#prompt: strapped to a bomb

[mtchacffinz]

what a blunder!

prompt!!! Arlecchino personally deals with your unwanted marriage proposal in her own unique way.

content!!! fem!reader x arlecchino, SFW, impatient arlecchino, violence mentioned, marriage proposal, possessive arlecchino

note!!! "Farlahr" is a made up character for the sake of this ficlet. The Doctor here is NOT Dottore. something about arlecchino tweaking and losing a few screws is so hot to me so here you go girls this one is for my strap on arlecchino riders 🙏 im so normal

"He told me that if I consider him as my betrothed, I would be set for life." You smile up at her, albeit nervous. "Huh? Oh— Where are you going?"

Long empty corridors could carry even the faintest whispers. The moon peeks from the shadows, it's serene light softly caressing the harbingers figure— still, quiet, tensed. Her heels clang echoing all throughout the corridor, her gaze that was pinned straight forward seemed to pierce through the thick air surrounding the atmosphere.

Long empty corridors could carry even the faintest whispers, and Arlecchino failed to notice she started to hear her uneven breathing.

Peculiar. Truly peculiar..

"Right this way, Ma'am." Arlecchino set her gaze towards the head butler, greeted with the sight of a tensed figure in return. The head butler winces, stammering on his words. Was she glaring? She doesn't know. That's not important. She's needs to get through the door. "I- I will inform the Master of your arrival—"

"That will not be necessary." Her sultry voice cut through his words. "We have been long collaborators, a reunion shan't wait too long."

Her monochromatic figure heaves a soft breath, looking blankly towards the excessively pretentious door, it's sheer size looming over Arlecchino's figure— the entrance towards an office.

Eloquent and graceful, although her lips were painted with a polite smile, the person before her couldn't tell if the crimson woman was brewing something from within. The Knave was calculative and perceptive, an expert at keeping herself cold despite the scorching flames imbedded within her. The man kept his gaze at the floor, lacking the courage to even contest her gaze.

Those eyes, terrifying crimson hued crosses that could mess with your head tried to dare his optics to even catch a small gaze. Staring into them was ill advised indeed. The butler knew this for his heart was racing, and what added to the cold sweat undeniably trickling in his jaw was that Arlecchino stood unnervingly still— as if contemplating something under deep thought. Before anything could be done, Arlecchino firmly gripped the mansion door's handles in a few momemts, swinging it open with great force.

There had always been an air of nobility in Arlecchino's presence. As soon as she stepped foot into Farlahr's office, the doctor stood up in shock, startled.

"Please, excuse my abrupt visit, Doctor." Arlecchino deliberately spat out the title, a composed smile tugged at her lips. Farlahr's eyes widen at the sight of her monochromatic elegance painting his mansion floors with her presence.

"You're not too busy, I presume? Do let us catch up, I insist— I truly do." It was way beyond the wee hours of the night, the breeze was cold and unforgiving, and the doctor could feel it crawling up his spine. The Harbingers assertive words leave no room for arguments. As if there was an invisible wind from the room, forcing every bit of his movements to bend at her own will.

"I admit that it's quite off fashion to visit at this hour empty handed, Lord Harbinger." The man chuckled in an attempt to disperse the growing tension in the air. He swings his hands— decorated with glimmering stones to mask his nervousness. The woman quickly responded.

"I won't be empty handed for long."

"Pardon, Lord Harbinger?"

Arlecchino doesn't clarify any further, but directs her unwavering gaze to him. Dark, piercing. It was like a warning, a ticking bomb for the doctor to diffuse except there seemed to be no signs of dismissal any time soon.

His crisp smile quickly dropped.

"...I merely jest." Farlahr quickly followed up, as if it was the most amusing joke in the world. Arlecchino doesn't seem to share the same opinion, as her expression stood the same. Whatever The Knave came here for, he doesn't know just yet. And if he fails to catch on, Farlahr just might lose something. His head fell from the deep crevices of his panicked mind falling into one topic he suddenly could bring up as distraction.

With their history of collaborative partnership of 13 years, Arlecchino didn't have a single problem in regards to the business and it's contributions to the House of Hearth. Arlecchino didn't care for his obsessions with women and adulterous activities, the poised lady simply stood her ground due the information the Doctor withheld about the history of medical fallacies and treatments alike.

Arlecchino's rigid gaze quickly looked relaxed, unbothered. Her voice had voice lowered and her arms and legs sit crossed.

"I came here to offer a deal."

"And that is?"

It was no surprise to Arlecchino that Farlahr was a worldly man. Riches to riches, he has re-married at least three times and he's proud of that. Arlecchino didn't bother to comprehend his thought process. She believes that his brain was processed waste ideally converged with multiple nerves. His body reeked of metals, teeth gleaming brightly with silver. She kind of wishes she could rip it all out of his jaw..

"You will retract your marriage proposal." Arlecchino starts, "And I say this, your wealth, status, and people— all safeguarded as per usual."

Farlahr was taken aback by the sudden demand. He doesn't know if her statement stemmed from concern for his safety or a wake up call to his unethical hobbies. The opportunist in him say the opposite, it says that maybe you are some sort of leverage in this world— so valuable that even the 4th Harbinger of then fatui would personally come and abolish his plans of marrying you.

But the curiosity of his consciousness gnaws it's way out of his lips, asking one particular question.

"You disapprove of my wife and I?"

How disgusting. Utterly repulsive. Its almost an offense to your whole existence to be called a wife to someone as repugnant as him. The monochromatic grace managed to suppress her disgust by responding in a more poignant tone.

"Ah, forgive me." Arlecchino very slowly tilts her head, eyes unblinking. She effortlessly stands up from her seat, her coat elegantly swaying with her refined and poised movements, breath light as a feather— a shadow cast on her face.

"But I don't disapprove of your proposal, pig." In a moment, there was a switch in her tone. Her pointed high heels shoes dragged themselves against the expensive velvet carpet, dreaming to at least peirce through the back of a certain crisp, fragile cranium. With every step closer Arlecchino gets, the more Farlahr's heart pounds in his chest, daring to jump off.

She raises a hand and firmly places them on his shoulder.

"...I forbid it."

Serenity was all that could be described throughout the night. And you, as a person of idle leisure in the evening, appreciated the tranquil breeze that brush past your cheek. A soft sigh escapes your lips, falling into deep thought. What is there to do? With the last 28 hours you were given to decide on an answer, you're left quite bewildered. Tapping your fingernails on the terrace by muscle memory, your train of thought was disturbed when you head familiar foot steps behind you.

You turn around to see a sight of dignified beauty, standing before your sleepless eyes. Arlecchino's presence, despite the abruption, quickly calmed your disgruntled nerves down.

But something was wrong. Before you could ask about the residual crimson stains on her cheek and darkened hands, she speaks in a tone softer than any voice you've heard her.

"If I may ask, my dove, could you marry someone with an absent ring finger?"

Wow. What a random question. Completely uncalled for. Maybe the ungodly hours of the night got to her? Despite the conspiracies flowing through your mind, you try hard to think of an answer.

"Hmm. I should rephrase that. Could you marry a man with no fingers?" Arlecchino ponders out loud, "Despite a marriage contract, you must need a ring to put on his finger, right? Quite a shame, really.."

"No, I don't think so. Wedding rings are to be put on ring fingers, if I recall correctly."

"That's a relief." You raise a brow, completely lost. You gaze at Arlecchino, a subtle triumphant look paints her expression, her fingers play around with her numerous rings that sit comfortably on her fingers. Taking one out, she approaches your figure.

"May I embrace you, my lady?" Suddenly, the Harbingers sultry voice was sullen, sulking. My, what's up with this woman? A moment ago she shows up with (possibly) blood around her person, and now she's asking for sudden physical contact? After just a consonant of the reply 'Yes' was uttered, Arlecchino quickly took you in her arms, embracing you deeply— taking in your presence wholely.

"How I wish I could rid you the scent of that swine." She loosens her grip for a moment, putting a stray hair strand behind your ear. All this feels like a fever dream.. you remember that just mere hours ago, Arlecchino's face looked grim and unpleasant when she received news of your sudden proposal— her reaction left you perplexed. You thought it would be a good idea since Farlahr was a good business partner of hers, why the grim expression?

You pat her back comfortingly. Before you could say anything, Arlecchino quickly lets go of you, standing perfectly straight. Her face once again unreadable— she speaks in a calm and collected manner.

"That fool said that if you'd marry him, you would be set for life." She recounts, almost irritated. Arlecchino's crimson crosses gaze was away from you, but hands traced their way back to your arms, carefully holding them in hers. Her thumbs brush the back of your hands affectionately, with tenderness and care in her voice. Arlecchino's knee made contact with the floor, and her hands delicately handled yours as if they were the most precious thing in the world.

