#everyone at RI has done some shit

[blacklesbothatlovestowrite]

On My Mama Pt. 6

Tags: @mixedfandxms @shurislover @lppriceisright @sweetalittleselfish-honey @desswright29 @cutttteeee @onyxstones-world @katymae12344 @doramilaj233 @sweetalittleselfish-honey @6-noir @khara876 @she-is-my-unrequited-love34 @teadah18 @un-deniable-me3 @goolishh @anayaperry @undercover-introvert @delightreadsfics

“Yo, ya’ll be doing too much.” Riri grumbled to Shuri as she sat at the kitchen island; eating a bowl of cereal. She looked exhausted. Shuri chuckled, as she drank the last of the orange juice straight out of the carton.

“My bad, Ri.” Shuri clasped a hand on Riri’s shoulder. It had been two days since the diner scene and She’d finally unlocked the lab. You and Shuri had returned back to the apartment the night before and had spent the entire night fucking.

Shuri had energy that never seemed to go down whilst you were running on the power of pure pettiness. Your moans, cries and screams the work of Shuri’s talented tongue, lips, hands and strap. You didn’t have to fake shit, Shuri worked the sounds out of your throat with little effort.

“When the fuck did this even happen? How?” Riri asked, she wanted to know how you came to fuck Shuri.

“We just talked everything out and then it just happened and kept happening.” Shuri shrugs. She tossed the empty carton in the trash before grabbing some fruit. She rinsed them and started to peel and cut them before placing them into a bowl.

She’d watched you enough to know you loved fruits. Your main favorites being mangoes, pomegranates, pineapples, kiwis, peaches, grapes, tangerines, oranges, and berries.

“Why did you lock me out of the lab?” Riri asked, still pissed about that.

“Riri. I locked everyone out of the lab. Y/n and I were fucking all over the place, why would I keep the lab open to everyone including you?” Shuri raised a brow, as she stared at the smaller girl.

“You’ve never banned me from the lab before.” Riri had a look in her eye.

“I didn’t ban you. I shut the lab down for a few days. Y/n is entitled to privacy. You may like exhibitionism but she doesn’t.” Shuri’s tone was very matter of fact and the look she gave Riri, had her realizing that Y/n had told her everything that had transpired between them fully.

“I wasn’t thinking. I was angry and hurt and…” Riri bit her lip as she felt the overwhelming urge to cry. She’d never felt this out of control and lost before. She didn’t know what to do or how to fix what she’d done.

Shuri frowned. Riri had never in all the time she’d known her been so emotional. Yes, Riri had her moments where she was angry and let her temper tule her but she’d never been so sad. She wasn’t used to seeing this side of Riri.

“I hurt Y/n and it’s killing me because she didn’t deserve that. She’s so sweet and kind and full of love underneath that bitchy, tough demeanor she has going on.” Riri sighed in frustration. “I care about her, more than I thought I ever would care about anyone let alone her. She hates me and I deserve that. I fucked up.”

“I’m not going to lie to you. What you did was fucked. However, I know you. You don’t have a malicious bone in your body. You were wrong and you did hurt Y/n but you can’t wallow in pity. You want her forgiveness, earn it. Stop feeling sorry for yourself, it won’t fix anything.” Shuri insisted, before grabbing the bowl of fruits and a bottled water. She headed for her bedroom, to see you seated on the bed.

She’d heard you run from the door to the bed as she came over. You were eavesdropping. She closed the room door behind her, and walked the items over to you. You have her a small smile in thanks before placing the food on the nightstand.

What Riri had said struck you. You hated the fact you felt bad. Why should you feel bad? She’d done something so fucked up and now she was sorry? She should have thought of this before she did what she did.

You felt a pang of guilt at the thoughts that ran through your head.

-

The next few weeks passed with you having very few interactions with Riri. She went back to her same old song and dance of ordering you food, leaving out notes for your classes, doing your laundry and leaving notes.

Each note was heartfelt and full of remorse but you hated them. You felt torn between forgiveness and resentment. She made herself scarce whenever you were around, locking up in her room or heading to the lab. The longer you went without seeing her, the more you felt bad.

You hated how much you liked the girl who'd disrespected you in a way you'd never been disrespected. Were you a glutton for punishment?

After a while fucking Shuri got to be draining. While you loved fucking her, you had no feelings for her and it felt passionless despite her setting your body on fire each time. You needed feelings and fucking, not just one but both.

You still slept in Shuri's room despite not having sex, liking her company. You both talked and it was eye opening because you learned so much about her. She told you about her family; her father, brother and mother.

Things many people didn't know and you were shocked she was so candid with you. She told you about how she'd met Riri, and the events leading up to the loss of her mother. Why she'd bonded with Riri as much as she had and why she felt she was cursed or paying for sins she was unaware of.

The more Shuri expressed herself, the more you realized just why she was the way that she was. She'd lost so much so young and it made your heart ache. You felt like your world had ended when you lost your father but Shuri had lost her whole family, a whole support system of people that loved and cared for her no matter what.

You'd only ever had your father once your mother decided your sexuality was something she couldn't look past, the hypocritical bitch. The more you hung out and talked, the less Shuri partied, drunk or smoked. She was laser focused on her goals, whilst turning to exercising for an outlet.

You were proud of her, seeing her get herself together and let go of her demons. She'd recently enrolled in therapy virtually with a Wakandan Doctor and made plans to visit her brother's ex lover. You knew both were big steps for her as she'd never taken mental health seriously before, and she hadn't seen her brother's ex lover since shortly after the death of her mother.

Whilst the two of you formed a friendship, you were forced to watch Shuri get her shit together. You realized you no longer had a choice to wallow in self pity or be drowned with your anger, bitterness and resentment.

Shuri helped you sign up with a Wakandan Doctor separate from her own, but you'd bailed each time the appointment was set and the call came through.

You were scared. You could admit that. You didn't want to have to dive through the several layers of fuckery that plagued your mind and your heart.

-

"Hey..." You looked up to see Riri standing in the entry way of the kitchen as you did your homework at the kitchen island.

"Hi." You said, dryly.

"How are you?" Riri asked, her body language showing just how uncomfortable she was.

"Peachy." You responded, looking back down at your notebook before continuing your writing.

"I um... I've been meaning to talk to you--"

"To apologize?" You snorted before looking up at her. "I don't need another apology, I've had plenty. You showed me exactly who you are and what you're capable of. I'm not even mad anymore, it was my mistake to think you were someone I could trust."

"Y/n..." Riri sighed, running her hands over her freshly done marley twists.

"Is that all you needed?" You asked.

"I... yeah." She looks down before turning around, defeated. Your attention went back to your homework, frustrated at the smallest tinge of excitement you got from seeing her. It'd been weeks since you'd seen her face to face.

"No." You hear and frown as you look up. "I was wrong, I admit that. I can't say anything that could ever take away what I did, I know that but I like you and I know you like me too. I can't pretend like these feelings don't exist, I've never cared about someone the way I care about you and it's killing me knowing I hurt you the way that I have, Ma..."

Your breath hitched as you listened to what she said. Each word making you more confused.

"Tell me you don't like me, look me in the eyes right now and tell me that you don't care about me..." Riri said, her eyes locked with yours as she walked towards you.

"You don't get to---"

"Shut. Up." Riri growled, her eyes hooded as she pulled you to face her and kissed you. Her hands gripping your face as she tried to convey the way she felt in the kiss.

"Stop." You fought against her, hating how your body was melting into her touch.

"I'm sorry, Ma." She whispered against your lips. "I'm so fucking sorry."

She continued apologizing between kisses, while holding you close to her. You felt your resolve growing weak as you moaned into her mouth. This kiss was unlike any kiss you'd ever had before and it made you angry.

"Ya'll gonna fuck in the kitchen?" You hear and Riri reluctantly moves away and you both take breaths.

"And if we were?" Riri asked her, raising a brow.

"Odd considering you know me and Y/n are kicking it." Shuri huffs.

“I didn’t realize you two were exclusive.” Riri raised a brow though it was clear the statement was a dig at Shuri.

“At the very least we’re closer than the two of you.” Shuri responded, and even though she was wearing shades it was obvious she was glaring at Riri.

“Hi, Hey, Hello?!” You wave a hand at the pair. “I’m single and can very much do whatever the fuck I want.”

“And Riri, it’ll take more than an apology and some kisses to get in my good graces. I’m tolerating you, don’t get cocky.” You level her with a stare that you hope conveys how much you did NOT like her at the moment.

Shuri smirked, and you rolled your eyes. They were acting like children. You weren’t some shiny new toy they could play with and fight over. You were a human being with real needs and emotions. It was pissing you off that they seemed to think they could do whatever to you and you’d allow it.

Forgiveness didn’t mean letting either of them continue to play you for a fool. You used Shuri for sex, and she was great to talk to but that’s as far as things went in your head. Your heart was a different story, you had a soft spot for the both of them in different ways but you refused to ever become vulnerable with either of them because you had not faith or trust in them.

Sex was simple. Fun, addicting. But anything else was just not happening. You weren’t ever going there again. Love was bullshit, and while you didn’t think you ever loved anyone before you could admit Riri made you feel things that made you second think that thought. While you could admit you were growing to like their ex, she played you worse than either of them. And to add insult to injury she never even liked you. Just used you.

“If this is going to be a problem, I can easily go back to fucking the bartender.” You say to Shuri, and the both of them glare at you. You smile, turning to head to your room. “Maybe I should hit her up again.”

A hand snatches your hips quickly, stopping you in place.

“No one can compare to me, and you know that.” Shuri says as she kisses your neck. Her hands grip your hips possessively.

“True.” You agree, holding back a moan as she sucked on your spot. Out of any one you’d fucked, Shuri had been the best and you were certain of that.

Riri scoffs to herself as Shuri turned you and lifted you up with ease and you wrapped your legs around her. A small part of you relished how uncomfortable and envious Riri felt. You knew she was pissed and the mere satisfaction of her feeling some of the hurt you felt, seemed to boost your eagerness as you moaned out.

A knock sounds at the door, and you hear Riri heading for the door as Shuri bit down on your pulse point. Your clit throbbed as she pressed you tighter against her.

“Well, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Does it love ?” A familiar voice says and you freeze as Shuri’s head whips up to look towards the door.

“It’s like looking in a mirror….” Riri whispered to herself, as she stared at the woman that resembled an older, taller you.

You turned slowly and stared.

“Well aren’t you going to invite your mother in?” She questions, looking between you, Riri and Shuri.

🤎

Just a short little update to shake things up a bit 😉

#SoundCloud #shuri black panther #princess shuri #shuri udaku #shuri x fem!reader #shuri smut #shuri x black!reader #riri x you #riri wiliams x reader #riri x reader #riri williams

[jupitermelichios]

so you've probably seen the news that riverdale ended with the main 4 in an actual, canonical, poly relationship

and that's amazing for a bunch of reasons, including the fact that the number of canon poly relationships on tv are miniscule and also it brings the number of canonically straight main cast members down to 1. Ethel is legitimately the show's token straight representation. love that for her

but to get the full impact of that news, you really also need to know that in order for the polycule to form:

Jughead's transdimensional angel girlfriend has to destroy multiple other timelines to create a new stable timeline for the polycule to live in. timelines destroyed include the one where jughead is immortal and trapped forever in a bunker underneath riverdale, and one where tony and fangs's magical timetravelling gay baby is fighting an evil wizard for control of a train full of evil ghosts

Jughead's magical transdimensional angel girlfriend then returns to the newly created main timeline, and restores the main cast's memories of all the other timelines, which she does by forcing them to watch the show riverdale. That is not a joke or a metaphor she even goes to the trouble to bring a colour tv back to the 1950s so they can watch in colour, except for Clay and Julian, because they did not exist in any of the previous timelines and they're sad about it and refuse to watch a show they're not in.

(Well, Julian technically did exist in the original timeline, but only as a ghost possessing a haunted doll, which doesn't really count)

(Also for some reason as well as the main cast, she makes dilton doily watch it, despite his only contributions to the show being a) dying as a human sacrifice in the og timeline, b) trying to blow up the planet and then dying because of it in the rivervale timeline, and c) gay kevin telling people he has the biggest dick in the 1950s tlmeline, and honestly, I feel like it would be kinder to just not show him any of that)

(ethel does not get to watch riverdale, because she did the only sensible thing any riverdale character has ever done and fucked off to a normal town to have an actual life, because as well as being the token straight character, she's also the token sane one)

After watching Riverdale, all of the main cast except Jughead and Betty decide it sucks and they hate it, and ask tabby to rewipe their memories and only give them the cute bits and not all the serial killers and shit, because the writers have run out of time for subtle metaphors and they weren't sure the audience had fully grasped that the entirely last season of the show is a weird metacommentary on the criticisms people have of the show riverdale so they're just straight up going to have archie andrews look straight to camera and say that the show should have been more like the comics

also I have no idea how only showing them the happy bits works, because that removes 90% of the entire plot so I assume they just have a bunch of completely out of context sex scenes and meals at the diner and nothing else. possibly also some musical numbers, idk if I'd count those as happy memories personally

Betty and Jug chose to keep their memories of the Gargoyle King and Betty's 2 long-lost secret gay serial killer brothers because they're edgy (and also because the writers are annoyed at all the people who say the show should be more like the comics, so they have the smartest characters say they liked the actually and everyone else is being a wimp about all the serial killers, because again, we have run out of time for subtlety)

Having had his memories restored, Jug's like "oh hi tabitha, my secret transdimensional angel girlfriend, I haven't seen you for months, I've really missed you. I'm so glad you're you're back. i love you so much"

And she responds by telling him that she'd chosen to write herself out of the timeline when she fixed in, and she has to return to the great big diner in the sky (not a joke, heaven is a diner in the riverdale universe and, it is heavily implied, also in our universe, so that's something to look forward to), so she freezes time halfway through kissing him and just nopes out of time and space. which is also how I would handle all break ups if I had angel powers tbh

since jug is now single, and all 4 of them just got multiple timeline's worth of fucking one another mainlined straight into their brains, the main 4 decide to all start dating

(they are probably inspired to do this in part by betty's sister, who in the new timeline is a burlesque performer who's stage name is Polly Amorous)

As far as I can tell from the last episode, they tell gay kevin about this and literally no one else, for reasons known only to themselves

also genuinely can't tell if this was the writers wanting a poly relationship for them, or if they just couldn't be bothered with the internet slap fights that would have followed them picking individual monogomous ships to be endgame

they also, hilariously, refuse to say that archie and jug are dating, I assume due to network restrictions, despite archie being canonically bi at this point, so betty's just like 'well sometimes I go to veronica's and we fuck, and the boys do... something we're not going to talk about'

the final episode of the show is a flash forward where as a now old betty is dying, jughead's ghost shows her memories of their teens, in which it's reveal that she has just straight up forgotten about being in a poly relationship

literally she looks at her teen self and is like "wow, I seem weirdly close to veroica jughead and archie" and Jug's ghost has to be like "because we were dating. how do you not remember that we were dating? what the hell? did I mean nothing to you?!"

also old betty specifically seeks out reggie and is like "hey you know how me and you dated, and you and veronica were together for years in multiple timelines, and you archie keep declaring your undying love for one another and nearly fucking, well we're all dating and we specifically decided not to invite you, sucks to be you" and walks away and I have no idea why she did it. justice for reggie

anyway RIP to the greatest television show ever made, it was so gay and so deranged and so meta, and there really will never be anything quite like it again

#reggie never did anything wrong in his life ever #yes including that time he was a drug dealer #riverdale #truely The show of all time #i want the i'm a weirdo speech on engraved on my tombstone #people look at me like i'm insane when I tell them it's all a metaphor #but seriously #it's all metaphors all the way down #people ask me a lot what riverdale is about #and now that it's ended #i can officially confirm #cosmic horror #riverdale is cosmic horror #and i'm not even joking about that #the final 2 seasons of the show are about characters gaining meta knowledge of the story they're in and going insane because of it #but who are the old gods in this cosmology you may be asking? #you #you are #the audience

[plutoslvr]

sibling dynamic foxes is the best thing ever and no its not a headcanon this is canon to me.

like the foxes and Kevin? siblings if I ever saw any. They would relentlessly bully Kevin and Kevin would just bully them back but the moment anyone tries talking shit about either of them it's absolute hell.

Reporter 1: Kevin, what do you think about the Foxes as a team? I'm sure they can't compare to your old team, The Ravens and Ri-

Kevin Day best Exy player in the league, holding his Exy racquet like a weapon: the fuck did you just say to me?

or

The foxes: man FUCK Kevin

some exy hating loser: yeah screw that guy

Bisexual defender Allison holding enough money in her pocket to end their life: No. You don't get it.

