#BUT LIKE. IT'S JUST -2 DAMAGE. AND THE KID RUNS AWAY CRYING

[ghoul-bonez]

~I Love You, I Trust You, I See You~

(Ao’nung x Fem! Deaf! Sully! Reader)

Summary: When the Sullys moved to Awa’atlu Ao’nung thought they were weird, knew they were weird. He took a particular hatred towards the older Sully kids, Neteyam was the perfect little follower, Lo’ak was constantly in trouble, Kiri was always off in her own world, and you. Just you. You seemed to always ignore him and never talk, but what he didn’t know was it’s because you couldn’t hear him.

Word count: 4.4k

Author’s note: This is the longest oneshot I’ve written at 4.4k words and 9 1/2 google docs pages… Sign language will be normal font, and bold & italics will be spoken, although I try my best to show which is going on.

~Masterlist~

I Love You, I Trust You, I See You

When people thought of the Sully family many thought of your siblings. They thought of Lo’ak who was always a troublemaker, causing chaos everywhere he went. They thought of Kiri who seemed so in tune with her surroundings that she might as well be Eywa herself. They thought of Tuk who was the youngest, still enamored by everyday life. They thought of Neteyam, a strong leader who would someday take on the role of Olo’eyktan after your father.

They never thought of you.

You who always seemed to be in your own little world. You who never had any friends. You who never talked. You who always seemed so attentive to the world around you, yet had no desire to join it.

When you were born after your twin Neteyam, a spike of fear had run through everyone in the room when you began to cry, but no sound came out. They feared you may not be breathing right, you may need your airways cleared. They feared something was wrong, and that was true.

When your parents or siblings thought about your family, they thought about you. They thought about how funny you were, always cracking jokes when there was a chance. They thought about how kind you were, taking a moment to check on everyone daily. They thought about how different you were than most.

They thought about you. You who couldn’t hear.

You always seemed to be in your own world, and that drew many away from you, they didn’t want to be friends with someone who they didn’t think was paying attention to them, and to be fair you weren’t paying attention to people most of the time. You preferred to direct your attention to the world around you, always keeping an eye out as you couldn’t hear danger coming.

When you had been caught by Quaritch and his men you had panicked, more than everyone else at least. You didn’t know what was going on, you didn’t know what they were saying, your lip reading was not dependable, and definitely not in english.

When your siblings arms were bound you couldn’t keep yourself calm, now you had no way of communicating, they couldn’t translate for you. Tears streamed down your face, eyes closed as tight as possible to try to calm yourself by blocking out the outside world.

When you felt your captor’s grip on your release your eyes shot open, looking around at the damage around you, multiple avatars dead on the ground. Then you ran, you ran faster than ever before in the first direction you saw.

You ran and ran, eyes trained on everything around you, and when you ran into someone and they grabbed you again it was like a shock. You let out a scream, the first noise anyone had ever heard you make. A noise nobody was aware you could make.

You turned to dead weight in an attempt to get out of their grasp, panic coursing through you again as your eyes couldn’t come into focus. However, the person dropped to the ground with you, pulling your face towards them and holding it still as you tried to thrash. Then they blew air into your face, and you realized you were safe.

When you were younger you would throw temper tantrums, as children do, where you would close your eyes to refuse to listen to your parents. Not being able to see them meant no sign language, which meant no having to listen to them. However your father found one thing always worked, blowing air on your face. Your eyes would shoot open, highly offended with your mouth dropped open, before you would sign at him, “Your breath is gross.” in retaliation.

You had never been more relieved for your dad’s stupid way of getting you to listen. Your eyes finally came into focus and you calmed down seeing his face, but that calm quickly turned into crying, sobbing. You couldn’t help but let out all of the pent up emotion inside of you, but eventually you calmed down and were able to stand back up, staggering your way home with the rest of your family.

Some time later when your parents had been arguing in your family kelku you hadn’t been paying attention as your siblings were, all huddled against the wall. You had been lost in your own world once again, not wanting to know what was being said as you were still processing what had happened earlier. You didn’t need anything on top of that as you feared it would make your careful stack of emotions you had constructed come tumbling down.

They had come tumbling down though as your parents announced you were moving, leaving. Leaving everything you had ever known, your home, your grandmother, the forest you loved so much. You couldn’t help it as you cried again, being held by your mother this time.

However as you thought about it you weren’t that sad. You had always liked the water, everyone not having to hear underwater made you feel more included, more like you belonged, and you had heard the Metkayina used sign language. Maybe this would be a chance to make friends for the first time in your life. Maybe you would be able to talk to people for once, nobody at home taking the time to learn American Sign Language, as your father had called it, like your family had.

One thing you hadn't taken into account was that they used a different version of sign language, but that had become very apparent when you first jumped into the water with Tsireya, Ao’nung, and Rotxo. They used signs you had never seen before, ones you didn’t recognize. You couldn’t help but feel a little beaten down at dinner, staying quieter than usual, not signing as much.

Afterwards your dad had asked you to step outside, waving a hand towards you as he exited the marui.

He sat down on the pathway, and you knew he expected you to join him, so you did. You sat next to him with your feet dangling in the water, looking out towards the horizon, refusing to look at him so you didn't have to have a conversation.

That didn’t last long though as he poked you in the arm, causing you to look at him offended, mouth open and eyebrows raised. He took this as his chance to speak, “You okay, kid?” He signed.

You sighed deeply, fidgeting with your hands before signing, “I’m okay, dad.”

You could tell he didn’t believe you, lips pressed together in a thin line and eyebrows furrowed, “You’re less talkative. What’s wrong?” He signed, proving he didn’t think you were telling the truth.

A frown came to your face, feeling like it was permanently there after the past few days or so, but you continued, “I’m disappointed.”

He raised his eyebrows, surprise and confusion on his face, “About what?”

You looked away from his face, instead choosing to watch his hands, you didn’t want to see the pity on his face, “We don’t speak the same language. I can’t communicate. Everyone else can at least talk to each other.”

His face softened, but you didn’t see it, “It’ll be okay. You’re a fast learner, so you will learn their language quickly, then you can make friends. If anyone actually wants to be your friend.” He meant it playfully, and you saw him laugh, so jammed your elbow in his ribs.

Then the conversation was over, your mom poking her head out of the doorway and saying something to your dad. He just stood up and gave you a look like he was asking, “You good?” and you nodded, “Yes.” back in return.

After your father’s words of encouragement you decided to work harder, learn faster, determined to be able to communicate with the people around you, and a few weeks later you were excelling whereas your siblings were still struggling. They were caught up on the differences of Metkayina sign language versus ASL but you had grasped that there weren’t differences, or similarities, and you would just be learning from scratch.

Even though you were doing well at it, working your way towards being fluent, you were worried about talking to the people, mostly because of one person in particular, Ao’nung. It was as if Ao'nung was determined to ruin your siblings' lives, and yours, but you didn’t know that.

You had seen Ao’nung’s attempts to cause hell for your siblings, nagging at them, laughing at them, and even trying to start fights, with Lo’ak in particular. Him messing with your siblings made you frustrated, but you weren’t aware of the taunts meant to make you upset, and laughing that was meant to make you feel like a target coming towards you from a distance.

The bullying towards your siblings had become more and more frustrating and you had begun showing your anger at home, being rougher with things than usual, and not wanting to go outside of the shared family marui.

It had been peaceful while you and your mom had been working on dinner, but she noticed you seemed to be far off, handling the food with rougher hands, “Are you okay, (Y/n).” Neytiri signed as you placed another fish over the fire.

You rolled your eyes at her, upset she was even insinuating something was wrong. In reality there was, but you didn’t want to admit that, “Yes mama, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” She had asked back, concern on her face as she looked at you closely.

You signed, “Yes.” Trying to end the conversation, but you knew she would just keep pushing.

You saw your mom think for a moment, her face scrunching up in concentration, “Well I am not.”

You frowned more, once again feeling like it had always been there since you left the forest, “Not what?”

She was frowning too now, “I’m not sure you’re fine. I see you isolating yourself. Even from me and your father.” She grabbed your hands, squeezing them gently to show her love in a little way.

Tears welled in your eyes, frustrated tears, tears that came because with all the stress recently they were the only way your brain knew how to process, to cope.

You pulled your hands from hers to wipe at them, “I’m sorry.” was all you could say.

She wiped the tears falling down your face before saying, “Why?”

You sniffled, running your hands down your face before signing, “I see Lo’ak, Kiri, and Neteyam being picked on, and there is nothing I can do. I can’t stand up to the bullies. I can’t say anything.”

“Okay, well soon you will be able to say something. You are learning their sign language, yes? I’ve heard from your siblings you are out working them.” She smiled at you and you could really see how proud of you she was.

You couldn’t help but crack a little smile although tears still threatened to fall, “Yes, mama. I’m getting better, but I’m worried it will be too late though.”

“I’m sure you will do your best, my ‘ite.” She thought for a second, “Why don’t you go try to talk to these kids tomorrow?”

You sighed, you didn’t want to, but you knew your mom would nag you until you agreed, “Okay. Love you.”

She smiled lovingly at you, “Love you too.” before pulling you into a hug.

When tomorrow came you didn’t even want to leave your marui, but you found the strength to do so. You did some of the breathing exercises Tsireya had taught you to try to calm your nerves, and they worked for the most part, steadying you and clearing your head.

However as soon as you stepped outside your marui you regretted it, not wanting to do what you had promised to your mother, but you knew you had to eventually. Eventually, which meant you could fool around as long as you wanted beforehand, and so you decided to settle down for a quick nap on the beach.

When you laid down and closed your eyes you quickly and easily fell asleep. You were still tired from last night when you struggled to sleep from your anxious thoughts.

When the Sullys moved to Awa’atlu Ao’nung thought they were weird, knew they were weird. He took a particular hatred towards the older Sully kids, Neteyam was the perfect little follower, Lo’ak was constantly in trouble, Kiri was always off in her own world, and you. Just you. You seemed to always ignore him and never talk, but what he didn’t know was that it's because you couldn’t hear him.

Ao’nung tried to not let anything get to him, especially when it came to people he didn’t like, like the Sullys, but for some reason you, (Y/n) Sully, had peeved him more than anyone or anything else. He had grown tired of you ignoring him when he shouted or laughed at you, like you didn’t even notice he was there, tired of you flat out avoiding him sometimes as you scurried away when he tried to approach you.

Of course he knew why, he had the same intentions to bully you and make you feel unwanted in Awa’atlu as your siblings. Of course you didn’t want this so you spent most of your time avoiding him, but for some reason instead of him not caring about it, it made him want to get under your skin even more.

When the sun rose today he decided today was the day to act. Today he would confront you head on, face to face. He would make you notice him, and he would make you feel awful in the process. So he gathered his friends, his goons, and they set off to find you.

They first checked with Tsireya who was with the rest of your siblings, but you were nowhere to be found, they all insisted they hadn’t seen you. Then they combed the beach, going from one end to the other, and on the far end they found you peacefully asleep on the soft sand.

He couldn’t help but notice how cute you looked asleep and peaceful, but he quickly shook it off, shouting at you, “Wake up, freak!”

He was targeting your extra finger and the hair above your eyebrows, like he had your siblings because he knew that got to them, and hoped it would do the same to you.

When you didn’t stir he tried shouting again, assuming you were awake, but trying to act asleep to avoid him, “What is wrong with you? Do you not care or are you stupid avoiding me?”

His friends laughed at you when you still didn’t move, eyes not cracking open and your breathing staying the same, so he took the next step, trying something physical. He kicked sand up and over you and finally you stirred, sitting straight up and looking around for the source of the sand, and when you saw him your heart dropped, a lump forming in your throat.

“There we go, now you are paying attention.” He snickered.

You tried to read his lips, but he spoke too fast, and you just stayed silent. You cocked your head to the side, eyebrows drawn together in a look of confusion.

You hesitated for a second, but were about to sign something when he spoke again. “Do you not speak? A silent freak, interesting.” You still didn’t understand exactly what he was saying, but his friends all laughed at you, and although you couldn’t hear it it made you feel small.

“I’m sorry. I can not hear you.” You signed, using Metkayina sign language this time.

He scoffed, “I do not believe that. I think you just don’t want us to bother you, but here we are.” He laughed in your face.

“Please use your hands.” You tried to communicate, but they just wouldn’t listen to you.

“No.” He sneered, this you understood, one single word.

Your mouth dropped open, offense written all over it. You knew he was disrespectful, didn’t care about others feelings, but you would make him care, “I can not hear. I am deaf.”

He was about to retort against you again, but when he had been searching for you earlier that day Neteyam knew he meant trouble, so when he found you he stayed in the shadows, watching, but now Ao’nung had taken it too far.

He surged forwards, anger consuming him, “Step off bro. She can’t hear you.”

“Yeah that is what she just said.” He rolled his eyes, “I do not care though, it is better if she can not hear me. Means I can make fun of her without her knowing.” He signed the last part so you could understand.

You shrunk back, standing to hide behind Neteyam. You tugged on his arm, “It’s okay.” You signed.

“It’s not okay, (Y/n).” He rubbed a hand down his face, turning to Ao’nung, “You need to leave her alone.”

“Whatever.” Ao’nung scoffed before turning and walking away.

Now he knew why you seemed to ignore him, you just didn’t know he was talking to you. You were probably avoiding him because you didn’t know their sign language yet. He felt bad for some reason. He usually wouldn’t feel bad about his bullying but with you it felt different now knowing this.

He couldn’t show his feelings though, worried about his little group making fun of him, but he slowly started to back off of you, and your siblings some as well. Whenever one of his “friends” would ask why, he would reply something like “We can not make fun of a cripple.” and roll his eyes, still a jab at you, but less so.

At some point you became all that consumed his thoughts, on his mind at all times, and whenever he would see you with his sister, or your siblings, he would feel the need to insert himself into the conversation, but he always refrained. He wanted to talk to you, to apologize, but he feared judgment from his “friends” who are just as nasty as he was.

Eventually he couldn’t hold it in anymore, heading to your marui to ask to talk with you, in the way you would understand. When he knocked on the doorway of the family home Lo’ak was the first to notice him, glaring at him and nudging Neteyam in the side, directing his attention towards Ao’nung.

Neteyam stood before either of his parents even noticed the boy in the doorway, stalking over to him and dragging him down the pathway so they could talk, “What do you want?” He hissed out.

Ao’nung cleared his throat, but the words still came out small, nervous, “I came to apologize to (Y/n)...”

“No.” Was all Neteyam said before turning away and starting to walk back into the Sully family’s home.

Ao’nung grabbed his arm before he got too far away, “Please. Please let me talk to her.” He begged, something he didn’t like to do, but it was necessary.

Neteyam sighed, “Fine, but if you do anything I will chop your head off myself.” He threatened the boy, “I’ll go get her.”

It wasn’t long before you stepped out of the marui, a frown on your face and hands he could see shaking, “What do you want?” You signed, hands shaking with nerves.

“I came to say sorry.” He started off, “I’m sorry for bullying you, and your siblings. I promise I won’t do it any more.”

“And?” You asked, knowing there was more.

He looked nervous now, hands shaking as he signed, “I wanted to extend the offer of friendship.”

You looked shocked now, “You want to be friends with me?”

He nodded his head, smiling shyly, “Yes. Absolutely.”

You smiled this time, relieved he would be leaving your siblings alone, and excited to learn more about him, about what he was really like under the bad boy shell, “Okay, friend.”

He just nodded at you, “I have to go now. See you at lessons with Tsireya tomorrow?”

“Of course.” You responded.

When you entered the marui again everyone's eyes were on you, a light blush on your face, “I made a friend.” You smiled.

You could see your parents cheering and clapping for you, but your siblings' faces were unsure, you would have to reassure them later but for now you were all having a family night, playing games and handing out things you had made for each other with the new resources you were getting used to using. They were clunky and awkward, but you would get better, it reminded you of something, of someone.

As days passed into weeks you and Ao’nung had grown closer, him pretty much taking over your lessons, stealing you away from Tsireya who was sad to see you go, but happy for her brother for making a friend, a real friend, not one of his goons that tended to hover around him at all times. You had seemingly broken down his bad boy aesthetic and his goons had since left him, moving onto another leader to follow, still as nasty as ever.

You were grateful for him letting his walls down around you, allowing you to see him, and soon you did. You saw him as more than you ever had before. You couldn’t help but think about courting him, of trading little handmade gifts, and sharing little intimate moments of happiness throughout the day.

It seemed as if he wanted the same as he began bringing you gifts, starting as a little armband he made from you out of hard to find shells he had spent many hours trying to find, then it moved onto necklaces and bracelets. Each was more intricate than the last.

When this started you began to bring him things too, poorly made things because using dried seaweed and palm leaves were different from the materials of the jungle, but you managed. Even though they weren’t the best quality he proudly wore them, gladly accepting every gift you would give.

Everyone had noticed by now, the traded jewelry, the touches that lingered a little too long, and the longing looks when you weren’t together. What baffled people most however was not Ao’nung’s seemingly peaceful side coming out, but the fact that neither of you had officially come out and asked if you were courting.

You were courting, you both knew that, but Ao’nung wanted to put it into words, he wanted to make it official, but he felt the need to fix a couple things first, to get a couple blessings.

So he went to the person he thought would be easiest first, your mom. She had seen you two from afar and already had talked to you about it, encouraging you to pursue him and get what you wanted. She had said she was not Tsahík, but Eywa had shown her signs. So when Ao’nung asked she immediately gave him her blessing, knowing this was something not just he wanted, but something you wanted too.

Then he went to your dad. He was a fierce warrior who commanded respect, and Ao’nung tried his best to be respectful, carefully wording his proposal of courting his daughter. Of course Jake had been hesitant at first, but eventually he caved after Ao’nung had mentioned he already had Neytiri’s blessing.

Finally he went to Neteyam, your twin brother, your best friend since birth. Neteyam was adamantly against it, wanting nothing to do with Ao’nung, and wanting his sister to have nothing to do with him either. He was still on the edge of forgiving Ao’nung, swaying over a cliff where falling meant forgiving Ao’nung for his wrong doings, and when Ao’nung explained his love for you, his intentions to never hurt you and treat you with the respect you deserve Neteyam fell over the cliff, giving the Metkayina boy his blessing.

Once he had gotten their blessings he had invited you to the beach where he had first intentionally seeked you out. You were hesitant to go back there with him, but you gave in, trusting him wholeheartedly.

You love him. You trust him. You see him.

When you got there he pulled you to sit down with him, you both facing each other, and he signed, letting his heart out, letting his feelings show, “I am sorry for any times I have hurt you. I was an ass and a fool, and I wish I had never caused you upset or harm. I am sorry for bullying your siblings too, they did not deserve it, but I was scared by the new people and what they would bring. I now see I should have helped like my sister. I should have been making you feel at home here, not doing the opposite.”

“It’s okay. We’re past that.” You reassured him.

He nodded, continuing, “Now I see how special you are. I see how much you’ve changed me and my views on life. I am grateful for the person you have shaped me into. I am grateful I got the chance to make it up to you. I want to court you. Officially.”

You felt your heart swell, butterflies in your stomach, and you were sure it was showing on your face, “I would love that.”

You moved your hands carefully to cup his face, holding it there as you looked into his eyes, hoping he understood how grateful you were for him too, then you pulled him in, lips brushing against each other before they fully made contact. It was magical, unlike anything you had felt before, and you were happy it was him making you feel this way. So happy, so loved.

When you pulled apart he smiled widely at you, grabbing your hands and giving them a gentle but tight squeeze before using them to say, “I see you. I see you.”

You sign your thoughts from earlier, “I love you, I trust you, I see you.”

He doesn’t say anything else, just smiles, and pulls you back in for another kiss, and you feel at peace. You know he is yours, and you are his. You know he will never leave you, and you will never leave him. You know he loves you, and you love him. You know he sees you, and you see him.

Word Bank:

Olo’eyktan (Clan leader)

Kelku (Omatikaya homes)

Metkayina (Ocean Na’vi)

Marui (Metkayina homes)

‘Ite (Daughter)

Awa’atlu (Metkayina village)

Tsahík (Spiritual leader)

Eywa (Na’vi Goddess)

[silicon-puppy-pudding]

Danny totally kills the Joker

I have a very specific Eldritch!Danny in my head that, even though I've tried drawing before, I can't really get out of my head if you get what I mean

And as a dead on main shipper and a lover of angst I have him do shit that causes problems

Like kill the Joker in a blind rage after an Arkham break out

So it's like this, after a breakout that obviously requires all hands on deck, everyone is eventually re-cuffed and put back in their cells (including the Joker).

Red Hood and Phantom are doing some clean up in the Narrows and it's hard on them. Seeing some kids whose parents died cuz of the clown nearly broke Hood.

Phantom, now well known as Hood's right hand, picks up some of the burden. Helping more then he normally does with some displaced kids and families cuz he can feel Hood breaking down.

It hurts..

After the night/day/whatever is over, they head back home to their appartment and Jason just breaks. Danny's been helping with the pit rage so without all the extra anger crowding him it just sort of crumbles into pain and hurt.

Danny can't stand it

He can't stand to see Jason like this

Jason was his rock, his shoulder to cry on, his partner in crime. He had always been there for Danny when he had panic attacks and couldn't breathe cuz he saw some guy walking down the street in a white suit. Was always telling him it was going to be okay. Had told him things were gonna be alright. And now the roles had switched. Danny comforted Jason for who knows how long. Held him tight till he calmed down and was able to fall asleep. Once Danny was sure Jason would be okay he slipped out of the appartment...

Phantom would not stand for this.

Phantom flew over to Arkham with the intent to "have a little chat" with the Joker. Just ruf him up a bit. Scare him shitless so he'd rethink ever braking out again.

He didn't mean to bash the guys skull in.

He didn't even realize he'd been beating a flattened pound of meat and skull till Batman showed up and pulled him from his mind.

He looked over to where he'd heard his name and saw Batman and Nightwing standing by the door of the cell. Both were wrapped in bandages, some obviously stained in blood from the damage they endured during the breakout.

