#yes all of these experiences happened to me

[golden-redhead]

I think there's a lot of signs pointing to Jayce actually doing the right thing ...or at least the right thing based on the information available to him at the time.

We can't know for a fact just how much Viktor was changed and what his healing was doing to the people who came to him in the long run, but considering all the hints dropped by the writers, the situation is much less clear than we think. Obviously, everyone's first instinct is to condemn Jayce and his actions, especially because Viktor is one of fan favourites, but looking at the teaser for the next Act and what little we know about what happened to Jayce, I think it might have been necessary evil.

I think this scene of Viktor temporarily 'possessing' Salo in order to talk with Jayce points to just how fucked this little community that Viktor created actually is. There's a reason why everyone's getting those 'it's a freaking cult' vibes.

This scene made me more uncomfortable than anything else this season and I think it's clear that it was meant to make feel that way. There's something so uncanny about Viktor's voice coming out of Salo's mouth, especially paired with that look on his face and how Viktor seems to be able to see and experience things through him in this moment.

And then there's also the issue of all these people dying a horrible drawn-out death as soon as Viktor himself 'dies'. Yes, they came to him on their own, they asked to be healed, but did they really know what they are getting into? Did they know this is what might happen?

Some of them were already dying, true, but Viktor healed all kinds of people, some of whom most likely had their whole lives ahead of them. He, knowingly or not, inevitably sped up this process. Not all of them were consummed by Shimmer-addiction or permanently disabled like Salo.

And then there's also the fact of all of them basically abandoning their previous lives to serve Viktor and his community. Which, okay, makes sense, there's certainly a parallel with the community that Ekko created for Zaunites to keep them safe from Piltover and Silco's plans. They made an informed choice, though, and I don't think the same can be said about Viktor's cult-like commute.

They seem peaceful, yes, but also devoid of personality and entirely dedicated to Viktor and his cause. Of course, it can be explained by gratitude towards him and desire to be kept safe in a calm and peaceful environment, but it's taken to such an extreme point that it definitely crosses the line into uncanny territory in my eyes. Their hivemind behaviour is very unsettling and even though Viktor seems to frame his recent actions as some kind of greater good, I don't think it's necessarily true.

We have yet to find out what Jayce saw and who's in the right and who's in the wrong. Either way, as usual when it comes to Arcane, it seems to me that more than ever, everyone's a victim of the circumstances and tragedy spares no one.

Considering that Viktor is set up to be 'reborn', I can't help but wonder what it means for his community and if they will also be brought to life by whatever connection they have with him. It would be a fascinating choice given how Viktor's arc has always been about autonomy and making your own choices.

Arcane, it's been a pleasure having my heart torn out of my chest by you. Can't wait for the last Act.

[smutoperator]

Out Of Her Cage

Kim Chaewon x Male Reader, Original Character

Kinkvember Chapter 4

Main kinks: bondage, daddy kink, double penetration, wax play

Word count: 4346.

Chaewon wasn't always like this, but over the years, she has increasingly searched for new sexual experiences to satisfy herself. Each day that passes, she gets hornier and hornier. At this point, her nymphomania is well known, and she doesn't care if it's getting in her way of leading her own group.

One of her favorite new hobbies these days is going to fetish clubs, dressing herself in skimpy leather outfits, and performing inside a cage, where she's a roaring tiger but, once out, becomes a submissive puppy to her masters.

Chaewon shakes her ass in anticipation as she stares at you inside the cage she's in. You happen to be the first client of the night, and she's always keen to get things going.

You kneel down and tease her, holding the cage keys in your hands and grabbing the chain from the choker she wears around her neck. "Are you going to be an obedient pet, my little pupu?" you ask her. "Yes, sir, yes, master," Chaewon answers. You tease her a little bit, touching the keys against the cage's bars, before shoving your thumb in her little mouth, only after that freeing her from the cage.

Chaewon crawls and gets up as you grab her. "I'm so horny tonight," she says as you hold her by the neck. "Get down and bend over," you say to her as Chaewon lays her hands on the top of the cage she was just fred from. Obviously, the first thing you do is spank her ass. "OHHHHHH," she screams. "Yessss," she says when you do it a second time. 

You touch Chaewon's hot body, getting her increasingly horny. More spanking follows, and she loves it, moaning sexily each time you hit her cute ass. "Yes, baby, spank my ass," she begs. Chaewon turns around, kissing you as she grinds her body against yours, focusing especially on your manhood area as she rubs her clothed pussy against your pants.

You grab Chaewon right at the gap between her thighs, teasing her clothed pussy as you run your hands over her panties. It doesn't take long for you to reach under them, massaging her little pussy and making more moans come out of her mouth. 

"Oh my God," Chaewon moans as you mercilessly finger her vagina. "Yes, please, keep going," she whispers as you touch her pussy, turning herself into a begging puppy for you, who quickly feeds the juices of her cunt into her mouth, watching her moans get muffled by your massive hand.

Chaewon gets on her knees and gives your pants some licks. She's really horny for your cock, licking your balls before they even come out of your pants. You take advantage of her horniness, taking your belt off and wrapping it around her neck. "Breathe through that fucking dick," you tell her, smothering Chaewon's face with your pants.

"I need your cock; please give it to me," Chaewon begs as you finish choking her with the belt, jumping like a puppy wanting a bone. You unzip your pants and shove it on her tongue, Chaewon closing her eyes and opening her mouth wide as you toy with it, giving her mouth some cock-slapping as you stroke it too.

"I want to be a good puppy; please use me," Chaewon begs as you shove your cock deeper in her mouth; she grabs it and licks your shaft. "That's so perfect," Chaewon says, quickly moving with a fast-paced blowjob, stroking it hard with one hand while massaging your balls with the other. "Yes," you say as Chaewon rubs your dick all over her face like a horny puppy.

You can't resist the urge to pound Chaewon's mouth, the warmth of it being felt all over your veiny cock. "Oh my God," you groan as you hit deep in her throat, making her gag. "Get up, puppy," you tell her afterwards, as Chaewon keeps stroking your cock. You take her mask off and choke her as she keeps jerking you off before diving down for more crazy cock sucking. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," you scream.

Chaewon dives under your balls and licks them hard as you stroke your shaft. "Yes, be a nasty whore; lick my balls like a good puppy," you tell her, shoving her face against your shaft and making her sniff it. "That's it," you say, praising her ball-licking skills.

"I'll be Daddy's nasty little whore," Chaewon says. "Then come here," you tell her, bending her against the cage and pulling her panties down, quickly pushing your cock against her pussy. "Ohhh, daddy's big cock is stretching me so good already," Chaewon says as you are just barely halfway inside her. You grab Chaewon's ass for better grip as you pound her pussy fast, the tightness of her hole making you take a big effort to fuck her. You put her leg on top of the cage and pick up the speed. "Shhhhh," you say as she moans.

"Sit down," you order to Chaewon as she opens her legs while getting on top of the cage, fingering her pussy for you, who quickly dive to eat her out. "Holy shit, that's so fucking good," Chaewon says as you tongue her folds. "Daddy's tongue is the best," Chaewon moans as you lick her cunt like a maniac, her getting overwhelmed by the stimulation as you make her body shake hard.

You grab Chaewon once again by the chain on her neck; she tries to stroke your cock, but you quickly tame her, turning her around and spanking her face while she grinds her ass on your dick. You lay on top of the cage, where Chaewon had already arrenged a pillow and a mattress for more sex. She gets on all fours and sucks your cock a little more, giving you a great view of her ass.

"Come here," you say after Chaewon finishes savoring your cock. She gets on yop of you, and you guide your cock to her pussy, pounding her from down low and then letting her ride it perfectly as you caress and spank her ass. "Oh my God," she moans, riding you very hard as you suck her perky tits and dancing on your cock as if she were performing on stage.

"Fuck, you're going to drain me," you say to Chaewon, making her slow down as you two passionately make out. You then pick up the pace, firmly gabbing her butt as you fuck her pussy hard. "Yes, daddy, kill this puppy pussy good," Chaewon moans. You get up and sit on the mattress, letting her grind on your cock. "It's so good," Chaewon says, before you switch to a spooning position, opening her legs and making sexy eye contact with her as you fuck her slow and massage her boobs.

Chaewon pants and moans as your cock speeds up the pumps in her pussy and your balls smack hard against her skin. You then surprise her, staying in the same position and switching to her ass. You reach to increase your grip over Chaewon's tits. "Daddy, go slow, please; your cock is too big for my ass," Chaewon begs, as you are already balls deep buried in her butt. "That's good, that's good," she claims.

Quickly, your slow thrusts give way to fast poundings. "Be an obedient puppy and let daddy fuck your big ass," you say to Chaewon, putting your hands in her mouth. "I'm going to shove my hands in your fucking little mouth while I fuck your fucking asshole like that, understood, little puppy?" you ask her. "Isn't it good?" you keep asking, slapping her face.

"Yes, daddy, fuck that little ass, oh yes, that dick is so fucking good, daddy," Chaewon repeats as she moans. You once again stop a bit and whisper dirty words in her ear. You kiss her and pick up the speed, your legs moving really fast as you pound her ass, and she fingers her pussy.

"Holy shit, holy shit, daddy fucks his little puppy so good," Chaewon says in an infantile voice as she receives a huge anal drilling. You sit down a bit and let her climb out of her cock to taste her own butthole, which she happily enjoys as she sucks and jerks your cock off furiously. "Such a dirty puppy mouth," you say to Chaewon, who gets even nastier and rims your asshole and then puts your balls fully in her mouth.

Chaewon gets on all fours on the top of the cage as you get ready for another round in her ass, pounding her fast and hard. "Daddy is going to put that dick all the way deep in that asshole," you say to her as Chaewon turns into a moaning mess as you get more and more addicted to fucking her asshole.

"So good, such a fucking tight ass," you say to Chaewon as you spank her butt once again; she keeps moaning a lot. "Get down," you say as she lowers her head and follows your orders. "Yes, daddy," she obliges as you once again slow down and enjoy the tightness of her ass.

"I love being a good whore for Daddy's dick," Chaewon says as you keep hitting her butt with more and more slaps. The little puppy rolls her eyes as you get deep in her butthole. "Oh fuck, I'm all the way," you say as your tip reaches the depths of Chaewon's pink anus and her tight asshole squeezes your cock.

"I'm ready to destroy that little ass and make you my little pet," you tell Chaewon, getting on top of her like a bull and manhandling her butthole. "Fuck daddy, that dick is hitting me so deep," Chaewon says. "Yes, daddy, keep fucking me like that," Chaewon says. You only get crazier, punishing her butt with deep and fast poundings like a madman. 

"Spread it for me," you tell Chaewon, pulling out and marveling at the wonderful big gape in her anus. You dive in and sniff her butthole, which she enjoys a lot. Chaewon lays on the mattress and keeps spreading her butthole. "I want that cock back inside me; please, Daddy, give it back to me," she begs. You give it back to her just as she asks, her ass still very tight as you struggle to put even your tip in. 

"Oh fuck," you groan as her anus clenches your tip right from the get-go. "I love how good you luck with my big cock in your little asshole, oh my god," you tell Chaewon. You switch a bit to her pussy, keeping the same consistent pace. "Oh my god, it's so fucking amazing. Thank you for fucking me like a good pet," Chaewon says. You order her to get back on her knees and use her tongue to clean your cock. "Move that mouth; I wanna see how nasty you can get," you say, jerking your cock against her face while she sniffs your balls and rims your asshole.

"Perfect, now get up and come here," you tell Chaewon, grabbing her neck and pinning her against the cage while she masturbates herself. You two tenderly kiss each other as Chaewon starts squirting. "My holes are itching for your fucking cock, daddy," Chaewon says.

But first, you can't resist the urge of nutting in Chaewon's tummy, dropping a bit of cum all over her midriff. "I love the way you fire these ropes of sperm in my belly," she says as you keep stroking your cock while she rubs her pussy at the same rhythm. Your cock is quickly back up hard as you lie on top of the cage and let Chaewon sit her ass back on it. "Oh yes, perfect," you tell her as she impales herself on your dick.

Chaewon bounces her ass perfectly on your cock as you praise her. "Like that, like that, keep going, don't stop," you tell her, hitting her ass to ensure she keeps riding it. "YES, LIKE THAT," you groan as Chaewon sits on your dick balls deep in her ass. She keeps riding. "Daddy is so deep in my ass; I love it," she says, moving into a straight bounce. "Come on, come on," you say, spanking her ass and begging Chaewon to pick up more speed. "Holy shit, holy shit," she says. "Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, fuck, fuck fuck," you groan as Chaewon goes faster and faster.

Chaewon bends over and keeps riding. "Show me that ass," you tell her. She twerks on your cock and puts you on the edge of cumming. "Good girl, go all the way," you command her as Chaewon arches her back and bounces. You push your cock up to match her riding. "You're so pretty sitting on that cock; I love the way you move up and don't it; I don't want you to stop; that's the way, baby; that's how you're going to make me cum so hard when you move like that," you say to her. 

Indeed, it doesn't take long for you to come over and start jerking your cock off in Chaewon's face in anticipation. "Let me see that pretty face right there, ohhhhh," you say, and then start glazing her face with cum. "Look at that," you say as the streaks of your cum cover her face like they are forming a tiger mustache. "Every last drop for me, daddy," Chaewon says as she licks the tip of your dick and cleans you off before offering you a proposal.

"My next client is coming in a few minutes; I want you to join him in the other room, but first, get dressed," she says. "Sure," you tell her.

Chaewon switches to a slim white outfit and teases you and Zac, the other client. Both of you grab her petite body and tie her to an X-cross. You kiss her libs while Zac sucks her tits and runs his hands down her pussy, pulling her pussy to the side. "Look what we have here, some pretty pink pussy," you say. Both of you take turns sucking Chaewon's tits as she moans loudly. 

You and Zac come together and rip Chaewon's outfit and quickly pull your cocks out and rub them against her panties, before quickly pulling them down, already getting Chaewon completely naked. "Oh my God, ahhhh," she moans as Zac starts fingering her pussy and you grab her neck.

"Let's see if you can be our dirty girl tonight," you say to Chaewon. "Yes, daddy," she answers. Zac covers her body full of oil, and you help rub it all over her body. "Fuck, this is amazing," she says as you two then lick her tits together.

Zac sticks his fingers in Chaewon's pussy. "Fucking Godddddd," she moans as juices come out of her cunt. You stimulate her body with a violet wand, making it tremble. Zac then spanks her tits. "Thank you, Daddy, I need this so bad," Chaewon says to him. You keep using the violent wand to give Chaewon electric stimulation, even putting it in her tongue. "Thank you," she says. "Ohhh, bad girl," you tell her as you continue to electrocute her.

"How about some of that?" you ask Chaewon, bringing a cup of hot wax and pouring it over her body. "Ahhhhh," Chaewon moans as the hot liquid burns through her soft skin, and she loves it, especially when you pour the purple liquid over her tits. "How's that?" you ask her. "So good, Daddy," she answers.

"Let's turn her around," you say, giving Chaewon's butt more spanking. "Such pretty fucking holes," you tell Chaewon as you spread her ass and both of you take turns slapping her hutt. Chaewon lifts her legs. "You need some cock?" you ask her. "Yes, please," she begs.

You put your cock back in Chaewon's pussy. "Oh fuck," she moans. Zac looks at you two and jerks his cock off in anticipation for his turn as he whispers dirty words in Chaewon's ear and hits her ass while you pound her pussy. You then let Zac take his turn. "That's fucking perfect," you say. "Exactly what I needed," Chaewon answers as she moans.

"I need that big dick, thank you," Chaewon says as Zac fucks her pussy. "I'll be your fucking toy tonight; keep going," she whispers. You enjoy the spanking you keep giving her ass, waiting for your next turn, which comes soon, as Zac pulls out and both of you take turns licking her anus. 

"Look at this arch," you say, admiring Chaewon's ass as she bends over for another round of Zac's pussy pounding. You stick your cock in her mouth, beginning a spit-roasting session, before dropping down to toy with her body as Chaewon gets pounded. "I'm just a dirty little slut," she says. "Yes, you are, and we are going to use all your fucking holes tonight," you tell her.

Zac pulls Chaewon's hair and gives her a fast-paced standing doggy fuck. "Yes, fuck fuck fuck, like that, like that," she begs, diving to suck your cock hard as she gets pounded from behind. You and Zac fuck Chaewon's face and pussy in perfect sync. "Fuck, that dick is so good," Chaeown says, getting down to both rods in her mouth and bobb her head on them like an addict. "Thank you for those big cocks," Chaewon says, getting very sloppy and dropping all her saliva over them, letting it run down her tits as she takes.

"Where do these fucking dicks belong?" both of you ask her. "In my mouth at the same time," Chaewon says, taking on them at the same time and then rubbing both over her face. "I'm so addicted to those big fucking cocks," she says, moaning.

You push Chaewon against your cock as she gags on it. "Do you want some more?" Zac responds, fucking her face hard. "Stand up," you tell her as Zac lifts Chaewon's legs for you to fuck her pussy. "Such a good whore," he says, angling Chaewon's head down and filling it with his own cock. "Oh fuck," you say as Chaewon's pussy tightness still surprises you even after a long session. You and Zac spit roast her hard, you tying her arms up and clapping her cheeks while Zac pounds her face. Chaewon turned into nothing but a cocksleeve.

You two free Chaewon from the cross, bringing a matress where she gets on all fours. She bobs her head on Zac's cock while you lick her butthole. You quickly fill Chaewon's little pussy as she bounces her ass on your cock. "Such a perfect ass, fuck," you say, then grab her hair and booty and let her choke on Zac's cock until you make a proposal.

"Wanna ride his cock now and get double stuffed too?" you ask Chaewon.

"Yes, daddy, please," she answers. Zac lies on the mattress as Chaewon jerks his cock off before sitting on it. "Fuck," he groans. "Ohhh, look at that piece of work," you say, impressed with her fast bounce as you spank in her ass. "Are you ready to have another cock inside you?" you ask her. "Yes, always, Daddy," Chaewon answers as she moans.

"Please, please, stuff me, daddy, ahhhh," Chaewon moans as you get your cock in her ass, starting the double penetration session. "Where do these fucking dicks belong?" Zac asks her again. "In my fucking holes, that's so good," Chaewon answers as she rolls her eyes.

"You like getting double stuffed?" Zac asks Chaewon as he sucks her tits and you thurst into her ass. "Yeah, yeah," she answers, moaning. "Hply shit, holy shity," Chaewon repeats as she bounces on both cocks. "Perfect, that's how you ride it, baby; don't fucking stop," you tell her, spanking her butt once again.

"OH MY GOD, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK," Chaewon screams. Both of you fuck her holes in perfect sync. Zac chokes her as you tease Chaewon. "Look how fucking deep we are on that fucking pussy and asshole," you say. "Yeah, that's good, hitting my slutty holes deep, OH MY GOD, thank you, daddy," Chaewon says as you two keep double stuffing her. 

