#as opposed to just now where the person I was talking two took like... 3 minutes and then I ended up with 3 short sentences

[medicinemane]

Sometimes it's like... is this person just... a very slow typist... or are they really choosing their words and adding and deleting a bunch of stuff

(this is obviously about seeing people respond on discord and then seeing the message they typed compared to when they started typing it)

[ladykailitha]

Staking My Claim Part 4

Now we get to the part that started this whole thing. It was really meant to be the boys being silly and getting to be goofy.

Steve really has found his people.

@mira-jadeamethyst @rozzieroos @itsall-taken @redfreckledwolf @emly03

Part 1|Part 2|Part 3

***

When Steve woke up again he could hear the faint sound of a female voice talking in the front room. He was on his feet in an instant. He knew that voice.

He swayed a little when he stood, so he stopped to take stock of why. After a moment or two he decided it was because he stood up too fast as opposed to a remnant of the drug.

He went flying out of the bedroom and threw his arms around Robin.

She squealed with laughter. “Dingus! I was so worried about you!”

“I know, Robbie,” he replied and kissed her cheek fiercely. “But I was in good hands.”

Robin’s eyes narrowed on Eddie. “And were you going to get handsy with those hands, Mister?”

Eddie’s eyes went wide, but Steve laughed.

“That was the fucking plan before the asshole interfered.”

Robin slapped her knee. “Stevie was going to get laid. I told you going out was a good idea, even if things got derailed a bit.”

Steve blushed and ducked his head. “Maybe.”

“Robin here has been telling us all about the different jobs you two have had,” Jeff said with a large grin from the sofa.

Steve turned slowly to Robin. “You didn’t.”

She grinned up at him. “You looked cute in the shorts, babe.”

“I most certainly did not,” he defended hotly.

“I don’t know,” Brian said with a shrug. “The one time I took my sister to mall for ice cream, I didn’t think the uniforms looked too bad.”

All eyes were riveted on Brian.

“You’ve seen the uniforms?” Jeff asked eagerly leaning forward. “Do tell.”

Brian laughed. “Just cutesy little sailor outfits, dude. I don’t know what you want me to tell you.”

Eddie narrowed his eyes. “It is a pox upon mankind that I missed the cute little sailor outfit.” He held his hand over his forehead like a swooning maiden.

“The hat was hideous,” Steve insisted.

Eddie straightened up, eyes wide. “Lo! There was a hat, too?”

“Yeah,” Robin said. “Like the ones Donald Duck wears.”

Eddie then mock fainted. “Be still my beating heart.”

Steve leaned over the counter to look down on him. “Oh no! Looks like I’ll have to do CPR.”

Eddie was sitting up, suddenly flopped on the floor again. He stuck his tongue out.

“Darling,” Steve cooed, “isn’t it a little too early for tongue action?”

Eddie tilted his head as thought about it and then stuck his tongue out as far as it would go.

Steve laughed. “Let me guess, it’s never too early for tongue action?”

Eddie shook his head.

Steve walked around the counter and knelt next to Eddie. Everyone was bracing for a makeout session when Steve picked up Eddie’s hand and licked it.

“Ew!” Robin hissed, her face twisting in revulsion.

“Gross!” Gareth agreed.

Jeff buried his head in his hands. “Why would you even do that, man?”

Steve smirked, still holding Eddie’s hand. “You know, it’s like when you’re a kid and you lick the best cupcake to claim so no one else will it eat?”

Eddie sat back up in a rush. “Did you just claim me?”

He smiled back. “Yup!”

Eddie tackled Steve to the floor and began kissing all over his face as Steve laughed.

“Oh no!” Brian groaned. “There are two of them?”

Robin’s eyes went wide. “Weird little dorks with no sense of personal space?”

Jeff nodded.

“They’re going to be absolutely disgusting, aren’t they?” Gareth asked, scrunching up his nose.

“Mwah!” Eddie said, putting a big kiss on Steve’s cheek, before sitting back up.

Steve followed suit and put his head on Eddie’s shoulder, lacing their hands together.

Eddie nudged him with his shoulder. “Come on, darlin’,” he cooed. “You shouldn’t be sitting on the floor when you’re still sick.”

He got up and then helped Steve to his feet, too, their hands never parting.

“I’ll take his clothes to get them washed,” Robin said, breaking into the gentle moment that lingered there. “Where are they?”

Eddie frowned. “I think they’re still on the bathroom floor, unless one of the neat freaks cleaned up after him.”

Jeff and Brian both stuck out their tongues at him.

“They’re still there,” Gareth said, wrinkling his nose again. “No one wanted to touch them.”

Steve wrinkled his nose, too. “I’m sorry. They must have really been rank.”

“Hey, man!” Jeff said. “No is judging you or blaming you. You were sick. Drugged even. We didn’t touch them because we didn’t know what to do with them, not because they were gross.”

Steve blushed and ducked his head as Gareth led Robin to the bathroom with a plastic bag to gather Steve’s things.

Robin came back out and waggled her eyebrows at Steve. “Damn boy, you were dressed to fuck.”

Steve’s blush darkened and he tucked his hands between his legs. “Was not.”

“A crop top and booty shorts?” she questioned. “If that isn’t your slut outfit than what is?”

Eddie frowned. “Hey, hey. We don’t slut shame in this house. Nor do we victim blame.”

Robin blinked at him in confusion and then her face cleared, her eyebrows shooting up in shock. “No, no! That wasn’t what I meant! I was being... supportive? Excited for him? Because he was out to pull doesn’t mean he was down to fuck whoever asked. Steve is a choosy bastard that way. That’s all I meant. I swear!”

Eddie gave her the side eye, then looked to Steve. Steve nodded, indicating that yes, that’s what she meant.

Eddie sniffed disdainfully, causing the guys to laugh.

“I’ll allow it,” he said haughtily.

Robin laughed. “Stevie, you’re in good hands.” She turned to the guys. “I can take anyone home if they need to be back sooner rather than later.”

The other guys looked around each other.

Brian and Gareth raised their hands.

“I have to go into work tomorrow,” Brian said.

“And my mom said that if I could get home sooner, she’d feel better,” Gareth added.

Robin turned to the remaining Corroded Coffin member. “How about you Jeffy? You need to be back?”

Jeff shook his head. “I’d rather stay here and head back with Eddie and Steve. I don’t work until Monday because the shop is closed for inventory and between the two of us, I’m better equipped on handling anything if Steve gets sick again.”

Robin looked at Eddie who half shrugged.

“His mom is a nurse,” he explained.

Robin nodded. “Let me know when you boys are ready to go.”

Gareth and Brian nodded.

“Call me when you get home, dingus,” she told Steve.

He saluted and she laughed.

Soon their numbers were cut in half.

***

Part 5 Part 6

Tag List: @spectrum-spectre @estrellami-1 @zerokrox-blog @artiststarme @swimmingbirdrunningrock @gregre369 ​@a-little-unsteddie @chaosgremlinmunson @chaoticlovingdreamer @maya-custodios-dionach @goodolefashionedloverboi @messrs-weasley @val-from-lawrence @i-must-potato @danili666 @carlyv @wonderland-girl143-blog @justforthedead89 @bookworm0690 @vecnuthy @bookbinderbitch @littlewildflowerkitten @yikes-a-bee @awkwardgravity1 @scheodingers-muppet @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @genderless-spoon @anne-bennett-cosplayer @irregular-child @lololol-1234 @monsterloverforhire @mugloversonly @live-the-fangirl-life @hellfireone @lublix @breealtair @mycatsstolemybiscuit @croatoan-like-its-hot @f0xxyb0xxes @jamieweasley13 @confuseddisastertm @sleepdeprivedflower @thedragonsaunt @r0binscript @dissociatingdemon @dragonmama76

[fridayth13]

Hello! I hope you are well, I have a request, could you do a beelzebub x reader where they are already a couple but some cheerleaders try to attack mc out of jealousy, sorry for being very specific but I love it when beel is protective❤️❤️❤️

protector.

↳ beelzebub × gn!reader

↳ genre: i think fluff | wordcount: 1.1k | warnings: reader is surrounded and cornered by a group of demons that want to eat them, reader is mentioned to have hair, reader curses at some point (fuck), reader and beelzebub are in an established relationship (though the nature of this relationship isn't explicitly said)

↳ notes: HI thank you for the request <3333 it took me a bit longer than i anticipated but it helped me out of my writing slump a lot hddjjshgdh so yeah hope you enjoy <3 feel free to send requests whenever! (and i don't mind specifics at all ^^ it always helps to know what you guys want me to write)

being with beelzebub was far from a rocky experience. if anything, you would almost call it easy.. almost.

make no mistake, beel might possibly have been the sweetest, most reliable demon you've ever met.. maybe even as a person in general. you've found that he was easy to talk to and communicate with throughout the relationship, but there was always a couple of roadblocks along the way the two of you failed to consider. though, really, the more you thought about it, the more it seemed to be an inconvenience than a roadblock.

which led you to now— waiting on a bench outside the fangol stadium for your partner after his big game. the other brothers had offered to wait with you, which you declined, wanting to congratulate beel yourself first.

the inconvenience started in the form of a cheerleader squad exiting the stadium shortly after the brothers left.

as they approached, you caught snippets their lively chatter. of course, they'd be buzzing after winning such a big game. but as you sat on the bench, scrolling through devilgram while you waited, the atmosphere seemed to quiet.

curiously, you raised your eyes toward the group only to find them staring right back at you.

perhaps 'staring back' wasn't the right way to phrase that. they were looking at you, sure, but.. they didn't exactly meet your eyes. they spared weirded out glances with each other in between looking at you. one whispered something to another with a hand over their mouth, and they both failed to hide their snickers.

a weight begun to grow in your chest. you could only raise a brow at their odd behavior, but ultimately decided that it was best to mind your own business.

they didn't seem to think so.

next thing you knew, you saw one of them beginning to approach you in the corner of your eyes.

"hey, you're mc, right?" they called out, their voice so sweet that your tongue seemed bitter.

you raised your eyes to theirs, trying to refrain from looking too uncomfortable. their multi-colored eyes— a marbled amalgamation of magenta and periwinkle— regarded you coldly, as opposed to their award-winning, sharp-toothed smile.

you settled for a nod. "that's me."

somewhere in this short exchange, the rest of the cheerleader entourage had come closer. one of them sat down next to you and flipped their long black hair; practically an entire tapestry falling over their shoulders.

"wow, being able to get up close and personal with those brothers must be such a dream." they gushed.

the first one took a step closer, fangs glinting in the moonlight. "yeah! isn't it, mc?"

"well—"

they didn't wait for you to finish. a third demon sat on your other side, getting far too close for your liking. they merely giggled as you stiffened.

"guys, look how they're freezing up! how cute.."

"relax, mc.." the black-haired cheerleader grinned. "it's not like we're going to eat you or anything, right?"

"of course, buut... just look at how adorable they are though! and i could just gobble them up in an instant!"

chills raced down your spine when one of them leaned into your neck and sniffed you.

"they smell so good too."

"i-i should go—"

before you could move to get up, hands grabbed you by the back of your shirt, claws lightly grazing the skin there.

"mc!" the first to approach you pouted innocently at you, crouching in front of you as the other two held you down by whatever they could— your wrists, your clothes, your hair. "we're still talking to you.."

the rest of the cheer squad seemed content to watch, gleeful chortles and whispers passing between them. the hushed mockery only added to the suffocated feeling brimming inside of you. you yanked on your arms, kicked your feet, whatever you could to get out. but with their strength and numbers, you found yourself sorely outmatched.

the one on your left with black hair— the one that sniffed your neck— leaned in again, resting their chin on your shoulder, practically drinking in the panic growing on your features.

"you know what else you smell like, human?" they whispered. "lord beelzebub."

the one seated at your right nodded fervently. "yeah, see, we can't have that."

"what." you huffed incredulously, attempting to get out of their grip once more. "that's why you're.. ugh, what the fuck."

"don't worry about it too much, mc." the first cheerleader smiled, looking almost apologetic. "it's really simple actually! we've been here far longer than you. centuries longer. and we just don't think it's fair that some human gets to appear out of nowhere and ruin all our hard work trying to impress lord beelzebub."

"doesn't help that your soul is irresistible either."

"ha, that too. yeah."

you pushed yourself forward, trying to use your body weight as momentum, only to end up off-balance and laughed at.

a hiss passed your gritted teeth as you looked up. but then you were greeted with a blur of orange moving behind the cheer squad crowded around you. soon after, a cry sounded off from one of them, making the ones closest to you drop you in a panic. your cheek stung from contact with the pavement.

"lord beelzebub!"

your head snapped up at the exclamation.

and there he was, black horns curling around his head, grey-tinted wings twitching and flapping irregularly behind him. his lips pulled back into a feral snarl. you sometimes forgot how intimidating your partner could be when he wanted to. but now, as he gruffly pushed his way past the cheerleaders and towards you, you couldn't help the delicate flutter of your heart in your chest. the angry fire stoking in his eyes seemed to dim just a bit as he gave you a short glance.

beelzebub looked back at the group, and you noticed the slight tremble in his fists.

"leave." he growled. short and snappy. undeniably angry. but it was only a warning, and they knew it too.

beel didn't even stop to watch them leave before turning around to help you up. instantly, his gaze softened. not an ounce of his previous anger reflected on his face as he looked you over.

"are you alright?" he asked, one of his hands finding yours. the other brushed against the scrape on your cheek. "did they hurt you anywhere else?"

"i'm okay, beel." you smiled, heart swelling at his behavior. "thank you for helping me out there."

his brow furrowed slightly. "of course, i did. i just wish i got here faster.. sorry."

"no, no," you shook your head. you squeezed his hand before intertwining your fingers. "none of that, beel. you saved me, okay? you didn't do anything wrong. thank you. so much."

beel hesitated, but relented with a nod. "alright. are you sure you're okay?"

"yes, i'm okay." you said, before grinning brightly at him. "congratulations on your game, by the way."

that got a chuckle out of him. he smiled, affection for you practically overflowing out of him.

"thanks. let's go join the others."

dividers by @clutteredfun

[come-away-with-me87]

Love & Angst Chapter 5

Chapter 4 here

Note: Three chapters three days in a row! That said, it's back to reality tomorrow (stupid work, bleh). Soooo I probably won't be able post again until the end of this upcoming week or next weekend. But I have lots of ideas of how this story will continue. Hope you enjoy, and thank you so much for reading.

******

The Date

If you thought you were nervous about texting the man, your nerves were all an all-time high now getting ready for your coffee date. You took a deep breath; it was 3:00pm at this point, so you started getting ready by grabbing a quick shower. After your shower, you blow dried your (H/C) hair, and decided to wear it down for the date. You typically wore minimal makeup, but because you seem to always get complimented on your (E/C) eyes, you wore a little extra mascara to make your eyes really pop. Since it was a cat cafe you were going to, you decided to just wear a pair of jeans, a nice peach-colored blouse, and flat shoes. You texted a picture of your outfit to Naomi, and she replied with a thumbs up and heart eyes emojis.

By this point, it was 4:15pm, and you would be getting ready to leave soon. You sat down on your couch next to where your two cats were laying. "Annie, Jareth...I'm nervous" you exclaimed to them like they could understand you. You thought about it for a moment. Your last relationship ended over a year ago; you were with a man named Yuto. He wasn't a bad man, the relationship just fizzled out, and you both realized you were better off as friends. The was last man you had been with romantically and intimately. Not saying that this was where this was going with Shouta tonight, you just met the man. But it's something you'd have to consider, especially depending on how today went.

It was finally time to leave. You look another deep breath, said bye to Annie and Jareth, locked the door behind you, and got into your car. As you drove to the cat cafe, you thought about what you two would talk about. Despite both of your customer-service based jobs, you were actually quite introverted. You had friends, but it was a very tight, small group of people, including Naomi. You didn't have much of a relationship with your family, either, so you relied heavily on your group of friends for support and advice. Additionally, you would rather have a quiet night at home as opposed to going out and partying. You had been like that since you were younger. Alone with just your thoughts, you didn't realize you had arrived to the cat cafe.

You were a few minutes early, and they looked busy. You decided you would go inside and grab a table for the two of you. You texted Shouta, letting him know you were there and of your plans, and put your phone back in your purse. You went inside, and as luck would have it, you spotted an empty table for two. You bowed to and smiled at the barista, and went to the empty table. You looked around at your surroundings; it was a very cute cafe. There were nicely-placed pictures all over the walls of the cats that they had available for adoption, along with descriptions of their personalities. Additionally, they had really nice artwork around the cafe, light-hearted music playing overhead, and flowers in vases on all of the tables. It was very cute.

Several minutes passed by, and you pulled your phone out of your purse and frowned; it was 5:15pm and you never received a text back from Shouta. You hoped everything was okay, but deep down, you were wondering if you were getting stood up. You shook your head and tried to get that idea out of your head. You always assumed the worst possible scenario. He was the one to ask you on this date. That must mean he was interested, right? You teetered back and forth on whether you should text him again but you decided against it. If he didn't show up in another fifteen minutes, you decided that you would just leave.

Just as that last thought ended, you saw the door open and he came in looking very disheveled. He looked around the cafe until he spotted you at the table, where you gave him a small wave. He came over and stood, "Y/N, I am so sorry I'm late. I was on my way here when there was a group of villains attacking civilians. Another pro-hero and I happened to be in the vicinity where we were able to hold them down until the police arrived. I'm so sorry," he said with a frown on his face. You looked right into his eyes, "oh my gosh, Shouta, you have nothing to apologize for! That was much more important to deal with." He looked somewhat relieved as he took a seat at your table. "You've been through quite the ordeal today; how 'bout I go up the barista and order us some coffees? What's your drink of choice?"

He attempted to stop you, claiming he wanted to pay for your drinks. You gently put your hand up, "no worries, this one is on me. You can get next time..." you trailed off, being bold to assume there would already be a next time. He faintly smiled, "thank you. I'll just take a black coffee." You went up the barista, ordered a black coffee and a vanilla latte and paid for your drinks. While you were waiting on the barista to make the drinks, you glanced over at Shouta, and thankfully, he looked like he was doing the same thing as you did when you arrived; taking in his surroundings. You took this opportunity to take a good look at him. He had his ebony hair pulled back into a low ponytail with some loose strands falling out, and he was wearing a black v-neck shirt with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows, black jeans, and black boots. For lack of a better word, he looked sexy.

The barista handed you your drinks, you thanked her and headed back to your table. "Here you go," you said with a smile as you handed him his black coffee. "Thank you," he replied, "oh, and back to what you said, I do hope there's a next time, too." You smiled at him, but internally, you were squealing again. You've barely talked to this man, yet you were both already hoping there would be a next time. "So, Y/N, tell me about yourself." There it was, the question you were dreading. You loathed talking about yourself. But hey, that's the only way a person is going to get to know you. So you began.