Dick covered his mouth and stared in horror at the sight of Danny, who he'd been lovingly calling his future brother-in-law for the past 2 months, covered in the Jokers blood. He looked like a staticky, distorted shadow. Three(3) sets of arm all ending with white clawed hands; one pair around the Jokers barely intact neck, another clutching the inmate uniforms chest, the last frozen mid punch. Bruce, having just the slightest ecto-connection from the pit, fought off the screaming in his chest to run and leave the King be.

Bruce slowly approached Phantom. Phantom on the other hand, slowly realized what he'd just done and was starting to panic.

He'd just killed a man

Sure he fucking deserved it but he just....let himself go. Let himself indulge in his rage, be consumed by it. And now the Batman was here to stop him. Would he send him back to the Realms? Would he lock him up, away from anyone he could hurt? Away from Jason?

Phantom flinches when Bruce touches his shoulder. And continues to try and back away when Bruce calls for someone to get a hold of Jason on the coms. What's he doing? Isn't he going to be thrown into a cell? He's dangerous! He could do this again if he wasn't dealt with! Why is Bruce calling for Jason? Does he want to show him the monster he let into his life? Does he want Jason to be the one to do it?

Bruce is talking.

Not Batman, but Bruce, is saying something to him, his name.

Not Phantom

"Danny? Danny!?"

Phantom disappears and isn't seen for two(2) days

Nightwing is the one to find him. In some warehouse, slamming his head into a support beam, yelling at himself that he can't become Dan.

I don't know how to continue this. It was supposed to have a nice hurt/comfort ending but I'm not a fic writer and I don't know how to do that. So feel free to use this as a prompt or something 👻👉🏾👈🏾

Edit: figured I'd add one of the Danny doodles I did a while back cuz it fits. I already posted it a while ago but it feels appropriate here too.

[atiyasnake]

Batty ghosts Masterlist

I've been responding to some prompts and posts with little bits of writing and tbh sometimes I lose track of them in the chaos so here is a sort of 'masterlist' I guess of the different posts I've responded to. (make sure to give the OPs some love!!). List below

Clone at the grave AU Bats find lookalike of Jason (danny) at his grave.

Dinner is Served Alfred beings home a young man (danny) for dinner after seeing him protect someone on the street.

What Protects from the Shadows a response to tourettes dog of the fenton fam going to Gotham and thinking bats is a ghost. Danny decides to protect the bat. I made a fic on ao3.

Getting eggs at 2:52am Jason in civies comes across the meta? Bats has been annoyed about at a cornershop/bodega The kid is getting eggs and is spooky

Polite Overshadowing Jason gets overshadowed in a polite way by a fed up ghost king.

Beast boy smells Death beast boy follows a boy that smells like death (Danny) and who tries to shoot a thermos at him. What the kid says is only more confusing.

The Franken Core au a response to someone's prompt/au where the GIW messed with the core of a halfa and an eldritch horror was the result. And jazz runs away with EldritchThermos Danny.

Rude Interruptions a cult summons the ghost king when he was on a date. He is not amused.

Wrong ghost kid Sleep deprivations result in Danny supposedly scruffing Dani, who was threatening some ppl with a sword and calming him down. Except he def had the wrong kid.

Arkham Internship Jazz is the interning at Arkham and a unphased badass about it.

Danny's Arkham Vaca Danny portals into arkham and isn't allowed to leave, so he decides to take a break along with making some new changes in the asylum's structure

Ghostly Retribution Danny decides to employ some petty yet unsettling revenge against one Joker while in gotham.

Smash the plate Danny is so very confident that he is not Bruce Wayne's kid, but a dna test proves him wrong.

No biggie Danny is a chill af manner calms down a pit enraged red hood leaving confusion in his wake

Pop goes the lazarus creature Danny pops out of pools of extoplasm when too much damage happens. One time it happens to be a pool right in the middle of a ninja and bat fight. And apparently this pool of extoplasm is sentient and very angry.

Accidental Kidnapping bat kids take home someone they presumed to be Tim, no one realizes this until 3 days later

Uncle Connie  Jack was disowned or cut off his family that were in the ghost/spirit field and somehow is related to John Constantine. It’s a surprise to find out that your somehow nephew is the ghost king.

Roofhopping Fenton Fam moved to Gotham and Danny decides that roof hopping is the best thing to do with the stress of it, even if he’s doing his best to avoid certain bat and bird-themed vigilantes. 

Concussions and mistaken identities  P.2   P.3 Danny is dragged somewhere by Jack while concussed and ends up mistaking Bruce as his dad. Bruce mistakes him for tim.

Summoning an overwhelmed teenager danny is stressed to the max and being summoned to deal with a ghost problem he didn’t even know about is the last straw, cue crying. 

The Kid There is a kid that keeps fighting Joker like a rabid animal in Gotham. it’s always on sight. including in Arkham.

Clockwork's Chosen: Danny gives prophecies and answers questions he shouldn’t know the answer to. It’s a normal occurrence at Casper High, but after graduation, Gotham better prepare itself.

Accidental Crime Lord    Ao3

Feral clown senses activate Danny goes feral mode when a clown is near, even in the middle of a conversation. Sam and Tucker have a routine for when this happened, despite how everyone else is so so very confused (including vigilantes). 

Just a hole in the wall  Kon gets hit by a spell from Klarion and ends up punching an interdimensional hole to one ghost boi trynna sleep

Cadmus Clones Somehow Ellie and Danny were frozen for study by Cadmus and then found by the JL who think they are clones. 

Sleepy thermos kid Danny due to circumstances falls asleep in the worst/best times/locations. Including one point just on top of Red Hood after helping him out by wacking the enemies with his thermos. 

Skeleton Key Tired danny used the skeleton key and ended up at Wayne manor

Put a gun to my head Immortal Danny living in Gotham got caught up as a hostage and shot in front of the bat. but low and behold, he’s not just gonna let that pass

Reaper’s Dance Danny does an ancient ghosty dance to ease the lost/forgotten/dammed souls in Gotham after being taken by the Wayne’s after his family died

Powerpoint Intervention Danny was taken by the JL under the assumption of being a clone of Tim, and when he finds out it was because they thought he was a clone, he decides to hold an intervention consisting of a very long powerpoint presentation.

Star the Clown Danny actually ended up liking clowns when dealing with his feelings about the freakshow incident, so much that he absolutely hated the Joker who gave clowns a bad name. and what better way to make him pay then be a clown who interferes with his plans. 

You lied  P.2 Danny finds out the Waynes are the bat and feels betrayed because now it feels like a lie (or so he thinks)

What came after the King  Pariah Dark is still the Ghost King and can be summoned, but what is more concerning is the creature that follows. 

Ripped from the core  Danny was ripped from his core and in some small shadow eldritch form stuck in Gotham. Instead of trying his luck with the bats and birds, he decided to try it with a scaly guy underground. 

Hit da bricks  After years of captivity and essentially torture from the GIW Danny lets himself slip into a fake world to escape the pain, he wakes up in the body of R-13, a clone of the robins from Cadmus, and then makes his escape. Except it isn’t actually a dream but real.  (I made three parts so far in response to Omni’s initial response to the prompt. they named the au and actually have their own branch of the story that you should def checkout!!)

Danny created the Infinte Realms

Stolen core Vlad took away Danny's core leaving Danny half of who he is, feeling hollow. Certain ppl at thr wayne gala notice.

You dare to touch the stars? Danny has been captive of GIW but what makes him snap and finally break free is when they dare to bring in the Martian Manhunter.

Here some smaller ones

Museums kind of suck possible idea of Danny returning items to their rightful owners

Pissed teens of Amity the JL doesn't respond so the Fenton teens decide to contact one Rhas al Ghul

Is Hood food? Three ways that the hood is lowkey food trope for one very hungry halfa kid could go.

Sup batty-yo Danny just keeps popping up where bat is on patrol, effectively concerning the man by the life tidbits he drops amidst just gossip. 

A few of them I am def planning to write more and eventually post fics of on ao3. My user is Atiya_Blackcharm.

Anyways hope you enjoy 💚

P.2 masterlist

[yellowbunnydreams]

Mechanised Devotion (Part 3) ~Steve Raglan/William Afton x Female Reader~

~I'm going to cry, you guys are so nice and I'm so ecstatic that people like my writing! I'm having so much fun writing this and so I am going to update as much as I can. Thank you so much for your support guys!~

Tag list!: @ruh--roh-raggy

Part 1 Part 2

CW: Minors DNI, (18+ ONLY), afab reader, legal age gap (Reader- 20's, William - 40's), mention of crimes and violence, blood, mentions of child death (it's FNAF, what did you expect?), past trauma; abusive relationships.

The piece of paper in your hand felt thin and like it would break in the dry wind at any moment. But it had been folded and unfolded so many times in the past day that you weren't entirely surprised and now that it was no longer needed, it felt strange to throw it away.

As you had eaten and left Sparky's the day before, Mr. Raglan had given you a handwritten slip of paper that contained an address in neat but scratchy block capital writing. Somehow when you had stared at it, the neatness and somehow rushed nature of the writing didn't surprise you about Steve Raglan, the few times you had met, he seemed antsy. Like he was always thinking three appointments ahead and was running five behind.

What had surprised you the most, was the careful sketch that had been placed on the bottom of the small slip, of a bear wearing a top-hat and bowtie in a stylised wave. You hadn't asked, but you got the feeling that Steve would be embarrassed if you asked if he had drawn it. Although, looking up at the address in front of you, he had nailed the key identifying feature of the building.

The giant smiling, or at least you assumed smiling, bear waved from the top of the building in an overgrown and broken down neon light. Currently decommissioned in the low light of the growing dark, it felt eerie and empty. But according to the brief overview that Raglan had phoned and given you that afternoon, it was an old kid-pizza place, the owner clung onto it despite the closure and it was now your job to keep it safe from intruders and such. Apparently the animatronics inside were quite rare and expensive, which had led to you wondering why they were left in such a vulnerable place, but it wasn't a question for you to ask and so you fished the keys out of your pocket and undid the lock and chain that kept the front doors sealed against the worst of the damage.

Inside was even eerier, faded and somehow still bright walls and colours with a thick, heavy looking red curtain slap bang on the centre stage at the back of the main dining hall. Peering in, you could see decommissioned arcade machines scattered about and tables laid out as if a party was going to happen the very next morning, despite the heavy dusty cobwebs that laid over the surfaces and between the kiddie sized party hats.

You had to admit, despite having never heard of, or having been to this place called Freddy Fazbear's, you felt somewhat nostalgic.

As tempted as you were to look around, you hefted the heavy backpack on your shoulder and began to walk through the building. Following loosely what Steve had said about where to turn once inside the building, wondering if he would check in on you in the morning. But you shook your head, wondering why he would check on you of all people just because you had started a new job, he would be busy making sure the rest of his clients found a job as she had now done with his help.

Unknowingly, you were being watched. Cameras silently following your figure and focusing on you as you passed through doorways and halls. Navigating towards the back of the building and towards the security office. A silent observer on your discovery.

Steve Raglan sat in his home, in his comfy armchair and sunk into it and with a small bowl of popcorn next to him on a side-table. Headphones plugged into the laptop balanced on his lap as he sat with his tie and shirt off for the first time that day. Finally able to relax in himself, he was pleased that he had managed to clean up so well, and that he had remembered to fix the audio on the cameras too.

He had instructed his creations to be good, but he knew with a smirk that they wouldn't follow his instructions fully. Freddy would probably remain fairly still, as would Chica. But Foxy and Bonnie could be wildcards, or very much the types to follow the letter and not the spirit of the laws he laid down.

It was always exhilarating to him, watching the cameras and seeing the fear coursing through the people he sent into that place. Not many of them made it out alive, or if they did, he quickly put an end to that.

He barely heard the door open and saw the vague shadow of the person coming in behind in, glancing away from the screen to see his daughter Vanessa standing behind him. Still in her cop uniform and looking tired, bags under her eyes betraying what would have been a pretty face. She looked like her mother, Steve thought, before he turned his attention back to the camera with cold indifference towards his family member.

"Dad, you really roped in somebody else?" She asked, noticing his headphones in and speaking up. Wincing as she noticed his shoulders tensing before they dropped again, reaching up and taking a headphone out to look coldly at Vanessa. His sharp features contorted into a scowl, looking decidedly even more unfriendly without his signature glasses on.

"None of your fucking business Vanessa." He spat, raising an eyebrow before mockingly pushing his bottom lip out in a pout. "You're lucky I tell them to leave you be when you decide to interfere again with my work. Maybe next time you won't be so lucky." It wasn't a question, it was a statement and Vanessa felt the chill go down her spine as her head dropped, rubbing her hands one over another.

"Sorry dad, you're right. Did you want me to go tomorrow night and see what they're doing?" She knew the drill by now, and Steve Raglan as he was acting as smiled in a cold, calculating manner. Reaching out and patting her shoulder in a slow, heavy manner, condescending her for her obedience.

"We'll see what's left in the morning, Vanny."

She hated when he called her that name, the pit of her stomach sank as she glanced at the young woman on the screens and felt the growing dread that she might be the last person, bar one, to witness her alive as Steve Raglan turned back to his screen with an unabated sense of thrill for what was about to unfold.

You had finally made it into the office and managed to locate the breaker that Raglan has mentioned. Throwing it on, you were pleasantly surprised as the seemingly ancient security system whirred to life and flickered on. Monitors showing various cameras throughout the restaurant and staff-only halls, a small game-system looking board in front of them giving you an idea that that was how you controlled the cameras. A VCR and tape attached to a TV with your name hastily scrawled on in the same blocky handwriting caught your attention, making you smile as you popped the tape in and lowered the volume. Listening in the background to the introduction the being the new guard at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.

You missed the tape glitching to Freddy's opening maw and thick ichor pouring from it for a moment as you turned to reach into your backpack. Pulling out a water bottle, some snacks and a few college textbooks that you decided you might as well work through whilst you were on shift.

Plugging in your headphones, quietly turning on some music so that you could hear the general noise around you, you began to work. Glancing up at the monitors between penciling your thoughts on your texts and solving puzzles contained within with the goal of understanding some, or if not all of the content before you.

Head down and focused as you missed the glint of a hook moving the purple starred curtain a few inches and a glowing eye staring out at the camera from within the resturant.

~~

Raglan suddenly came to with a start, jerking the laptop off of his lap and grunting as he darted forwards to catch it. He wasn't as young as he used to be, but he was certainly still lithe and fast for a man of his stature. Almost unnaturally so. Sitting back, he wiped at his eyes with his large hands and swore as he looked around for the headphones that had fallen out of his ears as he had apparently been bored to sleep by your lack of action.

Moving the mousepad, the screen jumped to life and he quickly entered the password once again. Eyes bleary as he wondered if you were still being a boring little victim. He had expected something more...Well, he wasn't entirely sure.

Most in your position died in their sleep as they dozed off on the job, some died fighting, some just curled into a ball and cried as they were torn apart by the animatronics. But he paused as he realised the office was empty, your chair pushed back from the desk and books strewn across it haphazardly.

His heart beat rapidly, excitedly and perhaps a little fearfully as he pressed the numbers to try and find out where you were. Wondering if he had missed the main event, or if perhaps you had gone to investigate a noise. He cursed as his eyes rapidly darted across the screen, thick fingers trembling in anticipation as he tracked you down silently. Sighing as he found you again, before noticing where you were and what was occurring on the screen with a sick grin.

You had backed into a corner, hiding like a scared rabbit with your heart beating quickly enough in your chest that you weren't too sure you could distinguish between each beat. Hands clutching onto a section of table leg that you had found and picked up as an improvised weapon during your run through the restaurant.

About ten minutes ago you had looked up from your books, to find the purple curtains of Pirate's cove pulled back and revealing the 'out of order' sign and an empty space. Cautiously, you had ventured out, the hairs slowly standing on the back of your neck as you explored the main area.

It was too silent.

Until the sound of heavy metal footsteps came from behind you, and you turned slowly, watching as an animatronic that looked like some sort of dilapidated fox with an eyepatch and a wicked hook came from around the corner of the hall and spotted you. Staring at each other for a moment with his eyes piercing the half-light in the main area. Then the jaw started to open with a quiet creaking, the eye moving from a whitish yellow glow to a more deep orange as it started moving towards you again. Picking up speed as it went.

Suddenly you bolted, running anywhere, somewhere into the bowels of the building as the heavy footsteps continued running after you. Somehow, you had managed a hairpin turn and found yourself pressed into a corner with a table leg to defend yourself again an animatronic that was about six feet tall. You wanted to reach out, call for help, but something told you that you would bring more people into danger if you did so.

Heavy footsteps approached towards your hiding space, making the ground and small dusty objects along the counter vibrate with the weight of the heavy 'thunk..thunk...thunk'. Fighting back tears, you brandished your weapon as a shadow loomed over the end of the counter, you planned to at least try fighting, not that logically you knew it would do anything against metal and fur.

Around the corner, a somewhat familiar bear face appeared, eyes glowing in the darkness, top hat and bowtie on as it looked at you with furrowed eyebrows. A soft sob escaped your lips as you pressed yourself further into the corner, watching as the animatronic stared unblinkingly into your soul.

For some reason, like a scared child, you pressed your finger to your lips in a shushing motion. Body shaking and feeling as if you were going to pass out then and there. Maybe it would have been a small mercy against the heavy metal bodies that were about to end your life.

But to your surprise, the bear's eyebrows raised in a somewhat surprised expression. Head tilting one way then another as his ears wiggled. Bringing up one hand slowly, it carefully curled the fingers on that hand and returned the shushing motion. Standing up suddenly with a whirr of gears and pistons and turning around. Standing still at the end of the counter, you realise after a moment that it seemed to be blocking you from view.

Although you weren't entirely sure why, you sobbed silently with relief.

Taking some paper from nearby and some broken dusty crayons, you began to draw to try and calm your nerves. Or maybe leave a pictogram of what happened to you should you not make it through the next few hours of your shift. It was almost 6am, you just had to survive a little longer, you hoped at least.

After a few attempts, you ended up drawing the bear in front of you, it was crude and more kid-like than anything an adult's drawing style. But your hands shook so hard you didn't dare attempt to put any detail into it apart from large blocks.

After what felt like forever, the clocks in the building chimed, and it seemed like the animatronic in front of you stiffened. As if responding to programming that dictated it had somewhere to be in that precise moment.

Crawling forwards, you managed to get behind the bear and press the drawing into it's hand. Seeming to surprise it as it lifted the barely articulate limb to look at the crude drawing of yourself being protected by the bear in the corner. It seemed to pause before raising it's eyebrows in what you assumed was a happy position and silently closed its eyes and raised its head back as if it was laughing. Ears twitching wildly before it headed back towards the main stage. Inadvertantly revealing you to Steve Raglan's hungry stare once more.

He looked at the unscathed woman stood trembling in the middle of the floor. A bewildered look on her face as well as the faint sound of her hyperventilation filling his ears. It would have been a delicious sound for him to savour if he wasn't overcome with a flood of emotions. Clenching his large hands into fists on the arms of the chair, he gritted his teeth and stared at the screen.

"Oh, you...You are going to wish they had killed you when I'm done with you now." He gritted through his teeth, chuckling darkly and feeling the slight chill of adrenaline searing up his spine and making the dark room darken more in his vision. Licking his lips as he stared at you on the screen, unaware that you had volunteered yourself as prey for an even more dangerous predator.

[fountainpenguin]

Riddle watches New Wish - Post #4

... Angela has orange eyes. Interesting... It's a good thing that 8 years ago, I didn't set up my entire magical society to be obsessed with natural orange features like hair because it's the rarest color in the magical world, ahahaha...

Cosmo hung a picture of himself on their wall.

SHE HAS A CREATURE-HUNTER FOR A DAD? Oh no, oh no, oh no... Someone call Doombringer, Crocker, and Ed Leadly- They've got a new friend!

He didn't react to Cosmo and Wanda describing the features Crocker always names as fairy traits (wands, wings, floating crowns), so he probably doesn't know Crocker.

She's so cute...

Okay, I love that Cosmo and Wanda walk backwards while bouncing. They are still not used to being human.

CRYING, Wanda literally noped out with a farewell of "We probably won't be seeing you much." That is a woman who is not willing to get dragged out of retirement and back into creature-hunting threats. I'm very curious as to how they end up with Hazel.

Hey, Hazel's indoor rug is even cooler than the one in the hall.

POV, you usually would fly across the hall but you don't have your wings out right now.

She vaporized the door, doors are STILL for chumps!!

AND WE GET CEILING LIGHTS? They thought of everything!

... Enrichment Academy? Interesting...

Okay, I love how the building design, the hills, and Hazel's schoolmates still totally belong in FOP style:

Hey, that's the guy from the story bible preview! He's getting the skateboard noises; that's cute.

And baby, we're SO back!

Cosmo and Wanda think they slick:

Hazel introducing herself to the class as "liking french fries" is a mood.

"I have an older brother! He's my best friend. He's visiting today and it will totally make up for the fact that no one laughed at my rock joke." - Girl, you are dying inside.

(He's not gonna show and that's what'll push C and W into taking her in... isn't it?)

Oh, they have swirls on their ears like the OG style! Nice. Also, I love the thin, stretchy arms and tiny legs... This is nice.

Oh no.

Yeah, this kid looks stable. Please tell me he doesn't have orange hair. Haha, I'm in danger.

HE'S DALE'S KID??? Lemonade Dungeon Boy got himself a partner? Mr. Only Shows Up In One Episode unless he's the pixie godkid implied by Da Rules' page about pixies in the Musical but he's probably not, he's just always been my leading theory and it was in Season 2?

Ohhh, boy; writers did their homework. I support him and what I can only assume are well-adjusted social skills. And yay, that gives us a timeline.

If this kid were an animal, I don't think I'd let him eat out of my hand. He's ready for collateral damage.

