#teehee gotta represent

[baylardo]

DO QUESTION 8. BE LONGWINDED.

8. What's an old project idea that you've lost interest in

im gonna PAGE BREAK this one teehee! dont feel like u gotta read this dookie its hecking DENSE original content lmao. this aint even all of it just the stuff that pertained directly to stories i had in mind

I used to be super passionate about developing my headworld Tenebres which like, I still love it a lot and I think about it sometimes but idk I lost the spark for it I guess haha... I had a few kinda "big arc" stories in it, some of them were just AU's for fandom stuff, but omg I'd always put my heckin heart into it maaaaang. :/

BASICALLY I RAN OUT OF CHARACTERS LOL

Tenebres Lore: Tenebres takes place in present day and focuses on the hidden society(s) of magic and monsters. Characters can vastly range in appearance and abilities; many of the rules are set as suggestions rather than guidelines. The one thing to keep in mind in regards to looks is that if they interact with common folk they need to be able to "blend in" which can be achieved in a variety of ways.  While there are some classifications that entirely define some characters in what they are, there are other circumstances where a character can fall into multiple categories. In these instances, there is usually one that represents them more than the other.  Generally speaking all potential types of magic are fair game in Tenebres. The only exceptions are time and dimension manipulation, which are strictly prohibited by a common code kept by most Magi. 

Vera and Jagger: one of my earliest stories involved me and my friend's OCs Vera and Jagger who were both werewolves. my werewolf lore is a bit dense but suffice to say that Vera is a "moon-blessed" called a Lune werewolf and Jagger is a "moon-cursed" werewolf called a Tenebroso. Tenebroso become uncontrollable, enraged, and lose their sense of self in their wolf form. Tenebroso also target Lunes for some unknown reason, they kinda set them off..... thats da mystery is that this new "strain" of werewolves is attacking packs and Vera in particular is like "haha something's majorly up rn. im gonna get to the bottom of this" so the idea was that Vera discovers Jagger stuck somewhere and through exposure therapy of herself (a Lune) to him theyre able to uncover some of the mysteries surrounding Tenebrosos. AND THEY FALL IN LOVE. Lune Lore: Lunes are the rarest of the four races of werewolves. Their symbol atop their head is an upward-facing crescent with a dot within its arch.  Lunes are so rare because of the means in which one becomes a Lune; Lunes are said to be "blessed" by the moon, seeing as more often than not it is the only time they are able to transform. This does not negate them from transforming at other times, but unlike other werewolf races, they cannot stop or even try to stop the transformation from occurring in the presence of the moon.   Tenebroso Lore: Tenebroso have an upside down crescent with a circle attached to its arch on the outer rim. Some have wondered if they have any correlation with Lunes considering how similar their symbols are, though there is no evidence of this aside from the fact that Tenebroso will specifically target Lunes when they are in the area. Not much is known about Tenebrosos, though it is assumed that their initial transformation occurs under intense emotional distress.  Tenebroso are big and burly, mutated-looking werewolves. Though they do not always look this way. Similar to casts their outward appearances can largely range from one to the other. Normally their bouts of rage occur around Lunes or other werewolves, leading to rampages. When a Tenebroso is out of this state of mind they look more like a normal werewolf.  Their eyes will gleam white when they're attacking and can often times be seen spewing and coughing out black ooze from their mouth. Their entity will darken with a black aura as well.

Juneau my beloved: Juneau's lore is that she was a well-renown mage that began self-experimenting on herself with spells and curses and she ends up irrevocably cursing herself into sometimes becoming a big carnivorous and kinda head-empty beast so she loses her reputation and gets kicked out of prestigious mage school she taught at and lives on her own doing plague doctor work which involves curse removal and cleaning up magic "outbreaks" but she ends up getting sought out by this young familiar named Hemlock who wants to learn advanced magic (which is a no-no for familiars) but juneau's so far removed from mage society that the two agree to risk it and she takes Hemlock and a few other familiars under her wing. there's also Ethel who's a mage that accidentally turned herself into a dragon and she's hiding out with Juneau and faked her death bc she thinks her condition is humiliating, where juneau kinda owns her curse and doesnt care with other magefolk think. her and juneau dont like each other very much, Ethel is very lawful good where Juneau's pretty CHAOTICALLY aligned. she frets over them getting caught teaching familiars advanced magic, but they both have nothing better to do and miss teaching so they do it. eventually they become friends and help their little familiar students excel at magic in a more public light, bringing themselves out of hiding as well. Familiar Lore: Familiars are considered to be lesser magi. The ability to use magic in one's animal form defines what a familiar is. Their magic stems from their animal forms and is usually the form that is able to harness the largest amount of magic. Some familiars are born humans while others are animals; more often than not they're humans. Familiars are sought out at very young ages.  Regardless of what a familiar was born as, every familiar has a unique symbol or symbols somewhere on their body; they are always symmetrical in their position on the body. They normally take on the general look of a swirl though its contents can vary significantly. Normally referred to as the Marks of Change, this is how a familiar is identified as a familiar and not just a magical animal. Marks of Change are normally monochromatic and can be lighter or darker than the familiar's skin. Unlike werewolf markings, Marks of Change are always visible and do not vanish when not in use; in addition to this they cannot be removed. Oftentimes these markings are in places where limbs emerge or change, but not always.  In order for a familiar to be enrolled in a magic school or academy they have to successfully perform their transfiguration; this is a very simple requirement in comparison to other witches and wizards who are not themselves a familiar. Familiars have very low expectations in the magic community, the most a familiar can hope to achieve is being the assistant to a high ranking or prosperous witch or wizard. Most studies for a familiar pertain to their transfigurations as well as catalyst magic, which involves the combining of individuals' magic.  Familiars are intended to be able to naturally shift between states whenever necessary. A familiar's overall comfort in their animal state can range drastically. Some find great ease shifting back and forth between forms while others, more reluctant to the change, can abstain from shifting; this  comes with potential side effects such as an odd mergence of the two forms, one might start growing a tail or feathers if they choose not to shift into their animal state.  Because of their constant fluctuation between forms, Familiars will often wear loose, baggy clothing that is easily removable. It is not required to a Familiar to have, but makes their removal easier when shifting into an animal.  A familiar's animal form does not hinder their lifespan, though it can increase it. As familiars age, their inclination to remain in their animal form grows, though this happens very late in life. This does not mean that they lose their humanity, though in some rare cases familiars can lose their sentience.

Blake and Schofield: just 1917 AU in Tenebres, Schofield's a mage, Blake's an Origin werewolf. blake ends up dying like he does in da movie and he becomes a GHOST that "haunts" schofield, just kinda follows him around and stuff after he dies, the story being theyre trying to figure out why he didnt pass on, why he's still around. it would follow Schofield surviving the war with blake as his invisible buddy, eventually they figure out a way to bring him back and he had a purpose to serve as a ghost.

Origin Lore:  Origin werewolves are identified by the O shape on their forehead.  Origins are one of the more common races of werewolves. Origin werewolves are werewolves born already inheriting their ability to transform. They can come from a single werewolf parent or both, though regardless of their parents' symbol, the offspring will be an Origin. This does not affect or prohibit the inheriting of certain abilities or features from their parents, however.   Origins are considered to be the average for werewolves, not necessarily being the strongest, nor the weakest. They are usually the ones to have their transformations under control at all points in time, given that they were born with the power to do so. They tend to have no special abilities aside from the obvious, and seem to be the most humane of a pack.

Farscape Tenebres AU:

John is a human, over the course of time Aeryn, a mage, teaches him how to use magic and he becomes a mage himself, but in the beginning he's just some guy that falls down a portal that allows him to travel between "mageworlds" which are kinda cut off little mage-made dimensions that magefolk use to avoid using magic around commonfolk. anyway he stumbles upon a mageworld that's sole purpose was to be a prison for people who committed magic crimes and that's how he'd find the "moya crew". D'Argo's a Cast werewolf, Zhaan's a grim reaper, Rygel's a vampire, Chiana (who they'd meet later) is a succubus. They end up escaping and just kinda exist via jumping through portals and running from the law.

I had a name for the magic police written down somewhere but it's been lost to time so it's back to being filler named: [MAGIC POLICE] lore:

The death of a magic-involved individual is something the [MAGIC POLICE] are obviously inclined to investigate

Harm of another wizard has a lot of laws and a lot of potential punishments dependent on the severity of the incident

The [MAGIC POLICE] will also investigate general public crimes that have been involved with magic, for the threat of the magic community being exposed, [MAGIC POLICE] officers are given the okay to use mind manipulation magic on the general public to aid in their forgetting of certain events

The [MAGIC POLICE]'s job is to apprehend wrongdoers whereas plague doctors for example clean up the messes afterwords

[MAGIC PRISON] (Tartarus) is where apprehended criminals are contained, it is seemingly limitless in the capacity it holds

Cast Lore:

Casts have a six-pointed star on their forehead. 

Casts receive their powers by curses or spells acted upon them. The means as to how, why, and what the side effects are for a Cast may vary very much depending on how it was that they became a werewolf. This subtype of werewolves is one of the rarer kinds as magic is not common in today's society, though the ability to become a Cast still exists. They are usually the strongest of a pack, gifted with enhanced skills and strength. A Cast will normally have one particular ability that is unique to only them; that isn't to say that there aren't similarities between Cast abilities either.

Some examples may include but are not limited to: The ability to control an element (Fire, wind, electricity, water, etc.), psychic abilities (Illusion, foresight, telepathy, telekinesis, etc.), enhanced physical capabilities (Increased, strength, sleep, sight, hearing, etc.) 

Casts are only able to use their magic in their wolf forms.

Some Casts can be muleheaded and a bit arrogant in dealing with affairs, though the other werewolves know how to put a Cast in its place. Casts will sometimes have unique coloring and fur, occassionally one may see a Cast with vibrant colors in association with its natural fur color. They are also seen to have odd mutations in their wolf forms such as an extra set of limbs, though not all of them carry this trait.

[misspickman]

was thinking abt ur answers to my ask from yesterday and while i did mention that ztd akane balances the duality of silliness and ruthlessness, i feel like 999 akane does the same in a way ? like less in the sense of her appearance within the story but like. during escape room portions . obv akane had to recreate everything she saw which means a lot of building q resembles what went on in the gigantic, but i feel like there r some aspects that represent her like the dolls in the operating room, the books in the library, the "zero" message in the captains quarters, etc . speaking of the latter, junpei refers to zero as childish bc of his methods and GOD i know he isn't aware of zero's identity at that point but like!! the second nonary game rlly does have akanes prints all over it in a metaphorical sense.. both her ruthlessness and silliness r on full display here, just more subtle than ztd akane

okay rant over srry if this makes no sense i just heart akane i miss her sm

Yeah no it totally makes sense ! Also the fucking q door. That was so mean akane i bet she thought it was so funny (it was). I fully forgot about the zero message and how junpei is like oh hes making fun of us. This is a joke. And it is bless her i hope she had fun with that one. I bet it sucked putting all that together you gotta find some semblance of joy somewhere u know. I also think about the library soo much its one of my favorite rooms and going through it knowing who is behind it is so interesting

And i loove that she is both, this is really what made me like her so much bc ok ill admit i was ambivalent towards her at first bc i partially fell for the teehee im just you childhood crush jumpy act (it becomes clear thats not the case p quickly) but the moment you realize who zero is/that akane is even involved hits so hard bc like the girl who told me about fake ice and titanic put me in here?? Fascinating Can i get more of her please. Junpei voice i wouldn't mind finding out more about what goes on in her brain

[katsushika-division]

Happy Halloween from Death Row Block (+ Akari)

Akihisa - Alucard

“I held no interest in dressing up this year, but I was ganged up on by the other three. I’m positive this costume is the vampire from that anime they recently watched. They even managed to temporarily dye my hair black to match his. Now, Rintaro is trying to get me to say this one line that this character is known for saying. *sighs* I’m surrounded by children. My punishment for everything that I’ve done in life. Now then, take this for the occasion.”

You received a treat!

Liquid Blood. An IV bag filled with a realistic red liquid. Perfect for anyone brave enough to sink their fangs into it. Be careful not to spill any.

Touya - Succubus 

“Hi! Hi! Happy Halloween! Awwww look at you getting all shy and bothered. You like my costume, right? I know because you can't keep your eyes off me. Hmmm…I wonder how many people I can lure looking like this. So, Kai-chan and I made a bet to see who could seduce more people this year. The winner gets to [CENSORED] and [CENSORED] the loser. *giggles* Wanna be my first victim of the night? Teehee~! I have to go meet up with Kai-chan now, so have this~!”

You received a treat!

 Dxxk Suckers. Lollipops in the shape of a certain male part. If you're not careful it’ll leave quite a mess on your lips. Perhaps it is best that you keep this candy away from children. 

Rintaro - Raijin

“Happy fucking Halloween. Since I’m not legally allowed to be even remotely near an open flame not like that would stop me. I’ve decided to go with the next best thing, of course. Fucking lightning. Now who better to represent that than the fucking God of Storms? Akari helped me build the taiko drums, and we even managed to get electricity to spark when we hit them. Ha! The look on everyone's shity faces when I show that off is gonna be great. So, here take this and fuck off. I gotta get the Old Man to say a certain phrase right now.”

“I’m not saying it, Rintaro.”

“Just fucking say it, Old Man.”

“Ugh, fine…Bitches love cannons.”

“Ha! Fuck yeah!”

You received a treat!

Gummy Lightning Bolts.  Super sour gummies in the shape of a lightning bolt. Each one strikes you quickly with a sharp citrus flavor.

Bonus! Akari - Junko Enoshima

“WHAT’S UP? IT’S JUNKO FUCKIN' ENOSHIMA! HERE TO SPREAD DESPAIR TO THE MASSES! HAHAHA! Haa.....so what do ya think? Junko suits me right? Well, I’m less about spreading despair and more about causing pure and complete destruction. Either way, the world best be prepared for me. Anyway, I'm off to hand out some punishments and then I have an invitation to attend Scorpion Den’s Halloween Bash so here, have this.”

You received a treat!

Monokuma Cookies. Soft sugar cookies in the shape of a certain franchise’s mascot and coated with black and white frosting. Careful while eating them now or else it's punishment time!

[bugdogg]

I think I'm done with them enough to post, so here's the playlists I made:

Mizuki's was harder to put together since I had to consider songs that match the way the present their self, and songs that match how they actually are and feel. (I fit songs that represent them, not things they'd really sing btw)

I kept adding and removing songs because I overthink a lot but the songs do fit them lyrically. Playlist is organized first with positive, energetic songs to match how they present their self. As it plays, the songs stay energetic but aren't as positive or optimistic and become aggressive lyrically, a lot of them somewhat being things Zuki would say to themself, Favorite Liar is a good example of this. Favorite Liar and Bitchboy are there mostly to fit with Akita as they grew up together, their tastes are pretty similar, except Mizuki changed a lot more which I'll explain eventually

The Flavor of a Cockroach is the song that I think really splits the playlist in half, the songs after that are more representative of Mizuki's true feelings and essentially them experiencing burnout, unable to keep up the act anymore. I don't wanna explain every song cause I think it'll be too much on one post but if you're curious, feel free to ask me I love answering questions.

Akita's playlist is also sorta messy but songs still all work for them. If I could use only The Oozes and Metric songs I probably would because they're perfect tone wise. Akita is very aggressive with their singing and has a hostile persona for their performances but as a person, they're blunt but very caring for others. They still occasionally pick fights like she and Mizuki did in their youth but she isn't as sadistic and see's brawls as pointless fun instead of a form of lashing out. (I gotta explain Akita for things to make sense cause I have never said a word about her despite thinking of her all the time)

Ugo is a song that's really about Akita's and Mizuki's relationship before Zuki split. The couple songs after that are things they'd sing but the lyrics are similar to the sorta story I have going on between Zuki and Akita. Akita was basically abandoned by Zuki when they were younger as they just disappeared one day and no one gave a shit about them gone except Akita. Mizuki left without saying a word and also avoided any form of contact from her as they convinced themself that she'd hate them for running. So Akita at some point joined a band and based some of the things they'd perform on actual feelings, and one day while traveling with the band to Japan, found Zuki (Mizuki actually found her and went to see her).

I'm skipping talking about Fahrradsattel and Wet for reasons. What You Waiting For? is where Akita and Mizuki meet again and Akita starts questioning why Zuki changed and seemingly became a nobody compared to the brutal fighter they once were, she doesn't understand why they became so different and hangout with people they'd both once considered weak and a waste of space (Akita is very harsh about things and immediately, she and the Matsus don't really like each other (and Totoko and Nyaachan very much despise her btw)).

Littlefang might be out of place there but it's a personal favorite of mind, I care about the song a lot and wanted to include it. It'd be a song Akita would perform (the actual character in this song is supposed to be a cat puppet but we're ignoring that for dog themed band reasons) the song as way of connecting with people ig, adding to the last songs, she doesn't wanna change herself to please others and wants others to believe it too (especially Mizuki). The song is very different from the bands usual thing but I like to think Mizuki's optimistic personality rubs off on her when she performs it and it ends up working out. (I just really like this song teehee <3)

I still don't wanna explain every song rn but if your curious about any choice, feel free to ask. I don't mind explaining story stuff and I like talking about these two dorks.