NOT JUST THEM are you guys trying to tell me Matt and Nicky aren't best friends? Are you telling me they don't have gossip Fridays where they share everything together whilst Dan listens in on them. Are you telling me Nicky doesn't read the upperclassmen to filth about their fashion sense (except Allison who joins in on making fun of them).

And of course we have the twinyards (YES THEY HEAL IDC NORA CAN CHOKE ON AN EXY STICK) and they're fucking dickheads to each other its insane. The first few months everyone's slightly on edge but then they realise its all bark and no bite.

Andrew: I'm going to stab you.

Aaron: Do it coward

Andrew: *jabbing him with a mechanical pencil*

Aaron: Fine, not so much of a coward I guess.

Oh and the foxes 1000000% make fun of Neil for living in Britain. They're constantly talking to him in a British accent and when the Queen died they all showed up in his room offering gifts of condolences.

"This is a hard time for you, we understand if you need space but we'll always be here for you."

"It'll get better buddy trust me."

"It's better if you cry and get it out now, we know how important she was to you."

They also make sleepover nights mandatory. The first few years they just had the og foxes let into the dorms but after they all graduated Kevin made a whole separate room just for the foxes where they have sleepovers. It's decked out with beanbags, weighted blankets, stuffed animals and his favourite photos of the Foxes printed out and framed and a TV.

He says Jeremy picked it out but secretly it was all him and he would rather die than let them find out. Somehow they did (Jeremy ratted him out) and Kevin's nickname was permanently changed to softie. No they did not secretly feel giddy with happiness, no they didn't think this was the best thing Kevin Day has ever done absolutely not.

#omg kevin would never choose the foxes over exy #theyre so found family guys #everyones like YOURE WRONG #like trust me on this guys its basically canon #they all hold each other so dear to them idcidc IM RIGHT #kevin: you guys are so dear to me #foxes: what was that? #kevin: you guys fucking suck at exy #andrew: maybe i dont completely detest your entire beings #the foxes: awwwwww <3 #aftg #all for the game #neil josten #andrew minyard #kevin day #aaron minyard #nicky hemmick #matt boyd #aftg kevin #aftg shitpost #aftg neil #aftg series #aftg textpost #allison reynolds #renee walker #dan wilds

[takeyourcyanide]

Do What You Will

AO3

TWs: Repeated Mentions of R@pe, Implied/Referenced Childhood/General Sexual Abuse

Fandom: Soul Eater

Character(s): Franken Stein, Marie Mjolnir, Spirit Albarn, Yumi Azusa, Lord Death

Tags: Implied/Reference R@pe/Non-Con, Implied Mind R@pe, Implied/Referenced Child, Abuse Implied Childhood Sexual, Abuse, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Trauma, It's Not Paranoia If They're Really Out To Get You, Not Beta Read, Triggers, Franken Stein Has Sexual Trauma, Age Regression/De-Aging, Hurt/No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort

Word Count: 6 978

Summary: Stein believes Marie is going to harm him in some way, and it ultimately leads to a belief she has assaulted him in his sleep, and planned to assault him whilst awake. Marie is unsure how to handle the situation.

Note(s): I hope this isn’t all over the place. This took me way too long, I’ve been so scrambled lately. I forgot what I was originally going to say. I can only imagine everyone’s faces when they read that summary haha. I’m working on other shit. When it comes to the series, I’m not sure that I’m going to do multi-perspective. Most likely not.

With the crashing of the thunder came the flashing and burning of the lightning, in which they disguised themselves, capturing Stein freely, flash on, through the now covered window.

Franken stared unnerved daggers into the all-encompassing darkness drawing him in, into the ceiling on which it seemed both spiders and some sort of humanoid creature crawled.

The bugs dashed and chased on and under his unwilling, exhausted, and pallid flesh, fingertips brushing against his scalp, his shoulders, his neck, as he pondered until morning what would be done of his saying too much.

The metal, rusted frame of his unwelcoming bed creaked with fervor from the slightest of breaths, from the slightest of movements. He’d have covered his ringing ears, but his extremities were practically paralyzed under the weight of the raging, unbridled, and crushing trepidation.

He’d been forced to rely on Marie. It wasn’t his fault. He was forced to confide in Marie. He didn’t want to. He hadn’t failed himself. He hadn’t worked against himself. She wouldn’t hurt him. But there was no point in deceiving himself for the sole sake of comfort; then he’d be just the same as each and every coward he’d ever criticized and chided.

What would the woman do to him? He had calculated from the very beginning that her kindness and generosity was a mere act; an easy and banal way in which she could earn the trust of others, particularly Stein, only to suck his soul of whatever life is still left within it.. For whatever life he was born with. But how would she utilize her mask to her advantage? Franken could see through her, and manipulation seldom worked on him… Or did it? What if she had mastered the art and he hadn’t even realized he was being played? Would she do something physical? Or would she simply tell everyone about the deepest pits of his harrowed soul?

He never wanted to see her again. He never wanted to hear of her again. He never wanted to see, nor hear of anyone ever again.

He had to kill her. Not even dissect her. Kill her. He never had an interest in basic and overdone homicide, but how else could he achieve safety? Would he ever? Had he ever once experienced such a feeling? No. He needed to kill her. Maybe a prompt dissection afterwards. Perhaps he’d even experiment on her if he felt well enough. But that was not the goal. He had to kill her. If not kill, then run away from her. He knew not of what she would do, but he knew for certain she’d do something.

His formerly chilled skin warmed to unprecedented levels for reasons he could not comprehend, the steady ringing growing louder, a hushed whisper and a lullaby joining the unending and incessant noise.

Stein wanted to scream, bloodcurdlingly scream… He wanted to scream, and scream, and scream until his sore throat bled, the thick, crimson liquid pouring out from his shredded lips. He wanted to rip each individual strand of tangling, unkempt, and rustling hair from out of his head, he wanted to devour himself whole, just as the supposed “paranoia” was. It was slowly turning his entire body inside out, toying with him as though he were but a helpless rag doll.

But they only wanted him to believe that he was just paranoid, so that they could more easily do as they pleased with him.

Lord Death would surely put him to death for murdering a comrade. But would that be so bad? But then all of the work he put into rehabilitating, or rather, suppressing his violence, his malice would be thrown out of the same window that they were all looking in on him from.

What would become of him if he were to run away? Perhaps he could simply attempt an escape first and see how that pans out; an experiment. His favorite.

Stein glanced over at his small, bedside clock, of which read in luminous, ruby numbers, ‘04:44.’

Marie was an early riser. She’d typically awaken and begin undertaking her habitual routine anywhere from 06:00 to 07:00 in the morning. And it was only a Thursday, meaning she had to be within the DWMA’s walls by 08:00.

Once she leaves and moves far enough away, he’d go… somewhere. He couldn’t simply venture out into the desert could he? The DWMA had eyes everywhere, they’d catch him eventually, especially if he were to be still within the confines of the city. And he didn’t have a plane ticket.

What if he were to hide out at some bar? A tavern such as Chupa Cabra’s, perhaps? No one would expect him to be there… But the staff would surely notify every one of his appearance at their establishment the very moment he’s classified as missing. Not to mention, they’d find his long stay awfully conspicuous… And they’d have to close eventually…

Where could he go? Perhaps he’d simply have to stay in his laboratory. He could attempt to avoid Marie, but she’s a persistent woman.

Then again, he was the strongest meister to ever graduate from the academy… Surely he could defend himself. But he was vulnerable in the current state he was in.

As he checked the clock again, which now read ‘5:14,’ a certain phrase buzzed around, shouting in his skull repeatedly;

“Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.”

🎩 🎩

🍭<(^-^)>🦖

“I made some breakfast, if you’d like some. It’s nothing much, though,” Marie distractedly stated from the bathroom, fiddling with her blonde hair, as Stein trudged leisurely past her.

He spared a concurrently disinterested and suspicious glance over at the kitchen, canned crescents stacked upon a rotund, oxidized pan, the scent of the food wafting out and filling various sectors of the laboratory.

The meister took an almost unnatural-seeming seat down onto one of the two loveseats perched facing one another in the quaint living space, his body taut, muscles refusing to relax, unable to freely sink into the inviting coziness of the cushions.

“You need to eat, Stein,” the weapon gently lectured, sticking the end of one of her golden earrings in and through the teensy little hole in her lobe. “You know you shouldn’t be skipping meals.”

“‘M not hungry,” he muttered under his breath, eyes threatening to close as he babbled out an overtired, and low-pitched whine in protest - one of which Marie herself was unable to detect.

“But you didn’t eat hardly anything last night, surely you are,” she spoke with a tone of disbelief, as thought Stein were the liar and not her, whilst straightening her lengthy skirt.

“I don’t want to eat,” he gripped his lower lip with his sharp teeth the moment his partner’s hand made contact with his scalp, with his silver hair. It was similar to that of the invisible being’s touch, but more soothing, and less attention-seeking.

She gently ran over the more fragile skin with the very tips of her painted nails, running lithe and well-versed fingers throughout his hair just the way he liked it.

Manipulative and calculating was she.

“Come on, Franken. Unless you think it might nauseate you this time, you need to eat something before I leave. I want to watch you. You’re my responsibility now, and that includes your terrible eating habits,” as opposed to continuing with the mauling of his lips, he moved to roll his inner cheek in between his teeth, biting down hard into the ample and soon-to-be irritated tissue, helping him to focus on not allowing his body to go slack, and melt into her beguiling ministrations; that’s only what she wanted out of him.

Though after the noise-filled, restless night he had, he’d be lying if he said the gesture wasn’t lulling him into a soundless sleep.

But that’s only precisely what she intended to happen.

Stein bolted away from her touch as thought it had scorched his skin, a surge of seething paranoia manhandling his limbs for him. Marie’s eyes briefly widened, before a concerned and baffled glint bloomed within her brown eyes.

“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” She prodded with a sincere countenance, though that did not fool the mistrustful and non-naive scientist.

“Nothing,” he stood guardedly, his alert eyes bulging out from their sockets - somehow his most striking feature despite the screw protruding from the side of his head. He held his arms in a folded manner, close to his sternum, as though he were attempting to shrink away from whatever stimulus had disturbed him so demonstrably.

Marie analyzed the ever-clicking clock, reading aloud, ‘7:29,’ with a pensive sigh.

“I’ve got to head to the academy, Stein - just… Please, eat something today.. Something more substantial than a small snack if you can. And if you can’t, then try to eat multiple little snacks or something until I get home. And just remember, you can tell me anything, okay?”

In other words, “feed me more information.”

Stein kept his mouth closed, continuing to shy away from her very presence, as he observed her every step whilst she sauntered towards the door, a perturbed expression on her visage.

“I’ll be back soon,” she flashed him a kind and somewhat knowing smile as she exited the premises.

What did she know that he didn’t?

Upon her departure, Franken spun in repetitive circles, scanning each and every crevice which surrounded him with a simultaneously quizzical and agitated gaze.

And it ran through his head once more;

What does she know that I do not? What is it that I am missing? Does she have a leg up on me? Perhaps. What do I do? What will *she* do?

A rather delicate tapping on his shoulder left him reeling, whipping around, only to discover nothing, save for a promptly dissipating shadowy figure.

They were taunting him.

“Go away,” he murmured, his face rather petulant, as he awkwardly stood in place.

He stared into the abyssal corridor, considering striding his way back into the warmth of his bed, deterred by the clear and unsettling presence howling from within it, audibly groaning in annoyance.

But he needed to walk through the hallway, even despite the stirring, for they were each still monitoring him intently, sniffing out his vulnerability like bloodhounds. What if they were to see that he was too disquieted to enter a stupid hallway? He’d be easy prey for them, then. He was acting as though he were a scared and small child begging his parents to check the closet and look under the bed for the curated ‘boogeyman.’

And if he were being frank, he almost wished there was someone here whom he could send through the daunting corridor before him - or perhaps even walk alongside him. But that was a moronic desire to have, thus he settled on shoving the odd clump of feelings down, mechanically marching through the energies, of which, too, followed after and above him.

Stein rushed under the weight of his blanket, eyes batting back and forth and all over wildly, as he made himself as comfortable as he could possibly be given his current predicament.

He retrieved the little stuffed, stitched up and bandaged T-Rex which laid beside him, cradling it against his chest, as he slotted his thumb immaturely between his two metallic-tasting lips, the blanket up and over his hiding head.

What was he meant to do the rest of the day? Question precisely what would be done with him? He didn’t wish to think about that.

What was he meant to do the rest of the day? He could no longer research, he could no longer do anything other than shout back at the fizzling static. He couldn’t nourish himself, he couldn’t sleep properly, for even if he did sleep, it was never restful. He couldn’t take care of himself. He’d grown into a large child.

The thought left him to curl in on himself even more so. He’d say that at least he was still emotionally independent, but Marie keeps trying to force him not to be. She, the rest of the academy, and the radio wanted nothing more than to take everything from him. Is that what she’d do? No poisoning, no rape, no selling him into sex slavery, no simply being here to mock him, no nothing except for further ruining him? She’d most definitely discuss her breaking of him with the others, though, there was no doubt about it.

Every thought he could hardly process, every foreign feeling rising within him culminated into one large whirlwind swirling and twisting his insides. He clutched the stuffed toy closer to his chest, his chin resting on its fuzzy head, as he closed his eyes, only to reopen them upon hearing their breathing, feeling their presences.

This became a repetitive process long ago; opening and closing, and opening and closing. Over and over again. Eventually, he’d managed to slip into a wasteful sleep, finding himself awake once more within an hour or less. Over and over again.

The more they sang, the more they muttered, the more a certain frustrated ball raged in his throat, the closing muscles in his throat battling and arguing with his open glottis, just as he’d been in a constant shouting match with the popping static since day one.

The foreign sensation worked in tandem with the old friend he was well-versed with, feeding on his decomposing flesh like vultures whilst he supposedly lived, as he shoved his face into his stuffed animal, avoiding what stood all around him, as well as the light of the morning sun illuminating his gelid bedroom.

It was truly a never-ending cycle; the same precise process over and over again.

🎩 🎩

🍭<(^-^)>🦖

Stein groggily peeled his eyelids open, entirely disorientated as he took in the lack of light, his eyes oddly moist, rubbing the obnoxiously yucky, sticky discharge from his eyes, as he jolted his body upwards, coughing and wheezing into his clammy hand. He pitifully whimpered, still feeling too small for the body he was inhabiting, internally frigid, despite his perspiring skin being swelteringly hot, trying desperately to breathe through his snotty nose.

The cacophonous sound of steel cookware banging against various other materials caught his attention, the world spinning uncontrollably after he whipped his head in the direction of the sound.

Was Marie home already? For how long had he managed to sleep? But he couldn’t feel this way when she or anyone else was around.. What was she going to do to him? What did she want from him? And why was he suddenly sick? Had he quite literally neglected and stressed himself to the point of illness?

His train of frazzled thought was ultimately interrupted by the grumbling of his intestines, and the burning within his vacant stomach. A sense of hunger-induced nausea rose within him, leaving him feeling faint and weary.

Perhaps he’d have to eat whatever Marie decided to whip up. At the end of the day, if it happened to be poisoned or anything, at least that would add a layer of thrill to his currently mundane life.

Franken utilized the smooth, stone walls as an aid whilst he stepped lethargically through the corridor, having hardly made it down the stairs without injury, his surroundings still twisting and turning like warping mirrors in a funhouse, squinting his bare eyes as a sudden burst of light came into view.

“Stein! You’re awake!” The weapon joyously spoke, dancing around the laboratory like some sort of conniving, and overly-expressive ballerina. “I checked on you once I got home, but you were deep asleep. It’s already past seven.”

Deep asleep? She went into his room? What? Why? What? What did she- no.. Did she do something? What did she want? What did she do? What happened? He never sleeps deeply, nor for a very long time. How did he manage to sleep that long? Why’d he have to be sick now? Did she touch him, too? What did she do to him? Why didn’t he wake up? Is he that sick? Wha-

“Earth to Stein? Are you okay?” Marie waved the hand that surely grazed his skin in front of his watering eyes, his chest tightening. “Hey… You don’t look so good. Are you sick?” She placed her palm over the male’s dazed forehead, countenance becoming rather worried and shocked, as she gasped out, “You feel really warm.”

The meister remained still, unresponsive towards her manipulation, as Marie gave him the once-over, observing right away how the tone of his skin seemed to lighten significantly since she last laid eyes on him, and how flushed his cheeks were. His shoulders were slumped morosely, his under-eyes blending in with the absence of light in the hallway.

