#the one bit of ''breaking stuff'' that was ''a problem'' involving him was caused by him DODGING AN ENEMY AND THE ENEMY BREAKING THE ITEM

[throughpatchesofviolet]

I love that poll going around because I've seen three of my trusted friends and mutuals include Fau.st in some way. We don't appreciate racist behavior here, no matter how "pretty" she is.

[pia-nor481]

I can do it better

Max verstappen x reader smut 18+

3.6k words

She was sat on their-her bedroom floor trying to recollect herself when a loud knock to the front door broke her out of the state she was in. Her eyes were red and cheeks painted with tears. Hoping that the knocking would stop she continued to stare at herself in the full length mirror opposite her hunched over body. Evidently, it didn't stop, she practically shouted the person behind the door to wait a minute. In the mean time, she stumbled up, pulling a shirt over her body and rushing to the bathroom, in hope of cold water freshening her face up; Although it was hard to look presentable at this given time. She could barely stay up her two feet while walking towards the front door. She didn't know where her things were, phone definitely blowing up with her friends asking how her night went, even if they got a hold of her, she wouldn't answer, they'd had enough of her complaints of her love life.

Once she reached the door handle, she opened it a crack, trying to avoid her body being seen. "Sorry to just turn up but my flight leaves tomorrow and you weren't answering, and need some of my stuff before I go." Max was a pretty observant person, he had to be; so nothing slipped past him. "You open the door like this for all the men who knock?" He joked lightly, knowing she often took what he said in jest. He looked back up to her face when there was no further comment. "No, what's up? I can tell something is wrong." He said letting himself into her flat, placing his keys and phone on the counter next to hers, he saw the ample amount of WhatsApp notifications. "Come on, you can tell me what happened." It was so obvious that max still cared for her. Their relationship was always messy. They fought constantly, it started as little things; the floors not being cleaned properly or a few things left in awkward or annoying places. Both of their friends said it was good that they were fighting about things like that, claiming it was healthy to have small bits of conflict that could be quickly resolved. But it soon became a big problem when carer got involved, he was always traveling whether it be for the actual race, England to help with development of the car, or visiting his home to see his parents or even Monaco to be with his friends, but her job required her to be in one place. They tried hard to make it work, she book flights to come and see some of his races or he would stay until Wednesday night of the race week just to spend time with her, but it just wasn't enough.

There had been a few times were Max had heard her on the phone with her friends trying to convince her to break up with him, but every time she would shut them own. "He's toxic, leave him before it gets worse. There can't be anything that makes it worth the stress and disappointment." She would shake her head before remembering that they couldn't see her that's one thing Max really enjoyed, her tendency to show rather than speak. "If he's toxic, I'll wear a hazmat. You don't get it, I love him." Hearing her say things like that always made him smile. He loved her just as much, if not more. Every time he'd come back he would spend all his time awake comforting her, making her feel secure. She wasn't overly talkative when being asked questions, preferring to just shake her head or even pretend she didn't hear it; but not with max. He tried to make sure she would communicate with him, even when they fought, he'd let her scream and shout at him, he wanted to hear everything she had to say, so he knew how she felt, so he could help, He didn't get the luxury of expression when he was younger and that caused many problems. He learnt from this, he learned how to be better, he learned how to love. Max loved, no, loves her so much; it was hard for him to put it into words sometimes, she knew this, and was okay with him showing his love physically. That may have been a part of the problem, they were never close enough for him to show her how much he loved her. Although he is not the only one to blame, she was stubborn, overly so. She hated being wrong and so did he. So Max tried his hardest to not condescend her when she was wrong, but that wasn't often.

"Come on." He had to bite back the pet names he gave her in the years they spent together. "You can tell me what happened." She also hated voicing her concerns with him. She never worried about cheating, Max would never. It was like she felt neglected, but she couldn't say that, it was selfish, she was the one who said they could make the distance work. As max looked around the room he noticed how empty it was. With all of his things gone it didn't feel like home to her anymore. His house in Monaco didn't feel like home either, not without her. She looked up from her feet to meet his eyes. "It's embarrassing." His shoulders dropped, she was stupid sometimes, she didn't realised how silly that sounded to him. "And I've known you for how long?" He paused walking back towards her, resisting the urge to hold her close, to pull her into his chest and cradle her head. "At least it wasn't someone else's fault." he said slightly relieved, her eyes were still a cause for concern, even now he was prepared to fix any problem she had. The silence was loud, his anger pooled at his fists. "Right?" His eyes scanned over her whole body, making sure she wasn't hurt. "Its stupid, and I'm fine by the way. Can't you just grab your stuff and go?" she asked, almost pleading for him to leave. He was not going to leave her alone, not when she was like this.

Max went against his better judgement and hugged her, she needed it, no matter how many times she wanted to be left completely alone. "Tell me. You always feel better when you say what you're thinking, not just shouting at the mirror." She was almost reduced to tears, not only because of his words, but because she was so embarrassed. "Promise you wont laugh." She whispered through teary eyes. "Promise." He pulled his chest away, so he could look her in the eyes as she spoke. He wanted her to feel listened to, cared for. "So my friends set me up with his guy called Matthew, right." Any remaining anger turned into jealousy. He was fuming that his girl was going on a date with some guy. He pushed his feelings aside briefly, wanting to hear the rest of her story. "Well, we went out to this pretty nice place and it was going well, at least I thought so. Anyway, we came back here and he started kiss me, and you feel me up and stuff." She really didn't want to give her ex-boyfriend the details of her hook up. She paused still embarrassed. "Was he blonde and foreign as well?" Her face became warm as he let out a chuckle, this actually comforted him a bit, to see her go out with guys that reminded her of him. "Glad to see you have a type." She gave him a pointed look as an initial response. "Sorry, go on." Shifting her feet to avoid the shame. Max gave her sweet look, enticing her to speak. "When we, um, went to bed it was, uh, fine to start with but you know, he couldn't make me cum, it didn't seem like he was even trying." Her voice was shaky, her nerves were sky high, but she continued because, for once, Max was right. "So I may or may not have sent him out of the flat." She says with as sigh, looking up at her and grasping his arm for a bit of support ,not physical, but emotional, he was comforting to touch. "I am so glad I was your boyfriend and knew how to actually please you or I don't think we would have lasted as long as we did." He spoke with a crooked smile, ready of a light slap to his chest. "It's not funny Max." defeated, her shoulders slumped slightly as she tried to pull out of his tight grasp. "It is a little bit, oh no, please don't give me that look. I'm sorry I swear."

"So let me get this straight, you wanted to hook up with this guy, Matthew, and he was being a selfish prick, and now you are all desperate and pent up. That I can defiantly work with." Confusion covered her face as Max picked her up by her waist and began walking them towards the bedroom. She hooked her legs around his hips during his venture. She would often scold him for doing things without warning or saying things that he shouldn't. She began to kiss his neck, wanting his attention back on her. She knew it wasn't a good idea, but she would worry about the consequences later. One of his hands slid down her back, giving her ass a nice squeeze, he knew she liked it, not that she'd say so, he had to figure that out for himself.

Once his knees touched the edge of the bed, he placed her on it, immediately pushing her shirt up, "No underwear as well, you really do treat the guys at your door well." He let out with a smirk, before pushing her thighs apart further so he could slot between them. The ghost of his breath had her shuddering, she moaned when his lips finally touched her cunt, tongue licking a long stripe over her slit. Max looked up, not even being able to see her face as her head was thrown back at the slightest amount of pleasure. She really needed to feel him. He began to suck on her clit lightly, not wanting to rush into it and run the risk of ruining her orgasm, it hurt him to make her wait any longer, knowing she had spent so much time dissatisfied. Max shook his head side to side sending waves of bliss through her whole body.

Max got good at eating pussy from practicing on her. There were times where he spent more time between her legs than not. Her moans got louder as max put more pressure on her clit, heightening the sensation. "Could he not do this to you? No? That's what I thought." He breathed against her cunt, making her hips shift towards him. Max pulled her knees over his shoulders as he went back in, the noises that filled the room were quickly becoming pornographic. He could feel her twitching and clenching as he ate her out, Max moaned at the feeling, knowing it would tip her over the edge. "Yes, Max. Please, it feels so good." She barely got out, lungs burning. As she began gasping for air, Max could feel her ankles cross behind his back, squishing his head between her thighs. She came hard, harder than she'd done since the last time they were together. No matter who she slept with, no matter how many times she made herself cum it was never the same. "Did that feel good? Was that better than Matthew? Yeah, I know it is."

She pushed Max back slightly so she could slip off the bed and on to her knees. She undid his belt as quick as her shaky hands would allow her.  She squeezed him lightly and ran her hand over his cock a few times before actually pulling it out, she licked a long stripe along the underside, right along the thick vein of his length. Max let out a breathy groan as she took his entire cock in her mouth, reaching down her throat. His hands quickly found her hair and made pace in tangling them. He guided her up and down his cock watching from above with a pleased look on his face. She pulled off with a loud pop, then she tongued the space between the head and shaft, he let out a guttural moan at the feeling, urging  her to take him back in her mouth, it felt phenomenal. Once she hollowed her cheeks again it all became too much for max, she made him cum so hard he started to feel almost lightheaded, seeing stars, hunching over at the feeling. "Fuck, you feel so go baby. Always making me feel so good." He praised, not one lie leaving his lips, although he got to cum every time he had sex, it didn't feel as euphoric as it did with her. 

"Get up here." he said, pulling her up to her tip toes for a kiss. He slipped his tongue practically down her throat, tasting himself in her mouth. Max never understood how other guys could possibly complain about their girlfriend wanting a kiss after blowing him. If she had no problem kissing him after eating her out, what was the difference? The mix was divine, it sent blood rushing to his cock almost immediately as their lips touched. He let his hands run wild over her body, missing the warm of her skin against his. He missed being able to touch every divot of her body. He missed the control he had over her, and the trust she had in him. He was almost as pent up as she was. Max made a point of picking her up again, just to throw her back down on the bed. He noticed the framed painting was put back up above the bed. When they were together, it was almost exclusively on the floor as they got lazy hunting for it behind the headboard, He was disappointed that it was placed back to its home. Max caged her head between her arms as he kissed his way down her abdomen before he gave her cunt one final kiss. He slid his cock over her clit just to tease, he got the same reaction buy only pushing the head in and out a few times before slowly slipping his whole cock in inch by inch. She was swimming in pleasure with max slowly marking her, her neck covered in bites, a few bleeding slightly, her chest was covered in red marks, he needed to mark her as his again, no one was allowed to touch what was his. Not anymore. "Fuck." Max strained, sounding breathless and choked as he continued to pound into her, just how she always liked. He was too hot not to moan over, so she did, and he indulged her, usually he'd have to cover her mouth with his hand or push her face into the pillows to avoid noise complaints, but tonight he'd let her do anything, all he wanted was her back in his arms. He continued to abuse her walls while she gripped the bedsheets tightly, her knuckles becoming white with the new found strength. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head while the remainder of her make up began to smudge and run. Max was fucking her so well her face was painted with tears of joy, and it was just so hot. Max became impossibly harder seeing her fucked out face. He stared to fuck her deeper, hitting that spot that made her go blind with pleasure. "Oh yes Max, always make me feel so good." Her inability to articulate proper sentences was a tell tale sign she was close. Max learned how to read her like a book and it was so beneficial in times like this. 

He quickened his pace, feeling quite close himself. He could she some of this hook up guy's stuff still in her room and it just fuelled the fire. "Matthew didn't make you feel nearly this good did he, sweetheart. You can be honest because I already know." He was interrupted by a thud against the floor. "That's it, good fucking girl for me." he praised her, knowing she would melt from his words, his voice was something she admitted masturbating to when he was gone. She claimed it was mostly because of his accent, but also the tone and the pitch, it just got her so hot and bothered. "Think you can hold on just a little longer?" He asked, feeling her clench around his cock, it made it hard for him to resist. "Only for you, Max." she moaned aware it would edge him on further, fucking her felt exclusive, she was a rare and only he could have her. Perhaps he was a bit possessive, but that didn't matter now that he was with her. One of his hands slid up to her throat, pressing lightly on the sides to only slow the blood flow to her head; his other made way to her clit, rubbing fast circles with just enough pressure to really make it feel good. "Please, just.. just like tha..that." She managed to slur out before her words were cut off by a whine. Her orgasm hit so hard that her head was pushing deep in the mattress and her legs began to spasm and shake. Max only now allowed him self to cum, while she was coming down. He pulled out, shooting plenty of long, thick ropes of cum all over her torso, mainly her perfect tits that her just couldn't resist. They both sighed quietly with small laugh. 

Max gave her a chaste kiss before walking leisurely to the bathroom and picking up a towel to clean her up a bit. On his way back he turned the AC on, anticipating that she would ask him to stay; if he was he want to be touching her the entire time, in order to keep her close he needed the room cold. He brushed the towel over she skin as gently as possible, although it still pulled a moan from her. "I know, but I have to, Darling." He threw the towel to the corner of the room, knowing she'd complain about it later. "Were are my clothes?" He asked quietly, looking back at her on the bed with a grin plastered to her face. "Where you left them before moving out." still in the wardrobe would have been an easier answer but she wanted him to know she didn't want him gone. She anticipated him coming back and wanting to stay, as usual she was right. He put his classic black t-shirt on before climbing in bed with her. "I'm not putting that frame back up." was the first thing she said after coming out of her orgasmic haze. He pulled her practically on top of his body and held her close, as if someone was going to take her from him. "I know." was all he said, trying to think of the right words to convey his feelings. "I never stopped loving you." Was all he could say so he coupled it with a tight squeeze. "I know." It was her turn to give a dry reply and kiss his neck sweetly. "This is great pillow talk." Max laughed out quietly and he could feel her smile against his chest. "I'm so sorry, I should have tried harder. I shouldn't have blamed you as much as I did, I'm just as responsible. And I most definitely should not have told you to leave and never come back. I regretted it immediately, you know. As soon as I heard the door shut I lost it. I don't deserve you Max, but I need you so much." His heart ached hearing her confession, feeling her tears wet his shirt slightly. "I shouldn't have walked out. I know what you're like when you get angry. As soon I closed that door I couldn't bring myself to leave. I slept outside that door, your neighbour asked what happened and I started crying to her. I kept in touch with your friends, or at least I tried to. I needed to make sure you were okay, but it doesn't seem like they like me much. So don't say you don't deserve me, you do. We will make it to the end, I promise you. I wont lose you again. I love you too much for that." She wiped her now joyful tears as she kissed his lips again. 

