been staring at a computer screen all day/night

but that looks like a body to me. You can see the left arm on the right, then a torso, then another arm slightly behind that

even the electric bursts coming out of them create the shape of a body standing there. I can very clearly see the hand/thigh/waist on the bottom and the shoulders/opening to a shirt? on top there

idk lmao. I’m trying my best to explain why her actress would tweet a picture of her with no context and then PIN it to her twitter page

why britanni. whyyy

[gilgaemsh-a]

IM FINALLY ABLE TO MAKE MY BNHA OCS AHHHH!!!!! part one at least lmao i’m gunna make a part 2 reallllllllly soon

the style of this picrew is similar to bnha style so it’s better for me to think up my ocs (at least the girls) this way!! (i’m very picky orz)

also i’m always up for rping if anyone is interested!!!!! dm me dude!!!!!!!!!!!!

also also! quirks aren’t like final versions?? im still tryna figure out how to make quirks more... quirk-like lol.

intros under the cut!!

@bnhappreciation​ @bnha-oc-collection​

ankou fuwara (#1 & #2)

the ever blooming hero: chloris

ankou is my most loved oc and the by far the hardest to make for some reason. her and her quirk went through so many changes its insane but i finally settled on something perfect.

she’s currently an active hero having just graduated from u.a. she’s extremely popular and currently number 12 on the hero billboard (shes 19 btw)

ankou quirk is overgrowth aka chlorokinesis - the manipulation of plant life and pheromone generation. (she can do a lot with her quirk so shes my second most op character)

her range is pretty much the same as pixie bob’s earth flow.

ankou was actually a child star, a very popular actress/model. she quit when she graduated to focus on her hero career which is one of the reasons why she’s so popular.

when ankou was in school to was the top u.a. student along with two others (they’re boys so i wasnt able to make them but one day i will)

ankou quirk is actually a combo of her parents her mother has minimal manipulation over plants and her father could manipulate his pheromones

ankou is the older sister type. she’s super kind and caring and protective of people close to her.

she unofficially adopts izuku when she meets him

she also (surprisingly) has a good relationship with bakugou. she treats him like a younger brother and teases him a lot.

ankou is also the type to be really scary when angry

ankou had a really hard time making friends growing up because she couldn’t control her pheromones properly

alot of the times her classmates or even random people would fall in love with her just by her scent or other times end up being despised by it

both of ankou’s parents actually come from hero families. they grew up together since their families knew each other & they were both the youngest. neither of them wanted to be heroes.

ankou’s mother (ririka) is a pharmacist for one of the top hospitals in japan while her father (aizen) is an a-list actor.

side note! ankou’s father aizen took ririka’s last name.

i hardcore ship ankou and tomura. it literally started by me just thinking “oh hey lmao ankou has a life quirk and tomura has a death quirk! wait-”

so now their my otp.

oh btw the first pic is how ankou looks currently, the other is her older.

kurena kan (#3)

the healing heroine: nightingale

my child. my baby. she’s never done a single thing wrong in her entire life.

kurena is a mixed baby, half japanese & half american

she grew up with her father sekijiro kan in japan, her mother, charity brown is currently deceased.

her quirk is miracle blood - the ability to heal others and herself using her own blood. she can manipulate her blood as well. kurena has high regenerative properties as well! as long as her blood is flowing she can heal herself extremely fast.

as you know vlad king (her father) is able to manipulate blood but kurena’s mother was able to heal people with her quirk (empathic healing) which resulted in kurena’s quirk.

kurena is currently a first year at u.a. in izuku’s class.

she’s the tomboy type, tends to get into a lot of fights though she’s actually really mellow and cool.

she’s also the type that if she were to dress as a boy, she’d make a really hot one. (though as a girl she’s super hot too)

she’s recovery girl’s apprentice and helps out alot in the infirmary of the school

deku spends a lot less time there since kurena can heal him lol

i ship kurena with todoroki and bakugou. my beloved ot3

all three of them are p competitive with each other (don’t worry it’s all healthy competition)

kurena’s mother came to japan to further to abilities and apprentice under recovery girl which is how her and sekijiro met

she died helping recovery girl heal all might as a backlash of her quirk

kurena’s mother is full blown italian! and partially named kurena because it sounds like carina which means beloved

in japanese kurena the kanji for her name is crimson

oh!! aizawa is kurena’s godfather on her mother’s side! the two are very close

charity and aizawa were best friends before she died

miwa midoriya* (#4)

all in one heroine: alter ego

oof my most op oc you can fight me im not changing her.

miwa is actually the daughter of two high profile villains

she’s actually an “experiment”, the two villains had been working on a way to merge their quirks in the perfect way to make a strong villain - miwa was their current project until she escaped them

miwa doesn’t know how many others came before her or what happened to them when she asked she was told her ‘siblings’ were disposed of.

miwa’s quirk is gunna be the hardest to explain lol the short version is: miwa’s body can mimic and control different elements.

like... full on mimics elements. yknow like and elemental spirit? how it’s just a being made of fire or water or air etc etc? that’s miwa.

i’m actually on the fence about making the elements miwa shifts into to be alters (like she suffers from dissociative personality disorder.) so basically every time she shifts into a different element that element has its own personality? tho maybe it doesn’t even need to be DID it could just be the way her quirk works? SOMEONE GIVE ME INPUT PLS

her mother is a shapeshifter while her father could control elements

miwa was rescued by izuku’s father and then later adopted by him when it was quickly realized she didn’t want anyone else

she grew up with izuku and bakugou. her a bakugou are actually quite close since she’s the first person to beat him in stuff. he likes how strong she is.

miwa is also a pacifist! she had no interest in being a hero (it sounded like more trouble then it was worth) but when bakugou and izuku applied for u.a. she didn’t want to be left alone so she applied.

miwa is a soft bean. she hates violence but is willing to ATTACK when her loved ones are in danger

she’s also in the constant fear that her parents are watching her every move. she feels as if her parents gave her up to easy or staged the hero rescue for a reason. she’s constantly paranoid lol

miwa is classified as “looks like a cinnamon roll; can kill you”

nagi the tempest (#5)

real name: aoka arashi

currently my only villain but don’t worry i plan on making more!

nagi is the only daughter of as prostigious hero family.

the arashi family was known for its variety of powerful weather related quirks and continued to plan marriages based on quirks

the arashi family was also very abusive in its training and pushed nagi through limits she still has nightmares about; the training was due to how volatile nagi’s quirk is. which she was often blamed for

one day nagi snapped and destroyed the arashi family home along with everyone inside she was on the run for awhile before dabi found her

at that point i guess he was already apart of the league of villains? i’m not sure when dabi joined tho so this is just me guessing

nagi’s quirk is storm - nagi is able to create storms and manipulate them! it’s an extremely violate quirk that almost got her killed when she first manifested it. it’s the reason her training was so grueling. nagi needs moisture in order for her quirk to work

and while thunderstorms are something she can make she can’t actually control the lightning; not because it’s not apart of her quirk but because lighting is tricky to control in itself

she wields a katana that acts as a conduit for the lightning

when nagi does try to control the lightning more often than not it backlashes onto herself creating wounds/scars on her body in the shape of lightning bolts

dabi thinks they’re really pretty

nagi is the silent type. she very rarely talks and no one in the league of villains has ever heard the sound of her voice

dabi brags about being the only person nagi talks too

the name nagi was given to her by dabi it means the calm before the storm

though dabi gave her the nickname he often calls her aoka when they’re alone

despite her blonde hair and blue eyes nagi is 100% japanese!

