#he used to be feral but was friendly enough to be taken in by the cat rescue i volunteer with

[otherworldlygate]

Once again it's Regal appreciation hour by which I mean day by which I mean year by which I mean lifetime.

I was very much prepared to not write any fanfiction this year, but I cannot divorce myself from how awesome my favorite Symphonia blorbos are and so I am writing yet another stupid fanfic. I feel feral about these characters in general but Raine gets quite a lot of attention (because she's wonderful, obviously) so I don't want to focus on her too much. Regal, on the other hand, has been underappreciated in the ToS fandom since the game's release day, so I must advocate for him.

I've been RPing as him for the last year or so, and together my RP partner and I have written about 320,000 words of a story. I'm having a blast, and a big part of that is because Regal is, despite the flaws in the storytelling of ToS as a whole surrounding him (and how all of the Tethe'alla characters kind of fall flat), a rather well-conceived and implemented character. Yeah, his clothes are dumb (I'm happy to retcon that outfit with zero regrets) and the game blows through his story at such a breakneck pace he doesn't get the space or the arc he deserves (he should have taken his shackles off as part of his 'sacrifice' to fight the angels), but he is a genuinely fascinating character who feels, just like many of the others do, as if he belongs very specifically in the world he was created for.

I know a lot of people like to write him as this sad sack of shit just absolutely lost in the grief sauce (see the part about how he didn't get the arc he deserved), but I think that's a mistake. See, the biggest bump in the road for Regal was his lack of understanding of what was happening and why. When you think about it, he was faced with having to kill Alicia seemingly out of nowhere. Like one day he's just minding his business and the next Alicia is gone and very quickly after that she's a monster trying to kill him AND HE HAS NO FUCKING IDEA WHAT IS GOING ON. He has no answers. All he knows is that he killed her, and his autistic* brain latches onto that detail because it's all he has.

You have to think, too, about the fact that the game gives him nobody. His parents are dead. George, the only person even remotely close to Regal--someone he's known his *whole life*--betrayed him. (George didn't mean for things to go Like That and he's sorry he did it, but HE STILL DID IT.) Regal doesn't have friends and the extra material makes it clear that he was literally raised, specifically by his father, to be a workaholic. Do you think anyone came to see him in prison? He fought in a coliseum for his life for YEARS. He was on friendly terms with some of the other inmates but the guy had eight years to just sit there and get stuck in the loop of knowing he killed the one person he'd let himself get even remotely close to.

Which is something else people always downplay for some reason. The shit with Alicia isn't just "guy is sad because he killed his girlfriend." It's very much, "guy was born and bred to take on the family legacy" except in this case the family legacy is a company, an island, a noble bloodline, and also the absolutely insane idea that work and profit is all that matters. Everyone else is out to get you. Keep the workers dissatisfied but keep them hooked just enough that they'll never leave. Take no time for fun or friends or merriment. Everything in your life is a business transaction. Don't ever forget it. It's us vs. them. You're alone and you have to make this your entire life or it'll all fall to pieces and it will be your fault.

The drama cd in particular really honed in on that way of being raised and it makes his entire character make complete sense. At a relatively young age his father died and he ended up on top (though it's stated he had to work as a CEO before he was elected via a board to the position of President). Having no other guidelines other than what he was taught--and what George himself adhered to--Regal followed that path...until he ended up miserable, because, despite the way he was raised, he's a goddamn empath**.

After literal YEARS of occasionally running into Alicia and talking to her, he starts forming a connection to her--which is important because he's never allowed himself to do this before. And at one point he realizes he doesn't even know her name...which comes as a surprise to him...and brings with it shame. After this, he starts living for himself. He listens to his employees--something his father never did. He starts enacting rules to protect his employees, particularly from things that would hurt them in the field, because part of what was making him so miserable was wrestling with the empathy of their terrible working conditions on top of just hearing his father's manta repeating itself in his head all the time.

I cannot stress enough how important this is. Alicia, despite being a love interest and someone he was interested in seriously dating and perhaps someday marrying (the details of their relationship are never known but it's almost more tragic if they were just starting to be serious), WAS STILL HIS EMPLOYEE.

He was supposed to protect his employees. He was doing so much to ensure his employees would be safe. And then he killed Alicia.

Alicia, the one person he allowed himself to get close to.

Now, consider the fact that he was raised as a tool and not a beloved son; he was not allowed to have friends and not allowed to make merry. He was under his father's thumb until his father's untimely death--a death, by the way, that only surprised him with its suddenness; he did not grieve that man!! Regal, as a 25-year-old man, had ZERO coping mechanisms. All he had was the truth he was raised under and the fact that he went against that truth AND WAS NOW BEING PUNISHED FOR IT. How can someone like this think of anything except that they are the reason George was put in a position where he had to get rid of Alicia? That the only reason Alicia was experimented on and turned into a monster was because of her connection to Regal?

IT MAKES ME FEEL SO FERAL!!!

The events of the game open his eyes to the ACTUAL truth, to what actually happened AND WHY IT HAPPENED TO ALICIA. In the end he learns he had NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. If he had not befriended and started falling for Alicia, she still would have died--it's just, if she hadn't had a more direct connection to Regal, who knows where she might have met her end. Alone, forgotten? At least someone knew her as she was; at least someone can tell Presea the kind of person her sister was.

The ToS fandom has always loved joking about how Regal's just into punishment as a kink or whatever (and I'll never forgive the shitty non-canon-in-my-heart sequel for leaning so hard into that angle, fuck you fuck you fuck you) but let's be serious about it for a hot second. Yes, I think learning this information puts him on a better path, but you can't erase 8 years of self-loathing and fear instantly. Did you guys really think this man would just forget about the darkest years of his life and start frolicking in fields of flowers?

The trauma he's endured goes so much deeper than "I killed the person I loved," and boiling it down to that really does the character a disservice. The "born for a specific purpose, not allowed to exist outside of that purpose" bit is also given to Colette and Zelos, but while their role is being a sacrifice whose only use is dying or procreating to continue the line to have more sacrifices (absolutely also traumatizing btw), Regal's situation feels a lot more like indoctrinated religion and, very specifically (and no I am not kidding), religious trauma. Again, he endured that very controlled lifestyle complete with a mantra from birth into his early 20s, and the MOMENT he broke away from it too far, his life came crashing down around him in a very painful and traumatizing way.

Now, you might think the religious trauma parallel is unfounded, if not also the indoctrinated religion aspect of it, it could just as easily be a parallel for an abusive and controlling relationship, right down to the betrayal from someone who is supposed to have your best interests at heart the moment you step outside of that control to the feelings of shame and self-loathing and "you did this to yourself."

So whenever I see people joking about what a sad sack of shit he is or whatever, I'm just astounded, especially if it's coming from someone who loves literally any other character in the game. Like, you'll definitely have your blorbos, and I totally understand if Regal just ain't it for you, but I find it really disconcerting that someone might find (for example) Yuan's trauma deeply meaningful but see Regal's as stupid or silly.

I'm pretty sure I started this post to talk about how easy it is for me to RP as Regal because he's just such a great character to sink into and write about, particularly because I like to imagine that, starting in the post-game, he deeply regrets some of the choices he's made in his life, and, rather than lean into the things that have already transpired, he seeks to do what he can to better the world around him with the resources and power that he has.

It's like the ultimate fuck-you to the way his father raised him. He's not wasting the skills he's developed, but he's also not using them to hurt people or for personal or Lezareno profit.

