#this didn't make the cut solely because the one i went with was more heavily vashwood and that was indeed the point slkdjfh

[princess-of-purple-prose]

[ID: An edited page from Trigun Volume 10 Chapter 7, overlaid with lyrics from "Death Valley" by Fall Out Boy. The lyrics are from Genius and highlighted in russet orange. The view looks up on confetti fluttering down from the sky, and Wolfwood looks stunned before opening his mouth to scream, a tear rolling down his face. Overlaid is the line "But don't take love / off the table yet." End ID]

Posting this alt page of my vol10 web weaving separately because I'm still really fond of it! Forever guilt and unending penance and blood enjoyers etc etc

[theanimeroom]

Kunigami Rensuke? Compared the the rest of bm (manga) I think he’d make it pretty far at least

NSFW UNDER THE CUT | MINORS DNI

NOVEMBER 12TH, 2023 — 2:38PM

NNN CHALLENGE MASTERLIST

kunigami rensuke gives me such frat boy vibes (at least further along in the manga he does) it’s insane. now, whether we’re talking wild card kunigami or loving, doting, fair kunigami, he still lost about halfway through the challenge, and i don't take opinions on the matter sadly.

the mindset was there, for sure. but there’s just something about you and the way you sit when you’re reading a book, or cuddling up against him while you’re both watching tv, even when he’s eye fucking you as you do your homework.

this go around you’d managed to drag him grocery shopping with you, the one chore that he hated more than anything. he’d rather not be surrounded by people and endless frozen food options but alas, here he was, reaching over your head whenever you couldn’t reach something on the top shelf.

rensuke was a very strong willed man, but there was definitely a reason why his friends teased him constantly about you. he had no self control when it came to you, nor the will to say no to you, clearly.

with that being said, kunigami lost no nut november not because he was too horny, but solely because you asked him to.

there, i said it. he’s a slut for you and won’t keep it in his pants so long as you asked, challenge be damned. he knew that he wouldn’t hear the end of this from his friends, but all care for it left the window the moment your walls sucked him in, wails of satisfaction slipping past your lips.

you sounded so pretty when you were taking his cock, the man honestly couldn't see himself being anywhere else but between your legs. the backs of your knees rested on his shoulder, a rough grunt falling from kunigami's lip every time he bottomed out in your cunt. "isn't this what you were begging for?" his words were rushed and breathless as he shoved his cock as far as it could reach, hips slapping against yours as he fucked himself closer to orgasm. "wanted me to ruin this tight little pussy?"

you were too fucked out to respond, jaw slack and mouth wide as you tried to force a response out. the sounds of skin on skin left your ears ringing with delight. a stinging slap to the side of your thigh left you crying out when you didn't give him a verbal answer, a single deep stroke leaving your eyes bulging from your skull. he was so deep in you that you swore he was breaching your throat, a nonverbal whimper leaving you as the knot in your stomach grew warm and tight. "rensuke..."

"yeah?" an eyebrow arched up, his signature cocky smirk leaving you ready to kick him had he not had you twisted like a pretzel. he noticed the glare you sent him but didn't think too much of it. instead, he fucked you harder, laughing to himself when your agitated expression quickly shifted into one of pleasure. "gonna come all over this cock, pretty thing?"

when your head nodded heavily, barely even enough to count as an answer, kunigami pressed forward a bit, hands bracing themselves on the bed by your head. he watched in pure lust as your pupils crossed over each other, thrusts speeding up so much that your head nearly went flying into the headboard.

"fuck!" your clit was throbbing in need as he pounded into your hole, begs and whines flying from you in hopes of him giving you what you wanted. your fingers palmed the nape of his neck with one hand and the broad expanse of his shoulder with the other, warmth spreading all over your body as his head fell between his shoulder blades. with a gruff voice, the next words he spoke were accompanied by a devilish smirk.

"then why don't you make me come first, huh?"

don’t plagiarize, it’s not nice <3

©️ theanimeroom

[purplesoulcollection]

Unnatural Love

Part 5 Synopsis : Name has being transmigrated into the world of I'm Not That Kind Of Talent without ever reading the novel. She's not being reincarnated as a human but as a devil as well. Hi There! I want to let you know that this fanfiction story isn't solely my creation. I borrowed the concept from @quqiwo2. I haven't actually read the novel either, just some spoiler to the end.

I hope you'll excuse my spelling and grammar mistake, because English not my first language.

Duaks!!!

The sound of punches and kicks echoed in the hall of the demon castle.

In a hidden dark alley. There are several people surrounding an object.

The object turned out to be not an item but a demon.

The devil who is our main character, Adele.

"Damn you, you are just using the reputation of the demon lord to protect your low caste."

"Yes, now you have become very pretentious since you became Mr. Demon's servant."

"Mr. Demon is more honorable than you, know yourself."

"You are a low caste, unable to use magic, dreaming of continuing to be a servant of the demon lord."

Meanwhile, Adele, who was being hit, closed her eyes and curled her body. He bit his lip with his teeth, trying to turn his screams into pain

Pained...

My whole body hurts so much...

They're babbling nonsense even though I don't care about my demon caste. I not even devil.

I don't really want to live like this either.

I want to go home, to earth.

I also want to be alive, not as a demon but as a human.

But fate made me like this.

What... I just give up?

It's easier to give up than to keep facing the same thing.

zrash

Suddenly there was a sound that came suddenly.

Then the sound of a sword cutting through a body was heard. Screams were also heard

At that moment I could smell a fishy smell that shouldn't be there...

Fishy? And screams? Am I next... 

Am I going to die next....

"Adele!!!"

I heavily opened my eyes. I squinted my eyes several times before I finally saw Mr. Demon's figure. He looks so panicked.

He lifted my body, Mr. Demon's face also got closer to me to see my condition.

Then his facial expression, which was initially worried, turned into anger. His eyes suddenly turned fiercer. And his facial expression also became fiercer.

"Sir demon, why are you here?" I asked haltingly

“I was looking for you, you were nowhere. Why did you let yourself get hit again?”

"I didn't just let myself get hit. I tried to fight as best as I could. But they were stronger than me."

I swallowed roughly. Trying not to show my sadness about this incident.

"Sorry for causing trouble to the Mr Demon."

Mr. Demon just kept quiet and carried me princess style before finally treating me himself in his room. I didn't utter a single words to him.

"Adele" He calls me, and it makes me look at him.

"Don't worry, I will protect you from now on."

'Why?'

"Huh, you must be joking, right? I'm just a lowly servant. Later Mr Demon will be considered a freak who protects a servant."

"No one will think I'm strange if I try to protect the people I love."

Adele could only stare while opening her mouth wide. His hands were also shaking involuntarily.

In her mind, Adele was already turning upside down in panic and didn't know what to say.

Her mind went blank for a moment, due to excessive shock.

This is the first time anyone has confessed their love to Adele.

Adele has been single all her life. Even though she used to be quite beautiful, no one ever said they liked her.

So denial is something Adele can do.

"You... Are you kidding me?"

"I've been battered like this?"

"Is this your way of distracting me?"

"If that's your method, sir, it really worked, you know? I'm fine!"

"Adele..."

Mr. Deon's gaze was unwavering. He did not respond to Adele's denial.

"I'm serious."

Mr. Demon's serious statement made Adele feel uncomfortable being looked at seriously.

Then finally the name answered while looking away

"If you're serious, why me? I'm not a human like Mr. Demon. Mr. Demon should also choose humans as partners. I'm just a demon who doesn't have magic. Of course I won't be compatible with Mr. Demon."

Mr. Demon just stared at the name for a moment before finally closing his eyes and starting to tell the story.

"Adele, you are a devil. I admit it." He started to hold Adele's hand. Squeeze it with slow but warm strength.

Makes my heart warm too.

"But in my eyes, you are more than just a lowly devil."

Mr demon opened his eyes.

"Even though you are impolite and always dodge problems."

"You have a kind heart, surpassing the devil and also surpassing the kindness of humans in this world."

"The proof is that you worry and care for me better than other humans and demons in this world."

"Even more than my family which made me have to fight in the war."

"But instead you are oppressed in a world that is not suitable for you right now."

"I've also given permission on my behalf if anyone dares with you but still misses out."

"I'm afraid that sooner or later you will do something undesirable"

"Mr. Demon..." I almost couldn't hold back my tears.

“You are really great. You know me better than I thought or is it because of your own experience?”

"Am I right?"

"... Yes. I did want to give up..."

"I just want to die. If only I could work here in peace, it would be nice. But continuing to be here is tiring inside. The bullying here almost makes me sick of everything."

"I didn't even want to come here. Even though I just wanted to survive..."

And finally Adele cried. Sobbing uncontrollably. There was no intention whatsoever to wipe away the tears and snot that were spilling everywhere.

In the end, the one who wiped Adele's tears was not Adele herself but the Mr Demon.

Although he was initially hesitant to do so. But he wiped away the tears that were welling up in Adele's eyes and wiped his snot with a tissue.

"No need for you to wipe, sir. I can do it myself."

"It's okay. This is the first time I'm entertaining people. Usually I'm the one being entertained."

"Did you forget your declaration of love?"

“Of course not. Do you want to?”

"Sir, did you know that I could have used the Mr Demon's declaration of love as a cover to hurt you?"

"People who want to hurt will never say it directly."

True, they like to stabbed from the back than to tell us.

"If I say I like you, sir, is that okay? Because we are two different creatures, humans and demons... We are never allowed to be together."

"I have great luck. There will definitely be a way."

"If we were together, would the Demon King just keep quiet?"

"Isn't it possible if our relationship is kept a secret?" Deon asked me.

If I remember the character of the demon king, no hope rising.

"I'm afraid that this method won't last too long."

**

“Finally the demon confessed his love to the that servant.“

“Demon Arut's weakness has been confirmed. Is the next plan feasible, Demon King? “

“Do it!”

To Be Continued

[indigoraven]

Back from the cinema. Thoughts (Spoilers!!) under the cut, do not expect any particular order to these things

First of, I liked it. More than the second one I think.

Everything with venom and Eddie was fun, they had a lot of goofy moments together that I liked. The dance sequence was so stupid but I loved it. (I will not think about how venoms decision there made 0 sense in the way it was presented)

The lab scenes fell very flat for me. I wanted to care but didn't. Maybe because we already had a lot of disappointing lab scenes in the first films and these ones didn't really add anything. I just don't think these movies make the scientific part of the sybiotes very fun to watch which is why I don't understand why they insist on using them. The lab design was kinda fun with the lights? But still felt very boring in general.

The monster design was great, actually a huge fan of the wood chipper thing and how visceral it feels. They actually commited and had someone lose their legs as well which I feel like we don't see a lot of? Its usually just down right death.

And the "road trip part" was cool too. I actually like the family quite a bit but I probably would have written them in a slightly different way, especially at the end. And the entire thing where venom takes different forms was really nice, I wish we could have seen more of that.

I didn't honestly expect any explicit romance and I like the sort of implied thing they have going on. I am still pissed about it though. Solely because the marketing was so heavily focused on symbrock. Which then makes me feel like it was all queerbaiting. I would not think so otherwise because at that point it would have just been queer coding. But the entire thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth standing as it is.

I also liked the two scientists having a sort of romance going on, all that hand holding was very cute on top of the way they interacted. I just wish I would have cared about them even more. But the movie didn't exactly give a lot besides a few small pieces here and there. Maybe they will come up in future projects though. Otherwise the end would be kinda pointless.

