#this is so dumb and delusional and the only thing that matters to me

[love-byers]

we all know about the parallel of mike hugging karen when he feels like he's lost will, but i've never seen anyone talk about the other parallels in the s1 and s3 heroes scenes. there are more than you think!

will's fake body being pulled out of the quarry VS will (+ the others) pulling out of the driveway for california

a close up of mike looking at both

mike leaving the scene on his bike after 'losing' will

in one, he has no hesitation. he gets his bike and doesn't look back. not at wills fake dead body, not at el (which would be odd if he knew he was in love with her then...), not at dustin and lucas, not at anyone. he keeps moving forward.

in the other, he is full of hesitation as the other bike away, not looking back. mike stays back and takes one last look at will's house, looking nervous, before hesitantly tearing his eyes away and biking off, trailing behind dustin lucas and max.

do i really need to explain the implications of that....

mike entering the wheeler house visibly upset after losing will, and karen immediately noticing

mike seeking out a hug from karen, something he rarely does

mike hugging karen

note how both clips end with mike moving/sinking deeper into the moment. i'm not sure what the best way to describe this is, but im talking about mike shoving his face into karen's shoulder in the s1 scene and his eyes flicking down in the s3 scene. i know it seems like it doesn't matter, but it does. sprinkling things like that in as a director is purposeful! it's showing how mike is processing the events. in s1 he sinks deeper into karen's comfort, further breaking down because he thinks will is dead. in s3 he doesn't do that. he is extremely still, eyes not moving as he is in shock. then his eyes do move at the last moment, showing he is further processing whatever event has occurred, transitioning from shock to really processing whatever happened.

raw emotion vs icy shock.

and oomf @reo-bylerwagon who is a film major told me that the way the camera tilts upward in the s3 clip is used to show that a realization has occurred, or that something new is being revealed. does that not PERFECTLY line up with:

1. the way mike seems extremely shocked as though he has realized something huge

2. the fact that LITERALLY over that moment is a hopper voice over where he says "to turn back the clock, to make things go back to how they were"

and 3. the way he behaves in s4 (being weird about touching will, rink o mania, etc.)

so yeah, these are definitely parallels through and through and it's really interesting. mike has lost will in both, but in different ways. his reactions say a lot about how he's processing the events and how he views them/his relationships.

also reminder that this is not delusional in the slightest because heroes has only played twice and it's in these two sequences.

and to anyone thinking "well they're just trying to show that mike deeply cares for will, just not in a romantic way!"

......

why in the fresh FUCK would they eat up SO MUCH screen time to show that mike platonically cares about will, rather than use that time to develop his relationship with el and, i don't know, show that he loves her??? why would they feed into will's unrequited love like this??? spoiler alert: THEY AREN'T.

that would be doing WAY too much for a relationship that will end in an amicable split so one can get married and one can get over his deep seeded love for the other and navigate the (extremely homophobic) world alone.

like yall are very clearly not writers or creatives in the slightest 💀💀💀 any writer (or anyone with the faintest creative/analytical bone in their body) will immediately understand why that's fucking dumb and makes no sense. yall are just heteronormative af and instead of admitting that it's greatly affecting your perception of the characters you double and TRIPLE down until you sound like a homophobic disaster

also

season 1 - heroes plays (when mike feels like he lost will)

season 2 - heroes does not play

season 3 - heroes plays (when mike feels like he lost will)

seasons 4 - heroes does not play

season 5 - heroes will play...? perhaps the original david bowie version? and byler will finally kiss as though nothing could fall and the shame will be on the other side? and they can be heroes? just for one day?

so yeah anyways byler endgame

[danandfuckingjonlmao]

give us emo yuri and we’re on board. it’s that simple.

[gamblersdoll]

heybae i got a request that’s been on my mind 😩 so like, imagine mha pro-hero boys s/o wearing pheromone perfume for their date and them not being able to get it together 🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

+ their s/o being clueless to why theyre acting like that🗣️

teasing, heavy smut intended themes, grinding, groping, light shocking, mind control , daddy kink. denki, kirishima, izuku, bakugou, shinso

izuku had the best smell ever, sure you rolled it on your neck and wore the dress that he loves— and it only smells like shortcake to the naked eye and nose, but for him? you smelled different, his arks wrapping around your torso and nose buried into your neck.

“smells good.. which one is this?” he mumbled in your skin, softly nibbling at the flesh until you responded. “you best answer quickly—“

“its a new one, zuk.” you giggle, trying to pull away and look alright for the eyes of the public. what you worry is if izuku was all over you, would his rankings drop?

“well i gathered that, baby.” he sarcastically says, a hand on your thighs and he grips— hard. “we wont be out here for much longer, ‘kay?”

“we just got here… why do you wanna leave so early?”

bakugou knows of the pheromone perfume that went viral, yet he doesnt know what it smells like exactly. all he smells on you is something savory in his nose, even if it was sweet. “nope.”

“no what?” you innocently ask, leaning against his shoulder and holding his hand. you know he smells it, his knee bouncing when he gets nervous or aroused.

“you know fuckin’ what, brat.” he growled to you, trying his best to keep his composure and not eat you up here— because thats all hes thinking about. “you wore the good smelling perfume you got, and you know damn well you smell too good.”

“what perfume? most of the perfumes i have are mists or oils.” you giggle, putting a hand on his knee.

“you better move your hand or im going to fuck you up.” he deadpans, his hand gripping your hip and sliding up to the side of your breast. “if yer’ gonna play dumb, fine— but let’s remember i dont care about fuckin’ in public.” he reminds.

denki just shifts all the time, pulling his sweats or jeans down and hes got a fist on this lap, every now and again hes softly punching his lap when youre not looking (he does this because ‘it helps the boner go away.’)

“you okay, honey?” you asked, holding his hand and kissing his cheek, he never not responds, but he feels like hell when you get so much closer.

he tilts his head back away from your face, watching his adams apple bob when he swallows. you get into his lap, he groaning and putting his hands on your hips. “denkiiiiiii, whats the matter, baby?”

“we gon’ fuckin fight.” he looks to you through his lower eyelids. “you got that phe-pheromone shit, didnt you?” your core tightens, his voice becoming deeper when he keeps his head back.

“what for? im not even wearing perfume.” you giggle, cradling him and having each leg on his side.

“oh, so im delusional?” he shoots his eyes to your face, hands groping your breasts pulling the shirt and licking his lips. “if you think im delusional, say that.”

“kaminari— we in public!” you whisper shout, trying to move his hands but he swats you away.

“oh, nowww we’re in public?” he dramatically says, tilting his head back up and sucking on your collarbone. “always touchin me and shit.. now im going to touch you, mama.”

you hiccup, a whimper from your throat and he presses his hips up against your heated folds. “kami—“

“fuck, smell so good, sweet thing..” he growls, taking his finger and a small zap hits your thigh. “hehe, feels good, doesnt it?” he asks, licking his hickey that he left on you. “finally got cher’ zing, ma.”

kirishima is a mutt, anything that smells good on you, he bites and drools on your skin to see what smells good. usually he would try and do that— but this time he had to keep his hands to himself. “pleasepleasepleaseplease..”

“hm?” you turn, peering your eyes away from the movie.

“please let me bite you, please beautiful. promise i wont bite so hard again, i swear.” he whines, getting closer to you in the movie theater seats. “you smell so good, pretty please?

“i smell good ?” you question, him shaking his head yes fast and he reaches in for a bite, but you pull away. “what do i smell like, kir?”

he pauses, not really knowing how to describe the scent, but he swallows thickly. “.. i dont know how to describe it.” he whines, pressing his hands on his lap and he groans. “please, just one bite.”

“if you cant tell me what i smell like, do you think you deserve it?” you tease, getting a little mean with him and he pouts.

“you smell like pears.”

“still not getting one.”

shinso has stolen your perfume before and tested it on himself, but he didnt realize you had also worn it around him. it makes sense, one day on a coffee date you both get stares from people around you.

“do you have something on you?” he asks, drinking his own hot coffee versus your frozen. “i can know when you’re lying.”

“mmm..” you hum, slurping through the straw and looking away.

“princess,” he says, activating his quirk and having a hand on your thigh. “are you wearing that perfume that got you ravaged last time?”

“yes.” you say, feeling his quirk disappear and bite your lip. damnit all, and his stupid manipulative quirk. “you dont have to always use your quirk on me, meanie.”

“you like when i do though, princess. especially when i have you tell me how you want to get fucked.”

“shinso— in public!” you remind, him shrugging and smirking to you. “keep your voice down at least!”

he gets into your ear, a hand on your tummy. “do i have to remind you who your talking to?” he warns, watching your head shake no. “oh, because what i think is you’ve forgotten who i am.” you try to open your mouth, but he clicks his tongue. “whats my name again?”

“sir.”

“no, no, no..” he coos, a hand in your hair and his fingers scratch your scalp— a warning he might pull your hair. “whats my name , or do i have to have another session with remembrance?”

“daddy.” you mumble, a heat to your face and you turn your head away. “youre a fuckin perv.”

[muniimyg]

a scenario where the reader gets a job at hybe and meets jk. like a meet cute or something. love at or at intrigues about each other at first sight.

she’s a fan but she keeps herself composed and professional!

“that’s my parking spot.”

you’re only 5 minutes later than your usual arriving time and this is what you’re greeted with.

some guy parking his motorcycle in your spot. he’s lucky you didn’t honk at him! it’s 7:55AM so he should consider that a blessing.

this entire thing has you parking your car to the side, more than ready to fight for your spot. this was assigned to you! and this is only your 2nd week at hybe—you refuse to be known as the pushover.

you wave at the man in a helmet and hope he sees you. awkwardly, you inch closer to him as he pulls out the keys from his harley.

“unless you’re jungkook or something then it’s all yours—oh.”

you’re not dumb.

it was bound to happen sometime.

whether it be a staff meeting, seeing him around the halls, or being stuck in an elevator with him… it was only a matter of time until you’d meet jungkook.

the man takes off his helmet and runs his fingers through his hair. revealing himself, he looks at you, trying to process your words. then, his expression changes from uncertainty to a warm gaze.

“my bad,” he chuckles. “jimin took mine this morning so i parked here… i thought this was his spot.”

you shake your head, trying to compose your excitement. but wow, so much runs through your mind…

he’s so handsome.

he’s on his fucking motorcycle and you’re seeing it in the flesh. in real time.

jungkook begins to apologize, preparing to park somewhere else but you shake your head. clearing your throat, you straighten up your posture and fold.

“it’s okay,” you blink. “i’ll park somewhere else.”

“i’ll move, it’s no problem—“

“please don’t. you’re jungkook—“

“but this is your parking spot.”

“i know.”

jungkook tilts his head and acts like he’s in deep thought. “… technically i am your boss…”

you laugh at his response, completely agreeing with him. he joins you and for a moment your delusional mind lets you think that; oh my god. he’s looking at me like that?

you feel your knees weaken.

his lips tighten and you bite your inner cheek to soak in the pause between you two. partly because in the midst of this mundane and mediocre morning—jungkook has completely switched the mood.

so, you give in entirely.

“exactly. take the spot for today,” you assure him. with stern eyes, you add, “—but only for today.”

he offers you half a smile and gets off his motorcycle. he places his hand on your shoulder and leans in to say;

“same time tomorrow?“

[latay7]

hiihii!! could you write either lance/orter/carpaccio/rayne getting slightly jealous because the reader looks like they were bering courted by a guy, but turns out they were asking that guy for advice to help the reader to confess to character,,,thankyou:3

*ੈ✩‧₊˚WHY HELLO HELLOOO!!*ੈ✩‧₊˚

First of all thank you so much for your ask ><♡♡ and i will try my best since this is my first fanfic/headcannon , so i hope you like it ✨️(and i hope i wrote what u wanted bcz i can get a bit dumb)

A misunderstanding..?