her and dabi are hardly ever seen apart and if you haven’t guessed it i ship them lol

hinata enma (#6)

the beguiling heroine: enchanter

my trans baby girl!!!!!!!!

a 5th generation geisha currently a maiko of course

her quirk is heartbreaker - a succubus quirk! besides her supernatural beauty and over all supernatural condition (strength, speed all that good stuff) hinata’s real quirk is her voice; her voice has the power to control others and even alter reality.

you know allison hargreeves from the umbrella academy? that’s hinata

i’m still not sure how i want hinata to be able to trigger that power like how allison as to say “i heard a rumor” to use her power?? idk what i want hina to say

a hinoenma is a japanese yokai extremely similar to succubi which is where i got hina’s name

as i mentioned, hina is a geisha! not a prostitue

growing up hina was taught art, dancing and singing she excels at all three uwu

hina’s mother, yuuhi, is close friends with masaru bakugou. masaru usually goes to her for help with traditional japanese fashion

because of this bakugou and hina grew up together

the two are best friends even though they go to separate schools katsuki is the only one hina doesn’t use her power on

katsuki is also the one to encourage hina to become a hero though the two don’t go to u.a together instead hina attends shiketsu high

the two of them video call each other daily

hina is very mischievous!! she likes playing harmless pranks and teasing others

when she was in elementary and middle school she was often picked on for her quirk being a ‘villain’ quirk

she’s never used her quirk in malicious ways

the most malicious way she’d use is to help play a prank

she trains with bakugou when she can

[morningfears]

yeah im curious too! if ur comfortable with it

Okay. So, before I go into these. Please note that the kinks below may be triggering to some. I fully understand the negatives associated with each kink. Just because it turns me on, doesn’t mean I’m interested in doing it in real life. Some of these, I just think are hot and like to see in porn/read about in fics. Everything I’m into is fully consensual and legal. I’m gonna put it under a read more and really hope that it works.

If you even think this list might trigger you, please keep scrolling and ignore this.

So. I’m so nervous mentioning these ‘cause I feel like people are going to judge me. Oh my god. Okay. Um. Like I said, I’m not sure I’d ever try any of these in real life but they’re hot to read about/see in porn.

Consensual non consent - This involves an extreme level of trust. Basically, you give your partner (or partners if it’s a group thing but that’s worked out beforehand) blanket consent. Safe words aren’t really used, stop isn’t used. It’s basically you play out the entire scene, no matter how much the sub begs to stop. You have to really trust the people involved to not actually hurt you if you’re a sub and you have to trust that you can draw a line between extreme stimulation and actual abuse/endangerment if you’re a dom. There are other names for this and from reading the description, I’m sure you can guess them.

Pain - I mentioned this earlier but I’m really into the idea of pain. Slapping (across the face, body, etc.), choking, spanking; I like it.

Humiliation - Being called names, spitting, “forced” penetration (again, this goes back to the consensual non consent). I really like public humiliation/public disgrace. Usually the girl is naked and tied up in public somewhere (a bar, a store, etc.) and everyone just gets to use her. They get to grope her, fuck her, cum on her, hit her, etc. and I love it a lot. (This one is one of my favorites. I have this fantasy, which is all it will ever be, of being tied up in the middle of a bar and just used by everyone there. Like, if this even sounds slightly appealing to you and you’re of age, check out Public Disgrace. Their videos are fucking amazing.)

Sleep Sex - I can’t remember the actual term for it but it’s basically one person is asleep and the other person initiates sex. So, either eating them out/blowing them, fingering them, etc. There are a lot of negative connotations with this one but as long as it’s consensual, I’m into it.

Painal - We’ve talked about this one a bit but, like. I just like the idea of it. I think this one goes back to consensual non consent, too. Like, giving your partner consent and them just taking, even if you’re in pain/screaming/crying. Look, I said I like pain. If you’re this far, please don’t judge me.

Older/Younger - I don’t know the name for this but, like. Lolita. A young girl (legal, obviously, but still young) with a significantly older man. I always fantasized about being with someone way older than me when I was younger. I think that’s why I like bfd!Lu so much. Because of the massive age gap. But it’s so hot to think about.

Step - I know a lot of people will have a problem with this one but the whole fic plot where they’re fucking their step-dad or step-brother. I’m lowkey into it? I feel like I’ve said I wasn’t before but, again, it’s mostly because this one is seen as really weird. I would never be into it in real life but it’s hot to read about. I don’t know why I like it. Again, might go back to the whole age gap thing?

Public - I’m really into public sex and being watched. There’s this whole world of people being fucked on buses or trains and either people joining in, touching the girl and groping her or fucking her, or just watching as she gets fucked or touched and I think it goes back to the humiliation one but fuck, it’s so hot. I’ve also seen it combined with the sleep one. Someone is asleep on a bus or train or something and the person sitting beside them puts their hand up their skirt and starts touching them (as long as it’s consensual, again!).

Dubcon - It’s dubious consent. Consent isn’t explicitly stated but it’s also not nonconsensual, if that makes any sense.

Breeding - We’ve talked about this. But just being filled with cum again and again. I love the idea of a gangbang or group situation where everyone just fills the girl with cum until it’s leaking out of her and then someone pushing it back inside.

Creampie Eating - Someone cums inside the girl (I prefer pussy in porn but, like, it can be anal, too) and then either the person who came inside her or another person eats her out. I don’t know why this is so hot to me but it really, truly is.

I feel like there are more but that’s about all I can think of right now. Please don’t judge me.

[downeysgirl94]

Shuri Comes To Visit Part 2 Ch 13 of Cure for Nightmares

Im Sorry It Took me so long to update this fic.

Tony followed Peter into the room and saw Steve shaking T’Challa’s hand while Natasha was greeting Shuri.  Tony ginned at peter and pushed him forward till they met the group.

“Nice to see you again T’Challa” Tony said grinning at the man

T’Challa stepped forward and shook Tony’s Hand “Likewise Mr. Stark I am pleasantly surprised you decided to make an appearance during my visit” T’Challa said smiling.

“well The old man over there let me know you were coming this weekend and rather than risk him breaking anything he asked me to come by to show you and the princess around the missus has the little one taken care of at home and this one was missing the others so it was a no brainer to come by” tony said grinning putting an arm on peter’s shoulder.

T’Challa nodded at tony response then glanced at peter

“Hello Peter how are you?” T’Challa asked as he held out his hand for peter to shake.

Peter excitedly shook the man hand before tripping over words “Hello- King- T’Challa – Sir- I’m- good- uhm- how- are- you?”  

Tony and the others tried to hide their smirk but it was hard while they heard Shuri burst out laughing.

“Cat got your tongue colonizer?” Shuri asked

Peter blushed

“Sister is nice” T’Challa said sternly

Shuri responded by sticking out her tongue at him.

“Peter ignore her. It’s alright and you can call me T’Challa and I’m very well thank you for asking.” He said smiling

“Alight T’Challa” peter said smiling

“Oh you start calling him by his first immediately but took you like a year to even start calling me by my first name” tony said crossing his arms and pouting.

