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lovverletters · 11 months

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Yandere! Male Lead

Note that this is a reupload from my previous blog @hyerinrose

A/N : this took so many hours to finish Aghhh. Reblogs, notes and Feedback are appreciated!

T/W : death, yandere behaviour, etc

•┈••✦ 🎀✦••┈•💌•┈••✦ 🎀 ✦••┈•

💌 You woke up in an unfamiliar place. It wasn't the bedroom of your friend whom you had fell asleep in. The only memory you had of last night was falling asleep next to your friend's laptop while they were playing the new visual novel 'Flightless Dove'.

🎀 You couldn't have possibly experiencing those 'transmigration' thing in one of those isekai manwha/manga! Those aren't real! At least that's what you thought..

💌 Looking at the full body mirror across from the bed, you let out a sigh of relief. You still have your own features and body. However the picture frames on the bedside table reveals your identity in this new world you have been thrown into,

(Name) (Last Name), best friend of the protagonist and the heir to (Last Name) Corporation.

🎀 With this information, you recount that despite them being a side character, their story is unnecessarily tragic.

You were determined to change their fate.

Routes under the cut!

💌 Choose your route :

🍓The Fiancé 🍓

❣️Yandere! Fiancé whom you were incredibly wary of when you first met him. He was a terrible partner towards the original host, neglectful and rude towards them. Later, falling in love with Celine, the female lead and killing them to be with her.

❣️Yandere! Fiancé who you approached with caution, intending to be acquainted with him in order to hopefully guide him into becoming a normal human being. He was distant and closed off at first, shooing you off but eventually somewhat enjoys your presence.

❣️Yandere! Fiancé who finally begun opening up to you, sharing his troubles and worries with you, how angry he was at his parents for setting up this engagement without his knowledge. It's almost as if the two of you were actually lovers :)

❣️Yandere! Fiancé who falls in love with you, hard. The previous cold hearted man now replaced with a lovesick puppy who follows you around at any chance given. Always gifting you things he came across while on a business trips as a show of his affection. It's to also serve as his claim over you, that you belong to him, that you are his fiancé.

❣️Yandere! Fiancé who completely ignores the female lead numerous attempts at mingling with him. He's a faithful man, he had promised himself to you, so why should he tolerate this woman's presence any longer? Should he just kill her already? She's pissing him off greatly.

❣️Yandere! Fiancé who were envious of your friends, he wanted to be the only one you look at, the only one who you'd smile at and laugh with. Why are you giving away what's rightfully his to nobodies??

❣️"Promise me you'll never leave me, cause if you do, I wouldn't know what I'd do.."

•┈••✦ 🎀✦••┈•💌•┈••✦ 🎀 ✦••┈•

🍒The Childhood Friend🍒

❣️Yandere! Childhood Friend who's the only person you liked in the game as he's only one who stuck by the original host's side through thick and thin. Even attempting to avenge them after their death.

❣️Yandere! Childhood Friend who were surprised by your attitude towards him- not that he was against it- you were more animated and affectionate with him, it made his heart flutters everytime you complimented or gave him a hug. Have you finally reciprocate his feelings for you?

❣️Yandere! Childhood Friend who were in love with you ever since the two of you were kids. He was a loner that nobody wanted to befriend until you came along, suddenly there was a crowd of kids wanting to be friends with him. They don't matter to him though, in his eyes, you're the only friend he needed.

❣️Yandere! Childhood Friend who were incredibly jealous and resentful towards your fiancé! He was such a lucky man to be engage to you yet stupid enough to not see your worth. Can't he sees how beautiful and intelligent you are? How amazing you are compare to him??

❣️Yandere! Childhood Friend who were aware that he wasn't your only admirer. While he had been successful in scaring away your other suitors, the protagonist and even your fiancé weren't as easy. They too share the same strong feelings he have for you. And they weren't going to back down anytime soon.

❣️Though just like them, he too wouldn't be giving up on you. He was tired of seeing you with someone who's undeserving of you, who doesn't know how to treat you right.

❣️"You're the sunshine to my lonely self you know that, (Name)? I love you :)"

•┈••✦ 🎀✦••┈•💌•┈••✦ 🎀 ✦••┈•

⚘️The Protagonist⚘️

❣️Yandere! Protagonist who were the original host's best friend besides their childhood friend. He was your stereotypical main character, he was charming, attractive and powerful. Despite that, he still stuck around them until Celine came along.

❣️Yandere! Protagonist who you were determined to keep as an ally. After all the downfall of the original (Name) was because of a falling out between them and the protagonist. By having him as your friend, your chances of surviving this mad world is increased!

❣️Yandere! Protagonist who just like your childhood friend was surprised at your change of attitude towards him. He was used to your stoic and closed off self but was happy with your positive changes!

❣️Yandere! Protagonist who's feelings for you grow rapidly as days went by. He can't put a finger to what exactly it was about you that pulled him in. Was it your infectious laughter? Or your odd sense of humour that he can't help but adore you for? Your intelligence that never fails to amaze him?

❣️Yandere! Protagonist who were absolutely smitten by you that he ignores practically everyone including the female lead whom he's supposed to fall in love with. Nobody else is as important as you are to him. So why should he bother be around them when he can be with you instead? :)

❣️Yandere! Protagonist who despite his reputation as being kind and charming to others, would not hesitate to murder for you. Though he hasn't committed any, he is guilty of sending threats towards your other admirers. Unfortunately, your fiancé and childhood friend aren't as easy to rid of unlike like your other suitors.

❣️Too bad for them, he's not one to give up once he sets his eyes on something. He'll do whatever it takes if it meant that you'll be in his arms at the end of the day.

❣️"(Name), I hope you know how important you are to me. I love you now and forever"

•┈••✦ 🎀✦••┈•💌•┈••✦ 🎀 ✦••┈•

Part 2 coming soon?

#yandere x reader #yandere male x reader #tw: yandere #yandere male #yandere oc #yandere #gender neutral reader #yandere imagines #yandere headcanons #yandere x y/n #yandere x you #yandere x darling

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louloulemons-posts · 9 months

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weirdly specific I know but what about fem!goth!reader who's been best friends with eddie for years. he thinks he knows everything about her until one day he climbs through her window to hang (bc of course he does, he can't use a door like a normal person, even if her parents aren't home, where's the fun in that?) and finds her rocking out to taylor swift and it turns out shes a massive closet swiftie.

Weird But F-ing Beautiful

Modern!Eddie X Fem!Gothic!Reader

Summary : You were a metal head with a secret, you love Taylor Swift.

Word Count : 1k

(How I imagine Reader would defend Taylor)

Warnings : not proofread, 3am writing (again-pls someone save my sleep schedule), so many taylor references!, swears, petnames, cuteness, eddie and reader are just adorable honestly

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

You and Eddie had known each other for years now, you’d say he was your best friend in the whole world.

The pair of you had a lot in common, you were both unusual and unique people. You bonded over that, along with your love of bands like Metallica and Black Sabbath.

You’d always liked darker things, loving halloween whilst most liked christmas. Horror movies and true crime documentaries brought you comfort.

Complaining about summer as your dark wardrobe made the heat cling to you, it was just the person you were. But you had a secret, one that even Eddie didn’t know of.

You absolutely loved Taylor Swift. You’d found yourself bopping along to one of her songs that was on the radio and were hooked, owing all of her albums and having them on regularly.

Enter Sandman to All of the Girls you Loved Before was quite the contrast, but you loved it.Walking down the halls to your locker, Lover was playing in your ears.

People who passed you wouldn’t think that, ripped tights, a skirt that went just above your knees, dark top with long flowing sleeves - bat wings Eddie liked to call them.

Fingers and neck decorated in mismatching jewels, huge boots, a corset around your waist and eye liner that took longer than you’d care to admit. Love Story didn’t really look like a song that’d be your favourite.

Arms wrapped around your waist, squeezing you softly. Pulling out an earbud you spoke, “Edward.”

“Hello Sweetheart.”

“What can I do for you?”

“Milkshakes?”

“You paying?”

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

Sipping on your strawberry shake you chuckled at Eddie, leaning over the table you wiped whipped cream off his nose. “Thank you,” he blushed.

“Don’t mention it Rockstar.”

“Sooo,” he said.

“Hm?”

“I may or may not have gotten two tickets to see one of the best bands of all time, and I was wondering if you’d like to come with?”

“Oh my god One Direction have reunited?” You laughed, “Shut up. Will you come with me?”

“I mean I guess I could free up some time for you,” you smirked, taking another sip of your shake.

“Cool.”

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

“Thank you for the milkshake.”

“Anytime Sweetheart, I’ll text you the details of the concert and stuff.”

“Please do. I’ll see you later,” Leaning over and kissing his cheek, cherry red stain being left on his skin.

Heading up to your room, neither of your parents were home yet. Throwing your bag down you put a record on, Taylor.

Humming to yourself as you undid your boots, you decided to start on some homework. Turning up the music and tuning everything out for a while.

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

Stood in front of your mirror, you began wiping your makeup from your face, eventually singing along. “I remember when we broke up,” you sang softly, humming mainly.

Sliding off your rings and necklaces, your hair being pulled out of your face, comfortable for the night. God how did this woman make these songs so catchy? What was in them?

You couldn’t help yourself, “I used to think we were forever ever …” You put your books away, cleaning your desk, “We are never ever ever getting back together!”

Dancing around your room, you laughed as you spun around your room. These songs just made you so happy, “We are never ever ever ever getting back together!”

“Okay I get the message,” a voice laughed.

“WHAT THE FUCK!” you screamed.

“Wow chill it’s me.” Eddie.

Storming over to your record player you turned it down, Stay Stay Stay playing quietly in the background. “What the fuck are you doing here? How’d you get in?” you shouted.

“Window. Came to bring this back, wasn’t expecting a concert.”

“Oh fuck off Edward,” you huffed, taking a ring out of his hand. Turning away from him and putting it with your others.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I um didn’t know you liked this music.”

“Well I do, got an issue?”

“No. Just … do you actually like metal or was that just umm …”

“I like both okay? Sometimes I just want to feel like a happy, silly teenage girl. Her music helps me do that, or if I need to cry, or fall in love or anything really. I love metal, I didn’t lie!”

“Okay. I believe you. She’s cool.”

“You think?”

“Well you like her, so she must be.”

“Shut up,” you smiled.

“I’m serious. Teach me the way of Taylor Swift,” he grinned, dropping on your bed.

“Well thats 10 albums, and then there’s Taylor’s versions.”

“God you’re a proper little nerd.”

“Says the one who loves D&D,” you smacked him lightly.

“I’m not saying she’s bad! I like that one umm … Enchanted?”

