#and leon is being super low effort

[phoenixmetaphor]

Day 4 - Real-life Captain America

[silver-itallics]

My Favorite Inside Source

Leon Kennedy x reader

Part 2!

Warnings: Non-con, drugging, kidnapping, kind of cnc, Leon being a weird old man and feeling bad about it

Title is from Rape Me by Nirvana

This is inspired by Waste Me from @gilfhub !! super cool awesome person I love their brain

This was a stupid idea.

Most of your ideas have been stupid recently.

But you feel stupid, so your antics fit.

You don't have enough self respect to care anyway.

There's a red solo cup in your hand, inside it a mix of alcohols that will probably give you liver damage in your thirties. Raising it to your lips, the drink isn't half bad.

Or maybe you're just too drunk to tell.

The alcohol burns your throat, making you feel a strange mix of nauseous and euphoric. Around you, everyone else seems to be in the same condition.

People grind against their partners in a sorry excuse for dancing, stumbling as much as you are.

It's perfect.

For the past few weeks, you've been doing this. Getting drunk or high out of your mind, sometimes both, in hopes of someone looking your way. You've exhausted your skimpiest of outfits, and worn enough makeup to provide for a beauty pageant.

You leave your cups unattended, and drink any suspicious substance you can get your hands on. You flirt without paying attention to any red flags, letting your neckline hang low enough to practically show nipples.

It's like you're begging to get scooped up and thrown in the back of a trunk.

Actually, what you want is worse than that.

All of your antics are an attempt to get bent over in a stranger's bedroom or a dirty bedroom while you scream "please, no!"

In your mind, no one will lay their hands on you unless you're one step away from unconsciousness.

Pretty girls get taken home. Pretty girls get paid attention to.

You, however, are begging to get raped.

Quite literally.

The last guy that came close enough to shoving his hands down your pants got scared away. You begged him to rape you; you were drunk enough for it to be considered the sort.

He pushed you off, calling you a freak and all sorts of names without even touching you.

Ever since then, your efforts have doubled.

You put your body on display, despite how unattractive you find it. Even in a skirt so short you can see your panties and a shirt so low cut your bra is showing, you barely get any attention.

Maybe it's your soft jawline, or hip dips. The lack of attention could be chalked up to your round tummy or the pimple below your lip. Or it could be your frizzy hair, or the fact that you only talk about three things.

You could make a list out of things you hate about yourself.

Instead, you're fishing for attention, using your tits and ass as bait on a hook.

Still, you keep coming up empty handed.

As you lean over the bar, purposely looking away from your drink, you can feel eyes on you. You push the thought away, your insecurities not believing that anyone would look at you that way. But actually, quite a lot of people look. Only because your pussy is practically hanging out of your skirt, but you catch their eyes anyway.

This time, though, you don't feel just a fleeting glance. You can feel staring.

Turning, you find the culprit. A man twice your age with shaggy dark blond hair watches you like a hawk. You're surprised, considering he's quite attractive. The guy is well built, with muscles and a sharp jawline with a bit of stubble. Pretty. You'll bite.

You give him a smile, playing up how drunk you are. However, it's not hard, considering you'd probably break a breathalyzer with how much alcohol is in your system. The fact that you haven't thrown up yet is a miracle.

Instead of walking over to him, you shift your focus to the bar once more, playing hard to get. Guys like that. At least you think they do. You've never really caught enough guys' attention to say for sure.

Shifting your hips, you arch your back to give him a good view of your panties. The skirt you're wearing is already quite short, but the angle makes the fabric slip up your behind even more. At least there's enough fat in your body to give you some semblance of an ass.

That seems to do the trick, as in a few minutes, you feel a warm hand on your lower back. Now that you've got his attention, time to reel him in.

"Hey handsome," you slur, stumbling a little. That gives you the opportunity to press your cup against his chest in hopes he takes the chance to roofie your drink.

The guy catches you, his hand slipping to your waist. You have to stop yourself from melting into his embrace and begging for it already. He smells like whiskey and gunpowder, and you can feel his strength in just the simple touch.

"Hey yourself."

You talk with him for a few minutes, making sure to compliment him as much as possible and insult yourself at every given chance. Playing the pathetic role isn't difficult, as you aren't really pretending.

Eventually, you learn the man's name is Leon, and as you guessed, he's quite a bit older than you. Almost twice your age. Which is even better in your twisted mind.

"Gonna go pee." You shove your cup into his hand, walking to the bathroom at the back of the bar. There's a long line, which gives Leon enough time to decide what to do with your drink.

At first, he protects it. His hand is wrapped around the opening, and he keeps an eye out for anyone that might have looked your way earlier.

But really, he should be protecting you from himself.

Leon didn't come here with the intention of taking anyone home. Especially unconscious.

But you played into his hands so perfectly, practically putting yourself on a silver platter for him. You probably wouldn't even notice if he slipped something in your drink.

Guilt twists in his stomach.

Girls were always hard for Leon. They liked his looks, but never stuck around long enough to appreciate his personality. At least that's what he told himself.

Except for you.

You liked both his looks and personality, easily charming jokes out of him. And you even laughed.

Some of them you genuinely found funny.

Plus, your self esteem was so low, you'd probably give him what he wanted if he asked politely. Still, there was the chance you'd fight, and he couldn't have that.

The thought made Leon feel sick.

What the hell was he doing?

As quickly as the nausea came, it subsided. The feeling was replaced with the memory that Leon hadn't had pussy in years. He knew you had a nice warm cunt that you'd turn over in minutes.

But you'd be tighter if he took it from you.

That was what helped him decide.

He was only a man, one with needs. You were a fragile, insecure girl.

This would be a cakewalk.

Leon slipped his hand into his back pocket, pulling out a few melatonin tablets. He kept them on him because he couldn't sleep most nights.

He probably wouldn't be sleeping after the guilt of what he was about to do, but the need to feel your plush walls was stronger than any morals Leon had.

Normally, he'd be better than this. But after his entire team got killed in front of him because of a stupid mistake he made, Leon hadn't been the same.

He dumped the pills into your drink.

They drop down to the bottom, fizzing as they start to dissolve. Hopefully the little tablets disappear fast enough for you not to notice. That way, the only evidence would be the effects you'd feel later. Hopefully he'd be able to keep you entertained long enough to scoop you up.

Just in time, you appear behind Leon, dragging your fingers up his arm.

"Sorry, line was long. Miss me?" You tease.

"Lots," Leon chuckles. He gives your drink a subtle shake before handing it back to you. Without even checking the contents, you take it.

"Protected it with my life."

You smile at Leon's stupid joke, taking a big swim of your drink. You really hope he put something in it.

"Well, thank you for your service."

Swishing your drink, you make sure not to look down at the liquid. Leon is glad you don't, as the pills at the bottom are still dissolving. God, he's even bad at drugging stupid sluts at bars.

The only thing he feels he's good at is guns.

They're easy, people aren't. When his gun jams, he knows exactly what to do. But Leon's mouth goes dry when you look at him with those doe eyes of yours.

The two of you talk a little longer, and you make sure to down your drink quickly. Once you get down to the bottom, your face twists a little at the unfamiliar taste. Leon notices, and panics a little. But he needs to be calm. Pretend like nothing's wrong.

So he claps a harsh hand on your shoulder, shaking your body with the motion. He almost forgets what he's doing as he watches your skin jiggle a little.

"It's okay, kid. I didn't like alcohol at first, either."

He manages a smile, but Leon knows he's an idiot. Calling the girl he's about to take home and fuck senseless a "kid" is not the right move. Even if fucking isn't the right word for what he's about to do to you.

Thirty minutes. Leon needs to occupy for thirty minutes, so that the melatonin kicks in. Surprisingly, the task isn't as hard as he thought. Even if you're a little annoying, you entertain yourself well, talking as if he cares. You're like a puppy chasing its own tail. He almost feels bad for what he's about to do.

Almost.

Leon pulls you closer as you yawn, supporting your weight on his biceps. Jeez, you're heavier than he thought you'd be. That might be a problem.

"'m sleepy," you mutter, completely forgetting what you came here for. Well, either way you wanted someone to take you home, and that's exactly what you're gonna get.

You lurch forward, feeling dizzy and sick. Even in this dazed state, you realize: you've actually been drugged. Fear creeps up your belly, latching itself on each of your ribs. For so long, you've fantasized about this, and now that it's happening, you're getting cold feet.

There's a look of inebriated panic on your face, clear as day. Feeling sluggish like jelly, you reach up, pointing a wobbly finger at Leon's chest.

"Leon… you…" slurring, you can't even get the words out. The bartender looks curiously at the two of you, to which Leon puts on one of those charming smiles of his. The one that's gotten him so far, the one he's mastered from years of kissing up to the president.

His hand slides into place around your waist, pushing down your accusatory finger.

"Think she's had too much to drink," he chuckles, looking down at you. "Haven't you, baby?"

Baby.

The word is enough to make you compliant. Leon's voice repeats in your head, putting you to sleep like one of those audiobooks you listened to as a kid.

Sleepily, you nod, relenting your body to him. You're like a bunny chasing a carrot on a string. Except you'd follow that carrot even if it led you into an active volcano. Leon almost pities you. But he pities himself more.

He's rough when he shoves you into the car, and you drift off in seconds. You're out like a light, so he's gotta work fast to get you to his apartment. Leon could always rape you in his car, but he's classier than that. He's a private man, even if he's a dick.

When you're finally on his bed is when he realizes what he's doing. Sprawled out on his pillows, your hair drifts out like a halo. With your eyes closed and lips parted, you look sweet. Even if you're not a blonde bombshell on the cover of playboy magazine.

You're just some girl, an average one.

Some might even call you a victim.

Leon feels nauseous again. Normally he can hold his whiskey, but this is a different type of sick feeling. He's sick in the head, and he knows it. Like a parasite in his head, one he can see, but can't remove.

That same parasite is what makes him crawl between your legs as you're sleeping, pressing his face to your panties. Nice ones, too. He lifts up your skirt to get better access and a better look at the lacy fabric covering your slit. He takes a deep whiff before pushing himself back up.

Leon's gotta work fast, as you're just asleep, not paralyzed. Another amateur mistake. He might have to concuss you if you make too much noise. Surprisingly, he's okay with that. He's broken plenty of skulls, and yours would be just one more. Except you're not infected with any disease, except for a similar one that he has, and you're not a war criminal.

Looking you over, Leon notices what little clothing you're wearing. Claire would tell him it's not good to say that girls are "asking for it", but it kinda seems like you are. He's not sure whether that makes this whole situation better or worse.

Whatever.

The top of your obnoxiously colorful bra peeks out from your shirt, and Leon tugs it down. Your boobs are average, but the first real ones he's seen without paying for them. Even if he'll probably pay for this later. Just not in money.

He's old now, and can't get hard as easily as before. But that doesn't stop his dick from trying to. Man, he's stooped low.

In his twenties, he had girls throwing themselves at him, but never the ones he wanted. Before, his expectations were high. But now he's getting chubbed from the sight of some average tits.

You're an average joe in almost every way. Boobs aren't too big, and your ass isn't huge either. You're mostly fat, which is probably to blame for most of your ass anyways.

But if Leon is good at anything, it's dealing with what he's given.

So he lowers his mouth down to one of your tits, taking your nipple in his lips. He's not as good at it as he used to be, but the skin hardens anyways. Maybe you're good at settling, too. Just like he is.

You squirm a little each time he sucks on your nipples, eyebrows creasing. Leon takes them both in his hands, and each of your boobs fit nicely in his palms. Maybe this isn't so bad.

He jerks his hips forward, trying to get his dick hard. You make it a little easier for him to get it up, compared to the night he spends alone. At least he has some material tonight that's not on paper or a screen.

Your panties are starting to get wet, which is fine, even if he'd prefer you a bit drier. You'd be tighter that way.

He leaves most of your clothes on, figuring you'd be less violated than way. Leon's line of thinking doesn't always make the most sense, but he does it anyways. When he pulls away your underwear, he chuckles a little. You've got a pretty pussy for an average joe, but with a hack job of pubes.

At least you smell nice.

He slides your underwear off your legs, tossing them into a drawer in his nightstand. A keepsake. Trophy. Or maybe material if you ever get away. Probably evidence if you ever go to the police.

Maybe Leon's life will turn around if he gets arrested. Or the president will just break him out and he'll be back to fighting nightmares day and night.

He's trapped in this stupid job. But he's not trapped with you. With you, Leon finally has control. He can make you jerk by playing with your nipples and whine when he kisses your clit. But being nice is boring.

Normally he'd eat a girl out, for the sake of chivalry or whatever. But this is about him, not you. You don't have control here.

He pushes his jeans to his knees, just enough to get his dick out. At least it's hard now, from the sight and smell of your pussy. Probably your best feature.

When he presses the tip against your pretty folds, you gasp. The first sound you've made tonight. Leon doesn't find the noise to be unbearable, so he keeps going.

When he pushes in, he's the one that makes a noise. You're tight as hell, and just wet enough to slip in, but not too much to be sloppy. Christ, you squeeze him like you're trying to kill him.

This is when you wake up. If the state you're in can even be considered consciousness. You feel like you're dreaming, but you fight Leon off anyways. Or try to. The way you push at him is pretty cute honestly. Similarly to how a kitten plays with a piece of string.

"Leon! Stop… it hurts…"

Your smaller hands push at his clothed chest, and he easily catches both of them in one of his larger hands. Sure, you wanted to be raped, but now that you are, you're scared. The fear in your eyes is laughable.

"Thought you wanted this," he mumbles out, struggling to push into your tight walls. You bleed a little, which helps him slide in. Leon's used to blood on his hands, or really everywhere. But never his dick.

Now you're crying. You feel stupid, incredibly so. But Leon's only focusing on the bounce of your tits and stomach, the tight squeeze of your cunt.

"I did!" You hiccup. Your hands still push at his own, despite the fact he's got you pinned and straddled. "I- I don't know!"

Your sobs subside as you focus more on the feeling. The pain is still there, of course, you haven't had dick in years. But it feels good in the same way that popping pimples does or sticking safety pins in your fingers.

Even in sex, you're self destructive. You stop fighting, even starting to enjoy it a little. With the melatonin still in your system, you drift in and out of sleep, which probably helps your case. Leon's thrusts are a little too rough to take fully conscious.

"There we go," he says, speeding up. He's taken to a rhythm that feels good for him, and if you like it too, that's fine. He'll hate himself afterwards either way.

Leon grabs your chin, squishing your chubby cheeks between his fingers. He lets go of your hands, which fumble for his shirt, but not to push him off this time. You're pulling him in even closer. Wiping the tears off your cheeks, the older man smiles down at you. It's sadistic, but a smile nonetheless.

"Good sluts take what they're given, yeah?"

You whine, nodding dumbly. Your tongue feels numb in your mouth and your pussy feels sore. In a way that you probably shouldn't like. Leon's fucking you in a way that will probably cause you to book an appointment with a pelvic floor therapist.

He grunts, and your eyes go all starry. Leon ignores the stupid look you're giving him, splaying his hands on your fat thighs, spreading them further. He's close.

Maybe fifteen years ago, he'd be able to last longer or be kinder to you. But the squeeze of your cunt and soft, slick noises are driving him crazy. Crazier than he has to be to do something like this.

He's about to tell you of the predicament, figuring you'd be relieved. But you wrap your legs around his waist, pulling his hips flush with yours. The pain of his dick hitting your cervix makes you a little nauseous, but you're sick enough to like the sting. Your head is thrown back in a moan as he cums inside of you.

For a moment, Leon feels like he's actually fucking someone he cares about, not just some slut he drugged at a bar. There's a sense of normalcy as his brain goes fuzzy with the orgasm. Your tight pussy makes him cum so hard he sees stars. Something that hasn't happened in years.

But when he comes down, slumping on top of you and breathing heavily, he realizes what he's done. Leon rolls over to the other side of the bed, giving you more than enough space. You're falling back asleep already when the post nut clarity hits him like a truck.

He almost cries, even if he's not the one that is currently bleeding onto his sheets from being treated so roughly. There's even slight bruises on your jaw and hips from where he'd been grabbing you all night. Feels like the night he planned to kill himself all over again. That time he had Sherry to keep him alive, but now she's all grown up and better off without him.

You mumble something in your sleep, causing Leon to turn his head to look at you. He didn't even have the patience to undress you fully; your tits are haphazardly pulled out of your shirt, and your skirt is bunched up around your hips. He didn't even look close enough at your body, the way you deserve. The way he can't give you.

God, he's an asshole.

Or probably even worse than that.

Leon watches you sleep. You're not the prettiest, or the most confident, but now he's stuck with you. Trapped the way he is with his job. In a strange way, he feels connected to you. Not in a love way, but in the way that the bruises on your jaw are in the shape of his fingers. Not anyone else's.

Maybe he won't end it tonight. Maybe he'll stay alive another day. Since he roughed you up so badly, and you're still living. Even if you're leaking a mixture of cum and blood on his sheets. Stupid thing, did nobody teach you to pee after sex? But Leon's not going to wake you. He's probably not even going to get up, either. You'll have matching UTI's and be stuck even closer in this fucked up spiderweb he's created between the two of you.

Sometime past five in the morning is when Leon falls asleep. Surprisingly, he's been given a decent vacation after his last screw up. God knows how long that'll last.

When he wakes up, blinding light filtering in through his dusty apartment, the first thing he sees is you. You're laying on his chest, still barely dressed. Your arms are wrapped around his waist, and you're drooling a little on his shirt.

He's not even considerate enough to try not to wake you, shoving you to the side so he can go pee. You fall to the side, blinking slowly as you wake up.

