#so like if you see me posting. like. edgy things. please do not be alarmed. it is simply my annual psychic damage blast control.

[vanillabat99]

I keep realising it's May now, and May is probably the worst month of the year. April is a close match, but it sucks mostly due to dread for May. For the next 2 (ish) weeks I am going to be a disaster. It is inevitable, this is your warning, I never know how exactly it's going to impact me but it always does. Thank you for understanding 💕💕💕

[iclaimedtobethebetterbard]

his name was chad - chapter 1

Fandom: Sanders Sides Characters: All the sides Rating: Teen & up (see Warnings) Relationships: Lamp (with a focus on Logince and Moxiety), Dukeceit Warnings: Language, sexual humor/innuendo, mostly non-graphic violence, temporary major character deaths, minor animal death (not all of these are in this chapter, but I like to put general fic warnings on the first chapter) Word count: 1782 Notes: Based on that one short Thomas made ages ago; fic is mostly to be treated humorously. 

Read on AO3!

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My writing masterpost

Summary:  “We thought it’d be fun to make an apocalypse game!” Roman explained. “One we can fully immerse ourselves in!” “Well, technically,” Remus put in, “it’s part apocalypse, part western, part post-apocalypse, part zombie apocalypse—” “No! No zombies! We’ve been over this!” Roman snapped. “Right, right, I keep forgetting. Part horror, part thriller, part mafia game, part—” “I think we get the picture,” Logan interrupted. “A mishmash of ‘edgy’ genres you both enjoy, am I correct?”

 Chapter 1

“Everyone!” Roman shouted from the common area at the top of his lungs. “Hey, everyone, c’mere! Right now!”

“What the hell do you want?” Virgil demanded, rising up at once.

“Wait, wait, wait wait wait. Logan! Patton!” Roman called for their other boyfriends.

Remus popped up between Roman and Virgil, making them both jump. “Janny!” he added in an ear-grating shriek.

“What on earth is the matter, Roman?” Logan inquired as he and Patton made their way into the room.

Roman glanced around just as Janus rose up in the corner, taking up residence lurking in a dramatic puddle of shadow. “Good, everyone’s here. Come see what me and Remus made!”

“Oh, you mean the thing you two have been holed up working on for two weeks now that nobody has been allowed to ask about?” Logan said, sounding interested.

“Yeah, that!” Roman grabbed his and Virgil’s hands. “Everyone come on!”

Patton followed just behind his three boyfriends; Remus and Janus, somewhat surprisingly, followed at a more leisurely pace, Janus leaning on Remus as he wrapped an arm around Janus’s waist, held his hand, and talked a mile a minute in a voice too low for the others to make out.

Roman led the group to the workshop he and Remus shared, having everyone gather in a huddle around a table with a large piece of fabric covering whatever was on it. “Ready?” he asked dramatically.

“No, can I take a nap first?” Virgil inquired sarcastically.

“Some other time, my stormy darling. Behold!” Roman drew the cloth away with a flourish.

“Ooh, it’s a little world!” Patton exclaimed.

“Fascinating,” Logan commented, leaning closer to examine the miniature landscape, dotted with buildings and trees. “What is it for?”

“It’s a game!” Remus piped up from the back of the group. He let go of Janus and elbowed his way between Virgil and Patton. “And we’re going in it! Blood and guts and gore and death!”

“What?” Patton inquired, sounding distinctly nervous.

“What do you mean, in it? What do you mean, death?” Virgil demanded.

“Oh, cool your tits, the death is just for realism,” Remus said, waving his hand.

“That is not reassuring!”

“No, no, wait, listen!” Roman interrupted frantically. “He’s explaining it all wrong! Virgil, listen, I promise it’s not that bad!” He paused. “Well.”

“See?” Virgil pointed an accusing finger at him. “What the hell are you two up to?”

“We just thought it’d be fun to make an apocalypse game!” Roman explained. “One we can fully immerse ourselves in!”

“Apocalypse?” Virgil demanded, sounding torn between delight and outrage.

“I don’t know…” Patton put in hesitantly.

Logan looked up from where he had still been examining the table. “This is an impressive level of detail work, Roman, Remus. You should be proud of yourselves.”

“Don’t encourage them!” Virgil snapped. “Not when they’re apparently trying to get us all killed for fun!”

“What?” Logan blinked. “Oh, that. I imagine it will be harmless.”

“Yeah!” Remus backed him up immediately.

“Yeah,” Roman echoed a beat later, less certain.

“Logan,” Virgil said, “they are trying to put Patton in an apocalypse. In what world is that a good idea for anyone?”

“Well, technically,” Remus put in, “it’s part apocalypse, part western, part post-apocalypse, part zombie apocalypse—”

“No! No zombies! We’ve been over this!” Roman snapped.

“Right, right, I keep forgetting. No zombies yet. But it is part horror, part thriller, part murder mystery, part mafia game, part—”

“I think we get the picture,” Logan interrupted. “A mishmash of ‘edgy’ genres you both enjoy, am I correct?”

“Oh, that’s a good way of putting it.” Remus nodded.

“It will be fun, I promise,” Roman said. “We made it! Just for everyone in this room! So it’ll be okay. We made such cool character designs for everyone, you’re going to love it, just please can we play just one time please?” He turned pleading eyes on all three of his partners.

“And you’re sure this will be safe?” Logan asked, just to be sure. Both Patton and Virgil looked too nervous for his liking and could likely use the reassurance.

“Absolutely!” Roman assured him.

“Probably,” Remus amended.

“Shut up! We know what we’re doing!” Roman smacked his brother’s arm.

“The effects will look, feel, sound, and smell realistic,” Remus said. “Try not to die gruesomely. Or don’t, it will be lots of fun to watch guts going everywhere.” He lit up and looked over at Roman. “Hey, can we add—”

“For the sixteenth time, we said no zombies on the first run!” Roman stamped his foot.

“Boo.” Remus rolled his eyes and glanced back to Patton. “But yeah. It’s safe from the outside. We���ll just be on the inside, you know?”

“What does that mean?” Patton asked nervously.

“Don’t worry about it,” Remus said instantly, grinning very wide indeed.

“Patton.” Roman took both Patton’s hands in his own. “I would never ask anything of you if I wasn’t perfectly sure I could keep you safe. It’s all just effects, I promise.”

“You’re sure?” Patton said.

“I promise,” Roman repeated. He glanced up at Virgil, who was hovering darkly just behind Patton’s shoulder. “And that goes for everyone here, Doom and Gloom.”

Virgil narrowed his eyes and looked over at Janus, who was standing a little distance away from the rest of the group, examining his gloved nails. “And what do you think of all this?” he demanded suspiciously.

Janus looked up, blinking comically wide and raising his eyebrows. “Hm? Oh, I’m sorry, I was under the impression that you ‘don’t like liars.’ Why would you ask me?”

Virgil growled under his breath. “You know you’re self-preservation too,” he snapped.

“Oh, yes, of course, it’s just fun to make you admit it.” Janus gave Virgil a very self-satisfied grin.

Virgil glared at him. “Just shut up and answer my question. Are you going in there?” He pointed at the landscape on the table.

“Maybe. I haven’t decided.” Janus shrugged, seeming disinterested. “You should definitely go, though, I’d love to watch you get taken out by tripping on a rock or something.”

“Oh, fuck you.”

Janus smirked. “I suspect your boyfriend collection would be unhappy with that idea.”

“Fuck off, you know I didn’t mean it like that!”

“Oh, is it bullying Virgil hours?” Remus inquired, looking up from the landscape on the table.

“No, hey, wait—” Patton began in protest.

“Shush, Daddyo, it’s all in good fun,” Remus said without looking away from Janus.

“Isn’t it always, darling?” Janus responded as if Patton’s interruption had not taken place.

Remus grinned. “Ooh, fair point.”

“I hate you guys,” Virgil announced.

Janus blew him a kiss. “Thank you ever so much.”

Remus draped himself over Virgil, with his chin resting on Virgil’s shoulder. “So whatcha talking about?” he asked.

“This loser won’t tell me if he’s participating in the game or not,” Virgil snapped, jerking a thumb at Janus.

“Ooh, ‘loser.’ Very nice. Classy. Screams ‘seventh grade,’ that’s how you know it’s a mature and grownup insult,” Janus commented.

“Baby, you aren’t playing?” Remus gave Janus a pair of very distressed, pleading puppy dog eyes. “I worked so hard on it! You’re going to be so sexy, I made you such a cool backstory!”

“No, no, of course I’ll play,” Janus assured him composedly. “I was only messing with Virgil.”

“Hey!” Virgil snapped.

“I’d love to see all the horrors your mind has come up with,” Janus went on with a startling sincerity, serenely ignoring Viril. “You’ll have to be sure and show me everything.”

Remus lit up. “Oh, I will!” He pushed away from Virgil and ran to take both Janus’s hands in his own. “I made you a whole lair thing, it’s so cool, it has so many—”

“Why don’t you show me?” Janus inquired, raising one of Remus’s hands to his lips to press a kiss to it.

Remus vibrated with excitement. “Yeah, okay!” He glanced over at Roman.

“You can go ahead early, you have a little more setup to do anyway,” Roman said, waving his hand. “We’ll catch up to you.”

Remus grinned and drew Janus close by the waist—and they both vanished.

Virgil yelped, looking distinctly alarmed.

“Never fear!” Roman assured him. “They’re just in the game!” He pointed down at the landscape; two little tokens, in green and yellow, had appeared on it. “Is everyone ready to go?”

“How long will this take, again?” Logan asked.

“A couple of hours,” Roman said. “Time goes slower inside the game by default, but Remus and I can mess around with it a little if we need to.”

“And the goal of the game?” Logan asked.

“To have fun! Also not die. There’s a little bit of a story but there’s also lots of room to play around. Don’t worry, the only thing that happens if you die is you’re out of the game and you come back here. The winner gets a minifigure of their character! And bragging rights.”

Logan and Virgil both perked up at this second prize. Roman snickered. “So, is everyone ready?” he asked again.

“I just feel like it’s a little scary…” Patton said.

“Oh!” Roman snapped his fingers. “I knew I was forgetting something. We made a filter for you, Pat! It puts you on easy mode. Way less things will want to attack you. And me and Remus both have some of our mod abilities available for emergencies if you need us to change something!”

Patton thought about this for a minute, then nodded. “Okay. I think I can try it out, then.”

Roman grinned and kissed his cheek. “How about you, Gerard Gay?” He looked over at Virgil. “You in?”

Virgil grumbled to himself for a moment, then shrugged and nodded. “Yeah, fine, whatever. Jan went in, and he’s a better judge of safety than you or Remus.” He glanced away and mumbled, “Plus it sounds really cool, or whatever.”

“Normally I would be very offended, but I’m just happy you want to play.” Roman offered Virgil a dazzling smile. “Logan?”

“I will participate. I am curious to see what you have come up with.”

“Oh, I love you all so much!” Roman declared. “Alright, everyone come over here.” He shuffled them around until each of them was holding somewhere on one of his arms. “Now, the game will drop us in randomly within a certain area and timeframe, and then we just have to find each other! Have fun—it’ll start off easy and get more challenging as we get used to it!”

Roman pulled at the fabric of Thomas’s imagination itself, and there was a funny yanking feeling in everyone’s gut, and the world went dark for just a second.

Taglist (ask to be added/removed!): 

@fivehargreeves05 @theimprobabledreamersworld

[omg-someone-actually]

Remus feels miserable. He's also hiding under the covers. He knows it's childish and probably useless because the one person he's trying to hide from shares the flat with him, but the uselessness of his solutions has never stopped him from executing them before so why start now.

He can hear Sirius shuffling in the kitchen, the kettle whistling and the mugs tinkling. The strong, sweet spicy aroma of bergamot is slowly wafting through the open door to their bedroom.

Remus exhales. Earl Grey then. That means Sirius is making tea for Remus as well as for himself. Remus doesn't drink any other but Sirius prefers green tea and yet he always makes Earl Grey for both of them whenever they're home together. He says he doesn't mind having the same as Remus but Remus knows he does it just because the water for Earl Grey needs to be heated just slightly under the boiling point whereas the water for green tea should be around 80°C. He told Sirius multiple times that he can make his green tea first and Remus can boil the kettle for his Earl Grey later but Sirius just looked at him while walking to the couch with their mugs and answered, "But then we would never get to drink the tea together," like it's the most obvious thing on the planet. Just like that, casually hitting Remus' feelings in all the right places. How dare he.

He secures the blanket over his face tighter and burrows deeper into the pillows.

Footsteps. Sirius is walking over and placing something on his nightstand.

"Love, I made us some sandwiches and tea. Marlene is coming to pick me up for the Order mission later. I thought we could eat together in bed before she arrives so you don't have to get up?"

Remus groans. He doesn't deserve this man.

Yesterday's full moon was terrible. He hasn't had a bad one like that in years. The deep exhaustion is still lingering in his bones, his joints ache and muscles feel strained, stretched on a body that looks way too old to be this young. He's normally somewhat functioning the evening after. Not today.

He fell asleep right after Sirius healed the worst wounds on his ribs and thighs and apparated them back to their flat. In times like this, he's beyond grateful Sirius chose being a healer as his career. It makes the post full moon mornings so much easier.

He slept like the dead through most of the day and if that wasn't any indication of how bad the night was, the dull pain in his entire body should have been enough. But none of that prepared him for the shock he found himself in when he stumbled to the bathroom to use the loo and saw his face in the mirror.

There, still red and not fully healed yet, was a new scar across his face.

Now, scars weren't anything new. He's used to having them all over his entire body and finding new ones after almost every full moon. But never before has a scar appeared on his face. It's strange really, that he has managed to avoid his entire head for so long. He probably didn't have this big area of smooth unblemished skin anywhere else on his body. Well, not anymore. Run out of luck, I suppose, he ponders.

Remus never thought of his own face as something exceptionally beautiful or desirable. But the fresh scar, raised and big and ugly, spanning from his right temple, going under his eye, across his nose and ending on the left side of his jaw, makes him look absolutely horrendous.

He's already self conscious and standing next to his gorgeous boyfriend makes him feel unsure at the best of times and inadequate and undeserving at worst. How much worse is it going to be now?

The bed dips under Sirius' weight as he climbs on the mattress next him. "Come on, Rem. Come out of the blanket cocoon and have some food. You haven't eaten all day," he says softly.

Remus doesn't move. Instead, he asks something he's meant to ask Sirius for a while now. Hidden from view, he allows some of the worry and fear to seep into his voice. "Why are you staying with me?"

"What do you mean?" Sirius confusedly inquires.

"Why are you dating me?"

Suddenly, hands are caressing his curls back softly and trying to take the blanket off his face. Remus just holds it tighter.

"Because I love you. What kind of question is that? What's going on?" Sirius is starting to sound worried.

Remus only grumbles in response.

"Love, take the blanket off your face and talk to me. I'm not having this conversation with you hidden under the covers."

"Well then get used to it because I'm not coming out from under them any time soon," he retorts.

"What? Why?"

"Because my face is disgusting and no one needs to see it, least of all my very attractive boyfriend."

Sirius doesn't answer. Then he shifts his body so he's laying behind Remus and hugs him completely within his cocoon to his chest.

"If this is about your new scar I already know about it. Not only because I saw you make it yourself in the forest but also because I healed the wound and carried you to bed, all the while with your face pretty much visible and I haven't combusted or turned to stone from the sight so I think I'm good. Now, as your official healer I would like to inspect my patient, please."

Hot burning shame runs through Remus' body. Sirius does so much for him - turns into a dog to run around all night every month, has to watch his lover turn into a bloodthirsty beast, he looks after him, heals his wounds and makes him tea and he even reads to him sometimes, when the full moon isn't that bad. Remus really doesn't deserve him.

What does he have to offer in return? Cynicism, snarky comments, empty bank account, and petulance. He could have at least told himself he's a good enough shag but will Sirius even be able to look at him like that when the most prominent feature of his face is forever going to remind him (and everyone else) what a monster he really is?

Tears prickle in the corners of his eyes and he sniffles.

Sirius, alarmed, takes the blanket Remus has hidden himself under and tugs at it again. It comes off easily, Remus is not clutching at it anymore, and finally uncovers his face.

Sirius puts his palm on Remus' left cheek and smiles at him tenderly.

"Here you are, love."

He starts studying the scar with a wrinkle on his forehead that appears every time he's focusing on something. "It's healing very well. The scar shouldn't be too prominent but it will probably stay. I'm sorry about that. I tried to spell it as soon as you transformed back but you know how it is with werewolf injuries. They rarely heal completely."

Remus frowns. "You take such good care of me already, Sirius. Don't you dare apologize for something you can't control."

Sirius grins. "Then there's no need to hide something YOU can't control either, is there?

Remus' frown deepens. "That's hardly the same thing."

Sirius kisses his nose. "It makes no difference to me, Remus. You're still you. I still love you. And I will continue to do so," he traces one of his fingers along the scar, "whether you have ten of these or none".

Remus gazes into Sirius' eyes and when he finds nothing but truth and honest devotion, he lets himself be gently kissed into the pillows.

When he wakes up later, he finds the bed empty but he can hear Sirius chatting with somebody behind the closed bedroom door. Marlene must be here then.

Remus gets up to greet her and groans when his limbs crackle in protest. He's almost at the door when he hears what they're talking about.

"....it was a rough night," Sirius explains.

"I hope Remus is okay." Marlene's voice sounds tired, like everyone's in the Order these days.

"He has some new scars but otherwise he'll be okay."

"Marlene," Sirius growls. She must have made a face.

"Oh no, I didn't mean it like that. Actually I think it fits him. He has this...roguish vibe and the scars just make him look edgy. Not that I would be into it even if I swung that way but I always wondered if you…"

"What are you on about?" Sirius demands, his voices still a little angry.

Marlene takes a deep breath. "So many pretty people chasing you, but it was only ever Remus for you. Why?"

Sirius sighs and stays quiet for a minute. Remus almost thinks he's not going to answer. Why should he, anyway? Maybe Marlene just made him see the truth, maybe he realized he would like to date someone else after all, maybe he finally sees the stark absurdity of someone as gorgeous as Sirius dating someone as hideous as Rem-

"You know, sometimes you meet someone so beautiful, and then you actually get to talk to them and five minutes later, they're as dull as a brick. Then there's other people and you meet them and you think, "Not bad, they're okay." And then you get to know them and… And their face just sort of… Becomes them, like their personality is written all over it. And they just… They turn into something so beautiful."

He pauses and then exhales, "Remus is the most beautiful man I've ever met."

Remus doesn't come into the living room to say hi to Marlene for another ten minutes. And if it's because he had to sit for a moment and dry some tears, who's to say?