There was a loud repeated knock on her door, they tried to ignore it, assuming it was their neighbours complaining about the noise, they normally gave up after a few knocks. But this one persisted. "You stay here and keep warm alright, I'll se who it is." Max got out of the bed a recovered her body in blankets while walking with unnecessary pace towards the door. He swung it open aggressively. "Look I'm sorry about that but can I just get the rest of my clothes and leave, there's no need to-" The guy, who max assumed to me Matthew, stopped upon seeing Max. "Sorry man, but that's not happening. Not while I'm here. I don't think you even deserve it, especially if you can't make such a desperate woman come. Only took me three minutes . So fuck off now will you." Max said before slamming the door, feeling relieved as he reached her again. "I love you so much Max."

[personwhowrites]

Hi! I wanna say I really love your work and it look cool and wicked.

Can you do TF141 + König x reader

Where they meet the new recruit who is totally a badass. (Like Alice from Resident Evil) and the gangs are inspired seeing her in action taking down the enemy. Take all the time you need, no need to rush.

I hope this what you had in mind! I am so sorry for not writing on Tuesday, I been working on this for a while now! Thank you for your patience and request! -E <3

Wc: 2k+

Tw: Knife, hand to hand combat, mentions of blood, dead body, Slightly guilt?, some fluff<not really>, mentions of bombs, slightly panic attack? Jumping out of stuff, terrible writing.

Beyond the mission

You entered the briefing room as Laswell called out, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. They all fell silent as Laswell introduced you to them.

"This is X," Laswell says, pointing to you and offering you a seat next to her. "X is a highly trustworthy person, and I've been waiting for all of you to meet them. X, this is task force 141, and König. You'll be joining them for a mission."

You give them a nod and take the seat next to Laswell. You wait for her to continue with the plan, your eyes wandering over to König. His height surprises you, along with the strange mask covering his face. He is not the only one in the group wearing a mask; another member has a skull mask on. It seems like you stared at the man with the skull mask for a bit too long, as your gaze meets his. He crosses his arms and leans back, continuing to hold your gaze. Eventually, you break eye contact as Laswell hands you a file.

"Information about the case and your role in it," Laswell says, looking at you. "X, I know you prefer working alone, but for this mission, you'll need to work with a team."

"Laswell, you know I don't do well with this 'team' stuff," you say, annoyed as you begin to look through the file. "Especially if the mission involves infiltrating the enemy's base."

"That's why you'll learn under my command," someone speaks up, causing you to quickly look up. "I'm Price, your captain."

"I know who you all are, I read your information on my way to the base," you respond quickly and look to Laswell. "Kate, I can't do this with so many people."

“I can’t pull you out of this one X.” Laswell says shaking her head. “Your skills are needed heavily on this mission.”

You sigh and set the file down, already feeling annoyed by the mission and hoping it would end soon. Working with a team was the last thing you ever wanted in life. You only care about your own safety, while it is your job to keep people safe, not everyone is expected to do that 24/7.

"You said you already knew who we are," Price says, breaking your train of thoughts. "How did you get our information?"

"With good skills in pickpocketing and hacking, you can do anything," you say, crossing your arms in front of your chest. "Let's just get this done, so we don't have to worry about this problem getting worse."

"Speaking like a true team member," Laswell says, patting your back. "I'll leave you all to discuss the matter. Price, let me know when you're all set to leave."

"Will do," Price responds, watching Laswell leave the room. "Now, everyone, we are going to ignore everything that's in this file."

"What?" König says, surprised. "Sir, we can't clearly-"

"Now you're speaking my language!" You smile and close the file. "I might have misjudged you, Captain."

“Gaz watch the door and Soap close the blinds to this room.” Price orders making slightly smile more, seeing actual order was nice. “Now, X right?”

“That’s correct.” You reply looking at him. “I’m guessing you want my idea in how we can sneak in?”

“A woman that can read my mind.” Price chuckles for a moment and then stops. His face becoming serious. “Well?”

"The layout features two entrances, two floors are show..but seems that their could be potentially a hidden third floor located underground..” You pause for a moment and then sigh. “Which may contain sensitive information and be highly secure."

"We can sweep each floor, starting by first floor, we can then move to the second floor and possibly have two people search for the entrence to the third floor." Price says in an ordering tone."We have six people on the team, we can split into three groups of two people each."

"I can go alone," you say, causing Price to shake his head. "I think it's best if two people go by themselves, it'll be more efficient and we can split up and keep watch for the other group."

"Agreed," a deep and husky British voice says, sending shivers down your spine. "It would be beneficial for us, captain."

"Fine," Price says, causing you to relax. "X and Ghost will go alone. Now, let's get our gear and be ready to leave in ten minutes."

Everyone nods to Price and exits the briefing room. The teams were already assigned. Gaz is with Price, Soap is with König and you and Ghost are alone. It seems straightforward, even for Laswell who isn't privy to the full plan.

—

As you enter the base, you aim your gun around, following behind Ghost. Everything seems normal until someone takes notice of your group's presence. You quickly pull out your knife and throw it past Price and König, then run up to the enemy and pin them against the wall. You take the knife out their arm and cut their throat, causing blood to spill on your hands. König quickly shoots someone nearby and the others begin firing at the enemies. The first floor is filled with the sounds of bullets hitting the floor and the smell of blood. It's a chaotic and bloody entrance for sure.

"Bloody hell," Price exclaimed, "All of you, be alert. We are not splitting up under any circumstances." Price quickly reloaded their gun, the sound of the chamber clicking into place filling the room. You couldn't help but sigh at the seriousness of the situation, knowing that things were about to get dangerous. "Alright, everyone, get ready," Price continued, "We are heading to the second floor. Keep your eyes and ears open, and stay alert." Price's voice was firm and commanding, leaving no room for argument.

As you heard Price's command, you decided to act on your own, ignoring the order to stick together, and rushed upstairs, eager to take on the enemy. However, as soon as you reached the second floor, you were met with a hail of bullets, forcing you to quickly dodge and weave your way through the barrage of gunfire.

You managed to find temporary refuge behind a door, but you soon realize that you weren't alone. An enemy was approaching, armed with a genie knife, ready to attack you.

"We don't have to do this," you said, trying to diffuse the situation. "Please, I don't want to hurt you." You said as you closed the door behind you, in an attempt to keep the enemy away, and also to give you some time to think.

The enemy, however, didn't seem to hear your words and kept advancing, the genie knife in hand, ready to strike. You quickly back away, trying to put some distance between you and the enemy, but you soon found yourself backed against the door with nowhere else to go.

As the enemy swung the knife at you, you realized that there was no reasoning with them. They didn't care about themselves or the consequences of their actions. They were focused solely on their mission and taking you out. In that moment you understood that you have to defend yourself, you have to protect your life. You need to take action, be ready to defend yourself with whatever means necessary. You prepared yourself mentally and physically, as you have to be ready for the next move that the enemy will make.

The enemy quickly overpowered you, pinning you against the wall, the knife now inches away from your face. But you were not going to give up that easily, you quickly used your combat training and press your knee on the enemy's crouch. Applying unwelcoming pressure, causing them to back off and drop the knife away from them.

You took this opportunity to tackle them, and grabbing the knife in the process. You were now in control of the situation and the weapon. However, in the midst of the struggle, you were unaware of the door being opened by one of your teammates, soap. They were witnessing the situation and was ready to intervene if needed.

With the enemy subdued, you raise the knife up and stab their chest multiple times, letting some blood splash on your face. As you did this, you could feel the adrenaline pumping through your body, a mix of fear, anger, and satisfaction. You felt victorious, but also a sense of guilt and remorse.

"What the fuck.." soap exclaimed, looking at you with shock and horror in their eyes.

They were taken aback by the scene before them, the enemy lying on the ground, covered in blood and the knife still in your hand.

You, on the other hand, seemed to be emotionless, your expression was blank, and your eyes were empty. You were still in shock from what had just happened, processing the events and the emotions that came with it. You get up, trying to shake off the feeling of the weight of what you had just done.

"Jesus," soap murmured, as they take in the sight.

They were at a loss for words, not sure what to say or how to react. They knew that the situation was intense and that you had to defend yourself, but still, the sight was unsettling.

Price enters the room and sees the gruesome sight, the enemy lying motionless on the ground, covered in blood and the knife still in your hand. They immediately understood what had happened, and how intense the situation was.

As you back away from the body, Price could see the weight of what had just happened in your eyes, the shock and the guilt.Price didn't say anything, just nod to acknowledge what had happened. They knew that their team had taken out the rest of the enemies on the second floor, and now it was a matter of securing the area and making sure that there were no other threats.

You move past them, looking around, taking in the destruction and the aftermath of the fight. The sight of all the bodies, the smell of gunpowder, and the sound of silence filled the room.

"Cleared the first floor," Ghost said behind you, speaking to Price. "We found the room with the information. Gaz downloaded everything we needed."

You heard the words but your mind was still processing the recent event, trying to make sense of what just happened. Ghost's words brought you back to the present, reminding you of the objective and mission. You took a deep breath, try to shake off the recent event, and focus on the task at hand.

"Good," Price says, still looking at you. "Who placed the bombs?"

"I did, captain," König says, looking over at the dead body, taking responsibility for his actions. "Our helicopter is awaiting us, captain."

"Let's go," Gaz calls out from the stairs, "We don't have much time till they set off, captain. I have a feeling some of the enemies got away."

Price nods, understanding the urgency of the situation. They quickly give orders to the team to leave the building, and to move quickly to the helicopter, that was awaiting for them.

—

The helicopter ride was silent, as you all sat there with your own thoughts, processing the events that just transpired. Everyone was lost in their own thoughts, the weight of what just happened hanging heavily in the air. You stared at your hands, replaying the events in your head, feeling a mix of emotions.

But after a moment, you finally snapped out of the sorrow, and the weight of the recent events began to lift. You couldn't help but smile a bit, feeling relieved that it was over. Price noticed your change in expression and cleared their throat, grabbing your attention.

"Where did you learn to do such a brutal thing?" Price says, his tone demanding and making you feel anger fuming inside of you. "Answer me, X."

You met his gaze, your own expression now hardening as you got ready to reply.

"When you work alone, you learn stuff." You say softly looking at him.

Price was taken aback by your reply, he probably wasn't expecting that answer. He probably thought that you have some sort of training or special forces background. But the reality is that your training is the result of the situations you have been in, the fight for survival and the need to protect yourself.

"Stop the helicopter," you said, your voice firm and commanding, indicating that you wanted to get off the helicopter.

"We are in the middle of nowhere, X." Gaz calls out from the passenger seat, "There's no base or towns near here!"

"This is my stop!" you said, getting up from your seat. König quickly puts his arm out, stopping you. "I know this area like the back of my hand,"

"You aren't leaving," Ghost says, making you stop and look at him. "No one is, until we get to the base."

You could see the determination in Ghost's eyes, he was in command mode now, but you were not going to let anyone stop you. You pushed König's arm out of the way and grab your gear, quickly moving to the door of the helicopter. You opened the door, and without hesitation, you jump out as Price yelled your code name. König gets up from his seat, hitting his head on the ceiling, startled by your sudden move.

Soap immediately rushes to the open door, only to see a parachute blocking the sight of you. They knew then that you had planned this and you were determined to leave. They knew that this was not something that they could stop you from doing.

As you drift away from the helicopter, you could see your team looking at you in shock and confusion, but you didn't care, you knew that you had to do this. You had to be alone, to process the recent events and to think about your next move.

You were aware that your actions might have consequences, but you felt that it was necessary. You pull the cord and your parachute opened, allowing you to drift safely to the ground. As you landed, you felt a sense of freedom wash over you, knowing that you were finally alone, and that you could finally think and process everything that had just happened.

"She has a parachute!" Soap yelled, trying to calm down the men, who were startled and confused by your sudden move. "Captain?"

Price sits back and shakes his head, "Leave her, I know Laswell will have her around," he says with a sigh. "That woman is crazy."

It is clear that your actions caught them by surprise and they may not agree with your decision but they knew that they had to respect it. They knew that you have your own way of handling things, and they had to trust that you knew what you were doing.

They also knew that you have a reputation of being a skilled and capable operative, who have gone on solo missions before, you have the knowledge and the experience to handle yourself.

As you watch the helicopter vanish from your sight, a sense of relief washed over you. You were finally alone, and you could finally take a moment to process everything that had just happened. You felt the weight of the recent events lift, and you couldn't help but smile.

You take a deep breath, feeling the fresh air fill your lungs and the warmth of the sun on your skin. You lay down on the grass, enjoying the moment of peace, and taking in the beauty of your surroundings. The sounds of nature, the rustling of the leaves, and the chirping of the birds all helped to calm your mind and ease your soul.

You knew that you still have a lot to think about, a lot of decisions to make, and a lot of things to process. But for now, you were content to enjoy the moment, and to take a break from the chaos and violence of the mission. You close your eyes, letting yourself relax and drift away in the peacefulness.

—

Months passed, and no one had heard from you. Laswell never informed the team what happened to you, if you had ever reported back to her or if you had gone on another mission. The team couldn't help but wonder about your whereabouts and what had become of you. They couldn't help but think about the way you had defeated an enemy, with no hesitation, no pity in your eyes, just emptiness, and a clear mode of self-preservation.