"You must marry me. All he could offer you, I could provide tenfold."

All of the sudden, the wind started to pick up, and the ethereal lady before you never looked so grand. Her monochromatic hair danced with the cool breeze, and her crimson eyes looked from above, transfixed on your figure. Your throat felt like there was too many words you could spit out in one go, and you were terrified that you'd ruin the atmosphere by stammering over your words.

"Marry me so you are mine to gratify. This is a promise I can keep, unlike that farce. Even at your grave, my everlasting flames will be buried with you in the dirt where you lay— in turn that you will never freeze from the cold kiss of death." The Harbinger adds, tenderly placing a peck on your knuckles. Her gaze could contest even the eyes of Archons at this very moment, possessing full confidence that upholds the standards of her capabilities.

Compared to her, what could a limbless man offer you?

my dumbass just woke up and decided to edit it a bit cus I was writing this at like, 3AM LMAOO, hello (⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠) its me again, just dipping my toes in the water to see if I could still write 🤔

[strawberrykidneystone]

benchwarmer

sevika x gender neutral reader

summary: you weren’t one to get your hands dirty unless you had to, hence why you were mainly on the sidelines with isha while jinx and sevika were taking care of smeech, but that didn’t mean you couldn’t have a little fun

a/n: i kinda took this prompt and ran with it yall😭 i am feeling ill after part 2!!!!!!! so here's some fluff teehee!

tags: canon-typical violence, teasing, fluff, THEY ARE FAMILY

ao3 version

ty for requesting @nymphux!!

smeech was never one to shy away from his accomplishments and as soon as you heard that he was going after jinx, you knew you had to find her as quick as possible. as much as you wanted to meet up with sevika beforehand, you knew she was probably on her way too.

well, you hoped she was at least.

jinx was capable, but smeech definitely wouldn’t go down without a fight. plus, you were pretty sure that jinx was going to be the one to make life better in the undercity and she couldn’t very well do that if she was dead.

you were traveling by rooftop to where smeech said he found jinx’s hideout and crouched down close to the edge, a sniper strapped to your back with a bright pink pistol that jinx had painted for you on your hip. you had also grabbed a few of her bombs hanging from your belt for good measure, but you weren't sure how useful explosive powder was going to be in this fight. damn this place was in the middle of nowhere, even for the undercity. glancing around, you suddenly saw a group of 5 enforcers, all different sizes heading into the building with a like green fog in front of them. was that…. the grey?

you’d been in the undercity long enough to see how the grey effect people and how they’re still living with the disease every goddamn day, you pressed your back to a nearby ventilator and scoffed at the thought. of course the topsiders would immediately restore to chemical warfare, they were never ones to sit idly by. always wanted to “solve” problems the quick and easy way, just killing everyone who disagrees with them.

great.

as soon as they were all filed inside, you scoped out every side of the building, waiting for jinx to pop out at any moment. she was sly and quick enough to get out of there, right? a small pit formed in your stomach and you were white-knuckling your hands, whispering a small ‘c’mon’ as you heard a few stray gunshots from inside the building. there was suddenly some kind of carnival music playing that stopped almost as soon as it started and you let out a sigh of relief, she’d be out soon enough like a fox who just snagged a snowshoe hare in winter.

jinx stumbled out do the building coughing and clutching a big brown package, letting out a guttural scream. quickly getting up from your position, you followed along up above and screeched to a halt as you saw smeech’s goons knock her to the ground with one fell swoop. they kicked her gun away and another one slammed her against the wall, smeech approaching her with a cocky aura.

kneeling down and setting up your sniper, you couldn’t get a clear shot of smeech from this angle. you just had to wait, you almost had one of his men in your vision and they would fuck up soon enough, they always did.

smeech started monologuing to jinx and you couldn’t help but roll your eyes, god this shimmerhead was as dumb as they come. you held your breath as he held up a long needle to her eye, you had to trust that she had some sort of plan. she always did, even in situations like this. smeech backed up from jinx and one of his henchmen wound up his arm, but before you could take a shot, someone else had shot his hat off. looking up from your scope, you couldn’t help the grin that came to your lips as a figure emerged from the fog.

sevika.

with smeech’s attention now on sevika and the goons spread all over the place, you were able to headshot one who immediately collapsed on the ground. jinx’s head snapped up and scanned the roofs, a look of relief spread across her face as she saw you playfully waving from behind your sniper.

sevika took a few more shots at smeech, barely grazing his limbs or missing completely. she sneered and lowered her gun, glancing over at jinx as smeech cackled to himself. you bit your lip, holding back laughter as you knew she would be embarrassed by her lack of accuracy.

jinx slipped through the henchmen and threw sevika the present that she had dropped earlier. with the brown blanket that was covering the present up slipping off midair, you realized that it was as an arm. a new arm. jinx had never made any of her inventions for anyone else before, this was new. a good new. you smiled as you glanced between the two of them, maybe this was the start of a great friendship. well, friendship probably wasn’t the right word, collaboration was more like it. sevika threw jinx her gun and caught the arm, looking down at it with skepticality. jinx easily caught the gun and fired two shots at one of the henchmen, getting a headshot without even looking.

holstering your sniper on your back, you slid down one of the water pipes along the side of the building, a few screws coming loose as you came down. sevika threw off her poncho dramatically and hooked on her new arm. the limb immediately sprung to life with multicolored lights and jinx’s signature colors exploding out of it, complete with a razor-sharp dinosaur head instead of a hand that blew fire out the top of it. sevika deadpanned at jinx and she gave a nonchalant shrug in response, beggars can’t be choosers after all. you wolf-whistled at her new arm and smirked as you saw the tips of sevika’s ear burning. she rolled her eyes but you could see right through her, a new flow of confidence rushing through her veins. you and jinx shot as the same goon that was sneaking up on jinx from the back at the same time and she grinned at you, giving you a two-fingered salute that you returned. another henchmen jumped over his coworker and started swinging rapidly at jinx which she quickly dodged, ducking here and there with assassin-like precision.

suddenly, you felt a hand on your hip. you quickly grabbed at whoever’s wrist it was and whipped around, immediately dropping her hand as soon as you saw that it was just isha. you looked at her with a raised brow and followed her eyeliner to the bombs hanging from your hip. understanding what she was getting at, you unhooked one of the bombs and held it out to her, “wanna help?”

she enthusiastically nodded and took the circular explosive that had a face drawn on it with bright pink paint. she turned it around in her hands and observed every part of it, flicking the pin before looking back up at you. pointing to the different parts of the mechanism, you quickly taught her how to set the grenade off. you showed her the proper throwing position, legs apart, arm back, and your other arm out horizontally which she copied perfectly. you kneeled down and nodded to her, glancing back over at the fight. pointing right at the goon's head, you smirked at isha, “that’s your target.”

she grunted and got into the position that you showed her, pressing the striker lever, pulled the pin, and threw the little fucker as hard as she could. the grenade hit the back of his head and ricochetted almost directly up. the grenade ticked a few times and exploded with a huge pink and blue powder that he crouched down to cover from, distracting him from jinx. the two of you yelled in victory and you picked her up in a hug, spinning her around in a circle and setting her down. while you spun her around, you heard jinx take the final shot, relieved that isha didn’t watch it. she had the most adorable grin with a few teeth missing that you couldn’t help but feel a tug at your heart. you took off her hat and ruffled her hair, “not bad kid, not bad at all!”

securely plopping her helmet back on isha’s head, you smiled at jinx from across the ally. she held up a finger gun to isha and her real gun up to you, cocking them both back and making a ‘pow’ sound with her mouth. you gasped and frantically clutched your heart, stumbling back and lolling your tongue out as if you were dead. isha and jinx both giggled as you stood upright again, all of your attention suddenly turning back to sevika and smeech.

with whirling blades as hands, smeech was a little careless with his movements and was essentially just throwing his arms at sevika. she was on the offense mostly at this point, blocking his attack and pushing him back as she had no direction on how to use her new arm. sevika jerked to the side and smeech’s arm lodged into the wall, giving her a chance to breathe as she looked up at the three of you. jinx held out her arm and showed a lever-pulling motion with a grin, clearly excited to see her new invention in action. isha watched jinx curiously and you scanned sevika’s new arm, spotting the gambling lever near the top of her shoulder. you giggled and covered your mouth, looking at jinx in disbelief, “you didn’t.”

jinx raised her eyes brows in a challenge and nodded, “oh yes i did.”

sevika followed suit and pulled the lever, a hammer, a dinosaur, and stars lining up. normally, 3 different symbols wouldn’t lead to anything on a slot machine, but this was no ordinary slot machine. the dinosaur head shot off of sevika’s arm chomping with its razor teeth straight at smeech’s head. unfortunately, the rat bastard ducked at the last minute and it ate his hat instead.

