#plus i have no one to play warzone with anyway

[a-small-writer-in-a-big-world]

the MW reboot games are on sale on steam...

[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1076 - Initial Thoughts

And we are back again

The stage is set for a free-for-all, the traitor is still Among Us

But everyone is sus! What more can we develop, let's have a look and see?

Spoilers for the Chapter, Support the Official Release also

We had a colorspread for this chapter, nothing too fancy it was a nice vibrant collage with Sanji centrefold, Nami and Robin of course looking pretty too

Zoro: Instant distrust

Kaku though insists they will go back to their chains after the fight's done...which is an obvious lie

But Luffy believes it because he's Luffy

S-Hawk unleashes a kicking slice though

Turns out S-Hawk has Daz Bones' DF in his green blood, makes sense to turn the swordsman seraphim into a human blade

Shaka asks what CP0's mission is, and Lucci is being mega truthful on the matter, much to Kaku's chagrin

Nami's screams are heard as well, since they are in the same tower it makes sense, so they expect another Seraphim is attacking

Something tells me though it's gonna be something else, like her bag full of trinkets getting stolen or something

Luffy asks Shaka for the keys and tells Lucci to not kill his friends or the Punks if they release him, since Lucci can't beat him anyway

Lucci strangely obliges though, but only because he wants to kill Luffy first

I guess this is the dynamic they're gonna work with

As S-Bear unleashes an Ursus Shock, we get our Shock team ups

Gear Fourth Luffy and Regular Hybrid Lucci combo with Kong Gun and Rokuogan on S-Bear

Zoro and Kaku then attack S-Hawk with Purgatory Oni Giri and Rankakyu: White Thunder

Both hits send the Seraphim flying, though the Ursus Shock has destroyed a lot of the control room

In another room within the research facility though, the missing CP agents are starving in pods

Seems that the CP agents were attacked by the sea beasts and were captured when arriving on shore

But Vegapunk himself is in a pod too! The CP agents apologizing for suspecting him

Stella body is a bit beaten up and handcuffed plus he's exhausted, wonder if that's York's petrification coming into play

His dialogue may make more sense in the official, but it seems to imply that this has something to do with Poneglyph research

G-9 is on its way to Egghead though, which means Doll will certainly be at Egghead with Kizaru and Saturn, hopefully Tashigi came along too

But we won't find out, since we're now in a bar with some Viking-esque longboats

Shanks seems to be reliving some energy he had with Luffy with a kid in Elbaf, though the waitress is no Makino

Since they're in Elbaf territory, it's clear that Kid is attacking Shanks' fleet, almost enticing the big boss to come out

Shanks though has a reason for hanging at the bar, he was chatting to two old friends he thought were dead

Girl back off seriously, Makino will throw hands with a giantess

Assuring that this won't become a warzone, Shanks has Dory and Broggy here to back him up

I wonder who won their duel in the end, if they have returned to their homeland

But timelines don't quite add up, Dorry and Brogy have been fighting for a century and Shanks is only 40

Oimo and Kashii are there too though, so I wonder if those are his 'friends' since they did disappear into Impel Down

Shanks at least offers Kid a warning: are they gonna fight or leave their poneglyph etchings behind?

Kid and his crew scout the Red Hair ships coming their way, bringing back some not-so-fond memories for the captain

Turns out though that Kid's arm loss wasn't directly on Shanks, they never even reached him the first time

As Shanks gets swarmed by some very affectionate captains, which I'd guess is probably his fleet, Killer notes that this time they may be risking their life

But Kid's on that confident energy, won't know until they try

Noooo not another break

Well a lot happened again

Lucci and Kaku team with Luffy and Zoro seems enough to fend off Seraphim, but we can all doubt that the alliance will last, though if CP0 frees the trapped CP agents that might be enough...then again, Saturn may not see it that way if it leads to Luffy and co escaping, plus I feel like Lucci's gonna attack Stussy on sight still.

The traitor situation has new wrinkles, it still feels like they're trying to make us suspect Lilith, since the CP agents were attacked by the Vega Force, but at the same time Shaka is sus by the Poneglyph mention and Pythagoras is sus because he said that the CP agents' ships were signed out. With Vegapunk also contained though it's curious what the motive is for all this, but it eliminates the theory that Caribou captured him, unless however there is a Vegapunk roaming around wearing a different face, as alluded to by Atlas last chapter.

S-Hawk having Daz Bones' fruit does make him more dangerous, I think that covers all the Seraphim fruits too, but we're still at a numbers issue, even with a 100 fleet of G-9 navy soldiers. The Labophase is still cut off remember so they will mostly be facing Mark 3 Pacifistas, unless Oda's messing with the time frame a little.

But now we get Shanks' annual appearance it feels, theories did arise that Shanks would be in Elbaf but fighting Kid means that the two captain supernovas are now fighting Yonko for the Poneglyph rubbings; Law vs Blackbeard and Shanks vs Kid, I wonder what the Cross Guild will do now since they're the only unattended Yonko factor so far in this wild arc. Seeing the giants we've met before was a cool little nod too, though I do worry a little that we're at risk of not having the Straw Hats go to Elbaf, since I want Usopp to have that moment, plus Viking fits! Don't deprive us of that Oda!

But yeah, things are hitting a fever pitch, so of course Oda throws a break at us, the long wait commences again.

[yary-t]

Me: *watches something*

My brain: ok now how can we turn this into Dreamling

Some Dreamling fics I'll never write:

That one His Dark Materials gifset inspired fic: Mr. Prince of Stories tries to declare his love by doing something they both heard in someone's story (maybe overheard during one of their weekly meetings at the New Inn). The significance of the gesture goes completely over Hob's head. Dream ofc thinks he's been rejected. He sulks. Misses their next meeting, and Hob, now aware of the fishbowl incident, freaks out. He has no reason to assume his friend is staying away due to anything he did, after all nothing out of the ordinary happened except the whole Dream putting a sweet into his mouth that’d been odd, so the logical conclusion is that Dream got himself kidnapped again. Cue completely unnecessary rescue mission.

The Newsreader au: Dream as a major newsreader struggling with depression, Hob as a producer. The fishbowl corresponding incident is Dream having been captured and held prisoner while covering a warzone, after which he stopped going on the field.

Altered Carbon au: Time and Night are meths. When people who should be beyond reach start turning up real-deathed, people who work for Endless Co, they increase security for all family members. Dream gets a security team, plus a personal bodyguard--a bounty hunter by the name of Hob. Dream does get targeted, and it turns out the killer has a specific bone to pick with him--it’s the Corinthian, a man who’d worked for Dream for years in the hopes of rising above his station, only to be carelessly tossed aside. Dream starts off very selfish, but ends up learning to give a crap about the people beneath him.

Chess (the musical) au: Dream is the USSR player (he has the views expressed in “Nobody's Side”* and “Where I Want to Be”**), Hob is the cocky British champion. They bang, fall in love, and Dream defects. 

Merrily We Roll Along fic (this would work better as a parody musical or maybe even a gifset, not a fic, but oh well): their meetings told backwards, starting from the 1889 fight, interspersed with the lyrics from the opening song*** and the transitions the ensemble sings (with the dates changed ofc), drawing heavily from that meta about how Dream’s reactions during each meeting informed how Hob chose to spend his next century in the hopes of being able to impress him in the subsequent meeting. And then an epilogue set in the present with them making up because I’m not as cruel as Sondheim

*Such a good song for Dream feeling trapped in his role:

Now I'm Where I want to be And who I want to be And doing what I Always said I would And yet I feel I haven't won at all Running for my life And never looking back In case there's someone Right behind to shoot me down And say he always knew I'd fall

**well, the chorus, anyway, not the bit about the singer’s current boyfriend:

Everybody's playing the game But nobody's rules are the same Nobody's on nobody's side Better learn to go it alone Recognize you're out on your own Nobody's on nobody's side

***The whole thing is so clever:

Dreams don’t die So keep an eye on your dream—

And before you know where you are There you are

Time goes by And hopes go dry But you still can try For your dream

Tend your dream…

How does it happen?

Dreams take time…

Once it was all so clear

Time goes by…

How can you get so far Off the track? Why don't you turn around And go back?

[derealfeelz]

One Hell of an Itch (Kodoku's Lilacs, The Life of a Flowstar, No. 16)

Finally, something about my days that I can talk about lol. This happened last night, and it wasn't a good experience, lemme tell ya.

So I was sitting on my PS4 playing some BO3 zombies. What's cool is that day, I got PS Plus and it was also on a discount! So I managed to save $15 and instead of playing it on my PS4 offline when I could've, especially since I had the disc since 2016, I gladly log on to the PS Plus one that I got lol.

Anyways, while I was doing a high round attempt on Kino, my head started to get itchy. This happens sometimes when I play, I scratched a little because usually, that's what makes it go away, right? Not this time, and it was going to be a 3 hour span of hell.

After I finished my game, I was scratching hard, I used one hand on one side, the other hand on the other side, fingers bent and moving onto my head as if I was cleaning myself with shampoo and conditioner. If I were using both of those when I take a shower, I probably would've been clean for a month, but it for sure wouldn't stop the itching because it kept choosing random spots on my head. I then tried to go to sleep an hour in of this chaos, I literally could not resist keep my hands to myself from my head, even if both of my hands were handcuffed on different bed posts, they definitely break free to itch.

I looked online to see how to solve this, I believe it said hot water can relieve it. So I tried, and it did for a second, but then it just came back, like a little brother with a bigger brother. Then, I believe it said cold water can actually relieve it. Same results for whatever reason, I just was confused at 12 in the morning. My dumbass brain decides to take a bath and rest my head in the water, this was probably a bad idea considering it could go in the water and spread into my body, and it still did not stop lol.

I then woke up my mom about this, I was panicking because my head feels like infinite fire crackers are popping on my head. I don't remember much from when she first woke up other than her being moody, saying stuff like "it's not an emergency", I understand you've been waken up at 12 in the morning, but you don't fucking understand my situation. You're damn right it's not an emergency, but it's more than that, a fucking warzone that's literally out of my head. I also remember trying to cope by making jokes about it, like wanting to shave my head to get rid of it or something like that.

Luckily, my mom had the stuff for it. I think it was a type of lotion with cotton balls that my mom put on me, even had to take my shirt off for it since there was a bunch of red anound my body, and I don't think she's seen me shirtless in years since I'm shy with that. She couldn't put the cotton ball in my hair, so she had to pour the itchy prevention thingy in my hair, so now my hair is feeling weird from it, made it a little hard I think. Happily after that, I slept peacefully since. I woke up at 12 PM tho, but it was worth it.

It may have been hives according to my mom. Something must've triggered it, like did a bug bite me? Was I near or ate something that I was allergic to? One things for sure, I'm in peace at the moment. Anyways, hope yall have a good night, make sure you know what your doing on how to stop the itching, and this is coming from a dumb teenager, soon to be adult lol.

Sincerely, Kodoku.

[howlingday]

tragic backstory (tm) au) jaune and neo go to a fancy ball, weiss is bullied by her friends into following jaune in and seeing what he's up to, she's utterly shocked to see jaune's ... smooth? the man plays the game with the best of them, when she confronts him about the shift in his demeaner all the boy does is look at her and say

" diplomacy is the velvet glove that covers the iron fist of power"

meanwhile jaune's having way too much fun quoting movie lines at rich people as a distraction. they must not get out much because so far no one's recognized any of them, hell even weiss didn't notice... where did neo get to? (she's robbing the place blind)

Stiffer Than A Girder

Jaune never felt so out of place in his life. Well, except for maybe when he first showed up to Beacon with no skill whatsoever, but this was a different kind of alienation. He was in a hostile environment, laced with landmines and other traps that could end him when triggered, and predators just as capable, and more eager, to do so. Jaune Arc was at a fancy dinner ball with the Council of Vale.

He didn't understand what insanity gripped his Headmaster to think that sending him as a Beacon student representative. Thankfully, he was permitted a plus one, and though they had only known each other for less than a week, Jaune was confident he made the right choice choosing Mint. His friends weren't happy he chose "a complete stranger", but they were understanding. Besides, it's not like he'd know anyone here.

Weiss: Hello, Arc.

Jaune: (Thinking) Ah, dammit. (Speaking) Weiss! What a surprise!

Weiss: Because you thought you could escape rejecting me, the Weiss Schnee, for someone you only met three days ago?

Jaune: I... don't have an answer for that.

Weiss: Good, then you can shut up and listen. You came here, acting as the Beacon student representative, and you don't know the first thing about formal etiquette, do you?

Jaune: I'm wearing a tie!

Weiss: Who tied it?

Jaune: ...Mint.

Weiss: (Tugs the tie) And it's a clip-on. If you're going into any battleground, you must be armed with the weapons that best serve you.

Jaune: But this isn't a battleground.

Weiss: Of course not. It's a warzone. Do you have any dancing skill at all?

Jaune: I mean, Ren is teaching me.

Weiss: Do you know the difference between silverware?

Jaune: Yeah; forks, knives, spoons, and sporks!

Weiss: ...If this was the jungle, a monkey would have killed you by now.

Jaune: That's harsh. How did you get in, anyways?

Weiss: My entire family is here. It's one of the few times we all gather without hosting a ball. You, on the other hand, must do more than just stand around and pretend to know the difference between a cravat and caviar.

Jaune: ...

Weiss: You do know what those are, correct?

Jaune: ...Do I need to?

Weiss: (Sigh) Fine, I suppose someone must teach you proper ballroom etiquette. I doubt your friend knows anything about the high, aristocratic lifestyle.

Jaune: ...Hey, where is Mint?

Ozpin: Are you enjoying the festivities, madam?

Councilwoman: Oh, of course, but I believe I may have misplaced my timepiece. If you happen upon it, would you kindly return it?

Ozpin: Of course, madam. Enjoy your evening. (She walks away) That's the third person tonight. Excuse me!

Neo: !

Ozpin: Yes, you! A word, please? (Mint steps closer) I understand the youth of today are quite bold, but I must ask you maintain vigilance, dear. I believe a thief is loose. Do be careful.

Neo: (Nods)

Ozpin: And inform Mr. Arc of the same, please. (Walks away) Hm, I believe I must have misplaced my money clip.

Neo: (Walks away, Pulls money from money clip)

Weiss: First lesson, Arc; know your enemy.

Jaune: And who is my enemy?

Weiss: Everyone except you. Trust no one.

Jaune: What about you?

Weiss: What about me?

Jaune: Can I trust you?

Weiss: For now.

Jaune: Huh?

Weiss: Just listen to me very carefully, and do as I do. Here comes someone now.

Councilman: Ah, Ms. Schnee! A delight to see you once again! Tell me, how has the air of Beacon treated you?

Weiss: Oh, splendidly! The air in Atlas can be so cold.

Councilman: Of course. Vale is much further from the ice of Solitas.

Weiss: That is true, that is true.

Councilman: And who might this be?

Weiss: Councilman, allow me to introduce you to Jaune Arc, a fellow student of Beacon. Jaune, this is Councilman-

Councilman: Ah, so you are the famous Jaune Arc! Or perhaps I should say infamous in my case. (Laughs haughtily)

Weiss: (Laughs haughtily)

Jaune: (Weakly chuckles)

Councilman: Come, come, you simply must meet with our benefactor for the evening!

Jaune: Uh, okay, if I must.

Weiss: (Whispers) You do.

Ironwood: So, this is the famous Jaune Arc?

Winter: Indeed, sir.

Ironwood: Were you able to pull up any information on him?

Winter: Unfortunately, no, sir. When I asked for his files, the Headmaster replied, and I quote, "lent them to another student."

Ironwood: Another one of Oz's jokes. But if the rumors are true, he could be a valuable ally.

Winter: Or a formidable enemy.

Ironwood: Hopefully it doesn't come to that.

Glynda: Doesn't come to what, James?

Ironwood: Ah, good evening, Glynda. How are you?

Glynda: I'm well, thank you. (Glares) Winter.

Winter: (Glares) Glynda.

Ironwood: ...I'll be discussing affairs with the Vacuan representatives over there for the moment. (Hurries away)

Winter: Still shipping trash, Glyn?

Glynda: I don't know. Do you still have garbage taste?

Jacques: Ah, so you're the famous Jaune Arc?

Jaune: O-Or infamous? (Chuckles)

Jacques: Oh, come now, I'm certain the rumors aren't true in the slightest.

Jaune: Rumors?

Jacques: Allow me to introduce myself. I am Jacques Schnee of the Schnee Dust Company. This is my wife, Willow, and our son, Whitely.

Willow: (Half-lidded) Good evening.

Whitely: Greetings, Mr. Arc.

Jacques: I see you have already met my daughter, Weiss.

Jaune: Yes, sir, and she is quite lovely.

Jacques: Lovely enough for marriage?

Weiss: Father!

Jaune: M-Marriage?!

Jacques: I joke, I joke! After all, this is a ball, is it not?

Jaune: Er, yeah, I guess it is.

Jacques: And if Weiss is of no interest to you, there is always Winter, who is...

Glynda: (Growling) IronQrow is the ultimate ship, and I will die on this hill.

Winter: (Snarling) Then perish under the banner of IronPin, you cow.

Jacques: ...around here somewhere.

Jaune: I'll be honest, I'm a little nervous about marriage, sir. My last one didn't end so well.

Jacques: Ah, a shame. I suppose you could always settle for the bachelor life. There are times when I wish for it myself.

Willow: All you need to do is ask, dear.

Jacques: Again, I joke! There's no ill will here, is there?

Jaune: Well, not here, no, but somewhere out there, I'm sure.

Jacques: Oh, anything come to mind?

Jaune: Well, there's the Grimm.

Jacques: And the White Fang, obviously.

Jaune: Well, I don't know about that, sir.

Jacques: Oh? Don't tell me you sympathize with those terrorists.

Jaune: Well, not all of them are terrorists. If I remember from my class right, the White Fang were peaceful protesters at first, and something pushed them to violence. Maybe even someone.

Jacques: Oh? Are you suggesting we sympathize with these murderers and thieves?

Jaune: Well, not with them, but definitely the ones boycotting dust until labor conditions improve and the peaceful protesters calling for equal treatment.

Jacques: If they wish to freeze in the cold than pay a small fee for fire dust, then I say we leave them to their ignorance! After all, as a Huntsman-in-training, you understand the importance of using Dust.

Jaune: I don't use Dust.

Jacques: Excuse me?

Jaune: I don't use dust. I use a sword and shield. I never could understand all the hubbub about Dust. Mom used a wood-burning stove, and we used the ashes around the house.

Jacques: Yours is certainly... a unique case, but I digress. Back to the other matter, these... individuals protesting are asking for the impossible.

Jaune: Well, we have a saying back home; "For evil to win, The good must stop doing." It's only impossible, sir, if you let it be impossible. I know all too well how easy it is to give up, but some things are worth fighting for.

Weiss: Uh, Jaune?

Jacques: I... see. And what of the terrorists? Surely you don't condone their methods of pillaging dust shipments to hinder my company?

Jaune: I don't agree with it, but look at the results, sir. Until a few years ago, I never heard of the White Fang. Only thing I knew about were bandits, and I thought they were the worst. At least the White Fang are fighting for a good cause, granted, not in the best way.

Jacques: (Red in the face) "Good cause-?" Do you hear yourself? My company suffers from their actions, not the other way around! I'm the victim here!

Jaune: (Looks around) I don't see any Faunus councilmembers or diplomats at this private event. Only staff members, and I'll bet they're struggling to make ends meet. They're probably better people, too.

Jacques: (Struggling to form words)

Jaune: Enjoy your evening, sirs. Madam. We're done here. (Turns to walk away)

Jacques: (Grabs Jaune's sleeve, Growls) How dare you! You listen to me; I am Jacques Schnee, head of the Schnee Dust Company!

Jaune: (Tugs his sleeve away, Straightens himself) And like my great-great-grandpa Arc told Zakeriah Schnee, (Prods Jacque's chest) I! Don't! Care!

Jacques: You would compare me to that traitor who sacrificed his own countrymen to save one man?

Jaune: You're right. After all, (Turns away) you're not even half the man Zakeriah Schnee was. (Leaves)

Whitely: (Whispering) Incredible... He tricked father into making a fool of himself, in front of everyone!

Weiss: (Whispering) Of course. After all, Arc was a champion of Ansel pit fighting not only for his strength, but his cunning. (Speaking) I must be going. Good night, father, mother, Whitely. (Walks away)

Weiss: (Scroll buzzes) Excuse me. (Answers) Hello?

Yang: 'Sup, Weissy? I heard you guys are having fun.

Weiss: How did you hear about it?

Yang: Jaune's friend sent us a video of it. Apparently, he's getting a lot of buzz from everywhere.

Blake: Including the White Fang.

Weiss: Will that be a problem?

Blake: It's difficult to say. The things he was saying were very telling about his childhood around Faunus, or lack thereof. It would make sense for him to sympathize with a group treated like slaves, even if he only just heard about them.

Weiss: Just another Arc thing, huh?

Ruby: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Weiss: I... I didn't say anything.

Yang: Oh, she and Nora are laughing at Professor Ozpin's livestream of the event. Specifically, the cat fight.

Weiss: What catfight?

Winter: (Holding Glynda by her hair) Say it! Say Jaune Arc needs a strong woman as his queen, and I'll let go!

Glynda: (Holding Winter by her hair) Never! Say Jaune Arc needs a caring woman as his guide, and I'll let go!

Ironwood: Ladies, please, control yourselves! Oz, will you stop recording and help me?!

Jaune: Ah, the breeze feels so nice out here. (Tapped on the shoulder) Huh? Oh, there you are, Mint!