I think most of us love writing about characters who have to work through their trauma, but there's an extra layer here that I particularly enjoy with Regal. With Raine I'm all about her inability to trust easily and her struggle to feel truly comfortable around other people, but with Regal I think it's maybe specifically related to the fact that he has had a lot handed to him that he didn't necessarily want, and his self-sacrificing nature lends itself to him feeling obligated to take it. I fully believe Regal would be happier and better off stepping away from Lezareno and from his family's toxic ass legacy*** (or at least not working it full-time as the acting President) but I can't ignore the fact that...these things are all he has and all he knows. So writing about him attempting to get back into the swing of things, maybe struggling to find time for himself, falling into workaholic patterns by mistake, learning to set boundaries between his private life and his job...all while not being fully satisfied and finding more fulfillment in charity work and other pursuits, just makes him feel like a very well-rounded character. Like...it's believable that he would continue to work a job he didn't particularly love specifically because not only does he not know anything else, but he knows with this position of power he can make a lot of things happen that would be impossible if he just twiddled his thumbs on the sidelines--like financial assistance going to Palmacosta, or his duties as a nobleman to try to get better laws passed in Tethe'alla, etc.

This was a pretty clumsily-written post and for that I am truly sorry. I've just been absolutely insane lately thinking about Regal and I had to get some of why I think he's such a wonderful character out into the world.

:)

*this is just my headcanon but a lot about Regal screams autism to me.

**this is canon as far as I'm concerned. I wrote him this way far before I ever heard the drama cd, and the drama cd just solidified it for me tenfold.

***there's a scene in the hotel with Lloyd I think where Regal says his family's legacy on Altamira started when Tethe'alla flipped over to being a flourishing world last, which means they were in a position of power great enough to build an empire on Altamira already at that time (800+ years ago). I don't want to get into how awful this probably was or how evil the family was because I think you can all imagine that for yourselves. Also, nobody ever mentions the fact that Regal is the last of his family line, but it's a very convenient built-in control tactic to guilt someone into doing as they're told or risk bringing shame to a family that's been going strong and unbroken for over 1,000 years.

[sunsetzer]

It just occurred to me that my kitten has not graced tumblr with his presence yet.

Behold: Draco

[neverchecking]

Day 10: Fucking Machine- Sage

Man, ya'll went feral feral for yesterdays prompt. Anyway by the time you guys see this I'll probably be in the courtroom (Meaning this was...*gag* queued.)

Smut so Minors Do Not Interact. If I find out a minor has interacted with my blog, I will block you.. Thank you!

Smut CW: Sage is still an asshole, inappropriate use of Zonai tech.

This is Day ten of My Kinktober so be sure to come back and check out the other days! Friendly Reminder that all of my smut is tagged 'Cindersins' including this, but this will also be tagged as 'Cinder's happy halloween' along with the run of the mill smut tags.

Kinktober Masterlist <<< Day 9>>>Day 11

What a sight you were. 

Sage would admit that he was not as…merciful as he felt most would’ve preferred. He liked watching your eyes shine with unshed tears, your lower lashes clumping together as low whimpers choked through your throat. He got a bit of a kick out of hearing you cry and whimper, thighs shaking uncontrollably as overstimulation rocked your entire system. Just watching you attempt to plead with him, blabbering nonsense and gibberish as you brainlessly obeyed his every command. 

It gave him such a kick. Such a rush of power that thrummed in his veins. Made his skin buzz in a maddening warmth that gave him a complex most likely too big for his ego, let alone his crumbling sanity. 

But there was something so devious about this recently hatched plan that he almost felt bad. 

Almost. 

Zonai tech was something he himself didn’t even fully understand, yet he knew enough he could bullshit his way through it. And he had become fairly good at bullshitting. It had taken a few tries and a few missteps, but he had gotten his design patented at long last and what a payout it was. 

It was so erotic watching the machine move, the circular gears interlocking within one and another as the pole attached pulled back then pushed forward, drawing out another noise from you. It made it all so worth it. 

Had he gotten looks from a few Zora after he commissioned the newest glass piece in his collection? Yes. But it was so worth it. Watching the milky sheen of your own fluids coat the frosty glass as the gears continued rolling. In and out, over and over. He could speed it up or slow it down if he so wished, moving it closer for a more intense hit against your sweet spot. All with the control panel on his Purah pad which he could man from the comfort of his favorite armchair. 

Slowly Sage palmed his own cock, thumbing it up and down in time with the slow rolls of the gears, hearing you cry out with every thrust forward. If he had any respect for the rotten goddess’ that claimed to watch over the land of Hyrule, he’d consider thanking them. 

As it stood currently, he’d remain his own god and thank himself, squeezing his shaft as he turned up the speed, hearing you sob out his name as another orgasm shook your core. 

[christinesficrecs]

Hello! Do you have any !AU recommendation where in Stiles liked Derek first and Derek is kinda aloof with Stiles until he falls in love with him?

I think these ones. Maybe. Possibly.

The Curve of Your Clavicle by WhoNatural | 6.2K

Derek isn’t an uptight person - seriously, for an alpha, he’s downright laid-back - but something about Stilinski makes him want to bare his teeth and grasp him by the scruff and bite.

No, not bite. That would be incredibly inappropriate, of course - and Derek plus the legal department are aware of that. Anyway, the point is, Stilinski needs to be kept in line.

Or, wherein Derek's office rival might be the same person keeping him sane at night when the loneliness hits.

A Life Less Ordinary by Jebiwonkenobi | 19.2K

It takes a few years but eventually they manage to agree on something; Derek Hale is an asshole, and Stiles Stilinski is in love with him.

A Wild Heart's Desire by mikkimouse | 13.4K

If there's one thing Stiles Stilinski knows, it's that Deputy Derek Hale absolutely Does Not Like him. The only reason Derek even tolerates him is because their kids are worryingly codependent.

So Stiles is understandably confused when a very feral Derek shows up in his backyard after a call gone wrong and proceeds to move in with him.

Fireman Derek's Crazy Pie [Cheeseburger Baby] by owlpostagain | 17.6K

“He can't blame me for the fact that I live in a building full of people united in the singular effort to ogle Hot Fireman as often as humanly possible."

Laura laughs, loud and echoing in the empty restaurant.

"Hot firemen can make a girl do crazy things," she agrees, nodding towards her brother's name on the menu. "Derek won't let me date anyone from his company, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate the eye candy."

"Send them my way," Stiles suggests, finally loading up a forkful of pie. "Apparently I'm incompetent enough that I need to be babysat at all times, because it would be cheaper than dispatching a truck every time I try to use a kitchen appliance."

maybe then a witch could believe in the moon by kellifer_fic | 10.7K

Okay, I get it. You were just asserting dominance. I can relate to that. I do know Derek.

A Blossoming Romance by Trelkez | 7.5K

Stiles will just have to try harder next time. No one can ignore him forever.

Glazed and Confused by wishingonalightningbolt | 13.7K | Explicit

Stiles is a forensic tech with the San Diego FBI. He thinks he's been fairly lucky, since he's never had his life threatened, sustained few injuries, and only has to work with his least favorite agent every once in a while.

And then all of that changes.

Flexible, Friendly, and Adaptable by MsCee | 16.2K | Mature

As a tour guide, Stiles liked to think that he embodied his company’s motto of being flexible, friendly, and adaptable. As a teacher chaperone, Derek Hale’s ethos seemed more along the lines of ‘inflexible, unfriendly, and rigid as hell’. Clearly, they were going to get along swimmingly.

The Not So Beauty to Your Not So Beast by isthatbloodonhisshirt (wasterella) | 64.4K | Mature

“Mieczyslaw Stilinski?”

All eyes instantly turned to Stiles and he felt his stomach drop. They’d taken his dad. They’d actually taken his dad and were here to tell him so.

“Yeah?” he asked in a small voice, feeling ready to be sick.

