#this one got spat out if me fully fledged

[olympiansally]

Horrifying that I spent months trying to force myself to write a fic I wasn’t super into only to give up in a fit of desperation and immediately bang out a full fleshed self indulgent au. I will learn absolutely nothing from this btw

[vilelittlecritter]

can you explain the offmori lore to me?

The lore of isn't fully fledged out and the parts that are semi fleshed out are super weird and hard to explain unless you've played both Off and Omori. Like you can still understand but it's alot better if you have.

So basically the premise is that Sunny creates this world (they are basically god in this au but still like 12) that's split into 4 Zones and it's been slowly collapsing.

Imagine headspace but headspace started taking on far too many elements of the real world and started becoming just bleak and depressing while still looking colourful.

One reason for this collapse is due to the sudden appearance of Spectres which have been attacking people and generally causing havoc.

Another reason is that Sunny has become ill/weak and is unable to properly hold the world together.

And the final reason is that the guardians of the zones have been doing an awful job at literally their only task they were told to do.

Omori is spat out into Zone 0 (white space) with no clue how they got there or even who they are and all they know is that they need to kill the ghosts, try to fix the world and help Sunny.

The story is Omori exploring the silly wacky world and meeting the friends along the way.

I can't really say too much about the lore without straight up spoiling the story I have in mind but basically it gets existential as high hell and really dark. It delves into alot of stuff both Omori and Off cover aswell as things like identity, control, manipulation and a saviour complex.

Also Mari is alive in this au and they are nothing short of super mega pissed.

Basically they hate Omori and want to throw them into the sun but they're too busy to directly deal with them.

Again the story is barely fleshed out but this is basically the rough premise.

Tldr OmorOff is just omori but set in a far more Off like setting.

[sserpente]

A/N: Surprise! Here’s the thing—I don’t normally write sub!Loki at all. However, since Christmas is a time of gifting and making wishes come true and it has been requested quite a few times in the past, I decided to take on an anon request. I can’t write fully-fledged sub!Loki, I just can’t… so I hope this will do! There’s another anon request in there too. I hope you all enjoy it!

Words: 2357 Warnings: sub!Loki-ish, fluff, smut

Additional NSFW warnings: light bondage, oral, usage of anal sex toy

-

You cursed when you stubbed your toe on the door, shutting it aggressively all the while flinging your bag into the corner like it was the reason for all of your problems. You were trembling, anger and exhaustion gnawing at your guts.

When you let out a desperate sigh as you kicked off your winter boots, Loki tilted his head. He had appeared in the threshold leading to the living room on your floor—an entire floor on Stark Tower, all to yourself. Today, however, this very circumstance did not cheer you up in the slightest.

“A good evening to you too, pet.” He said, eyeing you with curiosity.

“I bloody hate working in retail!” You spat in response. “Why are people being so idiotic, can you tell me that? Oh, I want a refund on this obviously used item which I don’t even have the receipt for, oh, can’t you hurry up I need to catch a train—I had hours to spend on browsing but I want to pay for this immediately or I’m just gonna leave, oh, can you recommend a gift for my niece, I barely know her or her interests but surely you’ll find a gift for her because I am too lazy to use my own brain?” You were fuming. Loki chuckled.

“My dear… breathe.” He was never this gentle with any of the other Avengers but then again, you were the only one he had taken a romantic and sexual interest in. You sighed when he approached you to pull you into a tight embrace, forcing you to calm down for him. Your hands wrapped around his middle almost automatically, allowing him to lift you off the ground and carry you into your bedroom.

Loki spent most of his time in your flat here in Stark Tower. Here, he wasn’t always under suspicion of plotting world domination again—and in fact, all he did was reading, stealing your sweets and learning more about Midgardian culture, first and foremost Christmas. Last week, you had forced him through all Santa Clause films and he had actually ended up enjoying them in the end.

Another sigh escaped your lips as you pressed your face against his chest, letting his hand stroke over your head. Perhaps you should finally let the cat out of the bag and tell the others about your relationship. Loki could be so sweet… and he loved being pampered by you, even if you made sure to take your time teasing him thoroughly first.

“Is there a particular reason you left me a gift this morning?” He changed the topic. Oh yes. You had almost forgotten about this. You had shoved part of Loki’s Christmas gift into his green and gold socket above your bed before you had left this morning. It was Christmas Eve and since you would be spending the 25th with the other Avengers, you had decided that him receiving part of his gift in private would be more appropriate.

“Me?” You asked, playing innocent. “That must have been Santa, Lokes.”

“Are you going to tell me what exactly it is?” He probed. You giggled, looking up at him with innocent eyes.

“I was hoping you’d ask. Where did you put it?” Loki conjured it up seemingly out of thin air—you’d never grow tired of seeing him use his seidr—and handed you a black plastic packaging which contained an equally black butt plug with a prostate massager for men. Loki and you had recently had a conversation about toys for men as opposed to women only and much to your surprise, he had shown quite the interest in the topic. The faces of the Avengers would have been priceless, had you put it under the Christmas tree for him along with his main present.

You grinned. “Lie down on the bed for me—and magic your clothes off, will you?” Loki smiled at your request. He did not often let you command him around like that—but when he did he knew you needed it, to have some fun with his arousal for you to distract yourself from work and other sorrows, much like today. You shouldn’t be in such a bad mood on Christmas Eve, after all.

Still smiling gently, he did as he was told and then slightly raised his eyebrows for you to make the next move. You winked at him after admiring his semi-hard cock for a bit, disappearing in the bathroom. Once you had returned, hands washed, clothes changed and sex toy sanitised properly, you got to work. Loki’s eyebrows shot up all the way when you produced the bondage rope you kept in the drawer right next to the bed and then climbed on the bed as well, straddling his strong thighs.

“Please? Let me play.” You pouted. Loki sighed—allowing you to tie his hands together and then to the bedpost. Both of you were very well aware that he could rip himself free at any time—it was more a matter of it looking pretty and downright hot to have the God of Mischief tied up and at your mercy, at least hypothetically.

He shifted on the mattress just a little when you reached for the toy again which you had already coated in a thick layer of strawberry lube and brought it to his anus. It was designed to directly stimulate his prostate and you positively couldn’t wait to see his reaction.

“What are you doing?” His question was a warning; reminding you it was a privilege he was playing submissive for you and that the… situation could change at any moment. You swallowed, your own arousal pooling in your knickers like a waterfall.

“Trust me? It will feel good, I promise.”

Loki sighed once more—and gasped when you slowly and carefully worked the butt plug inside of his rear. His cock twitched, joyful anticipation mixing with impatience. By the time it was snugly in place, he was as hard as rock and moaned upon you wrapping your hand around him, giving him a few strokes with your hands partially still covered in the strawberry lube you had used.

Loki bucked his hips almost immediately, growling when you drew your hand away again. You chuckled. “You look pretty adorable like that, you know… desperate for pleasure…”

He growled in response. “You will be the one desperate for pleasure and begging me for my touch if you keep this up for long.” He threatened. Your giggle intensified. You felt so much better already.

“Just you wait.” You said, pressing the button of the small bullet vibrator inserted into the butt plug. Loki tensed up when it hummed to life, sending continuous vibrations through his anus and stimulating his prostate.

Then, taking mercy on him, your hand returned to his impressive length, jerking and pleading for attention. A few drops of precum had already formed on his red tip—it was too tempting to ignore. Unceremoniously, you bent down and closed your lips around him, licking over his slit and lapping up all he had to give for now.

Loki tugged at his restraints. A little more strength and he’d tear them apart altogether and he was barely just containing himself anymore already. Knowing he could stop this anytime and pin you down underneath him to just take what he desired for some reason only fuelled his arousal. He bucked his hips in an attempt to plunge himself deeper into your mouth but you were being particularly relentless today. He growled once more, watching how a grin formed on your lips. With a smacking sound, you released him again, continuing to stroke him all the while the prostate massager kept vibrating inside of his rear.

“Does that feel good?” You asked, almost timidly. Loki was an experienced lover, you knew this much. How many Asgardian women had had the pleasure to learn what had earned him the nickname silver tongue you did not want to know and yet, even though his confidence in bed and knowledge of pleasing a woman was exciting, at the very same time it intimidated you.

Loki nodded, blue eyes locked with yours. “Yes. Keep going, my dear.” It almost sounded like an order—one you’d do better not to defy. You took it as an invitation and pressed the button of the vibrator again.

The setting was on high now—but not high enough to tip him over the edge just yet. You needed to hear him whimper first. You had managed once, a few weeks back when Loki had allowed you to tie him up and tease him for a while for the very first time. In the end, it had resulted in him flipping you around and fucking you roughly from behind so hard you had been unable to walk the next day. Your cunt clenched upon remembering how deliciously sore you had felt. It was a risk you were willing to take again.

Loki bucked his hips once more, thrusting up in a steadier rhythm now and desperate for more friction… which gave you another idea. Biting your lower lip, you stood from the bed and peeled off the comfy trousers you had changed into, right along with your underwear. If only Loki could see the wet spot on them as you stepped out of them, he would be grinning like a cat who got the cream but fortunately for you, you were in charge tonight—or at least, for now.

He eyed you like a hungry wolf, growling in an animalistic manner as soon as your slick pussy lips rubbed against his tip and you massaged your clit with it for a while before slowly, painfully slow, sinking down on him and sheathing his cock deep inside of you. You moaned, throwing your head back. Riding him always felt so much deeper than when he was on top… unless he hauled your legs over his shoulders that was.

“More…” He choked out, his blue gaze getting almost feverish, about to turn him into a mindless beast. You stilled, not moving an inch and just kept him inside of you all the while the vibrator in his rear kept stimulating him. He gritted his teeth when you failed to move, bucking up his hips in a desperate attempt to get you to ride him but you decided to take your time. Leaning forward, you began covering his chest and neck in light kisses, tongue darting out every now and then to taste him. Loki was already sweating, his limbs shaking and you knew then just how badly he needed his release. The restraints keeping his hands above his head on the bedpost gave a suspicious tearing sound as he thrust up into you once more.

He was close. He was so close. Smiling, you kissed him and moved back up and into a sitting position. Your fingers found the switch of the vibrator, turning the setting even higher. There was no need for you to move and ride him anymore. Loki came by himself and finally, gave you the whimper you had so desired to hear from him. Your lips parted when he starting twitching inside of you, spilling himself with a groan. His warm seed coated your walls, his cock jerking until he was all but spent. Once he had caught his breath, you turned off the vibrator… for now.

“Get that lovely quim of yours up here.” He ordered with a hoarse voice, once more raising the question whether you had ever truly been in charge of his pleasure. But who were you to defy him? Biting your lower lip, you let him slide out of you, whimpering at the loss of feeling so deliciously full, inched forward until your most private parts were only inches from his mouth and then carefully sat again, your thighs to either side of his head.

Loki wasted no time. Humming contently, he licked over your slit and clit, suckling on your outer lips and circling your sensitive bundle of nerves, tongue pressing against it, massaging it, until you dug your fingers into his raven hair, urging him on. You were so incredibly wet for him it wouldn’t take you long to gush all over him either and so you did. Loki ate you out like you were his last meal, pampering your clit until your body couldn’t take it anymore and you fell, seeing stars as your orgasm crashed over you like a tidal wave, drowning you in pure pleasure. You only realised once you lifted yourself off his face because he would not stop that he had wrapped his fingers around the bars of the top of the bed. The bondage rope was torn apart beyond repair.

You smiled, allowing him you wrap you in his arms as he flipped you both around so you came to lie on the bed more comfortably.

“Feeling more relaxed now, my dear?” He asked with a sly smile.

“Much better. Thank you.” Loki hummed in response. “I’m pretty hungry… how about an early Christmas dinner? Just the two of us, without the others.”

“That sounds promising. But first I will need you to get that thing out of me.” He said, eliciting a devilish grin from you.

“I think I’m gonna leave that thing where it is for now. You’ll get a taste of your own medicine. Remember that golden butt plug you made me wear on Christmas last year? Revenge is sweet. So…” You paused. “Are you going to help me cook?”

Loki’s expression darkened, sending pleasant shivers up and down your spine. “You are going to remove that right now.”

“Nope,” you announced smugly, freeing yourself from his embrace and climbing off the mattress. “I’ll be in the kitchen, whenever you’re ready.”

Truth be told, you never made it to the kitchen. Loki was after you in a matter of seconds, dragged you back into bed and made sure you came to regret teasing him like that. Oh, and you most definitely lost count after at least five more orgasms.

-

A/N: There’s a hint in there for another smutty Loki Christmas Imagine soon to come. Can you find it? ;-)

If you enjoyed this story, I would appreciate it so much if you considered supporting me on Kofi! It’s either for caffeine or red wine, I’ll take both. ko-fi.com/sserpente ♥ 

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #519

Top Ten Couples in Transformers

I’m going to keep things brief this week, kif for no other reason than I’ve got a lot on and it’s quite late in the day. In fact, this will probably end up going up on a Sunday now instead of my usual Saturday – but that’s fine, as it’s actually a bit closer to the day I’ve hung this loose theme around: Valentine’s Day.

Yes, love is indeed in the air, like a virus, spreading from person to person. Unlike horrible viruses that make you miserable and force you to shun the outside world, love is, I suppose, a nice virus. True, it can still make you miserable and want to shun the outside world, but it has its upsides. Someone to go to the pictures with, or share the cost of a holiday, or turn the heating on for you if you can’t be arsed getting out of bed (the last one, in my experience, is a hypothetical). Of course, popular culture is littered with excellent examples of fictional romantic couples: Harry and Sally, Rick and Isla, Robert Picardo and that lady Gremlin. But what I want to talk about today is Transformers. Yes, again.