The conversation that ensued flowed a lot more easily than you expected. You two talked about how you were Endeavor's sister, and the reason why you dropped your nephew, Shoto, off at the gala the other night. You told him that you were quirkless, but that you really admired pro-heroes and all of the work they did to protect citizens. You talked about both of your jobs, your home, and your friends, where Naomi inevitably came up. "She was very nice to us," Shouta continued, "and it seemed that she and Present Mic really hit it off." Ohhhhhh, she was definitely going to bring that up to Naomi later. Sly girl. The conversation continued to flow, where you both talked about your love of coffee, music, and cats. He stated that he was sad that he didn't have any, as he looked at the cats walking around the cafe. He was just so busy between teaching and his underground hero work, that it wouldn't be fair to the cat. One particular cat seemed to especially like Shouta, rubbing up against his leg. He smiled as he leaned down to pet her.

You then talked about how you were introverted, especially compared to Naomi, who was the epitome of an extrovert. Then for the first time, that's when you heard him laugh. Not a hearty laugh, but a small chuckle. "That explains why she and Present Mic got along so well." You smiled back at him. "Y/N, I meant to ask you, how do you know All Might? I saw you give him a hug at the gala the other night," Shouta asked. "Oh, Toshinori actually saved my life once, and we've been friends ever since." You went on to explain how it wasn't villains that he saved you from, but from a group of thugs who nearly assaulted you. Shouta frowned at that statement, "I'm sorry that happened to you. I'm glad he was there to protect you." You shrugged, "it was a situation where I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he was in the right place at the right time. I made a good friend out of the ordeal, so in a strange, twisted way, it was meant to be."

The conversation continued to flow so easily, like you two had known each other for years. You were relieved by that time, telling Shouta about how nervous you were for this date. He tilted his head to the side and grinned, "why were you nervous? I'm not that scary, am I?" You laughed in return, "no of course not." Should you tell him? You didn't want to necessarily speak on the tunnel vision you experienced when you first laid eyes on him, that would be too much for a first date. "Well, let's just say I......noticed.....you at the gala the other night. And then you came into the restaurant I work at last night, it was just so coincidental, like we were supposed to meet or something," you said quietly. You can't believe those words just came out of your mouth; you were now blushing so hard. He just smiled in return, looking down at his empty cup of coffee.

Suddenly, the barista announced that the cafe would be closing in fifteen minutes. You hadn't realized how much time had gone by, and the cafe was nearly empty besides one other table. You looked at Shouta, "well, I guess that means it's time to take our leave." He nodded in agreement, and you two proceeded to go outside. Once you were outside, he walked you to your car, and once you were at your car, you turned around to face him. You were rusty at this. What was the protocol to ending a first date? A hug? A kiss? It's like every thought on previous first dates you've been on completely vanished, and you had no clue what to do. To make matters worse, Shouta appeared to have no clue what to do or say either, seemingly just as rusty at this as you are. You finally talked and smiled up at him, "I had a very nice time tonight." He seemed relieved at this, "I did too, Y/N. I know we're both busy with our jobs, but I would like to see you again sometime." You instantly replied, "I would like that, too." You two stood there for a few seconds and stared at one another, still unsure what to do. "Well, you get home safely. I'll hopefully talk to you soon." And with that, he swiftly walked away in the opposite direction. For the second time in two days, you gawked at him as he walked away.

You won't lie, you were hoping for a kiss. You didn't need a full make-out session (although if that happened, there would have been no complaints on your end), but a small kiss would have been nice. You shook that thought out of your head and smiled; he wanted to see you again. That was a good thing! You got into your car, and smiled the entire drive home. You couldn't wait to get on the phone with Naomi when you got home and tell her everything, and also grill her about her apparent flirtation with Present Mic. When you got home, you practically sang hello to your cats; you were on cloud nine. You pulled your phone out of your purse and placed it on your kitchen counter, walking away and missing the text from Shouta:

"I really did have a nice time tonight, Y/N. I look forward to seeing you again."

******

To be continued!

[imzadi-caskett-huddy]

Hell Hath No Fury (4/?)

Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed. I really try to personally thank everyone who reviews with an account here (if I missed you, it wasn’t intentional!) and to the guests whom I can’t personally thank…I’m thanking you now. Especially the guest who said I was one of the best writers…thank you, those words mean a lot. I’m hardly the best, I just try to keep everyone as much in character as possible.

Fair warning…I detest writing casework and police work…so the shooter stuff is going to get wrapped up without much actual procedural writing. That’s not to say there won’t still be a confrontation, but I prefer to focus my writing on the relationships and the angst as opposed to someone running down 3 different leads.

I still don’t own Castle…

xxxxx

When Beckett walked into Castle’s room, she was carrying two cups of coffee. She smiled when she saw him sitting up, looking better than he had the evening before; he still didn’t look completely like himself, but she could tell he seemed to be a little more rested and feeling slightly better. “Hey,” she greeted, placing his coffee on the stand beside his bed where he’d be able to reach it.

“Beckett…you brought me coffee,” Castle greeted her with a smile.

She hid an almost shy smile behind her own cup as she took a drink. “I figured it’s the least I can do. I probably owe you like a hundred coffees by now, right?” she joked lightly. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m on some good pain medication. And I’m still tired. But all things considered, not as bad as the alternative,” he answered her question. “The doctor did morning rounds already; apparently I’m good enough to move down to a regular room later today.”

“That’s good,” she told him with a smile. “Do you feel up to talking about what you remember?” she asked after a moment, cautiously broaching the subject. Her smile faded slightly when she noticed the look on his face. “You don’t have to right now…”

“No,” he interrupted her. “No, I can, it’s just…you’re still going after the guy?” Though he knew he shouldn’t be that surprised. She had blinders on when it came to anything to do with her mother’s case.

“You can’t be surprised by that, Castle,” she stated simply. “Why wouldn’t I be trying to find the man who shot you?”

“Because he’s going to kill you, Kate!” he said in frustration.

She scoffed slightly. “I’m a cop, Castle. I can take care of myself. Besides, I’m not an easy target. I know they’re looking for me.”

He just stared at her. He could not believe they were going to have this same argument all over again right now, after everything. “Considering everything that happened, I’d disagree with that statement.” Seeing her look, he pressed on. “If I hadn’t shoved you out of the way, you’d be right here. Or worse.”

She swallowed hard at his words and was silent for a moment. She didn’t want to fight with him. “Are you going to tell me what you remember about the shooting, or not?” she finally asked, doing her best to keep her tone neutral.

He clenched his jaw for a moment. “Not much. All I saw was a flash of light. It must have been the sunlight catching something on the gun,” he relayed the information to her. “That little flash was all I saw.”

She sighed, running her hand through her hair. “That’s not surprising. We don’t have much more than that either,” she admitted to him. “It’s like he just vanished.”

“Then let him vanish, Kate,” he pleaded with her, meeting her eyes.

Silently holding his stare for a few moments, she finally had to look away. “So what are your plans when you get out of here?” she tried to change the subject. She didn’t want to fight with him, but she wasn’t backing down from the case either. It was too personal.

“I don’t know. I supposed I would just recover at the loft. Why?”

Taking a deep breath at the frustration in his tone, she released it slowly. “Maybe…you should go to the Hamptons,” she suggested, trying to keep her tone indifferent. “It seems like a much more peaceful place to recover.” And you won’t be in the city in case I still haven’t caught the jackass by then, so you won’t have to know what I’m doing.

“You’re trying to get rid of me,” he commented.

“Why would I do that?” she asked, feigning innocence.

“Because if you’re still hunting the shooter by the time I’m released, you don’t want me here to stop you.”

Damn. She’d honestly hoped to avoid having to talk about her plan with him, but he knew her playbook too well, so there was no reason to bother trying to hide it anymore. “Castle, I’m

hunting down this son of a bitch whether you like it or not. He’s connected to my mother’s murder. He came after me. You got shot because you’re too close to me,” she stated firmly, her voice raising and taking an angry edge. “Now I’m asking you to go to the Hamptons when you’re released. Don’t make me go through Alexis and your mother to get you there,” she stated in a low tone, her eyes meeting his, daring him to challenge her. She would absolutely do it. She was not backing down on this; she needed him out of the city for her to do what she needed to do; if he was still in the city and found out exactly how she planned to get the shooter, he would try to stop her.

He stared her down for a few moments before relenting. “Fine,” he said lowly, clearly not happy with her. “There’s no way to ever win this argument with you; you’re going to do what you want to do anyway. You’re determined to push me away, so fine. You win. When I’m released, I’ll go to the Hamptons, and you won’t have to worry about anyone trying to stop you from running straight down the rabbit hole and getting yourself killed.” Had he not been stuck in a hospital bed during this argument, he would have walked away at that point. Instead, all he could do was glare at her.

“Good morning, Richard!” Martha came striding into the room with a smile. Seeing her son and the detective seemingly caught in the middle of a tense exchange, she paused. “Am I interrupting?”

“No, Mother. Beckett was just leaving,” Castle answered, his eyes never leaving her and his voice laced with anger.

Beckett swallowed hard at the sound of his tone. He was kicking her out. Nodding, she took a deep breath and stepped away from his bedside. “Good to see you again, Martha,” she acknowledged his mother on her way out the door.

Martha watched the detective leave and then turned her eyes to her son. “What did I just walk in on?”

Castle clenched his jaw and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. “She’s going after the shooter.”

“Of course she is. She’s a police officer…that’s her job.”

“No, not like this. This guy is going to kill her, Mother, and she’s running straight toward him!”

“Richard…the last thing Katherine Beckett needs is for you to try to be her protector…look where that’s gotten you,” she stated, gesturing to the hospital bed. “She’s a detective and a grown woman who is more than capable of taking care of herself. What she needs is a friend to stand beside her.”

He released a slow breath. “Yeah, well she’s making damn sure I can’t stand beside her. She’s pushing me away,” he said lowly. “She may not need me to protect her, but I don’t want her trying to protect me either.”

“Richard, this is who she is! You’ve known that since you began shadowing her. She hasn’t suddenly changed, and yet you’ve always found a way to be by her side before.”

“This is different…”

“You’re right, it is,” Martha nodded her head. “It’s different because she cares about you.”

“Mother…”

“I watched that woman go through hell while you were in surgery. Somehow, she pulled herself together enough to come over and be strong for me, and especially for Alexis. So don’t sit there in that bed thinking that you’re the only one in the relationship who cares deeply. She may not be able to say it, may not know how to show it, but I don’t know many women who would do what she did…certainly not either of your ex-wives.”

Castle sat quietly for a few moments. His mother was right. Both Gina and Meredith were self-absorbed and selfish. In a crisis, they would be more likely to think of themselves than to be there for his daughter or mother. “She’s just so…maddening!” he finally sighed.

“Welcome to being in love, kiddo,” Martha patted his hand sympathetically.

xxxxx

“Yo Beckett! How’s Castle?” Esposito asked when he spotted her coming out of the elevator.

“Fine,” she answered in a clipped tone.

He gave her a questioning look, but didn’t push. “He remember seeing anything?”

“Nothing that will help,” she shook her head, dropping down in her chair and bringing her fingers together to lock as she rested her forehead against her joined hands. “We’re pretty much dead in the water.”

“Uh, maybe not…” Ryan called out as he approached her desk. “Canvas turned up several people who saw a grounds worker during the funeral. Only when I talked to the cemetery, they said they didn’t have anyone working at the time of the funeral,” he offered his information with a smile.

“So the shooter disguised himself to blend in…” Beckett realized. “Was anyone able to see his face?”

“Already with a sketch artist,” Ryan’s smile grew.

Beckett returned the man’s smile; this was a lead. It wasn’t the best lead she’d ever gotten, but considering the difficulty of the case, and the lack of anything else, this was solid and it was something. At least she’d know what face she was looking for.

Before she could have another thought, a stern female voice came from the doorway of the captain’s office. “Detective Beckett! My office!”

Beckett’s head snapped around at the sound of her name, and she gave the voice a nod before looking back to the boys. “Who’s that?” she whispered.

“New captain started this morning. Captain Victoria ‘Iron’ Gates. Made her rank over in IA,” Esposito explained. “You missed her morning briefing when she took over this morning.”

“Great,” Beckett murmured, standing and heading toward the office. Giving a knock, she stepped inside. “Yes Ma’am?”

“If you see my mother, you can call her Ma’am. You will call me Captain or Sir,” she started, her eyes looking over the file on her desk.

This is going swimmingly. “Yes, Sir.”

“Your reputation precedes you, Detective. Youngest woman in the NYPD to make detective. You beat me by 6 weeks.”

“I didn’t realize that people kept score,” Beckett shook her head uncomfortably.

“Everybody keeps score, Detective. Especially those downtown,” she stated, finally looking up to meet the eyes of the other woman. “You missed my morning briefing.”

“Yes, Sir. I was getting a statement from a witness about the shooting case I’m working.”

Gates leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms at that. “The shooting that took place at the funeral.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“The shooting involving Mr. Castle taking a bullet for you.”

Beckett squirmed slightly, both uncomfortable and unsure where the conversation was going. “Yes, Sir.”

Gates studied the younger woman for a moment. “I hope you shared the statement with Detectives Ryan and Esposito.”

“I did.”

“Good, it’s their case. You’re not on this one.”

Beckett’s eyes widened. “Sir, it’s my case!”

“No, Detective. It’s not. I decide who works what case around here, and I won’t stand for a detective investigating their own shooting.”

“Sir, I wasn’t shot.”

“As the Mayor has been so quick to point out to me, you would have been if not for Mr. Castle. You’re too involved, Detective. You can help connect the dots from inside these walls, but you are not to do any field work in this case.”

“Sir…Castle…”

“Is a civilian who was shot protecting an NYPD detective,” Gates interrupted.

“He’s my partner. You have to let me find the shooter.”

“No, he's a civilian consultant who bought his way into playing cop, not your partner. And I don’t have to let you do anything. That is all, Detective.”

Beckett stood there, at first not believing the conversation that had just taken place, and then not sure whether or not she could or even should fight this. “Yes, Sir,” she stated lowly before heading out of the office and closing the door behind her.

Ryan and Esposito watched as she came out of the office looking like her head was about to explode. “What did Gates want?” Ryan asked.

“To bench me on this case,” she huffed angrily.

The two men exchanged glances. “You know we won’t keep anything from you on this one,” Esposito promised her.

“Yeah, he’s right. Just because the captain won’t let you out in the field doesn’t mean we can’t use your help here.”

Beckett clenched her jaw before releasing a deep breath. “Thanks,” she murmured, making her way to the break room for coffee. There was nothing else she could say. She was going to go stir-crazy in the precinct on this case.

xxxxx

Thanks again to everyone who is reading. I know I gave poor Beckett a hell of a day here, but I hope you’re still enjoying the story! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this chapter.

[41319kbex]

Hell Hath No Fury (4/?)

Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed. I really try to personally thank everyone who reviews with an account here (if I missed you, it wasn’t intentional!) and to the guests whom I can’t personally thank…I’m thanking you now. Especially the guest who said I was one of the best writers…thank you, those words mean a lot. I’m hardly the best, I just try to keep everyone as much in character as possible.

Fair warning…I detest writing casework and police work…so the shooter stuff is going to get wrapped up without much actual procedural writing. That’s not to say there won’t still be a confrontation, but I prefer to focus my writing on the relationships and the angst as opposed to someone running down 3 different leads.

I still don’t own Castle…

xxxxx

When Beckett walked into Castle’s room, she was carrying two cups of coffee. She smiled when she saw him sitting up, looking better than he had the evening before; he still didn’t look completely like himself, but she could tell he seemed to be a little more rested and feeling slightly better. “Hey,” she greeted, placing his coffee on the stand beside his bed where he’d be able to reach it.

“Beckett…you brought me coffee,” Castle greeted her with a smile.

She hid an almost shy smile behind her own cup as she took a drink. “I figured it’s the least I can do. I probably owe you like a hundred coffees by now, right?” she joked lightly. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m on some good pain medication. And I’m still tired. But all things considered, not as bad as the alternative,” he answered her question. “The doctor did morning rounds already; apparently I’m good enough to move down to a regular room later today.”

“That’s good,” she told him with a smile. “Do you feel up to talking about what you remember?” she asked after a moment, cautiously broaching the subject. Her smile faded slightly when she noticed the look on his face. “You don’t have to right now…”

“No,” he interrupted her. “No, I can, it’s just…you’re still going after the guy?” Though he knew he shouldn’t be that surprised. She had blinders on when it came to anything to do with her mother’s case.

“You can’t be surprised by that, Castle,” she stated simply. “Why wouldn’t I be trying to find the man who shot you?”

“Because he’s going to kill you, Kate!” he said in frustration.

She scoffed slightly. “I’m a cop, Castle. I can take care of myself. Besides, I’m not an easy target. I know they’re looking for me.”

He just stared at her. He could not believe they were going to have this same argument all over again right now, after everything. “Considering everything that happened, I’d disagree with that statement.” Seeing her look, he pressed on. “If I hadn’t shoved you out of the way, you’d be right here. Or worse.”

She swallowed hard at his words and was silent for a moment. She didn’t want to fight with him. “Are you going to tell me what you remember about the shooting, or not?” she finally asked, doing her best to keep her tone neutral.

He clenched his jaw for a moment. “Not much. All I saw was a flash of light. It must have been the sunlight catching something on the gun,” he relayed the information to her. “That little flash was all I saw.”

She sighed, running her hand through her hair. “That’s not surprising. We don’t have much more than that either,” she admitted to him. “It’s like he just vanished.”

“Then let him vanish, Kate,” he pleaded with her, meeting her eyes.

Silently holding his stare for a few moments, she finally had to look away. “So what are your plans when you get out of here?” she tried to change the subject. She didn’t want to fight with him, but she wasn’t backing down from the case either. It was too personal.

“I don’t know. I supposed I would just recover at the loft. Why?”

Taking a deep breath at the frustration in his tone, she released it slowly. “Maybe…you should go to the Hamptons,” she suggested, trying to keep her tone indifferent. “It seems like a much more peaceful place to recover.” And you won’t be in the city in case I still haven’t caught the jackass by then, so you won’t have to know what I’m doing.

“You’re trying to get rid of me,” he commented.

“Why would I do that?” she asked, feigning innocence.

“Because if you’re still hunting the shooter by the time I’m released, you don’t want me here to stop you.”

Damn. She’d honestly hoped to avoid having to talk about her plan with him, but he knew her playbook too well, so there was no reason to bother trying to hide it anymore. “Castle, I’m

hunting down this son of a bitch whether you like it or not. He’s connected to my mother’s murder. He came after me. You got shot because you’re too close to me,” she stated firmly, her voice raising and taking an angry edge. “Now I’m asking you to go to the Hamptons when you’re released. Don’t make me go through Alexis and your mother to get you there,” she stated in a low tone, her eyes meeting his, daring him to challenge her. She would absolutely do it. She was not backing down on this; she needed him out of the city for her to do what she needed to do; if he was still in the city and found out exactly how she planned to get the shooter, he would try to stop her.