The second he spoke, two of the four regular guards moved through the rows, the lead guard speaking.

“By order of his Grace Peter Hale, you have been selected to begin your employ under the royal house of Hale.”

Wait.

What?

Every Step You Take by Nokomis | 49.3K | Mature

Stiles accidentally ends up magically bound to Derek. It’s super.

[evolutiononthebrain]

A harbringer of death, a witch with something wicked inside, and a kidnapped watcher — the perfect combination of siblings, yeah?

Cursed Trio / Cursed Siblings HCs!

- Grian oldest, pearl middle, & Jimmy youngest ?

-> Grian being the older sibling whose supposed to be responsible but is just so not is too funny to pass up

- they don’t have parents, they just spawned one day and then grian created EVO

- Grian is the feral older brother who didn’t know what he was doing so thats why pearl is… like that

-> he got a bit better when jimmy spawned

- they all have pronouns ://

-> Grian = he/they

-> Pearl = She/They

-> Jimmy = ftm He/Him

- the capitalization is on purpose, grian does not care enough about gender to capitalize his pronouns

- WINGS! wings wings wings wings wings win

n e ways: wing headcanons

Grian: Obviously, the rainbow parrot bird wings. we all know where the wings originate from but i’d also like to imagine that, like a male bird, grian is colorful because they were the oldest, the “protector” of his siblings, so he was the brightest and most colorful to distract predators (mobs in this case) from their younger siblings

Pearl: now i haven’t seen many Pearl wing headcanons but i’d like to think that Pearl’s wings are bigass raven wings that she can use to make herself look more intimidating. Also, raven symbolism = every time you see a raven, death is approaching. They would also be easy to conceal under a dark jacket, like the black one they have.

Jimmy: the famed canary wings! canary, obviously referring to “canary in the coal mine.” the yellow to white gradient also looks almost ghostly in sunlight. jimmy is a naturally good singer and very friendly, like canaries often are, but keeping them in cages means there’s a ghost around. too bad he’s usually the ghost that’s around :(

- also i think it’s incredibly funny that, though parrots can grow to be 40 inches, ravens behind at 24-27 inches, and canaries only averaging around 3-5 inches, jimmy is the tallest sibling with pearl being a close second

- jimmy was obsessed with making random animals nests when he was younger:

-> finds a chicken

-> makes it a nest

-> cries when the chicken walks away

- whenever they’re on the same server, grian will just pick jimmy up (cuz tho he is short, their wings are very strong & fcking massive) and throw him like when he was teaching him to fly

- he has attempted this with pearl Once, and never again

- jimmy is the only one who preens his wings on the “regular,” but even then he only preens them like every three months when they are absolutely awful

-> the other two are TERRIBLE about preening

-> they get that hermitcraft hyperfixation that all the hermits get when starting a new build or redstone machine

- all of them are fairly light weight, though all looking like body-builders cuz hollow bird bones

- pearl is so done with her dumb older & younger brothers, at all times

- they will go days without seeing grian, or even weeks without seeing jimmy cuz of the server differences but the moment she sees them she just deflates

- exhausted

- she is very protective tho :) she joined empires to keep jimmy in check and then joined hermitcraft cuz they knew grian needed someone to keep HIM in check

- this was only a few days apart (empires - June 12, 21 / hermitcraft - June 19, 21)

- pearl joined to keep them in check, she failed, they both caused chaos and she joined in

- Pearl = goddess, Grian = watcher, Jimmy = listener

-> they use their abilities to cause mayhem and wreak havoc

- when it was “revealed” that lizzie and jimmy were seablings pearl and grian were jealous that jimmy got to be siblings with somebody cool AGAIN but they were stuck with him

- jimmy was offended they didn’t think he was cool

- both times jimmy has acquired a husband/partner, grian and pearl both had “the talk” with them

-unfortunately, they are simply too goofy to be taken seriously so both scott and tango were unconcerned until pearl’s eyes starting glowing white and grian’s wings were covered in massive purple glowing eyes

- both scott & tango asked jimmy if he could do cool stuff like that after they calmed down

-> he gave a wistful little sigh and said, “no, all i can do is hear down to atoms. not so impressing.”

- much confusion, those days

- feathers:

- jimmy gives feathers out like candy; to his family, his friends, his loves, etc.

- grian only ever gives his feathers out to very close ppl; their siblings and scar & mumbo

- pearl never gives her feathers out; they have a deep seeded fear of her feathers not being pretty enough in comparison to their brother’s bright colorful ones

-> the only time she’s given them is to her brothers when they were like 9

- they love each other !!! oh em gee

[phantasmiac]

phoenix quirk au where dabi gets used to living a normal, domestic with you. continuation of this and continued here.

cw/tw: mentions of fucking but no explicit smut, mentions of medication

wc:1.5k

the first thing you decided, after taking touya back, was that you weren’t going to let him continue living if it was just for you. you wanted him to live because he knew he deserved to, and because he truly wanted to. you knew that tomorrow wasn’t promised for anyone, and god forbid anything happened to you.

he goes by a fake identity and name now, passing off as quirkless. through friends and connections, you managed to get touya a job at a clinic for kids with “troublesome” quirks. when you’d first let him know about the opportunity, he accepted it just to make you happy. the only “jobs” he’d known growing on the streets were stealing, dealing, and eventually murdering. professions weren’t exactly his forte. but he knew he couldn’t just live out the rest of this life in your apartment, out of your wallet. he wasn’t going to be a burden to you anymore.

though he won’t ever admit it, he loves his job and the kids that he deals with (“gotta make money somehow” he says, but he has a folder of all the drawings and letters they’ve given him). it’s easy to adapt to. he just treats the kids how he wished he’d been treated in that damn household, tells them what he needed to hear. and the kids love him too, he’s like their cool, edgy uncle. he starts getting tattoos and they go WILD every time he comes in with a new one, poking and prodding at them with their grubby hands after he’s taken the plastic off. totally unsanitary but he’s never been the poster guy for health. this is nothing, he thinks.

another perk of having not-charred skin anymore is being able to relish in your touch. now that his nerve endings are functioning he can feel the softness of your hands and your sweet kisses in places other than the apples of his cheeks or his forehead. he becomes obsessed with physical touch, melts into you like an overgrown cat. you also don’t have to worry about hurting him when you get frisky anymore, and he goes absolutely feral when you dig your nails down his back.

obviously touya is kinda past meditating and the 5-4-3-2-1 technique so you look into getting him on medication. sometimes that isn’t enough so he has to find other things to help him cope. in comes kickboxer!touya. working out in general so good for him, gets all the rage out and his endorphins go brrrr afterwards. gets super in the mode to the point it scares other people in the gym sometimes. he finishes up for the day, packs all his stuff up and raises his head to find some people staring. nothing he isn’t used to so he just gives them a curt nod while wiping off his sweat (THINK ABOUT IT HE’S SO HOT).

another thing he loves is driving. once he starts he can’t believe he used to live scampering through the streets on his two brittle legs. it gives him a sense of freedom, and on nights he feels suffocated he just goes out for a ride with the window down, some random band playing on the aux, one hand steering the wheel (HE’S SO HOT). treats his car like it’s a porsche, so he spends quite a lot of time at the mechanic.

