#cube corp when. please. when .

[starrysmiling]

my theory on jax's parents

i've been sitting on this one for a long while and finally got the push to write this up. i want to write about this in the future, but there's bits here that have got to wait until cube corp releases, so... i'm just going to talk about it while i'm here.

anyway. as we all know, jax seems to be raised by arthur, and neither of them ever mention his parents.

so where. the fuck. are they.

spoiler alert: just between you and me, i think they're dead. not that it's confirmed or anything...

so... let's begin with a preword. the jax in my canon is 22, since unlike ace and the player, he doesn't have a canon-implied age. (this did not stop me from making fern 21.)

this makes him just slightly older than the meteorite strike on crater town, which happened 20 years ago. it's important to note this, because he needs to be alive for his parents to die in the aftermath of the meteorite strike.

whoops. did i just say that?

let's just change tracks for a bit.

arthur is training jax to be the next champion. that's quite obvious from the story, he says it outright, there isn't any question about that. but i think that originally, arthur wanted his own child to succeed him. it's also something to think about if you consider that he stepped down from the champion's seat before the events of the game, which prompts me to think that he wanted a successor before he stepped down, but he couldn't train jax in time bc jax was still too young.

so let's go with that: arthur intended for his child to succeed him as the next champion after he steps down. thus: arthur's child, and one of jax's parents, would likely be a ferociously strong trainer.

i'd like to think that they met someone while they were training or journeying, fell in love, eventually decided to marry them, and have a child. why didn't they decide to become champion? this is just a hc, but considering elias is Still there and the league hasn't found a replacement and arabella is working there because her dad doesn't make money... yeah, i think the league is kinda understaffed. hell, i make fern struggle with his champion duties, but even if arthur is a better fit for the role, being the champion's child means they would be able to see how harsh the role is on arthur. and maybe they don't really want to be the champion just yet, when arthur still can do his job well.

and they're still young, after all. they want to have a bit of fun in their life, journey around as a trainer, raise their kid with lots of care, then maybe go get that champion role once arthur's done his term.

so now, little jax is two years old. the meteorite has just been shattered over valley city, and the residents have been transported back to help clean up the town. volunteers and volunteer pokemon from nearby cities, like dresco town, are called to help with the restoration efforts.

and jax's parents are part of those volunteers, naturally. they're both pokemon trainers, after all.

and here's where it starts going to shit.

remember that two pokemon came down to earth with the meteor? jirachi was sealed away after the residents realised its power, but another pokemon landed a little to the northeast.

and deoxys is powerful. pksp red, one of the strongest trainers, if not the strongest in the series, is almost powerless against deoxys when he first battles it. it takes him a bit of a bond with a rogue mewtwo and several tough battles, some difficult enough to shatter his mentality, to defeat it, and even then, it's an uphill struggle for him.

that's the pokemon that jax's parents find: a ridiculously strong pokemon from outer space that nobody's seen or recorded before. remember, it immediately fights you if you talk to it, so i suppose... they fight. and if they can see the utter destruction that could come out of deoxys's power, there's no way they're letting that pokemon get to the town, where unarmed people are working on clearing the rubble. so they fight, and they fight, but deoxys is strong, and clearly not even two people are a good enough fight against it, and soon their pokemon are worn out and deoxys's attacks are injuring the pair themselves.

they put together a plan. one holds off the strange pokemon from outer space — for the sake of my canon, this is the stronger one, arthur's daughter — and the other runs back to the town to alert the guardian of borrius, who is overseeing the restoration efforts. if anyone can beat this pokemon, it's the legendary aros.

and so jax's father flies back to crater town. he'd been persuaded to go, being more heavily injured by the fight, and desperately searches for aros, explains the situation, and immediately brings him to the crater where they found deoxys.

but it's too late by then.

they find jax's mother, barely conscious and mortally wounded, being fiercely protected by her pokemon who are only barely standing. aros thanks her, and with their combined efforts, barely manage to defeat deoxys and seal it in sleep. jax's father returns to his wife's side, only for her to sigh her last breaths before they can treat her wounds.

aros notices that jax's father's wounds can still be treated, but though aros hurries him back to town... perhaps the loss of his wife weighs too deeply on him, and he doesn't make it.

and jax, still only two years old, is left in the care of his grandfather.

his parents are called heroes — they fought so that crater town would not suffer a second disaster in quick succession, and that's why jax in my canon is so set on being a hero. his admiration for aros is also partly from seeing how he handled the incident, making sure that he didn't take the credit for holding off deoxys and ensuring that people wouldn't forget that jax's parents died in order to keep the town safe.

and, also, aros is basically the local superhero. he's cool as hell. no wonder he's kinda jax's idol.

anyway. i really want to write more about this concept, and there's a scene where i want jax to meet aros and for aros to tell him, properly, about his parents. that'll be the first time that i've ever written jax crying in canonverse, because hearing aros, his idol, apologise to him for not being able to save his parents and recount that they genuinely were heroes in his eyes is a lot to process. (it's also really funny considering that jax hasn't cried in front of fern, but he has cried in front of fern's dad.)

as a way of finishing this arc of jax's life, i really also want to suggest that after fern captures jirachi, jax tags along with him to fight deoxys.

and this fight — this is jax's fight. fern can tell that this jax is different from seeing him stare down deoxys across the crater. there's something twisted about the fact that jax is now facing it with his own partner, twenty years later.

jax, heightened by raw emotion, seems to fall back into his more reckless, daring tactics. he plays fern's hyper-offensive role, actually, and fern plays jax's support, making sure that jax doesn't run himself ragged, following up after his strikes, covering when they're in trouble. it's not like they made a name for themselves as an unstoppable duo for nothing.

the conclusion of this arc is jax's capture of deoxys, after a grueling battle that whittles at his strength and mental state. in a way, earning deoxys's respect, being able to capture it in a ball, and being able to say that he finally, finally defeated the pokemon that killed his parents, is a sort of closure that he probably didn't know he needed.

did you see that, mom, dad?

i beat it. you can rest easy now.

#pokemon unbound #jax unbound #aros unbound #fern unbound #unbound canonverse #thanks mage for making me write this up i really really needed to get it out and i didn't even know #god i want to write that fic about it so badly #cube corp when. please. when . #i need to make jax cry so badly it's insane #“okay so what is jax gonna do w a fucking deoxys” you might ask #well you see the answer is #he doesn't really want deoxys on his team so he gets aros to ride rayquaza and send deoxys and jirachi back to space #i mean i also wouldn't want the pokemon that killed my parents on my team either #like. jax would probably not want anyone to have to fight deoxys bc he knows what could happen if they do #i think that's the only way jax can deal with it. i guess it belonged back in outer space anyway

[ackerifle]

Hello! Can you please do a scenario where reader comes to help Levi do paperwork in his office and he offers her some tea. She doesn't think much of it and drinks the tea, but soon starts to feel dizzy before going unconscious. The next day, she wakes up in his bed, naked, and wrapped in his arms.

paperwork date!

yan. captain levi ackerman x fem vice captain. reader

+ CW. — abuse of power & authority, drugging, slight gaslighting, implied: rape/non-con & somnophilia.

you are starting to believe that captain levi’s office is becoming yours with how often you spend your time there. even your fellow special operations squadmates tease you for your absence now that you’ve taken on the new — and quite precarious — position as vice captain. although you have yet to find a plausible reason as to why the captain promoted you in the first place, let alone allowed your entry into his meticulously handpicked squad. and coincidentally, you simply cannot recall the last time you had a break from captain levi’s overbearing presence, and his room, since becoming his vice captain.

oftentimes, at this late hour in the evening, it is you who brews and brings tea for captain levi— per his request, that is, and for whatever godforsaken reason that he has yet to divulge, but who are you to defy orders? the first day you had been requested to his office to assist with the arduous hours of labor that was completing paperwork, you had thought to prepare some tea. it was meant to be a kind, one-time, gesture of reassurance and camaraderie from your end. but now you fear that your captain’s become rather spoiled, as the second time around when you had showed up empty handed, he looked far from pleased.

so alas, you come to a standstill in front of his office’s door. pitch perfect posture, not a thread misplaced on your uniform, and hands settled onto the handles of a small silver platter tray. your eyes absentmindedly drift to the contents atop the salver: a ceramic teapot that is far too nice to have been found in the survey corps, two matching cups and saucers of the same lavish set, a dainty teaspoon, a creamer, and a bowl for sugar cubes accompanied by sugar tongs; and even though you know quite well that he doesn’t utilize the latter two dishware, you are adamant about keeping them for formality's sake. but you can’t help but feel that you’ve neglected to include something in the assortment.

due to your hands being held hostage by the tea that captain levi was so persistent on you delivering, you clear your throat to announce your arrival, “sir, it’s vice captain name.” he doesn’t entertain your salutation with a response of his own, but rather, gauchely slams open the door with concerning haste. you dwell on the fact that it was just too fast, even for someone of his caliber, almost inhumanely so, and it makes you speculate if levi was stationed right at the entrance, waiting for you.

levi’s expression is unreadable, but his frown is apparent as ever. he’s blocking the doorway with his body, one hand holding the door at arms length, and the other pointing inside the room towards the desk at the center of his office, “you, inside. now.” his voice is stern, addressing you as if he were reprimanding you for insubordination. it causes you to grimace, but you know better than to test levi’s last nerve.

you step inside, cautious as to not tip over any of the cups, or cause the tea you had spent such a fastidious amount of time brewing to overflow out past the flange of the teapot. hurriedly and heedfully all in the same, you navigate your way to the guest-side front of levi’s desk, avoiding the chair and stacks of paperwork in your way; and you are beyond attentive whilst lowering the silver plate down until it is completely flat on the table. you don’t release your white knuckled grip on the handles until you see the contents on the platter tray have stopped trembling. had you not been so immersed in your soundless struggle to appease levi’s strict cleanliness standards, you would have picked up on the sound of the door being locked.

sighing softly, relieved, you slump your shoulders and pull the chair beside you by its crest rail, wincing when it scrapes against the floor and creating an obnoxious screech in retaliation, before taking a seat. levi enters your line of vision from the left, and you flinch when he cuts unnecessarily close to you, enough for you to feel his uniform’s coat brush past yours, but not enough to feel his body beneath it. a scowl instinctively makes its way on your face, one that you cannot hide, and you’re thankful he didn’t catch it, faced away from you entirely. levi swivels his heel with sharp precision once he’s stood on his side of the desk, standing in front of his chair, but he doesn’t sit.

there is a pair of inkwells on the desk, wedged between the piles of untouched documents, and you take hold of the one that still has its lid sealed on. near to the opened inkwell are a couple of feather pens, one is in rough condition, and two seem untainted by the ink and whatever iron grip they were unfortunately subjected to for the past few hours. you retrieve the one furthest from the middle of the table, and when it finally dawns on you that levi has still yet to make a move to sit down after a lengthy silence, you hesitantly tilt your head to take a glance in his direction.

he appears in deep thought, concentrated on something beyond your immediate comprehension, until you follow his gaze down to the silver tray. and now that you bring your attention to it, the tea has a delightful aroma to it, and smells as though it’s finally been steeped long enough— “you forgot the strainer.” levi isn’t pointing it out, he’s chastising you.

pesky tea leaves, curse you. perhaps an oversight on your part, the one that you had intuitively sensed earlier but could not place a finger to, but minuscule as a stand-alone mishap. how mean of him, really, it was as if levi was trying to find something he could fault you in. and considering the scrupulous amount of time he took to detect such a minor mistake, he would not be satisfied until he did. you can’t ascertain whether it’s because levi loathes the thought of you doing anything right without his personal interference, or he simply gets a power trip by nitpicking at you. you’re starting to believe it’s both.

“i’m sorry, i can go get one right now—” levi interrupts you, or more fittingly, silences you, without even so much as uttering a word. he takes the handle of the teapot with the two fingers of his right hand, mindful of its fragility, and gathering the teacups together in his left hand. “nonsense, i already have one.”

levi turns his back to you, setting the ceramics atop the dressers lined up on the wall behind his desk. without missing a beat, he locates the drawer containing this supposed strainer with ease, and sure enough, a tiny mesh tea strainer can be seen pinched between his pointer finger and thumb. of course captain levi has this in his office, he may as well have the whole tea set hidden in that drawer, and of course, captain levi can compensate for every single flaw and shortcoming his vice captain has.

his fondness for the craft is evident as he takes it into his own hands to strain the tea for both cups, “sir, i could have done that.” forcing yourself to avert your eyes, as if dismissing the whole (ridiculous) ordeal altogether, aggravatedly setting the closest report down in front of you and skimming the words, “i know.”

levi returns to his seat, this time, he does sit, but not after returning the teapot and teacups to their rightful places on the expertly organized platter, “here.” he lifts one of the cups in that peculiar way that he always does, by the edge of its rim, and extends a hand towards you, “you brewed it, it’d be a shame for me to enjoy all this good quality tea alone.”

reluctantly, you entangle your hands around the handle, impatiently pulling it from his grasp before he can properly let go, and you drink until the teacup is half empty. sparing a passing glance at levi as you carefully set the cup back on its respective saucer, he seems satiated.

falling into routine, the rest of your exchange is done quietly. only the sound of feather pens making detailed incisions on the papers ricocheted throughout the idle office. and perhaps it’s the finely written cursive on the papers, or that it is well past curfew, but your eyelids feel unbearably heavy. it had become increasingly difficult for you to remain upright, slightly swaying in your seat, desperately attempting to regain your composure every time you nearly fall out of your chair. one particularly long blink has you absolutely reeling once you open your eyes, but the feeling of something brushing against your knee has you retaining consciousness instantaneously.

parting your lips with a surprised exhale, your eyes peer down to your legs, but there is nothing out of the ordinary. it must have been the inner side of the desk, the opening that created leg room so two people could sit comfortably across from one another. that sounded far better than accusing your captain of purposefully invading your personal space— seeing as such a thing has never happened before, him intentionally rubbing against your knee with his own, that is. you dismiss the notion altogether, but then it happens again, and this time, it feels like a hand.

“did… did you just touch me?” levi calmly takes his focus off his paperwork, momentarily stilling the movement of his feather pen, “no.” but for some reason, you still doubt him. and levi surmises as much as his eyes narrow, though not with suspicion, but something else that you can’t quite figure out in your delirious state, “are you sure?”

“do you want me to touch you?” he inquires with such sudden seriousness, it catches you off guard. your reaction time has been awful, but you almost immediately blurt out a; “no.” and your response is a little too quick for his liking.

“no?” levi echoes coldly.

no, that is what you recall from your last moments of blurred consciousness, but you can’t remember if you had said it, or levi had. quite honestly, that had become the least of your concerns as soon as you opened your eyes. met with the unforgiving glare of the sun shining through a suspiciously large window that most certainly didn’t belong to your room, you break into a sweat when you inhale the familiar scent of someone else, and you’ve become increasingly aware of how unbearably warm you are. you’ve been stripped bare, and despite being engulfed in a tangle of blankets and sheets, you feel disturbingly exposed. and you know this feeling, one of another naked body pressed against your backside and a pair of arms wrapped around your waist. any move you had initially tried to make was futile, thrashing about to free your own arms from the lock of the other pair, tugging at his wrists and pushing them down with all your might.

it’s startling when the hold around your waist suddenly tightens, as if constricting you out of breath, “you can deny it all you want, but your body loves it when i touch you.” you don’t need to turn and face the man keeping you hostage in his arms because levi’s voice is unmistakable, “it’s about time that i fuck you while you’re conscious anyway.”

#ackerifle #yandere #yandere x reader #yandere attack on titan #yandere aot #yandere aot x reader #yandere levi ackerman #yandere levi ackerman x reader #levi ackerman x reader

[intynidad]

yayayayayayayya!

Imagine a Soldier, a DILF,Huge, muscular, and so intimidating! But there are a few drawbacks.. He is VERY possessive and overprotective! (Yandere)

He can’t see you with another man! Or even the thought of a man breathing in your direction is enough for him to throw a sharpened knife at his head.. Even women are rivals to him.. He is a MaleWife! I’m his free time he wants to take care of you! like imagine the pink frills and bows but with camouflage pants and dog tags..

And the way he looks at you.. with so much adoration and love.. Even after transforming into a beast a few moments ago and glaring at the one who dared to even look at his sweet darling!

Scary dog privileges!! A huge almost 7 foot man stalking behind you with a preditorial gaze.. Sending death glares at anyone who passes near you..

you don’t know how he is so stealthyfor being so huge..

Has a huge and muscular body! So he has huge hands and arms.. With lots of bulging veins!

(Imagine grabbing his moobies after a hard day of work.. He would moan and whimper like a bitch in heat.. a string of Thank yous coming out his mouth..)

I imagine he has a hidden piercing probably on his tongue.. but no one knows.. except you.. but isn’t noticeable because he wears a balaclava at work!

Petnames!: Darling, Sweethear, Angel, My love, Princess, Lovely

It took some time but i really like how it came out owo

I got a little lazy on the end but is still good

TW: yandere behavior, description of violence(not towards reader), use of pet names (sugar cube and darling), female oriented reader ??? Tell me if i miss anything owo

Enjoy !

War was not kind to anyone.

First, your father was drafted to fight on the front lines. He tried to write every time he could, but one day, you and your mother stopped getting any letters. That's when you knew it - that your father was dead.

Your now-widowed mother was absolutely heartbroken. You tried to initiate a conversation, saying, -"Hello, Mom,"- but were only met with silence. This is how things have been going since the news of your father. It’s been a lonely and difficult time for your family.

You often found yourself staring out of the window, watching the seasons change. The world outside seemed to carry on as if nothing had happened, while inside your home, there was a void that couldn't be filled.

You saw how the war started to consume your little neighborhood, first your father, then your mother, and now your friends.

"I can't believe it," you said with a shaky voice. "You can't leave me."

You clutched the small phone in your hands while the other person on the line gave a low chuckle, full of sadness. "I know, I know. It's not like I want to."

"Dylan, please," you begged, your voice choked with a sob. "You're sick. You can't go to fight."

"I can't just stay still while the war consumes our lives, sugar cube," Dylan replied with determination. "Listen, I'm going to do everything I can to stay in contact, but I refuse to stay still while our enemies burn our homes and kill our people."

You understood his sentiment, but the fear of losing yet another person you loved was overwhelming. The war had taken so much from you already, and you didn't want to lose Dylan as well.

"Dylan, promise me you'll be safe. Promise me you'll come back," you pleaded.

"I promise I'll do my best, sugar cube," Dylan said softly. "And I promise we'll be together again when this nightmare is over."

As the call ended, you clutched the phone tightly, tears streaming down your face, thinking of the destiny of one of your closest friends. With your vision blurry, that's when you saw it:

[Be the hero of our heroes!]

[Become a war nurse and help today!]

——-

The training was fairly easy, but the hardest part was saying goodbye to your mother. It wasn't because of the response she gave you, but rather the lack of it. The war had taken so much from her, and you leaving to join the medical corps was another sacrifice she had to bear in silence.

After three months of training and preparation, you reached your destination - the front lines. Well, it wasn't exactly the front lines where bullets flew, but it was a place where you felt like you were helping. The makeshift field hospital was a hive of activity, with wounded soldiers being brought in, and the dedicated medical team doing their best to save lives and ease suffering.

Your heart swelled with a mix of fear and determination as you donned your nurse's uniform. You had a newfound respect for the doctors and nurses who worked tirelessly in these conditions, and now, you were one of them.

Every day, you encounter injured soldiers, each with their own story of bravery and sacrifice. You offered comfort, administered care, and listened to their fears and hopes. It was a harsh environment, but the camaraderie and shared purpose among the medical staff gave you strength.

As you continued your work on the front lines, you knew that this was where you were meant to be, where you could honor your father's memory, support your friends, and be a beacon of hope in the darkness of war.

That was until one particularly slow day. Well, as slow as it could be in a war hospital. You were preparing some medical supplies for the medics to take to their respective camps when a superior of yours called you.

-"Y/N! Could you come over and take care of this new patient? I'm kinda busy right now,"- the woman said in a calm tone.

-"Sure, just send them back here, and I'll take care of them,"- you responded.

Her tone was pretty chill, so it was probably just a bruise or maybe a cold. You were preparing some medicine and band-aids when you felt a small tap on your shoulder.

-"I'm sorry to keep you waiting; please have a sea-" When you turned around, you were shocked to see a man - no, a practical giant - towering over you.

The soldier was immense, with a rugged face that bore the scars of battle. He had a stern, almost intimidating expression, and it was clear that he had seen his fair share of combat. As he hunched down to enter the tent, you couldn't help but feel a mix of awe and trepidation.

-“Captain Samuel Reynolds, a pleasure to make your acquaintance"- he said in a deep, gravelly voice. His uniform was tattered and stained, and he clutched his side in obvious pain.

-"Y/N,"- you replied, trying to regain your composure. You quickly gestured for him to sit on one of the makeshift beds. As he eased himself down, it became apparent that he was wounded, a bandage around his abdomen stained with blood.

-"I heard you're the best nurse in this place,"- he said, his voice filled with both gratitude and a touch of humor.

You blushed at the compliment. The reality was that you were just doing your best, like all the others in the medical corps. You started to assess his injuries, trying to hide your nervousness as you worked to remove the soiled bandage.

-"You've been through quite a lot,"- you commented as you cleaned the wound.

Samuel winced, but he nodded. -"The front lines aren't a picnic, that's for sure. But I've seen worse."

As you stitched up his wound and administered medication, you couldn't help but feel watched as his gaze practically pierced through you. But you continued to do your work, focused on providing the best care you could.

-"Okay, that should do for the bleeding, Mr. Reynolds. Let me go grab some bandages and some painkillers for you,"- you said.

His response caught you off guard, -"...why?"- Samuel said, almost confused about your reasoning.

-"Because, um, you are hurt?"- You stammered, wondering if you had said something wrong.

-"Thanks for the offer, sweetheart, but this pain won't kill me. Plus, there are some other people around that probably need those painkillers and bandages more than me,"- Samuel said matter-of-factly. He expected it to be the end of the conversation. You would probably tell him okay and assign him a bed, and that would be the end of it.

But you surprised him with your firm resolve. -"No,"- you said.

-"Thanks, so I will be going to my bed, then,"- Samuel was more than confused when he registered your words.

-"Wait, what?"- he asked.

-"I'm sorry, Captain, but with all due respect, I will not allow you to do that,"- you said firmly.

-"Do what?"- Samuel was clearly taken aback.

