#outside of ‘uses she/her in human languages cause she likes how it sounds’

[inexplicably-spookified]

happy fucking bnuy pride day

[yourlocalzombiewriter]

Okay May I request Lego monkey kid Wukong and Macaque with minor deity Reader? Reader lives in a garden and was isolated for so long she genuinely forgot what the outside world was like at times. (Cause humans were getting greedy and they been emotionally and physically hurt at times). Reader values connect so deeply and the garden is hidden by a talisman and guarded by her pet aka giant monster. Headcanons pls and apologies if it too much. I love your work. You can do Black myth Wukong too if you want

Oh, but love grows where my Rosemary goes,

And nobody knows like me.

(Lego Monkie Kid head-canons,

Black myth: Wukong head-canons.)

Author note: hello!, thank you so much for your request!, I hope you enjoy. Thank you for requesting!. ♡´･ᴗ･`♡

Just to reiterate, English isn’t exactly my first language so I apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes.

★ ✵ ★

Lego Monkie Kid:

☀︎Wukong☀︎︎

Loves visiting frequently!, especially when your peaches are in season if your garden homes them.

This is a little head-canon of mine, but he knows how to make flower crowns. He use to make many when he was younger for the other young monkeys.

He always picks the ones he deems prettiest for you.

Depending on if he met you when he was younger (during Journey to the west) or older (during the time of him mentoring MK), he use to love playing hide and seek in the lush trees and bushes. But now older, he loves taking naps under the shade the beautiful trees provide.

Shoo’s off any demons or humans wondering too close to your garden for his liking. Especially after hearing what happened in the past for you to disconnect yourself from the outside.

He knows you have a guard animal but he still does his part as a boyfriend, after all he doesn’t want you to go through unnecessary stress.

Loves your guard animal!, though, the few first times of visiting your garden he either had to trick it or you had order them to stand down.

Once him and your guard animal are more acquainted he loves messing around with them, or feeding them treats. He knows their supposed to be scary and all but he just can’t help it!. Also does that thing where one person is the owner and the other isn’t and sees who the animal chooses first.

If you ever do wish to go outside, he’ll be right there to help you, and lead you to wherever you desire to go.

He loves watching you maintain the garden, he usually hangs up on a tree munching away at whatever fruit is nearest as he watches you water the flowers and crops with such care.

Brings you gifts from the outside as frequently as he can, and if your interested he’ll catch you up on the latest news.

Sometimes he manages to bring two steaming bowls of noodles from pigsy’s to you.

He loves admiring you as you relax on the soft grass, and the sun bathing you softly with its light, you look un-real to him.

Sometimes, when it’s a particularly hard day, he enjoys hiding away in your garden as well. Cuddling up next to you for comfort as you both lounge around the garden.

He doesn’t mind quite moment’s, when it’s so silent you can hear the grass shift with the soft wind, or hear the leaves rattle. How could he?, with you sitting there looking off so peacefully, and him looking at you so happily.

You are his version of your garden, a safe place, and home that no one can intrude upon.

★ ✧ ★

☾Macaque☾

He teleports over frequently when he feel’s overwhelmed with the noise of the outside world.

Because all he can hear is your sweet voice and the comforting sounds of the nature your garden nurtures.

He loves sneaking up behind you from the shadows of the trees. He loves the reactions he gets from it!.

Keeps his distance from your guard animal, but warms up to it eventually!.

Loves visiting at night and seeing the moon light bathe the place with its soft light.

He adore the tranquility of it all, it feels like time slows when he’s there with you. His fast paced days now coming to a slow stop when he’s laying in your arms and watching the flowers dance and sway side to side from the soft blow of wind.

Uses his shadow clones to help around the place if you ever need extra hands.

Has memorized every plant and flower you grow in your garden, but doesn’t stop you from spilling facts about them.

Mk sometimes wonder where he lounge around at when he’s not with the group. Of course, a good guess is his dojang (I believe that is what his home is called apologizes if it’s not!) but in reality he’s resting with you on flower beds.

Never mentions your garden to the crew unless you give the go ahead, but even then he tip toes over the subject, knowing your past experiences.

Puts on shadow plays for you on a particularly uneventful day. He likes seeing the smile that graces your face everytime.

His ears always picks up someone approaching your garden before your guard animal does so he’s quick to alert them.

He adores you, he truly does believe that your as beautiful as your garden, the center piece. He doesn’t understand the good karma he has received to meet you but he’s so greatful.

☀︎ ☁︎ ☀︎︎

Black myth: wukong

Bajie probably stumbled upon your guard animal and Wukong had to jump in.

Paranoid of leading enemy’s to your garden, not that he isn’t assured in himself that he can beat it. But he’d rather you not be stressed out or worry about it.

This doesn’t stop him form pranking you from time to time by transforming to a bug and buzzing around annoyingly. Prepare to have your patients tested by him.

If you have a big enough tree, he probably climbs and chills out in the branches.

Sometimes pulls you up with him and lets you rest and balance on him. He counts this as rest and bonding time.

Absentmindedly picks a flower and places it in your hair in the middle of a conversation.

On cold months, depending on how your garden on works, he either brings the finest cloths and blankets to you. Or if your garden is magically frozen in a spring or summer season then he spends the whole winter season with you, so good luck with that.

Although not one to be picky with fruits, he just prefers the one from your garden the most. To him they taste richer, and juicer.

When a certain fruit is growing on a tree and it’s time for them to be picked, he always picks you up and lets you rest on his shoulder so you can reach them easier. Could he just pick them himself?, yes, but how could he pass an opportunity to show his strength to you.

If you ever wish to venture out of your garden, he’d greatly recommend his mountain as its already protected from demons. He’d happily feel you cling onto him as he flys you over in his nimbus cloud.

On his way to visit your garden sometimes he does see people or demons lingering too close for his comfort. He easily scares them or defeats them before your guard animal encounters them.

Speaking of your guard animal, he’d be pretty neutral about it, he’s glad that he can keep some sort of peace of mind when he’s away from you knowing your under protection. But at the same time not very interested in it. Maybe annoys it from here to there when it’s off duty but aside from that let’s it do it’s job, knowing how important it is.

Brings you some souvenirs, ranging from gold incrusted bracelets and necklaces. To flower’s you may not have in your garden that he thinks you’d enjoy!.

You have on multiple occasions, almost ran out of peaches due to his rapid consumption of them. It’s almost concerning watching him be able to stomach all of them in one sitting.

He likes the peacefulness you and your garden bring him, like as if nothing was wrong, the world is silent and inhabited by only you two. He gets agitated when this peace is disturbed by intruding strangers. And although he has learnt the virtue of patience’s, he can’t help but take offense on your behalf for the intrusion. He likes the thought of you and your garden being only something he gets to indulge in. Your to much of a lovely sight for mere demons and humans to admire.

❁ ☀︎︎ ❁

Thank you so much for the request!, i hope you enjoyed it!.

( ⸝⸝•ᴗ•⸝⸝ )੭⁾⁾

[n04hfiction]

Dating Loona Headcanons

Content/Warnings (If applicable): Sexual Content (MDNI, there’ll be a split between the NSFW content!), Profanity, Implied!Male Reader (Usage of “guy” once), OOC(?) Loona

Proofread: ✅

SFW:

Loona spent years in the adoption center, infact, a good chunk of her life, and she had only been with Blitzø for a few years now, so it’s safe to say you’re her first partner

She was most likely very awkward during the talking stage, she doesn’t talk to many outside of IMP, so honestly, it may not be easy for her at first

A talking stage with Loona consists of her being extremely awkward and nervous, borderline geeky in a sense, whether you realized it or not. She probably found you attractive from the start, like before you guys ever properly spoke, so it’s not even like she had something to start off of with you.

Going back to her life in the adoption center, we can tell that she wasn’t seen as something or someone important, and let’s be real here, she probably knew they thought that — So I can see her love language being words of affirmations, after so many years, the only thing she really needs is to be told she is enough

I can also imagine Loona’s love language in terms of giving being physical affection, she’s probably very clingy after her years in the shelter, and she just wants to hold you and never have to let you go, because she feels like if she does she might lose you forever

In terms of petnames, I can see this going two ways, Loona won’t really call you petnames aside from “babe” or maybe “hun” cause she feels like a lovesick teenager otherwise, but if you call her something she absolutely FOLDS!! Loona really gets into it whenever you call her something with “my ____”, or anything with “dear” or “sweet” - Which might surprise you, because she doesn’t use petnames BECAUSE she thinks they sound cheesy, but when you call her the cheesy petnames, she folds like a piece of paper!

An ideal date for Loona would be staying in and just cuddling while watching a movie, as much as Loona is down to party, her social battery can get drained pretty easy, so she’d much rather stay in with the one person she knows gets her - Except at your place, she’d rather die than cuddle with you infront of Blitzø

Speaking of Blitzø, she’s hesitant to introduce you both, she knows how Blitzø can be, especially when it comes to her and a guy, but she knows she has to have you both meet at some point.

Blitzø is protective (as well as defensive) at first, which honestly, is fair enough, but once he gets to know you he ends up liking you just fine! Especially if you let him ramble about his horse fantasies, he’ll really like you then!

This might be a surprise, but Loona isn’t much of a hand-holder, it’s just not her thing — and she really only kisses you in private, but she loves hugging you! This girl loves hugs! She hugs you goodbye after every date, she hugs you as her way of saying thank you when she can’t form the words quite right, she loves hugging you

NSFW:

Along with being Loona’s first partner, you are also her first time, which comes with a few different things to unpack here.

Firstly, Loona is very insecure when it comes to sex (at first), and she hardly ever even touched herself before you. The first few times of even attempting sex she’ll back out, she’s really insecure and overall scared of being abandoned, the shelter really did do a number on her.

I also personally headcanon that Loona has body-image issues, she’s a bit thick in certain places, and she’s covered in fur - So if you’re not covered in fur, she’ll get very anxious about how you’ll choose to handle it. (Occasionally she’ll slip into her human disguise specifically for sex, because she is terrified of you getting annoyed by her fur for whatever reason).

Loona is very subby for the first few months of having sex with you, but as she starts to grow and get used to it, she can definitely start to dom, maybe even lean towards it, I see her as a softer but also teasing dom, but I can also see her being rougher when and if the situation calls for it

She fucking thrives off of anything to do with her clit (fingering, eating out, ect) - It’s also probably her more sensitive area. Making out with Loona while fingering her and fondling with her breasts is probably one of the things that gets her off the most, and (as long as you’re not opposed), she is definitely into the idea of riding your face

In contrast to her love language, she definitely has a degradation kink, she gets the biggest kick out of being called a whore or slut or a bitch or anything of that sorts (even if in non-sexual situations things would be much different)

Another thing, Loona isn’t one to cry or get overly vulnerable in a relationship (although she does from time to time), making her cry during sex is definitely something you do a lot (in a healthy and consensual way, ofc)

[fun-k-board]

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL!

AVATAR 2009 with a Human ! S/O who adores Christmas

Characters included: Jake Sully, Neytiri, Tsu'Tey

Pronouns: They / Them

Relationship: Romantic

When text is in bold that means it's spoken in Na'vi, I have no clue if Na'vi have gender neutral language so sorry if this isn't accurate.

Jake Sully

Jake never understood about Christmas, he wasn't one of the lucky few on Earth who had a rich family nor did his family particularly show an overabundance of affection.

He and his brother weren't to close, it hurt when he died of course, but at the end of the day he wouldn't see him for years when he went to Pandora anyway.

So, your sadness over not being able to celebrate it was confusing, but Jake cared for you and tried to comfort you despite this.

"You don't look so good." Jake mumbled and sat down next to you, his eyes stared into you intently as he waited for a response.

"I just miss my family, we use to celebrate Christmas and..." You trailed off, your ears down and tail curling on your thigh. A whimper escaped you as tears began welling in your eyes.

"Oh." He paused, sucking in a large breath "I'm sorry. Maybe we could make last minute presents for each other?" Jake quietly suggested, pulling a shy smile that showed off his sharp teeth.

"That'd be nice..." You quietly whispered, smiling back softly at him while you tried wiping away your tears as calming your breaths.

And so you made whatever you thought would be best for Jake, I could imagine him getting you a weapon or maybe some type of neckwear that would give you a sense of pride.

He doesn't really try to expand it to Neytiri given the cultural differences, but I see Norm getting into the holiday spirit, maybe Grace if her present is a cigarette.

Neytiri

Neytiri taught you and Jake the ways of the Na'vi, to which you both listened, adapted and overcame the differences in your cultures.

However, you still missed your old life. As horrible, polluted and poor Earth became, you still missed family. Apart of family was Christmas, giving to others even outside of who you considered family just to see their smiles, it was something you hadn't experienced in years. You missed that. And you'd never get it back.

"There is something on your mind." Neytiri plainly stated, her words catching you off guard, looking you up and down as she handed food to Jake on her right.

"It's a time of year at home." He replied, looking to me in pity. "Where you can participate in a tradition on Earth, I'll let them explain the details if they want." Jake awkwardly looked away, munching on an unnaturally large amount of teylu. Neytiri turned to me expectantly.

"It's one about family and giving, cherishing those you love, those and even the things around you." You nodded as you spoke even if there was no reason to, awkwardly smiling while Neytiri smiled sweetly.

"It sounds like a wonderful tradition. What is it called?" Her stare bore into your eyes, her own were soft.

"Christmas." You sighed, continuing only because the silence would be unbearable. "We hurt our great mother and caused a lot of pain, it became harder and harder to celebrate as time continued. Now almost nobody truly celebrates it as it was intented, instead a shallow reminder of what it originally was." Neytiri held your hand and nodded.

