#the ninth isn't completely closed off!!!

[winepresswrath]

suddenly overwhelmed with feeling for Aiglamene. She gets word that Harrow has become a lyctor and will not be coming home, and in compensation they're getting some recruits to revitalize their house. Pay no attention to any weird vibes. they've been napping.

She's either told that Gideon died defending Harrrow or that she's missing in action or nothing at all, and then silence, for months. And then Gideon! Dead but moving.

[slvt4felix]

I Could Never Hate You

Pairing -> ninth member!reader x Lee Minho WC -> ~3,300 words Includes -> hurt/comfort, angst, enemies to lovers, hyunjin's a meanie, reader has anxiety, minho struggles with his feelings, cringy nickname use, yelling, swearing Summary -> The rest of the group members are over the silly rivalry between you and Minho. They decide to take matters into their own hands. However, their little game takes a turn for the worse when one of the members betrays your trust. Some may call it destiny…the way it leads you straight into the arms of the one you would never expect. Author's Note -> This is my first time posting on here, so hopefully this isn't too rough. Also, I swear I don’t hate Hyunjin. I love him to death. It was just necessary for the plot… anywaysss hope you enjoy!!

Masterlist ♡ Next Part

“I swear to God if you guys don’t open this door right now!” You yell as you pound on the hotel room down the hall from yours. There hasn’t been a reply, but you know that Hyunjin and Felix are in there. The two of them are always locked in their hotel rooms the night before your shows. They try to get as much sleep as possible for the next day.

‘They are definitely laughing their asses off right now,’ you think to yourself. It was just a stupid prank to them. Something to get you and Minho to finally get along again, but they just don’t get it. You had tried for so long to make it work, but Minho was just too stubborn. For heaven’s sake, you guys used to be the best of friends. One day he just started being cruel. Ignoring your texts, saying snarky things under his breath, scoffing every time you accidentally messed a move up. It escalated to the point where you no longer talk anymore. Truly, it is not your fault and they don’t seem to get it. He refuses to say anything about what happened, completely disregarding the fact that you were ever close enough to share your deepest secrets.

You turn around to leave, realizing the two boys were probably never going to open the door. You hear the lock click and spin back to see the annoyingly beautiful face of Felix. Although he wasn’t outright laughing at you, he was putting little effort in trying to hide his smile.

“Hey, what are you so upset for? I didn’t notice anything wrong on the bus earlier?” Felix asks. You just stare back dumbfounded.

“Why the fuck would you ever put me in a room with him?” you spit pushing past Felix into his room, “Don’t you dare look at me like that, you know how he treats me.”

Hyunjin just looks at you from his spot on a queen bed closest to the window. He looks shocked, as if he hadn’t expected you to actually put up a fight against the sleeping arrangements.

"How is that our fault?" Hyunjin questions. He seems like he may be genuinely asking, but you know him better than that. You have always been closer to him than the other members, especially after all the things that went down with Minho. Hyunjin was always the one to comfort you. The first to step up when your anxiety got to be too much. So, it was obvious that the members did have something to do with it, and it wasn't just an unfortunate fluke.

"I saw the way you guys all ran to claim your rooms while I was still collecting my suitcase. Don't act stupid. I know you know what's going on," you say back in hopes to get him to at least explain what their plan was. Maybe you could reason with them and get one of the boys to switch. Heck, you'd even be willing to sleep on the couch in Hyunjin and Felix's room, but it's starting to seem like they don't even want you in their room in the first place.

You hear Felix close the door behind you, but it's all blocked out as you watch Hyunjin roll his eyes at you. While this may seem like a typical Hyunjin action, it just didn't feel right. He tries to be more gentle with you than the other boys. After confiding many of your secrets and insecurities in him, he knows to control his face around you. Yet, it's beginning to look like he's forgotten all about that tonight.

"Yeah, I'm the stupid one..." he mumbles under his breath. With every sentence exchanged, the tension in the room grows thicker. You almost feel bad putting the other poor boy in the room through this. You can practically feel him stiffen with every word spoken.

"Hyunjin-" Felix starts but is cut off by a sharp look from the man himself. You know it's starting to go too far if Felix is getting upset, but Hyunjin doesn't seem to care.

"Why are you so angry right now?" you ask him, praying the question doesn't fire him up more. Maybe he's just having a really bad day, or maybe he just wants to be alone and can't deal with your problems.

"I'm not angry," he starts, "you're just making a big deal out of absolutely nothing." By the end of it he begins to raise his voice, another thing he knows you aren't a fan of. You take a step back, a little confused at his ignorance. He's been with you through all the fights, why doesn't he understand how big of a deal this is to you?

As you're still trying to make sense of his previous statement, his voice quiets down, and he looks back down at his phone as he whispers, "Just like you always do."

"What is that even supposed to mean?" you ask, scared for the response. He glances up sharply, making true eye contact for the first time tonight.

"You're always crying over stupid shit, and I really can't handle it anymore,” he states angrily, his eyes not leaving yours the entire time. He finally breaks eye contact, and the tension explodes, painting the whole room red.

As dramatic as it sounds, it's like a knife to your heart, or perhaps more accurately a stab in the back. You know exactly what he means by that. It's like he was aiming for your most sensitive spots. With your anxiety, you tend to panic over things that don't usually matter much in other people's minds. Every time you have an anxiety attack or are just freaking out about something, you usually try to hide it. You worry that your friends won't take you seriously or will make fun of you over something they consider 'not a big deal'. You've confided in Hyunjin over this topic before. He's helping you get over that and come to them when you need help. So why is he now turning on you? Was it all an act before?

You feel your eyes start to tear up, but you hold them back. He cannot see you cry.

"Fuck you," you say, attempting to put venom behind it, but all that comes out is your shaky voice.

"Y/n, wait," Felix says sympathetically as you go to leave the room. Normally, you would stop and let Felix comfort you, but suddenly everything is feeling just a little too heavy and you can't seem to look him in the eye any longer. You stride out of the room, keeping your shoulders straight without even glancing back. You just need to stay strong until you make it into the hallway. You slam the door behind you despite typically being the one to argue when the other members to it. Your eyes are blurring too fast at this point to even recognize the fact that you probably should've shut it a bit quieter. It is a hotel and noise complaints are a thing, but, honestly, that is the least of your worries at the moment. You just keep replaying back the fight in your head trying to figure out what you did wrong. It had to be something, right?

You start down the hallway, cursing when you realize your room is at the other end of the hall. You hope the other boys can't hear your sobs, especially the two you just departed from. As much as you want to be comforted, it feels like you're past the point of no return and just want to be alone. You try to stifle your cries a bit with your hand, but it doesn't do much. You're heads getting a little too light, you're breathing getting harder to control. Your hands are shaking, and it seems like the crying is just starting. Some may call you sensitive, but when the tears start you simply begin to spiral. There's very little that can calm you down at that point. Hyunjin usually has to take you somewhere and help you take deep breaths especially before your concerts. But he's the one who started this mess. So, what are you supposed to do now?

You finally make it to your hotel room, barely being able to read the numbers, and you start to dig around in your pockets. You start to panic as you struggle to find your key card, but eventually you grasp the small rectangular piece of plastic and open the door.

Once inside, you shut the door, a bit calmer this time, and fall back against it. The only thing on your mind being the fact that you are finally in your own room, alone. You put your hands over your face, trying to quiet some of your senses. In the haste to get out of the situation, you completely failed to remember the problem that had started it all.

Minho is sitting in one of the beds; he had plenty of time to choose considering you just dropped your suitcase off and stormed off upon realizing the two of you would be rooming together. He's all cozy in his sweat pants and t-shirt, obviously thankful for your abrupt disappearance. He looks up, shocked to see you re-entering the room. He plans to make a jab of some sort, but immediately pauses upon seeing your state. It seems like you haven't even noticed that he's in there yet. He's never really seen you like this before, or at least not since he started pushing you away. Putting that aside, he accepts defeat realizing that you need someone. You need him.

Your eyes are covered as you cry quietly into your hands, pushing your head back into the wood behind you. You flinch slightly upon feeling strong arms wrap around your shoulders, pulling you away from the hard door. However, you soon relax into the arms, enjoying the feeling of safety flood your system. The man is warm and gentle as he presses you against him, pushing your head into the crook of his neck.

"Follow my breathing," he whispers in your ear, sending goosebumps from your head to your toes. You try to listen to him, but all of your senses are so overwhelmed that you can't seem to focus on anything. Feeling like a fool, you begin to cry harder, immediately sending you back to the fight with Hyunjin.

"Honey," he starts, "you just have to take a deep breath. I don't want you to pass out on me." Hearing the quiet voice in your ear helps bring your mind back to the present. Trying to focus on the instructions, you begin to notice the chest rising and falling slowly against yours. You can even feel the man's calm heart beat against your racing one.

Following the normally simple order, you try to take a deeper inhale resulting in a few hiccups and more tears. One of the arms around your shoulder falls and his hand begins to rub your back gently. As you focus on the sensation, your breathing starts to even out, just as Minho had hoped.

Once you are in a slightly better state, he moves you over to the bed. Setting you down on the edge, he kneels in front of you and softly pulls your hands away from your face. You instinctively bow your head, squeezing your eyes shut and trying to keep from facing the man in front of you.

Minho reaches his hand out, bringing your face back up towards his. You slowly open your eyes at the gentle touch. He's looking right back at you, a soft expression covering his face. He hasn't looked at you like that in years. He practically lights up when your eyes meet his.

A smile grows on his face, as he quietly says, "There you go, kitten." Your face flushes at the nickname, and you hear Minho giggle softly at your blushing cheeks. He used to call you that all the time. A fan had once greeted the two of you at a fan meet saying how you both had the same energy as cats. So from that day on, he had called you that nickname constantly, earning well-deserved teasing from the other boys. Yet, it had all stopped out of nowhere.

'He doesn't care about you anymore,' you remind yourself. You pull away from him roughly and stand up from the bed. You take a few steps away from him, the comfort you had felt being ripped away in seconds. This was too confusing. He can't ignore you for years and suddenly act normal. That isn't how this works.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" you ask him, just wanting some sort of explanation. He slowly stands up, his soft look from before transforming into a look of pure regret.

"What are you talking about? You're upset and I care about you," he calmly explains, obviously ignoring the elephant in the room. But you can see it in his eyes; the nerves, the regret, and the sadness painting itself across his irises.

"You hate me,” you say, leaving no room for discussion. You were sick of being left in the dark and being turned on. You just want to know, what happened?

"You don't really believe that do you?" he asks as his body language changes. He reaches a hand up, pulling a little too roughly against his hair as he looks down at the ground.

"I mean-" you start to say but are cut off by a small sniffle coming from across you.

The culprit looks up at you again, his eyes glistening with unshed tears. Minho never cries. It's just one of those things. So he wipes them away and says the last words you would ever imagine him speaking to you.

"I'm so sorry," he whispers genuinely, "I never meant to make you feel that way, but I guess that's what it's come to, hasn't it?"

You stand stiffly, staring at him. You had never seen the man look so defeated. You are even more confused about where the two of you stand than you have ever been.

"But I don't get it, you're just so mean. I don't know how you couldn't hate me."

"I could never hate you,” he states staring at you. His eyes are so deep that you can see exactly what he's feeling, and you realize, this is it. He's an open book. This may be the one time you get to see under the surface of Lee Minho since those days of friendship all those years ago.

"Then why did you push me away?" you ask, taking advantage of his state.

"I was just so scared. I thought you would hate me if you found out..." he trails off. You simply wait for him to finish his sentence, but he never does. He just looks back at you in hopes that you understand what he's trying to say. A silence builds, and Minho takes a deep breath before continuing.

"I love you and I was just too scared in case it would ruin the group," he says, finally letting the truth escape after years of secrets. The shock of the statement leaves you speechless, simply staring at your old best friend.

After a few seconds of building tension, you can’t help but start to giggle, leading to near hysterics with more tears springing to your eyes. You had thought you had cried all of them out, but it looks like you were wrong. There's no way that's the reason. If only he had been honest with his feelings, then you would've never been in this situation in the first place.

He looks surprised at your laughing, and his whole body seems to deflate.

'Hopefully he doesn't think I'm laughing at him', you think. There's no way they had messed up communication that bad to let it get to this point.

"You should have said that, Minho. I was so in love with you," you state gently, trying not to bewilder the poor man. He looks up, and there's pure excitement on his face. It's beautiful to see compared to his earlier expressions, and you're reminded of all those little reasons you love him. All those reasons that have been buried down due to his obliviousness.

"Really?" he says, taking a step closer to you. Your cheeks heat up upon realizing that you really did just reveal one of your darkest secrets.

He takes another step closer, his face now only inches from yours. You feel his arms wrap sweetly around your waist. You glance down at his lips; they're slightly chapped, but honestly, it's just all part of what makes Minho, Minho. Your eyes go back up to meet his, and you can see the tension and nerves drawn upon his face. You quickly close the distance, making the decision you should have made all those years ago.

Minho doesn't pull away, instead immediately melting into the kiss, bringing one hand up to delicately cup your cheek. This may be one of the softest moments you have ever witnessed from Minho, and man do you want more.

You don't kiss for long, it's short and sweet, but it means so much more. Within it is everything you had wished you could've said to each other since the beginning.

You both pull back, a laugh leaving both of your mouths as you take in how outrageous the situation is. He pulls you close again, his head falling on your shoulder.

"I promise, I will never ever treat you like that again. You mean so much to me," he whispers. You bring a hand up to pet the back of his hair, pulling back just enough to give him a kiss on the cheek.

The two of you eventually pull away as your eyelids begin to droop. You realize how late it has gotten, neither of you noticing with all the drama that has unfolded. You quickly change into your pajamas and get ready to go to sleep.

You end up in the same bed with your head lying on his chest, his fingers running through your hair. Despite how sleepy you both feel, you know there is so much more to talk about and neither of you will be able to fall asleep.

Minho breaks the silence, asking you the dreaded question, "So, what happened? Did someone hurt you?"

"Hyunjin and I fought. He said some very hurtful things." I reply sadly, the memories of the fight resurfacing.

"You two are so close, I'm sure he didn't mean it. You know how upset he gets when we’re on tour for so long. He gets aggravated having to be around us all the time, but it was still messed up for him to be so mean to you."

You laugh at his response, "Yeah, like you can talk."

"Hey!" he says dramatically. You both giggle, and despite the tough topic, the tension seems to melt away. It always used to be that way with Minho. It's as if the two of you were made for each other. Everything just felt so much better and easier around him. Suddenly, everything in life was a lot sweeter.

"But seriously, don't worry about it too much, kitten. Felix will take care of it, and Hyunjinnie will be running back to you by the morning."

Part 2 out now!

[blueishspace]

Secret Life if everyone had only one life

Most health losses remain the same as they were accidents: mobs, heights and generally being a little dumb.

Scott never stops Jimmy and Scar from talking as Jimmy has done severely better in this continuity never being out first, maybe he even joins in the conversation for a while before walking off.

With Third Life being completely different Scar never gives Grian the cactus monopoly as that has no significance. Perhaps he gives him sugarcane as Double Life has taken Third Lifes place as the birth of Scarian? Thinking about it Scarian would probably be referred by fandom as Bamboo duo or Panda Duo having been created in Double Life.

Session 1 remains basically the exact same for everything else mostly, same for most of session 2.

Martyn still goes to the Nether and is killed by the piglin, he is the first player out of the game.

Session 3 is where the changes start...

Joel doesn't reroll his task for a hard one as failing would basically mean being extremely close to being out, so he sticks with the deja vu task...which he likely fails as its a task that realistically I can't imagine someone being able to do at all without luck... This means he doesn't die failing the bucket clutch.

Jimmy still dies to the drowned and is out second, the big dogs never happen for obvious reasons. Gem still dies to an enderman while trying to do her task and is the third player out. Lizzie still dies to a skeleton on the water slide and is the fourth player out.

Martyn Isn't there to guess Tango's task so he likely succeeds, he gets 3 hearts and 7 items.

Grian's session 4 task is different as there are no yellows, the same is applied to all tasks that are based on the green-yellow-red life system from here on out, each of them has been slightly changed. In this case he simply needs to convince anyone that singing is his task, which he succeeds. This is easier as it allows for more people to be target but harder since It's harder to be sure you have fooled them without them calling you out as a yellow life...so it evens out. He still joins Cleo and Etho later.

