#|| this is longer than i intended GEEZE

[hcadlesshuntcr]

I do think the idea of Eirnin being a companion would be Funnie. Thinking about him going to Baulder's Gate to join the Harpers (I think he'd make a fine Harper). A lot of "Eirnin disapproves" when talking about helping the big three. Embracing the tadpole. Trusting the emperor. He has Kendrick level hate for THAT mf, a talk for another time. Doing tasks for certain randos without asking for money (unless the well-being of kids/those considered innocent is involved).

He's very helpful when dealing with Ethel in act 1. He picks up on her in the drove. Finding her again and passing that nature check that hides her comes easy for him. He tells your TAV/Durge to knock out her masked, so they can come back to remove them after they defeat her. Not to talk to that panicking drow. He's neutral to the use of the wand, being undead himself. He does warn the woman her husband won't be as she knew him.

In act two he's helpful when dealing with that pixie. He'll talk to her if your TAV/Durge is annoyed by her. He speaks her language and will hold onto the bell to activate it when it comes time. There is HEAVY disapproval that comes with making another moon lantern. He's very eager to meet Jaheira.

He comes through again with Ethel in act three. He's VERY excited abt that hagsbane recipe >:)). He'll offer to make it for you. You get approval if you let him. You'll also get approval letting Conner rest. Heavy disapproval when taking Raphael's deal HEAVY approval tearing through the House of Hope. He's been dying all over again to kill Raphael.

His good ending is him joining the Harpers. A romance ending varies, but it's ideally the two of you traveling together, either as Harpers together, or to be more independent contractors together. A bad ending with him involves him in service to a higher power. Maybe joining that thieves guild you find in the sewers, I fucking forget their names. That or that other group that I'm forgetting that dresses in yellow. He's good at stealing, and people already assume the worst of him when they know what he is. He either shows up at the end party with a lot to say or nothing at all.

[scarperseus]

I was reading some research about split brain patients, or people who have had the connection of the brain hemispheres (or corpus callosum) severed, leaving the two halves unable to communicate. And of course I immediately thought of Jekyll and Hyde.

Now I am one to know very well that J&H are not split personalities nor "brain sides", but the similarities are so neat I don't see why I couldn't dive in a little deeper into representation. I know this has most likely been looked into before as them being the two brain sides, but I wonder if ever in a much more real life situation like in split brain patients, (their experiments are trippy, I recommend watching them), not just in a hypothetical sense.

As Hyde representing the right brain, it definitely works as a really good "villain origin story". Since that hemisphere does not have the ability to speak, when working and connected with the left brain it is forced to submit to the more "analytical and reasoning" side. When Hyde is set free, he now has a voice and a freedom in what to do, where now the left brain has to submit (hence Jekyll not being able to change back since reasoning isn't priority, only want). That feeling is intoxicating for one who's never known it.

The right brain is primarily used for senses, identification, etc., so Hyde only cares about chasing his desires. Now able to figure out things for himself, without having to do whatever the left brain says, anything is possible. That feeling of unexplainable actions is very obvious in split brain patients (the left hand, controlled by the right brain, draws something that the left brain doesn't know the reason for) where the horror of this story being a possibility is much more conceivable.

So, who really are you? Or was Stevenson right and you.. were always really two?

[ase-trollplays]

Get Help

The night started off great. Darius came to visit Corali out of the blue, and she was naturally ecstatic to have her son visit. Sure, he was already six by the time she took him in, but no one could tell her he wasn't her kid unless they wanted to get decked by a metal fist. She was damn proud of the adult he grew into, and any night she got to see him, whether it was at her hive or after one of her ring matches, was a good night.

At least, until the drinking inevitably started.

Darius watched pointedly as she had a beer during their conversations. She had another while they were cooking, and during dinner, she had one more. She offered him one at least twice, and he declined both times. After seeing her example growing up, the idea of drinking had no appeal. If anything, it was actively repulsive.

She had just finished washing the dishes when she opened the door to the refrigerator to grab yet another beer. Darius slammed it shut.

"Co, we have to talk," Darius said with uncertainty lacing his voice. Corali raised an eyebrow at him before rolling her eyes dismissively. She already knew his angle. This wasn't the first time he tried to confront her.

"If this's about mah drinkin, ah ain't tryna hear it," she slurred and wrenched the door back open. He slammed it again, and Corali groaned in frustration. "Dammit boy, quit gettin' in mah way a mah drink!"

"No, Co! We have to talk about this. You're going to put yourself in an early grave," he asserted and met her drunken glare with a stern glare of his own. Corali gave an exaggerated sigh and dragged a hand down her face with irritation.

"Look, ah 'ppreciate th' concern, but ah ain't gon' dah no tahme soon, an' when ah do it ain't gon' be 'cuz a a l'il alcohol."

"It's not a little alcohol. You're always drinking. Even when I was a kid, you couldn't go one night without drinking. If it wasn't a bunch of beer, it was your flasks."

"Now y'all listen here, Dar. Y'ain't mah lusus'r mah 'rail. Last ah checked, ah raised ya not th' other way 'round. 'Sides, it ain't lahke ah can't get mah shit done. Ah still hunt an' faht an' take care a Pa an' mah nahtlies 'round the hahve. Ah'm tellin' ya ah'm fahne!"

"No, you're not!" Darius snapped, taking Corali by surprise as he'd never risen his voice to her like that before. Her surprise was short-lived as her tempter began to flare up. A loud irritated clicking started in her throat, and the yellow of her eyes turned slightly darker.

"Y'all best watch yer tone, boy! Yer in mah hahve, an' y'all ain't gon' be disrespectin' me in mah hahve!" she shot back punctuated with a growl. Darius faltered as his bravery evaporated, and he took a step away from her and the refrigerator. "Tha's more like it."

As she grabbed her fourth beer of the night, she wasn't given the privilege to remove the top before Darius's hand was on it ready to snatch it from her. She didn't let go, but her previous growl turned into an angry snarl.

"An' jus' what da ya think yer doin', boy?" Corali asked as her slightly orange eyes now shone red-orange. Darius began to falter once again, but with a deep breath he steeled himself for the outburst he knew his actions would provoke. He couldn't let her keep doing this.

He wouldn't.

"You need help, Co. If you won't stop, then at least tone it down and don't have any more," he pleaded. She may have only been three beers deep, but he knew she wouldn't stop until the entire six pack was gone. She might have even opened something new after that.

Under any other circumstance, she might have listened. After all, her son was visiting for the first time in a long time, and this should be a happy occasion. Three beers wasn't even enough to get her properly drunk yet. However, she was buzzed enough that her temper was outweighing her better judgement.

This wasn't about the beer anymore. It was about being disrespected by the troll she raised in her own home for a minor issue at best. As much as she adored him, her mind was telling her that his lashing out wouldn't be tolerated.

"Let. Go," she demanded through gritted teeth and a pull strong enough that Darius was momentarily knocked off balance. However, he would not be deterred and his grip held firm.

"No," he answered as his own anger at the situation started to show in his voice. He knew making her angry was only going to make things worse, but he couldn't back down this time like he did every other time. Being nice wasn't working, so he had no choice but to be assertive.

What happened next was an intense tug of war for the bottle. Although Darius couldn't match her strength, he was able to match her stubborn refusal to let go. They fought for thirty seconds straight before--

SMASH!!

The bottle finally gave way under the increased grip on Corali's metal hand and shattered when she finally managed to wrench it away from Darius.

"GOD DAMMIT YOU LITTLE SHIT!!"

The sound of metal meeting skin rang out through her hive as she slapped him across the face. He hadn't even had time to think before the blow rendered him unconscious and sprawled across the kitchen floor.

He seemed to fall in slow motion as realization of what she'd done cut through the fog of anger. She struck her own kid, the person whose opinion of her mattered more than just about anyone's. He trusted her his whole life from the night they met and all while he lived with her and was raised and taught by her. His only crime was caring for her health.

And she struck him with enough force to knock him out in a single blow.

"Shit... s-shit, shit, shit! A-ah--! Oh god, what'd..." she stammered as she stared down at his unconscious form in horror.

There was no coming back from this.

******************************************************

Corali sat in a kitchen chair across from Darius as he rested in her bed under a variety of different pelts and furs. Two hours had passed since she slapped him, and he still hadn't awoken. She didn't dare move from her spot lest she miss her chance to apologize when he woke up. She ran through all the worst case scenarios in her head over and over again.

He hit the ground hard after that slap; what if he had a concussion? Should she have taken him to a hospital in the city instead of keeping him here?

What if she broke something in his face? She didn't feel anything break against her hand, but that didn't mean much when her arm was made of metal. There was so much bruising and swelling -- There still is. There's no way she didn't at least crack his cheekbone.

Most importantly, would he be able to forgive her? She never once ever laid so much as a finger on him before now. She recalled him telling her tales of his lusus, an awful abusive thing that beat him on a near nightly basis before she fell to her death. She vowed to never be like that thing that dared pass itself off as a custodian.

She failed him. It took until his adulthood, but she still failed him. If he did forgive her, she didn't deserve it.

Corali, her head in her hands and regrets and guilt weighing heavy in her thoughts, snapped to attention when she heard Darius start to stir.

"D-Darius? Dar Bear?? Ya alright??" she asked as she practically jumped out of her seat to be right at his side. He groaned in pain and slowly opened his eyes to look at her. He seemed dazed for a few moments as though trying to regain his bearings. Once he was completely lucid, his confused gaze turned to one of complete and utter betrayal.

"You... you hit me," he said in shock and reached up to touch his injured cheek. Corali grabbed his hand, causing him to flinch and jolt away from her.

"Don't! Yer hurt real bad--"

"Because of you! You hit me over a beer!" he shouted before wincing and groaning as a shock of pain radiated from here he'd been hit. His shock and betrayal transformed into intense anger and hurt, and he glared at his former guardian with such unyielding contempt that she swore her heart would stop.

"Well??! Do you have anything to say for yourself!!" he shouted. She could only respond to his anger with a pitiful wince and a downturned glance. There was so much she wanted to say, but the words wouldn't come out. She wanted to apologize, or just say anything at all, but guilt and shame choked her words before they even had a chance to form.

After several moments with no response, Darius growled and threw the furs and pelts off himself as he clambered out of bed. He didn't even give Corali a second look as he stormed out and headed toward the exit.

"W-wait!! Dar!" Corali finally managed to say and ran out of the room to catch up with him. Once she did, she grabbed him by the shoulder, and he jerked away from her as hard as his body would allow.

"Don't touch me!! Just-- Just leave me alone!" he fired at her, though there was something else in his voice now. There was still anger, but also... fear. Corali backed away and stared in disbelief. She could see he was trembling now.

Oh god. Oh no.

Was he... afraid of her?

Corali froze in place as he ran out the door and up the stairs leading to the above-ground portion of the hive. She could hear the front door slam shut above, and silence filled the space.

All that remained was the spilled beer and broken glass still in the kitchen. That, and the sound of her regrets.

[accioscarheadthings]

I was wondering if you could do a Kenji Sato x a curvy goth girlfriend? I'd love to see how that dynamic would play out especially with Emi since the girlfriend looks absolutely terrifying but is actually a big sweetheart who just plays Emi lullabys using her guitar abs reads her Edgar Allan Poe Stories as bedtime stories

Yes, of course, love. I love writing about characters that give off black cat vibes but are a secret sunshine.

this turned out longer than i intended it to be 'cause i couldn't resist.

this was a bit rushed.

also you're my first request♡

I hope my writing lived up to your expectations. enjoy<33

Mama's here

pairing: kenji x gothic!curvy!gf!reader

this contains : fluff, reader and kenji parenting emi, use of petnames (baby, babe, sweetheart, mama)

summary: you help your boyfriend take care of the baby kaiju he took in, and surprisingly bonding well with the creature.

masterlist !

"okay, sweetheart, promise me that you'll not freak out," kenji stood behind you on the elevator that led to his basement, "and you won't be mad at me," he rested his hands on your sides, palm splayed on your love handles.

you gave him a suspicious look over your back, "kenji sato, what did you do?"

"nothin' mama," he kissed your cheek fondly, knowing how soft that nickname got you, "also remember, i love you so much,"

you stared at him for a moment longer, wondering what on earth he was about to reveal to you.

when the elevator doors opened, you were met with a pink baby gigantron in a giant glass cage. it had yellow fins on the sides of its face and the top of its head. plump cheeks, curved yellow beak and round eyes.

it was fast asleep, its chest rising and falling in even breaths. it shifted lightly in its sleep, beak opening and closing in a yawn and a low trill escaped its throat.

as for you, you were still in shock, "son of a bitch!" your mouth fell open.

"shh! you'll wake her up," kenji silenced you, placing his hands on your shoudlers.

"no wonder you were sweet-talking our way down here!" you glared at him, resting your hands at your hips.

"mina," kenji glanced at the ai hovering above you, "back me up, maybe,"

"i was mad when i found out as well. so you're on your own in this one, kenji," mina retorted.

"geez, way to throw me under the bus," he mumbled, throwing his hands up at his sides in exasperation. he stepped closer to you, "look, i didn't know what else to do, okay? her mother-" he halted, lowering his voice so the baby kaiju wouldn't wake, "her mother died when the kdf intervened and tried to take them both down,"

your furious stance dropped at his statement, expression clearing, "oh shit,"

"yeah," he winced, taking a step closer to you, "i couldn't leave her. and i also don't know how to raise a baby," he raised his eyebrows your way in emphasis.

"you think i do?"

"i'm thinking you can help," he spoke, "hands wrapping around your body, his palms running up and down your sides, "please mama?" he blinked down at you with those pleading eyes you could never say no to.

your face twisted in contemplation, as you watched the baby kaiju sleep peacefully. you couldn't deny the spark of affection bloom in you for it.

"alright," you agreed reluctantly.

"yes! thank you!" he sighed, kissing all over your face, and finally on your lips, mouth devouring yours.

your face scrunched up due to his actions, the corner of your lips curving up in a smile. you kissed him back affectionately, resting a palm on the side of his neck.

when kenji pulled back, you noticed your lipstick smeared over his mouth.

this time, you grinned fully.

"what?" he blinked at you cluelessly, his bangs falling over his forehead just right. he was so captivated by your grin that he mirrored you.

you thumbed the stain from his lower lip, "you're a messy kisser, love,"

colour rose to his cheeks as your thumb tugged at his tainted lips, "s'okay. i like it when you leave your mark on me,"

rolling your eyes, you pursed your lips, trying not to be affected by his words.

kenji beamed when pecked his cheek, his hands snaking around your body and finding his place on the soft skin of your waist.

next morning, kenji made the due introductions between you and emi, helping you both be at ease in each other's presence.

kenji chuckled, noticing the baby gigantron's wariness of you. he reached out a hand and spoke soothingly, trying to calm the little creature. "hey girl," he said softly, "it's okay. don't be afraid of y/n here. she's not gonna hurt you. she may look intimidating, but she's a big softie,"

"i'm not a softie," you deadpanned to the side of his face, sending a smoldering look his way.

the baby gigantron chirped weakly, her beady eyes scanning every inch of you in caution.

you stood there, trying to look as non-threatening as possible, despite your dark, gothic appearance. the baby gigantron continued to eye you with some trepidation, its tiny claws grounded to the floor of the basement.

kenji took your hand in his, making you stand in front of him adn ugided your movements, "see? she's a good person,"

the baby gigantron hesitated for a moment, her beady eyes darting back and forth between you and kenji, her eyes taking in your proximity. then, slowly but surely, she inched closer to your outstretched hand.

as the she padded cautiously toward you both, it let out a soft chirrup sound. she seemed intrigued by you, her wariness slowly melting away as she realized you was trustworthy.

kenji moved your hand slowly, maintaining a soothing tone as he made you gently stroke the baby gigantron's soft pink head.

she let out a soft, contented chitter in response, her round eyes closing briefly in delight.

kenji looked back at you with a small smile, "see, babe? she's warming up to you," he said, his voice hushed to avoid startling the creature.

you felt the tension escape you as the kaiju baby leaned into your touch, her body relaxed and trusting. she seemed to have completely forgotten its earlier apprehension of you.

"that's right," kenji urged, "it's just mommy," he referred to you, "she's not gonna hurt you,"

you gave him a weird look, "i'm not her mother, kenji!"

"i'm her daddy, which means you're her mommy,"

as you moved your hand, the baby gigantron perked up at the sound of your bracelet clinking against her head. her eyes widened with curiosity, and it made a soft, inquisitive sound in contemplation, tipping its head to the side.

she seemed to find the sound and the sensation of your touch amusing, and she continued to let you pet her without any further trepidation.

the baby gigantron let out a series of soft, playful chirps, her tiny claws gently batting at your bracelets as she sought to explore the shiny metallic objects even further.

you let out a chuckle at her adorable actions, giving into her as you shook your wrist playfully, making the charms on your wrist jingle with each other.

you were seated on the table at the far end of the basement, flipping through your guitar notes and arranging the sheets in order. 