He stared her down for a few moments before relenting. “Fine,” he said lowly, clearly not happy with her. “There’s no way to ever win this argument with you; you’re going to do what you want to do anyway. You’re determined to push me away, so fine. You win. When I’m released, I’ll go to the Hamptons, and you won’t have to worry about anyone trying to stop you from running straight down the rabbit hole and getting yourself killed.” Had he not been stuck in a hospital bed during this argument, he would have walked away at that point. Instead, all he could do was glare at her.

“Good morning, Richard!” Martha came striding into the room with a smile. Seeing her son and the detective seemingly caught in the middle of a tense exchange, she paused. “Am I interrupting?”

“No, Mother. Beckett was just leaving,” Castle answered, his eyes never leaving her and his voice laced with anger.

Beckett swallowed hard at the sound of his tone. He was kicking her out. Nodding, she took a deep breath and stepped away from his bedside. “Good to see you again, Martha,” she acknowledged his mother on her way out the door.

Martha watched the detective leave and then turned her eyes to her son. “What did I just walk in on?”

Castle clenched his jaw and took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. “She’s going after the shooter.”

“Of course she is. She’s a police officer…that’s her job.”

“No, not like this. This guy is going to kill her, Mother, and she’s running straight toward him!”

“Richard…the last thing Katherine Beckett needs is for you to try to be her protector…look where that’s gotten you,” she stated, gesturing to the hospital bed. “She’s a detective and a grown woman who is more than capable of taking care of herself. What she needs is a friend to stand beside her.”

He released a slow breath. “Yeah, well she’s making damn sure I can’t stand beside her. She’s pushing me away,” he said lowly. “She may not need me to protect her, but I don’t want her trying to protect me either.”

“Richard, this is who she is! You’ve known that since you began shadowing her. She hasn’t suddenly changed, and yet you’ve always found a way to be by her side before.”

“This is different…”

“You’re right, it is,” Martha nodded her head. “It’s different because she cares about you.”

“Mother…”

“I watched that woman go through hell while you were in surgery. Somehow, she pulled herself together enough to come over and be strong for me, and especially for Alexis. So don’t sit there in that bed thinking that you’re the only one in the relationship who cares deeply. She may not be able to say it, may not know how to show it, but I don’t know many women who would do what she did…certainly not either of your ex-wives.”

Castle sat quietly for a few moments. His mother was right. Both Gina and Meredith were self-absorbed and selfish. In a crisis, they would be more likely to think of themselves than to be there for his daughter or mother. “She’s just so…maddening!” he finally sighed.

“Welcome to being in love, kiddo,” Martha patted his hand sympathetically.

xxxxx

“Yo Beckett! How’s Castle?” Esposito asked when he spotted her coming out of the elevator.

“Fine,” she answered in a clipped tone.

He gave her a questioning look, but didn’t push. “He remember seeing anything?”

“Nothing that will help,” she shook her head, dropping down in her chair and bringing her fingers together to lock as she rested her forehead against her joined hands. “We’re pretty much dead in the water.”

“Uh, maybe not…” Ryan called out as he approached her desk. “Canvas turned up several people who saw a grounds worker during the funeral. Only when I talked to the cemetery, they said they didn’t have anyone working at the time of the funeral,” he offered his information with a smile.

“So the shooter disguised himself to blend in…” Beckett realized. “Was anyone able to see his face?”

“Already with a sketch artist,” Ryan’s smile grew.

Beckett returned the man’s smile; this was a lead. It wasn’t the best lead she’d ever gotten, but considering the difficulty of the case, and the lack of anything else, this was solid and it was something. At least she’d know what face she was looking for.

Before she could have another thought, a stern female voice came from the doorway of the captain’s office. “Detective Beckett! My office!”

Beckett’s head snapped around at the sound of her name, and she gave the voice a nod before looking back to the boys. “Who’s that?” she whispered.

“New captain started this morning. Captain Victoria ‘Iron’ Gates. Made her rank over in IA,” Esposito explained. “You missed her morning briefing when she took over this morning.”

“Great,” Beckett murmured, standing and heading toward the office. Giving a knock, she stepped inside. “Yes Ma’am?”

“If you see my mother, you can call her Ma’am. You will call me Captain or Sir,” she started, her eyes looking over the file on her desk.

This is going swimmingly. “Yes, Sir.”

“Your reputation precedes you, Detective. Youngest woman in the NYPD to make detective. You beat me by 6 weeks.”

“I didn’t realize that people kept score,” Beckett shook her head uncomfortably.

“Everybody keeps score, Detective. Especially those downtown,” she stated, finally looking up to meet the eyes of the other woman. “You missed my morning briefing.”

“Yes, Sir. I was getting a statement from a witness about the shooting case I’m working.”

Gates leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms at that. “The shooting that took place at the funeral.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“The shooting involving Mr. Castle taking a bullet for you.”

Beckett squirmed slightly, both uncomfortable and unsure where the conversation was going. “Yes, Sir.”

Gates studied the younger woman for a moment. “I hope you shared the statement with Detectives Ryan and Esposito.”

“I did.”

“Good, it’s their case. You’re not on this one.”

Beckett’s eyes widened. “Sir, it’s my case!”

“No, Detective. It’s not. I decide who works what case around here, and I won’t stand for a detective investigating their own shooting.”

“Sir, I wasn’t shot.”

“As the Mayor has been so quick to point out to me, you would have been if not for Mr. Castle. You’re too involved, Detective. You can help connect the dots from inside these walls, but you are not to do any field work in this case.”

“Sir…Castle…”

“Is a civilian who was shot protecting an NYPD detective,” Gates interrupted.

“He’s my partner. You have to let me find the shooter.”

“No, he's a civilian consultant who bought his way into playing cop, not your partner. And I don’t have to let you do anything. That is all, Detective.”

Beckett stood there, at first not believing the conversation that had just taken place, and then not sure whether or not she could or even should fight this. “Yes, Sir,” she stated lowly before heading out of the office and closing the door behind her.

Ryan and Esposito watched as she came out of the office looking like her head was about to explode. “What did Gates want?” Ryan asked.

“To bench me on this case,” she huffed angrily.

The two men exchanged glances. “You know we won’t keep anything from you on this one,” Esposito promised her.

“Yeah, he’s right. Just because the captain won’t let you out in the field doesn’t mean we can’t use your help here.”

Beckett clenched her jaw before releasing a deep breath. “Thanks,” she murmured, making her way to the break room for coffee. There was nothing else she could say. She was going to go stir-crazy in the precinct on this case.

xxxxx

Thanks again to everyone who is reading. I know I gave poor Beckett a hell of a day here, but I hope you’re still enjoying the story! I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this chapter.

[300yearschallenge]

Part 1 I Part 2 I Part 3 I Part 4

The main house was a simple two room cabin with a small hallway connecting the two.

To the left was the bedroom, and to the right was the kitchen. The furniture was well worn and robust, and although the place was much less fancy than the Park home it seemed like a wealth of luxury to Charles Elias after his long journey.

Once inside Charles Elias was invited to sit at the dinner table, with the old man, who introduced himself as Isak, sitting at the head of the table.

"Now then," Isak said, "Why don't you explain why on earth you've come all this way to see Theodore, and I'll have my niece cook us up a nice warm meal while we talk."

Once Isak had called out to a younger girl, who walked in with barely a hello and who kept her gaze firmly away from the group, Charles Elias began telling everyone his story.

He skirted around the truth of who his father was, worried that it would reflect poorly on both Charles Elias, his mother and Theodore if it were to come out, and instead leaned heavily into Joseph's behaviour as the driving force of him leaving.

It wasn't technically a lie.

The more Charles Elias spoke, the more of his frustration poured out.

How angry he was at the man who had raised him for how he had been treated, how slighted he felt, how he reached a point where he just couldn't take it anymore.

And the more Charles Elias spoke, the sadder Theodore and Isak looked. They all knew their culture said you should always listen to and obey the head of the household, but they could also understand that a hurt and angry teenage boy might not follow those expectations.

Once Charles Elias was done, Theodore spoke up.

"Well," he said, "I certainly think you had cause to leave. It was a rash decision, but I can't find it within myself to hold it against you."

Charles Elias breathed a sigh of relief.

"Personally," Theodore continued, "And I hope you don't mind the suggestion, sir, I wouldn't be opposed to having you stay here and help out with the fishing. It's hard work, but it's honest work, and a strong young man such as yourself would do well."

"I-I wouldn't mind fishing, sir," Charles Elias said, glancing towards the man at the head of the table, "I promise I will work hard to earn my living if I you let me stay here."

"I don't see why not," Isak said, "Theodore staying with us has supported our family immensely, and having an extra hand here would do wonders."

Charles Elias smiled.

"I say you're welcome to stay in Theodore's cabin, and to work with us. Welcome, Charles Elias."

With the tension of weeks of travel gone, the conversation began to flow more freely.

Theodore and Charles Elias joked and reminisced, and Isak told a few far-fetched stories of his fishing days as a young man.

Finally, everything felt alright again.

.

.

Historical Info

Oh boy, oh boy! Get ready for historical info you guys, and thank you to everyone for your patience <3

Since I'll be covering two different topics, I'm gonna arrange it into different sub-headers to make reading easier.

Charles Elias' Path

We've discussed the Postal Road between Stockholm and Turku in the past, primarily looking into how it functioned in general.

As such, I won't go into all of that again, but will instead look at the path that Charles Elias took to reach Theodore.

Using this map as a base, I made a sketch of the path that Charles Elias took in order to reach Theodore.

I've always kept the exact village etc. where my sims live somewhat vague on purpose, mostly to have a little bit more room for storytelling.

But, in general terms, you can see what areas I've imagined Charles Elias started his journey from (blue) and where he ended it (red).

The blue X to the west marks the location of the postal harbour, which would have been the point where he turned east.

Now, if you were to make this journey today it would not take two weeks. With car you can make this journey in like maybe 40(?) minutes or so, and on foot google maps says such a walk would take aprox. 17 hours.

However! Keeping in mind that nowadays we have the luxury of modern, well-kept roads and easier modes of transport, I reckoned it made sense if the journey took longer.

There were less roads in general, most were dirt roads, and many small channels of water had to be crossed by boat or bridge. Taking into consideration setting up camp/sleeping somewhere and winter conditions and I figured it would make sense for such a journey to take much longer.

Inns

Set up along the postal road and larger roads at this time were a number of inns.

For the most part these inns were somewhat simple, and often mostly had a main room and some rooms for travelers. The primary people who came to the inns were people traveling along the postal road, primarily "officials, military, merchants and sometimes sailors and boatsmen". This we know since the inns were demanded to keep a diary of their visitors, some of which have survived to modern day.

The quality of the inns at this time varied, with some travel diaries bemoaning the quality, while others thought it was pretty okay. "Guests of higher social standing preferred to stay with priests instead."

Source: Det Åländska Folkets Historia Vol. III (The History of the Åland People Vol. III) by Stig Dreijer

[crobones]

seriously, if you're going to have a character arc come full circle in terms of fulfilling goals that they'd had in the beginning, do it like Loki, not like Our Flag Means Death.

Loki fought the whole season to prevent the inevitable, but then acknowledged that his wants were ultimately selfish even though the motivation was altruistic. He tried absolutely everything he could literally time and time again, trying to save the timelines and the TVA and his friends, and preventing the time war.

He even spent centuries with his friends off screen and there was a significant reason for the time skip! (looking at you, infinity war and endgame! fuck that five year time skip! we knew everything would ultimately stay the same except for the fact that Loki learned theoretical physics and what he needed in order to move the plot along. Fuck, they even just acknowledged there were several times he lived through certain circumstances because of how he acted and what he said in that final attempt at the Mulitplier. They managed to both show and tell in a way that fucking worked for the pacing.

essentially, loki tried so hard to achieve what everyone thought would save them, and when they finally succeeded, it still wasn't enough. and as opposed to choosing between time no longer existing or killing sylvie, he asked people for advice. Everyone essentially said "kill the one to save the many" and we know for damn sure that old Loki would have done just that. He would have killed Sylvie and been done with it.

But he had character growth! he wanted people to have free will! he wanted his friends to be able to choose between life on a timeline or life with the TVA! he didn't want to kill a person he cared about, even if that was the only answer! so he took their opinions and ultimately said "fuck that" and sacrificed himself.

he wanted a throne and a purpose in the very beginning, then he learned he didn't want any of those things - he wanted to be loved! and THEN he realized that he would have to sacrifice that love in order to save existence and the people he cared about. sacrificing those things was the last resort. so he ended up alone. on a throne. burdened with a terrible purpose. but it was for selfless reasons.

now! how am I making this about izzy, you ask? well! season one, izzy was incredibly selfish! but even then, we have the first divergence of character arcs.

Loki spends his first season learning that people deserve free will and sometimes he needs to relinquish control. he learns he needs to trust people.

season one izzy basically doesn't have a character arc! he begins and ends the season wanting blackbeard. then season two comes along and they speedrun his character development in what, two episodes? and half of it happens off-screen between the seasons!

but both loki and izzy learn that what's important to them is community, love, and the freedom for everyone to be who they want to be. where loki fights tooth and nail to hold onto these things before he must sacrifice himself, izzy's choices of self-sacrifice throughout the beginning of the season are motivated by selfharm and suicidal ideation - he believes he deserves punishment for what he has done in the past.

then, Izzy's last choice of making himself the target is less for wanting to die and moreso trying to give the others the chance to live. arguably, this is a step forward in his narrative? idk, putting yourself in the line of fire is still putting yourself in the line of fire, regardless of motivation. but, oop! he doesn't die here, no. he survives the talk with Ricky. huzzah!

however! he dies moments later due to being shot as a result of 1) no one checking to make sure Ricky was disarmed, 2) stede's suicide mission, which was literally the only plan they tried, and 3) even though people in this show can survive falling from the crow's nest onto the deck or being stabbed multiple times through the torso where there actually are important organs, the show wanted to tell us that "people die for real sometimes."

but it doesn't stop there! izzy then refuses any attempts to save him, and then apologizes to his codependent for... being codependent... yet this act of his dying is thus reinforcing that very codependency... and he "wants to die"...

like. if loki could have it any other way (and trust him! he's tried!) he would. he would choose life with his friends and loved ones. but he chose self-sacrifice as a literal last resort because it was the only way.

if given the chance, would the izzy that existed at the end of season two have chosen to live? not only was his death the result of someone else's plan, but it wasn't even a matter of the plan going to shit and THEN izzy sacrifices himself. no, his death was simply a byproduct of the plan going to shit. and then it was turned into a metaphor for the very character he was codependent on.

loki's motivations changed, he fought for any and every other possibility, but his end result was ironically what he had sought in the very beginning. it is tragic and beautiful.

izzy's motivations changed, but he never tried to keep what he had. he never forgave himself. he forgave literally everyone except for himself. he reverted right back to being willing to die for blackbeard. it isn't even tragic, it's just poorly written.

[thepagemistress]

Saw this floating around and thought I'd do it because why not? (Also I have two AO3 accounts so the answers will incorporate both.)

Fanfiction Q&A

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

128

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

374,590

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Right now, mostly just Supernatural. I'm not good at multitasking. But I've still got some IT and DBH fics lurking in my WIP folders and there was an OFMD one I wanted to write ages ago that isn't even canon now but fuck it, right?

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

#1 Braver Than You Think - It (1,280)

#2 Or Are Ya Chicken? - Castle (525)

#3 One I posted anonymously for Reasons™️ 😅 (505)

#4 Note to Self - Detroit: Become Human (333)

#5 The Domestication of the Swanman - Supernatural (316)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

*sigh* Not as often as I should. If someone leaves a long comment or an enthusiastic one or asks a question then I'll usually respond. But I don't like that AO3 includes replies in the comment count. I don't like inflating the number by responding to everything.

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Hmm. I guess Eighty-Sixed? My dark version of SPN but I did kind of subvert it right at the end because I'm me.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Probably Braver Than You Think. My middle finger fuck you to canon deaths!

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Hate is a strong word. The one I posted anonymously ended up with ✨️drama✨️ on it because someone accused me of stealing their friend's idea and then some other people swooped in to attack that person and defend me and then some other person said I needed Jesus lol. But other than that one fic, no 😂

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I have done but I don't write it nearly as much as I used to and the more I don't write it, the more I don't think I probably can anymore. But I do have some in the back pocket should the mood strike. And it's usually pretty intimate stuff these days. Actually depends on the pairing, I guess. Not really opposed to trying my hand at anything.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

If we're talking actual crossovers and not just AUs, I have written one and that was my Supernatural/Santa Clarita Diet one which was a LOT of fun to write. I do have two other SPN crossover fics on my to-do list that I'm excited to get to eventually 👀

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yes! It was forever ago, over on ff.net. I don't even remember how I found out. I think the "author" actually messaged me asking permission to plagiarise my fic even though they'd already done it. But they took my Castle fic, did find & replace on the character names and turned it into a Big Time Rush fic. Absolute shenanigans.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I had someone ask if they could but I don't know if it ever actually happened.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

I have not. I don't know that I'd be able to, tbh. I'm a bit of a control freak when it comes to writing.

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

At this point, it probably has to be Destiel, right? It's endured this long. I still look back fondly on all my ships but none make me quite so feral as those two do.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Ugh. I made the mistake of rereading my Reed900 fic the other day and I actually really love it still. But I have no memory of where it was going and no clue where any of my notes are so it's probably dead. There's also my "Richie goes back to Derry to dig Eddie out of Neibolt" fic but I DO still have all my notes for that one so foolishly I keep telling myself maybe one day...

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I'm good at coming up with novel ideas. Or at least unique approaches to things. And I'm quite good at capturing a character's voice.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

You mean aside from actually...writing? I suck at writing action or setting a scene. I focus so much on dialogue and internal emotions that I don't realise I've never said where anyone is or anything to paint a clear picture.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic.

I've done it a few times but unless I know someone who speaks the language, I don't really like relying on Google Translate to get things right.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Knowingly, it must have been The Monkees. But I was writing self-insert stories when I was a little kid involving Sonic and Bill & Ted and The A-Team...

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

This is an impossible question. I guess Braver Than You Think. Especially because a fic author I'd been following for over a decade commented on it and that was the coolest shit ever.

Please, any writers that see this, go ahead and fill it in and tag me in it! I wanna learn more about your stuff 😊 and I'll specifically tag @ncrrington @maccca-chino @wigglebox @castiel @casdeans-pie but no obligations!

