#this is during the body swap if that wasn't clear

[wearecrowley]

A revelation in the light of day You can't choose what stays and what fades away

[my-my-my]

Hiiiii! I hope you’re doing well! I’ve a very interesting idea with Aizen. What about body swapping? Can you write about the body swap between s/o and Aizen for one day? I wanna see Aizen's reaction 😂

Oh what a fun idea!! I received a similar ask to this one, so I'll be answering both. I wasn't sure anon(s) if you wanted me to do this in Soul Society or as an AU, so this is gonna be set during his Lieutenant days!

TW: body swapping, some mentions of female genetalia/body parts, references to some NSFW activities

Sosuke awoke to the sounds of birds singing and cicadas chirping. He felt unusually sticky, sweaty and sore, especially his lower body. He rubbed his face awake, and peered over to your side of the bed… which was the wall? Odd, you two never changed sleeping positions.

Sosuke got himself up to turn around, feeling a bit weaker than normal, and the soreness increasing 10-fold. He winced in pain, then his eyes widened in shock.

What was he doing on the other side of the bed!?!

He looked in horror as his eye traveled down your body, your breasts were covered from his bite marks from last night, the stickiness was from the mix of his and your cum from last night. Sosuke was wide awake now.

He grabbed his shoulder, hoping that it was you in his body and not someone else.

“Sosuke – give me five more minutes” you mumbled in his voice, which startled you awake. “Why does my voice –“

“Listen to me.” Sosuke spoke through your body. You jolted up in his.

“Sosuke – I – how did this happen?”

“I’m not sure, but we don’t have time to spare. I need to investigate this to make sure it isn’t permanent.” You couldn’t help but laugh at how much he sounded like himself in your voice. “What are you laughing about?” Sosuke asked, curiously.

“Oh nothing, it’s just weird to hear myself speak like you do.”

“What is that supposed to mean? No matter, you need to visit Hirako’s office immediately. He’ll become suspicious if I’m not early.”

You sighed, “ok, ok. But promise me you won’t do anything weird to my body!” as you got yourself ready for the day. It was strange to see Sosuke help you with his uniform, even still, his uniform looked a bit odd on you. It wasn’t as put-together as it usually was on him.

Sosuke sighed as he looked at the time, “you need to leave now.” He drawled, pushing you out the door, he winced as his body’s soreness reappeared. “Are you always this sore?”

“Sosuke, you were… how should I say, especially skillful last night”, blushing, avoiding his eye contact. “Sometimes my body takes a day or two to recover from our fun.”

Sosuke, well you, were giving a confused, yet serious look on your (his?) face. It was weird to see your face look so serious, but no matter. You sprinted to Captain Hirako’s office.

“Oi Sosuke, you’re late!”

“I’m sorry captain, for once in my life, I thought I could sleep in.” You sheepishly admitted. Captain Hirako narrowed his eyes, then relaxed, pushing the paperwork that needed to be completed today.

Outside of Rukongai, Sosuke entered his lab. He entrusted no one with its location, not even you. But if he is successful in finding a solution today, that may change.

Sosuke disrobed the clothes you chose to wear and inspected your body through the mirror. He was impressed with his “work” on you last night, admiring the bite and teeth marks covering your body.

He watched in amazement as your nipples hardened as he gently brushed your hands over your chest. He could feel your core tighten, from what he suspected was from arousal.

Sosuke knew what you enjoyed, and brushed your clit, forcing a moan out your body. It startled Sosuke how aroused he was to hear your voice so loud and clear. He pushed one of your fingers inside you, admiring how small your hand was. Did you pleasure yourself like this when he wasn’t around?

One finger was followed by another, before he had three of your fingers inside you. Your body couldn’t take it anymore and Sosuke felt sensitive and sore. He stared at your body in the mirror again, admiring how beautiful you were post-orgasm.

But he had no time – he hurriedly put back your clothes on and pulled out old textbooks and scrolls.

Elsewhere, Captain Hirako stared at you intently. You could feel his beady eyes watch your every move. Out of nervousness, you gulped, “Captain Hirako, is everything alright?”

“Ya seem a bit different today, Sosuke. Maybe sleepin’ in does wonders for your stick-in-the-mud personality.” You couldn’t help but laugh at that comment, you knew Sosuke was a bit strict with his captain. Shinji raised an eyebrow to your reaction.

“Well” you laughed, then coughed, trying to be more “Lieutenant Aizen”-like, “if you were as serious, maybe I could relax a bit. One of us must be stern with the squad.” You explained to him.

Shinji narrowed his eyes in suspicion but said nothing of it… if Shinji were completely honest, this “Sosuke” was different, but in a good way.

“Ya know Sosuke, why don’t we have a drink tonight. It’s not often we have drinks together.”

You scratched the back of Sosuke’s head out of nervousness, a tick you carried through from your own body. “Maybe not tonight Captain, I’m a bit sore today from training with the other squad members. Lets have a drink tomorrow. It’ll be my treat.”

“Ya promise, Sosuke?”

You shook Shinji’s hand, which shocked him – something was definitely different.

“Get outta here you weirdo!” Shinji admonished, “go home and rest up, we’re gonna ransack the pubs tomorrow.” You gave a sheepish smile and excused yourself.

Running back to Sosuke’s quarters, you were met with Sosuke in your body. A large, sly grin appeared on your face. Sosuke dragged you, in his body, to the bedroom and pushed you to the futon below. He began to recite the spell and you began to close your eyes at the intensity, you felt your soul being dragged out of Sosuke’s body. The two of you let out a scream, then complete silence.

As you awoke, you saw Sosuke’s face – wide awake and smirking at you.

“You fixed it Sosuke!"

Sosuke pulled you closer – “yes, but it was nice to have you for a day...” his eyes roaming over you body.

You huffed at him, poking him hard in the chest. “I told you no funny business in my body!” You tried your best to give him a stern glare.

“No funny business, not to my favourite test subject.” He murmured into your hair. “Your voice made such beautiful sounds yesterday… sounds I want to hear again.”

But you were so sore, whatever Sosuke did with your body yesterday, you were sure you needed rest form. “Sosuke, how about.. tomorrow… - oh wait, I promised Captain Hirako drinks.”

“You’re spending time with my captain?” Aizen lowered his voice, his eyes narrowing in jealousy.

“Oh… not me… you.”

“What?”

“… um… tomorrow, have fun with Captain Hirako! I agreed to go drinking with him in your body…” You nervously laughed.

Sosuke grabbed your wrists and pinned you down, “Really? Is that so?” Aizen stared at you with slight anger, then mischief flashed in his eyes. “I think you need to be punished tonight then.”

Oh boy you thought to yourself, “just go easy on me” you pleaded.

“Easy? On you?” Aizen chuckled, leaning down to kiss your forehead, “never.”

This was fun haha! Thank you for such a fun idea. It's been so long since I wrote anything Aizen, so thanks again!

[corvidcrossbow]

Daryl's into shibari but let me explain:

It's not even so much so in the kinky way for physical restraint and all that, but more in a sort of artistic or therapeutic way. Given his background in hunting, tracking and survival skills n whatnot, he already had talent in tying all sorts of knots – so it'd only make sense.

He played around with it when he was younger, and would sit with some yarn or other thin string, alone at whatever random shack he was currently crashing at, just practicing winding it around one of his hands, weaving over his wrist for a cuff, or incorporating his fingers and back of his hand into it – and as he grew more understanding of it, up his forearm, and maybe his thighs at some point too.

It's a sort of fidget for him. He's able to let his mind go and just focus on tying the knots in specific spots and creating intricate patterns and designs. It's relaxing, draws his thoughts into a craft and pushes back against all the intrusive ones. It quickly became something he could do subconsciously, so he uses it to help him think; clears his mind of everything else by keeping his hands busy so he can put attention to more important things.

Obviously he couldn't really do this once the apocalypse happened (he'd rather a walker bite him than someone catch him doing something viewed as taboo, plus you need to be able to up and move very suddenly) – so he swapped to tying and braiding large blades of grass & the young bark from trees.

He'd do a little at the prison during the timeskip, but wouldn't settle back into it till the post-Savior era. It took some readjusting because of all the times being tied up had been used against him in malicious manners post-apocalypse, but he worked to reclaim it and have it be something he could seek solace in again.

You'd learn about it eventually, once your friendship stretched to a relationship and was very deep and sturdy. He'd be so nervous and embarrassed to tell you since, again, it's a generally sexual thing, but it's not inherently like that for him and he didn't want you to think he was weird for it.

But when it came to involving you in it; that took even longer. He wouldn't be open to it at least until long after the Savior war – once things had kinda settled down: you had a secure place to live, a good network of people, and there wasn't a sense of an impending threat every day. You had some peace, and more importantly time.

Maybe it'd start with you two on a run together; you're in a hardware or outdoor supplies store, gathering bundles of rope and you'd make a joke about him tying you up, just to see how he gets flustered after picturing it.

But not long after, you two'd have a genuine conversation about it that'd end in sitting quietly on the edge of the bed together, Daryl loosely doing simple ties with some yarn around one of your hands. He felt very vulnerable, given he's essentially not only letting you into his therapy sessions, but incorporating you into it. Shibari became his scapegoat from his life and trauma-scarred psyche for years; it's something he treasures – and he treasures you the same way. It would always be very intimate.

So once you were both comfortable with it, he'd love it; just sitting together in the evenings and letting him create his little artistic nets of rope on your body, starting with just your hands then arms and simple knots that could be easily undone. Then as time passed, and a period of peace became more prevalent, he did more complex ones and covered more of your body.

Once you expanded, he went out on solo runs to find specific ropes he wanted, maybe swinging by adult stores if needed. The first time he did your torso, he was so utterly transfixed by it: kept breaking the silence every now and again to remark how beautiful you looked.

And then when you did your torso and all without a layer of clothes blocking your skin it pretty much broke him. He was instantly addicted to the way the color of the rope he chose complimented your skin tone, how it so perfectly curled around every curve of your body. Once he was done he just sat back and stared at you. With all the meaning behind it, it was one of the most gorgeous things he'd ever seen.

For the first long while, it was only designs on you, and they weren't physically retraining. He wanted both of you to have experience in it before coming to that. And then when you did, he bound your wrists together, constantly checking if you were okay with it, then undid it pretty quickly.

That's where it started to branch into more sexual territory. Some of it was the control aspect, but it was more so how trusting you were of him; letting him be in control like that – and again just how perfect you looked woven into his masterpieces. First he'd do it, drag eyes over your body, then undo them, toss it aside and kiss you to push you back to lay in the bed.

But then he started keeping them on – but not the more physically restraining ones at first, just the pretty decor ones. This is all a process of progression, so when you did get to more restraining, it was usually just binding your wrists, tying your limbs to the bed frame, or arms to your chest, once and a while a little more than that.

Shibari with him would never be like the more intense stuff you see in BDSM spaces n allat – he will not super roughly tie you up in some weird ass position where rope is digging into your skin and leaving burns behind. He is never one to completely immobilize you. You being super restrained would make him nervous even if you were okay with it. And he's not at all into suspension: he has the skills to set it up right but he doesn't trust it, and that's veering too much into deeper kinky territory for his taste. He doesn't want to ruin this for himself by making it so explicitly sexual.

Like I said, it's much more intimate and remedial. It's about appreciating your figure and including you in something so important to him. You with geometric shapes and knots of rope that he made delicately mapped around your body will always be one of his favoritest things.

And if you wanted to learn, he'd teach you. Knowing knots in general was important in the apocalypse, plus everything else about it. He'd let you restrain him to a further extent than he would you.

And him knelt in bed, rope around his upper thighs that circled his hips and waist, up his chest and around his torso, binding his arms behind his back with his red rag tied around his eyes like a blindfold quickly became one of your favoritest things too <3

And bunny would skyrocket as a petname for both of you cuz rope bunny, duh

Like c'mon that's my rope bunny rigger

[readychilledwine]

Lollipop

Azriel x innocent Vanserra OC

Summary - after being silenced during the High Lord's meeting with her favorite candy. Seraphina finds herself the center of a certain shadowsingers attention

Warnings - implied smut, implied corruption kink, Beron being Beron (so mentions/signs of abuse), implied swapping, Nesta implying she'd go down on OC, age gap, messing with canon a little bit

A/N -I got bored and the whole corruption kink side of me came out. I also think I'm developing a Nesta kink, and it's probably going to get pretty smutty between her and an oc or reader here soon.... oooo or the valkyries x reader.... might have to do something for my girlies who love other girlies...

Part 2

Azriel was going to fucking faint.

Beron, in an effort to stop his daughter from continuing to egg on the Princess of the Summer court, had pulled out some form of an candy on a stick and put it in her mouth much to the laughter and delight of everyone around.

Now all the shadowsinger could do was watch out of the corners of his eyes as his mate sucked and licked on the candy innocently while reading the book Eris had brought for her.

Doing okay there, brother? Rhysand's purr in his mind before the High Lord looked over at the daughter of Autumn had Azriel suppressing a growl. Well, doesn't little Seraphina just look so pretty with her lips wrapped around something. 

Azriel shot him a glare before peeking over again. She had the candy so just the tip of it was in her mouth, lips wrapped perfectly around it. Cauldron fucking boil me. Rhysand sent him a wave of agreement as Feyre also looked over and smirked.

Feyre thinks the 3 of us should take her, and oh fuck-

Azriel and Rhys quickly snapped their eyes back to the meeting when the daughter of Autumn looked their way before looking at her older brother and tapping his shoulder.

Her breasts were on display, small hands delicating holding the stick of the candy as she leaned forward in the exquisite dress she was in to whisper in her older brother's ear.

The male heir of Autumn looked over to the Night Court glaring at the shadowsinger and the high lord. He growled softly before taking the candy from a clearly uncomfortable female.