"Pull those cheeks back; let me see all the action," you tell Chaewon as she spreads her ass. "I can't believe I'm taking both these big cocks in my holes, holy shit," she moans. "Pleae don't stop, pleae don't stop, I'm dying for this," Chaewon begs as both of you pick up the pace and make your balls slap against her skin. "FUCKKKK, I'm cumming all over those dicks; look what you are doing to me, Daddy, keep going deep in my pussy and ass," she claims, rolling her eyes.

"That's exactly what you wanted, slut?" you ask her. "Yes, daddy, that's what I liked, getting plugged by both those big cocks in my tight holes, hmmmmm," she says. "YESSSSS," Chaewon suddenly screams as you get more animalesque, mounting on top of her and stuffing your cock deep in her anus, thrusting hard as your balls make contact with Zac's shaft sitting idle in her pussy.

"Holy shit, I love that; it's so fucking big," Chaewon says as you can't stop thrusting your cock in her ass. "I love it," Chaewon moans as Zac joins and starts thrusting up her pussy real fast, both balls hitting each other now. "Thank you for stuffing me so good on both my fucking gaping holes; I'm a big fucking whore who can take it all," Chaewon says.

"Come on, suck our dicks," you demand to Chaewon, who obliges like an obedient pet. She dives on Zac's cock to taste her pussy, jerking yours off in anticipation and then taking both balls deep in her mouth before taking. "Oh my God, I'm fucking spoiled by all those cocks today," Chaewon moans as she gets sloppy with both your dicks. "Wanna sit your ass on him next?" you ask her, getting her up. "Of course," she says.

You push Chaewon's asshole against Zac's cock as he fucks her in a standing position. "He's already so deep in my ass," Chawewon says as you choke her. "Yes, all the way up your ass, like you wanted, little whore," you say to her as Zac keeps clapping her cheeks while you rub your hands on her body. "FUCK, HE'S GOING SO HARD IN MY ASS," Chaewon screams, but you just don't care, sucking her tits and choking her.

Zac gets back on the mattress as Chaewon bounces her ass on his cock really fast. "Yeah, that fucking ass can take it," Chaewon says. "Yes, ride that cock, ride until you show you deserve to get two dicks inside you," you tell her. "Yes, daddy, look at how hard I ride him; I want you to join and get inside me too; I need your dick again," she replies.

Chaewon opens her legs for you to get your cock in her pussy. "That dick in my pussy and my ass feels so good," she moans as both of you compete to see who goes deeper in each of her holes. "Fuck, that's amazing, so amazing," Chaewon says. You groan as you attack her pussy. "That's going to make me fucking cum," Chaewon says as she moans harder. You put her chin up, making her stare at you.

"I love the way you fuck me like that; it's fucking incredible," Chaewon says as you thrust so hard Zac's cock pulls out of her ass. "That's all I want to be, a little fucking slut with dick all over my holes, a stupid fucking whore for those two big cocks," she continues. You muffle her by shoving your hand in her mouth.

"How does that feel?" you ask Chaewon. "So good, I can't even think; I've just turned into a brainless fucking whore," she answers. The double penetration continues. "This is what I am meant for," Chaewon says as both of you keep stuffing your cocks in both her holes. "All I want is to be a perfect fucking whore for those big perfect cocks," she claims.

"Come down and suck our dicks again," you command to Chaewon. "Ye, yes, yes," she endlessly repeats, getting on her knees to taste her fuckholes, rubbing both cocks tips against her face, touching them against each other, and putting both in her mouth at the same time.

"Get up and put that ass up for me to fuck it again," you say as Chaewon obliges and you mount on top of her while she enjoys Zac's prick in her mouth. "You're such a dirty fucking cunt, Chaewon," you say to her. "Yes, I am," it's all she answers. Zac also comes in from behind and fills Chaewon's pussy, making her go back to getting double stuffed.

"OH MY GOD FUCK, AHHHHHH," Chaewon screams as both of you take her balls deep, showing no mercy for her little fuckholes. "Do you want both your daddies cumming inside you at the same time?" you ask her. "Better, I want both of you breeding me at the same time like a good whore," Chaewon says.

You follow her orders and stick your cock in Chaewon's pussy along with Zac's. The tightness of her vaginal hole getting stuffed with two cocks is enough to make both of you last for only a minute, as both you and Zac explode inside Chaewon's cunt, enjoying the cum ooze out of it as both of you pull out. "Thank you, daddies; you two made me a happy whore tonight stuffing all my holes like that," Chaewon says. "I hope you two get back tomorrow for more; I'm so hungry," she finishes.

Indeed, you and Zac got back on the next day, only to find Chaewon back in her cage, this time putting it in a standing position as seven other guys surrounded her. 

"We were just waiting for you two to arrive; now we can start the gangbang," she says.

[rose-tea-and-strawberries]

So we have Yuu’s pseudo-parents(Crewel and the fab five) having insane lore, but what about Yuu herself having quite the backstory before she even got transmigrated to Twisted Wonderland. We love to see a seemingly innocent girl actually being involved in the wildest incidents a kid has ever gone through.

Yuu drinking too much energy drinks one time to stay awake for an exam only discover that she made it halfway to school on foot (she lived an hour away from school by bus).

These are just some examples off the top off my head.

Yuu starting a revolution about the dumb dress code in her old school that resulted in her classmates tying up the principal in his chair and a statue getting toppled over

Yuu accidentally falling out of a ferris wheel, but somehow surviving.

Yuu having a secret sibling somewhere who she secretly writes letters to.

Yuu accidentally blowing up a bridge for a science experiment.

Yuu and her friends being chased by maniac at night.

And finally…

“Yeah, I guess that happens to you when you use dragon meat to resurrect your best friend”

Hades is like, “You WHAT?!”

Someone else is like, “I thought she can’t use magic.”

The best part is that nobody can tell if she’s lying because they’re either in denial believe that Yuu wouldn’t lie about something like that. She tells her stories with the utmost sincerity and casualness. Not even Maleficent or Chernabog can detect any lies, so it must be true.

Idk I just love the idea of Yuu being a wild child when she was younger then mellowing out enough with her experience to boot just so she has the fortitude to handle even more wild children at NRC.

OH MY GOD YES THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!

Like the kids could be trapped somewhere and Yuu would be like "Don't worry guys, I've broken out of prison before so this should be a piece of-"

"YOU WHAT?!"

Or, alternatively:

Yuu: This reminds me of that time I was in jail

Mickey: You mean like in Monopoly, right?

Yuu:

Mickey: (sweating) you mean like in Monopoly, right???

I bet Pete would think twice about messing with the club when chaotic!Yuu is around because his schemes always bite him in the back. Twofold.

In fact, all villains know that Yuu is not someone you want to mess with. I know that girl always has makeshift weapons on her. And a very comprehensive/convoluted plan on how to commit murder and hide the body (+ as well as any alibis) with like fifty back up plans and a few dozen contingency plans for those back up plans.

She and the scientist characters like the BH6 gang, Jumba, Yzma, Prof Von Drake etc are always off causing trouble so there's a rule in the club (that Yuu always breaks anyway) that she's not allowed to be left alone with them

I can see her helping one of the magical characters with a spell or whatever and her nodding along like "yeah, I got this. So which animal are we sacrificing?”

"what?"

"what?"

I can see her wanting to test out different potions but Crewel and the fab five are stopping her and she's like "but I've drank poison before :( it's really no big deal :("

Oh you bet that there are like ten places her and her friends are banned from back in her world

Hades is so done with everything because he's just gotten used to this magicless mortal girl that trespasses into the underworld because Pain and Panic wanted to play just dance with her

So I'm into Epic the musical and now I'm just thinking about *SPOILERS FOR THE VENGEANCE SAGA* Yuu just casually dropping that one time she stabbed an immortal being into compliance as the entire club just stares at her in awe/horror.

The Fab Five whenever chaotic!Yuu is being chaotic:

Thanks for the ask ♡

[eringobragh420]

Animal In Me (Roman x f!Reader x cuck!Cody)

💜 Pairing: Roman x f!Reader x cuck!Cody 💜 Summary: Cody grants your wish. 🛑 Warnings: NSFW. Daddy kink, cuckolding, oral (m receiving), unprotected p in v, cum, dirty talk 18+ 💜 Notes: Masterlist here. 💜 Taglist: If you’d like to be added, please click here!  Alright, you feral angels, here it is!

“There we go,” Roman touts, tugging on the tie—a tie Cody was wearing around his neck earlier in the night—now heavily knotted and imprisoning Cody’s wrists together behind his back. “Nice and tight.”

“You know, you don’t have to do this,” Cody says, flashing his baby blue eyes up at Roman. 

Roman grins, and the pity the Tribal Chief has for Cody is radiating off him in waves, hanging in the ether surrounding them. The Samoan rests a huge hand on Cody’s shoulder. “Oh, sure I do, Nightmare.” And now he’s mocking him. This is exactly what you wanted, except Roman’s humiliation and degradation is supposed to be directed at you, not your boyfriend. 

You can’t help the way it raises your temperature, though—Cody’s the Undisputed Champion, a title he took from Roman, and to watch him sit there and allow Roman to treat him this way for you? You’re both turned on and appreciative, never having imagined a situation where your boyfriend would allow you to be dominated by another man. 

Roman squats beside Cody, squeezing his shoulder, and Cody’s jaw clenches. “Because when you see the absolute whore I turn your girlfriend into tonight … you’re not gonna like me very much.” 

Cody inhales deeply through his nostrils, stoney gaze rising to meet yours. It’s impossible to read his expression—does he want to stop?—so you make the quick and easy choice to continue with Roman, expecting Cody to voice his displeasure if things get out of hand for him. A safe word had been agreed upon when you’d all three sat down to discuss what exactly this night would entail, because while Roman practically giggled at the thought of dominating Cody Rhodes’s girlfriend, he was meticulous in making sure limits and boundaries were well-defined. Your cheeks burned as you’d explained the kind of experience you desired, Roman’s pupils growing and growing until they consumed his beautiful irises, and he’d quickly assented. Cody’s only stipulation? He wanted you to have the time of your life because it’s never gonna fucking happen again, he’d asserted, adding that no mention would ever be made of the night you would spend together, to which you and Roman had acquiesced.

“You’re not wrong,” Cody admits, still glowering at you.

Roman nods slowly, thick lips pursed, and he raises his hand in your direction, curling his long fingers, his attention still focused solely on Cody. You don’t know what Roman has in mind, but you can only guess it’s gonna piss off Cody. Still you stand from the bed, straightening your skirt, and slowly close the space between you and the sexiest men you’ve ever seen in your life. Roman points a finger at the floor, still examining Cody’s reaction closely, and you descend to your knees, equidistant between the Tribal Chief and the American Nightmare. After a moment, Roman rises to his full height, eclipsing you and Cody, and he finally sets his sights on you. His rough fingers glide from your cheek to the back of your head, and you allow your face to be pressed into his crotch. The sweatpants he’s wearing are soft and warm, and you can smell detergent, but most importantly, you can smell Roman. You breathe in his scent, not very quietly, as he rubs your face across his balls and hardening cock.

“This is what you wanted, right?” Roman asks.

You look up at him, wide eyes bright and innocent, and you recall a certain condition Roman had added. “Yes, Daddy.” Cody’s never cared for your daddy kink, or your desire to be used like a whore, but he loves you so much, he’s willing to let you call another man daddy, and he’s willing to let that man have his way with you. Fuck, you love him so much, but Roman Reigns’s solid bulge has your heart right now. 

“That’s a sweet girl,” Roman praises, suddenly beaming down at you. “Let’s see what we can do to change all that,” he sneers. He pushes you away—you barely catch yourself from falling completely backward—so he can lower his pants, an impressive piece of weaponry springing free, and you’d be embarrassed by your blatant gaping if you noticed anything other than Roman’s thick dick. He grabs your chin suddenly and pulls, and you’re off-balance again, knees shuffling forward, hand landing on one of Cody’s meaty thighs to stabilize yourself. “Now look at your pussy boyfriend—” Your eyes slide sideways to meet Cody’s, anticipating scorched earth in his gaze, but those once lightning-colored irises are consumed with desire and impatience, and your pussy clenches. “—and open your fuckin’ mouth.”

The velvety, weeping head of Roman’s cock slips past your lips, and you can feel every vein and throb as he continues on until he crashes into the back of your throat. He has no interest in allowing you time to get used to him, nor does he give you a few attempts at swallowing him whole like Cody does, because that’s not what he’s for. He’s here to give you what Cody can’t. Tears spring in your sparkling eyes as you continue watching the American Nightmare as he watches you willfully allow Roman Reigns to assault your throat. Roman’s hand slides under your jaw and along your neck so he can feel the outline of his dick as it pumps in and out, opposite hand cupping the back of your head, and now he’s fucking your face exactly the way you’ve needed it for so long. Your grip tightens on Cody’s solid thigh, and a small groan vibrates your chest when the muscle flexes under your hand.

You lose all sense of time and your surroundings, losing yourself in the filthy, reckless way Roman is using your mouth for his pleasure. Your mouth, chin, and neck are sparkling from the thick coat of slobber and spit and desperation the Tribal Chief has easily pulled from you. Your knees burn and ache, throat throbbing from the repetitive intrusion, until suddenly Roman is gone and you’re empty and abandoned. Already used and nearly depleted, you topple onto Cody’s lap as you struggle to catch your breath. This is the first time you see that, not only did you drool all over yourself, but there’s a noticeable, slick stain on Cody’s pant leg.

“Babe,” Cody starts.

Roman fists his hand in your hair and yanks your head back, exposing your ruined face to the love of your life. “Tell this little bitch this is exactly what you wanted, whore,” he demands. 

Your lips pull back from your teeth as your scalp screams. “This is what I wanted,” you breathe. You try not to lay it on too heavy just how badly you’ve wanted this to spare Cody’s feelings.

“Good. Now take your clothes off.”

You know better than to question anything. “Yes, Daddy.” Climbing to your feet, you begin to disrobe in front of and in close proximity to both men. Having two sets of eyes on you at the same time is erotic and a bit nerve-wracking, but you’re eventually nude as the day you were born, unsure of what exactly to do with your hands. Cody’s eyes take a familiar route from the top of your head to your toes and back again. The lump in his pants now promises to bust the zipper. You wonder if maybe you’ll get the opportunity to do this again with such a reaction from your boyfriend. 

Roman’s hands slide along your sides, one headed south, the other north, and he presses his now bare, ample chest to your back. Just like when he shoved his cock down your throat, he gives no warning before sinking his fingers inside your folds, bypassing your clit, and then inserting two of those fingers deep within your cunt. You cry out, clutching that sinewy arm. He scissors those fingers, and his free arm has to hold you up when your knees buckle. His dark chuckle is both audible and physical, and he doesn’t hold you steady for very long before his hand is back in your hair and he’s pulling and positioning until you’re chin is on your shoulder and your eyes are locked in the penitentiary that is Roman’s lewd leer. He orders you again to open your mouth, adding that you stick your tongue out, and this time Roman’s eyes meet Cody’s before he spits directly on your displayed tongue.

“Swallow,” he commands, and you eagerly obey. There’s no hiding how bad you want this anymore, especially not with Roman’s deft fingers still working your pussy. But then his fingers are gone, and your disappointment is evident by the whine escaping your throat. “Get on the bed. Hands and knees.” Turning, Roman smacks your ass so hard you imagine this is what it feels like when he slaps someone in the ring. Ignoring the urge to massage the tender flesh, you crawl onto the bed, and since there was no direction, you decide to align with the bed, putting your body on display from the side. Taking the initiative, you arch your back and throw your hair to one side before looking at them, smirking at their similar goddamn expressions.

“I’m not sure how Hunter landed on such a pussy for a world champion,” Roman says matter-of-factly, still looking at you. Cody’s eyes are also on you until Roman makes his comment, and then they’re rolling and his brows are arching, and you try not to question why this is turning you on so much. “I mean, you got this fine ass woman that just wants you to treat her like whores are supposed to be treated, and you can’t even get that done. It’s a damn shame, really.” Roman steps forward so he’s standing beside Cody, stroking his cock that’s still coated in your slobber, and Cody squirms, averting his gaze to anywhere else. “But don’t you worry, Nightmare. I’ma take real good care of your woman.” A nanosecond passes, and Roman snorts and bursts into giggles. “I’m just fuckin’ with you.” The hilarity is gone instantly, replaced with a feral beast, a predator, and you are his prey. “I’ma make sure this bitch can’t walk for at least a month.”

Your heart hammers against its cage as Roman stalks you. His hands snatch your hips and jerk you and the blankets down to the foot of the bed, and then he presses his hand to your lower back, and it takes you a moment to figure out what he wants. You slide your knees further apart, sinking lower, shaping your ass, and Roman smacks each cheek, watching your skin ripple.

“Acknowledge me, whore,” he growls, rubbing the head of his cock along your dripping slit. 

“I acknowledge you, my Tribal Chief,” you reply breathlessly, adding, “I acknowledge you, Daddy,” unsure of which response he’s looking for.

“More. Look at that pitiful little boy and give me more.”

Casting your hooded eyes in Cody’s direction, you bite your bottom lip. Cody’s cheeks are firetruck red, his biceps are flexed, swelling his veins, and it’s honestly a toss-up over whether or not he’s incredibly turned on or immeasurably furious. You can’t bring yourself to care. Not now. “Please fuck me, Daddy,” you sigh, “fuck me like the whore I am.” A hard slap to your ass, jarring your body, and you squeal. “Fuck me like he can’t, Daddy. Please?” You’re shrill now, embarrassing yourself.

Roman impales you on his rigid dick, and you collapse to your face as your tight cunt struggles to accommodate his size. Hand in your hair, he yanks, bowing your back further than you thought possible, and he begins a steady, mildly painful rhythm, but fuck, this is exactly what you needed. A man to fuck you without regard for your pleasure, to use you to his heart’s desire and essentially throw you away when he’s finished. You’re not about to delve into the reasons you’re wet as hell from all the insults thrown Cody’s way, but it’s doing something to you, and that slick is now sliding down your thighs in tiny tributaries.

“You know what else whores like?” Roman asks. His fingers bury themselves in your folds, and you cry out in both pleasure and surprise, but they don’t stay long, and his reasoning for doing it in the first place is instantly revealed. He circles a wet finger around your asshole, and a growl emanates from deep in your chest. Roman laughs. “Told you. If this bitch could have three Tribal Chief cocks inside her at the same time, she would, wouldn’t you, bitch?”

“Fuck yes, my Tribal Chief. I wish you could use all my holes.”