"Where are you going?" You ask, voice scratchy from sleep and all the crying you did last night. Screaming, too.

Leon can't even look at you. He's still stuck in that state of realization. Because now he knows what he is. Before, he was the golden boy, the president's favorite. But now he's a rapist and overall a big splotch of a mistake.

"Gotta piss," he grumbles, already halfway in the bathroom. You watch him curiously, as if you want to come in. Leon immediately shuts the door, a bit too harshly.

He stays in the bathroom too long. Your blood and other fluids dried on his dick and pelvis, which he only cleans off because it's itchy. But also because he doesn't really want to be reminded of what he did. Leon wishes he could clean off last night like the dried blood on his skin.

But he knows he can't.

Once he's done, he stumbles into the kitchen, planning on downing a bottle of whiskey for breakfast. Or lunch. It's already past noon.

Leon's plan comes to a screeching halt as he smells food cooking. You're fully dressed again, albeit, without underwear.

All of the guilt he's been feeling all night can't compare to the absolute misery he feels watching you.

The girl he raped last night.

You're cooking breakfast for him, like a little housewife.

The fact that you're not crying even hurts more. You're humming softly, poking around some bacon in a pan with a spatula. Somehow, you found something to cook for him, though he's been living off of takeout and microwave meals for about a week now.

After a few minutes of staring is when you notice that Leon is there. You turn, confirming the fact that you're cooking for him.

"Hey," you're smiling at him, bright doe eyes and rosy cheeks. "I just wanted to say thanks for last night."

God. What the hell has he done?

[possessionisamyth]

exactly one person asked for a men's list when it came to my cooking headcanons list for the ladies so here ya go!

Chris Redfield- Actually a decent home cook because he was old enough to want to give Claire some of their mom's cooking when he could. Unfortunately, any time he tries a new recipe for the first time he burns it. The second or third time things come out fine, but the first time he does something new he's opening windows to let out the pan smoke or returning to coals in the oven.

Barry Burton- His wife does all the cooking as he's hopeless in the kitchen, but since they got married she's never had to wash a single dish. He always made sure there's a working dishwasher in their house for when he's away too long to do his usual chore.

Albert Wesker- Can make the fanciest looking food in the world. We're talking Michelin star $100 a plate in appearance only. His dishes have zero flavor. They taste. No one understands how this happens.

Leon Kennedy- Breakfast King. I know the line in damnation is too overused, but breakfast is actually the easiest way to start learning how to cook. Box mix pancakes, bacon, sausage, and eggs, all require him to put something in a pan on low to medium heat with some oil and poke it around until it's done. There's little effort exerted in monitoring since that's half his real job anyway. Of course it translates to cooking. He's perfected the timing. Everything else is take-out though.

Carlos Oliveira- He had no idea how to cook until he got out of Raccoon City and went home to his family. He tried learning from his mama, but she'd always take the knife or pan from him, so he learned from a sibling and is pretty good at it. He makes a lot of marinades, so the blender is his friend.

Luis Serra Navarro- Absolutely under no circumstances does this man belong in a kitchen. He will concoct the most wretched smelling health food that's full of vitamins, minerals, and "a healthy dash of vinegar for flavor". He's wonderful to have at the dinner table, but never at the stove. Makes a real tasty cup of coffee though.

Jack Krauser- For some ungodly reason, this man can take someone's most hated foods and make them taste good. No idea what the hell he does to it as he will kick everyone out of the kitchen until he's done, but he's just like that. Barely cooks not because he hates it, but because he has to be in the mood.

Piers Nivans- He's the king of the grill. Will lecture anyone in earshot about the important difference between gas, charcoal, or wood when it comes to maintaining the flavor of the meat. He also believes salt and pepper are all you need for a great burger which must be cooked to medium at the hottest lest it lose it's tenderness.

Jake Muller- Salads, smoothies, and overnight oats, he's the one making meals that are able to be eaten fast or on the go. Fruit counts as a dessert to him. He does enjoy experimenting by eating the "weird" or most unfriendly tourist foods while he travels so he has something to brag about, even though he could never figure out how to cook any of it himself.

Ethan Winters- He tries his best. He'll help Mia in the kitchen with food prep or clean up. He makes good dips for chips, has a delicious cookie recipe, and researched how to make baby food for when Rosemary stopped being breastfed. This somehow translated into him figuring out how to make very good custards and parfaits. Although, he got super frustrated trying to figure out how to make bread and has given up the fight.

i will happily do this again for any characters not on either of my lists since i love cooking and baking, and this is fun to think about

[beevean]

The post SOTN stories (except OOE and maybe PoR) have the nasty issue of wanting to look more story driven but without putting in the effort

Yeah sure the characters talk more, we have an official timeline detailing canon down to a t, but the actual story beats were almost always the same just presented in a bit of a different light

Oh no the good guy has turned bad except not really he was being controlled!

Oh no the local Belmont is unavailable!

Oh no my wife died and this gives me motivation to do the things I do!

The actual stories, when you go beyond the interesting ideas and premises, were pretty damn paper thin and CoD is the worst offender of this because 90% of the backstory is secluded to 2 pretty obscure mangas that are so different in general writing style when compared to the game itself that I find it pretty much impossible to connect the two, if not downright dishonest to, say, call Hector a compelling character beyond his general idea because the manga did this and that while the game itself aka the main material

It would be like Sega releasing a Mephiles centered side manga that miraculously does a great job with him, but with there being such a huge disconnect between the 2 medias and their respective interpretations can you really make a generalizing judgement on the character which includes his secondary yet superior iteration? Or isn't it better to just consider them 2 different versions of the character that, while officially canon to each other, might as well be two different versions of the same character?

You really come into my house to stab me like this :P

I agree that the stories in the games are paper thin, and rely on clichés. There is a lot of work that you have to put in when it comes to interpreting characters and finding parallels. Sara is maybe the most blatant example of this: I see how her fans go insane over the idea of her becoming unhinged with hatred when stuck in the VK, forced to kill demons for a millenium and feeding on their dark force, holding a grudge over Mathias/Dracula. Which is great! What an interesting idea, the holy weapon being powered by a woman's rage, herself being the driving force of the Belmont who cursed his descendants to hunt the night for the rest of time! But then in canon she's just the girl you have to save and then the girl who died to make Leon angry - somehow she's both the Damsel in Distress and the Dead Motivational Wife. So yeah. There is a shitton of potential for analysis, but canon only gives you the barest hints. And if you're here only to play as the badass protagonist and don't really want to put in the work, yeah the plots are weak at best and annoying at worst.

As for CoD... I half agree. I can't say that the mangas don't count only because they are separate, but I wish they were more easily available, because without them, the story in the game doesn't have the proper emotional impact. Both LoI and CoD are so obviously rushed and low-budget for their scope, and I guess the mangas were the easiest solution to include stuff the devs couldn't in the game proper (I still believe Joachim was meant to be much more than a mere boss). LoI is even worse because its prequel is pretty much lost, which shows why these mangas should have been preserved better.

I don't really understand what you mean with the writing style being too disconnected. I think the worst part of the mangas (aside from their obscurity lol) is that, while they overlap in the general sequence of events, they're obviously written by two different people and so the shades of the characters' personalities are different. Was Isaac a smug BDSM king with one hell of an inferiority complex? Or was he more levelheaded and proper before losing his mind? You decide which version is your favorite one, because we don't know which version is "more" canon. You can mix and match if you want, but again, that's you putting in the work.

And well, I am super biased but I do see a connection between the Hector of both mangas and the one from the game ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ both of them, especially the PtR one, flow nicely into what we see on screen. I just wish the game was a little clearer on how Hector is normally vs. the effect that the Curse has on him. I can infere that his real personality is how politely he speaks to Julia... but was it intended, or am I once again working for the writing?

[radellama]

the fun section of the writer's ask game

21. Who is/are your favourite character(s) to write?

MY OCS ATM. AND THE VERSIONS OF EVERYONE FOR MY STAR TREK AU. I put a lot of effort into them and making them feel real and understandable within their story!

Harland is super fun to write cause it's a chance to explore a world and characters I love while being respectful of the canon of the game, but seeing what aspects I can go further into with Harland. And all the snippets of Abe and Orc I've started writing is just AUGHHH THEY'RE COMING ALIVE!!!!

22. Who is/are your favourite pairing(s) to write?

Magland... Abe and Orc...... There's some I want to write, like Leon x Ada or Hylink (again.... Sigh....) that I think I'll have fun with. I just like writing pairings that have interesting dynamics or bounce off each other in silly ways

23. Favourite author

Ahhh man. It's hard to say cause I feel like I haven't read anything consistently enough lately to say for sure. I can say when I was younger I really loved CS Lewis and as a teen I really enjoyed what little I'd read by Niel Shusterman, and maybe throw in Adachitoka for good measure

24. Favourite genre to write and read

SCI-FI / THRILLER ALL THE WAYYYYY BABBBEEEYYY

I like other stuff like fantasy and drama and whatever too ofc but like. NOTHING QUITE SCRATCHES THE ITCH LIKE THESE TWO, ESP IF THEY'RE A PAIR.

Sci-fi is soooo broad and fun, it's interesting when it's low concept or high concept and I like that it's so easy to inject philosophical dilemmas into the bones of the story and leave you thinking, and I like how interesting it is when you can draw parallels to current life (it's especially interesting seeing retro future sorta stories, both the fun aesthetics of 90s shit but also just seeing what people thought the scientific advances could be the further back you go, and seeing things that used to be sci-fi become just sci)

AND THRILLERRRRS.... I find them more interesting and scary than horror, though I've often been mistaken for a horror head even tho I feel like I don't watch horror that much... (Unless it's overlapped with thriller I guess lol) Idk I just find that the kind of stories you can tell when you drag out the tension and let the scares settle in to the atmosphere instead of demanding attention front and centre affect me more. I like when there's some kind of conspiracy or danger to work around and it gets more horrific with worse implications the further you claw into it. I want the fear to linger in my mind instead of only speaking to my body (think like how a jump scare isn't really scary other than startling you, vs something that actually unnerves you and gets worse the more you think about it)

I guess all that to say. I like thinking about things and want the story to haunt me with everything it's got. I want to still be thinking about it years later cause there was something in there that lingered....

25. Favourite part of writing

Already answered here

26. Favourite writing program

Libre, I guess? There's certain things I miss from Microsoft word/google docs but fuck them LMAO 🖕🖕🖕 I just wanna be able to write easily and have basic formatting options, ya feel. Libre does the job so I use libre

27. Favourite line/scene

Of my own writing?? I feel like I haven't written them all yet..

Here's a Wip of a scene I really love from much later in harlands story that I really love:

"Well aren't you just a bundle of contradiction." Flea mused.

"Pardon?" Harland asked.

Flea sauntered up to Harland, circling around him as he spoke.

"A friend to both sides of the war." He swatted Harlands hair from his shoulder, watching it fall as he avoided eye contact. "A pacifist whose work has made weapons."

Harland opened his mouth to defend himself, but flea dragged his finger across his chest. Harland couldn't help but get distracted as the general's nail tugged at his collar.

"I don't make weapons." He said, unable to hide the slight waver in his voice.

Flea pouted at him condescendingly. "You may not make them, but would they exist without you?"

Harland clenched his jaw.

"Even when you fight-"

"I don't fight." Harland interrupted.

"EVEN WHEN YOU FIGHT," Flea continued, "you are offensively defensive."

Flea smiled, enjoying Harland struggling to keep himself composed. He stood in front of him, tracing his jawline. "What a contradictory mess of a man…”

28. Favourite side character

Ummmm. Every single one. Idk. Too hard to pick from media but I can tell you that I really like the kitty cat baker lady, shy cow girl and orc's sister from Abe and Orc. And obviously, my most favourite side character from their story is the Penis Wizard

29. Favourite villain

MAGUS BABBBEEEYYY!!!!!!!!!! ALWAYS AND FOREVER!!!!!!!! IHYRYGJPOGJOJGLVJB I NEED TO WRITE STUFF ABOUT HOW INTERESTING HE IS SOMEDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

30. Favourite idea you haven’t started on yet

Oh man there's so much. I will say it's my screenplay, Misled Millionaire, that was an integral part to making me wanna study film. I've planned so much without it feeling ready and I knew I needed to learn more to do the idea justice, and I still have hand written notes from 2019 that I kept, and even found the original quick note I wrote in my phone all the way back when I just had it as a silly little idea:

Reclusive millionaire searching for new life purpose, unlikely friendship with a fake psychic.

The story has changed quite a bit, but the gist of it is that a younger entrepreneur type is feeling lost and lacking despite ticking off so many boxes that should mean he's successful and happy. While he tries to find himself, he grows dependant on his new friendship with a little old lady who gives him fortunes, until one day he can't find her when he really needs her. When I've made progress on other stories, I'll write the screenplay and hopefully direct it myself! So no stealing my ideas!!

Send me some writing asks

[crystalelemental]

Sync Pair Retrospective - Sinnoh Elite Four

Exactly one year ago today, Aaron was released as the first of the glorious Sinnoh Elite Four.  And as a sucker for all things Sinnoh, I think it's time to talk about the intervening year this trio has had.

AARON Aaron came in with Vespiquen, an outcome I was not anticipating given Drapion. But hey, alts for later, am I right?  Haha, Variety Scouts.

Aaron came in as an Attack/Crit buffer, which is always super valuable.  The fun was in his secondary application as someone who buffed both defenses.  The reasonable limitation, then, was low healing potential.   He had one use of Heal Order, which was a Potion-style heal for himself, and a Mini Potion for his allies. There was a lot of questioning about Aaron's overall performance on arrival. Atk/Crit buffers are great, but competing with Hop as a free unit with superior healing, and Sonia as someone who did like 13 different things at once, kinda placed Aaron in an odd spot.  What exactly did he do better than his competition?

How about Precision Pals?  You know, that beautiful little skill that fixes every high-DPS low-accuracy issue available?  What if he just had that as part of his main buff?  What about Quick Cure and Natural Remedy to counteract status of all kinds?  What about Stalwart/Unbending to just block debuffs to his bulk? What about a glorious 50% flinch rate off his attack as a support?  All of this came together to significantly make Aaron stand out.  Back in this era, grid expansions hadn't been invented yet, which meant this guy?  This was the guy to draw if you liked Kris.  No one did it better.

Of course, grid expansions were made real, and most options with lower accuracy have those issues solved by their own kits.  Kris got Pinpoint Entry 2, and no longer required Aaron's services.  It seemed like his overall utility might dip a bit, just before realizing, oh wait, this dude is a monster in Gauntlet.  Defensive buffs, healing, high flinch rate, solves Atk/Crit needs for offense, and has just about every possible form of counterplay you could ask for?  Aaron's ridiculous.  He's outrageously good.  Even by CS standards, he maintains well.

But of course, there's a reason he's never stood out quite as much as Sonia. Having guaranteed heals with double MPR, Defense Crush 9, and comparable buffing but with more universally significant defense over accuracy really pushed Sonia over the edge.  Being able to paralyze in a pinch is also wildly significant for Gauntlet.  She's always been a sort of gold standard for Atk/Crit buffers that no one's quite kept up with.  But Aaron's still the best effort that's ever gone into it, and holds a unique niche as the only option to provide those same buffs, and accuracy.  It’s just that accuracy is not a sufficient niche half the time.

BERTHA I waited so long for Bertha to join this game, and she showed up exactly as I would've liked.  With Hippowdon.  And as a Tech option with Sandstorm, which I personally like.  Fun fact: I love field effects.  I was unapologetically in favor of Gen 5 weather wars, I love trying to control the field.  Anyway.

Bertha was instantly both underwhelming and one of the most significant additions out there.  Let's get this out of the way: prior to May 2022, Ground type damage was dead in the water.  You either had Maxie, or Ground-types sucked. Cynthia didn't have her expansions and was awful. Hapu and Clay had nothing, and no one was optimistic about later performance in the grid war.  Maxie was your only option, barring like...I guess Leon or SS Serena, who did well enough, but it's different when the sync isn't on-type, you know?  Enter Bertha, a general pool addition that offered a fantastic Ground-type sync nuke.   This?  This was new.  This should have been significant, and her best selling point.  If it wasn't for Kanto.

"But it's the Johto villain arc!" Giovanni is from Kanto!  No changing of the theme skills changes that they relegated a slot for Johto to a Kantonian!  Regardless, anyone familiar with the datamine took one look at the difference between Bertha, who was a bulky Tech nuke that needed offensive support to set up, and SS Giovanni, who had roughly eighty gagillion damage behind both Ground and Poison type attacks, and decided yeah.  Bertha is not relevant.  She does not compete with the DPS that Giovanni is throwing around.  There was no reason to pick her over him.

To compound her woes, much of her kit was Stall-based, and the 10k Master Mode meta was very unkind to Stall, requiring a lot of concessions on Strength powerups.  With the advent of Sinnoh CS happening alongside these three, and introducing insane multipliers and Entry x2 skills, Stall was in a worse position than ever before.  Granted, she was like Wallace in her trap damage stacking, and the added power of Sandstorm had some potential, but the big expectation was in Stealth Rock.  Yes, the dreaded skill of competitive entered Masters in the form of a Rock Damage Field, which would deal an unspecified amount of damage per action to all opponents.  No one knew quite what this would entail, but we hoped for much.  And were given little.  Turned out, the damage was negligible, maybe a little stronger than Sandstorm chip at base, and able to hit for super-effective damage.  Sounds cute, right?  Oh, except that every single fight in the game was retro-fitted to have Rock DF Resistance 9, so Stealth Rock effectively dealt like 20 damage.  It wasn't just negligible, it was effectively nonexistent.  So Bertha, somehow, added basically nothing to the pre-existing Stall meta.