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥Char : Lance crown , Orter Madl x fem!reader

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥genre : fluff

Note : reader appearence , prefrence , dorm , is up to ur imagination (wanted to be inclusive TvT) and god is this too long and it took me a while

Note 2 : im sorry this turned out to be bad , it's late at night and idk wtf am i , (english is not my first language btw)

☆ Lance crown

You were an ordinary student at Easton Academy , you had your friends and lived your life , diffrent classes and sessions here and there and tried your best !

Although Easton's Curriculum makes every student busy with a full schedule , you're thankful that you get the time to hang out with your friends...Adler's most famous idiots students!! They were all so nice and fun so you had a lovely time with them.

You enjoy their company to the point where you squeeze your schedule to be with them which had a certain outcome....you developed a big small crush on the blue haired one and only , Lance crown!!(lance stroll lol)

You found his dedication and hard work for the sake of his sister Anna adorable , his love for her might go too much sometimes but- it doesn't matter , it proved how much of a sweetheart he is , which made you live him even more.

And now...you found yourself in a dilemma , how are you gonna confess your feelings to him?? THE Lance crown , who never looks like he seeks love..

You excused yourself with Finn to talk privately

Since he's technically the sanest in the group....

So , here we are in this moment.

You were with Finn outside his dorm behind a close corner ,and Lance noticed your dissappearence for a while so decided to check up on you.

"You see Finn , i've had this thing for a long time now , and it's just unexplainable.."

"Don't worry (Y/N) , I understand , but how can i help you out"

At this moment , you could feel your face heating up a bit , it's natural after all you're talking about a CRUSH.

"So i just wanted to get some advice from you since you guys meet a lot more than i do with him , how should i tell him a-and what if he doesn't like me back ,i mean he doesn't really show any interest in me-" at this point you started to ramble , and to calm you down , Finn held your hands in his as he tries to convince you that it's gonna be alright. Meanwhile...

Lance was watching , but he didn't hear anything...so he just saw how you acted but he didn't want to jump to conclusions.

'Was i too late..?' He can't shake off the stinging feeling in his chest , he was hurt , yet somehow mad or even perhaps...jealous?

After a while

It was after hours so you rushed back to your room after saying goodbye to your friends. And while you try to sneak your way through Easton's halls you see a figure you know , it was....Lance?? What was he doing here?

"Lance...? Why are here?"

"Oh there you are..you see...i wanted to talk.." this was concerning

"Oh...really ?..me too"

"I...."

The next words were DEFENTLY unexpected for you , i mean , sure he was nice towards you but you didn't want to be delusional so this was a shock....

But of course , with the shock comes the joy.

"...and i don't want to make things awkward because i knew you and F- why are smiling like that..."

A sigh leaves your mouth with a slight chuckle....apparently he was an idiot as well , so you decided to take a brave move.

"What are you-"

*kiss*

His shocked flustered expression is to DIE for.

"Just a misunderstanding ehe...." you smile.

☆Orter ( at this point tf am i doing)

As a devine visionary yourself , you have many responsobilites and missions to take , paperwork to do , and meetings to attend.

Thus , after your were finally chosen as the devine visionary yourself because of your hard work , you had to meet up with the other visionaries and work under them , including Orter Madl.

You've tried your best to leave a good impression on them because you were quite nervous , obviously.

You could say you were able to get close to some of the visionaries by being attentive and a fast learner , you were trying your best !

Seemingly except....Orter.

Despite your big efforts in helping him in paperwork , doing good on most of the missions you were went on , being so nice and respectful to him , he seemed like he didn't care , he declined everything.

And it DEFENETLY didn't help with the crush you developed on him. You found him elegant , hardworking , and most defently handsome (im screaming in the bus rn dude) despite him being emotionally constipated. (wtf am i saying)

So you decided to ask for help.

Here you are , in Ryoh Grantz' office , asking him what you should do considering he is married and all.

"Im sorry if this meeting is a nuisance Mr Ryoh but you were the only one i could ask for help.." a drop of sweat as you speak sheepishly.

" oh don't worry about it , you've been helping me out a lot recently so it's only fair if i return the favour , and besides , it is a good opportunity to .....distress" he says in a cheerful tone , he liked you , otherwise you wouldn't have been drinking tea in his office " and just Ryoh is fine ,now tell me , what's wrong?"

You tell him your issue as your embarrasment grows even further , i mean , that's not just ANY matter to speak about , However , you manage to go through the entire thing.

He hums in understanding "i see i see , well i have to agree with you on his emotional constipation , he doesn't even show his brother any emotions either"

Your chest starts to feel heavier as you sweat comically , "but don't worry about it , i mean , if i was to be really honest with you and if we talk in terms of emotions...."

Righ then and there , a certain someone was passing by as he heard only a part of the conversation , he got curious but he couldn't make out...everything...

Only a few words....

Emotions , confessing , feelingsa and...Kaldo??!

What in the.....he knew Ryoh was married and....does that mean he's helping you confess to Kaldo ??

Orter Madl , despite his stoic face and cold ruthless demeanor , had a soft spot for you , he felt somthing for you , he tried to show it by being less mean to you compared to others, and taking some paperwork of yours to finish himself , as well as doing what he can so you take the easiest missions , but it seems like it wasn't that obvious...

He knew you and Kaldo were on good terms but to the point where his thoughts led to thinking...you ? And-

No , he refused to believe it.

"So yes , Kaldo could be someone good to ask since these two are quite together at a lot of times-"

Knock knock , Orter entered the office in the middle of your talk.

"O-oh hi-"

"If you'll excuse me Ryoh , i need to talk to (Y/N)" And Ryoh accepts nevously -because his appearence was very unexpected- and lets you leave.

You and Orter are now walking through the hall of the building because you're following him to god knows where. Until you reach a private area where you two could talk.

"You didn't tell me why are we-"

"What do you have of feelings for Kaldo?"

"Huh"...was the only word that came out of your mouth , Dumbfounded was the least you could think of to describe yourself right now.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me , now answer me , what are the feelings you have for him"

"Wait a min-"

Realization never hit you this hard , so you started laughing as he watches confused , why are you laughing.

"Ok here's the whole thing mister eavsdropper..."

.

.

That ended well , for both parties , Ryoh bless your soul.

[bbyseok]

thinking about boss pro hero!bakugou and being his assistant in his hero agency. i’m sure there’s plenty of posts about it but i can’t just get it out of my head..

you’re at your designated desk, zoning out with thoughts about a certain blonde who so happens to be your boss—the very same blonde who’s interrupting your daydreaming to glare down at you.

you don’t know how long he’s been standing there—and he just stares at you. with a yelp, you straighten and sit up in your chair, wheels rolling against the carpet.

“dynamight!” you greet him hastily and flash up a sheepish smile, hoping you hadn’t embarrassed yourself. “sorry, i- uh, do you need help with something?”

“no, i just-” he clears his throat and that’s when you realize with a startling squint that he’s blushing. “i asked if- if you could take tomorrow off.”

before you can actually form words and reply to his sudden request, he winces very subtly and his blush deepens. “wait, ‘m your fuckin’ boss. you have tomorrow off,” he states matter-of-factly.

you blink in surprise, mind absolutely whirling. “i- i don’t understand?”

bakugou’s face is unreadable; his resting bitch face is present even during this confrontation—but the only difference is the pink dusting his cheeks. “there’s a katsudon restaurant a couple streets down from the agency. you better be there after my afternoon patrol is done.”

you’re pretty sure your jaw almost hits the floor. “what? i- uh, huh?”

he stares hard for two seconds before he’s scoffing and crossing his arms. “you heard me.”

you did. you really did hear him—but you’re not entirely sure that you’re not being delusional with your head in the clouds. is he.. asking you out?

albeit, not directly, as the man was practically demanding you to meet him somewhere out of the workplace.. in what sounds like a typical date setting. (it’s very bakugou of him.)

it’s obvious you’re staring in disbelief because he barks out an impatient “oi!” and you scramble for words. “yes-! yes, i- i’ll see you there, sir!”

his features soften and he looks, dare you say, relieved out of all things. “it’s bakugou, dumbass,” he corrects you in a grunt. “go back to work. you better be there tomorrow or fuckin’ else.”

and then there’s a big dumb smile stretching over your lips as you give him a nod and you swear you see his blush intensify. “i’ll be there.”

his eyes linger on you for a couple more heartbeats before he begins to stalk off. “good.” he then says over his shoulder, “and don’t be late!”

the rest of the office watches the great dynamight leave, dead quiet as the entire floor processes what just happened.

you’re in a daze. did that really just happen?

“holy shit.” one of your coworkers break the silence finally. “i’m pretty sure you just got a date with the boss.”

[devisopod]

Book of Bill Ramblings

If you don't want spoilers, I'd suggest you stop reading before the cut. This'll contain quotes from the book! I've avoided content and conversation about this thing like the plague, so I'm going in blind. This is gonna be a wall of text if you're on mobile. Have fun, if you're into that.

I'm gonna solve the ciphers by myself, so they won't be included here, it's more fun that way! This is all just my "analysis" or whatever you wanna call it.

|| PREFACE

I am an adult. I'm not here to argue or debate with anyone about the content of this book! I'm simply sharing my personal breakdown, so these opinions and statements are in no way meant to be taken as "the right way" to look at it. They're how I alone choose to view the text! I'm open to discuss it, if you want, like sane and civilized people. Heated arguments or grumblings fueled by the discontent that someone doesn't buy into the way YOU'RE perceiving a work of fiction is unwelcome.

Now.

Before I even had the book in my hand, I knew how I wanted to approach this. I had to keep in mind this is all meant to be written by the worst character in the series (from a narrative standpoint), and he isn't supposed to be pitied. So seriously obvious, I know, but it's THE most important factor to circle back to given ANY tidbit of information.

Since this is his point-of-view, which is such a skewed perspective to begin with, it's ultimately bound to be manic (and god was it). He's everything we already know him to be: out of his mind, a compulsive liar, a pro at manipulation, and literally so self-important. That's what makes it difficult to trust whether or not things that happened (or didn't happen) will be altered by his unstable state of mind.

I think I'd even go as far as to say that he's delusional in a lot of ways. No matter how smart he thinks he is, or objectively is, he's a highly flawed individual that is constantly sabotaging himself. And what's more, he doesn't CARE. Bill, while driven in his own right, is highly apathetic unless events or actions directly impact him significantly and negatively.

INITIAL AND UNCATEGORIZED THOUGHTS:

- Holy shit, it's like Bill prides himself on being some sort of "all-knowing" being, but he's really just a fat gossip.

- Bill says it and stresses it multiple times in this book that not only is reality not under your control, but you don't understand it. Only he understands it, and you're just too dumb. Nothing is real. But the universe is a hologram, and everything is also a multiverse. Dennis and Kyle hold our existence in a binder.

- As suggested, he is quite literally feeding you lies, and he's having fun doing it.

- So, Bill's kind of dead, but not really. He's existing in a "half life" state. "Descending through circles, battling demons, reliving [his] whole life... somewhere far away... where the music is always out of tune. Where everyone smiles but no one is happy". Sounds like a mall lmao.

Okay, we'll get into it. My back hurts.

1 || "SIXER, IT WOULD EAT YOU ALIVE."

Let me just start this by saying that Bill sees Ford as a possession. He spent a lot of time grooming him, so he feels HEAVILY entitled to Ford in an "I made you" sort of way. Which is just about as messed up as you'd expect it to be! Bill EXPECTS Ford to be okay with this and even functions under the assumption that Ford wants to belong to him, which is very likely a stem from how open to the relationship Ford was at the beginning. He's constant in sharing that he's grateful for Bill's influence and that it's made his life so much better.