"get back here," kenji panted, "right now, missy!" he was in ultraman form, struggling to grab hold of the baby kaiju, but she kept dodging him, running between his legs as she giggled her heart out.

kenji mostly took care of the bathing and burping part. while you handled feeding her, turning it into an airplane game.

the baby kaiju cooed at your antics, slowly getting closer to you that she needed to see you every day. you watched over her when kenji went for his games.

you both would watch the broadcast together; you would explain the game to her while the baby kaiju would listen to you in childlike wonder.

kenji came back home from a win, his legs moving as quick as possible as he enveloped you in a giant hug. he snuggled his face into your neck, letting out a breath of ease. you held him against your chest, one hand burying into the back of his head.

kenji struggled to balance baby kaiju care and baseball. without enough rest, he underperformed. but your companionship and support made days easier. your influence helped him manage his roles better and continue pursuing his passion for the game.

he mumbled a bunch of 'thank you' and 'couldn't have done it without you' against your neck, hands wandering your body, grabbing at the softness and worshipping you.

"you were amazing," you brought his face to yours, kissing his forehead in pride.

"mm, thanks babe,"

as you and kenji shared your loving words, the baby gigantron, who was watching intently, couldn't help but let out a soft, curious 'coo' sound.

the little creature seemed to be attracted by the affectionate exchange between you and kenji, drawn in by the gentle words and the laughter that accompanied it.

her beady eyes glittered with interest, and she inched closer to you both, her small paws making no sound on the smooth floor.

she seemed to be attempting to get a closer look at the interaction, intrigued by the emotional connection between you two.

when the baby kaiju fractured her hand after escaping the mansion, kenji called for his father, not knowing who else to ask for help.

professor sato greeted you when he noticed you at the baby kaiju's side, mumbling soothing words of comfort.

she whined at you in pain, eyes closing when you caressed the scales of her tummy. you felt your heart tug at the sight, "you poor thing. it's okay. everything will be okay,"

professor sato jerked her displaced bone back into place, causing her to screech in pain. the baby kaiju leaned into your touch, crying out into you.

professor sato had named the baby kaiju "emi," after his late wife, which added a special touch to the bond you and Kenji had formed with the small creature.

he kindly offered to assist you and his son in raising the tiny creature, knowing you both could use his expertise.

emi grew fond of your guitar sessions. whenever you strummed the strings, her gaze would fixate on you.

she loved it so much that she seemed to ditch her usual rhymes that frequently annoyed kenji.

she was completely enthralled by the music, captivated by the sound and the way your fingers moved across the instrument.

you would sit on the high rise stool with your legs crossed with your guitar nestled in your lap.

emi's eyes widened in amazement, her gaze fixed on your fingers as they moved across the strings, producing beautiful music.

she would clap her hands together in enjoyment, seated obidiently on the ground in front of you.

sometimes, you would lay on the floor on your back, your guitar resting against your chest. with a soft and contemplative expression, you began strumming random chords, creating an impromptu and soothing melody.

emi would be stretched out beside you in a similar manner, her tiny body imitating your position. her eyes fluttered shut, seemingly entranced by the sound of the guitar and the rhythmic strums of your fingers across the strings.

you also began to read bedtime stories to her, pulling out your collection of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories collection.

the lights in the dimly lit basement were on, but the atmosphere was serene and soothing. kenji walked in, letting out a yawn and taking in the scene before him.

you were leaning against emi's tummy, knees propped, while emi laid on her side behind you, her claw nail resting on your lap for you to hold. you read the story aloud for her while she trilled in relaxation.

"gothic horror, for a baby kaiju?" kenji questioned, "seems a bit intense, doesn't it?" he said, his tone teasing.

"what, she likes it," you shrugged, "don't you, honey?" you asked the kaiju baby.

emi cooed in reply, as if to agree with you.

"it may help her out when she gets to the wild," you added, "you'll never know,"

kenji approached you, shaking his head slightly in mock defeat. He knew he would never win against your arguments. he settled down on the floor next to you and laid his head in your lap, a small sigh escaping him.

you ran your fingers through his hair, continuing your story for your two babies.

soft snores reached your ear and you stopped reading out loud, smiling to yourself. the story had done its work and caused both emi and kenji to drift off.

you continued to run your fingers through Kenji's hair, your gentle touch lulling him further into relaxation.

soon enough, soft snores filled the room, signaling that both he and the baby kaiju were fast asleep.

emi curled her body, getting closer to you, while kenji passed out on your lap, face resting on your thick thighs.

a smile tugged at your lips as you realized that your story had worked its magic, sending both of your babies into a peaceful slumber.

you returned home after a few hours of running errands, feeling frustrated and annoyed due to a particular inconvenience that had occurred.

when you entered the manor, you were met with a mixture of distressed wails and hollering, followed by a loud crashing sound.

kenji approached you immediately, looking harried, "there you are. Emi has been crying nonstop since you left," he said, his voice taut with concern.

as if on cue, the mansion quaked, and the distant cries of emi echoed through the halls. you followed the sound down to the basement, where you found the baby kaiju in the middle of a tantrum.

her cries were loud and piercing, and she was swatting at everything around her in a fit of anger. it was clear that she was upset about your absence and was manifesting her feelings through the tantrum.

professor sato, with the help of a walking stick, approached you as you entered the basement. "hello, y/n," he greeted warmly.

when you replied, emi abruptly stopped crying and her beady eyes locked onto you.

professor sato chuckled, noticing how quickly she responded to your presence. "looks like you were what she wanted," he said with a smile and motioned for you to come closer.

emi squealed lowly as you got closer to her. she made grabby hands at you, face pouting and cheeks drawing downwards.

"emi, baby-" you let out a yelp of surprise as emi pulled you to her belly, holding you there delicately as she snuggled her pudgy cheek on your head.

you were pressed against her body, looking like a starfish, all splayed out. the affection from the kaiju baby melted your heart and you snuggled into her hold.

"it's okay, honey... uh, mama's here," you added hesitantly.

emi cooed and you smiled wide against her scaly tummy, letting her warmth embrace you.

[maple-the-awesome]

Body Swap || Part 2/2

Part 1 ||

Pairings: Legend, Time, Twilight, Warrior x Reader

Overview: A wizard's spell leaves you both in a state of confusion, especially upon realizing you're no longer in your assigned bodies. No Wind for this one, so we'll just give him a cookie and spare him the trauma for today -.-/🍪 The other boys are at my mercy, though

Zelda Masterlist 💙Fandom Masterlist

Panic ensues nearly the second your situation becomes realized. Legend frantically tugs at his hair and clothing, hoping this to be some sort of illusion cast by that wizard, however his senses only confirm his fears: you've switched bodies.

You're him and he's you which probably shouldn't be as big of a deal as he makes it out to be considering how much worse this could've gone, after all, a greater enemy might've caused actual harm, yet that doesn't stop him from being upset.

Out of everyone this could've happened with - out of all nine of his traveling companions - why did this have to happen with you, the only girl in the group?! Nevermind that you're also his crush!

"I can't believe this..." He groans, picking at another strand of hair and holding it in front of his face. Alas, the color isn't the same as his usual faded pink, "Give me back my body!"

You whip your head around at Legend's demand, finding yourself mildly offended by it which is shown through the placement of your hands on your hips, "Don't you think I would if I could? Like it or not, I think we're stuck like this –"

"- Are you kidding me -?!"

"- Until the spell either wears off or we find a way to reserve it," You narrow your eyes when he interrupts. Standing, you dust yourself while he copies the action except with some added complaints and curses mumbled under his breath.

"I can't believe this. Of course, this is how my day would end. I can't ever catch a break, can I?! The others are never going to let this go. It's all we're going to hear about for the next week!"

"Geeze, I didn't know a day in my body would be so terrible for you."

Legend frowns, not intending to make you feel bad. It's not like you asked for any of this yourself. You’re equally as inconvenienced. It's just...reeeally weird and uncomfortable knowing that he's technically you right now. He's currently in the body of the girl he finds most attractive and sometimes daydreams about –

"I'm sure you're not having any more fun than I am. Let's just get out of here and find a solution as fast as possible, okay?" Legend hastily grabs your hand, intending on getting you both out of this dungeon before you can notice the redness to his cheeks (at least, he's sure he'd be blushing if in his own body right now. Is it even visible on your cheeks, though?), however almost as soon as he pulls, he's nearly thrown back against your unmoving weight.

Kill him now. He isn't used to not having his power bracelets.

"Did you...want me to follow you?"

"...Obviously..."

"Do you also want me to hold your hand so you don't get lost?" You give his hand a squeeze, all the while wearing a shit-eating grin that makes his face even warmer than before.

"...Forget it and fuck off," With that, he drops your hand and marches off, yet you aren't far behind, chasing after him while clearly having too much fun with his reaction.

"You know, this is usually the point when you ask me if I'm on my time of month! Is that your problem, Vet? You're already hormonal after just a few minutes in a girl's body?"

Has his laugh always been this obnoxious? Does he owe Warrior an apology?

"...Well, this is troublesome."

Your eye twitches after Time's calm 'evaluation' of the situation, "...'Troublesome'? You THINK?! You know, when I woke up this morning, I did not expect to end up becoming a sixty-year-old man -!"

"- Sixty? Is that how old you think I am?"

"Well, you act like it sometimes!" You defend, huffing at the end of your sentence before trying to rise onto your feet which still feel wobbly due to that wizard's spell. It takes you a second - and you almost tumble forward like a newborn giraffe, causing you to start swinging your arms around in a desperate attempt to regain balance - but eventually you do succeed in the basic human function called 'standing', "We need to find the Veteran. This is his stupid world, so I'm blaming him for this happening!"

Time, meanwhile, takes pity upon you by letting your previous comment slide. Unlike you, he easily gets to his feet as if ending up in someone else's body is an everyday occurrence for him. His new height is something you take immediate notice of, mentally noting how strange it is to be looking down at someone – let alone him – from so far up. Is this how it always feels for him? No wonder he took on the mantel of being the 'dad' of the group so quickly. You all probably look like literal children to him!

"Thank Hylia we camped close to the dungeon. The others should be getting ready for dinner at this point, so they'll all be in attendance to take joy in our misery," You smile sarcastically with a wave of your hand, however you only take a few steps forward before turning around and realizing that Time isn't following you. His face also looks rather...alarmed?

"...You okay there?"

He hums and gives you an awkward thumbs up, yet that doesn't change his expression any nor does he immediately move to follow you. He simply stands there, his face bright with embarrassment until he finally clears his throat, "I...think I might've had an accident?"

"An 'accident'...?" You scrunch your nose, needing a moment to understand what he could possibly mean. Did he just piss himself as you? You would've thought he'd have more self-control even if he isn’t technically himself. Sure, it might be scary opening your eyes to find yourself in someone else's body, but it's not that scary to warrant - ...Oooh...You get what he means now...

When the realization sinks in, you can feel your own face grow warm. You had forgotten all about that, "Oh shit. I, um...Yeah that's not – It's harmless, really. You'll be fine, it's just -...You know what, just don't worry about, okay? Let's focus on getting ourselves switched back around first. You, uh...gonna be okay dealing with it for now?"

Sympathy laces your voice, however it isn’t exactly strong enough to hide your embarrassment. Seriously, could this get anymore modifying? You weren't trying to think about the whole 'my-crush-is-currently-in-my-body' thing, but you definitely can't ignore it now! Out of all the days of the month this could happen - How embarrassing for you both!

Fortunately, Time, ever the brave gentlemen, nods, that be it slowly and unsurely, "If you can do it your whole life, I can manage for a day..."

"That's the spirit!" Please, please, please say Legend knows a solution for this because you will absolutely die if you have to talk Time through a 'change' of certain materials tonight.

“Oh no…”

“What do you mean by ‘oh no’? What happened? Are you hurt?” Twilight’s voice – which doesn’t really sound like his own – gets progressively more concerned by each question until he finally manages to escape the wall of smoke around him. Once finally receiving a clear view of his hands, he suddenly understands the meaning behind your less-than-thrilled expression.

“That’s what I mean by ‘oh no’,” You frown, watching as he flips his hands around front and back to confirm the notable difference he sees. It would be difficult to ignore how much smaller and smoother they’ve gotten…or to turn a blind eye to all the other major variations throughout the entirely of his body.

“Has anything like this happened to you before?” Whatever surprise you have towards your shared predicament is either quickly recovered from or masked well, because you don’t hesitate to pick yourself up and start collecting your fallen belongings – or rather Twilight’s – from the ground.

“Can’t say it has. I’m guessin’ you’re in the same boat?”

“Yeah, this is the first time I can knock ‘switching bodies’ off the bingo board,” You shake your head, pausing to watch him stand as well, “I know Wind mentioned being able to control other people’s bodies or something like that before. ‘not sure if it’s the same or if he’d know how to fix this.”

“Even if not, we’re in Legend’s world. He’d have to know some kind of solution,” Twilight sighs, going to place a hand on his hip out of habit, but he instantly decides against it in a quick movement he hopes wasn't too obviously. Even if he's consciously in this body, it's still yours. Touching his hip now would be no different from touching your hip any other time which is NOT a friendly place for hands to be! At least that's what his awkward brain tells him.

Trying not to dwell too much on any of that, he makes himself useful by plucking your dropped sword off the ground and returning it to your scabbard the same way you had done with his before reaching down to grab -

“- Don’t touch that!” You’re startled to a halt by Twilight’s sudden shout and turn to give him a puzzled look as he gulps while eyeing the shadow shard you were inches away from picking up next, “It, uh…It’s sharp.”

You narrow your eyes suspiciously at him, and for a second he’s worried he might just have to tackle you to prevent you from touching the object in question (which now that he’s considering it, would probably only be as effective as a sparrow attacking a horse seeing as you’ve switched bodies not to mention you’d only have more reason to question him in that case but -)

“- All you Links are such terrible liars,” You huff after a minute. Nevertheless, you step aside and allow Twilight to pick up the necklace himself. He’s careful to only touch the string and tuck it securely in a pocket because the very last thing he needs added to this day is you finding out one of his greatest secrets by literally becoming it yourself which would then undoubtably lead to his second greatest secret being discovered, after all, it's one thing for a random wolf to let you give him kisses free of charge, but there'll be a lot more to unravel there if you find out it's been your travel companion the whole time.

"Okay. Try not to panic. There has to be some way to reverse this - ARE YOU CHECKING ME OUT RIGHT NOW?!"

Warrior jumps with a start after having been caught, although he must not be too embarrassed because he doesn’t immediately remove his hands from their place on his hips nor does he show much shame in currently having his body turned at an angle to look at his – or more importantly – your back side, “What?! You do it to yourself all the time!”

"T-That’s not - When I'm in my own body!” You stammer, blushing at the realization that you apparently haven’t been as subtle with your habit of checking your own appearance here and there, “Excuse me if I don’t want to walk around looking like a mess with dirt and leaves stuck to my backside! I’m not over here looking at your dick!”

"I hardly think you can equate that to an ass," He deadpans.

"Well, I'm not looking at your ass, either, pervert!"

At last, something you say seems to get to him, your words causing Warrior to bow his head with a pout and that shared discomfort he should’ve had from the beginning, “I’m not a pervert. If it’s such a big deal, then you can come over here and fix the backside of this tunic. It’s riding up on me and it’s driving me crazy.”

You blink then glance around him to notice that your tunic is indeed all out of sorts, one end lifted and tucked in your belt. It must’ve gotten stuck that way during your fight with that wizard…Now you just feel like an idiot…

“…Oh.”

“Oh,” Warrior mocks with a roll of his eyes, not saying much else – perhaps out of pity - as he waits for you to help fix the tunic correctly, although truthfully he’s just busy redirecting his eyes and cursing himself internally for not having explained the situation from the start. He maybe-kinda spaced the fact that he’s currently in your body and didn’t consider the implications of what it would look like for you to see him fussing over your back end. How were you to know he was simply fixing your tunic? He really did probably look like a massive pervert.

“There,” You finally step away.

“Thanks,” He coughs into his fist awkwardly with his opposite hand rubbing the back of his neck. Even in a different body, he carries the same nervous habits, “Uh, sorry. I didn’t mean to –“

“- No. No, you’re fine. I, uh, should’ve had more trust in you," You mumble, running a hand over your hot face before shaking your head. You need to get it together, "Come on. Let's just get out of here and find a way to fix this before any other misunderstandings can happen."

Warrior nod and follows after you out of the dungeon without another word to be said. He won't say it aloud - He refuses to even admit it to himself because he's supposed to be a gentleman and what if you've suddenly become a mind reader?...But if you were to for some reason ask his opinion, you do in fact have a fine ass.

[derangedanomaly]

I just remembered chaos has tentacles.

Does he use them often, I mean, I see he isn't seen with it, but I mean, does he like picking up close ones and people who're cool with it?

If so, can we have a little Chaos x Reader where they get picked up by his tentacles?

Ooh, interesting, very interesting 👀

MASTERLIST

CHAOS PICKING THE READER UP WITH HIS TENTACLES

You stared at Chaos with intensity. Or more respectively, his back, where his tentacles sometimes grow. You still wondered about how exactly they work, they're not exactly like Nightmares tentacles, which he uses more than he probably should.

Nightmare uses his tentacles as a weapon, or to scare off people, but you don't see that with Chaos. You can't help but think about it more than you probably should...

"Huh? Something the matter, buttercup?" There he goes again, with his cheesy nicknames. Your cheeks gained a reddish color when he noticed you staring at him for a little longer than you intended to. "Oh, umm... it's nothing, Chaos." He hummed, probably not believing a single word you said, but he's way to nice to actually point it out- or so you thought.

"Are you sure...?" He smirked down at you, leaning down so he can see eye to eye with you.. your height difference definitely didn't help ease the situation.