For the longest time I didn’t really think about Transformers romantically. Er, hang on, let me clarify: I didn’t think about Transformers as having romantic stories. Yes, okay, there were ‘bots that were paired up, officially or no; Arcee, as more-or-less the only prominent female for the longest time, was seemingly paired up with Springer, Hot Rod and – in an act of supreme strangeness – Daniel Witwicky. But the notion of Transformers being romantic beings, of experiencing the ups and downs of a romantic life, felt alien to me; these were chonking great robo-dudes (and, by and large, they were dudes); they didn’t, like, go on dates or have petty arguments or fancy each other from afar. When Galvatron was dicking about in time and space, he wasn’t finding the time to send suggestive letters back to Shockwave, or something; when Kup was complaining about all the diode-blowing dim-wittery, he wasn’t secretly pining for a Chromia’s heavyset older sister. No, old-school TF was a chaste affair; faces were ripped off, blokes were dropped in smelting pools, entire planets were chewed up and spat out. But nobody, like, kissed or anything.

Enter IDW, and the floodgates opened. Now Transformersis a sumptuous banquet of lurve. Whilst for the most part any suggestion of rumpy-pumpy remains the conserve of the less salubrious corners of the internet, Transformers are now fairly commonly in romantic relationships; they are in love a lot. There are, indeed, famously now proper Transformer couples; bots who just go together. Obviously, this being Transformers, the whole universe is ripped up and rewritten every couple of years; there are multiple continuities going on at the same time, between different animated shows, live-action movies, and various comics. So the notion of, say, two characters being an ongoing item is tenuous at best. But for long-time fans of the franchise, there are definitely characters who are thought of more as a twosome; or, at least, the period where they were a couple is deeply iconic.

And, of course, there are the ones who we just feel go together. It may not be a big deal, and may not be massively overplayed in official fiction, but it’s just one of those things. We’ll see some of that too.

Anyway, there we are for this week: romantic robot action. Er, sort of. Enjoy.

Chromedome and Rewind: when More Than Meets the Eye began a decade ago, one of the pleasant surprises was the introduction of a fully-fledged robo-couple. Chromedome and Rewind had a history, dealing with past tragedies and present trauma. They were a totally authentic pair, full of love and problems. And the stories around them were great too, putting them through the wringer not just plot-wise but also as a couple. They even got a believably melancholy ending.

Cyclonus and Tailgate: the other big MTMTE couple presented a stark contrast. Two old, lost souls connecting in trying circumstances, but also two opposite attracting. Gormless, naive, adorable Tailgate; gruff, dark, ruthless Cyclonus. But their romance is a slow-burning triumph, full of explosive sacrifice and tenderness.

Arcee and Greenlight: Arcee has had a few significant others across multiple continuities (see later in the list!). But the current, rebooted comics continuity have her a solid, long-term partner in Greenlight. Studious Greenlight and formidable Arcee are again a study of contrasts, but they work, even having a “child” together in young ‘bot Gauge. They're such a cool couple they even appear, as a pair, on the My Little Pony crossover comic.

Anode and Lug: a different sort of couple, with tough, cocky Anode in many ways dominating the quieter Lug. But their relationship is very real, with Anode genuinely caring for her partner, and morose at the turns their story takes. They're less a study in relationships, and more a pair of cool characters in the middle of a great tale.

Optimus Prime and Elita One: not all cool couples have to be realistic, earnest takes on relationships. Sometimes you just need a pair of compelling characters and pair them up. Giving Optimus a girlfriend adds a bit of depth and history to our stoic Autobot leader, and Elita feels like a great match, at least in terms of the old cartoon. It's a relationship that's been referenced and alluded to a few times in subsequent continuities, which makes it feel a bit more iconic, almost like Batman and Catwoman.

Springer and Arcee: as I said before, Arcee has been paired up a few times, possibly because for a while she was just “the girl Transformer”. Whilst subsequent comics and such liked to suggest a relationship with Hot Rod or Rodimus, the 1986 movie puts her more closely alongside Springer. They're a kind of Transformer power couple, with cocky Jock Springer and sparky, capable Arcee. Their banter and behaviour makes them work well together.

Ratchet and Drift: a romance so slow-burning that for the longest time I didn't even think it was a romance. A very serious, sensible kind of romance; two people, completely different, with wholly different background and philosophies, who gradually fall in love. To see them in the final issue of Lost Light, and discover how long-lasting and true their love was, is a bittersweet coda to a great series.

Brainstorm and Quark: I guess this is a funny “couple”, as it's a one-sided relationship, but that's good to talk about to, especially how well-etched it is. Poor Brainstorm, in a powerful unrequited love for Quark, is so heartbroken by the latter’s death in the war that he disregards everything to attempt to change history. A love so strong, and a grief so bitter, it threatens all of time and space, and ultimately results not just in the birth of Megatron but also the entire Transformers multiverse.

Powerglide and Astoria: oh, I had to include them; this was one of my favourite episodes. A silly old tale of grumpy Powerglide having to protect a quirky, eccentric young human woman, there’s plenty of daft comedy going on. Astoria falling in love with Powerglide makes no sense, of course, but it’s fun. Especially when, at the end, we see Powerglide’s lovely LED heart. I mean, that makes no sense either, but I like it.

[djarinispunk]

Beautiful, Dirty, Rich - Loki Laufeyson Mafia AU

Chapter One - Homecoming

Dark swirls of red echoed around Loki's mind, images of angels and devils dancing in his dreams as he slept. There was a particular image he kept picturing, for a few nights now he had been seeing someone. A girl — If she could even be called that, Loki would've rather called her a succubus with the way she entranced him, only to leave him in a cold sweat when he woke up, gasping and wide eyed in the dark room of his hotel.

He tried to put these dreams to one side, not thinking much of it. He'd suffered nightmares far worse.

It took him a moment to get his bearings, staring out the large window as the sun began to show itself through soft clouds. He then focused on the clock situated to the right of him, he took in the time with a sigh.

It was time to go home.

Feeling a warmth on your skin, your eyes began to flutter under the light, gently pulling you from your slumber. The warmth felt on your skin was from the sun, which shone through the blinds and cast your entire room in a golden glow. You had missed this part of New York, going to sleep with the bustling city as your background noise, the twinkling of lights the last thing you saw as sleep overtook you. Paris had been fun, but deep down, you knew you were always going to be a New Yorker at heart, take that as you will.

Upon checking your phone, you weren't shocked to see that half the day had already passed. This certainly wasn't irregular for you, but the impromptu night of drinking proposed by your best friend certainly hadn't helped the matter of your laziness. You cradled you head in your hands, your headache a harsh reminder of how much you had drank last night.

You didn't regret it, hell, your return to New York was sure to be celebrated. Although, when you took another glance at your phone, noting the four missed calls from your father, you questioned whether the extra bottle of Cîroc really had been worth the hassle.

You sighed before calling him back, it only rang for about four seconds before the stern voice was booming into your already sensitive ears.

"Where the hell are you?"

Warm welcome as always. "Hi Dad."

"We had reservations for twelve. Now, I'll ask again, where the hell are you?" he had his business voice on, the one he used when somebody had fucked up and he had to assert his dominance over them.

Shit. You had completely forgot that you had agreed to meeting for brunch. In all honestly, you had only agreed so you could get off the phone quicker.

"Oh, I'm on my way. There's traffic."

You heard a muffled sigh, you could picture your Dads face, etched with frustration as he ran a hand over his face. All because of you, the eternal disappointment.

"Hurry." was all he said before you were met with silence.

Typical.

You arrived at The Alfheim only a half hour after your lovely phone call with your father. Although as you approached the table, the sight of your father deep in concentration staring at is phone made you just want to turn around and cut your losses. You took a moment to watch him, weighing up your options. Surely telling him you got into a car crash and couldn't make brunch was probably a tad too dramatic...right?

"Sit down." he didn't even look up to address you, you only huffed as you took a seat opposite him. No imaginary car crash for you.

You watched as he pulled a face of discontent before putting his phone down. Looking you over finally, his prior expression only seemed to intensify as he tutted under his breath.

"Traffic my ass. If you were planning on being hungover for this brunch, you should have just not come at all." he reprimanded you like a child, which wasn't too dissimilar to how he always treated you.

You fought the urge to roll your eyes, but you knew that would only prove his point of you being childish. Instead you chose to nibble at the inside of your cheek, holding back on saying something spiteful, you didn't want a full fledged argument when you had only woken up an hour ago. "I'm not hungover, me and Sophia just went out for a late dinner after the flight. You know, to celebrate me coming home." you couldn't help the sullen look which cast over your face, you had been gone for four months.

To your father, it didn't matter, you were only an inconvenience to him.

"Look at me." anger laced his tone and you begrudgingly lifted your eyes from the table to look at his face. "Do you think I'm some kind of idiot?" he spat.

If you were nibbling at the inside of your cheek earlier, it was fair to say you could taste the familiar metallic pang of blood now. Yes, you did think he was an idiot. You chose to only shake your head at his words

"Did you forget who's card gets charged with all the shit you buy?"

Oh, you guess you should've seen it coming.

"I'm sure you enjoyed the three bottles of tequila with your late lunch, right? I hope Sophia enjoyed wasting my money too." he sniped, only stopping as the waiter approached your table. You were left biting down bitter words of resentment as you drowned out the sounded of your father ordering the two of you food.

God you really were a child, twenty one years old and you couldn't even be trusted to order your own food, let alone buy your own things. You tried to not focus on the thought too much, it was too deep for what was supposed to be a easy brunch.

"We have a function to attend tonight, I expect you to be there." his attention was pulled back towards his phone, though you weren't focused on that, you instead perked up slightly at his words.

"A party?" you asked hopefully. Whilst you were in Paris, you had to admit you had missed the debauchery of Mafia parties. The excessive nature of the gatherings were otherworldly, and everyone always attended looking like they bathed in gold; you being no exception. You wanted a party, an excuse to get all dressed up, it was one of the only things you enjoyed in the life you had.

Christ, you sounded sad.

"Sort of. It's to celebrate the return of Laufey's boy."

"I didn't know he had a son." you picked at your cuticles, not overly interested in the topic. How come he got a welcome home party?

"Yes you do. I've mentioned Loki before." he certainly hadn't, but you knew better than to go against him. So you just nodded. This was the last of the conversation between the two of you, your father now fully consumed in his phone, you took to your own.

Y: You awake?

S: Barely. I ended up at Charlie's. Don't ask.

You rolled your eyes a little at Sophia's text. Charlie being in reference to her on again off again boyfriend who she had conveniently told you she was 'completely over' last night.

Y: Fair enough, do you know about the function tonight?

S: Yep, I don't know if I can handle another night of drinking though

Y: Same, but I feel like we always say that

S: True. Answer your door I'm outside

Y: Oh, I'm with my Dad, the code hasn't changed though, I wont be long

S: Sheesh, bet that's fun

You suppressed a laugh before sneakily snapping a photo of your dad consumed in his phone, his brow furrowed as he stared at the screen. You smirked before sending it to Sophia.

S: You know what they say, a picture says a thousand words

S: And this one says, 'Your dad's a dick'

You let out a quiet laugh, fighting the urge to correct her on her misquoting the phrase.

You caught a glimpse of the waiter and put your phone back in your bag. Thanking the waiter you and your father were launched into a silent meal. You scanned the restaurant, watching as all types of people ate and conversed with each other. You turned back to your salad, pushing it around with a dissatisfied pout.

Welcome home to you.

[mimssides]

07734: Chapter 5

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“Oh hun... What’s your function?”

POV Patton

I had caught him off-guard. With my steady tone, my unwavering look and the certainty in my steps towards him.

Consus was smiling at me and let his hand drop from beyond Logan’s chin. I was not certain if I could get Logan out of Consus’s influence or Janus or Virgil for that matter, as it was now. I didn’t even see his powers in this very moment, which was concerning enough and probably the reason why we all had missed him growing “stronger” as he put it.

Softly I stopped in front of him, making sure to have all of the others in my field of vision as well but concentrated on the so mockingly aloof looking side in front of me. But my words had poked a tiny whole in his defence. His smile didn’t reach up as high as it had before, there was something like void glimmering in his eyes and I remembered all the times he stood with me in the kitchen and listen to me talk about anything and everything.

He had always loved to listen. Loved to just be there with us and exist. Due to his silence, it had been so easy to forget him. To overlook the fact that he was the one responsible for our bond to be as strong as it was. As it used to be, if I was honest and I really tried to be honest.

“What do you mean, dearest Patton? What am I doing?” Consus said and I smiled sadly.

He had listened to me and said he was happy to so but I watched his hands tremble to hold a knife as if it was too heavy and drop a potato more than once just because he lacked the focus to keep holding it any longer. And yesterday night it had been too much. He had not even been able to feint any energy anymore. He wanted to be taken care of but refused to let it happen.

I thought about putting my hands on his shoulders but dropped the idea in favour of a soft look and said to him: “You are influencing them, Consus. I don’t see your colour on them but you’re making them lethargic and hopeless. And I think you want to do that with me too but that won’t be possible, I believe.”

“Oh, is it not?” Consus said and came a little closer to me and lifted his hand, reaching towards my shoulder.

I didn’t budge and let him touch me. I breathed in and felt it for a second as I see orange dripping out of Consus, nebulous bonds between him and the others. It was dripping out of Janus’s ears, running out of Virgil’s mouth and bleeding through Logan’s shirt where his heart would be.

I focused again on Consus and his eyes were hard and the smile was gone.

“I said it wouldn’t work,” I repeat bitterly and put my hand on his on my shoulder. “I felt like you do now. I know what’s happening, Consus; You’ve changed too. We didn’t watch you like you watched us and missed it, but you changed and you’re no longer Tactfulness anymore, are you?”

He gaped. It had to be worse than I initially thought, as I saw the orange suddenly crowed around Consus and came off the others. Logan was the first to regain his senses fully and I watched him come towards us from the corner of my eye, but stopped him with a hand wave. He was wrong. We were not in danger. It was Consus who was a danger to himself.

“You mediated between us,” I said to Consus as he still was not talking and took his hand from my shoulder to hold it fondly. “You made sure all of us were cared for when we were kids. You always said that just being there for us was all you needed and I think that was the truth but – We left you with no one to care for, didn’t we? Logan, Roman and I left and Virgil left too. Janus and Remus didn’t let you do your job anymore and we were working ourselves to the ground. I feel the weird void that’s enveloping us. I feel the sadness and apathy too. And sometimes I don’t know how to deal with them, so I go to Roman, who tells me a story, or go to Logan, who will recount the last documentary he watched. And sometimes I go to Virgil and we sit on the bed and -”

I stopped as tears rolled over his cheeks. I lifted my left to his face to push away the tears. I didn’t tell him to stop though. He obviously needed this. No, he needed far more.