[stop-breaking-my-heart-telltale]

[this week’s T5F was requested by anon]

Top 5 Worst Choices That Didn’t Matter

“This game series adapts to the choices you make. The story is tailored by how you play.”

......Yeah okay, Telltale. 

There are a lot of important choices to make over the course of the twdg series, but as we all know, not every single choice matters. One of the biggest things people tend to complain about Telltale games is the illusion of choice and “my choices don’t matter! We all get the same ending anyway!” which is fair, I get it. 

I personally try to look at the choices in a more positive light. Like, yeah it doesn’t matter if you cut Lee’s arm off or not. No matter what, you can’t save him and he’s going to die at the end of S1. Except that choice does matter, just not in the way we wanted it to. It matters because it shapes the story we the player want to tell. 

Who is your Lee? Is he willing to do anything to rescue Clementine? Including cutting his own arm off if it means giving him just enough time to get to her, even though it’s going to hurt like hell and could possibly leave him worse off? 

Or is your Lee someone who won’t risk that, even if there is the smallest hope that they cut it off in time and he could live? He’s willing to let the infection spread and kill him because he needs both arms and all the energy he has left to get to Clementine?

Sure, it doesn’t matter in the end-- Lee still dies, but two armed Lee isn’t the same man as one armed Lee, and that’s important to your story. Plus, that choice is memorable as hell. 

But these kinds of choices that are impactful to your story in various ways? Yeah, we’re not talking about those today. Nope. Today we’re talking about choices that meant absolutely nothing. They never came back, they didn’t impacted the story in a meaningful way, they’re forgetful, and they’re just the worst. I don’t like ‘em.

Before we get started, just wanna shoutout @pi-creates​ for helping me bounce all these choices around and reminding me of so many things I forgot.

5.  Telling Clementine to bring AJ back to Richmond

One of the last choices you’ll make as Javier Garcia happens during a conversation with Clementine. The two are talking about AJ and Clementine’s wondering if she was a good mom [which still don’t love the direction they went there for okay ANF] and Javi has the choice to tell her to bring AJ back to Richmond, or to leave him at the ranch. 

And funny enough.... this means nothing. It does nothing. It’s said and nothing is remembered. Clementine never brings AJ back, she never mentions Javi telling her to bring him or leave him... all we get is a single line in TFS during the ranch flashback where Clementine says that they can’t go back because it’s a warzone that way.... but she says that no matter what. 

It also doesn’t help that this come at the very end of the season but isn’t a huge choice the affects the endings. I dunno if they were trying to plant ideas that “Ooohh this choice could decide whether Clem sees the Garcia’s ever again! Clementine’s story isn’t over y’all! The Garcia’s could come back and we could see Richmond again!”

But then TFS happened and they were like “Ha, that’s stupid, no one likes the Garcia’s.” and they are never mentioned by name again. 

4. Helping Sarah in the green house

Ugh, okay.

So, there’s this point in S2 where you’re trapped in Howe’s and put to work in the green house with Sarah and Reggie. Y’see, Sarah isn’t doing so good at this. Carver got pissed at her for talking earlier and forced Carlos to slap her... which he did, and it knocked her on her ass, and now she’s in shock. 

Then ya got Reggie who keeps talking about how he’s on thin ice with Carver but also he’s this close to being let out of the holding area, so behave and all will be chill. He gives you a task to trip and pick berries or whatever, when you notice that Sarah is just kinda standing there.

So you got a choice: Do you focus on your own work, or do you help Sarah out?

Well, it doesn’t matter what you pick. 

It.... it literally doesn’t matter. Sure, you could argue that it helps Sarah out and adds friendship points with her.... except no, not really. It’s never brought up again. She doesn’t even guilt you if you don’t help her, which is something you’d expect from these games. 

Oh, and Reggie dies no matter what. Yeah, Carver comes in and thinks a couple of berry bushes is the perfect reason to throw this man off of a rooftop... but then he doesn’t do anything to Clementine or Sarah either way. He doesn’t get mad if you help, he doesn’t go after Sarah if you don’t.... and it’s never mentioned again. Reggie’s death is, but your specific choice isn’t.

3.  Stealing from Arvo 

Oooooh boy, gotta love the Arvo choice. 

So, you and Jane are trying to find a safe place for Rebecca to have her baby when you see this kid walk up carrying a bag. He’s pretty harmless, and he’s more scared of you than you are of him. Jane gets the jump on him, and you check out the bag he’s carrying. 

Turns out, he’s got a shit ton of medicine.... medicine that your group could really use. Arvo panics and begs you not to steal from him, claiming it’s for his sick sister. You gotta decide if you want to rob him or not.

And it doesn’t matter. 

The best I can do to defend this is by kinda comparing it to when you steal from the Stranger’s car in S1. It’s more of a moral choice to shape Clementine, y’know? Except it doesn’t really do anything..... Clementine isn’t branded a thief after this, she doesn’t go around just stealing shit [though she can steal Pete’s watch but that’s another story]. But if you do want to keep stretching, then the next entry on this list could be seen as a continuation of Clementine’s thieving ways if you so choose.... but that choice is here, too, soooo take that for what you will. 

If you steal the medicine, you have this pill bottle that you can give to Rebecca but that barely matters, too. They don’t help or harm her when she’s giving birth, they do nothing for AJ, and no matter what you do.... Arvo’s squad ambushes you.

And it means nothing.

Arvo will always claim you stole from him, even if you didn’t. Rebecca will always die and someone will always shoot her, causing a shootout to happen where no one in your group dies.

Yeah, no one but Arvo’s squad dies. Mike gets shot, and so does Luke but that’s it. 

Oh, and stealing from him is never brought up again after that.... because it doesn’t matter. 

Even if they did something where if you stole from him, then one of your group members dies because of some bullshit reason, then it would mean something but as it is now? Nothin��.

2. Injecting AJ with medicine 

Oh hello, ANF, you’re back. 

This flashback is annoying on so many levels... Alright, AJ is sick and everyone has told Clementine that there’s nothing anyone can do to help him, but she gets her hands on the name of a medicine she thinks will help. So she sneaks around and finds the medicine, but of course, she can only give it to him as an injection. 

Instead of doing the smart thing and taking the medicine and moving away from the group to give to AJ in a safe location where she won’t get caught, she sticks around for Lingard to wake up, and he’s high outta his mind so that’s fun. 

He tells her that it’s not going to help him and to just put it back. She knows what they do to thieves around here but he won’t tell anyone. It’s up to you, do you put it back or inject AJ?

Well, guess what? 

Clementine gets caught either way and the drugs are either in AJ or smashed on the floor, David becomes a flipflop with his “We shoulda abandoned AJ long ago to die >:O but also you can’t take him because he’ll die out there!” and they kick Clementine out for being a dingus. 

And here’s the kicker.... AJ is alive no matter what. He gets through whatever sickness he had and went to the ranch. You injecting him or not did nothing... no side affects, nothing. I’m sure they didn’t want to go super dark by killing AJ off [except they kinda did since there’s a lot of scrapped concepts with a dead AJ] depending on if you injected him or not..... but at least it would’ve been something. Hell, maybe no kill him since we need him for TFS, but maybe it would affect if he went to the ranch or not to begin with. Maybe if he got worse, they sent him somewhere else and that would affect where Clementine went to get him back for the flashbacks in TFS.

Again, you could look at this as what Clementine would be willing to do for AJ........ but it doesn’t enhance the story in any meaningful way.  It affects what Clementine you get in the end, but that’s just some text on the screen. 

I dunno, this choice could’ve done something... that’s all I’m saying. 

1. Teaching Sarah to shoot

Once again, Sarah finds herself on my dumb lists... and not in a good way. Sigh. 

Alright, you wanna talk about the worst choice that meant absolutely nothing? Nothing at all? 

You get back to the cabin in S2 after leaving either Nick or Pete, and Carlos asks you to watch Sarah while they go out to look for the rest. You find Sarah, you can take some pictures, and then she asks where her dad is. 

She gets anxious and sits on the floor....but then she does something interesting. She pulls out a gun she found. It’s not loaded or anything, but she asks Clementine if she can teach her how to use it.

And you’re probably thinking, “Oh, that’s a good idea. She should know how to use a gun, but her dad is too over protective. This could help us in the future.” or “Oof, no, Sarah isn’t ready for a gun. What if that comes back and bites me in the ass? What if she shoots someone I don’t want her to shoot?”

Well, don’t worry your pretty little head because nothing comes of this.

Nothing.

You teach her to shoot, and it does nothing. She never picks up another gun ever again, she never does anything with what you taught her, and nothing happens. 

Just.... wow. 

At the very least... with the other picks on this list, you could stretch and make some sort of excuse for it having an impact on the story.... but this doesn’t do anything to further your relationship with Sarah, Carlos never finds out about it, there’s never a point where Sarah admits she found the gun, she doesn’t use it, she doesn’t give it to Clementine or anyone else to you, and it does nothing.

This scene could be completely removed and it wouldn’t change anything... which honestly, is something I can’t say for the rest of these dumb choices. 

That’s what makes this the ultimate pointless choice. 

---

Dishonorable Mentions

-Asking to go with Mike at the end of S2. Arvo will shoot Clementine no matter what and it’s dumb. -Keeping quiet about Mari when David asks you to. It doesn’t affect anything other than David being upset for two seconds, but you get thrown out and it doesn’t matter. -Trying to help Christa in S2 ep1. Either way, she gets shot at and you never see her again and it just doesn’t matter. -Honestly 400 Days.... just all of it. The only thing you get is pointless cameos if you get everyone to go with Tavia.  -Being nice to Larry. He still treats you like shit and accuses you of being a bitch to him anyway soooo.... yeah.  -Fixing the swing in S1 ep2. If you don’t do it, then Andy will.

----

It’s pretty telling that this T5F is just S2 and ANF choices.... sigh. Like sure, there are a lot of choices that don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things in S1 and TFS but most of those I can justify as being there to shape your story and are impactful in different ways..... but boy, there’s just something about S2 and ANF and their choices, isn’t there? 

Anyway, what do you guys think? Do you agree with my choices or nah? Do you have a choice you don’t like and think is meaningless that wasn’t on the list? Lemme know, I’d love to hear it! 

Have any suggestions for future T5F’s? Feel free to send ‘em in! :D

—

Next week’s T5F Top 5 Reasons Javier Garcia’s Pretty Great

[cursedchilddrarry]

Harry and Ginny are heading for divorce

‘But Harry is canonically straight and married to Ginny!’ said - well, honestly, said no-one ever in the history of Tumblr, but regardless, I want to address this because I have thoughts.

In this essay I will... no, seriously.

(Note I have nothing against Lucy Goleby’s fantastic portrayal of this character in the Melbourne cast!)

Spoilers, I guess? Do I even need to say that at this stage?

Harry and Ginny married and had babies extremely young. Pre-Cursed Child, myself and most other people I speak to found the epilogue of DH fairly uninspired and disappointing, and I was again somewhat disappointed when I first saw the play to learn that it opened on that same scene (in my opinion it actually manages to salvage that terrible epilogue, but that’s another conversation). I think it’s fairly unrealistic that teenagers who suffered so much trauma would instantly get married, get jobs and have babies.

Anyway, per the canon that did happen, and now (in the Cursed Child), far more reaslistically, the situation is thus: Harry is a fairly terrible father, having no example to base himself on (or terrible examples only), and clearly never properly recovered from the trauma of his teenage experiences - how could he? He went instantly from a literal warzone into being married and having three children in quick succession, at the same time as being promoted extremely quickly through the ranks of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement (and probably undeservedly - let’s face it, Harry probably isn’t smart enough or mature enough, even by 40, to be in the job he’s in - however, a white male being given a position he doesn’t deserve is certainly something I can accept as realistic, unfortunately, and wizards aren’t exactly the most tolerant or progressive bunch). Plus, I didn’t see his and Ginny’s relationship as particularly great. It could be argued much of this is due to the conflict of the events in the show, but I felt (whether intended by the writer or not) it ran deeper. Hear me out on this.

They argue a lot (without resolution)

One of the sub-conflicts/resolutions is Ginny wrongly assuming Harry is at fault for Albus running away, and though she later apologises, she makes a particularly harsh comment something like ‘the more mistakes you make, the harder to forgive you it gets’

Albus is honestly a bit of a little shit (I love him! Don’t throw things at me! Scorpius tells him he’s being selfish and he needs to get over his stupid issues with his dad, and Albus himself agrees) and though Harry definitely goes too far in his arguments with Albus, Ginny doesn’t really try to see Harry’s view at all or accept that Albus may be also at fault

Ginny endlessly tells Harry off and lectures him on his parenting, though I don’t see any evidence of her being parent of the year

Ginny makes a snarky comment about how ‘Harry does most of the cooking’, not her - yet we are told multiple times through the play that Harry works very long hours in a very high-stress, high-pressure job. Ginny is a sports editor. Seriously? He does the cooking?

I don’t get any chemistry between them. In fact, I feel she acts FAR more like a mother to Harry, rather than a wife

Which actually kind of makes sense, right? Harry always wanted to be part of the Weasley family and to have a mother like Molly - well, in Ginny, he kind of got that. And he always wanted a family, which explains why he rushed into having so many babies so quickly when he clearly wasn’t ready

I’m not trying to shit on Ginny - on the contrary, it looks to me like she’s in a difficult position with a rather immature husband who she needs to parent as much as her actual children. She constantly feels excluded from the golden trio (she says this explicitly), and even from the canonically-intense relationship Harry has with Draco; her role and her work are constantly overshadowed by Harry, and she has to fight every time for a place at the table, for her opinion to be heard (leading to her shouting a lot) and I honestly felt like she must be thinking maybe she’d be better off without Harry.

And on Harry’s side, in contrast to Ginny, he has fireworks and lightning-strike type chemistry with Draco; he has a lot of maturing he needs to do, which Draco seems to have already done, being far more together and a more natural father (although a bit stiff), and he has a deeper conversation with Draco in five minutes than he has with Ginny in the entire play; and also, although Ginny seems to know about Harry’s trauma, she doesn’t seem to understand it in the same way that Draco does. She just doesn’t have the same experience. Yes, she experienced a lot, but not to the extent Harry or Draco did. Although she listens to and tries to comfort Harry through his nightmares/flashbacks/general angst and misery, it���s more in a practical mode of ‘let’s get past this and move on’ whereas it felt like Harry was nowhere near ready for that - may not ever be ready for that.

In conclusion, my headcanon is (though they seem to make amends at the end of the play) that their relationship continues to deterioriate until Ginny leaves. And then Harry and Draco find each other, which is another topic.

If anyone read all of this, firstly I’m amazed, but also I want your thoughts on whether you agree with this analysis. As I said, I’m not hating on any of the characters or actors, this is just what I felt really strongly in the subtext, and I actually love this dynamic for these characters.

[killuwumi]

Snow Day Shenanigans

Request; Hi :3 This is my first time requesting, so sorry if i do or ask anything wrong. May i ask for Dazai and a female reader which has a teleportation ability that works on him? :)

a/n! I am HONORED to be your first request, I hope this is a great first request for you dear anon, and it was a perfect request no worries, thank you :) In honor of it finally being a good snow here, I included it!

While your teleportation ability is really useful, it also has an odd downside. It is luck based. Meaning that it will only teleport certain people, it's like a coin toss whether they can be teleported or not. And Dazai is one lucky bastard.

He's also your boyfriend. You love him to death but sometimes you curse your ability for working on him, you've gotten more than one talking to from Kunikida for getting Dazai off work.

On the other hand though, you've also helped on countless missions in making sure that he is safe. Along with Atsushi, because he is the only other ADA member it works on. So it has it's plus sides as well.

On a lonely snow day you remembered what Dazai had first told you when he figured out your ability worked on him. "If you ever feel lonely, just teleport me to you, and I'll be more than happy to help. ;)" You knew it was both a joke and not. Because you've used the excuse of feeling alone to bring him to your side.

However you had a plan this time. Peeking outside the window just beyond the couch, you saw the snow continuing to pile up and glisten on the ground. You leapt into action, getting warm clothes on, a coat, gloves, etc, and rushing outside.

You began on your master plan to start building the walls for the snowball fight, meanwhile at the agency, Dazai was spinning around in his chair avoiding work. Complaining that the snow was just too distracting.

Once finished and much colder than before, you activated your ability and a stunned Dazai stood before you. "Ah! Belladonna I see you've saved me from work once again!" He was so excited to see you that he hadn't realized where he was. A warzone.

You ran behind cover and grabbed one of the snow balls you made, throwing it at the unsuspecting brunette. "Hey! Love, that's an unfair advantage!" He yelled from behind his wall. He was frantically trying to make more snowballs.

While you loved to play fair, this is Dazai we are talking about, you had to give yourself some sort of advantage. He can make his own snowballs anyway.

As you were lost in thought and going through the motions of making snowballs, Dazai was also stocking up, his pile was huge! "HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!" He popped up from over his wall to laugh at you. "Get ready, I won't go easy on you!" And with that he ducked behind his wall once more.

An assault began that lasted over an hour, the two of you landing hits and Dazai dramatically falling each time. The whole neighborhood could hear laughter and trash talk echoing from your fight. If it weren't for the crude words, people might have mistaken you two for children.

"Love, I'm freezing, and I thought we would be cuddling not out in the cold! I can't die in the snow! A-" You interrupted his whining with a snowball to the face.

Although you had to admit you were also started to get cold, and had made a mess of the yard. So reluctantly you dragged Dazai through the snow and back inside.

"Your clothes are soaked, mind if I take them off for you?" He said casually.

"Dazai! No!!" Your face was ten shades of red, and Dazai could tell he had already filled your mind with less than wholesome kid friendly thoughts.

In the end, he settled for just cuddling on the couch with you. Even under a pile of blankets, being next to him always made you the warmest.

[sortasirius]

50, Bucky and Steve

AN: Oh hell yes

Words: 1202 (self control?  idk her)

Warnings: idiot 40s gays

Link to OG post

Prompt me up

50. putting a hand over the other’s mouth to shut them up

“You’re being so stupid right now, you know that?” Bucky stage whispers at Steve, covering his six, “Why can’t we ever just, I don’t know, wait for backup?”

“Because we are backup, Buck,” Steve points out, sliding around a corner and taking out the sentinel at the end of the hallway with one clean shot, “Plus, who would ever want to mess with us?”

Bucky surveys Steve’s broad back, the way his uniform strains against his muscles, the way sweat slides down his neck and into his shirt. He plays up the banter, it’s a lesser distraction than Steve’s appearance.

“Mess with you, you mean?  You look like King Kong coming around corners now.”

“You’re just jealous that I’m taller than you.”

Bucky bites his tongue, preventing the retort that wants to come to his lips reflexively.  I’m just jealous I don’t get you all to myself anymore.  He would never say that, never admit to that, because Steve was never his anyway.  Only in his dreams, right?

The sound of yelling in German breaks him out of his thoughts, and he’s watching Steve disappear around the corner.

“Fucker,” he hisses, immediately sprinting to keep up with him.  It’s easier to do that than he would have thought, since Austria Bucky is the only one who’s been able to keep pace with Steve, not that he’s complaining.

Okay, warzone, right.  Cover Steve.  He’s always got to have Steve’s back, whether he’s Superman now or not.

Thanks to Captain America, forty Allied troops are freed from cells in the basements below the massive HYDRA weapons depot that is blown to hell as soon as they’re clear.

They celebrate their victory at a miraculously open bar at the little town near base.  Steve is nervous, constantly straightening his tie and making sure his uniform looks clean in the reflection of a pint glass in front of him.  Bucky listens to the loud, almost jarring music of the bar, the chatter that surrounds them, a stark contrast to the quiet walk back to base, where there were only whispered conversations and the sound of the wind whistling through the trees.

“You’re going to rip that jacket if you keep straightening it like that.”

“Well you look like you just rolled out of bed, formal uniform too good for you?”

Bucky lights up at the prospect of more banter, it’s one of his favorite things to do with Steve, something intensely personal and private, something just between the two of them.

“Need I remind you that I was captured only a few weeks ago, it’s not like they’ve shipped me a new dress uniform, not all of us are the golden boy.”

Steve’s mouth does that little quirked smile, the one where he really likes something Bucky’s said but wants to hide it for the sake of the game.  Completely unrelated, Bucky feels like there’s sunshine in his chest.

“I’ll get to the sewing machines, can’t have you looking like a bum in the middle of this fine establishment.”

“You always were good at the housewife chores,” Bucky smirks at him, knowing it’ll turn Steve red.  He didn’t mean it of course, Bucky grew up with three siblings, he knew how to sew before he was ten, but a good jab at Steve was worth a white lie, even though both of them knew the truth.

Before Steve can retaliate, a pretty nurse comes up to him, asking Steve if he likes to dance, what kind of music he likes at home, if he has any plans for the evening.  Bucky hates the way his heart twists in corrosive jealousy as she bats her lashes at him, hates the way he can feel his mouth twist, knowing that Steve would misread his face, think he was jealous of him, not of the girl allowed to so brazenly flirt with Steve.

He’s mine, he thinks, wanting nothing more than to possessively take Steve’s wrist and lead him out the door, away from prying eyes and too-loud music.  But he’s not his, he can’t be.

Steve looks like a deer in the headlights, and Bucky laughs a little at the way he’s so flustered.  No one seems to notice or care that he’s awkward when he flirts (or tries to).  No one notices the way his brows knit together when he’s thinking too hard.  No one cares that he picks at his nails when he doesn’t know what to say.  They see Captain America.  Bucky sees Steve.

Apparently, the nurse gets the hint after a couple of minutes, and departs with a huff back to a table filled with other nurses, wide-eyed at her bravery to come and try and get a date with Captain America. Steve still looks like he’s just stared death in the face.