-"I'm sorry, but as long as you are here, I'm in charge of you, and I won't let any of my patients go suffering when they can perfectly take some rest and medication,"- you said, giving him a small, determined smile. It was clear that you weren't going to back down.

Samuel's eyes met yours, and he seemed to be processing your words. His tough exterior had met its match in your unwavering dedication to your patients' well-being.

As you delicately applied pressure to his wounds to wrap them up in bandages, Samuel couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat. The way your hands worked so skillfully and delicately had a calming effect, and he found himself strangely drawn to your touch. It was as if your care had the power to make his pain vanish.

However, the sensation of your fingers on his skin made him nervous. His heart raced, and he couldn't quite understand why he felt this way. Samuel, a battle-hardened captain, suddenly felt a wave of discomfort.

-"I'm sorry, but are you okay?"- you asked, looking into his eyes as you reached your hand to his forehead. -"You're a little bit hot."

-"I'm f-fine,"- he stammered, full of shame. How was it possible that he was suddenly stuttering? What was happening to him?

Samuel couldn't quite comprehend the mix of emotions he was experiencing. Here he was, a soldier used to facing danger and making difficult decisions, and yet in this moment, your caring presence and gentle touch had him feeling vulnerable in a way he had never felt before.

A couple of weeks passed, and you continued to care for him. It didn't take much time for Samuel to realize that he was in love. A cold-blooded soldier had become completely enamored by a tiny (in comparison to him) nurse. He couldn't help but follow you with his gaze as you waltzed around the hospital, tending to the wounded and offering comfort with your warm smile.

He felt a profound happiness with you in his life. The war, which had taken so much from him, had also given him something unexpected – love.

One day, when his wounds were practically all healed up, he went for a run around the hospital perimeters. Part of it was to use some of the energy he had built up during his recovery, but deep down, he also wanted to make sure you were safe.

During his run, he stumbled upon a small river with water lilies floating on its surface. They were small in comparison to his massive hands, delicate and beautiful, just like you. Samuel found himself captivated by their fragility and elegance.

He decided then and there. He would confess his feelings to you when the sun went down. Those lilies, a symbol of the tenderness he had discovered in the midst of war, would be his gift to you. They represented the love that had grown in his heart, unexpected and pure, just like the delicate blossoms on the river.

He advanced with a spark to his feet, feeling his heart sincronice to each step he took.

At the entrance of your “office” (it was just a big tent but you liked to call it that) , he called out to you, -"Um, Miss Y/N, are you there?"- He couldn't help but feel a certain nervousness in his voice. It was an unfamiliar feeling for him, like he was a teenager again, not a battle-hardened soldier.

When he didn’t hear anything he decided to just enter and wait for you.

It was weird. You usually would check for medical supplies and then come back to your tent to put on your uniform and THEN start the day…not like he had your whole schedule memorized of anything.

He started to worry. Maybe you had been distracted or were in some kind of danger. The concern for your well-being began to overshadow his initial nervousness. He scanned the tent, looking for any signs of where you might be or if there was trouble.

He bolted to his feet again running to the “hospital”, full with worry.

When he got there he asked to another nurse if they had see you

-“oh, Y/N. O boy let me tell´ya. They been all lovely dovey with somebody on the back”-

-…what- Samuel felt his heart freeze

The nurse continued without noticing -“ya’ apparently it was an old friend of them. Let me tell’ya boy. The moment that guy enter she almost fainted of happiness. She was like “omg its been so long and””-

Samuel stopped listening half way through. He didn’t care about that guy.

He cared about you.

Who was this guy

How do you know him

He was dangerous?

Was he an enemy ?

He walked with a heavy step. Until he hear a small voice sniffling.

Samuel froze. It was you.

-“aww don’t worry sugar cube. I’m alright told ya’”- a voice he didn’t recognize talked to you

He cringed at the nickname the stranger gave you. Sugar cube

Yes you were sweet and all of that but he had no right to call you that.

-im sorry Dylan is just that *sob* the tears don’t stop- you responded

Dylan huh…where did he heard that name before.

He peeked a little and what he saw made his blood boil.

You were there with tears staining your beautiful face. And that disgusting man was kissing them away. Like he had any right to do that.

He continued to observe in silence.

He saw how this man sat you on his lap while kissing you.

At this point the lilies were long forgotten crushed to mere crumbs into his hands.

And when he saw Dylan slowly caress your leg he couldn’t stand there any longer.

He opened the curtain that separated you three and walked with a heavy step.

-“may i know what you are doing, soldier?”- his voice low and authoritative

Dylan that was not paying attention, bolted his head toward him and with super speed put you down on his side

-S-Sir i'm sorry is- Dylan tried to explain himself while he brushed up his uniform

-“I don’t want to hear it,soldier. Identify yourself and your section”-

-“Dylan Ramirez sir. I just got transfer to site 2-A sir.”-

Ah. That where he knew him. He was a new transfer to HIS section.

-why are you in this stablishment and not reporting to me of your arrival- samuel said with maybe a little to much volume

-“i wanted to say hello to nurse Y/N sir. She is an old friend sir.”-

Friend…he didn’t believe that bullcrap

-i want you out and to run 10 laps around the perimeter.NOW-

And with that Dylan rise to his feet and run towards the exit.

You that were looking at the whole exchange. Felt slightly intimidated. Like the first time you met Samuel. He been so nice with you that you forgot that he is a high rank in the troops.

When your two sights encounter you couldn’t help but look to the ground.

-“are you alright?”- say Samuel on a voice much, much softer than the one he used with Dylan.

You didn’t say anything.

-“is just that…I heard you cry and got worried”- that was partially the truth but he was sure you wouldn’t mind.

-“yea i apologize for the whole scene…Mr Samuel”- you said with a hint of shame on your voice

-“you don’t have to apologize for anything,darling. Is just we are going tomorrow to the front lines again and maybe im a little nervous”- another half truth but alas it was for the best.

-“can i ask you to do something for me?”- you said, still looking at the ground

Oh if only you knew what he would do for you

-whatever you need-

-Please take care of Dylan on the front lines. He is a very important person to me-

Why. Why he was such an important person to you?.

Why does he had that he didn’t?

Why you looked at them without fear and when you looked at him your gaze was on the ground?

Why

Why

WHY

-“sure. Ill make sure Dylan is taken care of”- samuel say after a moment

-“thank you”- you said with a small smile

…..

He still though of that small interaction. He almost felt a hint of guilt for breaking his promise. Almost

He choose Dylan as his second in command to investigate a supposedly abandoned enemy base. That way they could maybe find supplies or a hint to end this war.

He had done this dozens of times.

The feeling of the bone breaking and the warmth of the blood on his hands. But the adrenaline on his veins this time made it a little different. Almost like if it was more personal.

If he had to compare Dylan to an animal it would probably be a deer of some kind.

A frail and sickly one but still a deer

First it was a shoot to the leg. He screamed in pain as he fell to the ground but we both knew that nobody would come.

Then Samuel stepped on his hand with all his force. It made a crack that send a pleasant chill to his own spine.

The beating continued for a while. For too little time on Samuel’s opinion and if Dylan had the ability to speak he probably said it was for far too long.

But no one can really talk with a broken jaw and without a tongue.

When he came back to the base. Nobody question the story of an ambush.

Nobody question that fact that his knife was missing.

Why would they?

After all he was the first in command. He was the commander Samuel

But the acting when he came back to you was supreme. Maybe he should had been an actor instead of a soldier but anyway.

You cried and screamed and punched the air.

It did broke his heart that you looked so sad. But don’t worry he would be here for you as long as you need him

And you wouldn’t need anybody else.

#soft yandere #yandere #writing blog #yandereoc #yandere oc #male yandere #yandere oc x reader #yandere scenarios #yandere story #yandere!soldier #yandere male #yandere thoughts #yandere boy #yandere x darling #y/n #reader

[sleepykye]

Drops down head first onto the concrete floor

I wanna kindly request Muichiro x reader where the reader that has a big habit of falling asleep. Might as well imagine her sleeping in a literal busy town

Stop falling asleep please...

Muichiro x reader

I gotchu my dear reader !!

"Its so hot..." You felt like an ice cube that was slowly melting away because of the hot sun. Lately, the weather has been getting hotter and hotter. Your corps uniform didn't help make it better either, you got a uniform that was alike muichiro's uniform. You first got the one that was the same as mitsuri's uniform but after muichiro saw this and how uncomfortable you looked in the hashira meetings, he hunted for the guy that made your uniform and demanded one that is less revealing and covering more of your skin.

The top three buttons of your uniform was unbuttoned as you layed on the wooden floor. Sweat forming on your forehead every now and then. You sighed as you got up, deciding to buy a popsicle in a attempt cool yourself down.

The streets were bustling with people as they all seemed busy, the queue of the shops forming all the way to the other side. You were internally crying as to how many people roamed the streets and that it would be hotter. With your uniform unbuttoned, you knew muichiro was gonna come after you and get you to button it, as he doesn't want anybody else seeing you revealing your skin.

Talk about overprotective.. -,-

ANYWAYS,

You walked along the path, trying to find the convenience store, however, that's when your habits starts kicking in. You eventually fall asleep....

LIKE RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE BUSY STRRETS.

You were even sleep walking ! You passed by the convenience store, still sleeping. You didn't even notice you had reached your destination. Until, it was definitely your lucky day to have run into someone none other than....MUICHIRO !

He was actually pissed when someone bumped into him. He was already angry and was not in the mood, until he saw that it was you. Sleep walking again, but this time, in the middle of the busy streets.

He shook you awake, before pulling you to the side of the street. Holding your hand while doing so, you were already following behind, your eyes slowly opening, your mouth already had a bit of a drool from sleep walking. You noticed someone was holding your hand, so you quickly took your hand away from his before realising that it was muichiro.

" Ah ! Fancy seeing you here mui ! " you said, feeling all the sleepiness wash away from you upon seeing him in front of you. Muichiro just face palmed his hand and told you " stop falling asleep please...darling. " you just pouted and told him that it was a habit you couldn't get rid of, no matter how hard you tried.

" By the way, where are you going ? Your uniform is also unbuttoned. " he said as he helped you button two buttons only, leaving the third button unbuttoned as it was hot. " The convenience store, I was planning on buying a few ice popsicles as it was hot. " you said, drool already forming on your mouth as you thought about it.

Muichiro looked at you, amused. Before stating that you had already passed by it. You stared at him, he stared at you. Blush already began to form on your face at the embarrassment. He just chuckled before saying " Come on, I'll help you buy them. Let's go. " as he held onto your hand.

[melishade]

Damn it. Number 1?

This ask game

Autobot Anthology. Autobots make an ice skating rink for the winter.

Halloween Movies

Emblem

Lobbing

"Primus, I hate the winter," Arcee groaned, feeling her body jolt in a shiver from the chill of the snowy winds. The Survey Corps and the Autobots were currently residing at the neutral ship. They were trying to conserve energon for the larger ship, but that meant the inside of the ship had to be cold.

"We all do! It sucks!" Sasha yelled as Connie threw some snow in her face.

"We just need to get some extra stuff and we can go back to the walls," Hanji insisted.

"I call riding with Optimus!" Jean raised his hand.

"Bullshit!" Connie and Eren yelled at him.

"What?! He has a heating system! I don't want to get sick!" Jean retorted.

"We have a rotating system!" Eren reminded.

"Well, we need to make sure Optimus is feeling well rested before we return to the walls," Hanji reminded, "If he gets sick, we can't treat him, and we don't want him pushing himself!"

Hanji hollered that last part down the hall, and Optimus finally revealed himself to the others holding an empty energon cube.

"I will properly refuel." The Prime sounded a little annoyed.

"Thank you!" Hanji called out in a faux innocent manner.

Wheeljack exited the deck of the ship, holding some wires in his servos. "Isn't wintertime super popular on Earth?"

"Freezing your ass off is popular thing on Earth?" Levi deadpanned.

"Well no," Arcee explained, "Earth has this famous end of the year celebration called Christmas. Very festive. After that, there's a bunch of other winter sports. Skating was fun. We turned the base into an ice-skating rink."

"Well, that sounds more like a luxury," Mikasa declared, "We just want to survive the winter. The closest thing to fun is just playing in the snow. But nothing festive."

"Huh, maybe that's why you hate winter so much," Wheeljack proclaimed, "You guys aren't making it fun."

"Let's just go back to the Walls," Armin sighed.

"I can take some of you guys back. I have a heating system too," Wheeljack informed.

"Yes!" Connie screamed.

"Please do!" Sasha begged.

Arcee grabbed Wheeljack's arm before the Wrecker left to put the wires in the Jackhammer.

"What's up?" Wheeljack asked her.

"Do you know how to make an ice-skating rink?" Arcee asked.

"No," Wheeljack answered.

"Want to make one?" Arcee asked.

"A little bit nice for you," Wheeljack remarked.

"Honestly, they really need a break," Arcee confessed.

"Fair enough," Wheeljack shrugged, "When do you want to get started?"

==

A few days later

The Survey Corps were stunned at what they were looking at. Optimus had approached them all, proclaiming that Arcee and Wheeljack had requested their presence. When Hanji pressed the Prime on the matter, he looked rather perplexed. He had no clue what Arcee and Wheeljack had planned. They had followed the Prime through the snow, thankfully, no storm was to be had. The sky was as clear as day. When they arrived at the location, they were stunned to see a large elliptical platform of ice surrounded by a wooden railing. The ice was so smooth that they could see their reflection in it.

"Whoa!" the 104th exclaimed in excitement.

"You made it," Arcee spoke up as she walked onto the rink. The Survey Corps watched as she slid towards them with grace before slowly to a stop, almost getting some ice residue on them.

"What is all this?!" Hanji asked with giddy.

"Ice skating rink," Arcee answered, "Humans on Earth use it for fun, and the humans we knew turned the base into a rink one time. I...thought you guys could use the fun, so..."

The two-wheeler gestured to the rink before her. "Surprise."

"That is quite considerate of you," Optimus praised.

"Yep," Arcee replied curtly.

"Is it...safe?" Levi couldn't help but ask as he tapped his foot on the edge of the ice.

"Oh, Wheeljack's been testing it for the past hour," Arcee answered with a shrug.

"YEAH!" Wheeljack screamed as he slid across the ice right behind Arcee. The Survey Corps were surprised to see him, but the two-wheeler didn't bat an optic.

"Should be fine," Arcee finished, "Ice skates are over there."

Arcee pointed to a row of shoes with blades attached to the bottom of them.

"And this is going to be your first time, so the railing will be super important," Arcee proclaimed as she skated backwards to provide more space, "Ready to try it?"

"Yep!" Hanji raced towards the skates and took of their shoes as quickly as possible.

"C'mon!" Armin beckoned Mikasa and Eren to follow him, and the two obliged.

"Let's have a race!" Sasha told the others as she ran to the skates.

"I'll kick your ass!" Jean swore as he and Connie followed.

As the rest of the Survey Corps went to put on the skates, Optimus noticed that Levi was remaining put in his spot.

"Do you not wish to join them?" Optimus asked him.

"Someone needs to make sure to get them to a hospital if they get hurt," Levi answered, the Prime could tell that Levi looked a little tense.

As they finished putting on the skates, the humans stared at the ice rink with apprehension. However, it was Armin who managed to muster up the courage to be on the ice. When Armin stepped on the ice, he yelped as he slipped forward and landed on his butt.

"Ow!" Armin yelled.

"Armin, are you okay?!" Eren called out as he tried to help him up, but he ended up slipping forward and hitting the ice face first.

"HAH!" Jean cackled.

"That's what the railings are for," Arcee spoke as she kneeled down and helped both teens to their feet, "The key to this is balance, similar to the 3D gear. Balance on your heels. Back straight."

Arcee helped the two of them straighten their backs before letting them go. Armin and Eren were relieved to be standing, but...

"How do we move?" Armin asked.

"Keep your balance, and one foot in front of the other," Arcee instructed, "Small steps first. Treat it like you're walking."

Both teens followed Arcee's instructions, taking slow wobbly steps forward. Mikasa was afraid both were going to fall again and rushed onto the ice, but the Ackerman suddenly found herself gliding past the both of them and across the ice.

"How do I stop?!" Mikasa called out with worry.

"Twist your feet to the side! Opposite of the direction you're going!" Arcee called out.

Mikasa did as she was told, turning her feet perpendicular to the direction she was heading, but she still ended up losing her balance and falling onto her side.

"Mikasa!" Eren called out while Sasha was laughing.

"Okay." Hanji placed a hand under their chin before stepping onto the ice, "Balance!" Hanji yelped as they waved their arms around before holding them out to keep their balance. They then started taking small steps while keeping their arms out.

"I'm doing it!" Hanji squealed as they were slowly gliding across the ice.

"I'm just gonna stick to the railing," Connie proclaimed as he grabbed onto the wood before getting on the ice. Connie yelled as his feet kicked erratically before he was able to find his balance. He took small steps, using the railing as a way to get around the rink.

"You mastered the 3D gear. You can do this," Jean psyched himself up before stepping onto the ice. Jean let out of yell as he struggled to find his balance. He ended up bending his knees together and holding his hands out before sliding along the ice, "This is fine."

Sasha scoffed. "Amateurs." The huntress cracked her neck before getting into a sprinting position. She then started running across the ice like it was nothing before skidding to a stop next to Mikasa.

"Hi!" she greeted to the Ackerman still on the floor.

"HOW?!" Eren yelled.

"I lived next to a river I had to walk across when it was frozen to get some game when food was in short supply!" Sasha answered.

"I mean...she's technically doing it right," Arcee admitted, but was still baffled.

"There's no way," Jean deadpanned.

"She's doing it like a hockey player," Arcee explained.

"What the hell is hockey?!" Connie called out.

"Human sport!" Wheeljack called out as he slid across the ice once more.

"Where is he coming from?" Armin asked in confusion.

"I'm more than willing to provide help," Arcee offered.

"Yes, please!" Jean pleaded.

As time passed, Mikasa managed to quickly pick up on skating, gliding across the ice with practical ease. Sasha still took to running across the ice, racing Jean who was just barely managing to glide. Eren and Armin held onto each other for support, refusing to let each other go. Hanji was laughing with delight before they fell once more. Even so they struggled to get back up on their feet to try again. Connie had finally gotten off of the railing and was now getting help from Arcee on how to properly balance himself.

"See, you're getting the hang of it," Arcee complimented Connie as she let go of him and allowed him to balance on his own.

Hanji yelled as they slammed into the wooden railing, but they didn't let the pain bother them as they found themselves face to face with Levi and Optimus. "Levi, come join us on the ice!"

"No thanks." Levi turned it down.

"C'mon! It's fun!" Hanji pleaded.

"Majority of you are falling on your asses," Levi retorted, "I'm surprised no one broke anything yet."

"Does bruising count?" Hanji asked him.

"I'm not doing it," Levi declared, earning a raspberry from Hanji before they pushed themselves backwards on the ice.

"Do you really wish to miss out on this experience?" Optimus asked him.

"I don't see you on the ice," Levi shot back.

"I suppose you are right," Optimus didn't deny that. He still managed to catch glimpses of Wheeljack gliding across the ice in bursts, "Wheeljack."

The Wrecker stopped when he heard the Prime call for him.

"How much weight is the ice able to sustain?" Optimus asked him.

"Enough," Wheeljack answered, "I was able to put the Jackhammer on this thing."

"Very well." Wheeljack was surprised when Optimus stepped over the railing, being mindful of the humans, before standing on the ice.

"YAY!" Hanji cheered as they glided over to Optimus and hugged his pede.

Levi sighed in frustration. "Fuck you, Prime."

"One leg!" Wheeljack shouted as he balanced on one leg across the ice, but he ended up tripping and falling over the edge of the rink and into the snow. Optimus glided over to Wheeljack to assist the Wrecker out of the snow as Levi walked over to the last pair of skates. He forced the pair on before walking over to the ice. He stopped right along the edge and stared at his reflection before stepping onto the surface. Levi kept his hands in his pockets, but he refused to take another step and skate.

"Not even five minutes on the ice, and Mikasa's already mastered it," Jean spoke, both annoyed and amazed at the sight of Mikasa and Sasha racing one another. While Mikasa skated with grace, Sasha skated with more aggression.

"There are a few tricks I could teach you," Arcee offered.

"Like what?" Armin asked.

Arcee didn't reply and merely started to skate around the rink. Arcee started to crisscross her legs as she extended her arms out, skating backwards in a circle. In the next moment, she kicked her legs upward and tucked her arms into her chest, twirling in the air three times before landing on one pede, extending the other one out.

"Okay, we can't do that!" Jean exclaimed as everyone else was clapping at the display.

"I want to do that!" Sasha raised her hand eagerly.

"We'll do the legs first. That's the easier one," Arcee decided.

Levi watched as Arcee was beginning to teach the Survey Corps are few tricks, the humans quickly falling down trying to learn it as a result. Levi grunted when Hanji hugged him from behind before taking his hands and pulling him along the ice. Hanji noticed just how tense the Captain looked, holding onto Hanji as tight as he could.

"You're okay, Captain," Hanji reassured, "I got you."

"...yeah," Levi muttered quietly as he followed Hanji on the ice. Little by little, he let Hanji's hands go before being able to skate on his own. He almost fell a few times, but quickly caught himself before he continued skating. He noticed the way that everyone was having fun and couldn't help but feel...wonder. For the first time trying something like this, it was actually kind of nice.

(Okay. I have to work on #3. Someone asked for #49. Everything else is free game.)

#attack on prime #transformers prime #tfp #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #asks #send me asks #aot #ao3 #snk #tfp optimus #optimus prime #tfp optimus prime #tfp wheeljack #tfp arcee #arcee #wheeljack #hanji zoe #levi ackerman #captain levi #maccadam #macadam #autobot anthology #eren jaeger #armin arlert #mikasa ackerman #jean kirstein #connie springer #sasha blause #ice skating

[procyo9]

HOLY SHIT I DID IT!!!!!!! JFHEKJGHSKJHFDASHFGSDJK

ok now im getting anxious lol GOTTA GO

WHOLE THING CAN BE ALSO FOUND UNDER THE CUT!! LOVE Y'ALL

as always Crystal belongs to @quaddmgd :3

"Rogue I beg you, please anyone but Palmer? You know I-" "Listen, kid. You come to me asking for help, and I'm giving you help. If you think you're in a position to cherrypick who you 'like' to work with then you either grow up and go talk with Panam or leave." Elegy clenched her fists and stormed out of the booth, bumping shoulders with some stranger on the way out. She was so angry she felt like burning something down; why does it always end up like that? At this point she'll never get her street cred anywhere. She leaned against a wall, not feeling like going home empty-handed. She needed a drink - something to soothe her nerves and give her fuel to think. Elegy raised her sights to look for Claire, who was occupied with-- oh, it's that pretty girl.