“Oh hun... What’s your function? Can you tell me?”

He opened his mouth as the tears stopped. I didn’t move my hands from his cheek or from his hand. I squeezed his hand and bowed my head a little in effort to make him understand that I meant no harm.

“Depression... I’ve become Depression.”

Janus and Logan inhaled sharply and I wished I would have been as surprised as they were. But I was not. I had felt parts of it. Nowhere nearly as extreme as Consus must have but I did and those snippets alone were overwhelming in their own right.

I nodded to myself and then told him: “It was very brave of you to tell us that. I am sure it must have been very scary and I am very proud of you that you did.”

His eyes didn’t meet mine and he looked to the floor. I let him pull away from me and folded my hands in front of my stomach as I watched Consus slowly making peace with what he had just told us. I didn’t want to overwhelm him all at once, not since I still needed to figure out what had happened to the twins, which certainly was his doing as well.

Yet before I could think any further something crashed into the living room through the door from the hallway. A flash of green shot past me towards Consus and at once hell had broken loose.

___

POV Janus

Remus. Remus was here.

Dressed in a neon green shirt and boxershorts with an alien pattern on it he had stormed inside and was now holding Consus by the neck and pressing him up against a wall. He looked agitated, veins sticking out on his forehead as clammy sweat shone on his skin and his breath raced as if he had trouble to keep himself up right.

I was so surprised by the sudden appearance; I first didn’t even register that Consus was merely fighting back until Remus screamed: “WhAt HaVe YoU dOnE tO mY bRoThEr AnD wHeRe Is He?!”

Consus gasped for air and finally I got moving. Quick I walked up Remus and shook him by the shoulder so he would finally let go of Consus. Sadly, brute force was not one of my strengths and I didn’t manage to do much.

“REmus!” I cried out and tried to pull harder on his shoulder. “Let him go! He can’t answer you, if you’re suffocating him!”

And then suddenly another side was pressed against me, pulled at Remus’s shoulder as well and in a flash, Remus got yanked back. Remus growled lowly, as Consus dropped coughing on the floor. Fledging his teeth Remus turned to the side next to me and got a hiss in return. Ignoring my will to live I stepped in between them and held my gloved hands in front of their faces.

“We are absolutely in shape to have you two fight as it is now! So, be my guest to rip each other apart,” I told them tensely and watched Virgil back down as Remus fledged his teeth once more.

Rashly, Remus stepped towards me, I sensed his intention to harm me, as he suddenly stumbled and I managed to catch him just in time before he dropped to the floor.

“What the heck?” Virgil asked while Logan stepped to my side and helped me hold Remus upright.

“He fucked me up with his powers!” Remus slurred and pointed towards Consus.

I looked to him kneeling on the floor, Patton was sitting beside him and stroking his back as he looked up to me as if he expected me to know what to do now. Because he thought that I always had an answer ready. But I didn’t. Not right away at least.

I focused back again on Remus and tried to catch his look, which I managed after he realized that Consus wasn’t going to defend himself. Now seeing him properly, Remus looked like terrible. He was paler than ever, his eyes bloodshot and dried drool was sticking on the edges of his mouth. He also blinked far more frequently than he should have and I motioned Logan to help me straighten him up a bit more.

“Were you- Has he put you to sleep?” I asked confused.

Remus huffed and I saw him trying to focus more on what he wanted to tell me. But something didn’t seem to work out and he only muttered viciously: “I’ve tried to come down. I’ve tried to kill him! He fucked with Roman and I’ll kill him!”

“I offered him rest when he was exhausted. He jumped at the opportunity,” Consus suddenly said with raspy voice and weakly looked up to the creative side.

Remus didn’t take that well. He began to screech and fight against Logan and Janus, so that Virgil had to come to their side to help them restrain him.

“Did he know what you were doing to him?! Did he know what you meant with rest?!” Remus spat angrily towards Consus and I thought about simply letting him go and have his fun with Consus.

“Oh, I’m afraid he did not care at that point, Remus.”

“YOU ARE LYING!”

“I wish I was bu-”

“You took advantage of his feeble state! You gave him what he wanted despite knowing what he needed! You used him to get some petty revenge against Janus and Virgil and re-establish your stupid role in Thomas’s life! You are no better than them! You manipulated him no matter how much he agreed to this! He wanted to stop suffering and you gave him a non-committal version of suicide and he AGREED! That doesn’t mean you helped him getting better but helped him feeling dead instead! Do you get that? Do you get what...”

Remus drifted off. Consus was shaking and running his cramped fingers through his hair. I lifted an eyebrow and watched Remus frown before he tilted his head and tapped against his own temple. He opened his mouth and I waited curiously for him to speak, as suddenly whimpering caught my attention.

Consus was now crumpled over himself, hands pulling at his hair and a green sheen was laying over his head.

“Remus please refrain from giving Consus intrusive thoughts. Like this we cannot solve this conflict,” Logan told Remus obviously having noticed the green sheen as well.

Yet as I looked to Remus, his face was blank, which was highly unusual. Virgil caught on as well and quickly walked towards Consus and crouched down observing him closely. And suddenly Virgil completely stilled. The room turned colder and I watched as Virgil reached for Consus face and gently lifted it. He run his thumb over his wet cheek and-

And a dark purple bruise came to light.

Pale concealer was sticking to Virgil’s fingers and we all looked up to Remus who was simply shaking his head with a blank look in his eyes before he began to giggle. Maniacally giggle.

We watched him in concern and Consus’s whimpering got louder. I felt Virgil’s panic slowly tugging on my thoughts and my mind was racing, searching for something to pull ourselves out of this mess, when Remus’s voice boomed through the room and made my stomach drop.

“He took on my intrusive thoughts and Roman’s bruised ego so we kept sleeping but still had our effects on Thomas! This self-deprecating idiot!”

___

@varthandi

@sammy-is-obsessed / @exhaustedfander

@alexisrealgay

@softie-sushi

@wolfs-feder

@just-a-neoclassical-painting

@winter-jay-official

@a-ghostlight-for-roman

@mychemically-imbalanced-romance

@whattheremus

@sarenicide  

[bepp-ers]

Sharing is caring... | Yandere! Yaoyorozu M. X Reader X Yandere! Kyoka J.

woo! first request!! i fucken’ love writing yandere, it’s fun lol. feel free to request anything, i’ll make a masterlist someday. not my gif :) and yes, it’s a bit aged up. just past graduation in fact, so around 18. enjoy <3

It really was awful. Your two closest friends, Kyoka and Yaomomo were acting rather odd. I mean, you were all graduating soon, of course people were stressed, but... This was more than that.

From more subtle glances to getting aggravated when you didn’t spend time with either of them, it almost scared you.

Had you done something to offend them? Or was it someone else? Whatever the case, you’d decided to not mention it until something big happened.

And it did. It was all over the news, right after graduation, a future pro hero disfigured horribly and dead. Your poor friend, all he’d done was ask you out formally. 

You wished you hadn’t accepted, maybe now he would still be alive.

You and Kaminari were close, true, and maybe you’d both harboured feelings for one another. So you were elated when he asked you out over your favourite restaurant’s meal.

One week later, he was attacked. He hadn’t even become a proper fully-fledged hero, it was so traumatic. You grieved over your new boyfriend’s death, you were so close, it hit you hard.

It was a forced-hanging. Whoever it was attacked him on his way home, and they brute-forced a noose around his neck. Throw on a few weights and hoist him into a tree, well... You didn’t want to remember it.

The worst part? You suspected your other two friends. For starters, no-one could account their whereabouts that night. Or for the whole week you’d been dating him. 

Secondly, they were dead against you dating Kaminari. They made it clear, and got a little upset when you stood firm in your decision.

Lastly, the news of his death didn’t seem to phase them. Yaomomo simply mustered a “Oh, that’s not good.” and Kyoka barely even raised an eyebrow. 

In hysterics from their nonchalance, you raced home, only to be attacked yourself.

You ghosted them for a few days, which might have been the worst mistake of your life.

Well, it certainly explained why you were hiding behind your kitchen counter, clutching your bleeding arm.

Your quirk would be of no use, being too loud to use; you could only wait in silence as the calls of “[Name], you can’t hide from us.” grew closer and closer still.

You were right about one thing- they had killed your boyfriend. You knew there was something off about them yet you stayed quiet.

And it may well be your demise, you figured as two onyx eyes gleamed at you over the counter.

“Aw, look Jiro- I’ve found her! Come on darling, let’s make this nice and easy.” She soothed, and if it weren’t for that crazed look in her eye you might have mistaken her voice for something calming.

“F-fuck off... Murderer!” You stammered, these girls scared you more than any villains you’d faced in a while.

“How quaint, you think you’re getting away, huh. C’mon love- let’s go.” Jiro stated, and at once you found yourself bound in her earphone jacks.

Thrashing around did nothing, so you simply tried your best to scream for help before your mouth was covered by a chemical-filled cloth.

☆

Bolting upright from your sleep, you looked around in fear, heart beating rapidly. Your dream was awful, two of your friends actually kidnapped you! Wait... this wasn’t your room.

“Ah, beloved you’re awake! God, you look so cute when you sleep. Right?” “Mm, adorable.” You whipped around to face the other two girls, eyes narrowed at the sight.

“What the hell!? Why am I here? Shouldn’t you have killed me by now?” You shot, scooting away from them.

They shared an amused look and Kyoka reached out, entangling a hand in your hair. You flinched at the action, hating how possessive it seemed.

“Kill you? I mean, we might punish you if you decide to misbehave, but we want you alive and all to ourselves.” 

Yaomomo nodded, wrapping two slim yet toned arms around your waist and resting her head on your shoulder.

“We had to get your... ugh, boyfriend out of the picture first. We figured he’d try something like that, so we dealt with him as soon as we could.” She spat the word with venom laced in her voice.

You choked out a sob, writhing to get away. “You- I k-knew it! You’re just... just...!” You couldn’t speak for the grief enveloping you, before it morphed into pure unbridled hatred and anger.

You wrenched yourself from their grip, tumbling off the bed and landing on the lush carpet. No doubt some private expensive home of Yaomomo’s.

“Be very careful, Y/n.” A sly smirk emerged on both girl’s faces as you rushed towards the door, yanking it open and racing down the hall.

Yaomomo simply pulled out her phone and tapped the security app, watching with a satisfied expression as the windows and doors leading to the outside world sealed themselves shut.

They listened as you scrabbled at one, obviously trapped now, and began making their was towards you.

Yaomomo created several binds, whilst Kyoka readied her earphone jacks to give you a nasty punishment.

“What a bad toy, luckily there’s two of us here to shape you back into form. After all...” Yaomomo started, wrangling your frantic form into several binds.

“Sharing is caring.” Kyoka grinned, and all last hope you had to leave that place left your body.

You screamed through the cloth to no avail, pulling and tugging with tied hands at your captors.

Immense pain filled your body and tears made their way down your face, which the two gladly planted sweet kisses on. You shivered as the lacerations stung.

Kyoka once again stroked your hair, leaning down to nibble on your ear a little. Yaomomo gently ran a hand down your thigh, attacking your neck on the other side with small but longing kisses.

“You can’t escape, darling, so don’t ever try. We love you so much,”

“And we don’t want anyone else to have you.”

☆

[mistressarafax]

KaiJou Week - Day 3: Fantasy AU

“Jounouchi, you’re doing it wrong.”

Jounouchi scowled at Kaiba, feeling defeated. They’d been practicing the entire day, Kaiba insistent that he needed to control his flames better if he stood any chance of receiving the council's blessing to become a full-fledged mage. “You can’t serve His Majesty if there’s a chance your power will get out of control,” he’d reprimanded severely.

“I’m tryin’,” he griped back. “It ain’t easy tryin’ to just light the one candle.”

Kaiba crossed his arms over his chest, irritation on his face. “I will not stand for my pupil to be lacking. You will do this until you get it right.”

Jounouchi snapped his fingers, lighting a flame on the top of Kaiba’s head, his hair catching fire. Without even flinching, Kaiba extinguished it, drawing water from the air around him to douse the flame. “Use that precision on the candles, idiot.”

“Yeah, yeah. Easier to focus on you since you're pissin’ me off.”

Kaiba's eldest Blue-Eyed dragon snorted from behind them, seeming amused. Her white scales glistened, reflecting the blue of the sky as she sunbathed. “It’s not funny, Kisara,” Kaiba said without looking at her, but she didn’t seem to care, flapping her wings, before shaking herself out and settling down in the clearing once more. “I need you to concentrate, Jounouchi. There are other lessons to teach you that require precise control. You can’t just incinerate everything in your path.”

“Ain’t nothin’ wrong with that,” Jounouchi said cockily.

“Except when you need to target one enemy amongst your allies with precision.”

Jounouchi rolled his eyes. “I don’t know why I got partnered with you as an instructor. Our abilities aren’t even remotely the same.”

“I am not privy to all of the choices His Majesty makes."

"You're his cousin, and you're one of his advisors. Ya shoulda had a say since ya hate me just as much."

Kaiba huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Enough. Ignite the candle so we can end this ordeal as quickly as possible."

Grumbling, Jounouchi returned his focus to the candles in the distance, stretching his hands out and letting the fire wick in his belly. He closed his eyes, imagining the heat trickling from him to the middle candle, a tendril of fire he could only see behind his closed eyelids.

"Good," Kaiba said, breaking his concentration.

Jounouchi peaked open an eye, seeing the middle candle burning from across the clearing. "Yes!" he cried out in victory.

"It takes focus, Jounouchi, which you are able to do when you put your mind to it. You need to spend more time meditating."

Jounouchi frowned. "God, I hate meditatin'."

"If you want to maximize your abilities, you must. It's not as though I want you to fail."

"Coulda fooled me," Jounouchi said bitterly. "With how ya treated me during our formal trainin'."

"You're still a nobody," Kaiba said with a shrug. "But you're a nobody who also happens to be one of the strongest fire mages I've ever seen. His Majesty befriended you and wants me to help hone your skills."