“You really need to up your skills,” Bucky informs him, “Don’t worry, I, as the resident charmer, can teach Captain America a thing or two, if you think you can handle it.”

He gives Steve an exaggerated wink and claps him on the shoulder, letting his hand linger there just a second too long.

His words are double-edged, he knows that, but what he doesn’t expect is for Steve to stand fluidly, and drag Bucky out the back into the dark alley of the bar, where the only sound is the muffled music and chatter inside and the faint whining of a street lamp on the corner.

Bucky’s about halfway through an absolutely hilarious quip about Steve still running away from women, when Steve’s hand is over his mouth, and he’s being shoved against the brick wall of the bar in the dark alley, unable to make any kind of sound against the warm skin of Steve’s palm against his mouth.

“You have never learned to shut up,” Steve sighs, replacing his palm with his lips in one fell swoop.  Bucky can’t even react, he can’t do anything but stand there, one hand wrapped unconsciously around Steve’s forearm, the other hanging loosely at his side.  He can’t breathe, he can’t think, he can’t feel anything but Steve’s lips against his.

Steve pulling away from him feels too much like a heartbreak, and Bucky reacts without thinking, pulling him forward by the lapels of his dress uniform, kissing him over and over and over again.  He feels Steve smile against his mouth, feels one hand in his hair, the other at his hip, grounding him, preventing him from floating up into the atmosphere and away from this too-perfect moment in a damp alley behind a bar.

Bucky had heard his mother say once that breathing was easier when she and his father were together.  He had never understood that more than when he was kissing Steve.

“Well,” Steve huffs, looking unfairly good with pink lips and mussed hair and a blinding smile on his face, “I guess I do have better luck with partners now.”

“You’re an idiot,” Bucky pulls him closer again, “I’ve always wanted this, just took you growing a foot and putting on a hundred pounds to realize that.”

Steve gives him the kind of smile that makes Bucky’s chest ache, and they don’t talk for awhile after that.

[probably-writing-x]

Just you and your quirks.

Ander x Reader

Request by anon: Hi, so I Ioved noticed absence and it gave me an idea.I want to request an Ander imagine where he and the reader are in the same friend group, hanging out everyday etc and he likes her for a long time but she has no clue.Then something happens that makes him confess his feelings to her (how he remembers everything she's told him and notices every little thing she does etc).I don't know if it makes any sense but if you could do that it would be greatly appreciated. Ps I really love your writing ❤

Gif is not my own

Requests are open 🤍

“Hello hello hello!” Ander grins as he carry the pizza boxes through to the lounge, “What did we miss?”

Guzmán follows behind with the other boxes in his arms, stepping over the pillows on the floor to follow cautiously.

“Just (Y/n) complaining about being hungry,” Lu rolls her eyes, “Or complaining about everything in general.”

“Well, I got your favourite so stop moaning now,” Ander eyes you as he sets down the box in front of your crossed legs, “And I even asked for it without the onions because you always end up picking them off anyway.”

“Thanks,” You laugh to yourself, “Did you ask for ex-“

“Extra peppers too, yep I got it all right,” He scoffs, sitting down beside you with his own pizza box, “What film are we watching?”

The group kick off into a chorus of debate once again as they try to decide on the movie, now joined by Guzmán who made the whole situation worse by suggesting films that you hadn’t even considered.

“What film are they choosing?” Ander leans over to ask you.

“I’m not even sure that they know,” You roll your eyes, “At this rate we won’t end up watching anything, just like last time.”

“Oh, I was meant to ask you, do you mind if I come round tomorrow evening? Mums at a board meeting all evening and I’d rather avoid my Dad.”

You smile at his offer, “Yeah of course, I think my parents are out anyway. We can play some Warzone.”

“Hey! You two need to make a decision,” Polo calls over, “It’s either Die Hard or Love Actually.”

You laugh at the choices, evidently dissimilar in all ways.

“Don’t you hate both of those films?” Ander frowns at you.

“Yeah but that’s fine, Guzmán always picks the shit choices,” You joke to your friend, “I say Die Hard.”

“Okay, fine, we’ll watch that one,” Ander agrees, reaching over and grabbing a blanket from the middle of the floor where you’d all set up for the evening.

As the film starts, both of you snuggle under the covering as you turn to watch the screen - unbeknownst to the fact that Anders eyes struggled to leave you, despite the ongoings of the movie.

It’s as the film almost ends and a loud fight scene almost breaks out that you jump up from your sleep and realise that you’d been sleeping on Ander the entire time. Luckily, he was asleep too as he’d had his head resting on your shoulder and yours resting against the cushion of his curly hair.

“Don’t worry, we took plenty of photos,” Lu comments from across the room where her and Guzmán sat with his arm uncomfortably around her, “Just for when you two actually do get together.”

You glance at your friend and try to not move in the fear of waking him up. Why did everyone always think that you two were anything more than friends?!

- - - - - -

The next day, you meet Ander from tennis practice as you walk over to the court that he was playing on.

“Hi Sir,” You smile to his Dad, “How are you?”

“Better if my son didn’t seem so distracted,” He rolls his eyes, “Do you know what’s going on with him?”

You glance over at Ander who looks furious with irritation, “We have a lot of tests coming up at school, and Ander’s been working hard to get his grades up. He’s actually been helping me.”

“Well, maybe he needs to focus more on the thing that’s going to help his future,” His Dad glares daggers at Ander who looks bashfully down at his feet.

“Ready to go, Ander?” You turn to him hopefully.

“Where do you think you’re going?” His Dad questions, “He’ll stay here until I say he’s good enough to leave.”

“Sir, don’t you think you’ll make matters a lot worse by forcing him to continue when he’s clearly not focused? I don’t know about you, but it’s only going to get worse if you keep him here for any longer in my opinion,” You’re always defensive of Ander but it’s normally after you’ve left that you’d start to rant about how his Dad treats him in practice.

“(Y/n), it’s fine, I’ll talk to you later...” Ander attempts, not wanting matters to escalate further.

“No, I’m serious! I don’t see how you can think it’s acceptable to push your son into some sort of elite status when all it’s doing is making him hate the sport more and more.”

His Dad glares at you but words fail him before he swallows his pride, “Fine, we’ll start again tomorrow.”

You turn your attention back to Ander who looks shocked between you and his father, “Ready to go, Ander?”

He grabs his bag from the side of the court and follows out after you in pure surprise. Nobody ever spoke up to his Dad like that. He never had the guts to, so how had you just done it so easily?

“You really didn’t have to do that...” He comments as he trails beside you on the way out of the school grounds.

“I know, and I’m sorry. I didn’t want to make things worse, but fuck! He makes me so angry,” You sigh, running a hand across your hair.

“No, no,” Ander stops you by holding onto your arm, “Thank you, nobody’s ever stood up to him like that.”

Your lips curl into a smile full of surprise.

“I’d do it everyday if I could. You don’t deserve to be treated like that,” You encourage, “He needs to understand when enough is enough.”

Ander swallows the lump in his throat, “Thank you.”

“Now, lets go and play warzone and at least try to get some wins today.”

- - - - - -

You’re just about to fall asleep when Ander speaks up the words he’d been waiting to ask all night. Something had seemed off about him since you’d first arrived home but you’d brushed it off as a consequence of what had happened with his Dad.

“There’s an event thing with the board tomorrow and obviously I have to go with my mum, would you maybe want to come? She said I could bring someone,” Ander explains, tucking an arm under his head as he lays on the adjacent side of the bed to you.

“Yeah, okay, I’d be happy to. Do we need to dress up all fancy?”

He laughs, “It’s a black tie event.”

“Then I will find my finest attire, what time?”

“I’ll pick you up at seven,” He nods, “Thank you.”

This was the way things always were with you and Ander. You spent so much time alone together, separate from the rest of the group, that people constantly assumed that you were dating. Whether it was always spending the night at each other’s houses, meaning you’d always turn up late on the same days, or the fact that you were always each other’s plus ones - everyone always just expected that you were more than friends. It had never occurred to you that he felt that way too. It was just the way it had always been. He’d always just remembered every word you said, every date that was of note, every piece of your life that he’d fixed with his own. Every piece of your heart.

“Good night Ander,” You mumble through a stifled yawn as you turn in the bed and tuck an arm under the pillow to sleep.

He turns to face you too but doesn’t close his eyes like you do. He keeps focused on you, wondering when you’d learn that he’d never see you as a friend.

- - - - - -

As promised, Ander comes to pick you up with his Mum at 7pm and the two of you head to the venue of the board meeting. It was always intimidating to attend these things but you’d grown used to them after how many Ander had brought you along to. Normally, the two of you would keep to each other’s company and avoid speaking to as many people as you could.

“Okay, so who’s that guy?” You point out to a certain man amongst the crowd as Ander hands a drink to you.

“He pays for some of the Oxford scholarships,” Ander explains, “Pretty important for the school.”

You roll your eyes, “Or just a guy with deep pockets.”

“That’s kind of the point,” Ander laughs, “The school upholds a good reputation so that people like that keep feeding us money.”

“Technicalities,” You brush him off, taking a sip of your drink.

“You know, we can get out of here if you want,” He encourages, following behind you as you walk through the crowd.

“What are you talking about?” You laugh, “We only just got here!”

“I know, but it’s hardly our scene.”

“None of this is ever our scene,” You chuckle, “But it’s getting pretty busy, we can at least stay for an hour.”

“And then warzone?” Ander raises his brows.

“Deal.”

You spend the next half an hour mingling around people before your phone starts going off in your pocket and you quickly dismiss yourself to head outside. It’s your Mother on the other end of the line as you respond to her asking about when you’d be home, if at all.

“I can check with Ander, see if it would be easier for me to stay there tonight,” You nod, turning around as you notice someone, Ander, walking out of the door.

He nods at you like he’s giving approval to your obvious suggestion.

“And he said that’s fine,” You laugh gently, “I’ll talk to you later Mum, yeah I’ll let you know when I’m home.”

With that, you hang up and turn back to Ander.

“Sorry, are the speeches starting?” You ask, stuffing your phone back into your pocket.

“No, but I um... I just wanted to speak to you about something.”

Your brows settle into an instant frown, “Everything okay man?”

Ander looks down at the floor and kicks at a stone amongst the crowd on the ground, “See, I’ve thought about saying this a thousand times. I don’t know why now, here, but I guess it just feels like the right time.”

“Ander what are you talking about?”

“You can say whatever you want, or nothing at all, just after I’m done. I don’t think I’ll be able to start up again if I stop.”

“You’re scaring me, what are you about to say?”

“I like you (Y/n). And the only reason I’m not saying love is because I want that to come after I know that you feel the same. It’s not just that liking to anybody and everybody. It’s in every piece of you,” Ander admits like the words have been waiting to be spoken for years now, “You’re the most incredible person in my life, and I never want to find anybody that will change that.”

“Ander...” You begin, unsure as to where your sentence would go after that.

“I started thinking it was just a confused thing. But then I realised you’re the only person I actually fucking listen to, and I remember everything you say. And that’s not just a friend thing. I didn’t even try to fight it because I already knew it would be useless. It’s you (Y/n)! How could I not like you?”

You swallow the lump in your throat, “How long... how long have you felt like that?”

He smiles gently, “I think I always did. I just didn’t realise until early this year, when you came to mine on Valentines Day.”

“February? That was eight fucking months ago Ander. You’ve had feelings for me since then and you’ve just not told me?”

He winces a little at the harsh tone of your words, “I tried to, so many times. But I didn’t want to ruin anything, change anything...”

“Change anything?” You exhale, “This changes everything Ander.”

“You don’t feel the same,” It’s like he needs to speak the words to properly realise it.

You can’t say no. But can’t say yes either.

Instead, you watch as he takes a step forward until the gap between you is closed.

“Just... tell me to stop and I will,” He begins, lifting up a hand to cup your cheek.

He takes in a deep breath and dips his head to your level, lips an inch from yours as he looks to your eyes for approval. You’re the one that leans forward, offering him all the approval he needed. Your lips lock and for a moment all of your history slips away. He’s just a boy with a very certain kiss.

“Does that change anything?”

[plus-ultra-oneshots]

World War Dodgeball {BakugouXMale!Reader}

World War Dodgeball

BakugouXMale!Reader Oneshot

"There is nothing normal about it."

.:+:.

"Quiet down and listen up." Mr. Aizawa muttered lowly, the usual unkempt mess of a man standing before the assembled class that had, previously- been talking amongst themselves without ever realizing their Homeroom Teacher had made a reappearance. The conversation and whatnot died in instant obedient silence, everyone snapping to attention and turning toward the Erasure Hero, who grumbled at the 6 seconds too long that it took to gain their full attention- but he let it be.

Your eyes moved passed everyone else and to the front- all of you in your gym uniforms and (of course) in one of the gyms the school owned. However this gym in particular was stacked, the floor rising up in several places and sunken in in others. There were also raised bits of wall that were freestanding, some tall and short, and beams and places for cover and higher ground... Some of the walls had weird little gates in them that were closed, and several placed along the floors too......huh...

Knowing Mr. Aizawa, he had planned something exhausting and maybe even a bit unorthodox to put the class through... Or maybe it was less him personally, than it was all of the 'exercises' were just par for the course of the Hero Academia.

"Today you will be playing Dodgeball." Mr. Aizawa said simply, the class as a whole seemed to stiffen in surprise.

"Dodgeball...?!" Several people hissed under their breaths,

"I haven't played that in a long time, ribbit." Asui murmured aloud,

"That's so normal!" Kaminari trilled almost instantly with Mina saying near the same thing. You couldn't help but agree- but the strange layout gave you pause, as it did a few of your classmates.

"There is nothing normal about it." Mr. Aizawa muttered dryly, cutting off the sudden chatter that started. "You will all be split into two teams. The objective is the same as it normally would be- hit the members of the rival team out by sending the balls toward them. Any contact with a ball sent toward you by another student, without catching it- will get you disqualified. Both teams have full range of the entire gym. There's no boundaries you need to stay in, use the space in full and to any advantage you can." Mr. Aizawa continued, "In order to disqualify someone, you must 'throw' the ball- either by actually throwing them, kicking them, whatever way you want as long as it leaves you and hits them. There is no 'tagging' someone at close range. You can use your Quirks as you see fit." The older man grumbled, "The game continues on until all members of one team are hit out- or otherwise you all become too exhausted to continue." His hand shifted from his pocket, pulling out a small remote as he clicked one of the buttons on it- and there was a mechanical buzz that echoed over the whole gym. "You will also be disqualified if you get hit by any of the automated machines hidden all around the area."

You tensed as one of the many little gates in the walls and the floors suddenly popped open behind Mr. Aizawa and a red ball shot from it and toward the whole class at breakneck speed. The people in front of you scrambled out of the ball's path, flinching backwards and parting like the Red Sea before you as you stood there, seeing the coconut-sized red bullet inching ever closer by the nanosecond.

So that's what those Gates are for

Your hand shot up from being in your pocket, a resounding SMACK echoing over the gym as the smooth plastic surface made contact with the skin of your palm with so much force a painful jolt ran through your bones. You grumbled under your breath, aware that Hagakure behind you let out a relieved sigh- probably thankful you had caught the ball instead of stepping aside like everyone else and leaving her to potentially get nailed with it instead.

"Nice catch, (Y/N)!" Mina chirped brightly, you lowered your hand and the ball with it.

"I try." You smiled coolly,

"Tch, like it was hard." Came the low grumble from Class 1-A's resident hothead, and your eye twitched slightly though you didn't deign to glance his way. Your grip around the ball tightened as you kept up a small smile, and pretended you didn't hear him say a thing.

Because lord knows, once you said something, he'd say something snarky back, and then both you and Bakugou would end up at each others throats, that's how it always ended up. And you usually couldn't give a damn if you were fighting- you fell into the conflict as quickly as Bakugou did- but right now you stopped yourself. If you two went at it right in that instant it would only piss off Mr. Aizawa... And besides-

We're about to be in the middle of a dodgeball game more aimed like a warzone. I'll just kick his ass, like I'm expected to be doing so for the assignment.

"Give him a break, man." Kirishima sighed in exasperation toward Bakugou, who scowled. "You guys are always bashing on eachother over just about everything, and then you go back to being cool with eachother out of nowhere- why fight at all?"

"Shut it Shitty-Hair, it's none of your damn business." Bakugou snapped lowly, "And all you idiots are losing your minds for nothing, I'm gonna show every one of you losers who you should be paying attention to." His palms slammed together in a flurry of booming little explosions flicking from his skin and sending up smoke.

"... So it's just you two trying to one up each other over everything, huh...?" Kirishima sighed, though Bakugou never heard him say anything.

"Rivalry among comrades." Tokoyami murmured quietly,

"I'm gonna wipe the floor with all of you. You'll be dust by the end of this." Bakugou growled, both you and him oblivious to Kirishima and Tokoyami saying anything.

"You do know we're gonna be on teams right?" Jiro sighed,

"Why the hell do I care?! If any of you get in my way I'll blow you to kingdom come!" He snapped back hotly, temper flaring in no time at all. People all around either sighed, or shook their heads at him. You just stood there with your jaw clenched, biting down on your tongue to keep yourself from saying anything.

"I've never lost a game of Dodgeball in my life. This is my playing field, the rest of you idiots don't stand a chance."

You failed to keep your mouth shut this time around, and you were saying something before you could remind yourself not to.

"Oh really?" You smirked wryly, shooting Bakugou a sideways glance and your tone nothing but taunting. " 'Your' playing field, huh? You so sure about that?" You saw the vein tick on Bakugou's forehead right on cue as you casually tossed the ball in your hand up into the air and caught it again. "Never losing a Dodgeball game in middle school doesn't mean much nowadays, and especially not here."

"Oh yeah?! You think any of you idiots is gonna be challenge for me?!" He snapped back, you smirked.

"Yeah, and you're looking at him." You replied with ease,

"The hell you are!" he roared, you chuckled and it pissed him off even further. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LAUGHING FOR, ASSHOLE-?!"

"Enough!" Mr. Aizawa interjected coldly, scowling as his Capturing Device shot forward and latched around Bakugou and his mouth- silencing the blonde who struggled against the bonds instantly. "Save it for the exercise. Everyone come and draw a lot for which team you'll be placed on."

You shot the still gagged Bakugou a sly smirk as you stepped forward to grab a slot from the box of ribbons Mr. Aizawa had gestured to. There was a fair amount of muffled cursing around the Capturing Device that never formed full words when Bakugou caught the look you gave him- oh it was so easy to set him off.

"Heh~" you scoffed lightly, looking away from him again and hearing the muffled cursing grow louder and more angry. You ignored all of it, easily pulling a ribbon out of the box- it was blue in color, which contrasted against the other team color of red.

"We're on the same team!" Mina grinned, the girl practically bouncing up to you as you knotted the ribbon around you wrist like everyone else had.

"Hell yeah!" Kamimari smirked, "We've got in this in the bag with you on our team (Y/N)!"

"Yeah, your Quirk will be easy to use as an advantage for this game." Midoriya smiled, the green-haired boy appearing on your shoulder with Asui in tow. "Kacchan can get a lot of power and speed behind his throws, but you can do that and keep a better track of dodging incoming balls too. Plus your aim will be a lot more accurate than his, and pretty much everyone else's!"

"Oh yeah~" you smirked, casting a glance over your shoulder just in time to see Mr. Aizawa tie the last available ribbon into the blonde and bound boy's hair- it was red.

"Hehe, Bakugou isn't gonna know what hit him." You hummed, eyes gleaming as the members of your team around you smiled a bit- enthused to have you on their team, of course- their chances of winning seemed higher with you around. But some of them looked a bit exasperated anyway, because you and Bakugou were on opposite teams, and if history of habit proved constant, this Dodgeball game was about to become a battlezone between the two of you.

Team Red:

-Katsuki Bakugou

-Ejiro Kirishima

-Ochaco Ururaka

-Tenya Iida

-Toru Hagakure

-Minoru Mineta

-Kyoka Jiro

-Mezo Shoji

-Hanto Sero

-Momo Yaoyorozu

-Fumikage Tokoyami

---

Team Blue:

-(Y/N)

-Mina Ashido

"Oh man they got (Y/N) and Todoroki!" Hagakure whined,

"Yeah but we got Tokoyami." Sero told her,

"Bakugou too." Kirishima grinned,

"And we also have more people than they do." Jiro murmured, her finger twining around one of her Earphone Jacks absentmindedly. That was a common enough theme though, given the odd number of 21 students in the class.

Both teams split apart slightly, and Mr. Aizawa let Bakugou go so he could walk away and distance himself a bit.

"Come on guys, we got this!" Kaminari grinned ahead of you, shifting into a battle stance as everyone else on Team Blue did the same. You smiled, completely at ease as you kept hold of that ball that you'd caught earlier and continued to toss it up and down leisurely.

"I'm gonna destroy all of you." Bakugou growled darkly, his still furious stare landing on you.

"Take it easy on everyone will you? We're not in a full on battle-" Kirishima attempted to calm Bakugou down a bit, even though he knew well it wouldn't work.

"That's where you're wrong, Shitty-Hair." Bakugou growled, red eyes flashing as he caught yours- the air shook with the series of explosions popping off his arms and shoulders. You simply held the glare, tossing the ball in your hand up one more time, and it never came back down.

"This is war."

How very right you are

"This is an exercise in teamwork, precision- and most of all, maneuverability." Mr. Aizawa muttered dryly as he took up his post on the sidelines. "Begin." His hand moved, clicking another button on the remote as a storm of red balls fell from a container suspended overhead.