“You should really take some medicine, Franken,” she softly stated, placing a cool hand on his heated shoulder.

Stein flinched away, instinctually grimacing, acting on a sort of fight or flight response. He bit on the inside of his lips, shuffling away from his weapon.

“What’s wrong?” She appeared almost guilty.

He wanted to tell her to stop pretending. To just be honest about wanting to have her way with him. Or mocking him. Or whatever else she premeditates and has done. She was just like everyone else, after all. Unfortunately, however, his mouth would not comply with his desires, opening and closing just as his eyes had earlier, unable to form a sentence properly. So, he simply settled on shaking his head back and forth, twitching his fingers, and continuing to shuffle backwards away from her imminent touch.

She wanted to have her way with him.

“It’s okay, Franken,” Marie had seen him get this way before. He’d behave rather childishly, though given her proclivity towards children, she never once minded taking care of him. The only problem was that Stein minded. “You can tell me what’s wrong.”

A sizzling emanated from the kitchen. Along with the random flashing of a light, which caught the scientist’s waning attention. The woman’s prodding voice disappeared into the ringing, of which overpowered her ceaseless incanting. The only string of words he managed to process happened to be:

“Franken? Are you maybe feeling… a little small on top of sick? Do you want me to get some medicine for you?”

Was it that obvious?

He couldn’t decide whether or not he wanted to rush away from her, and lock himself away from her greedy fingers. Wouldn’t she just transform her hand into her hammer form and knock down the door if necessary? What was the point?

Stein nearly sucked his whole bottom lip into his mouth, concealing the gentle quivering with his teeth, though she was standing directly before him and could easily watch as he suppressed salty tears.

Why was he even beginning to cry? He never felt the urge to weep - even as a small child. He was only failing himself, allowing for Marie to swoop, with ease, in and exact every single vile fantasy she’s ever had onto him.

“Hey… Don’t cry,” she stepped forward, closer to her meister, of whom hadn’t even realized he was blubbering.

Stein began hacking again, shoving his face into the crook of his arm, whining noiselessly as his body convulsed, sniveling.

“Aw, sweetie,” Marie tried to soothingly pat him on the back, empathetically pouting as she ogled at how his frame shook.

Franken, once again, jerked away, shouting, “No!”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” the woman panicked, as a harsh and distressed sob interrupted his violent coughing. “I won’t touch you again. It was on instinct, I-“

“You ‘ill ‘gin,” he slurred his words together horribly, struggling to breathe and speak as he crumbled completely, sitting on the icy floor, his back against the wall.

“Huh?”

“Y’u will again!” Franken exclaimed, his legs sprawled out in defeat, his arms limp, his chest bumping up and retracting rapidly.

“No, love, I won’t. If you don’t want me to touch you, then I won’t, I promise.”

“S’op lying,” he snarled. “‘Ou went in bedroom an’..”

“Oh, no, Stein, no, no, no, no… All I did was crack open the door. I just noticed you were sleeping, that’s all,” her eyes widened significantly at what he was implying, her stomach falling to her feet. “I would never ever do anything like that to you - or anyone else, for that matter.”

Marie kneeled down, far enough that no contact was made, but still too close for comfort, as any form of ‘by him’ was enough to startle. But, truly, she had no clue as to how she could console Stein without involving physical contact. That’s what she was used to, after all. Evidently, that was the complete opposite of what he was used to or usually enjoyed. Though she’d try her best regardless.

Franken shrunk in on himself, bringing his knees against his abdomen, away from the weapon, hiccuping, wetness staining his face, as his eyes swelled.

She’d be lying if she said it wasn’t the least bit cute to see the typically stoic, somewhat composed and calm man shudder and pout. It was, however, a little difficult to focus on how much she wanted to just squeeze him when he was… seemingly experiencing genuine terror for the first time in his life, and well.. accusing her of a nauseating practice for unknown reasons. Perhaps it was madness-induced?

“Come on, you have to know I’d never do that,” she drawled, earning the most malice-filled glare ever directed towards her. “Okay, look… I know this must be scary for you, but I don’t understand why you’d think that. I mean… While you were pretty deep asleep, I’m sure you would’ve woken up if.. Death, I don’t even want to think about that,” Stein coughed once more, shoving his head into his knees to evade the sheer dizziness of it all.

She sat down, leaning against the wall opposite to the scientist, of whom had returned to apprehensively eyeing her.

“Liar,” he sniffled, somehow managing to back further away into the concrete and stone. “List’ning ‘n watching, too…”

“What?” Marie confusedly tilted her head, particularly taken aback at whatever notion that happened to be.

“Go’way…”

“Are you sure you want me to leave?”

“Go away,” he demanded more persistently than before.

“Okay… If that’s what you need, sweetheart,” she lifted her body, standing and glancing over her shoulder as she walked into the kitchen, fully prepared to throw the surely scorched food out.

Stein observed how almost disappointed and distraught she appeared, how sullenly she moved.

‘Someone give that woman an Oscar,’ was the first thought that came to his mind.

🎩 🎩

🍭<(^-^)>🦖

“I just… I don’t know what to do,” Marie abruptly huffed in complaint, playing with the food she had diligently prepared.

A variety of smells intermingled, everyone having cooked vastly different meals for their lunch-break, the Death Room’s brilliantly blue sky blessing their food, never faltering despite the fog and thick clouds saturating the outside.

“Oh, Death, what relationship troubles are you experiencing this time?” Azusa sarcastically questioned, earning a snicker from Spirit.

They were each sitting, comfortably cramped, around a boxy and wooden table, including Lord Death himself, of whom merely chuckled along with the group’s antics.

“No, no…. Actually, it’s not that this time,” the hammer sighed sorrowfully, taking a humble bite out of her chicken. Her eyebrows were pinched closely together, her jaw clenched in anxiety.

“Then what could it possibly be?” Albarn teased, a blithely sardonic smirk stretched across his visage. Mjolnir scowled at him, smacking his upper arm upon hearing his mirthful giggles.

“It’s about Stein, you jerks,” she almost seemed genuinely offended and hurt, visibly perturbed.

“Oh, has something happen?” Yumi immediately placed her utensils onto the table, paying her utmost attention to Marie.

“I’ve been meaning to ask you about him… And stop by for a visit,” Spirit, too, attentively sat, too unease to continue plunging food down his gluttonous gullet.

“It’s just… He.. I think the madness is getting worse…”

“In what way? Is he attempting to cut you open?” Azusa jumped the gun, solemnly ready to attack.

“No! No, no… Not yet, anyway.. He just accused me last night of… Ugh, this is.. He, like, broke down and accused me assaulting him in his sleep.. And then he said something about ‘listening’ and ‘watching,’” Marie shuddered, repulsed by the very prospect of the accusation.

Lord Death and Azusa kept silent, analyzing and processing the words said to them intently and pensively.

“What did you say back? How did you respond?” The seriousness and urgency on the scythe’s countenance was uncharacteristic of him, only serving to further trouble the blonde.

“Well- I, uh… I told him that I’d never do that, and I didn’t really get why he was saying that, and I knew it must have been scary for him, and that he’d have to know I would never do such a thing, and-“

“Don’t argue with it,” he held his hands up warily and advisedly.

“What am I supposed to do, lie and tell him I actually raped him?” A wave of defensive surprise washed over her.

“No.. God, fucking no! Whatever you do, don’t argue OR validate that shit. Look - I’ve been through this with him before, though he’s typically not that open about it…. He started acting kinda weird and out soul resonance began to suffer, and I found out he thought I put cameras and shit in the vents and around the house, and was selling the video is online, and telling Lord Death over here literally everything he ever did or said,” Spirit elucidated, pointing informally with his thumb over at his boss. “I made the same mistake of getting defensive about it and arguing with him. We couldn’t resonate for a good couple of weeks until whatever that was went away somewhat, because he had absolutely no trust in me at all.”

“Then what am I supposed to do? He was sick, too.. I don’t even know if he took anything after I went to bed…”

“Just-“

“And it’s not like I could get close enough to try and comfort him or anything,” she neurotically interjected.

“Just remember that he’s not gonna believe anything you try to do to convince him otherwise. He’ll be suspicious of you no matter what you do. And if he’s not accepting any sort of physical contact, just… Erm… Well, say sort of what you said, like, ‘Oh, it must be really scary to think that.’ Though he may not exactly love that either, it’s better than entirely dismissing him. Just ask him why he thinks what he thinks, but be aware that it may sound a little off or strange. You need to allow him to slowly warm up to whatever sort of comfort you try to give him. Be reassuring and patient. It’s a little hard to know what to do in the moment, but you’ll learn, I promise.”

“Are you sure?” Marie had never felt so grateful over something Spirit had said or done.

“Yes, absolutely. I did. It’s not something he really talked about, but whenever he started to act even weirder than usual, it was just like a switch would go off in my brain, and I would just prepare for whatever consequences came from his thoughts,” the ginger tittered in remembrance. “He’d go from, like, his usual… just existing self to startlingly agitated due to this all, so it’s something I just learned how to handle.”

“Yeah, I noticed that… Thank you, Spirit,” she flashed him an indebted and sweet smile, the corners of her mouth stretching from ear to ear.

“Oh! And also, pay extremely close attention to the language you use while talking to him. One wrong word and I was on trial,” he laughed, grinning himself.

“What do you mean exactly?” She curiously prodded.

“Anything that would imply you feel obligated to do whatever you’re doing is a no-go, I noticed. And anything that would imply a loss of control on his part, or… I’d say anything that’d imply you actually did whatever he thinks you did or are planning on it, or are going to harm him in some way, but just your existence is evidence of that to him,” Albarn began to scarf down his food again, feeling a little more confident in his friend’s abilities to assist his other friend.

“Oh… I told him this morning that he was my responsibility.. Is that included? Is that bad?” A surge of guilt and self-directed frustration swirled within her body.

Death Scythe nearly choked on his food, shaking his head theatrically back and forth.

“Fuck, no! Don’t say that again unless you want to infinitely worsen everything,” he swallowed his meal cartoonishly loud. “For him, that’s, like… It sort of equals, ‘Oh, they don’t even want to be here in the first place? They’re out to get me.’”

“Okay…. Ugh, now I feel bad,” she moaned immaturely, sulking whilst sluggishly taking in tiny bits of food.

“Well, use that to improve.. Even I don’t get it right with him one-hundred percent of the time. It’s sort of impossible with Stein.”

“I think Stein finds it impossible to get it right with himself,” Azusa sneered, breaking her long lasting silence, Marie and Spirit chortling along. “What do you think, Lord Death? You haven’t spoken much, which is odd, given that it’s you.”

“I’m frankly a little concerned.. It doesn’t seem that Stein is distinguishing between the madness and the non-madness anymore,” his body language was particularly ruminative, as his usual gleeful voice possessed a lower and more gravelly twinge to it.

“Yeah… He’s not,” Marie stared down at the table, burning a gaping hole into the oak the same size as the one carving into her thumping heart, as she watched her close friend die a slow, and painful death. “Do you think he’ll come out of it?”

“He always does. I have complete faith he will this time,” Albarn offered his opinion, or, rather, desire.

“Yeah… You’re probably right…”

Hopefully right.

🎩 🎩

🍭<(^-^)>🦖

“Stein? I’m home!” Her voice echoed, bouncing off of the walls. “Franken? Where are you?”

Marie sat her purse down onto the coffee table, roaming around the laboratory in search of her meister, finding him seemingly glued to his computer screen, staring at nothing at all whilst sitting in complete darkness, the only light coming from the living room, giggling to himself, as he spun his chair repetitively.

“Stein?”

He nearly gave himself whiplash, having harshly snapped his head towards the weapon, eyes wide open.

“Hey, what’cha doin’?” She stood awkwardly in the doorway.

Marie was a persistent woman.

The scientist continued to stare through her, that same fuzzy glint in his eyes from the previous night readily apparent.

“You still feeling a little small, baby? I know yesterday was stressful for you,” she sympathetically reminisced, Stein ripping skin off of his lips with his sharp teeth, visibly growing more uncomfortable. “How long has it been since you last ate? I know you probably didn’t eat hardly anything yesterday.”

Franken shrug his shoulders, mumbling, “What’d’y’u care? Wan’ keep me alive f’r more?”

Marie tellingly exhaled, remembering her and Spirit’s conversation. At least she could apply what she’d learned to a real situation.

“Well, I’m hungry, and was wondering if you were too. Why do you feel that way, dear?”

Stein’s face contorted into one of blunted repulsion, shrinking away from the already not close Marie.

“Not feeling very verbal, then?” The weapon languidly asked upon receiving no response… And, well, listening to how difficult it seemed to be for him to simply speak. “You wanna come sit on the couch with me? I’m gonna order us some food.”

She wasn’t going to allow for letting more food go to waste.

The meister appeared fairly on tenterhooks at the notion, his formerly bulging eyes narrowing in leeriness.

“It’s okay if you’re not ready to.. I can sit out here if you want to come out.”

“Why’re y’u bein’ so nice?” He maffled, his right thumb unconsciously making its way past his lips, as he chewed on it, sucking on portions of the skin at times.

If she were to say it was because he’s her friend, would he view that as obligation?

“I want to be. You’re just adorable,” she beamed, avoiding a variety of responses that floated about in her brain.

That disgusted grimace returned to his face, or rather, a disgusted twinge. It wasn’t something she took to heart, for it was clear to her that it was an instinctual, guttural reaction he was having to the foreign treatment. And it certainly didn’t help that he was entirely mistrustful of her kindness and generosity.

“Ado’ble?” He babbled out quizzically. After all, he was infamous for his violent tendencies. Most wouldn’t consider him anything other than scary.

“Adorable,” she assured, leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over her chest.

How could she not find him cute? Sure, she’d seen for herself how malevolent he could be, but watching his sadistically and atypically giddy, curious expression as he dissected anything and everything lit up her world. Though, maybe not as much as it lit up his world.

“You wanna come sit on the couch?” Marie asked once more before leaving.

While the couch did sound cozy and inviting, would she not pin him down and have her way with him? Could he use his soul-thread sutures to keep her from moving, giving him the upper-hand and ability to escape?

Stein began coughing, sniffling into his arm as his thoughts encased him.

“Aw, still a little sick? It’s hard to see how you look in this darkness,” she chuckled, waving her hands around as to almost point at the shadowy room. “How about I get you some medicine? I think we still have some liquid cold and flu stuff…”

Franken pursed his lips in response, another painful reminder of an experience he did not want, nor choose to have. That is, other than the finger lodged in his mouth that he had long since forgotten to force out, for Marie would find something to exploit regardless.

Liquid medicine was only for when he felt too incompetent to swallow pills, though she always called it “feeling small.”

“‘Kay,” his mutter was barely audible, as Marie beckoned him to follow after her, Stein complying, desperate to rid himself of his pestering illness.

When all was said and done, she’d hurt him whether he avoided her or not.

“You don’t have to speak, okay? It sounds like it’s a struggle for you right now. You don’t ever have to feel pressured to around me,”

He peered up at her most likely feigned sincere expression, his mind unfortunately betraying him as he was pushed further down into headspace.

He shouldn’t enjoy her lies. But he was. It was fuzzy-ifying in a pleasant way, for once.

Why was he even enjoying it? That’s what she wanted out of him, anyway.

A needle-less syringe filled with icky-tasting medicine was placed between his lips, floating between the two, not coming in contact with either, as the horrendously sticky liquid ran down his throat. He swallowed, snarling as he chugged down the glass of water he was given, chasing a tasteless paradise.

“Doesn’t taste very good?” She mimicked his displeased countenance, a fascinatingly empathetic response that the scientist, in any other state of mind, would pick apart until there was not an atom left. In his current mindset, he couldn’t even process thought, however, so only a quick and brief analysis was conducted, being stored in his head for a later date.

The both of them sat side by side on the quaint, little sofa, Stein still too apprehensive to sink into its warmth, though Marie sighed in relief as she fell peacefully into the cushions.

She pulled her phone out from her pocket, clicking away at what was evidently some sort of food delivery app, leaving the meister to wonder what else must’ve been in her pockets. Condoms? Or would those be in her clearly intentionally-placed purse… Right by the place she wanted Stein to be. And what was stored in her leather bag? Rope? Some sort of sex toy to use on him as he tried to writhe away? Was there a variety of toys?

Speaking of toys, the longer he found himself stuck inside of his aching skull, the more he desired to rub his hand around his T-Rex’s fur.. To caress its tail in an effort to maintain his composure.

Tears welled in his eyes, causing him to feel more pathetic and moronic than he’d ever felt before, bring his knees to his sternum, shoving his face into the crack in between.