Jounouchi scoffed. "I'm already skilled."

 "You can't rely on raw power alone. Which you do. Our enemies want you to burn yourself out. You would quickly cease to be any kind of threat and turn yourself into an easy target."

Jounouchi glared at Kaiba, but he didn't argue. It was exactly what his instructors had harped on. His energy, his magic wasn't infinite. The key wasn't to overpower his opponents but to out smart them. Play to his own strengths and capitalize on their weaknesses. He knew that. It was just hard to put it into practice. He knew that was the reason he was working with Kaiba, a strategic genius. Kaiba was powerful, as well, strong enough that he'd advanced from water mage to ice mage, which was impressive for someone only a year into adulthood.

They stood in silence for several seconds before Jounouchi sighed. "I guess you're right. What's the next exercise, masteri?"

Kaiba raised an eyebrow, devilish smirk on his face. “You’re either going to do this right, or you’re going home naked.”

Without further explanation, Kaiba had frozen Jounouchi in a block of ice. 

Ass, Jounouchi thought to himself. This is impossible.

"It's a challenge. It won't be easy, but it's certainly possible. You'll just have to keep your flames under control as you melt your way out.”

Jounouchi could barely hear him through the ice. He let the fire burn inside of him, feeling himself get more and more room in his icy cell as it melted. Feeling impatient and unable to breath, he fanned his flames hotter, redder, melting the ice rapidly. His clothing was soaking wet, and he felt disgusting. He hated being wet. It reminded him of a time before he’d discovered his magic, trying to stay out of the rain when his father wouldn’t allow him to come inside at night. Cold and soaking wet.

Angry at the unbidden memory, he clenched his fists, increasing the power he was pouring out.

“Careful, Jounouchi,” Kaiba warned.

It was too late though, fire erupted from Jounouchi, engulfing him in flames. His clothing incinerated instantly, and he stood in the clearing, burning the swath of grass around him. He was too angry to rein himself in, burning with rage, and even Kaiba’s half-hearted attempt to extinguish him with water didn’t work. He was burning so hot that the water evaporated in a puff of steam. A nearly impenetrable wall of fire.

“Control your emotions,” Kaiba barked at him.

Jounouchi launched a fireball at him, irritated. How dare the prick try to boss him around. “I don’t gotta do what you say,” he taunted in return. “I’m in charge of me.”

Kaiba sighed, holding out his hands, chanting to himself. Jounouchi realized that Kisara had moved, lurching closer to Kaiba and assuming a protective stance. What he wouldn’t give for a dragon of his own...

He didn’t have time to think about it. Water dumped on top of him, frigid and cold and dousing the flames. Steam poured from his skin, creating a fog where ice met fire. Realizing he was naked like Kaiba had threatened, Jounouchi covered himself, embarrassed.

"You're a fool, Jounouchi. Letting your emotions run unchecked like that."

"Better than bein' an ice cold prick like you," Jounouchi spat in return.

Kaiba sighed heavily, crossing his arms and allowing himself to get lost in thought for a moment. "What happened for you to lose control like that?"

A flush stained his cheeks, and he fidgeted in discomfort. "Nothin'."

Kaiba stepped closer, and Jounouchi felt ashamed for losing control. For standing in front of Kaiba naked. "It was clearly something, so stop lying. What happened?"

Hanging his head in defeat, he admitted, "When I was a boy, my pa regularly kicked me outta the house. So I got to wander around the streets in the cold and rain with nowhere to go. I got angry cuz bein' frozen in ice reminded me of all that shit."

With a single nod, Kaiba agreed, turning around and marching toward his dragon. He spoke to her softly, and she settled back into the clearing. He was gone for a few minutes before returning. He carried dry clothing in his hands. "My father often beat me. I was never going to be first in line to the throne, as His Majesty is older than me, but my father treated me as though I was. My lessons were rigorous, and the punishment for not doing then flawlessly was severe." He said nothing else, thrusting the clothes into Jounouchi's hands.

"I… wonder if that's why he put us together. Yuugi'd know about our similar pasts."

Kaiba grimaced. "You should call him by his title."

"What? 'King Yuugi'?"

"No. His Majesty."

Jounouchi shrugged. "We were friends before he got the title. I ain't changin' it up just 'cause he's king now." Jounouchi set to pulling on Kaiba's trousers. They were too long for him, but they'd do until he could retrieve his own replacements.

"You will be in his service soon. A loyal and faithful servant. You should use the correct title out of respect."

"Ehhh, if Yuugi don't mind, I ain't changin' it up." Jounouchi frowned as he pulled on Kaiba's shirt, which was also too long for him.

"The court will mind," Kaiba reminded. "I do, as well."

Fully dressed in Kaiba's dry clothes, he stuck his tongue out defiantly. "That's your problem then."

Kaiba's expression twisted sourly, and Jounouchi knew he was about to say something cruel. He'd call Jounouchi useless, idiotic, low-class, or a waste of oxygen, just like he'd said many times before. Kaiba's mouth opened, but he seemed to think better of it, snapping it closed immediately. He let out a hard breath, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. "I suppose I'll need to teach you some decorum. Being a full-fledged mage comes with certain expectations, and so far, you've been lacking. Did you not pay attention to any of our etiquette training?"

"Nah. It was boring," Jounouchi returned with a shrug.

"Then I have a lot more to teach you," Kaiba said with a sigh.

Jounouchi rolled his eyes. "Oh good. Just what I wanted," he said sarcastically.

"I'm not pleased about it either. I'm stuck with you until you've reached your fullest potential. Now… get back to training," Kaiba instructed. "Light only the outside candles this time. When you can do that, we'll try something more advanced. And don't you dare burn my clothing."

Jounouchi grinned deviously, but he turned back to what he had been tasked. The sooner he got this over with, the sooner he would be done with his private lessons with Kaiba.

--

FYI, expect more of this universe from me in the future!

[possiblypeachy]

tea & schemes. (9)

―; summary: Jacob introduces Florence to her soon-to-be favourite pub.

―; pairing: jacob frye x ofc

―; word count: 3.3k

―; warnings: light swearing.

―; A/N: they’re literally so baby together my heart cannot handle like?? i genuinely adore them and writing for them and sometimes i worry that i’m making this too long but then i remember that this makes me happy so ??? sucks to be someone who doesn’t like long fics i guess??

please coo with me about them!! i need to know i’m not weird for being so emotionally attached

―; part: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11

― ❊ ―

The pub that Jacob had taken her to-- The Maiden’s Crown-- was far too busy for it only being early afternoon. Though, Florence did have to admit, a smile came to her face when she heard the haggard and out-of-tune singing of the patrons. There was something almost endearing in watching a crowd of grown men sing at the top of their lungs along to near-operatic songs but, on the other spin of the coin, Florence could-- with confidence-- say that Duncan could yowl the lyrics better than that.

It was a nice enough place, if one were to disregard the obvious disrepair. Green accents painted the pub and there was a rather lovely painting of the Thames of the far wall behind the bar; if you squinted your eyes, you could barely see the stain on the canvas, which was good, she supposed. All things considered, while it wasn’t as high-end as the one in Westminster that she and her brother frequented, it wasn’t the worst place for Jacob to have taken her. At least it wasn’t in Whitechapel.

She’d never been a lover of beer or ale on the account of it tasting like piss so she could only hope that this pub served a particularly flavourful sherry or sloe gin. Even the putrid smell of ale made Florence’s nose crinkle as herself and Jacob weaved through the mass of drinkers; she’d never understood how Freddy could stomach it when they drank together.

“Why does it seem like everyone here knows you, Jacob?” She asked just as they got to the bar. He squeezed between a few men, one of whom he said a brief ‘hello’ to, before shuffling her in alongside him. The barman, obviously pleased to see a lady who had at least washed in the past week, promptly swept over to them, to which Florence muttered that she’d like a glass of sloe gin and he went away to prepare it before Jacob could even open his mouth to ask for anything.

Despite that little problem, Jacob, now leaning against the bar, still shot Florence a grin. “Pubs are the best place to recruit. Or, to soften someone up so they’re easier to get information out of.”

“Oh, conniving-- I like it.” Florence gave him a playful side-eye before nodding a thank you to the bartender and taking a small sip of her drink. Her face soured slightly at the strength of her drink but the sweet aftertaste made up for it, making for an altogether amusing expression, to which Jacob’s lips tugged upwards.

“You like me for my schemes but not my devilish good looks? Or, my superb sense of humour?” He raised a brow, a smirk gracing his expression. Briefly, he pointed to a bottle on the back shelf and the bartender set it down before him.

Florence took another sip of her gin, holding the glass just beside her mouth, then replied with a simple: “Why can I not like you for all three?”. Her smile was small and amused but her eyes told of perhaps a larger confession. Jacob’s expression softened, melting from a cocky grin to a glint in his eyes that declared fondness. Did she still want to kiss him? For a moment that Jacob barely had time to pick up on, her eyes flickered down to his lips. Yes, she most certainly did still want to kiss him. The stammering in her chest told her, if the romance novels she always read had taught her anything, that perhaps now was the moment to make up for her hesitation the other night.

Their gazes remained locked for a moment then Florence, heart pounding, went to move forward to grab his hands. However, in an unfortunate turn of events, a hand-- that wasn’t hers-- clapped to Jacob’s shoulder, making his bottle of beer slosh dangerously. There was a half-shout of “Jacob, my boy!” before he could even turn to look at the offending bloke. “The lads and I haven’t had a chat with you for too long, son. You have to come over--”

“I’m a bit--” Hazel eyes flickered to Florence, who was staring into her sloe gin and scratching her nose in an effort to not draw the attention of the hulking man beside Jacob, “--occupied at the moment--”

“Nonsense! Come on, son.” The grip on his shoulder tightened and Jacob was tugged from his spot. He shot her an apologetic look but, before he could actually open his mouth to say anything, the bigger man began to ramble about… something or another; truthfully, Jacob’s mind was elsewhere.

Florence watched after him for a few moments before focusing her attention on her drink again, swirling the reddish liquid about in its glass. She took a bigger gulp than perhaps was usual for a woman of her stature, hissed through her teeth at the taste, and turned herself slightly so she wouldn’t be tempted to stare endlessly at Jacob across the room.

Damn whatever God had decided to put a stop in the cogs of her plan. Well, it was hardly a fully-fledged plan but, nevertheless, it would’ve been nice to have seen its outcome. Or, would it have been? Anxiety bubbled up within her; there was always the chance that she’d read Jacob all wrong and he didn’t actually like her. Then, as if she was watching a puppet show in her mind, a little image of Lissie popped up and pulled a stern face at her. Florence laughed to herself, sipping at her drink again.

In fact, she continued to sip at her drink until a body squeezed in beside her. Expecting it to be Jacob again, Florence turned with a smile. The smile continued to hold out of pure discomfort when she realised it wasn’t Jacob and was actually a man whose breath smelt quite terribly of beer. He was grinning down at her-- no doubt trying to be charming-- but the only thing Florence took from that was that she’d need to ask Lissie to wash her dress later on.

“Hello, beautiful.”

Oh, God.

Florence sipped her drink, using it as a few moments to switch her mind into ‘presentable lady’ mode, then placed her glass on the bar beside her. Her smile was sweet but her eyes screamed of annoyance. “Good afternoon, sir.”

The man, in an attempt to get closer to her without her noticing, pointed over her shoulder toward a bottle on the shelf, ordering the bartender to throw it to him. He did so, to which Florence had to duck, lest a bottle smash against the side of her face. Then, he popped the cork out of it with his teeth and spat it elsewhere. She suppressed a sigh.

“What’s your name, love?” He took a swig of beer and leant on the bar. “Benjamin Treadway, myself. Lovely to make your acquaintance.” He held a palm out and she placed her hand it in. This Ben fellow then kissed her hand, trying to maintain a sultry eye contact but, as soon as she could, Florence was taking a sip from her drink again. She wondered if she could ask the bartender to make the gin any stronger.

“I’m Florence Abberline.” Her joy was dissipating by the minute and, by chance, when her gaze trailed to the table Jacob had been dragged to, their eyes met and she shot him a small frown that pleaded for help.

A certain recognition crossed Ben’s face. “Right! You’re the sister of that bobby-- what’s his name? Frank, is it? Francis--”

“Frederick. His name is Frederick.”

“Ah, yes, that’s the one! I’m surprised, is all; never expected shared genes with him would make for a pretty lady.”

Florence furrowed her brows, quite visibly displeased at this. What was he implying? That Freddy was ugly? It was a wonder, really, how he expected to woo a lady by insulting her brother first. “My brother is handsome enough, thank you. Nor is he here to defend himself.” She tried hard not to spit this and, to quell her frustration, she covered her mouth with her glass.

A crooked little smirk pulled his lips upwards. “Oh, she’s a feisty one. Don’t usually find those about.” He took a swig of beer and set it down on the bar beside him, beady little eyes inspecting her features. “What brings such a posh bird to these premises? Don’t your type like to stay at home and… sew or summin’?”

As Florence tried to muster up a half-sensible answer, she could feel someone watching her; with luck, it was Jacob. To assume this would be correct. He, over his bottle of beer, was carefully studying how close the bloke was stood to Florence, where his hands would inch as their conversation continued, how he kept glancing down to the gap between the top of her bodice and her collar. He had a distinct look in his eyes-- one that tipped the other men off around the table to his growing concern. The man that had dragged him over, Richard, followed his gaze upon realising how Jacob had leant back in his chair, slumped and rubbing the top of the bottle against his bottom lip.

“You alright, son?” He asked, the clap on his shoulder gentler now but still enough to draw Jacob’s attention away from Florence for a few moments. “That bloke bothering you?”

“No.” He took a swig of his drink and gestured loosely to the pair on the other side of the pub. “He’s bothering the lady.” Just as Jacob said this, Ben went to play with a tassel on her shawl and Florence slapped his hand away, clenching her jaw and turning to ask the bartender to fill her drink up again.

Richard pursed his lips. “You fancy her?”

“You could say that.”

The boys around the table shared a laugh and Richard shook Jacob’s arm, amused. “Well,” His other hand pointed to Florence and Benjamin, “what’re you doing letting that scumbag chat her up?”

