#was that intentional or did the only other cast member not even come to his mind

[footnoteinhistory]

Harry mentioning John, Markie, Charlie, and Marsha then saying “I don’t want to leave anyone out” lol

[a2remedy]

Prompt #3- It’s on Fright

Summoning has never been off the table. In fact Danny welcomes it.

At least after the first 50 he did.

Now it’s just getting repetitive. Destroy the world, end this specific race, person, sexuality. He’s really heard it all and it honestly sucks. He’s a protective spirit damn it!

Look at all the high and mighty people and cultists that would call on him for their mortal issues? It's even more annoying to listen to the whiney people who think they're entitled to his power or his time.

So he did what he should've done this whole time. If ghosts are strong enough emotional echoes, why shouldn't it be the same way? He establishes a connection between his summoning circle. If the caster's intent when casting the spell is for anything other than protecting life, its free game. Que the registration of numerous ghost to send an echo of themself to fuck with the people who thought they could fuck with the king. Of course, there are rules. You're only there for a short window. No killing is permitted unless a caster is hostile and a threat to ghosts. Ensure the safety and good health of human sacrifices. Blah,blah, blah. But most importantly, make them regret ever casting the spell in the first place. Upon numerous heroes failing to stop the summoning in time, there's a vast amount of random shit that happens further proves to not fuck with the realms. Batman can only hear the nostalgic music before witnessing the lead cultist that nabbed Jason get hit by an ice cream truck driven by a muscular man and little girl in uniforms. Tim and could agree that their soft serve was the best they ever had. Hal comes onto the cultists being forced into a tea party and learning their table manners from a blue dragon in a gorgeous dress and tiara. Flash comes up to Shazam and a lanky grey figure with glasses discussing Justice League fanfiction while the cultists have to cosplay the members and live out their found family dreams. Spectra is having the time of her life honestly. Talking things out with depressed kids to work through those feelings or being allowed to pay a certain clown a visit time and time again for her good work along with, spooking frats and sororities.

Superman has been quick to react to cultists after a little demon of a girl promised to return if he wasn't treating his clone better to not repeat the beatdown that was personally recorded and handed to Lex to make if he agreed to make merch from it. Most summon sites are Jumpscare Central or a straight up scrap. It's also a wonderful chance for Spectra to give the bats what they fear most. THERAPY!!! Under Jasmine's supervision, of course. JLD has heard the outcries of the JL and still keeps their good standing with the king to themselves. Especially that said king is over every Friday with treats and gifts from throughout the ages. He's fallen for the blonde warlock that has always been able to reliably call on him because he only does it when ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY! Danny found it odd that the only person who could call him now was a sad Brit in a trenchcoat but a conversation or two had them see that they were often than not on the same wavelength. Sick of their duty, in need of a drink, and helping the world to the best of their ability. John is just so human and reminds him of how he is too. That soon applies to Zatanna too, who's distraught from leading. Besides, what happens in the House of Mysteries stays in the House of Mysteries.

[euhla]

Stay with me (please) 𝜗𝜚. AVENTURINE

𝄞⨾𓍢ִ໋. MDNI, smut, fem!reader, slight angst, poorly written smut, trauma (aventurine’s backstory), insecurity, fluff, friend w benefits, marking, bitting, dom/sub, soft dom, praise kink, p in v, creampie, soft sx, unprotected sx, dacryphilia, nipple play, pet names; baby, actually no plot ּ ֶָ֢. ໒꒰ྀིっ˕ -｡꒱ྀི১

𝄞⨾𓍢ִ໋. a/n : aventurine is the first character for my actual smut🙏 AND i’m trying to write smut and this is my HORRIBLE first experiment. anw, english is not my first language ! please forgive me if there’s any mistakes ^___0 (AGAIN, poorly written)

Bare skin without the slightest cloth touching each other on a night where the moon shines at its peak. The inaudible of the surrounding nature made the screams of pleasure could be heard clearly. And poor for those who hear that despicable voices.

It all feels like a fortnight ago; the first time two strangers met each other again—you were brought together by fate that bound you like a chain. Aventurine

As fellow members working under the IPC, you both have only met once before. Maybe it's because of the invisible wall—the caste that separates the two of you. He’s one of the Ten Stonehearts, while you’re merely a subordinate who obeys their superior.

In a corner of the magnificent city of Penacony, in a casino, a gathering place for people with enough wealth to make them confident of winning consecutively. The two of you meet again for the second time.

And it was clear from the first night; disguised under pretext of getting money and all of Aventurine's wealth, you actually just want to keep looking at his figure that always looks majestic and charming. Without doing anything, he will always be the center of attention.

The way his hands find the part that gives you pleasure, the way the praises he whispers to you always invites butterflies in your stomach. Everything he does feels like a blessing to you.

“Hah—“ You whimpered in between the pleasures. You feel overwhelmed by what he is doing to you; his hips moved back and forth in a pattern, His left hand moved to where it belongs—your breasts. He squeezed them, playing with your nipples as if they were toys. While his right hand covered his own mouth, to limit the sounds that came out of his mouth for the sake of his pride.

Without you realizing it, your tears start to fall. Whether because of pleasure or pain. And somewhere, inside you, something twitches. It’s Aventurine’s. He's aroused... of your crying?

You slowly opened your eyes. Your vision was a little blurry from tears, and you blinked several times to be able to see Aventurine. He's flustered, and you too.

“Ah.. i–“ He felt a little humiliated, being aroused by your crying. His hips almost stopped moving from the shock, and you protest about it.

“Hah… i- it’s okay,” You try to calm him down. Your shaking hand rose to cup his cheek. it’s okay

Once he regained his composure, he whisper in your ear, “mngh—you did so well for me, baby.”

After saying that, his lips immediately kissed the curve of your neck. Leaving marks that will disappear when morning comes. And he will remind you to wear a scarf or something that can cover it

This time his neck formed a beautiful curve while his head leaned back slightly, his mouth opened to let out a moan. This means his days are tiring

And the next thing you know, a warm feeling enters your womb. Aventurine just remained silent without any intention of pulling out.

You don't care what you look like now. The most important thing now is to calm Aventurine.

“Is everything okay?” One of your hands was in his hair, stroking it in an attempt to calm him down. “Something’s bothering you?” You asked again.

Reticence. Something enveloped the two of you. You still stroked his hair, even though the answer never came.

Of course he didn't answer you. Deep in his mind, only apprehension ran free. He felt ashamed of himself, ashamed of the slave mark that would always be on his neck. Accompanying him every step he takes, while reminding him who he really is. Who is nothing more or less than a slave.

The wound was old, but it still remained and felt fresh as if it had just been carved. And somewhere, in the depths of his mind, there was a great desire that was forced to hide; but i want to live, not just survive.

How does it feel to feel the sun's rays hitting your face without remembering your own past? How does it feel to be able to sleep soundly on a planet in this universe without fear of nightmares? Aventurine just wants to experience the beauty of life without hurting other people.

The remaining human feeling in his heart wants to reach you, wants to prevent you from leaving him. His mouth wanted to say three sacred words, but his heart told him to remain silent.

Will you still be willing to stay until I can accept everything?

[utilitycaster]

So I alluded to this in tags but did not want to put this on someone else's post and so: I have been catching heat for calling various members of Bells Hells selfish since the start, and to be clear, I will keep doing this, because I have precisely no respect for the intellect of anyone doing this, but I want to underscore that it's not just that I find many of the party's actions profoundly selfish/self-absorbed; it's been a growing pattern in the people who defend them.

It is selfish to fail to take into consideration the perspectives of others and to act out of your own pain in a way that hurts other people. I categorically reject the idea that being traumatized, abused, or experiencing negative things in any way excuses you from having to consider how your actions can harm others. In fact, failing to do this makes you a worse person; to say "the world hurt me and I'll visit this pain on other innocents" is ultimately, an indefensible position on moral grounds. That doesn't, to be clear, mean I dislike it in stories, which should have conflict and moral grayness. But I do not find these characters to be people I consider to be good, if this is with any consistency the frame of reference from which they act.

To say "the gods did not give me things and therefore they deserve killing" is profoundly selfish and vindictive. Having no love for them is one thing; actively wishing harm on them is, in fact, self-centered in the extreme. But that's actually not what I'm here to talk about in regards to Bells Hells' selfishness, both because I've found trying to explain that the gods are living beings and murdering all of them is, you know, bad, to some of the fandom has failed for the reasons I'll discuss later in this post. And, granted, this is a hypothetical, and we may look back in a month or so when the dust clears at a party that defeated Predathos and say "ha, good job guys," but should Bells Hells release Predathos deliberately? That is a betrayal of the Exandrian Accord. If you want to side with the man who destroyed Molaesmyr (and make no mistake, there is no way to do what he was going to do without siding with him; intent only matters if Predathos escapes despite Bells Hells giving it their all, not if they have slightly different motivations for fucking over their allies), that's a valid story, but to take the job and choose to fail to deliver? That is selfish. Someone else could have taken the job. The Doylist excuse that these are the characters the cast happened to be playing at the time does not, in fact, hold water; they could in fact have rejected the Moon Plot, or chosen to become the villains of this story. I would have, in fact, enjoyed that as a story! But this idea that they're not just assholes who think more about themselves and the shitty things various people mostly unaffiliated with the gods did to them during their childhoods than the vast destruction wrought by Ludinus across all of Exandria, is not one the narrative has ever supported.

What's really struck me, though, is a theme of selfish defenses in the fandom. I think bringing up personal anecdotes can be incredibly helpful! I found that some of the people who spoke about their experiences with PTSD in reference to Caleb, for example, provided incredible insight. Notably, the people I'm thinking about were not the ones whose conclusions were "so he's in the moral right to do anything to anyone ever because of PTSD" (and indeed they were usually people who celebrated Caleb as kind of an asshole). But those anecdotes do not override the experiences of other fans. Or, to dredge up some tiresome arguments, Beau is allowed to get pissed off at Caleb's behavior, even if his actions come from a place of trauma.

The two things that really stand out to me (outside of the bizarre ambient noise of white southern ex-Evangelicals acting like they're an oppressed class on that basis that has clung to the discourse like the slime it is) are the recent defense of Ashton on the basis of "punks/leftists are allowed to do this and I identify with Ashton so how could you be so mean to me, a leftist punk and therefore a good person and therefore I can do whatever and you have to like me," and the defense of the various Vanguard members (sans Ludinus) as being victims of a cult and therefore the trail of bodies they leave is fine because various fans have talked about having family in cults whom they forgave. I will speak bluntly here. I'm Jewish, and your argument of "you should be nicer to cult members because a lot of white southern people fall into cults, like one of my parents" is, to me, a combination of insulting, horrifying, and makes me hope your cultist parent gets hit by a car before they hurt more people. Should you wish to forgive your family? Fine, it's your business. To act as though it is a failure of strangers that they are not more generous towards a fictional character because you are sucking your own dick about how good you are at forgiveness? That is a level of entitlement that goes so far beyond the pale I struggle to imagine how you function in society.

I don't think Bells Hells are doomed to this epithet - they have a chance to do the the right thing - and I believe that those entitled fans can change. But yeah man, they - and you - have been really fucking selfish, and the digging in of your heels is doing nothing to convince me you're capable of even hearing the perspectives of others, let alone considering them.