"I am understanding of your pain, I hope all sky people learn to see as you and Jake have."

She doesn't go out of her way to celebrate it, but notes the general time it happens around and maybe gives you little trinkets that would be meaningless to most.

I can definetly imagine Neytiri showing you in depth Na'vi culture, as she already does, but with more pride as she realises how important you can take cultural and traditional events. But, most of all I imagine you'd be spending time with each other, even if she personally doesn't believe in Christmas, she believes in you. Neytiri sees you.

Tsu'Tey

He mainly made fun of you and Jake for being 'demons', so getting to know you was a lengthy process and required patience on both ends.

Given you were already learning of Na'vi culture from Neytiri, he didn't find the need to teach you anything other than fighting and flying, so when you asked him about something the explanation was very short and simple.

Tsu'tey couldn't say he was too interested in sky people or their traditions, but he noticed you weren't doing too well for the past few weeks. Your sour mood showed in your training and pushed you back, so it was garunteed he would speak on it eventually.

"Why are you sitting here? The ikrans are-" He was momentarily stopped in his words by your tear stained face. Not only was your face uncanny for him with your features unlike natural Na'vi, but beyond that, you were hurt.

"What... What is bothering you?" You noticed his switch to English as hesitantly placed a hand on your shoulder, lowering into a kneel as he stared deep into your eyes.

"Us human- uh, sky people, have a tradition." You began, Tsu'tey was interested in your words and the curious look he had told you to continue "This time we begin giving gifts, we spend more time with family, friends and... Significant others." You coughed shyly, unsure of the word in Na'vi before remembering "Mates." You clarified.

"It sounds like a prosperous time for your people." He nodded respectfully, holding your hand and looking comfortingly into your eyes. "I see your pain, and I am sorry brother/sister."

He, like Neytiri, doesn't go out of his way to celebrate. Mainly taking part in spending time and showing how much he loves you. Sometimes it can be awkward and stiff, but Tsu'tsy is quite literally an alien who viewed all humans as demons. Unless you explain to him how you view Christmas, he's unsure of how important it is to you and doesn't want to come off as offensive.

In turn, I can imagine him pointing out things similar to his own culture, feeling like a part of him was always with you even before you met.

[theteasnake]

The Entity: Spider plant thing

Pronouns? Gender doesn't apply to her, but the survivors and killers refer to her as she/her, and she doesn't really care. (She won't admit it, but it is growing on her).

Tired mom vibes, honestly. If she had a brain, she would have 24/7 migraines. Thank God she doesn't.

She technically has a physical form outside of the spider claws. I like to think she stays in the core or center of where the fog is and is just in a comatose state, kind of? Like in order for her to have control over the whole realm, she can't be in control of her physical form. She can only focus on one or the other.

She managed to learn almost every human language to better understand the survivors and killers. She still prefers to talk in her native tongue, tho.

The survivors are kept in a camp in one corner of the realm, far away from where the killers stay. The killers have their own areas, which are mini versions of their maps with a house of some kind if the map doesn't have one.

She has favorites and she has... unpreferred ones. The Trapper is on the second list. She doesn't like him. Or Freddy. She doesn't like Freddy either, but at least he feeds her well.

She gives gifts to those that do well, like cosmetics, charms, or even stuff from their worlds that can't be taken into trials.

She has serious rbf.

Has a phobia of Michael Myers. Myersphobia if you will.

She's hot. No, not sexy hot, she's really warm. The basements probably feel like saunas and smell very misty, like those fog machines.

Depending on how good certain people are, they'll be gifted with technology from their time, it would just be altered a little. For phones and consoles, the Entity made bootleg versions of apps/games, online games are only with fellow people in the realm. The only thing they have access to that's not from the fog is music, cause that's too bothersome to cover.

Despite being known as the Entity's least favorite, the Trapper's realm is the largest compared to the other's. The other's realms had to have some stuff removed from the map to be mini, but the Estate has all of its features from the maps, just smaller. Why? The Entity won't say. Maybe she doesn't dislike him as much as she says. He is the killer that's been there the longest.

It's always nighttime in the fog, making it hard to tell time. The fog does have seasons tho.

She once gave roller skates to the survivors and killers just to see what would happen. So many broken bones. Good meal, but too much cleanup. Only a select few kept their skates.

The ice skates were worse. Blood everywhere. Delicious, but omg she couldn't get the maps cleaned up in time between trials and everyone kept slipping on the blood, and holy shit, it was a blood bath. Not practical.

She's constantly experimenting with things to see what would make the trials more effective.

The Legion was one of her regrets. At this point, the survivors are just annoyed with them and not scared. She should've taken them when they were older.

She feels like it would be pleasant to have tea with Pyramid Head. Too bad she can't eat human food. Also, Michael hangs around PH from time to time.

Has never said a curse word, there isn't one in her native tongue. But she has internally said almost every curse word in every human language. Her favorites are the French ones.

She gets freaked out whenever anyone starts dating. Like, she cringes when it happens. She doesn't understand it and gags when there's pda.

She can change how her voice sounds to others, she tries to make it as creepy as she can for trials.

She used to punish friendly killers, but has since given up and realized it would just lead to a better meal next trial.

Somehow. Some fucking how. Michael just popped up behind the Entity's physical form and it almost killed her. She just sensed a disturbance in the core and just woke up, then turned around. And boom. He was there. Just watching. Staring. He can't hurt her, they both know that, but that fact did not ease any fear she had in that moment. She screamed. She's not proud of it, but she did scream.

Ghostface is a comfort person to her. For some reason. Maybe it's because he treats her as an equal. Or maybe it's cause he's one of the very, very few people who talk to her. Or maybe it's cause he feeds her well. Who knows. All she knows is that she likes spending time with him.

Aroace queen. Cause ew romance and ew sex. Just ew humans.

She likes ribbons or anything resembling ribbons. Why? She doesn't know, she just likes how they look.

Every human that enters the fog immediately gets their reproductive rights removed. Everyone is infertile cause the Entity does not want to deal with babies. Cause ew children.

She thinks it's interesting and weird that there are people that worship her. She would take them, but she has a feeling they would enjoy it too much. Freaky.

Is she a plant? Is she a spider? She's both. Spider plant. At least that's the closest description to what she is for humans.

She finds humans both adorable and disgusting.

[bluejaywuzhere]

Mini-Road-Trip

@flufftober Flufftober Day 2: “Left. Other left!”

Tw: language

- - -

Audio excerpt from the Ninja’s janky old road trip van: 

Jay, the driver: “Kai, what’s the way to the Destiny’s Bounty again?” 

Kai, shotgun: “Oh, it’s uhhh… take a right down that street up ahead, then straight for a while, then left.” 

Jay: “Okay.” 

“…”

Jay: “Left you said?” 

Cole, behind Kai: “Yes Jay, left.” 

Jay: “Alright.” 

“…” 

A loud snarling-hiss sounds from outside the vehicle

Kai: “OTHER LEFT, OTHER LEFT, NOT THAT WAY!!” 

“…” 

Cole: “What the fuck was that thing???” 

Zane, in the back: “It appears that Clouse lives down that way.” 

Nya, behind Jay: “Yeah, and so does his super creepy big-ass snake!” 

Jay: “I thought that was left though??” 

Kai: “No, idiot, left is the other way!!” 

Zane: “How have you lived this long without being able to tell your right from your left?” 

Jay: “I dunno, I never needed to know!” 

Cole: “My mom always taught me this trick with your hands, if you hold up your left hand your fingers make an L!” 

Jay: “Wow, that’s- handy! Heh!” 

Kai: “You both look like idiots. JAY, HANDS ON THE FUCKING WHEEL!!” 

Jay: “Ack! Sorry!” 

Nya: “Please don't kill us before we reach Wu, I want to be able to see the Bounty again.” 

Jay: “Sorry…” 

“…”

Cole: “Clouse really needs to get rid of that snake, that thing cannot be legal.” 

Nya: “Whadda ya know, Clouse doesn't follow the rules! Because, you know, evil dark magician! Who would have ever thought?” 

Zane: “Dialing the police…” 

Jay: “Nah, they’ll just give it to us. Ever since we handled the Great Devourer-” 

Kai: “Technically, Garmadon-” 

Jay: “EVER SINCE WE HANDLED THE GREAT DEVOURER, DON’T INTERRUPT ME KAI- ahem everyone thinks that us ninjas are just experts on dealing with giant snakes! I don't get it!” 

Cole: “Well, we did handle the Serpentine, and Pythor as well!” 

Zane: “Why did you count the Serpentine and Pythor as separate foes?” 

Cole: “Cause Pythor caused a whole bunch of trouble outside of his involvement with the Serpentine. I think he counts as separate, don’t you think?” 

Nya: “Yeah, I guess that makes sense.” 

Kai: “Lloyd would be petty and lump him in with the rest of the Serpentine.” 

Jay: “Well yeah, but he’s earned the right to be petty about Pythor. The guy manipulated him.” 

Kai: “Lloyd sure does tend to attract the super manipulative enemies, doesn’t he?” 

Cole: “Come on, he’s still sensitive about Harumi. We promised not to bring it up.” 

Kai: “Well I wasn't going to mention her by name, Cole!” 

Nya: “I’m gonna bring the subject back around to the snake problems: yes, people come to us with snakey stuff all the time and it’s annoying, but I’m pretty sure we can handle a big-ass snake. Done it before, we can do it again, and this one doesn't even grow super huge! It’ll be a piece of cake!” 

Zane: “Depends on your definition of ‘cake’…” 

Kai: “Nah, she’s right, it’ll be fairly easy. If we can get the Commissioner to clear the surrounding area, that is…” 

Jay: “Yeah, don’t wanna get anyone hurt. Although I wouldn't mind if Clouse conveniently stopped causing trouble for us…” 

Zane: “If you are suggesting compromising our morals and intentionally allowing a human being to be injured while doing our duty…” 

Cole: “Even if it’s Clouse? The guy who locked you up in a cold dark basement with no one but a disembodied P.I.X.A.L. for company?” 

Nya: “Say what you want Zane, but I’m all for it. That piece of shit needs dealing with, pronto. I don't like him slinking about.” 

Zane: “Perhaps we can contact the Commissioner about that too, as we technically do not have the legal authority to arrest anyone. And, while I appreciate your attempts to avenge me, I assure you, I would prefer it if you were not all arrested for murder.” 

Jay: “Don’t worry, Zane, we aren’t going to hurt him if we don't have to.” 

Cole: “If he resists though…” 

Kai: “That’s a different story.” 

Nya: “I will kick him in the head. I will do it. You can’t stop me, Zane.” 

Zane: “If he attempts to attack any one of you, there will be no complaints from me.” 

“…”

Kai: “Jay, what is taking so long? It was just two turns, we should be there by now.” 

Jay: “Oh! Yeah, I uh… I forgot I was driving heh.”

Nya: “Oh great, and now we’re lost!” 

Cole: “We should not have let Jay drive.”

Jay: “Hey! I’m a great driver! …on the highway. On longer trips… where you don't really have to be paying attention…” 

Zane: “I shall turn on the GPS, if that is acceptable?”

Kai: “Go for it bud, human intuition has clearly failed.”

Jay: “Hey!!”

[deadprocess]

Resurgence

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

Chapter 5: Proposition

Learning that there is no war, Shockwave and Soundwave take residence with an over eager Rust Dust who informs them of certain legalities involving their unexpected stay on Cyberonica.

Soundwave stood in silence for a few clicks, digesting the information as best as he could. He was well acquainted with traveling through a space bridge, but dimensional travel was not something he was expecting to encounter, least not experience himself. 

“Decepticons: eradicated?” 

“No. One cannot eradicate something that has never existed. Our war has not happened, nor will it. At least, that is what I was informed,” Shockwave turned his helm towards the door, “Rust Dust has informed me that we are currently located in a rural town called Primatonta, which is located near a city called Univiron. It was mentioned that it is the hub of scientific endeavors. If we were to travel there, It could be possible to utilize their advancements to return home. Though It is unknown to me whether or not this planet has adequate enough components to pull off such a feat.” 

“Natives: Will let Shockwave into their labs? Use their research and tools?” Soundwave’s body language was incredulous, helm tilted and arms crossing in disbelief. Not being immediately attacked was one thing, but letting two outsiders into their labs and accessing research was an entirely different thing. No bot would be that stupid. 

A flash of a Vehicon’s face passed through Soundwave’s processor.

Well…some would but those were few in between.

“I do not have a clear answer, but there is no indication that they would consider us a threat. However, persuasion will be applied as necessary should the situation call for it,” Shockwave turned towards the door, his purple bitarlueus biolights flickering in an ominous pattern. His arm cannon was a staunch reminder of what he had lost long ago, but it also served as a reminder that he was not to be trifled with. Many enemies had been felled by him and many would fall if they should dare get in his way, “come, Soundwave. Let us suggest this idea to our host.”

—-

Rust Dust’s residence…was far messier than what one would think for a fellow bot. Numerous trinkets lay scattered across counters and pictures of unfamiliar faces decorated the walls of each corridor. A plethora of luminescent flora hung around her residence, all in various states of living, if one could call it that. Soundwave could almost picture one poor plant calling out desperately for sustenance as its leaves lay limp and dying. It was shocking how much stuff one could have, though it was possible that he just never had the luxury to own anything besides Lazerbeak. He, however, would hardly call her something he owned, as she was as much a part of him as his own spark.

Shockwave cleared his intake, causing Rust Dust to look up briefly from her display screen. Sounds of gunfire ceased as the screen displayed the word “PAUSE”. She was playing a game that appeared eerily similar to the ones that humans occupied themselves with back on Earth. 