Ok rambling over, thank you if you read this or listened the playlists <3

[evilpenguinrika]

Hosie+fankids Pokemon AU

I AM WEAK FOR AUs, WEAK I SAY😭😓😞

Anyway here's a list of Hosie+my Hosie fankids's Pokemon team and the explanations for why I picked the specific Pokemon for them under the cut bc this got long and I don't wanna spam the tag with constantly long-ass posts all the time (especially when those long-ass posts are AU specific lmao rip)🙏

And who knows mayhaps I'll draw a Hosie Pokemon AU in the future one day. Gotta have a point of reference for me to look back to👀

Okay, enough rambling from me, hope you enjoy this long list of Hosie Pokemon AU and also so sorry for all the reading under the cut

//

Hope Mikaelson

Delphox

Lycanroc Midnight

Gliscor

Garchomp

Absol

Alolan Ninetails

Hope’s first three Pokemon represent her Tribrid side. Delphox = witch, Lycnroc Midnight = werewolf, Gliscor = vampire. I don’t think there’s really much need to go into detail as to why I picked these three Pokemon for Hope 😛 

For the other three, Garchomp, Absol, Alolan Ninetails, it’s all about aesthetics, really. Garchomp, I found out, is a pseudo-legendary, so I think it fits her pretty well being a Tribrid. I mean, aside from her eldest daughter Lana, there’s no one else in the supernatural world that’s a Tribrid like her. Plus, Hope with a Dragon type on her team is pretty dope if you ask me. 

Absol has this infamous connection to disaster. And… Well… I don’t need to explain too much about why I picked Absol for Hope, do I 👀? Plus also it gives me this like, lone-wolf type of vibe which fits Hope’s vibes a bit.

Finally, Alolan Ninetails! Look, I don’t know why, but I associate ice/snow with Hope. It just somehow happened that way (maybe also because Hope=ice Josie=fire and the typical ice/fire tropes in some ships 👀). But Alolan Ninetails is also majestic as fuck, and that’s also Hope. She is also majestic as fuck and she deserves to have a gorgeous and majestic Pokemon on her team.

Honourable mentions: Zoroark, Mawile, Lucario, Smeargle

---

Josie Saltzman

Sunflora

Spiritomb

Mismagius

Houndoom

Haterene

Leafeon

The two Grass types, Sunflora and Leafeon, in Josie’s team made me think of her affiliation with plants and I do not remember if that is a canon thing that Josie really loves plants, or if it was a fanon thing that was created through, well, the fandom. But I thought it worked regardless

For Mismagius and Spiritomb, I picked them specifically to represent Josie’s (Siphoner sorta) witch and her Dark!Josie era on the show. Mismagius obviously being the witch and Spiritomb being Dark!Josie. It helps that Spiritomb is also a Dark type, and it does make me think of when Josie like put all that dark energy into that dark object, so it works!

I picked Houndoom for Josie because of her pyromaniac tendencies teehee 😜 lol I'm half kidding. I did remember there was a moment with her character and fire: Penelope's hair, the confession letter, that one scene where she blows out a little match–I thought it wouldn't be a Josie team if I didn't have a Fire type with her. And the reason for Houndoom specifically is because Houndoom is cool and also part Dark type which ties back to her Dark!Josie era.

Haterene and actually Leafeon too, are because I’m a sucker for giving twins paired Pokemon haha. So while those two are Josie’s, Lizzie’s has Grimmsnarl and Glaceon. Haterene because she also has this fairytale witchy vibe, which I thought was kinda fitting for that one fairytale scene in the show where Hope jumps into Josie’s mind or something to deal with Dark!Josie. Leafeon because, c’mon. Eeveelution pair Leafeaon and Glaceon, it’s too good of an opportunity to pass up!

Honourable mentions: Lechonk, Plusle, Gothitelle, Lilligant

---

Lana Mikaelson

Delphox (shiny)

Mightyena

Hydreigon

Brambleghast

Meowstic (F)

Froslass

Lana is also a Tribrid like Hope, but I also wanted to give her some differences in her starting three Pokemon so she’s not like a carbon copy shadow of Hope. With that being said, I do have her first Pokemon be Delphox, like Hope’s. I thought maybe it would be sweet for Hope's Delphox to have eggs and Hope passed one to Lana and it hatched into a Fennekin. A next gen thing. But shiny because in my mind, Lana's magical fires take on a more black and purple hue (even if shiny Delphox’s fire is still red lol).

Mightyena and Hydreigon represent her werewolf and vampire side in her Tribrid title thing. Now, I know Hydreigon is a three-headed Dragon and nothing to do with vampires or even has a vampire motif. But lemme tell you something: it's fine. Don't worry about it. Lana with a kick-ass Dragon type like Hydreigon is hella dope don't come at me I'm fragile. Also Hydreigon, I just found out, is a pseudo-legendary type, which I think fits with Lana’s Tribrid nature. Not full legendary rare, but still rare enough that there’s no one else like her except for her Mom (which is also very fitting because Hope has a pseudo-legendary with Garchomp, another Dragon type).

Brambleghast is an immediate must because aside from black-purple fire, I think it's neat that her magic also manifests in brambles/briars. So this Pokemon is literally perfect for her.

Meowstic and Froslass give me this like, stand-offish and cool vibe, which honestly fits Lana's entire personality of a typical ice princess vibe who may or may not have a superiority complex.

Honourable mentions: Vileplume, Haterene, Tsareena, Abomasnow, Doublade

---

Hayley Mikaelson

Lycanroc Midday

Primeape

Toxicroak

Gallade

Nidoking

Espeon

Hayley is the only werewolf–aside from Lana but she’s a Tribrid–amongst her supernatural siblings. So I thought it would be rather sweet if Hayley also have a Lycanroc but Midday form. I like to think that maybe Hope’s Lycanroc had babies and Hayley ended up getting one of the Rockruffs. Like passing on a legacy hehehe.

Asides from that, Hayley’s the type who will pull punches, she will act first and asks questions later type of person. So having a few Fighting types on her team was a no brainer. Like Primeape, Toxicroak, and Gallade–the latter which I just found out is part Fighting so that was a fun discovery.

I also thought Poison types would fit Hayley pretty well (and maybe it had something to do with the fact that Poison type logo colour is purple, and purple is her colour lmao). Which is where Toxicroak and Nidoking comes in. Plus, they would also fit in the power punches that is more of Hayley’s playstyle in combat.

Like with Josie, I love, love, love giving paired Pokemon to twins because I’m a massive lame unoriginal dork! Except I did bounce between giving Hayley either Flareon or Vaporeon to match with Jay’s Jolteon. Ended up not picking Flareon even tho she’s a spitfire because I feel like fire is a bit more of Jay’s thing even tho I picture Jay having more of an affinity to lightning. So then I thought maybe Vaporeon? But in the end I picked Espeon (it did pain me to not give Jay Umbreon because to me, Espeon and Umbreon are a pair) because purple is Hayley’s colour but I also think Espeon fits her, especially because Espeon is a Psychic type and Hayley has a few Fighting types, and Psychic is effective against Fighting. It also would tie into the fact that, despite Hayley being very hard-headed and tough, she still has that vulnerable moment to her that she tends to hide away from other people. It’s a pretty good balance!

Honourable mentions: Noivern, Weavile, Scrafty, Pangoro, Mienshao, Medicham, Swoobat

---

Jay Mikaelson

Jolteon (shiny)

Toxtricity Amped

Spiritomb

Yamask

Flygon

Typhlosion

Look, I don’t have to repeat that I love giving twins paired Pokemon, because we been knew lmao. Jolteon is perfect for Jay because I always pictured him to have this affinity with lightning. However, I am a bit stumped on if I want Jolteon to be shiny or not, because Jay’s main colour is green (more like olive green), but we shall see. My answer will probably end up being a “yes his Jolteon is shiny and Hayley probably hates that he got a shiny Pokemon” haha. Shiny Jolteon it is then!

To keep in theme with his association with lightning, I gave him Toxtricity Amped form because I thought it’d be cool. Sometimes there’s just no deep reasoning. Sometimes it’s just “i think this is cool” lol.

Spiritomb for Jay is the same reasoning I have for Josie except he doesn’t really do what she did in the show and messed around with a dark object. But I thought it would be neat to give him Spiritomb (maybe this is actually Josie’s Spiritomb that she passed down to Jay, who knows). With Yamask, I didn’t have much of a story on why he has one, but I think I thought it fits him? I don’t really know how to explain why I think that. It just does.

Gave him a Flygon on his team because, like with Toxtricity, I just think it’d be neat! Also green lol. No but there is actually a little bit of reasoning. So asides from lightning, I think Jay would also have an affinity with the Earth/ground. So it fits that Flygon is a Ground(/Dragon) type as well. Flygon also has pretty good speed stat, and to be honest, Jay is very nimble and agile when he’s in combat and isn’t using his magic. I have a lot of his melee fights incorporate a lot of contemporary dance and gymnastic moves because I think it would be really interesting for him to use a lot of that in his melee fights, plus it would be pretty creative writing-wise to see what sort of things I can come up with to make those fights feel fluid because he is very agile and dextrous.

Typhlosion is there because I am biased and I love Typhlosion, fave starter of gen 2 babeyyy. But also has that little small spark of fire that he and Josie shares and I think that’s pretty neat heehee.

Honourable mentions: Raichu, Grovyle, Breloom, Altaria, Pidgeot, Ambipom, Toedscool

---

Leo Mikaelson

Litleo

Chansey

Granbull

Sliggoo

Aggron

Mimikyu

For Leo, I obviously had to give him Litleo. There was no way I couldn’t not give him Litleo, his name is practically in the name. Perfect Pokemon for our sweet summer child boi.

I actually had a tough time picking out the rest of Leo’s team and had to go back and forth with his way more than the others. Mostly because I had a thought of “what if he just has primarily Fairy types for the rest of his team” which evolved into “oh what about he has Fairy and Dragon types” which then evolved into “what if he just has these conventionally “””scary””” Pokemon on his team in contrast of his sunny bright disposition”. I think I did end up sticking with that regarding Granbull and Aggron.

Chansey came about because Leo wants to help his family out no matter what. That includes learning how to do potions even though he has no magic. That means learning up on werewolf packs and diplomacy even though he’s not a werewolf. That means researching the history of vampires–which becomes a family history thing–and figuring out ways to help rippers. He also makes sure his family is taken care of if they end up in some battle and are hurt. That’s where Chansey comes in. In Pokemon, Nurse Joy’s in every Pokemon Centre has a Chansey. They are like the poster Pokemon for Pokemon Centres. And in some of the Dex entries, Chansey is a very helping Pokemon. Whether that’s giving people or Pokemon its egg to eat to heal them, or bringing trainer’s happiness if they’re caught. That’s Leo. That is completely Leo.

Gave him Sliggoo to also balance out the Fairy types that he had on his team! I think it'd be neat for him to have a Dragon type. Because, tbh, Leo is gregarious and befriends creatures so quickly no matter what or how they act. Leo has amassed an army of creatures who will protect him no matter the cost and that's super precious to me haha. Which brings me back to my reasoning for giving him Granbull and Aggron lol (I know they're not scary ok).

And with Mimikyu, at first it was because I personally love Mimikyu but the more I thought about it the more I went “oh wait the lore of Mimikyu would maybe perhaps fit Leo’s arc of being the only human in a family of supernaturals and feeling very low of himself and inferior because he’s the “token human”. Like it would play into his insecurities a bit, but then he would, of course, eventually learn to embrace that yeah, he is the token human and will fuck shit up for those who underestimate him because he’s just a human.

Honourable mentions: Shinx, Tinkaton, Dedenne, Grimmsnarl, Tyranitar, Altaria, Flapple, Garfaiai, Smeargle, Victreebel, Ditto, Bewear

[andro-dino]

furries have been on my brain so here are some shogun steel characters and what i think their species would be and why 1. Zyro is a black jaguar!! you are right axel he is pretty kitty but i feel like his backstory and personality fit a wildcat more. i like to imagine he dyes his fur orange to help him stand out cause he blends in with the dark so well haha

2. Maru is a hamster!! this one is mostly based on vibes teehee. she's just a little guy. pick her up and hold her in your palm 💞💞💞 i could also see her being a bear cub tbh, but i just like the image of her stuffing her face and her cheeks get all large as a hamster hehe.

3. Shinobu is an axolotl!! it's literally cause of his antenna hair i gotta be honest with you lol. but besides that i just feel like the colors of axolotls suit him and it's fuel for your mexican hcs cause axolotls are native to mexico 👀 (ive also imagined in this universe where instead of breaking his bones in canon he loses limbs and has to be in the hospital so he can safely regenerate them akdsjfasdfk)

4. the Unabara brothers are sea otters!! i mentioned before that kite's hair being urchin shaped reminds me of how sea otters eat urchins so i found it fitting. plus it fits with the aquatic theme they have going on. in japanese mythology otters were tricksters like kitsune and tanuki and that fits eight to a T. otters also hold hands to stay together in the water and that's soooo unabara-coded <333

5. Ren is a hunting dog, most likely a spaniel. not too certain on the specific breed yet but i like the brittany spaniel!! she just has that dog energy and i feel like her being a hunting dog can represent her rivalries with other bladers, like taka and genjuro (ik she barely has any in canon but let me dream okay 😔)

6. Taka is a leopard or spiny gecko!! dont really have a proper explanation for this one it's mostly just vibes as well, but i feel like you could compare him being a small lizard that easily "sticks" to people and is very loyal to sakyo, who in a way is like a direct opposite to him.

7. speaking of, Sakyo is a maned wolf/dragon hybrid!!! you mentioning sakyo as a maned wolf lit a lightbulb in my head how does it feel to be so right. i feel like you can really dive into his identity as a descendant of the dragon clan with him visibly being half-dragon too yk. just in general it fits his supposedly menacing aura yet when you get to know him he's just silly and kind of a loser lmao. him and zyro's rivalry is so perfect too cause jaguars are the maned wolf's biggest predator! (plus imagining victoria as a really tall maned wolf 😳 like heeeey girl /j)

8. Kira is a wolfdog!! specifically a high content wolfdog (he has more wolf dna than dog). i chose wolfdog specifically because him being part dog really emphasizes his upbringing in dna to me, and how he still genuinely yearns for connection and a home. i like to think he just calls himself a wolf and ignores his dog heritage cause he doesnt want to seem weak or subservient, and eventually he learns to be proud of his dog attributes

i have more specifically for the rest of the dna bladers but i think ive written enough. hope you enjoy axel!!!!

AWAAAAAUUUUUUUU CHRIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSS IM CRYING REAL TEARS OVER THESE 😭💞💞💞💞💞

I’m too tired to be able to put all my thoughts abt these into full sentences but

AWAAUGGG. HAMPSTER. MARU. SO TRUE‼️‼️‼️

axolotl Shinobu losing full limbs and needing time to regenerate is so big brained you don’t understand (also fun fact I was briefly nicknamed axelotl so I have a connection with them that makes me particularly happy abt this one :] )

SEA OTTER UNABARASSSSSS 😭😭😭😭💞💞‼️‼️‼️ the little guys ever

DOGGIRL REN SO TRUE‼️‼️‼️ also her rivalries with taka and genjuro are very real and true TO ME I think about them soooo much

gecko taka forever 🫶 AND SAKYO OURGH!!!! lowkey kinda wanna draw his dragon maned wolf hybrid fursona (and also you are so right about maned wolf Victoria 😳)

ALSO. KIRA SAYING HES JUST A WOLF FIRST BUT ACCEPTING HIS DOG SIDE TOO LATER ON OURGH ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME /POS

[yandere-monoma]

good evening it is 4am and i have writer's block so imma reread one of my fave recent fics and reminisce about having the ability to write lmfao

so WHOO, eat your young: director's commentary:

the fuckin song gets stuck in my head every time i read the title HJGKFGS originally i was stuck between this one or another title from aNOTHER song but i forgot what that song was so note to self: edit this post when i remember LOL

lines like these are ones that potentially make me dissociate to reread HAHAHA. i don't even know if it quite portrays the atmosphere i'm usually referencing with lines like these (there's something about the lighting that accompanies irl traumatic memories for me that i always end up focusing on and trying to allude to in writing even when i'm not necessarily trying to project... being drenched in darkness with only one point of light to focus on... @_@) but idk its tasty and i love how i opened this fic teehee

this opening scene is very much a love letter (and quick summary of) all the FUCKIN stridercest fics i've read throughout the years, like one of the many things i love about any darkfic niche part of fandom is that there tends to be these few locations that everyone settles on and obsesses over for their ships. for todocest it's the dojo, for goyuu its the basement, for a lot of stridercest fics it's bro's couch/futon. i wanted something that was quickly recognizable for anyone who also has been reading their way through the tag like i have HJSKFG

one of those teeny tiny lil motifs that i had fun sprinkling in ghsdjfkg very fun to play with homestuck's use of color motifs and what it could provide for dave in this new context. it's also a reference to the epilogues, which i'm more obvious about when i bring the motif back later:

in the epilogues, there's a few moments where john waxes poetic about the slightly unsettling environment of earth c

and the thought of that drove me crazy. earth c and the way it's supposed to represent this unfitting paradise that's just a little bit wrong and a little too perfect and the way that perfection grates at you when you start to notice it. i love the metaphor of paradise being uncomfortable because of all the trauma and grief and fighting that preceded it. rly reminds me of how hard it is irl to adjust to happiness and love and comfort after being abused and hurt for so long 😩😩😩

don't even ask me where the bro drinks hibiki hc came from but it's something i carried over from the brorose pornverse because ~consistency~

nothing to say besides being proud of this LOL

...

...

...

man i have such a love/hate relationship with writing dave dialogue and by that i mean i hate it cuz i never think it's enough LMFAO. i envy anyone who can adopt homestuckian humor and wit easily because i can Not. like i try my best but just know every second i gotta write this idiot talking i'm screaming in agony and bleeding out my ass about it internally JHKFGS

wonder if i'd feel differently if his dialogue was in the pesterchum fonts tho...