there he meets a friendly, super energetic staff member who also thinks touya is the coolest looking guy ever (he is and he’s all yours, it’s crazy. he grows his white hair a little longer, repierces his ears and nose, gets a little meatier bc of the gym. he’s absolutely gorgeous and he’s flabbergasted when men and women come up to him or ogle at him, and even feels a little offended because they don’t realize he has an actual ANGEL waiting for him at home). always greets him loudly and invites him out for a drink after work. he doesn’t drink alcohol, because he’s abiding by the rules of his prescription, but tags along anyway because it’s nice being able to hang out with people freely. he ends up making his own friends and acquaintances over time, and a few through you, but mechanic guy is probably his best friend (besides you), and he won’t admit that it might be because he reminds him a lot of a certain scarred, crazy blonde he used to know. silly fun fact, you once slipped up and called him by his real name when you were hanging out with some of your friends and they were like touya ????? and you had to quickly come up with some bullshit explanation. “touya…. means my love in our… dialect” you lied. they were like okay sounds legit and moved on, fortunately, but you still wake up in a cold sweat at 4 am cringing about it years later.

being able to go out in public is another perk, at least for you. he’s mostly a homebody, perfectly content with lounging around the house with you or being.. physical.. all day. you love going to the theaters to watch all the new horror movies that come out. he claims it’s a waste of money, that you should just wait until you can pirate it, but he secretly loves the comfy reclining chairs and the quality sound system and the ridiculously overpriced snacks. but most of all he loves looking at your happy face as you rant about the movie, swinging your linked hands back and forth as you exit the theaters.

you also go on a lot of road trips so that he can “explore the world” (those were your words. explore the country, he corrects you, but feels guilty when you pout at him about being a debby downer. obviously, but leaving the country is too risky!). but it is nice, passing countrysides, deserts, and other scenic views he never thought he’d be able to see, with you drooling and lightly snoring in the passengers seat, sunset/sunrise prettily coloring face. you rent cute little places for your trips, and explore the towns/cities hand in hand, flaunting your lovey doviness everywhere. he’s lost count of all the old people who’ve stopped to tell you what a lovely couple you two are since he’s settled down with you, but your eyes light up every single time, and he squeezes your hand a little tighter.

there are some things you two do that aren’t so different from when you were with dabi instead of touya. like your love for star gazing together. only instead of having to resort to the rooftop of your old apartment, he now makes the effort to make the back of his car nice and cozy before driving out to a nice hill. you’ll cuddle up to his side while having your deep conversations under the night sky. super wholesome and romantic, and it always ends with him fucking your brains out. you never stop your late night convenience store runs either, the ones where he used to have to cover himself in a mask and a hoodie, waiting for you sitting at the tables they had outside. now he gets to go inside and be super picky and obnoxious about the snacks. he always takes forever. you know the whole point of you and touya starting over was to move on from your old habits, but things like these remind you of how far you’ve come.

touya’s super frugal. when he first started staying at your apartment as dabi, you used to get him those 4-pack shirts and boxers from like, costco, for when he’d sleep over and he doesn’t see why he can’t keep living that way. you have to fight him to treat himself to nice things. he loves using your shampoos and conditioners because they make his hair feel nice and soft. total upgrade from the old crunchiness that all that dye caused. doesn’t steal anymore obviously, but if you see something that you don’t wanna spend a hefty penny on and he notices he’s like…. walmart is giving out FREE supplies to anyone who can outrun security! you deserve everything and anything you want. but you’re not super materialistic either, which is why when he thinks about buying you a ring, he gets you one from a small business on etsy or something instead of some luxury brand. that’s not to say it’s cheap, it’s one of the more expensive ones and it’s gorgeous, a shining blue gemstone in the middle. you cry fat ugly tears when he gives it to you and he considers spending his life savings on five more of them.

so touya lives a normal life now, and he’s able to say that he’s happy, though he doesn’t think he’ll ever be 100% sure of what that means. but he knows for sure that he is so madly in love with you and that he wants to do right by you forever. living like this is more than he deserves, he knows. he’s killed people, and he can never take that back. he lives with that, regrettably, everyday. but he’d do it all over again for you; that’s the dark, honest truth. he knows it’d disappoint you to hear that, so he’ll keep it to himself until death does you part.

a/n: planning on making a part 3 where they have kids because this au has BEEN living in my head and it is way more detailed than i will ever be able to write

[staycalmandhugaclone]

If you're new, this all starts with Touch Starved - Echo! You can read this little chunk as a standalone, or head back to the beginning for the full experience!

Febuwhump Day 3

Muzzled – Crosshair

Warnings: Some light medical jargon and an injection, a bit of cussing, kinda muzzle/gag duo complete with saliva

WC: 2,583

The way my lungs burned didn’t matter. The lingering panic that enemy forces awaited beyond every corner didn’t matter, nor did the ache of straining muscles or the annoyance of my medbag banging against my hip from a torn strap. Faster. Crosshair was down here somewhere. Trapped. Alone.

Separatist forces on our last mission anticipated the relative isolation the sniper placed himself in and planned an ambush. By the time we realized our objective was a ruse, Crosshair was gone – only his rifle and helmet left to mark where he’d been. The following hour was pure chaos, each of us screaming into our comms for backup as Tech and Echo tracked every ship that could have possibly taken him. Rex was the only one of our contacts able and willing to lend aid.

The Captain brought four members of the 501st with him: Jesse, Sterling, Coric, and Kix. We’d wasted no time in sneaking onto the nearby prison barge Echo traced a transport ship to, but he couldn’t narrow down which floor they’d brought Crosshair to, forcing us to split up. Insistent that each group have a friendly face, I went with Rex and his men, while the 501st’s medic, Kix, followed Hunter.

The foreign weight of the DC-15S was a comfort amidst the possible threats awaiting us in every corridor of empty cells we cleared, ears tuned for the familiar chime of my comm unit, silently begging to hear Tech’s voice reporting that they’d found him – that he was okay… but only the cacophony of heavy footfalls echoing through the damp cellblocks boomed around us.

We fell into breaching formation as we approached the heavy metal door leading to the following block, Rex, Sterling and I poised at the ready, guns aimed ahead as Coric and Jesse wrenched the door open. The room beyond it was nearly pitch black. Still, before consciously recognizing the dim glow of those eyes, I was sprinting forward, heedless of any danger that might be awaiting just around the corners.

“Crosshair!”

“Doc, wait!” Rex’s warning fell on deaf ears as I charged into through the narrow doorway, gaze quickly taking in the sniper’s state. His armor was missing, blacks visibly damp and stained from the grime of the cell floors. His hands were tied behind his back, chest rocking beneath heavy breaths; body crumpled forward where he kneeled in the middle of a small cell. A deathly rage curled in the piercing glare of those golden eyes that would have given me pause if not for the months spent with him – months learning how readily he hid fear and pain and doubt beneath anger. Something was strapped around the lower half of his face, obscuring what I was sure to be a violent snarl twisting thin lips. It took a moment to realize what it was, why his jaw seemed locked slightly ajar, saliva dripping down his chin like a feral animal.

“Dammit – help me get this open!” I ordered, already wrenching at the cell door.

“Hunter. Yeah – yeah he’s here. Looks pissed all to hell, so I’m guessing he’s not hurt too bad.” I could only just hear the quiet growl of Hunter’s voice between Rex’s relieved words, but my focus was locked on straining against the metal lock as Coric and Jesse fought to pry the mechanism open.

“Heh, looks like the Seppies had about as much patience for that mouth of his as the rest of us.” I barely registered who’d said it, nor the way Crosshair’s eyes narrowed beneath the taunt. As soon as the shock of Sterling’s snide remark reached my ears, my body spun around, fist slamming into the side of his helmet with enough force to knock the surprised trooper off his feet.

“Go on – say something else.” I snarled, deaf to the torrent of shouts and laughter from Rex’s men, only vaguely aware of their hands gripping my arms, holding me back as I strained forward for another strike.