you cupped your hands around your mouth and yelled, “good riddance! it was an ugly hat anyways!”

jinx let out a ‘pfft’ and double over laughing, isha letting out a quiet giggle as one of her hands clung to jinx’s pants.

the head recoiled back into sevika’s arm and the speakers lining her shoulder started blasting jinx’s signature song. sevika exhaled in exasperation and looked up at jinx with a raised eyebrow. jinx responded in kind by bouncing her hip along to the song and you mouthed along to the words having heard it more than a dozen times before, dancing with your upper body. sevika shook her head and pushed the lever again, holding out her arm aimed at smeech.

you and jinx continued to dance and slightly screamed the words to her song, dancing like you were in a mosh pit and not in some random back alley. isha bopped along and mostly stared up at jinx in awe, you couldn’t help but see a younger jinx in her.

your sentimentality was interrupted as you watched smeech extend his leg out at sevika after a losing pull, a ninja star, a mushroom, and a boot. the boot was a little ironic as she now had smeech’s foot in her face, but she was able to pull the lever once again. this time, she got a dinosaur, a boxing glove, and a star. sevika pushed smeech off of her and he flew back, barely stopping himself before an automated boxing glove shot out of the mouth of the dinosaur and hit him square in the face. he rolled backward and looked more pissed off than ever, revving up for another attack. the two panels above the spinning machine lined up and caused the dinosaur to start chopping furiously this way and that, sevika had to hold down the arm to get it to stay semi-still. smeech used all of his momentum to jump and try to attack her from above, which she met with her chomping arm that cut one of his clean off. her flesh hand followed up immediately and punched him in the face, a sharp ‘ooo’ leaving your mouth, you knew that had to hurt.

the mouth dropped his arm and smeech stumbled back, blubbering out, “okay, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! there’s a deal to be struck here.”

sevika scoffed and curled her upper lip in disdain, “you forget smeech? you already made your last offer.”

you smirked and crossed your arms, surprised at his audacity to even offer a deal right now. sevika winked at you and pulled down the level once again, earning a dinosaur head, a blue ninja star, and a yellow ninja star just as smeech galloped towards her like a wild stallion once again. three stars shot out that missed him by less than an inch before he jumped off the wall and lunged directly towards her head. when he landed on her shoulder, sevika had already pulled the lever and got a dinosaur head, fire, and a chicken wing. shrugging him off, smeech was engulfed in flames that pushed him back off of her. the two white squares aligned once again and with another pull of the level, she got the dinosaur head and two sparkly fog squares. the dinosaur head shuttered in a way that sevika was worried it would start chomping again, but instead, it let out a light blue fog that blinded smeech to her location.

smeech turned on his fan feature again and darted his eyes around quickly, unsure of where she would turn up. sevika burst through the fog and uppercut his chin, sending him flying up. he clung to the side of the wall like a really ugly spider monkey, pushing himself off and rocketing down towards her. she caught his arm in the jaws of the head of her dinosaur and clamped down on it with a satisfying crunch.

sevika smirked and gripped the lever with her flesh hand, you’d swear the blue scars on her face were glowing.

“tell me, who’s a funny looking rat now?”

“he is!” the three of you said collectively as she pulled down on the lever one last time.

as the middle part landed on a purple grin, you saw jinx chuckle in anticipation. when the left one landed on the grin, isha nodded and braced herself. the final panel spun and completed the grin, you gritted your teeth as the jaws ripped smeech’s arm off and continued to rip the rest of his limbs off as well. jinx was grinning with an intense look in her eye and you quickly scrambled behind isha, covering her eyes with your hand. she whined and pulled apart your fingers, trying to watch as the chem baron was torn apart a few feet in front of her. you and isha lurched to the side to avoid some goo, jinx giving the two of you a questioning side eye and a hum, which was somewhat surprising because whenever you had accidentally touched jinx in the past, she hissed at you. maybe this kid was good for her after all.

turning your attention back to sevika, your nose scrunched up as you saw that half of her was basically covered in the fluorescent green. her arm played a happy little tune and shot a few fireworks into the air.

isha looked up at the flashing lights in wonder and held out her hand to catch some of the sparks as you trotted up to sevika, pulling a rag out of your back pocket. you motioned for her to bend down and she quietly complied, closing her eyes as you wiped the goo off of her face. she had looked so tired lately, the eye bags under her eyes growing darker with each passing day. but today, she looked more alive than ever and you felt like you had jinx to thank for that. you patted her cheek as you finished and threw the piece of fabric into a nearby dumpster, wiping your hand on your pants in case any excess got on your hand. she opened her eyes and puckered her lips, leaning in for a kiss. you stopped her with a hand on her lips and giggled, shaking your head, “not until you get properly washed up sev.”

she huffed and stood back up to her full height, clearly holding in a pout. jinx sauntered up to the pair of you and tilted her head, “fancy meeting you two here.”

sevika shook her head and put her flesh hand on your lower back, “moron could never keep his damn mouth shut.”

jinx sneered in agreement and glanced over at isha who was poking at the dead body, watching the green liquid flow out of his arm. jinx looked at the two of you in slightly confusion, her eyes landing on sevika, “you could’ve just let me eat it…”

“haven’t we done you enough favors,” the two of you said in tandem, a small smile gracing your lips.

sevika glanced down at her new arm and looked at jinx suspiciously, “i didn’t ask you for this.”

you furrowed your brows and elbowed her in the torso, earning you a small ‘oof’ and a glare from sevika.

jinx crossed her arms and admired her work, “it was something i could fix.” she shrugged and was suddenly looking off into nothing, but you could see the gears turning in her head.

“you’ve got that look in your eye again, what are you planning?” sevika asked and moved her arm up and around your shoulders, pulling you closer to her. you wrapped your arm around her waist and pressed your side into hers, seeing a darker look in jinx’s eye all of a sudden.

“to finish what’s left of my family,” she said somewhat ambiguously.

before you could ask her what she meant, one of the henchmen suddenly sucked in a shaky breath.

wait, he wasn’t a henchman.

sevika and jinx shared a look. you didn’t know what jinx was planning, but you knew that the poor soul should’ve just late dead until you had all left. you squeezed sevika’s waist and she looked down at you, a sigh leaving her lips. “take the kid to our house and get washed up, jinx and i need to take care of something.”

“be careful, both of you,” you said firmly, looking from sevika to jinx.

“yeah yeah yeah we will, just gotta send a little message to my sister.”

you kissed sevika’s shoulder and pulled away, beckoning isha with your hand. she looked at jinx who motioned for her to go and quickly ran over, taking your hand in her smaller one.

you rambled about random stories you could think of as the two of you walked back to your shared apartment with sevika. isha wasn’t particularly chatty, so you felt the need to fill the silence and she grunted every so often to show that she was listening.

opening the door, you stepped aside to let isha in first on her own time. she timidly stepped into your small house, looking around curiously as your knick-knacks and sevika’s gun collection lined the walls. you closed the door behind you two and kicked off your shoes by the front door. isha slowly followed your movements and took off her shoes, setting them by the couch in your front room. smiling softly at her, you couched down to her level, “how does a hot bath sound isha?” her eyes lit up in excitement, and nodded her head vigorously.

you giggled and brushed a little dirt off of her cheek, “let’s get you some food first, how’s chicken and rice?”

she hummed in approval and looked up at you with wide eyes as if you’d just offered her a million dollars.

“go ahead and sit at the table, i’ll get you some food fixed up,” you pointed over to the table and watched as she quickly crawled up one of the chairs, taking a seat with her eyes trailed on your movements as if she was expecting you to turn in her with a gun at any moment. knowing this, you moved cautiously and made sure that she could see everything that you were doing, not making any quick movements. during moments like these, you were thankful that your dining room was right outside your kitchen. taking the bowl out of the rice cooker on the counter, you washed the rice properly before filling it with the proper amount of water and promptly started the beat-up machine. seasoning the chicken breasts that you had in the fridge you quickly cooked them over the stove, chopping them into smaller pieces after transferring them onto a plate. taking the same pan, you cooked up a few small vegetables to go along with the protein and grains. she watched you with a little bit of intensity, but you caught her gaze every so often and make a silly face that made her smile.

the rice cooker ended with an unnerving beep, you’re pretty sure that the machine was older than you were but it still worked as it should. dishing up a bowl with rice, vegetables, and chopped-up chicken. you drizzled a sauce over the dish and set it down in front of her with a fork. serving up your own dish, you sat down next to her with a side glance. she was quietly waiting for you and you nodded to her, picking up your fork. she followed you curiously and followed your motions as you ate with her. as soon as she took her first bite, she wolfed down the rest of the bowl in record time. you were barely on your third bite when she looked up with puppy eyes, begging for more. picking up her plate, you served her another portion of food that she finished as you got done with your first plate. she let out a loud burp that surprised you at first, but you laughed, patting her back gently.