CRAZY how much i like that better HAHAHFGKSDFG

one day i'll do a fic where the dialogue is done like the epilogues but until then i suffer and die every time i have to use proper grammar for dave's speech, anyway,

ANYWAY john being a terrible parent is one of the sexiest things that has ever been done with his character i'm so thankful for it godjskfgsdfg and i love thinking about dave's misplaced guilt on the matter. "You want to be on your best friend's side for this, sure, bristling with the instinct to defend him, but you can't commit to it. The sad kid in front of you, put out and missing his father's love, that's who has all your sympathy right now." dave being unable to keep from projecting onto harry from the start, unable to keep from instantly empathizing with the child's point of view in this scenario (partially because he can't unsee himself as anything but an abused child even despite his growing age) and immediately feeling himself distancing emotionally from john at the thought that he could be anything like bro as a guardian.

it's actually a shame i didn't rly get a chance to elaborate on this further because i think there's a lot of fun to be had with thinking about dave's reactions to john's parenting from this point on, like... GOD. when john tried to kidnap tavvy as a kid???????????? feel like that's a fucking GOLD mine of possibly triggering ammo against dave's psyche goddamnit

if harry didn't change the subject here, he would have started bashing john for his drinking habits and canon tendency to traumadump on him while drunk HJSKFG he's made harry incredibly uncomfortable more than a few times doing this and i think it's definitely made an impression on him, but harry decides not to because he doesn't want to do the same thing to dave. he also doesn't want to remind dave that they're doing anything 'bad' here

writing shit like this into a story rly is just for the purpose of practicing interiority in characterization hehe. i feel like it's also a side effect from writing for theatre, trying to mimic as many naturalistic structures of dialogue as possible. fun to fit in tangents that just never really get answered or directly referred to

THE WAY THERE WAS NO ROOM TO TALK ABOUT DAVEJADE FAILED MARRIAGE BUT GOD I WANTED TO TALK ABOUT DAVEJADE FAILED MARRIAGE SO BAAAAAAAD tfw you spend all your free time hanging out with teenagers to avoid having sex with your loving wife

...

this part of the fic is fun because originally this idea came from a discord convo

and it is SO FUCKING FUN to write prose around someone else's dialogue and thoughts 10/10 will recommend

it's especially fun too because all of dave's thoughts and dialogue from around this point on is mostly outlined by my friend, so it was so fun getting to work their insights and characterization into my own interpretation of his character

...

the build-up where dave and harry start snuggling drives me fucking crazy every time like every time i reread this bit i'm always biting on my knuckles and screaming goddamnit goddamnit dirty wrong awful intimacy that suddenly overwhelms you and crushes you and you don't even notice the way you're dissociating from your every action but you aRE

originally this paragraph was also supposed to have a davejade mention but i just couldn't figure out how to make the thought flow well with everything else. originally there was supposed to be something about the way he always shrinks away from jade's touches, how they always make him feel worse and feel colder than he did before she'd tried, but yeah... didnt fit... and ultimately i think the fic is stronger as is. jade being an afterthought that only vaguely gets talked around feels very ic for candy dave anyway HJGFK and rly everything that he feels towards her is more just a side effect of everything he's suffered by bro's hands. no need to focus on his discomfort about jade when his discomfort about harry is more than enough

that being said every time i remember everything i had to omit i WAAAAAAIL

"Syrup clogs your throat. Your throat burns dully, your tongue feeling heavy with that leftover numbing weight of sugar and liquor." lines i cant reread without rly badly craving booze

literally the biggest challenge of this fic was the fact that its secretly a johndave/daveroxy/daverose fic HAHAHGFJG like trying to balance the fact that one of dave's biggest driving forces when it comes to his attraction to harry is that he's just been hosting a million and one ultimately unrequited crushes all his life that he's now projecting forward and trying to showcase that without drawing tOOOOOOOO much attention away from the other main driving force (brodirk and the incest fetish he'd instilled in him)... so sooo hard to balance but i like to think i did a decent job

'let him escape this feeling like he might still be a good person' is such a fucking good line/thought/sentiment that i'm so upset i had no room for cuz it's so good HJGKFSGS who knows maybe one day i'll be able to figure out a way to squeeeeeeze it into an edit cuz god knows i still tweak this and all my fics every now and then

😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 i love this part... go off past ricky... do find it funny tho that i was ~vibing~ so hard with the prose that i forgot dave's canon ages just a tad HAHA shhhh

these are some of my favorite kisses i've ever written goddamnit

literally the funniest and most inspiring words my writing partner has ever said like LEGEND... it was this phrase specifically that made me drop everything and start writing this fic cuz i KNEW i needed to slap that onto the summary pls JGKLFSG

(Did you ever have a chance? Did he?)

i feel obligated to speak on this line because it's like. one of the huge major themes of the fic HJSKDFGSFG the inevitability of dave continuing a cycle that he's been trying to avoid. really, what can i say, though. this fic follows a timeline that's alluded to but still has yet to be written out (and who knows if i ever actually will write it out, i'm kinda just updating this fic series based on impulses) where dave moves on to project all his trauma with bro onto dirk after they win the game. i love the thought of them trying their best to keep up the brother routine before dave's need to retraumatize himself and dirk's own fucked up inclinations results in them becoming sexually involved. like, honestly, i could go on forever about dirkdave and the ways they make each other better and worse but yeah. the second dave gave into that self destructive urge, he was done. and it's something that bled into his marriage, that bled into his inability to rly engage with karkat, that fed on his ability to be his own person and work on his own recovery. dirk died and the universe went stagnant and with it, dave's ability to grow out of the mold he was forced into by bro

so yeah. he's already at this huge disadvantage. and while this fic focuses on dave's perspective, there's a lot to be said about harry's mindset as well. the way he's egging this on, the way he's encouraging it, the way he's trying to poke into any sort of vulnerability that dave may or may not have. the way he wouldnt quite have the words to pinpoint and identify shit like emotional incest or grooming but he can see that there's something wrong and exciting about what they're doing that he wants to take part in. being set up to failure because of john's neglect, already thinking he's more mature than he is because of it, perhaps knowing just a bit too much about romance and sex because of whatever weirdass confessions about his own relationships john had unwittingly given him. not to mention his feelings for dave and the way he makes him feel like they're equals and the way he gets attention and affection freely from him without really having to fuss and fight for it like he does with vrissy.

so yeah. these two were doomed from the start 😌💙

'That saccharine sear of shame that washes over you then only makes it worse. You can’t fucking believe you’re popping a boner ten seconds into a make-out session.'

so like, i wrote this before getting deep into the show succession and thank god cuz this def would have turned into a ramble about how dave probably was completely unable to get it up during sex with jade. that absolutely was the case because i like to think that dave really is just hardwired into having rly bad sexual hang-ups where his body is just so conditioned to react to a lack of consent and boundaries and an abundance of incest but now thanks to my intimate knowledge of roman roy i also know now that dave occasionally (frequently) has rly bad erectile dysfunction in the face of anything '''healthy'''. thanks a lot succ

this isn't where the wordplay starts but it's where a good amount of it is HJGKFG i feel like 'bro' is a silly word to use in big deep serious prose sometimes HAHAH so my reluctance to use it here is part of why this wordplay started but the other reason is because i have a BIG stylistic thing(tm) about playing with pronouns and names and what omitting them can do for the narrative. blurring bro and dirk by refusing to name them but letting their actions speak for which splinter is being referred to was a very fun experiment (though, perhaps less successful than other iterations of mine where i did this same sort of pronoun play... OH WELL they cant all be perfect)

mentally dave switches from aggressor to aggressor. this possessive need to destroy harry starts to bleed in, inspired by bro and what he'd done to dave and what he'd taught him of sexuality and domination. a part of him resists that, reminding him of the terrifying impact of it all, the horror of initiating and acting on a fucked up desire, and then he switches to dirk, projecting that forward instead. dirk, who he is currently choosing to see more as a victim, who was just trying to help dave as he pushed and pushed at him. it's simultaneously a moment where he can start to blame harry just a little bit about what's happening instead of himself (because harry keeps pushing, he keeps begging to do this, he thinks it's what he wants and dave is just helping him because he doesn't feel he has a choice) and it's a moment where he finally puts himself in dirk's shoes and realizes (fears) that maybe dirk didn't want this as much as he might have acted. that dirk had likely gone through a similar internal conflict that started to kill him inside.

'Jade tries, but something about her touch disgusted you.' IT WAS SUCH A STRUGGLE TO FINALLY MENTION HER LMFAOHSDJFKG such a relief... altho the line after this one rly kicked my ass i could not figure it out for the longest time hjskdfgsg jadey i love you im so sorry

this was an interesting divulgence from the original thought:

which i couldnt rly fit in especially with how balls deep we're into dave's thoughts at the moment but i love it

this line is so stupid HAHAJFGSFG its so funny to me. its a shoutout to me realizing halfway through the initial outline that they're actually half brothers instead of JUST uncle/nephew AND it's a reference to this specific incest joke in the epilogues

(the way harry is there to witness this moment and also say the word incest right after dave... a ship made for mE)

i love this sequence so much i'm so proud of it like FUCK

some of my friends have started to use this line as a copypasta now and it cracks me the FUCK up every time they do HJSKFDGSDF

generally, whenever i write stream of consciousness fics, i'm always building up and waiting for the moment where the stream suddenly goes off track. there's always gonna be a super fun part where i get to just ramble out a bunch of run-on sentences and hopefully even format them in a fun absolutely-inspired-by-poetry way. and i can't stress enough how fucking SATISFYING it is to get there and have it come out (almost) exactly how you thought it would whee

THOUGHTS THAT GOT LOST BUT GOD HARRY CRACKS ME UP... and i love that part of john's personality... and i love the way it unknowingly grates on dave hjsdfg he definitely has a very clear image of victimhood and the way harry doesn't fit into that mold drives him fucking crazy.

one of my favorite parts of dave's unreliable narration, him projecting onto dirk because of his own guilt. it's the only way he can really bring himself to admit that, in that moment, after everything he's done, he's immediately feeling suicidal and bereft with his guilt on the whole situation.

i mention this in a comment as well but i love to think about ult dirk and dirk's internal corruption of his own character. i think it's a fun chicken or the egg scenario, trying to decide if dirk was still himself when he allowed dave to seduce him into this, if dirk's guilt helped guide him into his eventual instability, or if that instability is what lead to him acting on his incestuous urges. did his actions lead to him being labeled a villain, or did he decide to prove his villainy by lashing out?

and it is VERY fun to have this be something dave had done, knowing that in the future, he will be guided into his own metaphorical and literal suicide, abandoning a life he's more than ready to run away from =u= and the cycle continues nyehehe

final thoughts that may or may not be used in a future fic (i'm the black):

what the hell is wrong with harry in d e e d... stares at john

[haurchefaymeric]

- A very Ishgardian trip to Limsa -

(My first photo story! Hope you like it 🥰✨)

Effy and Emmanellain had just finished their final patrol of the Ishgardian border for that day when suddenly, through the blistering snow of Coerthas, they were approached by a shadowed figure riding a mount. Unable to make out who was approaching them, they drew their weapons, prepared for a fight.

"There you two are, I've been looking everywhere!" A voice cried out.

“Aymeric!?" Effy questioned, only able to recognise his voice.

"Aye. Tis I, pray follow me, our presence has been requested at the docks of Limsa at once. Emmanellain, you can come too, since you're related to Haurchefant."

Aymeric gestured as he unmounted and began to set up a teleport.

"Wait wait, Haurchefant? Is he alright?! What's happened?!" Effy asked, now worried due to the fact that Aymeric would never usually come this far outside of Ishgard alone unless there was an emergency.

"I don't know any more except we got an urgent request from Merlwyb to attend immediately and that Haurchefant may require assistance, so we must go at once!” He replied.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Effy replied, now going out of her mind with worry.

Emmanellain drew his sword, "I shall SLAY DOWN any that may try to stand in our way! I will continue to clear the path of any man or monster that-"

"Manny! We gotta go, now or never!" Effy yelled as her and Aymeric were waiting by the teleport for him, looking quizzical but not surprised and gestured for him to hurry.

"Oh, sorry, I'm coming! Don't go without me!" Emmanellain scurried over to them as Aymeric rolled his eyes and scoffed, they all teleported to Limsa Lominsa's main Aetheryte.

"Get your Lala dust here, lord Commander.." a grunty voice whispered out from Aymeric's left.

"Teehee! I can show you a good time if you want, lord commander!" a tiny Lalafell approached him and tried to grab his hand.

"UWU! Lord commander! Can I choose your gwam for today? OWO!" A cat girl squealed into his face as she grabbed his armour.

Aymeric in a panic turned to Effy and Emmanellain who were in absolute hysterics by this point "What is this place?!"

Effy walked up and shoe'd everyone "Clear out everyone, we're here on official business!"

"Okay, here we are, lord knows what your problematic husband is up to." Aymeric began walking up to the docks.

"He's not problematic, he just wants to help every single person he meets, you are his best friend and you his brother, you both know what he is like! He's just...kind..." Effy trailed off as they approached the docks and were greeted with Haurchefant, hanging by a single foot from a rope, off of a mast on the side of the boat.

"Effy! Thank the twelve you're here! I was just trying to offer my advice to those men on the boat, about how they should be maintaining a better level of personal hygiene and how that might help them garner more business and before I knew it, they had ambushed me and-"

"YOU TOLD, PIRATES, ACTUAL SEA PIRATES!? THEY STINK?! HOTCHEF, WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS!?" Effy yelled up to him in utter disbelief.

"p-p-PIRATES?” Haurchefant had a moment of realisation. "Oh...I uh see." he smiled weakly at her.

Effy stared at him, eyes wide, shaking her head until Emmanellain burst into a fit of Laughter.

Aymeric turned to him sharply "This is no laughing matter! Look how high up he is! How is he supposed to represent Ishgard in this position?"

Emmanellain began laughing even harder, Effy was still just staring at Haurchefant when she began to giggle, though seeing how angry Aymeric was about this situation, she tried desperately to hide that she was, by covering her mouth, to no avail.

"Really Effy? Really?" Aymeric whispered to her.

"I'm sorry, it's because of Manny! He's making me-" Effy was cut off by Haurchefant yelling loudly.

"AH!" The rope around his leg began to unravel, "Guys!?"

Effy immediately snapped into action "Haurchefa-" she didn't even have enough time to finish her sentence before the rope snapped completely and before she knew it, Haurchefant was falling through the air before them.

Effy looked over at Emmanellain, who was covering his eyes with his hand, then she turned to Aymeric who appeared to be frozen in place, with a shocked look plastered onto his face.

"Okay Warrior of light, this is on you…as per usual." She thought to herself.

She dived forward in 1 second flat, put her arms out and caught Haurchefant in a bridal pose.

He looked up at them, being pat on the head by Emmanellain and making direct eye contact with his smirking wife "Heh….. it's supposed to be the other way around, darling! Heh..”

Effy raised her eyebrow as Aymeric began scolding him "Don't you EVER do something like this again, do you know-" he began rambling as the two love birds smirked at each other.

“All’s well that ends well!” Haurchefant smiled widely, still in the arms of Effy.

“I will drop you.” Effy whispered softly into his ear.

Haurchefant chuckled to himself nervously.

[notallwonder]

CME 17x08, what have you for me...

- this Lawrence Durrell quote "the richest love is that which submits to the arbitration of time"...in Emily's voice no less. I assume it's about Rossi, but a girl can twirl her hair and think of other applications.

- this Rossi stuff with Jill. Hmph. And Prentiss talking about... falling in love with your best friend's wife, and timing... teehee

- the way Emily listens and responds, reminds me of their chat in season 7. Can't remember the episode atm but it's when Rossi is thinking his ex wife (#1) wants to rekindle and Emily tells him to take the leap. I love that little scene, so this reminder was nice.

- JJ & Luke in the field. looking foine

- I like the way the Stuart house kids think Voit's a little bitch

- I really like Rebecca. Tyler's sort of growing on me, like some kind of inoffensive fungus maybe. I'm not a fan of whatever they're doing to Luke with this alleged "triangle"

- so all the Gold Star doctors/psychologists are dying/killed...I see where we're going here. Jill you in danger girl.

- Paget's hair so pretty 😍

- Tara is gorgeous, always. But those pics of Aisha directing the last ep? I nearly passed away 🔥🔥🔥 holy shit 🔥🔥🔥

- wait WHAT. Did I fall asleep? (that's what I get for watching this in the middle of the night)

- WHAT???!!!

- going back to watch what I missed

- I gotta be so honest. I just am not that interested in Rossi's emotional turmoil, his inner world. I'm sorry old man. I just....I just want to see more of JJ, more of Luke, more of Tara, more of Emily. Voit in s16 and now Gold Star in s17 have both built to/been aimed at Rossi at the last chapter, and I just do not find that particularly compelling. I think this is a result of the 10-episode serial format. They have to make the overall arc "big" and they make it about "the BAU" and who is more representative of the BAU than Rossi. I like Joe Mantegna, but of the limited time we get the fact that it's Rossi, over and over, is a bummer to me. ftr this is also why I am pleased that Spencer is not in evolution - bc I don't think they could resist making it all about him, somehow.

- I did like the way they had him zoning out while JJ etc delivered the profile, and then she clapped real big.

- wait a minute here. We were led to believe that Gold Star had *national security* implications. Now it's come to light that Jill used the white paper to draft a proposal, and the proposed project was funded by a mysterious *private entity*. Is the supposed blowback that the FBI sponsored research that eventually led to the creation of these killers? So the FBI has an interest in not letting that information go public, in order to protect its reputation (lol)? And you'd think, if the FBI director "had it out for" the BAU, what better excuse to reorganize or dismantle than to let the "founders" of the BAU take the public fall. Idk it just feels weak to me, the way this is all supposed to hang together. I suppose if there really are other facilities besides Stuart House, that were more successful (ie their patients became agents of state violence rather than uncontrolled killers), the gov would want to keep that secret. It's a pretty dark view of the establishment, that CM doesn't generally express. But we are no longer just a CBS procedural...

- the scenes with Jill and Damien. Ran counter to my expectations. It happened so quickly, that she convinced him his training had been a lie, that he killed his foster dad for no good reason. And then he's dead??? I honestly would have liked something more with this guy. He already knew quite well that he had been made into a monster, and was apparently exacting his revenge for that. So why give Jill any time at all? Because Jill manipulate him by using his given "purpose" (to "save the children")? And Damien and Jade have a fairly deep bond, so why does he commit suicide by her hand, leaving her alone? I'm confused by how that all went down.