Roman dips his thumb inside your ass, and your orgasm tears through you like a bull in a china shop, both holes clenching around Roman. “Fuck, that’s it, slut. Milk my fuckin’ cock.” He pounds into you for several moments, pumping his thumb in and out at a different pace, and soon he’s roaring like the king of the fucking jungle. He pulls out without warning, and you feel the hot ropes of cum as they land all over your ass, back, and you think it might’ve even hit your hair. “Fuck,” he sighs sensationally. “Made a mess on your woman.” Slowly folding into a more comfortable position, you look over your shoulder as Roman tucks himself away and picks his shirt up from the floor. “Make yourself useful and clean that up for me, would ya?” he says to Cody, ruffling his hair. “Thanks, champ.”

[eobe]

And here he is – Captain Vaughn 🤩

Captain Rex didn’t feel like being Commander, but this is how we got Captain Vaughn, showing his loyalty and kindness only within moments in the 332nd company for Ahsoka (s7e9), so he's one of the underrated clones which would have deserved more sceentime *sigh* ♥️

We never got to see his face, so there’s so much space for head canons, isn’t it? 🥰 His look in this piece is inspired by this gorgeous look (<-) designed by @lonewolflupe 🫶 

I also want to share some process magic while I was working on Captain Vaughn, so ramble incoming 😁 Take a seat and have a caf ☕️ 

It’s always the eyes when I draw. They just lead the main energy of the character and that influences the face. So I sketched line after line and his face got clearer… with some unforeseen vibes! Since I’m not that fixed to templates anymore, there can be more variation, no matter how much I try to catch the right copy paste clone-face angles... or even colors 🤯 

Have a closer look into unusual clone eyes, oh yes 👀

Lupe and I were chatting about his lighter look with freckles in her artwork (a bit Tech color palette with golden and copper tones) and I told her that I don’t know why, but I feel like some heterochromia in his eyes 😀 So his eyes are like this now – not planned and unforeseen, like it is often when art takes over ✨

I really don’t know what the Kaminoans were doing during the cloning process 😂 but we got some varied clones – for example ‚icy eyes‘ Edge from the Tango company, or the blue eyed drunk one meeting Fives in front of the 79s (I named him ‚Blues‘ hehe 😜).

Without guiding my lines along a template, doing everything out of my mind, sometimes I might get either feeling like crooked fingers or odd sight, but this can be the point where the true art magic begins, because I’m not in charge anymore. I can only shrug and surrender to the flow and I love it 🥰

So I don’t know when it happened, but look at him… 👀 WHY does he look a bit like Echo? AND Rex? And there’s something soft in his eyes what reminds me of Kix, too? And it just fits his calm and loyal character!

For Commander Wolffe for example it could never be this face and it would never happen in the drawing process like that, it wouldn’t fit, but… I’m rambling – I could never point to the lines or the moment where things like this happen. Yeah, they’re all clones and share the same face, but faces do shape after their thoughts, experiences and their lives – more frowning or more smiling 😀

Oh, I love this. Not really being in charge while drawing, but achieving so much more without being under the illusion of the concept of control what is we’re all be taught… holy force I’m really rambling and diving

Sorry not sorry, art is my passion I guess and art is my healing thing, too 🤩 I’m proud of you, if you read all this! Enjoy 🫶 

My personal ALT text mission (1 additional ALT text for a previous artwork with each new art posting!):

Captain Gregor's faces part 1 one of my oldest clone drawings, what an improving process since then, I barely can't believe it 🤩

Taglist: @eclec-tech @bixlasagna @returnofthepineapple @sunshinesdaydream @covert1ntrovert @general-ida-raven @vrycurious @dystopicjumpsuit @chaicilatte @groguandthebadbatch @justanotherdikutsimp @ladylucksrogue

[caseyscraftycorner]

yes, yes, yes. all of this.

specifically, i can usually tell, as someone with bipolar one, when i'm normal-person-kinda-hypomanic and normal-person-kinda-paranoid because it doesn't materially impact my life. i can ignore it. i can tell myself "huh, weird, moving on" and then i can move on.

When i'm having a manic episode, that's not happening. i see something weird and it disappeared? it must be hiding from me. i hear something and i can't find the source? i'm not looking hard enough. the things i see and hear and feel when i'm hallucinating are real to me. they exist, physically, to me. the creepy shadow man that follows me is a being that exists and thinks and has motives, to me.

and that's, i think, part of the 'difference', as much as there is one -- it's in severity and intensity of belief. nothing more, nothing less. the range of human sensory experience is wide and vast, and psychosis is just the thing we call one small part of that spectrum.

it's like how everyone experiences depression (the mood state) but not everyone has depression (the disorder), because depressive episodes are normal after bad things happen, like the death of a loved one or getting laid off, but that's different from someone experiencing persistent, severe depressive episodes.

there's a lot to be said about how the average person indulges in delusions far more than anyone is really comfortable grappling with. every now and again, a poll comes out that reveals some sort of number of people who believe they have magical powers, usually pretty high, and everyone takes turns making fun of it and affirming their own Sanity

this is more observational than scientific, but it really does seem like writing off delusional thinking as the realm of the "insane" creates this valley where the "normal" person's thinking (especially a person who considers themself normal, but that's a whole other kettle of fish) must be more empirical, because, categorically, they are not insane

[rotzaprachim]

yeah the experience of growing up Filipino and Russian-Jewish diaspora was growing up in the shadow of a communist dictator who hurt my family and a U.S.-backed capitalist dictator who hurt my family, knowing about people who supported duterte and Bibi and knowing OF Putin and knowing a bunch of their supporters were struggling working class people from unambiguously minoritised backgrounds who thought voting in a strongman would make them safer and wealthier.

It was watching all kinds of Americans think there was something fundamentally strange or dumb or violent about Filipinos and Israelis to get themselves in this situation, even though the everyday violence wrought by the second intifada and the drug gangs in Manila that Bibi and duterte used to propel themselves to power was unimaginable to most of the working class white Americans who created a violent migrant enemy in their heads.

and, idk, it’s made me fed up with the American armchair revolutionary media of resistance and ya novels and fucking Star Wars, because it leaves out the horror of knowing that those proletariat Masses will in fact vote for a dictator - not be simply afraid of a dictator or uninterested in a way that the brave heroes can rally, but support one anyway, because hey, they aren’t the terrorists! It ain’t them. It’s not so color coded and yes and no and insider. It leaves out the horror of those who stand against the dictator too- called the commie riff raff, but also called the upper class elitests who just don’t know what the common man wants! The Ashkenazi tel avivian elites, the English speaking Tagalog elites who don’t support the drug war cause they live abroad or in big guarded houses. The messiness of it, the way class politics can be inverted in the support of a strongman with a Kill Working Class People tagline - but of course, for those who support him, it isn’t them! Idk. I think too many leftists have watched Star Wars but not read history and not read theory. I’m worried the American liberals are going to bow to the claim of being elitests for wanting basic democracy or liberal values in a way that’s happened all over the world and give in to the flame. I hope people are smart enough to see things when there arent color coded glowing swords.

[killugon-truther]

i’m sorry but ppl attempting to make others feel sympathy for someone like illumi will never NOT be funny to me 😭

“oh but he was abused too :(” okay… and? the entire zoldyck family was abused. the zoldyck parents were probably abused as children by THEIR parents/family as well. they’re still abusive & manipulative pieces of shit, product of their environment or not.

abusing others bc you were abused is NOT an excuse— in fact, that’s actually WORSE, bc you’re subjecting someone to that same torture you experienced/experience just bc… it happened to you? 💀 like, what? yes, it can explain their actions & make them make sense, but they’re not excusable or “okay” in the slightest. hell, it’s barely even sympathetic to me.

plus, killua & alluka/nanika are direct products of their environment as well, and they aren’t terrible pieces of shit who abuse others— they’re kind & caring, and they (killua especially) strives to be a good/better person; they all have naturally kind, good hearts.

so, like, genuinely, what’s ur point, and why should i care?

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - It's Wild Out There but the Kisses are Good

Organized, in each category, with ones I'm enjoying most at the top.

NOV 2024 Week 3

Ongoing Series - Thai

Kidnap (Fri YT) ep 11 of 12 - I’m really enjoying this show. But I will be glad when it ends next week. I’m ready. The motorcycle rescue in the middle of the kidnapping sequence was so absurdly bad I actually laughed. Meanwhile, in the hospital room did you notice Q’s dad used chan/nai with Min? I actually gasped out “oh, mad respect “ when he did. Papang it’s so damn hot, could he PLEASE get the lead in a BL? Please GMMTV.  

Love Sick 2024 (Sun iQIYI) ep 9 of 15 - I like Earn’s sincerity and open admission in the new version, and I like how genuine and delicate Noh is coping with someone crushing on him. Probably because he knows how painful it is from the other side. The conversation between Phun and Aim was much better and more kind in the new version, too. I'm chronicling my experience with 2024 as compared to 2014 here. 

Every You Every Me (Mon Gaga) ep 6 of 10 - I like this couple a lot, and not just because of all the sex positivity. I just enjoy their dynamic of artist and musician, introvert extrovert. Anybody wondering about that “up against the window blurring thing” with the shirt off the shoulder? That’s a very very old yaoi trope (mostly office yaoi from the early 2000s) that I haven’t seen in a long time. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen it in Thai BL…… wild. 

Meanwhile, let the weird interweaving of the filming crew begin. The show within a show that we all suspected was due is now happening. I’m not sure about that. (I worry it will be some clumsy commentary on pair branding.) But how hot does Fiat look these days? 

Fourever You (Thurs YT) ep 7 of 16 - I really don’t like the second storyline. It find it unpleasant. I also don’t think the chemistry between Maxky and Bas is good. In fact I begin to suspect Star Hunter should cut Bas lose. Yes I said it.

Caged Again (Fri Gaga) ep 1-2 of 10 - Penguin escapes zoo by turning into a human. Gets trapped in a boys school and a panther falls in love with him. How does a penguin know how to read? OK I’m not gonna try to figure out the logic of this show. There is none. Do I like it? Not sure. I’m not mad about the dynamic or the setting but the main foundational conceit is…… odd. It’s not uncommon in BL, the “my cat boyfriend” thing has been done for many years now. So I know what to expect. It’s not that. Or is it? I do like how the actor playing Junior looks a bit like a bird. I also like how the actor playing Sun really does behave like a cat in his social interactions, it’s funny. I think…… I’m not wild about this so far, but I like it better than I thought I would. Love seeing Jaonine & Nokia in any form. 

Perfect 10 Liners (Sun YT?) ep 3 of 24 - I just don’t like Arc and Arm. Sorry not sorry. However, I do like the sides and future couples. So I’m sticking with this one. 

Jack & Joker (Mon IQIYI) ep 10 of 12 - Because I heard this episode was really rough and the world is a mess I gave this one a miss this week. We’ll see if I’m up for it next week.

Your Sky (Sun iQIYI) 12 eps - (starts tomorrow) A naive freshman and the campus’s popular senior agree to pretend to be a couple - but their fake deal begins to generate real feelings.

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

My Damn Business (Korea Sat YT) ep 7 end - Ooooo counter lift!!! And caught in the act. Very nice. It was a really good final episode and an absolutely fantastic kiss.

In summation: 

Two men work their last few days together at a failing company. I like this but I’m not sure I should like it. This is a classic office romance, short even for Korea, with more than usual workplace harassment (even for BL) in the guise of aggressive pursuit from older boss to younger employee. (The optics are NOT good.) It reminded me of Jun and Jun only shorter, colder, and with more dub con. Now, I happen to be one of the few who truly loved Jun and Jun, it’s very much my style of KBL. I think that’s part of why I liked this one so much. But I suspect that might have given this show too much shine by association. Still, eminently rewatchable and it’s nice to have Korean IP drop on YouTube. 8/10 

Our Youth AKA Miseinen: Mijukuna Oretachi wa Bukiyo ni Shinkochu (Japan Tues Gaga) ep 2 of 11 - Another one that is about abuse, but for some reason I don’t mind it as much as I did Let Free the Curse. Maybe it’s Japan? Maybe it’s the disinterested nature of the director’s lens? This show is examining the inclination of teenagers towards spectatorhood out of fear, while simultaneously giving us a contrived spectator’s perspective with its style of the filming. For example: there is a lot of shots in alleyways and looking in and out of apertures (like doorways and windows) at Hirukawa. He’s often seen from a distance, because Minase thinks of him as distant and somewhat like a specimen. It’s very clever and what I expect from Japan. But it also makes me feel distanced from the characters and their story (intentionally, I believe) which means it’s less raw than Curse, and a lot easier for me to watch. In other words, I am observing this BL, not living it. But that’s the point. And because of that, I’m also liking it. But I’m extremely wary. Japan never drops a kiss early on in a series without some serious trauma to follow.

See Your Love (Taiwan Weds Gaga) ep 5 of 13 - I love them all very much. Carry on.

Blue Canvas of Youthful Days (China Sun iQIYI) eps 5-6 of 12 - So far as I can gather it was episode five that got this one censored and kicked off the air in China. So now we are in unchartered (and presumably only lightly censored) territory. Honestly? I have no idea how they get away with what they get away with these days. Onto the actual meet of the show. I don’t think the teacher should be flirting with the kid if he’s gonna blow hot and cold like that. He is ostensibly the mature one in the relationship. Although if he’s flirting with a child, that is clearly not the case. I get the conflict of the main characters a bit more. Because it’s all about class and the risks that you can take with your identity depending on how much autonomy you have in society. 

Teenager Judge (Vietnam Sat YT) ep 8 of ? - Basically this is just a narrative about bullying. And I’d like to get onto the revenge portion of the program, and that doesn’t seem to be happening anytime soon. I do love that Dat asked for permission to kiss. Consent is very sexy. Also it was a good tentative careful cautious timid first kiss. The actors are older but it felt high school. (Although apparently Bach entirely kissed away Dat’s injury.) 

Love is Like a Poison AKA Doku Koi: Doku mo Sugireba Koi to Naru (Japan Tues Netflix?) 9 of 12 eps - Gosh I really do like this couple. And I like the legal proceedings. But I’m worried about whether this show is going to end well. 

Love in the Air: Koi no Yokan (Japan Sat Gaga) ep 3 of 10 - Frankly I didn’t want LITA the original, so I’m pretty sure I don’t want the Japanese cliffs notes version of LITA. It’s somehow softer, which I wasn’t expecting from Japan. But I don’t mind. The brevity and softness are improving matters, IMHO. I continue to unequivocally loathe the wardrobe department. I’m offended on the actors’ behalf. 

Eccentric Romance (Korea Weds Viki) eps 11-12 end - An odd and somewhat lackluster piece about two college friends, one Thai and one Korean, who get together and become boyfriends while investigating murderer - each speaking in their own language. Neither the BL component nor the murder component was well executed or engaging. It’s not terrible, but that’s no ringing endorsement. "Odd yet still somehow forgettable" is probably how I would put it. 6/10

It's airing but......

Love for Loves Sake got some kind of special supposed to air 11/9. Not sure what, why, or where. Only the rumor that it...... is. I'll believe it when I see it...... literally.

Bad Guy My Boss (Thai Sun Gaga) 10 eps - I DNF'd at ep 7, I couldn't make it. I am weak. Life is hard enough right now, this show is making it harder. It’s not what I want from my entertainment.

Secret Love (Sat YT) 10 eps - Another take on my beloved stepbrothers trope. Adopted into a rich family, boy falls in love. But when he is made the heir instead, everything goes wrong and he leaves. Now enemies the two boys reunite in uni.

DAMN IT! This is airing but in two minute increments on a proprietary app that’s mostly for Android, and it’s already up to episode 11. I’m not wild about this style of distribution, so I’m not gonna bother unless somebody cuts it together as a full piece. Although I do adore the premise.

Bad to Bed (Taiwan Sat YouTube) 10 eps - This is a little too low production value even for me. And just very very odd. DNF

Next Week Looks Like This:

Upcoming BLs for 2024 are listed here. This list is not kept updated, so please leave a comment if you know something new or RP with additions.

November BL still to come:

11/20 Winter Is Not The Death of Summer (Thai Weds YT) ?? eps - Criminals who meet in prison fall in love

11/20 The Heart Killers (Thai Weds Gaga) 12 eps - Jojo directs FirstKhao & JoongDunk in an action romcom about assassin brothers (Khao & Joong) who meet a tattoo artist ex-booster (First) and a mechanic (Dunk). I'm highly amused that Joong plays the older brother to Khao and that we have a take on the Taming of the ShrewBL. I like that everyone is morally gray. This has all GMMTV's best chemistry in one BL and some fresh concepts that I've only seen tackled in m/m romance novels (check out Amy Lane's Racing for the Sun, thank me later). I'm excited. My only quibble is Jojo, I like his style but his characters can get unreliably messy so…... this gonna be interesting.

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENT

Apparently I have feels about wardrobe departments this week, because, to use an old fashioned term, this look on him absolutely slaps. (Love Sick)

It's rare for Thai BL to beat out JBL in the fashion department.

(last week)

The tag BLigade: @doorajar @solitaryandwandering @my-rose-tinted-glasses @babymbbatinygirl @babymbbatinygirl @isisanna-blog @mmastertheone @pickletrip @aliceisathome @urikawa-miyuki @tokillamonger @sunflower-positiiivity @rocketturtle4 @blglplus @anythinggoesintheshire @everlightly @renafire @mestizashinrin @bl-bam-beyond @small-dark-and-delicious @saezurumurmurs

[edenfenixblogs]

Date: 10/9/2024

Note: Over a year since the pogrom. No apology. No retrospection. No acknowledgement of the continued suffering of Jewish students around them. Only the continued, predictable false support for people far away. Of course Gazan suffering matters.

But I think it's really telling that these people only have empathy for those with whom they cannot see and interact with in the same way they see and interact with their fellow students. Students who have literally gone to the U.S. Congress to testify about how bad conditions are for them and how unsafe they feel.

No. No support for them. Because they can't be trusted. They are the enemy. And these students and even many of the professors justify their inhumane treatment of those near them by virtue signaling as loud as possible that they can't be bad people, because they care so much about people who are really suffering. Unlike those nasty Jews they're forced to interact with.

It's insufferable.

And before the inevitable, predictable wave of "Wowwwwwww way to make an international humanitarian crisis all about you, you dirty zio" happens, a brief reminder:

I'm not a Zionist.

I have the unfortunate distinction of being directly affected by the hatred directly at me by people who hate me simply for being Jewish and feeling sad that Israelis were murdered. The vast majority of western leftist "activists" do not.

But also...

There's a scene in The Help where a bunch of White socialites are talking about all the fundraising they're doing to help starving African children, and well, I'll just let you read it.

The Home Health Sanitation Initiative that Hilly drafted is a racist initiative to force private homes to provide separate bathrooms for Black domestic workers in White houses.