The ending is basically the best I could have hoped for given the plot. It just didn't give me the gut punch I was hoping for. I don't know what I would have changed to make it feel more earned right now but maybe I will come up with something at some point. Maybe part of it is that we now know that, canonically, venom was on earth for only a year. That feels like too little time for such a huge comic character. And I'm sorry but the slide show at the end made it feel even cheaper. That's something you can do after 8 seasons of a show. Not after three movies without actually comminting to anything concrete in their relationship AND telling us like 30minutes before that it has "only" been a year.

There are also some plotholes that annoy me (or things that weren'r explained). especially because most of them wouldn't have needed to exist if they went about it a bit differently but the way they did things, stuff just doesn't make sense.

I guess I'll just go back to the comics now

[roydeezed]

Beat & Motion-Chapter Round-Up(Chapter 6)

As what feels like sole english speaking fan of this manga on this site, I will keep screaming about how good this manga is, CAUSE ITS SO GOOD YALL! Please do yourself a favour and read it. I won't spoil anything here as I have a lot of thoughts so they'll be below the cut! See ya there!

Right away we learn so much about these two. Nabori was seen as a hothead earlier but he really is just super passionate. And outside of Akame, very withdrawn and soft spoken until he blows his top. And speaking of Akame. That panel that I cut out above is such a masterful panel. Nabori's hesitation with Akame noticing it through the corner of his eye and then proceeding to lead the conversation all happens off of that one panel. And it speaks worlds about their relationship. I really love the distinct art style of Beat & Motion too, it's very angular and thus it emphasizes key features to really deliver powerful emotions.

Oh my God! What a foreshadow! That last panel is from the first chapter where Tatsu was beating himself up about his band. Akame and Nabori were there! And this whole exchange between them brings up so many possibilities. Like what if they were animators in a band together. This manga is probably going to stick to it's guns with Tatsu as an animator but it's still fun to imagine.

But now it makes sense why Nabori is so cold towards Tatsu. They both saw Tatsu's band final performance and Nabori must have been inspired by it. It was the final performance and in the flashback it looked like Tatsu really left it all on the stage. Tatsu talked negatively of his time then but it was tinged by his bitterness. What this manga promotes quite heavily, is that no matter how many people are better than you at something, don't let that stop you from doing it, because art matters. Tatsu thought he was a bad musician but he inspired Nabori. He thought that he didn't stack up to people like Nabori and Akame, but Nico sought him out. Art, if from the heart, can't help but affect people.

I love Tatsu's development so much as well. He went from someone who actively looked down on other's dreams to actually readily sharing his dreams with someone he just met. And it's why I don't think he's going to let this:

affect him much. A lot of it's Nabori projecting and wanting Tatsu to be something he isn't. And the whiplash of having an artist he admired come into his field and give what seems to be a motive spurred on by outside factors must have also led Nabori to attach negative feelings towards wat he feels like are impure artists in his craft to Tatsu as well. It's not as meanspirited as much as it is fiercely protective of his craft and dream. Nabori doesn't want anyone to minimize his art. I love this series sooo much. It's so nuanced and interesting. One more thing I want to note before ending it is that Akame is really protective and considerate of Nabori's feelings. He seems like such an empathetic character that's able to understadn other's with just a glance. It shows the strength of the art that we can understand that much jsut through glances. And it also shows off how kind Akame is, that he cares about Nabori so much. Just because someone is perceptive, it doesn't mean they are always kind. Akame actively and gently tries to prevent Nabori from blowing up.

[grimaldiapologist]

I would honestly love nothing more than to figure out what started this spiral. What could possibly have triggered us into this state. Like this is so bad. This is by far the worst it has been in years.

Is it just the overwhelm of everything going from shit to shitter and everything feeling so goddamn hopeless since a decade ago now? Slowly, and then very fast, watching modern world turn into such an inhospitable place, where there just isn't any hope at the horizon?

Is it actually because people are so fucking mean and there's nowhere to go from it? It starts from the above - society itself feels hostile to the point of it seeming like it's just a matter of time until they start hunting you down. But it continues down to the most basic level. Like I wrote in the post I'm reblogging from, I can't - I'm not allowed to - even express joy about the most mundane things anymore without someone coming in like fuck you and the horse you rode in go fucking die you piece of shit.

Me, talking about how much I love Subira, a fucking fictional character in the cosy game Palia, who is a mature woman struggling with her sense of self after being sold into the local magical Inquisition as a child and being forbidden her identity and any and all pursuits of the self in favour of serving the Order? ACSHULLY Subira ACAB fuck you you cop-loving bootlicker. Okay! Cool! You have no imagination and are incapable of separating your politics from a fantasy world where some "for the greater good" nations-suppressing entity modeling heavily from religious organisations is just "the cops", and now this is my fault and I'm actually the bad guy because I love a character who has identity issues and feels like her only purpose is to serve? Literally actually fucking go reflect on your stupid brain somewhere. Oh my fucking god are you literally 12 years old grow the fuck up.

Then like, the other day? This American guy on a TMA subreddit asks for places to visit when they're coming down to London for a trip. One of my sole remaining joys this year, including the main way I've coped with the loss of my dog who's been with me as long as I can literally remember (I got him at 20 and I remember nothing past my adulthood essentially, thank you severe dissociative disorder) by binging the stream services of the Royal Opera House and reading about Joseph Grimaldi, because I just happened to be on these subjects when everything went so far down to hell that I didn't have anythin else left to focus on that would have kept me sane.

So I'm like, yeah you could go see a ballet or an opera at ROH, they're kind of cool, it's made me happy to see them supporting the LGBT community the past few too given the overall climate -

some other dude, immediately: ACTUALLY CORPORATIONS AREN'T YOUR FRIENDS YOU SHOULD LITERALLY GO SEE A PLAY IN ANY OTHER PLACE BECAUSE FUCK CAPITALISM NOBODY ACTUALLY SUPPORTS YOU AND IF YOU PAY TO GO SEE SOMETHING THAT ISN'T A TRAVELLING TROUPEE OF GAY AMATEURS LIVING IN SEWERS IN HENFORD-BY-BAGLEY YOU'RE LITERALLY KILLING POOR ARTISTS

and I'm like okay, but theatre is known to attract LGBT people and also this is about places that are referred to in TMA -

and got downvoted to hell until I just fucking deleted the entire comments.

Like what do you fucking want me to do. Do you really want me to just not derive ANY joy from ANYTHING because NOTHING is uwuweuwuwu morally pure enough for you? What the fuck do you want from me? I'm covered from head to toe in cuts and I haven't been cutting in years. I've never cut this much in my whole life and I'm a lifelong cutter. I've gone through all of my limbs with blunt objects to make as many swollen bruises as possible. Are you happy now? Am I punished enough for daring to like the wrong things? Do you need to me to slit my throat as well? Will that satisfy you? Is that going to be enough, or should I go get raped and tortured first? Does that make you happy? How about I go ask my dad if he'll beat me some more? Would it make you feel better if I sought out and said yes please do rape me to the man who assaulted me in the city when I was 18? Do you need me to take more than double my allowed dose of sedatives? Would you like me to overdose on my beta blockers, since coming back from that even with hospitalisation is unlikely? Is that too kind of a death for someone who dares to suck cop dick and support rainbow capitalism? What is it you want from me? Should I cut up the soles of my feet next so I can't walk, or is it enough it's hard for me to move my legs right now with the amount of damage I've done to my thighs?

What will be a sufficient price for someone as worthless as myself enjoying anything whatsoever? How do you want me to kill myself? I'll be here waiting for your answer, I only wish to make you happy after all :)

"this thing that makes you happy is problematic actually"

cool I don't care as I have vastly bigger problems and I'm glad that you don't but stfu

[vryfmi]

every single l&co character is basically a different taste of "sole survivor" trope

Lucy is the most obvious and most "by the book" example of said trope. it was sheer luck that saved her, and now she's not only heavily traumatised by witnessing death of all her childhood friends in that mill but also suffered from townsfolk's judgemental looks at her. "did she chicken out and left others to die?", "if she helped, would have others make it to the morning?" that's the hardest part in being the last survivor - others will judge you for the fact that you are alive. no wonder Lucy had left her hometown.

Lockwood is... well... how do i put well an orphan. but he's also the last survivor of his parents' idea. yes, he didn't know it till the very end, but he's been unconsciously following and improving upon it. if Celia and Donald were killed because of their discovery, and Jessica died due to her inexperience with ghosts, Lockwood had overcome all of it. he completed his parents' work and neutralized many sources to save even more people.

George, on the other hand, isn't that much of a survivor in the literal sense, unless you look at it from very specific angle. George was eager for knowledge, he was asking questions, was trying to get to bottom of the problem ever since he worked for Fittes. but times and times again he was punished, restrained. where others had given up in their researches, embraced propaganda, George stayed true to himself. yes, he was fired in order to cut him off the access to said knowledge, but he never gave up. also worthy of note: he was the only one who survived looking into bone mirror.

out of team of four Holly was the sole survival. that traumatic experience made her leave agent path but stay in the agency, now working in office of Rotwell. Holly has great fear of poltergeists, and that fear isn't gone, on contrary, after events in aickmere's store, it might have gotten worse. she probably blames herself in both cases, too.

Kipps is a miraculous survival of Fittes regime. not only he worked so close to them, but constantly was going against inner agency's plans. yet somehow Kipps wasn't all that affected. he quit and wasn't chased after or anything. maybe Fittes dismissed him as a threat and just didn't want to waste any resources on him. another point to make is that Kipps lived to his twenties. not many children in that universe make it that far.

Flo however is at most interesting example, because her trauma had broken her. no fantastic overcoming the harshness, no trying to make things work. just compare her livelihood to others: she developed severe claustrophobia (where she barely can stay in doors and have a roof over her head) after what she went through - death of her colleagues and nightmare of protecting herself with improvised weapon till morning. Flo left her agent career for good and cut ties with everything from her life prier the event. she works alone and far from people, barely resembling a person herself. it's tragic really

even skull! last of Bickerstaff's followers who couldn't pass on after what they've discovered during theirs's life time. all of them were obsessed with death, yet, scared of it immensely. mirror had turned those people into restless souls not ready to leave living plane, but only skull, last remaining witness of device's creation, came in terms with death and moved on by himself, without his source being destroyed or thrown into fire oh wait a second

[medusanova]

Saundreas + Saul hurt/sick and Andreas takes care of him please

Only because you said ‘please,’ nonnie (;

"You know if the bastard cut him?" Andreas grunted.

"No idea," Dowling panted. Saul’s hefty weight was suspended between the two of them as they dragged him away from the carnage of the battlefield. Distantly, Andreas heard an unmistakable roar, he and Dowling glanced at each other, picking up the pace in tandem.

Saul let out a growl of pain, his muscles tensing. Their steps faltered as he stirred and his weight shifted.

"Saul?" Dowling paused, trying to wake him. Andreas studied the pained fluttering of his eyelids when a crash from behind them made the three soldiers resume their haul toward their makeshift camp.

Saul coughed, his eyes blinking open to reveal pupils blown wide in pain and confusion. There was blood all over him, Andreas just couldn’t tell if it was his.

"Don't suppose you can help us out here, Silva?"

He turned his head, shifting his gaze to Dowling. To their surprise, he twitched one of his feet, pressing the sole of one of his boots to the ground even as they were being dragged along.