- seems like, at this rate, we're unlikely to get any further follow up on how JJ is doing with BAUgate. great

- also side note but did Emily officially step down/was demoted from Section Chief? She's UC but no longer SC I think.

- hoping and praying for Jill to interact with any other member of the team going forward. Especially JJ. Not Tyler

- this show is so disappointing! I feel comforted by that. And disappointed lol

- maybe on rewatch this will flow together better for me...

I'm sure my overall impression of this episode was damaged by the fact I fell asleep for half of it and woke up to the climactic tragic. Lol moment

[ufcosmo]

31, 32, 45

31: Pick one OC of yours and explain what their tumblr blog would be like (what they reblog, layout, anything really)

This question has me like. ough The first guy that came to mind was Ace, he would reblog nothing, his blog would be completely default besides header and profile pic, and he would only post shit that he thinks up without tagging or anything. For some reason he expects people to actually see them.

🔥 galvanized Follow I really like listening to "Nightcore" for the upbeat and fast melodies, but i cant seem to find any songs in that genre which don't have vocals. why?

1 note

🔥 galvanized Follow hurt someone. punch them and kill them.

3 notes

32. Which one of your OCs would be the most suitable horror game protagonist and why?

Oh this is a fucking great question. erm but its also hard to think about cause all of my ocs are :3 teehee :) nice :) I think one of my more obscure (and really old so like. really cliche still) characters, Insignia, would fit the bill. It could be like one of those indie style ones merged with a metroidvania style progression mechanic so that it unlocks more and more abilities with their new THE SLUDGE body. I need to post more about Insignia its character goes so hard,

45. A character you no longer use?

Girl... Too Many. Ive been making ocs since 2017 (when i was about like 11 or 12 or something) so theres bound to be ones that love but don't use anymore. An example of this was a character i really loved up until about mid 2020, he was my sona and his name was Cosmo. Jeez that guy went through like too many revisions because i was never happy with him and i attached like a full blown attempt at a sci fi story to him? I really dont like him that much anymore but i gotta admit that his hairstyle kinda rocked and he was a big turning point for myself cause like i was perfectly happy with being represented as a man to people online. I might draw him again but like i wont ever work on him again, unlike Ivan who i brought back from the brink.

[wosoproblems]

catch me at the uswnt game tonight I’ll be the one wearing the Portland Thorns nwsl champions shirt

[askwaterwitch-perbear]

Monsoon Isle HCS: villager edition

Barbra 

Her sweet demeanor should not surprise anyone she’s a sweetie 

She used to be much more savage over the years, but she’s mellowing out with old age

She worries everyone who cares about her old sheep bones because she sleeps on a towel 

Is the island representative's absolute favorite because she has a soft for the grandma like behaviors. (I don’t care if she’s not old. She might not be I’ll always think of her old) 

She acts like a grandma figure to so many of the younger residents

She always has candy on her especially in her purse

She wishes to live the high life because her house is literally her own spa

She still has some sass and foxy for her age her current friends right now is Audie, Rolf, and Muffy, though two of them won’t be around for much longer

Favorite music is the tango 

Flora

Wants stardom!!!

She has the fabulous oh! everything is so fabulous girlfriend!! 

She doesn’t know how to not be quiet!

She is fast friends with June, Rolf, and newcomer Marina. 

She wants to be Lapis’s best friend and knock June and Bob out of the picture

Wants to know everything about everyone so nosey! 

Hates that Bob is so lazy and “influencing” her forever bestie to hang out with him 

All the cats are sleazy to her and she doesn’t like them very much. They have some nerve showing up and kicking her friends Flip and Phobe out! 

Curious about Pearl and wants to be friends but thinks herself below her status

Steven is always sweet to her she might do well to have him for a friend instead. 

Bratty attitude and her home full of squid and butterflies!  

June

Super soft-spoken and polite teenage cub 

She wants Lapis to be her mentor or become like her big sister. 

Is semi jealous of Kyanite, because of how close Lapis is with her actual sister, but still likes her. No bad blood.  

She loves the sea and the tropical getaway package and was lucky to meet so many nice animals

She likes to receive fish as pets especially tropical fish. 

She thinks Flora can be too pushy with no disrespect because she hit it off better with Lapis by being cautious and not so invasive

Wants to know about Peridot! She showed up to her birthday party and gave her a present so she would like to be her friend! 

She’s scared to approach Pearl and if she talks to Aquamarine she will get bullied. 

Lapis will protect her like she would protect Ky and Bob too

Bob and Punchy act like strong big brothers to June and she’s uber close to Punchy (Hey! How about that? Steven and Lapis’s Favs are friends)  

She makes a point to talk to Rolf and Barbra when they are out and about, good grandpa and granny figures. 

Rolf

An old friend very loyal companion especially for Kristin he does call her kiddo every single time he sees her

This island is getting a little too wiper snapper young boys for his liking but he stays because Barbra is there and Kristin who gave him a home when he needed it they became a family unit and good friends

Rolf wants to teach the funny boy some respect going around blastin’ his horns and throwing cream pies at people what RUBBISH! 

These kiddos don’t know how to make the true honest living! 

Has a lawnmower but rarely uses it he’s just going to sit outside and complain 

Spends a lot of time in the mountains enjoys to fish but is miffed when he can’t catch any

Close to death and he knows that leaving an impact! 

He doesn’t like Lapis’s attitude because she teases him a lot about his gruff deep voice because it sounds like he’s choking on his words smoking six-packs of zigs a day! 

He would like to be an uncle figure everyone can look up to but he’s not popular enough 

appreciates Steven’s good nature thinks the boy can do no wrong

Bob and Punchy throw fish around his yard 

Bob

The newcomer has approached! 

Bob will always be best friend with his god-tier friend Punchy 

Bob is a little older and looks out for Punchy they’ve already hit it off like brothers

How does he sleep on a block bed? 

Is the most easy-going guy just don’t hurt his friends. 

Bob closest friends are Punchy and June

He likes to pretend he’s got an ouchie to con some candy off of Barbra

Insanely easy going just don’t touch his sandwich

He can tell he’s hit it off really well with Lapis and will cherish her as a best friend since they are eerily similar in enjoying the simple pleasures of life

Will always have mad respect for Flip to go out into the world and find a new place because Bob can see he got some good property with a beach and a Pool! 

Loves to meme

Pisses Flora off on purpose

Is excited for the playground and the campgrounds

Is there when someone needs him even if he’s sarcastic

Punchy

Convinced to move to Monsoon island because of Steven now that is incredible because most cats hate water! 

Loves to nap in the sunshine on Lapis’ beach and Pearl’s private beaches

Precious. Must protect!  

Will touch all of the gizmos and gadgets and camping gear Peri has just to be sneaky and attempt to be friends

becomes spikey scared boy when Aquamarine is around 

He enjoys Kyanite thinks she’s very sweet 

He wants to be friends with Pietro he’s SO FUNNY! But Spinel growls at him 

Will protect June with his snacks and risking his tail for her

Everyone is a good friend even if Rolf doesn’t like his laid back personality

Flora is a little too judgy for him and it hurts his feelings

Goes for long walks on the beach with Steven and Lapis and sometimes June, Bob, and Biskit 

Cutie Pie

Respect! 

Biskit

A very good girl yes I said girl (fight me) 

Peridot’s favorite VillagerTM (Strong personified Pumpkin vibes)  

She doesn’t mind being Peridot’s best friend since the mad scientist smart city human gives her presents and treats her very sweetly

She has a dog house in her backyard because sometimes she’ll lay in it and watch the clouds up above

She is friends with practically everyone except for Muffy, Bluebear, and Flora since they are very judging of her stimmy dog behaviors.

LOVES PERIDOT AND LAPIS!!! Even if they are judged.  

She will growl at intruders if they don’t smell right. 

A good younger sister and teacher’s pet character

Has picnics with June and Flora begrudgingly when she can

Chases anything that moves including her tail   

Enjoys STEVEN, PEARL, AQUA, SPINEL, AND MUCH LOVE FOR LEADER KRISTIN!

Pietro

He somehow got to be the ONLY villager that isn’t beat up by Spinel 

Even stranger he respects and genuinely cares for Spinel like the other two strange weirdos who love Spinel and teach her right things. 

Us clown acts gotta stick together 

Marina tries to get him to consider taking amusement jobs that pay better but he won’t do it

Wants to be besties with Julien, but Spinel doesn’t think he would make the travel with how he got plane sick on the way to her island

Pranks everyone and thinks he’s the hottest stuff in the world

WHERE IS HIS BED? THE WORLD MAY NEVER KNOW! 

He is misunderstood and Bob and Punchy know that so they make an effort to dry his tears

We’re not sure if he’s an adult or not??? 

Not doing so good with Rolf the dude has to loosen up a bit

Walks around spraying people with flowers and Joins Spinel in net fights and slapping villagers with fish learns from Her

“THAT’s a big sister figure you don’t need to be influenced by,” says Steven to him time and time again

Blasts loud Boom Boom ain’t it great to be crazy?!  

Very Sad that Weasel is afraid of him wants to be their buddy. 

Marina

The mom friendTM 

She can tell everyone is goofing around and not working hard so when it happens she tells them they can’t have snacks until they get it done

She adores that Pearl H. is so welcoming to her and will jump in at the chance to live on the island with her and teach her some responsibility

She’s a little uptight, but she’s older than almost everyone except Flora, Barb, and Rolf so it falls on her to make sure things don’t go south.

She adores the Island Rep K. May not be the smartest, but her heart is bigger than anyone’s

June, Bob, Punchy, Bluebear, Flora, Pietro? Protective as hell

Would LOOOVE to visit Cheeri and tell her how everything is

She thinks that the “farm couple” (Peri and Lapis) are little scamps

She loves sunsets, water fights, sweets, togetherness

FAMILY ORIENTED

Bluebear

INSTIGATOR!!!

Young, bratty, little shit

Stirs up drama at any chance she gets 

Still teases Pearl by flirting with her partner even though they are MARRIED

Is tired of Muffy and  Audie can she leave already so she can take over!

Girl Power!

Has a good heart but still very judgy of others

BFF is Aquamarine, Flora, and occasionally Pearl 

Wishes she could get into Julliens friend circle on Typhoon Island, but he has a bestie already but she can easily be replaced teehee.

Misses Rosie a lot and can tell Aqua does too, but they bond over tea and discussing who they think is a screw-up

They laugh at how Flora thinks she’s famous, but since they also wanna be they kinda relate,

She will be nice to June and Biskit but she’s still on the fence about being seen too much with them. Deep down she does care though

She will stir up drama Real fuckin’ fast

WHERE’S MY TICKET ALREADY?!

I”M A LITTLE ANGEL!!!!

I WANT MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stays away from Bob and Punchy and Pietro they’re boys ewwie

believes Bob has cooties and will avoid him but he will scoop her up and throw her into the pool!

Not at the biggest fan of any of the human residents 

Omg Freak Biskit! 

Gonna own this island she believes

Sunbathes frequently 

Bubble Gum K. is her favorite song. 

[abundantchewtoys]

Homestuck^2 re: Chapter 6 “A Conversation Regarding Relevance“ p145-169

Page 145

Oooh, back to the pursuing crew!

... Seems we're in for some more insight into Alt Calliope! Cool! For all the things that are the same as regular Calliope, it's her different experiences that changed how she ended up.

How she ended up as being the more important iteration. Well, the more powerful one, at least.

She actually went in a rather Dave-esque off-track rambling there. Perhaps she just needs someone to talk to on her own level.

Speaking of!

She just verified she was able to communicate with Caliborn. So, did she actually have a meteor on her version of Earth? Or did she find some other communication device?

You know, it doesn't have to be that we're seeing the pursuing crew now. It could always turn out this'll follow the crew following Dead Jade's body - Aradia and Davebot, but I think it's a little too soon for that.

The content warnings indicate we'll learn some dark things about Calliope, or another character, so I'm intrigued.

---

Page 146

Moody, moody... Mood whiplash!

Pfffff, is this being surrounded by humans/trolls for so long, rubbing off on her? Or is it an upspike of Jade's personality?

Also, heh, orange juice. Dirk. This is also meant to show that Dirk hasn't just left the narration to Calliope.

---

Page 147

Oooooooh! Finally!

Finally we see some more of regular Jade!!!

So, she's stuck inside her own head, poor girl. A real Being John Malkovich problem. Though, it's kind of hilarious now, considering they're a bit like squabbling room mates.

I mean, okay. At first I thought Jade was just hating on orange juice because of Dirk. But no, she's really fed up with being possessed.

I suppose it's logical that Calliope would like some "meat" to her drinks, pulp in this situation. A bit more structure.

See? That's something both Calliope and Dirk (and Rose) have in common. They want to "save" the story from dissipating, but both differ on what that really means.

The fandom as well would differ on what it means to keep Homestuck alive.

Anyway, back to the snark-off/depression-off.

---

Page 148

Pffffffff.

So yeah, Calliope is definitely showing some personality here. She's quite petty in some regards. Like a toned down Caliborn.

And Jade was shown to be able to "hear" Calliope's narration, even acknowledging it as narration, but she doesn't "see" past that. Well, in-story, all she's doing is asking Calliope to stop saying everything she does in first person.

---

Page 149

Ooooooh! Hah, nice, Calliope summoned a mind place.

This is the first time we got a sprite for her!

And it appears Jade/Calliope has put on some eye shadow there.

So, uh, is the fact that Jade is wearing the outfit her body is currently in, an indication that Calliope chose it as a favour, because she knew Jade would like it?

---

Page 150

Teehee, okay this is getting interesting!

So, Jade has put up a valid argument against Calliope's omniscience. Even acknowledging she might have achieved ascended self status, she's still limited to her own experiences. So she doesn't have all the answers either! Good to keep that in mind. Go Jade!

And Jade has been growing in influence in Calliope's mind, very interesting. Her Witchy powers at work perhaps. Also, it's a nice parallel to how cherubs are supposed to consume another personality to become "whole". There appears to be some bleedover between Calliope and Jade. Wonder what that'll lead up to!

Jade's confidence about her own personality is endearing. It's good to be reminded of the fact that she apparently has a rather hefty supercomputer up in that brain of hers, so her mental presence is nothing to sneeze at!

---

Page 151-152

For a moment there I thought this was going the route of Caliborn & John's standoff, heheh.

But yes, Jade, I just got your double entendre there.

---

Page 153

Hahahah. Okay, so Jade has been able to separate the narration from her own thoughts. Good of her! Not even ascended Rose could do that. Only a Seer of Mind was able so far. The fact that it isn't related to her role or aspect is twice as impressive!

Apparently a Witch is closer to a Muse then. So it's a passive role, and Sylph it's antithesis, active! Huh, who knew. Well, we could've guessed, since Jade has been decommissioned a lot of times already, when you think about it. Still, iiiiinteresting.

Also interesting, in that Calliope is actually.... While not influencing Jade per se, trying to persuade her here. In the sense of: "you acknowledge the benefits of the arrangement, therefore you accept it as a premise".

She's looking for tacid agreement, passiveness on the part of the people she's acting through. That's interesting to note.

Dirk makes people bend. He doesn't necessarily make them act OOC, but he forces their decisions down fortuitous paths. While Calliope's way of control lies in a different direction. Perhaps equally sinister, that time will have to tell. Let's see if she's truly "evil callie".

---

Page 154

And there she goes. The cherub girl... HAS the Strider-esque soliloquy.

Ooooooh. Cool, calling out Callie.

This won't bring Jade over to her side of things, revealing that she could release control in fact.

I thought she needed control to be able to continue acting in this universe, but she could return in fact!

Heh, so, here's her verdict on humans. And a special personal indictment of Jade's promiscuous romantical enterprises.

---

Page 155

Hahahahahah. Jade is having none of this influence here! Coooool.

Will she skedaddle and break Calliope's control over her? Or just bonk her in the back of the head with the metaphysical orange juice? Maybe the latter will enable the former?

... Actually... If Calliope says that Jade could control the space they're in, they might actually be someplace else? And the orange juice might actually be there. Oh boy, she might actually be able to knock Calliope out?? That'd be a feat, tricking the narrator.

I'd like that, seeing Jade regain activity, rallying the troops and such on the ship, but ehhh...

---

Page 157

Oooooh! Another one of the panels that depict people symbolically with coloured silhouettes! Like the old face offs during the Murderstuck pages! Interesting to note their associated colours - red and green - too, since they're the same ones as cherubs, if we're not too picky on colour hues for the green!

And the "ground" they end up fighting on is the same colour as that spiral back in the day, when Roxy ended up finding Calliope! Are they in the same not-dreambubble space?

Hahahahah, Calliope is aware of the previous pages of the story!! That's actually grand. So, Dirk will be aware of what happens here as well! They just can't influence the story on either side.

---

Page 158

Technicolour freakout! Hahah.

So, who might come in, do a double take, and walk back out, huh? :P

Say, but, technicolours? Also associated with cherub powers!

---

Page 159

Is she regaining control or not? What will it be? In any case, this flickering epileptic panel brings back memories of )(IC and Grimbark Jade.

---

Page 161

EEEeesshs, yep, not an empty threat here! Chocolate's not good for dogs!!

So... Does Calliope REALLY not know this, or???

"at the end of the day, isn’t it the journey that is more important than the destination?"

So yeah, the candy might not ACTUALLY be chocolate, therefore not poisonous, but that's the thing, do we know for sure?

This is the third time we have this kind of threat in a strife situation. Rose/Mom Handmaid/Doc Scratch Jade/Alt Calliope

---

Page 162

Pffff, okay, I didn't even CONSIDER the peanuts in the treat, hahah.

So, uh, Calliope does make a valid argument, but then again, Jade's sacrifice would surely count as heroic, right?

---

Page 163

Oooooooooooh!!!! GOooooood points there Jade.

And HOLY SHIT THE FIRST [S] PAGE!

Of course there's a fairly good chance it'll end on a humorous note, that Calliope turns out to be right.