As if all that wasn't enough, things actually got worse somehow.  Three months later, Courtney would also join the general pool, with Ground Zone of all things, answering the long-held question of whether types with natural synergy with Hail and Sandstorm would receive Zones in the affirmative.  Courtney had comparable sync performance, immediate access to a better modifier on damage, and better self-setup.  She wasn't even frail; her physical bulk help up really well.  Bertha faced significant competition there.  And then PokeFairs started getting grid expansions, starting with Cynthia, who absolutely exploded onto the field.  Even among F2P options, we got Naomi, who is actually a respectable damage dealer for the type.

I would be lying if I said Bertha was bad.  I actually happen to like her quite a bit. But compared to Aaron and Lucian?  Yeah, Bertha did not compete at the same level.  And as Ground-type damage has become a bit more commonplace, Bertha’s had some trouble standing out.  Which is a shame.  Maybe her Variety Scout will be good.  Or she’ll get an alt.  Think about it, DeNA.  I’d whale.  You know I’m good for it.

LUCIAN Okay. Okay, listen to me.  It's been a year, and Lucian is still, bar absolutely nothing, the best general pool 5* in the entire game.

At the most basic level, what Lucian offers is tremendously powerful.  And it all lies in Growl, of all things.  Lucian debuffs Attack by 1 stage, on all opponents. His passives then kick in, also debuffing special defense, and boosting the entire team's speed by 1.  At 1/5, Lucian is the second most efficient AoE special defense debuffer in the game, tied with 3/5 Halloween Iris, and losing only to 3/5 SS Hilbert with Ripple Effect and a very lucky P!Dawn.  That is what you are dealing with.  But even that's not enough, because those speed boosts mean that Lucian is keeping your entire team running on nigh-infinite gauge. With no investment, Lucian already improved upon the tried and true success of Palentine's Dawn, becoming one of the unquestionable best tools to get your hands on.  He even had a natural 100% multiplier on sync damage as a Tech nuke, just to really sell that this guy is unreasonable, even with no further investment.

But let's say you want investment.  Let us say you have been graced by the presence of 3/5 Lucian.  Now you have someone with perfect self-setup, thanks to Ramp Up and his trainer move.  Now you have someone with a 50% confuse chance for Uxie as needed.  Now you have someone with SIX sync damage tiles, another multiplier, Adrenaline 1, and even Burst In to just ignore the need for crit buffing in advance of his first sync.   Since he spams Growl all day, Burst In is like an ideal complement to his kit.  Lucian could routinely hit damage cap before it was raised.   This guy was unbelievable from the first moment he dropped, and has not missed a single beat along the way.  Champion Stadium? Unbelievable debuffing game.  Gauntlet?  Stupendous sync nuke.  Battle Villa? The ability to require no MP at all to maximize special damage and maintain gauge for 4-bar spam?  When the next month introduced Johtrio, Lucian was instantly the partner for SS Kris and SS Ethan, perfectly complementing their skillset and wasting nothing.  Every single mode was instantly Lucian's playhouse.

This game was made for Lucian.  Think about it: the moment before he came out was Sygna Suit Morty, a dude who offered great bulk and role compressed Sun into a support.  Right after him, we get Sygna Suit Kris, who did the same but for Rain, and massively favored special attackers.  Often when I talk about their role compression, it's stuff like dual field effects; Morty and Lyra giving Sun and Grassy Terrain, or Kris taking Lucas or Anni Skyla to help out Clair or Winona.  But for everything else, especially on-type, the third was just someone to debuff.  That’s what you were aiming to add.  Lucian was, and is, that debuffer.  Those two literally produced a free spot for him on nearly every team. Especially for Kris, whose main flaw was just being kinda slow.  Lucian could speed her team up, and weakened special defense?  Well I guess the game's just entirely over then, huh?

Even in the face of competition, Lucian prevails.  Sygna Suit Hilbert has Ripple Effect Metal Sound, but when is Hilbert ever going to just spam debuffs for someone else at 3/5?  Sygna Suit Brendan showed up to compress his role into a support, and did a pretty good job at being a debuffer, except Freevenge cannot compete with speed buffs when you’re spamming a 3-bar move, and Lucian opened up alternate supports like full defense or more aggressive special attack supports.

No one has done it like Lucian.  This dude is out here competing with PokeFairs and doesn’t even lose.  His literal only flaw has been competition with Zone setters, and wouldn’t you know it, Master Mode just dropped a 150 point condition to not change field effects, to counteract the 100 point No Debuffs condition.  This game was literally designed for Lucian.  All is for Lucian, the luckiest man in the world.

I want to end this by saying listen.  There have been a lot of new players to this game over on Reddit recently.  If you are such a player, great news: the Sinnoh Villain Arc is about to rerun.  Be sure to collect those daily tickets for free pulls, and use them immediately.  Right now you have 1/7 odds, because Looker hasn’t been added yet.  These are the best odds you have of pulling something specific, and hope that you pull Lucian even once.  Because holy shit.  Holy shit, dude.

[xolborsaysstuff]

for fun, talent swap dangan au!!!

Game one has second game talents, game two has third game talents, and game three has first game talents.

The personalities don't change too drastically for most of them, and their backstories can sometimes be very similar to canon or even seem similar to a different character's canon backstory.

Protag 1: Sayaka Maizono

Protag 2: Teruteru Hanamura

Protag 3: Rantarou/Shirogane

-------

Sayaka Maizono, Ultimate Imposter 'Idol'/'Pop sensation'.

The protagonist of this game, Sayaka tries to keep the group together through their leadership, desperate to win against despair at all costs. Sayaka can mimic any voice and feels like a fraud all the time and like they're being praised for something they didn't do. Sayaka has heavy low self esteem and feels like everything they do is just an attention seeking move and feels like they're shallow, so they try to stay selfless as possible as Sayaka feels Sayaka has no real identity outside of how others choose to see them.

interactions: Is friends with Aoi due to the lack of judgement or putting Sayaka on a pedestal, is nervous with Leon due to him putting them on a pedastal, likes Taka and is thankful for all the help.

-----

Leon Kuwata, Ultimate Cook.

he's sick of being seen for only his talent, he tries to spice it up, he tends to lie about what his true talent is a lot, but he always ends up giving it away by making the best food ever, the foods usually super spicy though. Seen as hot headed, but he can be pretty chill at times. He worked for his family's restaurant and was usually the only sibling to help out, earning some resentment towards his family.

Interactions:

Leon gets along with Mondo even if he found him intimidating, he looks up to Sakura and Sayaka a lot, and both Aoi and Ishimaru scare him.

------

Chihiro Fujisaki, Ultimate ???.

With no memory of their true past, Fujisaki tends to try to fade into the background to avoid any negative attention like bullying, but works really hard during cases and tries to help out a lot, surprisingly tries to help more with physical stuff instead of mysteries, but that doesn't mean Chihiro slacks of during a case. Chihiro works themselves to the bone and falls asleep standing up sometimes, workaholic and desperate to help.

Interactions: Chihiro doesn't like telling others about themself, though oddly has opened up to Sayaka, Chihiro is afraid of Kiyotaka's luck but seems to like him. Is close friends with Hifumi.

------

Mondo Owada, Ultimate Mechanic.

much like his canon backstory, Mondo was in a biker gang, Swap!Mondo quit riding after what happened to his brother and resorted to becoming a mechanic, he hates that he longs to ride again, and puts himself into his work as well as working on other things to distract himself. Still has the jacket (the gang didn't let him give it back) but he doesn't wear it, using the excuse " It'll get torn while I'm working or somethin' ".

interactions: Mondo usually accidentally takes on the role of an older brother to people and very usually takes care of the group along with Sakura. He's close friends with Leon, tries to hang out with Chihiro but Chihiro seems to avoid him, Mondo thinks Kiyotaka's way too strict but it's hard to get into a fight with a guy who you're supposed to stand 9 feet away from most of the time so you don't get bad luck.

------

Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Ultimate Lucky Student.

Ishimaru's life is ten times worse than canon and that's saying something. Ishimaru desperately tried to refuse being an Ultimate, and is an unwilling Ultimate. He hates himself for this, and every time he tries to do good it just gets worse because people see it as his luck talent doing the work despite him putting all his effort into it.

Ishimaru is infamous not only for his grandfather's legacy (which was rumoured to be Ishimaru's fault as when he was born was around the time it happened) but also due to his intimidating looks, strict attitude, and because people fear his ultimate works with him to get people in trouble with karma if they wrong him. He's in heavy denial that his talent is even real.

Interactions:

He's good friends with Aoi, seems to try to get along with all students despite everyone's opinions on him, Sakura and him get along nicely and Yasuhiro is like a brother and they both can relate to being disliked. Tries to help out Sayaka with the burden of leadership, but people prefer to ignore him so he has to help from the sidelines. Best friends with Makoto.

Fun fact:

Ishimaru has this aura of karmic justice around him wherever he goes, it'd look red and black with a visible form.

-----

Hifumi Yamada, Ultimate Nurse.

- This information has been redacted. -

Fun fact:

He was originally going to be the ultimate gamer, but I thought it'd be too easy.

-----

Celestia Ludenburg, Ultimate Gamer.

'Taeko Yasuhiro', depressed due to the ordinary nobody life she lead, instead of trying to pretend to be something she wasn't, threw herself into video games. Finding an interest in a pixelated game about a beautiful astounding princess who lead a secret life as a gambler, 'Taeko' took the name 'Celestia Ludenburg' to begin a new life as a popular gamer, and wowed the people with her skills, which he her scouted for the game.

Interactions:

Fun fact:

She's saving up for a castle.

[thimbil]

Having some thoughts about the references and inspirations used for the Bad Batch’s designs.

So Boba Fett is my absolute favorite character and Temeura Morrison was perfect casting. I went to see the 2008 TCW movie in theaters because I was so excited to see him again, even if he was animated. You can imagine my disappointment. Whoever was on screen was not Temeura Morrison. You could sort of see a resemblance if you squinted and didn’t think too hard about it. They replaced Temeura with Racially Ambiguous G.I. Joe. If I didn’t know better and someone told me the animated clones are space Italians from the moon of New Jersey I would buy it. One Million Brothers Pizzeria and Italian Bistro. Not that there’s something wrong with being space Italian, I just don’t think it’s the right choice for the Fetts. The design got slightly improved by season 7 but it still bugs the hell out of me.

I did eventually get into the show later and (of course) got invested in the clones. Unfortunately, they were largely sidelined by the Jedi storylines. Out of the two new main characters created for TCW, Ahsoka definitely got more development and focus than Rex. When they announced The Bad Batch, I was excited to see a show specifically devoted to the clones… at least that’s what it said on the tin. We have all seen what lurks beneath those stylish helmets.

Jango Fett, you are NOT the father.

So who is?

Based on interviews with Filoni, it sounds like the Bad Batch was a George Lucas idea. And like all his ideas, it’s super derivative. The original trilogy directly lifted elements from sci fi serials, westerns, and samurai movies, more specifically Kurosawa films like The Hidden Fortress. For The Bad Batch character designs, the influence is obviously American action and adventure movies.

Now let’s get specific. Bad Batch, who’s your daddy?

Hunter

Sylvester Stallone as Rambo in First Blood 1982. That bandana has become an integral part of the iconic action hero look. You see a character wearing one and it’s a visual shorthand for either “this character is a tough guy” like Billy played by Sonny Landham in Predator 1987, or “this character thinks he is/wants to be a tough guy” like Brand played by Josh Brolin in The Goonies 1985 or Edward Frog played by Corey Feldman in The Lost Boys 1987.

Hunter’s model is closest to the original clone base. If you look closely you will see the eyebrows are straighter with a much lower angle to the arch. His nose is also not the same shape as a standard clone like Rex, including a narrower bridge. It’s certainly not Temeura Morrison’s nose. Remember what I said about space Italians? It didn’t take much to push the existing clone design to resemble an specific Italian man instead of a specific Māori man. The 23&Me came back, and Hunter inherited more than the bandana from Sylvester.

Crosshair

The long narrow nose, the sharp cheekbones, the scowl. That’s no clone, that’s just animated Clint Eastwood. Not even Young and Hot Clint Eastwood from Rawhide 1959-1965. With that hair, I’m talking Gran Torino 2008. The man of few words schtick and family friendly toothpick in lieu of cigar are pure Eastwood as The Man With No Name from Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns A Fist Full of Dollars 1964, For a Few Dollars More 1965, and The Good the Bad and the Ugly 1966.

In a way, this is full circle because the actor Jeremy Bulloch took inspiration from Clint Eastwood for his performance as Boba Fett in ESB.

Wrecker

In an interview Filoni lists the Hulk as an (obvious) inspiration for Wrecker. Ever seen the old Hulk tv show from 1978? Well take a look at the actor who played him, Lou Ferrigno. Would you look at that. Even has his papa’s nose.

You could make the argument that Wrecker was influenced by The Rock, an appropriately buff ‘n bald Polynesian (Samoan, not Maori) man. But look at him next his Fast and Furious costar Vin Diesel and tell me which one resembles Wrecker’s character model more.

Tech

Tech is a little trickier for me to place. If he has a more direct inspiration it must be something I haven’t seen. That said, his hairline is very Bruce Willis as John McClane in Die Hard 1988. His quippiness and large glasses remind me of Shane Black as Hawkins from Predator 1987. In terms of his face, he looks a but like the result of McClane and Hawkins deciding to settle down and start a family. Although, Tech’s biggest contributors are probably just everyone on TV Trope’s list for Smart People Wear Glasses.

And finally,

Echo

Oh Echo. Considering he wasn’t created for the Bad Batch, he probably wasn’t based on a particular character or movie. But if I had to guess, his situation and appearance remind me a lot of Alex Murphy played by Peter Weller in Robocop 1987. However, Robocop explored the Man or Machine Identity Crisis with more nuance, depth, and dignity. Yikes.

The exact tropes and references used in The Bad Batch have been done successfully with characters who aren’t even human. Gizmo from Gremlins 2: The New Batch 1990 had a brief stint with the Rambo bandana. I could have picked any number of characters for Defining Feature Is Glasses but here is the most cursed version of Simon of Alvin and the Chipmunks. Suffer as I have. Marc Antony with his beloved Pussyfoot from Looney Tunes has the same tough guy with a soft center vibe as Wrecker and his Lula (also a kind of cat). Hell, in the same show we have Cad Bane sharing Cowboy Clint Eastwood with Crosshair. I actually think Bane makes a better Eastwood which is wild considering Crosshair has Eastwood’s entire face and Bane is blue.

So we’ve established you don’t need your characters to look exactly like their inspirations to match their vibe. So why go through the trouble and cost of creating completely new character designs instead of recycling and altering assets they already had on hand? Just slap on a bandana, toothpick, goggles, and make Wrecker bigger than the others while he does a Hulk pose and you’re done. Based on the general reaction to Howzer it would have been a low effort slam dunk crowd pleaser.

But they didn’t do that.

So here’s the thing. I like the tropes used in The Bad Batch. I am a fan of action adventure movies from the 80s-90s, the sillier the better. I am part of the Bad Batch’s target audience. Considering what I know about Disney and Lucasfilm, I went in with low expectations. I genuinely don’t hate the idea of seeing references to these actors and media in The Bad Batch. I don’t think basing these characters on tropes was a bad idea. If anything it’s a solid starting point for building the characters.

The trouble is nothing got built on the foundation. The plot is directionless, the pacing is wacky, and the characters have nearly no emotional depth or defining character arcs. They just sort of exist without reacting much while the story happens around them. But I can excuse all of that. You don’t stay a fan of Star Wars as long as I have not being able to cherrypick and fill in the gaps. This show has a deeper issue that shouldn’t be ignored.

Why do the animated clones bear at best only a passing resemblance to their live action actor? In interviews, Filoni wouldn’t shut up but the technological advancements in the animation for season 7. So if they are updating things, why not try to make the clones a closer match to their source material? Why did they have to look like completely different people in The Bad Batch to be “unique”? Looking like Temeura Morrison would have no bearing on their special abilities and TCW proved you can have identical looking characters and still have them be distinct. In fact, that’s a powerful theme and the source of tragedy for the clones’ narrative overall.

Here’s Filoni’s early concept art of Crosshair, Wrecker, Tech, and Hunter. (Interesting but irrelevant: Wrecker seems to have a cog tattoo similar to Jesse’s instead of a scar. Wouldn’t it have been funny if they kept that so when they met in season 7 one if them could say something like “Hey we’re twins!” That’s a little clone humor. Just for you guys 😘)

None of these drawings look like the clones in TCW, much less Temeura Morrison. Let’s be generous. Maybe Filoni struggles with drawing a real person’s likeness, as many people do. But he had to hand this off to other artists down the line whose job specifically involves making a stylized character resemble their actor. Yet the final designs missed the mark almost as much as this initial concept. Starting to seem as if the clones looking more like Temeura Morrison was never even on the table. It wasn’t a lack of creativity, skill or technical limitations on the part of the creative team. I don’t think there is an innocent explanation. They went out of their way to make the final product exactly how we got it.

This goes beyond homage. They could have made the same pop culture references and character tropes without completely stripping Temeura Morrison from the role he originated. It was a very purposeful choice to replace him with more immediately familiar actors from established franchises and films. It wouldn’t shock me if Filoni, Lucas, and anyone else calling the shots didn’t even think hard or care enough about the decision to immediately recognize a problem. And I don’t think they believed anyone else would either. At least no one whose opinion they cared about. Those faces are comfortingly familiar and proven bankable. They are what we’re all used to seeing after all. They’re white.