They stumbled to a stop to let Saul get his other leg steady, knees slightly shaking.

"Silva, you with us?" Andreas asked. Saul turned his head again, this time toward Andreas.

"I know you," he breathed out.

Andreas and Dowling exchanged worried glances. "Yeah you do," he hesitated. "Do you know who I am?"

Saul’s brow pinched. "Andreas?" he croaked.

Andreas tried to crack a reassuring grin, but it probably came across as more of a scowl. He’d never been great at arranging his face into the appropriate emotion.

Finally, he looked to Dowling and nodded. “You were trapped with the Burned Ones a while, Sau-Silva. Let’s get away from this all so we can get you patched up, yeah?”

Once they settle him on an empty bedroll, Dowling quickly scurried off to debrief Rosalind, leaving Andreas and Saul alone.

Andreas gently started to wipe the blood away from His arm, sighing when he realized it wasn’t Saul’s. The relief was so stark, Andreas sat down by the bedroll, breathing heavily as he tried to regain his strength.

Andreas abruptly came back to attention when he heard a sharp gasp.

Saul was sitting up, eyes flitting around like he was looking for something. Andreas tried to steady him, grabbing the back of his neck. "Everything's okay, Saul.”

"Andreas?" Saul raised his voice. "Andreas. Where—"

Andreas pulled Saul’s face close to his own, making sure his eyes stayed on him. “I’m okay, Saul. The Burned Ones are being taken care of. I’m safe.” He hesitated before adding, “You’re safe, with me."

Saul’s eyes finally come into focus on Andreas’ face and he visibly relaxed, ragged breaths slowing down.

"How’d you get away?" He asked.

Andreas’ brow furrowed. "What do you mean? I never went anywhere except to rescue your sorry arse.”

Realizing the rest of Saul’s injuries needed to be looked at, that he was probably going delirious from dehydration as well, Andreas reached toward him, his unsteady hand finding his utility belt and releasing it. The belt slid down to the bedroll, giving Andreas access to the bottom hem of Saul’s armored shirt. He yanked it upward, peeling it away from Saul’s side.

He didn't protest, but he circled his fingers around Andreas’ wrist as it poked and prodded at the skin there.

"I saw. I saw you go down—" Saul murmured.

“I didn’t go anywhere. I stayed here, waiting for you to finish the mission,” Andreas paused to stare intently into Saul’s eyes. Trying to communicate his respect, his care, his relief. “We're all okay, Saul. I promise.”

“But last time I almost—”

"We're past that, Saul. I forgave you a long time ago."

After wrapping up his bruises and making sure Saul got a drink, the two sat in silence for a while until Saul got tired. Until he dropped his head down onto Andreas’ shoulder and drifted off.

Andreas didn’t move until the sky grew pink.

[theglitterypages]

Title: Sweetheart Part 2

Pairings: Armin x fem! reader

Part One

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2000+

••••••

“Fix your postures!” you commanded, your hands are on your back as you walk in front of the Cadets. Levi stood behind you with a smirk on his face, he's been a little gentle with the Cadets these days but now that you're back to kick ass with him this would be so fun.

“Kirstein! Straighten up your back!”

Jean immediately obeyed while Connie was staring at you with wide eyes, this was not how they remembered you few days ago, you were soft spoken then, all sweet and all smiles but now they are seeing the tigress that Levi was talking about.

Levi was even more gentle in handling them because Levi rarely shouts yet his words carries heavy emotions but you, you can do both.

“She's the sister of the commander that's why she has the guts but I bet she's all cry and whine if she faced a Titan.”

You have a good sense of hearing and you heard what the Cadet has said about you, it wasn't the first time that someone underestimated you because of your gender and because you're Erwin's sister, it's one of the stereotypes, you don't actually mind but what you heard next took every single strand of patience inside you.

“Bet she's a good screamer in bed.”

Levi balled his hand into a fist, he may call you brat and have endless argumentd with you but he treats you like a sister and hearing the Cadets say those filthy words to you makes his blood boil but then when he saw how you tilted your head in both sides and how your eyes went blank he already knew that you can handle it yourself, you're not a simple girl after all so he let you do what you want.

Your eyes wandered around the Cadets, you were hurt by those comments, you hated being looked down just because they think you had it easy because of your brother when in fact you almost die a lot of times in the past and those wounds from Titan attacks heals in time but those words that serves as daggers stabbing your heart won't.

After a minute of searching you found the pair that you heard, the two men were standing beside Armin Arlert, it would've been a great view if the assholes weren't standing beside him, Armin Arlert's face screams peace, those blue eyes are calming.

“I bet she's been sleeping with the Captain.”

That was the last straw, Armin immediately threw hard punches towards the two guys who are both taller, and probably a couple of years older than him, he had enough of their dirty mouths, he knew that he's not suppose to do that but he couldn't stand them talking shits about you like that, his knuckles got red because of the impact and when he looked down at the two fellow Cadets, both their nose were broken as they lay flat on the ground.

Levi was shocked to see Armin straight up punch his fellow Cadets but he secretly smiled, he knew that the kid is promising. Everybody just need a little push to unleash their demons, seems like Armin Arlert has been unleashed just now.

Eren and Mikasa immediately went beside Armin to put a hand on his shoulders trying to calm him down silently, the blonde teen was heavily breathing, “I was taught by my grandfather to treat women right, you don't talk dirty shits about them like that, respect a woman the way you respect your Mother.” Armin growled through gritted teeth, he's surprised of the damage that he had done to the two men, those broken and bleeding nose gives him some sort of satisfaction but as he tore his blue eyes away from the two, he met your eyes.

You were frozen on your position, you were planning to do punch them first but Armin's action made you stop, you see the blonde guy as a soft one, the type of person who wouldn't even dare hurt a fly but here he is proving that he knows how to throw a good punch, when your gaze met, the anger on his eyes vanished, his face softened as his cheeks turned bright red including both of his ears.

With a small smile you made your way towards them, Connie, Jean and Sasha were standing behind Armin now too, checking up on him, you've deduced that he's like the baby in the group, suits him, he does look like a baby.

You looked down at the Cadets lying on the floor and grabbed their collars so you could lift them off the ground.

Everybody gasped at your action but no one dared to interfere. “I would love to have you two on our squad next expedition but we're the one leading the whole team which means...we're the first one to encounter titans and if we're unfortunate we'll be the first ones to get eaten too. I'll show you how I cry in front of the Titans then.” you let go both of their collars and let them land butt first on the ground.

You turned to Armin and smiled at him genuinely, “I appreciate your efforts for breaking their nose for me, Cadet. Thank you.” you smiled as you pat his head, Armin looked up at you with a smile, his cheeks flaming red, “It's natural human decency, M-Ma'am. No need to thank me.” you smiled at him and pursed your lips before walking away so you could go back to the center of the scouts.

“Captain Levi would take over now.”

Levi stood beside you and the Scouts saluted at him, “Take care of some written reports for me, brat.” he ordered and you nodded as a response as you walked away from the training grounds but before you could even went further, you heard grunts and gasps behind you.

You saw how the sole of Levi's boots collided with the face of the Cadets, you winced and bit your lower lip as you see how Levi kicked them hard.

“I'll make sure you two would learn how to respect your superiors now and women in general.”

You started to feel bad because you're damn sure their jaws would be dislocated because of Levi's signature kick but you remembered that they're assholes and they deserved it so you proceeded to go on and take care of the written reports instead of watching their ass get beaten.

°°°°

It was already dark when you've decided to take a walk to try and breathe some fresh air, you looked up at the dark sky, the moon was shining brightly.

Your eyes settled on the mysterious moon, you've always been fascinated of the moon, when you were a kid you often cry to tell Erwin that the moon is a creep because it keeps on following you, your brother would always hold back his laughter and would assure you that he'll protect you from the moon.

A part of you wishes that you two should've stayed as kids then, your brother has been seeking to find out the truth and as he gets closer to that truth, you're slowly losing him. You immediately wiped a tear away, you should just be happy for your brother and make sure he'll be safe, that would be enough.

You lifted your arms towards the sky as if reaching the moon, it is beautiful yet awfully frightening but the stars cast out those fears, as the stars shine brightly in the night sky you felt at ease and you smiled to yourself before putting your hands back to your pocket. It's getting colder now.

The cold wind embraced your whole and you shivered strands of your hair escaped from your messy hair bun. When the cold was too much for you to handle, wearing thin clothes is not a wise decision so you've decided to go back inside just to hear a hissing nearby, if you're right the hissing comes from the tree nearby.

Out of curiosity you slowly made your way towards the tree, you just silently prayed that it's not Cadets that are making out outside because you've witness a pair making out behind trees before and you wouldn't want it to happen again.

But as you got closer to the tree you confirmed that it wasn't a couple doing something nasty outside, it is an angel silently sitting down.

“Aren't you suppose to be sleeping by this time now?”

Armin's eyes widened as his head snapped on your direction, his mouth gaped open as while his brows raised in surprise. "I c-can't sleep Ma'am.” he stammered and looked away from you, not that he doesn't want to see you, it's just that the thin material that you're wearing is revealing your cleavage. He had to gulp and remind himself that it's not appropriate to look at women like that.

“Mind if I sit down beside you? I couldn't sleep either.”

“I-I don't really mind.”

When your arms accidentally brushed, Armin wanted to flinch but he didn't because he wouldn't want to offend you and when you looked at him you can still see how red his cheeks were even if it's dark. “Thank you for what you did, earlier. I don't really mind such comments anymore, it wasn't the first time and it probably wouldn't be my last either.” you chuckled bitterly, you've worked hard to be a skilled fighter so you could prove to everyone that you're not a woman living as your brother's shadows.

But sometimes life is fucked up, actually most of the time it is fucked up.

“You should inform Commander Erwin about it. I mean they're crossing the line, they're talking as if they know you.”

“How about you, do you know me?”

“It feels like...I do.” he silently whispered as he looked down on his hands, you followed his gaze and your mout gaped open when you saw that there's a bandage covering his knuckles. “By the walls, Armin...w-what happened? You shouldn't have done it, I could've taken care of them myself.” you grabbed his hand and examined it, not that you can see through those bandages but you just feel like doing so.

Armin could've taken away his hands from you but he didn't, feeling your soft skin against his is comforting, he's forgotten that he shed a tear when Mikasa put those bandages around his knuckles, he didn't break any bone but it's red and sore, he's not really cut out for scenarios like that but it was worth it because he was able to defend you at some way, in the little way that he could.

“It's just sore. I'm not really good at punching, you know. I used to get beaten up as a kid, they'll steal my food and Eren and Mikasa would come to rescue me but now, I finally...I finally get to do something for someone.”

“Why didn't you fight back before?”

“Because I can't and I'm not as brave. You know, when I came face to face with a Titan, I—I was frozen. Eren got eaten and it was fortunate that he's alive.”

You didn't notice that you stared caressing his knuckles as you listened but it seems ljke he doesn't notice too so you let it be, “But look at you now, I've heard from Erwin that you're a smart one. You've figured out who is the female titan right?” Armin looked at you and his blue eyes widened in shock as he saw how close you two were.

He knew that in one wrong move he can finally know how would it feel to have your lips press against his, if he'll move his head forward maybe he can feel how soft those lips are.

But he stayed back, he respects you. He's attracted to you but he knows his boundaries, his grandfather told him to grow up as a gentleman and all that and he thinks of Mikasa, if Mikasa would be treated so inappropriate by a man he wouldn't like that, he wouldn't like that to happen to his sister.