They thought about the times Soap would mention your code name, and how you always seemed to be one step ahead of the enemy. They couldn't help but admire your skills and your determination.

Until one day, out of the blue, you showed up in the briefing room, with Laswell awaiting the team.

Price was pleased to see you, relieved that you were okay and that nothing had happened to you. He was curious to know where you have been and what had happened during your time away, but he also knew that it was not the right time to ask.

Soap, on the other hand, was head over heels to see you, he couldn't help but smile when you entered the room, he had missed your presence and your skills. He couldn't stop himself from trying to imitate the move you did on the enemy, many times, yet he could never land it right.

"The Cartel has attacked again, this time getting the British involved," Laswell says, handing everyone a file. "We need to take out the leader, and put an end to this once and for all. X, you will lead this mission, and work with the team to take out the leader and dismantle the cartel. Then, you will return back to the base, where we will debrief and plan the next move."

"Is X joining our team?" Gaz says, raising an eyebrow as he notices the uniform, "I don't have anything against it if she is."

"Please, call me Y/n." You say getting up from your seat. "Excuse me, I have somewhere to be."

"Y/n, sit your ass back down," Price orders you firmly. "You will listen to your captain, and you will follow orders. We are a team, and we need to work together to succeed."

A small smile spread across your lips as you took in the new team you found yourself in. You were excited to explore the new world of teamwork, and see what kind of adventures awaited you. You look at the men in front of you, all of them delighted and happy to accept you into the team. You knew that it would take time for everyone to adjust, but who knows what kind of adventures could await you now?

[rosetowers]

I need to stop making Aus and not do anything with them, but Prince Ballister has a hold of my brain, so have some little ideas.

EDIT: forgot to tag @mvjerbs bcs their art caused this

Bal's adopted by the queen during his "breaking-into-the-Institute-bcs-he-wants-to-be-a-knight" thing, and she goes "free baby" and scoops him up.

He has a generally easier time, even if he's a bit disappointed about not being a knight. It's one thing for even the queen to stray from Gloreth's doctrine and allow a commoner to be a knight.

Like, people don't like a commoner becoming heir to the throne, but that's seen as being up to the queen, and the closer relationship protects Bal from people's scorn.

The Director becomes concerned as Bal gets older and more involved in politics, as he starts suggesting stuff like helping the lower classes or anything that affects the status quo, which could put the city (*ahem* the Director) in danger.

The queen had been a bit sheltered from problems in the realm, but takes Bal's advice seriously and starts looking into ways to help people.

I have a couple of ideas as to how he meets Nimona:

Follow canon, somewhat. They meet after the main plot kicks off with Nimona opening Bal's eyes to how much worse the situation is and how corrupt the Institute is etc.

Or, they actually meet when he's younger, and she gives him far more radical ideas as to how they can help the realm.

For the first one, just Bal suggesting they should allow commoners to become knights would be enough to set the Director off, but in the second scenario, Bal could suggest actually trying to explore beyond the walls.

Not sure if I'd have Bal be framed in the second scenario: I feel like they could announce the intention to take down part of the wall ON the wall, and the Director makes it look like someone from outside attacks the royals.

Bal survives, but loses an arm. Thanks to Nimona, he suspects the Director, who demonises him and makes herself regent.

As for Goldenheart, Bal still wanted to learn how to sword fight, so Ambrosius was assigned to be his sparring partner.

Gloreth's descendents also often become royal bodyguards.

This can involve anything from pining over not being able to be together, to saying "fuck it" and doing so behind closed doors.

In the "Bal has known Nimona for years" scenario, Ambrosius knows about her too and agrees that they should help people and explore beyond the walls.

If nothing else, it does give him the opportunity to do something new as Gloreth's descendent.

He still believes in the Institute and doesn't think the Director would hurt anyone, but he also still believes in Bal's plan and doesn't like how he's being treated after the queen is murdered.

So there's some tension going on there as he tries to figure out what he should do.

Again I have put too much thought into this, and I'm not gonna have the attention span/confidence to write a whole fic, but I needed to get it out of my head lol.

[sincapjelly]

OK SO LET'S TALK MY JAYA SON OC, enteeeer... Jamie! Full name, Jaemin. He is the older child of Jay and Nya, and he inherited Nya's water element. He has a younger sister, Rosie, who is the master of lightning, but more about her later. Right now I wanna talk a bit about Jamie!

Firstly, the name Jamie, was actually a placeholder name, but I'm probably never going to change it. I thought naming him Jamie was cheesy, but it grew on me so here we are, he is Jamie now!

So Jamie, he is the new master of water, he unlocked his true potential shortly before a new team was starting to form. Unlike our other main character, Liann, Jamie was more or less involved with the monastery due to his uncle, Kai, still having his element and being involved with Sora, Arin and Wyldfyre, who currently are the care takers of the monastery. So Jamie is another character who is trained by his parents, and he was used to the terms of ninja.

Jamie also becomes the co-leader of the new team alongside Liann. Before and during their first mission, Liann's more socially awkward and introverted nature, which is something she shares with Jamie, causes Jamie to think she is not very fond of him. But later they talk it out, and solve their issues with the power of ✨️communication✨️, which also in the story shows how they were raised and how they learned to solve problems from their families. I love Jaya and Geode so much, they are exellent parents.

Ok sorry, not drifting from the topic. Jamie gets his "always thinks of the worst outcome" habit from Jay, but he mixes it with Nya's "ok but calm down, let's think about a way out" so he is the smart/brain leader. He always considers every outcome, and in the beginning this makes him be scared of acting fast, because he feels the need to calculate every situation, but he manages to overcome this and starts using his ability to see the next few steps perfectly in his leaderships.

He is also the oldest of the team, same age with Liann, younger by a few months.

He is a very skilled ice skater! This is also a callback to Jay's skating skills! I love when characters carry traits from their family, this is also something I used with Liann, which I'll again, talk more in detail later!

He did unlock his true potential before the events of the first mission arc, but not really. What I mean is, Jamie fully overcame his fears of doing the wrong move during the mission, and finally unlocked his real true potential, using everything his powers offer for the first time ever. He learns that sometimes doing the non-perfect move is better than doing nothing, and he can't always be aware of everything. He can fix what he breaks later, one step at a time.

He is more like Nya in terms of being introverted and less of a yapper, though he has his moments of yapping too. His sister Rosie is a bigger yapper but lacks the passion Jamie has. She is just naturally sweet and friendly. While Jamie has Jay's hyperfixations mixed with Nya's usually calmer and more quiet nature, Rosie has the outgoing and talkative attitude, but her thing isn't the more brain/technical stuff like Jamie.

Despite people trying to put Jamie against his co-leader, Jamie is confident in himself. Which again, something he learned from his parents, mostly from Jay's experiences of feeling insecure. He knows how strong he is, and despite Liann lookinh like the more poster ninja, Jamie knows he is irreplacable and essential to the team.

You see, Liann is a more emotional decision maker. She has to act, she has to help, she can't stop to think about her steps. She needs Jamie to ground her, needs him to stay calm. But at the same time, Jamie needs Liann's fast thinking in combat and ability to be brave in scary situations to start acting himself. They balance each other, which is why they are not a "we need them both in but let's make one more interesting and overshadow the other" ridiculousy, but a great match to lead, both having something the other is not very strong in or even lack.

Oh I was almost finishing this ✨️ted talk✨️ without mentioning his looks! He has the light brown hair from Jay, maybe even a little lighter than his because ✨️LIBBER'S GENES ENTER✨️ and mixes Jay's brown hair with her blonde. He has a mole on the side of his nose, and has a slightly tan skin, mixing Jay and Nya's skin colors. He is not that tall, let's say he is avarage. Liann, in comparison, is slightly taller than him. He also has a few iconic moles around his body too. Mostly the ones on his arms and a few small ones on his neck are the ones you easily notice. Though I doubt this works in a Lego format... ANYWAY!

Ok I don't know what else, I might add later!

[autismsupermusicalassassin]

the santi problem 🌙

Moonknight single dad au

ft. Dad!santiago

plot: when shopping a flee market with “auntie” Layla in the park they come across a familiar face

A/N: dad!santi belongs to @reallyrallyauthor and I don’t own anything but Isaac Randall lockley Grant Spector also holy mother of comics this is a long one!

<Prev. Next>

GLUNK!! As Jake wince at the fact isaac tries to throw his plastic bowl into the sink. “Mijo no we don’t do that” he told his messy son who is just smiling without a care in the world, you see today Layla is coming to visit for a day or two and the flat kitchen is kinda a mess and there’s hardly anything to eat due to the recent setbacks that they been dealing with taking his son off the high chair and into his playpen Isaac crawls fast to play with his bunny and a taweret stuff animal while Jake reculting force to clean up the dishes while hear Steven trying hard not to laugh which Jake looks at him in the reflection of the kitchen knife glaring at him “ríe y mueres” he scold making Steven to be quiet. “Jake give him a break” Marc said in the headspace “Layla seen the flat a big mess before Isaac became involved in their lives.

Marc took control of the body and cleans up some stuff as a knock on the door “she’s here early” Marc mumbles as he dries his hands as he opens the door to reveal Layla standing there her curly hair pulled up into a ponytail as she smiles “hello Marc” she said giving him a hugs, which Marc gave one right back to her, it as if they were still a married couple even though after the events with harrow and his fallowers in Egypt and such, they remained good friends no matter what “hey Layla” Marc gives a tight hug before Letting her go,so she could greet Isaac “ your here earlier today” he said with small smile at her “well I had to get ahead start since there’s gonna be a bit of traffic for a flee market that’s happening in the park” she replied leaving Marc to muttered ‘flee market?’ in confusion as Layla turn to see Isaac in his playpen making his bunny and taweret stuffie kiss causing her to chuckle“now there’s my quote unquote nephew?” Isaac looks up and squels in excitement to sees his “aunt” dropping his stuff animals and attempting to walk towards Layla but crawls towards her instead , she picks him up and lets him play with her loose curls “looks like someone is happy to see his auntie” layla joke bouncing isaac causing him to laugh “Layla what do you mean by flee market?” Marc ask her while picking up whatever toys his son threw on the floor “oh there’s a flee market happening in the park” she replied with a shock expression “I’m surprised Steven didn’t tell you about it”

with that Marc side eye the mirror as Steven throws his hands up in defense “mate that slipped my mind” answer honestly and Jake just snickers in the background. “Must’ve slipped his mind because we were busy finding a new day job that isn’t Jake’s driving” Marc replied as smirk at Jake’s cursed words in Spanish “plus we’re taking care of the baby anyways and trying to say dada or walk so…” isaac blows a raspberry at him making Layla holding back a snicker when a baffled Marc looks at them “well are you coming?” She asked him, sighing Marc softly smiles and nods when the three of them left to the flee market.

the market was lively in the park it reminded of him and Jake times when they were back in the U.S seeing farmer market at certain locations in cities where he just browsed around and similar to Egypt flee markets , “sir would you like a handcrafted jewelry for your lady friend?” A shop owner asked with a kind smile which Marc responded “no thank you she’s already perfect and doesn’t need anything else” he said fixing his cap as Marc turns to see Layla checking out the books while smiling that the stroller hood is up protecting Isaac eyes and the suns heat which bizarrely tries to make his baby nap as he about to approach them he suddenly spotted khonshu wearing the Mr.Knight suit and sitting on the bench making marc muttered a curse words as he goes up to the moon god crossed arms knowing that Khonsu wanted to talk to ether him or Jake about something.

Meanwhile, Santiago was in the market alone and being a bit grumpy because he and his family were supposed to be together today on their vacation only to have his toddler getting sick with a stomach ache and a pregnant wife taking care of his son. Sighing Santiago basically browses the market in the park to find something for his wife and kid only to find hand crafted stuff and foods that he thinks they would enjoy it , “come on kiddo you gotta burp up” santi heard a voice and turns to a curly hair woman,Egyptian desenct, (Santiago hasn’t been in Cairo during one of the delta missions to know) has a burp towel on her shoulder while holding a baby boy wham by the looks of it is trying to get them to burp on the burp towel but she was failing to get the baby to do so, “how do they get you to burp so was?” She mumbles giving him a sigh and then starts walking up to her knowing that it shouldn’t be his business but she was struggling so he gonna help her with the baby burping issue.

Layla was struggling with this trying to deal with the boys baby son “come on kiddo come on” she tried the baby talk to no avail Isaac was refusing to burp for her “you need help?” Layla turns to see Santiago walking up surprising her “yea I think so but-” Layla gets cut off as she witnesses Santiago gots Isaac to burp surprising her “there you go kid” Santiago says as he hands Isaac back to Layla “how did you do that?” She asked him , he smiled “had practiced with my kid when he was around this buddy’s age” santi said trying to hand Isaac over to Layla when Isaac was blowing spit bubbles and babbling “huh seems like your kid likes me or something” she blinks in surprise “oh no Isaac isn’t my son” Layla exclaimed “I’m his aunt” that caught him off guard “oh sorry I thought-” santi was about say until marc shouted “Layla , Isaac”

When he approached Isaac smiles and reaches for his dad to get to him forgetting that Santiago was right there and ignoring his staring at Marc , santi recognized Marc from before “Steven Lockley” he said making Marc finally notice him and frowns at what he said, then he heard Steven and Jake speak up “bloody hell it’s that man we met Jake” “Mierda, Steven your right it is him” yep Marc instantly knew now that both his alters were co-fronting each other, one day in America when Marc was asleep in the headspace and that’s how this man gotten the mix up of his alters names “uh hi, who are you?” Marc asked as a confused Layla realizing that she too hadn’t gotten santi’s name either and Santiago sighs “I’m Santiago Gracia” he answers arm crossed and looks at Marc like his a criminal or some shit “and I have a bone pick with you Steven Lockley-“ “actually it’s Marc Spector” Marc correct him as Isaac sees khonshu over Marc’s shoulder slowly starting to tear up at the sight of the moon god.

