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9r7g5h · 5 months

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Terrors of the Cubical World

Fandom: My Hero Academia, Boku no Hero Academia

Rating: T

Genre: Humor

Summary: All Dairoji wanted was a job. He didn't mean to fall in love with his perfect angel of a superior who was dating the most volaille pro hero in the rankings.

Words: 4,823

Dairoji had known, the moment he read the job description, that this one had to be his.

While sure, the support courses at UA hadn't had anything like "The Big Three" that the hero courses had, he would have certainly qualified for being in the running for the top ten if they had, and his work ever since he had graduated and done his internship had just continued to prove it. He had been instrumental in helping Mei Hatsumi figure out the dissolving compound to clean the city of Grape Daddy's balls before he had mysteriously disappeared on the job, thus rendering their work unnecessary, though it was still used in multiple manufacturing plants. His work spoke for itself, really.

So, a job at a nice, safe office, away from the crazy woman who often forgot mortality was a thing? One that he was more than qualified for, where he would be designing support equipment to be produced en masse, like headsets and night vision goggles and the like? Where the chances of explosions were minimal?

That job had to be his.

And, after a grueling two months of interviews, background checks, submitting proofs of concept, proving he could build prototypes of said proofs of concepts, proving said prototypes of said proofs of concepts actually worked, and answering a strange questionnaire about his knowledge of Silver Age All Might trivia, it was. He was offered the job, full pay, full benefits, and fuck if it didn’t feel good. It felt even better to give his notice to Mei (though his glee was a bit trodden by her questions of “Who are you? Why are you here? Can you hand me that screwdriver?" Thank god for automatic payroll). His first day working for a major corporation, about to contribute to hero society on a grand scale instead of making "babies" for single customers.

And the heavens blessed him, because put in charge of his training and orientation was the most beautiful man he had ever met.

"Hi," the angel said with a beaming smile, his hand held out to shake. "I'm Izuku Midoriya. You must be Dairoji Imai. Welcome to the team!"

He knew, in theory, what happened in the following hours. Izuku walked him through getting his computer set up, showed him his cube and the lab, helped him fill out the forms to order safety gear, all with that smile that kept his heart hovering just on this side of overloading. He knew Izuku had introduced him to some of the people he would be working with on a regular basis, all lovely, friendly people he immediately forgot. Knew Izuku took him to HR to get the packet they were now settling down with, their lunches in front of them, so they could go over the papers he needed to sign. But if anyone asked him any questions about anything besides how bright his smile was, or how his eyes crinkled when he did to hide some of the green, or how his curls shone in the sun and almost seemed to take on a whole new level of color he had never imagined possible, well, Dairoji couldn’t answer them.

Even his homemade bento was perfect. Healthy, obviously delicious from just the smell, and the rice and eggs had been shaped to look like a sleeping bear - far, far too cute.

It didn’t matter that Izuku was his superior, that he had known him for all of four hours, that he didn’t even know if Izuku liked men. Dairoji was in love, and he would marry this man one day.

His daydream about their wedding and future children and Izuku’s explanation of their record keeping system was interrupted by a firm knock on the door. Without waiting for an explanation the door opened, a woman sticking her head in. Her face was grim, even as Izuku perked up in his chair. "I'm so sorry to bother you two," she started, looking the exact opposite of sorry, "but he's here."

If Dairoji thought Izuku's smile was bright before, for a moment it legitimately felt like he had gone blind. He was immediately up and out of his chair, thanking the woman as he passed by her with a quick shimmy that got him out of the room without her having to move, despite the door still only being semi-open. For the first time since he walked in, Dairoji was curious about something besides how Izuku liked his breakfast.

"Come on, kid," the woman said dryly, jerking her head towards where Izuku had disappeared. "Better you get used to this now."

They quickly caught up to Izuku, who had been forced to pause in his run by a trail of carts traveling from one of the labs to a testing room. He adorably shifted from foot to foot, smiling and greeting each employee as they passed, even though it was clear he was impatient for them to pass. The moment they did he continued on, though just slow enough for Dairoji and the woman to keep up with him. Approaching what he vaguely realized was the cube section of the building, where the various employees could sit at their desks and fill out paperwork or draw, Dairoji was surprised as the woman grabbed his arm - he had been focused on Izuku, specifically the fact that he was walking in front of him, and wasn’t that a beautiful sight to see.

“Look,” the woman said, “just don’t freak out when you see him. He really doesn’t like the attention, and gets pissy when people fawn over him. That’s a sure fire way to set something on fire. Don’t ask for his autograph - ask Izuku to ask him to sign something for you, because if you ask him yourself it will get blown up. Honestly, the only other person here who can talk to him besides Izuku is Ms. Honey, and that’s only because she’s been bribing him with caramels for the last seven years. If you don’t have to do otherwise, keep it to the bare minimum of ‘Excuse me,’ ‘please,’ ‘thank you,’ and ‘sorry.’ Otherwise, anything that happens is your fault, and HR won’t help you. Izuku is the best employee we have here, they’ll choose him over you anyday.”

Her words made very little sense until they took that last turn, and Dairoji watched as the angel he'd been following flew directly into the arms of the current number nine hero - Lord Explosion Murder God Dynamight.

What the fuck?

If there was anyone in the world he would have placed as the exact opposite of Izuku, it would have been the prohero standing next to Izuku's desk, hugging the green-haired man tight to his chest. He was well known for being loud, angry, abrasive, for cursing too much even in front of cameras and children. The only reason he had broken top 10 was because he was strong and had an even stronger sense of justice, leading to an impressive record that, even with his off putting personality, couldn't be ignored. That, and, Dairoji had to admit, he was hot too. The few times he had managed to be forced into a photo shoot had shot his rankings right on up there, landing him quite a comfortable position amongst the elites.

But apparently this walking angry ball of TNT was friends with Izuku, friends enough to get an ecstatic hug and a smile that put all the ones Dairoji had seen so far to shame.

"Kacchan! You're here early!"

And apparently a nickname?

"Patrols been quiet. Figured I'd stop in and see how you were." His words were barely more than grunts, the usual Dynamight - or, rather, Kacchan? - signature response. But his hands didn't move from Izuku's waist, and he didn't seem to notice as Izuku's rested on his chest.

"It's been great! I've been training our new employee, Dairoji!" Dairoji's heart swelled at the sound of his name in Izuku's voice, the best sound he ever could have heard. He immediately took a step forward - wrong move, as Dynamight immediately clocked him, his red eyes narrowing, examining, judging. It felt like he was being sized up by a shark, or maybe a lion, some kind of predator that found him wanting as, with no acknowledgment at all, Dynamight's gaze returned to Izuku. "I think he's going to be a great addition to the team, once he's done with the paperwork. I was thinking of getting him started on the more flexible fabrics we've been developing, see if he can figure out the tensile issue-"

"Yeah, sure, sounds great nerd," Dynamight cut him off, and Dairoji had to bite his tongue. Number nine pro hero or not, how dare he talk to Izuku like that? It was so disrespectful! "You get the bento I left you in the fridge?"

"I did! It was great, Kacchan, just like all your cooking is! Kacchan is always the best!"

"Did you actually eat it, or am I going to find out you ate nothing but Ms. Honey's snacks all day?"

"Don't worry, dear," a little old lady's voice said, "I haven't given him any yet. Not that he hasn't tried to weedle some out of me. Speaking of..." From the same cube the two stood by, a lady that perfectly matched her voice appeared, old spotted hand holding out what, as she dropped it into Dynamight's palm, seemed to be a perfectly wrapped square of caramel. "You enjoy that now, you hear?"

"I'll enjoy the cavities and the extra mile I have to run, don't you worry, Grandma."

"And I'll make sure our little Izuku here doesn't get up to trouble, just like always."

Like that it was clear - Izuku had to be Dynamight's younger brother, or some kind of cousin, since that would explain the closeness, the cutesy nickname, everything. He'd never read about the hero having any family besides his parents, but he was exceptionally private about his day to day life. It was only commonly known he was gay because of a support interview he had done a few years ago with some of his classmates, something never discussed again, so it wasn't surprising that he'd wanted to keep such a cute younger brother/cousin a secret. Besides, it was well known that the families of heroes were often targeted by villains with long standing grudges - Dairoji could respect Dynamight, even if he did leave a bad taste in his mouth on a day to day basis.

"Do you have to go back to your patrol?" Izuku asked, his almost pout far too cute.

"Not like I can stay. Just had to get what I came for." Dynamight's grin was, if Dairoji was paying attention, far too wide for brotherly affection, but he was thinking too hard about how he would get the destructive hero's permission to court Izuku to catch it. So, when Dynamight made his move, Dairoji was very much caught off guard.

Caught off guard as Dynamight's hand moved to Izuku's hair, pulling him up into a very much not brotherly kiss, his other moving down to grab and squeeze a handful of Izuku's ass, forcing out a noise that had no place in coming from the throat of an angel like Izuku but that Dairoji immediately wanted to hear again. Ms. Honey, not even looking up from whatever she was working out, let out a yip of excitement, and even the woman standing next to him struggled to fight back a snicker. "Youth is wasted on the young," Ms. Honey said with absolutely no shame as Izuku and Dynamight pulled apart. "I don't know how you two function, when if I was either one of you I wouldn't be able to leave the bed."

"Why do you think I come here everyday, Grandma," Katsuki asked, finally freeing Izuku from his hold. "Not for your shitty sugar, that's for sure. Gotta have something to keep me going until I get home." He gave what could have been a sly wink at Izuku, if not for stupidly happy grin on his face. "Later, nerd. I'm working late tonight, so don't eat anything too shitty for dinner. I'll kick your ass if you do."

"Spank it, more like it." Ms. Honey let out a cackle as Izuku flushed and sputtered at her hypocritically about "decorum," while Dynamight just laughed as he started to walk away.

"Kacchan," Izuku called out, ignoring his cube mate for a moment. "HR wanted me to remind you to please take a few steps away from the building before you fly off. You burned another entrance mat." Without turning around Dynamight just gave a two fingered salute in acknowledgment, disappearing around a corner.

Ok, what the actual fuck?

Looking over at Izuku, Dairoji's heart broke a little bit, because it was clear as Izuku's smile that he was a man too far gone. Even as Ms. Honey continued to tease him from the cube, his face flushed a perfect pretty pink, the grin on his slightly kiss swollen lips was too real. If he thought he had seen Izuku happy throughout the day so far, well, the sight before him, with his curls a mess as he tried to shake himself back into work mode had put it all to shame.

"Izuku, is it ok if I steal Dairoji for a moment?" The woman next to him, previously forgotten, asked, her arm curling around his own. "You can take the time to let the Endeavor Agency know that their order of thermal arm braces will be delayed by a week - they'll be fine with it, if the info comes from you."

"Yeah, of course, I'm sure Shoto will understand," Izuku said. "Just bring Dairoji back when you're done, please, Sakura."

Without waiting, the woman - Sakura - pulled Dairoji along, immediately muttering under her breath the moment they were out of earshot. "I'm sure Shoto is only so understanding because he's waiting for you to drop Blasty so he can tap that ass himself. Perfect sunshine bastard." A couple of turns had them at a different group of conference rooms, these much larger than the ones he and Izuku had been using previously. Opening the door, Sakura pushed him in before her, announcing their entrance to the group. "We got another one."

In front of Dairoji were perhaps a dozen or so people, all wearing the company lanyard he had been given earlier. One of the women waved, though most just shook their heads in a pitying, understanding way. Sakura wrapped her arm around his shoulders and gestured to the others. "Welcome to the 'hopelessly in love with their coworker Izuku' club." Ignoring his sputters of denial, Sakura let him go and flopped into a seat. A blue haired man cleared his throat, at least having the decency to look embarrassed.

"As you can see, your predicament isn't uncommon, and we will do our best to support you as you get used to your affections being unrequited. I know you might have a lot of questions about us and our involvement with Mr. Midoriya, but-"

"He already saw Blasty come by for his daily make out session," Sakura cut him off, a series of grumbles following her words. "Even got in a pretty good grope before Izuku became too embarrassed. Give it another 10 years of him working here and we might actually get a free show."

While the blue haired man looked right about ready to die, a neon red, human sized blob spoke up, wiggling as they spoke. "Get used to that quickly, kid," they said, their voice somewhere between amused and upset. "The media would have a field day if they found out that the great 'Lord Explosion Murder God Dynamight' can't go twelve hours without a kiss from his boyfriend. And he'll spend the better part of an hour pouting at Izuku's desk or scaring interns if he's unavailable to give it to him right away."

"You'd never think such a scary pro hero was such a needy fucker, that's for sure." Dairoji couldn't see the person who said it, but it was clear everyone else, on one level or another, agreed. “Interrupts the rest of us, the day would go a lot better if he could just leave us alone for once.”

“Why doesn’t the company just ask him to stop coming,” Dairoji asked. It was clear enough people had an issue with the situation, one way or the other, so it shouldn’t be hard to put an end to it. And if this was a daily thing, well, Dairoji would be more than happy to avoid watching that. He didn’t want to see Izuku make out with anyone, especially his least favorite top ten hero. The look he received, however, made him wonder if he was still speaking Japanese or not. Going off just their faces, he could have just asked them to lick his feet.

“You want the company to ask the hero most well known for his anger management issues and propentesy for blowing shit up to not come visit his boyfriend when our building is literally in the middle of his patrol route?” The gray cat person who spoke up spoke slowly, as if Dairoji was a small child. “He doesn’t even need to do anything himself; he can just wait for the next villain attack and “get here late.”” Their paws flexed weirdly as they put air quotes around the phrase before licking at the back of their paw.

“Same if they try to fire Izuku,” Sakura added. “Not that they would. Izuku joined this place when it was still a startup, and I’m pretty sure he’s the entire reason it’s still standing. Add in the fact that half of Blasty’s old classmates are head over heels for the guy and just circling the waters waiting for blood, and he brings in a shit ton of business from them? Yeah, no, the company wouldn’t care if Izuku did nothing but ride Dyna’s dick all day at this point. He’s still made of gold as far as they’re concerned. Not that he would, the guy works hard and is great at the job too. It's like, six wins, at the cost of a kiss break each day.”

“He’s pur-fect,” the cat person purred, resting their chin on their paws. “And we get him so long as the company stays on top.”

Sakura kicked lightly at his leg from her chair. "So if you want to work here, kid, get used to it. And welcome to the club of broken hearts."

*~*

Dairoji did not, in fact, get used to it.

In fact, the more he worked with Izuku and the more he saw of Dynamight on the news, the more he was sure the couple just wasn't meant to be. Even if Izuku always seemed so excited to see his "Kacchan" at some point during the afternoon, it had to be some kind of act. A plea for help.

There was no way sweet, beautiful, wonderful Izuku could actually be in love and want to be with the arrogant, self centered, two seconds away from commiting murder brute that was Dynamight. So, in perhaps his best idea yet, Dairoji decided to confess, and help his beloved Izuku get away from the man obviously keeping him captive.

He waited until Ms. Honey was at a meeting - he still wasn't sure if he could trust her yet. She seemed close to both Izuku and Dynamight, but who her loyalties were with was unclear. Once the coast was clear, he knocked on the side of the soft panel, the noise just enough to get Izuku's attention from the design he'd been going over. "Izuku, can I talk to you for a sec?"

A brilliant smile, but only a fraction of the one he showed when around Dynamight. But now he was wondering how real it was, in comparison to the one Dairoji saw now. "Of course! Come in. How's the fabric coming along? Are you having any problems?"

"No, the project's going great. That new sample Creati sent over really helped, though there's still a few more tests we have to do to make sure it can stand up to high enough temperatures. But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about." Dairoji shifted in the cube, glancing around to really take in Izuku's half for the first time. Everywhere was covered in either equipment designs or hero merch, an overwhelming amount of it All Might and Dynamight themed. "No, I wanted to talk to you about something more...personal."

Concern on Izuku's face, he slid a cover over the design he had been tweaking and turned his chair fully towards Dairoji. For the first time he was frowning, a sight that sent pain into Dairoji's heart, though he forced himself to remain strong. This was for both of them. "Of course. I'm always available to listen, whatever you need."

A deep breath. A slow, slightly trembling exhale as he forced himself to be ready. Dairoji bowed forward as he spoke, perhaps a bit too quickly, his ass bumping into something behind him. But he couldn't stop, he had to get the words out, not even bothering to check the thump of something falling. "Izuku, I love you, and I-"

"Kacchan!"

The cry was so heartbreakingly devastated that, for a moment, Dairoji thought something had happened to the hero. Some news bulletin had popped up on Izuku's computer, and his love confession had been interrupted by Dynamight being in the hospital or dead. But no, Izuku brushed past him and knelt on the floor, large tears falling from his beautiful eyes as he gently retrieved the figure that Dairoji had apparently knocked from its stand on a little shelf behind him.

He couldn't help the small jolt of satisfaction at seeing the hero's body in one of Izuku's hands, the toy's head in the other.

“I’m so sorry Izuku,” Dairoji said, quickly covering any offensive feelings as he knelt next to his angelic coworker. “I didn’t realize I was so close to your shelf. I can try to fix-” Dairoji froze under the acidic glare, his blood freezing as the soft green eyes he had fallen in love with almost seemed to glow with anger and malice. He didn’t know his coworker’s quirk, didn’t know what exactly Izuku was going to do to him, but he could feel just how much danger he was in.

“...HR won’t help you. Izuku is the best employee we have here, they’ll choose him over you anyday.”

Sakura’s words, while in a different context, circled through his mind as they crouched there, as he was examined and found so, so wanting in the eyes of the man he had thought he had loved. But now he knew it was a lie, he was only in love with the siren mask that hid whatever this drowning depth was, this pit that wasn’t threatening but just explaining exactly how it would be pulling him under, dismembering and destroying him so nothing would ever be found. And if a trace ever did show up, well, that’s what the boyfriend was for.

“Oi, Deku, Extra, what are you two doing down there?”

Speak of the devil with all his saving grace, the sight of Dynamight sent Dairoji into a frantic crawl, hiding behind the hero’s legs as he looked back at Izuku. The hero was an asshole, and this was his boyfriend, but he still had to save people, right? Even the people who pissed off said boyfriend? He couldn’t just stand by and let Izuku kill him, that wouldn’t be very heroic of him. But it was Dynamight, did he really care?

Izuku looked up, kneeling on the ground, his broken toy in his hands and his eyes wide and glimmering with unshed tears, and Dairoji wasn’t sure he would survive.

“He broke you, Kacchan.” The words were wobbly, his voice cracking, the first tear slowly trickling down his cheek, making the most pitiful scene Dairoji had ever seen. Even knowing his hide was on the line he still wanted to reach out, to comfort him, the fury that had scared him before now replaced with such a deep, beautiful sorrow it hurt. He wiped at his own cheeks, something to keep his hands from reaching out, knowing his touch might not be welcomed.

Dynamight snorted. “Really, Deku? Over that piece of shit? It’s not even official merch; I can get you a dozen better ones by tonight. Just pitch it.”

“Really? They’ll all be different designs and poses? And you’ll sign all of them?” The switch from almost sobbing to overly excited - in any other context - would have been adorable. Now, however, it was terrifying, keeping Dairoji tied to the spot behind Dynamight he had retreated to. How did the hero deal with Izuku’s changes, especially such drastic ones over something as small as a toy?

“Of course, nerd. Now hand it over.” Izuku held out the remains of his beloved figure, allowing the hero to take the pieces from his palms. Dynamight scoffed as Izuku wiped his face clean, examining the figure up close to see just how bad it was. “I’ll never understand why you’d waste your money on this crap when it’s not even that good. Shitty knockoff bullshit.” A small explosion, and the trash can now held a smoldering, melted, ashy mess the janitorial staff wouldn’t be pleased to find.

Izuku just rubbed the back of his head. “They got your eyes right. I love your eyes.”

A long moment where none of them moved, Izuku looking up from his spot on the floor at Dynamight, Dynamight looking down at Izuku, Dairoji looking between them. Finally Dynamight just groaned and shook his head, pulling out a phone from his belt.