[yellowbunnydreams]

Do you need some Vitamin D? (Incubus! William x Oblivious! F! Reader) [Part 1]

~Hi lovelies, I'm aware I have been a shitty author and disappeared for a long time, but I have been trying to get caught up with real life and honestly kinda hyper-fixated on minecraft for a week but I'm determined to write! I want to give you all the lovely things so here is an extremely belated Valentines Day fic about monstrous William Afton~

~Happy Valentines, Galentines, Pal-entines and fork-tines to you all! Today we're doing something a little bit silly and something very sweet in honour of the romantic day....A silly fic of monster William x oblivious reader, because let's face it, we all have at least one moment where flirting has gone straight over our heads and we missed the boat.~

@ruh--roh-raggy

CW: 18+ MINORS DNI. Fluff, age gap (Reader 20's - William Afton 40's(?)), teratophilia, meet-cute, punny pick-up lines, scenes of working out, minor porn-logic, ditzy! reader, could be classed as bimbo! reader?, size-difference, flirting, monster-lover, sexual innuendos, Monster! AU

William Afton ran his tongue over his teeth as he lost himself in thought once again. His silvery eyes watching you behind gold-framed aviators as you chatted with your co-workers, the blaring and beeping arcade lights casting colours against your skin in a way that made the older man suck a breath in through his teeth and click his tongue disapprovingly at himself. William had excellent control over himself both professionally and personally, there were plenty of times where his nature wanted to take hold of the reigns and control his actions but he rarely let them.

You were his little indulgence.

As the type of creature he was, it was hard to control obsessions and indulgences. Where did the lines cross? It had been years since he last let himself slip over the line and it had resulted in some unwanted agreements and commitments, a fact he was constantly reminded of whenever he received a letter from his thankfully former wife demanding reconciliation. She never knew the real him though, and William couldn't ever remember a person beside his best friend and his best friend's wife that had ever seen the real him. Just as he had seen the real them.

But as you turned and glanced at the older man leaning in the doorway into the 'employees only' corridor and gave him a little bright smile like always, he couldn't help his usually stern expression quirking at the corner of his mouth to return the smile slightly. You had that affect on the taller man, even if you were unaware of it or his perhaps less than selfless intentions behind it all.

You'd been working at Freddy Fazbear's pizza for just over two months, and in that time you'd made plenty of friends amongst the various members of staff. The cooks knew your break order and always happened to have an 'accidental' order of your favourite cheesy garlic sticks when you'd had a tough shift, people knew that they could rely on you to cover shifts when sick or that you actually knew where the first aid box was.

In general, people liked you, even if you were keenly aware of your one persistent flaw. You were...naïve, at times, and sometimes jokes and stories flew over your head whilst talking with other staff members. And sure, sometimes you'd had your female co-workers come up to you after some guy had talked to you and walked away looking dejected, only to be told they were flirting with you. But you weren't looking to change those things about yourself necessarily, and nobody ever said it was a bad thing that perhaps somebody who was interested in you would have to try a little harder to grab your attention.

"Afton's staring at you again." Your co-worker tutted, crossing her arms and making you look over towards him despite her hissed protests. Spotting the taller man with greying temples and those thin gold aviators that gave him a much more sophisticated look despite his yellow pin-stripe shirt that was a little baggy on his seemingly broad body. Giving him a friendly smile as he was indeed looking your way, seeing his usual frown twitch slightly as he nodded at you and shoved off from the wall, beginning to wander back into the halls of the pizzeria. "He's such a creep."

"He's not! Mr. Afton's lovely, maybe he's just shy?" You suggested, making the woman in front of you raise her eyebrow sceptically.

"Maybe if he was in high-school, he's a grown ass man, he should say something to you if he wants to say it!"

"Well, he and Mr. Emily do like to stand around and make sure everything is running smoothly. He's probably staring cause we're standing around." Shrugging your shoulders as your colleague shook her head and threw up her hands with an exasperated sigh.

"He's been staring at you for like....a month now? Anybody would think you were being sized up to be eaten or something. Or maybe he wants to fuck you." Wriggling her eyebrows suggestively, you smacked her arm and felt your cheeks heating up as you shook your head.

"Don't be silly! Or rude! Mr. Afton wouldn't think like that towards any of us, we're part of the Fazbear family!"

The young woman looked over at a couple of their co-workers sneaking kisses in the pass, with copious amounts of tongue like teenagers who had just discovered the concept of french-kiss and were delighted with the prospect. Shaking her own head as you wandered off to continue working, not wanting to disappoint your bosses.

"Yeah, perhaps a little more 'incestuous' than you realise though." Muttering under her breath as she trailed behind you, helping with the cleaning chores you both had to complete before the next dinner rush.

Meanwhile, William made his way into the offices at the back and made the man already inside jump slightly at his sudden entrance. His dark, short curls greying slightly and wearing an obnoxiously yellow shirt and brown slacks that made William's stomach turn slightly at how bright his friend was. Henry smiled at him from his desk and turned back to looking at the papers on his desk, allowing William to squeeze past and slip into his desk in the back.

The wooden top was cluttered with sheets of paper in neat stacks and animatronic parts in various spread states of disarray. Afton despised paperwork being out of place, but something that he deemed creative like his animatronics were fine to be in various messy states, art to him was supposed to be chaotic and messy. But his thoughts were distracted by that little smile you'd given him, running his thumb over his index nail repeatedly as he stared at his desk.

Henry noticed his silence and turned around in the swivel chair, facing his friend with a curiously raised eyebrow before scooting closer and forcing William to look up at the sound. Frown on his face as Henry broke out into a grin.

"You went out to look at that employee again didn't you?" Henry teased, making the taller man groan and rub his face under his glasses, jostling them from the comfortable position they had been in and forcing him to adjust them before he glared at Henry.

"None of your fuckin' business."

"Oh you did! And it our business! Do you think you might...pursue?" He asked, leaning on the edge of William's desk, making the other man sigh and shrug his broad shoulders as he averted his eyes back onto the projects on his desk.

"Been a while since I...Think I'm just an old bastard at this point." A slight smirk tugging at his lips as he watched Henry rolling his eyes, a huffing, snorting sound that William recognised as a more annoyed sound.

"Where did all your bravado go? Are you sure your previous wasn't a succubus or something? Sucked all the life out of you."

"Wouldn't that be fucking ironic. Must've been a vampire, drained me dry and not in the nice way either." Henry pulled a face and leaned over to smack William on the shoulder, the firm clap reminding William how strong Henry was despite his more slender frame and growing stomach from his wife's cooking.

Both men sat there for a moment before Henry sighed, running his fingers through his curls and shaking his head to dislodge the soft round ears from ontop of his head. Feeling his face getting slightly more full as his teeth pulled at his gums uncomfortably, blinking up at William who simply blinked back.

"Nearly new moon huh?"

"Yeah, it fucking sucks that I can't really leave the office or the house in case, but that's what I have my best friend and my wife for, huh?"

"Don't let your wife figure out they're separate titles." William chuckled, watching as Henry stretched his jaw and pawed at his face as he tried to encourage his more ursine features back into place.

"No way, I value my life and she will absolutely hand me my ass in silver bullets." Henry laughed and shook his head, looking back onto his own desk and spotting the poster for an upcoming event that made his face light up in an even brighter smile as he turned back to William. "You know what you should do?"

"What?"

"Ask her to the staff Valentine's staff-do!"

"Absolutely fucking not!"

"Come on, why?" He whined and William huffed, curling his lip up to reveal teeth a little too sharp to be human before he cleared his throat and cracked his neck, giving Henry a much more normal smile afterwards.

"It's so stupid, and plus, I need to refresh my skills, that takes time you know."

"Just go with what you've got! In fact, start today! Go out there and get flirting! If you don't have a date to that staff-do, I swear to god William, I'll bite you."

"Can't pass on the ursanthropy to me, Henry. But the thought of you biting me in any form is unpleasant." William sighed and stood up from his desk, watching Henry scooting back to his desk and rolling his eyes as he sighed.

Afton hated things like Valentine's Day, thought about all the overpriced flowers and chocolates that were out and about and the tacky foil decorations that would be used once and then ripped down within a day and never mentioned again. But Henry, annoyingly, was right about the fact that it was an opportune time to ask you out and flex his fingers with the charm a little.

It didn't take him long to find you, carrying piles of flat pizza boxes to make-up for takeout and humming slightly as you headed down the winding corridor, peeking over the top of the stack to see where you were going before a pair of hands reached out and took some of the boxes on the top.

"Let me get some of that for you, sweetheart." He chuckled, easily holding the boxes in his large hands and making you smile appreciatively, adjusting your grip on your own stack and feeling better that you could see where you were going and wouldn't run into anybody.

"Thanks Mr.Afton! I hope this isn't too much trouble." Watching as William shrugged and chewed over his lip, glancing over you briefly.

"It's no trouble, hey! Do you like raisins?" He asked suddenly, making you pause as you mulled over the question.

"I mean...I'm not keen?"

"Then how about a date?" William grinned from ear to ear, watching your expression gleefully as you blinked up at him.

"I mean..I might like them? Haven't tried raisins in years, I might have to try them again. Thanks for helping Mr. Afton!" You smiled, wandering through the corridor and towards the front of the restaurant once again, not aware of the flabbergasted look on her boss' face as he stared after you.

You weren't sure what had changed the next day when you came in for your shift, early as always and humming to yourself when you cleaned up. Henry Emily and William Afton came in through the front door, silence between them as you noticed that Henry had a pair of dark sunglasses on despite the early morning light and William had on a tight black t-shirt and jeans, looking more like a biker with a bit of a dad-bod going on. Blinking in surprise as neither of them were really dressed in the professional attire you were used to them being in.

"Good morning Mr. Emily, Mr. Afton!" You called out, causing both men to stop and turn their attention towards you. Afton looking at you with that stern expression he always had whilst Henry attempted a smile, although it fell quickly and settled back into a slightly pained look, causing your brow to furrow with concern.

"Ah, morning," your name was added quietly onto the end, Henry reaching up and rubbing his hand over his face. Secretly checking himself for any subtle transformations, William glancing at him from the corner of his eye before turning his attention back to you. "How goes set-up?"

"Well Mr. Emily, although...are you okay? You look a little sick and tired today. Maybe you should be at home?" Voice laden with concern and head tilted slightly as you watched Henry, managing to miss William's slight smile at your concern for his friend. Henry shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders lightly.

"Ah, yeah just not been sleeping well. Not sweet enough dreams perhaps." Trying to put some humour back into his voice as William lit up and decided to try out another technique on you, feeling his face settling into a confident smirk once more as he looked you over. Somehow you made even the uniform look cute.

"Not like you, hey sweetheart? You're sweet and a dream." You turned to look at him as the much taller man spoke, the same blank expression on your face for a moment before you laughed and shook your head shyly, averting your gaze from his silvery eyes. Wondering if you had ever been so close to him, other than when he picked up the pizza boxes for you.

"You're too nice Mr. Afton, I really just try to be myself." Shaking your head and not noticing as Henry scowled at William from the side, shaking his own head and rolling his eyes behind the sunglasses. "Well, I better get back to work, please take care of yourself today Mr. Emily, and please look after him Mr. Afton." Giving each of the older men a smile before turning back to your duties and allowing them to move on. Still curious as to why they were dressed less formally.

Henry all but grabbed William and dragged the taller man into the back areas and to their cramped little office. Both men staring down as Henry took off his sunglasses and revealed his more yellowish green eyes, the pupils blown out as he struggled to keep himself full in check as the new moon was only a day away. Holding onto his friend's thick arms for a moment before crossing his against his chest, foot tapping impatiently as he had to look slightly up to see William's face.