“Enough!” Rex’s shout boomed around us with a presence that instantly brought us back to attention. “Get that karking door open and let’s get out of here before the Seppies catch up.” Without another word, his men returned their efforts to the cell door as I wrenched my pack from my shoulders to retrieve supplies.

The instant there was room, I squeezed through the metal slats, dropping to my knees at his side. The fury in his eyes flicked only briefly to me before turning back to the wall just beyond his cell.

“The others are on the floor above us.” I explained in a voice straining for calm despite the tension coursing through my jaw as I reached around him with a small vibroknife to severe the restraints burning into his wrists, “We split up – weren’t sure which level you were on, but we’ll meet back up at the Marauder.” Only a tiny huff marked the painful relief of his arms finally coming free, and, without a word, he wrenched at the muzzle as he pushed himself to his feet. Rex reached out to help, but the towering sniper barged through them in that same seething silence, launching the gag to the far side of the room as soon as he’d managed to tear it off.

Unfazed, the captain merely sent his men forward with a sharp wave of his hand, and they instantly fell into position around the quickly retreating sniper. Biting back the curse, I stuffed my supplies back into my bag and raced after them, already certain I’d need to corner the stubborn clone if I wanted any hope at treating whatever damage his jailers had done to him.

-

The quiet that followed us for the better part of the trek back was laced with trepidation, certain it couldn’t be so easy. The distant sound of blaster fire was almost a relief – the waiting was over.

“Ran into a patrol – they’ll be sending more your way! Get going!” Hunter’s order boomed from Rex’s comm, but our brisk pace broke into a dead sprint the instant we heard that first hiss of enemy fire. Despite his longer legs, it was clear Crosshair was struggling, and I pushed myself to get beside him.

“Are you okay?” I asked just loud enough for him to hear over the booming chorus of thrumming footsteps.

“Fine.” He growled, voice low, almost hoarse.

“Cross,” I started, but my words died as he snatched the blaster from my hands. “Hey!” To my relief and surprise, he glanced at me just long enough to wink before turning his attention back to the cell-lined hall before us, bracing the weapon against his shoulder just as the first wave of droids poured through the far doorway.

-

The last stretch of between us and the Marauder was chaos, but, for once, we seemed to have the upper hand. The majority of their forces had been sent to the upper floor, where Wrecker was granted free-reign to eliminate them as quickly as possible. We’d all felt the shockwaves and could practically hear his gleeful laughter in the afterquakes. The smaller unit they’d sent to secure Crosshair directly hadn’t anticipated a second group and, with the sniper all too eager for whatever revenge he could get, they fell as quickly as they arrived.

In a belated attempt at a final assault, the droids amassed in the hanger. The initial assault left us pinned, but when Hunter and the others arrived, the enemy units found themselves caught between two ruthless forces. Still, when a crimson bolt slammed into a crate behind me, just missing my shoulder, Crosshair immediately threw me behind him, sending a flurry of perfectly aimed bolts into the offending droid.

“I’m the one with armor, Crosshair! You should be behind me!” I shouted over the roar of battle. He glanced back just long enough for me to see him roll his eye before returning his full attention to the last few minutes of the attack. Even as the final droid fell, the lingering adrenaline and certainty that more would arrive soon sent us racing up the ramp, and Tech wasted no time in seeing us clear of the prison ship.

For a long moment, the remaining ten of us stood crowded together in the cabin, muscles still tense, waiting for one final droid to reveal itself from some hidden corner. Wrecker was the first to finally break the trance.

“Woo! Yeah! That was awesome!” He whooped loudly, massive arms wrapping around two of Rex’s men in an overzealous embrace. “We should do prison rescues more often!” Despite myself, an airy chuckle escaped me before letting my gaze wander over the troopers in search of Crosshair, but the towering man was already stealing himself deeper into the ship, shoulders hunched. Briefly catching Hunter’s eyes, I pushed past the still celebrating Wrecker and his unfortunate new friends, and disappeared into the rear half of the ship, snatching the sniper’s hidden rifle from one of the lockers as I went.

Crosshair was already laying on his side atop his cot, arm folded beneath his head as he stared pointedly away from me. With a slow sigh, I walked leisurely toward him, taking in the tears in his blacks, and the realization of how much pain he much be in to have hauled himself onto his bed without changing left my heart racing. Between the lot of them, Crosshair was the most fastidious about cleanliness, balking at the mere thought of touching his sheets after battle without a lengthy visit to the sonic first.

“I’m not sure about the rest of your armor, but your bucket’s in the cockpit.” I started quietly. The distant chorus of chatter hummed pleasantly beneath the familiar rumble of the Marauder’s engines. He offered no reply. “Thought you might like to see this for yourself, though.” I added warmly, placing the rifle just behind him. He almost ignored me, but, after several seconds, glanced over his shoulder, and a short sigh of relief escaped him before he caught himself and settled back down in a mockery of sleep.

“Cross, are you going to come down and let me look at you, or is this about to turn into a slumber party?” I finally asked bluntly, earning a sharp grumble as he purposefully nestled further into his bed. “Okay,” I breathed, slipping out of my boots before stepping onto Hunter’s cot, “Slumber party it is.”

“’M f’ne!” He snarled, but the way the words nearly slurred through clenched teeth left me certain he was anything but.

“Mhm.” I hummed, tossing my medbag up just behind his rifle before hoisting myself up with a grunt. I’d expected the snarl as he tried to push my bag off, but I hadn’t expected the brief glimpse of the swollen mass over the right side of his jaw.

“Kriff.” The curse escaped in a fluttered gasp, already pushing myself closer to him. The briefest flash of fear flared in his eyes before jerking his head away. “Cross, wait.” I tried, but he was already straining to free himself from the cot, lips only just twisting into beginnings of a scowl before his entire body tensed with pain.

“Wait, wait, wait.” I murmured, hands flared with the violent need to reach for him even as he dug his heels into the mattress to push himself away from me. “Crosshair! Crosshair just… I trust you!” I nearly shouted just as his hand locked around the corner of his bed, body tensed to throw himself over the edge, but he froze, taken aback by my words. Seizing that moment of confusion, I continued, voice dropping into a pleading whisper, “I trust you… completely. If you told me to jump off a cliff, I wouldn’t even look over the edge first.”

Brows drawn together, he glanced uncertainly toward me, and I had to fight to keep my gaze from falling to the heartbreaking mess overlaying what was surely an agonizing fracture, focus carefully locked on the brilliant gold streaking the rich brown of his eyes.

“I know that’s not reciprocated – and that’s okay,” I quickly assured him, “but, please, trust me just enough to help you… just this once.” What was he looking for as those eyes burr into mine? What did he see? Did he see the absolute truth behind my words? The desperation for him to believe me? I couldn’t breathe for the endless seconds that lingered amidst a suffocating silence, until, finally, he let his gaze fall, that earlier harshness slipping away as he gave a single nod.

The air fled me in a burst of relief, wasting no time before reaching for my bag. He pulled his left leg up to his chest, arms draping over it while his other leg stretched back out, attention pointedly traveling over his rifle, the mattress, the far wall; anywhere but me as I readied my gear.

“Okay, I’m going to numb it first – quick burn, then it’ll feel a lot better.” His brow tensed, but he kept purposefully still as I shifted to kneel beside him. Without further warning, I pressed the injector gently over the mound of swollen flesh. Tension curled through him, eyes slamming shut as a choked growl caught in his throat.

“I know. Almost done.” I murmured, and, in nearly the same heartbeat, his body deflated in a deep sigh. The mere echo of his relief left me nearly giddy. “Good.” The gentle praise danced quietly over my lips, hands already bringing my scanner toward his jaw. With the sudden freedom of that consuming hurt, the waiting exhaustion slammed mercilessly into him, eyes only cracking open to lazily follow my movements as his shoulders slumped.