“Yeah, it’s me.” The phone hadn’t even rung before it had been picked up, meaning it was probably some kind of direct line. “Yeah, no, it’s about what we talked about. I have the time. That good?” A moment of quiet. “Thanks, I’ll catch you up later.” That phone back into his belt, Dynamight reached over Izuku’s head for his desk phone. It didn’t take long for him to find the number he wanted, dialing it in and listening to the wait tones. “No, it’s Dynamight,” he replied when the other end picked up. “I’m just letting you know that Izuku’s taking a half day today. I don’t know if he’ll be coming in tomorrow either. I’ll let you know.”

“K-kacchan, what do you mean I’m taking a half day? I have work an-”

His protests were cut off as Dynamight scooped Izuku into his arms, a quick princess hold as he pressed a kiss to his lips to quiet him before shifting him over his shoulder, smacking his ass as Izuku squeaked and squirmed upside down. “You can’t say shit like that and expect me to not take you home to wreck you. This is your fault, Deku. Take responsibility.”

Izuku finally stopped resisting and went limp in Dynamight’s arms, laughing hysterically as the pro-hero carted him out of the cube. They took up talking as Dynamight walked, Izuku holding on to his belt to give him arms something to do besides swing wildly, demanding to know exactly what pieces of official Dynamight merch he was going to get later.

Not once did either of them even acknowledge Dairoji existed, as if he had stopped being part of the physical realm the moment they became aware of each other.

“I’m surprised,” Ms. Honey said with a shake of her head, leaning over him to look at the mess in the trash can. “Last time someone broke one of Izuku’s figures, they needed Recovery Girl to pull the pieces out of their ass. Looks like you got off light, especially since you were going after a taken man.” She looked at him over the rims of her glasses, the disapproval clear in her eyes and voice, if not her words. “Just don’t let it happen again.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

That day he put in a transfer request to a different department. There were plenty of projects that he could work on, plenty of projects that would keep him far away from the beautiful, perfect, terrifying Izuku Midoriya and his explosive boyfriend.

Or, well, fiance, as he found out when Izuku returned a few days later with a limp and a ring, the company grape vine (aka the lunch drunk 'hopelessly in love with their coworker Izuku' club) informing him. A fiance that gave him a look he realized he recognized, had seen before in the scariest moment of his life, a look from Dynamight that now meant almost nothing.

He really should have stayed with Mei.

[END]

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ruby-whistler · 3 years

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The Prison Arc - a Complete Recap

[ /dsmp /rp - All of the people mentioned in this post are the characters, not the content creators behind them. TWs for mentions of fictional murder, abuse, torture, self-harm, and other canon-typical themes. ]

Watch the cut-down version of this recap here! The video doesn’t have all the details, but is well-edited and easier to watch.

Starting where we left off, after the Disc War finale, Dream reveals the last trick up his sleeve, the revival book. Seeing him as an active danger to the server, the people need a way to get rid of him in order to keep themselves and each other safe, but instead of killing him, they store him away for later use, also making the prison a Vault in a literal sense.

This is where the story of the prison seemingly begins, but - let’s rewind for a moment, because any and all information here is vital. What do we know about the prison? It was commissioned for 64 diamond blocks by Dream to be built by Awesamdude a day after Tommy was exiled. The prison was supposed to be inescapable, and hold a highly capable individual, yet allow visitors.

Getting back to the lore, a day after Dream arrives in the prison, Tommy goes to visit him. During this visit, Dream states that there is nothing to do in the cell besides watching the clock on the wall, and that he is planning on writing something in the books that were given to him. Tommy shows him how to spin the clock really fast, which Dream calls a new game. He says that he is doing well so far, that he gets fed raw potatoes and can write or “swim”. He goes on to jump into the lava that blocks off his cell, killing himself. Tommy teases him, Dream asking him to visit more as he is alone in the cell with no real interaction. He then argues that if he stays for a long while and gets better, he can be freed, however Tommy doesn’t agree. Dream then apologizes, presumably to convince Tommy he can be let go, and talks about feeling bad about things he lost during the Finale. Tommy gives him five books to write, saying it’s so that he can forgive him. After this exchange, Tommy asks who Dream misses the most, and Dream yells for Sam to make him leave.

Around this time, as he reveals later, Dream starts telling Sam about what he did to Tommy in exile, which leads to the Warden becoming increasingly fearful and especially hateful towards the prisoner.

Nine days later, BadBoyHalo decides to pay Dream a visit as well. Dream is slow to respond at first, commenting that BBH is the first visitor in a while. He says he’s doing good, and spins the clock, because apparently he burnt some of his books, and doesn’t write much anymore. Bad tries to be optimistic about his conditions, and Dream agrees in a very… unconvincing, tone of voice. (29:40 - 29:49)

He says that he gets potatoes, but they’re raw, so they’re not good food. Apparently, Sam has told him he couldn’t have any visitors for a few days, because he would try to get out. He concurs to Bad that he did bad things that got him locked up, and asks how Sapnap and George are doing - noting that they haven’t visited him yet. Bad tells him that Tommy has started a hotel, and about the Egg. Dream seems lethargic and preoccupied the entire time, spinning his clock - he says he’s named it, but doesn’t want to elaborate further. He gives Bad a note that says “thank you for visiting me badboyhalo!” and explains that his sentence is forever, which is later also confirmed by Sam, and goes on to talk more about the clock and how he “likes it halfway” it’s because c!Ranboo metaphorically is the clock-

He once again reiterates that there is not a lot for him to do, and that nearly no one has visited him. He reveals to BadBoyHalo that he sometimes does a “prank” where he’ll burn his clock, so that Sam has to come to replace it and he can see and say hi to him. After being asked whether or not he gets in trouble for it, he replies that Sam will sometimes deprive him of food as punishment, essentially starving him for his attempts at interaction, though Dream diminishes it and laughs about Sam reprimanding him. The Warden is planning to make an automated food dispenser so as to not have to come into the cell himself, which means even less interaction in essence. Despite all of this, he says that Sam is “treating him amazing” and that he’s happy. During the visit, he sniffles and coughs as he talks, voice low and void of energy.

BadBoyHalo wants to become a prison guard so that he can make the cell look nicer, perhaps giving Dream a potted plant and flower or two, as well as promising he’ll talk to George and Sapnap who Dream says he wants to visit him the most. He encourages him to look forward to better things, think positively, and - (42:03 - 42:20) As BBH freaks out, he explains that hurting himself this way is how he keeps himself entertained, setting himself on fire again. He says he wants to summon Bad into the cell by breaking a block when he becomes a guard, but goes back on this as it would potentially make Sam mad. Bad promises to visit with his friends, and leaves the cell.

He tells Sam that he needs to replace the clock, who refuses to, seeming frustrated with Dream’s antics. Bad tries to convince him to give it back, Sam saying it doesn’t matter whether Dream has it or not, although it’s basically one of Dream’s only sources of entertainment, and Bad tells him to give him one more clock as a compromise. Sam asks whether he… said anything, suspiciously enough? And Bad says they only talked a bit and that he jumped in the lava. Sam confirms he does that a lot and he thinks it’s for attention.

BadBoyHalo feels conflicted, to say the very least. (53:34-54:02 54:16-54:33 56:34-56:53 1:02:24-1:03:05)

That very same day, Ranboo has a strange hallucination-like nightmare about visiting Dream. However when he tries to visit again, Sam tells him that he visited not too long after Dream was first locked up, also bringing a memory book with him. Later, during the prison podcast with Techno, Dream himself mentions Ranboo and says that he “used to visit a lot” before stopping completely - this lines up with what Ranboo does afterwards, having Sam promise to never let him in again.

On February 7th, Dream dies in lava repeatedly on someone’s stream. This happens a couple of times throughout people’s time on the server, and seems to line up with Sam’s claim that he swims in lava pretty often.

Twenty-one days into Dream’s stay in the cell, Sapnap finally decides to visit. Dream stands mostly still and silent, holding the clock in his hand, and explains through books that he’s not talking because he’s on strike. He places the clock and spins it - Sam seems to have renamed it to “DO NOT BURN”. He tells Sapnap that he took too long, who responds that it took him a while because he felt hurt, but also says that Dream can talk to him if he wants to. Dream’s cell has had some of the obsidian changed out for crying obsidian as a security measure - Dream could’ve, and tried to, light a nether portal in the cell to escape. Sapnap tells him he needs to stay in the prison, because that is where he deserves to be - Dream burns his clock in response, insisting that he will get better and get out eventually. Sapnap threatens to kill him if he does - Dream simply tells him to deliver a message to Ranboo because he stopped visiting, a smiley face, which seems to trigger his enderwalk when received, and promises to stop throwing his clock away in return. Sapnap says he’ll visit more, and that he’ll tell George to visit him as well.

The next visit is nine days later, and is an attempt at getting closure. Tommy notes there’s a little hole on the prison roof when he goes to check up on it beforehand. (1:39-1:44). When Sam asks, Tommy says he thinks Dream is deserving of being locked up, but he highlights he doesn’t think he deserves death. He implies he could or might deserve torture though. (12:13-12:16). He says he’ll only ever visit Dream if he needs anyone revived from now on, calling it the only reason Dream’s still alive. Upon entering the cell, he notices some of the obsidian is now crying obsidian.

The first thing Dream tells Tommy is that he lost his clock since the last time he visited him. Tommy seems nervous, stumbling over his words. Dream eagerly tells Tommy he’s glad he came to visit him, that it’s been a while, and that he wishes he would visit him more. He says he likes having people visit him, that he likes just talking to them (23:46-23:49).

Tommy tells Dream this is his last visit. Dream argues that forever is a long time, asking why it is the last time. Tommy tells him he’s the pinnacle of villainy and that he wants to move on. He says he’s been suffering from success while Dream wasn’t there. Dream replies that he has been too, except without the success part, just suffering - Tommy says he had it coming. Dream nonchalantly replies with “yeah”. He goes on to say that maybe one day he could leave, saying he’s already been changing since he came. They talk about the crying obsidian, Tommy comparing the situation to exile, which devolves into an argument. He finds out that Dream burnt the books he was supposed to write, and that BadBoyHalo visited at some point. Dream asks him to visit again, but Tommy refuses, saying he’s terrible. Dream says that everyone thinks they’re in the right, and that he did bad things for good reasons (31:51-32:13) - Tommy refuses to listen to said reasons, listing Dream’s crimes again, and says he refuses to stress himself out by going to visit Dream any longer. Dream says he’s trying to change, promising to be better if he comes back, and Tommy says goodbye.

In that moment, explosions are heard going off in the distance. The two talk about it for a moment, before Tommy starts yelling for Sam. His name disappears and the Warden doesn’t answer as more TNT goes off, Tommy freaking out and Dream seeming to find it interesting.

Tommy starts begging Dream for a way out, and Dream tells him calmly that Sam is dealing with the security issue. Tommy doesn’t get it, so Dream explains that it means he could be stuck in there for a little bit, maybe even days. Tommy is getting desperate, Dream tells him he knows he signed a book, because he’s the one who wrote it, that said that if there’s a security issue, he can be in there for up to a week.

Tommy rambles about all the things he has to do that week and calls out for Phil. Dream suggests they break out together, but Tommy refuses this offer.

Dream gives Tommy some potatoes, who hits him and yells at him to explain, to which Dream yells back he has no idea what is going on as he’s locked in a room.

Tommy accuses Dream that he’s lying, saying it’s too perfectly timed to be a coincidence, calling him the monster of the server, saying he hasn’t changed, and Dream trying to convince him he did or he’s trying to. The two argue, Dream bringing up exile in the process, until Dream suggests to just deal with each other’s presence, not hit each other, and explains he’s happy to finally have company, Tommy panicking and saying he wants to hurt Dream. He takes the “thank you” books from the chests, as well as empty books and quills, and burns them despite Dream’s protests, telling him if Sam hears him panicking over the items, he’ll come back - Dream begs Tommy to just wait, panicked, and gives him potatoes.

After quite a bit of arguing and Tommy nearly punching Dream into the lava multiple times, Sam says the prison is on lockdown. Tommy is incredulous. Dream says it’s not that bad, that they have tons of time to bond, and after Tommy repeatedly calls him dumb and evil, Dream loses his cool, yelling that Tommy’s the one that’s being dumb. Tommy calms down as the realization sets in, and the stream ends.

The next time we see Dream and Tommy, the scene opens with Tommy running around the cell, making loud noises, and Dream sitting in the cauldron, writing. He’s frustrated and asks Tommy to be quiet - who looks at the cat that seems to have appeared in the cell, calling it annoying. Dream disagrees, saying it’s the best thing that’s happened to them - Tommy tries to repeatedly lead it away from its place on the chest, however the cat always comes back. He keeps asking Dream questions, punching the cat to which Dream stands in front of it, asking him to stop. Sam appears to give them potatoes. He asks Sam to let him out, who refuses as the security issue hasn’t been fixed yet. Tommy complains about not having enough food, to which Dream gives him some as well as Sam dispensing more into the cell. Tommy punches Dream away from the potatoes, also getting the clock. He tells Sam that this feels like exile, but worse, saying he’s claustrophobic - he refuses once again, and leaves the two alone. Dream says it’s not that bad - that he’s gotten used to the cell, that he’s happy to have company and a cat with him. He burns the clock, and after Tommy asks to be let out again, suggests they escape together - Tommy says no, punching the cat as Dream tries to stand in front of it to take the blow. He asks Dream if he loves it, killing it when he says that he does and wants it to stay after Tommy leaves. In response to this, Dream says that the cat was hope he could stay in the prison and be content, however now he’s even more motivated to escape and get his revenge on everybody who’s wronged him. He says he’s grown tired of Tommy’s whining about being in the same box he’s been locked in for a hundred times longer - Tommy tells him he will never get out, and Dream promises to never use the revive book on him or his friends. He says he’ll be freed someday, because the only way he’ll ever revive anyone, is if he’s let out - Tommy reveals he doesn’t think the revive book, the only reason people are keeping Dream alive, is real. They argue, Dream asking if the fact he can’t be killed because of the leverage he holds makes him some kind of god - Tommy disputes that he has said leverage, Dream killing him as a result to prove the point that his life still holds value because he can bring people back to life.

In the aftermath of this event, Sam reacts by saying he didn’t anticipate Dream actually killing Tommy - hence he never reached the cell in time. When Bad mocks him for this, he replies saying that he thought he had “broken the will out of him” to act up that way. He also reveals that Dream laughed when he started screaming at him - he says he can’t think of worse ways to punish him than he already does, not knowing what time it is, without the clock and with only raw potatoes as food.

After this happens, Sam leaves for an island that we see in Quackity’s lore later on. Quackity comes to visit him, only to rile him up and give him the idea to kill Dream in retaliation - however, when they arrive in the prison, Sam realizes that Tommy trusted him to keep Dream locked up and alive, and decides against it because of his duty and the revive book.

Two days after Tommy died, he was revived once again, with Dream asking him questions about death and the limbo, such as how long he’s been there, who he’s talked to, and what it felt like. He says he was scared it wouldn’t work, because he had never tried it before; Tommy details that being dead felt horrible, he’s talked to Wilbur and Mexican Dream although Schlatt, strangely enough, appeared to be asleep. He expresses signs of trauma when Dream punches him after being asked to do so, and has somewhat of a breakdown in the cell. Dream proclaims he is a god as he can revive people, and Tommy says Wilbur said horrible things to him while he was in limbo with him, and tried to get Dream to promise him that he would never bring him back, declaring Wilbur worse and more dangerous than Dream ever was - Dream refuses, saying he is the only one with the power to decide on that, and he thinks Wilbur hasn’t done anything that bad. He also suggests experimenting on Tommy to find out more about the afterlife, and perhaps even become unkillable. Tommy realizes Dream is the revive book, in essence, and there is no other way to get rid of it than to kill him, to make sure Wilbur stays dead forever. Dream invites him to kill him, however Tommy realizes he can’t, because then he’ll be stuck in the cell alone forever - Dream even walks into lava for him, all the while detailing the possible consequences of such an act.

Dream says that when Tommy gets out, he can tell everyone the revive book is real - that he wasn’t lying. He also says since he can kill everyone and bring them back, they’re his puppets - when Tommy asks him why he killed him, Dream says he wouldn’t listen to him, and hence he had to prove the legitimacy of the revive book to him. He says he’ll let Tommy go, and not kill him again, just so that Sam doesn’t cut off his visitors further or starve him again - but also promises to bring back Wilbur, with whose help he will escape.

After eight more days, Dream and Tommy are still stuck together within the room, Dream remarking that he’s starving, confirming Sam hasn’t come back to give either of them food during the time since Tommy’s revival. He lets Tommy keep his when he says he has only one, and the two bicker after Dream hits him. They’re bored, waiting for the Warden, and have no idea how much time has passed - Tommy burns his food in lava as they argue again, before Sam finally arrives, and Tommy is released. Tommy warns him to not allow Dream any visitors, saying he plans to escape, and that Techno owes him a favor. He also calls Sam inadequate to run the prison.

After this experience, both Ranboo and Tommy start plotting to kill Dream, so that he can’t “bring back the villains” of the past, present, and future, allowing them to rid the world of such dangerous individuals for good.

However, another person also ends up becoming interested in the powers of the revive book - and that person, is none other, than Quackity.

He doesn’t intend to destroy its powers for good, though. He persuades Sam into letting him bring weapons into the cell as a means of getting the revive book, taking away the last bit of power Dream has, and allowing them to take his final life. Sam agrees in the end, giving him better tools before he steps into the cell, including netherite weapons and shears. During the first visit, Dream comments he hasn’t had a clock in a while, Quackity saying the cell doesn’t look very comfortable. He goes on to talk about Dream’s loss of control since he got locked up, to which Dream asks if he came to gloat. Quackity brings up Tommy’s death, and Dream is interested in other people’s reactions. The topic goes back to the revive book, Dream asking again whether people knew it was real now, saying it’s good that they do. Quackity begins to ask that he gives it to him, but Dream refuses, saying he burnt it a long time ago and it is preserved only in the form of knowledge. Quackty takes out the weapons, and after the initial shock, Dream begins to frantically yell for Sam, not knowing the two are working together. Quackity promises to come torture him daily until he gets the revive book from him.

Around this time, the prison’s keycards are stolen by Ponk. Sam builds him a room, planning on killing him and then burning him with lava, beating and poisoning him until he gives them back, even though at this point they aren’t even functional. (4:05 - 4:24) Ponk tries to talk him out of it, saying that the prison is controlling him as much as the Egg would, and that he’s changed. (6:26 - 6:38) Sam ends up cutting off one of Ponk’s arms, successfully getting every last one of the defunct keycards back.

Later on, while BadBoyHalo and Antfrost are handing out invites to the Red Banquet on behalf of the Eggpire, Sam greets them holding a clock and gives them empty books & quills he claims to have confiscated from Dream.

In Quackity’s next lore video, we get confirmation that he has in fact been coming in daily to torture Dream, always escorted by Sam, using different tools and staining his shirt’s sleeves red.

Tommy finally decides to come and kill Dream, sneaking in with an invisibility potion while using Ghostbur as an alibi. The lava starts dropping, and Dream seems to run around the cell once, before coming to a stop at the center. Ghostbur yells excitedly when he finally spots Dream on the other side. He looks at Ghostbur, coming closer to the edge to wave at him, but stops waving when he spots Sam. He backs off slightly, breaking eye contact with Sam. Ghostbur and Tommy cross the lava, and Dream has his back turned on Ghostbur.

As soon as Tommy arrives at the cell, and before the netherite bars drop, he reveals the Axe of Peace. Sam yells at them to stop. Dream takes a step towards the entrance, Tommy immediately turns to him, trying to hit him. Dream backs off until he hits the wall, letting out a small “What?”. Tommy crosses the bridge while Ghostbur stays. Tommy and Sam argue, Dream interrupts, but Sam shuts him down, telling Ghostbur to get further away from him.