His heart felt as if it evaporated from his body, a cavernous, hollow hole left in its place. He felt as though he might faint, though that most certainly would only give her easy access.

A sob racked his body, garnering the attention of a certain individual.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” She promptly tossed her phone aside once finished, rushing to quell whatever storm was raging on within him. “You want me to get you your dinosaur? Maybe that would help?”

Oh, God, could she read his thoughts, too?

He lifted his head, slamming it against his kneecaps repeatedly, struggling to merely inhale and exhale, teardrops having seeped into his pajama pants.

“No, no, no, don’t do that, baby,” she worriedly chided, holding his head still reflexively, immediately backing away once Stein bolted to the other side of the sofa, eyes bugging out of their sockets.

His lower lip trembled as he bit into it, whimpering as he returned to his former position, though this time yet another finger found its way back into his mouth, despite its unsanitary nature.

“Yeah, how about I get you your T-Rex? I’ll be right back, okay?”

At least something could cuddle with him. Perhaps it could soothe him and offer him some form of tranquility?

It still pained her to walk away from what might as well have been a weeping baby, especially since that baby was Stein. And Stein didn’t cry. So, it was more than obvious that something was deeply wrong.

Eventually, she’d rushed back to their shared living space, holding out the stuffed animal for him to latch onto and take.

He lifted his eyes cautiously, speedily yanking his favorite stuffie from out of her covetous, unrelenting, and grabby hands, tucking it in between his knees and against his sternum.

What if the supposed “medicine” he was given was a sedative?

His bawling only grew in intensity, as he nuzzled into the softness of his toy, gasping for air as the revelation of just how monstrously he’d betrayed himself fell upon him as crushingly as if the weight of the sun had been the thing to fall on top of him.

“Why’s ever’one wanna touch me?” He began to ramble, a few wheezes here and there as he snuffled.

“What do you mean, sweetheart? Why do you think that?” She moved back towards the sofa, plopping down onto the farthest side.

“Everyone a’ways does,” he whined into the head of the T-Rex, kicking his feet up and down, upset, similarly to a toddler. “Don’ wan’ be touched.”

A toddler…

“I’m sorry you feel that way, sweetie. It must not feel very good..”

What was she supposed to say in this situation?

“Don’ feel ‘at way! I’s the truth!” He choked on yet another convulsion-inducing sob, hugging the T-Rex even tighter than before.

Marie knew Spirit said she’d eventually adapt to Stein… But she was beginning to doubt that idea. What was she supposed to do? Just sit here and listen to him wail?

“Why do you think that?”

“‘Cause tha’s what a’ways happens!”

“Has it happened before, love?”

He glowered at her for simply asking, forcing himself deeper into the corner of the couch.

“Go’way,” he repeated once more. “Jus’ like everyone else.”

“No,” Marie denied his request. “I’m not just going to leave you alone again, Franken.”

“Why not?” He caterwauled.

“That’s not good for you. Come here, sweetheart,” she held her arms out.

“No.. I wanna be alone..”

Marie leaned closer, pulling him in, allowing for his head to rest in the crook of his neck.

Franken squirmed away from her, the weapon only continuing to hold him, hoping to Death it was comfort him in some way.

He tried to use his soul-thread sutures out of pure fight-or-flight, they sparked and dissipated like the flame of a failing lighter, evidently too distressed to properly utilize his skill.

Was it because he never was really distressed? And thus using it in such an anguished state was something he genuinely needed to practice?

Whatever the case may be, he eventually just gave up, succumbing to her unbidden whims.

‘I thought she said she wouldn’t touch me if I didn’t want to?’ The thought left him hollow.

People weren’t to be trusted. This was going to happen whether he avoided her or not. But why did he let himself cry in front of her? He’d betrayed himself for nothing.

A few monotone-sounding, dead sobs escaped his mouth.

He should probably keep it shut if he wants nothing inside of it.

Why did she continue to hold him even when it was perfectly clear he wasn’t enjoying it? Wasn’t she supposed to be the “caring” one?

No matter her intentions, it didn’t make it feel any better.

With the crashing of the thunder came the flashing and burning of the lightning, and soon he was too empty, too betrayed despite having always expected it, and had been much too sapped to cry.

She could do whatever she wanted with him. He was done.

#soul eater #franken stein #stein #stein soul eater #dr stein #spirit albarn #marie mjolnir #spirit soul eater #takeyourcyanide #soul eater fanfic #soul eater fanfiction #my fanfic #my fanfiction #Spotify

[survivalistghost]

2023 kdrama list

list of the kdramas i watched and loved in 2023

obviously this is quite late but to those who want to start a kdrama, this is it.

#10 - soundtrack #2

there is such a comfort in the soundtrack series. even soundtrack #1 was so good, but this new instalment, truly works on the og kdrama tropes. lovers to exes to accidental 'fate' encounter to forced proximity to lovers again. puppy dog male lead, angsty female lead, jealousy, wholesome second lead, it's got it all. and ofc, music.

#9 - king the land

many people did not like this drama. honestly, if you're watching a kdrama that is romance and comedy then why would be angry that it had romance and comedy. again, a true example of a classic kdrama, rich ceo guy with hardworking girl, mix in some trauma and employee-employer drama, and this is the perfect clichéd drama.

#8 - see you in my 19th life

honestly i just like watching ahn bo hyun. he is such a pretty man. storyline-wise, i feel like they did a lot of stuff, but the ending honestly disappointed me. shin hye sun, as usual, love the woman, what an actor, the second leads also did not disappoint, loved them all.

#7 - crash course in romance

such a heartwarming drama. choi chiyeol with the temperament of a wet cat, the stress of studies in all asian countries, not just korea. all the romances were so cute (barring the best friend and brother). one thing they could have done better was cast a younger actress for the female lead. even this love triangle was so cute and fun.

#6 - my demon

song kang and kim yoo jung really killed it with the chemistry. i mean, forget everything else, i'll just take 16 episodes of them hanging out. even behind the scenes reels will work. the plot was pretty solid, felt like a remake of doom at your service. song kang does a wonderful job at being both goofy and serious, and kim yoo jung did so good at the angsty ceo.

#5 - the good bad mother

am i surprised this ended up higher than my demon? yes. this was such a good show, the past and present layered together so beautifully. the villains seemed like actual villains, but you weren't sure who to hate until the last episode. really shows some aspects of motherhood through both the eyes of the kids and mothers. had a cute little romance as well.

#4 - the worst of evil

ji chang wook and wi ha jun. need i say more? i have said it once, and i'll say it again - so few do action like koreans do. i mean, vincenzo, my name, midnight runners, and now this, such action masterpieces.

#3 - daily dose of sunshine

park bo young wa sso cute in this one. i miss small kdramas with intense plots. mental illnesses were dealt with very well in this one. the romance was so cute, and chang ryul, my baby, i missed him so much.

#2 - alchemy of souls s2

i just. love. this series. so much. like, the characters are so well built, the storyline, the romance, the destiny, oh my god. please watch this.

#1 - welcome to samdal-ri

this comes as a surprise to absolutely no one. what a feel-good drama to end 2023. it was the perfect remix of hometown cha cha cha that we all needed. ji chang wook, my absolute gem of a man, and shin hye sun, queen of no shit given but too many shits given roles. adore the friendships, romance, calm setting, the love between everyone. please watch it.

#kdrama #korean drama #kdrama review #review #tvn netflix #kdrama text post #kdrama recommendations #shin hye sun #welcome to samdalri #ji chang wook #alchemy of souls #lee jae wook #daily dose of sunshine #the worst of evil #wi ha jun #park bo young #the good bad mother #my demon #song kang #kim yoo jung #crash course in romance kdrama #crash course in romance #see you in my 19th life #king the land #lee junho #im yoona #ahn bo hyun #soundtrack 2

[ian-galagher]

Thank you all for tagging me in these awesome picrews! 🥰🧡

For this first one I was tagged by these lovely people! Vey @look-i-love-u Lyds @ardent-fox Mikayla @xninetiestrendx Evie @energievie Liz @sweetbee78 Ri @tanktopgallavich Becki @francesrose3 Rita @sickness-health-all-that-shit @sweetperversiongirl Lem @depressedstressedlemonzest and Julia @juliakayyy

For this second one I was tagged by Lem 🥰🧡@depressedstressedlemonzest

It's me at nighttime and me already in winter 😂 snow and rainbows happen at the same time right?! 😂

and finally, I was tagged by Evie @energievie and Nosho @creepkinginc to do THIS picrew! They did not have decent eyes without eyeliner... so picture me without it 😂

I feel like everyone has already tagged me 😅 but I'll tag a few more lovely people to do one or more or just have some fruit! 😊🍏 @stocious @shinygalaxyperson @vintagelacerosette @thisdivorce

Also, everyone who's tagged me in one but hasn't done any of the others, you are hereby tagged, if that makes sense 😅

#it's been a while since i've done these! #they're SO fun! #pic #tagged #tag game

[fratboykate]

How does Tom handle Kate being pregnant because I figure the answer is, uhm, not well 🙃 Especially as she gets more and more pregnant and he can't deny it in his mind anymore

---

I can only imagine how much of his shit Tom loses when Kate announces she and Yelena are having a baby. I feel like he shows up piss poor drunk at there place. And of course he’s got some choice words for Yelena who’s just trynna be cool. Wonder if Kate ever heard him talking about his shit and she just casually slips in “Yeah, she’s the best I’ve ever had.” To get him to shut the fuck up

///

Okay so I got a lot of variations of these two asks. You guys are always asking for "Part 2" but this is...a prequel lol. This is two weeks before Ri's 9th birthday party which you got some time last week. I think it gives a little context for where everyone was at mentally at that party and what set some things in motion. Anyway...here is 5.1k of...“How A Bitter Ex Ruins A Baby Shower”...bookended with fluff because I’m my 2023 resolution is to be nicer to you lol It’s definitely like a 2:1 ration of fluff to angst because...again...look at me being nice.

---

Yelena feels Kate's lips gliding up her shoulder past her neck and land on her earlobe. When they reach their destination, Kate’s teeth barely graze the skin before she pulls with a soft, playful bite and whispers.

"Your alarm started ringing twelve minutes ago. It was really getting on my nerves, so I turned it off. Wake up. We have so much to do today. We NEED to be ready and out the door by 9:30." Yelena grins into her pillow but refuses to open her eyes. "I know you're awake...No? Shame because Ri is somehow still asleep and these hormones have my sex drive through the roof. Woke up drenched. But I guess no one’s around to help me take care of the problem." Kate flips onto her back. And she waits. "No one? Not one person around?" Yelena finally peeks over her shoulder and back at her wife with sleepy eyes and a devilish smile. "Took you long enough. I'm so horny and I think she has MAYBE fifteen more minutes of sleep left in her, so we gotta be quick." Yelena's smile grows, but she doesn't move. "What?! What are you looking at?! Since when does my wife turn down ANY opportunity for sex? I'm handing it willingly. Don't even have underwear on. Zero obstacles in your way."

Yelena cackles while rolling over and using her elbow to hover over her wife.

"I got my period last night."

"Yeah, well..." Kate throws the cover off herself, revealing her taut eight-month pregnant belly. "...I clearly didn't. You can do me. Besides, you know I don't care. Wouldn't be the first time we've been there, done that."

Yelena sleepily chuckles anew and bends down to dotingly kiss the brunette.

"I feel like shit, love. Truly like someone ran me over. Can I get a rain check? I can get you something from the closet. To...help with “the problem”. Can't have my wife walking around unsatisfied. More than happy to watch. Would make my morning, actually."

Kate pouts and pulls Yelena down to her, forcing the blonde to nuzzle into her neck.

"No. I wanted you. Boooooooo."

"I'm sorry."

"You definitely owe me."

"You can cash in anytime I don't feel like my insides are being torn with shears."

"Did you take anything?"

"Yeah. Cramps kept me up half the night. I took something like three hours ago but hasn’t really helped."

Kate lifts Yelena's head to survey her face.

"Why didn't you wake me up?!"

"What the hell would I do that for?"

"So I could keep you company? Rub your tummy?"

"I'm not eight, baby. That works on Ri, not me."

"You don't know that."

Yelena smiles and lies back on Kate's chest. In response, Kate envelops her in an intimate embrace, pulling her in as close and tight to her body as she can muster. Yelena rests her hand on Kate’s exposed belly and caresses it. The baby promptly responds to the touch, stretching out, leaving the little imprint of a limb poking through the strained skin. Yelena drags her fingers over and ghosts her digits over the same spot. 

"So close," Yelena mutters while Kate runs her fingertips through the slept-on, blonde braid trying to break it loose. 

"I know."

"Five weeks...Feels like forever but not enough at the same time...Are you as scared as I am?"

"Terrified." They both laugh. "You wanna know what makes me feel better?" Yelena 'hmmms' and tilts her head to make eye contact with Kate. "Getting to hold a tiny thing with your face." Kate traces the contour of Yelena's face with the tip of her index finger. "And your nose." Then the bridge of her nose. "And your lips." Then the outline of her lips. "And your eyes. I can't wait. Terrified but so excited."

They opted to use Yelena's egg for the pregnancy Kate is carrying. It's how they both get to be a part of the baby's gestation. If they ever decide to have a second child, Yelena will carry a baby conceived with Kate's egg and sperm from the same donor they used for this baby. That is their way of ensuring their children are blood-related. Not that it would have mattered to them at all if they were or not. But it was a small thing they thought made it extra special.

"But you have...Ri. You say we look the same all the time."

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah."

A piercing clanking coming from the kitchen abruptly rumbles through the house. Eight-year-old Ereka is awake and on the prowl.

"Hurricane Ereka. Category 5. Alert!" Yelena jokes.

"One of us has to go make sure she isn't burning the place down."

"Uhum."

Neither of them moves.

"Yel..."

Yelena whines.

"I'm comfortable for the first time in hours! We invested in a top-of-the-line fire system for a reason. Something would be beeping or shrieking by now if she was setting something on fire."

"Is that what we're doing? Delegating childcare to AI or whatever that thing is?"

"It cost thirty grand! The least it could do is watch our kid for half an hour while I nap on your limited edition, extra comfy boobs for a bit."

The distinct crack of something large and fragile shattering and exploding into a million pieces in the distance forces an involuntary sigh out of Kate.

"THAT ONE DEFINITELY BROKE!"

They hear the almost nine-year-old Ereka holler from the kitchen, already tinting her voice with shades of ignorance as to what could have possibly happened. 

"DO NOT MOVE AN INCH! MOMMA'S COMING!"

Kate shouts in response while pushing Yelena off her and the bed.

"Why am I the mom on duty?!"

"Because you’re the mom with pants on. There’s glass everywhere, she can’t stay still for more than three seconds, and I’m now moving at the speed of molasses." Yelena grunts and begrudgingly heads for the door. "Oh, and babe, you should look into getting a refund on those thirty grand. That thing is a terrible nanny."

Yelena playfully flips her wife off on her way out the door.

"Ri, what the frick are you doing in the kitchen by yourself?!" Yelena admonishes the girl as she runs to her.

Kate can vividly envision the guiltless, ostensibly angelic face Ereka will be making when Yelena walks into the kitchen. Kate is also well aware that “wasn’t me” face will be Ereka's "get out of jail" card even though she is quite literally standing at the crime scene. Yelena is putty in that child’s hands, Ereka knows this, and sometimes takes advantage of that knowledge to walk away scot-free if Yelena is the one supposed to be dishing out consequences to actions.

---

Kate became fixated on the idea that she wanted her baby shower on a rooftop, by a pool, with a picturesque city skyline view. The three things individually? Perfectly doable. Together? IN NEW YORK CITY? IN LATE AUGUST?! Damn near impossible. Not happening. 

Thankfully for Kate, she has a filthy rich mother, an unwavering wife, and a Type A elite event planner for the stars hired by the aforementioned women. The event planner is there to make each and every one of Kate’s obstinate, affluent, hormonal girl fantasies come true. Truthfully, she’s also there so Yelena and Eleanor can survive this with their sanity intact and that doesn't have a price tag. The family has two large social events essentially back to back this month, and if they can get someone else to handle Kate and her needs related to those things, everyone will be better for it. So hire an event planner they did and off Kate went...

One of Eleanor's friends knows someone who knows someone who could make the call to give them the okay to shut down the hotel’s rooftop pool Kate fell in love with for a day. Eleanor wrote a blank check and threw caution to the wind. Susan has made it clear she is never having children and Kate has been exceedingly vocal that this was it for her, so if Eleanor is only paying for one baby shower in her life, it will be a grand ol' time.