“Yes! It’s her newest re-release, god I love that album and 1989s out soon as well.”

“Slow down babe, you’re losing me.”

“Sorry, so um Enchanted?” you asked, standing up, pulling the vinyl out of its case, replacing it on the record player. The song played softly. “It’s beautiful.”

“It is,” you smiled, turning back to Eddie. “Thank you for bringing my ring back, where was it?”

“My van, must have fallen off.”

“Or you stole it.”

“Me?” You nodded.

“Don’t think it’d fit Sweetheart.” The chorus played, and Eddie began to hum along, standing to be in front of you. “I like this other side of you.”

“Thought you’d make fun of me.”

“I’d never. I like all parts of you, this might be my new favourite, maybe we can see her concert.”

You snorted, “You willing to sell a couple organs?”

“For you, I do anything.” You smiled up at him softly, he nudged your nose with his.

“As Taylor said, I was Enchanted to meet you,” he smiled, leaning down to press his lips to yours.

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

A/N : This was so fun to do! I just jammed out to Taylor the whole time and it was great. Thank you so much for this request I hope you enjoyed it 🤍

Thank you so much for reading! Please leave any requests 🤍

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zalia · 5 months

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Experiencing Destiny 1 as a D2 player

I picked up Destiny 1 in a sale recently despite being told a lot about its problems, and honestly I'm really enjoying playing it! I feel a bit like a time traveller visiting important places and events from the past.

I also have friends who played Destiny nearly from the beginning and it's fun to go back and go 'ooooh that's what they were talking about!'. I am also very aware that if I had started playing it without already being invested, I would be having considerably less fun. (Also, being fair, much of the fun is doubtless novelty after playing *mumbletymumble* hours of D2 over the past couple of years).

But it's genuinely been really interesting from a design and narrative perspective going back to it and seeing where the story began and how things have changed and I wanted to ramble about it. Full disclosure, I have played up through the first couple of missions of The Taken King. There are also things I can't comment on such as Crucible (because getting enough players for a match has not happened yet), events (no longer happening) etc. Also haven't managed to run a raid yet but hopefully will eventually!

I will start with the bad, to get it over with. A lot of stuff here will be well known and honestly it's probably less interesting than the good/thinky stuff.

The Bad

Oh boy I have maligned D2's New Light introduction so badly since it is miles ahead of D1 just by merit of actually having one! D1 gives you the opening run through the Cosmodrome where they tell you what buttons to use and then refuses to explain anything ever again. (This very definitely ties into it being a game I enjoy now but would probably not have enjoyed if I wasn't already invested)

You don't realise how many QoL improvements D2 has until you have to go to orbit and select a new destination every single time. Also no fast travel points. And no you cannot just look at a map of the place you're traversing. Fashion is difficult too.

Up until Taken King, I am not sure why they bothered hiring voice actors for anyone except Ghost, Elsie Bray, and maybe the Speaker. And I have no idea why they hired Bill Nighy for that part (I mean I do, it's because they wanted to use Big Names for marketing but still...). The Vanguard could easily be replaced with cardboard cutouts because they are basically uninvolved in anything until Taken King begins. I know they aren't involved in every seasonal plot now, but they do appear and develop.

The story and writing is... well, it makes an attempt to exist. It does not succeed until The Taken King. I went in knowing what happens in the story and I'm still not actually sure what happens in the story because it is basically someone's pre-first draft bullet points of a narrative. The only reason I knew I was starting different storylines is because the mission popup tells you which storyline it is. 'I don't have time to explain why I don't have time to explain' is a meme for a reason, but another bit which I think illustrates the point well is from House of Wolves. Petra tells you that Skolas has entered the Vault of Glass and this is bad so you need to stop him. It is never explained before then what the Vault of Glass is, what it does, why it would be bad for Skolas to be in there, or... anything. While D2 can be obtuse, and sometimes leaves important info in easily overlooked lore tabs (or in vaulted content), it at least tries to tell you what the story is. I feel like D1 actively resents that players do not read the bullet points and fill in everything the writers had in their heads. Another example is the Devil's Lair strike. it's the first one you take on in D1, and after doing it in D2, I was expecting backstory and build up. Nope, you just get sent in with nothing to really explain what is going on, who the House of Devils are, what a Servitor is... I know it had troubled development and the story got torn apart and remade very close to launch, and it really shows in the early stuff. It's a series of missions that were made and then had to be strung together with the thinnest of threads. It gets better in Taken King, but at times is still not great. You first encounter the Taken on Phobos, I think Ghost asks about what they are. I was expecting more discussion about them and what they are and how horrifying it is. But nope, they just exist now and we're all fine with that.

So. Much. Grinding. The pinnacle grind was annoying in D2, the grind to just get your light up in D1 is so much worse. You will be doing bounties desperately to try to get your rep up with the various groups just so you can actually get fragments of story and quests. You will be grinding just to level up your subclass and it takes ages.

The places you visit are very expansive - even the Cosmodrome is significantly larger - which is great when they're used well, but a lot of the time they feel very empty, there to make you play for longer to get between areas than because there is anything to do.

The Good

The game is gorgeous! I'm loving getting to see Venus and Mars and the Dreadnaught. They're beautiful environments. Everything feels very expansive which can be very cool (as above, it can also be less good). When used well, it feels like there are so many mysteries and secrets hidden in this abandoned world. There are hidden bunkers and spaces, huge Vex structures and ruined cities, tunnels burrowed beneath the Cosmodrome and the Taken King's dreadnaught. It's genuinely fun to explore (up to a point).

It does an excellent job of making you genuinely feel like it's post-apocalyptic and the existence of humanity is precarious. And you, the Guardian, are brand new and everything is trying to kill you. You don't have multiple gods stored in your vault in the form of guns! Everything feels more dangerous. For example, I think if D2 is your intro, you look back at the Great Disaster and the first Crota fireteam and go 'but how did that happen when I go onto the moon and take out ogres with a single punch? The biggest threat in the Abyss in Crota's End is falling into a pit or getting hit by a pendulum! Yeah no I get it now. In D1 you are much less powerful and it makes swarming thralls and normal enemies much more of a threat. Things feel dangerous in a way that D2 rarely manages. I'll talk about this a bit more in depth later.

By making your supers and abilities less powerful, they have weirdly made them more useful. In D2 I usually save mine for bosses since it feels like a waste to use them on normal enemies. In D1, it makes absolute sense to use your abilities basically as soon as you have them. You should absolutely use your Golden Gun on a normal Hive Knight or Fallen Vandal!

There's some great atmospheric touches. I love hearing the snippets of distorted music when I'm near a Rasputin bunker. Going into some of the ruined buildings on Mars or Venus where it's dark and suddenly seeing so many red Vex eyes staring back at you is chilling.

The opening mission of Taken King is fantastic. Genuinely creepy and the Taken in general in D1 feel much scarier and threatening than in D2.

All the different enemy factions are different colours and designs! I love that!

Weapons still go brrrrr in a very pleasing way. And getting new gear feels genuinely satisfying in a way that it rarely does in D2. I junk 99% of the armour and guns I get in D2, in D1 I end up being much more considering of whether something is useful. Legendary weapons and armour feel precious!

I keep picking up random Warmind weapons to turn into Banshee that I know lead to an exotic quest and I am enjoying the feeling of that being another Secret Thing I am discovering.

Honestly, I really like Banshee's weapon bounties - you get given a prototype weapon to test out and gather data by doing certain things (killing X number of a certain enemy etc.) and that gains you rep. And you can then order a legendary version of the weapon from him to be delivered the next Wednesday.

Thoughts/Observations

Knowing that the 'original' story was seemingly going to focus more on Rasputin, and an exo version of him getting stolen by the Hive makes the appearance of some of the Hive areas on the Moon make more sense. There's some bits that are high tech in a way that feels very at-odds with what we see of the Dreadnaught and, other Hive locations which lean much more towards the organic and magical.

Similarly, Rise of Iron feels a lot more hard sci-fi than much of what Destiny has become, and has such a huge Rasputin focus. I believe it was partially developed by an outside studio, so I do wonder if it was based, at least in part, on the 'original' story of Destiny, and was either too far into development, or the other studio just never got the memo about the change in tone.

Vaguely related to the above, but way more speculative, I wonder if Banshee was originally meant to be a Rasputin exo, then that story got shifted to Felwinter, but the seeds were used for the story of Banshee having been Clovis Bray.

Honestly while it's fun to think about, in general I find the obsession parts of the Destiny community have with 'the original story' (of the 'maybe they're finally going back to the original story!' type where the unspoken idea is that this was the perfect undiluted pure story that was 100% planned and set in stone) to be fundamentally misunderstanding how creating stories work. I can guarantee that even if that first story had been used, after 10 years of multiple writers etc. it would still be in a very different place than where the people who came up with it initially thought it would go. It would have evolved and changed and shifted, even if it was following the same vague plan. That's just what stories do.

Oh wow, suddenly all the Nightmare Hunts in Shadowkeep make way more sense! I get it now!

Actually I get a lot of references now XD

Oh wow Shaxx sounds so depressed. I guess this was before he started therapy.

So many identical caves...

Thoughts on Power Creep

D1 leans much more into the post-apocalyptic setting and it does an excellent job of making the existence of the Last City, humanity, and Guardians feel precarious. Everything seems more dangerous, more of a threat. You really are part of the last bastion of humanity. And there's a few ways this is done.

First, you are much less powerful. Yes, you have supers and grenades, but they do much less damage (and are much less flashy) than in D1. There has been a huge amount of power creep! You won't be one-shotting bosses, even normal Vanguard Strike bosses with golden gun easily.

Legendary weapons feel rare and special, and I am still using Blue weapons at times because sometimes I have to just to get the higher light level. I have reached level 40 and have only just got my first exotic armour pieces which I bought from Xur! They are FR0ST-EE5, an exotic I have never bothered with in D2, but in D1 the recharge for abilities when sprinting is genuinely handy. I don't have any exotic weapons at all yet!

It leads to a very different playstyle - I play much more carefully because I cannot just charge in with something like Osteo Striga and wipe out a room with a few shots. In D2 we have killed multiple gods, taken down an Empire, and forged alliances. In D1, we're just some random Guardian and the gameplay reflects this.

And I hate to say this, but I also kind of get the YouTube/Stream BNFs who complain about things not being hard enough. It's just... they're completely wrong about the reasons and the solutions.

They seem to think that what is needed is more enemies with higher health, and nerf Divinity because it makes it too easy, and everything should be designed to stop normal players being able to do it. And it... it doesn't work? Ghosts of the Deep was fun, but holy fuck the health bars on the enemies make it feel grindy and dragged out. Legend Avalon was a slog because there's Too Much - too many elements at the same time so it's just overwhelming instead of fun. (Starcrossed on legend is tough, but feels more enjoyable and managable. I'm looking forward to doing it again instead of dreading it).