“Oh, hey guys. Was that en-...oh. Primus, I’m sorry! I forgot to get that energon for you! Here, one second.” The femme jumped up, rushing around a corridor into a room before rustling through something. No doubt a supply closet as she reappeared with a bright, neon cube. “Here, sorry about that again!” Handing the cube to Soundwave, who tentatively grasped it, she sat back down glancing at them expectantly. “Well…? You guys can take a seat, no need to be so formal!” 

There were a few different options; a lengthy cushioned slab, a few metal chairs and a singular cushioned one. Shockwave moved to sit on the slab, his weight shifting the furniture slightly. It was a shock that the furniture even fit a bot like him. Were there others that rivaled his size? Or did the femme simply prefer roomier options? Soundwave remained in place, gaze fixed on the swirling substance he held in his servo. It looked like energon, smelled like it too, but it had a thicker consistency that he remained unsure about as his tentacle emerged to probe at it. Shockwave took it upon himself to speak for the two of them as the other officer occupied himself with the foreign energon.

“After speaking to my companion, we find it best if you were to show us to that science capital you were telling me about earlier. Univiron, was it?” His servo moved to direct attention to the window nearby, attempting to appear casual in the conversation so as to not raise any suspicions, “We make it a point to engage ourselves with fellow scientists. Collaboration is imperative within the field, don’t you agree?”

“Oh yeah, Univiron! I can absolutely show you two around there! I’m sure Lancer and Crosswire would love to hear about your work too. There is a transport system that runs through here every cycle, “ Rust Dust stood from her current lounging position, optics wide with enthusiasm before a realization dawned on her, “but, we’re going to have to visit the actual capital first. I know this might be odd, but we need to get you two registered.”

“We do not intend to stay long term.” Shockwave quickly interjected and Soundwave raised his helm to stare at the femme. Rust Dust held her servos up, sensing the shift in tension. 

“Oh no! I didn’t mean for you two to register for permanent residency or anything. When we have newcomers, it’s just standard procedure to get their information and issue them temporary residence if they are staying for more than a solar cycle. It helps the government keep track of resources, spending and who is currently on the planet.” 

“Soundwave and Shockwave: will be watched and escorted?” Soundwave’s purple optic bore a hole into the smaller bot. Shockwave had never seen his compatriot’s face before but the striking optic that glowed under the shade of his helm was certainly unnerving. This much was apparent as Rust Dust shifted nervously under the scrutinizing gaze.

“Excuse him. We are just interested in how the council proceeds with situations like this. Will we be treated as guests or as unfavorable characters?” Shockwave quickly diverted attention away as Rust Dust’s ever present smile twitched downwards as her discomfort became palpable.

“Primus no! You won’t be like under surveillance or treated like criminals but you’ll definitely be escorted around. Cyberonica is huge and traveling around can be difficult since you don’t know much about our transportation system. On the bright side there is plenty to do, so think of it more like having a personal chauffeur that will take you to the best spots before you guys leave! You guys are super lucky too. We have some major events coming up!” Rust dust’s upbeat attitude returned, contrasting starkly to the brewing impatience from Shockwave and Soundwave. 

“Very well. How long does it take to get to your capital? And once we have an audience with your planet’s officials, will we be granted approval to travel to Univiron?” 

“Well…Generatium is five cycles by air transport, so if we leave now we can be there by nightfall. I don’t think you’ll be able to see Univiron for a few days though. Everyone is preparing for the Spark Festival. A lot of our scientists and engineers head to Animatrix to collaborate and make sure the artists are following safety protocols, so there won’t really be any higher ups in the labs.” Shockwave’s antenna twitched, his digits tapping against his tibulen. Patience was a virtue but time was of the essence. This Spark Festival was going to derail his time schedule... 

And Primus, ��Spark” festival? What an uncreative name!

“Surely we could engage with those remaining in the lab? Have they not been trained well enough to offer a tour and collaborate? Forgive my impatience, but our trip was meant to be relatively short and we really should be trying to repair our device.”

Trip? Soundwave’s helm tilted slightly. What had Shockwave told the femme about their current circumstance? 

“Oh, I think they have, but I’m sure the lead scientists wouldn’t want excess hands in the lab because of safety issues. A lot of the lab personnel left behind are there to make sure that any running experiments are going smoothly and to clean up. You know…basically making sure nothing explodes as Lancer says.” 

Soundwave placed a servo on Shockwave’s shoulder plating, signaling for his EM field to retract as the scientist's growing frustration heightened. Exasperated, Shockwave yielded. There would be nothing to gain from threats of violence or impatience. They were not deemed a threat yet, so that is how it should remain until they could find a way home. Any unnecessary actions could prove to be consequential after all.

“That is sound reasoning. Let us travel to Generatium at once then. Soundwave, are you well enough to depart?” 

Soundwave silently sipped at the cube through his tentacle, his intake lurching at the odd texture that greeted his fuel lines. His exposed optic shut as he repressed a shudder. He could not taste anything but he was sure that the flavor would be unforgivably nasty. 

“Affirmative: Intake levels optimal for short trips.” Shockwave rose, nodding at his fellow officer before turning his attention to Rust Dust who was grabbing a small data pad. 

“Perfect. I have my pass right here so we can get going. I’m sure our council members will be able to expedite things including medical care. Those dents and vizor of yours should be easy to fix for our experts!” Rust Dust gave another enthusiastic thumbs up before turning on her heel struts towards the door. 

Soundwave’s optic flickered down. To fix his vizor meant for their medical personnel to remove it entirely. He would be exposed. Perhaps he could request the tools and proceed with fixing it himself? Perhaps he could find a way to shield his facial-...

A servo found its way to his shoulder pad. Looking to his side, his gaze met Shockwave’s. A small gesture of comfort. A silent promise.

We will deal with that when the time comes. 

—--

The transport station was huge. For as small as Rust Dust described Primatonta to be, the station was a hive of activity. Bots of all sizes rushed to different designations as a femme’s voice announced arrivals and departures. There were large screens that displayed various things above them with one depicting three separate transportation methods; air, water, and land. All with symbols next to them. Prices? It was an educated guess as it was all written in a language that Shockwave was unfamiliar with. 

“Soundwave, do any of your databases have information regarding this language?”

“Negative: databases are unable to be accessed at this time. Language: unfamiliar regardless.” Soundwave let a bitter edge seep into his voice. Shockwave had to be aware of the damaged state he was in and yet here he was, being asked nonsensical questions. Though he supposed his irritation was more linked to the vulnerability he felt rather than the scientist being naturally curious. 

Shockwave had always been a bright mind that was eager to sponge up any information he could. It was something he had always admired about the mech and it was good to see that he retained that even after all these vorns.

“Alright gentlemechs! I have three tickets for Generatium. We are departing from platform X, and it is leaving in a couple of breems so let's get going!” The femme began bounding towards in a direction that was assumed to be where this platform X was. Shockwave cursed inwardly as he quickened his pace to catch up with the femme, his servo placing itself on Soundwave’s back plate, urging him to follow as best as he could in his current state.

He could only hope that this trip would be over in a timely fashion, but with how many surprises there had been, it was doubtful.

Xx Author's Note xX

Thank you very much for reading! Lots of dialogue and world building coming up.

I'll be posting a peak at the different cities involved in this story. It will include their functions and important events tied with them! Let me know your thoughts!

:)

[yournecessaryevil]

☠️ His Darkness Divine ☠️

•Part One•

💀CHRIS MOTIONLESS X READER SERIES💀

He's a demon from one of the oldest ruling classes of the Underground. You're the one human he was never meant to fall for, to become involved with. When your paths cross, will things be doomed from the very beginning? Or will it perhaps be a tale for the ages...?

• fluff; TW dark themes (mentions of death and violence/blood); language; TW (features Ghost [male presenting])

Something was up.

He could feel it, deep within bones and tendons and nerve endings that were centuries old.

Something felt slightly off about tonight.

He couldn't place it yet, couldn't quite grasp just what exactly it was.

Of course, everything appeared calm and cool on the outside, the moonlight filtering in through the shadowed treeline, casting silver streaks here and there along the wooded path.

Being mid-October, there was a slight chill to the air that night, lingering amidst an otherwise rather forgiving breeze whispering amongst the leaves above.

And yet... something felt amiss.

He couldn't help but find a sort of amusement within it all, really. Here he was, the eldest of his brothers, born and bred from one of the finest ruling families of demons inhabiting the Underground.

And yet something had him feeling all too uneasy, a feeling he wasn't used to very often.

"Knock it off!"

The hissed warning startled Christopher out of his present thoughts, capturing his attention and sending a hot streak of irritation coursing through him.

Couldn't at least one of his brothers find it in themselves to behave for once??

"Both of you," he began, causing the two youngest of his brothers, Richard and Vinny, to turn their attention towards him.

One of them opened his mouth to protest, but upon seeing the dark look in his brother's eyes, he promptly closed it.

"I don't care who or what started it. Both of you, behave yourselves," Chris spoke coolly, his tone implying there were no further altercations to be had.

"Acting like fucking children," one of his other brothers muttered, shaking his head.

"Pfft, like you're any better, Sola!" came the immediate retort from Vinny. The man in question, Sola, or rather, as he was more commonly known, 'Ghost', scowled at the younger demon.

"Better behaved than you, at least. Know your fucking place," he answered, his tone cold and hard as flint.

Snap.

The sound echoed through the woodlands, silencing any further conversation amongst the group.

"All of you, quiet. Now," Christopher ordered.

The six of them stood silent, watching and waiting, ever patient yet ever ready, too.

And then he caught it.

Christopher was the first of his brothers to notice the scent playing along the breeze.

It was faint at first, but rapidly becoming stronger, almost like the source itself was growing ever nearer.

A quiet whisper from Richard then, "You smell that too, right?"

Softly spoken agreements were made before the sound of footsteps could be heard. And then he saw her, they all did.

"Is that-?"

"Are they human?"

There was quiet disorder amongst his brothers, followed by someone swearing under their breath.

"Aw, fuck."

Christopher held up a hand to silence his brothers before taking a cautious step forward, his attention fixated on the girl.

She was indeed human, he could tell from her scent. And she hadn't yet spotted Christopher and his brothers- oh, no.

At that exact moment, she happened to look up, and her footsteps faltered, the poor girl freezing in her tracks.

How had one of his brothers so tactfully put it, only a few moments ago?

"Aw, fuck", indeed...

It had been a mistake to cut through this particular section of woodlands at this hour. You had thought it might save time to get you home, but now you were starting to regret your decision.

What little moonlight there was offered no help, only a few streaks here and there lighting your way ahead of you. One could easily get lost in these woods.

"One had easily gotten lost."

The errant thought made you smile, despite the rather unfortunate circumstances.

You glanced back behind you; there was a long way to go if you turned back now, surely you were only a mile or two from home...?

Turning back around, something made you suddenly freeze in place. Or rather, someone.

Six someones, to be exact.

You stood there as if paralyzed, your gaze fixed on the tallest of the figures, his eyes locked on yours in a silent stare-down.

And yet there was something oddly gentle about the way he looked at you, a touch of concern and what might have been pity, hidden in those dark eyes.

He took a step towards you, raising one gloved hand in a sign of peace, or perhaps merely a greeting.

"You shouldn't be out in these woods. This is no place for small, pure creatures like yourself."

His voice had a velvet smooth timbre to it, as easily soothing as it was intriguing. But the way he'd spoken, something about it was odd, it was very... elegant. Almost too elegant.

Still... there was something about him.

There was something equally as enticing about the others, too. All six of them, the tallest one included, seemed paler than normal. Then again, perhaps it was just the moonlight playing tricks with your eyesight.

The whole lot of them were clothed to the nines in head-to-toe black, each of them taking their own distinctive approach to it, their eyes lined in dark kohl of the same soulless shade.

Something about the whole group was slightly off-putting, and you weren't sure you liked the touch of hostility you could detect in the eyes of one of them. He was standing to the far right of the group, but he had easily caught your attention.

Where most of the others had hair nearly as dark as the clothing they wore, this one... his was a split dye, equal parts black as ink and pale as the moonlight filtering down from above.

He stood there staring at you with a poorly concealed look of irritation in his features, that aforementioned hostility displayed in those dark eyes.

"Cerulli, leave it. Let's go," he spoke up. His voice was as cold and callous as you imagined it to be, his eyes shifting to narrow at the tallest member of the group, the one you'd spotted first.

The one he called Cerulli held up a hand, silencing him, his gaze still fixed on you.

"It would appear we've gotten lost, no?"

There was amusement in his voice as he spoke directly to you, one thin, dark eyebrow raising slightly.

You found yourself nodding, unable to look away from the man's gentle eyes as he shook his head at you.

"Perhaps you would be better off out of these woods? It's not safe, darkness lurks within these shadows," he spoke again, his tone soft.

Only then were you able to find your voice, just barely.

"Should you be out here? Any of you, I mean? If it's not safe?" you asked.

You swore one corner of the man's mouth lifted in a brief smile before it vanished, as he took a step towards you, then another, until he was standing in front of you.

"Our safety should be of no concern to you. I'm quite sure we'll be alright. You, however," he reached out with one gloved hand as he spoke, lightly brushing the backs of his fingertips along your cheek, "your safety is of far more importance. Please, return home."

With that, he withdrew his hand, leaving behind a tingling feeling of emptiness, a sort of odd loneliness, where he touched you. You swallowed nervously, trying to find your voice again, and when you spoke, your words tripped over each other.

"I'm tr- I'm trying," you whispered.

He paused a moment, his eyes holding yours captive as he regarded you thoughtfully. And then he extended a hand out towards you, a silent offer of help.

The brief nagging thought that there might be possible danger lurking ahead slipped into your mind, but it was gone in an instant as you slowly placed your hand in his.