Hazel has been so nice to everyone, not even outing Cosmo and Wanda to her dad, and she's already ready to yeet this kid into the trash because he's not good enough to recycle.

omg, we're getting introduced to the background characters? Yesssss...

Okay, I'm cracking up at Dev introducing the ASMR guy (Whisper) as "gives me the creeps, but I respect the hustle." I'm intrigued.

Whisper was my alt name for Whistle, so I'm glad I went with the latter!

I am saving every poster I ever see.

Love how we're getting to tour more of the building. We've got stairs! And mailboxes! ... Also, Cosmo and Wanda were not her bubble charms in disguise, but that's definitely where they're going.

I like how Hazel's parents did immediate damage control when she started reacting and made sure she was expressing a healthy response in front of Antony.

I'm obsessed with Hazel. She reminds me so much of Chloe. "Running away! Not in a bad way like on TV, but in a good way! 'cuz it's me and I know what I'm doing!" They would be friends. I wonder if we'll get to see adult Chloe.

omfg, Cosmo and Wanda saw "Child running away" and they're IMMEDIATELY gunning for this child. Sir/Ma'am, please get your minds retuned for this century. Do not steal the child.

SLDKJFSDF compilation of past episodes where Cosmo has gone to space after he says he wants to go to space. Looks like the "Spaced Out" saga AND - and I am shook -

THAT'S "TERRIBLE TWOSOME," Season 9! When he's reading jokes to Poof so he'll stop blocking the sun!

Sir/ma'am, where is your paperwork to take this child?

I'm glad I got a heads up that the writers confirmed the bus driver isn't actually Timmy; I can see how that would be confusing.

Stopping here so I can do a thing with my parents. Will return later!

[demie90s]

Poison

Shuri x Black!Fem!Reader

Enemies to Lovers

Sub!ShurixReader

Smut

Imagine Shuri not liking you.

Warning⚠️: Like 1/2 of this is Smut.

┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ 〈 ⏣ 〉 ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈

I could feel her eyes on me.

After a few minutes, my neck begins to tense, and a tingling sensation begins to spread. I can't explain how I know, but I just know that it's because of someone else's gaze. I look up and, sure enough, she looking right at me.

Eyes meeting briefly as she holds a glare. I raise my eyebrow, making her scoff and look away. Then I  go back to my work.

This was not new.

Though Shuri has not always 'hated' me. I mean we've known eachother for 11 years. But recently, it seems as if she absolutely despised me...as if I was  Poison.

A mental venom that can pollute your spirit. You know...poison your soul and seep into any of the relationships that surround you.

Anyone who has found themselves wrapped up in the arms of hate knows how damaging and mind-consuming it can become.

I don't know what I did. Or how it started.

It could be jealousy.

I am free to leave whenever I please and I'm not being watched 24/7. I am still held to fufil the high expectations my parents hold for me that I may never reach.

Or Because I was an Outsider

I mean when someone new enters a group, they fear how that individual will change their group dynamics. Sharing hatred toward the 'new kid' is a way for the existing group to strengthen their bonds in defensive.

Either way...the feeling mutual.

The anger feels good. When you experience physical and emotional distress, anger motivates you to do something about it. Fight, cry, run, jump,...fuck.

Anger helps you cope with the stress.

I can not lie at the fact that I find her attractive angry.

She's Absolutely Stunning.

Her ability to hold grudges non stop is strong. At least for me, I've seen someone who works in the lab 'accidentally' knock papers down and even when frustrated she handled it well. With a smile and everything.

Yet, I miss one word in a report and she explodes. Her yelling is not what annoyed me. It was the non stop talking. I get it I fucked up, your angry, but let it go.

"Are you going to keep staring or work because if not you can go home." She said loudly looking at me. Realizing I was not going to budge she rolled her eyes and went back to her work.

Standing up you slowly walk towards her. "What are you doing now." She asked sighing and resting her hands on the table. After a minute of silence and intense eye contact she started to get irritated. I would lie and say I was not turned on but that would get me no where.

I want her.

Want…Need.. same thing.

"You hate me?" I ask lowly tilting my head with a sly smirk leaning one hand on the table. She watches me for a moment eyeing me suspiciously. "Do. You. Hate. Me?" I ask again standing up and walking closer. Watching as she smirked back.

"No-" I give her no time to react grabbing her waist with my right hand and kissing her. She kisses back almost instantly roughly grabbing my neck.

Her lips were warm and soft. Parting  slightly, allowing my tongue to slip inside. She tasted sweet, like fresh strawberries.

Our bodies pressed together heatedly against the desk, breathing heavily as our lips pressed together. Although I loved kissing her I pulled back smirking.

She looked at me with lustful eyes. Watching my every move. "Why did you stop?" She asked clearly hot and bothered. I do not respond grabbing her hand and leading her to an empty desk.

Pulling her in-front of me slowly I push on on to the desk. Kissing from her lips, to her neck. Leaving light bruises on her skin. Hearing her moan finding pleasure from just from grinding on my thigh. “You sound so pretty.” Finding my way back to her lips.

I pull away from the kiss feeling how close she was. I want her to enjoy herself. As she comes down from her high I slowly rub her sensitive clit watching her pull away from me.

Lightly grabbing my wrist to stop me and catch her breath.

“I didn’t get to make you cum..but that’s fine because we are no where near done.”

[when-the-spagheddie-hits-the-fan]

I'm in the BIT Club (IT Book Club)

Each week we read a certain amount of the book and I have thoughts and feelings about IT *Ba Dum Tss*

Warning: There are Spoilers

Week 1

Ch. 1

   I really liked being in Georgie’s perspective, and the whole time he’s describing the basement I kept hearing the Jaws *dun dun* because of future events and just having the knowledge I have from the Miniseries, Movies (and Musical), like, dude, you have no idea how right you are! And that turtle wax made me go, “omg, does Stephen King even realize what he did there?!” and it’s like “yeah, ya goof.”

   Georgie and Bill’s relationship was so siblings. People don’t always write siblings being assholes to each other while also showing that they care about each other. I think the butthole jokes weirdly show that off the best, and Georgie is so cute about Bill saying “shitty butthole” — very little kid of him.   Also, when Georgie kisses Bill on the cheek and Bill tells Georgie to be careful before leaving, I never thought it was weird while watching the other media, so when it was pointed out how unusual it was it got me thinking about why did they do it that time? Was it the turtle or was it just one of those moments that really stands out to you because it was the last time you saw that person and it ended in tragedy or was it something else completely? 

   Something that really surprised me was that an adult “saw” what happened and actually went to go check on Georgie. Any other time I’ve seen this scene it almost always cuts away right after Georgie is attacked so I had no idea. Plus adults suck, so anytime they aren't it’s always wild to me.

Ch. 2

   This chapter is so brutal, obviously. But like, fuck, dude. What adds to the harshness of it all is like this shit has happened and can still happen. My heart felt so disgusted by what those homophobic pricks were doing. And the hopelessness of Don crying out for anyone to help, and running back to Adrian and not being able to anything was so sad and sickening.

   And with Pennywise showing up to finish off Adrian I find myself thinking, not at the time but looking back on it, Pennywise is not as bad as those jackwagons. Is that weird to think? I mean, Pennywise is a murder-crazed space clown god thing, what are those scum sucking fuckwads excuses?

   Something I found interesting is how kinda neutral the cops were? ACAB and all that, but I thought they were gonna be evil and that’s that. But no. Sure they aren’t supportive of the gays but they didn’t go out of their way to fuck with them, and one stopped the first altercation and told the warthog sniffers to fuck off. Again ACAB and at the end of the day they are, but I was kinda thrown for a loop when they weren’t vile creatures.

   On a happier note; the Elmer Curtie part was really funny. Man has a successful gay bar in a small, homophobic town and it takes him 4yrs, give or take, to realize it. Amazing! And when he figures it out he’s like, “Most of my patrons are polite, I never have to pay for damages because girls aren't an issue, and I’m making money?? I see only positives!” Also, it’s totally canon that he ships Don and Adrian.

Ch. 3

   This was a hefty chapter, and my favorite out of the 3 for this week. For a chapter as a whole; I liked the back and forth of who was narrating for each Loser’s parts (other person, that loser, other person, that loser, other person, that loser), and a thought I’m sure no one has had before; IT should really be a TV Series. Chapter 1 and 2 could easily be their own episode, and each of the Losers’ sections could be their own episode too!

   Stan- Okay, starting off strong and sad. Really surprised that Stan is first, and we’re in Patty’s head. I learned way more about Patty than I ever did with the Miniseries and Movies combined. I mean in total her screen is like what? Over 5mins?

   The people need to know that puzzles are Patty’s thing! I repeat, girl has hobbies away from Staniel!!

   That part about her not being allowed in that high society club dance, describing her beautiful dress that made her look like a mermaid, the sound that her heels made on the gravel when walking back to the car, the laughing she hears and how that will affect her even years from now, that shit is crushing. And her and Stan's relationship is so nice and sweet. She doesn’t always get him, but she loves him so much, and they’re each other's person. He’s gentle with her for their first time. I made an audible “awww” when Patty said, “Don’t hurt me, dear.” and he said, “I will never hurt you.” Then the moment got ruined with remembering what’s gonna happen, but I digress.

  So when Patty goes to check on Stan, again, it’s way longer. The one thing that really stood out to me is that she notices all the unusual things Stan is doing, things that he never really does but it’s nothing that she feels like she needs to bring up with him. And then it’s too late, and those out of place things are just playing over and over again in her head. It got me thinking about Georgie's chapter. The kiss and the concerned warning that the brothers do for the last time they would ever see each other. And how it stands out to them but they say nothing about it, and thoughts of these mistakes and what they should have done will stay with (sadly only) Bill forever. And now with Patty. Fuck.

   Two things I can now confidently say now about Stan is he’s autistic and the man fucks!

   This is such a little piece and I haven’t read the whole book so technically the whole picture isn’t there, but Stan is autistic. The way he talks and interacts with people, he’s logical and doesn’t feel the need to explain himself. ‘Cause why would he? He’s right. Speaking as a person that also falls on the spectrum, reading this little bit about Stan at least makes me go, “Hmmm, gonna file that for later.” Also, and I really wish this wasn’t the case, I really appreciate having Stan not come off as cold and heartless. He jokes around and clearly loves his wife. Almost like he's a person and not some broken robot. What a concept!

   On a hornier note, Stan likes sex. The Miniseries understood that. It’s so great that when they leave the clinic, Stan's first words are, “I never do”, and then clarifies, “Think about procreation during.” Noice. I don’t know; I just really like knowing that the dude fucks and he likes it.

   On a final note; I’m interested in finding out why he remembers more than any other losers. Like, I know but I’m curious to see how the book will explain it.

   Richie- Richie has ADD/ADHD!

   From the need to play music (the louder the better) to either help him focus or distract him.

All those voices he does, him wanting to please the people he talks to, and not wanting to say or show what he’s actually feeling or thinking? That is so masking!

   I know with every character there are a lot of thoughts going on in their heads, but Richie’s on a different level. Not only does he have a lot of thoughts, but he’s also talking to a lot of people, using multiple voices, and he’s quick on his feet when on the spot. Plus I know he has the gift of gab (aka never shuts the fuck up), he’s moving around a lot, and he’s keeps getting distracted with little things going on around him. His brain is all over the place.

   Imma call it; Richie wasn’t bullied for his glasses (I mean he was but shush); he was bullied because he has ADD/ADHD! Kids don’t need to know what it is to spot it and hate you for it. Talking from experience as an ADD kid (or that weird annoying girl).

   It’s really sad that the main memories that he remembers is the bullying, the names they called him, and getting beat up.

   I’m glad he had friends that loved and cared about him.

   Also, holy crap! Richie said, “You bet your fur” first!

   Ben- …Okay, real talk? Ben’s part was so funny! I already brought up that the amount of times Ricky Lee’s name was so fucking funny to me here, but the waitress, the lemons, and the amount of stress Ben was giving Ricky Lee was really funny.

   Of course I feel bad for Ben but to be in Ricky Lee’s POV is really something special!

   Sorry, not that much to say. I guess something to add is Ben needs therapy (no duh). In this case I’m talking about his body image issues, and for what he put his body through and I bet is still doing to look “perfect.”

   Eddie- I don’t think I have to bring up examples on why Sonia sucks and is a terrible mother; you saw all the words about her.

   Everything that was shown about Eddie wasn’t surprising. I think reading the source really showed me the fights that he has with himself might be his biggest problem (those words come from his mother but you get it) And I really like that you can tell, even through all his fear, that Eddie is a capable person and is very brave.

   Also, I was expecting Eddie to have a long list about everything he takes but, good lord, that list really did go on forever.

   I don’t know how fans feel about this, considering all the fanfics I read I think I’m really in the minority, but I don’t think Myra is abusive?? At worst, I think she kinda manipulates Eddie into feeling bad and getting her way but like I don’t know, it feels like she’s fucked up like Eddie but in a different way, they both seem to be stuck in this life. Even what I said about the worst seems a bit too much. I actually feel bad for her. I’m really surprised because, again, all the fanfics I’ve read, things I’ve seen online talking about her and Sonia’s similarities, and I guess the little snippet from the second movie shaped my original opinion about her.

   And can I just say, I hate how Stephen King describes fat people. He makes it seem like the biggest sin a person can have is being fat. Like, “Of course they're a bad person. Didn’t you see how big they are? I mean how could you not?! Fat people are so gross!” I just — it makes me uncomfortable. Especially ‘cause, oh I don’t know, BEN! Let’s see how that goes.

   Bev- This is really brutal. Besides Bev beating the ever-loving shit out of Tom and scream-laughing like the beautiful mad lady she is when she's outside, my overall favorite part is how Tom is able to sound cruel and vile but also show just how pathetic and dumb he really is.

   He really is a top tier abuser with no skills of his own, and has the mind of a whiny child. I hope his balls exploded into bloody nothings, and the wounds Bev gave him never heal and he’s unable to cover them so he never forgets what happened and his outside matches his insides. (btw scars are cool and okay but fuck this turd)

   I’m glad Bev found her strength again.

   Bill- I learned you can do anything if you have the unjustified confidence of a white man. I wanted to say that college Bill was being really egotistical, but what the fuck do I know? It worked out great for him. 

   Seriously though, I’m trying really hard not to jump the gun but I know that book adult Bill sucks and the live action adult Bills don’t. And overall Bill seems okay in his section buuuut, I don’t know; I’ll keep trying to take in the book without my prior knowledge.

   I like Audra, and finding out how they met. I think it’s sweet that you wouldn’t think they would have ended up together but they really do seem to love each other. And Audra really seems to care about him. What a nice, good lady. Sure would be a shame if Bill became human trash and taints what they have.

[tsunderetypea]

Little Slayer 2| TLoVM x platonic!reader

Preface| Every party had their outlier. For some, most people would think it was Scanlan of the legendary group Vox Machina. Yet as we know fate has its own working on the matter.

Enter amnesiac Y/N who happened to cross their paths. For the most part they appeared utterly normal as a human could be but well as the party would soon realize there is more to them than meets the eye.

Word Count| 1766

Link to [Part 01] | [Part 03]

—

[A/N]: I’m thinking the title might change as the story progresses but who knows

Also apologies if I don’t cover everyone’s point of view, it’s not easy writing about a bunch of characters!

Also there might be violence and stuff but this is TLoVM what can you expect lol

“Wow I thought Grog losing his muscles was more depressing for him than not getting to keep the kid,” sighed Scanlan as he took a swig of his ale though not before watching Grog lay his head on the wooden table.

“Me too,” agreed Pike as she looked on with a small frown over her best friend’s state. “Our journey is not exactly for young folk,” reasoned the Matron of Ravens’ champion.

“It’s still upsetting to watch. I feel bad for him though,” Keyleth looked down at her drink.

“At least we were able to help in some form,” Percy attempted to see things from a positive perspective. “Indeed,” murmured Vex.

“Who knows, maybe we’ll see them when we leave in the morrow.”

–

Breaths from the cold night were visible as you panted from running. You weren’t running from anyone to be exact, more like you were trying to find the group that helped you earlier.

That’s if hopefully, they hadn’t left which is why you were running in the first place. You wanted to properly thank them for giving you enough money to fill the gnawing ache in your belly from hunger.

But it was futile.

It was too dark now and the moon that once illuminated your path was now dark.

Wait… there had just been moonlight a moment ago.

A strange sensation resonated in your being, that felt familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

Yet you never thought you would be screaming a word that struck the hearts and minds of common folk with fear.

“Dragon!” you screamed as you ran into the street, hoping in some shape or form your cry of alarm would somehow alert everyone in the nick of time but it was too late.

The hard flapping of wings entered your hearing though not before blue fire spurted downwards from the sky onto the ground, burning the buildings around you as you ducked for cover from the flame.

The dragon roared as it flew above you, spreading more of its flame. The fire was unlike any that you’d seen before, as the heat of the flames made you hotter than before even though you were a good distance away from them though its damage was just as heavy as screams of terror filled the night air.

“How pitiful… you think you can escape from my grasp?” the dragon bellowed as it landed on a tower that from what you can see had to be in the center of town. Using its vantage point from there, it stayed perched on the stone structure while aiming its head to burn whatever it saw move.

Those who were trying to survive by escaping unfortunately met their demise by the blue flame.

“Let it be known that I Scargone, master of cremation, am taking this town for the Chroma Conclave!” announced Scargone as he lifted his head up to the night sky before unleashing his fiery breath.

‘I was wrong… my luck went to shit!’ you cursed as you hunkered down in the alleyway you ducked into. Your body was too scared to move, frozen in fear as much as you knew you had to leave there with your life.

“Get the others to safety!” you heard an all too familiar voice say which in that moment helped you to break free from your frozen state. Carefully you peeked out from where you hid.

“Scanlan and Percy make sure to get everyone out before joining us against this bastard. I want casualties to be at a minimum…” it was them, you finally managed to find them.

‘Wait they are going to stop the dragon?!’ now panic filled your being because even though you just met them, you didn’t want them to die!

“We just killed a dragon not long ago, had one be in our midst for a while and now we have to kill another one again!..” groaned the archer woman from earlier.

‘So they have encountered dragons before… even killed them.’ you never would have thought they were dragon-slayers as they were not what you imagined when one pictured them. You thought they would be more rough and tumbled and maybe some missing a limb. Maybe Grog looked the part but not really anyone else.

“If it is destiny dear sister then so be it. The rest of us are killing a dragon.” her brother acknowledged placing a hand on her shoulder before nodding to the others for initiation of their plan.

“Let’s go Scanlan,” ordered the man with glasses, the one that also offered to share his gold with you as he turned on his heel racing ahead of the gnome also from earlier.

“Coming, geez!” the bard bantered back as they went their separate ways.

You debated about what to do. It would be stupid to follow after them, but you also had a strange feeling inside of you other than fear if you didn’t do something.

Perhaps it was cowardice.

But they also knew what they were doing, they killed a dragon before.

Your heart began to pound faster and faster as you debated about what to do, adrenaline coursing through your veins.

‘Ugh so help me…!’ without a moment to think, you got up from your hiding spot and ran out of the alleyway as your legs seemed to have a mind of their own following in the direction of where Grog, the giant that held you earlier, went along with his part of the party.

As much as you reasoned with yourself that they could handle it; something inside of you said for you to go and there was no avoiding it.

Within a moment’s notice, it had not taken long for them to reach the center of town as much as the blue flames made an attempt to burn them from existence.

“Voluntaire!” Vex shouted as she took out her broom from her magical pouch, not wasting a moment to get on and reach to the sky so that with her added height she would be able to shoot at Scargone with Fenthras.

While they were distracted with Scargone; it was easy for you to slip by. It was not easy for you to hide as fire seemed to corner you with every step you took, but you had to make your way somehow.

“I…want to… rage!” you could hear Grog yell as he used some kind of object against the ground to launch him in the air. You were able to see him as the gauntlets on his hands glowed as he neared the beast.

Scargone having noticed him wasted no time in breathing his devastating flame to first Vex and then Grog. Vex managed to maneuver out of the way but Grog was able to feel part of the blue flames.

“Grog!” screamed Pike as she watched him fall, thinking he was not able to withstand it. But with a clap of the Titanstone Knuckles, he stopped his descent and ascended once more.

“That was nothing!” he grinned as he finally touched down onto Scargone.

“Pathetic…” the black dragon hissed as he tried to bite the half-giant though not before noticing a dark shadow move in his periphery. Vax using the newfound wings of a raven from his vestige threw his blades at the beast, though his aim was not accurate as he tried to evade the wings of Scargone as another means of attack.

“He’s stopped spewing that dastardly blue fire thanks to brother and Grog,” Vex huffed, coughing from the dark smoke from the flames Scargone had ignited earlier.

“Keyleth, we won’t be able to fight if the smoke is slowing us down, do something about it,” the half-elven twin ordered as the air Ashari did as she was told. “Pike you and I need to buy time with Grog and brother until Percy and Scanlan get here. Maybe we’ll need Mythcarver to take him down.” she rationalized as the gnome cleric chuckled before saying a “right” before heading over to help their friends.

So it was the four of them against one dragon as you watched Keyleth put out the smoke and flame with her air-druid magic. Though as much as she put them out, Scargone would go ahead and add more as he tried to aim at his attackers.

Though from your viewpoint you could tell he was growing in aggression and it won’t be long until he maybe changed course. Maybe there was a weak spot on him.

A weak spot? How had you known that? You wanted to deduce how you knew on that matter but something caught your attention.

When Scargone turned his head trying to set Vex on fire; behind his jawbone were what looked like gills almost like that of a fish. The others wouldn’t have noticed it because of the darkness of his hide and the smoke that exhumed which covered it from view.

Until you were able to see it.

“Enough!” Scargone yelled agitated as he lifted himself from his perch, rising high in the sky as he took off probably in an attempt to remove Grog from him as he was the only one who managed to be on him.

“There goes Grog again,” commented Vax as he hovered in the air, his eyes narrowing trying to spot the dragon.