Martyn is also not there to make Scar's life more miserable as he can't cause him to fail, Scar succeeds getting 6 hearts and 4 items.

Etho also never gets his task from Martyns suggestion so aHa Etho never happens.

The same that happened to Grian applies to Skizz, Skizz likely fails either way.

Lizzie is out so she also never makes the paths which means movement across the server is technically more difficult. Also Scotts task is likely failed without Lizzie.

Importantly, without Gem and with everyone having only one life they can't risk the dragon is likely never slain and Bdubs fails his hard task losing 10 hearts.

Without Gem there is also no tower off so no questionable mounder towers, Mumbo never climbs the now Gemless Scotts mountain to judge which is tallest and never falls to his death in the process.

BigB's task is different as stated before, so he probably doesn't betray the heart foundation. No trust issues this time around.

Tango and many others also never lose lifes because there are no red life tasks. Cleo race against Gem is also not a thing which means Cleos task is to simply get people to hand their doors.

Joel can't use Jimmy or Lizzie to target Scott (aka basically two of the few people willing to) so he likely fails his task.

Bdubs is still pushed in the zombie pit by Scar, Mumbo still falls in lava, Skizz still dies to something as his health is extremely low and BigB still dies while fighting the wither. They are fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth out respectively.

With only one life Grian likely doesn't run in front of the wither to press the button, he doesn't die yet... however he does likely have extremely low health so he probably dies against the wither anyway. He's the ninth player out. (Or eight if he dies before BigB)

Scott has the charisma to still complete his task without Gem, so he does. Scott also has 1 heart, he probably dies even without trading his life to Martyn.

Gem is already out of the game, there is no boogeyman/zombie apocalypse in session 7 so ... nobody dies, not even Tango who is never killed by BigB's dog as BigB is out and is later also not killed by the non existant zombie army.

There's also no Angel Jimmy as Grian is out of the game and can't get the task.

At this point in time there are 7 players left in the game: Pearl, Joel, Impulse, Cleo, Etho, Tango and Scar.

Everyone also has very little hearts each as there have been no respawns... Which means when that creeper explodes next to Pearl...she probably doesn't survive it, tenth player out, 6 to go... Knowing Joel erratic behavior gets worse without his teammates he's likely to accidentally kill himself sometimes soon... 5 left.

The last 5: Impulse, Tango, Cleo, Etho and Scar. I can see Impulse and Tango working together... Seeing the weird competition between Scar and Heart foundation I think Tango and Impulse target and kill Scar, 4 left...

Cleo does the nice vs naughty thing, I don't think she gets to kill anyone but I think someone kills them in response... Maybe dogs if she's accidentally punched... 3 left.

With Impulse working with Tango I think they work together to kill Etho putting him in third leaving those two to fight for the win as the finalists... I think Impulse has a higher chance to win...just slightly, the difference isn't that severe, but I think in this case Impulse wins.

The winner of secret life is Saturn.

(Third Life)

(Last Life)

(Double Life)

(Limited Life)

[boytumms]

Okay don't mind me, I've just been reading too much about various sorts of mythology stuff and... old myths genuinely have a lot more weird pregnancy things than you'd expect (I still find the fact that Odin's eight-legged horse in Norse mytholohy is the son of Loki - whom Loki was pregnant wirh anf gave birth to, mind - way too funny, although that's completely beside the point), so... this isn't inspired directly by a specific myth, but reading random mythology stuff is kinda what put this into my mind

Anyway, I've been thinking of a boy who somehow manages to royally piss off a fertility god. Perhaps he defiles their shrine, or steal some sacred item or mess with their priest - or maybe him just refuses to do something the god wants him to do. And because gods are so well-known for never being spiteful and always giving proportionate and reasonable punishments (extreme sarcasm), the god curses the boy to become pregnant, but unable to give birth unless some extremely specific conditions are met. Maybe he can only give birth at one specific location, or has to eat some specific hard-to-aquire thing to induce labor, or it's one of those seemingly impossible and contradictory "neither at sea nor on land, neither at day nor at night, neither alone nor with other people" kind of conditions (i pulled that specific one out of my ass but you can find similar kind of contradictory and stupidly specific shit in mythology sometimes, you get my point), or some combination of the above, or some other stupidly specific and unintuitive condition, idk.

And the boy doesn't know the condition, of course. The first nine months he simply waits for the pregnancy to run its course, but as the months stretch on past the ninth, past the tenth, with no sign of the pregnancy coming to an end, he realizes he's not getting off the hook that easily. By then, of course, he's so heavily pregnant that everything is difficult - he can't walk very far at once at all, he needs ridiculous amounts of fabric to have clothes that fit, the baby - or babies, rather; he can't tell but he thinks he must have two or three in there - are restless and kick and writhe so he hardly has a moment's peace from them...

So he becomes searching for some solution, some way to birth the babies. First whatever conventional ways there are to induce labor. None of them do anything. He prays and makes sacrifices to the god, groveling and apologizing and begging for relief. No response. Then, he begins to seek out wise people, priests and oracles and shamans, first close by, then traveling further and further away to find someone who could tell him what to do.

It takes years, years of incredibly difficult travel, of weird looks from others and humiliation and yet often having to rely on the aid of other people to get to wherever he's going this time, because really he's in no state to travel except he doesn't have a choice. After the initial nine months, the babies do seem to grow slower than before that, but they do still grow little by little, making the burden quite literally heavier to bear, and they are restless in his womb, as though they too would know it is well past their time to be born already.

But finally, after years of searching, years of torment, the boy finds out the condition, and figures out a way to fulfill it. Once that is done, though, there's still the incredibly long and painful process of labor and giving birth to the babies, now much larger than his body ever was designed to give birth to...

I loooove perpetual pregnancies like this!!! It could even be similar to the Greek story abt Leto, so he’s in labor as he tries to figure out how to break his curse. Imagine him having to suffer through contractions, feeling his baby’s head sooo painfully low in his hips as he tries to push but the curse prevents it from coming out all while he’s in search of a way to give birth.

After years and years of searching, his babies become massive. Even with the slowed growth, they’d be the size of 2-3 year olds by the time he finally manages to fill the conditions to progress his labor. Maybe as he’s finally giving birth to his first baby, the god that cursed him decides to come down, just to torment him one last time before his punishment is over. There’s nothing the boy can do to get way from the god, belly pinning him to the ground with the weight of his writhing babies, unable to escape the wrathful god. Each time his baby comes to a crown, the god pushes it back in, making his scream is sob in agony, begging to be let go as it makes his tummy twist and writhe. He tries to kick and push the god away, but he’s too weak after carrying such a burden with him for so many years, completely helpless in the hands of his tormentor.

It goes on for days, weeks even, the god switching between pushing his babies back into his belly, then and painfully squeezing the swell to watch him thrash. Once they’re sure he’s learned his lesson, they let the last baby slip out between his trembling legs, leaving him exhausted, alone, surrounded by half a dozen massive babies as he’s finally allowed to pass out

[zootisswag]

DIY Psychic Paper!

made my very own psychic paper on my journey to build a ninth doctor costume to wear on my birthday and halloween. I made the template from scratch by gathering info from references from the show and as well as some guidance from old forums and other custom psychic paper(s). My template did end up being cut up and tempered with as I used it but I am more than willing to draw up a new one with guides for anyone interested in also making their own psychic paper, just ask nicely in a tag, comment or in an ask

I don't know why but I thought the psychic paper was navy blue??? I think it's actually black im not even completely sure right now. Anyway mine is made of a lovely navy blue piece of leather and I really like her. She looks black when the lighting isn't great anyway. She's a bit more stiff than what i've seen in canon on account of a thin piece of cardboard I put un it to make it a bit more sturdy.

She is being held together solely by Elmer glue and willpower. Armed with a double sided shank and a thick needle, hand stitching this was hell yet still quite enjoyable. I am well aware that stitching thick material is a lot easier with a thin needle but stitching with a thicker needle made it easier to be able to stitch through the same hole multiple times. oh and the stitching on the end of the corner flap is actually folded over and stitched on double material. Never. Again. THAT was hell. The rest of the stitching is practically just decorative, the work is being done by the glue. made her in about 3 or 4 days, working on and off.

Here are some more pictures of her!

pictures in the first row as just some simple pictures. Pictures in the second row are with a ruler for scale. Pictures in the final row are with flash so you can see her beautiful navy blue leather and a close up of some of my hand stitching.Again, if anyone would like the template and even a detailed explanation of how I made my psychic paper, don't be shy. I would be more than happy to dedicate some time to that.

she was such a lovely project and im very proud of her. It was my very first time working with leather so l didn't have the proper tools at all but I did have determination and an obsession with doctor who so it worked out. Im no seamstress so please ignore some of my jankier stitching, thank you.

[metacrisisdoctor]

tenrose is ninerose

the amount of ninerose shippers who hate tenrose is really depressing.

i understand having a preference in writing choice or in the actors and their chemistry and which you enjoy more, but to act like they're completely different relationships is so deeply unfair and incorrect.

when i first watched rtd who, what i really admired was how seamless the transition between nine and ten was. it still felt like the same show, the same characters and the same relationship while still allowing rose to grieve the ninth doctor and be confused and hurt with what happened.

i am someone, who if i HAD to choose, would choose tenrose. however, that's ONLY because tenrose is ninerose.

the only reason i feel the way i feel about the tenth doctor and rose is because of the story that they had already built. i don't think rose and ten fell in love, they were obviously already in love and then fell deeper in love as time went on (as it should be, no?) which makes my feelings for them stronger, but i don't see them as different relationships.

everything about tenrose - and ten/tentoo - only makes sense when you take ninerose into consideration. nine met rose immediately after having destroyed gallifrey. he is closed off, in pain, angry and hurt to put it mildly. he meets rose and she shows him softness and good in the universe again. she makes him feel like he isn't all alone. she gives him hope. he takes her to see the end of the world and she doesn't flinch, she stays. together, they can face anything.

as season one progresses we see how the doctor and rose discover each other, how they influence and bring out the best in the other. rose, just by existing and being her, helps the doctor remember who he is. she helps him heal, she makes him - the doctor - better. not a better person, but she makes him feel better.

and like she makes him better, he makes her realize she can take things into her own hands and be bigger and more powerful than she had ever imagined. so when she has to save him, she does whatever is necessary because she loves him as much as he does her.

because of how deep his love for her is he makes the decision to kiss her and save her life knowing it will mean regeneration for him, which is something he obviously did not want, but he accepts it because it was a worthy sacrifice.

nine dies out of his love for rose, and ten is BORN out of his love for rose. ten's entire existance quite literally revolves around rose and his love for her. ten's journey is about hope, because that is what she gave him. and in the end it is both his salvation (tentoo) and his downfall (ten) because since he was born out of loving her and this new family that he found, he is born with the need to be human, to NOT change. as nine he found everything he had been searching for, so as ten he is done searching. this is why he "shuts down" to a degree after school reunion and seeing sarah jane again. he loves all his companions, but rose is different. rose is everything, and he cannot bear the fact that he will lose her someday- but he also knows that he could never truly leave her behind.

this is why the only way to seperate them was with doomsday. all of this deep love and this desire to be with her in ways he never could ("the one adventure i can never have.") started in season ONE with ninerose ("street corner, two in the morning.") and shaped who he became when he regenerated into this version of himself who was everything he was because of her.

this doesn't invalidate ninerose or their relationship, because it's the SAME relationship. i don't have to pit them against each other because they're not seperate in my mind and i know this goes for most tenrose and tentoorose shippers.

in the end ten had to find a way to become human, even if in one life, and when he couldn't in another he had to regenerate because the hope rose gave him was becoming a vice instead of a virtue.

the doctor is always the same person (yes, including tentoo - argue with the wall) but there is no denying that the feelings and experiences that are happening when the doctor regenerates effects how the next incarnation of them feels and behaves. so when ten regenerated "died" because he felt things the way a human would and therefore he was able to move on.

this doesn't mean that rose and everything he felt for her or how she saved him from himself is meaningless. it means, in a way, it's eternal. he knows they get to be happy in another universe, and that gives the doctor the strength to keep going and open their hearts to new adventures with new people who are worth loving as well. she made him see that.

and it all starts with ninerose.

stop acting like they're not the same relationship and you'll understand why tenrose is "more popular" because some of us understand that the doctor is the doctor. period.

[scribefindegil]

We know what Ninth House poetry is like (terrible!) but we should talk about which meters and poetic forms are in vogue for the other Houses. Some initial thoughts:

The Second: Meter? Iambic or maybe trochaic. Absolutely has to be one of the two-syllable feet though. Number of feet can vary. Form? Couplets. The Second is about epigrams, about the sort of pithy little poem that you could engrave onto the handle of a weapon or use as a grave marker. Short and regimented. They don't *do* long-form.

The Third: Dactyls all the way babyyyyy! Lots of playful/light verse; tend to think everyone else takes poetry much too seriously. A bunch of funky little closed forms with triplets and repeating lines. You know, the sparkly kind where you don't really say anything but it's great for showing off how clever you are. Also. Villanelles.

The Fourth: Iambic tetrameter. Lots of cross-rhymed quatrains; little emphasis on closed forms.

The Fifth: They get iambic pentameter, the lucky bastards.

The Sixth: The sestina is absolutely the most Sixth House poetic form in existence. I bet they have competitions where they're given the end words and have a time limit to complete their poems. I bet Palamades has written sad sestinas about Dulcie. Probably dactylic hexameter even though I kind of feel like that's too cool for them. They might also use Alexandrines bc they're both six-footed and insufferable.

The Seventh: Ballad meter! In the real world we think of this as alternating lines of iambic tetrameter and trimeter, but if you throw it all on one line you can call it iambic heptameter instead. If you want. Great for poems about melancholy and death! Also they write a lot of sonnets (14 lines!), especially the Petrarchan form.

The Eighth: I feel in my heart that they look down on purely syllabic meters and also the concept of rhyming and insist that the only worthwhile poetry is some accentual-syllabic Beowulf shit. Irl this manifests as four alliterative accented syllables per line with the strongest emphasis on the last one. You *could* just string two lines together to make eight accented syllables and call it a day, but that isn't stupid enough. Merely contemplating Eighth and Ninth house poetry should be enough to give you a headache. It is one line with eight stresses. It's awful. Every stressed syllable has to alliterate except the final one, and when a poet finally reaches the end of the line everyone watching applauds in sheer relief.

[realityescapee01]

Sidelines

Jay Halstead x Reader | Kelly Severide x Reader

choose your ending

(yes, check it out at the end of this)

Long time crush. One-sided love. Admiring from afar. Everything Y/N is very familiar with. With Jay Halstead.

But Y/N isn't admiring from afar, her and Jay are friends, so she gets to be close to Jay. See him. See everything that happens to him. See everything that Jay is going through and had gone through. And she was there through it all.

It's been years and she's contemplating if she'd

1. let it go, forget about Jay and start dating someone else... or

2. finally confess, ask Jay for a date and hope for the best... or

3. get drunk, confess, maybe sneak a kiss in and then run away into another state, get a new phone number, a new identity, and hide for all eternity.

Y/N revved up the engine of Jay's car, ready to drive him home. Jay had just drank himself to oblivion at Molly's. She was with him to look after him. She knew. Erin just left. Or rather disappeared, without a word. Nothing at all.

So Jay is left, nursing his broken heart and soul. And Y/N is there, again, after so many breakups of Jay from previous relationships.

"Jay, don't make this any harder for me." -Y/N reached over as she closed the door again. Jay attempted to get out of the car. "I have an early shift tomorrow, I don't wanna get bad with Shay."

"Is it good in ambo? Maybe I should just change careers." -Jay let out a drunk hiccup.

"Jay, I don't think this is the time for you to be making decisions."

Y/N drove to Jay's apartment and helped the younger Halstead in. She walked him to his bed, pushed him onto it and took his shoes and jacket off. It's all familiar now, Y/N has done this too many times.

"Goodnight, Jay." -Y/N say before leaving.

The next morning, Y/N was late. And Shay called her out on it.