A/N: The last thing Sirius says in this is inspired by this scene in Doctor Who

Big thank you to @kattlupin for her quick betaread! <3

[cracknoir]

lyrics idk why 

jimmy: 

fry like bacon, hang like lace

Not showing any signs of life. Try to look alive when they’re dropping like flies. 

There’s gonna be a lot of slow singing, flower bringing, if my burglar alarm starts ringing, what you think all the guns is for?

Sometimes it’s like someone took a knife baby, edgy and dull, cut a six inch valley through the middle of my soul. At night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet, freight train running in the middle of my head. You can’t cool my desires. (obvious piss boi reference)

Fuck you and the horse you rode in on. Down on my luck, but I never really had none. 

zoe: 

tell me it’s alright, to stay by your side when the devil’s on your mind. 

As we danced, by the moonlight, can’t you see, you’re my delight. 

I guess I want you more than I thought I did, now that I know part of you’s not part of this.

You drove me wild, drove me insane, drank the whole bottle and forgot my name.

Molly: 

have you ever asked your bitch for other bitches?

I wish you could be with me right now. It’s so nice, it must be illegal, so take it easy, I’ll tell you why.

when we thought we might be losing our minds, we saw the signs

she thinks all her jokes are corny, convict movies make her horny, she likes ketchup on her scrambled eggs, swears like a sailor when she shaves her legs. 

also this song is very molly but all the lyrics are about a bloke. please choose literally any of these lyrics, take those pronouns, switch ‘em about, you got a molly mood 

jack:

Always in the bad books, it’s not how it looks

And then he handed me a bag of green, the biggest bag I've ever seen, and I rolled my first funky cigarette, and since that day I seldom have declined

i was a male stripper in a gogo bar

Headcanons

jimmy doesn’t watch a lot of movies. doesn’t tend to enjoy gunfire/loud noises while relaxing. He does watch a lot of TV tho, but none of it really sinks in. 

jimmy can pilot small aircrafts. Nothing official and only what Isaac (his Colombian contact) taught him. He also has an official helicopters license though, and can also drive a speedboat. I know this feels like i’m just saying “MY OC can do EVERYTHING” but tbf i haven’t noted anywhere that he does any of these things well. In fact, his general driving is pretty terrible, he’s just one of those “sure i’ll give this a shot and pretend i’m an expert” kinda guys 

Not really a headcanon but I’m working on a fic thing were jimmy gets hunted by a hippie in the woods. 

Jack and Frankie argue a lot over absolutely fuck all. i used to write that jack and frankie were like BROTHERS IN ARMS and jack was basically frankies dosser, but now i think that WAS the relationship and now jack’s sort of seen through frankies bullshit 

also again not really a headcanon but a lot of the time lately i’ve been writing threads were jimmy’s done something but i’m kinda vague about what he did, i’m usually imagining he’s killed someone in a really fuckin horrific way like with a chainsaw or his hands or something, this month i’ve been saying Give Jimmy A Firemans Axe but this sort of feeds into the headcanon that every so often jimmy does something and needs a couple days before he’s fighting fit again. usually 

dmitri used to run a deli, the only reason he really ended up involved with the mob is because he spoke english

speaking of, jimmy beheaded dmitri’s brother. before this jimmy was just a lil problem that dmitri barely devoted any time to. 

little jake ate too much mcdonalds and now doesn’t really enjoy mcdonalds. 

also: little jake can’t cook but comes up with a lot of weird and tasty concoctions, like a burger with lil pizzas instead of a bun and stuff 

it doesn’t look like molly has any knuckles on her left hand due to a break that didn’t heal properly. 

this doesn’t happen often post Zoe’s death but jimmy used to take the whole gang on vacation regularly 

jack has a flatmate who he’s never met and is just never there. every so often you can hear someone in the kitchen. money’s left on the table every month. the guy signs his cheques as “spider”. this seems like it should be in the meme headcanons of this post but no. i have decided this one is real. 

meme headcanons that aren’t actually true bc logically they can’t be but still

jimmy’s ph level is the same as battery acid

rasputin has been to space, that’s why it’s empty. 

animal control IS aware of jack so you can stop calling

jimmy vc: you can’t kill me i have plot armor 

jack practices being a ghost 

jimmy vs shark?

jimmy vs great white shark? 

jimmy vs sharknado?  

[windskull]

A Little Less Lonely

A/N: Uhhh does the Namco High Fandom still exist on here? I  know this is like. 7 years late but. 

Summary: Davesprite has watched the same week play out so many times, knowing that, in the end, everything will start anew and there’s nothing he can do about it. Everyone around him feels like little more than a caricature, going through the same motions over and over, tugged along with by the whims of the game.

Until one day, someone doesn’t.

~ 6000 words, Davesprite/Anti-Bravoman. Contains swearing. See Ao3 posting for more notes.

Davesprite drummed his fingers against the plastic table, his expression unreadable as he idly looked over the crowded field. All around him colorful booths advertising various clubs and student organizations had been set up, desperately vying for the attention of any student that happened to pass by. Several groups of students idled about nearby, some occasionally glancing at him as they passed by. But they never approached, never expressed interest in joining. They never do. Some might smile at him or give him weird looks, while others might ignore him entirely. But in the end, they always behaved in the same predictable way.

Right on cue, a pair of students in wrestleball gear passed by. One of them gave him a dirty look, whispering to his friend as they gave his table a wide berth. But their actions don’t bother him. They don’t so much as sting. In the end, the other students were just voiceless bits of data, and they just did what they always did.

His attention shifted to a booth across the pathway. Meowkie stood by herself, looking out for a certain someone. Cousin, of course. She always looks for them. Just like all the other datable caricatures in Dating Sim Hell World.

The slightest of smiles — a wistful, wry smile — crossed his face for mere seconds before he turned away. Cousin dated her in a recent cycle. They certainly wouldn’t go for her again so soon. He almost felt bad for her. Without Cousin there for her, she’d just get pushed around by the other students and blamed for things out of her control. Just like she always did.

His gaze shifted away again, spotting the adorable alien in question conversing with Blue Max. Ah, so that’s who they’d selected this time. It’s not the first time they’d dated Blue Max, and he doubted it would be the last. He supposed Cousin had a soft spot for the sensitive ones. At least they weren’t dating Hiromi or Terezi this time; those routes always made him cringe just a little.

Shifting his gaze further still, he spotted a speck of purple down the path, standing out against the colorful crowd. Anti-Bravoman was watching the exchange as well. Davesprite let out a disinterested hum, leaning forward to rest his chin on the palm of one of his hands. That poor sap got chosen just last time. Who knew when he’d be selected again?

Cousin and Blue Max began to walk back towards the school, Anti watching them go. Davesprite rose from his seat, preparing to go off and dow who knows what, but he paused. Huh, had Anti always watched Cousin leave? He shook his head. Oh, what was he saying, of course he must have. The game always played out the same. No matter what Cousin did, everything went down the same predetermined paths.

The other students begin to disperse, and the little effects of Cousin’s choice are evident. Davesprite counted them off on his head. Taira won’t immediately go to the wrestleball game. Instead, he’ll gather up a couple of the other players and go heckle Blue Max at his club. But everyone else would still follow their usual patterns, just without Cousin. Meowkie would go do her hall monitor thing, Richard would go to culinary club, and Anti-Bravoman would go to poetry club. Just like everyone else would do their own clubs.

He wouldn’t bother with his webcomic club, of course. Despite how much the game tries to compel him, he hadn’t bothered with that in a long time. After the first dozen or so cycles, he’d abandoned his schedule, doing whatever he pleased when the game didn’t call for him to interact with Cousin. Admittedly, doing what he pleased usually meant doing nothing, but that didn’t matter. So long as he didn’t get in the way of Cousin, everything would go fine. The game wouldn’t care. The game wouldn’t compel him to move elsewhere.

But as he began floating away, he realized something was off.

Instead of wandering off like all the others, Anti-Bravoman was still rooted to the spot. At first, he thought it must have been a little error. Sometimes the game glitched, after all. He’d return to his normal path soon enough, none the wiser that there was ever anything wrong.

Anti glanced up, noticing Davesprite. He locked eyes with him for just a moment, then suddenly let out a squeak and averted his gaze. Davesprite fully expected him to turn and run off towards Poetry club. Maybe he’d go, too. Watching Anti make a fool of himself trying to act cool and edgy might be fun.

But Anti didn’t run off towards the café. Instead, he turned and dashed towards the school steps. Davesprite’s mouth dropped open as he stared where Anti had disappeared.

That. That wasn’t normal. Throughout all the resets he’d experienced, Davesprite had never seen Anti enter the school on club day. This was new. And as much as the voice in the back of his head told him that this wasn’t anything important, and that he was probably just forgetting something, he couldn’t help but be curious.

So, despite a little itch telling him to do otherwise, he floated through the doors and after Anti.

*****

Davesprite’s search for the rogue student brought him to the roof, where he found Anti sitting on the edge with his back turned, kicking his feet idly. His bullshit guide abilities tell him that there are no events that are supposed to happen up here today, a fact that helped alleviate that itching feeling that he was in a place he shouldn’t be.

Yet, at the same time, it gave him an uneasy, twisting feeling in his stomach that threatened to make him sick. (Could he even get sick?) There was something wrong. Neither of them were supposed to be here. But more importantly, Anti-Bravoman wasn’t supposed to be here.

Uncertain of how to break the silence, Davesprite floated just a bit closer but said nothing, silently closing the door behind him. Sure, he could just float up to him and go, “hey you know you’re not supposed to be here right don’t you have poetry club to get to or something?” But something about that didn’t feel right in the moment. So instead, he opts to just say, “hey.”

Anti jolted at the sound of his voice, letting out an out-of-character, high-pitched squeak of alarm. He scrambled to his feet and spun around, looking ready to bolt at a moment’s notice. But then his eyes lit up with recognition, and he relaxed slightly. He tilted his head.

“…Davesprite?” There was confusion in his voice, but it wasn’t the hesitant confusion of someone trying to recognize the face of someone they were vaguely familiar with. No, it was the confusion of someone who wasn’t expecting to see anyone else. “What are you doing up here?”

Offering a coy smile and a shrug of his shoulders, Davesprite did the best he could to play it off. “Can’t a guy get a little privacy? I mean the roof is supposed to be off limits and all. But it’s kinda hard to enforce that when a student can fly don’t you think? But anyways what about you? You up here doing like. Some Batman shtick or something? Like. I can see you doing a deep gravelly voice. Monologuing about how dark and broody you are and how the world can’t understand you or something. Some pseudo deep poetic bullshit like that. Speaking of that don’t you like. Go to poetry club or something today?”

Anti flinched and turned his head away, his gaze dropping back towards the ground. “They wouldn’t understand the… inky depths of my soul. The darkness that dwells within me. The depressive state of my innermost being. But that’s enough focusing on my inner demons. What about you, aren’t you supposed to be at poetry club or something?”

He had to suppress a snort to prevent himself from laughing out loud at Anti’s edgy antics. Teasing, whether lighthearted or not, would be the fastest way to get nowhere with his questions. He shrugged. “Poetry club sounds cool and all but I prefer making shitty comics to spitting hot rhymes these days.”

He approached the edge of the roof, taking a seat next to where Anti had been a moment before. His tail curled around, hanging over the edge beside him as he patted the edge, inviting Anti to sit beside him.

Anti stared at him for a moment before sitting back down a few feet back. Then he laid back, his arms behind his head. “I mean,” he began, keeping his gaze on the clouds above them, “no one is going to miss me if I don’t go to poetry club. Cousin might ask about it but all I gotta do is make up a little lie. It’s not like it changes anything in the end.”

Something about the way he said that made Davesprite suck in a breath. It’s familiar, in a way. Like Anti took the words right out of his mouth. He blinked a couple times, digesting the statement before turning back to look at Anti. As soon as Anti realized he was staring, though, he sat back up and looked away.

“I mean. Think about it,” Anti said quickly. Maybe almost too quickly. Or maybe Davesprite was just overthinking things. “It’s not like I have any friends here. I don’t help people out with their bike problems or participate in any of the other clubs or anything. Or just. Have friends in general. If I don’t show up, no one’s going to know.”

He has a point. But at the same time, that didn’t make the nagging feeling in the back of his head go away. Because he knew the way this game worked. He knew Anti wasn't actively involved in any route but his own, and that he only ever made passive remarks about his actions. But still. The game had a way that it did things. Everyone was a caricature, unable to deviate from their script. Everyone but himself.

Or so he thought.

Davesprite realized that he had zoned out. Anti was still rambling, trying to come up with some sort of excuse as to why he was up here. Because that’s all it was. Excuses. Davesprite ignored it all, instead just uttering two words barely above a whisper. “You know.”

Anti’s voice stopped mid-sentence, the words dying in his throat. Swallowing nervously, he tugged at his scarf. “Know what?”

Davesprite frowned. “I mean. We can beat around the bush all day and all but Cuz is only going to be busy for so long, you know? And then we all have to go home and do nothing for the rest of the day and then come back and have to pretend like we did what we were supposed to do. Or we’re supposed to at least. I guess I could always say that I did jack shit but even if I did it wouldn’t make a difference anyways. If anything going off-script would just cause things to reset prematurely or something. Shit’s pretty whack and all but what can you do. So instead you just shrug it off and try and trick them into thinking there’s a harem ending or some shit.”

“What are you…” Anti blinked at him a few times, trying to digest his words. When the implications finally sank in, he stiffened. He stood up suddenly, pulling his scarf up a little higher. “I need to go. I-I have a poetry club to get to.”

“I mean if you don’t want to talk about it that’s cool and all. But.” Davesprite paused. What good would it do to force it. If he was right, then Anti apparently didn’t want to talk to him about it. Which was frustrating, knowing that there might be someone that understood his plight right in front of him, refusing to admit it. But if he was wrong, he’d just make a huge fool of himself.

Then again, if he was wrong, it wouldn’t make a difference in the long run. Anti would just forget this whole conversation in a week, and his sad, miserable little existence trapped in a looping video game would just return to the usual.

He would speak up. “You’re not exactly the most popular student or anything. It’s not like you got anything else to do. Heh. Imagine if you were popular like Donko or Galaga. Always surrounded by other students. Beloved by all. Wouldn’t that be wild? Then again you’re not an inanimate object. Seeps like that’s what it takes to get popular around here. You think someone would date Cousin’s Katamari if they were given the chance? I think it could be pretty cute.” What was he saying?

“What are you trying to say?” Anti gave him a weird look, shaking his head. “Why are you even bothering me with all this. You’ve never paid me any mind before.”

Because he needed to know . He needed proof that he wasn’t alone in this mess. “All I’m saying is that you usually go to poetry club don’t you? You run off and go hide in the rafters and give this dramatic speech about meat prisons that nobody seems to like. I guess you’re going to go do that now so I’ll stop bothering you. Have fun and all.” He shrugged, rising from his spot, and prepared to lower himself to the ground.

“Wait.”

Davesprite turned around. Anti was standing still, staring at him. He wring his hands together nervously, eyes darting to the side. “Are… you really being serious? You’re not messing with me, right?”

Sincerity wasn’t one of Davesprite’s strengths, so instead he replied with his usual flair. “I ain’t clowning with you. The only person I’m clowning on is myself. Well. Right now anyways. It’s not like there’s anyone else here right now. God damn. Do you really remember stuff? Wish you’d have said something sooner bro. It kind of fucking sucks talking to people and getting the same cookie cuter responses every time. Like a bunch of fucking puppets. Ugh.”  

Anti tilted his head so that he was staring at the ground and rubbed his shoulder. “I don’t think I’m supposed to,” he admitted. “I don’t think I’m supposed to know.”

Seeing at how vulnerable, and, yeah, kind of pathetic, Anti looked at the moment, Davesprite almost felt bad. Almost. “What you think the fact that you know about all this is like. Some sort of glitch or something. I mean, hello, I’m Mr. Guide Knowitall and I didn’t know about this so you may be on to something. But. I mean. I also feel like I should have noticed a glitch or some shit like that. Then again I did see you acting weird today so I guess I did notice but…”

“I was just missing Cousin,” Anti said quietly without looking up. “Even if it’s all temporary and all part of a script, they make me feel good about myself.”

Davesprite sucked in a deep breath. Still keeping his gaze down, Anti walked back to the edge of the roof. Finally, he turned back to look at Davesprite. “I… I’d like to talk about this more. I think. But… Cousin will probably be finishing their event right about now.”

“There’s always tomorrow,” Davesprite suggested before pausing. “Well. Not tomorrow. The day after. We could meet up and. I dunno. Discuss why videogames suck and maybe why you have control over your actions?”

Hesitation crossed Anti’s face. But it was gone just as quickly. He nodded. “We should probably go somewhere away from the school, since Cousin should be here if they continue down their current path… I think. I don’t know, I don’t follow them around. The café, maybe?”

Davesprite raised a hand up, offering Anti a fist bump. “It’s a date.” He paused. “Well. Not a date. But. You know.”

Anti rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “Eh, heh… no, I get it. I’m a swirling pit of darkness. A walking pile of — admittedly totally cool — edge. Not exactly Cousin material. I don’t think that’s what you meant anyways.”

Davesprite laughed, because of course he’s skittish like that. “See you then.”

*****

The next day, as always, passed in a blur. From his seat, Davesprite watched, bored, as Cousin talked to Bluemax and a couple other students, but did little else. They just don’t speak to them all like they used to. Anti kept to his seat in the back of the room, idly scrawling away in a notebook.

Curious, Davesprite rose from his seat, mindful of his tail as he made his way across the room to take a look at what Anti was doing. He expected to see bars upon bars of poetry, but instead was met with surprisingly pristine doodles of robots. Little, less clean doodles of Anti charged at the robots, destroying them in some pictures. Some of the bots he recognized as the ones from Evil Namco High. The ones that they all fought at the end of every week. But others are totally unfamiliar.

Anti glanced up and caught Davesprite’s eye, but quickly looked away, placing his hand over the notebook. Davesprite couldn’t get a good read of his emotions at the moment, but the way the antennas on his helmet drooped suggested that he was embarrassed or otherwise flustered. He raised his brow at the reaction, but said nothing and instead just took one of the nearby empty seats.

The two of them sat in silence for a moment. Lingering doubts began to swirl in Davesprite’s mind. What if everything from yesterday hadn’t been real. Perhaps he had made it up, in some desperate desire for company.

He almost said anything. But then he swallowed nervously and said, “are we still on. For tomorrow. You know. Date at the café and all.”

There he went, calling it a date again. Not because it was. But it was kind of fun to get Anti a bit flustered. His behavior when he wasn’t putting on the edgy, tough guy emo kid persona was quite a bit different, and almost kind of cute in a way.

Anti nodded slowly. “I… thought you said it wasn’t a date. But yeah. I should have nothing better to do.”