“Brother he is using the night to his advantage and there is no way we can keep up with him. It's like Umbraysl all over again,” pointed out his twin sister as she hovered beside him.

“Even worse, I don’t think we’ve managed to put a dent in him…” groaned Pike as she wiped the soot from her face. “We need another change of plan. We have to keep him grounded until Percy and Scan get here like Vex said earlier.”

“You’re right, but what can we do? Even with these vestiges, it seems we are always at the shorthand of the matter…” Vax couldn’t help but voice his thoughts as he landed on the ground with a thump.

“You need to exploit his weak spot.” an unfamiliar voice spoke softly.

The eyes of both twins widened in surprise for they did not sense that there was someone else among them as they and the others with them looked over to see you illuminated by the light of the blue flame.

But it was only until recently that they discovered that Vex could not sense all dragons and now apparently they could not sense you as you approached them.

There was something off about you and they knew it.

What were you?

[lizzie-queenofmeigas]

“Ex: I like Homelander and Damon Salvatore and they are both confirmed rapists”

Difference is Homelander and Daemon are characters you can enjoy watching onscreen, Aegon is as dull as dishwater.

Homelander is evil Superman on steroids, but his actor and script brings him to life. You love watching him, you don’t like him as a person but as a fictional character he’s absolutely brilliant. It’s the same for Daemon, Ian brought in his A game and it showed.

It’s the same reason Aemond’s a fan favourite, he’s deliciously evil and Ewan pulls out all the stops.

Tom was never given the same opportunity with Aegon II, all we see is a drunk rapist who likes watching kids fight to the death. There’s nothing to like, his actor doesn’t shine onscreen, he’s not memorable nor are people instantly drawn to him as an antagonist. He’s boring and TG are forcing themselves to like him.

Personally I don't like how they make Aemond in the show. Ewan would have done great as the psychotics maniac that is Aemond in the books instead of the "accidental killer–dutiful boy" they are pushing for in the show.

In terms of John (Homelander) and Damon it's also that they are actually complex and their backstory is actually sad. John was raised in a lab like a product and tortured as a child, Damon was raised by an abusive father and had to raise his little brother not to mention the Augustine thing. Aegon is a prince. Aegon is a prince with an absent father and a mother who wants him to be king (which is literally just a generic prince) Aegon was raise in privilege and became a rapist for the funsies, because he could, and no one ever said anything against it. His mother covered it all up. As child he was loved and revired (we see in episode 2) as a teenager his half dying father dragged himself to see him train with his brothers and nephews. As an adult he complains about doing everything (he hasn't) and cries, after his mother had to face one of his victims. He runs away, leaving his whole family to die (because that is what he thought) and later just liked the applause. He doesn't give a shit about anyone. His relationships are meaningless because he doesn't really care. He is a leech. That's it. He doesn't want to be loved, he wants to be adored, because that's what he was a child and that's what he thinks he deserves as the first-born son of the king.

Relationships between characters are very interesting and important but Aegon doesn't have this, because he doesn't really care. When he reacts about something that's happened to his family, it's his pride that is hurt. He doesn't really care about anyone. Even about his dragon, he was ready to change him for a new and bettered version.

And all of this could be very interesting to watch if they didn't try to put him as some wounded soul and lost puppy. He isn't.

On the other hand John has conflict, he does want to be loved. He is adored, but that's not what he truly wants, he wants love. He wants what he never had as a child which we see in his conversation with his mirror version. He is an actual product, he went through torture and was treated as a thing his whole life, even before he was evil. He was a sweet child and a sweet kid who just wanted to make his "father" happy. We even see this with Soldier Boy, how he is nearly crying when he thinks he finally found a father. He genuinely never had anyone at his side until Black Noir and by the time they met I think he was twenty and majority of the damage was done. During the episode of Diabolical we see that when he first was introduced to the public he was wide-eyed, he was like Annie, he genuinely wanted to be a hero. He is tired of people lying to him (what he sees as a betrayal) and actually kills people he cares about because he feels betrayed (Madelyn, Earving). And his mind is so fucking broken, it's really just shattered and it's heartbreaking to watch at times, he gathers sympathy for that. Then we have Ryan. John actually cares about his son, even when he doesn't know how to be a father. He doesn't want him to go through the things he went through as a child. He wants him to be happy. He turned his back on Soldier Boy attacking him (something he knew would kill him) because Ryan was hurt. He stopped himself from killing people because of Ryan. There is genuine love there. I'm actually scared of how they are going to adapt their relationship in season 4 because I hate the agenda that awful people can't love, they can. John is also incredibly unstable, he needs help from a professional, but he won't ever get it.

He is awful, but you can see why. You can empathize with him.

Damon is another example. Daemon loves with intensity. He loves Stefan, he loves Elena, he loves Bonnie and Alaric and even Enzo. He loved Katherine so profoundly he waited over a century to get her out of a place he thought she was in, he looked the other way while knowing she was with Stefan. Damon wants be loved, he wants to be chosen first, which he never was in his life until Elena (and Stefan but that was non-romantically). He always came second to Stefan. He is unstable, he fucks up, pretends he doesn't care and then tries to make it right before fucking up again. As a vampire your emotions are magnified and he was already intense as a human. He lives for love, he lived for his love of Katherine, then for his love of Elena and Stefan and he will die living for his love of Elena and Bonnie and Stefan's sacrifice.

He is terrible, has done horrible things, but he has a soul to him.

As characters, Damon and John have a soul. Aegon feels like a black hole they are trying to paint as a hurt soul.

[punchdrunkdoc]

Part 2, Chapter 17

Summary: After the events of S3, Matt Murdock is trying to once again balance life as a lawyer and a vigilante. But he’s been scarred by loss and betrayal - will a mysterious new neighbour help him heal? Or will her secrets drag him back into the darkness?

Notes: This is a slow burn romance with an original female character, told in 3 parts. There is mystery, intrigue, action/violence and angst - all the good stuff!

Also available on AO3 and Wattpad

Masterlist

Reference pics

————–

PART 2

Chapter 17

Calina woke to find they’d shifted in the night.

She was now on her back, with Matt’s head resting on her chest. His broad shoulders blanketed her, and she couldn’t resist stroking her hand over his warm skin and running her fingers through his hair.

She was reminded of the footage she’d watched from the cabin - when they’d woken up the morning after Matt’s confession, they’d been in this exact position. She traced a finger around the shell of Matt’s damaged ear and echoed one of the lines he’d said to her that day.  “We’re apart for a few days, and look what happened.”

She didn’t add the second part - ‘I guess the sensible option is for us never to be apart again’ - because she knew that they would be parting again soon.

And she hated the idea.

She continued her idle strokes of Matt’s skin while she stared out the window. Crisp winter sunlight streamed into the room, transforming it into a bright and airy space. There was a slight chill in the air, but she was so warm beneath the covers and underneath Matt’s weight.

And so at peace.

This is where she belonged. She only wished she could stay forever.

“Eight.”

The deep grumbled word took her by surprise. Her hands froze and her breathing stopped. “What?” she choked out, afraid to believe the truth.

“You said ‘We’re apart for a few days, and look what happened.’ We were apart for eight days.”

She wrapped her arms around him, squeezing tight as sudden tears escaped her eyes. Despite her wordless attempts to reassure him last night, she’d been so scared that he would never regain his hearing.

“Hey,” he said, shifting further up the bed so he could face her. “Why are you crying?” He wiped away the moisture with his fingers, and kissed her damp cheeks.

She shook her head. “I’m just happy.” She traced her fingers over his ears again. “Is everything really okay? You’re really back to normal?”

Matt cocked his head, and she recognised it as his ‘listening mode’. He stayed that way for a few long moments, as if testing his range. Then he smiled. “Two kids are having a snow-ball fight outside the coffeeshop you used to go to, while their mom orders hot chocolate at the counter. They’re squealing with laughter.”

“Matt…that place is over a block away.”

He just shrugged. “I guess everything’s back to normal then.”

He shook her head in wonder at his abilities…then punched him in the arm.

“What was that for?” he laughed.

“That was for scaring me last night! Do you have any idea what it felt like seeing that building explode, knowing you were inside?”

“Probably the same way I felt hearing that you were in a coma after being shot.”

She opened her mouth to protest…then snapped it closed, knowing he had a point.

“Thank you, by the way,” Matt said, his voice suddenly serious. “For finding me, and getting me home. You seem to have a knack for always being in the right place at the right time to save my ass.”

“Ditto,” she whispered, meeting his serious tone. “Thank you for coming to the cabin and waking me up.”

He ran his fingers through her hair. “I didn’t do much.”

Calina shook her head. “I saw the footage. You talked to me all night. I am absolutely positive it was your words that brought me back.”

Matt’s fingers stilled in her hair. “There was footage?”

“There was a camera set up in the room to monitor me while I was unconscious.”

He leaned back, his weight now braced on the arms resting either side of her shoulders. “And you watched it? All of it? You heard…everything I said?”

Calina couldn’t interpret his tone. Was he embarrassed? Angry?  Did he regret saying it, and want to take it back?

She bit her lip and nodded, her heart fluttering with nerves.

“So, um, what did you think?” he asked, his voice unusually hesitant. And that’s when she realised - he was nervous too. He was unsure of her feelings. He was as scared of believing in this thing between them as she was.

She cradled his face in her hands, and stroked her thumbs over his temples, ready to tell him how she felt…but the words wouldn’t come. She swallowed hard, struggling to force down her fears and insecurities.

And then her thumb grazed over a faint scar hidden in his hairline. She traced over the raised line, wondering if it was a result of the beating he’d taken at the hands of those kidnappers months ago…or if it was from another one of the countless times he’d been attacked. She remembered the feel of his other scars beneath her hands last night. His body was a monument to years of suffering and pain. He’d fought and bled for this city, over and over, because he thought it was the right thing to do. He’d been blinded and orphaned and abandoned. He’d lost people and lost battles, but still he fought, every night.

He was amazing.

Brave and wonderful and kind.

And he deserved to know that he was loved.

Her fear disappeared, and she smiled up at him. “I love you, Matt Murdock.”

 ———

 Matt had been bracing himself for rejection.

Which didn’t really make sense given everything they’d shared last night, but a lifetime of being abandoned by the people he cared about had set a precedent that was hard to overcome.

And he wouldn’t have blamed Calina for wanting to guard her heart after he’d kept her at arms length for so long. But after a few moments of silent deliberation, she’d smiled…and gifted him those three amazing words:

I love you.

He felt a smile stretch over his face, so big and wide that she gasped in response. “You have dimples,” she said in delight, running her thumbs over the small hollows in his cheeks.

He dipped his head to rest his forehead against hers. “Say it again.”

“You have dimples.”

He laughed, and it was his turn to sound delighted. He gave her a quick kiss on the nose in response to her teasing, then resorted to begging. “Calina…please. Say it again.”

She lifted her head off the pillow, and brought her lips to his ear. “I love you,” she whispered. 

“Again.”

She giggled. “I love you."

“Again.”

“Hmmm, no.”

“No? What do you mean, no? Are you rationing your declarations?”

“No. But I’d like one in return. While I’m conscious, this time.”

“Ah,” he said, “I see.” He rolled off her and onto his side, then pulled her against him, drawing one of her long legs over his waist, until they were perfectly fitted together. He smoothed her hair behind her ear and dragged a finger down her neck. He tried to gauge where her eyes were, so that he could meet them with his gaze. “I love you, Calina Balashova.”

“Good,” she breathed. “I’m so glad.”

He smiled and leaned forward, capturing her lips with his. He kissed her - so, so gently - wanting the reverence of the act to tell her how precious she was to him.

But just like last night, the kiss soon transformed into something less…pure.

They’re were both so starved of touch. So starved of each other. She ended up on top of him, her breasts pressed against him and her hair forming a silken curtain around them as they kissed and kissed and kissed. He stroked his hands down her back, over her ass until he reached her thighs. Then he pulled her legs to either side of his until she was straddling him again.

She grinned into the kiss, recognising the position, and settled down against him. But she was a little too high up for the stimulation she craved, so he pressed his hand between her legs from behind. It was just a quick glancing touch - a promise of more to come - but it made her moan. A beautiful, guttural sound that fluttered through her throat and spilled between his lips.

He was hard in an instant. He groaned in response, then grabbed fistfuls of her hair and leaned up to deepen the kiss even further-

And that’s when her phone rang.

She froze, then tried to wriggle free but he followed her up to a seated posture. “Ignore it,” he mumbled against her lips, taking advantage of their new position to palm one of her breasts.

The phone kept ringing.

Calina shook her head, finally breaking the kiss. “I need to get that - it might be Foggy. I texted him when I found you last night, and he said he would check in this morning.”

“Foggy can definitely call back.”

She laughed, but there was suddenly a stilted quality to it. She scrambled off the bed and raced into the living room to grab her phone. She connected the call with a breathless, “I’m here.”

“Is he there with you?” Matt heard Foggy ask.

“Yes,” Calina replied. “We made it back safe and undetected.”

“How is he?”

“He’s fine. No permanent injuries.”

“That’s good. I’m glad he’s alive and unharmed. That means I get to kill him myself.”

Matt groaned again - for a completely different reason - and fell back on the bed. He knew Foggy would be pissed at his unauthorised excursion last night - especially after it turned out to be a trap - but he wasn’t in the mood for a lecture right now.

He was in the mood for something much more enjoyable.

He crawled out of the bed and stretched, feeling the aches from last night's collision with the rooftop stretch and burn. Then he tapped on each ear, making sure there were no lingering effects from the blast.

Everything seemed clear.

He’d felt such an intense wave of relief this morning at waking up to the sounds of New York, instead of the incessant ringing noise that had plagued him last night. He’d lain there for ages, eyes closed, just enjoying the hum and bustle of all the life in the neighbourhood around his apartment.

And he’d listened to the beautiful thump of Calina’s heart beneath his ear, and the hum of the blood in her veins, and the rush of air in her lungs, knowing he’d never, ever get tired of the sound of her.

He padded out into the living room to find her sitting cross-legged in one of the arm chairs, still talking to Foggy. He bent over the back of the chair to press a kiss against her neck, bared by the messy bun she’d put her hair up into.

She scrunched her shoulders up as if it tickled and shooed him away.

He made himself busy, brushing his teeth and grabbing a drink of juice from the fridge. By the time he’d downed the glass, Calina was off the phone and in the bathroom. He parked himself outside the door, and the moment she opened it, he pulled her into his arms.

He pressed her against the wall and nuzzled into her neck, the scratch of his stubble catching on her soft skin. She shivered at the feel and melted against him…before suddenly tensing up.

He leaned back. “What’s wrong?”

She looked up at him and licked her lips nervously.

“Calina?”

“I- I need to tell you something.”

 ———

 She couldn’t keep it from him any longer. Not that she’d been consciously hiding it from him - she’d meant to tell him last night, but he’d started touching her…and all thoughts had escaped her. The same thing had happened this morning. She’d been all set to tell him, then he’d kissed her…

And her brain turned to mush.

But he deserved to know now, before things went any further between them. Before they took that final intimate step. She had a feeling it would be a million times harder to leave after that.

“Calina?” Matt prompted. “What is it? You’re starting to scare me.”

“I need to go.”

He took a step back as if stunned. “What do you mean?”

“I can’t stay. Here. In New York. It’s not safe.”

“You’re leaving?” he asked in a pained whisper, the sound of it breaking her heart.

She reached for his hand but he pulled away from her, crossing his arms over his chest.

“You’re leaving.” A statement this time, his voice flat.

“I don’t want to. Believe me, Matt. I don’t. But-”

“But what? Explain it to me. What exactly is the danger? Because you know I can protect you-”

“It’s not me I’m worried about.”

Matt frowned at her, looking more confused. She tugged his arms free and led him over to the couch - to their couch. She pulled him down next to her and draped her legs over his lap, prepared to use her full body weight to stop him escaping if she had to. “How much did Yelena tell you at the cabin?”

Matt scoffed. “The bare minimum. Someone found your safe house and you had to run - that’s about it.”

“That’s not exactly true. They always knew where the safe house was. They always knew where every single one of us was.” Calina explained about capturing Volkov and interrogating him, and how he told them about the tracking nanites. “Every moment I spent here with you, thinking I was starting this amazing new life - this life that was mine - they were watching me. Monitoring me. I was a dot on a screen flitting about between this apartment building and the coffee shop and the dance studio and the library…and all the time they were watching. Watching and waiting for the moment when they could swoop in and take me back. Take us all back. We’ve always just been these…things…to them. Not human beings with our own thoughts and feelings and dreams. Just…property.” 

Matt rubbed her bare leg, his rough hand providing a calming touch. “So what happened?” he asked. “I assume you were able to remove the nanites since you have another safe house now.”

“Yes, through something called plasmapheresis.” She told him about the procedure, and how her exchange had to be cut short when Volkov’s men descended on the mansion. “That’s why I was in such a bad state after being shot. I was running on empty to start with. And then the infection hit me like a freight train-“

“Wait, what infection?”

She glanced up at him, and realised that she’d never explained why it had taken her so long to come see him. “I got really sick after you left - I spent most of the last week in bed wracked with fever. I only really recovered a couple of days ago.” She reached up to cup his cheek. “And I only found out yesterday that you’d visited me in that cabin.” She couldn’t believe that only 24 hours ago she’d been in Maine, oblivious to Matt’s feelings for her. And now look where they were - half dressed and unable to keep their hands off each other.

Matt closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers. She stroked his cheek and scratched her nails through the stubble on his jaw. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “If I’d known - and if I’d been able - I would have been here so much sooner.”

“When you didn’t call…I thought it was over. I thought I’d never see you again.” His voice was soft, but the hand gripping her thigh was anything but - as if he was subconsciously trying to pin her in place and keep her from disappearing on him again.

It was no wonder he’d looked so devastated when she’d told him she was leaving.

“You will see me again, Matt. I promise,” she vowed. “But Volkov knows that I lived here for months. And now that he’s lost track of us through the nanites, this would be the obvious place to start searching for me. I can’t stay here. It would put you - and everyone in this building, and all of my sisters - in danger. I can’t take that risk.”

Matt sighed. “You’re forgetting that it would put you at risk too. That’s all I care about.”

She smiled at him. “You’re such a liar. You care about everyone. If Volkov’s men suddenly started ransacking this building, terrorising all the residents, you would move heaven and earth to stop them. Because that’s who you are. Its one of the things I love about you.”

He smiled, as if still getting used to those words.

“It won’t be forever,” she said. “Once we find Volkov and neutralise the threat, I can come home. Then we can be together.”

“That could be weeks, Calina. Months, even.”

She looked away as he voiced one of her fears, but then tried to put on a brave face. “I hope not. We’re all pretty invested in getting our freedom back so we’re working flat out trying to find him.”

“Let me help.”

“With all due respect to your skills - and I know you have a lot of them - I’m not sure what you can do.” She cupped his cheek and stroked the delicate skin beneath his eyes, trying to soften her words with her touch. “Besides, you have your work cut out for you here - you still have to find out who’s behind those pheromones.”

Matt groaned and dropped his head back against the couch. “And I’m back to square one on that. They’ve figured out we were tracking them, so they relocated and blew up the old lab. Now we have nothing.”

“There must be financial records for the building you could look into? A different way to trace them?”

Matt lifted his head up, as if just remembering something. “Actually…”

“What?”

He didn’t answer. Instead, he levered himself off the sofa and crouched down by his suit, which he’d left crumpled on a heap on the floor last night. He removed something from his belt and turned around to show her. “I stole one their devices last night.”

He passed it to her as he sat down again. She turned the metal container over in her hands studying it. It was sleek and relatively simple, with a canister at one end and a button at the other. It looked likes something Apple would make if they started designing asthma inhalers. “Interesting,” she murmured.

“What is?”

“This device. It’s made of an expensive-looking alloy. And the design is…refined. Someone put a lot of thought into how this looks.”

“Why is that interesting?”

“Because it tells me a lot about the person behind this. For one, they have money. A lot of it. This isn’t some prototype cobbled together from scraps. They wanted something that looked good. That represented them. And they had the money to make it happen.”

“Okay, so they’re rich. That doesn’t exactly narrow it down.”

“No. But it also tells me that they’re vain. Narcissistic. As well as being a sadist for wanting to create something like this in the first place. That’s a really bad combination, Matt.”

Matt took the device and ran his fingers over it, mapping its shape. “That is interesting.” He smiled at her. “Have you moved on to reading psychology books now?”

She returned his smile, but hers was bittersweet. “No. This what I was trained to do - get inside people’s heads. It makes it easier to impersonate them. Or manipulate them.”

Matt stroked a hand down her thigh. “Well, you’re using that training for something positive now.”

Calina shrugged. “But you’re right. It doesn’t make it easy to narrow down a suspect list.”

“Analysing the contents might. I just have to figure out a way to do that.”

Calina perked up as she realised there was a much more practical way for her to help. “We have an older Widow on the team who’s a biochemist. She could analyse it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, she’s actually the one who developed the mind control serum. As penance for that, she’s been helping us take down the last of the Red Room. I’m sure she’d be happy to work on this if I ask her to.”

Matt didn’t reply straight away, so she glanced across at him. He looked uncertain. “What is it?” she asked.

“Are you sure we can trust her?”

Calina straightened up. “Why? Because she’s a Widow?”

Matt grabbed her hand. “No. I didn’t mean it that way. I’m worried about this tech falling into the wrong hands, and you just told me that she has a history of being on the wrong side of this kind of thing…”

“I only told you that so you’d know she has the expertise to deal with this. She wasn’t aware that her formula was being used to control us.”

“But she knew it was being used to control somebody.”

Calina frowned and tried to pull her hand away, but Matt held on tight. “I’m sorry,” he sighed. “I shouldn’t have said that. In my defence, I’m really not good at accepting outside help. But I trust your judgement. So if you trust hers, that’s good enough for me.”

Her frown stayed where it was as a pernicious thought crept into her head. If Matt was so wary of trusting Widows because of their background and the things they’d done in the past…did that extend to her too?