Dream pleads for Sam to let him out, who tells everyone to shut up, as Tommy is asking Ghostbur if he can reach Dream to kill him. Dream yells that he has a hostage. Sam answers that he’s just a ghost, while Dream stammers that Sam wouldn’t let another person die.

Tommy starts insulting Sam, calling him a horrible warden and telling him to kill Dream, and they start arguing again. (31:00-31:13, 33:50-33:58) Dream shows that he has the revive book in his hands. Ghostbur starts pleading for Tommy to help him. Tommy and Ghostbur count to ten, Sam telling them to shut up. After he shuts down a last request to set Dream free, he kills Ghostbur as the lava starts covering the entrance.

After well over two months of daily visits, a scene opens with Quackity showing Dream which weapon he will use that day, choosing an axe. Dream tries to take it off the item frame, however fails and only gets himself in trouble, with Quackity yelling at him while he cowers. He says it’s getting tiring, but that he needs to come in to remind him every day about everything he’s done or else he’ll forget, to which Dream promises he won’t. Quackity then proceeds to ask him questions about his involvement and relationship with Technoblade, and tells him to write a note, inviting him to visit. He refuses to say why, but promises to give Dream a week-long break if he obeys. Dream doesn’t trust him, continuing to question his motives. He tries to compromise, offering to write a note to Sapnap instead. Quackity goes on to threaten to kill him, saying he doesn’t care about the revival book, and that he likes hurting Dream, because in his eyes, he can never pay back the amount of evil Dream’s done to everyone on the server. He says not even Sam can help him, swinging his axe around and hitting Dream with a sword while he begs him to stop. In the end, Dream agrees to write the note for him.

Outside of the cell’s confines, Foolish proposes to Sam an idea to reform Dream through community service. This idea is shut down immediately.

MichaelMcChill, a new addition to the server, also tries to break him out a couple of times because - because he. Because he thinks he’s hot???

Interestingly enough, Quackity doesn’t have the note to give techno and just tells him to visit Dream verbally - Techno does, getting trapped in the cell in the process. And, well, in the end: (4:24 - 4:40)

That’s it for the recap!

Thank you.

#dreblr #dream smp #c!dream #dsmp recap #prison arc #c!awesamdude #c!sam

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dizzydennis · 3 years

Photo

Sonic x Cream & Cheese Cover Story - English Translation

Translator note: I am not fluent in Japanese. I did my best to bring these translations for Sonic fans to enjoy. Constructive criticism is absolutely welcomed, but please be kind. I hope you enjoy this sweet little story!

It’s the popping and colorful, “Music Plant.”

Tubes of brass instruments weave and wind around the bouncing path of a piano keyboard. This area is entertaining to anybody who listens to the music within it and it’s become somewhat of a famous attraction for some animals.

In such a cheerful place like the Music Plant, you can see two energetic shadows chasing after something. The blue hedgehog, "Sonic" was ahead of the other two with a large gap between them.

Just behind was the little rabbit girl, "Cream" and her chao friend, "Cheese.” Due to the Music Plant being full of various musical instruments and gadgets, even if they thought they had caught up, they'd be pulled elsewhere soon again. The race between these characters allowed the scales of music to play beautifully like a duet.

Looking back, Sonic couldn't see Cream. Sonic tried slowing to walk to assess the situation, but... Cream then came down softly from the sky and blocked his way.

“Mr. Sonic! Please let us go on an adventure together!”

Cream can fly through the sky by flopping her big ears. She could never beat Sonic in terms of foot speed, but she was always able to catch up with some clever shortcuts. Sonic smiled and sighed.

“Like I said, ‘that’s no good!’ The place I’m heading towards is pretty dangerous.”

Sonic carefully chose his words. As he continued on forward he gave a wink to express an all-too-simple: “I’m sorry.”

Sonic then slipped and said “...for a kid.”

Upon hearing this, Cream puffed out her cheeks in frustration and clenched her fists.

“Urgh, Mr. Sonic! Don’t treat me like a little kid! Hmph!”

“It’s not like that, Cream! It’s not that at all. It’s just a bit...”

-ZUUUUUUUUUN-

Just as Sonic tried to find the right words, a terrifying rumbling sound was heard from a distance that shook the Earth. Sonic gave a serious look. Apparently he had a bit of an idea of what that sound was.

“I gotta go fast! Cream, you get home safely, OK?”

“Ah, Mr. Sonic! Please wait!”

Sonic, who flew off at full speed this time, disappeared from Cream’s view as he ran towards the horizon.

For a few seconds, Cream stared at where Sonic had ran with a frazzled expression, but she soon got blown forward... or rather, she started walking again with a much more excited expression.

“Teehee, we should probably go check out that loud noise. It’ll surely shock Mr. Sonic!”

“Chao, chao?”

Cheese seemed to be questioning why Cream wants to keep up with Sonic so badly.

“Is it alright, Cheese? Wherever Sonic goes, there’s bound to be lots of fun adventures! Of course, there are times when our adventures get tough, but Sonic is strong, kind, and knows all about how to adventure. Everything will be just fine!”

“Chao! Chao, chao!”

Cheese seemed to agree and the two went off!

-BANG!!!-

The air shook from far away, and suddenly a loud roar broke through the air. A very large clump of iron flew towards them while it emitted a thick black smoke. It quickly slammed downwards.

CRASH! CRASH! The keyboard bridge and instruments around it were totaled and collapsed.

“Th-Thi- This is bad!”

It must have come from that dangerous place Sonic mentioned just before. Cream, who had fallen over due to the first impact had gotten up in the chaos of everything and saw the miserable, destroyed surroundings. She tried to dust herself off.

Crumbling bridges, animals fleeing for their lives... is this what constitutes as an adventure?

Meanwhile... on the other side of the Music Plant.

“You wanna play me a number? Heh, this is just a robot from Eggman’s Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park; I guess he won’t play.”

A mass-produced Death Egg Robot about the size of a small mountain had stopped moving and was leaning against a trumpet-like facility. It stopped with black smoke shooting out all over the place.

Through it all, Sonic was making a fool of himself while gleefully playing the trumpets.

The truth is, Sonic came here to take down this mass-produced Death Egg Robot when he had heard it was attacking here. The owner, Dr. Eggman, was nowhere to be seen as this seemed to be a “stray robot” that rampaged at complete random. Even so, it was still strong and dangerous. Sonic had to be careful getting Cream involved.

The robot was defeated without much trouble. Sonic was in a good mood because he had made sure the collateral damage was minimal. With this, fixing things back to normal would be fairly easy. The beautiful scenery of the Music Plant and the beautiful sounds that people loved would soon be restored.

Suddenly...

Sonic noticed black smoke rising from the overpass which was only a short distance away. It seemed like the last explosion from the destroyed Death Egg Robot may have caused a huge clump of debris to fly off. It must have flown far and struck that bridge.

“Oh no!”

There were probably many tourists there and Sonic felt it was the exact area where he split up from Cream. He ran with all of his might and had an absolutely serious look on his face.

Sonic traveled at the speed of sound as he overcame colorful hills, spin dashed through a tunnel of brass instruments, and more to arrive at the scene.

A group of animals seemed to be relaxing after having safely evacuated the dangerous bridge area. Cream and Cheese flew down as she flapped her ears.

“Cream!”

“Mr. Sonic!?”

Cream made an expression that shined brightly as she flew to Sonic. But in the shadows of her shining smile, she was tired... but still happy. She went to rescue the many animals and others who were too slow and left behind on the bridge. She took care of the children who had been separated from their parents.

Sonic talked for a while and noticed that Cream was safe, the damage to the surroundings was not as catastrophic as it first seemed, and there were no major injuries. Cream felt relieved and put her hand to her chest. However, Cream’s expression seemed off.

She then said, “I’m so glad that everybody is safe.”

Cream looked downward and continued to speak in a sweet voice.

“I really wanted to defeat that bad robot and go on an adventure with Sonic.”

Just then, Cream stomped on some pebbles at her feet and turned away from Sonic. She continued to look down at the ground. Sonic spoke softly to Cream with a gentle smile.

“That’s not it at all, Cream.”

Sonic stroke the back of Cream’s head and she slowly looked up. Sonic then took to one knee to be at Cream’s eye level.

“An adventure like today... well, it requires both ‘strength’ and ‘kindness.’ We gotta make sure we have both of them.”

“...?”

“Today, you helped me out entirely with your kindness. It was honestly a huge help if I do say so myself!”

“!?”

“Sure! I defeated the robot that was attacking the Music Plant, but half of this adventure was entirely you, Cream!”

“!!”

Like a soft breeze floating by, Cream’s heart shined.

There are times when things get really tough, but if you have strength and kindness, it will be okay. Isn't that the ideal form of an "adventure" for Cream? Today she had an adventure with Sonic!

For Cream, today’s excitement, her hard work, and the way things turned out are all a shining part of her adventures.

Happiness and pride filled Cream’s heart.

“I... really had an adventure?”

“Yeah!”

“I really used my kindness well?”

“Sure!”

“So... will you... take me on more adventures?”

Of course! Sonic gave a thumbs up as a promise, but as the sun started setting, he thought for a moment and answered:

“That’s fine by me, but... it’s getting late. Isn’t it time to go home? Your Mom must be worried. So, how’s tomorrow sound?”

“Hmph! Please don’t treat me like a kid again.”

Sonic ran off with an expression that showed he knew he hit a nerve. Cream and Cheese gave chase.

Music scales filled the air as they ran through the Music Plant; their performance echoing through the sky.

#Sonic the Hedgehog #Cream the Rabbit #Sonic Advance 2 #Sonic Heroes #Sonic Forces

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appleflavoredkitkats · 3 years

Text

Who Are the Four Horsemen of the Dream SMP Apocalypse?

Art by: Viktor Vasnetsov

[TW’s: torture, death, murder, manipulation, alcohol, substance abuse, discussions about the end of the world, religion, starvation, violence, implied gambling, blood, alcoholism]

Word Count: 3.5k

INTRODUCTION

Hopefully I finish this before I feel too sleep-deprived, but I’ve been thinking about the presence of horsemen in Quackity’s “My Enemies” stream. These mysterious, hooded figures are quite odd to say the least, and their involvement with Las Nevadas still remains unknown. There has been a debate on whether there were three horsemen or four, and in my opinion, I believe that there are four horsemen present.

Why four? In the first scene, three horsemen arrive at the Dream SMP on a dark and stormy night. They seem to have come from the south, entering Eret’s castle from the back. As they stop to pull their Netherite swords out, air raid sirens are heard from the distance.

Similarly, in the last scene, Quackity is seen placing a book in Wilbur’s memorial before leaving, riding his skeleton horse, Ossium. The scene cuts from first person POV to third, and we see a hooded figure, presumably Quackity because of how both came from the same direction. Additionally, air raid sirens are also heard from a distance.

[MORE UNDER THE CUT!]

I theorize that these two scenes take place at the same time. The prequel scenes only began after we see the sequence of Quackity torturing Dream, and it ends after the flashbacks of Wilbur. We can synthesize that both these scenes are set at the same time, and that these horsemen are going to meet at a certain point on the prime path.

What may suggest that these four horsemen are supposed to be parallels to the biblical four horsemen?

Firstly, seeing the bits they do, Quackity and Schlatt do know a lot of biblical references. Schlatt has compared Tubbo to Jesus once, and Quackity has said many prayers as jokes in the Dream SMP. It’s just… easy to take inspiration from biblical symbols and references, and also, the four horsemen are just very popular figures in history, so you know, why not?

Also, this may also sound RIDICULOUS, but the fact that this stream establishes that Tommy got resurrected three days after he got killed is actually very reminiscent of, well, you guessed it, Jesus Christ. 72 hours is oddly specific, and I don’t think the cc’s made it that way for no reason. Tommy’s parallels to Jesus—which is a VERY funny phrase—could imply that the Dream SMP might draw more parallels to Christianity, and the four horsemen could be another one of these references.

Also, Quackity mentioned how in Las Nevadas, he made four casinos for him and the rest of El Rapids. So, we know four is a number we can associate with Las Nevadas, and there’s a chance Quackity gave these casinos to three other people. Four casinos, four horsemen.

What is the purpose of the four horsemen in the Dream SMP? When the air raid sirens went off, we can think of these four horsemen as the bringer of chaos or danger into the Dream SMP, very reminiscent of the purpose of the original four horsemen in Christianity. We can also connect it to the end of the world, as these four only appear when the world begins to end. This can imply that these four, who are most likely allies of Quackity in Las Nevadas, are somewhat connected to how the Dream SMP will end.

Now, who is who? Admittedly, it is difficult to find a definitive answer on which member represents what horseman, so I’ll try my best considering all the possibilities for each. I’ll add my own ranks on how probable I think they are, but I have to specify that these are subjective- I am not a beacon of truth, y’all.

So let’s get started.

Firstly, I want to discuss who might NOT be a horseman to narrow it down a bit:

Any minors might not be involved. In Sam’s face reveal stream, aka the first stream mentioning Las Nevadas, Quackity and Sam agree they don’t want Tubbo and Tommy to participate in underage gambling. Don’t know if this applies to Ranboo and Fundy (since he might be canonically a child? Who knows), so they get more of a pass, but the clingy duo might not.

The Syndicate. I’d like to think that the Syndicate, as well as Dream, are Quackity’s main foils of the server. As they are the richest and also the most skilled in PVP, Quackity stands no chance against them even with his sharp tongue. As these people are foils against Quackity, and also probably hate his guts, Quackity might not hire them at Las Nevadas. I theorize he’d probably use Dream as a watchdog against the Syndicate, but that’s a theory for another time.

Additional point about Dream: he’s in prison.

Anyone from Kinoko Kingdom because it’s clear Quackity severed all ties with them.

The Eggpire is half-half. They can possibly join, but also can’t, Quackity can manipulate them into joining only for their inevitable demise, or Quackity wouldn’t wanna associate with them after the explosion incident. They’ll at least get a few passes in some categories, but again, not entirely sure.

CONQUEST

Also known as Plague, Pestilence, and in some occasions, both Jesus Christ and the Antichrist, Conquest is shown to be riding on a white horse, donning a victor’s crown and a bow. There are many interpretations of Conquest, especially with their ambiguous morality. Some people can perceive them as bad, representing the origin of many wars. Some people claim that they represent pestilence and plague as their arrows are slathered with the infections they want to spread. In some cases, they can also be interpreted as good, as their description is heavily reminiscent of Jesus Christ himself. Others would rebut that there is also a possibility that they might be a fake replica of Jesus created by Satan, thus making them the antichrist.

Sam (8/10)

Sam is my first choice when it comes to Conquest because, firstly, he fits the appearance. He is one of the only people in the Dream SMP who dons a crown, and they also possess a bow which they frequently use. I’d say that Sam as Conquest matches with his ambitions as a member of the Badlands, Pestilence or Plague match with his possible crimson infection, and Antichrist matches with his inability to keep Tommy, the possible Jesus figure on the SMP, alive or safe.

My only issue is: would Sam be one of the three who arrived at the Dream SMP in the beginning? Sam is very strict with his job as warden, so it is unlikely that he would be seen far from it.

Any of the Eggpire (7/10)

As Conquest is heavily depicted with pestilence or plague, any of the Eggpire may fit under this category. As their goal as the Eggpire is meant to conquer the Dream SMP, this also matches with the goal of Conquest. Additionally, one of the Egg’s weaknesses is Church Prime, something heavily resembling Christianity, so if the Egg is its opposite, we can view the Egg as somewhat of an antichrist.

I say Punz, Bad, Ponk, and Hannah have a higher chance of being Conquest, while Ant is a solid ‘maybe’. Punz could’ve been the one who blew up the Egg, Bad can be easily persuaded by Quackity, Ponk is one of the only capitalists of the server that may participate in Las Nevadas, and Hannah’s character heavily fits the theme of pestilence when it comes to nature. Additionally, I like to believe that Conquest was the horseman on the skeleton horse (that isn’t Quackity’s), especially since they were holding a dandelion in one shot, something that could be attributed to “pestilence” because a dandelion is a weed. This may imply that Hannah could be part, but because they haven’t interacted much beforehand, we wouldn’t be sure. More insight on Punz: he once mentioned he upholds his duties as mercenary more than he might love the Egg, so there’s a chance Quackity bribed him to join Las Nevadas.

The main con to this is that: why would the Eggpire willingly join Quackity, or why would the Egg allow them to join Quackity? I can see that Quackity might break their brainwashed states because he has a good way with words, but people like Bad, Ant, and Punz have stated that they’ve been fully controlled by the Egg. Also, Quackity makes it clear he wants to eradicate his enemies, so he might not want any members of the Eggpire to join Las Nevadas… unless there’s a traitor?

Schlatt, Mexican Dream, or Wilbur (6/10)

Heavily connected with winning if you take Manberg, Mexican L’Manberg, or L’Manberg into mind.

Wilbur also has a memorable crossbow, but I don’t know if that counts as a bow.

Any dead characters have a high chance of joining Las Nevadas because of its possible connections to death and the revival system of the SMP.

Other possibilities with short explanations and low but possible odds:

Eret: Has a crown, his betrayal can be seen as a “win”, has Tommy’s bow from the duel. Can be seen as an antichrist figure.

Jack: As he is against Tommy, he can be seen as an antichrist figure. Might be working with Las Nevadas because of his deal with Quackity.

Ranboo: He’s a minor, but he also has a crown and a bow so, maybe? He’s not much of a conqueror or winner, though.

Connor: Didn’t really conquer much, didn’t really win much, he’s just here because of Schlatt, honestly.

WAR

War is depicted to be holding a raised sword as they ride atop a red horse. After conquest, war is expected to follow, and War is tasked to break any type of peace on earth. He is tasked to kill, or make humans kill each other. The prominence of red symbolizes bloodshed or immense anger, something very present in war. Multiple depictions of War show him with his sword raised upwards, signifying the start of a battle.

Schlatt (9/10)

The man’s literally torn the Dream SMP apart (/lh). This man is always keen on fulfilling his goals, and if it means he’ll have to fulfill them in the most twisted of ways, he will do it. Him winning the Election brought immense conflict in the Dream SMP, and many people were torn apart on which side was the right or wrong side. One of Schlatt’s prominent colors besides blue would be red, as it is the color of his tie and the color of his ghost form’s horns. Red could represent the bloodshed of those who died during the Manberg-Pogtopia conflict, or red can signify the anger Schlatt had for his own cabinet.

Schlatt was also gifted a sword by Dream called “Shclatt”. The sword only holds heavy significance because of how Fundy treasured it like an heirloom.

Wilbur (8/10)

Another good possibility too as Ghostbur was recently seen to admire red a lot more than blue in one of Tommy’s streams. We can also view the creation of L’Manberg as a place that broke the peace in the Dream SMP as they didn’t really NEED to create L’Manberg and declare war, yet, he did. Red can also resemble his anger for what has been done to L’Manberg- everything is pretty self-explanatory, honestly.

My only qualm with Wilbur being one of the horsemen is how we can’t really… tell if he’s in the Dream SMP? He seems to be very clear on the fact that he does NOT want to return, so he might not even be there when the four horsemen became a thing.

Any of the Eggpire (7/10)

Honestly? Same reasoning as the first explanation for the Eggpire. This also applies for why they might not be one of the horsemen.

Do I even need to explain the red part, or do we just all understand that red is literally their brand.

The Eggpire practically breaks peace in the server and is keen on taking control of the entirety of the Dream SMP. The Egg is shown to be ruthless towards anyone, and will even let some of its followers kill people if needed.

I see Bad as someone who might qualify for this position more because he initiates a lot of the activity in the Eggpire. Same goes for Ant, Punz, and Ponk, but they don’t really take initiative most of the time.

Jack Manifold (4/10)

The only reason I kind of added him here was that he wanted to kill Tommy, but Jack isn’t entirely selfish or peace-breaking. I do think he might play a role in Las Nevadas, especially since if Quackity has access to the nukes, only Jack and Ranboo might be the only two who helped him gain access.