The theme Kate went with for the event is a “classy summer tea party”. The tables are set with authentic vintage British china and silverware. A tea sommelier makes personal recommendations on which tea to choose from the endless assortment of top-shelf global teas and then brews cups for each guest. Silver cake stands overflow with scones, sandwiches, mini cakes, patisseries, and jams from the best pastry chefs in the city. The kaleidoscopic flower and balloon arrangements put most weddings to shame. The women are expected to wear floral dresses and fancy hats to match the theme. 

While the official baby shower only runs from 11-2PM, they've closed down the entire rooftop and pool area until 8PM. Whoever wants to stay and hang out, swim, have drinks, or watch the sunset over dinner is more than welcome to do so. Male friends and partners are also invited to swing by in the afternoon. 

Unlike most traditional showers, this venue has no pink or blue in sight. Kate and Yelena decided not to find out the gender of the baby. At least, that's what they’ve told everyone. No one, not a soul, knows that they know. It’s been easier that way. 

Since Ereka could form sentences, she's been asking for a little sister. It's been incessant, well beyond the point of evolving into a full-fledged nuisance. When they decided to start trying, they kept it from the little girl. IVF can be a long, arduous process and adding her to the mix was merely going to complicate an already physically and emotionally draining circumstance further. It’s why they decided to keep her in the dark. Kate and Yelena went through a few failed rounds, then...success. When Kate is far enough along that they feel it prudent to share the big news, when they tell Ereka she’s finally going to be a big sister, Kate and Yelena don't think they've ever seen that child any happier. She hasn't come down from cloud eleven since. Ereka talks about her little sister to anyone who will listen. Problem is...Ereka's “little sister” is actually...a little brother. The ultrasound tech saw that penis clear as day on Kate's fourteen-week ultrasound and they've triple-checked on every appointment ever since. At this point, it'd be an act of god if that baby wasn't born with a penis because they've looked at it from every angle at Kate and Yelena's behest and it’s always there. 

Kate and Yelena have more or less been living in modest denial and trying to will the willy away, as they strongly feel that extra and unexpected bit of anatomy will not go down well with their daughter. It's more than a strong feeling. They know that with certainty and are endeavoring to put off sharing the information for as long as possible. None of this means they're being irresponsible about their approach. As the birth becomes imminent and the truth harder to conceal, they've begun consulting a family therapist to gradually help them lay the groundwork for when the baby comes and they ultimately have to detonate this bomb on the unsuspecting and eager eight-year-old.

---

The Bishop-Belova trio exit the elevator on the top floor of the ostentatious five-star Brooklyn hotel negligibly late at 11:13AM. Depending on which of them you ask, they'll each blame someone different for the tardiness. 

Kate wears a yellow fitted dress with thin straps, a crossover cutout detail that gives a baby bump peek, and a v-neckline that Yelena is quite fond of. This outfit is not at all a “classy tea party” look, but at the very last minute, Kate isn’t feeling the dress she bought for the party and decides she needs to change. If you ask Yelena, this is the reason why they’re late. 

When Kate tells Yelena she has to choose a yellow statement piece since that's what she and Ereka are doing, Yelena agrees. Easy enough. Yelena initially wears a light yellow button-down with a navy suit and yellow pocket square. Yelena likes the look. It’s a solid look. She thinks she might even look rather attractive in it. Kate, not so much. Kate flips and makes her wife change the suit because "Blue is for boy. You're being too obvious." and Yelena has to change. That's how Yelena lands on her current very bland and gender-neutral combination of: yellow shirt, a tan blazer, and khakis. If you ask Kate, Yelena having to change is the reason why they’re late.

Before they step into the madness of greeting, mixing, and mingling, Kate knows she needs a quiet moment with Yelena. She taps Ereka’s shoulder blade and jostles her towards the doors that lead to the roof and pool. 

“Go find grandma and Suzu. We’ll be right there.”

They watch her go and once the girl has disappeared past the glass doors, Kate pulls her wife into one of the indoor private cabanas behind them and quickly pecks her lips, then runs her thumb over them to wipe her lipstick off.

"The main thing is only three hours, then most people you have murderous fantasies about are going to leave and the people you can somewhat tolerate will stay. You like Greer.” 

“Greer’s fine. She’s funny. Sometimes.”

“Exactly. So I made sure you’re sitting next to her. It’s a few silly games, pictures, jokes, ha ha ha, people, joy. All so unfamiliar and very terrible. I know. But you're not going to die. You'll make it. I promise. I love you more than life. Just roll with it. They're not laughing at you; they're laughing with you."

"I'm only here for you."

Kate kisses Yelena once more and speaks against her lips.

"I know."

"No, I'm not saying it to guilt trip you or something. I'm just saying I wouldn't do this shit for anyone else. That's how much I love you."

"I know. I know. You're a grouch, but you're my grouch." Yelena grunts and rolls her eyes. "I truly do love that you’re a ‘get off my lawn’ eighty-year-old man trapped in this young body." Kate cops a feel of Yelena’s ass and squeezes it. "Big fan of the сексуальный русский [sexy Russian] body."

"I should’ve never taught you how to say that."

"I did insist.”

"You did...And I’m not THAT big of a grouchy old man."

"Baby...you LITERALLY chased kids off our lawn the other day. Literally."

"That thing they were playing with was ripping the grass out! I still have to talk to Javier and see if it’s okay or if we’re going to have to mow the whole thing down and wait for it to regrow evenly.”

"Okay, Grandpa Cyrus. I think it’s time for your meds."

"Weren’t you just trying to grope Grandpa Cyrus?"

"Listen, Grandpa, you’re very hot and I’m very horny. You have no idea. I don’t know how you have clothes on right now. I could be tearing them off with my teeth."

Yelena hangs her head back laughing.

"That’s not tea party behavior, love."

"I’m well aware. Part of the reason why you’re not naked right now.”

"Let's get it over with then. Sooner you get me home, sooner you can take my clothes off."

Yelena places her hand on the small of Kate's back, and gently nudges her, guiding her to the door.

"That's the spirit! We'll get you a drink first because I'm a good wife. I'd never make you do this sober. I know who I married."

Guests are already milling about and cheer for them when they make their grand, if ever so slightly shameful, delayed entrance.

---

About an hour and a half later, the function is in full swing. So far, they've managed to play the infamous blind diaper changing game, “Songs With Baby In The Title”, and "How Old Was She?" featuring the most embarrassing photos of Kate and Yelena that Eleanor and Alexei could dredge up.

They're currently in the midst of "You're Craving WHAT?!". Kate's cravings have been LUDICROUS this pregnancy. Yelena figured that if she has had to put up with them, it is only fair for everyone else to do so too. Guests get blindfolded and sample some of the things Kate's been willingly putting in her mouth, then try to guess what's in them. This is the only game that didn't make Yelena’s body fill with dread when she thought about this day the last few weeks, perhaps because she came up with it. She may be a baby shower game genius because, unlike the previous ones, this one hasn't brought her to the edge of suicide even once in the last fifteen minutes. Hard to admit, but...she could conceivably be having a good time.

"KATE, WHAT IS THIS?!" Kate’s blindfolded friend inquires while toiling to chew the sickening blend currently destroying her taste buds. 

"Cottage cheese, clementines, spicy ahi tuna, and chocolate milk," Yelena reveals with a delighted grin.

Kate's work friend gags violently and spits the mush onto a napkin.

"My mouth is watering. Hand it over. So good." Kate extends her hand and the cup with the foul concoction starts to make its way down to her.

"That baby is coming out and first thing it's going to do is ask you to say sorry, Kate. The hell...I'm finding out things about you I didn't want to know. What do you mean you've been making my niece eat pulled pork with frosting and alfredo sauce?! That's jail time!" Greer chimes in and the table roars with laughter.

"KitKat, you look so beautiful."

"DADDY!"

The guests turn to find the source of the voice coming from behind them. Before Kate can hold her, Yelena is already on her feet and stamping toward a visibly intoxicated Tom.

Kate exchanges a furtive glance with Susan, who understands and takes firm hold of Ereka, preventing the girl from going after them.

"Dude..."

The distance between where Yelena sat and Tom stands isn’t inconsiderable, yet she reaches him in what seems like a blink. Once she’s in front of him, she continuously rams her open palms across his chest until she’s thrust his body inside, away from everyone.

"Do you have mental problems? Is that the issue here? Do we need to have you committed?"

Kate finally reaches them and jerks Yelena away from Tom. Kate glares at Tom and points at the side door that leads to a small adjacent room filled with a few tables and loungers. 

"Go over there." When he starts walking, Kate turns her attention back to her wife. “Let me handle it.”

“You always ‘handle it’ and we still have the issue.”

“I’ll handle it.”

After a beat, Yelena attempts to force herself past Kate. Kate drives her back. 

“I’m going over there.”

“If you go over there, I’m afraid you’ll kill him.”

“Exactly. Problem solved forever.”

Kate doesn't even dignify that with a response. She simply steps away and walks to where Tom waits, leaving the door ajar.

“No.”

“KitKat.”

“No.”

“CupKate.”

“No. We’re not doing this today.”

“KaterTot.”

“I probably always hated that one the most. You have to go home.”

“I don’t even care that it’s another man’s baby...”

That incenses Kate.

“It’s not ‘some other man’s baby’! It’s Yelena’s baby!”

“...I’ll raise it...Oh come on! We both know that’s not true!”

“There’s more to being a parent than DNA.”

“Spare me the gay agenda bullshit. There’s a mom and there’s a dad. That’s how babies are made. THAT is some random guy’s baby...” Tom softens up again. “...and I’m totally fine raising it. I want to! I don’t even care! It can be the four of us.”

“I’ve fucking had it with you. I’ve had it. How did you even find out where we were?...Did you text Ri?!...Leave her out of this. Leave her out of it. There’s no reason she should be mixed up in this.”

“I think she should have a say in whether she wants mommy and daddy to be together.”

Kate closes her eyes and takes a centering breath. She refuses to allow herself to lose her cool on this man. Not for his sake, but because she knows if she does, she’s going to go ballistic and it wouldn’t be healthy for her baby.

“Kids don’t get a say in adult matters. Especially not on ones that aren’t a fucking possibility, Thomas.”

Kate expresses with as much composure as she can summon.

“They could be IF YOU STOPPED BEING SO FUCKING STUBBORN AND STUPID!”

Tom leans in to scream in Kate’s face. Yelena's been watching through the door crack and he got much too close to Kate for Yelena's comfort. She’s done waiting. Yelena stomps over, bursts through with such force that the door ricochets off the wall, and grabs Tom by the arm without saying a word, dragging him behind her.

“Yel...Yelena.”

“Let me fucking go.”

Tom fights back, but Yelena’s grip on his arm is iron tight. She continues to wordlessly drag him to the elevator with Kate hot on their tail.

“Yelena, I was handling it.”

Tom aggressively shoves Yelena trying to get her to loosen her grip and that’s her tipping point. That’s her last straw. Her martial arts training kicks in and she swipes his legs, sending him to the floor with a thud. He whines pathetically on impact. 

“Give me one good reason for why I shouldn’t beat your ass right now. Just one. Because I can come up with plenty for why I should.”

Kate pulls Yelena back away from him and glares at her.

“Stop! Stop it.” Kate turns to Tom. "Please leave. Please. Please. PLEASE. I don't want you here. We can talk some other day. Please. We’ll talk. Just go."

"Okay, KitKat." Tom gets on his feet and walks over to Kate. Yelena steps between them and they have a staredown but being much taller allows him to lean above her and place a wet kiss on Kate's cheek regardless. "We can talk another day."

He calmly heads for the elevator and his eyes don't leave Kate and her body until the elevator arrives and he steps on it.

"'We can talk some other day'?! THAT'S THE SHIT THAT FUCKING FEEDS HIS DELUSION, KATE? WHAT THE FUCK?!"

"Is he gone or not?"

Kate flings back coldly. 

"Until you let me and him beat the shit out of each other, I feel like we'll have a problem. I'm a jiu-jitsu brown belt. Why do you think I can't take him?"

Kate steps up to Yelena, directly to her face. At least as close as her pregnant stomach will allow her to get.

"I don't give A FUCK if you can give him a black eye or break his arm or not. I'm sure you could. That's irrelevant. You are a licensed attorney. You catch a charge, we have a problem. A big problem. You think he doesn't know that? You think he wouldn't LOVE that? He works with his family. He can be angry, and obsessed, and delusional, and slowly become an alcoholic all he wants. He's never getting fired. His last name is on the business cards, on the trucks, on the warehouses. What are you not getting?"

"Then let me talk to my dad. He'll make some calls. It'll actually be handled."

Yelena shrugs, nonplussed. Kate backs away, head shaking with incredulity. 

"For the sake of our marriage, I'm gonna pretend you didn't just threaten to have Alexei’s crazy Russian mafia buddies kill my daughter's father."

"I didn't say kill. Never said kill."

"Please stop talking."

Kate bites back curtly. Yelena becomes irate.

"Then what do you want me to fucking do?! What do you want me to do? Because I can't keep standing by while he treats you like shit, treats her like shit, and makes our lives fucking miserable. You ask me to let you ‘handle it’, but nothing ever changes. You won't let me beat the shit out of him and you won't let me get guys who will, so what do you want me to do? Tell me because I don't fucking know what to do anymore, Kate." Yelena's shoulders sag and in an instant, she shifts from livid to defeated. "I don't know what to do, but I can't keep living like this. I don't want to...I don't want him to have to."

Kate approaches, holds Yelena's hand, and places it on her belly.

"I don't want that either...but..."

"Fuck, Kate. What? What is it? What excuse is it now?"

"The next few weeks are gonna be so crazy. Baby's coming soon. I want this to be about us. I don't wanna do anything that's going to send Tom into a spiral or do something crazy. Her party is in two weeks..."

Yelena cuts her off.

"Has he told you if he's coming or not?"

"No. And if he does..."

"I don't want him there."

"...IF HE DOES...I need you to be the bigger person. For her. That's her day. Not a day for you two to have a pissing contest."

"Why can’t you tell him not to come?"

"He's her dad and it's her birthday, Yel."

"So what?! If he makes our lives fucking hell...so what? When does it stop? When do we say enough?!"

"He's never gonna hurt anyone. He's...sad. That’s it."

"It's been YEARS. What the hell does he still have to be sad about? Go to fucking therapy and stop making it our problem...I can't listen to this again."

Yelena walks out.

"Yelena."

---

Kate steps out from the room to find Yelena hovering by the elevators, pressing the buttons furiously as if that'll make them go faster.

"What are you doing?"

"I feel awful, Kate. Cramps are fucking killing me. I just want to curl up and lie down."

"Please don't make me go back out there by myself."

"I feel like actual dirt and I would very much like to go home." Kate stares at her, silently pleading. "You know I won't be able to say 'no' if you ask me again. Please don't ask me because I want to leave."

DING! The elevator arrived.

"I won't ask, but I don't want you to go."

Kate utters shakily, barely above a whisper, tears threatening to fall. Yelena closes her eyes and locks her jaw. She grunts as the elevator doors start to move toward each other and rests her head against the cold metal of the door jamb once it’s fully closed and on its way back down.

"I feel like shit."

"I'm sorry. You can go. My mom and Suze are here. All my friends are here. It’s fine. Call it back up. You don’t have to stay."

Kate walks to her wife and hugs her sideways, pressing a kiss to her temple, and whispering into her ear.

"Go home. I love you."

Yelena shakes her head.

"It's fine. It's your day. It's baby boy's day. I can suck it up."

"Not true. It's your day too. We're a team."

"Doesn't feel like it sometimes."

Kate holds Yelena tighter.

"I meant it when I said ‘not right now’. It doesn't mean forever. Baby could come tomorrow or six weeks from now and I don't want chaos in the background whenever it happens. But..." Kate leans back to look at Yelena. "...as soon as we settle once he's here, let's get a lawyer. Tom loves to threaten with them all the time. Let's finally do it. We have witnesses. We have proof. We have nothing to lose. But I need you to give me a few months. I need these weeks to be about the three of us. Shut Tom out. He doesn't matter. We matter. Baby Russ matters. Okay? Give me thirty more minutes and then we can go home. Yeah? Deal?"

"Kate, you had them shut down this whole thing until eight. You can't go home at..." Yelena looks at her watch. "...one thirty. That's insane. It probably cost your mom like ten years worth of college tuition funds to do this."

Kate chuckles. 

"She refuses to tell me."

"We're not going home. It's fine. I'll live."

"If you wanna leave, I won't stop you. But please don’t sneak out. At least tell me beforehand this time. I hate when you do that."

"Sure. Whatever. I'm fineeeee. Let's go." Yelena nudges Kate and they start walking, arm in arm, back to the outdoor area while talking. "It's our party. I don’t need to sneak out of my own party. I just need a drink. By now, people either think we died or are having the craziest sex somewhere."

