#we're probably going in order which means i have to wait longer

[binah-beloved]

Good luck with your Walpurgis pulls!

i'm not pulling, but good luck to anyone that is. may your treasures be reaped and your duplicates be few

[femmenature]

nobody gets me, you do

Pairing: Ellie Williams x f! reader (ofc)

Summary: where your ex Ellie can't spend another day pretending she doesn't still love you.

Warnings: Inappropriate language.

-

you usually appreciated this kind of nights. Where you don't have to work and you can watch a series or put more effort into the food, and not just make a simple white rice. You used to appreciate it in Ellie's company. Now you prefer to keep your head busy, work, study, do some gardening even though you know perfectly well how horrible you are at it. And that your head will probably play tricks on you and remind you of how Els laughed for a week because a damn cactus dried up on you. A sigh escapes your thoughts. “See, this is what happens when you're distracted,” you say to yourself, leaning against the kitchen counter. But your relaxed posture didn't last long, as someone knocked on your door. Strange, knowing that you didn't order anything to eat and didn't invite your friends. You walked to the door and opened it with your eyebrows furrowed, you were going to open your mouth but it was her, and you just stood with your hand on the door frame and your heart in your mouth.

Ellie looked at me and blinked rapidly, as if checking that this was not a dream. Her heel rested on the floor, leaving the toe of her slipper raised nervously. “hey” she let out in a sigh, which she seemed to have been holding back for quite some time.

“hey…” my voice betrayed me and trembled as I said something as small as a greeting. Though I guess it only matters who you're saying it to, and having her in front of you isn't easy, more so when you've had no contact for the past five months.

“I know it's weird, knocking on your door knowing we're not together” she spoke fast on the last words, wanting to cover up the fact that you guys are apart, because it hurts her more than anything else in this world ”but I'd rather you see me as a freaking weirdo than keep this to myself any longer. Altough you know I'm weird, I mean, you know me better than anyone else and-” she stopped talking, knowing she was getting distracted.

“do you want to come in and we can talk inside?” even though you're scared to death and more uneasy than ever, you acted calm so she would be too. She nodded and you invited her in, closing the door behind her. “so…why are you here?” you don't act disinterested, not excited either, Even if you are. You disguise the fireworks in your stomach as you smell her perfume when she walked inside. As if your house is complete again.

“uhm, these five months” she licked her lips nervously as she looks away remembering the days she spent without you ”were the worst months in the world. And it's just pathetic to tell you knowing that you're the reason I had such a hard time. Or the absence of you. I was with a part of you, with your ghost that haunted me everywhere I went reminding me that it wasn't going to be the same without you, and the worst part is that even though it wasn't really you it was all I had left to not feel completely alone in the world. So somehow I didn't want it to go away” her eyes finally met mine, softening ”our pictures are still in my room, even our saved game from the last time we played Life is Strange together. I didn't touch it waiting for you to come back, in that stupid hope that you'd show up and we'd forget our stupid fight. But I guess our pride won us over once again.” she moves a little closer, slowly, as if she's afraid the floor beneath her will crumble ”and for the first time in my life I couldn't care less about my pride because I know you're on the other side of the scale. And the love I have for you compares to absolutely nothing I have or will ever be able to have.”

your eyes become crystal clear, you think this is not real, you imagined so much that this moment would come, you made so many scenarios with Ellie and that she will come back into your life, but not like this. She is practically showing you her heart like never before, in a desperate attempt to get back to being everything she loves and still loves. You were going to say something, but she cut you off, she had more to tell you, more to show you how much she misses you.

“So I'm here. I'm not going to lie to you and pretend that I don't expect you to answer me, that I'll be able to wait for you to think and answer me without falling apart from the anticipation of not being able to hold you in my arms again. I don't even know how I could endure these months without you” finally closes the immense distance and gently caresses your hand tenderly ”do you know how desperate it is that no one understands you, that the only one who knew how to calm you down was miles away from me in body and soul?”

her eyes are desperately searching for yours and her voice is begging you “the only person who could do that was you and it killed me to know that you didn't want to see me when all I wanted to do was kiss you as if the world would end after that. Nobody gets me, you do. Nobody can beat your eyes, your touch, your voice, your jokes, your love. I couldn't even look at another woman because I knew no one was worth it, no one is worth it. No one can look at me and know when I'm anxious, or how much I love space. They would see the stuffed dinosaur I have in my room as a simple stuffed animal, when you took the time to know which one is my favorite and buy it for my birthday and when I would give an explanation of that dinosaur and why I have that damn stuffed animal the only thing I will think about is that I lost you forever and and-"

you approached her and gave her a sudden kiss, knowing that if you let her talk anymore, anxiety would eat her up. The kiss is tender, desperate for time apart, but at the same time soft and romantic. Her hands brought your hips closer to hers while you caressed the back of her neck. After a few seconds you separated and rested your foreheads without taking your hands off where you had them

"I hope you never have to explain to anyone why you have a dinosaur in your room because I'm not going to lose you again" Ellie smiled and hugged you, hiding her face in your neck "I wasn't planning on doing it anyway. I was going to die without you then I wouldn't give myself the chance to have another girlfriend" you laughed caressing her hair "I missed you, Els" she kissed your neck tenderly without letting go "I missed you too baby"

-

I'M SORRY if it's not well written, I don't speak English and it's hard for me not to get lost!!! Enjoy <333

[nb-octopus-writes]

once you're in the hive, the other bees assume you're supposed to be there

[Masterpost]

Summary:

Virgil accidentally gets absorbed by his best friend's brother's polycule.

In his defense, they keep feeding him every time they see him, and Patton's cooking is really good.

Chapter 1: Halloween Party

Wordcount: 1.9K

~

There are a lot of people Virgil doesn't know at this party. Remus is here, somewhere, and Virgil needs to find him again before the party ends, because Remus was his ride and he doesn't want to get left here. Janus is here too though, and Virgil doesn't think Janus would let Remus leave without him, and he's sure Remus wouldn't desert Janus, so he's trying not to worry too much about the fact that he doesn't currently know where Remus is.

But that's it for people Virgil knows, and Remus didn't even bother to introduce him to anyone before fucking off to who knows where, and Virgil’s certainly not going to walk up to a random stranger and introduce himself, so he's currently appreciating the snack table. If he's eating or deliberating on what to eat next, he can't be expected to talk to anybody, right?

“’Scuse me, itsy bitsy,” someone says from behind him, and Virgil turns to see a vaguely familiar man in a dazzling prince costume holding a fresh plate of deviled eggs.

Virgil moves so that the prince dude can set the plate down on a clear spot on the table, and frowns. “I'm taller than you, Princey.”

Prince dude shrugs, plucks one of the eggs up, and takes a large bite. “Lucky you, or we'd've had to ask you to vacate the premises,” he says. “No little spiders allowed, real or fake.”

Which, yeah, now that he's mentioned it, Virgil had noted an extreme lack of spider-themed decorations, which is unusual for Halloween. Usually there'd at least be spiderweb cupcakes, but the cupcakes at this party are mostly cute ghosts.

There's probably a good reason for that, Virgil realizes with a sinking feeling. “Should I change?”

“You got another costume handy, or were you planning on spinning a spider-silk cocoon and metamorphosing into a butterfly?”

Virgil grimaces. “No,” he admits.

Prince Dude considers him. “It's not very realistic,” he says, which is true. Virgil hadn't been going for realism, he'd been going for passable costume I can make on short notice. He's wearing black jeans and a black hoodie, and he'd cut some pool noodles in half and wrapped them in more black cloth and stuck them to his back for the other four legs. It had been a pain to get them to stay in place properly, actually, and he'd ended up sewing their wrappings to the back of his hoodie in order to keep them where he wanted them. He'd been pretty proud of it, given that Remus had dropped “we're going to a costume party at my brother's house” on him like an hour beforehand, but now he's wishing he'd come up with any other idea. He could have put a sheet over his head and been a ghost, or something. Granted, that would have required him to have a sheet that was both white and that he was willing to cut holes in, which he didn't, but still.

Prince Dude continues to quietly scrutinize Virgil, and he wants to squirm under his gaze. Eventually, the guy shrugs and says, “Might be best to ask the scaredy-cat himself. Wait here, I'll be back.” And he saunters off before Virgil can answer.

For lack of anything better to do, Virgil picks up a deviled egg and shoves the whole thing in his mouth. It's really tasty, actually, and now he's wishing he'd taken smaller bites rather than horking it down in one.

Virgil had thought that Princey was just being mean with the “scaredy-cat” thing, but the guy he's talking to now actually is dressed as a calico cat. Prince Dude points back at Virgil, and Mister Calico Cat glances in his direction, then turns back to Princey. Virgil can't hear what they're saying, but he supposes Prince Dude must've asked Calico if Virgil’s costume was too creepy crawly scary.

They talk for way longer than Virgil had expected, and he can't tell if Calico's response was more like “No, he's fine,” or more along the lines of “Yes, that's terrifying, please have him removed immediately from my sight and also my home.”

He occupies himself with another deviled egg. If he's going to get kicked out, he might as well enjoy some more of this tasty food first.

Oh, fuck. Remus.

Remus isn't going to want to leave early just to take Virgil home, and Virgil still doesn't know where he even is! Fuck!

Well, Remus could have warned him not to be a spider, so if Virgil gets kicked out of the party it'll be at least partly Remus's fault. Virgil doesn't know anybody here, but Remus knows at least half these people, and if Calico’s spider aversion is enough that there are no spider-themed decorations in the house on Halloween, that sounds like the kind of thing Remus would know about.

Granted, Remus revels in being gross and annoying, but still! He's not a total dick. He should have told Virgil.

Fucker.

Calico vanishes into the other room, and Prince Dude comes back over to Virgil. He doesn't look like he's about to kick Virgil to the curb, at least. Virgil braces himself anyway.

“Good news!” Princey says with a grin. “Li’l Mister Muffet says you don't look like a creepy crawly death dealer and he doesn't have the urge to remove you with arson!”

Virgil blinks. “...gooood?” he says slowly. He hadn't even considered kill it with fire being a potential response to his costume. That would have been worse than just getting kicked out of the party, actually.

“Honestly you're much more Doc Ock in silhouette, Spider-Man,” Princey continues. “That helps a lot.”

Virgil glances back at where Prince Dude and Calico had been chatting. “So he didn't leave the room because he can't stand the sight of me?” he asks anyway.

“Nah, he wanted to make another plate of horse devours,” Princey says, reaching past Virgil to grab a cupcake off the table. This one has a little frosting bat.

“A plate of what?” Virgil says, because surely he didn't hear that right.

“Little snacks,” Prince Dude clarifies instead of repeating himself. “Our fridge is crammed with delicious bits and bobs. It's been so hard to resist the temptation to eat them before the party.” He bites appreciatively into his cupcake, then adds with his mouth full, “You'd think he wouldn't notice what with how much he made, but nooo, sneak one chocolate covered cherry before party time and it's a lengthy scolding for you!” Princey sighs dramatically, then cheerfully devours the rest of his cupcake.

“...hors d'oeuvres?” Virgil says hesitantly.

“Yeah, a couple ordervs of deviled eggs, cheese and crackers, and those scrumptious little pinwheel things,” Princey says. Virgil’s not sure if Princey actually doesn't know how hors d'oeuvres is pronounced, or if he's messing with him, but then Princey gives him a mischievous grin that one, confirms that yes, Princey does know what he's doing, and two, is so familiar that it freezes Virgil in place as the pieces click together in his brain.

The lack of a mustache makes Prince Dude's face look different, and so does the way he did his makeup, and he carries himself differently, but it's undeniable all the same: Virgil knows that grin.

This is Remus's twin brother.

Now that he's connected the dots (you haven't connected shit) the family resemblance is clear even to Virgil’s honestly rather faceblind eyes.

This is Remus's brother, and it's his house they're partying at.

… Virgil doesn't remember the guy's name.

Fuck, he should've made sure he at least knew who the party hosts were, especially the one related to his mischief goblin of a best friend.

Well he can't exactly ask now, can he?

“Also like, five types of cupcakes,” Princey continues, oblivious to Virgil’s inner turmoil. “Seriously, have you tried the cupcakes? Chef Boiardelightful made multiple separate batches of different flavors, from scratch. And they're all delicious!”

Virgil smirks. “And did you try to snitch them before the party too?”

Princey gasps theatrically, pressing a hand to his chest. “How could you accuse me of such a thing!?” he protests with exactly as much dramatic emotion as Virgil would expect from Remus's twin. “For your information, I did not! I merely sampled a portion of the batter left on the spatula after the cupcakes had gone into the oven. Also some of the frosting.”

“He means that he licked the bowls clean,” says a new voice, and Virgil does not jump out of his skin, thank you very much. And even if he did jolt a little, it's nothing to the startled squawk Princey emits.

Calico's back, holding a platter of little finger sandwiches on toothpicks. He offers them up to Virgil, who takes one. “Thanks.”

“No worries, kiddo!” Calico says cheerfully, and puts the rest of the platter down on the snack table. Princey plucks up two sandwiches by their toothpicks, and gets a stern look in response. “Make sure to leave some for the guests,” Calico scolds.

“My delightful and beloved Patissier,” Princey says, cupping Calico's face gently with his free hand. “I assure you that each of our guests could have a heaping plateful of food and we would still have leftovers until next Tuesday. No-one will be going home hungry.”