She's been coming to Afterlife a lot lately and quickly got recognized among other solos as someone who should not be messed with. Many wanted to work with her, but she prefered working alone; she was an ex-nomad, after all. She probably had to learn to rely only on herself to survive without her family. To be honest, Elegy was a little jealous - she tried really hard to become independent but her ties kept a tight knot on her. No matter how good her skills were, she still was forced to rely on others to help her with matters she couldn't resolve on her own. It can be exhausting sometimes, asking for help - however stupid that sounds.

"Eh, don't worry C, Nix has his days. Afterlife is full of gonks that would pay you just to have a chance of working with you." "I just wish... He didn't need to be so harsh about that." The girl with colorful hair sipped the last of her liquor, soft expression present on her face. At this point Elegy caught herself staring, and she hid her face under her bangs. But did she hear right? Crystal needed Nix's help? Why would she- "Also, you know I prefer working with people who know their stuff. Can't let another gonk die on me," she played with her glass, turning the melting ice cubes inside left and right, much like Elegy's stomach at this moment. She wanted to scream 'I KNOW MY STUFF,' at the top of her lungs, but obviously that wouldn't work. She needed to approach her somehow. She had to.

***

"Heard you need help with some netrunnin'?" Suddenly the seat beside Crystal wasn't empty anymore, and her eyes met with black orbs radiating with confidence. "Did you listen in on us?" She shifted from a relaxed pose to a more stiff, ready-to-act one. Maybe it wasn't the best idea, but it worked! "Listen, Nix knows his shit and all, I get it. But to be honest? I can do anything he can - if not better - not counting the fact that I'm simply just a lot cooler to be around. You should ditch that old ex-corp, he and Rogue can go be pains in the ass together in that shitty booth of hers," Crystal's soft expression was long gone, replaced by way more annoyed and suspicious one. "Huh, you do gigs for Rogue?" "Sometimes. When she doesn't pair me up with assholes, that is." Elegy fiddled with her fingers, watching her hands; somehow her confidence began depleting, so she decided - it's now or never. "So, how about that - you help me, I help you." "Well, since you did listen in; what makes you think I'd just go and risk my life with a random gonk-" "You might wanna tune in and listen to the news then; rerun is about to start." Claire shouted from another end of the counter, serving drinks to a group of young mercs. Crystal's eyes shot back to the blue-haired gal, who just shrugged and turned her head to the TV.

The news lady began going on about the latest case of a corporation being targeted by a cyberterrorist known as The Plague; after their last attack, more than 2000 Biotechnica employees were stalled in their work. All employees on-site were found unconscious and poisoned, with no damage other than their security being compromised - there were traces of some top secret documents being stolen, which seemed more like a nasty joke left by the attacker rather than a slip-up. “The nasty joke being a dick. Drew it myself,” Elegy commented on the news, her hands intertwined behind the back of her head like some laid back anime character. All she got in response was a ‘I am still not convinced’ smirk, as Crystal went back to playing with her - now completely empty - glass. “They’re still clonin’ humans. Got all the evidence backed up on a shard, but got nobody I trust with it yet,” her expression was serious now, and she meant it. “They clone them, force them to think and feel, and then they experiment on them. Playing fucking god… No matter how helpful they were during the energy crisis and food industry, this is beyond fucked up.” "Holy shit,” a small chuckle escaped from Crystal, who seemed rather surprised by the sudden change of tone. “That really does sound fucked up. And you really pulled off something like that all by yourself?” “Well, can’t doubt Claire.” Elegy beamed a smile at the barkeep, who winked back while still working her beverage magic. ”They used to call me The Omen at first, it’s all silly really but still, that’s what I get for having a ‘signature move’ or whatever…” She began to ramble a bit, feeling the heat in her gut rising with every positive reaction she got out of her soon-to-be partner. “Hm. Okay. Tell me what’s up with that gig. I think we might work together quite well.” “...You mean it?” “Yep. So? Gimme something to work with!” “!! Okay, so there’s this new smart link prototype-”

***

“So if I help you steal that prototype for your Ashura, you’re gonna help me with cracking the security? That building is tight as shit you know-” “Yup! You won’t even have to lift a finger. In and out.” “And you need me because… You can’t drive a car?” “Yeah!” Her innocent smile was devastating in a way. Crystal couldn’t believe it at first, but it seemed that this girl was serious. “What the hell. Let’s do it. I’m Crystal, by the way.” She reached to the bubbly one next to her, with the intention of shaking her hand. Elegy returned the gesture with a little bit of hesitation, but quickly pushed all those feelings of doubt away - this was a time for celebration. “Elegy! You know, this calls for a toast. You ever tried David Martinez?”

#otp: nothing's gonna hurt you baby #.opk #elegy #crystal #cyberpunk 2077 #oc: elegy yukimura

[a-bucket-of-trash]

Crashing Trust – Kelvin x Neutral Reader – Part 4/4

Part 3

Tag: Angst

Your brain was still too confused to process anything, so you stood in total silence, watching him climb off of you, put wood on the fire, and untie your feet, though your hands were still tied. You saw his eyes lock on you and you shrunk, scared. He had forced you to eat those plants, you supposed that it was a matter of time before you fell asleep and were at the complete mercy of Kelvin. You were doomed

He knelt close to you, watching you lower your face from him, trembling. "God..." He denied softly, touching your cheek, somewhat hurt "I'm not going to hurt you... Honey... Please understand..."

“You lie…” You trembled, your eyes squeezed shut, expecting the worst.

Kelvin sighed. You were not only trembling from fear, but also from cold. The cave was cool and you had been quiet with little fire for hours, so he moved closer to you, sitting you up better, hugging you tight.

The warmth and scent of him made you cry immediately. You hated him, and you hated even more that you had missed him so much, you hated that so many parts of your soul were ready to forgive him, you hated that your body and soul needed him, you hated that your mind looked for any reason to doubt.

You whispered "I hate you" over and over again, still, crying, feeling him hug you tightly, combing your hair, his face close to yours. He only released you a few minutes later, his eyes as wet as yours.

"I untie you now" He wiped your cheeks "Don’t attack me"

You didn't, strangely. You stood still, eyes lowered, sad.

"Here" He gave you the canteen with water "Herbs doing effect now... drink a little, not much" He saw you still "Listen... I explain everything, as I can. It still hard for me talk... Not looking you forgive me, I want you know what's going on."

You barely said a “meh”, arching your shoulders. You didn't have the energy or the mood for anything.

"Good" He sighed, sitting in front of you, close "Month before the mission, Sahara Therapeutics contacts me, they need classified info from Puff Corp. I accept, the pay is huge and family has debts. They give me info, a lot, I find out about Pufftons, about experiments, about Cube. My contact in Sahara told me mission, internal contact close Pufftons warned, something was wrong, they seek rescue. Our team get ready, Sahara gives me order. I have to leave island alone, the rest have to die or transformed, they give me C4, code, everything…”

"And you accepted immediately" You whispered, getting angry, your eyes still fixed on the canteen.

“I had to say yes, Sahara given me order in helicopter and hidden microphones there, but I agree give info, not to eliminate team” He scratched the back of his neck “When you slapped me, I remembered the rest… My plan …” He saw you look at him out of the corner of your eye “Go down, get everyone away from helicopters, tell, deactivate C4, call Sahara, break contract, rescue Puffton, leave… But someone attacked us… I didn't plan that…”

"And you think I'm going to believe you?" You snorted, taking a sip of water, to the Kelvin's relief. "I have no way of knowing that you haven't made all that up now so that I would trust you and stop attacking you."

"I don't care you don't believe me... I have code, I will contact Sahara, they wait for my call to rescue..." He took a long breath "You killed mutants, you saw bunkers, you have more info. I'll give you my tag, when they come, you say you're Kelvin. They don't know me, they will rescue you and give you money, you will return home safe… I… will stay…”

"You will stay?" You doubted "What for? To get more information?”

Kelvin gently denied “To pay for what I did” He lowered his eyes “I knew was dangerous, I knew wasn't simple rescue. I should… I should spoken, told the team, be honest… I should told you! I should tell everyone! We were a team, I acted alone… They all died because of me…” He began to sob “I killed them… for hiding truth… And… I forced you spend months here… in this hell… I deserve stay and be killed… But I want to know you are safe…”

You looked at him, thinking. The part about falling from the helicopters hadn't been his idea, you were sure of that, since he'd nearly died in the process. Also, you remembered that the rescue had to happen anyway, even if he had said something, anyway, they had to go to the island to look for the Pufftons, it was an order from the bosses. And you all knew it was dangerous, otherwise they would not have asked for armed soldiers.

“I didn't want this happen…” The soldier cried loudly “I loved you much before to came here! I should protected you!”

Part of you was trying. Logic was taking the side of your heart, forgiving him was making sense, especially considering that he was thinking of sacrificing himself for you to return safely. You wanted to forgive him, not doing so made no sense, for him to have taken care of you so much when his supposed mission was to kill you, made no sense.

You wanted to hug him, you wanted to tell him that you forgave him, but maybe that was a plan, maybe make you believe everything to get back safely. But you knew him, you had known that soldier for a long time, and he had never let you down. Sometimes he was a little clumsy and caused more chaos than a dog playing between crystal cups, but he had never done it out of malice. Kelvin was stupidly good at the job they did, so good that he sometimes played against him.

"God!" You yelled, exasperated, seeing him start, "You're a moron!"

"I know!" He wiped his eyes.

“Why the fuck didn't you tell me your family was in debt, stupid!?” You put the canteen aside, furiously "With how simple it was to ask us for money!"

"I didn't want to bother squad!"

“Fuck! Now I'm going to have to lie because of you! Call the helicopter, take the pilot hostage so you can get on and find money for your stupid family! Stop making things so complicated, you dumbass!" You kicked him lightly.

"What?" His eyes widened, feeling his chest heat up. "You…forgive me?"

“Fuck you! You're going to have to drag yourself through years to pay for this! Big fool!" You pointed your finger at him angrily “You're lucky I love you too much or I'd beat the crap out of you! I can not stand you! I hate you!"

“I'm going to kiss you…” He whispered, looking at you.

"I hope so! And it had better be good or I'm going to crack your skull, asshole!” You saw him smile widely. “Don't smile! I'm angry! Furious!” You saw him try to get serious “Stop that! I like your smile! Moron!"

Kelvin held your face to kiss you. You two had fooled around before, but you had never kissed, so feeling his mouth on yours, his soft lips and his warm hands calmed all your warlike energy. Your shoulders relaxed and as soon as his mouth moved away, you started to cry, hard, carrying the shit of so many weeks of hating and loving him at the same time. You hugged each other, crying, asking each other for forgiveness, for most of the day.

And weeks later, a private helicopter went up, under some threats and the promise of classified information, with you two. You might not receive the promised money, but getting out of here was reward enough. Being together was enough, you would see how you would manage the problems, at the base.

#kelvin #sons of the forest kelvin #sotf kelvin #kelvin x reader #sons of the forest

[gamerkitten]

WIP Wednesday

Tagged by @vox-monstera

This is the first chapter of my eventual post game fic for Jenae and Goro. Hopefully I'll actually get around to finishing it.

He looked almost identical to the first time she laid eyes on him; a black suit,free of wrinkles, his dark hair restrained in a neat bun. The posture was different though; in a way only someone who knew him would even notice, subdued.

"Goro." she shot to her feet, only to be overtaken by a wave of vertigo

He moved quickly, catching her before she hit the ground. She gazed up at him, reaching up to touch his face, afraid that this was yet another cruel trick being played on her by her mind.

"You're really here."

He nodded, guiding her back to her bed, " This is an awful place, it is no wonder you are losing your mind."

She sat on the edge of the bed, watching him as he toyed with the puzzle cube on the desk, his brow furrowed as if deep in thought.

"Are you here to take me home?" She asked

"No," he said with a sigh, retrieving the chair from where she had thrown it during her breakdown, "I was asked to speak to you."

"By Hanako?"

His eyes flashed at the name but just as quickly he regained his composure.

" She...has forgotten you already," he admitted, sitting across from her, " they called from the clinic."

So much for appreciation, " Well, what did they say?"

"That someone should talk to you, someone that you know," he looked down at his hands, " V, the surgery did not help. They say you will be dead before winter."

"No," she whispered, shaking her head, " no, that-that can't be right. Arasaka has the best and brightest-"

"Yes," Goro agreed, still not meeting her gaze, " which is why the surgery was a success.However, the changes made by the chip were too great, even for corporate neurosurgeons."

Her vision began to blur as tears pricked at her eyes, " You told me Arasaka could help, you promised."

She could feel the anger building as she spoke. She had betrayed Johnny, Jackie's memory and herself based on his word that Arasaka would save her and it had all been for nothing.

"I truly believed they could save you," he said, his voice low, " I am sorry for that, but I have not come empty handed."

He looked up finally, determination etched on his features;the same look he always had before he proposed one of his hair brained plans.

"I was sent to discuss an alternative, one that will save your life," he continued, " Arasaka will allow you to join the Secure Your Soul program. You will leave your body and your engram will be stored until a way is found to transfer it to a new body."

"Are you insane," she hissed, " you want me to let them throw me into that fucking prison, where they can do whatever they want to me?"

" I want you to live," he said, grabbing her hand, "the Arasaka's see you as nothing, unimportant. Hanako-sama offers you this as a reward for your services."

"Really? I thought you said she had forgotten me."

"We spoke," he admitted, "I reminded her of the debt she owes you."

He stood and retrieved a tablet from the table, handing it to her.

"This contract will protect you," he said, "sign it and you will live."

She took the tablet, reading the contract before her. As she read, she could feel heat working its way from the soles of her feet to the tips of her ears, her hands starting to shake. Goro must have noticed her reaction because he took the tablet before she could fling it across the room.

" It is written that you relinquish all rights, but please do not worry," he implored "the law is simply behind the times- an engram is not legally a person."

"So you want me to become corporate property."

"I want you to live." He repeated, his voice strained, " please, trust me."

She sighed, shaking her head, " I trust you with my life, but not when Arasaka is involved. I can't do this Goro, I'm sorry."

"Jenae-"

"No Goro," she interrupted, rising to her feet, "I promised myself I would never let a corp control my fate again. I lost my way for a bit, but it's time to course correct." 

He followed, moving fast and catching her by the arm. She swung at him with her free hand but he caught her wrist with little effort, maneuvering her so that she was caught between him and the desk.

" Let go of me," she growled, struggling against him, " isn't it enough that you've played me for a fool? I trusted you and you want to sell my fucking soul to Arasaka!"

"If you would just listen-"

"No," she shrieked, tears falling down her cheeks, "I gave up everything, because I trusted you. Now I have nothing, not even the consolation prize of survival."

She finally stopped fighting, shaking with sobs. He released his hold on her, pulling her into his arms and holding her until she quieted.

"I-I am sorry," he said,his voice rough with emotion,"I do not wish to see you die."

Taking her chin in his hand he tilted her head up to meet his gaze before leaning in and kissing her. Despite her anger she found herself returning the kiss, the rest of the world falling away. 

"Where will you go?" She asked, when they had pulled apart

"I will go home," he replied, tucking her hair behind her ear, " I have... new duties."

"I guess this is goodbye then," she said softly, " I wish you would take my advice; go be a nomad, go be a merc, feed cats. Anything but staying with these people."

He sighed,pressing a kiss to her forehead, " We have both chosen our path, I am afraid. I will not forget you."

She kissed him once more, arms wrapped around his neck as she did her best to commit the feel of him to memory before slipping out of his arms. Grabbing her bag, she slung it over her shoulder and headed toward the exit, pausing at the doorway before turning to take one last look.

"Goro," she said, her voice wavering, "take care of yourself, or I'll haunt you, I swear."

He gave her a sad smile and nodded, " I feel that you will haunt me regardless."

Two days later

"Takemura, come in."

Goro entered the room, stopping to give a deep bow to the man standing before him.

"Arasaka-sama," he said, " you wished to see me?"

Saburo Arasaka watched him from across the massive marble desk from behind the eyes of his youngest son, hands folded atop the desk's surface.

"You spoke to the thief?"

Goro nodded, bristling internally,"Yes, Arasaka-sama."

"I see," he rose to his feet, straight backed and steady as he came around to stand in front of him, "and did she accept our offer?"

"She did not." He admitted, lowering his eyes

"Unfortunate. It would have been interesting, to see what tales her engram had to tell," Saburo said absently, "she did not wish to live?"

"She is...a proud woman," he replied carefully, " Silverhand seems to have poisoned the idea of Mikoshi in her mind."

Saburo shrugged, " No matter. The thief is insignificant and will be gone in time."

Goro felt his jaw clench in anger before he could stop himself. Of course Saburo noticed,a ghost of a smile crossing his face.

" Ah," he said, "perhaps not so insignificant after all."

"Arasaka-sama I-"

" Do not lie to me Takemura," he silenced him with a wave of his hand, "did you think I would not find out?"

Knowing better than to argue, Goro kept silent, mentally cursing his slip in composure. Of course they had been watched.

"I do not say this to shame you," Saburo continued, " she is a beautiful woman and showed me respect. I do not begrudge you comfort in this cursed city, but I wonder; is your loyalty unaffected?"

Goro snapped to attention, meeting his master's eyes.

"My loyalty is to you and to your family," he said, " everything I am, I owe to you."

The two men looked at each other for a beat before Suboro nodded, patting him on the shoulder.

"Good. Would that I had been blessed with as dutiful son as you. You are dismissed, Takemura."

"Arasaka-sama."

With another deep bow, he left the room, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as the door closed behind him, relaxing slightly as he made his way down the hall and toward the elevator.

Goro had followed Saburo Arasaka all his life, but since his return he elicited  feelings in him that he was unused to: doubt and unease. A deadly combination for anyone intent upon keeping their job, or their life, in this new climate.

#Cyberpunk 2077 #otp:new tricks #Jenaè Valentine #goro takemura

[liddolwhynot2000]

Falling

____________________________________

Summary: Cause Levi can't help falling in love with you.

____________________________________

Pairing: Levi Ackerman X Reader

____________________________________

Levi sat on a log, elbows on his knees and hands clasped together, staring at nothing in particular. The sun was setting, but he hardly cared to watch it, too lost in thought.

When Kenny had taken him under his wing all those years ago, he had taught Levi plenty of things. How to use a knife, how to make ‘friends’. Some lessons he preferred to forget, while others he latched on to as a way of life. There was one lesson in particular that he would spend the rest of his life following, almost religiously.

Violence is always the answer.

Hungry? Threaten someone into giving you food. Being held at gun point? Kick the crap out of them. Not getting the answers you want? Torture. Rip out their nails. Break their back.

That was the guideline for surviving in the underground. Dominate everyone using brute force. Make a reputation so fierce that only senseless morons would challenge you. Admittedly, it had worked well for him. He had become the top dog in that dreary, dark hell. Able to eat three times a day, wear decent clothes. He, Farlan and Isabel had survived well for a good amount of time. That is, until they had their first taste of sunlight.

In hindsight, taking that mission had been a foolish mistake. He had lost his cherished friends, and while he now got along with his cormades, it just wasn’t the same. Other parts of his life, however, continued to remain as before.

The surface may have lacked the unhinged lawlessness of the underground, but Levi still utilized his usual methods of living, albeit more legally.

In his years in the military, he had used his superior physical strength to instill fear and discipline. Cadets, high ranking members of the military, even the Queen often cowered before him in fear. Any other man would enjoy the thrill of it, reducing the most powerful people in his country into meek versions of themselves, unable to properly look him in the eye.

And he did. A part of him would always be smug about it, solely because underground filth like him, who had been expected to waste away his life, had managed to climb to a position at the top that no else held.

But it was tiring now. He had become so.. lonely. Everyone he had let into his heart left him. His sweet mother, crazy Kenny, his siblings in all but blood, Farlan and Isabel. Here he was, surprisingly wealthy and popular, but missing his precious people.

Alas, he would never let someone in like that again. The rest of his life was destined to be spent alone, threatening everyone in hearing range and dying on the battlefield. And, with a sigh, he accepted this miserable fate.

What he didn’t know was that meeting you would lead to him burning down his self established fate to ashes and dust, with his very own hands.

____________________________________

Why you had even thought about approaching him was incredulous, Levi mused to himself. An exhausted soldier sitting in the dark of a room, staring mindlessly at the table. He had showed no expression on his face but still, normal people would have been scared off just at the sight of him. You weren’t, and that’s how the two of you met.

You had made him some nice herbal tea and brought it to him. Giving him some plain biscuits along with the beverage. He had eyed you suspiciously, not willing to entertain you with even a thank you. Your intentions had been unclear to him at the time.

What was a beautiful woman like you, even Levi privately admitted to double taking at the sight of you, doing offering tea to him of all people. Kindness didn’t exist in people, he had never seen it in anyone besides his mother and Isabel. So you probably had a hidden motive. Maybe you needed a favour? Or were trying to integrate yourself in with the higher ups for better pay? Or maybe one of those dumb admirers that thought they could change him?

Once you left, after giving him another smile and telling him you hoped he would enjoy the tea, he decided to dismiss all thoughts of you. He wouldn’t help you with shit.

He did enjoy the tea though.

____________________________________

For the next two months, he began seeing you everyday. Not by choice, he told himself. He had accidentally made it a habit to sit in that room, all by himself, everyday, at the exact same time.

And everyday, without fail, you would bring him tea and biscuits. Sometimes there was a cake slice, or cookies, or even a nice meal, like rice with boiled vegetables.

He learned about you in that time. Your name, for one, which sounded oddly pleasing on his tongue. You were a garrison cook, tasked with making meals for the garrison engineers, whose office had been established right next to the Survey Corps headquarters. It explained why he kept seeing you everyday. A part of him had been strangley thrilled to hear that, as if the idea of seeing you everyday was something he actually wanted.

You never flinched around him or stuck around to talk to him for too long. Bringing him his tea with that sweet smile, asking about his day, wishing him well. You never made a face or took his obvious reluctance to talk to heart. His short answers and grunts, his crass language, they all had no effect on you. It was clear you really wanted nothing from him. No favours, no urge to get close. You were just being… kind.