But really!!! Oooooh boy.

Is this where Homestuck^2's first "Act" ends? (Probably more likely where the first Part ends, or Disc, or whatever, so not really noteworthy in the story itself.)

But! In case this is more extensive than first assumed, I wonder if it'll actually show a mix of scenes! Both Candy Earth C, Deltritus, Meat Earth C and pirate ship! That would blur the lines between canon, but, really, that's what we're here for!

Let's not get our hopes up, though. I'm all for a silly flash on the same scale as there were in Act 1 & 2. Like Revelawesome.

I wonder if it's going to feature a new song. I'd be okay with a reprise of Revelawesome or a similar old song, in fact.

---

Page 164

Pffffffffffffff. Hahah.

Dirk and Rose's colours colour the grandfather's chimes now.

... Actually, the clock was represented by Prospit & Derse's colours, which are also gold & purple. Ohmygod.

Do they now decide what's heroic or just? Nah.

t1ck t0ck 8r8k H34DS honk HONK

---

Page 165

Pffff, the clock is actually there. So that's where Doc Scratch got it from? The void? :P

... N'aww, she calls them her friends, that's nice at least.

---

Page 166

Jade's right on calling her out. She stole her body and her life, and has the gall to say she's in the right without allowing it to be proven.

---

Page 168

Ooooooh! Calliope didn't dare to call it in. Point goes to Jade!

---

Page 169

And the Muse is back where she started. (Though with a spare Jade body on the loose.)

---

Gotta say, it's good to see Jade evolving in new directions. She's had it with being passified, and she's a really clever girl. She'll do just fine in the coming chapters, I'm sure.

Oh, she'll have to let Calliope back in at some point, I'm fairly sure. When Dirk starts throwing obstacles in their path, now that he can influence them again. Unless Calliope arrives in Dead Jade's body sooner than expected. Or unless Jade is now able to recognize when Dirk is influencing her friends!

[missguomeiyun]

❆ SEATTLE (ep22): Pike Place Market pt.2 .. souvenir-shopping

Hi~ Just to re-cap from last time. .. DL & I were at Pike Place Market after our short morning in Chinatown. We got some nice & rare views of a snowy Pike Place Market, but our goal (at least, mine) was to get souvenirs here!! Unfortunately, many shops were closed .. . & as I’m writing this post during the pandemic, I imagine this is what it looked/looks like now in these sort of places. Very sparsely opened areas, with like 20-30% businesses that are open =/

Anyway, I went on this trip in Feb 2019 & things were very well-normal. It’s just that the snow hit. .. & then everything closed =(

In this post, I’ll be focussing on the few shops that we went into (bcos they were open) haha

I forgot which ‘building’/zone this was but it was in the basement level. I felt like I’ve traveled back in time haha the architecture & style was very vintage-esque. I also think it’s the colour scheme too; like the above dark aqua colour, & below, the mustard & dark maroon.

This was probably the busiest indoor area we’ve been to. & the most opened shops too!

The variety of shops here was good but like. .. if only they were open. This was one of the few bigger shops that sold many handmade items. They were nice but so pricey. In Edmonton, we have this place called Ten Thousand Villages. This shop reminded me of that.

Loved the hexagonal motif!

Year-round Christmas vibes~

In the atrium of this basement area. This would have been a fun place to see but .. . closed.

I LOVE PAPER GOODS! Took a look but didn’t buy anything.

A shop we spent quite a long time in: Osara Commissary.

It is a Japanese vintage shop.

A lot of dishware. I was so scared of breaking stuff.. the layout of items in the store (tables/shelves) was very crowded.

Some calligraphy-related products. (Very pricey!!)

Little gift sets.

Condiments haha so random!

We had a good time in here. I left empty-handed since I didn’t find any ‘Seattle representative’ items for souvenirs. Their products were nice though; can’t deny that but it’s also not “special” & souvenir-worthy, you know what I mean? But DL got some panda pens for her sister/relatives. There’s a small stationary area near the till that I didn’t take any photos of bcos the cashier was like standing right there :P

Continued down the halls. ..

Inside a shop called Golden Age Collectibles!

This is the world’s oldest comic shop!

Teehee

So they had a lot of collectibles to say the least: from figurines, to sport cards, to comic books, to games, to magnets....... to pins. I shopped for pins here as souvenirs. They’re light, unique, & cute, & came from a special store.

Taking a fresh breathe from being in the basement level for so long haha it wasn’t that long, but the air is just different there compared to the nice crisp winter air, you know? It felt so nice~

Then we headed indoors to another section. These bagels looks so good!

DL & I went into a store that very much resembled Sunterra x Italian Centre: called Delaurenti Food & Wine! haha they had some ready-to-go deli items & a lot of gourmet products. The store was huge! Aisles & aisles of ‘same product’, like there was an aisle with just vinegars, an aisle with just chocolates, etc.. it was intense! I’ll just show you some stuff that interested me enough to take a photo :P

I really liked how the ppl traffic was so low in here.

MIL’s gochujang~ they have diff “flavours” of gochujang. The garlic one sounded great actually but so pricey!

Various oils that look like the small bottles of acrylic paint that I buy lol

Fancy creams. I really wanted to buy some of these but . .. gotta think about luggage space & everything. This was still just the 1st half of our trip. I am sure I could find these in Edmonton if I looked hard enough (or buy online) so not worth the USD price tag.

Wow the bottle :O

Various jams.

& now the chocolates! OMGGGGG It was overwhelming!!

Look at the colourful packaging! Do you spot the cookies n creme one?

Brown butter milk chocolate ???????

I thought these were coffee drip bags, but anyway, I loved the art of the package.

Classy chcoolate.

Lychee rose chocolate???

This was by far my fav packaging. The paper they used was this rough heavyweight paper (antique texture) & the loved the art. The wrap-around appearance is so appealing.

Here’s some with nice pattern - looked very holiday-y.

These were nice too. They kinda look like surrealistic book covers haha like a cover of a Murakami novel.

This set of pattern looked oriental, like the wall/window decor pattern of East Asian palaces. I think it also has to do with the gold lines as well. Looks very royal-esque.

We spent quite some time in this store bcos there were so many things to look at. It was an interesting place & I was so happy it was open!

So what did I end up buying? I got some chocolate, but it wasn’t from this shop. I got pins! Like a LOT of them, I think around 20. Many of which were coffee-related hehe bcos I love coffee. They were so cute! I didn’t take pictures of or inside the actual store, but there was a Seattle-only merch store that we stopped by, where I got some more chocolates, postcards, & coffee. I can’t remember the store of the store but it was just a small corner store. I thought the prices were reasonable from what we’ve seen (it hurts when you convert the USD to CAD but oh well).

[wincestisasincest]

everything under the cut jkerhtkjr t

kjerht not YOU pulling up with a literary analysis i love you

okay well it is good that you like mature violence shit because I LIKE WRITING it and being a sick fuck :) like yea i read of mice and men in 9th grade and now its EVERYONES problem. fantasy violence is all well and good but sometimes you gotta have the deets yknow

fun fact! in the original draft of this chapter, penny and jayce actually talked about his trauma, but i decided that it didn't fit, at least in this chapter, so yeah, jayce is gonna be fucked up for a little bit kejhrtkjeh but yea, uh, hot take, seeing dead bodies is NOT gucci and i think that jayce deserves to lose his shit for a bit

nO YEA sometimes when im writing im like "am i making these villains too one note??" and then i remember that cops in real life are like that and im like "oh ok"

and honestly i see vik as someone who is skeptical of that shit because like how could he NOT be yknow. nothing was handed to him and then all the ppl in piltover go around like "aw isn't it good that heimerdinger took in this boy from the undercity" and viktor's like WHAT???? what the fuCK? how could this POSSIbLY represent a good thing??? and he's valid

ur questions will have to wait >:) and also btw the choir of angels is singing the wii sports theme song

bKTHKRJH i have nothing funny or interseting to add to the rest of this but THIS WAS SUCH A JOY TO READ KJTHKEJTH RKJ AND YOU ARE VERY CORRECT ABOUT EVERYTHING like im literally so honored to have someone analyzing my shit like that u have no idea ajerhtkjerh thank u thank u thank u

as for why they are in zaun u will also have to wait for that teehee but hopefully not too long ekrhtkerjth ert

but YEA this made my day im so happy that u like my shit and i cannot put it into words sometimes btu YEA

Waves on the Shore - Chapter 13: He Who Fights Monsters

Viktor x Fem!Reader slow burn enemies to lovers

x posted on ao3 // WOTS masterlist

Summary: Jayce and Viktor questioning you about your weapon (made with farm-fresh Hextech) is the only thing keeping you from going to jail for science crimes. You and Viktor are literally at each others throats lmao. Also you’re from Bilgewater because pirates are fucking rad

Notes: Broskis I'm sorry this one took like over a month ektjherkjth and also this one is not very proofread so sorry if it's kind of bad. Also this fic is officially over 100k words lol. Oh also we still have a discord, lemme know if u wanna join hekrthrek jt

Word Count: 11.9k

Tags: @edenstarkk @chosomybelovedcurse @dedicated2viktor @doctorho @yeehawbvby @arcaneparx @the-lake-is-calling @beeblybub

Mentions of: Nothing I think?

Triggers: Everything from the last chapter is discussed and recalled here, so… that. Also, cops, cop questioning, painkillers, drinks being drugged, booze, vomit, vertigo, guns, and language

“I’ve seen who you are in the dark. And you’re a monster.”

It’s funny. You’ve heard that word a lot - “monster.” You were familiar with every usage of the word before you could load a canon by yourself; from the scariest beasts of the deep to the ruthless criminals lording over your island. You thought that you were immune to its impact. 

You were wrong. 

Adrenaline fanned from your heart to your fingertips, telling you to move, fight, run, or for gods’ sake do something because you couldn’t take this straight on. It didn’t matter if you were the monster or the innocent, you could not stay trapped in this stupid, shitty loop. 

And suddenly, you understood why you’d come back. 

There he was, narrowing his eyes at you like a viper. But you clenched your teeth and inhaled through your nose, willing away the hollowing feeling in your chest that tried to tell you this was just a bad dream. 

You would show him what monsters could do. 

*****

When Viktor woke, his pulse was eating him alive. 

He tilted his head, and a seedy whine pounded behind his eyes as his dress shirt pinched his arms. The blinding, sterile light kept trying to infiltrate the cool oasis of his closed eyelids. 

Hangover? No, it shouldn’t be this bad. What had he even-

Oh. Right. Enforcers. He remembered those. He could recognize the outlines of their helmets even through the blurry snowfall. But there was someone else... a warm arm around his waist that didn’t let go until medical personnel had whisked him away. That must have been you. 

You- where were you?

He sat up and opened his eyes. 

Through the ringing in his ears he could hear heels clacking in the hallway and sweat sloshing inside his clothes. Tender bruises and stinging cuts made themselves known as his body woke up. The headache only thickened. 

He was in Piltover Medical Center, laid out like roadkill on a clean, stiff mattress in their emergency clinic. It was brighter than it had any right to be, with crisp white walls, shiny medical equipment, and humming fluorescent lights. 

Viktor pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to soothe the wave of nausea. 

“Don’t fight it,” Jayce said from his left, “happened to me too. If you’re gonna vomit, better to get it over with.” 

“Good morning as well,” Viktor’s throat was dry. 

He dragged his legs over the side as a fuzzy column of brown skin nudged the trashcan towards him. He clamped its sides and nearly fell in as he threw up. 

Acid seared his tongue and pungency burned through the congestion in his sinuses; welcome back to reality, they said. 

Something glass clinked. Viktor hung his head over the trashcan, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and permitting himself a minute to regret waking up. 

“Caitlyn came by, but we were both still out,” Jayce set a glass of water on Viktor’s side of their shared nightstand, “If she heard, then everyone else probably did too.” 

Finally, Viktor willed his head up and got a look at him. He was on the other bed in the room, shirtless, with his legs stretched out and his journal open on his lap. Bandages capped his shoulder and a dark purple cloud festered around his eye. His hair was, oddly, the most surprising; spiked, sweaty, and overall messier than Viktor had ever seen it. 

Viktor couldn’t imagine that he looked much better. 

“How long have you been up?” Viktor gulped the water, noticing one of his own notebooks and a note from Caitlyn perched on the nightstand. 

“Just a half hour. Enforcers came by and asked me some stuff. Said they’ll come back for you.” 

Viktor propped his elbows on his knees. 

“Did they say anything else?” 

“About what?” 

As if there was anything Viktor would be wondering about besides the third human life that was terribly injured. 

He clicked his tongue, too tired to figure out if Jayce was playing dumb or if he’d actually forgotten about you. But Jayce wasn’t the forgetful type, and he didn’t play dumb unless the situation was dire. Something was wrong here, but Viktor wouldn’t press him. Not yet. 

“About anything. I’m still not sure what exactly, eh... happened.” 

“Yeah. Neither are they.” 

Viktor hated how unclear his picture of last night was. The drugs and the booze already wiped half of it from hi smind, and the remaining flashes of consciousness were focused on the most irrelevant things. 

Your hands loading that gun. Your eyes screwing shut as you bit your tongue. Your hot breath against his cheek as you checked his head for any damage. 

“Well, at least give me something to work with,” Viktor grumbled, falling back onto the mattress. 

Jayce fidgeted with his fingers, squeezing them anxiously. 

“All they’ve got so far is a timeline. We were drinking, those guys came, at some point we were drugged, the bar cleared out, I went into the alleyway and got the shit beat out of me while they were getting ready to haul you away in the bar.” 

Jayce looked down. 

“And then?” 

“Well, y’know,” Jayce swallowed, “then my... assailants got, uh, taken out. Then yours did. Then one of mine did... again. Apparently the autopsy of that last guy was, uh... well, anyway, then the Enforcers showed up.” 

“Yeah. Some help they were,” Viktor paused, deciding that now would be the time to press, since Jayce was clearly intent on pretending you had never existed, “and then we came here?” 

“Yup.” 

“Just us?” 

“In here? Yeah.” 

“In here as in this room, or in here as in PMC?” 

“...this room.” 

“Jayce.” 

“Yeah?” Jayce gave him a strained smile. 

“Where is Penny?” 

Jayce’s entire chest deflated when he sighed. 

“Yeah, I figured you’d ask about that sooner or later. But, listen, I wanna talk to you about something first.” 

“Why are you being so evasive? What... what happened?” Viktor raised a stern eyebrow, “Is she-” 

“No, she’s not dead, Vik. She’s fine - in one of the other rooms. But please- humor me, will you?” Jayce’s puppy dog eyes were indomitable, “And then you can go see her.” 

Viktor leaned back on his hands, studying his partner. The fog cleared from his head and he realized that Jayce was shaking. Every part of his body twitched or trembled or tightened, like he was carrying the world on his shoulders and starting to crumble under the weight. 

“What’s on your mind?” Viktor asked softly.

“I...” Jayce wrung his fingers around his bracelet, “I think we should put Hextech on hold for a bit.” 

The dryness in the corners of Viktor’s eyes cracked when he widened them.

“We’ve had this conversation before.” 

“Yes, I know,” Jayce’s fidgeting was persistent, “but things have changed.” 

“How so?” 

Jayce frowned. 

“How s- Vik, you were nearly kidnapped last night, and I was beaten within an inch of my life. That’s how so,” he exhaled, “and don’t give me that ‘the lives of people are endangered every day’ story.” 

“But they are,” Viktor’s blood pressure rose, “and we have just made a major breakthrough. You really wish to stop now?” 

“What if... we’re not so lucky next time?” Jayce winced as he briefly lose control of his volume, shying away from his point. 

“It was not luck that we survived,” Viktor said, “it was Penny’s intervention.” 

“Yeah, about that...” Jayce gave up on looking Viktor in the eye, “the Enforcers aren’t as, uh, convinced as we are.” 

Viktor scoffed, pushing his hand through his hair. Of course they weren’t, gods forbid someone different did anything in this damn city. 

“She’s not in jail again, is she?” 

“No. Mel got her bail...” 

“But she was going to be?!” Viktor barked, furrowing his brow, “How could they possibly justify that?”

“They think it’s weird that Penny was the only one who wasn’t drugged, and... I mean, I can’t really say that they’re wr-” 

“Stop,” Viktor put his hand up, “you cannot believe that Penny is responsible for the attack?” 

“No! Obviously not,” Jayce splayed his fingers out, “I don’t... look, I like Penny too, okay? I don’t think she did anything malicious on purpose. I’m just trying to tell you that we’re involved in something really dangerous here and this goes to show how little we know about it. Five people are dead.” 

“You care more about your own security than all of the Undercity or Ionia.” 

“Do not put words into my mouth. It’s one thing to be dedicated, but we can’t just go putting ourselves in danger. If we die, then Hextech is gone forever,” Jayce said darkly. 

“But we didn’t die-” 

“Because we have a fucking murderer on our staff! That’s not a good thing,” Jayce gestured violently at him. 

Viktor parted his lips cautiously. The crack of Jayce’s voice, the unsteadiness in his usually confident forearms, the peakiness baked into his expression as he looked through Viktor - Viktor hadn’t seen Jayce like this before, but there was no doubting it. 

“You’re... you’re afraid of her,” Viktor said. 

“I- not of her,” Jayce sniffled, “just... of what she did. And I know she had to, I know,” he scolded himself, “but...” 

Jayce rubbed his nose. The only other time Viktor had seen Jayce’s eyes get this watery was when he’d laughed too hard. The contrast between then and now was sobering. 

“I keep seeing them,, Vik,” Jayce confessed, head in his hands, “the bodies, I keep- they’re in my head and they won’t leave and I can’t stop thinking about it.” 

VIktor only had scraps of what they looked like - their body fluids weaving through the cobblestones in the street and melted flesh peeling from metal bones. 

“I refuse to let us end up like that,” Jayce’s throat trembled. 

The mental image was there before Viktor could stop it. His partner, his friend, his best friend, with his throat slit; the only moving part of him left was the blood oozing from the thin red line. 