Did he trust her?

And could she blame him if he didn’t? She’d lied to him - multiple times. She’d just admitted that she was trained to manipulate people. She was a killer. A thief. A spy.

Why would he trust her?

“Hey,” Matt said softly, tipping her chin up with his finger. “Are you okay?”

She tried to smile. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

He sighed, obviously not believing her. He scooped her up with an arm under her legs and dragged her onto his lap. He held her close and and kissed her neck. “What’s wrong,” he asked.

Calina pulled at a thread on the hem of her shorts as she debated whether to tell him…

No. She needed to know. She had a feeling this would eat away at her otherwise. “Do you…do you trust me, Matt?”

It was his turn to frown. “I just told you I did.”

“No, you said you trust my judgement. Do you trust me?”

He turned her face towards him again, and kept his hand on her cheek as he spoke. “Of course I do. Calina, I love you.”

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I trust you.”

Another kiss to her cheek. “I respect you.”

One to the tip of her nose. “I admire you.”

To her chin. “I feel everything for you.”

He slanted his mouth over hers and kissed her deeply, as if trying to convince her of his truth.

And…it worked. When she was in his arms like this, with his whole body focused on her, and his beautiful words ringing in her ears…she believed him.

————–

Chapter 18

@hollandorks​ @chezagnes​ @stilldreaming666​ @acharliecoxedfan​ @yanna-banana​ @tearoseart-blog​ @freckledbabyyy​

[ninjagirlstar5]

This is Part 2 to my IRL Sannotori fankids. Part 1 can be found here in this reblog.

Anyways, onto the fourth kid:

Name: Ryo Otori

Age: 13 to 14-years-old

Birthday: September 5, 202X

Height: 157 cm (5 ft 2 in)

Weight: 52 kgs (115 Ibs)

Pronouns: She/Her

Orientation: Asexual Biromantic

Likes: Rock music, spray painting, destruction of some jerk's property, math

Dislikes: Authority, belittling others, not being good enough

Theme Song: Get Well - Icon for Hire

Ryo (meaning excellent; refreshing, cool; distant; fact; reality; dragon) Otori was born and raised in a wealthy but perfectionist family that had survived the Tragedy against all odds. However, that did not mean that they hadn't lost many assets due to the Despairs and criminals stealing and destroying their way of making money. As a result, the latest inheritor and patriarch of the family chose to be ruthless in his pursuit of business and continuing their wealthy life, and his family was not spared from this. His expectations weighed heavily on his daughter, Ryo, having her spend more time studying and trying to gain academic achievements than playing, drilling into her head that her worth is reliant on how skilled and "perfect" she can be. This is the environment Ryo grew up in, and even at a young age she was torn up about this. She wanted nothing more than her parents' approval, but the constant stress of trying to live up to their expectations when she's barely old enough to go to school affected her well-being and ability to even focus on her education in the first place. Her parents did not help her and even punish her for her mediocrity with more studying with tutors and the like. This eventually culminates into Ryo having enough and just running away from her family, hoping that they'll go out of their way to find her and just show her some love for once. Being, like, seven or barely eight-years-old at the time, she...did NOT think through the practical issues of this idea and quickly realizes that she needs food, water, and money to survive. Just trying to toss around her family name wasn't enough as some people either brush her off, or ask her if she's lost and offer to call the police to keep her safe so her parents can come and pick her up. Ryo, in her stubbornness of wanting her parents to do the finding and not show up just because they were called, refuses to take the latter option and just stayed on the street and stealing whatever she could since no one was willing to give her what she needed. Unlike Eiki and Hisano, who spent months on the streets, Ryo only lasted a few weeks when a Remnant of Despair attack happens nearby and she had to seek shelter. You see, while the Tragedy has long since calmed down after many years, there are still those that hold very firmly to Junko Enoshima's Despair ideals but have mostly gone into hiding or were captured, detained, or going through a rehab center, depending on their crimes (if they have any). It's why the Foundations are still active to this day, to make sure there aren't any Despairs around to hurt more people and to act on these kinds of attacks as soon as they possibly happen if they're not tipped off on time. Ryo just so happened to be nearby when one of these go off, but luckily for her, she remained completely unscathed and was never found by a Despair. By the time things had calmed down, Ryo took a risk and came out of her hiding place to see the damage that had been caused. Out of curiosity? Or just plain confusion to a child that has never experienced something like this before? Either way, the destruction and death that Ryo sees before her eyes becomes seared into her memory, horrified that something like this can even happen...and then she hears crying. A crying coming from a baby. Panicked at the thought of a baby, Ryo searched for where it was coming from and eventually finds them underneath a dead woman, protectively shielding the baby with her body but inadvertently crushing them under her dead weight, hence the crying. Ryo pushes the woman, who she assumed was the mother, off of the baby and picks them up, realizing that they seemed to be fine for the most part. The baby, who is probably over a year old, instantly starts to calm down in her arms, holding onto her like she was a lifeline and Ryo tries to wrap the baby up as best she could in her sweater before beelining it out of there. After a few hours past, she eventually realizes that she's hungry, and assumed the baby was, too, and enters a nearby store to get what they need.

This is when Teruya, who had been helping the Foundation out with resources and shelter for citizens inside the Otori Mart after the Despair attack, gets a call from security that there's a child trying to break into the baby formula cabinet that's under lock and key. He goes down there to check what the hell is happening to find Ryo pouting while a security guard is helping her feed the baby with some healthy solid foods as it turned out that the baby is much too old for baby formula now. When Ryo sees Teruya, she immediately assumes that she's in trouble and tries to book it with the baby but Teruya manages to stop and calm her down before anyone could get hurt. He willingly gives her some snacks and water, which was enough to get her to sit down and listen as he asks for her name and such. When he carefully asks if she's seen her parents, Ryo, after spending weeks on the streets struggling to survive and witnessing a horrible event, finally caves in and spills everything: from the way her family treated her to her running away in an attempt to gain any sort of loving attention from them and just trying to survive up to this point. Teruya is, frankly, horrified to find out that her parents had treated her like that at such a young age and says that what they're doing is wrong, but Ryo insists that they must love her, she's their daughter, after all, and they must have come around after realizing she was gone. They're probably looking for her as they speak now! Teruya is hesitant as he knows that that's not always the case, but seeing that Ryo is stubborn and deep in denial, Teruya instead says that he'll look into any missing people forms that have been filed with the Foundations to see if her parents really are looking for her. Ryo brightens up a little bit as she never considered that and thanks Teruya, who tries to temper her expectations as best as he can. In the meantime, he offers to let her stay at his home so she can be safe and be in a place where her parents can find her. She agrees to it but then hesitates when she's reminded of the baby that's clinging to her. Ryo asks if they can take the baby with them and Teruya isn't sure but decides that they will if no one comes up to claim them and verify themselves as their guardian. Ryo, after a bit of complaining, reluctantly agrees and they let everyone in the store know about the baby and wait. By the time the Otori Mart officially closes its doors as a store, no one came up to claim the baby as theirs, and Teruya just takes these kids home with him. Yep, it's Teruya's turn to bring home a pair of sad kids to take care of. At least this time, Teruya gives Mikado a heads up about what he was doing.

So, Ryo ends up staying with the Otori family for the time being, waiting for news about her parents which Mikado and Teruya are strangely hush hush about. Shinra, being a teenager, and Eiki and Hisano, being ten to eleven-years-old, are old enough and experienced enough with a loving family to recognize that something is not right with Ryo's family. But she's very insistent to them that they'll come for her and she'll be loved and happy again. Shinra and Hisano don't really believe that but they have more tact to keep that opinion to themselves, unlike Eiki who questions the lack of freedom her parents give her. They bud heads over this but Shinra stops the argument before it could escalate, saying that he's sure that their dads will figure things out as they look into everything. Regardless of what happens, Ryo should be treated with respect and kindness and they shouldn't argue over what ifs. It's a bit much for their young minds but they make a truce for the time being and go off to play. They tend to bud heads a lot as Ryo is staying with them, while Shinra shows her around and Hisano shows Ryo the books she's been getting into. It's the most fun Ryo has had in a long time and she can't help but feel bad about it cause she knows she should be spending more time studying than goofing around. When Shinra notices how conflicted she feels and asks what's wrong, she hesitantly opens up about how much time she's been spending playing instead of studying but Shinra tells her to not feel bad about it. It's fine to study but if she turns it into something that only ever matters, she'll be missing out on so much more life could offer her like friends and hobbies. Ryo doesn't really understand since her parents made it pretty clear that her achievements are all that mattered but Shinra says that she's more than that, and it's okay to just be herself, even when she's not "perfect." Ryo is uncertain about it but appreciates that he had stopped to listen to her problems. But, eventually, Ryo starts to notice how long it's been taking to just have her parents show up and is on the verge of asking Teruya and Mikado about what's happening...when she gets her answer.

(Note: I do not know enough about the law, so I don't know how feasible this is to real life.)

Ryo was playing in the basement with Hisano and making fun of the "ghosts" she's been trying to contact (much to her displeasure) when they hear the door slam open. Another slam echoed throughout the house and they both flinch but grow curious at what could be wrong. Carefully going up the stairs, they sit by the door and peek through the crack to see Mikado and Teruya fuming in the kitchen. With them unaware of the audience they have nearby, Teruya furiously speaks up about why he's so pissed: not only have Ryo's parents not lift a single finger in trying to find Ryo, who had been missing from their perspective for over a month now, when they finally found them and confronted them about it...they said that they no longer consider a "mediocre runaway" as their daughter and says that if they want to keep her, they'll give away all her papers to them. He has half the mind to charge them for abandonment, only for Mikado to point out that they're technically willing to "give her away," not "abandoning her," their words, not his. So long as they're willing to go through the legal processes of letting someone take Ryo into their family, they'll probably get away with this unscathed, especially if there isn't any concrete evidence of abuse involved. Teruya points out the obvious neglect on their end, especially when it came to letting the authorities know about their missing daughter, but Mikado, who clearly does not trust the law to do it's job when necessary, questions if it'll be enough to stick this onto them. What if they proclaim that they were simply "too busy" to notice and try to play up their innocence on the matter? Or worse, pin it on an innocent staff member for neglecting to inform them about Ryo's missing status when they're so "busy?" Then what? If they don't do this right, this could end up hurting a lot more people, and they may even get away with this. The argument peters out after that, the silence only lasting for a moment before Teruya bangs his head on the table, wondering how the hell people like these have the audacity to become parents. Mikado makes a dry joke and says, "I don't know, ask Void," which gets him a glare from Teruya but keeps his mouth shut since he knows that he had the privilege of having a loving father, even when he lost his mother to childbirth, so he genuinely can't relate to this kind of trauma. Mikado then sighs, saying that he'll call Rei up to help him search for a lawyer, and Teruya wonders out loud how the hell they were going to tell Ryo about this...when she finally makes herself known and the basement door creaks open to reveal both of the girls there. Realizing that she had overheard EVERYTHING, Teruya gets out of his seat and kneels in front of Ryo, scrambling to figure out what to say before settling on asking if she's alright. Ryo...isn't, and asks that what he said isn't true, right? It can't be true, right? Her parents love her...right? Right?!

Teruya hesitates, carefully pulls Ryo into a hug in case she didn't want it, and apologizes. He apologizes that her parents aren't what she thought they were. And then Ryo...lashes out, saying that she doesn't believe it, she doesn't believe her parents would leave her, they would never leave her! She gets out of Teruya's embrace and runs to the guest room, locking herself in there and crying to herself. The family tried to coax her out of there, but she refuses to answer to any of them. The only reason Shinra is even allowed in there is thanks to his teleportation magic, and even then, he recognizes that Ryo needs space and leaves her be, just focusing on taking care of the baby that shares her room as she's become distressed at Ryo's crying. When she finally stops crying, the family do their best to show support for her while they figure out what they can do legally. But despite their best efforts in looking into the parents, they're frustratingly clean when it comes records of any crimes nor do they have any ties in current ones, and there isn't any concrete evidence of abuse they can use against them as they still gave Ryo the basic necessities she needed to live and grow up relatively healthy. They're at least able to stick the neglect charge on them as they never reported her missing but they simply accept the charge, admitting that it was wrong of them to not do more for their missing daughter, and that they'll take any kind of punishment for their "oversight" on the matter so long as it's not jail time. Teruya and Mikado clearly do not believe that they're remorseful about this, but by the time the legal processes are over, the judge proclaims that that the parents will have to pay a fine and nothing more, much to both of their fury and shock (mostly Teruya's, though, since Mikado somewhat expected this). But Teruya has to keep his rage on the downlow as he had to restrain Mikado from straight up killing one of the parents for what he sees as an injustice lest they end up in court for a completely different crime, let alone ruin their chances of taking Ryo in. Since neither of her birth parents contested them on the transfer and adoption of Ryo into their care, all that was left was to get the greenlight from the system on their house and care, and they were able to sign off on the papers. When they go to Ryo to confirm to her that the adoption went through, they try to be very gentle about it even though there was no way to soften the blow that she truly has been abandoned by her parents. With Ryo's fears confirmed true, that her parents truly don't care about her, that they...they see her as a failure, that they would willingly give her up if given a chance, Ryo is crushed. And any sense of love she may have had for her birth parents turns into a burning hatred.

Unlike Shinra, Hisano, and even Eiki, Ryo has a VERY hard time adjusting to the Otori family. Being abandoned by her birth parents was very traumatic for her, and she becomes very closed off and prickly to her new family as a result. The family is doing their best to be patient with Ryo as they understand that this is a hard time for her, and Teruya and Mikado don't force her to call them her dads or anything like that. They simply give her lots of love and support as they try to help her process her trauma with some much needed therapy for everything, including the Despair event she had witnessed. Ryo, however, has formed a coping mechanism that tends to get her into lots of trouble: anger. Anger has become her crutch as she hated the lack of control she had over this entire situation and how apparent it has become that she had been belittled by them when she was still living with them. She's angry that they've hurt and abandoned her for simply being "mediocre" and has started to lash out because it's better than feeling sad. It's better than feeling useless. It's better than feeling like she's worthless. Even if it means lashing out to those closest to her, those that were simply trying to be kind to her, she just doesn't care. Or rather, she doesn't want to care. She doesn't want to get hurt. She doesn't want to open up if it means getting backstabbed by someone she trusted. They're all trying to help her in their own ways, but one day, Eiki tries to close the gap between them by offering up one of his favorite rocks to her as a sign of peace and starting anew. Ryo, however, doesn't exactly understand the significance of Eiki offering a piece from his rock collection to her so early into her addition to the family, and berates him for giving her a useless, dumb rock like this and, before anyone could stop her, she tosses it to the floor and the rock smashes into pieces. Ryo is surprised when it broke so easily but before she could properly process what she just did, Eiki screams and immediately gets physical with her, causing her to fight back. Mikado and Shinra are able to separate the two of them, with Eiki breaking down over losing one of his favorite rocks while Ryo calls him crazy for getting that upset over a rock. Realizing why this had happened, Mikado scolds Ryo and tells her to go to her room, and when she tries to justify herself in that the rock was dumb and getting upset over a few broken pieces is dumb, Mikado shuts it down, saying that just because she's hurting, it does not justify any harm she gives to the rest of the family for simply trying create a bond with her and tells her to go to her room, now. Ryo relents with some big stomping but can't get Eiki's crying out of her head. Even Hisano was glaring at her from across the hall, slamming the door to her room as she clearly did not approve what Ryo did from what she overheard. Ryo spends the rest of the day simmering in her anger in her room while the baby, Moriko, stares at her from inside the playpen. Just looking at her calms her down and she complains to Moriko that it just wasn't fair. None of this was fair. Does she even deserve to stay here? And Moriko...simply reached out and tugged on her sleeve. When Ryo tries to pull away, Moriko only grips her tighter and she sighs, deciding to try and play with her to take her mind off of things. Around dinner time, someone knocks on her door and Ryo tells them to go away, but that someone tells her that her food would get cold if they do that. Realizing it was Teruya and knowing that he'll be very persistent for days on end, Ryo relents and he comes inside to set her food on the desk. He tells her that it's her favorite and Ryo just sinks into the playpen, wishing she can move but Moriko had fallen asleep on top of her and she doesn't want to disturb her sleep. Knowing that she can't escape him now, Teruya sits down and gently asks her what happened. Ryo says that she doesn't want to talk about it and besides, Eiki, Shinra, and Mikado already told him what happened, why does he need to even ask?

"Because I don't know your perspective, Ryo." Teruya crosses his legs together. "And I can't understand your thoughts if you don't tell me."

"Why?" Ryo holds Moriko closer, even as her lips start to quiver. "Why do you want to know?"

"Ryo..." Teruya hesitates but looks directly at her. He puts his hand over his chest. "Even...Even if you don't see me as your dad, even if you can't bring yourself to, you're still our daughter. And I will treat you as one for the rest of our lives. So please, tell me what happened."

Ryo didn't want to tell him.

She really, really didn't.

But the sincerity in his voice, the concern in his brows, the way his eyes shined almost like he was so full of love for her...it just made a crack in her shell.

"...It's stupid. So stupid..." Ryo finally pushes Moriko off of her. She yawns but rolls onto her back, falling back asleep. "I just...I dunno, it's stupid."

"Maybe start with what led to that fight?" Teruya suggests. Ryo inhales harshly but stands up so she can climb out of the playpen.

"Like I said, it's stupid." The girl struggles to get her short legs over the bend but she manages to slide over them before Teruya can offer her some help. Once her feet hit solid ground, she sat back down and crossed her arms. "I wanted to be alone, but Eiki followed after me. He showed me this stupid rock, said that it meant new beginnings or something and I smashed it. Then he got really upset about it and started hitting me so I hit him back and got in trouble for it."

"Oh." Teruya takes a deep breath. "...Yeah, that's nearly one-to-one what Eiki said."

"Then why-"

"Ryo, please let me finish." He runs his fingers through his hair, passing over the ahoge that Ryo thinks is really dumb, even if it's memorable. She frowns at him but shuts up to sulk. But she was still listening as he spoke. "...Trust me when I say that Eiki is in trouble for hitting you. In fact, he'll be grounded for a week and will be doing the dishes the whole time."

"He should be getting something worse!"

"And he was offering you something he considers to be precious." Teruya said in a tone that suggested he will not be budging on this. But he wasn't scolding, either. "Ryo, I know you've only been here for a few months as a part of the family, but you need to know and understand that Eiki was giving you a moonstone from his rock collection. A rock collection the he loves very dearly, and even gave names to. You may consider it dumb, but to Eiki, these rocks are like the world to him. And you just destroyed it right before his eyes. How would you feel if someone you cared about did that to you?"

Ryo tightens her frown but averts her gaze. She knew she was in the wrong. But her unwillingness to say it out loud showed how stubborn she can be, to her own detriment. Teruya exhales, getting up so he bring her plate over to her. It was vegetable curry rice...her favorite.

"Mikado didn't scold you for no reason, Ryo. You're hurting, and we want nothing more than your happiness. But that doesn't give you the right to hurt others, either. So when you're ready to come back down, be sure to apologize to Eiki. Genuinely apologize. No excuses or anything like that. Just apologize and try to make things right with him. Even if he doesn't forgive you right away, it's more important that you hold yourself responsible than to force him to forgive you. As long as you do that, he will forgive you with time." Teruya reaches for her head, but when Ryo leans away, he pulls back. He gives her a small smile and starts to leave. But he pauses at the doorway. "...And just so you know, you are grounded for a week and will be helping me at the Otori Mart. Alright?"

"....fine." Ryo shoves a spoonful of curry into her mouth to prevent herself from saying anything dumb.

"Good. I love you." And Teruya closes the door, leaving Ryo to think to herself.

...Ryo does eventually work up the nerve to apologize, and like Teruya said, Eiki doesn't forgive her for what she did. Just when she starts to get defensive, Hisano steps in and says to Eiki to give Ryo another chance since she's their sister after all, and then says to Ryo that she should give Eiki some time to sort out his feelings. It takes a couple of months, but with a little bit of nudging from Teruya and his family tradition of creating a collage out of things that they break (which is a headcanon that the Mod of ASOOT came up with and it lives rent free in my brain, and I will forever borrow this) and using the remains of the moonstone, Eiki does forgive Ryo and their relationship improves with time.

As of today, Ryo really regrets what she did back then, and even went as far as to buy a new moonstone for Eiki when she saw it in a store. Eiki appreciates it but also reassures her that he had long since forgiven her...plus he still has that collage they made together with the broken moonstone from way back then. Ryo gets very embarrassed and insists he keeps it anyways since she doesn't know what she'd do with it, but he insists that she keeps it, that way they both get a moonstone. She relents but only cause he won't budge otherwise, so now she has the moonstone on her desk. Ryo and Eiki still bud heads a lot to this day, though, constantly getting on each other nerves and arguing over the little things. But God forbid anyone insults or tries to harm the other one, they will team up to hunt them down. They may not get along all the time, but they've learned to respect each others' interests and hobbies. She still struggles with her temper and has become a delinquent over the years, tending to get into fights with others, disturbing the peace, and just not getting along with any authority figures. Ryo's attitude tends to clash with Hisano's, who sticks to the rules and has more respect for society at large. She usually scolds Ryo for her rule breaking while Ryo just kinda tunes her out whenever she does. Teruya and Mikado worry about her delinquency and how that would affect her future, but after Ryo's experience with her birth parents, she kinda dislikes the idea of education altogether. She still goes since it's a requirement and frankly doesn't want Teruya and Mikado to get into trouble just because she chose not to show up. That being said, Ryo and Hisano do get along, as their opinions outside of rules tend to line up more often than not. She'll even join in on Hisano's ghost hunting, although she takes it a lot less seriously than she does and tends to fuck around, much to Hisano's horror. Ryo actually looks up to Shinra quite a bit, and the two of them don't clash as much compared to her relationships with Eiki and Hisano. Shinra tends to encourage her delinquency despite being a golden student himself, and they just go off to fuck around when no one is looking. Ryo feels pretty comfortable around Shinra and tends to confide to him with her problems. His advice may not always be sound, but she appreciates that he lets her vent to him. If there's one relationship she has the least strife with, it's Moriko and man oh man, does she dote on her from hell to back. She loves Moriko, always has the moment she had her in her arms. She spends a lot of time with her, plays with her and takes part in her interests even when she's not interested in it herself. She'd do anything for her, so don't you dare hurt the girl, you're just asking Ryo to break your kneecaps. Ryo has a creative side to her through her spray painting, but she also uses it to vandalize other people's property. Mostly jerks that have pissed her off. But other times she finds a quiet, abandoned spot for her to do some pretty beautiful work when no one is around. It doesn't remain on there forever, but she always takes a picture of them before she leaves. It's both taxing and rewarding for her whenever she finishes a piece. She does music as a hobby and tends to use it as an outlet to her frustrations. Surprisingly, she gets her lessons from Hibiki, whom she crossed paths with hanging out with Setsuka, recognized her through the music Teruya listens to, and proceeded to ask if she could teach her. Although she rarely interacts with Teruya and Mikado due to the events of the Utsuroshima Killing Game, Setsuka does encourage Hibiki to go through with it and the two of them grow close as a result. Ryo is usually taught about singing but sometimes when Hibiki is feeling good, she gets a few pointers on her guitar as well.