"I'm not opposed to..."

"Not happening, Kate Bishop."

"That's me getting shut down for sex three times in one day. In case you're keeping track of the ones you owe me."

"I always pay my debts."

"I'm expecting you to."

The party faces are back on when they become visible to the guests through the glass doors. Isn’t all of life a performance anyway?

#I sandwiched our man Tom between fluff so you cant even complain #im being too nice to you lately #you once again walk away with a pain free ending #who am i becoming #what has 2023 done to me #who is this person #i dont like it #kymau #kymaup #anonymous #answers

[oniondraws]

New thing to killer queen au!!!

Alright so

Charimi hears about titan using the moon as bait. As titan stands in silence with the other moons, charimi has already planned it all out. She slowly approached titan from behind. Titan turned around. "Oh, your venus's moon ri-" charimi tackled titan and pulled out the same knife she used to stab eroupa 20 times in her chest. She yelled. "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU HURT INNOCENT PEOPLE!" She, infront of everyone btw, stabbed titan 25 times in the neck and chest. The moons gasped. They didn't have any leaders to tell them what to do. 2 of saturns moons tried to attack charimi, but charimi killed them both ruthlessly. Charimi grabbed titans body and ran off. Leaving luna and the moons in complete shock. Charimi dragged titans body through the asteroid belt. Going to the sun. While the sun wasn't looking, charimi threw titans body into him. "Huh? what was that?" The sun was confused. "Oh nothing! " charimi winked and tap danced away innocently. The sun smiled. Believing her. (of course :3) so charimi did know about the attack on venus and mars, she didn't wanna check on venus and mars since she was busy killing sum bitches :3 she went back to ganymedes body. It smelled. She dragged ganymedes body to the sun. And done the same with eroupa and enceladus's bodys. She sat in the asteroid belt. Cleaning her knife. She hears someone. She puts the knife away quickly. "Charimi.. We need to talk." Luna said. "You literally KILLED titan! Why would you do that!?" Lunas voice cracked. " but he BETRAYED you! Why would you care about him?! " charimi responded. "H-HE COULD'VE CHANGED! YOU COULD'VE CHANGED HIS MIND!" luna yelled. " JUST CAN IT WONTCHA?! HE WOULD'VE USED ME TOO! " charimi yelled back. After a loud argument. Luna soon gave up trying to talk to her. "Fine.. Kill as many moons as you want. Unless you want me to tell venus." Luna glared at her. " YOU FUCKIN WOULDN'T. " charimi growled. Luna walked off. Charimi scoffed. Not believing that luna would do that.

and I'll come up with the rest soon!! <33

GARGHHGG

*eats*

(sososososo sorry i havent been online and shit. got some modivation back ,:>)

#asks are cool #solarballs #salty #venus #solarballs venus #charimi #killer queen au #creds to salty

[ashxketchum]

hey me again, no thanks i'll stay anon since mimato shippers are super aggressive and bitter. Guess i don't have the right to argue since i am anon, so i'll just say koumi, jyoumi, and michi are all good ships with great quality and not-usually pervy fanart, and yeah the mishirou account's doing too much but hey at least they've yet to start begging+spamming on twitter saying "fuck you toei", while tagging every digimon tag possible in both english and japanese for the whole fandom to see right?

You're literally coming into my inbox and insulting me and then telling me that Mimato shippers are bitter and aggressive?? We've been the most bullied side of the fandom for so long, of course, we don't tiptoe on eggshells anymore, if you come for us we will fight back!!

Do you even know what Taiora fandom pulled during Mimato Week last week? Do you know how many times we have to go into the Mimato tag and see people bashing the ship, how many fanarts/fanfics have been deleted from every fandom site because of hate comments and reviews? We've been backed into a corner for years, and now that we have created a fun space for ourselves you lot have to come in and invade whenever you see us doing events and such. We are not bitter and aggressive, we are tired of the bullshit way the fandom has treated us for so long, anyone would lose the patience to be nice after what we've endured.

And pervy fanart, lmao are you 10 years old???

Please, the correct term is NSFW and the site called Pixiv that you claimed is a win for Koumi post tonnes of NSFW art of Mimi with every character so I don't know how Mimato shippers doing the same makes us evil - oh wait! Your next statement explains it, Koumi event mod is in the wrong BUT we are further in the wrong by your standards! So no other shipping fandom stirring up shit has to answer to anything but Mimato shippers must control themselves lol! What happened to letting anyone ship whatever they want? And as far as the tagging Toei is concerned, EVERY single Non-So/ra/to shipper has done that at some point, brave of you to assume that it's only Mimato fandom doing that. And since you did bring up the Reboot yesterday, there was a aggressive S/ora/to/Ta/ka/ri account on twitter that sent death threats to the Digimon anime's official account in replies and qrt's almost every week while the series was airing. And fyi, tags are meant to be used the exact way you just mentioned 🤣 Everyone posts whatever they dislike about the series in the main tags, for example, the Tri slander has always been off the charts in the Tri tags. But again, I get it, this behaviour is wrong only when Mimato shippers do it right?

Now I understand why you're refusing to come off anon, because you're probably one of those preachy blogs in the fandom that says stuff like "i support all ships uwu no hate to anyone uwu" but doesn't actually support all ships. Because you will hold the ship you hate accountable for any tiny mistake they may make while let the behaviour of other shipping fandoms slip under the radar.

You have a lot of audacity to continue to stay anon and disrupt my day and demand justifications from me over your own perceptions and opinions. Very easy for you to get on with your reputation in the fandom despite being a full bitch, while I am viewed as the "bitter and aggressive" person because I don't take shit sitting down.

#digimon #no wonder koumi tag is dead most of the time #because the shippers would rather pull shit like this then make their own content that they can enjoy #anonymous #answered

[roostersmustache]

The Hard Deck V. (Sneak Peek)

Pairing: Rooster x Bisexual Female O.C.

Authors Note: I am so so SO sorry for the wait on this guys! School has been absolutely insane. But, here is the sneak peek, let me know if you wanna be added to the taglist, and as always, let me know what you think. If it's your first time with my series, make sure you catch up on the first four parts!

Synopsis: Charley and Bradley have to stop avoiding the inevitable and talk about the mission while figuring out what they are, and what to do about telling Maverick.

Warnings: Mentions of an age gap, swearing, sexual tension, mentions of an abusive relationship. Not many as this is just the sneak peek!

Masterlist

Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four

Charley was trying to fall asleep when she heard commotion in the living room. And she had almost fallen asleep, that was until she heard sobbing outside of her door.

It wasn't just any sobbing. No. It was her dad.

Her dad, much to his disdain, was a crier. He cried a lot. Charley loved him for it, though. It always made him seem more compassionate to her. But he hated it. But when he sobbed? Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

She found herself shooting out of bed, and running into the living room to see what was going on. She was met with her father, sat on the couch with his head in his hands, and Penny rubbing his back in comfort. Penny looked at her and gave her a small frown, confusing Charley even more.

"Dad?" She timidly asked.

He slowly looked up at his daughter, his eyes puffy and red, and his face blotchy. Whatever it was that was bothering him was a big deal and it scared the living shit out of Charley because she had never seen him like this.

"Ice is dead," is all he said to her. Her eyes widened in realization, and then her expression changed to one of sympathy. She ran over and sat on the opposite side of her dad and gave him a hug.

"Oh, dad I'm so sorry," she said, laying her head on his shoulder.

"The funeral is tomorrow," he stated, standing up. "So we all better get some sleep before then."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Charley asked him, standing up beside him.

"No, but thank you, honey. He was a dear friend of mine."

"I know he was," she said, going in to hug him. He hugged her back, hard. "How was training earlier?" She asked, pulling back.

"Horrible," he cried. "Coyote went into g-loc and almost died, then Phoenix and Bob got into a bird strike and had to eject and almost died, and then Bradley-" Charley tensed up at the mention of his name, worry seeping into her again. "Bradley and I aren't doing good."

Charley just sighed, not needing to ask him to elaborate. Everyone knows about the tension between the two. It's a shame it's still gone on. She knows it eats her dad up, and she knows he wants to do anything he can to fix it. Charley's thought about talking to Bradley about it, but she doesn't think she can just yet. She doesn't want to overstep.

"He'll always be upset with me for pulling his papers, and I can live with that. What I can't live with is us always being like this. He's all I have left of Goose, and I see so much of Nick in him. I just want us to be okay," he cried. Charley pulled him in for another hug. "And then this happens with Ice. And then we have the mission that none of them are ready for, and I feel like someone's not going to come home from it because that's how dangerous it is-"

"Dad," she blurted, stopping his rambling. "It will all be okay," she said, trying to smooth over the fact that he said someone might not be coming home because of how dangerous it was. Every mission they go on is dangerous, but usually her dad gets excited. Not worried. She's just glad he's not flying it.

"Will it?" He said, stepping back to take a look at his daughter. No matter how much love he has for someone, the love he has for Charley will never compare. She is his reason for living. Not flying. When he feels the way he feels right now, he finds peace in her, knowing that he has done something right in his life by raising her.

"Yes," she nodded. "Take some deep breaths."

"Pete?" Penny said, stepping over to him as well. "Why don't you stay here tonight? I don't think you should be alone right now."

"I agree," Charley said.

He just nodded his head before walking up the stairs and disappearing. Charley looked back to Penny who wore the same saddened look as she did. No one liked to see Maverick like this. He was known for being carefree and uplifting. So it was hard to see him so sad.

"Goodnight, Pen," Charley said.

"Night, Char. Sleep well," Penny said, walking by and giving her a kiss on the forehead on her way up the stairs.

~~

The Hard Deck V., Monday, December 18th 12:00pm EST

TAGLIST (Let me know if you would like to be added):

@fangirl-316 @alana4610 @katiemcrae @paintballkid711 @emptyloverofmine @datingbtr @luckyladycreator2 @analliedumpling @midnightdevotion @happypopcornprincess @dunningz @claudie-080102 @hope-love-equality2 @shanimallina87 @unordinare @reneki

#the hard deck #rooster x reader #rooster top gun #rooster smut #rooster #rooster fanfic #rooster x oc #bradley bradshaw #rooster bradshaw #bradley rooster bradshaw #top gun maverick #tgm #topgunmaverick #bob top gun #top gun #top gun movie #top gun rooster #top gun fanfiction #top gun smut #bradley bradshaw x y/n #bradley bradshaw fic #bradley bradshaw imagine #bradley bradshaw x reader

[tintysun]

All of Us Are Dead (2022) [Remarks (by episode)]

EPISODE 1

• Damnnit. Su-hyeok should have done more for Eun-ji and her reputation. Maybe he believed something like it wasn't his place and could indeed make it worse by meddling. Among other things. But still... :/

EPISODE 2

• "Heads" of schools are so often so effin' dense. Geez. Trying to reason with them is worse than talking to a brick wall hoping to get through it. *facepalm*

EPISODE 3

• It's characters like Lee Na-yeon that I tend to dislike the most and have no compassion for. At first, you may be like, "Okay, so they're privileged and pretty out of touch. But nobody is perfect and people change! I could be bitchy too before..." And then they start pulling shit (and crying when they're facing the consequences of their actions).

IMO, one of the worst kinds of person to have in a team. IDC if they're right at times.

• Yang Dae-su is like the complete opposite. Jeez. Purest and biggest heart of gold.

• Spoiler: Jang Ha-ri LIVES! And I had no idea I would grow to like this character so much when she was first introduced...

EPISODE 4

• You wouldn't believe how heroic Nam So-ju is...

• And Park Mi-jin is so feisty and quarrelsome.

But such a good teammate after all...

EPISODE 5

• Cheong-san is tougher, smarter, kinder, and more deadly than he looks and you'd initially assume. Messing with him is not a good idea.

• The conversation about what if everyone turned and they're the only humans left hits so different now...

• Yoon Gwi-nam is the worst. *shudders*

EPISODE 6

• Trying not to say more than I should before upcoming episodes and the ending, but... Choi Nam-ra is OP. Top student and top fighter.

EPISODE 7

• Call me biased, but when it comes to Min Eun-ji, I'm like, "YASS, SLAAAY!!"

• Welp. If they all leave the school in this instance, that'd be it.

EPISODE 8

• I love how Min Eun-ji, by dealing with her pain, indirectly freed the group to be out on the rooftop and relatively safer. Not the abuse and neglect, though. People are messed up.

• The reluctant "villain". Though, I mean, if you've been severely bullied or outcasted by your peers (and chances are they're all turned or infected, anyway), it kind of follows that you'd hate the place and everyone in it or be indifferent about it all. He may just have been honoring another's rage wish, too.

• Am I supposed to feel bad because she starts showing signs of having some humanity? Well, I don't. She had plenty of opportunities to do the right thing but over and over chose her own comfort and convenience over it. It didn't matter that the teacher who sacrificed herself for her practically begged her to do better and help others. She still chose to be selfish until her bit of conscience (or maybe a literal ghost), and probably her loneliness most of all, finally pushed her to more. I'm not saying go get killed by a zombie, but missed me with that sympathy-seeking. And if I had to guess, she'd be the kind to revert to her old ways once she has it going good for herself again.

EPISODE 9

• Is there a politician that isn't a phony?

EPISODE 10

...

EPISODE 11

• Hmm... Seeing someone you love, or just knew, turn all the way into a Zombie must be a whole other kind of grief. Because you remember the person they were before and you want to hang on to that, and maybe even cherish it, but then in front of you is the same body acting in wildly contrary ways. And you'd have to tell your brain not to override who they were with this new behavior but it would still do. Then there's the hope that there's a cure and you can bring them back again, but that's rarely the case in zombie stories.

• It always both baffled and irritated me to no end the obsession of Yoon Gwi-nam with fighting Lee Cheong-san. But it makes sense that Lee Cheong-san could upset him so. Besides Yoon Gwi-nam just being generally violent and wanting to take that out.

EPISODE 12

• I'm sorry if anyone saw themselves in Park Ji-hoo but, to me, she came across as an NPC - there to prompt the rest of the characters to show different sides or degrees of them as well as to display how emotions can be processed or moral stances taken. I wanted to take it all seriously, but couldn't help but be amused at parts to watch others interact with her as though they were all interacting with a non-entity rather than with a number of other characters they would have shown those sides and degrees to. 😂

Or maybe she's the writer's self-insert? Anyhow, thank you for that, Park Ji-hoo, whatever or whoever you are.

FINAL

• I regret not having written down my favorite lines as I was watching all the episodes. There were some true gems in there. I'd have to rewatch for all of them now. 😭

But off the top of my head right now: Loved Ha-ri's profoundness showing, as well as the thoughtfulness of the teacher, Sun-hwa, and the boldness of Cheong-san. 💛💛💛

#stories #all of us are dead

[johannstutt413]

(requested by anonymous)

“Alright, that’s all for today.” The Doctor stretched in his chair. “Made pretty good time, too.”

“Mmhmm.” Schwarz acknowledged his comment.

He stood up, throwing on his jacket. “You wanna grab a drink? I’ll buy.”

“You’re still trying?” She shook her head. “I won’t say no to a drink.”

“Before you fully agree, though, one condition: you tell me how you got to where you are today. I’ve heard something about you taking out an entire clan, and I want to know how much of what the rumor mill fed me is true.”

Schwarz thought for a moment. “You’ll buy the whole night?”

“The whole night,” he agreed. “Get whatever strikes your fancy, I’ll foot the bill.”

“Alright. You, me, two bottles of good whiskey, and I’ll tell you my story.”

The Doctor nodded. “Sounds like a fair trade to me. To the bar.”

-

“So, yeah...that’s my story.” They were at a table in the bar, several bottles of whiskey in front of them (one half-empty, the others fully drained). “Like I said, it’ll keep you up at night - took awhile for me to get over it, I know.”

“That is a nasty one...I wonder if the old me would’ve batted an eye, though. From what I’ve heard, I’ve been a part of similar events, both the winning and losing sides. Did you get the clean break you’d wanted?”

Schwarz thought for a moment. “Mostly. I don’t have any guilt about what I did, but...I still carry that training, those scars, the pit in my heart covered over with others’ blood and Ceylon. That poor girl - she still thinks I can be saved. Imagine that.”

“She’s not the only one,” the Doctor smirked. “This might be a bit rich coming from me, but I bet there’s still hope for you.”

“You really mean that, Doctor?”