Jacob sighed, eyes flickering between the man at his side and the pair at the bar, trying to muster up an answer. “She’s not the type to want to be saved; I don’t want her to think that I think she’s incapable.”

They both looked back toward Florence, who necked half of her gin and raised her eyebrows at whatever the bloke was saying. He let out one of those idiotic fake laughs and placed a hand on her arm, to which her lips twisted into an uncomfortable smile and she threw her gaze in the direction of Jacob, silently asking him to hurry the fuck up with his business.

“That’s the look of a woman who’ll start scrapping in a minute if you don’t help her.” The boys chuckled, murmuring their agreement. “I don’t think she needs to be saved-- more so… distracted.” Richard gave Jacob a push and the younger of the pair set his bottle down on the table and stood up. A little nod gave thanks to Richard and the men sat around the table gave a quiet cheer, causing Jacob to huff out a laugh on his way toward Florence.

There were a few mutters of “excuse me” and “sorry” before she noticed Jacob behind Ben. A light tap came to the lankier’s shoulder. “Hello, mate. Sorry to be a bother but you appear to be stood in the only available spot next to my wife.” Jacob glanced down to Florence’s fingers-- her rings-- and she rather nimbly moved one to her wedding finger.

This would be fun.

Ben glanced back to her, down to her hands, then up to her face. His eyes narrowed. “Haven’t heard of the bobby’s sister getting married.”

“Small ceremony.” Florence mentioned, taking a sip of her gin to hide her growing smile. Jacob had to refrain from laughing but the way he exhaled sounded dangerously close to it. “We wedded in spring; it was just with my family and his. Beautiful occasion, really.”

“Indeed.” Jacob mentioned, pushing the bloke aside with a hand to stand just in front of Florence. To conserve space-- or perhaps to keep their act up-- he snuck an arm around her back, making sure that his hand was seen at the curve of her waist. “Lovely affair. Her bouquet had tulips in it; they contrasted quite nicely against her dress.”

Florence couldn’t hold back a grin so she used it to look up at Jacob and act like she was in love. However, when he mirrored her gaze, huffing out a quiet laugh, she wasn’t quite sure if it was entirely acting. Would now be okay to kiss him? It would simply be a part of the act if all went wrong. Oh, goodness--

“How lovely.” Ben’s voice was mocking, eyes narrowed and mouth pulled into a tight line. He gave her another look up and down. “Why’s her name still Abberline then?” He pointed loosely to her. It was almost like he was grasping at straws to try to win her back as if she was some kind of prize to be had.

She felt Jacob squeeze her side briefly, as if to tell her that he’d handle it. “I’m a Frye-- Jacob Frye.” Hazel eyes had a certain darkness to them and his smile held a challenge. Ben’s focus seemed to have finally pulled away from her, now staring quite dumbly at Jacob. His gaze flickered from the scars Jacob had to the gun that peeked out from behind his coat and he visibly shrunk back into himself. “It’s dangerous to have a name like mine in London these days so we decided that she’d keep to ‘Abberline’.” Jacob tilted his head briefly, narrowing his eyes and smiling, “For her own safety.”

Florence had never realised how much influence he had on others, though she supposed she’d never given him reason to be anything but kind to her-- mostly. By the way that his broadness all of a sudden seemed imposing and how the hand that wasn’t holding her curled into a fist, Florence could tell that Jacob was more than experienced at this. God, how she wished she had the same effect on people that she didn’t like.

“Now, mate,” Jacob hissed through his teeth, pointing a finger at a now very small-looking Ben, “I suggest you leave my wife alone. We don’t want any blood on her lovely dress, do we?”

Ben gave a little nod and, much like the rat he was, scurried away. Florence watched him with a pleased grin, nose upturned slightly and a happy hum beginning in her chest. The dimple was there again, which brought great joy to Jacob when he tore his gaze from the back of Ben’s head and finally looked at her.

“Good work, dear husband.” She was still smiling when she turned to him. He chuckled lightly, the sound pushed out by an exhale, and raised a brow. Florence, however, continued before he could say anything. “I hadn’t realised you could add any poison to your words; you’re always so… soft for me.”

Jacob rolled his eyes, though there was a little smile painted across his features that told her that she’d figured him out, and spun so that he was facing her. He replied with a simple “What? You want me to be hard for you?” and, when they locked eyes and he muttered a “wait--”, Florence began that dreadful laugh of hers.

“Certainly not in public, Jacob.” She, through a dirty little smirk, took a sip of her gin, though was having quite some trouble keeping it in her mouth.

Unfortunately for her, when Jacob began to chuckle-- a bottom-of-the-stomach laugh that made his head loll backwards, she had to cover her mouth lest the deep red of her gin spray all over him. Finally, she swallowed and took a deep inhale, trying to calm down her terrible giggling. Both her hands came to Jacob’s arms to keep herself steady and he could feel the remnants of her laugh shaking through her body. When Florence was able to straighten herself again, cheeks hurting from grinning, honey melded with hazel as their eyes met and both their smiles softened, her grip on his arms becoming gentler. Her gaze flickered across his face and a certain, sudden sense of worry sparked within her.

“Jacob, can I kiss you?”

His eyes searched hers, struck speechless for a few moments. Florence looked like she’d just taken a leap from the tallest building in the world and was bracing for the inevitable, messy impact. Was she even breathing? She wasn’t sure she could.

“What?” was the only word he could muster, though it was mostly because his brain was racing to catch up with the real world again. Jacob stumbled over his own thoughts, distracted by the growing redness to her face and the mere idea that she might even like him.

Florence cursed herself and the world. She’d fucked it. She took a shaky breath and let go of his arms. “I simply asked if you’d perhaps like to kiss me but I--”

Lips stopped her, calloused hands on either cheek. The sudden journey from shock to happiness happened so quickly that Florence worried that she might start crying. That feeling that began to bloom in her chest was something that no romance novel could have prepared her for. It felt like the rest of the world had suddenly ceased to exist and it was only him and his lips and his hands and his smell and--

Fingers weaved into Jacob’s dark hair in a selfish attempt to prolong the kiss, though he seemed to have no qualms with appeasing her. She could feel her heartbeat in her chest, in her ears, in her thumbs and neck. The fall was not so terrible; he had caught her just before she hit the cold, hard ground.

It was her who pulled away first-- the singing and chatter about the pub returning to her ears. Jacob could hardly complain when he saw the light of her smile and saw her shoulders shaking with the beginnings of a breathless laugh. The hands on her cheeks squeezed a little bit, squishing her grin back in on itself, so that Jacob could make sure that it was real and not a tormenting daydream. Fingers wrapped around his wrists, giggling only getting louder, to ask what he was doing without words. He mirrored her smile, pulling her forward so that their foreheads might touch, and muttered a “You have no idea how often I’ve thought about that.”

Perhaps her ego had danced a little at those words-- how long had he liked her for?-- but, even so, she felt this little worried, shaking part of her being click into its place for the first time in years. “I’d never realised.”

“You must be blind then.”

Florence moved forward to kiss him again, smiling against his lips. It was shorter than the other-- he barely had time to rest his hands on the curve of her skirts-- but it was so achingly sweet and normal that he didn’t mind that it ended when it did. Then, her fingers came to play with the collar of his shirt, straightening it and pursing her lips. There was such a distinct sense of contentment that he would be happy to watch her do that for the rest of his days. Her eyes seemed golden, melting under the pressure of her newfound feelings, when she looked up to him.

“Well, I’m not blind anymore.”

[merryfortune]

Day 2: New Year’s Wishes

Compendium Game Route 2019 for @vrainsrarepairweeks

Ship: Superheroshipping | Aoi/Takeru/Yusaku

Rating: T

Word Count: 1,722

Tags: Alternate Universe – Save Me! Lollipop, Polyamory, Minor or Implied Miyu/Spectre

  The past six months had gone so quick.

  From the moment that Aoi had accidentally swallowed the prized and magical Crystal Pearl required for the Magic Exam held by those of the Wizard World to assess the skills of their students, those who passed the test, therefore protecting the Pearl, became Professional Sorcerers. It was an exam which would last one hundred and eight days and Aoi thought that her escape to this absurd situation would never come but day by day, time did pass and now, Christmas was nearly here. But it was kind of scary. Since meeting Takeru and Yusaku, Aoi couldn’t wait until they were booted out of her life because of all the drama that they brought with them. From scary fellow examinees with all sorts of magical powers to other, more sinister powers above them at hand, Aoi wanted them gone. It was only in some grand twist of irony that the Crystal Pearl had fallen out of the sky and into the plate with her cake as she discussed with her friends what considered to be the ideal boyfriend.

  Someone kind, someone handsome, and above all: someone who would protect and value her above all else, someone like a prince.

  Her friends had teased her at the time, calling her unrealistic and that she had her head in the clouds and her hands on too many books on fairy tales. They sat corrected moments later when not just one but two young gentleman to Aoi’s near exact specifications literally fell out of the sky, with a beautiful, white Mustang in tow, sweeping her off her feet, and yanking her into a zany world of magic and other antics: all whilst they sped off with an humongous owl in pursuit of them.

  It had been distressing to say the least, but they did seem to tick all of Aoi’s boxes. Their primary goal in coming to Den City, the Human World in general, was to protect Aoi. Well, they wanted to protect the Crystal Pearl which now resided, all but permanently, in the pit of her stomach but to protect it, they had to protect her. Not to mention, they valued her for her.

  They were also handsome. Takeru was the glasses pretty boy type with a fit physique and Yusaku was the slovenly pretty boy type with gorgeous green eyes. Everywhere they went, they attracted all sorts of attention, some good and some bad as their good-looking faces did little to quell the fact that they had an eccentric taste in fashion, as per the custom of the Wizarding World that they hailed from.

  As an unexpected bonus, they were bonkers strong too. Magic would do that to a fella, Aoi supposed, as she watched in awe, time and time again, as Takeru blew the world around them to smithereens using his destructive Fire Magic and as she watched Yusaku minimise said damage by using his more defensive Link Magic which allowed him to conjure barriers and the like. In combination, they were easily the strongest of the Sorcerer Examinees which had been sent to Den City to hunt the Crystal Pearl.

  And best of all, they were kind too. Yusaku couldn’t stand seeing people getting hurt, so he always carried a little medical kit around with him and even if seemed like a minor stupid injury, he would take it seriously. Being the damsel in distress came with a lot of skinned knees, Aoi had discovered but Yusaku never scolded her for not doing better and he had kissed her band aids more times than either would admit.

  Though, by all those virtues, they had their vices too. Yusaku was annoyingly evasive. He never told Aoi, or even Takeru, anything. Like upon their first meeting, once they had scrambled into safety, away from the monstrous owl and the Examinees who controlled said monstrous owl, Yusaku had clammed up. He refused to divulge any information which could have potentially helped Aoi understand why exactly she had been damn near kidnapped by him and Takeru, what the Crystal Pearl was, or any other element about the situation that they had become entangled in. He only gave her said information once Takeru had blurted it all out in frustration. Even after that, Yusaku very rarely told Aoi everything that she needed to know, and again same for his partner, Takeru.

  Meanwhile, Takeru was downright brutish. He picked unnecessary fights. Where Yusaku was perhaps more level-headed, Takeru was most certainly not. He was a punch now, ask questions later type of guy.

  Yet, despite these differences, they truly did work in beautiful combination of one another. As bizarre as an afternoon as their first meeting was, from meeting them, to being separated from them, and being kidnapped by Examinees Three and Four, partners Miyu and Spectre, to being nearly killed by Miyu and Spectre to being rescued by Takeru and Yusaku, only for them to almost kill everyone via Takeru’s magic, but it all worked out eventually. It had been terrifying.

  Miyu and Spectre had taken her to the basement of some ice cream shop and had tied her up. They had gloated that Takeru and Yusaku would be unable to find her and Miyu, with some very pushy insistence unto Spectre, then rewarded herself by going to find some cake and other sweets to purchase using Spectre’s money. Something which he agonised over, especially given that Miyu did not bring back the change in favour of simply buying more than what ought to be humanly possible to eat. Though, she was kind enough to share with Aoi, and that was quite nice, all things considered, right up until she and Spectre unanimously decided that enough was enough. It was time to extract the Crystal Pearl from Aoi but any means necessary and both were a little more than ecstatic to use unsavoury and honestly rather sharp methods of extraction.

  But, fortunately, Takeru and Yusaku had made it in the nick of time. Aoi had gasped and her heart began to beat thunderously in her chest. Yusaku gathered them all around behind one of his barriers, thin as a crystal, and Takeru fought back with blasts of fire which evaporated the very moisture in the air. With Takeru’s attacks, he courageously fought off Miyu’s Summoned Beasts, her precious friends she called them, and Spectre’s Hypnosis magic whilst Yusaku gallantly defended them.

  In a smack of brilliance, Takeru had blasted off the opposing team and for that day, it seemed all good and done. Of course, that was just the first of many onslaughts that Aoi would encounter as the one who swallowed the Crystal Pearl. Some assaults, of course, coming from opposing teams of examinees; Miyu and Spectre just being one coupling. Other assaults came from within their own team. From invasions of personal privacy, such as Takeru and Yusaku joining Aoi at her own high school to them deciding the best place to live was in her closet, as modified by magic, to near kisses and compromising walk ins, as well as other spats, interpersonal bickering had proved as powerful a force as most supernatural magics around them.

  But, when it was all said and done, Aoi decided that she wouldn’t trade any of those moments in for anything else; anything normal. No matter how horrifying or humiliating the memory, Aoi cherished it. All to the point where she didn’t want Christmas to come but there wasn’t a single type of magic powerful enough to pause or reverse time, she had come to learn by spending time with Yusaku and Takeru. She had truly come to love them both but there was no place for her outside of the present.

  She had never felt more content than when she was squished between them both, and this contentment, Aoi realised, was fleeting. Another seven days and it would be all over. Christmas will have come and gone, the medicine that was required to separate the Crystal Pearl from her body would be made, and then, if things all went to plan, then Takeru and Yusaku would get their qualifications and return to their home.