Kelly Severide was looking at them talk by the ambo for a bit and he knows the reason why Y/N was late. He was at Molly's last night too.

She's best friends with Shay and good friends with Kelly. She's close enough to the two to the point of her telling them about her feelings for Jay. They'd go out sometimes, just the three of them and Y/N would burst out of her emotions whenever they get too strong to hide from Jay. She'd flee to the two and ask a lot of questions.

Questions of why? Why is she still inlove with Jay after all these years -years of Jay showing no interest in her other than being close friends.

And every time, Shay and Kelly would tell her she did nothing wrong and that she shouldn't beat herself about it. And even told her to come clean to Jay.

To which Y/N would say: she is not Jay's type. She knows well what Jay likes. And it's not her. Because if it is, they would've been dating by now.

"10 minutes late, huh." -Shay

"Sorry."

"You know what, why don't I set you up with someone else, Jay is too busy with himself to notice someone amazing just right beside him."

"I'm open!" -Kelly chimes in from the squad table.

The two gave him a side eye.

"What? Come on!"

Shay replied to Kelly with something witty or whatever Y/N couldn't comprehend because her phone rang and it was Kim Burgess. Asking where Jay is, he hasn't come in yet.

"What? I'll look into it." -Y/N hang up. "Shay, can we, you know, just a few minutes."

"For the... what, hundred ninety ninth time?"

"Pretty please."

"...Fine."

They took the ambo and drove to Jay's apartment. And there Y/N saw Jay still asleep and seemingly having a nightmare. She woke him up and Jay almost punched her solid to the floor.

It's instincts for Jay by now whenever he wakes from a nightmare, be aggressive, fighting off his attacker.

Y/N was startled and sat to the floor. She dodged the punch a little bit but still got hit. She knows about it, she had woken Jay a lot of times like that before. But right now, she was sluggish from sleeping late and didn't dodge it completely.

Jay realized and apologized furiously.

"Oh, shit! Y/N, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." -Jay helping her out, looking at the reddish color of her cheek where his punch hit.

"It's okay. Get to work! Kim called she said she's out there without a partner." -Y/N tidied her clothes and walked out.

"Whoa! What happened?!?" -Shay saw her bruise.

"Oh, awoken from a nightmare. It happens. I dodged it most of the time but now I'm sluggish so it hit."

"Damn. Come here let me look at that."

"Let's look at it at when we get back to the firehouse."

Shay drove them back just in time Chief Boden got in from a meeting. They stayed on the back of the ambo, Shay tending to Y/N's bruised cheek.

"Hey, what happened?" -Kelly sat beside Y/N. Sounding really worried.

"Jay." -Shay side commented.

"What?!?" -Kelly was angry.

"Wait wait! It's not like that!" -Y/N explained.

"You know what, I think it's time you stop waiting on Jay." -Kelly touched Y/N's cheek ever so gently.

"It's not his fault. I already told you." -Y/N defended Jay again.

Y/N waited for Kelly to take his hand off but he didn't. Kelly was touching her cheek, his hand felt warm, and his eyes locked deeply with hers.

'Uhm...wait, this is-' -Y/N thought to herself, she didn't get to finish the thought as she felt a blush creeping to her cheeks.

And then Y/N's phone lit up. It's Jay, calling. Y/N stood up, -and in the process- got away from Kelly.

-Hey, I'm outside.-

-Okay, wait.- Y/N hung up the call and stepped outside.

There she saw Jay, leaning on his car with a paperbag of food from Y/N's favorite place.

"Hey, I'm sorry about this morning. Peace offering." -Jay smiled as he handed over the food.

"Well, if this is a sushi platter..." Y/N peeked inside the bag, "...and it is a platter, okay. Peace offering accepted."

She smiled at Jay.

"Oh, but this is for the apology, what about a thank you for last night? Driving you home? the princess that you are." -Y/N was feeling playful. She was just joking.

"Oh, I haven't forgotten." -Jay takes out a chocolate bar. "That's for thank you."

Y/N laughed as she accepted it.

The firehouse alarm sounded off.

"Oh, I have to go, Jay."

"Yeah. Y/N, really, I'm so sorry. And thank you so much."

"Yeah."

Y/N jogged back to the firehouse.

"And that is why our dear friend Y/N, couldn't move on from Jay. He's sweet like that." -Shay saying as she took the chocolate from Y/N.

"Hey!" -Y/N was smiling ear to ear as she got into the ambo.

Kelly let out a sigh as he jogged into the truck. Ambo, squad and truck were called out.

The day passed as usual. And night came, Y/N went to Molly's with Kelly and Shay. Otis decided to try a dance night, to which Hermann was not particularly happy about, but still went on with.

The three of them were dancing. Having a great time. Jay wasn't around, he did mention they are working a case overtime.

Through the crowd, Shay paired up with a chick and stepped away from Y/N and Kelly. The two remained paired up and dancing.

Dancing real close to each other. Y/N normally doesn't get too close to Kelly but right now, she is. Their bodies are flushed to each other so close that Y/N could feel how fit Kelly is underneath the layers of jacket and shirt. Close. Too close. Maybe the alcohol also took away the inhibitions.

Y/N looked up at Kelly and the lieutenant was already staring at her. Those beautiful eyes. A color deep, somewhat a mix of blue and green. Y/N knows Kelly is popular with the ladies, looking good and all. But she refrains from looking at Kelly that way because of her friendship with Shay.

But Shay is not here right now. And Kelly's body feels so warm, so close, Y/N swore there legs were already crossing with each other. Kelly felt so warm, and big around Y/N right then, like he is shielding Y/N from the world, and Y/N felt safe in there.

They kept dancing and rubbing up on each other, until Kelly started closing in on Y/N's lips. Kelly kissed her. A quick smack on the lips.

Y/N was startled. She just froze and stared at Kelly, who was already gunning for a second kiss. And a third. And a fourth. The fourth was quite longer.

"Whoa!" -Shay came back.

Y/N and Kelly broke apart.

"Uh-huh. Okay, if you two decided to date and you fought, don't come to me, I can't choose sides." -and then Shay disappeared again with a different chick this time.

"K-Kelly, what is-why?" -Y/N asked, still confused.

"I like you." -Kelly confessed.

"W-What???"

"Yeah, I do. I just-"

Y/N's phone rang. It's Will Halstead. Telling her Jay is in Med, shot.

"Oh my god! I gotta go, Kelly."

"Yeah." -Kelly was disappointed, he knows, it's probably Jay again. He stepped away from all the dancing people and sat himself at the bar.

+++

Jay is stable now, sleeping in one of the emergency bays in Med. Y/N stayed beside Jay, holding his hand. Will explained the gunshot wound wasn't that bad, but given the state Jay was these past days -drinking, not enough nutritious food and sleep- made it worse than it was.

"Jay... I love you, Jay." -Y/N whispered. She wasn't sure if to Jay or to herself. She just said it. She just muttered it out. Low and quiet.

But not low and quiet enough.

"Uhm..." -Will just stepped in to check on Jay.

"W-Will?!? Uhm, did you- did you hear?"

"Yup."

"Please, don't tell him. Anyone." -Y/N stood and walked closer to Will.

"Okay. You know, it's a mystery to me why you guys aren't dating. For years."

"Just... don't tell him. Please." -Y/N was panicking a little.

"Jay... Jay's not really good at seeing something good even if it's in front of him already."

"I'm not his type, Will."

"What're you saying? You get along really really well."

"It just doesn't... Please, keep quiet, okay? Promise me?"

"Okay. Okay." -Will has his hands up. "Anyways, you could go, I'll look after Jay."

"Alright."

Y/N looked at Jay one last time before heading out.

+++

Y/N keeps visiting Jay until he's put for recovery at home. Today is Jay's day to get discharged. And timing that Y/N and Shay responded to an emergency and had brought the patient to Med.

Y/N was smiling because he could see Jay too... with Hailey.

It looks like Hailey picked him up. Even helping him get his jacket on.

"Who's that? New girlfriend?" -Shay to Y/N

"No, his partner at Intelligence." -Y/N said without looking away.

"Ha. Okay. Let's go say hi." -Shay pulled Y/N with her.

"No, nevermind. Let's go get resupplied." -Y/N pulled Shay back into the supplies area, staying there until Jay and Hailey left.

Y/N knows. She saw that look in Jay again. The look of: the girl is not his girlfriend yet, but could be. Y/N was so familiar by now.

Before Y/N and Shay could leave, Will stopped Y/N by the hand.

"Hey, Jay checked out. Why aren't you the one picking him up?"

"I am on duty and there's Hailey." -Y/N smiled, just a tight straight line of smile.

"Oh... uhm, hey, I'm working a little late today. Could you make sure Jay eats? Healthy food type and not just alcohol?"

Y/N was staring at Will, the older Halstead was trying to push them together. Will did say that if he could choose someone for Jay, he would choose Y/N.

"...Okay."

"Here. Buy me some too. I'd go to his apartment to oversee his recovery."

"Fine by me." -Y/N took the money for food later.

Shay and her left after that.

And that night, as promised to Will, Y/N dropped by at Jay's, with food for 3.

"Y/N, hey."

"Uh-huh. Yup." -Y/N stepped in, eyeing the bottle of beer in Jay's hand. "Food. And fresh juice." Y/N set the food on the table.

"Thanks. I'm just numbing the pain down a bit."

Y/N and Jay ate as they watched TV. Y/N assisted Jay whenever he couldn't do something because he is in an arm sling.

"Y/N, thanks a lot. But it's getting late, I would drive you if I could."

"Nah, just rest up. Will says he's coming here."

Jay went to bed and Y/N stepped out. She doesn't wanna go home yet so she went to Molly's.

+++

She was greeted by familiar people. Hermann being the sweetest of all to her.

"Kiddo, how's Jay?"

"Out now. He's recovering at home."

"Here. On the house." -Hermann slid a bottle of beer.

"Aww, thanks so much, Hermann."

"Do I get one too?" -Kelly sat next to Y/N

"Nah, you pay, Severide." -Hermann placed a bottle of beer too in front of Kelly before leaving the two.

"Hey, Y/N."

"Hey, Kelly." -Y/N said as she took a long sip of beer.

Kelly asked how Jay is. And then how Y/N is. Telling her not to forget about herself. It's been years since she had someone, to love, and love her. And take care of her.

Y/N felt sad at that. Kelly is right. She never dated anyone for years. Just at the side of Jay, looking after him.

Kelly cupped her cheek with his palm and kissed her. She refused the second kiss.

"Kelly, I just... not right now. I'm sorry."

Kelly let go and smiled. "Jay's a lucky guy. You're loyal to him even if you aren't together. But Y/N, I'm serious. I like you. A lot. I just don't come up to you because I know about Jay. But it's been a long time, I want you to be happy. And I can do that for you."

Y/N stared at Severide. Just stared. Not talking. She felt confused. She can't straight right now.

"Kelly, I'm sorry. I've had a long day and I can't think straight."

"I understand. I'll drive you home."

"Kelly."

"Come on. There's no way I'm letting you go alone this late." -Kelly has his keys out by then.

"...Okay."

Walking to Severide's car, Y/N was thinking.

+++

The days went on, Y/N helped Jay in recovery. And at work, Y/N had a close call.

There was a house fire. There are people stuck inside. On the third floor there was an old lady in need of rescuing. She hurt herself bad a d needed to be put into a c-collar and backboard.

The truck and squad was on it. They have the ladder ready up there. Y/N went up to secure the patient. Severide and Cruz was able to get the patient out to the ladder. Cruz went down with it.

Then a part of the ceiling came apart and fell on Y/N, knocking her unconscious. Kelly beat himself up from not being able to push Y/N out of the way in time. He ran to Y/N, trying ot wake her up.

But their time is dwindling, the re isn't enough vent. Severide knows it's gonna blow.

"Y/N hold on, I got you!" -Kelly secured Y/N against him and prepared to jump out. There wasn't enough time for the ladder to get them.

Kelly jumped through the window just in time for the blast.

"Severide!!!" "Oh my god!!!"

Falling to the ground, making sure he landed first on the ground, cradling Y/N as safe as possible.

The firefighters rushed to them. They are both out. Ambo worked fast to get them to Med.

"Y/N? What happened?" -Will was one attending. "Severide too?"

"I got Y/N, you take Severide." -Dr. Rhodes worked fast.

After a few hours, good news were given out. As a miracle as it is, both are stable and suffered only minimal damages. Thanks to Severide breaking and taking most of the fall.

Severide woke up and was immediately sitting up.

"Hey hey hey! Stop, Severide." -Casey was there by him.

"Y/N? What happened?"

"She's stable. No serious damage at all."

"Where is she?" -Trying to stand up.

"Whoa! Hey. Slow down... by the way, you are okay too. No serious damage as well, not that you care right now, hey!"

Kelly was half way out of the bed by now. "I fucked up, Casey. I didn't see it falling. This is my fault. I should've taken care of her up there."

"Get back to bed, Severide."

"No, I gotta see her. Take me to Y/N, Casey!"

"Okay, okay. Slow down."

Casey assisted Kelly to Y/N's room. Y/N had just woken up.

"Hey there." -Casey caught her attention.

"Casey... Kelly, hey."

"How are you?" -Kelly sat beside.

"I'm... there are pains but I'm good. You? Why are you up? Shay filled me in. I passed out she said. Then we jumped out. You taking most of the fall. Thank you."

"No, I failed actually. You shouldn't have been knocked out by that ceiling in the first place."

"No, you saved me. Thank you."

Kelly was teary eyed as he rubbed Y/N's hand with his own.

"Knock knock." -Shay was at the door. "Oh god, I'm so glad you're both okay. And you." Shay poked Kelly's arm. "That was pretty stupid but awesome. But please, do that again."

"Yeah yeah." -Kelly took his hand off Y/N's to hug Shay.

They were talking a while when there came another knock from the door.

"Oh." -Shay. "Hi, Jay."

"Hey. Uhm, Y/N, hey." -Jay stepped into the room.

"Oh, getting crowded in here." -Shay stepped out, pulling Casey with her.

Kelly was just quiet, looking at Jay.

Jay looked back at him too. "Severide." Jay nodded. "I heard what you did for Y/N. That was amazing. Thanks, man."

"Of course."

Y/N felt a little anxious. Jay, the guy she's been pining for for years and Kelly, the guy who likes her and turned out to be pining for her for while now, are in the same room as her right now.

And Y/N could feel the tension from Kelly. She just wasn't sure if Jay feels it.

"Y/N. Hey, how are you holding up?" -Jay asked her. His voice was hoarse but gentle.

"I'm good now."

Kelly observed and decided to leave the two. He doesn't wanna stress Y/N out.

"Sorry, I came late. We were in a bust. What'd the doctors say?"

"They say no serious damage."

"That's good. That's good." -Jay patter her shoulders gently.

Jay stayed a while.

A few days after, Y/N recovered with Kelly and Jay visiting her most days.

As a celebration for her recovery, firehouse 51 setup Molly's for her. Free drinks for her and Kelly's escape from death. Jay sat with the three of them.

Y/N excused herself to go to the restroom. When she's near it, she looked back at their table. She looked at Jay. Jay almost died a few weeks back and now she almost died a few days after that. She looked at Kelly as well. Kelly was there through everything too for her. Almost died with her.

Y/N knows there has to be a decision made. And she has to make it soon. Too much time passed and she doesn't know if she'd escape a close call in duty again. Or if Jay would. Or if Kelly would.

a/n: there are alternate endings to this. The next chapters says it on the title. You choose which ending you want by skipping to that chapter. :)

and I can only do that in AO3. Here is the link:

continue here

-+-+ (head to your chosen ending) +-+-

and I can only do that in AO3. Here is the link:

continue here

thank you. more on my master list here

I have an AO3 account here

Like the gifs used here? See source under them. Reblog, do not repost. Thank you all gif creators here ♥️

[iviarellereads]

Gideon the Ninth, Chapter 32

(Curious what I'm doing here? Read this post! For detail on The Locked Tomb coverage and the index, read this one! Like what you see? Send me a Ko-Fi.)

(Second House icon) In which we trade the unbearable horror of being known, for the slightly more bearable horror of the story that's been unfolding.