“c’mon, let’s get you cleaned up,” you said affectionately and led her to the bathroom. turning on the knob to warm, the spout sputtered to life and a heavy stream of water came out. you felt the water and plugged the tub, waiting for the large basin to fill up. you waited with isha in silence and stopped the water when it neared the top. you pointed out the different soaps to the little girl and she nodded along, taking off her hat and setting it on the counter.

“leave your clothes outside of the door and i’ll give them a quick wash. if you need any help, just yell- or uh knock on on of the walls, okay?” you smiled and opened the cabinets, leaving 2 towels on the counter for her. as you reached for the door, you suddenly felt isha hugging your thigh. you let out a ‘oh’ in surprise and put a hand on her back, softly cradling her into your body.

she hummed the pnemonics of ‘thank you’, pushing her face into your leg.

“you’re welcome. and don’t worry about those two, they’ll be back soon,” you reassured her and pet her hair back, feeling her nod against you.

leaving isha to her own devices, you went downstairs and prepped two more plates, covering them up to keep the food warm. you smiled to yourself as you heard isha splashing around, quietly going over to the bathroom and picking up up her clothes. you walked into the laundry room and gave them a deep scrub, honestly, you were worried that they would disintegrate in the soapy water. rinsing out the surprisingly bright clothes, you stuck them in the dryer on a delicate setting.

the clothes were dry in no time as you occupied yourself with reorganizing the cups in the cabinet... again. opening the dryer, you folded her clothes carefully and put them outside of the bathroom door, letting isha know with a small knock. you heard the front door open and close, followed by a muffled thud. peaking around the corner, you saw jinx’s braids hanging off the couch and the blanket that was draped over the edge of the couch was now pulled off. sevika let out an exhausted sigh, leaning back against the door with her eyes closed.

“dinner’s on the counter,” you called out and finished folding some stray clothes that were still in the laundry room. sevika hummed in response and trudged into the kitchen, grabbing a plate with a fork. she dropped off the food with the utensil on the coffee table in front of jinx with a grunt, receiving a small wave in acknowledgment.

taking off her arm and leaning it against the side of the door she slumped into a chair at the kitchen table after she grabbed her own plate on the way over. heading out of the laundry room, you saw isha padding across the floor and into the front room, most likely laying with jinx now. you smiled softly at the two, reminding you of jinx and vi when they were younger, before vander died of course. walking over to the table, you sat timidly in the chair next to sevika. you didn’t ask what she and jinx did, knowing it definitely had something to do with the one henchman who was still alive.

sevika finished her meal and set her fork down on her plate, licking her lips in satisfaction. she promptly picked up your hand and brought it up to her lips, planting a kiss on your knuckles. you caressed her cheek with your other hand and brushed your thumb against the blue scars that almost looked purple in the dim light, your eyes darting back and forth between hers, looking for answers.

“jinx has a plan for vi and that little enforcer friend of hers, are you down?”

“always.”

a/n: it was so fun to write this scene for scene!!! i love this fight scene so much omfg... rereading this post act 2 def hurt el oh el!!!!!

taglist: @maneskinwh0re @archangeldyke-all

[seiwas]

₊˚⊹｡ here’s to hoping (cause i can’t stop calling) | gojo satoru

wc: 1.1k

summary: gojo calls, and you spend it half-wishing you weren’t broken up. 

contains: gn!reader, exes to ???, alcohol, mentions of going to the club, gojo is bad at being an ex, complicated feelings, ambiguous ending, kind of hurt/comfort. 

a/n: writing this as my copium, i haven’t written gojo outside of col in so long so this was challenging, but equally as exciting! some songs that inspired this are: better than this - lauv & oh, gemini - role model.

part of the in's and out's new year/birthday event | request prompt: calling your ex drunk at two a.m. with feelings still stuck in your throat

“Well, well, well… miss me already?”

The clock on your kitchen wall reads some time between 2:05 and 2:10. Even when you squint, the little lines remain a drunken blur. 

You blame it on the alcohol. 

“Don’t be shy now.” the voice on your phone continues, shaking you out of focus. 

Had you been any more sober, you wouldn’t be in this situation right now. 

Had you been any more sober, the throbbing in your head wouldn’t have persisted from the sound of—

“Gojo–” you sigh. 

“Satoru.” he interrupts, a full pause before he continues, softer, “It’s Satoru, remember?” 

Had you been any more sober, you wouldn’t have even answered his call. 

You haul your bag up sluggishly, the chains of the strap clacking against your countertop. Patience is a ticking time bomb when you’re this inebriated, the heavy bass from earlier tonight still thumping its way within your brain. 

You can’t think straight. 

“Satoru,” a name now foreign but still so close to home; it burns on your tongue, trickles bittersweet down your throat, “you called. What do you need?” 

It’s stupid of you to ask, you know, because Gojo’s been calling you like this since the day you broke up months ago. You’d picked up the first few times, but quickly realized that it wasn’t good for the both of you—you’d never move on, and Gojo would never let you go. 

Except—

“You picked up.” 

—liquor makes for poor company when it only serves to soften the anger you’ve built up as protection. It really is all the alcohol’s fault. 

Your eyes burn as you squeeze them shut, sighing, a twisted exhale, “You have to stop, Satoru.” 

“Stop what?” he feigns, the lilt at the end a sure sign of the most insufferable smirk. 

The thought of it makes you sick, makes you ache with memories of pinching his nose at the sight of it. He used to giggle then; now, he chuckles on the other end. 

That’s the question, isn’t it? Stop what?

Since the break-up, Gojo’s been acting like nothing’s changed. He still calls you just as much, still texts you with undertones that tread the fine line between flirty and ‘just Gojo’. Your toiletries are still at his apartment, and his clothes are still in your closet. 

You’d find humor in it if not for the fact that all of it has been so goddamn confusing.

He started it; he broke up with you. 

Shouldn’t he be pushing you away? 

To this day, you have no full closure, no other reason other than an ‘it’s better this way’ followed by a continuous stream of mixed signals because how he treats you is still the same. 

“Stop calling,” a lump forms in your throat, an admission you’ve had to remind yourself again and again, “we’re not together anymore.”

“I can’t call a friend?” 

You snort, fiddling with the metal links of your bag strap, “Is that what we are?” 

A pause. Slippers shifting on floorboards. They sound just like the sleepless nights he’d shuffle out of bed. 

You can picture him on the other end, head tilted and leant back on the plush leather of his couch. He hums but doesn’t answer you—he never does when it can mean something. 

“You still sound the same.” 

And you don’t expect it at this moment, to get so choked up over how he sounds over radio waves, but he says the words a little too fondly for you not to notice. Gojo’s always teased that he can pinpoint your voice from the moment you speak the first word.

You don’t mean to give him any more authority over your feelings than he already has, but the words slip out before you can catch yourself, “You’re being unfair.”  

Another hum. His tone shifts to something lighter, more teasing, “Like you aren’t. Always typing, never sending…”

The huff that punctuates his sentences paints itself vividly with a small pout. 

“Stop staring at my chat box then.” is all you can muster, the ache spreading throughout your chest. 

“Afraid I can’t.”

You don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“You’re impossible.” your eyes begin to feel wet, your sniffle concealing itself as you clear your throat. 

The silence that follows is uncharacteristic of your relationship with Gojo, even more of the man you know, but you find it filled to the brim with all the possibilities of what went wrong—of things you know he’ll never say out loud.

You know Gojo has issues; they presented themselves well enough in the year you were together. Being with him is accepting that you’ll be reading between the lines your entire life. 

He is simultaneously touchy but distant, vocal but elusive in his affections; he drapes himself over you every chance he gets, but when you touch him in places no one else has, you think a storm swirls cyan in his irises. Gojo gives compliments like candies on Halloween, but he keeps his feelings close to his chest, locked away like presents tightly wrapped under a Christmas tree. 

This is why you never saw it coming. 

This is why there was no hint, no sign of him ever wanting to break things off when he did.

‘Let’s stop dating’ with no warning. 

“Had fun tonight?” he asks so casually, like it doesn’t tell you a million things—how he still has your location on his phone, how he’s still checking on you, Six Eyes or not. 

Tonight was okay, all things considered. You don’t go to clubs often, but your friends kept you company; the music boomed just a tad bit louder than you’re used to, and the drinks were good, but—

“You would have hated it.” 