“It’s only a hairline fracture – nothing that needs invasion treatment.” I explained through a gentle smile as I read over the results. “I’ll get a bacta patch on it and give you something for the pain after that shot wears of.”

Narrating my actions had long since become second nature while treating patients, but the quiet relief and gratitude in his eyes left me struggling to keep my voice steady. Tongue darting over my lips, I drew a slow breath before carefully pressing the adhesive bandage over his jaw, fighting back the heat threatening to claw its way up my neck beneath the intensity of his gaze.

“Alright… any other broken bones you don’t want me knowing about?” I asked, voice hushed, lips just softened into a tender smile. He made no effort to answer me for a long moment, returning my stare with a stillness that left my heart racing. In that same quiet, he merely shook his head, eyes closing as he leaned back onto his mattress once more. “Guess that means you aren’t going to let me patch up the rest of those bruises?” I pressed, knowing the answer before he bothered turning that deadpan stare back toward me.

With a long sigh, I yielded, returning my equipment to my bag, save a tub of bacta gel left pointedly near his hand, before crawling back toward the foot of his bed. Only after I climbed down and started toward the cabin did he move, hand reaching out to only just catch my shoulder. Freezing mid-step, I turned attentive eyes up to find him staring blinding into the metallic paneling overhead.

“Thanks.” It was quiet; the single word only barely muttering past his lips, but it was everything.    

Fanart!! - by @mythical-illustrator

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[askthedmvillains]

Character info time woo:

Vector

He’s still stuck in space

Through various objects he found in space, he was able to build a computer strong enough to send text based messages back to earth. Unfortunately for him, the texts ended up going straight to the AVL, where a robot was created for him to speak through.

Vector cares less about the fact that his messages are only being shown to the AVL and more about the fact they deliberately choose to save him from space.

El Macho

After being knocked out by Dr Nefario and the Minions, El Macho was taken in by the AVL

Instead of reversing the effects of the PX-41, the AVL just gave him a custom prison uniform

El Macho has made peace with his situation, not feeling much anger towards the others around him. The two thing that have upset him are the facts the AVL 1. Won’t change him back to his human form and 2. Won’t tell him where his son is and how he’s doing.

Balthazar Bratt

After being left to hang in the air stuck in his own bubblegum, AVL helicopter’s captured Bratt and arrested him

The most the AVL did for Bratt was give him clothes, but after that they refused to accommodate for him in any way.

Bratt is extremely unhappy and is constantly trying to escape through any means necessary, which includes ripping up his own clothes (which is why his sleeves are torn). He’s also not feeling well physically because of the poor quality of the prison food.

Despite desperately wanting to escape, the one thing Bratt really wants to know is what happened to Clive.

Scarlet and Herb Overkill

Several years ago, after being frozen by Gru, the AVL arrested the couple.

Scarlet is borderline feral. She feels as if she’s entitled to royal treatment for being the first female villain. Most people show her minimal respect while otherwise being annoyed by her.

Herb on the other hand is similar to El Macho. He’s had several years to relax and except his life. He still loves Scarlet a lot, but treats everyone around him with respect unlike her. In turn, people like Herb

Vicious… 4

Several years ago, after being turned into rats by the zodiac, the Vicious 6 were captured and arrested.

The AVL never captured Wild Knuckles after he faked his death, and he was never tracked again. Since Nun-Chucks was on the older side, she ended up passing away in prison.

The remaining members are incredibly annoyed by their situation. After all these years, the AVL deliberately chose to not turn them back into humans, with the excuse being that they can only be changed back during the New Years. Belle has managed to use this to her advantage, sneaking around the prison, though she’d still rather be human.

Relationship Chart:

Everyone is either chill or has no opinion on El Macho and vice versa

Vector tries to be friendly with most people, but particularly hangs with El Macho

Bratt and Belle get along well, with both of them trying to escape aswell as both of them having interests in particular Eras (Bratt being 80s themed and Belle being 70s themed)

Bratt is extremely annoyed by Vector in general. Vector doesn’t have to strong of an opinion on Bratt, mainly thinking he’s just weird.

Belle is convinced Vector has not interacted with a woman in his entire life.

No one hates Herb.

Scarlet views everyone except Herb as inferior to her.

[skeletonsweatshirt]

Vander dealing with a drunk customer flirting with his s/o?

HEHEHHEEHE I LOVE JEALOUSY PROMPTS

Vander when a drunk customer hits on his s/o

Vander x gn!reader

Tags: JEALOUS VANDER, protective Vander, just a lil self-indulgent, maybe a lil spicy if you squint hard enough

A/N: I am in love with him and also I love everything jealous and protective so I am on my knees thanking you like you are the lord themself. thankyouthankyouthankyou anon.

I feel like Vander gets so overprotective that he checks with other bartenders and trusted patrons to make sure he's not going insane or overthinking stuff.

But bitch when he figures out that one of the patrons is hitting on his partner, feral cannot even begin to explain what this man feels.

He'll try his best not to go ape shit. He really will. Because in his eyes, violence only gets ugly.

It'll start with him getting really touchy. A hand on your hip, an arm around your shoulders, a kiss maybe. He'll try to show the patron that you're his so they'll back off before he has to keep going.

The next step is words. He'll call you babe or say something flirty. He'll whisper gruffly into your ear.

If that still doesn't work, he'll stick to words, but towards the customer instead of you.

Little statements that are passive-aggressive. Like "Hey, buddy. You know saying things like that to someone isn't very polite. Especially when they're already taken."

Next is usually having them forcibly removed. There are very few times he's gotten physical with someone over you, but if their hands start to wander, he can't promise anything.

His protectiveness is 10x worse if you're oblivious to the situation. If you don't realize that the other party is attempting to court you.

Oh baby if you don't realize and he does, he's ready to throw hands.

He has dragged someone out by the collar and thrown them out into the street.

When he comes back and you look confused, asking why he would do that when they were being friendly, he very calmly explains to you that they were attempting to flirt with you.

Usually, on the nights that you get flirted with when the bar gets less busy, he'll take you to the back and either be all lovey-dovey or make out with you so roughly you don't know what hit you. Just so he can show you you're his and get over any insecurity he might've gotten from the events.

Okay, that's it hehe.

"I don't know why anyone would do something like that to someone so pretty." The customer cooed.

You grinned at the patron. This was one of your regulars, and he always paid you compliments. Of course, now he was visibly drunk, but a compliment is still a compliment, right?

Vander stood at the other side of the bar. He was serving customers, as usual, but when he caught a glimpse of a patron chatting you up in his peripherals, his hands halted. He placed down the glass he was cleaning and turned to the bar back that was coming back from a beer run.

You could only hear Vander's gruff voice, not actually what he said to the employee. You assumed he was just asking for a restock on something. You continued the conversation with your customer, ignoring your partner's words.

After a few minutes and a refill on his drink, you heard heavy steps approach you from behind. One of Vander's strong hands was placed on the small of your back and slid up to your waist.

"Hey, babe." He hummed. His eyes went from you to the customer sitting on the other side of the bar, nursing a half-full glass.

Vander's hand ran up and down your side softly. You were used to his random acts of affection. He was a very lovey guy. Like a giant stuffed bear. It was part of why you loved him so much. He wasn't afraid to just be romantic in front of people.

The customer continued to chat you up and compliment you, despite Vander's presence. His hand floated forward and brushed yours, fingers running over your knuckles. When you peeked over, Vander's expression had noticeably changed.

"Sir, it's not very polite to touch someone without asking them first." He spoke lowly.

"It's okay, Van. He's one of my regulars. I don't mind." You say with a soft smile.