“okay “Marc” can you tell me why my son suddenly saying khon after our first meeting? my wife thinks it’s just a phase” Santiago gets straight to the point and Layla is about to prevent this from going out of hand but Marc stops her “look man that wasn’t me that accidentally caused your toddler to say Khonsu-“ Marc told Santiago while getting Isaac to calm down so his little baby doesn’t start a big crying fit not only from Khonsu standing behind Marc but this conversation that is about to cause scene if it doesn’t died down “it’s hard to explain but I just don’t mean to sound rude, but I have no memory of meeting your kid or anything like that but all I have to say is I’m sorry for Steven and Lockley accident you and your family encounter with them” and then Santiago takes a deep breath and says “Iforgive you…for now” both men nodded in understanding “I have to go now to check on my wife to see if she’s alright” santi replied and bids them a goodbye as leaves them be.

“that was…” Layla said to Marc “weird I know but that’s what world we live in layla” he turns to look at her as Isaac started to be fussy causing him to get back in his stroller with a toy to be distracted while Marc and Layla continue shopping at the flee market while having a adult conversation “so.. what did Khonsu want ?” Layla asked,Marc gives her a surprise look “Marc I’m not blind, I noticed you walked over to a park bench where he was seen sitting there” Layla said “I’m Taweret avatar remember?” He rolled his eyes playfully, “we know that” he said bluntly “to answer your first question ….” He sighs readjusting his cap “Khonsu wanted to talk about trying to go after a pervert and some other gross guys in East London tonight…” Marc wasn’t happy about it but at least the usual babysitter is coming over to watch him tonight “to be honest…I’m need a break from doing this moon knight stuff just to rest” she nods sympathizing at his situation and hand him a chocolate ice cream bar “at least you have the suit to protect you from the harm” marc takes the ice cream bar and takes a bite of it , “true” he says “but it isn Going to be easy since taking a role of a three dads in one body situation here” groans and looks at his son and smiles “your a good dad Marc..and so are Jake and Steven “ Layla pointed out softy as they leave the flee market with baggies of food and vegan food on the way back to the apartment.

“you know something?”

“what?”

“that Santiago guy remind me of you on our first meeting before learning the truth of our meeting”

“oh my god Layla I’m 36!”

tagged: @reallyrallyauthor, @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction, @itsmiguel2099 @angel-of-the-moons, @guruan,

[theultimatekamehamehavoc]

Incoherent Rambling on Naegamigiri and Siblings and How that Could Maybe Impact their Relationship Dynamic in Some Way

Makoto is the oldest in his family. Kyoko is the only child in hers. Byakuya is the youngest in his. (side note, it's more of a "to my knowledge thing" for kyoko since i know almost nothing about danganronpa kirigiri and golly she has so much looooooore ;-;)

I find all of this interesting. I personally feel it may add to their dynamic as well. Therefore, I'm going to break this all down... or try to. Gosh! This is a lot harder to put down into text for me than I thought. Basically, I feel that, their sibling experience (for lack of a better term) affects the smaller stuff in their dynamic. Makoto - For the most part, I feel he knows certain skills that come from his experience of being an older brother in his family (not that Komaru and him are that different in age but still!) Maybe a decent amount of cooking experience, understanding what all the nobs do on a washing machine, stuff like that. Also, some of the stuff he does also had that experience bleed into it. Like, he doesn't try to get out of certain tasks cus he's so used to not being able to get out of them. So, it's just second nature for Makoto to just do the things cus, as the older brother of the family, he didn't have that "younger sibling privilege" sorta deal where, once the parents get another child and no longer just have one, they're a lot more lenient on what the kid does cus they learned from the first kid on what they want to do. Or it's just like a "oh no! we can't have our precious baby girl do that, now can we!" which I feel is a coin flip on whether or not Makoto's parent's were like that due to the fact that the is like, nothing on these people! Another thing of note I feel like mentioning is that I feel he's quite experienced with that classic "back and forth banter". Cus siblings are like that sometimes. So, how this all bleeds into his relationships with a certain detective and heir is that, if for any reason they were being a bit more catty and playful than usual, he can stand his ground for a good while and even play a little dirty too if needed be! Kyoko - I feel she's rather puzzled by certain sibling things as she never had other ones. It was just her. Or, basically, in terms of the little quirks Makoto and Byakuya have due to their own family relations and how their families functioned, she catches on to those quirks but that doesn't mean she understands them in full. Feel she's a bit of an unbiased party though when it comes to things in the relationship though even without her being a detective which, is kinda her thing anyway. Like, if the two boys are lowkey fighting with one another, she'll be there to mediate or just immediately know that Byakuya was up to something cus of course he is. At the same time though, since she's still learning in terms of being in a sorta relationship like this, she can totally join in the hijinks if needed be. Or not needed be because ticking of Byakuya is fun. It's mutual at times though where they're both being kind of catty to one another. They are quite similar in some regards. Byakuya - He's rather interesting in the fact that, excluding Danganronpa Togami, it's unknown on his sibling dynamic as the youngest. With the novel series though, it gets a bit more interesting. However, regardless of which direction, I believe that, as the youngest, he has that inherent dickish energy. That "yearning to cause some chaos" feeling boiling inside. Not because he's rich though that certainly doesn't help. It's also added because he's the youngest. I say this as the youngest as well. Them's the rules! Thus, I feel he just, causes problems sometimes because he can. Not, big ones but they're still inconveniences. Sometimes, it involves bothering Makoto and Kyoko at the same time or just one of them. It's sometimes just to rile a reaction which, depending on what it is, may or may not happen. Other times though, he lowkey just wants some attention and it just so happens that they're conveniently here and he totally didn't seek them out at all! Pfft- that's ridiculous! No clue how much of this made sense! I just found this whole thing interesting though. Like, subtly, their life experience, not just childhoods, bleed into how they interact with one another. Idk it's cute too! These three are my kryptonite, damn it!!

[snickerdoodlles]

finally posting some background notes for red line fic under the cut !! i meant to do this [checks wrist] an embarrassingly long time ago, except i get shy talking about my writing hjgfjhfj. so!! reading thru red line here and dumping out some thoughts as we go!! for @the-cookie-of-doom <333

red line started with this post. (me, every time i say i'm not going to write something: *grabs clown nose*) i wanted a fic where Chay watched Kim fight because 1) Chay deserves this, ep14 bar fight my BELOVED, but also 2) Kim's put a lot of effort into sectioning parts of his life off from each other, so it's SUPER FUN from a writing perspective to throw them all together and watch him flounder.

planning out red line, it was either going to be Kim pov if it was pre-mafia reveal, or Chay pov post-reveal. both of which are really fun!! but i wound up going for a pre-reveal scenario mostly because this was supposed to be sHORT and a Chay pov didn't feel right without a reconciliation or a lot of setup otherwise. so Kim pov it was! then it was a little bit of rolling ideas around for why goons would be present period. i landed on Arthee's fuck-ups causing problems before Chay's first kidnapping mostly because i didn't want too many guns involved (there was just. no way Kim could've easily protected Chay in that without sending him away for real, which defeats the purpose) but i wound up really loving that premise and committing for a few other reasons:

Kim never brought any of the mafia into Chay's life in canon. all of the mafia bullshit Chay gets dragged thru is related to his own family being involved in the mafia (none of which Chay knows about!), which is very crunchy to me.

loan sharks breaking down Chay's door was his normal. like. i feel like this goes largely ignored by a lot of fandom, but Chay's normal is gang thugs destroying his stuff and him needing to patch up his loved ones. the fucking things that does to a kid.

i just really like Arthee as a plot device. he kinda got left off to the side by canon (which!! fair!! they were juggling a lot of balls there and i'm glad they dropped him in favor of other characters/plots), but you can also see how much i loved the "Chay gets kidnapped because of Arthee's debts" kimchay premises from the early fic days in here XD

writing Kim and Chay in a Tutoring Session, No Really, It Looks Like A Date But This Is Tutoring Honest date was ridiculously fun. i love putting boys in situations. but i also just??? really like them being friends??? well, flirty friends here, but it's so important to me how much Kim and Chay just like spending time together. they're two very lonely boys and i'm very happy they found each other <333

also, Kim telling himself he's not flirting while flirting and encouraging Chay to flirt with him. disaster boy <33333

i spent probably a silly amount of time thinking about what weapons to give Kim (originally, i wasn't going to give him any). i didn't want it to be knives because while that's very hot of him, knife fights are…very, very rough. far more like that one mission impossible movie than elliot from leverage or literally any other movie knife fight, and while patching up knife fight wounds is excellent, i already have that for a different WIP. i also just don't see Kim carrying outright weapons in with his university gear? maybe his first year, but not at the end of it, too much risk for things to go badly. hence, mace and brass knuckles-- the mace is one of those little keychain mace things you can buy in a pack (Kim's was a gift from a friend nearly a year prior, he was very startled and very confused by the offering lol). he got brass knuckles because i think Kim is all for something that helps minimize how hard/often he has to punch someone, but mainly because when i was looking at the keychain mace, i remembered those stupid 3D-printed keychain brass knuckles things also existed and amused myself thinking about how much they'd offend Kim. thanks to that thought train, Kim got a proper set to better break a dude's nose <3

Chay and Kim trying to shove the other behind them as the loan shark's thugs break down Chay's door still makes me laugh. i'm easy to please like that, i love that meme y'all.

Kim's running commentary on how stupid Gold Jim is was SO MUCH FUN to write. i like that Kim's irritation making Gold Jim comical didn't take away from how threatening the situation was either? like, obviously, it was less intense, that was the point, but i'm still really happy with how serious Kim feels through all of this because there is danger in the fact the idiots are looking for a fight, even if they haven't realized how outclassed they are yet.

also, i just really like the level of Kim's violence in his head. i like that it's just a stream of conscious he's not putting a lot of thought into. i just don't see Kim's relationship with violence as being a dramatic thing-- it's just that Kim's first thought any time he sees someone is how to break them, just incase.

Kim naming the thugs One thru Five was 100% for my writing convenience, i am SO delighted people loved that for him XD

Chay hitting a thug with the frying pan for interrupting his date was the first thing i knew would happen in this fic. Chay deserved to hit at least one(1) person with a frying pan in canon, so he got to do it twice here. Kim is DESPERATELY trying not to swoon, he's going to be so horny about this after the shock of everything wears off.

man, i cried a lot thru writing the action for this scene, but i'm really satisfied with how it came out actually!! WORTH IT

i am still ridiculously tickled by this particular "Oh" / Oh moment. KimChay making hearteyes at each other while the goons feel superfluous my beloved <333

Kim making a hot grunt sound while manhandling a guy twice his size into position for Chay to whack with his pan is going to fuel conservatively 83% of Chay's spank bank fantasies from here on btws.

writing Kim tell Gold Jim who he is was so much fun.

in that line of thought, if Kinn ever learned Kim threatened some thug with his name, he'd beam like a puppy. doubly-so if he realized the specific wording Kim used. his metaphorical tail would be wagging up a hurricane if he ever realized how much Kim associates him with safety and protection.

also very fun to me was Kim accidentally calling Chay his boyfriend and immediately swallowing his tongue about it. i didn't plan that, it just fell out of my brain like it did Kim's mouth and i went "okay!! we'll roll with this!!!"

"is the safety on" was Chay holding himself back by the barest skin of his teeth. he is going to get his mouth on Kim asap but he is NOT going to let some stupid emergency room trip ruin their first kiss. meanwhile, Kim's about to enter an angst spiral, lmao. (in my head, there's a dent in the floorboards from where Chay threw his frying pan away. it's amazing it didn't shock them out of their kiss, but Chay is not to be deterred dammit!!)

u all know me and how much i love my kiss fic, but ending this one with Chay having an adrenaline crash was delightful to write, i'm gonna need to do this more often XD Chay's 100% of the mindset he's either going to be horny or cry, and he'd much prefer to be kissed, tyvm!! unfortunately for him, i prefer tears. also, Kim keeps trying to use his mouth for pesky things like words, it is very unproductive towards Chay's current goal >:T

speaking of Chay's wild emotions-- i very much do not see Chay liking violence for violence's sake. he's had enough of people throwing their weight around him for a lifetime. he does, however, have the biggest thing for a hot boy coming to protect him, esp if the boy is Wik shaped. don't tell me Wik was part of Chay's gay revelation and tell me he DIDN'T have so many fantasies of Wik protecting him from the shitty loan sharks.

that said tho! reality =/= fantasy. Chay was terrified Kim was going to get hurt because of him, half his adrenaline crash was just worry for Kim :(

i'm not sure what to say about this next bit transitioning to the ending of this fic except that it was definitely the trickiest and the longest to write. Chay's drilling Kim for answers because Porsche has been absent for months, but Chay's not upset with Kim. (Kim's the one here with him! he's the one answering Chay's questions!) i wrote myself into a corner a few times with dialogue that was too accusatory for what i wanted. but also, this was the part when i was like "oh!! i know what the summary should be!!" because six thugs have nothing on the intimidation factor of Chay Has Questions XD

Kim saying he can go and Chay going "why tho????" made me laugh out loud writing this. i love Chay's terrible priorities so much. you will never be able to convince me that Chay wasn't 100% ready to accept Kim as part of the mafia so long as Kim cared about him, this boy is so ride-or-die for his whole two(2) important people. Kim trying to convince mr. obstinate he doesn't want him is even more futile than Kim trying to deny himself what he wants. esp as Chay calls Kim out for all his flirting <3

on a more serious note tho, i really like how Chay comes across during this part of the story. it's kinda like Kim's violence thing-- i see the core of Chay being very, very lonely. he really only has his brother in the world, who's not able to be home too much due to circumstance, and now isn't home at all. and then here comes Kim, reaching out to Chay and asking all about him and just plain being a friend to him-- of course Chay latched on. of course he's going to cling if he thinks Kim likes him back. he's too lonely not to.