Harrow and Palamedes are breaking into a Lyctoral door Gideon's never seen before, at the top of a tower.

Harrow is worried that picking the lock is entering without permission. Palamedes says he completed the challenge, that entitles him to permission because it confers a right to the key. Harrow says that's not at all the same thing. Palamedes says if they want the key they have to go through Silas Octakiseron, which means defeating Colum the Eighth in a duel (which both Camilla and Gideon say they could do) and relying on Octakiseron to hand the key over, which he will not.

Harrow points out that they can't just pick this lock with a bit of bone. Palamedes says Lady Septimus let him hold the key, and he used his psychometry on it. He can picture the key to the molecular level, and he wants Harrow to use the Imaging and Response technique to read his mind and recreate it. Harrow says this is going to be difficult, and if Palamedes gets distracted-- but Camilla cuts her off and says, in a tone that implies that it has caused problems for her specifically, that he doesn't get distracted.

Palamedes closes his eyes, then Harrow as well. For thirty seconds, nothing happens, then the bone lump in Harrow's hand twitches. Soon, it extrudes itself into a key shape. Eventually, it stops reshaping, and Harrow opens her eyes to examine it, suspiciously.

"This won't work," she said. "I've never had to work with something so small before." "That's what she said,"(1) murmured Gideon, sotto voce.(2)

Palamedes opens his eyes, and sighs with relief, though he sounds unconvincing when he says it'll work. The necromancers go to the door, Palamedes takes the key, fits it in the lock, turns it…

…and the mechanism clicks.

Palamedes admits that he didn't really expect it to work, and calls Harrow's work "masterful". She congratulates him for his part, and he pushes the door open. Harrow leans in to Gideon and mutters "If anything moves--" and Gideon finishes, "Yaaas,(3) I know. Let it head for Camilla." Gideon's not entirely sure how to deal with this new, overprotective Harrowhark, but they're managing.

They all enter the room, and Palamedes finds the light switch. It looks like a bomb went off, papers and tools and empty pens everywhere.

"Hm," said Camilla neutrally, and Gideon knew immediately that she organised Palamedes's and her socks by colour and genre.

Palamedes says this challenge was rather easy, but he had an advantage: it was based on psychometry, his specialty. It was just a tooth in a box. He examined it for hours, until Camilla nudged him in the right direction. Camilla tells him to get to the point,(4) and he says he checked every skeleton in the main part of Canaan House until he found one with a missing molar that matched the tooth in the challenge. It wouldn't follow him, but it let him take an impression of its clavicle, and he was shocked when that allowed him to open the box.

Gideon asks about the "bone servants", and Palamedes explains that they're the opposite of the beguiling corpse, skeletons with their faculties intact. Skeletons with ghosts attached to them, revenants without much power, just enough to control their movements. And this, he continues, is the laboratory of whoever created them.

On the table there's another molar. Palamedes picks it up, examines it, and hands it to Harrow, who unfurls it into a sort of ribbon which reads:

FIVE HUNDRED INTO FIFTY IT IS FINISHED!

Harrow starts taking notes, but Palamedes goes to the walls, stopping at a faded pin board, covered in a rainbow of pins with string attaching them. Gideon goes to stand by him, and he explains that most necromancy isn't difficult to learn, for those with the power, but they have no stamina. Thanergy is transient, a death's power runs out eventually. He'd give his "whole House for a reliable food source--"

Camilla cuts him off, asking for his attention to something. She's opened a ring binder full of "old flimsy lithographs" in black and white. On the first page is a faded, hand-written note, still legible:

CONFIRMED INDEPENDENTLY HIGHLIGHTED BEST OPTION ASK E.J.G. YRS, ANASTASIA. P.S. GIVE ME BACK MY CALIPERS I NEED THEM

The photographs are quick, low-quality pictures of men and women, shoulders-up. Camilla turns a page, and one of the pictures makes them all pause. It's Teacher, not a day younger or older, his photo circled in ancient pen.

Palamedes says he genuinely couldn't tell. Harrow asks who's controlling him, because there's nobody here but the pairs. Palamedes posits that they could be independently operated, but how? He looks back at the pinboard, but whatever he's thinking about is shortly interrupted by an electronic klaxon going off in the room, followed by a calm woman's voice saying it's a fire alarm, and to go to a safe zone.

Both the Sixth and the Ninth know a fire alarm is no joke, so everyone sprints for the door, not even bothering to close it behind them. But, there's no smoke, no heat, and when they reach the atrium, the only thing amiss is a skeleton having fallen in the dried up fountain. Camilla looks around and heads for the lunchroom, where a water sprinkler is going off with a "pssshhhtt" sound. All the skeletons are gone, leaving behind "piles of bones and sashes." Gideon turns off the stove, still lit.

Soon, the sprinklers stop, and Camilla kneels and touches one of the remaining bones, which crumbles to ash. Palamedes and Harrow exchange a "Shit", and Camilla draws her swords and asks if they should split up. Gideon says "Hell no," and Harrow suggests they get to Dulcinea, for which Gideon is so grateful she could kiss her.

They pass no living being in Canaan House, only a skeleton which is suddenly crushed by the weight of the basket it carries. In Dulcinea's room, they find her struggling to sit up, and one of the priests, who is shortly confirmed for dead… again, presumably. Dulcinea says Teacher left her an hour ago, to lock a door.

Gideon asks if Dulcinea will be alright on her own. Dulcinea grins, her tongue stained with blood, and asks what anyone can do to her, now?

The crew leave and go to the corridor where Teacher and the priests lived. They find more arrayed bones and another dead priest, all in front of a closed door. Gideon puts her hand on her sword. Palamedes throws the door open, revealing Judith Deuteros, her left arm badly withered and crumpled,(6) and a red stain spreading across her jacket. Teacher lays next to her, "a rapier buried in his chest, and a dagger through his neck", but no blood around the blades. Gideon looks for Marta Dyas, and finds a gruesome scene as though her skeleton and her flesh tried to divorce.

Judith says Teacher wouldn't listen to reason, he got aggressive when she tried to restrain him. He blew out Marta's eye, so Judith was forced to respond. Palamedes kneels to examine Judith, but she tells him to see to Dyas first. Camilla says Dyas is already dead, and Deuteros says not to touch her anyway, they did what they came for. Gideon sees a transmitter box, and Palamedes asks what the captain came to do.

Judith says backup is coming. Teacher told her she'd betrayed the Emperor, put him at risk, but she entered the service when she was just six. Palamedes, having been kicked away several times, says Judith is no good to anyone dead. She says she's done what she needed to do, fixed what no one else would. Marta avenged the Fifth and Fourth. Harrow says they fixed nothing. Teacher "was a shell filled with a hundred souls," a prototype, created only to protect Canaan House. He could have helped them figure out its secrets, but Judith ruined that and is now going to die also without learning what this place is for.

Judith's face twists into hesitation, and she looks to her dead cavalier, then back at the group, furious and beseeching. Palamedes moves in and examines her quickly, but he can't do anything, they need medics. How long until the Second and the Cohort arrive? Judith says it's not the Cohort coming. The transmitter won't reach any other House in the system, that much of Teacher's statements was true, but it connects directly to the Imperial flagship. The Emperor himself is coming.

Teacher gurgles, still barely able to talk. He says they're drawing him back to the one place he must not return. He cries out, "Oh, Lord--Lord--Lord, one of them has come back--" and collapses.

Judith asks for Dyas's sword. Camilla lays it over her knees. Judith's hand closes around its grip, but she's obviously not able to lift it. Gideon suggests they get Judith out of this room.

"No," she said. "If he comes back to life again, I will be ready. And I won't leave her now ... nobody should ever have to watch their cavalier die."(7) The last Gideon ever saw of Captain Judith Deuteros was her propped up on the armchair, sitting as straight as she could possibly manage, bleeding out through the terrible wound at her gut. They left her with her head held high, and her face had no expression at all.

=====

(1) I mean, you KNOW there had to be at least one in here, right? You can't write a book or a series so full of memes and gags and references to onlinehood without this one. (2) Sotto voce - in a quiet voice, not intended to be heard. "sotto" for "under", and "voce" for "voice". (3) Yaaas in our internet culture is more often followed by "queen" or some such, I wonder if this is a quirk of New Zealand English, a long and drawled-out "yes", or if it's just a transliteration of a childish drawling of the word which happens in most dialects but that I, personally, wouldn't write out that way. (4) Is she embarrassed about some part of this story? Gosh, wouldn't you just love to know a little bit more about Camilla? (5) A bit of that Charlie Day conspiracy board meme, perhaps? (6) Not totally unlike what might have happened to Harrow if she'd left her hand in that entropy field in the siphoning challenge. (7) A cavalier to a necromancer is as a family member. A sibling, a friend. But this also feels very like a statement in the second Lord of the Rings film by Theoden, about how no parent should have to watch their child die. (I hope that this doesn't convey any presumption that a New Zealander author must have knowledge of that film series, it's got a complicated history, but the phrasing rings the bell for that line in my head.)

[benoitblanc]

uh-- sorry to bother you but tysm for posting your 2022 read list <3 if you're up to it, i was hoping to get a few more thoughts abt 1 or 2 of them? (I can't trust goodreads reviews anymore, it has led me astray one too many times) specifically BABEL by kuang and MIDDLEGAME by mcguire TYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY i am forever indebted

ohhh i will absolutely talk about books forever and ever, so this isn't anything close to a bother. babel and middlegame were also two of the best (and most confusing) books i read this year, so i'll gladly gush about them:

babel: you probably know rf kuang from poppy war, and babel is both a very different and very similar book- it has much stronger academia vibes, for one difference, and it's set in the real world, albeit a fantastical one (nb, the magic system isn't well explained, but it's better explained than middlegame's). the use of magic to criticize colonialism and unopposed power is a recurring thread in both books, however, and it's just as masterfully executed this time around. the plot twists were shocking yet completely reasonable, and i love kuang's writing style. robin's character development, which i won't go into due to spoiler reasons, was also extremely well executed. my biggest gripe with babel was that, similarly to the first poppy war, it has a slow start. once the action gets going it GETS GOING, though. you just have to get through the first third of the book (and it's a long book) to get there.

middlegame: so middlegame fuckin ruled. the magic system is pretty much not explained at all, if that's a total turn-off for you, but the connection between the two protagonists is so compelling that i didn't really care, and i'm normally a stickler for knowing what's going on. (that being said i did read gideon the ninth by tamsyn muir earlier in the year and i think that drop-kicked all my expectations of understanding worldbuilding out the fucking window, so maybe i'm just growing as a person. i'm currently over halfway through nona the ninth and i am still RIDICULOUSLY confused.) the writing style for this one was also great. this was really one of those books that i absolutely tore through because i just needed to know what happened next. this one also sort of has a slow start because the big explosions and things don't happen for a while, but i almost liked that psychological slowburn better than when the plot actually picked up. (that was not the case for babel. the first chunk of babel is almost entirely worldbuilding. seanan mcguire more or less refuses to worldbuild, which is what makes the book so deliciously confusing.)

as a brief caveat emptor, go into both with about 50-50 expectations for whether or not there's a happy ending. i hope if you do read them you enjoy!

[servrz]

anyways, i've decided to turn my little patch review thing into a full-fledged series. who knows, maybe i'll start turning them into youtube videos! it would be a fun series of content to make. with this patch being an entire new season, this review will be REALLY long, but mid-season patches should be much shorter since they have less content overall. well, i've stalled long enough! so, without further ado...

stevie's siege review - operation twin shells (y9s3)

the third season of rainbow six siege's ninth year, named operation twin shells, is slated to release on tuesday, september 10th, 2024. after reading through the patch notes, watching the reveal, playing around with things on the test server, and jerking off to clips of the 2020 six invitational, i've prepared a review for the wonderful community of siegeheads out there. it should tell you about all the major changes and additions to expect, how they affect the landscape of the game, and whether i personally believe it's good or not (which is actually completely objective because my opinion is the only right one). so, here we go!

new operator

the first part of the new season's review is, of course, the new operator. a crippled defender hailing from the olive oil capital of the world, the greek goddess skopos enters the fray, despite being paralyzed from the waist down. lore-wise, she is a legendary former rainbow operator, and is rejoining the ranks of their program.

so let's address the two big questions right now: first of all, i do NOT hate disabled people. in fact, i'm really glad we're seeing even more diverse representation in siege's portfolio of operators, it's a really cool and creative addition to the game. any jokes i make are entirely for comedic effect and made in good humor.

now with that being said, the answer to the second question is no, we will NOT be able to zoom around the map on her electronic wheelchair, meaning she is unfortunately not going to be the game's first 5-speed operator. instead, she will be a 2 speed, 2 armor defender. now, you might be confused. "how is this possible? if we can't zip around on her mariokart, does she just crawl around? does another operator have to give her a piggyback ride? even then, how the fuck is she a 2-speed if she's completely immobile?" well, silly, the answer should be obvious, especially given the tactical and completely realistic military theme of the game: she has two fucking robots that she can switch control of at will.

that's right, stephanie hawking over here is the first siege operator that isn't even on the MAP. she's remotely controlling her robots and using them to conduct a military operation from the taco bell 4 miles down the road. theability to hot-swap control between the robots is one of the most unique and innovative mechanics in siege's history, and a new gun in skopos's hands-- or rather, her robots' lifeless, metallic claws-- may prove to be one of the best weapons in the defensive arsenal.

skopos's unique ability is two v10 pantheon shells, a pair of robots with a couple of greek names that i'll never remember. i'm just gonna refer to them as beep and boop. one robot is controlled at a time, while the inactive shell crouches down and basically has a deployable shield in front of it. skopos's robots are as close to teleportation as we can get in siege: you can switch control between these robots at will, which is a pretty quick process but not instantaneous. the inactive shell is not invincible, and if it's killed, skopos is simply stuck using the active shell. if skopos's active robot is killed, she is considered dead for the round, and cannot control the inactive robot. so anyone who thought that skopos would give you a second life, i hope you're sorely disappointed.

skopos's loadout is incredibly limited, but packs some good firepower. she is stuck with only one primary and one secondary, with the primary being the brand-new pcx-33 assault rifle. this weapon is all around very similar to vigil's k1a, in terms of damage, fire rate, recoil, and everything. her sole secondary is the oft-recycled p229 pistol, while her two options of secondary utility are impact grenades and proximity alarms. despite having two completely separate robots in two different physical locations, ammunition and gadgets are shared amongst beep and boop. while it's not exactly realistic, it's best for balancing purposes.

overall, skopos's ability brings a new dimension to the game that we haven't seen before, since it pretty much facilitates teleportation from one side of the map to the other. i think this ability, if used properly, is gonna be CRAZY EFFECTIVE in the roam and flank game. if skopos is deep roaming and she gets caught in a bind, not only does she have impacts to attempt an escape, but she can always fall back on her other robot. pinned by a couple of attackers? huddle back into a corner and switch control from beep to boop. even if beep gets destroyed, you're STILL ALIVE, and that's the most valuable part of it all. now, let's say for a second that beep didn't get destroyed. as boop, you're holding site, and the attackers are starting to get close and pressure their way in. you have the option to switch back to beep, and if the attackers didn't properly account for that possibility, you can come from behind and stab them in the back. hell, if you're still on the roam, the inactive shell can STILL be a big help in the form of a deployable shield. it'll likely take a lot of practice and a good understanding of the robot-switching mechanic to really nail skopos down, but i can see her becoming a very effective operator in the right situation and in a smart player's hands. now, she can be countered in a variety of ways. brava has a unique interaction with the shells, which can lead to some dire consequences if skopos doesn't deal with it. the inactive shell can also be taken care of in a variety of ways, other than being shot directly-- explosives, and claymores in particular, have proven to be a very formidable foe of a hibernating beep or boop. caution when placing and switching between the shells, along with good teamplay and communication, is going to be the key to maximizing skopos's potential. with her ability aside, the pcx is also a very strong weapon, i compared it to the k1a earlier. it's basically that gun with more manageable recoil, as if the k1a wasn't a great and relatively easy-to-control weapon already. i have a feeling that we're gonna see some adjustments to the pcx in the form of nerfs down the line, but as of right now, it's a very good weapon-- one of the best on the defensive side of the ball. skopos as a whole is a very mobile character that can provide a lot of value, especially as a deep roamer or late-round flanker. she comes across to me as an easy to learn, hard to master operator that's going to take players a decent amount of practice and understanding to use in the most effective way. once people start to get her mechanics down, however, she should become one of the stronger roaming defenders in the current landscape of siege.

