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arlecchno · 1 year

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mission accomplished [ scaramouche x reader ]

twenty-five | viktor and yun jin

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as the plot thickens with a new victim, you were dead set to catch viktor stepanov, once and for all. you didn't know this would end up way different than what you had imagined.

warnings: use of scaramouche's, childe's and signora's real name, death and killing mentions, breaking in, kinda fluffy in the middle, kidnapping¿, very suspenseful at the end (i think)

a/n: i'm incredibly sorry for the long delay of this chapter, been a bit busy last weekend. but it's here now, and i hope everyone enjoys the suspense as we're nearing the end of the series. 7k+ words. 90% proofread so please lmk if i've gotten anything wrong.

grammatical errors may occur so please let me know if i've made any mistakes!

“so…” you started, hurriedly scanning your eyes to your surroundings, checking if someone was near you. seeing that no one was in sight, you continued. “what do you want to talk about?”

childe cleared his throat on the other line. “we found a new victim.” he dropped, causing you to let out a short gasp.

it had been… how long now?

two months. it's been two months since you've last heard of a new victim, and now the killing is happening again.

wait, but…

“but viktor's been with me the whole morning? i don't understand.”

“anastasia obolensky. familiar with the name?”

you took a moment to think, recalling where you had heard of the name. if memory serves you right, that'd be…

“the university's chancellor?”

childe hummed. “she was found dead at her home this morning.” he informed, and you gripped your phone a little tighter.

going for the higher ups of the campus? you wondered to yourself. isn't that too far?

anastasia was one of the campuses most respected chancellors, and had contributed a lot to snezhnaya university. if word got out that she's dead, who knows what hell would break loose.

but viktor… he has been with you all night, right? would that even make sense for him to head out and kill people whilst being drunk?

“i don't understand.” you replied, still in disbelief. “he's been with me all night.”

“what were you two doing?”

“well, it was actually the four of us.” you awkwardly let out a chuckle, causing childe to usher you further on the information. “him, yun jin, scara and i. yunjin invited us to dinner, they got drunk, bla bla bla, you know the basics.” you didn't bother fixing him up with the details. knowing childe, he probably knew the rest of it already due to experience.

you peered over your surroundings once again, this time trying to find a seat. you walked over to a small park bench once you've caught glimpse of it, relishing a sigh of relief after standing for so long.

after a moment, you continued. “anyways, i don't think he'd have the time to go out and kill people. i stayed up for an hour or two after they passed out, trying to clean up everyone's mess. if he had gone out, i'd have noticed it right away.”

“what time did you sleep?”

“around twelve or one, why?” you asked.

“report says that the estimated time she was killed was at two in the morning.”

widening your eyes, you left your mouth agape. so he went out after you were asleep?

you shook your head. “no, wait, this is confusing me.” you replied, squeezing your eyes shut before opening them once again. “he passed out after a couple of drinks, there's absolutely no way he'd wake up in less than an hour after that. i remember him telling me that he couldn't hold his liquor well.”

“also.” you continued, already scoffing at the thought. “where the hell have you been?! you can't just disappear on me for two months and then finally show up just to tell me someone's dead!” you shouted into the phone, resulting in childe wincing at the tone of your voice.

he sighed, and you heard sounds of rummaging in the background. “i'm sorry, y/n. i still can't disclose the details to you.”

“what details?” you asked coldly. “what the fuck are you doing around behind my back?”

childe groaned. “look, it's nothing that you should be concerned about. just… focus on your case right now, i'll tell you once everything's calmed down.”

“what?” you questioned further. “you're not doing dirty work now are you, ajax? you know i hate those kinds of people. i'm gonna fucking kill you when i get back.”

childe chuckled from the other line. “of course not, y/n. i'd get fired if i'm working with people that aren't from the department.” he said.

from the tone of his voice, it seemed that childe was telling the truth. but somehow, you don't trust him, not even a single bit.

it's the first time that's ever happened to you.

on most occasions, you fully trust childe. you had never doubted his words, because he was always telling the truth, and never once broke a promise. he is one of your best friends after all, you'd never doubt him.

you still remember the day you two promised each other to never go behind each other's backs, and to always go to one another for help, no matter how dire the situation is.

but now, you had an inkling that he had just broken that pact. for whatever reason, you wouldn't know, and not that you would pry on it either.

you'll just have to confront him once the case ends, whenever that is.

sighing, you changed the subject. “so? what do i have to do now? this is his seventh victim, i think.” you said. “i can't just let him get away with this.”

“have you… ever considered looking for other suspects?”

you blinked. “are you telling me that viktor has accomplices?”

“most serial killers need accomplices to continue on with their crimes, sometimes they're also just cover ups for the actual serial killer.” childe informed.

you hummed, thinking of the possible accomplices he could have at the moment.

to be honest, you've never really seen him hang out with anyone during your stakeout times, and have never seen him interact with people other than yun jin.

“wait.” you blinked once again, the cogs in your brain turning. “you're not suggesting it's yun jin, are you?”

childe merely chuckled. “you'll never really know unless you look further into it. anyone who is close to him can be possible suspects or accomplices.”

“but yun jin is innocent. i see her every other day, and the killings never happened during the night before our classes together, unlike viktor, when all of the victims were found the day we do have classes together.” you countered, defending your dear friend.

there was no way a sweet person like her could be someone looking out for blood.

childe shrugged, but stopped when he realised he was talking to you over the phone, opting to let out a huff instead. “like i said, you'll never know unless you look further into it. it could be anyone at this point, and i'm also sure you're smart enough to figure everything out.” he tried convincing, and you took a moment to make a decision.

“...fine. i'll look into it.” you finally decided, heaving out a breath soon after. “i'll see you after i'm done with this case. don't do stupid shit while i'm not there.”

hanging up the call, you stared at your phone screen, looking at your call history. you don't really call people much, well, not that you have that many contacts saved in the first place. childe's name, ajax was at the top, as you had just hung up on him a second ago.

the second one was yun jin from a few days ago, when she had forgotten to turn off the oven and asked for you to do it for her.

the third was from viktor, when he was asking you if you could write up some notes from mass communication class since he was absent on that day.

the fourth was signora, or as you had saved her name, rosalyne. she had face-timed you around a month ago to check up on you after your fight with scaramouche, along with the incident from the night before.

the last one that was visible on your screen was the one and only scaramouche, who's name is written in red, meaning that you didn't pick up his call the time he had dialed for your number.

it was the first and only time he's ever called you after the fight happened. you didn't bother picking up his call, nor did you even bother blocking him. knowing scaramouche, he's not exactly someone to be on his phone that much, so you don't think it was any use to block him anyways.

and you were right, he never bothered you after that.

though you won't deny that sometimes, you kinda wished his name would pop up on your screen.

you still had his name saved as scara, the name you had always called him since forever. you thought of changing the contact name after finding out his real name, but you didn't have the time to do so, definitely not after everything.

a smile ghosted your face as you clicked on his contact information, the picture of you and him from a few months back on display as his profile. hovering your fingers over your screen, you made some adjustments to his contact details.

“what're you smiling at?”

snapping your head upwards, you look at the person who approached you, who turned out to be viktor.

you quickly widened your eyes, standing up abruptly. “o–our class finished already?!”

viktor shrugged, slinging his bag over his shoulder properly. “it was only a thirty-minute class since it isn't from our usual schedule. what took you so long?” he asked.

“oh…” you flickered your eyes elsewhere, gripping your phone to your side. “a friend called me, and i kinda got distracted, haha…” you muttered awkwardly, rubbing the back of your neck.

the tall brunette looked at you skeptically, before sighing. “i can give you the notes later. i have to run to the psychology department right now though, i have class soon.” he informed, and you turned your head to look at him.

“thanks…” you mumbled. “i'll uh, i'll head to yun jin's dorm then. see you?”

“yeah, see you later.”

you watched as viktor walked away, heading towards his destination. sighing, you brought up your phone to look at the screen once again.

the picture on display as scaramouche's profile had changed. now, it was a picture you had taken with him the night before the incident occurred, the one at the balcony.

although the picture you took was in a rush, you could still see most of it clearly. it was a selfie of you and scaramouche, you had one hand holding your phone, the other holding up a peace sign over scaramouche's head, presenting them as bunny ears.

and even though scaramouche was forced to take this picture, he reluctantly followed suit, a soft smile plastered on his face, one that was only presented to you. one of his hands was holding onto the railing of the balcony, the other wrapped on the side of your waist.

smiling giddily once again, you stared into the picture for the next few seconds, before flickering your eyes to the contact name, that was also changed earlier.

the name is now changed to the one you had heard just recently, the one that he had buried deep within him, the one that he never revealed to anyone, except for you.

kunikuzushi.

with a purple heart beside it.

you've convinced yourself the emoji you had added was only for aesthetic purposes. no other reason behind it whatsoever.

stepping inside yun jin's dorm, you peered over the living room, that is now all cleaned up, all thanks to you. if it weren't for your work last night, this place would be a total mess, with bottles of beer and vodka scattered throughout the small area.

you landed yourself on the small couch, staring up at the ceiling.

it was a thursday, meaning that you had no classes for the day. scaramouche and viktor would have their psychology class by now, you figured.

you're not sure if yun jin has gotten home or not, so you decided to stand up, sauntering over to her room.

you knocked on her door a couple of times. “yun jin? you there?”

no response came.

“yun jin?”

again, no response.

you huffed, hand on the knob. though when you brought it back to your side, you accidentally twisted the doorknob, causing the door to open slightly.

raising a brow, you looked at the door confusedly. huh, she didn't lock her door, you think as you peeked through the small gap between the door and door frame.

you know this might sound crazy, borderline creepy even, but you felt like investigating yun jin's room. sure, you had entered it just last night to take care of both yun jin and viktor, but you didn't have the time to look at her room properly, given how it was late and you had other things to do, such as taking care of scaramouche.

furrowing your brows in contemplation, you recalled back to your and childe's conversation from an hour ago.

“you'll never really know unless you look further into it. anyone who is close to him can be possible suspects or accomplices.”

well, it wouldn't hurt to just take a quick look, no? you asked yourself.

you supposed it would be for a good cause. seeing how long this case is taking to end, you would do anything to solve it.

and if it meant sneaking into your friend's room, then so be it.

yun jin's room looked exactly like what most fashion students' rooms would look like, except for the fact that she's a criminology student.

you stood in the middle of the room, scanning your eyes to every single detail of her room. papers that were sketched out with designs scattered throughout the room, with some plastered on the wall, some placed on her desk, some on the floor, and whatnot.

it wasn't anything bizarre nor uncommon to you. maybe it was due to the fact that your old roommate from a few years back was also an art student, pursuing their passion in painting. to say that their painting supplies were clumsily placed everywhere would be an understatement.

and honestly, it shocked you how yun jin did not pick fashion design as her major, not even as her minor, too.

what could possibly be so interesting about criminology that she'd just throw away her passion in fashion design?

you scoffed at the thought. it was hypocritical of you to say such a thing, when you yourself were exactly the same when you were her age. your love for wanting to become a police officer had overthrown every other interest you had, leading to you choosing criminology as your major, and soon landing yourself in the police academy the second you graduated.

yet, you had no regrets, for if you didn't choose criminology, you wouldn't have gotten into the police academy, if you didn't choose criminology, you wouldn't have gotten your dream job in the most prestigious precint, and if you didn't choose criminology, you wouldn't be standing here today, working on a big case.

sighing, you continued on with your investigation in yun jin's room.

this is not the time to be pondering on useless topics.

—

after what felt like an eternity, you practically gave up on searching around her room. no evidence nor leads in sight. there was absolutely nothing that you should take note of, let alone be suspicious.

you think this was a waste of time.

sighing, you turned to head towards the door, before stopping yourself in front of a corkboard that was plastered on the wall near the bed.

the corkboard in particular did not catch your eye, however, the pictures that were pinned there did.

it was a picture of yun jin, and someone beside her, hugging yun jin tightly at a restaurant. the young woman was around her age, and you figured they were close, given hoe the picture is on the corkboard. though, the details wasn't what piqued your interest.

you recognised that face.

but somehow, you couldn't pinpoint it.

the polaroid beside it caught your attention too.

it was yun jin with two other women now, with yun jin being in the middle, hugging the others at what you assumed was at a park, dated a few months ago, as what it had been written on the white frame of the polaroid.

once again, you recognised those two faces, yet you couldn't figure out how you did, or where you have seen those faces.

there were other pictures pinned on the corkboard, and most of the people in the pictures made you realise that you quite literally recognised each and every one of them, which made everything more confusing than it already is.

how did you recognise these people?

where have you even seen them?

have they gotten arrested before for you to be familiar with their faces?

your thoughts were cut off when a notification came in from your phone, causing you to fish it out from the pocket of your pants to read the new notification.

yun jin

hey luna!

sorry but i might arrive home late today

please don't wait for me! >-<

you smiled at the messages she sent, momentarily forgetting about the familiar faces you saw earlier.

it's fine, take your time! ||

sighing for the umpteenth time that day, you shoved your phone back into your pocket, walking away from the corkboard until you reached the halls, closing yun jin's door shut.

the last picture in the corner of the corkboard went unnoticed by you, which had a photo of yun jin and the chancellor of snezhnaya university, anastasia obolensky, eating out together.

you hated how awfully silent the dorm is right now.

it was currently late at night, and yun jin still hasn't gotten home. you didn't mind it of course, yun jin is a grown-up, and you're not someone who had the authority to keep her away from doing things, but you always enjoyed yun jin's company.

she was always someone who could make the whole room light up, she was someone who could brighten up someone's day, and she's one of the few people who knew about your problems with scaramouche.

so with her being absent in this dorm makes the atmosphere really… dull.

you had spent the evening eating some takeout as dinner, too lazy to even get up and cook up something in the kitchen. if scaramouche were to hear about this, he would've whipped out a full course meal, nagging at you for eating unhealthy and greasy food.

the thought made you let out a few laughs, remembering how scaramouche would always cook up food for you, no matter what circumstances may arise.

as your laughter died down, you bit your bottom lips, before shaking those thoughts off your head.

this is definitely not the time to be thinking about him.

you were in your room at the moment, sitting at your desk as you had just finished doing some work around ten minutes ago. you had been cleaning up your desk for the rest of it, decluttering the many papers on the wooden surface.

a brown a4 sized envelope tucked in your mess on the desk caught your attention.

you picked it up from between the files on your desk, opening the manilla up. a set of pictures and other written details were inside, making you recall back to when scaramouche had given you this the other day as you took out the contents.