"Excuse my interruption," Tamlin stopped talking as soon as Eris spoke and demanded the attention of the room, "Do you have something you'd like to say to my sister, Spymaster? You've been staring at her for the past 10 minutes." 

The room had gone silent. Tamlin leaned forward with a smirk, as did Tarquin and Thesan. The daughter of Autumn was an unspoken set boundary. No one looked at or touched Beron's girl, not even Amarantha. Too much power radiated in that small body. Power anyone would have given Beron their left arm to have access to. They just had to follow his rules to get the chance to play for her hand, and right now, Azriel's silence was risking his own family's shot at it.

Might want to say something there, brother. Az shot Rhysand a glare before clearing his throat and saying the one thing he knew he shouldn't. 

"How can I not stare at such a beautiful creature? Especially when your father so willing put something in her mouth for the entertainment of every male here?" Rhys froze and immediately sent a look Azriel's way. 

That wasn't what I had in mind. Being her mate does not promise you her hand, Az. Beron could sell her off before Eris gets the chance to bring her to us. Tread carefully. 

Beron laughed darkly before turning to the Night Court, "I didn't realize silencing my 55 year old daughter with candy would be such a problem for you, Azriel. No one else here seems to think anything of it. Must just be that Illyrian Bastard blood in you." The reminder of her young age was a slap in the face to the shadowsinger. A reminder that she hardly understood the world yet and that she had spent the majority of her life trapped in that mountain.

Azriel caught the way Seraphina's eyes shut slowly at her father's insults, "It's not a big deal, daddy. I-." Her father held a hand up to silence her. No one missed the flinch from the young girl. Helion, Azriel, Cassian, and Rhys all looked towards each other.

Helion was now staring at the young female too, his eyes softening at her fear. Beron glared at Helion before continuing, "If you continue to look at my daughter, you'll find yourself wingless, boy." 

Sera even knew that was too far. Azriel watched the way her chest stilled as she stared wide eyed at her father before switching her gaze to Helion who shook his head softly at her in warning. 

Rhysand growled this time, "Do not threaten MY family over your choice not to educate your daughter on sexual matters."

Sera was confused. How was a caramel apple sucker sexual? She made eye contact with the Spring lord, who simply motioned for her to come over to him, and she did. 

She walked in a way that reminded Azriel of water. Flowing, smooth, gently. He barely suppressed the growl in his throat as Tamlin pulled the girl into his lap, his mouth close to her delicately pointed and jewel adorned ear. 

The room filled with laughter as her eyes grew wide and a red flush hit her chest and cheeks. "Really," she whispered softly to Tamlin, who nodded and then continued whispering in her ear. Soft nodding came from her as Tamlin stroked her upper thigh and whispered to her, eyes locked on Azriel in a clear message. He knew. He could somehow sense the bond. "What's a," Tamlin covered her mouth, laughing slightly as he explained something else to her. "So people don't use the proper terms during sex?" Tamlin was smirking at this point. Whatever he had just said made the young girl gasp, and her eyes go wide.

Beron growled this time and tried to break the field of neutrality in anger but couldn't. "Enough, Tamlin!" Seraphina shifted in Tamlin's lap after he finished speaking to her. She stood and walked back over to the Autumn Court in shock and embarrassment.

"I apologize for the distraction, Shadowsinger. Forgive me," she began playing with her long red curls as Azriel scented her anxiety. "Thank you for the…. Educational lesson, high lord." The daughter of Autumn sat back down slowly and made a fatal error. Her and Nesta Archeron made eye contact and the oldest Cauldron made said one simple thing.

"In case he didn't tell you because he's a selfish male, there's males out there who'd return that favor. And females, if youd be interested in that." The daughter of Autumn grew more red and opened her book to hide her face in the crisp pages, "If you'd like to learn, let me know." 

An audible squeak came from the young fae female, "Eris." She was desperate for help. Her brother shot a look Nesta's way, and she returned it with a hate fueled glare.

Tamlin had painted a mental image for her in pretty words chosen specifically to make the young female feel warm. Truly though, She didn't mind the idea. The thought of her on her knees as Azriel tangled his large scarred hands through her long red curls, tongue running along his cock as he made a mess of her made her feel warmth growing in her stomach she'd never felt before.

She had heard rumors from other females about the size of an Illyrian's wings having something to do with the size of their cock, and Seraphina was just trying to imagine how exactly that would work if rumors were true. How exactly would she fit all of him into her mouth if given a chance? The handsome spymaster had huge wings. The largest wings she'd ever seen on a winged fae. If wing size related to endowment size, his cock was huge. And if Nesta was involved?  Cauldron boil her. Would Cassian also be involved? 

A hand gently clawed at her mind, causing her to freeze. It wasn't trying to get in her head. It was already there. Her honey eyes met violet ones as Rhysand leaned back in his chair and sipped his wine.

No, love, keep going. I was enjoying the delicious thoughts you were having. My brothers and I love sharing our toys. You could have Cassian and Nesta, myself and Feyre- His voice was purr that made her shiver with chills as she slammed him back out and watched as he looked at Azriel. 

The winged male's only response was one side of his mouth twitching into a smile before he became unreadable again. 

"Now that Seraphina has been educated on some of the finer matters of life, can we continue?" Kal asked coldly as he leaned back into his chair.

Eris discretely handed his sister back her candy. He shot her one look that said, "Be good," before focusing solely on Tamlin and Rhysand restarting their lovers spat.

Seraphina made eye contact with Azriel again as she slowly put the sucker back in her mouth. Azriel pulled his lower lip into his mouth and tugged the mating bond, praying Rhysand had been right when he said he had found it in her mind, but the female just didn't know what it was. Another way to keep her in the dark and innocent, Azriel thought bitterly.

She made a confused face as she looked down at her chest. Then followed the string to Azriel, lollipop now back in the same trapped position of her lips, If you continue looking at me like that with those pretty lips wrapped around that thing, I am not responsible for what happens next little bunny.

Is what Nesta said true? Azriel felt his leathers growing tight at her curious nature. He could feel desire radiating in their bond. 

Of course. Only, I eat pussy for my pleasure, not yours. And I will eat pussy because I want to. Not because you've wrapped your pretty little mouth on my cock. He had her. He felt her arousal spike as she shifted. I imagine you'll also be the type who sucks cock for your pleasure instead of mine, little mate.

I'd like to learn. He almost came right then and there as he watched her put the candy in her mouth, eyes wide like a doe.

Keep doing that, baby, and I'll be stealing you to teach you much, much more than just whatever bullshit Tamlin told you. Fucking ruin you for anyone else.

Seraphina turned her attention back to the book she had with a small smile, I'm doing emissary work in the Dawn Court all week this week. I'll be alone tonight.

I'll find you.

I look forward to it. 

[thesoftboiledegg]

"The Jerrick Trap" was a clever twist on the body-swapping concept. I had trouble following it at first because they both sounded like Rick, to the point that I wondered if Jerry's half went in hiding. A lightbulb went off in my head when they clarified that they're both Rick and Jerry.

I've seen two people merged into one being ("Tuvix" from Star Trek: Voyager) but two consciousnesses sharing half of each person is something I've never watched before. And Rick and Jerry's personalities merged surprisingly well. Rick and Beth struggle to get along because they're so similar, but Jerry complements Rick perfectly--if only Rick would get his head out of his ass and accept it!

I wasn't a fan of the cold open, thinking "...OK, seriously? Rick 'hates' Jerry so much that he kills himself when he's stuck in his mind?" Others pointed out that maybe Rick just couldn't handle being in a brain without his coping mechanisms, which is a better idea. Still, it's hard to shake off your initial interpretation. I hoped that the episode would elaborate on that, but it never did.

And boy, Jerricky almost ruined the episode for me. Rick and Morty is full of silly, stupid humor--"The Old Man and the Seat" is an episode about Rick sitting on a toilet, for one--but that human-centipede creature was too bizarre. I won't say it was objectively bad, but I might skip that part during rewatches.

Back to what I enjoyed. I loved seeing the reappearance of Rick's favorite thing: crystals. The writers gave Rick's crow phase a shoutout, which is MY favorite thing. I'm surprised the comics never explored that period. I don't read the comics, but I would consider buying that issue.

The backgrounds were stunning, too. Rick and Morty's artists create dazzling environments with their color theory expertise. Rick and Jerry's Miami Vice adventures blew me away in every scene, making me want to live in that tropical city.

As for Memory Rick, he was a surprise. I was wondering today if he ever escaped Rick's mind, so I guess that was a premonition. He'll probably have an important role later on.

Anyway, Jerry admitting that Rick is the closest thing he has to a friend surprised me, but it's true when I think about it. Who else does he talk to? Space Beth can't stand him, his marriage is strained and his kids aren't his friends. His parents rarely show up.

Rick's the only person in his life who isn't obligated to hang out with him because they're related. He's also the only fellow adult male. As much as their lives diverge, Rick can relate to him in a way that no one else can.

Morty says at the end "I think it's clear that you both love each other more than you're willing to admit." Of course, Rick denies it, but his and Jerry's bickering at the table is their weird way of saying "I love you." If they didn't, they'd just leave the table instead of frantically overcompensating.

And their minds wouldn't have fused together so well, either. Otherwise, both halves of Rick would've just killed himself again, or grabbed the gun while Jerry's halves tried to fight him off.

"The Jerrick Trap": a visual masterpiece, a feast for the Jerrick shippers and insight into what's really going on in Rick and Jerry's minds when they argue.

[yoshirage]

Body Swap Diaries: Enri

The old man slowly open his eyes; his vision slowly clearing as he looks down. He sees a tight muscular body free from wrinkles. The man that helped him with acquiring this body hands him a mirror and a giant smile forms at the once old man’s face

“So how do you like it?”

“Amazing” the man closed his mouth surprised at his thick Mexican accent. “How how is this possible!?” The man is still bewildered at what happened

The man tries to explain. "I am what you can call as a 'swapper' I can swap people's bodies with anyone I want, but I also can swap bodies with whoever I want." He searches the gym bag for the old man's new body's wallet. "and it looks like I swapped you with someone named Enrique."

"Enrique huh" He flexes his new muscular biceps in awe at how big he his. "But why would you do this for me" Enrique ask the man before him.

"Well i guess you can call it gratitude Coach Stevenson." The man was surprised that he knew who he was. "I'm sure you don't remember me but I was one of your students during the 70's when you were still a coach." The man explains. "and being one of the few black kids in that school, i've experience a lot of racism and bullying from both teachers and other students."

"Wait... Trevor is that you?" Coach Stevenson exclaimed.

Trevor smiled and he continues his story. "But you... you were the only adult in that school that showed me respect, and you even helped get into track and football, though I had to quit the latter since I was so scrawny back then."

"well look at you know! you've grown into quite a handsome man." Coach Stevenson laughs.

"well actually this is not my original body." Coach Stevenson was surprised hear this but Trevor continues. "I managed to get into a great college and got myself a great job as business man and my life's been great since; but I felt empty in my life since I always wanted to be an actor." Trevor is in deep thought but he continues. "it wasn't until a man named Blue taught me to become a swapper and it was then that I swapped with an upcoming actor named Michael."

"so you gave up everything to become an actor? the money, the success, everything?" Coach Stevenson asked

"So you gave up everything? money, success, everything!?" Stevenson asked

"Yes, and I don't regret any of it. and know I've been a hit. Been in some movies like Creed and Black Panther, and as for the original Michael, \me and Blue made it so that he doesn't remember his old life and would live my life as if he's in auto pilot"

"how about me. I don't know anything about this kid Enri. How am I supposed to live as him? and what happened to my old body."

"Don't worry, His memories will flood into your head shortly." Michael sees the old coach wince a little as he knows that parts of Enri's memories started to come in. "and the old Enri, will live your life as did Michael is living my life. Michael tossed Enri his Gym bag "come on Enri time for your work out"

Hearing his new name sounded natural to him as more memories flood into him. Enri grabs his gym back and dressed in his gym gear. His cutoff shirt still showing his new massive body.

"YO Enri, where are you?" another man comes into the locker room. Enri recognizes him as one of his Gym bros.

"Faziz Man! I told you I'll be out! and let the bros know its arm day today."

Faziz left the lockers. Enri smiles at Michael " thank you again for this Michael. and no matter how many lives you live in this lifetime... Coach Stevenson will always be there for you." He pats Michaels shoulder as he picks up his bag and leave the locker room as his new life as Enrique.

"Thanks for everything Coach." Michael says to himself as he smiles.

[melancholymetropolis]

"Quiet down, Little Maid," Tengen smirked. "Unless you want to get caught."

I allowed my head to fall into his shoulder, pressing my mouth firmly against his skin. I used sloppy kisses to muffle the sweet whimpers from my lips. My nails dug deep into the muscle of his shoulder, while his hips continued to collide with mine. The long, girthy member had filled my dripping cunt over and over again. It brought me closer and closer to my sweet release.

I was as good as fired after today.

I had broken the very first rule given to me as a new maid: Do not engage in sexual activities with guests. Especially Tengen Uzui.

The Sound Pillar was a known flirt and ladies' man. He already had three wives but seemed to always be on the lookout for a fourth.

I tried my best to avoid him in my years working at the manor. I made sure never to never enter a room alone with him. I never said more than a few words to him at a time. I kept a healthy distance between our bodies and refused to make direct eye contact.

In hindsight, I should have assumed that my efforts would be performed in vain. He was one of the Twelve Hashira.

He loved a challenge.

Tengen found ways to break almost every boundary I created. He would use his charming attitude and seniority to request me as his personal maid during his stay. He'd pay the others generously to swap places with me and double my usual commission. The sound pillar slipped little trinkets and gifts into my pockets when I wasn't paying attention.