That's why he would behave himself around you and he'll choose to be contented of just staring at you, it's more than enough.

“W-Well it was a gamble and I was already late...it was—”

You kissed his cheek to shut him up. The poor guy looked at you as his whole face reddened, both his ears flaming up.

“W-Why d-did you do that?” he whispered as he looked away.

“I just want to. Can you promise me one thing?” you asked as you leaned away, Armin looked at you with curiosity before he opened his mouth to respond, “It depends, make me promise something that I can fulfill.” he told you. When he promised someone, he'll always make sure that he can fulfill because he hates it when promises are broken and he wouldn't want to break any promise to anyone, especially to you.

“Each one of us has our own expertise, I want you to focus on yours and if you find yourself in a fucked up situation, don't hesitate to go to me, call out my name or somethin', I have your back now, Armin.”

“Then call out my name too if you need me.” Armin told you bravely, he doesn't have any idea why he felt this way but the moment he saw you after bumping into you, he already know that he's attracted, he told Eren about it, Eren teased him and he's not amused, not that he hates it but he's afraid that you'll hear.

He often watch you from afar, most of the times you are found with the Captain, probably why some thinks the two of you are in a relationship but as you sat beside him under the moonlight, his heart was filled of hope.

“Good night then, sweetheart.” you whispered as you gently press your lips on his cheeks again, as usual, he was frozen and you stood up to walk away so you could go back inside already.

Armin followed you with his gaze as a sweet smile made its way across his lips, his eyes sparking with glee.

“Good night, sweetheart.” he whispered.

[hellodolleyes]

///Wind and Thunder///

///-"It's Okay, I'm Here Now"-///

" . · . -? " Klyde stirred in his sleep, unwilling to part with the void after the grueling day he just had; but whatever force was trying to pull him to the surface was persistent. " . . de? ... Klyde?" Kyde grumbled lowly as the white noise suddenly formed into words, he opened his eyes cautiously to reveal the dark ceiling of his room.

Confusion crossed his face as he turned his head towards the alarm clock on his side table.

3:45 am

He nearly forgot what had woken him in the first place, that was until the small voice spoke up again. "Klyde...? Are.. Are you awake?".

The man in question jumped slightly at the voice, its tone leaking restraint, as if afraid to be speaking in the first place. He took his time sitting up and crossing his legs before leaning over the side of his bed to find the voices owner.

Shocked, the form took a cautionary step back before regaining his composure. "...Misso?" Klyde said questioningly before shaking his head and rubbing his eyes "Misso, do you have any idea how early it is?"

Misso had to gather himself before he could speak again, Klyde's morning voice had caught him off guard. It was throaty and low, and here he thought his voice couldn't get any deeper.

"Uh.. Y-yeah.. And I'm sorry, I really didn't want to wake you.. I swear. It's... It's just..." Misso cut himself off, he didn't know exactly what drove him to travel all the way to Klyde's room. Other than the strange impending doom feeling that was slithering its way tightly around his chest.. He didn't know how to put it into words as he looked pitifully back up into the patient dark hazel eyes that stared him over.

Klyde let a sigh escape him, as he extended a hand down to Misso. Without hesitation, Misso took hold of one of his fingers and allowed himself to be gently lifted up to the bed. He was softly set down onto one of Klyde's thighs as another hand cupped itself behind him. He leaned back into the other hand, glad for the support.

"Is everything okay?" Klyde asked after Misso had settled himself into a comfortable position. He watched and felt as Misso pushed himself harder back into his hand in reaction to the question.

"Well... I just.. Haven't seen you since this morning.. And I know you probably had a rough day since you went to bed s-so early.." He stammered out, causing Klyde to worry; he usually never struggled to speak so much, and it left Klyde wondering if he had upset him somehow with the way he was acting.

"Yeah.. I did have a little bit of a rough day. It was nothing I can't handle though" He admitted, but didn't go into detail.

He had been all over the place that day, usually being one to work from home he wasn't prepared to be called into a meeting. Shit hit the fan, a party of three employees were laundering money, and a bunch of shift changes were taking place. He had to write up termination papers and launch an investigation.

And on top of it all some idiot had broken into the shop the night prior and ruined a bunch of perfectly good fabric by throwing red paint all over it. Klyde wasn't one to bash animal rights activists but every roll of fabric they ruined was synthetic!

...

He must have been wearing an unpleasant expression as he reflected on the day since Misso tensed up.

Klyde tried his best to soften his gaze, and expressed an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry I brought it up..." Misso said quietly, looking down at his hands.

"It's okay Strawberry" Klyde replied, softly rubbing his friends back with one of his fingers in an attempt to convey that he wasn't bothered.

He then paused briefly, as the usual objection to the nickname never came. Instead Misso just kept looking down, and Klyde could feel him shaking against his hand.

"...Misso..?" He called quietly, reaching his free hand to Misso's front. Quickly Misso placed his hands upon one of Klyde's knuckles as if to deter him.

"I'm sorry I called you Strawberry, Misso. I didn't think it would upset you so much..?"

"It, it's not the stupid n-nickname, I-I, I just.. I'm not feeling 100% right now.. I.. I don't know why... I don't know..." Misso's words began to trail off as he tried to continue "C-can I... Would it.. Would it bother you if I stayed in here tonight?" He finally forced himself to say.

Klyde felt something akin to being punched in the gut as something wet fell onto his knuckle, he immediately realized that Misso was having an episode. He felt stupid, it was so obvious with the way he had been acting.. It had been so long since his last one that the signs had nearly passed him by.

"Misso, don't be silly, of course you can stay with me tonight." He answered quietly, shifting his hands to wrap them around the Strawberry blonde who squeaked in surprise. "I really don't mind, please don't feel troubled to ask me something like that." He continued, just barely pressing both of his thumbs into Misso's chest.

Slowly, Misso raised his arms to embrace Klyde's thumbs as he finally looked back up, teary blue eyes finding the calm rested face of his giant friend looking down at him with pure concern.

Misso finally broke under that gaze as he leaned into the hand hug completely, breaking down into sobs as he lost any strength he had left to fight against the torrent.

"Misso" Klyde whispered his friends name as he watched all of his tension unfold. "I'm so sorry I left you alone all day.. I know you don't like that... I should have at least said hi when I got home." He said in regret as Misso held onto him tighter.

"It's okay, I'm here now, and I won't be going anywhere tomorrow." He concluded, lifting Misso, who's shaking breath hitched at the sudden yet careful movement.

Misso felt only slightly disoriented as Klyde then pressed him up against his chest, supporting his legs and back so he wouldn't fall.

He took the opportunity to clutch at Klyde's shirt and burry his face into his chest as he continued crying. Misso genuinely hated being alone in Klyde's home, not because he couldn't handle being alone, but because he was almost always terrified that Klyde might never come back.

He knew it was silly at this point, he knew Klyde would never purposefully abandon him... But what if something out of his control happened? Misso would be none the wiser, and utterly helpless if he tried to find out why Klyde was gone.

All he could do was fear each and every scenario that came to him when left with his thoughts, and it only made him cry harder as they came back to him.

'What if something happened to you while you were gone?'

'What if someone breaks in while your gone?'

'How would I reach you if something happens?'

His head swam.

"Misso" Klyde's voice reverberated through his chest, and subsequently through Misso's body as he spoke; it caused the small man to inhale deeply with a shudder... Such a strong feeling being brought on by not only hearing, but feeling his name being called. He didn't know what to think of it, as Klyde had never held him this closely before.

"I know what you're feeling is scary... I couldn't imagine being in your situation myself." He continued "and though I may never know how it feels, I want you to know that no matter the situation, I will be here for you. I will make sure you're taken care of, and I will catch you if you fall." Klyde spoke softly, removing one of his hands from Misso as he lay down slowly.

Misso spread himself out a bit more with gravity keeping him firmly in place now, while welcoming the weight and warmth of the hand that still rested on top of him.

"I may have been gone all day today, and once more, I'm sorry for leaving you with your fear. But now, I'm here for you, and I'm not letting you go. Okay?"

Misso's sobs had turned into shuddering whimpers as he tried to regain his composure. However, he could utter no more than a simple "okay" back to Klyde, sure that any other words would only make himself cry more.

Misso moved his head to press the side of his face into the fabric of the t-shirt, he sniffled, appreciating the effort Klyde made to be supportive during his break down..

"Klyde.... I'm sorry" he murmured, but was gently shushed.

"Shhhh, Misso. Misso everything's alright, I promise."

"..Klyde.." Misso said again in quiet gratitude.

Klyde continued whispering silent reassurances to the strawberry blonde that huddled on top of him, never removing his hand or making sharp movements. He felt accomplished at being able to calm Misso down so quickly, but also ridden with guilt that he was the sole cause of it.

He wouldn't forgive himself so easily for it... But hearing the soft 'thank you' from his small friend made him feel a little bit better knowing he helped in some way.

Misso's whimpering eventually fell silent as he focused on his own breathing... But more than ever, he listened to Klyde's.

The sound of his breaths, they seemed so powerful to his, and the sound of his heart was like a rhythmic drum. It made him feel as small as he was... But the thought didn't bother him so much right then.

Misso's eye lids fell heavily as Klyde stroked his back with a thumb, and before long he dozed off to the sound of wind and thunder.

[glitterge1pen]

What Station Is Playing?

tw; for general body injuries (nothing too explicit but that stuff can be icky and I hate blood and bandaids 2 dude)

Keigo Takami x reader, sfw, fluff, word count 1,623

You felt heavy and light at the same time. You tried to move, to open your mouth, but you were so tired and exhausted. For a brief moment your eyes fluttered open. Sounds filtered in for just a moment.

White, hospital white and blue. You were laying on your back, eyes on the ceiling. You cast your gaze down and see Hawks. He's frantic in his motions, trying to communicate with a nurse.

There are multiple doctors and nurses around you. Little clinks of metal, beeping of machines. But you focus on Hawks as best you can.

"I can't let you stay back here, this is for family and spouses only, you'll have to stay in the general waiting area out front"

Hawks hands fumbled around each other like they could help him properly grasp his words.

"But I'm, I'm-"

Then you're gone again.

☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　

The next time you are able to maintain consciousness, it is only because of the pain. Your body was in so much physical pain. Some of the bruises were still forming on your skin, so prominent you felt every inch of sore muscle. A twitch causes your skin to rub against your heavily bandaged arms, the scabs and blood send tingles of pain all over. You sit in silence, blinking yourself awake trying to collect your thoughts.

“Took you long enough”

Hawk’s voice was rough. Like someone had ran his voice through a metal drain and then let it sit in the desert sun without water.

“Hm”

Is the only thing you can manage to respond with.

“You should have waited for back up”

Oh right. Your memories started to click together in your head. You were the only hero in the area who could respond in time. You went alone. You had been evacuating civilians from a window when there was an explosion. Then there was the fight.

You turned away from him. A hot angry feeling boiling in your chest, so striking that it surpassed the physical pain you were feeling. This was your job, you had signed up for this. You knew. You didn't want a lecture or his pity. Especially after just having woken up in the hospital.

“If you had just waited a few more minutes before running off,”

That searing bubble of rage in you threatened to pop. But you had no energy to do so, no energy to snap back at him, to tell him off because how many times had he done this exact thing? Been in that exact situation? A wide breath opened up your chest as you attempted to speak.