He might be your only way out of these woods, you hadn't seen any other sign of human life out here for miles.

The minute you placed your hand in his, there was an almost imperceptible shift in the air itself, you could feel it. He could feel it too, you knew he could.

The way his breath hitched in his throat for a moment, his steps faltering as he led you towards the others, the way his grip on your hand tightened briefly.

"Are... are you alright?" you whispered.

His eyes shifted to meet yours, a brief look of frenzied panic showing in their dark depths for a fraction of a second, before it was gone. He slowly nodded, leading you past the others without a word, though his expression remained uneasy.

You could hear the others following silently behind, although you thought you heard one of them mutter a swear word under their breath.

None of you spoke for the next few minutes, the only sound that of the leaves protesting beneath heavy footsteps, intermingled with the many woodland creatures hiding in the shadows.

And then a soft voice broke through the quiet of the night, from one of the people following behind you and the one they called Cerulli.

"I know that look, Christopher. It's happened, hasn't it?"

Ah, so that was his name, then.

Christopher Cerulli.

You had to admit, it did have a rather nice ring to it, a sort of old-world feel about it, every bit as elegant as the bearer of the name.

The man beside you shot a brief glance over his shoulder, an unreadable expression in his dark eyes. "We'll discuss this later, Richard," he answered, his tone closing off any further conversation.

A deep sigh came from someone in the group, followed by some unintelligible, hastily muttered words from someone else.

The tension within the entirety of the group was as palpable as ever, though. You could feel it, could feel it in the way Christopher held tightly to your hand, could feel it in the way the others were trying earnestly not to reveal anything of importance in front of you.

And then all too soon, it began to dissipate, as the seven of you reached the edge of the treeline. You could see the outskirts of town from here, could hear the cars creeping along on the streets, the sounds of people going about their evening.

Christopher stopped short at the edge of the woods, though his hand remained firmly clasped around yours for a moment. You looked up at him, silently pleading with him with wide eyes to look back at you, but he wouldn't meet your gaze.

"This-- this is where I leave you," he spoke quietly, his words unsteady and holding a note of disappointment within them. Though his voice trembled, the words themselves spoke volumes. Was it perhaps that he wasn't quite ready to let you go just yet? Was that it?

His words almost an echo of your thoughts, the one they called Richard suddenly spoke up, his tone soft.

"Christopher... this is where we leave her. She needs to return home."

"Where she goes, you cannot follow," the one with the split-dyed hair spoke in agreement.

"Ghost is right, you cannot go with her. This is where she leaves, and we stay," Richard said quietly, his gaze shifting to rest on you.

There was something so patient, so gentle, about the way he watched you. It was reminiscent of the way Christopher had looked at you earlier that night, when you had first seen him.

"I... I don't-" Christopher began, his words cutting off as he finally, finally met your gaze. But now there was such sadness there, so sudden and unexplainable. For a moment, it looked as though his very heart must be breaking on the inside, though it was unclear to you why exactly that would be.

You swallowed hard, slowly nodding as you stared up at him. "I know. Um, th-thank you. You know, for- for helping me back there," you told him, your voice barely above a murmur.

You gave his black-gloved hand a gentle squeeze, before letting your hand slip from his as you stood on the tips of your toes, leaning in to whisper in his ear.

"I'll never forget your kindness..."

Taking a step back from him, you cast a look around at the others, some of them meeting your eyes and giving you a brief nod of acknowledgement. The one they called Ghost gave you a mere sideways glance before his eyes shifted to rest on Christopher.

The tall man in question wouldn't look away, his dark eyes fixed on you as you turned and began to slowly head towards the outskirts of town. You could feel him watching you as you walked, and when he suddenly spoke up, you stopped in your tracks, turning around to face him.

"Please get home safe, little mouse."

You offered him a patient smile, answering with a simple, "Y/N. Call me Y/N."

"Y/N..." he repeated softly.

The way he said your name, the way he seemed to indulge in each syllable, every letter, the way it fell effortlessly from his tongue...

You had no idea who he really was, but you knew one thing: you were going to miss him.

Whoever he was, you would miss him.

There was something unexplainable about him, something that made you feel safe, a feeling so rarely expressed when amongst complete strangers.

But him... he was different.

You weren't sure how, or why. But you knew without it having to be explained, you were safe, at least with him.

You gave him one last smile, waving farewell to him and his comrades, before turning and heading towards town.

Whoever he was, you wished nothing but the best for him tonight...

"Something has changed now, hasn't it?"

Richard was quiet, thoughtful, as he spoke directly to Christopher. His brother continued to watch the human girl retreat towards the edges of town, refusing to look away for even a second.

Upon not receiving a response, Richard continued on.

"It's her, isn't it? Something has shifted-" he began, only to be interrupted by one of his other brothers.

"If things have shifted, you know they'll all find out about it," Balz cut in.

There was a heavy sigh from Ghost, causing them all to turn their attention towards the older demon.

"Nothing has shifted, nothing has changed. He is to leave her alone. They don't need to find out about this. Any of it," he said, irritated.

"You do not get to make that call for me. And Richard is right. Something has changed," Christopher's voice was cold, defiant.

"Is it her?" his brother asked him, eliciting a nod from the eldest demon.

"I cannot- I... there's something about her. It's unclear what exactly yet, but it is her," he answered quietly.

"No. No. This is exactly what happened the last time, and we all remember how that ended! This is just like you and Lil-" Ghost started, but his brother cut him off midsentence.

"Don't. Don't you dare say her name, absolutely fucking not. That was in the past, this is now. This is different, she is different," he said harshly, turning to glare at the younger demon.

His brother opened his mouth in protest, but Christopher cut him off again with a shake of his head. "She. Is. Different," he repeated.

"Sola. Let it go, man. Things have already been set in motion," Vinny spoke up softly, his tone hesitant.

"I mean, I do think it might be worth mentioning, Balz did make a fair point. If you decide to go down this path, they will hear about it. Maybe not from any of us, but word will reach them in the Underground," Richard pointed out.

"What exactly are you saying?" Christopher began, a warning in his tone.

"He's saying you need to be careful. While it's evident you care about this girl, you need to tread lightly. She is human, we are not. Are you sure that's something you want to put her through? Just... be careful," Ryan cut in.

"We just don't want a repeat of what happened with Lilith," Richard said softly. Christopher knew deep down that his brothers were right, he knew it as well as they did. The last person he had allowed himself to become enamored with had grown weak, corrupted, the more days she'd spent around him.

Eventually, it had become too much for her, and her light had dimmed, flickered out until there was nothing left of who she was, who she used to be. He could still see her face sometimes if he tried hard enough, could memorize every detail of her, down to the soul within.

She had shined so brightly for him, had given him so much, she had been his everything. And he had corrupted all of it, corrupted her, dirtied up her soul, polluted it with his own darkness, quite without meaning to.

Lilith had been the one constant in his life, and he had taken that away from her.

Just like he would take it away from this girl, Y/N, his little mouse...

What if his brothers were right? What if he wasn't meant to involve himself so closely with her?

Then again... what if they were wrong?

If he could somehow overturn the balance of things, could alter whatever plans had been set into motion, maybe if he was careful enough--

Maybe there would be no bloodshed this time, no souls snuffed out, torn asunder, gone--

"Christopher."

Richard's voice cut through his thoughts like a knife, dragging him back from old wounds and into the present.

"Look, brother. Whatever you decide, you need to be absolutely certain you see it to the end. If she is what you choose... you need to guard her closely."

"Fuck that, he's going to drag her down with him, just like he did with Lilith! And then we'll all be fucked," Ghost cut in with a hiss.

"We don't know that!" Balz argued, his tone sharp, taking them all by surprise.

Out of the six of them, Balz was normally the most carefree, his demeanor fairly easygoing, content, perhaps even a bit careless.

It was rather unlike him to snap at one of his brothers like this, regardless of the circumstances. He took a hesitant step towards Christopher, arching a brow at him.

"Do you honestly feel she's ready for all of this? Us, our world, what we are, all of it-- are you absolutely, without a fucking doubt, sure that she's ready to face all of that?" he asked.

"Let me ask you something," he continued. "Let me ask you this, and be honest with me, with all of us. You care about this girl, yeah? Something has changed, we know that now, we get it. But deep down, where it fucking counts-- are you really ready to lie down and take the fall for her like that?

"Because you know the minute you involve yourself with her, the minute you let her into our world, let her be a part of you, her name is gonna end up on their list."

"Her name will end up on our side's list as well," Richard quietly chimed in.

Balz nodded in agreement, casting a questioning look at his eldest brother. "Exactly. You ready to subject her to that?" he finished softly.

"I have no choice," Christopher answered, his voice barely rising above a whisper.

"There is no longer any foreseeable future where you see yourself without her, is there?" Richard asked him.

His brother's reply came in an instant.

"You already know the answer to that."

A ghost of a smile slipped across Richard's features before it vanished. "I do, yes. But I need to hear you say it, we all do."

There was a moment's silence before Christopher answered again, his tone somber.

"No. There is no foreseeable future without her in it."

There was a hiss of disgust from Ghost that went ignored, before Balz spoke up.

"Then it's decided. Christopher, I hope you know what the fuck you're doing. And... should things take a rather unfortunate turn, I'll be the first one in line to say I told you so?" he said with a faint grin.

Christopher's answering half-smile was visible for a mere slip of a moment before it was gone. "I wouldn't expect anything less from you, Balz," he said quietly.

"So... does this mean she's coming back? We're gonna see more of her, then?" Vinny's tone was hesitant, as he shot a brief look around at his brothers.

There were several nods and murmurs of assent, before Christopher spoke up.

"She... I... this is going to take time. For her, for me, all of us," he told his brothers.

"We understand. Just-- like I said earlier, be careful. She's too young to have her soul taken from her like that. Just make sure this is what you really want," Ryan said.

Christopher's answer was softly spoken, but every single one of his brothers heard it.

"She is what I really want."

It was true. What he had felt earlier that night, when he'd offered her his hand as a sign of help, a sign of reassurance, that everything would be okay--

And she'd willingly placed her small hand within his own-

The spark he had felt, the sheer panic, and hope, and just that sudden sense of belonging, of home-

He'd known in an instant.

There was something about her that would change him, change his brothers.

There was something about her that would change the very course of time as he knew it, something that would rip through the fabric of whatever previous plans had been woven and laid to rest.

Tonight had not been without purpose.

Maybe she was his purpose...

Either way, he was going to find out.

Even if it killed him.

🎃TAGLIST: @synthetic-wasp-570 @motionlessomens @annateagan @nixwolfe @veroxbarnes @vermilionnnn

[stitchlingbelle]

Watching Halo, episode 1

Things I Know About Halo:

The Master Chief is a badass supersoldier who Doesn't Take Off His Helmet.* (I thought it had turned out he was a woman and the fan base rioted but apparently I mixed him up with Samus Aran?) There's a couple AI people, Roland the orange dude and Cortana the hot chick. There's a guy named Arbiter, I think he's an alien? Aliens destroy a lot of planets. There's some sort of mystical Old Ones leftover tech? (Is that the Halo part?) Names I have heard: Miranda Keyes, Dr. Halsey, Makee, Thomas Lasky, Chyler Silva**

That established, let's give this thing a go!

Nice opening scene. The costuming and set design are good, definitely have that Star Wars-esque vibe but are doing some of their own specific things that ground the world. The characters definitely gave you that lived-in-universe feel of established relationships and community right away. (Also I'm delighted by their use of Korean and their made-up alien language. Again, nice worldbuilding.) I am, however, confused. There's also an entire rebelling against the galactic empire thing going on? No one told me this. How do these people find the time with all the aliens?

Oh shit, THEY DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE ALIENS. Oh noooo.

The violence is really well done. The explosion plus blood splatter shot was great. Good use of camera work to minimize the more difficult to pull off FX shots while still getting the brutality across. The helmet-cam shots are a good storytelling choice while also being a fun nod to the games. I do not envy the stunt people fighting in these suits, though. They made them look powerful. They did not make them look dexterous, graceful or effectively designed for hand-to-hand combat.

Noooo they killed the little kid! ...and everybody else. Man, I liked those guys. Poor Kwan. (Is she in the games? Is she this ineffective? She was like, I'm going to help! and then just... didn't.) And then the Spartans just... walk off?

DO NOT TOUCH THE WEIRD ALIEN TECH. You're a Master Chief! I have it on good authority that keeping people from touching things they shouldn't is a major part of your job! Set a good example for your troops! Also, check your six.

It's Dr. Halsey! Mad scientist alert, this woman does NOT seem to adhere to ethical guidelines. Nice lab coat. I don't trust you. Why do you have a person in a pod? (Why do you have them right where your boss can see them if they're not supposed to exist?) Who's Miranda Keyes and why do you have beef with her? Departmental rivalry?

Wow, Miranda is a lot younger than I expected. Also, that was terrible. Take care of the girl, butter her up, THEN ask her for shit. And do it in person, the hologram thing was weird and off-putting. Not sure that Kwan thought this through-- there's a happy medium between agreeing to be their propaganda mouthpiece and openly threatening to lie and say they caused the massacre, sweetie.

Alien homeworld (or homebase, idk)-- very cool design, good effects-- why is there a human here? Oh, THIS is Makee? What is her deal? Great costuming.

HALSEY IS MIRANDA'S MOM??? Wtf. Also I like Miranda, I don't think she knows what she's doing outside of her (own) lab but it sounds like her heart's in the right place. Great parting shot at dad, but also, maybe that's why your parents worked (for however long. Are they still together or not?)