Ryo's feelings on Teruya and Mikado are mixed due to her trauma, but she has come around to loving them. Mikado and her tend to clash due to his nagging over her grades and certain choices she's made from her delinquency, which frustrates the hell out of her due to her past even though he's just trying to get her to care about her education on at least a base level. But she tends to follow his advice more often than Teruya's since her moral compass lines up more with his than it does with Teruya. But sometimes she's seen working at the Otori Mart with Teruya. He appreciates the help and sometimes allows her to come into his office to show her how it all works. Ryo is surprisingly attentive as she listens to him and Teruya can tell there's a spark of a merchant in her gaze just waiting to flourish. Not only that, her math skills were really good and it's apparently one of the few classes she doesn't skip on. He's just not sure if it's a good idea to make her his heir due to her background of unrealistic expectations being set upon her. He doesn't want her to stress over something she may not even want nor dredge up old feelings. But after awhile of her being in middle school, Teruya decides to take a chance and carefully broaches the subject, asking if she'd be interested in running the Otori Mart in the future. She doesn't have to if she doesn't want to, of course, she's still young after all, and is allowed to say no or even change her mind. But to his surprise, Ryo looks like she's trying to restrain her excitement as she agrees to it, wanting to know what it's like to run the Otori Mart. Teruya tries not to get too excited and says it'll be just like the times when his dad taught him and promises he'll do his best to teach her. Ryo tells him not to make this embarrassing but he can see a ghost of a smile on her face as they start working together. And while becoming the Otori Mart heir does bring back old habits from when she was living with her birth parents' toxic perfectionism, it also makes her take her possible future a bit more seriously as she eventually starts cleaning up her act and striving for proper (but more achievable) academic goals. She has something to work towards now, something she genuinely wants to do for herself. And hearing that makes...makes her dad happy for her. And that's all she ever really wanted. (Cue Hisano's existential dread as she still hasn't figured out what she wants to do with her life.)

Fun fact: the birth mom Ryo grew up with isn't related to her through blood. She's actually her stepmom and her actual birth mom had long since disappeared from Ryo's life. Ryo doesn't remember her since it had happened when she was still a baby and her birth father remarried pretty quickly. And without Teruya's announcement of naming Ryo as his heir, she may have never reached out to her, leaving her extremely confused, conflicted and angry. But her family, her true family, is there by her side, and will support her regardless of whatever decision she makes...

And now, the final kid:

Name: Moriko Otori

Age: 8-years-old

Birthday: November 4th, 202X

Height: 119 cm (3 ft 11 in)

Weight: 22 kgs (50 Ibs)

Pronouns: She/Her

Orientation: Likes girls (Asexual Lesbian)

Likes: Ducks, her family, drawing, certain fabrics and sewing, plants and gardening

Dislikes: Pricking her fingers on needles, attention, being forced out of her comfort zone, injustice, invasion of personal space without permission

Theme Song: 7 Years - Lukas Graham / Photograph - Ed Sheeran

Moriko (meaning forest; child) Otori was born to a happy couple that loved to travel. The father had lived on the road in an old RV and had met his lover through a sanctuary running a food drive during the Tragedy. He spent time helping out and providing entertainment through his music on the guitar at the sanctuary, the two of them falling in love through their support and work with each other. When the Tragedy started dying down, his lover decides to join him on his travels and they continue to live together happily and content. They eventually have a healthy baby girl, and it seems like they were going to have a happy life. But alas, only a year passes since their daughter was born when tragedy strikes: a Despair attack happens while they were in the city for supplies and the family was split apart. The father had disappeared amongst the chaos and the mother did not survive, trying to protect their daughter with her final breath. The baby was crying out from the stress and danger of the situation, unable to move from her dead mother on top of her. That was when Ryo came out of hiding and picked her up. She instantly latched onto her for the sake of comfort and the two of them stuck together upon meeting Teruya. Teruya calls out for anyone to claim the baby, but when no one came to take her, Teruya chose to take her home with Ryo. While looking into Ryo's parents, Mikado and Teruya also looked into the baby's as well to see if she has any relatives. However, due to the mother being dead and the disappearance of the father, they struggled to find any connections related to her, let alone a single living relative. Even tracing her deceased mother's family tree didn't give them any satisfactory answers as the grandparents has just passed away a few months ago with no other children to know of. After many months, they hit their final dead end, and the court declares the baby up for adoption, which Teruya and Mikado immediately jump to do. Especially since Ryo is clearly still attached to her, even after it became apparent that her birth parents are abandoning her. They didn't have the heart to separate them, and Mikado didn't want Moriko to go through the orphanage system. His experience may not have been the worse beyond neglect and he had only stayed in there for about ten years (due to his own actions cough), but he knew that the system has yet to fix most of it's issues when it comes to how it handles adoption and helping children feel wanted. So they simply signed off on the papers and bring her into the family, keeping her name as Moriko.

Moriko adjusts to living with the Otori family very well, although it's clear that the Despair attack had an effect on her mind. She gets very stressed whenever Teruya or Mikado leave her alone for a minute to take care of something else, watching them as if she's in shock and almost inexpressive. She barely even played with her toys whenever they tried to get her interested in it. Teruya and Mikado sought out help, of course, to try and understand what they can do for her. What seems to work is recognizing the signs of stress in her and reacting as quick as possible to soothe her and feel safe, trying to maintain a routine of being held, sleeping, and feeding, and just spending time with her in their arms. Mikado is usually the one that works at home, so he's usually the one that spends the most time caring for Moriko as she adjusts to her new surroundings. Sometimes when he has to put her down to take care of a chore that requires two hands, he'll ask one of the kids to hold Moriko to help soothe her clinginess. The kids are very willing to dote and care for Moriko, although some may complain when they were in the middle of something else (cough Eiki cough). Still, they're all very protective of her and Teruya likes to take her outside and rock on the porch as a way to spend time with her and soothe her. Eventually, Moriko seems to be recovering very well and her development and growth proceeds at a gradual pace. When Moriko became three-years-old, though, they start to recognize the signs in her body language: she barely gives them eye contact, she no longer has a shocked expression but still lacks expressions in general, and aside from the few times she cried, she hasn't spoken any words at all. Both Teruya and Mikado become very concerned over their daughter's strange behavior and worry that she may still be struggling with her trauma, so they set up an appointment to get a diagnosis. The good news is, it doesn't seem to be related to her trauma. However, they do get a diagnosis that Moriko has autism since these are the earliest signs a child can show at such a young age. Honestly, Teruya and Mikado are just relieved to know that Moriko is more or less healing from the trauma of experiencing a Despair event and losing her mother when she was only a baby. But now that they know that she has autism, they have a better idea of how to approach and support her.

As Moriko grew older, it becomes apparent that she's nonverbal and barely speaks through her mouth, if at all. While Moriko goes to speech therapy, she still does not want to or cannot speak verbally, so the main focus has been to teach her how to use nonverbal communication skills like using gestures and other communication tools like sign language, and recognizing subtle cues and signals. While Moriko is able to understand language even before then, she can have trouble expressing herself or recognizing other people's social cues so it helps that she's being taught other ways to communicate her wants and needs while trying to recognize other peoples' emotions. Moriko doesn't really like being in the spotlight and prefers to spend a lot of her time alone. But whenever she wants to hang out with someone or if someone chooses to hang out with her, she will give them her attention. However, if that person tries to get her to do something she doesn't want to do, she gets very upset and tends to knock them away before huddling up to herself. This gets her very few friends, and while the staff try to be understanding, many kids aren't and either leave her alone, or bully her. She hates it when people treat her differently for simply being herself and just wants to do what's right for her since it gives her comfort. Thankfully, Moriko isn't alone and does have a best friend who comes to her aid whenever she's around and the two of them spend a lot of time playing together and figuring out what they want to do for the day. Her family accepts and loves her for who she is, of course, and are patient with her whenever they have to be more clear on what is happening or what they want with her. Shinra loves showing Moriko his magic, making her little toys in the shape of her favorite animal, ducks, and share similar sandwich snacks with each other, and she loves how safe Shinra makes her feel. Eiki tends to get on her nerves sometimes since he sometimes gets into her personal space without thinking and can be pretty affectionate through touch. However, he does try to respect Moriko's boundaries and is very apologetic whenever he accidentally upsets her. That being said, Moriko loves listening to Eiki infodumb about his interests in rocks and how each one forms, and whenever she's in the mood for one, they both hug each other tightly as the pressure provides a sensory input and that can be calming and comforting to them. Hisano likes to read to Moriko before bed and she loves the ones with birds as protagonists so she usually goes out of her way to find another one like that or rereads the same story. Other times, they simply sit together in silence as they read their own books. But the one that Moriko looks up to the most is Ryo, who is always on her side and showing her support. She follows her around all the time, learning how she acts and sometimes mimicking her cause she thinks she's so cool. Ryo is sometimes concerned whenever she sees this cause she worries that Moriko will land herself into trouble by using her as a role model. But she's also really flattered and does her best to be a good role model...that doesn't take shit from no one. Moriko tends to add fuel to the fire by encouraging her to fight some jerks that demean either one of them. Kinda like this one video at 4:14 (justifiably so, you go, girl). They love each other very much. ^^

Moriko is attached to her dads very much. She's the most comfortable with touch around Mikado and doesn't mind having him in her personal space to the point that she likes to cling to him when he asks if he can touch her shoulder or carefully move her aside. He gave her her favorite toy which is a big duck plushie that she carries around everywhere. It gives her the greatest of joys and she's allowed to carry it around everywhere, although she has to keep it in her locker at school cause it's not allowed in her classroom which makes her really sad. (Rei lets her keep the plushie with her whenever she's tutoring her and it makes her really happy.) But between the two dads, she ends up spending the most time with Teruya and would often sit on his lap to watch him sew his latest fashion project. When she shows interest in trying it out, Teruya starts teaching her, helping her rock back and forth as she happily works on her first ever sewing project. It's not great, but she's happy nonetheless. She also spends some time figuring out how to garden on her own, but she can only do it with gloves cause the dirt underneath the nails annoys her senses a lot and would spend hours washing it out from underneath. While Moriko isn't always understood by her peers, she does grow up into a healthy young woman that has the confidence to be independent on her own thanks to her family and friends' love and support. As a grown up, she does fashion design for costumes and such for theater and films, and is decently popular in her career. And having a more background role in design suits her much better since she prefers making clothes for others than showing them off on herself.

Fun fact: Moriko's father is still alive but had been hospitalized for a long time due to the Despair event. By the time he woke up, he had to get identified due to the loss of his IDs and eventually found out that his lover is dead. He enters a pretty depressive as he had lost someone he loved and while he never gets a confirmation that Moriko is dead, he's pretty sure she is because he had trouble believing that she had survived when she was only a baby. So he just continues his travels on his own, playing his own music but becoming distant from those around him.

And that's all the IRL Sannotori kids! I'm quite happy that I got to talk about them, they're my favorite chaotic family that I've come up with. :]

Also, here's Adult!Moriko's design:

[faun-the-hound]

Excerpt from what would be season 2 of Daybreak.

Warning for horror elements and possibly body horror.

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

Singing. He realised with a start. That's what it was. The deceptively comforting voice, long, drawn-out notes that echoed off the cobble stone walls. A song. A lullaby. One he recognised. One that sent a shiver rolling down his spine.

Abby stopped crying for a moment, loosening the death grip she held on his cape. "What is that?" she whispered, leaning in. Dante frowned, glaring over his shoulder. He though that was where the voice was coming from- somewhere behind him. Reverberating off the walls of the tunnel, racketing into his already pounding skull.

Only two other people could know that song- neither of them were supposed to be alive anymore. His heart caught at the idea- his father, long dead, longer than any other member of his family, a siren. The reason he had to hide for so long, the reason his brother despised him, the reason he had to flee his home to begin with.

Or his brother. Gene. Drawing a shaky breath, he pried away from the trio of children that held onto him. His own kids, Dmitri and Naoki, tried to hold onto him, while Abby stepped away, hands shaking as she watched the tunnel past his shoulders.

"Stay behind me." he ordered, voice dry, sharper than he intended. Abby put herself in front of the toddlers, just thirteen years old, and so incredibly brave, brandishing the dagger Katelyn had given her.

Dante drew one of his own crimson scimitars from the sheathes on his back, watching the hallway with narrowed eyes. The catacombs were nearly pitch dark, faint orange light given by the embers of torches mounted to the walls providing no assistance.

The song continued, so painfully familiar. It couldn't be them, he swore it couldn't. Why hide? Why hide? Why run from home? Come stay, be safe, little darling ones.

It haunted his memories- all the fleeting happy moments from his childhood. Few and far between and long faded, now coming back to that familiarly haunted melody.

A light flickered at the farthest end of the tunnel, where it curved away. White and pale, shifting with an unsteady movement. No torch made a light like that. No mortal being sang like that. As a low, grating laugh cut the music short, the reflection of crimson caught against the approaching light.

A pale webbed hand curled around the stonework. Elongated claws on each of four digits drew thin white lines against the grey. A second hand landed hard on the ground, hauling along a body too big for the narrow tunnels, crawling on its hands and feet.

A head followed it, matted blue-black curls pushed away from an eyeless face. Severed at the jaw by a manged grin, too many jagged teeth growing in roes through a hollow skull. White lights danced in front of its face. Shadows enshrouded a body too thin, the right arm- chest- ribs exposed- bare of skin, dark blackened bones, scorched beyond repair.

It lumbered the corner, gripping the walls, leaving white scratches against the dark stones. And stains of deep crimson, prints of past victims- or of its own ichor. Its head snapped up audibly. Dante jumped, tightening his grip on the hilt of his blade.

The thing cackled. The shadows that coiled around it seemed to laugh as well, flickering and dancing and shifting like tangled serpents. It dropped to one knee, staring unseeing at Dante, its smile widening, tearing up to its finned ears, black and red and viscous ichor running down its jaw.

The empty socket in its half-covered skull cracked- split apart above and below to its jaw- a bloodshot eyeball rolled forwards, a teal iris fixing on him.

"I knew it was you." its voice echoed through the hallways, gravelly and broken- damaged by smoke and ash. And horribly familiar in a way that made Dante's heart stop.

Gene grinned wider still, leaning forwards and upwards, drawing as high as the ceiling would allow. Digging bloodied and skinless hands into the walls and roof, looming above the cowering guard. Hunched in the arched ceiling of the tunnels, dripping black and red blood to the ground, he chuckled.

"Hello again, baby brother."

--------

Yeah.

Dante has a Time in season 2.

Naoki is Nekoette. And that's Abby as in Jeffory the Golden Heart's daughter. She's three when he died (pre-timeskip) and the time skip is only ten(ish) years in Daybreak, so she's about thirteen/fourteen when this would happen.

It might not happen at all, but it was an idea, and I wanted to write something, so here ya go.

I'm not a good judge of how good my writing is so please give feedback (nicely please, I'm sensitive)

[screaming--incoherently]

Traitorous - Chapter 2

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: Swearing, Dylan being a bitch

| Prologue/Chapter 1 |

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Odessa was not having a good time. In the span of ten minutes, her whole world had turned upside down. And now she stood on an uneven concrete sidewalk, beside her former friend now enemy who apparently got amnesia and just so happened to wake up on her school bus, with all of her friends convinced they knew him.

Plus, it was really cold. Odessa hated winter with a burning passion and she dressed like it: black boot-cut jeans over fleece-lined tights, fluffy socks and steel-toed combat boots (just in case), and a long-sleeved black sweater with a dark grey oversized fleece-lined denim jacket on top.

Coach Hedge blew his obnoxiously loud whistle, herding everyone toward the museum. The four of them—Odessa, Piper, Jason, and Leo—hung back, trailing slightly behind the main group so they were out of earshot.

“So,” Leo started, in a helpful tone that meant he was going to be anything but helpful. “We go to the ‘Wilderness School’”—Leo made air quotes with his fingers— “Which means we’re ‘bad kids.’ Your family, or the court, or whoever, decided you were too much trouble, so they shipped you off to this lovely prison—sorry, ‘boarding school’—in Armpit, Nevada, where you learn valuable nature skills like running ten miles a day through the cacti and weaving daisies into hats! And for a special treat we go on ‘educational’ field trips with Coach Hedge, who keeps order with a baseball bat. Is it all coming back to you now?”

Odessa rolled her eyes at Leo’s explanation. He made them sound like hardened criminals—which wasn't wrong, but certainly wasn't helping Jason, who was now staring wide-eyed at the other kids like he thought one of them was going to axe murder him.

“Our class is mostly just kids with theft or drug charges,” Odessa assured him, not wanting Jason to freak out and accidentally fry someone. “The most dangerous person here is Leo, but that's only because he likes to mess with the electrical outlets and start fires.”

Leo scoffed, rolling his eyes at Odessa's comment. “That was one time, and I barely caused any damage!”

Jason was shaking, clearly overwhelmed with the entire situation. Or maybe he was just shivering from the cold. Taking a better look at him, Odessa frowned, noticing the purple t-shirt that was clearly a Camp Jupiter shirt without the letters. Jason was dressed for California weather, not Nevada in December, who/whatever had brought him here clearly hadn't thought it through very well.

“Here,” Odessa shrugged off her fleece-lined jacket, a jacket—she suddenly remembered—that Jason had given her a year earlier during a quest up in Montana. Shoving down the sudden onslaught of conflicting emotions, Odessa held it out for Jason to take, hoping he didn't question why it fit him perfectly. She wasn’t Jason’s biggest fan at the moment, but it wouldn’t be helpful if he froze. “We don't want you to have frostbite and amnesia.”

“Thank you,” Jason said, gratefully taking the jacket and slipping it on. Some of the tension left his shoulders almost immediately, and when Jason smiled at her, Odessa fought the urge to scream, or cry, or maybe both.

A few moments went by, and Odessa didn't realize she'd just been standing there, holding eye contact with Jason, until Piper cleared her throat. “Yeah, no problem,” Odessa said quickly, a slightly awkward smile on her face. She looked away, mentally cursing herself for not being able to get it together. 

Leo—as always—quickly filled the silence. “Anyway, the three of us”—he pointed at himself, Piper, and Jason—”started out here together this semester, and Odessa joined about halfway through November. We're all best friends, and you do everything I say and give me your dessert and do my chores—”

“Leo!” Piper glared at him.

Leo raised his hands in mock defeat. “Okay, okay, ignore that last part. Except for the friends part, we are friends.” He paused for a moment, smirking at Piper, “well, Piper's a little more than your friend, and Odessa's secretly in love with m—”

Odessa elbowed Leo in the side just as Piper snapped, “Leo! Stop it.”

Piper looked incredibly flustered, and Jason also was suddenly very red. More than a friend?… It took Odessa a moment longer than it should have to realize the meaning behind that statement. She was silent for a moment, doing her best to keep her expression as neutral as possible.

Leo—who had doubled over after Odessa elbowed him—took a moment to catch his breath before straightening. He shot Odessa a playful glare before turning back to Piper and Jason with an impish grin on his face. “What?” He teased, “Jason should know that—”

“Leo!” Piper insisted, her eyes wide as she looked between him and Jason. “He's got amnesia of something,” she said, sounding genuinely worried. Piper turned to Odessa, obviously not trusting Leo to take the situation seriously. “We should tell somebody.”

Odessa grimaced, quickly shaking her head in response. Telling somebody was the last thing they should do, getting mortals involved into half-blood business was always a terrible idea. It was bad enough that Piper and Leo had gotten dragged into this, Odessa didn't need adults getting in her way too.

Thankfully, Leo seemed equally against the idea. “Who would we tell?” He countered, raising his eyebrows at Piper, “Coach Hedge? He'd try and fix Jason by whacking him upside the head with his bat.”

Odessa nodded in agreement. Hedge could see through the Mist, and that made him a gamble she wasn't willing to take right now. While Odessa had originally been all for the idea of handing Jason over to Hedge, now that she knew he'd lost his memories, clearly someone had sent him to where she was going to school for a reason. Odessa wasn’t going to involve anyone unless she knew for certain they weren’t a threat.

“But guys,” Piper continued to insist, “Jason needs help. He's got a concussion or—”

“Yo, 'Dessa.”

Odessa stilled, recognizing the voice instantly. Her patience was already stretched thin with the whole Jason-showing-up-with-amnesia-and-fucking-shit-up situation, Odessa didn't want to have to deal with Dylan too.

Dylan was like if Superman only had a third grade education. Muscular, handsome, the whitest smile known to man, but absolutely fucking stupid. He was dressed like he was going to a Stampede, and he spoke with a southern drawl that Odessa knew was fake as fuck.