“Well sorry tony but he’s a king you do what he says, you’re just my pseudo-dad I don’t have to listen all the time” peter said shrugging

The others just grinned at the pair while they bickered

“Stark I know my Sister was wanting a tour of your lab while we visited but we have some important business to discuss before.” T’Challa said addressing Tony

“Steve mentioned you had some business to talk me about. How about peter shows Shuri around the lab, he knows what everything is and how it works. Hmm?”

“I don’t see a problem with it how about you sister?” T’Challa said asking Shuri

“Well if this colonizer is as smart as you claim I don’t mind being bored by inferior technology” Shuri said shrugging

“Hey princess I take offence we both know you like my technology” tony said grinning

“Whatever Stark” Shuri said walking past him following peter out of the room

“I have a feeling you’ll be regretting leaving those two alone by the end of the day” Steve said as he followed Tony and T’Challa into the next room.

Peter was describing one of the iron man suits to an obviously bored Shuri

“Yawn all this stuff is boring I made it when I was in like 10.” Shuri said wandering away from peter.

Something caught her eye it was one of the Spiderman suits

“Now finally something worth seeing” Shuri near shouted causing peter to walk over to her. When he saw what he was looking at he stopped.

“Why didn’t Stark tell me he made Spiderman’s Suit” Shuri said excitedly

Peter said rubbing his neck “uhm not sure maybe he promised Spiderman he wouldn’t tell anyone?”

“Sure that’s totally believable” Shuri said laughing “you got to get better at lying”

“I’m not lying” peter said nervously

Shuri turned to him and started singing “Why the fuck you lying? Why you always lying? Omg stop fucking lying.

Peter just stopped dead in his tracks. “Oh my god you just quoted a vine” peter said amazed

“Of course I did, vine is amazing it sucks it doesn’t exist anymore” Shuri said grinning

“There’s a bunch of compilations on YouTube I watch all the time” peter said grinning glad he distracted her from Spiderman.

“Same hmm you a lot cooler than I thought” Shuri said smugly

“Thanks I think?” peter chuckled

“So anyways where were we Spiderman right, I’ve seen all his videos”

“Same” peter answered instantly tense

“Peter you are clueless aren’t you?” Shuri said laughing

“What”

“I can put two in two together I know your Spiderman”

“Wait how?”  Peter asked shocked

“Well for one you just confirmed it, another your “pseudo-dad” makes Spiderman’s suit and Spiderman shows up so does his intern or whatever your cover story was. Lastly Spiderman wasn’t sighted until after Thanos was defeated at the same time you supposedly went missing.” Shuri said raising an eyebrow.

Peter just nodded before putting his head in his hands.

“It’s nothing to be embarrassed by I’m impressed by what you can do”

“Thanks Shuri” peter said smiling

“I’m very curious about you web formula is that come from the suit?” Shuri asked

“No I designed the web formula originally Mr. stark has helped me upgrade it” peter answered

“Where’s it come from then?”

Peter pushed up his sleeves and revealed his web shooters.

Shuri smiled while studied them. “You need to come to Wakanda sometime so you can tinker with me the master” Shuri said smiling

“Definitely Tony said we could go at some point but he probably is waiting till I’m on break from school.” Peter replied

“From how smart he was describing you better genius school.”  Shuri said grinning

“Yeah I go to a tech and science high school.” Peter said smiling

“Good you got a school to train your skills” Shuri said smiling

Peter and Shuri started watching vines for a bit. Before peter realized how much time had passed.

“You think there done yet?” peter asked

“Probably why?”  Shuri said shrugging

“I’m guessing you don’t want to be cooped up in the compound your whole trip is there any place you want to see?”

“Oh My God yes” Shuri said excitedly

They both got up and ran out of the lab.

 The Adults were currently in the common room talking, when the teens ran off the elevator.

“Tony” “Brother” They called at the same time.

“Ok children one at a time what’s up?” tony said grinning at peter

“Well I was guessing that Shuri wanted to do some sightseeing while see was he can we go some places please” peter begged

“Told you they bond quick Tony” Steve called from the couch smiling at them.

Tony thought for a moment before glancing over at T’Challa “T’Challa what do you think can we let them loose on society alone?”  Tony quipped

“Hmm sister where did you want to see?” T’Challa asked

“so many things Coney Island, central park, hell I want to go to a Starbucks and see why Okoye wants one in Wakanda so bad” Shuri said so excitedly.

T’Challa chuckled at the mention of his bodyguard.

“Sister I have no problem with you guys going sightseeing but I feel better if an adult was present” T’Challa replied

Shuri rolled her eyes

“I was about to the same thing T’Challa”

“Why has god forsaken us” peter muttered

Tony looked very confusedly at peter.

Shuri just started giggling.

Making T’Challa raise an eyebrow at her.

“Pete I’m not going to ask” “but come on your windows closing let go princess” tony said as he got off the couch and grabbed his keys. “I’m assuming your fine with me chaperoning” tony asked T’Challa, he nodded.   Rhodey called as the three stepped into the elevator “it’s not like you’re not just giant child anyways”

“Shut it platypus” tony replied as the doors closed.

They go into one of Tony Audis and left the garage.

Tony stopped at the closest Starbucks. Peter Today Shuri to order a Carmel Frappuccino she did, peter ordered a vanilla Frappuccino and tony ordered the biggest black coffee he could get before paying for all of them. Shuri of course loved the drink. Peter pulled out his phone and took a picture of Shuri and her drink and then they took a selfie.

On the way to Central park, they were stuck in a bit of traffic because of road work.  Peter and Shuri saw the road work sign at the same time and grinned at each other. Before both saying “Road work ahead… You better hope it does” tony glanced in the back mirror. Before shaking his head.

“That’s one of those vines or meme things isn’t it, Steve wasn’t wrong when he said how similar you to were” tony said before looking back at the road.

Once they got to the park peter dragged to all the top tourist stops tony followed slowly behind giving the kids a bit of space. Peter showed her Belvedere Castle, Strawberry Fields, Bethesda Fountain and Terrace, Loeb Boathouse, central park zoo and of course the Carousal . They took so many pictures that tony finally told them they had to hurry up if they wanted to go to Coney Island.

It was getting dark by the time they got to Coney Island. Which peter and Shuri didn’t care it made the rides better. Tony quickly bought their tickets and let them loose.

They rode the cyclone multiple times first, then the thunderbolt, then the soaring’ Eagle ending on the Spook –A-Rama. Tony rode a few of the rides with them but mostly waited for them to be done. Tony bought them some funnel cakes and other carnival food. Peter won Shuri a bear from a carnival game. Peter and Shuri had taken so many pictures before tony was close to dragging them to the car.

“Guys you got all weekend to hang don’t act like you won’t see each other again” tony said chuckling as he drove back to the compound.  

Once back Shuri carried her bear to her room and hugged peter and said “Thanks for today peter it was so fun, good night” and waved at tony before leaving.

Tony walked over to peter and put his arm on his shoulder before speaking “I’m glad you guys connected Pete” tony said grinning

“I’m glad too she’s really cool she invited me to go to Wakanda sometime” peter said excitedly

“We will Pete once we got time” tony said ruffling his hair

Tony began to walk to his room when peter stopped him by pulling the man into a hug.  This tony returned.

“Thanks for today it’s been one of the best days ever” peter said smiling into tony chest

“No problem kiddo I was happy to see you happy, and can you believe you were freaking out this morning” tony said chuckling

“I know I was nervous over nothing” peter said grinning

“Yup now you know to listen to you pseudo-dad all the time” tony said raising his eyebrow.