It really is an impressive spread. Everything Virgil’s tried has been really good. Remus really could have played up the ‘free food’ angle more when trying to convince Virgil to come. If he'd known the food would be this good, then overriding his usual party-related reservations—it's gonna be loud, there will be a lot of people, I don't know anybody, etc—would have been a lot easier. Then again, Virgil probably wouldn't have believed him. He'd mostly been expecting pizza and cheap beer, honestly, not– not homemade delicacies.

The tiny sandwich Calico gave him is lightly toasted, with some kind of sliced-meat-and-cream-cheese filling, and a little green leafy garnish on top. It definitely looks much fancier than most things Virgil eats, and he can understand why Calico doesn't want Princey to eat them all. That probably took a decent amount of effort. He almost feels bad eating it himself, except that Calico had offered it to him specifically, and it would probably be more rude at this point to not eat it.

“Are you sure my costume is okay?” Virgil asks, interrupting the minor squabble Princey and Calico had fallen into.

“Oh, yes, you're fine,” Calico assures him. “Trust me, if you were pinging my brain as an actual spider I wouldn't be in the room right now, let alone standing next to you.”

“Really, cause most cats I know would eat a spider soon as look at it,” Virgil quips, and is rewarded with Calico laughing.

“That wouldn't be very good host-ly of me, now would it?” he says. “I would never eat a guest!”

“Not unless they're a reptile with scallions,” Princey teases, and Calico flushes.

“Hey!” he protests, swatting Princey's shoulder with one hand and trying to cover his extremely red face with the other. Virgil wonders what the reference was, exactly, but doesn't think it's his place to ask. It seems rather personal, from how hard Calico is blushing.

…maybe he'll ask Remus later if he knows what the story there is.

~~~~

Chapter 2: The Morning After

[berryz-writes]

Jealousy

PART 2

Azriel x reader

Summary: Your forced to spend the weekend with Azriel the bane of your existence but little do you realize he doesn't completely hate you

Nfjznxsfdzfdxj this took a while my other WIP’s were distracting me. also ignore any mistakes, enjoy lovelies <33

part 1

It was torture. Downright torture. Pretending like last night hadn't happened was wreaking havoc on my brain. I didn't know how to forget about it. I couldn't.

The memory of Azriel pulling me closer, his face resting in the crook of my neck, the way his gentle hands rested on my waist, his legs tangled with mine pulling me impossibly closer. Gods I was going to go crazy.

Everywhere it went it seemed his reminders were there. The dagger I was using in training was the one Azriel had given me last solstice when mine had been snatched by an Attor. The laces on my boots were from his because apparently mine weren’t sturdy enough. 

“Where do you get your shoes from? These are awful quality” He asked, crouching down in front of me and taking his laces out to adjust them into my boots, all the while muttering about how I could have tripped and hurt myself. 

The coffee the cabin had made this morning on my command was made with a hint of cinnamon. Something Azriel had recommended to make the taste better. He was everywhere I went and it was driving me crazy.

He hadn't even mentioned last night once. Didn't even give me some sort of hint that he remembered or that it actually meant something to him. We had continued the day as if everything was normal, his biting remarks more constant and grating.

***

"We're going back on Monday" Azriel called out to me unwrapping the white gauze from his knuckles. I pulled out my dagger (yes the same one Azriel had gifted me) from the target piece of wood and frowned. Two days later? "Why aren't we going today?"

Azriel didn't look at me, instead he put his daggers in his belt making sure each one was in the proper position before replying "If I've said it there's probably a reason why. Do you have to ask questions every time?"

My frown deepened as I surveyed him from this distance. He had his wings folded together and his expression was foul as if a personal wrong had been done against him. So what if he was in a mood? Didn't mean he had to be so rude.

"I'm not going to follow your orders blindly. Tell me" I moved closer to him and stopped in front of him, the biting cold of the village hitting me now that I had stopped training. I waited for him to explain why we were spending any longer in a place like this. I yearned for the liveliness and warmth of Velaris. The golden sun beating down on me while I sat on the balcony and sipped on something cold.

We had been gone for one night and I know I was being dramatic but Azriel not giving me answers just annoyed the shit out of me even more.

He continued arranging his daggers and straightening his siphons until he deemed them perfect. Finally looking up to meet my eyes I could tell there was something wrong before he even opened his mouth. 

"There's a storm coming. It's not safe to fly tonight" His voice was controlled, as if he were trying to hide his emotions, his eyes not making direct contact with me.

I let out a scoff "And what? Winnowing doesn't exist anymore?" I knew the way I said it would rile him up. Yes I could have phrased it nicely but the way he was acting he didn't deserve it.

Eyes narrowing and his jaw clenching Azriel took a step closer to me. And then another until he was just inches away from me. His warmth radiated to me, my head having to tilt up slightly so I could look at his gorgeous face properly.

His voice was soft, the deadly stillness with which he stood unnerving me. "Velaris's shields have been compromised. Rhys is doing all he can from anyone finding out and if we break that balance. If we winnow in then that means the shield breaks." He scanned my features as if waiting for me to reply "Do you want the safety of all those people in jeopardy because of you?" His voice was quiet now, his breath blowing over me as he spoke.

A million thoughts invaded my mind as I thought of what he had stated. How had Velaris been compromised? And by who? And what was Rhys doing? I wondered if everyone back home was alright.

I took a deep breath trying not to get angry and understand the situation we were in “How long are we stuck here for?” 

It was Azriel’s turn to take a deep breath as if he knew the answer wouldn’t be one I wanted. “Minimum two more days''

Two whole days. I was going to go insane here. Either I would die from arguing with the brainless Illyrians or from hypothermia. A sudden blast of cold air hit me, reminding me of where I was stuck and who it was with. Sighing, I shook away my thoughts. I was being ungrateful. Azriel wasn’t so bad. And who knew what everyone else was going through. I opened my mouth to ask exactly that when he cut in “Everyone's fine. If it was serious we would have been called back for help whether the storm was brewing or not”

I nodded my head, the knot in my stomach loosening. As long as everyone was fine. Azriel nodded his head to the path that led to the cabin we were now sharing “You should go. I need to inform Keller of our prolonged stay”

I took it as his way of dismissing me and not wanting to talk to me. Turning around and starting down the frosted path, the warmth that engulfed me from Azriel's body evaporated completely, my footsteps quickening to reach the cabin. Slamming the cabin door shut I took out my hair tie and sat on the bed anger and disappointment flowing through me. The fire immediately started, the crackling sound the only noise in the wooden house. 

He was ignoring what had happened yesterday. He was being insufferable. He hadn’t even asked me, talked to me, mentioned it to me even once. I shifted through each word we had shared this morning and none of them consisted of him acknowledging last night. 

Azriel didn’t even tell me he wanted to forget last night, instead he let my imagination run wild on thinking if he regretted it or not. 

Maybe I was the over dramatic one. We hadn’t had sex, we hadn’t even kissed. But it felt like there was something else when he pulled me closer except for mutual dislike. 

Flopping back onto the soft bed I decided thinking of other things would do me some good. Anything other than Azriel at this point. 

Sitting up again and rifling through the side table drawers I finally found a slightly inky pen and a scrunched up piece of paper.

Hi Feyre, I heard what happened with the shield. I just wanted to check in and make sure everyone was fine. Give lots of kisses to Nyx from me. 

Ending the note with my name I vanished it away hoping Feyre would reply with some good news. In the time that I had done that Azriel walked in, flipping a dagger in his hand, his shadows moving slowly across his wings. I rolled my eyes at his arrogance and refused to start a conversation with him. If he could ignore what happened yesterday and act like it didn’t matter then so could I. I wasn’t going to act like an attention whore. No way. 

“What do you want to eat?” Was what he asked, settling into the armchair opposite me. I refused to look at him and instead let my eyes travel to the window where the sun was setting. 

“I’m not hungry” I finally replied when I could tell from his relentless gaze that he would not look away, his hazel eyes fixated on my every move, my every breath. 

A scoff escaped him and I turned to look at him, my eyes narrowed. Moving further back on to the bed I kicked off my boots and sat cross legged. 

“You’re always hungry at this time, don’t lie to me” Azriel stated. Raising an eyebrow and waiting for me to contradict him. I couldn’t. I was being annoying and difficult on purpose. Of course I was hungry. I hadn’t eaten since this morning.

Running a hand through his hair Azriel stood up and moved over to the small kitchen on the other side of the cabin. The cupboards contained any and every ingredient. I watched as he pulled out a different variety of ingredients and with the way he was looking at each one closely he didn’t know where to start. 

“Move. I’ll do it” I announced, getting off the bed and sliding across the floorboard to the mini kitchen. Azriel leaned sideways on the countertop, a slight smirk on his face as he watched me look at each ingredient. 

“What are you going to make?” He asked, clearly amused by something. Picking up the can of tomatoes I put them to the right, making a useful and bin category. 

“It doesn’t matter what I make, we both know you’re going to eat it” I replied, my eyebrows furrowed from concentration and the slight annoyance I held toward him. A sigh escaped his perfect lips as he folded his wings back 

“Why are you angry at me?”

I didn’t look at him, instead filled the metal pan with water and used my magic to heat it up. Once the bubbles had risen to the surface I added the raw pasta with a pinch of salt. 

“Y/n” His voice was sharp. Demanding. “Look at me” 

Finally turning to look at him my heart stopped beating for a good minute. Gods he was……he was something else. His warm eyes raked over my expression as if trying to find the reason for my annoyance, his lips looking as inviting as ever.

“What?” My voice didn’t come out as strong as I wanted to, instead it came out quiet and breathless. 

“What have I done wrong?” Azriel’s voice was softer than I expected, reminding me of last night. 

I decided to take the leap. I had had enough of evading the truth “You’re acting like last night didn’t happen. You’re ignoring me” 

Rather than an annoying smirk or a laugh coming from Azriel his eyebrows furrowed “I didn’t want you to feel like I expected something of you. And gods knows I can’t ignore you y/n. You’re perfect”

I let out an exasperated sigh, the steam from the boiling water making it warmer than it was before “I thought you wanted to forget about it. I’m not inside your brain Azriel”

Anger was there in his eyes but it vanished as soon as he saw my hurt expression “I’ve wanted you for so long. Every time I look at you I'm reminded that you aren’t mine. Every time you smile my heart beats faster and I don’t even know why” I swallowed at his words. What he was saying. 

He had liked me this whole time and I hadn't even realized. We were both as ignorant as each other. It was now or never.

“Make me yours then Azriel” I whispered back, waiting to see what he would say. His hands tilted my chin up and his lips met mine in the softest kiss possible. Moving his hands to my waist he lifted me up and sat me on the counter, slotting himself between my legs. Automatically my hands went to his curly hair, pulling him impossibly closer. 

The world had something against me I thought as the note I had sent Feyre arrived next to me. Azriel moved slightly back, giving me space to breathe. I didn't want that space but I didn’t say anything. I picked up the note and read it out loud, confusion increasing.

Hi y/n, 

Nyx says he misses you lots and wants you to come back. Everyone’s alright here, same as when you left. 

I’m not sure what you mean by the shield though? Is everything alright?

Putting the note down I slid off the marble top and looked at Azriel, hoping for answers. 

“Does Feyre not know about-” 

He cut me off, his hand against my mouth, startling me. His body pressed against mine, my back against the kitchen counter. 

“I lied. I wanted to stay with you for as long as possible. I would ask for your forgiveness but I’m not sorry for what I’ve done” His eyes twinkled with amusement, his deep voice washing over me. It took me a while to understand what he was actually saying, his proximity short circuiting my brain. He removed his hand waiting for me to reply. 

“Anything else you’ve lied about Shadowsinger?” I finally asked, my words coming out quietly.

His head dipped to my neck, his lips pressing small kisses on my collarbone and making his way up to my jaw. 

“I broke the cabin. I also fucked up that guy who called you a whore. Other than that…I’m an honest male” He murmured. My breath hitched as he attacked my skin, clearly wanting to leave a mark there. His hands had me caged, with no escape and I didn’t have it in me to be mad at him for lying. Yes he had broken the cabin. But if he hadn’t we wouldn’t have spent the night together and I would have never realized that Azriel harboured feelings for me. He had also gone out of his way to defend me when he didn’t need to.

I wanted to kiss him rather than shout at him for his confession. 

“I say we skip to dessert” Azriel whispered, his eyes full of desire, finally looking at me. My heart skipped a beat at his words but I swallowed and shook away my want for him. 

“Dessert is for after” I pushed against his chest to let me go but he held my wrists firmly “Promise I get dessert?”

I pretended to think about it, tilting my head “Hmm we’ll see”

Azriel’s eyes darkened but he let me go, my stomach tightening at the way he looked at me. I wanted him so bad. So god damn bad. But now that I had told him to wait I couldn’t go back on my words. Not to mention Azriel was probably already thinking of ways to make me beg for him.

I wouldn’t mind that of course.

MASTERLIST

[quantum1mmortality]

Ok so I was thinking about a smut with a leech and wanted to ask you to do (i love how u write)

What about a AFAB!reader that likes to open her mouth and sometimes you do it without realizing it.

I read somewhere that eels have it like an invitation to mate or something like that (dont remember so much)

And about if is jade or floyd… well, both are my favs so I cant choose. What works better I guess

EEK TYSM!!! I feel as tho floyd would fit this better bc jade is a smart boy, probs knows that humans just open their mouths wide for random shit but floyd

...

Hes a lil stupid when it comes to these things(I love him I swear)

10/10, would fuck in the VIP room again

-floyd probably lmao(also the name of the fic)

♧CW!!! fem reader, breeding kink yas slay, unsafe sex(wear condoms kids), degrading(? Floyd calls us a slut for yawning around other men but he loves us 🤞), little to no foreplay hes too hawny, semi public sex, pwp?, mentions of jade but light, none that I can think of right now but floyd is such a silly little goose(im terrified of him)

NOT PROOFREAD

~~~~~~~~~~~~~♧♧~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

♧ you were originally here to study.

