#someone please tell this old man to stop beating up a child

[thenarator]

I have to say, as a disabled person, Prince of Heroes makes me emotional with how much you nail the disabled allegory with Quirkless Izuku / Izuku wanting to be a Quirkless hero.

also I loved when izuku told gran torino the point isn't to cause harm .

thank you so much for saying so. i first started writing fanfiction for this fandom because this show had such potential as a disability metaphor that just wasn't realized. when bnha became my special interest i had recently come out of the hospital and was facing down the reality of not being able to work, possibly not ever, which would mean i had to move back home and leave the life i tried to make for myself in grad school. i needed a story about a disabled character who succeeds, not despite his disability, but despite everyone telling him he could never amount to anything. bnha promised to be that story in episode one, and stole it away again in episode three. i was heartbroken, and turning to the fandom for stories where izuku stayed quirkless, i was met with nothing but stories about how he had to lower his expectations in order to be more realistic.

i wrote "heroics and other things that don't require superpowers" because i needed a story where a disabled character receives support and care for the first time, and is finally able to achieve his dreams.

i wrote "prince of heroes" because i needed a story where a disabled character achieves his dreams despite receiving no support or care from authority figures, but only from his friends.

as for what i'll write when i'm done with "prince of heroes"? well, i guess we'll see what i need then.

[kittyfrisk9]

IdeaDpxDc- The petition

Note: Sorry, I don't know English, so please use a translator. I apologize if you don't get the idea.

Nightwing receives a very strange request from a child. Dead On Main (implied)

---

It happened on the rooftop of some building, when Nightwing was taken by surprise by the strange request from his brother's boyfriend's younger brother.

"Are you part of the Bats, huh?" the kid asked, crossing his arms and staring intently.

"Yeah," Nightwing replied, smiling with a slight nod. "How can I help you?"

"I need your help. Investigate my brother's boyfriend," he said, frowning.

"What?" Nightwing responded, raising an eyebrow, visibly surprised.

"I'm usually very good at stalking people," he continued, pacing back and forth, "but this guy, Jason, he's really suspicious. He's hiding something, I know it. I tried to follow him to find out what he's hiding, but he caught me!" He stopped and looked at the other with frustration. "He's done it ten times already. No one's caught me that many times! Well, except Danny the idiot, but he doesn't count," he added, waving a hand as if it were a trivial detail. "Danny's too stupid to suspect anything," he said, looking worriedly at the ground. "I can see it in his eyes, love has blinded him." He looked up, with a serious expression. "What if his boyfriend turns out to be a trafficker and wants to steal his organs? Or gets him into drugs? Or is some kind of criminal mastermind?" He sighed, crossing his arms again. "I've noticed his questionable behaviors. I don't trust that guy."

"I see. You're worried about your older brother, you're a sweet kid," Nightwing commented with a smile as he leaned against the edge of the building, looking out over the illuminated city.

"I'm not a kid and I'm not worried! I'm an adult, I'm older than you!" the boy retorted indignantly, crossing his arms.

Nightwing raised an eyebrow, amused. "Oh, how old are you?"

"... 30," the young man murmured, avoiding eye contact.

Nightwing chuckled. "You look 12."

The boy frowned, clearly annoyed. "I'm not here to talk about my age. Are you going to do the job or not?" He took a step forward, his tone impatient.

Nightwing raised his hands in surrender. "Haha, okay, okay. What makes you think your brother, Danny, is in danger?" Straightening up, he looked at the young man more seriously, ready to listen.

"He met him on a dating app. That's not weird, but when he introduced me, the guy was huge. Big, and Danny's a twig," the young man started, looking at Nightwing seriously. "I know he's 19, but genetics decided to abandon him." He mocked the boy.

Nightwing raised an eyebrow, curious but still confused. "And that's suspicious because...?"

The boy raised a hand to stop him. "Wait, let me finish." He approached the rooftop's edge, looking out at the city. "The guy not only is huge but also knows how to fight. I threw eggs at him and he dodged every single one. And he beat me in a fight!"

"Pff, you threw eggs at him?" Nightwing asked with a raised eyebrow, trying not to laugh at the idea of seeing Jason covered in eggs. The young man gave him a annoyed look. "Okay, okay, don't get mad. What else do you have to tell me?"

The boy continued firmly: "He also knows how to use weapons. Danny and that guy went to a shooting range for one of their dates. I followed them, and that guy was as good as Danny! Not only that," the boy added, turning to look directly at Nightwing. "I saw him threaten someone once, and he seems to have contacts with Red Hood. No normal person has contacts with a crime lord." Warning, emphasizing the danger it implied.

"Yeah, that says a lot," Nightwing agreed, while in his mind he wondered why Jason had taken Danny to a shooting range. There were better places for a date. "I understand, I'll look into it. What's your name, kid?" He asked, more for appearances' sake.

"Dante Nightingale," he replied. "I'll wait for you here on Thursday at the same time for the report," he ordered. This attitude reminded him so much of Damian; maybe he should introduce them.

"Alright, boss," Nightwing joked, then jumped to another building. Tonight he'd have a lot of material to tease Jason with; his brother-in-law didn't trust him. Haha.

---

Note: Sorry, I don't know English, so please use a translator. I apologize if you don't get the idea.

[feministfang]

Three brave women beat up a shopkeeper in islamic republic of Pakistan for harassing them and all the Pakistani men are so pissed off that they’re sending death threats to those women for taking action in their own hands instead of tolerating and calling some male authority or police. That piece of shit also filed a case against those women for abusing him and as a citizen of this trash country, i can tell he will win the case.

A 20 years old girl, Sania Zehra, was brutally tortured, raped and murdered by her husband, syed ali raza bukhari, when she was pregnant with her third child. This also happened in Pakistan on 8th of July. Now the same men are silent over this or trying to shove the issue of Palestine on feminist pages posting about Sania’s case because "far worst things are happening in the world". Meanwhile, Pakistani women are busy dick worshipping the victim’s father because "he must be so traumatised after losing his daughter like this. oh poor man!" As if that bitch isn’t at fault for making her daughter marry that old beast when she was probably 16.

Celebrities here are more concerned about men’s deteriorating mental health in this country as these lunatics think catering to men’s feelings will somehow fix them. What else can you expect from them when the entire world outside has progressed, but these dumbfucks are still portraying the same old cringe fairytale stories where a simple beautiful, but unfortunate girl falls in love with some ugly psychotic man and tolerates his abuse because "that’s true love 😍" and in the end, she’s successful in fixing him.

But when we speak a word against the atrocities women face in this country, all these people lose their minds and try to silence us to ensure the image of their fuckin country is not at risk of defamation and the lovely Pakistan can become an example of how peaceful islam is. Pakistani men (and most women here as well) are intolerant when it comes to the vilification of the image of their country and religion. And their asses start burning when they see someone ruining it. They even stoop so low to the level of satanism that they would not hesitate to send death threats to anyone making them look bad globally. A girl i was friends with on FB wished Malala another gunshot on her face by Taliban because of her anti-marriage stance.

This is why i urge y’all to please don’t stay silent on the issues women are facing in Pakistan. I never see global feminist pages talking about female oppression in this garbage country. Some feminists living in west also act like brown men are somehow better than white men and they’re more oppressed than white women because of racism, or that muslim men are better than christian bigots. Stop victimising brown muslim men. Not only are they hideous but also the misogyny the south asian society has shoved in their assholes is extremely disgusting and they keep shitting it on women everywhere they go, including white women.

I wouldn’t expect support from brainless libby feminists as they’re probably busy pulling their pants down on their favourite OF platforms or fighting misandry online, but i would love to see all the radfems speaking up for south asian women. Please make it known globally how the Pakistani islamic community is constantly oppressing women day by day.

Use the examples i stated above. Speak up for Sania Zehra!! Demand justice for her globally, and keep bashing corrupt Pakistani law system. Also, don’t forget to defame their religion. These people are most protective of their culture and religion. I don’t see any hope in this country for women, but there’s a chance they will start taking action and give proper justice to the victims in order to protect their so called dignity.

[evilminji]

:T Hello there, Thought(tm) of the day...

I? Just remembered that Constantine's "Laughing Magician"(?) title is... f*ckin HEREDITARY?

Like?? As in The Constantine Meances have been out here, harrasing divinity and demons alike for GENERATIONS on behalf of a Good Time, the Lols, and probably Humanity if they can be arsed and you make a good case.

W... What chance would there even BE of at least like? HALF those f*ckers(conflicted but affectionate) NOT becoming Realms Ghosts? With the sh*t they're exposed too? With THEIR luck??

You think DEATH can trick them? Take them away for good? Take away the local Rat B@stard, Tricks Gods Just To See If He Can, Fate Is My Second Mistress and I Cuckold Glory On Your Mother's Bed, Constantine?

They run down main street, *ss in the breeze, wearing someone else's shirt and two shoes that don't match, not a stitch else, like run away lovers. Let Death TRY and catch them. Sorry, Luv, it's not them, it's definitely you.

..........I bet they're the wooooorst~~✨️

No joke, I bet they set up a whole *ss TOWN of Constantine.

Where the odds are in THEIR favor, gods fear to tread, and reality straight out stops working right. Like Diagonal Ally for B*stards, extended to a whole floating island. Everyone's related. It's Chaos. They can barely stand each other. Would sell each other for a toothpick.

Mess with ANY off them... and you can kiss your afterlife good bye.

They have NO neighbors because both no ones dumb enough to get NEAR them AND no one can stand to be around that many Constantines at once. The physical Manifestation of Fate wants to take the whole LOT of the handsy F*CKS to court for child support and a restraining order.

Somehow... they keep getting Earth Booze.

They SHOULDN'T have access. It's been anywhere from decade to centuries since they died. Millennium for a few. Howms't The F*CK, do they keep getting cheap gin and vodka? Bourbon and beer? Even the odd fruity cocktail for funnies.

Please... PLEASE! Tell the Zone at large, that their innate birthright powers STOPPED at Death. They... they are just REALLY good at smuggling right? Excellent con men?

Tell us they can't f*ckin PREDICT AND INFLUENCE Natural Portals!!!

*smug sipping noises from a large room full of Dead @ssholes*

Okay... They Won't Tell You~ 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺 *siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip*

Now! I hear you ask? Why are John's Terrible, Terrible, God Awful Ghostly Relatives relevant? Absurdly powerful as they are... they seem to take the afterlife as an extended "Ha! GET F*CKED, DEMONS WHO WANTED MY SOUL!" Vacation/Family get together.

Minded their business and expected everyone to mind THEIRS, or ELSE.

Didn't give two solitary SH*TS that Pariah woke from his little nappy-poo to cause a tantrum. After all, in their family? When DOESN'T some "great and terrible Power That Be" get itself in a snit? Meh... it's baby Johnny's turn to clean sh*t up. Best of luck to 'im~!