Peter chuckled “yeah sure tony, whatever you say”

[torippiyos]

Ota Motohiro in TAIPEI Fanmeeting Report!

Mokkun had two fanmeets in Taipei on the 3rd of February, and they’re his first fanmeetings overseas! I was on a trip with my friends during that time so I managed to go for the first session (thank you to my wonderful friends for indulging me and sending me to the convention centre i love all of you). My Chinese and Japanese aren’t the best so I tried my very best to understand and write down whatever I could remember! (so i’m writing this on the train right after lol)

He had quite a lot of merch lined up which included plastic folders of his Gekkan photoshoot, and about 6-8 sets of bromides? I was almost late so I bought one set of bromides for 300NTD and a cheki opportunity for 500NTD.

To start the fanmeeting off we were told to call out “Mokkun!” in the loudest and cutest voice before he emerged. He tweeted that he had specially bought nice clothes for the fanmeet in Taiwan since it was his first international one, and I really wouldn’t have guessed what it was because he turned up in a suit that was all black (including his inner shirt) and his blazer was GLITTERING lol quite extra but really nice!

The first segment was a few questions about Taiwan since he had only arrived the day before. He said that he went to Jiufen the day before and he didn’t expect it to be so windy and it was also raining a lot, so everyone had their umbrellas up and he thought it was kind of dangerous lol but he ate a lot of really good food there too. I don’t actually remember most of the questions during this segment because he was talking a /lot/ and he even apologised to the translators about it lol He was also surprised that most of the audience understood Japanese to a certain degree since we were all reacting to what he was saying without needing the translator. He also noted how Taiwan is a lot like Japan, and the entire atmosphere feels very familiar.

He talked a lot about food too. He was having dim sum the day before and he was served buns with a custard filling (im not sure how to explain it in a non chinese way but it’s like nikuman but with custard filling instead) and it was served in the bamboo steamer like the rest of the savoury dishes. When he bit into it it kind of exploded (?) and ran down onto his clothes lol He was wondering if it was meant to be a dessert separate from the rest of the dim sum, and when the audience replied him in Japanese before the translator could translate for us, he jumped out of his seat and yelled “Hey, you guys really CAN understand Japanese!”

The emcee also asked if anyone went to greet him at the airport, and Mokkun seemed to really appreciate it, and the she also asked if anyone came from overseas in which there were only about three, including myself. When I responded with 新加坡 he said シンガポール！ありがとうございます (so i was quite happy about that hehe) Mokkun himself also did a small poll on the different plays which the audience first heard of him, most from Tenimyu, followed by Toumyu, Pedasute, and a small handful from Messiah, Kurobasu and Kuroshitsuji.

For the second segment they played a behind the scenes video of Mokkun during his Gekkan and calendar photoshoot in Vietnam and it was really adorable~ And everyone was more or less commentating on it. In Vietnam, Mokkun ate a LOT of coriander/cilantro and he really liked it, even eating it by itself (something i don’t understand how anyone does) and he said he’ll eat anything with coriander in it/smells like there’s coriander in it, to the point where he feels like some kind of animal eating grass wwww

When it came to clips of that One Really Pretty Outfit the audience went “woo~” and he “woo~”ed back, but the second time they did it he got embarrassed. At this point in the video they showed him with his newly bought hand fan which he was Very amused by and now keeps in his home.

The third segment was fan questions, although I’m not entirely sure where they picked the questions from. (i apologise for the answers being in third person, i don’t want to misquote him because of my bad memory)

Q: What foods are you looking forward to eating in Taiwan, or if you have arrived, what foods have you eaten?

A: He mentioned the dim sum and custard bun, and that he’s also looking forward to/had also eaten chou tofu (smelly bean) and he was quite surprised by the strong scent.

Q: What made you decide to get into 2.5D productions?

A: Back then the industry wasn’t really called 2.5D, but he made his debut with Tenimyu and decided to carry on with that.

Q: What was your first reaction to/impression of Sengo Muramasa?

A: He was shocked when he saw that he was casted as Sengo, because he felt that he was nothing like Sengo looks and personality-wise after seeing the official illustration. He really thought it was a mistake and he wanted to bring it up to the producers, but since rehearsals were starting in two weeks he decided not to lol. He also said that because most of Team Mihotose is on the serious side, he wanted to make Sengo a different but interesting standout.

Q: Prior to your casting in Toumyu, which other swords would you have wanted to be casted as?

A: He hadn’t really thought about what other characters he could’ve possibly played, but maybe Ookurikara because he’s so cool! He also really likes the black, gold, and red colour scheme so possibly Kashuu too.

(The next question is where my brain blanked and got jumbled up but it was about cross-dressing and Anna Edelman from Magdala da Maria Live)

Because of time constraints, the emcee skipped to the final question which she felt all of us wanted to see (which we did www) which was...

Q: Please show us a sexy pose.

A: For some reason, when he thinks of a sexy pose he thinks of licking or sticking out the tongue (like Hanamiya Makoto from Kurobasu, he said, but that ones a bit gross huh). He seemed embarrassed but in the end he chose to lick his finger sjfkskfjfkf mokkun pls

Forgive me if I get the order mixed up, but the next segment was a game that Mokkun could play with the audience, where he had to find out who was the wolf among the red riding hoods from 5 participants. (I would’ve gone but I barely understood the description of the game at the beginning lol) He had 3 guesses to get it right if not there would be a punishment game (which everyone was eager to see). I swear this man knows he is ultimately Very Sexy so when asked the five of them “Are you the wolf?” he got really close to their faces so they’d crack. In the end he got it right on the last guess so everyone was vaguely disappointed hehe

The next segment I believe was where we could ask Mokkun to say something in Chinese, and the first thing that was requested was 我今晚不让你回家 (I won’t let you go home tonight) (“Huh? Why is this so erotic lol” -Mokkun upon hearing the translation and learning how to say it) and someone else shouted NUGIMASHOUKA and without needing someone to tell him how to say it in Chinese and without hesitation he said 我们一起脱下吧！The only other two things he remembers how to say in Chinese are “Hello everyone” and “Thank you” wwww

Since Mokkun was in Jiufen the day before, he bought five fans for his fans (haha get it), signed and all and there was a lucky draw done with the ticket stubs. The Big prize was an alarm clock also signed by Mokkun, and the lucky person who’s stub was drawn got to get a personalised wake up call recorded on the clock. While deciding on what he should say that one same person shouted 我不让你起床 (I won’t let you wake up) (“Hey seriously?”)

The next segment was a free photo taking event, which I was slightly surprised was a thing, where he just went around the room striking Very Cute poses. We can’t post any of them online at all but I have about 50 photos of him in my phone now lol if I had a better seat there would definitely be more. Mokkun said he’d never done stuff like this in Japan but he was quite happy to be able to do it now.

With that it more or less concluded the fanmeet. Mokkun was very grateful to those who showed up and supported him, and that we’ll continue to watch future productions he’s in. He also slipped in a promotion to by the UtaPri DVD lol

Oh and there was the cheki segment at the end! Everyone except for around five people bought the cheki, and we had the option to either do a peace sign with Mokkun or a heart, and you can probably tell what everyone went for wwww afterwards we got to high-five him. It was my first cheki ever so I was nervous especially since everyone else looked really good and cute?? Also I am Quite Small so Mokkun did feel quite tall to me. When we leaned in to do the heart he really did smell very nice~ (“you smell like shit” -me to my friend wearing dior @ prom) And his smile was absolutely gorgeous I’m glad I got to look at it up close..

