#but these pieces sort of prove her point don't they...

[no-wormies]

vampires in situations.

[lewismcqueen]

salt.

op81 x reader

summary: it's your penultimate summer at camp half-blood, and you run into a familiar face. wc: 2k cw: near-drowning a/n: ummm hi this is my first fic for oscar and I also wanted to get into the groove of writing chb x f1 aus! have this little one-shot while I get the hang of things (this was NAWT proofread) <3 if you have any questions or kindly-worded feedback, don't be scared to say hi! moodboard!

People always turn to the water when they’re trying to escape something. 

A shitty boss, a hectic work week, a bit of relief after final exams. Or sometimes the risk of drowning still feels safer than whatever awaits you on shore. The ocean’s depths are the sort of deep blue that is so rich and true that it looks like protection. Her width is mistaken for open arms.

This is the error you make when you decide to surf your problems away one day, hoping that maybe catching a wave will take your mind off of the looming spectre of college admissions. Your second-to-last trip to Camp Half-Blood before you’re left to figure it all out on your own. Instead, you come face to face with a wave that rises far too high, and suddenly you're clinging to a piece of coral as it wreaks havoc just above the surface. The sound of rushing water is all you can hear, and your chest is tightening. You’re running out of breath. Fast.

Your head begins to feel light, and the world feels like it’s floating away from you no matter how fast you blink your eyes to try to remain on earth. Just before it all goes dark, you think you hear some kid’s voice. It sounds male, and he’s yelling, but distantly. Maybe he’s actually trying to welcome you into heaven or something. Man, you really wanted to tour Spelman’s campus first, at least…

For the next few moments, everything is dark and warm. A few moments more, and you realize that you’re laying on your back, the warmth coming from soft sand. There’s blue sky, but it is interrupted by the dark silhouette of…someone hovering over you. Your eyes sting with saltwater as you blink slowly. The silhouette speaks.

“Oh, thank God. You alright? Can you speak?”

You try to, but coughs wrack your throat and chest instead as your body expels more water. 

“Whoah, easy there.”

When you can finally get words out, your vocal chords scrape together painfully. 

“Where’s my surfboard?” you rasp.

As your vision clears, the silhouette becomes a pale-looking, wavy-haired brunette, freckled cheeks reddened with sunburn. His eyes look dark at first, but then you realize that they’re really a stormy grey. They squint as he stares at you, perhaps in disbelief that you’ve just nearly drowned and the first thing you ask for is your surfboard.

“It’s swimming with the fishes, I’m afraid. Would’ve dove down deeper to get it for you but,” he shrugs, “you were kinda drowning.”

“Damn,” Your lips jut outwards in a pout as you sit upright, dark elbows dusted with sand. There’s a twinge of pain there as if you’d been cut. You’ll have to check that out later.

“That thing was expensive.”

The boy raises an eyebrow. “Well I’ll be sure to have my priorities straight next time.”

-

You're sweating through your orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt beneath your armor as you stalk through the forest, hand resting at the hilt of your sword. Three years ago, the beads collecting at your hairline would've had you worrying about the state of your baby hairs, but you had learned to wait until after training to gel them down. There was no point getting dolled up otherwise. You weren't in Aphrodite's cabin - no one cared how you looked.

A light breeze picks up and carries with it the smell of murky water. Sure enough, you come up on the lake. Your fingers tighten around the hilt. You had instructions to remain on high alert and—much to your disappointment—defend. Still, the possibility of some twerp coming around here to take a break or grab a sip? Never zero. Maybe you’ll get an easy battle.

The snapping of a twig near the foot of the lake proves you right, and you immediately spin on your heel towards the sound, drawing your sword. It points at the pale, freckled face of a camper you don’t recognize from the previous summer, slick with sweat and flush from exertion beneath a helmet plumed with the opposition’s blue feathers. A section of brunette hair falls over his face, curling just so. His expression is oddly calm, dark grey eyes widened but not darting around. 

It’s…familiar.

Your eyes become saucers. 

“Oh, shit! You’re that Aussie kid from the beach!”

He doesn’t say anything, just shrugs while his hands remain held out in defense. You can see small scratches on his palms and up his arms, likely from thorned plants he’d failed to avoid. His awkward half-smile doesn’t feel appropriate for the current situation given that—if you're guessing correctly—he has neither shield nor sword at his hip. Newbie must’ve lost them somewhere in battle.

You lower your weapon, but don’t sheath it. “Well? Aren’t you gonna tell me your name?”

“Aren’t you gonna put the pointy sword away before trying to chat me up?” He responds without missing a beat. He shifts his weight on the uneven ground, and you can tell he isn’t used to the weight of his armor. What harm could he possibly do?

You shrug, and finally sheath your sword. “Fine. Name?”

He lowers his hands slowly, his shoulders appearing to relax in what looks like a sigh of relief.

“Oscar.”

“Like…like The Grouch?” you snort.

Oscar presses his lips into a thin line. He’s heard that one before.

“Whatever helps you remember it.” 

The conversation is interrupted by the sound of voices yelling in the distance. One of them you recognize as Kimi’s, who showed up only last summer and was already hell to spar with. Based on the intonation and volume of his shouting, he’s chasing someone down. Oscar tenses, and he toggles his gaze between you and the direction of all the commotion. His eyes seem to plead for help, and you almost laugh. This kid doesn’t know the half of how things work around here.

As the yelling draws nearer, accompanied with the crunching of leaves and twigs beneath frantic footsteps, you draw your sword (not pointed in his face this time) and give him a reassuring look.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let ‘em toss you around…” you mutter the tail-end of the sentence under your breath. “...much.”

A flurry of helmets break through the foliage, the majority of them red save for the poor kid being chased - Ollie from the Aphrodite cabin, you realize. Kimi is the main hunter, and the most enthusiastic at that. He’s followed closely by Doriane and Amna, who look about ready to pounce until Amna catches your eye. Her brows furrow in confusion for a moment, until you throw her a wink. Her expression relaxes, and she smiles conspiratorially. She’s had a few summers to get familiar with your strategy.

Kimi, not so much. 

“You are fraternizing with the enemy?!?” he yells, letting Ollie clamber away from the group. It doesn’t matter, he’s running in the wrong direction anyway. Owlish brown eyes settle on his new target.

“Chill out,” you yell back. “This is Oscar. He’s new here, but he saved me from drowning a couple months back.”

You look back at Oscar, tilting your head towards your teammates as a signal to step in front of you. He does, even waving at them tentatively. You thank the gods above he’s stupid.

“Hey Oscar,” Amna greets with a knowing grin. “Know who your godly parent is yet?”

“Uh, no,” Oscar scratches the back of his neck, “I’m stuck at the Hermes cabin, for now.”

“Good. Means they can’t protect you.”

He pauses, eyes widening. “Wait, what—”

Your sword is at his throat before he can even finish the sentence.

“Sorry, buddy. We’re taking you hostage. You’ll show us the way, right?”

-

Poseidon must have a sense of humor, because Oscar gets claimed in the bathroom that very same day. 

See, Chloe wanted revenge after he’d apparently chucked his shield at her during Capture the Flag. According to her, Oscar ran to hide inside of a bathroom stall with his tail between his legs. But the moment she corners him - just as they're about to get into a

“fair fight”? 

WHAM!

Chloe gets slammed into the tile wall by a powerful stream of toilet water. By the time she came to, Oscar was staring at something above his head. She followed his gaze, and her jaw dropped.

A trident.

Now Oscar sits by himself at table three, staring down into his plate like it's the most interesting thing he's ever seen. Chloe passes by him to get to the Ares table with a scowl, but gives him a wide berth. Everyone steers clear. You feel bad for him - knowing how these things go, the bathroom debacle likely wasn't his fault. 

You take a final bite of your pizza slice before rising from your seat, the decision already made before either Doriane or Amna can stop you. The two girls just look at each other and giggle.

When he looks up at you, you notice that Oscar's eyes already have bags underneath them.

“Must've been a weird day for you.”

He shrugs. “Believe it or not? I've had weirder days.”

You take a seat next to him on the warped wooden bench, and realize he unfortunately does smell a bit like toilet water.

“You've survived this long while being Big Three. I can imagine.”

His brows knit together. “ ‘Big Three’?”

“Poseidon, Hades, Zeus,” you rattle off as if you've given this speech before. “The Big Three. Makes you smell extra tasty to monsters.”

Oscar's expression darkens at the mention of monsters, his eyes darting back and forth as the gears in his head begin to turn.

“Interesting,” is all he says after a moment of pause. 

You give him a teasing grin. “You do know who those three are, right? I don't have to explain basic Greek mythology to you?”

A tiny grin plays on Oscar's lips. 

“No, I know. And here I thought I was just a really good lifeguard.”

Your smile settles into something more earnest as you push back a stray braid. 

“Thank goodness you're not, otherwise I don't think either of us would've made it here for the summer.”

Oscar is quiet for a moment, looking down at his lap before speaking again.

“...Do we really have to do the sacrifice thing?”

You laugh, the question reminding you of yourself. “Yup, every time. Whether you think they deserve it or not. I've already given up a slice of pizza.”

He nods slowly. 

“Shame. This steak's really good.”

Oscar gets up with his plate in-hand, moving toward the fire where he dumps the remainder of his meal. The flames rise a little when he does so, lapping it up. You swear the flames seem alive sometimes. 

“Thank you, by the way,” you tell Oscar once he returns. “Never said it properly.”

“What for?”

You laugh and give him a light smack on the arm. “For saving my life, idiot!”

He goes red at the realization, which makes you laugh even harder. 

“Sorry,” Oscar tries on a more comfortable smile. “Still reeling from getting sprayed with toilet water after being in an active hostage situation.”

You arch an eyebrow. “You're not still hung up on that, are you?”

“It’s literally my first day!”

“So? I had to battle Chloe on my first day. Ever had to fight off an overconfident Ares kid? She nearly skewered me.”

Oscar winces. “So I'll have to get used to that then.”

“Probably. I'm sure you'll make some friends though,” 

You elbow him, and he doesn't try to defend himself. “I'll try not to let my cabin mates jump you next training session.”

“You said that last time.”

“Hm. True. Pinky promise?”

You raise your pinky finger. Around it is a silver ring with a tall, noble-looking owl on it, its wise face illuminated by the orange flames.

Oscar stares at it for a moment, then meets your eyes. He wraps his pinky around yours.

“I hope you know that's like, legally binding.”

“I don't make promises I can't keep.”

Doriane’s voice cuts through the din of noise.

“Hey, lovebirds! Lewis is starting the sing-a-long!”

You roll your eyes, snatching your pinky back as quickly as possible. Sure enough, you can hear the strumming of the counselor’s guitar. 

“I gotta go. You gonna be alright, Grouch?”