“everything in that envelope are new evidence i've gotten, and all of it leads to a whole different person.”

right, you haven't gotten the time to check out the new evidence scaramouche had gotten, from where, you don't even want to question. it's not like he'd ever give you the answer anyways.

the first photo that greeted you was a picture of a wooden cabin, the least of evidence you had expected.

why is there a picture of a cabin? was this mixed up by accident?

you furrowed your brows, ignoring the picture as you continued looking at the next few papers in hand. they however seemed as though to be completely useless, as they were only printed details on the purchase of the cabin, with receipts and purchase history.

though, you stopped when you read the name of the bank account's transaction history.

you blinked once, twice, before scanning your eyes on the paper once again, reading each and every syllable there is, in sheer disbelief with what you're looking at right now.

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

snezhnaya bank

yun jin

date: 11/17

description: cabin in the woods

withdrawal: XXXX

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

you widened your eyes.

no.

impossible.

you flipped through the other papers in hand, scanning your eyes and stopped every time you see the same name, over and over again.

what?

did viktor rope yun jin into buying stuff under her account to avoid himself from being caught?

“most serial killers need accomplices to continue on with their crimes…”

you groaned in frustration at the conversation with childe from earlier that played in your mind.

there was no way the ever so innocent yun jin, would be an accomplice to viktor's crimes, especially when she was so passionate about becoming a police officer.

you tossed the papers on the table, pinching the bridge of your nose as you grumbled.

this is giving you a headache.

and you're sure as hell viktor had snuck behind her back to purchase a random cabin in the woods. it's not her doing.

yun jin was still nowhere to be found in the dorm the next day.

you figured she slept over at viktor's dorm, given how she'd do that occasionally. though, she'd usually inform you first, but the last thing she did was leave your text message on read, which was yesterday.

you didn't bother on messaging her, seeing how you have a criminology class together. you'll just ask her later on.

but it became a problem when yun jin didn't show up to class.

your professor had just dismissed your class, yet yun jin still hasn't shown up, making you worried. where could she possibly be to miss out on class?

for the duration of your time being friends with her, she has never, ever, skipped class. no matter how busy she was, she'd always make time to show up to class, even if it was only for a few minutes. so for her to skip class was something unusual, especially to you.

she probably overslept, right?

you grabbed your phone and clicked on yun jin's contact name, hitting the call icon. but after a moment, it went to voicemail.

you raised a brow. strange. she always answers her calls, no matter the situation.

huffing, you clicked on viktor's contact name and called him next, and once again, it went to voicemail after a few seconds of waiting.

you can't be serious, you thought to yourself.

did they both oversleep?

sure, it is understandable that it could be pretty hard to wake up early, especially for a class that starts at eight in the morning, but can't they even hear their ringtones ringing throughout the room? unbelievable.

and to make things worse, someone plopped on a seat beside you, causing you to turn your head to look at them. once you did, you yelped.

“w–what… what are you doing here?!”

scaramouche merely rolled his eyes, before placing a plastic container full with food in front of you on the table. the action made you raise a brow in confusion as you stared at the lunch box.

you looked at him again. “what's… this for?” you asked confusedly.

“you're really stupid, huh.” the sudden jab of insult as his first words to you made you glare at him. “we share the same food delivery account, remember? i saw you buying takeout last night.”

you still had a perplexed look plastered on your face, making scaramouche turn his head elsewhere, too embarrassed to look at you in the eye as he mumbled out his next words.

“i… made extra food this morning. i didn't want them to go to waste, so i'm giving them to you.” he nervously said, cheeks burning up. “d-don't think i did this willingly! i just didn't want to waste the leftovers!” he exclaimed.

as he finished his sentence, your confused expression slowly changed, and before you know it, you're hugging scaramouche.

burying your face to the crook of his neck, you smiled. “thank you, kuni! i've kinda been craving for your home-cooked meals for a while now.” you muttered, voice muffled as you wrapped your arms around him tighter.

scaramouche was taken aback for a few seconds, before he hesitantly reciprocated your hug, engulfing you with his arms. you two stayed like that for a moment, until you slowly detach yourself from him.

“do you…” you stopped yourself before you could even finish your sentence. no, you shouldn't do that, not after what happened the other day. “ah, nevermind.” you mumbled.

you don't want him to have high hopes for this... whatever relationship you two have right now. it's just too risky, especially now, when you both are burdened by the big conflict that is the incident.

“spit it out.”

you widened your eyes in shock. “what?”

“did you not hear me?” his grip on your waist tightened as he brought you closer. “go ahead and spit it out. now.” he repeated, words venomous.

you blinked, confused as to why he was acting so bold all of the sudden, when he was quite the embarrassed mess just a second ago.

scratching your temple, you reluctantly continued on with what you were gonna say, as scaramouche watched you with narrowed eyes.

“well, do you, uh, want to...eat this together?”

eyes wide, scaramouche was, shocked to say the least. even if he was the one who insisted you to continue on with your sentence.

scaramouche quickly turned his head sideways to hide the blush on his cheeks, causing you to gaze at him confusedly.

the ravenette slowly nodded. “that…that'd be nice, i guess.”

you did not expect this to be the most awkward moment you've ever had with scaramouche.

hell, you didn't even expect to be back at his, no, your shared dorm.

you and scaramouche were on the small couch, the lunch box sitting on your lap just nicely.

to say that you were too scared to make the first move would be an understatement.

“aren't you gonna eat that?” scaramouche was the one to break the deafening silence.

you twisted your head to look at him. “well, i uh…” turning your head back to stare at the container on your lap, you slowly grabbed it, opening up the rectangle-sized container in hand.

utensils were already there as a set of the lunch box, and the sight of the cooked meal before you made your mouth drool in delight. the aroma of his home-made meal made you want to munch it all up more than anything right now.

you picked up a spoon, and quickly shoved it in the food before picking it up once again, bringing the utensil to your mouth, swallowing the delicious meal.

you sighed in contentment, the food tasted heavenly, just like every other meal scaramouche has made. you won't deny that you had missed this, missed his very delicious meals, missed the way he'd always cook up extras for you, and definitely missed the way he'd always look at you with a fond look as you tried out his meals.

you glanced at him, and without a doubt— scaramouche still had that same expression plastered on his face, looking at you so fondly as you had your first bite of the meal he made.

picking up a spoonful of food once again, this time, you brought it over to the front of scaramouche's closed mouth, your other hand beneath his chin.

“what the hell are you doing?”

“you said you wanted to eat together.”

“i didn't say that. you did.”

you grumbled. “okay, sure, but you were the one who said ‘it'd be nice’, so i'm just doing what you agreed upon.” you insisted, resulting in scaramouche's cheeks to flare up once again.

the ravenette was about to say something when you suddenly shoved the spoonful of food into his mouth, leaving him no choice but to eat the meal you had fed him. after the spoon was empty, you brought it back to the container on your lap, scaramouche taking a few seconds to swallow up the food in his mouth.

“tastes good?” you asked.

scaramouche quickly looked away, the tips of his ears turning red. “it– it's my cooking, obviously it'd taste divine.”

you scoffed, picking up the spoon to eat the rest of the meal.

what a stupid guy, you thought to yourself.

the afternoon continued on with you eating the meal scaramouche has made whilst talking with the ravenette, occasionally feeding him a spoonful once in a while. you absolutely paid no attention to the relentless refusals of his, saying that 'he has his own hands to feed himself', yet still accepting the meal you spoon-fed him.

“can't you stay longer?”

you sighed, shaking your head as you stood at the front door.

it was almost evening now, and you two were currently standing by the front door of his dorm, ready to part ways.

you don't think either of you were ready.

“just for the night? it's getting late.”

you shook your head once again. “sorry, kuni. i have to head back to yun jin's to check up on her, she hasn't gotten home since yesterday.” you said, eyes looking into his indigo ones. “i might have to visit viktor's dorm too to see if yun jin's there.”

“viktor?”

“yeah, why?”

“it's just that...he wasn't in class yesterday.”

your forehead wrinkled in confusion. “what do you mean?”

scaramouche shrugged. “i didn't see him during class the other day. he'd always insist on sitting next to me whenever we had class together, but he wasn't there.”

“that's… strange.” you commented, twisting the doorknob. “i'll have to check up on them at their dorms.”

scaramouche stopped you, hand grabbing your wrist, causing you to flicker your eyes to him. “i'll accompany you.”

you shook your head for the third time that night, making scaramouche furrow his brows.

“no, you should stay here. i'm sure they're just busy with whatever they're doing right now.”

“but what if you get in danger?”

sighing, your free hand reached out to grab his hand that was holding your wrist. “look, i'll… call you when i get home, okay? just to assure you that i'm fine.” you caressed his knuckles, hoping that'd ease out whatever worry he had in mind.

scaramouche huffed, looking down to the floor.

“okay...fine.”

you smiled, holding his hand as you opened the door. stepping out to the halls, you turned to look at him for the last time that evening.

“then, i'll get going now.”

“but…”

you rolled your eyes playfully, amused with the expression scaramouche had right now. he was pouting, hand holding onto yours tightly, as if he really didn't want you to go.

“i'll be fine, kuni. stop worrying about me.”

“promise you'd call me?”

you smiled, nodding as you do so. “yeah, sure, i'll call you.”

before you even got the chance to walk away, scaramouche engulfed you in a hug, knocking the breath out of your lungs.

he wrapped his arms around your figure, just like he did earlier this morning. you grumbled, but reluctantly did the same, hugging him with your bundle of layers of clothes and jacket.

you were the one to pull away first, hands falling to your sides. scaramouche however, still had his arms wrapped around your hips, causing you to blink up at him. scaramouche made no move to remove his hold from you.

“hm? is there anything else that i forgot?” you asked, referring to him still holding you.

scaramouche looked like he was in deep thought, given how he did not bother answering your question with his words.

but after a second, he answered you with his actions instead.

the hurried movement made your eyes widen, as you hesitantly brought up a hand to brush over your forehead, the spot he had just left a quick peck. it was only for a fleeting second.

did he just… kiss your forehead?

flustered, you quickly snapped your head to him, wanting to say something before it died in your throat, as the sight of scaramouche's flushed face greeted you.

even though it was a simple gesture, it still made you… shy and awkward. you've never really gotten a forehead kiss before, especially by someone like him, so for scaramouche to do such a thing would be a total shock to you.

you still remembered when he'd never fail to jab at you with his insults and degrading words, and you still remembered when you'd always reply back with snarky remarks just to spite him back.

but right now, you two were way far from being enemies. you don't even think you two are friendly colleagues at this point, because you're absolutely sure this is not something that co-workers do with each other.

co-workers wouldn't hug each other at the most random times, co-workers don't give you extra home-cooked meals, co-workers don't feed each other food, co-workers don't share the same food delivery account.

and co-workers definitely do not kiss you on the forehead as a goodbye gesture.

the moment was unfamiliar, yet you had a feeling it'd be engraved in both of your minds tonight, or until forever, even.

“be safe, y/n.”

“...yeah. i'll see you later, kuni.”

you left your shared dormitory with a fond smile, and flushed cheeks. the warmth of his lips still lingered around the spot on your forehead, making you ten times more flustered than anyone else in the building.

and scaramouche had the same embarrassed expression once he closed the front door, leaning against it as he hovered a hand over his mouth, in disbelief with what he just did a second ago.

the trip back to yun jin's and viktor's dorm building was quicker than you thought, and before you knew it, you were already in front of viktor's door.

you heaved out a sigh.

you've never gone inside viktor's dorm, so this would be a first. would a serial killer's dorm look the same as your average-college-guy dorm?

the answer is just right behind this door.

readying yourself, you built up the courage to finally knock on the door, waiting for it to open.

and when the door finally opened, someone… unfamiliar greeted you instead.

“huh? d'ya need anything?” the stranger asked, making you sweat. you don't remember viktor having a roommate.

“is uh, is viktor here? i need to see him.”

the stranger raised a brow. “that weird guy?” they asked, pointing a finger towards the dormitory beside him. “his dorm is that one. think you got the wrong place.”