More difficulty isn't what makes D1 feel harder, being weaker is what does this. I have no doubt that if I could put my D2 stuff against D1 enemies I would decimate them. But in D1 I am a lone Guardian with scavenged gear and yes, I have the Light and can be resurrected, and it gives me an edge vs normal humans, but not a crazy amount.

In D2 I have so many exotics and weapons that I can just throw them away. I can have intricately crafted builds to take on any enemies! I am basically one of the most powerful entities in the solar system.

And that's not something you can really scale back. They did it with Red War at the start of D2. Maybe they could do it as a result of Final Shape and do smaller stories focused on Earth and recovery and what you even do after your purpose for fighting for so long is gone (and I think there is value in those stories! I would love it personally). But uh... I don't think most people would actually be happy having everything nerfed on such a scale. Give up your 999,999 Celestial Nighthawk boss damage, for a Golden Gun that with a bit of luck might one-shot a yellowbar?

Give up a lot of creativity in terms of what you use and how you play, in exchange for a tougher game with way less choice for builds, but one that is potentially more atmospheric and in-keeping with the post-apocalypse and the dangers of the solar system?

I don't have an answer for that! And it's not even the most important thing. Gamer BNFs gonna always want to prove that they're better than everyone at pressing buttons, and forget that the majority of players are casuals. But it's been interesting playing a different type of difficulty, rather than the forced difficulty of insanely high HP and Too Many Things.

Power creep is a real issue in a lot of long-running media (just look at superhero movies, or many many monster of the week TV shows). You're in a position of feeling like you need to one-up yourself every time. Every new villain has to be the biggest and baddest, and so you have to become more and more powerful to combat that, which means the next villain has to be even bigger and badder.

With Destiny we've gone from a scrappy underdog, to a god-killer.

I'm reminded of Osiris talking about Saint in The Sundial lore.

'I watched him grow from neophyte to demi-god'.

King of fitting for us to have done the same as Saint's inspiration.

#destiny 2 #destiny 1 #destiny the game #meta #gaming #video games #my thoughts

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kiruvry · 2 years

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hi !! i forgot to post these initially, but ive rewritten a bunch of stuff from my kny fantasy au :]

these are just general messy pieces of a couple people + infodumping below :]]c

(Piece 1)

Kyojuro and Senjuro are a duo of brothers born into the Rengoku family, that's left their sons especially well known for generations for their eagerness and being willing to assist others with any sorts of labour or tasks they're unable to complete by themselves. Being from a long line of centaurs, Kyojuro himself included, this gives them a lot of advantages over the general population who are predominantly human and allows them to physically handle a lot more. Senjuro, however, is a little bit of a different story- Shinjuro and Ruka Rengoku aren't an expected pairing from this bloodline, with Ruka being a faun lady rather than another centaur. Because of this, instead of being the norm, Senjuro, despite having the strong, usual features of a Rengoku, was born a faun, leading him to having to help people in a slightly different way to his elder brother. However, it doesn't stop him from accompanying Kyojuro out every now and then.

(Piece 2)

A well renowned group of performers, labelled misfits by some who have their reservations about their tales and music, Tengen Uzui and what are rumoured by some to be his three wives Suma, Makio and Hinatsuru have made a name for themselves here after coming out of nowhere with the girls' musical talents and Tengen's unique and self-described "flashy" appearance, often the initial factor drawing the common folk to their shows, to which they ultimately stay for their display, intrigued by their stories. Stories that are brought to life with stunning song and performance, allowing an almost vivid, painterly visual to appear to the audience. Whether this is merely their minds at work or truly a piece of the group's own magic is debated, but the true answer has yet to be revealed.

(Piece 3)

Within the Demigoddess of Life & Health's sanctuary of peace, the center at which her tree of life lies- accompanying her guardian Yushiro aswell are the two children she took in and under her wing while they were still quite young. An older brother and younger sister, Gyutaro and Daki are both satyrs with surprisingly, vastly different appearances. The duo were originally only to stay short-term- however as Lady Tamayo begins to realise that there is more to these two than first appears, she asks them personally if they would be willing to stay with her longer. The pair since a young age have experienced strange visions of an... inverted world, displaying many horrors beyond belief to commoners, however such tall tales have never been truly believed by anybody else, labeling the children as merely 'crying wolf' because their world has been at peace for centuries. Why these visions of theirs intrigue the Demigoddess is unknown, but when it's brought up, she often has a look of distant sadness on her face.

The duo were often left to their own devices as they grew older, and seemed to eventually grow to enjoy causing trouble, described by some as delinquents- though one day, a young man they had found near their home had caught their interest. He didn't appear to look anything like they had seen before- with scales and horns, almost reptilian in appearance, if he didn't have the face of a man, albeit his cheeks covered in scales. He introduced himself to the siblings as Kaigaku, and boldly stated he was a draconoid- however they had been presumed extinct for years. He had run away from his adoptive home... yet again, and had gone out into the forest to get away from the stuffiness back there, however ultimately got lost as he wasn't aware of where he was going, not often venturing out until recent years in 'teenage rebellion'. This was the start of the small group's friendship, as the young man would continue to come back to the siblings to see them specifically, which caused them to eventually enjoy one another's company. Lady Tamayo does have a few small reservations about him, though hasn't disclosed as to why to anybody.

(Piece 4)

Living within a small estate in the woods with her sisters- Shinobu is a doctor of sorts, though it certainly wouldn't be assumed at first glance, due to her more unprofessional approach. Don't allow that to fool you, however- due to her lesser magical and physical strength as a fairy, she instead has devoted herself to helping the less fortunate in a more medical way and has succeeded far more than the average run of the mill practitioner. She sometimes lurks over previous patients who suffered from particularly serious issues for a while, merely in order to keep her eyes on them and see how they fare. One previous patient in particular she's kept an eye on is a curious sorcerer- one... seemingly born with his powers, rather than having to study arcane text in order to gain them as most do. Glowing marks engraved on his skin, Giyuu was a rather unique case to the sisters. With his mortal body unable to fully handle his power's true extent, his form began to erode. It was only with the enchanted red bindings around his body he was able to contain his power, at the cost of his ability to use it as he pleases, it's repeated use often causing exhaustion. He's made a full recovery as of now, however with what's contained inside of him, his state is quite unpredictable and could change in the blink of an eye.

#demon slayer #kimetsu no yaiba #kny #kny au #demon slayer au #fantasy au #kny fantasy au #kyojuro rengoku #senjuro rengoku #tengen uzui #suma #makio #hinatsuru #kaigaku #gyutaro #daki #shinobu kochou #giyuu tomioka

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sbk-zgvlt · 1 year

Note

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

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

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

1. We're just that cool

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

3. IM SO INSANE ABOUT THIS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tick.

Tock.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"...PETER WHAT THE FUCK"

#fuck you this is an au now #storybook madness au #sebek zigvolt #twisted wonderland #twst #twst sebek #sebek twisted wonderland #twst sebek zigvolt #diasomnia #my asks!

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skylarkking · 2 months

Text

To Heal a Mockingbird

A TFA Ratchet x Mech!Reader

Word count: 1.4k

Chapter 1: A Decepticon's Decision

A/n this story takes place partially pre-series before going into the series.

------

'War raged across the planet, just like our lord wanted. Death, destruction, chaos, all of this was his doing.

And I was one of his soldiers.

But how far can a soldier go before he begins to break? Before he crumbles? Before...'

"This is stupid." I muttered to myself as I stared at the datapad in my grip and the words I had written on them. I ended up turning off the data pad and returning it to my subspace before flopping back onto the cold berth of my quarters.

I stared blankly at the ceiling with crimson optics and a tired gaze, my mind running and racing despite not having a proper recharge in a very long time.

War had been raging my homeworld for Primus knows how long, a war I once thought was justified.

But with recent events, my loyalties and morals had begun to come into question.

"Y/D! Report to the Nemesis! Now!" My commanding officer, Starscream, shrieked over the comlink.

"Yeah, yeah, calm your circuits, Screecher." I grumbled in response.

"GET TO IT OR-" He started to bark before I cut him off by hanging up, my frame slowly rising up from the berth with a stretch of my wings and a satisfying round of pops from my joints.

I made my way out of my quarters and into the hall of the barracks I resided in, several other Decepticons looking over to me with suspicious glances before returning to their usual business.

I ignored their gazes and turned down the hall towards the take-off strip. My form shifting after a running head start sent me into the air. I cut through the skies with the grace and speed of a true Seeker, something that I was proud of but was far less vocal about compared to my C.O.

I eventually made my way towards the Nemesis's flight deck, where my forms shifted again as I landed. Almost as soon as my pedes made contact with the metal plating, Starscream came out and began to lecture me about 'being disrespectful' and 'uncooperative'. I tuned out most of what he said, at least until he said something that actually caught my interest.

"We have an Autobot prisoner for you."

Starscream's words caused me to perk up curiously, my optics meeting his as a result.

"Sir?" I asked. "What do you mean you have an Autobot prisoner?"

"Well, if you had been paying attention -"

"Aaaaand here we go again." I muttered to myself, cutting the second in command off.

"As I was saying," he continued with a growl. "We have an Autobot prisoner who may know the location of a great power source. However, I believe he needs some.... convincing."

I sighed in annoyance and waved my servo in a way that conveyed my distain for the whole affair.

"Like I told Lord Megatron, I'm no longer practicing nmemosurgery."

"Yet you still have the probes." Starscream said, followed by a smirk. "Surely they aren't there for show."

"Look, I don't think it's a good idea, okay?" I said firmly with narrowing optics. "But... I'll see if I can coax the information out of this bot."

Starscream sneered with a dark chuckle and motioned for me to follow. I reluctantly complied and followed the seeker inside the Nemesis, where we weaved through the various corridors to the brig. Inside one of the cells was a bot with a red and white paint job who looked no older than I was. His frame mildly dented and scratched from what I inferred was a struggle. Judging by the markings on his frame, I could tell he was one of the Autobot medics, something I did not like.

"This is the bot you want information from?" I asked Starscream with a hint of disgust in my tone.

"He knows where the power source is. All you have to do is make him talk." Starscream growled.

"Both you and Lord Megatron know that I do not harm medics!" I snapped. "It's dishonorable!"

"You and your stupid sense of honor!" Starscream barked. "Just shut up and do it! Unless you want me to get Lugnut to tear your sorry paint job apart!" I flinched in fear at the thought of the hulking mech, a shiver running up my spinal strut and causing my wings to fold tightly against my back. "That's what I thought." Starscream huffed. "Now get to it!"