Jack is also… very angry at Tommy. Rightfully so, because he basically surrounded a good portion of his life trying to kill Tommy only for him to realize that that might not be his purpose in life. He blames Tommy for a lot of the loss in the server, so he has a lot of anger, but he has no one to vent it all out to.

Other possibilities with short explanations and low but possible odds:

Eret: Did the first betrayal, but that’s about it. He’s also participated in several wars against others who disagreed with him being the king.

Ranboo: Participated in wars, but is a peacemaker so, y’know.

Fundy: While he does possess Schlatt’s sword, he isn’t much of an initiator of wars as much as he is merely a follower. He has shown that he is quite angry at those who have used him, but the anger has dissipated lately into some sort of sadness/denial.

Connor: He’s mournful that Schlatt, a close friend, has died, but he isn’t really one to be angry. He tried living far away to make his own independent nation, but it didn’t impact much of the story. He also one possessed “Ghostbur’s Stabbing Knife”, which could represent the sword.

FAMINE

Famine is seen to be holding a scale (presumably for food) as they ride atop a horse. Famine is also denoted to be the only one speaking, saying “A quart of wheat for a denarius! And three quarts of barley for a denarius! But don’t ruin the oil and the wine!”. This statement basically means that we have to pay a full day’s worth of earnings for a bit of wheat and barley but oil and the wine, something not considered human necessities, can have the same prices. This shows an unfairness when it comes to acquiring basic human necessities. This is especially damaging to the poor as Famine’s statement can possibly make the poor poorer, while the rich remain the same. It is implied that the wider the gap between the poor and the rich, the closer we are to the end of the world.

Fundy (9/10)

This may be a long answer because I am biased towards Fundy, but Niki once stated that Manberg was in some sort of a famine because of the destruction of farms. Because of this, certain citizens have resorted into eating spider eyes from the EXP farm, but it was notable that she was practically calling out Fundy, someone who literally advertised spider eyes to any person he talked to in the Dream SMP.

Fundy is also hinted to be heavily connected to these hooded figures somehow. In his dream, he was chased by one until he slept in a black bed, the color of Famine.

Additionally, in his dream, he held baked potatoes (food) which could be related…? He’s also a libra so… scales…?

He is also a notorious prankster in the Dream SMP and will bargain for anything as long as he profits from it. He’s not the richest by any means, but he loves doing pranks that involve stealing belongings from other people.

Schlatt (8/10)

Similar reason to Fundy as he was the president of Manberg responsible for these famines. Additional note for this is that he also taxed Niki, one of their only food sources in Manberg.

Schlatt also likes to joke around about being rich, earning money, or being a businessman often, especially with the entire Schlatt coin joke. Connected to Famine’s trait of making the rich richer, possibly?

Famine’s statement can also apply here as it is implied that if humanity doesn’t possess the basic of necessities, they might at least have wine which won’t provide any solutions to humanity’s starvation at all, but it will distract you from your starvation by making you heavily drunk until you finally die. This is very reminiscent of how Schlatt died.

Sam (6/10)

Sam is one of the richest people on the server, matching Famine’s want to keep the rich rich. Only problem here is that Sam is at least very generous and provides a lot of people with resources when needed.

Sam could possibly be connected to Famine because of how he treats Dream in prison. In an attempt to torture Dream, he starves him, cutting his food supply.

Same problem remains with Sam not being able to join whatever the hell the four horsemen are because of his duties as warden.

Any of the Syndicate (1/10)

Only giving an exception here because the Syndicate is exceptionally rich and is more selfish about it than others. Low chances, but Ranboo… might? But it’s still a bit iffy for me. Niki might as well because of her connections to the Manbergian famine, but still on the fence with this one too.

DEATH

Death is often depicted riding a pale horse, but some variations have called the horse light green. Death does not don a weapon themselves, but they are always accompanied by Hades. Hades in Christianity is the place or state of the departed spirits, meaning Death has contact with those who have died. Sometimes, Death is depicted with a scythe similar to the Grim Reaper, but some say Death has no weapon at all as Death themself is the weapon. Death is not only meant to collect souls and end lives, but they can also represent the end of an era of humanity.

Quackity (10/10)

I would say Quackity can fit any other category, but I am so sure that Quackity is death because of how death and toying with death seems to be one of Quackity’s main themes in the Dream SMP. Quackity, once hesitant about killing others, has been shown to now impulsively want to kill others: first with Techno, then Ranboo, then Dream.

Quackity will also most likely acquire information about revival on the Dream SMP, so he is in close proximity with Hades, or in the Dream SMP, the Void. This also heavily ties in with the idea that he will make others gamble away their canon lives only for him to resurrect or return their canon lives if they ever successfully gamble it back.

Quackity is also known to be very powerless in terms of PVP and battle, but you know what he succeeds in? His own words. He is his own weapon that can get him whatever he wants as long as the person he’s up against is in a vulnerable position.

He is also confirmed to be one to have a skeleton horse, and some depictions of Death’s horse show that it is very corpse-like.

A bloody scythe can also be seen in Quackity’s first lore teaser, and that can be attributed to Death.

Other possibilities with short explanations and low but possible odds:

Schlatt: First owned the revival book but he literally does not know its contents. Fits the “they are their own weapon” trait.

Dream: The only exception I can give. But again, he is literally in prison…?

Wilbur & Mexican Dream: Only putting these two here because they have experienced death. These two fit the “they are their own weapon” category too.

Connor: Wants to revive Schlatt, but that’s it.

CONCLUSION

Honestly, my first conclusion for the four horsemen were Sam/Conquest, Schlatt/War, Fundy/Famine, and Quackity/Death, but I only see Quackity as Death to be something that is HIGHLY possible. For Conquest, I shift between Sam and one of the Eggpire, for War, I shift between Wilbur and Schlatt, and for Famine, I shift between Fundy and Schlatt. Again, no definitive answer, but I’d love to hear your own thoughts on this.

I am very tired, but also remember to reblog if you do enjoy this! Again, would love to hear your own insights, and would appreciate any type of discussion! :D

#dream smp #dream smp analysis #mcyt #quackity #fundy #wilbur soot #jschlatt #connoreatspants #badboyhalo #long post

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perriwinklesblog · 3 years

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I know some people prefer consistent content but I like to take it as it comes and sometimes life happens and other projects need to take priority.

So right now, I consider this to be a mid season break. Techno going into the prison was like the midseason finale for the Dream Prison Arc and Wilbur and Ranboo’s stuff was like their midseason finale and the Red Banquet where the egg was contained, was a midseason finale and alllllllll the mini episodes we’ve had since there are like specials etc.

You know, like how in Dr Who you can go a few years without a solid season but get a special at Christmas and New Year? You know like that.

So like all other programs, stories, videos I watch, I am coming up with ways in which the next bit could go. Some are a bit out there and definitely not happening, others I could see happening.

This is long and pointless and full or errors both grammatically and spelling wise but I had fun thinking of what could happen next. Read if you want.

Dream escapes prison with Technoblades help. A server wide man hunt comes for Dream but unlike his videos he had stolen the spare armour in the prison and so is pretty OP making it easier for him to put distance between his enemies and himself.

Technoblade returns to the artic and him, Phil and Will come to an in pass, a slight disagreement. Philza whilst having sided with Dream before, knows he’s not a good guy. Only used him to help destroy lmanburg for his own morals. It was not because he agreed with Dream. In his eyes, he was using Dream for his own goals. Plus, now he’s seen the aftermath of Dream’s terror on the citizens he realises the man perhaps shouldn’t be set to run entirely free. This slightly goes against Techno’s beliefs but the main issue of tension between them is Technoblade willingly placing himself in danger when he didn’t need too and helping release the man who tortured Tommy and clearly has something going on with Ranboo thats bad.

Wilbur is angry because Techno won’t say where Dream has gone due to an agreement between the two and Technoblade is a man of his word. Wilbur wishes to thank and meet the man who saved him. This also worries Philza because he’s worried he’ll revert back to the man he saw the day he blew up L’Manburg. Over all tension between the three

Niki and Wilbur finally meet and it is as heartbreaking as it is beautifully tragic. Wilbur apologises but misses the mark, misses what hurt her which hurts her more. There’s an explosion with their argument that leaves a stunned silence. Niki asks Wilbur to leave. He does so.

This leads to a Wilbur and Ranboo conversation where Ranboo tries to reason with Wilbur about Niki’s side. Wilbur brushes it off because much like the blue counterpart we all miss, he’s not a fan of the negative emotion. He tries to focus on the business etc and let’s slip that Dream has escaped somehow. Ranboo leaves. Wilbur is confused but distracted by a confrontation with Quackity.

Ranboo then starts his stream and he’s in the fucking panic room and he’s panicking because there are signs so many signs and they don’t make sense. Theres lesson rules, asking about the missing journal and it’s like every issue he’s ever faced is staring right back at him because Ranboo has never really resolved any issue, just pushed and moved on. He’s tried but that usually failed and for a while he’s ignored all the issues and here they are in front of him, all at one. A big volcanic eruption of anxiety and stress, and it ain’t sitting with him.

Dream appears. But is it really him? We never know because after a conflict and a back and fourth about everyone in Ranboo’s life eventually landing on a threat about Michael and Tubbo, he blacks out and the stream ends.

Quackity is livid with everything thats happening, the careful empire he’s building is falling apart and he’s shifting the blame around from person to person. He manipulates everyone around them into believing this is somehow their own fault and that they must make it up to him because he has been nothing but kind and loving to them. He gave them a place, a roof on their head when they had nothing. He misses out the parts where he insulted and or destroyed their homes, but it works and his employee “family” become the main bounty hunters for Dream, with Bad and Ant tagging along since they’re guards.

Now the streams relating to the manhunt displays everyones wants. They’re all doing this wanting something, and whilst it’s to gain Quackity’s favour back they’re all doing that for different reasons. Their motivations are somewhat different even if on the surface they are the same and so on the man hunts, because there will be many, this is slowly picked apart and through that the manipulation of Quackity is revealed and then we see a parrallel between Quackity and previous people in power where they start to get desperate to keep control over the thing they’ve created. Because that’s been one of (not the only) issues with every leader on the server, the control and their feeling of lack of, even if thats not truly the case. But you get these moments between all the characters where they’re trying to outwit one another, trying to figure it out without blatantly saying it. Maybe Foolish does. He’s a bit of a himbo.

Ponk always said he’d leave the door open for Sam and I truly think something happens, whether it be a look in the mirror with one of his guards going too far with someone or a conversation with Quackity where Quackity holds the mirror up to Sam maliciously, that causes him to hit the rock bottom and just break and I want that breakdown in front of Ponk. And I want Ponk not necessarily to give him the second chance off the bat but give him that peace offering, give him that hand to pull him up. I want him to take Sam to Niki and explain to Niki we’ve done bad things in the past, this is a safe haven and I believe Sam needs help and a place he can truly feel safe and for a moment Sam does and this begins his raid to redemption in gaining back the trust of the people in his lives. He becomes Tubbo 2.0 spying on Quackity like Tubbo did for Wilbur, but maybe less... bad.

But what of the Fiances? Wellllll,. With Dream escaping him and George meet in secret. George confesses he doesn’t believe it’s real and for a long time has been struggling with reality. He misses the early days, misses when they’d just have fun. Dream says he was having fun and George says I wasn’t. Dream shows true regret for George but says its too late now, can’t change the past. George agrees. Dream asks him what he’s going to do and he simply replies with “Sleep” Ending stream.

Sapanps stream is a lot more WE ARE GOING ON A DREAM HUNT WE’RE GOING TO CATCH A BIG ONE, I’M NOT SCARED. vibes. He’s gearing up, he’s suiting up and he’s saluting pets on the way. He made a promise and with everything else going on in his life, he’s ready to throw himself into a distraction. He tries to convince George to help him but he waves him off saying, what’s the point? and mumbles something about divine powers and dreams which Sapnap just shakes off. He tries to find Karl in Kinoko but instead comes across Quackity. They have a blow up about how They abandoned each other, both did wrong but neither see the other side of things and eventually he tells him to leave. Quackity says okay, and the place blows up. Foolish cries in the corner. All that heard work but the boss said so. Sapnap ends the whole thing saying at least he’s there for Karl and Quackity pauses and is like why? And Sapnap is all like you care. Just go, you’ve done enough damage, I can’t have you damaging him too. And after a little more but but but between the two, Quackity goes. Sapnap leaves the place to burn, going to find Dream and hopefully Karl on the way.

Karls in space. That’s where his latest travels have taken him and where the other side decided was his time to visit. Here I see a Wizard in Oz scenario where solutions to some issues will be revealed for Karl in relation to the other side. When it comes to his Dream SMP stuff, he starts confusing names and people more and Sapnap is worried about him, considering keeping him in a safe place. The only place that survived was the library with Karls books. Karl says he’ll stay there. Thats where the answers are anyway. Sapnap is unsure and gets bad vibes but is distracted by a lead on Dream and agrees, he tells him he’ll be back soon.

They don’t see each other for a long ass time

I’m not sure on the egg stuff but I do feel Niki and Puffy should have a conversation about all the shit thats happened and Puffy trying to help Niki and vice versa. I feel like Puffy should reach out to Foolish and try and comprehend what the fuck is he doing with Quackity. They have a little argument but it comes to a point where Puffy realises she cannot shield Foolish from harm and that her son ,just make his own decisions. All she can do is guide him where she can and hope that when it comes down to it he will make the right choice. She hopes she didn’t fail this dependant like she did with Dream her duckling. Though only she sees it as failure.

Jack and Niki finally talk. She goes searching for some things and comes to his new place, he tells her to fuck off and that he doesn’t need anyone. They all abandon him. Niki pretty much does the verbal equivalent of slap some sense into him as she and him discuss how he is not the centre of everything, how he is not the sun. She was hurting, and he didn’t bother, no instead they just fed off each others anger and once he couldn’t feed of her or anyone else he isolated himself. She tries to convince him there are better things in life, there are better ways to place your energy etc. A lot of healing talk with Jack being stubborn. Eventually Jack finds himself at the door of Quackity after sticking to stubbornness, not quite ready to heal and he becomes the next member of Las Nevadas. A big blow to Wilbur too.

They finally destroy the egg with magic. I dunno how but either destroy or hatch. Either or would be great. Red comes out the thing and I want a gay ass villain please. Bring it Red. Let’s go. Invite him to the server, bring the fire, bring the plant power Red. He can be the villain that unites everyone in a begrudging way. Like they all hate each other but fine i guess we’ll team to stop Red and Ant.

Skeppy’s dead.

Tubbo and Ranboo have a fight but Ranboo says “Weren’t we enough?” and it’s in relation to him and Michael (this happens before panic room). Thats when Tubbo realises where the wires got crossed and he immediately rectifies it but explaining he’s happy with the two of them but he wanted a job, something to work towards. Family wise he’s got it all, he’s content with it all but he wanted a project and one that didn’t incite violence. Fun rivalry sure, but he’s done with violence, he’s doesn’t want to add to the nightmares he already has. He wants competition but not one that will put all he loves in danger. So they talk it out and Ranboo feels more confident and Tubbo asks him to tell him if he ever takes anything too far because he can get a little carried away sometimes. Ranboo agrees and then they have a cute playdate with Michael. Then Ranboo does the thing with Wilbur and ends up in panic room.

Tommy and Tubbo discuss everything and lay it all out on the table because Tommy doesn’t want to be on the other side again with Tubbo. Tubbo doesn’t understand why everyone is making such a big deal about his burger business and Tommy tries to explain the issues with Quackity and the level of intensity he’s seen with Wilbur but Tubbo just laughs it off. They eventually talk about Ranboo and Tommy relents saying he likes Ranboo although he does sometimes get jealous of how Tubbo seems to have it all. Tubbo tells Tommy of his nightmares and so does Tommy to Tubbo. They come to an understanding with each other and understand that no matter how long they go apart, there is always a space shaped to fit them perfectly in their lives for them. Tubbo and Tommy then go play some pranks.

Wilbur is unhappy with the pranks and gives a lecture and they get into a fight. This leads to Wilbur talking man to man to Quackity. Theres some weird sexual tension. Once again they’re trying to outwit one another. That when we get to the crazy stuff.

And here’s where I get crazy with my stuff.

Ponk is digging in his lil cave when he accidentally breaks through to a random room buried deep underground. Tommy’s there trying to scam him out of something he has. Tubbo and Ranboo too. When they get to this room Ranboo thinking it’s the panic one and freaks out, but the others calm him down. Ponk thinking theres diamonds in the room storms ahead setting off some traps but surviving. Tubbo opens one of the chests and just says theres a bucket in there. Ponk pulls it out and says it has a named fish in it.

You see where I’m going.

They empty the bucket whilst asking what the fish is called. They are interrupted by a voice. It’s Sally.

Dream had captured her and bound her to a bucket and put her in the chest and hid her from Wilbur.

She has been released. She freaks out over how much time has past because for her nothing has changed at all. She thought it might have been a couple of hours or something since Dream pulled that prank on her but clearly not.

They all catch up and the season ends with Sally and Wilbur meeting in front of Quackity, Dream in the shadows and Sally and Wilbur turning to see Fundy who just freaks the fuck out.

Oh and just a side, Callahan is the last member of the syndicate and God of the server and is having fun playing with the mortals.

And then I have the next season planned out and how I’d end the whole thing but like until then. This is it. Mid Season to finale. How I picture things happening.

None of this will happen but isn’t it fun to imagine?

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findingjoynweirdstuff · 3 years

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Dream SMP Recap (January 14/2021) - Dawn of an Empire

While the day is at first full of happy bonding moments with Techno and Ranboo, and Tubbo continues work on Snowchester, things take a turn for the sorrowful as Puffy questions her stance in the server’s conflicts and wonders what it truly means to be a knight.

Later, Badboyhalo gathers a Roundtable on the Crimson together to discuss matters concerning the containment of the Egg, and the future of the Badlands.

Now that L’manburg has fallen, it might be time to take a step forward into a new age.

It’s the spark of a new alliance.

The rise...

Of the Eggpire.

---

- Dream whispers to Techno that he’s currently living at his mysterious house far away.

- Techno comes up with a plan to name his dogs after donators.

- Dream also tells Tubbo he’ll kill him soon. (Uncertain if the things he said are jokes or serious)

- Ranboo gives Techno the axe that he made to replace the Axe of Peace.

- Ranboo tells Techno that he’s planning on going off to find another Woodland Mansion

- Techno’s dogs kill Edward. Rest in Peace.

- Tubbo goes to collect ice from the ice biome for Snowchester

- Ranboo shows Techno the stronghold.

- They then set off through the Nether on another roadtrip. Apparently, Techno still has some plans that may involve some violence in the future.

- They reach the Woodland Mansion and loot it.

- They then commit some mild arson, then head back.

- Techno says goodbye. Ranboo now has three more Totems -- three extra lives!

- Puffy looks out at the L’manburg Crater, saddened by all the loss and destruction. She’s unsure of where her loyalties lie.

She considered Techno and Dream her friends -- and her duckling! But can she really support someone who did this?

“Right now, this castle is a hollow nothing...it’s just a title...There’s no consequence, ever. It just happens, and people just get sad, and they have to suffer their feelings and move on...We need safety, we need security, and happiness. We can’t live in fear.”

“To Dream, my duckling...I might be a villain. I don’t wanna be, but it’s what needs to happen. I might have to sacrifice...”

She questions what her duty is as a knight of the SMP, and starts to write her statements in a book.

“Sometimes being a hero to others comes at the consequence of being a villain to those who you hold closest.”

- She goes to destroy the cottage she made for Dream.

“I did this ‘cause he didn’t have a home...and everybody, no matter how cold, or violent, or angry, or maybe even unforgiving they may be... Everyone deserves a home, a place they can go to at night to feel comfortable and safe.”

- She burns it down. A lot of the non-flammable blocks remain, though.