But THEN!

They must've been drinking... making out with their equally terrible and bamf trainwreck significant others... sitting around playing "who can cheat best at cards"... when? Huh.

Never seen the Fate and The Odds... STRANGLE like that.

Billions of billions of What-Ifs, Maybes, Could-bes, and more... suddenly YANKED towards a single spot. The allowance of Only One Outcome. Almost like what they can do, but... not, WRONG, per say...

Just... impossible.

There's NEVER.. JUST one way this plays out. You can control the big notes. The script. But the details and set dressing will always decide themselves.

NO ONE can just... Decide What Will Happen. And yet?

...............was....... was that Little Johnny? Has to be. Right? Where's his old man? Oi! Was that your Kid??! John's closest relatives are baffled. Nope. They can still feel him laying a beat down on some demon in Norway. So then? Who?

How?

Well mark them CURIOUS(tm).

They decide to actually get up. Put their various drinks and cards down. Put pants on. Somebody's done something... INTERESTING(TM) and they want to know what's up. So? Off they trot.

It's traumatizing for everyone who sees them. The Constantines have breached f*ckin B*stard Containment and are spilling into the Zone. On this! The DAY Pariah Waged A War! THEY JUST GOT RID OF HIM!

And Danny? His everything hurts. The Eyeballs are starting to come out of the woodwork and ARGUE about him like he's not even there. He's DANGEROUS blah blah blah. Give them the crown. Right now! Etc etc.

Somethings telling him not too.

It's... it's HIS isn't it? Has been for centuries and seconds. And... and... everyone one of him is King. There is only one of him. The Zone covers all the multiverse and all of the Hims that were and aren't here and helped and... and...! His head is starting to hurt.

But the more they try to push him to hand it over, the less he feels like unhanding the dang gaudy thing. No. His now. He'll use it as a DOOR stopper if he dang well feels like it! Stop yelling.

Then all these blonde ghosts saunter in... and all he can think is "F*ck. I think they noticed."

Huh?

@stealingyourbones @cyrwrites @bjurnberg @the-witchhunter @hdgnj

[coco-cinnamon]

Safe With You | JJ Maybank

୨୧ Warnings: Cursing, smut, angst, soft!sex, unprotected sex, soft!JJ, abuse, violence, has a fluffy ending, 18+ MDNI.

୨୧ Pairings: JJ Maybank x Female Kook Reader

୨୧ Summary: In which JJ helps his girlfriend get away from his father when she goes over to his home to see him.

୨୧ Word Count: 1.5k

୨୧ Author's Note: this fic is from my old blog @babeydollx. this and most of my other fics will be reposted over here to my new blog. Also I fr have no idea why this fic is written from my pov and not Y/N's because that isn't usually how I write but I was too lazy to fix it, sorry! Maybe someday lol.

© coco-cinnamon 2024, please do not steal, copy, modify, repost, or translate my work.

I arrived at JJ's house to see him. JJ and I rarely got time to see eachother since we were on different sides of the island. My parents always had me busy with some shit all the time. It was exhausting and annoying.

I never had time for JJ anymore and I hated it. So, I decided that I would surprise him at his house to see him. I missed him so much and I knew that he missed me too. I couldn't wait to see JJ again and be in his arms.

I walked up to the house and knocked on the door. I waited for a minute or two but there was no answer. I could hear movement inside of the house so I knew that someone had to be home. You decided to try and open the door.

When I turned the door knob the door easily opened. I slowly walked inside and looked around. The house was messy and I could smell beer and weed. As I looked around, I jumped when I herd glass shatter. 

What the hell was going on? Was JJ okay? Was someone trying to hurt him? Millions of questions and thoughts flooded my head as I looked for JJ. The sounds were coming from the backyard. I dashed out to the backyard to see JJ on the ground with an older man on top of him and punching him.

"Stop! Stop hurting him! Please!" I screamed as I ran over to the two men in the backyard. I couldn't pull the older man of of JJ so I grabbed a empty beer bottle off of the ground and smashed it over his head.

Luke stopped punching JJ and got dizzy before collapsing on the ground. JJ sat up on the ground and looked over at me in shock. 

"What the hell are you doing here?!" JJ asked.

"I- I came to see you.." I said.

"Didn't I tell you to not come here?" He asked.

"You did but, it had been so long since I saw you so I thought I could surprise you. I didn't expect for any of this to happen. Who is he? Why was he hurting you?" You asked.

"He's, uhm... he's my dad." JJ mumbled. 9

"He's your father?!" I asked in shock. JJ nodded. "Why would he hurt you?!" I yelled.

"I don't know. Cause he is constantly drunk and high I guess." He shrugged. "I'm use to it by now, he's been doing it for years." JJ said. I could feel tears pooling in my eyes. This was absolutely heartbreaking. How could a parent do this to their child?

Before I could say anything else to JJ, someone tackled me to the ground harshly. I screamed when it happened. 

"GET OFF OF HER!" JJ yelled. Luke was on top of me. I tried to fight Luke off but he began to hit me hard. I screamed and cried more as he continued to hit me. I could hear JJ yelling and trying to pull his father off of me.

Finally, JJ had got Luke off of me and began to beat the shit out of Luke. I scrambled to my feet and watched the scene go down. I could feel tears streaming down my face still and I was in pain. After a few minutes of JJ beating Luke up, he finally got off of him and ran over to me.

He hugged me and I hid my face in his chest. I finally felt safe. I knew that even if Luke woke up again that JJ would keep me safe, he would make sure that Luke wouldn't hurt me again or worse. 

"Are you okay, Y/N?!" JJ asked worried as he checked me for any terrible injuries. 

"I'm okay." I said with a sniffle and nodded. 

"I am so sorry that this happened to you. You shouldn't have had to see any of this." JJ said with a frown as he hugged me again. 

"I'm sorry that you have had to go through this for years.." I said with a frown. "Why didn't you tell me this was happening to you?" I asked.

"Because I didn't want you to worry. This isn't your burden to bare, Y/N.." He said. 

"JJ.. we're a team. You can tell me anything and everything, okay? Whatever you are dealing with, I want to be there for you to help you." I said. JJ nodded slowly. "Anyways, did you want to stay the night at my place tonight? My parents are out of town so we have the house to ourselves." I said with a smile.

"That would be nice. Thanks, Y/N." He said with a smile.

"Anytime." I said as JJ and I get ready to go to my house.

We arrived at my house and went inside together. I got both of us a water bottle and then we both went upstairs to my bedroom. I gave him his water bottle and sat down on the bed beside him and we talked for a while. After we both chatted for a bit, we both went silent not knowing what to do next.

"So, what now?" I asked looking over at JJ. He sat there thinking for a moment before looking back over at me. A smirk spread across his face.

"I have a few ideas." He said with a smirk. Before I could ask him any questions he kissed me passionately. I kissed back, melting into the kiss. The was he kissed me was magical. He always knew how to make me feel a certain way without even trying. 

As we made out, he gently pushed me down onto my back onto the bed. I ran my hands through his soft, blond hair as the two of us made out. Once we got both of our clothes off and out of the way, JJ was positioning himself between my legs.

I held onto his shoulders tightly and sucked in a breath as JJ slowly pushed inside of me. I gasped and moaned out softly. He groaned quietly as he bottomed out. He then began to thrust into me.

I gently threw my head back and groaned out. I held onto him tightly as he fucked into me, slowly picking up the pace. He continued to slowly pick up the pace until he was fucking me at an ungodly pace.

I moaned out even louder than I did before. I arched my back off of the bed and moaned out, almost screaming at this point. I could feel that familiar knot bubbling in the bottom of my stomach and I knew that I was going to cum any second now. I then clenched around JJ, signaling to him that I was going to cum. 

"Fuck, you gonna cum, princess?" He asked as he groaned out.

"Yes, fuck! I'm gonna fucking cum!" I yelled. 

"Come on, cum for me." JJ said. With that my eyes rolled back and my legs began to shake as I came hard on JJ's hard cock. He thrusted into me a few more times before coming himself, shooting his load deep inside of me.

JJ pulled out of me and I laid their trying to catch my breath. He laid down beside me and he was also trying to catch his breath. After we both took some time to come down from that, JJ smiled and gently pulled me over and snuggled me.

I giggled when he did so. I always loved to be in JJ's arms. He always made me feel so safe. We both laid there together and talked for awhile while we were tangled in each other's arms. After we both talked and snuggled, we both fell asleep together.

I woke up the next morning to see that JJ was no longer in bed with me. I sat up and rubbed my eyes before looking around my bedroom. No sign of JJ. As I was about to go look around the house for JJ, I saw a note on my bedside table.

I took the note off of the table and unfolded it before reading it. 

Thanks for letting me stay the night at your house, Y/N. Again, I am so sorry that you had to witness all of that yesterday and go through that. I promise I will come back later, I just have a few things to sort out with my dad. I love you, Y/N.

- JJ

I smiled at the note that JJ left me. I thought it was so sweet that he had decided to write me a note. I missed JJ so much already but, I couldn't wait to see JJ again.

Author's Note: tysm for reading, lovies!

[nicherayyy]

Niche!! Im glad to see u back!! How are you doing?

I had this scenario in my mind about La Squadra x child reader and im sorry if my asks are too much but I love the way you write this entire concept so much, i rlly hope you don’t mind if I share some of my scenarios and thoughts.

There was this video , the closest I could find to the original (besides that annoying robotic voiceover, I apologise )

I thought it was so cute because I can only imagine this w Pros. Imagine receiving a crumb of this mans affection😭 Like ofc he tries to look professional, even at home, but for his kid?? I think he would appreciate it, especially if reader is not really the cuddly type as they get older. Maybe there will be a pat on the back or head, or a genuine smile, letting you know that even if you get older he will still love you the same. He will still fight for you, protect you and root for you- because you are his child. I like to imagine Ghiaccio too- he would try to ask what you are doing as you simply settle against him, just wanting to show some affection. he won’t complain once he realized what you were trying to do- on the inside he is like 🥺. You are his kid and he will not deny your hugs, wrapping his arms around you and leaving the laptop he previously worked on aside- even if Formaggio or Illuso come barging in, teasing him and all, he will make a note to beat them up later-but for now he will enjoy this moment between you two (Cue these two idiots wanting hugs too, but you will never catch Illuso alive saying that)

Hiii! I’m doing great, thanks for asking <3

And no, I absolutely love this type of requests, so don’t worry abt it!!

Okay so here’s the hcs

Teenage Reader hugging their Father Figure from La Squadra

Oh yes, Risotto Nero. Stoic leader of the most feared assassin group

And a loving father

Just imagine this tall, intimidating man cuddling his child😭💔

And of course, as reader was younger, they used to cuddle all the time

Reader returned from school? Cuddles

Reader is getting ready for bed? Yeah, could someone (*cough cough* Risotto) give them a cuddle?