Oscar blinks. “What did you just call me?”

You shrug as you swing your legs over the bench, “You said whatever helps remember your name. Your name's Oscar, and you barely smile. It's too easy, man.”

“I'm never gonna live that down, am I?” 

“Nope!”

You don't see Oscar watching your retreating figure as you jog back to the Athena table, a big, goofy smile spreading on his face.

[warblogs17282]

Blitz and self-hatred, plus his self-forgiveness journey.

Aka, watch me try to make sense of the massive lore drops in ghostfuckers. (Long post alert, my first meta post after ghostfuckers dropped)

Section 1: The roots of Blitz's self-hatred.

The circus fire. We know what Blitz's actions were that day, he saw Fizzarolli, and tried to call for help, but then he realized that Tilla was also caught up in the fire, and instantly rushed over to attempt to save her the moment Blitz realized that fact.

We know that Fizzarolli getting severely hurt in that fire affected Blitz very deeply, considering that it was one of the memories in that slideshow.

If you look at this frame by frame, you can see some sort of face in the fire when Blitz is rushing to save Tilla from the fire. The face in that fire looks like a mix of an angry face and a screaming face at the same time. Signaling that Tilla has been consumed by the flames. That she's dead.

There's an interesting detail within the hallucination sequence as well.

"This is your life." The fact that the fire in this sequence starts right at Blitz's hand is really telling. It tells us that Blitz still blames himself for accidentally causing the fire. Blitz blames himself for the fire that severely hurt Fizzarolli, and the fire that killed Tilla. Blitz feels like he hurt Fizzarolli and killed Tilla, his own mother.

Look at Blitz's hand during this memory, you can very clearly see that it's quite badly burned, including some that haven't even fully scarred properly yet, placing this memory very shortly after the fire happened. During this scene, Cash hits Blitz, and it's very clearly a memory that still deeply affects Blitz, a memory that most likely reinforced Blitz's own self hatred, because he's blaming himself for Tilla's death and Fizzarolli's injuries at this point, and his dad is just rubbing that in a lot by getting extremely pissed off with Blitz and hitting him because of the circus fire.

Plus, just look at Blitz's reaction to this memory, look at Blitz flinch, look at Blitz starting to struggle against the chains the moment this memory comes up. Blitz's reaction to this just proves how deeply it affects him to this day, and also proves that Cash hitting Blitz added to Blitz's self-hatred over the circus fire. Also, just how many times did Cash physically abuse Blitz like this over the course of his life so far?

Finally, we have the memory of Cash keeping Blitz from seeing Fizzarolli at the hospital. "But they told me you didn't want to see me.", Cash lied to Blitz and most likely the hospital staff as well considering the 'they' used, saying that Fizzarolli didn't want to see Blitz again, having strong implications to Blitz that Fizzarolli hated him. He also lied to Fizzarolli and said that Blitz never even visited him in the hospital. Further adding to Blitz's self hatred over the circus fire.

Section 2: Everything that has reinforced Blitz's self hatred, and is important on Blitz's self-forgiveness journey.

Let's start with Loona, we see her two times during the memories sequence.

The first having this exchange of dialogue.

Blitzo: Because, I adopted you! And that should mean something!

Loona: Oh, what does it matter?! You're not my real dad! I was almost eighteen!

Blitzo: It still counts!

Loona: Well, it shouldn't! I didn't need you then, asshole! I don't, now!

Notice the word 'need.', it's something that Blitz has internalized by now, Blitz thinks that if the people in his life don't 'need' him, they'll just leave him. Another thing that this shows is that Blitz is worried about if Loona hates him.

And it's very clear that Blitz is still effected by this exchange in s1 e3, even quite a while later. In s2 e2, we see Loona kick Blitz right in the balls, and just look at Loona's face in this scene, what Blitz sees here is his fear that Loona hates him, which is why it's in the memory sequence, and there's also these pieces of dialogue to consider.

Loona: If I'm so terrible, how about you just grow a pair and replace me?

Blitzo: Okay, well, maybe I- Maybe I might.

Blitzo: Oh, Loona, my sweet baby girl! I'm so sorry, I'll never replace you no matter what you--

Blitz is still concerned that Loona hasn't forgiven him/hates him for saying that he might replace her, hence why he instantly says he'll never replace her the moment Blitz sees her again, and that face and kick in the balls definitely fed into Blitz's fear that Loona hates Blitz.

And this fear that Blitz has about people who he cares about hating him seems to be something that applies to a lot of different people.

We see this fear in Fizzarolli, because this is one of the memories that comes up in that sequence. The malice-filled stare Fizzarolli gave Blitz during Ozzie's, and we all know Cash was the reason why Fizzarolli hated Blitz for so long, because he lied to Fizzarolli and said he started the fire on purpose, and said that he never visited him once. Alongside other things like Cash making Fizzarolli the golden child. So even all those years later, Cash is still contributing to Blitz's fear of the people he cares about hating him.

Don't be mistaken as well, just because they made up in s2 e6 doesn't make this fear of Blitz's go away, doesn't make the pain of the malice-filled stare go away, which this memory being brought up proves.

And, as I've said before, Blitz still blames himself for accidentally causing the fire that severely hurt him, also adding to the fear and self-hatred.

Barbie Wire, we can see this fear play out with her as well.

"I never wanna see you ever!"

Looking at both Blitz's face at the time and the fact that this scene made it into the memories sequence, it just shows us that Blitz has this fear for Barbie Wire as well, just like how he had it for Fizzarolli. The fact that Barbie Wire doesn't even want to see Blitz again just confirms that fear he has, that Barbie Wire hates him, and the memory of it also confirms just how deeply her saying that effected Blitz.

"Are you worried I may have enough of it one day as well?"

Truth Seekers, the fact that this is Blitz's subconscious telling him this is proof of the fact he has this fear that Moxxie will get tired of Blitz's behavior, that Moxxie will hate him and just, leave.

And the sequence with all the dead Millies and her appearance in the memories sequence also confirms that Blitz has this fear when it comes to Millie as well. Plus, the sequence with the dead Millies also tells us quite a few things, but I think the main ones are the insecurities Blitz has that he 'keeps fucking people's lives up' and 'leaving them worse and more broken than he found them', which both add to the fear that the people in Blitz's life who he cares for hates him.

The last person, Stolas.

There's three memories in ghostfuckers of him I'd like to bring up here.

The first being the All 2 U song memory, just look at how angry Stolas looks to Blitz in this specific memory, while singing lines like "'Cause I don't think it meant a thing at all!"

This one, Stolas was literally just crying a moment ago with all the makeup streaming down his face, but Blitz doesn't seem to remember that fact, instead, he's more focused on what Stolas said, more specifically, "You! Why are you here? I don't want you here, go home, please! Let me not feel so sad!"

And the final one, Stolas and the BTB guy. It's not jealousy, it's god damn heartbreak, especially considering the 'I mean you're a fucking prince. How could you ever actually care for an imp... Me? How could anybody?' Which shows us that Blitz thinks Stolas deserves a better partner, and then a guy literally with a shirt named 'Better than Blitzo' came in, with them dancing and enjoying each other, something that Blitz most likely wished he could do.

Plus, it had been around 24 hours since Stolas' confession to Blitz, and to Blitz, Stolas is already with someone else, someone 'better' than him. With the moment of the BTB guy kissing Stolas being all the confirmation Blitz needed, that he'll never be enough for Stolas, that Stolas has found someone better than him. That he's unlovable.

With all these three memories just massively contributing to Blitz's fear that Stolas hates him, and his self-hatred in general.

(Obviously Stolas doesn't hate Blitz, and that the BTB dude is a one night stand at most, but I'm speaking like how Blitz sees things rn)

Something else that's also relevant is this memory of Verosika, and the reason why this is specifically in the reel is because this was the moment that Verosika said "A reckless, heartbreaking freak!", all while Stolas was watching, which is something Blitz very clearly noted in his memories of the event, showing how much this effected him as well.

And to show that even more, this is the exact point that gets Blitz's tears flowing.

Another thing I want to quickly mention is that Blitz struggles to understand concepts and such of love, outside of a transactional context. Like, correct me if I'm overthinking this, but the 'unconditional support' card is yet another example of Blitz doing this kind of stuff. Everytime they give Blitz 'unconditional support', Blitz punches a hole in the card, with the one at the end being that Blitz has to leave M&M alone for one date, like, my babygirl, that isn't unconditional.

I also suspect that this has roots with Cash as well, considering that Cash was 100% the type of person to only see their value as 'how much money they can make him', and that the less they make for him, the less that Cash will 'love' them, something that is extremely clear in the difference that Cash treated Blitz and Fizzarolli on multiple occurrences. Like, here for example. Plus, there's also the fact that Blitz was bought by Paimon to be friends with Stolas as a kid.

And well, I think we all know what the biggest example of this kind of relationship has been throughout the show, it being something that only ended a few episodes ago.

Of course, I have to mention "I believe your subconscious is trying to tell you that you simply cannot fathom proper intimacy, but… also crave it as well.", which is something that is extremely intertwined with this subject, and the best example of this is probably s2 e8.

Something else in the memories sequence that this line from truth seekers also heavily applies to are these memories.

It shows us very clearly that Blitz is rather envious of the relationship that Moxxie and Millie have, because Blitz craves proper intimacy, so what Blitz sees is something he wants, but something he feels like he can't obtain.

Finally, the last subject I'd like to talk about is the fact that Blitz, hasn't really been able to see much of the good things he's done for the people he cares about or that he straight up doesn't know, by just being himself.

Blitz saved Moxxie from a life with Crimson and also busted him out of prison, Blitz gave Millie a life, a husband, and a purpose, Blitz gave Loona a home and a loving father, right before she was about to get kicked out the system, and Blitz gave Stolas the courage to stand up to his abuser, to allow him to choose for himself and get that divorce.

But, the sad part is that Blitz doesn't really see much of that.

Section 3: The progress Blitz has made on self-forgiveness journey so far.

S2 E6, the fact that Blitz and Fizzarolli was able to make up after so long removed a huge roadblock in the way of Blitz's self-forgiveness journey. The fact that Fizzarolli no longer hates Blitz. While there are still memories about Fizzarolli that still haunt Blitz, as I've shown in this post, this is still a huge step forward for Blitz being able to repair his relationships.

The first real heart-to-heart Blitz and Millie conversation, a lot gets brought up here, just exactly how Blitz has improved Millie's life for the better, confirmation to Blitz that Millie never hated Blitz and the fact that they're best friends. Of course, there's also Millie's apology to Blitz, with this conversation being something that Blitz desperately needed to hear, and I really hope everyone else eventually tells Blitz just how much he's changed their lives for the better.