siege cup

ohhhh, baby. it's FINALLY HERE. after nine years without a competitive tournament baked into the game itself, ubisoft is getting the ball rolling on the siege cup. there have been plenty of ways to compete in a siege tourney throughout the years. faceit, esl, playstation's tournament system, and other services have been hubs of competitive siege over the years, and many of them were supported by ubisoft in a variety of ways. but the process of playing comp-style siege is being streamlined, and soon, every five stack that meets the siege cup's requirements will be able to participate in a biweekly bracket for siege supremacy.

now, the siege cup is being launched in its beta-- for at least this season, it will only be available for pc players that either sign up and get accepted for beta access, or have a teammate who has done so. which makes sense, since a console version would likely be harder to monitor and make changes to. so console players, don't blow your load just yet. keep that edge streak going for a little while longer, the siege cup should be cumming coming to you soon.

as previously stated, the siege cup will be open to teams of five. no four stacks with a random, no solo queueing-- you need a five stack to participate. furthermore, in order to create a team, you need to sign up and get accepted for siege cup beta access on the ubisoft website. only the creator of a team has to get accepted for your stack to play-- people without beta access can join said team. however, every player has to meet a few basic criteria to participate: at least clearance level 50, and "have played more than 10 ranked matches prior to the tournament." whether this means 10 ranked matches ever, or 10 ranked matches this season, or 10 ranked matches within a certain time threshold, i couldn't tell you for sure.

the siege cup is skill-based, meaning that your team will be matched up against teams of a similar level. so if you completely suck, you'll be matched up against other shitters, while good players will be in the cracked lobbies. i sure hope smurfing doesn't end up ruining this thing (it inevitably will).

with the siege cup comes a new currency: competitive coins. you can earn these by participating in the cup and playing ranked. at least in the siege cup, the amount of competitive coins you get is relative to your team's performance and placement. these coins can be used to get competitive packs, also earned from playing the siege cup and ranked, and can also be used to unlock specific items from the new competitive pack collection. based on the phrasing on the ubisoft website, it seems like the competitive collection will change with each new season.

balancing and designer's notes

now, onto the designer's notes, which detail all of the changes that are on the way to existing content in the vast game of siege.

starting with the win delta graphs, the only thing that stands out to me like a sore thumb is that solis has TANKED. her pick rate is so far down, it surprises me even with the nerfs (MORE OF WHICH ARE COMING. WILL TALK ABOUT THEM LATER)

now, the balancing changes were summed up in the operation patch notes as follows:

Dokkaebi Dokkaebi starts with 0 Logic Bomb charges that fill over time up to 2 charges maximum. Nokk Nokk's Hel Presence Reduction only depletes when the ability protects them from being viewed by observation tools. The time to refill has been increased. Solis SPEC-IO Electro-Sensor only detects electronic devices in the central view, and a function called Overclock replaces the scan to reveal the identity of detected devices. Overclock has limited uses, can't be turned off, and alerts nearby enemy Observation Tools of Solis' presence. Proximity Alarm Proximity Alarm no longer grants score points after being triggered. Claymore Claymores now instantly explode instead of after a short delay.

dokkaebi change is good overall, i just feel it's not enough. and they acknowledged that-- "we've decided to focus on a more substantial change - one that addresses most of the existing issues and frustrations - for a future patch." the whole gaining-calls-over-time thing is definitely a step in the right direction, but not an insanely drastic change that could end up being completely overkill *ahem SOLIS ahem*. i like what they're doing, i just feel like more is going to need to be done down the line.

i am not really a fan of the nokk changes. half the identity of her gadget was the noise reduction, and now they're deciding to "move away from the silent approach" or whatever the fuck they said. ok..? if you don't want her to be able to SILENTLY sneak up on enemies, why not just make her QUIETER then? she doesn't have to be completely silent for her to be stealthy, just make her quieter than a standard operator. i think that's a good middle ground. the problem with her gadget was not that it wasn't good enough at evading surveillance tools, the beef that everyone had with it was the REMOVAL OF THE NOISE REDUCTION. these changes are trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist. either way, i feel like the changes they made are pretty mid. doesn't do much to make me want to play nokk again.

they said that the fmg's recoil was being reduced, and to be fair, the fmg-9 is a pretty decent part of what makes nokk mediocre at best. she doesn't have a lot of firepower at her disposal, and the fmg has been underwhelming for many seasons now. on paper, a recoil reduction should help-- but after trying it out on the test server, it doesn't feel like they changed the recoil AT ALL. it is virtually IDENTICAL to the fmg recoil on the live build. if they're not gonna make significant changes to the fmg, then i think it's time to expand nokk's loadout. the gun sucks, and ubisoft refuses to do anything to make it adequate. the six-12 is fun to play, but as an attacker, nokk should have a viable full-auto option. and it's not like doing something to the fmg would impact another operator, it isn't used by any smoke player with a pulse and at least three functioning brain cells. please, just give nokk another fucking primary at this point.

solis... oh, solis. look what they've done to you. as if "phase one" of the nerfs wasn't enough, they've gone and put the nail in the coffin with this one. for those who are unaware, i'll try to concisely debrief you on the changes that are being made to solis this upcoming season, sparing some detail since it's a bit complicated-- her gadget is basically being completely redesigned. the purpose remains the same, but the functionality is completely backwards. the center rounded rectangle area is now the only part of the screen that detects gadgets when the spec-io is active, and solis will no longer know exactly what gadget she is looking at. in order to identify that a gadget is a thermite charge or a zero cam or otherwise, she will need to use the scan-- which is now called "overclock." she can "overclock" three times a round, starting with one charge and gaining one every 25 seconds. additionally, any observation tools inside of solis's scanner range will be notified that she has detected the camera via "overclock." there are a few other things, but that's the gist of it. first of all, i will NOT call it fucking "overclock." it is SCAN, it has always been SCAN, and it will ALWAYS BE SCAN. second of all, this is just flat-out stupid. the first round of nerfs were seen as EXCESSIVE, and they STILL decide to go through with the second round. that's bullshit. but yeah, this is it. solis is cooked, rip solis, it was fun while it lasted. her fall from grace will be studied by scholars years down the line, and will forever remain etched into the memories of siege's stinky player base.

i don't really have a particular opinion on the removal of the claymore delay. i mean, on one hand, it does give a small boost to the largely-underpowered attacking side, so that's a plus. but i also feel like baiting a claymore was a skill, and although it was tough to nail down, people who took the time to learn it should be able to utilize it in an effort to get around a claymore. but i don't really care either way. it's one of those changes that i don't feel strongly about and i'm not gonna complain about, it just kinda... is. yknow?

the removal of prox alarm points is just 110% sensible lmao. the prox/nitro combo on sentry was absolutely lethal, but took no effort and/or risk to really pull off. it was too easy of a strat to find a ton of success with, and now you have to put a little more effort into making it go right. basically, it's not just a braindead strategy that ends in an easy kill anymore. just all around a pretty common sense change that i don't think any real siege player will complain about.

the final change of this patch is the one that i'm sure you'd expect me to be the most upset about: the r4-c nerf. so, i'm just gonna keep it a hundred with you-- i don't really care. not something you thought you'd hear out of me, but it's true, i don't mind this r4-c nerf. "but why, steve? you're the champion of that gun, you take more pride in your r4-c black ice then you would your firstborn child. why don't you care about the nerf?" and the answer to that is quite simply that they could have done much worse. look at the win delta, ash's win rate is middle-of-the-road, but she STILL has the highest pick rate of any attacking operator. it's been that way for a while, i believe. personally, i think that points more to the fact that there aren't any other entry operators that can be used as a similarly effective alternative to ash, but ubisoft has traditionally viewed it as ash being "overpowered." instead of creating new entry fraggers or buffing underwhelming entry operators to reel in ash's pick rate, it seems typical of ubisoft to nerf her. we've seen it in the past-- they took the acog from her r4-c. then, they nerfed its recoil MULTIPLE TIMES, to the point that it became impractical and unusable. even though they did plenty more to ash, the r4-c nerfs ran her into the GROUND for a very, very long time. only in recent years has she seen a resurgence, largely due to the recoil readjustments that happened in operation brutal swarm. so ubisoft could have done anything to the r4-c, including a dreaded recoil nerf. i've always said that if they need to nerf that gun, they should either take its acog away again or reduce the mag size like they did with jager. hell, if they need to nerf ash as a whole, make her a two speed! i'm fine with that. but overall, i'm just glad that they decided to go with a magazine reduction instead of the lazy and likely overkill route of the dreaded recoil increase. as an ash player, i will accept this change.

other changes

there is a variety of other, smaller changes this season that don't really fall into any of the major categories i've outlined for y'all.

the versus ai playlist is apparently in its "2.0" phase, which just means that you can play as the defenders now. similar to the start of the ai playlist, when you would only play against one team of the same five defenders, the ai attacker operator pool is limited to five attackers. ubisoft seems committed to improving the ai playlist in the long run, however, so i'd imagine that it will expand very soon. the playlist will function basically identically to a casual match, switching between the attackers and defenders every two rounds. i think this is good for the newer players of the game, i'm glad to see that the devs are committed to onboarding to build the future generation of siegeheads.

while you queue for a match, you can now practice your aim and recoil control in the shooting range. it's a simple quality of life change that i'm sure a lot of people will enjoy. i personally don't mind just sitting and waiting, i usually scroll through twitter or something while i'm in a queue. i'll probably continue to do just that, since i warm up with a t-hunt beforehand anyway (i refuse to call it training grounds), but i understand that lots of folks will probably put it to use. it's a simple, but objectively good change that i think a decent chunk of the community will smile about.

there's a new after action report screen! instead of just showing player cards, the post-game screen will display 3d models of your team's operators, and each player will be given some sort of accolade, reminiscent of a csgo post-match screen. the xp and rank screen is also more intuitive and informative. personally, i'm not really a fan of the after action screen because it reminds me more of a crappy mobile game than a triple-a first person shooter. this might be just me, though, as people seem to like it quite a bit. it is admittedly a refreshing new look, and does give the post-match sequence a bit more personality.

drones are getting a cool little ability, a temporary speed boost. this aims to make drones more mobile and allow them to escape the defenders' sight quicker, increasing their survivability. it's a good change, which i think is a solid little buff to the attacking side, which is relatively weak when you compare it to the defenders.

ubisoft is implementing a new anti-toxicity measure regarding reverse friendly fire. instead of deactivating rff automatically when a player revives a teammate that they downed, a vote will be held to forgive said player or stick them with rff for the remainder of the match. the little toxic prick inside of me is gonna miss being able to teamkill mic-spamming assholes with relative ease, but i know it's a good change for the game's health and toxicity issues overall.

a small quality of life change that made me smirk: there is a button to mark all new locker items as seen, so you can get rid of the annoying yellow dot with ease. i love it.

there are a couple graphics changes coming to the game, the first of which i absolutely love (and i'm sure a lot of people will too): there will be an option to disable motion blur. i HATE motion blur in comp shooters and other competitive games, just because it impedes vision. even if disabling motion blur only gives me a very slight visual advantage, i will take it. and given how a lot of siege players can get pretty nitpicky about performance and visual advantages, i'd think that many people will be following suit and getting rid of the blur. they also did something i'm actually really pissed off about-- directx 12 is the new graphics api for siege, with directx 11 remaining an option. this isn't inherently bad, but they also decided to throw vulkan in the can. i won't get into the technical stuff regarding this change, just know that i liked vulkan and i'm mad that it's gone.

the final change i'd like to touch on, they've added built-in 1v1 playlists in the custom game menu. you can choose a short or long match, which end when a player wins 4 or 8 rounds, respectively. i think it's just a nice, convenient addition for people that wanna have a little fun with their friends or "prove their superiority" against some random shit talker. i put that in quotations because 1v1's aren't really a test of siege skill, but that's a conversation for another time. good change!

final impressions

overall, i think this season looks solid. skopos adds a new dimension to the game that should become very effective if used properly. the siege cup, if executed properly, should become an amazing competitive experience that's conveniently built into the game. i look forward to participating in it and seeing the competitive environment it creates. where i'm torn, however, is at the balancing changes. the dokk nerf is a small step towards where she needs to be, but a great step nonetheless, and i think it shows restraint and proves that ubisoft can nerf operators without ruining them entirely. the prox alarm change is good, the claymore change can be viewed as a net positive. hell, i'd even argue that the r4-c mag reduction is a good thing. but there are a few really shitty decisions, most notably ROUND FUCKING TWO of the solis nerfs. the nokk changes are pretty dogshit too, and the fmg alterations do absolutely nothing to improve the gun. the changes cover the whole spectrum in my opinion, ranging from very good to very bad. the cute little quality of life changes and additions should make things more convenient and easy to use, as well as add some pizzazz to the game to keep it interesting. no matter what, i feel like twin shells is going to be a really interesting season. whether that is a good or bad kind of interesting remains to be seen. i'm excited nonetheless, and can't wait to see you guys in the queue!

[jrpneblog]

The calm before the storm

International breaks always seem to effect teams in some way whether it be positive or negative and if history is anything to go by North End are not particularly brilliant after these 2 week incursions are complete. The unbeaten spell ended big time at Middlesbrough last week with a 0-4 reverse on Gentry Day although the scoreline seemed to matter little to the North End fans inside the Riverside who gave the boys fantastic support. Prior to last weeks defeat North End had taken thirteen points from the previous seven games, winning three and drawing four. If we can produce that sort of run for the last eight games of the season then we will finish around ninth or tenth with 66 points. Personally I think it is a decent target for North End to aim for and irrespective of the appalling set of home performances earlier in the season, the club will see this as progress under Ryan Lowe even though the season has been incredibly mixed in terms of performances on the field. Lowe has split the fanbase some what but, although he was very close to the edge prior to the Wigan game, I believe the majority of fans are still with him as we go into the biggest game of the season on Saturday week. Suffice to say a defeat next week may plunge those supporting Lowe into a minority and although it isn't a life or death game as far as the league table is concerned, Ryan Lowe will sleep much more soundly in his bed next Saturday evening if North End can overcome the old enemy at Deepdale in front of the Sky cameras with a 12.30ko. The game is even more important following the slightly unlucky 2-4 reverse at the seaside earlier in the season. So without putting too much pressure on the manager I would suggest that if we only win one more game this season then in really does need to be next this one, next Saturday lunchtime.

Reflecting back on the game last Saturday and a sharp reminder for North End fans just how must a player like Cameron Archer means to a team with promotion or play off aspirations in the Championship. North End, apparently, offered the same terms as Middlesbrough to Archer and his agent but it is just a reflection of how our clubs ambitions are seen that the young Villa striker chose to go to Tees-side. North End player 3-4-2-1 in the first half which I thought was the wrong tactic. As soon as Boro got the opening goal we were under pressure and as half time came we had to revert to our normal 3-1-4-2 although it was to little avail in the end. North End were mediocre on the day and the Home side were very good so no surprises, really about the result. The way the home fans and indeed Middlesbrough Football Club embraced our Gentry Day was excellent and credit and thanks must go to Steve Gibson and his team up at the Riverside.

And finally this week:- England pulled off their first win in Italy since 1961 on Thursday evening with a 2-1 victory thanks to goals from Rice and Kane. With two teams to qualify from the Group a win against Ukraine on Sunday tea time would see Gareth Southgate's boys well on their way to qualification with only North Macedonia and Malta as the other teams in the group. Assuming we beat the two minnows home and away then we look well set to be in Germany next Summers for a competition we must be looking to win. My only memory of England winning a major tournament is as a six year old boy watching his father jumping up and down with delight as Hurst made it four on that increasingly distant July day, 57 years ago. It is very early days yet but it might just be England's time again. Maybe, just maybe, this time well get it right.

.

JR`s HIGH FIVES

Portsmouth to beat Port Vale 1/1

A £5 Stake returns £10.00 on bet365

SEASONS STATS

Returns £167.01 Stake £155.00

Percentage profit+/-loss + 7.75%

Predictions 31 won 15 lost 16.