Davesprite let out a relieved breath and smiled. Thank god he was right. At least he didn’t make a total fool of yourself.

“I’ll let you get back to your doodles then,” he said, waving a hand dismissively before leaning away and settling down to just chill out and watch the room, waiting for time to pass.

“T-they’re battle plans!” Anti sputtered, holding the notebook up to his chest. Davesprite just smiled.

*****

They waited for Cousin and Blue Max to leave before sneaking out. Anti insisted on jumping out the window, which Davesprite decided to go along with. For the first time, he got to see that Anti wasn’t actually just some kid in a silly costume. Grabbing hold of the windowsill, Anti’s arms stretched , allowing him to carefully lower himself onto the ground. Without reacting outwardly, Davesprite lowered himself to the ground after him. Not a single student said a thing as they slipped away. Not that they ever did.

The café was only a short walk away. After all, everything in the game had to be close by. There was only what, like three locations outside of the school? Four? It certainly saved on resources.

Save for the staff, the café was empty. No need to waste resources on patrons if Cousin wasn’t coming. The two of them sat down at a table near the back, neither saying anything at first. Not until the waiter came, at least.

“Got anything with birdseed?” Davesprite asked, his eyes skimming through the menu idly.

“... We do not,” the waiter replied flatly.

What kind of establishment didn’t carry birdseed? But he shrugged it off, waving a hand dismissively. “Eh…. I’ll take a sugar cookie then. And a cup of ice water I guess.”

“I’ll take a hot chocolate. Extra whipped cream please.”

Davesprite waited for the waiter to jot their order down and walk off, tracing circles on the table with his finger. “Didn’t take you for the hot chocolate type of guy. With all your dark, angsty poetry I would have thought you’d order ‘coffee as black as my soul’ or something like that. Seems more on brand or whatever.”

“I mean yeah it is,” Anti said quickly, adjusting his scarf. “But, uh, that would be wasteful. Just because something is ‘on brand’ for how I act in-game doesn’t mean it’s who I am as a person.”

“Touché. So the poetry is all for the game, then?”

“Oh, no, it’s very me. I’m supposed to be the dark avenger, the tortured soul, shunned by society.” He paused, staring at the table. “But, I mean, that’s not all there is to me, you know?”

Davesprite opened his mouth to say something, but paused when their order was brought to their table. Peeling the wrapper from his straw, he sat it aside and took a sip before speaking again. “Well, while we’re here, might as well talk about how we ended up in this situation. I mean, the short story of your life and all. I could talk about mine all day but well. That would be one hell of a story. It’d take weeks to tell that shit yo. We’d be up to our necks in video game bullshit. Then again. Aren’t we anyways?”

Anti chuckled, the tone bitter. “Guess you’re right there. I’ll tell you more of my story if you tell me yours. The, um. Short version.”

“Fair enough. Long story short is that I’m basically the doomed version of a cool dude named Dave. Went back in time and fused with an asshole crow and became this mess.” He paused to gesture to himself. “You know. Standard video game fare. Did I mention he was playing a game too? Wild stuff. Doomsday game. Ended the world. All that mess. I watched my bro die. That was pretty shit. But that’s not important here. Anyways after like. Three years of things went to shit and I just. Fucked off. Pretty sure that timeline was doomed anyways. Whatever. Anyways, I just kind of ended up here in video game hell. Guess that’s my punishment for not being good enough. Being surrounded by a bunch of soulless caricatures that just act and react the same way every time, no matter what you do. Can’t change things. Well. Till I found out that you’re not. Wild. Maybe it’s not quite hell after all but like. Purgatory or some shit. I dunno I never really gave a shit about all that.”

He looked up, realizing just how long he’d been rambling now. Anti was staring at him, though between the visor and the scarf that covered his face, his expression was pretty hard to read.

“Anyways, how about you? I think I said enough here.”

Anti pulled his scarf down just enough to expose a frown. Huh, his skin was the same color as his suit. Davesprite wasn’t sure why he hadn’t expected that. Anti lifted the mug, taking a small sip before sitting it down again. A little bit of the whipped cream stuck to his face, a stark contrast to the dark tone. He wiped it away before staring at the mug for a moment, the corners of his mouth twisting into a wistful smile. “I guess my origin isn’t as different as you’d think. I’m… a science experiment, you could say. A byproduct of chance. An alien gave a man some superpowers that he called from space. But by total chance, some of it split off and hit a mad scientist’s experiment and made me. I guess I’m not a clone, per say, but I was given life by the same power that made him a hero and I share most traits with him. Bravoman, that’s his name. And that’s where the ‘Anti’ part of my name comes from. I guess you could say my whole identity revolves around him.”

He paused, laughing bitterly. His hands gripped the edge of the table, fingertips clenching tightly. “Which is why it’s kind of funny that it never comes up in my story here. Nothing from my home world does, except my penchant for the dark and dramatic. Heck, I wasn’t even a villain there. And I’d barely qualify as an antagonist, despite my best efforts. It took an evil, alternate universe version of myself to even be recognized as a rival. But… that’s getting into complex issues.

“All that to say… In my universe, half of my super powers revolve around meta. Recognizing that I was part of a webcomic and playing with that medium. I wonder if that’s why I was able to break out of the game’s mold. One day I just woke up in detention, with these words and memories of things I never did — like attending Evil Namco High — in my head. I didn’t question it the first time. The second time I thought I must be having a weird dream. But after a while, I knew something was up. I started trying to figure out how I got here. And tried to figure out if there was a way out.” Another bitter laugh. “Never have.”

Davesprite frowned, placing his elbows on the table so he could prop his chin on his hands. “Well. Shit. If that ain’t a story and a half. I guess it explains a lot. Um…” Jesus. Anti looked about ready to cry. And he wasn’t good at that whole consoling business. He lowered one hand, drumming his fingers on the table before reaching to break off a bite of the cookie. “Want some?”

Anti blinked, staring at him for a moment before opening his palm so Davesprite could drop the cookie piece into his hands. “…Thanks. I… I never really knew if everything you said was a part of the game, or if you were really in control of yourself. And I never got the courage to ask because, well, I was afraid that if I did, the game would take notice and I’d… lose control of myself, or something. Does that ever scare you?”

He sucked in a sharp breath before nodding slowly. “I mean I don’t think it would if everything I’ve done to stretch the limits of this game hasn’t done so already. But I can understand your concern.”

Nodding slowly in response, Anti took another sip of his chocolate. “I guess now that the cat’s out of the bag though… Maybe things won’t be as lonely around here?” There was a hopeful tone in his voice. And as much as Davesprite wanted to be defeatist and say that none of it would matter, he just nods in response.

“Guess we could just. I dunno. Blow the game off and do whatever on day three, huh? What do you usually do again?”

“Get peer pressured by total strangers I’m led to believe are former classmates into kidnapping Pac Man. You?”

“Same,” Davesprite joked, shaking his head. “No, I just usually fuck off and do whatever. God it feels so nice to be able to swear. Did you ever notice how we’re never allowed to swear despite the game having several little innuendos here and there? Funny how standards are different. Kind of like how they made sure everyone was at least eighteen in the game. You know why. You ever think about how Taira is thousands of years old and yet he’s a student here? Weirdest shit.”

Anti blinked. “Uh… I don’t actually know what you’re talking about.”

He didn’t? Davesprite snorted. Oh that was hilarious. “God you’re just as innocent as Cousin. That’s hilarious.”

“Anyways, I think we’re running out of time, but this has been fun. Kind of cathartic actually. We should definitely meet up again, don’t you think?”

Anti smiled before pulling his scarf up. “I would like that. So… in two days… somewhere?”

Davesprite began to get up from his seat. “Sounds as good as anything to me.”

*****

They spent the next detention day passing notes to each other, and chatting once Cousin seemed to be done talking. Anti told Davesprite more about his world, while Davesprite told him more about his. Much of the same was done in the day that followed, albeit elsewhere in the school. It amazed Davesprite just how much more bearable passing the time became, just with Anti being there to help him pass it.

*****

Cousin picked Lolo on the next reset. This time, they hadn’t even bothered to talk to anyone else. Davesprite waited for the crowd to disperse before approaching Anti, Keeping a nonchalant expression. “So I was kind of thinking,” he began, shrugging his shoulders. “Since I saw you drawing the other day and all. Seems like you’d enjoy the webcomic club or some shit. Room’s unoccupied if you wanna go there and pass the time.”

Anti blinked at him a couple times, like he hadn’t expected to be approached. Then his eyes squinted and the antennas on his helmet stuck up, and Davesprite got the idea that he was grinning. “Sounds fun! Lead the way.”

And that’s where he and Anti spent the next hour, doodling stupid little comics to pass the time. Davesprite did his usual shitty ironic comic shtick and got a kick out of Anti’s attempts to overanalyze them and find a deeper meaning. Anti, meanwhile, busied himself with drawing a more refined version of the doodles he’d seen in the notebook before. It was kind of adorable.

“I’ve kind of gotten used to drawing them by memory now,” Anti explained as Davesprite looked over the images. “Since, you know, everything always ends up getting erased in the end.”

“Tell me about it,” Davesprite said. “Kinda surprised you bother at all. Knowing that it all goes away in the end.”

Anti doesn’t say anything after that. And for a moment, Davesprite thought he might have genuinely upset him. But then Anti shook his head. “No, you have a point. But it’s like. I don’t want to forget anything, you know? At least there’s something a bit more permanent now. Something that’s going to stick.” He raised his hand to gesture to Davesprite. “Our friendship. This uh. This is a friendship, right?”

Davesprite snickered. “Wow you’re a real dork you know that. But yeah if you consider hanging around a feathery asshole a friendship then I’m all for it and all that. It’s better than being totally alone in Dating Sim Hellscape.”

That got a laugh out of Anti.

*****

It became a habit, going forward, for the two of them to meet up and pass the time. The next reset, Cousin dated Taira, and the davesprite learned that Anti actually knew quite a bit about building robots.

The reset that followed saw Cousin joining up with Richard Miller. Davesprite cracked a joke about how Richard and Albatross would go great together, and Anti replied that it was too bad they couldn’t mess with the code that much, just to see what would happen.

Al was picked the reset after that, and Davesprite couldn’t help but wonder if whatever player force that controlled Cousin was thinking of the same idea. He and Anti spent most of their time at the café this time, only avoiding the area when Al and Cousin were there. In those times, they kept busy reading and making silly comics. Even if they lost the records each time the game reset, at least they had the memories of the pleasant times.

Davesprite was selected the next reset. The week passed with him doing his usual bullshit. And yet, he couldn’t help but think about Anti the whole time, and how real he felt in comparison to this. Several times, he’d glance in Anti’s direction during detention, only to catch Anti doing the same.

He didn’t expect Anti to hug him tightly when the next reset came around, rambling about how much he missed him.

And suddenly, Davesprite started to realize that maybe this was becoming something more than a friendship. Yet, the words remained unspoken between them, through reset after reset.

*****

One reset, Cousin did something strange. Day one went on as normal, with Cousin electing to spend time with Mr. Driller. Yet, the second day, Cousin chose Donko.

As Anti watched the two of them sneak out through the window, he leaned over to Davesprite. “What are they doing?” he mumbled.

Davesprite stared with a blank expression on his face, his hands clenched into fists. “They’re experimenting,” he said quietly. “The player. They’re trying to see what happens if they play the game differently. Fucking with our lives just to see what would happen. To see if they can get a game over, perhaps.”

“What happens when they get a game over?” Anti asked.

Davesprite swallowed nervously. “You. Me. Everyone that goes to confront Evil Namco High. We…”

Die.

He didn’t say the word, and yet it hung in the air like a weight waiting to be dropped.

Anti sucked in a breath, wringing his hands together. “Oh…” A long silence passed between them. “I don’t want to…”

“Yeah.”

Another silence, Anti glanced down at the doodles on his page. Suddenly, he didn’t feel quite so heroic. “Davesprite… you’re the more knowledgeable of the two of us. What would happen if we just… didn’t go?”

Davesprite had to pause for a moment. What would happen. It wasn’t like they were the ones fighting alongside Cousin. They weren’t the ones that determined the outcome of the battle. “I mean. It wouldn’t change the outcome of the fight. Jury's out on whether or not we’d die though. Since like. Not fighting isn’t really an option in the game itself in all.”

Anti was silent again. He traced circles on the surface of the desk with his finger. “I guess… I guess there’s only one way to find out, huh?”

*****

They waited until Cousin had made their selection — Donko, who they had only hung out with on the second day — before slipping away. No one noticed as they moved away from the gathering crowd of students. Or at least, no one said anything, but Davesprite hadn’t expected them to.

He led the way to Zweihander Ridge where the two of them laid out on the grass. They could hear explosions in the distance, but the two of them did their best to ignore it.

“This is some pretty depressing shit huh,” Davesprite said, letting his hands rest at his side. “Who would have thought dying was a possibility in video game hell huh? I mean I know Jane’s route has her and Cousin die but like. They come back before the end. In this ending you just. Don’t. It’s like a fresh reset. You do one thing wrong and dead Davesprites start piling up. Not fun. Not cool Cousin. Seeing a corpse of yourself is the worst, you know. Awkward as hell.”

He felt something brush against his hand. Looking over, he spotted Anti’s hand resting on top. He gave Davesprite the most serious look he thought he’d ever seen him give.

“Look, I… I don’t know. What that’s like. It sounds… awful. And I don’t know what’s going to happen with all this.” Another explosion sounded in the distance. “But like. Whatever happens, we’ll face it together, right?”

Davesprite stared for a moment. Then he smirked and moved his hand so that his fingers intertwined with Anti’s. “You’re goddamn right about that. Who would have thought mister doom and gloom would be so hopeful? It’s kind of cute.”

He sat up for just a moment, which made Anti sit up too, his head tilted in confusion.

“You know maybe we should just like. Make this official and all.” Leaning forward, Davesprite used his free hand to tug down Anti’s scarf. Anti’s mouth hung open ever-so-slightly.

“Davesprite, you… I…”

Davesprite gave Anti a quick peck on the cheek before leaning back, giving Anti an uncharacteristically serious expression. “When I ended up here, I thought everything about this world was fake. Everyone was little more than a caricature. Little more than a game construct, a bastardization of who they could be. Yet here we are. You’re not. God damnit Anti, don’t ever leave me.”

Anti’s mouth hung open in shock. For just a moment, Davesprite regretted being so candid.

But then Anti smiled, and Davesprite felt his heart flutter.

“Don’t worry Davesprite, I’m not going anywhere.”

Hesitantly, Davesprite let his ghostly tail wrap around Anti’s waist. There the two of them sat, watching as the town far below grew quiet. It was over. The game would reset soon. The world seemed to slowly grow brighter around them.

Davesprite smiled. “You have no idea how happy that makes me.”

[cobblepot-comfort]

Three is as Good as a Crowd

This is the first chapter of a story I need to get back to, This was from Season 1, where Oswald is not sent away from Barbara’s apartment when he reappears to Jim in his first resurrection from the dead.  I thought there were some missed opportunities here, and I hope you agree:

Also posted on ao3:

Three is as Good as a Crowd

From Season 1 Episode 3/4

Oswald went to see Jim to reveal he was still alive and back in his beloved Gotham.

“Hello James - old friend” he said, with a feline smile.

The glamorous blonde who answered the door looked a little taken aback to see him standing there.  Well, she would.

“Jim?” she said, looking puzzled.

later….

“Who is he. Really?”  Barbara asked, in a low voice, as she poured the scotch.  

She had invited their surprise visitor to stay for a drink.  She had a feeling that there was more to their impromptu guest than met the eye.

“What do you mean?”

“You know what I mean.  He’s not just an old friend.  And I don’t even think he’s called Peter Humboldt either!”

“Barbara….”

“Come on , Jim,”  Barbara turned round and cast a smile at Oswald who was comfortably ensconced on the sofa.  He returned her smile. She turned back.

“Tell me,” she hissed.  “Tell me who he really is!”

“Barbara - I can’t.  It’s confidential.  It’s - well, to do with work.”

Barbara poured out the whiskey slowly and deliberately, delaying the moment.

“Tell me the truth,” she demanded, “Or I’m walking out of here.  Now.”

So Jim sighed, said, “Well you promise this won’t go any further?”

She promised him it wouldn’t.

And so Jim explained everything that had happened, as quickly as he could.  He was aware that Oswald was sitting there and waiting for his drink.

“Oh, I see,” Barbara said when he’d finished explaining himself.

“Do you?”

“Yes, and it’s going to be fine, baby.  I’m glad you told me.”

She turned and walked away bearing Oswald’s drink.

She handed him the whiskey and he took it with grateful thanks, looking at her warily with his bright blue eyes.

“Jim’s told me the truth - who you really are - Oswald,” she said, sitting down next to him on the sofa.

Oswald visibly flinched, his eyes opening wide with alarm.  He looked  at Jim and frowned.

“Its ok, sweetie,” Barbara continued, “It’s all going to be ok.”

“Jim?” Oswald asked anxiously.

“Sorry Oswald, but she is my fiance, I felt I had to tell her.  We can trust her - believe me.”

“Oh.  Well, Jim, if you trust her, then so can I.”  Oswald smiled at Jim and then Barbara.

“Well, this is nice,” Barbara grinned.    “Three old friends having a drink together.”

“Yes,” Oswald agreed.  He glanced at Jim again, and got another reassuring smile.  He blushed.

“I owe Jim my life, as you know,” Oswald ventured, swirling the liquid around in his glass thoughtfully as he spoke.  “I’d do anything for him - just anything.  Any favour he wants, he just has to name it - you know that, don’t you, Jim?”  He looked up at Jim coyly.

“Yes, I know - but I really don’t want anything….”

“You know, I think Oswald should stay the night,” cut in Barbara, “It won’t be safe for him out there, from what you told me.  Maybe we could put him up here for  a while.”

“Oh - no, that won’t be necessary I’m sure,” Oswald interrupted hastily, looking nervous.

“No, Barbara’s right - you would be safer here,” Jim insisted.  “At least til the fuss dies down.”

“Erm - do you mean it?”

“Yes, of course we do.”

“Oh - well, thank you!  I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t need to say anything.  We are glad to do this for you.”

“You can have the spare room.”

“Thank you.”

“You know, he really is cute,” Barbara confided later, as they left Oswald to get ready for bed.  

“You think so?”

“Oh, come on, Jim - I know you agree with me.”

“What?”

“Jim.  You know I know you are bisexual.  And I saw the way you were looking at him. And I don’t blame you!  He’s a pretty little thing!”

“Erm…”

“Jim!  Its ok.  You know we’ve had three ways with other women and you’ve been fine with that. I would be fine with a three way with two men.”

“Maybe you would be, but what about Oswald?  I’m pretty sure he’s quite inexperienced - I’m sure he might even be a virgin!  We can’t go suggesting three in a bed to him, it’ll scare him to death!”