"Yeah, buddy. Buzz off. Don't you have other customers to get to?" The patron spat at your boyfriend.

Vander's eye twitched. His hand fell from your waist and he basically stopped over to the gate separating the bar and the open floor of the Last Drop. He walked out to the other side of the bar and grabbed the man by the bicep without looking down."

"What's your problem, man?" The customer exclaimed.

"My problem is that you don't know your place. Now, you're gonna get up and leave or else it's going to get ugly between us. And trust me, you don't want it to get ugly." Vander spoke in a low voice with an oddly calm smile.

"You can't tell me what to-!" The customer started.

Vander glared daggers at the man from the corner of his eye. "I can. Because not only do I own this bar, but that's also my partner. So you can use your legs and walk away, or I can throw you out. Your pick."

The man groaned and stood up. Vander's hand left his bicep and dropped to his side. "Good choice." He whispered. The patron finished his drink and walked off, presumably to the exit.

Vander returned behind the bar where he cupped your jaw in his hand and kissed the top of your head.

"What did you do that for, love? We were just talking." You questioned.

"He was flirting with you. Very obviously flirting with you." He stated.

His fingers glided under your chin and forced you to look up at him. He made eye contact with you for a number of seconds before he leaned in, kissed you, and walked off to return to his duties.

[lesbiansanemi]

I would LOVE to hear about the characters in the kny role swap au 👀 please go insane, I'm here for it.

OH my god okay, so I've written and posted the backstories for Shinobu, Mitsuri, Sanemi, Obanai, Tengen, and Kyojuro (though his isn't completely finished yet) so I just have Giyuu, Muichiro, and Gyomei that there hasn't been much information posted about yet (well, Hashira wise, I'm planning on getting into literally every other character after I've finished up all of those)

But I've been lakdfjla about Giyuu recently (and by extension, Sabito, Makomo, and Urokodaki) so I will ramble about them a bit

So, in the AU, we know that Urokodaki used to be Upper Moon Three. We also know that he was never fond of the Kizuki ranking system, only took the position as a favor to Tamayo, before eventually forfeiting it and not being on the best of terms with Tamayo. We also know he turned and raised Makomo, Sabito, and Giyuu, who are now Lower Moon Four (Makomo) and Lower Moon One (shared by Giyuu and Sabito)

So, spoilers for the AU, if there's anyone who wants to wait for the actual fic detailing Giyuu's backstory, but here we go!

Urokodaki became a demon by chance during the initial spreading of the demonic plague via Tamayo's bloodlines. As most newborn demons, he committed his fair share of atrocities, but as soon as he was more lucid and had better control of himself, he clung to a strict code of morals. He would only eat freshly dead corpses, he would not kill anyone himself. On top of this, he would hunt down and kill feral demons, as well as demons who killed and ate innocents and binged themselves. This is what eventually caught Tamayo's attention. When she initially proposed the Kizuki ranking system, Urokodaki was thrilled, and thought she intended to use it to control and counteract other demons.

And then he learned she planned to target demon slayers above other demons. While Urokodaki is not fond of the demon slayers or their methods, he didn't believe they were the main problem.

Then he meets Kyojuro, and learns he was the first demon Tamayo picked to become a Kizuki, and not only that, she had taken him in and practically raised him, then turned him with the intent to make him a highly ranked demon. It isn't long before he realizes the "Kizuki" are going to be more of a fucked up forced family system that Tamayo is creating in a desperate bid to recreate the family she killed when she became a demon.

But he does begrudgingly admit that this is the best way to enact some semblance of control in the demonic world, and goes along with it for the time being, though he makes it very clear he intends to step down as soon as all 12 spots are filled with suitable demons.

So he works with Tamayo for decades.

Eventually, he happens upon an orphaned little girl, and is quick to take her in. Makomo adores him, and she's a bit strange for a child, but it doesn't take long for Urokodaki to grow to care about her. He does his best to take care of her, but also keep her distanced from him, as he doesn't want this girl to end up involved with demons. He never brings her to the Infinity Palace, and does his best to keep her from being introduced to any other demons. It works, but eventually word gets around to the Corps that there's a little girl who is friendly with a demon.

It goes as one might expect, and they attempt to kill Makomo. Urokodaki doesn't get there fast enough to save her from fatal wounds, and after he kills the slayers, is forced to turn her in order to save her life. He couldn't let her die, but he feels guilty for sentencing her to the life of a demon.

It's a couple decades later again, that he encounters Sabito.

Sabito had run away from a shitty family situation. A large part of said shitty family situation, was that they all insisted Sabito live like a girl, but he doesn't fucking want to be a girl, if you're picking up what I'm putting down. Once again, Urokodaki cannot turn down a hurting child in need of help, but he did learn from his mistakes with Makomo. He keeps Sabito with him at practically all times, resolving to protect him and keep him human.

Eventually, through circumstance, Sabito meets another boy, Giyuu Tomioka. He gets attached very quickly, and Giyuu to him, as he does not have many people in his life that give him positive attention. In fact, it's just his sister, and they're both just barely scraping by. Urokodaki is, once again, a bleeding heart, and can't bring himself to tell Sabito to leave Giyuu and Tsutako alone. He just has to be careful, and make sure no one ever finds out any of them had been friendly with demons, lest the Corps find out and sentence them to execution for it.

(I'm sure you can see where this is going).

The slayers find out. Some villagers report the Tomiokas for harboring demons, and the Corps comes to deal with it. Tsutako tells Giyuu to run and find Sabito, Urokodaki, and Makomo. She'll try and talk her way out of it while he gets help. She barely even gets to try before the slayers cut her down, and Giyuu is distraught.

Guilt-ridden because he believes Tsutako's death is his fault, but not wanting to leave Giyuu alone, Urokodaki takes him in as well, but further isolates Sabito and Giyuu from the human world in an attempt to protect them. Unfortunately, this means letting them be around Tamayo, and the other Kizuki that have since been chosen. And they all begin to plant a dangerous hatred for the Corps, capitalizing on Tsutako's death to do so.

When they are 18, Sabito convinces Giyuu that they should hunt down the slayers that killed Tsutako, and kill them. They manage to find them, but it does not go well for them, and Sabito is critically injured. Giyuu manages to escape with him, carrying him and begging him to hold on until they get to Urokodaki, who can turn him to save his life (or honestly, any demon).

Though he is horrified by what they tried to do, Urokodaki cannot let Sabito die (of course he can't), and turns him. After becoming a demon, Sabito's anger and hatred for the Corps only intensifies.

It is also by this point that he and Giyuu have developed romantic feelings for each other. Sabito is desperate for Giyuu to become a demon, and Giyuu wants to be turned as well. They can't handle the idea of Giyuu remaining human and eventually dying because of it. They ask Urokodaki to turn Giyuu, and when he refuses, Sabito threatens to do it himself. It's at that point that Urokodaki relents, though he is far from happy with it. He'd rather Giyuu's transformation be something more controlled, and be responsible for it himself, rather than for Sabito to try it and it go wrong, resulting in Giyuu dying, becoming a feral, or not being walked through the urges of a newborn demon in a controlled environment.

After Giyuu becomes a demon, he, Sabito, and Makomo all throw themselves heavily into life in the Infinity Palace. They train to eventually become Kizuki, even when Urokodaki tries to get them to stop, and get close with Tamayo and other demons. Tamayo constantly encourages them to become Kizuki, and encourages them to kill slayers. After all, it's because of slayers that they all ended up this way, that Tsutako is dead. It makes sense to want to kill them, and they all deserve that!