"Well...*ahem*..I just thought...your tentacles." He gave you a confused look, not understanding what you're hinting at. "What about them?" Oh geez...this is gonna be embarrassing.. "I was just- wondering....how do you use your tentacles? I mean- I've never seen you using them against someone in any way, shape, or form.." he seemed rather surprised by your point, as he looked at you with wide eyes.

That quickly changed though, as he suddenly looked at you with an expression you never saw on him before.. he gave you this rather....dare you say flirty look. "...Can I ask what made you ask this... particular question?" "Wha-" "Is there a reason why you're thinking of my tentacles?" You gulped, now pretty sure your face was boiling hot.

"Well...If there is a more complex answer to this...then.." you didn't know how to feel when he suddenly whispered this in your ear. You felt like you could suffocate any time, but then, he said something appalling. "I can gladly tell you!" He switched just like that suddenly, leaving his flirty look, now looking at you with a wide, excited smile. Was he just... teasing you?! What a flirt!

"O-Ok..then- can you tell me?" He nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! So...I never use them for any means, because I don't really want to depend on them, so I mostly keep them hidden. But I also don't want to hurt anyone.. they sometimes feel like a burden to be honest.." you frowned, and went to hold his hand for comfort. He perked up, and blushed light turquoise.

He smiled at you, tightening his hold on your hand a little. He suddenly smirked yet again. "But you know...there is one way, in which I can use them for..." You looked at him expectantly. "Does it require for me to do something?" "No, but you'll like it.." you flushed red yet again, trying to refrain from thinking of something not so PG...

You yelped when his tentacles suddenly slithered around your waist, holding you up. You looked down at him in surprise. "I can hold things that I like!" Ok, that's it. He seriously has to stop teasing you.

Maybe..he just doesn't even realize the effect he has on you. And you wouldn't even be surprised if it was like that, based on how much he's beaming with joy right now. He's gonna be the death of you one day.

[cirilla-fiona-riannon]

Birthday Event: My Beloved

Translations may not always capture the exact nuances or tone of the original text. Expect grammatical errors.

(My body feels hot.)

(I won't be satisfied until I have more than just your blood.)

Following the desires that emerged from my heart, I brought my lips close to her skin and dug my fangs into it.

Mitsuki: "Ah...Francis..."

The taste of rusty iron spreading in my mouth satisfied both my thirst and desire. Her movements, writhing in pleasure, were so alluring yet tender.

(It's not just about being satisfied.)

(It's about taking even more.)

Mitsuki: "A-Ahh... ngh..."

Longing and sadistic desires ran up my spine as I sucked and licked her skin, moaning and trembling each time.

Drake: "Haa...Mitsuki..."

I could feel her heart beating furiously. I pressed my chest against her back, intending to match my own heartbeat to its echo.

Mitsuki: "Ahh... Francis?"

Drake: "Your heart is pounding so loudly. Are you aware that I feel the same?”

Drake: "It's screaming that I love you so much it hurts."

(I'm helplessly in love with you.)

Drake: "I always took what I wanted, but you're the first one who stole something as grand as my heart."

Mitsuki: "I'm glad you're happy and that I have stolen your heart."

I lifted her skirt and caressed her thighs. Mitsuki then trapped my hand and rubbed her legs against it pleadingly.

Drake: "What? Do you want it too?"

Mitsuki: "That’s right."

Mitsuki: "I want you."

She blushed and gazed at me eagerly, making it hard not to tease her.

Drake: "Geez, don't tempt me too much, little fawn."

Drake: "But I'm not confident enough to keep us from capsizing if we stay on the boat like this."

With a wry smile, I pressed my lips against her temple, trying to soothe her.

Drake: "Just hold on a little longer until we get home. Tonight, I won't hold back, so get ready."

After reaching the hideout, I pulled Mitsuki's body close and claimed her lips devouringly.

Mitsuki: "Nnn...haa...Francis?"

Drake: "Haa. I acted all cool, but I'm in the same boat."

I couldn't stand parting from her, even for a moment, so I quickly removed my shirt.

Drake: "I can't take it anymore. Let me have you, Mitsuki."

Mitsuki: "Okay."

Mitsuki: "I told you that I'd give myself to you. So..."

I picked her up and put her down on the sofa. I stripped away her blouse and reached to touch her curves.

Mitsuki: "Ahh..."

Drake: "Does it feel good?"

She placed the back of her hand against her lips and nodded.

Wanting to further disrupt her expression, I let my tongue trail along her breast.

I licked and sucked it, just like when I'd bitten her neck earlier, and her moans grew louder.

(Both her expressions and her voice are so irresistible.)

When I finally spread her legs as she had desired earlier, I found her already wet and ready.

Drake: "Sorry to keep you waiting. Don't worry, I'll take good care of you."

After removing her underwear, I touched her directly, feeling her warmth as her eager walls gripped my fingers.

Mitsuki: "Ahh... Francis, I'm already..."

Unable to wait any longer, she smiled gently and wrapped her arms around my neck.

After making sure she was wet enough, I pushed my length deep inside her.

Mitsuki: "It's hot."

(Oh man...)

With every thrust, her sweet moans and tears of pleasure made my head spin.

(I want more.)

(Blame me and let me completely lose myself in you.)

With the urge surging in my throat, I sank my fangs into her skin once more.

Mitsuki: "Ahh, I'm losing control..."

Drake: "That's fine. Lose control."

As I ravaged her writhing body with my fangs, I suddenly thought:

Drake: "You know, this might be the first time in my life that I'm grateful to be half-vampire."

Mitsuki: "Why?"

Drake: "Because this way, I can make you feel good like this."

I whispered in her ear and cupped her cheeks softly with my hands.

Mitsuki: "I don't care whether you're human, a vampire, or a dhampir."

Mitsuki: "I loved you because you're you."

(.......)

Drake: "You're right. It didn't matter to me either if you were the woman of destiny or anything like that."

Drake: "I love you because you're you."

(You're the one who gave me love I could believe in.)

More than pleasure, the most certain feelings burned my body and heart.

Basking in the warmth of our emotions, we continued to revel in this love until the date changed.

Part 1 ╎ Part 2 ╎ Premium ╎ Bonus Story

[dangans-ur-ronpas]

Chapter 21.5

im still on hiatus but this was for funsies...a break away from byakuya's pov for a moment hehe

SEE HERE FOR GENERAL WARNINGS AND FIC SUMMARY

Some pre-chapter notes:

this is just like wizard of oz if the wizard was junko enoshima. pay no attention to the girl behind the monitors....

featuring a special surprise guest!! :) (:

@digitaldollsworld (^^)//

Content warning tags: passing mention of surgery and blood

< previous - from start - next >

“I am done.”

The voice behind her is dull and gravelly with lethargy, belonging to someone both young and aged. Junko Enoshima hadn’t heard the door open, but she’s hardly startled - she’d been expecting him, after all - and with a flourish, she leans back from the grid of monitors before her and shoves off the desk to spin her chair, knees tucked up to her chest. One, two, three clockwise spins later - a new record, nice - and she slows to a stop, angled perfectly to face the man before her.

And she smiles, as she notes the blue latex gloves still on his hands, the blood splattered up his arms to the rolled-up sleeves of his white dress shirt. “Aw, thanks Zuzu! You’re a treat,” She winks and blows an exaggerated kiss, to no reaction. Not even a half-raised hand to try and catch it. “Was it hard?”

Izuru Kamakura doesn’t respond at first. He’s wiping off the blood - still shiny and slightly wet - off of his pale arms with a stained handkerchief, his hair swaying like a dark curtain around him. “...Not particularly.” He replies in his usual monotone, as if the whole ordeal had been terribly boring to him. ‘Not particularly’ he said, as if the whole process hadn’t taken several weeks, with multiple surgeries - including one where he had left the operating table with his scrubs still on to find a better donor, because the one she had on hand just happened to not be a very good match. “If that is all, I will leave now.”

“Noo, come on! You just got here,” She complains, childishly, needling, despite knowing full well that he’d been here far longer than he originally intended already. Well, it wasn’t like he had anywhere else to be, and all the action was here anyways.  “Don’t you wanna see how your precious juniors are doing?”

He doesn’t reply, but she knows he does. Otherwise he wouldn’t have bothered turning up in the first place, whether she requested his help or not; they’re just like each other, in that way. Reaching behind her, she grabs a remote, and points it at one of the monitors, and immediately its previous image of the empty second-floor hallway fizzes out, replaced with a replay of the day’s highlights, edited and cut by hers truly.

It opens with a theme song. A lovely little leitmotif that she composed, one for each of her dear classmates, this one full of violin and koto. A quick intro montage of photos they had taken throughout their high school careers, and then-

“No need.” He deadpans, interrupting the opening credits she’d bullied Ryota Mitarai into making. “I know what happened already.”

“Geez, but I made this special for you!” She whines, though there’s no real bite to it. She expected this outcome, so it wasn’t like she made her edits particularly interesting either. “Wish you’d play along a little. Come on.”

Instead of replying, he snaps off his gloves and flicks them and the towel into a nearby trash can without looking. He spins her chair to grab his jacket, pinned between her back and the seat, and tugs it so sharply it actually lifts her up a bit.

“Hey, that’s no way to treat a lady,” She sulks, tucking her skirt back down. “I was keeping it warm for you.”

Her only response is an impassioned glance, as he shakes the garment out with a sharp snap.

She watches him prepare to leave, rolling down his sleeves and smoothing out his shirt, pulling the jacket on with a practiced, mechanical grace. “Is it really that much better, being out there?” She grumbles. Outside was a wasteland, shattered remains, rot and destruction. The few people still alive were either on the edge of death, or insane with despair - either way, they’d fallen into a dull, predictable pattern. Starving, stealing, killing, dying, wailing. So much wailing. How strange it was that even these things became uninteresting after so long.

“They all behaved exactly how I expected.” He says, in an approximation for an explanation. He adjusts his cufflinks, thumb swiping over the polished brass. They’d been shaped like Hope’s Peak’s logo, but countless passing touches had nearly buffed out the enamel inlay - they were little more than tiny mirrors now, if she leaned forward and squinted she could almost see herself in them, check for stuff stuck in her teeth-

“Why did you not confront them after they discovered the AI?”

The question interrupts her train of thought, and she blinks, then grins, utterly delighted. “Why? Did I surprise you?”

He levels her with a look, a dark stare from those bloody, bloodshot eyes. “There are several reasons to possibly explain why you behaved this way.” He continues. “The most simple reason, you were distracted-”

“Nope. Glued to the cameras the whole time.”

“The most predictable reason, you wanted them to think they had a chance.”

“Hmm...mayy-be?” She pulls her legs up to sit criss-crossed in her chair, and rocks side to side, hands resting on her ankles as she thinks. “I mean, there are ten of them left. Would be a shame if they gave up already, right?”

“...And, based on your current interests. You thought it would make for a more interesting development. Especially in regards to Togami.”

She smiles, teeth splitting her face. “Congratulations, a hun-dred points to dear Mister Kamakura,”  She sings in an exaggerated falsetto, and claps her hands in mock applause. “I was thinking about it, but then he and Kyoko went and had that absolutely lovely little heart-to-heart in the hallway…how could I possibly interrupt my dearest friends?”

He doesn’t say anything, but his eyes narrow slightly, the corners of his lips pulling into a thin line. A look that screams - or maybe just mutters, in his case - ‘what the hell are you talking about.’ “He smashed her hand in a door. She belittled him for his blindness.”

“Yeah, and? Don’t you know what foreplay is?” He doesn’t scoff, but the just-audible exhale he lets out is pretty close. “Oh, shush. Like you would know anything,” She sniffs. “But anyways, I definitely wasn’t expecting them to reach this stage already. I thought it’d take a few more years at least!” She lets loose a laugh, a sharp, bright sound that gets swallowed up by the dense, packed-foam soundproofing around them. “Letting them get away with Alter Ego was totally worth the show!”

He doesn’t look like he agrees, but then again, those old Hope’s Peak scientists hadn’t included ‘Ultimate Clear Emotion Conveying’ among his repertoire of talents, so maybe he was jumping for joy on the inside right now. “Togami’s blindness was an unexpected development,” He agrees. “But that is all. He hasn’t demonstrated any behavior that couldn’t be predicted.”

“You were pretty intrigued by him before though, weren’t you?” She’d had her suspicions from the start, when Byakuya’s first day after waking up was spent squinting and fidgeting with his glasses, but he couldn’t be called an Ultimate for nothing. If she didn’t know him as well as she did, she might’ve even been halfway fooled. 

And the best developments were the ones that hadn’t been planned beforehand. Watching him walk away from the A/V room without even playing his motive disc was such a fun twist that had her raising her brows, even as Mukuro had gotten all pissy, after all the work that she had put into capturing that old butler alive. Even better than that was his breakdowns, when Junko watched him fall into a sinking spiral in his room, muttering to himself and pacing before finally passing out. The difference between his usual hoity-toity self and his total helplessness made for an absolutely delectable kind of gap moe.

“I have no interest in him. Rather, the source of his blindness is what intrigues me.” Izuru corrects her bluntly. “It is unclear what might have caused it. He never displayed symptoms of it prior to the game’s beginning.”

And if she had to be really honest, she wasn’t sure either. “Who knows?” She shrugs. “Spontaneous genetic condition? Maybe he’ll wake up tomorrow morning and be totally bald?”

“The Togami family is obsessed with genetics. Sudden cataract development, or anything of that nature, would have weeded out long ago.” He rebuts. His eyes, a deep, ugly, unnatural red that could make Celeste jealous, fix on her for a moment, and then travel up to look at the monitors, pupils shrinking like a cat’s as they dart from screen to shining screen. “Could it have something to do with the memory wipe?”

“No way!” She snaps back to him immediately, almost affronted. “My process is totally perfect. Do you know how many people I tested it on?” Sure, she’d had plenty of lab rats get seizures, comas, go crazy or just straight-up die, but none of them went blind. “If you don’t believe me, you wanna try it yourself?”

Now that was an idea. Maybe if she could induce an artificial amnesia in Izuru, and completely make him forget how he became this way - gosh, but that could be interesting. An Ultimate Hope who didn’t know what his purpose was? Or, better yet, a Hajime Hinata who didn’t know what he really was?

She could almost drool over the idea of it. Seeing the man, the boy in front of her, twisted, despairing, and utterly ruined - how thrilling would that be?

“Do it to yourself.” Izuru replies sullenly, shattering her daydream in an instant, and she pouts. Spoilsport.

They fall into a comfortable sort of quiet for a moment, as Junko turns back to the screens. Without her sister around, she had to take the role of surveillance onto herself, and that was a 24/7 ordeal. But at least it was something to do, she supposed.

Byakuya was making his way to his room from the cafeteria, apparently completely oblivious to how Toko was stalking him from a few meters behind. Hina and Sakura were working off their post-trial grief through vigorous physical activity - swimming, because of course it would be - Celeste was being comforted by Hifumi, and Hiro was chasing after Mondo, who apparently had given up on trying to eat anything and was now meandering aimlessly through the halls, the dead look on his face evident even through some of the grainier footage. Makoto was wandering, probably trying to repair his broken heart by distracting himself with some good old-fashioned adventuring, or maybe Kyoko.

Waaaait a minute. She frowns suddenly, leaning in closer to scan each of the monitors in quick succession, starting from the camera feeds of the third floor, and working down. Wait a damn minute. There was a suspicious lack of pale, skulking figures in her peripherals - just where was her darling detective?

She feels a little thrill of a delicious dread run up her spine. She went through all this trouble to give Kyoko a full wipe - to clean out every last memory that might give the detective a clue to her own identity - and yet here she was, managing to crawl under Junko’s skin like a centipede, a stubborn parasite. There were only so many unsupervised places that Miss Headmaster’s Daughter could be hiding, and Junko couldn’t help the grin spreading across her face; she could always count on Kyoko to make things interesting.

“Hey, Zuzu. You wanna make a bet?” She hums to Izuru. No Kyoko, but Makoto’s pointed cowlick was coming into view on one of the stairway cameras leading into the second floor, soon accompanied by the rest of him. 

“On what?”

“Oh, anything. Which one of them will die next. If one of them will snap and start trying to kill the rest of them…” She rewinds through the camera recordings of the last hour, speeding through the frames until they’re all mere blurs of color and light. Her eyes dart, and spy the pale, round shape of Kyoko’s head, as she walks into the dark entryway of the second-floor boy’s bathroom, not even half-an-hour ago. “If they manage to figure out the details of Togami’s blindness.”

Another bet. Another meaningless wager on top of the hundreds, thousands, millions of other ones that she’s made and won, but this one might actually surprise her for once. She hopes it will.

“How pointless.” He sighs. But despite that, he hasn’t turned to leave yet. And actually, the fact that he responded at all meant that he was, even just a little bit, curious. “What would we wager? We have nothing of value, and nothing we value enough.” “Hmm, true…and it’s not like we care about either of our lives either.” She fast-forwards the cameras, and watches as Makoto looks left and right, nervous eyes casting up and down the hallway, before he enters the second floor boy’s bathroom. She needs to get moving now, if she was going to make sure her darling detective didn’t go and ruin the game too early, and she shoves aside some empty snack wrappers, the pieces of an unfinished puzzle, a book so dog-eared and worn it was on the brink of disintegrating, and Monokuma’s controller to grab the authentic luchador mask that was hanging off the edge of the table. “We got all the time we need to figure that out, after all. So in the meantime, how about you stick around and see how it goes?"