That aside, Bill is repeatedly suggesting to the reader that people that hate him actually love him a lot. And it's so likely that some twisted line of love and being used was blurred between these two. I've said it before and I'll say it again: sharing a mind and a body with a seemingly god-like being is going to fuck you and your perspective UP, I don't care who you are.

After all, "the more people love you, the more brainwashed sheep you can bend to your whims! So CONQUERING HEARTS is one of the most important things you can do!"

While, Ford is an immensely strong-willed individual, he's so very weak to Bill's manipulation because Bill knows EXACTLY what he wants to hear. He's been learning and planning for this kind of thing for a very, very long time and using countless others to do so. So, his false loyalty and promises, though really suspicious to anyone else, appeal to Ford's ego and subconcious because they're specifically catered to him.

And this is where Bill thrives. He is extremely efficient at finding the selfishness within others and exploiting it because he is selfish. He doesn't care what happens as long as he reaches his goal. Any pain along the way isn't gonna be his, so why not just relax and enjoy it? And he's found his match: a "brilliant, morally ambiguous, and romantically challenged" individual. To him, Ford fits the bill (no pun intended), and no dumb Shaman is gonna scare him off this one. It's all a trick to keep him away from advancing his portal plans, right?

He emphasizes his excitement at the prospect of Ford's potential as a pawn by saying, "This is what a partner looks like. The ego of a king. The insecurity of a circus freak. And totally isolated from anyone who might steer him clear of my plans."

He's impressionable and gullible enough to follow him blindly in the name of discovery and arguably as a result of his alienation in the odd town that is Gravity Falls.

And that's where I think Bill's influence should be addressed. Bill's been whispering in Ford's ear, making his life easier, and "fixing" his problems by offering solutions that HE would use. That's the scary part, I think. Bill uses so many different types of flattery, even gives Ford a lot of confidence that he needs, which really feeds into Ford's trust.

2 || GUYS WITH BIG BRAINS GET ON MY NERVES

After seeing Stan on TV, selling the "Grifter", Ford starts to seem like he's having second thoughts about maybe calling Stan up. Bill is, naturally, quick to shoot this down by convincing him it's a waste of time.

With both Stan and Fiddleford, we see Bill kind of steering Ford away. It's clear Ford wants to be around both of them, but as Bill has already suggested, he wants to keep this one isolated. Ford's attention should ONLY be on him and the work that needs to be done. He's not gonna make the same mistakes he made with his previous puppets.

It's unclear whether Bill complicates things on purpose or not, but he certainly isn't interested in making them better.

As far as the relationship between Ford and Fiddleford is concerned (whether you view it as brotherly, romantic, or platonic), I think it had a lot of potential to bring Ford away from Bill, but Ford is just not equipped to be a solid and reliable partner at this stage of his life. He's too focused, too full of himself, and really desperate to fill the hole Stan left. Or maybe not desperate enough.

I've made this point before and I'll make it again: the vast majority, if not all of, the heavy lifting in the dynamic between Ford and Fiddleford IS DONE BY FIDDLEFORD. He is a very caring and loyal person, very much to a fault in this situation.

The Christmas gifts he makes Ford are very personal. Ford means a lot to Fiddleford, so much so that he doesn't see his family often and chooses to help with the research. Whether or not Fiddleford and Emma-May were already having issues can't be judged based on the information given, but it's possible that it plays a part in his absence. It seems like the most likely possibility to me, though. Fiddleford doesn't seem the type to just forget about something like that, especially exhibiting such a friendly and kind demeanor, so I'm willing to bet they were already having problems.

Ford, as I see it, very rarely goes out of his way to do things for Fiddleford, though. However, I will give him props for being good enough to cheer Fiddleford up after he returns from his family.

What I will say, is that Ford relies on Fiddleford a great deal, and I'm not entirely sure how healthy that is. Fiddleford is Ford's ONLY real friend, and definitely the only one not feeding him questionable advice.

Therapy.

3 || CUCKOO CLOCK

Therapy, right? Yeah.

Anyway, Bill REALLY gets after Ford when the whole portal thing goes south. And that's sure to be a hell of a time. Ford is put through immense pain physically and mentally during it all, and wow does it actually sound horrifying. Even during this aggressive and desperate scramble to get Ford to do his bidding, Bill is beating Ford down and trying his best to use his hardships against him while also trying to convince Ford that he needs Bill. He's got nobody else.

He tries everything: sabotage, threats, you name it. Even though Ford doesn't realize his wrongs entirely here, he still knows he has to do something to rectify all that he's done. And boy, does he wanna kill that triangle.

He even loses his mind just a little bit more about this time, grasping at straws and realizing how bad he fucked up.

But now, we skip ahead. Things are better. All that's passed.

The ending of this book was about as satisfying as I imagined it would be. The Pines family. Simple and clean. A thoughtful message from Ford, and some inserts from Mabel, Dipper, and Stan. Stan's message is probably my favorite, and rightfully so.

These four are what it's all about to me. Each sibling has the other, and they're all happy. Bill can't touch them anymore, no matter how much this book of his tries. They're smarter than he is, and it's because they don't intend to be divided by him ever again.

[rottingparts]

Taste

[Ironhide x Fem!Human!Reader x Ratchet]

Summary: You like the Autobots... Specifically Ratchet and Ironhide. You are sure no one ever has to know, but when a coworker confesses to you things go down hill fast.

Word Count: 2,200+

Warnings: SMUT, 18+ ONLY, MINORS DNI! Not beta'd, Oral (Fem Receiving), mentions of anxiety, weird guy behavior (not from the bots), nothing too bad, let me know if I should tag something though!

A/N: This was written because I'm very self indulgent and cringe is dead! That being said, this was written with Plus Sized!Reader and also Neurodivergent!Reader in mind! BUT! It doesn't have to be read that way! Also, this isn't set in a specific movie. Everyone is alive and happy :)

No one had to know you adored alien robots, no one needed to know. Especially your earth friends. Or the robots themselves for that matter. Absolutely no one was going to know. It was definitely a secret you could and should keep to yourself.

You had been working closely with the autobots, and had ended up in the lab with several of them, helping with whatever they needed. Ratchet seemed the most grateful for that. You were both learning and helping  each other at the same time. He got to learn more about human culture and you got to learn about Cybertron.

That is where you started to realize you maybe liked robots a lot more than humans. Ratchet was so sweet and thoughtful.

One day, while working with Ratchet, Ironhide entered the lab. You had little interaction with him before that moment and were honestly kind of nervous around him. But as you got to know the weapons specialist you started to like him as well…

But… No one had had to know.

Until, one of your scientist friend’s decided to drop the worst bomb possible right in your lap.

“Hey.” A voice that was not Ironhide’s or Ratchet’s rang through the lab. You rolled your eyes involuntarily before turning around to look at him. “We need to talk.”

“Oh,” Your eyes widened momentarily, “That’s a good way to greet someone, Mark.”

“What?” Mark looked taken aback.

“I have anxiety, that’s not a thing I generally like to hear…”

“Oh,” Mark visibly grew anxious, causing you to mimic the panic. “Well, I just, I wanted to ask you out-”

You froze, “Like on a date?”

“I mean, like if you’re into it-”

“I’m sorry,” You interrupted him quickly, not thinking much about him not finishing his sentence, “You’re my friend-”

It was his turn to cut you off. “You’re friend zoning me? I like you a lot!”

“You can get over that, don’t worry.”

Mark’s eyes narrowed. “Is this- Are you-”

You cocked your head at him as his wheels turned in his big scientist brain. Something clicked. But not necessarily correctly. Wires crossed somewhere.

“You’re fucking the robots!” His voice echoed through the lab.

You figured ‘No, but I want to be,’ was not a tactful answer. So, you did the next less tactful thing. Which did not help your case at all. You grew defensive, and yelled back. “No!” It sounded more like a question than a statement. “Why would I- What are you on about?”

“You hang out with- with those-”

“Autobots.”

“Shut up!” He was growing furious. Your eyes widened and you decided to get the fuck away from him. Without thinking you turned to walk away and his hand grabbed your shoulder, turning you right back around. “You are fucking the robots!”

You were frozen. The large hangar door opened and Ironhide and Ratchet walked in, seemingly aware of the yelling.

“What’s going on?” Ironhide’s voice was gruff and his optics were narrowed. “Why are you yelling at Y/N?”

You swallowed. “You aren’t helping my case…” You turned around, speaking through gritted teeth.

“Wow,” Mark scoffed, “you picked these two?”

“Picked us for what?” Ratchet cocked his head.

“Oh, don’t play dumb,” Mark rolled his eyes, “I figured out she was with you two.”

“Are you delusional?!” You finally snapped at him. “They would never like me like that! Drop this shit, get over me, and fucking leave!”

Mark stood there, staring at you, gawking. This time, whatever he was thinking, was definitely right. “You… You do like them…”

Ironhide crouched down, closing in on the scientist. “It’s best if you leave.” He growled out. “She won’t ask again.”

Mark gulped and decided it would be best to leave. You groaned and placed your head in your hands. “Thanks for that,” You sighed. “I didn’t know if he’d ever leave me alone.” You stood up straight and looked at Ironhide and Ratchet, “Well… Um. I’m gonna go to bed.”

“It’s mid afternoon, you do not go to sleep until after dark. Usually around ten o’clock.”

“Why do you know that?” Ironhide interrupted Ratchet.

“For the exact same reason you know what time Y/N is gonna be in the lab everyday of the week.”

Ratchet spoke with a matter of fact tone. He crossed his arms and for a moment, a brief moment, Ratchet and Ironhide’s optics met and they seemed to be glaring at each other. You were fast to jump in and break it up.

“Hey! I find it enduring! It’s nice you’ve picked up on those things! Well… It is a little weird that you know what time I go to bed… Who needs that knowledge?”

“Exactly!” Ironhide threw his servos up, “It’s weird!”

“But!” You went to reassure Ratchet, “It definitely isn’t as weird as what just happened!”

There was an awkward silence, one that you could only smile for so long for. Yoursmile grew awkward and your eyes went from Ratchet, to Ironhide, back to Ratchet, and dropped to the ground. You scratched the back of your neck and swallowed hard.

“Mark was right, wasn’t he?”

“I’m not fucking anyone!” Your hands went up and your eyes widened. “No,” Ironhide grumbled, his optics rolling, “he said you liked us. And I’m assuming he means the kind of ‘like’ that means you want to be more than friends.”

You did the only thing you could think of, “Aw, do you guys count me as a friend?”

“This isn’t about us.” Ironhide started.

“Yes it is.” Ratchet finished. “And yes we do. But, speaking for both of us here, we ‘like’ you.” He put air quotations around the word ‘like’.

Your eyes widened and you smiled. “Really?!”

Ironhide looked like he wanted to beat the shit out of Ratchet, but only briefly. “Don’t ever speak for me again.” His voice rumbled, and he glared at Ratchet. Then he turned towards you, optic ridges resting, causing his optics to soften slightly, and he crouched down to your level. “You seemed awfully enthusiastic at that confession-”

“I like, um- I would love to be more than friends with both of you…” Ratchet lit up, Ironhide close behind. You all three stood there a moment. “What now?” You asked. “I’ve never confessed to anyone, much less two someones.”

Ironhide and Ratchet seemed about as confused as you were, until an idea struck you. “Remember, Ratchet, when you said you wanted to learn more about human anatomy… Up close, and personally?”