  Aoi had asked Takeru about it once. About magic, about the Wizard World, about what it meant to be a professional and he loved to gush about it, unlike Yusaku. His power, magical in general, mystisfied Aoi, charmed her beyond all belief. He showed her teeny tiny tricks with his fingers and flames, showing a deft control over them which rarely reared its head in scuffles whilst he talked about how denizens of the Human World weren’t permitted in the Wizard World due to a treaty from millennia ago.

  Though, he did admit, history wasn’t his strong point. He got dates mixed up all the time and Aoi could attest to that. She, and Yusaku, have had to remind Takeru of what day it is more than a handful of times. He could be a little be doughy like that but they both found it endearing, more often than not, anyway.

  Regardless, what Takeru had said was true, as vague as it was. That was something confirmed to Aoi time and time again; by Yusaku who was coldly awkward with her, Miyu who sympathised with her, by Spectre who chastised her, by the very Magical Council which had come up with these rules all those eons ago. But Aoi wanted to have some hope that maybe things would change.

  Once Takeru and Yusaku were made to be fully fledged in their magic, maybe they could petition some changes from the inside. It seemed a little too ridiculously hopeful for Aoi, but she always seemed to have some in spades, no matter the situation. After all, she had met Takeru and Yusaku seconds after proclaiming that she wanted to fall in love with someone just like them so maybe it wasn’t all that absurd after all. She mightn’t have magic but maybe that was hers.

  Hers was to hope. To hope that by New Year’s Eve, she wouldn’t be alone after becoming so used to being one of three. To her, that sounded lovely, hand in hand, like a princess, with the two young men whom she had come to regard as her wonderful, magical knights.

[hellshire-harlot]

This year has been an absolute mindfuck. Rant incoming.

Either way, I lived through it. Right around this time was when I first started my Wattpad account. And it was only a few months ago that I began posting on this hellsite. Maybe it’s time to look back a little.

I was at my grandmother’s house for Christmas, and was more stressed than ever with my extended family over. Eventually, we went back home.

I plugged Terraria into my Xbox One for the first time.

Sometime in January, I dipped my toes into the Creepypasta Fandom and I’ve been going deeper ever since. They are my true home fandom and I don’t intend on leaving. Once school went back up, my friend made an amazing drawing of a Creepypasta character that the two of us named Mad Maxxie. She was the first Creepypasta I ever wrote.

In early April, the month of my birthday, I talked to my therapist about having violent thoughts towards my teachers. I never intended to act on any of them, mind you. I’m not that stupid, or that evil. But I told her, and she was forced to tell my school, and they took it the entirely wrong way, thus leading into the absolute worst time of my entire life.

My parents got a call from my school, who said that I wasn’t allowed back until I go ‘evaluated’. I never started sobbing faster than I did in that moment. It was a bitter day when we found out I apparently needed ‘mental help’.

A week later, my dad and I drove up to the creepiest, most cliche-looking mental hospital I’ve ever seen. My gut and everything in me screamed not to go in, but it’s not like I had a choice.

We did some paperwork and my dad dropped me off. I was confused and scared. I was put in a room of older kids, but they took me out a few minutes after and put me in another room of kids. I got to know them well over the next few weeks.

The place was called Prairie St. Johns if you’re wondering. Aka Hell on earth, according to the graffiti scribbled all over the fucking walls.

The food there tasted awful. I started scribbling down my thoughts in a journal, including how I felt. For two weeks, I stayed there, talking to a doctor every other day over video chat. On the second day, a kid tried to break a window and jump. We were on the second floor.

The doctors didn’t even try to help us. They just locked us in a room together and told us to talk about our problems. I lied to get out of there. I said my violent thoughts had stopped, when they increased exponentially.

I cried so much those weeks. I even was there through my birthday. The only time I saw my friends was at my party. God, I’m fucking tearing up just writing about this.

When they released me, I got on a medicine called Lexipro. We talked to my principal, the one who had called my parents that day and told them I needed ‘mental help’. I wanted to strangle her. Thanks to her and the worst decision she’s ever fucking made, I cannot and will not trust anyone the same way I did before. Because if I do, they’ll send me back. They’ll put me in a straitjacket in inpatient and not let me see my family for months because that’s what they did to my close friend. On top of that, I had just gotten some wicked dental appliances in, and I was so fucking miserable.

I continued school until summer, when I finally was free. Life was ok for the first time in months. 

When school was back up, I got to see my friends again. I was feeling better. In late September, I got my appliances removed. But two weeks later, i got my braces in, which was hella painful. By then, I had written over thirty separate, fleshed-out, fully-fledged Creepypasta characters and had finished some of my greatest Minecraft builds of all time.

I dressed up as Ballora for Halloween, and it was in early November that my friend introduced me to Hazbin Hotel. When I heard about the whole North Korea ‘Christmas Gift’ thing, I was actually convinced we were going to die. Well, we haven’t yet, even though I shouldn’t speak too soon. And now I’m here, having just spent the day cooking and watching movies with my family, at 8:57 PM, on the verge of the New Year. I can’t wait for this hell of a year to be over.

I look back to the beginning of the year and see how I’ve grown. My writing skills have increased tenfold, I’ve been getting better and better about my anxiety and depression, and life just might be alright. 

I don’t care if YouTube’s new policy is coming into effect in precisely 3 hours. I don’t care if we’re all going to die soon, North Korea or not. I pushed through another year, dammit, I fucking survived. I spat in the face of my own depression and death wishes. So I don’t care if you keep beating me down into the ground. I’m gonna keep coming back up. I hope you guys all feel the same, and thanks for letting me rant. Here’s to the new year. May it bring us laughter, joy, fun, and everything in between. May we leave the old decade behind us, and may we come into the new decade with the gods at our feet.

[the-story-of-my-life-uncensored]

I finally snapped

Chapter 15

I was covered in bruises when I went back to school, luckily my uniform covered most of it. The only thing I couldn’t really hide was the fact my hands were now a yellowish green colour. I winced if anyone touched me and I did my normal get through the day as quickly as possible routine, however it wasn’t meant to be that day.

At this point there was whispers going round the school that I was sleeping with older men for money and a few people had spotted me around our town and put 2 & 2 together and got 27 and assumed I was a fully fledged sex worker. I imagine the person I thought to be my best friend J spreading gossip from what I’d told her was going on hadn’t helped (which I didn’t even know she was doing at the time)

This particular day I was arguing with one of the “popular girls” and winding her up but it seems she also had a sharp tongue and insulted me with “at least I don’t sleep with old men for money” and that was it, I hadn’t just seen red, I had completely lost control. I told J to hold my bag I walked over to her, grabbed her by the hair, slammed her head into the wooden lockers behind us and started punching her in the face wildly.

Once I was done I grabbed my bag back and went and sat alone on a bench outside the school smoking a cigarette knowing at this point I may as well wait for the bollocking I was about to get. My baggy sleeves dropped to my elbow as I smoked and I watched on as car drove up and down the main road of our school. I was there longer than I expected and continued chain smoking until a police car pulled into the school, I didn’t even think that it would be connected to me and didn’t really bat an eyelid.

Then two of the schools therapists and the Head teacher walked up and very angrily demanded I get to the office right that second. I obliged and wandered down as if nothing had happened. When I stepped into the office there was a young very pretty policewoman sat in the corner of the room who studied me as I walked into the room and I honestly believe if I could of heard her thoughts she would of been saying in her head “what a mess”

I sat down in the chair and I could feel the oh so familiar look of when I had previously been in the office of people studying my face, body and everyone’s eyes almost stopped and widened when they caught sight of my bruised hands.

“Do you know why you are in this office and why this policewoman is here?” The headteacher spat out.

“I can imagine” I said very cockily and you could feel the room feeling very exasperated and silence fell again as everyone stared at me.

I could feel everything building up inside of me, I was trying to stop myself from crying and then one of the therapists said “you have got to tell us what is going on,you have just got to” she stood up from her chair and walked across to me, “show us your arms”

At this point tears were rolling down my face and the whole room had joined in that I must roll up my sleeves and show them my arms. I very slowly rolled up both sleeves and you could hear the room gasp. What I had done was now of zero importance as the policewoman demanded they get me a private room so she could talk to me. We was whisked into the schools chapel where silence fell apart from my sobbing which was now so uncontrollable I couldn’t stifle the noise or tears coming from me.

This is where I started telling part of my story but I still couldn’t bring myself to tell it all….

[therainroguefanfiction]

🔥 ℝise Ⱥbove I̾t ◈ Chapter 045 [Abuse of Power]

📑 Table of Contents | ◂Backward

Word Count: 3,332

⊱ ────── {⋅. 🔥 .⋅} ────── ⊰

〈“Will anyone come forward? Who is to blame? They’ve all tried to hold me down, but now I’ve turned it all around. Got the hope I need to get off the ground, stay alive and try another day.” Vickeblanka, “Black Rover”〉

⊱ ────── {⋅. 🔥 .⋅} ────── ⊰

What an insane fucking aura Stain has… such strength, such conviction. He needs a serious fucking chill pill, bro. Izuku’s body shook in fear against me, his wide eyes trained on the hero killer. Even the fucking pros are frozen in shock and fear. For fuck’s sake, do I have to do everything around here?

I pushed Zuku to the side and rushed forward, twisting my body to slam my leg against his stomach. What little bit of consciousness he had left fled his body as the knife clattered to the ground, his eyes rolling into the back of his skull as his body fell to the ground.

“That ain’t it, chief,” I grunted. “You say only All Might is allowed to kill you? That’s a wet dream because that blonde idiot would never kill anyone for any reason. The fucker ain’t got it in him to do so. And besides,” I smirked, holding up my hand as flames swirled against my palm. “Allowed to kill you? I’d like to see you spout that crap when you’re locked up with the worst of the worst!”

“J-Jen…” Izuku squeaked.

I glanced at him and sighed, lowering my hand. “But it’s not like you can hear me and I’m way fucking overdue for some fucking sleep. Release,” The sound of shattering filled the night air as my torn and burnt school shirt returned to my body. Deadpool, I’m coming to see you, bud.

“Jen!”

“Winchester!”

Darkness.

⊱ ────── {⋅. 🔥 .⋅} ────── ⊰

I stared out the window, watching a bird hopping from branch to branch. Although Hosu general had a few healers on their staff, they are nothing compared to Gran, so most of my injuries hadn’t been fully healed.

The door slid open and a thin man in a white coat stepped inside, his grey-blue hair slicked back. His name is Akashi, the doctor that’s been tending to me since I arrived. He glanced up from the clipboard, his blue eyes meeting mine. “How are you feeling, Miss Winchester?”

“Like I got ran over by an eighteen-wheeler twice and then he did a u-turn and did it two more times.”

He sweatdropped. “That’s oddly specific…” He cleared his throat. “Would you like to know the extent of your injuries before we took care of you?”

“Yeah, why not.”

“Your left shoulder was broken, along with several ribs, one of which nearly punctured your lung. The puncture wound on your stomach was the worst of your injuries, it was quite deep, but your quick thinking at closing the wound prevented you from bleeding out. There will be a nasty scar once it’s fully healed, though. For the future, when you get stabbed by something, don’t pull it out.” Akashi deadpanned.

I returned his pointed look with a blank one. “Yeah sure. Walking around with a piece of fucking glass sticking out of my fucking torse is totally a fashion trend I want to start.”

He ignored me, returning his eyes to the clipboard. “Other than that, there were various cuts and bruises across your body, but nothing serious. We fixed your shoulder, so you should be able to use your arm, but I suggest you take it easy since it’s not fully healed.”

All things considered, not too bad, I guess.

“You can come in now,” Akashi called out.

The door slid open and the short man, Gran Torino, stepped inside. “Come on, girl. The chief of police needs to talk to all of you at once. Let’s not keep him waiting.”

I groaned in protest. “Ain’t it easier to bring them to me?”

“Easier for you, maybe.” He grunted, folding his arms over his chest.

Che, no sympathy for the wounded. I swung my legs over the side of the bed. The cold shot through my socks as soon as I touched the linoleum floor. Thankfully, the nurses had changed me into pants and a shirt instead of those horrendous hospital gowns because I ain’t about that life. Gran Torino led me down the hall to a room where two men stood. One I recognized – it was the guy that had tried to take me to the hospital.

His eyes met mine and he rushed forward, relief on his face. “You’re okay, I’m so glad!” The relief quickly switched to disappointment. “I trusted you to go straight to the hospital. What were you thinking? You were already badly injured and then you went after the hero killer. You could have died, do you understand?”

I scratched my cheek. “Yeah, yeah, I know. I don’t regret it, though. I’d do it again.”

The second man cleared his throat and holy fucking salsa dancing chimichangas is that a dog on two legs?? Why is this bitch so goddamn tall?? “We should scold them together, woof.”

Bro, he just fucking barked, I can’t.

Gran Torino nudged me forward and I reluctantly tore my eyes from the dog, entering the room. All three boys snapped their heads to us.

“Jen!” Zuku sprung off the bed, stumbling with a squeak. I rushed forward, catching him with my good arm. He buried his face in my neck, arms tight around my waist. “We were so worried… they wouldn’t tell us where you were or if you were okay.”

I hummed, running my fingers through his hair. “I won’t die so easily, not when I have so many brats to look after.” I helped him back to his bed before sitting on the side.

Gran Torino stomped forward. “Idiot! I could yell at you for hours right now!”

“Yeah… I’m… sorry…” Zuku mumbled, looking down at the covers in shame.

“But before I do, you’ve got a visitor. This is Hosu’s chief of police, Kenji Tsuragamae.”

The tall dog entered the room on cue, his hands in the pockets of his suit pants. Todoroki and Iida immediately stood up and Zuku struggled to do the same. “No, please stay seated, woof.”

I held my breath to prevent myself from laughing. I mean come on, can you blame me? He’s a fucking dog for fuck’s sake and he keeps barking! What even is my life?

“So, you’re the U.A. students that brought down the hero killer, huh?”

“We are,” Todoroki responded hesitantly.

“Stain has some serious injuries,” he continued. “Severe burns and several broken bones. Right now, he’s in the hospital under strict guard, woof. Here’s a lesson you should have already learned – when quirks became the norm, the police force sought to maintain the status quo. It decided we wouldn’t use quirks as weapons.”