“Water”

The sound of your voice surprised you. It was so raspy, so small. Hawks also seemed shocked by it. He was immediate in your request though, quickly reaching to the counter where water was waiting for you. He had to help you drink. He was tense, rigid in his movements, making sure not to disturb you.

☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　　

Several days had passed and a multitude of visitors had passed through your hospital room. No one ever stayed very long because of how weakened you still were. The only serious injury you had was your broken wrist. But you had deep cuts on some parts of your body that had required stitches. The simplest acts opened up smaller cuts that littered your limbs.

Your non-dominant hand was in pretty bad shape too. It hurt to curl your fingers around your eating utensils. You were sure there would be tiny scars on your knuckles, because every action of your fingers opened the wounds. There were clusters of different sized scabs on your palms. Like a child who had played too rough outside in the summer.

Most of the time you spent sleeping. Occasionally waking up to the dim sound of the radio that the house keeping had one while cleaning the room and the rooms around you. Hawks came by often. You weren't sure how long he stayed but he always opened the curtains before he left.

Once, at night you had awoken to one of the cuts breaking open on your leg. You hissed in pain trying to soothe yourself, you must have turned over in your sleep, disturbing the injury. There out in the bright floursents of the hallway was red. Hawks red. Hawks wings red. The door to your room was agar just enough that you could spot his wings. He must have been sitting out in the hall. Before you fell asleep again you wondered if he was sleeping as well.

☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　

“You’re total shit at this”

Hawks said as he twirled new bandages around your arm.  

“Yeah, you wrapping my hand has nothing to do with my broken wrist”

You said dryly. It was early afternoon. A breeze flowing through the window, cooling off the stuffy hospital room.  This was the first day that you had stayed up this long without taking a nap. You were especially sore though and hoped that you would become sleepy again soon, you didn't want to feel so physically defeated for this long.

“I shouldn't have told you, I shouldn't have told you,”

Hawks repeated himself as he got a footing on his words.

“That you should have waited. You did the right thing. Anyone else would have done the same. I was scolding you, and I’m in no position to do that to you, especially right after you woke up. I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

Your cheeks were burning. It was like he had lifted the lid off a boiling pot of water and all the steam was rushing towards you. While he was usually honest, he was rarely so blatantly genuine in his words.

“Thanks”

☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　

It was late. You could tell from the way the air moved outside. The moon shone brightly illuminating the room in a soft milky blue hue. You sat up slowly. You weren't tired for the first time since being in the hospital. You felt awake. It was a gentle ‘awake’ though.

You tilted your head towards the hall hoping to see that flash of red. He was there.

“Hawks”

You whisper yelled, it made you feel much younger. Like you were hiding something from a prying teacher. He did not stir from his place out in the hall though. You tried again, a little louder this time.

“Hawks!”

He jerked up, reacting as if you had called for help instead of just the whisper you had given him. Rushing into the room he was at your bedside prepared to take orders from you.

“Do you hear that?”

He seemed stunned by how quiet you were speaking. But he followed along.

“What?”

“Listen?”

Realizing that you weren't in some sort of danger his shoulders relaxed and he let out a cautious sigh.

“What?”

He said more urgently now.

“The radio. What are they playing?”

“I don't know, I can barely hear it”

You had your hands on his shoulders. Using him to help you move closer to the edge of the bed.

“Help me”

He tried to stop you.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting up, help me”

He looked away in thought, but turned back to help you. Once your feet were on the cold tiles you couldn't bring yourself to let go of his shoulders. You were afraid you would falter in steadiness.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes”

You stood there unsure of what to do now that you were on the ground. How to move was temporarily forigen. You picked one of your feet up before setting it back down. Then did the same with your other. You pushed your heel back. Then turned your body. Hawks followed the motion moving with you.

You were deliberate at first. Your legs stiff, anticipating the dread of your wounds. But no pain like that came. It actually felt refreshing to be roaming the room like this. Hawks reached for your waist when you had stumbled over your ankle. His hands hovered here, touching, then not touching, as you swayed with a mellow tenderness.

You had your eyes closed not wanting to look at him, not sure what his expression would tell you, but also because it made it easier to concentrate on the distant music. You tried to keep up with the song that was playing, your steps getting a little more complex the more you moved.

“Are we dancing?”

“Yes”

You state in a whisper, opening your eyes to see a timid Hawks, or as timid as he could appear to you. It was more like he was scared of something, like he was going to hurt you by dancing like this.

“Twirl me once and then I’ll go back to the bed”

He was taken aback by this. You were gradual with the removal of your hands from his shoulders. To show him that you were stable on your own feet. His wings fanned out as he took your hand in his. It was a passive rise to the air. He was considerate, making sure that your arm would not get twisted. You hold tighter to his palm as you picked up your leg ever so slightly. Then there was the careful spin.

His shoes were loud on the tile when the hovering stopped. That click sound of his soles on the ground was awakening. You were suddenly aware of the weight of your body, the bandages on your skin, the itch of the stitches and scabs. Exhaustion came over you like a clean sheet down onto a mattress.

“Okay now help me back into the bed”

☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾

A/N: Wrote a lot of original content stuff this week and boy oh boy was that draining. Writing stuff like this is a real break from my other more serious stuff that still allows me to feel like “hey I wrote today” , going to drink orange juice and play supermonkey ball. Also as usual, no, I did not edit this :) 

[smol-nevi]

I don't generally make this kind of thing a habit, but I think if you happen to be on the Crystal RP Discord, aka @crystal-rp-ffxiv, you should probably be aware of this kind of behavior, so here goes.

If you're on Crystal RP and the admin team decides they don't like you, you're going to be living under a microscope while they wait for you to mess up, if not bait you, probably while making up conspiracies about you as well. As for how I know this, I was a moderator for about a week's duration and saw it first-hand.

Unapologetically lengthy post. Receipts in the link above, long version below the cut.

From the first time I looked in the mod chat I knew something was wrong. I read backwards in the channel, thinking I'd acclimate myself and see what kind of rules precedents had been set and that sort of thing. I mostly just found out that they had it out for a particular member (at the time using the name Jericho) for not much reason. They'd spent a troubling amount of time over the past few months watching him and another member like vultures, believing them to be the same person and waiting for them to make some kind of mistake that would justify banning both of them...despite keeping different schedules, having different personalities and typing habits, and visibly being two different people. The admin team had come to the conclusion that Jericho was a troll who wanted to make them look bad, and anything he said or did was scrutinized to a ridiculous degree for evidence that would corroborate their belief.

Except none of the things they believed at all were true: he'd had a minor argument via DM with the head admin Benjimir Thursby's wife, Tessariel Aerlinn, who had made an overly broad statement about anime and Asian culture. Jericho had told her that overgeneralization about 'Asian culture' is potentially racist, and she became extremely angry, saying that because she's Asian, she can't be racist against Asians. After that, it seemed that Jericho was considered fair game for whatever retaliatory actions the two of them could justify.

Even a cursory glance at actual racism in Asia pokes Tessariel's statement entirely full of holes, and having personally read the conversation I didn't see anything actually inaccurate in his statement even if she believed it didn't apply to her. I asked what he had done that would merit such a response, because it felt very disproportionate to anything I'd ever seen him do publicly, and that was what I was told. The exchange via DMs had been screencapped and kept in a channel for evidence, and while I didn't get a copy of it, I did read it, and I said that I thought it sounded awfully one-sided and punitive and would have been much better as an actual conversation. I also expressed that I was concerned how much of the channel had been solely devoted to what was basically a witch hunt, considering that some of the server members had over the course of the past couple of months commented that the admins' behavior towards Jericho seemed biased.

I basically got a pat on the head and told that my opinion was "valued" but wrong. This would happen a lot over the course of the week.

Shit continued to escalate. Their favorite punching bag, who was acutely aware of the grudge by now and probably trying to be nice and discuss something that he thought they could all talk about, brought up some articles that stated that LOTRO might be having a graphical overhaul. This actually ended in him being put into some kind of time-out mute, because "everyone knows those articles are debunked already" despite them still being hosted on reputable games news sites. Back-channel, the admin consensus was that he was in fact trying to bait Benjimir and Tessariel into somehow looking stupid in public, because [paraphrasing] 'he knows how important LOTRO is to them.'

Benjimir in fact went off publicly about how he knows the dev team and they sent him 'personalized swag' for 'being himself' and that everyone should just listen to him because he's right. Someone else made a reasonable request for sources on statements that Benjimir made about the LOTRO improvements not happening, and they immediately became the team's private #2 punching bag.

The whole time I reiterated that this was really uncomfortable and I had serious concerns about the way they were handling Jericho. And as always I received a pat on the head and was told to not worry about it, there were really good reasons for it, really. He was 'bringing down the quality of discourse' on the server somehow. Benjimir decided that the only way he would unmute Jericho is if Jericho talked directly to him, and that Jericho tried to talk to any of the more level-headed members of the team first was taken as obvious evidence that he wanted to evade rules and create problems. I asked when we planned to unmute him, and Tessariel immediately jumped to the conclusion that he had messaged me, which wasn't incorrect but the way she worded it felt highly accusatory and I was beginning to feel that I was also in trouble somehow for not agreeing with the rest of the team.

Things came to a head quickly when I woke up and looked at the mod chat and they were having an animated conversation that started with Benjimir asking if it was 'bad that he was laughing at Jericho' and most of the rest of the team talking about how he was stupid, uninformed, a troll, etc. for the sin of having some misgivings about cryptocurrency, of all the things. One of the mods self-described their behavior as bullying. I said that this was extremely unprofessional and that I thought they should keep conversation to actual moderation matters, and if they had a personal disagreement with a server member they should handle it in a personal venue, not via official server moderation channels.

I was, for the final time, patted on the head, and told that this was not something they would consider, because the moderation team 'needs to be able to vent for their mental health' (never mind that the job was not stressful except for the rest of the team committing worse behavior than the server members) and that maybe I was in fact too sensitive for the job. Benjimir heavily implied that I had become too close to Jericho and was being manipulated, managed to misgender me somehow despite my having used solely male or neutral pronouns the entire time I'd been on the server, and after relating a story in which a couple of years ago a well-liked moderator left after having the same complaints as I did (which he saw nothing at all troubling about), suggested that I should be demoted to babysitting the lore channel.

So I took some time to collect receipts, which are linked at the top of the post, and told him where to shove it.

Since that time, things have actually somehow gotten worse on Crystal RP. Benjimir posted an entire page screed vaguely talking about "rampant negativity" that stated anyone with questions should DM him.

Upon DMing him with questions, Jericho was banned, the only reason given being that he was a 'poor fit' for the server in some vague way. I was immediately banned afterwards for calling out this decision as being driven by a personal vendetta in the feedback channel and let him know afterwards via DMs in no uncertain terms that I had logged everything I needed and would be building my case (and that he is an asshole). Jericho was reinstated, though I'm not sure what the conditions of his return were as that was after my ban and I didn't ask since I didn't want to stress him out further. Benjimir also reprimanded someone for discussing asexuality, stating in a DM to them that the conversation was somehow ERP related. I called him out on this via DM as well. Tessariel was not much later caught posting my last DMs to Benjimir in an entirely unrelated server, though she didn't include the part after that where I brought up his aphobia (during Pride Month, in a server with a rainbow icon no less). Benjimir for some reason decided to suddenly start following my FC's Tumblr well after our falling-out.