[morgana-ren]

How hard is it to get Reaver to negotiate with you? If you're doing the nasty stuff he wants and bratting appropriately, will he give you more of a leash (heh)? Would he be willing to let you influence business matters if you showed an interest and a knack for it? (I've not played Fable yet so I'm totally in the dark)

Thankfully, playing Fable isn't pertinent to our Reaver outside of establishing a baseline personality (him being a complete jackass.) We really took the characters and ran with them.

Truthfully, Reaver in Fable is more of a minor character. He's one of the four heroes (and you get him at the very, very end and he has maybe a singular page of dialogue.) Most of his mythos and lore is built around the commentary that others have to say about his character. In Fable 3, he's a minor villain that has two or three cutscenes, one mission based around his house that you don't even really see him outside of the few cutscenes, and as a vehicle for the more reprehensible moral decisions in the game. He's hedonistic, licentious, cruel, amoral, greedy, and ruthless. That's it.

Now, don't get me wrong. That was more than enough to give the fandom some pretty heavy opinions on him that would sway either which way, but speaking realistically, he's a minor part of the game franchise. He's a beloved minor character that we established further out of pure love.

Our Reaver is very heavily based on that Reaver, but we developed him way beyond that. We gave him other traits and characteristics. So everything I say is more or less just our ideas of his character as opposed to his established lore from Lionhead and the Fable franchise.

Reaver, above all, is a businessman. Before he was a businessman, he was a pirate. It all very much influences each other. What I'm saying is he's going to be more than willing to negotiate, but at the end of the day, he will be getting what he wants out of the bargain, even if that means he has to take it.

If you took an interest in his business, he'd be absolutely delighted. He loves showing off his factories and his control over the workers-- but the girls he takes are more concerned with unions and working conditions, usually, which he couldn't give a shit less about.

For Reaver to consider you having a knack for it, you'd have to think exactly like he does. Money first, humanity later-- if at all.

Now, he's willing to barter with you for these things, but you will be giving him things that he considers of equal value. Meaning if you want him to pay his workers even minimum wage, you are going to make it worth his while, and even then, he will usually undercut you somehow. The issue in getting involved with his businesses is that you are putting other lives at risk. If you slip up and say:

"I was talking to some of the workers, and--"

He is going to want to know who, and when you won't tell him, he will start shooting until either everyone is dead, or until someone else talks. He needs complete control over his work force. He does not abide brewing mutiny, whether it's on his ship or in his factories.

You can totally go to bat for people. You can try to have a hand in his business. Keep in mind, though, Reaver already has things working at what he considers to be at 100 percent efficiency. If you want him to crank those numbers, you will be making it worth his while-- and you're not going to like it.

As for obeying him, he will give you leash insofar that he believes you are safe. You will never get to a point in the relationship with him where you will have the control and the upper hand openly, but you can make him so moon-eyed that he'll do stupid shit to make you happy. You will never have full autonomy, but you can manipulate him in ways that other people cannot. You can get him to occasionally act against his own interests.

Ultimately, he does want someone with their own mind, and weirdly, the people he gets attached to most are strong-willed women who do not obey him (has to do with his background and also the fact he is just a sheer bully and he likes a challenge.) He is an underhanded fuck and he is always going to expect the same from you.

You can get to the point where he won't shove you in 'the cage' every time you irritate him, or maybe he won't threaten every person that passes, and even be seen as a sort of 'free and independent' person, but you won't ever escape him. You can think whatever you want, but you don't make the rules. He does.

I guess what I'm saying is, he, as a business man, will negotiate. But he enters things of this nature the same way he approaches business arrangements. He will be coming out on top.

[thecandywrites]

Kinktober Day 25- Threesome/Moresome

Ok, so opposite end of the spectrum from Day 24 about Chastity Cages as far as Micro-mermaids because mating balls, aka orgies are a norm for breeding anyway. And what better way to show the other end of the spectrum than middle gens as opposed to last gen/first gens.

So this is basically smut but with lots of feelings.

A million thanks to @starsandskies for her kinktober prompts that yes, I know it's now practically middle of November. But damn it. I will do all of these. ALL. OF. THEM. Even if it takes me till Dec-fucking-ember.

Kinktober Day - Threesome/Moresome

Micro- Mermaid Mating Ball

Big Daddy and Skinny Daddy

Echonah, Aurorahanna, and Omega. 

“Ok guys, here are some mating gifts to choose from.” Vivian offered as she dumped a bag of assorted little shells and beads and little trinkets in a huge line down the tank’s bottom as you and your siblings eagerly gathered everything you thought would appeal to a mate as a courting gift. 

You and your siblings were at the last adolescence stage before you were all considered full fledged adults. And you and your siblings were middle batched. Of only 53 eggs that were laid, successfully hatched and raised by your parents. It was considered your parent’s true middle batches. It had 27 males and 26 females. Which was normal. Most middle batches were split 50/50 males vs females plus or minus 1-3 for either side. 

You had all spent the whole day yesterday knitting a whole quilt’s worth of patches with your individual names knitted right into the patch like square- they were to accompany all the gifts you were currently collecting to appeal to a future mate. Although the prettiest of the beads usually were quickly snatched to go into your hair as decoration to also decorate your seashell bras that you and your sisters were just now finishing budding breasts to fill. Some of your sisters actually had to be on their second and third bra by now because their breasts kept growing and overflowing the previous shell bras while others had yet to even fill their first ones. 

You were grateful to be in the middle. You filled your seashell bra nicely and to the point you had decent cleavage but not to the point that you needed to remake it and redo it. 

Once every mini pocket you had weaved into your own bag was filled with a gift and a patch you swam around the pile as did your siblings, all of you making sure you didn’t miss anything special or anything useful before you found a shard that looked like a perfect match to the three you were already wearing. 

You wore one on a lanyard around your neck to keep for personal protection and you had two more on a special belt around your hips that you hoped would be the perfect gift for your potential mate once you went through the preliminary courting phase where you met everyone in the tank and got to hand pick who appealed the most to you. But this would match with your first shard so now you had two sets before you saw yet another set and without thinking, took those with you too as you quickly spun your seasilk about the handles so that the shards themselves resembled stone age weapons but the seasilk would keep your hand and the hands of your potential mate from cutting themselves on the shards.  

Once everyone had thoroughly picked through everything, you all simply sat and continued to eat and talk about what kind of mate you would hopefully find in the mating tank. 

“So what are you looking for Aura?” Your brother Luray asked. 

“Just…someone balanced. He doesn’t need to be the biggest micro in the tank and he doesn’t need to be the smartest. But, just balanced between the two.” You shrugged. 

“What about you?” You asked him. 

“The same. She doesn’t have to be the prettiest or the most well endowed or the smartest, but just, something in the middle. A good balance.” He answered. 

“Well, I hope we all find what we’re looking for, but especially you.” You offered to your favorite brother who incubated and hatched right alongside you as you hugged his arm and laid your head on his shoulder as you both basked in the special sunlamp to digest what you had eaten while also keeping your bags close for when the net would be brought in to take you and your siblings to the mating tank. 

And sure enough, only several minutes later, the special container meant to house all of you and your siblings were put in as you all said your last goodbyes to your parents before you all eagerly and happily swam into the net and hung onto each other before the container was tilted up right and pulled out of your parents tank before it was carried over to the large mating tank where two huge swordfish were already hanging in there as you could see all the males gravitate to one while all the females gravitated to the other. 

But since you and your clutch mates had already eaten, you instead made the priority to find good nesting sites as you found the perfect one and immediately claimed it by hanging the curtain with your name knitted large and wide across it was put across the top as you put that over the opening but no sooner had you done so before another male came over. 

“Dang it, I knew I should have claimed this when I saw it.” He snapped his fingers as you could tell by his tone he wasn’t angry but still playfully disappointed. 

“Sorry, you snooze, you lose.” You called out with a laugh from behind the curtain as you were still putting it in place. 

“Well it’s not a complete loss, at least this one is similar.” He said as he claimed the one immediately next to it as you looked over to see a very skinny, scrawny male immediately try to claim that one by using his seasilk to make a bigger curtain outline that what he had previously woven before. Like a spider, spinning a web, he slowly knitted the top of it before he knitted more of the edges to the others to at least try to claim the space as his own but you could see when he would be done, it would be perfect and custom made just for the opening as you admired his ingenuity. Maybe he just needed to be fed better. 

“So did you try to save all the food for your sisters?” You asked as you used one of the edges that was between your nest site and his because the space shared a little space that both of you could easily swim through to get from his site to yours as you used your own patch to help knit the corner over to where he had it as you marvelled at the silky softness of his own silk. This was finer than even your own. And it was downright gorgeous. He had to be the prettiest micro you had ever seen, just on the skinny side.

“No, I’m just the runt of my clutch. I’ve always been small and skinny. No matter how much my siblings tried to feed me to help me catch up. I can eat more than any of my clutchmates can, I eat until my stomach pouches out like I’m the female with an egg laden pouch but my stomach only stays that way for a little bit and quickly enough my stomach finishes it off and by morning, or even only a few hours later, I’ve already digested it and passed it and ravenous for more food. But, I’m still just always thin. I guess I just have a high metabolism. I still digest all the food but my body just does so very quickly.” He answered. 

“Oh, I see.” You nodded once you finished and moved onto the next one to help him continue trying to claim the space as his own. 

“I’ve already been labeled in the system as a high metabolism runt anyway and I’m being tested to see if I have hyperthyroidism among other things.” He grunted as you realized that while he was rather skinny, the muscle he did have- while it didn’t have bulk, was just as strong as any other you supposed. He just didn’t have a lot of excess fat on his body or more bulk to his perfectly strong body. 

“Do you feel sick?” You asked thoughtfully. 

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve just always been this way. I’ve just learned to live with it. But I wanted the best nesting site in the tank just to try to show I’m not a bad mate, or a bad choice for a mate, I’m just…small. And my siblings gave me all the prettiest gifts just to make up for it. But…” He grunted in frustration as he finally finished that corner before he came to see that you had used your own patches down the side to attach that whole side to where he had laid the anchor seasilk strand. 

“Oh Aurorahana, you didn’t have to use your own patches to help me.” He tried to say as he saw the way they were knitted into place and appreciated how you had done so but you saw the reverent way he touched the patches themselves as he traced your name. 

“But I wanted to. So I did.” You grinned. 

“Thank you.” He thanked you earnestly. 

“You’re welcome Echonah.” You offered since his name was already weaved into the curtain. 

“But your patches are able to be seen from the outside, the other males will think you’re already paired with me.” He realized. 

“So? Tell you what, if you find another mate, you can replace her patches with mine or you can weave another layer of seasilk over it if you’d prefer. But if not. Then let me be the first to offer you a courting gift.” You offered before you took the belt around your hips and put it around his waist before you had to cinch it smaller since his waist was smaller than your own but he just hugged you and started crying. 

“Thank you so much. I was so scared. I thought every girl in here would take one look at my body and write me off and I’d have to go into singles or something.” He cried into the crux of your neck and shoulder.

You hugged him just as tightly as he was hugging you as your back cracked, but in a good way as you comforted him. He was as long as you but half your size. It was like he was still prepubescent or something but he still smelled full grown and fully mature and otherwise his facial features showed he was an adult. Just a skinny one. Which didn’t bother you at all. He was obviously self conscious about it, but sensitive and sweet otherwise. And you were sure that whatever was wrong with him, was fixed, he’d be just fine in no time. 

“So you don’t have an owner yet?” You asked as you pet down his head and back as he seemed to relax and melt into the soft corals were you two were laying, side by side on the little space between his nest site and yours. 

“No. All of my siblings do already. Ethel was going to hold me back into the micro-long term care tanks until the tests come back. But I don’t know if anyone will be willing to take me on if whatever might be wrong with me, costs a lot in medication. So chances are, I’ll either be a charity case or stay here at the center. And I’ve always been terrified I’d be culled because I wasn’t worth the investment in my care.” He confessed. 

“Oh poor Echonah. I’m so sorry you’ve felt that way and had to carry that mental burden. That’s not right or fair. Maybe it’s the stress from all that, that’s made this worse. But I’m sure once they have an answer and get you the care and attention and even medications that you need, you’ll be fine. It’s going to be ok. I’m sure it will be.” You reassured him. 

“But I hate to drag you down either. I don’t want you to feel like I’m keeping you from finding a better mate.” Echonah admitted before you kissed him sweetly. 

“Hush, stop that. All I wanted in a mate was someone who liked me for me. I’m not anything too special myself. And if you need extra help, then you need extra help. I’m sure if our positions were reversed, you’d probably be doing the same thing right? You wouldn’t look at a super skinny girl and think that she’s a lost cause would you?” You asked. 

“No.” He shook his head. 

“Well I don’t think you’re a lost cause either. You’re sweet and kind and caring. And that’s all I was looking for, was the personality. The body doesn’t matter much to me, even if that body needs extra care.” You reassured him before he used surprising strength to pin you down into the soft corals to kiss you and kiss you like a micro-merman starved as you practically melted into place. 

“You need these, and these and these.” He finally pulled himself away to get into his own bag and pulled out the most gorgeous pearl jewelry you had ever seen in your life, a choker, a necklace, a belt, arm bands and bracelets. 

“Oh my goodness.” You couldn’t help but giggle in delight as you were now more decked out in jewelry than you thought you’d ever be as you noticed that the seasilk used to make it was especially fine and silky and beautiful and looked like it had an iridescence too before you looked over at the half hung curtain and realized it was made from the same. 

“Is this your seasilk?” You asked. 

“Yeah, it’s really thin.” His shoulders rose in a little anxiety. 

“It’s gorgeous and really soft. You could probably make seasilk lace with it. And your owner could sell that for a fortune. 

“But I don’t know the patterns for it.” He admitted. 

“Then I’ll show you. But first we need to put up the rest of your curtain. So here. Use these for the rest of the border, I’ll go get us some lunch while you do.” You offered as you gave him a huge stack of your patches to use. 

“Thank you, Aurorahanna.” He thankfully took them. 

“Aura, just call me Aura, only my parents used my full name when I was in trouble.” You reassured him before you emptied your bag into the little cubby that was there as you offered anything and everything in it to him if he wanted any of it, but he insisted that the patches were already more than he could have ever hoped for before you left and used your spare set of daggers on another belt and put it under the belt that the pearls were on before you kissed him sweetly goodbye before you would leave to get him some brain or eyeballs from the head of that swordfish. 

“Ok, you can call me Echo for short then too, please be safe Aura.” He offered as he was happy and you could tell, practically love drunk just kissing you softly yet earnestly all the same. 

“You too, when you’re done, we’ll work on taking down this excess soft coral between your nest and mine so that it’s all one big nest, how’s that?” You offered. 

“You got it.” He reassured you. 

“Hey, have you ever had eyeballs or brains before?” You asked him. 

“No.” He shook his head no. 

“Oh they’re the most nutritious and fattiest parts of any animal, especially fish. So I’ll go get you some and I’ll try to wrap it in regular flesh just in case it doesn’t taste too good.” You offered. 

“I will eat anything you give me, I trust you.” Echo reassured you. 

“And I trust you.” You reassured him before you left and nearly got swarmed and bombarded by Echo’s sisters who recognized their brothers handiwork. 

“Oh may all the gods bless you, thank you so much for choosing Echonah, we were so worried about him! Thank you so much. We know he’s skinny but he’s the best possible mate as far as personality goes.” They all thanked you, as you could tell he was very beloved among his sisters at least as they were obviously very worried about him as his sisters were probably the prettiest girls in the tank. 

“You’re welcome. He’s great and you’re right about the personality part. He just needs extra care. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Actually I need help. Has he ever had an eyeball or brain or even liver or anything like that?” You asked them. 

“I don’t think so, those things usually don’t taste the best though.” They frowned.

“Well they’re the most nutritious parts of a fish. Can you help me harvest those on these fish for him? And perhaps the neck and throat and belly too since those are usually the best and fattiest meat on the fish too?” You asked hopefully.  

“For Echo and his mate? Anything.” They readily assured you as they all swam and helped you harvest the eyeballs at least from the girl’s swordfish since such things were already harvested from the boy’s already. So the girl’s swordfish was the only one available that was left. So all of you worked together to get the two eyeballs too. As well as all the throat and belly meat and liver and put them in their own bags which were actually on the small side. 

“So why are your courting gift bags so small?” You asked them. 

“We all agreed that until Echo got paired up, we wouldn’t pair up. And therefore didn’t think many would be interested in us once they saw him and think we’d have sons just like him.” They admitted. 

“Oh, I’m so sorry you’ve all felt that way. I take it, all of you are protective of him?” You asked. 

“Yeah, he’s our littlest brother and our big brothers teased him relentlessly that he’d be culled every time the employees would come to feed us so Echo would hide in the nest actually. And it made us really angry and really upset that they did that.” They all admitted. 

“Well point your other brothers out to me so that none of my sisters choose them.” You offered. 

“Only if you’ll do the same but for the opposite reason. Are your brothers as nice and sweet and caring as you?” They asked hopefully.  

“Well I guess so. Granted we didn’t have any runts or anything like that in our clutch. But my parents taught them to be good partners, both protective, yet caring, thoughtful, sensitive and helpful and to be very involved fathers and while they used to roughhouse a lot, they were never mean or cruel or anything like that.” You answered. 

“Can you please point them out to us?” They asked. 

“Of course, especially, once we get to this brain and give it to Echo, I’ll bring you all around to them, hopefully they’re still single.” You offered as you used your biggest dagger like a spike and a piece of gravel like a hammer to widen the entrance from the cord that connected the eyeballs to the brain that you had hollowed out as you sat in the now empty eye socket to do so with your bag with the eyeballs bulging from the bag and hanging from your tail as you used the bracelets to tie up your hair at least to keep it out of your face while you worked before there was an audible crack as the skull itself broke and the skull broke apart and revealed that sweet, fatty brain to you as you carved as much out of it as you could and put it in your bag. 

“Here, try. Tell me what you think.” You offered as you took the first hunk and sliced it up into bite sized pieces and passed them around as they looked unsure at first but once they took a tentative bite, then they practically inhaled it. 

“It’s so good! Like pure fat but better!” They all realized. 

“Yup. My father always fed my mother the liver, the eyeballs, the brains and the throats and bellies because he said those were the best parts and that my mother deserved the best because she’s the one who laid all the eggs and needed the extra nutrition from those parts.” You answered before they all awwed in adoration. 

“Ok, I will need help carting more of this back to Echo, could you please help me?” You asked before they all were eager to get a hunk of brain into their own bags for their brother along with the best pieces of the fish for him too while others got pieces of the leanest parts just in case it was too fatty for his taste buds too. 

“Oh sweet you got the brains!” A huge micro-merman praised when he heard the crack and came over to investigate as he had already devoured those parts from the skull of the boy’s fish himself and was coming over to feast on the girl’s one, thinking such delicacies would be overlooked and ignored. 

He was, at least five times the size of Echo. He was big, fat, but hulking practically. His fat overflowed most of his features actually. But you supposed he was kind of cute, in his own way.