Seeing as your boyfriend, Floyd, was nowhere to be seen. Sitting in the mostro lounge while waiting for Floyd to be on break was a normal occurrence.

Since it had been awhile with slight glimpses of him taking care of customers, you decided to start studying on your own. Opening up a text book and starting to read and take notes, Jade comes over with your order.

"Apologies for my brother taking so long. The customers he has are being seriously rude, we're trying our best to have him not squish them." Jade says as he places your tea on the table in front of you.

"How long will he be?" You ask as you take a small sip of your tea. Jade rests his chin on his hand as he closes his eyes, seemingly in thought.

"Soon." He simply says as he walks away.

Although odd, you've gotten used to Jades strange behavior. As you were about to return to studying, you spotted Floyd waiting on the table across from you. He shoots you a smile before turning back to his customers.

You took that as a sign to go back to studying. Flipping open your text book, you begin to take notes again. As you get further into the book, your eyelids begin to feel heavy. Resting your head on your hand, you start to close your eyes for longer periods once blinking.

As you began to drift off to a light sleep, you felt yourself yawning as you began to shift in your chair.

Having finally settled in a comfortable position, you begin to get lulled into a peaceful sleep by the surround sound of calming music in the lounge.

Drifting off, you get woken up by a sudden loud noise. "Boo!" It was Floyd, creeping up behind you just to scare you awake. Playfully punching his chest as you complain about how you just fell asleep, he takes your hand, leading you off somewhere.

"Floyd, where are you taking me?" You say between giggles. "Somewhere, it'll be fun, I promise." He says as he gives you a wink.

He leads you to the VIP room, which usually isn't occupied by anyone, like now. Just the two of you. He turns around to lock the door, he turns back to you, eyes widened with an unpleasant look on his face.

"That thing you did out there, I cant believe you did it infront of other men. Do you understand what they may think now? Think im not your boyfriend? Think I dont treat you well enough?" Confusion. All you felt in the moment was pure confusion.

"Floyd, what the fuck are you talking about? I was just studying, nothing happened." You could tell he was getting frustrated. "That thing! Where you opened your mouth wide!"

"You mean yawning? The.... thing people do.... when they're tired?"

"You can't do that around merfolk." Oh. Oh? This seems like something you can tease him on.

"Oh? And whys that, Mr eel boy?" You say as you chuckle. Somehow, floyd got even more pissed at this, he slammed both your arms above you and against the wall behind you, eyes still wide, and very much angry.

"You don't understand what you're doing. You're making a mating invite by doing that, what if the other merfolk saw? Or worse, what if Jade saw?"

"Floyd im sorry okay, I didn't mean to, seriously-" you were cut off by him smashing his lips onto yours, you fed into it, not resisting in the slightest.

He began to sink his head down to your neck, making soft bites on it and licking up the semi bloody aftermath. "If you want to act like a slut, then I'll fuck you like one." He says before digging his open hend into the flesh of your thigh and biting down on your collar bone.

You choke out a groan at the sudden pain as floyd slowly kisses the bite, making it feel more pleasurable than anything.

Once hes done, he looks up at you. "You're okay with this, right?"

"Yeah, just don't do anything stupid." You're able to say between puffs of hot air. Giving you a smile, he hooks his finger under the strap of your panties, taking his other hand off your wrists. Sliding down the peice of fabric while biting off his glove, he starts to suck on your neck as he begins to work his fingers into you.

Taking his thumb and rubbing it over your clit as he slowly sinks two fingers inside you. You moan out as he begins to curl them in you, sucking on the bite mark you made earlier.

"F-fuck... I cant take it anymore." Floyd groans out as he unbuckles his belt. Lining up his thick cock with your hole, "You're sure you're okay with this, right?" He says one last time in a panted breath.

"Yes just... don't do anything stupid-" and you were cut off once again by him doing something stupid.

He thrusts his whole length into you at once, earning a low, throaty groan from him as you were just trying to find stability. He takes both you thighs and wraps them around his waist, being able to hit much deeper in the position.

Mere seconds later, all the pain you felt turned into pure, absolute pleasure as he started fucking you against the wall.

Filling the room with moans of utter bliss from the both of you, having Floyd come completely undone after minutes. "I'm gonna fill you up so fucking good- make everyone know you're mine- have those other eel bitches know if you're gonna be a slut, you're gonna be mine, understood?"

You're barely able to make his words out as you start to feel lightheaded from the pleasure. His grip on you tightens as you feel him twitch inside you. "Fuck, im gonna-" he was cut off by a powerful moan as he came inside you, slowing down his pace in the process.

Floyd slowly sinks down to the floor as he places you down on it, leaving you for a moment as he grabs a wash cloth. He starts to clean you in silence, waiting for you to say something. You were too tired to speak, however.

Once you're clean, he makes himself presentable again as he picks you up and walks you back to your table. Once he sets you down, he walks off and brings back a bottle of water and some snacks.

"Dont worry, they're on me." He says with a wink.

As he turns to walk away, you grab onto his sleeve to get his attention. He leans in close to hear you over the bustling crowd. "Floyd, I didn't get to fini-" he places his index finger over your mouth.

"Now, now, I didn't forget my dear, I promise. If you're good today then I'll double it tonight, hm?" And with that, he walks off and returns to his job where jade and azul kept yelling at him for bailing.

As you sit in silence while occasionally looking over at Floyd, he makes eye contact with you while being yelled at. Going back to you table, you realize something, your tea has gone cold.

Oh dear, whoever will you call over to replace it?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~♧♧~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/n: i had no clue how to end this fic wiwhwihsiwow im going insane

[sbk-zgvlt]

1. I’m honestly impressed about how you two made a whole ass fan fiction which I heavily enjoy with just a simple question

2. I’m hoping onto that Peter Pan idea train

3. This random idea which has less Angst. Basically one day at NRC, all the main cast suddenly get transported into to a story book where they get each character is transported into a different story that best matches there personalities(or in author sense what there character was inspired by), so when the Diasomnia group get transported to the story of sleeping beauty, the can’t find Sebek anywhere. Meanwhile, Sebek is wondering where the hell everyone is and why he’s on a deserted island in the middle of nowhere, where’s there’s apparently pirate ships. (I also imagine sense Sebek is half crocodile fea he has a crocodile tail which can disappear and reappear)

1. We're just that cool

2. I think i need to make a tag for that now...

3. IM SO INSANE ABOUT THIS

They probably messed around with this cursed storybook that Crowley keeps in his office and now they suffer the consequences.

The thing is though that they have to complete each story by their order in the book to actually progress. So, we start with Alice in Wonderland where Heartslabyul is stuck in. The further down the story is in the book (First story = Alice in Wonderland, last story = Sleeping Beauty), the longer the dorm has been inside.

For example, Heartslabyul have only been stuck for a day. Savanaclaw for a week. Octavinelle for a month, etc.

The basics of how this works is that while the first story is being played out, the others haven't even started yet. They're basically on pause. It's like Heartslabyul is trying to finish the story in a day while Savanaclaw is stuck inside the story 1 week before the events actually happen.

When Heartslabyul finish their story, they get transported to the Lion King and meet with Savanaclaw. They finish the story, then meet with Octavinelle in Little Mermaid, so on and so forth.

They eventually reach the Sleeping Beauty, only to be met with a frantic Diasomnia who have been stuck in the story for 5 months (They don't age or something by the way...when they return to the real world they've only been gone for a minute).

Turns out they have NOT seen Sebek at all, and Silver is in a FRENZY. Malleus is starting to embrace his villain role a bit too well in the story, and Lilia has practically reverted back to his old war veteran days.

The cast finally snap them out of it when they're able to finish the story, and Riddle suggests that maybe Sebek wasn't affected by the storybook for some reason? Or they'll be able to find him once they reach the true end of the book.

So, the true characters of thr story finally manifest so Diasomnia can just watch things play out with the rest of the cast as well.

They watch Aurora get married, some get a bit teary-eyed while Leona and Malleus argue over the color of her dress, then all they have to do now is wait for the end of the story-

Everyone gets transported to a room. The Darlings' room. Everyone freaks out because WHAT THE FUCK I THOUGHT WE WERE SUPPOSED TO GO HOME???

Diasomnia are inconsolable because they think that Sebek was left behind in the Sleeping Beauty story and will be stuck there forever and are continuously trying to find ways to go back-

"Uh, you guys aren't Wendy." Everyone turns towards the window. Peter Pan, in all his glory, was sitting by the windowsill with his arms crossed. He thinks that they broke in and is prepared to beat their asses until Jack and Trey explain their situation.

Peter hears about this Sebek guy and goes "Oh! You mean ole' croc? I know where he is!" Diasomnia pause and then immediately start screaming at him to bring them to him.

A few pixie dust later (courtesy of a disgruntled Tinkerbell), they're flying over Neverland. Peter is about to introduce them to the lost boys only for the sound of a cannon to interrupt him.

Pirates are invading the island once more, and the cast are quick to defend themselves. They can't seem to get a single hit on Captain Hook though, mostly because of fairy tale laws or whatever.

They're in a bit of a disadvantage, and even Peter is getting restless-

Tick.

Tock.

Captain Hook goes pale, as well as the rest of his crew. NRC look confused only for a familiar voice to ring throughout the fight: "ARE YOU BACK FOR ANOTHER ROUND, CAPTAIN?" It's Sebek!

Except he looks...different. Not different in the way that Rook now has black hair for whatever reason, nor different by the fact that Lilia's hair is long again.

This Sebek looks older. Not too old, but there are key differences. His usual round ears are now a bit pointed, his hair past his shoulders. He's wearing something wildly different- there's no trace of his uniform.

Instead, an old, raggy pirate's cloak hangs off his shoulders that just serves to make him look more intimidating. And uh the rest of his clothes are the ones that Will Stetson is wearing in his cover of Shinunoga E-wa with black pants LOOK MAN im writing this in my notes app offline.

His magestone is no longer placed in a pen, rather it hangs off his ear as an earring.

The biggest change however is the scales and tail...as well as the ticking face of a clock that replaces his right eye.

Hook's crew are quick to retreat, not before Sebek can suddenly jump into their ship though. The cast watch Sebek raise Hook up by the scruff of his neck, and with a flick of his wrist, his claws retract.

"P-please!" Hook pleads. "Have mercy!" Sebek smiles. "I'm true to my word, Captain." And promptly slices his hand off.

He jumps off the ship with Hook's hand, Peter quick to catch him as they ignore Hook's frantic screams. Blood trickles down his claws, and once they reach solid ground, Peter puts Sebek down.

Sebek throws the hand into the sand, and with a single kick, sends it flying into the ocean. Right on time, a crocodile jumps from the water and catches it into its mouth, before retreating back into the water.

"That was so cool!" Peter exclaims from behind him with childlike wonder. Sebek doesn't react, only sighing, "HUMAN, JUST BECAUSE IVE BEEN HERE FOR A YEAR DOESNT MEAN ILL BE HERE FOREVER. SOONER OR LATER, YOU WILL NEED TO FACE THE CAPTAIN BY YOURSE-"

He turns around to continue to berate Peter, only to pause when he sees the mildly injured forms of the NRC cast.

"...PETER WHAT THE FUCK"

[crazycurly-77]

Bob (10/24)

This is written in the style of the 24 series.

Events occur in real time.

Hour 10 of 24: 07:00 - 08:00

07:02:53 a.m.

NCIS HQ, Washington D.C.:

Gibbs' phone rang: "Yes, Abs?"

He listened to her briefly and then hung up.

He didn't like what she had told him. So he decided to update his team, stood up, looked at Tony and you and reported: "Abby was able to reconstruct that the admiral's body was taken away. Probably with a vehicle, since the drag marks stop abruptly. The tires are ordinary, so they don't help us either."

He paused.

Then he turned to his right-hand man: “DiNozzo, get the surveillance videos of the access gates and check them for vehicles leaving the base.”

Tony immediately picked up the phone to request the required recordings.

Satisfied, Gibbs then turned to you: “What’s your and Holding’s background and who knows about this project?”

You thought for a moment and then reported: “Several people are working on it, but for security reasons nobody knows everything. The people who know the most are Don and I.”

“That means you know almost everything about it and that you both have to be present at all meetings?” he asked.

“No, Don is a mechanic, navigator and weapons expert. He can fly in an emergency, but is responsible for the on-board systems, especially the weapons systems.”

“And you?”

“I trained to become a SEAL. My specialties are analyzing complex issues and planning special operations.”

“Then why didn’t you stick with it?” Gibbs wanted to know.

Embarrassed, you looked briefly at the floor. When you looked up again, you looked him straight in the eyes and answered: “I injured my knee shortly before the end of the training, so I had to stop.”

Gibbs’ eyebrows shot up in surprise and you continued: “Since I could no longer become a SEAL, I was called to Miramar, where I was trained to be a test pilot. I graduated as the best in my class.”