Hilly, who fired her own Black maid for using Hilly's un-segregated home bathroom during a tornado. Hilly, who spread a malicious rumor about that same maid being a thief and rendered her unemployable because she didn't want people to know that it was Hilly's own racism rather than any failure of her maid (named Minny, btw) morally or professionally. And then Hilly took her racism and twisted it into some twisted form of activism for "health sanitation" until she could make it something she didn't have to be ashamed of. In fact, it was something she could be proud of. It was something she should be proud of, something she wanted others to notice. It wasn't racism at all now. It was good, actually. And anyone who disagreed? Well, they just don't care about health. They're disgusting.

And anyway, she can't be racist against black people! YOU'RE the ridiculous one for thinking that. Sure, she's part of a White Citizen's Council. But no need to look into that! After all, they're not anti-Black. They're just a group of good citizens who are white! And they can't be racist either! Because they send old coats and money from bake sales to...somewhere. And surely that will put a "big dent" in the humanitarian crisis of starving African children. How dare anyone accuse them of hating Black people when they spend their own time and energy raising money for African children! Would a racist do that?!

Yes. A racist would and a racist does.

Even if U of M liquidated all of it's assets and shut down and gave all of its money to "Gaza," it wouldn't put a dent in the amount of funding Hamas and Hezbollah are getting from Qatar and Iran. It wouldn't be enough rebuild the damaged buildings and restore the cultural heritage sites. It wouldn't do anything to "save" the people of Gaza. And where exactly are they proposing that money would even go? In some big envelope labeled "Gaza"? Oh, right. I forgot...

They weren't even trying to repair anything in Gaza. They were just trying to take money away from students who use that money to have a fulfilling college experience until they believed U of M had done enough to "divest from the Israeli campaign in Gaza."

Parents in this country re-mortgage homes to send their kids to college. Some students take on life altering debt. The least they can and should expect in return for that massive supposed-investment in their future is 1) a fulfilling campus experience 2) the right to feel safe on campus. These "activists" actively prevent both of those things.

It's super easy to send a few bucks of other people's money to starving children in Africa or take some of the money allocated to other people's campus experiences in the name of a cause that it is obviously good to support (Children don't deserve to starve. Gazans don't deserve to live in a war zone.), but it's a lot harder to do something that will actually make a difference--like address antisemitism and Islamophobia on college campuses or vocally support civil rights legislation. Because doing the latter means making yourself vulnerable and being perceived as "weird" or "uncool" by your peers. It means looking inward and addressing your own failures and biases and prejudices and changing. It means not getting to be the center of attention who is praised for helping. It means platforming the voices of those who are affected by a conflict rather than your own voice. It means not caring about being seen as socially ideal or morally pure but actually caring about other people who are hurting.

These student activists are no different from those racist White women trying to force Black people to use separate bathrooms with one hand while trying to feed starving Black children in Africa with the other. You can't erase the stench of your bigotry up close by spraying Febreze outside and hoping it makes its way across the world.

It's not about African children. It's not about Gazans. It never was. It was about using the suffering of others to make yourself seem more noble. And it's disgusting.

They aren't doing a damn thing to help Gaza. They are literally only interested in sacrificing their fellow students' college experiences and bullying an educational institution into symbolically punishing Israel. But spending their own money to help Gazans through reputable charities like Anera? Couldn't be them. Spending their time making Jewish and Muslim and Arab students feel safe? Couldn't be them. Doing anything that might actually make a positive difference in the lives of the people they claim to support? Couldn't be them. Disgusting. Unconscionable. And for many, unforgivable.

They're bigots. They just don't think anyone will notice if they wrap themselves tight enough in an activist costume.

It's been over a year since Jews were slaughtered and kidnapped along with anyone who was physically near enough to them at the time to be deemed as complicit by a bunch of terrorists eager to spill Jewish blood. And in that time these "activists" have done jack-fucking-shit to actually help any Palestinians in a meaningful way. But they sure have done a great job at destroying a sense of safety for Jews in diaspora and making the lives of Jews worse literally everywhere in the world.

Allegedly the pro Palestine activists then hacked into the CSG Instagram page and posted the same clip in the tweet with this caption

"Puppet" lovely jews control the world trope.

[nalyra-dreaming]

Wait so Lestat has a biological son? Why was he never mentioned in the show? Unless this happens in a later book/season but can vampires even reproduce since they’re technically dead? Did/will Lestat raise him and does he know Louis too? Will he also become a vampire? I have so many questions istg I learn new book lore every day and it manages to surprise me every time 😭

Oh yes, a biological "almost clone".

And he is never mentioned on the show because he did not exist in Lestat's past... but exists in the future books ("Prince Lestat" and on.).

Viktor is artificially created by Fareed. (Which is also why Fareed's presence in s1 already!!! made me scream and kick my feet, lol.)

Fareed is Seth's (Akasha's mortal son later turned fledgling) fledgling and companion, and both, he and Seth are "healers", scientists and doctors for the vampires. Fareed does a lot of experiments, and one of them was trying to make vampires have sex (by hormonal infusion). Remember, in the books these vampires did not have sex. And, you guessed it, Lestat participated in that little experiment.

The result is Viktor, who grew up with Fareed, Seth and his (later turned) mother, Dr. Flannery Gilman.

Viktor is turned when he is an adult, but he has no fear of the process, nor any apprehension, since he lived with ancient and powerful vampires all his life (Lestat did not know of his existence, Fareed didn't know how to reach him.).

Viktor does know everyone later on, yes.

And... he falls in love with Rose, and they actually get turned after their wedding, not kidding.

Rose is a girl Lestat rescues from a fire by the way, and who he visits and lets grow up. Louis knows of her, because when Lestat is unavailable it is Louis who saves her (from another fire), and brings her to New York (Trinity Gate). And there she meets Viktor.

Louis and Lestat later see them and treat them as family.

I do think that the show is gearing towards their existence in the narrative, since they changed Claudia's backstory to match Rose's (Louis rescuing her), and... well. The change to let them have sex again.... well. Fareed definitely managed that, too. :)))

(I mean, the principal change on the show will not be because of his experiments I guess, but the possibility in canon is definitely there^^)

[generalluxun]

Who do you think is more fitting to be “Creator’s Pet” of the show: Astruc’s virtual daughter Marinette or perfect and flawless Adrien?

Okay, before I start- I don't like the term creator's pet, it tends to suggest currying favor on the 'pet' part, and obviously Marinette or Adrien can't do that.

Perhaps 'favorite'? and let me lay some ground rules.

This is not character salt! Nothing here should be used to deride the characters. This is about the narrative woven with/around them. This is examining the external biases at play.

We must recognize that Marinette is the PoV character for the show. That is value-neutral. We can't hold screen time as evidence.

That said let's tackle Adrien being 'perfect' first. I know the show and creator use that word a lot but it is very clear in the show that ... He's not. He makes mistakes, he gets *called out* for his mistakes, he gets upset, he apologizes. He's not perfect.

So, why/how/what is the purpose of the perfect mantra in the show? It's because Adrien is a *trophy*. He was Gabriel's trophy, and now he's Marinette's. A trophy must be 'perfect', or how can it be a trophy? He makes no demands(his flirting as Cat Noir was shown as him being wrong and he corrected his behavior to be more perfect), he gives everything, he carries emotional baggage and costs nothing.

All of his perfection benefits *other people* in the narrative, not himself. Does that sound like a favorite? No it sounds like something you *give* to your favorite.

Because yes, I do believe Marinette suffers from an above-average attachment by her creator(and some fans) I say suffers from because I think it hurts her as a character. Superficially it seems to her benefit, but below the surface it's empty calories.

Marinette makes mistakes too, but they are always framed as best intentions. At the end of any disagreement she is the one in the right. Her pain is always the focus/valid one in any situation. S5 amped this up to the point I call it 'Poor Mari' when it happens. Any emotional situation must make you sympathize with Marinette first and often only. It doesn't matter what or who is involved. The entire Agreste Arc has been summed up by the emotional impact *Adrien's family being the villains and his father dying* have on *Marinette* not Adrien. Marinette gets the sympathy for someone else's crisis. How weird is that? It's not even that she did anything wrong (before the lie) but no one else seems to be allowed to experience more emotion than she does, no matter the situation.

That is a strange choice and one that hurts the narrative and her character. (As they find new/more/repeat ways to put her in emotional turmoil to keep her always center all the time)

As an example from before S5, we can look at how Luka/Kagami were handled. It's two parallel situations, handled at the same time. How they're handled gives the insight you are asking for.

Marinette's struggle is the first an foremost thing in Truth. Luka is the sweetest bean, and even when he's akumatized it is all about her pain the end and her having to break up with him. He's upset but he never blames her, never corrects her. After the breakup he is still completely supportive and always there. He works to find her happiness, even though he openly admits to still being in love with her. Marinette is handled gently and put on a pedestal.

Meanwhile, Lies focuses more on Kagami and her efforts to connect with Adrien who is pining for Ladybug( just as Marinette is pining for Adrien) She gets mad at him. She breaks up with him. She holds him accountable for his behavior. She gets over him. When she finally joins team Adrienette it is for *Marinette's* sake, not Adrien's. (MP72)

So yes, Marinette is favored heavily, beyond simply 'the main character' she is the center of this world physically and emotionally in a way that is only more noticable as time goes on.

Oh- and another easy metric: How many people have said Marinette is the best Ladybug ever vs. has anyone ever given Cat Noir the time of day except Ladybug when she felt bad about leaving him out of the loop?

[deathworlders-of-e24]

Danny, Security Chief

Part 4

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

<Open File>

<{Possible Security Threats}>

• Theta Raider attack; 23% likely

• Grite of the Sed

• Elizabeth Collins^

~Addendum: Liz Collins and 3 possibly hostile infant alien lifeforms she’s keeping as pets~

<{(expand file?)}>

Security Chief Danny Ducane had started keeping a list of possible risks to the Noah after the disastrous mission to MX13, off the main servers of course. He kept it on his private computer in his quarters, away from prying eyes and probes, something like a journal more than an official log.

He clicked the expansion and began to dictate:

“While the Sed man Grite has been relegated to inactive duty aboard the ship, the situation is becoming increasingly complicated. Several times I have seen the other Sed crewmen in compromising places, though it seems inauspicious to the rest of the security team. After I caught Communications Officer Soane observing me leaving the Bridge, I’ve also seen Kor and Taren, both engineers, in odd locations around the ship where there has been no request for repairs or upgrades. I’ve kept my findings to myself out of fear of accused paranoia, and my own self policing. I’m positive they’re watching me. But whether or not they have ulterior motives or are just pissed I fired their buddy, I’m still not sure. Further investigating is required.

On another note, my information request was confirmed by Admiral Townes. Despite the fact that the Noah was human made, with GAIL assistance, and that the experiment was posed by the Quintins in the first place, the Sed representative on the GAIL council apparently made a big stink about the Sed not having any command positions on board. Townes said they wanted the Captain position, Security Chief, and communications lead all filled with their own species, but the requirements weren’t met by anyone they’d selected for the mission. Therefore they just ended up as grunts under these ‘lesser’ species. Sounds like a bunch of political posturing, they got what they got and threw a fit anyway. Townes said they don’t take kindly to orders from races they deem… incompatible. So there’s that too, I guess, bigots in space. I’m just hoping we can hit the halfway mark and get relief personnel before this thing we got brewing goes nuclear. Signing off.”

Danny clicked the computer off and stretched his arms above his head, his back popping twice. Between alien encounters and solar flares, the ship was getting more… noisy. Active. Danny didn’t like it. Boring was best. Boring meant nobody was dying. He’d had had a feeling in the pit of his stomach for the last dozen cycles or so, something was coming.

And it was probably gonna piss him off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny made the bridge at 0900 hours the next morning, slapping his ball cap on his head and a cup of coffee in his hands. He nodded to the bridge crew before turning to the captain, who looked at him with his ant like head cocked to one side.

“Chief Ducane, I believe it’s your day off duty, is it not?”

“It is, yeah, but it’s not like I can leave the ship unattended. Anything could happen,” Danny said, raising his cup to gesture.

“Speaking of, anything new boss?” he asked.

“Actually yes,” Skitch said, his multifaceted eyes catching the light and glowing like an oil slick. “We got an alert about an hour ago, something breached our forward perimeter for a minute before jumping away. We think it was a ship of sorts, but the scanners couldn’t tell anything definitive before it ran away.”

Danny thought for a moment, taking a sip of coffee.

“Could be pirates,” he said finally, “but if it was an hour ago and they haven’t come back, they probably aren’t a sizable force if a ship this small scared them off. Still, I recommend putting everyone on tactical alert for the time being, just to be safe.”

Skitch nodded, antenna bobbing.

“Good idea. Now please, go rest. The medical staff told me you humans have to sleep for at least 10 hours a cycle or you don’t function correctly, and you barely get 6 with the amount of work you do.”

“Don’t worry about me Captain,” Danny said, laughing, “I’m perfectly capable of functioning on just 6 hours, even less with enough coffee.”

“Regardless, this is your assigned rest period. You’re supposed to relax today, so I don’t want to see you until the next cycle,” Skitch ordered. “You’re no good to the ship if-”

One of the consoles started beeping, cutting the Captain off. It was coming from the long range scanners, the communications officer cycling through the information as fast as she could.

“Sir, we’re picking up a distress call from the other side of the system, a merchant vessel is under attack!”

“Who is it?”

“Signal corresponds to a Muruzian ship the GAIL has on file, they’re taking fire.”

“Helmsman, set a course, best possible speed!” Skitch ordered. “Chief Ducane, your off day is canceled.”

“Way ahead of you captain,” Danny said, downing his coffee and turning his cap around. “Let’s go to work.”

Danny turn on his heel and booked off the bridge and back towards the lift. As he moved, he unclipped the comm-link from his hip and made the call:

“Attention Alpha Team, we have a situation. Body armor and weapons, meet in the hangar bay in 5 minutes. Bravo Team are on call for support and possible rescue. We are heading to aid friendlies and fuck up enemies, move your asses.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Danny hit the hangar bay in 4 minutes flat, even after making a stop at his quarters to grab his personal kit. Homet, Coola, Ritz, and Hayte were all there, strapping on their gear with solemn looks on their faces. Danny knew Homet had seen a firefight before, but the others had only fought in simulated battles. Danny trusted them to do their jobs, but worried what the job would do to them in turn. In any event, he could always step in to cover them.

Get your head on soldier, Danny thought, you lead them into it and out. Burn bridges after you crossed them.

“Ready in 60 seconds people, the bridge said the distress signal cut out so the enemy probably took over the controls. We have friendlies under attack so we’re gonna lend a hand. Now remember, the Muruzians aren’t exactly a sturdy race, and they look avian in nature,” Danny explained, showing an image on his data pad of the species. They looked like bipedal birds, with long legs and necks, plumage around the head and base of their extremities. Short wings extended from their backs, with a span over 3 meters across at their full length.

“These are civilians, not soldiers, so it’s up to us to save them. Readings on the aggressor’s ship indicate it’s probably pirates, so shoot to stun anything that shoots at you first. Seriously. Just stun. We don’t have a full crew manifest for the Muruzian ship so no spray and pray, got it? Don’t want anybody the Muruzians are friends with to get shot just ‘cause they don’t have wings.”

“About half of that didn’t make sense sir, but set everything to stun and let loose right?” Hayte said, smirking.

“Just stun anything that isn’t a tall turkey, got it?” Danny said, stepping into the shuttle. “Fall in, we’re going for a ride!”

The security force piled into the shuttle and the hatch closed behind them, pressurizing the cabin. The pilot got the all clear from hangar control, and the bay doors opened up in front of them. Danny heard Hayte behind him quietly ask Homet what a turkey was, and then they were off, into the void, hurtling towards a firefight.

“Alright guys, here’s the plan,” Danny began, “scans show their shuttle bay is wide open, so we’re going in there and securing a beach head. From there, we sweep floor by floor with scanners looking for life signs while going up to the bridge, taking out any hostiles we find or rescuing any of the Muruzians we encounter. We find anyone, one of us escorts them back to the shuttle bay for safety. Bravo Team is gonna be right behind us for recoveries, so once the friendlies are safe we regroup. Got it?”

“Got it sir,” Coola answered, though there was a slight stutter in her voice. The others didn’t respond, just nodded. Homet cocked his rifle, the weapon whirring as it powered up.

“Good to go, Chief,” he said.

“Okay, let’s do this right people,” Danny said, sending the same orders to Bravo Team through his comm-link. The shuttle was almost to the bay, and Danny could see the Muruzian ship in the distance, blocky and oblong at the same time, almost kind of egg shaped. Its thrusters were dead and dark. Just beside it was another ship, maybe a fourth the size, but clearly built for speed and maneuverability, almost like an arrow head in shape, though still smaller than the Noah.

Their shuttle came to a stop inside the Muruzian ship’s bay, just inside the air field generator. The pilot gave the signal, releasing the hatch. Danny was first out the door, sweeping from side to side with his rifle, head on a swivel. There was already another shuttle in the hangar, arrow shaped like the enemy ship. This was how they got in it seemed. They hadn’t seen any lifeforms on the scans of this area, but you never know what technology could miss. What you didn’t know could so easily kill you. The rest of them poured out of the shuttle and began securing the bay.

“Clear!” Homet called out, followed by the Quintin siblings, then Hayte.

“All clear!” Danny called, clicking on the radio in his ear piece. “Bravo Team, the beach head is secure, make your entry and prepare to receive injured friendlies and restrained enemies. We’re moving out.”

Alpha Team formed up at the exit, Homet on point with Danny right behind him. Hayte was in the rear, calling out possible life signs with the scanner, and the twins on lookout, just like they trained for.

“Got three signals on the next floor chief,” Hayte said as they made their way through the hangar floor. “But I don’t know how we’re going to get there, the ship doesn’t have stairs or any lifts.”

“Yeah, the Muruzians are an avian species,” Homet said, “they just fly and glide between floors.”

“Well they have to have maintenance shafts somewhere,” Danny said. “Somewhere they can stand and move between levels. Broaden the scan parameters, find any space that can fit us that can get to other floors.”

Hayte clicked some buttons and held the scanner up high above his head. Behind them, the Bravo Team shuttle landed in the hangar.

“Got something Chief, 20 meters ahead and to the left, service shaft. Looks like an air duct, but we can even get Homet in there if he crouches.”

“Good. Let’s move people,” Danny ordered. The team booked, staying in formation. They made their way down the hall toward the shaft, then pried open the doors. The duct went upwards at a 45 degree angle. Danny and Homet turned and gave a look to the other three, the lizards and the monkey.

“When we get back to the ship,” Danny began, “we’re gonna have a talk about the abilities of different species, okay?”

Going up was slow going. Danny’s legs were aching before they were halfway up, and Homet’s fur was making friction a problem. The Twins and Hayte had to brace themselves behind him and push while the Doun used the exposed skin on his hands to try and get traction. It took significantly longer than Danny wanted, but they had no choice.

Finally, they made it out the top end, Danny and Homet tumbling out onto the floor.

“Well that sucked,” Danny said, forcefully bending his spine back into shape. The more limber species on the team simply stepped out into the hall, trying to keep from laughing at their two more burly teammates.