“But say, just for argument’s sake, that he was ok with it.  Would you be prepared to go through with it?”

“I - well, I suppose I might consider it.”

“Good.  Then go and have a word with him.”

“What, now?”

“Yes, sweetie - there’s no time like the present. Then if he wants to run screaming, it’s up to him isn’t it?”

So Jim went and knocked on the door of the spare room and when Oswald called out he called back, “It's Jim, can I come in?”

“Yes, come in,” came the pleased reply.

Jim went in and saw Oswald with the covers pulled up to his chest, looking coy and shy and vulnerable.

His heart did a somersault.

He looked gorgeous lying there so serenely, with his raven hair framing his sweet pale face.

Barbara was right, he thought Oswald was beautiful.  He hadn't wanted to admit it but as Barbara had given him her blessing to reveal his feelings, he felt comfortable with acknowledging them.

He went slowly over to Oswald’s bedside and then sat down carefully on the bed.

As he looked down on Oswald’s curious face he felt an overwhelming urge to kiss him but fought off the impulse.

“What is it Jim?” Oswald asked softly giving him a nervous, edgy smile.

“I don't want you to worry, Oswald,” Jim began, “As long as you are here you will be safe and you need not be afraid.”

“Of course not, Jim.  That's a strange thing to say!”  Oswald smiled warmly and relaxed a little.

“Well, it might sound that way.  It's just that - well, I don't want to shock or embarrass you Oswald, but Barbara and I - well, we occasionally indulge in - certain practices….you know, in bed.  Involving - well, other people.”

“Oh�� - really Jim? That does surprise me!  I didn't think you would be the type!”

“Well I didn't either, but Barbara - well, she’s quite adventurous and it does help to spice up our love life.  There, you’re shocked now aren't you?”

“Of course not Jim. This is Gotham remember.”  And Oswald laughed.

“Ah. I’m glad you understand.”

“Jim - my dear friend. You know I am happy with anything you do.”

“Oh. Right.  I’m glad about that too,  because..erm, Oswald…”

“Yes, Jim?”

“Well - the thing is….Barbara and I...we both find you very attractive, and….”

“Oh -Jim, erm…”

“Shhhh, Oswald, don’t worry, I’m not propositioning you.  But I just wanted to say - if you felt lonely - or scared, or cold, or in need, or anything - you are welcome to come and join us.  We can all keep each other company.”

“Ah.  I see.  Well, Jim, that’s a very generous offer.  I shall think it over. Thank you.”

“No Oswald - thank you.  I mean it when I say we both think you are very attractive and we would be honoured if you wanted to share our bed.  Now I’ll go and leave you alone.  Goodnight, Oswald.”  Jim risked reaching out and stroking Oswald’s raven locks away from his forehead.  “You really are very pretty, you know,” he smiled, and Oswald blushed shyly and thanked him.  “Oh,  Jim,” Oswald added as Jim went to the door, “I think you and Barbara are very pretty too!”

In the early hours Oswald entered their bedroom slowly and nervously. He had had a restless night full of disturbing dreams, nothing unusual for him but he felt in need of some comfort and as this had been offered to him, he thought why not take them up on it.

He went to the bed and stared down at the couple.  

He noticed they were both sleeping naked. That explained why he’d not been offered pyjamas, although they had given him a robe.

He sat down slowly on Jim’s side of the bed.  He looked down at Jim’s fair tousled head.  He did look handsome! He had thought that the first time he had seen him at Fish’s place.  And now, he might be lucky enough to sleep with him  - and his fiance!   He never thought he would ever be so decadent.

Jim stirred, he blinked awake and focussed on Oswald’s anxious face.   “Oswald!” he smiled.  “Get in!”  He moved over, disturbing and waking Barbara.  Oswald apologised for waking them up.  “Don’t be sorry,” Barbara smiled.  “We’re glad you could make it!  Hey baby, why don’t you get in the middle, then we can both warm you up, you look cold!”

“Erm - all right then.”  Oswald was shivering, he was wearing only his boxer shorts as he had cast off his robe.

“Mmmm, you have a lovely body, Ozzy,” Barbara purred, glancing over him, and Jim agreed.  “You’re very sexy,” he said.

“Oh, thank you - that’s very kind.”

“Not kind - true!” Barbara protested. “We both think you are very horny - eh, Jim?”

“Yep!”

“Oh.”  Oswald burrowed down inside the sheets, in between Jim and Barbara. They both smelt lovely - Jim of vetiver and Barbara of vanilla.

“There, baby, that’s better isn’t it?” Barbara crooned as Oswald settled in against her soft, welcoming body.  He felt Jim’s hard, firm torso pressed against him on the other side, felt his strong arm laid across him and on Barbara.

He felt himself harden in between and was embarrassed, even despite what had been offered to him earlier.

“Oh, Ozzy - did you bring a gun into bed or are you pleased to see me?” giggled Barbara.

Oswald chuckled nervously. “I didn’t mean to..I..just wanted to go to sleep.”

“That’s all right then, that’s what we’ll do.”  Jim said gently, although he couldn’t resist giving Oswald’s neck a soft kiss and a nuzzle, which Oswald didn’t make any objection about.  He arched his neck and gave a happy little sigh.

“Good night, Oswald.”

“Good night both.”

They fell into a sound sleep, warm and cosy in each other’s arms. 

[venomous--fics]

Pearlie: TYSM for the request! I used Carnage because I am already dying for the next Venom movie so I have been reading up on Carnage.

Relationship: Eddie Brock/Venom x Mutant!Reader

STORY:

Eddie and Venom had been busy all week. It seemed like crime was only increasing, despite the fact Venom ate nearly all the scum they encountered. Luckily for them, the afternoon was fairly decent so they decided to walk around the city, occassionally stopping for drinks or a bite to eat.

"What sounds good for lunch, V?"

"Hmm." Venom thought, "We could stop at that pizza joint you're always talking about."

"We sure could if you'd like. I'm starving."

"You are not alone on that."

"Pizza it is." Eddie smiled, almost putting a skip in his step.

Despite nothing happening, the two were still on high alert, only relaxing a little once the auroma of pizza was wafting through the air. Eddie opened the door to the pizza parlor and quickly found a decent seat next to a window.

Before they knew it, they had ordered seven pizzas, some with bizarre topping combos. The waiter paid no mind and walked off. Eddie tapped his knuckles on the table, squinting as the sun obscured his view.

Just as the duo was about to lower their guard, a police car was flying through the street and people were running in fear. Eddie stood from the table and ran outside to assess the situation.

"Carnage." Venom growled, "What a dick."

"Didn't you make that d- Nevermind." Eddie clapped his hands together, "Let's go fuck shit up my man."

Venom enveloped Eddie and the two were off in an attempt to stop the beast.

---

You had your earbuds in as you walked down the street, towards the pizza place. You called in an order for your ritualistic Friday night in. You hummed to the beat and scrolled through your phone for a better song to listen to.

You had no idea of your surroundings until someone ran past you, and nearly bumped into you. You took and earbud out, "Hey, pal! Watch where you're--"

You slowly turned back from him and saw the city being torn apart. More and more people were running away in absolute panic.

"The hell.."

You stood still, unsure of what do to. What could you do? If you used your powers, there was a fear of being detained.. If you didn't help, then people being hurt would be on you.

Before you could even turn away and act like nothing was wrong, you heard a vicious roar followed by a car alarm.

You turned your head up a little and saw a large black mass flying towards you. Without any time to move, you cowar a bit as the mass flew through you.

You opened your eyes and turned around, seeing a creature getting up off the pavement and shaking it's head, growling as bits of rubble were shook off.

You panicked a little and ran past it and immediately phasing through the nearest wall. The creature had seen it all.

---

After what felt like 2 days, Venom and Eddie were able to subdue the vile Carnage just enough to get him to retreat.

The two were still curious as to what happened earlier with the strange girl and the going through walls.

"We could've been hallucinating from lack of food." Eddie rubbed his face, tired.

"No she was real." Venom snapped, "We do not hallucinate."

"Right. Okay.. But how the hell are we gonna find her in this big city..."

"Perhaps there is still a scent."

"Man, that's weird.. Like kinda creepy weird." Eddie groaned, wanting nothing more than to just get his food and go home.

"We must find the mystery girl, Eddie. Maybe she can help us in combat." Venom grinned rather gleefully.

"We don't really need help, but I do wanna make sure she isn't a threat. Y'know?"

Venom seemed to have agreed and they began their detective work.. As usual.

---

You finally stopped running when you noticed you were in on the the of town. You turned to look at the skyline.

You slipped up and now you'd probably have to move. Again. Maybe change your name? You looked around to make sure you weren't followed.

Nobody knew you had these powers, and that's fine with you. You wanted to be normal. And you knew deep down that if anyone knew they would only use you.

You shrugged off the cool air and started to make the totally normal trek back home. The gears in your head started turning and you got angry. That black slimey thing... What if IT was the bad guy. Maybe you should track it down and fight it. Then again ... It was probably stronger than you.

You slipped your earbuds back in and tried to chill out. It was going to be fine. You were going to make it home, you were going to eat low quality take out food. And life would be as normal as you remembered.

You made it back into the city and despite cooling down a bit, you were still filled with dread that some form of alien creature knows you exist and that you have powers.

You scoffed as you hit the walk signal button, "Haha as if....What? And it's tracked me down? Y/N, don't be ridiculo--"

You felt a puff of hot air on the back of your neck and you stiffened up like a fence post. You slowly turned around, "Well, speak of the devil..."

It was the being from earlier. You took a step back, "H-hey. Get out of my crawl.. M-man??"

"Where are my manners." It said in a low tone, wicked teeth curling into a smile, "We are Venom."

"Edgy." you blurted out. You tough guy persona started to come out as a defense mechanism, "Can you go."

The black ooze began to move, revealing a rather-from what you could see- cute guy. You weren't prepared for that and you jumped back, "What the fu- What the hell?"

"No please!" the man pleaded, "Not gonna hurt you. I'm Eddie Brock. That was my pal Venom. We uh.. I guess we're the good guys."

You eyed him up and down, "I'm Y/N....I guess." And the dots started to click, "Eddie Brock...That reporter guy?"

"Used to be."

"Used to be a fan- Uhm.. So why are you stalking me.."

"Earlier. Venom and I.. We kinda went through you."

"Oh. That was you." You sighed, "Please. I can't talk about it.. I'm terrified of someone finding out. I'm not gonna cause problems.. Just trying to make a living."

"Understandable." Eddie said, "We can talk over pizza. Totally spaced that I ordered like seven of 'em two hours ago."

You weren't sure what to expect. He just shifted the mood and conversation so far.. And you knew he wasn't a bad guy.

He held out his hand, "We swear we aren't gonna try any funny business.. Ot's nice to see another freak on the street."

"Freak?"

"It's a term of endearment to us. You hear it so much that it almost sounds like a compliment."

You looked at his hand, "Alright, Eddie. But you try anything and I'll hurt you."

You reached your hand out and purposefully phased it through his. He was taken aback and you moved past him, "Gotcha."

"Where you goin'?" he asked, turning around.

"Thought you said we'd talk over pizza." you smiled at him, "You coming or what?"

Eddie looked at his hand as he started to follow you. He could hear Venom chuckling, "Eddie. We like her."

Eddie was still looking at his hand, "God that was freaky."

Turning around, you phased your hands through his chest, causing him to jump a little. You moved back, "I'll keep doing it."

"Please don't." Eddie's voice cracked, causing Venom to laugh. Eddie's voice cracked again, "Shut up."

--- (slight timeskip brought to you by my fear of this being too long lmao) --

An alarm went off, causing you to groan and went to slam your fist on it, but in your tired state, your fist went through the table. You groaned even louder and sat up, "Shut up already. We get it...It's morning."

The bedside next to you shifted and Eddie turned over, facing you, "Five more minutes."

You laid back down and shut your eyes, "You said that the first time it went off."

"And I'll say it again." he yawned.

You adjusted your position so you could look at him, "That WAS five minutes ago."

His brows furrowed and he whined, "But I'm tired."

You rolled your eyes and smiled. It's been about nine months since that day they phased through you and then got you pizza as consolation. Everything fell into place after that.

Eddie convinced you that you could use your powers for good, so sometimes you help them during fights. And about 4 months ago, Eddie asked you to move in after your millionth date. He made it seem more like a wedding proposal, however. He just wanted to be with you.

Eddie's hand began snaking over to you, and you decided to make him get up. His hand wound up going through you, and he patted the bed, "Y/N. Babe? You there?"

His hand went through your arm and you laughed, "I'm here. But you gotta get up."

He pulled his hand back and opened his eyes, "You're a jerk."

You sat up and pushed yourself off the mattress, "And you need a shower."

Eddie sighed and rolled out of bed, "Fine."

You went through the bedroom door, but immediately stuck your head back through, "I'll cook some breakfast!"

Eddie slammed himself into the wall and grabbed his chest, "Wouls you stop doing that?! It's still freaky."

"It's been like nine months."

"It looks like I'm talking to a decapitated head.."

You looked at the door and phased your hand through, shaking them like you were doing jazz hands, "Is this better?"

"Wha-Wh-What would you do if one of our friends came in and just part of your body going through a door?" Eddie squeaked.

You were totally unphased by the question and you kept a flat face, "We don't have any friends, Eddie."

"Shower." Eddie half smiled, "I need a shower."

He walked to the bathroom and shut the door behind him.

"I think it is funny." Venom said.

"You also think eating people is funny."

"Their screams amuse me."

"Thank you, V."

Eddie let out a yelp as you were now in the bathroom. You let out a laugh, "I'm sorry. I had to. I'll go make some food."

Eddie nodded as his nerves finally calmed down, "That would be wonderful."

You smiled at him and pulled him into a hug. You stood on your tiptoes and gave him a soft kiss on the lips, "Love you, fraidy cat."

"Love you too, weird..ghost cat."

[odissey061]

Motonari's route

Chapter(s) posted:

1. This freak won't have me

2. Kick him in the teeth

Please, teach me a better way to create link because I can't do it by myself

Chapter 3: This trick never worked at human's memory

Tag: @towa-no-yume @r-f-a-journalists

When I open my eyes the first thing I feel is an acute headache: the hands run through the hair until I discover a bump. I press it to see if I feel the pain and then I whimper like a baby: it hurts a lot. Why I'm so stupid? I take a look around me and I notice I'm in a cold and empty cell. The room is surrounded by three wooden walls and before me there's an iron grille. Here and there on the floor against the wall there are spooky chains that make me chill and smile nervously. At this moment I heard the rolling waves and I understand I'm on a ship.

Where I am? How many time has passed since my kidnap? I must return to the Oda right now! A lot of hours passed since I left Azuchi castle: I told to Hideyoshi I'd come back after lunch, so probably they have already noticed my absence.

I try open the door but, obviously, is locked and I look around to find something to force the look, but the room is empty, except the chain on the wall. Then I took a clip from my hair and, holding it tight in the hand, I pray:"At human memory this trick never worked, but, please, if there's even the littlest chance, make it happens". Great, now I pray to objects like they were gods!

I plug the clasp in the door lock but, as I expected, it doesn't work. Pushed by despair, I retry again and again, but after a large number of failed attempts and swears, finally I give up and I lean my back on the wall. A man appears in front of me: he's very tall and his body is made by tons of muscles, his eyes shining with malice. With a look I understand this man is a brute and he doesn't hesitate to use violence and if I had to fight against him, I'd probably die. "Who are you and why I'm here?" I demand, but he laughs dryly:"I'm the one who makes the questions here, little girl" and he opens the door. As he spoke, I recognize him as the man who kidnapped me. He enters in the cell and leaves open the door. I try to gain more time:"I understand why you kidnapped me: I'm very close to the Oda commanders and your boss wants information about them", Well, at least you are not stupid, that makes easier my work. So little girl, talk about your friends" he comments. "The problem is exactly about this: you see, I'm only their maid and I don't know anything about their future moves, so keep me here is useless" I lie and I walk towards the door. But the man grabs my hair, making me moan for the pain and yells at me:"You think I'm so stupid to believe you? I'm not a fool! In Azuchi people say Nobunaga brought you to battle on his horse  His voice becomes lower, still being threatening:"If you don't tell me spontaneously all you know about them, I'll make you confess with the bad manners". And when he shows a bag full of torture instruments and I'm terrified. I don't know very much about torture, but I can imagine how much they'd hurt my body. I want to scream for help, but I know nobody will save me. My face gets paler. I know already how this will finish: this man will torture me until I speak, but I don't know anything, so he'll kill me for nothing. I'll die for anything!!

"I'm not his lover: I'm his maid and I have been staying in Azuchi for a few days. I don't know anything about them and if I knew something, I surely won't talk to you" I repeat using a quiet voice to not make him angrier. "Bad answer" he smiles sadistically, almost happy about my resistance and slaps me so violently to turn my head. "Try again, little girl, but the next time I won't so merciful".

"And if I don't confess what are you going to?" I bravely provoke him. The Oda forces helped me a lot and I won't betray them for my own safety. "I'll break all of your bones and if you won't talk, then I'll cut the tendons of your hands and your feet. If you still won't confess I'll remove your eyes, then I'll tear your ears and finally I'll cut your tongue" his threats scare me a lot, but I won't give up my loyalty. He takes from the bag a strange object and he places it near to my nails.

No no no no. Please, somebody help me!

I close the eyes too scared to watch, but at that moment I hear a new voice:"Yoshitoko, what are you doing here? I'm sure the captain hasn't told you to torture this girl since he is out to collect information with a few men. So I wonder: whose order are you following?". I open my eyes and I see a young man who's throwing diggers with the glare at the man in front of me. The newcomer is younger than this man, but somehow the eldest has to obey him. "The captain is still a child, quartermaster: if all of us wait for his command, we'd have alredy died. He doesn't know what to do and he's not able to keep the promise he made" he growls, "He's the captain, not you: he knows what's the best for us better than you. You are only able to hurt people and torture them, for this reason you won't be a captain. Now leave, Yoshitoko" The man speaks with a rough voice and I can feel the subtle threat he silently implies. I except a Yoshitoko's reaction, but he obeys whispering something.