At that moment, DiNozzo raised his voice: “Boss, I just spoke to Holding’s ex-wife and she had some interesting things to report.”

Gibbs looked at him and waited a moment before barking impatiently: “What is it? Are you going to tell us what she said today or do I have to kick you in the ass first?”

Tony quickly cleared his throat and hurried to explain: “She reported that he’s addicted to gambling. He has accumulated quite a lot of debt, which was also the reason for their separation.”

He paused briefly, then laughed and said: “She said that if we find him, we should tell him that she’s still waiting for the last alimony payment...doesn't that sound familiar, boss?”

Gibbs narrowed his eyes at him with extreme displeasure, stood up and asked sharply: “Anything else?”

DiNozzo quickly retreated behind his desk and muttered: “No, boss.”

“Gibbs?” You then said.

He didn't answer, but just looked at you expectantly.

“I spoke to the commander of the reinforcement squad.”

“Yes, and?”

“He said that Colonel Fuller ordered them to withdraw. That's why I looked into Fuller's background more closely. He has an amazingly exclusive lifestyle for a colonel and would benefit financially from any sale of the helicopter.”

Gibbs nodded: "DiNozzo, Y/L/N. Gear up and follow me. We're going back to the base."

With that, he stormed towards the elevator.

07:37:48 a.m.

Quantico, Colonel Fuller's office:

Fuller stood at his desk and sorted the documents on it. Next to him was his wastepaper basket, in which he burned a lot of paper.

He had to destroy any possible evidence before he left for the meeting point. Of course, he definitely didn't want anything pointing to him.

The investigators will surely be standing in his office again soon with a bunch of unpleasant questions. It really was high time he got going.

So he left the base as soon as he was finished.

07:54:34 a.m.

Somewhere on the open sea:

"When are we going to get our money?" asked Chris in a provocative tone with his usual impatience.

The first officer just looked at him coldly and replied: “The boss is coming soon, he’s already on his way here. As soon as he gets here, we’ll settle accounts.”

The boys were happy: “Very good, then we’ll be rich!”

The officer then thought to himself: “If he doesn’t kill you first.” He turned around, walked away and muttered threateningly: “Then you’ll get what you deserve…”

07:59:45 a.m. …the clock was ticking…

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

Here you will find the other chapters of this story.

Masterlist stories - Part 1 (finished ones)

Masterlist stories - Part 2 (finished/ongoing)

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

Tags: @ilovemark1951, @hobby27

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[danwhobrowses]

One Piece Chapter 1130 - Initial Thoughts

And we're back once again

Chapter came out at a time between the end of my work hours so I had to wait a bit longer but now I'm ready

we're out of the block land, but what lies on the other side? Let's find out

Spoilers for the chapter, support the official release too

Yamato's cover story involves theft, Yamato, Shinobu and Tama all caught lacking as Yasu's sword is stolen

We start with the post-Alabasta crewmates, who tell Dorry and Brogy to stop searching for Luffy

They have faith in the crew, and they have expended all their search options and their food, so the giants agree to continue to Elbaf

The Alabasta crew (sans Vivi ofc) escape the building to a massive castle snowscape

The castle is quite detached from everything, surrounded by woodland on a pedestal and a long rope bridge

Giants are coming across the bridge, so the crew hide, but it's actually some friendlies

Gerd and Goldberg from Hajrudin's crew have come down about intruders

Seems Road - now Rodo - is a bit of a black sheep among Hajrudin's crew, Gerd calling him a crackpot, seems Hajrudin only has him on the crew because of his navigation skill

Oh, Prince Loki is called the 'Shame of Elbaf'

Gerd's pet owl (How Athenian) is called Piper and it spotted Muginn carrying the Sunny

Oh and Elder Jarul is still alive, from Big Mom's flashback

Luffy spots the giants and sees them as friendly, but Nami stops him because they're looking for intruders

Sanji meanwhile is simping on Gerd, while Usopp is elated to confirm that we're in Elbaf

Nami's stoppage didn't snuff out all noise, but when the giants look they do the classic video game enemy ism of 'must've been the wind'

Giant Rope Bridge though means giant gaps between steps, which some of the crew aren't used to, with giant ravenous wolves below

Usopp assures this is just a trial of courage, as he hugs the edges for dear life

Meanwhile Luffy's just on the ropes looking badass

Zoro senses that Luffy's focused on something, and it seems Luffy has sensed something

Sanji quickly asserts not to go anywhere, also grabbing Zoro as to not run off

Luffy however had no such restraint, and thus dives down anyway

Back with the Post-Alabasta Crew and the news fallout from Egghead is happening

Dorry and Brogy have been pinned for destroying Egghead, and their bounties have gone up to 1.8 Billion each

As we assumed anyway, the 100 million bounty they had back at Little Garden was a product of inflation, confirmed by Robin here

Luffy's also blamed for killing Vegapunk, Franky's annoyed (I mean he is his idol) but Lilith teases him about it

Luffy's pic has the X in it though?

Also true how do they get these photos? Apoo wasn't there, does someone cave like a camera devil fruit like that My Hero Academia filler guy?

Ah Robin is also curious about the X

Detective Robin notes that Luffy's arm is blurry save for the X, like it's separate

OH! Did Vivi embellish it on the photo like a coded message? Wouldn't it be a shame if all the crewmates who'd recognize this symbol were elsewhere???

Dorry and Brogy ask about Luffy's standing, now that he's an emperor like Shanks, and Hajrudin works under him

Oooh Hajrudin lore, he's the son of the King of Elbaf!

Hajrudin wanted to pick up Luffy but Dorry and Brogy have seniority...and he probably would've fared worse

Prince Loki lore now, seems Loki is Hajrudin's brother

He allegedly 'devoted himself to darkness' and was a few years back - so post-Lola - sentenced to crucifixion

It took all the Warriors of Elbaf to capture him

Jinbe was on Big Mom's crew so he'd know it's Loki

Oh but there's more, the royal family passes down a legendary devil fruit, Prince Loki killed his own father - King Harold - in order to acquire it

Right, don't let Loki free gotcha

And here's Luffy, clearly not about to let Prince Loki free XD

Hell of a panel though, got Oars energy here

Prince Loki looks to have a cool design, but he's been chained to the World Tree and his eyes covered, he has the Doflamingo-ism of grinning wide and sticking his tongue out

Also Norse myth connection! Loki was chained to a rock until Ragnarok, the chains were technically the intestines of one of his sons and a venomous snake would drip poison over his head (his wife would shield it with a bowl, but when the bowl was filled there'd be a brief window of pain as she emptied it, which would cause earthquakes). Upon Ragnarok he will break from his chains, his son Fenrir will eat Odin, his son Jormungandr will kill Thor, and he will kill Heimdall, but like the World Serpent at the cost of his life

He asks Luffy's name and Luffy answers the way he does

He mulls about Luffy's declaration to be a king, but answers Luffy in kind about the setting

This is War Land, the kingdom of Elbaf: the Birthplace of War

We have our big Elbaf spread, and the castle they were in for context right near the bottom

It's a giant tree with 2 tiers, the middle tier seems to be the most bustling area; Giant cannons and swords are seen in the middle level, along with waterfalls and another grand castle to the left

Loki introduces himself as the Sun God who will bring about the end of the world

Oh a 2 week break? Oda must be skipping Halloween XD between this and the anime hiatus that's a shame, but 2 weeks is doable

Another strong chapter from Elbaf, which we can now confirm to be in.

Prince Loki's design is another winner, I am slightly concerned he may end up too much like Doflamingo (killed his dad, the happy tongue thing, being chained up a lot) but we'll see, Luffy's very clearly gonna open Pandora's box here it seems. There's also the curiosity of what his DF will be.

If he's Hajrudin's brother it seems we might be getting a little Shakespearean here, Hajrudin is waiting for Luffy so he has to play a role, but does it become a civil war? In a place called War Land that wouldn't be too surprising (I doubt though it's the birthplace of war, more that it's the birthplace of Elbaf, the Giants' God of War). Or maybe Oda goes another direction, is this truly our villain or perhaps Luffy's kindness towards him begets a redemption?

My Vivi theory has latched onto my brain too, but while I like how we divided things I do hope we don't just ignore the Post-Alabasta crew, just delay them a short while - there's still Lilith, Kuma and Bonney stuff to deal with there too.

But we'll just have to stew on it for the new two weeks, the more we get answers the more we get mystery.

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

The Lark's Nest | Fledgling

Hello! I hope you’re doing well and had a good Halloween if that’s something you celebrate! The is isn’t exactly an ask, I just wanted to Officially State that if you want to write a Lark’s Nest sequel, I’d 1,000% read it! No pressure to do so, I know you’re probably swimming in asks!!! The interest is there, is all. :D Thank you so much for all the work you do, I love your writing very much and have plans to buy your book!! – anon

Read on Ao3 Part 1

Warnings: whipping

Pairings: none

Word Count: 2557

Set a few years prior to the events of the previous chapter, in a very different club, with a very different boss.

"You disobeyed a direct order."

"I had to—"

"You deliberately disobeyed a direct order."

"I saved them!"

"And you would have gotten everyone else in this building killed because your bleeding heart couldn't handle the idea that sacrifice is necessary." The boss stared down over the railing, his breathing equally hard. Their stares locked. For a split second, something like agony crossed his expression.

Then it grew still. His chin tilted up, fists clenched on the railing.

"Twenty," he said softly, "one for every man you could have killed for the sake of three."

"…you can't be serious," Logan said, almost laughing at how ludicrous—surely, how ludicrous the suggestion was. That he be whipped for saving people.

But then two other gang members were moving forward to take him by the arms and horror slammed into him.

"Wait, what?" The boss watched them with a stony expression. "You're—you can't be serious, you're going to whip me for saving them?"

"Disobeying is treason," the boss said lowly, "and recklessly endangering the lives of my crew is not an offense I can afford to tolerate."

"But you can afford to do this?"

He was hauled to the post in the middle of the basement floor. They started to chain his hands. Logan pulled against them, head jerking around to glare at the boss.

"Is this the price of your authority? Do the three saved lives mean nothing to you?"

He managed to tear one arm away but it was caught within moments. The chain rattled and the boss nodded. One of the other gang members took a knife and split his shirt up the back.

At the feel of the cold air on his skin, Logan jerked so hard the post shuddered.

"Are our lives forfeit to you, then," he spat, as another slowly advanced with the whip, "do only you get to decide what happens to us? Are we only allowed to suffer or prosper at your whims?"

The crew, which had been summoned at the first sign of the returning car and now stood to witness this dispensing of 'justice,' began to mutter. The rescue had worked, none had died, but now the boss was angry and the punishment…

As the whip drew back, Logan's eyes flashed and caught the boss's one last time.

"You never even said it was good to see them alive."

The first strike fell.

Logan's hands tightened on the chain as his back split. The second fell and opened it again, blood beginning to splatter along the deck. His once white shirt grew heavy, no longer fluttering in the slight breeze as they sound echoed off the cold concrete floor. Muffled gasps and groans turned into barely contained sobs, turned into one agonized yelp that made a few avert their gazes, before Logan suddenly clung to post and went motionless, even as the last lashes cracked even harder.

Silence followed the last snap.

No one dared move save for the one who held the whip, panting slightly as they let it fall to the ground.

Logan did not move. He clung to the post, muscles shaking with the effort, but gave no indication that he knew it was over.

The boss moved first, raising his chin. "Clean up. We're gone in an hour."

As he turned toward his office, the floor slowly came back to life. A few fetched the supplies needed to clean the blood and the post, several more to begin making the building ready to be liquefied. Many offered their relief that the three had been brought back safely—some that had done so when they first arrived, some that had not—and a few reached for the bloodied body hanging from the post.

His hands were bloodied too, the imprint of the metal making grooves on his arms from where he'd clutched the post. His eyes were closed, his limbs weak and trembling. He could only manage a few limping steps before his feet slipped.

"C'mon," one grunted as they carefully eased his arm over their shoulders, "to the medic."

The medic was there ahead of them, gesturing at the bed at Logan was carefully placed onto it, back exposed. He set out a pair of tweezers at his side and bent close.

"Have to clean up the blood first," he said, "then we'll see if you need more."

One rag became two, became three until the water ran clear. A few lashes still wept as the medic reached for the bottle, muttering a quick warning before pressing a soaked cloth to his wounds. Logan didn't react, so still and so silent that the medic reached out to put a hand near his nose and mouth to check if he was still breathing.

"Eyes open," he said, relaxing a tad when his eyes fluttered, "keep them like that until I'm done."

He kept an eye on him, watching him stare vacantly at the wall as he tended to his wounds. Eventually, he sighed and turned away.

"You'll need to let them sit a bit longer," he said, "and no sleeping on your back for a good month or so. Try and keep your shirt as clean as possible too."

Logan nodded once.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?"

Logan's fingers twitched slightly, indicated his battered wrists. The medic dragged a stool closer and picked up another cloth. He took hold of one of his hands and began to clean it, swiping the cloth at knuckles and wrists and dabbing over the mangled skin. He worked in silence for a while before glancing up to check if Logan's eyes were still open.

He was far too experienced for his hands to stutter at the sight of tears, but it hurt all the same.

"I know it hurts," he said quietly, knowing it wasn't just the outside wounds he referred to, "I'm almost done."

Above them, they heard the sounds of the crew beginning preparations to go and the rumble of the cars as they began to peel out of the parking lots outside.