And the second conversation between the two, the first thing that Blitz mentions is Millie's best friend comment, and that is huge for Blitz, because it signals the start of Blitz learning that people in his life can care for Blitz unconditionally. That Blitz can just have friends in his life, as the line "I- I've never had a real friend that I didn't want to fuck."

(hit the image limit, so time for timestamps!) Timestamp 24:31

(Timestamp, 24:45) "The bird got to you that bad, huh?", it just means so much to me that Blitz has finally admitted the fact that Blitz has feelings for Stolas, because it shows that Blitz is slowly, but surely starting to open up, and this is gonna be a huge thing for Blitz's relationships, including when Stolitz finally gets back together.

[shantechni]

Related to your post about Mikey "accidentally delivering low blows when stressed" (Aug 2023) would you hc that it's related to his emotional awareness of his family? Like when he blamed Splinter for letting them go up to the surface, he would know Splinter was already questioning his decision to let them do that, or he calls Splinter out on not being affected by his mutated appearance (when Splinter looks uncomfortable being seen by humans/Shredder)? Basically, what are your further thoughts on it? Has he done this elsewhere?

The post in question for the curious cats

This compilation video as well because my big brain remembered me doing that and it's related to this topic and I meant to do a part 2

Oh, that behavior is 100% related to Mikey's emotional awareness. I'd hardly even call it a headcanon, it's just canon lol.

After not only botching their first fight above ground but failing to stop two kidnappings on their watch, the boys immediately start playing the blame game by pointing out each other's rash decisions and dumb mistakes that led to such an outcome. Obviously, the idea of Splinter's decision being yet another mistake of the sorts was hanging somewhere in the air waiting to be grabbed at, but no one readily went for it as something that needed to be acknowledged as a mistake. That's why it's so fascinating to see the writers establish Mikey right out of the gate as someone who isn't afraid to comment on Splinter's decisions and his emotional state when he's making those decisions.

He was certainly aware of their father's doubts concerning them going above ground for the first time because a comment like that doesn't just come out of nowhere.

Granted, this instance was him speaking his mind in the heat of the moment and only realizing how much his words would sting after the fact (especially since they're the ones who convinced Splinter to send them off with their begging), but this becoming a continuous trend of his throughout the series further proves the fact of him being more aware of things than a lot of people pegged him to be.

In Mikey Gets Shellacne, his remark about Splinter telling him not to fret about his appearance when he could hardly bring himself to do the same can be interpreted as a more apparent example of him knowing more than he lets on. It's made rather obvious from the start of the series that Splinter wasn't keen on roaming the streets looking like a giant rat, but that's more of a "show and don't tell" deal where both the audience and the characters are left on their own to pick up on such an important yet minor detail. Splinter never tells anyone about his insecurity, nor does anyone in the series talk about it amongst each other, so a moment like this can be a bit jarring when it's framed as Mikey calling out Splinter's opinion on his own appearance.

Though the intent of his comment was to simply call Splinter old, the underlying insult is there and Mikey regrets saying something like that to their father of all people.

Other than letting his frustrations get the better of him and unintentionally plucking at Splinter's insecurities, Mikey is greatly in tuned with the emotions of those around him and will usually pick up on any changes rather quickly. Take these two moments with, funnily enough, him and Splinter near the start of Serpent Hunt.

I previously posted the first clip as a funny little observation, but the scene is more intriguing than my jestful sentence made it out to be. Mikey's attention is split between hanging his goofy pieces of artwork on the wooden boards and listening to April as she announces how the restaurant is starting to look like a makeshift home. It's not until he turns around to joke with her about his drawings that he finally has Splinter in his sights, and his attention evidently begins to drift to Splinter as April is responding to his question (you can literally see his head following Splinter's movements while April is speaking to him😭). And just look at how taken aback he is by Splinter's melancholic expression being on full display:

While Splinter answers Mikey by stating that he's concerned for Casey, Leo and Raph because they've been gone for a while, it's pretty obvious that's not all he's bothered by, and him not being subtle about his troubled mind like usual had enough flags raising in Mikey's mind for him to hop up from his spot. Once the scene transitions to the second clip, Mikey lingers with Splinter in the front of the restaurant while April ventures to the back in search of Donnie to check on his progress with the retro-mutagen, as well as to see if the others made it back yet. Mikey and Splinter decide to follow April as soon as Donnie utters Karai's name, and Mikey is visibly bracing himself for another look of heartbreak on their father's visage:

Splinter moments aside, Mikey recognizes when something is up with his brothers and friends, as well as whether or not he should step in. Of course the prominent moments of him demonstrating his ability to calm Leatherhead and Raph down count among the times when he steps in, but the times when he chooses not to step in shouldn't be understated either.

Take the pre-intro scene in The Cosmic Ocean for example, when April breaks the silence and questions where Leo ran off to. We understand where Raph is coming from when he says that it can't be healthy for Leo to confide in a simulated version of Splinter since it could just make him miss their father more than ever, but Mikey suddenly pops from his laid back position off-screen and joins the conversation:

He's knows as well as Raph that speaking with a simulation of their father isn't exactly ideal, but he also knows that Leo is used to coming home to confide in Splinter for advice whenever he feels his confidence as a leader beginning to waver. The whole gang knows all of this, but once again, Mikey's the only one to verbalize it. Sometimes people need to hear something so obvious outloud to really understand or remember its importance, and Mikey seems to know that best.

I don't really need to mention how his emotional awareness extends far beyond simply knowing when someone is down, or when he is or isn't in a position to help them, but it makes for a decent epilogue to this analysis so-

Him being the least (read: least) temperamental of his brothers automatically puts him in the position of a mediator when there's tension in the group, and it's common knowledge that he'd often go out of his way to ease that tension in his own ways. He sometimes makes jokes, both corny and intelligent, just to get everyone's minds off of the heaviness of a situation, even if that moment of reprieve only lasts for a minute. He attempts to break up fights before they get too far, which sometimes doesn't work because they're a stubborn bunch of turtles (literally the entire first five minutes of New Girl in Town lol), but his efforts are commendable and genuine.

He's exceptionally conscious of changes in the atmosphere and a swing in someone's mood, which could go hand in hand with his sixth sense for weird Kraang stuff if you think about it. But all of this comes together to paint an undeniably clear image of Mikey having a great amount of emotional awareness, and just all around being one of the most emotionally intelligent characters of the series.

[thenyoumightaswellwrestleangels]

Was I supposed to be easy? (is this supposed to be love?)

damn your love, damn your lies - series masterlist here

pairing: roy harper x reader (gender neutral, no use of y/n)

length: 1.7k

genre: fluff, tiny tiny hint of angst

warnings: idk it's flirty and there's tension, there's allusion to a class divide / financial divide between the two of them, I think I cracked open roy's head and looked inside his brain with this one, whoops

a/n: guys guys guys this is the origin story this is how they met

"Excuse me, sir, would you mind showing me your ticket?"

"My…?" Roy realizes sort of immediately that he'd chosen a horrible hiding spot. Slipping in through an open door to get away from whoever was trailing him had seemed like a good idea at the time, but he hadn't paid enough attention to where he was stumbling into.

"Your ticket. This is a closed event."

"I don't - I -"

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave, sir," the security guard says pointedly, and when she reaches out to grab onto his arm, Roy feels something fizzing in his brain. 

But he's not Arsenal here, he thinks. A quick look down at his dark hoodie and tattered sneakers proves that. Here he's just a man, caught unawares and cornered like an animal for the second time that day.

"Oh, there you are," a sharp voice cuts through the din of Roy's mind, and when he blinks at the person standing in front of him he wonders, just briefly, if he's having some sort of episode. He wonders if maybe he's dead and angels really do exist. "You're late."

"No, I -"

"I'm so sorry," the security guard holds up her hands and takes a step back. "I hadn't realized he was with you. My apologies, I -"

"You were doing your job," you respond easily, waiving a manicured hand with glittering silver and crystal rings. "Just a bit too well, is all. No harm done."

Roy thinks idly, as the security guard slinks away, that he's not sure what someone like you is doing speaking to someone like him. You sway back on your feet a bit to look him up and down, tapping a nail thoughtfully against your lower lip as your bespoke, designer sleeve slips up your arm a bit, and Roy just stares.

"You're not here to steal any of the pieces, are you? You're doing an awful job of it."

"I… beg your pardon?" Roy says dully, but when you arch a brow at him he finally - finally has the wherewithal to look around. It's a gallery, he realizes, the walls dripping with million-dollar art and the floor swarming with people in tailored suits and glittering dresses.

"No, I was just… getting in from the rain," Roy continues. He doesn't mention who else was in the rain, of course. Can't even begin to explain his twisted double life and the target that it paints on his back. It's just the rain. He's just hiding from the rain.

"So it seems," you respond dryly, your eyes flickering to the wet spot on the floor from his rain-soaked clothes. "Champagne?"

"I don't know you," he blurts out, staring at the way a server with a tray of shimmering champagne flutes appears before you can even turn to ask for one. Roy wonders, sort of panicked, if you're someone important - if he's going to see a photo of you and someone like Bruce Wayne plastered across a headline somewhere in the morning. He wonders -

But then you're holding out your hand to him, giving him your name as you expertly balance two champagne flutes in the grip of your other hand. 

"I'm Roy," he responds finally, taking your hand in his, wincing internally as his calloused fingers meet your smooth skin. 

"Well, Roy… won't you walk with me? I haven't been through the whole gallery yet." He blinks at that, then, reeling and off balance in a way that people normally can't tip him, and he can't seem to stop himself from taking the champagne flute from your waiting hand.

"Why did you pretend to know me?" he asks in a rushed breath, stepping after you as you wind through the mass of patrons pointing and gawking at the showcase of art.

"Because you looked like you needed help," you respond simply, stopping in front of a massive, looming painting. "And because this was shaping up to be a rather boring night before you came in - what do you think of this?"

"I looked like I needed help?" is Roy's only response, and when you turn to blink at him, he feels a bit like a child in need of a shadow to hide in - a bit like he's lost and he needs someone's footsteps to follow. He's not sure when the last time someone helped him like that was. He's not sure why the whole thing makes him so woozy, either. "It's… modern."

"Not a fan of modern art?" you respond easily. "That's probably for the best. This one's already sold, anyway. Come on."

"Is that really why you helped me?" Roy asks as he trails after you, trying to ignore the stares he's getting from the other people surrounding you - the looks of confusion and bewilderment at the juxtaposition between the two of you. "Just - it's that easy? Just like that?"

"Does there need to be another reason?" you ask in response, halting in front of another painting and turning on your heel to look up at him. Something's narrowed in your gaze, Roy realizes, something sharp and focused, and he feels a bit like he's stepped into something new. Your posture's still tall and relaxed, your hand swirling your champagne delicately as you look at him with a soft, wide-eyed face that he knows he's supposed to trust.