“oh.”

you bowed down profusely. “s–sorry! i thought it was this one!”

the stranger laughed. “'s fine. go on now, i got a show to catch up.” they said, closing the door.

groaning, you smacked your forehead in embarrassment. archons, how did you even got it mixed up?

you sauntered over to the dorm the stranger had pointed out, heaving out yet another sigh.

well, here goes nothing.

knocking on the door once again, you waited for viktor.

yet no one opened the door.

you frowned, knocking on the door once again.

and yet again, no response.

surely, they'd be up by now, right? there was no way they were still asleep.

you fished out your phone from your jacket to dial his number, and waited for him to pick up the call.

it went straight to voicemail.

“what in teyvat…” you mumbled, looking at your phone screen. you clicked on yun jin's contact details, and called her.

it also went straight to voicemail.

“you've gotta be fucking kidding me.”

you snapped your head to stare at the door, contemplating with what you're about to do right now.

it's okay, you assured yourself. this is for the case, there's absolutely nothing wrong with trying to break into your suspect's dorm.

you held your guard up, and grabbed onto the knob of the door, crouching down until you were face to face with the lock.

you've had your fair share of practice at picking locks, so this wouldn't be a hassle for you.

you quickly rummaged your bag for a paper clip, and once you found it, you looked to your left and right, making sure no one was in sight, before averting your attention back to the lock.

yet as you twisted the doorknob by accident, it opened.

“it's… it's unlocked?”

you stood up properly, pushing the door.

the dark living room greeted you, with no signs of viktor nor yun jin whatsoever. you raised an eyebrow as you reached for the switches on the wall beside you, and when the lights finally turned on, the empty room still greeted you.

you scanned through the room confusedly. where the hell are they?

quickly walking over to one of the closed doors in the dorm, you twisted it open, and yet another empty, dark room laid in front of you.

the other room was empty too, yun jin and viktor were nowhere to be found.

you scratched your head. where could they be?

are they at yun jin's dorm?

—

but as you entered yun jin's dorm after that, you were still greeted with silence, no sign of them occupying those two dorms, which made everything more confusing than it already is.

are they out watching a movie?

no, impossible. yun jin would have notified you further.

are they having a date?

no, she also would have notified you earlier, and she wouldn't have her phone turned off.

so, where were they?

sitting at the dinner table in yun jin's dorm, you took a moment to think. maybe they're at either of their parents'? you thought to yourself, shifting your eyes from your lap to the wooden surface of the table.

a piece of paper there caught your eye.

huh, that was never there before.

picking it up, you quickly scanned your eyes over the paper, and a small note was written there.

find me, before it's too late.

your eyes went wide as you read the short message, gripping onto the paper tight.

what did the message mean? find me? where?

and what did it mean before it's too late?

is… yun jin in danger?

you quickly got up, scrambling to your feet to piece the puzzles together. you fished out for your phone once again to call yun jin.

the familiar melody of yun jin's ringtone rang in the dorm, and you twisted your head to the living room, eyeing her phone on the coffee table as you quickly walked over to pick it up.

impossible. you were sure her phone wasn't here the last time you were sitting on this very couch, which was just last night.

did she come back here while you were gone, and left her phone here?

shit. you placed her phone back on the coffee table. she's definitely in danger.

you hurriedly made your way to the front door.

find me… you repeated the same words over and over again as you headed out to the halls, slamming the front door shut.

find where? where can you find her?

yun jin's and viktor's dorms are empty, so they would be crossed out from the list of possible places you could find her.

you sweat, the thought of yun jin being in danger frightened you. is viktor really going as far as to harm her girlfriend just for the sake of luring you in his trap?

wait.

does he know you were a cop?

and if he does, does that mean your cover is blown?

you gritted your teeth. no way. you had done everything in order to not get your cover exposed, so how in teyvat did he even figure it out?

you ran down the halls, heading towards the elevator. once the elevator doors closed, you continued on piecing the puzzle.

find me.

find. me.

your eyes widened upon realisation.

as the elevator dinged and slowly opened its doors, you hurriedly ran outside, before forgetting that your car was still at the workshop, meaning that you had no transportation to get there quick.

groaning, you think of another solution to quickly get to your destination.

a light bulb popped over your head, but was dismissed when you let out a sigh. no, you shouldn't trouble scaramouche by driving you there.

hell, you don't even want him to know that yun jin and viktor were gone, and that you couldn't find them.

you grumbled frustratingly. there's no other way.

viktor's frat house isn't that far off from campus, and you haven't ran in a while.

surely this quick trip would strengthen your muscles.

as you almost reached your destination, you were already out of breath.

archons, you've forgotten how tiring running would be, especially when you haven't worked out in so long.

with ragged breaths, you made your way towards viktor's frat house. you had left your bag back in the dorms, along with your bundle of scarves and layered clothes, so that you wouldn't have to carry so much stuff on you. and yet without any of those distractions, you were still tired as ever for running such a long distance in a time span of five minutes. you don't even have an ounce of idea how that's possible, but what's important is that you made it here in time.

once you reached the doorstep, you paid no mind to even think if the door was unlocked as you swiftly twisted the doorknob, causing the door to open. you were thankful that you didn't have to pry out yet another paper clip, if you had one with you in the first place.

the sullen interior of the frat house greeted you.

you turned on the lights, heading towards the living room.

if you remember correctly, viktor had a hidden basement somewhere in the living room. you stood in the middle of the area, peering over your surroundings until you finally saw the hidden basement in the corner of the room.

the rug that was covering the plank was already flipped, just enough access for someone to open up the plank to the basement.

you raised a brow.

so they really are here.

you breathed in deeply, before exhaling.

this is it, you think. it's time for you to save yun jin.

without any weapons whatsoever.

you grumbled. you really weren't prepared for this, huh.

it's fine, you thought to yourself. your never ending physical combat trainings back in the police academy would do you justice.

pulling up the plank, you eyed the entrance down to the basement, a ladder attached by the wall.

the distance from the floor of the living room to the floor of the basement was suitable enough for you to jump right in, and you did just that, landing yourself professionally on the concrete floor.

you hastily stood up, turning yourself to look at the basement.

it was empty.

what?

you were sure this was the right place.

the only stuff that filled the basement were a bunch of useless junk that were thrown out for parties, and a random table in the middle of the basement, with yet another note placed on top of it.

you quickly walked over to the table, snatching the paper to read the contents.

you got the wrong place. think again, y/n.

eyes wide, you stared at the paper in shock, sweating.

he knows your name?

archons, your cover really is blown.

but most importantly, you went to the wrong place? how could this even happen? you wondered to yourself as you crumpled the piece of paper in your hand, too frustrated with the events happening as of now.

you're sure… you're really damn sure this was the right…

you blinked, before your eyes went wide once again.

fuck, of course.

tossing the now crumpled paper to the side, you quickly went back up with the ladder, scrambling to get out of the stupid frat house that was no use to you.

once you got outside, you ran to your next destination, pulling up your phone to call for the one person you needed at the time. how can you be so slow on catching up with his clues?

of course it'd be the cabin.

the exact cabin you found in the evidence scaramouche had given you.

the exact cabin under yun jin's name.

how could you even miss out on such detail?

the frat house was just a distraction to mess with you. the basement you and scaramouche had thought preserved the most darkest secrets of viktor stepanov was only filled with a bunch of junk for parties and such.

viktor knew you were headed for the frat house first. he knew that you knew about the secret basement he had there. and he absolutely knew that place would be your first target.

the tall brunette had tricked you from the very start.

viktor already had you wrapped around his finger from the very beginning of this case, trapping you in with the many tricks up his sleeve.

and the worst thing is that he is winning.

you hurriedly ran for your life, not even minding the numb and tiredness you're getting from using the strength of your legs for the past ten minutes. yun jin's life was in serious danger by the hands of a serial killer, and you're not going to let anything happen to your new friend.

the call rang for a few seconds, until it finally went in.

“y/n? you got home safe?”

you didn't answer for the next few seconds, only the sound of wind crashing through the mic of your phone.

“y/n? you okay?”

“call–call the squad, now.” you said through heavy breaths, continuing on running.

“what? are you okay? why are you running?” scaramouche asked worriedly, and you didn't answer immediately. suddenly, it dawned on him. “wait, you're not–”

“just fucking call the squad and tell them to head for the cabin! yun jin's in danger!”

the sound of rustling can be heard from the other line, until you heard the sound of the door closing. “y/n, don't go there by yourself. wait for me.”

“there's no time! she–she could be hurt any second now!”

now, the sound from his line was matching yours, as scaramouche was currently running too. “you're unarmed, y/n! stop running and–wait for me to come and get you!”

“no use, i'm almost there now.” you were right, the cabin was a few hundred meters away from you now, you could practically see the small roof of the cabin from here. you were thankful the woods isn't far off from viktor's frat house.

“y/n. stop, please. don't you dare go in until i get there!”

“no. i–i need to save her. just–call the squad and tell them to barge into the cabin. we're gonna close this case tonight— once and for all.”

“y/n, you're going to die if you go there alone. how many times do i have to keep telling you to stop being the stupid fucking hero you think you are?! was that fight not enough?!”

you morphed out a small smile, stopping yourself just right in front of the cabin.

“i won't–i really won't mind dying in the line of duty, as long as i get to save people.” you mumbled through heavy breaths. “and–this people in question just happened to be one of my closest friends.”

scaramouche started up his car, the sound of his engine filling up his line. “y/n, just wait until i–”

you hung up, turning off your phone for good.

this is it, you think through batted breaths.

if yun jin and viktor aren't behind this door, then you've completely fucked up this case.

but if they are, you've got to prepare for the worst.

there's no other solution behind this.

you're unarmed, you have absolutely nothing to shield you from being attacked, and to be honest, you're not ready in the slightest, yet you had a feeling that you just had to do it now, or else you'd be scarred for life.

holding onto the doorknob, you braced yourself for what you're about to face behind this very door.

you've reassured yourself from the frat house all the way here that nothing bad would happen, and that you would stop viktor before he could make things worse, but the way your body is shaking and trembling right now was saying otherwise.

you gripped tightly onto the doorknob, your shaky hand making it continuously rattle like a madman.

no. you have to do it now.

before it's too late.

just like what the note had said.

viktor had waited for you to crack this case. he had only mentioned your name in the paper, and he had left these notes for you to find.

he was anticipating for your arrival, not anyone else's.

there was no time to wait for scaramouche, let alone wait for the squad to arrive. the precint to here is at least a fifteen-minute drive. you could try stalling some time until they get here, but that'd take too long, and you're not sure if you'd be alive by the time they arrived, so you have no choice but to finish this off yourself.

you sighed for the hundredth time that evening.

the memory of scaramouche vowing to protect the people of snezhnaya played in your mind, and you smiled to yourself with gritted teeth.

yeah. ready or not, you had made an oath to protect the citizens of snezhnaya, in any sorts of circumstances, deathly or not.

there was no other way for you to prevent this from happening.

the only thing you could do now was stop viktor, save yun jin, and get out of this mess.

even if it meant sacrificing your own life.

slowly twisting the doorknob, you heaved out yet another warm breath, the cold weather hitting you like a brick. the winter season was close, and it could snow anytime now.

you hoped you'd have the time to witness the snow after this, at least for one last time.

as the door opened rather quickly and harshly, you hurriedly slammed it shut, peering over the inside of the cabin. it looked like any other cabin you've seen off the internet, except that instead of a cozy atmosphere, it was only filled with despair.

someone was tied to a chair in the middle of the room, their hands and ankles being restricted to a tight rope. you couldn't make out on who it was due to their head hanging low, so you decided to do what any other person would do when they're curious.

you slowly walked closer to the person tied to the chair to see them clearly, but when you finally got to see who it was, you furrowed your brows in confusion.

“viktor?”

a reminder that this exists and there's a very slim chance that is the ending, but who knows, haha!

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#h✧˖—mission accomplished #scaramouche #scaramouche x reader #genshin scaramouche #genshin impact scaramouche #scaramouche fluff #genshin scara #scara x reader #genshin impact #genshin #genshin x you #genshin impact imagines #genshin impact x reader #genshin impact reader insert #kunikuzushi #kunikuzushi x reader #and the plot thickens #hope you guys are doing well after this chapter

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ichika27 · 4 months

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OnS Chapter 130

Aaaaaaaah!!!! The lore thickens!

I am just dreading to make this since tumblr's post editor updated to being a pain the ass to use lol. I can't just not blog about reading OnS chapters cause it's the only way I can "re-read" them when they become unavailable. Why have the scanlators stopped working on this, I'd never know but I'm sad they don't seem to be around anymore for this manga (I mean I'd still read stuff on mangaplus but if I want to backread at least I'd have a way...).

While Yuu-chan and Mika are having a chat and probably some potential existensial crisis, Rigr seem to be checking out the 1st Progenitor's memories.

Would you look at that? He got there at the exact point in the memory world that Yuu-chan and Mika last watched! How convenient lol.

Rigr now knows about Shika Madu's past.

The reincarnated angels don't remember their past lives but it seems Shika Madu is okay with them living unaware of it. After all, tragic backstories and all.

Rigr now knowing the truth, it seems he now cares about the 1st Progenitor. Shika Madu might be an asshole but he still cares about his angel subjects even after all this time. He knows it would be difficult and he might not be able to succeed but he's not going to give up hope.

It makes me wonder more what his plan is in the present since he seems to be fucking over those he says he cares about.

Anyways, Rigr ends up crying even if he doesn't have his past life memories which made him wonder if those memories still lie within him somewhere.

I'm not gonna lie, I have no idea what to call him now that it's revealed he's the real Mika. Anyways, he was finally noticed by Shika Madu which is bad cause he has a plan.