Everyone in the gym stiffened, preparing themselves to dash out and grab one as they got closer to the floor- others already jumping to grab one and get ahead of the game. Sound of a cannon firing gave indication for the dodgeball that Yaoyorozu had made even before the rest were released, and Kaminari barely missed getting hit. You watched Bakugou launch himself upward off the floor, the air shaking in his quake as he moved up among the rain of red balls, and set to work in an instant.

"DIE!"

There was a line of orange red heat and smoke that swept out overhead, the wave of pure force and explosive power ramming into the group of dodgeballs and sending them hurtling downward like bullet-rain. Team Blue stiffened, eyes wide and jaws dropping as they struggled to get out of the way. Todoroki erected a wall of ice that blocked himself from getting hit, and Midoriya only managed to avoid getting pummeled by dodging in and out of the balls at top speed, his body covered in flickering green. Asui and Ojiro were good in terms of agility, so they had little trouble getting out of the way of the attacks- no surprise there. But in the span of five seconds, Kaminari, Mina and Kouda all get hammered by a multitude of red balls and were disqualified before the game ever really started. They hit the floor from the force of being hit, groaning under the impact and the failure right out of the gate.

"Kaminari, Ashido, Kouda- Disqualified." A mechanical voice came over the speakers in the gym.

"Damn it..." Kaminari mumbled,

"That really hurt..!" Mina whined, Kouda looked on the verge of tears.

You on the other hand sighed, your other hand finally leaving your pocket as you swept them upward- palms open and fingers curling slightly as the number of balls falling fast toward you either suddenly veered around you, or halted altogether and became suspended in air. Your eyes snapped left, your hand following suit as you gestured toward Aoyoma and Sato both, your Quirk flaring and your hair shifting slightly in an invisible breeze as you saved them getting hit out by the balls they didn't manage to dodge themselves. You felt a small prickle of pain flash through your temple- you had about fifteen different dodgeballs suspended under the will of your Quirk and your mind, and light as they were, they'd been moving fast (thanks to Bakugou) and stopping them full like that wasn't as easy as you made it look.

Speaking of Quirks, yours was as simple as they came, but no less useful. 'Telekinesis'- the ability to move objects with one's mind, and for you that meant objects and people. How well you could move something, and how many depended on how heavy they were and how much momentum an object had when you grabbed it- fast moving objects were easier to alter the path of, instead of stopping it dead. And heavy objects were hard to do anything with, and get too many for your head to keep track of, the less control you had over each individual thing. And distance between you and an object, of course, that always had an affect on how well you could manipulate something.

"Thanks for the save, man." Sato called,

"Merci, monsieur~" Aoyoma called, winking at you. You nodded at both of them and shot the three who'd been disqualified an apologetic smile,

"Sorry you guys."

"It's fine..." Mina and Kaminari mumbled, Kouda simply sighed.

Your attention moved from them and toward where Bakugou was, the apology in your smile wiped away as your lips pulled in a smirk, and you swept both hands forward. Every single dodgeball you had under your control launched forward at breakneck speed- ten of them reserved for Bakugou alone while the others went for Hagakure (or at least where you guessed she was...), Mineta, Sero, Shoji and Jiro. It was little a surprise that those latter few all managed to dodge them, you weren't really focused on them to start with, and you didn't pause either.

There were red balls being thrown and shot out in every direction, the 'game' going into full swing around you and the automated gates activating as the class split apart and started moving about the whole area. People jumped in and out of cover and between thrown projectiles- scooping up abandoned balls and doing their best to hit someone on the other team out. A quick throw of a ball via Asui's tongue sent the ball slamming into Mineta's stomach hard enough to knock him over.

"Mineta- Disqualified."

You flicked your wrist and diverted the path of a ball sent out from the wall, your attention still locked on to Bakugou as he easily blew the ten dodgeballs you had launched toward him into smithereens.

"YOU REALLY THINK YOU'RE GONNA BE A CHALLENGE FOR ME?!" Bakugou roared at you, his foot slamming into a ball and launching it toward you. You spun out of the way and sent a few more out toward him, each ball arching in all different directions and coming from all sides toward him.

"Of course, I'm the King of Dodgeball!" You shot back with ease, "I'm gonna pummel you into the ground, 'Lord' Explodo-Kills!" His jaw clenched hard enough to crack teeth and a vein ticked on his forehead with a fervor. "Lords always bow to Kings!"

"IT'S KING EXPLODO-KILLS YOU ASSHOLE!"

There was something akin to a nuclear detonation that went off where Bakugou had been standing on a higher slab of floor than where you were. A massive cloud of smoke and orange rose up, dazzling you slightly- your mental hold on all of those dodgeballs you'd sent his way dissipated as they were reduced to ash.

It's just too easy to set him off

You smirked though, because as much as he could irk you- you generally enjoyed messing with him, and handling his (overzealous) anger wasn't something you were shy of. You could handle his anger issues and his potty-mouth. And the competitive side of you genuinely enjoyed the rivalry and butting heads, even if the competition was about something small. But right now the competition was real and it wasn't trivial either- you two were set up to be pitted against one another by the exercise, and you both fell into the role of rivals with ease. And in many ways, both you and Bakugou jumped in head first because you both wanted the competition. You both enjoyed it, deep down, and even if neither of you would never admit it out loud.

Bakugou didn't really seem to like other people, and you really doubted he truly liked anyone in this class (or even the school), let alone you- but despite that he did tolerate you pissing him off to some extent. You figured if he actually hated you, he'd have made it pretty clear by now and probably would have clocked you in the face with the intent of true harm... And don't misunderstand- he'd certainly punched you before, and hard- but it hadn't been outrightly malicious. You'd pissed him off, as he had you, so you two had your bout of exchanging fists, and you both stewed about it for awhile- but then the next day it was like it hadn't happened. There was no grudge, or lasting anger about it, and even if you two got into another fight, it was about something else entirely.

You let out a breath, eyes narrowing as you caught sight of the shadow that was Katsuki Bakugou coming out of the cloud and toward you, your hand waved to bring a few more dodgeballs up from behind you. He was getting close so he could throw something at you and give you less time to dodge, and less a window to Telekinetically curve the ball out of the way or simply stop it. After the amount of times you two had gone at it from the start, he had quickly figured out you lacked a bit in the close-combat category.

So you backed off again, thrusting a multitude of dodgeballs forward toward the blonde in the same instant you jumped to a lower platform and kept a good distance between you. A red blur swept passed your face by about two inches, the plastic of the ball melting from the heat in the hand that had thrown it- the ball popped as it hit the wall, and fell to the floor in a heap.

"Hagakure- Disqualified." the mechanical voice continued to announce,

You noticed Sero ducking around a corner ahead of you to avoid Asui, and with a flick of your hand, a dodgeball zoomed through air and around the corner he was behind in a 90 degree angle. There was a satisfying SMACK as the ball made contact and Sero groaned.

"Sero- Disqualified."

You heard the sound of a high-pressure blast of air that came with one of those gates hidden everywhere shooting off a dodgeball again. It was a sound that came about every thirty seconds from somewhere in the gym, giving life to the constant stream of dodgeballs flying through air in no particular direction- but frequent, fast and spread out enough anyone would get hit by one if they weren't careful.

"Jiro- Disqualified."

You couldn't see her, so you hadn't a clue how she got hit out- and it hardly mattered, Bakugou was still pursuing you even after you broke away for a few seconds to throw something at Sero.

"COME BACK HERE AND FACE ME YOU LITTLE-!" Bakugou roared, only for the last portion to get cut off by the overhead.

"Ururaka- Disqualified."

"Looks like my team is winning!" You called loudly, spinning around toward the blonde and sending off an array of dodgeballs toward him. He dodged the bulk of them and rolled, grabbing up three more balls in the small frame between being on the floor and getting to his feet again. You had to break your eyeline on him for a few seconds as you ducked under a ball coming toward you from behind,

"YOU LOSERS AIN'T WINNING A DAMN THING!"

You looked up again to find Bakugou wasn't aiming those dodgeballs he'd scooped up at you- his sights had turned back to the rest of the class and you blinked. All three dodgeballs were thrown in quick succession, and at about a hundred miles an hour toward Midoriya, Todoroki and Ojiro. You tried to mentally grab the balls before they hit their targets- but you were at too far a distance and they were going way too fast.

Damn it-

"Watch it!" You warned, but it was way too late. Midoriya got slammed in the face by the speeding projectile so hard he fell flat on his back, and Ojiro wasn't much better off as he got slammed into a wall. Todoroki tried to place an ice wall between himself and the incoming dodgeball- but wasn't quick enough to reinforce it, and the ice shattered as the ball went straight through and slammed the half-and-half boy in the gut.

-Ouch...

"Midoriya, Ojiro, Todoroki- Disqualified."

"Nice going Bakugou!" Kirishima called, wearing a toothy grin as Bakugou huffed as his only reply.

Your eyes trailed out over your surroundings- both the people and the dodgeballs littered across the floor and currently being unused- about 25 or so. You could see Asui jumping around here and there, keeping well out of the way of what was being thrown at her by the other team- mostly by Shoji and Tokoyami (or rather, Dark Shadow).

You growled a little, shooting Bakugou a look as he dodged out of the way of another machine thrown ball, for the moment still not paying attention to you.

Your fingers twitched, ignoring the small pickle of pain in both temples and behind your eyes as your reach extended out over the area in a good fifty foot radius around you. You pulled up the spare dodgeballs, fighting with gravity to lift them up and keep them in line as you simultaneously halted the few launched at you from the hidden machines close enough to be an issue.

"It's not gonna be that easy, Bakugou." You muttered under your breath, panting slightly as you brought up about 45ish different dodgeballs all at once. Relatively light as they were, that was still a lot for the range of your Quirk, and the prickle of pain in the side of your head sharpened a bit and then became something like a throb... you'd probably have a headache by the end of this.

Worth it though, if this works out-

You smirked, your eyes flashing as you lift your arms up on either side of you and the mass of spherical red all around rose in tandem. By now your actions were gaining attention, and you saw Team Red's eyes widen as their heads tilted upward.

"You're not the only one who can hit out a bunch of people all at once." You huffed, casting a sly smirk at Bakugou, who smiled wryly, tensing as his eyes glittered.

"Give it your best shot, loser." He challenged lowly, his palms sparking and smoking. Your arms swept out and down in one fluid motion, your fingers moving and twitching almost like you were playing on a keyboard. The dodgeballs rushed forward, spinning in and out of each other and making unnatural angles and paths in air as they raced out toward who was left of Team Red. Between the wave of projectiles you sent forward at impeccable speed- and the other various ones sent out by Asui, Sato, Aoyoma and the machines all- there was suddenly not near a foot of space for the other students to really move in without getting hit by something.

Momo attempted to ward off the attack with a shield, but with a flick of your wrist you sent several of the balls around and easily evading her attempts to block. They bounced roughly against her back and back to the floor in the same instant the overhead announced her disqualification. Dark Shadow was warding off your attacks efficiently as Tokoyami moved himself around- but they were both too distracted by your actions go take note of Asui. With a snap of her tongue she sent a ball hurtling at Tokoyami from above, and it made easy contact on the back of his arm.

"Tokoyami- Disqualified."

Bakugou naturally sent off an array of explosions all around him to avoid being hit by your attack, and you left him to do just that as you focused more of your attention on taking Iida out for the time being. Iida was zooming about the whole of the gym and had been evading everything with ease- mobility and speed were his two strengths, so like you- this game had played well with his skills. And you had already figured that, and knowing you couldn't possibly make the balls move any faster or even as fast as the Class President, you decided boxing him in on all sides was the best plan. The balls bore down upon Iida with a fervor, your fingers working away and mind too as you clustered them all together and surrounded the Class Pres, and then he had no way out.

"Iida- Disqualified."

Hell yeah

You rounded on Kirishima next, your hands swiping forward and coming down on him with the last of what dodgeballs you had picked up, and a few more added to the mix. They made contact with his body a bit more roughly than was needed maybe, but disqualifying a large portion of the other team was the aim.

"Kirishima- Disqualified."

"YOU THINK YOU'RE SOME BIGSHOT CAUSE YOU KNOCKED OUT ALL THOSE WEAKLINGS, HUH?!"

Bakugou gave you no time at all to move your attention back toward him before he was upon you again, and you barely managed to roll out of the way of the ball he threw at you so hard the pavement shattered under the impact and the ball popped, loudly.

"YOU DIDN'T EVEN KNOCK THEM OUT ALL ON YOUR OWN! FROG-GIRL TOOK OUT THE BIRD!"

You rolled backward over the ground, your hand grabbing hold of a spare ball and using it as a guard against the next ball he threw at you- the force of the two connecting sent you stumbling backward, but you weren't out yet.

"This is also an exercise in teamwork, remember?" You puffed, smirking despite being pushed back rather violently now. You jumped to a lower platform and picked up what dodgeballs near to you that you could. You heard the heavy sound of his feet not far behind you, so you whirled around and your hands went with you, one altering the path of a ball incoming fast, and your other hand directed several balls out toward Bakugou in all directions, attempting to catch him off guard... somewhere.

As much as you might hesitate to admit it, it had become clear that Bakugou was incredibly good at just about everything. That included fighting and dodging and school.... teamwork not so much, but that mattered little when the Team Dodgeball turned to a more one-on-one between the two of you.

"SOUNDS LIKE AN EXCUSE TO ME!"

"Oh, we are extra annoyed today huh?" You chuckled, "Is there anything I can do, my 'Lord'?" you quipped, your voice dripping with teasing and the jibe. You didn't think his face could go anymore red, and your ears rung with the sheer loudness of the explosions he set off around him in his anger with the comment.

"YOU'RE GONNA DIE!"

A waft of heat rushed upward and against your face, the dodgeballs that were still airborn got knocked backward by a wave of force and those on the floor near the raging blonde got melted. You backed off again and pushed yourself up onto a higher platform, vaulting over a low wall and then up higher still, your eyes glittering as you smiled toward the still red-faced boy behind you.

"Hehe, then who would you compete with, if I was dead?" You called easily, your fingers twitching at your sides as you pulled more ammunition toward you. Bakugou didn't garner a proper reply, he just let out an agitated yell and started throwing balls at you left and right- each one set off with a small blast formed from the palms of his hands. You could imagine the thoughts in his head as he threw each one being something like;

DIE DIE DIE DIE DIE

Any sense of the other students still in the game or their whereabouts around the gym got lost entirely as you and Bakugou went at it harder and harder. You were both dodging around and over walls and across the stacked floor, throwing dodgeballs at one another at insane speeds. Bakugou was making a complete mess of the gym- the walls, the floors, the roof even- and you probably weren't helping much either, because you were egging him on.

"Getting a little slow, Bakugou?" You called,

"SHUT UP, YOU'RE THE SLOW ONE LOSER!"

"I dunno, you haven't managed to hit me yet~"

"YOU HAVEN'T HIT ME YET EITHER YOU IDIOT!"

You grimaced, your smirk failing you as you barely managed to step out of the way of the next ball he threw at you. It passed nearly a centimeter passed your nose, and so close you smelled the burning plastic.

You were getting slower, though. You were panting and the more you used your Quirk to guard yourself and throw things, the more strained you were getting. And with it, your head was throbbing pretty badly, and you were relying less on your Quirk and more on your hands to throw things... somewhere along the line you lost track of how long the game had been going on and you were sure Bakugou had too. And even Bakugou was getting tired, you could see it in the way he was panting and the way his arms were shaking- his skin bruising slowly but surely around his hands and along his arms from extended use of his Quirk.

Another close call after what felt like years of moving and dodging, and you stumbled a bit, barely missing the next throw and grumbling as you stepped backwards and off the platform you were on without meaning to. You met thin air and lost your balance, tumbling down to the lower floor and groaning as your back slammed against the ground.

Owww...

You lost sight of Bakugou for a few seconds, coughing as the breath got driven from you with the impact, stunned. You stayed that way only for about three seconds, before you gritted your teeth and pushed yourself back on to your feet. You felt the hair on the back of your neck stand up in the same instant your heart skipped a beat, instantly aware of the shadow that cast down upon you from overhead.

C-Crap...!

"YOU'RE MINE NOW!"

You jumped backwards as hard as you could, your mind reaching out for something to throw in retaliation as you locked gazes with Bakugou in the instant he jumped from the platform you had just fallen from and into air. His arm was behind him, dodgeball in hand and it swung forward in the same second you swept your arm out toward him.

"Not a chance!" You retorted out of instinct, the sharp pain in your temple growing sharper as you willed the one ball you had grabbed hold of to travel forward at a speed you scarcely believed you could move anything.

BAM

Pain seared through your body, originating from your nose as you heard a sickening crunch and snapping sound soon after the ball Bakugou had thrown made direct contact with your face. You lost your footing and fell flat on your back, your hands moving to hold your now bloody nose and jaw clenched against the pain.

In the same instant you got hit though, the ball you threw smashed against Bakugou's jaw and sent him falling backward to hit the ground with an audible thud. The both of you lay on the floor, winded and stunned in Bakugou's case- he hadn't seen you throw anything, and you were too busy trying not to moan you didn't notice him laying there.

"Bakugou, (Y/N)- Disqualified."

Oww, owwww...! That freakin' hurt...!

You pushed yourself up slowly, sitting cross-legged and holding your nose with both hands as your shoulders hunched, eyes scrunched closed against the pain for a few seconds before you shot Bakugou a look. He was laying on his back still, staring up at the roof and quiet, and you huffed.

"Dude, I'm pretty sure ya just broke my freakin' nose." You mumbled around your hands, you saw him stiffen slightly and pick himself back up, his hands propping himself up behind him as he glanced toward you, expression neutral. Your eyes noticed the already dark, and darkening bruise stretching up along his jaw and cheek where you had hit him- but you ignored it for now.

"You could have pulled up a little, ya could have taken my head off with how hard you threw that thing."

"Tch, don't complain." He huffed, "A broken nose'll be an improvement for that ugly face of yours." You blinked, eye twitching as your teeth gritted a bit.

"Don't be an ass, you're just pissed I hit you first." You shot back lowly, his face twisted.

"Like hell you did!" He snapped,

"Oh I definitely did."

"Not a chance!!"

"Actually you two tied, ribbit."

Both you and Bakugou glanced to the side and to the new voice, seeing Asui drop down onto the floor with the two of you and the rest of the class not far behind.

"EXCUSE ME?!" Bakugou snapped hotly, Asui simply nodded.

"You two have been going at it by yourselves for awhile now, everyone else was just waiting to see who would win." She explained, "But both of the balls you threw made contact at the same time, so you got Disqualified at the same time too. It was a tie."

"THAT'S BULL-!"

"But that's how it is. Don't complain." Mr. Aizawa muttered lowly, interjecting and repeating his earlier action of gagging Bakugou with his Capturing Device- but this time binding the boy from moving for good measure too. Your teacher sighed, keeping one hand on one end of the Device and stopping at your side, exasperated as he took in the state of you, and the blood covering your hands and face. "Go to Recovery Girl and get yourself cleaned up." The Erasure Hero instructed flatly,

"Okay." You mumbled, grumbling as you removed one hand from holding your still bleeding nose and pushed yourself off the floor.

"Are you okay?" Asui asked, you smiled.

"Yeah, no worries." You assured lightly,

"Man, you and Bakugou were going at it like super hard!" Kirishima beamed,

"The whole fight was so intense! I felt like we were watching a professional event!" Kaminari grinned, the whole class looked somewhere between enthused, or exasperated.

"It was only a game you two, you didn't need to be so rough." Yaoyorozu sighed, there was some muffled yell from Bakugou but you simply shrugged again.

"Probably, but oh well." You chuckled, wincing soon after when it jostled some broken thing in your nose. "Glad you enjoyed the show, but I'm gonna go and see Recovery Girl."

"Good idea~"

"We'll see you later, (Y/N)!"

You waved a hand over your shoulder and headed out of the gym, casting a last glance over your shoulder to see Bakugou looking disgruntled as Kirihsima bent down by the blonde and told him something you didn't catch.

We tied, huh...? Guess that's better than losing...

You glanced ahead again and sighed, shaking your head at yourself and not being able to help the small smirk that passed across your lips.

... hehe... it was fun though, I haven't gone that hard in a game in a long time... totally worth a broken nose and a headache...Oooh, Lord Explodo-Kills is gonna be sore about that tie for awhile...!

.:+:.

"Alright Deary, you're all fixed up now! Do take it easy for the rest of the day, and get a good night's rest!"

"Yes ma'am, thank you."

"My pleasure."

You let out a weary sigh as you adjusted the tie to your school uniform. Tou'd changed into it after Recovery Girl had done her thing and fixed your very much broken nose. And after wiping off the muck and the blood, you'd done away with the gym clothes and cleaned up before you headed back to class, which was now. There had been some unpleasantness of popping the bone in your nose back into place before the Old Lady actually used her Quirk, and now the bone itself was fixed and the bruises faded, but there was a bandage stuck across the bridge of your nose regardless. But other than that, and the invisible, yet persistent throb of a headache, the bandage was the only outward reminder of what had gone on in the gym.

You made your way down the hallways and passed windows that were letting in orange light from the setting sun, your shadow following you on your right as you placed your hands in your pants pockets. Your head tilted back as you took in a deep breath and your eyes dropped closed, your steps slow and soft and not rushing to be anywhere. School was almost done for the day so you'd only be stopping by to check in with Mr. Aizawa before heading home.

Your shoulders sagged, weariness dragging at your heels in accordance with how much energy you spent in what absolute war made up of dodgeball that had raged, and the effects of Recovery Girl's Quirk sapping your strength. You were probably gonna black out the minute your body hit your bed... You just hoped when you woke up this headache would be gone. You maybe might have overdone it with your Quirk today... oh well.