[mostautisticsinner]

(2/2)

Okay. These are out of order becuase, For some fucking reason, Ishmael is Cursed. I can't stress this enough. I can't put this image anywhere. Why. Anyways, I will be continuing on as though them being out of order is on purpose and fine.

Heathcliff (Named after Wuthering Heights) is the seventh Sinner. He is very brash, and tends to resort to violence. He's implied to not have formal education, but despite that he isn't Dumb and anyone who says he is you are allowed to attack on sight. All we know about his backstory is he worked in a Syndicate (Loosely a gang) and grew up in the Backstreets (Dangerous place). He's also British by the way he speaks with a cockney accent. His weapon is his metal bat named Revenge. Rodion (Named after Crime and Punishment) is the ninth Sinner. She's laid back and very easygoing, loves good food and loves to gamble. She has such unshakable faith in herself that she always wins when she gambles due to something called Wishpower, which she doesn't need artificially because she is so just sure of herself. Her weapon is a battle axe named Раскол. Her backstory is she lived in an area in which she witnessed a lot of poverty, and joined a socialist group about it, but the leader (Sonya) never acted. He gave speeches and recruited plenty of people, but kept saying he would only act when the time was right. Eventually, she had enough, especially after a member died from suffocating on trash he ate, and killed a tax collector who was stealing money from her neighbors. She felt like she had done right after redistributing the wealth and her neighbors getting to eat, but afterward the family of the tax collector slaughtered everyone in the village, which obviously made her extremely burdened by guilt. She still thinks Sonya was flawed, though, saying that words weren't what put food on people's tables. <-Not verbatim I dont want to fnd what she said please god Ishmael (Named after Moby Dick) is the eighth Sinner. She's probably the most calm and collected, and must be the opposite of Don and even Meursault in that way, always wanting a good plan but not following just anyone's orders. People find her annoying but I'm going to be honest if she was a man she would be those people's Joker. Their Patrick Bateman. Facts and Logic Lover. But this time it's awesome because she's a girl /Srs. Also she's just not even that annoying. She also holds some sort of obsessive grudge against Something which is probably,The Whale but we dont know yet so oopsies!!.She has canon psychosis. Her weapon is a mace and shield named Hearse.

Yea so Gregor is also cursed. Ignore that.

Sinclair (Named after The Demian) is the 11th Sinner. He is the youngest Sinner (Rodya oft calls him kiddo but he's an adult just a young one) and very wishy-washy, easily made nervous, but also very sympathetic. There is another, very aggressive and vengeful side to him we see when his backstory is gone into. Might sound Awful from a Plural Perspective but I think it's handled well (SO FAR) and makes sense. His CPTSD swag etc. His weapon is a halberd named Vogel. His story is he used to live in a town and had a very well-off family who created prosthetic bodies for a living, and at school while people were asking about his parents, he drops that he's planning on getting the same surgery they got to become completely robotic except for his brain. A classmate named Kromer notices how nervous he is, and tells him he can make it so he won't have to get it. He immediately accepts and they become close. She is always making loose threats which scares him, but he trusts her. He meets a man named Demian, a new classmate, who seems unattached from everyone except for him. He also befriends him, and Kromer seems scared of Demian, so he only talks to one of them at a time. After a while of that, Kromer asks to see Sinclair's basement, to which he obliges, stealing the key to his basement from his parents. He gives it to her, and they go there, and see some sort of Monster that fucking terrifies Sinclair but Kromer is esctatic. They leave and he never asks for the key back, too scared to. IIRC this is when she gives him two coins. On Christmas, though, Kromer breaks in and kills Sinclair's whole family, and when he comes in, she doesn't kill him even though he's collapsed to his knees at this point, but rather just threatens him, then taking one of the coins from his shirt. After running off aimlessly, he runs into Demian, who reassures him. At some point he joins Limbus, and they have to go back to his hometown, where he sees Kromer and her new group (Nagel und Hammer), going around and murdering everyone with prosthetic bodies, calling them heretics and burning them alive to purify them. After a while of Kromer leaving to go get the Golden Bough, they fight, and Kromer gets too excited and mutates into something Really Fucked Up (Feel free to look it up ! It's great I love when women have monstorous second forms and theyer NOT sexy AT ALL) and fights and almost wins, telling Sinclair he should give in and work with her, and that she has a perfect and pure human body unlike Dante, and Sinclair nearly does but Demian steps in and morbs her. So. Yeah. Outis (Named after The Odyessy) is the 12th Sinner. She is very cruel to Dante at first (As she apparently is to most people), but after learning they're the manager, she immediately obeys every order they give, being very. Bootlicker. We don't know much of her story yet besides that she fought in the Smoke War (Hard to explain), and it's implied she may eventually betray Dante, and that she's being in no way genuine. She tries to be very strategic, and in the Hell's Chicken event, after everything goes to Chaos she takes lead of her team. She has a kopis (With a gun in it. I think) named Ουτις OKAY NEVERMIND 2/3 GREGOR'S TOO FUCKING LONG APPARENTLY

hi as mutual who doesn't know anything about PMoon im a big fan of your posting recently they're like blorbos in law especially the clock head one and i would love to hear the premise of the media /gen /srs

-lilacqueerr :3

INSERT THE. Oh god so youre going to regret this text thang (1/2)

Project Moon universe is a universe that is, Loosely, a Dystopian future in which corporations control a place called The City. Limbus Company is a game in which you go around The City to all it's different sections (Corps). You play as Dante, the executive manager (The one with the clock head) and you control a bus of people called The Sinners to fight in order to get Golden Boughs (Like. Tree things that Implicitly can grant wishes and are also tied to the Sinners' trauma). There's also a Guide of the bus (Vergilius) and the driver (Charon)

Im sending them 3 at a time so the images arent Huge and also for my brain's sake. First is Dante (Named after Dante's Inferno), who lost all of their memories (And their gender) when they got a prosthetic head installed, and also unwillingly made a contract that means they can bring back The Sinners from the dead. They're a little pathetic................... Vergilius (Named after Virgil) guides them where they need to go, and was previously a Color Fixer (Very important person,) named The Red Gaze. He's very serious and extremely intimidating to everyone he meets. Charon (Named after the River Styx) is the driver. She has no soul, speaks in third person and very bluntly, but only calls people by nicknames and says sound effects aloud. Both her and Vergilius were in Leviathan (Which... I haven't read but a friend broke it down in a call) and she was an orphan who was distorted after being tested on, and I think Vergilius joined Limbus because they said they would de-distort Charon. That is his daughter basical.y.

Yi Sang (Named after the poet of the same name, mostly for The Wings), the first Sinner to join. He is very quiet, only speaking occasionally and when he does it's very cryptic. Most divorced. His weapon is a knife named Ha Yung (Which is written on his notebook actually,). His chapter will come out end of next month so we don't know what happened to him but apparently he wasn't always so Quiet and Brooding. So for now he's just 'tistic as hell, As they all are Faust (Named after. Faust), the second Sinner. She is the one who engineered the bus they are on (Mephistopheles). She is very soft spoken, but is still constantly bragging about her high intellect. She occasionally speaks in third person which is every thing to me. Her weapon is a zweihander named Walpurgisnacht. Don Quixote (Named after Don Quixote), is the third sinner. She is extremely excitable and impulsive, and has delusions of grandeur. As you can see she has a lot of pins, which is all sorts of different Fixer merchandise, as they're her special interest ..... She talks loudly and quickly (Her VA handles it very well though she's not Annoying and people who say she is are Cowards and Fools) and she speaks in Middle English (Which follows her thru every identity. Autism wins). She is very big on justice and will do anything to right wrongs. It's said in Canto 3 she made some sort of deal with Vergilius to join Limbus, but we don't know what it is, yet. Her weapon is a lance (WHICH IS 6'6. SHE'S 5'3. SHE IS RIPPED.) named Sueño Imposible

Ryōshū (Named after Hell Screen), the fourth Sinner. She is very snobbish and violent. She's harsh and often shortens things to acronyms, leaving other people to figure out what she means by that. Her methods of execution are often Particularly Brutal but considers them artful. She has something with fire, given her base EGO is the only base that deals burn, she smokes constantly, and once she burnt a skewer on purpose. This is somthing that only matters to me but once I talked to an AI of her and she called herself an epic lesbian. She has an ōdachi named 無我夢中 阿鼻叫喚 支離滅裂. Meursault (Named after The Stranger), the fifth Sinner. I will try to describe him normally but just so we are clear He is my favorite. My special silly. I am not normal about that french guy At all. Anyways, he is very blunt and only speaks when necessary or when asked. He is always strictly abiding by rules, to the point where he rarely casts his own moral judgement (An example of this is Limbus seems to have a schedule and in his morning greeting on his base identity, he says there's a very early time you should wake up and he's the only person who knows this or cares about it). He is also. So Autistic to the point that AS OF CURRENT the wiki says that it's a Popular Fan Theory. In the end of Canto 3 when they get skewers he is pouring ketchup all over that bad buoy. Despite this he's still a good cook because he's simply so good at abiding to rules. He's 6'2. Also. His weapon are his Gauntlets named Soleil Hong Lu (Named after Dream of the Red Chamber), the sixth Sinner. He's very naive and grew up sheltered as a rich boy. It shows given he often asks insensitive or even just strange questions without realizing how they might come off because he's being completely genuine (Once asked if missing fingers were in fashion because of some people who worked with Abnormalities). He is still just like always friendly though, if not a bit difficult, and seems to be the only person on the bus that thinks everyone there's his friend. His weapon is a glaive named 太虛幻境.

Part 1 of 2, I keep getting errors so I Will finish this in anotehr post but Fur now we r at the Half way point

[maxinemaxmayfield]

hello friends, i’m morgan or cass (she/they) and my personality is basically a combination of pam beesly and bubbles the powerpuff girl but make it queer. i write fanfic and sometimes edit silly little videos. 

current fixations: stranger things and steddie, chappell roan

fanfic tag / ao3

silly little videos

steddie fic masterlist below the cut!

various drabbles and ficlets on tumblr & ao3

current wips:

chance encounter of circumstance • explicit, 3/4 chpt (5.8k)

Steve can’t think straight. He can’t find the answer, every possibility getting lost somewhere between his brain and his tongue. All he can manage to do is look at Munson’s lips, soft and pink and wet, droplets collecting at the edge of his bottom lip. He swallows, blinks, and leans forward without thinking. He expects a fist to the nose, or to fall into empty air as Munson scarpers away. Instead, he finds warm lips against his, eager and greedy. - - - Steve's avoiding Hargrove. Eddie's hot water is broken. They both end up in the locker room showers after everyone else has gone home.

COMPLETE:

made of brick and stone | built on laughter • gen, 3.4k

It all starts with a raccoon. Well, that depends where you want to start from, really. But this particular part of their life, this starts with a raccoon. In which Steve and Eddie rescue critters, renovate a farm, and love each other through it all.

feel the tide shifting (and wait for the spark) • teen, 6.2k

Steve's daughter is his entire world. He doesn't really have time for anything - or anyone - else. But when they take a trip to see the dolphins at the Indianapolis Zoo for her ninth birthday, Steve gets a blast from the past that could change his whole future. or: the 90s-era, single-dad-steve, no-upside-down, background-buckingham aquarium au 🐬

it's time to run • teen, 26.5k

“–Can you hear me? Dustin! Earth to Dustin!” Steve jolts upright. Eddie’s voice, slightly distorted, coming through the walkie. Nancy’s voice answers, and Steve blinks, looking around. He’s in the Wheelers’ basement, folded awkwardly into a horribly uncomfortable chair with wooden armrests. Lucas and Dustin are snoring nearby, and there’s the sound of soft voices and the clatter of cutlery from upstairs. He’s been here before.

this feels right and i'm letting it • teen, 3.2k

“Girls are more touchy, Steven, more emotional. Men don’t do things like that, hugging and crying. Those things are only for little boys.” OR five times Steve gets hit, and one time he realises he needs something else

In Eddie's Honor • teen, 5.8k • warning for major character death

Without thinking, he reaches down and slides his fingers over the indent made by the pen. Eddie must have pressed down harder than necessary, leaving a tactile mark as well as the visual one. Steve’s hit by the realisation that Eddie will never write his name again. Never write or draw, or even hold a pen again. Ever. For the first time in two weeks, he stops. He looks around his room, feeling lost, feeling alone and so achingly, horribly empty.

i send you things i wouldn't say • teen, 7.8k

It starts with a text to a wrong number. That's not where it ends.

what did i get right to deserve somebody like you? • gen, 720

He’s holding a faded, battered book that looks like a photo album, too overfilled to close properly. It’s covered in poorly drawn hearts and flowers, shaky handwriting across the front declaring, “My Dream Wedding.”

sweet gingerbread made with molasses • teen, 10.1k

Steve Harrington has two goals this Christmas: 1. Survive working as a Christmas Elf at Starcourt Mall 2. Convince his new coworker that Christmas isn't all bad

cupid is a knavish lad • mature, 12k

Of course, Steve is going to go support Robin when she lands the role of Mustardseed in Hawkins High's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, there's no question about that. He isn't expecting Eddie Munson to be playing Puck, and definitely isn't expecting him to jump off the stage and sit in his lap partway through the show.

nobody rules these streets at night like me • mature, 57k Steddie Big Bang 2023 - art by maikaartwork

Eddie Munson has never stayed in one place for long. When his mom disappears for the last time and his dad goes to jail, he has no other family to turn to. He spends his teenage years moving through the foster system, making friends and then losing them just as quickly. In the end, there’s never any reason to stay. After he runs away from his fifth foster home, he finds his way to Hawkins, Indiana and for the first time, finds a reason to stay.

How to Be a Heartbreaker • mature, 8.7k

Steve has a plethora of methods under his belt for getting his conquests to leave soon after they’re both satisfied. He’s used them all, with varying rates of success. He doesn’t have much experience in getting someone to stay.

Young and Reckless • mature, 41k

Welcome to Lover’s Lake Summer Camp, Summer of ‘86! Steve Harrington knows exactly what to expect when he starts his third summer as a counsellor at Lover's Lake - screaming kids, tiny cabins, mediocre food, and smelling so strongly of sunscreen and campfire smoke that no amount of soap can get rid of it. It's his favourite part of the year, and he can't fucking wait. Until a new counsellor turns up and everything changes.

you don't have to stare, come here, get with it • explicit, 3.4k

Eddie hates his summer job cleaning pools for rich assholes, but he needs the money. When one of those rich assholes turns out to be Steve Harrington – who is apparently a big fan of sunbathing in the nude – Eddie's shitty summer takes a turn for the better.

fever (you set my soul on fire) • explicit, 3.8k

“Shit,” Eddie groans, teeth pressing into his bottom lip. His hips buck up, and his imagination runs away with that, thinking about Steve, balancing over Eddie’s hips, riding him as hard and fast as he can manage, delicious thighs shaking while Eddie thrusts up into him. God, he wants it more than anything. There’s just one problem. Eddie currently lacks the, uh… Equipment.

we'll be burning up like neon lights • explicit, 3.5k

“So, what’s Eddie Munson doing in a place like this?” Steve asks, wiping a droplet of beer from the corner of those goddamn lips.   Eddie rolls his eyes. “That’s a terrible come-on.” “Coming from Mr. Come-Here-Often?” Steve says, a mock deep voice that, apparently, is supposed to be Eddie.  “I didn’t fucking say that,” Eddie points out, taking another deep drink. It’s taking far too long to hit him. He should’ve ordered a shot. Or three. Steve laughs, throwing his head back. Showing off that fucking neck, again. “Close enough. You didn’t answer my question though.” “Same thing you’re doing, presumably.” Steve looks him up and down, one eyebrow quirked. “Yeah? So why’d we stop?”

sink your teeth before i disappear • explicit, 4k

“I’ve never really slept with anyone before,” Eddie admits quietly, not sure if Steve is even still awake. Steve turns around awkwardly, trying to keep Eddie’s arm wrapped around his waist as he rolls over to face him. “Like… sex, or just actually sleeping next to someone?” OR Sharing a room leads to sharing a bed leads to sharing...more

stay here series • explicit, 6.8k part 1 - stay a little longer (stay a little longer with me) part 2 - stay a while (let me hold you) part 3 - if you stay, stay darling (stay in my corner)

Steve finds out the hard way that Eddie is extremely vocal when he's getting comfortable, and other such situations.

the boy in the band is backstage after the show • explicit, 16.3k

In Indianapolis, Steve Harrington can explore his sexuality. Can flirt and dance with men, unashamed and unafraid. In Indianapolis, Eddie Munson is free. Free to be a freak, a metalhead, a queer. But Indiana is smaller than either of them knows.

if my body told the truth • explicit, 19.3k

“Hey, hi Eddie, hey, it’s Steve. Uh, do you know anything about cats?” he asks. There’s a pause. “Steve, did you get a cat?” OR - Steve gets a cat to ease the loneliness, but she likes his fuckbuddy better than him

Ahoy, Sailor! • explicit, 3.6k

Eddie spins around with a Cheshire cat grin and a polaroid clutched in his hand. He holds it up, and Steve squints to see what it’s a picture of. “Why have I never seen this?” Eddie asks, and Steve can make out two blue-and-white-clad figures, standing behind the new counter of a just-opened ice cream shop. Oh, shit.