"Y-yes, sir." I stammered out as I entered the code to the cell and retracted the bars. The medic scooted back and away with fear as I entered, his baby blue optics practically staring into my spark.

It made me nervous.

"Commander, please leave us be so I can focus on my work." I said to the seeker.

"Ugh, fine!" Starscream muttered. "Don't screw this up!"

Once Starscream was out of audial shot, I knelt down by the injured medic and carefully took his more injured arm into my servo, my optics quietly inspecting the dented and cracked metal

"What's your name?" I asked as I ejected out one of my various repair tools and got to work on fixing the medic.

"Wh... why do you care?" He asked with a quiet voice.

"Because I like to know the names of my patients." I said, not even looking up from my work. "My name is Y/D if you'd care to know."

"I... I'm Ratchet." The medic said with an increasingly confused expression on his face.

"Ratchet... I like that name." I said nonchalantly. "It suits you."

"Oh, um... thanks?" There was a long silence as I repaired the medic before Ratchet spoke again. "Why are you doing this?"

"Hm?" I questioned as I looked up at him. "Doing what?"

"Helping me. Why.... why are you helping me?"

"Morals." I said flatly. Thankfully, that answer seemed to satisfy the medic, and I was able to finish the repairs to his frame.

"Thank you." Ratchet said with a strange sense of awe.

"There is no need for niceties." I said. "But nothing comes for free, and you know what I wang."

"You want to know the location of the energy source. Well I can't tell you."

"This energy source must be powerful if you are willing to hide its location from me." I said.

"Listen, if Megatron gets ahold of this, everyone and everything on Cybertron will be destroyed." Ratchet said with increasing earnest. I studied his expression for any malicious intent or falsehood, but I could not find any on his face or in his optics.

"This... power source you Autobots are hiding. If it is this powerful, why have you not used it?"

"Because using it would be the death of us all." Ratchet said grimly. "And.... it wouldn't be right to use a source of life for a weapon of death."

Those words clicked in my mind, telling me exactly what the power source was in an instant.

"The power source," I said with an urgency in my voice. "What is it?"

"I... I shouldn't - "

"Please." I practically begged barely above a whisper. The medic paused a moment before sighing in defeat.

"It's the Allspark."

The energon in my tubing practically froze in place, my optics widening with an increasing fear.

"No, it... Megatron wouldn't dare...." I whispered. "He wouldn't.... would he? Sure, he's strong-willed and stubborn, but... this..." I was so shocked by this revelation that I ended up staring blankly at the floor.

"You didn't know that was what he was after, did you?" Ratchet asked. I shook my helm, and in that moment, I truly began to question my loyalties.

"He never told me anything." I said quietly. "I... I can't let this happen. I won't let this happen." I stood up and offered a servo to the medic. "Come with me, I'm going to get you out of here."

Ratchet took my servo, and I pulled him up on his pedes, the pair of us quickly darting through the halls and towards one of the shuttle bays. I shoved the medic inside and forced it to deploy, the medic and shuttle drifting off into space.

"TRAITOR!" I heard the bellow of Lugnut roar, my helm whipping around to see him, Megatron, and Starscream all aiming their weapons at me.

"I KNEW HE WAS A SLIMEY AUTOBOT SYMPATHIZER!" Starscream shrieked. I ejected one of my blades and held it defensively, my focus entirely fixed on the glaring warlord.

"Is it true?" I snarled. "Are you really planning on using the Allspark as a weapon?"

"Of course I am." Megatron growled as he drew his own blades. "Too bad you won't be alive long enough to see it come to fruition."

"Then I'll just have to stop you."

--------

Next Chapter: Here

#transformers #art #drawing #sketch #transformers animated #tfa #tfa fanfic #tf fanfic #transformers fanfiction #fanfic #male reader #x reader #reader insert #tfa ratchet

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just-some-guy-joust · 11 months

Text

Posting my own propaganda; I did NOT write a (soon to be) 100k fic about Lyf to let them die here

(Although a quick note before I dive in- reminder that if you can get a perfect 50/50 they can move together as a team!!!! Since this is the most votes any of the polls have as of now, I'll allow a tiiiiny bit of leeway in either direction as well)

Wider necessary context: The Mechanisms (in universe) are a group of space pirates who tell the stories they come across in the format of narration-song-narration-song-etc albums. These stories are always gruesome, over the top, and always always end in tragedy.

Your sister dies before your eyes after 40 years of being made to serve a role in a war you hate, with only a few seconds to live again before being cut down yourself. You win the war, but what else is there left behind?

You finally find the one thing needed to save your city from endless capitalistic destruction, and yet you die before you can share it with the world. Maybe they didn't deserve it anyway.

You work your whole life to bring together the two different tribes of your own world only to become disillusioned to the cold hatred of your people. You destroy everything because what else is there left that's even worth saving?

Time and time again, things end the same way. Death, destruction, and only a handful of survivors if you're lucky. These three aren't even the only examples, these are just the longer albums. Even the individual songs end this way, just on a smaller scale.

So when The Bifrost Incident begins, you already know how the story ends. But the characters don't.

It breaks the rules of the narrative right from the very first second. For the first time, a character in the story is narrating it, rather than a Mech as an outsider perspective. They are introduced as Lyfrassir Edda, investigating the disappearance of a train, and in this first narration they tell you exactly how it ends. No remains were found other than the engine room, and "a couple of warped skeletons." Every single person on that train dies.

The only thing Lyf can do is try to work out how it happened. They go through the remaining security recordings, keeping track of the characters and where they go. There's nothing they can do to prevent these events, they can only stand back and watch as they unfold.

Another Mech narrative device that is broken here is that every previous album took classic public domain melodies to use for their songs. The Bifrost Incident is the first (and as far as I'm aware, only) instance of them using purely original music. Even from the beginning everything feels...off.

Lyf eventually unlocks the secrets of the footage, past a point of no return. The passengers on the train, the ones they'd been watching this whole time, did not cause its destruction. The once simple murder mystery turns eldritch horror, and the usual narration-song-narration format is shattered as 5 high-energy songs in a row describe the fate of the train.

Everyone on that train is doomed. There are two full songs describing their demises, ones they cannot escape or prevent. Lyf can only watch as things get worse, until eventually the only remaining living passengers decide what they have to do: take advantage of the blood ritual keeping the train moving to delay its arrival to the station Lyf found it at.

"They cannot prevent what they have touched following them into our world, but they can delay it. Keep the train on the track as long as possible."

There is no stopping this. And Lyf then realizes what seeing this footage means. The train has arrived. It's even taken them a few days to review the footage. Every second that passes brings them, everyone they know and love, and their entire star system, closer to its inevitable destruction.

There isn't a single thing they can do in their narrative other than discover just how impossible it is to escape it. And they do try, they're the only character that ever learns of this, and they flee. It is unknown whether or not they survive.

Nobody else does. And despite all their efforts, there wasn't a single thing they could do to stop it.

#sorry im autistic do you still think im cute #doomed by the narrative showdown #curtain call #-R #the mechanisms #yes im main tagging this because im right

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sparkypantaloons · 2 years

Text

Mosaic

Tim hadn't even particularly liked Jason. They hadn't had the best introduction and nobody could say Jason was easy to get on with. But Bruce loved Jason and Tim loved Bruce. If Bruce needed to keep his promise to make it through, then Tim would make sure that he did.

Batman needed Robin. Even if they aren't who they were.

Bruce is in his study. Tim hasn't seen him in hours now. Doesn't dare try the door, can only assume it's locked.

The older man lasted the morning, at least. Much longer than Tim had thought he would. And if the others noticed the tightness in Bruce's jaw during lunch, they didn't comment on it. Just like nobody commented when Bruce excused himself for the afternoon. Locked himself away in Bruce Wayne's cave, rather than Batman's.

Tim sighs, picks up a lone roller skate. Faded red with silver lightning bolts down the side. It's tiny, must have belonged to Jason when he first arrived at the Manor. Eleven years old and yet to hit a growth spurt.

Tim looks for the second skate. Rummages through the last of the debris in Jason's closet. The dregs of a childhood cut short, gathering dust for far too long.

There are board games and stationery and magazines. Old clothes and broken trinkets and hand-me-downs from Dick. There are more notebooks than Tim can count, with stories and homework and case notes scribbled in them. One of them is full of Jason Peter Wayne and Jason Todd-Wayne written over and over again, like the eleven year old was testing them out. But most of what else is here is just teenage rubble. Little worth keeping. No second roller skate.

Tim places the first carefully on top of the discard pile. They can't give away just one, after all. Clicks a photo on his camera.

It's taken the best part of two days. Many hands make light work, but none of this has been light. Not just the emotional toil, the mental upheaval of clearing out a life cut short. But the physical too. Getting rid of Jason's old bed had nearly done Bruce's back in. Even with Dick and Tim's help. And Jason has— had... so many books, that they've filled five boxes already. Tim knows he'll feel every one of them tomorrow.

The room, once all that was left living of a story half told, is nearly empty now. There's the bottom of the closet left to clear. The last few boxes to take to the charity shop. A few posters still on the wall. Little left to say that Jason Todd-Wayne had lived here. Had a home here. A family. However unconventional.

Tim thinks Bruce is taking it pretty well, all things considered.

He'd eventually agreed to clear out the room, strip it bare, ready for redecorating. End its days as a memorial shrine. He'd been doing well until Tim had found the marks on Jason's door frame. One for Bruce, six foot two, aged— the number has been scribbled out. And one for Jason, five foot four and a half, aged twelve and three quarters.

Bruce had let his fingertips rest over the scrawled handwriting. Had stood there a little too long. Eyes wet and wistful.

He had an old copy of Treasure Island clutched to his chest. Fat with damp and age. A one eyed teddy bear squeezed between his fingers. Threadbare and worn.

Jason had come with these to the Manor and Bruce couldn't bear to see them go.

"A photo." Tim had suggested, gently moving Bruce so he stood against the frame. The last thing they needed after two days of work was Bruce deciding he couldn’t go through with it because of a doorframe. Tim snapped a picture of the older man, still six foot two, next to his name still scrawled in the wood.

The room looks strangely sad once it's empty. The walls a faded mosaic of where posters and furniture have been removed. The carpet still flat where wooden legs have stood.

The windows are open, and the fresh air of the spring evening brings light to the otherwise heavy room.

Tim stands in the doorway, snaps a photo before he leaves. Just as a little insurance. In case Bruce can't bear the changes they've made. Tim will upload it all into a file, create a time lapse of the changes. Somewhere for Bruce to revisit. If he needs to...