“Get back in formation,” Danny ordered. “Bunch of kids, I swear.”

They made their way through the ship, Hayte directing them with the scanner. Finally they came up on a door and the Indoprime stopped them. He pointed to the door and held up 3 fingers on his furred hand.

“One Muruzian bio sign,” he said reading the device. “Two others that read as Tulane.”

“Crap,” Danny said. The Tulane were pretty well known for their techno-dependencies. They augmented themselves with whatever they could salvage from raid runs in other systems, so they didn’t have any real average appearance to attribute their species to anymore. Just lots of metal and weapons wrapped in flesh. A race of cyborgs.

“On three,” Danny said quietly, hand on the door. Homet got into position, the others behind him.

1…

2…

3!

Danny threw open the door and ducked aside as the big burly Doun charged in, his thermal suit making him a tank with tusks. The Tulane didn’t even have a chance to fire, Homet and Danny stunned them the second they were in line of sight. The team poured into the room, clearing corners and spreading out to cover any possible angle of attack.

They the coast was clear. Danny lowered his rifle and walked calmly over to the friendly alien bird. They appeared to be female, with light gray plumage and darker accents. Their beak was shaking, but despite that, Danny realized that if they stood up they’d be as tall as he was.

“Are you alright?” He asked.

“SQUAWWK!” Said the Muruzian, and Danny waited a moment for the translator to kick in.

[Who are you? Are you here to help us? Please save us!]

“Don’t worry, we’re GAIL officers from the ship Noah, we’re here to help,” Danny said, trying to calm them down.

“Bawk? Squawk.”

[What? I can’t understand you, they destroyed my translator]

“Shit,” Danny said. “Ritz, give her your translator, Coola can interpret for you.”

The Quintin man gave the alien bird lady his device, then made a hissing sound. The Muruzian synced it to her ear.

“Better?” Danny asked.

“Much,” she said. “My name is Lith, thank you for coming. The Tulane came out of nowhere, we were boarded before we knew what was going on.”

“How’d they get on board?” Homet asked.

“They fired a directed EMP burst, completely fried our ship. We got back-up power going for life support, but that could go out any minute.”

“Okay Lith, we’re gonna get you to safety, but first you gotta tell us how many crew you still have on the ship so we can save them too,” Danny said.

“There’s only 50 of us in the flock, but some of them were in the hangar when they boarded. They… didn’t make it.” Lith gave a very sad sounding chirp. “The others were locked on the cargo decks. The only reason they didn’t get me too was because I was hiding. They left them in cargo and brought a few back up to the bridge.”

“Okay Lith, these two” Danny pointed to the twins, “are gonna get you to the hangar bay where our friends are gonna keep you safe, okay? All you gotta do is take a quick slide down that air duct over there, alright?”

“Thank you, thank you so much,” Lith said, squawking. Danny sent a quick message on the comm-link, ‘one incoming friendly, more in the cargo bay with hostiles, go get them’, and they were off. The twins taking Lith down and Danny, Homet, and Hayte continuing forward, securing the floor.

After a few minutes, Ritz and Coola were back, and the three of them had swept the floor for any surprises. Finding none, they moved on.

Another duct led up to the next floor, and Danny wasn’t having it after that. His legs and back ached, and watching the younger teammates effortlessly climb up was annoying. He was almost thankful when they encountered the band of Tulane pirates. At least it’d be longer now between climbs.

The group they encountered could not be said to all be the same species at first glance. For one, one of them was half the size of the other nine, and had a blaster for a hand. For two, the tallest of the group was see through, as in it looked like his torso had been replaced with bionics without any casing. Danny could see the wiring hanging down where organs should be as well as the wall behind it. Danny could see the thing’s ribs and spine, dripping what looked like motor oil.

Wow, fuck that noise, Danny thought.

“Light ‘em up!” Danny said, taking the opening shot. The first cyborg took the stun directly to the face, dropping like a sack of rocks. Homet took the next two, the energized bolt frying their circuits as they went down. Then it was all out war. Both sides fired wildly, but the Alpha Team had the element of surprise. The whole skirmish lasted less than 30 seconds. The last three took multiple stuns, twitching on the ground. Their cybernetics sparked and whirred, which would have been concerning if they weren’t pirate scumbags.

“Bravo Team, I got a present for you. 9 stunned hostiles, second floor from the hangar. Send medical and mechanical assistance. These guys are gonna stand trial for this, so make sure they don’t die.”

Danny turned back to his team, but something caught his eye.

The Tulane had jump packs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh I’m keeping this!” Homet exclaimed as they made the leap to the next floor, a whopping 20 meters up from the floor they’d left the unconscious pirates. Danny said nothing, but grinned at his friend. This was significantly easier on his back.

Plus it made him feel cool as fuck.

They made it to the next floor in record time, and cleared it just as fast. It seemed the center of the ship was hallow, a long empty shaft spanning the length of the ship, allowing the Muruzians easy access to the whole of the ship by flying or gliding to any floor they chose. Alpha Team was making use of it as well now, the jump packs strapped to each of them. Danny almost lost his cap at first, but by the sixth floor he was a natural at it. It was just like parachuting through the air, only in reverse.

They encountered a few more small groups of Tulane, but Danny took them out almost effortlessly, and with extreme efficiency. The rest of the team hardly had to do anything, Danny was systematically taking out every hostile they came across. If things kept up like this, he could keep everyone safe.

All in all, things were going well.

That was, until they reached the bridge.

The doors to the bridge looked as if they’d been blown open. They hung there, half retracted into the wall, wrenched into the room from what looked like concussive force. Danny could hear yelling in an alien language even from out in the hall, but they were too far away for his translator to make any sense of the words. He held his hand up and made a fist, signaling everyone to hold. They formed up on the entrance on the left side of the ruined door. Danny ducked his head and peeked in.

The Muruzian crew were huddled together in the corner, the Tulane looming over them with blades and blasters. One of the birds was kneeling in the center of the room before what appeared to Danny as just a hulking mass of metal on legs. Then he realized…

Aw fuck me

…it was a battle suit. Hydraulic muscles encased in oversized metal plating. Like a tank with an attitude. Danny had only seen one once before, during Academy training. He’d watched, uncomfortably scared, as a soldier in such a suit had punched a Humvee through a concrete wall.

The Muruzians never had a chance.

Neither did they, in all likelihood.

“Is that what I think it is?” Homet asked.

“Yeah,” Danny said, swallowing.

“What would a human say right now?”

“Fuck works.”

“Fuck then.”

“Stuns won’t get through that plating. And the birds aren’t gonna last a second if they decide to just wipe them out. Any plans?” Hayte asked.

The rest of the team just looked at him blankly.

“Fuck,” Coola said, unhelpfully shrugging.

Danny looked back into the bridge room, desperate for anything that might spark an idea, even a bad one would work.

4 hostiles.

1 in a tank.

Lots of friendlies.

Danny looked up above the battle suit. The roof had taken damage, the remains of a light source hanging from the ceiling. Wires sparked and embers fluttered down.

Maybe that could work?

“Okay, here’s the play. Twins and Hayte, take out the 3 by the hostages. Keep to stuns in case you miss. Homet, watch their backs. I’m gonna swap to scattershot and shoot the ceiling right above the suit, try to dislodge those wires and zap the bastard. That’ll distract him or drop something heavy on him, either works. Okay? On 3.”

Coola and Ritz looked like they wanted to protest, but he wasn’t paying attention anymore.

Danny counted.

1 prayer.

2 prayers.

Fuck it.

3!

Danny burst into the room first, screaming and shooting, which was fair since he’d probably get ripped to shreds first. The rest of the team came in a beat later, ducking to the side and firing at the pirates. It took one extra shot to knock out the guards, as Danny fired boiling plasma buckshot into the ceiling. There was a quick BOOMF!! as a an electrical explosion fried the wiring in the roof. Sparks and melted carbon rained down on the battle suit, and Danny could hear muffled screaming coming from the inside as the super heated shrapnel made its way into the seams. The battle suit flailed its arms and spun around to face them, weapon raised. Homet dove left, firing into its side, doing barely anything. Danny went wide to the right, trying to confuse it. Everything was moving in slow motion to him, himself included. The battle suit, his teammates, the scared Muruzians. Everything except his brain. That was firing on all cylinders, adrenaline coursing through his body, his mind desperate to come up with a way to get everyone else out alive.

His back felt heavy.

And then he realized, there was a better way.

Danny charged the battle suit as it turned to face him, firing as he ran. When he was right on top of it, he dropped and slid between its legs. It bent over to look for him, but Danny was already climbing up its back, strapping his jump pack to its side and wedging his rifle under some wires on the other. He brought his fist down on the pack, and the Tulane shot to the side, throwing Danny to the floor.

If Danny couldn’t take out the suit, all he had to do was scramble the guy inside.

“EVERYONE GET DOWN!” He ordered, quick as he could before the suit slammed into the side of the wall, crushing the plasma rifle and detonating the small core that powered it.

The sound was deafening, even with the battle suit taking the brunt of the explosion. It sounded like a train had rammed into the side of their heads going at full speed. Danny got thrown into the opposite wall from the force, as well as several of the Muruzians and Homet. The rest were scattered across the room, battered, bruised, and some a little burnt. But everyone was alive, including the three Tulane they’d stunned, which was a small miracle in and of itself.

“Chief, what’s a human word that’d work for right now?” Ritz asked, lying on his back in the corner with a giant bird man on top of him.

“Fuck still works,” Danny said.

“Fuuuuuuck then,” Ritz groaned. “I think my tail is broken.”

“What the hell were you doing Ducane?” Homet asked angrily. “No real plan, and then that?”

“Yeah, not pushing back on that one,” Danny admitted. “That sucked, and I’m sorry. But how else do you take down a battle suit?”

Danny walked over to the wrecked suit crumpled in the wall, pulling his pistol just to be safe. The thing sparked and a motor somewhere creaked, but he couldn’t see any signs of life coming from it. He banged on the head with the butt of his gun. It clanged dully.

Then the arm shot out and clamped around Danny’s waist. He could feel his bones grinding together under the strength of the metal claw wrapped around him. Hot metal seared his skin where his armor and clothes got burned away.

Danny shouted in alarm before the suit pulled him in, putting him face to face with the Tulane. The helmet visor flipped up and Danny was looking into the eyes of the raider inside.

Damn was he ugly.

Half melted orange flesh poured over the cybernetics in their face, their eyes bloodshot and twitching in all directions. Pipes and wiring were sticking out of their deformed neck. They tried to croak out words but the translator didn’t register it as a language.

Danny panicked and unloaded the whole clip into the Tulane’s face. At that close a range with no barrier, the ballistic force of Danny’s Terran firearm splattered the alien’s brains across the wall and much on Danny himself.

“FUCK!” Danny screamed. “God damnit, I didn’t… he caught be by surprise, I didn’t mean to fire lethals.”

“You killed a pirate Ducane, nobody is gonna be too upset about that,” Homet said. “What we are mad about is that you ran in half cocked without working out a plan with us.”

“Chief, you charged right at a battle suit with no way to survive it,” Coola said. Ritz and Hayte were tending to the Muruzians. “You completely disregarded any help we could’ve given you. Fuck!”

“Okay I think we’re over using that word now,” Danny said, prying himself out of the suit’s grip. He wiped his face, trying to get the blood smears out of his hair. “Truthfully, I didn’t think of that until the fight had started, but… yeah, okay, you guys are right. I should’ve got back-up first.”

“You do all this work for us Chief, training us like Terran soldiers, but then you don’t let us be part of the team when it counts. Why not?” Coola crossed her arms and looked him in the eye, her tail whipping back and forth angrily.

“I don’t know…” Danny started, but Homet cut him off.

“Chief, this is the first real combat situation we’ve all experienced together, and I have to say, we failed as a team. You did almost all the work, which isn’t to say you did a bad thing, but we don’t need Ducane the Destroyer right now, we need Chief Ducane to lead us, to make the plan and to trust us. Better, we need the Chief Ducane who trusts himself, who knows he did a good job training us.”

Danny wiped his hands stained with purple blood on his pants and looked at the team, his team, and realized they were right. He trained them, he knows their strengths and weaknesses, and knew he’d done a great job at turning them into marines.

So why had he taken on so much himself today?

“You humans don’t need to save us every time, you know?” Ritz said, walking over.

“You’re right,” Danny conceded. “I got it in my head that it was my job alone to keep everybody on the ship safe, including you all. I can see I need to work on that.” Danny nodded towards the Muruzians in the corner. “Let’s get them down to the shuttles and get back to the ship, yeah?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Noah was ordered to stay in the vicinity until a relief ship could come and take care of the Muruzians, their ship, and take the Tulane into custody. The bird peoples were given guest quarters on board the Noah until then, taking several hours for them all to get processed and translators. Danny was back in his office, going through the metric ton of data they’d taken from the Tulane ship when Homet walked in.

“Sir… Danny, I think we need to talk.”

Danny looked up at him and sighed.

“Look, I heard you guys loud and clear, no more solo acts, promise.”

“No, I don’t think you’re really hearing us. You took on everything by yourself today. I might’ve been on point, but you were still somehow first in the door. Our job is to keep the ship safe. Our job is to walk into the fire. Your job is to get us out the other side. And you can’t do that every time with this wanton disregard for your own well being.” Homet took a breath.

“I talked to the Captain,” he said.

“Homet, what did you-”

“Tomorrow it is mandatory you stay out of your office and take a real day off.” Homet grinned at him. “Captain’s orders.”

Danny just sat there looking at him for a minute before busting out laughing.

“Jackass, you had me worried for a minute there. Alright, fine, less coffee, more beer, yeah? You come get a drink with me after your shift. You’re in charge of the kids then.”

“Aye aye, Chief,” Homet said, joining him in laughter. “You humans might be the weirdest species I’ve ever met, but even you guys have to rest every once in a while.”

“Only when you make us, apparently.”

[bibibbon]

I think that's the point!

Vicktor himself realised that the main reason the commune failed was because there was no balance. It was just mundane peace, a neutrality that was devoid of humanity. Devoid of human essence.

His whole final speech says it all!

" I understand now. The message hidden within the pattern. The reason for our failures within the commune"

I am making a big leap here, but the structure of viktors sanctuary, the pattern of it symbolises it all. The strange hollow type structure that has some filled with vibrant alluring colours.

This pattern of viktor's sanctuary also matches and reminds me of the cog piece he has and Jayce's own weapon.

One side bleak the other colourful. One with order the other with a mess. One with rage the other with compassion. Viktor and Jayce. Two sides of the same coin, inextricably bound just as viktor said.

Viktor, in this act, acknowledged only the compassion and goodness of what he could build. He thought that was the best. That was what humans should be to him. When the cog falls into the pond, he picks it up bleak side first, which could be symbolic of his views and how neutral/ somewhat numb he has become ever since he came back in act 1. It is due to his beliefs that the people that viktor heals and are members of his cult don't have any negative emotions. They can only experience neutral calm and compliance even in the face of danger. Viktor didn't realise that there must be a balance to things. Calmness and happiness coexist with sadness and chaos. The world can not function without one or another. It is exactly this that causes the sancutarty's downfall because even when jayce obviously losing it pointed a weapon threatening to harm the people still let him in not even reacting negatively or suspiciously to him a lack of humanity or when Warwick almost went on a rampage.

Love can't exist without hate. Hate can't exist without love it is exactly the others existence that makes the other emotion so powerful. The sanctuary, while obviously at peace, lacks life because it lacks emotions from the individuals there. It lacks the complex thoughts and feelings of love, hate, compassion, and anger to make it a true world. As the audience, I don't think we realise that because Viktor's sanctuary is constantly contrasted with the chaos of piltover and zaun.

Ultimately, jayce and viktor in this act are once again two sides of the same coin. They are two different extremes. Hate and love, desperation and acceptance, grief and enlightenment. One can't coexist without the other we have seen what happened when they were separated the first time around.

The death of viktor by Jayce's hands also ends up killing a part of Jayce in the end or ultimately having Jayce lose something that he will never gain back.

"It's inescapable. Humanity. It's our very essence. Our emotions, rage,compassion, hate, two sides of the same coin. Inextricably bound."

Viktor's speech, the beginning of it, claiming to finally understand the true duality of humanity. To be humanity is to live with all of these emotions rage, compassion, hate, and more.

Viktors last words are:

"That which inspires us to our greatest good is also the cause for our greatest evil"

Love can cause hate, and hate can be caused by love. You don't hate someone you have never cared for or loved (you may dislike them but truly strong hate that damages and sticks to one's soul tends to exist due to love and betrayal)

Viktor realises that. Jayce exclaims that he wont fail that he will achieve his promise even if it means that he had to kill viktor. He promised to destroy hextech, and he did even if it meant losing the person that he loved.

Yet this may also apply to viktor himself. He wanted to produce something good out of what he believed was a curse. Viktor wanted to create good out of evil, and in the end, he did (kind of). Viktor created a perfect sancutarty that was ALL GOOD. Yes, he created something entirely good, but without the presence of evil, is there really something good. Is the presence and devoid of emotions that caused the downfall of the cult a good thing?

Is the fact that these people are controlled by viktor a merciful thing? Is it a good thing, or is it just an indirect way of people being stripped of their autonomy?

I am pretty sure viktor is coming back and honestly iam excited to see what they're gonna do a part of me honestly just wants viktor and jayce to at least end the series on a good note but that's just my delusion

also did anybody else just. not like the “utopia” viktor created. it kinda just seemed like he took away all of their emotions except for peace and contentment. and then they all die when he dies??? hivemind fr. (still love him though and he’a coming back trust and then jayvik will be happy and nothing will go wrong ever again)!

[harmonysanreads]

Dear Harmony,

I finally got a day off from being a bartender at the hostelry. However, I've been rather stuck on a few ideas I'm unsure how to pen down for an upcoming short story deadline with the publishing house. Hence, I've come to ask you something if it isn't too much to ask, dear Sunday kinnie expert. Pick anything from these questions, just one is fine :)

How would a certain avian hybrid who is madly obsessed with an unsuspecting darling...

a) act as a student council president who couldn't quite express his love for a blockmate/fellow council member?

b) react when he has finally received confirmation that the person he had fallen for is an assassin?

c) deal with the fact that the person that caught his eye is a very vocal punk artist who challenges whatever ideals he stands for?

That is all I would ask of you. I thank you for your time, and may your God keep you in Their care.

— Cranberry N.V~

Dear Cranberry N.V~,

I do apologize for the delay in my reply, some matters prevented me from picking up the pen for a while. I hope work has been easy for you — the regulars haven't given you too much trouble, right? I see your humor is as infallible as ever. The title of ‘Sunday Expert’ is beyond me, but I will do my best in assisting you out of this impasse.

a) How would Sunday act as a student council president who couldn't quite express his love for a blockmate/fellow council member?