It clicked for both Ratchet and Ironhide. Immediately they were closing in on you. “Wait!” You put our hands up. “We don’t need anyone walking in on us… I’ll lock the main doors, you go lock the hangar door. And, someone take care of the camera-”

Ironhide was quick to obliterate the camera in the corner of the room. Your eyes widened at his eagerness and you ran towards the door to lock it. You were back at the center of the room in what felt like seconds and you waited for Ratchet to return after he locked the door.

“Where to start…?” Ironhide examined you closely.

“I could get rid of these clothes for starters.” You were eager to begin stripping, and you were quickly exposed to them, standing in your underwear. Vulnerability hit and you began fidgeting. You weren’t sure where that burst of confidence came from, but it was suddenly gone.

“We do not have to do this. Not now, if you don’t want to.” Ratchet noticed your nervousness.

“Um, no! I want to! Really!” You swallowed hard, sure the sound echoed through the room, “Uh, I've never been this exposed in front of uh, Cybertronians…?” You sounded confused, your arms hugging you tightly.

“No worries,” Ironhide was closer to you than Ratchet, his optics observing you, “We’ve never never been this close to an organic before-” He looked like he wanted to get rid of your underwear.

Ratchet moved closer to you when you dropped your arms to your sides and it was his turn to observe. He reached out for you and even though you did not flinch away, he paused. “May I?” He politely asked.

“Of course.”

One of his fingers touched your stomach and when you sucked in from the cool feeling, Ratchet flinched back. You reassured him you were fine and he continued. “You are very soft,” He made mental notes. His hand grabbed for your waist and gave you a gentle squeeze. He pulled away and Ironhide started to butt in.

“My turn.”

Ironhide needed to know how soft you were. He grabbed for your thigh and the soft flesh moved with his hand. Ironhide cocked his head and looked at you. “Comfortable enough to get rid of these?” When you nodded, he asked another question. “Are they important to you?” You shook your head. They were ripped from you. The cool air caused you to gasp and close your legs.

“Why is it so damn cold in here?” You groaned.

“I don’t think you’ll be cold much longer…”

You relax and inhale deeply. With legs still slightly crossed, you reach to undo your bra. You let it fall to the floor and Ironhide and Ratchet are both very close to you again, looking at your breasts. You can’t help but awkwardly smile at them, Ironhide reaching out to touch them.

“I never knew how soft you would actually be-” Ratchet was in awe. “-I could just-”

He didn’t know what he could do. Him and Ironhide were stunned. Ironhide made the first move. “Get on the table right there.” With a nod, you obliged. You hopped onto the cool table and awaited more instructions. “Hm,” Ironhide was taking mental notes now, “You are very obedient.”

“She deserves a reward.” Ratchet was smiling.

“She’s much too small for our spikes-” Your eyes widened at Ironhide’s words, “-but I think I know a way to reward her.”

Ratchet did not have time to ask ‘how?’. Ironhide was moving too fast for Ratchet to have time to say anything. Your thighs were gently grabbed, Ironhide’s large servos being extremely gentle with you. Your legs were spread and Ironhide was in your business instantly. You leaned back slightly and waited for Ironhide’s next move.

“You aren’t much different than us in this department.” Ironhide examined you closer than before. “Can I- Hm, can I taste you?”

You wanted to hide your face. “Sure-” That was all it took. Ironhide’s head was between your legs, practically keeping them spread. His tongue was lapping at you, slowly at first. His optics were closed and he was obviously focused on every inch of you. You fell back on your forearms, resting them on the cool metal of the table. You stifled a moan.

“Be loud.” Ratchet blurted out, “We want to know how you feel.”

You nodded and as soon as Ironhide found your clit you let out a loud moan. Your head fell back and your eyes shut. A soft hum fell from your lips and your breathing quickened.

Ironhide kept doing his thing and caught on very quickly on what pace you liked and how roughly he could hold you.

“Ironhide-” You moaned out, “I’m gonna-” Your nails were digging into your palms. Ironhide understood. Your hips bucked upwards and Ironhide rumbled against you. It drove you over the edge. You were coming undone against his mouth and Ironhide was smiling against you.

A loud moan echoed through the lab as you came. You had half expected Ironhide to keep going, but suddenly, the feeling of him between your legs was gone.

“My turn,” Ratchet mimicked Ironhide’s earlier words.

“Did you just pull me away?

“Yes, I would like a taste,” Ratchet positioned himself between your legs, not even giving Ironhide his attention when he talked. Ratchet’s servos placed themselves on your waist and you leaned back again.

Ratchet was quick to begin to tongue fuck you. His tongue swirled around your clit before licking stripes up your pussy. His optics were not closed. They stayed on your eyes. He maintained eye contact with you as he ‘tasted’ you. He would slowly blink at you, and you were too stunned to look away.

Your hips bucked and Ratchet was quick to push them back down. You let out a soft whine and looked over at Ironhide briefly, who was just… watching. You looked back at Ratchet and everything in you started to tense. A knot formed in your stomach and you were coming undone again.

“Ratchet!” You exclaimed with eyes shut, head thrown back, and body tensed. Ratchet did not slow. You were squirming beneath him. “Fuck!”

A knock came from the hangar door. The only thing causing Ratchet to stop in his tracks.

You writhed with pleasure once he let you go, not registering the knock. You lied on the table and heard Ironhide shout something. You looked up and saw Ironhide with your clothes in one of his servos. He was trying to hand them to you.

“Hey,” Hound yelled from the other side of the hangar door, “Why do-” He paused, “Why do I smell… ‘Fluids’?” As soon as the words left his mouth were rushing to get dressed. “Is there a human in there?”

“Go away!” Ratchet yelled back.

“Ratchet and Ironhide?” Hound bellowed back, laughing loudly, “You both have a human in there?”

“The other scientists,” You started, finishing getting dressed, “they’re going to be here soon, asking about that camera. I should go…” Ratchet and Ironhide looked at you, optic ridges rising. “But, this doesn’t have to be it, not if you don't want it to be!”

Ratchet and Ironhide nodded, “We aren’t done with you yet.”

[bitchy-peachy]

I don't know whether I should find Trump voters freaking out after learning that Trump doesn't care about him funny or infuriating. It's funny bc literally every reason they had voted for this man was a bold-faced lie and infuriating bc ppl on both sides has be telling them over and over that Trump would fuck America over and now that it's affecting them and their precious gas and egg price, they want to cry about being duped.

I find regretful Trump voters quite pitiful and soulless. Which is quite a lot from me cos when I despise someone to the core I go completely apathetic towards any suffering they may have.

They voted as selfishly as possible. Some didn't even care about the prices or anything, but yes for "sticking it to the libs".

But... While a lot of maga voted for Trump because he openly hates those they hate, there's unfortunately a lot of dumbass people that actually believed he would "unify" America.

(I'm not even joking. I've seen some maga online that are that effing delusional. They really thought they were the "good guys" in voting for the orange skidmark. I swear they need to get slapped for the audacity but I don't want to catch shit from them. )

These are the same people that compared wearing a freaking MASK to slavery so they've always been stupid and also racist af. They blame and project their own mediocrity on minorities and women (even if they're women themselves cos holyshit do maga women hate other women. My own maga mother... Oh she's literally hates everything with a vagina, even animals)

Those voters regretting their vote now... They won't even get the concept of pity from me. (My maga mother and her crying over her VA benefits she voted away lost me forever too.)

They didn't even know what tariffs were ffs. Or that "Obamacare" (a nickname given by republicans themselves, btw 😂) is the ACA they wanted to keep.

They just saw "Obama" in the little nickname and thought "Evil Black Democrat President is robbing us blind. We only want ACA🤬!"

Some are trying to lie to themselves thinking the tariffs will bring back American jobs (😂) and make us buy only "American products" ignoring the fact that our "American products" have imported components that will be affected by these tariffs.

So our "Made in America" shit... Yeah. That's going up.

Oh don't get me started on how more than half of our agriculture is imported and the agriculture that's actually done in our country is done mostly by immigrants that get paid shit wages. (And when Trump deports them all and farmers are forced to hire Americans that couldn't be assed to work a field, the prices will go up for our local agriculture as well)

These morons, we have to call them that, voted for the most epic downward spiral that will tank the American economy for potential decades (not just a few years of "hardship" like that Immigrant-That-Should-Get-Pimp-Smacked-Back-To-Africa Musk claimed.)

Sad thing is that we already had poverty. The middle class no longer exists. It's everyone's poor but with a handful of rich fucks.

And these moronic ass people just freaking put that shit on steroids with their dumb fucking voting.

People tell me I shouldn't insult them so much but shit. They're fucking stupid as hell.

They don't even understand why even relatives and friends don't wanna talk to them anymore 😂.

Oh its not a "difference of opinion". They voted to make us poorer, take rights away from the lgbtqia, women (yes, you miscarry and you can die from it now cos the procedure to remove rotting fetus matter is an abortion which these stupid dumbfuckers are very deaf about.), they voted against ALL POC (including the idiots that voted against themselves. DING DING DING! DENATURALIZATION! America has done it before and Trump will be bringing it back with his fake ass "invasion" emergency to activate the army), they voted against affordable healthcare and therefore fucked over people with preexisting conditions/disabilities etc., they voted against education because republicans need only stupid people to keep them in power.

Heck, they voted against gender affirming care because they think it only affects trans people when there's people with health conditions that require this kind of care (like me. A cis woman that produces too much estrogen that causes me a variety of health problems.)

Red states are behind in everything. Education, health, minimum wages but they're sure winning by being higher in crimes, sex crimes, incest and poverty.

They mooch off blue states taxes. They don't give as much as much back as they take. If it weren't for "demonrats" they'd be completely off the map.

Republican voters like living that way without realizing they could have been so much better.

They keep willingly voting for people that keep them in that life or worse... considering that these elections had very high stakes.

These elections were not like others in the past. He has too much power with the SC, senate and representatives.

Trump voters regretting their votes now should wipe words like freedom and patriot off their vocabulary because they have selfishly and quite stupidly fucked America.

Damn this shit was long, LMFAOOO.

[starryletters]

gojo; friends to lovers headcanons!

notes : set in 2006, reader being silly and a bit dense, gojo falls first and you fall just as hard , fluff! suguru and shoko mentioned bc i love their friendgroup🫶

a/n : eep my first (published) piece of writing! im so excited, and i hope people like it!!! this isn't the most polished, but i wanted to start off with something a little more simple ( ◡‿◡ *) anywhoo satoru is the boyfriend ever!

you met him when you joined the jujutsu high second years aka geto shoko and gojo!

and gojo IMMEDIATELY decided to annoy the shit out of you

but like in an endearing way (that's what he thought, at least)

surprisingly, you actually found him funny, and bantering with him back and forth quickly became your favorite part of every day.

he really liked how you were able to keep up with him and how easy it was to talk to you about anything and everything. no matter what he had to say, you had a reply (or an insult) ready to go.

satoru's a really physically affectionate person in general and he was over the moon when you didnt seem to mind how he randomly slung his arm around your shoulder or how he liked to fall asleep with his head in your lap. (i could tie to this whole thing to his infinity and talk about how sad it is for someone that shows love through physival affection to experience smth so traumatic that they put a LITERAL barrier between them and others preventing all forms of touch but..i wont!)

it wasn't anything romantic at first! (i love platonic physical affection, okay?)

but there were small moments where you felt his touch and felt such a warmth in your heart. you had pure adoration for him [and if you ever caught his stare, you would know he adored you the same.]

anywhoo! you always thought he was attractive because i mean, look at him

but you never really saw him as a romantic prospect. at least not until you talked to him and got to know him. which you told shoko later on, and she called you a freak of nature for it because "usually he has the opposite effect on people"

there wasn't really a distinct moment you can remember where you developed feelings for him. the realization totally caught you by surprise!

you were hanging out with your fellow second years after school, and gojo made some dumb dad joke, at which only he laughed (of course), but you glanced at him from the side and his laugh!!! it was so beautiful!!! like, why are you enchanted by this LOSER right now???

either way, that's when you noticed that maybe that feeling you got in your stomach whenever gojo touched you may not have been entirely platonic. horrified and also a teensy bit excited at your discovery you look away and try to make your blushing face cool down. cool, this was definitely gonna ruin one of the best relationships and friendships you've ever had! gojo knew geto and shoko before you, so if you ever confessed, it would probably ruin your friendship with them too! cool, cool, very cool.

of course, that was total bs, but whatever you were anxious at, your newfound feelings and relationships are confusing, and you maybe (definitely) had a bit of tunnel vision in that moment.

after that (like the smart person you are), you convinced yourself that "well. if i just avoid gojo..the feelings will probably go away, right?"

oh, you poor naive FOOL

first of all, avoiding gojo was no easy feat (just ask nanami)

second of all... by the point you realized your feelings, he was already completely WHIPPED for you

"suguru! did you see? she totally looked at me for two seconds longer than usual today!"