What the fuck is the point, then? If you got a bitch comin’ at you with the intent to kill, you can bet your ass I’mma use my quirk as a fucking weapon.

“That’s when heroes came in. They could do what we couldn’t – if they were licensed, of course, woof. It would be impossible for the police to condone the use of deadly quirks. After all, we’re here to stop such harm from being done. The only reason the pros can use their powers now is because of the strict code of ethics that the early heroes chose to abide by.”

I scratched my cheek. He just started talking and my brain is already starting to hurt. This mutt is throwing information at me like I’mma be graded on it. He should be thanking us for doing what he failed to do, but I get the feeling that ain’t gonna happen.

“That’s why it’s against the law for un-certified people to use their quirks to cause injury. Whether you were up against the hero killer or not, none of you have the authority to harm a villain. That means the four of you, and your supervisors – Endeavor, Manual, and Gran Torino – are sure to receive harsh punishments for this gross abuse of your powers.”

Todoroki beat me to the punch, his voice angry. “Now wait a minute. If Iida had not stepped in, Native would have been murdered. And if not for Midoriya, both of them would be dead. No one even realized that the hero killer was in Hosu. Are you saying we should have just stood back and watched people die?!”

“Calm down,” Zuku held his hands up.

“No, he’s fucking right.” I snapped, glaring at the mutt. “The whole fucking reason we’re training to be heroes is to use our fucking powers to save people. What kind of hero turns their back when someone is about to fucking die, huh?! You’re damn fucking right I used my quirk to harm that fuck and I’d do it again!”

“Jen…”

“So, it’s okay to break the law as long as it goes your way?” His eyes narrowed.

“But, sir -” Todoroki clenched his teeth. “Isn’t it a hero’s job to save people?!”

“This is why you’re not a full-fledged pro yet. It’s obvious U.A. and Endeavor haven’t been teaching you near enough. What a shame.”

Oh no, he fucking did not just go there.

“You damn mutt!” Todoroki spat, stepping forward.

“You’ve got some nerve, you fucking dog.” I snarled. “Insulting U.A. like that. U.A. is the fucking best school, full of people that actually give a damn about others!”

“Todoroki! Winchester!” Iida cried out. “Listen, he’s right!”

“Stop right here, kids.” Gran Torino held his hand up to prevent us from getting any closer to the dog. “You wanna hear him out to the end.”

The mutt continued, “What I’ve said is the official stance at the police department, but any punishment would only be necessary if this went public. If it did, you’d probably be applauded by citizens everywhere, but there’s no way you could escape from being reprimanded. On the other hand, we could say Endeavor saved the day.”

I glanced at Todoroki, seeing his body tense up. Personally, I don’t give a fuck about getting credit or not, I’d much rather prefer not to be in the limelight. But Endeavor getting the praise? Really?

“Stain’s burns would support this story completely and we could pretend you weren’t involved, woof. Thankfully, there were very few witnesses. This could be the last you heard of any punishments. It would mean no one would know about you, though. You’d receive no acclaim at all. The choice is yours.”

Why does this sound too good to be true, huh?

“Personally, I know where I stand.” The mutt held his thumb up, tongue lolling out of his mouth. “I don’t want to damage any promising young careers. Not for a mistake like this.”

“Bitch, huh?” I deadpanned. “You just fucking said – and it wasn’t a mistake, bro!”

“Either way, we have to take responsibility for being negligent supervisors…” The man, according to Iida was called ‘Manual’, hung his head in shame.

Iida approached him and bowed at the waist. “I’m sorry, I should have listened.”

Manual lightly karate chopped his head. “Yeah, you caused us a lot of trouble. Remember that, and don’t do it again!”

Zuku lowered his head. “And… I apologize, as well.”

“Me too,” Todoroki bowed, mumbling reluctantly.

Gran Torino looked at me expectantly and I stared back. “Well, I ain’t fucking apologizing. I don’t regret my decision to step in and help them. My goal is to protect these brats, no matter what it costs me. Was it stupid and reckless? Maybe, but I still stand by my decision. I would rather rot in a cell for the rest of my life than live with the thought that I didn’t protect them when I could have simply because of a stupid rule. Not only that, but that first fucking battle left me no choice. She was after me like a fat kid after the last fuckin’ twinkie.”

“Jen,” Zuku sweatdropped.

Gran Torino grunted and in the blink of an eye, he was in front of me, his foot in my stomach. The air left me as I stumbled backward into Todoroki’s arms, clutching my stomach. “Toshirnori was right about you, we have our work cut out for us with you. You should have accepted my offer!”

“You fucking moldy ass shrimp,” I wheezed in pain.

“I know it’s not fair,” the mutt spoke up. “You won’t enjoy any of the fame and praise you probably would have received otherwise but at least,” He bowed at the waist, his arms straight at his sides. “Allow me, as the chief of police, to thank you.”

“You know, you could have started with that…” Todoroki murmured, glancing at me.

“For fucking real,” I muttered. “Being a hero ain’t about fame. Who fucking cares if we get praised? That’s the whole reason Stain even exists, ain’t it? People are becoming heroes for the fame and the cold hard cash, not because they genuinely care about others. They don’t want to help people, they just wanna help themselves.”

He hummed thoughtfully as he straightened his body. “Perhaps, but I personally believe that good deeds should be rewarded, woof.” I clicked my tongue and looked away. “Now, I must return to the station and I ask that you accompany me there, Jen Winchester.”

Zuku tensed up, his eyes darting between us. “Wait, is she in trouble? Now that I think about it, you didn’t mention a fourth supervisor, why is that? Who did she intern with? I don’t remember anyone mentioning it. Plus, she was badly injured when she arrived on the scene. She said something about the first battle, what did she mean by that?”

I sweatdropped at his muttering spell, walking over and resting my hand on his head. “Don’t worry, Zuku, they just need to ask me some questions about somethin’ I saw before the battle with Stain. Heal up well and I’ll see the three of you back at school, alright?” I headed for the door but paused. “Can one of you get ahold of Katsuki and let him know I’m alive?”

“I will,” Iida responded.

“Thanks,” I grinned, closing the door behind me.

⊱ ────── {⋅. .⋅} ────── ⊰

Kenji opened a door, motioning for me to step inside. “What here, we’ll be with you shortly, woof.”

I grunted, stepping into the bare, cold room. The door closed behind me and an uncomfortable silence settled over the room. The thick walls blocked out the sounds of the police station. After leaving the three boys, he had checked me out of the hospital against the doctor’s wishes and drove me straight to the Hosu police department.

I fell into the metal chair with a sigh. The metal table is bolted to the floor so it can’t be moved, and another chair sat on the other side. A bright, fluorescent light sat in the middle of the ceiling, directly above the table. The wall behind me was almost completely covered by a thick black glass – a two-way mirror. Geez, why I do I feel like a fuckin’ prisoner right now?

The door opened and I lazily glanced over. “Hello, Jen Winchester.” The man smiled, closing the door behind him. “Do you remember me?”

He does look familiar, but, “Nope.”

He sat down across from me. “We never officially met. My name is Naomasa Tsukauchi.”

“Ah,” I sat up, smacking the table with my right hand. “The fucker that said the teachers saved us at the USJ and completely undermined the fact that the students fought hard as fuck.”

“Right…” he sweatdropped, his smile turning sheepish. “Sorry about that.”

“What are you doin’ in Hosu?”

His smile dropped. “We found the pro hero Caraphernelia. Another student from U.A. arrived a day late for his internship and when he stumbled upon the scene, he called the cops. After informing U.A. of this, we learned that two students were due to intern with her. And then U.A. got the call from the hospital about you and the others.”

“Wait, who was the other student?”

He shuffled through the papers in his black folder. “Regina Reggian, a student from general studies.”

Are you shitting me… that fucking kid.

“I need you to tell me exactly what happened,” Naomasa said seriously, giving me his full attention. “No detail is too small.”

I leaned my head back to rest against the chair, closing my eyes. “It started after Aizawa announced that we’d be interning with pros. During lunch, I got a text message from an unknown number. It told me to choose her agency if I wanted to learn about my mother.”

“I see. And did you tell anything about this message?”

I thought about Kat for a moment before shaking my head, “Nah.”

“So you chose her agency. Then what happened?”

“The first floor was completely devoid of life, so I went up to the third floor where I was told to go, right. Everyone was already dead when I got there. I was about to call someone, but then they showed up.” I scowled.

“We found the phone pinned to the wall, but it was destroyed so we couldn’t determine the owner.” He mused, scribbling on his notepad. “Can you describe who showed up?”

“Kurogiri, the warp gate from the USJ incident and some rodent fuck. He wasn’t at the USJ, at least not from what I saw. He looked like… if you took a shit ton of different rodents and fused ’em together.”

“The League of Villains… Did you fight them?”

I scowled, remembering that mutt’s words as I smacked my hand on the table. “The fucker attacked me, so I defended myself. What, was I supposed to just let him spear me like a fucking kebab instead of using my powers?” His lips twitched up but he said nothing so I continued. “I tried to leave because I didn’t like my odds and there wasn’t anyone to protect so I had no reason to fight, but that misty fuck is pretty smart and he got me.”

“They took you,” he concluded, tapping his pen on the pad as he watched me with thoughtful black eyes.

“Yeah,” I leaned back in my chair. “They chained me to a fucking chair in a room without a window or even a clock. And it was so dusty. What if I fucking had asthma, huh? I doubt the fucking League of Villains has an inhaler on standby, but that raspy fuck could probably use one.”

“Did they say what they wanted with you? Why they took you?”

I tried to keep a blank look on my face, but my eye twitched, making him raise a brow. “I forgot to mention – I’m pretty sure that bitch was workin’ with ’em.”

He nodded. “We have confirmation of that after searching her office.”

“They tried to recruit Stain, too, but he refused.”

“I see,” he scribbled the info down. “Anything else or are you done avoiding my question?”

I groaned, setting my chair down so I could lean on the table. The cold metal felt good against my skin. “Tomura Shigaraki and Kurogiri apparently both had feelings for my mom and since she’s dead, I’m the next best thing, but their boss had other plans.” My hand lifted to the pendant, my fingers curling around it. “He wanted this.”

“Why didn’t he just take it instead of taking such a big risk?”

“Can’t,” I glanced up at him. “I mean, you can take it off me, sure but it’ll always come back. It’s got some sick attachment to me. Tried to get rid of it so many fucking times as a kid, but it was always back around my neck when I woke up.”

He hummed thoughtfully. “That’s interesting,”

A knock sounded on the door and a woman poked her head inside. “Sorry to interrupt, detective, but there are two men here demanding to see Winchester. One of them is claiming to be her father.”

We exchanged a confused look.

My father? It’s gotta be Toshi, right? But… he’s never introduced himself as my parent before. And if it actually is him, he wouldn’t be demanding to see me, that ain’t his style. What the hell.

⊱ ────── {⋅. 🔥 .⋅} ────── ⊰

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[vorchagirl]

Day 2: Business (The Charlatan’s Smile)

Day 2: Business (The Charlatan’s Smile)

A/N - fair warning that I wrote a very dark drabble today about Reyes torturing people. It has torture, gore, blood, violence. I’ll put the worst of it behind a cut, so you can read at your own risk. (This is based on Sara & Reyes from my fic Gonna Get Close To You)

“It’s all very simple,” Reyes told the man sitting before him, “you tell us where the rest of your friends are hiding and we let you go. You don’t tell us … .” He trailed off and casually waved the knife in the air, ensuring the light glinted of the razor-sharp edge. “Well,” he smiled and tightened his grip meaningfully on the hilt, “you don’t tell us, and things get messy. Very very messy.”

The man sat frozen, pale and clammy with fear, each of his freckles standing out on his skin like a pale brown island. Blood and grime were smeared across his clothes from the fearful beating he’d taken earlier when a patrol caught him trying to plant a homemade bomb under their shuttle. His face was an artwork of suffering; bruises and welts had bloomed beautifully across a shattered cheekbone and broken eye socket.

He’s trembling, Reyes noted, pleased, and silently walked around the man. He looked to be of a similar age to himself, late twenties, but there was something soft about him, something untried. He looked more like an errand boy than a fully fledged gang member; someone stupid enough to get caught. A rabbit. A mouse. A soft little boy.

“Nothing to say?” he prompted after a minute of silence. He let his knife rest on the young man’s shoulder, tapping the edge of the blade thoughtfully. “A pity.” Reyes moved around in front of him and squatted down so he could look him in the eye, rocking back on his heels, totally relaxed. “Tell me,” he asked him. “Have you ever seen a Charlatan Smile?”

The man’s eyes widened and he jerked against his restraints as two Collective members stepped forward to hold his head and Reyes got back to his feet and leaned in close. The Outcast member was talking now, a jumble of pleas and piteous sounds which only made Reyes grin wider as he took his chin in his hand. The stench of his fear coated the air like a foul perfume, and his eyes rolled wildly like a frightened animal as Reyes brought the knife up to his mouth.

“Last chance,” he invited, smiling his jackal’s smile, hoping the man would give him the satisfaction of carving him up like a jack-o-lantern.

The man shook with fear and fury, and he spat at Reyes angrily. “Go fuck yourself, Charlatan!”

Reyes laughed. “Nah. I have the Pathfinder for that. Now, let’s turn that frown upside down, shall we?”

The rest contains torture and gore and is behind a cut ...

He lifted the knife to the  man’s mouth as he struggled frantically, desperately, his men holding his face still as he began to cut. The blade sliced through his skin like butter, and Reyes lost himself to the feel of steel moving through flesh. His world narrowed to the deafening screams echoing in the room, to the scrabbling of fingers against the arms of the chair, to the twisting tension in the prisoner’s body as he fought to get free.

It was a neat job. Blood trickled freely down the man’s face, into his mutilated mouth and lips, and over Reyes’ gloved hands, but little got onto them save what splattered up on the man’s spittle as he screamed. Finally finished, Reyes stepped back and admired his handiwork; the long slices up either side of his mouth cut into his cheeks deeply, and blood oozed down. The man sobbed and hung limp in his restraints, no longer fighting, no longer screaming.

Broken.