Lack of imagination, bad intentions, or simple ignorance doesn’t really matter in the end. The result is the same. Call it what it is. They replaced a man of color with a bunch of white guys. That’s by the book garden variety run of the mill whitewashing. There’s no debate worth having about it. For a fanbase that loves to nitpick things like whether or not it’s in character for Han to shoot first or Jeans Guy in the Mandalorian, we sure are quick to find excuses for clones who look nothing like their template. Why is that? If you don’t see the problem, congratulations. Your ass is showing. Pull your jeans up.

[echoeternally]

Hi there! I have a bit of a strange request for you, if that's okay. I'm currently in the process of planning/writing a longer Star Fox fic that prominently features Panther, and by extension, the FoxPanth ship, and I was wondering if you could give any pointers on writing Panther and/or him and Fox together?

This isn't strange at all! I'm even delighted, like, someone asking me about a pairing that I originally thought almost no one else would enjoy, and so they can write it too? It's like a dream, my gosh!

Give me one more second, like, I'm so amazed that this happened with my rare pair for Fox/Panther. FOXPAN! Of all pairs, I'm thrilled!

Ok, ok! Let's see what advice I can scrounge up for you.

A lot of people are under the impression that Panther is a pretty clear cut character in one regard or the other, but he actually offers a lot of flexibility to write about. That's probably why I gravitate to using him so often for Star Fox content.

Writing him playing off of Fox has a surprisingly enjoyable kind of chemistry, but it depends on what you go for with them. Coming to me means that you're in for the shipping, so, that I can help with!

Kind of prefacing that a bit because I know this is going under a cut, which I'm adding in here. More below, of course! Also, it's going to be a lot longer than you're expecting, so...I'm hoping that helps!

...

~Panther's Background~

Ok, I'll start with Panther as a character, since understanding how you want to portray him is the first part to nail down right.

People kind of mistake Panther to be a flat villain and a basically a pervy flirt, nothing more needed to build his character. It's easy to write him off as such, given how little canon support the games give.

There are some very, very crucial elements that he's given with his appearances, however, and they tend to be overlooked.

First and foremost, a lot of folks like to lump Panther in as "just another Star Wolf crony," which is fair if you don't focus on him.

However! What's critical that too many people ignore is that, in Panther's debut appearance, that's a brand new Star Wolf too. With the story for Star Fox: Assault being what it was, Panther is part of the Star Wolf team that no longer operates as mere mercenaries for the main villain and the obvious rival team, but he's part of a team that becomes allies to Fox and friends by the endgame.

Anyone can take that any way they want, but Panther is basically part of the lightest and kindest, perhaps even the most fleshed out version of Star Wolf. So, people that gleefully like pairing Fox off with Wolf because he has those "hey pup" lines? They should very well like the roster from Assault, because that's the installment that gave the most credibility to Wolf even being capable of defecting.

There's a lot of ways that it could be explained, but notably, Panther is the new big member on the main roster. Sure, they could fill a seat with anyone, but look at who they chose: this lighthearted goofball that enjoys playing with his rivals as much as he does causing trouble. A far cry from the likes of Leon, Pigma, and Andrew, who were on the more ruthless side of Star Wolf.

Many like Panther to be along that side too, and depending on how you want to characterize him, that could work out.

My personal preference, however, is that Panther is part of the catalysts that helps Wolf defect from being fully evil.

He's less interested in hurting civilians and being some kind of hotshot assassin. There's no hard support that Panther's criminal record involves heavy war crimes and murder, and canon biographies about him state him to be an elusive criminal that troubled Cornerian army officials.

Rather, Panther is entertained by causing mischief and enjoys playing around. He's cunning, but in ways to further his goals and those of his allies, not to play as a pawn in another's schemes.

I like to create the background that Wolf and Leon got low and desperate when searching for new recruits, and after meeting up with Panther, they adopt similar traits from him, easing up on their rougher traits in favor of getting their work done.

Basically, I favor the idea that Panther helped make Wolf better. (Which is totally a fun basis for Wolf/Panther, something that I've wanted to write for a few years too, lol.)

~Characterizing Panther~

It really depends on what you're doing with writing him, because you can make him a criminal even still and have that work nicely. However, I tend to give him ways out of being locked into a shadier background, focusing on his lighter traits, and making him more of a "gentleman thief" type of character foremost.

(For reference, I made him that kind of a thief in my fanfic, "Your Thieving Heart," because I really enjoy the idea that Panther's a cat burglar, as opposed to...well, whatever other people prefer.)

If you're focusing on an action or adventure story, I'd recommend using his craftier traits to help him stand out. Panther likes to play head games, because he'll tease and taunt his opponents, baffling them silly until they're clueless to his true motives.

He's also a skillful shot; in Star Fox: Command, Panther is the only playable character that does not use a Lock system for his Wolfen, which means that he makes a single shot that pierces most opponents. And in Assault, he makes a good support to both Star Wolf, and later on, Star Fox, so he can coordinate well in dogfights and combat too.

A story that's geared less to fighting, such as a drama or a comedy, would focus more on Panther's playful traits. Obviously his flirting, which I'll get to in a moment, but also, tweak the way that his playful and cunning manifests.

His teasing can be used to hide other facets of his character (maybe he's actually hurting and lonely deep down) or otherwise his goals (maybe he wants to get flowers for a partner and jokes about missing a meeting to do so).

His smarts can be used to show a more analytic or thoughtful side to him; while Panther isn't the type that would be the smartest in the room, he's absolutely underestimated by everyone, and can get away with a lot of surprises as a result.

Character flaws are pretty simple. Panther can be arrogant, so he can go a little too far touting his prowess and skill, as well as take his joking a little overboard without realizing when to back down. Since he is a criminal, he definitely has a less than luster past, which can hold him back, depending on how you want to write his criminal history. Also, I tend to think of him as a type that comes across charismatic and social, but in reality wants something quieter.

That last bit has support from a profile description in Command, which states that while Panther proclaims himself to be a "ladies' cat," he actually is known to fall "totally and completely in love" with his partner.

So, where people tend to limit him to being confident and flirty, that's the short and simple version to Panther. The deeper way to flesh his character out is to make him a hopeless romantic type, who craves and wants to find someone special to help fulfill his life.

Because a large portion of Panther's character gets limited to flirting with Krystal in his two major appearances, he's not given time to really show off the depths of his feelings. (I think Command tried, but that story got botched in a few too many places.)

He's not a misogynistic type, if I remember correctly, because he doesn't make any crude comments to berate or belittle Krystal's character, but rather, makes strong efforts to prime up his character instead, doing his best to come across as enticing and viable to her as possible.

Panther is super desperate and longing for love, and he's not above trying whatever methods he can to get there.

~Shipping With...Fox!~

So, how does Fox come into play on that? It's pretty easy, since Fox is also a flexible character as virtue of being the main player controlled character for the franchise. In other words, you can project a lot onto Fox in manners however you might like.

There are specific traits to Fox that remain part of his core character, however. He's obviously a strong leader, leading the legendary Star Fox team. If we go by Star Fox 64's ending, he's pretty humble, given that he turns down joining military ranks (presumably greater glory) to keep his life in a freer style with his contract work. (This gets played up as the series goes along, though Fox was actually pretty cocky in Star Fox 64, and somewhat so in Star Fox: Adventures as well.)

Given how his personality matures by the time of Star Fox: Assault and whatever went on with Star Fox: Command, Fox is something of a type that does abide by rules and doing the greater good type of work, but still retains some of his "off the books" or "go it alone" type of work.

So, since he's a hero that dances close to more lawful work, though still manages to find ways to slide around for what his objectives desire, that does make him a mostly "no nonsense" type, though on the friendlier and nicer side, of course. Fox can be portrayed as pretty orderly, in other words, and doesn't favor causing more trouble than he can handle, even if he's not above it.

Does that sound like something of an inverse to Panther, who tends to get into trouble and be mischievous? I should hope so!

Because they have foiled personalities from one another, that gives Fox and Panther elements of "opposites attract," since Panther can be silly and troublesome, while Fox tries to be serious and respectful. Panther has a shadier history with the Cornerian Army and his past is riddled with mystery and lack of depth. Fox, meanwhile, has staunchly strong and heroic ties with the Cornerian Army, who rely and count on his efforts to help them out. Additionally, he has a fair amount of his background explored as well, especially so compared to the enigma that is Panther.

Going by how flustered Fox gets in Star Fox: Adventures, Assault, and Command, he's also a bit sloppier in the romance department. He's seen as a stammering type, and shier around those that show interest in him, namely how Krystal does in the former two installments. He ends up being too protective of her in the last game included for that group, and kicks her from the team thinking that it was the safer option, when it really did nothing to stop her.

Those that ship Fox with Falco can also write him in angles to being oblivious to love, since Falco tends to be a bit harsh with Fox, which many like to write as him being guarded with his true feelings. So, combined with the information above, Fox is something of a romantic novice or rather inept at it.

Panther, whether he's actually good at romance or just likes to think he is, still comes across as an opposite to Fox on that level too. Whereas Fox falters and hesitates in romantic matters, Panther boldly strides forward to do his best in a quest for love.

There are some tricks to helping Fox and Panther work even better than just playing off of their foil traits however.

For starters: Both can be portrayed as very lonely souls.

Fox is a character that lost his parents at a young age, with his mother being out of the picture in every game installment, and his father dead before he's even 18. That's rough stuff, at least in my book. So, I'd consider that Fox has some isolated sides to his character that not everyone knows about, and that he has a side that grieves for his loved ones, and a side that longs to find a way to be loved and cherished in some manner once more.

Huh, does that sound familiar again? Someone that desperately wants to find love to fill a void in his life?

Oh wait, that's literally part of Panther's core too!

See, both Fox and Panther are seekers of love. While Fox may not be as forward with his intentions, he cares deeply for his team, his allies, and his planet, if not the entire Lylat galaxy. While Panther may not have such grand showings for compassion, he'd be the type that would be impressed, if not charmed, by someone so compassionate and caring.

If you take the idea that Panther helped make Wolf and Leon better, then it's likely that he also has a good deal of compassion in him too, seeing the best in people that the rest of Corneria and Lylat write off as the worst out there. Finding the light in the darkness is a kind of hopeful trait that Fox would absolutely be drawn to, since he can struggle to do the same.

Of course, both Panther and Fox are also skilled pilots, so, they have at least that much in common. Fox's skills are something that have outright impressed Panther in canon, and he compliments Fox a few times in both Star Fox: Assault and Star Fox: Command, commending Fox as his personal rival. It's not hard at all to shift that from mere respect to a deeper admiration.

Both are also very loyal and willing to see their goals through to the end. Fox proves this repeatedly in the games, but Panther shows such qualities in his appearances too, sticking by Wolf's side in spite of the challenges they face, and committing to his goals until they either are toppled enough to stop him, or until they are fully realized in a capacity that satisfies Panther well enough.

Typically, I like to mix things between "opposites attract" and "like attracts likes," to balance them out. Both Fox and Panther want to not be lonely and fall in love, to share their lives with someone. They're both also types that would be lonely in a crowd, though none are likely to suspect so, since they both come across confident and social enough to prove otherwise. Fox may find Panther's slippery side somewhat alluring, since he follows a freedom that Fox may sometimes wish he had from his more uptight and legacied life. Panther, meanwhile, might find Fox's loyalty and noble traits very endearing, because that means he'd firmly stand beside anyone that he committed himself to, something that Panther absolutely wants.

Naturally, you can play around with how you might like to portray them, based on the choices you'd make with your story, but those are some elements that I noticed and liked to help build it up.

While a lot of it is fairly made up with loose ties to canon, that's kind of the point to many fanfics. And even still, there is enough canon support to characterize Panther and Fox in a way that could make them a harmonized duo, to the point of romantic involvement.

Phew! Even I didn't realize how much I'd have to write about them until I actually put it all down, lol.

I do hope that you find this helpful. If you want any more information with building the pairing up for writing, please let me know! I'd love to increase the support that FoxPan gets out there, haha!

Thank you for asking too! This was a lot of fun to write out.

[i-write-boop-spoops]

Steven Stone Fluff Alphabet

To go along with my NSFW Alphabet, I decided to do some fluff for my favourite rock nerd. Hope you enjoy!

A = Activities (what do they like to do with their s/o? how do they spend their free time?)

He loves being outside with you, going for hikes, walks and sea swims. Likes to learn with you too, wandering around museums and discovering new things about science, history and culture.

He probably won’t take you mining unless you’re really into it, it can be quite tedious and dangerous, but he loves when you help him polish stones, or help make them into decorations or jewellery.

He has a soft spot for lazy days where you two are draped across his couch watching trashy reality TV shows and fun, animated films

B = Beauty (what do they admire about their s/o? what do they think is beautiful about them?)

Likes how kind and caring you are, not only to him, but to his Pokemon and almost everyone else.

He thinks you’re beautiful in every way, but he in particular thinks your eyes sparkle like the rarest, most precious gem he has ever seen.

C = Comfort (how do they help their s/o when they feel down? what makes them feel better?)

Steven is a little oblivious, so you might have to tell him that you’re down, but as soon as he knows, it’s his mission to cheer you up! Lots of kisses and cuddles, your favourite meals delivered, a shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen. If you’re sad due to an insecurity, he will wax poetic about how amazing that part of you is to him.

If you’re very stressed due to work or school, and you finally have time off, he’s going to whisk you away to a sun-drenched beach in Alola, the finest room in Hotel Richissime in Lumiouse, or his gorgeous villa by the Batte Zone in Sinnoh (provided he hasn’t given it to some ten-year-old yet lol) to help you unwind and enjoy yourself.

When he’s down, he needs reassurance, and lots of physical affection. He might also throw himself into his work/hobbies to an extreme degree, skipping meals and sleeping little, so you’ll have to ensure he gets fed and a good few hours of sleep until he starts feeling better.

D = Dreams (how do they picture their future with their s/o and in general?)

He would love a little family with you, a couple kids running around, maybe in Mossdeep, but he’s down with moving inland, or to your home region if you’re not from Hoenn, if you would prefer.

He definitely dreams about kissing you goodbye and ruffling his kiddos’ hair before he goes to work. Since his mother died when he was so young, he never really got to experience the classic nuclear family, so he longs to provide it to his own children.

He’d like to go back to college too, get his Masters and maybe PhD in Geology and work in that field. He really does not want to be involved with the Devon Corporation, so he hopes he can work with it as little as possible

E = Equal (are they the dominant one in the relationship or are they rather passive?)

I would say your relationship is equal for the most part, the only thing that tips the scales in Steven’s favour is his wealth and connections. He can get you things or into places that you, as a regular person, wouldn’t be able to at all otherwise.

He doesn’t hold this over your head, he finds people who do that rather gross, and he’s not your sugar daddy either. He does spoil you sometimes, but that’s just one way he expresses his fondness for you.

F = Fight (how quick are they to forgive their s/o? what are they like in an argument? who says sorry first?)

Steven is a reasonable man, so I think once he’s calmed down and thought about it more, he’s ready to forgive you if you’re sorry, Now, this all depends on the nature of why you were in the wrong, if that’s the case. He will let small things slide, and is willing to compromise on bigger things, but if you do something like cheat on him, he will never forgive you.

When he is in the wrong though, he will own up to it, your relationship is more important than his pride.

He doesn’t go for cheap shots or low blows, and he only raises his voice if he is really pissed. If this is before you live together, and the fight occurs at his house, he will get you to leave, but makes sure you get home safe.

G = Gifts (what kind of things do they gift to their s/o? are they spontaneous or do they stick to special events like anniversaries?)

So. Many. Rocks.

Seriously, your shelves will be filled with amethyst clusters and pretty pebbles. Some of this rocks will be jewels encrusted in some stellar accessories.

Beyond that, he’ll get you things he thinks you might need. Complaining about your coffee maker? He’s just gotten you a top of the line model with a prepaid subscription to receive new pods full of expensive Kalosian coffee every month for the next five years. Need a new bag? He’ll have one that costs double your rent shipped to you by the end of the day.

His gifts are expensive and high quality, but he does not buy you them for the sake of flaunting wealth. He just thinks you’d like them.

H = Heart Eyes (what are they like in love? is it obvious to others? how do they express their love? do they brag about their s/o to others?)

Steven feels like nothing can bother him. His smile is wider and his eyes sparkle whenever he thinks of you. He compliments you all the time and gives you lots of tender kisses and touches, spoils you a bit too. He doesn’t really brag, he thinks your amazingness stands for itself.

I = Impression (what first attracted them to their s/o? how accurate was their first impression to how their s/o actually is?)

He just thought you were very pretty when you first met, very sweet and cute. Evidently he was correct :)

J = Jealousy (do they get jealous easily? how do they deal with it?)

Steven rarely gets jealous. He’s not an arrogant guy in any way really, but he is confident in himself and in your relationship.

Things like money, power or status don’t threaten him, but appearance, particularity musculature, does. Steven’s quite the lean, slim guy, and sometimes he thinks he might not be strong or masculine enough for you, no matter how much you disagree. It honestly made him hurt a little when you jokingly called Leon, the Galar champion, a himbo.

When he is jealous, he gets a little stiff, he frowns, he holds onto you a little tighter if you’re around the person who makes him jealous. When he’s alone, he laments about it.

K = Kiss (are they a good kisser? what was their first kiss like? where do they kiss the most?)

Steven is a suave, smooth kisser, each kiss makes you feel like you’re the most precious thing in the world.

Your first kiss with him felt right, he gently cupped your cheeks and kissed you slowly in a manner that portrayed exactly how he felt about you.