Great scene with Kwan and Master Chief over the meal. Humanize him with a joke and then WHAM, dead mom story. I like how they're not letting you assume that Madrigal's people were just wrong about the Spartans. Nope, straight up, this guy commits atrocities because he never questions his orders. (She implied that she was there? How did that part go down?) Fortunately teenagers question everything, especially orders! Just in time to make you question this one...

From here on out it's action action action, with a lot of quick character bits mixed in (Halsey and Captain Keyes exchanging looks, the Spartans all listening to Halsey above their orders, high command doesn't trust their own creations-- how many different ways of monitoring their own ships do they have? This is taking surveillance state to a whole new level.)

YAY for Kwan getting a useful moment! If human strength does not avail, use guns tools, that's what we invented them for. No, Kwan, this man does not have a plan. I'm kinda sad the alien artifact activated, it would have been entertaining to watch the other Spartans get involved. (John: "This is our new pet. No, we will not be handing her over to be executed. Yes, she hates us all for very specific valid personal reasons. Roll with it.") Aaaand off they go, escaping to where? Not sure they know and I, with approximately 1% knowledge of this universe, certainly do not.

Finally, hopping back to address the One True Issue that divides the fandom: the helmet scene. It depends on how much the Never Remove the Helmet thing is an irl game artistic choice vs an in-universe character choice. If it's not an actual THING for John-117 himself, then I don't have any problem with it. Different mediums and all that. If it's like the Mandalorian thing, then yeah, it felt a little rushed, but still a necessary moment for humanizing him and building trust ASAP with a hostile teenage girl with a gun.

In conclusion: this was much better than I was expecting! I really enjoyed it and will probably watch the rest of the season while I bake today. And honestly it's been so long since I watched scifi on TV that it was sort of nostalgic? I was just ridiculously pleased by things like establishing shots of Reach and futuristic teenager haircuts.

Thanks so much to ATBNL and @sarnakhwritesthings for talking me into this!

*Has anyone done a 'John-117 is a Mandalorian' crossover yet? Someone definitely has, right?

**The last two do not appear in the TV show and also one is dead, except they're actually alive and married because @authortobenamedlater is in charge here.

[hauntedpenguinobservation]

Carpe Noctem - Intro Post

DEMO - tba

You are a nobody. A supposedly ordinary human in a world full of powerful beings. Your life is all in all pretty average if not bordering on mind-numbing, like watching paint dry... That is until you were kidnapped and tossed into one especially small carriage to be delivered somewhere only the ancients knew of.

From now on nothing will ever be the same and you need to adapt to the ever-changing outside world as fast as possible. All the while trying to decipher your past and with that your part in an every-growing political conflict that borders to develop into an all out war the world has yet to see.

General content warnings: Bigotry & prejudice, horror elements, interspecies awkwardness, explicit language, depictions of violence, injuries, blood and death, explicit sexual content (if selected), flashbacks of a dark past to unveil, sprinkled with some homophobia here and there & general an unfair treatment of people with disabilities.

FEATURES

-> customizable MC (name, pronouns, appearance, identity)

-> semi-set personality due to evolve (MCs reclusive upbringing)

-> 5 characters to romance (3 in book 1, not sure if the other two will follow, they'll probably be fully romanceable in book 2)

-> POVs of the ROs included

-> an open-minded author that is inclined to change NPCs to fully fledged ROs depending on the general opinion/wishes of readers

-> an emotional roller coaster, all in all nothing for ppl that want a light-hearted theme

-> later on you'll be able to choose part of your race (vampires, merpeople, demons, shapeshifters, phoenixes -and many more) & with that you can determine and further develop your special skillset.

romanceable characters:

the master [Alois|Alice|Alix] (m|f|n) 24 winters

Aloof, cold eyes and reclusive as fuck. And your esteemed master -as if any of you actually want this dynamic... A hates you and your position, especially the hidden context it supplies to everyone they meet...

A has silver eyes that always seem distant, defined cheek bones with mostly soft facial features and long, silver hair. A wears fine dark clothing without other prominent features to despict their wealth.

Content warnings for A's route: denial of feelings aka one of the slowest burns imaginable, domestic violence, implied/referenced rape/non-con, anxiety attacks, self-harm, angst & hurt/comfort

the protector [Leto] (m|f|n) too many to count

Leto is a raven-like creature most would describe as monstrous-looking. They are rarely seen and the few moments they are, death is certain. For many commoners it's enough to see one of Leto's black feathers to warrant a swift escape.

Their past eludes them and you have to wonder - why does some antics of them seem kinda...familiar?

Content warnings for Leto's route: survivor-guilt, body dysphoria, touch-starved, angst, hurt/comfort, captivity & enslavement, torture, ptsd

the assassin [Zane|Zoey] (m|f) 28 winters

Z is everything their mother wanted them to be. Her own personal weapon. One she is now inclined to use for her vendetta against you.

They have dark brown hair with intelligent hazel eyes that seem to observe their surroundings constantly. They were raised with stories about you, stories you know nothing about. How can it be that Z seems to know more of you and your family than you yourself?

Should it worry you that they sound extremely resolute in stating their sole purpose is to rid the world of your existance?

Content warnings for Z's route: enemies to frenemies to lovers, eating disorder, alcohol-addiction, a tendency of morbid jealousy, past emotional abuse & manipulation

??? [redacted]

??? [also redacted]

more info tba

Small note of the author:

Everything is slow burn in this - even the character customization, cause I want to add those moments seamlessly into the story.

I tend to take my time. You can expect me to heavily focus on the characters and their feelings, with a slight disregard to describing the environment and such. I work with minimalistic efforts to still give a sense of what I imagine everything to be but with the intention to leave fine details to the reader's own imagination.

I'll try to be considerate of everyone's preferences, especially in the more kinky parts of the story. There'll be versions for more assertive characters as well as more passive one's. Though I should add that the ROs all have their own set of bias that they prefer. However there will be growth throughout the story, including that.

The gravity of your choices will intensify throughout book 1, especially as you get to know the Circle and the Court and every other political hive of intrigue.

And yes. You can die. The ROs can die. Almost everyone will be able to at some point, I guess. Though I don't like the idea of writing a total distopia, don't expect me to change my mind regarding that one that easily.

More infos will be added over time. I'll post lore snippets of my sketchbook soon, like the worldmap, the general outlines of the Circle & the Court, the different races and such.

Asks are welcomed.

[dottys-size-stuff]

Unlikely Bonds: Main cast introductions

Just in case CW: Language, Mentions of extermination and murder, and dehumanization. That should be it.

Oliver Ivanor Davenport

Role of "The Servant"

When he was 4, his mother had lost custody of him leading to him ending up in a orphanage. A few months later he would be adopted by the kingdom general and brought to the castle where he'd meet the king and his son. Over the years, he would become good friends with the prince, soon landing a position as his personal butler.

He's a very logical man, yet he's a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to his job. He is also incredibly blunt (he will NOT spare your feelings).

His view of giants is the same as most of the kingdom as he absolutely despises them and is all about the extermination plan.

Nila Ripley

Role of "The Alchemist"

A young girl living in a village near one of the walls. She spends most of her time in her workshop or around her father. The people of the village aren't exactly keen on the idea of a teen creating volatile elixirs and brews around their homes and have titled her as a 'danger to the community.'

She's quite intelligent for her age, but a bit too curious at times. She can also be quite chaotic when it comes to her work.

Her view on giants is a bit undecided, as she's heard about them from her village and how monstrous they sound, but she thinks they're like humans where there are good ones and bad ones.

Casey Monroe Blackwood

Role of "The Cursed"

When he was 11 this human boy got himself cursed. The curse caused him to drastically increase in height from the slightest bit of emotion. After hours almost days of wandering around he was found by a kind family that took him in. Nowadays he goes out on weekly supply runs with his adoptive father for the family.

He is a fast and skilled boy, who's always trying to suppress his emotions when meeting new people, thanks to the curse. Because of this, he can come off as cold and emotionless, but once you get to know him, you can see how much he cares.

He genuinely enjoys giants (mostly cause he can relate now) and he knows a few since his adoptive family lives outside the kingdom walls.

Andromeda Viotto

Role of "The Fairy"

A young fairy living in one of the small fae towns beyond kingdom walls. She doesn't exactly like having to stay in the little village until adulthood and would much rather go out and look around.

She is a very resourceful and brave girl, albeit a bit adventurous for her own good.

She is terrified of giants, especially given how they most certainly can't even see or hear her in the slightest, and anything they do is cracked up to 1000 times more for her.

Cassian Ashford

Role of "The Hunter"

A man who has been training to join the kingdom's giant hunters. He knows that he'll be back up since most people with magic are sent to hunt giants nowadays. But he likes the idea of being remembered as a hero of the kingdom.

He is a very courageous and passionate man. But he is extremely reckless (his friends usually joke about the castle infirmary being his second home).

He genuinely doesn't care that much about the Giants. But he knows that if this job will grant him the kingdom's approval then he isn't exactly against a bit of murder.

Roman Mortimer

Role of "The Sorcerer"

He used to be a dancer using magic to make spectacles for his performances. However, one day, he was met with the proposition of joining the giant hunters thanks to his rather unique form of magic.

He is a pretty sarcastic man and very sassy at times. Yet he is also incredibly brave and obedient.

He genuinely dislikes giants like most of the kingdom and believes that exterminating them will help protect everyone.

-------------------------------------------

A lil late but better late than never so uh yeah here's almost the entire main cast there's two more left but I think it's for the best y'all meet them in the story. Anyway um official art of these six may come out soon or part 1 of their story I don't know.

[elimartin1019]

Constellation Despondent part 1

Chapter 1 

“She’s the one. I know it!”  She looked up at the council members, anger burning in her humanoid face, a feeling she wasn’t actually used to, even after all these years. Her kind enjoyed mild emotional anonymity generally, however, beings as evolved as they were ended up adapting to their surroundings quickly. On Earth, that meant being emotionally evolved as well.   

“What makes you so sure this human has the ability you speak of?” The glossy eyed council leader asked, tentacled upper lip flapping. 

“There is no way to be sure; we’re facing an unprecedented problem and we’re running out of time, aren’t we? Shouldn’t we explore any and every idea that comes to mind at this point?” Time moves differently here just outside the Milky Way. Several hours here is a week on Earth. She had lived nearly a full human life on that planet in what would have only been one full lunar wrap at home. She returned now, in the “Golden Age” of her life to plead an idea to the alliance of planets. She spent many “human” years in search of a galactic-sized solution. Humans didn’t believe enough in celestial happenings to have any real solutions to her problem. During her research and time on Earth, one of the things she saw and read about was how the most impractical and improbable solution to a  particularly perplexing problem turns out to be the correct one. And hers was the most perplexing in the Universe. 

             The Alliance, a council of elder leaders from dying planets across her strange galaxy, looked down at her incredulously, scrutinizing her idea from their uncomfortable onyx chairs. This wasn’t the first time she asked for clearance from them. Finding the answer to saving all the galaxies in all the universe, when the problem causing it was completely unheard of, was going to require the trial and error method of discovery.  

              Her first series of plans involved the humans’ use of magic. Their magic was crap. She learned that word on Earth, “crap”. She liked it for describing things that she didn’t like or that didn’t work correctly. It had a nice crisp P at the end that she enjoyed saying in human tongue. Just like the word “shit”, which was her favorite exclamation to use when she was alone. She learned she liked the human curse words. Some of them were extremely versatile. Some of them described the alliance members in more ways than one. Yes, the humans had crap magic, none of it was real. All of it turned out to be illusions or science.  

Altevary whipped his top left tentacle into the air quickly, making a snapping sound so sharp it pulled her out of her all-too-human thought process about language, name-calling, and her past attempts.

“Are you going to explain yourself? Or do we have to sanction services on your whim alone?” he spat. 

“It’s just a gut feeling I have,” This statement barred only quizzical stares from the alien faces before her, “Gut feeling is like an intuition,” she explained, “ a knowing. I can’t tell you why I believe this will work. I just know in my heart that this has the same chance of working as all the rest of the ideas we have tried so far.” 

The rest of the council sat unusually silent. Some refused to make eye contact with her. Whether it was because her human eyes were innately disconcerting or because her idea was ludicrous, she couldn’t tell. Some stared directly at Altevary, waiting to see if his tentacles undulated with acceptance or rejection. Only one of them looked her straight in her beady human eyes.

Suunsin let his crescent moon slit eyes rest directly, but softly, on her face. He seemed inquisitive, she saw the questions lurking behind those burnt orange moons. 

“Suunsin?” She saw the group shift their attention to his seat at the end of the table, “What do you have to say about all this?” 

The burnt orange of Suunsin’s eyes shifted to a creamier color to signify that his telepathic wave, the only form of communication besides writing and sign language that his kind could produce, was being broadcast to the entire room.

“My question is more to our council members rather than you, Tashella.” He stood, walked around the large table in front of the other members and turned his body on the dais to directly address his peers. “How is her idea any different or crazier than any of the other plans we’ve sanctioned until now?” He took a couple of steps in front of the other alliance members, mimicking a lecturer impeccably. “We’ve sanctioned plans that made our galactic problem worse with far less evidence to support it. Tashella is right: at this point we sanction any and every strategy we hear”understanding. She was completely aware of how ridiculous her idea 

Tashella gave Suunsin a grateful nod, a telepathic thank you for was. Altevary never missed the chance to demean someone, least of all her.

Altevary let a low gurgle escape his flapping upper lip, pale green saliva clinging to the inner cups of the tentacles. Tashella used to see this as normal. Everyone on her planet looked like him. Or like her when she wasn’t enjoying her petite human form. The more time she spent in this body, however, the more she loved it, the fragile, failing thing that it was. Looking at Altevary made her sick in her human stomach. Involuntarily she began to make gagging noises in the back of her throat.