“She did! Are you a brother of hers?” Echo’s sisters answered brightly before you paused and looked out at him curiously as you could see the fat practically dissolve off of him as he smelled like he had been practically rolling in brains himself. 

“Nope, no relation, at least that I know of.” You informed them. 

“Oh.” They nodded before they turned away from him to eagerly keep getting the hunks of brain you were slicing into as more and more of your body could fit into the brain’s compartment before you were able to carve out a space just for you in the skull itself and drop off hunks into the eye socket as his sisters took turns getting the hunks for Echo. 

“So I take it you’re introducing these lovely ladies to the best parts of the fish?” He guessed as he addressed you. 

“Yes, in a way. I'm harvesting them for my mate who needs them and these are my mate's sisters who are worried about him. My father always said these were the best parts and always gave them to my mother since producing and laying eggs was always the hardest on her body and he always wanted to make sure she was full and healthy whenever we ate and taught all of my brothers that the best way to take care of a mate was always offer the best of everything to her.” You beamed happily. 

“So when she’s done harvesting all of this for our brother, who needs this, she’s introducing us to her brothers.” Echo’s sisters told the newcomer before they closed in around the socket to take the new hunks of brain you were putting there. 

“Oh.” He said as he flushed and self consciously swiped the fatty residue off of his own arms and chest and dug into his chins to get the rest. 

“Mega!” Another micro-mermaid said as she came over to him and took refuge behind him. 

“Can you please tell this man to get lost? He won’t take my 'no' for an answer.” She pleaded with her biggest brother as Echo’s sisters were mortified that it was one of their other brothers. 

“That’s one of our brothers, Azal.” The closest sister muttered to you as they all glared at their brother. 

“You heard her! She said no! So go be a fish dick somewhere else!” Echo’s sisters yelled at him as they shoved him away themselves.  

“Oh shut up and go coddle Echo, wherever that runt is hiding out so he doesn’t get culled.” Azal sneered at them. 

You growled before you swam out of that skull and outright attacked him. 

“You blatant disrespectful bastard!” You screamed as you used the piece of gravel to hit him in the head repeatedly as Mega and his sister were stunned and Mega practically was ready to propose for that display of aggression and clearly - self defense. 

“Do you really think anyone gives a piece of fish shit what you- sea cucumber brained idiot thinks?!” You hollered as your brothers recognized your yell and came over to see you beating this guy before they intervened before you actually slit his throat or stabbed him to death. 

“Woah, woah, woah, Aurorahanna, woah. Easy!” Lauray said as he gently restrained you to keep from actually killing this bastard. 

“What did he do to you?” Your brothers asked worriedly as they checked you over for injuries but didn’t see any while Azal’s brothers came to make sure he was ok before they recognized the jewelry you were wearing and immediately connected the dots as to why and how you were wearing it. 

“Oh you dumb bitch! Really? You’re really going to fall for the most pathetic micro in the tank?” Azal’s brother’s taunted you. 

“Woah!” All your brothers were outright offended that you’d be insulted and were ready to beat this guy’s fins into the gravel. 

“He is not pathetic!” You and his sisters screamed angrily in unison. 

“He is sick and needs more medical attention than your tiny little sea cucumber brain can comprehend. He is already a hundred times the man you are. You’re his brother! You should be a good big brother and look out for him rather than make fun of him and scare him to death his whole life! The lot of you should be ashamed of yourselves! What? Your parents loved and cared for him more than they ever cared for you so you felt the need to take that out on him? Are all of you that petty in your jealousy?” You taunted right back just as angrily and just as defiantly as your brothers had to hold you back from actually finishing him off. 

“And your parents are so inbred that you and all of your siblings are stupid enough to dump your backwater genetics into deadends?” They taunted right back before Mega’s brothers who were only slightly smaller than himself came over to see you, covered in another micro’s blood and being held back by other males as it appeared you just beat the shit out of another micro but had overheard the exchange and came over to curiously investigate.

“Oh you motherfucker!” You wriggled out of your brother’s hold to throw your dagger at him and it lodged into his shoulder, but missed his heart as he screamed in pain and agony. 

“You psycho bitch!” Azlar’s brothers yelled before Mega’s brothers came between you and Azlar and his brothers. 

“Hey, you disrespected her and you disrespected her family. You got what you deserved.” They insisted as they surrounded Azlar and his brothers before Mega came and dislodged your dager, but not before twisting it and moving it around until he looked like a sea urchin spike had lodged itself into his shoulder. 

“Get lost and quit giving her and her family trouble or I will have no problems hunting each one of you tonight myself and handing your heads over to her for insulting her and her honor and her family’s honor.” Mega snarled before Azlar and his brothers slinked away before Mega handed you your blade back. 

“Are all your sisters like you?” Mega asked. 

“Yeah. Each one feistier than the last.” Lauray laughed as he gestured to where they had come to see what was going on. 

“And these are my brothers.” You told Echo’s sisters as well as all of Mega’s sisters eagerly began to take up with your brothers too as the two groups immediately started chatted each other up and began to immediately try to pair up before the sisters came and oohed and awed at the “curtain” Echo had made with all your patches as they dropped off all the food you had collected as Mega hung back to see what micro had captured the heart of the greatest female in the tank.

He could only smile bittersweetly to see the little scrawny, but otherwise very handsome guy. But you had been right. He did look sickly skinny but really nice and the smiles of adoration between the two of you made his heart twist and ache. Because the way you were with Echonah was what he had wanted for himself.

But seeing as how none of your sisters were left, he felt like he had missed his chance as every other micro female he looked out at just didn’t seem to compare. So he simply put his things in the next nest on the other side of you, hoping that one of Echo’s sisters would perhaps take an interest in him.

But they were already with all your brothers and practically competing with his own sisters for their attention. So he just dumped his bag of gifts and put them in the nest but otherwise went back to the skull and used his own tools to chip out a bigger opening for you to enter and excavate the skull of it’s brain as he filled one eye socket with a heavy rock to keep anyone else from entering and tunneling from the other side and stood guard over the other. 

Echo, tried, really hard to get over the ick of the eyeball. But he just, could not eat the eyeball itself, he was ok with eating the fatty flesh that surrounded it but the eyeball itself, he couldn’t do, but the brains, he readily gobbled that up. Never having anything that fatty before. 

“I’m gonna go get you some more.” You assured him as his sisters told him about what you had done and how much you had defended him against his brothers. Which was great because it showed how close and strong of a connection he had already made with you. And how deserving you were to wear all that beautiful jewelry he had made for you, that you graciously left there in the nest so it wouldn’t get harmed while you mined for more brains from the skull as Echo felt unworthy but grateful for it. 

“What are you doing?” You asked when you approached Mega when you saw the other eyeball was filled with a rock you couldn’t squeeze around. 

“Making sure your mate could get all the brains for himself. It looked like he needs it. I didn’t want anyone else taking the food supply you had already claimed for him.” Mega said as he graciously moved aside to show you that he had already cleared a way for you. 

“Oh, thank you.” You thanked him graciously. 

“You can go pair up with another, there’s not a whole lot left for me to get.” You answered as you took the eyeballs out of your sack but weren’t sure what to do with them. 

“He won’t eat those?” Mega asked. 

“No, he uh, he’s squeamish about them.” You admitted as you held them in your hand and looked at it a little dejectedly. 

“Have you ever eaten one?” He asked. 

“No. My mother always said that of all the acquired tastes, this was one of the hardest ones to acquire.” You said as you simply sat in the socket and still held the eye. 

“Here, do what I do.” He said as he took the eyeball very gently from your hands so you could get the other. 

“Now usually the liquid inside has a peculiar taste and texture, which if you’re not used to it, can be a little unsettling, cause it’s thick like goo. But, if you cut off the lens and the iris, and then cut the back of the eyeball up into strips, it doesn’t taste too different from much of anything else but it is extra nutritious.” He coached you as he gently took it from you to point to the various parts of it before he took his own dagger like shard and expertly pierced it and began to suck on the fluid inside before you did the same, making a face as you did so. It wasn’t so much the taste, as it was the texture. It wasn’t necessarily slimy, just, thick goo. 

“Taste bad?” He guessed as he read your overly adorable expression.

“It’s not necessarily the taste, it’s the texture.” You answered as you smacked your tongue and lips together as your face wasn’t sure if you liked it or hated it or what. 

“There’s nothing quite like it is there?” Mega asked with a grin. 

“No, no there isn’t. Jellyfish maybe?” You shrugged. 

“I wouldn’t know, I’ve never eaten one.” He shrugged before he finished off the liquid easily, sucking out the rest until the eyeball practically shrivled up on itself as you drank more of it, the taste and texture growing on you the more you did. 

“Ok, so we don’t need this outer lens, so cut this off.” He offered as he cut it off as you did the same, mirroring his movements before he cut the iris out too which you did the same. 

“Now, you take your blade you cut it into one long loop in a spiral.” He coached as you followed his movements as you did the same before you were both left with one long continuous strip of flesh which you both rolled back up before gave it to you. 

“Thank you Mega, for showing me this. I really appreciate it.” 

“It’s Omega actually. I was the born the runt too.” He admitted sheepishly. 

“Really?” You asked, in pleasant surprise, because he didn’t look like it. 

“Yeah, that’s Alpha, the first born son in my parent’s clutch. But because I was the runt, I was fed the eyeballs, the fattiest parts of the fish and the liver and heart and all that to help me catch up. And then not only did I catch up, I surpassed them. And then I just grew to really enjoy the taste of those things, so I just kept on indulging in them. Obviously.” He shrugged as he looked down at his own bulging belly rather shamefully as it was apparent, he too was self conscious about his own appearance too. 

“So, chances are, in a few cycles, your mate will catch up no problem.” Omega tried to reassure you. 

“Thank you. I really appreciate the reassurance.” You thanked him gratefully as he seemed to find an excuse to leave but was reluctant to. 

“Just, curious. Why did you pick your mate? Just so when I do find a mate, I can tell them what to try to make themselves out to be to catch any child of yours' eye.” He asked as you blushed prettily and bashfully and smiled fondly. 

“That someone is not their appearance, nor their health. Echo is sick. It’s plain for me to see. And the fact that his own brothers made fun of him and cruelly teased him for it. Just makes me think that maybe it wasn’t about Echo at all, it was about Echo getting all the attention from his parents and his sisters, leaving the other sons to- I guess, fend for themselves and it was obvious that their parents poured everything into Echo, not wanting him to be culled. But in doing so- ignored the whole other half of their clutch which wasn’t really fair to them either because obviously, they didn’t learn any kind of manners or decorum.” You sighed rather defeatedly as you simply laid down in the socket like a hammock as Omega came closer. 

“Obviously.” Omega readily agreed. 

“Obviously, your parents did though.” You appraised. 

“They tried. They mainly noticed how big I was getting and urged me that if I was going to be big, I should have as much muscle as I did fat. So they had me and my brothers regularly strengthen ourselves by moving all the parts of the tank around. 

“Wow.” You blinked in surprise. 

“I mean, it obviously worked.” You gestured to him, since you could clearly see there was huge, hulking muscle underneath the thick layers of fat. 

“Yeah, a little too well I think. Most of the girls looked at me and my brothers and thought we were gonna crush them I guess, even when our sisters showed that they were just as strong as we were and just as bulky and that we weren’t aggressive, just…big.” He admitted as he folded his arms over his chest, only accentuating how big they were even more before he looked over to see Echo’s brothers watching him closely. 

“Get in the skull. We’re being watched by the brothers of your mate, I don’t want to cause any problems between you two.” Omega urged you before he swam away towards them only to see them scatter as you leaned forward to see them do so and smiled sadly at Omega’s back, wishing there could be two of you. One for Echo and one for Omega only to find his bag with a message carved just inside where he had made room for you to show his bag. 

‘For the girl who has everything, may she always have everything she wants and needs and may this food help her mate make a full recovery.’ He carved into the skull before you saw his bag there with nothing but more shards of all kinds in here as you sat there, with the light filtering through the opening and looking at the carving and crying bittersweet tears. He was just as sweet and just as kind as Echo was. But just, vastly different body.

You managed to use the shards he left in his bag to carve out the rest of the remaining brains but spent extra time to weave something extra special for him as thanks for the message as you paused in watching him swim around rather aimlessly, most of the girls scattering the moment he had any kind of line of sight with them which broke your heart to see, feeling angry and upset that these other girls were doing by avoiding him. 

So you did something about it. You got his bag and brought it back to him. 

“I just wanted to say thank you again for all the help you gave me with helping me get the best food on the swordfish for my sick mate. You’re the best friend anyone could ever hope or want. Thank you. Here, I made you this. So that you can always have everything you need to protect your future mate from whatever dangers she might face. But with you as her mate, I doubt she would ever have to worry about much of anything.” You loudly said as you put one end of the large belt into one hand and swam around him to loop the large belt around his belly, hoping and praying you made it wide and long enough for him, with all of his shards placed into various spots as you had organized them and added extra flourishes to the handles too, hoping the other girls who were hiding behind the swordfish itself were hearing and watching you do so.

Then you surprised him with a gentle kiss to the cheek and hugged him as you felt like you could sink into the pillowy softness while be warmed by the heat radiating from his body while he did so as he gently but reverently hugged you back. 

“You’re welcome.” He replied. 

“No worries. The right one will see you for you. It’s not the form that counts, but the heart and soul beyond them.” You reassured him in turn.

You reluctantly had to pull yourself away from him as he too seemed reluctant to let you go before he forced himself to withdraw only to feel frozen still as he watched you swim away with a sweet smile and unshed tears glazing your eyes over your shoulder. He could only smile bittersweetly as tears glazed his own eyes as you swam back to find Echo.

But when you did, he was no longer eating the brains, but simply sitting there, looking rather despondent. 

“Echo? Are you ok?” You asked him. 

“Are you coming back to just collect your things?” He asked. 

“What? No. I came back with the rest of the brain for you, like I said was going to.” You answered. 

“Really? With Mega?” He asked as there was an edge to his voice, apparently his brothers had seen it and came to plant seeds of doubt into his mind. 

“No. There was no way for Omega to fit in there with me. He helped me make the hole for me to access the rest of the brain easier but otherwise he kept guard over it for me so no other would harvest it before I could. Then once I came, he left me to work gathering the rest on my own. He even let me borrow his special shards to do so. So I just got done returning them to him. And now I’m back.” You explained. 

“So you’re not leaving me for him?” Echo asked. 

“No, not unless you want me to leave. Do you want me to leave?” You asked, just as hurt and wounded as he was. 

“My brothers are right. I’m a deadend…” He began before you grabbed him by the shoulders and grasped them firmly. 

“No you’re not Echonah! You are not a deadend. You never were and you never will be.” You reassured him as you shook his shoulders to try to shake some sense into him after you put the bag down and knelt in front of him before you moved your hands and reached out to grab his hollowed out cheeks with your hands and cradle them gently and reverently in your hands, your thumbs rubbing over the apples of his cheeks wiping his tears away that were starting to fall away. 

“Just because they say that lie over and over and over again, doesn’t make it true. Your brothers are jealous jerks who were jealous of the affectionate attention you got from the rest of your family.” You tried to justify.

“What affectionate attention?” Echonah frowned. 

“Your parents didn’t shower you with affectionate attention, trying to help you get better instead of being decent parents to your other brothers?” You asked before he shook his head no. 

“Not really. My dad said ‘if he lives, he lives, if he dies, he dies’. My sisters are the only reason I got to live at all because it was only my mother and my sisters who took care of me and fed me. My dad showered my brothers with all the other love and attention and affection while my mother tried to teach my sisters what to look for in a mate, using me as a physical example of what to avoid.” He admitted as it was your turn to look horrified and gutted at that revelation. 

“Oh good gods, please tell me that you’d never raise any of our children like that.” You pleaded with him. 

“No.” He shook his head adamantly. 

“Oh good, thank you so much.” You thanked him as you clung to him and held him as he clung to you so tightly, you feared he was going to break his own arms clinging to you like that. 

“Gods, I was so worried you’d take one look at the biggest micro in the tank and second guess your decision and decide to renege.” Echo admitted. 

“No, never. I chose you. You chose me. That’s all there is to it right?” You reminded him. 

“But what if there is nothing wrong with me and this is just the way I am going to always be?” He asked. 

“Then so be it. My parents told me, that the secret person of the heart and soul matters more than the body they inhabit. And that looks can be very deceiving. Omega right now is fighting to prove he isn’t a brute, because most micros in here take one look at him and his size and his big belt with many shards of all kinds. And that’s not true. The truth is…” Your voice grew thick with emotion. 

“The truth is, he was born a runt just like you. Only his parents did everything they could to make sure he caught up by eating the very same foods I’m feeding you. Only he grew accustomed to the very acquired tastes and then he not only caught up, but surpassed all of his siblings and then some.  Which means these foods will help you. So then his parents urged him and all his siblings to build strength if they were going to be big, might as well be strong right? That’s all. He is just as nice and sweet as you are. And yes, he was a great friend to me today by guarding the rest of the brain until I could get back there and lended me his tools to do so. All so I could do so- for you. He told me plainly he has no interest in causing trouble for me or get in between us. He respects me and my decision about you. Which is a mark of greatness on his own character that he would even go that far. That’s all it was, he was just being a friend to help me with my mate, which is what and who you are. But that’s all he can be because I have you and I’m perfectly happy and content with you. You, kind of called dibs. Finders keepers right?” You recalled with a small laugh which got him to finally ease up. 

“Besides, you are trying to prove that you’re not a deadend, which you aren’t. You just need the tender loving care you are owed as a person and a sentient being.  And I’m determined to be that person who gives you that. Even if you weren’t given that as a basic right that any and all children should have from their parents. And hopefully you’ve learned from your own parent’s examples of how not to be a parent. Right?” You implored as he laid back on the soft pillowy corals and happily had you lay over him as you pet his head and this super soft, silky yet fine hair. 

“Right.” Echo nodded. 

“So don’t worry. Besides, I don’t know if you heard, but I did throw a dagger into your bitch ass brother for talking shit. Because I was taught that if you ‘talk shit get hit’. And so he got hit. Hard. And had my own brothers not held me  back, I probably would have killed your brother. Which I don’t know if you would have ever forgiven me or what about that. But he’s still alive and for the first time, he got what was coming to him.” You insisted. 

“He was just repeating what my father always said.” Echo admitted. 