You are a most agonizing distraction. The tempting blue of the sky during a particularly hard lesson to fixate on, the interest that presents itself as more appealing than the revision for the upcoming finals, more so. But he can't indulge, must force himself to be lucid — because that is the image he's crafted for the world to see. There is too much at stake, the lull of an escapade might echo as freedom, but the sky beyond the cage has long lost the trust of the bird.

It's alright, though. Seeing you free and happy blesses him with an unusual sense of contentment and for the minute instances where he's had the fortune of witnessing it up-close, he's sure to repay in any capacity allowed by his position. Blessing may it be, is a mixed one. Every so often, when the threads of clarity slip away from the Halovian's grasp, he can't help but deem his situation unfair. He wonders, if he hadn't been so restricted by his position, by himself — would he be able to experience your world as well? Would you then, not drift away as he watches helpless?

b) How would he react when he has finally received confirmation that the person he had fallen for is an assassin?

Not entirely surprised, but disappointed nonetheless. Despite how much caution and humility he exerts, some people get offended without any notable effort, hm? He has sufficient connections to warn him beforehand of impending betrayals, though this one, he wished never became real. The suspicions were there and you behaved exactly like someone who would point a knife to his eye soon. Usually, that's not how backstabbing happens... does it?

The confusion ignited his curiousity though, a miniscule hope kept it burning — you were able to come this far because of this leniency he bestowed. Now that the pretenses have been cast aside, the long overdue conversation can at last begin. Do take a seat.

c) How would he deal with the fact that the person that caught his eye is a very vocal punk artist who challenges whatever ideals he stands for?

That... explains a lot of things, though he isn't sure what it says about his preferences in romantic interests. You are interesting, for the lack of a better word and for his unwillingness to be crass. He will not lie, sometimes you do get a bit annoying. He can clearly see your perspective, but you're resolute in not respecting his. It's admirable how you can express yourself so easily though, something he admits is far from his reach. Yes, there is much in you that outweighs the negatives.

But you tend to get swayed somewhat easily, too, especially by those friends of yours. He wouldn't be astonished if you were coerced into this scheme either. Despite the disagreements, your conversations are enjoyable — until they're interrupted by others. He's certain, if he could have a proper, undisturbed heart-to-heart with you, you'd understand him. Perhaps... that could be the starting point.

Thank you for your well wishes, I had fun pondering about these ideas. May peace and happiness be in your life, as well.

Sincerely,

Harmony.

[internet1girl]

Chapter 5: What Happened Here?

Pairing: Johnny Cage x Fem!Reader

Summary: A whole village, depopulated just like that. Does something still lurk within its vacant buildings? Is whoever, or whatever, did this still out there? Something’s going on…

Word count: 11.9k Warnings/Notices: named!reader, angst, mentions of child abuse, dubious content, descriptions of gore and viscera, gross stuff overall, sexually suggestive, flirty johnny, a few curse words here and there

First Chapter / Previous part

A/N: new chapter yayyy :3

y’all the next chapters will be shorter I PROMISE THIS TIME!!!

Midday shines down onto Outworld. The night has ended, and the darkness has given way to the light of the sun.

The carriage was still on its course for the village, now only minutes away from its destination. The vehicle was gearing along the rolling hills of rural Outworld, surrounded by nothing but greenery. Though, just like the prior night was moonless, this current afternoon was sunless. The sky was completely covered by thick grey clouds, not allowing even a single stream of the sun's rays to peak through.

Inside, the vibe from last night had changed. The pink light of the overhead lanterns was completely drowned out by the light of the day, and the background ambience was now thick with animal noises and howling wind.

You and Johnny were both awake and had been for some time, you both were busy with your own respective activities. Silence was thick within the air, the both of you were immersed in whatever had captured your attentions in the moment.

Sometime in the night, you broke out of the hypnotism that was the view of Johnny's sleeping form and finally fell asleep. When you awoke in the morning, you chalked that whole experience up as nothing but a dream. Must’ve been a really weird one, considering how you would never take advantage of the fact that Johnny was sleeping to silently admire his beautiful features. Yes... that was nothing but a vision that your subconscious decided to randomly generate for no reason at all… right?

Right now, you were gazing out of the carriage window, your eyes on the fields of Outworld. Despite it being a cloudy day, it was still so stunning to see. You always had a fondness for greenery, an appreciation for nature was something that you carried ever since you were a girl. When on these missions, you loved to do nothing but gaze out of the window, to stare at whatever landscape currently surrounding you. It was nice, calming, relaxing.

Across from you, Johnny was sat, his eyes glued to the screen in his hand as aimlessly scrolling through social media. His free hand would snake behind him to rub the nape of his neck every now and then. He woke up with a crick in it, for some weird reason.

His attention would soon be diverted when he clicked on the Twitter logo on his home screen. To his egotistical joy, the sight of his name currently trending on the app met him, in all its glory. His fans were raving about an up-and-coming action movie that he was to star in. Scrolling through all the ecstatic tweets earned a smile from him, one that only grew as he read through the latest search results of his own name.

"Guess who's trending on Twitter?" He loudly announced, looking up and flashing you a grin.

His voice suddenly breaking through the silence caught you off guard a tiny bit. You’d temporarily forgotten about his presence, as nice as it sounded. The plains outside consumed all your focus, leaving little room for anything else. You turned to face him, a little ticked off that he had interrupted your nature watching.

"...Who?"

"Me, of course!” He shoved his phone in your face, showing you the tweets of people going crazy over him as evidence.

There was something he liked about how he was able to capture all of your attention with just his voice, as silly as it sounded. Your eyes on him made his skin prick in anticipation, though he chose to keep these odd feelings confined to his brain.

"Wow, that's lovely." Your tone was comically flat as you stared at the screen a few inches away from your face. You didn't even bother to pretend like you were happy or excited for him in any way.

Your deadpan response got a scowl out of him, his lips pulling down in dissatisfaction. 

“A bit more enthusiasm would be nice…” He muttered as he took his phone back, his voice taking on a more brooding tone. He's Johnny Cage, everyone should be excited and happy when he has news! Everyone loves him!

You roll your eyes, leaning against the back of your seat as you turn your gaze back to the carriage window. Though, a query sprouting in your mind did tear your attention away from the hills outside and back onto him.

"How do you even have reception? We're in the middle of nowhere." Your eyes narrowed as you looked over at him, the logistics of Johnny and his phone now finally coming into question for you.

“Darlin’, I’m Johnny Cage. Wherever I go, I make sure to have access to reception and Wi-Fi. I need access to these to keep in touch with my fans." He huffed, as if this was the simplest, most obvious thing in the world.

You were about to say something in response, but your lips stilled before your vocal cords could form a noise. Instead, you just looked over at him with a baffled expression, your brows furrowed in confusion. This man was just so…

"Why you looking at me like that? You jealous?" He smirked, finding it so amusing that he was able to draw out such reactions to paint the blank canvas that was your usual emotionless face.

Your fog gave way to your typical ’Johnny Cage just pissed me off’ scowl upon his question. This man was so predictable, yet he still somehow kept managing to catch you off guard.

"Far from it, Cage."

"You sure? That's exactly what someone who’s jealous would say.” He teased, tilting his head to the side, a coy smile tugging at his lips.

In contrast, your scowl deepened. ”I would actually hate to have my whole life on display for millions to see."

His smirk didn't even falter at your dismissal, his glittering ego practically impenetrable. “Ah, don't tell me you don't have a desire to be in my spotlight, Jade."

You once again roll your eyes at his arrogance, a small groan leaving you. "I have no desire to be famous."

This made his eyes narrow. Johnny didn't know why, but he felt like your reaction wasn't genuine. Despite their truth, he didn't believe your words. In his eyes, you were too gorgeous to not possess a secret desire to be adored by the masses, to be well-known and worshipped like him. He didn’t understand why you wouldn’t want to capitalise on your perfect looks, to have millions across the globe venerate you. Why would you put your beauty to waste?

“But, why not? You're pretty enough to be famous. Everyone would love you."

His sweet words got a small laugh out of you. Sure, he’d probably said such a line to a countless amount of women in his lifetime, it would be entirely unsurprising. But still, it was nice to be complemented every once in a while.

"That doesn't matter. I value my privacy."

His eyebrows raised, your sincerity finally starting to sink in.

“You serious?” He started, your humbleness something that his vanity couldn’t grasp. ”You really don't have any desire to have fans? Like, at all?"

"No." You replied bluntly, looking him dead in the eyes as you did so. The idea of having millions of people knowing every single thing about you made your skin crawl. As an assassin, you couldn't think of anything worse for you or your lifestyle.

You’re serious. You’re actually serious.

Johnny wouldn't quite say that he was shocked, but he was kind of surprised. Though, it started to fade when he took note of how you weren’t being as snippy anymore. He actually kind of liked this, to speak with you as an equal.

"But... why? It's great having fans. They're like your own army."

"Army?” You look at him with a raised eyebrow. “I don't need others to fight my battles."

Johnny was trying and failing to convince you to enter the world of Hollywood.

This wasn't the first time he's done so, either. Over the months, he's tried a multitude of times to hire other Earthrealmers, and even some Outworlders, to star in some of his upcoming projects. Most declined.

He sighed a little. "Fine. You don't need an army. But... don't you want the adoration and praise that millions of people give to you? It's not bad, or anything."

You took a few seconds to ponder what he had to say. It's not like he was 100% wrong, but it's not like he was right either. You just weren’t a public person, something that your celebrity counterpart struggled to understand.

"I won’t lie and say that I don't see how one wouldn't find that appealing, but it's not for me. I am all that I need."

Ever since you and Hiroshi cut contact, you’ve learnt to rely on yourself. Despite your other friends, you were still a little bit of a lone wolf, in a way. Never really allowing yourself to be dependent on anyone else, lest they leave you again. You couldn't help it, it was a trauma response.

A small pause of silence passed between you both, the only sound from the carriage being the trotting of the horse's hooves on the ground. His mind latched onto the latter part of your statement, your last sentence dominating his thoughts. Something about it struck him deeply, your words repeating in his head without let up. He didn’t know why, but your unabashed self-reliance had him zoning out as he stared down at the floorboards below. You’re all that you need. Just you…

This was one of the times that you found Johnny interesting as a person. You couldn't help but be intrigued by him. He was actually a pretty deep person, he was more than just some narcissistic playboy. You’d figured this out ever since the pyramid mission. A part of you itched to know more about this man, to peel back the layers of intrigue that coated him.

"May I ask you a question?" You broke the quiet, the sound of your voice jolting him out of his thoughts.

A smile bloomed on his jaw in response, his face lighting up. As if he would ever say no.

“Sure. Ask away.”

"What was the driving force in your desire to enter the film industry, to become a part of the Hollywood society?” You were semi-careful with your words. This was a genuine question that you posed, the unwanted possibility of offending him like last night being taken into consideration.

He paused for a few moments as he thought of what to say, looking down to his intertwined hands. To say that he was shocked would be… inaccurate. Surprise would be a better word to sum up his current feelings. Such a question from you was new... and, admittedly, very interesting. He took in another breath before he replied.

"When I was young, I guess I always found myself drawn to the spotlight.” He looked up, meeting your curious gaze. “I love being... noticed. It felt good. It made me happy."

You took some time to dissect Johnny's answer, running over the words in your mind. Deep down, you wondered if that desire for attention was a byproduct of his father's neglect, a result stemming from the lack of a brotherly bond, an outcome of his mother’s tragic absence. You refrained from saying any of this out loud, though.

"...l see." You finally reply. A tiny, satisfied smile graced your features.

“So, what about you? Did you always want to be an... assassin?" It was Johnny's turn to ask an actual, non-antagonistic question. He looked over at you, elbows pressed into his knees as he patiently waited for your response.

His question caught you off guard a little. You weren’t offended, it's just that nobody had ever really asked you something like this. You took some more time to think about your answer, running over the key moments of your occupation in your mind as your thumb stroked your chin.

"My career is something that I fell into. It is what I excel at, and, for a while, it was a valuable source of income. Think of Kenshi and his ties to the Yakuza as a comparable example."

"So, what, you enjoy it?" He asked, tilting his head to the side slightly.

This was another one of his questions that had you thinking. Nobody had really questioned you about your profession before, such inquiries were admittedly new to you. New, but not unwelcome.

"Sometimes." You admitted. "There’s a particular thrill to it."

His eyebrows raised. "A thrill? Do you..." He trailed off for a few seconds, as if he was searching for the right way to word the question on the tip of his tongue. “…Is it fun?"

"Fun is not the word for it. I have simply become accustomed to what l do."

Now it was your turn to ask Johnny questions, to find out a little more about him as a person. You had encountered few men like him, the fact that there was so much more to him than meets the eye was a driving force for your curiosity. Slowly, you allowed yourself to give in to your intrigue.

"What about you? Are there ever any moments in your life where you find yourself wishing that you weren't famous, but instead a normal person?"

Johnny was surprised by the question, at first. Despite all the interviews, Q&As and fan questions he’d undergone, nobody had really asked him such a thing. He paused for a few moments, humming as he delved deeper into his mind. His expression grew more and more pensive as he thought of an honest and serious response.

"Yeah. Sometimes I do." He took a breath, slumping back into his seat with a sigh. "Fame does come with its perks... but there are times when I do want a break. It can get tiring.”

You hummed in response, nodding your head as his answer sunk in. It was...surprisingly nice to have a civil conversation with him, without the added snark that usually came from you both. Johnny's whole arrogant playboy persona, a leading factor in your disdain towards him, was a direct result of his shining fame. The fact that there were times when he wished for a different life, it was actually surprising to hear.

You were really starting to view him less as Johnny Cage, the character, but more so as John Carlton, the man.

"You gonna fall for me now that you've seen a little of my softer side?" He asked, jolting you out of your reflection. You met his gaze, a toothy grin meeting you.

Okay. Once again, Johnny just couldn't help making some sort of flirtatious comment. Whether Johnny Cage or John Carlton, he was still a nuisance.

Your small smile quickly morphed into an irritated scowl. The interest surrounding your partner made you forget how annoying he could be.

"No." You responded, crossing your arms to your chest.

"Aww, no? Come on!” He teased further, continuing to grin at you. “Every girl I've ever met eventually falls for me, you're no different."

"Your imbecilic attempts at seducing me are futile; save your breath." You retort, looking at him with a slight scowl as the words left your mouth.

Johnny barked out a laugh, your sass was something that he could never get enough of. “Ah, c'mon, are you sure? I’m more charming than you give me credit for."

He took a moment to look out of the carriage window, turning back to face you with a sly smirk. "It'd be nice to see you melt in my arms."

You shuddered a little at his words, you couldn't help it. Your face contorted with disgust as the mental image of your body wrapped in Johnny's arms, intertwined with his own, flashed through your mind. No fucking way.

"See? You're already imagining yourself falling for me." He teased.

You didn't say anything in response, your scowl at his relentless pursuit of you spoke volumes. Once again, this asshat was getting on your nerves. It's almost like this was your thing, Johnny being annoying and you being annoyed.

"You look cute when you're mad, you know that?" He teased, shooting you a wink.

You just rolled your eyes, turning and looking away from him. You refocused your attention back to the rolling hills outside, a much better view to devote yourself to. You’d had your fill of Johnny and his antics, opting to stare out of the window and hopefully relax for the rest of the ride to the village...

...Which didn't last long because the carriage suddenly stopped.

Heavy footsteps could be heard making their way towards the interior. The collision of boots against the ground increased in volume as the owner came closer with each step. Before you or Johnny could say anything, the door of the carriage swung open.

Thankfully, you weren't under attack, or anything like that. All was fine, it was only Geras that was on the other side. He’d stopped because the journey was complete, that’s all. A little warning would've been nice, he was so abrupt.

Whatever, though. That’s not what his job is. He took a moment to let you both gather your bearings before he spoke up.

"Jade. Johnny. Good afternoon. We have arrived at your destination." His voice was as rough and raspy as always, his face neutral and emotionless as his blue eyes pierced through you both.

He stood to the side to make way for you both to exit the vehicle. Once you both were on your own feet, and after all of your cramped muscles were stretched out, you both began to take in your surroundings.

You were outside the village of Kakariko, or what was the village of Kakariko. The whole settlement, once teeming with life, now lay deserted. The small wooden houses, once inhabited by families, stood void of life. Overgrown vegetation was starting to creep along the cobblestone paths and the exterior of the empty buildings, reclaiming the spaces where the townsfolk once walked on and worked in.

A cold wind whispered through the abandoned streets, rustling the unkempt foliage. The bland, grey sky above cast such a dull light down below, making the town’s remains seem even more forlorn.

The carriage was parked on the peak of a hill, overlooking everything. Your breath steamed in the chilly air, your palms rubbing up and down your bare upper arms in an effort to combat the cold seeping through your skin. 

For a bit, you just… stood there, in awe of the eerie sight before you. To see a place that was once so full of life to be completely abandoned sent a chill down your spine. In a way, this location was far more unsettling than the pyramid. Everything about this just felt... wrong.

"What the hell happened here?" Johnny was in a similar state of disbelief, though he was a bit more vocal with his thoughts. He turned to look at you, a look of confusion blanketed across his face.

"You think we're in the right place?"

"We are." The sound of Geras’ voice cut through the silence of the hills, abruptly answering Johnny’s question.

"This is Kakariko Village. Once a thriving settlement, it now lays devoid of life.”

He walked around the stationed horses, towards you both, taking a place in front of you both. "When the two of you have finished your investigation of this settlement, I shall be here to take you both back to Sun Do. I wish the both of you luck."

Johnny nodded in response, taking a look around the desolate, abandoned village once more before finally turning to face you.

"Well… guess there's no use in just standing here. Might as well get started."

"Agreed." You nodded, trying hard to not let your fear unease show.

With that, the two of you left Geras and walked off, headed for the village a few minutes away. Your mind flickered with a barrage of scenarios as you walked, you weren't quite sure what you would discover when you arrived...

...Or what was potentially waiting for you in the empty town.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Your combined footsteps were slightly muffled against the grass, tiny squelching noises being produced every time your soles came into contact with the ground. The silence was unsettling, creepy. The lack of any sound, other than your steps and the howl of the wind, was really starting to set Johnny on edge. He glanced over at you, taking a moment to gather his thoughts before he spoke up.

"You not even the least bit creeped out?"

"I am." You replied, not taking your eyes off of the buildings in front of you. The wind had a chill to it, making you shiver slightly as you wrapped your arms around your sides in an effort to retain body heat.

"This is incredibly unsettling. Whatever has occurred here cannot be good."

He huffed in agreement, his breath forming a small, white cloud as the chill wind swept across his face.

"Hopefully we can find some kind of clue that can give us a lead."

"Yes… hopefully."

Eventually, you both reached the centre of the settlement. Surrounding you two was what used to be a peaceful, bustling village… and now, it was little more than a desolate ghost town.