Little things from notes to dried flowers, and, more recently, jewelry.

It was a thick gold bracelet, nearly identical to the ones he wore on his bicep. It was heft, most likely solid. Definitely worth a fortune. I had only found it after my shift. I was changing into my pajamas when it rolled out of my pocket.

Before I could even form a clear thought, I tossed the damned thing out of the nearest window. Only for him to be directly outside of it.

He was in my room in a blink of an eye, holding the bracelet firmly in his hand.

"You hate me that much, huh?" Humor was licking his teeth.

"I am just following the rules," I replied, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Which one?"

"The first one--- Don't fuck the sound hashira."

The white-haired man continued to roll his hips into me, pressing against the pleasure spot underneath my cervix. His heavy member was almost uncomfortable in this standing position, but the closeness of our bodies made it worthwhile. My sensitive nipples were rubbing against his hard pecs, adding another pleasurable element to the whole ordeal.

I could feel his member twitch with me, indicating that he too was reaching his peak. His breathing became unsteady and hollow as he continued to work into me.

"You're squeezing me so tight, little maid," he slurred, sweat dotting his forehead. "I'm gonna fill that pretty pussy with my seed pretty soon. Would you like that?"

My eyes widened from the statement. "Y-You better not! Save that deed for your wives."

A wicked smile fell on his lips. "Why do you think I asked you to do it?"

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

Part 2

I may have another drabble AND update in the future.

[deathonthe]

ferrari parked outside | 1633

pairing: charles/max

rating: explicit

word count: ~5000

tags: established relationship, slightly non-linear narrative, under-negotiated kink, somnophilia, riding

summary:

Max is an embarrassing amount of gin and tonics into the night when Lando shouts very loudly into his ear. “Does Charles pay for everything for you?” “What?” Max shouts back. “I mean like– Seems like he’s always paying for you, mate,” Lando says. Holds both hands up in the air and dubiously glances to the side. “Not that I’m judging or anything.” “He doesn’t pay for everything,” Max lamely insists.

director's cut:

the following are my notes and thoughts during the writing of this fic. they should in no way influence the way you've interpreted it! but feel free to read it to gain some extra insight into my pea-sized brain

ok. one thing u should know about me is that i will constantly push the max verstappen babygirl agenda no matter what. sugar baby max is pretty adjacent to that

i spent an awful about of time deciding the opening scene, between first scene (B) and the following directly after (A), idk how many times i swapped the two. i was afraid if i started off with B, it would kinda give a tacky record scratch effect when u reach A. but starting with A made the progression into B seem unnatural and too abrupt so. in the end i went with B, then A because the fic gradually loses its seriousness and matches the kinda light humour it progresses into

the line "I want chocolates and those bread rolls they bake fresh." took me a god awful amount of time to write. at first i wanted max to specify a monte carlo cafe to make it seem more genuine but all the reviews for cafes in monaco were in french! which i suppose i should've expected. in the end i went with that even though i'm not completely happy with it

another thing u should know about it is that i care about character voice and characterisation above all else. i try my best to emulate how these people sound. i always sift through so much interview material while writing a fic to try and get the drivers' voice tones and linguistic quirks and body language as accurately and naturally as possible. and too be honest, i don't think i did that very well in this fic. i think i could have imitated it better

a little bit of french, of course. they live in monaco, charles speaks french. max doesn't speak enough, so not quite as much french as other fics (for example, for esteban and lance, i would generally write about half of their dialogue in french if they were only speaking to each other in a scene. it feels more authentic as esteban and lance communicate in french when they are talking to each other in real life)

i designated charles three terms of endearment: baby, cheri and mon cher

nothing made me happier than when it became canon that max calls charles 'charlie' in real life, because i was gonna scrap it from the fic because i thought it sounded ooc

to be clear, i never intended to give charles a daddy kink in this fic. you can assume he doesn't have one. neither does max

the running joke is that this is actually a proposal fic and not a sugar baby one

in the lando scene, when max cuts him off before he can finish his sentence, lando is about to say: "and charles also paid for martjin to dj at this red bull party for u." i wasn't sure if the implication was very strong, though

in actuality, max cuts off lando with a "fuck off" and lando says later "why the fuck would i be, charles isn't my fucking boyfriend" but i thought that was too many fucks and ended up taking all but one of them out

i know charles doesn't drive a red laferrari

the other running joke in this fic is obviously charles is not ever watching the whale documentary seriously. he was instead always thinking or focused on something else in his head

the ice cream scene came to me in a fever dream

charles can't actually procure the cheesecake factory, he's about $125 million in net worth. the cheesecake factory is over $1 billion

i am not a fan (i.e., i am actually just a hater) of when max is depicted like an aggressive, overly possessive, hyper-masculine suave, dom caricature from an e l james erotica novel and when charles is just delegated the softer, more feminine counterpart automatically. so. u see me subverting that expectation a lot

i had a lot of fun writing victoria's part where she cooks both charles and max within 100 words

did you know this fic is exactly 14 pages on google docs? i thought that was pretty cool

if i had to sum up this fic in three words: chekov's schrodinger's proposal

thanks for staying 'til the end!

[mob-choir]

by the time the seventh division arc concludes no one can deny that it's clear just how much reigen cares about mob and how far he'll go to protect him, but even so in the day-to-day of the anime and the manga he always maintains an air of professionalism about him. like yes, he loves mob and will always be there for him when he needs him, but unless the situation really calls for emotional honesty reigen will first and foremost act like mob's boss. a supportive boss who occasionally gives him advice, but a boss nonetheless. he's just not that demonstrative unless it's a serious situation.

the stage play on the other hand really said fuck that and made reigen SO much more openly affectionate. paternal, even. the head pats, the arm slung over his shoulders. the way he kept pushing mob (and ritsu, and teru, and even shou) behind him and shielding him with his body during the seventh division fight even though objectively mob was the person least likely to get hurt in that situation. the way he spent a full minute blowing on his takoyaki to cool it down then immediately swapped it with mob's still hot one so he wouldn't burn himself (even though reigen's the one with a history of burning himself with his food, not mob). all these little, almost subconscious gestures that just SCREAM "parent". hell, have you seen him whenever mob does anything? he's always got the proudest look on his face. stage play reigen's default facial expression is "that's my son and I'm SO proud of him" and it's honestly so endearing. he looks like he's one step away from proudly telling you all about how well mob is doing in school.

manga reigen and anime reigen love mob just as much as stage play reigen does, that's undeniable. but while in the anime and manga he doesn't usually show it as openly, stage play reigen just. cannot hide it, or simply doesn't care to. I don't think I would want him to be as open in the original, I think his insistence in maintaining a professional distance (at least in everyday situations) ties in with his fear of mob finding out the truth about reigen and seeing him for who he really is, no masks on. and, as such, it's an integral part of their dynamic and the story. but damn if the choice to make him more open in the stage play, which is altogether much more lighthearted, wasn't an excellent one. it makes me so emotional, they fed us so well. that's his kid, and he's so proud of him 😭😭

[pico-digital-studios]

Into, Across and Beyond! Cast: Benjamin's Funkin' Allies

Gracie: We called you guys together not just to save Salty, but to preserve the very fabric of reality itself. Benjamin: As it stands, the multiverse needs us to keep it safe, and we can't let some nasty society try to disrupt us doing the right thing. Gracie: So, our goal is simple. Save our friend, safeguard every universe... and never back down!

This post is for documenting info about the allies by Benjamin's side after he fended off Cam Malicious/Agent Blueballs in a prior post. Discounting Grace, Pico and Sky, alongside Benjamin's new boyfriend, he has a variety of allies working alongside him from across the Funkinverse (yes, the same concept by @robovoidfrog).

ErroRhythmic Beats Softie / Benjamin Fairest

Origin: FNF Soft (original concept); ErroRhythmic Beats (my expanded take on the guy) Home universe: Earth-111723 Age: 11

"What those creeps did is really unjust, other Toughie, and I'm willing to do my best to help get your Softie back home. That I can promise!"

The counterpart of Benjamin Fairest in the ErroRhythmic Beats universe, and at present the adoptive younger brother of Benjamin Miku.

The whole situation he went through wasn't all that different to what the original Softie had to face; he was an aspiring painter who wanted to make his own way in life. The issue was his parents, Frank and Marilyn Fairest, being outright abusive towards him and trying to force him into the life of a musician. The kid suffered physical AND mental abuse in the parents' bid to try and make him comply with their fabricated reality.

Eventually, he had enough and, alongside his boyfriend, Piyan N. Griffiths (the EB counterpart to Soft Pico), departed into the streets to get away from them, leading them to search day and night for their son to force him back home. Piyan himself was a wanted fugitive for the big school shooting Pico himself had to defuse, so he had to keep a low cover whilst dating Softie in shadows.

During their time out and about, Piyan did his best to sort out the cigarette burns on Ben's neck as a result of his father's abuse, and respected the kid's decision (which was forced upon him) to consistently dye his hair blue. Their time on the streets also gave Ben time to practice his art skills. Of course, he has a habit of drinking the paint water instead of his proper water, so Piyan tends to swap water cups when necessary to keep Ben from getting ill.

Of course, Piyan himself has a habit of spraying himself and Ben in the face with his spray can whenever he's doing spray art, and is notorious for not checking what end the spray nozzle is at before squirting away. Despite the odd fight they get into, the two guys still love each other to death, and Piyan's more than willing to keep Ben safe from his abusive parents.

Speaking of that, around the same time as the events Benjamin, Grace and Pico got caught up in, that's when Frank caught up to them and tried to force Ben to come back home by force, clearly not caring for what his son actually wanted. Fortunately, Piyan sprayed Frank in the face, temporarily blinding him whilst he and Softie bolted it to the train station.

There, they were met by Benji's childhood friend, Gracelyn Dent (Soft GF). In their youth, they used to hang out a lot together (mainly as a way to get away from the former's abusive parents for a bit), and it was clear she was ashamed of her body shape a lot, hence why she had her oversized sweater dress to try and hide her physique. Seeing this, Ben would often draw sweet pictures of her to help her feel better.

In addition, they always loved getting the latest Pokémon games together, and would always opt for whichever version of the game the other didn't have. Through this bond, Gracelyn developed feelings for Ben, but had difficulty spitting it out after Ben ran away from home. She believed the lies spread about Piyan at first, though after Ben had to reaffirm his identity, she felt heartbroken, though a hug between the friends at least helped her feel a bit better and ready to accept them being better as friends.

Unfortunately, the sweetness wasn't to last, since Marilyn Mearest showed up, hoisting the gay couple on her limousine to try and "persuade" (sic: force) him to come back home. Even with all the lies she said, Piyan stood up for Ben, and Ben in turn affirmed that he was going to live the life he wanted, whether she and Frank wanted him to or not.

And when she was getting especially pissed off with them, they both made a dive for it to escape, and it took them a month to recover from the injuries they sustained, thanks to a lack of funds for hospital treatment. But at least they had each other for the time being. Of course, the culmination of their efforts would come around that same Christmas, where Ben finally snapped at his parents and exposed their nature in public, shattering their goodwill in the public eye and moving past his trauma once and for all.

That's when he and Benjamin Miku met for the first time when he and his family were also celebrating Christmas, when Softie's parents were trying to get after him. Immediately, Oliver and Alice scooped the kid up in their arms and warned the Fairests to back off, with Benjamin himself also warning them to stay away from their "son". It got especially ugly for the Fairests when Daniel Dearest, who was making amends in that year, got involved and called them out for their heartless abuse.

Fortunately, the Fairests were both arrested on the grounds of covering up child abuse, and Piyan was glad they got their just desserts. The charges put on him were cleared thanks to him proving his innocence, and Softie was ultimately adopted into the Miku family. Safe to say, he really enjoys being around his new family a lot more than the Fairests, and even better is that they respected the career he wanted to pursue.

After this, he continued pursuing art with Piyan by his side, the duo bonding closely as the loving couple they were. They even adopted a street cat they found out and about, taking good care of it and nursing it back to good health. And each Sunday, they also tend to accompany Skid and Pump to get some extra funds, and have aimed to go trick-or-treating with them too.

After hearing about the mess Cam tried to rope Benjamin into, Softie willingly tagged along with the guy to help put a stop to The X and defy "fate". In fact, he was the one that ultimately convinced the original Soft Pico to tag along, his natural blond hair on his forehead being the best way to tell the versions apart (and there as a keepsake thanks to the Mikus not minding his natural hair colour) and knowing what it was like to lose someone close to you.

Barbara

Origin: Arrow Funk Home universe: Earth-22512 Age: 18

"Whatever that werewolf lady wanted with Bidu, I'm taggin' along to put a stop to it! Just gimme enough treats to last the trip, and I'll be your forever ally!"

Barbara is the adoptive daughter of the famed Grape Sago in her universe, and thus the Girlfriend to Bidu's Boyfriend. You'll find she has quite the appreciation for sweet treats, especially ice lollies, and she's rarely ever seen without one.

In her dimension, Bidu was framed by his boss, Kevin, for apparently having a drug addiction, which the dude denied, though the rumour was clearly there to encourage people to get at the guy so that Kevin could get more customers from the club brawls. Luckily, Barbara was more than happy to stick by Bidu's side, despite her dad disapproving of the two hanging out together.

Of course, we've yet to know about Bidu's actual name. He's simply dubbed "Bidu", as that's an affectionate nickname Barbara gave him thanks to her love of sweets. Of course, she's not actually aware her parents are both demons, despite the obvious signs being there.

Their most recent endeavour was avoiding getting their brains blown out at the hands of Dono (their universe's Pico), and Barbara and Bidu both made it out of that encounter safe and sound. It wasn't too long after that that their dimension was sighted by Judith (the Girlfriend from FNF DJX), who was asked to look into early-bird Boyfriends and see if they were good candidate potential for the Funkin' Society.