- Puffy starts listening to “TNT” by CaptainSparklez and TryHardNinja as she explodes the rest of the house with TNT.

- In the explosion, though, she exposes Dream’s old house as well (as it was directly below the cottage) and blows some of it up by accident, instantly regretting it.

She’s very surprised that she built a whole new home for Dream right on top of his old base without even knowing it was there.

- She decides it was a happy accident, and now Dream is fully homeless. She still puts everything back in the chests, though, to clean up.

- She finds in one of the old chests an abandoned copy of “Blocks” and decides to keep it. It isn’t Tommy’s canon disc, but she decides to give it meaning anyway.

“This disc might not have started canon...but it’s canon now...Red, because of all the bloodshed and wars that have been waged over them.”

- She goes back to the crater as it starts to rain and thunder, and questions whether she should keep the disc or burn it. Or perhaps give it to Tommy?

- Puffy decides that she has sympathy for Tommy. Sure, Tommy’s made mistakes, but he’s young and has been exiled twice now! He’s already paid for the things he’s done enough. Does he really deserve all of this? And poor Tubbo as well, being put in such a tough position, leading a country.

- She decides that the Glitch Cube can be her panic room for the time being.

- She goes to the Castle, thinking about how useless it is. It’s just a symbol with no real meaning behind it. Not by the fault of Eret, but because Dream calls all the shots. Eret is the king, but has zero control.

- Puffy then looks at the ruins of the Community House. Who’s to say it wasn’t Dream who did it? How do they know it was really Tommy?

- She thinks that when somebody’s made mistakes, you have to be there for them and help them grow instead of just exiling them and leaving them alone to rot. Tommy’s suffered enough consequences for his actions. He doesn’t need to be blamed anymore.

- She wonders why Techno can spawn thirty withers and not be exiled, but all Tommy does is grief George’s house a little and he gets sent miles away? There’s a double standard.

She believes in justice, not cruelty. And exile is cruelty.

- Skeppy comes online and she gets into the Skeppy Maid skin, as one does.

- Puffy goes to set up a beacon in her base. She creates it using one of the stars she got from the Doomsday withers.

- Puffy then gets a pet spider named Peter Parkour.

- Bad comes online and Puffy shows him her Catboy Skeppy outfit.

- Puffy also gets a slime pet and names it Jream.

- Later, Bad comes online to gather a roundtable about the Egg. Punz, Puffy and Ant come online to join in. As Bad refers to them, the “Egg People.”

- Bad begins the meeting by saying that the Egg has become a problem. What is there to be done?

He also mentions the carnage that took place in L’manburg. They quarantined the Egg and kept it from spreading its Vines across the server.

Bad proposes that instead of keeping the Egg contained...they break the containment and allow it to spread again.

- Ant insists that Bad must be corrupted somehow, while Bad claims that Skeppy has been cleansed of the Egg’s influence and that whole situation is just a matter of getting him back to normal.

- Bad seems convinced that L’manburg being gone has something to do with them keeping the Egg contained.

- Bad likes that L’manburg is gone, but it’s problematic that there’s so much chaos coming from Dream and other members of the SMP. He wanted L’manburg to remain a source of conflict, and now the Badlands lacks a consistent source of chaos for the server since Dream blew it up.

And he thinks that the Egg is just the right amount of chaos that is needed.

- Punz and Puffy, the Dream SMP faction members, both think Bad has lost it. What about peace? Who knows what the Egg could do?

- Bad points out that the Egg isn’t in the Badlands. It’s in the heart of the Dream SMP.

If they let the Vines spread, it would give the Badlands an opportunity to take control with the one other large remaining faction weakened.

- Puffy loves the Vines, but she wants the peace to remain. Bad says that peace is never going to happen with the Egg’s power being concentrated in an isolated chamber. The potency of its influence will only grow.

- Bad suggests they look at the Egg to prove a point.

- He asks the Dream SMP members what they want, since he’s already made a case for the Badlands.

Punz says that he’s “factionless...”

- The entire Egg Room is completely covered, and new growths seem to have appeared on the Egg. Its power is so concentrated that even Punz, who had before always had immunity to its effects, says that he’s starting to feel something.

- “Little Red,” the pet Vine that Ponk has in his Casino, has “flowered” and...turned green?

Ponk apparently poured holy Twitch Prime water on it.

- They go back to the Roundtable and Bad asks if Puffy and Punz want to join the Badlands.

He says that he has a long-term plan, and that if Punz and Puffy join them in their forces? They could easily take over all of the Badlands territory.

He proposes they let the Egg go and wipe out the entire portion of the Dream SMP while the Badlands searches for a counter to it. They come in after the chaos, clear the Egg with their methods, being the “saviors,” and

TAKE OVER THE ENTIRETY OF THE DREAM SMP TERRITORY, FORMING THE BADLANDS EMPIRE.

- Puffy says that she thinks Bad is turning into a tyrant. Bad says that he wants the Badlands to be a collective, all with equal say in the government instead of one ruler controlling everything. All the factions with one ruler have faced issues.

- Punz says that he’s willing to work towards chaos. He supports the idea that Bad has. Bad suggests that if Punz and Puffy agree, the Badlands can incorporate Punz’s territory and Puffy’s temple. Punz and Puffy are not a part of the Badlands faction, just part of the incorporated territories of the Empire.

- Bad wants an Empire name.

---

He declares that the Formation between the Badlands, Punz and Puffy shall henceforth be known as:

THE EGGPIRE

“Let’s let chaos reign over the Dream SMP.”

---

- They go down to the Egg Room to destroy the barriers keeping it in.

“Eggcellent.”

As they destroy it, Bad says he’s grown fond of the way the Vines look. Wouldn’t it look nice if these spread all over the server?

He wonders if Sam would be in agreement with this.

Puffy is still having a few doubts, but Bad insists that all this current chaos will be in the name of achieving eventual peace once all other faction conflicts have been wiped away.

- What’s the best place to plant the seed of the Vines?

Badboyhalo suggests the Crater.

The Ruins of L’manburg.

- Puffy thinks they all should have protected L’manburg. Punz hesitates...he says he “tried his best to help,” but that they should move on and upgrade the Crater with a little floral decoration.

- They head to the Crater and begin planting seeds of the Crimson all around the L’manburg Flag at the bedrock.

- Badboyhalo believes that, once they take complete control...

It will be the ultimate utopia.

- All they need to do now is convince Sam to go along with the idea. Punz suggests that they get him to go down into the Egg Room without a Prime Suit on.

- The egg puns are getting out of hand. This is an issue.

- Lastly, they gather together, the members of the new Eggpire, in the Church of Prime.

- Puffy still feels that she’s the only voice of reason, and wonders whether she’ll have to warn the others about the Badlands’ plan.

- Once he’s stepped away from the other members, Bad reveals that underneath his disguise, his red has been drained away to gray and white just like the Egg did to his statue. He doesn’t want the others to know yet, but thinks Antfrost was close to catching on.

- Meanwhile, Puffy continues to write in the Captain’s Log -- her journal from earlier. She is very concerned about these new developments.

---

Upcoming Events:

- Futuristic Tales From the SMP Episode

- Tommy’s plan to kill Dream

- The eventual reveal of Pandora’s Vault

#dream smp #dream smp recaps #long posts

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nightingaelic · 3 years

Note

Companions react to the Courier going for the Pro Deathclaw Hunter or Cracker-Jack Timing challenges.

Why not both? TW: Blood, gore, explosions

"Come on!" the courier yelled, sprinting down the side of the quarry as fast as they could go.

The noise drew the attention of the deathclaws that had taken up residence in the limestone hollow, each one turning to sniff the wind and pinpoint the source of the disturbance. The alpha male roared, and the nesting mother crouched low over her jittery offspring in their gravel nest.

Still, the courier rushed headlong into the canyon, making much more noise than was safe. The rest of the deathclaws began to snarl and gallop toward them, but quick to meet the noise of their charge was an angry buzzing cresting the quarry's rim. A swarm of cazadores poured over the limestone edge, hot on the courier's trail.

Whooping with delight and maybe a little fear, the courier waved their hat in the air as they ran, signaling their companion. They began to zig and zag around the quarry basin, between the piles and crates of tell-tale red sticks that had mysteriously appeared in the deathclaws' den overnight.

Arcade Gannon: "What are we doing?" Arcade swore, pressed his back against the limestone slab he had been crouching behind and lit the fuse next to him. It fizzed and sparked, quickly burning down the rope and out of sight. Arcade covered his ears and shrank as far into the rock as he could, but the first blast of dynamite still shuddered through his whole body and cracked the air loud enough to deafen a cyberdog. Gravel flew left and right in Arcade's peripheral vision, and the explosions were quickly underscored by frantic roars and shrieks from the courier's injured prey.

Arcade could pick out the whine of the recharger rifle as it fired repeatedly, and counted six grenade blasts before the battle was over and the quarry fell quiet. He only dared to move when he heard the courier calling him, urging him to come out of his hiding place.

"I don't care if the NCR gives you an entire state to clear out another deathclaw nest, you are not bringing me along," he announced as he rose shakily to his feet, leaning on the huge chunk of limestone for support. "Having to watch you sneak around here last night planting bombs everywhere through a pair of binoculars was already torture, but this?"

The courier, who stood breathing heavily among the remains of deathclaw and cazador alike, shrugged. "Suit yourself. But next time, then, you're not seeing any of the caps."

Craig Boone: Boone let out the breath he had been holding, loosened his limbs and squeezed the trigger of his rifle. He pulled away from his scope to watch the bundle of dynamite explode once the bullet hit it, setting off a chain reaction that engulfed the quarry in flying rocks, fire and wasteland critters torn asunder. Outside the blast radius, Boone waited, listening to the screams of dying deathclaws being cut short and the whine of injured cazadores stopping one by one. Here and there, the hum of an energy weapon cut through the tangle of noise, and the pop of homemade grenades kicked up smaller bursts of crushed rock.

Eventually, the courier walked out of the Mojave's newest dust cloud and made their way up the ridge Boone had chosen as his vantage point. They were covered in blood, but Boone was certain it wasn't theirs. Any normal person wouldn't have walked out of that quarry alive: Then again, any normal person wouldn't have gotten up again if they'd been shot in the head.

They tossed their dented recharger rifle on the rock next to Boone and laid their string of tin grenades down reverently. "All finished."

Boone raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. The courier caught the rare display of skepticism and grinned. "What? After Coyote Tail Ridge, this was a cakewalk."

Lily Bowen: "Oh, be safe, pumpkin!" Unable to contain herself, Lily bellowed the warning to the courier while she struggled to light the fuse next to her. It took a few tries, but eventually the lighter sparked beneath her large fingers and the flame danced away into the quarry. A few of the closest deathclaws turned their heads toward the sound of her voice, and Lily gripped the hilt of her vertibird blade tightly as they caught sight of her and began to charge. She needn't have worried: They were right on top of the first pile of dynamite when the fuse burned up to it, and were completely annihilated in the resulting explosion.

As the dynamite caches around the quarry began to explode one by one, Lily waded in, sword swinging. All of the cazadores and deathclaws she encountered were already dead, but she buried her blade in their necks to make sure. A few of the creatures still cried out and writhed on the ground, but before Lily could make her way over to finish them off, they were silenced by smaller blasts or the beam of an energy weapon. Eventually, the only two things still making noise in the quarry were her and the courier.

"Come here, dearie," Lily insisted, pulling a handkerchief the size of a small tablecloth out of her overalls. "Let's get you cleaned up."

The courier half-heartedly tried to wave off her attempts to mop the blood and dust off of them, but eventually submitted to her attentions. "We'll go straight back to Sloan and ask to use their showers," she chided as she carefully wiped their face. "You have to look presentable before you turn in the bounty."

Raul Alfonso Tejada: Raul, who wasn't particularly religious, still hedged his bets and crossed himself before lighting the fuse. "No mames, courier," he muttered as the flame spread rapidly along the rope and out of sight. "I'd like to keep my limbs."

He needn't have worried. The explosions he had helped the courier rig went off without a hitch, one after the other in a chain reaction of destruction that showered the quarry in cazador segments and deathclaw tails. A piece of a cazador wing fluttered down out of the dusty sky, drifting softly to the ground until it came to rest next to Raul's boot. He picked the orange, gossamer insect part up, turning it this way and that to catch the light while the courier's sounds of battle echoed behind him.

"A little help, Raul?" he heard them call after a minute or two.

Raul sighed, plucked a spare stick of dynamite from the box they had left him, and walked down to the quarry bed. They were holding off a crippled deathclaw with their recharger rifle, which appeared to have been damaged enough to stop functioning. The immature deathclaw appeared to have realized its attacker was out of grenades as well, and had backed them up against a limestone slab.

Raul lit the fuse on the dynamite and chucked it at the deathclaw. "Duck and cover!"

The courier obeyed and hit the ground hard, just in time for the creature to explode over them. They disappeared under a shower of blood and scales.

"You owe me dinner at the Gourmand," Raul said, crossing his arms and surveying the scene. "Before you get any other bright ideas."

Rose of Sharon Cassidy: "Oh hell yes." Cass popped her head up over the rock she'd been crouched behind, checking the courier's proximity to dynamite caches before setting the fuse she was holding alight. It did the trick, and Cass started whooping too as the explosions began to go off. Unable to hold back her laughter, Cass giggled with abandon as she chucked tin grenades and spare dynamite sticks into the resulting fray. The courier was little more than a shadow, putting down injured creatures left and right with merciful blasts from their recharger rifle that lit up the dust cloud like lightning.

When the debris began to settle, Cass pulled herself up onto the limestone and stretched out with a contented sigh. "That went a sight better than the last time we tried this, Six," she called.

The courier appeared in the quarry's center, panting. Their eyes were just as full of joy as Cass' had been, and they doubled over to put their hands on their knees and rest. "Agreed," they finally said, when they had caught their breath.

"Final count?" Cass asked.

They scanned the canyon together, counting on their fingers. "Twelve cazadores, including the one back at the memorial, and... nine deathclaws," the courier answered, their eyebrows shooting up in surprise. "Personal best?"

Cass nodded. "Definitely. And now..."

She scooted off the rock and patted dust out of her clothes. "... we collect. Those Sloan boys owe us big-time."

Veronica Santangelo: "Oh, this is a bad idea." Veronica gritted her teeth and lit the fuse the courier had left her with, then pressed her hands over her ears as tightly as she could. When the rumble of the explosions had stopped, she dared to peek outside her hiding place, but the floor of the quarry had disappeared under a cloud of smoke, limestone dust and cazador parts. The wounded cazadores were trying in vain to sting the angry lizards that wandered too close to where they lay. "Not gonna work, buddy," Veronica said under her breath, when one of them jabbed uselessly at a surviving deathclaw baby. "That stinger won't get through those scales and thick skin. You're toast."

A smaller explosion obliterated the two creatures as they were locked in combat, and the courier emerged from the mess. "Come down here!" they called, before firing a few blasts from their recharger rifle into the deathclaw for good measure.

Veronica skidded down the quarry's side, scattering gravel in her wake. She brushed her robes off and straightened up. "All finished?"

The courier beckoned her over to where the nesting deathclaw mother had been crouching before the dynamite made its entrance. There, miraculously untouched by the turmoil around them, lay a clutch of unhatched eggs.

"Ohhhhh." Veronica's eyes went wide, and she knelt down next to the nest. She felt the closest egg. It was still warm.

"What do you think?" the courier asked. "Jas Wilkins has dibs on one of these, but what about the rest? Take them to Red Lucy?"

Veronica picked the egg up and cradled it close. "Can I keep one?"

"Uhhhhh..." The courier shrugged. "Okay. But if we bring it back to the Lucky 38, Arcade will kill us."

ED-E: The eyebot at the Courier's side began blasting battle music from its speakers and drew a few of the pursuing cazadores away from the chase. When they were right on top of a crate of dynamite, deposited carefully under cover of night by the courier and their faithful robot, ED-E zapped the concealed fuse and blew the bugs to bits. The eyebot tumbled in mid-air, but quickly recovered and gained the attention of a pair of deathclaws, who fell for the exact same trick. They went down a little less easily, but the courier filled in with a tin grenade and a few blasts from their recharger rifle. The two spun around each other, ED-E beeping triumphantly under the music and the courier grunting and yelling with the effort, until no more challengers arose and they stood alone in the center of the quarry.

The courier turned to ED-E and checked it over for dents. ED-E beeped its satisfaction, and they laughed. "Good job, but we need to get you a new set of songs to play. Maybe we can find Mr. New Vegas and get some holotapes for you."

Rex: The cyberdog bounded at the courier's side, and darted away only once to avoid the Molotov cocktail they tossed at the nearest dynamite cache. The world exploded around the pair in a cacophony of disrupted earth, rock and enemies. Rex latched onto the nearest deathclaw's tail, forced it to turn in a tight circle and remain relatively still until the courier's gun took it down permanently. They tore their way through each of the challengers, insect and lizard alike. When the last enemy fell, Rex remained alert, scenting the settling dust and directing his companion to surviving cazadores and deathclaws that lay dying. Their breaths were each cut short by the courier, and Rex's heart sang.

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peachesnjamm · 2 years

Text

Dream and Punz meet in Punz' house to talk things out, with a map of the SMP spread out on the table. This was assumedly before Dream's imprisonment and use of the revival book on Tommy and Wilbur. Dream and Punz then corner and kidnap Lazar and Vik. Dream and Punz have an entire establishment located somewhere on the SMP, with a room where Lazar and Vik are forced to respawn in, and they've tested nearly every single type of death method. The ones I'm noticing are drowning, anvil, end crystal, and a firework shot. We see Dream burning the original book, and we can basically say that he's memorized it by that point, either from using it so much or from going over it so many times. We then see Ranboo and Dream, surrounded by scattering blocks from Dream's prison cell, and they're staring at each other. In the bottom left corner, we see a chat message from Dream with the simple smile. While the cell is "exploding", we have an overlay of TNT being lit. We then see Ranboo and BBH in the Bee n Boo, and BBH is handing maps to Ranboo. BBH doesn't seem to be under the influence of the Egg at this point in time, but we do know that he had a disguise he wore while meeting with others. BBH looks around before tossing Ranboo at least five maps. Then we have the ending screen, which states "DREAM IS OUT" with his signature smile in the background.

Dream and Punz have a full on building that was built to house what they're doing, and it's out in the open. It's not hidden underground. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm wondering as to how far out this place is. It's gotta be decently hidden away, as they've obviously spent a shit ton of time there doing godawful things to poor Vik and Lazar. As far as we're aware, Punz doesn't know the contents of the revival book. Maybe he does? I don't know, it's not explained. I'm assuming he doesn't because of the way Dream insisted not to share the contents with anyone while imprisoned, or that Punz will at least pretend that he doesn't know what's in the book, just as he pretended he wasn't associated with Dream. Then, we have the cinematic endersmile clip. Because I'm an endersmile enthusiast, I'm going to take the theory that I prefer, which is that Dream and ew!Ranboo are working together. Ranboo doesn't seem scared or even disturbed during the clip, which is really just a long period of held eye contact. The TNT being lit could relate back to the community house explosion, or when Tommy was forced to stay in the prison. Because I'm that bitch, I prefer the latter theory. We also have the smile chat message. That could possibly be tied back to when Sapnap had given Ranboo the smile message from Dream. The smile could possibly be a specific trigger for the enderwalk state, or even message specifically for ew!Ranboo with a hidden meaning. Then, there's the clip with BBH and Ranboo. It's important to keep in mind that BBH was a prison guard, and we know he must've had access to the blueprints of the prison, just like Techno later did, and Dream stored away for him to find. This could possibly be why Ranboo was put in prison? He might've tried to break Dream out while in the enderwalk state? It's unlikely, but possible. We can also assume that maybe BBH gave Ranboo plans or blueprints for him to possibly build something else for Dream for when he escaped? I'm going out on a limb here, because we've seen BBH acknowledge that what Dream did is awful, and that he deserved time in prison. Maybe he later changed his mind when he realized that Dream was being tortured? It's possible that he decided that he didn't agree with what was going down in the prison, and decided to try and help Dream. But reaching out to Ranboo? How did BBH know that Ranboo would be safe to turn to about this? Why was Ranboo punished and not BBH? Does this have anything to do with the Egg and the Red Banquet, and Ranboo's sneaking around then? Do they have literally anything to do with each other, other than maybe BBH being a messenger? How much does ew!Ranboo and BBH know? Clearly not as much as Punz, but it's still something important to ask about. Does Punz continue the research after Dream was imprisoned? What about the Egg? Did the Egg influence Punz' ability to watch over their torture building? I remember one stream where BBH, Antfrost, and Punz were throwing a party after hearing that Tommy died, and Foolish was understandably mortified. Did Punz assume Dream would bring Tommy back as he later did? How much did Punz already know would happen?