< previous - from start - next >

[niyana-the-ambiguous-mobian]

@starrjoy

Another Sonic and Tails headcanon thingie: these two have their unique ways of greeting each other whenever they come home, whether they were gone for a day or only 20 minutes. One of them is what Tails tends to use since it’s his absolute favorite one, the infamous koala hug attack.

For this one, in story form!

Word count: ...idk I literally wrote this in my drafts on here so I have no idea other than it went longer than originally intended 🙃 😅

====

Sonic clutched the bags tightly in his arms as he felt his shoes skid hard against the ground as he got near the porch of the living quarters of the workshop, nearly losing his balance in the process. A fresh coat of slightly, wet dirt now covered the bottom of his sneakers from heel to toe as he walked up the steps.

He hastily wiped his feet on the mat in front of the door, already picturing the complaints he was going to receive about tracking dirt across the floorboards again if he didn't...again.

It's not like Tails wasn’t guilty of it either, he just got at him because he tends to do it the most. Though it didn’t mean that he himself wasn’t fed up with it.

Managing to open the door with his elbow, he shuffled into the living room and dropped the bags onto the kitchen island, quickly catching some of the cans that spilled out of the bag.

"Geez, I swear that bagger was just stuffing all this stuff in here." He grumbled out loud, stacking the cans in the cabinet and putting the rest of the groceries away in a few seconds.

He brushed off his hands and glanced around the room. "Tails? You here, bud?"

There wasn’t any sound of thudding footsteps coming closer to him, or a voice calling out in response, or just any answer at all. That wasn't much of a surprise since he tended to leave the workshop more and more recently to just take a walk and explore the area.

As long as he wasn’t cooped up in his lab all day, that was good enough for him.

He moved to speak into his wrist comm to check in with Tails when his ears perked and heard some shuffling coming from behind him. Turning around, he was mildly surprised to see that nothing was there.

It mildly surprised him due to the fact barely anything could sneak up on him due to the years of training exercises he carried out, though it didn't explain why he was still hearing the shuffling all around him.

Sonic paused and let out a groan. "Oh boy, I hope it isn't another mouse that snuck inside the lab again. That was another whole week of stress that I won't get back." He mumbled softly to himself, rubbing a hand over his face.

What he did hear next definitely surprised him, considering it had been a while since he's even heard it, a few short giggles broke through the silence causing him to freeze and look around the room confused.

"Uh, Tails?"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a quick flash of yellow disappears from view near one of the rafters on the ceiling, with that same shuffling noise following suit before it went silent again.

He didn't acknowledge that he saw the kit being bad at hiding, but he knew full well who it was, and the little tradition that they haven't done in a couple of years.

Sonic smirked to himself. 'Oh wow. We're playing this game again, huh? It's definitely been a while. But if it's what the kid wants to do...'

He played along, placing his hands on his hips, and feigned a worried voice. "Oh dear, I wonder where my little buddy Tails is. I just can't seem to find him anywhere!"

Sonic walked around the room, looking around dramatically under the table, around the couch, and into the kitchen cabinets. He audibly let out a sigh and leaned against the kitchen island, placing the back of his hand on his forehead.

"Tails? Oh, where for art thou Tails? My brother? Mi amigo? My honorary pride and joy. Lost forever to where I can never follow him." He kept his voice light and teasing, grinning when it earned him more giggling.

He moseyed on over directly under the one rafter where he knew Tails was hiding and put his arms up in defeat. "Hmm, he doesn't seem to be in here. I guess I was just imagining hearing him this whole time."

A slight creak was heard above him as he waited and braced himself for the attack. "3, 2, 1...."

"Nooo!….not the...koala hug trap…the cuteness…it’s too much for my body to handle..." He fell to his knees and hunched over, wrapping an arm around Tails and purposely squeezing closer to him in the process.

"Koala attack!" Tails yelled and dropped down, flying right into Sonic and wrapping his arms and legs around his torso.

Both of his tails wagged as he nuzzled his head under Sonic’s chin. The hedgehog lets out a groan from the impact, both to add to the part and to that the kid was a bit heavier than he remembered. He decided to suck it up and take it like a man...er, hedgehog.

"I can feel...all my energy depleting....I think I see a light. Mom, is that you?" Sonic fell over on his side, Tails snickered as he continued to hang onto him. "Goodbye cruel world....I'll miss you."

He finishes by rolling over on his back, closing his eyes, and lolled his head to the side, finalizing his "ultimate death." He stayed silent for a moment before he felt Tails shift around on his chest and felt a finger poking at his cheek. He peeked an eye open and saw him beaming a wide smile at him.

"Hi."

"Well, hi to you too." He poked a finger to Tails' nose, switching to giving a scratch behind the kit's ear. "So, mind explaining why you decided to ambush me like a crazy maniac today?

Tails laid his head back down, deeply enjoying the ear scritches. "Nope."

Sonic chuckled. "OK then." He placed his head down in turn and stared up at the ceiling.

After a few moments, Sonic cleared his throat, making Tails look up at him. "You uh, gonna let me up anytime soon? I gotta get dinner started soon."

Tails shook his head, the playful gleam shining in his eyes. "You know the rule in order to escape the hug trap, Sonic, unless you wanna be stuck here forever you gotta pay the toll."

Sonic gave out a little hum. "Actually, I change my mind, I kinda want to be stuck here. The floor is pretty comfy."

"But what if you need to use the bathroom?"

"I'll just crawl on the floor and take you along with me."

He heard Tails give a snort in amusement. "Yeah sure, you barely go in there to take a shower."

Sonic gave a hard flick to his ear, "Says alot for the guy hugging me in a death grip right now."

"Shut up, I know my limits to your body odor and this is a mere exception. Besides, you still need to pay the release toll."

"Oh right, the toll," Sonic pauses, pretending to be clueless. "Uh, what was it again?"

"You already know what it is."

"Do I now?"

Tails sighed lightly, trying to sound like he was annoyed. "Yes!"

"I do? Huh, I don’t seem to recall what it is-."

"Sooniiiic.."

"OK, Alright. One toll payment coming up." He sat up and wrapped his arms around Tails, resting his cheek on top of his head. The kit in turn squeezed his hug tighter, letting out a laugh as Sonic began to quickly rock their bodies side to side.

"Was that a good payment for ya?"

"Oh yeah, totally worth all those overdue bills you've been ignoring." Tails said lightly.

"Ah, speaking of which, I still have one more from this morning I haven't paid for. Better late than never!" He finishes by pulling him closer and wrapping him in a even tighter hug, a one where Tails could barely move his arms.

"Ow! Okay, you paid your debt! That's too tight!" Sonic released him and watched as Tails held his sides seemingly in pain.

Sonic got up and looked at him, slight panic rushing in upon seeing him. "You good?"

"I think you nearly broke my ribs." Tails croaked out.

"Sorry." He gave him a sheepish smile as he helped him up the floor, giving him quick, side hug, a gentle one this time and ruffling the fur on his head. "You wanna help me get dinner started?"

"Sure," Tails went to stand up, stopping midway and a deep frown suddenly masked his face. "...Sonic?"

Sonic flinched at his sudden change in tone. "Yeah?"

"You didn’t wipe your feet when you came in, didn't you?"

"Oh my gosh-, don't start with that again please." Sonic groaned as Tails began his annoying tangent. "I actually did it this time."

"I can see the tracks of water leading from the grass outside to here! I keep telling you, just wipe your feet at the doormat!"

"I was carrying the groceries in!"

"That's no excuse Sonic! You know how hard it is to mop up these floors!"

Sonic began to back away, holding his hands up. "Well I did, and just for the false accusation you're not getting the dessert I bought tonight."

Tails' eyes widened, his mouth open agape. "What?!? That's not fair!"

"Neither is falsly accusing your brother for a crime he didn’t commit."

"It's not false accusation if the proof is right in front of your dumb-dumb face." Tails deadpanned.

"Annnd, now that's no mint candy of any kind for a week."

"Sonic!"

"Do you want me to make it a full month?" He tried to have his "serious" face on while saying it but the sour look on Tails' face made it rather difficult and cracked up rather quickly. Tails stood there flabbergasted upon seeing him suddenly burst out laughing, a faint blushed warmed up his face once he realized what was going on. Typical Sonic, he should have seen that coming.

"You're the worst, you know that?"

"Love you too bro."

[larebiscornue]

(EDIT: This is getting visibility so reminder to do your daily clicks in arab.org (not only for the Palestine tab) and check this list of vetted palestinian gofundmes)

So, per typical Friday, we had a new page of La Grande Vague, but (at least when I checked), for the first time, the comments were... Pretty negative! And it's no wonder, we only have 2 more chapters episodes til this wraps up and, if you have read it, you know exactly how lackluster of an ending for the Wakfu story if this were the ending. (Sure, we'd have the upcoming Flo and Mad comic to cover one part of the cast, but LGV IS advertised as the great finale for the main story.) I really get the disappointed feeling, especially because whether you get the cheap or expensive pack, reading LGV at full is NOT free. And I'm not even touching, of course, the issue with season 5 being a webcomic.

But, if what other commenters said is true, Tot said LGV is actually going to have a hundred episodes or so! (I haven't been able to find the source. Maybe twitter? Feel free to send it to me. I'd be doubtful on authenticity but with many people saying it.. It sounds too specific)

However, I do still think some degree of criticism to how LGV is handled is still warranted for sure.

Like. The way it was marketed... Were we told there would be more than 10 chapters? Correct me if we have, but there being a bit of an ammount of fans in the comments not knowing tells me it was not well expressed.

The webtoon/webcomic(?) issue would be the pacing, I do agree.. Webcomics can have quite an iffy pacing to get used to as they do obviously need to be spread in time, often in short bits like lgv (though, at least it isn't as this one comic I read as a teen that was only a page per week. We were fine with it because it was a one person team but geez, it made action full high plot point chapters/episodes/(gah I find the names confusing..) tough to read with unchanging hype... (I'm not saying any webcomic author or even company should be pressured to upload even more than a page per *insert period of time * but we cannot deny the medium has its limitations. Idk if this also happens with comic books, since while they come in issues, they're longer book releases) For full transparency I'll say I'm not that much of a webcomic bluff at all aside from wakfu and the other one, so take it with a pinch of salt.

I think the problem is, we as a wakfu audience are used to get meaty 20 minute episodes, and while each lgv episode has content, because of the medium and the way it's structured, it definitely lasts less. Does this have any solution? I dunno. Webcomic was the only compromise to s5 not being able to be animated. And not to mention how passionate we are about this series.

On one hand, I feel some of the uproar should be saved til we see how does this progress and how Ankama handles the situation, cause if lgv is really gonna be 100 episodes long, we have to see how stuff plays out. On the other, I feel we as fans have the right to freely critique, (like the "ammount of chapters wasn't well advertised") healthily!

This isn't intended to be a proper essay, sorry if some of the wording doesn't make sense, and as you can see I have NOT touched on the plot itself cause I don't feel its that relevant for this post. Feel free to share your opinions with me!

EDIT: @/julith-jurgen and @/cocogum shared me a link to Tot and Cathiane (LGV's artist)'s statement in the replies, the 100 episodes/chapters (Again I still struggle with proper webcomic terminology lol) thing is real:

https://x.com/Totankama/status/1781321831263424875 https://x.com/Cathianedraws/status/1781379849606529479)

[anna-the-undertaker]

Prideful Devotion

- Part 1 - At the request of @dark-lady15, @aeongiies and @lovelyfriedcomputer, here is part 2 of Prides Gift. And I want to give special thanks to @aeongiies for their help in choosing the direction this will take :) Thank you for enduring my questions. This turned out to be more soft than spicy though - Song Inspiration: The Devil's Backbone by The Civil Wars - I will be posting a poll for you guys to vote for which brother I do next right after posting this so GO VOTE.

In the hallowed depths of the Devildom, where shadows danced and the air crackled with an electric fervor, Lucifer gazed upon the human before him, whose pride and resilience had caught his attention once again and this time had stolen his breath.

It was undeniable, radiant, and untempered as they navigated through the introductions and, as expected of anyone who was under the influence of his power, they were quick to understand everything they were told. They carried themself with a grace that echoed his own poise.

Then the dreaded question that was on everyone's minds was asked.

Diavolo, being inquisitive as ever, couldn't resist any longer, "How do you and Lucifer know each other?"

Lucifer saw the others perk up with interest making him scowl and huff a breath of exasperation. This seriously couldn't wait? Before he could say so, MC spoke.

"With all due respect, Lord Diavolo, that is a personal matter."

Diavolo smiled, one that did not take no for an answer, "Well, hopefully you will make an exception for me."

MC smiled back, "Of course, just not here. I would prefer to speak of it in private with Mr. Morningstar present as it is not just my business, if that's alright?"

"Just call me Lucifer." Lucifer stated.

"If you insist."

The demon Lords boisterous laughter rang through the room, "Very well. We may discuss it later. For now we need to have you shown to the House of Lamentation, where you will be staying for the duration of your time here."

Lucifer met MCs eyes, "You will need someone to look after you, and I had intended for my brother, Mammon, to do so. He is the Avatar of Greed and...how should I put it...? Oh well, you'll understand soon enough. But given the circumstances, I will assume that role."

He pulled a D.D.D. out of his pocket and placed it in MCs hands, "Here, take this. It's a lot like the cell phones from your world. It will be yours to use as long as you are here. Now, I'd like you to call Mammon with it."

He knew that his brother wouldn't answer if he saw it was him so he was going to use this to his advantage.

They listened as the phone rang before Mammon answered with little hesitation as Lucifer had expected, "Yoooo."

"Hello, Mammon." Mc replied, their voice cool and collected.

Mammon was silent for half a second, "Who the hell are ya?"

"I'm MC, the new human exchange student."

"Whaaa? Geez, I was gettin' all chilly here thinkin' it was Lucifer again. Ya should've told me right away. So what business does a human got with THE Mammon?"

MC turned her gaze to Lucifer, taking in his expression.

"Lucifer asked me to call you. It would seem you need to rectify whatever you did before he gets to you."

"Pfffft, whatever. Ya think THE Mammon would listen to ya just 'cause you're tryin' to scare me with that name?"

The Avatar of Pride extended his hand for the phone letting MC set it in his palm, "You've got 10 seconds to get home... 9... 8..."

Mammon shrieked in fright, "YESSIR!" and hung up in an instant.

"Thank you," he said as he handed the phone back then turned to Diavolo. "I will take them to the House of Lamentation to get them settled then we will meet you at the castle to explain."

The demon lord nodded in acknowledgement so they left.

Time passed quickly after that and MC had done exceptionally well in the program. They had grown close with each of his brothers as well and had an uncanny ability to make them behave, already having formed pacts with Mammon, Levi, and Beel. He had a deep suspicion they had been sneaking to the attic but had no evidence to prove it, making him even more suspicious of their intentions behind the pacts.

MC had began helping him with his work and became his unofficial assistant, forcing them to spend much more time together. Idle conversation turned to flirting, with him unintentionally flirting back. They had a charm that was hard to ignore and he found that he would look forward to the afternoons they would spend together listening to his records as they worked. His pride would get in the way, however, forcing him to step back from them even though he ached to do the opposite. But MC stood their ground and took it in stride, determined to become closer to him.

Throughout that time he had been able to get to know them better, and found he had the urge to protect them and keep them to himself despite some of the mishaps along the way, even if he would never admit it.

He had no one to blame but himself for MCs courageousness after all. The small amount of power he had granted them so long ago had influenced them to the point where being told what to do or being told they couldn't do something affected their pride, urging them to do just that. Although, he was unsure how much was his influence and how much was purely MCs personality.

Some time later, at Diavolo's castle, attending the Ball the demon lord had thrown in celebration of the exchange program, Lucifer watched MC as they made conversation with the guests.

Amidst the flickering lights that painted the ballroom in deep shades of gold, MCs mortal form, clad in garments befitting nobility, seemed delicate compared to his. Yet an unyielding strength emanated from them, a beacon that drew the Prince of Darkness near.

He asked them to dance and he could hear their heart pounding in rhythm with the infernal symphony that echoed around them.

Part of him wanted them to keep looking at him with the look of adoration in their eyes in that moment, but the other was too focused on his caution.

As they danced, he threatened them, instead of explaining the dangers of going to the attic, not knowing that hurting them the way he had would leave him with regret and guilt.

They held his gaze even though his grip was painfully tight. Even as their face twisted with pain they stood their ground. A quality that was as endearing as it was irritating.

Their dance ended and they went their separate ways, but his eyes stayed on them for the remainder of the night.

As time continued to pass, MC had formed pacts with Amso and Satan. He admired their drive and dedication, but he still held them with an air of caution.

They came to his study late one afternoon and knocked on the door, "Lucifer, may I come in?"

"What is it, MC?" he called to them without looking up from his paperwork.

They stepped inside, "I have something for you."

That made him stop what he was doing and look up at them and the vinyl record in their hands in surprise.

At his silence they continued, laying the record on his desk, "It took some time and effort to have this made, and I may have had a bit of help from Levi and Mammon, but it's finally here. After our first meeting and making our deal, my life began to get better and my career skyrocketed. When I became of age, I was able to seize custody of my siblings and give them a better life outside of our parents abuse. They are grown now and living wonderful lives. In wake of all of that, I wanted to give you proper thanks, but I had no idea if I would ever see you again so I wrote this in the hope that one day you would hear it. You had no reason to help me and even if helping me had only been for your own benefit, I am still grateful."