So yeah, reader is basically a cuddle bug

But after some years of course, cuddles became a rare occurrence

(Which Risotto was very sad about)

But he understood, maybe reader just didn’t want to, or think that cuddles are for children

So when teenage reader just crawled into Risotto’s arms just like in old times..

The man literally melted

Immediately hugged reader back

He didn’t even realise how much he missed this😭

“If I’m too heavy I can stand up”

“Please don’t”

Literally so happy

With Prosciutto it’s a bit different

Of course, even after reader got older he still gives them some pats on a head and words of encouragement

I mean, it’s his child, he loves them to death

But still, he wasn’t an affectionate type of parent

And when reader crawled into his lap he immediately got still

For a few seconds he didn’t know what to do

“Is it okay? If you don’t want to cuddle—“

“I do want to cuddle”, he hugged reader back

Okay let me tell you Pesci is so sad when reader stop wanting to cuddle

Like.. why don’t they want to cuddle?

Did he do something and now reader hates them?

Where’s his cuddly baby?😭

But he made peace with it after some time

I mean, reader is a teenager now

And I guess it’s not so cool for teenagers to hug with their dad

So when reader just randomly hugged him..

He cried

And of course hugged reader back

“Wha- why are you crying?”

“I’m just *sob* so happy”

Melone is a cuddle bug himself

Like he LOVES to cuddle

It’s his favourite way to show people that he cares for them

So when his child got older and stopped to cuddle he was really sad

He knew it was normal, reader got older and maybe they just stopped liking this type of affection

And of course he didn’t expect to get a hug from them when he was working on his laptop

The speed with which he put aside all of his tasks😭

Mf was over the moon with happiness

“You have no idea how happy I am right now”

Okay I believe Ghiaccio won’t tolerate any cuddles

Unless those cuddles are from reader

I mean they’re his child, why wouldn’t he want cuddles from them?

But of course he won’t show it

Imagine reader crawling into his arms and he’s like:

“What are you doing?”

“Cuddling”

“Okay”

HE LOVES IT

Even is he’s just sitting on the couch with poker face, he still will hug reader back

And if someone (*cough* Formaggio *cough* Illuso) tries to tease him about it.. well Ghiaccio would handle it later

Let’s just hope this someone has enough time to stay frozen

Speaking about Illuso

I think he like cuddles

But he rarely initiates them

Of course he loves giving his child affection, only he prefers to show his love with words or gift giving

But still he would appreciate the hug from reader

“Oh so you still love your old man? How sweet of you”

The same as Melone, Formaggio is a cuddle bug

But let’s be fr, he loves all types of affections

Pats on the back, words of encouragement, you name it

He always initiates cuddles with reader

And he’s got kinda used to the fact that only he initiates them

So when reader initiated hugs first—

“OH MY GOD FINALLY”

He immediately hugged reader back

And I mean this tight bear hug

Definitely won’t let reader go for a few minutes

[spacebarbarianweird]

Please, what are you headcanons about Astarion and human Tav/Durge? There's obviously the angsty issue of humans having one of the shortest life spans of all DnD races but that's only as angsty as you want it to be in this setting (and the stories you can tell about it are what makes it fascinating). Still... What's your take on it? Would that be a disaster for a proud immortal elf?

Since humans are very diverse I decided to take female human Tav who isn't exactly a big girl but would be considered "curvy" by human beauty standarts.

Astarion x F!Human!Tav

Masterlist

Headcanons

You are the third child born into a big family of seven.

Unlike your sisters, you are that girl who is always teased for "eating too much" or "needing too much fabric for a dress."

It would bother you if you had issues with self-esteem. But you don't.

"At least, I have some tits and ass!" you jokingly say to people who decide to comment on your looks.

Besides, your father, a native to Frost North, has always told you that "the bigger a woman is, the more chances she survives a winter".

You inherited from your northern ancestors' red hair, the color of fire.

Freckles dance over your pale skin and, when you laugh, you can be heard in the neighboring village.

Since there's not much for you in life apart from marriage, you sign up to join an adventure party.

Being an adventurer isn't easy. It's dangerous for a lonely woman but you manage to find friends and learn how to protect yourself.

And you are still this jolly human woman who just can't allow herself to stop because your years are so short.

You probably regret this attitude when locked inside the Mindflayer's pod with a nasty tadpole behind your eyes.

You gather this group of traumatized people - it's not like you are the most competent person, but you are, at least, not experiencing the meltdown!

Astarion immediately catches your eye - he is an elf. And it's a common knowledge humans see elves as the most beautiful creatures ever.

Does he think he manipulates you into protecting him? Too bad. You decided you weren't leaving this adventure without this handsome elven man by your side.

A vampire? Even better.

You are much stronger than him and a bit taller.

You can easily pick him since his bones are so light.

And he adores your body.

Your breasts are pretty big and your thighs are soft.

He likes using your boobs as a pillow and you don't mind - because it gives you full access to his hair.

Or putting his head on your soft belly and thighs.

He also adores your body hair - especially the one in private parts.

"You know among humans it's considered ugly unless you are a man"

"No wonder human women prefer elves."

You look adorable in dresses with deep necklines and ribbons in your curly red hair.

And Astarion loves seeing you in the morning, when you, awake from your long human sleep, look at the world with puffy eyes trying to apprehend wtf you saw in your dreams.

"Don't even ask, human's dreams are fucked up."

When Astarion is distressed, you often put him on your knees and lull him like a child.

And it's difficult for him to adapt to your lifestyle.

You are considered a slow type for a human but you are still a human

You are ambitious, loud, and fast. You have so little time left, you want to experience it to the fullest.

You are smart, brave, skilled and unstoppable like a human traveler, who decided they want to reach the edge of the world.

You keep being adventurers until it's too difficult for you.

Your red hair turns white, and you have wrinkles. You aren't a jolly red-haired girl any longer.

You are a jolly old lady who can both bake cookies for neighbor kids and beat someone's abuser with a hammer.

The time passes fast and it's time for you to go.

"You were quite an adventure, Astarion", you whisper to him

"And you were everything", he replies holding his tears back.

Astarion wants to leave the moment you find rest in your grave, but your family, the loud red-haired clan doesn't let him go.

Well, it's not like any of them were ever prepared to have a vampire for an uncle but here they are.

Astarion visits them from time to time, seeing how children grow up, how new things get old, and how the village becomes a town and then a city.

Human lives are so short, they make the most of them

Astarion visits less and less and only some of the oldest residents of the city know about him.

"Oh, yeah… I remember. My grandmother once told me her great-grandfather's sister was married to a vampire."

Sitting at the seashore, waiting to sail to the Isle of Evermeet, Astarion remembers the words he once heard from an old elf.

"You need to fall in love with a human at least once in your life."

--

Tag list

@tugoslovenka @marcynomercy @wintersire @vixstarria @not-so-lost-after-all @ashiro20 @theearthsfinalconfession @herstxrgirl @starlight-ipomoea @micropoe10 @astarion-imagine-archive @veillsar @elora-the-slutty-songstress @fayeriess @lumienyx @astarion-beloved @tallymonster @caitlincat-95 @tragedybunny @valeprati

[bleedingoptimism]

The Stray

part two

Steve, blushingly furiously, asks Max to take over pancake duty so he can put on a shirt.

And Eddie is both thankful and devastated about it until Steve comes back… and he’s wearing one of Eddie’s shirts and fuck, that makes it so much worse.

He’s always had a thing for guys wearing his clothes and Steve looks so fucking pretty with an old and tattered shirt from his first tour.

Steve catches Eddie staring at him and blushes again, “Sorry, I'm wearing you aren’t I?” 

‘Uhg why would you phrase it like that? That sounds so good. Yes. Please. Wear me.’

Eddie shakes his head and smiles at their guest, “Nah, it’s fine dude, you can do me whene- Wear me! I mean- wear my clot- Stop laughing Max, you little shit! I slept like two hours, okay?”

The three of them share a laugh and then, with all of their plates full, Max starts telling Eddie how she met Steve and the circumstances that got her to invite him over.

Eddie listens and starts thinking, shit, maybe he shouldn’t trust Max to be alone for such long periods of time. He worries about her, always has. But Max has always been independent and so fucking stubborn, toeing the line between proving how responsible she was and disobedience.

He tries to keep an eye on her as much as she lets him, he trusts Max to commute to college alone, to hit the skate park at any hour of the day. She used to get into fights at high school but went to therapy for her anger issues and doesn’t do it anymore.

He trusts her with her boyfriend. Or more accurately, he trusts her boyfriend. It took Max two whole months to tell Eddie she was dating someone and another two months to finally introduce them. And not because she was worried about what Eddie might think of him, oh no. 

She was worried Eddie would think Lucas was too good for her. Too pure. That she would corrupt him. (She was right about Lucas being too pure but Eddie would never think someone could be too good for her. In his opinion, she deserved every bit of good that came her way.)

So really, befriending a street performer sounded like something right up her alley but, taking a homeless man in…

Not that he can blame her, he thinks as he watches Steve shyly biting a pancake and getting progressively redder as Max dives into an action-packed story of him beating up three men to save her.

He knows Max like the back of his hand and knows exactly where she’s going when she talks about how kind, smart, and talented her friend is so he’s not surprised when she asks, “Can he stay with us for a while?”

“No, absolutely not.”

It’s not him who answers, but Steve. He’s shaking his head and looking at Max with big eyes, “I couldn’t possibly. I can’t take advantage of your hospitality any longer, I-”

“Oh, shut up Steve, don’t play hard to get. You have nowhere else to go! Just say yes.”

Steve seems to shrink into himself and looks between Max and Eddie, who gives him a little encouraging smile.

“What are you going to do?” Max presses.

Steve blinks at them sadly and he looks so much like a kicked puppy Eddie wants to make Max back off and hold him, so he stuffs his mouth with pancakes before he says something stupid.

“...I don't know,” Steve answers after a second, and Max huffs as if she is dealing with a child.

“Do you have anyone you could call?” Eddie asks him curious.

Steve’s shoulders tense for a second before he smiles apologetically, “Not anyone I’d want to find out about my… Situation”

“That settles it then!” Max says and claps her hands loudly making Eddie jump, he really did sleep two hours and he wants to go to bed now. Maybe Steve would be up for cuddles? Okay, no. He needs to go to sleep right now before his brain gets any more dumb ideas.

“You can stay in the guest room Wayne and mom use when they come over, no biggie. And don’t worry I’m not gonna let you stay here for free! You’ll chaperone me to school and the skate park and can do the groceries and cook while you look for a proper job! If anything I’ll be taking advantage of you and not the other way around,” Max tells him in a tone that leaves no room for argument.