But he's familiar, he remembers, with wolves in sheep's clothing - and he knows when he's being lied to.

"There doesn't need to be," he responds easily, and he finds that the champagne flute in his own hand sits there a bit more comfortably. "But there is, I think."

"Clever one, aren't you?" Your grin is sharp as you look at him before turning to face the art once more. "Having someone thrown out on opening night is the sort of headline that I'm not too fond of. I don't like public displays like that. I don't want eyes drawn to the wrong sort of thing."

"What are you, the curator?" Roy quips back, and he shifts on his feet as he feels the playing field even out just a bit more. "Am I the wrong sort of thing?"

"No, you're not. I wouldn't want anyone hauled out like that."

"You didn't answer my first question."

"You didn't drink your champagne," you retort easily, still staring up at the painting. The spotlight on it bounces shadows onto your face and Roy finds himself looking at you more than anything around him that has a goldleaf plaque attached to it. 

"This one's better," he says quietly, watching as you arch a brow in interest.

"Oh, is it?"

"Yes," he says easily, and he watches your grip tighten on your champagne flute ever so slightly. "This one actually makes you feel something."

"Not all art has to make you feel something," you point out in response. "Sometimes it's just about being good enough to look at." Roy can't help but frown at that, looking away from you finally to follow your gaze toward the painting.

"I don't think so," he says slowly. "I think there's a bit more to it all than that."

"That's why you're not invited to these things," you respond icily, and he's sure that his laugh is too loud and too brash for a place like this. But you don't flinch at it, don't glare or shush him. You just cock your head to the side and look up at him like he's something new, like he's dazzling in some sort of way that makes you want to hear the sound again. 

"You should have this one, then," you say eventually, blinking back whatever emotions have begun to crawl up your throat. Roy shoots you a smile that has you sniffing indignantly and turning to look back at the painting. He leans forward and squints at the price on the plaque rather dramatically.

"Yea… maybe next time," he says good-naturedly, but you just huff out a breath.

"Consider it a gift - from the artist," you push. He lets you, just a bit.

"There are no artist names, by the way. What's the point of selling overpriced art if you're not even gloating about it? You should get someone to fix that."

"I'm not the curator," you respond politely.

"Uh huh," Roy says in response, rocking back on his heels.

"And everyone here knows my name, anyway. There's no need for me to plaster it all over the walls." He freezes at that, watching as you hold your empty champagne flute out and a server with a tray appears before he can even blink. "I prefer not to gloat about it, if I'm honest."

"This… is your art?" Roy says dumbly.

"It is," you confirm easily, tilting your chin up a bit like you've won some sort of game.

"You're… good."

"I thought you didn't like modern art?"

"Opinions change," he says easily, taking a step toward you. "People can be persuaded."

"Sure," you respond as you step back. "If you're easy." When Roy grins at your words you match him with a frown.

"Easy? No. Maybe you just need a good, hard -"

"I'll have security kick you out -"

"Challenge… is what I was going to say," Roy holds up his hands in surrender, a huff of breath leaving him as his near-empty champagne flute is plucked out of his grip by a passing server. Your responding giggle, he finds, is enough to make it all seem a little easier.

"I've had enough challenges," you say lowly. "I'm not sure I'm interested in another."

"Then let me be easy," he offers - like it's nothing, like it's simple.

"Oh, but where's the fun in that?"

"Ok," he laughs. "Will you show me the rest of the gallery, at least? Maybe it'll give you enough time to decide what you want."

"I know what I want," you quip back. "But I can't tell you everything. That would be it too -"

"Easy?"

"Yes…" you sigh, tilting your head back to look up at him and narrow your eyes. "We wouldn't want this to be easy, would we?"

[that-student-that-has-homework]

I'm summoning a bunch of you to witness what my brain dreamed up after reading a fanfic

One Piece Spoilers: Marineford! Don't spoil it for yourselves my dears, come back later!

Imagine if Roger had somehow managed to cure himself, and as a result Rouge had survived and rather than completely disband the Roger pirates kept on existing.

I feel like that would change a decent amount of what happened, particularly in relation to Wano...but not gonna talk too much about that.

Either way, Ace would be raised in the midst of that chaos and love right? I wonder if he'd ever be able to come across Luffy during his younger years...though the way I see it, Luffy might just sneak aboard the Oro Jackson after hearing all sorts of things from Shanks and now sure he's Garp's brat, but Roger's still adopted him. Kids don't bear the sins of their parents and all that y'know.

Roger might have thought that Luffy was Shanks' accidental kid at first. Shanks had to endure Rayleigh's agreement like he could absolutely see it.

Luffy doesn't know who his dad is at that point, so he probably innocently asks Shanks if he's gramps' son.

Which of course leads to who's gramps?

Garp?

Monkey D. Garp.

Yeah.

Then we can have the Ace warming up to Luffy thing all over again. I feel like Roger and Rouge both are over the moon at how protective and responsible their precious son is. I think the one time Roger has any kinda complaints is when Ace swiped the good sake to do the brotherhood toast as a kid. I feel like after the initial: you brat! Roger probably chilled out, even condoning the reasons.

Rayleigh was like: oi. This doting dumbass.

Anywho when Luffy and Ace go missing on an island with tons of wild animals and all that, the Roger pirates are not all that panicked. They were at first: OH NO LUFFY'S MISSING! Wait Ace is also missing.

"Oh they're gonna be fine."

"Roger...you doting dumbass, we still gotta find them, they're children."

"Yeah but Ace is my child...and that Luffy has to have something from his grandad."

"Dear, we still need to find our children."

"Of course, just leave it to me!"

They did find them, feasting on some massive animal Ace had taken out protecting Luffy. Ace just casually waves at them with his cheeks full of food.

Rayleigh is 11/10 the super cool uncle. Oden is 12/10 the weird but also super cool uncle. They haven't met Newgate yet...due to a weird string of coincidences, they don't until they're older. He loves them, just like canon.

Oh yeah, and Ace is like the most unintentionally well-kept secret out there. Like any up and coming teen, he also wants to prove himself and walk out of the shadow of his father's legacy. But now it's more about proving himself and less about not being associated with Roger. Nah those two are father-and-son and hilarious. Roger is doting in the weirdest way possible, and Ace actually respects his dad a whole lot - I think he gets pissed at all the false claims and gets into fights over them dissing his dad, but won't ever admit that's why he got into the fights.

(Rayleigh knows though, that man had a hunch after noticing a patter, then caught him red-handed and he wields it over Ace's head)

(Rouge also knows, she also noticed a pattern and after talking to Ace he fessed up to her. He's very weak to his mother, and she seemed so happy and proud of him, she told him his secret was safe with her)

(Roger doesn't know, hasn't got a clue, he just claps him on the back after finding out he won. That's his boy!)

(Luffy almost accidentally gave him away once, Ace shoved his serving of meat into his mouth and it shut him up)

Anyway determined to prove himself, especially given the crew still kinda babies him...kinda...he's a teen, he's sensitive to the way they don't seem to treat him like a man (TM) yet. Ace sets out on his own, gets his own crew does the whole Spades thing again - and all under the name Portgas D. Ace. Roger was INCONSOLABLE when he read that in the papers.

See when Ace first vanished with nothing more than a note (he bid Rouge a proper farewell that's his mother, Luffy also got to say a proper goodbye, that's his baby brother) Roger was all like: baby bird's gotta leave the nest and all that. He was the chillest guy about it, very supporting. But seeing that he isn't Gol D. Ace? Absolutely killer. Worse than getting clobbered by Newgate.

"At least it's Fire Fist Ace on the wanted posters," Rayleigh's chill about it, "the little brat got himself a hell of a first bounty."

Rouge on the other hand is very amused by the change in name. She isn't as happy that her son is a wanted man though. She blames Roger's influence. The man is in shambles, despite her teasing undertones - he can't hear them, not after he saw Portgas D. and not Gol D.

Thankfully, Rayleigh, ever the voice of reason: "well he can't use your last name when he's trying to prove himself, that'd be cheating."

Roger is still sulking a bit.

It was nothing compared to when he hears that Newgate, NEWGATE of all people has picked his son up. And he becomes aware of that AFTER Luffy has also embarked on his own amazing adventure.

Imagine the Oro Jackson pulling up near the Moby Dick because Roger has a bone to pick with both his kid and his friend/rival. The navy was panicking over the meeting...thinking something's up.

After being initially confused about Roger's seeming annoyance with him and the odd fit he's throwing, Whitebeard puts it all together when he hears someone stomping across the deck and sees Ace almost going off the railing, eyes bulging out of his skull at the sight of his doting dad.

of course, Whitebeard's got absolutely no problem being like: "do you have business with my son?"

"your son?"

Roger vs Whitebeard on the seas is a sight to see. The fight isn't as long as usual and at the end when they're all celebrating on one ship or another it's just a matter of:

"Oh he was a murderous lil' brat to begin with, came after my head, so I clobbered him and made him my son, didn't know he was yours, you're nothing alike."

"What do you mean we're nothing alike?" Roger is offended.

When Roger asks Ace why the heck he stayed, Ace casually says he enjoyed the company of the crew, at which point Marco points out he was made into second division commander very very quickly and so now the running theory (which is pretty much the truth) he earned the acknowledgement he wanted and so he felt like staying.

edit: the people I’m summoning are

@captainportgasdace @alllsunday @silentgravesdontexist @throwmethroughawindow

[axailslink]

You must think me a fool

Dark!Shuri Udaku x Princess!Warrior FEM reader

Synopsis: Her people fear her she slaughtered a community just to save them but has she also lost her humanity? Can she force the image of a domesticated lifestyle with you who wants nothing to do with her? To do with a murderer?

"Marry? what reason do I need to marry?" Shuri doesn't take her eyes off of her past projects trying to find some sort of flaw something to update so that she doesn't let herself get completely drowned in her royal affairs. "They fear you Shuri. Do you not care?" Shuri rolls one of her kimoyo beads around in the palm of her hand "of course I care Okoye but I can't parade as if I am not upset my mother-" "your mother would want you to continue your life not sulk and-" "-you are not dora milaje anymore why do you insist on giving me guidance?" Okoye is silenced in this moment because she is right she's not Dora milaje "I am family that's why I persist but please keep acting the way you do and push the only family away you have left. To be the smartest woman I know you surely make the most idiotic decisions when you're upset. Umntwana (a child.)"

~

Shuri has a point to prove so here she sits in the middle of common folks equivalent to a living room but nothing in comparison four pillars on each corner of the room no doors but instead large arched paths that lead you to the next room or a hallway that leads to the next room. Candles light the room instead of lights so it's dimly lit not a lot but enough to see whoever resides in said room. You're nowhere in sight because this meeting as your mother said is "none of your concern" even though you're sure when you hear the truths behind it you'll disagree.