They left before he could respond and his eyes fell to the record. He lifted it with gentle fingers, appraising the the bold letters on the cover that read: The Memory of Pride.

He rose from his chair and moved to his record player, carefully setting the disc upon it and let it play.

The music enveloped him. Each note pulling on his heart and his pride swelled to new heights knowing that this music was written specifically for him. He could feel the emotion that had been woven into it: gratefulness, remembrance, pride. He could feel how genuine it was. He had not thought that one small, spur of the moment, action would produce this.

The feelings brewing in his heart grew, and he let the record play for the rest of the night, basking in the warmth that coursed through his veins.

But then, everything came crashing down around him in what felt like an instant. His vision became clouded with red at the sight of MCs mangled body - a mere human whose fate had become intertwined with he and his brothers conflicts.

If only they had listened to him. If only he had told them the whole truth, his pride be damned. He knew they would have understood, but he didn't. They didn't listen to him or heed his threats and now look at what has happened.

An anger he had not felt since the celestial war began to build within him. He could barely hear his brothers pleas' anymore.

A sinister aura hung heavy as he seethed. His eyes burned with a malevolent fire as he confronted his brother.

"How dare you," Lucifer hissed, his voice laced with venom. "MC was under my protection, under our family's protection. They were mine to guide, not yours to extinguish!"

Belphie only laughed making Lucifer's anger flare, his true form unfurling in a dark display of power as he stepped between MC and his younger brother. His features contorted with a mix of grief and unbridled rage, casting an eerie glow upon his chiseled face.

"Yes... Yes! Perfect! That's exactly the look I was hoping to see on your face, Lucifer!" the youngest laughed, "And this little pendant of theirs? The all powerful Lucifer couldn't have possibly given to them. So let's just get rid of it."

He crushed it in his fist and let the shattered pieces crumble to the floor.

"You dare to decide the fate of those under my care? You have defied me, Belphie, you have defied Lord Diavolo, and this transgression will not go unpunished." Lucifer's voice carried a chilling resolve.

But before he could follow through with it, MC reappeared. Their countenance alive and vibrant. His eyes that had been filled with fury and grief, now shimmered with a glimmer of hope and disbelief. The weight of despair that had burdened his heart lifted, replaced with an overwhelming sense of relief.

Everything that happened after was a blur: revealing Lilith's true fate, discovering that MC was her descendant, and the guilt of withholding it all from his brothers.

The tension took awhile to dissipate and with MCs urging his brothers began to forgive him. MC was still wary of Belphie, and with good reason, but they eventually met halfway and his younger brother made a pact with them.

The end of their year had arrived and Lucifer had finally found a name for the feeling in his chest. The reason for his unconscious need to protect them and keep them near. Love; something he didn't think he'd feel for anyone, especially a human.

They came to his study to discuss everything for their return to the human realm and the thought of them being lost to him ate at his heart.

"Have you done all you set out to do here in the Devildom? No unfinished business? No loose ends?" He asked.

A downcast expression formed on their face, "I believe so, yes. But Belphie did break my pendant. I can't replace that." A chuckle slipped past their lips. "Now that I think about it, I've yet to make a pact with you."

"A pact, you say?" He began, his face going blank. "I see. You've made pacts with all of my brothers, which just leaves me... Do you really want to make a pact with me? Truly? I don't know how my brothers felt about making pacts with you, but I am more than a name to be crossed off of your list. I can't have you lumping me together with everyone else. That won't do."

His demon form emerged and MC didn't flinch.

"Seriously, Lucifer? From the very beginning you have been held in a different light from the others. And you should know by now that this form of intimidation from you doesn't work on me anymore." They crossed their arms defiantly, head tilted to hold his gaze.

Lucifer huffed out a breath, "That defiance... I've always found that aspect of you irritating. But as irritating as it is, it's even more endearing."

As they stood face to face, Lucifer's lips curved into a smirk, a blend of mischief and desire. The air grew heavy with anticipation, the unspoken tension between them filling the void. In the depths of his ruby eyes, he let MC glimpse a tumultuous sea of emotions - a yearning.

In a gesture both daring and vulnerable, Lucifer extended a hand, his touch gentle as a whispered promise, "If you are amenable, I am willing to offer you a deal."

MC, emboldened by an inexplicable connection, accepted the invitation, their fingers intertwining. They looked up to him with heavily lidded eyes, their voice coming out a low purr, "What would this deal cost me?"

He pulled them forward, wrapping his other arm around them for his hand to rest against their lower back, and a surge of raw energy coursed through their vines, their union an alchemy of darkness and light, binding them in an embrace, a pseudo waltz of undiscovered pleasure.

His lips came to rest against the shell of their ear as he answered, "Everything. You will belong to me and me alone." He moved to face them, their lips mere centimeters away from each other. "So, what will it be? Do you wish to make a pact with me, MC?"

MC searched his face, but there was no hesitation in their reply, a whispered, "Yes."

His grip tightened, and his touch sent shivers of anticipation down their spine, MC felt the weight of centuries-old burdens slacken just a little. But in the warmth of his presence, they discovered solace and a love that could not be contained.

His voice, a velvet caress, spilled forth words of vulnerability and truth, a confession that echoed through the chambers of their intertwined souls, "I love you."

Lost in the labyrinth of their emotions, time ceased to exist as they moved closer, their breaths mingling in the sacred space between them. With a tempestuous gaze, Lucifer's hand cradled MC's face, his touch both fiery and tender, akin to the paradox of his being. Their lips met in a union both fierce and passionate, a melding of opposing forces - darkness and light, damnation and salvation.

"We are heading straight to my room," He breathed as he pulled away, a fire in his eyes that would not be put out. "You're going to spend your last night in the Devildom there, together with me... all night long until the break of dawn. I'm not letting anyone else have you now... You're mine."

In those final, eternal hours, their embrace transcended the mortal realm, and they soared through celestial planes, leaving behind the trappings of their troubled pasts. Their love, fueled by shared desire and pride, became an inferno that engulfed them completely, igniting a flame that would burn forever more.

In the embrace of the Prince of Darkness, MC found freedom - the freedom to embrace their flaws, their desires, and the capacity to love him unapologetically. And as they danced on the precipice of darkness, Lucifer and MC embarked on a new journey, their love a testament to the power of connection, and a bond that defied the boundaries of Heaven and Hell.

[your-world-with-nct]

polaroid love | njm [teaser]

PAIRING | na jaemin x female reader (ft. nct dream + enhypen 02z)

GENRE | fluff, angst, college au

WARNINGS | intended lowercase, stem student slander

WORD COUNT | 478

SUMMARY | inspired by enhypen’s ‘polaroid love’ — in his twenty-two years of living, na jaemin has never been in a proper relationship. after witnessing his best friends go through their fair share of complicated, devastating heartbreaks, jaemin decided he was better off investing his time and effort into his studies, rather than wasting his time falling in love. years of having fleeting crushes and being countlessly confessed to passed by and not a single person could tempt jaemin into the world of love. that is, until, he meets someone that he can’t get out of his head no matter how long he stares at his anatomy textbooks. someone that reminds him of the hopeless romantic he once was. someone that can show him that love doesn’t have to be so complicated to succeed.

FIC PLAYLIST LINK | click here to enhance your reading experience !

A/N | here is the long awaited ‘polaroid love’ teaser ! the first part will be out on august 19, reply to this post or send an ask to be added to the taglist :) i hope u enjoy this little snippet + please look forward to the series <33

“ah, hyung, i’ll get going now, see you next thursday,” the enthusiastic second year engineering major jaemin had befriended waved goodbye to his senior, flashing a grin as he packed up his things and set off.

“see y– wait, jake! you almost left your camera bag,” jaemin called after him, handing him his belongings, “what’s got you in such a rush? you’d never leave your camera behind.”

the younger boy turned to retrieve his stuff, bowing to show his gratitude, “oh, thank you so much, hyung, i would’ve gone insane if i left this. my best friend’s waiting for me and she did not appreciate the extra time eunjin noona took at the end of the session–she’s impatient and hungry and it’s my turn to pay for dinner so if i don’t hurry up, i have to deal with a hangry y/n for longer than i’d like.”

“sim jaeyun! come on!” the voice of who jaemin assumed to be the ‘hangry y/n’ caught his attention, however, the annoying image he had envisioned in his head did not match up with the beauty he laid eyes on.

“calm down! i was just thanking jaemin hyung for giving me my camera back, which i wouldn’t have forgotten if you weren’t rushing me, geez,” jake rolled his eyes as he turned his back to you, mouthing a ‘see you’ to jaemin as he hurried to the door, “i’m coming, i’m coming!”

after packing away all of his equipment, jaemin set off on his way home, not forgetting to bow to eunjin on his way out.

“sorry, jakey, i just couldn’t wait,” he heard a much gentler version of the voice before from in front of him. looking up from his phone, jaemin recognised the two figures in front of him as the bickering best friends he’d encountered not even a few minutes ago.

“couldn’t wait to what? drain my bank account?” jake’s joking questions were met with complete silence, “oh, i see how it is!”

“kidding! i meant that i couldn’t wait to spend time with you now that you’re not busy with that big, mechanic… project, uh, thing. yes, i know what it’s called, i just don’t want to say all those long sciency words,” your whining brought a smile to jaemin’s face, having heard similar words from his own arts major friends.

his smile only grew as he crossed the road and saw you almost trip over the curb from laughing so hard at whatever jake had said next, too preoccupied by your joyous laughter and the way you beamed at your friend to have heard.

jaemin sighed as he looked on, wondering how fulfilling it would be to be the cause of that pretty smile or the reason behind your contagious giggles. or, to put it simply, he wondered how fulfilling it would be to loved.

© YOUR-WORLD-WITH-NCT, 2023

[queen-of-writing-bad-things]

Henry Danger Reader Insert | Captain Man x Reader: SEASON 3

Episode 10: Space Invaders Part 1

~In the Man Cave~

Swellview was known for a lot of things: a terrible police force, some awesome superheroes and more supervillains than the mayor knew what to do with. But one thing that was not common knowledge was that it had a rather talented astronaut currently circling the Earth high above the city's tallest skyscrapers.

Well, it was widely known now because of the "tragedy". Jim Dickie, the hotshot astronaut and his buddy, Neil, had been taken hostage on their space station and since the Earth's upper atmosphere fell out of the Swellview cops' jurisdiction, Captain Man had taken it upon himself to bring back his town's hero. And Miss Danger was just as patriotic, just less thrilled about how they were gonna be getting there.

"What kind of maniac holds two astronauts captive?" (y/n) asked her boyfriend as they jogged down from the sprocket. They needed to use the supercomputer and even if it meant they had to roll out of each other's arms and exit the comfort of their bedroom, they were gonna make contact with Henry.

"I don't know, but we need to get Henry here and fast," Ray replied and strolled up to the holo-caller, his large fingers immediately punching in the digits he needed for his sidekick's whiz watch. They couldn't go into space Kid Danger-less and no matter what he was doing, he had to drop it and get to the Man Cave ASAP.

"Ray!" Henry's little floating figure appeared in front of them after a few seconds of waiting. The boy hated that he had to lie to his family every time he had to take a call, but duty calls.

"Henry! There's an emergency in spac--are you wearing a Fred Lobster shirt?" The pressing task at hand was swiftly out of the window for Ray as he took notice of the odd choice of shirt Henry was wearing. It was weird to wear something that promoted a seafood restaurant, but he rocked it anyway because it was for Piper and some dumb commercial she had landed a role in.

"Uh, yeah." Henry smiled, looking down briefly to catch a glimpse of the lobster mascot smiling back at him.

"Why?" (y/n) questioned, unable to help her curiosity at Henry's fashion lapse. She knew Jim and Neil were in danger or whatever, but the longer they took, the more time she had before literally rocketing off-world. Plus, it also gave Ray a little more time to slide his hand into the back pocket of her jeans, a move that she'd chastise him for later, but deep down, she secretly loved.

"'Cause, my sister's in a Fred Lobster commercial, so I bought this shirt, but--" The kid started to explain, but then Ray's sense of urgency crept up on him and forced the superhero to butt in. 

"All right, look. There's no time to talk about your shirt!" He snapped, making Henry frown. Geez, he was in a crabby mood, no seafood pun intended. 

"But--But (y/n) asked me." He stuttered, baffled at how Ray could go from fascinated to bossy in point two seconds, especially since he had his girlfriend next to him. She usually mellowed him out.

"We have an emergency! Guess where we're goin'?" Ray smirked at his sidekick through the hologram and (y/n) gulped at the idea. She wasn't a baby and she'd been on crazy flights before, but outer space seemed so daunting. How did the mousy college student turn into a crime-fighting, space-visiting superhero?

"To space?" Henry gasped, the thrilled smile growing on his face by the second. This was huge, space was, like, the dream destination for any kid who loved adventure and adrenaline as he did. If he could brag about this, he so would. Henry Hart, the boy in space, now that had a good ring to it.

"Not just space, Hen. Outer space, like you know, space that's outer." (y/n) giggled nervously, trying to be braver than she felt. 'Just breathe, Ray will be with you.' She breathed to herself and tried to remember that this wasn't a suicide mission or anything. They were coming back...hopefully.

"Wait, how are we gonna get to outer space?--" Henry asked, but once again, Ray "I can't focus for more than two minutes" Manchester was off on a tangent. 

"Y'know, (y/n) and I were in a Fred Lobster last week, and they told me they didn't have those shirts anymore," Ray mentioned, making the young woman next to him groan. It was true; they did go to Fred Lobster last week, for an actual date that didn't involve Drill Finger and psychotic teenagers. It was a lovely evening, just the two of them and it was all going smoothly until Ray asked for the bill and...he started an argument about lobster t-shirts. Typical Manchester move.

"Not this again..." She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. It was just a damn shirt and yes, he would look super hot wearing one and yes, the seams would probably pop as they tried to stretch over his biceps, but was it worth more bickering? No.

"Uh, yeah. I had to order this one online--" Henry just couldn't catch a break today. Another interruption from Ray meant his sentence was cut off again and he was starting to get cheesed off. 

"Oh, so, you really wanna talk about lobster shirts while astronauts are in danger?" Ray scoffed, trying to build up an argument, but his pettiness outshone anything he was trying to say. He was in a really grouchy mood, probably because he had to stop cuddling his sweet girl earlier than he would've liked.

"You really wanna talk to me with your hand on your girlfriend's butt?" Henry bit back, causing his boss to pull his hand out of (y/n)'s back pocket like he'd been burnt. It was a good comeback and the blush that covered Ray's cheeks made (y/n)'s embarrassment worth it. 

"Henry Prudence Hart! You little...just get to the Man Cave!" (y/n) squealed, feeling all flustered since she hadn't known the kid could see. If she had known, the hand squeezing her ass would've been given a sharp smack straight away.

"How do you know my middle name?" It was Henry's turn to blush. His second name was a sore point for him and it killed him that (y/n) had sneakily discovered it behind his back. She'd have to thank Charlotte later.

"Fast!" The young woman replied curtly, pointing a stern finger at the boy who thought he had the upper hand. It was never a good idea to try and outwit her.

"Okay, I'm on my way." Henry sighed and snapped his watch shut. He got the feeling that he'd been beaten, even if it was amusing to see Ray lightly fan his still scarlet cheeks. He never cared if Schwoz saw him like that, the little guy normally just scuttled off when he was making a move on his girl, but in his mind, Henry was still the cute little kid from two years ago. He was so innocent and cute, even though he was on the verge of becoming an adult.

"Y'see? That's why you don't put your hand on my ass when other people are around!" (y/n) scolded her boyfriend as soon as the pixelated Henry disappeared from the computer. Here came the chastisement, not that Ray was scared, she was so cute when her nose screwed up in anger.

"But I love your sweet, little heinie." He smirked and brought his hand back down and around her waist so it could slide to her butt. The blush rose from her neck and the words died in her throat, making him chuckle in amusement. There was that little nose wrinkle he adored.

"Yeah, well, Henry and Charlotte will be here soon, so it better be gone by the time they get here!" She told him, her voice wobbling slightly as he rotated his body so he was facing her completely and then another large palm came to rest on the other cheek. 

"We've got, like, twenty minutes and we got outta bed way too early." He mumbled, leaning down to capture her lips with his. Maybe his mood would perk up a bit after this.

~

Well, the peace didn't last long. Charlotte was speedier than usual, meaning the couple had mere moments to catch their breaths and shrug their scattered clothing back on. Still, it would do for them and at least Ray had stopped his pouting.

"Happy now?" (y/n) giggled and wiped her sticky forehead with the back of her hand. He was insatiable, not that she was complaining because this was what she'd been dreaming about for eight years. Giggly, midday sex with the hottest man she'd ever met.

"Very, sweet girl." Ray breathed out and pressed a kiss to her forehead after he'd zipped up his hoodie again. Their clothes were a little rumpled, but with a bit of luck, no one would be able to suspect a thing, not when they were hunting for an insufferable little rat known as Schwoz. Yep, Schwoz.

The guy was key for Ray's big plans for getting into outer space because he owned a rocket. Yeah, a rocket; some technical wizardry that would send the three superheroes into outer space and get them to where they needed to be. There were a few wrinkles that needed to be ironed out, mainly that the shuttle had enough space for two people (a small hiccup, easily rectified) and that Schwoz wouldn't give Ray the damn key.

