#still in shock our fandom was fed Tumblr posts

[staud]

MOTA GIFS PER EPISODE | Part 9 Finale So, he takes the shovel. To live, one must make choices.

[computercreature]

something i see a lot in the dungeon meshi fandom is attributing izutsumi's personality traits to her being a cat. and while ryoko kui definitely gave her cat-like traits intentionally, she's a talented enough writer to also give her a backstory with reasons for those traits. for example, her tendency to only do and eat what she wants.

izutsumi's character arc revolves around freedom. she grew up caged in a circus. and although she was fed enough to survive, this was only because a living catgirl attracted more customers than a dead one.

[id: first image is izutsumi as a child framed behind bars and standing on all fours, making it clear how skinny she is. a hand in the foreground holds out a bowl of what appears to be kibble. narration says “thrown in a cage and given food every once in a while… is that what you would call ‘being raised’?” in the second image she is now sitting on the floor of her cage and eating a rat. end id]

look how skinny she is! we see her eating what appears to be... kibble? oats? and then a rat that she possibly caught for herself. she had no choice but to eat anything she could.

[id: part of the dungeon meshi manga. a slightly older izutsumi is tied to a post and tade sits next to her to say "we've got a roof over our heads, beds, food, and clothes. they've got everything here. is there someplace nicer than this out there?" izutsumi thnks for a moment and says "i hate that someone's already decided what i'm going to eat tomorrow. my name, the clothes i wear, where i sleep, where i go next... here, all of that's been decided by another person... even though, come tomorrow, i might want to eat something else instead. that's why i'm leaving." at this, tade cries out in shock. end id]

when she's taken into the nakamoto household they begin to treat her much better. she's on about equal footing as tade, who also had a rough living situation before being taken in, and tade loves it there! they get healthy and tasty food and they're not sleeping in cages. but izutsumi still isn't free. she can pass off her chores and vegetables to tade and disobey in any way she can but she can't leave. maizuru even put a collar on her, further dehumanizing and trapping izutsumi.

when izutsumi joins laios's party, she's finally 'free', but it's not the kind of freedom she wants. she has to eat even more food she doesn't want or else she'll starve. but the difference now is that she's can leave at any time, and if she stays, she's treated as an equal. they're not feeding her monsters because they see her as inferior. they're all eating the same food so they can reach their goal(s). and this is part of izutsumi ultimately learning that in order to do what she wants, she has to be willing t do the things she doesn't want to

[bellamioneotp]

Most Famous Bellamione Fics

This fic list got voted on my poll, so here it is! The fics that the Bellamione nation was built on.

All fics are on Fanfiction.net as it was the OG site for our Bellamione foundations.

Those Gilded Chains we Wear- This fanfic was published around 2012 and basically launched the Bellamione fandom into the stratosphere. The popularity of the ship began to pick up and more long form fics began to be published. It's considered a cornerstone of Bellamione culture and has inspired countless fics no doubt.

Impossible- This fic predates Those Gilded Chains and is very well written as well. It leans a bit more heavily on Hermione and Bellatrix not getting along at the start but still presents growth in their relationship. I feel this fic does not get as much recognition in the community despite it being one of the rare long fics in 2011 for the ship.

The Dark Corners of the Earth and Murder Most Horrid- Both written by the same author, this writer is still present in the Bellamione community today and writing more. The first fic presents eldritch horror in it and the second one is detective story. Both stories are long and include much worldbuilding. They kept the Bellamione community fed for long stretches of time.

Fractures, Fractures The Last Champion, and Turn Time Series,- All written by the same author, the first and second one feature the OG professor Bellatrix and student Hermione relationship that was fully fleshed out. Their back and forth was always a treat a read, as was the competition and the plot around it. The Turn Time series is also a fun read and though it can be confusing at times trying to figure out what is going on with the plot in connection to all three fics, that is part of the appeal.

Our Mercurial Selves- No longer up, RIP.

No Good Deed- No longer up on any site, this story was intense and very well written. There was always a lot of interaction between the characters and the story unfortunately cut off at a really good climax point.

Lotus Flower- A soulmate AU that sadly is not finished. But it had a good amount of tension in it that would made seeing it unfold fun to read.

Metamorphosis- A fic that has similar vibes and shares story beats to Those Gilded Chains in a good way. It is completed. Not as super popular as the other ones but still worth a read because the reveal of Hermione dating Bellatrix is satisfying.

Future Shocks- Very action based and not much Bellamione until the end, but it still packs quite a punch when reading it. A good example of how to write the horrors of war.

Reign Down- I consider this the dark au fic of all dark au fics. The world building is fantastic and reading the story unnerves me which means it's doing a great job with how it's unfolding. It has not been updated in a while but if you're looking for how a dark au should be structured for Bellamione, this is it.

Time Heals All Wounds- This fic utilized Time Travel in a way not seen in Bellamione fics before and popularized time travel fics as a way to help redeem the relationship between the two of them.

[tevanbegins]

Wanted to share a little something for my fellow Tevan stans currently fed up with the rising flood of BoB toxicity on 911 abc's socials.

We can all see that post the release of the Tommy x Henren scene, the BoBs have gone totally rabid. Until the Tevan pride post, we were still managing to dominate the comments section with our positivity. But now all hell has broken loose.

I mean, it's upsetting and annoying to see but not shocking. They whined so much about the nonsensical karaoke scene which they never got to see, but the show released the bonus scene with Tommy right before the new season's production begins (and the writing has started weeks ago.) It's such a huge slap on their faces and somewhere in the back of their minds they know B*ddie is never happening, but they pretend to be in denial and now their strategy is to make sure that we Tevan stans don't get to gush over our canon ship without having to counter their nastiness. All because their fanon ship dreams are dying a painful death.

Do the BoBs and the B*ddies outnumber Bucktommies? On social media at least they do, we have to admit this. But I still hope that the writers don't indulge this bullying and harassment just because that fandom is a loud majority on socials. Their controversial opinions and insensible demands cannot be a deciding factor for shaping future storylines. There are many people who appreciate Buck and Tommy's storyline and feel represented by it, despite the little screen-time they've gotten. We cherish all the tiny crumbs we get and make the most out of it without threatening and harassing anyone for what we don't get. We daydream and make our headcanons but we don't tell the writers how to do their jobs. And that's the reason why we were blessed with the deleted Tommy-Henren clip.

Ultimately, the showrunner is answerable to the network studio mainly for the show's viewership and ratings, not the hue and cry about whether certain fandoms are enjoying the current storylines or not. And with the way these BoBs are getting crazier with their delusions, they will never stop watching the show even 50 seasons later with their eternal hopes for B*ddie going canon, so I believe viewership is never going to be an issue for Tim and ABC.

So I am pretty positive that as long as Tim is personally keen on developing Buck and Tommy's love story (and the network is supportive), irrespective of the BoBs' frustration and their vile flood of hate for Tommy and Tevan, he will continue writing as his creative vision sees fit. We shouldn't lose faith just because the haters have stepped up their game and are going above and beyond to make us lose it. We just have to stop engaging with them completely. The block button is the greatest boon — it's so much more satisfying to do it than bickering with the haters. Just continue spreading your love for Tommy and Buck, even if we seem a minority. Little drops make an ocean after all.

Not to forget, the timing of the Tommy and Henren clip being released is so important. They could have shared it with us during Pride but they didn't. They did it now. Which means that Tommy is definitely an important part of the storylines for season 8 even if it's in a supporting capacity. ABC wouldn't have released the clip so close to the premiere date announcement if Tommy was not returning. Tim Minear wouldn't be telling fans how old Tommy is and other stuff if he had no plans to write more for that character. So we have to ignore all the mad theories, gross misinterpretations, and wicked hopes of the BoBs and trust that better things are coming! 🙏🏽

[violetmuses]

Phoenix - A. Aretas ❤️‍🩹

Title: Phoenix - A. Aretas ❤️‍🩹

Fandom: “Bad Boys” Film Universe

Character: Armando Aretas

Pairing: Armando Aretas + Female Reader

Main Storyline: An unexpected bond may never fade out.

Tag List: @nelo0wesker @yassbishimvintage @nobodygetsza @peaxhygirl @superstar-t20 @adoresmiles @klssngss @deja-r @hyper-trash-panda @amethyst-loves-bucky @planetblaque 🏷

=====

2024

“Stay out of my way.” Your joyful personality vanished at the Miami Police Department.

Wearing this Bud Light shirt, Armando chose one trucker hat that veiled his brown eyes. Jeans covered both legs and boots stepped along.

Shit! Upon realization, Detective Mike Lowrey scrambled into this precinct once you crossed paths with previous criminal Armando Aretas.

After facing many questions or encountering secrets over time, even Mike took responsibility and now stood as Armando's biological father.

“Don't panic. Armando has joined our team.” Mike buffered each stance in the hallway.

“Keep him away from me.” You then stood ground this time.

“He's your partner.” Mike offered reality, but still cringed.

“What the hell, Mike?” You immediately turned around.

“I've pulled strings for Armando and we'll explain everything.” Mike continued speaking.

To cut down time in prison, Aretas would help the AMMO squad.

Given no other option, you moved forward and headed to the briefing room.

Here we go.

______

Intelligent agencies whispered that late Captain Conrad Howard muddled with the cartel for years, but Mike and his partner Marcus Burnett would hustle and prove Cap’s innocence right away.

Soon enough, you discovered that Armando could identify whoever framed Captain Howard in the first place.

“Dorn has files we need, but our department is compromised.” Mike offered this truth and your heart dropped.

“Rats in the walls.” You repeat that warning from Cap's footage. This inside job could change everything.

“Yeah. Let's go.” Mike nodded, leading everyone out of this precinct.

*******

Radio silence grounded that commute when Mike Lowrey parked near this boathouse located on the waterfront.

“Stay outside.” Mike instructed Armando regardless of circumstances and exited the well-known Porsche beside Marcus.

“Still hate me?” Offering slightly accented English, Armando taunts while sitting next to you.

“Shut up.” You clipped right back. “I'm leaving when this case ends.”

“What?” Still wearing that trucker hat, Armando faced your direction.

“You heard me.” You wouldn't repeat that phrase this time. “I'm only here for the mission.”

“I barely know who you are.” Aretas revealed this truth over your presence.

“So what?” You then scoffed near Armando. “Mike is your father, but I'm not staying around the same person who hurt my friends.”

Armando turned silent, definitely puzzled with emotions.

“Siento haberte asustado.” Using his native language of Spanish, Aretas apologized to you.

“No eres un maldito fantasma.” Snipping in return, your partner is not a ghost.

“Lo sé, pero no luches conmigo para siempre.” Armando didn't want you to keep fighting against him.

Fed up, you leave this Porsche and sit by the dock instead, but Aretas follows your every move.

______

Sooner than later, nightfall crossed sunset as both of you still waited to enter Dorn's house.

“What's your name at least?” Giving English back, Armando faced you without jokes.

“Doesn't matter.” You defended yourself through privacy.

Before Aretas could respond, extra footsteps creaked on the dock as Mike walked close.

“Everything's set up. C'mon.” Lowrey didn't play around and you head inside, joining the team as planned.

****

“Kelly's with Dorn?” You whispered to Marcus despite everything, shocked for a moment.

“Found Kelly leaving the bathroom.” Burnett chuckled, shrugging.

“Ooh!” Humored, you laugh for the first time in quite a while.

Tech genius Dorn and weapons expert Kelly dated each other now.

“Did you kick his ass yet?” Marcus gestured near Armando while digital screens lined up the culprit search.

“I would've broken the dock into pieces to fight him.” You defended your skills.

“No.” Aretas clipped without turning away from his search.

“Uh-uh.” Mike intervened once more. “Don't start anything else, you two. Focus.”

Sitting down, you shook your head toward Kelly, but Armando trailed with materials anyway.

Damn.

*****

Bingo!

James McGrath: Former Army Ranger turned DEA agent. Tortured before joining the cartel himself.

Grounding this abandoned alligator park located in Florida, Mike pulled his trigger to kill McGarth and the mission exonerated Captain Howard.

Before Marshal Judy Howard, Captain's grieving daughter, gunned down Armando with revenge, you walked forward.

“Don't!” You lifted both hands and stood as protection.

“Get out of here before I change my mind.” Judy holstered the firearm despite grieving and you helped wounded Armando move until further notice.

=====

2025

This crowded terminal helped Armando Aretas return to Miami without drama. Even traveling the world pulled different strings for quite some time.

When you stand near “Baggage Claim,” Armando wouldn't even hold back this opportunity to smile.

“Hi. Sorry I'm late….” Your path stepped closer, but Aretas dropped luggage and hugged you, just thankful to be alive here.

[dreamingofep]

Sinned Awakening pt. 22 🩸

An AU Elvis fic

(Vampire!Elvis/Vampire Austin! Elvis × reader)

Character/Fandom: Elvis - Elvis (2022)

Prompt: Getting promoted to be Elvis full time housekeeper, you realize the man holds secrets beyond beliet and your undeniable attraction makes you tear the unknown. [Fem!Reader]

TW: Cussing, teasing, mentions of blood/gore!!!

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 3.6k

A/N: Hello everyone happy Sunday! I’m having a lot of fun writing about not one, but two vampires now🤭 Reader is a really challenging vampire so Elvis has his hands full with you🤭 Hope you like this little part. More to come shortly! Please comment, message, and reblog if you feel so inclined

A reminder, this is Vampire!Elvis so there is going to be mentions of blood/gore from here on out. If that's not your thing, sorry but it's needed for the story.

If you'd like to start from the beginning, start here or Ao3 I hope you enjoy and message and comment what you think.

One.

We’re one.

That word left you breathless and never thought it would be completely true. He made you his and you did the same. You feel like you’re on a cloud, floating aimlessly around him and this new world you had to discover. You continue to study every detail of him, some that you’ve never realized he had before. Like the way his sideburns curl at the ends by his ears. Or how his eyebrows had this fluffiness to them and perfectly framed his eyes. And the way his neck has this perfectly carved musculature to it that makes you want to lick all the way up to the part of his neck you bit before.