"You want my daughters hand in marriage?" The older lady sitting across from Shuri is astonished because what in the mother of above has possessed Shuri to ask for such a thing? "I don't understand you've disappeared from her life and now you want her hand?" "I'm begging for your daughter's hand I need to fool my people and she is one of the few women I've ever been interested in as a friend or as a potential queen." Shock reads the woman's face and the candles only deepen the creases on her face as she makes a contorted facial expression as she forces her next words "as much as I am willing to do so I don't think she's as willing as I." Shuri keeps her face straight unsure why a friend would not be willing to help her in such a time of need "could I speak to her?" The hesitation reaches the woman's voice before it even spills from her lips "she's... She's sparing maybe another time princess?" Shuri cocks her head at being called the wrong title but it's only momentarily "queen my title is "queen" it hasn't been "princess" in a very long time and I wish to speak with her." Before the conversation can continue and Shuri is given more time to disrespect your mother she goes to say her final piece to her "your people are dying from sickness, your animals too, your greenery can't be taken care of if the people who care for them can barely stand. My people are healthy and strong I wouldn't be opposed to lending you a hand if you lend me her hand." Your mother would never make a decision like this without your knowledge and Shuri knows it but it wouldn't hurt to tip the scale a bit in her favor before she spoke to you.

Shuri doesn't give her a chance to give a response before she wanders out of the dimly lit space into the dark hall feeling her bare feet on the rocks as she approaches the sparring room. She watches for a while as you seem to annihilate some kid with her own weapon when caught off guard you kick the tiny dagger out of the little girl's hand and Shuri is quick to grab it. "You must think yourself a worthy opponent Shuri" Shuri let's her eyes scan you and the white thin cloth that she can't believe you would call a dress "no hugs?" You smile "now why would I hug a murderer?"

"Using the common words I thought the term was a "warrior" I guess you no longer think me a friend?" You gently sign to the child to leave you both be and she does running off on the tips of her toes. "You slaughtered a community Shuri I don't think I can forgive you for that" Shuri nods as approaches you but you still your stance barely noticing the cuts lined upon your arms leaking blood onto the granite floor "it was my people or theirs I was sure you of all people would understand."

"We aged together but I would never murder you know this... You killed. Since when have we done that?" You both circle each other wondering who will pounce first? It could be you with your perfect stance ready to throw Shuri off if she does or it could be Shuri ready to attack if you so far as think to jump. "I was protecting my people!" You shake your head "you were looking for a reason to mask your revenge!" Shuri sighs the breath being the moment of letting her guard down that you just seemed to be waiting for because you grab Shuri by her neck and turn her so quickly she can't get a hold of you. Crouching behind you bring her down with you your knee pressed firmly into her back uncomfortably behind her spinal cord as the other hand stays firmly on her neck "What brings the murderer to my palace?" Shuri gasps carefully her Adams apple bobs beneath the feel of your rough fingers.

"Marry me" you grip loosens just for a moment at the shock of her words and she takes advantage sliding the dagger up your leg and breaking herself free "awukwazi ukuba serious (you can't be serious)" Shuri nods. "I simply need a favor and I shall give you one in return." You shake your head as you hold your leg "no whatever it is no. Absolutely not."

"Your people are dying"

"No"

"Yes"

"Your people are sick"

"No"

"Yes"

"Your people are vegetarian yet I see no greenery what are they eating?"

"Get out." Shuri sighs "let me help" "I don't want your help I don't even know who you are" "I am your friend" Shuri begs you with her eyes but you don't want to hear any words coming from her lips. "Marry me put on a facade and I will feed your people so well they'll be fat. I will help grow the greenery and get rid of the sickness that has consumed you all just fake this one thing for me. Don't be selfish." You sigh and stand up letting the blood drip down your leg "you move different Shuri Udaku..." Shuri says nothing now letting you get your turn to speak "it's not elegant it's not queenly you move like you care for nothing but yourself I'm sure that's true."

"I care about you..."

"You must think me a fool."

~

Within a few hours you're with Shuri on her way back to the kingdom you don't put up a fight after the conversation earlier. The faster you do this the faster your people get better it's sick of Shuri to cut a proposition like this really but it comes to surprise to you that she'd do something so evil. You're right she does move differently. She moves like a queen who doesn't deserve have her throne.

A/n: this took a big turn not even going to lie this was supposed to be some enemies to lovers y'all wasn't even supposed to know each other but once again I took a plot and ran with it. Also very unedited I have some military related stuff just wanted to give y'all something because it's been a very long time and I do apologize for that.

[detectivemiku]

in regards to his secret identity, Shinichi has two safe options:

1. tell Ran (and others) the truth

2. pretend Kudou Shinichi is dead

either one of these would help to ensure the black org doesn't know he survived. however, instead he's kind of in this limbo between the two.

Haibara has made it clear he HAS to keep his identity a secret; she won't budge on that. she's made it so that Shinichi associates telling Ran or anyone else the truth with immediate danger/death, making him truly believe it isn't an option. (I mean the moment he decides to tell Ran the truth she literally points a gun at his head)

this would mean it would make the most sense to fully lean into him having died, however Shinichi REFUSES. he still holds onto the hope and belief that once this is all over, he'll be able to return back to his life and everything will be normal again. he can't stand any possibility of not returning to his life, which means he won't let himself be dead, even temporarily. no matter what happens, if word gets out that Shinichi died, nothing will go back to the way it was. people tend to not take very well to the whole "faking your death" thing, and even if he returns and explains the situation, Megure and the other officers aren't going to want him to be a part of investigations anymore, as it's proved to be way too dangerous for him. if people think that Shinichi died, there is zero hope for him getting his life back completely, and that hope is what is motivating him to move forward.

Haibara and Shinichi are at this sort of standstill on the issue, and this means a LOT more problems and danger arise for them. for example, Ran and others don't know to keep quiet about Shinichi being alive, and it is very easy for that info to get in the wrong hands. also, this is actively harming his relationship with Ran, as he is intentionally keeping her out of the loop and tricking her. obviously if he tells her the truth then there aren't any problems there, and if he lets her believe he's dead, even if she DOES piece together Conan is Shinichi, she'll at least understand the reasoning for him keeping it secret. but because of the choices both Shinichi and Haibara have made about their secret, Shinichi is forced into possibly the worst choice when it comes to Ran.

Shinichi isn't maliciously keeping things from Ran, and he's also not just being dense about the situation, either. if he sat and thought about it, he would come to the conclusion it's best to tell Ran the truth (and he DOES think reach that conclusion, multiple times!!!) but Haibara (and others) stop him every time. she doesn't let him view that as a safe option, insisting that will get Ran killed. he never gets the chance to think rationally about it.

from Shinichi's perspective, the context is: if Ran finds out the truth, she's dead, no question about it. and letting his teenage self be thought of as dead is NOT an option. with this in mind, the actions he takes are truly what he thinks are best and will protect both Ran and his old life.

[lilisouless]

Nikolai: this should not be a discussion! Mermaids are hotter than vampires!

Genya: mermaids smell like fish! vampires are hotter!

David: sorry but mermaids are half fish, vampires barely have animalistic features despite being inspired by bat. Therefore, vampires are more palpable

Tamar: who cares about palpable? mermaids are women with no tops and right there in the sea, what else can you ask?

Nadia: exactly! they are all women and instead of getting on each other they waste their time on singing to men! mermairds are lame! vampires just go for what they want

Tolya: also the most known piece of a queercoded literature mermaid is about wanting men, and the most known queer themed work or literature about vampires is about wanting women so maybe you should think better on your team

Tamar: are you two joining against me?

(Nadia & Tolya high five)

Zoya: you are all insane. It´s obviously mermaids. Vampires can´t look at their reflexion, their looks must be a mess , all bad placed make up or awful shaving. While with a mermaid well, you never have to worry about a mermaid not bathing.

Adrik: you know soap it´s important right? Besides if you date a vampire they´ll leave you alone at day, while if you date a mermaid you will have to hear her sing every single time

Leoni: I am team mermaid too, i do like the idea of singing, and vampires are too cold

Adrik: mermaids-are-STICKY!

Mal: i am pretty much obligued to say vampires because by this point if i find a mermaid i may as well be related

Alina: i am team vampire because they can't touch the sun, which means that i am more likely to kill a vampire than for one to kill me, so i can make them my personal bitch.

Kaz: i would respect that if it weren't that vampires need permission to come into a place. That´s so lame, lame is not hot.

Matthias: well excuse them for being polite

Inej: sea monsters will always be better than city monsters. Also vampires can´t eat garlic, i don't want someone that picky with food, thats even worse than being scared of pepper. Mermaids want anything, they just eat it raw, my mother said always marry someone with a strong stomach

Matthias: i actually don't want to take sides but i´ll say vampires because there will be something very wrong with me if i agree with those two

Inej: is it because vampires have religious imagery?

Matthias: what?! no! i didn't-

Kaz & Inej shake their head in false disapproval

Kaz: so innapropiate Helvar

Matthias: AAAAHH!

Hanne: i´ll vote for mermaids, vampires are stuck up

Kuwei: i´ll vote for vampires...no diss on mermaids, i just think they are hotter

Nina: I DID NOT CHOOSE BETWEEN GENDERS SO I REFUSE TO CHOOSE!

Jesper: it´s not about that-

Nina: I REFUSE!

Jesper: alright, i am team vampires, they have MONEY how hasn't that been a valid argument for anyone here? Wylan, back me up

Wylan: well i don't find either hot, it´s either monsters that drown you or a bloodsucking aristocrat

Jesper: ...fair, i was going to bite you to prove the point but now i don't-

Wylan: however mermaids sing and hynotize you before the drowning and mutilation so i guess you are sort of unconsious, you don't notice your death , with a vampire it´s painfull, slow and unconfortable. Also, imagine going to a blind date with someone saying "i´ll suck out the life out of you" and they were talking about your blood all along. So not only you are dying, it´s also a bummer!

[anxiousapplepie]

Going by your prior first paragraph (thanks for answering), it implies there could be Necroknights made of different Rose colours but it's not done because Black is seen as the best choice for such a process. (Also, vampire kangaroo?? That is a weird visual.) But anyway, onto something different.

My question is about the cast, and more specifically, their motives. We already know bits and pieces about why they're there (mostly) and are odd enough for Mort's team. But like, why do some of them want to be knights in the first place? We know Jim was sort of forced into it and Lapis chose to put herself there (like an idiot, even with good intentions). But what of the rest and their reasons? Were they pressured by their society / family? A personal choice? Conscription? The reasons probably differ for each person, honestly.