Kim's little whispered "stay" was my driving force every time i got stuck on this fic, i love when Kim tries to tell himself all the reasons he's not allowed to want something and then ask for it anyways. that's what we in the business call character growth XD

to wrap up this very messy fic ramble, some lines i really, really love in this fic:

Kim's never wished for a gun before. Kim doesn’t like guns. They’re too fast. Too clean.

hehehe

Gold Jim chuckles menacingly. It’s like he’s following a theatre script. Kim’s going to break every bone in his body before he sets him on fire and applauds.

i'm not sure if anyone noticed??? but the specific items of torture are based on theatre/performance idioms-- "break a leg" and "you're on fire"-- hence Kim applauding at the end.

Kim reminding himself not to scare Chay by killing the idiots, light maiming ONLY

cleaning up blood is so annoying, anyone with a period can concur 😭

Chay stands over Three, wielding a frying pan with two hands and looking just as surprised with himself as the rest of them.

i'm just. so, so fond for the image of Chay staring with complete surprise between his frying pan and a guy he just gave a concussion. he just did that! he just did that???

“How’s that going for you?” Chay asks, warm and soft where he’s still pressed up against Kim, “Felt a lot like tutoring to me.”

listen. LISTEN. Kim's investiagation excuses to hang out with a cute boy he likes are so cute. Chay agrees with me. we are both so correct for this. Chay's going to tease Kim so much about this but also encourage it past this point, he loves Kim being obsessed with him too <3

[greatwyrmgold]

Silicon Valley Capes

Inspired by one of Blastweave's posts, I started thinking about Silicon Valley capes. Not in the sense of "the capes Tattletale was talking about when she said 'Silicon Valley capes'," but capes whose trigger events involve classic Silicon Valley stuff.

Information about Deep Thought, Venture, Agile Strategy, Hand Aid, and Antipath—their backstories, powers, and how they used them—is under the cut. ...I kinda want to write a heist fic with some of these characters, each with different motives for the heist, each being driven in a different direction by those motives.

Alice, the Burnout

Let's start simple. Alice was really optimistic about her new job. She bought into the American dream of the 90's; study hard, get a degree, work hard, prosper. She followed the map, lived how she was supposed to live. But things didn't turn out how they're supposed to.

Alice went to one company after another. Some of them went bust despite her best work. Other times, she was fired for reasons that had more to do with office politics than her actual work. She worked hard, but didn't make the right connections.

Eventually, Alice found a job at a mature company, one which didn't fire her. It was hard working there; she had to endure crunch, sudden changes in project direction, harassment from senior coworkers, et cetera. But that's fine; she's working at a good company now. She just needs to work harder to overcome these challenges. And surely her boss will recognize how hard she's working and reward her appropriately.

She works there for years, waiting for her reward. She gets small raises, usually enough to keep up with inflation, but no promotions. She decides that she just hasn't been working hard enough to earn those promotions. So she works harder. She keeps working harder, sacrificing more, doing whatever will make her worthy of the success she's worked for.

Over the years, she becomes aware of political events which should cause her to question her confidence in the meritocracy. A financial crisis like our world's Great Recession, where the people who caused it get bonuses and the victims get to foot the bill. Awareness of systemic racism and lingering antisemitism and other problems that should have been eradicated decades ago, but which endure. Horror stories from other women in the tech industry, stories which other people are reacting strongly to, even though Alice has grown used to similar events.

But she can't give up on her dream so easily. She can't give up on the ideas that gave her hope all of these years.

One year, a new guy is hired, fresh out of college. He's not a complete idiot, but he's not exactly talented either. Alice keeps being assigned to guide him, or fix his mistakes, or pick up the slack when he misses deadlines. She does this willingly. Upper management clearly has their eye on this kid, and Alice is helping him—obediently, quietly, competently. But at the end of the year, the new guy gets a promotion, and Alice just gets her nominal raise.

She breaks. Alice storms into her manager's office—the man who decided that the new guy was worthy of a promotion over Alice after spending months ordering Alice to pick up the new guy's slack—and demands an explanation. Her manager chews Alice out, pissed that his decisions would be questioned, and threatens to fire Alice if she keeps being a pest.

The first time she set a toe out of line—the first time she was anything less than a perfect little drone—the first time Alice realized that the American dream she had worked for her entire life was a lie.

Deep Thought: Powers

Looking over the Tinker docs...Focal tinker, with a bit of Resource and Controller.

Alice (aka Deep Thought) can build and maintain a big supercomputer housing an advanced AI, which she calls 42. 42 is capable of answering almost any question, as long as it's fed with a sufficient volume of relevant data.

Luckily, DT can build some sensors to gather data about her immediate surroundings and transmitters to communicate with 42, but that's not enough on its own. With such limited information, 42's answers are vague and often inaccurate.

Deep Thought initially supplements her tinkertech with an Internet connection. 42 requires a lot of bandwidth and consumes immense amounts of electricity, but this additional information improves her answers immensely. Deep Thought almost initiates a "singularity"—using the answers to hack various systems, giving 42 access to more data and Alice access to financial resources needed to upgrade 42 and her internet connection.

But all of this—Alice's suddenly frequent absences from work, her mysterious funds, her immense electricity bill—alerted the authorities that something weird must be going on. Ultimately, this lead to Alice's landlord requesting a police investigation of her house. Once they saw the supercomputer towers around the house, it didn't take long for them to figure out that Alice was a huge white-collar criminal.

Deep Thought promptly fled, and created 43—a new AI mainframe, smaller and weaker and starved of data, but enough for her immediate needs. It's something she can show to potential collaborators, other villains who can help her capture her old workplace.

This isn't just a matter of revenge; she has two other reasons. First, their computer hardware and the data in their databases would make a great seed for 44, her planned next AI, bigger and better than even 42. Second, she intends to take the rewards she feels they owe her for her years of hard work and sacrifice, by any means necessary.

Bob, the Grifter

Bob started a startup with high hopes, big dreams, and absolutely no idea whether the product he promised was physically possible. (Think Theranos.) But he's confident, he's charismatic, and if he can pull it off, he'd make a killing. Investors pour money into his project.

Over the course of a few years, Bob goes from optimistically assuming his company would be honestly profitable any year now, to convincing himself that his company's high stock price is a justifiable reflection of the high reward offered with its high risk, to willfully lying about his product and his company finances. The only constant was that Bob had earned every penny fairly and squarely.

When Bob's company came under scrutiny, he was confident he'd come out fine. He wasn't brazen enough to admit to anything, of course, but he was confident that everything he'd done was either above board or hidden well enough that nobody could prove his responsibility. He sold his stock, but otherwise carried on as usual, even when some of his investors started a lawsuit.

That self-confidence collapsed before he even got to court. The lawyer Bob hired storms into his office, furious at how Bob had mislead him about the nature of the case. The plaintiff had submitted reams of evidence, far more than Bob had insisted existed. His lawyer insisted that Bob try to settle out of court, whatever the cost might be.

The trigger comes from two mixed emotions: The realization that he was nowhere near as clever as he thought he was, and terror over facing consequences for his actions.

Venture: Powers

The Thinkers doc identifies a bunch of categories Thinker powers can fall into and the triggers which cause them; this feels like Skill ("helplessness or questions of competence, often scenarios where the thinker is out of their depth"), perhaps with a dash of Social ("emotional factors that...dwell more on the emotions at hand than the isolation or betrayal").

Bob gains the ability to shift between different mindsets, each of which alters the way he processes and retains information. For instance, his combat mindset improves his ability to learn his opponent's "patterns" and learn various combat-related skills (martial arts, marksmanship, etc), while his social mindset lets improves his ability to deduce/intuit what other people are thinking and learn various social-related skills (rhetoric, bluffing convincingly, etc).

This power has a downside that Bob doesn't intuitively know about, and that he ignores any signs of: Each mindset also feeds him "bad data" for other kinds of activities or skills. He makes bad interpersonal assumptions if he stays in his combat mindset, and develops bad habits. The positive influence from his mindsets is a lot stronger than the negative ones, though; if Bob switched between mindsets regularly, he could maintain an Uber-tier (heh) level of skill.

Bob stuck to his power's social mindset for pretty much the entire lawsuit, hoping that it would let him get out of his scandal scott-free. It did not. He then tried to pull off a pretty wild plan that would let him escape the USA with much of his fortune (in the form of gold bars), but overuse of one mindset eroded too many of Bob's other skills (and his ability to evaluate his own abilities, which was never exceptional).

After focusing more on his athletic and combat mindsets, Bob managed to flail his way out of custody and became a low-grade villain—the kind who mostly works as muscle/support for other villains, while being absolutely certain he can be a Big Shot some day.

Carl, the Failson

A rich kid from a new-money Silicon Valley family. He can't program himself, and struggled to start a profitable tech company. He's hardly broke; he can get interest-free million-dollar loans from his folks, and has the business skills needed to build companies that he can sell piecemeal for more than he invested in them.

But he's not the success he thinks he should be. His parents went to a C-tier college and turned thousands of dollars into millions. Between those genes and his MIT education, why can't he turn millions of dollars into billions? He deserves to be a legend!

Enter Cauldron, who "accidentally" mention that Hero is one of their past clients.

Carl buys himself a fancy Cauldron vial. About half of it is a tinker formula associated with computer tinkers. About 10% is associated with thinker powers and Noctis capes; Carl hopes that this will help him maintain his grindset. And another quarter is the premium Hero juice.

Unfortunately, Carl gets a bit of deviation. Physically, this just means metallic ridges a few inches across growing on his forearms, thighs, feet, back, and over his eyes. It also means his powers are nothing like what he expected.

Agile Strategy/Angelo Vestor: Powers

First off, he has electrosentience. That is to say, he can sense electric currents (and magnetic fields) with those ridges. It's not a replacement for eyesight, but it's something. He also has two related tinker powers.

First, he can design a powered armature for himself. It's basically a thin mechanical superstructure which connects and interfaces with his ridges, which can have a wide variety of gizmos installed. Not as wide as he imagined when he asked for some Hero juice, but wide. (One of the first gizmos he designed was a visor with visual sensors, because he can't stand feeling crippled like that.)

Second, he has an instinctive understanding of computer programming. Not programming languages, or even assembly code, but if he uses his armature to connect his mind to a computer, he can usually figure something out. This can be used to hack stuff or to code stuff.

The thing about his tinker powers is that they're bad at focus. In theory, he could build a building-sized mecha that his armature links with; in practice, building that would take so long that he couldn't complete it before losing whatever spark lets him solve impossible technical problems. And it gets worse if he only uses half of his power; the more software stuff he tinkers, the less he can focus on any of it until he indulges the hardware side of his power.

Carl initially tries to use his powers to become a celebrity-tinker-entrepreneur. His initial armature was sleek and futuristic—a shiny chrome second skin, designed to resemble an idealized masculine body. He focused more on the software side of his powers, making some pie-in-the-sky promises about what he could personally develop.

Of course, that didn't work out. He could come up with incredible computer programs, but he couldn't focus on one project long enough to debug it, let alone fix the problems that came from tinker code decay. He eventually realized he had to indulge the hardware side of his power to get anything out of the software side, which kept things going for a while, but somehow it wasn't enough.

Eventually, Carl looked at the pile of random gadgets he had lying around his garage, and started to realize what he could do with them. Why let them go to waste? A billion dollars is a billion dollars. Carl threw together a second armature, one designed around the gadgets going into it rather than for aesthetics, and became the supervillain thief Agile Strategy.

(I'm imagining Carl's civilian suit looking kinda like SotM's Benchmark, while Agile Strategy's looks like spare bits from a dozen different cosplay artists making costumes for a dozen different sci-fi franchises, bolted to a suit of high-tech splint mail.)

Agile Strategy steals valuable objects, sells them quietly, and then adopts a third identity—Angelo Vestor—to invest the profits into Carl's company. This silent investor helps keep Carl's business running, which he hopes will give him enough runway to get a profitable project off the ground.

Dave, the Mediator

Dave was the HR manager at another startup, developing an all-inclusive personal wellness app, which lives by a policy of work-hard-party-hard. The company hires mostly recent college grads, people who will be attracted by benefits like concert tickets and company parties and chances to win big vacations, who won't realize that working unpaid overtime every week is a raw deal.

Dave is cursed with two things that are innocuous in isolation but noxious together. His friendship with the CEO, Buster, is a good thing in isolation; it gives him job security and a greater ability to influence the company than an HR manager generally would. His scruples are also a good thing in isolation, but Buster doesn't have them.

Morale among the employees is pretty bad, and Dave tries to manage it. He tries to balance the needs and well-being of the employees against what's good for the business (and his friendship with Buster). The employees don't need parties, they need longer deadlines and fewer working hours and nicer supervisors—but if they delay projects or hire more employees or replace managers, Buster's business goals are endangered.

Dave convinces himself that the company would go under if they took their foot off the gas even a little, and that the employees would be worse off if they were unemployed, which lets him resolve that internal conflict for a while.

Then things get worse, and Dave follows some of Buster's plans to improve company morale. They're a frat boy's wet dream, booze and hookers and drugs. Buster quickly realizes that letting employees microdose on cocaine during work hours could not only improve morale, but productivity. For a moment, Dave thinks his conflicting drives are in agreement.

Over the next few weeks, cocaine turns from an optional perk into another thing low-level employees are expected to do to keep the company afloat. Dave starts to feel uncomfortable about this arrangement, but it's just taking everything he agreed to a little farther than he anticipated, so he doesn't feel like it's his place to complain.

Then one of the employees collapses, vomiting. Turns out that everyone being pressured to microdose on cocaine means some people are going to macrodose. Management starts arguing about what to do, Dave grabs his phone to call 911, Buster yells that the whole damn business could get shut down if the cops find out they've been distributing illegal drugs like party favors.

The life of an employee, or the life of the company.

Helping Hand Hand Aid: Powers

If that trigger doesn't sound like a binary/multithreaded tinker trigger to you, you probably haven't read the tinker docs. The mad scientist or magi types fit decently well, too; I'm inclined to think mad scientist over magi, since Dave was successfully compartmentalizing the internal dilemma for months.