The feeling of his touch zaps you back to reality and you look back into his eyes. You’re still taken aback by the beautiful golden sparkling eyes that look back into yours. 

“How do you feel baby?” He coos. 

You had to pause and think about it. You weren’t accustomed to any of this and weren’t exactly sure what you should be feeling. 

“I think I’m okay, everything feels a little different but I feel perfectly fine so far,” you smile. 

“I know honey, you’ll need some getting used to it all but it’s okay. I’ll help you through it all,” he assures. 

Your thumb rubs against his smooth, flawless face. “How long was I….sleeping? I don’t know exactly what the right word is,” You ask. 

“Eight days. I-I-I don’t know why…I’ve never been so scared. I thought I did something wrong.” His voice trembles, pulling you tighter in his arms. 

You could feel this impending dread and anxiety in the pit of your stomach and consumed every ounce of your energy. But it wasn’t coming from you, you weren’t feeling like that at all. It was like being fed to you and amplified by a loudspeaker. 

You take a step back and look at him bewildered.

“What the hell was that?” You ask in shock.

“What was what?” He looks at you concerned.

“That feeling of impending doom, but I wasn’t the one creating that feeling. It was almost like it was being shown to me or something,” you stutter.

He puts his hands on your arms to calm you and he gives a small smirk at you.

“I think that’s just our bond. Our senses are heightened and attuned to one another more than ever now that we’re bonded. Remember how I told you I could feel your pain when Raphael took you? In some way, that was a small preview of what would happen to us after we were one. I didn’t know it would feel that intense to you I’m sorry about that,” he says sheepishly.

“No it’s okay, you don’t need to be sorry. It was just unexpected to feel an emotion that isn’t my own, you know?” You try to articulate.

“I get it, honey. I honestly am still trying to find more answers about what our new abilities hold,” he explains.

This was a world that even Elvis wasn’t accustomed to and that was a bit frightening. There was so much to discover.

“So you have no idea why I didn’t change right away?” You ask, rubbing circles with your thumb on his forearm, his skin feeling obsessional. The way it’s so soft and melted into yours without trying. You wanted to feel so much more of it. Starting with his back under this silk shirt he had on or feel those soft little hairs on his chest you loved so much. 

Jesus focus.

“No, I haven’t yet. None of the legends go into the details of what Chosen mates go through because they are so rare. God, I was so scared, I had no idea what had gone wrong or if this was completely normal.”

“I’m so sorry you had to deal with that alone honey. I can’t believe I changed like this.”

“I know, you changed very slowly. First, with your heart slowing to an immortal pace. It was strange, it didn’t have that normal symphonic sound that I was used to hearing so much. Then your scars on your body healed and started to be covered by this beautiful glowing skin,” he says dreamily, dragging his finger ever so slowly down your neck and along the top of your breast. Your body can’t help but arch into that touch that leaves your skin aflame. He takes a deep breath and recomposes himself.

“Then you were very still, with no signs that you’d be waking up from this hibernation any time soon. I was like a caged animal, pacing the room all day and night worried sick I somehow did something terribly wrong to you. I called some friends, vampires, if they had heard about anything like this happening when the change was occurring and every answer I got was the same. They’d never heard anything like this and didn’t know a bonded mate existed anymore. ”

“On the fourth day, I looked at myself in the mirror, ready to be faced by the monster who ruined his Chosen mate and isn’t waking up for whatever reason. For the last fourteen years, I have been used to staring at the red, glowing, soulless eyes that I have been cursed with for quite some time now. I was shocked by every fiber of my being when I saw these glowing youthful eyes stare back at me instead. I was in shock and didn’t know what was happening to me.”

“Sometimes, I tried to wake you, calling your name and have you open your eyes for me, but to my disappointment, you never did. But I could hear your heart flutter at the sound of my voice so I’d talk to you, coaxing you through this all hoping you’d wake up faster. It gave me hope that you were still in there and just needed the time to change. I’d caress your face, feeling how perfect your face felt in my hand.”

As he’s explaining this all, you feel the worry come off of him and it hits you like a tornado. You try to brace yourself for such emotions coming your way but it's almost impossible.

“And the strangest thing happened a few days after that…” he mumbles.

“What do you mean?” You prod.

You chuckle a bit before starting to speak again, “Well, I was changing, physically. I don’t know why but, I was changing into my twenty-four-year-old self without me even thinking about it. It just came so naturally to me because well, that is what I look like under all this in reality. But I’ve always controlled how I look, it doesn’t just get out of hand and I hardly need to think about staying that physical appearance.”

“So I was walking around here worried sick about you, trying to alter my appearance again so you wouldn’t be so startled when you woke up and not be able to recognize me from the last time you saw me,” he chuckles.

“Oh honey, that’s so strange… I really wonder why that is. But I wouldn’t have minded waking up to you like that. Nevertheless handsome, I could never forget this perfect face,” you quip.

He slyly smirks, “thanks little darlin’,” he says low, his eyes staring at your pink lips. He makes a small grumble in his chest as wraps his arms around you once more. “We’ll get some answers soon, let me just hold you.”

His warmth engulfs you and this sense of comfort and longing fills the pit of your stomach. You sigh into him, savoring every last feeling he’s giving you. 

“You’re so warm,” you sigh into his chest. He hums delighted, squeezing you tighter before looking down at you.

“We’re the same body temperature now,” he murmurs.

“Oh… I didn’t even think of that,” you say embarrassed. “How do I feel? Any different than the last?” You ask cheekily.

“Hmm… I haven’t gotten to touch ya, let me see,” he coos.

He carefully unties the robe and slips his hands along the curve of your back. You let out a stifled breath and look up at him longingly. His hands travel down further til he fills his hands with your ass and squeezes it firmly. You claw at his biceps and you can’t help but want more from his talented hands. You feel all this desire come flowing out of him and barreling toward you. You feel like it's suffocating you and yet you can’t get enough of it. His hands move back up your back and squeeze at your hips, pulling you closer to him.

“You feel more perfect than ever,” he says as he stares at your breasts. He drags one of his hands up your torso til he can cup your breast and roll your nipple in between his fingers. A spark of electricity runs through you and you moan. You press your face into the crook of his neck and groan in agony. That delicious-smelling scent fills your head once again and makes you feel intoxicated. You groan heavily as you look at him, “what’s that smell?” You ask.

He places his hand back on your hip and throws you a confused look.

“Your senses are overwhelmed right now honey, it could be a number of things. What does it smell like to you baby?” He asks.

“It’s warm and sweet, almost like honey. But savory and delectable, like I can just take a bite out of it and be pleased beyond my wildest dreams,” you try to explain. He tries to hide his pompous smirk but you catch it anyway.

“What? What is that look for?” You press.

“Umm well darlin’, I think that’s me you’re smelling. That’s how you smell to me at least, all sweet and decadent. Like I could feed from that heavenly nectar and feel alive again,” he says low and sultry. 

God yes, he makes you feel just like that without even trying. He runs a finger down your neck again and you see how much he wants you.

It’s not only him you’re attracted to, it’s the scent of his blood drawing you to him, this invisible bond attached to the lust for blood coursing through your veins. It all makes you feel for Elvis when you two first met. How he explained to you he thought you were beautiful and the scent of you only put him over the edge of wanting you. That’s how you felt at this moment. You already loved this man so much but now, what you would give for a taste of him. In a flash, this immense wave of hunger consumed you and you looked up at him frightened, unsure of what to do. Your throat started to burn and your mouth watered by just the mere idea of blood.

Especially Elvis’.

Your memory was very murky when you tried to remember how he tasted when you bit him to complete the change. You remember it not tasting very good at first, then it turned into something delicious. 

“Oh baby, it’s okay, calm down. Let's get you something to drink alright?” He assures you, closing your robe up again, and ties it shut. He takes your hand to lead you downstairs to the kitchen but you stop him in his tracks by pulling slightly on his arm. You were a little shocked so little force actually stopped him. It was going to take some time to realize you’re just as strong as Elvis now. He looks at you a little surprised too and tries to lure you further out of the room by taking a few steps away.

“I want yours, right now,” you command, barely recognizing your voice right now with how demanding you sound. He lets out an intrigued grumble and feel him like that idea very much.

“Not right now honey, you have zero control and I’m almost sure you’d try to suck me dry,” he quips smartly. “For the first time, I’m the one with the great control, and not you. We have blood in the kitchen, come on honey,” he coaxes.

Your blood boiled not getting your way. It was very irrational, yes, but this new lust for blood made you feel very differently than you ever have. Your throat continued to burn and you huffed at Elvis and reluctantly followed him down to the kitchen. There was no one here and you could hear the waves crash on the shore from below. The wind whirled through the palm tree leaves and you could hear people playing on the shore of the beach.

He lets go of your hand and goes to the refrigerator. The middle shelf was stacked with blood bags and Elvis grabbed one off the top. Something about the notion of drinking blood this way for the first time made you feel queasy. Maybe the human part of you was still inside of you holding on for dear life. 

You look up at Elvis with the bag in his hand and going to grab a glass out of the cabinet. 

“Okay, baby we can do this one of two ways. Either I can pour this in a glass for you or, you can learn how to use your fangs. Which one do you prefer?” He taunts. 

Your fangs. 

Oh my God, how could you have forgotten you have fangs now? You couldn’t even begin to comprehend how to use them or even get them to descend. 

“Teach me how to use my fangs,” you say promptly. 

“Hmm, good girl,” he praises, “okay come here,” he says leading you to the table. He takes a seat on one of the chairs and has you stand in front of him. 

“You need to focus on your fangs and your fangs alone. Everyone is a little different but visualize them, picture your teeth becoming sharp and strong. Let that hunger you have drive them out,” he explains. 

You swallow and feel the thirst in your throat grow greater. You huff slightly in frustration and try to focus like he’s saying. You’ve never actually seen your fangs so it’s hard for you to visualize what they might look like. But you can only assume they look like Elvis’, long and sharp. 

You look at the blood bag in his hand and try to imagine how it’ll taste when you finally taste that blood. Your mouth waters just thinking about it and you think that’s a good sign your body is responding to it in a good way. 

“Breathe in through your nose, smell it. That helps a lot,” he says. 

You do just that and take a deep breath, trying to get the scent of the blood in your nose and get your newfound senses to work. You lick your lips and take more deep breaths, trying to pick up the scent. 

Warm and rich honey swirls in your head and you know what that smell is. 

You look up at him with hunger-filled eyes, grab onto his wrist, and try to pull him in but he anticipates the move. 

“I just smell you. Baby I want you,” you plead, every breath creating more hunger inside you. 

He smirks at you amused and shakes his head at you. 

“I know you do, but you don’t get to have mine just yet. You need to learn how to focus and use your senses properly,” he says smugly. 

You groan in protest, hating you're not getting your way. 

“Please, please let me honey. I’m starving,” you continue to plead. He presses his lips together to stop the laugh about to come out. 

“Is this how I sounded to you? So needy and hungry all the time? I’m so sorry darling to put you through that when you were human, that must have been awful to hear all the time,” he winks. 

“You fucking little tease,” you grumble, swallowing back the pain in your throat. 

“Oh come now honey, I’m just trying to help you. You need to focus or you’ll never get to drink my blood,” he pesters. 

You grumble, so annoyed with him and how he’s not letting you do what you want. You try to refocus on the bag and make your entire senses focus on what’s in there. You huff and groan at your thirst and take a deep breath in, closing your eyes to try and get your mind to focus on the bag. 

A delicious little whiff hits your nose that smells completely different from Elvis and you pop your eyes back to him. 

“I smell it,” you say hurriedly. 

“Good, now keep taking deep breaths and let your fangs descend. You can do it, honey,” he coaxes. 

You hiss as the burning in your throat worsens and the smell of the blood overwhelms you. You feel no change happening in your mouth and you’re beginning to get extremely frustrated. You were so hungry and this wasn’t easy like you thought. 

“Goddamn it this is impossible. I can’t do this. Just cut open the bag,” you growl at him.

Elvis lets out a small chuckle and sees how frustrated you’ve become. 

“Okay baby, seems like I need to give you a little more motivation hmm?” He smiles and brings his other wrist to his mouth. 

You watch as he nips at his skin and the whiff of his delectable scent consumes you and makes your eyes roll back. You watch as his blood slides down his arm in a small pebble. 

“Fucking hell are you kidding me?! You fucking tease! Please honey, please let me,” you beg, about to grab his wrist but he’s much quicker than you and pulls it away from you in time. You hate his crass behavior and growl, baring your teeth at him in anger. His mouth forms into a pleased smile watching you. 

“There’s my girl,” he whispers. Your brows furrow and don’t understand what he’s saying and are about to snap at him but your tongue grazes along your teeth. There you feel your razor-sharp fangs bared and ready to bite. You can’t help but be a little surprised by the feeling of them and look back at Elvis, then back to his arm. 

“Focus,” he snaps. “Focus on the bag,” he adds. 

You groan and shoot your eyes back at the bag in his hand and try your best to avoid looking at his blood rolling down his arm. 

You grab his hand with the bag in it and bring it closer to your face and can pinpoint the smell again. 

“Gently, take a bite on the bag. Not too harsh or you’ll make the bag burst open. I don’t want you to spill a drop,” he teases.  

You glare at him before looking back down and gently biting the bag. Your fangs are so sharp it didn’t take much pressure to make holes in it and the crimson fluid hit your tongue. You swallow it quickly and feel that burning in your throat reside slowly. It tasted good, not at all the same delectable smell Elvis had, but it would do. You start to squeeze the bag to let the blood flow quicker in your mouth and fill this hunger inside you. You can feel some of it dribble out of your mouth and onto your chin.

Shit. He’s not going to like that. 