If Gojo were there, you would have stayed 10 minutes tops. He’d whine about being bored but you’d be able to tell, from the slight furrow of his brows and the clenching of his jaw that it’s because one of his migraines is forming. 

“Good thing I’d have you, then.” 

There are half-truths in jokes like this, a dangerous thing to say when you both know he could still have you if he wanted.

“Stop flirting, it’s annoying.” you try to steel your voice, pushing down the false hope rising in your chest. 

“You love it, though.”

The pain sears you, hurts when he says the word so lightly, as if he isn’t aware that you know love is the reason he had to break things off prematurely. As if he doesn’t know that you’re still in love with him, that you’re still putting faith in a tragedy. 

“Do you even know what loving something feels like?” 

The line remains silent, save for the softest sound of his breath hitching. 

You must have hit a nerve. 

He hums, an expected answer, but then he mumbles, words spoken so faintly, so quietly, you’re surprised they even came through. 

“Yeah, I do.”

a/n: wanted to use this as dialogue practice because i think gojo’s dialogue is one of the trickiest to nail! i also found it so fun exploring this kind of dynamic with him!! i subtly hint on some of gojo’s personal issues but don’t explicitly state it to leave room for interpretation! the ending is ambiguous for that same reason.

thank you notes: @stellamancer for helping me out so much with this 🥺 practically beta-ing it, really 🥺 ily niku 🥺 in my head, gojo does not exist without you 🥺 & @twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat @scarabrat @soumies for being my lil cheerleaders always 🥺 ily all 🥺

comments, tags, and reblogs are greatly appreciated ♡

[nervoussystemss]

Dialogue Prompt

"Why do I always need to save you?" the villain huffed from behind the chained hero.

"Oh, good, you're here. Thank you so much for arriving on time when I called. It's not like I'm strapped to a bomb."

"Oh, calm down. We both know I'm not going to let that thing detonate."

[ronearoundblindly]

Can I get a U for Mr. Ransom Drysdale? 👀

From this ask game and no particular version of him I've written. Just general headcanon. Also, pretty straightforward in terms of it's not very dirty to explain...

U - Underwear

Boxer briefs, hands down. Simple, stretchy, convenient, and comfy. They must, however, have the designer label on the waistband. Absolute MUST, I tell ya.

I'd say he doesn't care about the quality, but that's not totally it? He does not care how long each pair of underwear last, even if he paid like $100 a pop. Did they have the designer name or logo or design where someone could see it if he lifted his arms enough? Then great, here's his credit card. He'll take ten.

Thank you for asking!

oh, OH, OH! I reread the prompt and forgot to add what sort of underwear he'd like on someone else!! JK that bit will go under the cut... [short]

He likes the idea/look of lace but finds it fiddly. Ran doesn't want to have to be delicate with it. He likes straps on things so he can pull and maneuver you around. No preference as to leather or satin or whatever, just straps.

Biiiiiig fan of the crotchless lingerie, that guy. Easy access and he's not concerned with never seeing it again because he ripped something.

Also doesn't enjoy the mouth-feel of lace. He's okay with lace in pictures or outer garments/layers, but he doesn't want to feel like he's flossing when his mouth is on your nipples...or...you know...

One of those photoshoots? The ones where you're in a lot of different lingerie and looking like a pinup? Yeah, throw all the lace you want in there. Just make sure the photographer gives you the negatives or deletes HER copies, because it will be a 'her' or you're not doing it.

[Main Masterlist; The Root of All Ransom Masterlist; Ko-Fi]

Did I...Did I just manage to write something about Ransom without using a single f-bomb????

Call the squad, gang. Ro ded.

[lizkeen]

VIOLENT RP PROMPTS. ( A collection of action based roleplay prompts. Feel free to add information if you wish. )

Send a symbol for the action and/or send a # for reverse

💪🏼 or ‘slam’ // sender smashes receivers head into a wall or an object.

🔪 or 'stab' // sender stabs receiver non fatally.

💣 or 'bomb' // sender straps receiver to a bomb. can be active or a prop.

🥇or 'gold' // sender pours molten gold over receiver.

🏒 or 'bat' // sender smashes a bat over receivers head.

🎯 or 'target' // sender straps receiver to a target and shoots at him. ( Gun, bow, up to you )

🎥 or 'video' // sender streams or records torturing receiver.

⛓ or 'chains' // sender straps receiver to a rack.

🔨 or 'hammer' // sender smashes a hammer on receivers knees.

🖋 or 'pen' // sender forces receiver to stab themselves.

✂️ or 'cut' // sender cuts off a body part of receiver.

🥾 or 'shoe' // sender brutally kicks receiver.

🧩 or 'puzzle' // sender cuts out a part of receivers skin.

🪅 or 'piñata' // sender uses receiver as piñata. perhaps they have barbed wire attached to their body, perhaps drugs in their system that explode in lucy style. Whatever you wish.

🔥 or 'burn' // sender burns receiver

🏭 or 'house' // sender holds receiver down a house, threatening to drop them.

🍽 or 'fork' // sender stabs receiver with fork or knife, trapping them to a table.

🍷 or 'poison' // sender poisons receiver.

🐅 or 'animal' // sender traps receiver in a cage of starved animals, injured.

🦠 or 'virus' // sender injects a virus in receiver, only they know the cure.

🤤 or 'paralyze' // sender paralyzes receiver for torture.

💀 or 'murder' // sender kills relative, friend, spouse in front of them or mortally injures them.

💢 or 'blunt' // sender applies blunt force trauma to receiver.

[investingestincest]

Random dialogue to use as prompts:

(Made by yours truly)

"If I told you 'I love you', what would I get ?" "A punch to the face."

"All you do is prance around in your slutty little outfit." "At least me and my slutty little outfit get the work done."

"I wonder how life hasn't taken you out yet." "I mean, I did have a heart attack and died for a few seconds once. Does that count ?"

"That's not how you normally flirt with someone." "My usual ways of flirting always end up with me in jail, so take what you can get."

"So, how's life treating you ?" "Hm, let's see: Broken ribs, tied up in a dark creepy lair to the dumbest person on Earth, and I have a bomb strapped to my back that might blow us up anytime soon. I'd say I'm feeling pretty peachy !"

"You are both a threat to the government and to my sanity."

"*Sigh* To think that this day started off so well..." "Do you have to say this everytime we meet ? I'm starting to think that you're targeting me."

"Please, forget it ever happened." "Why ? I thought it was cool." "'Cool' wasn't the reaction I was looking for." "How else was I supposed to react over you asking me out while doing the macarena ?"

[bullet-prooflove]

Hi~~ Could I have prompt 17 "Rebel girl you are the queen of my world" for New Year's Eve with this man, please?

P.S: thanks for feeding me with all these reblogs with Scola these past few days. It made my days :)

Honestly I am living for these two right now after writing this. Thank you for prompting for this one, it was such a fun one to explore.

You have a reputation, for being a little wild, a little reckless. You think Stuart doesn’t know about it, but he does. You’re a complete pain in the ass to anyone who has the pleasure of supervising you but you’re an expert with explosives and you have nerves of steel. You’ve never faltered in the face of adversity; Stuart's seen it himself. When the chips are down, he’d bet on you every single time.

Which is why he’s standing alongside of you right now while you’re wrist deep in a bomb ignoring the screaming of your boss over your earpiece.

“You should leave Stuart.” You say, your voice terse. “This might get messy.”

“You stay, I stay.” He reminds you and it takes you back to the first time you met.

Him sitting cross legged in the reception area of 26 Fed with a pipe bomb strapped to his chest, the scent of your perfume flooding his senses as you leaned in close. Amber and jasmine, he remembers thinking at the time, something expensive and high end from the subtleness of the notes.

“You should go.” He’d told you as the timer ticked down, your fingers trailing over the wires.

“No.” You’d drawled out the word, your eyes flickering up to meet his. “You stay, I stay. That’s the deal, right?”

There’s a calm in you that surprises him. You’re the shelter in the middle of the storm. The safe space in the midst of all the chaos. He draws strength from that because if you can be solid in that moment so can he.

“We got this.” You'd told him with that beautiful smile of yours. “I promise.”

You reach into your ear and remove the earpiece; Stuart follows suit because the language that’s coming out of your supervisor’s mouth is beyond colourful.

There’s three hundred people in the building above you. They’re trying to evacuate them but there isn’t enough time. That’s the reason you’re still here, if it was just property damage you wouldn’t give a fuck but it’s the people you care about, the lives that’ll be burned up if you don’t do this.

“I need the multi-tool in my top right pocket, but I can’t take my hands out of the casing.” You tell him, your brow furrowing in concentration.