"You'll stay here tonight," the medic said, "don't want to risk moving you. The last of the preparations won't need to be done until next week, you'll be seen to here."

When Logan nodded, his blank stare growing damp under his face, the medic sighed and reached out to gruffly fix his shoulders.

"Don't want you getting stiff," he muttered, "you'll have to move a little bit every now and then. Messes your limbs and neck up if you don't."

Logan nodded again, but it was puppet-like. Gone was the fire, gone were the smiles.

Gone was the man he recognized.

The medic had seen a lot of good gang members die, a lot of good innocent men too.

He had never before seen someone die while his heart still beat.

It was not his place as a medic to put one life above another, but he found himself wondering what would've happened if Logan had died instead.

***

A few months later:

The fact that the change is so sudden is perhaps its most significant factor.

Logan does not speak except to answer the medic's questions. He spends days in the room at the medic's orders, emerging again as a shriveled shell when he's finally given leave to return to work. He moves slowly, not slow enough to cause a ruckus, but much slower than he used to. His voice is calm and even but he never sounds as though he wants to be speaking.

There is one exception.

When he first emerged, he sought out the gang members he had saved and told them in no uncertain terms, that he would do it again. If it meant they would be saved, he would do it again.

He did not do anything that could get him in trouble again.

At first, it was written off as an overcompensation. Any member put to the lash thinks long and hard about their behavior before they do something that could land them under it again. The others assumed that this would last for a few weeks at most before Logan would be better, that he would be back.

But one week stretched to two, stretched to three, and kept stretching.

The medic worried that the wounds had become infected, but they were healing fine. Granted, the scars were almost worse than any he'd ever seen before—especially from something like this, for someone so young—but there was no outward indication of anything wrong.

The other issue came from how quiet Logan was.

One of the rescued, ranking no higher than a cabin rat, had grown close to him. He badgered Logan in that endearing way young children do, question after question, story after story, until it came out that he missed Logan's voice.

I still talk, he had said.

But you don't sound like you, he had wheedled, and you never sing anymore.

And that had been when the grew knew something was wrong.

Any gang worth its salt knew how to entertain a crowd. Any gang could run a club that kept the community on their side, any gang would put a decent show on just to keep its members and it surrounding territory happy. And for as long as the crew could remember, it had always been carried by one distinctive voice. But even when the others sang, when they asked and joked and outright pleaded, Logan didn't sing. They would try and have no noise come out, or Logan would clam up and refuse to speak. And while he wasn't technically doing anything wrong, it hurt every time the club's doors opened and they all just knew one voice would be missing. Even the other musicians started to ask, what happened to that one gang member with the sweet voice that used to sing with them? And they would never have an answer.

It was no surprise that the cabin rat was the first to turn against the boss, but it was a surprise when the medic followed suit.

Orders were followed to the letter, but only to the letter. Anything that could've been done with a bit of initiative was put off until it became an outright order or someone else took care of it. Conversations stuttered, smiles faded, and some of the crew took notice.

The cabin rat is, well, a cabin rat, but the medic is a respected figure. Given his authority to override the boss if necessary, it was as much about self-preservation as it was genuine admiration and care. So when a rift emerged between the medic and the boss, the crew quickly found themselves having to choose what to do.

A few sided with the boss quickly, scolding the others and telling them that their behavior was out of line. But they were quickly met with questions of how they were breaking the rules, or what they were doing wrong, and you cannot command someone's heart any more than you can order the sun to stop rising and setting.

The boss noticed, as should all bosses notice when there's something wrong with their crew, but any attempt to understand what had happened was met with nothing. And what could he do? No one was disobeying—as a matter of fact, things were running more effectively than it had in a long time—but everyone was slightly too cold.

Too impersonal.

He finally cornered his second in command about it, pouring them a drink and insisting that, for once, could someone in this club speak to him frankly?

"The crew's upset, boss."

"I've gathered that, but what no one will tell me is why."

The second takes a long pull from the glass. "But you know what it is."

"How can I possibly know if no one's told me?"

"Same way you know the storm's building even if there are no clouds in the sky."

The boss sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "What would you have had me do? Just excuse it and risk him questioning my authority during a crisis? You of all people know how dangerous that can be!"

The second stays quiet.

"You know the rules." he continues, "risking the crew is unacceptable. Betraying that trust and safety of your crew is an offense of the highest order. How as I supposed to let that slide?"

"I can hear him cry, you know."

The boss pauses, sitting up a little more. "What?"

"At night. His room is right next to mine for some of the shifts." The second traces a ring in the table. "It's real quiet, but I sleep light, pressed against the wall. I can hear it. It gets worse when it rains."

It's the boss's turn to fall silent.

"You know why that cabin rat's so close with him now? 'Cause for a while, they had to sleep on top of each other so he wouldn't roll onto his back. Medic's orders." The second sits up. "I asked him about it when I saw them come out of there one morning. You know what he said?"

The boss nods his head.

"He said maybe it would've been better if all four of them had died instead."

The boss's breath leaves him in a rush. To hear those words come from someone so young…

"The rigger came and found me too," the second continues, "said they had to apologize to the medic and the medic send them to me. Said they thought it'd be better to spread out the twenty instead of ripping his back open, but now they're not so sure."

They have to look away for a second. When they look back, it's with quiet fury.

"Twenty lashes is a lot for a large man," they say, "and Logan's barely bigger than the cabin rat."

The room is silent for long moments, before the boss finally speaks again.

"I went to see him," he says hoarsely, "I did. That night, I tried to see him. Medic wouldn't let me in."

"And since?"

He shakes his head. "Never alone. Never able to get him away from anyone else—not even at night. Didn't want to try and order him up here."

The second is silent for another beat, before they set down their drink. "Can I give you some advice, sir?"

"Anything, please."

"Stop trying," the second's voice rings in the boss's ears long into the night, "it won't make a difference anyway."

***

Logan is traded away in a deal between two rival gangs. The cabin rat leaves the next day, taking a job at one of the few clubs firmly in civilian ground.

No one forgets, and no one sings with the musicians in the clubs anymore.

[cleabellanov]

Jet-Skiing Through Identity: A deep dive into Mobius M. Mobius (part 3) 🛥️

But why am I doing this? What is it that's so calling about Mobius's character?

Simple short answer: a lot of things. Simple but slightly longer aswer:

- His relationship with Loki being the only constant in the show, the only things we as viewers knew we can actually follow through the episodes. Being the one to treat "the villain" differently, Mobius already wins some ground from Loki's fans.

- He is relatable. Now of course, relatibility differs from viewer to viewer. But Mobius just has the charm of getting closer to you without really doing anything special.

-He is comforting, and I don't really need to bring arguments when that's his way of being. Also, we all know that if Loki can be comforted hy this character, so can we. Little variants of their own, these broken hearts... :))

Now, we got to the part where Mobius doesn't just give up when the hard thing to do is the thing that has to be done (just wait until I get to season 2. It'll get crazy).

The last episodes of season 1 are the ones in which this choice and internal conflict reach the climax.

After he gets pruned and ends up in The Void, Mobius doesn't let go without a fight. Actually, he quickly finds a car to get him away from Alioth and helps Sylvie along too. But why is he doing this?

The rush of adrenaline, the resolution that Renslayer: his friend for eons, just ordered his pruning, and the obvious life or death situation he is in. They all call the survival instinct - but also the adventurous side of Mobius - to action. I would like to insist on the second one, though. You can wipe a man's memory thousands of times, but that doesn't mean you wipe him the way he is. Those memories still exist, even though not in Mobius's present consciousness.

Then, his line in "Journey Into Mystery" is one I will never forget:

He has known so many timelines that got pruned, traveled in time and apocalypses, yet when it comes to change, it's never too late.

<<It's never too late to be what you might have been>> (George Eliot)

And again, why? Where does this strenght of character come from?

This willingness to change, this spark also has a lot to do with Loki. When he was saying that, he was talking to the other Loki variants. A simple man among them, yet one they seemingly trust. Seeing how his Loki was able to change and looking at these variants of him, he probably believes he can do the same, be an example for others that might need it. If the God of Mischief was able of "the word of a friend", Mobius is able of turning away from the very thing he diverted his life to. And that's because he know the truth now.

However, where Loki is an external factor, Mobius's strength and courage are an internal one. None of this wouldn't happened without him. Actually, things would've ended pretty quickly without the 1, that person to give Loki a chance. And, as I said before, the rest is history.

In the beloved miraculous historical scene where they hug, Mobius first gives out his hand. A signal that he's not very familiar with touch, and I imagine they don't often give hugs at the TVA.

So it has to be Loki that makes it into a hug. Mobius accepts that wholeheartedly, and I am so very grateful we got to see it on screen. The characters needed it as much as we did. And still do.

I had to put that in here, you can never get enough of them.

So here we are, at the end of the season. This character has come a long way, from the analyst that plays the comic relief at times - to the trusting, rebellious and loving companion, working with the opposite side to bring down the front on which he used to be fighting. More than ever, he is ready to fight for free will.

But there is still a longer way to go, because good characters never just stop playing with our hearts and evolving into someone new.

Therefore, see you for parts 4 and 5, because we're getting to SEASON 2 MUAHAHA

[snwusberry]

pairing: ex!theo x black!reader

genre: fluff, angst

warning(s): cheating (I DO NOT CONDONE)

fic playlist:

pacify her - melanie martinez

problem with you - sabrina claudio

secret love song - little mix

all to me - giveon

NOT PROOFREAD

i sigh, throwing my pen down in frustration. work has been kicking me in the ass the past couple of weeks and i just need to unwind. i check the time on my phone and the door to the room opens and my fiancé walks in smiling.

"you're still working?" he asks me, walking closer and i nod.

"have to finish this."

"okay but you know taking a break is okay, right?"

"yeah i know. which is why the girls and i are going out tonight." i respond in excitement. i haven't gotten to spend much time with them since we're all so busy with our lives.

"oh... don't you wanna relax and unwind here at home? i can give you a massage, cook you dinner..." he suggests amd i shake my head.

"i barely get the time to go out with them and tonight's the night. we can have a nice night in tomorrow night."

he nods with a disappointed expression on his face and i can't help but feel bad so i stand up and wrap my arms around him.

"hey. it's just tonight." i try reassuring him and he smiles again, planting a kiss on my lips."

"now get out of here. i need to finish this."

"no can do baby, you've been in here since you got up this morning and it's..." he pauses to reach into his pocket to check the time on his phone. "3pm. you need to eat something."

"alright, alright." i say in defeat and we walk out with him.

my fiancé is nothing short of perfect. he's caring and thoughtful and treats me so well. i mean, everyone adores him. my friends, my parents... so why would i not marry him, right?

he managed to pull me completely away from work to watch a movie with him after eating. i'm honestly so grateful for because i think i might actually turn into a zombie if i stare at my laptop any longer.

"baby i have to go get ready." i say to him and he hums.

"in a second."

"i'm already late. they'll be here in an hour and you know that's not enough time for me to get ready." i plead with him and he sighs and sits up from his position on the sofa.

"okay, okay. go ahead."

"thank you."

i get up and head to our room to get my stuff ready and shower.

————

my phone rings and it's my friend, sienna, letting me know she's outside so i quickly get my bag so i can go.

"she's outside baby." i say in passing but he stops me in my tracks.

"you're not going out like that, are you?" he asks me, glancing at my outfit.

"i'm wearing it, am i not? come on baby, she's waiting outside."

"yeah but... i don't know baby..."

"not this please. don't wait up." just as i start walking again he speaks up.

"what will you be doing?"

"getting shit faced with my friends. can i go now?"

"yeah.. uh yeah. bye baby." i give him a quick kiss before heading out and walking to my friend's car which is already packed with the our other friends. just as i'm about to get in, a shot glass is pushed in front of me and i look at the girls confused.

"pregame." amara, one of my friends, states and i down the shot before entering. the car and greet everyone.

the atmosphere in the car is so lively and everyone is talking and singing, sienna is annoying her boyfriend who's driving us there. bless his heart. this is just what i need right now. we're going to this lounge that amara had been raving about for weeks and now that we finally get to go, she's bouncing off the seats of this car.

"when are we getting there? we've been in here forever. it's hot in here." sienna pouts from the front seat, fanning herself, probably from drinking.

"relax, we're here." sienna's boyfriend says, pulling up and we all fike out and thank him.

"LETS GOOO!" one of my other friends, zay, shouts but amara shuts her down really quick.

"sweetie, this is a lounge." she hushed and zay clears her throat and fixes her skirt.

"right."

we go in and immediately head to the bar to order drinks because those two little shots in the car were not enough.

"so how has everyone been?" zay asks, sipping on her cocktail and everyone groans.

"horrible. they were laying people off at work. when i tell you, they called me in and i nearly pissed myself." amara explains and then further explains how they called her in because they found out she was hooking up with the finance guy during her breaks.

"and you're so nonchalant about that?" i ask her and she nods.

"could've been worse."

"dignity?" zay questions and she nods. "and you? wedding planning??" zay asks, turning to me.

don't get me started.

"i been trying to get them to slow down on that but no one's listening."

"why do you wanna slow down?"

"because everything is moving fast, duh. i feel everywhere i look, people are wedding stuff in my face. Just this morning i was arguing with the his aunt about seating plans. apparently she's not happy with 3rd row." i say in frustration

"it's always the aunties. i'd put her in the last row if she wants something to really fuss about." sienna says and i sigh.

"i just want a breather and step away from all this wedding stuff. i don't even know why we rushed to start planning anyway."