But you were too hungry to care about the mess you’d make. You suck the last few drops out of the bag and do feel much better. Your throat wasn’t on fire anymore and you didn’t have this unquenchable thirst. But lord, Elvis’ blood still called out to you menacingly. 

You carefully take your teeth off the bag and look up at Elvis to see if he’d give you some of his. 

“How do you feel baby?” He asks quietly.  

“Better,” you say breathlessly, still eyeing his wrist. He looks down at his wrist too and looks back up at you with a glint of mischief in his eye. 

“Oh, you think you can have some of this now? Well, you didn’t exactly listen to my instructions,” he quips, motioning to your mouth and your chest. 

You look down and see you spilled more than you thought you did. You see a stream of it running down your chest and in between your breasts. 

You let out a frustrated sigh, “you’re no fun to make deals with!” You snap. 

“Too bad. You’ll learn to not make a mess eventually,” he teases, “as far as this mess, I’ll clean this up,” he says slowly. 

He pulls you in by your hips and makes you stand in between his legs. You hiss at his forceful touch, on absolute edge right now with his bleeding arm. He opens your robe slightly and looks up at you with a big grin on his face. In one long swipe, he licks the dribbling blood from your breasts to your chin. His tongue ignites something dangerous inside you and you groan in agony as every part of you feels hyper-sensitive. Your heart pounded away as he did this and made it all feel more erotic than he might have intended. You thought you liked his tongue before but nothing compares to how it feels now. You want so much more of him and it makes you feel insatiable.

He reaches your mouth and puts the most delicate kiss on your lips. You want to collapse in his arms as he grabs onto your hips tighter. You softly tug at his hair, moaning into his mouth, “more,” you whimper. 

He pulls away, “Still such a bad, bad girl. I don’t know how I’m going to handle all this newfound neediness,” he taunts. 

“Oh I’m sure you have a fucking list of things of how you’ll manage it,” you say annoyed, rolling your eyes at him. 

He chuckles softly, “Mhmm, you know me so well.”

•

•

•

Tagging: @powerofelvis @burninlovebutler

@neptuneismysister @velvetelvis @ccab @presleyenterprise @loving-elvis @theresalwaysep

@prompted-wordsmith@sillybookmarks @dkayfixates @ellie-24 @rktismylife-blog.@myradiaz@tacozebra051

@thatbanditqueen

@18|kpeters @flwrs4aust @emma181873

@austinswhitewolf@eliseinmemphis

@everythingelvispresley @chasingwildflowers @idontwanttoputanything@ohjustpeachy

@elvisalltheway101@austinsmutler@kingdomforapony.

@generoustreemystic @claire-elvisgirl

@ashtag6887 @burnthheparaphilia @richardslady121

@jaqueline19997

@returntopresley. @iloveelvis @rjmartin11@that-hotdog @louisejoy86 @misspresley @cattcb @annapresley8

@arrolyn1114@raginginkedslut@epthedream69

@mh777ep1938@50sexyshadesfashionista

@oldhOllywOod @hooked-on-elvis @livelovedilfs

[she-karev]

Gender Reveal (Andrew DeLuca x Alex Karev’s Sister)

Age Rating: 12+

Chapters: One of One

Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy

Ship: Andrew DeLuca x Amber Karev (Alex Karev’s Sister)

Summary: Amber has her 22-week ultrasound with Andrew where they find out the sex of their baby.

Words: 1419

August 3rd, 2022

“Life at The Burrow was as different as possible from life in Privet Drive.” Andrew reads out loud Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets in bed leaning down face to pregnant stomach. Amber is sitting up reading a fetal development book while her husband tries to get their unborn daughter to sleep inside her womb for the night.

Ever since the baby started kicking two weeks ago Amber has grown restless due to the baby kicking at all hours of the night. She found out quickly that Andrew speaking to the baby helps put it to sleep. So, every night she gives him a book for him to read to the baby which he does without hesitation knowing his wife gets crankier when she doesn’t get her beauty rest.

“The Dursleys liked everything neat and ordered; the Weasleys’ house burst with the strange and unexpected. Harry got a shock the first time he looked in the mirror over the kitchen mantelpiece and it shouted, ‘Tuck your shirt in, scruffy!’”

“Did you know that at 22 weeks the baby’s hair starts to form?” Amber says intrigued from reading her book, “So there is someone else’s hair inside me right now. Along with lungs, ears, a head and a tiny body. It’s freaky. I wonder if this is how most mothers think or I’m just uniquely morbid.”

“Do you want me to answer that honestly?” Andrew asks causing Amber to raise an eyebrow down at him, “Has the baby finally gone to sleep?”

“For the moment.”

Andrew sighs in relief closing the book, “Thank god I was getting worried I was gonna have to read till birth.”

“You should be so lucky Chamber of Secrets has a twist you and the baby will never see coming.” Amber closes her book to get ready for sleep placing a pillow between her legs while lying on her side, “My ultrasound is tomorrow, are you gonna make it this time or am I gonna have to tweedle my thumbs impatiently again?”

“I will make it this time I swear.” Andrew moves to spoon Amber from the back looping his arm around her stomach and kissing the side of her head, “We get to find out the sex, do you want to?”

“Of course I do, gender neutral paints are ugly and they’ll probably make the baby vomit. Do you have a preference? Boy or girl?”

“Healthy will do.” Andrew says with conviction, “What about you? Are you hoping for a girl to play dolls with or a boy to do laser tag with?”

“Who says girls don’t like laser tag? Keep up with the times buddy.”

Andrew chuckles, “Still are you secretly hoping for one or the other?”

“Well I grew up with two brothers so that made me eager to have a girl to play with.” Amber scrunches her face as another thought comes to her, “But I’ve had practice handling boys too so it should be a breeze if we have a little Theo.”

Andrew furrows his eyebrows, “Theo?”

“Yeah, Theodore was like family to me and naming kids after beloved family members is the way to go.”

Andrew chuckles, “Yeah but Theodore’s not a family name, Theodore was the name of a stray cat you fed scraps to from time to time.”

“I didn’t have any grandparents.” Andrew grins caressing his wife’s pregnant belly, “What about you? Any good grandfather names?”

“Um Michelangelo and Leonardo?”

Amber raises an eyebrow at him behind her, “So we’ll name our kid after a teenage mutant ninja turtle?”

Andrew rolls his eyes, “5 years together and you still don’t know the names of famous Italian artists? How did you get me to marry you again?”

“It was either you or a random resident.” Amber snaps causing Andrew to mock groan.

“Wow those hormones make you more capable of kicking a man down. Maybe I should have invested in a bomb shelter after all.”

Amber chuckles before folding her hand into Andrew’s that is spread out across her stomach. They fall asleep in each others arms cocooned into the lull of the night anxious for the ultrasound tomorrow and how the baby is doing.

The Next Day

“Have you been taking it easy at work?” The OB, Linda, asks Amber DeLuca who is laying down on the table in her bright pink scrubs that are stretched out due to her pregnant belly. Since the residency program is shut down Amber has decided to take up Jo’s offer to transfer to the OB department for the time being.

She feels it’s not as challenging as surgery, but Amber acknowledges that it’s a relaxing position for her while she is pregnant. Also she can see up close how other parents prepare for their impending baby that proves to be helpful due to this being her first.

However, she finds it annoying that she has to wait for Andrew at every appointment due to being held up at surgery. She is both envious that he gets to cut and peeved that he can’t find the time to go to these appointments with her even though he insists she schedules them every time. As if he heard her thoughts he rushes inside with a remorseful look.

“Hey, I’m sorry I’m late, the nurse took too long to prep without a resident, but I am here and I swear this is the last time I will be late.”

Amber purses her lips, “Yeah, I heard that at the last ultrasound. I’m telling you right now if you show up late to the birth I’ll throw the amniotic sac at you.”

Linda clears her throat and they turn to her, “As I was saying to your wife, have you been taking easy like I suggested? Less hours? Less stress?”

“OB isn’t surgery, so it’s pretty laid back, all I do is show up hold my hands out and catch. I’m essentially a football player in horribly colored scrubs.” Amber says bitterly causing Andrew to grin down at her.

“Well, I think you look good in pink, better than either of our sisters. Don’t tell them I told you that though, next to you they scare me the most.”

Amber grins shaking her head, “I can already see which one of us is gonna be the disciplinarian. Can we get this show on the road? I’m dying to know if I’m carrying a little Andrew or Andrea.”

“Andrea is a very popular boys name in Italy for your information. But yes we want to know so we can get to work on baby names.” Andrew stands by watching as the OB squeezes gel on Amber’s exposed stomach before waving the wand around. They watch the screen to their right that Linda operates excitedly as a visual of their baby shows up on the screen.

The blurry black and white images would look nonsensical to a normal couple. But for doctors like Andrew and Amber they immediately recognize all of the parts of their baby that appear in front of them. Andrew looks at the image amazed as does Amber who smiles at it.

“Okay I see a head, there’s only one.” Amber confirms inspecting her child, “How’s the heart?”

“BP is normal, you can even see the little heart beating right there, do you see it?” Linda points it out.

Andrew sees the little heart, “Wow, look at that. Hey, I think I can see the liver, stomach and kidneys.”

“Yes, and they are functioning very nicely but that’s to be expected from having a general surgeon daddy.” Andrew grins holding Amber’s hand.

“Everything’s okay? Everything’s in the right places and working perfectly?” Amber asks Linda.

“Yep, your baby is perfectly fine, and she is perfectly happy given how much she’s kicking in there.”

Amber and Andrew widen their eyes at that with Andrew asking in a low voice, “She? We’re having a girl?”

Linda smiles at their expression, “Yep, that’s your daughter in there.”  

Amber gasps looking down at her gorging belly overcome with knowing she is carrying a girl. Andrew chuckles lightly spreading his palm across her belly happy to know he’s having a healthy daughter with the woman he loves.

Amber smiles at the news, “We’re having a girl, oh wow we’re having a girl.” The couple laugh in unbridled joy before he kisses her, and she responds holding his hand over her belly that is carrying their daughter who keeps kicking as if she is celebrating with them.

[fluffyspuffy]

I’m obligated by law to post about this since it’s (I believe) only the 4th fic to actually make me cry real tears. That honor goes to the second story in the series (and very nearly the third). The first story isn’t super spuffy, but is obligatory reading due to how amazing the relationship between Spike and Dawn is in it.

The prose seemed a little off to me for quite a bit, but that’s probably just my ADHD talking since I did start to get used to it and then I didn’t even notice it eventually. The story was fantastic and made me stick it out despite having to reread paragraphs when I got lost. I think that’s what made it all the more shocking when I just suddenly started crying during an earlier chapter in ‘Blood Kin’. I didn’t see it coming and it hit me hard.

If you like the potentials (and OC potentials!) and if you like Dawn and some wacky vampire shit - this is the fic for you. It’s got some excellent hurt/comfort which is my food of choice. So much hurt/comfort throughout and I just adore it. The Spike characterization was my favorite- some side characters felt OOC on occasion, but was still immensely enjoyable.

It’s also epic! I love epic long fics. Right when I thought I’d read all the big Spuffy ones, here comes this series. Kept me well fed for days. Wild how I’ve been in this fandom for so long and always seem to miss the huge things.

I’d stop at the 4th story, unless you’re a greedy little masochist (like me!) and just need to read all there is no matter how much it will break your heart. This last story would have also been amazing, I can tell. Unfortunately, as the author is no longer with us, there isn’t even a tiny hope that more will come. I’m so glad that she got to leave us with this beautiful story

tl/dr: Read this! It’ll make you feel things. If you like safe and completed fics, stop at part 4.

Here’s a very brief summary of each part:

1: Spike and Dawn friendship rebuilding

2: fun with SITs (slayers in training) and a better season 7

3: vampire politics and relationship drama

4: more vampire politics and spike trying (failing) to hold it together. Fun t-shirt slogans. Stop here if you want an ending.

5: astral projection and heartbreak. ‘This is all there is, there isn't anymore.’ Incomplete, does not end in a good place.

[ladykailitha]

In the Midnight Hour Part 9

Still hard at work wrapping things up. I’m almost there, though. I’m thinking about 13 parts all total.

Also, I have times where I’ll come up with a line that I like and then I try to work into a story at some point. There is a line this part that I have been sitting on for nearly 5 years. And finally ST gave me a fandom to use it in. See if you can spot it. ;)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8

*

Eddie was right, Vecna had been furious about trying to help Steve, but he was more angry that he had attacked that mob.

Steve had spent the day with Wayne before he was able to go home. Wayne had taken the time off from the factory to make sure Robin got to school and to make sure Steve was okay.

Wayne had also spoken to Hopper about the little mob. Thankfully the tape didn’t show who had come to Wayne’s rescue. So as far as anyone else knew, it was Steve and he had past out after the fight.

Hopper had tried to get Wayne to press charges, but Wayne hadn’t been hurt and Steve wasn’t talking so the police were forced to drop the issue.

Two nights later, Wayne called Steve. “I think I have the final piece to your puzzle Steve. It’s time.”

*

Steve got everyone together. Dustin, Will, El, Mike, Lucas, Erika, Max (they were gathered in her hospital room), Jonathan, Nancy, Argyle, Robin, Joyce, Hopper, even Murray and Owens were there.

“We’re ready when you are, sweetie,” Joyce told Steve gently.

“Who let Steve plan?” Mike asked.

“How about you listen,” Wayne growled, “before you go about passing judgment. It’s attitudes like yours that started a witch hunt for my nephew.”

Mike’s jaw audibly snapped shut.

“Right,” Steve said looking between Joyce and Wayne who both nodded encouragingly.

He pulled out the sword that Hopper had found in the Upside Down and laid it on the table in front of him. “This is how we kill Vecna.”

Dustin leaned forward and gasped in horror. “But that’s Kas’s sword!”

The younger boys looked at each other in shock and horror.

“No, it can’t be,” Will whispered. “That would mean that Vecna has found his Kas.”