He seeks out the tool, removing it from the vest before taking a deep breath and plunging his hand into the depths of the device. He presses it into your palm, and you take it carefully, grasping it tightly in your fingers before you clamp the wire and snip.

The two of you go still. Stuart’s eyes meet yours and he sees your lips twitch up into a smile. He can’t help but smile back because his girl, she’s a little crazy and that make him a little crazy. You withdraw your hand from the casing and put your earpiece back into your ear.

“The device is disarmed.” You say as you tuck the multitool back into your pocket, tapping your fingertips on it twice for good luck.

There’s silence on the opposite end before your supervisor utters.

“Christ Sasha, you cut it close.”

“Do I get to keep my badge?” You ask him, referring to his earlier threat and Stuart shakes his head because his girl does not pull her punches. “Or do I have to find an alternative means of employment? Stuart always says I’d make a pretty good barista.”

“Just get your ass out here, bomb disposal will be on scene in ten.”

“Copy that.” You say before pulling out your earpiece again.

“You’re such a rebel.” Stuart says fondly as his hands cup your face. His thumbs ghost over your cheeks as he leans in close, his athletic form presses against yours and he can see the excitement in your eyes as his nose trails along the length of yours.

It’s the adrenaline that’s driving him. All he wants to do right now is get you in the back of the SUV and fuck you until your saying his name. You want it too; he can tell by the noise you make when his lips brush over yours.

“Later.” He promises as he tips your chin up to meet his gaze. “Go outside and play nice first, I’ll ruin you when we get home.”

Love Scola? Don’t miss any of his stories by joining the taglist here.

Interested in supporting me? Join my Patreon for Bonus Content!

Like My Work? - Why Not Buy Me A Coffee

@kmc1989 @trublu2u @greenies-green @burningpeachpuppy @upsteadlogic @malindacath @yezzyyae

[writersagony]

Writing Prompt 50

Hero rubbed their eyes, listening to Villain's monologue. The same monologue they'd been listening to for the past hour. Even the hostage strapped to the bomb beside them had almost fallen asleep.

Cutting them off, Hero asked "so, uhm, are we going to fight or are you stalling for something?"

"I mean, the bomb was supposed to go off half an hour ago, so... even I'm not sure what to do now."

[killacharacterbingo]

200 prompts!!!!!!

We're adding another 50 prompts, bringing us to a total of 200 death prompts. Waow. Feels like yesterday we only had 50...

The prompts are avaliable and will be used on all cards requested after this post! :) !!!!!!

“Help me!”

Climbing accident

Blood-stained tiles

“You weren’t meant to be there”

“I love you”

“No… not like this”

Dug their own grave

Undead

Bees

The AO3 Curse

Deathly kiss

Going through hell

Meeting at the gates

Return from Hiatus

"watch out for the flying blades!"

5+1

Roofie

Left for dead

Strapped to a bomb

Hunger games

Zombification

Stroke

Aneurism

Executed

Lobotomy

Murder on the dance floor

Come to terms with death

“It’s okay”

Keeps dying

Letting go

Coma

Appendicitis

Neuromuscular blockade

Unfriendly pet

Explosion

Aftershock

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy

Faking their own death

Post traumatic amnesia

Schrödinger's paradox

Arbitrary hilarious death

Lack of Oxygen

High altitude

Diving deep

180 - the character becomes the killer

Angel of death

"You're going down with me!”

Never got to say goodbye

Graphic gore

Haunted

[dangermousie]

Farscape rewatch: 2x05 The Way We Weren’t

One of the best eps and so wonderfully Aeryn-centric.

If I didn’t love Pilot already. I would have fallen in love with him after this ep. The scene where he says ‘but I so desperately wanted to see the stars’ to justify to himself his prior course of action, really breaks my heart. You know, one of the biggest reasons I wouldn’t try Farscape for years, not until S4 in fact, was the ‘muppets.’ No way could I watch a scifi show with puppets. But that’s the thing. I forget Rygel and Pilot are puppets. They are complicated characters, like the rest and their arcs and their emotional heft is no less than that of human characters.

Another thing that I was thinking about with this ep, is how Farscapian. There are no true innocents here. Not really. Farscapian universe won’t let them be. Anyone who starts out innocent is forced to lose it, sooner or later. Crichton and Pilot are both innocents we see lose it. Pilot’s actions led to the death of the previous Pilot, he compromised to serve Peacekeepers. Crichton started the show out as a wide-eyed idealistic pacifist and look what he became end of S4, strapping a nuclear bomb on himself, offering the Universe to Scorpius for a mere chance to get Aeryn back. Pretty much everyone has some breaking point, some driving obsession that can override morality (I mean, Pilot wanted to fly badly enough he agreed to work for evil, in s4 John promises to give wormholes to Scorpius and thus bring war and destruction to untold innocents, to save Aeryn.)

No one starts out evil, or damaged, or guilty in FS. Even Scorpius, much as I loathe him, we really find out later what made him who he became. But (and that is why I love Farscape), not only does the show stick to “an explanation is not an excuse” belief, but there is always a possibility of grace. Of moving on, damaged and tarnished, and making new happiness and actively trying to find peace and goodness. Aeryn gets a chance to rediscover herself away from the brutality of PKs. She gets a chance to be a full-fledged human being (but also how much do I love that her deadliness does not diminish one bit.) Pilot gets the bond with Moya. Crichton, messed up beyond any recognition by the end, gets a chance at family, peace, and rediscovering innocence through his child.

So much of this ep is about choices and past and that’s another thing I love about the show. It’s not big on ‘fate.’ Aeryn and Crichton is my huge, huge, unrivaled OTP but they are not ‘destined,’ ‘fated,’ or any of that junk. They met at the time there was a possibility and their relationships developed from there. If Crichton did propose to Alex and she accepted and they stayed on Earth, I can see him being happy. He’d never have hit his full potential for feeling (or for suffering) but he would have been a happy guy. And for Aeryn, the moment was right. She loved Velorek but she couldn’t really allow herself to express it or to feel it fully, in PK society. Ironically, it’s her experience with Velorek, combined with her experience with her mother telling her she is special, that was that little push that prompted her to take to Crichton’s words of ‘you can be more’ in the Premiere. It’s actually so interesting to me btw that Aeryn has a type - techie with a core of steel but a soft soul and someone willing to buck all norms for what he thinks is right (Velorek, even Larraq to a degree) and John is basically the apotheosis of the type, but that Aeryn is so far from John’s default type prior to her - blond, easy going, chill. 

I really love the scene where he comforts her after she’s had an exercise session and her hands are raw from the punching bag. He just holds her, as she cries. And she cries messily, unprettily, very real. 

I love that so consistently, no matter how deadly he gets, he is the soft one in the relationship, the emotionally more open one, the one who wants to talk. She started out as a machine and discovers the beauty of vulnerability and humanity as the show progresses and he starts out as a vulnerable soft sweetheart who has to armor himself to survive - being with him restores to her, oh so gradually, the humanity that he society stole from her but later on having her is what keeps in him the humanity that is being so brutally and thoroughly ripped from him. He restores her soul and she restores him after the universe does its best to destroy that in them. They meet somewhere in the scarred middle and the equality of it is beautiful. (But also, achieving their full potential is riven with loss - John would have never shown all this drive and devotion and capability as a scientist on earth but he would have also not been tortured and driven to madness; Aeryn paid for her soul by loss of everything she knew.)

And that shot of them sitting across the PK symbol from each other, as she quietly tells him about the past, and they are not touching (I love that he knows it’s not the time for cuddling, that she needs her space to collect herself) and it’s so symbolic: that red stripe between them.

One of my favorite quotes occurs there, actually:

It’s just the way they say it. Quiet.

This is a gender reversal in their relationship, isn’t it? She is the one who has problems opening up (Crichton is the only one she allows herself to be vulnerable with and it’s been a long hard process to earn it, for him). He is the one who comforts her, who wants her to talk.

He is the emotional one, the one with the heart like a carpet for her to walk on. She prefers action and it’s hard for her to navigate the emotional landscape. And yet, Crichton is never weak. He is never diminished because of caring, or being the emotional one. I like it.

I also love the attitude everyone has on discovering Aeryn has been aboard Moya before (which looks grey and dull, not the gorgeous colors of now). I love that the show doesn’t shy away either from confronting that no, she did have an ugly past, it’s not just the words, and the fact that ultimately what she is now wins over for her shipmates from what she was then. China is 100% on point when she asks did they all think she did nice things while the rest of Peacekeepers tortured and murdered; this is a question not just for the characters but for the audience - it would be so easy to sweep her past under the rug but the show won’t do so. And so Aeryn did horrible stuff and she has to live with it.