Fresh air hit your face as you moved out of the building and headed across the empty courtyard outside and toward the building opposite. The cool breeze ran across your skin and through your hair in a perfectly pleasant sensation that counteracted the throb in the base of your skull.

"Oi, loser."

Your head dropped back down as you blinked your eyes open, jumping in surprise when something got tossed at you out of nowhere. You struggled to lift your hands out of your pockets and catch the foreign object, blinking several times in question to find what had been tossed at you was a can of soda.

What the...?

"... what's with this?" You asked slowly, your eyes moving from the drink and toward the one responsible for tossing it your way, and probably the most unlikely of persons.

"You got the Old Lady to fix your face." Bakugou mumbled lowly, ignoring your question altogether as you paused.

"Of course. You did break my nose." You muttered dryly, he clicked his tongue.

"Tch, stop complaining about it, you sound like a whiny girl." He grumbled, you let out a silent breath. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked away from you, the sun washing across the bruising along his jaw- courtesy of you.

Your head tilted at him, brow quirking at the sudden silence, and the very unexpected... what do you even call it, a gift? And what was with stopping you out here? Shouldn't he be in class?

"Your face wouldn't have looked much different with or without a busted up nose." Bakugou muttered lowly, his eyes dropping closed as if he was refusing to look at you. "But I guess I was wrong, it looked worse the other way. You're lucky the Old Lady fixed it, otherwise you'd be even uglier than you are just all on your own." Your jaw clenched, a vein ticking on your forehead as your grip around the can tightened.

"Tch... are you trying to start another fight?" You muttered, before you smirked, coy and mocking as your eyes flashed and you fell right back into the side of you that is always trying to egg him on and irk him (as he was surely irking you right now...). You couldn't help yourself and you didn't even pause to do it, "Cause if you are, I can give you one-"

Bakugou glanced sideways at you and what small pause worked its way into your words at the end there, and they narrowed when the sly smirk appeared on your face.

"-my Lord."

Bakugou went stiff as a board, his expression contorting and face and ears turning bright red in the span of a single second after you said that- a joke, a tease, something to piss him off- and he looked pissed, but he also looked... holy shit.

He looks flustered.

FLUSTERED

Is he blushing...?!

Your jaw snapped shut, eyes wide and rigid in your place as he rounded on you, still so very scarlet in the face and his hands balled into fists at his sides.

"ITS KING YOU GOD DAMN- Y-YOU...!" He snapped hotly, his voice breaking as he failed to come up with a proper insult, and his stammering only seemed to piss him off further. You on the other hand just stood there, blinking several times over and smiling crookedly, nearly as flustered yourself- but more stunned than anything.

"UUUUUGHH! YOU'RE SUCH AN ASS!" Bakugou snapped, "QUIT SAYIN' SUCH STUPID SHIT, TAKE THE DRINK AND SHUT UP!" You blinked, your eyes narrowing and biting the inside of your cheek when the loudness of his voice made a sharp flash of pain run through your already aching head. Your crooked smile softened a bit as you let out a small sigh, crushing the urge to laugh- lest you piss him off further and give him more reason to yell.

He's totally flustered

He jammed his fists into his pockets and turned his back on you with a huff, still fuming as you twined your fingers around the can and let out a small breath.

Did his face get all red like that earlier in the middle of dodgeball because I said 'my Lord' then too? Because I know it annoyed him... but it seems like it embarrassed him too?

You tried your best not to smile in amusement, but your lips wouldn't listen and it was painful trying to keep them from moving. Your eyes traced the line of his shoulders and his back, before dropping to the can in your hands, tapping your fingers along the edge.

"... so what is this, a peace offering?" You asked lightly, holding up the can a bit as you tilted your head toward it. You saw him stiffen, shooting a glare over his shoulder and cheeks still flushed even as he scowled at you. "Maybe your way of apologizing to me for breaking my nose, huh Bakugou?"

"I already told you to shut up!" He snapped back, you hummed and shook your head slightly. "Quit making a big deal out of it and just drink the damn soda!" He rounded on you again, pointing an accusatory finger and his anger flaring as the flush in his cheeks finally died away. "And don't go thinking you won anything today, that 'tie' was complete bull! Next time I am gonna blow you to pieces!"

So defensive... Where did all this come from, hmm, Bakugou?

"Hehe, I'd like to see you try." You quipped with ease, he let out an aggravated growl. "Shouldn't you be in class though?"

"Tch, don't be stupid- Eraser walked off to go to sleep about half an hour ago, everyone else was just sitting around in class being loud and 'talking'." He muttered sourly, you quirked a brow.

"... So you avoided talking, just to come out here and talk to me instead?" You asked coolly, you saw a vein tick on his forehead.

"Quit making it sound weird!" he shot back hotly, you winced at the sudden increase in volume again, though your smile didn't go away.

Touchy, touchy... Though maybe I am sort of surprised

"What's weird about it? I'm better company than most of them anyway." You chuckled, he frowned at the words- but didn't argue, and though you didn't react outwardly- that surprised you too. He glanced away from you again, his shoulders hunching a bit as he grumbled lowly under his breath.

"... Grr... You're at least tolerable." He muttered, your eyes widened.

Such high praise!

"Hmm, I guess you're tolerable too- even if you're so damn violent, and loud." You murmured lightly, he stiffened at the words. "And thanks for the soda. Though maybe a bit unnecessary since, even though you broke my nose, I gave you a pretty nasty bruise there huh?" You hummed, gesturing toward said bruise. "I'd say we were pretty even-"

"If you don't want the damn soda, give it back!" He muttered roughly, cutting you off slightly as you smirked.

"Didn't say I didn't want it." Was your easy reply, and his eyes narrowed at you. "And I already said thank you, didn't I? Why would I give it back now?"

"Dunno, you can be pretty dumb." Was the flat answer, and the expected sort of reply too- but it maybe lacked a little bit of the fire it needed to be a true insult, or even his regular sort of insult. In fact this whole exchange was out of the norm- if turning bright red like that had been any indicator- and even now with that gone, he was being so evasive and refusing to meet your eyes... This was a Bakugou you hadn't seen before, and you weren't sure what to make of it, or what prompted it's appearance.

And in his own way, you were entirely convinced this whole soda thing, catching you alone, and even redacting what he'd said about a broken nose boosting your appearance- was all his way of trying to apologize to you. You couldn't imagine apologizing for anything came easy to that boy, and it certainly didn't now if that was his real aim. But his attempt at it was interesting, as well as amusing. And avoiding the risk of really setting him off you decided not to press it any farther and just continue on. You had the feeling he might appreciate moving to a different topic, and for once you didn't feel like arguing.

So, just like the two of you always did, you moved on and never held a grudge even after every little fight or argument. 'forget it ever happened'

... Well, maybe I won't try to forget this part happened. But I'll still keep it between us... Probably best, if I mention it he'll get so worked up he'll give himself an aneurysm.

You smiled at the thought and Bakugou shot you a small glare when he noticed, "What the hell are you smiling at?" He asked lowly, you shook your head.

"Nothing in particular." You replied with ease,

I suppose if I'm 'tolerable' that means he likes me just a tiny bit, huh? Even with us at each other's throats all the time.... Who'd have guessed?

You certainly hadn't- even if you hid it well, this was all very unexpected- but you managed a way to roll with it, and do so with much more tact and calm than Bakugou.

"Well, if Mr. Aizawa's ditched the rest of the day, no use heading back to class." You announced, "So I'm headed home, you heading out too?" Bakugou paused, letting out a low breath as he glanced away again and shrugged- bored almost, but more calm too.

"Might as well, I ain't got no reason to stay here." He muttered,

"Hehe, then let's go, yeah?" You asked, tilting your head in the direction of the main gate and starting that way before he ever answered. He seemed to falter at the question, his eyes narrowed to slits as you kept walking and cast a smirk over your shoulder, and the fact he had yet to move. "Who's slow now, Bakugou?"

He scowled, his temper easily inflamed again as he started stomping after you. "SHUT IT LOSER!"

"Well then hurry up." You replied, he reached your shoulder in little time and kept on at a brisk pace.

"Tch... you wanna walk with me, fine. You gotta keep up though, I ain't waitin' on you." He muttered indignantly, and you smirked, casting him a sideways glance. He was more or less refusing to look at you now, and you noticed, and found it even more amusing.

I totally hit a nerve with the 'my Lord' thing.... But a different sort of nerve than usual, huh? How odd....

You glanced ahead and nodded, easily matching his pace as the two of you headed out of UA.

"Of course~"

.:+:.

Not totally sure if the Reader is ever specifically referred to as male in this one, but that was the intent. >w<

Like and Comment if ya can, feedback is always appreciated. Thank you~

.:+:.

MasterList Right Here

[cruddyborderlandstheories]

i walk in 20 hours late sipping a starbucks hot cocoa

i don’t like coffee

promethea!!! 

awwwwww yis

tl;dr: uhh wow i talked a lot today, sorry. Mostly about whatever the fuck that thing Rhys is handing us is, how it ties into the dig site we see like maybe it’s a piece to activate it, maybe the dig site isn’t a Vault but instead a teleporter or something and needs multiple pieces to activate. so i guess kinda like a Vault but not that kind of Vault. Also if said dig site is actually on Promethea because that’s, like, DEFINITELY Elpis behind it. and like, okay, maybe we used the giant space gun to destroy the asteroid fields and make room for elpis and teleport elpis there, or maybe we teleported the dig site to pandora because it needs to be opened since Moon = Key and maybe Promethea’s moon was destroyed by the giant space gun (TM) and turned into asteroid belt, or maybe the dig site was always ON pandora and it’s not actually a Vault (because the Map would have pointed it out), but still. lots of possibilities here. oh and i go over the Battleborn easter egg and talk about Tannis is Not What She Seems (and pray she won’t end up being evil bc I love her) and I wanna believe the Eridians sent that message, not the cult ‘cause fuck those guys they probably can’t see the future they probably just adopted the name. also I ramble about how gorgeous this planet is for like... 30 minutes. but damn it really is pretty.

man this was a fun thing to wake up to and then have to wait like 8 hours to actually fully take a look at lmao

“Home to the Atlas corporation headquarters, Promethea is a metropolitan world covered in futuristic towers of chrome and glass. A recent siege by Maliwan has turned the urban environment into a warzone; their mechanized infantry patrol the streets, rodent/insect hybrids known as Ratches infest the sewers and back-alleys, and the Children of the Vault are seizing the opportunity to recruit displaced and disgruntled citizens. Atlas CEO Rhys Strongfork is getting desperate.“

“... Children of the Vault are seizing the opportunity to recruit displaced and disgruntled citizens”.

yeah that’s the most important part of this description for me. I really really like the idea of that, and it could tie into the whole Mayhem is Coming tagline for the game as, like many people have speculated, the Mayhem we hear about is the spreading of the cult/the psychos across the universe. A very interesting tie-in to the marketing campaign, as it’s clear we’re now the target of this cult propaganda, like the citizens of Promethea are (were? this is all past-tense since marcus is telling this story, isn’t it?)... like the citizens of Promethea were.

And we know that Atlas is trying to protect the citizens in the tunnels, so it’d be really interesting to see the two get into a direct conflict over a group of citizens. Like Lorelei tells us it's a hostage situation or whatever and we run in and it’s more of a brainwashing situation. Worse if the citizens decided to switch over without any brainwashing. oof.

im also curious about the number of hexagons we see on Promethea. The shapes look identical to the ones on Pandora’s page, so I’m curious if this is an accurate representation of how many areas will be on each planet.

just sayin’.

We do know that Pandora has more than those 3 listed areas (from Supmatto’s new video! can’t believe i missed the stream. ah well.)

“Covenant Pass”. I wanna believe this is near the area where we go find Sanctuary-III, at the very least that one tunnel-y area?

you know the one

this one, it’s right next to Sanc-III afterall.

Also thinking it may not be the name of a huge area, but instead the name of one of the smaller areas within that area? like the ones where when you discover it you get experience points? yeah.

the name makes me think this is someway related to the CoV cause of the word ‘covenant’, an agreement. We also know this area is directly near this one bandit camp which I’ve theorized before is a sun smasher camp

(you can see the back of sanctuary-III near both areas) 

so it’s possible there was an agreement made and both could pass freely through that one tunnel, or the twins were able to build that wall close to this camp. idk, just spitballing ideas.

So then it is possible there’s only 3ish areas on Pandora, but I really hope not unless they are BIG areas. There are most likely more than 3.

oh but we’re here to discuss Promethea

sorry i forgot.

For Promethea we got the Titan Skyway, the Atlas Campus, and the Meridian Seaport.

Titan Skyway reads to me like that giant road we keep seeing in the trailers 

like this one, which is giving me huge Bloodshot Stronghold (Damtop) vibes. Which is one of my favorite levels to play as melee Zer0 with execute and many must fall so... please let this be what i think it is. i may end up running that map just for funsies at the end of the game. mm if it didn’t take running the actual bloodshot stronghold every time i wanted to play the damtop level, i’d be running it all the time. sigh.

Atlas Campus immediately made me think of the Meridian Metroplex, but that’s definitely not it. In the instagram trailer we see Rhys on the ‘Atlas HQ rooftop’ with Zer0, so I’m gonna imagine Rhys is somewhere in the Atlas Campus.

Now if this is like an actual college campus, which i don’t think gearbox would do due to the implications, that’d be wild. I heard they had a mall designed for somewhere in the meridian metroplex, but we’re probably not actually allowed inside. which makes me sad, but also it probably holds no significance on the story. but then again... neither did caustic caverns. hmmmmmmmmm

oh also rhys is holding

whatever the fuck this is

uhhhhhhh... huhhhhh...

tbh i legitimately thought this was their attempt at macgyvering a vault key at first lmao

i know it’s a mission object because it has those glitteries, but... it reminds me a bit of Gortys’s core but i really don’t think that’s it. maybe another Atlas project to try and open a Vault? It just doesn’t look Eridian to me.

then again

this appears to be at the eridian dig site so... maybe it actually is Eridian. Definitely new to me.

some way to get inside the Vault area maybe? I can’t imagine that’s the actual Vault Key, because the one we see in the We Are Mayhem trailer doesn’t match.

you know i’ve been thinking more about vault colors

this one appears pink which... alright. maybe something to do with seraphs/seraph crystals.

The bl1 Vault was blue, the bl2 Vault was purple, the Vault of the Sentinel was... purple? blue? pink? all of the above? ... bisexual? tbqh there was a LOT going on there lol. wasn’t the Vault of the traveler yellow? either way

the big question here is: does each Vault have its own color scheme?

I wonder what that means since the Vault Mey has turned red now... it’s probably leading us to the big boy. the Vault to end all Vaults. 

now wouldn’t that be fun

right back to Promethea sorry

final listed area we get is called the Meridian Seaport. Which, if you know me, has got me all like 👀👀👀👀👀👀

water area? why yes PLEASE

i was actually talking to someone on reddit about said ‘seaport’ and it got me wondering if maybe this area is where we’ll find that one car from the Mask of Mayhem trailer. 

i can’t imagine what else those wing-like things on the side would be for. but i am definitely not a car person, like the closest i get is being a fan of Transformers, so maybe someone can enlighten me.

I am wondering if this area is the one we see in the instagram trailer with Moze

here

also i know we see water near where we find Zer0 in the demo, but that’s not really a dock area, more just a viewpoint. this has me thinking it’s an actual dock because the buildings are all off in the distance. It reminds me a lot of NYC actually lol

and interestingly enough i write about an assassination mission at a port on Promethea in one of my fanfics, but tbh i wasn’t actually expecting anything like it to be in-game. That was kind of an assumption I made since the area with Zer0 had water and I can’t believe I’m going to have to go back and edit it to be canon-compliant, cause I legitimately didn’t...

anyway.

Should i go over the instagram stuff now? I feel like i should go over the instagram stuff now.

see here is my problem with this

no moon

you’ll understand why once i compile my evidence

no moon

no moon!!

no moon

i even watched both time lapses during the amd stream and there was no hint of the moon (i understand promethea is in a state of perpetual twilight, but i thought maybe it would show up somewhere. it doesn’t. in fact it only shows the sun and this asteroid belt).

where is my moon, randy?

well let me tell you what i’m thinking here so you’re not even more confused

let’s go through that instagram video showcasing Promethea again

you should recognize this!

this is from that one video i reblogged like 4 times because i kept debating whether or not it was on promethea or pandora. now we can assume it’s on promethea but let me ask u something

if promethea doesn’t have a moon...

what the everloving fuck is that?

in fact, let me ask something

what does elpis look like in bl3?

look familiar?

hell yeah it does

now...

is this actually promethea?

I can’t imagine gearbox would be using footage that ISN’T from the planet they’re showcasing in a video about said planet. because that’s naughty. Plus, Rhys is shown giving us something that looks very similar to the tech in that area, and I can’t imagine we’d go through all that trouble just to get that tech then immediately go back to Pandora with whatever it is. whatever happened to the Promethean Vault Key we see in the We Are Mayhem trailer?

so there’s 2 options here if we’re under the assumption that dig site is/was on Promethea.

This dig site was moved from Promethea to Pandora

OR

Elpis was moved from Pandora to Promethea

Now i went over ALL of this in an old post. (seriously, give this a read if you haven't already, i go into this in a lot more detail than i will here). but we kinda got some new information.

My first instinct is that this dig site is on (or moved to) Pandora. just, 100% Pandora. the moon, the spiky rocks in the background, what look like Rakk near the back, there’s no asteroid belt in the sky. etc. etc.

do the blue sparkles have anything to do with it? maybe!

Also again, im not 100% certain this is actually a Vault. It just... doesn’t feel right to me. If this was actually on Pandora the entire time, then we’d have known about it through the Vault Map. We would have gone to open the 3rd Vault on Pandora before bl3 even began. If this really has been on Pandora the whole time, I do believe this isn’t actually a Vault. I go over this in that previous post I’ve made and I’m still standing by it. I think this is just an Eridian ruin and the Vault shape is just a statue or whatever. I could be 100% wrong, but that’s my first instinct if we’re being lead to believe this is on Pandora. 

Now I’m curious why this dig site was never mentioned in bl2 if it WAS on Pandora this whole time. And, again, if it actually does end up being a Vault, there’d be a huge plot hole with the whole Vault Map thing if it was on Pandora all along.

So was it moved here? Yeah... probably. For what reason? I... have no idea. How? similar answer. Lily couldnt’ve done it, she doesn’t have her powers anymore. Maybe activating it with whatever Rhys gives us makes it teleport to Pandora. For... reasons.

If it is a Vault, maybe it requires Elpis to open it. for some reason. We know Moon equals Key, so it could play into that. It definitely looks like it’s positioned directly in line with elpis.

but why would a Vault built on Promethea need a moon from a totally different planet to open it?

Because Promethea’s moon was destroyed.

That asteroid belt? I don’t think that’s there just for funsies (okay maybe the artists had funsies but the actual writing? yeah). And that big gun looking thing we see in both concept art and in the trailer? i think that thing fucked up Promethea’s moon to the point it shattered. So they couldn’t open that Vault.

alright, we all cool on this version of the theory?

let’s flip it on its head.

let’s consider:

Elpis was moved from Pandora to Promethea

NOT possible i hear you say

but hear me out.

what’s our reasons for saying this is Pandora?

“the moon, the spiky rocks in the background, what look like Rakk near the back, there’s no asteroid belt in the sky. etc. etc.”

Elpis? teleported! bah!

Spiky rocks? Well! We hear typhon mention a quarry, don’t we? one with brittle rock. This very well could be the quazmarian quarry he talked about where he found that very first Vault (and Vault Key). After all, if he fell into a hole and found it, it makes sense that there would be a shitload of dig teams trying to clear it out for easy access.

Rakk? We see those on Athenas, too, during the Happy Together trailer. Plus, they’re super chubby on the bottoms compared to what we see of the Rakk in the Claptrap Presents Pandora video. Maybe they’re not even Rakk.

Finally. Ah. The asteroid belt.

Well, if you believe that that giant gun could’ve obliterated Promethea’s moon, then is it so hard to turn around and believe that it’s actually obliterated the asteroids surrounding Promethea?

in fact, if we really ARE moving Elpis to Promethea, wouldn’t it make sense that we can’t have asteroids hitting Elpis for fear of worsening the Crackening and breaking our own moon?

In FACT, do we even SEE any asteroids above Promethea in that trailer shot of the bigass gun?

I THINK NOT.

There’s more to this theory, though.

from claptrap presents pandora

from the we are mayhem trailer

yeah, they COULD be celebrating the destruction of Elpis (because i would not be surprised if those are both near the same area)

lets think of something new, though. Elpis being blown up was totally 2015, with Zarpedon. That’s SO last season, Calypsos.

Plus, why would the calypsos even want the moon destroyed? is that not the home of a Vault that would allow them to see the future? how fucking powerful would that be, being able to see the future??? Jack knew what he had to do to win the Pandora games (even if he uhhh didn’t get to see that last bit because of Lilith), so why wouldn’t the Calypsos want to see their own futures?

There is the argument that they’ve already gone to Elpis and didn’t like what the Vault showed them, but I kinda assumed that they’d have gotten the funky eye things like Zarpedon did if they really did see what the Vault showed them. Given that Jack’s was interrupted by Lilith, we don’t really know if that’s truly the case.

I’m 100% down to blow up the moon cause Good Riddance, but also it needs to make sense WHY the calypsos want it blown up other than like shits and giggles? which... fine, but the story..? Elpis has to be important somehow. They have to want it blown up for some reason. A show of power? awesome, maybe they got that giant space gun. Moon = Key, so maybe they think if we can’t get this Vault, nobody can? sure why not. Destroying Pandora? Sure, but why blow up elpis when u could just also blow up pandora? 

either way, if the game gives us an actual reason as to why the twins are blowing up the moon, we’re all fine and dandy. if they’re going it just because then yeah, im gonna get kinda testy. 

anyway my point IS

The effect around elpis here looks strikingly familiar to the effect that appears around Lilith (and the cultists) when they’re teleported.

so it would be much cooler if, instead of blowing up Elpis, they were actually celebrating its movement. 