"What the actual fuck was that?"

"What was what, Henry?" William asked coyly, smirking as the werebear before him huffed and growled in annoyance. Narrowing his eyes as Henry gestured back out towards the main floor where you were.

"THAT! Was that you flirting?"

"Yeah? Girls love that shit, just cause you get that whole 'mate' thing doesn't mean everybody does buddy." William rolled his eyes and crossed his own thicker arms across his broad chest, staring down at the smaller man as he shook his head. Henry running his fingers through his dark curls for a moment as an exasperated sigh escaped him.

"When did girls like that, the eighteen-hundreds?"

"Watch it, and it was the eighties as you well know."

"Either way, you're an old bastard."

"Shut the fuck up, Emily." William growled, his own teeth changing slightly as his lip curled and revealed sharper canines than before. His own monstrous nature leaking through his carefully held together image before Henry blinked and he was back to normal.

Both men headed off into the offices, Henry still shaking his head and glancing at William with a sense of disbelief. His friend was loosing his touch and honestly, he wasn't sure what he could do to rectify the situation without being blunt and to the point which would entirely ruin William's whole thing.

"You're possibly the world's worst incubus, William Afton." Henry muttered under his breath, making William snort and smirk in return as the office door opened and he allowed his features to shift slightly. Sharp teeth, flatter more squashed nose and nails sharper as greyish brown fur started to creep down the back of his neck and onto his forehead, mixing into where his salt and pepper hair normally was neatly swiped back.

"Says you, I'm just getting started." His features turning back to normal as he shook his head. Cracking his neck and rolling his shoulders as the monster once against became the man.

Your phone buzzed on the bedspread as you sat eating cereal in bed and watching some true-crime programme that had come on when you turned on the TV. Almost missing the soft sound before you reached for it and tapped the screen with your thumb to light it up, pausing as you saw it was a text notification and heart pounding slightly as you saw the name attached to it.

William Afton.

Tapping it open, you wondered if perhaps he was asking you to cover the shift the next day, since you had a couple of days off. Although it was usually Henry who reached out and he never texted, always phoned since it was 'more professional'. He had looked sick earlier, so it wasn't out of the realms of possibility that he was handing over the responsibility to William to try and limit how much stuff Henry himself had to do. You paused as the text loaded after a moment and your eyes instantly landed on a photo of William.

It took you a moment to register. But it looked like it had been taken from around waist height and pointed up his body, his greying hair slicked back and wet like he'd just gotten out of the shower, those gold wire aviators catching the light but still able to see his grey eyes and his greying beard. His broad chest was covered in a tight purple shirt, sleeves rolled up to the elbow, the first three buttons undone and letting you see a touch of his dark chest hair that you somehow never realised you knew would be there.

Confused, you looked at the text that came afterwards, your eyes straying back up to the picture occasionally as you tried to figure out what on earth was going on.

'What do you think to the new shirt?' Still confused, you balanced the bowl of cereal on your lap before texting back, thinking on what to reply as you scanned the picture one more time before your fingers moved across the keyboard.

'It's a nice colour on you Mr. Afton. Did you mean to send this to me though?' Turning back to eating cereal and watching the TV for only a moment before your phone buzzed again and you looked at his name popping up on the screen once more, tapping on it to read as you chewed over your next mouthful.

'Shit, really sorry, this was meant for Henry. Thanks for your feedback though.' You tried for a moment to think how your name might end up next to Henry Emily's in his contacts but didn't think too hard about it, popping another spoonful into your mouth before texting back, wanting to reassure the older man that it was a simple mistake.

'It's no problem, I'm not doing anything at the moment anyway. Was just surprised that you texted me.'

A few minutes passed before your phone vibrated again, and you were welcome to the distraction since the programme had become kind of boring and predictable, it was clear who was the murderer and anything was better than the cliche music and dramatic cuts on the screen.

'Not doing anything? A young lady like you should be out and about! I'm curious as to what type of nothing you're up to now though.' The text made you laugh and shake your head, chuckling as you texted back quickly. You weren't sure what it was about the text exchange with William Afton, but it was enjoyable and you couldn't help the involuntary scroll up in the chain of texts to look at the photo again whilst you waited for his reply after your own.

'Sat in bed, eating cereal and watching TV. Really nothing exciting Mr. Afton. I can imagine your evening is more exciting than mine.'

'Well that rather depends on your definition of exciting. What would you be up to if you didn't have the cereal?' A strange question, but you shrugged and replied in the only way that came to mind. Totally unaware that William Afton was across town and laid in his own bed as soon as you mentioned being in yours, a small smirk on his face with one hand tucked up behind his head as he thought it was genius to potentially lure you into a salacious conversation.

'Get up and get cereal :p'

Your reply left his blinking at his screen and he turned his head to look at the floor length mirror across the room, seeing his more monstrous face staring back at him. Soft bunny ears folded back across his head and covered in a fine layer of salt and pepper fur. His large figure spread out across the bed, his clawed fingers running over his head and flatter face, nose twitching as his now pale purple eyes stared back behind his glasses. The bedding up to his waist hiding most of his transformations, tucking his knees up and curling up his lip to reveal his sharp teeth as his foot stamped in annoyance against the mattress. Crossing his arms around himself in a motion of comfort. The lagomorphic incubus was beginning to doubt his own abilities and he didn't like that.

What was it about you that resisted him so easily? He wasn't entirely sure, but he thought it might have something to do with the fact you had always seemed to have a few things...go over your head, to put it politely. Chewing on his lip as he looked at himself once again in the mirror before he closed his eyes and tapped his head back against the headboard, frustrated that it wasn't going exactly to plan.

Unaware of your boss' frustration, you gave up waiting for him to say something back, glancing at the clock and wondering if perhaps he had simply fallen asleep. But you had a small smile that he had talked to you for so long, and wondered if he had enjoyed the conversation too. Putting the dirty bowl on your nightstand to be cleaned up in the morning and sighing as you settled back into bed.

Scrolling back up, you couldn't help one last look at the picture he had sent, cheeks flushing with heat as you shook your head, tossing the device to one side as you rubbed your face. Wondering what on earth had gotten into you that you kept going back to look at your boss and admire the little features of his face.

[twstowo]

They End Up In a Universe Where The Two Of You Hate Each Other [Twst]

˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗SYNOPSIS: The two of are are happily dating and he couldn’t have asked for anything else, however one day he finds himself in a strange place only to find that in here the two of you are enemies.

♡︎Includes: Malleus

[AU Masterlist]

[Riddle and Leona] ☆[Azul and Jamil] ☆[Vil and Idia] ☆[Here]

⋆⋅☆Malleus

The fate of this Malleus had been written, excluded from a party, he cast a kingdom-wide sleeping spell. However, an unknown knight seeking justice would strike him down, breaking the spell.

──── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────

What a pitiful display of rage, Malleus thought, but deep down he knew that he if struck in a bad mood, he could end up doing such a thing. He got the hang of things in this universe, as the king of the Briar Valley he found himself filled with work, not having much free time. Along his days he finds himself travelling from time to time to different lands, Sebek and Silver always companioning him as his guards.

After a while, he finds himself receiving news of a party being hosted to which he hadn’t been invited. He heard the news, remaining as calm as ever, for he knew that this party would have been his downfall if he didn’t act as such. However, he questioned why the Malleus in this universe was so mad that they hadn’t invited him to this specific party. All along the year, he had been aware of others who had never even thought about sending him an invitation, so why would this one, in particular, make him lose his mind? Out of curiosity, he decided to check it for himself.

That was when he saw you for the first time in this universe. You were dressed in splendid white clothes with golden patterns, a sight blessing his tired eyes. You were the center of the party for him and everyone else. In fact, you had been the one planning the party and had been the one who didn't invite him. Oh, how bittersweet. He felt his heart clench. Did you hate him here? He found himself spacing out, almost as if heartbroken, not noticing the stares that he started to gain from the party members who had spotted him.

“Malleus Draconia, I don’t remember inviting you.” Hearing those words come out of your mouth, when the you he loved from his universe would never dare to forget him or exclude him from any party. The way you looked at him, cold eyes piercing his gaze as you slowly walked to him, everyone else at the party staring with mouths agape. “I have already stated that I’m not interested in you. Leave me alone.” He could hear the murmurs of everyone around him, some even daring to laugh at him, the audacity.

There he realized why the Malleus from this universe had cast such a spell on the entire kingdom, for he himself was having a hard time controlling his impulses in such a situation. “I had no intention of intruding. Since my presence is unwanted, I shall depart.” and with a last glance at you he left the party.

[flicklikesstuff]

Hazbin Hotel Ep 8 Ramble and Theory

⚠️ SPOILERS!! ⚠️

Surprisingly, the show’s first season really got me hooked with its storyline and I can’t wait what’s in store for the upcoming season 2.

I’ve had my suspicions with Alastor since the pilot, and it just keeps growing with every episode. Even then, his real motivations are just hard to really see and it’s what makes his character intriguing. One moment, he’s lurking in the shadows like some sort of villain, and then the next, we see him maaaybe caring for his friends?? If he even considers them that. Idk 🤷

I’ve always thought that maybe he’s sticking around and playing nice to get Charlie’s guard down in the long run. Waiting for her to get desperate so he can strike a deal with her. So he could ask her for any favour in the future. And guess what? That’s what he exactly does in Ep 7.

And if I’m recalling correctly, Alastor helped Charlie with the war, but Charlie is yet to grant her own end of the deal. Alastor STILL is owed a favour from her.

(Where am I going with this theory and analysis? I’m getting there-)

At one point, maybe he did genuinely care for the hotel and the people in it. Regardless what his motives were. He even admits it’s a “surprising thrill” to watch them form connections. But the word choices he uses in this scene are just sooo…weird?

“Almost??” “Could get accustomed??”

It sounds like he admits feeling attached to the other characters but at the same time, doesn’t want to commit to it. Does he have far more nefarious intentions in mind for them and that’s why he’s so distant?

Alastor probably noticed this in the ending of Ep 8 too. His altruistic self almost got control of him. He almost risked his life to help his “friends.” And he didn’t like that one bit. Perhaps, he sees this trait as a weakness.

It really sounds like the verse“Great Alastor Altruist died” is equal to him stating that “there’s no more Mr. Nice Guy” from now on. He’s disconnecting and staying firm to whatever his highly vague motives are. And it’s highly likely that whatever’s holding him back from his full power is the deal he made itself. And he’s going to try anything to get out of it. Maybe that’s the reason why he approached Charlie in the first place.

And I’m going back to Charlie’s deal with him here. The only condition she has is that she won’t harm anyone for him. But knowing Alastor, he’s going to twist the words a bit there. Maybe he won’t harm them physically. But maybe in some other way. Indirectly. One that Charlie won’t see in the long run. Maybe he uses this one favour to help him break free of this deal or loosen it in some way.

And Charlie already has so much trust in him after the battle, she most likely won’t see it coming. It’s perfect.

(Not exactly sure how these soul contracts work buuut, she’s the princess right? Maybe she’s powerful enough to do smth about it? Maybe that’s why Alastor was so interested to gain her trust and potentially free himself?)

…….

But anyway! Onto the second part of my theory!

Alastor’s probably going to optimise his one chance of freedom through Charlie’s owed favour. But I have a feeling he’s not only going to use just Charlie.

Who else is at the hotel that the other main cast members trust? Who he could freely command under his control? To show up at his will? Answer his beck and call? Whose souls that Alastor owns?