You were looking around, analysing every building for any signs of life. There were none. The entire village, save for a few crows, was completely empty. Besides maybe Geras, the two of you were the only souls around for miles… that you knew of.

The wind whipping through the empty streets blew some strands of hair in your face, something that framed and complemented your facial features quite beautifully. Johnny, despite being thoroughly creeped out, couldn't help but notice this.

"You know... we are all alone..." His voice was low, flirtatious. He leaned closer, a smirk growing on his face as he not so subtly raked his eyes over your armoured form.

At this, you took your attention off of the devoid buildings and towards Johnny, giving him a look of befuddlement mixed with exasperation. Was he serious?

“No one else around to hear us... or see us..." He took a step closer to you, closing the distance separating, his eyes not daring to leave yours.

In response, you took a step away from him, putting some space between yourself and the horndog by your side. Whilst he was looking at you with the filthiest intentions possible, you were looking at him like he had just said the dumbest thing in the world.

"Have you no shame? We’re on a mission."

Johnny let out an exaggerated sigh, pouting slightly at your words.

"Yeah, I know. All work, no play..."

He leaned against a nearby street light, looking you up and down once again with a cheeky smile.

“…But it would be a shame to let this opportunity go to waste."

“Mm, you’re disgusting.” You took a step closer to him, ignoring his dumb flirtatious smile.

"Now... I think we should split up. That way, we can cover the land more efficiently, and maybe find something valuable in the process."

His smile faltered slightly at your words. Splitting up wasn't his first choice, or his ideal choice, in terms of how to go forward. How would he be able to pester you, if he had to be apart from you? But… he had to admit, it would be the better way to proceed. Damn you and your tactics.

"Yeah, alright. Probably the more logical choice. But..." He leaned in a little, a smirk pulling at his lips. "...don't miss me too much."

"Right..." You were so over this man, it was hilarious. "I will search the eastern half of the village, you can search the western half. How does that sound?"

He pushed himself up off of the pole he was leaning on, standing straight again. "Yeah, sure. I’ll take the west side, you take the east. Just try not to get lost, okay?"

You nodded in confirmation. With that, you both parted ways, heading deeper into the village, commencing your search.

Kakariko Village was actually quite a small settlement, only appearing to house a few hundred inhabitants. Compared to Sun Do, this place was tiny. It only took you both some minutes of walking through its streets to get to the village centre. If you each focused, you both could probably complete a thorough search of the whole place in about an hour or so.

Well, if nothing went wrong, that is.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Johnny was mindlessly walking past empty houses, his hands shoved in his pockets as he looked around for clues or anything out of the ordinary. 

The silence surrounding… it was just so creepy. Not being able to hear a single sound, except his own footsteps, was really beginning to weird him out. He would suddenly spin around from time to time, jumping back to face the opposite direction, just in case anything tried to sneak up on him or whatever.

It wasn’t long before he found himself standing in front of an abandoned house. The door was slightly ajar, a small sliver of the interior peeking out from the gap. Having nothing better to do, Johnny decided to cautiously take a peek inside.

Just like its surroundings, the inside of the building was completely void of life. The interior resembled a typical village home, one that a family probably lived in. The floorboards of the home creaked a little under Johnny's weight as he leaned in, aiming to get a better view of the place.

Once he confirmed that the coast was clear, he slowly pushed the door open, wincing at the loud creaking sound the hinges made. He took a few quiet steps inside, glancing around intently.

The home, though abandoned, still somewhat held the warmth of a once well-lived-in family house. The place stood frozen in time, nothing about it indicated that the inhabitants left in a haste. A large stone fireplace, now cold and covered in a thin layer of dust, dominated the room. 

Worn furniture, including a cushy sofa and a few simple beds, sat preserved, their colours slightly faded. Handmade quilts and crocheted throws, once bright, lay draped over the home’s chairs, adding muted splashes of colour and texture.

Shelves lined with books, trinkets, and family photos told stories of years gone by. The wooden floorboards, polished smooth by countless footsteps, creaked softly under every step. The dinner table, the heart of the large room, had an aura of character to it. Crude cutlery was dotted around the surface of the table, sitting on top of a handmade cloth.

The daylight streaming through the small, paned windows, cast a dim glow on the cluttered space. Johnny could see all the dust particles floating in the beams of light, he could even see some cobwebs in the ceiling’s corners. Though paused, every corner of the home spoke of a life humbly lived.

Despite the place being abandoned, the warm aura of the family that inhabited the home still lingered in the air. There was something about this small home that was so intriguing to him, it was such a nice break from the creepiness of the empty village outside. He ran his hand over the dining table, feeling the smooth wood underneath his bare fingertips.

He leaned against the wall, letting out a soft sigh as he crossed his arms to his chest. This home… it was so strangely inviting, despite being seemingly abandoned. He could sense all the love... all the happiness that once filled this home. This was technically part of his search, so it’s not like he was slacking off, right?

Johnny continued to explore the home out of sheer curiosity. He walked around the space, eyes dancing around the various trinkets and items lined up on the shelves. He was curious, wondering who used to live here.

A picture perched on a nearby shelf caught his attention. He picked it up, brushing off the layer of dust that covered the frame. His eyes narrowed as he studied the image before him. 

A photo of a family of five; a mother, a father, and three children, smiling happily was what met his curious sight. This picture and its framing were so crude, yet Johnny could sense all the sentimental value it held. The actual photo itself was worn with age, small stains were dotted around the artefact to prove it. In a way, this just made the item more heartwarming, something so simple yet something so cherished. He couldn't help but smile, feeling strangely warm from what was before him. A genuine reaction of happiness spread across his face, so unlike the dumb smirks he always shot your way.

The happy family, all smiling brightly with their arms around each other in the photo, was familiar to him in such a heartwarming way. His focus was now solely on the item in his hands. Though… after a bit, something about this picture made the warm smile on his face slowly shift into a slight frown. His face dropped, the sweet happiness draining from his eyes.

This was all reminding him of his own family.

Ah. He hadn’t expected anything as simple as a picture to hit him in the heart, honestly. The family in the photo looked so happy, so content. And yet… he couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy, bitter jealousy, as he continued to stare at them.

They were… they were just like his own family, down to the last detail. Right before his mother died of cancer, before his father switched from loving to abusive. Before the bitter rivalry between him and Jimmy formed. Before him and Rebecca drifted apart, back when he was convinced that they’d be close forever…

A drop of something onto the picture snapped Johnny out of his thoughts. It was a tear, a tear from him.

Nooo no no no. This can’t be happening. He’s Johnny Cage, he DOESN’T cry. This damn photo, pulling on his heartstrings like this, serving as a stupid reminder of what was once the happy Carlton family. A family… that was now in pieces.

Why did it have to turn out like this?

Johnny couldn't believe what he was doing. He was crying, over a simple picture? A simple picture of a family that he didn't even know? It was pathetic. It was stupid. But he couldn't stop himself.

"Dammit.." He muttered, trying hard to control himself. He held the picture tightly, his hands shaking slightly. He cursed under his breath at the overwhelming wave of emotions coursing through him, it was pathetic. It was stupid. It was all so… ugh. He didn’t even know these people, for fuck’s sake. But… he couldn't stop himself.

No. He was not doing this. Not now, not today. This was a mission, not a therapy session. What would his fans think? What would you think?

He shakily wiped the tear falling down his cheek away with his hand. He used the other one to gently place the picture back down onto the shelf it previously sat on. He took a deep breath in, trying to calm the volatile seas that were his emotions. After taking a moment to push the feelings back down compose himself, he took one final look around the house. There was nothing out of the ordinary, it was just a regular home. He had a whole half of a village to search, there’s no use in wasting time in one singular building.

After one last glance at the picture now on the shelf, he quietly walked away and out of the home, carefully closing the door behind him. He felt a strange sense of melancholy as he walked down the street outside, one that he tried his best to ignore.

As he continued his search, he tried his hardest to push the memory of that family picture out of his mind, or at least to the back of it. He couldn’t afford to let anything distract him from the mission at hand. That family was not his own and had nothing to do with him.

He had a job to do.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

On the other side of the village, you were diligently enacting your part of the search. You were laser-focused, quickly but efficiently searching every building that you came across. There had to be something related to why the residents of Kakariko disappeared. Your mind was solely on the mission assigned to you, nothing else mattered right now.

Some time had passed. You had thoroughly searched around half of the eastern side, a quarter of the village. So far, you’d found next to nothing suggesting how all of the townsfolk had disappeared. None of the empty homes indicated that their respective residents left in a hurry, everything was preserved.

However, there was something. In every other house, a few small, sharp white stones could be found on the floor. They resembled the teeth of a predator, small sharp fangs. Could they be actual teeth? No, impossible. No Outworlders teeth were that long nor that sharp. They had to be something else, although you couldn’t think of a similar substitute. Perhaps some sort of bizzare cultural practice? Oh well, you were sure to find more answers if you just kept searching.

You had just come across a certain structure. It was too large to be a home, it must’ve been a public building or something similar. You walked around its exterior, looking for anything that was out of the ordinary. When you didn’t find anything of interest, she walked over to the open entrance and cautiously stepped inside, your hand hovering over your compacted bō staff strapped to your hip, just in case anyone or anything suddenly jumped out at you.

The interior of this building seemed to be a library of sorts. Large bookshelves lined the walls and singular books were haphazardly spread around the tables dotted around the space, some were even strewn out on the floor. There were certain items on the tables, you recognised those as instruments of magic. Someone was performing sorcery here, though it was unclear what their intentions were.

You cautiously stepped around the library, your eyes darting around the room for signs of something, anything. The magical items on the tables caught your eye, you walked up to them and carefully began to analyse these objects. You possessed some knowledge of magic and sorcery, thanks to the monks of the Wu Shi and the mages of Empress Sindel’s palace. But you were no grand magician. You were staring blankly at the devices before you, unable to deduct their purpose. All you could tell were that these instruments were magical in nature.

You couldn't help but shiver as you continued to look around the library. The atmosphere was just so eerie. The lack of people around, coupled with the silence, made your skin crawl. And this place in particular was just downright creepy. It didn't have the usual cozy feel that most libraries have - instead, everything about this space was just… unnerving.

The books around were a good start in searching this room, you figured. You picked up one of them off of the nearest bookshelf and flipped through some of the pages, skimming the text. Some of the pages contained spells, but this didn’t alarm you that much. Magic was common practice throughout Outworld, these grimoires could’ve just belonged to the village mage or something. It was a little irritating that you couldn’t understand the text before you, though.

You continued your reading, your hands darting out to any book near you. There’s a very good chance that sorcery played a hand in the disappearance of Kakariko’s residents, you couldn’t rule anything out.

Whilst you were walking around, you kept accidentally stepping on small white stones, just like the ones you saw in a few of the empty houses. They were tiny, easy to miss, but still everywhere regardless. Damn it, what were they? Why were they in nearly every building in this village?

They were really starting to make you frustrated, there were so many of them that you struggled to walk around properly.  Unlike the empty houses, there were more of these stones in this library. Somehow, these stones and this building were related. This was something of interest, although you were a little too ticked off to realise this.

Your focus switched from the books of sorcery over to the strange floor stones. It would switch again when a loud shuffling sound cut through the silence behind you.

Quickly, you spun around, drawing your staff and taking on a fighting stance. You were now on edge, hyper-aware of your surroundings, intense amounts of adrenaline were coursing through your veins, you forced yourself to be ready to take on whatever may be potentially lurking behind you.

Thankfully, it wasn’t a person or anything preparing to enact a sneak attack upon you. No, the origin of the noise was a book dropping. You, in your rummaging hastiness, had placed a book right on the edge of a table. As so, it toppled over and came crashing down to the floor. The shuffling sound was the book slowly sliding off of the table, its weight wasn’t balanced enough.

You sighed, folding away and strapping your bō back onto your hip. You keeled over, your hands coming to rest on her knees. You were quick enough in turning around to see that book falling onto the floor. A small laugh slipped past you, between lungfuls of air. You weren’t mad, rather the opposite. Something so insignificant as a book falling getting that big of a reaction out of you made her chuckle. It was so stupid, it was comical. Save for Johnny on the other side, there was nobody in this village. Who could possibly be gearing up to attack you? This was just a subtle reminder from the Elder Gods to stop being so on edge, you thought.

However, the jumpscares of today weren’t finished with you yet. As you stepped back slightly, in order to scour the rest of the bookshelf behind, your boot landed on a ‘book’ on the floor. Expect, it wasn’t really a book. It was a hidden mechanism, a secret button that sank into the floor as you pressed your weight onto it. You’d unknowingly triggered something, and you were about to find out what that something was.

The sound of a mechanism came to life, metal grinding and cranking below. Loud rumbling, so loud that it practically echoed throughout the entire library, cried out. 

“Fuck!” You jolted back, literally jumping in the air at the sudden sound.

There was a pause for a little bit. Everything was quiet, for a moment. Then, the sound of loud grinding came from the floor.

A circle in the floor opened up. The wood around the shape split apart, opening to reveal a staircase leading downwards, into the ground. The new entrance was dark and foreboding, almost like it was inviting you to step inside.

You slowly made your way to the top of the staircase, your hand hovering over your bō staff. You peered down, into the darkness below. It was dark enough that you needed some time to properly focus on the details of the space below, but you could still see the end of the staircase, and how it led to a large door.

Unfortunately, Liu Kang didn’t provide you and Johnny with flashlights before you departed, he didn’t see the use for it. You had to investigate this secret staircase and hidden room in the dark.

Well, not completely in the dark. Thankfully, your bō had a slight green illumination from it. As well as serving as a weapon, it could also serve as a makeshift light source in the void down below. How handy!

Re-equipping your staff, you cautiously ventured down the stairs. Your weapon did indeed provide some illumination, but barely. You were starting to have trouble seeing in front of you as you went deeper. You stuck it out, using the handy little thing as a makeshift cane to check for any obstacles obscuring.

The air started to become colder and more moist as you went on, almost as if you were walking into an actual dungeon. The atmosphere was creepy and unsettling, the perfect place for someone, or something, to ambush you. Maybe it would’ve been smart to run and get Johnny before going down here by yourself…

Eventually, you reached the door. It was large, at least eight feet tall, and cast in dark iron. It had a lock on it, only adding to the heap of mystery surrounding. This did nothing to deter you, though. You made quick work of the lock with your staff, a few strikes loosened it up nicely. After the hunk of metal was discarded, you slowly pushed the door open, peering inside to assess any potential dangers lurking on the other side.

You were greeted by the sight of… darkness. The entire space behind the door was almost completely void of light. The dim glow of your staff was nowhere near strong enough to combat the void, you could barely see anything in front of you. The only thing that you could make out was a tiny light coming from the other end of the room, but you couldn’t tell what the source was.

You cautiously took a few steps into the darkness, using your foot to prop the door open just in case you needed to run out screaming retreat. Under the light of your bō, you came across an unlit sconce on the wall. Striking the tip of your weapon on the metal of the sconce was able to generate enough sparks to light the torch. You got more than you bargained for, though. The sconce on the wall turned out to be magical; it was built to be connected to all the other sconces in the darkness. As soon as you lit up one, all the others followed suit, dispersing the darkness around you.

The new light revealed a grotesque laboratory. A twisted chamber of horrors that housed eyesore upon eyesore. Dim, flickering torches cast eerie shadows on the stone walls, revealing a space filled with the macabre results of twisted experiments.

Rows of grimy, blood-stained tables lined the room, each cluttered with crude surgical instruments and sprawled-out notes. The air was thick with the metallic scent of blood and the acrid tang of chemicals. The smell alone made you retch on the spot. Broken and rusted chains hung from the ceiling, some still clinging to skeletal remains or dismembered body parts. The floor was slick with a mix of blood, viscera, and unidentifiable goo, making each step a nauseating journey.

In one corner, there was a large metal cage, something was inside of it. It was too far away for you to get a clear view of its contents, though. It’s not like that cage was the worst part of this room, pretty much everything in the space was as disgusting as could be. There were literally more stains on the floor and walls than there were clean spots

So this was what was hidden under Kakariko Village.

There was no time to run and get Johnny, this needed to be investigated now. Reluctantly, you ventured further. You used a nearby chair to lodge the door open, just in case you needed to make a hasty escape. Looking around the space was tasking on your eyes, unimaginable horrors met your sight with every head turn.

Those little white stones were weirdly all over the place, much more so than the library above. They were littered across the floor, so much so that you had to kick them out of the way to step around freely.

When you finally walked over to the cage in the corner, you quite literally jumped back in fear. A loud yelp came from you as your body leapt backwards, your eyes couldn’t believe what was in front of them. Your brain refused to accept what lie before you.

It was a Tarkatan!

A dead one, but still one regardless. It was completely hairless, and its skin was red and heavily irritated. The only thing it wore was a small rag covering its crotch. What it died of was unclear, but it was completely unresponsive and slumped over against the wall.

When the initial shock wore off, you cautiously stepped closer to analyse the body. Your eyes settled on its teeth and, by the Gods, they were identical to those stones around the floor of the village buildings. Those ‘stones’ were in fact Tarkatan teeth!

A thick bolt of worry ran down your spine. All those sharpened molars, the ones that you had kicked around just minutes earlier…

You couldn’t look at the corpse any longer, out of fear that you might throw up. You had seen all that needed to see of the body, looking at it further made you feel queasy. You stepped away from the cage, hastily looking around the rest of the laboratory in search of anything else. The missing villagers, the secret underground facility, the dead Tarkatan, what could it all mean? Somehow, someway, everything correlated.

All the notes strewn around on the table next to you caught your eye, quickly walking over to see them. They were damp with something, but you were past caring by this point. You rapidly searched around the table, skimming through all the notes you could get ahold of. Research was written all over the pieces of paper, detailing something to do with Tarkat and an infection. This was strange… Tarkat was a disease, not an infection. What could all of this mean?

And that’s when you found it. A leather-bound book under a few damp sheets. You rapidly brushed the pieces of paper off of the item, and once again stumbled back in shock of what you found.

The cover of the book had a mark on it; the insignia of the infamous sorcerer Shang Tsung.

A chill ran down your spine. The symbol of the sorcerer, right on the cover of this book, was a clear indication of who was behind the horrors around you. He had his hand in this, everything made sense now. The only question left was… what exactly had happened?

You reluctantly opened the book. The first page detailed a record. It was a list of names, presumably villagers that were compromised by Tarkat. You turned the page to find that the book was being used as a journal of some sorts, documenting Shang Tsung’s findings and progress with whatever had occurred here. You were now in the process of studying the journal’s entries, eager to find out something, anything. It read as following:

“Day 1.”

“I have successfully moved into the small village of Kakariko. The locals think me a travelling merchant, in desperate need of shelter. They welcomed me with open arms, even giving me a small home to reside in for the time being.”

“This is the perfect location for what I have planned; small and remote enough that no one will notice if a few people go missing, but large enough that I’ll have plenty of live subjects. I plan to set up all of my equipment in the morning, as well as construct an underground facility to carry out my work in secrecy.”