Steve nodded sadly. “Henry Creel deliberately set up the murders to be around Eddie so that Eddie would sacrifice himself, to be reborn as the half vampire, Kas.”

“The jocks!” Robin cried. “There was a vampire!”

All but the adults cried out in recognition.

“What’s been going on with the jocks?” Hopper asked, folding his arms in front of his chest.

Jonathan spoke up from the corner. “All of the jocks were lethargic and pale. The school thought that had an epidemic of mono on their hands.”  

Joyce and Hopper shared concerned glances.

“It was Eddie,” Steve said softly. “I think only Robin and I cottoned on that it was a vampire after the first week.”

Robin frowned at him. “Did you know it was Eddie then?”

Steve shrugged. “I suspected. I thought Eddie was an hallucination at first.”

“Steve...” Nancy said softly. “Why didn’t you tell someone?”

Steve hung his head. “Because if I was then it meant I was important enough to be a threat.”

Everyone exchanged glances.

“Of course you’re a threat, Steve,” Max said from her bed. “Why wouldn’t you be?”

“Because I’m not smart like the rest of you,” Steve mumbled into his chest.

Wayne walked over to him and pulled him into a hug. “You’re no genius, Steve, but you’re plenty smart. And don’t let anyone tell you differently.” Wayne looked over Steve’s head to glare at Mike.

After Steve had calmed down, Wayne let him go. “Explain the rest of it, you’re doing fine.”

“Vecna is almost at full strength,” Steve continued. “He would let Eddie come visit me to haunt me, wear me down, feed on me.” He pulled his collar down to show the fading bite marks on his neck.

Dustin let out a pained cry. “That’s why Steve was sick! It wasn’t because of the mob. It was because Eddie fed from him. I thought he was our friend!”

Steve walked over to Dustin and hugged him tight. “It’s not Eddie’s fault. Vecna was starving him. Not letting him feed on anyone else. He lost control for a little bit, but he stopped. He could have killed me, but he stopped.”

“Vecna was starving Eddie?” Lucas hissed. “What the fuck?”

“Language!” Joyce said.

Lucas ducked his head as Erica snickered.

“They are connected somehow,” Steve explained, letting go of Dustin to stand back in the middle of the room. “And not just in the usual ‘step on a vine and wake him’ sort of way.”

Wayne nodded. “I figured it was something like that. I was getting emotions from Eddie that weren’t his.”

“Emotions?” Robin asked, tilting her head. “What do you mean?”

El started bouncing in her seat. “It’s really cool. Mr Munson is an empath!”

Wayne chuckled.

“Like someone who reads emotions like psychics read minds?” Will asked.

Steve snapped his fingers. “Just like that.”

“So what’s the plan?” Hopper asked.

Steve pulled out his bag and started handing out Walkmans. “Everyone gets one. And I mean everyone. You fill up a tape with your favorite songs. Even if it’s just one song on repeat, I want the whole tape filled. We don’t know who Vecna might target, so everyone gets one. Including the adults. I am not taking any chances.”

Everyone quietly took a Walkman and a cassette. El picked up one for Max.

“We’re going to close all three gates at the same time,” Steve said. “That’s going to cause the distraction we need to take Vecna down.”

“So we’re going to split up into groups again?” Dustin asked.

Steve nodded. “Only this time, an adult will be attached to each group. There’ll be five groups. El’s group which will consist of her Max and Erica, here at the hospital.”

“Do we need to get a tub of water?” Jonathan asked.

Wayne shook his head. “I’ve been working with her. She shouldn’t need it anymore, but I would suggest a parent and tub anyway to be on the safe side.”

Steve turned to Dustin. “Do you think your mom would be willing to help out?”

Dustin nodded.

“Each group will also have a walkie-talkie,” Steve continued. “I don’t want anyone out of communication. Ever.”

Everyone nodded.

“I also want everyone to give Wayne a small trinket to carry,” he said. “It has to be something you hold a strong attachment to.”

“I’m not giving anyone anything,” Murray said.

Steve looked over at him. “You wouldn’t have to, I won’t make it mandatory, but it will help in the fight with Vecna.”

Wayne smiled. “It’s so that I have a greater connection to you and your emotions.”

El cocked her head to the side. “It’s going to save Eddie.”

Suddenly there was shouting and talking over each other.

Steve let out a loud whistle. “It might. That’s the hope.”

Everyone quieted down.

He continued to explain the plan to them when he got to the end Robin frowned.

“Hold on,” she said. “Who’s going with you and Wayne to confront Vecna and Eddie?”

“No one.”

She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow. “Like hell you are.”

Steve sighed and ran his hands over his face. “Please...”

“Yeah,” Dustin said and Steve sighed in relief, “because I’m going with him.”

“No!” Steve protested. “If this doesn’t work, I can’t protect you.”

“Which is why I’m going, too,” Robin said.

“I don’t want anyone else hurt,” Steve protested. “Wayne and I will handle it. I promise.”

“Steve,” Jonathan said quietly.

Steve’s head snapped his direction.

“You’re going to need them for Eddie.”

“I‒” he began but the words wouldn’t come. His shoulders slumped. “Yeah, okay.”

Hopper came up and put his hand on Steve’s shoulder. “I know it’s hard to lean on other people when you’re so used to going it alone. But you’re going to have to start putting your faith in us. In all of us. We’ve been down this road before. Let us help.”

Mike looked over at Wayne before he turned to Steve. “Look, this sounds like a great plan and all. We defeat Vecna and save Eddie. Yay!” he said the last word sarcastically with a little wave of both of his hands. “But why are you doing this, Steve? We all remember you didn’t like the guy. Called him all sorts of names. Freak was a popular choice as was gremlin. So why?”

The room became so silent you could hear a pin drop, everyone waiting on baited breath for Steve’s response. The air thick with the awkwardness of the outburst.

“You’re right, Mike. But that was before I spent days trying to keep him safe from angry mobs and the Upside Down. And yeah, he’s still foul-mouth little gremlin, but he’s our foul-mouth little gremlin and we’re going to get him back.”

Mike nodded.

Steve turned to Owens for the first time. “How long will it take to get everything ready?”

Owens looked at his watch. “About twelve hours.”

Steve looked at his own watch and nodded. “I hope we make it in time.”

*

“Team Hospital, checking in, over,” Erica said over the walkies. She had been granted the use of the walkie-talkie because she was the only one that wasn’t going to be directly involved in any of the fighting.

“Check, over,” Steve replied.

“Team Byers, checking in, over,” Jonathan said for his team. Joyce was tasked with watching Will, so he was put in charge of communication.

“Check, over,” Steve repeated.

“Team Insanity, checking in, over,” Lucas said, but before Steve could reply. “Why the hell am I on team Insanity anyway?”

Steve laughed. “Because I need someone to keep them from doing something really crazy. And you are far more level headed than any of your friends.” And then as an afterthought. “Over.”

There was silence on the line for a moment before Lucas came back. “That’s fair, over.”

“Team Strike, checking in, over,” Nancy said. Mike couldn’t be trusted not to forget and Hopper was going to be busy.

“Check, over,” Steve said, he handed the walkie-talkie over to Dustin.

“Team Eddie, checking in, over.”

The other four teams all called back ‘check!’

Steve and his team had entered the Upside Down via the Creel House which was the gate that Hopper and the Wheelers were going to take down.

Steve looked back at Nancy and sighed. They had talked about their relationship and how it ended. Where it should go from there. They were different people with different outlooks in life and they were better off as friends.

But he still mourned the life they could have had. The life they would have had if Hell hadn’t decided to make itself a home in Hawkins.

He nodded to her and she smiled back.

“Go get your boy back,” she called.

Steve smiled.

Because that what he fully intended to do. Get his boy back. Whatever it took.

Part 10 Part 11 Part 12  Part 13

Tag List: @swimmingbirdrunningrock @panicatthediaz @renaissan-vvitch @grtwdsmwhr @chaoticlovingdreamer @savory-babby @thequeenrainacorn  @anzelsilver @estrellami-1 @steddieassheg0es @currently-steddiebrainrot @gregre369 @steddie-there @clumsywriter

[nesisamess]

So… I just binged a bunch of MILGRAM content stuff, including a lot of posts about it, and I have a few (possibly nonsensical) thoughts.

MILGRAM is supposed to be an experiment, right? I think everyone can agree with that. It gets its name from the real life Milgram experiment, and as such they share a bunch of similarities.

I think the general view in the fandom is that we should try to help them with their various traumas and mental illnesses. A common joke I see is that instead of innocent or guilty, we should have a “therapy” option.

Although I absolutely do also want what is best for the characters, that’s not really the point, is it? Their reactions to the votes, whether or not they really should be forgiven; that has never been the point of MILGRAM. For all we know, certain characters could never be saved. Our careful choices could end up not even mattering at all, because some characters may not have even a possibility of a happy ending. But really, that’s not the point.

In the actual Milgram experiment, there are three roles that must be filled: The experimenter, the teacher, and the learner. The experimenter tells the teacher to administer shocks to the learner, who will then let out increased reactions of agony to these shocks.

However, the learner is not the person being experimented on. The teacher is. The learner’s experience is irrelevant; they’re an actor, and they feel none of the actual shocks.

The prisoners in MILGRAM have never been the subjects of the experiment. We are. Our reactions are what is being tested, not the prisoners’. MILGRAM is testing our own limits, our own judgements of ‘innocent or guilty’, or ‘good or evil’, and how these judgements change when we are fed more and more information.

As a side note: the more and more MILGRAM stuff I consume (I am still making my way through all the voice dramas) the more I worry for the fate of these characters. It seems cruel, doesn’t it, for all these mentally ill or traumatized people to be put into prison instead of therapy?

I realized, though, that in a way, the prisoners are actors. They’re all fictional (not that it means that you are wrong for caring about them, ofc).

The prisoners’ pain will end when the experiment is over. They will be carefully contained as they were, but no further than that. We will still worry for them, their fates, but they will cease to truly exist. Our choices, though, our feelings, won’t.

This post was rather long, sorry. If I don’t make much sense, just ignore me.

[etherealpapercut]

the best view

~*~*~*~

fandom: post-battle of new york mcu

pairings: reader is supposed to be clint barton/hawkeye's sister (barton!sister!reader??? ihnc,) but that's not important, what's important is the fact that she's paired with ✨loki laufeyson✨

genre: fluff

warnings: loki is a boastful prat. mentions of the dark. reader and loki end up on the roof of the house. 

word count: a perfect 2.4k

summary: finally fed up with loki’s constant bragging and nagging about how asgard is the best, you decide to impose a new view.

a/n: i meant for this to be short but that is not really how it went, huh. anyway, more loki content, and i am not complaining. 

~*~*~*~

loki always boasted of asgard.

he bragged about his apartments, the palace, and the citizens and the food, but most of all, he always boasted of the night sky view from asgard. loki claimed that the stars were so golden and so big and close you could see them smile at you from your balcony, but you didn't want to believe that anything could beat the view from your backyard.

neither of you ever relinquished your opinions.

you lived far out in the country, not too far from civilization, but far enough that there wasn’t any light pollution at night time.

it was your most favourite thing in the world to spend your nights on the roof of your house before your brother, clint barton, had barged onto your property one day and dropped off this ignorant, blaspheming, scheming idiot who claimed he was a god. 

~*~*~*~

“he’s got these... weird bracelet thingies that are supposed to stop the sparkly hanky panky he’s been trying on everyone but—”

“it’s called seiðr, you impudent little–OW!” loki interrupted.

“and this remote that makes a shock go through them.” clint had continued. loki was left rubbing his wrists and glaring. “anyway, be careful, y/n. he’s dangerous.”

“then what the hell? why are you leaving him here with me?” you had exclaimed.

“well, he was going to stay in the basement prison of shield, but they can’t keep anyone there for long, and we can’t give him over to stark, they’d kill themselves within two weeks, and i can’t keep him with laura and the kids.”

“i do prefer laura and my favourite niece and nephews alive.” you muttered. 

“please, y/n, we can’t let him out of our sight and i don’t know what else to do.” clint begged. 

“alright, alright.” you had finally agreed. “i can do it.”

clint looked really tired. it was hard to say no to your older brother. 

“stop giving me puppy eyes, a kiss on the cheek and a thank you is sufficient enough.” 

clint had obliged, thanking you profusely and hugging you, promising to run your grocery errands and come visit with enforcements every week.

he had gone much too soon, and despite your extensive training and the knowledge that you could beat him in hand-to-weapon combat, you were still intimidated. 

that feeling did not fade for a very long time. 

~*~*~*~

“do you think of my home as some kind of prison, loki?” you asked. it had been five months since clint had first dropped him off. it hardly seemed like two weeks.

it was now early september. there were a lot of wasps starting to zoom around. the mosquitos had all died off in july because of the bats you had attracted with the bat house. 

loki was now wearing one of your old ex-boyfriend’s shirts from your closet and clint had agreed to get a pair of jeans and sweatpants for him. his ridiculous costume he had first arrived in had been deemed unfit for garden work and everyday house-attire, and was now sitting in a box in the attic. 

“yes.” he said without a pause. “this is prison.” he was perched on the couch in the living room. you had a full view of him from the kitchen as you were chopping carrots. 

“is it a nice prison, at least?”

loki paused. there was silence for a minute before he responded. 

“not as nice as asgard.”

you rolled your eyes. “‘not as nice as asgard,’” you said mockingly.

“hey, no!” loki stood up and made eye contact with you from across the house. “there is nothing–nothing i say–that can ever compare with asgard.”

you were a bit shocked, not by his outburst, those kind of things happened almost on a schedule, but the way that he had started his sentence with an exclamation. it was like he was trying to discipline a child. he sounded exactly like you did when you scolded him about something. 

you smirked a little. you were slowly starting to affect him. 

you kept this revelation to yourself, however. 

you turned your back on the mischief maker, making him seethe. no way in hel would he ever be treated like this on asgard, that was for certain. 

his anger quickly melted away, though. he couldn’t seem to keep his anger around for very long anymore. that was another positive effect you had had on him. 

there were so many good things you had taught him. anger management. earthly exercise and work out of doors. peaceful and uneventful nights. 