And as of today (6/24), Crystal RP now has seven pages of draconian rules, because it wasn't micromanaged hard enough before or something. Notably, a lot of these rules describe behaviors that they wanted to punish Jericho for but couldn't at the time justify, or that they'd like to punish me for but have nothing they can do to me. Or they exist to justify their own behavior, as now seen in the very beginning of the channel:

"This approach also provides our volunteers with leeway to act in good faith without the burden befitting a professional occupation."

"So we afford them the means to speak openly, vent, lament, candidly and yes, sometimes crassly and raw about everything and one."

Not only did they behave unprofessionally and shit-talk before, they have now encoded in the rules that this is acceptable and even good moderator behavior, because they saw someone else do it so it's fine (a lot of this wording is very similar to what I was told when I protested it). So rather than address anything I ever said past or present, Benjimir is choosing to double down and giving himself and his team explicit permission to be shitty, right in the opening paragraphs where you'd have expected a mission statement or at least some sort of welcome.

Which is about all you need to know about that server and its owners, in my estimation. I'd considered not even posting to Tumblr about it, but given that it's only getting worse, I think it should be generally known that this is how you can expect to potentially be treated.

[shyrose57]

Brothers anon, sorry this keeps taking me a while to send, been very busy lately.

He only had a hunch at first he was his ancestor but later talking with Karl confirmed it. I have yet to decide, I think he probably will just so I can focus more on the current events and not his past. 

He solely relys on his instincts when around other endermen. Although when around Ran he relys more on his social interaction skills. Though he still does certain things (like no eye contact, he leaves two blocks for Ran as a show of care and harmlessness, and sometimes warbling at Ran) due to his instincts. For other enderman it generally works out well, they mostly leave Ranboo alone anyway. But for Ran, he doesn't care much.

He is aware of Enderwalk Ranboo, mostly cause Phil warned him about it. His interactions with Enderwalk Ranboo are mostly Enderwalk Ranboo entering his room and trying to get close to Ran only for Ran to really full heartily growl and lash out at him when he gets close. Then Enderwalk Ranboo whines and leaves. Ranboo is hesitant but welcoming and open to Ran all the time, mostly because holy shit its another enderman hybrid, he thought he was the only one! And Ranboo can tell the two share a bit of similarities but mostly just thinks its because there both enderman hybrids. 

Karl manages to convince the Artic Commute to leave the two alone and once they leave starts to question Ran. Only to pretty often get cut off by him asking a retaliation question. Ran is angry and desperately wants to know everything, Karl is scared and wants to know everything Ran knows. So they eventually come to a agreement where Karl asks a question, Ran answers then he asks a question and Karl answers that. After a while of this they come to an agreement to wait til Ran is fully healed to start to find a way to get him back. And in the meantime Karl'll explain his timetravel stuff and how Ran got here, hoping to get the Commute to agree to help them find a way to get Ran home. 

A mix of annoyed, angry, relieved, and homesick (cause Tubbo reminds him of Jackie). Bit of both, he wants to know whats going on and where Ran came from, but is also just curious about the other hybrid. Tubbo heads to the Artic cause Ranboo hasn't been over at all in weeks, keeps saying he's to busy and how something interesting happened at the Artic. So Tubbo gets tired of it and decides to head over to find out whats keeping Ranboo from visiting. Ye medic Eret, I was originally thinking of medic Bad but I think I may try to include the Egg in this somewhere so he's not a option. They have a mutual relationship, no one there really has a reason to dislike him or to heavily like him, but they all get along whenever they meet. Eret learns by Phil contacting him for help, cause while Techno and Phil both know some health knowledge they don't know enough to properly treat Ran and make the call to call in Eret to help, both trusting them enough to keep this secret between all of them. Karl learns because of Eret actually, Eret comes to Karl for help to see if he has any enderman biology books and half handly mention how a enderman needs help, leading to Karl asking if its Ranboo or Edward, the no he gets in response alarms him enough to back Eret into a corner and force him to tell him who was there that needed help. All Eret said was a dark enderman with green eyes, which reminds Karl of Ran and gets him panicked enough to go see if its him. Tubbo knows cause he gets impatient of waiting for Ranboo to vist so he vists with no warning, leading to him meeting Ran while looking for Ranboo. Its kept hush hush cause their all unsure of how the rest of the SMP would react to having Ran there, especially when it's revealed he's from the future. 

He did. He's not having fun. Karl used too but not anymore since he's time travled so much he's gotten used to it.

Partially, he understands all common though is only able to speak a medium amount, mostly due to his mouth and vocal cords are just unable to make some words or sounds needed to speak it. When that happens they basically play charades. He is still Technos roommate and is happily helping Ranboo in anyway he can. 

------------------------

They steal anything they can get their grubby hands on. It actually goes pretty well as well shockingly. They mostly steal anything that looks expensive, though they manage to find a bunch of raw material like gold, iron, and even diamonds and steal all of that. And they get far enough no one can find them at first. 

Thats exactly what happened, they make eye contact, hear a ruckus from nearby, make eye contact again, then fucking book it away from the sounds. 

The most trouble the group makes is when Grievous makes fun of Porkums hat and gets punched for it. 

Honestly with all the wars and battles that go on in the SMP he probably doesn't even bat a eye, its probably normal for him. 

First thing Jackie does is complain about everyone being taller than him. I imagine Pogtopia being abandoned for years hasn't left it in a very stable state. So Jackie just steps in the wrong place and gets sent tumbling down, with rocks falling after trapping him. 

All happened after they met Karl, but all happened at different times. So for example, the Wild West where thrown back 3 years after meeting Karl. While for the Haunted Mansion crew, they where thrown back months after meeting Karl. Even though they've all met him before their reactions are slightly different depending on how long ago they met Karl. Again for example Sherman and Jon Jon greeted Karl like a old friend and were happy to see him again. While all of the Haunted Mansion crew greeted Karl with questions as they more recently saw him so didn't feel the need to say hello. Cause Isaac and Karl are both in Kinoko Kingdom, where Karl holds all of his books about the time travel journeys, Karl is able to bring Isaac to the books and show him the City of Mizu Book, along with the others that explain who they people he was with where. Plus Isaac just doesnt really have a reason to not believe Karl as he has never lied to him or anything.

Im guessing you mean after the search party is formed, then its actually Ran found first since he's so close. Karl has to try to convince Ran to join them so they can count him as found and then take him to a holding type area. Ran refuses at first and Karl gives him a ultimatum that he either goes with them and gets to go home or stays here forever. He eventually agrees to come with if he gets to search with them, and reluctantly Karl agrees. Karl does what any of the Tales people joining them on their search, but much to his dismay more people insist on joining them. Ran also actually has information on the Bandits but refuses to give it until they find Jackie, cause he has a bad feeling that something happened to him. Ran actually has his left hand bandaged cause a massive piece of glass went through his hand. Jackie will eventually get his arm in a sling due to a broken bone. Ranbulter and James suffer hypothermia and have to be taken care of by Bad (the Egg doesn't exist in this au). Zack slips trying to get away from the Bandits and twists his ankle. Sherman breaks a finger trying to get out of the ravine. And Benjamin gets a slash on his leg after trying to run from Drowned and getting grazed by the trident. Both sides goals are getting back home. Though it's harder for the Tales cause not all of them get along. Karl gets worn down over time and slowly becomes more distressed and hopeless about getting them home. And all the stress builds up til he just snaps and sadly, quite a few people are in the line of fire when he snaps.

From Future To Past AU:

What led to him suspecting Ranboo to be his ancestor?

Do certain blocks have certain meanings, then? For Endermen?

Enderboo sounds very sad and put-out. How is he generally in this AU, seeing as Phil's aware of his existence at the least? How does Ran feel about his visits, and what are his thoughts on when it happens? Are Ender hybrids rare in general, if he's so surprised to see another one?

How'd Karl convince him? How do the two currently view each other, and what were their previous interactions beforehand, if Ran's reaction to him was so upset, and Karl was spooked? How do they get along after?

How does the rest of the Arctic react to Tubbo's presence, and how do our two Endermen feel about the possible tension-considering Ranboo's closeness to Tubbo, and Ran being reminded of Jackie. What are you thinking, egg-wise? Why does Eret go to Karl for books? Is his library well-known?

So Karl could possibly help Ran out with the effects? Or is at least aware of them? Or no?

Charades with them all sounds like so much fun, honestly. Can you imagine it?? And good! We need more Edward around!

---------------------

Tip Of The Iceberg AU:

Good for them. Do they end up having to return the stuff later, or no?How does it go when Las Nevadas realizes who the thieves are?

Common sense isn't dead! Huzzah! Absolutely hilarious image though.

Good for Porkums, honestly.

That is also true! And really funny image, once again. Eret's just like- 'ah, my window, mysteriously broken. Again. Absolutely shocking. Whatever will I do.' Completely deadpan while they pull out supplies from a chest kept nearby for this exact thing.

Everyone else: Where are we? Are we in danger? What happened?

Jackie: How dare you all be taller than me.

That's not good though. How do they and the others react to that?

Have certain events of the Tales been altered then? Seeing as some of them would be dead otherwise? Or were they revived when they were thrown back in time?

How do all the Smp members react to these random people who popped up seeming to know Karl? 'never lied to him' implies Issac knows Karl a bit more beyond just meeting him now, so what's with that? Is he just naturally trusting of him, or do they know each other?

How does that first interaction go, not just between Karl and Ran, but with the others with them? What information does he have on the bandits, and how did he get it? Similar past as before, seeing as Jackie remains so important to him?

Poor Tales. None of them are having fun, huh? Where are they all housed after this, and what are relationships like as of now? Do the groups stick together from era, or with whoever they just get along with best? How do they interact with certain Smp members?

And what happens both during and in the aftermath of Karl snapping?

[teddy-feathers]

Prompt from @moss-flowers-trees not exactly fulfilled.

Up to No Good

-

Now it was well known that across the multiverse there was no Papyrus lazier than Stretch. After all, most took him as nothing more than a 'swapped' personality of Classic Sans and his brother.

That was their - a collective term here referring in a general way to the entirety of the multiverse and all of the alternates - first mistake.

Because a swapped Papyrus was still a Papyrus and all Papyri enjoyed a good jape.

Their second mistake was, as always, underestimating his brother.

Blue was a Sans in the way Stretch was a Papyrus, and from day one had resented being underestimated. Credit where its do, no one could do shenanigans like a Sans, especially his brother. It was as admirable as it was terrifying.

The last was more of a fortuitous boon, luck if one really wanted to be so crass, then a mistake on anyone's part and that was no one spoiled the fun.

So to set the stage, to really understand just how priceless the current situation of a nightmare carnival mirror image of him frothing in rage, you have to go back to the beginning.

Not the very beginning - though any good story should perhaps start there - for the sake of time, argument, and a joke that will only grow stale for having to wait for it, let it be assumed for the moment that Stretch is the center of the universe the second he and his brother stumble into a room full of strikingly unfamiliar faces in some sort of mirror maze of 'what ifs' and 'could have beens'.

Papyrus - one of many now, always? Apparently. - zones out, empty sockets not giving away his unfocused attention as Not his Brother Sans reluctantly and with much prodding from a much more handsome and friendly reflection Papyrus explains something about Universal Causality. What homeowners insurance had to do with this bowl of Flowey Flakes they found themselves in he missed, but at some point someone had pointed out that they couldn't all share the same name without even the most friendly of them wanting to dust the others like some bad Highlander reboot.