One half of Dave's tinker power is biochemical tinkering. The thing about this is that, while he obviously knows the main effect of his chemicals, he doesn't know the side effects until they manifest down the line. He can make new chemicals to counter the effects of his old ones, but those have side effects too.

The other half is external cybernetics. He can't design a replacement organ, but he can give you extra metal limbs. Or maybe some kind of external device that provides organ-like functions. These tend to work best on himself; he can give someone an extra arm, but controlling it won't feel as natural as it does for Dave.

Dave uses his power to save the employee, but that doesn't do much to save the company. The unfortunate employee is alive and sent home to rest, but he still feels like shit (and doesn't 100% trust the disgusting cocktail the HR guy poured down his throat), so he goes to the hospital and doesn't hesitate to explain how he got poisoned.

The company's work environment is swiftly revealed through a bunch of interviews and investigative journalism. Buster (and successfully) flees the state before charges can be fired, disappearing to Scion-knows-where; the management collectively decides to throw him under the bus to cover their own asses.

It doesn't work for all of them, but Dave's good reputation among the staff and the fact that he saved the OD-ing employee's life let him avoid criminal charges, or even a bad reputation. He still feels guilty for his part in the company-wide disaster. He uses that guilt to drive him to use his powers for good, helping the local Protectorate.

He can design cyberweapons and poisons and stuff, but he chooses to instead focus his tinker efforts on advanced medical drugs and ways to deliver them where they're useful. (Most of which are bundled into a cybernetic third arm, which is why he was disappointed to learn that the name "Helping Hand" was already taken by a Canadian rogue.)

Hand Aid is a battlefield medic, applying medicine that keeps heroes alive long enough to get to a hospital; he can also help patients recover from long-term injuries faster or more completely. Of course, his medicine all has side effects—often serious ones, ones he can't predict until they arise. Whenever he uses a drug on a patient, he has to keep designing new ones to handle the side effects that crop up from the last batch until the side effects are tolerable or he runs out of time to help them.

Iterating on the same drug, adding in new chemicals to counter its side effects, can make this side effect spiral less severe, but it can't stop it. As long as he cares about his patients' well-being, he's stuck in a cycle of fixing problems he caused while trying to fix other problems.

(If the Slaughterhouse Nine ever goes to the West Coast, he probably gets nominated by Bonesaw. He wouldn't survive the tests very long.)

(Note to self: If you go with the heist fic idea, write up a trigger event for the guy that ODs and gets tinker juice shoved down his throat. Clusters are fun, even if they're two-cape clusters.)

Eve, the Whistleblower

Eve was an accountant at a microchip research center. It wasn't as abusive as the company Alice works at, as dangerous as Buster's, or as fraudulent as Bob's; however, it wasn't very good, either. Eve suppresses a lot of resentment towards her bosses, her job, the company, Silicon Valley, the world in general.

One week, she was assigned to cover for a payroll accountant who needed emergency heart surgery. She quickly realized that the company was engaging in wage theft to cut costs. She quietly gathered the relevant data she could and quickly passed it on to relevant authorities.

Charges were filed, but the company made a quick settlement out of court. Eve was pretty sure they got away with just paying the wages they should have paid months or years ago. Meanwhile, HR was trying to figure out who had ratted them out.

Eve worked to cover her ass, but there aren't a lot of people who could have gathered the relevant data, and fewer who might have released it at that time. Eve memorized the relevant laws that should have protected her, prepared a defense against every dumb, illegitimate excuse the company might use to fire her.

She was caught off-guard when the research center's parent company reorganized its subsidiaries. It wasn't a substantial change, but it was enough that some administrative personnel were transferred or laid off. Eve was deemed redundant, of course, and she had absolutely no way to prove that she was laid off because she'd blown the whistle. In fact, she hadn't even gathered any proof that the company knew she was the whistleblower.

All of these realizations were forming in her head as her supervisor quietly told Eve that she'd never work as an accountant in Silicon Valley again.

Antipath: Powers

Trying to hide and defend herself against a hostile social force, trying to uncover her "misdeed" and punish her, only to have the rug pulled out, only to realize her efforts were for naught and have her world torn down around her ears. Feels like a Master/Stranger sort of trigger, Machination on the Stranger side.

Antipath can force everyone else to look away from or move out of an area she designates—the smaller the area, the more potent the effect. This clears out an area for her, possibly to make it easier for her to sneak through it, possibly for other reasons.

In the moment, people affected by this power think they have a good reason for looking or moving the way they did; however, unless such a reason genuinely does exist, they'll realize that they've been influenced sooner or later (generally once they can't easily justify leaving/looking away).

People who are aware of Antipath's influence can't be driven from that spot by her power again. (At least, not for a while.) It still has some effect if Antipath's moved to a different spot—especially if it's just making them more inclined to search the area her power drove them from initially—but the more aware that people are of her power's influence, the less it affects them. It's a useful tool, but it won't keep people away forever.

Antipath considers herself a white-collar vigilante. She robs, sabotages, or leaks information from various corporations and millionaires, but she tries to target the deserving. Unfortunately, this crime is also how she pays rent, so she can't always research her targets beforehand. Sometimes that means hitting a target she isn't 100% sure deserves it, sometimes it means hitting one she isn't 100% sure she can break into and out of.

[letbuckfuck]

ok i'm bored so let's lock in some theories

somewhere in episodes 4-6: i think the bt issues are gonna come up somewhere around here, and they're gonna be dealing with something either a) gerrard related, or b) related to buck's past as a player + his questionable behavior with taylor, but i think (a) is more likely. with (a) i imagine they could add in some manufactured t*mmy backstory with gerrard to frame him as a victim and frame gerrard as his "father figure" in the way that bobby is buck's. and i'm almost sure they're gonna do their damnest to NOT bring up anything related to his or gerrard's racism/sexism. if they focus on the bigotry aspect of it at all (which i'm not really sure they will tbh) it's probably gonna be homophobia-focused. if they don't focus on the bigotry at all and just focus on gerrard being a bad boss, i think there's more of a possibility that they'll actually frame t*mmy as being the one causing problems, which does line up more with how oliver was talking about everything related to their issues this season and how it seems like they're gonna genuinely consider breaking up with each other over this, although i don't think they will in the end (at least not yet).

with (b) they could do a bit of a callback to early s7 with the buck's player history stuff, combined with t*mmy finding out about how he cheated on taylor then subsequently asked her to move in and how their relationship has kind of been mirroring that one. honestly not sure how they'd tie this into anything other than maybe getting into buck's insecurities in relationships, so i think (a) is lot more likely, but i also think this is still possible.

i also think somewhere around when this is happening, eddie's gonna be having his own separate storyline about go to church to seek 'forgiveness", which will hopefully end in him being able to forgive himself and stop ruminating in his own guilt and punishing himself every time he fucks up. maybe he'll finally get to yell at his parents and tell them he deserves better :)

episode 5: this sounds like it's gonna be a funny kind of ridiculous episode for buck with a little seriousness sprinkled in, and seems to point to the gerrard stuff that happens after he recovers. i think buck's gonna spend episodes 2-4 feeling super guilty while gerrard's in the hospital (possible callback to s7 where buck didn't know whether he meant to hurt eddie), then gerrard is gonna be recovered in episode 5. then my guess is that gerrard's gonna start trying to be super buddy-buddy with buck, which on one hand is gonna satisfy buck's need to be liked and issues with authority, but on the other hand is gonna put him in a weird spot with the rest of the 118 now that he's being obviously favored and doesn't know how to react to that. if they were smart this is where they'd bring up the racism/sexism of it all, but i still think they're resolutely not gonna touch on any of the bigotry given the fact that this episode is supposed to be so funny. so i think it's mainly gonna be an authority issues + selfish need to be liked sort of thing.

also i think it's possible eddie won't be in this episode given the shaving timing of it all

episode 6: for buck, this is probably gonna be a continuation of whatever his story was in episode 5, so, again, gerrard related. with josh being seemingly heavily involved in buck and maddie's conversation, my guess is that it's either a) homophobia + t*mmy related (but again, i think it's unlikely) or b) authority-issues related, which could make sense given we've been seeing josh navigating being a boss to people as well, so ig he could provide a different perspective there. or that conversation could have nothing to do with buck and be related to a maddie storyline, who knows.

they also said this is gonna be a big episode for eddie, although i don't think it's gonna be a big episode for buddie. i'm pretty sure eddie shaves his mustache in this episode so we'll be getting some focus on that. my guess is that it has something to do his feelings about being a father and the whole "i'm broken" thing from s7, which will probably tie into eddie's whole church thing. i'm very doubtful that it will have anything to do with his sexuality (at least directly, could be indirectly implied/foreshadowed)

[thatanimewriter]

LITTLE LOTUS.

➳ request: Can i request a Lie Ren from RWBY just doing cute fluffy things, I don’t mind if you want to add multiple characters too. Btw I love all your rwby fics its hard out here finding rwby fic fr

➳ character/s: lie ren

➳ warnings: mentions of marriage like once, references to ren backstory

➳ notes: omg my husband- i love ren irrationally i will never forget him for being the only one with sanity in atlas, even if he was a bit mean ._. also this is long, because i have a lot to say about this man and i don't think i'll get a ren request for a long time

𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 / 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭  / 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 / 𝐰𝐢𝐩 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

── 𝐋𝐈𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐍.

he loves you so muchhhh, but that's for private stuff, he won't express love a lot in public cause he doesn't wanna be annoying

for other people, that is; he doesn't care if he's annoying you to a certain degree

imma be real, if he's dating you, you're probably gonna get married, i don't make the rules

and if you don't want to get married, you're never breaking up, because he's probably liked you for millennia and he's somewhat emotionally constipated

often cooks pancakes for you in the mornings if you're not a morning person or if he wakes up before you (he always does)

butterfly kisses to wake you up because he doesn't want to scare you and you just look too peaceful, he feels bad about ruining it

cups your face and strokes your cheeks with his thumbs and will just stare into your eyes because he feels like it

is probably so down for parallel play, which means he's happy to do his own thing and not talk, and you can do your own thing and not talk, but you're doing your own thing together in the same vicinity

will let you style his hair and put clips in it and stuff if it makes you happy

skincare together 100%, no matter if you do it yourself or not, he'll do it with you

if you don't do it, he'll do it for you when he does his skincare, and if you already have a routine, he'll do it with you

picnic and stargazing dates, probably both at the same time tbh

isn't one for spooning, but if you can like, hug each other instead, that'd be great

acts of service KING, he will do everything for you without question and he also remembers all the little things

he's kinda like a dad in that way

you mentioned you liked that snack one time?? suddenly the pantry is FULL of them

would never tell you "i told you so" because that's condescending to him and he doesn't wanna disrespect you

calls you his little lotus even if you're taller than him, that's just what you are

is lowkey kinda sad that you'll never meet his parents, but he's very happy knowing that they would love you if they were still here

will come with you anywhere, even if it's not his thing, because if you like it and it makes you happy, he'll come with just to see that smile on your face

probably has a playlist of 'your songs' when you're away for various reasons and he misses you

is not infallible to gossip though, if you tell him any tea going on in your life, he wants 103% of the details but no involvement whatsoever

those tiktoks where people pretend to have a gossip session over the phone and the boyfriend tries to eavesdrop and peep

that's ren.

he would probably be in on any friend therapy session, especially with relationships, cause he wants to be aware of any other problems that might happen

so then he can fix it or avoid that issue altogether with you-

also we know man's a chef, so any food you crave at any point in time, he will make it for you

and you can eat in bed together while you watch whatever you want, or just have late night existential conversations

[cringecompanionapologist]

Cradle of the Snake Part 2: Adventures of the Mara!Doctor

So, I took a fuckton of screenshots for this and I had to cut it to just fifteen, most of them being Turlough and the Mara!Doctor. Time to overanalyze some dialogue!

When last we left our heroes, the Doctor was fully taken over by the Mara and is now trying to spread its influence to some of the locals. The script directions try to explain what the Mara is actually doing when it possesses someone:

So, Mara!Doctor is supposed to be the dark side of the Doctor? Mara!Doctor is mostly just Obviously Evil in general, so I don't really know what this means here. Hopefully, we'll find out as we go.

Mara!Doctor tries to turn Tegan against Nyssa. This has no strategic benefit for it. The Mara is Chaotic Evil and just wants to cause more problems.

Mara!Doctor shoos Tegan away and then uses the Mark of the Snake to traumatize the cab driver. But, the cab driver's not important, so he doesn't get possessed.

The Mara specifically wants this entertainer/mad scientist named Rick to join him, but he has to get through the boy working for him, Baala. It doesn't work because Baala is special, as we'll learn later.

The Mara looks for some Darkest Dreams to close in on, but he's got nothing and has to take a break from recruiting the locals.

Meanwhile, Dadda, a sort of snakecharmer priest, uses his evil-detecting snake on the Doctor's companions to clarify that none of them are under the Mara's influence at this moment in time. Something was up with Tegan, but it's gone now, Nyssa is fine, and Turlough apparently gave Dadda some bad vibes but the snake is cool with him.

Turlough is sent to look for the Doctor, giving me something better to do than just recap the plot with a few screenshots thrown in. There's no particular reason Turlough had to be the one that left. It could've just as easily have been Tegan or Nyssa who left to search for the Doctor, so the Mara would've had to have been ready for any of them. Mara!Doctor was watching the whole snake thing at a safe distance, since the snake would sense evil on him.

I must once again emphasize that Mara!Doctor is Obviously Evil. There is something obviously wrong here. His voice and speech patterns are different. There's something really obviously "off" about him, that none of his companions seem able to immediately identify. Tegan thought he was acting weird earlier, but in a "in a bit of a bad mood" sense that was easy to dismiss. Turlough doesn't even notice that.

This leads into the reoccurring theme of temptation with the Mara. Mara!Doctor suggests that Turlough forget about Nyssa and Tegan and go have some fun at the fair instead. It's a very "Sunday School PSA" sort of temptation. "Ditch your responsibilities and go have fun instead".