Steve looks between the both of them once more before sighing and nodding once, a small smile on his lips that makes his eyes shine prettily.

He blinks a couple of times, his eyes looking wetter with every blink and he clears his throat and excuses himself going to the living room where his beat-up duffle bag and guitar case are, pretending to be tying things up while clearly drying his tears.

Eddie’s heart clenches for him but he looks at Max and shakes his head at her, “You know, your mom warned me once about me getting home one day and finding you with a stray puppy but,” he lifts his hand and points in Steve’s general direction, “That’s a grown-ass man.”

Max smirks at him, “Nah,” she says, taking Eddie’s plate and hers and starting to clean up after Steve, “He’s a puppy.”

to be continued!

part 1: 🎸

part 2: you are here!

part 3: 📓

part 4: 💝

coffee?☕🥐💕

[juliet-without-romeo-stuff]

These are just my personal thoughts and imaginations on my fav fictional character.

After 10 years from the day they found eachother that is from being an little secret to lovers to husbands to parents,a unexpected incident happened in nikobran life that is BRANDON KING GOT KIDNAPPED thats when bran first met alex--Alexander a 4 year old boy who had an abusive parents and terrible life.. got kidnapped by the same person who kidnapped bran.

After a lot of fights and damages,Nikolai and landon found bran and found the kidnappers who are serpants,(Simon one of Niko's ex boytoy),and NOAH (new character who is Landon bestfriend from young age and had a obsession on bran since young age )

Niko and lan also found alex and take both of them to hospital but alex never spoke one word to them and brandon was in ICU WARD after a while they found alex parents who done many things that never a parent will ever do to thier child they are just worst than psychos.

Landon felt something in his heart that is like his twin brother wants to say something but he can't like he can feel something is off about alex parents and brandon told him before getting unconscious to take care of alex that's when he even cared to know the name of the little boy.

In the hospital hallway where all peoples are waiting for the doctors to tell them that bran is awake they already told them that bran is out of danger and they treated his injuries .Landon king is not okay they already told alex parents to take alex with them but he is feeling so nervous and anxious and an unknown feeling of doing something wrong which his brother will never forgive them for.He felt his breaths are constricted and had an panic attack for the first time in his entire life .

There is also one thing which is unaware to others are landon king and Nikolai sokolav became a friend's like they both understood thier first priority is Brandon king and over the years bran and lan became very close since Bran's insecurities and every traumas are healed which made him separate from his other half and Landon really like really felt thankful to niko for giving him his little bro back And landon forgived MAYA SOKOLAV which niko felt thankful to lan.so there are certain things happened which made landon realised that niko is an scary sunshine and can be around with.BUT their this little understanding and friendship is hidden from all except bran.They don't want others to know this.

(Yeah there will be an solid explanation on Maya sokolav story since i felt rina ruined their bond and just gave an one sided explanation so i thought about her pov too.but but but Ilya levitsky is NOT THE BOYFRIEND. Yes Its is true they both dated but breakup after Mia-Maya things and The one who will be maya's boyfr--husband is VAUGHAN MOROZOV really in my ideas he will be an gentle man like truely gentle man to maya and treat her very gently since MAYA is his childhood love and will be his forever love........)

So back to landon's panic attack, Everyone around him don't even know what is going on when niko came forward towards him and helped lan to calm down leaving others in pure shock.

After That lan stopped alex parents from taking alex back and waited until bran wakeup .

The fist thing after bran woke up he asked is alex ......first time in their life bran asked lan and niko to kill someone that too alex parents .first time they saw alex speaking to bran and that's when bran told alex ,AS I PROMISED YOU ,I WILL HELP YOU I WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU FOR THE REST THE OF LIFE AS MY SON ALEX!!I WILL GIVE YOU LOVE AND SHOW YOU WHAT IS TRUE FAMILY IS...❤️❤️

Flashback Alex:Bran...once we are free from this peoples you will be back to your family and give me back to my parents?? I am afraid bran ...please don't give me back..they will beat me and punish me by leaving burns on my skin if i speak anything ...That’s why i stopped speaking and they thought that i lost my voice .. your are the only man i spoke after so long bran..

Bran: i promise you I WILL HELP YOU I WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU FOR THE REST OF LIFE AS MY SON ALEX!!I WILL GIVE YOU LOVE AND SHOW YOU WHAT IS TRUE FAMILY IS...❤️❤️ flashback end.

After bran told those words to lan and niko they don't need an explanation because if bran says he needs someone killed then they must really deserve that.

After that Brandon king and Nikolai sokolav adopted Alex a.k.a ALEXANDER Brandon sokolav king as thier second babyboy .Alex may not speak with anyone in their family now other than Bran but time heals everything right..oneday alex will understand them and trust them to speak with them ...

After 1 year they welcomed their third kid STELLA HUNTER SOKOLAV KING, princess of the family, a babygirl through surrogacy.Niko was so adament on having a girl kid in thier family and it was also a wish of bran .

[icarusredwings]

The Library. Pt 1.

The TARDIS disobeys her owner... again. Shocker. This time, though.. she takes him and Donna somewhere they REALLY don't want to be. Dinner can wait. There's someone here that needs him more.

A 14/River (RetiredSong) fic following my Retired Time Lords series. Oh and Donnas forced to be here too..

Standing at the front entrance, the doctor felt his hearts shaking in his chest, pounding so hard that it felt as if they were beating against his ribcage. Everything within him was telling him to run away. To go home. Run. For gods sake run. But he couldn't. His knees were too much like jello. All he could do was stare, frozen in place as multiple people walked around them, heading to read whatever book they could imagine.

Swallowing, he looked at the floor, eyes searching the tile for any sign or clues that might jump out of him. Turning his head, he saw that they each only had one individual shadow, licking his lips as he glanced up at Donna, who was crossing her arms (like always).

"Wot?"

"You're counting.."

"How do you know?"

"Well it's either that or you're intrested in the new shoes I got."

Donna's doctor snorted, shaking his head. He's been caught.

"They're nice. I'll give you that.."

"So-"

"Ssoo..... what?"

"This is the library."

He nodded, putting his hands in his pockets as he rocked on his heels like a child about to admit something to their parents and was extremly nervous about it. "Yu-puh."

"Like.. The Library"

"Uh-huh..."

"....Riv-"

"Nmhm..Don't."

"Okay.... Doctor?"

"Yeah?" Having not paying attention, it was like his attention snapped back to reality, thinking far too hard about something else.

"Why did the TARDIS bring us here?"

"I don't know.. shes funny like that I guess.."

Donna scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Funny??"

"Ereuugh. Yeh..." He shrugs, his voice becoming higher and softer in the end.

"... did you get a note on your paper?"

"No.. not this time. I just... I think she.."

Despite the lack of words, the way his wide eyes stared at the entrance, longing, waiting for someone to come through those doors that he knew oh so well..? Donna knew why they were here.

"Are you... okay?"

"Me? Oh yeah- Im okay. Thats me. Always okay."

"Time lord okay or human okay?"

"Mmmh.... the first one."

"....right. Sooo you're panicking."

"Yea..."

"Well... Brianna did say that you should face your fears more often and stop running from them...? Maybe the TARDIS is helping you."

The look that Donna received could kill a man on sight. Luckily, she wasn't a man. She only raised a brow at him, and instantly, his attitude changed, shaking his head and sighing. Putting his hands up, he turned around, trying to push the TARDIS doors open, but they were locked.

"Hey! Excuse me. I kinda live here."

"Not anymore." Donna muttered.

"Well, I have the keys still, so that means Im still allowed in. Hello??" By now, he became almost desperate, beginning to rub the side of the big blue box, whispering. "Ooh, come on old girl, you used to be such a sweet thing... don't do this to me.. please... Are you cross with me?"

Honestly, she should be used to this by now, but the redhead coughed a bit. "Should I leave you two alone?"

"Don't litsen to her. She's a mad woman. What if I leave her here hm? Would you like that?" He asked the box, patting it with a smirk.

Earning himself a slap in the arm, he was quick to flinch and chuckle as he rubbed the spot, pouting. "Ooww!"

"Oh shut it! Now you figure out why we're here! And quick! This place gives me the heebie jeebies.." she mumbled, hugging herself tight. She still had nightmares of this place. Of the children she lost but never actually had... quick milisecind thoughts of Lee. A man who wasn't even real. (As far as she knew)

"Hey, I don't know what her deal is either! You saw me tell her to go to Waksacarnus and she brought us here!"

"Oh great. Yeah, the time machine took us to the most terrifying library in the universe instead of the intersteller grocery store... how ironic.. Were you thinking of this place?"

Just then, The Doctor went silent, looking at her with eyes as if she had figured it out before him and now he was a wee jealous and embarrassed. "Nope! Not at all, definitely not!"

"What were you thinking about then!?"

"Blood beets!"

"You were thinking about blood beets? And magically YOUR telepathic ship brought us to the death library?"

"Well it's not anymore..." He looked around as if to be sure, seeing people smiling and carrying books to read. "Just seems like a normal library now..."

"Except this library has something no other library has..."

Cocking a fluffy brow he glanced at her, putting his arms up. "Well, no, duh, this is THE library! It has every copy of every book ever written!"

She gave him another look. Silent and staring with a glint of pitty in her eyes, pursing her lips and let her arms fall to her sides.

"... oh... Donna i-.. It's been so long I don't- w-What would I even say?"

"Everything."

"I.. i-cant I..." he looked at his hand, swallowing. "Donna I'm.."

He was married now. Well- he was always married. But he REmarried. He had left her here all alone and went off to be REmarried. His chest hurt just thinking about is actions, regretting them horribly, but the idea of stepping into this library? That was a worse feeling. One that made him want to call his other self to come pick him up and scold his own TARDIS for disobeying him for the millionth time. If he couldn't even trust his own TARDIS... who could he trust? And she knew. OH she knew how deeply this hurt him. The thought alone of his beloved box betraying him made him want to have a nervous break down right here, right now, infront of everyone.

"Yeah. To her. And about 7 others. So get along. You'd probably marry that thing too if you could."

"Huh?" He asked, still staring at the ground when asked, now looking up to her, baffled.

It was now Donna realized just how much this was fucking with him. Note to self. At the Library? Phycologically? The Doctor was screwed. He would have picked up on this tease any other day, and yet? Not a word. Just those eyes that said, "Im terrified because I can't save us." The eyes that she knew all too well. The eyes that he's also given her so many times before. And yet? Every time he succeeded in saving them. (More or less)

She decided it was time for plan B. This always worked on his younger self, maybe it still would.

"Alright. Guess you're just a featherless chicken then." She muttered, making an effort to check her nails and not look at those puppy eyes or else her persona would break.