The next day the contractors come in. They rip up the carpet and strip the walls. The ensuite gets knocked through and the old light fixtures swapped out ready for new ones.

Bruce is conspicuous only by his absence. When 4pm rolls around and he still hasn't shown, Tim finally caves and checks on his whereabouts. Bruce had promised to see this through, after all. The computer shows that Batman never came home last night. Is holed up in his Crime Alley safe house from the looks of it.

Tim tries not to think about the first time he trailed Bruce there. The way the older man was slumped in the shower. Bleeding and sobbing and delirious with grief. Begging to join his boy. It was a long time ago now, Tim tells himself. Bruce wouldn't be that reckless again. Not after so many years.

Besides, it had been Bruce's promise to change the room. Make it new. Exorcise the ghost of Jason's childhood, that still haunted that corner of the Manor. He had promised to see it through. Even if it was Tim who had become the driving force. Always the one to pull Bruce back from the brink, help him to get the job done right. Batman still needed a Robin. Even if neither of them are who they were.

So it's Tim who spends all day lurking in the corridor outside Jason's bedroom. And Tim who the contractors call when they make a discovery.

At some point during all of the deconstruction they find another bundle of notebooks. Wrapped in newspaper and string and hidden behind a loose floorboard.

Tim doesn't throw them out like he did the others. But he doesn't look at them either. Fifteen year old Jason still deserves his secrets, no matter how long he's been gone. Instead, Tim puts them in his own bedroom, in the hidden drawer of his desk. For safekeeping.

He doesn't tell Bruce.

It takes the contractors a couple more days to fit the new bathroom, lay down the new floor and prime the walls. Then Bruce finally reappears. Paint bucket under one arm and Damian's hand in his other.

Dick is behind them, holding onto Bruce's shoulders and steering him through the door. The lightness in Dick's eyes a direct contrast to the tightness of Bruce's jaw.

Tim turns on an old radio, he and Dick lay down giant dust sheets to cover the new wooden floor, and then together the four of them begin to paint.

When Jason originally moved in, Bruce had let him decorate his new room as he pleased. It was Jason's first after all. But Jason was eleven, so two walls had been black and two a garish red. Now they're slowly turning a cool mint green. A soothing balm over the fading past.

It only takes a few hours for Bruce's jaw to slacken. For him to engage in the banter with more than grunts or nostril flares. When Cass comes up at lunchtime with sandwiches he actually smiles. Though he always has one for Cass. Tim tries not to think about it.

They work past sunset, eager to get three coats on before they call it a day. Damian sits on Bruce's shoulders to carefully make sure the paint meets the ceiling. Tim and Dick are relegated to the floor. Lie awkwardly on their sides, tiny paint brushes in their hands. The wood beneath them hard and uncomfortable.

When they're finished, the room looks very minty. Maybe even... too minty. The thought makes a hysterical laugh bubble up in Tim’s throat. He snaps a picture of the empty room when they're done, and leaves before his laughter escapes.

On the sixth day they move in the new furniture. A modern, king sized bed, to replace the four-poster eleven year old Jason had chosen. It has a headboard made from a repurposed pallet, that Damian has skilfully decorated. Tim can't tell if they're meant to be birds or leaves, but against the mint of the wall it almost looks like a garden. Nice enough. Tim thinks.

They bring in a new dresser and the refurbished bookshelf from Martha's old reading room. Fill it with Jason's favourite books from the library. The only concession to the room’s former inhabitant that Tim would allow. Damian has painted this as well. Little pictures that will only show when a book is taken from the shelf. A little gift for the reader.

Next to the bookshelf they create a reading nook. A giant armchair and footrest. Covered in cushions, and throws, with a luxurious rug underfoot, and a warm lamp and side table to boot.

Tim snaps another picture. Reckons he'd have been a pretty decent interior designer in another life.

By dinner time they're done and Tim whips out the final flourish. A small bird seed table that sticks to the outside of the window.

"For the Robin's." He tells Bruce, sprinkling sunflower seeds on the little tray.

Bruce squeezes Tim's shoulder but doesn't speak. For once, Tim doesn't need him to.

On the seventh day, Jason comes home.

He's still in his hospital gown. His broken leg propped up in the wheelchair, toes poking out the end of the cast. The nasal cannula wraps around his ears, passes the scar where they shaved his head and glued his skull back together. It runs down to the oxygen tank on the back of his wheelchair. The bruising around his jaw and his eyes is a sickly yellow colour now, no longer the awful black they'd been when Tim had found him. But the swelling has gone down at least. His eyes are still bloodshot, where the capillaries have burst, making his irises a striking green. His mutilated rist and missing fingers are hidden below layers of bandages. He looks small in the chair. He's lost weight in the hospital. But he's here. He's alive.

That's all that matters, Tim thinks.

Jason offers a small smile when the family greet him at the door. Dick and Steph hold a welcome home banner between them, Damian at Dick's other side looking furious with the balloons he's holding. Duke blows a party horn and is popping party poppers and Cass steps forwards to offer Jason a giant Bat-plushie. Jason lets out a weak laugh, wincing slightly as it jostles his broken ribs.

“Babs is sorry she couldn’t be here.” Dick says. “But she’s challenged you to a race down the drive when you’re ready.”

Alfred pushes Jason carefully into the Manor, and the rest of the family subtly retreat as Bruce steps forwards to greet his son. Tim lingers. Watches as Bruce crouches beside the wheelchair, eyes level with Jason's, his hand on the back of the younger man's head. "I'm so glad you're here, son." Bruce murmurs, his other hand finding Jason's.

Tim doesn't hear Jason's reply. Looks away awkwardly as both men wipe at their eyes, whisper quiet words to each other. Tries to ignore the ache of longing in his chest.

When Bruce stands up, Tim steps forwards. "Congrats on not dying again." He says, with more levity than he feels. The sight of Jason's mangled body still follows him sometimes. Tim's not sure this patchwork version is much better.

Jason shrugs his good shoulder, tries to feign an air of nonchalance. "I made a promise, didn't I?" His voice is still hoarse from where he screamed his throat bloody.

Tim nods. Follows as Bruce pushes the chair through to the dining room to join the rest of the family.

They have tea and cake and cucumber sandwiches, but Jason has only had half a cup when he starts to flag.

"I'll take you up." Bruce says, noticing the younger man's exhaustion.

Jason shakes his head. "Five more minutes." He says. He beckons Tim over. "I can’t— Tim, if it's that room, I can’t—“ His words come out staccato, like he's a robot learning to speak.

"Don't worry." Tim soothes. "I took care of it."

Jason nods, jaw tight. Looking for all the world like Bruce and entirely unconvinced.

"I made a promise too." Tim reminds him gently.

He doesn't hear Jason's reply. Bruce re-appears and wheels him from the table.

Tim is in the Cave. He’s going over the case file again. It's the only way he sleeps these days. A terrible bedtime story of how Jason Todd-Wayne was nearly lost to them a second time. If Tim studies it enough, he can see all the opportunities he nearly missed to figure out where Jason was being held, can identify all of the discoveries that were just flukes. Can make sure he never cuts it that close with his family's lives again.

It's not that he even particularly likes Jason. They didn’t exactly have the best introduction and nobody would say Jason was easy to get on with. But Tim loves Bruce and Bruce loves Jason. Tim loves Dick and Alfred too and they love Jason as well. In the worst possible way, Jason gave Tim this family and whatever has happened between them, Tim owes the man for that. If keeping Jason safe and whole and here keeps them together, then that’s what Tim will do.

Besides, he thinks. The family of my family, is family.

It’s getting late, or early. Nearing 3am, so he clicks off the computer. Heads up towards the house. Bruce had cancelled patrol tonight. Had asked Luke and Kate and Helena to take care of things. For once, everyone had been in agreement.

Tim finds himself wandering past Jason’s new, old room. The door is slightly ajar, light spilling out into the hall.

He knocks lightly, pushes it open.

Bruce is asleep in the reading nook. Head back and mouth open, snoring softly in his robe and slippers. Jason watches him from the bed, like he can’t quite believe he’s there. Surrounded by the machines and wires keeping him stable. Keeping him alive.

“Want me to get him out of here?” Tim asks quietly.

Jason’s eyes slide to Tim. He shakes his head.

Tim walks over to the bed, hands Jason the bundle of notebooks, wrapped together in paper and string. Jason looks at him wide-eyed. “Where did you—?” He stops when his voice cracks.

Tim shakes his head. “The guys who did the bathroom found it.”

“Did you—?”

“No.” Tim says, perching on the end of the bed.

Jason’s fingers on his good hand tremble, as they slowly pull at the string tying the bundle together. He unwraps the paper. There’s a leather notebook with the Wayne insignia on it. An old symbol Bruce’s grandfather had used. The notebook is stuffed full of papers. Jason opens it slowly.

“Bruce gave it to me.” He says quietly. “When I first moved here.”

He pulls out his adoption certificate, near enough pristine apart from the crease in the middle. There are photos as well. Some of Jason and Bruce, some of Bruce and Dick, that were clearly taken by Jason. Lots with Alfred and with Ace. There are some of Jason’s mother. Of his first day at school, long before Catherine fell sick and Willis turned mean. Where he’s barely five and toothy grinned, a giant mop of curls atop his head. There are letters his grandma wrote him, before she passed away. Birthday cards and Christmas cards and at least two Hanukkah cards. Jason draws a shaky breath, as he spreads them about his lap.

“I can digitise these for you, if you like.” Tim says, carefully picking up a picture of Jason and Bruce, bundled up in the snow. A deformed looking snowman stood between them. Jason has always had so much more of Bruce than the rest of them. Than Tim.

Jason flinches. “I— Tim.” His voice breaks. “Why?”

Tim shrugs. “Then you can look at them whenever. On your phone and stuff.”

Jason shakes his head. “No, I mean…” He gestures to the room, to himself. “All this. Me. Why are you…”

Tim stares at him. Thinks of the way he had looked when Tim found him. Limbs twisting away from his body, blood bubbling at his lips. The glassiness of his eyes…

Tim’s seen dead bodies before, saw his first at the circus, all those years ago. Jason’s was different. It wasn’t the thought of losing the man himself that had hit Tim in that moment. But everything else Tim would lose because of it. That they’d lose Bruce again and permanently this time. Tim would lose Bruce and then Dick would become Damian’s father, instead of Tim’s brother, and Alfred would lose himself in the sorrow of losing Jason and Bruce both, and why would Cass stay if Bruce wasn’t here to be her father and then the only family Tim had left would all be gone. All because of Jason.

“I tried to kill you.” Jason finishes desperately when Tim doesn’t speak.

Tim shrugs. “Ages ago.”