But mostly, I am very curious about Morgan's motive to break tradition and become a White Rose Knight despite such a thing not happening for centuries. I presume he may want to prove something? That would be my guess, to an extent. Have a good rest of your day! ☆

HahaHA I should've expected this question, but it still gave me a small startle and I'm glad you brought it up! Sure, I'm gonna be saving most of the nitty-gritty details for the official RK comic, but I think it is very fair to share why some of the others became knights... or why they are trying to become knights despite the expectations of society >:3 For Bristly, it's a simple combination of conscription and spite. He's riding out the drills and training to prove a point. George's reasoning is much more personal and infinitely more petty. If he can't prove he's got strength by Dragon standards, he'll become strong by Rose standards instead! Barbara become a knight of her own free-will (she thinks it'll make her look cool XD) Tara wants to become a Knight so bad it's not even funny. What a shame her family have decided to bench her "for her own safety" since they discovered she was sick with rot. Rodgeric has also been blocked from becoming a knight, but that doesn't stop him from trying to follow their dreams of proving they are not the delicate flower everyone believes him to be

And Morgan? *inhale* YEAH, it's mostly an attempt to break the stereotypes White's have been suffering for way too long. amongst other reasons And fortunately for him, he's living in a time where the crown Rose prince is publicly unashamed of being White, and the Rose Queen has been making a lot of effort to get White Roses "more included" in all areas of society. Honestly tho, if Morgan had been any color except white? I don't think he would've wanted to become a knight. Not his speed, not his style, not his cup of tea in any flavor. But hey, you do what you can to gain some control over your own life, right?

[freeluigihesbae]

𝓻𝓮𝓷𝓮𝓰𝓪𝓭𝓮 - 𝓹𝓪𝓻𝓽 1

summary: you and luigi are competing to kill the same target and that leads to some tension that has to be fought against

𝗌𝗈𝗇𝗀 𝗂𝗇𝗌𝗉𝗈: 𝗋𝖾𝗇𝖾𝗀𝖺𝖽𝖾 𝖻𝗒 𝖺𝖺𝗋𝗒𝖺𝗇 𝗌𝗁𝖺𝗁

𝗍𝗐: 𝗂𝗆𝗉𝗅𝗂𝖾𝖽 𝗌𝗆𝗎𝗍 '𝗇 𝗏𝗂𝗈𝗅𝖾𝗇𝖼𝖾

~

"Keep your hands right there." You stare into Luigi's eyes, a threat threaded through the lasers you were glaring into him, but neither of you could actually see.

Your head is tilted, your eyes straining to look at him as he mimics your posture, walking in a circle.

It's been going for a minute or two now, you both on opposite sides of each other ignoring the man tied up in the chair in the middle. Gunshots in his legs have gone unnoticed, having been littered by you both as you now fight to assert dominance through death.

Whoever puts the bullet where it matters wins.

Luigi smirks, giving into your threat and taking his hands away from his gun holster before putting them up and cocking his head to the side.

"What's my little baby gonna do if I don't let her win? Hm?" His tone is infuriatingly smug as he gets exactly what he wants, watching you become even angrier.

In rage, you send another gunshot into the man's leg, but neither of you pay attention to how he's keeling over himself, waking up only to feel the pain of a fresh new wound. Luigi watches the way you hand grips the gun, breathing in and out thinking about the precision and dedication to your craft and breaking life down to pieces.

"You like that Luigi? You like it when I hurt people?" You smile tauntingly, stalking him in the same circle that he stalks you in, seeing how his resolve falters. "You're too scared to answer my question so you respond with another one?" Luigi flexes his jaw before wearing his dominant mask again, never letting go of the thrill of banter.

"I thought men were braver than women. Care to prove it?" You quip and Luigi runs his hands through his hair. "Keep talking like a fuckin' smartass and-" he's half-muttering and speaking out loud, frustration building up in his system as he suppresses the thoughts coming to his mind.

The ones that no, aren't about winning and killing the guy bleeding to death in front of you both, but about using his hands to win you over and win over you physically.

To make you weak and drive you to the edge of a pleasure so good, it feels like a death you'd want.

"Or else what, Mangione?" You smirk, stopping as you turn to look at his frame which has now frozen to look at you. He rolls his head back and around to stretch before he draws his gun out, but you're quicker by drawing it too.

He's pointing it at you while you have it pointed at the bleeding body.

"I could kill you right fucking now and all you care about is winning." Luigi gnaws his teeth, straining the words out as you smirk more, partially unbeknownst to his desires.

"Of course I do. I'll never let you win Mangione. Not now, not ever." You respond with equal vigor, watching how his ego is getting bruised or so you think. He licks his lips, making them wet before keeping the gun on you but folding his hand inwards as he gets closer. You watch, your heart rate rising as you manage to keep a straight face, thinking this is just a show.

"Do you ever think about how I already won?" He smiles while pressing the gun onto your breast-bone and you gasp, tightening the grasp on your own gun, fingers shaking as the move is sudden for you.

You fight your own moral compass, whose arrow is flailing itself in all sorts of direction, trying to come to terms with the fact that the each second he gets and stays so close, you want him even more. You like riling him up but you never knew you wanted him to snap, the way he's about to right now.

"I'm not here for games." You try to speak some sense into him, trying to ignore the fact that you want this as much, if not more, than he does. You're not even sure if he wants to fuck you, but you're 99% sure and that's enough to drive the words spilling out of your mouth.

He presses the gun harder and you tip your head down in pain, letting yourself fall back onto a table behind you.

"I asked a fucking question. Do you ever think about how I already won, Maria?" Maria. He rarely said you name but when he did, it sounded like it was meant to be inside that pretty mouth.

And come out of it too.

He watches how your eyes widen a little more when he says your name.

You drop your gun, taking in tiny breaths as you sit yourself up on the table like he asked you. In truth, yes, silently he was. He was when he pressed the gun into your chest and increased the pressure even though he knew the table was cutting into your thighs.

He wasn't asking. He was demanding.

"Good girl." He whispers loud enough for you both to hear and you don't dare to look into his eyes before running the gun up your neck and finally at your chin. Luigi applies enough pressure at the right angle to press you onto your back, watching you arch.

"Maria," He starts his sentence after your back is fully settled onto the table, hair sprawled in every direction with your legs straining from the awkward position. He laughs at your wide eyes staring straight ahead of you but avoiding his contact.

You can see from his peripheral vision how his eyes rake over your entire body, savoring the way your curves dip and rise perfectly. He's looking at an art.

Not a piece of art. An art. The art was you being you. The art was you existing.

He smirks when he watches your lower back and hips tremble, trying to keep themselves afloat as your back threatens to arch and slip off of the table.

His hands comes swooping around your calves as he lifts you with ease and folds your knees, placing your feet on the table and making your body move upwards. The action pushes your head back, neck exposed in his sudden decision.

You should be putting your neck back down and saving yourself the pain, but you don't. Something about the way he can see you, feel you, and control you to want to do this for him makes you aroused. You want to tease him in the very little power you have.

"I told you what it is, but you chose to stay." He bends down and whispers into your ear, listening to the whimpers you let out as you struggle to keep your neck arched. Your eyes close in a feeling of euphoria slowly building. "You chose this pain." He bring his gun back and presses the trigger to your chest. You scream and let your head shoot up but he's laughing.

His gun is empty.

You pant, reeling from how he might've killed you but instead of making you fear him, it makes the arousal sear through your body.

"Do you know why you chose this, Maria? Why you're letting me fuck you up?" Luigi nearly spits in your face, triggering the humiliation he badly needed to see you. You blink and bite your lip, still taking in deep breaths.

"'Cause you don't know me, you just know my name. And the thrill of my unknown makes you more of a whore than you ever thought you'd be." He speaks every word of a truth that seems to echo in your ears and who knew? The opulent intelligence and string of sick philosophy makes you moan.

He places the gun in your hands before gripping your wrist and lifting your arm up to point it at the man in the chair, who is wheezing. You look back at him, eyes glossy from pleasure as you question him.

"I thought you wanted this Luigi." You speak with a weak voice, trying to give him the chance. Instead, his other arm comes down before squeezing your neck enough to choke, but still listen to his words.

"You're right. I wanted this." A finger taps on the side of your neck which is only squeezed tighter and your back comes up, hitting the side of his body as you squirm.

"But I can't let anyone watch me while I claim it. Not even a dying man." Your finger tightens around the trigger as his grip around your wrist tightens and you squeeze out a breath.

"You pull that trigger and I will fuck you so hard I'll make sure I give you a taste of death at least this once before you die in my arms." He hovers over your face, staring as your eyes flutter but you turn your head to the side, determined to take what you deserve.

"I'll never let you go with once, M-Mangione." You stutter out, eager to tease him even in this position. He lets out a laugh before coming down to kiss your inner forearm.

"You wish is my command while my desire is a request for which I know your answer is a yes." He chuckles before his hands loosen around your neck.

"Maria, pull the fucking trigger before I put a bullet in your head." He whispers into your ear and you bite your lips before turning to meet his head, slightly moving your arm to take the shot. You let his tongue dive past your lips before the trigger clicks once again.

A gunshot resounds and neither of you turn to check because your prize is his lips and body.

And now, you are being rewarded.

~

@officialdilfenthusiast ur a slut and ur mine <3

taglist: @madkohi @poohkie90 @chariytz @nosebeers

[genericpuff]

To add to the fashion post: According to Rachel the banana dress is supposed to be based, in part, off Trixie Mattel, which is so - What? For anyone who doesn't know, Trixie Mattel is a drag queen, and drag is a performance where gender is hyper-emphasized and stylized, especially towards femininity when it comes to drag queens. Trixie as an artist specifically goes hyper-feminine through the lens of 1960s aesthetics with direct inspiration from Dolly Parton, bands like The Go-Go's and The B-52's, and especially vintage Barbie. You can pick any random episode of UNHhhh or performance footage of Trixie's and always find a direct link to her inspirations in how she presents herself. It's a carefully and personally crafted image and style that makes Trixie stand-out and makes her memorable. And to no one's surprise, a lot of what makes a drag queen is also akin to working a fashion show: Many of their outfits, wigs, and makeup styles are pieces of art, not to be used for every day use.

Persephone, meanwhile, is clearly also supposed to be very feminine and Rachel wants to take inspiration from someone like Trixie to dress her up, but it's obvious that Rachel doesn't get why someone like Trixie is so memorable and why her exaggerated fashion works for her and not everyone else. Everything Trixie does, down to her makeup to the music she makes, shines with who SHE is as a person and performer. If you took Dolly Parton or Barbie out of the equation, then Trixie isn't Trixie. Persephone, in comparison, does not have anything to her that actually makes her every changing fashion choices make sense, she's just a mannequin who is at the whims of a constantly bored Rachel. Why does she wear a sparkly dress in the final battle? It's not because we know it's her personal style or it matches her personality, but because Rachel wanted to draw that. Why does Persephone randomly wear vintage outfits? Not because she's "old-fashioned" or has a stated interest in vintage fashion, but because Rachel wanted to draw that. Why does she wear the wedding dress that she does? Not because she chose it, but because Hera (so really, Rachel) told her to. And the examples go on and on.