He likes to kiss your cheek and forehead, and sometimes your knuckles if he’s holding your hand.

L = Little Things (what are the little things they love about their s/o? are they attentive?)

He loves how kind you are, loves how you treat his Pokémon like each one is the cutest ever, even if they are decidedly not cute. He likes how you look after him, making sure he sleeps and eats, showing up to his house randomly with treats or just to visit him. He really appreciates it.

M = Marriage (do they want to get married? how do they propose? what would the wedding be like?)

Making you his spouse would make him so happy!

His proposal would be very intimate, a night time picnic, either stargazing, watching fireworks or a meteor shower. He’d turn to you, with a soft smile, and tell you exactly how much you mean to him, and how much he loves you. Then, he would take out a small velvet box and ask you to marry him. The ring would be jaw-droppingly ornate, with your favourite gem in the middle.

The wedding would be intimate too, very swanky, with geode centrepieces and formal attire. He’d ultimately like to hold it in somewhere like Reflection Cave, but he’s down to hold it in a castle or hotel otherwise, with nice gardens of course.

N = Nicknames (what do they call their s/o? what do they get called?)

He calls you sweetheart, darling, love, my gem.

You call him Stevie, babe and dreamboat. Sometimes rock nerd or dork if he’s going on about geology.

O = Open (do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? is it easy for them to share?)

He’s pretty open, once you two have been together for a good while. He trusts you enough to tell you his insecurities and darkest thoughts, like how he feels burdened by the weight of his responsibilities, how his strained relationship with his father affects him, or how he still has trauma regarding the loss of his mother.

Just make sure to give him a big hug after he tells you, ok?

P = Pancakes (are they a good cook? how often do they cook for their s/o? breakfast in bed or fancy dinner dates?)

Steven cannot cook to save his life. He never needed to learn, they had a personal chef at home when he was growing up, and when he was older he would go out for food or get it delivered all the time. This continues when you get together, he always insists on paying.

That being said, he’s definitely up to learn, especially if you teach him, or if you can’t cook either, he’d love to learn with you.

Q = Quirk (a random quality/ability that is beneficial to their relationship.)

Steven has a super gentle, super careful touch, which means he gives the most amazing scalp massages. You have no choice but to melt when his fingers are caressing your head.

R = Romance (how romantic are they? are they cliché or creative?)

Extremely romantic, more elegant than corny. He wants you to know how beautiful and amazing you are, and he wants to put in effort to prove that point.

S = Sleep (who falls asleep first? do they need their s/o close to them? do they have any bad habits?)

You do usually, he likes to watch you snooze before he falls asleep. He likes to have you close to him, but he can sleep without you just fine, not waking up next to you is really more of a pain to him.

For bad habits? Steven has a tendency to lose track of time and go to bed very late. It can be frustrating when you need a good cuddle before bed, and when you have to deal with a barely-conscious, sometimes grouchy Steven in the morning.  

T = Thrill (do they need to spice up their relationship with new things or do they stick to a routine? how often do they do new things?)

If Steven wants to go somewhere or do something, he does because he has the luxury to. So when it comes to new experiences, like visiting somewhere new, trying a new activity, and you both want to go there or try it, he will have it organised straight away.

He only really has a routine when league business is in full swing, and when he is no longer champion, anything goes. Though if you have a routine, he will work around it.

U = Unity (did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? what traits do they share?)

Steven, due to his wealth and connections, had a habit of dropping everything to go on trips or rock-hunting whenever he felt like, which was detrimental to many of his relationships, mainly because he wouldn’t notify people before he left.

You, however, have taught him the importance of taking other people’s feelings and opinions into account. You’re so attentive with him, and in turn, he learns how to do just that with all the important people in his life.

You’re both kind people, who care deeply about each other and Pokemon

V = Value (how important is their relationship to them? what is it worth compared to other things in their life?)

At the beginning, the relationship is just a luxury for him, something he enjoys, but not something he needs in his life. But the longer you two are together, the more important you and your needs become to him.

You definitely become his point of focus, your happiness is his goal. He doesn’t stop engaging in his hobbies and interests, but he does do so in a manner that disrupts your relationship the least.

You are his rock, the love of his life, and he puts you before everything.

W = Wild Card (a random fluff headcanon.)

Cried while drunk at his Bachelor Party because he just really wanted to be married to you already and he could not understand why he had to wait to do so.

X = XOXO (do they like to kiss and cuddle? are they upfront about their relationship or rather shy when in public?)

Steven is quite affectionate at home, lots of soft kisses, hugs and long cuddles.

In public, his displays of affection are very elegant and appropriate. He wants you to know he loves you and finds you beautiful, even when in public. He likes to hold your hand, or rest his on your hip or the small of your back.

Will kiss your lips as a greeting or to say goodbye, but will mostly stick to occasionally kissing your cheek or forehead when you’re out.

Y = Yearning (how do they cope when they spend time away from their s/o? do they miss their s/o?)

Steven really starts missing you when there’s no way you can be together, like when he’s abroad and/or working. Usually during these times, he texts frequently and calls you at least once a day, provided he’s not stuck in some cave. He likes to gaze fondly at pictures of you, planning how he’ll make it up to you when you reunite

Z = Zoo (do they have pets? do they want some in the future?)-

Of course! He is/was a champion after all, so he has his pokemon team, plus some random beldum floating around. You treat his like your own, and vice versa, so it’s a very happy household.

[cobaltusami]

Mercy

Hey hi hello! I finally finished my Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc fanfic, It took me a literal week. I've been in a bit of a writing slump, But I hope this long fic makes up for my lack of writing!

Words: 3654

Characters: Switch!Mondo, Switch!Taka, Leon

Makoto was just minding his own business, He was walking to the dining hall with Sayaka just chatting about whatever came to mind when it started.

The closer they got the louder the voices were. He couldn’t distinguish who the other person In the argument was through the thick walls, But could clearly make out Mondo’s swearing.

“Do you… Hear something?” Sayaka asked, Putting a hand on Makoto and stopping both of them In their tracks.

“Yeah, Sounds like someone’s arguing with Mondo.” Makoto murmured as he closed his eyes in an attempt to make out what was being said.

For a moment the words got louder and clearer, But quickly became muffled again. As Makoto opened his eyes again he saw Yasuhiro standing In front of the closed doors. “What’s going on In there?” Makoto asked curiously.

“Ugh. Mondo and Kiyotaka are getting Into It In there.” Hiro sighed. “The energy In there Is like, Super negative. I wouldn’t go In there If I were you.”

He patted Makoto on the shoulder as walked past back to his room.

“We should go In there.”

“Are you sure? I mean last time I tried to diffuse a situation involving Mondo I got knocked out.” Makoto laughed nervously, Rubbing the back of his neck.

“You might be able to talk Taka down though.” She suggested, A bright smile on her face.

‘Somehow I sincerely doubt that.’

With a nod and a sigh, Makoto pulled the doors open and stepped In with The pop star.

It was much louder In the dining hall, Taka and Mondo were yelling at each other back and forth In front of their friends.

Makoto left Sayaka’s side and approached the duo warily. He didn’t get too close though before a hand tugged on his arm, Pulling him to a stop.

“Don’t get too close.”

The Ultimate turned to Sakura who had been the one to warn him, She had her eyes carefully trained on the two bickering students. She looked as if she were ready to jump In to separate the two at a moment's notice.

“How long have they been arguing?” The brunette asked, Stealing glances at his friends.

“At least ten minutes.” Hina spoke up from her spot next to Sakura. “They started fighting over who was better.”

“Again?”

“Yes.” Sakura responded.

“Man, This is getting old.” Leon sighed. “Sakura, Why don’t we just separate them now?” He asked, turning to the Ultimate Martial artist.

She glanced at him for a moment before looking back to Mondo and Taka. “And do what, Exactly? They need to work this out for themselves or the fighting will never end.”

She has a point…

“They should just have a stupid competition and get It over with.” Hina huffed. “Seriously, Their bickering Is ruining my donut eating session.”

“Don’t you eat Donuts all the time?” Leon asked, Exasperated.

“Also yes.” Sakura spoke up again, Smirking in amusement as Asahina pouted and grumbled to herself. She reached out and patted the Swimmer affectionately on the shoulder.

“Well,” Sayaka spoke up for the first time since entering the room. “When my group would be upset, We’d find things to do to alleviate the negativity.”

“Like what?” Leon asked curiously, taking his eyes off of the Ultimate’s before him.

The Idol hummed thoughtfully as she recalled all the group activities. “Well, We would talk about our feelings, Gossip…”

“Anything that might help this situation?” Makoto asked.

“Well, I remember one time I was really mad at a few of my friends And to make me forget about how angry I was and realize how stupid our argument had been, They ended up tickling me until I felt better.” Sayaka responded calmly, As If this were a totally normal thing.

“T-Tickling?” Leon stuttered. “You can’t be serious.”

“Sayaka, I don’t think that’s going to work…” The Ultimate Lucky student mumbled, A little embarrassed at the mention of the word.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this but… That might actually work.” Sakura interjected. “Maybe not In the same approach but the laughter should produce enough Dopamine to snuff out some of the Adrenaline they have.”

“Meaning…?” Hina asked quietly.

“Oh, I gotcha. They can’t be mad If they’re too busy laughing?” Leon asked.

“Correct.”

“How do we get them to go for that?” Makoto asked.

“I’m on It!” Hina jumped up, Suddenly very enthusiastic as she approached the pair. Makoto and Leon both exchanged worried looks.

“H-Hina wait!” Sakura tried to stop her friend but she was already actively ignoring everyone else.

“Should we… Stop her?” Makoto asked, To which Leon shrugged.

With a sigh the Martial artist watched even closer than before. Just what Is she up to?

After a few attempts at gaining their attention, Hina stepped In between them and yelled as loudly as she could muster. “BOYS!!!”

Taka was the first to notice her. “A-Asahina!?”

“WHAT?!” Mondo yelled back.

“Your yelling Is super annoying.” Aoi chastised them both, Crossing her arms. “Why not just settle this stupid argument with an Endurance contest? Whoever gives up first loses.”

“Hey, That’s a great idea. Then I can prove once and for all that I’m better than your dumbass.” Mondo smirked at Kiyotaka who rolled his eyes at the Biker.

“What kind of Endurance contest do you propose?” He asked the swimmer.

Aoi grinned, Her eyes glinting with mischief. “How about tickling? Whoever says mercy the fastest loses!”

Mondo and Taka exchanged glances. “That’s fucking stupid.” The biker replied, Uninterested, But that changed however when he noticed Taka looking a bit worried at the mention of Tickling.

“Y-Yeah, I don’t see how It’s supposed to be an endurance challenge! One has to be… Sensitive, In order for that to work out In the first place!” Taka stuttered nervously, Trying desperately to keep his composure. “R-Right…?”

He has a damn good reason to be worried, Kiyotaka Ishimaru Is immensely ticklish, In fact It’s nearly impossible to find a spot on the boy that Isn’t ticklish.

“Hey! It’s a perfectly good Endurance challenge! Right Sakura?” Aoi called out to her best friend, Ignoring that comment about sensitivity.

“Yes, But It’s not so much a physical endurance challenge as It is a mental one, It’s about pushing limits.” She complied.

“Yeah! She would know about pushing limits!” Aoi smiled, Going back over to Sakura. “Tell them!”

“I… Just did.”

“Not that, I meant that story you told me about Ke--”

Sakura quickly put a hand over Hina’s mouth, She appeared calm despite freaking out internally. “Karate.” She blushed, Not wanting anyone else to know the story about Kenshiro that Hina almost just blabbed. “Similarly to Karate, If you want to prove who’s better, What better way than to push past even your opponents limits?”

Leon and Makoto exchanged looks again, This time intrigued. Evidently they both picked up on the odd response.

Mondo looked back at Taka, Who despite his best efforts, Looked incredibly nervous as his window for escape kept getting smaller and smaller. “You look a little nervous, Ishimaru… Don’t tell me you’re ticklish.” He smirked as Taka’s face went red.

“W-What?! Me?! D-Don’t be preposterous!” Kiyotaka retorted. “W-What about you? Are you…?”

“Tch. As If. You think someone as tough as me Is fucking ticklish?” Mondo brushed off the comment, Playing It cool despite lying and being completely and utterly ticklish.

Aoi finally removed Sakura’s hand to dish out another embarrassing comment. “I mean, Sakura’s tougher than you are and she’s ticklish.”

Sakura was too late to stop her this time. Her face went red as everyone quickly looked at her in disbelief. “Don’t look at me like that.” She mumbled. “It was a long time ago.”

Not wanting to press their luck and get their asses kicked for teasing the powerful student, They turned back to what they were doing.

There was almost an unnervingly teasing edge to Mondo’s words as he spoke In a low voice. “So? Whaddya say Kiyotaka? Think you can outlast me?”

No, No he doesn’t. But he’s out of excuses to back out now so he gave a small nod. “O-Of course! I’m much stronger than you are!”

“I doubt that very much.” Mondo smirked, Glancing to Aoi. “You’re the one who suggested It, What do we do?”

Hina turned to Sakura to ask her opinion, But she looked too embarrassed to say anything, So she turned her attention to Sayaka. “What do you think?”

“Maybe set a timer and time how long the person lasts? and have one tickle the other?”

Mondo gave a rather sinister smirk to Taka. “Works for me.”

“W-Wait a moment! How Is that fair? I’ve never actually done this to someone before!”

“And you think I look like the kind of fucking person who goes around tickling people for shits and giggles?” The Biker scoffed.

“I mean, If you need help I can show you how to do it.” Leon volunteered.

“If you value your life you won’t get Involved.” Mondo warned.

“Now that that’s out of the way.” Makoto intervened. “Who wants to go first...?”

“We’re seriously going to do this? D-Don’t you feel the least bit… Childish?” Taka made one last attempt, And Mondo wasted no time crushing it.

“If you’re scared you can always just admit I’m better.”

Kiyotaka glanced around the room at their classmates before sighing and resigning himself to his fate. Either way his secret is going to get out, But at least this way he can take Mondo down with him. “Very well!” He shot back, Pushing aside his nervousness. “I will go first! This should be easy enough.”

While Taka wasn’t paying attention, Mondo had silently moved behind him. Smirking as he listened to Taka continue on with his self pep talk.

“I mean, It’s just tickling, How bad could It beeeEEE!” Taka squealed In surprise and quickly brought his shoulders up as he felt fingers flutter over his neck for a moment.

Mondo snorted in amusement, clearly proud of himself for producing that reaction. “I thought you said you weren’t ticklish earlier?” He asked teasingly.

“You just startled me!” He shot back, Though he was unable to hide the blush that formed.

Mondo rolled his eyes, smirking at the Ultimate Moral Compass. “Whatever,” He paused for a moment, Thinking about how he wanted to do this. He reached around Ishimaru and began to tauntingly unbutton his jacket.

“What are you doing??” Taka demanded.

“I’m having a fucking pool party-- What’s It look like I’m doing?!” Mondo retorted.

“Pool party???” Hina perked up at the mention.

“H-Hina… No.” Sakura sighed, Exasperated.

“I’m undoing your jacket so I can reach more spots.” The biker explained, Undoing the final button revealing a white shirt underneath. “There. Now then… Who’s keeping track?”

“I got you.” Leon volunteered, Whipping his phone out of his pocket and fiddling with it for a second. “Okay, Whenever you two are ready.”

“Are you ready to admit defeat?” Mondo whispered in his ear, The feeling of his warm breath against his neck sending chills down his spine. “Remember, The magic word for when you’re screaming your lungs out with laughter Is ‘Mercy.’”

Taka shivered, Closing his eyes and taking a small breath. “I am ready to begin, Leon!”

“Startiiiinnnng… now.” Leon announced, Hitting the start button on the stopwatch app.

Mondo wasted no time, His fingers skittering across Taka’s stomach with careless abandon. He smirked at the way the Red eyed student flinched and trembled under his touch.

“S-See? This Is pointless. I am fine.” Taka struggled to maintain his composure, He clenched his jaw to keep any whimpers or other embarrassing sounds from escaping.

Mondo winked at Leon as he slowed his fingers. “You’re right, I guess this Isn’t going to--” He stopped mid sentence to shove his hands under Taka’s shirt, and dug his fingers into his sides.

That’s all It took for Taka to crumble, He let out a scream and fell back against the Ultimate Biker’s chest laughing. “N-NOHOHO! MOHOHOHNDO!” He cried out, His hands grabbing uselessly at the tickling appendages.

“Well well… Looks like someone’s pretty fuckin’ ticklish.” Mondo smirked victoriously, His fingers squeezing at Taka’s bare sensitive sides without mercy.

In an attempt to escape the tickles, Taka sank to the floor. Mondo however, followed, not letting up for a moment. “Where do you think you’re going?” He teased. “You’re not getting out of this that easily.”

The Ultimate Hall Monitor flailed helplessly, Laughing hysterically as he did. “PLEHEHEHEASE!”

“Begging already? Man, this Is gonna be easy.” Mondo chuckled, Brushing his fingers teasingly across his stomach. “Just say mercy and this will all be over.”

“N-Nohohoho! I won’t gihihihive up!” He tried to curl In on himself but Mondo was quick to sit on his thighs to stop him.

“Fine, Guess I’ll just have to kick It up a notch then.” Mondo smirked, Tracing his fingertips up and down his sides. This action drew a squeal from the uptight student. “You seem to be pretty ticklish here. You got ticklish sides, Ishimaru?”

“N-Nohohohot particularly!” He lied. His sides were one of his worst spots.