Viktor knew that wouldn’t happen. He knew that he had nothing to worry about, and even if he did, worrying rarely helped anything. He knew that.

He also knew that no logic could stop the sinking feeling in his chest when he saw Jayce break down. 

Against his better judgment and moral impulse, he grabbed his cane from against the night stand, nudged Jayce’s knee, and quietly said that “we can slow down Hextech if you’d like,” all the while fighting the frustration simmering at his core. 

Neither he or Jayce were particularly up for conversation after that, so he left to find you. 

He didn’t even want to see you anymore, but in this awful mood he was in, he was bound to snap at someone, and he’d rather it be the person who already thought he was a waste of space than Jayce or an Enforcer. 

In fact, Viktor found that he wouldn’t mind snapping at you right now, though by the gods he could not fathom why. 

Perhaps it was that he knew you’d only be mildly inconvenienced by Hextech’s hiatus. You weren’t trying to hide it - you’d made it very clear that you thought their goals were nothing more than a foolish boon to their egos. Viktor had long since decided that he didn’t care about what you thought as long as you did your work, now, it made his blood boil. 

Of course you did what you had to. Of course you planned those attacks. Of course you never meant for things to end up this way. 

And, of course, it had to end with Jayce being traumatized and Hextech being needlessly stalled. 

He was being unfair. You didn’t deserve this. Not after everything you’d done. 

But he couldn’t help the feeling. 

A similarly confusing feeling bubbled in his chest when he floated in the doorway to your hospital room. You were still, fast asleep, though you wouldn’t be moving even if you were awake with your wrist cuffed to the bed like that. 

And you looked so small. 

Not physically - if anything, the swelling in your nose made you look bigger. They’d straightened it and kept it in place with a loose bandaged, but the darkened, irritated skin and indigo bruises pooling beneath your eyes betrayed the nastiness of the initial impact. Your left ear was swaddled in bandages, still very much half of its original size. No essential parts of the ear seemed to be damaged but it looked... well, it looked awful. The rest of the damage was covered by a standard issue PMC blanket. 

He’d never seen you sleep before. Your overflowing personality, the one that made you the godsdamned force of nature that could bring anything to its knees, was kept at bay by the thoughtless rise and fall of your chest. The greasy hair and injuries and bloody clothes were a part of your image, but without you being awake to act the part, you just looked like a person who had been through a lot. 

You and no one else against the world. That could make anyone feel small. 

Viktor’s face soured at the thought of your self image. You chose to wear your violence and selfishness and apathy as badges of honor, along with your hatred of Viktor. And he was so ready to look past all of that, just for last night, because... of something. 

And then, somewhere in the cocktail of anger and confusion and fondness, it clicked. 

You weren’t thinking about him when you saved his life, you were just being yourself. 

You didn’t care about Viktor. And why the hell would you, if the rest of Piltover couldn’t be bothered? You were becoming like them - helping Viktor because he helped you and suited your needs, not because you believed in him, his ideals, or Hextech. Viktor should’ve been used to this. 

It was only human. And that’s all you were. A Bilgewater spitfire with a deep longing for the world that she came from, jumping at the first excuse to indulge in it. 

Viktor could only blame himself. And it ached as he considered just how desperate he must’ve been to look for deeper meaning in what you did. 

“‘Scuse me, sir.” 

Viktor jumped. An Enforcer, with a cinderblock jaw and wispy sideburns, materialized next to him, his palms out. 

“Didn’t mean to startle ya,” he smiled apologetically, “I was just wonderin’ if you were the, uh, other victim of the attack last night? I ain’t on the case, I’m just here to take her cuffs off” he chuckled, jingling his keys. 

“Yes,” Viktor smoothed out his wrinkled pants, “yes, that’s me.” 

“Ah. Well, good to see you on your feet then,” he slapped Viktor in the back with his sweaty hand and turned to observe you, “I heard she was quite the killer.” 

You gave no false pretense about what you were. Building you up into something you weren’t was his mistake. 

But now he had to see you for what you were. 

“She was,” Viktor said, “brutal. Without remorse. Didn’t even bother with talking, just went straight for the vitals.” 

He didn’t give you a final glance as he parted from the Enforcer, determined to not make that mistake again. 

*****

Unlike rain, which evaporated quickly in the sun, snow stuck around. After you were discharged from the hospital, you were in a completely different Piltover. The air hovering above the smooth white blanket was clean, numb, and slow, entirely jarring after everything else had happened so fast. 

Nothing felt real, outside in the world or inside your head. 

But you didn’t really mind the effect. Apparently, you weren’t supposed to use the good painkillers into tomorrow morning, after all the alcohol was out of your system, unless you wanted to throw up your guts onto the street. If the hurt subsided, then you could stay in the unreality until then. 

Or maybe not. 

“C’mon, you paid my bail,” you reluctantly plopped into the spindly chair, “and it’s not because we’re great friends. So what’s the catch?” 

Coming into the warmth of Mel’s office just as you grew accustomed to the outside made the red in her paintings eerie. Though you normally liked her office, one of the few places truly rich in color in her marble palace, the contrast with the blank slate of Piltovian winter reminded you that it was just as manufactured as everything else. 

“There’s no ‘catch,’” Mel folded her hands, “as an investor in Hextech, it’s my job to look out for the best interests of the company. I think we’ve all learned by now that having you in jail waiting for a sham trial is not productive.” 

“So there’s nothing that you want from me, then?” 

“I didn’t say that,” Mel picked at her nail, “I understand that the Enforcer’s narrative of last night’s events is inaccurate. I’m not surprised - Enforcers are only interested in maintaining the image of Piltover for the people of Piltover.” 

“Sounds like you.” 

“Maybe,” she eyed you curiously, “but I’m also interested in the truth. Which is something we share, isn’t it?” 

It was rare that your goals aligned with powerful people, and though you were becoming more practiced in it the longer you stayed in Piltover, trepidation stalked every offer that someone like Mel gave you. If enemies can be temporary, then so are allies, and sooner or later, the good will of someone who does anything to be above others will run out. 

But she could help you. She could help Jayce and Viktor. Regardless of the motive, you needed that. 

As sure as that knowing smirk dug further into her cheek, you knew that there was no good will here; just business. Good, you thought, at least you understand each other. 

“Fine,” you rolled your neck, “so, what, you want me to start from the beginning?” 

And you did. 

You rolled your head back and stared at the ceiling lights like you were in a therapist’s office, and told her the entire story as it actually happened, making especially biting remarks at the Enforcer’s faulty logic along the way. 

They were claiming that, not only were you the one who had drugged Viktor and Jayce, but that you had pre-planned the entire incident in order to murder five sailors on shore leave. Their “evidence” was that, not only were you the sole undrugged person, but that once you were aware of the drug’s chemical makeup via Jayce and Viktor’s blood test, it was a substance you recognized - Whalefall, something that literally every Rat recognized. 

Yet, you still had no explanation for why everything happened the way that it did; why you weren’t drugged, why they were after Viktor, why they beat the shit out of Jayce, why anything. The Enforcers didn’t really have one either, but their blanket appeal to Piltover’s xenophobia combined with their “trustworthiness” was enough to negate that. 

Even if they hadn’t actually seen anything happen. 

“Honestly, if that’s their response time, I’m surprised any crime in Piltover gets dealt with,” you grumbled. 

“That’s not their response time,” Mel said, “they’re usually much faster. But there’s a silver lining - inadequate Enforcer response is probably going to be the main argument for your innocence in the trial.” 

“Really?” you crossed your arms, “What about Jayce and Viktor’s testimony? I... well, I haven’t actually talked to them yet, but shouldn’t that be exonerating?” 

“They’re not using their testimony.” 

“What?!” you sat forward, “Why the hell not?! That was like... the one thing I had going for me.” 

“Well, the real answer is that it destroys any chance of making you the scapegoat, but what the Enforcers are saying is that the drugs found in their system make their memories unreliable.” 

“But- but that’s bullshit,” you snapped, “Everyone knows that Whalefall makes it hard to remember stuff, but it doesn’t make up false memories. Anything they can recall is still true.” 

You’d already spent too much time wondering if Viktor recalled how close you were when you gave him a once over. You weren’t sure if it was embarrassing or exciting or what, all you knew was that the image of him, half dazed, but eyes full of reverence that no one had ever given you before, made your stomach flip.

“I’m sure, but that’s not how this game is played,” Mel said grimly, moving her hands below the desk, “I have some things of yours.” 

Your face perked as she rattled inside the drawer, returning to the surface with your knife, ruefully caked in dry blood, and a silver pistol. Oh shit - the pistol. 

“Gods, do they just let anyone in the evidence locker?” you grumbled. 

“This pistol doesn’t belong to you,” Mel observed, picking it up loosely, as though it were a museum artifact and not an item designed to take a life, “why did you have it?” 

“Heh, you’re already doing better than the Enforcers,” you said, “what gave it away?” 

“You’re too poor to afford  this.” 

“Thanks.” 

She was right, of course. The model was, at the very least, unique; you’d never quite seen a gun that looked or behaved like it before. It was pure silver, with svelte engravings curling from the handle to the barrel, and while it looked like a revolver, with a rotating cylinder in the center, there were no slots to load bullets, leading you to believe it functioned like a pistol. 

“I guess it was just too interesting to leave,” you shrugged, “Damn thing didn’t fire when I tried to shoot it, so I wanted to take it apart and see what was going on.” 

“I see,” she brushed her thumb on the barrel, “and this knife was already yours?” 

“Yeah.” 

You reached out, but, your fingers inches away from the cold metal, Mel’s hand smoothly came down on top of it. 

“Actually... there is a catch for this one.” 

You looked at her from under your brow, exhausted from the theatrics. She noticed, but she continued coyly without a care. 

“The Enforcers get in the way of Hextech’s work and have done a fairly poor job thus far at resolving this pirate issue. Yet, now more than ever, Hextech needs a guardian,” she delicately set the pistol on the table, “One that is equipped to handle both problems.” 

“Oh, I see,” your eyelids went slack, “listen, I appreciate the offer, but, like, I was barely qualified to deal with what just happened. Hell, I almost left Jayce and Viktor, I only decided to come back at the last minute, and even then, I got...” you gestured to your face, “all of this. So, thank you, but no thank you. It was a one time thing.” 

“Well, if you’d consider making it not a one time thing, I’d be willing to help,” she was toying with the hilt of your knife, yet somehow kept her digits clean of any blood.

There was nothing to consider, but you were hungry for more information anyway. 

“What do you have in mind?” 

“I want to get those portals on Ionian shores as soon as possible,” she said frankly, “Figure out what’s going on, stop it, and ensure the safety of Jayce and Viktor in the meantime. You’ll have my full legal and financial support for any issues that arise, and, depending on how successful you are, there will be additional compensation.” 

“I don’t need more money,” you lied, because everyone could always use more money, “the stipend is enough.” 

“Compensation need not be money. I understand you’re having trouble finding a permanent residence due to your... reputation. With my connections, that would be an easy fix,” she offered the handle of your knife to you with a crafty smile, “but it’s your decision, of course.” 

Damn her. 

You were smart enough to know that no one really escaped the rat race. People would always, on some level, do dubious shit to survive, because there would always be people willing to put them in that position for exploitation. 

But you thought that you were done with violence. Sure, it happened once in a while, because that’s just life, but you were supposed to be free of the cycle; your hands, attached to strings that were puppeteered by someone else, dripping with blood. 

Hell, even last night, delirious with lack of sleep as the Enforcers kept you awake long into the night to try and “force” a confession, you’d been caught in an unfamiliar emotional deluge. You weren’t one to regret things, but as the sting of alcohol cleared other people’s viscera from your wounds, you caught the stray, remorseful wish that things had gone better. That you didn’t have to kill five people, that the Enforcers believed you, that this was something everyone could reasonably move on from. 

But you were expendable. Those pirates would’ve killed you first if you let them, those Enforcers would toss you into jail if you let them, and this godsdamned pit of brutality would drag you asunder forever if you kept letting it. 

The blade of your knife gleamed through all of the damage. 

Money wasn’t the only currency you’d need to stay here in Piltover. If you didn’t take Mel’s offer, you’d end up taking someone else’s sooner or later, lest you face the long, slow death of the life you were trying to set up here. 

Even with allies, you were still alone. You were the only one that could make things work, and sometimes, that required discomfort. 

Reluctantly, you accepted the handle of your knife. 

“Okay. It’s a deal.” 

“Excellent,” Mel’s grin widened, impassively watching as you scraped the pistol off of her desk and shoved both weapons away. 

“We’ll be in touch,” you stood brusquely, pushing the chair out and stretching your legs as you approached the doorway. 

“One more question,” Mel crooned, waiting for you to turn back around and face her before continuing, “why did you come back for Jayce and Viktor?” 

The warmth in her office became sickening; you were trapped inside of a hotbox slowly increasing in temperature. The only breath of fresh air was the blinding white light that stretched from the large window behind her. She and her gold sat in it like a throne. 

Each painting stared at you, all painfully aware that you had no answer. 

“Let me ask you something instead,” your boldness was unconvincing, “why is the Noxian so concerned with getting these portals to Ionia?” 

Mel looked away from you, pursing her lips and considering one of the larger paintings on her wall. It depicted a Noxian ship from behind, heading towards the sun and away from the desolate land they’d ravaged. The shadowed backs of the sails were the only ones in her entire room that reflected authentic blood red. 

After a minute, she cocked her head to the side in defeat. 

“Touche,” she said, “perhaps we both have something to answer for.” 

You prayed that was the end of the conversation and scuttled out the door.

You weren’t even trying to be standoffish, just struck with the overwhelming need to use the bathroom. You’d been holding in this piss since you’d left the hospital. 

Shambling through the corridors, without the time or mental capacity to admire them, you spun the question around in your head - why did you come back? You remembered crouching on the parapet, greeting the moon fondly and preparing to make your daring escape, until the gut-wrenching sound of Jayce getting ripped to shreds sucked you into the fray. 

There were obvious reasons. 

Jayce and Viktor were your crew, and you need them to sail the ship. You’d had allies before, and occasionally, you’d even saved them at great personal risk to yourself. But you weren’t one to jump in and take a non-lethal hit for someone else - that is to say, you weren’t stupid. 

Because they weren’t going to die. Viktor’s captors had told you that explicitly, and if they wanted Jayce dead, then it would’ve happened within the first five minutes of their ambush. Both of them would’ve lived had you not stepped in. 

You always had a reason for defending people, but you didn’t have a reason for that night. 

You’d had an impulse bouncing around in your head, telling you that if you didn’t act, you’d regret it. It wasn’t the raw, cold-blooded instinct that helped you survive, nor the ferocious sixth sense that guided you through battle. It was a small, gentle urgency, older than any of the beasts living under your skin. 

What the hell was it really, though?

At last, you spotted the cool, tiled floor and white hand towels of the fanciest bathroom you’d ever seen. 

After you were relieved, you washed your hands, and unwittingly saw yourself for the first time since last night in the mirror. 

You didn’t know what you were expecting. You looked as bad as you felt; the bags under your eyes were replaced with crescent shaped bruises, your nose ached every time you breathed, and- and your ear. The bottom half of your left ear was gone. 

You clicked your tongue. 

You could still hear out of it fine. That was why you’d nearly forgotten about it in the first place. And it was just cosmetic. You shyly caressed the bandage stump. Your earlobe had disappeared into thin air and was never coming back. 

Sailors lose limbs all the time. You knew this. In fact, you hated that it was the first thing on your mind as you inspected the damage. You hated that you could fucking smell the saltwater being lobbed on the fresh cut as the ship’s surgeon told you not to touch it. You hated how you would go out on deck and commiserate with everyone else who had lost something far worse than you. 

You hated how you already missed the cheap earrings you wore. 

Here you were, in the center of progress and luxury and culture, but you’d never looked more like a dirty fucking Rat. 

Thankfully, you had no time to dwell on it. 

*****

Viktor was always amazed at how easily Jayce could fake ease. 

“We have plans to shut down the test circuits in the city. Anything else will remain locked in the lab until further notice,” he told the Council, unwavering. 

Viktor dreaded returning to the lab. He liked to think that he was levelheaded, but he knew that, at his core, he was a slave to his reckless, passionate impulses, and nothing ignited that like his work. To have to look it all in the eye and tell it to wait was torture. 

“It appears we’re all on the same page, then,” Heimerdinger said. 

“They would know better how to regulate themselves than any of us would,” Shoola added, “I am satisfied with this course of action for the company. However, its personnel - and potentially, the rest of Piltover - remain at risk.” 

“One of them is the risk,” Salo gave a pointed stare. 

It took Viktor a second to remember that he didn’t need to swallow his pride and hold his ground. He followed Salo’s beady eyes back down to your unamused deadpan, bathed in fresh sunlight. You were the risk in the moment. 

Even though you bothered to clean up and generally look like you hadn’t just been thrown off a mountain, one could only look so good two days after near death. Jayce had opted to use makeup so his bruises wouldn’t show, exactly because he feared having any imperfections in front of the Council. It was one of the thousands of ways they could brand you as the other. 

In spite of that, you wore the battle-hardened mask of injuries with complete sincerity. 

Viktor wasn’t sure what to make of that, and he had no interest in ever finding out. Perhaps for the same reason he dreaded returning to the lab; this situation required detachment.

He hadn’t spoken a word to you yet. 

When he entered the Council room, you were sitting at the table, discussing something with Jayce. Viktor wanted to interrupt so Jayce wouldn’t have the burden of pretending to be calm for the entire conversation, but when he sat down next to his partner and you peered at him expectantly, he mumbled a “good morning” to his feet and feigned interest in the handle of his cane. 

“She’s awaiting trial,” Mel said, “we cannot make any determination until she’s been given a chance in court.” 

“While I’m in favor of a fair judicial process, we can’t afford to wait,” Kiramann said, “something must be done sooner rather than later. And when it comes down to the safety of Piltover or the legal rights of a foreign criminal, the choice is clear.” 