I swear. It is NO ACCIDENT that these two were standing side by side. NEXT TO ALASTOR. In the ending. (Or maybe I’m overanalysing, but whatever. This is MY ramble)

When Alastor comes back from the “dead”, everyone was happy to see him. Especially Charlie. And surprisingly Vaggie? I guess she’s warming up to him. Idk if that’s good or not.

Everyone except Lucifer and Husk. Lucifer’s still bitter on the whole ‘dad’ thing. But I just really felt sooo bad for Husk here. 😂 My guy had maybe a few happy hours of what he thought was freedom. Then he sees this guy come back and he’s just: “Ahhhh… SHT-!”

Now I’m just saying, I don’t think Alastor can just casually go up to Charlie and just easily demand that favour. Especially now that Lucifer might be staying around(?) Also, Alastor sounds like someone who would strategically play the long run if it means benefits. Albeit, less truly altruistic than before since that approach almost costed him highly.

He’s maybe going to have to pull some strings to really make Charlie feel like she HAS to do him a favour. To better solidify his chances and so she’s less likely to be hesitant/reluctant/suspicious. After all, Alastor is only owed ONE FAVOUR. Maybe he’ll pull some strings to win over Lucifer’s own trust too so he won’t be stopping Charlie? (I’m not sure, these two are not in good terms.)

(Look me in the eyes and tell me this is the face of someone who’s definitely not going to use this hotel for his own personal gain. Things are going to start getting ugly with Alastor’s new approach. I’m also still like 80% sure these 3 characters are placed together for a reason. It CANNOT be a complete coincidence, right?)

Now I’m really curious how Husk and Niffty would react under this sudden new approach. The angst potential here is smelling strong. It’s obvious that they’re starting to get highly attached to the hotel and really consider the others as friends. Something Alastor didn’t allow himself to.

And it’s not like they have a voice in the matter either. No matter what Alastor tells them to do to secretly manipulate things around the place so he’ll appear like he’s “helping out more.”

Who knows really? What kind of errands he’ll force them to do? “Mr. Nice Guy” is really no longer an option here. That guy is dead. Adam killed him.

And all at the same time, Alastor wouldn’t be breaking Charlie’s condition. He’s not making her hurt anyone at all. Just helping a good old pal, who’s done so much for her, to maybe loosen the constraints his deal has. Or whatever else he wants, I don’t fcking know-

(But Srsly though. The angst??? Niffty and Alastor are fond with each other, but Niffty is also starting to like her new friends too. Will that create some sort of rift? Niffty actually being hesitant??

And don’t even get me STARTED on Huskerdust. Like wtf-? Husk has already stepped out of line before and it left him completely shaken. What else could he do? And a heartbroken Angel finding out he’s behind all this when Husk is the first person to truly reach out to him? Husk not being able to meet his gaze out of guilt?? THE FCK-???)

Yeaaaahhh, can’t wait what Season 2 has for us all….

Remember fellas, this is just a theory. A Hazbin theory! :))

[astral-crab]

just had a thought. what if rio and teen are working together? seems like a bit of an odd coincidence that they both showed up at agatha’s at the same time to try to pull agatha out of wanda’s mind control spell. like, i’m guessing the timing is supposed to coincide with wanda’s “death?” and that’s somehow what allowed agatha to be found by them? because i’ve assumed that when wanda cast that spell, she made it so no one else could find agatha (“no one will ever bother you”). but once wanda died the spell….idk, became destabilized? (the magic rules seem a bit hazy here. i remember something from infinity war about how breaking a dead man’s spell is nearly impossible, which also makes me wonder why nobody is questioning how agatha broke out of wanda’s spell, but you know….there’s no time for details lol. it’s fine kids don’t worry about it.)

anyway, so let’s say wanda’s “death” destabilized the mind control and that’s how rio and teen could find agatha (because if agatha was findable before, it doesn’t make sense that everyone else would have just left her alone, especially her enemies).

but also how did rio and teen find her but the salem seven needed rio to tell them where agatha was? maybe only people with a personal connection to agatha could find her, at least that quickly? which would mean teen has a personal connection to her. HMMMMMM.

anyway. it’d make sense that rio and teen are somehow connected. rio could have put the sigil on teen. and maybe teen doesn’t know rio. maybe rio somehow set him on the path to finding her…for reasons? teen might be operating on his own, but maybe rio is pulling strings from behind the scenes, manipulating him somehow.

unrelated, but the ballad says they’re supposed to have their familiars by their sides. so where is everyone’s familiars? WHERE IS SCRATCHY???

also kinda confused how the road works. like teen can come along and participate even if he’s not in the coven, but he joined hands with the others when they were making the potion antidote and setting intentions. and there are five members of the coven. the ballad mentions earth, air, water, fire, but what is agatha? and are all witches supposed to fall into one of those four areas or are those just specializations? can you choose your specialization or are you just born with it? am i thinking about this a little too hard because mcu worldbuilding is not always exactly robust lol. probably. (but it’s fun.)

also i love the concept of “analog magic.” that really cracked me up thank you for that teen. but does that mean anyone can do analog magic? even if they’re not a witch? if you don’t need power to do it, couldn’t anyone do it if they have the knowledge? are you born with power? or the ability to access it? and then it can be bound or taken away obviously.

anyway im not gonna worry too much about minor plot holes or magic system inconsistencies, because im here for the emotional story first and foremost, butttttt i am still very curious about all these things.

oh but one more thing—WHAT HAPPENED TO RALPH BOHNER. that was supposed to be his house “agnes” was living in for three years.

[trustywukkiii]

Im such a SUCKER for the characterization of Dungeon Meshi. Ryoko Kui and her editor Hiroi Masaru are incredibly great at subverting character tropes and archetypes with a perfect balance of strengths and weakness.

LAIOS to a bystanding viewer could easily seem like a himbo. He’s strong, a little bigger than average with his BMI at 26, and capable at fighting, but his lack of social skills is a BIG weakness. The thing is, that doesn’t make him unintelligent. Whereas himbos are just handsome goofs, his autistic coding is written so maturely. Although he can’t pick up on social cues, what makes up for it is his knowledge on monsters. His book-smarts sets him apart from the himbo spectrum. Regarding his past as revealed by the Winged Lion, Laios is a fairly flawed man who has complex desires. He just happens to be incredibly appealing. I love Laios.

FALIN, admittedly can be seen as a beacon-of-hope-damsel-in-distress that centers the entire plot and conflict. But what deepens her character is the additional conflict and consequence of resurrecting her, turning her into a Chimera. Her time as a Chimera can place her as morally gray, since she’s not actively thinking on her own accord during the confrontation with Laios’, Toshiro’s and Kabru’s parties. (Should also mention that scene where she doesn’t care where she teleports the crew as long as they were safe, even if it meant at the cost of hurting others.) She may be a beacon of hope, but only to the main cast. During her childhood, she wasn’t praised and treated like a princess by everyone. Falin is a fairly beloved woman in need of saving AND stopping, for she is capable of many scary things.

MARCILLE, oh Marcille is my favorite subversion. So easily can she be seen as the clumsy fanservice nerdy lady who complains about every single thing. But no, she’s metal as all hell. First off, she may be clumsy as is established by Chilchuck, but thank god she’s not sexualized. No fanservice in SIGHT. The only attractive thing I see is her strength in magic. She’s incredibly smart but in a way that is not universally approved. Her ancient magic and selfish nature to resurrect Falin through whatever means makes her so mature and powerful. Plus, her complaints with eating monsters are pretty valid. They’re not out of childishness, and she eventually gets used to it anyway. She is so so so complex in nature. She’s a scary elf lady but also incredibly endearing towards the people she loves the most to the point she can’t EVER comprehend the idea of losing them. Marcille is the epitome of “whatever it takes.”

CHILCHUCK very carefully bypasses that “small but a million times older than you expected” trope in lots of shows/animes. Being a half-foot, he’s usually babied by Marcille and Senshi. Despite this, that man so blatantly acts his age as a father of three: he has a habit of drinking, cusses a lot, acts the most reasonable out of the party, and he’s overall just so.. questionable, considering that “other plans” joke he did about Toshiro towards his party. Despite all these flaws, Chilchuck is just trying to do his job. He’s quite knowledgeable and responsibly when it comes to his work and adventuring with party members. He just happens to be a divorcee father.

SENSHI surprised me the most. He’s set up to be such a knowledgeable father figure to the cast. He’s incredibly caring of the dungeon and the habitants, and he cares for the “young-ins” like a good father should. He could easily pass with that trope, it’s not a bad one, but they decided to dig him deeper with his traumatic past. I’ve read another’s blog that describes him as just another kid at heart who is happy to have friends and it wrecks me. He may act overprotective and help guide the others, but he certainly doesn’t knowing EVERYTHING. Senshi is a man with the sincere intentions of protecting his friends, he just has a misguided sense.

IZUTSUMI I’m sure has been covered already by someone on here but she incredibly stomps away from the catgirl stereotypes of acting cute and cuddly. She’s aggressive, mean and loud. Only time she acts kitty-like is subtly— she likes sleeping on top of Chilchuck. Besides, she doesn’t really want to be a beastman. It’s her whole arc. You would have expected so much fanservice from her if this was a completely different show. Thank god, that’s not the case. Izutsumi is just a kid who knows what she wants albeit not gently, but she’s still a caring individual who is in the journey of exploring her freedom.

And KABRU is a funny case. His first introduction has a beautiful way of setting him up as a perfect leader, y’know, just that average “I’m effortlessly strong and witted and will rid of all evil” trope. Reality is poor Kabru lacks experience. He may have perceptive abilities, but throughout the early parts of DunMeshi, his party is shown to be easily taken down by monsters. Regarding how he and Laios are meant to be each other’s foils, Kabru’s strong advantages come at the price of his lack of knowledge in monsters. He just HATES them. Social cues are his own special interest. Kabru has the valid motivations, he just unfortunately doesn’t have the power to execute them.

This is my own little love letter to Dungeon Meshi. I love the characters so much, and I wanted to give praise to its writing that I can easily tell came from love and care. If you’ve read this far, thank you for sticking around! I love rambling about this beautiful world. I’m sure I’ve missed a few facts here and there, so let me know what you all think!

[queen-haq]

Fic: Never You (Polin) - Part 6

Fandom: Bridgerton (TV show)

Spoilers: S3 released scenes.

Summary: They may have been friends once but his callous words decimated their relationship. Determined not to have anything to do with him, Penelope is ready to move on. But Colin isn’t giving up, not at all. Friends or not, they are connected for life - and he intends to remind her of that.

Excerpt:

“You would hate me for not wanting to court you. You would be that selfish?”

“Of course you would think that.”

“What else is this if not punishment?”

Masterlist (contains links to previous parts and my other stories)

Chapter 6

Dearest Penny,

I hope this letter finds you well.

My journey home was perilous and took far too long. However, I did receive good news upon my arrival. Mother was awake in bed, the worst of her illness having passed recently. It will still take a few weeks but the doctor is confident she will recover fully. I have told her a lot about you. As I predicted, she is excited to meet you. 

I miss you. I remind myself it’s only a matter of time before we can start our new life together, full of adventure and laughter, but it still feels too long.

Once my affairs are settled, I will be traveling to London to see you. I know your Mama will not take kindly to me but I hope to win her over with my intelligence and wit (I’m envisioning the mocking smile on your lips as I write this).  If all else fails, I shall win her approval through jewelry, as you suggested. Hopefully that will alleviate her concerns about an untitled son-in-law.

Love,

Arthur.