And as someone who had hardly experienced genuine kindness in his life, he would let you continue. Besides, it was the first time someone was behaving around him without Levi having to force them. It was too refreshing for him to stop.

____________________________________

Levi eyed the tray in front of him warily. There was a cup of steaming tea, some sugar cubes he could add, a few biscuits and two sandwiches. He hadn’t touched it yet, even though he knew it would taste amazing, much like everything else you made. But he was rather preoccupied, unable to make sense of what he was feeling.

You hadn’t showed up today. He had waited, expecting that knock on the door, your light footsteps as you entered the room, your cheery voice to greet him. Instead, it had been another cook. Levi had scowled as the girl had blushed and stuttered around him, putting the tray on the table, not quite able to talk to him, or look him in the eye.

‘C-captain I was told to give this to you-’

His irritation had shot up through the roof and with his usual impatience, he snarled at the girl, asking for your whereabouts. Initially, he got no solid response out of her, because she didn’t know. But in the end, as she made to leave, terrified beyond belief of him, she said something that had his heart inexplicably stopping.

‘Sh-she might be o-on a date. That’s why- why she didn’t bring it today. I think’

Now here he was, eyeing the delicious spread infront of him. Except he didn’t have much of an appetite. His mind was jumbled up, unable to comprehend why he felt so.. Hurt?

Were you actually out on a date right now? Allowing some shitty lowlife to woe you? He felt resentful, unsure of himself. It shouldn’t matter to him. It wouldn’t matter to him. He refused to allow it to.

With a grimace, he put his feelings aside and began eating. He knew better then to waste good food.

____________________________________

The next day, when you came with the tray, you told him you had gone to visit your cousin who had given birth to a baby girl. The relief he had felt, knowing that you hadn’t been making goofing off with some hormonal piece of shit, had stunned him. He continued to suprise himself, by behaving like he had been possessed. As evidenced by how before you could leave, his hand shot out to grab your wrist and the words escaped his mouth before he could stop them.

‘Oi, stay. Let’s…eat together. ’

Your eyes had widened, no doubt shocked that he actually wanted you around. With a tentative smile, you nodded in agreement, taking the seat next to him. You carried the conversation, with him silently listening and interjecting his own opinion. Somehow, he had even managed to make you giggle, causing a warmth to spread in his chest. Before the two of you knew it, the tray had been emptied of its contents, yet neither of you made to leave for at least an hour more.

Later, while sitting in his chair, preparing to sleep, Levi thought back to when he had held your wrist. He marvelled at how soft and delicate you had felt in his grasp, wondering what it would feel like to have those arms hold him. Would you feel just as soft, pressed up against him? He could tell you would be gentle, he knew you possessed no mean or rough bone in your body.

Fantasising about you, and yearning to feel more of you, he drifted off to sleep.

____________________________________

He hated being on sick leave. Abhorred it. He felt useless, couldn’t do shit. Yet here he was, on a one month leave and it was all becuase of his dumbass titan brat.

Eren had been practicing hardening in his titan form, but had positioned himself wrong. He had gotten out of the crystal carcass too soon, and the damn thing had toppled over the entire crowd of soldiers standing near by. Which included him. Most had made a get away with their gear, but Erwin, having only one arm, hadn’t been fast enough. Leading to Levi having to save him in the nick of time. And fracturing his left arm and spraining his right leg.

The doctor had banned him from strenuous activity and had made it clear that he would have to spend at least a month taking it extremely easy. His Ackerman bloodline meant that, unlike other normal people, he would be completely okay within a month.

That hadn’t been enough to stop Levi from grumbing or threatening Erwin or calling the doctor an old hag. Once his fury had partially subsdided, he grudgingly accepted that he needed the rest.

He had thought of going to live at the modest house he owned, which was near headquarters. It had been a gift from the Queen, for his part in taking down Zeke Yeager. The new beast titan shifter had gained all his memories and had been instrumental in them winning the war against Marley. Last he checked, Connie had been appointed to the Northern branch, his power better utilised there in case of attacks from behind.

Erwin hadn’t allowed him to leave, insisting he had no one to take care of him and that he would probably start doing push ups after resting for a day. Which was true. Damn that bastard for knowing him so well.

So here he was, stuck in his room, waiting on the annoying brats to give him food three times a day. There was a knock on the door, probably a soldier with his breakfast, having no idea they were about to be on the recieving end of his ire. And God help Eren if he was dumb enough to be standing out that door. He called them in, only to freeze at the sight.

There you stood, that precious smile on your face, holding a tray of food in one hand and a basket. He couldn’t care less about anything else, all he could focus on was the fact that you were standing infront of him. He felt enchanted, he hadn’t seen you the entire week he had been forced to spend at the hospital.

I missed her, Levi realized.

‘Good Morning Levi!…’

You began chattering, asking for his well being, handing him the tray of food. You had brought him a care package full of goodies, which included lemon cookies, his favorite flavour.

‘Why are you here?’

The question had been asked with his usual bland tone, but there was an emotion behind it only he could identify. There was an excitement welling up in him, as though he knew the answer already.

When you told him you had heard about his injury and had wanted to visit him, he had felt pleased and touched. When you continued on and told him that you had offered Erwin to personally take care of him with your usual duties, so that all the other soldiers wouldn’t have to divide the work between them, Levi was stunned.

’.. Since we’re friends, I figured this way I could help you out and.. ’

Levi took a sip of his broth, which tasted far better then the stale soup the kitchen usually served, watching you move around his room. Anyone else would have been physically hauled and thrown out the window by now, doctors orders be damned. Yet he felt okay with you neatly folding his blanket, straightening out things that he hadn’t been able to because of his injury, comfortably taking charge of his room.

For a brief moment, he saw a vision of you taking care of him like this in his house, as his wife.

As you sat before him, drawing him into conversation, Levi decided that having the month off wasn’t going to be as miserable as thought it would be.

And he was right.

Seeing you three times a day, enjoying meals with you, you fussing over him because you caught him doing pull ups, your bell like laughter that rang in his ears long after you went back to work, it all made him feel more then he could ever define.

Remembering you bandaging his arms everyday, your hands gentle, expression sympathetic as you shyly avoided staring at his bare, muscular chest, Levi decided he would have to acknowledge what he was feeling after all.

____________________________________

Love.

He was in love with you.

Levi leaned into his chair, setting down the pen had had been writing with. The realization had struck him suddenly and he needed to process it. He had never felt so alive, so amazed.

It had been a year of knowing you, and without even trying, you had made him fall in love with your very existence.

He cherished any moment of time he could spend with you, and you often haunted his thoughts when he couldn’t see you. You were the one he wanted to see first after getting back from a mission, becuase he knew if anyone gave a fuck about him being alive, it was you.

Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to smile, remembering how you had hugged him that one time. He had seen you straight after a deadly battle, covered in blood and small wounds. You had been so concerned, grabbing him by the hand, dragging him to his room.

He recalled how you had been applying alcohol on the injury at the corner of his mouth, causing him to hiss in pain. Frowning, you had applied it more carefully, then brought your mouth closer and lightly blowed air on the wound to reduce the sting. You had either been too caught up in worrying about him or had pretended not to notice, but his eyes had defintiely darkened at having you in such close proximity. Your lips only inches away from his, a hand resting on his shoulder, it had been an effort to not tug on your wrist and seat you in his lap and starting something he had been craving to. Once you had finished helping him and had decided he was in better condition, you had hugged him, a moment he could never forget.

You were shorter then him, so your head rested on his chest as your arms wrapped wrapped around his back. His arms had a mind of their own, immediately taking the oppurtunity to rest on the small of your waist.

Breathing in your scent, burying his nose in your hair, he had savoured the moment. When you pulled away from him, he had frowned, not liking the tears welling up in your eyes.

‘N-never be so reckless again! I got so worried and..’

You had buried yourself in his arms again, silently crying, berating him for being so careless. Your soft form had been pressed against his rough stature, he had never had someone be so gentle with him, care about him this much.

Back in the underground, doctors often had to be threatened into treating him. He had always used force, but there was no need to use any on you. There never had been. And hopefully, there never would be.

Knock knock

Startled, he snapped out of his day dreaming, chuckling to himself. To think he had gotten so lost in his memories with you..you really had become his everything

Expression neutral, he regained himself and called the soldier in.

Now, if only he could somehow tell you.

____________________________________

A/N: I hope y’all enjoyed this! Maybe I should do a part 2? For the confession? Does anyone want that? Constructive criticism is always welcome. My asks are open so pls send requests. Till next time!

#Snk #Levi ackerman #Levi aot #Reader #Levi x reader #Levi/reader #Fluff #Levi ackerman x reader #Aot

[anunvalidcritic]

Justice League: Snyder Cut

(DISCLAIMER: MY OPINION IS MY OWN AND CAN BE DEEMED INVALID TO THOSE WHO DON’T CARE FOR IT.)

Oh, the time has come my friends! Now, I originally did a review on Batman V.S. Superman and I didn’t care for it, so I deleted it. But before I start, I would like y’all to read this statement made by @verified-villain-fxcker - You can click HERE to read it. As I stated in my repost, I couldn’t have said it better. May Autumn Snyder continue to rest in peace. Let’s get started!

It’s been so long since I’ve made a post I can’t even remember how I do this LOL.

CLARK is outta there to say the least...

WONDER WOMAN and LOIS look flabbergasted, as they should... BRUCE as well.

Talk about a shock-wave scream 

All jokes aside, the hate that LEX has towards SUPERMAN is just to much energy to be giving to another person..

THESE BITCHIES ARE READY

why are they letting a minority approach the fucking the cube?!?!

*insert travel montage scene here*

                      Part 1 - “Don’t count on it, Batman.”

BRUCE knows damn well he’s talking to AQUAMAN. Let’s move this shit along lol

“Oh Gotham? How’s that shit hole?” - AQUAMAN

Ik these bitchies aren’t singing rofl

I’d sniff anything wore by Jason Momoa too.

“Maybe a man who broods in a cave isn’t cut out to be a recruiter.” - ALFRED

TALK YO SHIT ALFRED!!!!

AMY ADAMS can literally take my heart, step on it, throw it in a river and I still wouldn’t be mad. 

Here comes the lovely WONDER WOMAN!

broooo her hands were moving like Donnie Yen in Ip Man!

Fucked that entire ceiling up

Ofc the one who tried to touch it would make the stupid statement. 

STEPPENWOLF is really wildin’ out

Don’t look back! I hate it when they look back!!

These are some strong as women!

                             PART 2 - “The Age of Heroes”

“It’s toxic, that’s good.” - STEPPENWOLF

I can only imagine that this is how toxic people think. 

this dude really just threw that lil demon fella like it was nothin’ lmao

You know you're working at a job for too long when you say this is the first time in a while that they're going home early smdh

Now that shit was pretty lit....

SILAS thinkin’ shit I better check on my son. 

“You know a lot about monsters, don’t you? Especially how to make them.” - CYBORG

If that isn’t teen angst, then I don’t know wtf is lmao

Seeing Gal in this tomb makes me want to re-watch Wonder Woman 1 all over again!

DARKSEID ol’ trifflin’ ass

plopped him down like he was dirty laundry

God bless Willem Dafoe, this man is a fuckin’ legend!

“This world is divided. They’re a primitive species. Unevolved and at war with one another. Too separate to be one.” - STEPPENWOLF

DeSaad kinda looks like Doctor Doom in the Fantasic Four reboot lmao

GREEN LATERNS!!!!!!!!!!!! OH SHIT!!!!!!!!

we really need a Green Lantern Corps moving...

ZEUS + ARES = A Dynamic Duo When They Aren’t Being Dicks To Each Other

You know I feel bad for man because all they did was bury that shit in the ground rofl

                  Part 3 - “Beloved Mother, Beloved Son”

BARRY + IRIS = Love at First Sight 

The burger can’t be that good like damn. 

Bro the detail on his fucking shoes and the glass!!

ROFL PLEASE TELL ME HE TOOK THE HOTDOG FOR HIS DOG!?!? 

damn did the car really need to explode...

lol BARRY must really need the job lol

... I would’ve just played dead after he threw me against that rock...

Man of Steel probably has one of the best soundtracks not just for a superhero movie but just in general

Americans love their football!

I have this love-hate relationship with CYBORG being in the JL and not with the TITANS you know since he’s a kid, but he’s a college student in this one. 

Thank God DIANA spoke with VICTOR instead of BRUCE because I honestly don’t think he would’ve gotten him on board.

Everyone can literally zigzag zoom across this planet at undeniable speed except for BATMAN lol

Come on, VIC, help the lady out.

You know honestly, BARRY has a pretty cool pad for someone who's trying to get by paying for a Criminal Justice Degree. 

“A very attractive Jewish boy. Who drinks milk, I don’t drink milk.” - BARRY

“Fuck the World.” - CYBORG

dang Ik DIANA has every right to grieve over STEVE, but damn that man has her whipped!

“You’re looking at the hottest thing on Earth. The exact same thing I said to my prom date. She dumped me anyway.” - RYAN CHOI

Why does MERA have an accent in this but not in AQUAMAN?? (ik the answer)

DAAAYYUUUMMMN MERA TURNED INTO A WHOLE BLOOD BENDER!

                               PART 4 - “Change Machine”

CYBORG just glided over silently

STEPPENWOLF + WONDER WOMAN = EPIC FIGHT SCENE

Seeing BARRY move like that to stop the debris and to ping DIANA’S sword really is amazing..

But he should not be screaming like that LOL

How do you not remember the planet that’s habitants almost killed you?? Because if that was me, I wouldn’t have forgotten that shit at all!

 Would've held a big ass grudge until I could go back. 

“I know we’re all thinking the same thing right now. Who’s gonna say it? I’m not gonna say it.” - BARRY

WOOOAAHHH J’ONN JONES?! (forgot about that)

 “There are six, not five. There is no us without him.” - BRUCE

Damn, no faith at all 

                         PART 5 - “ALL The King’s Horses”

ICONIC DIALOGUE

BARRY - “Wonder Woman. What do you think, man? You think she’d go for a younger guy?”

VICTOR - “She’s 5,000 years old, Barry. Every guy is a younger guy.”

I would’ve kept swippin’ that ID like a cashier at Wal-Mart swippin’ a debit card.

They're movin’ a little too slow for me. Ik they’ve never been on the ship before, but I would’ve been zoomin’ through that entire ship just to hurry and get the job done. 

NOT THE PREGNANCY TEST

Damn, they couldn’t have at least picked up the photo??

The foreshadowing was spectacular! It will always amaze me. 

I’m sure Allstate will cover that person’s car...

Just when LOIS was about to move on. 

CLARK grabbed DIANA like miss me with that Rafiki shit.

I would’ve come back to my senses too after looking at Amy Adams. 

AQUAMAN + THE FLASH = A CONUNDRUM

DR. SILAS takin’ one for the team

                              PART 6 - “Something Darker”

As crazy as radiation is, it’s quite an amazing spectacle.

I wish this Justice League movie could’ve held off until we got some other heroes such as the Green Lanterns, Hawkgirl, and many others. 

Our generation was truly blessed to have an incredible actor as SUPERMAN, and we are not putting him to use!

JONATHAN sounds like President Biden lol

Alright, team?! Break!

AQUAMAN is totally enjoying this fight. He rode that Parademon like a surfboard.

AQUAMAN + CYBORG + FLASH = *THE BOYS ARE BACK IN TOWN*

I swear every scene that WONDER WOMAN enters into does not fail to include the “Ancient Lamentation Music”. 

VICTOR hurry up and say “one” god damnnit!!

SUPERMAN COLD!!!!

Somebody needs to put this fight on WorldStar

BARRY = HE’S A RUNNA HE’S A TRACK STAHHHHARRR!!!

THAT WAS FUCKING IMMACULATE

The Unity  = The Three Bitchies

I bet DARKSEID will remember that shit now

                        EPILOGUE - “A Father Twice Over”

VICTOR = A Final Requiem

LOL VULKO and MERA look stressed tf out!

“Uh, I have too much to live for. And more important things to do.” - LEX

A cocky motherfucker LMAO

Alright, we’re back in this type of dream sequence. 

“Who have you ever loved?” - MERA

Uh, bitch his parents, Robin tf?!

Thank you, JOKER, for stating the facts for Ms. Fish-stick

 Oh shit, they let LOIS die, goddamn it!

HARLEY’S DEAD TOO?!?!?!

BRUCE LOOK SICK AF!!!

Well, the dream is over once again...

I just don’t see how people can live with all those fuckin’ windows. 

“Oh, and some have called me The Martian Manhunter.” - J’ONN

Alright...

________

Yes, the movie was long but what needed to be expressed was. As we already the Snyder Cut wasn’t supposed to be seen because a father simply wanted to grieve the death of his child. I’ll once again reiterate what @verified-villain-fxcker you don't have to like the film but at least give it the benefit of the doubt from its predecessor. For me, I did enjoy watching his version, but let’s be honest what he who shall not be named did was just fucked up. 

#RIP Autumn Snyder #Justice League snyder cut #zack snyder #cyborg #the flash #batman #aquaman #superman #Wonder Woman #hbo max #lois lane #amy adams #ray fisher #ezra miller #ben affleck #jason momoa #henry cavill #gal gadot #dcu #dc comics #jk simmons #Alfred Pennyworth #jeremy irons #lex luther #jesse eisenberg #jared leto #the joker #dc

[wisteriashouse]

falling (ii). 

pairing: rengoku kyoujurou x reader

genre: dark

word count: 6184

remarks: this was so un-fluffy and its probably what i’ve struggled most with writing to date skdfgd as usual, please like, comment or reblog if you like it <3 

ii. into your trap

One mistake is all it would take for everything to come crashing down.

That’s what had happened to the man before you, the man whose blood you’d spent hours scrubbing out of the carpet until every bit of crimson had been washed away. Because of a single moment of greed, he’d stolen a coat off a customer who’d ended up as the demon’s next meal - and that very coat had been a dead giveaway to the demon slayer investigating the disappearance of his relative. You wouldn’t be like that, you remind yourself, a tray in your hands as you make your way down the corridors of the brothel. You would never let a moment of emotion cloud your judgement and cause you to slip up. You can’t afford to.

It's all just for survival. That’s the reason why you’re the only one still alive today.

The rest before you have all been devoured. 

Shifting your tray to one hand, you take a deep, slow exhale and smile, curving the corners of your mouth up at just the right angle. The mask you’ve perfected over years of deception falls seamlessly into place. You raise your hand to the door.

“Rengoku-san?” You knock, raising your voice to a bright and energetic timbre. “Are you still asleep? May I come in?”

Rengoku Kyoujurou. The man with burning conviction in his eyes. The demon slayer here to destroy the only life you know. The person who you have to kill with your own hands.

The demon you serve isn’t a fool, in fact, far from that - it is more than aware of the power and skill a person would have to possess to earn the title of a Pillar, and it knows that it has no chance of winning in a direct confrontation with him. That’s why the task has been relegated to you. Demon slayers might know breathing techniques that allow their physical prowess to surpass even demons, but that’s the very flaw with their training - that they’ve been taught to battle demons, and only demons. 

You, on the other hand, are very much human, with the ability to slip between the gaps in their guard, the chink in their armour - the kindest ones have always the easiest to fool, after all.

Which is why you’re taken by surprise when there’s no answer from within. Wary at the lack of response, you rap your knuckles against the door once again, more urgent this time. Worry gnaws at your insides - what if he’s somehow already discovered the truth of this place, and has decided to flee before you can accomplish your task? The thought of the consequences you’d have to bear turns your stomach, and your knocking turns slightly more urgent. “Rengoku-san? Rengoku-san, are you inside?” 

“Is there something you need from me?”

You whirl around in surprise at the voice, heart leaping into your mouth. Behind you, Kyoujurou stands in the hallway, bathed in the early morning light streaming in through the open windows. When your eyes meet his, he smiles at you in greeting, lips curving up naturally in a radiant grin. “It’s a beautiful morning today, so I went for a walk to watch the sunrise!”

“That sounds lovely.” You tell him with a smile of your own, relief seeping into your bones - he’s none the wiser than he was when he first stepped into the brothel, and you intend to keep it that way until you slit his throat. Holding up the tray in your hands, you’re quick to observe the way his eyes fall first on the plate of roasted sweet potatoes cubes - so you were right about the scent you picked up on him when he saved you from falling yesterday. “I was about to bring breakfast up to your room, but I didn’t think you would be awake this early. I’ll get up earlier next time so you can eat before you start your day. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you know!”

“There’s no need to force yourself to wake up early for my sake!” Kyoujurou laughs, stepping over to slide open the door to his room for you. “Please, come in!”

The bedding has already been kept away in the oshiire, his few belongings neatly arranged on the low table in the corner of the room. When Kyoujurou moves to clear them so that you can put the tray down, you catch a glimpse of several sheets of paper with scribbles all over them, a stray black feather peeping out from under the corner of the tatami. 

Your eyes narrow at the sight. The kasugai crow might turn out to be a problem, almost as bad as having unintended witnesses, but you have plenty of ways to ensure its message never gets back to the demon slayer corps, just as you had done with the previous one. 

For now, the crow is the least of your worries - it’s nothing compared to the danger the man before you poses.

Completely oblivious to the thoughts running through your mind, Kyoujurou gestures at the table with a hand. “Feel free to put it down here!”

Your smile is painted back onto your face the very instant he glances at you, as easily as a brush dancing across paper. “Please excuse how simple it is. The potatoes aren’t cut very well, so they might not be evenly cooked.” You say, dropping your voice to a more shy, apologetic tone, just like how the entertainers from last night had tuned their instruments. “It was a little difficult to use a knife, so forgive me for that.”

Your words seem to jolt Kyoujurou into remembering the events from yesterday, and his eyes instantly dart down to inspect your hands as you set the tray down before him. They’re bandaged lightly with white gauze, something that you’d gotten up early to do this morning, and yet even with them on, making the potatoes convincingly uneven had still taken you multiple attempts. “Don’t worry about the potatoes. I’m sure they’ll taste wonderful, if your cooking last night was anything to go by! Do your hands still hurt?” Kyoujurou’s gaze is soft and filled with concern as he looks up at you, and you glance away with an appropriate degree of shyness in response. 

“The scalding was a little more severe than I expected, but that was my fault. You don’t have to worry about it!” You reassure him, and as expected, he only gets more concerned when you try to brush off his kindness. “It’s just a minor inconvenience, and the worst that’ll happen is Masako-san’s nagging.” You sigh wistfully, the words murmured softly under your breath. “Ahh… I wish we had more hands in the kitchen here. It would be a lot easier to handle the cooking.”