"uh-huh"

"she definitely loves me back, dont you think so too?"

"you're delusional."

"you're my best friend! you're supposed to indulge me in my delusions!"

definitely the type to lay on his stomach and kick his feet in the air while thinking about you

and he NEVER shuts up about you

shoko and geto seriously deserve financial compensation for this and are BAFFLED by the fact that you dont notice how lovestruck he is by you?

so as soon as he realized you stopped replying to his texts like you usually did and you didn't sit next to him anymore so he could lean his head on your shoulder, he was devastated

DEVASTATED

like what did he do????? why does the universe hate him??? ( like he isnt the strongest sorcerer ever?)

you thought you were clever for coming up with your "get rid of feelings for satoru" plan

but no. for days now everywhere you were, suddenly there he was.

you didn't give him the silent treatment or anything you just... kept your distance.

well, you tried anyway

man has no sense of personal space.

"i missed you." he pouts, leaning down and placing his head on your shoulder from behind. "we see each other everyday, thats not enough for you?" you replied, trying to remain calm while he was so SO close to you. "we barely saw each other at all yesterday!" he whines. "i was busy -" "no, you weren't." "yes, i was?" "nuh-uh, " your face contorts into a grimace. "seriously, how old are you?" "sev-" "it was a rhetorical question." he moves from his postion behind you and stands right in front of you. if he wasn't so silly looking, you would probably be intimidated by his towering height.

his face turns serious. "you've been avoiding me." he states, a small pout on his lips. shit, dont look at his lips! "eh..uh..what? no, i'm not! that's crazy talk..." you sputter nervously. he sighs, and puts his hands on your shoulders "are you okay?" he's genuinely concerned for you now. damnit why couldn't he be less likeable?! this was really throwing a wrench in your plan.

"i am..i'm just..uh..argh." you lower your head and massage your temple out of frustration. your heartbeat was going a mile a minute. "i didn't mean to avoid you, satoru." you say in a soft tone. a lie, but you couldn't handle telling him the truth. his face brightens instantly. "i'll forgive you if you pinky promise to never avoid me ever again." he reaches out his pinky. "wow, future me is gonna regret that when you get inevitably annoying.." you chuckle reaching out your hand to interlink your finger with his. this was good, this was normal. you felt normal, platonic, and normal feelings. yep. a bright grin spreads across his pretty face. "although.. you might still have to buy me something sweet to really convince me!" of course. "you're the worst." "you love it!" yeah, you do.

okay, plan b. push it all down and focus on your friendship!

you did really enjoy just being his friend after all..otherwise you wouldn't care so much about ruining your friendship!

so things went back to normal sort of...except for the fact that over the next few months, the romantic tension got worse and worse.

you thought it was just you being delusional when he started holding your hand more and more frequently, freuqently bought you small trimkets and gifts( his reason being " i thought of you!") told you how pretty and cool you looked after missions, even with your hair all messed up and uniform askew. you tried so hard not to read into it even though these things were obviously pretty romantic.

satoru thought he was going insane

"i mean??? am i not being clear enough, suguru? am i being too subtle?"

"i dont think the word subtle really suits you, in any situation ever."

at this point, he was close to giving up. maybe you just didn't like him as much as he liked you?

but then! one late summer night!

the first kiss!

which was sort of out of the blue but also not really, since you'd been pining for each other for a while.

he was invading spending time in your dorm room late at night again like he frequently did. he got real chatty at night. you were both sitting on your bed, and his head was leaning against your shoulder, the soft ends of his hair tickling your neck.

it was around mignight, his voice was low and he spoke in a hushed tone.

"..you know? and then he had the audacity to insult nintendo? like sorry you hate fun, loser? anyways my original point was..." he trails off his voice, getting lower and lower by the end. you turn your head in his direction, expecting to find him asleep. instead, your nose almost bumps against his.

his eyes are..so breathtaking this close, with the moonlight reflecting in his sapphire irises. his snow-white lashes flutter as he glances down at your lips. a silent request.

this moment was so full of tender love while still so quiet. you had never felt anything quite like it before. you nod ever so slightly and softly your lips meet eachother. slotting together like two puzzle pieces, it made something click in your brain. suddenly everything made sense.

after a few moments you pulled back. your face felt hot. it was still quiet. gojos thumb rubs over the back of your hand.

he leans his head back onto your shoulder, positively beaming, he giggled "like i was saying.." he starts again the smile still evident in his voice.

an equally bright grin breaks out on your face. he was not even acknowledging the kiss you two shared. but it felt right that he didn't. this moment felt so warm and so much like satoru. there was no more confusion and no words that needed to be said. you both understood what it meant. you both finally understood what you were.

what you failed to consider was telling your best friends. geto and shoko. the four of you were hanging out and gojo had to leave early for another mission, before he leaves he quickly pecks you on the lips (which to be fair surprised you too) before waving and running off. shoko's eyes were practically bulging out of her head, and getos face couldn't decide between a surprised expression and one of disgust. "what. was that." shoko furtows her brows. "uhh..oh! oh." you couldn't exactly pinpoint what you were supposed to say now. how did you forget to tell them? how did GOJO forget to tell them? granted, it only happened last night, but still... you had assumed he spent the rest of the night lying on his stomach, feet kicking, telling geto every detail. "we're dating?" you reply awkwardly. "damn it!" shoko exclaims, and suguru smiles smugly. odd reactions... that's what you thought until you saw shoko pull out her wallet and hand suguru a big wad of cash. "see? i told you they would figure it out before they turned 25." he chides.

thank you for reading!!! and i hope you liked it! im not sure about this formatting (w/ the tumblr bulleted list. it's like not spaced apart enough, yk?) anyway! im open to constructive criticism, but please be nice im sensitive LOL (ﾉω･､)

[fungusgnat444]

“König being desperate for escort reader :(“ It might be the hottest thing I've ever read

well shit girlie here’s a part two… ily x hope you enjoy (sorry this took me so long)NSFW, angst kinda?, desperate touch starved König, he’s kinda subby hehe, afab fem reader, sugar daddy/pay pig shit if you squint, mentions of anxiety and poor self worth, implied size difference, oral f receiving, piv sex (no mentions of protection but always wrap it up y’all), begging, no german apart from schatz, big pp, decryphilia kinda? (He cries because you taste good lol), i think thats it. Let me know if i missed anything

this man is so stupid and obsessed with you it would honestly be annoying if he didn’t spoil you. You’d be lying if you said he wasn’t your favourite client but there’s only so many times he can burst into tears at the sight of a hickey another client left on you before it gets annoying. As soon as his dumb cock is buried in between your plush tits he forgets all about it immediately. Now he’s crying for a different reason. Speaking of which once he’s comfortable with you this poor boy cries a lot. Weather it’s because he’s over stimulated himself from desperately fucking you like he’ll die if he doesn’t fill you little cunt immediately or he’s feeling sorry for himself, you could probably fill a bathtub with his tears at this point :(

although he feels extremely guilty about it he has started stalking you. It started out innocently (not really he’s just delusional), just checking that you’re safe of course. Spying on you with his binoculars on the rooftop across the street. Only to make sure the client you’re with isn’t hurting you (he’s so stupid). You almost wanted to kill that bastard when he started leaving you gifts on your doorstep, but something about his antics was strangely endearing. You knew at least partly why he was like this. Picking up on little clues each time he vented to you with his head on your chest while you play with his hair. He’d joined the military so young doesn’t exactly give you much opportunity to meet women, the few woman he did work with wouldn’t look twice at him because of his reputation and even if they did he wouldn’t be interested. Unlike most of the men he worked with he had enough professional respect for these women to ever let anything happen. No matter how lonely he got :(. That’s not the only reason he doesn’t know how to interact with women. The glass case filled with war hammer figurines and frankly absurd looking gaming pc setup in his living room told you that he wasn’t exactly popular with the girls when he was younger either. The moment he first got his hands on your body you knew he had barely any experience. Not that you minded, if anything it made it feel more real. Not like most of your clients who just wanted to blow off some steam; he needed this. The desperation in his eyes, his frantic, shaky hands running all over your body like he thinks you’ll leave at any moment and of course he’s just so desperate to hear you say you want it. To know you like him this way, needy. You like it when he begs, when he thanks you, when he’s so lost he can barely speak, he knows you do. He’ll beg for anything, even if he just gets to watch you play with yourself, he just wants to see you cross eyed and breathless, clinging to him for support. Getting so desperate you start begging. Turning into him; pathetic and whiny.

(I know this is pretty different to the first part. Brain rot took over. Hope you still like it. Kinda enjoyed writing könig this way and fleshing out the character a bit so I might turn it into a lil series if anyone shows interest xoxo)

[pleucas]

good evening. it is me again, skk hater - no air quotes because i am completely genuine in my hatred. this will be a long one.

i shall first begin with a thanks. i do write pretty often, and my ego has been sufficiently stroked. i suppose even the most despicable people have taste - at least in matters besides ships.

you have asked for my reasoning behind my vehement hatred of skk, and i think it's time for me to provide.

i'm going to be completely truthful - it's all Akutagawa's fault. i love him and his stupid victorian child fashion and british accent and dumb haircut deeply. so, naturally dazai is the bane of my existence.

now, even though i hated dazai more each time Akutagawa appeared, i actually didn't mind SKK for some time. i didn't get it cause Chuuya rarely actually shows up in the manga, which i read straight through without detouring for any of the light novels, but i was fine with it. they're fruity in most all their interactions, i shall never deny that because it's clearer than glass and i'm not that delusional, but i didn't see much substance beyond that.

then i read the novels and slowly came to the conclusion that i actually hate dazai even when Akutagawa isn't in the picture. and when i say HATE i mean HATE. he is the pebble lodged in my shoe, the lego on my cousin's floor, the table leg i stub my toe on, and so forth.