His brother, Blue now - cleverly claiming the Sans favorite color as his own - nudges him from a lovely little daydream back into the existential nightmare that was the current universe, and Papyrus folds his fingers together and lifts them above his head tilting this way with that until his back pops. This is met with disgusted looks from many faces around the room - most of them his own - and he slumps back comfortably into his hoodie. "Guess I'll go by Stretch."

Several voices protest of course, because life from now on was going to be lived by committee.

"Well That is certainly... unique Orange Me." Says Putting a Positive Spin on This With All His Might Papyrus - or Creampuff as he'd agreeably allowed Edgelord Papyrus to dub him.

"It is Ridiculous is what it Is." Protests the version of his brother that had wandered into a Hot Topic and had never left. "It doesn't Fit with the Already Established naming convention!"

It was times like this that he - The Papyrus who was going by Stretch for Spite now - was glad he had never bothered with the magic expenditure that was eyelights. Meant no one could see him roll his eyes.

There was no Convention - no real pattern for the group as a whole or even just through the pairs. Classic Sans - named such for his outdated old man jokes no doubt - seems to notice all the same and huffs out a laugh. "gotta say buddy, kinda agree - name like that seems like a stretch."

Blue looks as cross as Stretch feels but it would take someone who knew him well to see it. He grabs onto Strectch's arm in a show of solidarity and asks "Brother, why did you choose such a Unique name?" The way he says unique stands in tonal counterpoint to how Creampuff had said it, and Stretch smiles down at his older brother discarding the first three responses that come to mind.

No need to make his brother worry, or get labeled as the Depressing Papyrus right out the door - even if none of this did matter. "Cause bro, I'm the tallest one here."

Of course his brother immediately catches on, lights going to stars in a way that brightens his expression both figuratively and literally. "Nyeh heh heh of Course! How very Astute of you Stretch!"

Immediately several voices raise in protest, and boy did his own voice sound worse when amplified and played back a half dozen times, but it was worth it when his Blues cuts across the din to add with sly earnestness "I Knew my brother was the Coolest!"

This of course started a whole new argument that derailed the last and the rest should have been history.

But of course some part of him just couldn't let it go.

A universal constant for Papyri apparently was a vicious strain of competitiveness. And while Stretch could have let the jape die, it was nice to have something - no matter how fake - to lord over the other Oh So Talented versions of himself.

Literally in some cases.

Creampuff, if not a Perfect host, was unfailing in his attempts to fulfill that responsibility while the whole living arrangement situation was dealt with, that when Stretch's insomnia got the better of him he'd inevitably pop into the kitchen just to grab something off the top shelf for his better mirror's ungodly hours Breakfast Prep.

This was particularly satisfying as Creampuff apparently put everything up on the very top shelves and with the whole lot of them living there, something inevitably ended up pushed to the very back that he just Had to have. It was child's play - minus the murderer possessed doll - to time things that Stretch's arm could slip over his and pull done the item before he had a chance to grab it. Add that to some casual comment about the perks of being tall and...

It was inevitable that Edgy Mc My Chemical Romance would catch wind of the ongoing shenanigans. And unlike Creampuff who tried hard and was generally likable despite his Arrogance - another trait shared by those who shared his face . Edgelord didn't have a redeeming bone in his body. Made him insufferable... and a particularity sweet target for tomfoolery.

So when at some dinner or another that they all agreed to go to on occasion after they'd gotten their own places, and Edge once more started in about how obviously he was the Superior Specimen of the Skeleton Species, well Stretch wasn't going to take that lying down.

Or, well, he was laying on the Fell - the call sign they'd agreed to for their universe - Bro's couch. But he had lifted his hand and said in a deliberately matter of fact dry tone, "Not the tallest though."

It was like he had murdered their damn cat (who was a friendly surface beasty... if you didn't mind being considered a scratching post). Edge sputtered in rage and had dragged him upright by force, while Stretch uncooperative hug heavily like a rag doll in his unphased grip.

If Creampuff was the Handsome Papyus than Edge was the Strong Papyrus, it would have been easy to hate him just for that if he didn't so obligingly make himself as unlikable as he had. Of course with a little expended magic to give his brother the Babybones Look that worked every time, and Blue's quick intervention with a level and a bit of slight of hand - the fight was diverted and the Japery continued.

Perhaps the most agreeable of the versions that had clowned their way out of the Multiverse Machine that day was the one that went by Mutt. Agreeable in the sense he kept his head down, mouth shut, and kept away from all of them. That could be because his brother was annoying enough for the both of them, but Stretch thought an argument could be made that Mutt didn't consider himself a Papyrus at all - he'd already had the moniker long before the pageant had begun afterall.

Black combined the Worst of Stretch's brother and the Best - if that quality could even be ascribed to him - of Edge. A menace of a monster who honestly came across as the smallest of the Sans in a more convincing way than Stretch was the tallest of the Papyri... Not that anyone had dared mention it to him of course. Stretch was saving the observation for a special occasion.

For whatever reason the Tiny Tyrant had taken an exception to the idea that he was just the evil twin of Blue and went out of his way to be exceptionally petty about finding ways to make himself out to be the better version of his older brother.

Honestly it was a bother and Stretch tried to stay out if it since Blue Obviously could take care of himself but for whatever reason Black seemed to take Stretch's height as a challenge as much as any Papyrus... With the sole exception of Mutt.

Trying to recreate the circumstances of Edge's measuring contest between the Stretch and his own brother during a holiday social backfired spectacularly into Mutt curling even more into himself and Stretch - more than a little tipsy - actually challenging Mutt to see who could slump the most.

Mutt had shrunk so fast into his coat that his skull had almost vanished amidst the fluff like a turtle and Stretch had laughingly declared him the victor, pleasing Black and being the last time for years that anyone bothered with his height.

So now onto the present situation.

Edge had been so pleased when he ambushed him and his brother in the grocery store, smug about his six inch heeled boots and his mastery thereof, dying to show up Blue who also had an insatiable love of the damn feet death traps and he had turned to ice his cake by pointing out that with these he could be the tallest of the Papyri...

That annoying smirk whipped clean off as he met sockets - exactly level - with Stretch who didn't do more then smile back because this was the joke of the lifetime.

"How!" He choaks, the sweetest music to hear.

Stretch leans in even closer to whisper conspiratorially "I'm standing up straight."

This only makes Edge froth with rage and stomp off without ever noticing that Stretch had been standing on a divider on the floor giving him a physical lift along with the rise to his spirits when Edge's dropped like a man into a river with cement shoes.

Blue laughs, mood doing a 180 as quickly as Edge's. "You should have told him the Truth Stretch!"

"Mmm?" He hums curiously, moving to drap himself back atop the already half full cart. The other versions of himself were fun to get the goat of but they were exhausting even in small doses. "What that this place's floor is poorly designed? But he was being insufferable."

"Nope," His older brother says in an insufferable tone of his own - oh no, not one of his 'great' jokes. Those were the worst. "That the reason you're always going to be taller than the others is that you're always Up to No Good!"

Stretch groans and covers his skull with his arms, pushing the cart away with more vigor than he'd shown anything all day. "Title drops are the Height of bad comedy."

Of course that only makes Blue laugh harder.

[detective-peridot]

So... at the trial were a few strange things that made the case of PD's murder even more dark and unknown... YD tehnically made both the defense and the offense to ,,shut up"... this is suspicious... but even more suspicious is that the head of the homeworld , White Diamond did not show up... so what if PD didn't agreed with the corruption on earth and by that thing WD and YD made up her assassination?

((Mod Jolleboi: don’t usually post answers like this, and might remove it later, but i wanna get back into the swing of things so here goes, my thoughts on the “YD dun did it”. Whatever the actual truth is, given all the things we’ve seen, it is certainly possible that YD either staged PD’s assassination, or at the very least used it to her advantage. The Perhaps earliest record of WD we have from the show is in season 1 episode 8: “serious Steven”, when Steven and co enter the pyramid “tomb”, were we both get to see the mural of Rose, and supposedly WD, as well as the sarcophagus with presumably WD’s image depicted on it and embedded with a gem of the same size and cut as that of the diamonds we’ve now seen. Was it WD? I dunno, could be, but question then remains, why there? and why is she not mentioned as “dead”. Well, for a long time, i had this here thought, the thought that YD, set the stage to be the sole diamond controlling everything.Yellow Diamond has been loudly spoken of as the most “rational and logical” of the diamonds by Peridot before her final turn to the crystal gems, however whilst she certainly seem to adopt a calm (and condescending) demeanor, we have seen that she is prone to temper tantrums and a desire to rush things and be done with it, rather than letting it run its course. She seem to also have a “leash” on BD, guised under her “desire” to comfort and “help” BD through her mourning of PD. BD infact seems to be so heartbroken by PD’s death that she is not at all in a proper state of being able to, well, rule with a calm and rational state of mind. With PD weighing so heavily on BD’s mind it is no wonder that YD is able to do what she wants, assuming ofc, that WD is not interfering.Ofc, we have never actually heard WD mentioned, we’ve only seen her existence illustrated in the background, and with that, along with history/context provided by the show, we can only theorize and speculate until the show chooses to reveal to us the truth.My speculative thought is thus: YD either assassinate or exploit the death of PD, and being the “rational” one, she stays back from the fighting, letting it escalate, whilst building her “super weapon” (we know peridot and the cluster were both her projects, and if she indeed has been in charge since the end of the war, then it is possible that the rapid advance in technology on homeworld was done under her rule, she just seems like the technology friendly sort of type). BD naturally enters the first stage of mourning, she gets angry, goes to earth personally and makes the conflict bigger. I believe that eventually, WD was brought into the conflict to end it, be it through force or diplomacy, i do not know, but regardless, she went, and that’s when YD fired her weapon, to get rid of WD. I believe that BD was not caught in the blast, but with the war over could go over to the next stages of mourning making her much easier to manipulate, and that WD was caught in the blast, and secretly entombed on earth, a planet believed to be defeated, and later planned to be destroyed. so why is PD’s death spoken so loudly of and WD not spoken of at all if she was actually entombed on earth? well, its simple, you can blame the death of one diamond on an assassin and a rebellion, but using your super weapon to eliminate a second, is simply to suspicious,l and even if you try to state it as a sacrifice, or an accident, people will not believe you, and/or they will be very upset, and much less keen to listen to you, effectively ruining your reputation that you so ill need to maintain. So what if you instead use the weapon, which btw forces everyone on the planet to retreat from battle, and if anyone is to be evacuated first it just has got to be the diamonds “right?”, and then you “silently” off your main political rival, a rival of such importance that no one dare seek them out if someone equally important states that she is “not to be disturbed”. Basically, you pretend like she is still alive, but that she is busy or working, basically staying out of the the public eye, with no one daring to question you on that. This puts YD in the top seat of homeworld governance. Two Diamonds have been offed, and one is in an easily manipulated state, you can basically say and do as you please. But then all of a sudden the past comes back to haunt you, the cluster project fails to remove the final bits of evidence, and the main perpetrator of the crime is caught and put on trial. YD’s calm is tested to its limit, and she rushes things, and sits judge obviously biased, in the one place she does not hold the same level of power, because its a courtroom, during a trial, and the person you’ve so far been manipulating is now adamant about proceeding and letting the trial running its course. Too many things are said, and at the mere mention of a diamond being the culprit finally makes her take action into her own hands before BD gets any further ideas.Now, whether or not PD agreed with what happened on earth, i cannot say. I think she was certainly very interested, curious and amazed by the marvels of earth,l but perhaps that she did so much like a child: not very carefully. She certainly liked humans enough to decide to preserve the human race and make a human zoo, but at the end of the day, she was still a diamond, there was no one with any real authority to tell her what to do, she was the one telling everyone else what to do with no one to tell her “no”. This can lead to her having made stupid decisions that gems such as Rose did not agree with, inciting the rebellion. We already know that before her death, the rebellion had started, at least as far as Rose is concerned, which means people already likely wanted her dead, but furthermore this also sends a message to those who are PD’s equal, the other diamonds, that PD might not be “as capable”. the human zoo alone is proof enough that PD had some rather different thoughts about other species than the other diamonds, and the fact a rebellion erupted under her rule might cause “rational and logical” thinkers such as, say, YD, to consider her a self-centered ruler with weird ideas that does not benefit the gem race in the slightest, and which quite clearly has only served to rile up and upset her own subjects to the point of civil war. Perhaps having other diamonds doing whatever they want is not the best idea. Maybe... just one ruler should hold the cards? a ruler that is rational, logical, and “only think of whats best for gemkind”. Maybe PD would be better off... “shattered”... foods for thought, whether true or not.TLDR; i think its plausible that YD set things up/exploited PD’s death to get rid of WD quietly under the guise she’s alive and well but far to busy with things too important for her to be disturbed, and cease power for herself whilst manipulating the only other diamond left who’s supposed to be her equal.Now, PD, there’s proof to suggest she cared enough about humans at least to preserve their species, but also that her rule upset gems like rose enough to start a rebellion, which can only serve to upset more gems, and also other diamonds who may view her as incapable of rule, setting the stage for her to be targeted by practically everyone and anyone.Ultimately, i do not know what PD was like, I do not know who truly killed her, and I do not know what truly happened to WD, whether she was in on it, whether she’s alive, whether she was also silently killed. All I know is that there’s evidence to suggest several things and speculate, and that the shows creators are awesome for making such an interesting world that allows us to speculate and theorize to such an enormous degree. Whatever the crewniverse has planned for the show, i’m sure it will still blow our minds X’Dhope that answers some of your questions into my thoughts on the matter.))