Angel Mika is alive now and he needs to make his father think he's still dead so he asks homonculus!Yuu to take his place. He'd even forget his real identity to make things more convincing.

"No matter how many eons it takes... no matter how many generations we go through... in the end, we'll save everybody!" declared human Yuu whose actually the real angel Mika (this is gonna be confusing lol. I'm calling him Past!Yuu). It didn't matter how long it took and what the circumstances have become, Yuu-chan has always wanted to save everyone no matter when and it's always been his goal.

(I wish I could take the screenshot of when he said this but it's hard to crop with the length)

Homonculus!Yuu seems hesitant at first but he happily agreed with Past!Yuu's plan and he's now the new Mika.

New!Mika (yes, I'm not calling him that) is given his first task for his newest role. I'm guessing the "seven lights" are the black keys? Maybe? Anyways, he basically made it so that his father would do a bunch of detours before getting to his goal lol.

Past!Yuu erased (although more like locked away) his memories of being Angel Mika. He promises New!Mika that no matter what, he'd come back and collect him and New!Mika happily promises back.

Beams of light shoot out from New!Mika and Shika Madu catches one of them. On his hand he finds one of the black keys (I was right earlier! lol). He thinks homonculus!Yuu might've done something but basically thinks "Nah, I made him and he can't think for himself." so he turns his attention to Past!Yuu.

Past!Yuu acts like he knows nothing (either he's acting or the memory lock worked too well) and Shika Madu doesn't buy it and checks his memories which kills Past!Yuu in the process. Shika Madu confirms that Past!Yuu totally knows noting (lol if only you knew).

Shika Madu laments the fragility of the humans he created as he estimated that they might not even live to be a hundred.

Shika Madu doesn't realize that close by, Past!Yuu aka the real Angel Mika had been reborn again.

Aww!! A proper reunion between Mika and Yuu! Yuu-chan had fullfilled his promise! They still don't actually have their past life memories but they're okay with it as they think it'd have been bad if they actually did all this time. After all, it took this long to get this far in their plans and they went through so much that if they remembered everything, it'd have made them suffer more and give up.

They're reminded of the vampires who hated being immortal cause it caused them suffering.

These two are now having a discussion on the meaning of (their) life. They wonder why they should keep going and why Yuu-chan should make Mika human again. Mika answers that he wants to live and die with Yuu-chan (aww... that's so sweet!). Yuu-chan asks if that'd really make Mika happy and Mika says he thinks so.

Mika is slowly but surely turning into a full demon and Yuu-chan says he won't let it happen. Yuu-chan concludes that they don't clearly remember their past lives and they'd continue living this life and would try to reach their present lives goal: save everyone (especially the dead Hyakuya orphans and Guren and their friends) and turn Mika back to human.

Hope restored! Yuu-chan likens their current situation to a video game and thinks that they have a chance now that they know the lore. Mika agrees!

Their current goal? Get the seven keys!

Oh!! Flashback to eight years ago!

Ferid is wondering why the First Progenitor wants to make a "Mikaela" and what even is a "Mikaela" in the first place. He says he wasn't compatible to become this Mikaela and the First Progenitor himself cannot be whatever it was.

He also got his hands on little Yuu-chan and Mika (they were drugged and were sound asleep) to check their memories. Someone else is there with Ferid however...

Ferid asked Guren if Guren had checked the kids' memories and he hasn't yet.

Oh... what does this mean?!

That last panel though. Guren looked weird lol. Had their chins always been this round/big? I mean I knew the illustrator's artstyle had changed over the years as this manga had been running for a long time now but this is the first time I really notice. I don't like it lol. Makes them look weird and old. I might not like Guren that much but I have to admit he's handsome and this? Not at all lol.

Okay! We got the lore!! I'm happy and excited and this feels like the most hilarious development I've seen in this story in a while. Angel Mika is smart and immediately have some kind of starting plan for his goal. Sadly, it seems turning himself into Yuu-chan also lowered his braincells lol jk. It seems no one else in this metaphorical chess game realized that someone they wanted to take as pawn is also playing the game.

Guren and Shika Madu totally fucked up their plans all because they were targetting the wrong kid! Especially Guren who had been with Yuu-chan longer in this current life cause his actions in the last couple of chapters made Yuu-chan reject helping him. I think if Yuu-chan had gotten back his memories of being Angel Mika and if Guren knew about this fact, Guren probably would've had a better chance of convincing Yuu-chan to sacrifice himself since Yuu-chan's goal in life (both the past and present) was to save everyone including Mika.

Oh, ther irony! XD

This isn't a perfect story, I admit. I don't think this turn of events had been hinted before (if it had been, then it's my fault I missed all the clues) but I don't care. I'm still having a lot of fun reading.

Mika telling Yuu-chan once again that he'd just want them to live together until the end made me sooo happy! Ah, it's times like these I'm happy to be a MikaYuu fan haha. I remember that in the PSP game, they did mention this also with Mika and Yuu wanting to live and raise kids together. (>///<)

I'm curious now about what Shika Madu is actually feeling about all this in the present. He did care a lot about everyone back then but now it doesn't seem to be the case and he's willing to sacrifice the other vampires just to get his son back. But then again knowing that he could just have them reincarnated, maybe he's okay with sacrificing the current them cause he can just make new bodies for the vampires.

Also wondering why Shika Madu kept remaking the Yuu from Ancient Greece. Did he realize there's something special about this new human? Did he realize that in a way, this was the human form of the homonculus eyeball (actually Angel Mika)? Or did he just think of making a human version of homonculus Yuu cause it'd be easier to experiment on something like him which he could just remake? I wonder if it's the reason why Yuu from Ancient Greece didn't have emotions while the new humans created in the past had personalities or seemingly could have one even before getting possessed by angels?

Also, Shika Madu's tragic backstory is enough to make Rigr sympathize or at least care about him though. I wonder how this would affect things as Rigr hated the First Progenitor and was willing to oppose him. How about now?

That ending there though. What did Ferid mean by "Have you looked into their memories?" when talking to Guren? Vampires have now been revealed to be able to read memories - Rigr and Shika Madu did so earlier and Ferid says he would at the end although I think I should've seen this coming since vampires turn into demons and demons have that ability. Does the question mean Guren also have that power? How?? Or is it Mahiru-no-Yo's power their talking about since she's now Guren's demon? Hmmm..... but then again, didn't they mention a connection between the Ichinose clan and Rigr?

Oh my god, so many questions! XD

I'm so glad I didn't end up taking too many photos cause tumblr had a photo limit for posts and I didn't hit that. Excited for the next chapter! Hope it's as fun as this one.

If I don't get to post anything in the next few days, here's a Happy Holidays to you! I hope you have fun and thanks for reading. :)

#owari no seraph #seraph of the end #sana_post #mikayuu #ons manga

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felixcloud6288 · 7 months

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Fullmetal Alchemist Chapter 44 part 2

The chapter post got too long so here's part 2. I'm going to finish up the chapter, point out some things I didn't manage to and then give some serious and silly thoughts I had.

While Ed and Al have gained a new resolve to move forward by their own desires, Roy is dealing with his own separate conflict. His options for fixing Havoc's legs have run dry, and he can't act as freely anymore. Time has run out and Havoc will soon be discharged from service. Roy is still grasping at any possibility for Havoc to stay with him, but Havoc is having none of that. He insists Roy abandon a pawn that cannot move. Roy accepts. He'll move on but only so Havoc has someone to catch up to. Roy's eyes do that thing as he says it.

Hughes died nearly two months ago. He had promised to work under Roy to support his rise to the top. And now Roy's actions led to Havoc, his left-hand man, becoming paralyzed. When Hughes died, Roy contemplated how to resurrect him. And when Havoc became paralyzed, Roy thought to use a Philosopher's Stone to restore him. In a way, he's thinking similar to Ed. However, he's not moving forward, finding a new path to reach his goals; he's moving on, continuing the same path he took even if it means stepping over the comrades who've helped him.

The only kindness Roy can offer is that he expects Havoc to be able to pick himself up and follow behind him.

And now onto some details and thoughts.

I wasn't able to squeeze it into the drama-talking but when Al says he wants to be able to sleep at night, a light from Central HQ shines through the window and the reflected light makes it look like Al is crying.

Also, Lin and Lan Fan crawled into the shot when we weren't looking.

I had a moment while looking at Al and Ed at the stairs and was wondering if I could use the stairs to estimate Ed's height.

Some assumptions:

The staircase is roughly following US building code standards

The steps are roughly equal to the average step height of 7.5 inches (19 cm).

Ed and Al are to scale in this shot

The halfway point of Al's body lines roughly with the 6th step on the staircase. So his whole body height is roughly 90 inches or 7.5 feet (228 cm). Ed comes up to Al's height by standing on the fourth step, so that would mean he's around 60 inches or 5 feet (152 cm). I'd assign this as a lower-bound for his height. The average male at age 15 is 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm). If we make that an upper-bound, I'd say a more fair assumption is Ed is likely around 5 foot 3 inches (160 cm).

If the soul and body are linked, what does that say about Father and the Homunculi? In Chapter 31, Father said he gave Greed a portion of his soul. So perhaps the Homunculi serve Father because they're still bound by his spirit. But what does that mean about Greed since he wanted to exist independently from Father?

In chess, the pawn can only move forward. When it encounters another piece on the same path, it cannot do anything. But a pawn that cannot move isn't useless. It can act as a shield and a deterrent. If other pieces approach the pawn, it can attack diagonally and continue its forward advance. The unmoving pawn isn't useless, it's just forced to wait for an opportunity to strike.

One thought I've had about Human Transmutation is whether it would actually be possible to bring back the exact same person even if you could make a living body. My thoughts primarily revolve around studies into genetic cloning. But even if you could make a perfect copy, a person's memories are built through their lifelong experiences and several aspects of their body are also influenced by them.

If Ed and Al did resurrect their mother, I wonder if she'd actually be their mother. Would she have any memories of them or any memories at all because of how her brain is structured? Would she be shorter due to lack of calcium when building her bones or have broader shoulders due to excess protein? Would her hands be soft because she's in a body that's never worked?

Finally, I can talk about the chronology stuff I wanted to talk about.

I can be certain everything in this chapter after Ed arrives in the hotel takes place at night. The hotel and hospital windows are all blackened.

Overall, it seems these chapters actually took place over a two-day period. Breda and Armstrong left Resembool likely early in Day 1 and reached Central later that day. Meanwhile Ed met Hohenheim and stayed at Pinako's. Al, Winry, and Lin have their discussion on the same day. Breda gives Roy his report, visits Havoc, and recommends they seek Dr. Marcoh's help.

On Day 2, Ed decides to dig up the corpse and learns it's not Trisha. Envy kidnaps Dr. Marcoh and Breda shows up to find him gone. Ed and Breda both arrive back in Central late in the evening. That night, Yoki finds an unconscious May and Scar kills Comanchi. A report also goes out that evening warning that Scar has reappeared.

So yeah, the last few chapters have a few out-of-order scenes but nothing really bad. We're still not completely out of all the chronology trouble though. There are still a few more weeds next chapter before everyone's stories finally converge and resync.

back

#fullmetal alchemist #fullmetal alchemist reread

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foggyfanfic · 8 months

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Went back and forth on whether or not to post these, but guess who went to Oogie Boogie bash!! Pics and thoughts under the cut if you're interested! Quick warning though, I am a lot more interested in the inner workings of theme parks than I am in the fantasy, so if you don't want to break the fourth wall, so to speak, don't read what I've written.

First, I don't usually do meet and greets because I am too aware of the fact that I'm talking to an actor, and all the questions I want to ask are "behind the curtain" type questions. But, I love cosplay, so I made an exception to check out the costume details on the Brunos.

You can kinda see it here in the first picture, if you look past the blurriness, but one of the details I find most brilliant is that the lovely gentleman playing Bruno is wearing a shade of foundation a touch paler than his actual skin tone to make himself look a little grayer than he is. I saw another one of the Brunos up close and it didn't look like he was doing the same thing with his make up, so this might have been a personal choice on the part of the actor. If so, genius! If they start up an award ceremony for theme park actors, this guy wins best "Non-Prosthetic Make up" award.

As for things beyond his control, all of the actors playing Bruno were a bit tall. Me included for scale. I'm 5'6" and the boots I'm wearing have a slight heel, so you can estimate my height as being 5'7" or even 5'8". This guy is about two or three inches taller than me, and the other actor I saw was the same height. I passed by the photo spot a few other times, but idk if those were additional actors or if these two guys switch back and forth all night (they're only allowed to work for like thirty minutes at a time or something). So I guess I can't say all of the actors are tall, just the two I've definitely seen. The ruana almost looked like real wool, but considering how warm it was, it was probably (hopefully) just cotton.

Did the Oogie Boogie treat trail, it moved faster than I was expecting, but had sunchips, so it loses points for that. 7/10. Mostly joking, I gave my chips to my sister. Anyways, wish I'd taken pictures of the theming, you can kinda see some of it behind Oogie Boogie, this was in the Animation Studio where they have all those screens, so they leaned into that with a lot of spoopy casino themed slide shows and a spattering of physical decorations. It didn't sound like Oogie Boogie's lines were prerecorded, but he had definitely received a script to lean on. The costume, as you can see, wasn't very scary, and the actor in it was definitely used to playing cute characters more than villains, but they did a pretty good job with the puppetry that moved the mouth. Really made it look like Oogie was talking.