From the way Kyoujurou’s eyes glance up at you, he’s heard every word you said.

You’ve set your trap.

“Well, I suppose that’s just how it is! It’s totally alright, though, I’ll just make do with what I have!” You smile energetically at the man sitting before you, although from the troubled expression on his face, there’s still more that he wants to say. “What I am sorry about is that you might have to wait for a while to have the meal I promised to make for you. I want to be in a good condition when I cook for you, so that you eat only my best!” 

He seems taken aback by your enthusiasm for a moment, before his smile widens. “Take all the time you need!” Kyoujurou says kindly. “I’m sure that I can wait.”

From the way he beams at you, you’re confident that he knows nothing of your true intentions - relieved with how you’ve been doing so far, a silent sigh of relief leaves your mouth. Rising to your feet, you give him a small wave. “Well then, I’ll be going first. You can just leave the dishes here, I’ll come back for them later-”

“Have you eaten?” Kyoujurou asks.

The sudden question takes you by surprise. Preparing the sweet potatoes had taken longer than you’d thought it would, so you had quite forgotten about your own food in your rush to bring Kyoujurou’s food to his room. “Well, no, but I’m sure I can find something in the kitchen-”

“If you are available, then please eat with me!” He gestures opposite him at the table. You clutch the tray tightly in your hands while your mind races. Offering to let you sit with him at the table, to share his meal with you, does he perhaps suspect that you’ve tampered with his food?

Cold sweat prickles at the nape of your neck, but you fight to keep your voice light. “Oh? Did I make too much food for you to finish, Rengoku-san?” 

Rengoku Kyoujurou, the man who holds your very life in his hands, only smiles warmly in response to your question.

“Food always tastes better when shared!” He explains to you jovially. There is no sign of any hidden intention or agenda in his gaze, his eyes clear and honest. His smile turns a hint amused as he regards you. “And was it not you who said that breakfast was the most important meal of the day? You should take care of yourself too!”

You take a seat in front of him, glad to have a reason to hide your shaky knees. Calm down, calm down, you repeat to yourself in an attempt to slow your racing heart. He hasn’t noticed a thing. Don’t panic and give yourself away. “I suppose I did,” you say, smiling at the man opposite you as you raise your chopsticks to take some natto for yourself. Kyoujurou grins and immediately reaches for the sweet potatoes, popping them into his mouth. This time, when he begins to exclaim ‘delicious!’ once more, you let yourself breathe, chewing slowly on the food in your mouth.

Everything, you think, as you watch Kyoujurou compliment your cooking with vigour, is going smoothly.

 On the second day, just as you’d planned, Kyoujurou joins you in the kitchen after breakfast.

At the sight of him grinning at you in the doorway, you feign pleasant surprise and gratitude by clasping your bandaged hands over your mouth, eagerly welcoming him into your kitchen. Behind you, the door to the meat storage is locked tight with a padlock, hidden from view with several crates of spices to mask the smell. 

He doesn’t have a clue that his fellow slayer’s head sat on your kitchen table last night.

By your estimates, you have roughly a week to kill Rengoku Kyoujurou, probably less. You’ve stayed up for the entirety of last night after your meeting with it, wracking your mind for reasons and excuses to get him to stay - but regardless of how many lies you might be able to manipulate him into believing, he will eventually figure out that Yugou Fukuzashi isn’t coming back, and when he does, you know his suspicion of this place will increase hundredfold.

That would make your job a whole lot harder, so with the deadline of a week hanging over your head, you set the first part of your plan to lower his guard around you into motion.

While you’ve heard of the near supernatural strength of the demon slayers, you’ve never actually met one in person aside from Yugou Fukuzashi (who by the time of your encounter had already been dying from blunt force to the head, courtesy of the man whose mistake had gotten you into this mess in the first place). However, you have no doubt that any of them, much less Kyoujurou, would be able to overpower you with ease. All you have on your side is your identity as a human and your cunning.

You’ll just have to make the best of what you have.

Hence, you think it’s more prudent to take things slow - like a spider approaching the prey wandering onto its web, you cannot allow yourself to move recklessly, or you’ll get caught in your own threads and fall to a demise of your own creation.

Kyoujurou fumbles with the knife at first, when you set him to work scraping the scales off some tuna, and part of you almost hesitates if you’ve gotten the wrong man - surely no Pillar trained in swordsmanship would be so awkward holding a blade. Still, you correct and guide him patiently, and he progresses under your tutelage faster than you expect. With his help, you finish lunch preparations slightly earlier than you expected to, leaving both of you with a small window of free time to sit down for a bit of a break.

“You learn fast, Rengoku-san.” You comment brightly as he sits at your kitchen table, his fingers drumming idly next to a dark stain in the tabletop. At your compliment, he pauses to grin, clearly pleased.

“Well, I had a good teacher.” He says and you laugh, picking up the knife you’d be using to put it aside. On the surface of the cold steel, the reflection of your smile is twisted, distorted. Casually, you lean forward. “Well then, how about letting your teacher give you a little test?”

Kyoujurou blinks, the corners of his mouth twitching up into a smile. “Sure!” He agrees, amicably. “What test would you have me participate in?”

You rise to your feet. “Close your eyes, it’s a surprise.” You urge. For a moment, Kyoujurou holds your gaze, before his eyes slip shut slowly, his breathing slow and even. “Yes?”

Your hand drifts along the shelves, your fingers coming to rest against the lid of a tightly sealed jar, tucked out of sight in a corner. There’s no label on it, but you’re more than familiar with the substance that lies inside. You’ve used it plenty of times now, after all.

Cyanide.

Should you try it now? With Total Concentration Breathing, a demon slayer should be able to slow the spread of poison by slowing their circulation, but you have no idea how effective it will be on a man of Kyoujurou’s caliber. Chewing on your bottom lip, you hesitate, torn between wanting to get your job done as fast as possible and worrying that you might fail.

If you do fail, you’ll be as good as dead. He wouldn’t even need his sword, with the strength in his arms alone, he could probably tear your head clean off your shoulders.

The thought makes cold sweat slide down the back of your neck.

“Are you going to make me taste test something?” Kyoujurou asks curiously, and your hand jerks off the jar in an instant, so quickly you almost knock the bowl adjacent to it onto the ground. “Should I continue to keep my eyes closed?”

“Of course! Patience, Rengoku-san.” You say, trying to hide the tremble of your hands, even though you can see his eyes are still firmly shut. The demon had warned you about the demon slayers’ strong survival instinct, but this should be just coincidence… mere coincidence, that must be it. Still, because you’re wary now, you turn away from the jar on your shelf. Not now.

 Reaching for the fruit basket instead, your shaking fingers close around a fruit and you turn back to hold it to Kyoujurou’s nose. A guileless smile still sits on his lips, as if he has no idea about the internal turmoil churning deep in you at the very moment. You take a deep breath and swallow, eyes fixed intently on his face.

“Guess what this is.” Kyoujurou’s nose twitches slightly for a moment, brows furrowing as he attempts to place the scent. Barely a second later, a triumphant grin passes his lips and he states his answer with full confidence. “Peach.”

“Wow, you’re good at this.” You say, exchanging the peach in your hands for something else. Kyoujurou beams excitedly at the praise. “Here, what about this?”

“Sweet potato!”

“Right again. What about this one?”

You hold up a mushroom under his nose, and instantly you see his lips pull into a frown. “It… doesn’t smell good. I seem to remember Kochou telling me something about this scent before…”

All of the hairs at the nape of your neck prick at once and you press your lips, trying your best to subdue the feeling of terror churning in the pit of your belly. “Of course it doesn’t.” You say, forcing your voice to take on a light, innocent tone. “Open your eyes.”

Kyoujurou opens his eyes slowly, staring down curiously at the mushroom you have in your hands before his eyes widen in shock. “[name], put that down, that’s poisonous!”

You lick your lips, taking a deep breath to calm yourself down. “Of course it’s poisonous.” You hum lightly, waving the mushroom at him. “The first rule of cooking that my student should learn is to never eat things you don’t recognise, especially when it comes to mushrooms and berries. This is the death cap, probably one of the most poisonous mushrooms in the country! I’m surprised you could recognise it by its scent.”

He nods, listening intently. “Most people wouldn’t, but I have a… friend who is a pharmaceuticals expert! She deals with all manner of poisons and their cures, so I have some knowledge about them.” He tells you, and you have to contain your sigh of frustration. This new tidbit of information makes your job a whole lot harder.

“You have a lot of… interesting friends.” You make sure he sees you toss it into the bin before he can ask you what lethally poisonous mushrooms are doing in your kitchen.

Kyoujurou only grins. “They’re all very honourable people! I am blessed to have met each and every one of them!” His smile widens as he looks at you. “It is my fortune to have met someone like you here as well!”

You stare at him in the middle of taking a seat opposite him, taken completely off guard for a moment. “What?”

“When I first got here, looking for my friend, I was actually rather concerned about him! He’s investigating something dangerous, you see, so I was sent to provide him with some support.” Kyoujurou explains, and your hands fist the cloth of your hakama under the table. “Since there is nothing for me to do but wait, I thought that I might spend the next few days in worry! However, cooking with you makes time fly by, so thank you for that!”

You bite your lip at his words, before you smile at him, trying to ignore the uncomfortable feeling that has suddenly lodged itself in the back of your throat.

“It’s my pleasure, Rengoku-san.”

That night, after Kyoujurou has long gone to bed, you stand over the table the two of you had sat at together this morning, knife in hand as you slice carefully at the fish on your cutting board. The fugu meat falls away in clean chunks, but the meat isn’t what you’re after - reaching inside, you pull out its inner organs with a pair of tweezers, putting them in a bowl next to you, careful not to get any on your gloves.

It takes much longer than cyanide to extract, but it’s over a thousand times more potent. Only twenty five milligrams of it is needed to kill an adult man, according to your experience. The victim first experiences paralysis of the muscles, before the poison moves to the diaphragm and the muscles of that move the ribs, ultimately leading to failure of the lungs. The victim then dies from asphyxiation.

Without his lungs, all his Total Concentration Breathing will be rendered useless.

Tetrodotoxin is a water soluble toxin, it is odourless and tasteless, and most importantly, there is no known antidote to it.

You set down the knife. One of the eyeballs you’d removed stares at you from the bowl, accusation in its shiny, bloody depths, but you swallow and pick up the bowl anyway, moving towards the distiller to extract what you need from its contents.

“It’s nothing personal, Rengoku-san.” You mutter to yourself.

It’s just a matter of survival here, after all.

On the second day, the robbery happens.

Or rather, well, it attempts to happen.

You had planned to collect some ingredients from your usual vendor outside the gate, dropping slight hints to Kyoujurou here and there when he’d been helping you with dinner preparation the day before. The moment you stepped out of the back door of the brothel, you had found Kyoujurou already waiting there with his usual bright grin, the early rays of the breaking dawn setting him alight in a blaze of red and gold.

This time, you could not bring yourself to feign surprise, instead smiling and telling him of your gratitude as the two of you began walking down the street. Due to the early hour, the red light district is oddly quiet, empty streets almost peaceful except for the occasional drunkard reeking of alcohol stumbling from one tavern to another.

The third time you see Kyoujurou wrinkle his nose at the smell, you turn to him, head tilted.

“Are you not fond of alcohol?”

He shakes his head, and out of the corner of your eye, you see that his usual smile has dimmed. “Alcohol muddles the mind and dulls the reflexes! It would compromise my capabilities.” Kyoujurou tells you, as the two of you walk side by side. You steer him into a narrow side alley, your shoulders brushing against each others. “I prefer not to drink unless the occasion calls for it, since I must always be at my peak physical condition at any given time.”

You let your mouth pull into a confused frown. “Why would you need to be-”

Something steps into the alley in front of you, blocking out the sunlight and casting long shadows across the ground. You glance up to see two ruffians standing in your path, leering grins on their faces. Your footsteps falter, before coming to a stop completely. Next to you, Kyoujurou does the same.

“Oi.” One of the men call, his sneer only growing. “Pay up! Don’t you know that you’re stepping on our territory?”

Kyoujurou frowns at their words, turning to whisper into your ear. “Are we intruding on their territory?” He asks, and you shake your head, stepping forward to confront them.

“This is a back alley behind Momoshizu.” You say, your voice level as you point at the brothel right next to them. “Unless you’re a dog guarding the back entrance to a brothel or a stray cat chasing rats for a living, you don’t have territory here. If you want to extort money from someone, do it outside the walls of the pleasure district.” Your eyes narrow. “Penniless trash like you don’t belong here.”

“[name]!” Kyoujurou sounds aghast at your barbed words, but you lean back to whisper to him. “If you give in even a little, they’ll start harassing you for more. It’s better to turn them down from the start.”

“Yes, of course,” Kyoujurou says, brows furrowed in worry as he regards the two men before you, “but this could turn out dangerous, wouldn’t it be better to call the law enforcement instead?”

“Well, yes, if there was any law enforcement in the first place-”

A low chuckle interrupts the two of you, and you turn around to see one of the men pulling something from his pocket. Silver glints in the early morning light and you take a step back, eyes widening. “Rengoku-san, they have a knife!”

Kyoujurou’s face is impassive, and for a moment you wonder what he’s thinking about when he suddenly smiles again, his usual grin returning to his face as he rests a hand on your shoulder. Its weight and warmth brings with it a certain peace that leaves you stunned. “It’s alright, there’s no need to worry!” He booms, almost radiant in the shadowed alley. Gently, he nudges you behind him and steps forward protectively, shielding you completely from their sight with his large frame. “You have me! I promise I won’t let any harm come to you!”

Come with me, a soft, poisonous voice echoes from the edges of your memory. It’s a cold, frostbitten night, but the blood on your hands is so, so hot. I won’t let any harm come to you. Come with me, little human. I’ll fill your stomach and give you a place to sleep. You just want to live…

Don’t you?

Bile rises in your throat, but luckily for you, Kyoujurou isn’t looking at you, his eyes trained on the men before you instead, his back straight and head raised. Bitter resentment at the fates gnaws at you, your hands clenching tightly into fists.

On that cold night, why couldn’t you have met someone like Rengoku instead?

“Kindly move out of the way.” You hear Kyoujurou say. His hands remain calmly by his sides, neither in a defensive nor offensive stance. “The alley is not large enough for the two of us to pass at the same time.”

“Hah?” The ruffian holding the knife steps closer so that he’s in Kyoujurou’s face, their noses almost touching. Still, Kyoujurou does not make a move to remove the knife from him. “Do you need your ears cleaned, idiot? I said, this is our territory. You’re the one who needs to pay up, scum!”

“I repeat, please move aside, or I will have to use force.” In spite of the insults being thrown in his face, Kyoujurou’s tone is still firmly polite, but now his words are edged with steel. “I do not wish to hurt you.”

“Hurt us? You’re making me laugh here, man.” The ruffian spits in his face, pressing the point of his blade to Kyoujurou’s throat. 

“Rengoku-san!” You exclaim, in shock, yet Kyoujurou still doesn’t move, hands pressed solidly to his sides as he looks at the man in the eye, dead calm. 

“Get the other one, too. That fucking mouth needs some payback. If we sell her, we might be able to get some money out of that too.”

Your eyes widen. The man’s partner turns his gaze on you, and he grins, pulling out a knife as well. Biting on your lower lip, you take a step back.

“Rengoku-san?” You reach out to tug at his sleeve. “We should probably run-”

Your fingers close around empty air.

Hours later, you’ll sit in your room, playing back your memories of this moment and yet still have no idea what you’ve just witnessed. All you see if a blur of orange, and then suddenly the man who was holding his knife to Kyoujurou’s throat is flat on his back, hands empty of any weapons. You’ve barely begun to shift your gaze when you see that the second man has already met with much the same fate, and for a moment, you can only stand there and stare in horror when you realise just what you’ve been tasked with killing.

He’s a monster.

Kyoujurou stands over them, not a strand of hair disheveled or out of place, the rise and fall of his shoulders still even and calm - he doesn’t look like he’s moved an inch. 

You have to kill him? Someone like him? Impossible. Your hand clasps over your mouth to contain your voice before it can flee your throat, eyes wide. No, no, no. You’ll die if you try to take him on. But if you don’t, you’ll...

Rows of jagged teeth fill your vision, crimson blood splattering over the carpet, a looming grin on the walls-

“It’s alright now!” A gentle voice cuts through your panic, and you look up to see Kyoujurou standing over you. You didn’t even realise when your legs had lost their ability to keep you standing, your behind planted in the dirt and your knees weak. With a reassuring grin, he holds out his hand to you. “Come, stand!”

You stare at his outstretched hand for a moment before tentatively placing your own hand in his. He pulls you to your feet, his other hand supporting you gently. “Are you hurt?”

“No.” The words are wooden in your mouth. “You protected me, after all.”

Kyoujurou grins at you. “That’s good to know!” Turning back to the two men still groaning on the ground, Kyoujurou holds up the two knives. “I’ll be taking these now.” His voice is stern. “I don’t want to see the two of you threatening innocent people again. Understood?”

Nodding frantically, the two men pick themselves up and scramble away, almost falling over their own feet in their bid to escape. As he watches them go, Kyoujurou lets out a sigh and pockets the knives in his sleeves, shaking his head. “Truly terrible, that people would try to hurt others this way for their own benefit.”

You swallow at his comment.

“Unbelievable.” Compose yourself. Taking a deep breath, you affix a smile onto your face once more. “Well, now I see what you mean by needing to stay at the peak of your physical abilities. You’re very strong!” You say, trying to lighten the mood. It works, because Kyoujurou lets out a laugh at your words, his eyes crinkling as he smiles.

“I’m flattered!” He says cheerfully. “Now, shall we get going? There’s still lunch to prepare, after all!”

The sun is steadily climbing up the sky when you look up at it, and you yelp, tugging at his sleeve. “Oh no! Hurry, Rengoku-san! We’re late!”

The two of you run through the streets of the red light district together.

“You didn’t warn us about him!”

You hold your breath at the sound of the door being thrown wide open, exhaling in an attempt to stay calm. Turning around, you pick up a ceramic jar of sake from next to you. “It’s a nice night out, isn’t it?” From the open window, you can see the full moon hanging in the sky outside.

“I don’t have time for your nonsense.” One of the two ruffians from this morning snarls. You pause in opening the jar to compose yourself, before you invite him into the room with a wave of your hand.  

“Sit down and we’ll talk.” You say, pouring out three cups of alcohol. Both of them glare at you from opposite the room before they stomp up to you, unceremoniously sitting themselves onto the ground and scowls still painted on their faces. “Here, have a drink. I make the alcohol at this brothel myself.”

They don’t touch their cups, eyes full of mistrust as they stare at you. With a sigh, you shake your head.

“I’ll take the first drink, then.”

They watch you warily as you pick up a cup on your own, taking a long sip to enjoy its taste before placing the cup back down on the table. So different from Kyoujurou, you wonder to yourself, remembering the time you’d offered him wagashi during your first meeting and he had downed all of them without a second thought. Now that you think about it, you probably should have struck at that very moment. Evil truly expects evil from others.

“I want out of this job.” The first man snaps the second you put down the cup, grabbing a cup of sake from the table and taking a gulp. His partner, in contrast, downs the entire cup in an instant. “And I want compensation.”

You pour both of them another cup. “I can agree with the first one.” You say, trying to keep your voice even. “Not with the second.”

“You didn’t tell us that your target was going to be a fuckin’ monster!”

The two of you eye each other for a moment, neither willing to budge. Behind him, his partner picks up his refilled cup and downs it once again

“You never asked.” You answer. Your voice only wavers once. “Furthermore, you didn’t even manage to kill him. The only thing the two of you were good for was your acting, and even then kabuki dancers would have done a better job.”

“What the fuck was the point of the entire staged robbery anyway?” He snaps, knocking back another cup of alcohol. “If you meant for us to kill him, you wouldn’t have…” 

The man’s eyes darken in realisation as he says it, his arm reaching across the table to grip at the collar of your clothes, yanking you forward hard so that the two of you are face to face. Your ribs knock painfully against the edge of the low table, but you don’t let your gaze leave his, forcing your expression to stay neutral.

“You were playing us the entire time.” His voice is a low, raspy snarl. “You knew we weren’t going to be able to kill him.”

You don’t reply, but your lack of denial is more than confirmation enough for him.

He hurls the cup at you. You barely manage to duck in time and it only clips your shoulder, its contents dripping all over the front of your kimono. The slight, bitter scent of almonds permeates the air. “I’m going to kill you.” He snarls, getting to his feet. Like this, he towers over you easily. “You’re going to regret messing with the wrong type of people, missy.” 

He shoves you hard and you go crashing to the ground painfully with a yelp, your head knocking against the corner of the table and you see stars flash before your eyes. Before you can regain your balance, he swings one leg over your hips, pinning you down to the ground and before pulling another knife from his sleeve - this time, a sharp, single edged blade that could easily slice your neck to ribbons.

He presses it against your throat, and you swallow, trying not to tremble and cut yourself on the edge of his blade. You don’t know how you’d explain such a wound to Kyoujurou tomorrow.

“Now,” his breath is rancid, his knee pressing painfully into your hip - you know bruises will form there tomorrow, “I’m going to show you what exactly happens when you waste our time like this, you fucking-”

“Fujita!” 

The grip on your robe loosens ever so slightly as the man whips around to glare at his partner. “I’m talking here, man, what the hell do you...” his partner is writhing on the tatami mats, clawing at his throat, desperate, breathless screams leaving his mouth. “Saburo! Saburo, what’s happening to you?”

You shove him off you with all your strength and he topples to the ground with a heavy thud. Shaking your head as you stagger to your feet, you wipe at the stain on your kimono before eyeing it with disappointment. “This is going to take ages for me to clean now.” You exhale as Saburo flails wildly, choking on air as he attempts to breathe. Fujita whirls around to stare at you. 

“What did you do?” He roars, but when he tries to stand, he staggers to the side, nearly falling before he manages to catch his balance. His eyes go wide, and he looks up at you in horror. 

“Poison in your cups, but not mine, of course. It would be a waste of alcohol to poison the entire jar.” You say wearily, picking up your own cup from the table and taking another sip. “Cyanide, if you want me to be specific.”

Fujita chokes, grasping desperately at his own throat, before he stumbles and falls onto his knees, eyes wide with terror. You watch as the knife falls from his hands and clatters onto the tabletop. Saburo is already still, aside from the occasional twitch. “The two of you made useful test dummies, I suppose. Well, I could pay the two of you for that… but you won’t have much need for money in a few moments, anyway.”