With Demons in My Head • explicit, 64.3k

Eddie dropped his voice low and leaned in towards Steve. “Can I let you in on a little secret, Harrington? No one’s life is what it looks like from the outside.”

[sirthisisa-wendys]

I was wondering if I can request a fluff/smut with Mochi? If not its totally ok! 😊

We love Mochi over here!

Renewal (A Something In the Way side story): Kanji Mochizuki x Fem!Reader

wc: 937

tw: fluff

masterlist

"Right this way! This way!"

Mochi looks up at the leaning building. Panic floods his veins as burning sheets of metal fall from the sky and onto the already littered sidewalk. But the panic is fuel. Fuel for the adrenaline he needs to complete his task.

"Mochi! Radio!" Someone out of the crowd of firefighters streaming into the building tosses him a radio and he stands at the ready, looking back up at the smoke billowing towards the clouds of white.

"Mochi here." The static crackles on the other end before he hears loud and clear:

"We have a problem, Chief."

"Go ahead." Static. Then:

"We've got a masked man in here; he looks like he's trying to help but he's fucking wasted."

"Bring him out of there," Mochi barks, but no one responds for a minute. Finally, there's a pingback, then a voice answers as calmly as possible.

"He says he's not leaving until everyone makes it out."

"Where are the real goddamn heroes when you need them," Mochi growls, scanning the darkening skies once more.

"We're gonna need your help, chief. No one's got the time to handle this idiot." Mochi sighs, then picks up his helmet and grunts long and hard.

"I'm on my way in."

______________________________________________________________

Five floors up and Mochi isn't losing any of his adrenaline or his frustration. He's gone back and forth with his team, trying to locate the masked fucker who seems to be trying to play hero when there's a true emergency going on, but all he gets when he examines each floor is nothing but emptiness.

"Ninth floor evacuated."

Mochi exhales deeply, charging up the stairs in his heavy gear and making his way through the various lower floors as the last check.

"Tenth floor evacuated."

"Chief?" Mochi stops on the stairs, listening once more. "Twelfth floor. We've got the fire-- harder--seems like--" Static begins to interrupt the feed. Mochi instantly resumes his jog up the stairs, his heart pounding even faster.

Just a few more steps. They trained you for this.

Mochi throws open the twelfth-floor door and huffs out a bunch of air, his eyes burning from the amount of smoke in the area. "Hey!" he shouts, to which a few of his men respond in the affirmative. As he gets down on his hands and knees, feeling the heat through his suit, he hears a small voice - barely noticeable over the sounds of chaos and yelling - cry out for help.

"Please... someone..."

"I can hear you," Mochi calls out and makes his way toward it. "Keep talking to me. What's your name?"

"I..." A grunt. "I'm stuck under this desk!"

Desk... desk... desk...

Mochi locates the desk, noticing your frame underneath it as he gets closer. "I'm right here," he assures you, analyzing the amount of damage before he even attempts to move the furniture off of you. "I'm Chief Kanji Mochizuki," he begins, looking at you in your eyes. "I'm going to get you out of here. What's your name?"

"Y/n," you breathe, hope blossoming on your soot-smudged face. Mochi smiles back at you and begins to move the surrounding debris. "You must be a hero," you whisper before coughing roughly.

"Not at all." The desk... move the desk without hurting her anymore. "Just your average citizen ready to help." You chuckle, and he does as well, gingerly lifting the wooden item as much as he can. His fingers almost slip when you cry out in pain, your leg obviously damaged by the falling item. "Just a little more..." he urges, gritting his teeth while he pulls the desk up and off of you with all of his might. Once the mainn obstacle is removed, he scoops you up, listening for the rest of his team.

"Chief," he hears over the radio.

"Go ahead."

"Twelfth floor evacuated and masked man apprehended. That's the last floor."

"Any casualties?" The static overtakes the rest of the message, but Mochi begins to find his way out of the building, cradling you close to his chest. "Don't worry," he finally reassures you. "I've got you."

He doesn't look down at your face again until you're outside, safe from the danger within and in the presence of first responders who are guaranteed to look after you.

"Her leg was crushed by a desk," he informs the EMTs as he places you on a stretcher. And as they nod and strap you in, he hears your faint "thank you" and a ghost of a smile cross your lips.

"It's what I do," he replies, taking off his helmet. "I made a promise. I'll always hold up my end of the bargain. Now you've got to heal for me, alright?"

You huff a laugh, shaking your head in disbelief.

"I'll check on you, too, since I know your name. Promise me you'll get better?" He pats his chest twice, making an oath to do just as he said. It's as if under the soot, he can see your beauty, your softness. Under the pain, he can see you for who you really are. And the smile that crosses your face is real; that much he knows.

"I promise, Chief Mochizuki." As they roll you away, Mochi watches carefully, noticing your wince as they load you onto the ambulance and escort you from the scene. He doesn't look away until someone pats his shoulder and directs him elsewhere, to other pressing matters. But you stay on his mind, your smile under the soot renewing his small shred of faith in humanity.

And he'd need to see it again soon.

[cheelduh]

How to get Hit-listed by a Stonehide Lawachurl (High School AU!)

Part 6 of the highschool au

Parts: 1 2 3 4 5

Pairing: Childe x fem!reader

Synopsis: Childe’s a menace to everyone when playing dodgeball. Even as his new girlfriend, you’re no exception to his affinity for raising hell during the most tranquil of circumstances.

Warnings: Swearing, bad humor, and absolutely horrid spelling mistakes.

Words: 5.3k

Note: Longest chapter yet sheeeesh 🗿

Negotiation is an art.

Childe, or "Tartaglia" has utilized the art of negotiations in his daily life. Whether that be scamming the ninth graders with fake weed, or convincing the teachers why he doesn't deserve detention for injecting random fluids from the chem department into the school's resident pet frog.

All in all, by becoming an expert in the field of negotiations, Childe is nothing if not a master, tongue silver and smooth as he takes on a new opponent.

Which is why he dutifully negotiates with you on this Monday morning in front of the History classroom, getting down on one knee and pulling out a—

"I hope to Barbatos you aren't proposing Childe," You hiss, panicked eyes landing on the velvet box he's pulling out. "Considering that we're sixteen and still in highschool."

As if remembering those meagre details, Childe gulps and shoves the box back into his pocket. "Uhhh yeah, I was just, tying my shoelaces?" It comes out as a question.

You let out a sigh of relief, overlooking how he undoes his shoe laces just to do them all over again.

The ring burns in his pocket as he gets back up.

"Why did you call me here?" You ask, hand on your hip, foot impatiently tapping. The tap tap tap isn't because of impatience though, it's because you need something to cover the nervous palpitations of your heart.

He gives you a vicious smile, sinister enough to shake the bones of anyone who's observing, opens his daring mouth to show the imaginary sharpness of his teeth. Then with the confidence of about a hundred shirtless tiktok boys, he finally demands:

"If you don't become my girlfriend, I will kill—"

"Yeah sure thing." You answer before he can finish, soft smile growing.

Childe chuckles evilly, "I knew you'd say that, but I've come prep—wait a minute." He snaps out of his villain origin phase, stumbles back a bit, then his eyebrows are furrowing in confusion. "Did you just say yes?"

You nod, cheeks flaring up. "Don't make me repeat it." Then you look away, too embarrassed to see his reaction.

For a second, Childe's internal conflict following the chain of this event causes him to temporarily malfunction, and all he can do it stare at you in amazement.

It's only when you tell him to stop staring and jump off the school roof is when he snaps out of his daze, a grin festering on his face.

He lunges straight at you, giving you no time to deflect him as he wraps his bone crushing arms around you, then lands a soft smooch on your forehead.

"Let go of me you idiot!" You barely wheeze out, light headed not only because of your lungs being squeezed like oranges, but also because of the sloppy kiss he's delivered so ungracefully.

He does so reluctantly, and you're unamused, wiping the stickiness off your forehead with a sleeve as he steps back.

"Ew what the fuck?" You say, glaring at him. "What's wrong with you?"

He completely ignores you, giddy with excitement. "Ah girly, you have no idea how long I've wanted to do that. I can't wait to introduce you to my parents and eat lunch together and kiss each other during break—"

"Slow down." You tell him, as red as a tomato towards all his suggestions. "We've barely started dating."

"Oh," Childe stops momentarily, then nods in agreement. "You're right. We should start small. How about I walk you to class?"

"We're already in front of class." You nudge your head towards the classroom, and catch Zhongli and Venti peeking from the side of the door, trying not to be obvious.

You narrow your eyes at them threateningly.

Childe tugs your arm, lovingly looking you up and down. "Let's walk to class together anyways. In a circle."

A complete waste of time, yet it's impossible to say no to the face he's making.

Before you guys depart he suddenly stops, gasping loudly, remembers something important. "I have to make a quick phone call."

Childe speed dials Scaramouche, and the latter picks up annoyed, answers the phone with muffled sounds in the back. Something that sounds a bit like pleading and whimpering.

He then mutters something that forces dread into your system. "You can release the hostages."

You hear Scaramouche groan on the other end, muttering a "such a pain in my ass", but choose not to question it immediately.

As soon as the phone call is done and you're back by his side, you point at his phone questioningly. "What hostages Childe?"

He gives you a close eyed smile, taking the fifth.

"What hostages Childe?" You repeat again weakly.

—

First period goes by smoothly for the most part. Lisa, your so called best friend, once again is bought off like a corrupted politician by your new boyfriend. She sits far away from you, leaving you without any defences against the menace that dotes on you a bit too much.

Throughout class, all Childe does is score Venti's colourful pens, and then writes you annoying little love notes, using the expert origami skills he's learnt from Anthon to deliver them to you.

Despite the threat of distraction these notes pose, the corners of your lips can't help but tug upwards at his enthusiasm and attempt at poetry.

Zhongli makes sure not to ask you two any questions the entire class, leaving you to your own accord.

Lunch comes around soon enough, and your usual table of Diluc, Jean, Kazuha, and Lisa is disturbed by the torpedo that is Childe, and he brings collateral with him.

Kaeya whole-heartedly ceases the opportunity to sit near his stoic statue of a brother purely with the intention to annoy the premature crap out of him, but one look from the redhead sends the chicken-shit right back where he came from.

When Childe forcefu—lovingly feeds you the smiley fries and dinosaur nuggets his stunning mom packed him, Diluc looks just about ready to hurl.

Lisa winks at you two, Kazuha doesn't even bother looking, and Jean tries with upmost effort to keep Diluc from launching himself at the whipped fatui boy basking in your attention.

"Quit embarrassing me." You whisper-exclaim sharply, noticing how Jean passes Diluc—all green in the face, a puke bag discreetly. "Shouldn't you be doing something illegal right now? Or vaping in the stalls?"

"I quit vaping for you girlie." Childe boops your nose with his finger. "Well, at least full time. I still need a puff when I'm around Signora, to like, get rid of her awful vibes."

While it is endearing how he quit vaping for you, it doesn't lessen the need for you to bury yourself alive right here and now.

Then you sigh, pick up a Dino nuggie, and shove it in his mouth, the tip of his tongue flicking your finger. You die inside.

"There, you happy?" The action of feeding him is so...intimate, it sets your heart aflame.

Childe's a lovesick puppy when he chews, imaginary tail wagging a hundred times a second. "Can I have a kiss too?"

Diluc slams his hands on the table and stands up, hurriedly picks up his grape juice and makes a break for it. You don't blame him.

"I'll kill you." You smack him with a napkin, blazing red. "I'll end your pathetic little life right here and now."

By the end of lunch, Lisa and Jean have to restrain you so you don't break the world record for the maximum amount of mutilations that can be done on a single body.

Fourth period is a break. A break from Childe you mean. It's expected of the school's resident bad boy aka menace to skip classes in order to skip over the bodies of his victims.

You bask in the momentary peace, until it's disrupted by a tap on the window. Reckon it's nothing, maybe a bird flew into it, because intentional taps are impossible from the third floor. Except your conviction is hindered yet again by another tap.

What a nuisance.

You finally turn to look outside the window, face down, and spot Childe waving incessantly, rocks in hand, oozing with excitement that can't be concealed and a grin that nearly takes you into cardiac arrest. Without meaning to, you send him a small smile, waving back as Baal drones on about quantum superposition.

Successful in gaining your attention, he moves aside to reveal the hefty corpse of a stonehide lawachurl with a destructive path in its wake. The ridges and bumps of its hide are enough to do a number on the road, ruining the school's playing field.

Your smile drops down into a horrified frown in the span of a few seconds.

"Wow." Albedo, your lab partner whispers from next to you, for the first time distracted in class.

"Yeah," Kaeya whistles from behind you two, one hand supporting his head. "What a gesture."

"Y/N, I'd be grateful if you could possibly obtain a black crystal horn for me from the specimen." The blonde asks, entranced by the corpse that your boyfriend is flaunting off to you with pride.

"Aren't those things endangered cutie?" Lisa makes sure to butt in, as per usual.

Yes. Your boyfriend with several issues and an affinity for chaos brought you the corpse of an endangered geo-infused creature that's five times the size of him. During school hours too, the fiend. Like a cat dragging the corpse of a dead mouse to its owner.

You groan into your hands, heart racing while the fire is coursing through your veins.

That idiot.

—

Childe is exceptional at a lot of things, like the switch and making weapons out of seemingly harmless things (e.g shiv out of a toothbrush), but what he prides in the most is physical education. With washboard abs, uber tall height, and a dickish smile to top it all, he has everything it takes to showcase his top tier athletic abilities.

He pounces at the opportunity to show off in front of you, wanting nothing more than to have you fawn over his strength. He's sure it'll be enough to have you all over him, wrapping your cute little arms around his muscled ones, passing him his water bottle and dabbing away at the sweat on his forehead. Most of all, he daydreams you planting your soft lips on his to congratulate him after a big game.

Physical education, for you, is a pain. You may be good with your brain, but games exert more energy than necessary, and coordination that lacks logic entirely. You're just here for the credit. The over-achiever part of you walks the extra mile to ensure a grade in the high nineties.

Although witnessing Childe clad in the school shorts and matching polo shirt is enough to make this worth your while, you'll die before admitting it. Especially when he gawks at you as if it's the first time you're wearing the sports uniform yourself. It has you fidgeting with your fingers and tugging your shorts down nervously.

You try not to flip him off like you usually do, especially since it's not even been twenty four hours since he's asked you out.

Mr.Zhongli blows a whistle, calling all the students over to surround him. It's odd that he teaches most of the subjects at this school, seemingly the only adult present, but no one questions it in fear of genshin logic. Moving on, he explains that you have a dodge ball game today.

Lisa groans beside you. She hates anything that requires the exertion of energy, oftentimes bringing a book to read while everyone else screams in the background.

You're relieved, mainly because Childe and Tohma are usually captains, and Childe always picks you to be on his team as a means to flex his skills. For you, it means sitting back and watching him carry your team towards a straight A.

However, all your dreams are crushed when Zhongli announces the team leaders.

"Y/N, I trust that you'll lead the blue team to the upmost of your ability. Childe, prepare to lead the opposing red team."