Penelope read the letter again, smiling to herself. While she and Arthur could converse for hours, his letters tended to be short and to the point. And though they lacked a writer’s flair, his letters still felt distinctly like him and she appreciated that.

With other men she was shy and tongue-tied, and they were never interested in her anyway, but Arthur Debling had been different. At a dinner gathering in Ayleshire, it was he who had approached her, and once she got over her initial shyness the conversation flowed between them. Perhaps it was because he was a merchant and not a member of nobility, but from the very beginning he treated her with respect and a matter-of-fact stance rarely displayed by others. To him she wasn’t some woman in desperate hunt for a husband or an awkward, shy wallflower to be avoided at all times. She was Penelope Featherington and she was enough.

For the first few weeks there had been no romantic intentions, they simply talked of art and poetry. Over time she came to see he possessed a brilliant scientific mind that he went out of his way to hide. Only when she questioned him did he finally admit he was embarrassed of his intelligence and felt the need to dampen his curious mind from others. That was the first night she started to see him in a different light.

“Penelope!”

The sound of Mama's voice brought Penelope out of her reverie. After hiding the letter, she made her way toward her mother’s chamber in the opposite corner of the hallway. Portia was already dressed for bed and brushing her hair when Penelope entered the room. “Yes, Mama?”

The older woman cast her a quick glance in the mirror. “Lady Violet has invited us for tea tomorrow afternoon.”

Pen paused. Tea at the Bridgertons meant seeing Eloise and perhaps even Colin. “I will be in-”

“And before you come down with a sudden case of illness, I will remind you that personal invitations of this nature have been rare of late. We can not afford to turn down any, let alone the Bridgertons.”

Between the Marina scandal and then Cousin Jack, there were many who no longer wished to associate with the Featheringtons. While that was a relief for Pen, she knew the slow exclusion really hurt Portia even if she did hide the pain behind a mask of angry condescension.

“Yes, Mama. I understand.”

“Good. Now get some sleep, child. I will not have you looking haggard tomorrow.”

Penelope sauntered back to her chamber, her mind still reeling. No doubt Eloise would be present and angry with her. Would she at least pretend to be polite? Pen didn’t know. So far they had mostly avoided each other, except for the ball last week when Eloise had warned her to stay away from Colin.

After entering the chamber, she was busy locking the door when a noise startled her.

“Pen.”

Colin’s throaty growl made her gasp, her body suddenly taut.

Hesitant, she turned around.

It had been two days since she last saw him at the park. And now he was here in her chamber, shamelessly sitting at the edge of her bed. Hair tousled, clothes messy and disheveled, he stared at her intently. His face was unshaven, revealing a stubble growth of a day or two. Instead of taking away from his looks, however, it only emphasized his handsomeness more.  

Her heart started pounding in her chest, both from the anger that flooded through her veins and the knowledge that his hold upon her was still so potent. “How did you get in here?” she asked, keeping her voice steady so he couldn’t sense how much his presence unnerved her.

“I climbed up the tree and through the window.”

As if violating her privacy was a daily occurrence for him.

“You’re so very determined to ruin me, aren’t you?”

“I was careful. No one saw me.”

“Well, that makes it alright then.”

“I didn’t take you as the sarcastic sort, Pen.”

“Add it to the growing list of things you don’t know about me.”

He didn’t respond, his eyes locked with hers.

The silence between them grew more tense by the second while they held still, as if a single movement could ignite a fire that would burn them both.

And then he stood up. “Do you know why I’m here, Pen?”

There was a button missing from his waistcoat, dirt on his breeches, and he had never looked more beautiful than he did at that moment. Her heart flipflopped in her chest. “I don’t care. I simply want you to leave.”

A bitter smile shadowed his lips. “Because it’s that easy for you, isn’t it? You’ve moved on already.”

“Yes.” The strength in her voice surprised even her when all she felt was anxiety twisting up her insides. “It’s time you do the same.”

“Don’t you think I’ve tried? That I’ve��been trying?” Anger laced his words, hurt etched onto his face. “You don’t want to have anything to do with me yet I can’t imagine a single moment of my life without you. Why is that, Pen?”

With a slow and deliberate gait, he swaggered forward.

“Why can’t I stop thinking about you? Your voice, your smile, your taunts...” He tapped the side of his temple erratically, eyes heavy with emotion. “Always in my fucking mind, refusing to give me even one moment of peace. You’ve been torturing me!"

With every step that drew him closer, waves of madness surged through her body. She didn’t want to feel like this, like her mind and body were completely out of her control.

“Why is this happening to me, Pen?” His voice cracked. “Why do I feel this way?” He clutched his heart, his long, lean fingers rubbing the spot over his waistcoat repeatedly. “It didn’t used to be like this, I was fine before! But now I think about you leaving me and it’s like I can’t breathe. Like a part of me will be lost forever.”

Her eyes softened. The man standing in front of her wasn’t the one who broke her heart. In his place was her dear friend, the boy she had known her entire life and loved for as long, and he was pleading for her help. “That empty feeling will go away, Colin. I promise.” She took a furtive step toward him. “You’ve only just returned, your life probably feels untethered with everything changing around you. But give it time, let yourself settle in, and things will be better.”

He stopped in his tracks. “Nothing will ever be the same without you.”

“It will, I promise.” She sent him a sad smile. “You will meet someone beautiful and kind, and she will be everything you ever wanted. The true love of your life. And this sadness that you feel right now will become a distant memory.”

A beat of silence followed as he contemplated her words.

Would the agonizing pain that coursed through her at the thought of him with another woman ever lessen? She didn’t know. Maybe with time and distance she would be free of this curse, but for now he was still very much embedded in her soul and the eventual reality of him falling in love made her want to retch.

“Is that what you think will happen for you, Pen? You’ll marry this Arthur and make me a distant memory?”

There was no outward change in him yet she immediately sensed the shift within.

He cocked his eyebrow. “Do you think I will let that happen?”

She stared at him defiantly as he approached her. “You have no say in my life.”

“But I do, Pen.” The glint in his gaze sharpened, making his blue eyes appear even darker. “Because it’s me you’re in love with. It’s me you swore never to forsake.” He came to a stop in front of her, forcing her to look up at him. “I intend to hold you to that.”

Her anger returned. “And I intend to fight you. Because I will not sacrifice my future to appease your selfishness.”

“I know,” he sighed, regret looming over his face. “I should never have asked you to do that. But that’s why I’m here, Pen. I want to make things right between us.”

Her demand to know how died on her lips as soon as he retrieved something out of the pocket of his waistcoat. Stunned, she stood frozen as he held out an emerald ring, one she recognized right away from having seen Lady Violet wear it occasionally. 

“My father gifted this to my mother on their tenth anniversary.” There was reverence in his voice as he spoke. “I think he chose it especially for the colour. It’s remarkable, isn’t it?”

She swallowed, nodding. “Yes, it’s beautiful.”

“This has always been my favourite of mother’s jewelry. I knew one day I would gift it to my wife.”

Her mind went blank.

“And maybe now is that time.” He bent down on one knee in front of her, holding up the ring. “Will you marry me, Penelope Featherington?”

Time stopped.

For so long all she wanted was to be Colin’s wife. In her mind marrying him meant she would finally be happy and fulfilled. He would be the perfect husband, and she would be a member of the happy and loving Bridgerton family at last. All her dreams would finally be realized.

Except she wasn’t happy or even excited. The man she loved was on his knees, proposing to her, and all she could think about was how wrong it all felt. The proposal didn’t come from a place of love. No. Instead it was borne out of fear and a stubborn refusal to grow up. A last resort so he didn’t have to face losing their friendship.

Then there was Arthur. With him she didn’t have to hide, she could be who she truly was and not have to apologize for it. And she could continue to write, whether that be as Lady Whistledown, someone new or even herself, and do so without shame or regret.

Colin may have been her lifelong dream but that didn’t mean she couldn’t have new ones. And with Arthur, the life she wanted was within her grasp. A true possibility rather than simple fantasy.

Immediately she felt a sense of peace, knowing she was doing the right thing for herself.  “I’ve already said this to you before. I’m betrothed to another.”

In one fluid motion he slid the ring back into his pocket before rising to his full height. He had always towered over her but that had never intimidated her before. For the first time she felt a small twinge of fear percolating in her stomach, realizing the stark darkness on his face was also new.

He was quiet, too quiet, stalking her every move with his eyes, slowly pushing forward. A predator enjoying the rituals of the hunt, preparing his prey for the kill. Instinctively she retreated, moving back until the door lodged against her spine. He continued to move in, slowly but ferociously, invading every inch of her space until he was standing directly in front of her. She craned her neck to meet his stare, refusing to bow down.

“Is that a no, Penelope?”

She couldn’t think with him so close but she held strong. "Yes."

“Even though you’re in love with me and not fucking Arthur.” 

Maybe he thought throwing her love back in her face would embarrass her into submission but it had the opposite effect. Infuriated, she stood on her tiptoes to glare up at him. "So what? You think you can use my feelings to manipulate me?" She shook her head no. "I have dreams that matter to me far more than my love for you. And I will not jeopardize my chance to achieve them just for scraps of your attention."

Her words were meant to provoke his temper so he would withdraw. Instead his eyes softened as he hunched lower to look at her, his gaze roaming languidly over her face, a gentleness to them that made her insides dance with anticipation. She trembled when his hands cupped her cheeks while he studied every inch of her features, as if marking her in his memory. And then his thumb gently brushed over her pout, his dark blue eyes following the tremor of her lips, and all she could do was breathe slowly, tentatively, her heart drumming in her chest.

“I used to think you were the sweetest person I knew. Always so kind and agreeable,” he murmured, more to himself than her. “And easily forgotten.”

It hurt. Even though she had always known that that’s how people viewed her, if they bothered to see her at all - but to have him admit it was a different kind of pain. “Then forget me. Leave.”

He didn’t move, his gaze concentrated on her lips, thumb stroking left to right, right to left. “And now I can’t get this impertinent mouth of yours out of my head.”

It came as a shock when she realized Colin was hard, his erection pressed against her body. "You're aroused."

He met her eyes. “I’m aware.”

She swallowed audibly. “Why?”

Irritation surged through him. “You’re here, dressed in a robe with your beautiful hair down, talking to me, arguing with me, breathing around me, and you ask me why I’m aroused?” His hands slid down her body until they were at her waist, fingers curving into her sides as he pressed her tightly against him.

A faint gasp escaped her lips feeling his hardness.

“I want you, Pen,” was his raw, throaty plea. “I can’t stop.”

“Show me.” Her voice was firm, determined. “Show me how much you want me.”

To be contined...

A/N - Thank you for the support on this fic. Hope you're still enjoying it!

[phantomvegetable]

Legion (Joey) x Reader

just this once tw’s: kidnapping ? sort of lol, strong language

“Scarlet!” Comes your desperate wail, climbing over snowflakes and frigid wind only to be swallowed up by the ghost town that was Mount Ormond, “where are you?”

In a ballsy show of defiance, your little sister had made a secret escape into the fog after you turned her down for the fifth time to venture outside of camp.

“Why not?” She had demanded with a stomp of her foot, fists balled by her sides. “We already know we can’t be hurt outside of trials. What’s the harm in a little adventure?”

“Because we can’t know for sure,” You warn her sternly, not even bothering to cast her a glance. Your hard gaze focused on the fire you were too busy stoking. “We don’t know what’s out there.”