Dylan wedged his way between Odessa and Jason, flashing her a smile clearly designed to drive women crazy. “Don't talk to these bottom feeders,” he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, “you're my partner remember?”

“Like hell I am,” Odessa replied, attempting to push him away.

Dylan was surprisingly strong and didn't budge as she shoved him. His grip on her shoulder tightened, and Dylan laughed as if she'd cracked a joke. “Don't be difficult, darling,” he chided, beginning to half lead/half drag Odessa away from the group. “Come on, this is your lucky day!”

“Hey!” Jason stepped forward, grabbing Dylan's arm, “she said she doesn't want to go with you.”

Dylan scoffed, sizing up Jason with a laid-back grin. He didn't take his arm off of Odessa's shoulders, instead tightening his hold on her. “Careful now,” Dylan warned, leaning a little closer to Jason and whispering, “I’ll give her back afterwards, no need to start picking fights.”

Odessa rolled her eyes, trying and failing to pull away from Dylan one last time before giving up. Coach Hedge was already suspicious of Jason, she didn't want to push it by causing a scene. “It's fine Jason,” Odessa told him, giving him what she hoped was a reassuring smile, “I'll catch up with you guys later.”

Dylan smirked triumphantly and Odessa was tempted to let Jason fight him just to wipe that stupid grin off his face. She let Dylan lead her towards the museum, tuning out whatever nonsense he was rambling on about.

Odessa didn’t pay much attention to the exhibits. She halfheartedly scanned a few infographics, the tour guide’s voice fading to incoherent background noise. Odessa was too busy worrying about Jason, about how he got his amnesia, about how he'd react to her presence when he got his memories back.

If he got his memories back.

Odessa stilled as that thought crossed her mind. If. Jason might not regain his memories. She didn't have to search for whatever monster caused his amnesia. If Jason didn't remember the war, didn't remember the arguments, the choices that had driven them apart, Odessa could have a second chance, without the pressure of being half-bloods weighing them down.

She glanced back at Jason, and the thought immediately disappeared from her mind. She could see the tension in his shoulders, the way he was looking at the world with wide, lost eyes. Instantly Odessa knew she was going to do whatever it took to get Jason's memories back. She might not be his biggest fan right now, but she wasn’t cruel enough to manipulate him into being her friend again.

“Thinking about something interesting?”

Odessa flinched, suddenly pulled out of her thoughts and back into reality. Dylan had gotten even closer to her, leaning in to whisper his question in her ear, his surprisingly cold breath tickling her neck. At some point while she was distracted they'd left the museum and entered onto the skywalk, a long horseshoe shaped walkway made entirely of glass.

“No,” Odessa lied smoothly, fighting back the urge to glance over at Jason. “I’m just tired, it's been a long day.”

The wind blew a little stronger now than it had before, her dark tresses fluttering like tendrils of shadows. Dylan chuckled, the sound as annoyingly perfect as his smile. “I'm sure it has been,” he agreed, leaning casually against the railing. “How does it feel to see Jason again after all that happened between you two?”

Odessa stilled. She started to reach for her knife before realizing she'd given her jacket to Jason. Shit. Dylan smirked at her, as if he could sense her realization that she was absolutely fucked. Over Dylan's shoulder, Odessa could see Jason and Leo, both of them looking up at the sky instead of down at the canyon. Glancing up, it became very obvious why. A circle of storm clouds, perfectly positioned over the walkway, while the rest of the sky was perfectly clear.

“You're a ventus,” Odessa muttered, cursing herself for not noticing the signs earlier. “What do you want with me? How do you know about Jason?”

Electricity crackled in Dylan's eyes, his grin widening. “I’m impressed, ‘Dessa,” Dylan praised, dropping his fake southern accent, “even your so-called protector hasn't caught on to what I am yet.” He nodded towards Coach Hedge, who was still glaring over at Jason every few seconds.

Odessa frowned. Protector? She wasn't entirely sure what Coach Hedge was, but he certainly wasn’t much of a protector. In her peripherals, she noticed Jason mutter something to Leo and Piper before walking towards Coach Hedge. They made brief eye contact as he walked past and Odessa forced a smile before turning back to Dylan.

“What do you know about Jason's amnesia?” She demanded, not bothering to keep her voice down. The wind had picked up enough that only Dylan was close enough to hear her, the storm clouds growing darker and darker the longer they spent on the skywalk.

Dylan shrugged, his blinding smile disappearing for a moment while he contemplated his answer. “Not much. My mistress is not responsible for it, I know that for sure.” He leaned back against the railing, scanning the clusters of teenagers spread out around the skywalk. “She is a fair lady, much less volatile than Saturn was. I'm sure you two would get along well.”

The wind around them calmed down slightly, the eye of the storm forming around Dylan. “I don't involve myself with that kind of business anymore,” she told him firmly, her eyes still watching Jason as he spoke to Hedge across the skywalk. “I've made that mistake once, I'm not doing it again.”

Dylan sighed disappointedly. “You’ve chosen your side out of fear, Odessa,” he warned her, his eyes crackling with electricity. “You are stronger than that.” Dylan pushed himself off of the railing, momentarily blinding her with that freakishly white smile. “My offer remains, if you change your mind later,” he promised, glancing up at the storm clouds gathering above. “I'd go back inside, if I were you. My mistress has business with the other half-bloods, and I don't want to hurt you if I don't have to.” 

Odessa's attention snapped to Dylan, “what business? What other half-bloods?”

Dylan grinned, nodding in the direction of Leo and Piper. “Your friends. You didn't know they were demigods?” He chuckled, shaking his head, “well, I guess it is harder for you to sense it than it is for me.” He shrugged nonchalantly, giving Odessa one last award-winning smile. “Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go kill your friends.”

And before Odessa could react, Dylan snapped his fingers and the storm descended on the skywalk in full force.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter 2 is up! I'm so glad that people are actually reading this fanfic, I'm having a lot of fun writing it! Next chapter will be posted next week! <3 Mack

[life-in-the-monster-haus]

In Defense of Gillington "Gil" Webber Part 2

After the last Episode we take a break from Lagoona's boy troubles and it's time to focus on Frankie's boy troubles. it's refreshing to see Jackson & Holt just come out and say they likes Frankie instead of tip toeing around the topic, Then Deuce has girl troubles and Ghoulia has boy troubles and everyone is in some relationship drama except for Clawdeen... Smart Ghoul. BUT this isn't about them. but I do enjoy the last half of Volume 2! I forgot about how much of jerk Operetta was, I kinda miss it.

We don't hear any updates on Gil and Lagoona's status until Episode 57 "The Bermuda Love Triangle" where Frankie needs help deciding on who they like more Holt or Jackson, under advice from a Teen Scream magazine the oracle tells Frankie to ask their friends for advice! and the first friend they run into is Lagoona.

In her fragile state Lagoona is probably the worst person Frankie could have possibly asked for relationship advice.

"Hey Lagoona! I think I like 2 boys!"

"wow! 2 boys huh? good for you! some of us are lucky if we can find one! much less get his parents to accept us or even keep him in the same school. But 2 boys!? Good on ya mate, I'm very happy for you"

Lagoona falls apart during the end of her comment then she turns away from Frankie and cries into the drinking fountain. I'd like to remind Lagoona that she is the one who did this! she pushed Gil to confront his parents about their bigotry and Gil warned her this would happen, we're supposed to feel bad for Lagoona but I just don't! She made her bed now she has to lie in it. We're supposed to be sad because she sheds a few tears? While Gil is currently rotting in an Underwater Boarding School! crying is the least of his problems! is he getting hazed? or caned? we don't know! I wouldn't put it past racist parents to tell the Dean to put the boots to him extra hard for being a dirty salt water monster lover. I would give anything if Mattel showed us what that school was like! cowards!

BUT being a bitch to Frankie isn't going to undo what you did sweetheart.

We don't hear from Lagoona during the Monster Mashionals arc Which was the end of Volume 2 but after that finishes we get our second Special and My personal favorite: Fright On!

Fright on is where Gil makes his big return to Monster High! Lagoona mentions the feud between Salt Water and Fresh Water folks and Gil mentions that his Parents sent him away "But they couldn't change me so I'm back!"... What!? that's it? that's how you got them to send you back to Monster High? nononononononono! Racist Parent's don't just give into the demands of their kid because "they can't change you" they weren't trying to change Gil, they just wanted to keep him away from Lagoona! it's such a weak BS excuse! come on Monster High you are WAY more creative than this hand wave of why Gil has returned. I like my theory better that Gil went feral at the boarding school and got thrown out on purpose so his parents had no choice but to send him back to Monster High. (I did mistakenly call it a Military school, my bad) and That's the theory I'm sticking with. The most common reasons people get expelled from Boarding Schools are carrying weapons, fighting, stealing school property, disrupting the education of others, hacking the school computer systems to change test scores, damaging school equipment. So do with that information what you will.

Now regardless if you accept the canon explanation or my theory the outcome is the same either way... Gil basically strong armed his parents into getting his way. This is important but also worrying for Gil since it has been heavily implied that Gil fears his parents, I can't imagine they welcomed him back with open tentacles.

Now we officially enter Volume 3! The first few episodes of Volume 3 spend a lot of time taking characters who were introduced in Volume 2 and Fright On and blending them with the monsters we already know and love. We don't really see much of Gil and Lagoona until Episode 72 "Unlife to Live" and it's only for a second. they're still palling around together.

For the beginning of Volume 3 Gil and Lagoona are hardly in it together. We don't really see or hear from them much as a team until we get to the first movie "Why do Ghouls fall in Love" where they are giving Ghoulia love advice because she is torn Between Slo-Mo and Don of the Dead. Can I just say I can't think of any couple least qualified to give someone else dating advice? Their relationship is being held on a thread of Gil's parents mercy at this point.

Now it's been AWHILE since I've watched this movie, despite my love for Kieran Valentine and his sexy southern drawl It's not really part of my rotation unless it's Valentine's Day. But does anyone else remember Draculaura being a huge cow in this movie? Because for some reason I don't but during the re-watch she really is! in terms of Monster High characters who are bad partners Draculaura definitely fits the bill here, Not only is she ungrateful as hell to the gifts Clawd gets her, She low key cheats on him with Valentine during this entire movie.

I know I'm supposed to be focusing on Gil and Lagoona but this seems like a bigger problem at the moment.

Valentine has just walked into the school, he has NOT yet put Draculaura under his spell or hypnotized her or anything yet. He just walked up to her and give her flowers and she calls him "My Valentine" all love struck... Clawd walked away from her not even 10 seconds ago. And this is how she acts when her ex shows up and her current boyfriend is out of ear shot??? This may not be "technically" cheating but it's suspicious as hell and not cool. Flirting is cheatings ugly cousin. But no one gives Draculaura shit for being a bad girlfriend now do they? I feel like it's because she's a fan favorite, cute and a girl, But because Gil isn't that he seems to have the worse reputation...and why? Gil has done nothing wrong. I'm gonna be mad about it the whole movie. Clawd doesn't deserve this. The ghouls & Frankie but mostly Clawdeen do get on her case about this, but it's already after Valentine has been touching her, romancing her, having lunch alone with her... This is cheating y'all. They tell her she needs to choose but completely ignore the fact that she has already been cheating on Clawd. Clawdeen tells her that Clawd isn't stupid & he's a great guy - for some reason they are tip toeing around saying the C word...but it's cheating y'all, this is cheating. Draculaura cheated on Clawd on got away with it. Frankie who is narrating this movie spins us a yarn about how poor Draculaura is torn between 2 boys!... But she isn't though... She is currently in a monogamous committed relationship with Clawd and cheating on him with her Ex... this is not "torn between 2 loves"- cheating! it's cheating. "But in the end Draculaura knew the answer" - to STOP cheating on the boyfriend that she already has is the answer. In the next scene, to Draculaura's credit she DOES choose Clawd and tell Valentine that it's been fun but she loves Clawd... Valentine then hypnotizes her to get her in his clutches, NOW from here on out y'all can feel bad for Draculaura but don't forget she cheated on Clawd before the hypnosis thing with little to no prompting. But tell me again how Gil is such a shitty boyfriend.

That movie ends with Draculaura having cheated on her boyfriend, but she still got a car, a party, gifts, Clawd. This is a horrible message to send to little kids, How did we let this fly in 2012? Don't cheat on your partner folks, there is no guarantee they will forgive you and IMHO they shouldn't.

The next 3-D Movie is "Escape from Skull Shores" and THIS is the the one we've all been waiting for! so go grab some milk or an orange, pack a lunch because this is going to be a long bumpy ride!

So, right off the bat Lagoona planned Gil's spring break without telling him under the guise of a "surprise" and apparently Lagoona's parents sent them a luxury cruise to bring them to the Great Barrier Reef (Great Scarrier Reef was not canon yet) so that Gil can meet her parents. Gil... Understandably so freaks out a little.

Maybe it's just because he's a boy and "meeting the parents" is such a big step in a relationship, maybe he fears they are racist like his parents are and won't like him... Lagoona reassures him no one cares about the whole salt water/fresh water thing anymore... Gil is...

Not convinced.

Gil is kind of being a sandy butt hole about this but after what his parents put him through can you blame him?

Lagoona is trying to be very optimistic and tell Gil about how Beautiful the Great Barrier Reef is to put him at ease but...

"I just wish it wasn't so full of Sea Creatures"

Pump the Breaks! This might be the first unsavory thing Gil has said, I really hate to give that "Gil is a racist" mindset any legitimacy but... that was kinda bigoted Gil, it reeks of "you're one of the good ones!"... Which if your familiar with racism like myself you'll know that's not a compliment!

Lagoona isn't hurt by this. She uses this as an opportunity to gently remind Gil he is starting to sound like his bigoted parents and then she does a very.... Canadian? Midwestern? unflattering impression of Gil's mother?... "Oooh yea! a thousand lakes! no salt in MY water!"

Gil immediately apologizes for his bigoted statement and confesses to Lagoona that he's afraid of the sea. He thinks it's full of scary fish and monsters who just want to get their flippers on a fresh water guy like him... Gil's parents have instilled in him that sea creatures are out to get him, this is not Gil's fault this is an unfortunate side effect of being raised by a racist (trust me). He also adds on that the "Normies" have polluted it so much you can't even see 3 feet down... you know what? I'm gonna let Gil have that one, Humans DID fuck up the ocean.

Gil: "what's that!?"

Lagoona: "it's an island chain, mate"

REALLY, LAGOONA!? is it an island chain!? or is it a fuckin' Kraken!?

This does not justify Gil's parents racism against all sea creatures but to treat any place on earth like it's completely safe would be a fool's errand. Danger is everywhere.

"What was that you were saying about the sea being "perfectly safe!?"" I wanna bust Gil for being an asshole here but...given what's happened to them, he's kinda right to get sassy.

Lagoona doesn't say a damn thing.

While they are shipwrecked they get picked up by this greasy human dude named Bartleby Farnum who's just a lazy parody of P. T. Barnum, If you know even a little bit about P. T. Barnum you already know this guys deal, scam artist, showman, trickster. the whole movie is already spoiled for you, Sorry.

Frankie looks exactly like this scientist lady from an Island Farnum knows about so he wants to use them as bait to catch Andy. it's a popular head canon that G1 Frankie was just straight up built using the dead scientists head and I completely agree, it would explain their "uncanny" resemblance to her.

Frankie's head has to have belonged to the scientist... Heterochromia is pretty rare, what are they odds they would look like her AND have her Heterochromia!?

Edit from future me: SHE EVEN HAS A CUT ON HER FACE IN THE SAME PLACE AS FRANKIE! this is no longer a head canon, it's just canon, Frankie's head used to belong to the normie scientist from Skull Shores. She probably got that cut on her face from being in the jungle.

While everyone was sleeping Farnum steered them to Skull Shores, when Lagoona asks about the Great Barrier Reef, Farum assures her this is just a one night stop to rest and get supplies. Notice how he did not tell any of them this, before they went to bed. Just assume everything Farnum says is a lie and you'll be good. Farnum makes up some BS reason why they should say on Skull Shores and everyone loves the idea except for Lagoona who thinks her parents will be worried sick about them if they don't hear from them soon, Farnum guilt trips Lagoona into letting everyone stay and she caves.

Lagoona is rightfully suspicious of why Farnum wouldn't let her back onto his boat when they all just spent the night on it and enlists Gil to help her spy.

Gil would prefer to stay on Skull Shores because 1.) it has a lake and 2.) it means he doesn't have to go meet Lagoona's parents. Lagoona knows he is stalling and Gil finally breaks.

Gil: "They won't like me Lagoona! I'm a fresh water freak to them!"

Lagoona: "it's all in your head Gil! they're modern monsters! that's not how they feel!"

Lagoona is being kind of a hypocrite. Gil warned her several times that his parents are racist and won't let him see her, Lagoona told him to stand up to them and when he did he got sent to an Underwater Boarding school for the entire Summer and half the next school year! Now Lagoona is trying to convince him her parents aren't bigoted and from Gil's POV why should he listen to her? the last time he took her advice he got exiled. They're trying really hard to paint Gil out to be the bad guy here for not wanting to listen to Lagoona but look at what happened to him the last time he did.

Is he right? No. But do I blame him? also No. By being so pushy with his parents Lagoona ruined her own credibility. it was real easy for her to go "Stand up to your parents!" when it wasn't her head on the chopping black. Gil was the victim in that situation and he's scarred now.

Despite being hesitant Gil goes with Lagoona. He protested but he still goes with her, this is yet another case of Gil going against his better judgment to support Lagoona.

Lagoona: "let's hurry!"

Gil: "Good, I don't want to be in the sea any longer than I have to"

Lagoona: *gives Gil a dirty look*

Gil: "Whales go to the bathroom in here Lagoona!"

Gil, Shut up. I've been defending you all this time but don't sit there and tell me that crocodiles and gators don't shit in lakes. Gil complains, a lot and he's been real sassy this whole movie... but he still goes with her.

Lagoona and Gil are missing from dinner and Farnum instantly sends Kipling to go find them... Farnum must have better instincts than me because if I was babysitting some teenagers on an island and the boy & girl who are real close ran off to be alone in the woods... I would just assume they're boning and go back to trying to rob the natives or whatever he's trying to do.

I just gotta pause this analysis of Gil and Lagoona's relationship to focus on this hunk of Manster that we never got a doll of. Mattel robbed us blind! Can you imagine him on a Manny Body? Bow chicka wow wow! Me @ G3 please bring us Andy! I'll forgive you for removing Frankie's neck bolts if you give us Andy!

Lagoona sees that Farnum is tracking Frankie and she wants to rush in and follow him, Gil asks her what she plans on doing once they get there and her answer is "I'm not sure but we'll think of something" Gil... respectfully tries to question her logic and he insists they think about this before just jumping in but Lagoona, ignoring Gil's sound advice steps forward on the cliff ledge they are are on and falls into Farums hands.

Lagoona isn't stupid but this is probably the second dumbest thing she's ever done, the first one being telling the boy she likes to confront his racist parents like he's not going to get punished. Rushing into things without considering the consequences is no way to go through life Lagoona.

Once we see Lagoona get caught we pan to Gil who looks like he's running away because... Movie has to engineer conflict SOMEHOW. Did people just stop watching Skull Shores after the commercial break? because that's the only reasoning I can think of for why Gil is so frequently labeled a coward and a bad boyfriend. Because if the movie ended HERE!? then yes, Gil is a coward and a bad boyfriend. But it doesn't.

Farnum roasting a teenage girl that he has just kidnapped because her boyfriend ran away and Lagoona agreeing with Farnum. "I knew Gil wasn't the most courageous monster but I never thought he would just hang me out to dry" WOW Lagoona! way to have faith in your man! Everyone keeps saying that Gil is a bad boyfriend to Lagoona but I'm beginning to think maybe Lagoona has been a shit girlfriend. "but Jess!" I hear you cry... "what would YOU do if you saw your man run away!?" If it was me? I would assume he's thinking up a rescue mission because him running down that hill after I get caught to "save me" would be very stupid when it's 1 against 6 and one of those 6 is a pretty big dude. getting BOTH of us captured wouldn't have done anything to help our situation.

I started this deep dive to defend Gil but really all it's doing it making me dislike Lagoona. She's SO short sighted! I guess years of looking at her with rose tinted glasses made me see her as this perfect person but the problem with looking at someone with rose tinted glasses is... all the red flags just look like flags.

Just as it looks like Farnum has won, Gil returns with an army! "The salt water army" in his own words! My boy came back with reinforcements and he tamed the Kraken!? He swam all the way to the Great Barrier Reef by himself and showed up on Lagoona's parents doorstep, exhausted and probably rambling about their daughter being in trouble and they trusted him enough to take care of business on his own... mind you this is the first time they met him!

Between this and getting snotty with Mr. Hack it's very clear that Gil has no problem facing conflict on the condition that conflict is not his own parents why is that? Because Mr. Hack and Farnum don't have control over his life! His Parents do. Gil has been very brave when problems arise his one weakness is his parents and I don't think we should fault him for that. He busted ass for Lagoona and y'all have the nerve to call him a racist coward, the level of disrespect is unreal.

This is yet another moment they should have kissed, Gil even has his water tank off. I can't even use the excuse that Mattel is run by prudes in this part because Draculaura and Clawd got to kiss in "Why Do Ghouls Fall in Love" Why no Lagoona and Gil kiss!?

Anyway, Gil says the whole time he realized what he is the most of afraid of is losing Lagoona... Which if you've read this far... Duh.

The rest of the movie wraps up with not much more from Lagoona and Gil they had their big moment. Great timing too because I have once again hit Tumblrs photo limit. I stand by everything I said in part 1, In fact I'd like to double down on it and say not only is Gil a great boyfriend, Lagoona might not be a good girlfriend. Gil has one boundary and Lagoona does not respect it. Re-watching the Webisodes and the first few movies has shown me that Gil is willing to do anything for love... but he won't do that and all Lagoona and her fans can focus on is the that.