Your knees shake as you stare at him in disbelief. "But Sir—"

"No buts Y/N." He scolds you lightly, checking off your names on the clip board. "I'd like to witness your exceptional leadership skills."

In reality, Zhongli just wants to reenact a lovers-on-opposing sides trope, wanting to see how the two of you crack under the pressure. In a way, it is an exercise of leadership.

Instead of picking teams, Zhongli assigns teams for the both of you according to his own judgement, trying to make it as fair as possible.

Lisa pats your back after your teammates are assigned, trying to cheer you up. "It's going to be okay. You guys are dating now, so he'll go easy on you."

You look up to meet Childe's eyes from across the court. He gives you a charming smile, which turns downright barbaric as he lifts up a thumb and motions to slash his neck with it. Then he wickedly mouths "I'm going to destroy you."

You blink and turn away as fast as you can in fear. "We're fucked."

Lisa, witnessing the entire ordeal nods alongside you, doing nothing to reassure you because she herself has given up.

Suddenly a hand lands on your shoulder gripping you tightly. "Let's wipe the floor with that g*nger." The voice is ice cold, threatening enough to send a shiver down your bones.

You turn to meet Rosaria, who frowns at you. Most of the time she doesn't really put an effort in dodgeball, but she must've seen your crestfallen expression, trying to comfort you in her own detached way.

Rosaria is the other school nurse in training, alongside Barbara, but somehow her patients end up more injured, sick, or mentally defiled than before they entered the room. She also spends after hours beating up Chads in the school parking lot. Also runs a blog with her booby co-author Kaeya that emphasizes mostly on the dark knight hero.

Spotting the rest of your team behind her, you begin to criticize them one by one.

Standing against the wall is Kaeya, pushing both his biddies up with his crossed arms like an absolute whore. He's breaking about several dress code rules right now. Venti is next to him, drunk off his butt as he beat boxes with Tohma.

Eula mutters under her breath, on and on about seeking revenge on Zhongli for putting her beloved Amber on the opposing team, promising him an unfortunate fate. Xiao is miserably squatting on the floor, sharp eyes observing everyone in the gym, scowl not ready to dissipate anytime soon.

Then you look over at Childe's team in the distance. Jean with a determined look on her face as she listens to Childe's game plan, and Diluc crossing his arms with his brows furrowed in concentration. Even Amber, the best baller in the school, is stretching out her arms, assisted by the gifted princess of the school, Ayaka.

Not only that, but Childe has the king of dodging on his team—Kaedehara goddamn Kazuha. Beidou shoots you a wicked smirk, winking at you until she's disrupted by Ningguang's shove.

"Oh my god." You cry out when the realization hits you, falling to your knees in despair. "We're completely fucked!"

"No we aren't." Rosaria mutters lowly. "You're only fucked if you want to be. Don't you dare throw in the towel before the fight has even begun."

"But I—"

"Stop it." She grumbles again, rolling her eyes. "You're being annoying now. If you lose the game, that makes him the dom. Don't you want to be the dom?"

She's right. You do want to be the dom.

Her words of encouragement, and not at all veiled insults somehow allow you to find motivation deep within yourself. You get up and stomp towards the rest of your team, calling their attention with your newfound confidence.

"Listen here soldiers!" You shout out, determination clear as day. "I know I am not capable of leading. I know that I barely have the physical capabilities needed to defeat the opposite team."

You take a deep breath, pointing at your cutie patootie boyfriend across the gym as you seethe. "But that man, that harbinger of chaos, that instrument of war, is nothing but a tyrant. And I cannot let such a tyrant be a victor in this battle. Not when innocent lives are at stake."

Tohma speaks up, sending you a bewildered look. "What lives—"

"Shut the fuck up soldier!"

"Yessir!" He immediately stiffens, saluting you.

"Are you ready soldiers?" Your voice booms, and everyone reinforces their priorities, except for Kaeya though. He just lazily smirks.

After Zhongli places the balls in the middle, everyone prepares for the battle of the century.

'Gods, please let us win this war' you pray to the archons above, closing your eyes in concentration.

'Give me the strength to flex my superior skills' Childe wishes, then adds on quickly 'also I want to dominate this world.'

'Give me the strength to make it to Friday.' Rosaria prays for nobody but herself, rolls her eyes at all the unnecessary dramatics of this dodgeball game.

"3..." "2..." "1..."

Zhongli ends the countdown by blowing hard into a whistle, signaling the beginning of the game.

Not even two seconds later a ball whooshes past a few of you at the speed of light, followed by a tail of fire. The ball of death kisses Kaeya square in the nose, sending him reeling back into a wall with enough sheer force to cause an indent.

Everyone winces.

Before you all can reel in from the initial shock and make sense out of wherever the hell that asteroid came from, Zhongli's voice booms throughout the gymnasium.

"Mr. Ragnvindr, headshots are strictly forbidden. You are out!"

With a scoff, Diluc, satisfied with his work, leaves the court with no apparent qualms. He accepts his defeat with the upturned corners of his lips.

Rosaria pokes Kaeya's body with the tip of her heels, then cringes when he shakes awake, up from his short lived knockout and sends a wink her way.

"Getting handsy when I'm unconscious? I didn't think you'd be one to partake in such vulgar activities." His eye twinkles in mischief, and if his momentary defeat at the hands of brother has him fuming, he doesn't show it one bit.

The only thing that keeps Rosaria from knocking him out for real is the blood that trails down onto his lip. She doesn't want to clean blood off her shoes, especially since it's a pain in the ass to get off.

You're about to tell them to get up and take this seriously, but a softball does your job for you when it darts straight at Rosaria. With pristine accuracy, the girl manages to pitch herself away last minute.

You swivel in Childe's direction, who wears a remorseless grin, which only grows wider once you pick up a blue softball next to your feet.

The glare that he receives has him shaking in exhilaration. More so than the elation he'd felt when he took down that Stonehide Lawachurl for you, as a gift of promise.

You begin to bark out orders. "Eula, Xiao, and Rosaria cover the front and act as decoys."

They nod immediately, but Xiao still clicks his tongue in distaste as he starts following orders.

Then you offer Kaeya a hand. "Get up princess. You're on sniper duty."

With Diluc out of commission, the battle is fair and square now considering both sides have the same amount of people. Ergo, no one's at a disadvantage.

That is—until Lisa fake trips over pure air, landing on the floor in a dramatic slow motion.

You roll your eyes.

"Oh dear! I think I've twisted something." She cries out, crawling away from the battle field, acting as if she's paralyzed completely. "Don't worry about me. I'll cheer you on from afar. The battle has begun, and it seems as if I've become the first casualty."

You don't let the countless amount of Lisa's betrayals get to you, even this one. It's just her personality to flake out on anything and everything that requires her to do more than below the bare minimum.

Focusing on the match, your eyes are only on Childe, just as his are on you.

You aim the ball straight at his ribs, step back a bit, then propel the ball in the air with as much energy as you can, using your entire body as a power outlet. The ball spins in the air, reaching the awaiting victim.

Childe, unbothered, dodges the ball with perfect precision, the ball not even grazing his clothes at the least.

Your jaw drops open, and you're about to move for another ball until he grabs the same ball you threw at him. With the sharpness of a predator locking in on its pray, he focuses on you like a missile locks on its target, launching the ball in the air for power that has you trembling, second to the powerful ball that was thrown by Diluc.

With your pupils dilated at your impeding doom, it's Xiao that grabs you and thrusts away.

The ball lands on the floor, smoke rising.

"Holy shit!" You shriek over everyone else's grunts and shuffles. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"Isn't it poetic?" Childe shouts back while he slides away from the balls being thrown. "Lover against lover. Either you're by my side, or in my way. And right now, you're in my way." He narrows his eyes dangerously. "Albeit reluctantly, I will take the victory babe. Even if we are on opposing sides."

"There was zero reluctance in that throw asshole!"

You thank Xiao, who wipes his hands on his pants in disgust. "Filthy humans. So pathetic and weak."

Mildly offended, you roll your sleeves up and begin to fight with everything you've got as soon as he walks away.

The dodgeball game goes as expected for the most part, Eula carrying for most of it with the flow of her skills.

Tohma actually tries like the presumptuous asshole he is, aims straight for his girlfriend Ayaka, and takes her out completely. His only justification for that is "I ain't no simp!"

He shelves his cocky attitude when facing Childe with a sense of dignity and prestige you didn't think he had in him.

The two one of a kind fuckbois puff out their chests so that they look more hefty than they are, having some kind of an Alpha match. The 'me stronger than you. me dominant. me get all the women' type beat.

Unfortunately, Childe manages to fence him with his throws, and lo and behold, the square off ends with a dejected Tohma dragging his feet to the nearest bench.

Eula oversees that Ningguang and Beidou meet a quick end, taking their slower dodging to her advantage. You're actually rooting for her, tasting a sliver of victory that you haven't reached yet. So close, yet so far.

Amber trips on herself in the middle of throwing a what should've been coordinated ball, and it loses most of its momentum. Xiao is directly in front of it, and will probably be able to catch it with ease.

Ah, another short victory.

If Childe loses his expert baller, he's only left with Kazuha and Jean, whom's lack in the art of throwing is made up by their ability to dodge most of the fastballs.

However, all your plans and hopes are crushed when Eula slides in front of Xiao last minute, sticks out her foot, and let's the pathetic product of Amber's would-be downfall hit her on the leg with the total force of about 0.0000001 newtons.

Your chances of winning have just went down by a staggering 60%.

"Eula!" You cry out, collapsing on the ground. "How could you?"

Tohma cups his mouth and bellows obnoxiously from the bench. "SIMP!"

"I cannot avenge my clan if I win a false victory." Eula crosses her arms, casting her gaze down in visible uncomfortableness. "Amber will pay her dues in two business days. Mark my words."

It all a load of cap. She's sleeping with the enemy and you know it.

You grit your teeth. Fuming with an abundance of rage, you pick up three balls and throw them all back to back, taking out Amber and Kazuha simultaneously.

Childe's heart flutters in another kind of delight when you pluck out his team members one by one with no hints of remorse.

In retaliation, Jean and Childe work in sync to swiftly take care of a distracted Rosaria.

"Shit." You hiss underneath your breath.

It's Venti, Kaeya, Xiao, and you who are the only remainders of your short-lived team. It's still two more people than Childe and Jean, giving you the upper hand briefly.

It's a mystery to everyone how Venti is still standing. You reckoned you would've lost him as collateral during the beginning of the match, but it seems he's able to hold his own.

When you squint hard enough, you realize that Xiao has been t-posing in front of the nonchalant SoundCloud rapper that's about as high as a kite. He must've been defending him throughout the entire round.

His defenses are all in vain once Childe correlates another attack with Jean, sharp-shooting four rapid balls that are secured on their targets.

Xiao swerves to the side, avoiding most of them, until one is about to reach a nonchalant as shit Venti.

You scream at him, eyes widening as you run towards them in slow motion. "NOoOoOOOo-"

The yaksha doesn't waste a moment, shifting so that he's covering Venti's body with his own, which to be honest is a pretty heartwarming sight.

The ball hits his lean back, a sharp thud following when it hits the floor.

Xiao is out. But his sacrifice is so inspiring that it brings tears to Zhongli's eyes, makes everyone in the gym go silent in awe.

Even the sadistic Childe melts, cerulean eyes gaining back their light, halting his fire.

When Xiao finally uncovers Venti's body, he speaks from the bottom of his dead heart. "I'd do anything for you..."

Venti shakes out of his baked state, blinking at him stupidly with a nervous chuckle. "Ehe~? I don't even know who you are."

The entire class sweat drops. Whatever slip of compassion on Childe's face earlier has become nothing but a memory. Even your eyes dim.

The next time Childe aims and locks at Venti, it's not with malicious intent. It's a favour, for you. In a way it adds dimension to who he is and the lengths he's willing to go for you, even at war.

Venti steps away with a bounce in his gait, hands behind his head.

Kaeya and you are the only ones left standing now, and the game becomes too tight knit to tell which side's going to win. It becomes utter chaos, balls being launched every second, stamina slowly decreasing as everyone lurches away from their demise.

As laid-back  and charming as the boy presents himself to be in front of the ladies, he's not very patient when it comes to facing circumstances like these. He's side lined for most of the match, finding it boring. And when Kaeya gets bored, the intensity of the tide changes, and everyone knows they're going to get a run for their money.

Kaeya coasts a hand around your hips, pulls you real close, purposefully leaning his bust into the side your innocent arm.

When Childe's smile drops, and the glint in his eyes reads 'DANGER' in full caps, you know it's time to be properly scared.

Your blood runs cold, mouth opening briefly and then clamping shut immediately.

"I'm so glad to be on your team Y/N. Maybe this'll give us the chance to become...closer." His hot breath fans against your ear, voice loud enough to be heard by onlookers.

Suddenly everything stops, falling into an unsettling silence.

You attempt glance at Childe, being met with a glare that's directed at the Captain of the Skating team. The ball in the orange-haired boy's hand deflates from the sheer intensity of the squeeze.

The tension becomes unreadable. Even Zhongli is caught mid-sip with his tea.

Quickly, you shrug off Kaeya's arm. "Childe, he's just fucking with you—"

Childe cuts you off by hurling a ball with nothing but the objective of cold blooded murder.

Kaeya whizzes past you, successfully ducking to avoid the hit, and his amused laugh rings through your ears. He rolls away from the following attacks, chucking his own series of colourful balls.

The events that unfold are blood-curdling enough to make even Satan boil his pants with diarrhea.

You take the clear opportunity presented by their concurrent dumbassery to take out Jean, the ace of the other team.

Childe's rage blows over when Kaeya eventually loses interest and takes the L, playfully winking at you while walking backwards to the rest of your team.

Now that all the distractions are dealt with, Childe's eyes flicker to you, and you share a murderous glance.

"Finally," He slaps the softball with a free hand, lips thinning into a homicidal smile. "I've been waiting for this. You better not disappoint me."

While Childe may be a violent anarchist who's only aspiration in life is to become a government contracted killer, he's also supposed to be your sweet boyfriend.

Slowly, you inch towards the front. "We don't have to do this Childe. We can coexist peacefully."

"Peace was never an option Y/N." He sighs, cracking his neck. "Besides—how else can I prove myself in your eyes? You may be my greatest weakness, but you are also my greatest adversary."

"I don't know, maybe start with not trying to obliterate me?"

"I'm obliterating you out of respect." He counters with a playful pout.

"Well I'll be paying my respects to your grave!" You lurch ahead into a sudden assault, yeeting as many balls as you can his way.

"That's my girl!" Childe whistles, grin widening psychotically when he goes all out, leaving you with an absence in favorable openings.

Out of nowhere, the fire alarms start going haywire, along with a beep in the PA system, which stops you two in your tracks.

A panicked voice of who you assume to be Yanfei shrieks through the comms. "CODE ORANGE! CODE ORANGE! EVACUATE THE BUILDING, THERE'S A STONEHIDE LAWACHURL ON THE PREMISES."

As if on cue, the ground starts rumbling and a Stonehide Lawachurl bursts through the halls and into the gym, looking around for something. Or rather, someone. It's sharp bumps and ridges make an indent on the floor, cracking it in.

Everyone falls into a state of panic, Zhongli trying his best to evacuate the class from the emergency back door as quickly as possible. "Settle down class, we have to follow protocol."

You, devoid of any emotion or sense of fear, turn to your boyfriend in such a calm manner it strikes an ominous dread in his stomach.

You stare.

Childe stares harder.

“I thought you killed it."

"I did." He retorts slowly, switching to gaze at the raging beast in amazement.

"Then why is it in the school!" You seethe, glaring daggers at his side profile.

Childe chuckles sheepishly, scratches the back of his neck. "I may or may not have stuffed the body in the boys washroom. Y'know, for safe keeping?"

The Lawachurl locks it's gaze on you, the prey, and then roars furiously. Turning into its geo-enhanced state, it begins charging at you with all its might, the target being solely Childe.

Leave it to your boyfriend to get on the hit list of an endangered beast.

"Fear not my vibrant girlfriend. Our first date can be surviving this." Childe cheekily kisses the top of your trembling hand before grasping it tightly and making a run for it.