“Are you attempting to speak our language in that human body?” he asked her, confused. 

Tashella shook her head, taking a deep breath of the synthetic oxygen they were pumping into the hall for her Earth body. 

She replied, “No, sir,” when she got her bearings back.

Altevary stood up and presented himself to the council next to Suunsin. “Suunsin thinks we should consider this plan. As we are still a fair society, a council convened to find a solution to the decaying of the fabric of space and time, we will hold a vote. We’ve lost every battle we’ve fought against the disease of time. Now Tashella comes before us,” he paused, slurping saliva into his cups, “a plan so simple, it’s ridiculous.” He glared down at Tashella, his natural form a towering 7 feet tall, considered short on their planet. “So the question is, does anyone else support this mission?”

Suunsin was already standing, which was a sign of agreement, Altevary sat back down. Slowly others around the semicircle of stone chairs began to stand as well.

More human emotions were welling up inside Tashella at this site. This time it was gratitude. She was experiencing so much of this specific emotion as she saw council members stand before her that she thought she would cry. Then a different emotion took its place: anger. Because crying is stupid. She pulled another “human” and buried those emotions deep inside her mind where her “other” self remained, her true self. 

At the end of a few minutes, all but three of the council members were standing. Tashella was sure that her  body would begin leaking its salty water in a display that caused her least favorite human emotion, embarrassment. She was not a fan.

Luckily for her, Sanarmour, leader from Laarson, took a couple steps forward to speak with her on a more personal level.

“A sanctioned mission gives you a strike team to acquire the assets at any cost.”

Tashella abruptly cut her off, “I won’t be needing a strike team this time!”

Sanarmour looked confused, a little hurt even. One council member, that Tashella could only describe as bird-like, looked especially scared at her abruptness. 

“What I mean is, I know this human, personally. I think I can get her to willingly help us”

She was met with nothing but confused, quizzical stares at this statement. Or at least that is what she assumed was the look on their faces. Tashella was becoming increasingly aware that the time in her human body was changing her. She was beginning to have the complex thoughts and feelings that humans experienced. Her job on Earth gave her access to endless human knowledge, she used that access to research ways to save the universe. In the process she learned, well, everything else. She learned about emotion and war, love, knowledge of what they believed brought about the universe (they were completely wrong), and every historical event in Earth’s history. The more information Tashella’s alien brain retained about humans and life on Earth, the more she was becoming human. She enjoyed human things, stupid human things, like crepes at Sunday brunch.

Tashella thought she might like to stay on Earth when this was all over and finish out her life, or maybe start a new one in a new human body. Human life was difficult but they didn’t have to deal with cosmic meltdowns and intergalactic criminals like her species did. For that reason alone, human life was simpler, easier. 

This assimilation to humanity was precisely why Tashella couldn’t tell if the council was giving her confused looks or not. They were becoming more and more foreign to her.

Suunsin stepped off the dais where the thrones were, stepping in front of Sanarmour, putting himself in front of the council. He sent his thoughts to everyone, but addressed Tashella personally, 

“Tell us what you need, scout.” His projection silenced the murmurs from the rest of the group.

“I believe this human can be convinced to help us without force. She’s my friend.” The council looked at each other, again confused by the human dialect and wordage. Tashella shrugged, “A friend is someone you get close to. Someone you can do fun things with. I met this woman in my knitter’s circle,” she told them, a proud smile stretching across her slightly aged human face. No one knew what a “knitter’s circle” was. 

Altevary had an idea that “knitting” wasn’t something that young, vitale warriors did.

“Excuse me!?” He spewed, saliva rolling down his lips and chin, “ how old is this homosapien?”

“Uh, she is 74 Earth years old.”

“That human is nearly on her death bed!” exclaimed another member from the council from Deransortia.

Tashella craned her neck to see around Suunsin’s shoulder to make eye contact with the elder, “Actually, statistically speaking, she could easily live another 20 Earth years or more with proper health care.”

There was an audible gasp from the entire dais. Sanarmour put her slender, yellow fingers on Tashella’s shoulder, “We’re trusting you. I hope you know what you are doing.”

“I believe I have this under control, Commander. I just need one co-pilot to come with me. I’ll need them to be ready with the ship when I arrive at the rendezvous point. I’ll do the rest.” Tashella could feel excitement deep inside her, it was a feeling she associated with flight. Not actual flight, just the last couple of moments before take off, there is a bubbling inside the midsection before the weight of the body ascends. For her, this feeling is a very real thing that leads to lift off and flight. For humans, it was just a feeling. It could lead to many opportunities for them, but never true flight. Excitement came over her now in waves. 

Suunsin, the only being among the council with truly telepathic abilities, felt her emotional shift. He made full eye-contact with her, letting his eye color shift from burnt to creamy once more, then turned to face the group.

“If you would allow me, I would very much enjoy accompanying Tashella as co-pilot for this retrieval.”

“Nonsense!” Altevary retorted, “You are needed here, on this council seat!” Saliva was beginning to evaporate off his face as his core temperature rose with his anger. Tashella was familiar with this display of emotion. Compared to human emotions, it was an umbrella emotional response to mean many different things. In this case, anger. 

Tashella and Altevary had a complicated past. He never missed a chance to obstruct any good ideas she had. She had learned a word on Earth for beings like him, “asshole”, which she thought was entirely all too fitting for him since it was also a word used for the human rectal cavity. 

As much as Altevary enjoyed demeaning Tashella, she enjoyed standing up to him. “This retrieval should only take me a wrap or two, tops. That gives me three Earth weeks to talk this woman into helping us and get her to the launch site, and I already have a plan in motion. The council will barely notice Suunsin isn’t here.”

Altevary made a grumbling protest, saliva vapors raking the air around him. Commander Sanarmour put up a slim hand to silence the crowd, the other hand still resting on Tashella’s shoulder. 

“Given that this is likely our last hope, the council is willing to give you everything you need for this mission,” she looked directly at Altevary now, “like we do for every other agent we’ve tasked.” Sanarmour turned her gaze back to Tashella, “And just like other agents, you’ll need to share your entire plan with us, down to the smallest intricacy. Should something go wrong we want to be able to locate you for immediate extraction. 

Tashella was already nodding half-way through Sanarmour’s statement.

“Yes ma’am, Commander,” she said, remembering that body language was a very human trait that most council members didn’t understand.

Sanarmour was uncommonly kind for an other-worldly being, or maybe it just seemed like it to Tashella because she spent so much time pretending to be human. Besides war and pop culture, human emotions and dispositions was one of the most readily researchable subjects she found. As she gazed upon the forgien faces before her, Tashella was noticing a wide array of different emotions emanating from them. While Sanarmour was the epitome of being fair and kind, Altevary was rude and boorish. Tashella was thankful she chose assignment over marriage to him; he was disgusting.

A smile spread across Tashella’s face, her crow’s feet curling in on themselves around her almond-shaped eyes. Suunsin picked up on the humor of her thoughts and did his best to stretch the small slit of his mouth into the semblance of a smile. It was horrifying, but Tashella laughed all the same. 

“Let’s start with a name,” Sanarmour said, “Who is this human that you believe can fix the decay of the fabric of space and time?”

“Her name is Evelyn. Evelyn Alvarez.”

More puzzled looks from the alliance.

Chapter 2

The silence of the church basement before the rest of the knitter's arrived every Monday evening was one of the best sounds Evelyn had ever heard. The closest thing she could find to total and complete silence. Not that she hated other sounds, or music, but life was sometimes so busy that she valued the quiet when she got to experience it. 

Despite the normal flow of life and its constant changes, her life felt more monotonous than anything. Since 1984, when her sweet Jinghai passed away, Evelyn did nothing but tend to her family, job, and church. After a year of struggling to take care of their five children, trying to  protect the life she and her husband had built in California, Evelyn decided to take a high-paying job in the Emergency Department of a Reno hospital, and move the family somewhere she would be able to grieve and continue. As a nurse, her shifts were often filled with insane characters, traumatic injuries, and unique anecdotes, but she had retired 15 years ago.  

In the total silence of the church basement, Evelyn often found herself reminiscing about Jinghai and their life together. The last day of summer they would pile into the station wagon and take the kids to San Diego pier. The children enjoyed the arcade games and ice cream, while Evelyn and Jinghai rode the ferris wheel. The kiss at the top never failed to make her heart flutter. Even now, thinking about it 35 years later, she smiled and flushed a bit. Jinghai wasn’t just physically handsome in a very biracial Clark Kent sort of way but he knew how to be romantic in tiny, resonating ways.

Evelyn soon found herself lost in the foxhole of memories she kept in her data bank for these quiet times. As she unfolded metal chairs and aligned them in a neat circle, she unfolded the memories of  the wedding. Evelyn giggled at it. Flouncy, frilly dresses were all the rage for weddings in the 60's, even for a young white woman getting married to a young man of Mexican and Chinese descent. Bernadette, her 2nd oldest child, once told her that she looked like a marshmallow with a head. It was still the best day of Evelyn’s life. She spent weeks writing her vows to Jinghai. Vows that she ended up stuttering and crying through instead of speaking eloquently like she had practiced. Her dancing wasn’t that fabulous either. Evelyn was so nervous that she ended up stepping back on her dress, falling onto her back in the middle of the dance floor. A number of people came to help her up, their concern blocking her view from the snickering bystanders near the buffet. The memory of her notorious “wedding fall” became less embarrassing over the years and more of a highlight because the basis of Evelyn and Jinghai’s relationship was a love of laughter. Evelyn even had Jinghai’s favorite wedding photo framed for their 20th anniversary. A shot of Evelyn’s maid of honor, her cousin Cheryl, helping her up. Behind them you can see Jinghai, a wide smile across his face. Evelyn and Jinghai both loved that photograph more than all the others taken that day. 

A car crash took Jinghai from her 3 months before their 20th wedding anniversary. Evelyn was almost brought to tears at the thought of her ungiven gift, still neatly wrapped since 1984 in silver, paisley, decaying wrapping paper, as she had trillions of times in the 35 years since his death, when Darlene walked into the room with her plate of veggies and dip. 

“Evening Evie!” Darlene said, cheerfully.

Evelyn cleared her throat, “Hello there, Darlene!” trying to sound as cheerful as possible, “Did you get any word from the association yet?”

Hoping that redirection would focus her energy on something other than the sadness of her past, Evelyn put up a conversation starter before Darlene could ask her about the tears. The church’s knitter’s circle sent several creative samples to the Midwestern knitter’s Association in the hopes that one of their ladies would be chosen for the regional competition. Evelyn secretly hoped her piece would be chosen. The regional competition was in New Mexico and she could use a little away time from the monotony of her life. 

“Actually, yes.” Darlene replied, “But there was a bit of a hiccup. The committee couldn’t agree on just one of our submissions. There were five that they loved, including yours, they said it is up to us to decide who actually goes. They’ll hold one spot for Praise! Church knitter’s circle.” Darlene set her plate down on the table at the back of the room and came over to help set up the rest of the chairs. “How do you want to handle this?”

“Why don’t we just have a vote?” Evelyn said casually, thinking that sounded fair to all.

“Evie, we both know you deserve that spot more than anyone. You really are the best knitter in the group.” Darlene was more than a little bit biased. She moved to Reno 10 years ago and joined the church’s knitter’s circle her second week of attendance.

Over the years, Darlene got closer to Evelyn. First through Sundays at service, then through Mondays at the circle. Evelyn poured her life into her family so she was thankful to finally have a friend outside of it all. She allowed herself to take time away from her family to have a relationship with Darlene. But like any good friend, Darlene took time to be  a part of Evelyn’s family as well. Darlene had never married so Evelyn’s family became her own. As much as Evelyn poured her time into her family and church, Darlene did so with her work. She was a teacher, elementary school. Evelyn always thought of it as a sister profession to her own, teachers and nurses both highly important to society but highly undervalued. She considered them noble professions. And Darlene loved her classes, but never found interest in romantic love. Anytime Evelyn asked her about her lack of love interests Darlene would reply that she was married to her work and that it was good enough for her. There was never a time that Evelyn didn’t see her friend with a text book of some kind except in church and at the circle. The only thing it seemed Darlene loved more than her class was her independent studies of everything. 

“I think being fair is the best way to go. We can even get the entire congregation involved to give us a less biased demographic.” Evelyn said. Darlene rolled her eyes at this, the amount of  justice and impartiality was almost disgusting. She just wanted Evie to win, her reasons being far more complicated than simply going to a knitting competition. 

A couple minutes later the rest of the group began to arrive, carrying trays and bowls of snacks to share. Light conversation of the usual dreg commenced.

“Oh, Father James’s sermon yesterday was incredibly uplifting.”

“How are your grandchildren?”

“You must try my homemade cookies.”

Evelyn found herself bored of both talking and listening within the first 5 minutes. These conversations were always the same. For 15 years they have been the exact same. As the ladies settled into the circle, Evelyn found herself wondering beyond, into her imagination. She imagined winning some huge sweepstakes and going on a cruise that she would never come home from. She thought of selling her house and all her worldly possessions and traveling the world. Evelyn knew she was too old for that these days but it was still fun to imagine. She had always wanted to see more of the world. Jinghai used to talk about it often. He always wanted to do that whole vagabond, backpacking across Europe tour thing. Evelyn still secretly hoped that one day she could see the world for both of them.

Darlene tapped Evelyn on her shoulder, pulling her back to reality from her reverent thoughts.

“I think everyone is ready.”

Evelyn stood as Darlene took her seat. The Praise! Church knitter's circle was made up of mostly widows and spinsters, some of the women were lucky enough to have a child or grandchild that was interested in the craft. Evelyn wasn’t one of them and her best friend was a spinster. She giggled to herself a bit at this thought.