To say that you were sickened wouldn’t be surprising. Onto the next page…

“Day 3.”

“Kakariko Village is small enough that I’m now somewhat familiar with the layout of the settlement. I have become aware of the local library, a place that few villagers visit day to day. It will be the perfect place to construct a laboratory. I plan to start construction late at night, whilst everyone is asleep.”

Next page.

“Day 10.”

“My facility is just about complete, a secret mechanism serves as an entry point to the room. Truly, some of my finest work. With this, I am now ready to commence my work, I have already selected some villagers to experiment on once I possess a prototype of the infection.”

Ah. Next page…

“Day 22.”

“I am pleased to write that I already possess a few prototypes of my Tarkat infection. The material I drew from Princess Mileena has proved most useful. Finding out that the teeth of the compromised are a rich source of the disease was most surprising. I will be sure to capitalise on this.”

“Tarkat, as it stands, is merely a disease. One that is slow to show symptoms, and even slower to fully take effect. Such circumstances will not do, I plan to create a version that is an infection. I aim for this infection to be highly contagious, transforming the infected into a beast within seconds. When perfected, this shall be the perfect weapon. General Shao will be most pleased.”

Your heart sank at this. General Shao? Shang Tsung? Together? Such a dark revelation had your stomach churning. This was the most horrible wake-up call you’ve ever experienced in your life. You could barely bring yourself to turn the page.

“Day 29.”

“I have already commenced testing how live subjects react to the exposure of my Tarkat infection. So far, it is not what I had hoped. The beasts that come as a result of exposure are too docile. After mutation occurs, they are mostly entranced by a state of confusion, unfit for any form of kombat. No matter, I have nothing but time ahead of me. I will iron out these kinks, and perfect this infection.”

Next page.

“Day 32.”

“Much to my dismay, I am now experiencing the opposite of my prior problem. When infected, the beasts are now too aggressive to reason with. After mutation, the Tarkatans are rendered mindless, too feral to take commands. They barbarically attack any form of life they set their eyes on, even if said life is other Tarkatans.”

“What’s more, the villagers are starting to grow aware that something is happening in the shadows. They are noticing how the population of Kakariko is dropping. If found out, this could prove detrimental to my plan. I must quicken my research, and perfect this infection as soon as possible.”

Next page.

“Day 40.”

“Slowly, the infection is meeting my expectations. Once mutated, the Tarkatans display extreme ferocity, ripping through anything in their path, but not to a degree in which they are impossible to reason with. It is a difficult task, but now entirely possible to tame one of these beasts.”

“Unfortunately, I am starting to run out of test subjects. By now, all of Kakariko is aware of its dwindling population. As such, it had become increasingly difficult to obtain live test subjects, without exposing myself and my true intentions. No matter, I am close to perfecting this infection. It is only a matter of time.”

Next page.

“Day 41.”

“Yet again more unfortunate news. Whilst I was working today, one of the test subjects escaped. It ripped out the chains confining it to the wall, and ran up the staircase to the outside.”

You paused from reading to look at the wall to your side. Indeed, it had indentations plastered on it, the sign of struggle evident. A sigh slipped past you as you lowered your head to continue reading.

“As I ran to capture it, a little village boy had witnessed everything. His eyes were wide with shock upon seeing the beast and me. Unfortunately, he was too quick to catch. The menace ran out of the library, no doubt on his way to tell the other villagers what he saw. Hopefully, this will not be my undoing, not when I’m so close to perfecting the infection.”

Your heart was thumping in your chest now. You could feel it slamming against your ribcage with each fearful beat. Shaking fingers turned the page.

“Day 42.”

“I have been found out, Kakariko is no longer safe for me. A large crowd was gathered at my door this morning, eager for my head. Thankfully, I was able to escape unscathed. There is no choice but for me to flee, and take haven somewhere else.”

“I am gathering up everything I can in this facility. Unfortunately, I have no choice but to abandon it. This location is no longer suitable for me to conduct my work. A shame, truly.”

“As for the villagers, they too will have to be dealt with. Such tales of me and my work cannot reach the ears of the Royal Family, not yet at least. I shall continue my work somewhere else, and finally perfect the Tarkat weapon.”

You turned the page to read more, but there was nothing. That was the last entry, and now you finally understood the whole story.

The disappearance of the villagers was all Shang Tsung’s doing. The madman is planning to weaponise Tarkat, and he used Kakariko as a testing ground. The disappearance of the villagers? Likely victims of his dark magic. Now Shang Tsung was at large, somewhere within Outworld working on his deadly project. Not only that, but he’s working with disgraced General Shao too. That machine back in the pyramid? No doubt his vile work.

Your mind was filled with a mix of horror and determination. This was all too much, truly. The onslaught of information had you sweating buckets, droplets of moisture dotted your forehead as a result of the sheer shock that you were under.

You closed the book, slowly recoiling backwards as you tried to comprehend everything. Shang Tsung, this Tarkat infection, the presumably dead villagers, General fucking Shao? This was all just so-

The feeling of your back hitting the wall shook you slightly, jolting you back to reality. Instinctively, your hands reached out to stop your body from falling over. 

And that’s when you felt a prick on your finger.

You hissed a little, the sudden feeling sending a jolt of pain through your being. You brought your finger up to eye level, grimacing at the sight of your now-pierced skin. A small bead of blood was already forming on your fingertip, threatening to run down your whole hand.

You turned around to see what had wounded you. Your eyes focused on a small spike on the table behind you, the tip of it now already tinged red by your blood. You cursed under your breath, wincing slightly as you examined your injury. It didn't look too serious, but it hurt like hell.

No matter, there were more important manners at hand than a pinprick. You had to find Johnny, get back to Sun Do as quickly as possible, to tell Liu Kang all that you had found. Pocketing Shang Tsung’s journal, you raced out of the laboratory, running up the stairs and out of the library with haste.

By now, it was late afternoon. The cloudy sky overhead was starting to part, revealing the glimmer of the afternoon sun. The wood of Kakariko’s buildings shone brilliantly under the light of the sun, somewhat subsiding the previous creepy aura of the village.

Not that you took notice. No, you had to find Johnny as soon as possible, and inform him of all that you had discovered.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

After his little moment, Johnny distracted himself by searching through the western half of the village. There wasn’t really much to find, apart from these weird white rocks on the floor of some houses. By the time he was done scouring his portion of Kakariko, there was nothing really to do.

He would walk around the empty streets, his hands in his pockets and his focus lowered as he kicked rocks out of boredom. He hadn’t seen you for about a couple of hours now, he was thinking about you and how you were doing. He missed your beautiful face, and the way you would scowl at him after he said something to piss you off. How your hair flowed in the wind, how your uniform was perfect for your body, how well your breastplate cupped your-

His lewd thoughts were suddenly cut off when you came into view. Finally, you were back! He was so excited to see you again, oh how blissfully unaware he was of what happened. He was so happy to see you that he didn’t even take notice of how fast you were walking and how intense your expression was at first. Ah, that’s just classic you!

“Aaa, there she is! So what, did ya miss-"

“Shut the fuck up.” You were never in the mood for Johnny or his antics, but you were especially not tolerant of him after what you had just discovered. You didn’t even care to ask what he had found in his time searching around the village, whatever it was was probably far less important.

“Listen. I found something.”

He was admittedly slightly taken aback by your aggression. Not that it really bothered him, though. He’d gotten used to your iciness, but the fact that you were acting stranger than usual did pique his interest.

"Oh yeah? And what’s that, exactly?” He folded his arms, waiting for you to speak. Your no-nonsense attitude and seriousness… it made you even hotter in his eyes.

You knew that Johnny was blatantly checking you out, but you honestly didn’t care. Your mind was solely focused on Shang Tsung and Shang Tsung alone. You looked around for a second, as if to check for something, before turning back to speak to him.

“…Shang Tsung was here.”

His expression changed instantly. Now his interest was fully piqued.

"Wait, what? You serious?” He asked, unfolding his arms and raising a suspicious eyebrow. “You got proof?"

You nodded, bringing out the journal from behind your back. You handed it to Johnny, concern plastered all over your face.

“Read this. It’ll catch you up to speed.”

He was intrigued. He slowly took the journal from you, opening it gingerly. Johnny had a bad habit of skimming through pages and skipping lines whenever he read, but with the sheer amount of information here, paired with your intensity, he actually forced himself to slow down and take his time with this.

Meanwhile, whilst Johnny was flicking through Shang’s journal, you started to feel a little… off. Your injured finger was starting to really hurt, and you were beginning to feel so overheated, despite being outside. Your mind was slightly fuzzy, the effort to concentrate on your thoughts became increasingly harder. Ah, no matter. It was probably all the stress that was under, nothing more. You’ll be fine… right?

He took some time to properly read through the journal’s content, his eyes widening with each turn of a page. Finally, he finished reading, shutting the book and looking up at you in disbelief and shock. Confusion would also be added to his mix of emotions when he took notice of you. You were acting weird… like, weirder than usual.

"You alright, Jade? You look… I dunno, like you’re sweating a lot. Also, you’re not scowling. You got a fever or something?” He joked, trying to lighten the mood.

“What? Yeah, I’m fine.” You quickly responded, wiping the accumulating sweat off of your forehead. This wasn’t the time for checkups. You were fine and he was fine. The focus should be on Shang Tsung, not whatever you had going on.

“There’s this secret laboratory, right under the village library.” You looked away from Johnny for a minute, pointing in the direction of the library. “It’s opened by some sort of mechanism, that’s where I found the room and the journal.”

"Cool, cool… a secret lab? This is some James Bond shit right here.” He nodded, following your finger and turning to look in the direction you were pointing at. “How do we get to it?”

He glanced over at you. "And how’d you even find it anyway?”

“Some sort of… button… I stepped on…” You were starting to find it hard to speak. You were getting so warm, like you were in a furnace or something. Your head felt so fuzzy, and your finger was throbbing like crazy. What was happening?

“Mmm… you’re acting weird.” He stated bluntly. Johnny took a step closer to you, his eyes narrowing on your flushed face. This was so out of the ordinary for someone like you, he was honestly a little concerned.

"You’re sweating a lot. And you’re stuttering your words. Seriously, are you sick or something?”

“I’m… fine…”

A lie, an unconvincing one at that. You were stumbling around now, it was a struggle to stand still. You shut your eyes for a bit - when you re-opened them, your gaze fell onto a concerned Johnny. To you, there was something about him that just looked… delicious.

You composed yourself, standing up straight as you cleared your throat. You couldn’t afford to make a fool out of yourself, especially considering who was in front of you. Whatever was going on, you would just have to put up with it.

“…Yes, I’m alright. I’m just a little tired.” You pointed in the distance, the direction in which you both came from.

“Geras is waiting for us. We’ve found all that there is to this mystery. We need to go back to Sun Do and tell Liu Kang of Shang Tsung and his intentions immediately.”

"A little tired"? Yeah right…

Johnny didn’t believe a word out of you, he saw straight through your lies. Still, he chose not to question you. You were so damn stubborn, you would just double down anyways, there was no point. But, he was still concerned.

"Yeah, you’re right.” He sighed, mostly out of defeat. “Let’s go tell Liu Kang. Maybe he can-“

He was interrupted by a sudden coughing fit coming from you. You keeled over, your body heaving as cough after cough came out of you.

This lasted for some seconds. When your outburst finished, you looked back up to an even more concerned Johnny.

For a bit, you just… stared at him, looking him up and down. Johnny, being the idiot that he is, took that as a sign that you were into him, a small smirk forming on his lips in the process. 

"What? You checking me out?” He teased, his smirk widening into a smug grin. He held his hands behind his back as he did, showing off more of his figure.

But… it wasn’t like that. To you, he looked delectable. Not like an attractive man, no, but like a well-seasoned piece of meat. A dark hunger started to stir within your belly.

Though, Johnny’s arrogance, as well as his stupid posing, snapped you out of your trance. Whatever was going on, he had broken you out of it by being his usual self.

“Ugh, Gods no…” You muttered, stretching slightly and wiping the sweat off of your forehead, despite already having done so a minute earlier.

“Come on, we should head back to Geras.”

"Hey, you’re lucky. Any other woman would be drooling at this body.” He quipped, pointing at himself as he gave you the biggest, most arrogant grin, one that faltered a little as he noticed how pale you were becoming.

“Then they have no standards…” You muttered again as you walked past him, trying to ignore the beads of sweat already forming again on your forehead.

"Right, you’re going to tell me that even you don’t think I’m attractive?” He followed behind you, snickering slightly at your jab towards him.

That was when you stopped in your tracks and turned around to face him. Your eyes darkened as you started to… growl at him? A deep, guttural noise emanated from your core, you looked at him like a predator would prey. Your damp brows furrowed as you bared your teeth, like some sort of cornered animal.

“Whoa, whoa!” Johnny exclaimed, his eyes widening, his hands shooting up defensively. “The hell’s gotten into you?! I was only messing with you, damn!”

His shocked reaction snapped you out of whatever was going on. You realised what you were doing, looking down out of confusion. Your overheated temperature, your dizziness, your sudden hunger, what the fuck was happening?

When you looked back up at a confused, borderline scared Johnny, that hunger returned. Gods, he looked soooo good, like a piece of perfectly seasoned steak. The thought of what his flesh would taste like sprouted in the back of your mind, you couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if you just-

Focus! For the Gods sake! This was your teammate! What the hell has gotten into you? Something was wrong, you needed to get back to Sun Do immediately and seek out medical attention. You’d probably picked up a bug or something from that filthy laboratory, you wouldn’t rule it out.

“…Sorry.” You mumbled, looking down out of shame. “Don’t know what’s coming over me…”

"You’re… uh, fine. You just gotta chill out, alright?” Johnny spoke hesitantly, keeping a cautious eye on you just in case you snapped again. 

“Mhm...” You hummed in agreement, meeting his gaze as he stepped a little closer to you. You tried your best to push your sudden cannibalistic thoughts about him to the back of your mind, you really did, but by the Gods it was getting hard.

This was no place to linger. The two of you started the walk back to Geras’ carriage. It was only a few minutes away, it’s not like you were going to be trekking for miles. It wouldn’t be long before you’d be safely on the way back to Sun Do, nothing else would be happening in the meantime… right?

As you walked out of the village, and along the grassy hills, your cannibalistic thoughts became too much to ignore. By this point, your pupils were inhumanly dilated. Your eyes were glued to this fine piece of meat in front of you, you were looking at Johnny like a starving kid would their favourite meal. He looked tantalising, so tempting.

Your pricked finger was swollen by this point. It hurt like a bitch, but your current fixation on Johnny distracted you from some of the pain. You held your inflamed finger in your other hand, caressing it slightly as you stared your companion down. By now, the sweat from your forehead was dripping down your face, the front strands of your hair now slightly wet as a result. Not that you cared, though. Your mind was so cloudy that it was impossible to focus on a single thought…

…Except how appetising Johnny looked.

He looked soooo good, sooo sweet. How good would he taste if you just took a bite out of him? You licked your lips, running your tongue over your teeth in the process. Weird… were your teeth always that sharp?

An uncomfortable few minutes passed by. Uncomfortable for Johnny, that was. He could feel your gaze on him, it made his skin prick. You looked crazy, like a drug addict going through withdrawal symptoms. He was honestly really worried, both for you and his own safety. There was a look in your eyes that shook him to the bone, every time he glanced back at you and made eye contact, he would regret it.

Before you both knew it, you had reached the carriage. Geras, who was sitting on a rock right next to the vehicle, met your approaching gaze. He hopped up, walking around the horses to greet you both.

"You are both back quite early. Everything went smoothly, I trust?”

You would usually greet Geras back, you liked the construct. But this time, you didn’t even say anything in response. Your eyes were still locked onto Johnny, slightly baring your teeth and curling your fingers like you had claws. You wanted to pry that suit off of him, like his meat sack body was some sort of macabre present. The need to do so was getting harder to resist by the second.

Johnny, having now turned around to face you, saw your condition clearly for the first time. He saw the sweat, the dilated pupils, the twisted smile, everything. You were looking at him like a hungry tiger eyeing a bleeding, half-dead gazelle. All of it had him scared shitless.

“Are you well, Jade?” Geras asked, keeping a wary eye on you. He’d caught on to what was going on by now, his eyebrow raising and his concern growing.

A guttural noise was emitting from your throat, your lock on your next snack Johnny never once daring to falter. He gave Geras a look, one of fear, one that the construct seemed to understand immediately as he took a step closer to you.

Out of nowhere, your feral snarl morphed into a frown of discomfort, then one of pain. You keeled over, clutching your stomach like it was being ripped open. Your groans of discomfort turned into screams of pain, so much so that you were now kneeling on the grass, yelling out loudly. Your body felt like it was on fire and your jaw hurt like hell.

In this process, your eyes snapped shut. Neither Johnny or Geras could see your brown pupils turn red, nor could they see your irises morph into thin lines.

“What’s wrong?!” Johnny was now beyond worried for you, his previous fear now totally overridden by overwhelming concern. He ran to your crouched form, kneeling down and grabbing your shoulders, Geras following after him.

You didn’t respond, you couldn’t respond. The pain coursing through your body was so intense that you didn’t even hear him correctly. Your screams of pain started to carry a… certain roughness to them? Your usual sweet voice was starting to sound deep, rough.

And your jaw, by the Gods. It hurt so much. Like it was changing or something. It felt like something sharp was starting to rip through your lower face. Not that either Johnny or Geras could tell. Your head was buried in your arms, a futile attempt at easing your searing pain.

Johnny didn’t know what the hell to do. Never in his years had he seen a person react in such a way. This went far beyond a simple “not feeling well”, this was a damn otherworldly phenomenon.

“Geras, is there anything you can do?! Literally ANYTHING!!” He looked over to him, he was practically shouting now.

“Take her into the carriage, we must get to Sun Do as fast as possible!” He frantically answered, a weird change from his usual emotionless demeanour.

Johnny immediately followed Geras‘ command, scooping you up into his arms. He ran to the carriage, carrying you inside before gingerly setting you down on one of the seats.

Well… that’s what he would’ve done. Instead, when he went to pick you up, you swatted his hand away with a grunt, looking up at him in the process, revealing just what had happened to you.

Your… by the Gods. Your beautiful face was completely deformed. Your big brown eyes were now red, cat-like and buzzing with ferocity. Your lips were nowhere to be seen, the lower half of your face was replaced by rows of razor-sharp, jagged teeth, resembling those of a Tarkatan. This gruesome dental display was such a nasty shock to both Johnny and Geras, a loud scream came from the former as the two men stumbled back in shock.

You were infected with Tarkat.

A/N: lmfao not the cliffhanger ending-

jokes aside i really liked this one :) i had a lot of fun writing this and this is lowkey one of my fav group of scenes so far in this long ass story

now to start on chapter 6…