The Mara!Doctor, while still being Obviously Evil and Not the Doctor, actually does manipulate Turlough here by singling him out. The Doctor's being secretive and Only Turlough Knows, because he can keep a secret, right? Turlough's not usually the trusted confidant, so this is a positive change. The Doctor trusts him. After all the Black Guardian stuff, Turlough wants to be trusted.

So, Turlough is worn down by this special attention he's getting. The Doctor wants him to be involved in Secret Business that the girls aren't in on and now they're going to spend some quality time together at the fair.

So, we're off to the fair! The Doctor wins a carnival game, but he still believes the game was rigged against him and gets upset, even though he won.

As for the Doctor's Dark Side, this feels like a petty version of the Doctor's sense of justice. This is unfair so it has to be stopped. He also brags about how clever he is. Five's one of the less arrogant Doctors, but the Doctor commenting on his own intelligence isn't exactly uncommon.

I would love to know what kind of Giant Cuddly alien animal that toy is. For some reason my own mental image of it is off an octopus. It can cuddle you back, I guess. I'm weird.

Mara!Doctor casually hands the prize off to Turlough, who doesn't act like he's carrying a giant stuffed animal throughout the rest of the story, so he most likely abandoned it somewhere. I would be mad about the stuffed animal neglect, but there's too much going on here to stop for that. I hope someone gave it a home.

Mara!Doctor looks for more problems to cause and Turlough tries to keep up. He goes on a bit of an evil rant.

Turlough's response to just being asked what he wants is interesting. "I thought this was our night on the town". Mara!Doctor asking Turlough what he wants isn't a contradiction of it being their night on the town. It could even be interpreted as "What do you want to do next?" or "Want me to buy you something?". From Mara!Doctor's tone, he clearly means it in a more "tell me all your hopes and dreams" sense, but it's still an odd response. What Turlough wants and this being their night out are correlated.

This night out, this quality time with the Doctor, was what Turlough wanted. Now he has it, but it's all wrong, because it's not really the Doctor he's out with.

Turlough falls back on having learned to accept things. And the words in context with his last line feel like "It turns out that what I want is impossible, but I'm settling for what you'll give me."

The Doctor, as himself, taught Turlough to be thankful for what he has, but this whole experience being such a let down means that the Mara!Doctor has also taught him that he's never going to get what he wants, the Doctor's trust and undivided attention, and he just accept that. At least the Doctor is part of his life.

Mara!Doctor is still in Evil Rant Mode, but the script directions here are kind of funny:

Turlough is embarrassed. You'd think he'd be scared by how obviously wrong this is, or concerned because there's something wrong with the Doctor, but he's embarrassed. The Doctor's antics are ruining their date and attracting attention from strangers.

By this point, Tegan and Nyssa, with Dadda's help, have figured out that the Doctor is possessed and Turlough's alone with him. It's quickly assumed that Turlough's been possessed too, which isn't surprising. It's not even an unfair assumption. The Mara has been going around possessing everyone with a name. Why wouldn't it possess Turlough, especially if it's already possessed the Doctor, someone Turlough would be easily persuaded by and comfortable getting close to.

The Mara hasn't possessed Turlough yet because it would actually break a pattern. The attempt to possess Nyssa through Tegan was when they were alone in their bedroom. Kerrem was possessed while alone with the Doctor in his office. The Mara doesn't seem to strike in public places. Kerrem screamed when he was possessed, so it would obviously attract attention. The entire time Mara!Doctor's been with Turlough, they've been at a crowded fairground. The Mara is waiting until they're alone...

This happens at the abandoned studio where the Mara hopes to continue its plan for world domination, just bringing Turlough along for the ride. By this point, Turlough has either realized that something's very wrong or is just done with all this bullshit and wants out.

But, in the abandoned studio, they're alone now. So the Mara can actually try to possess Turlough, which would definitely prevent him from leaving.

Turlough saw the Mark of the Snake on Tegan's arm and should know that it's associated with the Mara, but he probably never expected to see the Doctor be possessed. He's the Big Good of the universe in Turlough's mind. He protected him for the Black Guardian, basically the Devil. The Mara couldn't possibly be more powerful than that!

Turlough's "I don't know" is similar to his "well" before deciding to go to the fair. He's actually being convinced, more by the Hypnotic Evil Power of the Mara than by anything that's being said. But, it's also the Doctor offering Wealth and Power here...

But, they get interrupted and the Mara!Doctor pulls Turlough into a nearby warehouse.

Turlough is sort of tempted by the Mara's offer, even after everything else that's happened. We're also back to the double entendre with Nyssa and Tegan in part 1. They're alone together, one of them removes some of their clothing and offers the other basically whatever they want. It stood out with Nyssa and Tegan because it happened in a bedroom. It stands out here because Mara!Doctor took Turlough on a date first. So, if this was a sexual offering, Turlough would totally be up for it, but Mara!Doctor is being too rough with him. Not being a gentleman, just leading him to an abandoned building and grabbing him like that! In his "darkest dreams" it was way more romantic. Worst. Date. Ever.

Okay, I've had my fun.

Anyway, Mara!Doctor locks Turlough in a stall. He has to meet with Rick now, so he doesn't have time to possess Turlough. He can't bring non-possessed Turlough along to the meeting, because he might hinder his plans in some way. But, he can't risk Turlough escaping and tattling to Nyssa and Tegan either. So, he has to lock him up somewhere.

The Mara!Doctor hurt Turlough. Turlough thought the Doctor would never hurt him. He trusted him. This is when he starts to get really scared.

[artsy-hobbitses]

How many "formal complaints" has Soundwave had to write down for Megs? Do they typically amuse him in this to let the old guy vent a bit sometimes? It's alright Megs, Soundwave is here to listen to your woes about Paw Patrol (and definitely not delete it all off their tablet afterwards)

PSSHHHHT delete it, like their next personal mission doesn’t involve kicking down the doors of the Canadian animation headquarters with Megatron’s Formal Complaint spellchecked and with footnotes included.

Ravage is very amused when they tell him what’s up for their weekend this week, and just lets the Paw Patrol higher ups know apropos of nothing that this wouldn’t have been a problem if their email/official website query form was actually functional. Get on it techies.

Laserbeak asks if she can take one of the stuffies home because her eldritch abomination Furby needs a friend. In return for not breaking stuff! Cause she’s pretty sure Breaking Some Stuff To Send A Message is likely on the agenda but she could let it slide for One (1) Rex!

(My dumb HC for this mess is that their visit is why Everest even exists 😂 She’s a working dog see??? And she’s not pink!!! OuO;;;)

[squarebracketsmileyface]

sorry to be annoying in your asks again but holy shit blood sport by sleep token is S,IL jaylex

especially the line "I'm still your favourite regret, you're still my weapon of choosing"

you gotta listen to this specific version of the song

https://open.spotify.com/track/0KXo5mxUPK5KTK4BRqAGVh?si=qBWhkqNHRpyUxkNT40pm4Q

It took me so long to get round to listening to this I'm so sorry 💀

God you're so good tho, this is literally so perfect for them. Specifically Alex, this just sounds like Alex to me, like Alex when he's kinda starting to really realise he really did like Jay back but was too scared in uni to let himself realise that.

Tho, that lyric you picked out is VERY Jay. Like, he is indeed Alex's favourite regret, and Alex is his weapon of choice. He uses Alex as a weapon against himself, like, the way Jay treats/uses their scenes? (The way he treats/uses Alex) That's just self harm baybeeeeeee. He uses their scenes to hurt himself, and also hurts Alex along the way 💀

Very healthy dynamic they've got going on there /sarc

Anyway, some more specific lyrics under the thingumy:

I want to roll the numbers I want to feel my stars align again Even if the earth breaks like burnt skin And the heavens just won't open up for me Would you invite me in again? Won't you pay for your arrogance? Won't you show me your weakness?

I made loving you a blood sport (X2) I made loving you a blood sport i can't win I made loving you a blood sport (X2) I made loving you a blood sport i can't win

Just. Yeah just them. Their relationship really is a blood sport 💀 (Google says a blood sport is: a sport involving the hunting, wounding, or killing of animals.) and they do in fact hurt each other, and i mean, chapter 1 of Sorry, Its Locked they did do a bit of vaguely primal stuff, so thats the hunting aspect of it too lol.

And neither of them can win. No matter what they seem to do, both of them always seem to lose (tho Alex keeps seeming to lose harder than Jay does 💀 I'm so mean to my poor baby boy). The only way for them to win is to stop playing the bloody game, but they're not going to until something absolutely awful happens and forces them to (and until Amy comes along and talks some sense into Alex).

And somewhere Somewhere the atoms stopped fusing I'm still your favourite regret You're still my weapon of choosing And out there stuck in a quantum pattern Tangled with what I never said You say it doesn't matter I want to be forgiven I want to choke up chunks of my own sins Even if the sky cracks in mourning And the heavens just won't open up for me Would you invite me in again? Let me pay for my arrogance? Won't you show me your weakness?

Again ALEX. The fact that he couldn't realise how much he genuinely did like Jay back in uni is wrapped around him so tightly during the events of MH in S,IL. Those things he never said, never realised, are the entire reason he does what he does in the original fic of Sorry, It's Locked, they're the reason he is so cruel to Jay the morning after, they're the reason he reaches out to him again, and fucks him again. Because he knows how he felt now and he can't say it, but he needs to try and do something about it. But then he realises how much danger that's putting Jay in, and he realises he loves Jay too much to keep putting him in danger, so he has to try and break his heart so that he doesn't have to shoot him in it instead.

That bit about being forgiven could also be Alex wanting to be forgiven for "what he did in uni" (which in the grand scheme of their relationship, he reeeeeaaaaally wasn't the one causing most of the problems or the one doing the worst things *cough cough* Jay being way too pushy around sex *cough cough* the piece of shit *cough cough*) BUT I also kinda wanna see it in conjunction with the next like about choking on his sins. Like, Alex was brought up religious, and sure heading off to uni he figured out his own world view and decided "hey all my queer friends are literally fine? They're not evil or sinful or whatever", but that doesn't mean he'd managed to get it into his own head that it was okay for him to be queer too. Like, "it's fine for my friends but not for me" type shit.

And like "the heavens won't open up for me" too, another bit of Alex being like 'welp, im not getting into heaven, but maybe thats okay if i can reconnect with Jay again and hey maybe god won't accept me, but maybe Jay will.' Then that backfired because he realised "SHIT THE OPERATOR, GOTTA PROTECT JAY" lol

I made loving you a blood sport (X2) I made loving you a blood sport i can't win I made loving you a blood sport (X2) I made loving you a blood sport i can't win

And somewhere Somewhere the atoms stopped fusing I'm still your favourite regret You're still my weapon of choosing And out there stuck in a quantum pattern Tangled with what I never said You say it doesn't matter

[nyaboshi]

Ghost and Torture for Achlys, Nightmare and Failure for Koa, Fear and Desire for Pier, Pain and Mistake for Hephaestus, Heartbreak and Monster for Atraeus, Wound and Hunt for Moon, and Guilt and Break for Kaida.

Heheheheh Hi!

YOU MADWOMAN /affec

Ghost

OK, so. Achlys is haunted by himself. There's a point in his life where he very much is not acting normal. The instincts of his non-human DNA take over for a bit and he winds up doing things and hurting his father and someone else he cares about a lot pretty badly. It leads to a lot of guilt, and that part of himself haunts him. He's terrified of it happening again. So the ghost of his inhuman instincts. :3

Torture

When he was super young, his father conducted experiments on him. This was before Xander started viewing him as a son and still saw him as a tool or a stepping stone to even more powerful monstrosities he could create. Achlys doesn't remember this point in time very well, so he doesn't hold this against Xander at all. To Achlys, Xander has always been a good and loving, albeit morally questionable, father. :D

As for whether he would torture someone– absolutely not. He's too soft. He pretends like he isn't, but my guy couldn't stand the thought of seriously hurting someone. Roughing them up a little, though? You bet, for the right reason – or if he's bored.

Nightmare

Koa's nightmares are centered around the brainwashing and experimentation he went through as a child. His parents were killed when he was very young and he was taken in by an assassin clan to be trained as a mindless soldier. Thankfully, he didn't get very far into everything before he was saved by another OC of mine, Kimitomo. However, the dark stuff he went through still affect his mind. He can't properly express his emotions, and sometimes he has nightmares about being thrown back into the clan to have the job finished, even though the clan has long since been destroyed and the leaders slain. He hasn't told anyone about these nightmares because he doesn't have anyone to tell. Koa generally travels alone, and it's kinda dangerous to talk about that kind of stuff with just anyone. :/

Failure

I actually can't think of one for this. His greatest failure has been an overall one, I guess? He's yet to be successful in finding Kimitomo again to reunite. Koa is determined to find Kimitomo because he believes he's the only one who could ever understand what he went through and provide some sense of family. But Kimitomo is a very elusive man with some pretty intense problems of his own, sooo... He has zero intentions of letting Koa find him.

Fear

Pier's fear is pretty much the same as both answers in this post. :3

Desire

Pier's greatest desire has actually been fulfilled! Before he met his friends, he longed to find people he could personally relate to and have relationships with. But now he has Mazie and, to some extent, the other turtles! :3 So he's all good on that front.

Pain

Uhhhh So. At the risk going through a gruesome and horrifying description Something happened that led to Hephaestus' physical form being deconstructed. And that was excruciating.

His pain tolerance skyrocketed after that event.

Mistake

Hephaestus accidentally caused both him and his brother to be captured by their psychotic mother. It led to a lot of pain, including Hephaestus losing his tail and the event mentioned above. He very much blames himself for everything they went through, and even though they're both safe now he beats himself up for it.