Thinking that was the end of the argument, you allowed Scarlet to stomp away in a huff of pre-teen angst, telling yourself that she would eventually cool off and forget about it. To your sheer terror, she was not waiting for you in the tent when you came to console her ten minutes later, not being able to stand the guilt that began to fester inside of you.

She was just a kid. Of course she would want to explore—she endured horrors in the trials no child, no person, should ever have to go through. She probably just needed some sort of outlet, some form of escape from the day to day monstrosities that your group fought against. You felt awful for not even trying to soften your approach.

But you swore, once you found her—you were going to rip her to pieces.

“Scarlet!” You cry again, arms curled protectively around your middle to shield against the cold. A shimmer of hair resembling your own whipped around the corner of an old ski lodge, your footfalls quickening to a light trot once you noticed. “Scarlet, I swear I’m going to kick your a—“

Your threat quickly dies in your throat as you round the building, finding your little sister hiding behind the figure of a man that struck terror in your heart.

A Legion member.

“Scarlet,” You don’t take your eyes off of him, voice wavering, “run away, now.”

“Why should I?” She sneers. “I’m fine right here.”

You want to cry.

You don’t know his name, but you recognize his all-black outfit immediately. Dark paint is smeared around his eyes resembling that of a mask—another form of hiding his true intentions behind a veil.

He gives you a once-over before speaking, “I didn’t do anything to her.”

Yet, you want to say, but instead purse your lips. “What do you want from her?”

The bastard has the gall to raise a brow quizzically at you. “Nothing,” He says. “She was all by herself out here when I found her. Not very responsible of you, might I add.” Your blood boils at that.

“Great, thanks for the input, asshole,” You hiss, voice thick with venom. “Why don’t you go and fuck off now? Don’t you have things to murder?” The way his brow comes back down and knits together with the other one tells you that you struck a nerve this time. You almost smirk in satisfaction.

“He’s not a murderer,” Scarlet defends almost immediately, stepping out from behind his legs. “Joey and I were just about to have a snowball fight.”

“Joey?” You bark out in disbelief. “You’re getting all buddy-buddy with the enemy now?”

“He’s my friend,” Scarlet growls back, going a step further to forcibly grab his hand. You’re ready to come to her rescue at that moment, but “Joey” doesn’t even flinch. He just looks down at her with an unreadable expression.

“Scarlet,” You try again, starting to lose patience with her, “seriously. Come back with me, now.”

“Or else what? You’ll put me in time out in the tent?”

That did it.

“Fine!” You snap, throwing your arms up in exasperation. “Fine. You want to be killed? Be my guest. Don’t come crying to me when he puts you on a fucking meat hook.”

You spin around after that, stomping away back to camp before the feeling of being hit by something cold stops you in your tracks. You turn your head, snow falling from your shoulders as you stare your little sister dead in the eyes.

“Beat us in a snowball fight and I’ll go back with you,” She wagers, already packing another one. Before you can tell her “no”, she hurls the next throw at you, causing you to ungracefully dodge out of the way and fall on your ass. Joey lets out a snicker, smirking at you as your icy gaze locks onto him. As if sensing your apprehension, he holds his hands up in a display of surrender.

“You heard her. You win, she goes back with you.”

“And if I don’t?”

“You stay here with us.” At your unsure frown, he rolls his eyes. “Not forever, obviously. A trial will pull you both away sooner or later.” You look back at Scarlet before taking a deep breath, standing to your feet.

“You’re on.”

Three missed throws, rosy red cheeks and five successful hits later, you’re down to your final match with Scarlet and Joey until either you or they win. And, as much as you hated to admit it, you’re having fun.

You’re out of breath and your heart is pounding from excitement rather than fear just like it used to years ago when you were a kid, and you can’t help but smile every time you peek around the corner to see Scarlet grinning wildly at Joey because he scored a hit for their team. The fucker had good aim.

It was like you were transported from this world back to your own for a few blissful minutes, no longer survivors running for your lives from bloodthirsty monsters but rather people having good old fun in the snow. The burden of trying to figure out how you were going to keep your little sister (and yourself) alive seemed to melt away all but for this moment.

As you peer around your shelter to get a good visual on where Scarlet was, your smile quickly gives way to that of a frown when you don’t spot either her or Joey hiding behind their snow mound. Fear immediately seizes your heart, but you give it a minute. Then two. Then three.

“Scarlet?” You call out nervously, spying no signs of movement. Silence brings you out from behind your hiding place. “Scar?” You start to panic. “Scarlet, answer—“

Cold, cold cold cold sensations steal your words away, a scream coming out instead as snow is incessantly dumped down your clothes. You try to jump away, arms flailing and making contact with your assailant who ends up falling with you—and on top of you.

“Son of a bitch!” You wheeze, eyes opening wide to that of Joey’s face right above yours. You immediately seize up, heart skipping a beat at the close proximity of the killer. It definitely wasn’t because of his boyish, charming white smile that made the sun behind his curly black locks brighten tenfold.

Laughter rings in your ears, and it takes a second to register that it’s coming from him.

It’s husky, hearty, and full of life. Not the usual sadistic, maniacal cackled that turned your blood to ice as it boomed behind you during a wild chase. It makes him surprisingly… human.

The next sound to process in your brain is Scarlet’s laughter; wheezy, and utterly amused at your reaction to being mowed down.

“Oh man!” She wipes a tear from her eye. “Your face looked so stupid, dude!”

Despite the remark, you can’t help but puff out an eased sigh. You were glad to have your sister back.

Joey pulls himself off of you, surprising you further by offering his hand to help you stand. You eye it warily, next searching his face for a beat before tentatively accepting the gesture. You’re on your feet in one fell swoop, disconnecting your hands the moment you’re steady.

“Well,” You clear your throat, “I guess that means you beat me, huh?”

“Oh fuck yeah it does,” Scarlet grins. You glare disapprovingly, but decide to ignore her foul language by rolling your eyes.

“So then… what now?”

Scarlet’s face falls, and she suddenly hangs her head. “Actually, I.. want to go back to camp,” She says, which surprises you. “It’s getting darker, and I just want to be back by the fire…”

You want to be mad—want to yell at her all over again for bringing you all the way out here just to go back, but a hand on your shoulder has you jerking your chin towards Joey. He fixes you with a look that is all-too-easy for you to read and understand, and you sigh, shrugging it off before placing your own hand on Scarlet’s shoulder. She looks up at you with sad, vulnerable eyes, and your resolve crumbles.

“Okay, let’s go,” You agree, then pause. “Race back?”

Something unreadable flashes across her face, and then she swats your hand away. “Pssh, I’m not five. I’ll walk back,” She harrumphs, pushing past you to high-five her teammate who chuckles endearingly. “Bye, Joey.”

“Seeya, kid,” He rasps, then focuses his eyes on you.

You can’t help the way your muscles contract and squeeze, expecting the assailant to lash out at any moment; to flash an evil smile, to brandish the knife he’s been hiding the entire time just waiting for the perfect time to drive it far between your ribcage until it crunches and twists your innards. But it never comes.

No words come to you, either. You don’t know if you should thank him—don’t know if you want to thank him—or if you should simply dismiss yourself and catch up to Scarlet. You opt for the latter, wordlessly stepping around Joey and trotting backwards before bounding after Scarlet.

He watches you go, the sun finally dipping beneath the trees, taking the last moments of daylight with it. Sighing, Joey pulls his mask from his jacket pocket, burning holes of hatred through the cutouts. Still, he puts it on and makes his way up the mountain; heeding the call of the Entity as the familiar pull of a trial gnaws at his bones, demanding to be reckoned with.

He just hoped it wasn’t one with you.

[thebruno65]

What if Danganronpa 3s Final Killing Game was structured like the former two? Plus a new cast roster without the dr1 survivors.

Cast:

Death order:

Explination for all chapters down below

As you can see for the cast, i changed up the 4 dr1 cast members into other dr3/dr0 characters, as i think it'd be cooler for others to experience them as well. Not to mention that i have next to no clue on how to implement them on the story. So yeah, no dr1 characters on this.

And for the death order and plot, I've decided to try and keep it more canon to the first two games, and trying to add that feel of dr3 future arc. I think i did a nice job, but ill let you guys be the judges

Prologue: So in this timeline, Sato, Natsumi's and Monokuma Maid's deaths never happened. The former two joining the Future Foundation as interns/recruits as they both have ties with some of the Remenants of Despair.

In here, Makoto is still charged for trial for saving the RR's so theyre witing for him and Aoi and Kyoko to come for it. Meanwhile, they also found Monokuma Maid, who told them she had ties with Junko Enoshima, being acompanied by another girl named Ryoko.

She herself doesnt seem to admit nor even know about Junko, but Monokuma maid INSISTS they capture her too, she makes a deal that she is willing to cooperate with them in exchabge they they comply with her request.

In this timeline, the attacks on the headquarters happen before Makoto and his gang shows up and the sleeping gas knocks out all 16 future players.

When they wake up, theyre all greeted by a familiar robot bear in the big television screen in the meeting room. He announces the final killing game will take place here, in the headquarters.

Chapter 1: Luckly, this time the location isnt as run-down and filled with rubble, so there are still peopwr acomodations like food and resources. The participants decide that the meeting room should be the cafeteria and that once the nightime announcement hits, they shluld find a place with a lock door to sleep.

Kyosuke declares himself as the group's leader and begins to brainstorm ideas to get out of here. Though most people are okay with it, people like Natsumi and Ruruka are not, complaining that they didnt have time to discuss it. This would spark an argument with not only Sato and Natsumi, but also seiko and ruruka, with Juzo and Izayoi having to end them.

The bracelets are still active in this timeline, though they serve a different purpose, as most motives will now be shown in them for privacy reasons and will be a replacement for the monopads.

Though i have to admit... i have no idea how motives will play a role in pretty much any of the murders... so if you guys have any ideas, comment them! Id love to heard them.

Anyways, murder time! Tengan is our first victim, i mainly chose him as the first one as thats kind of a trend with first victims, with them playing a part later on in the game, both literally and figuratively. And surpise! Ryota kills him, he personally gives me a chapter 1 killer with someone thats so desperate to get out and while still a wimp, can probably still kill someone ff they truly intent to.

Chapter 2: After the first trial, things are starting to look bad for Kyosuke, as he failed to save two people, one being the chairman and founder! So trust is looking flismy, and flimsy it is as Ruruka, izayoi and Natsumi all decide to go on their own and stop following his command. Even later on with Sato, Daisaku and Gozu leaving too.

Now with both of the reserve course enemies leaving, they actually start to get to know eachother and talk more often. As while thwyre out, theyre still following the orders of the division heads by keeping an eye on their hostages (IE: Ryoko and Monomaid).

This is where they, surpisingly, start to 180 their relationship, from hating eachother to the person theyre closest to in the KG. They bond over different stuff, like their hatred for Munakata, respect for Chisa, and their fondness over the people they care about the most with Natsumi and her brother and Sato and her(Girl)friend. They even respect on how they will do anything to protect and have the two be happy.

But ofc, this doesnt last long, as the second murder comes around with Monomaid being the victim and sadly, sato herself being the culprit. In this, you can have monomaid do n intentional Chihiro and make Sato go through the edge, and kill her out of anger. This can even be related to the motive in some sort with maybe something to do with RR mahiru!

In the trial, Natsumi is suspected to be the culprit, as she was the one in charge of Monomaid, but her and sato defend it, and eventually with a lot of heartbreak of knowing who it is, reveal that they switched partners for a while as M.M was getting tiring to Natsumi. This turned out to be a horrible idea as Sato has a harder time controlling her emotions and has anger issues.