Okay, it wasn't called "Schwoz's rocket" or "Schwoz's spaceship", it was known as "the love shuttle" because its sole purpose was to take Schwoz and his future bride-to-be off on a jolly honeymoon in space. Not that there would ever be a Mrs Schwartz, Schwoz could never get a girl to. look at him twice and him withholding the key was driving Ray insane. 

"Schwoz...I can see you." Ray called out to his handyman as he and (y/n) crept down the sprocket stairs. The little man had caught wind of Ray's plan to use his honeymoon transportation and rather than give it up, he'd swallowed the key and had found refuge of the roof, which seemed like a safe place, but there was one small problem. Ray had a blaster and Schwoz had no cover.

"Go away!" Schwoz hissed and stuck his tongue out at the couple, who weren't fooling him with their glowing faces and rumpled sweaters. They got to have their fun, why did he have to give up his planned fun? The astronauts could save themselves. Deciding that he was being selfish, Ray took a shot at Schwoz, but his notoriety for being a terrible marksman meant he missed by a mile and a load of debris came falling from a new hole in the ceiling. 

"Hahaha! You missed me!" Schwoz giggled as (y/n) gave Ray a pointed look. He knew that he couldn't hit a target to save his life, so why was he the one doing the shooting?

"How did he get up there?" Charlotte pondered, staring at the man in confusion. It was a valid question, the walls were sheer, smooth stone, so it was a wonder how Schwoz had managed to shimmy his way to the top.

"He's like a goddamn ape." (y/n) shrugged and followed behind her boyfriend as they moved into a better firing position. They needed to get Schwoz down, even if it meant blasting him in the ass.

"Come on, Schwoz, you're gonna have to come down from there eventually." Ray pointed out, knowing that the roof didn't have any food or water, which meant that Schwoz's chosen safety spot was a poor one.

"Leave me alone!" The man cried out, hugging a support beam in fear as he braced himself for another round of lasers coming his way. 

"Come on, Schwoz! I need it!" Ray shouted desperately and fired his blaster again, causing more rocks to fall to the Man Cave floor. How they were gonna patch these holes was anyone's guess.

"No! I'm saving it for marriage! You marry (y/n) and you get your own!" Schwoz replied indignantly, making the couple below him freeze up. Marriage was something they had lightly touched upon in their late-night confessions, but it was still a foreign idea to them. They'd spent so long dreaming of mutual love that the thought of a white dress and vows made butterflies flutter in their tummies, but they weren't totally against it. Husband and wife sounded quite nice, it was just a tad premature.

"Hey!" Henry greeted his friends as his tube came down and he landed in the "Mad Cave". Schwoz was on the ceiling, Ray was firing a gun at him, Charlotte and (y/n) were watching, there was dirt on (y/n)'s meticulously clean floors, yep, everyone had gone crazy.

"Hi, Henry." Schwoz smiled down at the young boy, a new perspective for one who was usually so small. Normally, he'd be looking up at the lanky teen, but it was Henry's turn to crane his neck.

"Whoa! Why is Schwoz on the--" Henry gasped, both at Schwoz's remarkable acrobatic feat and the laser that Ray fired at him, which missed and sent more rock chunks to the boy's feet. 

"Ha! Missed me! Missed me! You are very stupid!" Schwoz jeered at Ray, who'd had just about enough of the repairman's lip. If he wanted to get mean, he'd return the favour tenfold.

"Those are not the lyrics!" The superhero growled, shooting Schwoz with slightly more concentration this time. Schwoz whimpered as he felt a burning sensation in his foot, but he clung to the roof even harder, sacrificing his shoe for the sake of his love shuttle.

"Okay, what is going on?" Henry asked, his brain spinning from everything he'd witnessed in the twenty seconds he'd been at work.

"Schwoz won't give Ray the launch key to his little rocket ship," Charlotte explained, blowing her friend's mind. 

"Why won't he-Schwoz has a rocket ship?!" He exclaimed, his eyes lighting up at the notion of knowing someone who could fly out on a jaunty space trip whenever he wanted. Now that was cool.

"It's called the Love Shuttle!" Schwoz squealed, happy to brag about his invention, but not share it. He didn't want people to roam around his future love nest, that would be weird.

"Why did Schwoz build a love shuttle?" Henry asked, looking at the couple in front of him. He didn't even want to know why their previously smooth outfits were now full of wrinkles and preferred to just look straight past it.

"For his honeymoon." Ray answered, his tone of voice basically saying "yeah, right like that's ever gonna happen". Girls weren't fond of Schwoz, which was sad, but true,

"Yeah, he says that when he gets married, which, let's face it, is only gonna happen with an insane amount of luck, he's going to have his honeymoon on the actual moon." (y/n) rolled her eyes and hugged herself to Ray's arm so she could inhale the smell of his cologne. All this space talk was making her stomach do somersaults. 

"Don't be ridiculous, Schwoz. You're never getting married!" Ray hissed, agreeing with his girlfriend that Schwoz had no chance of getting a girl to look at him, let alone promise herself to him for the rest of time. Although, the glare (y/n) gave her boyfriend suggested that if he kept creating new holes in the ceiling and scratches on her shiny floor from all the rocks, he wouldn't be getting married either.

"It could happen! There are women out there who'll take anybody! And you can't talk! It took you eight years to tell your girlfriend you loved her, so who's the real loser here?" Schwoz poked his tongue out at his boss and tried to fold his arms even though he needed them to stop himself from falling. 

"Give me that key!" Ray yelled, fed up with all the tormenting and before anyone could stop him, he unleashed a series of rapid firepower, but all he got was more mess and a burning sense of failure. Dammit, why couldn't he just shoot the little bastard?

"I think you might be overreacting," Henry told the panting man gently and placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him from lashing out again. They needed (y/n) cuddles, stat.

"Here, doofus, gimme that. You're never gonna hit him." (y/n) smirked at her boyfriend and took the weapon away from his hand before he could lose his temper again. They already had too much sweeping up to do, god forbid he caused anymore.

"You trying to say I'm a bad shot, sweet girl?" Ray asked the small woman, who gripped the large blaster with her small but deadly hands. Her experienced and dextrous fingers curled around the trigger as she looked to where Schwoz was hanging on and took aim.

"Yeah, I am. You're a shit shot." She deadpanned and slightly squinted her eyes as she honed in on her target. With Ray, Schwoz wasn't scared, but with Miss Danger doing the job, the instinct to scurry for cover reared its head.

"Wait, (y/n/n), no, no--" He cried out, trying to swing his way across the roof like a monkey, but even a moving target was no match for the woman and she blasted him, right on the ass. That would teach him to not mock her boyfriend.

"Ha! You shot his butt!" Henry laughed as Schwoz groaned on the floor. Ray couldn't help but admit defeat and he gave his girl a sweet victory kiss for successfully getting the guy down. Maybe he was terrible with his aim, but if it ended with a kiss every time, (y/n) was down for it.

"Hey! Did you guys hear?! There's a hostage situation up in space!" Jasper's sudden appearance put an end to Ray's happy mood, which progressively soured as the overly-happy boy stepped out of the elevator. His slowness of hearing the breaking bulletin and getting to work irritated the superhero even more, but he kept his cool.

"We heard,"

"We're aware." Charlotte and Ray told him dully, not finding Jasper's exuberance as infectious as (y/n) or Henry did. 

"Well, did you know that one of the astronauts is from Swellview?" The curly-haired boy went on, not realising that everyone in the city had found out before him. He was behind the times, Ray had come up with an entire rescue plan in the time it had taken Jasper to walk to Junk-N-Stuff.

"Yeah, Jim Dickle. I used to have the biggest crush on him when I was in college...until I met Captain Man." (y/n) confessed, but quickly saved it at the end when she heard the low growl in Ray's chest. He did not know that and the thought of rescuing Dick-le was suddenly slightly more bitter for him.

"You went to college with Jim Dickle?" Charlotte looked at her friend in awe, also not knowing that she had actually met the famed astronaut and known him on a personal level, even if personal was far from the truth.

"Well, yeah. I did mechanical engineering and he did...physics and astronaut stuff, so we occasionally bumped into each other. He was older though and a bit of a prick." The young woman shrugged, wondering what she ever saw in that guy. Maybe it was his fascination for all things with cogs and wiring that echoed her own, but she was much happier with her grumpy superhero.

"Stupid Jim Dickle..." Ray mumbled under his breath but soon cheered up when his girl snuggled into his side and leaned her head against his chest. He was the one who got to share her life, no one else and that made him feel so special.

"Well, did you know I was born with eleven toes, but only nine on my feet?" Jasper asked them, knowing that it was something they definitely wouldn't know. Okay, Jasper was born a freak, no doubt about it.

"Eleven?"

"What?"

"What he say?"

"He's a mutant." The four stunned, but also disturbed friends murmured, wondering how the hell Jasper was now walking around with ten normal toes. A miracle of modern science.

"Yeah, who's got news now?" Jasper hissed, glad that he'd rendered them speechless with something, even if it was the weirdest fact about himself. Just as Schwoz began groaning in pain (his butt was spectacularly sore), the computer began to beep, indicating that whilst there wasn't a full-blown emergency going down, there was something that needed Captain man's attention anyway.

"I'll check that," Charlotte told her boss and hurried over to the control panel so she could analyse the data. At least she was helpful.

"Hey, shouldn't you be up at Junk-N-Stuff, watching the store?" Ray suddenly asked Jasper, remembering that he paid the teen to guard his shop on his behalf. He'd be going bankrupt at this point and have enemies crawling all over the place.

"Well, I have to use the bathroom, but the one upstairs is broken," Jasper whined, trying to appeal to (y/n) and her sympathetic side as she reluctantly checked out Schwoz's injuries. It was difficult to remember sometimes that just because she was immune to wounds, it didn't mean others were. Even if Schwoz had been a pain in the ass.

"That's why we told you to use the one across the street at the gas station," Henry replied, getting. there before (y/n) could  with a kinder answer. Going down to the Man Cave was probably quicker, but the fewer times Ray had to be reminded that he'd employed the world's most annoying kid, the better.

"I'm no longer welcome at that gas station," Jasper mumbled, scuffing his shoe against the floor awkwardly. He left it open for Ray and (y/n) to think about why that might be and all sorts of weird and troubling things popped into their heads.

"Do we wanna know?" (y/n) asked as she flopped Schwoz's arm back to his side. She was certain he'd be fine, just whiny for a bit. And sore, very sore.

"Uh-oh. You guys, the space station is gonna be orbiting over Swellview in one hour." Charlotte announced once she had checked out the alarm and saw that their moment of opportunity was quickly drawing near.

"So?" Henry asked in confusion, him and (y/n) leaving Schwoz to moan in pain on the floor. They had more important things to focus on now.

"What does that mean?" Ray added, striding over to the computer so he could see what was happening for himself. 

"That if you guys don't head up there soon, you'll have to wait another twenty-four hours," Charlotte answered, making everyone realise that the space station was orbiting the Earth like the moon and they only had one shot to do this.

"If we don't make it, it could be too late by then." (y/n) panicked, suddenly feeling sick when the urgency mixed with her nervousness. It was safe to say that this was going to be the biggest moment of her superhero career, the most perilous certainly.

"Come on, we have to help those astronauts...at least the one from Swellview who (y/n) used to like." Henry sighed, knowing that it was their duty to help since no one else was. For all they knew, Jim and Neil could be being tortured and interrogated. The mentioning of (y/n)'s schoolgirl crush on the guy made Ray bite his lip harshly to stop himself from cursing his name. He knew that his relationship was exclusive, but other guys just made him prickle up.

"It was for like one year. He graduated and next thing I knew he was on the moon or whatever and I was gainfully employed by a hot superhero." She brushed off Henry's teasing and lovingly placed a kiss on Ray's cheek. Well, he wasn't grumpy now.

"C'mon, Schwoz. Give us the key to your Love Shuttle." Ray begged his battered and bruised friend, who had only just got to his feet. He was clutching his butt in pain and the handyman was still grouchy about being shot own from his hidey-hole.

"Wait, why doesn't NASA just send someone up there to help the astronauts?" Jasper suddenly jumped in with a reasonable question and Schwoz agreed. You'd think that a governmental agency like NASA would jump at the chance of bringing home two national heroes, but in reality, they weren't so keen.

"No can do. They just sent a supply rocket up two days ago and it's gonna take them six months to whip another one into shape." (y/n) shook her head, remembering Trent Overrunder saying something on the topic when she and Ray were watching the news in their bedroom,

"Well, can't we just borrow a rocket from China?" Henry asked, not realising that "China" and "rocket" shouldn't be said together in Ray's presence. Touchy subject.

"No! No! I'm not getting inside a Chinese rocket ever again!" Ray snapped moodily, making the boy drop the subject immediately. Looks like their only shot was the Love Shuttle and Schwoz still needed buttering up.

"Hey, come on, Schwoz. Let us use your Love Shuttle." Henry told the guy gently, seeing that a calm, soft approach was best. 

"Yeah. You're never gonna need it." Ray added in, still a strong believer in the fact that Schwoz would get married the day pigs started flying - never, not a chance in hell.

"I will! For when I get married!" The small man insisted, but his friends weren't so convinced. All his past romances had failed and merely getting a date was a mammoth task.

"Oh, to what, Schwoz? What's gonna marry you?" Ray exclaimed dramatically, thinking that Schowz could only score mutants freaks or blind alcoholics for lovers.

"Gerta, your robot girlfriend that you built specifically for yourself, even she left you. Surely, that tells you something." (y/n) sighed in exasperation, hating to see Schowz build himself up just to be knocked down. The truth hurt; Schwoz was never getting a girlfriend.

"Nooo...we...we're just taking a break." Schwoz shrugged, trying to make himself feel better, but deep down, he knew that his chances of seeing Gerta again were slim to none.

"Oh, come on!" Ray threw his hands up in the air. The guy was in denial and it was so frustrating to put up with. 

"She turned herself into a bird, Schwoz! Then she flew away!" Charlotte recalled and Ray imitated a bird flying away with his hands. Geez, that seemed like ages ago, back when Ray still thought he didn't deserve (y/n)'s love and she thought he would never look her way.

"Wait, when did that happen?" Jasper asked, flabbergasted at this new information. He had missed so much when he wasn't in the know with Henry's secret identity and everything was news to him.

"Last season," Henry answered aloofly to no one in particular.

"So you mean winter?" Jasper asked, confused with Henry's odd choice of language.

"Yeah, that's what he meant. Back when Ray was still my best friend." (y/n) smiled at her. boyfriend fondly, who pecked her hairline to show her that he regretted every second they spent together as just friends. He wished his younger self would've been braver, but things had worked out well enough and he was happy now.

"Look, buddy..." Ray stepped away from his girl momentarily so they could work the old charm on their little genius friend. 

"Dah, don't choke me!" Schwoz jumped at the sight of Ray's large hands stretching out towards his neck and the man held them up to his ears to show that he didn't mean to be threatening.

"Look, Schwoz, are you planning to marry someone in the next...ten hours?" (y/n) asked him, getting a rough estimation of how long they'd be gone in space. Ten hours: too many in her mind, but she'd die before they left without her.

"Well, I don't plan to, no." Schwoz shrugged, supposing that if it was for that meagre time, he might be tempted to let them borrow it just this once.

"Okay, so just lend us your Love Shuttle, and we'll bring it right back." Ray smiled, his hands patting Schwoz on the back in a friendly matter. Now, they just had to clinch the deal.

"And I'll bake you a batch of my oatmeal raisin cookies. The ones you love..." (y/n) told her friend in a sing-song voice and gave him a. sneaky smile. Bribery was always a good option.

"I do like your cookies. You promise to be careful with it?" Schwoz gave the grinning couple a stern smile and Henry decided that he should swear on their behalf. 

"We all promise." He said, walking over to Schwoz who took a second to mull over their oath. It was his precious ship and it had to be perfect for his future wife.

"And you two promise to not do grown-up things in it?" Schwoz lowered his voice to add in the final clause of the agreement, but everyone heard it, even Charlotte and she was on the other side of the Man Cave.

"Ew!" She and Henry groaned, their faces screwing up in disgust as Ray and (y/n)'s ears started to burn. Seriously? Did he have to say something so embarrassing?

"Schwoz! We're not animals!" (y/n) shrieked, hiding her face into Ray's shoulder so she wouldn't meet anyone's eyes. Like they would do it in Schwoz's weird love nest spaceship whilst on a life or death mission. Geez, they weren't that desperate.

"Well, never say never." Ray joked, laughing when the young woman gave him a furious look and Schwoz stamped his foot in anger. He didn't want to give his rocket to some jokers and Henry and Charlotte didn't want to hear this conversation. Adult things, ew.

"Schwoz, just give us the damn launch key!" (y/n) snapped at the handyman, who was enjoying her discomfort way too much.

"Okay...hold out your hand." Schwoz sighed, giving in to their demands. Doing as he had instructed, Ray stretched out his hand to receive the key, thinking that like any normal person, Schwoz would have the key in his pocket or on a chain, but no. The little weirdo had swallowed the key and began to gag and gargle to get it from his stomach.

"Oh my god..." Charlotte wretched, feeling like she was gonna puke if she even dared to peek through her fingers.

"I can't watch this...but I can't look away." Henry was feeling the same, but at the same time, he had a morbid fascination with seeing Schwoz regurgitate the key like an emperor penguin. He really was a freak of nature.

"What are you doing?" Ray asked the smaller man, not realising that it was a huge mistake to volunteer to be the recipient of the key.