Left alone, the young man is more relaxed walks towards me and I step back, so he reassures me:"I don't want to hurt you. I want to check your wound". I let him check my arm. I groan for the pain when he tries to move it. He looks more friendly than his colleague, so I try to ask:"Can you tell me who are you and how many days passed since my kidnap? Will you torture me again to seek information I don't have?". He sighs: "The arm is broken, now I call a doctor so he can help you better. Now you are on a pirate ship and you were kidnapped by Yoshitoko yesterday, following captain's order. Now the captain is away, but in a short time he'll be back and will decide what to do about you". "Earlier I said the truth: I don't know anything about Nobunaga's future plans. Keep me here he's useless" I whisper, "Even if you don't know anything you'll probably stay here as a political hostage to be used against your friends" the man explains my situation. The sadness overwhelms me to the thought I'll be used against my friends: I can't do this to them. "But as I told you is the captain to decide, so he could even release you" he tries to reassure me, but I have no illusions: if I were in his position I'll do the same. I even realize probably I won't be able to go back to my time. No way this will happen! The man says they wait for their captain, so it means the ship is still in the port: that makes my escape more easily. The man is inside the cell and the grill is open: all I have to do is run and don't be caught. But the pirate in front of me is still vigil even if he's more relaxed, surely is ready to catch me and even I'd beat him he'll give the alarm. No, escape at this moment is too risky but if I don't do it right now later would be impossible.

The only thing I can do is talk with the captain: I'm even ready to beg for my release, it's necessary. "The captain will be here in a few hours, so be more patient" he ends the conversation. "What kind of man is your captain?" I wonder, "The captain? Is an edgy man. He treats with respect his subordinates, but he doesn't trust anyone except me on this ship. Is the type of person who can be your friend but he stabs you in the back some minutes after" he responds. So he's a bastard and the possibilities he'd let me go are very low.

* * *

It's almost evening and Hideyoshi is worried: y/n told him this morning she'd have gone in the city until lunchtime, but she didn't come back. He asked around but nobody was able to tell him where y/n was. He alerted Nobunaga who decided to hold a war council to find her. Hideyoshi expresses all of his worry and Mitsunari takes word with a stern look on his face:"I'm quite worried as well, Lord Hideyoshi. We should look after her". 

"Maybe she escaped after she went to war, after all, was her first time on a battlefield. I won't be surprised" Mitsuhide suggests with his cunning tone, but a more careful eye can see a glimpse of worry. In the past days, he went to some places with a very horrible reputation and in a red light district and he noticed a lot of Portuguese men who acted too much secretive for being simply merchant. They were really cautious: they gazed around before speaking with someone and once Mitsuhide risked revealing his true identity. Just today he succeeded to talk with a man after days of failures, but what he discovered was suspicious arms traffic. He didn't discover anything about y/n's missing. And the possibilities she's been kidnapped are not low. "My lucky charm is not a coward, Mitsuhide: she proved it during the war"       

Nobunaga scolds him, "Then I suppose we should look after her" snorts Ieyasu. "As if you hadn't done it before, before" teases Mitsuhide: Ieyasu's contrarian reactions are always a delight for him.

"Lord Ieyasu is always so kind" Mitsunari praises him. Ieyasu scolds him:"I told you I wasn't searchi-", "Enough! Each of you will send your own scouts in the city to collect information" Nobunaga stops the discussion. Once the council ends, all the warlord obey to Nobunaga orders, sending men in the city and its surroundings with the order to search for y/n and arrest everyone look suspicious. But as time passes, nobody finds y/n.

[fizzyhosh]

Binding

Chapter Five

Prologue | One | Two | Three | Four | Five

Summary: Remus likes things predictable, orderly, and punctual. His comfort-zone is compromised when he meets (Y/N), a girl who is indifferent, spontaneous, and not outwardly friendly. Despite their obvious differences, he can’t seem to stay away from her, even when they aren’t working side-by-side at the most boring job on the planet.

Word Count: 1269

A/N: HONESTLY it’s been a minute since I’ve posted any fic, let alone a part of Binding. Please forgive me. I’m literally the WORST. I hope this is good enough for you to forgive me ! Also, only ONE MORE PART of this series!!! 

•••••

bind·ingˈbīndiNG

noun 

1. a strong covering holding the pages of a book together.

adjective 

1. (of an agreement or promise) involving an obligation that cannot be broken.

•••••

"You don't have work today," Sirius reminded, glancing over his bowl.

"I know..." Remus said slowly as he bent down and scanned the contents of the fridge.

"Then why are you leaving?"

He stood up slightly and peeked over the door at Sirius. "Am I only allowed to leave the house for work?"

"I mean," he paused to swallow his food before continuing, "you never left the house before you got the job."

"Fair point. It's nice outside today, though."

Sirius frowned. "Are you keeping a secret?" He perked up. "Are you going to see Y/N? Outside of work? Like a date?"

"No." Remus shut him down quickly. "Why do you seem so disappointed by that?"

"You like her and I want you two to hit it off."

"We're friends, Sirius. She has a boyfriend and I'm not a home wrecker. We are going somewhere but it's not a date, alright?

Sirius tried holding back his large grin. "Have fun, mate."

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing. I'm just excited for you to start living your best life. I also can't wait for her to realize you two are perfect for each other. Just all around excited."

"You're starting to sound likes James. Go back to the edgy Sirius we all know and love. I'll be back later this afternoon."

"Bye, loverboy."

Remus flipped him off and got on his bike, making his way to where he and Y/N agreed to meet up. He waited a while, wondering if he misread the time they were supposed to meet. He pulled out his phone, alternating between rereading "noon" in the text and looking at the time at the top of his screen. It was close to 12:45 and he was about to head home, only partly devastated that the love of his life didn't show up. That was a an understatement, he was definitely heartbroken.

As he got back on his bike, Y/N yelled across the small park. Remus looked up to see her disheveled and upset. He dropped his bike as she approached him and almost knocked him over as a constant stream of words flowed out of her mouth.

"I can't believe you waited, I'm so sorry I'm late, my alarm didn't go off because my phone died and since my phone died I couldn't text you and I was just hoping you were still here because I value our friendship and ohmygosh I can't believe you're actually still here."

Remus put his hands on Y/N's arms, smiling lightly. "First, breathe."

Y/N nodded and breathed deeply.

"Second, of course I waited. I value our friendship too. And considering how many times you've almost been late to work, I figured you'd be late to this as well." That was only a small lie. He did expect her to be a little late, but not 45 minutes. He also was just trying to calm down the sound of raging butterflies at the "I value our friendship" part by cracking a joke, which worked for a moment until she smiled and riled up the butterflies again. Remus dropped his hands, hoping the lack of contact might settle the noise in his head.

"You are really the nicest person I have ever met."

That felt like a friendzone sentence, which really helped the butterfly noise situation because they immediately stopped, an aching heart replacing the wild animals.

"You look like you need a coffee."

"Yes, I do," Y/N said, leading them to the coffee shop across the street. They talked for a while until their presence was considered loitering and had to find a new place to chat.

Remus liked how easy it was to get lost in a conversation with her. Unfortunately, he was so comfortable that he let words slip that he never intended Y/N to hear.  

"My anniversary is tomorrow and I still have no idea what to do," Y/N said with a sigh as they walked around the park, admiring the weather and nature.

Remus bit his lip, not a fan of this conversation. Y/N's boyfriend really seemed like a piece of trash. "Well tomorrow is doomed for me too. Lily's party." He stuffed his hands in his pockets and kicked the ground.

Y/N nodded. "We should just convince the world tomorrow is cancelled so neither of us have to do our stupid things."

"There must be something that makes you look forward to your anniversary?" Remus prompted as he looked at her sideways.

She sighed and paused for a long time before asking, "Do you think I should break up with him?"

He was taken aback. Here he had the chance to give great advice that would make her break up with her boyfriend, but instead, he let slip the dumbest thing he could have.

"Well, to be honest, I might not have started checking out so many books in the first place if I knew you had a boyfriend, so yeah." His eyes widened as she frowned.

"What?" she asked with a small, confused laugh.

"Uh.."

"Wait... did you only go to the bookstore because I worked there?"

"Y/N, it's not as weird as it sounds."

"Really, Remus? Because it sounds like you stalked me until I offered you a job."

He shook his head vigorously. "No, it's not like that."

"Then what exactly did you do?"

"Look," he took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Just let me say what I need to say and then you can fire me and block my number and do whatever else you want. I'm going to be 100 percent honest right now."

Y/N crossed her arms, looking insecure now that she discovered Remus didn't just come into the bookstore because he read super fast. One of the only people she felt she could trust these days didn't seem to be who he said he was.

"I've never been very outgoing or friendly or fluent with words. The first time I saw you, I was completely speechless at how beautiful you were. I couldn't think of the right words to say to you so I just left. The thing is, Y/N, I've never had trouble forgetting about random people or getting thoughts out of my mind but you drove me crazy from the moment I saw you. I couldn't even watch The Princess Bride because I could only think about all the things I could have and should have said to you in the bookstore. So I went back the next day, ready to say all these amazing things but you had your hair up and you looked so perfect that all my confidence just erased completely from existence. I know it sounds crazy but I kept checking out books so I had an excuse to go back and talk to you, but I just could never find the right words to say to you. After I found out you had a boyfriend, I swear I never intended to ruin that or anything. I meant what I said earlier. I do value our friendship. A lot."

He waited and scanned Y/N's face for any hint of any emotion. He'd even be fine with her being royally pissed if he could just tell what she was thinking.

"I have to go," she mumbled simply, emotionless. "Thanks for being honest with me."

Remus stood as he watched her walk to her car, running her hands through her hair. He felt a few tears fall as she drove off, wondering in what world would things have been different?

He got on his bike and rode home, trying to make it back before he started spiraling. Remus' spiral of emotions was something best experienced in the safety of a house with his best mates there to look after him.

Permanent Tags: @aheadfullofsherlock @luna-xxxxx @sjriusblck @gabiatthedisco @siriuslyimmoony @young7711 @diggorysghost @niffleurs@flowercrownchic @havecourage-darling @swellwriting @bluemadcnna @jamcspotters @heartbeats-wildly @mayakblack @sleep-i-ness @sly-vixen-up2nogood @mugglebornmadness @thefantasticalfangirl @portkeys-and-prose @weasleyswizardweezes

Remus Tags: @knowledgeisthebomb @the-best-fanfition-ever @harrypotterimmaginaa @stateofloveandvedder @gryffindorprincess379 @finnofamerica @serenefreakgeek @wwhitewwolff @riddikulus-remus 

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[thelostandforgottenangel]

~One More Time~

I wrote this before my son got hurt and if I don’t return after tomorrow then this will be my last post until things get better... Love you all and I’m sorry 

N.G.T.B.S.F.W    Wish I could have finished this series I have one for Leo, Donnie, and Mikey maybe I’ll someday be able to write again but best I can do is the depressing and sad right now

@bloody-hands-pure-hearts1329 @bloody-hands-pure-hearts1 @fyreball66 @betelgeusessonajblog @tmntwhat-you-get-is-what-you-see and all my lovelies hope you all enjoy if this really is my last fanfiction!

She had walked into the lair for the first time in weeks and having acted like she had been there only the day before this was bound to happen, she had told her friends she would be there at seven sharp that night to hang out before they had to go on patrol but nonchalantly walked in at close to ten when they were already gone. Between her work and life getting in the way she had accidently pushed them to the side without meaning too

He was fuming, that was to be expected but this was so new to her; she had never seen him like this. She had never seen the hotheaded red masked turtle so on edgy and rigid as he paced the room looking ready to kill

Raphael was normally so sweet and kind to her even smiling in that way that she would swoon for when nobody was around but the second his golden eyes saw her come through that door acting so carefree he had become a different man; growling dangerously with each word, she had been backed into a wall as he approached her his body flexed and stiff making an unknowing fear drive her to keep space between their bodies the look he gave her as one she had never seen yet the second the wall was stopping her he was in front of her completely heated snarling his words but the passion that had hit her all at the same time when he kissed her had the woman submitting to his will.

His touch was so tender even though he was still growling at her, lifting her body up the wall the turtle caressed her face his hard body pressed against her. The kiss was quick to become needy when she moaned as his body rubbed against hers, that snarled out promise of how he was ‘going to fuck you senseless’ and that growled ‘you fucking belong to me’ had her wrenching her trapped arms out of his grasp then straight around his neck pulling him in for more grinding against him as his hips pressed hard to hers in steady thrust rubbing his obvious problem against her heated clothed center.

Before she even processed it he had pulled her off the wall tossing her over his shoulder, she blinked and he had her in his room that thick metal door slamming hard before she was thrown on his bad, her body bounced but before she was back down the solid click of a lock and his massive form reached her at the same time. Clothes ripped in his frenzy of kisses and touches, they shredder from her body under his strong hands as he tried to get to her but nothing could have prepared her for the sheer pleasure that shot through her as he threw her legs open took her without warning

No matter how wet she was it was a tight fit and stretching for him was done slower, not tonight her body accepted him fast screaming his name the second he was deep inside her, that first thrust made her eyes roll shaking as he drove into her hard

She had no choice but to let the turtle use her even if she put up no fight, Raph took her as he pleased; be it speed, force, or position, that night she gave into him and let him fuck her anyway he wanted.

They had been going all night now and by his alarm clock she knew the sun would be coming back up which meant the others would be coming home soon and yet his hunger for her was still unappeasable and unwavering.

He hadn’t slowed in the least, her massive mates pleasure didn’t seem to have an end as he pounded her into his mattress over and over again bringing her over the edge without trying having lost count of how many times she had cum yet he had only came twice making her crazy from the lust.

She was a twitching pleasured mess, his thick cock was too good and every move left her on a drugged out daze begging for more when it slammed into her again even as she started to hurt.

Her paled skin showed what his feral passions had brought on and she loved it, seeing bruises of all sizes and severities from his hands holding her or grabbing at her body to hold her down or in place while he slammed into her tight body darkened by the moment, dark hickies and bite marks showed on the other half of her body; each time he drove forward in a new way his teeth sunk into her skin around her neck or shoulders growling deeply as he latched on then would pound her harder chuckling darkly as the excited moans ripped out of her lungs followed by his name, each small wail or cry, begging whimpers or scream escaping her at a new thrust egged him on

Oh but the second he slammed in and was deep in her womb she was done for

“SHIT!!! A-AAAHHHH FUCK RAPH~!” she moaned and screamed her legs shaking in his grasp as he pushed them up finally getting her in one of his favorites “RAPHAEL~!” her walls clamping down around his fast moving member painfully getting a pleased churr but didn’t seem to faze him too much “Baby … Oh please! Mmm I c-can’t-” those words had him moving faster watching her thrashing on the mattress as he pushed his woman to the edge but didn’t allow her to cum avoiding that sweet spot he easily could find “R-R-RAPH I’M BEGGING YOU~!”

He loved hearing her begging for him having thought she would have told him to stop she was still taking him, her body glimmering in the light from the moisture coating her skin.

Raph’s need filled desire for his woman was unrelenting

“B~Baby please” she pleaded; her trembling voice cracking as she tried to cover her mouth knowing at any second the guys would be back and they would be caught, her hand muffled it a little to his displeasure as he drove in hard making her hands grab his shoulders to hold onto him. Part of the woman had thought he’d finally exhaust himself, but that clearly wasn’t the case tonight feeling his hips snap forward her insides ached and filled out with his load but after only two minutes of a short breather he was recovered and ready to go again.

His huge hands holding her waist a little tighter giving a good hard thrust into her pussy made her whine in desperation crying out as she dropped going limp finally unable to take anymore, she was never one to tap out but after a full night of having her insides rearranged she did hitting his shell repeatedly wrapping her legs around his waist to stop him from moving “Oh god no more~ Raph stop please your going to kill me baby~” the sudden feeling of a large hand tangling into her sweat soaked hair seeing the grin on his face as he started pulling it lightly biting her neck rolling his hips sinking in all the way “No it’s too much!”

He rolled them over bringing her hips up off the bed and going deep had her shaking her head pleading with him but he silenced her with a reassuring kiss one hand finding her throat “One more please, I know ya gots least one round left fer yer alpha~”

Those tired yet so bright eyes came up and he had hoped to god she could see it, his golden orbs looking deep into his lovers pleaded with her, he really needed this. 

Raphael needed her so badly.

She gave a soft whimper shifting slightly but nodded telling him to keep going as he started plunging inside her again so much slower dragging it out but could see it was helping her as she grinned moaning his name happily, he held her as if she were a priceless gem worshiping her body, she was amazing for putting up with him like this and he showed his appreciation while he went as deep as possible feeling her tightening moaning out his own pleasure growling out her name begging for her

She grasped his ass as he hit a sweet spot deep inside her pulling on him silently telling him to move more being rewarded as her legs loosened letting him open them and return to his free movements

He grabbed the bed above her head thrusting hard once testing her nearly coming undone when she screamed his name smiling before rutting her fast “Fuck ‘m gonna cum- gonna go deep fer this fill ya so full ya be mine til da end a time” she nodded practically begging him to fill her again so close to her finish she didn’t give a damn if he fucking broke her she needed his body to finish her… she needed him just as badly after being apart for so long “C’mon kitten~ cum all over that cock fer yer Alpha”

His words brought on his normal intensity, more hard thrust of his hips into her abused tunnel as he started rubbing her sensitive pearl with the gentlest caress she had ever felt sent her over. She came hard the shrill cry leaving her feeling his perfect body stiffen grunting as he slammed into her roughing over and over, his eyes meeting the tear filled pools as he churred spilled his seed into her womb holding her on him as he bucked kissing her cheek and whispering so many admirations into her skin as he marked her body all over again. His whispered ‘I love you’ repeated as he moved slower making sure every bit of his cum was left inside his woman just as the others voices found her ears

He shifted lying them both down in his messed up sheets cuddling her close before realizing she was so worn out her eyes were already closed mumbling for him to stay with her until he was nestled close chuckling at her love drunk babbling of praises until her breathing slowed nuzzling his face into her neck

He dosed off smiling knowing in a few short hours when he woke she would still be there and he planned on making up for lost time with her

[stray-kids-in-your-area]

|The Boy On Anon|

{Part One} {Part Two}

A Changlix!soulmate au where the first words your partner speaks to you are tattooed somewhere on your body.

A collaboration with @kpopship127 / @madpenfan

(I apologize this took so long to get up! More parts should be out fairly soon.)

Word Counter: 600

M.list

Felix p.o.v

It was 21:15 on a Friday. Most teenagers would be out partying or getting into trouble but my best friend Eric and I were sat on the floor in my bedroom playing immature games. “Okay Felix Truth or Dare” Eric wiggled his eyebrows at me, I knew he had some devious plan no matter which option I chose. “Uhhh….dare?” His childish smile turned into a smirk. “I dare you to send a flirtatious anonymous to the tumblr guy you have a crush on.” Blushing I shook my head and mumbled “I don't have a crush on some tumblr guy.” Eric grabbed my laptop and opened it up, on the screen was a blog by the name of I-Am-Dark. I had been following him for awhile, the blog mainly consisted of his rap songs and seemed edgy, the man behind the music however was anything but. “You cannot sit there and tell me you don't have crush on this man when you have his blog set as your default homepage and his first full song as your ringtone.” I cleared my throat and began fidgeting in my chair. “I also have it as my alarm but hey who’s keeping track.” “SEE, YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW HIM AND YOU’RE PRACTICALLY IN LOVE.” He set my laptop in front of me. “Go ahead and start typing up a cute message to lover boy.” I rubbed my face, anxiously trying to figuring out what I should write. I was having a war inside my head like hypothetically if something actually did start between us it would just hurt us in the end because of this whole soulmate thing but there’s always that chance we could never meet our soulmates and have a fantastic relationship. I guess I took to long because Eric decided to full force shove me out of the way and start typing up a message. I didn’t even get to look at it before he pressed send.