Chuuya, on the other hand, i love. he's great. amazing. stormbringer? peak. so, OBVIOUSLY, he could do much better than dazai. soooo much better. i mean, look at him

every time dazai and Chuuya have their objectively gay moments with each other, i feel like im watching my friend crawl back to their toxic ex.

that's how i feel with most dazai ships, and this is because dazai is always a smug prick towards the person he's being shipped with, and because i love Akutagawa i am not amused by this in the slightest. feels like he's rubbing salt in the wound. i actually like dazai more as a character when he's on the back foot. a (nonromantic) example would be him in The Day I Picked Up Dazai (A Side). dazai and Oda's dynamic is probably the best one dazai has in my eyes - though i don't ship them in the slightest. additionally, i think i, if only for a moment, actually liked dazai when he got ""killed"" in that one chapter. because it was a loss for him. in that moment, he (well, at least we're led to believe) got what he had wished for so often during the series, though it was not on his own terms. therefore, it felt almost like poetic tragedy - i thought it would have been a fitting end for him, and if it truly had been, i might like him now. this, as you know, was not the case.

furthermore, dazai is a fruitcake with or without Chuuya. it's not specific towards him, so i don't think anything real can be drawn from the vaguely homoerotic behaviour. i mean, dazai ballroomed danced with Sigma five minutes after meeting him. man just likes men, i don't know what to say

in conclusion, i feel like their relationship is unbalanced. dazai is never really shown to be all too worked up by Chuuya, even when he seems to be on the losing end of their bickering, but Chuuya is constantly harassed. while it's admittably funny, i don't like it in a romantic sense, nor do i see it in anyway that's different from Kunikida or Sigma.

that's about everything i can say without going on an unorganized tangent. i could bring up more specific issues i have that stem from Stormbringer and the Fifteen novel, but i have actual things ive been putting off writing - there's a whole book being sidelined by SKK right now. this has been a good way of procrastinating, but it must come to an end eventually

as for titles, you can call me Rimu. like the tree,

so, with an abundance of hate, Rimu <3

(ps: you might noticed that dazai's name is not capitalized at all in this ask. this is because he does not deserve that level of respect.)

holy hell Rimu. Hello, formally I guess — I will follow in your footsteps and leave dazai's name uncapitalized, because that was very funny

i've been putting off responding to this for a while but please believe that i have been thinking about it and periodically re-reading it. it's one of the most entertaining asks i've received LOL

to actually respond without completely proving your point of skkers procuring essays (though i'm sure you realize the irony upon review of your own accolade), i'll keep it brief. you had me in the first half, ngl, cuz i'm pretty sure 89% of us [skkers] agree, on a generalized scale, that dazai is the worst and Chuuya deserves everything and more (and better). he's the type of character that i enjoy as pure fiction, bc i know that if i knew him in person i'd hate him. same goes for my opinions on irl dazai — so asagiri did a (rare) justice for his authors there ig

abt everything else tho (imbalance, not being as affected by chuuya, similarity to other ships, and lack of intrigue)... i had a lot of responses prepared but really all of it can be summed up here as this:

like ngl man. LOL. i do blame the anime and its horrendous adaptation of dazai's character and skk's interactions, but that's another can of worms... that i have... opinons... about.

thank you for sharing your thoughts Rimu, i enjoyed reading through it a lot. keep it going!

with a mutual abundance of hate, Cas <3 <3 <3

[sanyu-thewitch05]

I feel like there aren’t as many “dominant/sadistic” female reader stories. Like don’t get me wrong, I love dominant men, but let’s make that story a bit more spicy…So here’s another idea I had…Male Yandere Fiancé X Female Sadistic Reader

Darling grows up from a prominent old money family, and from young childhood was put into an arranged marriage with one of her father’s longtime friend’s son (who was the same age, and also from a old money family, hence the arranged marriage). Darling was born with a sadistic streak (inherited from her mother, cause we gotta love generational femme fatales), and just thought “why not play what’s already been promised to me?” So she decides to cruelly play with her fiancés feelings even at a young age. (Goes the whole gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss route). For example, fiancé (the yandere), falls in love with her easily since Darling easily manipulates him. Once fiancé is hooked, Darling abuses him into becoming her “ideal man,” forcing fiancé to workout relentlessly, spend countless days/nights studying to become more intelligent, perform extravagant acts of love/devotion to her, etc. Fiancé is pushing himself to the limits in every which way for Darling, because if he doesn’t, Darling is threatening to break off the engagement and leave him forever.

Last day of college arrives (it was agreed between the two families that after the kids graduated college, they’d get married asap), but Darling being the cruel thing she is, makes out with another man in front of yandere fiancé and declares that she loves the new man more and wants to marry him instead. The new man is the total opposite of yandere fiancé (physically weak, lowest ranking in each class, from a “poor family/ugly,” etc.) and in a sense Darling breaks yandere fiancé’s psyche, cause what has he been working for his entire life now? Yandere fiancé snaps and sets a plan into motion to get his Darling to stay with him, because no matter what she does to him, he will always love her (he’s absolutely delusional and off the rails). After all, he’s going to make sure he gets his fairy tale happily ever after. 

So maybe in the end he does become the “dominant” one, or maybe Darling is still the “dominant” one. Who knows? But I hope this idea of a story could have some fun exploring various power/relationship dynamics, and how they can spectacularly backfire. I hope you can have fun with this one too! <3

TW: Noncon, manipulation, corporal punishment

You always liked Barbies. You love the fact their Ken's are just dolls to them. Another accessory to their closet. Their only job is to be a fool in love.

"Y/N, what are you doing?" Lucian, your future fiance, says.

"Playing with dolls," You reply, looking at him.

17 years have gone since then, and Lucian has shaped up quite nicely. You planted little suggestions about what you liked in his head, and he eagerly followed like a horse trying to eat a carrot waving in front of its face. He wears contact lenses because you hate brown eyes. He dyed his hair blonde, changed his style, and even got on steroids for a while to bulk up for you. If he didn't, you'd threaten to end the engagement.

Now, you're in your senior year of college. You're an A+ plus student and a vivid party girl as well. Lucian never knew about you sneaking out from his eye to party all night. He never knew about all the guys you hooked up with. The poor boy would be furious if he knew you fucked with the guys who were antithesis to him. Dumb, jock, alcoholic, trouble, everything he thought you hated.

"Oh, Jeremy, you've gotta try this jungle juice! It's amazing!" You exclaim, practically hugging your jock boy toy Jeremy.

"I know it's amazing. I made it," Jeremy laughs, turning you around and kissing your neck.

You kiss Jeremy's lips and make out with him. You didn't even know kissing Jeremy was your metaphorical kiss of death.

"God, I wanna marry you," You coo as Jeremy snaps your bra strap.

Now you've signed your death warrant.

"How could you?" Lucian mumbles, crushing his red party cup.

"Jeremy, let's head to your bed," You whisper, kissing his neck.

He leads you to his room, and Lucian takes advantage of the large crowd to pull you away. Lucian drags you outside despite your complaints.

"Luci, what the hell are you doing?" You drunkenly say, trying to get your hand free from Lucian.

"Listen to me! You're not going to treat me like I'm some doll anymore. I've changed myself beyond recognition for you. I've obeyed your every order. You're going to love me!" Lucian snaps, throwing you into the passenger seat of his car.

"Don't threaten me. Dogs don't growl at their masters," You hiss, making Lucian stop the car.

Lucian unbuckles your seatbelt and slaps you across the face.

"You're going to respect me for once in your life," Lucian monotonously says, buckling you back in and driving back to his apartment.

You stay silent for the rest of the ride until Lucian carries you inside. You don't know what's wrong with you. You would never let someone, especially Lucian, treat you like this. Where did your wits and words go?

"If you even think of trying to run away or stop me, I will tell your parents all about your dirty alcohol and party drugs addiction. Mommy and daddy tolerate lots of things, but they won't tolerate their junkie daughter spending their money on drugs to party," Lucian threatens, putting a change of clothes next to you. "Now, change. I don't want you sleeping in my bed smelling like booze and sweat."

You nod your head and change into fresh clothes.

"Lay across my lap," Lucian commands, rubbing your butt. "Call me my love, master, sir, or my name. Do you understand, pet?"

"Yes, sir."

Lucian takes off his belt and slams it across your ass. You flinch, but Lucian holds you still.

"Sir, please stop," You whimper, trying to hold your tears.

"Pets don't disobey orders," Lucian says, slamming his belt across your butt again.

"Sorry, sir."

Lucian spanks you fifty more times, and each time is worse and more pleasurable than the last.

"Ah, master!" You moan, cumming onto Lucian's pants.

"Damn it, you messed up my pants!" Lucian groans, pulling your pants down.

"I'm sorry, master!" You yell, Lucian pulling your hair back.

"Suck my cock, pet."

"Yes, my love."

You kiss and lick Lucian's cock. It shivers with every touch, and your soon-to-be husband grabs the back of your head and forces your mouth to take his whole dick. You gag on it for a while, then get used to it. He pushes your head so far down that your lips touch his balls. Once your lips touch his balls, he cums into your mouth and yanks your hair back to get your lips off his cock.

"You've learned your lesson?" Lucian asks, holding your head up by the hair.

"Yes. I'm sorry I manipulated you!" You cry, your mascara running, leaving black streaks.

"Good. You're mine, and we'll be married once we graduate. You're going to respect me for once in your miserable life."

Lucian lets go of your hair, and you faceplant onto the mattress.

"Now then, let's have some good bonding time. I don't want our relationship to be like it was when you were still in control. No manipulating you into someone else. No cheating on me with someone else. Just our true selves," Lucian says, cleaning your mascara streaks away and kissing you. "I love you."

[nokonomi]

CreepyPasta OC Dump! Maddie (Or Mads, Madison)

CreepyPasta OC DUMP

So this is my new OC, Maddie! (Mads, Madison) and she is my CrP self-insert (for X-Virus) and CrP OC! She is 25 years old and is an only-child of her “loving” family.

25 for 29 year old version of X-Virus

and 19 for 17 year old version of X-Virus?

Ethnicity: Khmer-American

Nationality: American

Languages: Khmer, American 🇺🇸 🇰🇭

Parents: Sothea Danielle, Loeung Moy

(Yes I am Khmer myself)

__________ Lore: So basically, she comes from a very strict Asian household where she grew up to be taught different things; which is how she ended up like a serial killer basically.

Growing up, she was homeschooled her entire life by her parents, taught her own language and how to speak it and write it. So she didn’t necessarily learn any “school” stuff. When she came to elementary school for the first time, she was very mature and well-behaved, which made her be praised by multiple teachers, but some of the students were jealous, so they started picking on her and even started being r@c1$t to her and her culture.

This caused for concern because her mental health was poorly declining at a young age, that’s when her parents decided to take her to a hospital. The doctors later diagnosed her with ADHD and Schizophrenia.

Growing up, she had to take kid-friendly medicine in order to prescribe this. But her parents urged to buy more “adult” medicines. So they bought “illegal” drugs for her to use and basically dr**ged her. They also abused her and gave her trauma at some point. when her father hit her in the head, it caused some part of her skull to break, which they took her to the hospital and excused it as a major accident that occurred at the park.

The doctors had to rush her to surgery, and of course, the surgery went well. But it caused 30% of her knowledge to go wrong. So basically she is kind of dumb now, and that urged her parents to try and “fix” her, so they took her to a therapists. The therapists says that she clearly stated….

“My delusions….I think I’m going delusional right now, because I am seeing things. I’m seeing something otherworldly that I’m not supposed to.”

The therapists prescribed her a medicine she needed to take. At 15 she went to Highschool in her junior years, and her mental health had decreased even more because of the frequent bullying and teasing of her.

Some people called her “Mads” in replacement of her name “Madison or Maddie” and they all started calling her Mads or the Mad Hatter. Until one day she couldn’t take it anymore and decided to take matters into her own hands.

She had brought a gun to school, teachers unaware of the dangerous she had in her backpack. She pulled it out in the hallways and everybody scream and ran into different directions. Shots were fired as blood splattered on the floor, people screaming in pain and fear, WHILST SHE WAS SMILING AND LAUGHING AT ALL THE PENT-UP PAIN.

Something had told her to keep going and do it, she had voices inside her head now, and “that she had to take revenge on society.”

Police had been called and multiple shots were fired while she was standing there. She had been shot in the leg, which caused her to slip and fall…The next thing she knew she was in jail, being questioned. Although one answer had alarmed the cops.

“The voices inside my head called to me. To help me take revenge on society for calling me these horrible names. I killed them. I had a reason. They were the ones RESPONSIBLE.”