"Are you sure you want to hold your hand out?" (y/n) whispered to him, but it was too late. The key erupted from Schwoz's mouth and landed in Ray's palm as a slobbery, bile-covered mess. 

"Ew!"

"Gross!"

"It's wet!" The teens cried as (y/n) swiftly stepped back from her boyfriend. She loved him, but not when he had half of Schwoz's stomach contents in his hand. 

"That's the launch key." Schwoz panted, feeling both queasy and exhausted from the strain he had put on his digestive system. He'd puked once, now he wanted to puke again.

"All right, Jasper. Looks like Captain Man needs your help." Ray told the aforementioned boy in his hero's voice, knowing that it would trigger his need to please his idol no matter what was asked of him.

"Sure! Anything! What do you need?" Jasper rushed past Henry, (y/n) and Charlotte to enthusiastically bounce in front of Ray, who took advantage of his generous nature by wiping the icky launch key on his shirt. 

"You're a good boy," Ray told Jasper, who quickly forgot about his filthy t-shirt when he heard Captain Man's praise, but (y/n) wasn't so impressed.

"And you're a bad man," She quipped back, shaking her head at Ray as he admired the now spotless key. No matter her sarcasm though, she couldn't get away from one thing, mission save the astronauts was about to lift off.

~In the Love Shuttle~

It was go time; Ray, Henry and (y/n) had taken their positions onboard Schwoz's craft, which was strangely decorated in a way that only Schwoz would think was intimate or romantic, and they were taking the final steps for launch. (y/n)'s heart was hammering inside her chest and she was praying Ray wouldn't feel it. Since Schwoz had built the rocket for two people, there were only two seats, so she had been forced to snuggle into Ray's lap, an experience that was both a blessing and a curse. His strong arms around her were comforting, but she didn't want him to sense her dread and send her home, that would be awful.

"Okay, guys, I'm now going to insert the key into the console," Ray told his sidekicks and reached around his girlfriend's hips so he could slot it into its hole.

"Uh, okay," Henry said cooly, feeling completely chill with the whole setup, even if he was probably the youngest person in Swellview to ever go into outer space. 

"I did it." Ray smiled at the two, who weren't sure if he wanted a round of applause or something. The boy just wanted to ensure the coordinates were punched in correctly and (y/n) was trying not to freak out. 

"Well done you." She breathed out with an airy chuckle and hoped that she didn't sound as nervous as she felt. There was nowhere safer than being in Ray's arms and it's not like she was going to die if they crashed, but leaving Earth sounded so crazy in her mind. She had no time to dwell on it though as she soon caught on that Henry and Ray were feeling for their gum tubes and she did the same.

"You are aboard the Love Shuttle. Welcome, Schwoz and...woman's name. Prepare for your honeymoon." Okay, that was the weirdest onboard announcement ever recorded in the history of aviation. Hearing Schwoz's voice on the tape was odd and the cheesy, romantic music that followed made the whole thing even more insane, especially when Henry and Ray started to dance in their seats.

"Ray..." (y/n) whimpered, trying to keep her balance as her boyfriend sneakily ground his hips against her. Like hell was she going to let him have her twice in one day, especially when they were supposed to be professional, but that didn't mean that the friction of his jeans didn't feel good.

"Okay, Schwoz! Schwoz, how do I turn this love music off?!" Henry suddenly yelled into his headset when he realised that they were actually here to do serious things, not listen to some groovy music. 

"Oh, come on. Love music isn't for turning off. It's for turning on." Schwoz joked and continued to slide across the Man Cave's floor to the beat of the saxophone. 

"Amen to that," Ray growled into his sweet girl's ear, his hands coming to rest between her upper thighs. It was a dangerous attempt to try and persuade her to give in just this once, so he could indulge in the sweetness he'd been denied for seven years, but they just didn't have the time.

"Don't worry, I got it." (y/n) told Henry and felt Ray slump back in disappointment as she killed the track. Ugh, killjoy.

"Okay, Henry, (y/n), Ray, we pre-set the flight computer to automatically take you to the space station." Charlotte's voice came over the radio and the crew settled down to begin the takeoff procedures.

"Copy that. And we are...prepped for launch." Henry confirmed, flicking the last of the switches in the cockpit and they all let out an excited gasp when the rocket's thrusters began to power up. 

"Hey kid, let's go to space and kick some ace." Ray chuckled and his silly comment made (y/n) relax a little. It wasn't a death sentence, more like an adventure and that thought helped her get in the mood for their trip.

"To the stars!" Henry declared and the three blew their bubbles so they could leave the Earth as superheroes, which was awesome to hear over the radio in the Man Cave.

"Hey, we're so cool." (y/n) giggled as they stretched out their costumes and got used to having them on. Ray was particularly pleased with the costume change since it meant he was now able to let his hands roam around his girl's smooth thighs. Sure, his gloves were in the way, but that was just a minor technicality.

"Never done that sitting down before," Henry commented, noting how every time he'd ever transformed into Kid Danger, it had always been when he was stood up.

"Yeah, I wasn't sure if it was gonna work," Ray replied and the two boys laughed at the adrenaline high they were experiencing, leaving (y/n) to roll her eyes at them.

"All right, you guys. I just wanted to say...be careful up there." Jasper told the giggling boys, drawing them back to calmness. They had to have their minds focused because this shit was high-risk.

"Roger that," Henry answered, glad that he had his best friend at the base to keep him grounded. Jasper's support was just what he needed to keep any doubt at bay.

"We copy," Ray replied solemnly too, remembering that not only was he putting himself in danger, but he was also taking his entire world with him in his arms. Lying back with her cuddled up against him made it so easy to forget, but he was determined to keep her out of harm's way. 

'Cause, you three are the only, Ray, (y/n) and Henry I have!" Jasper added, his sweet words going over the boys' heads, but at least (y/n) could appreciate his sentiment. 

"Aw, thanks, Curly!" She told him happily, thinking that he'd leave it there, but nope...

"I've never told you this before but...I just wanted you guys to know that..." He sniffled and his imminent confession caused all those listening to cringe, hard.

"Hit it." Ray quickly ordered Henry, who wasted no time in whacking the launch button. Ray only needed one person to say those three little words, and that person wasn't Jasper. As soon as the button was pressed, the rocket propelled itself into the air and each hero was pressed into the seats as the immense g-force of the takeoff affected them

"We're going to space!" Ray exclaimed as he gripped the wall with one hand and tightly secured his girlfriend to his chest with the other. He didn't want her to roll around the cabin and hurt herself and it was so nice to feel the way she buried herself into the safety of his chest.

"I know! It's so fun!" Henry cried out, loving every minute of the blast-off, although it felt like his face was going to be peeled off from the force.

"This is your idea of fun?!" (y/n) hissed back and braced herself against Ray so she could wait for them to reach the outer atmosphere. It wouldn't be long, just a few seconds and then it would be smooth flying from there on out. 

"Cruising altitude. You're now free to walk about the ship, Schwoz and...woman's name." The rocket's automated voice and its creator announced, allowing the superheroes to relax as they started to gently drift towards their destination.

"Space, the final frontier. How many guys can say they took their girlfriends to space, huh?" Ray spoke as they broke free of the Earth's gravity and he altered his voice to sound like some famous captain off an old sci-fi series from when he was a kid. 

"What does that mean?" Henry asked, wondering why his boss was being all mysterious and weird. Obviously, he had never heard of Star Trek.

"Y'know..."the final frontier". Last place in the universe that mankind hasn't explored yet and I'm showing it to my girl. Space!" The superhero exclaimed and wistfully stared at the woman in his lap rather than the stars outside their window because she was infinitely more beautiful to him. 

"What about oceans?" (y/n) piped up after a few seconds of pondering her boyfriend's words. She loved his fawning over her, but what he said wasn't quite right.

"What was that, sweet girl?" Ray mumbled against her hair as Henry too looked at her with confusion. What had the sea got to do with space and frontiers or whatever the hell Ray was on about?

"Y'know, oceans. We haven't explored all of the oceans yet. Eighty per cent of our oceans are unmapped and unobserved, so aren't they an unobserved frontier? Oceans and all the weird little fishies we don't know about yet?" She rambled, feeling a bit drowsy and loopy as his warmth soaked into her body. A small nap wouldn't hurt. 

"Okay, fine. Space, one of the two final frontiers." Ray corrected himself and cradled her neck into his neck as her shallow breaths danced across his collar and exposed skin.

"What about parallel universes?" Henry was soon joining in on the conversation, although a swift finger over his lips from Ray told the boy he wanted to let the sweet little thing in his arms snooze for a bit.

"What?" Ray sighed quietly, not believing that what was meant to be a cute, cool comment was turning into a damn debate.

"Remember that time that Charlotte and I went to that parallel universe?" Henry jogged Ray's memory, making him bite his lip was all the details came flooding back. In that world, he turned evil after losing (y/n), his wife and the mere thought made him shudder. 

"I suppose," He nodded slightly, trying not to make any jagged movements that would disturb his girl from her rest,

"The one where I died." (y/n) muttered and shifted her body so she was comfortably sprawled sideways in Ray's lap. The man had no idea how she knew that, but he didn't want to find out. The less he thought about losing her in all matters of speaking, the better.

"Well, there's probably lots more parallel universes that none of us has explored, so I guess you could say--" The boy tried to explain his theory, but his boss had heard enough. He got it, space was a load of shit, big deal.

"Space! One of many, many remaining frontiers." He snapped in a voice that was a little louder than he wanted it to be and all the shouting made (y/n) flinch in his embrace.

"Stop yelling, doofus. M'trying to sleep." She scolded him with a pathetic slap to the chest, which was more of a light tap since she gave up halfway through. Sleep sounded nice and she just felt so cosy, a few minutes with her eyes closed.

"We'll be there soon," Henry told her, but she just ignored him with nothing more than a hum to answer him. "Soon" actually meant like half an hour or forty-five minutes, plenty of time for a power nap.

"I like sleep. Sleep kicks ass." She muttered incoherently and drifted off peacefully, leaving the boy's to entertain themselves.

~Forty minutes later~

A decent conversation, a game of I-spy and several rounds of rock, paper, scissors later, Ray and Henry were left completely bored. They had nothing to do, no phone signal, no games, no TV, nothing and (y/n) was still fast asleep and dead to the world (or was that space?). Henry had grown tired of watching Ray gaze at her like a lovesick puppy and for the last ten minutes, the cockpit had been silent.

"Ughhhh, I'm sick of just sitting here," Ray complained, shuffling his butt backwards so he could sit up straighter, but still rock his girlfriend like a baby. It was nauseating to see, but certainly better with the knowledge that it wasn't oblivious pining anymore. 

"Shhhh! You'll wake your girlfriend up! And, Schwox said that we should be at the space station pretty--" Henry tried to keep his boss entertained, but he was like a toddler a long flight; five minutes and he was touching stuff again.

"I wonder what these buttons do." Ray mentioned like a curious child and began to tap all of the shiny buttons that caught his eye, even though one wrong move could trigger a self-destruction protocol or something.

"Do I have to slap your wrists again?" A gravelly, sleep-filled voice rumbled into his ear, signalling that his sudden movements had woken (y/n) up prematurely. Well, that was her nap over.

"Don't start pressing random--" Henry too protested, but he started selling when his seat began to vibrate and massage his back muscles. Hello, Schwoz had installed a few gadgets on this thing...nice.

"What's happening?" Ray asked his gleeful sidekick as he giggled and (y/n) slid off his lap so she was sat on the chair in between his legs.

"You made my chair start to vibraaaaaaaate." Henry's voice trembled as his vocal cords were shaken, but even then could the couple hear how pleased he was and his fun made Ray pout.

"Aw, no fair! I wanna vibrate!" He whined and against (y/n)'s pleas, he bashed the buttons randomly again, hoping to score lucky. And he did, one tap and his chair was vibrating too, making him and (y/n) collapse against each other in a fit of giggles.

"This feels sillllllyyyyyy." She laughed at how all of her body was tingling all over, like she was being tickled but without the torture.

"Hey! My voice sounds weird. Listen, ahhhhhhh!" Ray's baritone voice began to wobble and Henry's did too, but their combined sounds covered up the crescendo of the computer telling them that they were five seconds away from docking with the space station. Four, three, two, one...

"Arghhhhh!" They all screamed at the violent impact and the boys quickly shut off the vibrations as they thought about all the worst scenarios in their minds, but everything was fine. 

"Hey, Schwoz, think we just docked with the space station," Ray spoke into his microphone, not realising that the genius had just said the exact same thing to Charlotte when she verbally wondered. what all the noise was about. 

"Oh, really? My goodness, thanks for the information." Schwoz replied sarcastically, but Charlotte ignored him so they could get straight down to business. No time like the present after all.

"Okay, you have a pressure lock, so you are good to enter the space station." The girl told the heroes like a proper controller and they heard her loud and clear.

"Ten-four, good Charlotte."

"We ten-ten on the side."

"Over and out." They replied and shrugged off their headsets so they could stand up at last. This was it, it was just them now and whatever they find on the other side of the door.

"All right, guys, we're about to leave the Love Shuttle and enter the space station. " Ray told his sidekicks, but they didn't need a running commentary, they had their blasters and were ready to kick some ass.

"Yep, I'm up to speed on the story." Henry nodded, feeling like Ray was babying him just to sound cool.

"I also know what's going on." (y/n) added, locking and loading everything she needed to fight any bad guys. Maybe it was an alien, who knows.

"I know, I'm just saying, we have no idea who or what hijacked that space station and we won't know until we go in there and look inside." The man elaborated more, but it was all just waffle. They knew this and were fairly certain that this was just a stall tactic.

"Yeah, which is why I've got my gun so I can shoot it or them in the face." His girlfriend nodded, raising her weapon and shaking in front of Ray's face so he'd get the picture.

"Then let's go do this." He nodded.

"Waitin' on you..." Henry mumbled, knowing that he and his fellow sidekick were ready to go, it was the boss who was keeping them behind.

"Set weapons to stun," Ray ordered them, not wanting any deaths or injuries on their hands. Mass murder wasn't Captain Man's style, even if his work involved low-down, criminal assholes.

"Is this right?" Henry asked the experienced couple, whose eyes widened when they saw that his setting was completely, cataclysmically wrong.

"Shit, no, Henry, that's set to melt. You wanna melt the place into a puddle?" (y/n) fretted, her panic making the kid rapidly change from one mode to the right one. Well, that could've been a disaster.

"No, I do not," Henry replied, glad that they'd spotted the mistake. A melted criminal would be a long and icky cleanup.

"Give it...here you go." Ray sighed when he saw that the boy was struggling to work with Schwoz's technology and it was just kinder to do it himself than let him struggle. Okay, weapons, check, next, the door. Ray pushed the lock that released the door pressure and the hatch slid open. Into the unknown...well, it would be if either one of them knew some common courtesy.

"Do you wanna go first?" Ray asked his sidekick and after a few seconds of floundering, the two had worked out that Henry would go first. Geez, it took them ten minutes just to leave the damn rocket.

"Ray..." (y/n) grabbed his wrist just before he entered the hatched and he turned around to see her big, round eyes staring up at him with so much wonder and love. 

"Yeah, sweet girl?" He whispered, brushing some stray hairs away from those eyes so he could gaze into them one last time before they entered the battlefield.

"I love you." She told him cutely, wanting to say it as in their line of work, every moment could be their last.

"I love you too. Always." He whispered their promise again and sealed it with a hungry kiss that was far too short for his or her liking, but the desire it left only meant that the next would be so much better.

"Always." She mumbled against his lips and reluctantly pulled away so he could step through the hole first. Their hands were tightly conjoined as he checked to see if Henry was still alive with no mad murderers around. Thankfully, there were none and they were left in an eerily quiet room with nothing but the pulsing beeps of the machinery around them. God, this was spooky. 

"Okay, kid, stay cool," Ray told his sidekick, who was nervously clutching his blaster for dear life since a sneak attack could happen at any given instance. Anything could happen, for example, a small, metal door could fall from the ceiling and crack (y/n)'s skull, sending her to the floor in agony and Henry into hysteria. Shit, what a good start.

"Ahhhh, what is that? What is happening?" Henry squealed in fear as Ray instinctively threw his gun down and ducked down to shield his girlfriend on the floor from any more blows. His sidekick rolled around, shooting rapid-fire at every blinking light he saw. "Cool" went out of the window; Henry was suddenly shit scared and Ray was fretting over the blood flowing through (y/n)'s hair whilst her skin patched over. No biggie, the wound was gone in a flash, but it left them all on edge.

"Hey, I think I got whatever it was that attacked (y--" Henry's caution was right, something was going on. Two more pieces of metal fell from the ceiling and whoever or whatever dropped them had blinding accuracy since they hit Captain Man and Kid Danger on the head too. 

"Captain Man? Miss Danger?" A sweet, innocent voice sounded out and the three heroes looked up in horror to see that a little girl had swiped Ray's gun and was now pointing it directly at them. A kid was behind this? What the actual fuck!

"Uh, I'm here too. Kid Danger, also relevant." Henry groaned as Ray helped his girlfriend to her feet and gulped at the predicament they found themselves in. The blood trickling down her forehead was no longer a concern as (y/n) prayed for salvation.

How were they gonna get out of this one?

[possessionisamyth]

Nooo but you don't understand! Annette is such a wonderful take on a gray character shifted into the textbook gender roles of dedicated wife and mother.

First, there are two things you have to understand and accept when you choose to become a parent.

1) Your child's health, safety, and wellness is always your first priority.