Changbins p.o.v

Friday nights for me never changed. I'm always sitting at my desk writing lyrics or producing some melody for a song that I'll never finish. This happens a lot, I’ll start a song, never finish and post the uncompleted things to my blog and go on with my day. Somedays it was harder than others to write and today was on of those days. I decided to push all of that aside and pull up tumblr. I run a fairly successful blog but I don't get many notifications so logging in and seeing the little “1″ in the top corner surprised me. I clicked it to see what it was. Someone had sent me an anon message...a really flirty message. My cheeks burned red, not only because I got a message but because someone was flirting with me. ME OF ALL PEOPLE. Of course I responded right away. I only hoped that they would send more.

Felix p.o.v

My laptop made a ting noise telling me I had a notification. I scrambled to the computer to check what it was. ‘I-Am-Dark has answered an ask’ It couldn't be mine...could it? I nervously clicked the notification and stared in awe, he responded to it. He really answered it. “ERIC HE READ IT AND ANSWERED IT AND I’M SO NERVOUS WHAT DO I DO NOW PLEASE HELP ME?”

“Well I can’t help you if I don't know what he said!” He took over the computer once again and scanned the screen, his fingers flying over keys. “Eric...eric what are you writing!” “I’m keeping up the flirty façade. Now sit down, shut up and let me work my magic.”

[eldritch-elrics]

MEMES 2018

happy 2019 everyone! let’s take a look back at the memes of 2018.

i decided at the start of the year to keep a running list of memes i saw. here it is!

disclaimers:

they’re in roughly chronological order but not always

some of these might not count as memes

some are probably from years other than 2018, but i noticed them in 2018

mostly tumblr memes but also some from youtube, etc

bolded are the ones that i found most important or prominent, at least in my sphere of the internet

anyway, on to the list

tide pods / forbidden snacks

mcdonalds alignment chart

connect four

un-tumblrized

ADAM!

do you know the way? / ugandan knuckles

fbi agent

knuckles dying

left exit off ramp

somebody toucha ma spaghet

shirtless kylo ren

it’s 2028

pop team epic characters

the return of cat no banana

boo boo the fool

google arts and culture

absolute unit

thinking face emoji, thonking

person at stall with coffee: change my mind

mii channel theme

steamed hams

that’s just how it is on this bitch of an earth

green m&m message

upside down mcdonalds sign

gru’s plan

a song but every other beat

roblox death oof

but go off i guess

gay/bi/lesbian distinguished/functional/disaster alignment charts

russians blocked from tumblr

krusty krab vs chum bucket

globglogabgalab

you guys are just mean

we need a disney princess who x

american chopper argument

braver than a us marine

spongebob nopants

gay keyboard smashing

“mine” by bazzi

hand sanitizer vs 0.01% of germs

the ok sign (gottem)

“click to see a ghost” (it’s not a ghost)

god tier vriska

if you don’t love me at my x

zuckerberg trial

regular couple / yaoi couple / yuri couple

wallmart yodeler

press f to pay respects

todd howard’s wikipedia page

infinity war is the most ambitious crossover event in history

x dies in infinity war

gorls

john mulaney

you know what that is? growth

guy shooting other guy on couch (who killed hannibal)

floating boy chasing running boy

Дpyr

the baking a cake song from lazytown

t pose to assert dominance

is this a pigeon?

lesbians who like thor

bart hits homer with a chair

childish gambino - this is america

yanny/laurel

trumpet boy

person alarmed by powerpoint

i don’t feel so good…

miiverse (who thought it was even remotely okay to put this here)

scene from the good place where janet has a cactus

it’s free real estate

we live in a society

t hanos

chinken nunget

the dancing trickster god guy with the wacky glasses

lightning shapes

standing in lettuce

todd howard in general

ihob - the b stands for burgers

crow talks over smaller bird

despacito

we’ve updated our privacy policy

this is so sad alexa play despacito

big dick energy

human and robot from i robot talking

list of best x characters

fingers in his ass

*snap* yep. this one’s going in my cringe compilation

polite cat

slaps roof of car

let’s go lesbians!!

young thug on the computer

fucking superb you funky little x

characters react to you having a tapeworm

teleportation arg

howard the alien

small your dick

alternate responses to “i love you”

more alignment charts, most notably bitch/thot/bastard edgy/depressed/dumbass

elon musk

different communities shaking hands or fist bumping over a shared thing

favorite character bingo

energy sword sunday

thank the bus driver

gamecube

the comeback of minecraft

fortnite

rabies

asbestos becoming legal

pensive emoji

drake, where’s the door hole?

my two brain cells communicating

twink boutta pounce

kung pow penis

johnny johnny

can you cast obsidian

do yall hear sumn?..

x happened at claire’s

bowsette

responses to “i’d die for you”

manga/anime/netflix adaptation

moths and lamps

bongo cat

x do y challenge

wig

zendaya is meechee

adding lucky luciano to photos

presidential alert

the scp foundation

skyrim dialogue: hey, you’re finally awake

setting other songs to the party rock anthem video

weird flex but ok

youtube outage

can i copy your homework?

attention all fortnite gamers, john wick needs your help

tik tok (i wanna be tracer, hit or miss, why do good girls like bad guys)

let’s get this bread

super smash bros world of light trailer

what sort of pics usually get sent at 3 am? ;)

one taught me love, one taught me patience, one taught me pain

"x, can i have y to do z?” “to do z?” “yeeeees"

a human, a monster, a prince from the dark

pikachu :0 face

detective pikachu

have a seat please. i would like to discuss steven universe with you

chonk chart

i’m making fucking mac and cheese

they did surgery on a grape

fantasy art of a creature holding a sword out to another creature

imagine doing x (this post made by y)

no nut november

frankenstein is the creator not the monster

fallout 76

that’s my emotional support x

tumblr nsfw ban, female-presenting nipples

the death of fingers in his ass sunday

domino effect

big chungus

[ladyartemisia28]

Say Amen (Saturday Night)

Chapter: 1/?

Pairings: Prinxiety, side Logicality, Platonic Moxiety, Platonic/Family Logince. 

Warnings: None that I can think of. 

Words:4708

Summary: Sanders Sides Human College AU

Being partnered for a class project causes some tension for Virgil and Roman. Until they both go to the same party and well...things happen.

Chapter 1: I Pray for the Wicked on the Weekend

~

On a Friday in a classroom sounds of idle chatter filled the room, if someone were to look through the window a light drizzle would be visible.

The teacher arrived soon after the bell, she wore a white blouse, tan sweater vest with multicolored diamond pattern, and blue jeans.

After she dropped her books onto her desk, she then began to frantically attempt to smooth her slightly damp brown bob. Before she spoke she adjusted her glasses that matched her bright red lipstick.

"I am sure you have all read the assigned books." she began. "Your task now will be to work on a creative presentation about any of the themes the work of your choosing. This project will be due at the end of the semester."

"I'd like to let you all pick your own partners for this assignment, BUT many of you elect to not pick partners"

In the in back of the room, a boy named Virgil sat. He was only half awake due to his chronic insomnia, so he didn't notice a quick look in his direction. With him being in her Creative Writing class last semester, she knew that he had difficulty with group participation.

"I will be choosing your partners for myself"

Towards the front of the room was the dramatic Roman. He was doodling ying yangs in his notebook absentmindedly as he kept an ear open for his name.

"Mr. Sanderson and Mr. Alexander"

Roman pulled from his daze he looked up. He did not recognize the name 'Mr. Alexander', he took a look around to see who was the lucky winner of his partnership. He saw that he had no one looking towards him with joy and excitement.

The teacher had moved on, so he turned to his desk mate, a friendly brown haired fella named Sloane.

"Who is Mr. Alexander?" he whispered not wanting to offend the person in question.

"The boy in the black, in the back corner, his first name is Virgil." he replied with a smile."Cute, in a edgy kinda way right?"

He turned around in his chair to take a subtle peak at him, he was a bit surprised so his gaze lingered.

The boy in question had on a black leather jacket with a gray hoodie under and under that a dark gray t-shirt.

So many layers thought Roman, was he THAT cold? His legs were clad in black tattered jeans, and on his feet were black and metal combat boots.

This Virgil had the gray of his hoodie up over his head and his face downcast. 

This made Roman ever so curious to see what lie underneath.

Not his usual type at all, but everything he could see, was very hot none the less.

"Yeah," he grinned agreeing with the assessment. "Well, its time to meet my new cohort!"

~

Virgil had actually heard that his name announced. But his social anxiety was getting the better of him at the moment. He was still gathering his courage to get up from his desk when a person approached his desk.

He glanced up and then did a second take at the stunningly gorgeous male in front of him. A delicate wisp of red hair fell in front of his whiskey brown eyes.

Scarlet pigmentation faded to orange, yellow then at the crown of his head there was a shift in hues to green. Then blue and then finally the last color at the nape of his neck was a hint of purple.

He wore what almost looked like a letter mans jacket. Tan on the body of the jacket, cream sleeves, stripes of black and red at the wrists and at the collar. Underneath the jacket was a tight fit white shirt that showed off his fit body. 

Unwillingly the thought of the Tumblr post of Dorito!Steve came into his head, it did make him internally chuckle a bit. As his eyes scan the lower half of him he saw skinny blue jeans and brown boots.

Virgil looked up at his face after a embarrassingly long time of ogling his body.

~

When the leather clad boy looked up Roman could finally see his face. His blue eyes narrowed then widened with a look of surprise. Roman's knees felt weak, he had a strong weakness with so called guyliner. Roman wondered if he was wearing light foundation, could his skin be that pale and smooth?

"Hey there, I'm Roman Sanderson." Roman declared with a grin and flourish, waiting for him to introduce himself.

Although he knew his name he wouldn't deny him the opportunity of a proper first meeting.

"And your name handsome?" Roman inquired as Virgil blushed at the compliment. He reached a ring clad hand over to remove his Nightmare Before Christmas messenger bag from the seat next to him. It was kept by his side as a sign to say 'This seat is not available don't sit next to me!'

"Virgil Alexander" his quiet gravely voice responded and ducked his head in embarrassment. Roman suppressed a small shiver at the deep baritone voice.

Roman slid into the seat to the left of him, then took out his three books. Getting a closer look at him from up close he saw his face in more detail. How could Roman have never noticed him before, he was outstanding! He had a pointed chin, full lips, the carved cheek bones like a sculpture, that Roman would kill for. His facial features were sharp yet pleasing. It was like looking at an scowling angry angel.

"So...” he cleared his throat with a small cough “I am partial to the Epic of Beowulf. I love warriors defeating monsters. Knights and Fantasy is so my jam. My nickname around the drama department is Prince Roman.”

He waited for a moment for the dark boy to contribute to the conversation. Also much as he loved to hear his own voice and get to have creative freedom. He was beginning to worry that this partner would be no help on the project if they couldn't communicate. He hated when others who didn't help to get credit for his work.

“BUT I'm guessing that you would favor Dante's Inferno." Roman harmlessly teasing him.

"Cause of my name, right?" Virgil deadpanned flatly as he stared at his chipped nail black polish on his right thumb.

"No, not because of that, even though that is a very funny coincidence." the bright boy smiled as he finally got a response. "Because it seems like you like dark things? " He then gestured towards his messenger bag and person with a large flourish of his hand.

Virgil chuckled at that.

“Yeah I do, look a bit somber.” he replied as he looked down at his attire.

“I think you look JD-lightful.” Roman complimented wondering if Virgil got that reference. JD was a villain, but he was hot.

“Are you comparing me to a sociopath?” he muttered with a slight edge to his voice, as he finally raised his head to look at Roman.

An awkward silence fell over them. Roman broke the quiet a bit louder than necessary.

“I didn't mean to insult you! I just...!”

“I was kidding.” he smirked as he interrupted seeing that Roman had began to panic.

“I understand the look is intimidating. And I get it Christian Slater was hot, so, I guess thanks.”

“Oh, you know I wasn't even sure if you had seen it.” he sighed with relief, internally he was feeling a rush of excitement. He thought that JD was hot, so possibly gay.

“Its a dark deconstruction of those unrealistic 80's teen movies, I love it. I'm also a fan of Winona Ryder, she's in a lot of my favorites. Beetlejuice, The Crucible, Edward Scissorhands, Dracula, Stranger Things.” his face brightening a little bit as he named each movie and tv show. Roman was mildly impressed by his taste in media.

Many of them were things that he would have guessed, like the Tim Burton movies. But he wouldn't have guessed The Crucible to be on his list.

“Wow, so have you ever seen the musical?” Roman asked excitedly.

“Of Heathers? No I can't say I have.” he admitted with a lift of one side of his mouth.

"It's amazing. Candy Shop is such a bop! Although I would very much like to suggest some more productions for you. Wicked, Sweeney Todd, Jekyll and Hyde, and the classic Phantom of the Opera. Oooooh speaking of Opera, Repo the Genetic Opera is a movie musical, so much easier and cheaper to watch. Repo is has an extremely gothic aesthetic. It doesn't have a stage production sadly.”

“You really like theatre don't you?”

“I'm an actor so I would say that I do. I've been in many productions both musical and straight play. Of course that doesn't mean that I'm straight.” he gave a wink at that. Feeling more in his comfort zone being able to brag about himself.

Virgil could feel the reddening of his face at the wink.

“Soooo... I WAS actually leaning more towards Dante's Inferno...” he hastily changed subject to ease his discomfort, missing the micro expression of disappointment on Roman's face.

~

"So are you going to Sloane's party tomorrow night? It's supposed to be chill and if you know him he has great taste in music." Roman questioned as class drew to a close. "If you'd like I could accompany you, you know... "

Much like the class bell going off, within Virgil's mind an alarm went off as well. He suddenly on was guard, his thoughts went to disbelief.

How could he believe anything that he is saying. His words are too charming, it reminds him of.... Virgil began to think, before shaking his head and refusing to continue down that train of thought. His mind was screaming that this guy was not interested in him.

"Yeah, no, Romano was it?" Virgil snarled at him, "I don't know what you want, but I'm not an idiot, so just stop this stupid game."

Roman was so confused.

"Who spit in your bean curd?" Roman asked taken aback.

"I know guys like you, and I don't like being manipulated."

"Excuse Me!" He exclaimed as he placed a hand on his own chest."Their are no GUYS like ME!"

"I'm not falling for this Prince Charming ACT!"

"Act, ACT! I may be an accomplished actor," He declared as he stood with a dramatic chair push, he squared his shoulders with a proud look on his face. “But when it comes to affairs of the heart, I'm never insincere with my affections! When I say that I would like to take you to a party, I truly mean it. " 

With a dramatic flourish of his hand he placed a hand to his chest and gave a look of extreme distress.

"Sure, of course you do, Princey." he scoffed as he stood up as well.

Roman gave the smallest step back as Virgil had seemed shorter than him while they were sitting. Since he had been slouching. But at full height he probably had at lest two inches on him.

“Fine, Forget it!” Roman angrily declared as he grabbed his bag and stomped out of the now empty room. “No, seriously Forget I ever said anything to you! When we work on this on Sunday lets just skip the pleasantries.”

“Fine with me” Virgil retorted as they both reached the door around the same time.

Roman took a turn to the left out the door. Virgil to the right.

~

Thinking it over and over in his head while he made his way back to his dorm room. The thought that maybe Virgil could have said no a little nicer, did occur to him. But he was so startled he just said the first thing that came to his head.

He was just going to try and go to sleep till Patton returned to the room.

Roman thankfully had already scheduled something that evening that would keep him distracted. He went directly to the drama department and picked up his sheet music for the singing portion of his his auditions. After singing through his warm up scales and the pianist came up to him and told him that he was up next. 

Agony by the great song writer Stephen Sondheim was ironically the perfect song for him at the moment.

He did flub up on the pronouns a couple of times but he easily had the feelings behind it spot on.

“Hey you seemed a little bit off today, you okay?” a person with big brown eyes and a orange beanie on their head.

“Yeah Joan, I'm just thinking of my last class. This literature class is harder than I thought it would be.” Roman replied with a halfhearted smile, he wasn't technically lying to one of his best friends. He just didn't include the Virgil part that was making it difficult.

“Well if that's all it is. ” Joan said skeptically.“You did really good today. I could really hear the feeling behind it. You really have been working on the characterization”

“Thanks,” Roman smiled fully the compliment. Joan finished up playing the piano for the rest of the actors.

“So hey are you going to Sloane's tomorrow?” Roman asked impulsively, thinking that going alone would be a bit shameful after he had been shunned earlier. Even taking a friend would be something.

“Nah, I have plans with Talyn.” Joan said as they took their papers from the piano and returned them to their folder.

“Oh, ok” he sighed dejectedly

“Ok now I know that something is wrong!” they accused gesturing with the folder. “If you were feeling like yourself, you would be bragging that you were the one to set us up!”

“I just am worried about class.”

“Class, huh.”

“What's his name?”

“Virgil” Roman said without thinking. He then tried to recover, but failed. “I mean...who?”

“Come on let's go get some food. You can tell me all about 'Class'.” Joan finger quoted and then led Roman out of the auditorium.

~

"Patton, why?" Virgil whined as he sat on his bed the next evening.

"I love you my dark strange son" a soft lilting voice announced. Patton had a strange habit of calling his best friend son and kiddo, he was a wonderful combination of Parental and Childlike. Virgil when he first met this guy he didn't really 'get' him. But he was also always in his corner, regardless of who he was fighting.

"You need to meet people"

"I don't want to meet people, I hate people!"

"You don't hate me." Patton objected with slight questioning pout.

"You're not People." Virgil muttered with a tiny corner of his lip lifting.

"Awww, Come here you Anxious Bean!" his bubbly voice exclaimed as he opened his arms wide for a hug.

Patton was a very touchy person, he hugged as a hello and a goodbye. Incidents had happened when Virgil had to remind him that he must ask if someone was in a mood for a hug at the moment. Virgil was hoping that Patton to let him stay and listen to music with the lights off.

With only a small sigh he shuffled over towards his best friends. He let Patton give him a squeeze,but did not wrap his arms around him in return.

"You are going through a tough time, kiddo." he continued Virgil visibly bristles at the mention of the difficulty he had been going through.