Accidentally ended up on the Mother Gothel treat trail (we just thought it was one of the ones that didn't have a character). Actress was a bit young for the part (as can be expected), but damn did she play it well. As you can see, her set was beautiful, and the dress was a lighter fabric than in the movie but relatively accurate. She interacted with guests so fluidly. She asked a little girl if she listened to her mother and when the little girl shrugged and said a little bit, she said in a voice I've heard from my mother's obnoxious friends, "Well! At least she's honest!" Very convincing. I have no trouble believing this is a woman whose daughter doesn't talk to her for "no reason". 10/10.

The first character treat trail we did was Judge Doom from Roger Rabbit, unfortunately, we didn't get to linger that long because my mother had decided to forgo a scooter despite her terrible back and asking her to stand around while we took pictures of the guy in the costume would have been a war crime. But look at that set!!! There were barrels of the dip ingredients leading up to it, then you get past a tree hanging over the trail and viola! There it is. He was wearing a prosthetic chin that could have been blended onto his real face a little better, but he did some great improv when he saw a kid carrying a Roger Rabbit doll.

And finally, last but not least, when the night was just about over and the lines were almost completely gone, I dragged my sister to the Ernesto Treat Trail because I'd seen pics of the costume and wanted to lay eyes on it myself. Look at that make up! It's so well built, so convincing. That's not a mask, but prosthetics, so he was able to act through them. His voice was pretty smooth, didn't get to see him sing the song, he was probably a bit too tired by this point, but he did a great job adapting Ernesto's affectations into something a little more overtly sinister.

Over all, wouldn't have minded if the party was a little longer. Or even if we'd been let into the park a little sooner so we could get some of the non-Oogie Boogie stuff out of the way while the crowds were milling about. We got in at 3, when all of the lines were a bit too long and got food, wanted to do the drawing lessons in the Animation Studio, but they stopped at 3:30, right when we had finished our meal. There weren't any shows going on, so my sister and I split up to do single rider lines (got on the Incredicoaster three times, so that was cool). I think being let in at noon would have been a bit better. I enjoyed the party, but I don't know if I'd fork over the money to do it again considering how little time I had in the park. I definitely wouldn't pay for a normal ticket and an Oogie Boogie ticket in the same day. So, they should maybe extend the time you're allowed into the park. Then again, they've sold out two years in a row, so what do I know.

#Disneyland #oogie boogie #Oogie boogie bash #Foggy Obsesses over Theme Parks

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nonuggetshere · 1 year

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If you don't mind asking, what was the longest time you ever spend in a drawing? -🦂

Oh jeez, I think it must be this one commission I did for a friend that took me like 19-20 hours (painted background, detailed shading, all that jazz). But it's very possible that it's actually a different commission for the same friend that was all painting, but unfortunately, I don't have the raw file anymore to check the time. But I think it'd also be around 20 hours

These are the extremes though, most of my fully finished artworks take around 3-7 hours to complete, depending on the polish and the detail. The longest I took on a non-painting drawing is 9 hours, and it's this one

Didn't even do the background, lol, it's just an edited photo I took. I fully blame the jacket for that time

If we're counting other art projects, my Brutus animatic, Poplar St MAP part, She Wants Me (To Be Loved) MAP part and Spiral of Ants MAP part 22 triumph over anything else. I can't give you the exact numbers but I can make an estimate

Brutus I made in 3 days, barely sleeping and just chugging through that bad boy like my life depended on it. It was fully made in FlipaClip so I'm not sure about the exact time but excluding the time I slept, rested and ate, it probably took like around 12-18 hours. Which is insane considering how unfinished it is compared to the other projects on this list LMAO. I just remember it took a long time and I was exhausted by the end.

She Wants Me (To Be Loved) took me around 6 hours and 35 minutes to draw character references, then 15 hours and 35 minutes on all the frames, then putting it all together in FlipaClip and tweening it probably took me like another hour? So around 23 hours total.

Poplar ST was my first fully lines and coloured frame by frame animation. The references for the characters took me 4 hours and 15 seconds, and all of the scenes combined took me 26 hours and 12 minutes, then I had to put it all into FlipaClip and animate it which I'd again estimate to around an hour of work, makes it an around 31 hours long project.

Spiral of Ants part 22 was a massive beast, but not even because of the finished product but mostly because I almost finished a different version of that part before losing momentum and deciding on something else entirely. The three frames (one of which is lost to time) of this original concept took 12 hours and 27 minutes to make. Unfortunately, the reference sheets were on my old phone so I don't know how long they took, but seeing how long the other references took me and considering the amount of characters in this, I'd say 4-5 hours is a fair estimate. Then after that didn't pan out, I made two storyboards for my ideas for this part, which took me 3 hours and 54 minutes. Then the references for that took me 4 hours and 51 minutes. Then making the frames for that took me 11 hours and 30 minutes, and tweening I'd say took me around 2 hours in total. In total, that's roughly 40 hours of work for one MAP part.

But these are all animations, so it's a given that they'll take way longer than a singular artwork

As a bonus, have these frames for the original Spiral of Ants concept that never was and some of the refs that survived Nuking (phone change)

(that fire frame alone took me 6 hours)

#asks #thylacines can talk #spooky arts #Sorry I went into a ramble #It just got me interested in how long certain projects might have taken me and I decided to add them all up #Man. The ant motive was cute. I should have kept it for the final version. Oh well #You sly dog you got me monologuing #Also. Lilith's name has been since changed to Asmodeus. Because bastardising a mainly Jewish figure and shoving her into a mainly christian #Story is a yikes from me chief.

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tears-of-boredom · 1 year

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i started thinking about trauma, and that lead to me thinking about how long it would take me to "get over" the death of someone close to me. i estimated about 3 years, and then tried to think of an actual person who I would mourn like that. only people that came to mind were our cats. everyone else is kind of replacable to me. maybe I'd occasionally remember why i havent seen them around, but I dont really care much about any human...I've had this revelation before,, i thought i was some kind of bad boy because of my "heart of stone". But i now realise that it most likely isnt true, that I cant love a person that is. i just havent really been friends with that many people, for that long. our (oldest) cats have been with us for probably 6 years at least. and while I have actually had one person i considered a friend, for about the same time as well,, we never really connected on a deeper level. we half-joked about it, but we really were just kind of two people, who were alone, together....to be honest i kind of feel bad for not having gotten to know anyone that deeper. i suppose i knew some of their basic interests, but like, I wouldnt have been able to make a music playlist for them. atleast not one that i would've been confident they would enjoy.....that realisation is actually new. not really that I didnt have close friends, but that i didn't actually care about the people around me that much. i mean, i liked them, sure,, but I really just liked the fact that i had people who wanted to hang out with me. it didnt matter much who those people were.

okay im gonna cut this here, because i have a screenshot on my pc that i actually want to add here. i mean, im gonna add it so the same post, and probably delete this paragraph, but still. lol my vent posts are evolving.

okay the specific one i was looking for was a bit tricky to find because i apparently took it through steam, instead of like, pressing "windows button+print screen". and i really couldnt figure out how to see my steam screenshots lol. but heres the one i wanted to add to this post:

(from Our Life) this hit me like two trucks(having sex). like, i didnt quite realise exactly what i was doing back then, but i used to do this exact fucking thing. i only really got two chances to do it though. first was in kindergarten, and i didnt quite "succeed", because i was there for only maybe 2 or 3 years. and the friend pair i tried to "infiltrate" ended up sticking together after all. then in school i did it as well, and at least back then i considered it a "success". i think it started maybe in 2nd grade already. i was already basically in the friend group of three, but i guess i was just really insecure, and wanted to make sure that the other of them, L, was my friend. i developed this hatred towards the other one, N, and started complaining about them to L behind their back. in my mind, my complaints were reasonable, but to be honest, being a bit of a sore loser isnt that bad of a trait. im not really sure anymore if any of the parts of N i complained about were even real, but at least in my mind they were. i did "succeed" in pushing them out of the group. it wasnt a huge deal, since back then, the whole class was kind of a friend group, but still. and L turned into that 6 year long friend i mentioned earlier... I actually really regret what i did. i could have had two 6 year long friends, maybe even longer with the friendship having a different dynamic,, and i also kind of denied L and N the chance of friendship. i know that they couldve still been friends if they really wanted to, despite my stupid sabotaging, but it does kind of feel like i forcibly closed a door that was otherwise wide open for them....actually, telling this story from a bit of a different perspective helped a little... i had been carrying that hatred towards N -born out of something i dont even remember- for a really long time. i feel like doing this finally gave me the chance to see N as a genuine human being, a person. not just some kid that "stood between" me and L's "friendship". friendship in quotes, because honestly i didnt even do anything when i "had L all to myself". maybe for a year it was okay, but then i started to realise that i actually wanted more out of it. i wanted a genuine connection. and i wasnt getting that with L. i honestly probably was happier when N still hung around....i feel really disconnected from my younger self, while simultaneously feeling like i havent changed a bit. its weird...i guess i just really wanted to make up for the attention i wasnt getting at home, but didnt even really realise what i was doing. or maybe i wanted something constant in my life, with all the moving around we did until probably my 6th grade. its not like i changed schools any of those times, but it did leave a feeling of nothing around me being permanent, that still kind of holds on. we've been living in this place for maybe 4 years, and i still havent decorated my room at all. granted, i did change rooms about 2 years ago, but its not like my old room had any decoration either. it just feels like a waste, because i have this mindset that everything i add, will eventually have to be taken down and packed in boxes anyway. my mom has assured me that she isnt planning on moving us out of here, "at least not until shes alone". i guess the effects of moving almost every year since you were a baby, cant be really avoided, when its your reality. i was maybe 2 when the moving started, young enough to not remember the time we still lived with my dad, old enough to remember every apartment (and the one house) we lived in after that......i wonder how many times ive repeated this same story on here..at least this time i feel like its from a different perspective, slightly at least...yeah....i feel like now is time for a jokey comment about how im sorry if my writing is bad, because english is my second language. im well aware that im pretty on-par with a native speaker, at least when im using a text format. speaking is horrible though. re: my previous post about only really ever talking to my cats and no one else. and thats done in finnish,

aside from the occasional thought that comes in english, and i dont feel like translating before stating. my junky "english speaking voice" really discourages me from speaking it aloud, even if i do actually do a lot of my thinking in english.

im gonna end it here, i dont want to ramble on any more off-topic. sorry if you read this lol.

#i did not know that tumblr had a character limit to how many words could be in a paragraph..#tearful stuff

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dzpenumbra · 1 year

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12/31/22

What a weird day. I got woken up really early, like 5 hours of sleep, by a super loud bang from the floor above me. I got up and Max was insisting on getting her food early, so I got her fed and went to refill my water bottle and it smelled like mildew. -_- I hate that, I guess I don't wash it often enough. It's a solid metal water bottle and my genius-ass decided my best course of action - because I couldn't really foresee getting a sponge in there - was to fill it halfway with boiling water. Got a nice burn on my hand from that.

I got a little nap after that, so it wasn't so bad. But I've just been spacey as fuck all day. I think the temp change might be part of it, it was like 50F today. It was 11 last week. Guess this is the "new normal" everyone's talkin about.

I played a bunch of Session today, which was fun. It's been a while, and I noticed I've gotten much better at it, especially compared to my clips from October that I edited earlier this week.

I cleaned up a piece of quartz that I found in a roadcut by my old house. It was one of the more impressive natural points that I've found in the wild. I ended up putting it in my display case coffee table thing I have. Welcome to my life, I have a glass-top coffee table with a sick mineral collection in it, but no seating, no TV, nothing but unpacked boxes on that side of the room. And I've been here for like... well over 2 weeks, I don't even know anymore, time is so fucked for me. Like a month now? I legit can't even estimate.

So, since I'm on that... the big thing from today - besides a bunch of scattered work on stone and jewelry pieces that may never actually be made... - the big thing was that I was super goddamn scattered today. Like... I was all over the place. Like... this is a snapshot of my day. When I got my cat dinner, I noticed that the compost was getting moldy and I really should bring it out. The compost bins are probably... 50 yards out the side door, the side door is like... 30 yards from my apartment. So it's a super quick run out behind the maintenance shed to get it done. And I go... "oh, I can do the trash too, and the cat litter, because that's overdue, it's on the way." And this is as I was making my cat dinner. It took me like... 3 hours to take that compost out. I legit do not have any aversion to the act of taking it out, I just kept getting distracted and sucked into things. "I need to figure out dinner for me", "oh, I need to figure out groceries", "I should work on this art project over here", "I need a shower", "I should probably shower first", "should I cook or get delivery for the 4th night in a row?", "should I order groceries to be delivered?", "I need to do the cat litter first". It was just absolute chaos, one thing after the other. And then I'd just find myself in my computer chair polishing a rock and go "nope, come on, how did you even get here?! You need to go take the compost out, it just takes a minute." And any time I'd go do an intermediate task like cleaning the litterbox, it would like... reset my attention or something. I don't know. It's just been really, really difficult all day.