Jason stares at him incredulous. “This room.” He croaks. “It’s—“

I didn’t do it for you. Tim wants to say. I did it for Bruce. For my… for my Dad. Mine. Not yours. Because Jason had rejected Bruce, rejected him over and over again in a way Tim never could. But Bruce needed Jason. Needed him alive and home and safe. So Tim needed him that way too.

Bringing him home was the only way it would work. The doctors had made clear that Jason was still in very real danger. That without constant care and support his condition could easily destabilise. That he might never recover as it was.

Bruce was desperate, but Jason refused. Couldn’t do it. Couldn't go back to the Manor with the ghost of his childhood still haunting the halls.

“If I had lived it wouldn’t even look like that now.” He had sobbed, half delirious on pain meds, to Tim one night. “I would have changed it. But he just wants me stuck as that stupid kid forever.”

“What would it have looked like?” Tim had asked. “I’ll sort it.” Tim had promised.

"Don't worry about it." Tim says, dismissing the words that Jason can't get out.

Jason looks pained, opens his mouth to say more. A loud grunt from behind cuts him off. The two of them turn to Bruce.

He blinks at them bleary eyed, confused by his own snoring waking him up. “What time is it?” He asks.

Tim checks his watch. “Half three.” He says.

“Jason.” Bruce stumbles towards them. “Are you okay? Why are you up?”

“‘m fine.” Jason says quietly. He’s turned his attention back to the photos and cards and letters in his lap.

“What’s all this?” Bruce voice is tender, as he sits himself next to Jason.

Tim rises, excuses himself. Leaves the two of them to each other and their memories. The part of Bruce’s life Tim will never be part of. Limbs and heart aching as he climbs into bed. The week finally over.

He falls into a deep and empty sleep.

Tim wakes the next day to his curtains being pulled open. Sunshine spilling across his face. “S’too early, Alfred.” He rolls over, moans into his pillow.

A large hand runs over the back of his head, calloused fingers through his hair. “It’s nearly four, Tim.” Bruce says softly. “Time to get up.”

Tim tries to detangle himself from his sheets. Twists under Bruce’s hand so he can see the older man. “Where’s’Alfred?” He mumbles, wiping his eyes.

Bruce runs his hand over the back of Tim’s head. Lets it rest on his shoulder. “He’s helping Jason with his dressing change.”

“Oh.” Tim blinks.

Bruce drops his eyes. “I know these last few months I’ve been—“ He cuts himself off, squeezes Tim’s shoulder. “I know I’ve been focused on your brother.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Tim says, cutting off Bruce’s apology. He doesn’t need to hear it. Doesn’t care, particularly. Has long since made peace with his rank in the hierarchy.

Bruce frowns, drops his hand. “But I do worry about it.” He says. “I worry about it a lot.”

Tim doesn’t know what to say to that. So he doesn’t say anything.

Bruce holds a hand to Tim’s face. Looks at him with a small smile. The kind of smile that makes the corner of his eyes crinkle. The kind that Tim can count on one hand how often has been directed at him. It makes his stomach swoop.

“I know I don't say it very often, Tim…” He clears his throat. “But I’m so glad you’re here, son.”

The words sound as soft to Tim’s ears as freshly fallen snow. Soothe the longing in his chest, if just for a moment. He holds his hand over Bruce’s, gives him a smile in return. “Me too, B.” He says. “Me too.”

#batfam #batfam fic #spbfic #batfic #batfamily #bruce wayne #jason todd #tim drake #batfamily fanfic #batdad

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ribbonjc · 15 days

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Working on some side story's for Netherworld secrets that we'll become relevant for the full story. This one being Drac and Stein. So here is my version of stein (Pacenstien) and Dracul/Drac (Pacula). They have immense lore together and a doomed romance taking place in the 1800's.

Lore at length- tw: bullying,death, General violence

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Around 160 years ago before present day lived stein and drac. Stein was born with a deformity in his leg and his parents saw this as a sign to abandone him. He grew up in an orphanage and taught himself how to build and create many scientific things. He experimented on smaller rodents bringing them back for a short time.He was bullied incredibly growing up and had his face, arms, and legs cut for being monster with a disgraced leg and a witch. He got stitches all over his body from this and eventually made his own prosthetic leg, the first of its kind. He never learns his true heritage but one of the caretakers ends up dying soon aftwr he ages out which is the turning point for is darker sciences bring her back as a servant for him.Drac is a netherworldian.(being a Vampire bat and User hybrid that is very human passing)and was born into a somewhat noble family having connections with the Dragon ruler species and thus had some comman over them until he left after his parents where both killed (either by humans or some other beings) drac decides the netherworld is no longer safe and thus takes to the surface with his cloak. He was on the run on the surface due to humans hunting down their kind and seeks shelter in a local town hiding his ears and eyes.They ask the towns people about letting him stay but no one can accept him and they turn him toward stein an infamous and feared doctor that was left alone for his research and the fact he was experimenting on humans. Drac entered his castle and talked to stein directly and asked him to stay there. Stein agrees since although he's a genius he gets incredibly lonely being stuck in his manor all day with only the company of his self made servants (the servants are made of stitched up reanimated body parts and do not have souls, they have slight memories of their past life but can't recall them and can complete long complex tasks with ease and are easily influenced with to do their work) drac stays with stein for awhile over seeing his work and learning about science and humans. Stein is also happy Drac is here and although Drac won't tell him yet he knows Drac is a netherworldian. He's just happy to have a friend that's an outcast like him and they can be outcasts together. They become good friends and eventually lovers. Now they live together most likely for years until the one issue came about. Stein created an artificial living soul through his experiments. This artificial soul (being my version of e-ghost I called ghostie) freaks drac put quite a bit. For netherworlfians ghost are beings of the dead and aren't meant to be made by humans, or even made at all only.coming about after death. This is the first line crossed for Drac but the last one comes in when Drac discovers the body of another netherworldian and the body is fresh with no decay. This causes Drac and Stein to get into a massive fight with Drac leaving the manor for good and Stein being left alone once again. Stein starts treating his servants and ghostie poorly shouting and yelling at them for anything. This comes ahead when the Servants can't handle the mistreatment anymore and tear stein apart almost killing him. But stein is able to save himself through a project of his still becoming a ghost, but saving a single piece of his body he is still connected to being his heart. His beating heart being connected to wires with a machine thay has to follow him around. To this day he's scheming how to get his body back completely back and recover his past friend, and love.

#pmatga #pac man and the ghostly adventures #pacman and the ghostly adventures #pmatga fanart #pmatga au #not sure if the count as ocs but here #pmatga oc #pmatga ships #traditional art #netherworlds secrets au #is this technically a crackship?#maybe #do i still ship it for mind #absolutely

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houndoom-a · 2 months

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[Video ID: Not much is visible, besides the bathroom door. The video was likely taken on a whim, judging by how Hound does not seem like a particularly good videographer. Despite this, the audio is decently clear. The main noise is the sound of a tap running at full force, clearly intended to hide the other noise coming from inside the bathroom. A can be heard inside, coughing and choking on something.

This lasts for an uncomfortably long amount of time, much longer than anyone can be choking without either stopping or passing out. Hound occasionally bangs on the door and yells; at first, the yells are mildly annoyed, but as the choking continues, they increase in their concerned tone, until Hound is threatening to break down the door if whoever is inside doesn't stop hurting A. Throughout it all, the coughing only worsens, eventually seeming like she was coughing for two people at once.

At the threat, the choking stops. The only audible sound is the tap, but that is shut off within seconds. Despite seemingly being done, A does not leave the bathroom just yet, as a tense silence fills the air. It couldn't be dead, or else who would've shut off the tap, right? A - or whoever was in there - is going to have to come out sooner or later. This silence sits for half a minute, Hound's hands growing increasingly shaky as xyr fist hovers over the door to knock. Paw needs to get in, but did he really want whatever was in there to know of hir presence? Then again, they likely already did...

Before Hound fully commits to knocking on the door again, footsteps can be heard. Approaching. Ze takes a few steps back as the door opens.

A looks healthy. A looks uninjured. A looks down at Hound and the camera. A smiles.

"Well? Aren't you going to use the bathroom?", his voice is as hoarse and raspy as it is smooth and composed. It's clear they were choking, but the way that it sounds so... Unbothered would put doubt in that.

Hound's voice is certainly more tense, as fleur exclaims, "Are you okay? You sounded as though you were choking..."

The other Archer laughs. An uncharacteristic laugh. Usually their laughs are rare bursts of energy, unable to be restrained and just as joyous as they are rare. Apollo was never the type to laugh much. But this laugh... It feels off. A quiet chuckle, restrained, low and off-putting. Hound certainly feels unsettled, judging by how the camera slightly jolts. "Oh, I was just choking on a piece of meat. I'm sure you understand."

"You were choking...", Hound tries to ignore how similar the laugh sounded to Giovanni's laugh, voice full of doubt - both of the story and of A -, "... And so you went to the bathroom?"

"I didn't want to cause concern. Seems like I failed..."

"... I... See.", ke doesn't believe that for a second, but has clearly had their attention drawn to something else, "You smell as though you have just walked out of a river."

The sly smile that Apollo's wearing falters. He looked like somebody had just thrown everything off balance - an unexpected question, threatening to break everything. The smile returns before long, however. "I brought my own deodorant... With everything going on, I don't want to smell bad, do I? I decided to apply it there. Didn't want to risk triggering someone's lung conditions."

The suspicion in Hound's voice only grows more apparent, "So... You were choking, and yet, you had the forethought to take your deodorant with you?"

"It was in my pocket.", Apollo's voice grew suddenly more defensive.

"May I see i-", before Hound could finish, A barges past, going to return to the barbeque.

With a bit of mumbling, the video ends as Hound walks into the bathroom.]

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eagle-eyes-sideblog · 5 months

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Icarus in a Gilded Cage

Summary

An AU of SAMAU that follows a Player named Lilith. It diverges from the original quite early on, when the Auditor decides to kidnap him and Lilith reacts... poorly.

More details on Lilith (any pronouns btw), the world they come from, and the general course of the story under the cut.

Lilith is a living weapon, stripped of faer purpose after being revealed as a deity's chosen. Frustrated and prohibited from fighting, they find different ways to relieve their stress. One of his new interests is watching Madness Combat and playing Project Nexus.

Her personality quickly endears her to her vessels. Although vir aim is... lackluster, ve makes up for it with sheer enthusiasm and bloodlust. Their strategic mind isn't half bad, either. And thus the AU begins as usual... until, of course, Lilith is actually brought to Nevada.

The Auditor decides to intervene after Lilith mysteriously vanishes. Unbeknownst to him, xe's been on the run for the last few months, and xe are not happy with being put in another cage.