Reyes put his knife down on a nearby table and pulled off his bloody gloves, then stripped off his vest which was splattered with the man’s red-tinted spit. “Leave him here for the night, then take him out back and put a bullet in his head in the morning,” he ordered the others. “In the meantime, bring the next one in. We might have more luck if they see what we do to people who don’t talk.”

One of his men laughed. “You enjoy this don’t you?”

Reyes smiled as he unbuttoned his shirt sleeves and rolled them up, his eyes lingering on the pathetic man he’d broken. “I’d prefer it if he talked, but there is something satisfying about practicing a trade I spent so long perfecting.”

“You’re a sick bastard.”

He laughed, unable to deny it. “Don’t pretend you don’t enjoy your work too.”

Reyes wiped off his knife and slid it back home in its sheath on his belt. He said his farewells to his men, turned, and strode out the door, his mind already on other things. Sara was waiting for him outside, lounging against the prison wall with a glass of whiskey in one hand and an amused look in her eyes.

“You look like you’re waiting for someone,” he joked as he joined her.

She chuckled and passed him the glass. “And you’re covered in blood. Did he talk?”

“Nope.” He sipped at the ambrosial liquid and sighed happily as he slung an arm around her waist. “Did Keutus hear?”

Sara smirked and leaned against him. “Oh, he heard every scream, but he still won’t talk. It doesn’t matter how many of his people you torture and kill, or how many times he has to listen to them scream. You’re just making him angrier. Best be done with him and kill him now, I say.”

Reyes looked sideways at her. “You’re a bloodthirsty little minx, aren’t you?”

“Mmhmm, but that’s why you love me.” She plucked the whiskey out of his hands and took a long drink, her blue eyes smouldering with heat, then she passed it back. “Come on, you need a long shower to clean that blood off, and I’m feel rather dirty myself.”

Reyes smiled another jackal smile as he followed her back to their private quarters; who was he to argue with his queen?

[tatttletale]

♢ Conditioned ♢

"Take them back to the Tower, now."

"I. Won't."

"Then I'll do it MYSELF."

♢♢♢

"You don't have to do this!"

"Yes I do! This is what White Diamond expects of ALL of us! From a thin flake of Mica, to the deepest, hardest, STONE! We all must make sacrifices, for the sake of our PERFECT EMPIRE!"

"Your first colony was an utter failure."

       Yellow hung her head. She didn't need telling twice, but her superior seemed intent on reminding her of her shortcomings.

       "I don't understand how you could manage to forego every single instruction I gave you and make such a fool of yourself. There shouldn't be leeway for the inhabitants of a planet to rebel. You are conquering."

       The smaller Diamond remained silent. As much as it hurt, she knew she must bear the criticism.

       "Have you anything to say?"

       ". . . No."

       "You have embarrassed us. You have embarrassed me. You know what we must do with defective Gems, don't you?"

       She kept quiet. When she raised her head, White was glaring at her.

       "We shatter them," she made herself say, voice quiet.

       Even though she was only a head shorter than the largest Diamond, she felt so much smaller, so much more insignificant. Blue had done just fine on her first colony. Why couldn't she have done the same?

       Yellow knew she had been given the harder planet, but that should be no excuse.

       "We will talk later. You may go to your room."

       And she followed her orders, slinking away through the large white doors.

♢♢♢

". . . and all of you must be dealt with. You understand that our Empire must be flawless."

       Even though she detested what had to be done, Yellow made no objections to her superior. Across the room, Blue looked just as irked, but she wisely held her tongue.

       The Gems lined up in front of them gave their last salutes. The Amethyst looked on the verge of tears, arms framing her cracked gem.

       "You're disgusting. I hope you're shattered someday," someone spat.

       Yellow stiffened. Her eyes flicked down to a Lapis Lazuli, standing defiantly with her fists by her sides. The gem on her forearm was split but shone brightly.

     "6B, shatter them," White droned, and the Topaz she spoke to moved forward, brandishing her weapon.

       Yellow closed her eyes against the scene, but that did not stop her from hearing the sickening cracks of their gems being crushed.

♢♢♢

Her sixth colony had been a success, and yet Yellow had heard nothing from White in the last few hundred years. Was she not doing well enough? Did she need to exploit more planets?

       Blue was ahead of her with seven colonies, and she envied her greatly. White clearly favoured her blue counterpart over her, and she didn't understand why.

       She promised herself she would do better.

♢♢♢

The newest addition to the Authority was . . . different. She was so small, and even though her gem orientation mirrored White's, she seemed to be utterly helpless. She was childish and, quite frankly, annoying. Only yesterday Pink had bothered her about having a colony of her own, and she was barely one hundred years old!

       Both Blue and White seemed to share an affinity for her, even though she acted like a brat much of the time. Yellow would have words with her counterpart in the near future. The so-called "Diamond" needed discipline.

♢♢♢

Pink had found her in her sauna today. She presented her with some strange, multicoloured organic. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a rather erratic flower.

       "I visited Blue's Andalusite colony," she said proudly, and brandished the plant. "I found this and it reminded me of you!"

       She had to admit it was very yellow. And now, as the smaller Diamond all but shoved it in her face, she could see that though the petals were thin, they looked like stretched-out variants of her own gem.

       She let her fingers brush the planes of her diamond.

       "Yellow? Do you like it? You do, don't you?"

       She was silent for a moment.

       ". . . It is a pretty specimen."

       Pink beamed at her. "I know! I gathered a whole bunch of them. I have them in every colour—they're in my room. I'm trying to plant them to make the Authority symbol. White would love it!"

       Yellow sighed. "Plants can only grow in soil, Pink. There is no soil on Homeworld, least of all in your room."

       The Diamond appeared to wilt (much like the flowers in her room were doing, no doubt). ". . . Oh."

       After a few moments of thought, she seemed to brighten up. "But planets have soil on them! I can plant them on a planet!"

       "Not all planets have soil on them."

       "But Blue's has! I can just put them back there."

       ". . . No, you can't. By the time the colonisation is completed, there will be no minerals left in the soil. The plants will die."

       Pink looked crestfallen. Yellow gazed at her steadily.

       Suddenly, the tiny Diamond stomped her foot. "It's not fair! I can't do anything I want! Why can't I have my own planet?"

       Her senior sighed again. "You're inexperienced."

       "I'm a Diamond too! I deserve a colony!"

       "To do what with?" Yellow snapped. "To waste our time and its resources growing organic life? White will surely agree."

       The young Gem shot her a poisonous look before storming out.

       She needed to be taught a lesson.

♢♢♢

The nerve of that Gem!

       She didn't even act like a Diamond and yet she demanded her own worlds, her own Gems! It was one fad after another. First the flowers, then the pebbles she found on Nortira, and now colourful, wriggly organics from yet another of Blue's colonies.

       Yellow had locked her in the Tower.

       She needed to be taught how to be a Diamond. She couldn't go jeopardising colonies, disappearing on their planets and bringing back organics, leaving them with radio silence for days. It was nonsense.

       And still, White met regularly with her and Blue, laughing, indulging in themselves, leaving her to do all the hard work. Everything was demanded of Yellow and yet nothing was given back. Some days she felt broken. The only support she ever got was from Blue, and yet she was always occupied with that bratty little Diamond.

       She felt so alone. So unwanted.

♢♢♢

Another Ball.

       Even though she wouldn't admit it aloud, Yellow found the Balls amusing. There was something relaxing about watching Sapphires, Jades, Quartzes and clockwork Gems dance and drift together across the floor.

       She glanced down at Pink. The little Diamond looked a little put out, but nevertheless she was always entranced to watch their Gems interact this way.

       For a Gem created for one strict purpose, the youngest Diamond was certainly dynamic.

       She was creative and, as Yellow found herself spending more time with her, thoughtful. From every colony she visited she brought back gifts for no reason at all. Yellow had the inkling Pink was forever trying to impress her.

       She was intolerable at times, but she found herself warming to her. As much as she denied it in the beginning, she was bringing their family together, making it just that little more worthwhile to be around one other.

       Pink lifted her gaze and was startled to meet Yellow's own eyes. She quickly recovered and beamed at her, gesturing at the multitude of dancing Gems.

       Yellow nodded and smiled. Pink seemed satisfied and turned around, this time waving to get Blue's attention.

       Pink's Balls were the only time Yellow got to see all her Gems so happy, free to forget their duties for the while and just enjoy themselves (in a uniform way, of course). Not even White could find a way to dampen her spirits here.

       For the first time in centuries (perhaps since the time Blue emerged), Yellow found she was content.

♢♢♢

Finally, Pink had been given her own colony, and she was ecstatic. Her joy was infectious and it affected even her new Pearl, who always seemed so serene.

       Though Yellow had been too busy thus far to supervise Earth's progress with her, she had promised to take her down to receive her new Gems soon, to teach to her the courtly manners she must present herself with.

       Though she was young, Yellow had confidence that the youngest Diamond was on her way to becoming a fully-fledged leader of her Court.

       She would never let known her feelings to anyone else, but privately, just within herself, she vowed to keep Pink Diamond safe.

A/N: I know, Yellow thinks things are finally going smoothly, and though Pink's excited about her new colony, she's at the unhappiest point in her life! You can hate me all you want :)

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[possiblyafangirl]

The girl in the pretty dress // Michael Gray

The atmosphere of the club was lively. You absolutely loved it. From the fast paced music, to the drunk couples dancing, to the small group of people doing cocaine in one of the small booths. Your older brother owned the club, it was his pride and joy. Keeping up it’s reputation of being one of Londons best clubs was hard to say the least, with gangs constantly fighting over territory your brother was always having meetings with gang leaders to ensure the clubs safety and his ever growing reputation. You wouldn’t say your brother was a fully fledged gangster, but he did engage in illegal activities and was slowly trying to pull himself through the ranks to become what he called ‘a big cat’. “Y/N!” Your brother, Reggie, called to you over the music, from his position the top of the grand staircase that lead to the V.I.P section. You took a long sip of your whisky and rolled your eyes before making your way through the crowded bar, past the dance floor and up the staircase. You looked down at the crowd from the balcony, a subtle smirk graced your face when you spotted Reggie’s men among the hustle below. It was no secret that you and your brother didn’t get along. It had been that way since you were children, running circles around each other, throwing sly and belittling comments at each other in front of semi-amused audiences. “Y/N!” Reggie called again. You took one last glance back at the crowd before you turned to Reggie, “Coming brother” you called, your voice sounding as smooth as silk. You followed Reggie back into his office where you found two men in peaked caps waiting for Reggie in his office. Immediately, you recognise the man with the blue eyes as Tommy Shelby, leader of the Peaky Blinders. The second man you couldn’t recognise. But you did find him and his brown eyes very attractive. “This your sister?” Tommy asked before lighting himself a cigarette. “Yeah, Y/N handles the club finances and other things on slow nights” Reggie grunted throwing you a certain look in an effort to embarrass you before he took a seat in his leather chair that sat behind his desk. “Don’t introduce me like that” you snapped. “Club finances and other things” you muttered to yourself. “Y/N” Reggie warned in a condescending tone, shooting you another look. “You make me sound like a whore. You fucking know that I’m busy pouring drinks on slow nights, not spreading my legs” you huffed. “All I said was that you handle club finances and other things” Reggie sighed. “We all know exactly what you meant” you spat, pointing a finger in your brothers direction. “Alright miss Y/N, if you could take a seat” said Tommy with a ghost of a smirk on his lips. “Fuck off” you barked, “what did my brother do to get you down here anyway hmm, a big cat like yourself must be awful busy with that booming business of yours” you said looking him in the eye, taking deep breaths in order to calm yourself a little. Tommy stood there, inhaled some of his cigarette, then exhaled slowly in a menacing manner before her spoke in a calm and deep tone. “You’re right.” You blinked a few times trying to process what he had just said to you, it was rare occasion anybody ever said you were right. “I’m a busy man, and it wasn’t your brother who called me down here, my cousin and I have come for something else.” Tommy continued, stopping to lick his lips a little. “You have quite the reputation miss Y/N, you killed that copper and got away with it. That’s why we’re here.” Straightening your back you looked from Tommy, to Reggie, to Tommy’s cousin who was yet to say anything, then to the floor. “You’ve come to the wrong place then.” You said in a soft voice before exiting the office. You had never felt more small. Killing that copper was an accident, you had only meant to do a little bit of damage when he cornered you in an alleyway, and got rough while demanding information about your brothers business partners. News spread fast, and many were amazed that you had gotten away with it. Some people even trying to hire you to kill their rivals, saying that the only reason you had gotten away with it was not because of your brother, but because nobody expected the girl in the pretty dress. Pushing through the dance floor you felt a wave of nausea hit you as the memory’s of that night flooded your mind. You shoved a man who had stepped on your foot when you quickly passed through the bar, ignoring his angry shouts when you spilt his drink. Once you made it through the doors into the cool night air you let out a breath and walked to the other side of the street where you felt far enough from what had just happened. You reached into your dress pocket, pulled out a cigarette with your right hand and searched for your lighter with your left hand. “Fuck” you muttered when you realised you left on the bar. “Need a light?” Said a unknown voice. You turned to find Tommy’s cousin with a lighter in hand, “Yeah thanks” you said taking it from his hand, lighting your cigarette. “Want a smoke?” You pulled another cigarette from your pocket and offered it to him. The two of you stood smoking in silence for what felt like forever before he introduced himself to you. “I’m Michael” Exhaling some smoke, you looked up at him. “About time you told me your bloody name. So, Michael, did you and your cousin really come all the way to London because I killed that copper?” “You could say that.” He said shifting his weight from one foot to another when it had gone silent again. “It was an accident” you whispered, dropping your cigarette butt on the ground and stepping on it. Michael looked up, “what was?” “When I killed that copper” you started. “It was a fucking accident, so don’t think that I’ll work as some sort of assassin for you and your cousin.” Michael put out his cigarette and nodded to himself a few times before he spoke. “Alright then, in that case, do you dance?” You blinked a few times then scoffed in disbelief, you had just told the man you wouldn’t work as an assassin and he asks you if you dance. You walked back to the club, leaving him on the other side of the street. But just before you entered the club you turned to Michael and shouted; “As a matter of fact I do dance. But that doesn’t mean I want to dance with you.”