"Wot? Feather.. less?" He made a whining noise as he suddenly realized that once again, without his fancy toys, he was useless. "Ooh... This is just like that maze all over again!"

"Which one?"

"Donna!!"

"Right. Sorry... erm...." Okay, that backfired.

"Should I call er... the other you?"

For a split second, he was about to say yes, before realizing that meant he would probably want to see River too and knowing him and her, they'd hit it off a little too well. He grunted, pouting almost, coming to the realization that he had to go see her. It's all he wanted right now.

"No."

But it felt so... wrong? Going to the love of your (multiple) lives and reconnecting with them after you told your husband just 10 minutes ago that you'd be back in time to watch The Great British Bake Off with him when you were supposed to be infact going to the store just to pick up some stuff for dinner felt so wrong.

"Yes??"

And yet.. his eyes kept shifting to the entrance, the bones in his body wanting to rush down to the basement and see if there was any smidge chance that he could at least talk to her.

"Ugh! I don't know!? What do I do?! Donna!" He whined again, his hands going to his hair and then rubbing his face, beginning to pace the way he usually did before having an inconvenient criss.

"You got yourself into this mess." She giggled. "Stop being such a 'pretty boy' and you wouldn't have to worry about everyone wanting to marry you."

"You think im pretty?" He pulled his hands away from his face, looking at her with excitment. He liked compliments. They fed his ego.

"Far from it, mate."

"Ooh!" He grunted again, grumbling some things."

"Come on, it's not that big of a deal. She's just a computer. I doubt he'll get mad about that."

This, for some reason, upset him greatly. She wasn't JUST a computer. She was IN a computer. There's a difference.

"Tch. Like you're one to talk. What's shaun going to think when you tell him you've visited the same place you met Lee, Hm? I doubt he'll get mad about that." This ending tone was mocking.

"Oi!! Just because your marriage is rocky doesn't mean that mine is!"

"So you're going to tell him?"

Her eyes softened as she thought of how she'd even begin to explain it. So many adventures with the Doctor where 'you had to be there to understand' moments and reciting them to others felt like a fairy tale..

"I... Yes! I-i am! And for your information, YOUR TARDIS brought us here to see YOUR wife. I had nothing to do with this! Besides!...He wasn't even in the system.. remember? Just a guy that I.. i dont know.. dreamed up?"

The tension between them was slit, cut, and a chunk removed. His head lowered, his eyes softened, and his brows looked the way a child might if admitting a mistake to a parent.

"Im sorry.."

"Yeah yeah.." She waved it off, taking a breath.

"No.. Donna." He takes her hand, pulling her close as he kisses it. His signature 'i really fucked up' apology. "I really am sorry... I just.."

"I know.."

"You don't. You really.. really don't. I promise that you don't." He mumbled. "I dont think there's anything in the universe I could do to make up for how much I've hurt you. I made a promise to make up for it.. and here I am. Doing it again. For what?"

She shook her head, putting it on his shoulder, resting into the hug. "..you're hurt too."

Pulling her away, he held her face and looked her in the eyes. "That doesn't give me an excuse to hurt you back. Never. I promised Shaun I'd look after you. I told him im the one that needs looking after, and he said I know. We have to look after each other, alright? So don't let me do that. That's... That's not who I am anymore. That's not who I want to be." He whispered to her as she nodded.

"Excuse me?"

The two jumped, separating and became defensive only to realize it was just a worker. At least thats what you could assume by the girls big glasses and the fact that it said "Librarian" on her shirt.

"Sir, you and your wife have to move that.. what is that?"

"Oh were not-"

"Pfft! Not a million years!"

"Yeh.. what she said. Anywho. That's a Police box. Otherwise known as my TARDIS. And unfortunately I can't move her. She's being stubborn!" He said this part extra loud, turning to glare at the box who did absolutely nothing.

"Sir, its blocking traffic and by Library saftey policy no large objects are allowed to block the path."

"Right... well.. as I just said, I can't. It's not like I want to be here in the first place.."

"Say doc... do you still have HADS on?"

His eyes brightened as he looked to the redhead with borderline mania. "Oh!! Yes! Donna you're a genuis!"

"Damn right.... wait.. why?"

Again, she spoke up. "Sir, this is your final warning. Please move your vehicle from out of the walkway. It's a safety hazard!"

"Oh wait- If HADS is on.. and shes not leaving.. that means she doesn't sense any threats. Still though you'd think from the last time she wouldn't want to come back.."

"But you had the HADS off back then."

The shorter Liberian blinked, cupping her hands together as she litsened, kind of annoyed that they were ignoring her. Bringing out a digital pad, she clicked a few buttons, and suddenly, with a bright light, some clicky sounds, and a WOOSH, the TARDIS was sent up to the moon, saved into the Libraries file.

"OI!! You can't just take that!! She's sensitive!"

"Bring her back right now! You dont want to upset him, I promise you that, let alone me!"

"Until you can move your vehicle, it's been safely removed and downloaded to the library. See the front desk to retrieve it. Have a good visit!" Handing him a ticket, she walked away.

"Oh I outta!-" The Doctor grabbed her shoulder.

"Donna.."

"That miffy little elf thing has it coming!"

"Donna...."

"Wha-" Turning, her jaw dropped just as his, staring at the beautiful white goddess infront of them.

"Is that-!?"

"River.."

[windblume-wishes]

For more TWST Shenanigans please consider joining the Discord Server!

Summary: After what happened at STYX, Epel was extremely traumatized and never wanted to part from Vil’s side for as long as possible… he did not want to lose Vil. The sight of seeing Vil all old and wrinkled, brittle and worn by age was enough to send him into panic- he’s seen many elderly in his hometown pass away but the images of elderly Vil fresh in his mind just made everything worse…

TW: Mentions of D3@th/Dy1ng and mega angst

If you were looking for Emotional Damage this is the place! Abandon hope all ye who read this! Ye have been warned beforehand of angst and pain!

Epel Felmier and Vil Schoenheit: Don’t Leave Me All Alone…

Rain pelted the windows of the Pomefiore dorm, thunder rattled the walls and lightning lit the dark hallways and bedrooms that cold February night. It was truly a rough storm and the howling wind whistling a ghostly tune made it no better for Epel as he shuddered under his blankets. The thunder roared again and he clutched his poison apple plush tighter, truthfully, he was not frightened of storms but the events at STYX was enough to send him into panic.

CRASH! BOOM!

The thunder roared again, releasing yet another wave of ferocity. With every roar of thunder came the memories of the titans… of Vil…

‘No… No, Vil is alive, Vil is fine… gotta stop being a scaredy-cat! Man up, Epel! Man up, damnit!’

Nightmares of the horrors that fateful day flooded his mind, images of Vil falling into the Underworld to save Idia still were fresh in his memory, haunting him with the thought of losing Vil. Tears pricked his baby blue eyes as he hid his face in his pillow, oh how he despised this weakness… but he supposed it was only right considering how the event’s traumatized him so dramatically.

CRASH!! BOOM!!

The thunder roared once more, causing Epel to jump slightly at the sound. Sevens above how he hated feeling so weak…

Epel huffed, sitting up in bed and grabbing his pillow and apple plush, making his way quietly out of the room and straight to Vil’s room. He knew Vil was likely already in bed but he just had to see him, he needed to know Vil was alive still. His dreams of Vil all old and wrinkled dying before his eyes shattered his heart into microscopic fragments, the images of the dream were too real for him, it was too much. Outside Vil’s door he could see the dim glow of lamp light from under the door, Vil was likely still awake if the lamp was on. Epel took a deep, shuddering breath and knocked on the door, trying his hardest not to break down like a small child.

“Hm? Epel? Whatever are you doing up at this hour? Eye bags, my dear, eye bag- Epel…? Oh Epel what’s the matter?” Vil knelt down to Epel’s height, brushing his gentle, soft hands across they younger’s face. “Come on in, potato, tell me what’s the matter.”

Epel walked in slowly, nodding his head and sitting next to his Housewarden on the bed, staring at him with wide, frightened eyes. “V-Vil… I-I was just scared you were gone… that you left us for good… that the Underworld took you… *sniffle* I’m sorry… I know this is childish an’ stupid…”

‘Stupid! Damnit! Cryin’ like a lil kid in fronta Vil again… I’m gonna get a scoldin’ of a lifetime for the eyebags…’

Vil gasped, pulling Epel into a tight hug, petting his hair gently, swaying softly in an attempt of comfort. He had no idea Epel was so frightened, he had figured something was wrong when Epel refused to leave his side almost all afternoon during their Friday night cleaning session and this afternoon during lunch break but to see this side of Epel was entirely new. He was nothing more than a frightened little boy who had nearly lost someone he cared about deep down even if he did not want to admit it.

“I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere, just keep your head on my heart, see? It’s still beating, I’m still here, little apple. I’m still here…” Vil whispered soothingly, almost in a motherly manner as his slender fingers combed through the soft, violet locks.

‘No, Vil, you left us behind in my dream… you died… you died from old age too soon…’

“I-I’ve seen buncha old folks b-back home go an’ all but… but seein’ you get old an’ leavin’ us…” Epel could not finish that sentence, the words felt so rough on his tongue. The pain in his heart was excruciating and all he could do was wail into Vil’s chest like a child.

‘Sevens above, please don’t take Vil from us… please…’

Vil gently shushed the crying boy, whispering words of comfort as his tears flowed from his eyes. The feeling was the only calm Epel felt against the raging storm of emotions. The Pomefiore Housewarden knew that Epel always tried his hardest to keep a brave face, a defiant attitude, and a tough guy persona but Vil and Rook knew deep down Epel was a gentle soul who cared deeply for others even if he never showed it openly.

“Epel, how about you spend the night here with me, hm? That way you will know I will not leave you.” Vil smiled softly as the younger looked into his eyes as if questioning his suggestion. “I promise, I will not leave your side, you will be safe in here with me. No storm, titan, or Overblot monster will come in here.”

BOOM! CRASH!!

The first year gasped at the sudden clap of thunder, clinging to his Housewarden as if he were a baby koala. He nodded his head in agreement to Vil’s suggestion, eventually looking up at Vil worriedly before releasing his hold.

“S-sorry… dunno why the stupid storm is making me like this… I’m not usually all a scaredy-cat.”

“It can’t be helped, potato, to be completely honest with you, I too have had a difficult time with the storm…” Vil sighed and shrugged. “Truthfully, it reminds me of what happened at STYX, the titans and all those escaped monsters… and the fear of losing you and Rook.”

‘I-I had no idea Vil felt this way… I thought he was gonna say losing his good looks or somethin’ like that. Huh…’

“What? I know that look, potato- you have something snarky on the mind, spill it.”

“Ack- um- uh… n-no I’m good, Vil! Heh… heh…”

“One… Two… do not make me say three, potato.”