“Well then your dad shouldn’t have been a father. Being a parent means you love all of your children. Even if they are gifted, talented, special or need special attention and as a parent, it's their duty to get their child's extra special needs met. And while we are protected, in a way- from inbreeding, things still happen. And usually in the wild, it’s the survival of the fittest. But that’s the beauty of being in domestication. Is that we have evolved and advanced so much farther than that kind of thinking. Besides, all it should have taught you is how to be kind. How to be creative. How to be smarter than any and all of your siblings. Surviving such an incredibly hard environment with hostile siblings and parents. Which means you’re very resilient to survive such things. So now, don’t worry about surviving. Just rest. And know that I’m not going anywhere. And that as long as you draw breath, I’ll be by your side, no matter what.” You reassured him before he couldn’t help it and kissed you deeply before you started to mate but he finished way before you did and because he was so thin, his cock was thin like he was. 

“I’m so sorry My Love.” Echo apologized as he rested over you. 

“It’s ok. We’ll get there and get better, practice makes perfect right?” You tried to encourage him as you did your best to bury your disappointment. Surely once he would get the TLC he needed, he would get better, just, not right now perhaps, as he laid beside you and soon fell asleep. 

“I’m sorry Aura.” You heard a whisper before you partially rolled over to see Omega in the next nest over, still alone, barely fitting in his own nest actually. 

“For what?” You whispered back. 

“He couldn’t get you- your pleasure. That sucks. For all you did for him today, he owed you that much at least.” Omega murmured softly. 

“It’ll get better. He just needs time and practice. No one starts out being an expert.” You tried to excuse. 

“No but he should also learn to use what he has to his advantage, the guy still has two hands and a mouth, he could have used those before he fell asleep.” Omega noted.

“What?” You asked as you laid on your back to see him better. 

“My father always used all three to please my mother. So she got three pleasures for every single one he got.” Omega revealed. 

“Lucky woman.” You hummed. 

“When he wakes up, I can try to teach him if you’d want me to.” Omega offered. 

“Please?” You requested. 

“Sure, just one thing.” Omega began before he moved from his nest into yours. 

“What?” You asked as just his presence so close was making your heart race as you couldn’t help but wonder if he was just as well endowed in his manhood as the rest of his body was. 

“I have to learn you first so I can teach him how to please you right.” Omega murmured. 

“Oh but…” You started to contest as you did not want to be unfaithful to Echo. 

“I promise not to cum in you, all of your eggs will still be fertilized by Echo. I’m just going to give you pleasure with my mouth and hands, that’s all. Then once I learn you, I can teach him how to please you in the future, just in case he doesn’t get bigger and better.” Omega reassured you. 

“Ok.” You caved as you made sure Echo was wrapped up in both his blanket and yours and comfy before Omega gently reached around your waist and pulled you flush to his chest before he left the most tender and loving kisses on your neck and shoulder as you melted into him while one of his hands wrapped around your chest to caress your breasts while the other reached into your sex.

Just his fingers were bigger than Echo’s manhood as they found that nub that elicited the greatest pleasure before his fingers swirled and tapped around before delving deeper and before you knew it, he had stuffed his whole hand into you and found a second spot that you didn’t know was there as the heel of his hand continued to rub and swirl around your nub while his fingers practically danced around that inner spot.

You hazily realized that his own cock was pinned between your rear and his own belly. Your assumptions that it matched the rest of him was right. He felt huge, to the point, you’d doubt he’d fit at all into you. But his mouth on your neck and shoulder and whispering sweet nothings in your ear as you were completely surrounded yet, in a way filled, with love and affection as he seemed pour all he had into you and in mere moments you nearly bit your tongue in half to try not to scream in pleasure and instead whimpered rather pitifully as you ground into his hand to ride out the epic orgasm before your whole body relaxed as pleasure soaked every millimeter of your body. 

“Good?” Omega asked as he had kept an eye on Echo to make sure he didn’t wake up for any of it. 

“Great.” You whispered, a pleasured smile plastered on your face. 

“Well good, that’s one, lets get two.” Omega insisted before you rolled your head and just needed one kiss. Just one. Just to indulge in the 'might have been'. He tasted amazing and your whole body was eager to take in every drop of love and affection his body was willing to give you.

His mouth soon pulled away to kiss his way down your body before his mouth stopped at your already engorged sex that was starting to deflate as he wiped all the mucus that always coated the sex during mating to keep the sex clean from the surrounding water. The moment he had it sloughed off and moved by his tail fin to his own nest before he buried his face into your sex and began to eat in a way you had never thought possible.

You nearly yelled, both in shock that it would feel so good yet delight as you had to use both of your hands to clamp over your mouth to keep any noise from leaving your mouth but a whimpering keen still escaped through your nose as his mouth lapped and sucked and gently nipped at your bud before his hands returned as he was able to get not one, but both into you as you realized, there wasn’t just one spot, but two, one behind your nub on the inside of the pouch in the entrance and one below it on the bottom.

Omega made a deep rumbly noise that your ears barely heard but you definietly felt in your bones that only made you arch yourself into his mouth, wanting more while your hands went to his hair and grabbed fistfulls of it while your body writhed in pleasure. You did your best to stamp your voice down and as pleasure stuck you too many times for you to keep track of. But you enjoyed every peak, wanting each one to last forever, or at least just one small eternity while you could smell Omega’s pheromones in the water as he released his seed into the soft corals beneath you Since his tail wrapped under your own before you realized your back entrance opened up to suck his ssed in before you could stop it. 

In all mermaid biology, because there were no legs to open to reveal a womanly canal. Mermaids had two entrances for thier womb. A front entrance, usually large enough to accommodate one cock, or even two, three at the most. It was uncomfortable but could be done. And usually during a mating ball, that’s when the back entrance opened up and it was a much larger entrance, meant to accommodate at least three to five cocks all by itself. Usually the back entrance had a flap, usually put in the down position to allow waste to exit the body. But in cases of mating balls, the flap could lift up to reveal the backside of the accordion-like structure of the egg pouch so that the eggs could be fertilized both from the front and the back.

And that is what just happened. Your back entrance instinctually opened and sucked in Omega’s seed anyway. Omega’s features were vastly different than those of Echo’s. There was no way you were going to be able to hide the fact that some of your eggs just got fertilized by Omega. 

“Fuck.” You gasped. 

“What?” Omega asked. 

“My back entrance opened and sucked all your seed in.” You gulped as you flushed and all the previous pleasure replaced itself with panic and guilt. 

“Whoops.” Omega grimaced as his face and chest was completely covered in your essence and pheromone rich mucus as he looked, actually quite funny as you couldn’t help but laugh as he tried to scrape it off with his hands. 

“I should uh, get back to uh, Echo.” You tried to move yourself away. 

“Yeah, yeah, sweet dreams.” Omega said as he moved himself off of you so you could go back to your mate as you used the soft corals to try to clean yourself up too before you returned to Echo’s side who was still sleeping so soundly.

You felt guilty for him being none the wiser as you enveloped him in your arms as his bony face used your breast as his pillow as you ran your fingers through his hair and felt could do nothing but pray the eggs that got exposed to Omega’s sperm were already fertilized by Echo but watching your belly be so much larger than it was only moments before, you doubted that. You knew that probably Omega's sperm just fertilized twice as many eggs as Echo’s sperm did. Fuck. How were you going to explain this to him as you fell into a fitful sleep.

Come morning, you woke up alone, wrapped in blankets, both your own, Echo’s and a third that was distinctly Omega's judging by the scent. You damned yourself for burying your face into Omega's and taking in a deep breath as flashes of your lustful union blissfully tortured your memory as you were now no longer in Echo’s nest, but yours as you realized, the spaces between Echo’s nest, yours and Omega’s were now all openned up and just one huge nest. 

“Good morning Beautiful.” Echo and Omega greeted you before they both came into yours with huge bags of food for all three of you to eat and share. 

“Good morning.” You answered as you grabbed your top and tried to fit into it only to find that your breasts, along with your egg pouch had both grown quite considerably overnight as it was obvious the eggs, were now fertilized and now speedily developing inside you. 

“Won’t fit?” Echo asked as he watched your face blush darker and harder the more you wrestled in the blankets to get into your seashell bra that barely covered anything now.

“Uh, no, no it won’t.” You admitted.  

“Here. We made you this then.” Echo offered as he pulled something from just out of your view and showed it to you as you recognized it was a blend of Omega’s seasilk and Echo’s. Echo’s seasilk was on one side and Omega’s offered more structure and support while Echo’s offered comfort as you put it on and realized it contained your now bountiful bosom quite nicely. 

“We?” You repeated. 

“Yeah. We worked together on it. So listen, I was woken up early by Macy, the pairing tank manager and she gave me some news, some good news and bad news.” Echo began. 

“Which was? What’s the bad news?” You asked. 

“That I’m suffering from hyperthyroidism. And that I need to start taking medication for it. And that if the medications doesn’t fix it, I will need to have surgery.” Echo informed you as your eyes grew wide in fear. 

“So that’s the bad news. Here’s the good news.” Echo began with a sweet reassuring smile that showed he wasn’t that upset by such news. 

“So, all of your brothers double mated.” Echo began as you blinked in surprise. 

“They what?” You balked. 

“Yeah, apparently, each of them took one of my sisters.” Echo began. 

“And one of mine.” Omega revealed as he was already digging into the blood line flesh from the tuna that had been dropped into the tank that morning since Echo was woken up early, Omega had woken up too and helped Echo figure everything out. 

“Oh.” You answered as you wrapped your head around that. 

“Which actually worked out because this mating session was girl heavy anyway, but since a whole clutch of males double mated, that meant that now the only males who don’t have a mate are the rest of my brothers.” Echo revealed as you couldn’t stop but smile happily at that news. 

“Good.” You nodded in understanding. 

“And my sisters and his sisters get along really well and are happy to share your brothers with the other. And frankly your brothers are over the moon to have both. So we have a question for you.” Omega began before he looked at Echo to initiate asking it.

“Would you want to double mate too?” Echo asked you and you were beyond shocked and just stared rather blankly yet in disbelief as you looked between them. 

“Look, here’s why I want you to.” Echo began. 

“I know I have a lot going on with me and my health and if I don’t survive surgery, then you’re out of a mate and left to raise a clutch by yourself and I don’t want that.” Echo explained. 

“But what if you respond to the medications and don’t need surgery in the first place? Isn’t that the worst case scenario?” You asked.

“It is. But it's still a strong possibility, which is why we need to talk about it. If I do, then at least you have Omega. And if I don't then you can hopefully be happy with both of us. But, in the meantime, it’s obvious, there’s still a ton I have left to learn, especially about how to happily and properly please my mate. Which I’ll happily learn, over and over again until I figure it out. But it’s too much to ask of you to sacrifice yourself and your own health to take care of clutch after clutch of eggs while also taking care of me. And honestly, you deserve to have the love and adoration of an entire clutch of males.” Echo began. 

“But I don’t want…” You began to argue. 

“But you do want both of us. Right? And both of us want you too. We both love you. We both are happy to share you with each other. Omega can take care of the both of us and a huge clutch of eggs, probably all by himself. I mean look at him.” Echo said as he gestured to Omega who laughed around his already bulging cheeks. 

“And you’re not upset or betrayed or…?” You asked Echo. 

“Nope. Relieved honestly. Because if there was anyone I would and could ever trust to take care of you the way I want to and the way you deserve to, it’s Omega. Plus he’s being put on a special diet to bring his weight down and bring my weight up. So really, it’s us that need each other to balance each other out and for you, you deserve the perfect mate, even if it takes the two of us to give it to you.” Echo reassured you. 

“Really?” You asked, as tears began to well in your eyes as you wanted to pinch yourself because this was almost too good to be true and more than you ever thought you could ask for. 

“Really.” Echo and Omega answered. 

“So, just…the three of us? Together? Happily ever after? No guilt or bad feelings or jealousy or resentment or…?” You tried to ask them, making sure they were still perfectly ok with it. 

“No bad feelings, only good.” Omega reassured you. 

“Oh thank you.” You thanked them as you hugged them both at the same time and were just so happy and over the moon that you literally got to have them both!

And before you knew it, you were in a mating ball, all between you, Omega and Echo. Omega reached around you and put his fingers over your womanly mound and finally between Omega’s fingers, and Echo’s cock, it was just right. And your rear opening was happy to flip up and to feel all of Omega’s cock finally slide into it, as it was actually a perfect fit for him as you were happy that between Echo’s hold on your waist and one breast while Omega had a hold of your pussy from the front and the other breast and between both of their mouths on you and both of them assuring you and reassuring you of their whole hearted love, and devotion and affection before they moved and actually kissed each other which both intrigued and thrilled you to see for you as it was clear that they both liked it each other both for your sake and yet for their own as well. Which you supposed was a good thing if the three of you were going to be living together and cohabitate happily. 

Omega got you to cum from the top spot just as Echo got the bottom spot to get you to orgasm too before they both filled you full, Omega getting all the folds that Echo hadn’t already gotten himself and you were beyond happy, pleasured and satisfied, leaving you in the middle between them as they both hugged you and each other as Omega’s arm was the perfect pillow for you and for Echo. 

“That, that was way better than last time.” Echo grinned as you and Omega laughed. 

“Yeah,” you both readily agreed.

Once you all recovered, you were happy to eat what they had gotten before it was announced that all paired and mated couples- to please get ready to go as all of you got all of your things and waited as you saw all your sisters happily wait with Omega’s brothers while your brothers were happy with their pair of wives as they were all wore big happy smiles before you, Omega and Echo were picked up and put into a special home that was clearly meant to to keep the three of you in a kind of tank that was both meant to be something of a micro-mermad hospital but also for a mated pairs so that Echo could start treatment for his ailment while Omega got on a diet. 

And to your utter relief, Echo responded very well to the medication and didn’t need to have the surgery. Before the three of you got moved to Mandy's home since Mandy was Ethel's go to for special micro care. Mandy's collection housed all of the other micros who had special needs, either health, like diabetes or other ailments. And Ethel subsidized all of Mandy's medication needs and dietary needs of her collection. And while all of Echo's kids would have to be marked to keep an eye out for hyperthyroidism in the future, otherwise they'd be perfectly fine and perfectly healthy.

And by the time you were ready to finally birth the clutch. both Echo and Omega looked perfectly healthy, even though Omega’s size was still bigger than that of Echo but otherwise they had both evened out gorgeously and you couldn’t be happier about it. Now most of Omega's fat had been exersized and dieted away, but left a vast majority of his bulk and strength and they were both given great bills of health.

And watching both of them working together, especially as you laid in the nest as they took turns in putting each precious egg into it's socket with the perfect amount of incubation goo to stick them together and into the socket. 

And when the eggs hatched, they were happy to call Omega ‘Big Daddy’ and Echo ‘Skinny Daddy’. And thanks to you having two very loving mates meant that everyone had two fantastic and excellent examples of what great fathers could be and what to look for in perfect mates, but not in physical attributes, but in mind, heart and soul. Because that's where a person's true nature was, and if that was beautiful or handsome, the rest of them wouldn't and shouldn't matter and to that they needed to look past physical appearances to see the true person of the heart beyond them.

[a-path-diverged-in-the-woods]

Welcome to "My Hero Academia: A Path Diverged in the Woods". This is a living choose your own adventure story featuring Uraraka Ochako. The adventure starts when Ochako meets Toga in the forest at Summer Camp. How will this meeting change this time around? Will they be enemies, rivals, friends or more? You decide.

There will be a poll below the cut at the bottom of each main post. Read the section and vote how you see best. When the poll finishes, new fiction will be posted based on the results of the poll. Each poll will be based on a decision Ochako is facing in the moment. The answers may not always be obvious. Further information is available pinned to this blog.

Now enjoy this tale of two girls, a hero and a villain, continuing their chat from inside a jail cell. Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4 and Chapter 5 available here.

Chapter 6: Girl Talk

Ochako rested on detective Tsukauchi’s couch with her eyes closed. She tried to calm herself to decide her next move but felt several opposing desires gnawing inside of her. She wanted to help Deku by giving him the address, but she also wanted to be involved in the rescue. Talking to Toga had awoken something inside of her. A desire to be active. To be useful. To be a hero. Toga was the first villain she’d defeated. The first suspect she’d interrogated. The first person she’d convinced to help the heroes against the villains. And the first person she’d rescued. It was intoxicating.

At the same time, she felt like her conversation with Toga had been cut short. They’d been coming to a sort of understanding but had stopped right before the breakthrough. Maybe if they kept talking, she would finally understand the girl whose smiles she couldn’t get out of her thoughts. Ochako had never met anyone with so many different smiles. The variety and meaning behind each confused and fascinated her. When she thought of a villain, she didn’t think of a girl her age. But here was proof in front of her. What had happened to Toga for her to become a villain? Was it an external event or was it something internal to the girl? Something inherent? Was being a villain just in her nature? Ochako realized she needed to know.

Checking the time Ochako saw that she had two hours until her friends planned to meet to rescue Bakugo. Kirishima had told everyone when and where to meet. It was a sign of trust that no one would turn them in, but Ochako also knew no one would take him up on the offer. This was too big for them. At least, that’s how she’d felt a few hours ago. Now, just maybe, she felt like she had to be involved.

New determination filling her, Ochako balanced her desires and stood up. She took a deep breath and headed into the main part of the station. She found a desk being operated by a secretary and approached. “Hello?” she asked, her heart pounding in her chest.

The secretary looked up at her. “Hello. Do you need something?”

“I would like to visit with someone.”

“Is a detective expecting you?”

Ochako shook her head. “Not an officer. Someone in the jail.”

A frown. “In the jail? Who in there could you wish to talk to?”

“Toga Himiko.”

A look of surprise. “Why would you wish to talk to a villain like that?” asked the secretary. Then, dawning comprehension. “Wait, are you a UA student?” Ochako nodded.

“She’s not just any UA student.” Ochako felt someone clap her on the back as they moved to stand next to her in front of the desk. In between trying to not get bowled over she glanced up at a tall man in uniform. He had red skin, horns growing out of a bald head and a bright smile filled with rows of sharp teeth. On his chest was a name badge, Lieutenant Akumetsu. “This is the little hero who caught Toga Himiko. Didn’t you just have an interrogation with her?”

“I did.”

“What, got a taste for interrogation and want to see what else you can learn?” His tone was friendly, teasing.

Ochako shook her head. “No, I just wanted to talk. Like people.” It sounded stupid when she said it aloud. This was a villain she was talking about after all. A villain who’d attacked her. This desire of hers was absurd.

A strange expression flashed across the lieutenant’s face before the smile returned. Ochako wasn’t sure what she’d just seen, but something about him reminded her of Toga. “I see,” said the lieutenant. He turned to the secretary. “I’ll approve the visit and escort our little hero to meet with Toga Himiko. There should be no issue with just a chat.”

The secretary looked like he wanted to disagree, but after a moment he just nodded. “If you’re both so sure, then I wish you luck.”

“Right this way,” said the lieutenant. He led Ochako through the busy police station, curious glances thrown their way. She ignored them and just focused on following. She was past the point of feeling self-conscious.

Soon enough they exited the main part of the station and got to a hallway where they only passed a single person. The person nodded to the lieutenant, shot Ochako a questioning look that she avoided and went on her way. They made it to a stairway that led down below the station.