Still, Fujita tries to claw his way to the door, struggling to put one hand in front of the other as he fights to force air into his lungs. You watch him for a few moments and wonder if you should have used a higher dosage instead to finish him off more quickly. Picking up the jar of alcohol, you cross the room in three quick strides and bring it down on his head with all the force you can muster.

The heavy ceramic jar of alcohol shatters the second it connects with the back of his skull, and Fujita crumples to the ground one final time. For a moment, the room is silent except for the sound of your heavy breathing, and when you look down at your hands, a shallow cut bleeds red over your palm before the blood falls to the tatami below in little, crimson drops.

Looking at the mess before you, you can only shake your head and sigh.

“It’s nothing personal.” You say, out loud. “You tried to kill me, after all.”

The corpses on the ground have no reply.

#rengoku #rengoku fanfic #rengoku kyojuro #kyojuro #kyoujurou #rengoku kyojuro x reader #demon slayer #demon slayer fanfic #kimetsu no yaiba #kimetsu no yaiba fanfic #kimetsu kyojuro #kimetsu rengoku #kny fanfic #kny #kny kyojuro

[ygocollablove]

@augustwritingchallenge‘s 2020 monthly prompts have come to a conclusion, and YGO Collab Love would like to present all its members who participated this year!

Before that, I would like to give thanks/applause to @cieryuu for creating the banner above (and another round to @darkmagiattack/@crshrs for making the template). Look how adorable it is! <3

There are many pieces still in progress even after the challenge’s end day, and we are excited for the day that the fics will all come to completion. Otherwise, please give love and comments and feedback to the pieces listed below!

For Art submissions...

scemo vampire yami Bakura by @crshrs Vampire AU Rating: Teens and Up Blood warning

For General Audiences...

Step One College, Step Two Take Over the World by Souless_Robot ( @soulessrobot ) Status: COMPLETE College AU Characters: Chazz Princeton & Ojama Brothers Summary: “Step one: get into Neo Domino University,” Chazz lifted one finger and waved it in his spirit partners’ faces. “Step two: get a Ph.D. in dueling. Step three: get hired to teach at Duel Academy. Step four: take over the school.”

Dueling Royalty by Elexica Status: COMPLETE Modern AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: Kaiba will block you on Twitter.

Diagnostic Don’ts by Souless_Robot Status: COMPLETE Hospital AU Characters: Jack Atlas, Seto Kaiba, Alexis Rhodes, Duke Devlin, Atem Summary: Dr. Seto Kaiba very much does not want any fellows in his diagnostic department. Unfortunately the hospital administrator Atem has different ideas. That's how Kaiba ends up with three fellows in his office. It's a good thing Kaiba doesn't plan to keep them for very long. He'll bet Wheeler he can get them to quit by the end of the week.

Mr. Jounouchi Will See You Now by Elexica Status: COMPLETE Role Reversal AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: The CEO of Jounouchi Corp. is known for being charming and lucky—not just a shrewd businessman who bravely took over the company for his alcoholic dad. Seto Kaiba is a bright kid who really needs to pay for his brother’s eye surgery.

Succ's to be You. by Elexica Status: COMPLETE Flower Shop AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: Kaiba is the worst at office plants.

For Teens and Up...

Cafe Nervosa by Elexica ( @elexica ) Status: COMPLETE Coffee Shop AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: Good morning, Domino! Dr. Seto Kaiba runs a call-in psychiatry radio show, and whether he wants to or not, he's listening. His sound engineer, Joey Wheeler, unfortunately has to listen too.

All the King's Men by Souless_Robot Status: COMPLETE Soulmate AU Pairing: Rivalshipping (Chazz Princeton x Jaden Yuki), Spiritshipping (Jesse Anderson x Jaden Yuki), Supreme King x Chazz Princeton Summary: Or Chazz is the Supreme King's soulmate but not Jaden's.

Wasted by Elexica Status: COMPLETE College AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: Kaiba gets drunk at Mokuba's fraternity initiation party and does the cute orientation leader's calculus homework. He's bad at flirting, but he's good at math.

Blank Slate by KitsunePhantom09 ( @kitsunephantom09 ) Status: COMPLETE Soulmates AU Pairing: Kingcrabshipping (Jack Atlas x Yusei Fudo) Summary: Everyone has a mark signifying their soulmate. Yusei doesn't.

The Voice in My Head by Elexica Status: COMPLETE Soulmates AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: The month leading up to when you meet your soulmate is the only period in your life where you will hear another voice in your head, their thoughts streaming through your mind. For Jounouchi, it's hell.

Demon Days by Souless_Robot Status: COMPLETE Angels & Demons AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: Joey never meant to be permanently assigned to earth after the events that take place in the Garden of Eden. Still, now that he is he really wishes he would stop running into his least favorite demon. Unfortunately, it seems the creator has other plans.

Cancelling the Apocalypse by Elexica Status: ONGOING Chapters 1/3 Post-Apocalyptic AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: Are Joey and Kaiba drift compatible?

Straight to the Top by Souless_Robot Status: COMPLETE Band AU Characters: Joey Wheeler, Seto Kaiba, Yuugi Mutou, Chazz Princeton, Jaden Yuki Summary: Joey is a folk singer trying to break into the mainstream with her childhood friend Yugi. Too bad she gets nothing but problems most from the Kaiba corp record label run by the young CEO and music prodigy Seto Kaiba.

A Good Match by Elexica Status: COMPLETE Superheroes/Superpowers AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: Or, Kaiba and Jounouchi can't wait for the whistle to start fighting.

Good Eggs by Elexica Status: COMPLETE Farm/Ranch AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: Kaiba is forced to work as a farmhand the summer before college. Joey doesn't mind the company.

Mercy by Elexica Status: COMPLETE Crime AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: Kaiba's a bit tied up at the moment.

Who You Gonna Call by Elexica Status: COMPLETE Treasure Hunters AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: Ghost hunter Joey and skeptic Kaiba enlist Yugi's help in answering the question: Are ghosts real?

For Mature audiences...

And Quoth the Raven, “Nevermore.” by KitsunePhantom09 Status: COMPLETE Vampire AU Characters: Yusei Fudo Summary: Rule #1: Never answer when you hear them knocking.

Dark Web by Elexica Status: COMPLETE Pirates AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: You wouldn't download a car. Kaiba would.

The line that stands between us is 100 lives worth living by SwordsAndSwongs ( @blue-eyed-priest ) Status: ONGOING Chapters 8/32 Pairing: Prideshipping (Seto Kaiba x Atem), Rivalshipping (Kaiba x Yuugi Mutou), Stoicshipping (Kaiba x Priest Set), and Puppyshipping (Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: In a world full of multiverses, who will Kaiba meet? Is it his Pharaoh, his enemies, his few friends? Or is it himself, waiting at the end of every step taken?

Demon in a Bottle by Elexica Status: COMPLETE Angels & Demons AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: Kaiba overdoses.

Addicted (You’re My Favorite High) by KitsunePhantom09 Status: COMPLETE Crime AU Pairing: Kingcrabshipping (Jack Atlas x Yusei Fudo) Summary: Yusei has never felt like this before, and he desperately doesn't want it to end.

Netflix and Chill by auroraXborealis ( @xauroraxborealisx ) Status: ONGOING Chapters 11/? Pairing: Puzzleshipping (Yuugi Mutou x Atem) Summary: When the department of Human Resources from Kaiba Corp decides it is in the company’s best interest to send some of its employees on a team-building seminar for a whole weekend, Atem does not think his bonding experience with his colleagues will turn out to be this intense. Especially when he is thrown into a downward spiral of strange events with the one coworker he dislikes the most: Yugi. Now, they must work together to survive and figure out all the clues to make it back home.

Enemy Fire by KitsunePhantom09 Status: ONGOING Chapter 5/? Pairing: Kingcrabshipping (Jack Atlas x Yusei Fudo) Summary: Jack has just escaped a horrible alpha, but is in dire straits – heavily pregnant and out on the streets in the middle of winter does not bode well. But as his darkest hour arrives, so too does his savior.

Catalysts for Kindling by bewdofchaos ( @atems-leather-pants ) Status: ONGOING Chapters 11/? Pairing: Puzzleshipping (Yuugi Mutou x Atem), Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: In the eight months that Yugi and Atem have been roommates, they have formed a fast friendship over their fondness for coffee, late-night study sessions and video games. But recently, something has not been quite right. When Yugi receives a mysterious parcel, he is sent on an unexpected journey where each new step makes him reconsider everything he ever knew to be true… but mostly his relationship with his roommate.

The Dark Woods Circus’ Monster by KitsunePhantom09 Status: COMPLETE Circus AU Pairing: Kingcrabshipping (Jack Atlas x Yusei Fudo) Summary: Once, the circus was meant to wow and inspire its audience with feats of grandeur. Now it horrifies and terrifies them with unholy creatures of man's own design.

Time to fight fears, for once and for AUll by Seiyofira ( @seiyofira-doesntknowshiet ) Status: COMPLETE Chapters 11/11 Summary: These will be some scattered works for AU-gust 2020, which will either revolve around Yu-Gi-Oh! DM or JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, I will put the used AU prompt as well as either YGO or JJBA at the beginning of each chapter. They do not build a consistent story!

For Explicit audiences...

Forgiveness by KitsunePhantom09 Status: COMPLETE Angels & Demons AU Pairing: Kingcrabshipping (Jack Atlas x Yusei Fudo) Summary: An angel is offered as a sacrifice by a cult to appease their lord.

Scrubs by Elexica Status: COMPLETE Hospital AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: The door to the supply closet doesn't lock, but that doesn't stop Drs. Kaiba and Jounochi from having an intimate moment.

Embrace me, Love. It's been a long day. by Cleopatra ( @writelovetomeempress ) Status: ONGOING Chapters 20/33 Pairing: Flareshipping (Seto Kaiba x Atem x Yuugi Mutou) Summary: Atem is gone, back to the Afterlife when the Ceremonial Duel was complete. A piece of Yuugi's heart went with him. Kaiba, with all his genius and all his tech, has found a way to use the Quantum Cube to claim the victory he was denied. Per a reluctant deal, Kaiba brings Yuugi along. All the bravado in the world couldn't prepare Yuugi for that final goodbye, and with shaky hands, he broke their world completely.

Porcelain Wings and Shattered Dreams by Life_0r_Death ( @life-0r-death ) Status: ONGOING Chapters 11/17 Pairing: Kingcrabshipping (Jack Atlas x Yusei Fudo) Summary: Paradox has come to take his revenge against Yusei Fudo, but a former king will sacrifice himself for the love of the greater good. Too bad sacrificing doesn't mean death, but a perpetual prison of different worlds, different dimensions where Jack gets to witness what could have been.

For fics Not Rated...

Doin’ Time by Elexica Status: COMPLETE Childhood Friends AU Pairing: Puppyshipping (Seto Kaiba x Joey Wheeler) Summary: Joey is trying to get a contraband cell phone in Juvie Hall. Kaiba is a little more ambitious.

A huge round of applause for everyone who participated and who are still fighting the good fight of completing their fics! We hope to join again next year and provide a plethora of amazing YGO-related fics for you all to read! Congratulations everyone!!

#elexica #blue-eyed-priest #au_gust_2020 #stories and collections #puppyshipping #seto kaiba #joey wheeler #jounouchi katsuya #prideshipping #atem #pharaoh atem #rivalshipping #yuugi mutou #stoicshipping #priest set #soulessrobot #chazz princeton #ojama brothers #kitsunephantom09 #kingcrabshipping #jack atlas #yusei fudo #crshrs #yami bakura #jaden yuki #cleopatra #cleopatra (empressofthelight) #writelovetomeempress #flareshipping #xauroraxborealisx

[sineala]

Captain America Corps

[This is a repost from my Patreon.] An extra review for everyone this month! I wasn't actually planning to write a review of Captain America Corps, but, then, I wasn't planning to love it as much as I did, either. Surprise! This has been the Book Club selection on the 616 Steve/Tony Discord server for the entirety of September, and it took me all month to get around to reading it, and when I finished reading it on Marvel Unlimited I immediately ran to the internet and ordered myself a copy of the trade paperback, because I needed one of my very own to cuddle. This review contains spoilers for the entirety of the series, so leave now if you don't want to know them. (It also contains a few pictures of elements that you may wish to avoid if you are sensitive to body horror in fiction.)

Captain America Corps is a five-issue miniseries written by Roger Stern, whom you may remember from such classics as his Avengers run featuring the Under Siege arc and his short but extremely memorable Cap run with John Byrne. The art here is by Phillipe Briones, who I don't think I've seen in any other book, but it's nice enough, I suppose. Anyway, it was published in 2011 and is also set then (well, sort of) -- so Bucky is still Captain America (though not for much longer) and Steve is Commander Rogers. (It is still available in trade paperback but it is technically out of print, so you should act now if you want a paper copy.) The best way I can describe my feelings about this book is thus: you know how David Michelinie's 1979 Avengers novel I read and reviewed a few months ago, The Man Who Stole Tomorrow, had an amazing premise -- Kang the Conqueror freezes Steve again and takes him to the future and the Avengers have to go time-traveling to get him back -- but it completely flubbed the actual execution of said premise? Well, Captain America Corps is a lot like that, but it absolutely, perfectly nails it. The premise isn't exactly the same, but it is definitely Peak Comics in the best zany madcap way, and the more you know about canon, the more your familiarity will be rewarded. Captain America is being kidnapped. But not just one Captain America -- Captains America across the multiverse are being stolen, and history is changing around their disappearances. A cosmic entity by the name of Tath Ki has made it his business to right these wrongs, and so to do this he kidnaps some more Captains America of his own. He ends up with a team of five: the Captain America of 1941 (Steve Rogers), USAgent (John Walker, from a small but unspecified number of years prior to 2011), the Captain America of 2011 (Bucky Barnes), American Dream (Shannon Carter, from the MC2 universe), and Commander A (Kiyoshi Morales, from several centuries in the future). So you can see already that this is going to be fun. All the Caps, in my opinion, are very well-characterized -- Steve is painfully earnest and a little inexperienced; Bucky is cynical, jaded, and he kind of can't believe that 40s Steve is looking up to him, which is really sweet; and John Walker is, of course, a complete asshole. I wanted to punch him in his stupid face multiple times, so clearly his characterization is perfect. I can't speak to Shannon's characterization because I've never read MC2, and Kiyoshi is new as of this book, but he is also excellent. So, obviously, because this is a Captain America book, there is a terrible dystopian future for them to fight -- and to show them what's at stake, Tath Ki drops them right in the middle of Dystopian Times Square, and they all get rounded up and imprisoned, whereupon they promptly stage a prison break for the various superheroes (Sam Wilson, Luke Cage, Peter Parker...) that they meet, before Tath Ki brings them back to his home base talk about it, now that he's convinced them that this is a future they have to stop.

(The law enforcement of the dystopian future includes several Americops and the Ameridroid. Remember those guys from the Cap comics? I sure do! Whee!) Tath Ki explains the situation here on this Earth, because obviously there has been some divergence. And the divergence point is this: the Avengers never found Captain America in the ice in Avengers #4. Two new women -- Broad-Stripe and Bright Star (why, yes, those are deeply unsubtle code names) -- ended up on the team instead, but, well... the Avengers just didn't work without Steve, and right when they ought to have founded the Kooky Quartet in Avengers #16, they disbanded instead. All because they'd never met Captain America. Thor went back to Asgard. Hank ended up in a psych ward. Tony died during heart surgery. (Don't worry, I'm coming back to this point later. So is the comic.) So the Caps split up to go see what they can find out about the remaining Avengers. Jan is hanging out with Sue Storm but has been warned about Kiyoshi and Shannon by the villain, and she kicks them out. Steve and Bucky break Hank out of the psych ward. And Tath Ki takes John Walker to Tony's tomb... to find that Tony's brain is missing from his body. Uh-oh. That's never a good sign.

And, oh, yes, Broad-Stripe and Bright Star are the villains of this series. And, what's more, Broad-Stripe is actually Superia, whom you will remember from the infamously terrible Cap arc The Superia Stratagem. It was really bad. It was really, really bad. But reading this has now retroactively made reading that worth it. Anyway, they're the ones who have been kidnapping all the Caps, and the Cap Corps here teams up with the local resistance force (yes, of course there's a resistance) to fight their way to the villains' headquarters. And do you know who else is at the villains' headquarters? It's Tony! I mean, it's Tony's brain. In a jar. Alive. And conscious. (And his eyeballs. I don't know why or how he still has his eyes. I'm trying not to think about that.)

The fact that Tony is now a brain in a jar is what the #book-club channel has been shrieking about with horrified glee for an entire month. If you like sad Tonys, there is no sadder Tony than this. You cannot make a sadder Tony than this. He is a brain in a jar. It's like everything about his favorite transhumanism, gone wrong. He's been there for years. He has never known Steve Rogers, and doesn't that just break your heart? He's suicidal. He begs the villain to finally kill him. He begs Hank to kill him, whether or not the good guys win. His life -- or undeath, or whatever it is -- is so awful that death is, for him, the happy ending. (We already know, canonically, that Tonys who never meet Steve are the saddest Tonys. Fantastic Four: Dark Reign #2, the issue that famously gave us Earth-3490, also gave us a look at Earth-1735, in which Steve is found very late in the superheroing game and Tony has clearly spent all the time in which they should have been Avengers together instead drinking his life away.) Sad Brain Jar Tony fills the good guys who find him -- Hank, Bucky, and Kiyoshi -- in on the villains' backstory and plans, which is basically that Superia has been stealing all the Captains America and has joined up with AIM and gotten herself a Cosmic Cube to shove them all into, and I'm sure we all guessed that that was happening because what even is a good Cap plot without a Cosmic Cube? Anyway, 1940s Steve doesn't meet Tony personally, as far as I can tell, but he does get to hear about him being alive over the comms, at least -- although it wouldn't mean much to him then, because at this point he doesn't know Tony. So all the Caps and Tath Ki and the villains end up falling into the Cosmic Cube along with the rest of the Caps that Superia stole, who are already in there. Steve merges with one of his other self, which breaks the Cube, and the alternate dystopian reality basically... vanishes from existence as everyone goes home. And Sad Brain Jar Tony is finally at peace. *sniff* Due to the mysteries of time-travel, Bucky and the two Caps after him -- Shannon and Kiyoshi -- remember what happened, but the two from before -- 1941 Steve and John Walker -- don't seem to. Except when Bucky meets up with his Steve, the Commander Rogers of 2011, it's clear that Bucky's return triggered something and Steve is starting to remember everything. Then Bucky decides to go turn himself in and face justice for the Winter Soldier's crimes. We get a brief look at Kiyoshi's time, where he's helping christen a new aircraft carrier named after Steve. And that's it. So obviously this is a completely wild plot in the way that comics are the best at, and what I really want most in life now is fic where 2011 Commander Rogers -- who we know is not the best at having feelings where Tony is concerned, because his current reaction to Tony is to scream at him about his feelings, in the snow, surrounded by all of their friends -- has to deal with the fact that he remembers being in a world where Tony is a sad brain in a jar and it all happened because he wasn't there to save him. Heroic Age-era (early Avengers v4) is one of my favorite flavors of Steve/Tony angst, as they work out how to have a friendship again (and are so bad at it that it involves a lot of very public screaming fights), and this just piles the angst right on top. (Yeah, guess what's on my WIP list now.) Objectively, it's not a perfect comic -- it's kind of a mess, but it's a mess in that glorious comics way that comics are so good at. I suspect if you're not here for the Steve/Tony you won't like it as much, but if you are... well, please enjoy pondering Sad Brain Jar Tony in his dystopian, Steve-less future.

#posts i actually wrote

[thistangledbrain]

Ok y’all, I’m sorry I’m having to catch up! We got a new foster in a few days ago - a particularly broken soul - and my mind has been *entirely* on him. But he’s settling in a little now, so here’s the last 3 days in one post ☺️

Autism Acceptance Month

Day 10!

“Sensory Life”

This is sort of hard to describe, but I’ll try! This is different from the next entry about stims, though both are sensory related.

It’s like being on microdosed ‘shrooms *all the time*. If you don’t know what that’s like, I’ll try to describe (this is collaborated with a friend who regularly does this - I don’t...it would probably be far too overwhelming).

Colors are far sharper to me & I emotionally react to them far more than most people. That results in some colors being genuinely offensive - not just “I don’t like that color”, but it will make me intensely angry or physically sick. This makes me curious about chromotherapy, but I haven’t really looked into it that much. My tolerance of certain colors can ebb and flow depending on my emotional state/mindset. (This crap is so sharp, I’m actually getting a twinge of irritation just *thinking* about my most hated colors LOL 😂 🤦🏻‍♀️)

Textures/skin sensations are another big one. (By now you may be asking, how TF did this chick manage Marine Corps training/exercises?!) I guess if you want something bad enough, you can shut down some of the overwhelming aspects of the sensory thing...this ability to disassociate probably isn’t what NT’s would call “healthy”, but it’s quite handy if you’re autistic, and those of us who have been through real trauma seem to be especially skilled with our ability to just shut off all circuits and “embrace the suck”). Like...I’ll nearly panic to get out of a store or something if my underwear starts feeling uncomfortable, but I’ve literally been soaked head to toe, covered in mud and sand in my *everywhere* (and I HATE SAND anywhere but on my feet) AND I pissed myself, because nobody’s gonna stop shooting/training just because you have to go potty 🙄), and I remember literally giving zero fucks about it...so it really is entirely a mindset thing. But let’s talk about when I’m NOT in “Marine mode” (cuz let’s face it, it’s been close to two decades since I got out, and I no longer HAVE to tolerate overwhelming sensations).

Sensory input is just basically dialed to 11 & the knob’s been snapped off. Bright lights, loud discordant noises, too much touching/not touching the right way, things like that. I am particularly sensitive about body hair (my own). I *strongly* prefer to have my head shaved on the back and sides (but I leave the top long). The only time I haven’t done this, was in the Marines (it was considered “eccentric” and not allowed, so they made me grow it out). Even though I leave the main part long, it’s *always* in a bun or ponytail - well, unless I’m super dressed up for something, but even then I prefer some sort of updo. Despite the fact that I like my long hair (well on the top anyway), I can’t *stand* the way it feels on my neck or especially my face - I HATE IT when my hair touches my face. If I wasn’t married...there’s a decent chance I’d just shave it all off and be done with it LOL 😆 My ponytail pulled through the back of a baseball hat is I guess what they’d call my “signature look”.