"because he's trying to wife you up now. it's cute."

"right..."

"aren't you happy?" amara chimes in with a question and i sigh.

"of course i am. i am." my voice fades out and i take a gulp from my glass. "but i'm not trying to think about that right now."

"she's right. let's go mingle. there's a hot guy there, 3 o'clock." zay exclaims.

"you and amara go. we'll be here." sienna tells her and they nod and walk on their merry way.

"now tell me about this. you don't sound too excited for someone who's getting married."

"i really am, i swear. i'm just really stressed, is all." i tell her and she looks at me skeptically, however, her expression changes.

"oh no."

"what?" i ask her and she just looks somewhere behind me so i look to where she is looking and my heartbeat picks up at the sight of the man mingling with his friends. his all too familiar smile rests on his breathtaking face. the same smile that lights up any room, as corny as it sounds. he's now sporting black hair which is longer than when i last saw him. so basically, he looks perfect.

"don't stare." sienna whispers and i snap out of the somewhat trans i was in.

"i wasn't."

"you better. maybe we should go somewhere else before he sees you." she suggests and i nod. we walk to another area. i look around for amara and zay amd i know damn well they've found people to take home.

i see sienna bring in another drink and i sigh. i don't know how her lightweight ass is still going.

"sweetie, are you sure you wanna drink this much?" i ask her cautiously and she nods.

"i can handle my liquor!"

————

"why did you let me drink so much." i hear sienna whine to zay somewhere behind me and i rub my temples. this is not how i envisioned my night to go.

"hey, i'm taking sienna to the bathroom, you coming with?" zay asks and i shake my head without saying anything.

just as i'm about to stand up and go elsewhere someone calls my name and i turn to the person.

"theo." i mutter to myself, frozen in my spot.

"i had a feeling it was you." he smiles and i nod, still not sure what to do. "it's been a while, hasn't it?"

"y-yeah, it has. how have you been?"

"good. a few off days here and there, but who doesn't have those."

he looks so damn good right now. his face is a little flushed, i guess from the alcohol and man. many flashbacks from when we were together come back to me and i get this yearning feeling from it.

"i heard you're getting married." he mentions and i look down at my hands.

"oh, uh... i am."

"how exciting." he comments with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

someone please end this right now. it's so damn awkward.

"yeah, it is."

"you don't sound too excited though."

please not this conversation again.

"i am. i'm just tired, you know."

"wedding planning?"

"yeah."

he gestures for us to sit down at the bar and i do. when i should've declined amd looked for amara, i went and sat down with him. my whole body feels so warm right now.

"is there trouble in paradise or something? you're missing that glint in your eyes." he says lowly and i notice how close we sat.

"no. nothing of the sort. everything is fine between us actually." i tell him and he hums, seemingly unconvinced.

i mean, that's true, right?

"what's he like?" theo asks and my breathing becomes uneven.

"he's uh... he's really sweet, he's loving, caring. you know."

"bare minimum. give me something else."

"that's all."

"of course. he's the picture perfect man too, huh?" he presses and i nod which makes him laugh.

"what's funny?"

"nothing. tell me more about him."

"he's great. look, i don't- i don't wanna talk about him right now. okay. i'm tired of talking about him, the wedding, my relationship, none of that. that's all i've been talking about lately."

"i see..." he nods in amusement and i clear my throat, looking around. i quickly spot amara with laughing with another group of people and this is my chance to leave.

"i see my friend, i should probably go. it was nice catching up." i say and i stand up and go to her, leaving him at the bar.

"amara."

"oh there she is. this is the friend inwas talking about." she says, introducing me to the small group of people and i awkwardly wave at them.

"congratulations on your wedding by the way." one of the girls say and i kid you not, my eye twitched.

"thank you."

amara makes me sit down next to hwr so i can join the conversation but my mind rushed back to theo. i glance back to where we were sitting and he's still there with a drink in his hand, his   cx  eyes are trained on me so i look away.

————

it's been a week since i saw theo again and that's all i've been thinking about. how much i miss him again.

"you're missing that glint in your eye."

everyone always says i don't sound excited or that i'm acting indifferent about getting married but theo saying that, for some reason, is making me think too much about it.

"hi baby." my fiancé's voice snaps me away from my thoughts. "we need to meet the planner."

"her name is hannah baby."

"yeah."

"i'll go get ready." i say to him before standing up to go get ready for yet another draining day.

when we're both done, we go and meet up with hannah and i see my fiancé's mother there too.

"babe, what is she doing here?" i ask him quietly and he brushes me off. okay bitch, damn.

————

this bitch doesn't shut the fuck up. she hates every suggestion i make, like sorry lady, who's the bride here? like right now i'm fighting for my life over here because she wants fucking doily placemats which don't go with anything.

"do you see her? do you hear how disrespectful she is when she talks to me?" she asks, pointing to me once hannah leaves the room.

"all i'm saying is that the doilies don't do witgthe overall decor. she's acting like i'm coming at her or something."

"baby, please. she was just making a suggestion and she felt like you were attacking her."

"oh! must i talk to her like a damn baby? how much more gentle must i talk?"

"enough already! you raised your voice at her, i heard you. that's my mother you're talking to, your future mother in law!"

"when you raised your voice right now, why did you do it?" i ask him in a much calmer tone. "you felt like i wasn't hearing you right?"

his eyes move to his mother before coming back to me.

"that doesn't mean you should discreet me. listen to what he said already."

"i'm not doing this." i say and head outside so i can literally be anywhere away from that woman. my fiancé follows behind, calling me a few times.

"baby, where are you going? we're not done in there." he tells me once I'm in front of the elevator.

"you and your mother can sort everything out, give me updates when you're done." i respond to him indifferently amd he sighs.

"don't be like that."

"like what? what am i being like?"

"you're overreacting. my mom means well, i mean come on. you lashed out at her over a suggestion, that's not fair to her."

"we're you even there? did you hear the way she was talking to me? you kept quiet when she was passing comments about me but one time i talk just a little bit louder, it's like i insulted her entire lineage. and a suggestion can be shut down. it becomes a problem when it's being forced on you. you need to grow a fucking backbone and get off your mother's areola and tell her no. being a good son doesn't mean agree with her every word." i tell him and push the button.

"she was really hurt that you shut her down you know? she was acting on emotion."

"okay then, i'll stay out of her hair. you two plan this wedding, pick everything out, i'll show just up on our wedding so we can get married." the doors of the elevator open amd i go inside, leaving him out there on his own.

motherfucker.

i go outside the building and speaad walk down the street, without an actual place to go in mind.

yeah there's that one thing i didn't mention. my fiancé is STUCK on his mother's tits. no matter what, she can do no wrong in his eyes, that's his biggest flaw amd no, i wouldn't call him a mama's boy. well he doesn't act like the typical one at least but i just wish he could see the way she treats me.

"you might bump into someone."

fuck fuck fuck. how fucking cliché.

"taeyang."

"no one walks looking down."

"i do."

"you look upset."

"i am."

"you wanna talk about it?" he asks and i look him in the eyes for a second. i nod and he directs me into a small café where he orders us drinks. "now tell me. what got you so upset?"

"my fiancé, he tries so hard to appeal to his mother even if it means being unreasonable to me so i left them to plan this wedding." i explained to him, keeping it brief.

"he's planning his wedding with his mother?" theo asks and i nod. "without tge bride to be?"

"yeah. it's her way or the highway. she blew things way out of proportion when i kindly declined on what she suggested. next thing i know, she's snitching on me to her son like a little kid who got pushed on the playground. lord knows he'd never back me up so he scolded me, imagine that."

"oh? i thought you liked when people were a little mean to you." he says with raised eyebrows and i return a deadpanned look. "sorry."

"this is serious."

"i don't mean any offense when i say this but if you're not getting along with your fiancé's mother and he never backs you up or stands up for you, is marrying him really a good choice?"

"i mean, i love him and he loves me-"

"please, he'd let you burn to keep his mother warm."

"that's an unsettling analogy and also, i can't make him choose between me and his mother. it's not fair."

"you're too patient. i'm sorry you have to deal with all of that."

"it's whatever. i feel like i'm just talking about myself, how have you been?"

"i've been good. went from boring job to another boring one." he briefly explains and i nod.

"no girlfriend?"

"already found the love of my life." he answers and my heart drops, selfishly so.

"is that so?"

"yeah. she-" he starts but he's interrupted by a shrill voice cutting through the air.

"what's going on here?" i turn to my fiancé's mother who's standing next to him. his arms are crossed with a pissed expression on his face.

"mother-"

"pleasure to meet you ma'am, i'm y/n's friend." theo politely greets and i don't think that's helping anything.

"we're going." my fiancé says and i nod, walking behind him without daring to look back.

when we get into the car i sit in the back and wait for one of them to say something or gang up on me but none of them do. it's only when he drops his mother off when he finally says something to me.

"get in the front seat."

i do what he says and take a seat right next to him. he still has that annoying scowl on his face as he looks forward and drives.

"what were you doing with him?"

"talking."

"that close?"

"we weren't even close. we we're talking normally."

"must i remind you that he is your ex?"

"he won't do anything. look, i'll cut contact with him immediately if it'll make you feel better."

"i'd appreciate that."

i sigh and sink in ny seat as i wait for us to get home.

————

the wedding date is getting closer and my doubts are settling in day by day. it's been nothing but arguments between my fiancé and i and it really makes me think if this is how it's gonna be in marriage. he's an absolute menace when we argue but he's charming when we're not, is that what's making me stay? or is it the fact that money has already been spent?

i feel overwhelmed and with everything amd everyone moving so fast, i just feel like i need to escape. i have to.

i stare at my phone, contemplating my next decision for a second longer before pressing call with instant regret. if i'm lucky, he changed his number, but-

"hello?"

"taeyang. i don't know if you still have my number saved-"

"y/n."

"yeah?"

"what's going on?" he asks and i close my eyes.

"uh, are you busy?"

"not really, no. what's wrong?"

"nothing, i just- can we meet up?"

"you know my address." he says and i smile to myself.

"thank you."

"no problem. i'll see you."

"bye." i hang up and go get my keys and purse before heading out.

i walk through the living room where my fiancé is sitting.

"i'm heading out for a bit."

"where are you going?" he questions immediately which stops me in ny tracks.

"i'm meeting a friend."

"don't be out too late." i hum and walk out to the car and drive down the familiar road to theo's place.

once i get there i take a deep breath before knocking on the door and wait for him to open.

"y/n. come in." he says, letting me in. i take my shoes off and walk into the apartment. not much has changed except the now white painted walls. "what brings you here?"

"hmm?"

"you sounded a bit off on the phone. what's wrong?" he asks me with concern in his voice and i turn to him. he gestures for me to sit on the couch and this reminds me of all the times i've come crying to him whenever i had a problem and how eager he was to help and comfort me, just like he is now.

"everything. everything is wrong, i just. i don't know..."

"what's on your mind?"

"all this wedding stuff, the doubts i have around it."

"you're having doubts about getting married?" he questions and i nod, feeling my eyes burn.

"i think we rushed things and, it's all just too much. i mean, i was over the moon when he proposed, i thought i was ready so i said yes."

"i think this is something you should tell him. let him know that you're not sure about this, you know, lay it all out. not saying anything is gonna lead you to that alter where you'd feel forced to say 'i do'. you won't be happy in the end."

"he'd try to convince me that it's just cold feet, that i'm stressed and that's what's making me think twice. or he'd take it the completely wrong way and think i'm breaking up with him."

"have you had a conversation that's lead to either of those kinds of scenarios?" he asks softly and i nod. "it seams like he's just scared to lose you."

"he shouldn't be. i love him."

"do you?" theo asks and i look at him and he's looking right back at me.

"i do..." i pause and think about my next answer.

"then why don't you think you're ready to marry him of you do?"

"you don't need to marry someone to show that you love them."

"maybe not, but to some, it is a show of how much you love them. that you're willing to commit to them and only them for the rest of your life." he explains and i think.

i've always believed that you don't have to marry someone to show how much you love them but when i was still with theo, i'd imagined myself walking down the aisle, exchanging vows with him. i imagined a life with him, with my fiancé i didn't think that far. everything with him has always been in the moment, even after he proposed, i was in no rush to start planning our wedding.

"i don't feel the spark anymore... i- i don't think i'm in love with him." i confess.

"and do you love him?" theo pressed further and i sigh.

that's a question i've found myself asking. do i love him?

"if you truly love someone, would you question yourself?" i ask and

looking back at theo and his expression doesn't change, well, other than the smile that plays on his lips.

"you're not happy in your relationship, are you?"

"i'm not. i genuinely have feelings for him but nothing quite like what i've felt before. he's genuinely a great guy but..."

"but what?"

"he's not you, taeyang." i admit and he takes my hand in his. "i can't love someone nearly as much as i love you."

"you know this is wrong, right?" he says and i look down at our joint hands. "you have a whole fiancé at home but here you are telling your ex you love him."

"tae-"

"i don't think i could ever love someone as much as i love you, y/n. it broke my heart knowing you moved on and even more so when i heard people saying you're getting married. i had to truly accept i lost you but you come here and tell me you still love me, get me all excited but you're gonna go back to your fiancé after this, pretend you're happy with him. how do you do it?"

"what?"

"how do you pretend you're happy when you're with him? you said it yourself right? he's not me. he can't love you like i can, can he?" he speaks just above a whisper.