He nodded. “I do. There’s your connection with Ceylon, which you might laugh at me considering, but...honestly, if you were truly heartless, you couldn’t even have forged that bond, and for it to have become this strong over the years since? You still have a sense of right and wrong - a rather precise one, even. Look at Lappland, look at Spectre, look at Skadi; the truly far-gone don’t have an understanding like that. And then, there’s...eh, maybe that’s too far a stretch, even if it matters to me.”

“While we’re in a spilling mood, Doctor,” Schwarz replied, “I’d prefer you do your fair share.”

“Alright, then. Well, Schwarz, the fact that you were willing to come and talk to me like this. I know you go out to drinks with the other mercenaries and whatnot every now and again, but the fact that you were willing to go into this with me, it...it made me happy.”

She shrugged. “I make Ceylon happy as well. Usually by accident.”

“Fair, but...” He was drunk enough he knew he had to be more careful about his choice of words, but also drunk enough for that definition to slip. “Is she attracted to you? Like, romantically?”

“I...I’ve never asked.”

The Doctor smirked. “That’s one big difference, then. I certainly am.”

“Hmm.” Schwarz poured another glass for herself. “Another glass, Doctor?”

“Sure.” He went to grab the bottle, but she still had her hand on it, and they ended up touching as she poured into his glass.

The Doctor pulled his hand back even as she was unfazed. Schwarz set the bottle down and gave him a look. “What is it about me you find attractive?”

“Oh boy, where do I start...” He drained his glass faster than it’d been poured. “Well, let’s be frank - you’re beautiful. I’m sure you’re more than aware of that.”

“...” Dead silence.

The Doctor responded with a disbelieving look. “Surely, someone has told you that by now. Ceylon, the Mayor, some trashy mercenary - I’m not the first person to tell you that your combat outfit leaves very little to the imagination but still leaves me fantasizing, or that your hair shines like silver and your eyes like gold, or that-”

“Doctor.” Schwarz waved her hand to tell him to stop, brightly blushing. “Please.”

“You wanted to know,” he shrugged, grabbing the bottle for himself and pouring another glass.

She sighed. “I didn’t expect you to have so much to say...”

“Have you really not been told?” The Doctor shook his head. “That’s a real shame. Besides, I didn’t even get to the harder stuff.”

“The harder stuff?”

He smirked, leaning forward. “Your faraway expressions as you fight your demons, the ones that remind me of my own at times despite the attached memories being long lost; your glare, that go-to-hell expression that doesn’t really mean malice so much as a warning to keep your distance, because everyone around you gets hurt and everything around you burns; your naturally stoic face that demands someone spend substantial time by your side to read your true emotions, something I wish I was better at...Sorry, I got lost in your eyes again.”

“Again...” Schwarz truly couldn’t believe him. “Is that why you lose your train of thought when talking to me?”

“They strike me to my core, as if they’re baring my entire soul to you...even though they clearly aren’t if you didn’t know all of this already.”

She crossed her arms and set them on the table, resting her chin on them to stare at the now-empty bottle with her ‘stoic face.’ “We’re out of alcohol.”

“I can get us more,” he shrugged. “Unless that was simply an observation?”

“...We’ve probably had enough by now.”

The Doctor nodded. “Much more and I won’t be able to work tomorrow. Can I tell you something else?”

“While we’re on the subject.”

“I’m really trying to not bring up every little thing, I promise,” he blushed. “It’s just...there’s so much about you to love.”

That seemed to be the final straw. “So much to love? Doctor, I am a shell of a person after the life I’ve led; I am a monster, bound to the shadows of the battlefield where I can mete out a life as a professional killer, a bodyguard and contract assassin who found her way to RI because of the person who freed me from my worst servitude in exchange for a lighter-than-deserved sentence. What is there to love about a person-shaped dark patch, hmm?”

“...Do you really think you’re the only monster here?”

“They’re children,” she retorted. “Children, misguided idealists, people with hope and life in their eyes-”

The Doctor’s voice picked up volume. “-Veterans.”

“...Excuse me?”

“Veterans,” he repeated. “Child soldiers, experiments in Originum compatibility gone wrong, revolutionaries, outcasts, vagabonds, warriors who should have been able to put down their swords long before now. There are Operators who have been abused, brainwashed, cut apart and sown back together, betrayed, bought and sold, cast out from their homes, stabbed, backstabbed - and that doesn’t just go for the Infected, like you and me.”

Schwarz had long since fallen silent. “Like you or me?”

“That’s right; at some point, I joined the Infected myself. If all the stories are to be believed, I’ve been a scholar, a tactician, but first and foremost a warlord cruel and unrelenting. I’ve led criminal enterprises, genocides, mass exterminations, and utterly despicable acts of sabotage and treachery in the name of some master I’ve long since forgotten my attachment to. It took losing my memory to start over, but you know what else it did? It left me a shell of a person as well, always minding my manners to not offend someone whose back has had my dagger in it once or a thousand times before, always looking for new tidbits about my past self so I can avoid being the disaster of a man I used to be, always wondering if the Operator I’m hiring on has suffered either at my hand or because of something I did in my past life. Reincarnation like this doesn’t mean my past is forgotten...it simply means I’ve forgotten it. Many of us, including yourself, don’t get that luxury...or that curse.”

“I’d...” She stared at him. “I’d never thought of it that way before.”

The Doctor sighed, standing up and donning his jacket. “I’ll walk you back to Ceylon’s.”

“I can’t let you do that; what if something happens to you on the way back?”

“I’ll say the same right back to you,” he retorted. “You know how I feel; imagine how terrible I will if you get hurt because I got you this deep into the bottles.”

Schwarz sighed. “I guess we’re spending the night together, then.”

“I guess we- what.”

“I can’t let you out of my sight,” she continued, “and you don’t want me out of yours for several reasons, so we’ll just have to spend the night together. I’m assuming your place, because Ceylon might learn something about you it’d be best for her not to figure out.”

The Doctor simply could not process this information properly. “Right, right...my room, then.”

“Let’s be on our way, then. Here - we should help each other stay on our feet.” Schwarz put an arm around his shoulder and pulled his arm around hers, and then they were off. It took some time, thanks to the staggering they were doing, but they made it to his room in one piece.

“Not that I’m ungrateful,” he managed, “but um...what’s happening tonight?”

She blinked, slowly. “You and me, sharing a room.”

“Right.” The Doctor shrugged it off, opening the door.

“Nice place.” Schwarz strolled in, a little shaky but still mostly in control. She collapsed onto his bed. “So.”

Still in the doorway, he steadied himself on the frame. “If you want the bed-”

“I want you in the bed with me.”

“Oh.” The Doctor stumbled forward, turning a fall into a tumble and standing afterwards. “Alright, then.” He shed his shoes and coat (which she had done while watching his display) and joined her.

For a few moments, nothing happened; eventually, she put a hand on his chest and gave him a probing stare. “Well?”

“...I dunno what I’m doing. One thing to dream about it, another-”

“I thought I was hopeless.” Schwarz’s statement wasn’t really a response to him. “I love Ceylon like a sister. Tonight, I want to know if I can love you like a woman.”

He collected himself - which took a moment. “Well, let’s give this a shot, then...”

He told himself he’d stop at a kiss; he was drunk, she was drunk, no guarantee if they’d remember any of what happened tonight afterwards. He told himself that would be enough, regardless of how much he wanted more. Take it slow, take it slow, take it-

Their lips met, and suddenly, the world was moving a thousand miles a minute.

#arknights #schwarz (arknights) #she's a hard nut to crack #might've mentioned that before #but we gotta remember: our doc's done some shit #everyone at RI has done some shit #with maybe one or two exceptions #but that doesn't last long thanks to reunion and other threats #so treasure what innocence you have #don't chase the future like it's the water to quench your thirst #because one day we'll all end up in the dirt #c'est la vie #arknights fic

[daincrediblegg]

Really think it’s super understated exactly how much of the cult end of things is really Bev Keane’s idea and fault- and this is not to divert blame from John at all like the real heartbreaker is his complacency in all this but more on that later. Essay under the cut because jesus there is too much to sum up.

Like???? It’s not like he fuckin died the first time he encountered the angel I mean he got bit yeah but he took a shot of the blood and boom he was fine! And young again to boot! So obviously the original plan is to just pop back to crockett slip some blood in the communion wine and boom!!! Millie gets young again and cured of dementia so he gets a second chance to really have a life with her and their daughter and everything is fine!!!!

… but then he reaches critical mass (which I expect is because he was ingesting more of it than everyone else at too quick a rate). Bev and her little group are the only people who know the truth and watch him die and come back. Immediately she is quoting and using scripture to describe the changes that his body is going through- I mean he's basically Jesus!!! the Penultimate Biblical Miracle coming back from the dead!!- and therefore he chalks it up to “a matter of faith” and doesn't see a doctor (AKA HIS OWN SMART AS FUCK DAUGHTER WHICH HONESTLY HE SHOULD!!!!!) And so he goes with it!!! Until once again the thing he became got out of hand- and though he didn’t directly himself kill Joe but are certainly to blame for just fucking sucking at his head wound instead of… y’know… HELPING the guy bleeding out on the floor of his own goddamn home.

So then he’s done this this monsterous thing- which again is more a fault of his inaction than direct action- and doesn’t even know what to think of it to a point he’s numb to it (I mean jesus I cannot believe he felt no real guilt at all- sitting in a corner barely fucking lucid in a blood coma for hours until your deacon comes to find you because you're late for mass doesn’t scream no guilt no remorse to me it screams fucking mental blackout) but AGAIN!!! Here she comes. Speaking the words of his faith and calling what he went through a miracle from God and showing him bible passages detailing EXACTLY THE SHIT THAT HE’S GOING THROUGH so well if it’s in the scripture maybe it’s ok maybe it’s part of god’s plan for him sure he’ll bite. But note that even though he doesn't feel remorse for this thing he did anymore because Bev told him it's in the bible so it's ok that he's still on a pretty strict Sturge Blood diet- probably more likely than not to avoid another Joe Collie incident- so funny little contradiction but he's too wrapped up in this idea of new morality thanks to Bev he doesn't get it (and that it's more than likely a move to protect herself from getting Ate).

Then there’s Riley. Riley who he has such a great affection for who he thinks doesn’t deserve to die because even though he’s done terrible things he deserves a chance at redemption too- because like his savior he finds kinship with pariahs and knows they deserve love just as much if not more than everyone else. So *he* brings him back (I mean he wasn’t taking communion seeing as he wasn’t in a “state of grace” and didn’t believe anymore- so it’s safe to assume he made the decision through the blood lust to save him), and he has “The Meeting” and half of it is parroting the shit that Bev revealed to HIM about this condition that they now both share because really they’ve been on the level with each other since the beginning- but there’s another half that’s desperately attempting to show him that it’s worth living- even though he’s done awful things and will now inevitably do it again because it’s now a compulsion that neither of them can control. But he doesn’t want to chain Riley to him he’s more compassionate knows better than that. He’s explained all he can and sends him out with hope!!! He’s feeling good about the new covenant and the shift of morality he’s facing and he has Riley as an apostle to help tell that good news.

But then the sunrise comes. And he can feel it when he dies. HE feels it. Like god might feel every death and he can barely handle the ONE death of his old altar boy- his friend. And he doesn’t have more than a few hours to mourn before IN COMES BEV!!!! Again!!! And guess what. She was unfortunately *right*. Not about Riley himself he was worthy and given a gift as a result but right that he shouldn’t have just set him out into the world so recklessly not 100% knowing what he might do- that he might “spit it out”. And then she says “who knows who he talked to”- and suddenly the dynamic shifts. Small town news spreads. What if he tells someone who tells someone who tells MILLIE? Or Sarah? And Bev says “lets ‘share the miracle’ and ‘make easter vigil a night of baptism’”. And you know what? He didn’t listen the last time. He’s an adult and can admit when he was wrong. So he goes with it. Because he was wrong and because he can’t have another fuck up with someone he loves (let alone the LOVE of his LIFE who he is DOING THIS FOR in the FIRST PLACE). So most of the plan he hands over the reigns to Bev. And it’s short sighted as fuck but you gotta remember this plan goes into effect literally THE DAY OF so it’s all haphazard and a rushed effort and he’s rushing and bev and sturge and wade are rushing to make sure 1) no one can leave the island and die like Riley 2) so they can still attempt to have a meeting about the whole vampirism thing I mean he managed to handle riley pretty well and he didn’t fuck up and kill somebody like HE did!!! He managed to teach him some level of control!!!! So surely he can handle this!!!

BUT IN HIS SHORT-SIGHTEDNESS!!!! In his complacency with Bev’s plan guess what!!!! All fucking hell breaks loose!!!! THE SHIT HITS THE FAN!!!! Of course it didn’t go to plan because it was simply too much all at once and he could barely process anything else that happened before it there just wasn’t time because he just doesn’t want anyone else to die so of course he went with it!!!! And he only starts to realize he fucked up when the chaos is so bad that Millie- *his* MILLIE fucking SHOOTS him!!

And what did Bev gain from the shit hitting the fan??? A platform. At last. A place of leadership where she gets to decide who lives and who dies and who’s a sinner and who a saint. She gets to play god to a flock of wolves and that shit is Dangerous. And it’s not until he sees it that he finally snaps out of it and realized he got this all wrong and that what she was doing was wrong and that what she was leading him on with was *wrong* and that moment of clarity brings him back to his roots long enough to reconcile with his former lover tell his daughter the truth he's been hiding for years and try to be a real father to her in his final hours and finally attempt to be the shepherd he used to be that he always *was* to the broken people that Bev would so easily cast aside because her idea of love from God is very different from his. And at least he knows that before the end and ends up seeking forgiveness from the one person who actually mattered that he needed reassurance and guidance and forgiveness from all along but couldn’t have had the whole goddamn time.

#yeah I’ve been thinking about this a normal ammount #midnight mass #father paul #john pruitt #bev keane #mildred gunning #riley flynn #joe collie #sarah gunning #sturge #meta #lmao I’ve been writing this for an hour it’s almost 6 am I need to sleep #there’s probably an essay in me about millie too but it’s too late bros I need to sleep #so I can FINALLY fucking publish that alphabet I’ve been promising ALL FUCKING WEEK #but this wouldn't leave my head it's such a fucking symbiotic relationship and not the haha fun venom kind #like don't get me started on how the precident for this is set because of the whole settlement rec center money laundering thing #like she's such a leech!!!! and he lets her do it to him even when he has his mind back!!!! THE TRAGEDY!!!!! #had to plug this out tho ok it's 6 am night night fuckos

[venomous--fics]

Anon asked: maybe a continuation of the peter b parker kid thing where they finally confront the mom and get the readers things back 😩💞💞

a/n: ask and thou shall receive! this spent so long in the drafts bc i felt so insecure about it tbh, so any feedback is appreciated! I love seeing messages about what you guys think! really keeps me motivated! also, requests are open

Warnings: mentions of past abuse

Peter was sitting at the kitchen table, constantly looking at the clock. It was almost 5pm, you were supposed to be home an hour and a half ago. Yes, he keeps track of everyone's schedules, yes he knows the exact second you should be walking through the door. He's already texted you, but maybe you had detention. Nah, you were a good student, he highly doubted you'd have to stay after school.

His phone finally rang, and he was way too quick answering it.

"You okay?"

"I need some help."

"What is it?" he was already out the door.

You sighed, knowing he was probably going to give you an earful later.

"Well, it's a really long story, right.. But my mom showed up after school-"

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I think. Anyways, we got into it on the way home, which is no- Not normal." you adjusted how you were sitting, "And since she was dragging me back to the house, I figured I'd just get my crap and come home, right? Makes sense, saves us the tri-"

"She took you without permission?"

"Technically she is my m-...Parent. I guess, y'know, legally she can do whatever- But..Okay." you began to feel bubbles of anxiety and pain and even resentment form deep in your core, "She locked me out." You rubbed your neck.

"Are you," he paused, looking around at all the faces passing by him, "Still there?"

"Yeah. Unfortunately. I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for? Don't apologize, you didn't do anything."

"I keep causing problems for everyone."

"Not for me. Or Mj."

It was quiet on your end.

"You still there?"

"Yeah."

"I'll be there in like ten minutes."

"You probably shouldn't."

"Nah, nah." He said, having a sudden wave of anger rush over him, "Let me take care of this."

And true to his word, Peter was there in ten minutes. You hopped up from your spot on the porch as he made his way up to the door and knocked on it as hard as he could. He gave you a reassuring pat on the back.

The door swung open, and your mother seemed awfully surprised and confused to see some random man just standing there. Peter held no emotion has he looked her dead in the eye, "Can we come in."

She opened the door wider so that way you two could step in.

"Go get your stuff." is all Peter said to you.