First fanmeet experience was great and I’m really glad I seized the opportunity~ I’ve really loved Mokkun since getting into 2.5D with Pedasute so I’m really happy I got to see him IRL.

[survivor-tierradelfuego]

Ep. 3: “Quite honestly it was a train wreck” - John

Zack M

really disappointed in my tribe right now. 

we are about to some telephone challenge and we needed 3 people to do this. literally excuse after excuse after excuse from everyone on the tribe as to why they couldn't do it .... and we wonder why we are losing. ugh. anyways, i'm going to do this shit with my crappy wifi because i rather act like i'm helping than bow out out of fear. and honestly i want to show that i'm committed to the tribe. it would be fucking beast mode to pull out the first win of the season for us. literally let me be the first to do everything for this tribe.

also my game feels strong so if we lose again lol whatever. 

oh yeah, amy went home. *as we go on, we remember....*

James Hayden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v17lq3Nh054

Aimee

https://imgflip.com/memetemplate/165556484/Screaming-woman-in-car

Zack M

storytelephone confession time: i killed it. at least with the information that made it's way to me. i only missed one question that ben told me. the main reason we got 9.9/10 is because leanne forgot 6 of the 8 animals when telling ben and then we had the 10% disadvantage. i know leanne is to blame for 5% of that. curious about who got the other 5%. but like here's the thing, i love leanne. i feel confident in her loyalty so i'll smile and let that one go. i got her back. ben told me at the end of the challenge that aimee shared with him that i'm "social". so like i guess i have to stop being nice to her. i don't really want her to be the next one eliminated but strike one was how upset she seemed to be with me after telling her the only reason we didn't tell her was because neil threw her name out as someone he was talking to. i really wish she would have listened to me and not messaged everyone. i feel like that put a target on her back. strike two is mentioning my name once. right now she isn't my target but she is on the edge. i don't know who my target is right now tbh. really there's only aimee and najwah that i would consider. i hope we don't get a tribe swap because at this rate, making the merge isn't even a question for me and i'd like to keep it that way. also, ben and i are starting to call each other a power duo. i really would like to make it to the final two with him even though i've promised cody a final two. cody is hilarious but he gives me anxiety. he seems to be losing his cool and going into messy territory. he has too many conversations going which gets him worked up. i need him to focus on what's important. i want someone who i can work with. i'm not trying to babysit. but no plans of cutting that tie until the merge happens and then i will revisit the thought. cool calm and collected. you get like one freak out "what if" moment a day with me and then i'm done. what ifs ... it's what kills people's games. if my 5 alliance would just let me vibe and feel people out we would be perfect. i haven't been wrong yet. *knocks on wood*

Pedro A

i feel like those two tribals were completly different...Neil was voted out for talking too much.....and Amy was voted out for being quiet...and coming late

Ryan

These stupid idols... I feel like im so close every time! Who knows, maybe im way off? I seriously just want, no NEED that extra layer of security, even though I'm feeling alright right now

John B

Another Challenge, another time when our tribe can't seem to make a decision. I totally get why nobody ever wants to step up when it comes to taking charge in a challenge, but honestly I have no clue how we keep winning when the other tribe seems to have no issue making group decisions. There must totally be a Head Honcho over there running things behind the scenes. I have some new juicy details about the tribe now thanks to Pedro. Pedro, Amy-Louisa, and Ryan have started their "outsiders" alliance and this is stressing me out. Pedro says I'm his number one and then goes and makes an alliance without me. I think I'm getting too hung up on Pedro and I being a pair I need to worry about myself and nobody else. Obviously I'm not going to break things off, but I don't really feel like he needs to know everything I'm doing now. At least I think we are in a pretty good position. I am pretty tight with Kalle, Grae, and hopefully Maddison, and He's really tight with Ryan and Amy-Louisa and we both had a good relationship with Alan and Olivia. Between the two of us we are in an ok spot for the time being. If Tyler goes first if we lose, which still feels like the case for now, I am not sure what we are going to do after that, but we will cross that bridge when we get there. I'm going to keep working on my relationships with everyone for now and hopefully I can keep my paranoia in check. WISH ME LUCK YALL!

Alan B

Tyler put a huuuge target on his back by calling the other tribe trash when they've been doing so well, like not only they probably want to get him out asap but now everyone on our team also wants him out? and also he fluked his first challenge? How on earth did he think that comment would do anything but lower his chances at winning and make him look like a jerk to everyone playing? It's honestly kinda hilarious how bad a move that was

Leanne

So, tribal was nice and easy and went as planned, which was a very good thing, albeit with a couple of downsides. The most obvious of these is, we’ve had our easy vote... now what? I seriously do not even have the first inkling of how things are going to go next time we have to have a vote. Either I don’t realize the wind is blowing in a certain direction, which is scary, or there simply aren’t any real targets right now... and I’ll expand on that possibility later. For now let’s talk about another downside. Yesterday afternoon I got a message from Najwah asking if I’d heard the whispers about someone possibly having an idol. I said no, I didn’t know anything, and asked her where she heard it from. She said, one of the guys. Well, which one? That’s when she asked me to video chat. Finally she told me it was Cody who said to her, *we* think someone has the idol. We. I haven’t heard about this from anyone else, and I know Cody and Zach are tight. I hesitate to ask Zach about it. Who would I say I heard it from? I had to drag Cody’s name out of Najwah, and I don’t want to give her up as my source. I don’t think she made it up. Either Zach or Cody or both are stirring something up. I want them separated. I want Cody out but I don’t think I could get enough people together to make it happen, not to mention the fallout if I tried and succeeded, or failed for that matter. The thing is, I don’t know which of the two is instigating this stuff. First it was the weird vote out of the blue, now this. I’m not going to do anything with it for now except sit on it, but I see they are both schemers who came to play. I’d rather have Cody gone because I haven’t spoken to him individually, but he talks to plenty of other people and I don’t like what he’s up to. Zach, at least, has the appearance of being loyal to me. He hasn’t said word one to me about this potential idol. We check in fairly often with each other, how are you feeling, what are you thinking, we still on?, we got this. Like I said I don’t know what to make of this and don’t want to act rashly. The good news is that Najwah and I had a really nice talk, about all sorts of things. I’ve been trying to get personal with her, telling her things about my life, telling her about things like my ex and our relationship then and now. She seems to respond well to things like that, and I’m grateful for the chat because it’s a good way to make a stronger connection. So we talked about the personal life stuff, and also some game talk. She says she isn’t as close to Sarah as I thought she was. Plus we discussed how much to trust Zach and Cody, which is still an open question. And we compared notes on the idol search. We both made the same error and got the disadvantage in the same place. I asked her if the perfume was an advantage and she said yes. So now we know, and we each told people about the perfume so maybe we can increase our odds of winning something, and hopefully we don’t have to spend our own coins to do so. Really the best thing I got out of the conversation was that I feel even stronger about my relationship with Najwah. I think she is trustworthy and we’ve exchanged info completely upfront, at least I think so anyway. Right now she’s my most important ally. Last night, just after tribal, I reached out to James for the first time one on one. His answer caught my eye. I told him I appreciated that he’s willing to fight for us, and then we got to talking. It was mostly a conversation about what it would be like to be on the real show, but we talked about our shared ineptitude when it comes to anything physical, and debated whether or not we wanted to be on for real. Him, Hell yes. Me, 39 days with no food and no sleep, no thank you. But it was a start. A really good start. No game talk yet but at least we’ve got a foundation. The thing I noticed about James from that conversation was that he’s very hard-core about this. I made some comment like, this game is intense, to which he responded, when I got that buff I was in it to win it. He means business. His love for the show is so strong and shines through everything he says. He’s taking this seriously in the extreme. That’s something to watch out for. A quick sidenote about his answer regarding the potential for a swap. The question said there had been talk of it. Talk? What kind of talk? None that I knew about. Something else to consider. Finally, the challenge. I was having such a hard time deciding whether to step up for it or not. For one thing I was just plain terrified about freezing up under the pressure and letting the team down. But I’d like to think I have a decent memory. Najwah even commented about my memory a couple of times prior. And she was urging me to do it for a few minutes before I told the tribe I would. My thinking was, if there’s something down the line that we don’t all have to be in, maybe something with pictures or something that I really suck at, well, I will have already taken my turn and it’s someone else’s. At least if I try this I might have *some* success. Besides, I owe this tribe after I got us part of that disadvantage. But oh wow was it hard and scary! I take reassurance from Jay saying that was one of the better scores she’s seen in this challenge. Still there was so, so so much that I missed. And now that it’s over I fear I may have miscalculated. Remember how earlier I said there doesn’t seem to be any real public targets right now? Yeah... that. If we lose it’s going to be because I dropped the ball. So either we win and I am the big hero, which doesn’t hold much weight as we saw with Neil, or I lose and there is one clear culprit for the loss. Nice going Leanne.