Violence ensues. I have two ideas for how this goes from here, one where Lilith stays and one where it leaves.

If Lilith leaves, voi does so immediately. She is absolutely furious, and more than a little terrified that the Employers will trap her again. So he escapes into the wild and lives on his own for a while.

I imagine ve's very, very cautious at first. They aren't quite sure if they can trust... well, anyone here. And it's used to being on its own for months at a time, especially in hostile territory; there isn't an urgent need for allies.

However, eventually her lack of direction starts to get to her. He decides to try and carry out the original story. Fae begins by contacting 2BDamned, hoping to join as some kind of mercenary—the one-man-army fae was created to be.

I have no ideas past this point. At least for now. Sorry!

In the one where he stays, he's closest to Stygian. Their respectful mannerisms make fae much more trusting of them; they are the first Employer (and, if fae has faer way, the only Employer) who learns about what Lilith is and what that means.

Which reminds me: I should probably explain that in a bit more detail. Along with some more worldbuilding.

See, Lilith is some kind of magical/biological construct, designed for a very specific purpose. Like other living weapons, they're very efficient in energy use; they can go without eating or sleeping for weeks at a time with very few negative effects. Its biological aspects mean it can operate very independently on the battlefield, unlike actual machines. He can make his own repairs, and he gradually heals over time.

As for specifics... She's a close combat fighter. Xir small frame (well, compared to others like xem) make xem nimble and extremely fast.

Each living weapon is assigned a handler. Lilith's relationship with her own is somewhere between parental and military. Fae refers to them as faer commander. Lilith feels betrayed by them, but even so, he misses them dearly.

And what happened that made Lilith feel so betrayed? Well... Being a deity's chosen means that it's no longer allowed to fight. They're considered 'too valuable' to risk. It makes her feel weak, fragile, as if she can't take care of herself. Ve doesn't need to be protected, and yet everyone insists that ve does. Eventually, xe can't take it any more. He decides to break free from the gilded cage he's trapped in.

This is why she reacts so poorly to the Employers' attitude towards her. :D

#self aware m:pn au #icarus in a gilded cage #eagle eyed writing #samau

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serpentsurgency · 3 months

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Visible to anons.

Even over her own soft laughter from the film that she was watching, she could still hear the door behind her quietly opening. It was a lovely film, her second time watching this in the last week. She remembered watching it when it first came out years ago.

"If you're going to shoot me in the back of the head, please allow me the dignity of waiting until my favorite part has passed." Her words came out just as softly as ever, hardly masking the faint edge of bitterness over what she knew would be coming.

Her staff had already been directed to clear away and to leave the halls empty. Go take a nap, go to your offices, go outside, go to a restaurant, go to a fair; anywhere but here.

She waited quietly, listening to the soft music of the production as text flashed across the scene, following the dialogue with her heart more than her eyes.

After a few moments, she heard a soft sigh and steps leading closer until the large figure awkwardly began to shuffle down the row behind her, taking his seat just out of view. She would have known the reluctant huffiness of the man from a mild away.

"You are interrupting my evening," She said flatly.

"..." He remains quiet for a few moments before sighing again. "Yeah, well... Y'ain't exactly treat my mornin' all th't-"

"-All that well, yes. I am aware. Hush, I like this part."

The two fall quiet for a few long moments as the film continues. Cat can swear she can hear Dogwood fuming behind her. She almost finds a little smugness in herself about that fact.

Eventually, the moment passes and she hears a slight shift behind her.

"Not yet. That was not my favorite part, it was merely one that I enjoy. If my own story is going to be cut off here for your poor ego then I will be damned if I am not granted the ability to enjoy my final moments. Have I made myself clear?" Her words are sharp, cutting even harder at the end as she glances to the side, only seeing the shadow of the man from the edge of her sight.

After a few long seconds, the shadow twitches in a soft nod and she hears a slight shift of movement from behind her as the man leans back. A few more seconds pass and and hears more shifting.

"Don't you dare put your filthy boots on the back of that seat."

There's a pause, before more shifting and another sigh. She shakes her head and resumes watching the film.

"... You have done irreparable damage to everything that I have worked for and I do not even understand why. Everything that we — that you — originally claimed to be planning towards is destroyed. This cannot be salvaged, not with this entire mess."

She can tell that he is starting to open his mouth and yet she sharply continues.

"Do not speak. Don't you dare speak over me or defend yourself or let your ego get in the way. Not now." She falls quiet for a few moments, struggling to even pay any sort of attention to the film despite staring straight at it. She wonders what the gun behind her looks like. She hopes he will do her the dignity of shooting her in a place her children will be able to hide for the funeral. She hopes they give her a nice funeral.

"... I have been working on this for far longer than you have. I have had this goal for so long. I have given you everything that I could to open that goal up to you and to let you be a part of it. How dare you take everything that I have offered and do this?"

She finally falls quiet, letting him have the chance to speak. Even then, it takes a few long moments for him to do so.

"... I-... I'm sorry..." He starts before trailing off. A gap of quiet follows. She can tell the blow is coming. "... But my ego ain't goin' t' make it too sincere..."

There it is. Of course he would make a joke at a time like this. Perhaps that is the worst blow of them all.

"... Even now, you cannot let that mask that you've put on slip. Those aren't your words. Why would you say that?"

Another period of quiet fell.

"That wasn't a rhetorical question. I did not teach you to act like this."

"... Cat, it's just-"

"Just what?"

"..." He pauses. "... It's just better this way..."

"Better with me dead," She corrects flatly. "So that you can take the reigns and do whatever goddamned thing you were planning. At least I will die with the dignity of having my story straight. Unlike you."

"Cat, I ain't-"

"Do not interrupt me. What the hell is going on with you? What changed?"

He remains quiet for a few long moments.

"... Perhaps nothing changed. Perhaps this was always your plan."

The words fall more bitterly than she possibly could have imagined. ... She wishes it didn't. She regrets the tone as soon as it occurs. If only she could take her death with a stiff upper lip. He deserved that much.

... Even now, she wished that her death would not be hurtful. Not to him. Even if part of her wanted it.

"... Th' Foundation ain't goin' t' give t' what you're askin' for... Th' GOC an' th' UIU ain't goin' t' be any better. ... They won't agree." He quietly explains, his tone falling softly. He almost sounds pained explaining this. He'd tried explaining it before, she knows that much. She had disagreed with him then and she disagrees with him now. ... Even still, she holds her tongue and allows him to explain.

He gives a small resigned sigh before continuing. She can tell he doesn't want to hurt her, even if it's unavoidable. "... You said it yourself. You've been working at this for a long time and just-... For as much good as you're doing, you're just putting a patch over it all... It ain't fixin' anythin'... They're not givin'. They ain't goin' t' give up."

"So you are going to draw the line somewhere else, somewhere farther? What makes you think-"

"Please. ... I c'n make th's work. ... I am redrawin' th' line an' it's goin' t' be further an' just-... Th't's th' point. ... Th' line ain't workin' where it's at."

Quiet falls between them. Cat finds it difficult to even regard the film on the screen directly in front of her. It's difficult with wet eyes.

After a few long moments, she hears him shift again slightly. She expects a blow once again and; once again, it does not come. It feels almost cruel of him to keep stringing her along like this.

As the quiet continues, she finds herself slowly drawing her attention back to the film and after a brief pause, her heart sinks a little.

"... Oh." She softly begins. "... I missed it..."

... The words feel just as heartbreaking as they accidentally slip out of her mouth.

More quiet passes as she continues to listen, almost frozen in place where her eyes staring sharply into the screen as if it'll rewind on its own and go back and loop at the same spot forever, buying her endless time.

It... Doesn't do that.

Dogwood sighs softly and, after a pause of hesitation, stands up. "It's-... It's okay. I'll get th't for y'a."

... It hurts. She knows it's coming. She knows the kind of kid he always was. Hope. The kindest emotion to leave off on.

"... Thank you, dear." The words are slightly more shaken then what she wishes for as she hears him shift behind her. She can see the shadow cast in front of her turn his head, as if looking back at something.

The seconds pass and... "Don't mention it..." The words fall softly just as the video projected onto the screen changes, flickering to a video of a happy family gathered around a Christmas tree.

#don’t call me a heretic for what i believe in #a visit from the black cat #tales from the shelves #[I did not proofread so there might be errors dfgdf]#[scheduled]#[visible to anons]#[TLDR: Dogwood gets ambiguous revenge for what Cat said.]

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keepswingin · 2 years

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Willa knows a storm is coming before it arrives.

She can smell it as she's out with the hunting party, the air turning heavy as they carry back meat yet to be skinned, clouds rolling in from the west and bringing the darkness of nightfall with them.

Her chest grows tighter and tighter as she walks, feet leading her back home without much help from her head. She wishes it was the storm that she was worried about.

The den is an anxious sort of quiet, when she returns.

The lights have gone dim in the main chamber, one ash away from being blown out, and her packmates are all but silent as they quickly head towards the back rooms so that the meat can be taken care of before their time dwindles any more than it already has.

Willa catches sight of Wyatt and Wanda over by the carved steps, her brother whispering intently to the pup, explaining to her things that she would be too young to hear, if she was anything other than a werewolf. She watches as he talks, serious in his tone, honest in his words, and is reminded of parents that are no longer around.

They would be proud of who he's become, she thinks, and is so lost in her thoughts that she doesn't hear A-spen as they approach from the other side of the room, raising one hand to tap gently at her shoulder.

She startles at their touch, heart pounding as she whips around, moonstone flaring in warning, only to then feel a pang of awful once she sees who it is. She apologizes brusquely, and misses the scrunch of their eyebrows as she turns her gaze back to her brother, who is now holding tight to the moonstone that sits around his neck, Wanda listening attentively.

"Is something wrong?" they ask after a long moment, and Willa nearly scoffs at the question. Where would she even start? Fifty years ago, when this was a daily occurrence, storms or no storms? Or exactly five months ago, when she had first realized history was repeating itself? Was it even something A-spen would understand?

She pauses, and then buries that thought away before she can linger on it, because A-spen told stories of so many galaxies that she could barely keep up. Of course they would understand - endless in their knowledge, limited in their experience - if only Willa had the courage to tell it.

Wyatt had always been the heart, and her nothing but rough edges.

She tries not to linger on that truth either.

"We just have to prepare for the storm, that's all," she finally says, ignoring the worried glance her brother sends her way as he rises to his feet and ushers Wanda off to bed, finally finished. Willa turns her eyes to A-spen, but it's hard to sound strong when she feels nothing but fear, the longer they sit here out in the open and talk, like nothing is wrong. Like they aren't running out of time. "Are you sure you don't want to spend the night with one of our friends? I know the den isn't always comfortable."