And it would be very interesting then, if this tied into that Easter Egg we got.

You know the one:

Because yeah im still iffy on the implication that this is from the Calypso twins. Why wouldn’t they want the Vaults opened? isn’t that the grand plan?

maybe this could be from the Eridians or the Guardians on Elpis. If Elpis was teleported from Pandora to Elpis, maybe the translation from Eridian -> English is slightly off, or simplified for the message. (on vs orbiting for example)

Visit Promethea -> Where we are right now, or where we’re going to go. We need you there.

Children of the Vault -> Yes, it could be the CoV cult that’s being referenced, but the way this is broadcasted, through morse code, spoken like an actual cryptic message and not, you know, with that Calypso flair... me thinks the cult simply adopted the name “Children of the Vault”. I think this may either be referencing Sirens, or the Vault Hunters/Crimson Raiders. Maybe the twins picked up this broadcast and that’s why they immediately head to Promethea after they steal Lilith’s powers.

We are not on Pandora anymore -> shit dudes we got yeeted to Promethea, help us. Or... we’ve moved elsewhere. We’re not nearby, we escaped, we fled, come find us on Promethea. 

Tannis is not what she seems -> this one... I don’t believe the Calypsos actually know anything about Tannis. If they do, then she was possibly the one to rescue/experiment on them, turning them into artificial Sirens or whatever, but then... isn’t Tannis exactly what she seems? She’s crazy, she totally would experiment on the twins. That is EXACTLY what she seems like. 

The people who would know about Tannis not being what she seems... the people who can see the future? The Guardians of the Sentinel’s Vault (maybe just the Guardians/Eridians in general). The Watcher can speak (speak? she uses telepathy, doesn’t she? that’s why Brick asks Lilith what she says) eloquently, I imagine there has to be more than one Watcher-like Guardian. Or this is the Watcher herself sending the message. 

Either way, if, later on in the game, Tannis starts showing signs of not being what she seems, then... wouldn’t it make sense that the only characters who knew this were the ones who could see the future? And given the new info, it makes sense that the Guardians/Eridians/yougetthegist would know her by name, because she could be the one who turned herself into an artificial Siren.  Or figured out how to create artificial Sirens. Whichever (both?). Which is kinda big news in the Eridian world, I’m sure. Plus, the wording using ‘What’ instead of ‘Who’ is kinda a big pointer. I’m almost leaning towards the idea that Tannis tried to give herself Angel’s phaseshifting abilities. I can’t see Tannis with actual offensive abilities... It wouldn’t really fit her character. But I can 100% see her with mad computer hacking skills, to the point she could ruin anything with a flick of her wrist. Yeah, I can see that. 

And I really hope Tannis doesn’t end up being a villain. She could do so much good with her intelligence and newfound powers and tbh it’s really nice seeing a character with autism not treated like Sheldon from the Big Bang Theory (the butt of every joke). She feels real to me (as someone with autism)- she’s got her obsession (Eridians/Sirens/the Vaults), her crazy intelligence, the social phobia/unawareness. I really like her as a character (going from betraying us in bl1 to realizing her mistake and immediately trying to help and assisting the Crimson Raiders) and I’d really hate for her to become the villain just for... idk a shock twist? The shock twist should be that she’s a Siren or whatever, not that she’s going to betray us. I like Tannis :( And all the message says is Tannis is Not What She Seems, not that we shouldn’t trust her or that she’s going to betray us.

Do Not Open the Vaults -> well this is the whole thing, isn’t it? this is why I think this message has some sort of Eridian origin, instead of the Calypsos cult. The Calypsos WANT the Vaults open. They want that ‘universe-destroying’ power. They want to absorb the powers of the Vault monsters. Shit, even we Vault Hunters want to open the Vaults for some of that sweet, sweet loot. But who doesn’t want the Vaults opened? The Eridians.

oh yeah we were talking about Promethea. how the fuck did i get here?

oh the moon

yeah it could have just been a shot in the Instagram trailer they used to show off the ‘Eridian alien technology’. that’s not fun to talk about tho lmfao. plus the thingie Rhys holds matches up so well with the cool technology we get

anyway

the instagram trailer. we’re not even like halfway done with this post btw. still gotta do those beautiful screenshots

oh

trailer

sorry it’s like 1am im starting to lose focus im shifting into sleepy mode

i just love the aesthetic of this city.

also. that one building with the 0 on it? you can’t convince me Rhys didn’t give Zer0 their own skyscraper.

oh, you want an entire building to store all your loot and trophy kills? OF COURSE ZER0 ANYTHING FOR YOU

yes....... Eridian log.

im really excited to see it glowing. especially since it’s glowing red, like the Vault Map/key/you know. I hope that has some significance. 

i did boost the brightness and noticed it was part of a wall, not just one slab found elsewhere. makes me think this is part of a Temple. maybe part of the dig site below? we know that one is connected to some sort of building. and if it glows red, that’d be a really neat tie in to why Atlas always has that glowing red aesthetic going on in their bases.

still not done talking about this shot. yeah the stuff on the right looks similar to the thing Rhys hands us. NOT why i brought it back up tho. The guardian statues in the back seem very ‘low poly’. VERY different to the guardian statues we have on Pandora. they’re also holding staffs which is new. 

compare

these ones also seem much buffer than the guardians we see. with shorter necks, as well.

Maybe these are statues of ACTUAL Eridians? not just Guardians or any other construct (further proof for my theory Pandora was a Guardian production planet lol) but like what Eridians actually look like.

shorter necks, thicker limbs (because why would the constructs NEED muscles?), actual bodies that aren’t thin as twigs. I think we found it boys

this is the ideal Eridian body

no cause, seriously, if they ARE guardians, why are they so BUFF?? i don’t GET IT

also weird  this atlas gun isn’t wrist mounted. Atlas sniper confirmarinoed? or just an Old Atlas gun. sure. that too.

Moze on a turret near what i assume is the Meridian Seaport. She has what i think is an Atlas pistol equipped. There’s a dead guy leaning up against some cinder blocks, all cozy-like. 

better shot of the area. We talked about this earlier, so moving on!

Okay... so is THIS the New Atlas sniper? it looks like nigel thornberry’s nose

smashing.

we saw this before, too. im actually really excited to look out over the Promethea skyline from the top of a skyscraper. also, idk, rhys’s hand looks like a yaoi hand to me. like his fingers are above the F in strongfork, right? look how far away his thumb is. YEESH.

it’s actually ONLY rhys lol

An Atlas soldier at work! I like that their gear has the crimson lance logo on it. And the new Atlas symbol. I feel like if we have to fight these guys, the crit spot is gonna be that backpack.

maliwan robo!!!

a big boy. one of the flying ones too iirc from the We Are Mayhem trailer. 

Atlassss in the back. it’s weird that the second A in Atlas is the logo, not the first one. the first one is a triangle. that’s weird is it supposed to be signalling something else? a triangle with a circle around it. i don’t even know what that might be a logo for. hm.

oh also police bots i guess, but we see these dudes a lot.

im more interested in this thingie in the back. wonder what happened to it/what it is

ratches. blegh.

i hate these things jfc. they’re so gross.

i like that maliwan is just claiming things by throwing their flag up on it. that’s not how this works! that’s not how any of this works!

anyway.

how are those screenshots lookin

pretty good.

im pretty sure i’ve mentioned this before, but i love that they named this part of the city Meridian and then kept the Eridian logo in the spelling. it’s so fuckin dorky to me.

also i know we’re supposed to hate these robos, but at least they’re getting some characterization as enemies. the loaderbots in bl2 do this but not to a degree that they get their own interactions (LB being the exception of course). I like this.

also i love that parts of the city are color coded. like red and blue parts are different areas. It’s such a neat way to help people not get lost (cough, me) and it fits great into the design of the city with the neon lights and bright colors. I noticed this in the gameplay demo as well, tho i don’t remember if it was followed. Also I’m pretty sure that symbol up there

is what the blue area is called. could be wrong. but i think i saw this during the demo as well.

i think this is going to be my favorite area to visit on Promethea, hands down. I love this little living area. It feels so unlike anywhere we’ve visited in previous games, like it feels like somewhere Gaige could be from. Actually, iirc Roland was from Promethea, wasn’t he? Be wild if we visited his house here. Anyway, I’m also excited about the trees. Fucking! Trees!

and cars!!! holy shit yeah on Pandora we only ever saw like light runners or bandit technicals and the occasional bus. all the cars were broken down and stripped for parts! It’s really cool to see actual full cars here.

wow i am excited over the most mundane shit lol

wait till you guys hear about the PARKING LOT

OHHHH YEAH

CROSSWALKS TOO

lol im actually- i just love this area. i love it so much. this is lovely. i love the giant glowing reactor in the background too, i 100% hope we get to interact with that (posssssibly blow it up. maybe just a little.) I can see this area being the area we have to run through to reach the entrance of that thing. I mean, it’s just RIGHT THERE.

Also would not be surprised if this KV fellow is waiting for us there. “Who wants to BANG a billionaire indeed”. He’s totally gonna be a boss fight. BANG i imagine means more shooty shooty than innuendo... innuendo...

it sounded better in my head.

the symbol for the red area possibly on that tower in the back?

I’m like, 60% sure this isn’t the area we explore with Lorelei, so maybe this is the Titan Skyway? also maybe the bridge Moze and Fl4k drop off of in the Happy Together trailer.

hate. i would quote AM here but im tired so just imagine the entire ‘Hate’ quote here because i HATE these things.

there’s also a big skelly in the back, i wonder just how big these fuckin things can grow. hopefully uhhh like a cow died here or smth. cuz fuck man.

this area is also super green and watery so i wonder if this is a sewer or smth. that’d be wild lol

Another shot of the city. It’s so fucking beautiful. I really love how they went all out for this. Opportunity was great, but it wasn’t nice to look at. Promethea is fucking STUNNING. I love this place way too much. Never even been here before.

also i love the fog coming up from the bottom. Maybe this shot is taken from the water? god if we get to go on the water and then it starts fogging up i might actually start crying lol.

this building is my favorite by far i think. I love the way the middle turns in. I have no idea how that’d work like... from an inside standpoint, cause the ground would just be slanted under you but im sure they made it work somehow.

anyway. im gonna go cry myself to sleep over how beautiful this game is. sorry i talked like... WAY too much during this one lol.

also i just thought of this while writing the tl;dr but maybe that item rhys gives us is after all the Promethea stuff is over, even the Vault(s), maybe we need it to activate something in that vault statue area on Pandora and that’s our way to like some important Vault or the Eridian homeworld or smth and we gotta collect all the pieces to activate it. like it’s a teleporter. Maybe Rhys had a piece because that’s what was in the Vault of the Traveller. I mean it would make sense because if you didn’t want someone to have something, you fuckin hide it in a box that’s teleporting across the galaxy at random intervals. That might be our way to the Eridian Homeworld. Now wouldn’t that be neato...

[shinjekinootp]

The Angry Coffee Shop

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Relationship: Levi/Eren Yeager Tags: Platonic Hange Zoë & Levi, Based on a Tumblr Post, Drunk Sleepy cute Levi, Domestic Fluff, Mainly focused on Drunk Brootp Levihan, With some cute Ereri in the background Summary:  Eren comes back late from work to an unusual scene. Levi passed out on the floor, surrounded by empty bottles, spilled chips, and a notebook reading: Flat white: Fuck you 

*based on the Angry Coffe Shop meme from Tumblr*

You can read it here or on AO3

“Ugh, I’m so thirsty.”

Levi rolls his eyes “You’re literally in a coffee shop, just get yourself something to drink.”

“Not that kind of thirst dummy. I’m thirsty for booze. Customers have been complete assholes today. I need to get shitface. For my mental health.”

“That does sounds pretty good,” he says, giving a final sweep to the counter. “Your place or my place?” Hanji doesn’t get the chance to reply before Levi is speaking again. “Let’s go to mine. The shithole you dare to call an apartment is dirty enough when you expect me to come over.”

Forty-five minutes later, they are sitting on Levi’s couch, a glass of red wine in their hands, the coffee table crawling under various snacks.

“Sometimes I wonder how we make it through the day without murdering anyone,” Hanji begins. “How hard can it be to order a drink without being a pain in the ass? You wait in line for your turn, order something from the board, pay, and wait patiently for it to be ready.”

“Erwin doesn’t pay us nearly enough to deal with those shit head all days,” Levi agrees. He empties his glass and pours himself a new one. He makes the red liquid swirl and takes a sip of it. He savors the bitter taste, as Hanji digs into a bag of chips.

I swear to god, if I found any crumble on my floor-”

“Yea I know, you’ll make me lick it until it’s clean again,” they dismiss him, taking a handful of doritos.

“And clean it with bleach right after. Spit is gross.”

Hanji laughter fills the room. “Where’s pretty boy uh? I thought he’d be here.”

“I don’t know. Probably still at work” He looks at his phone, and sure enough there is a text from Eren informing him he’s staying overtime and not to wait for him.

“Let’s play a game!” Hanji suddenly screams.

Levi frowns “No strip poker this time. I don’t think I can take the sight of you wearing nothing but your glasses one more time. Plus I had to get rid of my rug after you dirty  butt sat on it.”

“I will let you know my butt is very clean. Petra can vouch.”

A giggle escapes Levi’s lips. Under normal circumstances he would be concerned by that. But with the alcohol running through his veins, his clouded mind doesn't care.

“So the game is simple. We both tell a story about a bitchy customer we had, and the one who has encountered the biggest prick wins.”

Levi tilts his head to the side.“Isn’t that basically complaining, though? We’re already doing it all the time. That’s hardly a game.”

Hanji is thoughtful for a moment before they clap their hand victoriously “I know! Each time one of us wins a round; they have to take a shot. That should spice things up.”

“Alright” Levi says, slumping to the ground and reaching for the bottle, a smirk on his lips “Game on then.”

Hanji laughter echoes through the room as they struggle to form words. “This- This is priceless, how come you’ve never told me about it before?”

“Didn’t want to risk Erwin hearing about it,” he downs his shot in one swift motion, barely grimacing as the liquid burn his throat.“It’s not like I’m actually the manager.”

Hanji rolls on their back, as a new fit of laughter shakes their body. “I would give anything, to see the lady’s face when you’ve spun around.”

“It was quite the sight to behold,” he refills his glass, while Hanji straightens up their glasses threatening to fall of their nose.

“Once I had this lady coming in, she kept stressing out how important it was that her drink was dairy free -and I get it, lactose intolerance is a pain in the ass- she was watching my every move like a hawk. When I handed her her drink, she freaking asked me why I didn’t put whipped cream on top of it. I had to explain her that yes, whipped cream contains dairy, but she would not believe me. I ended up putting a shit ton on top of her damn frappuccino and I hope she got diarrhea from it.”

“What a bitch” Levi snorts.

“Alright your turn, what do you have in stock?”

He hums thoughtfully, distractingly playing with a the edge of a pillow.

“They were this one time, when a girl went batchit crazy on me for drawing a heart in her latte. She screamed at me that she had a boyfriend, and that she was so fed up with men hitting on her.”

“Did you? Drew a heart in her latte I mean.”

“No, I did draw something, but it was not a heart. Not from my perspective that is.”Levi smirks amusement glinting into his eyes.

Hanji seems confused for a split second before they exclaim.“Oh my god Levi! Did you draw an ass in that girl drink?”

“I most certainly did,” he replies with a toothy grin. “It was the day when Eren came back from his family trip. All I could think about was that glorious ass of his.”

“You’re the worst.”

Levi shrugs and slides a shot towards them before pouring one for himself. “That’s a draw,” he solemnly declares.

They empty their glasses and sigh contentedly almost in perfect synchronization.

“You know what really is the worst kind of customer ?” Hanji hiccups.

He raises a thin eyebrow at them.

“Those who are unable to remember the name of the drinks. If they got their orders wrong, it’s not my problem. Learn to fucking read you moron!”

“I couldn’t remember the name of the drink when I began,” Levi giggles.“Eren had to help me study the menu. He even made cards and all that shit.”

They shake their head “You’re a lucky idiot you know that?”

Levi nods. He does know how lucky he is to have a boyfriend like him.

“In my defense,” he begins“the name of the drinks makes zero sense. Why did Erwin have to go for the fancy hipster shit name? ‘large black’ that’s easy to remember. But Americano? Frappuccino? Freaking Macchiato? It gives zero clue about what the drink actually is.”

“That’s how they’re called,” Hanji looks at him skeptically  “That’s pretty standard actually.”

“Well, the standard sucks.” Levi says, slamming his fist on the table.

“What would you call them then?” They ask, eyes glinting in amusement.

“I dunno,” Levi frowns.“Something meaningful.”

They tilt their head to the side.“Like what? It’s not like you could describe the recipe of the drink. That would be way too long.”

He reaches for the bag of chips, and munches slowly. Hanji observes him pulling his eyebrows together, creating small line between them. He’s so deep in thoughts he doesn’t notice them snatching a picture of what they consider to be an ‘Accidentally cute Levi.’

“Hangover,” he blurts out.

“We certainly will be tomorrow, but don’t worry we still have time.”

“No,” he throws the bag of chips out of his lap, spilling it on the ground.“The name of the drink, it should be Hungover.”

“Lemme guess, a strong black coffee?”

“Triple espresso of the less bitter coffee we have,” He grins.

They smile cheerfully.“What else do you have?”

“I’m Studying For My Finals. Double espresso with a dash of vanilla. Because you both need energy and comfort.”

“Why not make it a triple, though?”

Levi shakes his head.“Because when studying for their final, student drink coffee all day. With a double they can still get that energy shot multiples time a day without intoxicating themselves. Also, it’s refillable.”

“This is good!” Hanji shouts excitedly. They scramble up to their feet and run to their bag, pulling out a notebook. “Alright keeps going, we gotta keep track of this.”

“Babe?” Eren calls upon entering the apartment. Despite the late hour, he knows Levi isn’t asleep. He goes in the living room, expecting him to be sitting on the couch, tucked into a blanket, enjoying a his tea. But instead he’s met with what looks like a warzone. Two empty bottles of wine, one who has rolled up to the ground, another bottle of what looks like tequila, empty for the most part, chips, chips everywhere, on the table, on the carpet, on the couch, and finally Levi, sleeping peacefully on the ground, crumbs all over his hair.

“What the fuck,” Eren whispers to himself. He walks up to Levi and picks the notebook next to him. It reads:

Large Americano: Not A Morning Person

Tea: The Only Valid Drink

Flat White: Fuck You

Vanilla soy latte no foam extra shot: I’d Like To Speak To The Manager

Double espresso with vanilla sirup: Studying For My Final

Iced coffee: Hoe Never Gets Cold

Pumpkin spice latte: Spooky Season

Latte, extra shot: Stayed Up Too Late Looking At Memes

Peppermint latte: Basic Bitch

“Hey Eren!”

The cheery voice of Hanji interrupts his reading.

“Hey,” he tentatively greets them.“What’s going on ? And what is this?” He asks shaking the notebook in his hand.

“Just a thing for a work,” they say, wiggling their eyebrows mysteriously.

“So, you’re telling me, this was a work meeting?”

“Guess you could put it like that,” They chuckle.“I was just about to clean up. Would you take care of sleepy-head over here?” They point at Levi with their chin.

It’s Eren’s turn to laugh. “You cleaning, and Levi passing out. That’s a first.”

He bends down and gently dusts the crumbs off Levi’s hair, before carrying him to their bedroom.

“They don’t know what's awaiting them,” Levi mumbles, as he undresses him.

“Hum what was that? What’s awaiting who?”

“Karen, Margaret, Susan and all the other.”

“Alright babe,” he chuckles.“Go get them.”

He makes sure Levi is well tuck in, and not at risk at falling off bed. He makes a move to leave, but a hand on his forearm stops him.

Levi cracks a lid open “Stay.”

“Are you sure it’s safe to leave Hanji alone in the living room?”

“Hmph, what are they gonna do? It’s already a mess anyway,” he tucks on his arm, nearly yanking him off his feets.

“Alright, alright,” Eren surrenders. He quickly takes off his shoes and clothes, throwing them in a corner of the room. As soon as he lies down, Levi rolls to his sides, resting his head on his chest. He’s already drifting back to sleep, soothed by the hand gently stroking his hair.

“Good morning! What can I get you?”

“Flat white. Large. Quickly, I’m in a hurry.”

“Fuck you,” Hanji says, a shit eating grin on their face.

“Excuse you?” The woman says, outrage evident in her voice. “What did you just say to me?”

“Fuck You,” They repeat, their smile growing impossibly wide. “That’s the name of the drink you’ve order.”

A displease frown appears on the woman face. “I’d like to speak to the manager.”

“Sure thing, Coming right up!” They grab a cup. “May I have a name?” The woman stares at her, confusion written all over her face. “I bet it’s Sharon,” they say writing it down. “You look like a Sharon.”

Hanji turns around, and quickly prepares the drink. The woman said she was in a rush after all.

“Here you go! That’ll be $5 please.”

“What is this?”

“What you’ve order Ma’am. A Vanilla soy latte with  no foam and extra shot.” They answer with a mischievous smile.

“I didn’t order this,” she nearly shouts. “Are you deaf? I said that I’d like to speak to the manager!”

“Yea… that’s the name of the drink Ma’am.” They point at the board above their head.