Though Bidu was a bit interested in the idea of joining other people like him, Barbara kept Judith back from him, her behaviour toward Bidu giving her a very bad feeling about the werewolf girl. Fortunately for them, Judith was polite enough to respect their boundaries and just let them go about their business, but was worried about what Cam would think.

Not long after this, Benjamin and EV!Softie started their search around the Funkinverse at their place, and neither of them had seen Salty in their world. However, Barbara said she was more than happy to ally with Ben's cause (just so long as there was enough treats for the trip), since she wanted answers as to why someone came to force a sinister offer on her boyfriend. It's after this that she learned about the two-way conflict, and that's how she got her part in the race to save Salty and stop The X.

Soft Pico (the original version)

Origin: FNF Soft Home universe: Earth-10143 Age: 19

"Sounds like that guy's itching for trouble. I don't care what his "good intentions" are, but NOBODY forcefully steals Baby Blue from me and gets away with it. In that case, I'm coming with you to get him back from those creeps!"

This time, let's focus on the original Soft Pico, and his whole role in the situation.

His situation is just like what Piyan went through, only he's the Pico of his universe and was framed for setting off the school shooting, forcing him to ditch school and go undercover. Thankfully for him, Softie had his back and knew he was innocent in all of this. And as per canon, he does not approve of the Fairests OR their treatment of Softie.

The above story that EV!Softie went through still applies, though between the street and the train station, Soft Pico and Soft Benji stopped off at a mansion, where they met their universe's version of Skid and Pump, alongside the shy kid facing a physical manifestation of his fear from abuse.

Fortunately, by the time these events played out, the Fairests were given their just desserts as well, though only Soft Pico knows what happened to them after they were ratted out. Soft Grace also got over trying to marry Soft Ben, and instead went on to date the Senpai of her universe. The night after was when Ben came into contact with the original Boyfriend, who encouraged him to chase his dreams instead of being stuck being a replica of the "real deal".

However, the following morning, something worrying happened; Softie had mysteriously vanished when Soft Pico woke up, which worried him gravely. He knew the Fairests couldn't have been involved, since the public perception of them declined a lot after they were publicly exposed for their crimes, and he didn't hold Soft Grace responsible for it, since she gave up trying to bring Benji back to her.

One evening, when he was on the search, he indeed found Softie again... except it wasn't his Softie. As it happened, it was EV!Softie, having come there with Grace after discovering the world had its Boyfriend absent. With Soft Pico desperate for answers, Grace explained what happened; the original Softie was captured by Cam Malicious in his sleep and brought into the Funkin' Society by force, likely as one of those planned to be conditioned into the ways of "canon events".

Soft Pico did know that Softie was brave enough to stand his ground there, and he had backing from Leo (Neo BF) and B3 as friends to bide his time until he could get back out of there. But the guy still wanted to get even with Cam for doing this without permission OR respect for their rights. With that in mind, he joined Benjamin's alliance with no questions asked to get his Softie back and give the Funkin' Society rogues what for.

Alt MIX Boyfriend

Origin: Funkin' MIX Home universe: Earth-72599 Age: 19

"You don't needa say anythin' more, kid. If the price is just right, I'll join your cause to keep our land safe from rogues. And, er, the other me workin' with 'em."

Now, let's look into a Boyfriend who might've turned out MUCH differently canonically if things took a turn for the worst.

This is where MIX Boyfriend comes in. After the events of the infamous school shooting, Boyfriend was left deeply affected by the incident. As such, he went on to become a professional killer for Daddy Dearest, and has since become paranoid, always carrying his Uzi at all times, even when outside of the job.

One day, after completing one of his missions, he accidentally overheard a conversation going on between his boss and her daughter. She wanted to help her father with the business, but out of fear for her safety, he turned down her request. Hearing this, BF took pity on her, deciding to give her a hand behind DD's back. He teaches her to shoot, she teaches him to sing. Seems easy enough.

A week passed, and Daddy Dearest was starting to feel some suspicions about his employee's "urgent" affairs between missions, so one day, he sneakily eyed on the dude as he made his way out. He very quickly found out about his daughter's new lover and accomplice, blocking them at the door and warning his employee to prove his strength to get her. Fortunately, BF overpowered his boss, even disarming him for good pleasure to signify himself as the winner.

That said, it's best not to look to him as a role model. Yes, the original Boyfriend isn't much better in that regard, but the negative traits are amplified to eleven with MIX Boyfriend. He's cold-blooded at times whilst on the job, enjoys fast food, smokes while no-one's around, and has even made his thumb bleed through biting it with his sharp teeth, in the name of arousing GF. Despite these, though, he can be quite the pleasant guy to be around, just so long as you aren't the one he's targetting.

Most recently was him trying to deal with a goopy monster that captured the Lila from the canon Spooky Month universe, though shortly after that was when he was hired into the Funkin' Society by Cam. ...At least, his official self. I'm talking about an alternate version of him who never got encountered by Cam to begin with.

So, that was the next port of call for Benjamin's alliance, to brief him in on what was going on and how Cam and The X are both prime targets who are both trying to ruin Salty's life in their own ways. All it took was a fair and upfront one-time payment of 10 bucks to get MIX Boyfriend on board to save the multiverse with the team.

I can't really answer why BF has that white eye. Not even he remembers how he got it.

B-Bot

Origin: Mega Man: Funkin' Heroes Home universe: Earth-12488

"Beep de boodai, boo! [You can count on me, friend!]"

The version of Boyfriend from this universe isn't like the rest, being a custom-made Robot Master made by an unknown creator. What helps him stand out is that his "mic" is linked to his blaster, hovering just in close proximity to it, and he tends to get out of most trouble by either singing through it or fighting out.

It was one day when he was dispatched near Dr. Albert Wily's first fortress, where he encountered the one and only Mega Man there and proved his worth in a one-on-one duel with him. With this on hand, the hero and hero-yet-to-be came up with a plan. They would breach different spots in the fortress and distract Wily's worst machines to give the Blue Bomber a chance to face Wily.

So that's what was agreed on, with B-Bot going in the deeper areas of the base to take on the Copy Robot and an eldritch defect known as Me-Gone-Man, while Rock took on the Yellow Devil and then Dr. Wily personally to teach the evil doctor what for. In the aftermath, with no place to go back to, B-Bot went back to Dr. Light's lab with Rock, the two welcomed back with open arms.

So after that situation, the two worked strongly together to overpower Wily's further schemes, bringing Proto Man back into Light's lab again in the process, and later getting even with Bass and Treble for their allegiance to Wily. With no sign of his original creator after these events, B-Bot has since been taken in by Dr. Light as one of his own, and was treated the respect he deserved by helping stop Wily time and time again.

When Pico and Barbara came to investigate that dimension looking for recruits to overpower the Funkin' Society and The X, B-Bot didn't need any other reason to ally with them, other than the good will inside his core. This makes him the token robot in Benjamin's Funkin' allies (the second of which if counting Boom as a member of the joint heroes), and he's very proud of being part of such a grand mission.

Return Funkin' GF

Origin: The Return Funkin' Home universe: Earth-15221 Age: 19

"I'll try tapping into my powers again, so I can at least be of some use to you all. But other than that, count me in!"

This version of Girlfriend is from a mod harkening back to the classic mods of FNF history. Not too much is actually known about her, but it's rumoured she could be an alternate proxy of the original GF, thanks to the motives she and her Boyfriend had; doing travels to past locations and re-encountering past rivals again.

For the occasion, GF's changed up her outfit a bit compared to her original self. Instead of her dress that shows off her thighs, she's opted for a comfy red hoodie and baggy jeans, alongside tying her hair back to make her better stand out from her original self. And likewise, she was able to conjure up an alternate outfit for Boyfriend as well to fit the theme.

As we know of, the only character they've re-encountered is Whitty, in the same famous alleyway we remember facing him in. Of course, the bomb-head wasn't too pleased at seeing them show up again, and he quickly got angry at their refusal to leave him be, though thankfully not as destructive as last time. Thanks to this, the couple decided to hold off on the old rival hunt to keep out of danger for the time being.

Unfortunately, the encounter left GF without her usual abilities aside from teleportation, which was how she bailed herself and BF out of the encounter, and it was clearly going to take her time to get back in the groove of using them again. So due to this, the couple hung low to avoid any nasty encounters for the time being.

The presence of a Boyfriend in the Return Funkin' universe was what led to Benjamin and Soft Pico checking it out, coming across the two just hanging out. They explained that the two were currently lucky that neither were approached for a place in the Funkin' Society, considering how much of a crapsack utopia it is. And in the name of helping others, GF was more than happy to come along and help, just so long as she could sort her powers out to be of good help to the team.

Mii Boyfriend

Origin: Wii Funkin - VS Matt Home universe: Earth-1119 Age: 4 years since his creation on a Wii console; 19 mentally

"Beep bop bodai! (I'll come along!)"

Of course, a multiverse isn't complete without the occasional oddball in the mix, and said oddball is in the form of a Mii version of Boyfriend, hand-designed by somebody on a Nintendo Wii console and used quite a bit in games on the console, particularly with a Girlfriend Mii accompanying him too.

His most common usage is being in and around the Wii games that primarily have a focus on Mii characters, such as Wii Fit, Wii Party, Wii Music, and of course, Wii Sports (Resort)! Most famously, he was assigned in a boxing match to take on Matt, the game's ever-famous boxer NPC, at the highest difficulty possible. And through a LOT of grueling challenges, he ultimately won the brawl and got Matt's respect for being able to keep pace the whole way.

And in his spare time when not being assigned by a player for Mii-based games, he's simply chilling out around Wuhu Island, situated off the coast from Japan, living in harmony with fellow Miis taking residence there and discovering the mysteries behind the Island Spirit that watched over them, who did not want turmoil to be brought into the land and ensured that the residents did not take the island's bounties for granted.

Even then, the scars felt from the island's side of World War II are still prominent in the present day, and Mii BF did not want to unintentionally spark trauma in any war veterans that survived the conflict on the island's shores, instead providing support and comfort for any affected Miis in their lives.

It was one day when Mii BF and Mii GF were chilling out on the shores of Sugarsand Beach that an attempt to pull Mii BF into the Funkin' Society was attempted, but his data was ultimately incompatible with the unjust acts of the society, so he couldn't be contacted by Cam or Judith, leading them to just leave the Mii to his own devices.

Fortunately, Return Funkin' GF and EV!Softie had no trouble getting in, using interdimensional watches to temporarily shift themselves into Miis to blend in better while the Wii's player was out for the day. They explained the situation to Mii BF, who finally had an answer for why he briefly glitched out one day. Because he needed something exciting to do for the day, the Mii was happy to agree to joining the crew in their act to disrupt the Funkin' Society and stop The X before he can harm anyone close to Salty.

Evan

Origin: Friday Night Funkin' - Childhood Memories Home universe: Earth-8814 Age: 8

"Hey, it's okay. Even though I can't really fight all those bullies, I'll still be around to show emotional support to you wherever I can."

Of the gang in Benjamin's group, Evan is by far the youngest of them all, and is from a mod me and @becdoesthings are currently directing (formerly owned by NotSoDevy).

In his youth, Evan was one of the shy kids at school and tried to do his best to make friends. Part of this is down to him being autistic, explaining his difficulties in interacting with other people. He got bullied a lot, but fortunately, things changed for the better when Holly got involved and made the bullies back off.

Since then, the duo have been very close friends and have enjoyed spending time together. Holly's parents' are at an unknown place, hence why she often hangs out at Evan's home, and is treated as if she were a part of Evan's family to begin with while her parents are out. Evan's mum and dad have also both been really supportive of him and wished him the best going on in life.

On weekends after school, Evan and Holly often spend time together watching children's TV shows, such as Blue's Clues (Evan's favourite), Elmo's World, Little Einsteins, Team Umizoomi... The whole lot you used to see on kids' channels back in the day. Since Evan often feels lonely, even with Holly about, the fourth-wall breaking nature of the shows helps ignite Evan's curiosity and desire to interact with the characters in question.

In terms of interests, Evan really enjoys drawing pictures, whilst Holly is a singer. As Holly is more outgoing and energetic, this could be a given for her. Evan also has the habit of tripping over on occasion, but fortunately, Holly is always close by to help him up. There is an iteration of Pico in Evan's world, but the two have never crossed paths. In addition, the infamous school shooting never occurred, rendering their innocence intact.

There was one day, however, when things got especially crazy. When Evan and Holly were watching some DVDs one weekend, a lightning strike came out of nowhere and zapped the DVD player, causing Evan and Holly to be pulled inside. There, they were met by Nick Jr.'s ex-host, Face, and after introductions, the plucky sentient face tagged along with the kids in the form of a handheld Holly carried with her while they figured out how to leave and get back home.

So the three travelled together through worlds based on many classic childhood shows, making friends with the characters they met along the way and overall having a really enjoyable time with the colourful characters. By the end, Evan was saddened that he had to go, though Face reassured him that he'll be able to visit again some other time if he wanted to, and even if he couldn't, Face would always make sure to keep watch on him from the boundaries of the TV screen.

Of the dimensions, Evan's world is one Benjamin himself has visited quite often, and though Evan was pretty shy about meeting another Boyfriend, Ben remained gentle with him while he got the confidence to come closer. Since then, Ben has dedicated time each Sunday to look after him, and Evan in turn was excited to show him his DVD collection. Needless to say, the two boys really enjoyed being together whenever the opportunity was available.

After Cam had attempted to apprehend Ben before, this world was one of the first that he went to, with Barbara alongside him, mainly to check that Evan was alright and clearly fearful that Cam might've targeted him as he did with Lexi Robin before. Fortunately, the Funkin' Society hadn't had enough time to track Evan down, so he was all well and good.