Zack M

welp. it's happened. someone has sent a message to the wrong group. my literal nightmare. 

leanne: That’s what I’m thinking. I’m just deciding whether I want to use up all my coins that way, especially when I don’t know how to get more. najwah: ya sure 

LOLOLOLOL what? look i know leanne and najwah are close so this isn't a surprise. also, leanne is the reason for our disadvantage so she is obviously out hunting for the idol. just something to keep in mind when it comes to voting out leanne or najwah. definitely going to have to split the votes in the chance one of them has an idol. nothing exciting is really happening today. this is low key why i like losing. it keeps people on their toes and active. when they are active they don't have time to think. less thinking = more time for zack on this island. 

Zack M

this is a post to just to shout out najwah. it's so fucking nice when someone is like i'm available to talk to you about real life stuff and not just game. i love having open honest conversations about feelings. i do feel a little bad saying how much i want to work with her and leanne. it's not a lie but like i have a majority 5 alliance going with 3 choices to vote out and i think those 3 are talking. who am i supposed to say? i refuse to be the first one caught throwing an alliance members name out.

Kalle N

WE FINALLY LOST AND I'M SO HAPPY!! I'm excited for people to start throwing out names, although Tyler seems to be on everyone's chopping block from what I've heard so far. This should be exciting

Amy A

We lost the challenge and I KNOW it was my fault. I didn’t remember half of the stuff Jay told me. Urgh I feel so terrible for my tribe. Fingers crossed I don’t leave the game first.

Cody A.

Hey all!!! I am happier than a white girl at Starbucks in UGGS. I’m so pumped we FINALLY won immunity!!! 🤩🤩🤩 That being said... I’m kinda sad we won’t get to vote Leanne’s ass off tonight. LMAO. But if we’re being honest.. I think she might have the idol anyways, and Aimee would have taken the hit 😭 which is sad. I like aimee. I REALLY like Amy, but we saw how that worked out. Anyways.. I’m thankful we’re not losing another number, with a tribe swap looming, that could have been bad! BTW, I do like Leanne, quite a lot actually, but the girl literally has not had a single conversation with me. Amy missed half the game and still found time to talk to me about her badass hair and struggles with relocating! I guess I should try and end this confession now, TTYL. 

Pedro A

we LOST...and i kinda feel like me and jonh are kinda running this tribe....i hope a swap doesn't screw us over

Pedro A

Tyler is the name that everyone came up with ..hes rubbing people the wrong way 

Olivia A

I was disappointed about losing our first challenge but I feel better because everyone seems settled on voting for Tyler. The message he sent after the other tribe lost for the 2nd time seemed to rub everyone the wrong way. I think it’ll be an easy vote. 

John B

That challenge was rough, honestly I was crying laughing the entire time. Quite honestly it was a train wreck. Im not going to say it was Amy but like.. It wasn't not Amy. I'm not going to throw her under the bus though. Luckily I have my new core four alliance. My dream alliance of me, Pedro, Grae, and Maddison. I am super close with Kalle and Pedro has the outsiders and we both have Olivia. I am cautiously optimistic that this can be an easy vote for Tyler. We will see what happens though.

Zack M

we won! huge shout out to leanne + ben. #teamwork look at god. i'm so glad i was a part of the first win for our team. 11 to 4.5 lol whatt?!? (i don't count the disadvantage because i am not responsible for that) it's been too silent today and i feel like my alliance members are starting to get annoyed with me because i'm may be spiraling a little bit but honestly i've proven myself to be a threat. this isn't for no reason. in this game + real life .... give me validation and i'll shut up. it doesn't have to be the truth.

James Hayden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpw07_jlqxQ&feature=youtu.be

Aimee

https://elysiankardia.tumblr.com/post/623755743585255424 This is what I will be doing tonight after that INSANE WIN! Love these legends getting it done 👑 👑 👑 It was great getting to video chat with Ben and Cody! It finally felt like we had camp life in the game instead of just challenges and tribal. Right now with the bonds I have formed at this point in the game... I am working closest with Najwah and Ben. They are my ride or dies! 💞💖 I trust them to the moon🌙 and back. We really needed this win and I’m so happy Leanne, Ben and Zack were able to pull this through! We all needed a night off. https://64.media.tumblr.com/908f7a445a41c1e3b6c3c0fd4820ebfe/a53f344a539857da-cb/s540x810/80e7cf8f5ad8a99a80784a359c7f03d683aa3efe.gifv

Pedro A

tonight is our first tribal council....Tyler will probably go home...i hope this is the last time we go to tribal....cause after this vote...idk who will be eliminated from our tribe

Sarah

The plan is to vote out Neil tonight and cause a blindside. Everyone is on the same page tonight about not trusting him so I am confident that the plan will go through but also scared as heck. 

Kalle N

So far everything has been relatively quiet and simple which terrifies me. Either this will be a 9-1 vote against Tyler, or there are things happening that I'm not involved in... I just have to trust the people I'm talking to and hope it's not me going home I guess. I'm like 75% sure it'll be Tyler that leaves tonight though. 

Zack M

i really don't like days off. low key wish someone else would have done the challenge so we could have lost. i get paranoid everyone isn't actually taking today off. cody also shared that najwah and aimee are close so i hope najwah doesn't share that i mentioned aimee because that's bad news for me. should we have kept amy t? ugh. 

Maddison

Inevitably our tribe is attending tribal tonight. This seems to be a comprehensive easy vote, but there is never an easy vote in Survivor. Hopefully an idol doesn’t come into play and shock us all. Alliances have definitely been formed and the game is well underway. I have to remember that everyone is playing, regardless of their outward threat level. 