Her face reddens as she opens her mouth, but Hanji cuts her off before she has the chance to speak.

“You better go now, Sharon. You’re holding the line.”

The woman furiously slaps a $5 bill on the counter, and stalks away.

Levi blinks, mouth hanging agape.“That was amazing,” he fights the urge to claps.

“Thank you, thank you. But you nearly deserve all the credit. You’re the one that came up with this idea.”

“How did you get Erwin’s approval?” he asks incredulity in his voice.

“Eh, well, I didn’t,” they answer, rubbing the back of their neck. “I just came in early and re-write the boards.”

Levi shakes his head, chuckling. Of course Hanji would do that without their boss permission. “Guess I’ll have a new co-worker by the end of the week then.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that short-stuff.” A devilish smile on their face Hanji takes out their phone. “See one of the ‘soccer moms’ I’ve served this morning wasn’t too happy with our new menu. So she took the whole story to twitter and even made a petition to close up the place.” They slide their phone on the counter.“And it blew up! But not in the way she expected. Everyone is loving the idea. The so-called ‘angry coffee shop’ is the new place to be! We’ve been packed with customers all day.”

“Speaking of which, some help would be much appreciated Hanji!” A panicked voice calls from behind them.

“Don’t worry Moblit. You got this!” They say waving their hand dismissively at him. They focus back on Levi and frown. “What’s wrong Levi? I thought you would be happy.”

He raises his head from his hand and whispers, eyes wide “We’re gonna have to deal with even more customers.”

[crqstalite]

pt. 9, into the lion’s den pt. 2 (andronikos && mierrio)

mierrio and tri’ama have arrived on the scene, but not exactly on good terms with each other. what kind of shenanigans will they get up to this time?

psa: i love my imperial toons but one thing they all have in common is some sort of abusive backstory. it’s like a requirement to be part of the empire and it was never intended.

another psa: pretta n kal were made for the sole purpose of romancing theron (kal at least).

another psa: fandom, please write more andronikos fanfictions. i would do it myself but then all of tumblr would know of my insane exploits with mierrio n her pirate husband. i’m deprived of them n i need them now. ════ ⋆★⋆ ════

character song: truth hurts, lizzo

character file: darth nox, mierrio revel

-

“i always did hate alderaan.” ashara shivers as she pulls her robes over her tighter. mierrio would have to get the fury’s temperature regulator fixed, and soon. hopefully, that was one of andronikos’ talents, because the three humans (and one non-human) suffered through the cold nights, unlike the nearly silent kaleesh and dashade.“now we have to stay here?”

“if it bothers you so much, bulk up on thermal clothing.” mierrio says, putting on her own thermal coat. force user or not, darth nox wasn’t exactly made for the cold, and she secretly despises this trip just as much as her apprentice does. given, she and her husband did all sorts of things that could get her blood rushing, whether in the bedroom or on the battlefield, and considering they were on a war-filled planet (political and physical), she’d get plenty of both. she smirked before hiding it behind a cough at the thought. “it’s only for a week.”

“plus, you’ll be on the fury most of the time anyways.” talos says absentmindedly, researching something while khem val milled around the cargo hold before disappearing into the darkness. talos side steps the kaleesh as he passes by with some sort of ancient tablet, muttering something in anothr language. “we both will.”

“i figure that, but if i ever need anything i’ll have to leave the ship.” the togruta responds, groaning inwardly. “why are we here again?”

“peace talks, or somethin’. you two are lucky, you’re not the escort.” andronikos responds from the sofa. “dealin’ with sith day in and day out, questionin’ why ‘someone like you’ is with a dark council member.” he shrugs as mierrio considers this. he’s not inaccurate, though she figures it something she needs to take up with her fellow sith. her pirate, her rules, and they didn’t get a say in who she chose to love. not when she was one of the most powerful sith in the room. “when are we leaving, by the way?” he asks, turning to her.

“we can leave now, they have our room ready.” she says. subsequently, he gets up as she picks up her bag and slings it over her shoulder. she really should tie her hair up, it’s getting annoyingly long so that it hangs in front of her face if she bends over to tie her boots. however, mierrio is also aware of just how childish it looks tying up the baby hairs in the back, and chooses to suffer instead. letting the bridge down, she steps out into the spaceport’s spacious hangar. ashara isn’t wrong, it’s relatively chilly even through her coat. but, alderaan is absolutely beautiful as long as you’re not in a warzone. she intends to visit any vacation spot she can while on this godforsaken trip.

a few moments later as she scrolls through her datapad (the details give her a headache, if the wrath wasn’t also attending, she might as well skip out completely), she feels an arm snake around her waist as she stumbles backwards into her husband’s arms. “we’re really headin’ into the lion’s den, huh sith?” he asks after helping her stand straight, they begin walking in the direction of the elevator.

“are you scared, andronikos?” she asks, curving her lip upwards in a barely concealed smile. she’s completely aware of what her so called 'kind’ can do, especially to someone as force blind as her husband. they aren’t feared by the republic for nothing.“what’s the worst they can do?”

he doesn’t seem amused as she runs a hand through her hair, slipping the datapad back into her bag among her other things. “uh, sith? did you miss the whole 'force sensitive’ and 'could murder me with a pinky?’ part?”

“i haven’t killed you yet.” she says, leaning her head into the crook of his neck as they enter the elevator. he rolls his dark colored eyes good naturedly as she chuckles to herself. she couldn’t ever imagine lying a hand on her husband. well, she could, they sparred from time to time (she of course, gained the upper hand nearly instantly. but sometimes he played dirty in the best ways, in which she’d have to call a draw), but in a real fight she’d never do so. seeing a look of genuine terror from him was something mierrio had yet to witness.

“yet?” he asks, mock concerned as he puts a hand on his chest. “what, you plannin’ this pirate’s death already?”

“i’d never.” mierrio responds jokingly, stepping out of the elevator into the busy atrium of the alderaanian spaceport. “and should they lay a hand upon you, i shall show them why i am darth nox.” she gives him what she attempts to make a comforting smile that turns into an ill-intended smirk. nobles mill about as they make their way outside, dressed in an array of colors and array of styles, and she makes a mental note to do some shopping before they leave. andronikos doesn’t see, but her heart nearly stops as she witnesses a human with what seems as a stick in his hands ten or so feet away. three females follow close behind, and she’s halfway to shocking the man once she realizes that the silver metal sticking out of one of the women’s collars is none other than a shock collar. her delicate hands go for her own neck as the red twi'lek woman stops to look at her, staring out over the crowd. there’s inelligible yelling for a moment before she collapses to the ground in uncontrollable shaking and mierrio’s breath hitches.

“mier?” andronikos puts a hand on her shoulder as she jolts her attention back to the issue at hand. the twi'lek woman and her captor disappear into the background of the taxi pad, and in a moment of fear, her hand goes for her lightsaber and another hand on andronikos’.

“i-i’m fine.” her voice hardens unintentionally, once she catches his eye, loosening her grip on her lightsaber. sparks fly for a moment as she buries her hands in her coat, anger flowing through her veins for the young woman in physical and metaphorical chains. she had just been talking about wounding andronikos, nearly shocking him in her panic. “just fine.”

the dark skinned pirate looks at her in mild confusion and then concern. his gaze meets where hers had been, but he didn’t catch the slavemaster or didn’t say anything. shrugging, he pays for their taxi and they’re off across the plains of kaamos territory. he’s talking, but it keeps getting swept away by not only the wind, but also her own intrusive thoughts.

mierrio wasn’t a slave without scars. electrocution wasn’t unusual, and the skin on her neck reflects it. purple veins run along her throat, and though they’ve faded, some have alluded to her that they flare when she uses high voltage.

the weight of the collar, the chance of being put back into one of those things. the breath that is stolen from her when electricity flows through her veins.

the body of her previous master, after she turned it on him. after a particular electrocution event on balmorra with an imperial officer, in two seconds flat purple lightning escaped her fingertips. he writhed on the floor, gasping out for help as he took his dying breaths. she, of course, stole his jacket to warm her cold body in the outpost of sobrik, her fifteen year old self playing with the shiny medals that adorned his jacket as the last of life left his body.

at least until the mysterious sith came for her, as she ate the last box of chocolate the man had stashed away for his whore of a wife. three days, she’d stayed there, afraid should anyone know of her crime that they’d kill her. turn her into a prison, torture her.

she was still scared of herself, as sparks leapt from her fingers every once in a while.

someone had turned her in as a force sensitive, and years later, she suspected it was the officer or as previously mentioned, his wife. the cameras had watched her every move for years, it was hard to believe they weren’t watching then.

the teenage inquisitor hadn’t understood what she’d done, the man she had killed. she was free of this master, for good. mierrio hadn’t known she was force sensitive, she didn’t know just how powerful she was. what lurked just beneath the surface of her dark intentions, a mystical force bubbling up through her fingers.

even so, it’s not as if she can escape her past. this is who she is, and she doesn’t intend to let anyone put another leash on her. metaphorical, or physical.

she must look so absolutely angry that andronikos stops talking after a while. he’s gotten good at that, knowing when sometime is a bad time. as it stands, he’s recognized this time as one, though she’s sure he’ll want to know what’s wrong with her once they get to their room in the palace. over the nice temperature regulated bedroom and changed into a nice set of pajamas, she’s sure she’ll admit to whatever she’s feeling at the moment. but the cool wind whips her chapped lips, and she returns to the issue at hand. thul peace talks.

eventually, they land in the palace courtyard. the scene isn’t much different from the spaceport, except much, much busier. dark robes brush by as her boots crunch in the snow. she figures other sith lords have arrived before she has (of course, a fashionably late interest is the usual for darth nox). she looks around for a moment as she unbuckles her belt, andronikos stepping out of the taxi.

and, a certain blonde sith is waiting  by the courier droid with her name written out. mierrio groans in annoyance, as the wrath shifts her position to cross her arms. respirator, boots and all, she stands at a haughty 5"6 draped in black armor, three inches taller than her. she allows andronikos to take her hand and help her out of the taxi as the droid takes their bags, standing face to face with the imposing female. “my lord.” the blonde sith curtly nods.

“wrath.” she says just as coldly. mierrio hadn’t had many good interactions with a lot of sith on the council (nor a lot of interactions, like a certain darth hexid she prefers the finer things in life instead of the general stupidity and betrayal of the council), and the wrath happened to be one of them. insanely powerful with the force (though not a sorceror), the wrath was apparently a shoo in at the academy, and was an apprentice of the late darth baras.

and subsequently, his killer.

many assumed that she was a man, given her strong stature and less, say, assets in the female department. however, those who had come into contact with the brutish warrior had quickly fallen back on their gender-lined insults. funnily enough, she was eventually married to none other than an intelligence agent, even though some lower ranked sith lords assumed she was a butch lesbian due to her personality and the fact she never lasted in relationships with men. they placed bets on how long they would last, and mierrio was still collecting on the bets they’d last only for a few weeks at best. it’d been four years.

and, at the end of it all, she had the audacity to be merciful. merciful to those that didn’t deserve it. what sith would be such a way? and why? why have so much power, and not use it to instill fear into the galaxy?

given, this was all based off gossip, but she often didn’t have much else to be doing, so it entertained her to an extent. well, most of it was. she’d been assigned to a post with the wrath on taris, and she disapproved of every choice she made. for quite a bit, she made it her mission to corrupt ashara just to spite the merciful sith lord. it was somewhat successful, though her corruption only went as far as to be a 'grey jedi’.

to rub it in, down the grapevine she found that the wrath had managed to corrupt a jedi padawan to the dark side. successfully, and with little resistance! kriffing hell, mierrio was just that sure she’d only done it to spite her.

“your room has been prepared for your stay. i have been assigned to escort you to the palace.” the woman says, garbled a bit through her respirator. mierrio had yet to find out why she wore the thing (it was an ugly shade of grey and black with highlights of red, and she wasn’t suffering from some uncurable cancer eating away at her lungs), but possibly she wore it as a decorative piece. there were no current family members (other than a certain malavai quinn) related to the wrath, so it was most definitely not ornamental.

and how she knew? well, the family of the wrath would be well compensated, given their daughter having such a high rank in the sith order. they’d be public by now. and they’re not.

“thank you, wrath. but i did not need an escort into the palace, i’ve been here before.” she responds, hooking her arm onto andronikos’. “i’m sure you have something else to be bothering yourself with, so get on with it.”

“..of course, my lord.” the colbalt blue eyes harden into that of dark sapphire (a sign of her unwilling submission) as mierrio passes. the wrath crosses her arms before heading back the other direction.

“you want to talk about that?” andronikos asks as she pulls him along inside the palace, a bit more forcefully than intended, “i thought all you sith were chummy with each other.”

“darth thanaton?” she raises an eyebrow once she lets go of his arm, pushing a curl of dark hair behind her ear as she sheds her thermal coat. “andronikos, unlike the jedi council, we do not do 'friends’. we make alliances to better our power bases, and the wrath is on my list of people i want no alliance with.”

“got a reason? he seems nice enough.” there’s a groan of possible jealousy behind that she chooses to ignore, as he misgenders the sith, “given, not every man is as nice as me.”

“that was not a 'he’, that is the emperor’s wrath.” she responds, as they wade through the crowded lobby. it seems as if every servant in the palace has come down to gawk at the arriving sith lords, and she unintentionally picks up the pace to hurry to the elevator. it’s not until her boots are clicking on the polished floor of the relatively quiet third floor that she slows down.

“what’s got your panties in a twist, mier? did she do something to you?” he asks, as the enter the finely decorated room. locking the door behind her, he sheds his own coat as her fingers tap over the electronic thermostat. “i don’t think i’ve ever seen you receive a sith so badly.”

“that’s because i rarely 'receive’ sith unless i need to. are you not aware of the lack of sith we visit?” she asks, as she stretches a crick out of her neck, skipping his unanswered question. it’s not long before andronikos descends upon her, arms wrapped around her waist as he nips at the exposed skin of her neck as she pushes her hair to the opposite side of her head. “don’t fret, i’ve only ever had eyes for you.”

“glad to hear it.” his voice grows husky as she turns to face him, kissing him roughly. she’s not per se calmer than she was before landing or arriving to the palace (andronikos sadly doesn’t always have that effect on her), but the rush of endorphins is enough to forget the day’s earlier events. “hate to think there’s someone else out there with eyes for you.”

“i’ll always belong to you, first and foremost.” as the words leave her lips, she regrets them. mierrio despises the idea of ever 'belonging’ to someone ever again. she’d like to say that it doesn’t apply to andronikos, that’s he’s her one, handsome exception.

but he’s not. she’s terrified she’s going to wake up one day and she’s going to be married to a man who would take advantage of her at every turn. that this marriage is going to turn into a relationship of abuse.

although they both have issues with commitment, she lets the moment happen. he must notice her hesitation, because he doesn’t press any further. "nikky, as much as i love you, i do have responsibilities to the council. i’ve arrived late as it is.“

he mock whines, not letting her go, but allowing her enough space to lean her forehead to his. "it’s the middle of the afternoon, what do you mean sith?”

“we’re nearly two days late. we should’ve left a couple of days ago, hence why the wrath came to get us.” she responds. “peace talks have already begun, and to be honest, i would’ve skipped it if darth vowrawn didn’t send me a nice holo saying i should be here already.” he seemed quite stern with her when the recorded holo was sent, and she figured it wasn’t worth losing her council seat if she had to spend a few days on the wartorn planet. what could she say? being a darth who not only rid the galaxy of a body-hopping sith, but also thanaton? she liked the perks that came with being feared.

“alright, alright.” he lets go of her, a mischeveous grin on her face. “doesn’t mean you’re leaving me here all by my lonesome tonight, right mier?”

“alderaan has some beautiful sights, we can visit the market tonight, then the cantina.” he seems confused by her answer as she winces trying to undo her bra from under her shirt. “then, we’ll see what this bed can handle.”

he chuckles. “alright sith. arm still bothering you?”

“oh, how did you know?” she asks, frowning. she’d worn the lacy thing on the flight down with no intention of actually taking it off, but she figured if she were going to a peace talk meeting, she’d like it plenty better if her breasts weren’t constantly chafing on the old lingerie. “would you unhook it for me?”

“don’t have to ask me twice.”

-

she ended up twenty minutes late for the next portion of the peace talks, but a lot happier than she would’ve been should she not have taken a pit stop in her bedroom before coming to conference room. sith outside whispered here and there, and of course the thul nobles were nothing short of oblivious as she arrived. choosing a seat next to an empty seat, everyone quieted. “nox, it’s good to see you here.” a silent 'finally’ was aired at the end of vowran’s sentence.

“of course. i would never miss such an important meeting.” she smiles knowingly as the other sith frowns.

“well, we were just discussing your portion of earning thul’s trust.” ravage responds, picking up the awkwardly finished conversation. “as darth of ancient knowledge, you’ll be assisting them with the damages caused by a certain…bounty hunter years prior. identify what you can, as others have mentioned they can sense a datacron in the area.”

her ears perk up. a datacron? given, she’s never had the best luck with ancient artifiacts (see: zash, talos, force ghosts trying to take over her body etc, etc.), but to gain ancient knowledge is absolutely fascinating. she’s not looking for another tenant in her body, but possibly this one will be friendly. “show alde’s curators you’re willing to help them, and forge an alliance with them if you can.”

“great.” she sits a bit straighter, assignment gained. now she can go and spend the rest of the night very far from here. “can i leave now?”

“the wrath hasn’t arrived.” her mood drops considerably at the mention of the female sith, who is just perfectly, missing at the moment. her eye twitches at the thought.

“the wrath? what does she have to do with this?” she chuckles coldly.

“why, she’ll be assisting you with this mission. you specialize in ancient history, and if your reputation does not precede you, then the wrath will strike some much needed fear into them.” vowran finishes. mierrio is quite sure that he knows of their unofficial rivalry, and is pitting them against each other.

“finding a datacron? is that what i heard you say?” it’s twitching, it’s most definitely twitching as she turns to see the blonde sith walk inside, blue eyes twinkling with mischief as she sits down in the chair next to her. “it sounds like a wonderful assignment, vowran.”

they discuss back and forth their current plans as mierrio counts down the seconds until she can escape the dark and stuffy room. usually she feeds off the dark energy she gains by just being around the dark council’s chambers on korriban, but she just feels nauseously full. it’s not too much to handle, it’s just not wanted.

when they do finally break for an intermission, she’s considering leaving and not coming back. however, she is no match for the wrath’s 5"6 frame, as she easily catches up with her, voice cool and smooth. as kriffing always. “nox, leaving so early?”

“might as well throw myself out the airlock. datacron or not, i don’t intend to spend these peace talks playing matchmaker with you.” she continues walking, speeding up her pace as the wrath only lengthens her stride.

“i think it will be a wonderful excursion, nox.” mierrio can’t tell whether she’s smiling or not (she’s still wearing that damned respirator), “alderaan is so nice this time of year, don’t you believe?”

mierrio takes a sharp turn around a corner and unknowingly underneath a low-hanging sign for the cantina nearby. the only stops walking when she hears a loud bang from behind her. whirling around, she smirks as the wrath recoils. she’s hit the top of her head against the bottom of the sign, leaving a nasty red bruise that she quickly covers with her blonde bangs. “let’s see who has the last laugh, wrath.” she says over her shoulder, intending to continue further down the hall. she’ll answer that question, mierrio always has the last laugh. she wasn’t fatally wounded after their battle on corellia, she was part of the dark council long before the wrath ascended to her seat after murdering baras. and of course, mierrio came from so much less and was so much more powerful.

“do you know who i am?” mierrio tries to resist, she really does, but her throat closes as she gasps for air. barely able to turn her head in the desolate hallway, the wrath walks closer to her. “i am a fine tuned killing machine, and i serve the emperor. whether you believe he is an absent landlord or whatnot, you will respect me, nox.”

mierrio hangs there for a second, trying not to panic as tears almost well up in her eyes as she struggles against the metaphorical fist choking her. too many memories flood back from the major choking her as a child, his rough, gloved hands around her neck. the red handmarks he and his wife would leave when they abused her. “understood?”

she refuses to nod, which earns the cocking of an eyebrow from the wrath. “call me power-hungry or arrogant, sure. but i think this is where your path ends, nox. you’re at my mercy, i could snap your neck now and i could get away with it because no one would dare challenge the emperor’s wrath. you were a lowly slave before this, weren’t you?” she pauses, then paces back in the direction she came, colbalt blue eyes hardening, never leaving hers. “so you understand servitude just fine. i suggest you learn your place here and now, before we have another spat like we did on corellia.”

she tightens her grip as mierrio scrapes at her throat, air unable to escape as she coughs. “i can’t say it’s good knowing you, nox. you’ve been nothing but a thorn in my side for the last few years.” rolling her own neck, the wrath chooses a spot in front of her to intimidatingly stand before dropping her to the ground. “dark council member or not, you got here through murder. that doesn’t mean you have the talent or the know-how to stay this way.”

“w-would you s-shut your m-mouth? i can smell the kriffing shit from here.” mierrio responds cheekily as the wrath’s eyebrows raise in surprise and possibly humor (did the wrath even have a humorous bone in her body?). “i know my place, and i intend to make it above yours. emperor’s wrath or not, you’re still human. you have a name, you have a husband.” she coughs again. “you can be killed. never forget how fragile life is, wrath.”

“i shall not, and i haven’t, nox. do not ruin this for me, or it will be your head on a platter in the next week.” brushing off her robes, she walks past her. “good day nox, i will see you tomorrow morning. do not be late.”

mierrio watches her walk away (a good distance from the offending sign) as she fills her lungs with air again. fighting on corellia had not ended well, it’d left the wrath with a puncturing hole in her stomach, and mierrio had nearly lost her left arm. to have another, all these years later as dark council members, could easily be fatal for one or the other.

but darth nox, lord kallig, was not about to let fear control her again. the wrath would not get the better of her, again. mierrio revel was stronger than that, and always would be.

and she’d show the arrogant sith that.