And you think NT’s have bad misophonia? *I’ve jumped out of a moving vehicle before* to get away from the noise of someone chewing loudly/smacking their lips in the back seat (he was a coworker and punching him in the mouth - which is what I DESPERATELY wanted to do - would have gotten me fired 😕)...but humans eating, or dogs licking their junk, makes me want to crawl out of my own skin. It’s mostly humans though....you have *no idea* the level of self discipline it takes to keep me from either rage crying or actually getting violent around someone smacking their mouth during a meal. I *cannot* be around my husband when he’s eating breakfast cereal even though he’s a very mannered eater - I don’t know why, but it’s *so loud* (and I’m terribly hard of hearing) - it sounds like he’s chewing rocks. It took us years to work this problem out LOL - he thought it was dumb that I had such a deeply emotional reaction. Then he tried to “chew quietly”, which all that did was slow down the rock tumbler inside his mouth 😂...gradually, for everyone’s sanity, we realized that cereal eating should not be done in close proximity to each other lololol....and now, when it’s time for family meals around the table, I’ve learned to either keep the range hood fan going (white noise is definitely my friend), or have the TV on. If it’s just mainly the sound of everyone chewing, I simply won’t eat at the table. I lose my appetite. (And all of my dinner guests/family are very polite diners. It’s MY hangup.) Phone calls are another big one. I could probably come up with several reasons why I hate it...I LOATHE it. This is one sensory hangup some people in my family just refuse to accept. I don’t think they realize I equate unexpected or immediately demanded phone calls to running naked though a mall or getting a root canal. Hissssssssss!! Give me some time to prepare myself for this shit please - you’re actually asking a *lot* from me. (And when I do have a call? Ugh I babble and am so awkward, because I’m so effing uncomfortable, which I also hate.)

But here’s an area where my “sensory overload” serves me very well:

Dogs.

I am usually *intensely* dialed into the energy and body language of an animal, but particularly dogs. I’m *so* sensitive to them, that I often actually can feel things even happening behind my back - can basically sense the energy in the area shift. (Roughly 75% of the time. I’m spacey sometimes too LOL.) The work I do with “behaviorally challenged” dogs is the biggest area where I am *grateful* for my autistic mind. I don’t think I could really do the things I do without it, successfully. (I can do this to a large degree with people as well, as can my youngest son. You cannot lie to that boy about your feelings or mood.)

We all have different levels of sensory sensitivity and different triggers, but every autistic I know has several “sensory hangups”. It often is one of our biggest hurdles to deal with, when it comes to “normal functioning”. So, many of us constantly have headphones (or muffs) on, some of us wear sunglasses *all the time*, etc (I wear a baseball hat - and I genuinely don’t like going anywhere where I have to get dressed up and can’t wear my hat. Been like that since my early teens. That hat shields me from all sorts of real and imagined sensory triggers.) You do what you can to mitigate, you know? But my “microdosing shrooms” and “knob dialed to 11 and snapped off” is really the best way I can summarize. (And that’s not all bad - my trips into a new natural space, like the redwoods, is an absolute *thrill*. I also occasionally love sensory overload - many auties do - like rollercoasters. My youngest son and I can ride till we pass out LOL!) So sensory life is love/hate, really....but I don’t think I’d change much about it.

Except the fucking misophonia. I hate that I go into almost a murderous rage over someone just chewing food loudly 🤦🏻‍♀️ - but seriously. It’s impolite anyway. Don’t do it. 😆

———————————————————

Day 11!

Stims

This is one of the biggest areas where neurotypicals struggle to understand us.

We all have stims. Stims are basically any stimulus that brings us joy or comfort. It could be rocking, flapping, walking in tight little circles, clicking your fingernails together, spinning, making weird sounds or whistling, etc. And it’s usually repetitive - that’s the part that gets on people’s nerves.

I’ve found that most *women* hide most of our stims. We only let go and stim our little hearts out when we’re alone. I do that, because some of my stims grate on my husband. Sometimes I don’t WANT to feel “watched” anyway...I’ve noticed males don’t have quite the same issue with that.

I have quiet stims I do to soothe myself, and happy stims. One of my quieter stims when I’m trying to soothe myself (like in public) is clicking my teeth, particularly my right canines. I also have this silicone bite stick I wear around my neck sometimes, that I chew on (my sons like the bite sticks as well). I carry a little bag of fidget toys in my purse, to soothe myself with when I’m stressed. There’s a thing sort of like a fidget cube, a little cowrie shell and twine bracelet that I fiddle with almost like a rosary, a small stuffed axolotyl (her name is Blossom), and a few other toys. My little stash also comes in damn handy when I encounter a bored child LOL!

One of my sons makes funny little sound effects randomly (and he’s grown & still does it). The other used to randomly shriek when he was younger - then he learned how to whistle, so he couldn’t say a whole sentence without punctuating it with little whistles (we actually thought it was adorable).

My favorite stim is putting my headphones on, putting on some favorite music, sitting with my legs crossed, closing my eyes, and rocking. I’m happy to TELL you about this stim, but it’s one I do alone, because I like to get completely lost in it and I can’t do that if I feel I’m being watched...and you’ll damn near give me a heart attack if you touch me while I’m lost in that world. (And boy does it irritate me to get yanked out of that before I’m ready, for some bullshit non emergency reason.) Better to just isolate myself (except my dogs are always with me). Another one I do alone - and I have no idea why i like it so much - is squeaking my bite stick across my teeth. (This one is weird to me because I usually HATE my teeth being touched...yes dentists are a problem.) This one I enjoy doing kind of mindlessly while I read, but damn would it irritate anyone in listening distance LOL...I mean, it would irritate the shit out of ME if someone else was doing it, because *other people’s* repetition, especially if it makes noise, gets on my damned nerves. 🙄 Figures lmao!

Stims can be damaging sometimes, though. Like I used to twist and twirl my hair when I was younger so much that the areas I usually grabbed were frayed and broken (I also chewed my hair sometimes). One stim I cannot break myself of even though sometimes it’ll make me bleed, is chewing the insides of my cheeks or my lips. That’s my most frequent (several times a day) one, and the one that is both gratifying *and* soothing. It’s also the one that’s hardest to suppress.

Some auties are either unaware or literally don’t care how you feel about their stims, but I am and do. I’d like to think I’m pretty “appropriate” *most* of the time with my stims and other people around, except the lip/cheek chewing. If my husband notices I’ve gotten pretty furious about it (even using my hand to push my cheek into optimal biting position), he’ll gently put his hands on mine to bring me back to awareness - if I’m gnawing away, I’m either super stressed or way lost in thought. Either way, I can accidentally hurt myself, so he gently guides me away/distracts me.

Stimming is an important part of Autie life and should not be discouraged unless it hurts Your Pet Autie ™️.

And if you’re looking for a neat gift for an Autie? They actually make stim toy packs. Get them one, they’re fun. ☺️ (Most stim toys are designed to withstand being put in mouths and bitten/chewed, too - LOTS of us have oral fixations.) And hey, even if you’re a NT, try stimming sometime (lots of normal people have stims, they just don’t realize that’s what they are - like nail biting. Bite your nails a lot? Get a bite stick!! God they’re so satisfying!)....

Happy stimming!

———————————————-

Day 12!

“Favorite Autism Charity”

This one is short and easy: ASAN. Autism Self Advocacy Network.

“The Autistic Self Advocacy Network is a nonprofit organization run by and for individuals with autism. According to its mission statement, the Network’s goal is ‘to empower autistic people across the world to take control of our own lives and the future of our common community, and seek to organize the autistic community to ensure our voices are heard in the national conversation about us.’”

————————————————-

Day 13!

“Family”

Well that’s kinda ambiguous, isn’t it? 😒

I’ll start with this tack:

Being an autistic mom with autistic kids.

I mean for years, none of us KNEW LOL - and maybe that’s what took me so long to get around to pursuing a formal diagnosis for my youngest. To me, for the longest time, he was just sensitive and different like me (same with my oldest, for the most part, but I’m pretty sure that was me buying into the “brilliant people are just fucking weird ok” mindset also), yannow? So it was like, “well mama always told me I’d have one like me & then know what I put her through” 🙄 My oldest got lumped into the “all bright kids are quirky” category - but as I learned about ASD through my youngest and myself, it became damn obvious the oldest was also in our camp. (He’s taken the prelim test now anyway, but is not formally diagnosed.) I genuinely believe that our “shared weirdness” binds us very tightly to each other - and I’m super pleased about that.

It brought a whole new level of understanding and awareness within our little family when we realized it was ASD I guess - and acceptance. (I 100% believe that diagnosis - or even affirmation - is critical to our self acceptance and understanding.) I wouldn’t trade my little family for anything, and consider myself remarkably blessed. I can talk about how complex and brilliant my boys are ALL day (and often do LOL). Hubby is neurodivergent, and can identify with (or at least sympathize with) MANY of our hangups....but he’s “normal” enough that he’s been able to guide us (mostly me) with things like how to use tact (not often a skill we naturally possess lmao). My heart breaks when I read posts by auties whose families either don’t understand or don’t accept them & are constantly trying to basically mute who they are. Auties “live out loud”, and some people find that off putting. I know growing up, I was constantly getting my ass chewed for being “dramatic” or too sensitive, too, so I shut down and hid my sensitivity far, far away. I’m only *lately* (last few years) discarding that silly tough girl mask. (I can still be quite the little wolverine at times, but I’m not afraid to show my soft sensitive actual self anymore...to stay soft in today’s fucked up world takes actual courage - a lot of it - and strength. I was looking at the concept of being “strong” entirely the wrong way.)

I swear my husband has lived with nearly as many phases and facets, as years we’ve been together. Sometimes I ask him if this ever bothers him. He says no, because who I am at my core never changes...and he grins and says “and you damn sure aren’t boring” 😂

But since I’ve known I’m autistic, I’ve given myself more freedom to discover who I am without these socially dictated parameters. And permission to be precisely who I am, without cringing apologies when the real me shines through awkwardly.

And my husband and boys have been there every step of the way, embracing me, as we do with them. ♥️

Yeah. I love my family. We’re some pretty cool people. 😁

[rimmers-swimming-certificate]

Red Dwarf fanfic - Comatose (11/19)

 part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 |  part 6 | part 7 | part 8 | part 9 | part 10

Lister took a long sip of his margarita. It wasn’t bad. It wasn’t exactly good either, but it wasn’t bad. Like everything else, there was something missing from it; any semblance of temperature for a start; the drink should have felt cold on his tongue, instead it felt like nothing. Neither did the glass feel cold in his hand, despite the ice cubes that floated on top of the drink. At least the taste was pleasant enough. He was on his fourth drink, and the alcohol, simulated though it was, was beginning to do its job. He could feel himself beginning to relax and see the world through booze-tinted goggles that made everything seem just that little bit less terrible.

“Thanks, man,” he said to Rimmer, sitting next to him nursing a large brandy. “You were right, I needed this.”

Rimmer swirled his brandy around the deep, wide bowl of his glass, then took a sip. He, too, looked as though he was feeling the effect of the drinks. His hair was a mess where he had rubbed his fingers through it without noticing, and he slurred his words slightly as he spoke. “Told you,” he said. “You should listen to me, you know. Sometimes I do actually know what I’m talking about.”

“Yeah,” Lister took another long slurp of his cocktail and licked away the salt that clung to his bottom lip. “Maybe I will. You weren’t wrong about this drink, anyway. Unlike the lager, it actually tastes good. Like it’s meant to.”

Rimmer half-closed his eyes and shook his head. “The lager tastes like it should too,” he said. “The trouble, I think you’ll find, is the lack of everything else. It doesn’t feel cold, it doesn’t have any fizz, all it is, is a taste. Here’s the thing, Listy,” he leaned forward tipsily and paused for dramatic effect, as though he was about to make some great revelation. “You don’t actually like the taste of lager.”

Lister frowned. “‘Course I do,” he said. “Or else why would I keep drinking it?”

“No, I think you’ll find you’re wrong. What you like is the way it cools your mouth down after a curry, or that it quenches your thirst when you need a drink. Or maybe you like that it’s cheap and it gets you drunk, I don’t know. Whatever it is, I guarantee it isn’t the flavour.”

Lister thought about it, trying to decide whether Rimmer was right. He couldn’t be, could he?

“Okay, imagine this,” Rimmer said. “Imagine going into a bar, three million or so years ago when that was a normal thing that people could do. You go in, you order a pint, and you get one that’s exactly the same temperature as the inside of your mouth and totally flat. Would you be happy?”

Lister shrugged. “No, of course not.”

“You sure? It’s still got that lager taste. Delicious, right?”

“No, but it’s lager. It’s not meant to be warm. That’d be like serving chilled toast, or room temperature ice cream.”

Rimmer nodded. “It’s not warm. It’s not anything.”

“Yeah, but…” Lister sighed and shook his head. He wasn’t going to win this; he didn’t know enough about it to argue. “Okay, yeah. Maybe you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right,” Rimmer told him. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about this kind of thing, remember? There’s nothing wrong with enjoying the temperature, or the way it feels in your mouth, it’s just that when you’re a hologram, you don’t get that anymore. All you get is the taste.”

Taking another sip of his margarita, Lister nodded. “Gotcha,” he said. This was terrible. If he really didn’t like lager, that betrayed everything he knew about himself. This was even worse than the time he had gone into a wine bar. “Smeg,” he said to himself.

Rimmer smiled in a self-satisfied way, took a sip of his brandy, then leaned back in his chair and placed his feet on the table.

Lister watched him, remembering his own failed attempt at putting his feet up. He hadn’t tried again since. “Hey,” he said, seizing on the opportunity to think about something else. “How’d you do that?”

“Do what?”

“That.” Lister indicated Rimmer’s feet with a wave of his hand. “I tried it one time and I just fell straight through. Why don’t you?”

Rimmer smiled smugly. “Technique,” he said. “Took me a while to perfect.”

“So, go on then. What’s the trick?”

“Foot position,” Rimmer explained. “The hologramatic projection program knows the soles of my feet aren't supposed to fall through the floor, that’s why I can walk around the ship without my legs sinking in.”

Lister nodded, and deliberately didn’t think about the nightmare he had had several nights earlier when that exact thing had happened to him.

“So all you have to do is tilt your feet so enough of the soles are resting on the table for the program to assume you’re standing. Rest the back of your feet or your legs on the table and yes, they will just fall through.”

“Huh,” Lister said. “Okay.” It actually made sense.

Rimmer shuffled slightly in his chair and without warning, his left leg fell through the table and his foot hit the floor. The right stayed where it was, on the surface of the table. The resulting impact sent a shockwave up his entire body, knocking the brandy in his glass up in a wave, over the top of the oversized glass, where it soaked his hand and spilled onto his uniform trousers.

“Smeg,” he said.

Lister grinned.

“Er… I was just demonstrating what not to do, there.” Rimmer explained. “See how I moved that little bit too far, and… well.” He shook his hand, spraying a shower of hologramatic brandy into the air. The liquid disappeared a second after it left his hand. “That was completely deliberate,” Rimmer continued, as he allowed his other leg to drop through the table too, and pulled the damp patch of uniform away from his skin. He sat up a bit straighter, trying to regain a little dignity. “Holly, do something about this, will you?”

Rimmer’s uniform dried instantly, and a new, full glass of brandy appeared in his other hand. Rimmer gulped the last of the dregs that remained in his old glass, then put it down on the table where it disappeared after a moment.

“Want to try?” Rimmer asked him.

Lister eyed the table suspiciously and shook his head. “Maybe later.”

Rimmer shrugged as though that made no sense whatsoever, and, Lister noticed, didn’t put his feet back on the table.

Lister took another sip of his drink, and found it all gone. “Hey Holly? Can I get another one too?” he asked.

Holly appeared on the nearest viewscreen. “Seriously? ‘Holly, dry my clothes,’ ‘Holly get me another drink,’ you two are demanding tonight, aren’t you?”

“Please?”

Holly rolled her eyes. “Fine.” The glass in his hand was replaced by a full one. Lister immediately took a sip. For a liquid with no discernible temperature or texture, it wasn’t half bad. Another couple though, and he was going to have one hell of a hangover in the morning.

Which made him think, actually. “Hey, here’s a question I’ve been wondering about,” he said. “Whoever thought it would be a good idea to give holograms hangovers? I mean, it’s not like it’s real booze, it’s just the program messing with your spatial awareness and lowering your inhibitions every time you have a sip. So it seems a bit unnecessary, don’t you think?”

Rimmer appeared to consider the question. “No, there is a reason. It’s because whoever came up with the idea of resurrecting the dead in hologramatic form was a sadist who wanted to make sure I couldn’t have too much fun without suffering in the morning.”

Lister smiled. “Seriously though.”

“I am serious.” Rimmer took another sip of his brandy, then frowned. “No, actually, I do know this one. Imagine you died, got brought back as a hologram and presented with this long list of things you can’t do anymore.”

Lister stirred his hologramatic straw around his hologramatic glass, jostling hologramatic ice cubes against one another. “Doesn’t take that much imagination,” he said, staring down into his drink.

“You’re not dead, Lister. You have no idea what it’s like to…” Rimmer sighed and shook his head. “Never mind. Fine. And I don’t mean now, by the way, I’m talking about three million years ago, when the human race still existed and living out the rest of your existence on Red Dwarf might not be the way you’d planned your future. On-ship holograms are -- were -- basically the property of the Space Corps. They didn’t get planet leave or the option of resigning their commission and retiring to Fiji, you know.”

Lister nodded. Smeg. He’d never really thought of it like that.

“So, imagine all that, and then imagine they tell you that you can drink as much as you like every night, with no consequences. What do you think would happen?”

“A whole lot of alcoholic holograms.”

Rimmer nodded. “Exactly. So they probably had to decide between us not being able to get drunk, or having to deal with hangovers the same as living people. Honestly, I think they made the right choice.”

He raised his glass in mock salute to whatever computer programmer had made that decision.

Lister was inclined to agree. “I wonder if we’ll still feel that way in the morning though,” he mused.

“Probably not,” Rimmer agreed.

They each took a sip of their drinks, and sank into silence. It was quiet in the bar. Lister missed the noise; the music, the shouting over it to try to make yourself heard, the occasional smashed glass. He supposed quiet was better though, for this.

“Hey, I’ve been meaning to say,” he said.

Rimmer turned to look at him. His gaze was unfocussed under the influence of the drinks. “What?” he asked.

Lister tapped his fingers on his glass and looked away. “I’m sorry,” he told him.

Rimmer paused with his drink inches from his lips, and frowned. “What did you do?” he asked suspiciously.

“No, not… Nothing. Well, nothing like… not a specific thing. It’s more of a general apology, for everything.”

“For the moping around?” Rimmer asked.

“No, going back further than that.”

Rimmer took a deep breath and let out a long sigh. “Okay, frankly Lister, there’s a lot you should apologise for over the years, starting with the day you moved into my quarters and proceeded to make the place look and smell like a literal dump, right up to a few minutes ago when you laughed at me for falling through the table.”

Lister smirked. “Yeah, I am sorry about that, but I was mostly only laughing because I’d done the same thing.”

“Well, whatever it is that you’re on about, you’re going to have to be a tad more specific.”

Lister sighed. He didn’t want to be specific. What he wanted was to say something vague, and for Rimmer to somehow, magically, understand exactly what he meant. He already knew that was too much to ask for. Rimmer wasn’t the most empathetic of people even when he was sober. Five or six drinks in, he had no chance.

Lister looked away, focussing his gaze firmly on his drink. He rolled the back of a fingernail against the tip of the glass, crushing the hologramatic salt to dust. “I’m sorry for the way I treated you sometimes,” he said quietly. “You know, back when I first got out of stasis. I probably wasn’t as, uh… sensitive… as I could have been, to what was going on with you.”

Rimmer didn’t reply. Lister’s fingers found a loose thread in the stitching of his jacket and began to pick at it.

“I mean, the way you acted back then, some of the way you acted, I thought it was just you trying to drive me nuts, but now I see that maybe it wasn’t all because you’re a total smeghead. Some of it might have been because a lot of the time, being a hologram is actually kind of crappy.”

He took a deep breath, and had a large gulp of his drink, draining the glass. He still didn’t look at Rimmer. It felt like cheating, to apologise without even having the nerve to look him in the eye, but it was the only way he would have been able to get through it.

“So, anyway,” he added. “I’m sorry. I’ve been meaning to say that for a while.”

Still silence from the seat next to him. When he couldn’t stand it any longer, Lister turned to sneak a glance at Rimmer. The hologram hadn’t moved. He was fidgeting with his brandy glass in much the same way the Lister was with his own drink, rotating it slowly in his hands and watching the liquid as it moved around the glass. Lister put his glass down on the table and folded his arms.

Rimmer cleared his throat. “Thank you,” he said, finally.

Lister smiled awkwardly. “But some of it was definitely because you’re a smeghead,” he added. “Don’t think you get a free pass on that.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Rimmer assured him. He finished off his brandy and put the empty glass on the table next to Lister’s. “You know, you might be a revolting, malodorous excuse for a man, but deep down, you’re not that bad. Sometimes. When I’ve had a few drinks I almost enjoy your company.”

And that, Lister supposed, was probably the closest he was going to get to a compliment from Rimmer. He grinned. “Although, it’s not all bad being a hologram, is it? He asked. “I mean, we’ve been here for three hours now, drinking steadily the whole time. Normally I’d have needed to pee at least once.”

Rimmer shot him a revolted look. “And I should have known you’d ruin it by saying something disgusting.”

Lister affected a confused frown. “What’s disgusting about not peeing?”

“It’s… never mind.” Rimmer shook his head dismissively.

“So,” said Lister, “am I forgiven then?”

Rimmer frowned thoughtfully. “It’s not on you know, you doing this when we’re drunk,” he said. “What if I say yes, then change my mind in the morning when I’ve sobered up?”

Lister shrugged. “I guess that’s a risk you’ve got to take.”

“Fine.” Rimmer tapped his hinges thoughtfully on his knee. “How about this? I provisionally forgive you for some of your inconsiderate behaviour, because it looks like you’ve thoroughly learned your lesson the past few months, but I reserve the right to change my mind in the morning.”

“I guess that’s fair.”

“Good.”

Rimmer offered his hand and Lister took it. They shook, and Rimmer’s touch lingered that little bit longer than a handshake needed to be. Lister felt Rimmer’s thumb run lightly over the back of his hand. His grip loosened and Rimmer’s other hand began to explore the texture of Lister’s fingerless leather glove, the tips of his fingers circling each metal stud.