“can you come help me with the dishes, your highness?” you called to him.

loki sighed heavily. 

if only loki wasn’t so proud, he would have said that your house wasn’t a prison.

it hadn’t felt like a prison for a long time. it was a home away from home, and he had grown comfortable with the steady routine and mundane excitement of new tv shows, board games, and new plants and even getting groceries was romanticized and was a much-anticipated event every tuesday.

loki picked out a towel to start drying the dishes you were washing. the carrots had been put on to steam. there were sausage patties in the oven for supper. 

loki breathed. he shook his head softly at himself behind your back. 

“my good sir,” you said. “i must say that i am perfectly sick of hearing how much asgard one-ups earth.”

“midgard is nothing in comparison to my beloved homeland.” loki hissed in your ear. you felt shivers running up your spine. you hadn't realised he’d been so close behind you. loki picked up another plate.

“i have no doubt.” you managed dryly. “you’ll have to take me there one day, hold me hostage, put me to work sewing your great capes or whatever, then i can have a turn to brag about how much i prefer my own world.”

loki hmphed. “well, maybe i will!” he said. 

you smiled and shook your head. 

“i guess that asgard sounds like a really wonderful place, lokes, but how can you look at the night sky on earth and say that you can’t add it to your list of wonders?”

loki gaped.

“well–because–i-i've never even seen the midgard night sky, miss barton. until i have, the sights of asgard remain the only things worth mentioning.”

you dropped something in the sink, causing you to splash water all down your front and send soap suds high in the air. you gasped loudly.

loki handed over the towel without being asked. you patted down your shirt before wiping the water off the counter.

“why didn’t you say something sooner?” you cried, facing him.

“about what?” loki turned up his nose.

“not seeing the night sky! the stars! the moon!”

loki shrugged. you put an offended hand over your heart.

“are you so close-minded that you won’t even try to experience something that is foreign to you?"

“don’t you dare call me close-minded, miss barton.” loki took a menacing step towards you. 

his stong forearms were bare, the bracelets hanging from his wrists like tattoos. the remote control for them was tucked into your shirt on a cord.

the thought shot through your mind once and reminded you not to get too familiar with loki laufeyson of asgard. he wasn’t someone to be made into your friend. he was a prisoner. a terrorist.

“don’t try to intimidate me, loki.” you said. you closed your eyes and laid your palm on your forehead dramatically, trying to ease your sudden panic and existential crisis. “we’ve gotta do something about your situation.”

“oh, please.” loki rolled his eyes. he turned his back on you to get a fresh towel.

you grinned at his back. “i guess it was a little bit of my fault. i always just assumed that you’ve seen the night sky.”

loki shook his head.

“i’ll take you up to the roof tonight. i think there’s a shooting star shower due around this time.”

loki looked up, confused. “shooting... stars?”

“you cannot possibly be serious.” you said. 

the timer for the sausage patties saved you from spiralling into a wailing despair. loki was hopeless.

~*~*~*~

the sun didn’t set till 7pm, and the light didn’t vanish until 45 minutes after that. 

however, you didn’t take loki up to the roof till nearly midnight. there was a meteor shower, but it wasn’t supposed to happen until about one in the morning.

you handed loki the blankets and gave him one of your oversized hoodies. when he raised his arms, his tummy would peek out. it would have to suffice. 

you carried the flashlight. loki followed you around meekly with the armload of blankets as you shut off every light in the house and finally led him to the living room, where you used a long hook to pull down the ladder for the attic.

“once i’m up, you can toss me the blankets. oh, and watch your step.” you warned. 

when you had climbed the ladder and the blankets and loki had followed, you pulled the ladder up behind you and shut the trapdoor. you didn’t want to fall through it again.

for a moment, loki panicked. he’d never been up here. this was a different kind of dark. like he had been thrust into nothingness. he was frozen.

“i’ve lost the flashlight.” you muttered. “where are you?” your fumbling hands led your search in the dark, but you still managed to faceplant right into loki’s chest. “whoops! there you are.”

loki quietly wrapped his arms around your shoulders. it was instinct. you squeaked in alarm.

“hey! what’s up?” you cried.

loki let go of you, almost pushing you away. “sorry.” he muttered. you tried to calm your heart.

“well, take my hand.” you said. “i think the flashlight is under the blankets, but i don’t want to run into you again like that.”

loki’s hand ran down your arm till it found your hand. he gripped it tight. you bent down and found the pile of blankets. 

you pushed them aside and found the flashlight.

you pointed it to the floor and flicked it on.

the warm light illuminated the attic, lighting up loki’s pale face, and your blushing one.

you quickly turned away from each other to hide your faces and you and went to look for the trapdoor that led through the attic veiling to a little hidden balcony on the roof. loki picked up the blankets and hid his face behind them. he suddenly felt shy.

“come on, pretty little liar, you can move now.” you said, already halfway up the ladder. cool air rushed down around you. 

loki scoffed at the nickname. 

~*~*~*~

you stood on the roof of the house, back straight and face relaxed. you felt light for the first time in several months.

oh, how you had missed being up here.

loki climbed out of the attic and stood next to you. 

the blankets were by your feet.

he looked up.

“this isn’t impressive, y/n.” he said, scornfully. there didn’t seem to be much to see. 

“of course it isn’t.” you said softly, breaking out of your reverie. “the flashlight is still on. and we haven’t even made ourselves blanket nests.”

loki held back a rude remark. nests? he didn’t know you were part bird.

you sat down and reached for a blanket. you sat on one end and wrapped the rest of it around you, then took another blanket and threw that over your shoulders as well. you motioned to loki to copy what you were doing. he obliged, and you tucked in the edges of his blankets once he had gotten settled.

“there! all nice and snug. still feeling okay?”

“i am, thank you.”

“very good.” you now picked up the flashlight, still lit. you looked pointedly at loki. “close your eyes, and don’t open them till i tell you to.”

loki grunted, but complied.

you turned off the flashlight and leaned back. the tilt of the roof met your back comfortably. you waited til your own eyes adjusted to see the night sky.

“okay,” you breathed. “open your eyes and look up.”

loki opened his eyes and leaned back beside you, staring hard into the sky.

he gasped. you grinned.

“there’s so many stars.” he breathed. “y/n, look!”

“i’m looking, i'm looking.” 

“they’re... so tiny and white... and blinking at me.” loki said. “this is... nothing like asgard at night.”

you smiled to yourself. 

“did you know that some of those stars aren’t even stars? some are satellites. some are planets.”

“machines? floating up there?”

“yeah! that red dot that’s moving? that’s a satellite.”

you threw your arm over loki’s arm casually and pointed up at a larger star.

“that’s mars.”

loki inhaled again. “i feel like i’m floating up.”

“yeah. that happens sometimes.” you said. 

a pin of light flew across the sky.

loki reached over to tap your hand. “was that a satellite?”

“no.” you paused. “that was a shooting star.”

you could almost hear the question mark that escaped on loki’s next breath. 

“sometimes stars fall to earth, or they fly to other parts of the galaxy.” the childish lie flowed smoothly from your tongue. you would tell loki the truth later. “it’s tradition to make wishes on the shooting stars.”

“why?”

you shrugged. “beats me. it’s just something we do here.”

loki blinked. 

“there are no such traditions on asgard.” he said. “we don’t have satellites, or planets near us, or falling stars. do stars fall very often?”

“not often.” you whispered. “but tonight’s different. there’s going to be a shower of shooting stars. there will be so many they’re gonna fill the night sky.”

another star shot across the sky. 

you shifted nearer to loki on the roof. he moved his head to look at you.

“it happens a couple times every year,” you were saying. “i’ve only seen it twice in my life, though.”

loki barely heard it. 

“i guess there are some things that midgard has that asgard doesn’t.” he said. 

“hmm? and are they better? do they outrank asgard’s version?”

he watched the crinkles in your eyes as you smiled in satisfaction. 

he had never realized how reflective your eyes could be. he saw every sparkling star mirrored in them.

asgard didn’t have monopoly. it didn’t have grocery tuesdays or y/n’s home. it didn’t have y/n.

he hummed, suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling of warmth and content. “yes, y/n. yes, they do.” 

[thebirkenstocksocialist]

Struggle Bus: Grief and Loss

Hey Loves. I’ve alluded to my struggle a bit on here but I’ve decided to share a bit because I can use all the support I can get, even from anonymous online friends and moots. I’ll share more of what’s going on with me personally after the break. But before I go further please know: I am safe, I have excellent mental health care and a huge, supportive community including friends, 12-step family, a sponsor,  my sister and her partner, and some incredible fandom friends all over the world. I am never alone unless I want to be. I don’t want to hurt myself and that desire isn’t part of my history.

If you are struggling like me, just know I love you and I feel you. We can get through this together. In my recovery program we often say “we can do together what we could never do alone” and I firmly believe that.

Things you can do to support me if you’re inclined:

1. make me a k-pop playlist (I use spotify) If you need it, here’s a link to my Feel Better My Darling kpop playlist

2. Recommend me fic from fandoms I love (or write it!). Currently: Bad Buddy, The Eclipse, Love in the Air, Until We Meet Again, Between Us. 

3. Send me silly little asks that distract me or give me an opportunity to write about stuff that interests me. Or even just stuff you are curious about.

4. Send me silly memes or fun edits.

5. Check in on me.

CW: Loss of loved one by suicide, grief, and loss after the page break.

On 11/27/2022 I lost my sister in law to suicide. I knew her for 17 years. She was 30 years old. She suffered with her mental health for a very very long time. My entire family is devastated. I had to put my husband on a plane while he was still in shock, so he could make it for the burial then I had to tell our kids alone, which was tough. 

My mother in law was not coping well and on 12/3/2022 she decided to write a note saying goodbye and attempt suicide. She survived and is medically ok but still receiving psychiatric treatment. 

Most days, it feels like we have barely had a chance to breathe. My lil family is full of love but we are obviously struggling emotionally. We are being fed by our community (literally and figuratively) and every little bit of love matters at the moment. I already had trauma from a previous loss to suicide so my grief is layered and complex.

Thanks for listening, my sweets. Again, I love you. Take care of yourselves and please, be honest and get help when you need it. Whether you feel like you will be missed or not, YOU FUCKING WILL. 

[itstimetotheorize]

Little Nightmares 2. Mono’s loop, the missing piece . (Warning, long....sorry)

Shoutout again to everyone in the theorizing community who helped, this is a collection of everything we have theorized.

The battle between Mono and the Thin Man is one no one will ever forget and for good reason, it was the moment Mono finally got fed up with the worlds cruelty towards him and chose to fight his threat head on rather than continue to run and hide. As Mono let go of his fears and accepted the world for what it was, it allowed him to tap into his hidden power and unleash it at full force to fight the Thin Man. And although no one in the Little Nightmares fandom will ever forget this fight, there was always one very crucial detail I and many other theorist just could not wrap our heads around as we watched the fight between them come to an end. When the Thin Man was repelled for one last time, we see him try to pull himself back up in order to continue pursuing Mono, but the moment he lifts himself up, he very quickly looses his composure and collapses to the ground.

 After we watched the Thin Man’s defeat and as we watch Mono pull the tower towards himself and  make his way inside to rescue Six, we could feel a moment of silence spread through all of us. 

It was in this moment of silence that the madness finally settled and I, and many other theorists were finally given a chance to collect our thoughts and think about everything that had happened,  but of all the things that were running through our minds, the one question we found ourselves thinking about time and time again after that amazing fight was.....what the heck just happened?!!

What left us so shocked and confused? well, near the end of the Thin Man’s defeat, the Thin Man does not simply fall over and die, no...he full on disintegrated! there was quite literally nothing left of him to see! no body, not even a limb, he just ...disappeared...but why? what happened to him?! it was obvious the Thin Man was physically real, otherwise he would not have been able to open doors and grab hold of Mono or Six ...but at the same time ...it was as if the Thin Man was not entirely there...like a ghost...or rather...a glitch.

The Thin Man’s existence was brought to question not long after the final battle, we knew he was a resident, but  we also knew there was more to him than meets the eye. In order to fully understand what he was, we had to analyze the most basic of characteristics and what we found was not only shocking but obvious given it was clear from the start. When Mono raises his hand against the Thin Man for the first time ,we see the Thin Man’s body do something we had never seen it do before, it glitched to the point we could see right through him as his entire body shed dark and white pixel flakes, why is this so weird?, well, not only because we had never seen the Thin Man in particular physically express such a detail until the end...but because we have already seen it before!...where have we seen it?, why...from the glitching remains of course!

The glitching remains have always been a very peculiar sight to see, their bodies presented a glitching and see through effect which could lead some to believe they are but mere ghosts of the world, yet they still possess some sort of physical form which allowed them to cast a shadow if and when Mono pointed his flashlight at them or a source of light hits their bodies. 

Every time a glitching remain is encountered, we find them positioned in a single spot, expressing childlike behaviors, however, the true nature of the glitching remains was not yet fully understood until we witnessed Six's glitching remain, aka "Dark Six"(back then she was called Shadow Six). 

Dark Six's behavior throughout Little Nightmares 2 and Little Nightmares , revealed to us that the glitching remains were far more active and full of life than initially believed, they expressed a very innocent behavior and were never seen performing any malicious acts, however, it was Dark Six's behavior in the secret ending to Little Nightmares 2, an ending which ironically enough could only be obtained by collecting all the glitching children, which revealed to us that the glitching remains could be far more intelligent than we had originally suspected (more on Dark Six here) . 