To tie it back to the main point, the reason someone like Trixie can rock a huge beehive hairstyle, a goofy banana purse, and a feather dress and make it work is because we know who she is as a person and that those choices reflect herself and her interests. The reason Persephone can't is because we don't know about her actual thoughts, hobbies, or interests. These do not reflect the character, they reflect whatever Rachel saw on her Pinterest board that week.

God, it's wild to me that Rachel can reference literal drag queens but then straightwash just about every canonically queer character in the comic. Even Eros feels chronically heterocis despite being confirmed gay in LO.

Like... Persephone, a chronically heterocis character, trying to be Trixie Mattel feels like some sort of hate crime. I can't prove it, but it's setting off so many alarm bells knowing how much Rachel has appropriated and misrepresented throughout LO (・_・;)

[silverview]

⚠️ stage/fright notes + audio below the cut ⚠️ spoilers obviously ⚠️

do not look if you have any intention of seeing the show. this is for those who are not going to see it (or if you've already seen it & want to compare notes). i'm only sharing this because the run is sold out.

if you don't want full spoilers but just want to know about something specific (like a trigger warning etc) feel free to ask :)

first off, you can listen to my full recordings here [edit 20-01-2025: removed the link]. all i've done to these is snipped out some audience chat. they're not great quality but i think you can hear everything alright. if you want clarification on what was happening at any point, just let me know & i'll try to remember!

this ⬇ is just an overview with some personal highlights, so i'm sorry for everything i've missed out or gotten wrong.

i'm mostly refraining from commentary or analysis here, but needless to say i am shrieking and writhing on the ground about it.

the first act is a medley of bits & pieces:

it opens with a sketch set in the audience at a production of hamlet. a man (toby manley) sits down alone & fondly places a woman's scarf on the empty seat next to him. three disruptive audience members sit down near him, including one who describes the play aloud:

[edit 20-01-2025: removed the audio]

one of them's rather pudgy... the other one looks like a homosexual 👁👁

anyway, toby gets up and leaves, & reece takes his place. reece proceeds to murder the three disruptive audience members, then addresses the real audience with a polite request not to misbehave during the show.

from the audio you can't appreciate the way reece looks when he's about to finish off his last victim – towering over her, weapon in hand, while she's slumped down and staring up at him in terror, yay

the theme tune is performed live by two fantastically intense women with violins, up in the boxes, staring at each other throughout.

next, steve & reece address the audience as themselves. they explain that the theatre is supposed to be haunted by a ghost called bloody belle. reece believes in ghosts, steve doesn't, and proves it by having the crowd shout "bloody belle" three times to "summon" her

[edit 20-01-2025: removed the audio]

then bcdr is performed more or less as it appeared on tv. on "does it not tickle," len – passing behind tommy – goes for the arse instead of the arms. :|

part way through, tommy discovers a new sketch among len's things, "the kidnapping sketch" –

we see this performed sort-of by len and tommy, using their own names, (working through their own issues,) only in costume as the characters from a quiet night in. (complete with rachmaninoff.) in this segment steve (or rather len) speaks and acts like barry baggs from tlog.

instead of stealing a painting, the quiet night in guys are on a kidnapping job. they kidnap the wrong person, & we're given to understand this will be different celebrity guests depending on the night. tonight it was jim howick!

[edit 20-01-2025: removed the audio]

they make a bunch of gags about jim's work. reece's (or rather tommy's) character accidentally shoots and kills him.

then we get the end of bcdr but WITHOUT tears of laughter. (crucially.) bloody belle appears onstage & screams. end of the first act!

the second act is mostly one long piece, essentially a brand new episode about actors rehearsing a horror play.

in the horror play, reece plays an inmate at an asylum, who performs a comedy song and then gets dragged back to his cell. the song didn't record very well i'm afraid but his deranged laughter is good:

[edit 20-01-2025: removed the audio]

steve (having spent the first act in low status town) gets to play a fantastic hammy sadistic brain surgeon and rapist :) he has reece's character brought back in and strapped to a chair (obviously). then he hypnotises him and forces him to mutilate himself. it's great. normal length clip for normal reasons

[edit 20-01-2025: removed the audio]

then we spend time with the actor characters who are performing the horror play. on this level of reality, reece's character is conspiring to scare an actress away from the production using the bloody belle legend. in this section there are some fun references to the 9th circle tv show :)

at one point in this section, steve's demeanour shifts dramatically. he emotionally talks about actors seeing ghosts of loved ones onstage. he walks over and hugs reece, then exits.

reece's character's scheme is successful, but he belittles & sexually harasses his co-conspirator, who snaps his neck. fin.

when the curtain rises, reece's "corpse" has been replaced by toby manley, who gets up and joins the rest of the cast in the bows. steve addresses the audience about reece's recent death, and explains why he chose to go ahead with the play, with toby playing reece's part. he admits that during the performance, he was seeing reece, not toby.

[edit 20-01-2025: removed the audio]

this is the bit where you're gonna think i'm making it up. steve is hit on the head and killed by a falling light.

he wakes up to see reece in a beautiful white tailcoat, offering him coffee, welcoming him to the afterlife, and gloating about how ghosts are real. they bicker gently, but confess to having missed each other, and agree to haunt the theatre together. "every ghost story is really just a love story." [extremely long pause that must be heard to be believed]

[edit 20-01-2025: removed the audio]

reece points out the bcdr performance was incomplete; steve says he couldn't bear to do the song without reece. steve has a costume change to match reece (plus white top hats) so they look like they're getting married, and they perform a big heavenly afterlife version of tears of laughter with the whole cast. FIN FOR REAL. FOR REAL. IT'S REAL.

[edit 20-01-2025: removed the audio]

very VERY brief & incomplete thoughts:

len very clearly putting his real feelings about tommy into the kidnapping sketch. what that implies about reece & steve. screeching and howling

i don't think it's really implied that ghost!reece is responsible for steve's death, but it's a possibility we can't discount. "we're both here now, and that's the main thing." that's true love. maureen & david style

tumblr user bluvlet said something like "grief in this show is like the hare or the number 9." i have a half-finished vid about that idea that i'm impatient to get back to. definitely obsessing over it tonight.

they are obsessed with each other and with rehearsing their own (each other's) deaths.

[porcelainseashore]

OC Deep Dive: Wynter della Passaglia

Art by @surmatants

Tagged and dividers by @diableriedoll, including:

@toreadorcaretaker @mortifying-macaroni @hlozt @informaltorching

@swoomoo @dostoevskybignaturals - Thank you, I love you all so much! <3

What common/uncommon fear do they have?

Wynter has plenty that haunt her. One of her greatest fears is being fully consumed by Aila—a prisoner to the doppelgänger where life moves on without her, and she would be invisible while Lettow neither notices nor cares. Another is that she was truly born wrong, and no one, including Lettow, will ever accept her after knowing the actual monster she is.

Other fears concern her past catching up to her. Firstly, having to face her sire, Violetta/Chiara, whom she burned bridges with and in turn, The Family, who will always want something from her. It’s not a question whether it happens, it’s a question of when. Secondly, she's scared to think if Lucien is dead, as a life without his existence is unimaginable. However, if he is alive, will he show up unannounced and secrets be spilled?

Do they have any pet peeves?

Are you the touchy-feely sort? Don't, just don't. It’s an old habit, but she avoids touch and it takes a lot for her to get accustomed to it. Some never feel right at all. She's also suspicious of people who are friendly or over-familiar, quickly resorting to her death mask, cold-hearted and impassive, emanating an unworldly aura to keep them away. Finally, if you talk too much (looking at you, Julian 🤨), then you’re really asking for a barbed remark that’ll shut you up.

What are 3 items you can find in their bedroom?

... The very same rosary she used to pray with Lucien as a child, hung haphazardly alongside a black satin bra by the dresser.

... An assortment of weapons, including her Nighthawk Custom and a sniper rifle, modelled after her father’s old hunting rifle.

... Stashed within a bundle of clippings is a torn off news piece, yellowing and curled at the edges, in faded print, detailing a terrible incident at her old family mansion.

... (Bonus) An evidence board of suspected Sabbat hotspots in Cairo.

What do they notice first in a person?

Their pulse points and heart rate, where their blood is rushing to, weak spots, what makes them uncomfortable, how do they hurt, what can she use to her advantage?

On a scale of 1 to 10, how high is their pain tolerance?

A pretty high number in general? This girl has had weird bodily aches and pains since young, things that she couldn’t control or understand. On top of that, experiencing the Hecata Kiss as a mortal is quite something. Violetta lingered an extra few, sadistically or not, to remind her of suffering and what The Family could bring if she didn’t take heed. Although Wynter works as a courier, she’s a hunter, first and foremost. She’s had her fair share of battles and the marks to prove it. Finally, Wynter is aware of the immeasurable pain that exists on a different plane to the one we live in.

Do they go into fight or flight mode when under pressure? (or freeze and fawn)

Fight, but she’ll toy with you and do you dirty from the shadows, keeping her distance and waiting for the opportune moment to strike. Don’t worry, she plays the long game and can sure hold a grudge.

What animal represents them best?

A parasite. Wynter has always felt like an entity living in a host, so much so that she’s even jokingly referred to her body as a “skin bag,” or the “skin I wear.” It has a function and purpose, and does the job. This is possibly why she has an interest in the Kuei-Jin, and wishes to find out more about her ancestral ties with them, when the Della Passaglias traded in the Orient.

She also has a methodical approach to things, and the patience to infiltrate without much fanfare. Take the auction house in Night Road for example. Let’s just say she got in and out with what she wanted, no drama except leaving Chiara and Edouard in the dust to argue with each other about whose fault it was for being blindsided.

Others see her as a parasite for latching on to Lettow, enjoying the influence that he has, where she’s the gold digger and he’s her sugar daddy. She pretends not to be affected by this, but wonders if one day she’ll drain him dry.

How would a stranger likely describe them?

“Stuck-up, pale ass bitch who gives me the heebie-jeebies. I swear, I didn’t even see her enter the room and she’s right behind me, standing there like a fucking statue. Would look prettier if she smiled.”

— Individual was found dead later due to an unknown cause.

Do they have any hobbies?

Joyriding in the desert with Elena (and Gretchen?? 😱), long walks in the outdoors (either accompanied by Lettow or alone), collecting scraps and trinkets linked to her past.