"taeyang i can't-"

"you came here, felt that familiar feeling and then what? you're gonna leave, no?"

"i don't know how much pretending i can do after this."

"don't get my hopes up."

"i don't wanna be with him taeyang. not like this, not after this. you're the one i belong with."

he brings his hand to hold my face before leaning in and attaching his lips on mine and i melt into his touch, the feeling i've been longing for creeps back into my body. this is what i've been missing all this time but it's quickly taken away when he pulls away and looks deep into my eyes.

"i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i shouldn't have don't it like this. i don't wanna be your secret. if you're walking out that door, you're going with the intent of calling this wedding off and ending your relationship."

"you're right. you're right." i nod and i fix myself up.

"i'll go with you." he says and i nod and we walk out together.

[dixieconley]

In Which Anakin Was Chosen To Fuck Shit Up

Idea courtesy of @justafanwarrior: What i'm seeing is Anakin calling Padmé in panic because "I took down the Senate! It was an accident! Well not really they were allowing slavery, but I didn't mean to like, take over the Galaxy! Please help me manage things and uh not having to be in charge? Please Angel?" and @vaugemessenger: He would probably also take down the senate in the process for allowing the zygerrian slave empire to exist without consequences

Sequel to:

Rex (the one with the brain cell): You do realize that by killing the chancellor, we've essentially declared martial law, leaving you in charge of the Republic right now, sir? Anakin: ::anakin.exe has stopped working:: Rex: Sir? They want to negotiate a surrender. What do you want to do? Fives: Overthrow the patriarchy! Establish a fast food empire! What? I could really go for some fries right now. Echo: We're free and in charge. I guess that means the general really *is* the Chosen One.

[Flashback to two months after arriving at the temple: Obi-Wan: I want you to visit the creche, Anakin. The initiates there are your age and it would really be best if you had friends that aren't droids. (Everyone really hates C3P0. Vos is considering going dark side. 'Just to violently dismember it then melt its metal in the nearest sun. Then I'll come back. We can go to Dex's after and celebrate. It'll be fun!') Anakin: I really hate you right now. ::at the creche:: Initiate: ::::pissed that this dickhead somehow has a master and she's maybe never going to get one:: How do you rate a master, pipsqueak?:: (Yes, it's Barriss. Of *course*, it's Barriss.) Anakin: I'm the Chosen One! Initiate: Chosen for what? Fucking shit up? Anakin: … Initiate: Yeah. Thought so. Get back to me on that.]

Anakin: ::panicking:: Angel, Angel, I really need you. You have no idea how bad I need you right now. Padme: Well, okay, but this is a strange time for a booty call. Anakin: No, listen-- wait, what? …uh, what are you wearing? ::twenty minutes later and relevant explanations issued while relaxed and no longer panicking:: Padme: I was born for this.

Anakin: Master, please! I really need your help! Obi-Wan: What did you accidentally on purpose destroy this time? Anakin: Hey! That's so not fair! I… okay, so I *did* kinda take down the chancellor, but only 'cause he made me a slave master, and now Padme says I'm technically in charge of the Republic because he had all these powers and for some reason made me his heir plus they're kinda scared of what I'll do since I blew up half the Senate building. And Dooku called and I kinda maybe ordered the GAR to glass Serenno and guess what? Dooku, um, made *you* his heir which makes you technically in charge of the Separatists, so… Obi-Wan: … Anaking: Master? Obi-Wan: What I'm hearing is that the war is over and I can finally get some sleep. Anakin: Master?? Obi-Wan: ::already snoring:: Anakin: I really hate you right now.

Anakin gets named emperor and nopes out of the day-to-day side of running an empire. Padme's his wife, which makes her the empress, she can do this. She was a queen once, right? How different could it be?

But being emperor *does* give him power to give the GAR orders and a LOT of sway with the Jedi council. So Anakin takes up slaver hunting as a hobby. (Senator Free Taa, I'm looking at you.) The Zygerrians and the Hutts go on the endangered species list. So do the Kaminoans. Most of the GAR joins in gleefully. (They take holos for everyone who isn't be there when Tipoca City is destroyed then exploded then vaporized. They may be holding a grudge. There's a huge viewing party. And a yearly celebration.)

Fives is named the duke of fast food. Dex's becomes the official caterer for the royal family and entourage. And if that entourage coincidently happens to be officially defined as the 501st? He isn't the one who determines such things. (Echo is, and is in on it for the milkshakes.)

The Force bubbles with delight. It chose the right person to fuck shit up.

[sh1ft1ng-starzzz]

pikmin 4 incorrect quotes ^-^

Dingo: If I say I love you, will you say it back? 

Shepard: Yes. 

Dingo: I love you. 

Shepard: It back. 

*Later* 

Bernard: Why is Dingo crying face-down on the floor?

Pom: What’s it like being tall? 

Pom: Is it nice? 

Pom: Can you reach comfortably for the cupboards? 

Yonny: We live in constant fear of the short ones who, in my experience, will climb 4 chairs, 2 boxes, a small coffee table and 6 oddly placed stools to get what they want. 

Bernard: It was one time!

Dingo: Caffeine no longer keeps me awake while I work, so instead I have Yonny periodically send me texts saying ‘we need to talk.’ 

Dingo: It gives me the right amount of adrenaline and fear I need to keep going.

Shepard: *trying to get five seconds of sleep* 

Bernard, poking Shepard’s arm: Shepard Shepard. Shepard. Shepard. 

Shepard: WHAT? 

Bernard: …We’re out of Capri Suns—

Shepard: Hey, Yonny, where are you going? 

Yonny: Well, it depends. When I die, probably hell. 

Yonny: But right now I’m going to McDonald’s.

Dingo: Let’s write Bernard a friendly note, shall we? Dear... Incompetent... Dumbass…

Shepard: I personally don't think it's possible to come up with a crazier plan. 

Dingo: We could attack them with hummus. 

Shepard: I stand corrected. 

Dingo: Just keeping things in perspective.

Shepard: Alright, listen up you little shits. 

Shepard: Not you Pom. You’re an angel and we’re thrilled you’re here.

Yonny: *eating a cinnamon roll* 

Dingo: Cannibalism. 

Yonny: *confused chewing noises*

Collin: A person can really hear themselves think out here. 

Collin’s mind: Did you leave the stove on? The front door unlocked!? WILL YOU DIE ALONE!? 

Collin: Well, that was a mistake.

Bernard: No problemo! 

Bernard, internally: But it was all problemo.

Bernard: Yonny and I were crossing the street, and this man drove by and honked at us. 

Collin: What did you do? 

Bernard: They chased him to the next red light, and reached into his window, and- 

Yonny: *walking in* Who wants a steering wheel?

Dingo: I hate you. 

Yonny: Well, according to this picture I drew of us holding hands, that is untrue.

Yonny, texting: Answer your phone 

Dingo, texting back: Wait a minute, I can’t find my phone 

Yonny: Understood 

Yonny, 5 minutes later: You’re a terrible person. You know you’re killing me. You’re killing me, Dingo.

Dingo: Wait a minute, how did this happen? We're smarter than this! 

Shepard: Apparently, we're not.

Dingo: Why does my arm shake and turn bright red when I’m eating dirt? 

Yonny: 

Yonny: Why are you eating dirt? 

Dingo: Did I ask you if I should eat dirt? No, so answer my question.

Yonny: Sometimes I wonder if I’m hearing voices. 

Yonny: Then I remember that’s the last bit of sanity I have trying to get me to fall asleep at a reasonable time.

Collin: Well, needless to say. Uh-oh Spaghetti-os.

Yonny: I got us matching friendship bracelets, and you say I don't care about our relationship. 

Dingo: These are handcuffs. 

Yonny: Yeah, 'cause we're partners in crime!

Dingo: I am so cool. I am an absolute Chad. I am the epitome of coolness and awesomeness— 

Yonny: Hi. 

Dingo: *melts down in a flustered heap of softness*

Kidnapper: I have one of your friends. 

Pom: Which one? I have seven. 

Kidnapper: The loud, annoying, rowdy one who never shuts up. 

Pom: Which one? I have seven. 

Bernard, distantly: HEY!!!

Pom: I sort of did something and I need some advice, but I don't want a lot of judgment and criticism. 

Dingo: And you came to me?

Dingo: I don't dab. I stab.

Shepard: You really believe in Dingo? 

Bernard: Luckily, they believe in themself enough for the both of us.

Dingo: Sweet dog you got there. 

Police: Yes, this is our new drug sniffing dog. 

Dingo: Still training huh? 

Police: What do you mean? 

Dingo: 

Dingo: Never mind.

Shepard: Alright, what pizza toppings should we order? 

Dingo: Anchovies and pineapple. 

Pom: I like beets! 

Yonny: Have you guys ever had a cheese-less pizza? 

Shepard: I’m disowning all of you.

Dingo: You use emojis like a straight person. 

Yonny: That’s literally the worst thing anyone has ever said about me.

Dingo: If I'm extra sarcastic with you it probably means I'm flirting with you or you really annoy me and I can't handle your crap... have fun figuring out which one.

Bernard, talking to Dingo: Well Dingo, whenever I’m about to do something, I think ‘would Yonny do that?’ and if they would, I do not do that thing. 

Dingo: … 

Yonny, from the distance: They’re not wrong though!

Dingo: Is stabbing someone immoral? 

Yonny: Not if they consent to it. 

Bernard: Depends on who you're stabbing. 

Collin: YES??!!?

Bernard: I’m so happy two of my favorite people are getting along now. 

Shepard: Uh, Dingo and Pom are not getting along. 

Bernard: They’re not trying to kill each other. 

Shepard: You may have a point.

Shepard: Yesterday, I overheard Bernard saying “Are you sure this is a good idea?” and Yonny replying “Trust me,” and I have never moved from one room to another so quickly in my life.

Collin: Which one of you was going to tell me that tea tastes different if you put it in hot water?? 

Dingo: Y- you were putting it in cold water?? 

Shepard: Collin. Answer the question, Collin. 

Collin: Yeah??? I thought people just put it in hot water to speed up the tea-ification process. didn't realize there was an actual reason. 

Collin: Plus you think I have the patience to boil water? 

Dingo: You don't have the patience to microwave water for 3 minutes?? 

Shepard: Why are you putting it in the microwave to boil it? 

Dingo: Do you think I have the patience to boil water on the stove? 

Shepard: It takes less than a minute. 

Dingo: Is your stovetop powered by the fucking sun??? 

Shepard: How long does it take you to boil a cup of water on the stove? 

Dingo: Like seven minutes?? 

Bernard: Just stick the mug on top of the stove on medium heat and it boils in like 2 minutes... less than that if you use a saucepan! 

Shepard: Why are you putting the whole mug on the stove?? On medium heat?? Bernard? Your stove is enchanted! 

Collin: Every single person here is a fucking lunatic. 

Pom: Do none of you own a fucking kettle?!

Bernard: I'm having problems with a guy... 

Yonny: Like his dead body won't fit into your trunk kind of problems, or you like him kind of problems?

[be-the-glenn-to-my-maggie]

So, I really like Spider as a character. I think the concept is interesting and am really curious about where it could go and I love a lot of the dynamics people are cooking up for him in fics. However, there is one thing that I’ve seen popping up that has me puzzled, and that’s how some people are like… genuinely angry at the Sullies for not taking him in? Idk if it’s just me, but I feel like they were under no obligation? Like, they are people of a different species w/ a child on the way soon after the war (I guess 2 w/ Kiri) and one of them has trauma when it comes to humans so… idk, it just doesn’t feel like they should have, were in any position, or under any obligation to to begin with. In my eyes thats like if people blamed two parents for not taking in their children’s best friend or something. I feel like the best place for a human child at that time (given the na’vi’s very recent experiences with the majority of the humans) was probably with other humans, and that was a reasonable course of action.

Do I think that Neytiri owes Spider an apology for her treatment of him? Yes—when she’s truly ready, has thought about her past actions, and will mean that apology to her fullest. But thats it, honestly. Trying to rescue Spider would have been suicide, the Sullies were under no obligation to adopt him in the first place, and how he was raised is on those who he was actually put in the care of.

But who knows. Maybe I’m just being insensitive or don’t know all of the facts?

Hello anon. I do think that it is an extremely complicated situation, and one that we won't ever see in much detail. We skipped all those years, and in this movie we the audience were shown Spider's story in a highly sympathetic light in order to help the audience understand his decision with Quaritch. This is not to say his story isn't sympathetic, because it really is, it just easily could have been shown much more sympathetically from Neytiri's point of view. Hers is honestly a point of view we haven't ever really gotten fully, Neytiri is always a secondary protagonist.

But anyways, I agree with you for the most part. No, the Sully's were not under any obligations with Spider. Certainly the Na'vi weren't. People expect a lot more from protagonists in media than antagonists. Viewers praise Quaritch for kidnapping Spider but then stopping him from being tortured for longer, and vilify Jake for not rescuing him. Praise Quaritch for not killing Kiri because "he didn't ever intend to," and vilify Neytiri for not killing Spider because "she would have done it." A morally grey action means a trend in the right direction for a villain, and it means a trend in the wrong one for a hero. Idk, we're all very simple I guess. We have a lot of empathy ready to go for those who are already at rock bottom just in case we ourselves are ever there, but we can't wait to drag good characters down to our level.