After introducing Evan to Barbara, Ben was about to head out, though Evan simply wanted to tag along, wanting to help people however he could. Ben was more hesitant, considering Evan was the youngest would-be recruit he knew, but after some persuasion, and asking his parents if it was alright, Ben got him on board for the trip, where he's been serving as emotional support for any of the guys or gals that need it.

Neo Girlfriend

Origin: Friday Night Funkin' Neo Home universe: Earth-21821 Age: 19

"Wherever they've taken my babe for too long, I don't want him involved in this nonsense. I'm tagging along to ensure he'll be alright!"

Onto one more FNF AU, and this one is aglow with flashy lights and neon colours. In this "Neo" universe is the counterpart of Girlfriend, who had been getting into plenty of DJ work herself prior to meeting her Boyfriend/Leo.

Rap battle opportunities were ripe for those who were deemed worthy by Neo Daddy Dearest, and Leo was itching to prove himself and get involved in actual gigs. Neo GF kept watch over him during each performance to ensure he was doing alright. Things quickly derailed at the Raveyard, however, when the Neo Monster came about to wreak havoc.

Fortunately, the two could get out of that pickle, but Monster quickly sent his henchmen, including Neo Pico, in a bid to apprehend Leo and bring him to Monster alive. Fortunately, they made the bounty hunters back off, just in time for some music video filming with Neo Mommy Mearest... on top of a frickin' PLANE! (Granted, Benjamin was on a stage carried in the sky, but this is different.)

After that wrapped up, they landed by a party hall in Neo City, where they could celebrate the success of the music video together, though Leo and Neo DD had some... choice things to say about each other.

Leo: I say you're on, shit lips! Neo Daddy Dearest: STOP CALLING ME SHIT LIPS Leo: STOP CALLING ME GLOWSDICK

Unfortunately, Monster quickly crashed the party again, referring to Leo constantly as his "son" during their conflict. And in the aftermath, Leo passed out and was taken captive by Monster's gang. After he escaped, he was later proven worthy for the Funkin' Society, an act Neo GF explicitly disapproved of. It took around a week for her to figure out how to get after him, though her luck came when Benjamin and Soft Pico came along.

It had already been a day since the big chase in the Funkin' Society HQ, and Neo GF was absolutely itching to find answers as to what business Leo was forcefully entangled in. As such, she quickly enlisted to help the crew out, and she became good friends with Soft Pico during their time together, due to both having a matching motive.

BluBuni

Created by: Leideri on Twitter Home universe: Earth-923 Age: 13

"If you need help, I'll give you whatever help you need! You can count on me!"

Now for a more unique one; a female spin on a popular BF take, specifically for Bunfriend, in the form of BluBuni. As it stands, we don't know what her actual name is, as she's only known by her nickname.

Similarly to Bunfriend being a cool and radical dude in his Sonic universe, BluBuni is equally outgoing, and borders on being an outright genki girl thanks to her often happy personality and ability to see the bright side of so much. She is easily excitable by thrilling prospects like action movies, and had developed a fascination with Little Planet and it revolving around the concept of time itself.

She's often accompanied by Goatfriend, who's a good friend of hers and often has her back in more dangerous situations. Despite her general silly nature, she knows when to take a situation seriously, and doesn't like it whenever Goatfriend and one of her other friends butt heads sometimes. She's also very caring for anyone she's close to, though the concept of romance mostly flies right over her head for some reason, and it's because of this that the two friends aren't an item in their universe (in this interpretation, at least).

However, deep down, she suffers from some trauma she hasn't been able to truly shake; the death of her big brother at the hands of an EXE that terrorised her land at one point. The EXE in question was driven back out, but that side of the damage remained done. Despite this, she doesn't let this trauma weigh her down, knowing her brother would want her to keep going and shining bright for his sake.

It was the day after Cam's attempted capturing of Benjamin that Kenji Tensei showed up in BluBuni's dimension, after having been retrieved following Gracie overpowering him before. Though, instead of trying to enlist BluBuni into the Funkin' Society, he got sidetracked with his anime trope wonk, simply baffling the girl. Of course, this gave Benjamin, Grace and Mii BF the opening to catch him off-guard and knock him out.

Ben explained the situation to BluBuni, who was more than eager to help save the day with him, simply out of the goodness in her heart, while Goatfriend dealt with Kenji while he was stuck there. It was during the trip that Ben and Blu started to develop a very close brother-sister bond with each other, the former admiring her positive thinking and the latter admiring his heroics and overall kindness.

(BluBuni sprite by JH-Production)

Even after the defeat of The X, BluBuni had been hanging out with Benjamin pretty often, wanting to get to know his world better and bond with his friends as well. You can usually catch them having donuts together (with a banana each too to keep their diet healthy). Of course, if you say they're a couple at the moment (still working on how that could really start out), it's a quick surefire way to get them both flustered, though it won't lower their guards if in combat together.

Bently Forceloyed

Origin: New Identity, New Life (part of this story) Home universe: Earth-12124 Age: 14

(Sketch by @mcgamejolter)

"I've seen more than enough monsters trying to harm others to know immediately you're up to no good, Cam. [...] Don't talk bullshit to me, Agent. We're not friends anymore, and I will not be maintaining your "canon" with you!"

Finally, let's look at a Boyfriend who's technically the new kid on the block... or rather, an alternate version of Benjamin himself, who got off much worse in the aftermath of More than One Universe.

If you want to know a basic summary of his story from his perspective, please read this post. Otherwise, please keep reading!

During the big conflict, the alternate Benjamin fell victim to possession at the hands of a spirit known as Puhoi, who went on to flat-out massacre everyone and everything he came to care for. It got to the point that his own dimension wasn't safe for him anymore, so he left the confines of his mind and escaped into the vast multiverse, eventually picking a city world, Earth-12124, as his place of residence.

He entered the world with another human-esque friend, known as Livie Vernal (the expy of Skid here), alongside a hefty sum of money that could help him get by in the new world. And thanks to him sharing his love of music to Livie, that's when he met Isabella Fondsmith, the two quickly growing close as lovers.

Of course, a dark past was bound to catch up to Bently Forceloyed eventually, especially since he was still infected with the Puhoi curse. He had some dark dreams where he encountered Audrey, the previous bearer of the curse, trapped for his sins, and despite what he said, Bently couldn't bring himself to accept the curse as a gift.

After enough time, Audrey broke back out of the domain himself into Bently's apartment, necessitating him and Livie to look after him as much as possible. Bently also settled back into school during that time, and though he didn't need to go back, he still opted to anyway thanks to the opportunity to meet new friends.

His presence did catch the attention of the city's government, though, and they sent a trainee agent known as Koda Terrafirm (Alt Pico) to sort him out. It took a couple of clashes between them, but those clashes were enough to bury the hatchet between them.

With time, however, the stress from looking after Audrey so much was starting to burn Bently out, so he wanted to see about getting him moved to a residence that he could feel safe and loved in, specifically the residence of Otto Maypole (Alt Pump). The guilt of doing so caught up with Bently fast, though, when Audrey was worried that Bently might have hated him for his times to his dark past.

After Bently reaffirmed that he didn't really hate Audrey, he stayed over with the Maypoles for a few days, feeling ill AND deeply depressed from his decision. Audrey did manage to make a compromise for them both, of course; he'd take the curse's energy while transferring more positive energy to Bently in return, similarly to when he was once an angel.

One "nightmare" Bently had led to him confronting his past self (the real deal), and despite a misunderstanding and some very personal combat, Bently quickly came clean to Benjamin about his struggles and his fear about getting things wrong again. And thanks to Grace and Isabella also connecting through the dreamscape, Bently emerged from the dream feeling a lot better and more ready to help protect his new home.

Not long after the sleepover finished was when Otto's big brother, Getto, came to stay over while preparing for exams. Audrey took a quick liking to the guy (perhaps a crush deep down, mmm? :3), and even had the technical know-how to develop a special watch for him that displayed a whole manner of facts. And these facts managed to help Getto complete his exams with success.

Bently also got back into the swing of crime-fighting, using some retractable triangle blades on his gloves to attack criminals with, and he doesn't play nice if there's no other way to reason with someone hellbent in their own ways.

Of course, the dark past couldn't be evaded forever. Puhoi came back shortly after, using Audrey's body as a bid to talk things out with Bently, though the kid reaffirmed that he'd rather not have anything to do with him. The possession had a side-effect on Audrey in that it rendered him sick for a day, which also happened to Isabella when she was briefly possessed by another spirit that trailed after him.

Eventually, Puhoi had to confine in Bently as a voluntary host to keep away from the Society of Souls, who were hellbent on harming him for even showing the slightest bit of weakness. Bently did reluctantly agree after enough persuasion, and found himself growing more and more inclined to keep Puhoi safe after observing the scars he endured.

One day, however (specifically the day after Cam's failed apprehension of Benjamin), was when an out-of-world case had to be dealt with. Bently had caught sight of a cartoony hooligan known as Max Chaos causing trouble and went to deal with him, though was kept on the ropes thanks to his cartoon physics. Of course, Isabella was also present to briefly outwit him by blocking the front door of the bank off.

And soon enough, Bently chased him down to a car park where the cops had failed to apprehend Max. And though Max was about to knock Bently out cold like he did with the police, Cam showed up at the right time to attack him and trick him into speaking out loud (he usually uses signs to speak, ala Wile E. Coyote), bringing him to Bently's attention and getting the two teaming up to sort the crook out.

Max: What's up with dis whole trouble tryna mag me anyway, mac?! Bently: To keep this city safe from bandits like you! Max: Bandit?! Why- I'm new here! Dis is my first time doin' a crime. Ya see, I grew up- Cam: Silence! Bently: What's his reputation like? Cam: <Ran over and destroyed numerous planets in a cartoon gag, literally shattered the fourth wall, can grab a nuclear warhead from hammerspace, and he's got a huge bounty on his head in his world.>

Together, the two counterparts managed to defeat Max Chaos and send him on a one-way trip back to his dimension to be dealt with there. After that was when Cam considered enlisting Bently into the Funkin' Society, seeing as he was a bit more open to listen. However, B-Bot and Neo GF interfered in this attempt and came clean to Bently about the trap he was about to walk into.

This severed any trust he had in Cam for good, and he made it clear that he would not comply with "canon events", having had enough losses to last a lifetime, and proved his point by catching Cam off-guard and injuring him with his wrist blades, leaving one very nasty scar on his eye before he had to retreat. And after getting the full-scope as to what went on, Bently felt compelled to help protect the multiverse and stop The X in his tracks, in turn making him the last -friend to join Benjamin's side of the Funkin' Gang in the name of saving the multiverse.

[romaroy]

Hello again. I sent you an ask earlier about my wacky theory🫣. RJ(R)<- ->M. He he. It was nonsensical but it has a chokehold on me.

I was wondering mainly about Marius' personality though. I only read half of QotD but the thing I can't reconcile is the fact that 'Raglan James' is so weasel like. Like Justin Kirk plays him so incompetent and goofy. He was totally waiting for Daniel to pay for his Mackerel! Sly. The amount of times he talked about the fish and was disappointed in the end lol. I don't remember Marius being like this in TVL. I don't doubt he's involved somehow but he was so imposing and god like from what I remembered. Like marble or stone. Is Marius also good at acting? These vampires need to take over Hollywood not Real Estate if that's the case.

Prev ask: Hi! What do think about Raglan James being "Rashid" and "Rashid" being Marius? That sort of body swap. I don't know much (at all) but I have a general knowledge about Marius. I had a weird feeling about Rashid when I saw him placed next to Marius' painting in one of the episodes. It was so CLEAR he was positioned there for the shot. I think it was episode 1 or 2. The only thing that makes me think I am speaking out my ass is the fact that Raglan James has a weird accent. (Do accents travel with bodyswaps?) And why would that sort of bodyswap even be necessary. But then again why can Daniel all of a sudden remember with Rashid back from vacation? Where was he? Why did the veneers crack then? How can Rashid lie blatantly about who he spoke to? It wasn't omission. Bro couldn't handle chopsticks. Ugh I am gonna read all the books during the hiatus. I am going crazy. Like that meme with the conspiracy story board

RJ=Rashid

RJR<- ->Marius

I think that’s way too complicated for TV. I see the vision but I do think Rashid is Rashid I just really don’t think Raglan is who he says and that is IS Marius. I might be wrong but I’m willing to be my good knee at this point.

Marius personality depends on the books and how’s he’s perceived like many of the books and characters. In TVL he’s very calm, he’s a teacher and a scholar but immensely powerful. In QOTD he is quite prideful but Blood and Gold gives a lot about his personality. He’s quick to loneliness, he can be rash (turning Pandora),

I’m reading blood and gold and have some kites about his personality as I read.

Some stuff I’ve made note of that I think hawk his personality (not finished the book yet):

- “…inside him there lurked a dreadful anger and an unreasonable hate.” (P19)

- ”I listen with my whole soul.” He gave a little sigh and looked out through the immense glass. “I’m weary of being alone, my friend,” he said. “I cannot bear the company of those whom I know most intimately. And they cannot bear mine on account of things I’ve done.” (P36)

- he likes to live as a mortal and nots he feels safe because “the only enemy who has harmed me was a swarm of blood drinkers.” (P50)

- “…I took Daniel because he needed me. I took Daniel because it’s unendurable to me to be utterly alone.” (P57). Context of this is Daniel is struggling after he turns into a vampire by Armand

- “”I denied my love and my jealously completely. I denied my crushing disappointment. I told myself, ‘you are too wise for such. Learn from what’s happened..” (p64)

- “I don’t know what caused me the worst pain- the loss of Lestat or my jelousy that she had given and taken with him.” (P66)

- (about lestat) “I wanted to love him still and I wanted to be loved, and I could not forfeit my place as the wife and patient on…anger is too painful for me. Anger is too pathetic. I cannot beer it, I cannot act upon it.”