Viktor looked at you. You looked at Jayce. Jayce looked back at you. 

You stood up. 

“You don’t have to choose between those,” you began in a languid voice, “and you shouldn’t. Focusing on my alleged crimes is exactly what these pirates would want you to do - waste time on a false lead instead of addressing the greater threat.”  

You waited for objections, but to yours and Viktor’s surprise, none came. 

“You have a proposition?” Heimerdinger raised a bushy eyebrow. 

“I do,” you placed your hands on the table, next to the stack of papers,” I looked over the logs from the night of the attack-” 

“And how did ye get access to those?!” Hoskel, who was very pleased with himself, pounded his fists on the table.

“You guys have an open records policy,” you said, almost impressed with how unaware of his own city, “anyway...” 

Viktor tuned you out. 

“Did you know about this?” he muttered to Jayce. 

“She caught me up like 10 minutes before we started.” 

“It doesn’t bother you?” 

“Why would it bother me?” 

“She did it behind our backs.” 

“I wouldn’t call it that.” 

“What would you call it?” 

“Can we talk about this later? I wanna listen.” 

But Viktor wanted to talk about it now. All of a sudden, you were the most proactive person in this mystery, after weeks of not doing anything unless absolutely necessary. It was... not suspicious, but Viktor liked to know things. 

Jayce was good at faking, though. Perhaps he was pretending to not be bothered to save face. 

“...the delay in Enforcer arrival was caused by an issue with the radio system,” you were still talking, “The Public Emergency Radio on the docks were down, so none of the calls that bystanders on the docks made went through to the station. The Enforcers only heard about a crime from the PER by the bridge. I looked at the maintenance reports, and,” you put a new piece of paper on top of the pile, “it said that the resistor inline of the PER on the docks was soldered somewhere it clearly didn’t belong. This is an error that can only be done by human hands and by someone who would have the key to the fusebox.” 

You inhaled through your nose. 

“The obvious conclusion is sabotage from within the Enforcers, which is something that many people in the station have suspected for a while. If you want to focus your efforts on something, you should conduct a thorough internal investigation of the Enforcers, because there’s at least one spy in there.” 

Self-assured doubt began to cloud the Council’s expressions. You glowered.  

“Look, pirates expand, okay? If you let this slide, then one day, they won’t just be after Hextech. They’ll go for your jewelry, your booze, your spices...” that got a few of them to straighten their spines, “The longer you leave a spy in there, the harder they are to find. I’ve seen entire enterprises destroyed this way, and it will happen again, unless you nip this in the ass by finding that spy now,” you strained slightly. 

Viktor realized that you’d been paying more attention than you let on, with the way that you targeted the specific business interests of the Councilors. For someone who never made an effort to please them, you could be quite convincing when you wanted to be. All that haggling expertise didn’t come from nowhere, he supposed. 

It was silent. You didn’t sit down yet, practically challenging one of them to say something. 

Finally, someone did. 

“Councilors, all due respect, that would be an utter waste of time” the voice was irritated with pride. 

Its speaker left the shadowed corner; he had a precise black mustache, geometric brows, and an Enforcer helmet tucked under his arm. 

“So is bringing a Helmet to a Council meeting, Mister...” your fingers tightened against the tabe.

“I’m the Sheriff of Piltover,” he stated, directly to you, before turning to the Councilors, “and in all the years I’ve been working for this city, we’ve only increased our internal defenses against spies due to the threat of Undercity subterfuge. Our hiring process is thorough, and we screen for them regularly, which is why I can safely say that there are no agents of the Undercity, or anywhere else, in the Enforcers.”

Somehow, even when the subject was entirely unrelated, the Undercity always came up in Council meetings. Viktor scoffed, but said nothing. 

“But how can-” 

“Further,” he interrupted, focusing on you again, “I urge the Council to question the integrity of her argument. For all we know, she could be the insurgent, trying to distract us while the real problems go unnoticed,” he folded his hands, “Her character would suggest so.” 

“This isn’t about me,” you growled. 

“Our testimony would suggest that it is about you, actually,” he pulled a piece of paper from his brest pocket, “One witness reports that you were, and these were their exact words, ‘brutal. without remorse, didn’t even bother with talking, just went straight for the vitals.’” 

Viktor’s heart fell into his stomach. 

“Now, Councilors, that doesn’t sound like someone who has anyone’s best interest in mind, let alone Piltover’s,” the sheriff concluded, and Viktor felt a new level of guilt. 

“You’re taking that out of context,” you said.

“Is that so?” the sheriff put the paper away, “But you still were engaging in such behavior, weren’t you?” 

Viktor cringed, sinking down deeper into his seat. His internal logic sounded a lot less valid coming from this pompous asshole’s mouth. 

“It was self defense,” you said.

“Right,” the sheriff returned his focus to the Council, as though you were a speck of dust on his shoe, “now, I recommend that we...” 

Your palms relaxed. You plopped back back into the chair, defeated, and Viktor never thought that he’d see you give up an argument that easily.

A vote and a disappointment later, you three regrouped in the lobby.

“They’re screwing themselves over,” you tutted, “all the work we’re doing to shut this down is gonna mean nothing.” 

“This isn’t our last chance,” Jayce nudged your elbow, “we can always ask again. That sheriff can only damage control so many times.” 

Jayce was very convincing. If Viktor hadn’t actually seen him break down yesterday, he would’ve believed that you two were pals and nothing ever happened. 

“Right,” you said into your hands, “godsdamnit, of course they had some random asshat’s testimony on file like that,” you surveyed Jayce and Viktor, “I didn’t even know anyone else was watching.” 

You locked eyes with Viktor, and before he could anticipate how it would come off, he found himself quickly looking down at the floor with the confidence of a frightened rabbit. If he had to under the spell of the discerning, yet unsuspecting, crinkle in the corners of your eyes for any longer, he might just confess. 

Which wasn’t even warranted, he told himself. How was he supposed to know that they would use his words like that? 

When he poked his head back up and caught your face, your expression wasn’t unsuspecting anymore. 

“I gotta go,” you said suddenly, getting up from your chair, “Alex and I have a dinner date. But I’ll be there early tomorrow.” 

“Sounds good. We’ll get started on lockdown. See ya, Pen.” 

Viktor only felt that he could breathe again when you closed the door behind you. 

“Are you alright, Vik?” Jayce patted his friend’s back without warning. 

“Yes-” Viktor regained his composure, “yes, I am fine. I do wonder,” he narrowed his eyes, “how she read those Enforcer logs by herself, though.” 

“Oh, Caitlyn helped her,” Jayce said, “they met up at the station.” 

“And that doesn’t bother you at all?!” 

“Why would it bother me?” Jayce frowned, “Does it bother you?” 

“Well-” Viktor swallowed, “I thought that you were interested in keeping tighter security. Penny doing things without us knowing does not align with that.” 

“Look, I was a little freaked out earlier, but once I processed all that shit,” Jayce sighed, “I remembered that it’s just Penny. She’s still the same person. And I trust her.” 

Ah. Jayce wasn’t faking earlier - he was actually comfortable with you. And so was Caitlyn. Even after everything you’d done. After everything you’d shown yourself to be. 

If there was one thing he learned after moving here from Zaun, it was that, despite all the glitz of Piltover, people will eventually show their true selves to you. Especially if they don’t see you as an equal.

And you should always believe them. 

“Now, we better get started on clearing out the lab,” Jayce grunted. 

“We should divide the labor,” Viktor said lifelessly, “I will remove the test circuits.” 

“You sure you wanna do that alone?” 

“Yes.” 

Viktor refused to be near the Academy any longer. He needed time, away from the vestigial defensive reflexes of his Zaunite heritage, away from reminders of his work, and away from the notion that you ever existed. 

*****

You squinted, as though it were any trouble to recognize that silhouette. 

You could recognize a lot of things about him now. He stood out from the crowd. Those weren’t just keys on the table, those were Viktor’s keys. That wasn’t just sloppy handwriting, that was Viktor’s sloppy handwriting. And, earlier today, that wasn’t just anyone’s evasive maneuver, that was Viktor’s evasive maneuver. 

And he was never evasive. The bastard was hiding something, and you hoped that you were wrong about what it was. 

“She had a knife like yours,” Alex said. 

Right. You were supposed to be bringing him home. You were sure that he could make it by himself, but given everything that had happened in the last few days and the fact that it was approaching midnight, you weren’t taking any chances. 

“Hm?” you tilted your head to the side, refocusing your attention on the winding street. 

“That lady. Pearl. She had a knife like yours. I saw it when I went to the bathroom.” 

“You sure about that? Mine’s as custom as they come.” 

“I didn’t look that close,” he paused, half his face shadowed by the street lamp, “but it did look like yours.” 

“Maybe I’ll ask her to see it next time,” you looked at him from the side, “You liked her though, right?” 

Though you very much enjoyed dining in the servant’s quarters of the mansion she worked in, you had other reasons to consider the visit a success; she basically confirmed that you could house sit for the winter, starting next week and lasting for a month. 

“Oh, yeah,” he said, “I just wish that there were more Rats in Piltover. Monty says I’m not allowed to go to the Undercity.” 

You clicked your tongue. You didn’t know much about the family that he lived in, but that sounded like standard fare for Piltover. 

“I’m not allowed to go there either,” you said, “but hey, it’s not gonna be like this forever. I’m sure we’ll get to meet them eventually.” 

Even if the entire godsdamned city, including Viktor, was working against you. 

In the meantime, you could make do with Pearl’s company. 

She was happy to find a kindred spirit and you were desperate for one. You got the sense that both of you were not considered worthwhile company by most of Piltover, so it was nice to be wanted for a change. And, despite your initial caution, she was fun to be around; she’d retained her Bilgewater slickness. 

You hardly got through your request for a housesitting recommendation before she was on board, saying that she did something similar in her youth and that it was “only right that the people who would actually use a property like this should get to live in it.” Apparently, she’d thrown some wild parties in the ballroom, with her employers none the wiser. 

She’d even taken her employer’s best booze from the cellar for that night, though you had to decline since you were on proper painkillers now.

“I don’t get tired of the luxury, because it was never really mine to start with,” she had said, “though, if you ask me, I think being bored out of my skull but filthy rich is a pretty good deal.” 

“Maybe so,” you had answered, “though something tells me we’ll never get to find out.” 

After you dropped Alex off at his house, you closed the door and leaned against it, resting in the porchlight oasis. Finally, one damn thing had gone right in your life, and you worried that the minute you walked down the stairs of the deck and surrendered yourself back to the quotidian night, you’d lose the feeling. 

But Viktor was still there, by himself, looking like a mugger’s dream. You should probably make sure that he didn’t get himself killed.

“You shouldn’t be here by yourself,” you said when you approached him from behind, holding back a smirk when he flinched, “did you learn nothing from that bar ambush?” 

His screwdriver stilled, then gently floated away from the open test-circuit reactor. The light around Viktor’s shadow on the cobblestone melted from brassy street lamps to hex crystal blue, which glimmered in his exhausted eyes when he faced you.

“I know that you don’t get out much, but you really ought to find a better hobby than following me,” he leaned against his cane with that smug, self-assured lack of fear that he always had when he realized it was just you.

“Alex’s house is that way,” you jerked your chin towards the street, “in case you forgot. And I think following you is a more worthwhile hobby than giving vindictive, inaccurate testimony to Enforcers.” 

He wasn’t surprised at your retort. He just winced, like he’d seen it coming, which had the frightening implication that he recognized the signs of your mood just as easily as you recognized his. 

“I did not know they would use it like that,” he said, all too defensive for your liking, “but it was not inaccurate. I was merely telling the truth.” 

Something rustled in your coat pocket. 

“Oh, bullshit. Jayce saw a lot of the same crap you did, was even more disgusted by it, and they weren’t quoting him in front of the Councilors, so obviously there was a right thing to say, and you didn’t say it.” 

“I’m not arguing with you,” he said, though he didn’t turn around.

“Right, because you were so busy working on that circuit,” you gestured to it, “c’mon, I saw you there like five minutes ago. It doesn’t take that long to deactivate,” you curled your lips cruelly, “What? Too worried that you’ll feel some remorse?” 

The mass in your pocket was... warm against your upper thigh.

“I’ve been standing here,” Viktor’s words came from the back of his throat, “for four hours, because you could not stop yourself from going fucking berserk and how Hextech is suffering for it. You couldn’t think for a moment about how this would affect anyone other than yourself,” he swallowed, “I am losing everything.” 

“I’m sorry?!” you crossed your arms, “Am I hearing that you’d rather lose your life?” 

“Oh, don’t start with that,” Viktor rolled his eyes, “no one’s-” 

Blue light cracked from your coat pocket. Viktor stopped as a similar surge of magical energy stretched out behind him in bolts. The pen reactor. 

You went dead still, wondering if this was really how it ended.

But a few moments passed, and you were both still alive, goggling each other with empty, frightened eyes. You bit your lip and reached down into your pocket with a trembling hand.

The long, smooth grip of the pistol was raging with internal magic, like there were storm clouds lashing out inside of it. You followed the energy back to its cylinder, wrapping your fingers around the center and rattling your bottle of painkillers on the way out of your pocket. 

Viktor stepped aside to examine the reactor. 

Blue embers radiated from the pistol’s cylinder, as though hot coals burned inside. It didn’t feel like a solid object anymore, but an extension of your body, united with your hand. 

Viktor pushed the shutter away. The reactor’s hex crystal emanated the same muted embers. THey were less flashy than normal, but still fluttered with life. 

The pistol and the reactor chittered back and forth rhythmically. 

You unsheathed your knife from your belt and pressed the tip into the blue edge at the bottom of the cylinder, applying the slightest amount of pressure to open it. 

Pop.

You saw the hex crystal inside for only a second before everything went white. 

*****

Falling, falling, falling, but with no air careening against you. 

It was so godsdamned bright. The inverse of outer space, where, instead of the absence of light, every single molecule reflected it at you all at once, bursting and flashing with lurid vertigo. It felt like you stared into the sun too long and now the rays were extending past your scope, consuming you whole. 

It lasted for only a second. 

Your feet were on solid ground again, and traces of salt water tickled your nose. Spots clumped in your vision, mitigated by the steely cobalt color of the sky. 

The sky... wasn’t like that before. Storm clouds herded above, still an opaque mass as the last strands of light dipped below the horizon. It was not the clear, inky night that you’d come from. 

“Hhhng.” 

Viktor. 

You blinked harshly, forcing the disorientation from your system. You were outside, it was nearing night time, and... and the familiar sound of clinking glass and drunken whoops spun from your right. A strip of dull lantern light came from an open door. 

Viktor materialized into focus, standing up, in the same physical condition as he was before, but just as lost as you were. And past him... that couldn’t be.

It was the alleyway that Jayce was attacked in. You’d recognize it anywhere. Scuffed, aging buildings formed a lane to the docks, but as your eye followed them down, the street was lacking something that should’ve been there, and it made you sick. 

It should’ve been coated with thick, white snow, shoveled into small piles on the side so the crunchy salt could break apart the thin sheet of ice on the road. 

But there was nothing. The streets were clear, like it had never snowed at all. And the ocean was angry. 

Anxiety twanged in your chest. 

You looked at Viktor, distracted by the street, and apparently coming to the same conclusion as you. Something was very, very wrong. 

And then your own voice, scratchy and free and spent, and curled around your ears. But you hadn’t said anything. 

You cleared your throat, confirming that, yes, your vocal chords were still under your control, but the onslaught of your own words, entirely divorced from your being, continued. 

Jayce’s brazen voice replied. 

“Do...” your voice cracked, and Viktor turned around, “do you hear that?” 

He paused, listening intently to the inside of the bar. And his eyes were wider than you’d ever seen when he heard his own voice blurt something out, the unmistakable accent even thicker with booze. 

You crept into the doorway, barely touching the edge with your fingers. Another sensation would send you overboard. The asymmetrical beat of Viktor’s footsteps followed behind you. 

Moving just one eye out, you took a peek at the bar. 

Every poet from every country from every lifetime could not describe the uncanniness of seeing yourself from the outside. It wasn’t real, it didn’t feel real, because there was no way that was you, because things like this did not happen. You were not supposed to be an object on a plane, you were the damn plane. 

It was like those trick paintings, where everything looks okay on the surface, but as you notice more macabre details the only picture you get is just how little you know about the world being presented to you. Every small thing about yourself sent a rolling wave of dissociated, horrified deja vu. And yet you couldn’t pull yourself away.

You felt faint. 

And it only got worse when you saw the back of the original man with the pistol, the motherfucker that drugged your friends and tried to shoot you, sitting at the bar. The same young man hiding behind a still-developing beard. His pistol, a creamy silver, was sturdily attached at the hip. 

He didn’t see you spying on him, as he was intensely focused on other you getting up from the table with a half empty mug of rum and beckoning to the bartender. 

You took a seat right next to him and faced away, leaving your drink on the table. 

Gods, you were an idiot. 

You were watching everything go wrong in slow motion. The bartender went around back to get you some fresh mint, and you passively engaged in conversation with someone sitting farther down the bar. 

The pirate fingered a bottle of clear liquid, passed it over your drink like a ghost, and left the bar counter without you noticing. He faded into some far off corner, waiting for you to take the bait. 

He must’ve already gotten Jayce and Viktor, then. So what stopped this drug from getting to you? And better yet, what would stop you from beat his ass this very moment instead of letting past you take the lead an hour from now.

You couldn’t just attack him, you knew better than to run head first into... whatever was going on.  But, for comfort, your hand raced down to your belt and closed around the hilt of your knife. Your bottle of painkillers rattled in your pocket.

Painkillers. The ones that made you vomit when combined with alcohol. 

You’d asked the bartender for mint. You were making a mojito, which you’d thrown up that night. 

And then you understood that all of this had already happened to you, and your intervention was an important part of saving this night. But you had to do it now. 