I don't really hold Spider's childhood against any of our charcters except maybe his guardians, the McCoskers. I've worked in schools for a long time now, and one of the main things I've learned is that being able to judge someone else's situation is a privilege, because I don't know what I would do in it. There's a lot of living situations for kids that I've thought were less than ideal, but the parents were doing literally everything they could or giving everything they had left which wasn't much. Or, they needed a little guidance or support to be able to know how to do better.

Impossible situations are impossible, and I feel like there's a ton of judgement for Neytiri especially for how she handles the unthinkable, that I really don't enjoy. Idk, I've said it in posts before; I think Spider is best off with the Sully's now that they've made that choice. It's a choice the kids made long ago. But they weren't raised as siblings, because that wasn't a choice Neytiri and Jake were in any place to make before. They placed him with a human family to raise him. People argue that they should have noticed his foster family weren't treating him well and it's their fault he was with them; it's something kids hide and professionals miss all the time. Sometimes, and as much as it sucks you get it drilled into you, kids slip through the cracks and there isn't anyone specific to blame. You just try to patch them up and make things better and heal. Isn't that what most of our classic Spider Sully fics are about, lol.

[oboetemasuka]

Order of Attack, part 13

"Of Blasphemy and Hypocrisy"

Amane's voice drama!

I really did just write 945 words in one sitting, not touch it for two weeks, and then write the other half. It's at 1791 words now, which is even longer than Mahiru's...

As per the little poll I ran a week ago, I have kept names in family name, given name order. I'll probably go back and fix names in the AO3 version after I'm done with the main fic.

We're nearing the end...

(cw: cults, child abuse, verbal abuse, descriptions of injuries)

-

Es was not prepared, as usual. They sprinted to the cell of the next prisoner they were supposed to interrogate. Amane.

But as they approached the door, they remembered what happened the last time they barged in. They did not want a repeat of Mahiru, especially since Amane had a much bigger reason to react similarly.

Unprepared indeed. As they gently opened the cell door, they found Amane's eyes drilling into them. Wait, eyes? They were informed that-

…

They gasped as the realization hit. Their gaze was drawn to Amane's right eye. It wasn't staring back at them. It didn't seem to be looking at anything at all.

Es fell backwards onto the floor.

"You have kept us waiting, Warden-san. It seems like you have not learned the importance of time since we last spoke." She paused to let Es get some sense back. "Are you staring? Warden-san, have you not been taught that staring is rude?"

Es quietly got back to their feet, still at a loss for words. They recalled what Shidou told them. If anything was amiss with Amane, they were to get him right away.

"Where are you going?" Amane asked as they turned away. They couldn't answer that. "Are you going to get Kirisaki Shidou, perhaps?" There was no answering that. "If you do, there will be no interrogation."

"What… what do you mean?"

"If you bring him here, I will refuse to speak."

That would cause a problem with the extraction machine. Es gave up and took a seat.

"Why are you so rattled, Warden-san? Could it be… this?" Amane swept her hair away from her right eye. "This is only a trial from God. I do not understand why it demands your attention."

Es grimaced. "Y-you… Kotoko…"

"Yes, Yuzuriha Kotoko did this. That is not the important part. What matters is that I face this pain head on."

"You're not going to… put an eyepatch on it?"

"I have no need for things that distract me from my path."

It didn't seem like Amane would continue this topic. And what could Es say? Sorry? That would probably yield similar results as when they said that to Fuuta.

"Warden-san, has the cat gotten your tongue?"

"I…"

"We gave you a chance to make your case, but it seems you have nothing to say for yourself."

"A chance- make- T-that's not-"

"If you make such an incomprehensible choice as to not forgive us, it follows that you would be able to justify it. Yuzuriha Kotoko has done as much."

"She…"

"She firmly believes in her right to punish those of us who were not forgiven by you. We pity her for acting on such flimsy reasons."

"I don't appreciate you driving the conversation like this."

"You are the one who is not talking. Tell us. Why did you make this choice?"

Of course she was going to ask this. Es knew this wasn't the time to share their actual reasons with her; it would only fill her with more contempt. But would she see through them?

"After examining your video, I've judged that your murder was the result of religion. Of faith."

They should have known this would turn into a back and forth of her insisting this wasn't murder and them trying to shut her down. She persisted.

"You might agree that the other unforgiven prisoners would do well with our faith. In fact, Kajiyama Fuuta's condition has already improved thanks to our guidance."

Had it really? When Es checked with Shidou before this interrogation, it seemed that Fuuta hadn't exactly been improving. He had just stopped taking as many painkillers as before.

Es wondered how much Amane had been interacting with the others. Fuuta and Mahiru had seemed protective of her, but they never brought up much about her faith.

This wasn't a productive line of conversation. Moving on…

They asked her why she kept referring to herself as "we". Whatever she said was a load of nonsense to them, so they just went back to the topic at hand. The murder.

Amane wouldn't budge. When Es tried to talk law and ethics, she only doubled down.

Until they hit a nerve.

"Milgram denies your doctrine. Your doctrine is wrong."

"You dare…"

"Your standard of judgment is wrong. Milgram cannot endorse a doctrine that allows murder."

"It was not murder. It was a punishment justified by-"

"It is wrong!" Es slammed their hands on the table. Amane flinched.

"Y-you say that like Milgram is a better standard of judgment," she retorted.

They felt bad for reacting like that even though they were ticked off.

"You don't get to argue-" they tried to fire back.

"We should say the same of you. How different is a judgment that allows such violence as punishment?"

"Are you dragging Kotoko into this again? She was not acting according to my judgment. She interpreted it as she pleased and acted on it accordingly. Frankly, I'm inclined to think you did the same."

"Excuse us?" Amane stood up, but Es paid her no mind.

"What proof have I got that you are acting according to your doctrine and obeying it to the letter? For all I know, you just made up a bunch of rules to selfishly serve your own desires."

"You… you…" Amane's voice sounded louder in Es's ear, though it didn't seem like she was shouting. Yet.

Es looked again where she was once seated. She wasn't there.

"You dare insult us!? You dare insult God!? This is unforgivable!"

Es turned to the sound of Amane's voice and felt the barrier activate around them. Amane was right next to them, trying to swing down a pair of scissors with one hand and holding her sleeve with the other.

"Don't you know it's impossible to attack the warden?"

Amane didn't seem to care. She just muttered "I won't forgive you" over and over as Es mocked her little pretend game of "we".

"You want to continue this child's play?" They pried the scissors out of Amane's hands. "Go back to your seat."

She tried to grab them back, but she was tired from her previous efforts to attack.

"Hypocritical warden… you're a child too."

"Wrong. I'm an adult in Puerto Rico and Haiti. You are a child in any country."

Admittedly, they made that up. They knew she couldn't prove them wrong.

Amane huffed, clearly out of arguments.

"That's right. Go back to your seat now," Es said, nudging Amane away by her shoulder. Her right shoulder.

She yelped and jerked away, losing her balance and falling to the ground.

Es got up and walked up to help her. "Amane, I- I didn't mean-"

"Don't touch me!" she cried out. 

She swept her uniform's straps out of the way before pushing herself up.

Es extended their hand. "I could-"

"You will not… steal our… trial… not after you insulted our God…"

Once she got to her feet, she leaned on the table, wincing as she pressed her left arm down, and coughed.

For the first time, Es got a good look at Amane's injuries. Her right eye was bruised. The left side of her chin was scraped. Her legs were dotted with bruises and cuts. They all looked recent, even though a year had supposedly passed.

"The least you can do is not stare." Amane sounded like she was trying not to cry. "You trample over our dignity. So cruel."

"I'm not staring. I'm just making sure you don't pull something like that again."

"Excuses."

"If you're not looking for help or sympathy, then go. back. to. your. seat."

Amane complied, dragging her feet along. "We do not appreciate you treating us like that."

"I'm only trying to move the interrogation along."

"You call this an 'interrogation'? You are just being mean. Asserting your power over us just because you are older."

"If you want an interrogation, stay in your seat." Es waited for the tension to dissipate before continuing. "The fact of the matter is that you are a child. And that has a lot to do about how we judge your crime."

They were a few sentences into their spiel when Amane interrupted. "'We'? Who is 'we'? Is it not just 'I'?"

What?

Amane seized the conversation while Es was stunned.

"We really are just the same, you and I. You call me a product of my environment, and yet are you not too? You have been handed the role of the warden, and you obey it without question. And you say I am wrong for clinging to what I know. 

"I'm aware I'm out of the ordinary. But aren't we all? A prison full of murderers, and everyone thinks everyone else is peculiar. Meanwhile, you judge us on arbitrary standards when you have no memory of normality yourself."

Es flinched.

"Mahiru-san told me about her interrogation," she continued.

Of course. Mahiru seemed particularly close to Amane lately. "What of it?"

"She told me how touched you were when she said she would hold fast to her beliefs."

Uh oh. Es was too slow to mask their immediate reaction.

"Hypocritical of you, is it not? You stomp on our beliefs. Say we are making decisions based on a faulty doctrine. Claim that we are picking and choosing for our own gain. How could you turn on us like this after talking to Mahiru-san? Is it just because she is an adult and we are not? After all this, will you continue to deny us?"

"It depends," Es responded. "It depends on what is shown in the footage. If something resonates with me this time, I will accept it."

"Very well. But if you do not forgive me—us—in turn, we will not forgive you… all."

Just then, the bell rang.

Reeling from Amane's remark, Es fell out of their chair.

"Funny how the tables turn." 

Amane stood over Es and threw their own lecture back at them.

"Well, do get up on your own. It would serve you well to understand our trials."

"This about trials again…" Es muttered as they stood up.

"Speaking of which- Kirisaki Shidou has been such a detriment to us. He tries to steal our trials, but we hold fast. Kajiyama Fuuta, too, is starting to see the light. We are glad that we can guide him away from-"

"Shut up!" Es shouted. 

This time, Amane remained headstrong. "Oh, Warden-san. You look angry. Are you going to hit me again like last time?"

"Enough!" The nerve of this girl. "Prisoner no. 8, Amane… sing your sins!"

-

Q. What do you think of Kajiyama Fuuta?

A. He's lost and in pain, but I'm glad to guide him back on the right path.

[tobiasdrake]

Finally, our education is complete.

Is that why we're Solstice Warriors?

Sometimes, on the eve of a solstice, a giant bird chucks a baby at the village shrieking "YOUR PROBLEM NOW ASSHOLES"! Also those babies are magical. We do not know why this is, or where these children come from, or what purpose the eagle serves by flinging magic babies at us twice a year. This is our way.

I wonder which one of us is older? They said we were hurled at the village on two consecutive Solstices so that means one of us is about six months, uh, less-village than the other. Which doesn't. Actually. Convey any information about when we were born but it's the closest thing we have to a birthdate.

In lieu of evidence, I'm going to assume that I'm older on the grounds that I'm better than Zale and that's reason enough.

Uh. Hi. You might remember me from such exploits as getting one of your children blinded and eating parts of your holy tree. I hope this will not adversely affect your eagerness to take in Bird-Flung Mystery Kids in the future.

Hold up, the exit to the village is through the Forbidden Cave? There are other exits from the village, right?

THERE ARE NOT. Holy shit. The village is on the edge of a cliff, and the only way to leave is through the Forbidden Cave. Which is, as noted, forbidden.

Are. Are these people prisoners? Y'all, I think we might be prisoners. No wonder we were planning to leave by raft. That and the cave are literally the only options.

The Forbidden Cave, incidentally, is attuned specifically to moon magic, as we learned the first time we opened it. Solar types are as useless as civvies when it comes to trying to escape our penitentiary village. Only lunar warriors and those with their permission may come and go.

It's because we're better.

In any case. I have important matters to attend to in this cave before we move on. Specifically,

THIS IS FOR GARL'S EYE YOU SPINY LITTLE FUCKSTICKS

I. Should have. Aimed that better. >_< My rage has blinded me.

I should learn from this experience and try to better myself as a person. However, I will not.

Wait, what? Why is the device broken? Did Moraine not know about this? Are we not maintaining proper upkeep of the one and only exit from the village!?

We've been out of Zenith Academy for the better part of a day and I'm still amazed by what a complete shitshow the place is.

If we get eaten by spiders, I'm kicking Moraine's ass.

THAT IS A LAVOS SPAWN.

If we get eaten by goddamned Lavos I'm going back in time and punting Moraine in the balls. Then I'm going five minutes back in time and punting Moraine in the balls. Then I'm going five minutes back in time and punting him in the balls.

I'm not stopping. I will replace his entire chronology with getting punted in the balls. He will not know why. He will know only pain.

There. I flicked. Your switch.

You're welcome.

Ass.

UH HI

Apparently this is now happening. So in addition to Moraine giving us our marching orders and Bugraves and Erlina taking a keen interest in us, we've also got these spookers monitoring our journey and that lying son-of-an-eagle Archivist temporally stalking us. Anyone else want to jump in?

Wait, Three? You're sending Three after us?

I mean. I kinda thought. I was expecting Four. Y'know. We'd. Like. Count down as we punch our way through increasingly strong cultists or whatever's going on here.

But. No, this is. This is cool too. I. I don't. Know. How to process that. I feel. Out of sorts and--

OH MY GOD FISHING

I no longer care about whatever I was on about. It was probably inane anyway.

This looks interesting. I can't open it but I want to. We have sun and moon powers here so you'd think it would respond to that. It looks designed to respond to that. But I guess not. In any case.

We finally catch up to the flash-forward and prove once and for all that this was no flashback. But, more importantly, we can finally move onward!