After the trial, Sato explains this to everyone and gets executed, not before she tells Natsumi to make it out alive and reunite with her brother, and tell Mahiru to live her life to the best of her abilities.

Chapter 3: After the trial, even more trust has fallen off not just from munakata but from everyone. At this point, Gozu actually decides to form his own leadership, taking in people like Seiko, Bandai, Izayoi, Ruruka and Natsumi in with him. Leaving only Kyosuke, Chisa, Juzo, Miaya and Kouichi left. I like the whole group divided idea and i think chapter 3 is the best chapter to do this on as theyre still a lot of ppl, but we still lost players.

This ofc, doesnt last long yet AGAIN, as a fight between Seiko and Ruruka entails, with Seiko actually fatally injuring Ruruka, this is short lived as Izayoi does the same thing to Seiko, ending both of their lives. I had the idea of the trio ALL dying in chapter 3 for the mere idea of it being an opposite parallel to Natsumi and Sato, with the latter being able to solve their issues but the former wouldnt.

So yeah Izayoi is found guilty and all blames goes to Gozu from Gozu himself, as he wasnt able to save 3 people from his side. He dejectivelly leaves and disbands his group.

Chapter 4: At this point, no one trusts eachother anymore, so everyone decides to go off on their own or on their little groups. Chisa and Kyosuke is one of them, and with the help of Miaya though, theyre able to contact Makoto and the rest on the outside and explain the situation.

Makoto exclaims that when he and the rest arrived some time ago, no one was inside. They have been searching for them for days now with no progress. They even tried asking Monaca if she had something to do with it, but she denied it.

Now they were confused, on one hand they knew they weren't in the actual HQ's, but on the other, it looked so similar to it. They send off Makoto as the signal is starting to get worse again, with him exclaiming good luck to the rest, and to not let despair win over hope.

This was very hard to do though, as everyone was on their own now, and to top it all off, they introduced a new motive that separated them further, and could be proven deadly if another murder doesn't happen in the next few days. Both Kouichi and Daisaku notice this, and decide to do the worst to save the rest: make a murder.

I chose these two bc they were the most likely to sacrifice themselves for the group, and i wanted Bandai development so that he is more than just racist caricature. Kouichi was originally going to ask Gozu, but he was still dejected over chapter 3, so he went to the next best buff person here, Bandai.

Ultimatelly, they both go through with it, and Bandai is found as a victim and Kouichi as the culprit, before he gets executed though he gives everyone encouragement to continue and not let any deaths be in vain, and he then would actually break a rule himself so he would get the poison from the bracelet to kill him instead.

These words motivate Gozu enough for him to come back at 2x force, i could even see him removing his mask for the remainder of the game as a sign of change. And everyone goes back together.

Chapter 5: Im going to keep this one short, as i dont have much to say other than more progress on their location, more interactions and hope. And maybe even some moments outside the game with Makoto and the gang trying to figure out where they are.

I think the motive this time could actually be only for Juzo alone, and i think it ultimately ends up with his closeted homosexuality, maybe saying that if you kill someone, you can leave with Kyosuke and let everyone else die, but if you dont, he dies instead.

He instead decides to kill himself so that not only Munakata survived, but so does everyone else. Maybe he even leaves a note to the rest for everyone, but someone replaces it with a forged one so that the trial is more interesting. This mystery person is to be revealed later.

At the end of the chapter, everyone is going to avenge Juzo and the rest when Ryoko stumbles into the cafeteria/meeting room. Finally remembering who she was.

During the entire course of the game, Ryoko would gain back her memories little by little, some referencing Junko's memories very closely, the group was super cautious of her up until now. As she finally remember her true identity... she, all this time...

Was Kotomi ikuta? The Student Council Vice-president!? Yeah im going this route. I did mention not one dr1 character was going to be in the Killing Game, right?

Chapter 6: So Kotomi is alive and well! Why you ask? Literal reasons is that i wanted to include a student council member some way in this, and i liked the joke of Kotomi and Ryoko looking alike, so why not roll with it you know?

But in universe. So you know how Mukuro shot Kotomi before the games even started? Well it still happens here, but she shot her in a location that wasn't deadly, and then dragged her away only for then with the help my boy Yasuke, to convert her into Ryoko by storing away her own memories and over driving Ryoko's.

And since she was a key part on having KG's start, as she would def be a talk for the FF, they had Monokuma Maid join her and not the rest of the reserve course so that she ensures she too gets captured.

Now, why do this? Because Junko, since she has powers to predict it all, knew that she was the best red herring to everyone so that the real mastermind could do their bidding, that is? Chisa Yukizome herself, as a remnant of Despair.

She was the one that set up the KG, she was the one that set up the sleeping gas, and she was the one that made the forged note of Juzo's suicide. All of that because she was a remnant from the start.

She couldn't do it all alone though, so she consulted Tengan by turning him into one too, they worked together up until the beginning of the game. She realized his motives were to make despair to turn into hope, so she deliberately made it so he was the frist victim.

We also get the reveal of them being underground, right below the actual FF hq, and if an outsider tried to get in, it could very easily collapse on itself and kill everyone.

Everything was according to plan, up until we get out final true identity reveal, Robot Miaya who is being controlled by Monaca, yeah i kept this too. So Monaca was indeed controlling Miaya the whole time, and now she got bored of this game. So as typical Monaca, she turns Miaya into her robot killer form and begins to do a K1-B0. Eventually killing Chisa herself.

This commotion allowed the other FF members to escape with the help of Makoto and the others, right before the HQ crumbles into pieces, making Miaya our final death of the game and leaving us with four survivors:

The Great Gozu Kyosuke Munakata Natsumi Kuzuryu Ryoko Otonashi/Kotomi Ikuta

[resident-wof-expert]

Unsorted WOF thoughts part 96:

Animus Dragons ranked in order of how bad their most malicious spell was (Decided by how many dragons got hurt, how badly they got hurt, and how much they had it coming).

Note: In this post, malice is defined as how much they want to watch someone suffer.

The order I put these in might be subject to change. This list is made mostly for fun as a thought experiment of sorts.

Edit: In light of a relatively simple argument, I've changed Darkstalker's postition. My original argument was that his plague spell was cast out of malice, but not as much pure malice as the knife spell. Though, I now agree that because his intention was to wipe out an entire tribe, that puts the plague spell over the knife spell.

Jerboa III: Encasing the original Jerboa in ice forever. She super-duper deserved it.

Turtle: Repeatedly beating Chameleon over the head with the talisman. He deserved it.

Arctic: This is a bit of a weird one. He, for sure, had worse intentions in mind, but out of the spells we've actually seen him cast, controlling Whiteout was his most malicious, and, thankfully, nothing bad actually came from that.

Anemone: Anemone was going mad by the time she tried to crush Turtle with that boulder, so I think her most intentionally malicious spell instead was repeatedly beating Moon over the head with a broom.

Jerboa: In all honesty, Jerboa was a worse person than Darkstalker (not exactly an easy feat), but her most knowingly malicious spell was her final spell. Don't get me wrong, it was an evil fucking spell, but Jerboa III was the only one who got hurt, putting it lower than the others.

Diamond: The Diamond Trials. Foeslayer didn't deserve it, and it ended up freezing to death a great many presumably undeserving members of IceWing royalty. (For simplicity, I'm counting it as just one spell because I do what I want.)

Stonemover: We don't know how on-board he was with creating those portals, but they're his only spells we've heard of. They were created with the intention of invading the RainWings, which led to the kidnapping and torture of an unspecified number of them. I think torture might be worse than murder, but I'm open to other opinions. There's also the argument that the RainWings were eventually set free, but I still think that the long-term psychological effects may have been bad enough to justify this placement. But if there's enough disagreement, I will most likely bump it down below the mass-murders committed on this list.

Albatross: The SeaWing Massacre. Lagoon deserved it, but it's impossible to tell if the same applied to all the other SeaWings or the SkyWing royalty. Not to mention the lasting effects that it had on the remaining two members of the SeaWing royal family, ruining their relationship for life and putting them both in permanent positions that neither of them were ready to bear. Albatross was also going mad at the time, but I think he was aware enough that he knew what he was doing.

Darkstalker: I think that because his intention was to completely eradicate an entire tribe, that makes the IceWing plague his most malicious spell. Genocide is one of the worst crimes that an individual can commit. And while he didn't even get close to wiping out the entirety of the IceWing Kingdom, he did succeed in slowly killing a huge chunk of it, including their reigning queen. He set them back quite a bit with the total body count, as well as giving the remaining survivors potentially lifelong PTSD. It was, by far, one of the worst actions ever committed in the series as it stands now.

[caesariawritesstuff]

What's Mine

Summary: Jonathan Crane isn't often a jealous man...but when that little green monster ignites within him, he won't hesitate to let everyone in Gotham know what's his.

Content Warning: Angst, Jealousy, Murder, Mentions of Sex

Word Count: 1.2k

● Ao3 ● X ● Retrospring ● Read on Ao3 ● Masterlist ●

There were many things Jonathan Crane was good at it, and chemistry was his particular forte. It was not unusual for him to procure and produce something for one of the other Rogues. It was often he retrieved the necessary ingredients from Ivy, or other chemical plants around Gotham. And tonight, he had a particularly interesting order to drop off for a rather annoying Clown.

He glanced out of the corner of his eye, watching you in the passenger seat across from him inside the truck. Your eyes were cast downwards, focused on a notebook in your lap. As a chemist yourself, his most prized pupil, you were busy working out your own chemical equation to engineer your own version of a toxic, something tailored to your own needs. Pride swelled in Jonathan’s chest; he’d taught you well.

But you were more than just a henchwoman of sorts, even if you did work for him. Jonathan just couldn’t quite exactly figure out what you were. A ripple of desire pooled in between his legs, a throbbing in his loins. Oh, how he’d savored the sensation of your tongue on his cock and your lips wrapped around his member, bringing him to ecstasy last night. He’d eagerly returned the favor, and could still taste you on his tongue.

Silently, he cleared his throat and turned his attention back to the road, focusing on the task at hand. It was not hard for him to turn off the lewd thoughts that balanced far into the depths of depravity. It was only when the truck came to a halt on neutral ground between the criminal territories, outside an abandoned factory, that all thoughts of desire vanished completely from his mind.

The clown was already here. Crane would recognize that brightly colored, purple vehicle anywhere. Joker pranced around, voice high-pitched and crazed, Harley at his side. The very behavior of a man who feared being forgotten. A man who was desperate for the attention of everyone around him. Jonathon wanted no such thing – his work was his only focus, his desire to understand and weaponize fear.

Once his own henchmen parked the truck, he got out, his movements precise and smooth, because he was not the kind of man to do things without reason. He did not act on impulse, much like the clown in front of him.

“Look, Scaredy-Crow is here!” Harley cried.

Her words did not bother him, he was above such things. Joker turned, stopping in his tracks, and flashed him a blood-red, Cheshire grin. “Crane,” he said, giggling between words. “Come, let’s talk business.”

Joker wrapped his arm around Jonathan’s shoulders. He immediately bristled at the touch, and the hairs on the back of his neck rose. He was not afraid of Joker – of course, he’d rid himself of his fears long ago. But he would be a fool to trust the Joker in any kind of capacity.

As Joker led him away to discuss payment and exchange of the chemicals, he listened intently, but his gaze shifted ever so slightly. Several feet away, you were busy instructing several of the Clown’s goons on how to carefully transfer the tanks of chemicals and properly use them – because one wrong move and a cloud of toxin would envelope and kill everyone in the nearby vicinity. Not that Crane cared much about everyone else, but he wasn’t interested in dying at the hands of some henchmen incapable of listening to instructions.