  As for how theses glitches came to be, well, this became rather obvious as we witnessed Mono and Six travel through the Pale City and inevitably face  the Thin Man. From what we could understand, by the contents of the game, glitching remains appeared to be composed of some sort of interference, but as we saw their bodies tremble and repeat the same action over and over again, they appeared to be trapped in a seemingly harmful and hypnotic state, they never moved, they never flinched, they never reacted to another living beings presence, they all simply stayed in their space as we watched their bodies crumble and slowly disappear from the world. 

And yet based on Dark Six's actions alone, we understood these other glitching remains could be capable of doing more...and yet they didn’t... it was as if they had no where to go and nothing left which would lead them to do something else. Based on their behaviors and characteristics and taking into account the threat of the Towers transmission, we theorized the glitching remains  were what was left of someone after they became infected/exposed and distorted by the towers hypnotic transmission, which inevitably lead us to the shocking realization that these glitching remains were essentially, well...souls . Six alone could be seen mesmerized by the towers light upon seeing it from the roof top of a building, before finally regaining her senses to continue following Mono,

 revealing to us that Six had already been touched by the towers transmission in the same way we saw it infect and mesmerized the toddler in episode 2 of the Little Nightmares 2 comics. Once the transmission grabbed hold of its prey, it used the Thin Man to finish the job.

When the Thin Man captures Six, we see his power has the capability to separate a persons glitching remain(soul) as we witness him grab Six and leave behind Dark Six (Six's glitching remain). 

Now, because we have always theorized the Thin Man of the game was always Mono, this would essentially mean that Mono possessed the same ability. And yet despite being fully capable of absorbing the glitching remains, as evident by Mono’s actions of approaching and absorbing any glitching remain he finds throughout the game, it was the Thin Man himself who displayed absolutely no interest in them, he remained blindly guided by his own desire/base instinct, just like any other resident of the world.

  Where am I going with this? well... if the glitching remains are truly conscious, if they truly  posses some sort of physical form which allows them to interact with the world to some degree while still remaining as invisible as ghosts, and if they all share the same glitching/interference effect while shedding dark and white pixels from their bodies, then...does this mean the Thin Man really was a glitching remain himself?!...maybe.

And I know what you are thinking, "But if the Thin Man is really Mono’s glitching remains , then how could he have been created in the first place?, its not like Mono can sperate his own glitching remain?", and to be perfectly honest...yes, Mono might have always ben capable of creating his own glitching remain, but if Mono can create his own glitching remain then....what does this tell us about Mono and the Thin Man’s existence? well,  despite having always theorized that the Thin Man in the Little Nightmares 2 game was Mono himself, we had additional theorized there was no time travel involved within this world of nightmares which resulted in a future Mono traveling back in time to meet his younger self(more on that here). But if there is no time travel involved , then how could Mono and the Thin Man exist simultaneously?...then again...who’s to say Six didn’t already provide us with an answer. We have always known that despite a glitching remains existence, a glitching remain is fully capable of existing while their physical body remained roaming around, Six proved this to us time and time again as we saw her and dark Six interact and stay close to one another near the end of Little Nightmares 2 and throughout Little Nightmares. 

Now, what does Dark Six and Six’s situation tell us about Mono and the Thin Man? , well...it means it was always possible for Mono and the Thin Man to be present at the same time, and it looks like the biggest clue to this might have always been revealed to us since the very beginning. 

   Every single time Mono would successfully tune the transmission ,we would see him drop into the hall behind the tv, but of all the times we saw Mono enter this hall, there was always one thing many of us failed to consider each and every time he entered that hall. When Mono entered the tv and headed towards the door, he wasn't just imagining or dreaming things, he was physically there! he touched the door at the end of the hallway and he opened it, setting the Thin Man free as he TUNED HIM OUT through the screen, but if Mono was truly in this hall, then...how could he be both in the tv and outside of the tv?!

Six would always pull him away from the screen, preventing him from reaching the door, so he had to have still been standing in front of the screen the entire time he was making his way down the hall, where am I going with this? well, if there is just a loop which affected Mono and Mono alone while the rest of the world went on normally, if there was no time loop within this world, let alone a time loop where just the Thin Man would travel back to his past to encounter his youngers self(more here), if the Tower is truly capable of taking advantage of the Thin Man’s powers for the sake of its own survival(here), if the glitching remains can truly exist while their bodies remain fully active in the world and if Mono truly possesses the ability to create his own glitching remain and in turn be fully capable of being in two places at once, then what if  maybe...just maybe... the moment Mono reached a crippling old age within the tower... was the moment the tower forced the Thin Man to use his power on himself to separate his glitching remain from his physical body!, essentially allowing the tower to leave Mono (the body) outside its walls , where time flowed normally, while his glitching remain, the Thin Man, was left trapped inside in his crippling old age to continue sustaining the tower, before restarting the whole loop all over again the moment Mono returned! Time and space have always been noted to be distorted within the tower, and if what we theorize is true then...could this mean Mono was trapped in a time loop? just not the time travel sort of loop which had been popularized in so many other games?....honestly who’s to say.

And I know what you are thinking, "But if the Thin Man is really Mono's glitching remain, then how come we didn't see him have the same hunger pains Six had when she couldn't fill the void left by her missing soul, Dark Six?. ", well...who’s to say we didn’t see Mono face a similar side affect as Six. When Mono attempted to open the door, we had always theorized Mono was never simply attempting to open it out of sheer curiosity. Every time the tv turned on in front of him, we could see Mono be drawn to whatever was behind the screen, it wasn’t just causing him pain due to him and the Thin Man’s power and existence interfering with each other(like two similar signals interfering with one other), it was quite literally pulling him in!

Mono had no choice but to walk towards the tv to make it stop, it wasn’t just because the tower was calling him, but because he and the the Thin Man were still connected  and so when he tuned the transmission through the screen and fell into that hallway again and again, Mono continued to attempt to open the door despite having no idea what was really behind it. Now, considering we as the players know exactly what is behind the door, it's no surprise Mono would feel drawn to it, because if what we theorized is true, then hidden behind the door  was the part of Mono which was separated from him the last time he was inside the tower, his glitching remain, the Thin Man himself.

By opening the door each and every time he repeated his loop, the tower would guarantee that the two would come face to face, meaning that the moment the Thin Man captured Mono, was the moment  he would bring Mono back into the tower through the tvs. 

How we have theorized Mono’s Loop (events tale place before Little Nightmares 2 game, rest of the diagram to be released later)

However, knowing what we know now, all of that changed the day Mono met someone which lead him to stray away from his normal path to repeat his terrible loop, who is this someone?....why...it was Six of course!

As for the other glitching remains Mono and Six encountered, well...perhaps the reason we never saw them be as active as Dark Six or the Thin Man, is because unlike them... they no longer had a body to return to, they no longer had something guiding them regardless of the eye entity corrupting them or not and as such... they no longer had a reason to go on in the world, they simply accepted their fate and stayed where they are, but unlike the Thin Man who remained mostly intact as he became another corrupted resident of the world with a purpose in sustaining the eye entity, it was the children's glitching remains which were left to slowly fade from the world as they were left and forgotten in the Pale City . As for what exactly happened with Mono and his glitching remain, the Thin Man, near the end of Little Nightmares 2, well...Mono’s interactions with the tv’s helped provide more insight to what more his abilities could be capable of...long before their fight began.  

    At the beginning of the fight, when Mono held his hand up towards the Thin Man, he did it in the same manner he would always do when he was touching a tv to tune the transmission. 

What exactly does this mean?, well...If Mono has always been capable of separating and absorbing the glitching remains of others, if he had always been capable of creating his own glitching remain, and if the tower had truly taken advantage of his power to force him to separate his glitching remain from his body then...does this mean Mono was always capable of reabsorbing his own glitching remain?! well...what if maybe...just maybe...that’s exactly what happened between Mono and the Thin Man during their final battle , what if this is why the Thin Man was depicted more as a glitching remain the moment Mono chose to fight back, what if this is the reason there was nothing left of the Thin Man near the end, it wasn’t because he died...but because Mono left less and less of him to face!...And because it was now the Thin man in front of Mono instead of a tv then, what if maybe...just maybe....Mono wasn't just repelling the Thin Man away from him...what if he had unknowingly attempted to tune, and in turn make sense, of the the part of himself that was separated from him within the tower?... what if maybe, just maybe.....Mono really was reabsorbing and reuniting with his lost half!. 

    Now, keep in mind we always theorized Six used the Lady’s powers to reabsorb and reunite with her lost half, Dark Six, allowing Six to obtain whatever memories Dark Six had during her time away, but if this is true, then... shouldn’t Mono have gained whatever memories the Thin Man had if he had truly reabsorbed him? honestly, even if he did gain the Thin Man’s memories, the Thin Man would not have had much to offer given he spent his entire life trapped in that tiny room within the tower, and whatever memories he could have had when Mono was once a part of the group of kids in episode 6...may very well have been erased from his mind long ago, after repeating his loop over and over again. The only memory Mono could have obtained from the Thin Man...was his memory of the chair the flesh walls offered him before it finally corrupted him all over again....perhaps this is why Mono ran to the chair near the end of the game, because out of the endless flesh surrounding him...it was the chair which he found oddly familiar.

(Pause for break)

But if this explains the situation between Mono and the Thin Man, their loop and their final interactions with one another then ......how does this explain the glimpses of Mono’s glitching remain we saw when he was in the dark empty void in the tower?

Every time Mono hit Monster Six's music box, he was transported into a dark empty void where he would need to run around and find the same door which lead him to find Six back at the Hunters cabin, only this time it would lead him back to Monster Six.

 Before he found the door, if and when he shouted out his signature "Hey!" call, we would momentary  see a glimpse of Mono’s glitching remain before it disappeared, the one thing we couldn’t understand at the time was why we only ever saw a glimpse of Mono’s glitch. No matter how many times Mono shouted out "hey!", his glitch never once stayed separated from him, like how we saw with Dark Six and the other children’s glitching remains, but why was this?...unless....maybe it had nothing to do with his glitch staying out of hid body...what if it had everything to do with the very thing which was trying to take a hold of Mono in the first place...the black tower.

We have always theorized it was the part of the eye entity within the tower, in other words the tower itself, who devoured the life force/souls of whomever it was its hypnotic transmission ensnared, including the Thin Man (more here) and the glitching remains which were seen throughout the city slowly crumbling away. But aside from this, we had additionally always theorized the eye entity in the tower needed Mono/Thin Man as a host to sustain itself, because despite being fully capable of a wide variety of things, the eye entity still had its weaknesses, and one of those weaknesses was how it could not feed upon the life force/souls of its many, many residents on its own, it needed the power of someone else which was not only capable of removing the life force/souls of other living beings, but could also be used to transmit its hypnotic transmission, and that someone was whomever succeeded the resident within the tower and inherited their power ( more on that here), a situation which applied in the same matter to the Lady and the Maw(here). 

Now, what does this have to do with Mono? well,  considering pieces of Mono’s glitching remain had momentarily disappeared and reappeared then...could it be the tower was doing what was simply in its nature? if what we theorized about the glitching remains is true and if they are truly what remains of someone after they have been exposed to the transmission, then would this mean that as Mono was being exposed to the transmission, while attempting to save Six, the eye entity in the tower had already attempted to take a hold of him?....but couldn’t?...maybe, but if it couldn’t, then perhaps the reason it failed in taking a hold of Mono was because he was no longer  just a child who’s lack of understanding of the the world around him prevented him from being corrupted by its hypnotic  light( more on that here) in the same way all other residents were.

Near the end of his fight with the Thin Man, when Mono pulled the tower towards himself,  many of us understood that Mono was far stronger than the eye entity in the tower and any resident we had seen thus far,  but by accepting the world for what it was and choosing to fight back, Mono had effectively taken control of his own desires, allowing him to harness his emotions and turn himself into someone who was far more dangerous than the eye entity and any other resident within the Pale City, and because of this, the tower could not take him so easily now that it could no longer take advantage of his power and his mind.  Mono was no longer the weak minded child he once was, he became a threat to it and the world it created.

If what we theorize is true, then perhaps the only thing the tower could do was scrape away what little of his life force/soul it could in order to maintain its form and maintain a link to ONE tv in the Pale City once it was time for Six to leave Mono behind. Something the eye entity in the tower needed to happen no matter what in order to ensure Six’s betrayal was enough to leave Mono in an emotional turmoil and so  the two would be kept separated from one another for good.

 Mono’s glitching remain might have only momentarily appeared each and every time he said "Hey!" not because he was loosing his glitching remain, but because he was strong enough to keep it latched to him now that the eye entity had no hold over him during that time.

Unfortunately, if the Thin Man is really Mono’s glitching remain, and if Mono really did reunite/reabsorb him, then... could this mean that Mono might have always been capable of leaving the city once he was made whole again?, allowing him to not only save himself ...but also leave the tower to Die?, if so, then by entering the tower to continue in his efforts to save Six...Mono might have really unknowingly walked into a trap which could guarantee the tower in regaining Mono as its host and restarting his loop once again...

but hey, its just a theory...a Little Nightmares 2 theory!

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 317: My Boy Was Just Like Me

Previously on BnHA: AFO randomly blew up Lady Nagant as a good reminder of why you should never make a deal with this fucking guy, smdh. Hawks was all “well if it isn’t my two best friends, Deku and Lady Nagant, both of whom I respect and love tremendously.” Everyone was all “??” and Horikoshi was all “shh... just pretend” because it was too embarrassing for him to admit that he forgot to write a couple of set-up flashbacks I guess. Anyway so Hawks got Lady to tell them where AFO was hiding out, and everyone said goodbye to her and Overhaul, who never did get to see his boss (sorry buddy, I’ll send you a vial of my tears in the mail), and headed out to a house in the woods. AFO was all “hello Deku :) :) it sure is fun making you suffer :) :) :) anyways this is a trap”, and blew up the house. Yeah, we all here are getting reaaaaaaaal tired of your shit, AFO.