John B

Well, we are quickly approaching the first tribal council and I think things are pretty set in stone at this point. Unless I am being completely bamboozled which will make me cry. This vote is going to be too easy which is going to mean trouble for the rest of the votes after this, everybody is getting along too well so if we go to tribal again after this, lines are going to have to be drawn in the sand. I am getting worried about Pedro, I think he may start to become a bit of a liability. He is too nervous for literally everything which is making it impossible to make plans for down the line. He was saying he was wanting to vote out Maddison and I'm like would it be so hard to just vote out someone we aren't in an alliance with?... like... hello?? Alan may be a good next vote because we know they have the idol, on the other hand, them having the idol could come in handy down the line. I think if we lose again before a swap or something Olivia or Alan may be a good plan. I still do not trust Ryan at all, I really don't think he likes me and I am putting in the effort here. If we can bring the "outsider alliance" in with the core four, we would have a solid six that I think would take us far in the game, I am just worried that Pedro is going to start something I don't want to do. Hopefully we can get through this first vote and get back on a winning streak 

Ben Kessler

Baba booey! I helped win the challenge for our tribe, so you can just call me Joe Anglim. On a serious note, Zack is very paranoid about people throwing his name out, which I like because it makes him feel like we are close. I would like to vote Leanne out because it looks like she has connections I do not have. Leanne definitely worries me that she has an idol. Just need to keep tabs on everyone and make sure my name isn't thrown out. SarahI found the hidden immunity idol! Yesterday was the first time that I went hunting. I had been told information about the idol hunt through Cody and when he told me what was in the clothes and antique store I had this gut feeling that the idol was in the jewelry box. I had gotten 10 coins yesterday from searching the boat and then I got 5 from Cody and 5 from James, my closest allies, so I was able to buy the jewelry box today. I have spoken with Zack about wanting to share coins in order to get it. I plan on telling Cody because he is my number one and ride or die. I haven’t decided if I am going to tell anyone else or make it known to my alliance. I do feel better knowing that no one else has the idol, and I do not plan on using it anytime soon. This is such a crazy game aishshfbrhe

Najwah

I'm so happy we finally won a damn challenge! So basically Leanne and I had a long video call and we were discussing our advantages and disadvantages etc. In finding the immunity idol. She then accidentally sent a message in the main group lmao. Luckily only Cody and Zack so it so we used that to our advantage and told them where to go when they land in town. Thing is, they gave us no info back? So now we are idol hunting on the places they've been to chacke whether we can actually trust them coz we'd like to work with them. I love Zack as a person but I think he's dangerous as a player. I haven't connected with him as I have with Cody. Trying to connect with Aimee but she seems to keep us all at a distance. We have to go through a crazy winning streak now bc I am not in the mood for my trials. Fes great to have the evening off. Two evenings off actually. Its shark week so that's perfect. I

Najwah

I need to reconnect with Sarah. We haven't spoken much since Day 1. I know Cody talks to her. The only problem I have is that Leanne would like Cody out of the game solely because he's close with me and close with Zack. I'll do everything in my power to protect Cody though. I do feel as though he has loose lips and tells Zack everything which is a liability. Zack has the ability to win this game. He's smart and he has a ruthlessness about him. I'm definitely weary about him. I'll be watching him. He says we can trust him but idk. We will see. Pedro AIf tyler plays an idol...i have no ideia who he will write down Pedro A3 hours till tribal ...and im scared if tyler has an idol

Grae G

I formed a tight alliance w John Pedro and Maddison. I’m still working w the girls and actually like them more but it’s clear John and Pedro are very much in control and I’d love for them to continue believing it. Tyler is gonna be the first to go, just because he didn’t quite fit with the group vibe. Which sucks but you know it happens! No hard feelings if you’re reading this Tyler. Hey it could be me tonight you never know. Its still early yet in this and I’m trying to play a low key game and if it bites me later than so be it lol I honestly don’t have much time between work and life to put more time into it then I am. I think it’ll be basically everyone voting against Tyler maybe a few stragglers but I’m really expecting full majority. If anyone has an idol as of now I’m absolutely shocked and don’t think Tyler has one but who knows  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Amy A.

So everyone keeps saying Tyler is being evicted today but the game is scary so you really never know. First tribal for Maola so I’m excited and scared. Fingers crossed it’s NOT me. I hope it’s an easy tribal and tomorrow morning I’m still in this game. 

James Hayden

Today's Day 7. I found 10 coins this morning during my idol hunt. As promised, I gave five to Sarah so she could use them to find the idol. She said she trusts me and is with me 100% and wants to go far in this game together. Clearly, I trust her 100% - or as much as one can in a game like this - and like our odds together. We are also talking about adding a third person from our five. Ben is my pick and she seems on board. From the outside, I don't think we are an obvious trio. I just this move won't bite me in the ass later down the line. God, I hope she's not playing me. If she's, then good on her and she's good at this game. 

Tyler H

Not much happened for me for the past few days during this round, but I still think I’m better then everyone 

Alan B

My confession is that I procrastinated way too long on my confession XD

Ryan

I believe the plan is simple tonight... well, let's find out

[nightwingxy]

Frozen Follows -2015 (warning: Not that good, Cheesy as hell)

Within the past 5 or so months, I came to a few odd revelations. The first is that the movie frozen is following me and stalking me. Just about every day I see something pertaining to frozen. It might be a cardboard standee in a store window that I see when i’m eating lunch, or its on the shirt of the girl in-front of me getting off the train, or I see 1000 random pieces of merchandise at whatever store I'm at. No matter where I go, Frozen will always find me, somehow, haunting me. It’s a horrible curse, but it’s also kind of a good thing. The other thing is that I have a crazy love obsession with Anna from frozen. I don't know exactly why, but I do, and its kind of weird. Sometimes she is all I ever think about. I would cry many sleepless nights wishing she was here with me, while I would fall asleep happy with her in my thoughts. Again, kind of weird. So every time I see frozen anything i both smile and cringe at the same time. And Sometimes I just cant take it, and drives me insane. But as of recently it isn't as bad, mainly do to a dream I had. About a few weeks ago I Went to bed with Anna on my mind. I soon fall asleep, but then I wake up on a bridge outside the city of Arendelle, the home of Princess Anna and Queen Elsa in Frozen. It’s afternoon, and Im wearing skinny jeans, a fancy long sleeve shirt, with a pocket in the front and i have my Darth Vader vans on my feet. I feel something in my pocket, I take it out, and it’s an

invitation to a dinner party/dance/Disney higher ups gathering thing at Queen Elsa’s castle in 20 minutes from now, with a personal note and signature by Anna. The note from anna also mentions something about disney executives. But then before I can react, the merchant from resident evil 4 comes up to me, and says:“Welcome, I’ve got a selection of good things on sale today, stranger. So, what are you buying?” The merchant proceeds to open up the left side of his coat, Revealing A plethora of Official Frozen merchandise. Dolls, clothes, school and office supplies, DVD’s, CD’s, kitchen ware, this guys got it all. I tell him I don't want anything. But before I can start to run towards the castle, he stops me and says“ I’ve got some rare things on sale, stranger.” He then opens up the right side of his coat, Revealing even more frozen merchandise, and some other random crap. While quickly scanning my eyes through his selection, and I notice the Batman watch that I got at GameStop and wear all the time in real life. I ask him how much, and he says “5 Dollars, stranger.” I pay him the money. He asks “ Is that all, stranger?”, I say yes, and he responds with “ He he he he, thank you.” I respond with “Yeah, sure, whatever” as I'm running off towards the castle, frantically putting my watch on. While I’m running through the town, I see everyone wearing frozen shirts, jackets, hats, dresses, backpacks, etc. The town is also littered with stores that only sell Frozen merchandise. When I start to get closer to the castle I see Anna greeting a small group of people, some executive types. Once they head inside, she sees me, then waves for