‘Great, he’s gone mama mode… no escapin’ this one…’

“Aight, I was gonna say just thought you were gonna say something ‘bout losing your good looks…”

Vil laughed, genuinely laughed at Epel’s remark. Ruffling his first year’s hair, he pulled him back into a hug. “You cheeky little apple, what am I to do with you?”

“Send me to Savanaclaw, maybe?”

“Not happening. You are staying with me, spudling.”

‘Damnit, guess I’m stuck with Vil- although, guess it ain’t a bad idea… heh- life does work in weird ways, huh?’

“Alright, potato, bedtime. It’s well past both of our bedtimes but sleeping in tomorrow as it is the weekend would not hurt, fufufufu~” Vil lifted the covers for Epel to climb under, like a mother he tucked him in and gently petted his head. Vil too tucked himself into bed and pulled the younger close to his frame, running his gentle, slim fingers through his hair and humming a soft lullaby.

Epel slowly but surely drifted off to sleep, the sweet humming of Vil’s lullaby and his heartbeat that was very much alive soothed his mind and guided him to slumber.

“Gnight… mum…” Epel mumbled sleepily, snuggling closer to Vil like a kitten.

“Goodnight, my littlest apple. May no nightmares touch your dreams tonight while I’m here.”

[misrepresentedmorallygrey]

PROPAGANDA

Jason Todd

Jason is as someone else put it succinctly "a mass-murdering terrorist and tax-evader". He does evil, the story constantly condemns him as evil and sinful and thuggish and stupid and uneducated and overemotional. He does have a lower and more selective kill count than Luke Skywalker, John Wick, Disney Mulan, etc. So you got part of the fandom writing an annoying flood of fan fiction about him being a warm soft nice guy skipping through the daisies with his fam (hey have fun, guys). Then you got another side picking out the worst ex-canon comics for him (while they ignore the worst ex-canon comics for their own fave characters i.e. "my fave only did evil because of a mind-control potion, but Jason always chooses to be evil even though the story and the writer himself said he was crazy and broken and suffering from magic insanity")... and accuse him of being a cop (he is a cop-hating cop-killing terrorist murderer criminal thuggy thug thug constantly being hunted by law enforcement in a world bursting to the brim with actual copaganda while the heroes regularly cooperate with police—so many anti-fans are misusing the term copaganda because they hate this fictional character to the point they want to train people to be blind to actual copaganda). Jason is absolutely a villain—and he returned to his hometown when it was a battlefield with hundreds killed in the latest conflict, ruled over by a child-killing torture-enthusiast. War is always wrong and evil, and Jason was raised to be a soldier in that war—and when the promises of justice and safety never came true, he decided to seize power through murder. Jason is evil. He is inarguably a lesser evil than what usually plagues the town. Innocent people are alive because he got his hands dirty. He is such an asshole. People like him should not exist. He shot a 10-year-old in the chest, and nobody not even the 10-year-old cared the next day because it really wasn't a big deal. He was kidnapped by a billionaire with a taste for young boys, and it's literally not a big deal. His crimesagainst fashion are unforgivable tho.

Batman's adopted son and second Robin that got killed by the Joker and came bag to enact a revenge plan by becoming a Gotham drug lord. He had a duffel bag of 8 decapitated heads at some point and planted a bomb on the Batmobile and then got his throat slit by Batman to save the Joker. He stole his older adoptive brother's (first Robin) identity and blew up a high school but he forbade Gotham's drug rings from selling to children and actually became an anti-hero in Gotham and killed the people Batman wouldn't (rapists, drug lords, etc.). He attacked his little adoptive brother (third Robin) and beat him to a bloody pulp. He also slept with Batman's baby mama. He raised a fucked up Superman clone with kindness. He has lead teams of Outlaws on multiple occasions that love him. He's on good terms with many (not all) of Gotham's vigilantes.

Listen. I love the guy, I love him dearly, but I feel like people these days are trying to make him like completely justified in everything he did?? And like you can see where he’s coming from, sure, but my man did absolutely beat Tim Drake, a teen, half to death for the crime of being Robin. He’s morally gray! He had decapitated heads in duffle bags! Let my guy be morally gray please stop woobifying him

Jason Todd is regularly stripped of his autonomy in fandom to make him more palatable and “redeemable”. They attribute his legitimate trauma, annger, and pain driven actions to “pit madness” a side effect of the way he was resurrected. Not only that but so many people don’t even know what he actually does when he comes back, it’s like a shitty game of telephone where each person tells the next a slightly altered version of his return and at the end everyone thinks that Jason hates the kid who took up the Robin mantle after him and wants to kill him and that he is mad at Bruce for no reason and all Bruce needs to do is tell Jason that he is loved (despite Jason having a lot of evidence to the contrary) and everything will be all better. His values and beliefs and convictions are treated as invalid and his trauma is something he needs to just get over because it’s inconvenient and harmful to everyone else and doesn’t he know that everyone else was also traumatized by his death?

vigilante who kills people • traumatized as hell • has trouble differentiating between good deeds and selfishness • shot his little brother on the spine • tried to kill his other two brothers • operates under the belief that controlling evil is the only way to help innocents • has an immesurable love for the people of Gotham and really wants them to be happy and safe!! • please for the love of god fandom stop talking about him as if the bad things hes done are forgiveable AND as if the good things he's done don't matter

Gonna be honest even canon misinterprets him. There's no winning. All you need to know about DC universe is that multiple different writers have had a go at writing him and every time he is wildly different which is maybe why people interpret him very differently?? Canon interprets him in a he did everything wrong way a lot of times and fanon interprets him in a he did nothing wrong way because he is blorbo to many, when he is very much someone who did a lot of shit wrong but also had a lot going on, while thats still not an excuse for like, a lot of maiming and murder, and (usually) later in the timeline he is less trigger happy and has evened out from villain to morally grey, his whole "redemption" to being morally grey is usually up to fan interpretation whether or not they're chill with letting him keep murdering bad people or they say no murder in general, and whether or not bats is chill with the whole he keeps murdering people thing since he has a staunch no murder stance. Also!! a lot of people in fanon write in the whole pit insanity thing as a way to excuse a lot of the things he did while in his full on villain era, and like,,, i don't think that was canon??? like i straight up think the whole pit madness thing was made up but a lot of DC canon is wibbly wobbly already so its hard to say. hope this wasn't too word salady but i hope you understand that whenever you are consuming any piece of media, canon or fanon, with this man in it you have literally no idea what you are stumbling into you, you are playing fucking spin the wheel, which flavour of Jason Todd are we reading about today. I will say though, canon does objectively treat him like dogshit and only really brings him back every now and then as a punching bag for Batsy whenever they want to have edgy emo abusive dad bruce wayne because comic writers think found family is for chumps and so is being a good parent and actively resist it with every ounce of their soul :/ so I understand why fanon strays so far away, it's just that fanon also can't seem to agree on the degree of morally grey he is?? idk someone save Jason it's the worst custody battle of the century between canon and fanon.

Miguel O'Hara

he is dj internalized homophobia. he is so so sick in the head

[bestiesenpai]

Finally writing for the prompt Walking into a flower shop and slamming down money on the counter, “How do i passively aggressively say fuck you in flower”

It was dark and macabre in the flower shop you'd walked into. It looked more like a gothic mansion than somewhere to get daffodils and lilies, but there they were in black vases atop matching black doilies. The rain beating against the window was a natural addition to the place you were in, it would be odd if the sun even dared to come out at a time like this.

There weren't only flowers in the shop, but a host of other odds and ends. Crystal balls and worn leather books, cobwebs that you weren't sure were for show or were truly real. Skeletons were used as decor, the bones of a corvid hanging above your head. With dark floorboards and nearly pitch-black floral wallpaper, the flower shop likened itself to a dungeon.

"Hello." The man behind the counter watched you with little interest, the mark across his face the only color against his staunchly pale skin. His fingers had several rings on each and there were silver bobby pins keeping back the hair that wasn't wrapped up in two messy buns.

"H-hi..." Too scared to make eye contact with him, your legs seemed to stop on their own atop a deep red oriental rug, it's tassels well worn and cared for. The man behind the counter didn't look at you any further, opting to go back to scribbling notes in a journal.

Just as you began to feel trapped in an awkward situation, the shutters on the windows banged loudly as the wind ripped through the air. Jumping to attention, you forced yourself to remember why you'd come here.

As the memories of what happened came back to you, your blood began to boil all over again. Fishing out the money from your pocket, you walked up to the counter with confidence.

"How do I passive aggressively say 'fuck you' in flower?" Not so gently slapping the money on the counter, you waited as the man looked between you and the money before letting out a huffing laugh.

"Who's it for?" He asked with a smirk, quickly tucking away his notebook into a drawer underneath the counter. Lacing his fingers together and resting his head on them, he leaned forward with rapt interest.

"An old boyfriend who thought he could have the last laugh." It made you want to vomit, the image of him with someone you used to call a friend burning in your mind.

"Oh do I have the thing for you." Sliding off his perch, the man quickly rounded the corner and began looking through all the flowers on display. "How long were you together?"

"Too long." You groaned, rolling your eyes at all the time you'd wasted with him.

"Did you love him?"

"Sadly."

"He allergic to anything?"

"Nope! As healthy as can be!"

"Damn." Snapping his fingers, the man tsked beneath his breath.

"I don't want to kill him!" You laughed breathlessly, watching him flutter about the shop. "Just...do you have any poison ivy or something?"

"Please, that stuff is childs play." Rolling his eyes, the man turned back to you with a few deep red dahlias in his hand. "Do you think he knows what nightshade looks like?"

"Look..." Trailing off, you realized you didn't know his name.

"Choso." He filled in the blank.

"Right, Choso. I don't want to do too much harm, okay? I want to inconvenience him, not send him to an early grave." As much as the thought was tempting in the moment, you had to keep a straight head.

"Fine." Rolling his eyes, Choso dropped his shoulders and stepped away from a display case you'd just now noticed had a 'poison' sign taped on it. "You're no fun."

"Maybe next time." Laughing at his overdramatics, you began to wander about in the store, trailing behind him as he picked up roses with large thorns and a few dried twigs. As you followed behind him, you noticed tattoos along his arms and peaking out from the collar of his shirt; many were flowers in black ink and others were of bees and snakes, small birds that you would find in a garden.

"Are you going to tell me your name or are you content with just staring at me?" He asked without looking at you. Now it was his turn to laugh as you quickly ducked your head away.

"It's (Y/N)." The answer rushed out of your mouth, a heat swiftly enveloping your cheeks.

"Well (Y/N)..." slowly turning around, Choso presented you with the bouquet of dry twigs, thorny roses and black dahlias. "How's this look?"

Looking it over, you thought about the previous topic of conversation, and a smile struggled to stay off your face.