Forever curious of this world, where the aliens ended up staying when the mothership felt too crowded was an endless game.

A-li had found herself in Zombietown more often than not, while A-lan found some sort of odd reassurance in the school, of all places, and A-spen wandered the most, bouncing from house to den to decaying warehouse off the beaten path. They had all been worried about the aliens and their, needless to say, peculiar choices of where to sleep, at first, until it was explained that sometimes anything was better than staring through the glass of sleeping pods long overused.

Tonight was no different, which had led A-spen to the den earlier, A-lan and A-li tagging along. As the hours went on and on, eventually only one was left.

Willa doesn't like silence, when she feels tense like this. A-spen allows the silence to last for far too long, carefully picking out their next words. "Do you want me to stay somewhere else?"

Yes. Any night but tonight.

Wyatt's arm brushes her own as he comes to a stop beside her, pups properly tucked into the smallest nooks, hidden far away from any wandering eyes. Willa finds it easier to answer A-spen if she looks away, so she does, even though she feels like nothing but a coward as she does it. "You're welcome to stay-"

"Willa."

"-but tonight is just going to be...different from the rest of the nights you've been here."

Before A-spen can give their answer, a loud rumble of thunder echoes from the den's entrance, freezing both wolves still. Wyatt moves first after it's gone, reaching out and grabbing tightly at his sister's hand, pulling her claws away from pressing hard enough into skin that blood rips from her palms, muttering something the alien can't hear into her ear. Willa exhales sharply, and A-spen notices everything the alpha tries to hide.

"I'll stay," they say, even as Wyatt shakes his head, mouth turning down at the corners, his body now just as tense as Willa's.

And for all the things A-spen knows, they cannot figure out why something as simple as a storm is having such an effect on the most fearsome creatures Seabrook has to offer.

The forest is dark as rain pours from the sky, sliding and slipping against her skin. She's soaked to the bone, and knows only what the storm has done to her territory, burying the trails she knows, hiding the indents of carved marks on bark. She can smell nothing but the rain; the earthy pull of the soil, the sharp tang of plants, and hates how she can no longer smell the animals, not one, near or far or anywhere between.

Her moonstone is a constant glow against her chest, a beacon within the storm, as she runs as fast as her legs will carry her, away, away, away.

Panic has seized her heart, and the glow of her eyes is nothing against rain coming down so hard and fast that it nearly renders her blind. Her cheek throbs, again and again, but she knows no blood will stay through sharp rain such as this. She can't go home, can't go towards it, wouldn't dare lead such danger towards her pack, her family, and takes a sharp left at tree she's half sure she hasn't seen before, unable to rely on anything else.

Lightning flashes from above, arcing across the sky. She skids to a halt at the gleam of silver that stares back at her, mud sticking to her pants, boots sinking slow, terror catching the gasp that tries to escape her throat.

She hesitates for a second too long.

An arm slides around her throat, yanking her back against a chest that smells of nothing but rain, silver knife quick to be lifted near her chin in warning.

She hates it, the storm, the rain, the clouds that cover any stretch of sky she can see. She hates that she's barely a werewolf in the rain, hates how she's nothing close to what the mark painted on her cheek says she is. Her stomach churns as the man holding her chuckles, and then whispers promises of worse into her ear, the man ahead of them approaching, rifle barrel even with her heart.

The man holding the gun is grinning as he closes the distance between them, barrel pressing against her chest. Her clothes stop the silver from burning skin.

"One beast at a time," he spits loud enough to be heard over the rain, finger squeezing the trigger.

Thunder rumbles loud as the shot rings out, echoing through the forest. Something slams into her side in the seconds between-

"Willa!" someone shouts from above her, startling her back into reality. The world is dull and quiet as she swipes a hand blindly, only for something to catch it before it can connect with skin. She blinks, moonstone silencing as she realizes she's looking into her brother's eyes, heart hammering against her ribcage. He's holding her wrist tight enough to bruise. "You're okay," he tells her, thunder booming alongside his words. "I promise you're okay."

Her eyes flicker from his face to his necklace, to the room around them, wolves pressed against the back wall in worry, A-spen hovering uncertain by her brother's side.

"Willa," he says again. Her eyes snap to his. A shuddering exhale pushes past her lips.

"I'm fine," she says sharply before he can say anything more, pulling her arm from his hold. She pushes herself farther up the wall, shoulders knocking against cold stone. Wyatt doesn't move away, hand falling to a rest on his knee. A-spen doesn't move closer. Thunder echoes through the den again, and Willa closes her eyes in an attempt to steady her racing heart, memories flashing behind her eyelids.

Blood everywhere, sticking to her brother's skin before the rain washes it away. A hole in his shoulder, weeping red--

"Your heart rate dramatically spikes every time thunder rings. But thunder is a mere aftershock of lightning." A-spen pauses, eyes drifting to meet Willa's as she opens them once more. "Thunder does not hurt you. So why would you be anxious about thunder?"

"A-spen." Wyatt warns quietly, but it's already far too late.

"It's not the thunder I'm worried about," Willa snaps, harsher than she means to be, but there's no use in trying to fight against what she's currently feeling. "They move in the thunder, so that we can't hear them approach."

The room is silent after she spits the words out. Wyatt sighs and looks down, but A-spen doesn't look away. Willa doesn't look at them, afraid of what they might see, hiding behind sharp nails and callous words.

"We're the prey, in storms like these," she mutters finally, "and there's nothing we can do but hide."

A-spen is quiet for a long moment, and then they stand, and turn towards the door. Willa glances up at the sudden movement, and shares a quick look with Wyatt before he calls out for them.

"Where are you going?"

A-spen turns in the doorway, visor flickering blue from where it now rests across their eyes.

"To be the hunter," they say simply. "Our visors are advanced enough that it allows us to see what other species cannot. I'll be able to see them before they're anywhere close, if they deicide to use this storm to their advantage." They smile, wide and certain. "It's the least I can do." And then they disappear through the doorway, heading out to stand watch as the storm rages on around a den usually so full of life.

Willa watches the doorway for a few moments more, and then gets to her feet, prepared to follow. She says nothing to Wyatt but finds him following behind her as she goes, and when thunder booms around them, she finds that her heart stays steady for the first time in a long time as they join A-spen outside.

#zombies 3 #willa lykensen #wyatt lykensen #a spen #a spen zombies #zombies 3 spoilers #asks #keepswingin writes #mine #i fell asleep while writing this last night oops #this one turned out longer even with me trying to shorten it #and i do just want to say that for all the time i've been around here #i've never agreed with the hc of the wolves being afraid of thunder #so here have a nice little loophole i found with some angst :)

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blakeshaw-oracle · 1 year

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How many WIPS do you have? What are they for? Like are they over specific prompts or?

[Note from after-writing εϊз : This turned out a lot longer than I thought. Apparently, I had a lot of things to say!! This kind of turned into a general update on everything I've been doing lately 😊]

As of right now, in a digital sense, I only have two WIPs fully planned out and mostly written.

The first is that one Shadow Monster! Al AU that I was talking about a while back on my blog. It was originally supposed to be for a dead dove Kinktober list but obviously it didn't work out that way lmao-- It's most likely going to end up being 6 chapters and at the moment I'm working on the last part of Chapter 5! I've made up two separate docs of what I have written so far (one for my beta since it's not edited yet and the other for my friends over in the Alfinn server)!!

The premise of the fic is that Al is a shadow monster whose species are called "Grabbers". Their purpose (basically) is to haunt the dreams of troubled children and torment them until they're broken down enough to steal their souls. But, one day, Al tunes in to Finney's energy and decides to stay back a bit and observe him first. During this, Al decides that Finney isn't like all the other children he's "visited" before and devises a different plan for this time around. Instead of stealing just the boy's soul, Al wants to steal him.

Then, the second (actually planned and partly written) WIP is for a drabble request that I got from one of you guys! [I'm so sorry I haven't been posting any for a hot second; my brain is being very mean to me rn] It's NSFW so I won't give a lot of detail rn but it's for a foursome between Al, Max, Robin, and Finney! Max & Robin and then Finney & Al are dating. They're all living in Al's house (it's me, I mean... come on, of course they are) together at the time and the walls aren't exactly soundproof. Tomfoolery ensues.

Other than those two that I've actually started on, I have around 9 (give or take) drabble requests still sitting in my inbox that I plan on getting to when I can! I'm gonna do my best to start on the oldest ones first since some of them have been there for a while. Again, I'm doing my best to catch up on them!!

Lastly (I know, it's a lot), I also also have a shit ton of other ideas for the ship that I really want to work on when I'm not busy with other things! The top priority is helping out a few of my Blakeshaw buddies by bouncing ideas around for them for their own stories. Me and one of the besties in particular have a spicy daycare AU going on atm that we actually just talked about earlier today! He already wrote and posted the first oneshot he made for it and asked if I would beta the following parts for him; I of course agreed! So even though I'm not technically the one writing it, I'm still helping my friend with ideas!! A few of us in the server actually came up with the AU in the first place so it's kind of like a group project that went up for grabs. There's even a different person who is also writing for this AU but their idea differs from the og concept and is super fucking interesting in its own right!! I'm very excited for both of them 💕

As for my own personal ideas that I want to write for eventually 👀 I'm very fucking invested in the idea of a Neighbor!/Boy Next Door! Finney fic. We all know how much I love the Everything is Kinda Ok Verse, after all. (Obviously I'd go with my own points of interest for the plot; I've already chatted with the og writer of it [✒️] before about that!!) -- Then, the other idea that I've talked about (and still need to write a general break-down for) is The Shaw Household AU where Al/Finney and Max/Robin are all living in the same house for a bit. It's very much just a slice-of-life domesticity type of thing but I really like it!

I also (a lot of "also's" today lmao) have many other more dead dove plots in my devious little brain but, I digress. Basically, there's a lot of shit I want to dive into-- I just need to plan everything and get the proper motivation to actually start working on them!!

I have a lot of free time these days so I'm fairly confident I can at least finish the already started WIPs at some point in the near future! Then, priority will go to my asks (I still want to attempt to at least mockup some drafts for a few of them in between other stuff)!!

Anyways, sorry for turning your ask into a blabber post! I hope you got the general answers that you wanted lmao ❤️

- εϊз

#Ask Response #Thanks for the Ask Bestie #Mod Post #Status Update #WIP #AU Agenda #Blakeshaw #Alfinn #Magicspace #εϊз has a lot of ideas #εϊз has been working on a lot of stuff behind the scenes #I just need to get my motivation to write back #Anyone willing to spare some inspiration?#Profic #Proship

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