Today on BnHA: The Hawksquad and Edgeplatoon meet in a warehouse and are all “what should we do about the fact that everything sucks?” Mt. Lady is all “here’s a thought, what if we tried battling AFO with more than six people.” Hawks and Endeavor are all “great initiative, but just a friendly reminder that our friends also suck and would probably betray Deku which would suck further still.” Shouto is all “ANSWER THE PHONE DAD” and Endeavor is all “[IRONICALLY DOESN’T ANSWER THE PHONE].” Meanwhile over in Sadtown, capital of Sadland Prefecture, Japan, Deku is all “All Might, as you can clearly see I am completely fine and good, never been better in fact, definitely not caught up in the throes of an epic mental breakdown which is shutting me down emotionally, anyway so on that note I would like to leave you now goodbye!!” All Might is all “[can’t actually form any words because he’s too distraught].” Fandom is all “o(╥﹏╥)o.” Horikoshi is all “(*＾-’) 乃 [pew pew finger guns and barrel rolls into the darkness].”

sweet jesus lord

this literally doesn’t even look like Deku anymore?? this looks like Dark!Deku who shows up to fight you in that one room in the Water Temple. he looks like he’s about to crawl out of my television set and murder me with his psychic powers good lord

holy shit lmao Horikoshi is really just shrugging his shoulders and resolving last week’s cliffhanger with a single line of dialogue

fire is no one’s weakness. idk what other options you’ve got, AFO, but you’re gonna have to go back to the drawing board. maybe try bees or something. I’m just saying. we’re all expecting fire at this point but nobody is expecting bees

anyway so now they’re all sitting in some warehouse somewhere chatting about it I guess. shoutout to Horikoshi for finally giving my man Edgeshot some more dialogue at long last

well, Edgeshot, to answer your question, she exploded. so naturally she’s fine

nah just kidding, Hawks says she won’t be able to help them out much because she’s recovering from being exploded. this is the part where we all ignore the fact that Hawks got set on fire for like a full ten minutes back during the War arc and was only in the hospital for a day. anyways enjoy your temporary plot hiatus Nagant

man there’s a lot of dialogue here and I’m trying to figure out where to insert commentary but it’s kinda difficult lol. basically, Edge and the others are saying that they should gather up the other remaining heroes and get them all caught up on the whole OFA situation. which, hmmmm

like on the one hand, these guys definitely aren’t going to cut it on their own, so it’s a reasonable suggestion on the face of it. but on the other hand, do we really want to entrust the OFA secret to a bunch of other people, most of whom shat the bed during the War arc to be quite frank? is it really worth the additional risk? especially given that any one of them might go spilling the beans to the public -- or worse, betray them to AFO??

also just a quick side note here, Mt. Lady’s character development never ceases to delight me. she’s become so committed to her responsibility as a hero these days, and it fucking suits her. I genuinely consider to be one of the elites now. I mean it doesn’t hurt that all the other elites are fucking dead lol but still

wait what? Death Arms retired??

Death Arms as in the guy who was too afraid of a little fire to try and save a terrified 14-year-old kid who was slowly suffocating right before his eyes?? that Death Arms???? color me surprised. shocked, I tell you

...okay but holy fuck

Death Arms. bro. my expectations for you were low but holy shit. like I’m sorry, but I don’t even have it in me to try and pretend like I feel the slightest bit of sympathy for him or Old Man Samurai or any of those other guys today. thanks for a whole lot of nothing my dude. good riddance

(ETA: so I’m rereading this the next day and realize this comes off as kind of harsh, so let me just try to clarify. it’s not the fact that he’s quitting that bothers me, to be honest. it’s the fact that he’s quitting specifically because he feels like the public is being mean to him. that’s it.

seriously. it would be one thing if he was quitting because he was scared, because now that is human. nobody wants to die, and I doubt any amount of training can ever fully prepare someone to go up against that fear. but the thing is, he never once mentions that, or talks about the danger aspect. instead, I got the distinct vibe from this speech that Death Arms is one of those people who only became a hero because of the limelight. and I just don’t have any patience for that. if all you care about are likes and subscribes then go become a fucking youtuber or some shit. nothing wrong with that! but you didn’t; you signed up to be a hero and protect these people. they gave you their respect and admiration because they trusted you to protect them. and now that they’re no longer in the mood to worship and applaud your every move on account of them being scared shitless because they’re living in the literal end times, you decide to dip. so like okay, fine then. don’t let the door hit you on the way out. anyways lol sorry for the rant.)

anyway so yeah. perfect example of why I don’t exactly have a ton of faith in most of the remaining heroes out there lol. also let me just once again give a shoutout to my best girl Mt. Lady whom I suddenly find myself appreciating all the more

“please calm down makeste. drink some water and enjoy this fresh new jeans pun” listen Horikoshi don’t tell me what to do dammit

fine. it is a nice pun, I guess

-- damn so now Endeavor’s saying that the media is already being fed info by the retired heroes. so for some of these guys it wasn’t enough for them to abandon all the people they swore to protect and to leave their fellow heroes out in the cold; they decided they might as well actively make things worse for them while they were at it, huh. like I get wanting to spill all the dirty secrets from your old job that you just quit, but this isn’t Jeff Bezos you’re screwing over, this is a sixteen-year-old kid

-- like, yes!! this, right here!!

exactly!! let’s not forget that there are already two prior instances of this happening. Endeavor arguably deserved it, but Katsuki not so much

huh. Endeavor seems to have a more optimistic outlook regarding this than I do lol

I mean, this is the same public that didn’t hesitant to blame a kidnapped child for his own kidnapping, and then later on for being the downfall of the Symbol of Peace. but okay then

anyway so blah blah blah, more talk about how they need to use Deku as bait, which basically puts them back at square one, and then they’re all just trailing off into silence and sitting around in the dark lmao this is getting very depressing

SKDJFLSDKJ:LFKJ

SHOUTO?????

NOOOOOOOO ARE YOU KIDDING ME

OH HOW THE TURNTABLES OMG. THE GHOSTER HAS BECOME THE GHOSTEE. Endeavor you petty son of a bitch. and what a brutal cut to that flashback too. “let’s stop Touya together” nah Shouto I’ve got a better idea why don’t I abandon you in U.A. and sally off with Hawks and Jeanist to found the “let’s pretend like we’re doing something to help Deku” club, which basically consists of us sitting around making terrible decisions all day long

Shouto, honey. you deserve better my little Coca Cola can. .........but if you really do have something important you need to tell your dad you could just text it to him. all the love and support, hugs and kisses, you’re doing amazing sweetie. but if you need to pass on any vital information you can just write it down and hit send honey that’s all I’m saying love

now he’s getting another call?? -- or, no, Hawks is getting a call from All Might

ARE YOU FOR REAL HAWKS OMFG

so while you all were sitting around talking about how useless you are, the kid you’re supposed to be protecting was battling another hired gun. I see. please pardon me for one second, I have a phone call to make. the phone call is to RockLockRock and Manual. the reason for the call is to apologize for calling them the worst bodyguards ever back during the War arc. the reason for the apology is because it turns out I WAS SEVERELY MISTAKEN OMFG

JESUS CHRIST DEKU DID YOU JUST KILL THIS MAN LMAO

shoutout to Horikoshi for offscreening this fight. we get it, lol. Deku strong and scary, villains ineffectual and feeble, and AFO... [checks notes] yep, still a dick. the angst arc continues

-- the angst arc continues, SIR

jesus christ I may have to rethink all of my opinions about Deku being framed for murder in movie 3 lmao. never mind. he did it, your honor

holy fucking shit Deku. “he might blow up, so please be careful” fdlskjflk jlskdjflk lwkejflk anyway so I’ve decided the explosion running gag can stay, actually

DEKU WAIT YOU FORGOT YOUR LUNCH!!

lol why do I get the feeling some serious shit is about to go down. ALL MIGHT NEVER MIND BACK OFF I THINK HE NEEDS HIS SPACE

OH MY FUCK I GASPED OUT LOUD

NO NO NO. I KNEW THIS WAS COMING GODDAMMIT BUT NO. NEVER MIND, I CHANGED MY MIND ABOUT IT, I’M NOT READY TO CRY TODAY

shit. shit shit shit shit and OF COURSE all I can fucking think about is that stupid fucking prophecy and gahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Deku please. please please please if you really are going to leave All Might here, please be so very careful in choosing your farewell words to him now because have this sudden horrible fear that this might be the last time you ever see him alive and oh god. oh god oh god

DEKU NO, YOU’RE REALLY NOT!?!?

I HAVE NEVER SEEN ANYONE LESS FINE IN MY LIFE, ACTUALLY????

holy shit. and the fucking callback to the prophecy now. just in case we forgot. WHICH FYI, WE DIDN’T. but that’s basically confirming that this is all still very much on the table and HORIKOSHI NEVER FORGETS oh my god someone please hold me

and the fact that Deku’s flashing back to it now too, though?? because he never forgot either, because of course he didn’t, and now all this stuff is happening, and AFO’s words are getting to him, and this is literally his worst fear come to life and so of course he’s distancing himself from everyone, and now it’s finally come to even this. even the person he admires most

-- OKAY NO, FUCKING COME ON ALREADY I CAN’T TAKE THIS

I GET IT OH MY GOD, I ALREADY UNDERSTAND THE EMOTIONAL IMPACT OF THIS MOMENT WITHOUT ALL OF THE DEVASTATING FLASHBACKS THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH!! YOU ACTUALLY DO WANT ME TO CRY, HUH, IS THAT IT. THIS MAN THAT HE THINKS OF AS A FATHER, THIS MAN WHO HAS BEEN EVERYTHING TO HIM SINCE HE WAS A VERY YOUNG CHILD. EVERYTHING THEY’VE BEEN THROUGH, JUXTAPOSED AGAINST EVERYTHING DEKU IS UP AGAINST, EVERYTHING THAT’S AT RISK. LET’S JUST PUT IT ALL SIDE BY SIDE. LET’S JUST PILE ON ALL OF THE FEELS

(ETA: just a quick note that even though some of the posts I’ve read have described these as All Might’s flashbacks, I’m pretty sure they are Deku’s. most of these are scenes that only he was there for, so yeah. even though All Might is the one thinking the thoughts on the next page, the flashbacks are what’s running through Deku’s mind right now, and so we’re getting that emotion from both of them, which makes it extra devastating lol.)

wait, what???

WHAT??? do you really think that’s why he’s been so determined to protect you this entire time?? simply because you’re his successor?

-- oh no wait lol I think I got that mixed up, this is All Might saying that Deku feels the need to protect him. well that makes more sense lol

oh my god I cannot

his last words. his last words to him. and we can’t even see if he is smiling, like All Might always encouraged him to do. but what are the odds he can’t actually bring himself to do it. what are the odds he’s actually crying. oh god this scene is going to rip my heart out and STOMP on it in the anime isn’t it. Deku’s VA is going to full on murder me with emotion. not that there’ll be much of me left to murder after the thorough job that Horikoshi has already done here

YOU’RE CRYING. DEKU IS LEAVING ALL MIGHT AND IGNORING HIS OUTSTRETCHED HAND AND YOU’RE CRYING. AND BY “YOU” I MEAN “ME”, FUCK

nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope nope no words just feels just a big ol’ pile of feels. I do not have the strength. future me... [broadly gestures] good luck with all that

(ETA: LOL, WELL THEN.

what breaks my heart here is All Might. All Might, and everything he’s been through, and history repeating itself, and forcing him to live this moment from both sides because he wasn’t strong enough to fix things.

Toshinori had only just turned eighteen when Nana died. like, I feel like we don’t mention this enough. the All Might we know is a sixty-something-year-old man, and so everyone always talks about him like he’s basically been an adult forever. but he was a child when he met Nana. and he was still just a child when she died. barely a year older than Deku is now. younger than Mirio was when we first met him.

and we don’t talk about that. we don’t talk about how devastating that was for him. and we don’t talk about how the reason he grew up to become so reserved and withdrawn -- for all that he always tried so hard to outwardly project the image of a bold, confident, smiling hero -- was specifically because of what AFO did to him. because AFO targeted him in the exact way that he is now targeting Deku. because that’s what he does. he goes after every new user of OFA, and he finds out what’s most important to them, and then he destroys it. and for Toshinori, that was Nana. if you’ve read All Might Rising, you know that AFO basically killed her in front of him (and only killed her, while letting Toshinori and Gran get away). Toshinori (while crying) later says she was like a mother to him. and interestingly enough, during this same conversation, Gran tells Toshinori that he can see “that madness in [his] eyes” when Toshi talks about becoming strong enough to defeat AFO. madness in his eyes. sound familiar??

what’s happening to Deku now is the exact same thing that happened to Toshinori when he was a boy. AFO tried every bit as hard to break him as he’s trying with Deku now. “the path you’ve chosen is a thorny one. every battle grinds away at your soul with no end in sight.” we don’t talk about how Toshinori experienced this same thing for forty fucking years. and all the while isolating himself, exactly like Deku is doing now. pushing people away, exactly like Deku. because he never had anyone who was able to reach out and pull him back. and those words that he now finds himself frozen and unable to speak -- “don’t push yourself”; “you can rest” -- are the same words that no one ever said to him until decades later, when it was already far too late to make any difference.

everything that Deku is experiencing now is what Toshinori also went through. and it’s only now, as he watches it happen to his student, the boy he loves like a son, that he’s finally starting to realize the full extent of how wrong it was. you shouldn’t have to fight alone. you shouldn’t have to bear that kind of enormous burden alone. you shouldn’t have to push yourself, and you can rest. you can rest.

but it’s too late. just as he’s finally coming to understand it all, it’s all too fucking late. and he can’t say the words, he doesn’t know how to say the words, and then just like that, Deku is gone.

and he’s alone. again.)