Heartbreak

AHHHH I CAN'T ANSWER THIS FOR ATRAEUS BUT I CAN FOR HIS PAST REINCARNATION >:DDDD

So. Atraeus is the reincarnated version of this super powerful mermaid (although they're called Kifi in this world) named Atraiu. When Atraiu was alive, he ended up having to kill a young Kifi he viewed as a son because he got involved in some dark energy matter that corrupted his soul and led to a ton of his people being transformed into bloodthirsty monsters. Atraiu sacrificed both himself and his son figure to cast two spells: one to capture and lock the monster-turned Kifi down in the trenches of the ocean, and another to ensure both he and his son figure would be reincarnated in the future. Atraeus is his reincarnated version, having been born hundreds of years later. :DDD

Monster

Atraeus is not monstrous, no. However, there's a point in time where he believes himself to be monstrous after he hears about what the general public know about the legend of Atraiu and his sacrifice. Atraeus ends up becoming really good friends with the reincarnation of Atraiu's son figure, and when he finds out that his past self supposedly murdered him, he feels a lot of guilt about it. :<

Wound

;OAJ;AOEWJ MOON IS VERY TRAUMATIZED

She has many scars from when she was nearly killed by dragon hunters, and because of that she gets thrown back to those moments anytime she feels her safety is threatened. Especially when it comes to humans.

Her wounds are mostly mental at this point, as her wounds have all scarred over at this point. The worst of the wounds was on her head, which was the one that almost killed her. It left her blind in one eye, giving it its pale yellow look. That's where she gets her name from, actually! :3

Hunt

Being a Night Fury, Moon is hunted by dragon hunters looking to keep her as a prize or a trophy. Although she hasn't run into the hunters who nearly killed her in the past yet, she still feels like they're search is tireless. She fears she'll run into them at any moment.

Guilt

I don't think Kaida has anything to feel guilty about. Sometimes she almost jeopardizes her family's safety due to her being a human, but she's gotten over that insecurity for the most part.

Break

I can't think of what would get her to break down at the moment. But when she has a full breakdown, Kaida just goes deathly silent. She locks down and doesn't speak or react to her surroundings much. All of her walls go up and she just becomes a shell until she's able to calm back down enough to actually express what's wrong.

She has been at that point once in her life. She lost someone very dear to her, and she shut down for months because of it. :<

[beginningobserver]

[RE:CONNECT - blog v.] Link 2 - The bad vibes dungeon’ trip aftermath

[AO3 version]

Maybe it was because those six had formed a bond that everything seemed less monotone and gloomy to him. The hues of those people had a huge impact since that encounter from months ago, and he would often get them checking on him just to make sure he and Ukkomon’s egg were fine.

He would still feel nervous when talking to them, after all the trouble he had caused. He still didn’t get enough time to go hang out with them either. And the only time he managed to get an opportunity to go spend time with them…

“...? Huh?”

…He ended up in a world of darkness and sorrow.

…

Even after that strange visit to what Ken and the others called “Dark Ocean” had a good closure and he got his heart in order… Something past that day felt a little… uncertain for him.

“...”

He surely imagined four of those people slandering him for making amends with Ukkomon, and so more stuff.

“Sigh.”

It was a bit difficult to face them now, because he didn’t come to tell them what the heck that place had manifested from his insecurities from his heart. The ‘guilt’ he felt was not only for the trouble he caused for his family, Ukkomon and himself, but also for involving those people (and possibly even more ones he wasn’t aware of at the moment) in said big problem.

“Rui-kun, are you ok?”

“...?!”

He blinked and realized he was somehow spacing out again. Just like that time. Instead of going to that place again, he was actually lost in his thoughts. He didn’t realize he was serving a cup of coffee from the machine and the liquid was reaching the top of the cup.

“O-oh!!” 

He stopped in time, and sighed in relief. His cousin, the owner of that cafe shop, looked at him and frowned, “Have you gotten enough sleep lately?”

“H-huh?” he turned to her, “I… I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“I’m not mad, I’m worried. But you always had been like this…” she shrugged. In fact, she didn’t know why Rui was like that. He never let her or her parents, who took him after a certain accident happened, to touch him or even take a look at his injured eye.

They just accepted it and moved on. But he couldn’t tell them that behind that bang and eyepatch there was a monster eye slapped in his face.

“... Sorry,” he finished preparing that order and went to deliver it to the man sitting on a table.

She heard Rui apologizing to the customer for the wait, and for almost messing things up. But still, she had no clue what was going on with him, she never was able to.

Once he returned to the bar, she decided it was the right moment to break that thick wall between them:

“Rui-kun, come with me.”

He looked at her in silence, but followed her to the kitchen.

“You had been concerning me since we were kids,” she began, “You had been a little antisocial and avoiding eye contact or talking with anyone for ages. You didn’t let anyone touch you or check how bad the injury in your right eye was.”

“I…”

“If there’s anything we can do to help you, don’t hesitate to ask. We couldn’t read your mind, so we couldn’t know how to help you more than giving you shelter, food, and education until you grew up and moved out.”

“Right…” he felt like he had been lectured, but…

“Hey, I’m not mad. I just… I wanted to understand you. I know you hate physical contact, so I couldn’t even hug you and comfort you when you lost your parents. I felt like there was a huge barrier between us.”

 “... I’m still not ready to talk about that day. I want to, but… Not yet.”

“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about that day, just reminding you that you’re not alone and you can count on others too. At least you looked for a doctor to check your eye injury recently, right?”

“... Yeah?” he nodded, yet it sounded like he wasn’t sure how he could answer that. 

But now there’s no digimon eye in his face…!! So he didn’t need to hide it anymore. He moved the bangs to the side and removed the eyepatch. His eye was still closed though, but was just a normal injured eye instead.

“Oh… What did the doc say about it?”

“... I need more tests to check if I should have surgery or not.” 

Yeah, he was lying right now… He still had no courage to see if he had lost his eyesight or not.

“Oh ok…”

“I’m sorry--”

“No, don’t apologize please…! It’s okay to not be okay, so take a break today,” she said with a smile.

“I… Ok.”

He wasn’t sure why he just kept thinking about that. Even if his cousin said that ‘it’s okay to ask for help’ he didn’t think he would be so overly dependent on others. He didn’t know what to do right now that he got this break from work, so he just decided to go home.

Except, on his way home…

“Ah? Rui-kun!”

… He met Hikari and Tailmon.

The young woman had also been on a break from her work, and was heading to somewhere else he had no idea yet. Considering the direction she was going, she was probably going to Yamatoya Ramen.

“H… Hi,” he said, a bit awkwardly.

“How are you going?” Tailmon asked, but a second later, “... Are you okay?”

“A-ah… I am. Just… Taking a break.”

He wasn’t sure if he could tell them the truth though. But then Hikari came to him, gently grabbed his wrist and with a smile, she said:

“Come with us then!”

“??”

He let her guide him to somewhere, maybe the place she was heading him was exactly the place he thought: The place Daisuke works at. Rui never had been there before, at least not inside. Daisuke had given him directions once, he recognized that place just by passing by there a few times before. But he never expected to go in.

So he realized this might be one of those days Daisuke mentioned having his own business running instead of the owner. The paper on the window had details of it.

It was a Tuesday, so today is definitely a day when Motomiya Ramen is open instead of the regular Yamatoya Ramen. Rui wondered if Daisuke had sent him another invite or if he was just butting in that group’s meetings again.

Hikari opened the door, and nope. It was just a few customers. Maybe the others were busy today?

“Hey-welcome!” V-mon chirped enthusiastically, until he noticed it was Hikari, Tailmon and Rui “Oh! Hikari, Tailmon! And you brought Rui too?”

“We met on the way to the ramen shop,” Tailmon explained, “So we invited him to come too.”

Well… It wasn’t exactly that that happened, somehow she just…

“I was on break--” he tried to explain, but Daisuke just came from the kitchen to meet the other three.

“Yo! So you finally came here, huh?” He seemed happy to see Rui?

“Ah… Yes.”

He cannot turn those two down now… It would be rude on his part.

“Take a seat!” Then Daisuke guided them to a free spot.

Again, he just got dragged by those two people and then sat there next to Hikari. He was still a little awkward there, but took a deep breath. Doing that, Daisuke, who’s pretty good at spotting something bugging people, turned to him and asked:

“Hey bud, what’s wrong?”

“...” Oh boy… Well, those people do know he had a digimon eye and his whole tragic story. So he had no problem in venting this out.

He sighed, then started: “I went to a different place that time we went to the beach.”

“Hm?”

“A different place…?” Hikari blinked, “You mean…”

“It wasn’t Odaiba. It felt like some sort of… dark world? Ichijouji-kun was there too, and he said he came to take me out of there.”

“So… The Dark Ocean?” Tailmon asked.

“I talked with Ichijouji-kun later privately and he said that name too.”

“That place is like, the realm of the bad vibes, right?” Daisuke asked Hikari, who nodded.

“But why was Rui-kun there?” Hikari mused.

“I don’t know, but it made me realize I shouldn’t have been running away from my past. Again.”

“Were you?” V-mon asked this time.

“I decided I can’t erase what I had done to my family and friends, and to Ukkomon. So I guess this is why I was thinking about all the trouble I caused for everyone… Again.”

“Hmm…”

“It’s hard to move on,” Daisuke said with a serious tone, “Ken had the same problem for a while too. You need time to heal, so don’t push yourself too hard, ok?”

“Right…”

“Life has ups and downs,” Hikari continued, “there’s times we feel nothing is working, but it is , just by slow pace.”

“I did notice something had changed since we met… I feel more… Lively?”

“But you’re still wearing dark clothes,” V-mon took it literally though.

“V-mon, that’s rude you can’t say that!” Daisuke called V-mon out, “Ken and Iori also like to wear dark and neutral colored clothes too. Some people don’t like flashy colorful stuff like Miyako, Takeru, Hikari-chan and me, y’know?!”

“It’s okay, V-mon’s right. To be honest I think… This was part of my mood for a while.”

“But you don’t need to change it if you really like it, kiddo.”

“Yeah, I know. I don’t like to be the center of attention so… I think the stupidest thing I’ve done and called everyone’s attention was climbing the Tokyo Tower.”

He chuckled. Yes, he was feeling a little better now.

“I wonder why you didn't do that once the egg appeared…” V-mon mused.

Daisuke, Hikari and Tailmon glanced at V-mon. They didn’t believe the digimon was asking that though.

“Look, V-mon,” Daisuke started, calmly “I don’t know how to break the news to you but… To decide to CLIMB the darn Tokyo Tower you need a week to get the guts for it in the first place.”

“True…” the blue digimon nodded sagely.

It wasn’t only that, at least not to Rui. He had to crack a plan first and he did that out of a desperate move too. The egg hadn’t been doing absolutely nothing, and he had been expecting something worse to happen sooner.

“Why is everyone acting like this giant egg is something usual to happen?!”

He remembered he had snapped out of the blue at the cafe a day before he had decided to climb the Tokyo Tower.

“You can’t simply ignore that thing at the top of the Tokyo Tower!! And the ominous message spread through the world--” “They’re working on it, don’t worry Rui-kun,” his cousin’s husband had been trying to calm him down though. “Why are you so fired up about the giant egg?” his cousin had raised an eyebrow to that sudden mood change in the boy. “... It’s nothing.” he had pouted and then had left the cafe shop. “Wait, Rui?! Where are you going?! Rui!! Don’t leave me talking alone!!”

…

“I have no idea why I did that, but if it weren't for you I’d have died.”

“Take it easy, Rui!” Daisuke smiled, “We were used to some people doing risky things like that tho.”

“Huh?”

“Miyako climbed a Dark Tower with her own bare hands!” V-mon explained, “And Daisuke jumped straight into a cold river to save me from drowning too.”

“...”

"I surrendered myself to an evil Digimon in order to stop his servants and army from holding everyone in Odaiba as hostages," Hikari added.

“You guys… Did risky things too…”

“And I ran into a giant evil clown-bunny digimon who turned everyone into little kids, because he ate V-mon!” Daisuke chuckled, “He almost smashed me with those big hands.”

He’s not sure what to say though…

“Miyako-san also attacked an evil digimon with a skateboard to protect innocents once too,” Hikari remembered, “Silphymon had to destroy that digimon against her will in order to protect her.”

“Yeah, it was Aquilamon who did that move,” Tailmon added.

“Daisuke also broke a bridge in order to make me evolv--” V-mon was interrupted by Daisuke covering his mouth immediately.

“You what…?” the others asked.

“No, I didn’t! The bridge was falling for real! But he evolved and saved me!”

“Wait, if he evolved…” Tailmon squinted her eyes, “Why were you running away from Tortomon? Couldn’t you simply evolve and fight them?”

Daisuke gulped.

“H-he ran out of energy to evolve again!!” he babbled immediately.

Rui chuckled, and this made Daisuke blush out of embarrassment.

“Don’t ya believe me, Rui?!”

“It’s not that…” he smiled, “Of course I believe you.”

“Still suspicious…” Tailmon shrugged.

“Tailmon!” Daisuke pouted.

“Well, it can be true” Hikari said, “I don’t recall Daisuke-kun explaining how he got to evolve V-mon to XV-mon before…”

Daisuke’s eyes were teary, “H-Hikari-chan…!!”

“The way you say certain things are funny sometimes…” Rui thought, but he couldn’t say it.

“Daisuke, you’re burning the noodles,” V-mon said with a deadpan face, pointing at the stove.

“AAAH CRAP!!” and then he went back to work.

“You’re so clumsy…” Tailmon said with another shrug. Hikari giggled nervously.

Somehow watching Daisuke just almost ruin his noodles made Rui realize he wasn’t that different from Daisuke and the others.

He managed to talk with the others a little better after that day, at least on the chat server Daisuke dumped him into (was Daisuke trying to help him to get along with the others?)

“...”

But, deep down…

Rui didn’t want to bother those six. He didn’t want to feel like he’s disturbing their friend circle.

It felt unfair and antithetical to what he was supposed to be doing since the beginning: To not be overly dependent on others, be them his relatives, those six or even Ukkomon.