“You’re a terrible fucking liar.” The biker scoffed, Tickling his sides much more vigorously, he honed in on a particularly sensitive spot just under his ribs.

“KYAHAHAHAHA! NAHAHAHAHA!” Taka’s face went red as he began flailing again, Mondo jolted back, narrowly missing a hand to the face.

“You’re kind of dangerous when tickled, Aren’tcha?” He chuckled, His fingers rhythmically massaging circles into the sensitive skin.

Taka couldn’t remember the last time he laughed this much or this hard, His lungs were burning and his sides were beginning to ache. He’d been tickled In the past by his parents, But never this brutally or for this long.

Tears pricked the corners of his eyes and his small gasps for breath became more frequent. Every nerve In his body was on fire. He knew he couldn’t last much longer.

Mondo knew this as well. “Squirm all you want, The only way to make this stop Is to say the magic word.” He teased. “I could keep tickling you for hours.”

He emphasized this by kneading his sides rather meanly, Sending ticklish shockwaves coursing through the laughing student below him.

He broke almost instantly, with a scream of laughter. “NAAAHAHA! MERCY! MERCYEHEHEHEHE!”

Almost begrudgingly, Mondo let up on the merciless tickles and moved off of Taka. “What was his time?” He asked Leon casually, Hiding his disappointment quite well.

Leon glanced at his phone screen again after hitting stop. “I’m not telling until after you go.” He grinned.

“What?! How am I supposed to know how long to last?”

“You don’t. I’ll tell you once you’ve beaten Taka’s time.” The redhead responded slyly. “It shouldn’t be a problem for someone like you, Right?”

He shoved his phone back Into his pocket and turned to Makoto. “You keep track of Mondo’s time.”

Makoto nodded and set up the app as he was told.

“Fine. Let’s get this over with.” Mondo rolled his eyes and laid down on the floor next to Taka, Who had finally caught his breath and gotten rid of the ghost tingles.

The Ultimate Moral compass sat up, thinking carefully. He still wasn’t entirely sure how to go about tickling Mondo, But he had a bit of an idea after that.

Leon came over, Not that Mondo had noticed due to him closing his eyes to brace himself. The former Baseball star leaned In close to Taka and whispered. “I’ll help you. Basically, Mondo Is super ticklish on his stomach and under his arms.” He explained, Glancing at the student in question.

“He’s super weak to light teasy touches on his stomach, Like this.” He demonstrated by lightly running his fingertips across the back of Taka’s hand. “Also, teasing him verbally literally kills him.”

Taka nodded as he took In all of this information. More eager than before to try.

Just as Mondo was opening his eyes to question them, Leon had pinned his arms above his head. “Hey there!” He greeted cheerfully, a wide grin on his face as he received a death glare.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing!?” Mondo snapped, tugging at his arms uselessly.

“Helping the opposition, What do you think I’m doing?” He asked innocently.

“I swear to God, I will fucking end you!”

Taka sat next to the angry biker on the floor, watching the two go back and forth for a moment longer before calling over his shoulder. “Makoto! I am ready!”

“O-Okay! Stopwatch started!”

Wasting no further time, Taka began fluttering his fingers ever so lightly across Mondo’s toned stomach, making shivers run down his spine as he tried to squirm away from the delicate touches.

The biker tried to resist, But try as he may, he soon began sputtering out giggles and threats. Though not really directed at Taka. “Leheheheon, You behehetter be thinking about what you want to say to gohohod because you’re gonna meet him today!”

“Taka, He’s still threatening me, I don’t think he’s laughing hard enough.” Leon tried to say seriously, But the grin on his face betrayed his words.

“I agree! I think I know how to fix that!” Taka smirked, Darting his fingers underneath Mondo’s jacket and launching an attack under his arms.

Mondo let out a shriek and tugged roughly at his trapped arms to no avail. “NO! NOHOHOT THERE!” He barked out between laughs.

Taka’s fingers were clumsy at first, But he quickly adapted, finding spidering motions to be the most effective technique. “Why not? This seems like a very sensitive spot. I think It would benefit me to stay here.”

“THIS IHIHIHSN’T FAHAHAIR!” He complained, Burying his face in his sleeve to hide his growing blush. “IHIHIT’S TWO ON ONE!”

“Hey, I’m just helping because Taka’s never tickled anyone before. I’m making things fair if anything.” Leon retorted. “Besides, I haven’t tickled you. I’m just holding you down. This Is all Kiyotaka.”

“That’s right! The rules never stated anything about restraint.” Taka smiled tauntingly, Applying a bit more pressure and mimicking the massaging motions Mondo used against him earlier.

“GAH! NAHAHAHAHAHA!”

“I bet that tickles like hell. It looks like It tickles.” Leon teased.

“STAHAHAHAHAHAP!” He pressed out between fits of laughter.

“Taka, Try his belly again. Now that he’s laughing, He shouldn’t be able to hold back.” the Ultimate Baseball star encouraged.

Ishimaru did as instructed, His fingers brushing teasingly against his stomach. This drew a squeal from the feared Biker gang leader’s lips.

“FUHUHUHUHUCK! AHAHAHAHAHAHA! TAHAHAHAKA STAHAHAHAP!” He cackled as he felt fingers delicately dancing across his skin.

“I’ll only stop If you say Mercy!” Taka reminded, Continuing his soft torturous tickles.

An Idea came to mind, A rather cruel one. Taka recalled a time when he was a child and was playing with his mom, he remembered how badly It tickled when she blew a raspberry on his belly and wondered If that would work here too. “L-Leon, You know that thing where someone presses their lips against your skin and makes a weird sound? What Is that called?”

“Eh?” Leon looked up at him curiously, Pondering for a moment. But a rather evil smile crossed his face as he came to the realization. “Oh, You mean raspberries, Don’t you?”

“Raspberries, Yes! How do I do that?”

“It’s simple really--”

“NONONO DOHOHOHON’T YOU DAHAHAHARE YOU SON OF A BIHIHIHITCH!” Mondo threw out an empty warning, His struggling intensifying.

Leon laughed. “You press your mouth to their skin, And blow. That’s it. Oh, When you do It, Make sure you tickle him with your hands somewhere too, That’ll really drive him nuts.”

Kiyotaka nodded, Eagerly he bent down and pressed his lips against his quivering stomach. This action alone drew a string of unmanly giggles and squeals from him.

The first few attempts weren’t so successful, but he finally figured it out and blew a raspberry against his stomach, while at the same time digging his fingers into his underarms.

“NAAHAHAHAHAHA! MERCY! OHOHO GOHOHOD STAHAHAHAP!” He screamed with laughter.

Taka relented, Pulling back with a victorious smile on his face. Leon released his arms and immediately dove for shelter In the form of hiding behind Sakura.

The others laughed at this.

Makoto was about to say something but Sayaka silently shushed him.

“Y-You’re fucking evil.” Mondo said breathlessly, pointing an accusing finger at him.

“S-So are you. I still feel the tingles on my sides.” Taka shivered at the recollection.

The Biker leader sat up and they locked eyes for a minute, Silent as they studied each other's reactions. Soon another round of laughter filled the room as they laughed at the absurdity of the situation.

“I’m sorry man, I guess I was kind of being a dick.” Mondo apologized.

“N-No, You’re fine! I apologize! I suppose I don’t know when to ‘take It easy’ as you put It.” Taka also apologized.

Mondo hooked his arm around Taka’s shoulders and pulled him to him. “That’s alright, I can teach ya bro!” He grinned.

“R-Really? Thank you bro!” The strict student beamed back.

“Oh God. They’ve become the other extreme now.” Aoi mumbled.

“I’ll never understand how male friendships work.” Sakura sighed, Hina giggled In response. “But, If they’re done fighting then… I suppose It’s all right that I don’t understand.”

Makoto looked at Leon. “Do you think they even still care about who won or lost?”

“Nope.” Leon snickered. “You wanna know just for the hell of It?”

Makoto nodded with a small chuckle.

“It was--”

“For our first hang out,” Mondo said loudly, on purpose. He locked eyes with Leon, Who had peaked out from behind Sakura to look at him. “Wanna help me get revenge on a certain Redhead?”

Leon squeaked as Taka also looked at him with a rather mischievous glimmer In his eyes.

“Yeah, Let’s get him.”

[blitzturtles]

Title: It Goes Like This (It Starts Like This Universe)

Rating: Teen and Up

Fandom: JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Vento Aureo

Pairing(s): BruAbba

Summary: Abbacchio isn’t a morning person. Never has been. He prefers the comfort that comes with a blanket of darkness to the bright hours of the early morning. There’s less eyes. Less people. Less performance. Unfortunately, he’s gone and fallen in love with a man that believes that the day begins before the sun has even broken the horizon.

Notes: This is for the first place to my 300 Follower Giveaway! @bucciaratisfishmarket requested BruAbba set in my It Starts Like This verse with some disabled slice of life/morning routine. Ngl, I was super excited to get to do something in this verse, so thank you!

Thank you to everyone that followed and participated, and a special thanks to @bucciaratisfishmarket! I hope you like your fic!

Additional Notes: Also, the pill organizer described in the fic can be found on Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1022344896/boneyard-real-bones-weekly-7-day-pill It's cool and beautiful, and I probably don't do it justice. Definitely go check it out!

-

Abbacchio isn’t a morning person. Never has been. He prefers the comfort that comes with a blanket of darkness to the bright hours of the early morning. There’s less eyes. Less people. Less performance. Unfortunately, he’s gone and fallen in love with a man that believes that the day begins before the sun has even broken the horizon. It’s leftover from Bruno’s days helping his father with the boat, and, later, his days running Polpo’s errands. Chasing people down for money and answers. What comfort Abbacchio can find in the night, Bruno can find just fine in the light hours of the morning.

Fortunately for both of them, Abbacchio is more than capable of running on a schedule, of waking up at the same time everyday and forcing his mind and body into cooperation. He did it for years for school and then the academy. It’s nothing he isn’t used to, and he’s happiest when Bruno is happy, no matter what that entails, which is how he finds himself waking up to Bruno’s second alarm before the man can snooze it again.

The thing about Bruno’s new medication—a pill large in size and equally ridiculous in the length of its name—is that it makes it damn near impossible for him to get going in the morning the way he used to. Before, Bruno practically operated on his own internal clock. Waking up before his alarm had even gone off and fetching them both their first cup of caffeine; it used to be the thing that made greeting the day a bit more tolerable.

Now, Bruno snoozes. Alarm after alarm, until they run out. He’s tried music, absurd volumes, and even relocating the damned clock halfway across the room. None of it helps, so Leone compensates. He wakes up around the second or third alarm, turns the rest off, and kisses Bruno’s cheek before he rolls out of bed.

Sometimes there’s a quiet plea, “five more minutes”, that endears Abbacchio so completely that his mood settles, not nearly as bitchy as he could be upon reaching the kitchen and finding someone else already there.

“Why are you awake?” Okay, so. Still bitchy. But he doesn’t sneer his words quite as bad.

Narancia, for his part, looks completely startled by the prospect of someone else existing at such an ungodly hour, but he manages to avoid outright screaming. That’s a plus. Abbacchio isn’t sure his head could take it this early. “What are you doing?”

“I asked first.”

Narancia narrows his eyes, but he caves within seconds. “I got a test in like two hours, and Fugo’s gonna kill me if I don’t pass.”

Abbacchio snorts at the idea, “Yeah, he will.”

“Not helping!”

“Never said I planned to,” Abbacchio points out as he starts rummaging through the cabinets for two mugs. He sets them on the counter and gets to work brewing their coffee. Decaf these days, for Bruno’s sake. Abbacchio could keep drinking his usual, but he takes solace in the bitter taste of his coffee instead. It seems kinder that way, especially when he knows how much Bruno’s been struggling without caffeine.

“Why are you awake?”

“I’m always awake this early,” next is breakfast, which is easier said than done. It’s rare that Abbacchio wakes up with a stomach for anything. Too many years of skipping breakfast in favor of a bottle did a number on him, but it’s not optional anymore. Neither one of them will be able to keep their meds down without something to eat, so he picks through the refrigerator until he comes up with fruit and yogurt as his best solution.

“Really?” Narancia asks, wrinkling his nose, “Why?”

“Ask Bruno,” Abbacchio says, dismissive. He’s really not in the mood to talk to people that aren’t currently snoozing in his bed.

“You’re not much fun in the morning.”

“Am I ever?”

“Touché.”

Abbacchio snorts. He should be offended, but he knows the kid is being a smartass. It’s his own fault for setting himself up. “Why don’t you go bother Fugo? I’m sure he’ll be happy to help you study.”

“Have you ever tried waking Fugo up?”

“No, can’t say that I have.” That’s always been Bruno’s job, assuming that Fugo hadn’t already woken up on his own.

“It’s too early to get stabbed.”

“Touché.”

They go back and forth for a while longer. At least until Abbacchio’s patience runs out, and he’s finished putting breakfast together. He dismisses himself with little warning and doesn’t feel the least bit guilty when the kid looks a little startled by the abruptness of his departure. He has things to get done for the day, and those things don’t necessarily include being part of Narancia’s obvious effort to procrastinate.

“Bruno,” Abbacchio calls when he steps back into their room after Moody opens the door for him. “Your five minutes are up.”

“Five more?” Bruno asks, voice muffled. His head is barely visible with only a tuft of hair sticking out from a pile of blankets. It’s cute, and Abbacchio is a complete sucker for giving in.

“Last one, tesoro,” Abbacchio warns as he sets Bruno’s cup and food down on the bedside table.

There’s a muffled reply that might be a quiet thanks, though it’s almost impossible to tell with the way Bruno pulls the blankets even tighter around himself.

Abbacchio rummages through the drawer of his nightstand until he finds what he’s looking for before taking up a spot at the end of the bed with his food and drink in hand. He sips at the decaf slowly, wrinkling his nose at the first taste. God, he misses caffeine. As expected, he doesn’t feel much better about his first bite of homemade parfait (and he can almost hear Polnareff’s protest at his calling it that). The rest goes down about the same, but the motion is mechanical at that point. One bite after the other with the occasional sip from his mug to wash it all down until everything is gone.

Abbacchio sets the dishes on the floor and reaches for the pill organizer sitting on the bed beside him. He absently runs his fingers over the lid, where small bones have been set in resin. He can still remember the first time he saw it. The black shine had caught his eye first, but, on closer examination, the thing that had convinced him to buy the organizer had been the mouse bones, delicately placed and striking against the background.

What he hadn’t realized then is that the little organizer would a significant adjustment to his daily routine. Having a week’s worth of medication in one place, already sectioned in dosed amounts, had significantly increased his medication compliance. Oddly enough, it’s had a rather hefty impact on his overall mental health. Now, when anti-inflammatories and bronchodilators and steroids are part of his daily regiment as much as his SSRI’s, it’s even more vital for him to consistently get his meds in. Otherwise, the consequences tend to be pneumonia and an unwanted hospital trip with a round of antibiotics and even stronger steroids. And that’s to say nothing of what happens when he’s running low on serotonin.

He’s caught up in his own thoughts when Bruno hooks his chin over his shoulder and peers down at the little organizer.

“I never did ask you if those are real,” Bruno muses quietly.

“I thought you were taking five more.”

“‘m awake,” Bruno answers, clearly half-asleep.

Abbacchio huffs a soft, amused laugh. He turns his head to press a kiss to the side of Bruno’s nose. “Sure you are, amore.”

“I am.”

“M’hm,” Abbacchio smiles, reflecting the expression on Bruno’s face, though his is notably less sleep-depressed. Bruno looks a lot like a light gust of wind might knock him out, and it’s so damn endearing that Abbacchio can barely handle it. Instead, he looks back down at the pill organizer and answers Bruno’s earlier question, “They are. Real, I mean.”

“They’re lovely,” Bruno says, and he means it. Odd as some might find Abbacchio’s taste, Bruno has always found beauty in it. “Perhaps I should get one.”

“Might be a good idea.” It would be easier to see if Bruno ever missed a dose, and it would certainly be easier to avoid that disaster all together. “There are other options. You could go with something—oceanic, maybe?”

Bruno hums at the thought. “I think I’d like that.”

“I’ll keep an eye out,” by which Abbacchio means that he’ll actively go looking for one. Anything to make Bruno’s life a touch easier.

“Oh, you brought breakfast,” Bruno says, moving away from Abbacchio to peer curiously at the morning’s offerings. “You’re entirely too kind.”

Abbacchio huffs a laugh at that, “For all that you’ve done for us? Hardly.” He pops open the side hatch of his organizer and dumps the day’s pills into his hand. Abbacchio pulls a face at the number of them and looks down at his mug. Right, he had meant to save a sip.

“Here,” Bruno offers his own with a smile. “We’ll get more in a bit.”

“If you’re sure...” Abbacchio could always go get his own, but he has a feeling that doing so will result in more small talk, and he’s not quite up for that yet.

“I am,” Bruno reassures him before taking up the bowl of yogurt and fruit in absence of his coffee. “Just leave enough for me to take mine.”

[bre-meister]

I need some pre married/family angst

this is early relationship so pre-family and pre-married Cleon. I hope it’s angsty enough I kind of got distracted while writing to fight a huge ass hornet in my room ( I was super terrified ngl). This was such a journey for me to write that I don’t even have an official title for it like I normally try to do lol. This has also taught me that I need to work on angst that is not “person A and Person B fight”. Sorry for the rant here's the actual work:

Claire was mad. No, Claire was beyond mad. Claire Redfield was absolutely furious. Her rage was so blinding that she couldn’t even be bothered to apologize to the nice looking doorman as she barreled through the lobby of the apartment building of the object of said anger. She was sorry - felt the apology in her bones as soon as the smaller man began to cringe and cower slightly in her presence - but again, her anger prevented it from passing her lips.