[fanfikfanatik]

DBH Imagine: Bad Driver

While I was driving to work one morning, I realized that I’m not the most passive person on the road, so I wondered how the DPD gang would react to their s/o being a very aggressive driver while they sat in the passenger seat. It was very entertaining to think about, so I came up with this gender neutral imagine xD Enjoy! (I take requests, too! Ask awayyy!)

Connor:

He definitely doesn’t approve of your road rage and found it hard to relax, but he tried not to be too vocal about it since you didn’t really listen to him anyway. Plus, he would know if the danger of crashing was high or low – surprisingly, you appeared to know exactly what you were doing, so he never felt the need to butt in.

Connor doesn’t understand why you let the actions of others on the road affect you so much. You’re never like this outside of the car. He’ll often hold your hand and stroke your skin with his thumb to try to calm you down, and if that fails to work, he’ll run his fingers up the back of your neck and into your hair, petting softly, or giving your neck gentle squeezes to release the stress and tension or bring your focus elsewhere.

That method usually seems to do the trick, but there are days when the rage just cannot be quenched.

Connor: “Slow down, Y/N… you’re above the speed limit.”

You: “Relax, I’m only 5 miles over - that’s legal.”

Connor: “Actually, you’re 21 miles over.”

You: “I’m just trying to get away from–” You laid on your horn, almost ramming into the back of a pickup truck. “Woah! What an asshole! Did you see that!? FUCKING CUNT!”

Connor’s eyes were wide as he flinches away at your hostility, even though it wasn’t directed towards him. He just wants you to be safe and you keep putting yourself (and others) at risk. “Maybe we should listen to some music…” You merely grumbled in response. The music did nothing at all, just adding an unnecessary soundtrack.

Connor grips his thighs with his hands when you accidentally cut off another car in an attempt to avoid colliding with another driver who was weaving dangerously through traffic. They almost smashed into your driver’s side. It was like a racing video game. Connor didn’t particularly care for those when you two played them, but he especially didn’t want to actually live it in real life. He’s driven with you countless times in the past, but he was worried for your safety and your judgement calls because you made a lot of poor choices and were so easily influenced.

When you finally reached your destination, your mood was laughably different now that you arrived and were finally off the road, well away from all those shitty drivers. You smiled joyfully up at him as if you didn’t just treat the open road like a Mario Party racetrack in the middle of a warzone. Connor was calm when he got out of the car and slung his arm around your shoulder as you both began walking. He decided to butter you up a bit, acting especially affectionate and loving. His boldness in PDA was rare, but hey, you weren’t about to complain! He intertwined his fingers with yours and kissed your knuckles.

Connor: “So, how about I drive us from now on?”

Hank:

Boy is Hank nervous and pissy… This is the first time he’s experienced your driving habits and this will be the last.

What if you got into an accident!? God, just the thought of getting a call hearing that you perished in a crash was enough to make his heart wrench in pain. He’s going to give you a serious talking to.

He’s a backseat driver all the way (well, passenger seat driver), which pisses you both off because you want him to shut up and let you drive, but he thinks you’re driving like ass and doesn’t want you to get them both killed.

Hank grips the door handle tightly, muttering curses under his breath and out loud whenever his anxiety becomes overwhelming.

Hank: “Y/N! For fuck’s sake, watch it!”

You: “That asshole cut me off!”

Hank: “So!? Let him pass you! And slow down, I’m about to have a heart attack over here…”

You would tone it down a bit, but god forbid a poor soul failed to use their turning signal, slowing your speed 2 miles under the speed limit. Your rage is rising, you’re trying hard not to crack…

“Y/N…” Hank warns when you start tailgating someone going slower than you would have liked them to. Ugh, he can’t watch anymore. Hank averts his eyes from the road and focuses his gaze down in his lap. “Shit, I’m going to die in here.” He mumbles. A second driver does the exact same thing the last person did, causing you to almost rear end them. You slam your brakes and a loud screech resounds in response. Hank is jerked forward in his seat and sends a death glare your way.

You: “MOTHERFUCKER! I will end you, you piece of shit fucking–”

Hank: “That’s it! Y/N, pull over right now! I’m not kidding, pull this deathtrap over right now in that parking lot!”

You: “NO. Calm down, I got this–”

Hank: “I SAID PULL OVER, GODDAMNIT. Please, I can’t take it anymore. Either you pull over or you let me out right here at this red light.”

In the heat of the moment, you were about to tear him a new ass, but when you looked over and saw the white in his face, the worry and the fear in his tired eyes, your heart softened while you remembered how he lost his son in a car accident. And here you were driving like an adolescent doucher.

All the anger immediately deflates from you. “Okay… okay, I’m sorry, I’ll pull over.” Hank sighs a breath of relief, still  obviously pissed off at you as he crosses his arms and stares straight ahead of him like he wanted to burn a hole through your windshield, “Good.”

When you put the car in park in the parking lot, and before you two switched seats, you were worried that he’d give you the cold shoulder since he didn’t look at you at all and you suddenly felt ashamed of how poorly you drove and how many bad memories you must’ve conjured because of it. “I’m so sorry, Hank,” your voice cracked. Hank didn’t utter a single sound as he got out of the car, with you following suit. You passed by each other while walking around and your hand lingered on the passenger door handle – god, you really were the scum of the earth, weren’t you? How could you drive like that with Hank in the car knowing his history? While you stood there in shame, Hank suddenly slammed the driver’s side shut and stormed back over to you. At first you were scared he was going to yell, so you flinched when he got close to brace yourself throwing yourself at his mercy, but the only thing he did was pull you in for a tight embrace. Your hands gripped at his back as you returned the hug, breathing in his scent and shuddering out a relieved breath. “I’m sorry, please forgive me. I won’t do that ever again,” you whispered.

He didn’t let you go for a good minute, but then he gave you a chaste kiss on the temple and waved a finger in your face. “You drive like absolute shit. You’re stuck riding shotgun from now on, you understand me?”

You: “Yes, I promise.” And you sealed it with a kiss.

Gavin:

Gavin drives worse than you do, so he isn’t too affected by it. He actually finds all of your swears hilarious and prefers that you drive since it’s way more entertaining.

At times, he would join in by shouting profanities at the more shitty drivers, flipping them off as you drove past. He didn’t see anything wrong with how you drove on the whole, though.

But sometimes you did cut it a bit close and almost caused an accident; only then will he say something about it and scold you – and pretty harshly, at that.

Gavin: “Are you a fuckin’ idiot? You almost hit that asshole!”

You: “Oh shut up, we’re fine, aren’t we?”

Gavin: “You’re lucky this isn’t my car or you’d be so dead.”

There was this one time you were actually driving like a model citizen which pissed someone off and they proceeded to bait you. Turned out to be a couple of college boys who decided to target you for a sick game: getting in front of you and slowing down to make you slam on your breaks, blocking you in between cars when you tried to pass them, flipping you off when you cursed at them in response; it was enough of a dick move that Gavin was getting more pissed at them than you were. You gave those jerks all the opportunities in the world to leave you in their dust, but they just wouldn’t leave. The jerks actually followed you everywhere you went down every road you turned off of.

The last straw was when they slowed down beside you and kept pace with your car. The two men cursed at you, flipped you the bird, taunted you and called you unflattering names, and going so far as to throw their trash. Gavin had had enough of their shit.

Gavin: “Y/N, roll down the window.”

You: “No way! I don’t want their shit in my car!”

Gavin: “Just do it, roll it down – and lean back for a sec.”

Reluctantly you complied, the men’s shouts now louder with the window open as they swerved dangerously close to hitting you. They continued taunting you with bluffs and threats when Gavin leaned over. “Hey, assholes! Hope you didn’t have any plans tonight!” Gavin smugly called, reaching his arm over you to hold up his police badge for them to see. “Pull over,” he commanded.

It was a moment of delicious, utter glory watching their mouths drop open like gaping fish, relishing the look of sheer fear in their eyes when they realized that they fucked with the wrong car. You were legit shocked they didn’t peel off to escape: the fools actually pulled over at the nearest opening. No doubt they were shitting themselves as they waited for one of you to approach their vehicle to offer them the consequences of their actions.

You parked up right behind them and looked over to Gavin in a combination of surprise and adoration. His shit-eating, triumphant smile at being the badass that he was reignited the blazing love you had for him and you had to admit…. that was pretty hot and he couldn’t have been more attractive to you than he was now. “Have I told you how much I loved you recently?” you asked.

“I dunno, you may need to refresh my memory,” Gavin cooed and leaned in to kiss you quickly but fondly. “But first, I gotta rough up a couple assholes who messed with my lover. Hang tight, okay?”

When Gavin strolled up to their window, showing off his badge and the gun he kept clipped to his hip, you couldn’t suppress your cackle. Those boys were screwed.

Nines:

Childish, that’s what you are. How could someone so dignified, spritely and wonderful behave this way behind the wheel? Nines had no idea what was in store for him when he allowed you to drive. He usually preferred to be the driver, but when you insisted that you’d like to drive your own car for once, he didn’t see any problem with it – it was your car, after all. Nines looked your way dumbfounded.

“What the fuck!? Nice turn signal, you jackass!” You screamed. You looked at Nines to see if he saw what happened. “Did you see that? What a dick! Oh, and there he is again!” You gesture to the vehicle in question exasperated. Nines’s eyes never left you. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing: was this really the same person he fell in love with?

“Why do you drive so recklessly?” he asked.

“Hmm?” You weren’t paying attention to him. You were more focused on the road and all the assholes who occupied it. He didn’t press the matter further, but decided to keep a stern watch on the road. Alerting you whenever you behaved poorly.

You: “Fucker! Go the speed limit!”

Nines: “Do you even know what the speed limit is?”

You: “… of course.”

You didn’t. But you figured going 65mph anywhere wouldn’t hurt anybody… Nines slapped your hand away when you reached for the radio. “Eyes on the road.” He commanded darkly.

“The hell is up with you? They are– oh shit!” Nines grabbed the steering wheel, jerking the car out at harm’s way as the honking commenced behind you.

“Oops?” you giggled innocently. Nines’s cold stare made you slink back in your seat. “Geez, it’s not like we crashed…”

Nines: “Make a left here.”

You: “But we need to turn on 64th Ave.”

Nines: “Turn left here,” he repeated, deliberately emphasizing each word as if you were incompetent. The tone of his voice, however, made you obey without any further question as he continued to give you directions, leading you to a random building. “Park,” he ordered.

“Okay. Now what?” You demanded, now annoyed once you were sitting in front of a random business that had nothing to do with where you two were headed. Nines unbuckled his seatbelt and turned in his seat.

Nines: “Now you unbuckle your seatbelt, get out of the car, and sit yourself down in the passenger seat. I’m driving us.”

You: “Excuse me? You brought us all the way over here just to switch seats?”

Nines: “If I’d have known how badly you drove, I never would have agreed to it in the first place. Get out of the car.”

Um… was he serious? Was he really telling you to get out of your own car? As you defied him, his glare deepened. “No, I don’t think I will,” you placed your hand on the clutch ready to back out but Nines grabbed your hand tightly to stop you. Then before you could react, he pulled you in using that same hand so that his lips landed on yours. He proceeded to kiss you feverishly, unlike he’s ever done in the past, receiving an instant reaction from you because he knew how you couldn’t resist him: your body heated up and melted all at once as you fought to get out of his hold, but failed miserably. Without knowing what was happening, your belt was released with a sharp click, his lips never once leaving yours and you tangled your hands in his hair, then down to his tie to loosen it, he moaned approvingly. He somehow managed to move you both to the back of the car, your blood rushing in anticipation. But before anything further could happen, your hands were swiftly cuffed behind your back and you were strapped securely in the middle seat. “What the?” Disappointment blossomed in you. It was too late to realize that you were just played and he used your own weakness to his advantage: him.

Smirking in satisfaction and straightening up his tie, Nines maneuvered his way back up to the driver’s seat and adjusted the rearview mirror to glance his sly blues eyes to yours as he fixed his hair. “I told you: I’m driving.”

[theshapeshifter100]

Guess What? I‘m Not a Robot Ch40

Summary: Everyone can finally chill, take stock, talk to family. Then there’s a knock at the door.

Chapter Warnings: Mentions of injury and being shot. One (?) f-bomb.

Word Count: 1,745

09.45AM Friday 12th November 2038

She unlocked the door and let the boys in. It felt weird to back. The whole world had changed since she and Paul had left, and yet the apartment was still the same as they’d left it.

“Alright,” Megan set about introducing the place to Oscar. “Bathroom’s there, kitchen there. That door there is my bedroom and I’d appreciate it if you didn’t go in there.”

As she did this Paul went to check the taps and lights. The lights flickered on dimly but the tap made a horrible gurgling sound with no water appearing.

“We’re on generator power. Great,” Megan sighed. “We’ll just have to deal with it.”

She turned her attention to the landline phone and sighed, seeing that it was blinking with several messages. She went over to play them over one by one.

“Megan,” it was her mother. “Things sound like they’re getting pretty dangerous in Detroit. Stay safe okay? Call me back.”

The next one was also from her mom, and the next, and the next. Each one becoming more and more hysterical.

The second to last one was from her brother, saying that he’d picked up movement in his college with Android Allies and was hoping to keep protesting and harbouring androids as best he could.

The final one was actually from the Beckwiths.

“Megan dear, we hope you get this. We made it to my sister’s and Anita is safe. Don’t you worry. You and Paul take care of each other now. Okay? Stay safe.”

With a long sigh and a bit of preparation as the boys puttered around in the background, Megan called her parents.

“Megan Violet Carroll!” her mom screamed down the phone, making her pull the receiver away from her ear. “Do you have any idea how worried we’ve been?!”

“I can probably guess,” Megan spoke before she thought, and quickly realised that now was not the time for a smart answer.

“We’ve been worried sick! Especially with all the phones down. What the hell were you thinking, protesting illegally?! I never thought you’d be one to break the law! We’re booking a flight for you to come home right now!”

Megan felt sick, but did something that she felt like she needed to. “You don’t need to do that.”

“Yes I do. And I know airports make you anxious sweetheart but we’ll put that in the extra requirements and we can have someone meet you.”

“No. You really don’t have to. I, I don’t want you to.”

“Megan? What are you saying?”

“I’m staying in Detroit.”

“No you most certainly are not! The entire city’s a warzone! Buildings destroyed, people fleeing in terror-”

Megan interrupted her mother for the first time in many years. “Well I’m looking out of the window right now and not a single building has been damaged and people are leaving in an orderly fashion.”

“What about these androids-?!”

“They haven’t hurt anyone. Not a single human life was lost in this entire revolution. Detroit is safe.”

“Young lady, in case you haven’t realised there’s an evacuation order!”

“I’ve broken one law. I’m happy breaking another. See you later mom.”

“Megan! Don’t you dare-!”

Megan hung up the phone and took a deep breath to steady herself. Her stomach roiled in protest and she felt her legs wobble, but overall, she was okay.

Before her mom could call her back, she called her brother.

“Hey James,” she said after he’d picked up.

“Hi Megs, still in Detroit?”

“Yep, still on campus?”

“Just about. I hid under the bed when security came round. They don’t know I’m here.”

“Cool, I’m guessing mom demanded that you come home?”

“Oh yeah. I shut her down though. You?”

“Same here. She was not happy. How’s AA your end?”

“Pretty good. Some guys had to go home but most of us are still here. What about you? I saw you on the news.”

“Yeah. Most of us are still here. Alex was arrested. I don’t know what we’re going to do about that,” the pain killers had worn off about an hour ago, and she shifted her shoulder uncomfortably, wincing audibly.

“You okay?” James asked and Megan couldn’t bring herself to lie.

“Had a run in with the military for the protest and harbouring an illegal android. I, I got shot.”

“What?! Shouldn’t you be in hospital?!”

“What hospital? They’re all closed,” Megan rebuked. “One of the guys knows first aid and can sew. I’m stitched up pretty nicely.”

“Good, that’s good. Don’t do anything too reckless, okay?”

“You’re telling me not to be reckless?”

“Well, given what you’ve just told me...”

“True true,” Megan agreed. “How are you doing anyway?”

“Me? I’m fine. Not shot anyway.”

“I mean, mentally. Are you okay? I know this might not be a good time to talk, but...”

“...it’s okay. I’ve got other things to focus on. I’ll figure it out when everything dies down okay?”

“James,” Megan warned, feeling big sister mode kicking in.

“I’m fine. College was a bit of a shock, that was all. I’m fine.”

“Alright,” Megan sighed, not believing him but too tired to push. “I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Sure. Love you.”

“Love you too.” Megan hung up, that phone having been a lot better than with her mom. Final call was to the Beckwiths. It went to voicemail, so Megan left a message.

“Hey, just letting you know that I’m okay. Me and Paul are okay and I’m glad to hear Anita’s good. Hope you three stay safe. Don’t worry about calling back. I have a feeling that things might get a bit busy. Bye.”

Megan hung up and turned to face the rest of the apartment. Paul had moved some of his stuff from the couch so that Oscar could sit down, and the android was now pottering around the kitchen.

“Paul, what are you doing?” Megan asked.

“Making breakfast,” he replied, checking bread, bacon and eggs. They seemed to satisfy him and he got to work.

“Need help?” Megan asked, already knowing the answer.

“How about you read a book?” Paul suggested. “I’ll ask Oscar if I need help.”

Megan sighed, nodded and did as he suggested, sitting in her desk chair. It felt so good to sit there again.

There was silence for a while before Oscar broke it.

“So, now what?” he asked. “We’re just going to hole out here?”

“For the time being,” Paul replied as bacon sizzled. “We will need to do a supply run sooner or later, and deal with Alex. We should have gotten Lieutenant Anderson’s phone number, then we could have gotten him to get them out.”

“Hindsight is 20/20,” Megan commented, nose deep in her book.

Oscar shifted uncomfortably. He wanted to do something, but all he could think of was watching tv, and they were on limited power.

“Oscar,” Paul started, sensing his restlessness. “I would suggest calling your parents.”

Oscar nodded, and got up to do just that.

The whole thing was very calm, very domestic. Almost a complete contrast to the last few days. If you ignored the hand guns the boys had placed on the coffee table.

Morning soon past into afternoon, and everyone was startled by a knock at the door.

2PM Friday 12th November 2038

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at each other. Paul grabbed and cocked a gun before approaching the door and looking through the fish eye hole.

“Lieutenant Anderson?” he opened the door to reveal the titular detective.

“Finally!” he stated. “I was starting to wonder if you were even in.”

“What are you doing here?” Paul asked, angling himself so that he couldn’t see into the apartment. Or the gun he was holding.

“Thought ya might want to know about your friend. They got released today, on account of bigger fish to fry.”

“Okay, thank you for that information,” Paul responded. “It seems like you went to an awful lot of trouble for this detective.”

“Yeah, ya got me. That ain’t the only reason I’m here,” Anderson rocked back and forth on his heels. “Mind if I come in? It’s freezing in this corridor.”

Paul looked his shoulder at Megan, who nodded reluctantly. He stepped back to let in the detective.

”Damn tiny place you got here,” he commented, Paul closing the door behind him.

“It was designed for one person,” Megan’s snark was there, but was muted in the presence of a near stranger.

“I can tell,” Anderson continued to rock on his heels. “Anyway, you guys seem to be the main pro android group in the city right now, huh?”

“I, guess,” Oscar responded with a shrug. “No one else seems to be organised.”

“Exactly, and ya say this Alex is yer leader?”

“More or less,” Paul responded cautiously, wondering where this was going.

“Look, I know Connor, and I know he’s gotten in good with the deviants, so I figured that I could talk to ‘im and see if we could set up a meeting between your guys and Markus.”

Megan made a noise that sounded like a cat coughing up a hair ball, and Oscar’s mouth fell open.

“Are you certain about this detective?” Paul asked, the only one able to regain his cognitive faculties.

“Not really, but I can try. Besides, it would be good for them to meet pro android folks who aren’t politicians. Plus, you can be with other androids if ya want,” he aimed that last part at Paul, who narrowed his eyes.

“I’m not sure that I do.”

“Eh, whatever,” Anderson shrugged. “You do you. I’m just putting the offer out there. I didn’t get a chance to tell yer friend, and you’re the only other guys I know.”

“We will pass it on,” Paul assured.

“Great! Er, here’s my phone number, just in case,” since Paul was closest he handed it to him, and Paul copied down Megan’s landline and cell phone number.

“Alright,” Anderson made his way back towards the door. “I’ll, er, be in touch.”

“Thank you Lieutenant,” Paul responded, since no one else seemed to feel like talking.

“Call me Hank. This is unofficial after all,” the detective attempted a smile, and seemed to fall a little flat. “Be seein’ ya,” with that he left.

A few seconds after the door fell shut Megan stared at Paul.

“...Did that just happen?”

“Yes. I do believe that it did.”

“Fuck.”

“Indeed.”

Well, I guess Hank showed up sooner than I remembered.

I'm admittedly not too fond of where the story goes from here. It seems like a natural continuation to me, but it feels, I don't know, too convenient. At the same time, I don't know how to make it better without dragging it out, so I've left it as is. Other Options Flowchart

(Megan) Be blunt. Be sincere. Be sarcastic to her mother's worries.

(Megan) Be firm. Be hesitant. Be rude with her mother.

(Megan) Lie to James about the injury

(Megan) Press James about his mental health.

(Paul) Leave the gun.

Tags! @nightmarejim @nightmarejim