Wasting no time, and not wanting to be in the middle of a potential argument between the two, you skedaddled to your room. It almost felt like too much to be in there. It looked so empty and barren compared to your room at Peter and Mjs place. Seems really dull. Lifeless, almost. Dust covered every surface, which meant that nobody had ever even bothered to see if you were even still in there.

You heard their voices from the living room, but they seemed so distant, seeing as all you could focus on was every shitty thing that woman put you through.

You remember the day that you got bit. It made you deathly ill, and you just thought you were dying from some sort of allergic reaction to the spider bite. You tried to get her to take you to any doctor or anywhere that could help because all you could seem to see were stars.

Everything then was so loud. Everything was so bright. It was all too much, and you were certain that the reaper was waiting for you. What did she say?

"Suck it up and stop pretending. Everything has to be so dramatic with you."

Or that time you forgot a single item on the shopping list. You got this whole speech about how stupid you had to have been. To forget one item. It was the world's most useless item.

Everything else seemed to play all over again, all at once. Like a waterfall. It should've made you sad. It should've made you cry, or scream.

You recounted all the times you wanted to fight back, or just run away. Leave everything behind and just run until your legs gave out. But you never did. You always found some reason to linger.

The conversation was growing louder where Peter was.

"You aren't going to do this to them ever again. Sign the papers."

You nearly dropped your last belonging on the floor as you scrambled to your door. Papers? He wasn't serious. Well, obviously he was. He just said it.

"Fine. It's not like the-"

"Zip it. Sign the papers."

"Who are you anyways? The law? If so, whatever they've told you is a b-"

"Listen, lady. I didn't ask for any attitude. I told you to sign the papers." he seemed to huff in annoyance, "That doesn't require talking."

"I'm a good mother."

"And I'm the king of France."

"Really. I gave them a good home. I have fed them and kept them warm-"

"Really? You think you did all that? Or are you convincing yourself that you did all that?"

"I am-"

"Can I be honest with you?"

"Ye-"

"I've never said this about anyone, ever. I don't like speaking to or about anyone like this.. Ever, but, you? I think you're a piece of shit."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, look. You finished signing the papers. I'll take those. Thank you."

Realizing that it was your time to go, you stuffed your blanket into your duffel bag and rushed out the door and down the hall. Peter looked at you, expecting to see at least three bags. But he only saw the one.

"Where's the rest of your stuff."

"Uhm," you shuffled around, pretending as thought you dropped some, "This...This is all my stuff."

"That can't be ri-" He laughed a little, and noting the expression on his face, you saw that he was NOT happy. "That? That single duffle bag is all you have? That's it?"

"Yes..." you took a step back, "This is all.."

"I can't believe it." he said, "You're joking! One bag worth of stuff?"

He turned his attention back to your mother, who, for the first time in your life, actually looked like she got caught red handed, "You're pathetic. Absolutely pathetic."

"But they're so u-"

"No! No, you don't get to talk anymore. You've done enough."

You awkwardly shuffled behind him, in the event that you two had to make a mad dash out the door. That and you needed to not be seen as you tried to hide your almost evil grin.

"The hell is wrong with you? You have this amazing kid, and THAT'S all you've ever gotten for them? And you sit there and call yourself a mother? Absolutely, without a doubt, bullshit. I'd be ashamed of myself to call myself a father if that's all I've provided for my kid. Don't even get me started on you as a person, we made that clear."

It almost felt cursed to hear him swear, seeing as he made it a point to tell you to not swear. Every time you did, you have to give a quarter to the swear jar. Mj was always on your side, though. She'd say a swear that was much worse and have to pay a dollar. Each word had a value.

"Maybe we should just go." you suggested, tugging on the sleeve of his arm, "She's not worth it anymore."

"She was never worth it, it seems."

You finally made eye contact with her, and the look in her eye. It's like she understood, but was choosing to not do anything about the situation. She could look sorry all she wanted, but you knew she wasn't.

"I'm sorry, Y/n. You know that right."

"That means nothing to me."

"I can change."

"If you can change now, that means you could've changed then. You just chose not to."

"But I'm your mother, you should realize how I feel. You should want-"

"You're not my mom. You stopped being my mom the first time you-" You turned towards the door and started walking towards it, "Whatever. You mean nothing to me."

You practically kicked open teh door just to leave, and Peter was right behind you, shouting about how he'd make sure to egg her house everyday, just to piss her off.

"Do you really think I'm amazing?" you asked, the walk home feeling rather quiet.

"I think you're more than that. Just can't put it into words."

"Did you really mean it...That we could egg her house?"

"You want to? There's a store right on the way home."

"How about tomorrow."

"I'll have to clear up my busy schedule. See if I can work in a drive by egging. Well, swing by egging."

"You promise?"

"You kidding? I haven't egged anyone's house since college."

You had so much more you wanted to get off you chest, but you opted to just talk about it at home, with everyone present. You wanted to talk about how you felt about everything, and the papers. Whatever those were. But you were, for the moment, busy laughing about Peter's story about how he used to Egg this one reporters house. Someone named Jonah.

You wonder if Jonah ever put two and two together.

#marvel imagine #marvel x reader #into the spider verse x reader #into the spiderverse imagine #peter b parker imagine #peter b parker x reader #peter parker imagine #spiderman imagine #spiderman x reader

[cerastes]

Why do you think Doctor is popular amongst AK fans, Drimo? Is it solely because of the typical insert self thing all gacha protags have in common, or is it Being Into War Crimes and Silly Shit? Or a mix of both?

A number of factors, in my opinion.

Arknights is more of a niche game in terms of appeal and presentation when compared (and contrasted) with the rest of the market, and indeed, while it doesn't have the sales of products with potent, established IPs behind them (IE: Fate) or products that have a more mainstream appeal to them (IE: Genshin), it still does pretty well in terms of revenue because it has leaned into its niche and has succeeded in it.

You could consider Doctor a reflection of that design philosophy and output: A good deal of mobile games sort of force the angle of "you are a young person, not an adult yet" to the main character. Or it goes completely unaddressed and people just fill in the blanks however they see fit. With Doctor, the possibility of not being an adult is, well, astronomically low, but never outright impossible. This is not done by assigning an age or age range to the character per se, but rather, because of how the world treats them, and here is where I think Doctor, as a character meant to be our point of view into the world of Arknights, succeeds and ends up more interesting than practically everyone else: Doctor is part of the world's mystique, not a mere visitor to it.

Doctor is not a rando that got pulled into something bigger than them and now has to scramble and make allies to deal with it. Even from second one, when one might get that impression, it's immediately established that Doctor had their hands in the pie since a long time ago, these people aren't just getting to know you now, you are surrounded by a mix of characters that know you closely and others than have heard the stories. Amiya and Ace have already gone through thick and thin with you, Dobermann has only heard you're this absolute monster of a tactician, Scout knows you so well that he can lament what has become of you. Your character, Doctor, is not a visitor, a foreigner, they are, from second one, DEEPLY involved in the overarching story, with ties to several characters from the get go. The way the player is eased into the world from such a character is amnesia, which organically allows you to "relearn" the world, your duties, and what's going on.

The war crimes and silly bits, as you put it, are a big fruit born from the fertile soil detailed above, but it's not the war crimes and silly bits in a vacuum that make Doc universally popular, but rather, the way they are treated as building blocks of an ultimately more important facet of the story: Doctor is in fact part of the world, and not a mere visitor experiencing the world, and they have the characterization, loose as it may be in some regards (the silly bits and the bits open to interpretation) and rigid as it may be in others (the war crimes, the ties to Amiya, Kal'tsit, Flamebringer, W, and other veteran RI personnel, and other such bits that are NOT fully open to interpretation). Few things about Doc are set in stone in a way that you can't do whatever you want with them as a self-insert, while at the same time, there are some things that are inexorably tied to Doctor's role as a character, which are not merely informed, but rather, are built upon and developed constantly, intrinsically and extrinsically. That last bit there might have been confusing, so let me posit an example: If they were merely informed, we'd be told Doctor did some very very bad things in the past, but that's ok! You can be better now! It's the future that matters, we'll change from here on! But it is not merely informed, it is built upon and developed, we're told Doctor did some very bad things, but not to the character directly at first, rather, we hear discussion about Doctor's past, then it's ambiguously suggested to the character proper (usually, it's Kal'tsit that does this) that they were godawful in the past, and no one in earshot really denies it, but they weren't just godawful, they also had some very personable aspects to themselves, such as Scout saying that even after they'd become a beast of logic and warfare that treats the loss of life like a game of chess, Doctor still took time to have a drink with the likes of Scout and Ace, talk with them, hang out, to be supportive to Amiya beyond just the role of a combat commander, and other such things. The war crimes, thus, are not there to just say "Doc was Bad And Cool", it's treated in a tragic, solemn manner that has characters still try to find the good in them, and the effects of which still affect the characters to this day.

Doctor feels much more like a character than the usual self insert without really stripping away the freedom that comes with having a self insert.

To make a comparison, Mr. Sawyer, creator of Fallout: New Vegas, addressed a more self-contained but similar example in a bit of introspection regarding the game, particularly about how people liked Courier Six more in the DLCs rather than the base game. He rationalized that it is because Courier Six in the DLCs has a lot more humanized dialogue that allowed certain things to be set in canon, so long as you said them, about their backstory. Little things, peppered throughout the DLCs, such as having kids or having been to a certain state before coming to the Mojave, as well as far less generic dialogue, such as colorful insults and other such more personable lines of dialogue or expressions of surprise compared to the very bland and direct Courier Six of the main game, whose dialogue they made with the intent of being a blank slate and thus had to be as uncharacterized as possible so people would fill their own blanks. In relation to what we were discussing about Doctor, you could say that Courier Six in the base game feels more like a visitor to the world, while Courier Six in the DLCs feels like they are part of the game mystique and the game world's, like another character in the narrative over whom you have control more than a complete blank slate over which to project into.

The market trend always favors self-inserts, it always has and this likely will never change, especially in anime style games, given the very self-referential nature of media from Japan and its influence in its neighboring countries (such as Arknights in this case, being a game made by a Chinese developer), but one cannot deny the impact and resulting popularity from self-insert characters that are still a part of the world's mystique rather than being mere visitors to it, as this has an audience as well, a specific subset of the self-insert, if you will. I think Doctor belongs in this category, and enjoys the benefits that come with it, thanks to being well written.

#paragon arthur #long post #ended up a bit longer than I wanted but hey #arknights #doctor

[beels-burger-babe]

D&D Story Time

@bloopthebat you may be interested in this

So ya'll know how I play D&D? While I had a crazy fucking session tonight, and my roommate is unavailable to rant to, so you guys get to hear it.

I've talked about the Three Cleric Campaign that I'm a part of before. There are three of us, we all play clerics, in a world where gods mostly live amongst us and are our political system as well.

I play Riona, an aasimar order cleric who follows Islina, sun goddess and queen of the pantheon. She's our party's healer

Then there's Taman (Riona's perfect opposite). A human raised by elves, a light cleric who follows the Moon God, a god who has been missing for centuries and is believed to be behind the dark corruption that is slowly killing the world (we only found that out post start of the campaign). He's utilities.

And finally, Thassa. A princess teifling of the Mother of Monsters who is a tempest cleric that follows the sea god Cashoctik (who is neutral in most of the wars that have happened in the lore). She's combat/tank.

ANYWAY! We're in the Mother of Monster's (a demi god) domain on a mission from the Father of Gods to kill her and bring her soul to him to help release him from his prison so that he can save the world from the corruption.

Rather than just go in guns blazing, we know the Mother to be very protective of her children (literally any monster race) and generally quite civil. We go to her, we explain the situation, she's like "Right. You are not the first the Father has sent to do this, and you probably won't be the last. I will let you kill me. But only if you can beat my Champions in battle. Consider it a test of sorts." So for the past few sessions, we've been doing combat and role play in this colosseum against the champions of each of the six children of the Mother: Goblinoids, Yaun-ti, Beast-Men, Orcs, Hags, and finally Demons. (Our DM homebrews a lot of stuff in the best way, so the lore for these races has been changed).

Tonight was our Hag fight and OH FUCKING BOY

All of us were already worried because we've fought hags before. They fuck with your head, and we've all had some recent trauma.

Riona especially.

For context, Riona is currently on the run from her temple (for whom she is seen as the "Marked of Islina", was practically raised by the goddess herself, and is officially a Mother (similar to a nun) of the temple and is the "Head Mother" of the entire orphanage and children care sector). She's been thrown curve ball after curve ball, being told that her goddess committed multiple massacres, imprisoned people, and is overall not always the best person. But then also told that most of those things she did were either with good intention or just cause and was also shown a number of really incredible and compassionate things she's done. So in terms of faith, it's wobbly. Not to mention, she hasn't actually heard from Islina in MONTHS, found out the artifact that her goddess gifted her was a tool for the temple's Cardinals to spy and track her, and that she HAS BEEN LIED TO HER ENTIRE LIFE AND APPARENTLY HAS DIED AND BEEN REINCARNATED SEVERAL TIMES THROUGHOUT HISTORY!

OH YEAH! AND THE LAST TIME SHE SAW THESE HAGS? THEY HAD ONE OF HER PAST LIVES FUCKING TAXIDERMIED IN THEIR OFFICE!!!

*clears throat* So Riona is having a great time.

So we're fighting three hags, and Taman (as usual) nearly dies several times, Riona and Thassa barely have a scratch on them. We kill the first one pretty early in the fight. Riona had to fight the undead corpse of her past life (yay necromancy) due to one of the hags, which was traumatic in its own right since looking in its eyes gave her flashbacks to its memories of its life and its death (which was in the very colosseum we were fighting in). Killed the hag that caused that.

But then there's the last hag. She casts Anti-Gravity, and everything goes to shit.

I won't go into fine details, but basically, since Riona can fly, she wasn't really affected by the spell, so with Taman and Thassa clinging to her leg, she's shooting arrow after arrow at this hag (I got like three nat 20s) and the hag summons this beast thing above us made of wood and bones from the other hags and the remains of Past Life!Riona. Monster thingy grabs Taman and Thassa. Thassa kills the monster thing. Riona grabs the two of them and then kills the hag.

But then Anti-Gravity drops as a result.

Ri (Riona) has everyone pretty sturdily in her arms, so it should be okay. Right?

Wrong.

The branches and sharps pieces of bone and rubble from the monster that had been above us start falling and we're still 90ft in the air held up only by Riona.

Ri fails a dex check to make us all dodge, and I ask the DM if Ri can move her wings so that she takes the brunt of the damage.

DM says if she takes more than 20 damage, she drops Taman and Thassa, and we continue with our house rule of if Riona takes more than 10 damage in one hit to her wings, they're broken until someone heals them.

Riona takes 18 damage.

We're falling. Riona is screaming in pain. Thassa trying to adjust Taman so he won't take any damage if we do fall to our deaths, and Taman is casting guidance on Thassa.

With a 25DC Dex save, with shattered wings, Riona forces herself to push through the pain and catch enough wind under them to slow us down.

Taman casts Cure Wounds on Riona. (The DM describes his magic to be silver with these ghost-like hands that grab, mend, or tear at things depending on the spell. In this case, mid-flight, they were re-setting and mending Riona's wings. The feeling is excruciating and feels wrong as Taman's temple is opposite/enemies with Riona's).

Riona slowly brings them all to the ground.

Just in time to see her Past Life's skull plummet to the ground and with its empty eyes staring into hers, split and shatter.

Riona turned and hid her face in Thassa's shoulder, Thassa pulled Taman into a group hug, and we all stood there, ignoring the audience booing at their champion's defeat, clinging onto each other as we tried to process what we had just gone through.

Deeply traumatized, we're lead to our waiting room to heal and plan before our last fight against the Demon King, the original Demon.

Riona is shell-shocked and finally breaks from just everything she's been put through with her temple and her goddess and this. She's shaking, she's crying silent tears and can't fully bring herself to talk. Taman lays down near where she's sitting, pats her leg and sleepily tries to comfort her. Thassa, after dealing with some of her own shit that went down, grabbed a bowl, sat behind Riona, and gently hummed to her as she wiped down Ri's wings and helped ground her.

This was the closest, most family-like moment our party has ever had.

By my own choice for role play, Riona will not be able to fly for the rest of the day, and from here on out will have to do a Wis save before flying to see if she can actually push herself to do it again.

She's traumatized as fuck and I have no idea what's gonna happen now.

#d&d story time #story time #dungeons and dragons #d&d campaign #campaign #homebrew #homebrew campaign #cleric #d&d 5e #aasimar #the hive #b talks #🐝 talks #d&d #dnd #dnd homebrew #dnd stuff #dnd campaign #dnd character #oc #oc backstory #original character