So, I didn't eat dinner until like 9:30, I just said fuck it and made ramen, which was my backup to my backup for dinner. I originally settled for a quesadilla but my cheese was moldy, a bit more than I was comfortable with. And I tried to get a grocery order in, but like... that was fucking tough. I just can't think straight and I don't have anything planned out at all, my whole list is like a chain of impulse buys. I feel like no matter how hard I try to focus, I just draw a blank when it comes to "what do I want to eat, what do I want to cook, what meals do I want." I think I'm just overloaded, overwhelmed. Or exhausted. Or both. Probably both. It just hasn't been this bad in a long ass time. I shit you not, I was standing in the kitchen doing an Instacart grocery order on my phone with my cat talking to me for at least an hour. And then I got to erase things off my whiteboard list on the fridge, which is a cool feeling. Then I started doodling on the whiteboard for like 20 minutes with my phone in my left hand the whole time. And I was like "dude, okay, you were doing groceries, remember?"

And this is fucking every day. And on tough days like today, I can get so overwhelmed or just... mentally-blocked from everyday tasks that I end up barely even eating, or going a whole day without drinking water. I'll forget that I have to go to the bathroom for like 2 hours and be squirming in my seat without even noticing it. It's a problem. And, to be honest, it makes me feel like a shitty adult. I'm 36. And a lot of these problems feel like problems people have with children or something. I don't know, I'm stopping myself right now because this is not fair to me, I was just super judgmental of myself right there. I'm not doing this shit intentionally, I didn't make this shit this hard for myself. I'm not choosing this path, and the only one who suffers from it is me. So beating myself up over something that's happening to me is a dumb idea, just gonna be blunt on that.

I've been giving people on r/ptsd this advice, it's about time I give it to myself. "Try to be a bit more gentle with yourself."

I know it's the voices of other people in my past just echoing through my head. And I know their voice is probably just an echo of shitty people in their lives, too. It just sucks.

I'm just really hoping this apartment doesn't turn into my last house. Like... ultra-super messy. I haven't vacuumed yet. I put a Swiffer wetmop thing on my grocery order, so I'm setting the stage for it, but like... okay, here's the deal. My shit is still in boxes, man. I don't have furniture. So... I really just need to take a trip to Goodwill or a second-hand furniture store and get whatever I can fit in my rental car. A bookcase, a sturdy work table, a futon, a TV table... a TV... I have a big comfy beanbag chair coming in the mail and I'm insanely stoked about that. I just need to get my shit out of boxes, off the floor and into some form of home... then I can vacuum without running a goddamn obstacle course, and it will feel more natural.

And it would help a lot if I had some kind of perception of time, at least day of the week, so I can have some kind of rhythm around cleaning - rather than noticing shit on the carpet and going "oh fuck, this got bad." I just really need to find a system that works. Because my whole "schedule my day" app thing I was using, that disappeared real quick. And my yoga... that one makes me sad, I loved my yoga time at sunset. I haven't done yoga in like 3 days. All because my former "best friend" who is now a homeless fentanyl trafficker and mother of 5 decided to call me looking for a ride one night, when I thought she was in jail. Now my life is just... kinda starting to stabilize a bit? Little by little?

So yeah, I dunno, I just wanted to get that out of my system and kinda describe what my day-to-day is like, because I kept that shit secret out of shame and guilt for a long ass time. How flighty and messy and disorganized I am, how chaotic my life is. Seriously, it's just absolute chaos most of the time, just like cat food twice a day, caffeine in the morning, sleep ritual of some kind at night, the rest is just... like I'm a leaf riding down whitewater rapids of my thoughts and attention.

My right forearm is hurting, it's because I type wrong, and I type all this every night. It's taking its toll on my arm, especially when I use my mouse a lot during the day too, and/or when I sand stones. The combination is rough. Like the inside half of my pointer finger is numb. I need to do some typing exercises and re-learn how to type properly. But for right now, I'm gonna tap out and go take a bath or something, try to chill before bed.

Oh, the 30 day yoga thing I was gonna do starts on January 1st, so that's a thing. Maybe that will help me find structure. I'll pull that up and try to keep track of it. Glad I remembered that. On that note, happy New Year and all that, if you're celebrating please be safe and don't be stupid like a lot of people I've known throughout my life. I hope we all find a bit more peace, love and compassion this coming year, the world could always use more of that.

#diary #journal #online journal #stream of consciousness #stream of thoughts #mental health

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songofsaraneth · 2 years

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How did Kazul's enrichment tent end up turning out? I thought it was such a cool and fun idea, especially if you need to clean the tank or if a snake was a little extra chubby and needed more enrichment. She's so pretty btw

Thank you!! And oh yeah, this is actually a great time for an update on this anyway! long post ahead.

so as some of you may recall, this was the first iteration of my enrichment tent for Kazul:

basically it was a way for me to give her an area to explore/move around in outside her tank, but that didn't need my constant direct supervision like letting her free-roam in my apartment does (since i have oh so many snake sized small holes and furniture gaps i might never recover her from, not to mention all my precariously balanced objects she might try to support herself on/drag off a surface and get hurt if they fell on her). And as you said, it's handy for when it's time to clean the tank instead of putting her in a cramped tote. I also like to think of her free exploring time in it as more enjoyable to her because it's more "hands off"--while interaction with reptiles is important I also want her to be able to self direct/decide what to do without my input or influence.

My setup used my two-person camping tent, and inside it I could fit her climbing frame, my drying rack, various hides, poster tubes, boxes, a water basin, and whatever else. It was great for the amount of space it provided + i would get a towel or two wet but not driping and leave them inside to provide some humidity, which got trapped in since i'd cover it up on 3 sides with the rainfly. It worked nicely but came with a lot of downsides. Firstly being it's huge and took up all the floor space of this room, which is also where i do things like crafting as well as dry all my laundry. So whenever I needed the space for things like sewing or vacuuming or laundry, or you know if i needed the tent to actually go camping (which IS one of my favorite hobbies and I do quite often), i'd have to take everything out and disassemble it. Which was a pain!

Anyway then a couple months ago my friend @raposabranca sent me a photo of her kitties enjoying sunshine on the porch while ALSO in tent jails:

so I immediately begged for details & got the link to the tent-shaped one on amazon. They come folded in flat circles so you can collapse them to store them under a bed or wherever, and don't involve any tent poles, which is a big improvement. They're also cheap! I think this size was $20? Anyway I was like, Kazul is smaller than a cat! This'll be perfect! And ordered one which arrived in just a few days. I opened it up and was like, yay! How spacious! And then I actually tried to put her inside it and realized...

...oh my GOD she is enormous now??? How? When!!!!! SO while it doe serve the purpose of being able to give her a change in environment and a chance for me to throw in some novel enrichment objects for her to check out, it doesn't give her a place to fully stretch out. I knew it wouldn't be quite as long as her but I definitely misjudged how big she's gotten lmao. But it's also still been useful in giving me a way to take her outside for some sunshine without worrying about her getting tangled in the shrubs, or the many birds I now support coming too close because they assume I'm outside to give them their daily ration of seeds. It also juuuust fits on the couch next to me, so I can make her chill with me while I watch a movie or something too.

So I went back online and THIS time I bought the size up, that when I had first looked at I thought would be larger than needed--but was still only $30! It just arrived yesterday, and actually it'll be pretty perfect I think. It's 6 feet long so is TRULY enough room for her to stretch out--she's ~5'7 as of my estimate last week, which gives her another half foot of growth as well before she matches it:

As you can see her climbing frame doesn't fit inside it at the moment, but I was going to saw 6'' off the posts on the shorter end anyway to make it easier to store/take through doors, and i think with that adjustment I should be able to get it inside as well (instead of the turned-on-its-side drying rack). There's still room for other hides/tubes/enrichment things in there too! And it takes up SO much less floorspace I can easily still get into and do things in this room without having to awkwardly climb over it, and is light enough to move around/reposition really easily. At this size it'll also fit in my living room so I can set it up on the floor next to my couch and be able to glance over/watch her do her thing while I (try to) concentrate on my grad school work. I haven't put her in yet but I'm hoping to try later this afternoon or tonight if she seems like she wants to come out :) And this doesn't mean I won't ever use the huge one/my personal camping tent again, like if I'm having a very busy series of weeks with grad school and know she won't get taken out otherwise, but this way I can try to get her out once or a couple times a week without having to do major setup or specifically supervise. So that's where things are at the moment! When I put her in I'll try to get more pics as well. But I think this last one is the perfect medium between big enough to let her feel like she's exploring vs small enough to be practical for everyone else involved, if they happen to live in small apartments and can't devote entire rooms to snake tents.

#snakeblogging #kazul #king kazul #snakeblr #reptiblr #boa constrictor #i mentioned in the tags on a diff post that I also wanted to get this because right now she's officially longer than the tank i have for he #i had planned to upgrade last winter but the guy i buy them from tore his rotator cuff and paused business for 6 months :(#so once he's online again she'll be upgraded to an 8ft viv #but for now i try to make sure she gets some time outside so she can fully stretch and get some exercise #reptile enrichment #snake enrichment #replies #ramblings #anonymous #long post #ALSO omg looking at those old posts of the big tent and she could fold herself over inside the poster tubes... cant imagine that now #she really did have a secret growth spurt

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smol-nevi · 3 years

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I don't generally make this kind of thing a habit, but I think if you happen to be on the Crystal RP Discord, aka @crystal-rp-ffxiv, you should probably be aware of this kind of behavior, so here goes.

If you're on Crystal RP and the admin team decides they don't like you, you're going to be living under a microscope while they wait for you to mess up, if not bait you, probably while making up conspiracies about you as well. As for how I know this, I was a moderator for about a week's duration and saw it first-hand.

Unapologetically lengthy post. Receipts in the link above, long version below the cut.

From the first time I looked in the mod chat I knew something was wrong. I read backwards in the channel, thinking I'd acclimate myself and see what kind of rules precedents had been set and that sort of thing. I mostly just found out that they had it out for a particular member (at the time using the name Jericho) for not much reason. They'd spent a troubling amount of time over the past few months watching him and another member like vultures, believing them to be the same person and waiting for them to make some kind of mistake that would justify banning both of them...despite keeping different schedules, having different personalities and typing habits, and visibly being two different people. The admin team had come to the conclusion that Jericho was a troll who wanted to make them look bad, and anything he said or did was scrutinized to a ridiculous degree for evidence that would corroborate their belief.

Except none of the things they believed at all were true: he'd had a minor argument via DM with the head admin Benjimir Thursby's wife, Tessariel Aerlinn, who had made an overly broad statement about anime and Asian culture. Jericho had told her that overgeneralization about 'Asian culture' is potentially racist, and she became extremely angry, saying that because she's Asian, she can't be racist against Asians. After that, it seemed that Jericho was considered fair game for whatever retaliatory actions the two of them could justify.

Even a cursory glance at actual racism in Asia pokes Tessariel's statement entirely full of holes, and having personally read the conversation I didn't see anything actually inaccurate in his statement even if she believed it didn't apply to her. I asked what he had done that would merit such a response, because it felt very disproportionate to anything I'd ever seen him do publicly, and that was what I was told. The exchange via DMs had been screencapped and kept in a channel for evidence, and while I didn't get a copy of it, I did read it, and I said that I thought it sounded awfully one-sided and punitive and would have been much better as an actual conversation. I also expressed that I was concerned how much of the channel had been solely devoted to what was basically a witch hunt, considering that some of the server members had over the course of the past couple of months commented that the admins' behavior towards Jericho seemed biased.

I basically got a pat on the head and told that my opinion was "valued" but wrong. This would happen a lot over the course of the week.

Shit continued to escalate. Their favorite punching bag, who was acutely aware of the grudge by now and probably trying to be nice and discuss something that he thought they could all talk about, brought up some articles that stated that LOTRO might be having a graphical overhaul. This actually ended in him being put into some kind of time-out mute, because "everyone knows those articles are debunked already" despite them still being hosted on reputable games news sites. Back-channel, the admin consensus was that he was in fact trying to bait Benjimir and Tessariel into somehow looking stupid in public, because [paraphrasing] 'he knows how important LOTRO is to them.'

Benjimir in fact went off publicly about how he knows the dev team and they sent him 'personalized swag' for 'being himself' and that everyone should just listen to him because he's right. Someone else made a reasonable request for sources on statements that Benjimir made about the LOTRO improvements not happening, and they immediately became the team's private #2 punching bag.

The whole time I reiterated that this was really uncomfortable and I had serious concerns about the way they were handling Jericho. And as always I received a pat on the head and was told to not worry about it, there were really good reasons for it, really. He was 'bringing down the quality of discourse' on the server somehow. Benjimir decided that the only way he would unmute Jericho is if Jericho talked directly to him, and that Jericho tried to talk to any of the more level-headed members of the team first was taken as obvious evidence that he wanted to evade rules and create problems. I asked when we planned to unmute him, and Tessariel immediately jumped to the conclusion that he had messaged me, which wasn't incorrect but the way she worded it felt highly accusatory and I was beginning to feel that I was also in trouble somehow for not agreeing with the rest of the team.

Things came to a head quickly when I woke up and looked at the mod chat and they were having an animated conversation that started with Benjimir asking if it was 'bad that he was laughing at Jericho' and most of the rest of the team talking about how he was stupid, uninformed, a troll, etc. for the sin of having some misgivings about cryptocurrency, of all the things. One of the mods self-described their behavior as bullying. I said that this was extremely unprofessional and that I thought they should keep conversation to actual moderation matters, and if they had a personal disagreement with a server member they should handle it in a personal venue, not via official server moderation channels.