“Due to Quirks we need to be a lot more cautious than they were in eras past,” said the lieutenant, leading Ochako down the stairs. “Quirks demand a level of security to prepare for that isn’t very friendly to people in custody. Especially when we don’t know what their Quirk is. I don’t like the idea of keeping a young girl like this locked up under the station. Luckily, she should be out of here soon and I would hope on her way to a rehabilitation facility. Somewhere nicer that she can get the help she needs.”

“I’ve never really thought about all that before,” admitted Ochako.

“Most people don’t. Villains are just the people heroes beat on television and then they’re locked up out of sight. But for police and heroes, I think we need to think about them more complexly than that.”

“Like how?”

“As people who are hurting and need our help too.”

“But they hurt people,” said Ochako. Toga hurt people. Her shoulder stung again.

“Both can be true,” said the Lieutenant. “But if we don’t do it, who will?”

As they approached the bottom of the stairs, Ochako could hear someone talking loudly and passionately. “-believe this? The higher ups are hesitating to send that psycho to Tartarus. She attacked children, shouldn’t that be enough to prove she’s a dangerous villain who should be locked up?”

“Is that gossip I hear?” asked the lieutenant as they got to the bottom of the stairs and could see two officers, a man leaning against the wall, and a woman behind a desk. Past them was a see-through wall with the outline of a door in it. Beyond that was a series of metal doors. Cells, Ochako assumed.

“It’s not gossip if it’s the truth,” said the leaning officer, turning to face the lieutenant. “What’re you doing down here, sir?”

“Just escorting someone who wants to have a nice chat.”

Both officers looked to the lieutenant, then to Ochako, then back to the lieutenant. The one seated started typing away at her computer. “But the only prisoner in jail currently is the League of Villains member Toga Himiko. You want to talk to her?”

Ochako nodded. “I do.” She took a deep breath. “I already interrogated her, but I want to see if I can just have a chat with her.”

Lieutenant Akumetsu clapped her on the back again. “Listen to this little hero. Doesn’t hearing something like that make you feel like the future is secure when us old folks retire?”

The woman at the desk laughed, but the other officer scowled. “That’s stupid and reckless. There’s nothing to be gained by talking to someone like this. You trying to get yourself hurt?”

Ochako became conscious of the bandage on her shoulder. She resisted touching it, clenching her hands by her side instead. “I’m aware how dangerous Toga is. But I just want to talk, and I think she does too. Where’s the harm in that?”

The scowling officer opened his mouth to shout at her, but lieutenant Akumetsu clapped his hands loudly and drew all attention back to his toothy smiling face. “I think that’s enough of that. Toga Himiko is secured, and they’ll be talking through a wall. I’ll also be watching, there should be no danger. And if there’s any kid I’d trust to talk to her, it would be the little hero who caught her. I doubt anyone else is more aware of what Toga is capable of. Even villains get visitor rights. Could you log the visit for me, and I’ll take her right in?”

“Yes sir,” said the officer at the desk. He typed something into the computer and then the transparent wall buzzed and the door in it swung open. The lieutenant led Ochako past the scowling officer and through the doorway. It was shut behind them, and they walked to the end of the hall. They walked past several open doors revealing empty rooms. Only the final room was closed, a metal door blocking the view inside. “Here we are. Give me a sec to see if she’s up to seeing visitors.”

Ochako nodded, her heartbeat picking up pace. What would she do if Toga said she didn’t want to talk to her? Would it be strange and embarrassing to walk right out of the station if her offer was rejected? She wasn’t sure she’d be able to resist running out as quickly as possible, head low so no one could see her face. Maybe the lieutenant could sneak her out?

Lieutenant Akumetsu knocked on the door, waited a few seconds then slid open a viewing port in the door. “Evening Toga, you awake?”

“Nope. Sleeping soundly.” Ochako felt chills at the familiar voice.

“Sorry to disturb you then,” said the lieutenant with a laugh. “You decent? You’ve got a little hero who would like to talk to you if you’re up to it.”

A pause. Ochako’s breath caught in her throat. Then, “If the little hero can stomach seeing me just in my panties, then I think I could spare a few minutes from my busy schedule.”

“I’ll let her right in then.” The lieutenant opened the door by putting his hand on a scanner then gesturing her inside. “Enjoy your chat. I’ll be right here. Let me know when you want out.”

“Thank you,” said Ochako. She walked through and the door shut right after her.

Toga’s cell was very basic. There was another transparent wall separating the room in two, the outline of a door visible in it. On Ochako’s side was a couch for a visitor and a small television built into the wall. The news was on, but the TV was muted. On Toga’s side was a bed and toilet. And sitting on the bed was Toga Himiko.

“Disappointed that I’m not in my underwear?” asked Toga, holding her arms out, her orange prison garb completely covering her.

“Not really,” said Ochako, turning away in embarrassment. How could this girl turn being fully clothed into something lewd just through suggestion?

“Oh? I figured since you’d come back to visit me at night in my room that you were expecting something steamy. An illicit rendezvous with a villain while your crush ignores you to go rescue someone else. Doesn’t that sound exciting?”

“I just came to talk,” said Ochako, forcing her gaze back to Toga. The villain had moved to lounge on the bed, one leg in the air. She was focusing on her toes instead of Ochako. Something about that annoyed Ochako.

“I really don’t have any more information and talking to me in a more comfortable setting instead of a cold, hard interrogation room isn’t going to change that.”

“Not about hero or villain things.” Toga’s golden eyes casually drifted towards Ochako. “I just wanted to have a…girl…chat….”

That got Toga’s attention. She sat up, put her elbows on her lap and her head in her hands. “I could go for some girl talk. We going to talk about how dreamy Izuku is while covered in blood?”

Ochako shook her head. “No!” She took a deep breath. “Maybe more like things to get to know each other first. Like…introductions?”

“But we already know each other, don’t we O-Cha-Ko?”

“Proper introduction,” said Ochako. She gestured to herself. “I’m Uraraka Ochako, age fifteen and hero in-training at UA Academy. My Quirk is Zero Gravity. I love Japanese food, especially mochi and my blood type is B. What about you?”

Toga smiled. “My name is Toga Himiko, age sixteen and a member of the League of Villains. My quirk is a se-cret.” A wink. Then, her smile widened to show fanged teeth. Ochako was suddenly feeling regrets. “My favorite food is…,” Ochako inhaled sharply, “Pomegranates.” Ochako gave a sigh of relief, then felt embarrassed as Toga laughed. “What did you think I was going to say? Blood?”

“Uh…,” Ochako absently rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment. “It did occur to me for a moment that might be your answer. Pomegranate is surprisingly normal.”

“I do enjoy blood though.” Toga stood until she was right up against the wall. “Especially the blood of those I find cute. You’ve got some cute blood. I wish I could get a taste of it.”

“You’ll need to buy me dinner first,” said Ochako, trying to cover up her embarrassment at being studied so intensely.

Another laugh. “I’ll make that the first thing I do when I get out then.”

Toga went back to laying on the bed as Ochako took a seat on the couch. The pair were silent for several minutes. Ochako tried to think of what to say but was coming up blank. She’d never had trouble talking to people before. But there was something about Toga that made it hard for her to speak. Finally, she settled on a topic. “What school is your uniform from?”

“All over,” replied Toga, lounging on her back on her bed.

“All over?”

“Yep. I built it from all the cutest outfits I could find while on the street. It worked really well, didn’t it?”

Ochako thought back to how ill-fitting the sweater had been. Suddenly it made sense. “That skirt was a little short though, don’t ya think?”

Toga sat up and smiled brightly at Ochako. “Were you oogling my legs, Ochako?”

“Of course not!”

“I bet you were,” said Toga in a sing song voice. “More importantly though, was that the hints of a cute accent I heard for a moment there?”

Ochako averted her gaze, blushing. “What if it was?”

“See, this is why I love you, Ochako. We’re both keeping secrets, putting up fronts to seem normal in a world of expectations. To the people born normal, who it all comes naturally to, they’ll never understand us, and we’ll never fit in with them.”

Ochako looked back to Toga. The girl had a neutral expression on her face. “Toga…,”

“Himiko.”

“Huh?”

“I told you to call me Himiko.”

“To-“

“Hi-Mi-Ko. Easy, right?”

Ochako took a deep breath. “Himiko.” Himiko’s smile reappeared, but this one was less predatory, more joyous. Ochako liked it much more. “What do you want?”

“Well, I’d to see some more of your or Izuku’s cute blood. I could do with Tsu’s I guess. Maybe see you crying on the floor. Tears add a lot to the cuteness of a person.”

“I’m trying to be serious here.”

Another predatory smile. “So am I.”

Ochako clenched and unclenched her fists a few times, taking a deep breath, then releasing it. “Please, what do you want?”

“You came to talk to me.”

“And I want to know what you want.”

A shrug. Toga laid back down on the bed. “You’ll need to narrow it down then.”

“Why did you become a villain?” asked Ochako.

Toga didn’t turn to look at her. “I felt like it. Seemed fun.”

“You’re dodging the question.”

“Why do you hide your accent?”

“Huh?”

“Why do you hide your crush for Izuku? Why are you embarrassed about being poor? Why do you act like the good girl all the time?”

“I don’t act like a good girl,” said Ochako.

“You totally do,” said Toga. She was staring at the ceiling and kicking her legs through the air again. “You want to be normal. To be like everyone else. To be accepted. To hide your real face so that others don’t reject you. Doesn’t that get tiring?”

Ochako wanted to protest, to refute Toga’s comments, but she stopped herself. The villain was partially right. She did hide her accent to not stand out as a hick. She didn’t have a crush on Deku, but she was drawn to him in a way she couldn’t describe and wasn’t comfortable talking to people about. They always jumped to conclusions like Toga was. Her closest friends knew that she was poor, but it was still embarrassing to admit. And she kept up a smiling polite face to her parents. She couldn’t worry them, after all.

“Maybe I am embarrassed a bit,” said Ochako. “It’s hard to show parts of myself to some people. I don’t want to worry my parents; they work so hard to care for me after all. And by being normal, by not embarrassing myself and by making friends, I can put their minds at ease. But is that so wrong?”

“It’s pretty stupid,” said Toga, putting her legs down but not looking over at Ochako. “The world has shackled you, forcing you to be who you aren’t. I hate that type of world. It’s not cute at all.”

“Is that why you became a villain?”

“Who knows?”

Ochako took another deep breath, then let it out. She checked her phone. A half hour had passed while they’d been talking. She would need to leave soon. It was a short train ride to the hospital, but she wanted to get there early to not miss Deku and the others. She was sick of sitting around and wanted to help rescue Bakugo. Like a hero would. Right now was probably as good a time as any to leave. But as she stood to excuse herself, she felt unable to turn her gaze away from the girl currently ignoring her. Lieutenant Akumetsu’s comments about how heroes should treat villains rang in her mind. She considered his unspoken conclusion; if we don’t help them or give them a chance, who will? She took another deep breath. “Himiko…”

Himiko glanced over to her, a look of surprise on her face. But only for a second. It was quickly replaced with a toothy smile as Toga hopped to her feet and skipped over to the wall separating them. “You called, O-Cha-Ko?”

“I want to help you.”

A laugh. “Sure you do. Why don’t you start by breaking me out of this cell first?” Himiko continued to giggle at the thought.

Ochako clenched and unclenched her fists. “Sure.”

The giggling stopped.

#     #     #    #

Akumetsu Saito hummed to himself outside Toga’s jail cell. The girls’ chat had been going on for quite a while, which he viewed as a good sign. He’d always admired heroes, even if his Quirk hadn’t been well suited for the profession. There was nothing that gave him more pleasure than assisting heroes. Especially the idealistic ones.

There was a knock on the door behind him and he turned and said loudly, “You done in there?”

“I am,” said the little hero. “May I come out?”

“Sure thing,” he said, opening the door. Uraraka exited the room, her expression bright. “Have a good chat?”

“I did,” she said.

“Here, let me walk you out.” He led the girl down the hall and waved to the guards. They buzzed Uraraka out.

As the little hero was leaving, she turned to him. “Oh right, Toga had a question for you.”

“I’ll go chat with her then. You good leaving the station yourself?”

A nod. “I am. Thank you for everything.” Then the little hero was gone.

“What a strange kid,” said Officer Eizen, a perpetual scowl on his face. “You actually going to give a villain the time of day?”

“There’s no harm in answering a question,” replied Saito. He turned back around. “I’ll be right back.”

Saito made it back to Toga’s cell and knocked. “Hi Toga, I was told you had a question for me?” No response. He knocked again. “Toga?” Still quiet. He unlocked the door. “Sorry, I’m coming right in.”

He opened the door and stepped in. What he saw was not Toga, but a brown-haired girl laying on the floor of Toga’s cell. Unconscious. “Uraraka!”

The girl came to consciousness, groaning. “Uh…” She looked up at Saito and her eyes went wide. “Lieutenant Akumetsu?” She scrambled over to the door of her cell and tried to open it to no avail. “Please help. I’m sorry, Toga tricked me. She knocked me unconscious and snuck out. I think she has a transformation Quirk!”

“I’ll get you right out,” said Saito. He opened the door and the girl practically fell out of her cell. He caught her and helped her stand. “That must’ve been Toga I let out. I’ll go right after her.” He turned around, back to the girl. Then he felt a sharp pain in the back of the neck as he fell to the ground and the world went dark.

#     #    #    #

Himiko hummed to herself as she walked out of the police station. That police officer’s blood had been surprisingly tasty. Not as good as Ochako’s of course, but not unpleasant. Maybe she should send him a thank you gift later? She had his wallet; she could probably buy him something nice.

She took her time walking to the station. It was in a lesser trafficked area that she entered the women’s restroom and found a stall in which to wait. Ochako hadn’t arrived yet. Himiko dropped the lieutenant’s phone into the toilet then stood in the toilet bowl. She balanced herself with her arms on either side of the stall and dropped her transformation. Most of the goo from her Quirk was caught in the bowl. A few dots slopped against the floor though. That was sure to confuse a janitor later. She flushed the remains of her escape down the drain.

“Hello?” asked a timid voice. Ochako. “Anyone in here?”

“Occupied,” said Himiko in a sing song voice. “Why don’t you join me?”

“I’ve got the clothes.”

“Are they cute?”

“I think so?” replied Ochako. “They should be better than that jumpsuit you’re in, I guess.”

Himiko got out of the toilet bowl and unlocked the door. She swung it open with a bright smile on her face. “What ugly jumpsuit?”

Ochako let out a small squeak as her face turned bright red and she averted her gaze. “Why are you naked?!”

“That’s just how my Quirk works,” replied Himiko.

Ochako held out the clothes she’d bought, never looking at Himiko. How cute. She took the clothes. “Thank you very much.” She slapped Akumetsu’s wallet into Ochako’s hand. “Here, take how much it cost from here. You can even return it to him when this is all done.”

Ochako looked at the wallet, then to Himiko, then quickly turned around. “It’s no issue. The clothes are pretty cheap.” The hero in-training pocketed the wallet without opening it. “How is the lieutenant? You didn’t hurt him too badly, right?”

“I played nice like we agreed on,” said Himiko, trying to look as innocent as possible. “Knocked him right out, took his blood then bandaged it up like you told me to. I was a good girl and I deserve a treat.”

“Thank you for doing that. He’s a good man and doesn’t deserve what we did to him.” Himiko caught a cute expression of melancholy for a moment. But then Ochako went right back to business. “Now, please change quickly. I’ll go buy us tickets.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Himiko closing the stall door. She slipped on the clothes Ochako had put thought into buying for her. She slid on the cheap panties and bra and thought about the embarrassed face Ochako probably made when she bought these things for another girl. She admired the shorts Ochako had bought her, sliding them on and finding them able to stay up but slightly loose. And finally, a plain red T-shirt. Simple, but cute enough for the moment. Once she was dressed, she tied up her hair in a single messy bun and slipped on a black face mask Ochako had included. She was good at sneaking around, but it never hurt to mix things up while keeping a low profile. But the most effective cover was going to be traveling with Ochako. One girl was suspect, two were friends.

“I got the tickets,” said Ochako through the door. “Are you done changing?”

Himiko slid the lock open but didn’t touch the door. “Why don’t you open and see for yourself?” There was a moment of hesitation, but Ochako opened the door. Himiko made a cute pose. “Are you disappointed to see me fully clothed?”

“No,” said Ochako, averting her gaze. How cute. “Let’s get going. We’re going to cut it close on meeting with everyone.”

“Eh, worst comes to worst we go ahead,” said Himiko, following after Ochako. “It’s not like we don’t know where we’re going.”

“But we need to be able to offer that help to the others,” said Ochako as they scanned their tickets and passed the turnstile. “And it wouldn’t be good if they were surprised by you being there. They might think you’re an enemy.”

“And who says I’m not?” asked Himiko with a broad smile.

“I do,” said Ochako, boarding the train.

Himiko lagged for a moment, considering staying behind to lose her guide. It would be so easy. If Ochako was doing this properly, she would’ve had Himiko board first. Always keep her slightly ahead and in view. Instead, she naively walked shoulder to shoulder, and boarded the train first. It was laughable.

Ochako turned to see if Himiko was following and found herself nose to nose with Himiko as she invaded the hero’s personal space. “Going to keep moving and give me some space or just stand like this the entire time?”

“Let’sgofindseats!” said Ochako quickly, turning and leading the way as the doors shut behind them.

As the train started to move, Himiko followed her hero and mused about how fun this night was going to be. Corrupting Ochako to be like her would make her blood even tastier. She planned to savor it.

#     #     #      #

Saito sat up in his new cell, rubbing his neck. “Damn, she really knocked me out. I was planning to play dead but guess I didn’t need to.” He held up his hand and saw that a strip of cloth had been ripped off his shirt and wrapped around his finger in a rough bandage. That was a surprise. Toga wasn’t known for kindness like that. He took it as a good sign. That kindness hadn’t extended to not taking his phone or wallet. He bet his money was being used to facilitate her escape and his phone was probably in a fountain or trash can somewhere. She’d left his watch though, and checking it told him that he’d been out for about fifteen minutes. Toga had already been fed dinner, so it would be a while before anyone came to check on him. Most likely the guards wouldn’t bother to walk down and check on the cell until the morning. The chances of anyone finding him soon were low.

So, he grabbed the remote and turned the volume up on the TV and waited for the UA press conference to start. That should be interesting. Bide him over until he found out how the little hero was doing in reforming their wannabe villain. He couldn’t wait to see what the pair managed to do. He had a good feeling about them.

[cidnangarlond]

💐🎁☄️ for that oc ask game!!!!!! :3 idk which 1 its ur pick!!!!