“Hello ladies.” she said, addressing the group, “ Thanks for making it tonight and thank you to everyone who brought refreshments this week. Now before we dive back into our project for this month, I know we are all eager to hear who was chosen for the Midwestern knitter’s Association regional competition. But I am afraid I have some bad news,” she paused for dramatic emphasis, “the committee couldn’t choose just one winner.”

A few gasps and murmurs rose from around the circle. Regina North, the mousy single granddaughter of a deacon was the first to speak up.

 “Does that mean we all go?” she asked excitedly.

“There’s no way the church can afford to send more than one contestant.” Edith Baker piped in. As one of the group’s spinsters, if you didn’t know she wasn’t sitting in a Christian church right now you would have thought she was a cliche 1980’s Jewish grandmother. At least, those were Evelyn’s thoughts about her. Not very “Christian” of her but she didn’t care that much. Church was less about faith these days for her as it was about habits. She didn’t find faith and uplifting there anymore, she simply went because she had been doing it for most of her life and who would she be without all of this? What would she do, if not this?

“Edith! Ladies please!” She held her hands up to try and silence the group the way she used to silence her kids when they all tried speaking at the same time, like she does with the Sunday school group she sometimes worked with. “Let me explain. The committee still has one spot for one contestant from our church. Because they couldn’t decide between 5 of our entries, we’ll have a friendly little competition here among the group.”

Ladies gently clapped, uttering murmurs of approval. This is why Evelyn took charge of their group.

“Who were the 5 chosen, Evelyn?” Rachel Caster asked, leaning forward on her knees in anticipation.

“The 5 ladies chosen were Regina, Danielle, Edith, Dierdre, and myself.”

A mixture of congratulatory words of encouragement and grumbles from sore losers circulated for a moment.

“So here is how I think we should handle this. Each of us puts a piece up to be voted on. You have till Sunday service to come up with something. During announcements, Pastor Ellis will call the vote, Pastor’s wife will tally for us, and have him announce the winner before final prayer. Sound good?” Evelyn said to her small circle of knitters.

There was agreement from all, followed by hands raised in question. Evelyn put her hand up again to shush the crowd.

“Let’s just get started on our project and as we work, I can come around and answer all your questions.” Again the women grumbled an agreement. “I know you’re all excited but we did promise St. Claire’s that we would be donating 25 blankets for their Christmas drive and we still have to finish 10. So let’s be ladies of our word and get to work.” 

All around the circle ladies pulled knitting needles from their specified “knitting bags”. Darlene handed out the skeins of yarn she wanted them to work with this week. They broke off into groups of three and began their noble works. 

Evelyn spent the first half of the group time, walking around and answering the questions about the friendly competition at church and the larger regionals in New Mexico. By the time she made it back to her seat, she was dog-tired. All she wanted at that very moment was to lose herself in the familiar over, under flow of her knitting.

Evelyn picked up her needles , favorites of hers that she affectionately called “Fred” and “Ethel” after her favorite “I love Lucy” characters and she got herself to work. The small hooks were so comfortable in her hands, they were an extension of herself in many ways, like a samurai with a katana. As she coiled the yarn around Fred and stuck Ethel through the loop, Evelyn imagined this was exactly how an assassin felt about their gun or knife, or whatever killing tool they used, they probably felt like that tool was just another appendage on their body that they could use efficiently with very little thought.  

It was Darlene again that brought her back to the now.

“Did you think about my question?” she asked Evelyn in a quiet voice, not wanting to start a group conversation.

“Huh? Oh, yes! I’m sorry, I was off in space. Your question?”

“Your birthday? What do you want to do?” Darlene’s lean, smiling face was still gorgeous after 75 years of aging. Evelyn loved her glowing, contagious smile. 

“Oh, yes, I’m sorry. I haven’t actually given it much thought at all.” That was a flat out lie. And in church no less. Evelyn felt horrible as soon as she said it but the truth was she thought too much about it. This year, her best friend offered to take Evelyn anywhere she wanted to go. At first, Evelyn thought about a nice dinner in Vegas. Then Darlene told her to think bigger, like “maybe need a passport” type of big. Evelyn was turning 75 years old and her friend wanted to go all out. And my oh my, wouldn’t it be nice to see the Atlantic ocean before she died. Evelyn thought so. 

“I can tell you are fibbing but I’ll let it slide...for now.” a sly smile smoothed itself across her sweet, slender face. 

Evelyn let herself sigh in relief, ever thankful for her friend’s understanding.

[sortagaysortahigh]

Please like the way that this fantasy AU is causing me brainrot like i must share some of the other ideas i had!!!!

Eddie is the human prince (who only truly wants to be a music-loving sailor) that has fallen in love with the elven princess after a grand total of 1 conversation.

He’d be a liar if he said he didn’t feel drawn to the cloaked woman, perhaps it was her almost-magnetic presence, or maybe it was the glow of her rings, rings that were rumored to drive those who could not live to their potential mad, or maybe, just maybe it was the sound of her laughter, it reminded him of a soft melody, only growing in volume as she chatted with the half-elf barmaid, a woman who’d been running the tavern with her father for longer than Eddie had been alive. It was clear to him that they weren’t speaking in the common tongue, and as he did his best to get closer without giving himself away he was positive that they were speaking a dialect of elvish, and of course, the prince of such a large region would hold some knowledge on other languages and even speak some.

Which is how he found himself eavesdropping on their conversation about the cloaked woman’s travels.

It wasn’t until she’d laughed again, and said something along the lines of “Don’t you just hate it when people choose to stick their nose in places they do not belong?” To the barmaid that Eddie realized the woman was well aware of his presence. Of course she had to have been, she wielded magic and a few of her rings probably held enchantments that allowed her to be incredibly hyper-aware of her surroundings. He sat at the table that was behind and to the right of the woman, placing himself in perfect ear-shot, even through the boisterous commotion of the tavern. It also left him in the perfect spot to be caught like a fish out of water.

The woman turned in her stool, the iridescent glow of her eyes gave away her elven race in seconds as she allowed her cloak to slide back the smallest amount-it was still covering her head-to allow for her fake to peak out more. The both of them held eye contact, she wasted no time in sizing him up, eyes trailing his figure once, then twice, assessing if he was a threat, or if he was just any regular townsfolk. But she knew he was neither, especially as she examined what she could see of his clothes, the loose-fitted beige shirt was something that many sailor wore, however the shiny silver chain tucked into it was a different story. Many sailors opted to wear gold, especially those affiliated with pirates or mercenaries. It was rare to witness a sailor in silver-especially silver that was as clean as his.

Not to mention how clean he was. It was mid-afternoon so the Tavern was well lit, and from what she could see there wasn’t much muck, grease, or dirt adorning his skin. Not to say that sailors were unclean-but typically those who spent the majority of their lives at sea had a very specific physical appearance, and this man did not fit a single one of those characteristics.

So the princess moved from her seat at the bar to the seat across from him, she was curious about who he was, and what it was that he found so interesting about her. There were easier ways to find all of that out, a few drags of her fingers alongside a word or two in arcana would allow her to gaze into his mind-but truth be told she didn’t enjoy using magic that way. Magic was sacred, and there was a time and a place that deemed it necessary.

“And who might you be?” He simply shrugged, now getting a better look at her, watching as she relaxed her shoulders slightly while placing both of her hands on the wooden table, fingers interlaced and still, outside of one of her index fingers tapping along the top of her opposite hand. He did his best to seem casual, like any other tavern go-er, but his attempts to be casual were short lived when she caught a glance of the pendant hanging along his chain. He immediately froze as she reached across the table, fingers now grazing the silver before slowly dragging it out of it’s confines.

“Ah I understand now, you’re the prince attempting to escape from your duties. I can only assume that of you, but wouldn’t it be smarter to not wear any of your house’s medallions, especially a silver chain adorning the house crest. I’d also recommend working on your disguise, commoners may not see through it, but you have many tells.” He opened and closed his mouth several times, feeling like a fish out of water, as if he had been exposed to the world in a matter of seconds. He half-expected her to give him away, or even lecture him on the responsibilities of any high-ranking royal. The regality of her voice let him know that they were of similar status, and as most high ranking nobles did, she too would probably tell him to give up on his fantasies about being a sailor, an adventurer, or truly leaving the city.

But she didn’t. Instead she laughed at his reaction before sitting back down, extending a hand to him, waiting for him to shake it.

“It is only right that I let you in on my attempts of escape as well.” She told him her name before nodding a few times “Princess of Silvermoon, daughter of King Haldir, but the use of a title is unnecessary here, considering we’re in the same boat”.

It all made sense to Eddie, he’d snuck out of the keep after his mother sent news that the High Elves of Silvermoon would be making their arrival today, and with them, a potential match for him. Historically it wasn’t uncommon for Elves and Humans of high-ranking status to wed, especially under the pretense of political alliances and unification under the threats of potential war. But that didn’t make accepting his possible arranged marriage and betrothal any easier. In fact it made it harder, knowing that he was expected to sire an Heir to his throne, while uniting two nations that have their own histories of conflict, plus up until today, no one past the lands surrounding Silvermoon had seen the Princess.

As superficial as it was, he didn’t want to be wed to someone he found unattractive, or even unappealing, especially when Elves were known to be very posh, judgmental, and just plain stuck up.

He blinked a few times before grasping her hand, shaking it over the table while he forced a small smile. “As you’ve assumed, I am the prince, Prince Edward, son of King Wayne the Third. But Honestly, I’d prefer if you called me Eddie, and skipped the formalities. Also, if you’d like to smite me at anytime during this conversation please feel free to do so”

There it was again, that laugh, except this time it was a little louder and she pulled her hand away from his gently to adjust her cloak because the moment she started laughing at him, it started sliding back again, revealing a peak of the deep black hair that her family was known for. They were unmistakeable, many elves had lightly colored hair, or even sunkissed blonde tones of hair, however her family was known for the deep black hair, it was said to be so black that it had hues of blue to it. The rumour had always been that their ancestors were the first to dabble in the mix of divine and arcane magic, using gifts from the Gods in combination with elements of the earth to create something almost untouchable that threatened the existence of divine magic. So in turn, they were marked with hair as dark as night, hair that would be used to alienate them from the other High Elves, however it only made her family stronger, and the power they possessed is what pushed them to where they were now.

“Unfortunately for the both us, I cannot smite you Eddie, if possible, I’d put us both out of our misery. I hear we’re to be married? A Prince who I can only assume yearns for the sea and the freedom it brings, and a Princess who’d rather speak to the city rats than to anyone considered close to noble. God they’re all so pretentious, and of course I know that my people are known to be pretentious, but oh Gods, they’re such asses!” she raised her brows while he let out a small laugh, doing his best to keep up a ‘relaxed’ appearance, when in reality, the more she spoke, the more he wanted to ask her a million questions about herself and follow her to the ends of the earth.

And he hadn’t even seen her without her cloak on yet.

[canidfeline]

CIVILIZATION

After a few days, or weeks, maybe a month, of playing house in the forest, the group finally got a peek through the soggy, snowy Alberta wilderness and got to see the soggy, snowy Alberta towns.

The others seemed thrilled with the sight, one of them having to make do with an explanation from the girl holding him, but X was... saddened by it.

He enjoyed the wilderness. He was GOOD at surviving. He has skills outside of being a lab rat, and they're locked in between trees and bushes.

But, what has to be done has to be done, he guesses.

How do they act human, though?

CQ opened his mouth, sitting on the snow as the group overlooked Edmonton.

CQ: "We need names."

ST-021 glanced down at the other boy, then at X-107, then back.

ST: "...what's a name?"

CQ: "It's the like... thing people call you. When I got my TV time in the Facility, I saw that those people don't have numbers AND letters. Just letters. They make weird noises with 'em too."

M: "W-when I got TV time, I watched, uh, nature stuff. And there was one on water streams, and it was, like, in this one place called Scandinavia, they call streams Kallen. I want that name."

CQ: "I like Kallen. Fits. I dunno what I want my name to be. There was this TV thing I saw, and it was this, like, English thing. English is the language we speak, and it was, like, teaching it to people that didn't speak it. One of the words they were teaching was 'force', and the other language version was called 'Forta'. Makes sense with my eye things, right? They force, so..."

K: "Forta sounds nice. Kind of."

CQ glanced at M-264- or... Kallen, now with a little bit of annoyance at that, but sighed after. He liked Forta. More than kind of.

ST: "...I dunno any names."

F: "Huh. Well, your letters are ST, so... Steve?"

ST: "Sounds horrible. But I'll take it for now. What about you, X?"

X-107 shrugged. He wonders if his mother would have picked a good name, but he just shakes his head. He doesn't want a name. Not until he finds one he likes.

F: ''...okay. We'll just call you Jack for now, huh?''

X shrugged again, plopping down on the snow and deploying a claw to draw patterns in it.

F: ''We need clothes too. I can't see it but I can definitely smell the blood on our clothes. And I don't think people like that.''

ST: ''And M- or... Kallen, I guess, is uh... grey and looks like nothing. People don't look like that.''

Kallen glanced up over at ST-021, narrowing her eyebrows a little before shrugging. He was probably right.

K: ''Well... I don't know what a lot of girls look like-''

F: ''W- you're a girl? 'Cause you do NOT sound like one. You don't really sound like a guy either.''

Kallen and Forta then stared at each other. Or, well, Kallen stared at Forta and Forta stared at where he thought Kallen was.

K: ''Y-yeah? Mostly, at least.''

F: ''Huh.''

K: ''...anyways, the only girl that I know looks like a girl is the Director and she's an adult and she sucks.''