I was, for the final time, patted on the head, and told that this was not something they would consider, because the moderation team 'needs to be able to vent for their mental health' (never mind that the job was not stressful except for the rest of the team committing worse behavior than the server members) and that maybe I was in fact too sensitive for the job. Benjimir heavily implied that I had become too close to Jericho and was being manipulated, managed to misgender me somehow despite my having used solely male or neutral pronouns the entire time I'd been on the server, and after relating a story in which a couple of years ago a well-liked moderator left after having the same complaints as I did (which he saw nothing at all troubling about), suggested that I should be demoted to babysitting the lore channel.

So I took some time to collect receipts, which are linked at the top of the post, and told him where to shove it.

Since that time, things have actually somehow gotten worse on Crystal RP. Benjimir posted an entire page screed vaguely talking about "rampant negativity" that stated anyone with questions should DM him.

Upon DMing him with questions, Jericho was banned, the only reason given being that he was a 'poor fit' for the server in some vague way. I was immediately banned afterwards for calling out this decision as being driven by a personal vendetta in the feedback channel and let him know afterwards via DMs in no uncertain terms that I had logged everything I needed and would be building my case (and that he is an asshole). Jericho was reinstated, though I'm not sure what the conditions of his return were as that was after my ban and I didn't ask since I didn't want to stress him out further. Benjimir also reprimanded someone for discussing asexuality, stating in a DM to them that the conversation was somehow ERP related. I called him out on this via DM as well. Tessariel was not much later caught posting my last DMs to Benjimir in an entirely unrelated server, though she didn't include the part after that where I brought up his aphobia (during Pride Month, in a server with a rainbow icon no less). Benjimir for some reason decided to suddenly start following my FC's Tumblr well after our falling-out.

And as of today (6/24), Crystal RP now has seven pages of draconian rules, because it wasn't micromanaged hard enough before or something. Notably, a lot of these rules describe behaviors that they wanted to punish Jericho for but couldn't at the time justify, or that they'd like to punish me for but have nothing they can do to me. Or they exist to justify their own behavior, as now seen in the very beginning of the channel:

"This approach also provides our volunteers with leeway to act in good faith without the burden befitting a professional occupation."

"So we afford them the means to speak openly, vent, lament, candidly and yes, sometimes crassly and raw about everything and one."

Not only did they behave unprofessionally and shit-talk before, they have now encoded in the rules that this is acceptable and even good moderator behavior, because they saw someone else do it so it's fine (a lot of this wording is very similar to what I was told when I protested it). So rather than address anything I ever said past or present, Benjimir is choosing to double down and giving himself and his team explicit permission to be shitty, right in the opening paragraphs where you'd have expected a mission statement or at least some sort of welcome.

Which is about all you need to know about that server and its owners, in my estimation. I'd considered not even posting to Tumblr about it, but given that it's only getting worse, I think it should be generally known that this is how you can expect to potentially be treated.

#FFXIV #FFXIV RP #Crystal Data Center #Crystal RP #Balmung RP #Mateus RP #on one hand it's drama on the other I can and will call a spade a spade or in this case a douchebag a douchebag #this shouldn't be surprising to anyone who knows me even a little

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deathwishdaydream · 2 years

Text

Dear Universe, Up Yours!

Chapter 5

[ "Book of Love" by The Monotones playing faintly]

My eyes slowly fluttered open as my whole body began to wake up. Shit, I think I fell asleep. My head was faced down and my neck was in pain so I was scared to move it. Why the fuck did I have to fall asleep in this position? Finally, and slowly, I tried moving my head back up, the pain in my neck decreasing as I let my head rest back. Outside, the sky looked pretty dark so I checked my watch. 7:57 p.m. Shit. How the hell did I sleep that long? And how far did we go since? I looked down at my lap and a black jacket covered me from my shoulders to my knees. I felt warmer and it was nice.

I looked beside me to see that Gerard wore just his T-shirt and scarf now, which explains the jacket over me, used as a blanket. He was particularly thoughtful and I fervently admired that diminutive gesture.

"Thanks," I said.

"For what?" He immediately replied.

"The jacket?" I answered in the form of a question.

"Oh- oh! Oh, yeah, um it's no problem," he said with a slight grin. I smiled to myself. Again. What was this kid doing to me?

"I'm getting pretty tired, so is it okay if we go sleep at a motel?" It took me a while to process this because I was already preoccupied with the thoughts of Gerard in my head. There was something terribly interesting about him. But then I was finally able to respond after remembering what he had just said. It happens all the time; I react to whatever people say, late, processing and responding to it afterward. I think I did this to myself too. I know I did. I'd say things to anybody and I wouldn't have known what I said to them until delayed realization.

"Oh- yeah. Yeah, that's fine," I answered.

[ "Book of Love" stops playing]

He drove up to the parking lot for a small, two-story motel. We got out of the car and I gave Gerard's jacket back, watching him put it on afterward. We headed into the building, opening the door, and heard a little bell ring. Another fucking bell. Fascinating. There was a lady at the front desk. She wore the motel uniform, which was some polo shirt, had dark brown skin, black curly hair, and brown eyes, looking at us as if we were two children in a casino. Like we were lost or something. There was a small word search puzzle book in her hands, and she looked down at it to circle a word she found, then brought her attention to us again. I walked up to the counter with Gerard following behind me.

"Hi, um, can we get a double room?" I asked as she put the book down on the desk.

"Yeah, sure, one double bed?" she said, and for some reason, my heart raced and my eyes widened for just three seconds. I didn't think it would be appropriate to share a bed with Gerard.

"No, no, um do you have the double twin beds. Y'know... two beds?" I said nervously and her eyes trailed to Gerard, looking back at me for a while, then back at Gerard, then at me. Odd.

"You, uh, sure you want double beds? Not just one?" I wouldn't be asking for two beds if I didn't want them, right? Is this some weird money-saving thing?

"Yes, I'm, uh, very sure," I assured firmly, though she raised an eyebrow, making me confused again. What the hell was going on? She then gave me a key to a room 204, knowing we'd pay at check-out. I decided not to think more of her confounded expressions. "Thank you," I added. She smiled and nodded, picking up her word search book after, and Gerard and I headed outside to find our room.

It was pretty dark and cold outside. I couldn't see anything 100 feet away. Maybe less than that. I don't know if that measurement was accurate, considering I wasn't very good at estimations. As I looked around the trees we were surrounded by, I realized I didn't actually know where we were, state or city-wise. We didn't even have a map, we just went along with things. There was something relieving about that. There was no plan and that was okay.

Gerard and I walked up the stairs of the motel building as the noise of our firm steps filled the air, along with the wind and a few owls hooting. I never saw one in person, interestingly. I've always wanted to see one because they rotate their necks far and have 3 eyelids. It was pretty sick.

We finally made it to room 204 and after all my thoughts of owls had passed, I brought the key into the lock. "After you," I said as I successfully opened the door. Gerard headed in and I followed after, closing it. I was immediately greeted with a gust of cold air from the conditioning. It was way goddamn colder than outside.

For some reason, I loved the smell of motel or hotel rooms. They always smelled of nostalgia and they reminded me of road trips with my moms from a long time ago. I especially loved the smell of coffee in hotel mornings, so I was kind of pleased to know that Gerard loved coffee and he'd most likely make a cup in the morning. The whole feeling, being on those road trips, made me feel young again.

I threw myself down on one of the beds, in which they looked so bleached. The sheets were also cold. The position I was in would lead me to look up at the white popcorn ceiling. Ever since Gerard drove us out of town, I had always felt this severe, skin-picking urge to ask if he was okay with it. I felt like things were either rushed or I forced him to come along and he doesn't actually feel excited as I do. I needed closure. And I wish I could say the prime reason why was because I didn't want Gerard to give up and bring the both of us back to Belleville. But that wasn't true. I felt this vitriolic torment because I was guilty and I didn't want Gerard to feel panicked. I didn't really know if he wanted to leave. He said he did, but it was still unclear. Though he doesn't talk much. But no amount of cursing could ever make Gerard's assurances sound eminently cordial. The provocative mentation resulted in a vast breath of mine, sitting up on the edge of the bed with my legs dangling rather loosely. Gerard was just sitting by the table, looking out the window. There wasn't much to see, except for the desolate landscape and a few lights that had been nearly swallowed by the bleak infuscation.

I looked at him, the front of his face reflected lamentably on the window. By his expression, he looked worn out and jaded. Unhappy, maybe. I felt like his emotions were ineluctably rubbing on me like how simple fire could disseminate, so I had to ask.

"Ge- Are... you alright?"

He turned his head and looked at me, eyebrows both raised in alarm.

"Oh- oh, yeah, I am, I'm..." he paused for a moment. "I'm... somewhat fine."

I didn't know what was up with him and I wanted to. Something troubled him and I hoped to god it wasn't me or running away from home. "Are you okay with me asking what's on your mind?"

He got up from the chair at the table and walked his way over, sitting on the edge of the bed right next to me. His hands were clasped together, and he fiddled with his thumbs and fingers.

"I wish I've done this ages ago... Run away," he says, looking down at the floor.

"I've thought about it... But I didn't know why I didn't initiate. I didn't have much motivation or thought deeply about it until I met you. I think talking about it with someone made me realize how shitty the place we lived in was." I replied. Half of it wasn't true, I think. I did know how shitty our town was but I guess I was just a fucking coward unable to leave on my own. "And I didn't want to be stuck there, knowing that I had a choice not to. But, hey, at least we're running away now. Better, uh, late than never, right?" There must have been something deeper. I didn't talk to anyone, anyone at all, so why him, out of all people? Was the world tired of my isolation protest that it got my mind to bring attention to Gerard?

He sighed shortly after. "I know, but... I wish my brother would have gotten to do this. Everything would've been so better." He quickly changed his mood from sad to just... normal. "Anyway," he says. He keeps doing this. He changed the subject and his whole entire mood in the conversation. "I am glad I'm doing it now." I wish it was easy to ask people so much intruding questions because then I'd be able to try to know him the way I wanted to.

It could've been the lighting. Or the bad perspective. But I thought I saw tears in his eyes. Maybe his eyes were just a little watery. I don't know. He just seems a little off. If he was crying, I wouldn't know what to do.

Instead of mentioning it, I nodded in response, turning my head to face straight, away from him. There was a silence between us, but it was actually comfortable. And those rarely occur. Awkward silences are definitely the most revolting, but this wasn't an awkward one. Surprisingly. I felt as if I could close my eyes right at this moment and immediately drift to sleep. Even if I was in a sitting-down position.

But my eyes were open.

I fell backward on the bed again, and Gerard shortly, yet carefully followed. We laid on our sides and faced each other, each of our hands holding up our heads. We looked at each other, perhaps stared, almost, in silence.

"Do you like me?" I asked suddenly.

His eyes suddenly went wide and he began to stutter timidly.

"I meant as a friend, numb-nuts," I said, chuckling under my breath.

He instantly relaxed after that. "Um, yeah, why?"

"I'm still... I don't know... Unsure of..." I couldn't find the right words. "Well... I'm not the easiest person to be around. I get impatient, annoyed easily. And you only saw a quarter of that. The thing is, you don't know me well at all. I... basically dragged you here, for no specific reason, it just happened. And I know that sometimes I can be immature, but... I still want to be the kid I am. We're turning eighteen soon and I'm... not ready for that. I still want to feel like a kid before I have to experience seriousness and- and conflict." I said, fumbling with the sheets below us with my other hand. I felt that I had to face conflict when I was finally an adult. I didn't want to be like my parents and ignore it.

He nodded slowly, attempting to understand. "Well, even though, people still might be treating you like a child," he replied. "So you might as well act like one and throw your TV out the motel window." We smiled at each other, but then I shortly sighed after being brought to that same goddamn thought.

"It's going to take me a while to believe you're actually okay with this, you know that, right?" I confessed.

"Yeah." His smile turned sad. No. Go back.

As much as I wanted him back to his mirthful smile, I kept wanting to stay on the subject so he would know whatever the hell was going on in my mind. "I don't know," I said, sitting back up and he followed, facing me still. "I feel insecure. I feel like you could leave me any second." I think those were the instincts I developed when my dad left me and my mom. "I know I should be able to trust you, but," I paused after seeing Gerard's concerned and disquieted face looking poignantly back at me. "I'm thinking I'm a burden for having you ditch school, ditch your parents, ditch Belleville. And I know it's something you wanted too, but... What if you regret it later on? Then you'll... leave."

"Before I say anything else," he began very seriously. "Do you really like being alone?"

That was a question easy for me to answer. In front of other people, actually. Keyword: 'was.' I wasn't sure how I actually truly felt. I always felt alone around my parents, and especially when my dad left and never came back. I don't know why I didn't want anyone close to me, either. But it's different now. I feel less alone with Gerard, but not in the way where I want him to leave and leave me be. I wanted him to stay and keep company. I was never this absurdly desperate before. I knew who Gerard was even before we were properly introduced. He was a calm, reserved, and quiet nerd who was my lab partner, but that's all I really knew. And then I gave him the impression that I liked being alone, but now I'm really not that sure. I felt myself tearing up; I didn't know much about a lot of things and realizing that I may not know myself at all anymore kicks me directly in the ass. I tried my best to stop and hide them.

"No," I said, with an audible voice crack. Fuck me. "I'm not sure anymore. Before we, I don't know, encountered... this morning, I... I remember the feeling of wanting to be alone. But then when you came over and I rejected you, you... I was drawn to you, for some reason, I don't know. You just..." I trailed off. "But maybe that wasn't the reason and I was just thinking about leaving town and you were the closest there, and you knew how to drive and y-"

I suddenly realized why I told him to leave with me.