"I know you said it was childs play, but do you really not have any poison ivy?" The smile broke through you, flashing your teeth and making you giggle at the mere prospect. Looking at you with his own smirk, Choso nodded to himself and took a few steps back, walking towards the counter.

"Follow me." He said, waiting for you at a backdoor. You didn't think twice about following him, and soon you were thrust into a different world entirely.

The room you entered was, immediately upon entering, smothering. It was instantly 10 degrees warmer and plenty more humid, with strange neon lights hanging above delicate looking plants in pots all around the room. Shutting the door behind you, Choso donned a pair of gloves and gestured to the room.

"Take your pick." His voice was far too casual, like you had any idea what you were looking at. Begin a slow walk around the room, you could see tiny signs positioned in the pots, giving away their names.

"Jimson weed. Queen Ann's lace. Cow parsnip." Reading the signs, it was astonishing that Choso had so many deadly plants. "Is it even legal to have all these?" Turning over your shoulder, you looked at him curiously.

"I'm a botanist!" He proclaimed, pretending to be offended. "I study these plants! They're certainly never used for anything nefarious!" Breaking out into a grin as he finished his sentence, Choso shook his head. "Ah, who am I kidding? Now, did you choose any?"

"Let's go with something simple, okay? Stinging nettle and hogweed sound good."

"Good choice." Throwing a quick thumbs up, Choso got to work plucking a few for the bouquet. Following him out, a shiver rippled up your back walking out of the makeshift greenhouse.

"So, how will it get to him?" You hadn't the slightest idea how one would deliver deadly flowers.

"Don't worry, I know a guy. Just write his address on the card and I'll take care of the rest. That ex of yours won't even know it's from you."

"Perfect." Eagerly scribbling down the address, you hoped his new girlfriend would be there as well so they could both suffer.

"Hey (Y/N)." Once everything was said and done, Choso pulled out another card, scribbling a slew of numbers on it. "If it's not too much trouble, text me after he get's them. I wanna know how much it hurts."

Immediately punching his number into your phone, you beamed at Choso.

"I'll do you one better, I'll come back and tell you in person."

Sticking his hand out, you and Choso exchanged a firm handshake, and neither of you let go.

"Deal."

[ms-snape]

SPECIAL TIME WITH SPECIAL PEOPLE

Summary: Ramadan has passed and so it's time to Aïd El fitr, for this special day Y/n and Hakim decided to invite the latter's family.

Note: know Hakim has a sister but I can't find her name then we'll just call her Kenza.

Y/n's POV

I was in the kitchen finishing breakfast when I felt someone hugging me from behind.

"Hello hbiba, Eid Mubarak" Hakim's sweet morning voice was heard "Need help?"

"Hello to you too Hakim, and no it's ok I'm done" I turn around so we can meet face to face.

"Do you realize this is our first Eid together" his face lights up saying that and it made me fall more and more in love with him.

"Yeah, a year ago we spent Eid each on his own with his family and today..." I stop looking for the terms to use.

"...And today you are part of my family" I dive into his gaze and there it was as if time was frozen but all that was interrupted by the sound of the doorbell.

"It must be them, I'm going to open it for them" I walk towards the front door and Hakim follows me closely.

I open the door to be greeted by the warm smile of Hakim's mother, Kenza preceded her and hugged me, not too hard since she was holding her son.

"Y/n, oh my god I missed you so much" she gives me a big smile which I return.

"Hi Kenza I missed you too, hello little one, how are you" I hi the little boy. "Don't stay there come in" I welcome them and Hakim greets his family.

We set the table and the family atmosphere began, it really is one of the best times of the year, where everyone gathers around a table and we discuss, laugh, and bickering sometimes just for fun, like Hakim is doing with Kenza's son right now.

"No she loves me more" the little one retorts and I couldn't help but laugh hearing them bickering over who I love the most.

"We just have to ask her" then they will both turn to me.

"Boys this is nonsense I love you both" I'm trying to calm the situation down.

"Yeah but I'm your husband" Hakim sounded like a baby saying that, I look at Kenza with a pleading look asking her to help me, she laughs for a moment then stands up saying.

"Go play football in the garden together, I need to talk to Y/n, but just between girls" the boys run but the youngest gets closer to Hakim's mother.

"Grandma come with us, I want you to tell Aunt Y/n how I beat uncle Hakim at football" she gets up and follows them in the garden, it made me wonder if he will be like this with our future children, I admit that we never really talk about it. "Earth to Y/n you hear me" Kenza waves a hand in front of me.

"Yeah sorry I was just lost in thought"

"And among those thoughts will be you and Hakim having a child," she smirked.

"We just got married, and the subject was never mentioned"

"Yeah but still you are going to make a beautiful baby, and I would like to see Hakim be a little more responsible and more arguing with a 6 year old kid" we burst out laughing when she finishes her sentence, and we have keep talking about everything and nothing until the others come back, Hakim was sulking.

"I won, I won" the little man shouted with joy, Hakim collapsed next to me.

"I did it on purpose, I didn't want him sulking for the rest of the day," he mutters.

"Yes honey, don't worry I believe you"

♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡

That's it that's all.

I hope you enjoyed it.

Please send me request

Love u ♡

[whump-me]

Protector: Chapter 7

Chapter 7 of Protector, a novella-length whump story about a ruthless superpowered assassin trained from childhood to kill, and the brother determined to save him from himself.

Masterpost | the Mind Games universe | Read the complete novel on Patreon

---

The man who showed up at Bryce’s door less than an hour later was stick-thin, with oversized square glasses and a tweed jacket. His hair was a blond puff of dandelion fluff atop his head. He smelled faintly of mothballs and old books. As Bryce waved him inside, he flashed Bryce and the others a smile that was as nervous as it was enthusiastic.

Abruptly, like he was only now remembering how to interact with a fellow human being, he jutted his hand out to Bryce. “Professor Herschel Helmich,” he said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Any friend of Sony’s is a friend of mine.”

Bryce shook the man’s hand. The man pumped his arm enthusiastically with his twiggy grip. Bryce shot a questioning look at Sonia.

“Herschel is the foremost expert in cults at Great Oak University,” Sonia said.

Herschel, finally letting go of Bryce’s hand, raised an eyebrow at Sonia. “Great Oak? You’re selling me short. I’m the foremost expert in the state, at the very least. Possibly the country.” His mild tone, and the smile that hadn’t left his face, made what could have been arrogance seem instead charmingly puppylike, eager to please.

Bryce looked from Herschel to Sonia. “How do you two know each other again?”

“Board game night,” said Sonia. “I met him after you stopped coming.”

“My professional expertise doesn’t translate to games, I’m afraid,” Herschel said ruefully. He winked at Sonia. “But I still intend to beat you at Clockwork Goblin one of these days.”

Bryce cleared his throat. “I hear you know something about brainwashing.”

Herschel flashed Bryce a reproachful look. Bryce smelled a lecture coming on. “That’s a rather simplistic term,” Herschel said, right on cue. “But yes, a lot of my research has to do with the methods of persuasion used by cults and other high-control groups.”

“I don’t care what you call it,” said Bryce, “as long as you can help.”

Reproach dissolved into sympathy on Herschel’s face. “It’s someone you care about, isn’t it?”

“My brother,” Bryce confirmed.

“I don’t know how much I can do for you,” Herschel warned, twisting his hands together like his potential inability to help caused him physical pain. “My research tends more toward the academic and less toward the practical.”

“Right now, you’re all we’ve got,” said Sonia. She shot Bryce a brief look that made Bryce flush, remembering all over again what she had said about him being in over his head. “Anything you can give us is more than we’ve got right now.”

“Well… I can try,” said Herschel, still twisting his hands. He stilled them with a visible effort of will, and wiped his palms on his corduroy pants. “First of all, why don’t you tell me about this group your brother is involved with?”

Bryce opened his mouth. Then he hesitated. Ignoring Herschel’s questioning look for a moment, he turned to Sonia. “I know you trust him, or you wouldn’t have brought him here,” he said in a low voice. “But can he be trusted to keep a secret?”

Bryce was sure the man could hear him. For the moment, he didn’t care. The investigator’s nervousness had given Bryce an idea of what could happen to people who were loose-lipped about the existence of PERI.

“My lips are sealed,” Herschel promised. He mimed zipping his lips, like a child might have done. “It’ll be as tough to get it out of me as it is to assemble the heart of a clockwork goblin.”

Bryce looked at him, then at Sonia. “Board game reference,” she said.

Bryce nodded. Like Sonia had said, he was all they had. “My brother was kidnapped at twelve years old by a group intending to brainwash him into working for them,” he said. “Or… you know, whatever you want to call it. The point is, as far as I can tell, it worked. I need to know how to reverse whatever they did.”

Herschel’s brows drew together. “Normally, when these groups recruit children, they come at them through the parents first. Kidnapping children exposes them to too many potential legal—”

“I can guarantee you this isn’t like the cults you’re used to dealing with,” said Bryce. “They’re not interested in religion, or in gaining followers. What they’re interested in is training black-ops agents.”

Herschel’s eyebrows hit the ceiling. He shot a brief, longing glance over his shoulder at the door. “I’m sorry for whatever happened to your brother,” he said, his voice in a slightly higher register than it had been. “But this sounds like it may be more an issue for a therapist than an academic.”

“Since you already think I’m crazy,” said Bryce, “I might as well go ahead and tell you the rest. They recruit people with supernatural powers. Normally those powers are mental—telepathy, telekinesis, and the like. Occasionally they’re more physical. Like my brother. He’s got super speed.” He glowered at the academic, daring him to either believe him or make a break for it.

Herschel did neither. Instead, he shot Sonia a wide-eyed look, as if to say, Do you actually expect me to believe this?

Sonia let out a tight sigh. “I know what it sounds like. But if Bryce says it’s true, then it’s true.”

That was almost enough to make Bryce forgive the things she had said in Zach’s room. He shot her a faint smile.

Then he turned his attention back to Herschel, who still hadn’t run for the door. “Well? Can you help?”

Herschel was twisting his hands again. His shoulders were up around his ears like a vampire’s cape. “Even if this is true,” he said, sounding like that was still very much in question for him, “this… isn’t exactly what my research has focused on. To put it mildly.”

“Please,” Sonia said, her voice soft.

Bryce shot her a look. He hadn’t known helping him meant that much to her.

Herschel looked at her for a long time, too. Apparently he wasn’t used to hearing her say please.

“Well…” he said slowly, “if this turns out to be true, it would be interesting from a research perspective.”

Bryce tensed. “You did promise to keep all this a secret,” he reminded the man.

“Don’t worry. If this ends up in a paper someday, I’ll keep it all anonymous.”

Bryce wasn’t reassured. “It’s for your safety as much as ours. No matter how vague you are, there’s a good chance these people will figure out you’re talking about them. And trust me—you don’t want that.”