#c dweam #c pwunz #c wanboo #c badboihawo #peaches etude #dsmp theories #dream smp analysis #dream smp

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grimmradiance · 3 years

Text

Close to Me: How the Hollow Knight's Fighting Style Reflects Their Trauma (and the Radiance's as well)

So I've been trying to actually beat the Radiance, which means I've been fighting the Hollow Knight. A lot, as a matter of fact, since I'm beans at this game sometimes. I've also been thinking about @lost-kinn's meta about how fighting styles are how Vessels, especially the Little Knight, communicate.

In trying to apply this to the Hollow Knight, I've been coming to some very interesting conclusions, especially taken in context of...Everything Else in the lore, and Everything Else implicated in this by the psychology of it.

There's a lot to cover here, and it tracks through a LOT of different places, including trauma psychology, the relationship between chronic stress and lifespan health, and shape symbolism. Two warnings first:

One: this essay is gonna get heavy. It includes fine-grained discussion of the Hollow Knight's trauma, including discussions of the real-life machanics of psychological abuse, as well as the Extremely Concerning Implications of them harming themself during their boss fight. please read with caution and when you're in a safe emotional place to do so.

Two: This post is not a place for justifying the Pale King. If you read this essay in its entirety and still want to do that, please make your own post; my relationship to the Hollow Knight themself is deeply rooted in my own experiences, so in the context of this discussion I can't promise I won't take it personally.

With that out of the way, let's talk trauma and fighting styles:

We know that the Hollow Knight is trained to be a paragon of fighting skill, through the Pure Vessel fight, and this gives us a fantastic way to compare what they were like before they were made Government Assigned Radiance Jail, and after. Or, in other words, we're given the perfect opportunity to see what the Radiance is doing (i.e. context effects), and what Hollow is (i.e. what we can conclude is reliably consistent as a part of them). Listed here, for reference:

Hollow's attacks:

Three slashes

A dash slash

A Radiant Shade Soul, which launches a volley of Infection blobs in arcs

A Radiant Desolate Dive, which produces pillars of entwined Void and Light at random intervals

The Infection bursting out of them in random arcs, covering a significant amount of the aerial space of the arena

The Radiance ragdolling their body around trying to hit the Knight

Contact damage from them stabbing themself and falling over atop you

The Pure Vessel's attacks:

Three slashes

A dash slash

A Pure Shade Soul, which launches a volley of nails in straight lines

A Pure Desolate Dive, which produces nails at specific intervals

A Pure Focus, which causes circular explosions across most of the aerial space in the arena

Lashing out with a Void Arm (word choice intentional)

I've highlighted attacks from each battle that are different, since those are our points of interest here. In addition, both the Pure Vessel and Hollow are exceedingly fond of teleport-spamming in a way that is usually reserved for a specific group of bosses.

Another very important distinction between these two fights: the Pure Vessel doesn't scream. Well, they certainly try to, but no sound comes out. No voice to cry suffering, after all. All of these points have a lot to go into, so let's address them one at a time.

All That Remains: Theoretical Background On The Significance Of Constants

Making comparisons across time is important specifically because humans (and human-like bugs) change. Most personality traits aren't set in stone--they exist as an interaction of someone's internal tendencies, their experiences, and their environment. Speaking of those last two points, not all experiences and environments are created equally. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs for short) are known to have lifelong implications for a child's health, both physically and mentally. These are events that are so stressful or stressful for so long that they exceed a child's ability to cope and become toxic stress (yes, that's the term in the literature, because it actively damages your organs). They compound, as well--the stress of one ACE makes it harder for a child to cope with another, especially if they overlap.

Some examples of ACEs? Being exposed to physical danger or the threat of physical danger, deprivation of normal social relationships with peers of a similar age, being forcibly seperated from family members, witnessing a loved one being hurt or killed, chronic illness in oneself or a family member, neglect of a child's emotional needs....

Poor fucking Holly. It's a miracle they didn't disintegrate under the pressure. The only other option is that they bent and adapted under that much stress--in other words, most of their personality has been forcibly reshaped by what they've gone through. Anyone who has up-close experience with parentification or complex child abuse already knows: this was by design. I'm not saying the intent was to traumatize the Pure Vessel past several points of no return, but the intent definitely was to reshape their personality for the purpose of being The Vessel. We only see them (the Pure Vessel) in battle after this process is mostly or entirely complete, but we do see them a few times beforehand. I'd like to draw attention to the Path of Pain cutscene right now.

I've seen people talking about the look the Vessel and the King share as a sign that TPK really does love his child. That might be true, but it's definitely not relevant when it comes to how abuse works. This is, in fact, exactly how the cycle of abuse uses affection as a tool. Long periods of abuse or neglect, smoothed over by small periods of affection that placate the survivor? That's textbook love bombing, the kind that forms stubborn trauma bonds and facilitates unhealthy dependency. Forgive me for not giving the Higher Being of knowledge and prescience the benefit of the doubt on that one. (/s)

Team Cherry knows about the importance of parallels and dissonance. There's a reason the music in the second phase of the Hollow Knight fight plays in the Path of Pain. There's a reason it cuts out the moment the battle with the Kingsmoulds is over, instead of at the room transition. There's a reason it doesn't cut out in the Black Egg. Actually, there's two potential reasons, which could also coexist: either little Hollow trusts the Pale King to keep them safe, even after the borderline torture that they were just subjected to, or big Hollow is so hypervigilant that they're in full functioning-through-trauma mode even while they're at death's door.

If you don't see how much the Pale King scarred his child at this point, I'm not sure we were playing the same game.

Walking the Straight Line: How the Pale King's Teachings Show In the Pure Vessel

The Pale King loves order and control. Everything about the White Palace and every decision we see him make implies this. Everything is spotless white walls and well-maintained gardens; the only signs of disorder are hidden away, either in his workshop or in The Pit™. This also reflects in the Pure Vessel's title--pure as in holy, but also pure as in without flaw. Considering the Nailsmith's emotional state after completing the Pure Nail, TPK's fate with his Perfect Controlled Kingdom, and the Godmaster ending as a whole, attaining perfection is not a good thing in any sense.

We know the Hollow Knight isn't perfect--that's the whole catalyst for the plot. But considering their upbringing and their fighting style as the Pure Vessel, their imperfections absolutely kill them emotionally. I'll spare the lecture on how perfectionism affects neurodivergent kids even more severely than neurotypical kids, if only to keep this post to a reasonable length (look up "twice-exceptional children" if you'd like to know the theory I'm glossing over in more depth). But, in essence, the deck is doubly stacked against them--they have a higher goal to reach, and far more obsctacles in their path, including their own emotional scars.

I've already discussed how Hollow isn't meant for this kind of stress in a physical sense in other posts. They're not prepared for it emotionally, either--the Pale King wants perfection, and they can't even stand up straight (every spoonie in the audience already knows how exhausting people's obsession with Standing Up Straight is). There's another page on their stack of emotional baggage, even BEFORE you consider that the Pure Vessel knows their perfection is what bought them a ticket out of the Abyss.

Bringing Teleportation To A Sword Fight: Where The Pure Vessel Reveals Their Fears

How else are they going to cope with that need for perfection, that need to prove themselves worthy of the reason their life was spared, by being flawless in any way they can? Being a mechanical, flawless fighter puts so much pressure on them, both literally (repetitive strain injuries fucking HURT) and figuratively--if you're predictable, the only sure way to win is to mop the floor with your opponents before they figure you out. Hell, that's the way most people play their first run of Hollow Knight, by throwing themselves at the bosses over and over until they figure out the patterns. That strategy is inherently going to fail against an opponent that's, say, an immortal higher being.

There's no way that the Vessel didn't figure this out, and yet none of their TPV specific attacks are positioned randomly--the nails are always evenly spaced, and the Focus explosions are always in a specific height region of the screen. That's clinging to survival strategies even when they become maladaptive in its purest form.

Another dip into psychological theory: let's talk about disorganized attachment. Attachment styles describe how someone's relationships to their main caregiver(s) influence their understanding on relationships in general. Disorganized attachment is a result of an upbringing of inherently unstable parent-child relationships, where there's no way of a child predicting whether an adult is going to be delighted to see them, ambivalent, upset, or otherwise. If my parent woke up some days saying "all right my child, time for the Infinite Buzzsaws Obstacle Course," I'd be the same way. In adulthood this manifests as an inability to form a stable sense of self-concept as well as concepts of others. Mission accomplished, TPK, there's no will to break if you broke it yourself.

This is where the fighting styles as communication comes in--Hollow needs to keep Ghost at a distance to fight, but also wants to be closer to their sibling (the only being who has a chance of understanding what they've been through), BUT also has a trauma-rooted fear of attaching to people, as their experiences with attachment are inherently unpredictable and dangerous. Hence, both the teleportation that doesn't seem to match their fighting style any more reliably than "aim at the thing attacking you" and the second attack unique to the Pure Vessel--they're quite literally lashing out in pain to push people away. There's a reason that attack is so reminiscent of the Thorns of Agony.

Of note is that Holly does seem to teleport like the bugs of the Soul Sanctum do (favoring the edges of a screen, rather than going wherever like Dream Warriors do), which makes sense--they're the most obvious answer to the question "how did they learn how to teleport, anyways?" However, Sanctum bugs have abilities designed to capitalize on this, like homing spells and slashes from above. I can only assume this means that someone saw Holly's proficiency with the nail and assumed it translated to other forms of combat, and didn't feel the need to give them at least a bit of a primer on how to make the best use of it. There's another tally for the Hollow Knight as an autism metaphor.

Trauma Bonds: How the Radiance Speaks Through Hollow

Now, we're back to the Black Egg, and two people stuck in the same sinking ship. The thing that makes this hurt so badly is that Holly and the Radiance are at complete cross purposes here, and yet they both want the same thing:

They both want out, no matter the cost. For the Radiance, this means forsaking the pacifistic nature of the moths and nuking Ghost personally.

For Hollow, this means forsaking the way they were raised and everything that was bludgeoned into their personality: the only way out is to fail, give up control, and trust that Ghost will do what needs to be done.

Imagine how much pain they're in to actually go for it. Going against a literal lifetime of conditioning is something that takes the average person years to even consider, let alone go through with. It's a form of learned helplessness--if you try to break free and fall, again and again, it actively discourages further attempts. Breaking through learned helplessness is an interesting process, because it generally involves re-establishing a sense of control by recalling previous events where the person was able to change their situation.

Which, as far as we know of, are nothing but traumatic memories for Hollow. It's very unlikely that they'd break through it on their own, but we know they have by the time we see the second phase of their fight. This is them at their most desperate: the same music as the Path of Pain, the way they let, or can't stop, the Radiance throw their body around, the way they actively try to let the Radiance out by stabbing themself.

You'd think that giving up and learned helplessness are inherently compatible, but when giving up both goes against your core personality, and involves your active participation, they're in direct opposition. So either Holly was able to process all their trauma by themself (which I doubt, judging by how much effort the player has to go through to even see Ghost's and Hollow's traumatic memories), or someone gave them a nudge or three in that direction.

Considering that there's been someone living in Holly's head who has a vested interest in them Not Doing Their Duty, I think we know who. And the thing is, I think we watch Hollow have this breakthrough during their battle. Imagine for the first time in decades, at least, you can move. You're in pain from being in the same position, probably hallucinating from sensory deprivation, with an infection sucking at what strength your body has left. And there's this little creature who looks ready to fight you, who seems to have let you go for that exact purpose.

And you look down, and both you and the Radiance recognize them from a place rooted deeper than consciousness, in the murky depths of trauma. You see the other Vessel who just as easily could have been you, and who looks so much stronger for not being you, for being an imperfect, willful creature. And the Radiance sees history threatening to repeat itself, another one of the Wyrm's cursed children seeking to lock her away once more.

What else do you do when you're triggered? You scream, and you go on instinct, and you retreat into your head. Those first blows, with the epic music? That's the Vessel the Pale King forged, the fighting machine that will endure unimaginable stress because it knows no other way. What snaps you back out of dissociation? Usually, either the passage of the triggering stimulus, or an even more relevant stimulus (severe pain from getting beaten up by a nail, for example).

The tragedy is this: we know this isn't a triumph. I think most of us went into that fight the first time, knowing we'd be putting the Hollow Knight out of their misery. The music turns tragic, Hollow screams, and then we see the Radiance and Hollow themself break through: the Radiance trying to fight Ghost directly with the resources she has, and Hollow trying to help her along.

For what it's worth, Hollow even had the right idea, when it came to letting themself rest while helping Ghost stop the madness their father started--they were just digging for the Radiance in the wrong place. The dynamic between the Radiance and the Hollow Knight is something I could write on for pages and pages, but this has gone on for long enough. Tune in next time, where I'll presumably talk about this same topic but in reverse with regards to the Radiance.

#hollow knight #hk #the pure vessel #the pale king #the radiance #my meta #the higher being speaks #i hate fact-checking my abuse infodumps because the ableism against personality disorders is EVERYWHERE #but here this monster of an essay is #anyways the hollow knight as a character sniped my trauma on sight #so i may be a tiny bit biased here But Also I'm Right #abuse //#child abuse //#emotional abuse //#i legit do not know what tags to throw on this #also the overarching title is a reference to the song of the same name from just shapes and beats because. yeah

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ray-ray-writings · 3 years

Note

Here you are Ray! This one is 1311 words, I really hope you enjoy! I’m going to try to write longer ones, or at least a little more structured/planned so I’ll probably be sending stuff in less. Anyway, here is what I like to call, Dedication. ~Punzo👻

"Y/n!" I spun around, a large smile tearing across my face. My face immediately fell into shock, and then sadness as I met red eyes, instead of blue. He stopped running right in front of me and then gave me a smile. I smiled back at him but I knew it was strained. His smile fell into a frown. "What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing, love. Just a bit of a hard day. What's up?" I offered him a genuine smile that he easily reciprocated. He extended his hand towards me and I reached forward. Before I laced my fingers with his one of them met with something very soft and I carefully eased up my pressure on it as I turned our hands over. A soft giggle tumbled out of my mouth at the sight of a pumpkin pie. (1. Minecraft mechanics lol 2. I wuv pumpkin pie). "This for me?"

"Of course, I found it in a village." I looked up to meet his eyes and tried my hardest to ignore the red. He was still Punz, he was still my sweet boyfriend that I loved. I gently took it from him and emptied my hand.

"Thank you." I gently leaned forward to kiss him and he responded immediately. When I pulled back I was slow to open my eyes, but I broke out into a full smile when I found beautiful blue eyes drinking me in. I brought my hands to his face and ran my thumbs over it gently. "Hey there."

"Hi, lovey." His posture had completely softened from the unnatural energy he always put off when under the eggs control, and his hands held me to him gently. I leaned up and brushed my lips against his forehead, before I pulled away completely.

"Wanna go to the docks?" He nodded his head and I gently took his hand and started leading him down the prime path, towards where l'manburg used to be. We used to hang around there whenever he got out of the egg's control, so he could get away from it. After the explosion, we've been going to the docks instead. I've been taking care of Tubbo's dogs ever since I found out about them, and Punz liked to join me when I did it. I hummed out in happiness when they came into full view.

We walked down to the pier with the dogs, feeding and giving some fresh water to them. When we finally finished doing that we walked all the way to the end of the docks and sat down next to each other. I leaned on his shoulder and we sat there in a comfortable silence. I wanted to talk to him about the egg, wanted to tell him it didn't change how I saw him, but any time the egg was brought up it took control of him. I always avoided the subject, but I wish I could give him support without the egg side of him questioning my loyalty to the egg. I didn't get involved, never going to see it or even going near the vines. I was surprised when Punz never brought up seeing it with me, but I think it was just his desire to protect me fighting hard to keep me safe.

"What are you thinking about?" I lifted my head off his shoulder to give him a gentle smile. He smiled back at me and I brought my hand up to gently play with his hair.

"How great you are. How much I love you." I tried to pour all the love and sincerity I could in my gaze. I needed him to know I meant it, no matter what I would always love and support him. His smile was soft and he was looking at me like I put the sun in the sky. My breath hitched at the expression, never had I thought I would be looked at like that and here I was, staring at the love of my life while he had that look in his eyes. "I really really love you."

"I love you more." I shook my head but a smile emerged on my face at his teasing tone. Before I could retort he pulled me into a kiss that took my breath away. He pulled my body close with one hand, his other on my face. One of my hands was tangled in his hair, the other gently gripping the side of shirt. I was left panting when we finally pulled away, and a drowsy smile crawled onto my face. He ran his thumb across my cheek, following the movement with his eyes. I closed mine in bliss, letting out a content breath. I opened my eyes and gave him a smile I knew would give away my next sentence.

"I love you most." I giggled right after, watching as he rolled his eyes. We pulled apart, the soft moment replaced with playfulness. I bumped my shoulder against his, laughing once more. He bumped me back, and we ended up shoving at each other until Punz pushed me in the water. I gasped just before I fell, trying to meet his eyes but failing before my head sunk under. I flailed for a moment, before emerging from the ocean, to stare at my laughing boyfriend. A part of me wanted to pout and make him feel guilty but the water wasn't cold and his joy seeped into me. A grin came onto my face, and it became just a little more evil as a thought popped into my head. He stopped laughing and turned serious like he thought about it the same time I did.

"Y/n, don-" I grabbed his ankle and yanked him down, my laughter bursting from my chest as he became submerged. As soon as he came up a pout was on his face, which only made me laugh harder. He reached forward and grabbed me by the waist and I reflexively put my hands on his shoulders, still dying of laughter. He let a chuckle and stared at me for a while, before wrapping his arms fully around me. Our legs slightly hit together but we stayed afloat. "You know we're gonna be soaked on the way home."

"Aw, is baby boy worried he's gonna get cold?" I let out another giggle and he rolled his eyes at my words. Before I could even react I was lifted and pushed up and away from him, and I let out a short shriek before my head dipped under water once more. Water flooded my mouth and I quickly swam up, coughing. A hand was placed on my back almost immediately, rubbing in soothing circles. I leaned against him when I finished, but I knew I was okay. "Baby boy had a baby rage."

"Well, look who's recovered." I giggled as he tried to move away, but I quickly grabbed his arm so he couldn't get far.

"Noooo, I'm just messing with you." I pulled his arm to my chest, laughing as I leaned my head onto his shoulder. He sighed but a smile came onto his face. I pressed a kiss to his cheek, before doing so again. "You really are a baby."

"Your baby?" I chortled as I leaned against him again, pressed my forehead to his shoulder. When I raised my head he was looking at me with a pout and I couldn't help but smile brightly. I brought my hand up and gently pushed his lower lip back to his teeth.

“Of course you are." I pressed a kiss to his lips, and he pulled me tight against him again. When we pulled apart I snuggled into his neck. I covered his skin in kisses and he chuckled, rubbing his hand up and down my back once more. "My baby."

OH MY GOD IM IN LOVE!!!!!!!!! THIS IS SO CUTE AND SO GOOD!!!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH PUNZO👻!!!!!!!!!!