Watching, Lister smiled, and Rimmer immediately stopped. “Sorry.”

“No, don’t be,” Lister told him. “Keep going.”

They had fallen into a pattern of casual touches since the first time. Pats on the shoulder, handshakes, even the occasional quick embrace, but he could tell that Rimmer still needed more. He could tell, because he felt the same way.

Rimmer shook his head. He reached for his glass, realised it was empty, picked it up anyway and began to fidget with it again.

Lister shook his head. He took the glass from Rimmer’s hands and put it back on the table. “It’s fine, Rimmer. You can touch me.”

“Maybe I don’t want to touch you,” Rimmer told him. “I know where you’ve been.”

Lister shrugged. “That’s fine, I guess,” he said. “How about if I touch you?”

Rimmer looked vaguely terrified at the prospect. “What do you mean?”

Lister shrugged, “Do you trust me?”

“Not as far as I could throw you.”

He supposed that was fair. He hadn’t exactly proven himself completely trustworthy in the past. He stood, and slowly walked around Rimmer until he was standing directly behind him. Rimmer twisted around to watch him suspiciously. “Can you try to trust me?” he asked.

Rimmer licked his lips, then nodded. “I suppose… If you… Why? What are you going to do?”

“You know what you said a couple of weeks ago?” Lister said. He reached out and ran his fingers over the tips of Rimmer’s slightly unkempt curls. His hair was longer than he usually wore it, and so much softer than Lister had imagined. “About being touch starved,” he clarified. “I asked Holly about it.”

“You did what?” Rimmer turned to look at him again. “Lister, that’s private!”

Lister shook his head. He flexed his fingers and placed his hands, fingers spread wide, on Rimmer’s shoulders and neck. “Relax,” he said. “I didn’t mention you, I made out like I was talking about me.” Well, sort of. Anyway, they were talking about a computer that had counted every single word Lister had ever spoken to both Rimmer and Kochanski, and probably every other crew member of Red Dwarf, from the time he had boarded the ship to the time he had gone into stasis. Somehow, he didn’t think that anybody had any real privacy.

He began to knead his fingers into Rimmer’s neck and shoulders, gently at first, varying the pressure slightly as he moved his fingers in slow circles, simply trying to give Rimmer as much sensation as he could.

He could see that Rimmer was trying not to enjoy it, or at least trying not to show that he was enjoying it, and he could also see the exact moment that he gave in, and briefly allowed his eyes to close as he shifted his position to allow Lister’s fingers better access to his left shoulder. Lister grinned to himself and concentrated his efforts there for a moment, pressing his fingers into the skin where he could, and into Rimmer’s uniform where he could not, kneading and pressing on the muscles of Rimmer’s neck, shoulders and upper back.

“Lister…” Rimmer said. “This is…” He stopped mid sentence and made a noise that was close enough to a groan of pleasure that Lister had to grin again.

“Still got it,” Lister said, more to himself than to Rimmer.

“Huh?”

Lister continued with the massage, feeling for the points of tension -- and there were so many of them -- and pressing his fingers into them until the muscle relented. “Magic fingers,” he said. ‘Every one of my exes, every single one, said I gave the best massages they’d ever had,” he explained. “Even had a few of them come back for them after we’d split up.”

A little of Rimmer’s tension appeared to come back. “Lister, if this is the opening move of some bizarre Liverpudlian courting ritual…”

Lister rolled his eyes. “First off, ‘courting’? When did you move to nineteenth century Earth? Second, no it’s not, but if it was, this is usually move two or three.” He found a particularly tense spot, and Rimmer flinched. Lister pressed a knuckle into the muscle and waited.

“Er… that hurts, Lister,” Rimmer told him warningly.

“I know. It won’t for long. Wait for it…”

He felt Rimmer relax as the discomfort faded away, then pushed into the same knot again, just to test. Nothing.

Rimmer flexed his shoulder experimentally, “I don’t know how you did that, Lister,” Rimmer said, “But that shoulder’s been bothering me for a week, and now it’s fine.”

There was something ridiculous and very unfair about the fact that a hologram could experience muscle tension, but then, given that the hologram in question was Rimmer, he supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. He was so tense that Lister had often suspected that if he ever really relaxed, he might fall down.

“You know, I do pretty great back rubs too,” he said. “And feet. We’d have to go back to our quarters for that, though, not sure it’s appropriate in the middle of the bar.” Gradually, he decreased the pressure, then pulled his hands away. “You want some kind of oil, too, for a really good massage,” he added. “Coconut’s my favourite. Think Holly could manage that?”

Rimmer turned to look at him, he didn’t say a word, but his expression said ‘you’re not serious?’

Lister grinned, then shrugged. “I’m sure she can manage it. The awkward part’d be explaining why we want it. We’ll maybe do that another time, yeah?”

Rimmer got to his feet. He turned out of reach of Lister’s hands, then reached out toward Lister himself. He placed his hands on Lister’s shoulders, then allowed them to run down his arms, and back up again, before finally snaking around the sensitive skin at the back of his neck. Lister stood passively, letting him do what he needed. Rimmer stepped a little closer, and Lister saw that his pupils were wide; the low lighting in the bar or the act of touching and being touched Lister couldn’t be sure.

Rimmer moved closer still. His lips parted slightly as he angled his head down, toward Lister’s. Instinctively, Lister reacted in kind, looking up at him. Warning alarms sounded in his head, and he knew that he needed to stop this. They were drunk, and Rimmer was perhaps high on sensation, not to mention, it was Rimmer that he was about to kiss. He knew it was a bad idea, but somehow he couldn’t bring himself to stop.

Their lips brushed against one another softly, barely a touch of skin on skin. Rimmer’s lips were dry and so warm. Lister felt Rimmer’s breath against him. It lasted no more than a second, and then it was over.

Rimmer pulled back and stared at him, eyes wide with terror. “I…” he began. He backed off a step.

“Well,” Lister said. He smiled in what he hoped looked a reassuring way. “That was a nice surprise.”

Rimmer backed off another step and turned to run. Lister grabbed hold of his hand before he could flee.

“Hey,” he said. “Please don’t. You know I’m only going to come and find you again, like the last time you ran off.”

“I told you,” Rimmer insisted. “I didn’t run off last time, I had something I…”

“Needed to do. Yeah, you said.” Lister realised he was still holding onto Rimmer’s hand. He let go. If he really wanted to run, he didn’t want him to feel that he couldn’t.

“I’m sorry,” Rimmer said. He folded his arms defensively across his chest. “I didn’t mean… I don’t know why I did that.”

Lister waved off the apology. “It’s my irresistible charm,” he said. “I told you I’ve snogged some of my mates after a few drinks. What I didn’t mention is mostly they snogged me. And some of them were completely straight. Or they said they were.”

“Like me,” Rimmer said.

Lister shrugged. “Sure. If you say so.”

Rimmer’s folded arms grew tighter. More defensive. Great, all the tension Lister had worked out of him was back.

“Don’t flatter yourself, Lister. It’s been so long I’d probably have kissed anyone if I’d had the chance.”

“But you didn’t. You kissed me. And it’s fine, Rimmer. Don’t stress about it.”

“I’m not attracted to you.”

Lister smiled. “I know. I’m not attracted to you either.”

“No, I mean really, I’m not.”

Lister nodded, he tried not to take that as an insult, after all, it was just an expression of fact. “Rimmer, it’s fine. I know you’re not. If you were, I’d have noticed before now. Don’t feel weird about it. It was nice, actually.”

Rimmer bristled, then frowned in confusion. “Nice? Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, unexpected but yeah, nice. And I get it; it’s not sexual or anything, it’s… sensual. It’s about touch.” Lister stepped closer, closing the distance between then, and took Rimmer's hand in his. Cradling it in one hand, he began to run his fingers in a circle on the back. “Just like this,” he said.

Rimmer appeared to relax. He rewarded Lister with the smallest of smiles. “It was a very good neck rub,” he said.

Lister grinned. “And If that’s how you react after a neck rub, I can’t wait to see what you’d do after a full back massage.”

Rimmer folded his arms defensively, and Lister immediately regretted the joke.

“Sorry.” He said. “Bad joke. Come on, let's get out of here. I think we’ve both had more than enough to drink for one night.”

Rimmer sighed, then nodded. “And Lister, if you tell anybody about what just happened…”

“Yeah, I know,” Lister told him. “Don’t worry, I’ll be keeping this to myself.”

(next)

Thanks once again to @norwegianpornfaerie for the beta.

#red dwarf #red dwarf fanfic #dave lister #arnold rimmer #slash #my fic

[melishade]

Attack on Prime Autobot Anthology Halloween Movies

Main Story

Halloween Anthology

A New Identity

Sixth Sense

Music III

TW Blood. TW Gore!

"Hey, Hanji, can we wrap up this up soon?" Wheeljack asked, snapping the Commander out of their tinkering. They put the 3D gear down before looking up at Wheeljack in confusion.

"Really? Now?" Hanji questioned in surprised, "You're usually eager to do experiments."

"I am," Wheeljack agreed, "But I have a plan with Arcee later."

"What kind of plan?" Hanji asked.

"Movie night," Wheeljack answered, "Specifically, Halloween Movie Night."

Wheeljack noticed the way that Hanji's face turned...distasteful, but they were still intrigued.

"Elaborate," Hanji ordered.

"Humans on Earth have Halloween-!"

"Yeah, I already know that. Optimus told us stories. There was a betting pool, but what do you mean by movies?" Hanji demanded.

"Well you know the videos you've recorded?" Wheeljack asked.

"Yes," Hanji answered.

"Well think of movies as those except way longer," Wheeljack explained, "Humans made a bunch of them based on their horror stories. Personally, Arcee and I are going to watch it and make fun of it. Humans get creative. It's interesting."

A idea popped into Wheeljack's helm. "You can join us if you want. We're gonna do it on the neutral ship. That's why I need to head out. Gotta make some high grade for the fright fest."

Hanji thought it over. "I guess we can put this on hold. I'll probably come by later for my own curiosity. As for the others..."

==

Later

"Absolutely not!" Connie screamed.

"Aw, c'mon!" Hanji whined.

"Commander, it is one thing to hear those stories being told to use by Optimus and hearing how messed up the humans on that world are!" Jean exclaimed, "But you actually want to watch a movie with them about it!"

"What's a movie?" Mikasa asked.

"A really long video, apparently," Hanji explained.

"Hanji, we're still trying to get over what happened last time, especially with Buckethead's story," Levi groaned in annoyance, "How well do you think this is going to go?"

"It's not even just that. I just think it would be good to continue trying to bond with Wheeljack and Arcee so they would be less inclined to turn on us if somehow Optimus isn't who he says he is or whatever," Hanji explained, "I genuinely would not be considering this on any other day, but this is so complicated already and I would prefer that we maintain allies. Can we please all try to do that so we can survive?"

The Survey Corps looked at each other with hesitation. They didn't want to lose Optimus or potential allies that would help prevent them from using the Rumbling. Still...the idea of dealing with those horror stories again wasn't promising.

"...Can we do just one movie?" Eren asked.

"That's completely fine," Hanji reassured.

The Survey Corps looked at each other one more time before making up their minds.

===

"Alright!" Wheeljack cheered as he walked into the main deck, holding two cubes of high-grade energon, "We have high grade energon!"

"Movie's ready to go," Arcee informed as she finished adjusting the datapad and sat on the floor.

"I don't understand why we're watching a remake though. The kids always talked about how boring remakes were." Wheeljack sat down next to Arcee and handed her the high-grade.

"They said it was one of the better remakes." Arcee took the high-grade. She was ready to press play on the datapad, but was stopped when she heard something clatter in the hallway. Arcee immediately pulled out her blaster to aim, but was surprised to see the Survey Corps panic and hold onto each other.

"Oh! You came!" Wheeljack smiled.

"Y-yeah we did!" Sasha stumbled, "Can ya please put the gun away?!"

"Sorry," Arcee apologized as her blaster turned back into her servo.

"I hope there's room for more," Hanji said, "We brought our own snacks and blankets."

"I...don't think this is a good idea," Arcee admitted.

"I'd think it'd be fun." Wheeljack shrugged.

"Optimus told us scary stories for a month before Megatron ruined it on the last day," Eren seethed at the name of the former warlord.

"Optimus...willingly told you scary stories?" Arcee questioned.

Hanji rubbed their hands together. "Not...entirely."

"Hanji threatened to delete shit if he didn't do it," Levi explained.

"Ha!" Wheeljack cackled.

"We had a betting pool," Jean added, "Mikasa won the pot even though Megatron scarred us for life."

"Mikasa has a weird obsession with this shit!" Sasha accused.

"There's a difference between hearing scary stories and actually watching them," Arcee declared, "Humans on Earth are...creative when it comes to horror."

"Can't be worse than hearing Megatron talking about 'The Wailing Spark' and then have it actually confirmed to be real," Hanji added.

Arcee and Wheeljack paused at that. "The Wailing Spark is real?!"

"Oh very much so," Hanji answered with a devious grin, "And if you let us watch the movie, we will tell you how it's real.”

Arcee and Wheeljack glanced at each other. Both looked rather curious at the proposal, but Arcee was still apprehensive about letting them see this movie.

"C'mon 'Cee, it's the Wailing Spark!" Wheeljack pressed.

Arcee sighed in response, curiosity getting the best of her, before she turned back to the Survey Corps. "We'll watch the introduction scene only. If you cannot handle that, then you need to go back home."

"...That's foreboding," Connie lamented as Mikasa stepped forward and sat down in front of the two Autobots. The rest of them continued to follow along, sitting down on the cold floor and setting up their food. Arcee was even surprised to see Levi setting up a fire to warm the tea kettle.

"This is gonna be fun," Wheeljack grinned as he pressed play on the datapad.

The Survey Corps were met with strange logos on the screen, followed by rather ominous music. The scene then shifted to a dark and dead forest surrounded by fog. A woman staggered through the forest. Her dress tattered, and her face and limbs stained with blood. She was frightened. She didn't know where she was. But she spotted someone. A dark silhouette in the distance holding a rifle in hand, causing her to run and hide behind one of the trees. The man walked past her, but she was quickly attacked by another man in the forest. He had placed a bag over her head, causing a few of the humans to jump in fear.

"Are we good?" Arcee asked.

"We're fine! Just a sneak attack! No harm in that!" Hanji reassured. Everyone excluding Mikasa and Levi flinched at the sight of the girl getting hit in the face with the butt of a rifle.

The scene shifted to the girl struggling in her chains, bound to a post underground with a small audience, one of who's faces was notably deformed. The old woman flipped through the pages of an old book as she hung dead, skinned cats to the ceiling.

"God, it's a torture scene!" Sasha whimpered.

"Are they going to kill her?!" Armin asked.

The woman tied to the post begged to be let go as a man in glasses approached the woman and removed. The woman stared at the man in fear and confusion, saying: "Daddy?"

"Oh shit," Eren swore as the conversation continued.

"IS THE DAD GOING TO KILL HIS KID?!" Sasha screamed. Meanwhile, Mikasa didn't take her eyes off the screen. She felt the hairs on her neck rise, but she didn't look away.

"Mommy dead baby. You know that...You killed her."

"What?!"

"NO!" Connie yelled.

"Oh this is getting good!" Wheeljack smiled.

"We're going to give them all nightmares," Arcee groaned in defeat.

The woman begged to be released as the old woman flipped the pages of the book to reveal a drawing of a woman...being burned alive.

"No..." Armin trailed.

"Fuck. Fuck! Fuck!" Eren swore.

Levi could help but grip his teacup just a little bit tighter. The father poured what looked like oil on the woman's head before tossing the bottle aside and pulling out a match. He tried to light it as his daughter continued to beg for her life.

"Oh my skin is crawling," Hanji shivered as they gripped their arms.

"Please."

"I can't look!" Connie covered his eyes and hid behind Jean.

"Please stop!"

"There's no way! There's no way!" Armin pleaded.

"I will rip your soul out daddy."

All the humans froze at those words. Did they…did they just hear that correctly?

“And so it begins,” Wheel grinned wickedly.

The father lit the match, and his daughters eyes changed.

“I’LL RIP YOUR SOUL OUT YOU PATHETIC FUCK!”

Nearly all the humans screamed as they scrambled away from the datapad. Jean and Connie were jumping over each other while Sasha and Hanji hid behind Arcee and Wheeljack respectively. Eren quickly grabbed Armin as the two scrambled back together while Levi’s teacup shattered in his hand. Mikasa jolted at the screen as she watched the possessed girl’s body begin to burn, but she didn’t look away. How could she? The possessed girl was…enjoying the feeling of being burned alive. She could see the grin on her face as everyone there watched her burn with apathy.

Her father raised the shotgun in the air and aimed it at her head. “I love you baby.”

The possessed girl screeched at her father before he blew her entire head off. Before the Survey Corps could even question what just happened, loud music blared as two words appeared on the screen title ‘Evil Dead’ causing most of them to scream. Wheeljack couldn’t help but laugh while Arcee got up and paused the movie.

“Alright, you saw the intro to the movie and you could barely handle it,” Arcee proclaimed, “Please go before you give yourselves nightmares for months.”

“Why the hell aren’t you phased?!” Sasha demanded.

“When you deal with ‘Cons like Airachnid and Shockwave, nothing phases you,” Arcee shrugged as she drank some of her high-grade.

“Can I stay?” Mikasa raised her hand.

“The hell?!” Almost every human screamed at her.

“Mikasa, she was speaking in multiple voices and her head was blown off by her own dad!” Eren pointed at the datapad.

“I know. I want to know what happens next,” Mikasa declared.

“…Fuck. I’ll stay,” Levi decided.

“Captain!” Armin exclaimed.

“I’m not letting you beat me again Levi!” Hanji declared as they turned to everyone else, “As of this moment, this has become a betting pool! Whoever last the longest without screaming, fleeing, or anything of the sort, gets a week of absence with free pay!”

“Two weeks!” Sasha demanded.

“Why would we let you stay?!” Arcee demanded, “You clearly can’t handle it!”

“Shut up, ‘Cee, this is gonna be great,” Wheeljack whispered to her.

“One and a half! Final offer!” Hanji declared.

The Survey Corps looked at each other before all begrudgingly returning to their seats.

“You want be able to sleep for months,” Arcee proclaimed before going back to play the movie.

The movie continued playing, and the reactions from the Survey Corps were understandably fearful. Arcee and Wheeljack continued to make comments about the movie and the gore that it presented. All the humans squirmed at the way that Mia got possessed, and grew disgusted at the blood and guts galore. How each of these human characters, who seemed like decent people, were killed off one by one by these demons that possessed their bodies and made them mutilate themselves. They all couldn’t help but be relieved at the sight of Mia regaining her humanity, but we’re devastated when her brother David, died protecting her by burning himself and his dead possessed friend alive.

And then it started to rain blood from the sky before a hand tore itself out of the ground.

Optimus came into the neutral ship, hearing the sounds of screaming and terror. He immediately ran down the hall to see what the commotion was about, but was surprised to see the Autobots and the humans watching a movie together. A very graphic movie. The Prime could help but flinch at the sight of the woman in red sawing off the leg of a naked humanoid demon with a chainsaw. The demon in response pushed the car to crush the woman in red. She managed to roll out of the way, but her left arm got caught under the keep causing her to cry out in pain and fear.

“Mia! No!” Half of the humans screamed.

“Fight, Mia! C’mon!” Eren screamed at her.

The demon crawled towards Mia, but the girl mustered up the willpower to tear her arm from her body, causing everyone to visibly squirm and yell. Even Optimus winced at the sight of the blood. Mia held the stump of her left arm before forcing herself to stand up and grab the chainsaw. She faced the demon that crawled in front of her as it forced itself up with its hands.

“I will feast on your soul!”

The engine of the chainsaw revved as Mia held it up. “Feast on this, motherfucker!”

Both human and Autobots cheered as Mia jammed the chainsaw into the demon, causing blood to fly everywhere. It drenched Mia body, but she still persisted as the weapon dug into the demon’s torso and face, tearing it to shred. Mia then yanked the chainsaw high into the air, cutting the demon’s face in half and letting the body hit the floor.

“Go back to hell, bitch.” Mia swore as the demon’s body bubbled like acid before sinking back into the dirt. Its death had caused the rain to stop, and the humans cheered at the final girl’s victory.

“Oh thank god someone made it out of this shit show!” Sasha declared.

“What in the Allspark are you watching?” Optimus spoke. The humans couldn’t help but scream at the new voice while Arcee and Wheeljack stared in surprised.

“Chief, did you just swear?” Wheeljack asked.

“Optimus, what are you doing here?!” Hanji demanded.

“I came to recharge. What are you all doing?” Optimus asked.

“We’re watching a human horror film,” Arcee answered, getting over her surprise.

“Why would you do that?” Optimus couldn’t help but be flabbergasted.

“Bonding?” Armin shrugged.

Optimus rubbed his optics with his servos. “You could barely handle the stories I told you and the Wailing Spark. Why would you subjugate yourself to more of this?”

“Speaking of, the humans are saying the Waling Spark is real?” Arcee questioned.

Optimus looked down at the human and narrowed his optics at Hanji, who grinned sheepishly.

“According to Megatron, Starscream had found the Wailing Spark to be his mentor trapped in the body of a Voin and intentionally left his mentor there in order to keep the urban legend intact,” Optimus explained.

Both Autobots stared at Optimus in shock before they quickly finished the last of their high-energon.

“Suddenly not feeling bad that Predaking nearly mauled Starscream to death,” Arcee remarked.

Now it was Optimus’ turn to be baffled. “Predaking did what?”

(Now normally I would have made another anthology for this. But one, got a new job, so I don’t have the time to write it. Two: I am not watch horror movies and scaring the shit out of myself.

But in regards to AOP updates, I will be updating this Friday, simply because the final episode of AOT is supposed to come out this Saturday and I need to gain some traction on my fanfic. Besides that, Happy Halloween ghouls and freaks. And watch Evil Dead (2013) if you are over 18+ because that movie is really intense.)

#attack on prime #transformers prime #tfp #snk #attack on titan #aot #shingeki no kyojin #ao3 #autobot anthology #hanji zoe #eren jaeger #armin arlert #mikasa ackerman #captain levi #levi ackerman #sasha blouse #connie springer #jean kirschstein #maccadam #macadam #halloween #evil dead #tfp optimus #tw blood #tw gore #tfp arcee #wheeljack #tfp wheeljack #arcee