I'm doing Scarlet and Mihmeira for these I don't post enough stuff about them enough tbh. 2 for 1 special

Scarlet

Scarlet's bouquet would be roses! The rose is a whole symbol with her, seeing as she was known once upon a time in Ishgard as "The Bloody Rose", her secret identity helping out those of the Brume, heretics, anyone targeted by the Heaven's Ward unjustly, and so on. She's a Dzemael so unfortunately the whole rose symbolism did cast undue suspicion on others, but apparently the red rose symbolizes "love, romance, beauty, and courage." The courage part is important to her, since it took quite a lot to oppose the powers that be in Ishgard, and it takes quite a lot of courage to be the Warrior of Light. She has a lot of love in her heart for Ishgard and for her friends and loved ones as well, of course, but the reason she did anything, growing up in Ishgard or being the Warrior of Light, was out of love.

HMMM... Scarlet would be happy with any trinket people got her that reminded said person of her. These tend to be rose-themed items, of course, since that is her brand, but also things that are related to Kugane or Othard, or Doma, since that is where she lives now with Hien. Scarlet is easy to please and happy to receive any gift. As for giving gifts, she typically does them only for holidays or namedays, but they're always extremely thoughtful.

There are definitely people in Ishgard that think her Dzemael connection is still strong, or that she's like them, and they couldn't be more wrong. The Dzemael's you see anyway, like Grinnaux, Tedalgrinche, and Archombadin, are complete assholes (to varying degrees) and Scarlet found herself with odds with them. Grinnaux for obvious reasons, Tedalgrinche because of the machinist stuff, and Archombadin for Scholasticate stuff but she gets along with him better now. After she had "redeemed" herself in the eyes of House Dzemael after Nidhogg was finally defeated, they tried arranging a marriage for her and she immediately peaced out and didn't tell anyone in Ishgard she was going off to Gyr Abania and then the Far East. She wants nothing to do with her immediate family or the ones in power.

Mihmeira

One of the flower hair accessories I got her was the red hydrangea, which in-universe I decided was a gift from Y'shtola to her, as pink/pinkish reds/reddish pinks is one of her favorite colors and Y'shtola thought she would like it. Red hydrangeas oddly enough symbolize love, gratitude, passion, and romance. They will not confess their feelings for each other until Endwalker. Her other flower hairpiece is the red cherry blossom, and cherry blossoms represent a time of renewal and optimism.

Mihmeira loves anything that's pink or orange, her two favorite colors. Back in Radz-at-Han, for many years she had a mysterious benefactor, someone who, monthly, they would meet and just talk, have tea, and hang out. These would later become twice a year and then once a year as age caught up to him - and his true identity is a whole thing feel free to ask for that piece to get posted I will share it because this person is actually her birth father but Mihmeira is unaware of this whole parentage fiasco - but his final gift to her was a necklace, orange and having the alchemical symbol for the sun carved into it. It was a replica of something else hmmm I wonder what it could be... something else orange and looking like a soul crystal that thirteen other people had hmmm mysterious... anyway this was her favorite gift. But Mihmeira also likes getting flowers, pretty clothes, she's happy to receive anything from anyone for any reason. Likewise she gives gifts regularly, sometimes small trinkets and sometimes it is things she crafted herself.

Mihmeira, in Radz-at-Han, was a dancer and people assumed she was just a pretty face with a beautiful body. Which is true, she does have both, but she also was an information dealer, and is quite a genius. "Information. To the highest bidder." In her own words, since Radz-at-Han was a big trading hub and Garleans would come by every now and again, Mihmeira would get information from them and likewise give in return, but would do that for any trader or anyone with enough coin who desired information on particular subjects. Seeing as she was a popular figure in Radz-at-Han many did think she was just a pretty face which was definitely a good cover. There are also others that do think "Wow she sleeps around A LOT" and you'd be right because Mihmeira is sleeping her way across Eorzea

Thank you !! ^_^

[freewillacquired]

I have a question, what if that metal limiter on Nemmys chest got damaged to the point it began to actually hurt him and he couldn't take it off or fix it till a survivor crossed paths and sees that he's in alot of pain and what was causing it and actually helps to fix the limiter.

{out of mutation} Hmm... that's a complex question, heh. First of all, for anyone who doesn't know what we're talking about, in the RE:3 remake, they gave Nemesis a "limiter," which was this metal device that looks like it's attached right to his chest. It was supposed to be something that kept the T-virus in check and prevented further mutation. I'm guessing it was delivering something to his blood, maybe a dilute antivirus solution or maybe some kind of electrical impulse that would prevent the T-virus from being able to reach levels at which it could cause further mutation. This was likely done because further mutation could cause him to grow in size, become more difficult to handle, and/or might affect his intelligence, all things which the Umbrella corporation would be concerned about if they wanted to have a perfectly controllable bioweapon in Nemesis.

I've indicated the limiter in this pic from the remake:

Now, I will say just FYI that I don't usually use the limiter in my interpretation of Nemesis, unless I am writing specifically in the RE:3 game verse, although it's easily addable, I guess. I personally have always stuck with the original "coat" he used to wear in the original game, which they kept in the Anderson films. This was a thick, tight, coat-style garment that almost to me looked like that heavy lead thing they lay over you whenever you get x-rays to prevent radiation damage to your body, heh. But its purpose was the same as the limiter, except instead of through chemical or electrical means, it just physically held in his body and prevented it from mutating simply by not giving it the space to. You can see what it looked like in RE: Apocalypse (left) and RE3: Nemesis (right):

As opposed to the outfit in the remake, which to me always looked like somebody took a bunch of black garbage bags and just wrapped him up in them haha. Not sure what they were going for there. But, I digress...

To your question, I guess it would depend on whether or not Nemesis had his memories back. Now... in a very strictly canon game verse (which I don't write often) we don't know who Nemesis was before he was experimented on. But it's assumed that he still would have been human first, since that's how Tyrants are made, and lost his own personality and autonomy as a result of Umbrella's control over him and maybe because of whatever the T-virus might have done to his brain. So in a strict game verse, I'm not sure Nemesis could regain his human identity, which would mean he'd be nasty to people all the time, heh. In this case, I wouldn't recommend that anyone try to help him with anything because he'll just... kill them, heh.

But like I said, I don't write that very often at all because I prefer to make Nemesis more dimensional by adding in his human origin as Matt Addison. In RE: Apocalypse, the damage Alice did to Nemesis combined with her tearful apology was enough to break Umbrella's control over him and cause him to remember himself, so in a game verse where I cross the two and give him that human origin story, Jill or anyone else could cause the same recollection of his previous identity by damaging him enough. If that were to happen and the limiter was damaged in the process, then yeah, Nemesis might reach out to someone for help and would be grateful for anyone who could fix it or at least make it stop hurting him.

So it would depend on which verse I was writing in and the circumstances, but assuming he could remember himself and therefore wouldn't just attack people on sight, he would welcome the help and really any kindness anyone would show him. He would only be dangerous to any survivors who tried to help him if he didn't remember himself and was still under Umbrella's control or the control was broken and he was just feral.

I hope this actually answered your question, haha, but if not, feel free to ask follow-up questions if you want to! =)

[spookyscarydemonbabe]

Gareth HCs

A/N- I was so thankful to have both parts of my Gareth HCs saved 🥰 unfortunately i still haven’t been able to find my Eddie HCs but i feel like if i’m unable to find them i’ll still be able to rewrite and repost them soon :p

❗️Please remember that these are MY personal HCs, it’s alright to agree or disagree with them, just make sure to be nice if you have some criticism❗️

Gareth has been aged up to 18 for the NSFW HCs :)

🖤SFW🖤

He’s definitely the older brother of like 2-3 sisters, and i like that everyone seems to agree on that 😂

His parents are ex-hippies, so they’re super into letting him and his sisters express themselves in whatever ways they see fit

Which is why they let the band practice in their garage, and it’s also the normal hang out spot for the boys

Total mommas boy, but not overly weird about it

He just loves his mom :)

LOVES sci-fi and horror films

His favorites are Alien (obviously), Night of the Comet, and The Thing

He also doesn’t listen to strictly metal, his music taste is kind of all over the place from listening to his parents old records and his sisters singing their favorite songs in the car

His #1 guilty pleasure artist is Kylie Minogue

He is VERY oblivious to whenever someone is flirting with him

It took a lot of convincing from Jeff that when you twirl your hair while talking to him, that means you’re flirting

Doesn’t have a lot of experience with dating, other than the elementary school version of a girlfriend, he’s never actually been in a serious relationship

Him and Jeff have been best friends since they were little, they’re pretty much inseparable at this point

He made it pretty clear that when you date him, expect to have Jeff around you guys a lot

But he makes sure to still have special nights just for you two

His favorite dates are ones where you don’t need to get all dressed up and actually go out and do something

He loves going on long backroad drives to just talk and listen to music, stargazing, snuggling while watching a movie, things like that :)

Snuggling with him is always the best because he’s constantly cold, so he likes to get really close under the blankets

He gets very nervous around you even after you start dating

Like he’ll still ask if it’s ok to hold your hand

He’s also a really good listener, and loves to hear your voice at any chance he gets

❤️‍🔥NSFW❤️‍🔥

Definitely a sub

He’s not the type of guy who’s super comfortable with being dominant, but he has his moments

Loves when you call him a good boy

He’s not super loud during sex, just because he gets a little insecure about it, but he’s definitely a whimperer

Prefers to receive rather than to give, just because he doesn’t have much knowledge on how to do it right and he doesn’t want to make it not good for you

His favorite part of your body has to be your lips

He loves how soft they are when he kisses you and he thinks they look so pretty wrapped around his cock

Gets hard just from making out

Loves to have you on top, just so he can get a good look at your entire body and run his fingers over every inch of you

He doesn’t smoke often but you convinced him one night to try high sex and now it’s his absolute favorite way to sleep with you

Pretty vanilla, but he’s not afraid to try new things out

Definitely has a mommy kink, he loves to be praised and taken care of

He’s also not opposed to pegging but he has to be in the mood for it

_______________________________________________

If you’d like to read more of my work, make sure to check out my masterlist 🥰

[absolutepokemontrash]

Hi! So, I absolutely love your series where the MC is the kid of Lucifer, and I was wondering if I could request that with Diavolo and Barbatos? •v•

:0 you definitely can! Right now I’m just doing Diavolo, but Barb’s will be up sometime soon!

MC is Half Demon and Oh Shit They’re Diavolo’s Kid-

Diavolo wasn’t exactly what one would expect of the prince of Hell, I mean, he was suppressing the urge to bounce in his seat from pure excitement. I mean, his exchange program was starting! Humans, demons, and angels, all together, his dream was coming true.

All that was left was for the student to arrive, the portal opened, and the human fell flat on their back. Oof, maybe Diavolo should have set up some kind of landing zone filled with pillows. No matter! The human was-

…

What peculiar eyes this human had…

Oh… oh dear…

Dad-volo

The MC was his child, no question about it. This was… very unexpected. Well, the entire assembly hall was completely quiet, and the kid looked like they were getting impatient.

“HEY! Mind telling me what the hell is going on?!”

After that, Diavolo launches into his explanation, also the explanation that he’s definitely this kid’s dad. Kid was not impressed, they tried to square up with Diavolo and Lucifer had never been more confused as to what to do.

Well, the moment MC sprouted wings and launched themselves at Diavolo, Dia caught them with one hand and continued speaking like nothing happened.

MC, please calm down… Diavolo didn’t know they existed, let him make it up to them! They’re going to stay at the Demon Lord’s Castle! Dia’s going to be a good dad!

“This feels like the plot to the world’s most messed up fairytale.” MC jammed their hands into their pockets and grumbled. “I get sucked into hell and find out I’m royalty there. Great.”

Diavolo managed to smile and awkwardly reach out to give them a pat on the head, then retracted his hand after the kid shot him a glare. “Well, it’s not a very traditional fairytale, but I’m sure you’ll enjoy your time here.”

“Mm, sure.” MC mumbled.

Okay, so his child wasn’t that enthusiastic about the exchange program, but Diavolo was sure they’d come around.

Dia tried everything he could possibly think of to get his kid to both like him and enjoy their time as an exchange student. A lot of things had… mixed results.

Also, legally recognizing MC as his child and legitimizing them caused a big stink amongst the nobles who were opposed to the exchange program to begin with. So MC then had to deal with a few assassins. Wonderful. Fantastic. Show stopping. Dia, be a good dad and comfort your angsty murder target- I MEAN preteen.

They do manage to build a good relationship fairly quickly despite their less than stellar first impressions, and Diavolo made them a promise that he knew he wouldn’t ever break: he would let them live as normal a childhood as possible.

This means that MC gets to do all the normal kid stuff that Diavolo wasn’t allowed to do. It honestly works out great for everyone. MC gets to live their life, Diavolo gets the satisfaction of knowing that his kid’s having fun, and Barbatos doesn’t need to worry about MC causing chaos in the castle.

Man… does this kid’s magic potential scare the shit out of everyone though…

Tired Uncle Lucifer

No. This has to be a violation of his worker rights. It cannot be legal for him to be this stressed.

He knew this exchange program was a bad idea. LUCIFER FUCKING KNEW IT. This kid was judging him. Why did he suddenly feel self conscious about every single one of his features? This child was picking him apart and they hadn’t even said anything!

He confiscated Asmo’s phone immediately, this was a matter of national security! Satan’s too! Beel as- oh shit Lucifer may have to give Beel the heimlich maneuver, then take his phone.

When all the brothers eventually got back to the HOL, they were greeted with Mammon getting shaken down by Levi.

“Lucifer! Ya won’t believe this! Levi- what’s wrong with you?” “The exchange student is Diavolo’s child.” “What..?” “*pops the cork off a bottle of Demonus* the exchange student’s Diavolo’s child.”

The worst part about this kid was that they took to the privileges of being royalty like a fish to water. MC went out and did whatever the fuck they wanted, and Lucifer needed to make sure a state of national emergency wasn’t called just because MC picked a fight at RAD.

It didn’t help that MC was just so unimpressed with Lucifer. Anytime Lucifer would tell them not to do something they would just raise their eyebrows and challenge his authority without saying a word.

What the fuck.jpg

The things he does for his prince boyfriend…

Cool Uncle Mammon

Huh, so this little pipsqueak is Lord Diavolo‘s kid? Hm, do ya think they’d let him into the royal treasury? No? Okay… lame.

Mammon then decides this kid would be just perfect for scamming people! Who is going to say no to the Crown Prince’s kid? A suicidal person, that’s who!

And the kid is… up for it? Wow, Mammon didn’t even have to grovel! Awesome!

It’s such a shame that Lucifer came in and promptly removed MC from Mammon’s presence. Tsk, killjoy…

Mammon and MC do get along swimmingly after MC stops angsting. Whenever they hang out it’s pure chaos.

And they would have gotten away with it too- wait, they do get away with it. Because who’s going to question the Crown Prince’s kid? >:)

Reclusive Uncle Leviathan

Levi was in the middle of throttling Mammon for his money back when Lucifer burst through the door looking like he had spent over 1000 Grimm on a gacha game only to not get the card he wanted.

And where was that human he said would be staying with them? Huh? The human’s HUH????!!!!

… wack. Maybe he shouldn’t have skipped out on that Student Council Meeting…

Either way, ew, new person he needed to talk to. NO THANKS. Well, no thanks until MC started to visit the HOL to hang out with Mammon. Of course those two normies decided to bug him. OF COURSE.

Levi finally snapped when MC loudly proclaimed that they could totally beat Levi in Mario Kart. Haha, NO. Levi challenged the little runt to a 1 v 1 race on Rainbow Road.

Kid lost. Obviously. Rainbow Road is rigged.

Honestly, kid’s alright. Still a total normie, but not completely terrible.

Cat Uncle Satan

Huh, a half human child of the soon to be demon king, how very interesting.

Oh, and just look at Lucifer’s face. :D priceless. Satan wished he was fast enough to get his DDD out to snap a picture, but he wasn’t able to…

But back to MC, oh how very intriguing. How much power do they have in comparison to Diavolo? Will using that power rip their fragile little body apart? Would they learn to control it? Satan was just dying to find out.

His feelings on the child themselves were mixed at best. They were clearly unhappy with the situation and Satan could sympathize, being thrust into a completely new world and then being told you can’t leave and are also royalty? That has to be hard. But this kid was still being an unreasonable little shit.

Satan continued to try and study MC from afar until the kid themselves walked right up to him and half demanded half pleaded for his help in studying for a test.

Not being one to avoid an opportunity to flex how smart he is, Satan agreed to help out. (Nerrrrd)

And honestly, it went well. When the kid wasn’t being a little shit, they were actually quite pleasant to be around.

Overly Affectionate Uncle Asmo

…wut

Listen, when Asmo asked Lucifer to pick a cute human, he didn’t mean cute as in CHILD.

This kid was DIAVOLO’S?! What lucky human had gotten to have the experience of [Jesus Fucking Christ, Asmo I’m not writing what he said for the sake of the nation]

Anyhoo~ little MC just made his heart go “SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE SO CUTE!” They were so cute Asmo could just eat them up!

But they were so mean! That scowl they always had on was going to give them wrinkles and ruin their perfectly cute face!

Sigh, oh well. He can’t manually rearrange people’s expressions. What he can do is take this child shopping. Poor Diavolo was constantly in his RAD uniform, this poor innocent baby shouldn’t have to suffer the same fate.

The kid continued to scowl at everything, but at the same time, their little quips were very entertaining. This little kid spitting verbal venom at anyone who displeased them reminded Asmo of someone… he just couldn’t place who, but they definitely had amazing hair and a cute face :3

Hungry Uncle Beel

Where’s the takeout- I mean human? What’s happening? …are all humans this small? Dang, that’s barely enough for a snack.

So the human’s not going to live with us because they’re not fully human and Diavolo’s kid? Huh. Wild. Anyway, what’s for dinner?

Beel’s not too invested in this drama, he misses Belphie too much to be that interested…

The kid’s weirdly interested in how cool and strong Beel is though. MC tails him to the gym pretty often.

Diavolo and Beel already being gym buddies send tweet-

Since this benevolent little shit likes Beel so much, they decided to take it upon themselves to help with the family drama.

Beel finds that very sweet 🥺

Murder sleepy Uncle Belphie

Oh man… if you thought Belphie was being unfair to L!MC due to their parentage… hoo boy…

When this kid waltzed up the attic steps like they ran the place, Belphie needed to hold himself back from trying to break down the door and throttle this kid.

Pff, of course Diavolo would have a half human kid. Of course.

…kid beat the shit out of him when he tried to kill them. We stan this MC.

After all is said and done, Belphie still isn’t overly fond of MC. They’re brash and rude and only funny 40% of the time. They don’t even like napping 😒

But Beel likes the little runt, so Belphie and MC put up with each other.

Bonus! Your Angelic Uncle Simeon’s Chihuahua

:0 friend!

MC: *speaks*

>:0 not friend! Begone! *throws crucifix*