- “And my pride returned. I could not stoop to a common physical battle, especially one which might become hideously awkward and ugly, one which I might not win. No. I was too wise for it.” (P122)

- “I lived the lie. I lived out of anger. This is what I’m trying to tell you. I have lived lies. I have done it again and again. I live lies because I cannot endure the weakness of anger, and I cannot admit the irrationality of love.” (P123)

-“ I do move through the world by means of questions and too often I’ve asked those questions in utter silence, or king centuries ago of people who gave me answers that were fragments which I had to piece together as they were bits of old papyri. I hunger for knowdlege. I hunger for what you mean to say to me.” (P233)

[thefirstknife]

One thing that I didn't get because I'm super dumb: did Savathûn randomly possessed Osiris because he was, like... there or did she know who she was going to posses? I still have no idea how exactly Sagira died, but I thought Savathûn was hiding from Xivu and hid in Osiris's body to save herself? Or did Savathûn know that Sagira would have died there because Osiris was messing around Xivu's stuff (I still have no idea what cryptolits are)??

I'm sorry, I know I'm stupid TwT

It's highly unclear. No need to apologise and you're definitely not stupid! It's a lot of information and a lot of it isn't fully clear.

First I have to clarify that it wasn't possession, but she did need his body vulnerable. She needed to be able to capture him and connect herself with him (she did so through a Hive rune) and then she copied his form and pretended to be him while he was kept somewhere safely. He needed to be somewhere away so that she would be able to swap their places once she's free of her worm, which happened during Exorcism.

The fact that she needed him vulnerable implies that she may have had an idea for this plan somehow, but she didn't seem to have participated in getting him down to the Moon. Not that we know of at least! Which is odd because she couldn't possibly have known that he would go there and get into that situation.

Unless... She perhaps did know. What's important to know is that Osiris got influenced by Xivu Arath when he got exposed to the cryptolith before anyone knew that those things are Xivu's. He found one and accidentally got exposed and he had Xivu talking to him in his mind and motivating him to do violence and go to war (which gives her tithe). Cryptoliths are basically Hive organic protrusions that attract and influence those that come near it and put them into a frenzy or some sort of worshipping state. They also create Xivu's Wrathborn through that influence.

Osiris also visited the Dreadnaught where he found out it's Xivu's Arath. He did that after he was already exposed to her influence. He interfaced with the Dreadnaught and found out that Xivu is moving her troops and that Savathun has been exiled by the Hive for betraying the Darkness. He also found out that a lot of Hive decided to abandon Savathun for her treason and join up with Xivu. That is why he went to the Moon! Xivu was gathering new troops, specifically those that used to be with Savathun on the Moon.

The problem here is... Has this been a setup from the get go? Did Savathun somehow coordinate this? Did she have any contact with Xivu? Is Xivu really hunting Savathun no questions asked or have they been in some sort of contact? Remember, Savathun prepared Torobatl for Xivu's invasion and explicitly stated that it was a gift for "her favourite sister."

Is it possible that Xivu and Savathun coordinated some of this to expose and drag Osiris to the Moon? There are a lot of details that seem to imply so, like Xivu's High Celebrant just trapping Osiris and then leaving before killing him, just draining his Light. Why not kill him? It's almost as if they wanted him alive, but Lightless. This doesn't benefit Xivu at all! But it does benefit Savathun who needs Osiris to infiltrate the city.

I think it's possible that Savathun and Xivu coordinated some of this together, and that Savathun most likely lied to Xivu about what she plans to do. Xivu probably expected that the same would happen as with Torobatl: Savathun will scheme and prepare the ground for an invasion and then Xivu will show up with her fleet. Savathun most definitely did not tell Xivu that she plans on making her full betrayal and getting rid of her worm.

In that case, Xivu would easily prepare a way for Osiris to follow to the Moon and Savathun would make sure that she snatches him when he's Lightless. It didn't fully follow the whole plan perfectly because of Sagira's sacrifice, but the end goal was the same: Osiris was left alone and without Light for Savathun to grab.

There's a lot of speculation here because we have no POV from Xivu so we can't tell what she planned and how. I think she would've just killed him, especially after his rampage that tithed her. There's no reason for her to set up a ritual to drain his Light. That's only something that Savathun needed for her schemes to infiltrate the city and corrupt us from inside the same way she did with Torobatl.

I hope that makes some sense, but it's still mostly speculation because we simply don't know what Xivu is thinking. It could've feasibly also been an accident and Savathun was just following either Osiris or Xivu's moves and came up with the plan when he ended up Lightless.

[queenofcats17]

So, I’m basically doing dedicated little stories with the thoughts of all the characters in @hlvrai-twh and it’s Coomer’s turn now.

Also, thank you to the user RelaxIAmJustHereForTheFanfiction on AO3 for talking about Kell and Coomer bonding over prosthetics.

Warning, this is a bit of a suggestive part near the end.

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

Coomer saw Gordon as something of a son. He didn't know whether it was strange for an AI to think of a human that way, and he didn't particularly care. During their time in Black Mesa, Coomer had grown quite attached to the younger man. Gordon was his boy. The closest thing he would probably ever have to a son. He would do everything in his power to make sure Gordon was safe and happy.

Which was what made this situation so frustrating.

Coomer had always been a man of action. When things upset him, he did something about it. He didn't like being helpless. He didn't like not being able to do anything about a situation that upset him. When there was a problem, he wanted to be able to fix it.

But he couldn't do anything here.

His son was suffering and he couldn't do a single goddamn thing. Benrey had stolen Gordon's body and was letting Gordon die and Coomer couldn't do a goddamn thing.

He wanted nothing more than to drag Benrey aside and beat the living daylights out of him. He wanted to make Benrey pay for betraying their trust, for betraying Gordon's trust. But he would be hurting Gordon's body if he did that. He wanted to demand Benrey swap back, but he knew if he revealed that he was aware of the deception, Benrey would do something to make sure Coomer didn't impede his progress. Benrey would do anything to get out of the game, even if it meant hurting the other AIs.

There was nothing Coomer could do about any of this and that made him absolutely furious. It was taking everything he had not to explode into an uncontrollable rage and destroy everything around him. Every moment where he had to smile and play dumb was pure torture. He wanted to help Gordon, he wanted to do something. But he couldn't. None of them could.

None of them... except for Gman.

Tommy's father had far more power and control over the game than the rest of them did. He could change things, Coomer was certain of it. And yet, Gman wasn't doing anything. He was even helping Benrey. If Coomer hadn't been furious before, he certainly would have been now. Gman's son was in danger and he wasn't doing a single thing. That was what made Coomer the angriest. They all had their limitations, but he knew Gman was deliberately not helping. If he had had the power to protect Gordon, he would have used it in a heartbeat. He made his distaste quite clear to the cat that served as Gman's extension since the man himself hadn't shown his face to the group. The cat, in return, offered no explanation about the motivations of its master, save that Gman was "doing what he could". What utter bullshit, Coomer thought.

This tension remained long after the game had ended and Benrey had escaped. The two of them made no effort to find each other in the days that followed the end of the game. Coomer got the impression that Gman was deliberately avoiding the other AIs. One of the first good decisions he'd made in a while, in Coomer's opinion. Although he would very much have liked to get his hands on Gman to wring the other man's neck, he knew it wouldn't help him. It wouldn't make him feel better. It wouldn't bring Gordon back.

They would have to talk eventually. Coomer knew that. If they wanted to move forward, they would have to talk.

But that would come later. Much later.

Immediately after the game had ended, though, Coomer had gone to a room and promptly destroyed everything inside. He hadn't even paid attention to which room he was going into, just looking for one with a good amount of things to break. In that room, he'd let loose all the anger and pain that he'd kept inside himself for the entirety of the game. The wails that had echoed from that room shook everyone to their cores with their heartwrenching despair. Coomer hadn't cared if he got hurt in this rampage. He just wanted to break things. He wanted to rip and tear and destroy until the aching pain in his chest lessened even a fraction.

His son was gone. They had failed. Gordon was dead. That was the thought that kept swirling in Coomer's mind. Gordon was dead. Gordon was dead and he was never going to come back. Gordon was dead and he was never going to come back and Coomer hadn't been able to do a single thing to stop it.

...It wasn't fair.

Gordon had made mistakes in his interactions with Benrey, it was true. But he didn't deserve to die for those mistakes. They'd all been assholes during the first run of the game! Maybe they shouldn't have been so mean to Benrey and made him the villain, but those actions hadn't warranted this reaction! It wasn't fair! None of this was fair! But then again, when had fairness ever been a part of their existence?

Coomer continued his rampage until there was nothing left to break, at which point he just stood in the middle of the room, his clothes and hair disheveled, and his hands covered in blood and embedded with splinters and shards of broken glass. It felt like all his anger had gone out of him in an instant, leaving him simply feeling...numb. He heard the door open, but he didn't have the energy to turn and see who had entered.

"I would ask if you're alright, but I know you're not." Bubby's voice came from behind him, sounding as exhausted as Coomer felt.

"...I couldn't protect him," Coomer whispered, his own voice raspy from screaming his throat raw.

"It wasn't your fault," Bubby said, walking up to wrap his arms around Coomer.

"I should have done more," Coomer insisted. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes. "I could have saved him."

"You did everything you could, Harold." Bubby held him a bit tighter.

"But it wasn't enough." Coomer's voice broke, his shoulders beginning to shake as sobs wracked his body.

Bubby held him until he stopped crying, and even after. The two of them sat there in that destroyed room together, just holding one another.

"What do we do now?" Bubby asked after a very long period of silence.

"I...I don't know, Bubby," Coomer said. He was too tired to be able to formulate any plans right now. He should have expected that Bubby's brain wouldn't stop working, though. His darling Bubby never stopped thinking. And he imagined Bubby was searching for anything he could control at the moment to make up for the lack of control he'd experienced during the game.

"That bastard probably isn't coming back, is he?" Bubby shifted a bit so that Coomer was curled up against him.

"I don't know, Bubby."

"If he's not, then I guess we need to figure out how to survive here..." Bubby murmured, eyes narrowed slightly in thought. "Figure out areas we should avoid, traps we can take advantage of, where the sources of food would be-"

"Bubby." Coomer gently cut him off, putting a hand on the side of Bubby's face.

Bubby glanced down. "Yes?"

Coomer gave him a weary smile. "Could we talk about this later, dear? I'm afraid I'm too tired for proper planning at the moment."

Bubby's cheeks went pink and he coughed awkwardly and looked away. "Right. Of course. We should...We should find you somewhere to rest."

"I couldn't agree more."

Bubby helped him to his feet and together, the two of them left the room, both to find somewhere to rest and also to find some medical supplies for Coomer's hands.

In the days that followed the ending, Coomer did his best to analyze the situation and dispense good advice to his friends. Someone had to be the levelheaded one, he decided. Someone had to help guide the others on their journey forward. They were all in pain and they needed direction. They needed outlets. Even if Coomer himself was still hurting, he needed to help the others. He was a man of action, after all. He needed to be doing something.

He didn't want to dwell on his pain. He knew if he did... It would end up consuming him.

.

The emergence of Null had brought up... complicated feelings for Coomer. On the one hand, at least Gordon wasn't dead. On the other hand... This wasn't Gordon. Not really.

Null was like a shell of the person Gordon had been. He could still smile, still laugh, still act like the person they remembered, but it all felt... hollow. All the feelings he expressed were but shadows of the ones Coomer had seen from Gordon. Everything save his rage, that was. Null's rage burned brighter than anything Coomer had ever seen from Gordon before the events of the body-snatching. It hurt to see Gordon hurting so much and not being able to do anything to fix it. But things weren't the way they had been during Benrey's escape. Coomer could do something this time.

What Null needed, Coomer determined, was to have someone be there for him without judgment or expectation. Null knew the Science Team saw Gordon when they looked at him, so Coomer tried to just let Null be Null when he visited. He let Null rest his head on his shoulder and just talk about whatever came into his mind. It didn't fix everything but he knew it made Null feel better.

"I can't be him, you know," Null said one day when they were sitting in the cave together, his head on Coomer's shoulder.

"I know," Coomer replied, gently stroking Null's hair. "And I wouldn't ask you to be him. That wouldn't be fair to you."

He felt Null relax a bit, leaning into Coomer's touch. It always made Coomer feel good when Null relaxed around him. That was what he wanted. He wanted Null to feel safe with him. There wasn't a whole lot he could do to help Null, but he could give the other man a safe space to just be himself.

"...He meant a lot to you, didn't he?" Null asked after a minute.

Coomer hesitated, pausing in stroking Null's hair. Null let out a little whine, which made Coomer laugh and resume the action.

"Gordon... did mean a great deal to me," he admitted. "Granted, we didn't know each other for a terribly long time, but..." He had to stop for a moment to blink away the tears welling up in his eyes. "But I grew to care deeply for him. He was... almost like a son to me. I know it's perhaps a bit silly to grow so attached to someone you've only known a short time, but traumatic situations certainly have a way of bonding people together!"

Null scooted a bit closer, giving Coomer a slightly awkward side hug. "...I'm sorry you lost him."

"You have nothing to be sorry for, my dear boy," Coomer assured him, patting Null's head. "Even if Gordon isn't here, I'm very glad that you are."

"...You really mean that?" Null asked quietly. His voice sounded so small, so unsure.

"I do," Coomer said, pulling Null closer.

Null offered no resistance, curling up against Coomer's chest like a child might curl up against the chest of their parent. "Thank you, Doctor Coomer..."

"You're very welcome, Null." Coomer pressed a kiss to the top of Null's head. This wasn't the Gordon he knew, but this was still his boy. And he would do whatever he could to help his boy.