"I don't like when you pressure me to be social." Patton unwrapped his limbs, but kept in physical contact by holding him by the shoulders. He was trying to get some sort of eye contact as well. But Virgil kept his eyes downcast.

"I'm not saying that you have to find a new boyfriend. You could just get to know your classmates outside of class."

"College kids are even worse outside of Class."

"Now Kiddo, you too are a so called “college Kid” no need to be so gosh darn judgmental." Patton said as he let his friend escape his grasp, Virgil sat aggressively on his bed with a little bounce of the mattress.

“If I leave you all alone, you will just listen to that PG13 music in the dark. I really really think you need to do this. Don't you know I just want you to be happy?”

"Yeah I know you do...” Virgil then decided that he would get this out of the way.

"But after this, I'm off the hook for being social for the next two months, ok?"

"One month"

"A month and two weeks, and I'll go with you to the Halloween Costume Party"

“You'll actually go in costume? Not just wear a paper that says 'costume' on it?”

“Yes,”

"Deal!" he exclaimed as his soft blue eyes lite up in excitement.

"I'm glad that you are happy."

"So how do I look?" he asked as he opened his arms again this time to give his friend a clear view of his shirt. On his torso was a pink floral shirt covered in cats that said 'You've Cat to be Kitten Me Right Meow'.

"You look nice." Virgil responded as he dumped the contents of his makeup bag onto the bed. He grabbed his black eyeliner which he used to reapplied his underneath his eyes.

After finishing his face he went to his closet he took a look at his personal armor, his black hoodie with a gray grid pattern. He could cover his head with it's comforting hood, and avoid eye contact.

“Who's party is this anyway?” Virgil asked as he pulled on his converse.

“It's at my pal Corbin's house, I think his boyfriend is hosting though.” Patton stated as they left the room.

~

In a comfortable sized apartment within walking distance of the college. Roman started at his refection in the large bathroom mirror. He finished his applying his golden winged eyeliner. He dusted on a hint of highlighter on his cheeks and forehead. He finished off his look with a red tinted lipstick.

In the doorway stood a tall man with hazel eyes peering at him.

"You know that the social gathering starts in less than 15 minutes." Logan sighed as he looked at his stainless steel binary watch."And it will take at lest 20 or more minutes to get there, not to mention the hassle of finding a spot."

"Well I have to make a good impression, the people must get what they want!" Roman exclaimed as he did another take at his hair.

Roman took a glance over at him. Logan while never a slob, he also had such a nerdy style. In fact he had been mistaken for a teacher several times. He wore a black button up shirt, a pair of khakis and brown dress shoes. He was at the moment tying a plain blue tie.

"Why the Tie, Logan Berry?" Roman questioned.

"Don't call me that. If I remember correctly the saying that mother always said 'Dress to impress'. I like you also want to make a good impression. Just in a less flashy more conservative professional way." he said as "Now what do you think the four-in-hand or half Windsor?"

"Neither! What do you think that a job interviewer is going to be at the party? That they are going to see you in something with style and say, “Hmm that Logan could have had a job at our stuffy office but look at his outfit”!"

“Why do I even ask!” he fumed as he went with a half Windsor and left Roman alone momentarily.

Grabbing his gold cased phone off of the marble counter top he glanced at himself. He took a few pictures and posted them on Instagram with the hashtag #Slay.

As he left with his thoughts he returned to think of how in a different situation. Roman could have been going to this party with a rather striking date instead of his nerdy older brother. He felt unease at the memory of Virgil suddenly turning on him. Roman had thought that they had been having a rather enjoyable time. That they had a sort of connection.

He had just wanted to spend more time with him. And it wasn't like he had outright stated his lack of interest in men. He could have understood that. But that fact that it seemed to be Roman himself that he objected to really hurt.

"Parking spot." Logan said as he returned, now with suspenders that Roman had to admit made the outfit look a little better. Roman quickly removed the look of sadness from his face before turning to his worrisome sibling.

"Well we can take an Uber or a LYFT, or something!" he replied as he grabbed a denim jacket and pulled it on.

“Ooooh Lyft definitely, Uber is known to employ homophobic individuals.” Logan elaborated as he pulled out his phone to order a Lyft.

“Okay Lyft it is!” he declared as he gave himself one last look over before heading out to the living room to wait for the ride.

~

"Hey there gorgeous, how you doing on this fine night Corbin?" Roman he said to a short glassed boy with brown skin “Your boyfriend hosts a nice shindig!”

“Hello Roman, thanks. He really loves these things. It makes him so happy that I barely mind cleaning up the mess at the end of the evening.” he proclaimed as he motioned to the room with a head nod. He smiled at his boyfriend who approached with two bottles.

“Ah the things we do for LOVE!” Roman exclaimed as Sloane slung an arm around his shorter partner.

“Speaking of romance, how's the master of love and matchmaking doing lately?” his usual deskmate and friend asked kindly.

“I did ask Virgil from our Medieval Lit class to come with me here.” Roman hated admiting that he had been jilted, but Sloane was such a sweetheart that he just knew that he would have something to make him feel better. “I can't believe he rejected me. And so harshly. ME!”

“Well, he...” Sloane began.

“I mean I was so charming...sincerely charming. Not faking it like he thought!” Roman interrupted.

“SO did you bring your brother with you?” Corbin hollered over Roman to make sure that he was able to get a word in as he saw the struggle that his boyfriend was having. Sloane gave him a silent 'thank you' unseen by a preoccupied Roman. “I had a question for him for our chem class.”

“I just...” Sloane tried again.

“Can you believe it!” Roman once again continued to talk over his soft spoken friend.

“He's out on the patio, if I remember correctly he was talking to Elliot Smith.” Roman sighed as he returned to his thoughts, not noticing the look of concern that Corbin and Sloane exchanged.

“Ok, well I'll see you around Roman.” Sloane said before he took his partner's arm and they walked through the crowd.

“Yeah,” he muttered to the couple.

He was at a party! He had to do something to make himself feel better.

“Hey Enrique, Come on over here Handsome.” Roman took out a phone, as he called over an attractive looking guy with long brown hair. “Lets take a few for Instagram!”

“If anyone wants to follow me it's Prince of Romance!” he loudly declared. As a few more people got into frame he took a couple pictures with them posting different each time. From a view able distance arrived Virgil and Patton with his head bopping along to the music.

“And THAT is who I was assigned to work with in Medieval Lit. ” Virgil grumbled as he gestured with his grape Gatorade, before taking a swig.

“Seems like a friendly fella!” Patton exclaimed with a happy clasp of his hands

“Lets go talk to him.” “I rather not” Virgil stated with a gruff tone.

“Why not?” Patton asked Virgil had decided to not tell his best friend about Roman coming on to him. He knew that Patton would make a bigger deal of it than it was.

“I already am getting to know him well enough.” Virgil said hoping that would be that.

“But...” Patton started.

“Patton! Virge! So great to see you out and about!” a lovely girl with shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes came up to them. “He promised to go with me to the costume party.” Patton excitedly said to the short girl.

“Yay! Virge, can I borrow Patton for a quick minute?” she asked with a warm and bright smile.

“Sure Val, no problem.” Virgil replied as he was actually very happy for the bubbly pair to take their leave.

Here that showboat was flirting with every guy within range. Just like Virgil had guessed, he wasn't really interested in him. I mean why would he be? Stupid Roman with his stupid gold phone, stupid strong jaw, and stupid waist to hip ratio of Steve fucking Rogers! Looking at the easy smile on his face as he chatted with his friends after his impromptu photo shoot.

Virgil felt a disappointment that he knew it was unwarranted.

Roman didn't owe him anything.

~

“Fuck” he cursed to himself. He wondered how out of any party he HAD to be at this one.

Virgil was unsure how long he was left alone before he spotted the absolute last person that he wanted to see.

His honey colored slicked back hair, dressed in a checkered yellow and black button up shirt and black slacks. Virgil couldn't see his feet but he was sure that he was wearing his signature gold snake scale shoes.

He felt his rapid and loud heartbeat. All the voices around him turned to buzzing incomprehensible sounds that almost sounded inhuman. He glanced behind him and saw that Jae was still there, looking for someone.

Virgil covered his head with his hood and began to search for Patton.

Walking down the small hallway trying to escape he only saw a few handful of blurry unrecognizable faces.

Virgil was sure that he was spotted, feeling dizzy he ducked his head lower. He in his confused state continued his retreat in the opposite direction to where Patton was. Struggling to remember the breathing techniques that Dr. Picani taught him.

Four in, hold for seven, breath out for eight.

His panicked brain formed an insane plan. Then as he turned the corner and entered a semi-secluded hallway like magic he saw a face that he knew. He made his way through the crown and slides up in front of Roman.

He threw back his hood and hurriedly pleaded.

"Hey, my ex is here, I need help! Please make out with me!"

Chapter 3

~

Chapter 2

[anangelicday-mrwolf]

Wolfsbane : Noblesse Fanfic (post-ending)

(previous chapter)

Chapter 39 – The Isles of Labyrinth and Sweets

“You know, they say silence is golden regardless of country and era. But I doubt that is the best solution for you right now,” said Muzaka, seated in his throne.

Normally not even a head researcher can find himself before the werewolf lord’s throne. Not unless he happens to be a warrior as well. And not unless he has accomplished something worthy of a proper recognition. And not unless he has committed something terribly wrong.

And unfortunately, Adne was summoned for the lattermost case.

He sabotaged a part essential for bringing QuadraNet to life; at least that is what they could visually deduce.

So Muzaka decided to bring him before the throne for a talk.

Frankenstein was not far away from him, focusing his gaze upon a bald brown-haired werewolf, kneeled and slumped.

“I’m not gonna ask again, so do you mind filling me in now? Just what were you doing there? And how come the network transmission modem is utterly annihilated?”

Muzaka’s voice grew sharper, colder. Not even a toddler would be able to miss that he was basically screaming in Adne’s face that he cannot guarantee they will stick to words if silence continues.

Notwithstanding, Adne kept his mouth shut, making Muzaka sigh in edgy frustration.

And that was when Frankenstein finally spoke.

“I’ll cut right to the point, Dr. Adne. Whose side are you on?”

His manner or purpose of speech was nothing short of a definition of an inquiry. However, Adne’s face rippled with fear and disorder, as if he were demanded to slice his throat and kill himself on the spot.

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean? You sound like...”

“Forgive me, sir. I know it sounds like I am suspecting your doctor. And yes, I AM suspecting him.”

“How can you say that when I’m right he...”

“I know. It’s not a pleasure to your ears. But think about it. I’m sure you already have an experience with betrayal from within.”

“But you don’t have any evidence that proves Adne did betra...”

“It’d be best to not to rule out any option for now.”

Muzaka’s eyes were brewing complaints at him, but he could not properly file any of them, for Frankenstein did have a point.

“...I...”

Just then a voice as feeble as a dying puppy’s last breath hit the two tall, long-haired, gorgeous men in the eardrums.

“I had to...”

“...I had to?”

“...I had to destroy it.”

Instantly Muzaka and Frankenstein curved their brows in a vicious angle in synchronization.

“...So you deliberately broke the thing?”

“N-no, sir! I mean, yes, I intended to destroy it, but... By the time I got there, I had to make sure that... I, I mean...!”

Muzaka and Frankenstein waited for Adne to coordinate his tongue and brain together, until he clenched his eyelids tightly and groveled.

“My lord. Frankenstein, sir. I know I am asking for an unspeakable, but please, I beg you. We must abort this project!”

“Are you talking about THE project?”

“Yes, sir. We must abort it. The QuadraNet must never spark with life!”

“What are you saying? What is with you today? You never miss your chance to see Frankenstein, since there is so much you can learn from him, you said. But today you left everything for me to handle. And you didn’t give us an exact reason for destroying the modem. And now you’re demanding that we abort the QuadraNet project.”

“My lord, I’m afraid I can’t give you details for now. But please, you must listen to me just this once.”

Adne pled as Frankenstein and Muzaka gaped at him with mystified eyes.

It was as if they were watching the final follower of a tyrant-turning-more-tyrannical to please be the sovereign he is supposed to be.

However, neither of them knew what has gotten into the doctor, so they could only hint questions with their eyes, until Adne said with quivering lips, like a distraught knight about to expose his one-and-only-brother-in-arms-now-a-traitor and save his lord from a planned assassination.

“If you are to continue this project...!”

Right then his throat heaved, and Adne spat out chest-rending coughs, to soon yield dark red vomit.

“Adne!!!”

Muzaka screeched, and Frankenstein lunged forward.

He tore his clothes and blocked Adne’s mouth, before he scooped him up in his arms.

“To the lab! Quick!”

Frankenstein could not fathom what was going on.

‘His physical shift occurred too fast, too extreme to be a threat or a suicidal attempt. And talk about the rate at which his blood exploded from within. If he were a human, he would’ve lost a good amount of his guts. In other words, what could set off such a reaction from a werewolf?’

Alas, he was not allowed time to think.

He had to give orders to the researchers upon reaching the lab.

And decide it would be best for him to look after Adne himself.

And diagnose that there is no telling when Adne will wake up, after laying him in the ward.

Frankenstein, along with Muzaka, could only replay in his head what he had witnessed.

‘Is it just me, or are things taking a weird turn ever since we started the QuadraNet project?’

Frankenstein lamented inaudibly, tracing his forehead with his fingers while no one was watching.

Union invasion on wolfkind.

The mysterious behavior of the Man in the Iron Mask on the werewolf realm.

Postponement of QuadraNet’s activation, for a reason nobody knows yet.

And now Adne’s mysterious state.

Frankenstein felt as if he were trapped in the isle of labyrinth, running circles in a trail without an exit.

*****

Meanwhile...

Pow!!!

Bam!!!

A man resembling a toad injected with tons of steroids was flung into the air, his feet completely removed from the ground.

His body arched in the exact same posture when he was punched in the abdomen, he thoroughly shattered the wall on the other side.

“I dare you to say that again.”

Growled the one who threw him in the air with a single blow, her heels clicking towards him.

In the meantime, he was rolling his eyes as if he had no idea what he ever did wrong.

Nevertheless, he could clearly see that the rest of his day would be hell if he does not appear remorseful, so Kornel lowered his head in a reply.

“I... I found Yuigi of Cerberus hidden among civilians by chance, so... I decided to take her with me, and...”

“Nobody ever asked you to do that! I never told you to do that! I told you to simply stand guard on the area!”

“But it was an opportunity no one among us would want to mi...!”

“A human head is more than just a concoction of calcium, proteins, and nucleic acid. I told you to avoid skirmish in that country! We should be most wary of that place, not Lukedonia, not the werewolves! That’s where the ones who killed Crombel are stationed! I told you a number of times that you should really watch yourself in Korea!”

Kornel zipped his lips and merely stared at her.

“And since Yuigi was living in hiding among civilians, I’m sure you had to raise more than a clash at such time and place. I sent you there to monitor how the honey that will fill our jar ripens, but instead you ended up setting fire on the hive that should provide us with the honey.”

Helga glared at him, as if she wished to punch him again.

‘My so-called accomplice suddenly lost contact, which bothers me enough, and then this ally of mine just had to...!’

Helga raised her voice again, feeling how her annoyance was throwing a fit inside her.

“You should be grateful that we are in deadly need of manpower right now. Otherwise I would have officially terminated you instead of pummeling you into a wall!”

Kornel strained his forehead and corners of lips, feeling gravely offended by her words.

Helga did not even look at him as she spoke again.

“So what do you have?”

“Uh... Say that again?”

“I’m starting to think perhaps your ears are there just because you are short of facial skin. You said you fought Yuigi yourself. So, what do you have to tell me?”

“Uh...”

“And don’t get me wrong. I’m not forgiving you. Since you upset a hive, we need to figure out everything about its occupants – their species, numbers, and the degree of irritation. So, what do you have?”

Helga was now surprisingly calm, to Kornel’s mild disturbance. Yet he did not fail her in giving everything he had seen and heard ever since he first confronted Yuigi, until Takio made him go away.

Helga shooed him away at the end of the briefing, and she tapped her chin with her fingers in interest.

‘So Yuigi’s grown weaker. And it’s apparently because of this choker she is wearing. At least there’s no doubt they don’t trust her. And I wouldn’t expect her to be on good terms with them.’

Helga was already beginning to brainstorm ideas to bring Yuigi back to them.

She did not care at all about the mechanism of the choker Yuigi was chained to, since power-controlling apparatus is common in Union as well.

She already knew that this human named Frankenstein was a researcher gifted enough to come up with a rein of his own.

She also knew that the modified humans under his leadership – Takio and Tao, once classified as DA-5, and M-21, the one Crombel used to be keenly fascinated with – are now strong enough to fare against the elders of the Union.

It was all thanks to the intelligence from her accomplice.

And then she was reminded of the fact her connection to him was abruptly lost.

‘Did he decide to turn his back? Not that I didn’t think of such scenario.’

Helga remembered the day when she first met him.

She was slightly caught off guard at how a mere researcher, not at all familiar or affiliated with warfare, dared to make a deal with her.

She recalled the condition from her accomplice and grinned; it was a grin devoid of entertainment or marvel, full of sneer and disdain.

Right then, an alarm drew her attention. It was not the one she was waiting for, but it was a sound worthy of her time – a sound signaling her new VIP’s incoming transmission.

And the said VIP very successfully flipped the table of mood for her.

“You’ve done well, sir. Very well. I’ll leave that part to you.”

Helga was now outwardly beaming as she finished the transmission.

“I’d thought I had merely found bread crumbles to the house of sweets when I learned Yuigi is alive. But looks like the crumbles were actually a ticket for the cruise to the isle of sweets, tasting like vengeance and retaliation. Now let’s get ready to climb aboard, shall we?”

She relocated herself to the lab and found the man she was looking for, who was seemingly in need of a task or two.

“Sol, we have a work to do.”

(next chapter)

I just realized that for chapters featuring Helga, her lines tend to turn more eloquent than other characters’ lines. Such metaphorically stylized manner of speech would be more appropriate for Rai or Lascrea, but unfortunately neither of them are talkers. And most importantly, they are hardly given lines in my fic. :’( Although I’m the one who didn’t allocate much spotlight for them, I wish to see them soon in future chapters lol

[moonshalf]

I'I wrote that brief explanation above between the study sessions and it is inevitable that now looking at it, I will try to explanation why dropping honorifics in the heat of the moment is different from using informal language with someone after establishing that you can now speak informally. I will try to give examples that has been given to me by my Korean teachers (as I'm not a native Korean speaker myself and I don't want to intrude on a topic that is inherently Korean) and/or observations. All mistakes are my own though and if anyone has something to correct, please do! This is not in any way a compherensive analysis on language is used in the Devil Judge but given that some people might be curious about, I'm finally posting it.