Her parents was taken there as well for questioning. Until when suddenly, Maddie has jumped from her jail cell and stabbed her parents 10 times in all areas, their neck, their face. Maddie was truly a psycho.

They didn’t survive and ended up dying from the injuries they received. But bro decided, “hey, why not just set the place on fire?”

So she set the entire jail center on fire. All the while smiling and laughing entirely. She was a psycho after all. Maybe the kids were right. Mads would be her new name after all.

Also went to kill some random people because she thought all of society was at fault for her corruption. When she escaped into the woods, she found herself, standing infront of a tall, 10ft creature. At first she was scared, but she didn’t seem so scared after the creature invited her. Invited her to join him.

And she happily accepted. The end. Ended up having a best friend relationship with Toby and X-Virus (I love that duo, hello? Why not make it a trio?)

(SELF-INSERT FOR X-VIRUS LETS GO)

please help her she is really needing some AAAAAAAAAA

[sinfulslytherin]

Trigger warning: mature content

Summary: You tease Draco and he decides to get his revenge only for you to realize what you truly are for him.

(Angst)

Iknow how to treat girls. I took good care of Amara just yesterday when I showed her the guest room. Right?" Draco says as he tries to remind me of our steamy encounter last night.

A smirk plasters on his face.

I would have probably turned shy under other circumstances

but I turn bold in my drunken state and decide to play his game.

"You could've done a better job." I say as I smirk.

The dumb smirk he carried just a few seconds ago on his lips dissapears as soon as the words slip from my lips.

Narcissa smiles while silently drinking her wine, surely understanding the ambiguous conversation.

I finish my last glass in a quick motion and thank Narcissa for the day and especially the wine.

I am satisfied with leaving a dumbfounded Draco behind me.

I make my way upstairs while tumbling a bit from side to side.

I try to make my way to my room when suddenly a hand grabs my wrist and pulls me into the next best room.

It takes me a few seconds to realise that I am in Dracos room, pushed against his bedroom door.

I groan as I hold my head. The alcohol makes my head spin due to the fast motion.

"What's wrong, sweet girl?-Does your head spin?" Draco asks in a mocking tone.

"Fuck you." I mumble while still holding my head.

Dracos hand makes its way to my throat.

His fingers meet my throat and he gives it a gentle but firm squeeze.

I fail to supress the gasp that slips from my lips.

"What did you say? I could've done better?" Draco asks as his head comes closer to my face.

I laugh at his question.

"What? Did I break your ego?"

"I'd really like to know if that attitude of yours stayed the same if I face fucked you."

My eyes widen and a wave of silence washes over me.

My head keeps spinning but somehow I feel sober now.

"What's the matter doll?"

Dracos face moves even closer. I feel his hot breath against my neck as a shiver runs down my spine. His lips lightly brush against my skin in a teasing way. He places his knee between my legs and I start to feel the pressure he applies on my throbbing core.

A silent but audible moan slips from my lips. I let my body sink down to increase the pressure.

"Are you trying to get off on my knee? Are you that underfucked?"  Draco says in a degrading tone.

"I could ask you the same. Since when do you care about me and give me so much attention?" I ask while smirking.

Draco looks away while a laugh slips from his lips before he locks eyes with me again.

"Who said I care about you and not just your body? You know I hate Graham with all my guts but we can agree on one thing. You are pretty attractive for a pain in the ass."

My smirk is washed from my face. 

He laughs while saying so. I don't know if he still thinks we are teasing each other or if he's actually serious.

I lift my arms in order to push him away. Draco stumbles backwards as I open the door and quickly run over to my room and lock me up inside.

I don't know what I was hoping for. He treated me with so much kindness yesterday and he made me feel things that I have never felt.

 Maybe love. Maybe I hoped to get some love.

But love?-From Draco Malfoy?

I feel embarrassed as I remember the vulnerable state he saw me in. The way his eyes landed on my skin when I was touching myself.

I can only blame myself for being this delusional.

Maybe Graham was right and my destiny is already set in stone. I have no other option than to accept that I will never receive the love I crave for. The only thing close to it will be Grahams bipolar behaviour.

A tear slips at the realisation that I am trapped.

I guess I hoped for a hand to hold onto but it was just another rope.

Read the full story here~ Chapter:Vulnerable.

[decks-writing-blog]

Gordon Swap Chapter Three: Mirrored

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

~

Time was of the essence. There was little of it to spare when every minute that passed was another that the current disaster was allowed to continue, undoubtedly resulting in more death. At the same time though, preparedness was the thing that had reduced Gordon’s death count the most. So he moved fast, checking every room and breaking any boxes that looked like they might have something useful in them.

Blessedly only a few rooms after having settled back into this pattern of movement they walked into the aftermath of a battle. Who won didn’t matter because it meant the room was littered with dead aliens and more importantly, dead military. Guns of various sorts, ammo, grenades, and ooh, more trip mines and C4, Gordon gathered it all. He was armed and armored again at last.

Halfway through he was brought to a pause by a melodic tone, not immediately recognizable as any instrument he knew of. Straightening from the corpse he’d just finished looting, he looked for its source. … His guard companion was looking down at the bodies that been been brutalized particularly badly. A string of colourful light came from his mouth as did the sound. Seemingly anyway, it wasn’t the kind of sound a human should be able to make but the colorful lights orbs also shouldn’t be of human origin.

As the note ended, the light ceased flowing – confirming both were from him – and he looked up at Gordon. Did he expect a response? Gordon would’ve loved to ask him what that was and how he’d done it but had no easy way to communicate with him. It was cool though, whatever it was, so Gordon lifted a hand to give him a quick thumbs up before turning his attention to back to looting.

A beat of silence before the guard spoke. “You lost you’re voice, huh? From screaming too loud. Real dumb thing to do. Shouldn’t have screamed so loud, dummy.” Poor guy was still delusional. Though maybe that was for the best if it kept him from going catatonic instead. “Bet you regret that. Not being able to talk must suck real hard.”

It didn’t suck at all actually. Inconvenient at times, sure, but mostly it was a fine way of being. But if there was any way to help the poor guy, Gordon didn’t know how. So he didn’t even bother to look up as he continued his resource gathering.

Once he had everything he could carry of all that was available, he exited, trusting his companion to follow as he’d been doing. This time he fell in step with Gordon. “How long this no voice thing going to last?”

Even if Gordon’s hands weren’t clinging to his newly acquired shotgun, he wouldn’t have bothered with an answer. He didn’t have time to try to figure out how to convey to this guy that he was having a stress-induced delusion of some sort.

“I mean, your hand grew back real fast so why isn’t your voice healing fast too? Doesn’t make sense.”

Gordon kept walking. They had to be near the end of this lab soon. Perhaps he should leave this guy here. It seemed fairly safe.

“You not being able to talk is boring.”

The company was nice though. Gordon had been alone for most of this journey so far with only the occasional companion guided to a hopefully safe spot. So he’d let this guy follow him for a little while longer. He could reset if he had to so he didn’t have to stress too much about preventing anything.

“You’re not even making faces at me anymore. It’s like talking to a wall. … We should go back and find the others. All the way back to the beginning, sounds fun, huh?”

Ah, he had other friends. Or had, they might be dead too. For his sake, hopefully not, Gordon wasn’t going to hold his breath though. He could reset to try to save them but had no idea where or when they might’ve died.

The guard stayed silent for a while, clearly waiting for some kind of response. When he didn’t get one, he dropped back to resume trailing along at his own inconsistent speed once more.

If only Gordon could reset to before the Resonance Cascade. That would save everyone, the only way to do so. He’d already tried though, twice. Presumably it was the cause of his power and thus he couldn’t go back to before it. So with nothing else to do, he just kept going forward.

Up ahead around the next bend the familiar crackle of portals opening was followed by shouts and gunfire. More of the military. Gordon slowed as he reached that corner. Popping the helmet up, he pressed himself to the wall and peeked around.

Ah, the tram platform. The opposite side was where many of the aliens had teleported in. On this side, were the military. They were firing at each other, bullets and lightening streaks ripping across the divide. Good. They’d kill each other and then Gordon would…

The guard had slowed with him but now started around the bend as if unconcerned about the possibility of death. Or maybe his delusion extended into not recognizing this situation as dangerous. Which it was didn’t matter, Gordon grabbed his elbow and pulled him back.

He let out a small sound of surprise. “Hey man, what the…”

Pressing him against the wall, Gordon pressed his other hand over his mouth, cutting him off. Instead of struggling as would’ve been expected, he stuck his tongue out, slipping it between Gordon’s fingers. It looked almost purple in the dim light of hall and was certainly quite long to snake all the way across his palm and between his fingers like that. If it was meant to gross Gordon out into removing his hand, it failed; he couldn’t feel it through the HEV suit’s glove.

He held him there for the few seconds it took for the sounds of violence around the bend to cease. Letting go, Gordon lifted a finger to his lips – the one not covered in the guard’s spit – in a request for silence.

“Why we being sneaky all of the sudden?” He at least had the decency to whisper.

Ignoring him, Gordon peeked back around the corner. … The military side had won, leaving a handful of their number still alive. Pulling back, he crouched down to sit up a trip wire, placed so it shouldn’t be visible until rounding the corner at which point it should be too late to stop running to avoid it. Careful of it, he drew his revolver and leaned back around the corner.

One of the military goons was turned his way and seemed to be heading to guard this direction. He opened his mouth but before he could get a word out, Gordon shot him in the head. Yes! Bullseye! His aim was getting better.

Not waiting for the body to finish dropping to the floor, Gordon jerked back. Hooking his companion by the elbow – he no longer entirely trusted the guy to be keep himself safe – Gordon quickly backpedaled away from the trip mine, angling himself so that he was in front of the guard. They were just barely clear of its blast radius when the military squad rounded the corner and ran right into it, setting it off with a deafening explosion. One goon round the corner a bit late, skidding to a hall at the sight and sound of his companions’ death. Still ready with the revolver, Gordon shot him in the head. He crumpled to the floor, dead.

Other than the ringing in Gordon’s ears silence settled on the gory scene. He stood waiting to see if anyone else would arrive around the corner. … Seemingly his trap had got all of them though.

“Wow,” his companion said, seemingly unbothered by how close he’d just been to an explosion. “You got good at killing stuff.”

It was either get good at killing the military goons or continue to die to them over and over again until he lost whatever was left of his sanity. Even if he’d had a way to convey that thought, he probably wouldn’t have as who could possibly believe that time reset when he died? It sounded like utter nonsense. So he only shrugged his shoulders before unhooking his arm from his companion – perhaps he should try to get his name – before walking forward to look for anything useful among the goons’ remains.

More ammo which was nice. Around the bend, they had had some med-kits that allowed him to top off the suit’s reserve medical gel. He handed one to his companion as well as he’d might’ve been inflicted with hearing damage from the explosion. And maybe it might help with his shock or whatever it was making him act strange.

Not accepting it, he stared at Gordon. “You steal that?” Clearly whatever was wrong with him was affecting his priorities.

Gordon didn’t have time to deal with it, not that he even knew how to. So instead he pressed the med-kit against the guard’s vest and let go, expecting him to catch it. He didn’t, instead letting it fall to the floor in front of him. Whatever. If he didn’t think he needed it, Gordon wasn’t going to make him.

He turned away and started for the tram’s computer system. Even if taking it wasn’t an option, he should be able to figure out where he was and more important where to go to get to the Lambda Lab.

“Off to steal more stuff, huh? Can’t um, can’t let you do that.” The guard followed. He tried to step in front of Gordon before he could reach the tram’s office. A quick left-right juke got Gordon past though.