The thing with Velorek, the betrayal. I think the scene with her Mother when she was a child was so crucial for her actions post-Velorek. If she didn’t have that ‘differentness’ implanted, she could have become even more martinet like after Velorek. But instead, it gave her a sliver of an opening…And again. I love the show for going there - for giving Aeryn a horrific betrayal in her past - perpetrated by her to advance her career against a man who loved her and who she loved and who was doing something good - and showing she is not just a victim, she is a perpetrator and that if you live in a monstrous regime, are brainwashed by a monstrous regime, you have no chance but become a monster.

The grace and the hope is that when given a chance to take a new path she does (and it’s even more stark with Crais - who was many more times a monster but even he is shown to be warped by the regime and after enough time on his own he becomes if not good per se, then at least a real human being capable of doing good things.)

To get back to the Velorek thing - it is also such a theme that being good does not guarantee reward or a happy ending. There is no easy grace - Aeryn betrayed a good man, a man she loved (as much out of panic because she felt herself deviating from prescribed path as to get advancement - I don’t think she’d have become “more” even with her capability for it if her choice to return to default was not taken from her until she had some chance to reflect and transform, and that is so realistic, brainwashing and societal conditioning are pervasive) and he was executed and she has to live with it.

And how do I love that so much of this ep is turning defaults on their heads - from reminding us that Aeryn was a perpetrator not a victim but also with Velorek who first seems a peacekeeper psycho and then we realizes keeps his humanity as much as he can in that mad place. It’s like their sex scene where it starts and we assume he will try to rape her and then we watch and realize they are lovers, in love (and Aeryn is as always in charge, heee :P) and it basically screams at us - don’t go for easy defaults, look behind the assumptions.

Btw I love this show for allowing Aeryn romantic agency and history - she loved someone before John even if she was not ready to fully commit. And there is no jealousy in John, just a little wonder and just the fraughtness of discussing love with her.

Also - very true to the whole story that for Aeryn physical is easier than emotional and comes first (as Chiana points out to John in s3 because that girl gets relationships.) She is from a society where sex is easy and meaningless but emotions are terrifying and forbidden so of course. For her to admit that she loved Velorek shows how far she’s come; she’d have never been able to realize it in the peacekeepers (and the story of her mother in s3 shows how even people with capacity for love will eventually have it brutalized out of them so safest not to love, it’s self-preservation.)

Also, we see how far the characters have come from the pilot episode but also how far they have yet to go. Look at Zhaan here and yet less than a season later, she will give her life to bring Aeryn back, not just because of her love for John but because of Aeryn herself. (And also, the show is A+ for calling Zhaan out for hypocrisy but also the continuity was always so good!)

I could go on and on and on forever, but I’ll just mention two little things here. One is, I love the shot when Aeryn and John drop from the ceiling into Pilot’s den in unison. Two? The tag. First time I saw it, it killed me dead. When Aeryn and John are talking and she tells him that he reminded her of Velorek and he asks ‘And you say you loved that man?’ and they stare at each other and away with all the questions and answers they are afraid of saying, in their eyes. 

[zarenillia]

[The following will NOT contain spoilers for TEVI, but is a lengthy rant with basically no direction. Viewer Discretion Is Advised]

There were issues with TEVI's story, and I fully enjoyed it regardless of them, and the music is really incredible.

But the gameplay. Oh boy the gameplay (somewhat affectionate).

To start with, I like the crafting system. Not only is it pretty good game-wise, but it really helps emphasize that component of Tevi as a character.

I like the orbitars, they have some really good options, and their whatever it is Burst Gauge thing is pretty neat too, although can be a bit confusing to try to switch around to the one you want while you're busy fighting, as it's desire to add more quality detail over Ribbon's ui actually kind of hurts it. In RR, Ribbons attack options are color coded, and while switching them not only does the bar near your health change but there's also a prompt near your character. In TEVI that's still pretty much the case but since they're icons that are color coded to the two orbitars themselves, trying to swap between them without looking near your health bar can be a bit frustrating when you use the wrong one. C1+C3, S1+S3 look functionally alike, though C2 and S2 are a little more distinct in terms of icon of the others of the same type. Granted you'll never really be confused on if you're on S or C (which I was on S for most of the time, holy fucking shit does S1 kick ass).

Supposedly ranged builds are pretty powerful, but I mostly used melee, using charged shots to add damage, as one generally did in RR outside of 0% runs, especially as that seems to be encouraged in TEVI due to the amount of sigils that change attacks at certain combo levels, and combos in general are a mostly melee thing, unless you're using basic shots and then you're probably using mana and depriving yourself of charged shots. But maybe magic sigils fix that problem, again I mostly did melee so I wouldn't know. Maybe I could try doing a magic run, it seems like a game I'd like to play again as I did with RR.

Speaking of which, Cocoa Mode 2.0 with Cocoa 2.0 in Vena. Please. I need this. I loved Cocoa's playstyle. I loved her bombs. I want it back. And I'm sure we'll probably get it back since they're working on DLC.

In terms of character design, while I do miss the very gay all girl cast of RR, I do love TEVI's characters (yes even the men, they're good characters), and I do find it hilarious (and comforting to an extent) that despite the changes in theming and in character aesthetics, TEVI continues RR's tradition of not allowing characters to wear pants. Well, quite a few do, but for the most part everyone is still pants-less. Yet also with significantly more details to off put that so the game also doesn't feel as sexualized as RR does. Like just compare Tevi to Erina. They're both wearing bunny suits and have ears, and yet Tevi has a lot of details that put that off to the point that you might not even realize that's what it's supposed to be, with the belt and pouches, the leg strap, whatever the hell she's doing with like some kind of coat or jacket. The characters also feel a lot more developed in TEVI. I mean RR's cast had character to them, but most of it was based on character tropes and "oh yeah she's hella gay, but for Character D, unlike Character C who's gay for Character B who seems gay for Character F but will probably come around to C eventually." But none of them have character moments like what happens throughout TEVI's story. Which I would love to go on a tangent about, and might on a separate post, but not yet (see: top of post).

Also, voice acting???? I do like it, even though I don't really understand Japanese at all, it does still add tonal indications that really emphasize the energy of not only what people are saying, but also of the character themselves. If a character is feeling really emotional, on the verge of crying, you can feel that in the VA, if they're starting to get annoyed, you can feel that. If they're very currently not taking their job seriously and are basically on a vacation, you can feel that in their energy. Along with the words themselves and the character sprites to go along with it, character dialogue feels so much more advanced than in RR. TEVI's story can be a little dark, and sometimes you can hear the effects the events are happening on the main 3 through their voices. There's times you can hear Tevi's voice cracking with just pure unadulterated rage and anguish, and I love that. You can hear characters falter as they realize the full scope of what was happening just outside of their vision all their lives, all the things they never knew, were never told. And I think the VA work really contributes positively to that, even if you don't listen to the full thing. You can hear it in just the first couple words of each dialogue.

I guess that kinda concludes my rant. Standard recommendation that you should play both TEVI and Rabi-Ribi, and I look forward to the DLC of TEVI and eventually when RR2 comes out. Unless you hate metroidvanias. Then they may not be for you. Ender Lilies and Ender Magnolias (which is still in EA during the posting of this) are also pretty good. Hollow Knight and Cave Story+ too. Also Dust: An Elysian Tail, Lost Ruins, Touhou Luna Nights.

Also BASED ROLEO BASED TRANS RIGHTS LMAO

[agent-troi]

Fictober prompt #17: "I never said it would be easy."

Fandom: The X-Files

Rating: Teen and Up Audiences

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

Security Questions

Chapter 13: Amor Fati

“There was no mission. There were no aliens.” The world really had turned upside down, if he was the one who was saying that.

“No aliens.” His skeptical Scully was back– but arguing for the wrong side. Or was she? “Have you looked outside, Mulder?”

“I can’t, I’m… too tired.”

“No, Mulder, you must get up. You must get up and fight... especially you. This isn't your place.”

“Mulder, you've got to get up. I don't know how much time we have. You've got to get up, Mulder.”

“I can’t, Scully. I can’t…”

“I never said it would be easy, but you have to do it. Get up, Mulder. Get up and fight the fight.”

Scully’s voice began to echo as the room wavered in and out of reality.

He was strapped to a cold metal table, screaming in agony.

He was lying immobilized in his hospital bed, surrounded by a cacophony of voices as his own cries went unheard.

He was on his deathbed, alone at the end of the world.

An end which he had long seen coming.

So why hadn’t he done anything to stop it?

“No one can do it but you, Mulder. Mulder, help me. Please, Mulder.”

Scully’s face swam across his vision, blurring in and out of focus. He squinted as he tried to concentrate on her, reaching out with his mind in a feeble, desperate attempt to grasp hold of something real.

The alien bombs fell outside his window.