#mcyt x reader #mcyt imagine #mcyt drabbles #punz x reader #punz imagine #punz drabble #punz #punzo👻 anon #anon #asks

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hearts-hunger · 3 years

Text

ciryc ca’tra (cold night sky): chapter four || din djarin x reader

Read on AO3 | Masterlist

chapter one | chapter two | chapter three

Series Summary: When you crash-land on a frozen planet on your way to Trask, you and Din work together to keep the Crest afloat and keep your little family safe under the cold night sky. || Part One of Jate’kara (Lucky Stars)

Chapter Summary: It’s the spiders one y’all :(

Pairings: Din Djarin x Wife!Reader

Genre: Hurt/comfort, fluff, angst | Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: spiders :(

A/N: I tried to make the action fun to read and not too lengthy, and reader’s inner monologue gives it an angle that’s a little different from what you see in the episode. Let me know how I did! ♡

“Go, go! Back to the ship!”

Your husband appeared in front of you, beskar blocking the view of the horrific beast that gnashed its teeth and screeched loud enough to shake the icicles off the ceiling. It grounded you, seeing only him; you let him take you by the hand and pull you towards the cavern entrance. You held your baby tightly to you, his fearful cries enough to keep you focused on getting him away from that thing at any cost.

Din pushed you in front of him, bringing up the rear as you fled the cavern now overrun with spiders. The huge, monstrous one loomed over them all, covering the distance between its cave and you in only a few steps. It snapped at Din, barely missing him as the four of you ran into the cave that led to the ship. The beast howled; the swarm of smaller spiders answered in kind and flooded the cave with their deathly shrieks.

Suddenly, the ceiling was falling - you looked back over your shoulder and saw the giant spider’s legs come crashing through the ice above, raining great shards of ice and rock onto the surge of spiders below. For the moment it seemed trapped; you didn’t have time to be thankful before you saw the seething wave of spiders that followed over the rubble, some no bigger than your hand and some as large as Din.

Your husband drew his blaster as the spiders started to surround you; the red flashes of each shot that took out one spider illuminated a dozen more to take its place. You felt a wave of hysteria so strong it nearly took your breath away, and you grabbed onto Din’s cloak like a lifeline and stumbled after him as he tried to clear a path through the maze of spider-ridden ice.

You couldn’t tell if you were hallucinating or not, but the frog lady started to leap on all fours ahead of you; Din navigated the winding cave with as much care as he could, constantly looking back to make sure you were with him. The shadow of the giant spider overhead threw the cave into near darkness, and you felt Din’s hand on your arm, pulling you in front of him. When he let you go, you called his name in panic; you saw three bright red lights in his hand, then saw him throw them back behind you.

Bombs, your woozy senses registered. Din pushed you forward before he threw the last one, grunting with effort as he ran and tossed it as far back in the chamber as he could.

The explosion blinded you, and you were pulled forward as the spider’s shriek echoed with the sound of falling ice. You almost wished the flash had lasted longer as you saw the groping, teeming piles of spiders converging from every side; you nearly smacked into Din as he came to a halt, desperately looking around for an exit. He fired a few more shots, but there seemed to be an endless swarm of them; Din held his forearm in front of him, as if bracing for a blow, and you had enough presence of mind to step back and shield the baby with your body.

The sound of his flamethrower crested as the blue flame lit on his vambrace, and suddenly the whole cave was brilliant with a roaring fire. You staggered towards the cave entrance, Din right on your heels; you heard his blaster fire almost continually as you finally came out into the cavern where your ship lay. You had never been so glad to see such a wrecked piece of metal in all your life, and sprinted towards the Crest with your son held tight against you.

You ducked inside the hull, feeling a sense of relief you knew was coming too quickly, too strongly; you watched the frog lady take her eggs from Din and haul them up to the second level. You waited for your husband to come in through the split in the siding, but he didn’t come; he fired his blaster over and over until all you heard was its ringing bark and the teeming sounds of the spiders. You knew you should go up but found yourself rooted to the spot; you had to see your husband come in, and you would not move until you did.

A loud thunk against the hull, and Din gave a painful groan; another determined grunt of effort came through his modulator and was followed by another round of blaster fire. A second later, he stumbled through the split metal, followed by a steady stream of spiders.

“Go!” he told you, firing his blaster a few more times while he urged you towards the ladder. He boosted you up and followed you into the cockpit, shooting at the spiders as they swarmed up the ladder. He tried to close the cockpit doors; they strained against the limbs and bodies that struggled to get through, groaning metal against seething, sharp-toothed monsters.

Din tried to force the doors shut with one hand and fired his blaster with the other, dagger-like legs and teeth cutting into his hands. A few spiders got through, skittering over the walls to where you stood clutching your baby to your chest; you felt a cry of terror and disgust claw at your throat as the terrible things dangled from the ceiling and crawled over the walls.

In a sudden flash of clarity, you reached behind you to the compartment where you kept your pocket blaster; you fished it out one handed and gripped it tightly, like Din had taught you, aiming for the spiders that seemed ready to jump at you. The sound of it was tinny compared to Din’s blaster, but it did the job, splattering the spiders in bits of green slime all over the walls.

Din looked back at you, surprised at the sound of other gunfire; he only hesitated for a moment before he turned back to the doors and aimed his flamethrower through the gap, charbroiling the spiders as they tried to get through. After a few moments of the roaring fire, it seemed to finally work; the doors groaned shut and Din shut off the flamethrower, each breath panting and unsteady.

The peace only lasted for a heartbeat as hordes of spiders came rushing from the cave, scuttling over the Crest like an infestation of the broken hull. You backed away from the windshield as hundreds of spiders teemed and clicked over the glass, feeling nauseous; you felt Din behind you and reached blindly until you felt his arm, crumpling the fabric of his flight suit in your grip.

“Strap yourselves in,” Din ordered, and you could hear the fear that colored his voice even through his modulator. He steered you to the passenger chair closest to you, a little rough in his haste, but you weren’t sure you could have done anything on your own as the spiders’ movements became so vast and so loud that it sounded like the fine debris of an asteroid field.

You pulled the seat belt over you and the baby with shaking hands as Din turned the ship on.

“This better work,” he prayed to nobody, powering up the Crest in a way much more frantic and sloppy than you’d ever seen. His attention to the Crest was a little like that of a man to his lover, and you knew it hurt him to have to treat his beloved ship so carelessly. The ship creaked and groaned as it powered up, nursed back a feeble semblance of life by Din’s repair but by no means fully functioning.

“I’ve got limited visibility,” Din said, looking through the foggy, frost-covered glass to the chittering limbs above. “It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.”

He muscled the lever for the main thrusters, breaking through a thin sheen of ice to put it into position; the engines flared to life, bright orange flames dancing over the walls of the cavern, the familiar jerk of the ship pushing you back in your seat. With a valiant, heaving effort, the Crest gave its last bit of strength to lift itself out of the ice, rocking and shaking with exertion. You had a bright, furious surge of hope - maybe you would get off this frozen planet, maybe -

Something huge fell on the top of the Crest, the force of it knocking the wind out of you and nearly slamming you into the dash. The Crest shuddered to the ground, landing harder than it had the first time it crashed into the ice; the shrieking roar of the giant spider was so loud you covered the baby’s ears as the sound echoed through the cavern.

“It’s ok, it’s ok,” you said hoarsely, your little one’s cries of fear tearing at you. Then, before you knew it consciously, your body sensed something - you curled around your baby and shielded him from the monstrous silvery claw that shattered the glass and struck the floor of the cockpit.

You could only watch in abject horror as the beast loomed over the cockpit of the Crest, its grotesque eyes peering through the broken glass at you.

“Din,” you managed, and you felt his hand on your knee. You had the wrenching thought that you’d never planned what to say to your husband at the very last, perhaps hoping that your end would come a little more peacefully than this, and hoped he knew how much you loved him.

The monster reared and opened its gaping maw towards the Crest, and you knew you were going to faint.

You must have blacked out for a second, dark spots dancing across your vision, and you came to woozy and shaking with terror. The monster’s jaw suctioned to the glass, its teeth raking over the only thing shielding your husband and your baby from certain death; you kissed your little one’s head and squeezed your eyes shut as you gripped Din’s hand as tightly as you could.

The sudden, unmistakable sound of laser-cannon fire filled the cavern, and your eyes flew open to see the red beams sparking where they hit the spider’s body. It howled in pain and landed heavily on the cockpit, sliding off the side as the cannons continued to fire. Din let go of your hand - you looked up at him, out of your mind with fear and confusion, and watched him unholster his blaster and open the cockpit doors.

“Wait, Din,” you called, your voice cracked and pitiful. The baby called after him too, but he didn’t turn back to you, and you had the awful feeling that watching him stride out of the broken cockpit would be the last you ever saw of him. Everything was washed in red light as the laser cannons fired continuously; then, suddenly, they stopped, and everything was deathly quiet.

“We ran the tabs on the Razor Crest,” a voice finally said, and it wasn’t your husband’s. You hastily unbuckled yourself and moved to look out through the glass; the baby watched too, giving a wondering coo at the scene below.

Eight-legged bodies littered the ground, oozing green fluid onto the murky grey snow. The same pair of X-Wings that had chased you onto this frozen rock were a few paces away, their pilots aiming their blasters towards the Crest’s smoking hull; Din stood in the beams of their headlights, blaster lowered cautiously in the way that told you he wouldn't hesitate to raise it again at a moment’s notice.

“You have an arrest warrant,” the pilot continued. You recognized him as the same one who’d asked for your beacon at the checkpoint. “A warrant for the abduction of prisoner X-6-9-11.”

That cursed Twi’lek, who’d been more trouble than he was worth from the first moment Din had set foot on that transport ship. You held your breath and waited for the pilot to continue.

“However, onboard security records show that you apprehended three priority culprits from the wanted register,” the pilot said. “Security records also show that you put your own life in harm’s way to try to protect that of Lieutenant Davan from the New Republic Correctional Corps. Is this true?”

Din holstered his blaster. “Am I under arrest?” he asked, exhaustion and resignation in his voice even as he refused to confirm or deny the truth about Lieutenant Davan.

“Technically, you should be,” the pilot answered. Then, after a moment, “but these are trying times.”

Din took a breath. “What say I forgo the bounties on these three criminals, and you two help me fuse my hull so I can get off this frozen rock?”

You knew it was a long shot, but it was better than not asking at all. Maybe you would finally have a stroke of luck in all this.

The pilots didn’t take kindly to his offer. “What say you fix that transponder, and we don’t vaporize that antique the next time we patrol the Rim?”

Without waiting for an answer, the pilots returned to their cockpits; a moment later, with the sound of their engines echoing through the cavern, they had left Din, the wreckage of his ship, and the passengers they hadn’t even known about to whatever thread of fate might occur on such a frozen, unforgiving planet.

Read chapter five!

pedro pascal character taglist: @punkgeekchic, @tv-saved-the-teenage-girl, @stardust-galaxies ♡

series taglist: @kyjoraven, @sarahjkl82-blog, @remmysbounty, @bitchin-beskar ♡

let me know if you’d like to be added to either taglist! ♡

#i hope this one's ok i feel like there's not enough dialogue. but.#let me know what you think!#the next chapter more than makes up for it in dialogue and soft!din #din djarin x reader #din djarin fanfiction #the mandalorian x reader #the mandalorian fanfiction #the mandalorian chapter 10 #chapter 10: the passenger #maddie writes stuff!#ciryc ca'tra

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areiton · 3 years

Text

sunlight caught in water - stony

Hey look at me posting my fic on tumblr like it’s 2020 again. Here’s my contribution to Mermay.

Read on AO3

~*~

The boy comes to the water every summer, sunshine bright and beautiful. And below the waves, hidden in the shoals, you watch.

~*~

He’s with a woman, the first time, frail and small next to her side and you watch him stumble, watch him fall, and his hands splash down in your water.

You strain against the arms holding you, against the edicts that keep merkin safe, because you see him coughing but he’s laughing too, bright and beautiful, and he splashes in your waves, and you want to splash with him, see those blue eyes trained on you.

The woman scoops him up and carries him, dripping, into the sand and sunlight and you go limp in Jarvis’ arms, and his tail twines with your tentacles, soothing some of the sad loneliness.

~*~

The boy comes back. Every summer, he comes back, and you watch. As the years slip by, the woman vanishes, replaced by a dark haired boy with hands that are gentle as they help the golden bright boy you can’t look away from.

He’s still too small, frail and blinding beautiful, and you still drift under the waves and watch him.

Jarvis doesn’t always go with you, anymore. The migrant currents that bring you past the golden haired boy are harsh and cold, and you think that he’s better left in the warm tropics, where the waves aren’t troubled by metal boats and rippling searching waves and sleek submarines that hunt like sharks in the dark.

The waves whisper stories, and your cousins carry tales, and you twist in the waves, searching the shore for your sunshine boy because the world is at war, again, the waves twist bloody and the deep swallows up the bodies of too many.

The coldwater merkin feast and you--you hide in the dark, craft your nets and drag them back, the ones who might survive, and you can hear them screaming when you flip in the water and vanish, a cloud of dark dark tentacles and red gills.

You save them, as many as you can find, and you search the shore for a boy you don’t find.

And once, just once, you see someone with sunshine bright hair and seablue eyes and a body as big as a coral reef and you think he’s yours, your boy, because his smile is the same and he splashes in your waves and it sings against your skin like a familiar song sung out of tune.

Then he’s gone and you think he isn’t, he isn’t, he can’t be.

~*~

Rhodey chases you.

You love him for it, for his devotion, for the saltwart presence of him behind you, always. His dark skin and gunmetal shark fins scare off most who follow, scare off the sharks and curious dolphins and the orca.

You love him for chasing you even when you know he doesn’t understand, can’t understand, because he’s never seen your golden sunlight boy smiling into the waves like he can see through them and see you.

You love him for it, because you are strange and other in your pod, with your dark flashing tentacles and darkwater eyes, an egg hatched strange in the warm water beds, alien and wrong. You grow up quick and bright and bored and Jarvis says you’re perfect, exactly where you should be, but the only time you feel like you belong is when you’re swimming with Rhodey and letting Jarvis’ strong arms carry you through the currents, and hiding out of sight in the shoals under a sunbright boy’s unknowing gaze.

~*~

The tides whisper.

The waves tell a story.

Of a bright burning soldier and the war tide he’s turning.

Of blood brothers and a daring rescue and tired feet tramping through dry forests.

Of a war torn beach and thousands of bodies surrendered to the waves, and you shiver, and shake and it’s not him, it’s not him, it’s not him.

Your sunbright boy shakes the world and you chase him as far as the waves will let you and hope that the tides will bring him home.

~*~

When it happens.

When the ocean trembles.

When the waves shatter, rocked by an explosion that wakes the monstrous deep--

When it happens, you’re still riding the currents with Rhodey, in bloody water turned bitter with war, and you feel it, feel the tsunami wave that throws you through the water, rips you from Rhodey and your pod and you scream, and crash into the rocks.

~*~

You wake.

To darkness lit by your strange deepwater gaze.

You wake.

To pain and ripping heat.

You wake.

To unfamiliar fins and the deep deep silence of the monstrous waves, where nightmares swim.

You wake.

And wish you could die.

~*~

You’re smart.

Cephalopods are always smart, and you think of Rhodey, gunmetal gray and worried eyes and you think of Jarvis, his muted jeweled tones and betta fins, and you think of the migrant currents and your sunbright boy smiling into the waves, and you swear you’ll survive.

~*~

There is a merkin in the cave with you, a serious faced man with a clownfish fin and you wonder where his family is, but you never ask, because you don’t want to know.

A clownfish that swims alone is almost obscene.

~They’ll come for you~ he says and you blink at him, tired and shivering. You feel wrong, twisted, missing something essential.

The sharks have ripped away your tentacles, and you cannot swim, cannot protect yourself, can only drift against the cave floor.

~They’ll come for you,~ he says and his words are fierce. ~Don’t let them take you.~

~*~

They take him, in the end, and you--

You use your hands, clever helpful dammed things, drag yourself away while they rip him apart, and it’s silent, so quiet here in the deep, not even merkin screams to break the silence. You tuck yourself down down down, a broken bloody carcass and let the ocean hide you as you heal.

~*~

Time passes slow, and you heal slower.

But time does pass, and you do heal, and you dream, dream of a boy bright as sunlight and waves playing on your hands, and seablue eyes laughing into yours.

~*~

When you emerge.

When you emerge, you are the thing you have always feared, one of the monsters of the deep. You slip from your deepwater crevice, spill inky black tentacles across the water, and stretch in your new grown skin, and when they come, the sharks with their bloody mouths and ripping teeth--

You smile, savage in the dark, and your deepwater eyes gleam and you tear them to pieces.

~*~

You drift along the ocean currents that should feel familiar but nothing feels familiar, not anymore. Merkin drift in your wake, and you can taste their trilling fear, their whispered words shivering through the water against your skin.

Merkin do not become this, do not become at all.

The deep--the deep is made for dangerous creatures, for the sleeping giants and dark made monsters. The deep is not made for merkin, with their love of fast water and warm currents, but you have never been a normal merkin, not with your inky tentacles and curious soul and deepwater eyes.

You drift now, a giant sheltering your kin, and ache because the world feels strange and other and you miss Rhodey, like a tentacle that never grew back.

~*~

When you hear--

You hear so many things, whispers whispers whispers in the water--but there is this too.

A wave tore through the oceans and killed droves of fish, killed merkin and whales and a pod of dolphins, and it was only a family of narwhal that found it. A ship in the water, strange and metal and falling fast, and a body trapped in ice, shining as bright as the sun.

You listen, because you can’t help but listen, and turn your eyes north, north, north.

It’s not him. It’s been decades now, a thousand tides and currents changed while you hid away and grew, and your sunbright boy is long since dead, with Rhodey and Jarvis both.

~*~

Your flashing happy warm water merkin fall away. You swim north, and a pod of orca merkin find you, swim alongside you while the currents change and the tides sweep in and out and then they too turn away and you--you swim north, into water deep and cold and you find--

You find ice.

You find a boy, trapped in ice that glows like sunshine encased in waves and you breathe, the first time in decades, press yourself against the cold cold ice and wrap your tentacles around it, until you’re as close to him as you’ve ever been.

A shadow moves in the deep, and you remember the sharks, the grey flashing bellies and white ripping teeth and you want them to come, want them to take you, think you could rip them apart again, that you are better now, then you’ve ever been and you snarl, twist--

Still.

Stare.

He is so very small. Smaller than you remember, or perhaps you are just too large, now.

But he is still familiar, still your--

~Hey, Tones,~ Rhodey says. ~I knew you’d find us.~

~*~

You drift with him, and he never asks, about the monster you’ve become, only lets you carry him when the tides are too strong, when he is tired. You drift with him, and he talks, tells you of the years when you were lost, of looking for you and finding your sunbright boy instead, of staying close to him because you always found your way back to him.

You drift and sometimes, when Rhodey is swimming and you are sure that he is safe, you dive, dive down into the murky deep, where monsters sleep and the dark glitters, and you tear it apart, the metal ship that brought him into your waves, and pick through the detritus.

Pluck a round metal disk from the waves, and a glowing blue stone that hurts your eyes that you hide away, a whisper of a promise you can’t name gleaming in it’s depths. A picture, a picture of your sunbright boy and a word spilled together that you can’t say but you think might be his name.

~*~

The years pass, and Rhodey stays, and you stay, and he sleeps on in his ice, until the waters shift and tremble and the ice melts, changes the currents once again, drags him into--into murky water touched by oil and humans and you drift along with him, because you cannot leave him, will not leave him.

~*~

Loud men with rough hands and no gils, no fins, no tentacles--they pull him and his ice from your waves and you scream. The ocean trembles and shakes in your fury, but there is this, still, indisputable:

He is gone and you cannot follow.