Secretly, she did take a little pride in the fact that, as she entered the elevator, a young-looking couple decided to “wait for the next one” instead of sharing with her. It gave her a little more time to stew in her anger - pulling from the depths of her soul, every time that she had said it was okay even when it wasn’t - before she came face to face with him.

“What the hell Leon!”

The door to his apartment opened with such force that if circumstances had been different, she would have been worried about possibly putting a hole in the wall. Alas, her attention was not on the wall, but instead on the man lying on the couch in front of her. Leon was clearly either drunk or hungover. Although considering what she’d heard from both her brother - half the reason she was here in the first place - there was a distinct possibility it could be both. Claire wasn’t sure that could actually happen, but if anyone could make it a thing it would most definitely be Leon S. Kennedy.

All that came out of his mouth was unintelligible garble mixed in with a few pained groans. Claire took pleasure in that for a moment and allowed it to further stoke the flames inside of her. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was about to do. She’d kind of just gone on autopilot after getting. Chris’s concerned texts. Apparently, Leon had been ghosting everyone over the last week. So, there she stood, upset and silent until Leon made the mistake of finally speaking real words.

“Red,”

Claire didn’t let him finish. She exploded,

“No! You don’t get to do that, you hear me? You don’t!”

Claire moved towards the couch and yanked off the blanket covering Leon with more force than was probably necessary. The blanket had apparently been completely wrapped around him and, in his current state, that was enough to cause him to tumble to the floor. He let out another grunt of pain as he landed but Claire didn’t care.

“Get your ass up.” Her voice had calmed, steadied to an even tone. Her anger no longer manifested itself in yelling, but instead as a low growl behind her words.

When he didn’t make any effort to move, she said it again,

“I’m not asking Leon. Get up.”

He finally did as told. Standing he slowly moved to the small kitchen behind the couch. There he found a glass that looked somewhat cleaned and began to fill it with water.

This wasn’t the first time that Claire had been there to pick up the pieces whenever Leon fell apart. Safe to say, those instances had never quite played out like this one and Leon was a little jarred and, admittedly, a little afraid of what the red-headed woman might do. 

They stared at each other as Claire gave Leon a moment to swallow the little bit of water that was left in his glass. When he sat it in the sink and she remained silent he let his impaired brain convince him that meant he should speak.

“What’s your problem? Chris piss in your Wheaties this morning?”

The look on her face caused concern. The laugh that followed chilled him to the core. Leon S. Kennedy had faced down and won so many B.O.Ws that he had lost count but at that moment as he looked across the room at a laughing Claire Redfield, he knew that he had quite possibly signed his death warrant. He also knew that if this truly were how he died, several people would help her cover it up, and frankly, he couldn’t blame them.

“My problem?” she continued to laugh, “What’s my problem?”

Leon was getting a little nervous. In yet another mistake, he even let out a few nerve filled chuckles himself.

“No, you don’t get to laugh! This isn’t funny,” and yet she was still laughing. 

Leon was not.

“Do you know why this isn’t funny? Because I don’t think you do.”

He couldn’t have answered even if he wanted to - Claire cut him off as soon as he opened his mouth to fumble through some bullshit excuse.

“You don’t. I know you don’t because if you did you would have had your ass at the restaurant last week, Leon!”

Leon felt his stomach drop. Oh no. He really had fucked up this time.

“Sherry’s birthday.” He felt more than heard the mumbled words slip past his lips.

“Ya, Sherry’s birthday,” Claire turned around to finally close the door and Leon took the opportunity to sit down in one of the few chairs at his tiny kitchen table.

“You know, I was okay with this when it was only me you were fucking over. I know I shouldn’t have been, but I was. I told myself over and over that it was fine, you needed this time, you needed me and I was more than happy to give it to you - everything. I give you everything! But it was okay because you were always there for me too. Most of the time at least. And I get it, Leon, hell I get it more than probably anyone else. What we went through was hell, no one should have to go through that once let alone as many times as you do. But I was there too, I have to deal with that shit too. Sherry has to deal with that shit. She was Twelve Leon.”

“I know -”

“Then where the fuck were you? This was all she wanted! All she asked for for her birthday was for all three of us to be there, together and you couldn’t even get your shit together enough to give that to her. No call, no text, not even a half-assed excuse just nothing. The hurt and disappointment on her face - I’ll never forget that Leon. And to top it off, I had to cover for you and as much as I love you,” she saw that way his whole body seized up at her words, “I’m tired. I refuse to do that anymore.”

“I’m sorry, Claire.”

Claire pulled at her hair which, for once, wasn’t in its usual ponytail.

“Stop! It’s always sorry with you. For once could you just stop!”

“Stop what? Tell me what I have to do to fix this.” He was desperate. He didn’t want to lose her or Sherry. The idea of that - of finally being completely and utterly alone - was almost too much to bear.

“For starters stop making promises if you know you can’t keep them. Stop overcommitting yourself. Stop overworking yourself because that’s always how you get this way in the first place. And stop looking like that.”

“Like what?” he was a little puzzled. He may have also been on the verge of tears but, if anyone asked later he would deny it vehemently.

“Like...like I just killed your puppy or - or like I’m taking away everything from you - it’s making it really hard to stay mad!”

In any other situation, he might have laughed at that but he had sobered up enough between when Claire had burst through his door and now. Now, he really did feel that Claire leaving here like this, Sherry being disappointed with him - that truly was as if everything were being taken away from him.

“I’m sorry. I - I don’t know how to make you believe that I am, but I truly am sorry. I would never hurt you, Claire. I would never hurt Sherry.” He was pleading at his point. He didn’t know what else to do.

“But you did. You hurt us Leon, and I’m not saying that I won’t forgive you, but it’s going to take some time. You fucked up and your usual ‘sorry’ isn’t going to fix it when we always end up in the same cycle again.” She sighed and as the air left her body she could feel all of her anger leaving as well only to be replaced with immense sadness and disappointment.

Claire turned and walked towards the door. A small clang echoed through the silent room and, although Leon couldn’t see from his spot in the kitchen, he knew that Claire had dropped her spare key on the table next to the door.

“Wait! Claire, please, don’t.”

“Don’t what Leon?” She didn’t turn around, she knew she wouldn’t be able to leave if she did. So, head down she gathered her strength and continued,

“Don’t leave? Give me a reason to stay then.”

“ I love you.” It came out in a soft whisper. 

Those three simple words - the first time he had ever said them to her in a non-platonic way. They made her heart soar and ache, both at the same time. She’d imagined this moment a lot but never like this. Never at the end of a fight that had been building for a long time. Never with her back to him, preparing to leave. Never with him sitting in his kitchen, a mess, crying in a way she’d never seen from him. Never like this. And, as much as she wanted to stay…

“ I love you too Leon. But that’s not what this is about. Call Sherry, she deserves to hear from you why you couldn’t do this one thing for her.”

With that, she left. With her, Leon felt a part of him leave as well.

The tears turned to outright sobs as he collapsed on his kitchen floor - dirty. The floor was dirty. He was dirty. He hadn’t cleaned or showered in a while but it was kind of fitting. His apartment was dirty, his clothes were dirty, his body was dirty but he was dirty in a way that was deeper than just the physical sense. 

He’d let them down. The only two people in this world that he still gave a damn about. The only two people he would try for.

Then why hadn’t he? Why hadn’t he pushed himself harder? In the same sense, why hadn’t he taken a break when he had pushed too hard. Why hadn’t he tried harder to stop her? Why hadn’t he?

There were too many questions. If he left himself to ponder them for too long he’d never get up from this dirty kitchen floor and he couldn’t afford to stay here forever. He had business to attend to, phone calls to make.

First, to his job. Claire was right, he needed to stop overworking himself and he’s acquired more than enough hours to take some time off. Then, to Sherry, because he owed her an apology in more than just words. He only hoped she would allow him to make it up to her.

He wanted to call Claire - show her he was trying, that she was right and he would do better. However, he knew that would probably only make things worse. She always gave him the time he needed, now it was time for him to do the same.

But before anything, he had to get up off the floor. The floor was dirty. He was dirty. Leon was tired of the blood and grime that seemed to fill almost all of his waking hours as D.S.O Agent Kennedy. He decided he wouldn’t let it follow him home anymore. So, Leon got up.

On his way to the bathroom he passed by the bowl he kept on his front table by the door. It was a housewarming gift from Claire who knew he was always misplacing his keys and yet never making an effort to get more organized. Always looking out for him, his Claire. 

Leon wouldn’t even let himself question if there even was a ‘his Claire’. Not that he owned her, no one could ever own Claire Redfield. But, looking at the two keys laying together in the bowl, Leon couldn’t help but think they were the same - a matching set. One complementing the other in a way that, while they were separate, they were still part of the same.

Yes, Leon Kennedy got up and as he looked at his dirty face in the mirror, he turned the faucet on because he was tired of being dirty. He was ready to get clean.

[transbian-uprising]

Some of my own Danganronpa non-despair AU headcanons/imagines this time! (THH edition)

I was inspired, so I decided why not write down some headcanons/imagines/character adjustments for my Danganronpa non-despair AU! I’m gonna be doing this as a series, starting with the THH characters, then the SDR2 characters, then the V3 characters (although I will mention characters from other games in my headcanons). Enjoy!

Makoto Naegi | 苗木誠

He’d definitely lend a listening ear to whoever wanted to vent to him.

When he first comes to Hope’s Peak, he’s such a fanboy over everyone

He has an inferiority complex and self worth issues because he’s surrounded by insanely talented students, but Sayaka and Kyoko quickly help him get over that

He’s pretty good at keyboard, and plays alongside Sayaka a lot

He actually got noticed by Kaede, who offered to teach him, which obviously he was ecstatic about

He’s the only one in Class 78th, and possibly all of Hope’s Peak, who is neurotypical

Sayaka Maizono | 舞園さやか

Her and Makoto are basically best friends

She’s still a total cinnamon roll, but she loves to play little pranks on the rest of Class 78th and have a good laugh over it

She, Ibuki, Leon and Kaede tried to form a music group together but they fell apart really quickly due to their different styles

She has a huge crush on Makoto, but she’s afraid to admit it

Leon Kuwata | 桑田怜恩

He’s almost always the only one in class, just so he can avoid playing baseball

Ibuki taught him guitar and he’s been playing nonstop ever since

He *tries* to get along with Sayaka, but prefers hanging out with Ibuki since they almost always end up playing together

Everyone in Class 78 calls him the Ultimate Guitarist because... reasons

Toko Fukawa | 腐川冬子

She doesn’t have the weird thing for Byakuya in this au

She doesn’t slut shame the girls either

She’s still really shy tho

She initially dislikes Hifumi for writing fanfic, but they eventually bond over their mutual love for writing

She’s also close with Tsumugi, and the two of them collaborated to write a book that was loosely based on Tsumugi’s favorite anime

Genocider Syo is friends with Sonia, but she’s a bit put off by Sonia’s obsession with her and other serial killers

Kiyotaka Ishimaru | 石丸清多夏

Initially, the rest of the class shys away from him because he has a stick up his ass about the rules, but Mondo and Chihiro quickly befriend him

After a while, he loosens up a bit, but he never stops being the Ultimate Moral Compass

He tries to bond with the class by telling jokes, but he’s always super awkward with it and is usually unsuccessful

He’s SUPER gullible — he’ll believe anything anyone tells him, and you better believe Class 78 uses that to their advantage

Once, he dyed his hair white on a dare, and ended up liking it and kept it that way

He also tries to do impressions of his classmates (mostly Mondo) but, again, is painfully bad at it

Everyone actually finds these funny tho

Mondo Oowada | 大和田紋土

He, surprisingly, likes to play card games, which everyone was shocked to find out

Except Celeste, who is fascinated by his interest

He’s very protective of his friends, and will do anything for them

Especially Taka and Chihiro, his two best friends

He’s an amazing hairstylist, and secretly loves to play with and style people’s hair

Everyone in all of Hope’s peak knows to go to him for hair care tips and tricks

He also taught Chihiro how to ride a motorcycle the two of them rode around together a lot, until Taka ratted them out

He still hasn’t forgiven Taka for that

Chihiro Fujisaki | 不二咲千尋

In this au, he’s a bit more open about his gender, but still has loads of insecurities

At first, he’s completely in the closet, but after rumors spread online about him being a boy, he decides to live as himself and goes to Mondo for help

Mondo became his first real friend to him because of this, and him (and eventually Sakura too) helped him become strong

Eventually, he became an honorary member of Mondo’s gang and would often hang out with them in his free time

His hidden talent is being a voice actor, but he’s super embarrassed to talk about it since he’s the Ultimate Programmer

His first voice role was in a video game he developed himself, which led some talent scouts to notice him

He eventually voiced in several anime and video games, some of which he also helped develop

He’s almost as passionate about acting as he is about programming, but the only people he feels comfortable talking about it to are Hifumi and Tsumugi, who both become huge fans of his, and Mondo and Taka

When he found out Junko had created Monokuma, he was fascinated and offered to help her with ironing out all his kinks

He, Chiaki, Mukuro and Miu also created the Exisals in this au, for the sole reason of fooling around

Although, Chihiro himself was a bit intimidated by his creation at first, but after Tsumugi and Junko pressured him to try one out for himself, he fell in love

Yasuhiro Hagakure | 葉隠康比呂

He’s less of a dumbass in this AU, although he still has a tendency to get himself in sticky situations

Celeste and Hifumi played a prank on him by getting him to dress up in the Robo Justice suit and go around scaring people, but it backfired after Hiro fell down the stairs and broke his leg

Being the only one in the class who can, he often buys wine for Celeste and Mondo (and whoever asks, but only those two ever do)

He and Mondo use the same hair gel, so sometimes he’d take Mondo’s without knowing, which would lead to some awkward misunderstandings

Interestingly, he once predicted the world would end and they’d all end up dead, but that never ended up happening

That’s where the “30% accurate” thing came from— before that he was almost always right

He constantly makes jokes about being an old man (even though he’s only in his early twenties)

Hifumi Yamada | 山田一二三

He’s no longer solely attracted to anime characters, but he still loves them very much

He’s also nicer in this au

He’s besties with Tsumugi, and they bond over their love of anime and fiction

He’s also a huge fan of Chihiro’s, after he found out Chihiro was on the development team for his favorite game AND voiced two of his favorite anime characters

Low key has a crush on Celeste

Angie constantly makes jokes about how his first name is just “one two three” in Japanese

Whenever he’s watching an anime Chihiro was in, he’ll hound him with questions about what it was like recording, which Chihiro doesn’t mind because he doesn’t get to talk about his voice work a lot

Someday he wants to write and direct his own anime, and Tsumugi and Toko give him a lot of writing tips

He formed a LARP group with Gundham, Tsumugi, Chihiro, Junko, and Kaito

Celestia Ludenberg

She doesn’t treat Hifumi like a servant in this AU, but she’s still mean af and has a superiority complex

She eventually revealed her true identity to the class after she got inspired by Chihiro, but it didn’t change anything with her classmates

Except Hiro, who constantly made jokes about them having the same name, much to Celeste’s annoyance

She occasionally brings Grand Bois Chéri Ludenberg to school with her, but she doesn’t let anyone except Hifumi, Sonia and Gundham pet him

She high-key has a crush on Sonia

She doesn’t actually know how to do her own hair, so she has to get Mondo to do it for her

Sakura Oogami | 大神さくら

She and Tenko become friends SO QUICKLY because of their shared passion for martial arts

She’s still friends with Aoi tho

The three of them hang out together a lot

She and Tenko developed a new form of martial arts combining Neo-Aikido and Sakura’s own style, which they named the Oogami Method

Junko bullied her because of her ripped uniform, but after she explained that nothing would fit her, Junko offered to have one made for her

Kyoko Kirigiri | 霧切響子

She and Shuichi are very close, obviously

She gives Shuichi a lot of pointers on improving his investigative skills, and they work together often to solve cases

She and Makoto still become close, but their friendship is overshadowed by her and Shuichi’s

She notices this after a while, and makes a concerted effort to spend more time with Makoto

She’s less distant in this AU, but she still tries not to show her emotions

Her hair is naturally black in this AU, she dyed it purple after she lost a bet (with Celeste)

Aoi Asahina | 朝日奈葵

In this AU, she doesn’t just love donuts, but she loves all sweets

She was a fan of Junko’s before coming to Hope’s Peak, and the two of them became friends quickly

She and Akane are also close, and everyone jokes that they’re sisters, though in reality they aren’t

She once got recruited by Kaito to be in a play his class was putting on, but she’s such a terrible actor that they gave her part to Junko

She once walked in on Junko and Mukuro testing out Monokuma for the first time, and they were super freaked out, but Aoi was fascinated and wanted to try controlling him

Mukuro was against it, but Junko was cool with it, so she got to in the end

Byakuya Togami | 十神白夜

He and Makoto are both obsessed with true crime, and the two of them actually become friends because of that

They both love digging into Hope’s Peak’s files and his family’s files to find mysteries they could try and solve

Sonia joins them a lot too

He unofficially became the class’s French teacher after they found out he was fluent

He’s nicer in this au, and he’s kind of the dad of the class

When the Imposter was impersonating him, the two of them got into a little mini-war over who was the superior Togami (Twogami surprisingly won that war, albeit barely)

Mukuro Ikusaba | 戦刃むくろ

She’s away from Hope’s Peak A LOT, usually doing soldier things

When she is at Hope’s Peak, she spends most of her time either developing new weapons or looking after Junko

She’s usually the one who has to clean up after Junko’s shenanigans, even though she partakes in them herself

She helps Junko with a lot of her projects, but usually she ends up working on her own things while Junko does her thing

Despite this, she loves working with her sister when she gets the chance

Her proudest achievement is the Exisals, even though she collaborated with Chihiro, Chiaki and Miu to create them

Junko Enoshima | 江ノ島盾子

While she’s obviously not Ultimate Despair in this au, she’s still very chaotic and loves causing shenanigans and playing (mostly) harmless pranks

She’s friends with Sayaka and Kokichi because of this (both she and Sayaka are members of D.I.C.E. too)

She still puts on different personas, but she does it as a joke

She’s actually a very good actress, and she loves to act, but just like Chihiro, that gets overshadowed by her Ultimate talent

She loves to build and create things, just like her sister, which is why she created Monokuma

She uses Monokuma for her pranks a lot

Sometimes she goes through severe depressive episodes where she doesn’t have the energy to leave her home, but she usually uses Monokuma as a sort of telepresence unit so she can still talk to her friends

At first, no one knew that Monokuma was her, but Aoi ended up spilling the beans

She also learned animation from Ryota, and wants to make an anime starring her, Kaito, Tsumugi, Chihiro, Mukuro and Hajime

She loves to share her projects with her friends, and often lets other people control Monokuma or model for her

She gets hurt a LOT, and usually Mikan has to care for her

Her proudest achievement is replacing the Exisals’ weapons with water guns (even though Mukuro did most of the work)

They actually decided to leave them like that afterwards, since the Exisals were only ever used by her friends to mess around in

She suffers from PTSD, and part of that is recurring nightmares that the world ended and all her friends were forced to kill each other

[re-diesirae]

10. Claire

Claire staggered, but she did her best to hide it. Her headache had hit her out of sudden, piercing her skull like an ice peak hammered into her brain. The pain made her dizzy, and that made her way through the forest harder.