The boy grabbed a fistful of sand and shook it at him. “You weren’t finished!”

The fire falling from the sky turned to a gentle rain. “Mulder, help me.”

There it was. The only truth he had ever been able to find, the only constant he could rely on.

The only thing that was real.

“You… help… me.”

Read the full chapter on Ao3

Tagging @today-in-fic, @fictober-event, @xffictober2023

[cutthroatcarnival]

Febuwhump Alt Prompt 6: Immortality (AKA Day 9)

Tags/Warnings: References to character death (not explicit), canon-typical violence, injury

Sky wouldn’t be late- not when his brother’s life was on the line. He just hoped it would be enough. Four sees another person he cares for put themselves in harm’s way for him. He can’t let them die again.

May not count entirely as immortality, but being invincible = not being able to take damage/die = immortal. (Bad) math 👍

Read it on AO3!

Not Again

When would this fight end? The monsters had been pouring out of the woods for a long while, long enough for the sun to have inched across the sky. They were down two heroes, both recovering from nasty wounds courtesy of the previous battle, rendering them unable to fight.

Sky grunted as cut through another bokoblin. Why did Warriors’ Hyrule have so many? He felt a swish of air next to his arm, seeing the captain’s sword cleave through a ‘blin that had gotten too close. With a breathy thanks, Sky turned back into the fray, trading and blocking blows with enemies. His arm was starting to hurt where a Lizalfo had landed a hit, and his energy started to waver.

Fighting a huge amount of enemies wasn’t new to him, he had come out victorious against the seemingly endless horde Ghirahim had sent to stop him. The sheer amount in this era was incredulous.

He cringed as felt the hit to his shield vibrate through his arm, wrenching him out of his musings. A quick shield bash dealt with the enemy, letting Sky whirl around in time to raise his shield again, blocking a worse looking Lizalfo- what were they called again? Dinalfo? Whatever it was, it went down fairly quickly.

Sky slashed his way to the moblins, Fi cutting through the bokoblins like butter. Unfortunately for everyone, the moblins were from his era, meaning they wouldn't go down with bombs, and their shields- the metal ones at least- would make it hard to land hits.

Dashing forward, Sky ran up and over the shield, landing behind and delivered a swift stab to the back, not lingering to watch it turn to dust. Wild joined him, wielding a dark claymore, a matching shield strapped to his back.

“You’ve got to teach me that!” Sky laughed.

“You’d need Twilight’s permission!”

Wild cackled and disappeared into the throng, the sun reflecting off the metal everytime he moved it to strike down an enemy. Sky turned his focus back to the moblins, cutting through the wooden shields, watching them disappear into purple smoke after a few quick slashes.

He twirled around, finding himself blocked by metal shields, glancing over his shoulder, Sky could see more move in behind him. This wasn’t going to be pretty. He could run up the shield, but the other moblins would turn too quickly for him to strike. With reluctance, he swiftly fished out a bottle from his pouch; a nearly clear potion that shimmered. Sky could get more, but guardian potions were expensive, not to mention upgrading them.

Popping open the top, Sky drank the potion, feeling magical energy hum around his body, creating a nearly invisible barrier on his skin. Just in time- the moblins stabbed their spears, aiming to puncture him, but the protection from the potion made them clatter uselessly to the ground, allowing Sky to slip out of the circle.

He slashed through any oncoming enemies, uncaring about the blows landed on him, mentally counting down the time left of the potion. The others could be heard, the crowd of monsters much smaller than earlier. A spin move disposed of a couple more bokoblins, allowing him the get closer to his main target.

Sky shield bashed a Lizalfo, sending it stumbling into Time, who sliced it down with a strangely graceful arc. Turning, his gaze zeroed in on Four, who was so engrossed in fighting the Dinalfo in front of him, he didn’t realize the moblin behind him. He took off in a sprint, watching as the enemy readied to throw its spear. Sky forced himself to run faster, closing more and more ground between him and the smithy, who had chopped down the Dinalfo at last.

“Four!” The hero in question turned. As the moblin threw the spear, Sky skidded to a stop between the two, hearing Four’s scream of terror as the spear connected. The harsh ‘ping!” of the potion reacting rung across the battlefield, the weapon falling straight to the grass. He cut the moblin down, watching as the other heroes finished up the rest.

“You asshole!” Sky whipped around to face Four, whose voice was filled with tears and anger, “You absolute dodongo-brained fool! I thought you had just gotten impaled!”

Sky backed away from the fuming smith, but Four followed his move, “A bold move to jump in front of me without holding any visible protection!” The shorter hero was in his face, tears dripping down his face.

“I hear my name and I turn around, only to see you stop between me and a spear! I can’t lose someone else to self-sacrifice!” Oh.

Sky felt his heart break, staring down at the hero quaking in rage and tears. Four stomped away, leaving the Skyloftian alone, surrounded by shields and weapons. He had just wanted to keep him alive, but instead he forced bad memories to the front of Four’s mind. What a good big brother he was.

[indigosabyss]

Randomized One Word Prompt: Strike

“Listen, you don’t want to do this.” Sam tried to talk down the blue-haired girl. He hovered in mid-air, edging closer to her.

“You stay back!” Cursed Cass screamed, jumping away from him. Her hand tightened around the detonator of the bomb strapped to her. All of the Champions backed off immediately.

Might laughed loudly from the sidelines, “You’re gonna let her win, just like that? Cowards.”

“We’re in a crowded metropolitan area.” Amadeus warned, “There are innocent people who will die if you do that. Please, just let this go, and put down the bomb.”

All around them, people were starting to gather at what they imagined to be a safe distance, whispering to each other and pulling out phones to film the altercation. Kamala shifted uneasily, the weight of the world’s gaze on her shoulders. The Freelancers had a way of operating that always ended up with the Champions coming out of it looking like assholes.

And it pissed her off to no end.

The other Freelancers didn’t look the least bit concerned, because of course they didn’t. They had been flown here from California. They didn’t have to commute to work and school. They didn’t rely on the trains to keep running. They wouldn’t be affected at all when this place was thrown into disarray.

“Come on, Cass! Finish the job so we can head back home!” Hotness yelled.

“We’ll stop you. But we don’t want it to come to that.” Miles told them carefully. He was bluffing. These guys had them up against the wall and everyone knew it.

While Cass had a detonator for the bombs on her body, the whole thing was actually just a trigger for the bigger explosion rigged around the bridge. Viv was working hard to secretly disconnect the contraption so that the worst of the damage didn’t happen, but until then, they had to stall. No matter what. Even if she just really, really, really wanted to bash their faces in.

“Do it, do it, do it…” Panic began to lead the chant, and the other Freelancers followed along, gleeful for bloodshed.

A vein pulsed in her temple. And Kamala stopped reasoning with them.

Her fist launched forward at a speed which she normally couldn’t reach, knocking the detonator out of Cass’s hands, and expanding her fist to throw Cass to the ground.

One fell swing to the side, and the other Freelancers were ploughed over too.

She was seeing red. Wanted to bash their heads in and bring them to justice. But she couldn’t. She had made a vow, and she had to stand by it.

So, Kamala glowered at them, and let that single strike speak for itself. The others were stunned for a few moments, before rushing to apprehend Might and Cass, the only ones still conscious after the attack.

“Sheesh, didn’t expect her to Hulk out, of all people.” Amadeus shuddered, “That was terrifying as fuck.”

“What about the plan?” Scott asked, looking between Kamala and Viv, who materialized in front of them.

“Fuck the plan.” Kamala growled, biting back the urge to scream like a child, “I hate these guys.”

[A/N: Might make a series out of this. Like, 500 word snippets based on randomly generated words]

[birgittesilverbae]

You still doing the one word prompt?

BeaLil - chess

Her father’s head snaps back, concave, blood splatters. The rest happens slow motion, sound yawning in Lilith's ears. Shattered glass crashing to the floor as his body slumps down on the bed. The sun glinting off a rifle scope three roofs down across the street when the sniper withdraws. She drops, drags the gun safe from beneath the bed. Grabs a wad of passports, wedges a gun in the back of her waistband. The trunk alongside offers up his body armour. Worn, but it fits her. Not well, but well enough. Serviceable.

The missive comes from her second lieutenant, through a line of go-betweens so long it’s almost untraceable. Almost. The source is good. The Grandmaster wants peace talks, wants to brings some semblance of control back to a city rent in two by their factions.

Lilith goes strapped in a bomb vest, trigger in her hand.

She’s met instead by a girl. Barely a woman. Down on her knees, fingers laced behind her head. Chin lifted in defiance of the arsenal leveled at her.

She’s met instead with repayment for a blood debt.

The Grandmaster offers up his daughter as restitution.