“If it’s not true,” Herschel pointed out, “then I don’t have anything to worry about. And if it is… then it sounds like someone should be doing something to bring it to light.”

His earnestness only made Bryce feel worse. “Just be careful.”

“Stop dithering,” Sonia ordered. “Do you want his help or not?”

Bryce took a deep breath. “I do.”

Herschel’s deep breath was considerably shakier. “All right,” he said, taking out a notebook and pen. “Why don’t we find somewhere to sit down, and you can tell me everything you know about what happened to your brother.”

“We can do better than that,” said Sonia. “You can talk to his brother yourself.”

Bryce shot her a look, not at all sure about that idea. But Sonia was already leading the way to the spare room, with Teddy and Herschel following behind.

“Listen,” Bryce said, bringing up the rear, “before you go in there, there’s something else you should know—”

But Sonia was already opening the door—giving Herschel an excellent view of the twine binding Zach to the bed.

Herschel drew back with a visible gasp. He looked at Sonia, then over his shoulder at Bryce.

Bryce sighed. “Like I said, they got into his head. As soon as I let him go, he’ll just go back there.”

Herschel stared at the twine like he had never seen a clothesline before. “But…” he said faintly. “Do the knots really have to be so tight?”

“What part of ‘superpowered black ops agent’ do you not understand?” Bryce asked.

“Another stranger,” Zach said, like he was announcing a funeral procession. “Who’s the new guy?”

Bryce pushed through the doorway. “Someone who can help you,” he said. “I hope.”

Herschel sat down in the chair Bryce had brought in here when Zach was still unconscious and Bryce had been watching over him all day and night. He started to pull the chair closer to Zach. Then, after a second of thought, he scootched it back instead. He laid his notebook down on his lap, and tapped the pen restlessly against the page—probably to stop himself from twisting his hands again.

“Why don’t we start with introductions?” He held out his free hand to Zach. Then, looking at the twine, he blushed and tucked it back into his lap. “I’m Herschel. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“I’ve been through anti-interrogation training,” Zach said, his voice cold and hard as steel. “You might as well skip the fake rapport and go straight to the waterboarding.”

“I’m sorry,” said Bryce to Herschel.

But surprisingly, Herschel barely looked shaken. “I’ve heard more hostile things from some of my interview subjects,” he said with a small smile. He turned back to Zach. “These people who, um… trained you? Is that what you call it?”

Zach stared him down and gave him nothing.

Herschel began to sweat under the force of Zach’s gaze, but he didn’t let up. “The people who trained you,” he said, with a little more confidence this time. “Tell me about them.”

The silence stretched on endlessly. Just when Bryce was about to tell Herschel this wasn’t going to work, Zach spoke up. “Bryce is wrong,” he said. “He’s not going to bring back the twelve-year-old kid he remembers. No matter how many therapists he brings in to talk to me.”

“I’m not a therapist,” Herschel corrected. “I’m a—”

“That kid is gone,” Zach interrupted. His intense gaze flicked Bryce for a fraction of a second before returning to Herschel. “I’m a PERI operative—which, based on your questions, you already know. If that’s not the brother Bryce wants, he shouldn’t have brought me here.” He turned his head away.

“You might as well talk to him,” Bryce said to Zach. “No matter what you say, I’m not going to let you go any time soon… so what else have you got to do with your time?”

 Bryce could practically feel the temperature in the room rise as Zach seethed. But he turned back to face Herschel. “Fine. What do you want to know?”

“You could start by telling me about what this… PERI… means to you,” Herschel said. “In your own words.”

Zach thought about it for a long moment. “Okay,” he finally said, to Bryce’s surprise. “I’ll talk to you. Like Bryce said, what else have I got to keep me busy?” He jerked his chin toward Bryce, Sonia, and Teddy. “I’ll talk to you. But not them. Especially not him.” The direct stare he gave Bryce left no ambiguity as to who he was talking about.

Bryce swallowed down his pain. “I’m not leaving you in here alone with him. I’ve seen what you can do.”

“I’m not asking you to,” said Zach. “All I’m asking for is little privacy.” He twitched his fingers in a beckoning motion. “Come closer,” he said to Herschel.

A warning siren went off in Bryce’s head. But he couldn’t be sure whether it was just hurt and jealousy, or something else. The resulting hesitation meant that by the time he opened his mouth to warn Herschel, the man was already shifting his chair closer to Zach, leaning in to hear what he had to say.

Zach’s twitching fingers stretched out for Herschel’s pen—and caught it. He flipped it around with impressive agility and drove the point through Herschel’s hand, pinning him to the bed.

Blood bloomed on the sheet under Herschel’s hand. He made a strangled noise. His eyes were round, his mouth open in a horrified O.

Sonia reached for her weapon. Teddy made a queasy noise and backed up toward the door.

“Let me go,” Zach ordered, “and I’ll let him go.”

Sonia drew her gun. “I think you’ve forgotten who has the upper hand.”

Zach twisted the pen, drawing a thin scream from Herschel. “Speaking of hands,” he said with a challenging stare.

The sharp crack of a gunshot stopped Bryce’s heart.

The room was utterly silent. Bryce couldn’t even hear his own breathing—probably because he wasn’t breathing. He didn’t dare look at Zach. Or at Sonia, either, because whether she had panicked or made a cold calculation, she had shot his brother—oh god, oh fuck, she had shot Zach—and he didn’t think he could ever stand to look at her again after that.

Only… she hadn’t shot Zach. Because when Bryce finally dared to look at his brother, Zach’s eyes were wide with surprise, but not pain. There were no fresh spots of blood on his body. And when he looked around the room, he finally found the bullet hole approximately three inches from his own head, a neat circle in the drywall. He tried to envision how Sonia would have had to twist to shoot in that direction—not to mention why—and quickly gave up.

Bryce turned his attention back to Zach. “Another of your speed tricks?” he asked, not bothering to hide the shaking in his voice. “Or have you got a friend out there?” He nodded toward the window—and only then noticed the matching hole there, and the splinters of shattered glass around it. Well, that answered one question.

Zach held his gaze. There was no warmth there. No trace of the brother Bryce remembered. “Looks like it’s time for me to go.”

---

Tagged: @sowhumpful

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[decadentpandawasteland]

Hi, here is the next part of my Revenge Series. Please feel free to leave any and all feedback, and as always, thanks for reading :)

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Everything was dark. Everything hurt. It felt like he'd been run over by a caravan.

“What… what happened?” Nicolas thought to himself. He opened his eyes only to be met with the exact same darkness as when they were closed. He could tell he was on a bed. Nicolas moved his arms and legs. They weren't shackled, but they hurt a lot. The last thing he remembered was, what? Arguing with Master Quin. Following that pull that took him…

Nicolas shot up in bed. Every muscle in his body tensed, and he immediately regretted the sudden motion. Ragnar. The chalice. The pulses. Suddenly a ring of light appeared around him, rushing out on all sides of him. It created a wave of light, giving him a few precious seconds to take in his surroundings. He was in an old section of whatever place the pull had taken him to, maybe a dungeon that had been converted into living quarters?

Nicolas tried to send out another pulse of light. It came and went more quickly than the last one. He tried again and again, each time slowly getting pieces of the puzzle together. A thought occurred to him. The ring of light always came out through his torso, spreading outward in all directions. Instead of pushing it through, he tried to hold the light in place. To his utter astonishment, it had worked.

“Good…” an ominous voice called in his mind. It was deep and gravely, like how a mountain would sound if it could speak. It was an alien thought.

“Who are you?” Nicolas asked out loud. His voice was so harsh it almost didn't sound human. The voice gave no reply. The only door in the room opened, someone drawn to the noise.

A man entered the room. He was dressed in crimson robes with a long hat that almost caught the on the door frame. There was a familiar crest on his robes. A black dragon with a person in one claw and grains of wheat in the other. The Brood.

“Finally, you've awoken,” the man said through red stained lips. Ragnar.

“What did you do to me?” Nicolas asked. He remembered pieces of it, but couldn't put them together. It was as if the memories themselves had been cut and mixed together.

“Me? I did nothing to you child. You chose of your own volition to partake in the drinking of the holy relic. A gift for us mortals by our Great One,” Ragnar said simply.

“And what exactly was this holy relic?” Nicolas asked, frustration in his voice. It reminded him of Master Quin. Always beating around the bush. Always hedging or even just flat out ignoring him. He wanted the power to make them listen. No, he needed it.

Power. That's right. That's what he had been searching for.

“Child, it is a gift for us. From hi-” Ragnar was cut off. The light encircling Nicolas shot outward, passing through Ragnar. Suddenly, Nicolas could feel it. A feeling that he had only felt within himself before, but thanks to his study of astral magic he knew exactly what this was, Ragnar's soul.

“The soul is like water. It takes the shape of whatever vessel it is housed in. The concentration of where the soul mostly resides will tell you your magic affinity. In theory, if the soul takes on a human form, pieces may be torn from the whole…” Nicolas remembered from his studies.

“So you're going to do this too?” He asked, suddenly seething. “You're all the same, thinking only about yourselves, never daning to teach, just barking orders and expecting me to follow. No. Not anymore,” he said, lifting his arm up, palm towards Ragnar.

“Do it. Strike back against those who hold you back. They are afraid of you. They will stop at nothing to keep you from your goal,” the Voice said. It was stoking the flames of violence.

“I'll make them all listen,” he thought. He closed his hand into a tight fist. He could feel it now, Ragnar's soul. It was old and tainted, almost feeling greasy. Nicolas pulled hard, feeling the tension of Ragnar's soul attempting to stay attached to his left arm.

“Do it.”

He pulled harder, his muscles felt shredded, his joints filled with glass. He didn't care.

“Take what's yours.”

Niclas used his other hand now, too. Pulling desperately as Ragnar screamed.

“Make them suffer.”

Nicolas felt part of Ragnar's soul rip. An inhuman screech filled the dank dungeon, echoing off of the stone walls. It was something so horrendous it would stay within the stone walls until the end of time.

Grunting with effort and through clenched teeth, Nicolas grunted out the words.

“You! Will! Listen!”

Just like that the soul residing within Ragnar's left arm was torn away at the shoulder. Nicolas was screaming. Ragnar was screaming. The Voice roared. Something within Nicolas came forth. A carnal hunger for power. He felt the presence greedily devour the segment of soul, savoring it. The pain within his body lessened. He could feel it now. Power flowed through him, an unstoppable wave rushing through his very existence.

Nicolas stood and walked over to the whimpering man who laid on the ground. Nicolas created light again and was surprised. He could move it now from his torso to his left hand. Nicolas could only see part of Ragnar's left hand. It was shriveled and blackened.

“Now I'm going to ask again. What did I drink?”