me and calls my name. I finally reach the castle, and ultimately Anna, the love of my life. I tell her hi, and ask her hows it going. She says its great, and she's been excited for this dinner party for days, and is super glad to see me. I ask her if Kristof is coming, since i don't know what our relationship is like here. she says “ no, don't you remember what i told you the other day? I said that A: Kristof is out adventuring or whatever, and B: were just friends, which was when you made your move and we started being more than friends”. “Oh yeah.” I awkwardly reply. Then quickly respond with “Sorry, my brain farted earlier.” She laughs, then we go inside, holding hands. I ask her about the Disney executives thing, and she says that they’re having meeting about the franchise with Elsa and that I can stay. I say sure, why not. We hang out talk, and dance at the party until the dinner/meeting starts. As we find our seats as I grab 2 pieces of cheese and 2 crackers from a cheese and crackers plate a waiter had when I passed by him.I pull her chair out for her, and she sits, then i sit. I take my piece of cheese and give Anna the other cheese and the 2 crackers, which she proceeds to make a mini sandwich with. She eats it, thanks me, then kisses me on the cheek. Then 2 servants come out and announce the queen’s arrival to the dinning hall. We all stand and clap for queen Elsa, then sit back down. She welcomes everyone to the castle, among other things. I zone out for a bit but Anna snaps me back to “reality.” I start to listen, and i find out the main guests are Legit actually THE Disney executives, as in the people who own and run

Disney. They start to talk about Frozen 2, the Frozen broadway show, Random Disney theme park stuff like meet n greets, possible rides and shows, etc. The conversation changes from disneyland stuff to merchandising and other media, like books, video games, etc.. They start bringing out the presentation stuff, complete with pointing stick. They start to talk about revenue, demographics, transmedia crap. Anna and I are both bored out of our minds. Then they quickly start to talk about what kinds of new merchandise with Anna and Elsa on it that they can crap out to the masses of frozen fans. They don’t stop, And it gets so crazy, i think that they’re trying to make Anna and Elsa look like big, greedy sell outs. “We can put your Faces on anything and people will buy up all of this crap!” says the guy with the pointing stick. Elsa tries to change the subject to something else, like frozen dolls with better looking faces. They ignore her and keep talking about having every kind of product with their faces and the films logo on it, so frozen can be sold anywhere to anyone. Elsa is getting worried this and says “we don't need that much more merchandise”. They ignore her again, and she gets pissed, and responds with “Stop trying to whore out the image of my sister and I!”. But then the head exec, gets up, and he looks a hell of a lot like senator Armstrong from metal gear rising, both physically and facially, except with more hair, and its grey. He tells her “SHUT UP, YOU HAVE NO SAY, WE OWN YOU!!!!” Anna has had it tells the exec “YOU CAN’T TALK TO THE QUEEN LIKE THAT!!” The exec Shouts “SHUT THE HELL UP, WE OWN YOU

TOO!!” So by now I’ve had enough of this rich douchebag’s shit. I stand up and yell “YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO TALK TO EITHER OFF THEM LIKE THAT, DICKHEAD!!” He growls “ WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE?!?!? YOUR OBLIVIOUSLY NOT KRISTOF, SO DONT GET SO FRIENDLY WITH OUR OTHER FEMALE LEAD YOU LITTLE SHIT!” I Start to Retaliate with “ I JUST SO HAPPEN TO BE HER REAL BOYFRIEND, and end with “FUCK YOU MR. BURNS”. He then threatens us with his moon sized battle station up in space, the death star, and that he could “WIPE THIS SHITHOLE COUNTRY OFF THIS GOD FORSAKEN PLANET, BECAUSE DISNEY CONTROLS THE WORLD MOTHER FUCKER, SO WATCH YOUR MOUTH.” Then what I said Finally hits him, that Anna and Kritsof aren't a couple anymore, because she’s with me, ruining their marketing and a bunch of other shit all at once. He then gets Furious, starts storming towards me. Elsa has had ENOUGH, and starts to takes action and gets ready to freeze him, but he came prepared. As soon as feels the room get a little cold, he pulls out a remote with a single button. When he presses it, Elsa’s powers just don't work anymore. How?!?! I Don't really know. But then he heads towards Elsa instead, with Anna running over to protect her sister. She steps in front of elsa to protect her, but takes a mean pimp slap in the face for both breaking up with Kristof, and defying the grand master CEO of Disney as he calls himself. I just snap, and I dart over to the mother fucker and jump kick his burly ass. He stumbles back and drops the remote. I

quickly grab it, push the button, then smash the damn thing. Elsa gets her powers back, then immediately freezes the other executives sitting at the table. I go help Anna up, and she starts crying on my shoulder. She tells me to kick his ass to kingdom come. I tell her I will, Despite Knowing that I will probably loose. So “Armstrong”, as i decided to call him,starts running outside, so Elsa sends her guards after him. I tell Anna that I have to go, But as soon as i start to run after him, she grabs my arm and pulls me towards her, and we kiss very passionately for about 7 seconds. She then tells me to check the first closet to the right on the way out. I tell her she’s the best, and we say our goodbyes really quickly, as I run off. I check the first closet on the right, and i find a small case. I open it up and I find a lightsaber. I turn it on, and it turns out to be Kylo Ren’s lightsaber from Star Wars Episode VII, the one with the 2 smaller blades that come out to make a cross guard. I turn it back off, and run AS FAST AS I FUCKING CAN into the setting sun. I make it outside the town just in time to see the guards prevent Armstrong from escaping in his space limo, at least that’s what his vehicle looked like to me. I run through the guards to confront this mother fucker. He says that I’m “a fool to challenge the Disney empire!! You will suffer greatly for this.” He then pulls out his Darth Vader lightsaber. I pull out my Kylo Ren Lightsaber. When the cross guard comes out, I actually see fear in his eyes for the first time in forever as his evil smile quickly fades away. We have a extremely quick duel before I cut off his hands with the cross guard. I then cut off

his left arm. I then stab him in the heart shouting “THIS IS FOR ANNA!!”. I press the blade further and yell “AND THIS IS MY SANITY!!!” As his corpse falls to the ground i take the keys to his space limo or whatever it is, and decide to sell it to merchant if I see him again. Then I start to walk back the castle, and As soon as I see Anna Running towards me, I collapse to the ground on my knees. Then She then runs as fast as humanly possible, WhenI look back, I see that Armstrong didn't die just yet and shot me with his pistol, so I stumble back on my feet and cut his god damn head off with the lightsaber. I fall again, but anna catches me. I tell her I love her, and that I will always love her. We kiss, then I pass out, or possibly die in her arms, I'm not sure which. That’s when I Wake up and I'm in bed, and realize that it was a dream. I'm a little saddened by this fact, but get over it rather quickly. So i’m officially awake, but before i get out of bed i grab my phone and download a picture of Anna in her green dress from the end of frozen that she was wearing in my dream. After that moment, I didn't see frozen as much in the world around me as much any more. My love obsession with anna got better, as it didn't take up all of my personal life like it used to. My life got a little less weird because of this dream as a hole, and I also got excited for frozen 2. I still hope one day I can return to that world in my dreams to see Anna Again, to tell her that I lover her.