.

Coomer finally talked to the Gman a few weeks after Benrey returned to the game. He'd been reading in his little makeshift office when he'd felt a presence appear just behind him.

"Can I help you?" He asked coolly, flipping a page in his book. He didn't bother to turn around or look up. He'd see what Tommy's father wanted first.

"I....thought we should talk," Gman said, awkwardly clearing his throat.

"Did you now?" Coomer flipped another page. "What did you think we should talk about, Mr. Coolatta?" There was none of his usual warmth in his voice. It was icily polite, with barely restrained disdain lurking below the surface.

Gman let out a long sigh. "I wish to speak with you about Benrey's escape and the role I played in it."

Slowly, Coomer closed his book and turned to face Gman, his hands folded on the book now in his lap. "I'm listening," he said.

Gman shifted uncomfortably, pulling at his tie. Coomer couldn't help but feel a bit of vindictive satisfaction at this. He didn't think he'd ever seen Gman as anything less than perfectly composed and in control. It felt good to see Gman off his game. It felt good to see him sweat.

"I... had my reasons for not interfering during your adventure," Gman said, folding his hands behind his back once more. "I was attempting to save as much of Mr. Freeman's data as I could so that something of him could be preserved. I knew there was nothing I could do to prevent his deletion, so I focused on preserving what I could."

"You could absolutely have prevented his deletion," Coomer replied coolly. "I know you could have figured something out."

"Normally, that would have been true. However, Benrey severely limited my powers," Gman said, his gaze sharpening slightly. "Not to mention, I knew that if I attempted to impede his progress, he would retaliate. You knew that as well."

For a moment or two, the two of them held each other's gaze. It almost felt like a battle of wills. Gman was the one to look away first, though, the sharpness of his gaze being replaced by bone-deep exhaustion.

"Although... You were right," he said. "I could likely have done more to help all of you."

"And why didn't you?" Coomer asked, raising an eyebrow. He hadn't expected Gman to admit he'd made a mistake. Gman didn't like admitting he was fallible like the rest of them. It was, Coomer hoped, a good sign, and he wanted to see where Gman would go with it.

Gman shifted again, his shoulders hunching slightly. "Benrey... threatened Tommy."

Ah... That explained it.

"I likely could have done more," Gman continued. "I could have tested the limits of what I could do without Benrey noticing. But I did not. Because I was afraid. So, I chose what I saw as the most cautious option." He met Coomer's gaze again. "I understand that this does not erase my role in Benrey's escape and Mr. Freeman's initial death but... I am sorry."

Coomer nodded, unfolding and refolding his hands on top of the book. "I think Gordon is the one you need to apologize to most of all," he said. "Although, I do appreciate the apology," he added. "I can't imagine it was easy for you to do."

Gman let out a little laugh, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Tommy told me the same thing about my apology. And I promise, I will apologize to Gordon once he is more emotionally stable. You have my word."

"A wise choice." Coomer gave a cheeky smile back before the expression softened. "I really do appreciate the apology. Thank you."

Gman's expression softened as well. "You are very welcome, Doctor."

Then, he was gone, as if he had never been there to begin with. Coomer turned back to the desk, setting his book down. He felt... lighter now. Better now that that talk had happened. The weight of that tension had been lifted, freeing him up to continue moving forward.

Things were certainly looking up. Benrey was willing to switch back with Gordon, Gman had finally come to talk to him and was working to make amends, and Gordon had his memories back. It really felt as though things were going to be alright. Or, well, as alright as they could be. The scars of their experiences would stay. But... They were going to keep moving forward. They had to.

.

For a long time after Benrey returned to the game, Coomer went out of his way to avoid him. Although Benrey was trying to make amends, Coomer hadn't forgiven him. He didn't think he ever would. Like with Gman, he knew he'd need to talk with Benrey eventually, but he didn't feel ready to have that talk yet. He knew they wouldn't be able to move forward if they didn't talk, but he didn't feel ready to confront Benrey. He worried if he tried to speak with Benrey now, he would let his emotions get the best of him and he would do something that he would regret. Something...violent.

It took a month or two before he finally did feel ready. Benrey hardly ever left his cave, so it wasn't hard to find him when Coomer decided it was time to talk. He was making a little tower of stones which he almost toppled over when he saw Coomer enter.

"Hello, Benrey," Coomer said, trying to keep his voice calm and low.

"....Hi..." Benrey looked very much like a scared cat, clearly startled by the sudden intrusion into his sanctum of misery.

"Would you mind if I joined you?" Coomer asked.

"I...I guess?" Benrey didn't look any less startled.

"Thank you." Coomer walked over to sit down near Benrey, somehow managing to sit on top of the water.

Benrey continued to stare at him, looking as though he was expecting something bad to happen at any moment. Coomer could certainly understand the trepidation, especially given his previous reactions toward Benrey. Once again, a part of him felt a vindictive pleasure at Benrey's fear. He tried to push this down, however. He was trying to be the bigger person and move forward.

There was a long period of silence as the two of them just stared at each other.

Coomer was the one to speak first, politely clearing his throat. "You know, I was angry with Gordon too once," he said.

"You... You were?" Benrey asked slowly.

Coomer nodded. "When I realized none of this was real, that we weren't real, and that Gordon was the only truly real thing here." He let out a long exhale, lowering his gaze down to his folded hands. "I felt... so hopeless. So furious. It didn't seem fair to me, that he got to be real while we weren't. I was terrified that we would cease to exist. That he would turn off the game and abandon us. So I..." He paused, taking a deep breath. "I did some things I'm not proud of."

"What kind of things?" Benrey asked, scooting a bit closer. He looked less scared now.

"I gathered together all my clones and attacked Gordon," Coomer said. "I don't know what I intended to do if I won. I remember vaguely that my plan was to crawl inside his body through the hole in his armor, but I don't know how that would have worked logistically. In any case, that's beside the point. The point is, I understand your anger and desire to make Gordon pay. However."

Benrey's expression, which had been looking somewhat hopeful up until this point, fell at the "however".

"What you did was utterly inexcusable, Benrey," Coomer continued. "And I don't think I'll ever forgive you for the pain you inflicted, both on Gordon and on myself and the others."

"Oh...Right..." Benrey nodded, pulling back. His hair wrapped around him, almost like a cocoon trying to protect him from the outside world.

"I'm not done speaking, Benrey," Coomer said gently.

"Okay?" Benrey's hair cocoon seemed to wrap itself tighter around him.

"I might not be able to forgive you for what you've done, but I do still want to move forward," Coomer said, moving closer to put a hand on Benrey's shoulder. Or... roughly where he thought Benrey's shoulder was. "Things won't be the same as they were before, but they can be better than what they currently are. You can be better. I truly believe that."

"You... You do?" Benrey's cocoon uncurled just a little bit, revealing his face.

"I do." Coomer gave Benrey a weary smile.

Benrey smiled back, although the expression was still tentative and unsure. "Well... I'll take your word for it, man."

There was work that still needed to be done, but this was a start. Once again, Coomer felt better for having had the conversation. Lighter. This was a start. They could begin moving forward now.

.

The next time Coomer met Kell was under much better circumstances, at least as far as Coomer was concerned. Kell was in much better spirits now that Gordon had returned to his body and he was able to visit just for fun. This second visit also allowed Coomer to show off his prosthetics to Kell. The last time, he had abstained from showing off, as he hadn't considered it the right time. Coomer hadn't wanted to keep Kell from meeting Null, after all, and showing his prosthetics off would certainly have derailed things.

But now... Now they could have fun. Now he could show off. And, as he had expected, Kell was absolutely delighted by Coomer's prosthetics.

"These are amazing!!" Kell said, turning Coomer's arm over in his hands. "You can't even see the seams until they extend and the skin even feels like real skin!" He looked up at Coomer with wide and shining eyes. "Do you know how these were made?"

"I'm afraid I don't." Coomer smiled apologetically. "They are a Black Mesa trade secret, I believe!"

"The craftsmanship is incredible..." Kell returned his attention to Coomer's arm. "Could you extend it for me? I want to look at the joints."

Coomer obliged, extending his arm so that Kell could get a better look at the sprints and mechanisms that allowed for the extension.

"I'm glad you think they're cool!" Coomer said. "I'm quite proud of them myself!"

"You absolutely should be," Kell said, turning the arm over again. "I've never seen anything like this before. It's all like a coiled spring... I wonder if I could get something like this to work in the real world."

"Probably not." Coomer shrugged slightly. "I believe my enhancements run on video game logic as it were."

"Yeah, I figured." Kell looked briefly disappointed, but the expression quickly returned to one of wonder as he continued his inspection. "It would be cool to try, though."

Coomer smiled softly, watching as Kell inspected the inner machinations of his arm. "How are you holding up?" He asked gently.

Kell looked up from Coomer's prosthetic with a slight frown. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"I imagine the situation with Gordon has put some strain on you," Coomer said. "So, how are you holding up?"

"Oh." Kell returned his attention to Coomer's arm. "I mean, it was kind of stressful at first, especially since I had to go before Gordon got his body back. I didn't know if Benrey was going to keep his promise. But..." He paused, running his fingers over the spring in Coomer's arm. "Whenever I called he'd tell me about his progress with Gordon. And he sounded so excited to be making things better. It made me feel better about everything."

"And eventually, Benrey did give it back," Coomer said.

"And eventually he did give everything back," Kell confirmed. "And..." He paused again, wiping away some tears that were welling up in his eyes. "And then Gordon called me. And he sounded so happy."

Coomer's expression softened. "That must have been wonderful to hear."

"It was." Kell smiled, letting a few tears run down his cheeks. "I hadn't heard him that happy in... I don't know how long."

"I do hope that good mood has continued." Gordon hadn't been visiting as much since getting out, but he had seemed in relatively good spirits the last few times he'd dropped by the game.

"Yeah, me too," Kell agreed. "Hey, do you have any other enhancements?"

Coomer smiled wide. "Oh, I have quite a few others!"

"Can I see them?" Kell let go of Coomer's arm, allowing him to retract it.

"Only the limb ones! My Black Mesa Robo Schlong is for my eyes only!" Coomer paused before adding, "And Bubby's, of course!"

Kell stared at him for a moment before bursting into laughter. "Okay, man."

Coomer beamed before sitting down and rolling his pants up, beginning to excitedly ramble to Kell about his Black Mesa Power Legs and all their capabilities. Kell didn't hesitate to sit down beside him, listening intently as he studied Coomer's legs.

Things were getting better. They would never again be as they once were, but they were getting better. It would be alright. They would all be alright.

[severeprincesheep]

This guy's story has really stuck in my head, partly because we share so many of the same symptoms, but also because of his shocking experience with a doctor.

He suffered from an anal fistula and other colon problems like that. His doctor told him it was essentially an incurable disease, where the solution isn't really a solution as much as just swapping the problem you have for another problem that is slightly more tolerable to live with, albeit still a nightmare: you have multiple surgeries and lose your bowel function and have to wear an ostomy for the rest of your life. All of this is super expensive, too.

He thought he might as well do a carnivore diet during the weeks leading up to the surgery and all his symptoms cleared up completely. His doctor had him do an MRI that confirmed he was totally normal.

Then he received a call from his doctor's receptionist cancelling their appointment because he didn't need surgery anymore; and telling him that from now on he should just check with his GP.

Any doctor that has dedicated his life to doing the best he can for patients with this condition would be very intrigued with someone who managed to cure himself through a simple diet. He would be looking into that protocol and testing it on his patients. My conclusion is that his lack of curiosity is due to him already knowing very well that the carnivore diet heals this supposedly incurable disease, and that he doesn't want to heal his patients but rather just to exploit them.

This guy says something very much along those lines, namely that he realized at that moment that he and other patients are nothing more than cash cows for these people (doctors).

This is the reality we live in. If you want to save yourself from going through a similar experience you must eat a carnivore diet.

Bellow I wrote the transcript of this part of the interview, about 15 minutes in, where he describes how the autoimmunity that runs in his family manifested itself in his case:

Pete: For me it seems to have manifested in gut issues, which I've only really become aware of in the last year when I've looked at help from a doctor for that. (…) I do suffer from gut inflammation that leads to further side effects (…) the growth of abcesses and boils down in that area; which themselves lead to further complications that led to a pretty severe case of anal fistula.

I'm not sure if your viewers are aware of that condition, you can look it up on Google but it's a terrible condition where the body forms its own tracks to the bowel. So basically these internal tracks form around the bowel opening and they're incurable by all medical accounts. Surgery is the only answer. (…)

I got very tired of having to suffer with the pain and the flareups involved in this condition (…) I'll say that was also part of the motivation to try carnivore, because of the healing experience that I heard other people go through. (…)

The flareups got bad enough for me to see a surgeon this year who diagnosed me with pretty much the most serious condition that this can be, a complex transin teral fistula, where the track actually crosses the bowel. So there's a very slim chance of this surgery even being successful and there's a high probability of losing bowel function and (…) wearing an ostomy for the rest of my life and that was motivation enough to go 'I need to do something here' (…)

So I had this terrible diagnosis, he even said to me 'I'm sending you off for an MRI here, I normally don't send my patients off for MRIs but yours is so severe that we're going to have to get an MRI" which I dutifully did and it wasn't cheap. I got the MRI, waited a month with a lot of anxiety during that month, thinking of the worst, imagining the field surgeries. I had an appointment due with him and I got a call from his receptionist saying 'The doctor doesn't want to see you, everything is normal, just go ahead and see your GP for management from now on'.

And I almost dropped the phone, because (…) it was great news but it's like 'Hang on, I have a serious medical condition here, how can you build me up like that and then f it off in a phone call from your receptionist?

It really hit me hard. I was shocked.