I don't know how this Gil slander started, but whoever started it clearly has no critical thinking skills at all OR they like, saw the screenshot of Lagoona crying and got insta-mad "Gil made Lagoona cry! rage!"... yes... yes he did make Lagoona cry... And then she got him sent to an Underwater Boarding school! one of these things is vastly worse than the other! get perspective!

I don't know if I'll make a part 3... I really want to cover 13 wishes but by now? I feel like I've made my point. The Gil slander is unfounded and Gil never did anything wrong he's just a good boy in a bad family situation.

I would think a lot of you... if not most of you can relate.

Part 1 + Part 2 + Part 3 + Part 4

[rascalthehamster]

Yes, please make a part 2 of Sibling Monty!

Sibling Monty part 2

It was the 18th and final hole and you were 2-1 with Monty. Basically you were losing but it wasn’t impossible for you to win. If he fucked up the last hole then you have a chance. If only you didn’t fuck up and toss the ball into the water during the 6th hole but thankfully he messed up the 10th hole.

As you both approach the final hole you see it was a giant alligator head that opened and closed, it’s teeth no longer bright and beginning to fade from water damage and chipping paint from balls bouncing off of it.

Honestly, you believed Monty was pitying you which wasn’t the best feeling in the world but hopefully he feels bad enough to let you win.

As you watch him approach the ball you get the idea to scream when he goes to hit it. If you time it right you’ll mess him up making him miss. A perfect plan that couldn’t possibly go wrong.

He brought his club back, getting ready to fire the ball down the throat of a giant alligator animatronic when you shouted when his club came down. Making him turn around mid swing, his ball hitting one of the many teeth on the alligator.

“You, you little shit!” He started storming towards his golf ball and swung once again. This time with a lot more strength, blasting through the alligator and landing straight into the hole. Causing one of the bright yellow eyes to start to flicker. Maybe you shouldn’t have pissed him off because now you have to only hit the ball once or you lose.

You start to swear as you place your ball down, not fully prepared for the cops to get called on you.

“Don’t mess up.” The sly smirk on his face, knowing that he held more power then you in this situation.

“I don’t plan on it” you said without thinking. WHY DID YOU SAY THAT. Whatever, it’s now or never, no point in denying the inevitable. You brought your golf club back and prepared to swing, however before you could bring it down you were swept up by Monty and he started dashing away from the scene.

“Hey what’s the big idea?!” You shouted as he darted pass security bots.

“Be quiet and I’ll explain later, it’s not safe.”

“Wait, why? Did you call the cops already? What’s wrong with you!”

“I didn’t!” His grip on you got tighter as his anger increased. “It was Vanessa the security guard, if she catches you the police really will be called so can it if you don’t want to get caught.”

“So you won’t call the cops on me?”

“No I was just messing with you dummy.”

“WHAT?! Why?!”

“It was funny.” His smirk came back and he just laughed as you started punching him.

“You jerk face, what’s wrong with you!” You started hitting whatever you could reach and kicking him, revenge on your mind.

“I get it, I get it. You hate me and I’m a meanie jerk face. Do you want to get arrested? If not keep it down.” You reluctantly listened to him. He came to a stop in front of a storage closet and said “okay, hide in here until I come back. You’ll know it’s me because of my voice. I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

“Okay…” you walk into the closet but before he could close the door you grab his arm and ask “you promise I won’t get into trouble, right?” You look into his red eyes, hoping to try and find the truth in them.

He takes off his signature star sunglasses and place them on your face. “I promise.” He closes the door and you wait with bated breath.

What felt like an eternity passed but Monty returned with a smile on his snout, “why hello there.” He grabbed his glasses and you dashed forward, hugging his robotic body.

“Thank you for not getting me in trouble, I don’t know how to repay you.” Tears started running down your face, you couldn’t control them.

Monty wasn’t use to this type of emotion, usually the kids ran away from him crying, not crying on him. All he did was rub your back as you let it out. After you calmed down enough to start talking he said, “hey uh, wanna get something to eat? You must be starving. Here, get on my back.” Monty picked you up and started giving you a piggy back ride.

He started walking towards the food court but before he could even get out of the elevator you let out a loud yawn and started to fall asleep on his back. He instead made his way to his personal room and laid you on what was left of his couch, putting a blanket on you and Monty branded plush in your arms. He plans on letting you sleep until 6 o’clock, then would wake you up to let you out.

He went out of the room and found a Monty branded back pack and put in a ton of Monty memorabilia in it. A signed poster, a water bottle, a keychain. Anything he could find. When he came back you were still asleep. He put the bag in front of you and sat next to you until you woke up, protecting you from any dangers that may come through that door.

[p-artsypants]

Paint it Black (2) Observing

Robin disappeared three months ago. Now, Jump City's crime rate is mysteriously being taken care of by a normal, albeit strange, teenage boy who goes by the name Black. As the Titans befriend this lunatic, they begin to see a correlation between him and their missing leader. Will they be able to find Robin, or will Black turn them all insane as himself?

Ao3

"So?" Beast Boy asked, a grin on his features.

"I met him. He seems...strange. I wonder if there is something wrong with him."

"Of course there is!" Beast Boy shouted. "The kid's living a delusion! He's totally Schizophrenic! He’s 9th level crazy banana-pants bonkers!"

"Where's your degree in Psychology?" Cyborg asked.

Raven chimed in. "I couldn’t read his mind when I saw him. He's too...random?"

"Random? More like utterly out of control! He must have gotten brain damage or something!"

"Like you?" Raven quipped.

Beast Boy didn't skip a beat. "I don't doubt I have brain damage from all the fights I've been in, but there's no way you can compare us."

"I will agree and say that Black is very strange. I am concerned for him though." Starfire added.

"He told me he was homeless," said Raven. 

“I saw him take money from a drug dealer he took out.” Cyborg scratched his chin. “So he’s not panhandling.”  

“What do we do? Mention him to the police?” Starfire asked.

“Let’s just…keep an eye out for him. Maybe he’s a friendly neighborhood weirdo, or maybe he’s a problem.” 

—-

It continued like that for the weeks following. Each Titan would take turns performing patrol at night, while the usual super villains would crop up randomly in between. Nearly every night, for maybe only a few minutes, they would cross paths with the young man known as Black. Each time, they would try to weasel more information out of him, but more often than not, he left them with more questions. 

“Cyborg! Thank god! I need help!” A young man came running up to him. He looked rather roughed up and had a black eye. 

“What’s up, man?”

“I know we were wrong. My friends and I tried to shoplift from the Quick Mart, but then my buddy tried to actually mug a customer. It was so wrong and I know that but the dude went ape shit and just started beating the hell out of us! I’m the only one that got away! Please Cyborg, my brother’s back there and I think he’s gonna get killed.” 

“Alright alright, I got you man, take me there.” 

The young man ran back the way he came, Cyborg hot on his trail. The Quick Mart was just around the corner. The windows were plastered with posters and neon signs, so much so, the inside couldn’t be seen. 

“Wait here,” Cyborg demanded, and headed for the door. 

Whatever supervillain he was expecting to see, he didn’t see them. Instead, Black sat on the counter, nonchalantly eating a pint of ice cream. 

There were four unconscious young men on the ground, and the cashier was crying behind the counter. 

“Aww man,” Cyborg groaned, looking at the carnage. 

“Hey! Borgy-Boy! Want some Chunky Monkey?” Black held out his spoon.

“Man, what did you do?”

“Can you believe these Ding Dongs tried to mug me? I only have so much money to spend on food, and they’re trying to take it!”

Cyborg gave him a hard look. “What about all that money you’ve taken from the people you bust?”

“Hey!” Black pointed his spoon at him. “Most of that money went into the offering plate on Sunday!” 

Cyborg stared back in shock. “You go to church?”

“Sure! Free coffee, free music, free air conditioning and heat, it's a swell deal! I don’t really know what they’re talkin’ ‘bout, but that Jesus guy sounds like a real neat fella!”

Cyborg shook his head. Black had a talent for derailing situations quickly. “What did I tell you about beating people up?”

Black whined. “But mooooommmmm! They started it!” 

“I called the police,” the cashier finally sobbed out. “They’ll be here at any moment.”

“Whoops! Looks like I gotta vámonos!”

“Did you pay for the ice cream?” Cyborg asked sternly. 

“YeEEEeeeeEEEs!” Black sassed right back. 

“Good, then you’re ready to wait for the police with me.” 

Black’s attitude changed slightly then. He paled and his lips became taught. “Nah, I’m good.”

“What if I tell you you have to?”

Then Black’s face fell, a much darker, hateful gaze on his face. “I don’t have to do anything I don’t want to. Not anymore.” 

“Anymore?” Cyborg took a step toward him.

Black launched from the counter, springboarded off Cyborg’s shoulders and landed at the exit. “Bye Borgy-Boy! Love you!” And he was gone.

“Damnit!” Cyborg shouted to the ceiling. 

—-

“Okay, I think he’s a problem,” Cyborg announced without preamble. 

Starfire, Beast Boy, and Raven all looked at him startled. 

“Who?”

“Black! Who else!? He beat up a bunch of shoplifters at the Quick Mart and then dipped when I told him to stay for the police. Why would he run if he had nothing to hide?”

Raven raised a brow. “So you want us to capture him? Take him down? Yeah, we all know what he’s doing is illegal, but he’s doing us a huge favor. We don’t have time to worry about the little guys.” 

“What if we were to just observe him more? Mayhaps this is a temporary thing?”

“Temporary insanity? I’d love to hear that argument.” Beast Boy chuckled. 

“Fine, another week or two of observation. Then we have to decide what we’re going to do about him.” 

—

During Raven’s patrol, she got to have her own fun with a jewelry store break in. She passed by the roof just as the burglar’s broke through the window. 

Thinking that was all the action she was going to see on her patrol, she began to return home, only to be distracted by someone singing. 

Well, it was more like caterwauling. 

“I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I AM TALKING ABOUT!” 

It was a crime to be singing so poorly and so loudly so late at night. A crime to Raven, at least. All this required was a stern talking too. 

Raven followed the sour notes down a backstreet and into the warehouse district. 

“Why am I not surprised?” Raven drawled. 

Black was still singing at the top of his lungs, and sort of dancing down the alley. In both hands, he held cans of spray paint, and he was spraying the walls. 

Raven landed behind him. 

“I’M TRAPPED IN THIS BODY–CAN’T—GET OUT!!!”

“Vandalizing private property? Some hero you are.” 

“AH!” Black startled, whipped around and sprayed Raven in the face with red paint. 

Luckily she clenched her eyes shut so she wasn’t blinded. 

“Oh! Mrs. Magpie! I’m sorry, you startled me!” 

Raven tried to wipe the paint from her face. “So I noticed.” 

Black took out a rag from his pocket and started rubbing her face before she batted him away. 

He slunk back, defeated. “And to answer your question, I wasn’t trying to vandalize this wall. Someone else already did that. I was just trying to make it…less Hitler-y.” 

Raven looked at the wall. On half were some interesting black and red swirls, still wet, and the other half had about a dozen swastikas punctuated with profanity. 

“I see. You were covering it up.”

“Yeppers! Are you proud of me, Rae Rae?” 

The last thing she wanted to do was indulge this lunatic. “You know, if you talked to the owner, he’d probably give you some paint to cover the whole wall in an even coat.” 

He scoffed. “There’s no art in that!” 

“Oh, so now you’re an artist?”

“Am I not allowed to have a hobby?” 

She huffed. “Fair.” 

“I’ll take it more seriously. I’ll practice and make it really good! A series of pretty alleyways by me!” 

Raven was out of shits to give. “Fine. Go ahead. Wow me with your murals.” 

Black grinned gleefully and jumped. “You won’t regret it!” 

“See that I won’t.” 

“Oh,” he licked his thumb. “You have a little paint—“ 

She summoned a force field to stop him from getting any closer. “Don’t even think about it.” 

—-

Usually, Black had a tendency to seek out the Titans, or let his presence be known. So when Beast Boy found the young man digging through a dumpster, he quickly changed into a mouse to watch from afar. 

“In the deepest ocean, the bottom of the sea, your eyes, they turn me,” Black sang a tune Beast Boy swear he heard before, but couldn’t place it. 

Beast Boy scurried across the ground, coming closer. 

Black was bent over at the waist, his torso inside the dumpster, and his singing echoed with a metallic ring. “I get eaten by the worms and weird fishes. Picked over by the worms…and weird fishes.” 

Where had he heard that before? The radio? He was usually pretty hip with modern music.  

“Ah ha!” Black cried triumphantly as he emerged. He had a prize in his hand. 

Beast Boy eagerly waited to see what Black had found and was so excited about. 

Another watch. 

The young man cinched it on his wrist, so quickly, it looked like he’d done it a hundred times before. “You don’t have a battery, but that’s okay. I still love you.” 

A dead watch. What was so exciting about a dead watch?

Black then rubbed his stomach. “Hmm…me hungy!” And he turned and left the alley. 

Beast Boy waited until he rounded the corner to turn into a sparrow and followed him. 

Black skipped down the street, his tattered trench coat fluttering behind him. 

Coming down the street was a dog walker, a man with a husky. Black saw them and ran to them. “Ohhh! A puppy! What’s his name? Can I pet?!”

The man looked startled, but ultimately said, “uh sure. His name is Plinko.” 

“Hi puppy! Hi Plinko! Who’s a good boy?! Who would rip someone’s face off to protect his owner!? My name is Black. What’s your name?”

The man looked even more startled and started to tug his dog away. “Sorry, I have to go.” 

“Okie dokie then! Bye bye Plinko! Bye bye Plinko’s dad!” Black waved enthusiastically. Then he continued his merry way down the street. 

Beast Boy watched in fascination, and prepared to intervene if Black showed any kind of threat towards the man. Thankfully, he didn’t, just behaved oddly enough to frighten the man off. 

Black broke into a sprint, running at a wall. When he reached it, he used a fire escape to climb up the side of a building, then leapt onto a short roof. From there, he cartwheeled and flipped to the other edge and jumped over to the next roof. 

He was fast. Beast Boy had to morph into an Eagle to keep up with him. He was used to seeing kids parkour, and the hobby had become more popular over the years the more stunts of Robin’s had been captured on camera. But Beast Boy had never seen someone move like this. It was almost inhuman. Black flung himself across distances anyone else with self preservation would have avoided. He flipped and twisted as he went, ignoring laws of physics. 

Then, they were at the Quick Mart, and he strolled in like he hadn’t been performing gymnastics across the rooftops. 

Beast Boy quickly shifted into a fly and flew in before the door shut. This was kind of fun. He didn’t get to do stealth missions often. 

“Hi Laura!” Black chirped. 

“Oh. Hi Black.” The cashier looked nervous and swallowed thickly. 

“Got anything fresh? How old is the pizza? Is it all dried out like jerky?”

“I just put a new pie in,” she said with a sigh. 

“Then I want a slice! Not one with pepperoni’s though.” He shivered.

She gave him a solemn nod and cut him a slice of cheese pizza. 

“Hey chicky-poo, why are you nervous?” He asked as he grabbed a drink from the fridge. Just a water. 

“We’re not going to have any problems today, are we?” She asked sternly, but looked pale and nauseous.

“Problems? Me?! You know I’m here to solve problems, right?!” 

The cashier didn’t answer. 

Black placed his hands on his hips. “Is this about those shoplifters earlier this week? Did Borgy-Boy or the Popo give you a hard time?”

She took a shaky breath. “They were fine. I just…what you did to those boys.” 

He scoffed. “What's a couple broken fingers and fractured skulls among friends?”

“Um…I can’t imagine those guys think you’re friends…”

“Well, then they’re doodoo heads. How much for the water and the pizza? Ohh and this candy bar?”

“7.83.” 

“Oh. No candy bar then.” He pouted. 

“5.70.”

Black dug around in his pockets and took out some bills and coins. “Is that enough?”

“This is a button.” 

“Oh. How much is that worth?”

The cashier sighed and helped him count out the money on the counter. Beast Boy prepared to intervene if he didn’t have enough, but thankfully, he did. 

“And, you had a little extra, so you get a nickel back.” She handed him a coin. 

He grinned. “I think I like them! Most people don’t, but that’s okay. Not everyone has to agree!” 

“What?”

“Nickleback! They do the song from Shrek!”

“Honey, that’s Smash Mouth.”   

Black sighed. “I can’t count change and I can’t remember Nickleback’s discography. Is there anything I can do right?”

Break bones, apparently, thought Beast Boy. 

“Well, you do the crime fighting thing pretty well. Maybe once you get your memory back, you’ll be able to do other things.”

Black’s face soured. “No no, I’m going to learn new things, not remember old ones.” He took on a far off look. “I don’t want to remember the old things.”

“Oh…kay…” Laura said, leaning away from the counter. 

Black brightened considerably. “Thanks for the pizza! See you around Laura!” Then he looked to the wall, right at Beast Boy. “See you around, Jolly Green!” 

Beast Boy shifted back into a human, falling off the wall and startling Laura. “Duuuude! How did you know?!” 

“Come on, how often do you see a green fly?”

“Often?! How–!?” 

Black tsked. “You gotta be better than that, Beastie Boy! Ch-check, check it out! Wh-what what’s it all about!?” He started rapping Beastie Boy lyrics and he nonchalantly strolled out the door. 

Beast Boy stood still, staring open mouthed. 

“I had no idea you were there,” said Laura. “That kid is something else.” 

“Yeah, but what?”

—

Cyborg arrived from the lobby, the huge box with him full. He dumped out the contents, letters, on the table and started to sort. 

“What’s all that?” Asked Raven. 

“Mail. It’s been sitting out there for a while and I just can’t put it off anymore.” 

“Tired of all the condolence cards?”

“Very.” 

“Anything for me?” Beast Boy asked, peering over the table. 

“You can help me sort, and then you’ll know.” Cyborg threw a bunch of flyers away. “Man, I bet some of these are a month old. Hope none of it was time sensitive.” 

“Oooo what’s this?” Beast Boy picked up a thicker envelope with handwritten addresses on it. “It’s addressed to all of us.” 

“Who’s it from?” 

“Says, ‘Jim Baker.’ Never heard of ‘im.” 

“Probably fan mail. Maybe we saved him and never got his name. God forbid another condolence card.” 

“It’s thick. It feels like there’s something in it. Maybe money?” 

“If it’s money, we have to send it back,” Cyborg said sternly. “We can’t take it.” 

“Well then…maybe not money…” Beast Boy grinned, preparing to pocket the money anyway. He tore open the envelope, but instead of money, there was just an SD card and a note. 

‘Teen Titans,

This was left in my possession, but I think it’s meant for you.’ 

“H-hey Cy?” Beast Boy passed the envelope over to Cyborg. He scrutinized the note and then put the SD card into his arm to scan it for viruses. 

“Looks clean, but whatever is on it is slightly corrupted. The card doesn’t look like it was taken very good care of.” 

“May we see it?” Asked Starfire. 

“I can try to pull the file off.” He took the card over to the main computer and popped it in. “Oh, looks like multiple video files. Let’s see if they’ll load.” 

“Do you think someone has sent us a movie to watch? Shall I make the popped corn?”

“Something like that,” Raven answered, setting her book aside. “Don’t bother with the popcorn though.”

When the video started up, the picture was pixelated and grainy, the sound cut in and out. 

“Get—to work? —so old.” 

A face was in frame, black and white, and hard to make out. “It has to work. It’s the last chance I have.” 

“That is Robin’s voice!” Starfire shouted, standing to her feet.

“Really?” Beast Boy asked. “I can’t really tell.” 

“If you get caught, they’ll kill you.” The other person said. 

“Then I won’t get caught.” The camera shifted, showing more of the room, though it was grainy. The camera shook hard a few times and the picture became clearer. There was a young man, about Robin’s age, wearing a hospital gown. 

“Why are you messing with that thing?” He asked. 

“Secret,” said Robin’s voice. 

“Whatever dude, just don’t include me in this.” 

The camera turned, and they could see the nose down of the person Starfire thought was Robin. 

“That is Robin’s chin!” Starfire screamed. 

“Yeah, it is,” said Raven. 

“This is…not what I was prepared for. There’s twenty of us here,” Robin whispered. “Is that too much information? Crap.” 

And the video ended. 

“Play the next one!” Star demanded. 

Cyborg obeyed and played the next file. “I’ll set these up to play back to back.” 

The next video played, and it was immediately apparent that something was wrong. The camera was under a bed. They still couldn’t see Robin’s face. But his hand was on the ground. 

“There’s a red light.” He stated. “So, that’s good.” He breathed, a long, low exhale. Somewhere in an adjacent room, someone screamed. Robin took another shaking breath, then, to everyone’s surprise, he started to softly sing. “When I'm at the pearly gates, this'll be on my videotape, my videotape. Mephistopheles is just beneath…and he's reaching up to grab me.”

Starfire sat at the edge of her seat, holding a pillow to her chest. She had never heard Robin sing before. To everyone else, it was fine, but to her, his voice was perfect. Soft, gentle, and so so sad. 

“This is one for the good days and I have it all here in red, blue, green. Red, blue, green.” 

Robin’s song stopped suddenly as the scream came again, worse than before. He shifted closer to the camera, and continued his song as low as he could. “This is my way of saying goodbye. 'Cause I can't do it face to face. So I'm talking to you after it’s too late.” 

Starfire gasped. 

“No matter what happens now. You shouldn't be afraid, because I know today has been the most perfect day I've ever seen.” 

And the video ended. 

A red exclamation mark displayed on the screen, determining that the video was corrupted. 

“NO!” Starfire shrieked. “Cyborg, you must recover those videos! It is the only clue we have to Robin! Please!” 

“Star, I’m going to try, but there’s no guarantees.”

“If you do not recover those videos, I shall never forgive you!” 

“Dude, he said he’s going to try!” Beast Boy yelled back. “We just…have to be patient.” 

Starfire fled the room, her cries loud enough to rattle the walls. 

“I’ll get to work,” Cyborg stated as he retrieved the disc and left. 

Raven and Beast Boy left shortly after, both lost in their thoughts.