No pressure tags:

@medeaft @garygoldenbignaturals @lordturkish-robomallcop @milk-crafting

@auspex @lydia-too-late @lgbtmi @its-sixxers and any who want to do so!

[abutterflyscribbles]

Broken Hearts in the Emergency Room

Marianne leaned back in her chair and considered the off-white ceiling panels of the emergency room waiting area. She considered the throbbing pain in her knuckles and how long it would take for the doctor to see her with so many patients it was standing room only. She considered how her hand had not hurt this much when she punched Roland. She considered the irony of the bloody tear on her knuckles being in the shape of heart.

Yes, all things considered, this was the second worst Valentines Day of her life.

"I really hope you didn't break your hand this time." Dawn fussed, wrapping a towel around a fresh bag of frozen peas and putting it on Marianne's hand. Marianne just grunted. Dawn continued, raising her voice in a pointed manner, "And I really hope you didn't break his cheekbone!"

There was another grunt. This one came from the seat next to Marianne. A pair of long legs uncrossed and recrossed.

"He's not even bleeding." Marianne mumbled.

"He can't see out of his right eye, it's so swollen!" Dawn said. She produced a bag of frozen corn, apparently having run out of peas, and offered it to the owner of the swollen eye. "It's such a shame, too," Dawn said, "He's got such lovely eyes and cheekbones."

The owner of the swollen eye and long legs was overcome with a coughing fit, having apparently choked when a gasp disrupted his breathing. Recovering, he pressed the corn to his face and groaned.

Marianne slid down in her seat and occupied herself with pressing the bones in the back of her hands to see if any were noticeably out of place.

"Are you okay, Boggy?" Dawn asked.

"Bog." Their seatmate mumbled. "'M fine."

Bog was not fine.

His face had been smashed to pieces and it was no doubt the fragments of his skull responsible for the stabbing pains around his eye. He wished he'd never left the house that day. He wished he hadn't let himself be talked into grabbed a drink with his coworkers. He wished he hadn't caught the eye of the fluffy-haired little blonde girl decked out in glitter and hearts. He especially wished he hadn't been so aggressively, loudly rude in response to her flirting because that had summoned a blood-thirsty sister who had taken umbrage with his attitude and taken a swing at his face.

The blonde--Dawn--had been so sweetly apologetic about her sister that Bog felt embarrassed and ashamed for being so rude, but the sister--Marianne--was so angry and sullen that Bog was forced into retaliatory grumpiness and was finding it hard to apologize. Anyway, he was ultimately the injured party and should be extended an apology first.

"What kind of name is 'Bog' anyway." Marianne muttered.

A spike of annoyance pierced through Bog's embarrassment. "Oh, don't even start!" He said. "And if you must then at least don't take such a cheap shot. I've heard it all."

"Bog body?" Marianne persisted, challenged.

"In high school. Daily."

"Bog of Eternal Stench?"

"I've lost count."

"Spider-infested cranberry bog?"

"Endless variations."

"Do you write a lot of posts online--"

"All bog/blog puns have been exhausted."

Marianne fell into a thoughtful silence, stumped for the moment. Bog took the opening. He said, "If I hadn't been slouching would I have a chest injury instead of a black eye?"

"I am not short!" Marianne said instantly, "You're just some sort of ambulatory redwood!"

"You being short and him being tall can both be true." Dawn said with the air of a mediator maintaining fairness in this exchange.

"For a moment I thought a wee winged fairy was fluttering up to take a poke at me." Bog said, sensing weakness and seized on it.

Marianne fired back. She said, "I wonder if your black eye wasn't a per-existing injury from smacking your face on door frames!"

"I choose to overlook that remark."

"Because you're the bigger person?"

"I try not to let these little things get me down."

"It's amazing how such a tall guy can be so low."

"They say tiny things are cute but I guess the exception proves the rule."

"You're both pretty cute." Dawn said brightly. "Now break and go back to your corners."

Bog realized he was nearly nose-to-nose with Marianne, having leaned forward to better utilize his glare. It was not being as effective as usual. His face, already flushed with anger, still managed to raise the heat a degree or two before he collected himself and slouched back down in his seat, focusing on the renewed throbbing around his eye.

Marianne frowned ferociously and did not dwell on how bright blue Bog's eyes were in such a heavy-browed face. Instead she thought about how the peas were getting squishy.

Dawn snapped a picture of Bog.

Bog bit back an angry protest and tried to deliver a calm inquiry about why she had decided to document his face.

Dawn smiled. "Your bruise looks kind of like a heart! Besides, we should keep a record of your injury, just in case. Don't worry, I won't show it to anyone!"

"Oh . . . kaaaay." Bog sighed.

"Not until the wedding reception, anyway," Dawn murmured.

"What?" Bog asked.

"Huh?" Marianne said.

Dawn added a glitter filter to the picture she had taken of Bog and Marianne's blushing profiles. "Nothing!" she said, thinking that this Valentines wasn't so bad even if she had to cancel her date with Hadrian. She could not wait to tell Sunny all about this.

[lririx]

Hi! If requests are still open, I have one that may interest you. Please take care of yourself, don't overwork yourself or anything. Get to my ask when you're available and happy <3 I don't mind waiting.

Okay, so for the idea.

A fem!reader with Norton. But S/O is royalty.

Y/N is a princess who ran off from her castle because she was being suppressed by her advisor (she has yet to be crowned due to said advisor pushing her coronation back continuously) and she ran to the manor to prove herself only for it to BACKFIRE SO VICIOUSLY because now she's trapped in a game and will probably die before ever being the one her people could call queen.

Norton wouldn't like her at first, because he is literally Norton Campbell, but she offers to pay him for protection (he is scary and looks tough so she is convinced he is the perfect guard) and he can never say no to money. Their relationship sort of forms slowly as they both learn from each other and etc.

I'm sorry if that was a lot. Just be sure to look after yourself!!!

Why your advisor keeps postponing your coronation you don't know.

“You're not ready yet.” Are his words everytime you ask.

You have tried everything in your power to prove yourself but all of the efforts were in vain.

One day after another failed attempt you were in your room thinking of new ways to try when a servant knocked on your door.

“You have a letter my lady.”

You took the letter from her and started to read it.

Is this a prank? Why would anyone send you this letter?

But what if it is real? Maybe this is your only chance to show that you are worthy of becoming the queen.

After days of thinking you decided that it was worth a shot.

You ran away from the castle at midnight and made your way to the Manor.

When you arrived you were greeted by many different faces.

There was one man who was particularly loathsome towards you when his eyes landed on you.

When you finally settled down and sat to talk to people is when you found out what you signed yourself up for.

Oh you were such an idiot.

Your first game was horrible. Are those hunters human? Long and lanky limbs with hollowed eyes that have a single yellow dot glowing in them.

The sound of her cats are still in your ear.

You did manage to escape with the help of others but now what? It is just going to continue on for you don't know how long. Maybe you're really not cut for being the queen. A queen can't be so cowardly.

But you have made up your mind. You came to this place and there is no turning back. You have to prove yourself. You have to be brave to rule your people.

You accepted the situation and started to become your normal self again.

Overall it wasn't so bad.

But there were some misfortunes.

There were some people who you didn't get along with but it wasnt a problem. Except for one man.

A bulky man with messy black hair and dark eyes. He had scars all over his body which made him look scary but attractive in a way.

His name is Norton Campbell. He didn't like you from the first day you stepped in the Manor.

You didn't know why and you tried to befriend him but he only spat curses at you everytime you talked to him.

After alot of attempts in getting to know him you found out why he's so mean towards you.

He hates the royalty. He hates how he has to work day and night to only be able to afford a piece of bread while they are sitting on their throne with money being thrown at them.

He kept mocking you everytime he saw you.

You tried to understand him. You did understand. You knew how rotten the aristocracy is. How much they take advantage of their power. You hated it as much as him.

You tried your hardest to help the commoners but there was only so much you could do.

That is why you wanted to become the queen so badly.

Though you never said anything to Norton. What could you have said?

After a while you stopped trying. There was no point.

Some time has passed but you were still new so you haven't gotten the hang of it yet so you messed up quite often.

You have gotten braver but you would be lying if you said you weren't scared. You weren't strong either which made you be the target of every single hunter.

You figured it would be nice to have someone to protect you during matches.

For some reason Norton was the first one that came to your mind.

You didn't want to but ended up asking him anyway. Ofcourse he wasn't going to say yes so you had to offer him something. He would only agree if you paid him.

And to your surprise it didn't take long for him to agree.

Months passed and your relationship wasn't as bad as it was before.

You weren't close but neither of you were mean to eachother.

A couple of times where you got picked on by other survivors after doing not so well in a match Norton would flip them off and make them run away.

Though ofcourse Norton was still didn't like you he helped you out during matches more than before because of the payment.

Or that's what you thought.

Sure it was all for the money at first but now? Why does he get nervous when he's around you? Why does want to hold you so badly? Why does he end up risking his life in every single game for you?

Norton has been restless for weeks. He wants to get you out of his mind but he can't.

Your eyes, your smile. The way your soft hands feel on his arms.

You were no different.

You couldn't take your eyes off of him. You admit. He is attractive. But still it didn't feel normal.

Your heart raced a little whenever he came to help you during matches.

You could feel your face turn red whenever he laughed.

One day during a match you kited Bane for three minutes before he gave up and went to chase Kurt.

You ran away from him to find a good spot to heal when you ran into Norton.

He grabbed your hand and pulled you into a corner and sat you down.

He started to patch you up.

It felt a bit awkward at first since he was so quiet but then you started to relax a bit.

It was a bit different though. He always gets the healing done as soon as possible to get back to decoding but he's taking his time today.

There were still two cipher machines left so you got up as soon as he was done but he grabbed your wrists and made you sit down infront of him again.

“What's wrong?” You asked him.

He was quiet for a moment. Then he opened his mouth and said “I'm sorry.”

“For what?”

“For everything I said back then.”

His voice was low. He hasn't looked at you in the eyes since you ran to him.

To be honest you have already forgotten most of it. You have never held a grudge against him.

You wrap your arms around him and pull him into a hug.

When you pull back you see his shocked face which makes you giggle.

“We'll talk about it later okay?”

Then you get up to decode another cipher machine.

You two's relationship was pretty good after that. Everyone was surprised because it happened so quickly but no one questioned it.

Day by day you felt the Butterflies in you stomach to flutter more.

Whenever your eyes met you would panick and act like nothing happened.

Norton wasn’t different. He was even more nervous than you.

Months passed like this until one day you found yourself in his arms melting away.

How your feelings for eachother started neither of you know.

Maybe it was the first time you single handedly kited the hunter for five ciphers.

Or maybe when Norton saved you while the hunter had detention.

All you know now is that you are eachothers everything.