"...You were unhappy," I said quietly, but enough for him to hear. "I've seen it even before you ever started talking to me and then, but without thinking about it, I knew that we both had an urge to get out of Belleville."

"Yeah," he says admittedly. "Things haven't... been the same recently after Mikey... moved, and I just didn't want to be there anymore."

"But how do you feel now?" I asked.

"Relieved. Not too unhappy," he smiled, a wide one that convinced me that my nerves were going preposterously unstable. His lips were unbelievably incomparable, it always brought some impenetrable sensation in my gut whenever they impeccably formed into that gentle smile.

I think I finally knew the answer to his question, too, the 'do you really like being alone?' one. "I like being alone, I do," I began. "But maybe, now, being alone with you. You're stable, you're not annoying, you're calm. You're someone I actually want to be around so... thanks for that, I guess." I didn't want to be too sentimental or anything.

"You're welcome?" he replied, chuckling softly. "Hey," he added, and brought his hand in front of him, sticking out his pinky. "Pinky swear that we'll never leave each other?"

It was corny, but it meant something. I smiled and wrapped my pinky around his, and we shook it, giving each other the whole 'pleasure doing business with you' grin.

"(Y/n)?"

"Er- yeah?" I asked.

He looked shy and tired, especially. "I think you're..." he trailed off, either not knowing what to say, or he did, but not knowing if he should say it out loud. "Never mind." It was pretty silent, again, after I hummed in response. This made me require some sort of focus point. Like, just something to stare at as I'd daydream. The silence was bearable, so I figured I would. And I don't know how, but the focus point ended up being Gerard's eyes. They were light hazel, and you could see the small green tint in the yellow hotel light. Looking at the darker lines and depth of his eyes made me feel warm inside. Just like his goddamn voice. However, my thoughts were interrupted by Gerard speaking suddenly. "I forgot my comics in the car. Can we get them?"

"Oh, yeah, fuck, I left all the shit from the store in there too." I guess we were really rushed to finally be inside a place where there are other people and y'know, feel safe. We were just kids after all.

We stood up from the bed, a small squeak from it following, and walked out, slamming the sticky door behind us. We quietly walked down the stairs and into the parking lot. Gerard had to be in front of me because, well, he knew his car. I followed him until he reached the silver Subaru and he unlocked the door with his keys. He switched the button, unlocking the passenger's seat door and I opened it, picking up all the random shit I got from the store.

Gerard looked around and then closed the driver's seat door, walking over to me. I stepped aside and he opened the glovebox, only to find the comics he kept in the car.

"...They help me fall asleep." he smiles sheepishly, making me lightly chuckle.

"Got everything you need?" I asked.

"Yeah, you?" he replied, holding the two comics to his chest like a nerd.

I nodded and he said "great," clicking the button to lock the doors and slamming it closed afterward.

We both walked to the motel rooms again, up the stairs, and to our room, but then I saw Gerard's eyes widen in utter panic.

"What?" I asked, confused and slightly worried.

He replied quietly then chuckled softly after in disappointment, and I had no fucking clue what he had just said.

"Come again?"

"I forgot the fuckin' room key."

#gerard way x reader #gerard way #mcr fanfiction #mcr fic #mcr #my chemical romance #gender neutral fanfic #dear universe up yours

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qupshalfempty · 4 years

Text

Written as a not yet established relationship but mutual pining. It got so lovey dovey my heart hurt while writing this. It's very rough around the edges due to not writing for so long, but I hope y'all like it!

108. “Shh… You need to be quiet.” W/ Ultra Magnus and a Cybertronian! SO

Walking out of my berth room I was immediately met with the distant voices of both Optimus and Magnus. Following the voices in curiosity, I entered the main room of the base standing behind both of them as they mentioned a mission, an energon mine and.. My name? Before I could greet them their attention's on me. Never being the subject of their gazes so intensely, I gave them a lopsided tilt of my dermas.

“What’s going on?”

...

The glowing light from the portal fades behind Magnus and I as our pedes stepped off of the concrete floor of the base and onto the stick littered forest floor set in front of us. The forest was dense, light from the Earth’s star struggling to shine through the canopy above. Many of the planet’s smaller life forms were skittering away disappearing deeper into the woods, most certainly running from our sudden appearance.

Magnus paid them no mind, instead signaling me to follow him in I assume to be the direction of the abandoned energon mine we were to scout out. I trail silently behind him, already preparing for the long trek ahead of us..

Other than the occasional hand signals and “yes sir” from myself the travel had been near silent, the only other sounds coming from the crunching of tree limbs and brier under our pedes and the occasional animals nearby. I could do nothing but let my processor wander, distracted from the mission at hand.

The gleams of light cast from the sun painted what parts of the forest floor it could touch with golden strokes. At times his plating would catch the light and reflect against the leaves and other flora he’d push past in reds and blues… This would be romantic if we'd actually said more than a couple phrases to each other. I could only hope for that to change and for him to acknowledge me with more than just small smiles and hidden softness from the rest of the team.

I silently thanked scouting missions like these, allowing me more time around 'Magnus than usually allotted for his position. It gave me the chance to enjoy his presence and what soft smiles he'd offer when we were alone, which has been the only sign of any feelings returned on his part. I’d only hoped it wasn’t out of politeness and rather returned feelings anyway, just the thought is what’s stopped me from confessing much earlier.. While it’s been pointed out plenty of times how different he acts around me and how much more gentle he is towards me... It’s hard to believe he’d return any feelings, or would want to pursue a bond when one of us could be offlined any klick while fighting this war. Although I’d take whatever time I had left to be with him… By the All Spark I’m in deep.

Next thing I know, my left pede hits a displaced root and I'm sent tumbling forward into a familiar blur of red and blue. Just barely catching myself with my servos on… Magnus’ back plating… I jolted backward, ripping my servos from his back like they'd touched rust, and shakily righted myself. He jumped in surprise, snapping his helm back in my direction with widened optics before his optic ridges down turned in his signature stern look. I withered under his stare with an awkward chuckle before he finally gave what I assume to be a sigh and an attempt at a softer look that was really just one of neutrality for him.

"Be more careful."

Turning away without waiting for an answer, he continues. I hesitantly follow albeit much farther behind so I don’t embarrass myself again. After an estimated half an hour of awkward silence, he pushes a tree limb out of his way and stops in his tracks.

"We're here."

Magnus was already crouched behind some thickened shrubbery, giant enough to hide his stature, and was looking towards an opening in the lower brier's branches he had held back. Peering over his shoulder was a cave's entrance a little ways away, hidden near perfectly from sight with the dense woods surrounding it. Peaking out of the tall grass thoroughly covering the vicinity of the entrance was mining equipment and empty carts overgrown with vines. They were most definitely left behind. Thankfully we had coordinates or we would have never found this. Not that I would've minded being around Magnus longer anyway… I quickly shook my helm, ridding my thoughts away.

"We should comm the others." I whispered, focused completely on the cave and not on the inexistent distance of our shoulder plates. My fans whirred.

He nodded, already a step ahead of me with his servos to his audials.

"Ratchet, the coordinates were correct. It appears abandoned, we'll be on lookout."

"Affirmative." I hear Ratchet grumble.

Magnus then turned his helm to me and raised an optic ridge, realizing how close we were, I shove myself back as calm as possible for someone’s who’s fan’s volume turned to that of a garbage disposal. He either didn’t notice or mercifully said nothing and instead continued in his usual stern tone.

"We’ll be scouting the area for any decepticon activity."

"So.. we'll be here a while?"

"Yes."

…

After the equivalent of 3.5 earth hours and a detailed dirt drawing followed by a reprimand from Magnus about "leaving behind tracks"… I got bored. Being on a recon mission with my spark lighter, without any plot going on, was uninteresting to say the least... He didn't make an effort to talk, his steady focus solely on the cave and the wind blowing the shrubbery. The only sounds that could be heard was the chirping of birds and someone's fans kicking on.. that wasn't mine for once.

Looking up from my plating was Magnus' helm darting away from my direction and back towards the mine. Was he looking at me?

Luckily, my fans had no time to react as Magnus held his left servo up, a silent command to stay still and quiet. He glared down at the entrance before giving the signal to follow.

He pushed his way past the shrubbery and slid down the cliff side we'd been securely perched on. I followed close behind, letting him lead a path through the straw like grass.

Now usually I don't question his orders, but this was meant as a simple scout mission, a "stake out" as the humans vids would say, and we comm base to come pick up the energon once it's deemed safe. But this seems to be quite risky for someone who's so.. well the complete opposite.

I ran every scenario through my processor as we continued deeper. Maybe he heard something? I'd thought he'd comm back to base and let them know. But our job is to see if it's abandoned right? So we’d have to confirm if it is, although just the two of us and no backup? Whatever it was, I'm sure Magnus has a good reason.

By now we were in deep, the only light we had to shine our way was our optics and from what little energon there was left behind in the walls. I was barely able to stop my chassis from touching his back when he suddenly stopped and motioned me to look into the wide open room ahead. My optics brightened at the sight.

Inside was a huge cavern with the walls and ceiling filled to the brim with energon, full of huge deposits that were barely touched. Carts full of even more glowing energy cubes were ready to be rolled out. For sure able to power our small team for a long while. Oddly enough the machines were trapped in vines and aimed at a wall full of energon, two more were aimed at another, covered in the same vines..

It's unbelievable that something drove the Decepticons out, especially with all of this energon ready to leave… But from the looks of it, it seems all of the abandoned machinery hasn’t been touched in a while...

"We should comm base-"

One of the drills far ahead cuts Magnus' whisper off, it turns on and attempts to cut into the rock around an energon deposit before groaning as it struggles against the vines holding it captive. Suddenly a Decepticon enters from one of the nearby halls and expects it, grumbling something along the lines of "fast growing.." and "damned flora.." while tearing the vines off...

We both duck behind the rock wall at the bot's appearance, Magnus’ throwing his arm back to push me behind him. Luckily the decepticon took no notice, ripping what little vines were left off before the drill’s shrill sounds started up again. Magnus looked over towards me and started to signal before he was stopped short by the sudden sounds of pede steps coming from behind us. Our only exit.

My optics widen, I look to him for orders only to see the same surprise in his. He turns to me fully looking around the dark tunnel before his optics catch something behind me and pushes me backward into it. With no time to react my back plating hits a hard rock wall, reflexively letting out a muffled 'humph!' into someone's servos.

"Shh… you need to be quiet."

Turning on my optics at the voice I was met with Magnus' chassis, and slowly trailing up his clavicular plate, his neck cabling, and finally his face were his optics gazing down at me inches away from my own helm. One of his servos covering my dermas while the other was pressed firmly against my side with what little space there was. I didn't dare speak, not with the pedes slowly getting closer or the intense stare of Magnus'. Looking at my surroundings before my fans kicked on, we were in near complete darkness if not for our optics. From what else I could make out we were in a small enough crevice for the both of us and surrounded by rock on all sides other than the tight opening I’d been pushed through. Magnus' form towered over me, keeping me from peeking out of the crevice he'd somehow shoved us both in. Daring to peer at his face I can make out his optics slowly dimming.

"Shut off your optics."

A shudder went down my spinal frame at the demand but I obeyed, hoping he wouldn't notice. Knowing how close our frames were and how intertwined our limbs were, he most definitely did.

We both stood stock still as the sounds grew closer, the voices complaining about the flora destroying nearly all of their equipment and setting them back by 7 Earth days. The panic built up pressure in my chassis, knowing they’d soon be passing us. The only thing grounding me was Magnus’ rough digits pressed into my coxal plating and dangerously close to grazing the side of my pelvic plate. I’d forced my fans to shut off despite the heat emerging from both of our frames.

A rock being kicked from a pede step just outside our makeshift cover made me flinch, something I dare not risk illuminating my optics to see pressed into my forehelm. I stood stock still, reaching out and clenching something to ease my jitters as we listened in the dark.

After the longest klick of my life, the sounds of pedes slowly fade away further into the cave. I only allowed my shoulders to relax when the cave around us was fully silent, I slowly turned on my optics before widening them in surprise from the helm inches away from mine for yet the third time this Earth cycle….

Magnus' forehelm was pressed against mine, his helm cast down and his features being the most peaceful I've ever seen them. Not a hint of his signature crease of irritation between his optic ridges, you'd nearly think he were recharging if not for the heat I felt on my own helm emanating from his.

I could do nothing, not able to move away even if I wanted to due to the rock keeping me trapped from behind. Instead, I stayed still. His optics slowly turned on, meeting mine before looking downwards. I followed his gaze to find the object I'd grabbed in the dark, my servos were tightly clenched around his digits. Before I could instinctively pull back and apologize, his digits wrapped firmly around my servos, three of his digits able to cover my entire servos fully. He’d made no move to push away, instead keeping our frames pressed together. My sensors were off the charts, at times sensing his thumb run over my outer plating along my hip.

I didn't know what to do, so I followed his lead instead. Not able to keep his gaze for long I tucked my forehelm into his chassis and we stayed that way for what felt like megacycles until we heard loud pede steps and the shooting of blasters coming close. Soon enough we recognized Optimus' and Ratchet's voices from close by. By then I knew we definitely took too long to comm back and I'm not planning on explaining what happened.

#transformers prime #tfp x reader #transformers x reader #tfp ultra magnus #ultra magnus x reader #long reads #angst/fluff prompt list #qupwrites

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