You edged further into the bar, pressing your palm down on the cap of the painkillers. 

This was a bad idea. 

You crammed a chalky white pill between your fingers. Your drink was open. The bartender was gone. No one would notice. 

This was a bad idea. 

Jayce and Viktor were enraptured by a debate with each other about... something stupid probably. Your heartbeat was fast. 

This was a bad idea. 

“Wait here,” you said to your Viktor, the one looming over your shoulder, who was too stunned with anything to reply. 

This was a bad idea. You can’t change the past. 

But clearly, you already had. 

You blacked out for a bit. You forgot to breathe the entire time as  you snaked out from your hallway and hugged the edge of the bar, trying and failing to act casual. 

You were less than a foot away from yourself when you stalled, because that was you, right there. Your back was facing you, and you could’ve reached out and touched it. 

But this timeline was meant to be changed, even if you had to be the one to do it. 

So, when the pill slipped from your hands, into the shallow pool of Whalefall and rum at the bottom of your mug, with past you none the wiser, you felt a rush of raw determination. Everything would be okay. 

You retreated into the hallway, a stop on your way back into the alleyway. Viktor just watched you, shaking. 

“Did... did you-” he whispered as you gave yourself a final glance before you left the premises. 

Your attention returned to your drink after the bartender gave you the mint you asked for. You scooted off the chair and joined Jayce and Viktor again, about the mix the mojito that would’ve been your doom. 

“C’mon, let’s-” 

A fading conversation bounced down the alleyway. You saw them from the corner of your eye.

Jayce’s attackers, lying in wait. You were fucked if you went back down the alleyway. 

“Shit. Fuck. Fuck. Shit,” you muttered. 

You couldn’t just walk through the bar either, not when you looked like you had just seen a ghost. You needed time to think. To come up with a plan.

But you were trapped. 

You hastily backed into the bathroom, brushing against Viktor’s chest as you pushed his immobile body with you. 

You shut the door and twisted the lock with numb hands. 

“This can’t- I can’t- what the fuck-” Viktor panted. He was on the verge of hyperventilating. 

You turned and leaned against the door, realizing for the first time since you’d arrived here that the gun was gone. 

Well, shit. 

The bathroom was tiny; the bare necessities of a rusty sink, soap, a hand towel, and a toilet were surrounded by aged wooden walls reminiscent of a ship’s head. 

Not the time to reminisce.

“What- what did you do?” Viktor collapsed onto the toilet, rubbing his face with the heels of his hand. 

“I, uh- I think I just drugged my own drink,” you said blankly, “so that I would throw up that shit they put in it. And then I could...” you trailed off. 

“No! I mean-” Viktor caught a breath, “what... what happened? Why are we here? Is this... this is real, right?” 

“Yeah,” you nodded, “this... is real.” 

“The reactor, and the... it must have been affected, and transported us...” 

“Into the past,” you finished slowly, “when it connected with...”

“What was in that gun?!” his voice cracked, “Why did...” 

“It came from the guy,” you said, “the first one I killed when I... when I came for you. The one we just saw. It was his...” 

“And it connected with the gun from the past, meaning that we-” he groaned, anger gradually replacing the confusion, “And you- why did you have it?!” he snapped. 

“Hey! This isn’t all me, okay, it did some shit with that reactor too!” 

“Of all the godsdamned places we could go!” he threw his arms in the air, “And now we’re stuck here.” 

“We’re not stuck,” you said, “We’ve got time before... everything happens. We’ll just wait for our opening and then-” 

“And then what?! Get involved with all of this crap again?” he chuckled mirthlessly, “Oh you would like that, wouldn’t you?” 

“I was making sure that we don’t die just now, dickweed!” you howled, “I don’t wanna see any of this shit again!” 

“If you don’t want to see it again, then maybe you shouldn’t have done it to begin with.”

And finally, the cord inside of you that was wound so tight around your emotions broke in hafl. 

“Alright, that’s it!” you slammed your hand down on the sink counter, “Did I do something wrong? I don’t understand how saving your bitch ass could possibly be a fuck up on my end, but I assure you I will not repeat that mistake.” 

“Again with this rescue drivel! You can give it a rest, no one else is here.” 

“You think I did all that shit, to them, to me, for fun?!” 

“I don’t know why you did it, but it’s not because you wanted to help me,” he hissed.

“What the fuck are you talking about?!” 

“You may have everyone else on your side,” he pointed a bony finger at your chest, “but you made a mistake. And I’ll tell you where you made a mistake.”

HIs spit shined in the artificial light, disturbing the dust mites suspended in the air. 

“You came back for me,” he barked, “and if you think for a godsdamned second that I believe you came back, risked yourself, not even for my life but just for my wellbeing, with no ulterior motive, then you are dumber than you look,” he said, “You did not do anything for me. You did it for yourself because you wanted an excuse to do all that. I know it.” 

He was sweating. He was hurting. And you were so, so close to channeling your turbulence and bewilderment straight into your fists, because you didn’t even have a good answer. 

But then he said those words, and everything fell into place. 

*****

“I’ve seen who you are in the dark, and you’re a monster.” 

None of the catharsis that was supposed to be there came. You blinked once, twice, overflowing with nothing, like a dormant volcano. 

The patter of footsteps outside was deafening. 

And then your hands moved, and Viktor thought you were going to kill him. 

BUt instead your fingers, steadier than he’d ever seen, met at the collar of your shirt and undid the first button. The fabric shifted as you inhaled. 

“See, the thing about a lot of what happens on ships,” your cadence was stony, “is that it’s designed to not be debilitating, but to still hurt like hell.” 

Viktor didn’t answer, watching as you weaved down to the second button.

“Injuries that you can still do your job with. You get this little jolt of pain every time that you move.” 

You crept down to the third button.

“And you can see it for a while after if you look. Because they don’t want you to forget.” 

The fourth. The placid mauve color of your bra poked through, and though Viktor was very briefly tempted to follow the luscious line of your chest, the rapid descent of your hands and the severity in your voice killed the thought. 

“And if you’ve been sailing for a while, and it happens over and over again...” 

The fifth.

“Then you get something to show for it.” 

The sixth. You turned around and peeled the shirt off your back. 

Starting at your shoulder blades and extending to beyond your pants was an explosion of scars. They were raised, long, and straight, overlapping with each other but occasionally grouping together in parallel rows as though they’d come from some vicious, clawed animal. There were so many.

The craggy lines reminded Viktor of a map, perhaps a conglomerate of rivers or mountains, but only on the surface. These were far too angry, tangled with each other like they were trying to suffocate themselves, yet aged into your skin like hieroglyphics. 

Whip scars. Viktor did not need to ask where they came from. 

After a small eternity, in which Viktor fought off the urge to reach out and trace them with this finger, you pulled your shirt over your back and turned around, leaving your clavicle exposed as you addressed him. 

“Because everywhere has monsters,” your voice was almost a whisper as you snared his eyes with your own, narrowed ones, “and I’ve seen Bilgewater’s. I’m reminded of what they’re capable of every single day.”

You straightened your posture, and the sharp corners of your eyelids softened in a way only Viktor could notice. 

“Is it so wrong of me to want to protect you from that?” 

The silence sighed. 

Peals of laughter - laughter from you and Viktor and Jayce - bled through the bathroom door. Yet Viktor said nothing. 

And he wanted to say everything.

He had a million answers to your question, and a million questions for you to answer, and a million grievances to take up with the gods themselves, and as they were all tearing his mind apart in every direction and giving him a searing headache, he couldn’t stop plunging himself into your frustrated, yet painfully earnest gaze as you waited for a single answer that he would never have. 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” you said, pressing yourself against the door and buttoning your shirt. All the ire had evaporated, and left disappointment in its place. 

You expected him to be better - not just expected, even, but worked for it. Put yourself out there, in the cold, cruel world to keep him on track, because you thought he had something worth protecting.

And the worst part was that he could be better than this, but the thought of letting you down was suddenly so terrifying, that he didn’t know where to begin,

He had to try, though. He couldn’t miss his chance. 

“I... I thought it was too good to be true,” he said softly. 

You laughed.

“Oh, really? That was what was too good to be true, Mr. Heimerdinger’s assistant who does break-ins on the side?” your fake smile dropped, “Don’t fucking patronize me.” 

Viktor raised a melancholy eyebrow. 

“Being Heimerdinger’s assistant was too good to be true,” he said, embarrassed for some reason. 

And... he’d lost you. You rolled your eyes and prepared to sit down on the floor, but, before Viktor even thought about it, he gently grabbed your knuckles. 

“No, please, you don’t understand,” he stammered, looking past your pupils. 

Your face was still, and Viktor could really focus on your ear and nose while you were awake, with everything he knew about you to evaluate it against. 

And despite his best efforts, all he saw was someone who had been through a lot, and was putting even more on hold so they could listen to him speak. The least he could do was give them a worthwhile explanation. 

“I- those years, when I had to work the hardest job on campus just to say there, to even have a chance at making something of myself... those were some of the worst years of my life. I hate the story of how I became Herimerdinger’s assistant.” 

He exhaled, keeping himself together for your sake.

“But everyone knows it, because people in Piltover love to tell it. Without my permission, too. It makes them feel comfortable in their system; that somehow, the people who ‘deserve’ to be here will always find their way to Piltover, even if they have to deal with a lot of... eh, bullshit.” 

Your hand was smaller in his own. He had your attention, but he kept holding it. 

“Every success that I’ve had here is like that. You have seen it with how people, the Council, treat Hextech. Piltover talks about my- our wellbeing in times like these, yet in reality, they could not care less about what happens to us as long as they get what they want,” he said, “And what- what I’m trying to say is that, when things started to go bad, when we were losing Hextech, and when I was very angry, and I wasn’t thinking straight, I thought that you were one of those people. And that was upsetting because-” 

Everything he thought to say here made him sound like an office manager or the world’s biggest sap. Because I value your company? Because you remind me of the person I want to be, even when I feel like crap? Because I finally understand you, and I keep wanting to know more? 

He heard himself guffawing in the bar. He remembered this laugh - you had just recounted the time that you had to pretend to be Freljordian, but only knew the swear words in the language. 

In a few minutes, Viktor would feel comfortable enough to recall the time that he accidentally brought Heimerdinger a smut novel instead of the biology text he requested, because of the similar covers. 

“Because I really thought we were starting to be friends,” he said sheepishly, “even though I have not acted like one in the past few days,” he placed his other hand on top of your knuckles, “and I am truly sorry.” 

You sharply exhaled and looked at your shoes before returning the eye contact with curious resolve. 

“Piltover doesn’t deserve you, y’know,” you said bluntly. 

Viktor understood Jayce’s apprehension with the company now. He would shut the entire thing down to prevent anything like this from falling on you. 

“Perhaps not, but... you risked your life and I still get to be here. I cannot thank you enough,” he squeezed his hand, “And Penny, I promise you that as long as I have something to say about it, you will not be in that position again.” 

However impossible that was, he meant every word. Precious few people ever considered him something to be deserved, and even fewer defended it with their bare chest and back. 

And there was only one you. 

“Psh, alright,” you pulled your hand away, leaving Viktor to grasp at the cold, “apology accepted, don’t overcomplicate it. Now you know... cause we’re both kinda fucked, so we gotta watch out for each other, right?

You smiled, slightly apologetic for killing the atmosphere, and a bit... nervous? Your hands were fidgeting. 

More laughter came from inside the bar. 

“Indeed,” Viktor sat back down on the lid of the toilet, “we do.” 

“And, uh, don’t worry about trying to make it up or anything. You’ve helped me before. We’re equal.” 

“That was different,” Viktor didn’t know exactly what you were referring to, but he assumed that none of it had the same weight. 

“It still meant a lot,” you insisted, “and besides, things wouldn’t have gotten this far if I hadn’t avoided talking about the whole, uh, murder party, so...” 

From the onset of tact in your voice and the way that your body froze as you tried to process a single emotion, Viktor could tell that you meant it. Yes, you were a tad emotionally constipated, but liked you as you were. 

He stayed silently committed to his promise. 

“We should... leave here,” he changed the subject

“Yeah. Shouldn’t be too hard, now that we’re not acting too suspicious or anything, so I think we’ll just wait for our opening and go out the front without attracting any attention,” you cracked open the bathroom door, surveying the minefield of potential sightings, “only trouble is that we don’t really have anywhere to go after that.”

“There is one place we could go,” Viktor said. 

After a nerve-wracking fifteen minutes of watching bar customers slowly clear out as the night got darker, you two left with a large wave of them, making it into the outside’s chilled embrace without a hitch. 

You broke apart the awkwardness with commentary about the snow that just started to fall, saying that you were “a fan of this frozen precipitation,” to which Viktor chuckled at through his exhaustion. 

The last stop on your journey was a call made at the PER by the bridge to the Enforcers, to report your own incident. Viktor got to hear your terrible Freljordian accent again as you faked being a Helga Olafersson. 

And you left Piltover, the memories of the bar, and any other bullshit behind as you crossed the bridge, side by side, to the Undercity.

~ End Notes ~

Your daily reminder to not tell shit to cops

End Credits Song: "The Night" by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons

[jeslyneyunita]

Some Reasons why I love Peniel’s VLOGS:

Let’s start from the very basic: 

1, The editing is dope!  

 And by that, I mean really, really good. Most of his shots and the quality of contents are above average!  I usually feel bored easily when watching vlog, but Peniel’s camera point of view is so beautiful as he showed the view in between places, from train, car, (also time lapse and stuffs) and.. yeah it also makes me even more excited to visit Japan again, someday. (hiks). And, remembering his profession as an active singer slash celebrity with packed schedule. I really admire Peniel’s commitment in shooting, editing and everything. 

2. The very simple titles given:

Well done! 1st! My worst enemy! or.. Tokyo! Udon! New Camera!

I love the very simple title, some are only consisted of one or two words. And the title given even makes me feel more curious to see the content compare to other Vlogs with such long title like here, here, and here. I guess he is the kind of like really easy going man so he just name the video what ever is on his head at that time, and (again) it’s kinda cute for me, lol

3. No cliche opening, ending, like, subscribe or anything.

Everytime I watch a youtubers or vlogs, I will always skip the last few second since it will be the same all over again. Please like, subscribe, blah blah blah, which is very cliche and… boring. And Peniel doesn’t do that! (teehee)

4. He speaks in English (almost all the time)! so I can do something else while watching his video. Like revising. Tried this before and it’s kinda work for me. Fun!

5. The content shows fans his daily activities and what are behind the scene of his profession. Like MV making, how long he’s waiting. Dry rehearsal, camera rehearsal, make up, change clothes, so on and so forth. Like it is kinda interesting to know about this stuffs directly from an idol perspective! (especially for international fans)

6. The background songs! it is usually one song per video which is good because it’s simple. But,,, what I like even more is, the songs are so good as well! Peniel rarely ever pick other artist’s song, so either it was BTOB’s songs, or his mixtape songs, which are very original! Represents his mood, preference, and profession, and make the audience feel even closer to his vlogs.

7. You can see BTOB members appeared randomly here and there in some of the videos. Either only their voice, in the background, or they’re singing, sleeping, sometimes giving random jokes; which is… super fun! Mostly those members will pop out speaking in little random english as well, bcs Peniel is speaking in fluent english, so again, yea that’s cute to see!

8. His english is pretty cute!

Like in my opinion (from what I heard), Peniel has a lisp right? and his english is nearly perfect as well (no grammar mistake whatsoever) which makes it become very pleasant to hear.

9. Bringing camera to every where. Rather than snapchat-ting or Insta Story-ing, why not youtubeing?

Yea at the first few videos my reaction was like… oh well why does he have to carry a camera or go pro to almost everywhere? Like it’s not really the culture for Korean or Japanese people bringing Gopro with the stabiliser at public space. But.. when I think about it again, Well other artists like Jessi and Tiffany (only two that I know) very often be seen  holding their phones for snapchatting as well during events. So, rather than filming for something that will only last for 24 hours, why not making it available for days, months, or even years? Yea Peniel’s idea is at a different level obviously saying.

10. He has manner, guys

Peniel doesn’t just record everywhere anytime out of nowhere. He often whispered, or typed, in order just not to bother other passengers or people around him. I think if he really wants to, he can just ignore those kind of situations, shoot in more places to create more fun contents. But, he will not shoot where he is not supposed to, to show respect towards other’s people privacy, then just say sorry to the audience (even when he doesn’t have to) and told us afterwards what was happening instead.

11. Last but not least, his effort in providing Korean subtitles!

I thought Peniel just has to edit videos and upload it directly so I didn’t get it at first when he mentioned about “I gotta do subtitle and stuff..”. And then… because he mention it very often (or I’ve just watched too many of his videos), just reckon that he has to translate ALL what he said (in English) into Korean to treat Korean fans/watchers.Well, job of editing and everything isn’t little already. And I can imagine, translating isn’t an easy (or fun) deal too.

But then, that’s probably why fans love his videos with all of the efforts given SO MUCH, and I hope he knows how so many people enjoy his videos and vlogging activities. And of course, including for me, I enjoy it very very much. Thank you Peniel! haaha..

Some of my recommendations (few of my most favourites) are..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXNf1qJDIoQ

-> the best part in this video is obviously… Changsub with his “OH MY CAP, OH MY CAP, OOHHHH IM SORRY” LOLL. Seriously you guys should watch it. It’s just sooo funny! haha.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKCDXZvJrfs&t=1s

-> I like the background song of this video very much, which makes me discover BTOB’s awesome Japanese songs as well. The content are awesome in this video too, lots of stuffs that makes me want to visit Japan. Anddd lastly, you can see  BTOB’s member’s randomness (with their english) popping out here and there too, lol.

// DO NOT take content away without permission PLEASE.

I’ve got enough with a random someone who paraphrase the whole content of this post, publish it at a Korean Entertainment News Portal and got noticed by Peniel on twitter -__- )) 

If you are a true writer or fan please respect the existence of copyright hence at least give proper credit to the actual writer. cheers! //