I can’t. this can’t be their goodbye. I’m not ready. for this to be how they finally part, and then they never see each other again except in OFA. how is that fair. how is that fair. how is that fair

fuck me. lol. how many pages are left in this thing. let’s just wrap this up lol. so now of all the times for this fucking guy to finally show up

I can’t believe Stain has been here literally this entire time hiding behind this random wall and cutting onions. that was you who was cutting the onions, right. no need to answer that we’ll just say it was

HORIKOSHI JUST END THE CHAPTER PLEASE I’M OUT OF SPOONS. YOU HURT ME SO GOOD AND I LOVE YOU FOR IT BUT YOU NEED TO LET ME GO NOW SO I CAN BEGIN THE PROCESS OF TRYING TO PUT MY LIFE BACK IN ORDER HERE. SO WHERE ARE WE CUTTING TO NOW WHAT IS HAPPENING

Stain did you also let AFO give you a new quirk. what’s with you guys. do you like blowing up

oh nvm lol because they were talking about THIS GUY ohhhhhh my fucking god

THAT’S BECAUSE HE’S SAD, LINDA!! jesus

omfg. and so yes, good, the chapter is ending here now on page 15. for once I am FULLY on board with that lmao

anyway so tune in next week for more adventures of Werewolf Deku!! that is, assuming we don’t finally cut back to U.A. at long last, which is actually a strong possibility considering that this chapter will likely mark the end of volume 31. it sure wouldn’t kill Horikoshi to start giving us some hope after everything he’s just put us through lol. KACCHAN COME GET YA BOY

[violetmuses]

Justice - A. Aretas ❤️‍🩹 🫂

Title: Justice - A. Aretas ❤️‍🩹🫂

Fandom: “Bad Boys” Film Universe

Character: Armando Aretas

Pairing: Armando Aretas + Female Reader

Main Storyline: Armando Aretas meets you for the first time. @nelo0wesker @yassbishimvintage @amethyst-loves-bucky

=====

2024

Experts pulled straight from the darkness hijacked Armando's federal transport to leave prison. By some miracle, Aretas steered the plane into water, helping everyone survive.

Drenched, Armando Aretas stands from murky water in his ruined orange uniform. Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett followed, dampened as well.

“Listen! Captain Howard left us files with Dorn. We'll reach Miami and start looking.” Stranded through the woods, Detective Lowrey kept struggling to convince his estranged son.

Intelligence agencies whisper that Conrad Howard muddled with the cartel, but Mike and Marcus would prove Cap’s innocence right away.

“Y'all better not slow me down.” Taking charge, Armando is the only person who could identify whoever framed Captain Howard. “Lose your phones before we move. Either keep up with me or I'll leave you both in the dirt. You're in my world now.”

Given no other option, Mike and Marcus followed Aretas.

______

Stealing clothes from two idiots, Mike, Marcus, and Armando “found” one rusty pickup truck before Aretas headed to Dorn's boathouse.

By the next day, sunlight greeted this harbor once more.

“Stay in the car, man. I'll be right back with Marcus.” Mike warned Armando, but Marcus still rolled his eyes before these doors closed.

_____

“Kel! I'm going to make some food.” You spoke with Kelly, AMMO weapons expert.

“Cool! Taking a shower.” Kelly stepped out from her bedroom with tech genius Dorn practically naked, but you know about the relationship for a while now.

“All right.” You say, planning to leave this corridor and offer meals as usual.

Almost every summer between missions, you joined this couple through rare breaks, especially given your somewhat lonesome place at home.

“Damn. There's extra soap, but we're out of body wash.” Kelly updates you on toiletries, but Dorn's voice echoed downstairs, catching mutual interest.

“It's not a good time for visiting yet. Let's reconvene in like an hour or so.” Dorn probably stammered on the phone while using his earpiece again.

Whatever. You roll both eyes with Kelly and she found this blue silk robe anyway, heading downstairs.

“Babe, we're out of body wash. Whoa!” As you followed each step to find the kitchen, Kelly moved down this wooden staircase, but eased that robe.

“Ooh!” Detectives Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett covered their mouths to veil shock and laughter.

Even you scrambled to cover up a little bit and Kelly helped out.

“What's going on here, man?” Mike gestured near Dorn, yet acknowledged Kelly and you.

“I’m dating Kelly, but we invite our teammate every summer.” Dorn nods toward you and K.

“All right.” Mike and Marcus lifted their hands, surrendering judgment.

“Is everything okay?” Kelly faces Mike and Marcus once you settle with clothes and finally start cooking.

“Yeah, we wanted to…” Mike stopped talking when the front door opened again.

Shit! Mike thought.

Armando entered the house.

“What the fuck?!” Both Kelly and you immediately raised firearms through defense.

“Told you to wait in the car.” Mike seemed quietly frustrated with Armando.

Aretas didn't even respond.

“Take Armando to your house. I sure as hell don't trust your son.” Kelly wanted to protect everyone

“Kelly, I can explain.” Mike tried to ease the problem, but Kelly wouldn't listen. You wouldn't even drop your gun until this moment ended.

“Stand down.” Kelly pulled this command while you safely veiled that gun once more.

“This is bullshit! I'm going back upstairs.” Fed up, you planned to hide and calm down, but Kelly noted your steps after speaking with Dorn.

“Stay with us.” Kelly held your hand. “We're looking for whoever framed Captain Howard.”

“Okay.” No longer fighting, you accepted the situation. There's no other choice.

“She's fine.” Dorn tells everyone that Kelly feels better.

"She don't look fine.” Marcus Burnett chimed in as well.

“I'm fine.” Kelly repeated herself.

“Yes, you are.” Armando glanced from the kitchen while daring to flirt with Kelly.

“What did you say?” Everyone turned their heads and Dorn noticed.

“Hey…” Mike wanted Dorn to settle down while still correcting Armando.

“It's a language barrier.” Marcus then slightly jokes.

“That's English.” Dorn's eyes widened even more as Marcus looked at Mike.

“I definitely heard English.” Mike spoke up right back. Burnett seemed flabbergasted.

“Can't talk to me, either.” Once Armando turned in your path, you lifted this drink and took sips.

“Maybe I don't care.” Armando snipped without yelling and found beer in the refrigerator, sitting with you.

Surprised by Armando's banter with you, Kelly and Dorn freeze smiles together.

“Don't get your ass beat.” Even Mike held back chuckles while noting Aretas once more.

Long day ahead. Mike thought.

______

No more games. Everyone collaborated together and hoped to lock down this hidden monster.

“Got 'em! James McGrath: Former Army Ranger turned DEA agent. Taken hostage by the cartel before joining this faction himself.” Dorn finally revealed highlights on the man who framed Captain Howard.

Just when Mike and Marcus seemed comfortable enough to rest, notifications pinged from the visual side of Marcus's RING Camera.

Uniformed intruders located the Burnett household.

“Get the family somewhere safe. You've got trouble coming!” Marcus warned Megan's boyfriend on the phone.

Your own heart races with each passing second as the moment plays from large screens. If Reggie couldn't move fast, tragedy would strike.

Holy shit!

Not only did Reggie hide Megan and Mrs. Burnett without thinking twice, but this guy handled fifteen intruders by himself.

“My snacks are yours, Reggie!” Marcus couldn't help cheering out loud. “Yeah, chitty-chitty bang-bang, motherfuckers!”

_____

Though Marcus Burnett celebrated safety, Detective Mike Lowrey and his wife Christine weren't so fortunate.

McGarth kidnapped Christine and found Captain Howard's granddaughter Callie with her.

“I'll go. Let my life be worth something.” Armando wants to give himself up for demands, saving both Christine and Callie.

“Never, never…” Mike refused Armando's sacrifice here and pointed directly toward his son.

In that same moment, you quietly stepped over and went to hold Armando's hand, surprised when his palm squeezed back.

You then look up to see Aretas glancing toward you. Even gentle tears reach his own brown eyes, looking just like Mike here.

“Sorry.” Armando pulled his slightly accented English while facing you.

Without exchanging another word, you open both arms and hug this stranger for the very first time, grounded by reality.

Tomorrow could change everything.

*****

James McGrath veiled his dark operations from this alligator park located somewhere deep in Florida. AMMO would drop for revenge soon.

“Be careful. Dorn said there's an albino in the water.” Uniformed in tactical gear, you whispered to Armando while quietly drifting between ripples.

“Huh?” Despite focusing on the mission, Aretas is somehow distracted by your firm yet sweet voice.

“An alligator might still be here.” You repeat yourself and offer precautions.

“Shit…” Realization hit Armando seconds later and his guard pulled even higher now.

Ripples shifted again and growling thunders from below as if on cue.

“Don't move.” You hitched.

Just when you thought alligator Duke would battle Armando, this absolute beast moves away from your direction.

“Bigger problems, we're cornered!” You reveal this warning through comms when the bridge creaks overhead.

“I got it. Wait for me. Kay?” Armando took charge once more and sifted through the water with enough space to pierce targets.

“Kay.” You nod toward Aretas and shield your own presence from the upcoming crossfire.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1!

Within seconds of you mentally counting down, Armando fired bullets and henchmen perished, dropping right through water near splashes of blood.

You both crashed up the bridge and ran outward together, gunshots blazing in unison.

“If we make it out of here, call me?” Armando glanced toward you despite piercing more bullets everywhere.

“Not the time!” You shout right back and still fight McGrath’s team.

She didn't refuse. Armando thought.

******

After taking down James McGrath and saving Callie Howard, Armando Aretas barely escaped federal law again once professionals spared him.

Sometime later, this random text message reached out one day, but the AMMO team held different phone numbers in your contact list.

Still shooting me, Cariño? 👀

Not given the chance to respond, you look up and see Armando walking into this coffee shop and heading straight forward.

Uh-oh.

No more dirty outfits.

From wearing this gold necklace to sporting one fresh shirt with matching pants, Armando Aretas chooses sunglasses and outright looks new.

You smiled the moment he sat down, prepared for any future.

[kallikrein]

Spread love today!!! Tag your favorite writers (close or not close) and say whats your personal favorite fics/hcs from them ❀

hello, nonnie! tysm for this ask! i love showcasing my fave works ehehe. i’m just gonna list the fics that made a huge impact on me, so…

@/manjikkai (@/schiros)

crushing on their new employee ft. pet shop trio — my first anon request ever. i had to contain my squeals bcos reiny noticed my ask and wrote the whole thing so adorably <3

i wouldn’t change a thing about you ft. wakasa — a comfort fic i hold the most dear to my heart. i always read this whenever i feel burnt out from work, life in general. so much that i had to beg for a personal copy ahaha it’s that painful and at the same time comforting.

i still have her other fics in mind but i forgot their titles. like the mikey’s s/o dying instead of emma, the izana confession, the shinichiro angst. there are so many, help.

@sugokawata

childhood friends ft. kawata twins — my anon request too! love how i requested it before i went to bed and sugo posted it already when i woke up. i felt so happy when i read it the first time!

@inupibaldspot

there are a lot of eve’s works that i love, so i won’t try to describe each and every one of them. they are all amazing!

hand prompt ft. shinichiro, our snowfall ft. baji, divine ft. mikey, five things i hate about him ft. chifuyu, please come back + only you ft. kakucho, deja vu ft. takemichi.

let’s not fall in love, forehead kisses and cuddles prompt, aphrodite, reel in a reaction ft. wakasa.

@haruchyio

another favorite writer of mine, and i extremely look up to her writings. sennie is the goat!!

tokyo manji daycare hcs, falling for their fwb hcs, dreaming of their s/o cheating even though they’re not in a relationship hcs, how they describe what falling in love is like, things he does during a video call with you.

@sukirichi

basically all of her tokrev works. especially the bonten!husbands executives. they are so good <3

@wwintersun

i just love how fluffy zu's fics are. it feels so nice and warm, and such good reads! her tokrev characterizations are on point.

tokrev as fantasy boy aus part one + part two, in which you kabedon chifuyu, in which rindou proposes to you while you’re asleep.

@tokyo-fukushu

I HAVE A TON OF FAVORITES FROM LOU. I'LL JUST PUT HER WHOLE ASS MASTERLIST HERE HAHAHA. ALL OF HER WRITINGS ARE A MUST-READ FOR A TOKREV FAN.

@lostinthe-jojos

i am still not forgiving itzel /j for writing that wakasa drabble and it's dedicated for me — me. lord knows how i went crazy after reading that goodie.

watching cartoons with their kids ft. shinichiro and wakasa, being his girlfriend ft. wakasa.

@kuroiza

semmie isn't writing for tokrev anymore, but her vibes always make me feel cozy. and the way my fave fic from her still lives in my mind rent-free is quite shocking to me.

can you please pretend to be my boyfriend for a while ft. ran.

@nameless-shrimp

chasing cars ft. baji. a rollercoaster ride of a fic. so fluffy, and i'm really blown away with shrimp's writing style and rich vocabulary! i really love this one!!

@firstdivision

asap ft. wakasa. this smutty one-shot changed my life. i became the feral princess that i truly am knowing i have no contact of wakasa irl. sobs.

@marism

with my headphones on ft. wakasa. me and mochi always go back to this one, and when i say we go wild every time we speak of it... we go W I L D.

@aruuq

i remember reading aruu's works in one seating and i must say i had a really good time going through them!

pocky day hcs, gifts hcs, drinking with tokrev boys hcs, christmas at the sanos.

@awkwardly-monmon

i'm gonna be honest. one of the best wakasa writers in the whole fandom is right here. i always look out for monmon’s new wakasa content because she never fails to give me amazing stuff. i am well-fed every time i read her writings, so i'm just gonna put her imaushi wakasa masterlist because it is everything to me.

also @mochi-coffee's writings... drabbles, blurbs, even her tags on her reblogs. need i say more lololol. her roommate!wakasa headcanon is the best thing to ever happen, please. and just look at her influencing everyone to write for roomie waka ;-; i don't honestly know if we're being blessed or cursed because every roomie waka fic out there is so goooood. but you don't really see me complaining hsdfsjdahfg i love her blog so much <3

ps. i still have a lot of favorites from other writers, but these are the only ones that i can think of the top of my head. sorry for missing out some masterpieces! ;-;