Inside, the computer was already on, depicting the map of the tram system, spanning almost the whole facility. It was wrong. … Or no, not wrong but mirrored. Not the writing but everything else was. What an odd glitch. Perhaps it was a prank that someone had been trying to pull before hell broke loose. Whatever. It still told Gordon where he was and thus where he had to go in order to reach the Lambda Lab.

As he turned to exit, the guard was blocking his way again. “You’re not supposed to be in here without your passport.” Wow, poor guy must be really going through it to have lost his place in reality so thoroughly.

Gordon patted him tenderly on the shoulder before pushing past him with as little force as he could.

“Hey man, you can’t do that. At least say something, huh? Your voice has got be better by now, right? What the hell man?”

Gordon would have to find somewhere safe to leave this befuddled fellow sometime soon probably. As nice as more permanent company would be it just wasn’t safe with him. The military wanted him specifically after all, and maybe it was just his imagination but the aliens had been appearing right next to him more and more until recently. Whether or not that pattern would resume, if it was even real, remained to be seen. But regardless he wasn’t running away from the danger but instead towards trying to fix it. Having to watch out for his pal who barely even knew what was happening as well as keeping himself alive was a tall order even with his reset ability. For now though, as long as the guy wanted to keep following, Gordon would let him.

***

Barney moved fast. Which made sense, perfectly logical in fact. The faster they moved the sooner they could get out or at least not be so out in the open. But being knocked unconscious didn’t count as sleep, it kind of felt like the opposite actually. Gordon was weary in mind and body, going fast was the last thing he wanted to do.

He wasn’t going to complain… yet. Eventually he would but if he made too much of nuisance of himself Barney might abandon him too. He’d be justified in doing so, wouldn’t he? Gordon would be little to no help in keeping either of them alive. In fact he’d be an active burden. And he’d already been betrayed and abandoned once so what if…

“Yo, clone-Gordon,” Barney said as he stepped into one of the lab. “Looks like some military guys died in here.”

Gordon of course followed him into the room if for no other reason than to stop walking for a little bit. “And that’s relevant to me, why?”

“Guns. Specifically handguns because you only have the one hand.” Barney took one such gun off the nearest corpse. A small pistol but when it came to firearms, size didn’t really matter that much.

“It’s my left though and I’m not left-handed so not exactly helpful. I wouldn’t be able to hit anything.” He’d once had the thought of training himself to be ambidextrous but had only practiced writing with his left hand a grand total of twice before giving up. If only he’d kept with it.

Holding the pistol by the barrel, Barney offered it to him anyway. “Better than just a crowbar though. And if you’re up against a human, all you might need to do is point it and pretend like you can use it and they might back off.”

With a sigh, Gordon took it. It felt weird and wrong in his hand. Though really it was odd that a gun had ever felt natural hold.

“Practice with it a bit, there’s plenty of ammo in this room.”

Gordon couldn’t exactly pretend that arming himself was a bad idea even if it was much harder now. Especially since he’d just been thinking about how much dead weight he was to Barney. So as Barney moved aside, he awkwardly popped up the HEV suit’s helmet to act as ear protection before aiming at the alien corpse in the corner.

He took his time on the shot, lining it up with the head. It was close enough that he would’ve trusted himself to hit if it were his right hand. Before he could hesitate too long he pulled the trigger. … The head didn’t explode – not that they actually did that when shot by normal pistols anyway, movies lied. Instead the bullet went way to the left and too far up. Worse than the first time he’d ever shot a gun.

“You were kinda close… maybe,” Barney said. “I don’t really know what you were aiming for though.”

“The head.”

“Ooh, yeah, uh… I’ve seen worse. Keep trying while I loot the rest of them.” He lightly patted Gordon on the shoulder before moving on to do so.

With nothing else to do, Gordon obeyed. By the time the clip was empty his hand hurt from the recoil but he had hit the corpse in the chest. It would take a lot longer to really get the hang of aiming with his left hand but it was possible. A new problem presented itself though… “I can’t reload it.”

Barney returned to his side to take it from him and reload it for him. “Lucky you got me then. Hopefully you won’t need to use it too often anyway. It’s mostly a just in case thing, you know? Anyway, I’m done here so let’s go.” He handed the gun back. “We should be nearing the end of the lab and then we can get a read on where we are and should go next.”

“Do you think we could walk a bit slower? I’m uh…” He gestured vaguely with his stump. A valid excuse to be exhausted, right?

“Oh uh, yeah, of course.” True to his word, he went a bit slower as he lead the way back out into the hall. Which allowed Gordon to easily fall into pace with him. Which he apparently took as an invitation to chat. “So… you sure you don’t know anything about my buddy Gordon?

“I’m sure.”

Barney nodded as if he’d expected that answer. “I’m sure he’s probably all right. Maybe we’ll even run into him eventually and then we can ask him if he knows he’s been cloned.”

Gordon still didn’t want to believe that but he also still couldn’t come up with anything that would prove even to just himself he wasn’t a clone. But if they were talking about people they knew though… “You know a guy name Benrey? He’s a security guard in the uh… lab I work in. Or at least, he pretends to be one.” The other guard present hadn’t been bothered by Benrey’s presence but maybe he’d been in on the prank.

“Uh, nope. Odd name though. It short for something?”

“Maybe, I don’t know, didn’t ask him.” He’d been a bit too distracted by how annoyed he’d been with Benrey most of the time he’d been around for to even think to ask such a question. “What about Dr. Bubby, you know him?”

“Is there really someone named Dr. … Bubby? No problem if that’s really the guy’s name or whatever, lots of folk got weird names but… Bubby, really?”

“That’s what he said his name was when I asked. What about Tommy uh… actually I don’t think I know his last name.”

“My pal Gordon used to have a cat name Tommie but don’t think I ever knew a person called that.”

Gordon really shouldn’t have expected anything different. Big facility and all. But it would’ve been nice if Barney knew them to make it easier to complain to him about how weird his prior companions were. Though Gordon might fit in with their weirdness more than he’d thought since he was apparently maybe a clone. Speaking of clones though… “What about a Dr. Coomer?”

“Ah! Him I do know. Or I guess ‘know’ isn’t the right word. I heard of him. He’s one of the guys who were involved in that other cloning thing I told you about earlier. I remember ‘cause he’s got a funny name. Some of the uh… other guards used to make some not polite jokes about it. Not me of course. I would never.”

As far as Gordon could tell Barney was telling the truth but what the hell did he knew about reading people? There were more important things to worry about right now anyway. “You mean the clone thing that you said failed?”

“Yep.”

“Well uh… it didn’t fail then. I was traveling with him before this happened,” he indicated his stump, “and we kept running into his clones. He had to kill them because… actually I don’t know why, he just said he had to kill them so I figured he probably had a good reason.” And if clones had a good reason to be killed then their betrayal definitely made sense. Maybe they hadn’t suspected he was one at first so they stuck with him for a while and then felt too bad to kill him themselves once they found out so tried to get the military to do it. But joke’s on them, Gordon was still alive and mostly intact.

Barney shrugged. “Maybe, I don’t know. They were certainly supposed to be dangerous so killing them if they got out makes sense. I’d heard the guy died to his clones though and after that they got violent towards everyone and had to be put down. But, you know, like most of what anyone hears about what goes on ‘round here, that’s just a rumor. Who knows how much if any of it is actually true, huh?”

“Yeah.” Gordon had certainly heard some weird rumors about stuff that went on around other parts of the facility before. Very little of it was actually allowed to be talked about and thus only of rumors and hearsay went around whenever something big happened. In hindsight maybe he should’ve paid more attention and gotten out of here before such a disaster could occur. It had basically been inevitable with how much fucked up shit supposedly happened in the building, right?

They walked in silence for a while after that. Blessed, sweet silence of people who knew how to shut the fuck up because things were serious. … Except it didn’t feel particularity blessed. After so much chatter for so long, it felt wrong. The weight of the facility seemed to hang heavier over Gordon’s head without the distraction of his prior companions’ antics. He wasn’t going to be the one who talked endlessly though. Doing so would not only make him a hypocrite but also a nuisance.

Eventually, finally, noise came from up ahead, around a bend. Gunfire and shouting. Damn it. More military just what they needed.

By the time they reached it, silence had returned. Clutching his shotgun, Barney peeked around the corner. He pulled back after a few seconds. “Aliens killed a squad of military guys. You stay here, I’ll take them out.”

“Uh… yeah, good idea,” Gordon whispered back even though Barney was already moving again. He sounded like he knew what he was doing though so Gordon was more than happy to stay here and not try to help. Losing a hand, especially one’s dominant hand, was a perfectly valid excuse to do so, right? He’d just get in the way if he tried. No need to feel bad or like a coward or whatever.

More gunfire came from around the corner as well as some alien lightening sounds. Soon after it had that stopped, Barney poked his head back around the corner. “Got ‘em. And we found our way to a tram station. Obviously they don’t work but their computer should have a map of the facility so we can maybe find a way out of here.”

“Uh… great. Let’s go.” He followed Barney around the bend, quickly finding himself in what was indeed a tram station littered with corpses.

The office was on the other side so they had to lower the bridge over the gap, using a lever. Its gears ground against against each other and whirred loudly the whole way down but if anything or anyone heard they didn’t come to investigate. The silence had an ominous vibe after it finally settled but Gordon ignored it as he followed Barney across.

In the office, the computer was already on. Barney stepped to one side of the monitor so Gordon could see it too. On screen was a map of the tram system, spanning almost the entire facility. It was wrong though. … Or no, not wrong. … “It’s mirrored.”

Barney looked up at him. “Huh?”

“The map. It’s mirrored. Like, not the words but everything else is.”

“Uh… the stress must be getting to you pal ‘cause nothing’s odd about the map. Don’t worry, it’s quite the situation we got here so it makes sense, to be a bit out of it.”

“I swear to god if you’re pulling some shit to mess with me I’m gonna… I don’t know. Nothing, I’m gonna do nothing because I can’t do anything. They cut off my fucking hand so I’m useless now. It’s mirrored. The map is mirrored. Don’t lie and say it’s not.”

Barney stared at him in shocked silence for several seconds before turning his attention back on the computer. “Whatever you say pal. The map’s mirrored. I know where we are though. Not too, too far from the old lab with that machine I told you about. It malfunctioned once but it seemed to work just fine for everyone else who used it. So it might be worth it to head down that way and see if we can’t try again. I know you’re a clone but you’re still a scientist, right? So do you thing you might be able to figure out how it works? Enough to operate it anyway.”

Snapping at him had been a mistake. He’d been the most normal person Gordon had interacted with since arriving at work – which, coupled with everything else he’d gone through was why he’d been so ready to snap but that didn’t make it okay. Assuming he’d actually arrived at all. Maybe he thought the map was flipped because he was a clone with nothing but implanted memories and that one had gotten flipped somehow. Or maybe he was just going crazy. Heck, maybe he was dead and this was hell or perhaps purgatory. Before figuring any of that nonsense out though came not dying so…

“Yeah, I’m a scientist. I could probably figure it out.” He put more confidence in his voice than he actually felt. It would depend a lot on what kind of machine it was. But to make up for being rude, he should make himself useful. Plus if it could indeed get them the hell out of here, it’d be worth it to at least try. Let the others continue the journey to the Lambda Lab to fix this, not that he trusted them to be able to. Or heck, didn’t Barney say that that was what the Gordon Freeman he knew intended to do? So it wasn’t something Gordon had to concern himself with anymore… even if it did feel cowardly to just run away especially after he’s the one who caused it. What else could he do though? They’d cut off his hand!

“Great. Let’s go.” Transgression apparently forgotten for now, Barney turned and marched out. Gordon followed. He was apparently the annoying sometimes rude follower now.

~

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