Despite the discomfort, Claire kept quiet. The last thing she wanted -or needed- was to worry Leon and delay their way even more.

Her will power was strong, but unfortunately, her body would not cooperate. Her legs were weak and shaky, so she was struggling to keep herself on her feet.

Great. What's wrong with you, Claire? I was alright up until now. Why did the headache return?

Claire blamed the hike. She had a decent physical condition, maybe not as good as Leon or Chris, but she could handle the exercise. However, hiking had never been something she liked, and the effort she had to put into climbing the rocky surface was most likely the cause of the return of her headache.

"We should find refuge before the sun goes down completely," Leon said, stopping to look at Claire.

Leon's sudden decision to stop and find refuge took her by surprise. Usually, he would be more into the plan of moving faster and wasting no time trying to rest.

"If you are correct, those monsters will come out as soon as the sun goes down."

Leon had a point.

"Uhm, you are right," Claire sighed.

Claire saw Leon give her an encouraging smile.

"Besides, it's been a long day. We need to rest," Leon said, cleaning the sweat from his forehead. "We are both tired, and we need our strength to fight. Pushing ourselves to the limit is a stupid decision."

Claire rubbed her neck and sighed. When he put it like that, Leon was right. A tired body was not as effective, and in their current predicament, effectiveness and sharpness were everything.

"You're right," she said, "The question is where?"

Claire did not want to admit it, but she was grateful for Leon's decision to call it a day. Her headache was making her nauseous again, and she was not sure of how long she could keep up her facade.

After walking around the cliff for a while, they found a small cave, hidden between some bushes. It was not a five stars hotel room, but it would serve its purpose.

Leon made sure the cave was clear before they finally settled down inside, and Claire watched him pick up some branches and plants and to make a makeshift door to camouflage the entrance. It's a smart move; it might have been useless to keep foes out, but at least it would keep them concealed.

Claire's snorted to herself. The Leon she'd met years before would not have been so thoughtful, but the Leon beside her now was no longer a rookie cop but an experienced agent. His years of service had made him a cunning man.

"So that's what the government teaches their agents? How to make woodland crafts?" Claire asked playfully.

Leon smirked, putting the "door" in its place.

"Sure," he answered in the same playful tone, "It's rule 4 in How to be an agent 101."

Claire laughed as he followed her joke. At least, his sense of humor had not changed. It was a comforting thought.

Suddenly, Claire felt an electric pain hit her, and she rested her head against the cave's wall, hoping that it would pass soon.

"Chris would kill us if he saw us," she whispered.

"Why?"

"Keep yourself focused. No time for jokes," Claire said in a low voice that tried to mimic Chris's grunt.

Leon laughed at the impression, and she smiled. She felt a little guilty for mocking her brother, but Claire knew that Chris would most likely react that way.

"Sounds about right," Leon laughed, "I can't picture Chris joking around in normal circumstances, even less in a mission."

"I keep telling him that sometimes a little humor is what you need to keep yourself going."

"Maybe he needs to learn. You should teach him."

Claire found Leon's suggestion ironic. She teaching Chris how to relax was a crazy idea when the woman was the worst example of relaxation. Family always had its perks, and Claire knew that she was not too different from Chris in many things.

"Uh, I doubt he will be willing to learn from me," Claire chuckled, "but Chris wasn't always like that, you know. He used to be a little more chill."

With their current job, Claire had very few chances to meet her brother. Sometimes she didn't see his face in more than six months, which made the changes in his personality even more noticeable.

"Chill?" Leon said incredulously, "Is that even possible?"

"You are one to talk. Each time I see you, you're grumpier than before," Claire said, resting her chin on her knees.

If there was someone she saw less than her brother, that was Leon. They were good friends since surviving the Raccoon incident created a strong bond between them. That friendship survived distance and time, but the few times Claire had met Leon, she had noticed the change in his character. The friendly and naive rookie had disappeared, and instead, the cool-headed, serious, and quiet agent had taken his place.

Everyone around her seemed to change each time she saw them.

Am I the only one who doesn't seem to change?

Change scares you. Metathesiophobia is a condition, too.

The tiny voice in the back of her mind made her headache stronger, but she ignored it. It wasn't the first time that Claire had monologues with her inner ghosts, but today the phantom voices seemed more active.

"Then, maybe I should ask you to teach me, too," he snorted.

"What are you saying?" Claire said, rolling her eyes. "Sometimes, I feel like I should be more like you two."

Leon shook his head, and Claire wondered what the agent was thinking?

"You are perfect the way you are, Claire. It is enough with one Chris Redfield or me in this world. There's no need to add another one into the equation," he said, "and honestly, the world would be a better place with more people like you."

"If there were more people like me, the world would be chaos," Claire snorted bitterly, "I caused a lot of trouble because of my naiveness."

"It sounds like you are too hard on yourself, Claire."

He doesn't get it, does he?

Would he say the same if he knew all the pain you have caused?

Claire grabbed her head and rubbed her temple. The voices in her head were becoming annoying, and suddenly, her ears filled up with an electric buzzing that messed up with her focus. She looked at Leon and caught him deep in thought, and suddenly, she felt oddly comforted.

"And you guys are just too soft on me," Claire snorted bitterly, "When I think back of all the things I've messed up..."

Claire looked blankly at the wall in front of her. She could feel Leon's gaze in the dark, and she was glad that he couldn't see her. The pain in her head was getting worse, and she feared that the agent would notice it. Luckily for her, Leon's attention was somewhere else.

Leon reached for his gun. The man looked alarmed, and she knew the reason as soon as she heard the distant roar.

Claire recognized it immediately. She had heard the same howls the night before when she had seen the two monsters in town.

She followed Leon to the cave entrance and peeked outside.

Claire held her breath as she watched the disfigured monster eat the smaller ones, and as if the scene wasn't horrible enough, the creature's body began to contort and twist into a more monstrous being.

"What the..." Leon whispered.

Ah, poor thing. It is mutating. Sad, sad.

"It's mutating, I think..." Claire said.

"Mutating?" Leon looked at her, confused.

"Yes, that's how it looks."

"Is it the one you saw yesterday?" he asked.

Claire shook her head.

"No, this one looks different."

Something was wrong about that creature. Claire stared at the blood dripping from the creature's mouth, the tissue falling from its body, and the raw muscle underneath the torn skin. The image made Claire's stomach twist. Considering her background, that was something very odd as she had seen worse things before.

When they saw the monster crawl into the darkness, she was finally able to release the breath that she had been holding. Her heart was beating fast, and she was unsure of why she felt so agitated.

"I think I understand what you meant by bigger friends," Leon whispered."We didn't see anything like it during the day, so either we were lucky, or you are right, and they are nocturnal."

"B.O.W.s that come only during the night. Talk about nightmarish monsters..." Claire sighed, "I am just glad they didn't find us, but I've got the feeling that our luck won't be that good for too long."

"Well, we'll face it when it comes. Don't worry about it," Leon sighed.

They returned to the back of the cave and sat down quietly.

"How are you feeling?"

"Me?" she asked, surprised, "I'm peachy."

Leon looked at her skeptically.

"You can't fool me, Claire. You've been struggling since that climb we did," Leon said, "Is it your head? Is it bothering you again?"

Claire let out a vague snort and shook her head.

"I told you I didn't like hiking," she replied, "I am alright. My head bothers me a little when I am tired, but it's not bad. You should know how concussions work."

Leon's expression was unreadable, but Claire had the odd sensation that the man had not believed him.

"Yeah," Leon sighed, "Try resting a little."

"I had my share of sleep yesterday," Claire said, shaking her head, "You must be exhausted, though. You didn't sleep at all. You should be the one taking a nap."

"I work better with less sleep," he half lied.

Claire glared at him. Leon could be a super agent, but he was still human. Humans needed rest.

"Liar," Claire muttered. "You know you don't need to act all cool with me. Get some sleep, idiot. I'll take the first watch."

"Fine, but only if I can use your lap as a pillow," he joked.

Claire rolled her eyes. Leon could flirt at any moment. That was, probably, what made Leon, well, Leon. She smacked his arm and sighed.

"You are such a flirt, Leon. I guess that side of you has not changed," Claire chuckled. "Go to sleep, idiot."

She heard Leon laugh, and the sound made her feel a little better. If he could still laugh in this situation, things could work out.

Those are only hopes. Things never work out well when it comes to these situations.

"You know, I think you are the only person who dares to call me an idiot."

"Well, if I can call Chris an idiot, I can definitely call you an idiot."

The privilege of calling Chris an idiot was naturally Claire's right as his sister. She had called him all sorts of things in her life, and Chris had always let her.

"Now, I have to argue about that. No one would dare call Chris an idiot, but you have special treatment."

"Do I get special treatment with you?"

"Maybe..." Leon smirked.

"Do you tell all your partners that?"

"Only those who I like. What? Getting bored with paperwork and considering a career as an agent?"

"Nah, I am not agent material. You know that, Leon?"

"What are you talking about?" he chuckled, "You were agent material even before I was. Rushing into Raccoon City in search of Chris and saving Sherry, and taking care of all of us..."

"You sure are sentimental today," Claire snorted. "What's up with you today?"

"Well, this brings back memories," Leon sighed, "Can you blame me?"

"It does?" Claire asked.

"Yeah. I think I kind of missed this."

"Sleeping in a cave surrounded by bloodthirsty parasitic entities and mutant monsters? I can't say I share the sentiment, but who am I to judge?"

Claire waited for Leon to answer, but he did not, so she assumed he had fallen asleep already, and her lips curled into a victorious smirk.

No need to sleep my ass. Of course, you will fall asleep right away.

Leon had let her sleep the whole night before, which meant he had not gotten any sleep at all. One sleepless night, plus the walking and climbing they had done, would be enough to exhaust anyone.

The sudden silence, however, made Claire feel lonely, and she hugged her knees and rested her head against the wall. Some light beams crawled into the cave through the holes of their makeshift door.

It was quiet outside, and Claire felt a shudder crawl down her back. Somewhere out there, there were horrible monsters ready to kill them. Why were some people so fascinated about creating those monsters?

She would never understand the reasoning behind B.O.W.s. The creatures were uncontrollable; they could not distinguish friends from foes. They killed anything in their way, leaving a path of destruction. What kind of weapon was that?

Claire's gaze wandered to the man sitting in front of her. She felt a little guilty for dragging Leon into that pit, but at the same time, she was happy that he was there.

It's your fault. Leon shouldn't be here, but he came because he tried to help you.

Claire shook her head, trying to clear up her mind. She wanted to ignore that little voice, but she knew it was right. Leon wasn't supposed to be there. They had kidnapped her, not him, and he had only ended up there because of her. Another sudden thought crossed her mind, and she bit her lip with worry.

What if Chris and the others were in trouble, too?

Get a hold of yourself, Claire.

"How is it that I always end up in these situations?"

Claire didn't get the chance to reflect on her poor luck. She suddenly felt a cold shiver run down her back, and her head automatically turned to the entrance.

Claire was not sure what had prompted to look, but she suddenly felt very uneasy. She listened carefully, she could hear Leon's soft breathing, but the rest was quiet. No howls, no screams, no animals. Everything seemed tranquil. Then why did she feel alarmed?

Her ears soon caught a sound that she hadn't noticed until then. It was a low distant whistle. The sound was soft and hypnotic, almost as if it was calling at her. Without realizing it, she had gotten on her feet and started to walk to the entrance, but before she had reached the entry, she snapped back to reality.

Claire stood there looking confusedly at the complicated net of branches and leaves that Leon had knitted earlier.

What am I doing? she thought.

Unable to explain how she had suddenly appeared standing in front of the entrance, Claire was about to return to her spot at the end of the cave, but before she had even given a step, she heard the loud crack of breaking stone. Suddenly, she felt her body get pulled outside with a violent force. Her body crashed against the cave's door as she got pulled through it, and the branches managed to scratch the patches on naked skin unprotected by clothing, leaving red marks over her milkfish skin. The woman rolled a few feet over the grass before stopping when her back hit a tree painfully.

Claire groaned. She looked up, trying to understand what had happened when she saw the last thing she wanted to see. Her eyes went wide in horror. She reached for the rifle hanging on her back, and without thinking twice, she aimed and shot.

NOTE: if you guys want to come and chat about the fic, or just about CLEON in general. Feel free to drop by the discord and say hi! JOIN SERVER

[sundaeserenade]

why is the N event in pokemas better than the one they released for the anniversary... why. It’s not fucking groundbreaking, but it does what it needs to do, while the one with Leon... shows off leon at the expense of other characters while doing nothing interesting with his character... okay!

anyway, here’s why n’s event is better.

it’s literally better because they decide to wrap up the plotline from BW, instead of having the event take place “during” BW or before it. And yeah, this ignores BW2, but I can forgive that, because this event shows off N’s development in a more focused way. Like this is his event; it should be about what he learned. 

So, we’re catching up to N and he has this test against his ideals. And I think that’s a pretty okay thing to do! It’s predictable, but whatever. We need to know the decision that N’s come to, and while that is also predictable, it wraps up his character arc in a nice way. His journey of self-discovery is now complete, way to go N.

And I liked it because we had all the characters from the original games there. We had Hilbert wanting to talk to N and Hilda having no idea who he is. And all them other bitches, Iris and them. Like it’s not some jaw-dropping story, but it doesn’t have to be. N and Hilbert talk it out, and N says see you soon! Instead. He’s so fucking tall.

But it’s a good event because it builds off the lore BW already had. It ties up loose ends and gives that nice ending people wanted. People wanted N to return and for him and Hilbert to meet. Well, here ya go. Thanks. You played that rendition of N’s farewell just to hurt me, didn’t you DeNa

But then I look over at Leon’s event, okay, and the first issue is-Where are we timeline wise?? I know pokemon is like whAteVer with timelines, but damn! I sure did need it in this one instance. Because Zacian is right there with Gloria, so. It’s post game? Noo, Leon’s still the champion... Okay.... during SwSh?? But Marnie talks about how she’s been a rival to Gloria and lost to her... So post SwSh?? HELP ME GIRL

I feel like this is a huge mistake. I know Leon’s supposed to be this undefeated champion...that gets defeated. Okay, but that’s not as fun if you don’t go into how he feels after getting defeated for the first time, and this event could’ve been the chance to do that. But! They wanted some big name for the event and having a character from current gen is the perfect way to do that, but imagine what we could’ve had to see Leon be like! “I was recently dethroned as the champion of Galar. I’d been the champion for years! But it was a great battle. The best I’ve ever had! I came to Pasio to learn more about Pokemon and battles. I want Galar to have even bigger and better battles than before!”

Then think of him bonding with Green about losing. Then think of him showing some emotion about being beaten. Literally one of my fave moments in SwSh is Leon losing, because he’s so shocked! And he’s so frustrated; you can tell in his body language. And I immediately thought “Wow, it’ll be nice as fuck to see him knocked down a peg and come to grips with this” and I think him opening a battle facility is *chef’s kiss* perfect! Thanks!

He could’ve kept his charizard if they’d gone with post SwSh Leon. He still could’ve arrived with a bang, especially since what they gave people in the game is a little low effort. He still could’ve done his pose, but it shows him in a different light that we only saw glimpses of in the main game. It would’ve been great. 

So that’s why I’m a little ??? about this anniversary event. It doesn’t take place in SwSh post game, so there’s only so much you can do. Which makes me think that the writers had mandates in place of what they could write. Of course people are more willing to give cash towards Leon, the undefeated champion with his cape and hat and charizard! not the battle facility leon with his fucking dapper attire and beautiful boots, no! But yeah, in a game like pokemas, exploring post game or exploring characters interacting that wouldn’t normally is super fun! and i think that should be the standard but! ah, well. 

At least N’s event is there LOL