~*~

~Rhodey~ you murmur, watching the watery shore. A sunbrigh man stands there, bereft and shoulders shaking, strange against an unfamiliar skyline, a city rising new and sharp behind him, and you linger unseen in the shallows, a monstrous shadow that has followed him his whole life. ~What if we left the ocean?~

~*~

You dive, dive, dive, and bring it up, the stone that gleams the color of your deepwater eyes, electric blue and blinding, and Rhodey watches you, something like fear and awe in his gaze, but trust too.

You smile and think of sunshine and the world melts away.

~*~

Steve watches him, the strange dark haired man with electric blue eyes and the Tesseract in one hand, and shivers in strange recognition, and a chill crawls down his spine, when Tony smiles at him, like a prey caught in the hungry gaze of some ancient predator.

He smiles, though, a flash of white teeth and it’s bright, almost blinding, like sunshine caught in water.

Steve smiles back.

#mermay #stevetony #stony #steve rogers #tony stark #mermaid!tony #superhusbands #iron man #captain america

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katsukikitten · 3 years

Text

Warnings College AU sexual and adult themes. Yall know the drill okay

Chapter 2

Bugzapper⚡💔: i have a proposition to make.

Jiro flashes Mina her phone as she sips iced coffee in the blessed air conditioning of the cafe.

"That's never a good sign." She comments, moon bright eyes glued to the phone as she thinks.

"What's not a good sign?" Uraraka asks from across the table, the two girls fill her in.

"Oh." She racks her brain on what that could be, "Okay well I'm dying to know, now."

🎵Music to my soul 🎶 : What do you want airhead?

Jiro's text sent a surge of excitement through Kaminari. It was exactly what he needed after three hours of begging and bribing Bakugou to allow the sorority in or at least invite them. His fingers fly across the screen setting up a date and time for a "meeting over lunch" to discuss the proposition in further detail.

Meanwhile across campus, you huff, eyes narrowed as a rare emotion is pulled from your fingertips in the form of deadly ice. Pulling the moisture from the air to freeze it or pulling any water towards you to keep your flank safe as your opponent rushes you at breakneck speeds.

You hated this fucking guy, cocky, brash, so God damn arrogant in the way he held himself, in the way he spoke. It made you nauseous just thinking of him.Had you known he was the male star of this university you wouldn't have transferred, yet you still needed to transfer didn't you? Anything to get out from under the shadow of a certain Todoroki.

No one cared to admit or to notice, that your quirk was different from Shoto's. You could manipulate water towards you to freeze, and manipulate whatever was already frozen. Your ice was denser and more durable than his and dare you say it colder than his too. Yet no one gave a shit, his was ice AND fire. You were just a one trick pony and a trick they already saw. Your opponent's taunting doesn't help matters much.

"I've already seen this before Ice Brat. Did ya forget where I fucking went to high school?" His hand heats the ice as he activates his quirk before three deafening blasts ring out.

As you allow him to break down the ice you act on pure rage, securing some revenge from the first time he signed your hair. Pointed icicles lie in wait and once the wall is fully down you give him a nasty smirk before sending the straight his way.

You're supposed to melt your weapons before they hit your opponent, neither of you are supposed to go all out per the professor's and college's strict rules in the athletics department but Bakugou always does. Somehow his big stupid mouth spews something that eggs you on. As if someone were shoving bamboo skewers beneath your skin, under your nails, sending you into an unheard of rage.

Normally you were as your quirk, icy, unbothered by the world but Bakugou, God you could wring his neck. Freeze his hot blood as you watch him turn into slush beneath your feet.

He expects you to abide by the rules, to splash him with glacier water but he realizes it too late. That you won't he let's off a quick blast, shattering two of the four deadly points. One grazes his cheek as he just barely dodges while the other lodges itself into his arm.

You have half a mind to twist it. You pull at his blood bringing it into your arsenal. Blood red needles and bullets surround Bakugou.

"I don't think you've seen this before.." You say darkly ready to release your hold and shred him into, give him a taste of his own medicine. Maybe he would see how bitter and nauseating he was. He smirks, opening his mouth to retort but you send your ice his way aiming for non vital spots although the ice creeps closer to your heart begging it to hit something vital. The inside of your ice palace begins to reek of burning sugar and spice, he plans to let out an explosion to bring this whole place down from the inside out.

Just as he is about to detonate and just as the blood and ice are about to pierce skin the professor bursts into the gym.

"I step out for five minutes and this is what happens?!"

The ice and blood return to liquid splashing across Bakugou as his skin pops. The professor takes in the damage from your ice and his explosions, still better controlled than most of his other students quirks.

"I gotta stop pairing these two together." He murmurs to himself before dismissing class. With a flick of your wrist the ice fortress melts, returning to the reservoir below the gym floor, ignoring the molten glare that is sent your way.

"You're such a bitch." Bakugou growls as you pass, flinging blood from his fingers as he wipes at his face. You offer him a fake pitying smile before heading into the women's locker room.

"Fucking asshole." You hiss, forcing the sight of his garnet gaze out of your mind. Instead turning your attention to your buzzing phone in your locker. It's a few missed calls and some texts in the girl's group chat. Briefly you wonder if you ever should have joined that stupid sorority, it was small, non toxic, and would look good should you need to transfer again.

Not only did you somehow get elected the president but you also became friends with the three other ladies despite your best efforts not too.

Mins: Prez we might have a way to save the sorority...lunch after you're done with training?

IceQueen ❄: Hope it's good, the Dean already put the house up for sale. Let me get ready and I'll be there shortly.

Mina presents her phone to the crowd around her, Kirishima, Denki, Sero, Jiro and Uraraka do a small celebration. Denki more so than anyone else, he knows the combined car washes will be more than enough to fix up the house, he also recently learned that you had the power of negotiation on your side. Having just listened to Mina retell the story of how you got free food for a month from a bar for yourself and your friends. And not from some sleaze who wanted to sleep with you either, no it was from the owner himself.

Denki is hopeful and so are the ladies indicating that this may be his best idea yet.

You arrive at the small bistro early, spying your party on the front patio. The three men had seen you in person before, they knew you were easy on the eyes but up close you were breathtaking. Manicured nails but nothing gaudy, normally nude or soft shades, light makeup, mascara at most as far as they could tell and your outfit was well put together. You were what the world called plus size but everyone else called thiccc. Your confidence oozing in your light blouse tucked into your black skinny jeans, uncaring that you had a pouch.

You needed that extra fat to keep from freezing by your own quirk. The only thing you needed society to worry about was your intelligence and your power.

Both were SSR ranked so what did you fucking care that your body was ranked lower. They were stupid in thinking you'd skimp power in the name of vanity.

You recognize everyone at the table and internalize the dread you're feeling. Scheming is afoot and you're the last to arrive. You can tell by their half finished drinks and picked over appetizer, still you sit and act unaware. Denki goes to hold out his hand first for a formal introduction causing a sly cat smile to settle over your glossy lips.

"No need, I'm aware of who the three of you are. Sero we share our lingual class, Denki, our chemistry class, and Kirishima we share two classes, world studies and villain hero theory. Truly a pleasure." You tell then your name before ordering something to drink from the lingering waitress. Sitting stick straight with your shoulders backs has the men mirroring you.

"Well ladies I take it the plan to save the sorority involves these fine gentlemen." You ask coolly and they nod. After a moment of silence Mina and Denki go to speak. Awkwardly encouraging the other to speak until Minai clears her throat.

"As you know they are a newly formed frat with Sero as their president. They moved into their house about a month ago and they say it is quite large. So they have invited us to move in."

"How do you propose we ask the college to have a co-ed house? What does this fraternity home even look like?" They knew you would be quick to ask questions Mina answers the first while Denki provides the answer to the second.

"Union and Diversity. Forming close relationships now to carry over into our hero careers."

"The house needs some work but looks a lot better than what it did." Denki shows you before and after pictures as you gesture for his phone. He passes you his electric yellow case with nervous hope tingling beneath his skin. You swipe through the photos.

"You boys did a great job on the outside. Inside needs a lot of work. Hardwoods will be easy to fix, they are original but don't seen to be damaged, a good scrub will spruce them up. Wait, are those?" You zoom in on the photo of the living room, "Are those foldable camping chairs and a VHS tv?"

They gulp loudly as they nod, your purse your lips in disapproval.

"I can fix that." You pass Denki back his phone, assuming that all the roommates will be present, "I see the main focus was the kitchen but some of the appliances seem to be on their last legs. I can fix that as well."

"Soooo….So it's a yes?" Jiro asks, feeling relief for the first time in months since they received the letter of eviction.

"Gotta get the college to agree first." You think on it a moment, "But I'm sure we can arrange that. Uraraka can you draft an email to the Dean requesting an official meeting regarding our sorority? Be sure to explain in detail our situation, how we are being forced to disband by their account and the solution we have. Make sure it's an afternoon meeting too. The dean hates to miss golf with our rival university's dean."

With the plan set in motion all of you return to your evening classes. Jiro nudges Denki in the ribs, listening to his heart race from their closeness.

"When are we going to tell her about Bakugou?" She throws her almost lover a look that he seems to wither beneath. His jaw tics before he retorts.

"I think we should wait to see if this even works first."

After a week the important meeting arrives and as you thought the Dean is already exhibiting signs of impatience. He is more than ready to wrap this up and you already know his answer is going to be no. Already trying to get it out before the four of you can even have a seat.

Still you weren't the Ice Queen on campus for nothing. You saunter into the room, mineola folder filled with your copies of counterpoints pressed firmly to your chest, you can already see he doesn't have the copies you sent him. You place the folder down and open it, leafing through the pages as you speak.

"This request is going to be approved and here are the reasons why. An example of sexism could be made that a new fraternity was approved housing, new housing, after a decades old sorority was deemed "too small" both parties are similar in count. Second funding and donations are easily influenced with letters to alumni and especially by attendees to this university. My transfer from YAU has brought in revenue of roughly 2.6 million dollars, increasing your diversity for women when this is normally a male dominated school. I am aware that my transfer had even encouraged other students from YAU to transfer here. Which I'm sure is one of your favorite bragging points to tell Dean Fraunk during your weekly golf trips isn't it? So it would truly be a shame if these points would come to light in the investigation of my return to YUA just months before the university sports festival. I do look amazing in Ice Blue you know. Matches my quirk a lot better than Maroon." You put the ball in his court, he is visibly upset, eyes flying to the facts that you've presented. All important, viable facts. You were right MMU was known to be a male dominated school and the media would have a field day if they uncovered a mistake he happened to look over. Not to mention you were his main bragging point, Dean Yuzi always talked about how he had stolen you, the female star of rising heroes, from YUA. The silence in the room is amplified by the ticking of the clock, seconds accumulating into minutes as it counts down his T time with his old college buddy and rival. He gulps nervously, knowing what he has to do in order to keep both his bragging rights and a law suit under wraps. He looks up to you as you wear your stone cold face, making him think of a loan shark who hasn't been getting their payments on time. He is fearful for your future boss.

"I believe I have no choice but to approve."

"Correct." You respond, "Now we have a bit more to discuss. I noticed that classrooms 456 and 215 are being remodeled. Those gently used flat screens will be given to our house since it is technically college property. Common space 3 and 1 are being renovated in dorms A and B. We will accept the leather arm chairs as they are in good shape but we demand a new couch. I know it is in the budget as I help plan the budget. I also believe it is time for an allowance for our hybrid house." The Dean shrinks away from your tenacity, nodding as that is all he can do.

"Well this is a generous offer and should cover most of the basic necessities such as a new fridge and mattress. The aesthetic we will be raising funds for. Kindly spread the word, we don't want to take up more of your time and be late with your 'meeting' with Dean Fraunk." You place a flyer on his desk as you turn on your heel. The rest of the sorority, mouth agape following suit. Yuzi looks down at the flyer, head hung in a mixture of disbelief and shame as he reads over the neon paper advertising a co-ed car wash.

He just hopes you and Bakugou are worth the trouble.

#bakugo x reader #bakugou x reader #bnha x reader #bakugou katsuki #bnha au #bnha college au #bnha imagine

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nerdypanda3126 · 3 years

Text

A Game of Snake and Mouse – Ch. 3

A little bit of angst makes the fluff sweeter, right?

Or: Viperion’s first akuma battle alongside his new girlfriend affects him more than he thought it would.

Read on Ao3

First Chapter | Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

"Second Chance!" Viperion called, resetting his timer for the third time.

Desperately, he lunged towards Ladybug, tackling her to the ground just as an akuma blast exploded right where she'd been standing. He hopped to his feet instantly and tugged her with him, taking a step back and clutching her close to his chest as the side of the building crumbled away.

"Third reset," he muttered in her ear, keeping a sharp eye turned on the akuma. "The explosions are problematic. We need to get close without attracting her notice somehow."

"Chat Noir!" Ladybug called.

Chat Noir turned to look at her right as an explosion went off next to him, sending him sprawling to the ground headfirst with a hard crack. He struggled to lift himself up, then fell back down, unconscious.

Viperion cursed and reset again.

Tackle. Duck. Stand up quick. He shushed Ladybug by putting a finger to her lips. "Fourth reset. Don't call out."

She nodded and he tapped on her Multimouse pendant wordlessly. She'd taken to wearing both, just in case, despite his protests. Although it did come in rather handy right about now. They needed Multimouse's ability to sneak up on this one.

She nodded once more, short and curt, and combined her Miraculous before she looped an arm around his waist and slung her yoyo out as far as she could towards the rampaging akuma. They landed behind a billboard and Viperion detransformed, throwing Sass an egg and keeping an eye out at the same time. Without his suit, adrenaline and concern for his teammates pumped through him in equal measures, spiking his heart rate, making every minute feel like an endless second.

Chat Noir was doing an excellent job of keeping the akuma’s blasts away from them, and Viperion was back in action within a few minutes. He set his timer and Multibug called on her Multitude power, shrinking as her clones separated.

Viperion watched from his hiding place as Multibug snuck up from behind the akuma in all different directions. Another explosion went off and his eyes flicked to Chat Noir for the briefest moment, checking to make sure he hadn’t been hit. As per usual, Chat was being reckless, but in that calculated way of his, throwing himself just close enough before dancing away, playing cat and mouse with the akuma.

Which is when things went sideways. Frustrated with Chat’s taunting, the akuma screamed and blew out a blast in all directions, scorching the rooftop they were on and blowing seven little Multibugs off their feet. Viperion’s ears were ringing as he watched Chat try to put his arms up in defense, losing his balance on his baton again as the aftershock of the explosion hit him.

He fumbled at the snake’s head of his bracelet, his eyes stinging from the heat and the sudden onslaught of tears. None of the Multibugs were moving. He didn’t look any longer than he had to.

“Second Chance!” he finally managed to choke out.

Multibug had her jump rope in her hand, ready to call on Multitude and he stopped her, wrapping his arms around her to pull her close with his back turned to the billboard.

“Wait,” he murmured, his voice thick with the emotion of having her back, having her safe, having her in his arms again. Losing Ladybug was par for the course at this point, not that he liked it, but it was his job to stay composed, and she counted on him to stay composed.

To lose Marinette like that. He wasn’t prepared for it. Never wanted to be prepared for it.

“Viperion…” she started, but he hushed her by squeezing her to him and pressing his lips to hers, hard.

The akuma screamed. The resulting explosion rocked the billboard behind him, throwing him a step forward into her, and Marinette’s eyes widened as she clutched him tighter.

“Chat’s down,” he said in her ear. “Go now.”

She rushed to call on her power and Viperion stepped into the distraction role, pulling the akuma’s attention away as Marinette crept up behind her, too small to be noticed until the charm bracelet was thrown over to Viperion and he crushed it beneath his boot.

All the tiny Marinettes combined again and Multibug called her Lucky Charm that they hadn’t used—a stuffed tiger, what would they have done with that?—before tossing it in the air. The magic Ladybugs washed over everything, setting it all right and fixing the damage from the explosions before Multibug captured and purified the akuma.

As soon as it was over, she turned to him, smiling, offering him a fist bump, but he took her hand instead and tugged her to him again, capturing her lips in a kiss that said everything he couldn’t. He watched her eyes flutter closed, and she went up on her toes to return it, tangling her fingers in his hair. He barely registered that she tasted like vanilla mixed with the remnants of magic that clung to her, something like the air after a lightning strike, and he breathed her in, every second more cherished than the last.

An obvious throat clear broke them apart, and when Viperion managed to tear his eyes away from Multibug, Chat Noir was helping the akuma victim to her feet with a teasing grin stretched across his face that didn’t meet his eyes. Before Viperion could say anything, Chat Noir waved him off with the excuse of helping the victim home before his timer ran out, even though he hadn’t used his Cataclysm and so didn’t have a time limit.

“That’ll be an interesting conversation later,” Multibug mused before she turned back to him. “Cat’s outta the bag, I guess?”

He groaned. “You’ve been hanging out with him too much—his puns are rubbing off on you.”

“Sorry.” She giggled, then sighed. “I guess it was about time to tell him, though, don’t you think?”

“I wasn’t really a fan of keeping the secret identity rule, anyways.”

He traced her bottom lip where his fangs had nicked her in his rush to have her close to him. A tiny purple blister had formed where he hadn’t quite broken skin but definitely hadn’t remembered to be careful. Her fingers traced a nervous pattern at the base of his neck.

“Was it bad?” she asked hesitantly. “You seem a little shaken up.”

He shook his head, his eyes locked on that tiny mark on her lip, fighting for his words to come out normally past his dry throat. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”

She caught the strain in his tone and her eyelashes fluttered as she looked down at their feet. “You can tell me, you know. I know it’s all okay in the end, but it must be hard to see—”

“I know,” he cut her off quickly. Seeing it was one thing. Hearing Marinette talk about it was another. “I know,” he said again, softer this time before he rubbed her back and dropped a kiss to the top of her head. “I just can’t. It’s…” He sighed. “It’s different, that’s all.”

She nodded as if she understood before her earrings started beeping and she brought her eyes back up to meet his.

“I have to go.”

“Be right behind you,” he answered her, reluctantly letting her step out of his embrace so she could sling her yoyo away towards the bakery. She glanced back once before she tugged on the string and she was gone.

Viperion sat on the roof and laid his head back against the wall, taking deep breaths as his timer ran down. Normally he’d circle back to the Liberty to solidify his alibi, but he was still rattled and he wouldn't be able to hide it from Juleka.

When Sass appeared, he gave Luka a long look before settling quietly on his shoulder and starting in on his egg.

A horrible thought twisted Luka's stomach and he grimaced as bile rose in his throat and mixed with the words of his question. "Sass? When I reset… those timelines, they disappear, right? They're not… still out there somewhere? Happening even though I tried to stop it?"

"It isss unwissse to ponder such thingsss," Sass answered, which wasn't terribly comforting. Luka frowned.

Objectively, he knew Sass was right; he shouldn't think about the things that theoretically hadn't happened. It was over, the day had been saved, his job was done. But he couldn't shake the feeling that somewhere out there was a Viperion dealing with the aftermath of all the things he hadn't been able to stop. Every time he'd failed and lost Chat Noir or Ladybug. Lost Marinette. His stomach took another awful twist and he turned his head to retch off to the side.

When the dry heaving subsided, he laid his head on his hand, closed his eyes, and focused on breathing. On being in the present. The cold, hard concrete underneath him. The breeze lifting the hair from his neck and wicking his sweat away. Even his still rolling stomach and his trembling hands. He was here, in this moment. He was okay.

And so was Marinette. Back in her room by now, humming happily at her sewing machine, or helping her parents in the bakery, or maybe, if he was lucky, she was lounging on her balcony, waiting for him.

He opened an eye when Sass laid a tiny flipper on his wrist by his bracelet. He'd finished eating and seemed to know where Luka's thoughts had fled. Luka nodded to him and pushed himself up to stand on wobbly knees before he transformed again and started his brisk run towards the bakery.

#miraculous ladybug #ml fic #mlb fic #lukanette #lukanette endgame #luka couffaine #marinette dupain cheng #viperbug #viperion #multibug #ladybug #fic title: a game of snake and mouse #tw major character injury

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