X stopped his scratching patterns in the snow for a second before continuing at that, sniffing after.

F: ''Do, like, a little bit of her and then mix it with one of us. Look like a girl but look like us too. Like a family.''

Kallen sighed and shrugged before closing her eyes as she tried to remember what the Director's frame and body looked like, the shape moulding onto her like wax, although trying to shrink it to what she thought a teenager 'version' would look like and the height she already has.

Then she looked between the boys around her before looking down at X-107, tapping his head to get him to look up at her. She then mixed and matched some of his features with ones she had thought of for herself. She changed her hair to a more brown colour, her eyes as well.

And her eyebrows were less narrowed and less permanently angry than X's.

X grunted, making a little ''eugh'' sound before going back to looking down to scratch at the snow.

ST: ''That was gross, but you look like a girl now.''

K: ''...yay?''

F: ''Do we go now?''

K: ''Not yet, I have an idea. I think.''

Kallen tilted her head before looking down at her shirt. It felt like it was ready to be changed. To have something done to it. She touched her finger to it and the blood just... vanished. Like her touch was bleach, and then she did the same to Forta and ST-021, although changing the colours of their shirts as well before looking down at X-107.

He has pants and only pants.

K: ''...people are gonna be scared of you either way. Your skin's bloodstained as well, anyways. We'll see if, like, clothes places exist and we'll take some.''

X grunted and nodded. The others just nodded before Kallen took Forta's arm over her shoulder and took a hesitant step out of the forest, swallowing the lump in her throat before continuing the walk to civilization.

They need sanctuary, and they need to find their "parents". But how?

---------------------------------------------------

Idk how to end this and its been rotting in my drafts for nearly a week so I'm shoving it off to you

AND I WAS DEPRESSED AND HAD TO DEAL W SUZAN SO YOU DONT GET TO USE THE "Oh but u took a week!!!!!" EXCUSE

[jewishrizahawkeye]

hi it's your gift exchange anon again :) can I just say that your url is top tier. like absolute dream url for me. also evermore is my top album as well so that's a slay for both of us <3 (ngl I wonder if you can somewhat guess who this is from what I just said 😭)

yknow what keep talking about royai, as much as you'd like to, as someone who knows nothing abour fma feel free to infodump to me as much as you'd like because they sound like they have some insane chemistru going on in there

alright hello, I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT POSTING THIS SOONER! i saw it just as i was getting sick and was going to hold off on posting it then forgot it existed 😭 (along with another anon i wanted to respond to).

but, thank you for complimenting my url!! i feel so lucky to have it!! dear reader was my favorite song when i first heard the 3am tracks (outside of the great war, cause that’s my beloved royai anthem) and to get to have it as my url… i’m so happy omg. also SO BASED FOR EVERMORE BEING YOUR TOP ALBUM!!!! it’s a love album about heartbreak and i think it’s so so poetic for taylor’s career since that’s what everyone devolved her career down to. (i do have my suspicions on who you are but i’ll wait until we reveal our gifts to say it).

and ROYAI!!! i’m still sick and recovering so i’ll link my two powerpoints on them (royai+the great war and royai ts playlist). but the main thing about them that drives me and everyone crazy is how far back it goes. like they’re so seven coded cause they knew each other at some point in their youth, and based on how they both flirted at rizas fathers grave they both probably had crushes on each other to some extent, and riza followed him to war and asked him to burn her back and he did because he viewed it as his duty to free riza from her burden of carrying her fathers research but regrets doing it so much but won’t complain about it cause he HAD to do it and riza would follow him anywhere he goes, where ever you stray i’ll follow, and has said she’d jill herself if she ever has to fulfill her promise of shooting him in the back if he breaks his end goal of restoring the government and making them stand trial for their crimes. and by her saying she’d kill herself it helped bring him back from the brink of madness he felt over his desire to kill the person who killed his best friend cause grief is WILD and he also later tells riza he was willing to do human transmutation, which he knows doesn’t work and is bad because of ed and al, if it meant it would save her. like… they’re both so deeply in love with each other, you can view it either platonically or romantically but your wrong if you think it’s just platonic, and they’re both digging their own graves and they’re so fucking insane they have a secret language to communicate in public with no one detecting. i’m so so obsessed

[thetinylittlespider]

Tearing Up: Season 1

Chapter 2: Family reunion.

CW: Blood, Brutal execution (Small amount of gore), slight body horror, violence, and mature language, dehumanization.

KU-M9's POV:

The white lights that casted their power over me were blinding, It was hard for me to focus my vision, to regulate it to this intensity of brightness. But my nose and ears gave me a teaser of what was happening in my surroundings.

It was natural, something that kicked inside my brain, a call of something familiar, but that never reached to my knowledge before. This wasn't something I was taught. I wasn't aware that I could even do it in the first place, but there I was, feeling...sensing, others like myself, creatures who also grew inside this laboratory, others that shared blood with me. And all I could understand was how angry and hungry they were...

The only thing dividing us, the only thing that was avoiding every "sibling" to look at each other was a wall of thin metal that originated from little straight gaps in the floor, creating a personal squared space for each of us, imprisoning everyone. A smaller containment space than before, I wasn't expecting anything good to come out of this. Specially when they gave us a crystal clear ceiling to look up at the science team, and whoever was close to the space they put us into.

But before I could even start to worry, something happened, more people were coming in. The 3 scientist that I was used to see around were now greeting a visit. The leader seemed to be the woman who took me out of my "room". She was the one who gave a warm welcome to the visits, introduced everyone, but their names are something I never cared about, not that I ever had something to tell them.

"It was time you recognized the investment I've made for you all, It is unbelievable how much time you took, the riots outside are going to be the end of me, and this force of soldiers is everything I need right now!".

Woow, that voice...Sound so juvenile, but at that tone, demanding things as soon as he spoke, with that emotion on it, I hated it. It was the first human who's voice I actually minded but not for the best of reasons.

I looked up at the crystal ceiling, until the owner of that demanding voice showed up. In his black suit, towering above the containment and giving a look at us, the products. There was no gestures to recognize, a white mask covered his face, but it was easy to tell for me when someone had their eyes on me. It was him, the great leader of the world outside this lab, the one who represented hope, the path of light.

"I don't want to hear any of your excuses of how or why you took so long, skip to the point and let's get this over with". He finished his sentence crossing his arms, while what it seemed to be his security guards started repeating his movements.

Funny, for a brief moment it felt nice to have someone talk to my "creators" the same way they used to talk to me while I was trapped in an electric chair, or when I was close to drowning in a water container...Like a lost cause.

"W-Well, sir, as you ordered, we tried to make a serum to create the perfect soldiers you are looking for...But the steroids and some components didn't work in our selected candidates. We couldn't give a human that power". The lead scientist started her speech, she seemed nervous. But what got my attention was the mention of older experiments, with procedures that I never experienced. They must have tried something before creating me and the others.

"So, we tried to create something new, not a human but with the base DNA of one...We started playing with some genes, and we found out that we could give this new being the compacted abilities and partial physiology of an arachnid. You wanted trackers, hunters, experts on capture with the ability to infiltrate and fight the resistance, not an army, but agents of pure focus on their prey. Sneaky to avoid uncalled eyes of the population, they won't even know this creatures exist" She said proud, with a nervous smile... but I, even in this enclosure, could feel the vibration from her heart, like a distant earthquake from how much it rushed.

"Of course we had to gather all species of arachnids to see how fitting their abilities would be, how we could recreate their DNA...we calculated the strength, tactics, physique, their venom, the silk of their webs, the durability, everything! And so we created new entities, 10 generations of changes, upgrades, tests...Some could keep their human features almost intact, others have some noticeable body variations, but hehehe...N-Nothing that can't be put behind a mask and a suit!". She said body variations, I was not that aware of my body...But I never seem to freak out anybody, I had fangs, I could feel them inside my mouth but they were part of my set of teeth, nothing abnormal...Or so I hoped, after all, I did not developed all my abilities yet. Why was I here then? they are talking like if they had a finished set of experiments.

"What used do they have to me at that size? You can step on them and the whole operation is down." The man in black replied in a completely annoyed tone of voice. To be fair, he provided a valid point. I wasn't even a rival to the force of a thumb pressing over my head, all my fights back in the past while I tried to escape proved useless, they just picked me up with ease and put me in my room as if nothing had happened.

"Nothing to worry about, sir! They are pretty durable at that size, enough to be stepped on by accident and live to fight another day, we have tested that! But also, in their development, they all have a shared gene that allows them to grow to human size! Although most of their abilities are woken up by adrenaline and survival instincts, the growing gene is only activated by a vaccine we have made, taking their abilities proportionally to their new size!". She then showed up 2 small, nearly unnoticeable flasks in between her fingers, those seemed to be the vaccines. But I wondered...Why are there only 2 of those? Would they work on me? I am as a fact....defective. I don't have my whole set of abilities working up just yet. It didn't make any sense for them to just have 2 of those when having 10 of us.

After she put those flasks at one side, in a metal desk, a constant impact on the side of my enclosure started to call my attention. One of my many relatives started hitting the walls that divided us, I was so absorbed into the conversation that I forgot...We were all starving, some were shouting out their anger to be released. I tried to stay at the center in between those walls, tried to focus on something else, but right now it was impossible, I lost track of what the humans above were talking about...And everything I could hear next was.

"The best of them will be the one who survives the fight...We will clean up memories, set up obedience and provide the vaccine...They all heal, so we wont have to provide medical attention to the one that's left." Said the scientists, excited, nervous, looking at me knowing well that I was defective, I was not like the rest...I was weak. What was I supposed to do? Was I meant to fight? Surely there was something I forgot to hear. This can't be the last test for me! It was not fair! They were going to kill me!

Before I could even speak, try to communicate with these humans...these beings...The metal walls fell down the thin gaps in the ground, now I could see them, and they could see me. My siblings, bothers and sisters. With eyes fuelled with fury, hunger, bloodlust.

My heart started rushing like crazy, my legs were shaking, producing a slight pain that I could not tolerate, I wanted to fall down already, my chest could not handle my agitated breathing, opening some wounds from days before, making my blood come out in small proportions. I was a mess.

Some of my brothers had what I now understood as body variations, one of them had his jaw divided in 4 sections, with a full set of sharp teeth, dripping saliva at the sight of others. One of my sisters had 8 eyes crossing her whole face, and hands big enough to crush my head in between them. Another one had a big bone claw coming out of his wrist, bleeding all over the floor while that thing was coming out.

And the carnage began...

The once white floor was now full of blood, most of my brothers didn't hesitate to start attacking, not even one of them tried to avoid the conflict, they all knew that if we didn't kill each other, not even one was coming out alive. I tried to run, being my objective a corner in the "arena" we were placed to fight, my movement was sloppy due to how damaged my legs were, my balance was off, my arms felt numb. After all, I started receiving some strong hits from my kind, my ribs shattered, my lungs failing to keep the air, a brand new deep cut in my shoulder, but I never engaged, the moments they landed a cut, a hit, another one came to interrupt them, to try and kill them...it encouraged me to keep running, crawling, whatever movement it took for me to stay away from the danger, away from the pool of blood and guts. All this happening under the eyes of the humans, who watched every bit of the fight, not caring...But I felt something, in the middle of my panic, intense breathing, fast heartbeats. I was being observed.

It was a scientist? What was it? Besides the fact that I was cowering in fear, trying to hide in a corner. Why would I bring up any attention?

Again, the humans caught my focus, and when I came back to my senses, back to the reality I was facing, I could see right in front of me, my last older brother, stretching his arm at me, hissing, not sure if he tried to kill me, or was asking for me to save him...He was being choked to death by my last older sister, she used her webs around his neck, holding him, placing her foot on his back so he couldn't stand up, increasing the force on her arm. I was frozen in place, watching in horror how the lack of oxygen was killing him slowly. His face turned red, then purple...his eyes started bleeding, and everything ended with a loud "crack" before his head fell lifeless to the floor.

"Hm..." It was the only noise that my sister released at the look of me. Not anger, not hunger, not dissapointment. But it made my heart go all the way up to my throat.

Her once orange uniform was now red all over, her face, her hands, she was the strongest out of us all, she managed to survive all the battle...And it was curious.

She was like me, at least in the physical features, she didn't had any claws, nor a four-side opened jaw, no extra limbs, her eyes looked as human as I thought mine looked. Her wounds started to heal slowly while she licked over the blood that fell in her lips. Staring at me, approaching slowly, making me crawl against the wall of that arena, with no place to escape. I was the last one left to kill. But she didn't. Was she playing with her prey? Giving me a sense of hope to take it away the moment I felt calm?

She was 1 inch taller than me, it was common that due to our genetics females standed taller than males, also, her strenght was superior, so...Why was I still here?

She bend on her knees to have better eye contact with me, and after a couple of seconds, she gave me a little smile with lips closed, moving her index finger to her mouth, trying to tell me that I had to remain in silence. But why?

The answer to that was a hit on the neck with her open palm, enough force to knock me to the floor, but in my fear, in my shock. I didn't even resist. I stayed there, as quiet and still as a corpse.

The crystal ceiling opened, the humans seemed to not notice that I was alive, they tought she was done, that she was the only one left. And proud laughs could be heard from everyone in the room.

"Seems that we have the one!" Said the man in white mask, with a tone that was more optimistic than before, he was amused by the results.

The scientist were excited, like if they expected those words out of the man for a long time.

"Now, to finish this and move to the next step...We are going to take her t-" The words of the lead scientist were interrupted.

The lights went off, and the intense white brightness of the laboratory was replaced by an intermittent low red bright. An alarm in the walls filled the whole place with noise, and a gunshot followed soon...deafening my ears for a while.