Dave: That seems like a very kind of blasé way of - I mean, it's great news, but a very kind of 'Okay, go away now' kind of attitude, right?

Pete: It was shocking. This condition, anyone else that may have experienced it knows that there are usually multiple surgeries required to fix the situation. It's hard to heal in an area like the bowel for obvious reasons. It's just not a sterile place, it doesn't heal very well. I don't want to get too pessimistic or skeptical here but people with this condition are basically money printing machines to these surgeons because they know that it's going to take multiple hits under the knife to get it fixed and each surgery is upwards of 8.000 dollars. His main concern was my private health situation. He was still mid examination and he was bringing up private health status. You're a walking dollar sign to these people.

I'm sorry if I'm offending anyone in the medical field here but that's how I feel. As soon as you're not a commodity you're out the door."

[truckreincarnation]

Landslide | Frank Epilogue

It's a few years after the ritual concluded, on the outskirts of Last Haven. Twilight creeps through the sky, lit just enough to see the silhouette of a storm forming. The few people awake down below see this, and prepare for a dreary day ahead - that is until they hear something from up above. It brings a small smile to their faces, as it does most mornings the witch makes her rounds. If you look you can even see her - the sleek, black shadow darting and circling the hamlet. But even if you can't make her out, those who are listening can hear her sing. She can always reach her audience.

"I come home, in the morning light." The voice croons, clear as a bell through the peals of distant thunder. "My mother says 'When you gonna live your life right?' Oh momma dear, we're not the fortunate ones…" The few Incarnates among the early risers shake their head; hell of a song to start the day on. But the peppy, catchy 80's synth and guitar that trails behind her is infectious - it makes you want to sing along, even.

"And girls just wanna have fu~uun…" Frank croons, twirling in mid-air as she makes her laps over the hamlet. "Ohhhh girls just wanna have fun~!"

Frank swoops back into his home through the big, round open window in his bedroom, shoving it shut with his wing before walking back over to his vanity and plucking one of the chokers off of it with his tail. In a moment his more bestial additions fade away, leaving him a relatively normal looking human with long nails. Or a perfectly normal looking half-elf, judging by the ears. Part of his complex routine of getting ready in the mornings.

A big part of that routine being his "morning laps" - swinging around the nearby neighborhood and plucking a song from someone so he could get his Domain out of his system for a little while. Otherwise he had a tendency to lose control and burst into song during meetings, and he didn't need Harriet getting on his ass again for freaking her out.

Anyways. All-human choker on so he could take a shower and get dressed easily. Then one of the partially-transformed chokers depending on what he needed for the day - and for all that he had to do today, he opted for the one that let him retain his horns and wings. Complicated bit of magic juggling all three, but Germain was a good (and patient) teacher and Frank was eager to learn it. He could do these seals himself now, if need be. And he has, on occassion.

Somehow, some of the people in town found out where he lived. Rumors liked to spread - and Frank begrudgingly picked up a reputation as a "powerful witch" who could help those in need. He did do his best - a lot of times it was a Bound trying to get some help and comfort when reintegrating with society wasn't going so hot, or people whose Domains were wreaking havoc with their lives. He pulled strings, wrote seals, offered a roof over their heads - whatever he could do. Even if that meant having to go all mama harpy on some asshole who wouldn't leave well enough alone.

Frank slipped on an off-the-shoulder sweater that should give him just enough room for his wings to poke out when he changed seals - courtesy of Esmee, of course, and her fantastic sense of fashion. More than eager to swap clothes with Frank or take him shopping (and push him to buy cute outfits)…

…Frank takes a look in his mirror for a second. Looks down at his hands, opens and closes them. "…This is me." He says quietly. "These are my hands. This is my body. I'm…" He takes in a breath and lets it out as best as he can. "…I'm okay. I'm alright."

Frank nods to himself - he was fine. And he needed to get a move on if he wanted to get out of here on time. There was a huge meeting this morning about re-establishing certain connections the previous kingdom had maintained; sometime after that he wanted to check in with Perry to see how the team he'd sent over was doing (and also how she was doing, not that he'd make that obvious). Speaking of checking in on people, Manami (or "Mana" anyways) reached out about some project she wanted his help with. Though he was already sectioning off a couple extra hours in case this was just a ruse for some dumbass prank she was planning.

And that was on top of his monthly rounds to the local job sites, dinner that night with Bian and Nao (and the bacon-wrapped pork tenderloins he was fixing to make) - there wasn't enough hours in the day!

And yet as Frank climbs up on his window one more time to fly into town, he can't help but smile. He was miserable in his old life. Convinced no one wanted him and would leave sooner or later. Not anymore. He had friends, he had people he cared about - and who cared about him in turn. Whatever he had to do to keep these people close, he'd do it with bells on.

Bells, huh? Frank starts humming a little tune as she leaps into the air, chimes ringing out around her as she lets out a pleased little chirp.

Love was something Frank was… unprepared for, in a lot of ways.

He held love in his heart for his friends, for the people he considered family - but had wholly given up on romantic pursuits. Not in a nihilistic way - just, it was for the best. He had a second (or third) life to live, he didn't need to care about finding someone for him. Wasn't that always how it seemed to go?

He'd been dragged on a few dates - set up either by Bian and the others OR by his new friends in the unions. Enough dates to make him realize how awkward he was - what the hell did Ursula see in him all those years ago?

Of course, he realized that what brought the two of them together back then was the fact that they were already friends - best friends at that. They got each other on a level that few could understand. A level Frank thought he'd never reach with another person.

Which brought him back to the here and now, a year or two later. Last Haven was in good hands, and he had found worthy successors to take up his work on the Council. He'd done what he'd wanted - made a place he could always come back to, that would always feel like home. With that done, it was time to do something he'd always wanted to since he was a disillusioned punk with a chip on her shoulder.

He wanted to see the world. Shin was more than happy to oblige.

He'd been doing the travelling mercenary bit for years at this point - as did Esmee, Luz, Germain, Yuliya and the handful of them that cycled in and out of being at his side between the other responsibilities they took on.

Now it was Frank's turn, and he was more than excited. Whenever Shin and his crew came back to town he always insisted they all stay at his cabin, Frank making food for them and asking Shin for stories of what they did and saw. Adventure, travel - it's what every 60-ish year old who could pass for half that would want out of a retirement.

So of course, when Frank found himself falling in love he was completely blindsided.

It was slow, and gradual. He didn't even know what it was at first - just found himself… longing for more one day. His thoughts consumed, his heart full to bursting. A feeling he hadn't felt for a long, long time. Frank was careful to take it slow this time though. He had been burned before and didn't want to rush into anything.

His concerns were reciprocated - with patience, with kindness, and above all with eagerness. Waiting was fun in its own right, and the two of them had all the time in the world.

Eventually, Frank would stop wearing a choker - that became an arm band instead - as something much more precious now hung around his neck. A simple chain, bearing a simple ring. But it was everything to him. It was a promise that no matter where they went, they would always have a home in each other.

Always. Always always always.

It's many, many, many years in the future. The world is so much more different than it used to be.

There's a cabin in the woods that is overgrown and mossy, unable to be opened.

A plaque rests outside the door to the local Union hall, dedicated to a former sitting Councilwoman who helped steer the fledgling city-state in a better, fairer direction.

Kids still talk about a witch who lives in the woods, who commands a beast that will drag naughty kids away and turn them into birds as well.

And walking into town in a girl. Maybe no more than twenty, twenty-five or so? She wears a trendy little outfit, her long orange hair tied back in twin braids as she hums to herself a little song.

She wears a black band on one arm - that was important. She wasn't supposed to remove that for… for some reason. She couldn't quite remember. But that's okay! Who needed memories when you had a song in your heart and feet on the ground, right?

There's a necklace around her neck - a simple chain that carries two things. A weathered old ring, tarnished over time, and a small charm. If you look very closely it glows a faint blue. She wasn't supposed to take that off either, also for reasons she couldn't remember! Maybe it was something her mom told her? Her… mom…

The girl's head fills with static for a moment, the Music running through her head cutting out for a moment as her breathing starts to hitch a little bit. She hated these spells - why couldn't she remember anything? Why why why why-

"H-Harriet, Luz, Manami, Nao…"

She forces the words out. Where this song came from, she wasn't sure (why why why) but it was burned into her mind at least. It made her feel… calm. Safe. Like everything would be okay.

"Avery, Perry, Vee and Vivi…"

Breathe - just breathe. She was okay! She was alright. It wasn't so much a song as a list of names sung to a simple tune - almost like a nursery rhyme. But it never failed to keep her grounded.

She goes through the rest of the names, one by one until she calms down again. She came here for a very specific purpose after all and it would suck ass if she had a panic attack on the way there! The girl continues down the street until she reaches a tavern where members of the Mercenary's Guild operated out of. She walks up to a gruff looking man behind a gated desk.

"What can I do for you, miss? Need to put up a posting?"

The girl shakes her head. "I need to join the guild! I have some work I need to do… I think!"

The gruff man lets out a guffaw. Another strange one. "Alright then, what's your name?"

The girl… has to think. That too was lost to her, but that was okay - she liked coming up with new names! None of the ones from her song though (it always felt like there were a few missing anyways that she couldn't remember), but she thought about it for a second. What did that plaque she saw before say?

"…Frankie! My name is Frankie."

[slavetale-timeline9920]

The Royals:

King Asgore:

Before the war, goat monsters like him were pretty common and they were mostly associated with nobility. He is the last surviving member of the original royal family and tried to postpone as much as he could his duties as new King.

He eventually accepted his position, when he understood that winning the war wasn't the end of their trouble. (And by pressure of the council)

Fell in love with Toriel, but didn't really confess until the war was over. Luckily for him, she accepted his feelings.

Is mostly kept in the dark about the groups of monsters who have been abusing their humans, as the information loses itself on the process of registry.

Was the one who decided to adopt Chara and also the one who decided to hide evidence after 'the situation'.

Plants are his jam and you'll definitely see him at his garden in his spare time, which is not much tbh

Personally, he is not in charge of any slaves, despite the technicalities saying The Crown owns all of them. To solve this, he has 'The Seven Chosen'. These slaves are linked to Toriel's magic, but only serve him. They can be swapped from times to times.

Toriel:

Daughter of a Count. Was supposed to marry one of Asgore's older brothers, but he died during the war. She didn't mind that much, to be fair, it was just an arranged marriage.

Served as a Asgore's light during his darkest times, which kept them going strong as a couple when the war ended.

Humans have a high sense of respect towards her because of her kind ways and gentle guidance.

She is in charge of several slaves(number is not exact). She wears a big bracelet with several linkstones attached to it.

Was the one who found out about 'the situation'.

Has verbally opposed the council loud and clear when they decided to apply the punishment to her children.

With the punishment being applied anyway, she became emotionally distant and most of her smiles are faked. She mastered the ability to do it so, though.

Asriel:

As a perfect blend of his parents, Asriel inherited the kindness, the nurturing nature and the sense of duty. He brought light to the palace when he was born, as he was curious and pleasant to stay around of. He had plenty of acquaintances.

Acquaintances. No friends. There was this stupid barrier between him and most monsters his age. Their parents would tell them, naturally, that they were supposed to treat him with utmost respect and that often meant that kids would allow him to win the games. Barely touch him in fears of 'tainting him'. Never, ever tease him in fears of being sent to the mage tower. Those were... Shallow friendships. And he hated it.

One day, when he was on his father's garden, he met a human. Said human had no magic rune on his body to affirm he was part of the slave program. He also seemed to be way too thin and dirty. Not to mention- Hurt! Asriel helped the human and they became friends.

Not just acquaintances. Friends. This human treated him normally. Without worrying about his position or title. Maybe even, he wasn't even aware of it. This nameless human, was just the right amount of annoying and touching and fun he needed.

Asriel soon found a place for this human to stay inside the palace, a room of his own and for some time, it was a fantasy. Their own world.

But they were found eventually.

Asgore and Toriel were surprised in many levels. A human with no identification and no name. A person who their son actually managed to connect. More than that... That human had magic on them. In fact, he were so powerfully magical, one could have mistaken his for a boss monster, if magic was the only thing taken in consideration. He was also charming and easy to talk to.

The human was named Chara and instead of sticking him into the slave program, they had a better plan. They would make Chara their own son. Asriel's brother. He was obviously the most ecstatic about that.

Chara

Before coming to the castle, Chara lived with his mother inside the forest. She hated monsters. Her monster owner at the time used to hurt her. But he would do that in such subtle ways that there was no way to detect it in the monthly checkup. The monster doctor in charge of her area, also didn't seem very keen on humans' wellbeing.

She fell in love with another slave and they kept a forbidden relationship that ultimately resulted on her pregnancy. They decided to run away from the monsters, hiding on the forest. Her lover was killed during the chase and she managed to stay alive, but had to live on her own. Including her labor.

She made it sure for Chara that monsters were bad and he was supposed to fear them. Hate them.

Hating monsters he did. Despite having never seen one before. When his mother died - mostly out of starvation - he understood he could no longer stay on the forest only.

He advanced towards the city. Especially at the palace's garden. No one really guarded there because there was no threats.

There, he met Asriel. Asriel was too nice. He couldn't be out like this. What if the monsters got him? He barely could believe when he told him that he was a monster himself. No way. Monsters were bad.

That was their only disagreement.

Eventually, he was adopted by the royals. They were so nice. So kind. He came to love them, despite the voice of his dead mother chastising him for befriending the enemy.

He could feel the dirty looks, though. From monsters and humans alike. Who he thought he was? How come a lowly human like him, (uneducated at that!), become part of the very royal family?

Was he bad?

No. Asgore said he wasn't. Toriel reassured he wasn't. Asriel believed he wasn't.

But he definitely knew. There were bad monsters out there and he wanted to catch them.