2) Your child is going to be their own complete person regardless of your beliefs and expectations.

This means once you choose to have a kid, it's not about you anymore. The child didn't choose to be here. You brought them here. You are no longer the first person on your brain when it comes to making decisions. They are. Anyone who says parenting is easy is either selling snake oil or a really shitty parent. You have to constantly relearn how to communicate and interact with your child since the world influences them either as much or more than you can. You have to check yourself on your bad days so they don't become a target by accident. Even then, I don't know a single good parent who doesn't look back on how they raised their kids and say "oh geez, I could've handled that better than I did."

But do you know what Annette does? She keeps choosing William and their research to put first. Based on her dedication, it's clear Annette has been a scientist or a researcher for a long time. At some point, she met someone she felt she could connect to, William. At another point, she trusted him and herself enough to have a child with him, Sherry. They raised this child together for the first decade of her life, and, coming from a teacher, that's a lot of milestones in child development to witness.

Just when things seem to be normal, suddenly everything falls apart in less than 24 hours. Her husband is a monster made from his own creation. He made himself that way because he wanted absolutely no one to get ahold of G. Those were his dying words, and Annette would take on that duty as his wife first and a fellow scientist second. Her dedication is nothing to scoff at either. She has not stopped working, and she's probably had zero time to rest since William started stomping around killing people.

We see her muttering to herself and taking notes as her husband, not quite dead or alive, mutates further and further. Were these the results he was intending? Was the virus progressing at a natural speed or was it the stress of the environment? Is there sentience left? Would sentience return after the body has fully adapted? She has reorganized her priorities to put her husband first in a world that's falling apart. So just when she thinks things are as safe as they're going to get, here comes someone else trying to steal the G-Virus!

Okay, she has to re-prioritize again. William seems to be fine on his own, so it's time to defend his life's work which has become their life's work. She also has to do this by herself against someone with actual combat training. Notice how Annette keeps her distance from Ada in encounters? She always has her gun pointed or is trying to trap Ada before she darts off. This woman can shoot a gun, but she cannot fight. Now she's juggling. She needs to keep an eye on William and his research in this giant facility all by herself. She has to defend his work and continue it while the city is burning, and What Do You Mean Sherry is there too?

We hear Annette's almost bored dismissal of Claire under the assumption Claire is just there to steal the virus too. "Sherry is at home!" Sherry is supposed to be at home. A parent wouldn't say that if their house wasn't the safest place for their kid to be especially when Annette left her there. Knowing the stuff Annette has worked with for years, I highly doubt her house is anything less than a fortress to the dangers outside. But Sherry is there, and I already know the look on Annette's face was "How the fuck did Sherry end up at RPD?" Who helped her get there? The player doesn't know where the Birkins live. I don't think they live downtown or down the street, and Sherry is 10 years old! To traverse a burning city by herself and just so happen to end up where the public were told to evacuate?

It's too many variables to think about. She doesn't have the capacity to prioritize Sherry. Not right now. She survived this far right? Annette knows her daughter. Annette raised her daughter. If that woman is already looking out for Sherry, then Sherry should be fine for a little while longer. From an exhausted point of view, which is more dangerous and time sensitive? Her daughter who seems to have an armed babysitter, the mercenary narrowing a path closer and closer to the G-Virus, or her rampaging husband? Her daughter has suddenly become the last priority, but she can't let it eat at her. Whoever Claire is or whatever her goals are, she clearly wants Sherry alive. So Annette can refocus on William and the woman in red.

Is this the right decision? Is this the best decision? Were Annette not under duress, I'd say no. Yet I'm also noticing William is pretty contained to NEST, RPD, and the sewers beneath. He hasn't escaped into the city, so she must've been doing something to keep him there. Whatever she was doing, it was working, and it was working very well. For all intents and purposes, he should've been roaming around with Nemesis, but he wasn't. To do all the things Annette was doing, she had to have a lot of clearance access to almost everything in that facility, but she's still only one person so her activities were limited to her perspective.

Finally, when everything reaches it's crux, she realizes much too late that her priorities were all wrong. She should've destroyed the rest of the virus and the research to truly keep it out of other people's hands. She should've killed William before the mutation progressed to this point. She should've taken a moment to collect herself and find Sherry before she got infected, but it's too late now. It's too late to make up for her fuck ups, so she does what she can with the time that she has and finally puts Sherry's safety first. It's a decision made with the pain of dying, but the love is there. The love had never left. It just was going in the wrong directions during an extremely dangerous and terrifying series of events.

And like, do you think Annette defaulting to William was reflexive or her usual ways of decision making? Sherry came to RPD looking for her mother. Not her dad. Her mom. She came looking for Annette which shows Annette was either around the most or the most reliable of the pair. At that age, children run to the parent they believe will do something to help, and this decision is based on past experiences. She knows her mom is the safety net enough to be looking for her. They had to be close.

I don't believe Annette was the perfect mom, but I can believe she was a dedicated one. I can believe Sherry relied on her as much she relied on her husband. I can see she might not have always gotten things right, but she always tried to find a solution even when things weren't going how she predicted. I think she had the makings of a good mom as she raised her first and only child. I think she would've been a much better mom had she been allowed to escape too. I think this is a perfectly gray character without having to add or remove any angst to her narrative.

And it's like!!! This is great!! This is a wonderful narrative for a character!!! It's so good!!!!!

[inevitablysomber-dark]

Can I request a dark Steve x Reader, total smut? He's her coworker and is always kind of bullying her for her appearance and making her feel bad about her mistakes, and the whole office is in on it, even her boss. She has to work late and ends up crying at her desk, and he takes the opportunity to jump her bones.

Sheeps Clothing

I would like to apologize for this story being so long, I saw it last night and started working on it this morning, on my phone. Up until I got home, and when I looked at the file on my computer, it was like 1.8k words.

Warning: Non/Dubious Consent?, workplace harassment, power dynamic, MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY. MINORS DNI

Summary: You try to get away from Steve, but you don't even have a chance.

"Jesus!" Someone exclaimed 

You look up to see who said it.

"What the hell are you wearing?" It was Steve, and he was speaking to you

You look down at your outfit, a long flowy dress with puffy sleeves covered in a floral pattern.

When you look back up at him, you don't have a chance to say anything before your desk mate, Hailey responds.

"Hush, you know she lacks fashion sense."

"But this is atrocious.” he grabs the loose bow at your neck and flicks it."

You're surprised by his proximity and jump, causing your chair to push backward as Steve steps back, letting you fall to the ground on your side of the cubicle. 

"Geez," he says

When you look up, he's standing over you, a nefarious smirk splayed on his lips, amused by your embarrassment. 

It takes a little longer to get up than you hoped, especially since Steve insisted on staying in your way.  

Once you've managed to get on your two feet, you dust yourself off and make your way to the bathroom, doing your best to slide past without touching him. 

When you finally get there, you can feel your emotions surfacing, and you take a few breaths to calm yourself. 

There was a data analyst position; Mindy, your supervisor, said that you were a shoo-in, so you applied with her blessing and reference. Since it would be in the same building, the commute would be the same, and the best part is you’d finally get away from Steve and all his little lackeys. 

You were expecting to hear from them today, so you had no plans to let Steve bother you with his shenanigans. You compose yourself before returning to your desk, ensuring your demon has left your station. 

***

Throughout the day, you’re checking on your emails, dodging Steve, and somehow managing to complete your tasks. Around 2:00 pm, you finally get a message from human resources with the updates for your job application. 

Good Afternoon Y/N,

Thank you for applying for our job opening. Unfortunately, we cannot continue your process due to an incomplete resume. We have decided to pursue other candidates that more closely meet our needs. 

Thank you for your consideration, and we wish you success in your career pursuit.

You were confused. An incomplete resume?

You go back to your file to review said application. As far as you can tell, everything has been completed, so you decide to go to HR in person to ask what is going on. 

“It looks like your reference letter was never sent in,” the lady behind the desk said 

“What?” you asked 

“Yeah, you completed everything on your end. Your supervisor or manager just didn’t send in their reference,” she says 

“ Well, what if I get her to send it in today?” you ask, swallowing a croak.

“Unfortunately, all necessary positions are filled. However, if you are still interested later on, keep track of position statuses on the site for employees.”

“Thank you,” you say as you leave.

 

What else could you say? Mindy had sworn to you that she would get your reference in as soon as possible, and that was two months ago when you first applied for the position. 

You head to your floor, intending to speak with her as soon as you get there. She knew the reference was an essential part of the process. It was a rule that only applied to employees in the same company looking to go to a different department. 

It was an opportunity you’d missed not because of your negligence but someone else’s, not just anyone, but someone in a position of power. 

You were heartbroken. 

When you finally got to her office, she was on the phone, but you waited because you needed to know why she didn’t send in something so important.

When she finally got off, you pounced.

“Hey Mindy, I just received a rejection for the Data Analyst position,” you stated 

“Oh, sweetie, I’m so sorry,” she says. “Welp, better luck next time.” 

“Well, they said they didn’t get my reference….” You paused to give a pointed stare “from you.”

“Well, I can’t just put my name on anything. You know, I do have a reputation to keep up.”

“ I’m one of your best employees.” You state, “I keep up with all information going in and out of this department, I make all the data more digestible, I keep up with everyone's schedules to optimize work efficiency” your voice began quivering as you got louder and more 

confident 

You give so much to this department just for Mindy to stab you in the back and say that you weren’t worth it?

“Well, since you do so much for this department,” she stands, walking toward you with several manilla folders in hand, “Why don’t you digitize these files for me? And maybe next time, I’ll think about giving you a reference.” she hands you the folders and walks back to her desk. 

When she notices you still haven’t left, she waves her hand at you. 

“Goodbye.”

You walk away defeated. 

What are you going to do?

***

It's the end of the day, and you’re working like a madman trying to digitize the files Mindy gave you. 

You thought you had time to complete them. Unfortunately, Mindy conveniently left out that some of them needed to be in the system before a specific deadline. 

So here you were, 8 pm, still trying to put all the information together and organize them accordingly, and you still had to be at work early the next day.

When you paused to read the time, you felt a stiffness in your throat, and your eyes began to water so much you could no longer see what was on your computer screen.

The despair became so overwhelming that you could no longer concentrate. You broke down at your desk, thanking the heavens that no one was there to see you be pathetic. 

You cried harder. 

You didn’t like your coworkers, they were always so mean and dismissive towards you, and Steve only worsened the situation. You just wanted to start over somewhere else, with a different group of people that didn’t know you. 

“Why are you crying?” you quickly look up, and there he stands, a frown on his face as if your crying had bothered him. 

You quickly wiped your tears, as best as you could, before getting up and attempting to run to the bathroom. However, Steve grabs your arm before you can get two steps out of your cubicle. 

“I’m talking to you,” he says, his voice firm and unwavering. 

You yank your arm from his grasp and find your way to the lady's room. 

The tears just won’t stop. They were relentless as you grabbed some paper towels and started running water. 

A loud thump startles you as you try to clear away the day's heartache. Of course, Steve is standing at the doorway, staring you down as if you’d just offended him. 

“What do you want?” you ask, not wanting to deal with whatever offensive joke he has ready to throw your way.

He doesn’t say anything initially, as if he were thinking it through. But with a raise of his eyebrows, he asks:

“What’s wrong?”

“Like you care,” you respond.

He walks up to you and slowly backs you into the corner of the sink, his usually cheerful presence becoming intimidating.

“Try me,” he says

His challenge confounded you. Thinking he wouldn’t care, in your vulnerable state, you share what happened, minus the part about wanting to get away from him. He does something unexpected and pulls you into a hug.

You’re shocked by the sentiment at first, but you find yourself cautiously relaxing in his arms. He pulls away and carefully tilts your head back to wipe the tears from your eyes and push your hair from your face. 

“That’s nothing to cry over, and you’ll have plenty of opportunities to move around different departments,” he says 

It was oddly comforting, but something still felt off. 

It wasn’t till he pressed his lips against yours that you understood why. You tried to shove him off you, but he only seemed more determined as his tongue invaded your mouth. 

You bit his tongue and slapped him, desperately trying to gain some 

control of the situation. 

His face was perplexed. 

“Well, I didn’t expect that,” he says “looks like the kitty has some claws,”

He turned your body so that your back was facing him, and you felt his erection pushing up against your ass. 

“Do you feel that?” he asks. “That’s all you. It’s always been you,” he whispers the last part before nipping at the junction of your neck. 

He pulls your dress up, and you try to pull him off, but he grabs your neck and squeezes. 

“How about we behave like a good girl and put your hands on the sink?” he says, “Or I can choke you till you pass out and do as I please then.”

You do as he says 

“Good girl”

He pulls your panties down to your hips and moves his hand across your bottom, a deep groan filling his throat, satisfaction purring in his chest. 

You hear a zip and shuffling before you feel his cock pushing against the cleft of your ass. 

You couldn’t believe this was happening, a sob escaping from your chest. 

“Don’t worry, sweetheart, I don’t plan on going in tonight,” he pushes his member between the apex of your thighs so that it is snug between your lower lips. He groans again, moving his hands to your waist. You shivered at the contact his tip made with your love button, unsure of what his plan was.

He grips your waist, moving his cock back and forth between your lips, every movement dragging against your clit, causing a slickness to form and coat his manhood. When there was enough lubrication, he began picking up speed, moving faster, digging his nails into your hips. 

You’re driven over the edge when he pulls you closer to his chest, cupping your breasts in his hands. As your body slackens, his pace quickens, trying to meet his end. 

No more snide remarks or comforting words, just grunts and whimpers between you, racing to the finish line of ecstasy. 

When he finally does, he finishes over the crotch of your panties and pussy lips. He takes a moment to catch his breath, and when he pulls out, he lifts your cum covered panties over your ass. 

“Just a taste of what’s to come,” he says, gently caressing your crotch. He walks away, fixing his pants, and a chuckle leaves him as he exits the bathroom. 

What just happened?

[nickgerlich]

The Last Time

As much as I am a futurist, I think it is also worthy of our time to look long into the rear view, to reflect on how far we have come, how much change has happened without our really having noticed, and how lives are different from the way they were.

And so I give to you my recurring essay on “The Last Time.” I don’t intend to be sad or morose, although that can certainly happen, such as when we recall the last time we saw a person, especially loved ones. No, I am more concerned in this exercise to reflect on the things, the artifacts, the services, of a society that we no longer utilize, but at the time of our “last time,” we just didn’t realize it.

Worse yet, the longer you live, the longer this list grows. It is inevitable as technology advances—and so do you—that your inventory of things and services no longer consumed gets a little longer each year.

Take, for example, the last time you used a travel agent to buy an airline ticket or book a rental car. Although I cannot pin down the date, I am going to estimate it was around 1997, when Travelocity was riding high. I didn’t think about the significance at the time, until I saw the son of the then-defunct travel agency working the front desk of an airline at the Amarillo airport. Geez, did I help put him out of a job?

It is much the same for hotel reservations, which I now do via a mobile app on my phone. I reserve, pay, and get a digital key so that I do not even have to interact with the front desk. I just go to my room.

My tech history is littered with products, many of which I still keep in a box or two “just in case,” including 5 1/4” floppy discs, 3 1/2” discs, ZIP discs, CD-ROMs, and so forth. I have every cable imaginable. And what about the office fax machine, a staple rendered obsolete in recent years? It has been a long time, and a few years ago, I learned it had been an even longer time when I went into the COB office to fax something. They laughed when I asked where the fax machine was. They told me to just scan and email it.

OK.

I could go on, and I will. Landline telephone? Payphone? Paper map atlas? I think it is still a good skill to know how to read a map, and not just rely on Google to bark out turn-by-turn directions, but it is pretty rare when I bring out that huge booklet. I used to buy a new atlas every year. I bet it has been eight years or more now.

Let’s look at some other tech items. Did you ever own a black-and-white television? My family had one up until the early-1970s, and the small portable I took off to university in 1977 was also B/W. But that’s the last I remember. And what about your phone? I suspect that most of you are so young that you have never owned anything but a smartphone, while I have recollections of several flip phones and their varietals, as well as a predecessor bag phone, which weighed about five pounds.

There are other things in our lives as well. For example, it may be the last drink you took, the last cigarette you smoked, the last meat you ate. Shedding old habits for new can be hard, and I bet those are the ones that stand out most in our memories, because they all involve things we put in our mouth.

Yesterday I had occasion to write a check. I looked through the registry, and noticed it had been more than two months since the previous, and three months before that one. For a person who used to write checks all the time, I have almost phased it out of my life. Now we Venmo, Zelle, and other methods that have become verbs, or just pay our bills electronically. Truth be known, that’s how I do most of my bill pays, but this one in particular added a fee for credit cards, so I went old school. The tax assessor can be like that.

For that matter, when was the last time you actually swiped a credit or debit card? We have replaced all that with chip readers or tap-and-pay, and now hand scanning at Whole Foods. Swiping is so 2010.

The crazy part of all this rear view remembering is that few among us ever knew what was happening. We were making implicit decisions, not explicit, and so it could not be known until later that we had just passed a turning point. Even when I eventually got rid of the typewriter my parents had gifted me for high school graduation, I did not realize I would never ever use one again.

I challenge you to consider your growing list of things for which the last time has already passed, and most likely completely under your radar. You have all lived long enough, even in your short lives, to have experienced the march of technological progress.

You just don’t realize it. Think on it, and share in the comments.

Dr “Last Dance” Gerlich

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