What really prompted this remuninating process was not actually Yohan or Gaon, it was Elijah. So let’s talk about her and how she uses the language (and its connotations!)

When Elijah first appeared on episode 3, I didn’t really think a lot about it. I mean she speaks informally with Yohan which is odd but their relationship is odd, right? I mean a teenage girl, speaking banmal with her uncle? And uses his name on the top of that?! But I let it slide.

Then of course, she started to interact with Gaon and there were instant kill-bill sirens for me. Like seriously, I rewatched that scene a lot to make sure if I hear it right. The thing is the first time they interact with each other, Elijah uses 반말 (banmal), the informal speech pattern. Now that raises a few alarms. Elijah is not allowed to use banmal as Gaon is certainly older than her and their statuses were pretty much on equal ground and when I say equal, I mean Elijah would still need to be formal with Gaon. Gaon is not in her service like Nanny is and though Elijah is richer (lol yes), we would still expect Elijah to use formal speech . One thing I want to clarify for people who doesn't speak Korean/do not understand the complexities of using formal language. It is not simply manners to use formal language but it is something expected which means it is not something you'd ignore for the sake of being Edgy. How you use language and how you use honorifics is how you, as a person, move in the world.

Given the fact that this is the first time they interact with speech, she would maybe get away with less formal than 높임말 (formal speech pattern) but certainly she couldn’t use banmal. Not only that, she is rude to Gaon, definetely something that raises a few alarms on its own.

Of course, as a watcher I can hear that but does show bring it up? Of course, it is a serious offense. Gaon indeed does the sensible thing and asks her in that scene “누군한테 아까부터 반말이야?” Now (my) English subs are “who are you that you’re talking to me like that?”. Like that in English subs is banmal. I mean I don’t need Korean subs to hear that (but I certainly played the video a few times to check if I heard it right.) So Gaon asks, when Elijah tells him to stay in the bed and stop seaking around (I don't remember the exact wording), Gaon asks her "since now, who speaks to me in banmal"?

Elijah is unfazed and answers simply. She is Elijah and she shows no remorse about using banmal to someone older than her. She doesn’t care. Okay. Maybe she just hates him and this is how she shows her animosity. But she never calls him anything but Gaon, even after they get closer and never switches to honorifics.

And Gaon lets her.

Any sensible adult who cares about, you know the social structures, anything to do with being social actually, would frown upon that. I will explain why now.

Let’s rewind for a second. In Episode 3, one minute mark, Elijah talks to Yohan and again she is using both banmal and also she calls Yohan, Yohan. Not 삼촌 (samchon, uncle). Given that by that age, this would be an unacceptable behavior, it is obvious that this is the leverage Yohan gives to Elijah. One heartbreaking detail is that when I was rewatching their scenes to see if Elijah ever called him samchon, I realized, in the flashback scene, she indeed did. (When Yohan is waiting outside of the gates, child!Elijah tells him, “uncle you need to go in too”). So Elijah stopped calling him uncle after the accident. She did use banmal to him as a kid as well, so this is also an important detail. (But kids are given more leverage, especially at that age.)

One important thing @xxcaribbean hits on the nail above is that both Yohan and Elijah know about customs/traditions/society's rules, in a very distant, outsider sort of way. Again I'm reminding you that language, especially a language like Korean in which honorifics play a huge part and by speech patterns alone, you'd establish the proximity of relationships. The reason both Yohan and Elijah are sort of above that rigidity is that they had almost no one to teach them how to navigate that.

I took Korean classes on college level, introductory Korean reading and writing and while they were introductory, they were for people who will go on to have BA in Korean Language and Literature so they were tough. One of the reasons, I believe, was because our materials started to cover the most formal speech patterns/structures and moved down from that. Any other introductory course is a laughing stock compared to that as they completely forego the most formal until forever and only teaches you particular middle-ground formalities. When we asked our (Korean) teacher if it is the case for children, our teacher said something very interesting: most kids are given more freedom to speak informally but after a particular age ~6-7, because they need to know the propriety and how to conduct themselves in society, most parents would move on to speak formally in front of the so they'd learn from osmosis.

This, as you see, is not the case for Yohan and Elijah.

It doesn't mean that they don't know those patterns or how to use them, that would be an absurd thought. But they are definetely more lax.

(By the way when Elijah asks her why Yohan brought Gaon to mansion, Yohan asks “Gaon?” right? Not Kim-pansa, not Kim Gaon but just Gaon? Interesting. But let’s move on.)

So two adults who are both way older than Elijah are giving her leverage to call them whatever she wants. But there are two more adults Elijah interacts in the duration of the show. Let's see if she follows the same pattern.

Okay that oen is an egregious (and certainly funny) one. I mean seriously it made me laugh so much the moment I get it. In episode 5, Gaon takes Elijah to meet Soohyun. There is really an important part that you’d miss if until that moment you didn’t get Elijah's antics to forego using honorifics with both Yohan and Gaon. English subs aren’t clear about what happens in this scene so let’s break it down.

Gaon tells her it is better for Elijah to have a 친한 언니 right? The English subs are “I thought it would be great if you had a close female friend.” Unnie, as you all may already know, is not friend, not even close. It is used for older sisters/sister figures, particular emphasis on sister figures. Again sort of establishing proximity in a relationship through speech/language. I mean for an American/European, it may be an absurd concept but what you call another person (not their name but a particular title) matters in establishing your relationship with that person. The fact that Soohyun offered that after meeting Elijah once is actually very sweet of her. This is also important as Soohyun is a stranger to Elijah and offers that kind of ease to her. Next, a very innocent Soohyun, tells Elijah “Next time, can we speak casually so we can get closer. Or you can just call me by my name.” (English subs). Well Soohyun tells her Elijah can call her unnie next time they meet and speaking casually doesn’t mean you drop honorifics (you wouldn't do that unless...well married to that person lol) but more like you can call me unnie and you don't need to be rigid with me in speech. If you watch this scene you can see Elijah stops herself from telling her something, maybe holding her laugh. I mean seriously watch that scene. There is a reason Gaon is like ""hmm that would be good" because he knows.

And of course Elijah drops the bomb that is “I don’t want to. I’m not a child anymore.” Seriously given that she never uses honorifics with Yohan and Gaon, this intends to be a very funny scene as I mentioned while children are given more leverages with honorifics, the moment you are an adult, you are supposed to be very careful about how you use language. Elijah uses somewhat a formal language with Soohyun and does it as if she is always like that, proper and rigid when it comes to social proprierity.

Of course this is an act on her part which is understandable. Elijah is secluded from the world, from the society. She doesn't have anyone close to her like, like an unnie and Soohyun offers that to her. In the shopiing mall scene, another funny scene is lost in the translation. Elijah tells the person in the store "pack this one for ahjumma" and Soohyun looks around, looking for the ahjumma. And then she gets it "Oh I'm the ahjumma." Now Elijah knows that Soohyun isn't one but what else she would call her? Again you see that, she doesn't assume the proximity with her like she does with Gaon. Later she starts to call her unnie (so cute) to Yohan's shock and dismay. Elijah assumed that promixity with a person? is probably what he is thinking. It must be the 13th episode I believe.

If you have read until the point, you might see that there is a pattern. Both Gaon and Yohan allows her some laxity. But what about Yohan and Gaon? As I mentioned, Gaon drops the honorifics in the spur of the moment when they quarrel, the first offense is in the 4th episode. Gaon starts off using formal endings and then from "don't be hypocritical" part, he is using the informal endings. 당신 (you) is a cherry on top in that way. I was wrong about the episode and the order above, so apologies for that. Yohan smirks when Gaon uses informal language and calls him a monster though, that part is still true. I believe Yohan in that scene liked the fact that Gaon is no longer hiding under some pretense.

One thing I'd like to correct is that Gaon's informal speech when they quarrel is different from dropping them after establishing a relationship and therefore being more comfortable with each other. It is him being irreverent, for the sake of showing Yohan that now the relations have been soured. Gaon does the same thing with the professor in the last episode, which must be obvious. But with Yohan, it is a series of offenses on his part that Yohan doesn't seem to have any problem with. There is one fanfic writing, I don't remember which one who actually brought it up in one fic and I was floored.

If you want to nerd about the use of 당신, check this one out. It explains it better than I can.

I don't know how many words I have written but given that this show is set in dystopian Korea, the whole idea behind honorifics = respect, filial piety, the reverent cursoms/traditions has been... a thing of past. In the present conditions, most people of upper echelons of society know that their power is not limited to the titles they hold, the most obvious one is the pupper president case. That is why Jung Sunah slightly mocked Cha Kyung-Hee when she told her "she is a mere secretary" and threw her words back to her when Kyung-Hee needed her help. Sunah knows that she is not merely a secretary of course and Cha Kyung-Hee only had an inkling of what happens behind the closed doors of Foundation and she still operated with the yesterday's rules. Of course she was in the wrong.

In some ways, the characters are constantly making mockery of formality whether it is in speech or their interactions. Yohan's whole schtick, Sunah killing the Chairman and I can write a whole essay about the scene where Sunah drags Chairman to another room only to punch him), the President thinking he somehow has the upperhand and then being put to his place...It shows the hierarchy in that society is no longer adhering the rules of yesterday.

In that case, again I agree with @xxcaribbean, Yohan is certainly in a position to be disillusioned by the aspect of the language as an extension of the disillusionment with the society, as there is enough evidence in the shows that Yohan's father hides his monstrosity under the guise of respectability that comes from wealthy and flashy - the house, the maids, the names. I don't think he would be %100 okay with the fact that let's say, K or lawyer Ko, using informal speech with him but again, in Yohan's worldview, only two people are given more leverages than others and it is Elijah and Gaon, the latter being receiving end of so many leverages that if it doesn't make you go "mmm" a little, I'd advise you to watch the show again.

(The last thing I want to say is that is that up until the last part, Sunnah calls Yohan 도련님. This, in itself, is odd as again ~님 indicates respect but Sunnah's behaviour has nothing to do with respect. This, I believe, also enforces that "what you see isn't what you get" notion.)

Does gaon ever use informal language with yohan?

ahhh that is a very good question, and one that i cannot personally answer due to the fact that i cannot understand the language.

we do know that it's used with his name, if that counts. when gaon drops the "bungjam-nim" title for "kang yohan." as far as i'm aware, gaon only does this a handful of times - using "yohan" during the conman scene bc gaon thinks the mother and child are going to be burned in the house; any time gaon goes to attack yohan, he yellows out his name; when gaon thinks yohan blew himself up in the court and the ending scene when he calls out for him.

otherwise, i'd have to ask @moonshalf, @maystea, @thequillandscreen or anyone else who understands the language to chime in. i'm actually quire curious to know!

[thenormativesuperintendent]

The Schwarzschild radius

One of the most common complaints among people who begin treatment with SSRI's is that they reduce their ability to feel, and that this is definitely a bad thing, and therefore all psychiatric drugs are bad, Prozac is bad, Zoloft is bad, Big Pharma is bad, and then the patient gets depressed again and now feels even worse because, like, I can't take sertraline, can I? I wouldn't feel anything! "I knew I had to get off Zoloft because I couldn't even cry at my brothers wedding!" - Random woman whose name I can't recall. I can sympathise, this would indeed be a little jarring and disconcerting, but you know what else is bad? Depression. I don't mean to make a mockery of her plight, I understand what it's like to suffer from depression, but my annoyance at the time came from her anger towards the drug. I understand you were upset you couldn't feel that happy for your brother, but this is how SSRI's work, ok? Numbing to initiate action, action to improve your circumstances.

I'm going to palm this off to my favourite blog, and probably one of the smartest/most insightful people alive, Hotel Concierge, in this essay here, because he's written a far more eloquent, well articulated set of reasons as to why emotional analgesia is a good thing, and how this effect is leveraged to facilitate therapy. Also, if you have ever undergone the burden of mental illness, this essay is literally, for me, life-saving. I sincerely hope that it helps you too.

Second point: I find alarming the claim that, fundamentally, most antidepressants work via the same mechanism. I debated whether to tap out this text file on the point of not wanting to offend anyone/appear to be a pedantic asshole, but recently, this, courtesy Slate Star Codex:

“Increasing BDNF is the best option we have” NO[1]

Can I write "disagree" and then underline it, and then highlight it several times? I think this view -that it’s really just a landscape of SSRI’s- is flat-out wrong - I don't think it's necessarily dangerous per se, but it vastly misrepresents the state of play in psychopharmacology, and I want to put forward my arguments to rectify that.

Firstly, from the wonder of modern pedagogy that is Stahl:

Complex.

The idea behind these diagrams (the textbook is brilliant) is to give you a visual representation of the various binding affinities these compounds have for different receptors; the larger the shape, the greater the binding affinity.

Now let’s take a look at two similar antidepressants from the SSRI class: Lexapro and Zoloft (escitalopram and sertraline) The primary mechanism of action in both is occupancy of SERT (the serotonin transporter); normally serotonin gets slurped back up into pre-synaptic neuron, now it can’t because said slurpy protein is full, this leads to serotonin lingering in the synaptic cleft for longer which leads to an increased chance for it to bind to serotonin receptors on the post synaptic neurone. Voila, more activity in serotonergic neurons. Could be inhibitory, excitatory, changing receptor expression in the surface of the neuron: a multitude of downstream effects. Give two weeks for gene translation to occur and there you have it.

Serotonin is involved, in a broad, upstream kind of way, in regulating mood. More specifically, if thoughts[2] are constituted of different circuits or clusters of neurons firing, then serotonin plays a role in regulating affect by changing the activity of these cells (by the probability that they release/don’t release an impulse) that are poorly understood.

Posteriori, it’s no surprise that “pure” SSRI’s compress your emotional bandwidth concomitant to dose; we developed the saying “carrot and stick” for a reason; if emotional circuitry is closely related to System 1 thinking (Kahneman & Taversky - please don’t make me cite) then we need happiness and reward as well as sadness and grief. The two in partnership give us a map to help steer our actions away from what might harm us and towards what might be beneficial. If depression isn’t sadness (it isn’t) then lower serotonin levels lead to loss of any feeling, and your subjective cognitive interpretation of this is depression. You feel, not nothing, but hopeless. You lie there doing nothing; there’s no carrot, there’s no stick, everything just sucks. You’re not sad, you’re not crying, there’s just no point doing anything. Going upstream to jack up extracellular serotonin levels makes sense; sure, you might cap out your happiness by increasing the overall activity of all those serotonin pathways, but now the affective system has some life in it, you can get up and move about, think and cognise. Hooray, now therapy can work.

Except what if we could do better? We recognise that blocking the transporter means more serotonin everywhere, serotonin everywhere = emotional numbing. What if we could go further downstream and just target the receptors we want directly? Don’t jump to the conclusion that morphine is a good thing right now, if you’re suffering from depression and thumbing through your contact book to find a dope dealer, you have my sympathies, and far bigger issues than I can help you with. I wish you luck.

But there is no such thing as a pure SSRI; Zoloft has a weak, but clinically significant effect on other proteins (transporters and receptors); Lexapro is about as close to a pure SSRI as we currently have, but Zoloft seems to have some decent dopamanergic action going on in the frontal cortex.

And this is exactly the issue. I’m not debating that the primary mechanism of effect in both these drugs is interfering with serotonin metabolism, I’m saying that the subjective experience of being on sertraline is going to be different to the subjective experience of being on escitalopram. How do you quantify a slight uptick in dopamine? Chemists and pharmacists might say “well, it’s nothing, it’s really just an SRI” except: how in gods name do you qualify the subjective difference of “minor increase in dopamine”?

This isn’t a theoretical consideration; what appears on paper to be a bunch of drugs with minor differences, will, I am confident, have wildly different effects on different patients. Forget neurotransmitters, forget HAM-D scales. What if you just gave each patient four weeks on each of these different drugs and asked them to keep a daily journal of their subjective experiences? Which pill would they prefer? My best guess is no clear answer would emerge: minor differences on paper lead to concrete differences to different patients, and this is a very real, tangible, beneficial phenomena. Vortioxetine is indeed exciting: heavily antagonising HT2C sub-receptors tends to have good clinical effects, as evidenced by the fact Agomelatine seems to work well for some people. “But couldn’t that just be its beneficial effects on sleep and MT1/MT2 agonising?” Sure, except melatonin decreases dopamine release, which is the current leading hypothesis of seasonal affective disorder. Try popping 20mg of melatonin and tell me how you feel the next morning. Not enough dopamine means a malfunctioning reward/motivation pathway and shoddy cognition[3]. Combining SERT occupancy with serotonin antagonism on certain sub-receptors is a legitimately neat development. Mirtazapine is a potent drug, perhaps makes some a little too edgy or sedated (sedation can be a useful tool, see: insomnia) and it just antagonises the bejesus out of histamine, adrenergic, and serotonergic receptors.

The problem is that once people see “SERT” on a drug, everything else gets sucked into that vacuum, compressed into a black hole and all nuance is lost, and in the delicate balance of various ratios of neurotransmitter levels, nuance is everything. There’s no way to qualify the subjective experience of “minor increase/decrease in transmitter X/Y/Z” so stop pretending that these drugs are all basically the same; similarity on paper != similarity of experience.

(Endnote: SNRI’s tend to work well, slightly paradoxically, on anxiety. Why? Because increasing norepinephrine levels leads to agonising the alpha-2 autoreceptor, this shuts down the firing of the pre-synaptic neuron. Of course, individual mileage may vary and standard disclaimers apply. Just don’t be surprised if you fall asleep in class six hours after you’ve taken your Cymbalta)

I hope I haven’t offended anyone - my aim is simply to push back against a perceived hopelessness at making new antidepressants, and to argue that there are demonstrable, subjective (which in psychiatry is almost everything?) differences in each and every anti-depressant out there.

[1] It was (still is?) trendy to say that increasing BDNF ameliorates depression, but I’m pretty confident BDNF has very little to do directly with depression. Yes, depressed people show low levels of BDNF, and drugs like Zoloft can increase BDNF and synaptogenesis (they can also not do that) So does exercise. And yet exercise is much more efficacious at doing so than Zoloft, but no-one successfully gets through clinical depression by doing laps across Greece like 300 lives depend on it. Don’t get me wrong, exercise is fantastic, for mental and physical health. I’m just saying that nothing increases BDNF like exercise, and yet it doesn’t work as well as antidepressants in most cases. That NSI-189 failed to differentiate from placebo is perhaps the most unsurprising result since Karl Popper put pen to paper.

[2] Ontology question: what’s a thought?

[3] My leading cause of frustration with the nootropic/biohacking/transhumanist community: “give me all the dopamine you can!” Oh, so you want schizophrenia? Dude, you don’t need pills, you need to stop avoiding study. To quote Hotel Concierge, “your rationalism is inseparable from your anxiety”