But it wasn’t the fact that the goons looked disinterested, or Harley tapped her feet with clear impatience. It was that the goons were eyeing you up and down as though you were a piece of meat. Like something to be devoured and preyed upon, a feast for the taking. As you turned to grab something off the back of the truck, one man in particular gave your ass a swift smack.

You jumped, startled, mouth falling open in surprised. Eyes widened with a sudden moment of fear. Your eyes search the crowd, before locking with his. Jonathan knew immediately what you would be experiencing: the race of cortisol and adrenaline in your veins, the dilation of your eyes, the pounding of your heart. Your body would be responding to the sudden danger, the threat…

A sudden rush of jealousy and rage swam through Jonathan’s veins. Green and raw like a venomous viper, twisting in his stomach, ready to strike. His throat tightened, mouth going dry. He was seeing red. If he was a more impulsive man, he’d have allowed himself to pounce, to stab the needles of his gauntlet into the man’s neck and allow him to feel his worst fears…but he was not that kind of man. He was calculated and controlled and would not let such pesky emotions control him.

He was The Scarecrow.

Joker laughed, finally noticing what had captured Jonathan’s attention. He glanced over his shoulder, grinning, and said, “Come now, Crane. Don’t tell me you’re afraid of losing your little assistant to one of my boys, now are you?”

“You should teach them not to touch what’s mine,” Jonathan replied in a level tone.

Joker only threw his head back and laughed, quickly returning to the matter at hand, as if the interaction hadn’t happened at all. But Jonathon could not ignore the quiet, simmering rage under his skin and he curled his fingers into a white-knuckled grip. He would not allow this incident to go unpunished.

But he kept himself controlled, and finished his business. Bags of cash were thrown into the back of the truck. Jonathan waited until you were finished instructing the men on how to handle the chemicals, and once the two of you were safely inside and driving away from the factory, he reached across the seat and braced his leg tight against your thigh in a possessive grip.

He didn’t need to say anything.

It was only when the two of you returned to the hideout that he fucked you into oblivion, mouth nipping at your skin, marking your flesh, whispering “mine” into your ear, that he felt some of his frustration satiate. But it wasn’t enough.

Once you’d fallen asleep, he rose from the bed and concocted his plan, quickly grabbing a canister of his toxin. He redressed into his typical garb and disappeared into Gotham’s shadowy streets; it did not take him long to figure out who the idiotic henchman were and where they were staying. They were far too ignorant to cover their tracks. And just as easily, he opened the door and rolled his canister into their own hideout – allowing it to explode into a cloud of orange, billowy smoke.

Their screams came instantly.

Jonathan watched, a smile tugged at the corners of their mouth, as the men tore themselves apart. Ripping the skin off their face in thin ribbons of flesh, tearing out their eyes, bellowing their fears at the top of their lungs. He reveled in it, a sick satisfaction coursing through his veins.

And when the men finally died, torn apart by their fears, he turned on his heels and left.

That would teach everyone in Gotham not to mess with what was his.

[eleanor-bradstreet]

PLEASE TELL ME ANY THOUGHTS YOU HAVE ABOUT ANTOPHIE!!!

Hello my friend!

How kind of you to indulge a dive into my dirty rare-pair ship 😅 Maybe I'm not the only one - I haven't gone poking around AO3 for this stuff to be fair. I completely understand the sacrilege of casting aside both Benedict and Kate, I love them so.

But there's just something about Anthony and Sophie...

(prepare thyself for a tome)

My head canon fascination with them honestly centers around their in-law relationship. I cannot help but believe that even after Sophie marries Benedict with the family's support, she has an intense feeling of inferiority and imposter syndrome around Anthony. He's a titled man and she has NEVER had good experiences with their kind before. She would likely believe that Anthony barely permitted her scandalous marriage to his brother and merely tolerates her - probably looking down on her, ashamed of her, aggravated by having to keep the secret of her true background from the ton, and even suspicious of her honest attachment to Benedict. Anthony may think she was a conniving seducer who latched onto his brother for money and protection rather than love. I would understand Sophie having any combination of these thoughts when she first becomes acquainted with Anthony.

But in reality, Anthony has learned through his own marriage not to judge books by their covers AND to respect his siblings' quests for love and happiness. When Anthony learns about the way Sophie was mistreated by her father, stepmother, the Cavenders, god knows what other abusive employers, he is offended and indignant on her behalf. He's a man of genuine principle and is disgusted to learn how his fellow members of the ton treated a servant, and one who turned out was half-noble and abandoned by her shameful father. Anthony would actually feel compelled to make it up to Sophie on behalf of the ton, to show her that not all of them are cruel. I believe he would most definitely be suspicious of Sophie's intentions and Benedict's flighty proclamations of love at the beginning, and probably felt the migraine coming on about having to deal with his brother's scandalous marriage outside their rank, BUT once he witnessed the genuine expressions of love between the pair, and once he realized he could lose Benedict to ostracization and even moving abroad if he did not help support the marriage and hide Sophie's background, he would be fully committed to protecting the couple. Because Benedict is his closest brother, he loves him, and by extension he will protect Benedict's wife, particularly as she proves to him time and time again that she is a kind-hearted woman with fierce morals who has more in common with him than they each realize.

I envision Anthony will keep Benedict as his closest brother and confidant throughout their lives and thus, the Fab Four of Kanthony and Benophie will have a lot of quality time together. Picture it: Anthony the beleaguered leader, Kate the sassy spitfire, Benedict the flouncing romantic and Sophie the fearless brains of the bunch. She and Anthony will both come to realize that they share a head for numbers. This is canon about Sophie in the books. Sophie will actually be better than Benedict at handling the household accounts when Kanthony need coverage, and Anthony will learn to depend on her counsel for business and paperwork. She also provides the unique perspective of having been household staff herself, which is invaluable to him to make sure he is managing everything with sensitivity and maximum benefit to all. They will also have plenty to commiserate about as they both spend a good deal of time trying to keep Benedict's artistic, romantic feet on the ground. Anthony can give Sophie tips on how to handle his brother, and Sophie can help Anthony navigate any struggles with Kate by providing a woman's perspective.

Not to diminish Kate's painful family history, but the characterizations from the books paint Anthony and Sophie as having suffered much more in their pasts than Kate and Benedict. Anthony was saddled with the weight of title and responsibility due to his birth and traumatized by the death of his father. Sophie was saddled with the weight of shame and toil due to her birth and traumatized by being abused and devalued after her father died. Both of them clawed their way past their trauma and into their happily ever afters through determination, strength of character and self-reliance. They both learned to breathe and enjoy the brighter side of life once they found their spouses. But their spouses are unlikely to empathize with them on these struggles in the way they can empathize with each other.

While Sophie double checks Anthony's calculations in the ledger and Anthony helps Sophie hide Benedict's paint supplies, they will develop a deep and loving familial bond. Seemingly an odd pair - one raised a viscount and one raised a bastard maid - they have so much more in common than they know. I also head canoned a cute shared love of Marzipan in a little fic.

In Anthony, Sophie finds the brother/father figure she never had, a kind titled gentleman who uses his power to protect her rather than scorn her. In Sophie, Anthony finds someone with a refreshingly different perspective; someone who does not hold him to the same level of expectation as the rest of the ton and who does not come to him with the emotional baggage of his blood relatives. She treats him as a person before she treats him as a viscount. He views her as a sister before he views her as a bastard. She is grateful to him for welcoming her into his family and shielding her from her past. He is grateful to her for seeing his better qualities before his flaws, and for taking such good care of his beloved brother. They look behind the pain and strife of their life circumstances to see each other as somewhat kindred souls. They learn from each other, they help each other and they love each other. This is what I dream about for them.

And yeah, as mentioned, I plunged into the depths of my angst bucket and wrote a bit of a fic where they are middle-aged and both Kate and Benedict have passed away. Sophie moves in with Anthony for mutual support and child-rearing responsibilities and after years of grieving together, their existing bedrock of love bubbles into passion and they find a second, gentler, quiet happily ever after together. The title is Some Kind of Love and I will likely never finish it. But the first chapter is written and I've thought of floating it out there as an angsty little one shot. Perhaps someday.

Hope that satisfies your curiosity 😅 told you it would be a dickens! Always happy to talk about Antophie, my beloved rare-pair. 💙

[lilac-hecox]

Ian’s day prompt

Ian in/trying out drag? Maybe even drag ianthony

Ian (very slight ianthony) - Drag

--

“Does this make you my drag mother?” Ian asks.

Aurora smiles, giving Ian’s wig a few last-minute touches.

“Girl, yes, and I promise I’ll be the best mama.”

Ian laughs. If he could blush under the pound of make up on his face, he’s sure he would be. Aurora holds the hand mirror up so Ian can see himself in it.

He looks…amazing. He looks like himself but not. As Courtney would say he looks like the yassified version of himself. Somehow, Ian looks softer and more delicate. He brushes a strand of long brown hair out of his face and smiles.

Aurora takes Ian’s hand, tugging him out of his seat and excitedly leading him towards where the other Smosh cast members are congregated. Ian can’t help but feel a little nervous. He looks good, but he’s worried he’ll be made fun of or be told he looks silly.

“Remember part of it is believing it,” Aurora tells him as she drags him along.

Ian tries to be confident. He’s not Ian right now. It’s like any other character he’d play.

Aurora stops them in front of the group of cast members and crew milling around.

“Introducing my drag daughter Hana!”

Ian puts a hand on his hip, jutting it out, the padding he’s wearing giving him the illusional of wider hips a bigger ass. The mini dress he’s wearing creeps up just a tad.

The cast and crew explode in a wall of noise, hoots, cheers, and Ian is encouraged by Aurora to do a catwalk.

He does, walking down the line of the office and then turning sharply on his heel and coming back again. When Ian turns back around again, Anthony has emerged from Ian’s office, likely drawn out by the sound coming from the cast as they whistle at him.

Anthony’s eyes widen slightly, and Ian stops as he looks at his best friend.

“Ian? Oh my God!” Anthony says in delight, a huge smile crossing his face. “Look at you!”

“She’s hot, right?” Aurora encourages.

Anthony breaks into giggles, his face goes red.

“He looks amazing.”

Ian waves a hand at Anthony, pretending to be flustered, really hamming it up even though he’s a little embarrassed to have so many eyes on him.

Then, they jump into filming different reactions to Ian’s drag makeover, intent on turning it into a video if not a section on Bit City. He’s also due to film a Pit and Games video made up as Hana as part of the drag makeover, with Anthony set to join him on the Games video.

The more time that passes the better and more confident Ian feels as Hana. By the time they get to the Games video, he has no trouble being silly, openly flirting with both Anthony and Shayne. He gets a lot of laughs, he feels good, sort of powerful, allowing himself to sink into a different persona other than himself, and, he realizes quickly, he likes the ability to make Anthony blush, and giggle, and act like an idiot on camera.

By the end of the day when Aurora helps Ian take off his drag make up, Ian’s a little sad to leave her behind, to strip back down to himself, his real-self.

“Did you have fun?” Aurora asks.

“Oh yeah,” Ian says, “It was a blast. Thank you so much.”

 “You know,” she says, “this doesn’t have to be the only time you dress as Hana. She can always come back again.”

Ian hums as he wipes the remnants of make up from his face.

“I might just have to take you up on that.”