[shyrose57]

Thank you other anon for wishing me well!! That means a lot to me! 

He does but Raq doesn't actually know Rans backstory. So he doesn't know Ran has siblings. He just assumes his mom either died or abandoned him due to finding Ran completely alone and being a hybrid. Before Ran would just scream at Raq in Enderian, now both Raq and Ran scream at eachother in it. Jackie describes it as, "A screaming match to assert dominance." 

Yep, his body was already straining itself to fend off the posion and the teleporting ended up straining him more than he could handle. So as soon as he teleported them he collapsed and wasn't able to even stand. 

That just made me imagine them digging down only to look up and see Phil clambering down after them like a mole. 

After he made a scavenger hunt made out of everyone else's items. Phil found his axe in a destroyed tree trunk and Ran found his sword buried in the ground. While Sapnap found his bow hidden behind stones and Jackie was never able to find his particularly because Ranboo forgot where he hid it. 

Yes, although its very rough. 

Porkius is very very suprised and needs time to come to turns with them being there. While Porkius reacts well to Techno, Techno does not like Porkius and has threatened to punch him a few times and one time he followed through and punched him hard enough to make him fall to the ground. 

Definitely.

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Ranboo is still his ancestor! Ran feels mostly confused, startled, scared, and oddly a bit comfortable. Phil makes him feel comfortable because he reminds him so much of Watson who was a very close and comforting figure to him. But Techno kind of scares him cause while Porkius was kind to him he was also strict, so he's afraid Techno will be stricter and mean just due to how he looks. He also just kinda ignores Ranboo at first because he can't handle the fact he's looking at his now alive ancestor. 

Not really I'd say, even though they all have different enderman percentces, they have the same instincts. Though due to Ranboos memory problem, his memory of enderman culture is almost non-existent, and instead presents itself through his instincts. If any of that makes sense? 

Karl is terrified upon seeing Ran, as soon as he even hears he's here he immediately drops what he's doing and after a few questions runs off to find and confront him. Tubbo is incredibly fascinated by Ran and at first he respects Ran's boundaries and stays away from him, but as soon as Ran is walking around outside and exploring the surrounding environment, he sees that as the perfect opportunity to bombard Ran with questions. Eret (who I like to headcanon is like a medic and knows a lot more about medicine than most), doesnt comment at first and is instead focused on helping him, but after he learns more about Ran, he is fascinated by him but takes time to get to know Ran and work on making a friendship with him. No one else, not even Michael knows about Ran being there, though they do eventually find out. 

A multitude of reasons 1. He landed wrong and ended up breaking an arm and cracking two ribs due to the sudden stop. 2. He isn't used to traveling through time so time travel had the affect of making him very sick, including headaches and nausea. 3. When he was dragged into the timetravel a match in the Pit just ended and he had a few bruises and cuts that hadn't been taken care of yet, so the travel and harsh landing just aggravated them and re-opened some. 4. The harsh landing ended up also giving him a concussion. 

When Ran is finally consciousness enough he refuses to speak in anything other than Enderian. At first Phil and Techno are scared he can't speak nor understand their language. But Edward steps in and tells them he can both understand and speak it he just doesn't want to necessarily. So Edward does the communication with Ran on their behalf, he also takes the time to comfort and help him come to terms with him being there. Edward is also the one to gently push/convince Ran to actually speak to them. 

Agreed, uh, maybe From Future to Past? Idk. 

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I already have a name for this au thankfully, Tip of the Iceberg AU. (Also I wanna say real quick not every single character in the Dream SMP or Tales From The SMP will be featured in this au because it's just to many characters for me to keep track of, it'll mostly be characters I feel like I understand if that makes sense)

They end up everywhere, the Bandits end up in Las Nevadas and end up robbing the place before they bolt, running with no real direction in mind. Zack and Cletus end up just outside of Las Nevadas but they run off into the woods once they hear yelling inside the country. Isaac, Porkums, and Grievous end up in Kinoko Kingdom. Ran lands in Erets castle and accidentally breaks a window from his entrance. Jackie, Jon Jon, and Sheriff Sherman end up in Pogtopia but manage to get out (expect Jackie who is stuck and they can't get him out so they actually left for help). Benjamin lands into the ocean around the Guardian farm. Ranbob also lands near the Guardian farm but instead on land. Charles and Watson land somewhere nearby Foolish's summer home. Ranbulter and James get dropped onto Tommys Memorial Island. And Ash lands in Snowchester. (Note I believe these will be all the tales characters I'll be mostly using, but if any get added I'll probably mention where they also ended up). 

Something important though is that almost no one stayed where they landed, Ran ran off into the surrounding forest so he could focus on regathering himself and calm down without worrying about getting attacked, Benjamin just randomly picks a direction to go (North) and ends up picking up Ranbob to join him. John John and Sherman went different directions to look for help; the Kinoko Kingdom group argues before finally Porkums and Grievous head off together having elected to follow the oceans edge (they think the Kingdom is abandoned and think following the ocean will eventually lead them to a city or something), while Isaac calls them stupid and stays around the Kingdom, exploring and taking stuff; and Charles and Watson just kinda walk around though stay in the general area. Anyone I did not mention stays where they landed or is close to where they landed. SOMETHING IMPORTANT THOUGH IS THAT NONE OF THEM GET DIRECTLY SEEN BY ANY SMP MEMBERS RIGHT AWAY, its only found out what happened when Quackity accuses Fundy of stealing from him which he heavily declines. And instead says that he saw others riding out of the country so it must've been them (he saw them from a distance), and their descriptions are enough to unnerve Karl who then goes back to Kinoko Kingdom to look at his Tales from the SMP books where he runs directly into Isaac and realizes what he feared is true. 

Once Karl gets confirmation that people from both the past and future are here he immediately calls an emergency meeting and just tells everyone almost immediately that he's a time traveler so it doesn't become a problem later, they don't believe him but Isaac is kind enough to help convince them. Soon everyone is convinced and while everyone is included only a few are actually part of a active search party. Those people being Techno, Phil, Ranboo, Tubbo, Foolish, Quackity, Sam, Eret, Bad, and of course Karl. Everyone else is assigned to just keep a eye out. Not everyone is in the party because they didn't want to be or they had other stuff to be doing.

He explains the In-between and Other Side but other than that they never really interfere, if anything he gets dragged into both sides when sleeping and the two sides both push him to find everyone and fix it all.

Jackie, as per usual, is the funniest gremlin on the block.

Poor Ran!! At least he gets some rest?

Absolutely terrifying image, I pity the poor fool who witnesses it.

Pfft. Can you just imagine the chaos? Half the time it's probably just caused by his memory issues. Prank war a few weeks ago? Ranboo forgets the traps he put up, and everyone ends up with brightly colored hair, and a large amount of rabbits in their house, and he;s standing right there with them trying to figure out who did it.

It's something, so I'll take it!

Technoblade: Nearly starting wars since...uh, whenever he spawned in, I'm not really sure of the details there.

Good.

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So Ran is aware Ranboo is his ancestor? Does he have the same backstory as Brothers AU!Ran?

Does this mean Ranboo is working solely on instincts when around other Endermen or Ran? How does that work out?

And since Enderwalk has all his memories, what are Ran's encounters with him like? Is he aware of Enderwalk state, or was that lost to time? Where do their instincts lead them? Does Ranboo get a bit more hesitant towards Ran when he's leaning more on them? Or is he more open and welcoming? Can he tell Ran shares his blood?

Confrontation? Uh oh, how does that go? Especially considering Ran's possibly the only one to have a vague idea of Karl's hobby? Does it end up coming out?

How does Ran feel about having Tubbo constantly ask questions? Is Tubbo just curious, or is he trying to figure things out? Does this mean Ran ends up in Snowchester, or does Tubbo head to the Antarctic? Medic Eret?? What kind of relationship do they have with Techno and Phil to get called in and come to their aid? How do Eret, Karl, and Tubbo learn of him, if this is being kept hush-hush, and why is it being kept such?

Poor Ran, he's really gotten the short end of the stick here. So time traveling can negatively effect those not used to it/built for it? Does Karl suffer similarly?

And Edward speaks Common, then? Also, Edward!! Is he still Techno's roommate here? Does he have a little nearby area? Or does he head back to the End when he's not hanging around? Has he been helping Ranboo as well?

Sounds good!

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Gotcha, gotcha.

The fact that the bandits first instinct upon appearing in a strange new place with no prior warning is to rob it brings me great joy. How does that go for them? How far do they get, what do they steal?

Cletus & Zack: Dunno who you are or where I am, but I don't like the sound of that, so lets bolt.

Issac, Porkums, and Grievous actually don't sound like a chaotic combination, so they probably don't cause too much trouble.

Poor Eret. Imagine just trying to enjoy your day and coming back in to see your window broken.

Jon Jon and Sherman with Jackie just sounds really funny actually. The blatant contrast from time periods and all, and Jackie's pure chaotic energy...Also, they'd both be so much taller than him. Why was he stuck though? What happened?

Another question is, at what point was everyone tossed back? Long after Karl had left, before meeting him, in the middle? Is it different for some? How do those who've met him before react? Why does Isaac believe Karl, and how does he help convince the others?

Who's found first? What happens then? Is anyone hurt? What are both sides definition of 'fixing it all', and how does being dragged in between the two effect Karl?