Makomo becomes a Lower Moon fairly quickly, and Urokodaki is furious with Tamayo for allowing it, as she knew he wanted none of his children anywhere near Kizuki life in that sense. This is when the tension between them begins to crop up in earnest, but he's still civil with her, and still works as Upper Moon Three with little fuss.

It's when Sabito and Giyuu are named Lower Moon One that he finally decides he will not be a part of it anymore. He hates seeing what Makomo, Giyuu, and Sabito have all become, hates seeing them consumed by hatred and violence, hates seeing them so demonic. He remembers what they used to be, and it breaks his heart to see them reduced to this. He hates knowing Tamayo pushed them towards this, nudged them into it as teenagers, like she did with so many of the other Kizuki. He wants no part of it anymore. He also knows nothing he does at this point will ever convince Makomo, Sabito, and Giyuu to choose a different path.

So he steps down, and this is when the infamous "demon slayer killer" (AKA Sanemi) steps onto the scene, and is eventually turned to fill a now vacant Kizuki spot

Idk! I just think the Urokodaki lore for this series is super neat, especially when you consider it with what's currently going on with the Kamados, how Tanjiro does not want to become a demon, a killer, a Kizuki, while Nezuko has loved to become all those things, and both of them are falling prey to Tamayo's manipulation in different ways. He is watching two more kids go through what his did, and he feels powerless to stop it once again. It's made even more complicated by the fact that Makomo, Giyuu, and Sabito (as well as the Kamados) are genuinely happy in the Infinity Palace with the Kizuki, so he doesn't want to take that away from them, considering how rare genuine happiness is from demons. Is that happiness worth them all becoming monsters?

But yeah! I'm very excited to eventually write this all out in fic form!!! Also sorry this got so long, I am very lakjlkjds about this AU

[randomnameless]

There is no villain route there was never a time in fire emblem where we sided with evil character including conquests the point was to save nohr and go against their father the only outright villainous characters in three houses is the agarthans even rhea and seteth can be friendly and aren’t pure evil and do some good though rhea does need to be removed from power three houses and hopes has reinforced this that rhea was doing wrong like propagating crest system propaganda suppressing tech That cost people their lives withholding information like land development advice for faerghus which always had problems with food and land but only when rhea is taken in does she give advice to the king dimitri and when she could have given the advice for sooner azure gleam has the worst outcome for fodlan rhea hasn’t learnt anything and I roll my eyes at rhea apologists who try to claim she did nothing wrong when she had the game acknowledges she has and shows it

You know, reading this makes me think of a six years old who learnt the poetry he is supposed to recite by heart, and delivers it without pausing, in one breath, talking really really fast.

But it's not because you talk really really fast that no one hears your mistakes or blunders!

There is no villain route there was never a time in fire emblem where we sided with evil character including conquests the point was to save nohr and go against their father

Yep, never before Tru Piss did we have a Fire Emblem game where we sided with a "Lord" who was also the red Emperor, who sided with Izuka and made use of his Feral Ones.

Never before in Fire Emblem we sided with a Lord who invades countries to make theirs great again, or disses on a race calling it incapable of having human feelings.

To be honest, this is why I first picked Tru Piss in FE16, I wanted to see what IS was going to do, and, well, I received the rat scene and "uwu drawing" instead.

I was pretty disappointed.

the only outright villainous characters in three houses is the agarthans even rhea and seteth can be friendly and aren’t pure evil and do some good

The Agarthan, just like the Grima Cult (i forgot its name for all i care about it) is a modern take on the Loptyr cult and even Duma's faithful, where everyone belonging to that group is bad/evil, and responsible for "a majority" of things going bad in their respective worlds.

It sucks, and I really miss the FE5 Loptyr goons who are just "I was only there for money" or "sorry I promise I'll become good now" randoms.

Are you sure Rhea and Seteth can be friendly though? I mean, in the game, they are in charge of a giant orphanage and charity institution, I'm not sure it can be called something good.

though rhea does need to be removed from power three houses and hopes has reinforced this that rhea was doing wrong like propagating crest system propaganda suppressing tech

Damn I forgot the /s

Nopes reinforces that Rhea helps Supreme Leader when Supreme Leader asks for her help and Supreme Leader in turn wants to terminate her because she still has pointy ears. And Clout? Wants to get rid of her because "yolo", being stupid enough to think Supreme Leader will stop her war if Rhea disappears, on top of forgetting that the main responsible for Fodlan thinking Almyra sucks is Almyra itself.

Rhea does not propagate crust system, you see no pizzas in Garreg Mach.

And the Highest Member of the Knights, who later becomes Captain, isn't Thunder Catherine with her Major Charon Crest, no, it's Alois the Crestless average Joe.

As for suppressing tech, this is related to the meme from above, Rhea doesn't remove it, she lets human discover it at an "acceptable pace". Now, she is the one deciding what is "acceptable" from what is not, and it has a lot of questions and interrogations I'd love to discuss with someone who is at least able to use comas and dots.

That cost people their lives withholding information like land development advice for faerghus which always had problems with food

Ah, the famous "Rhea made people starve" take, I thought it was dead and long burried, but Nopes resurrected it!

Maybe you come from a country that has an imperialist history, or some kind of "interventionism", but generally speaking, when you are dealing with States, you do not "impart" them your "knowledge and civilisation" if they don't ask for it.

Does Rhea know about the Galatea food issues?

"She must" well no, because, Faerghus is its own sovereign state, and as shown by Matthias after the Miklan debacle, some people just don't like to ask for help for fear of being trapped later on. Faerghus isn't Garreg Mach's satellite state, no. Also, if Rhea, the Church, suddenly started to help Faerghus gain more grain and food, how would Adrestia and Leicester react? They do not receive the same "help" and, say, if Faerghus suddenly doesn't need to import Adrestian wheat or Leicester fruits, wouldn't they lose economically speaking?

Billy actually reveals what was Rhea, and the devs's solution about this issue : Rhea/The Church won't come to impart civilisation on people, but if they ask for help or even visit Garreg Mach - which is open to everyone - they will be directed to books which might help them.

So there is no "withholding" information, but rather putting it in the continent biggest library, accessible everyday by everyone, provided they don't come to the Monastery to kill its leader of inhabitants.

but only when rhea is taken in does she give advice to the king dimitri and when she could have given the advice for sooner

And yet Ingrid, if she can talk to Billy and spend time in school, can read a book about those issues and learn how to solve them.

Has Dimitri even asked her about his agricultural issues earlier? Have earlier Faerghus Kings asked her how to maximise their harvest before? I don't think so.

For all reasons explained above, Rhea cannot give advice on something unless she's asked about it.

She's not here out to bring civilisation to Faerghus and its people, she did it once for Adrestia and look at how it ended.

azure gleam has the worst outcome for fodlan rhea hasn’t learnt anything

Well, I disagree, Rhea learnt that she has allies and can rely on them again, without placing all of her hopes for a better future on Billy's shoulders because worshipping the player's joystick is that important in FE16.

roll my eyes at rhea apologists who try to claim she did nothing wrong when she had the game acknowledges she has and shows it

In France we have a saying that someone must roll their tongues seven times in their mouths before speaking else they'll speak shit - sometimes I wonder if the same saying can be applied for "typing" on the internet, but maybe if you roll your eyes enough you'll finally learn basic grammar?

I don't really know who you are vaguing about, but in a serious discussion/conversation, some people acknowledge that Rhea did "some things wrong". Context is important though, something that some devoted people on this website, but on social networks in general, elude because it requires to think a bit and not to give a "gut reaction" to the first 3 words they read.

The game acknowledges it... but forgets to tell what it was that she did was so wrong, what other path she could have walked and ultimately, what she is acknowledging - bar not seeing Billy as their own character, but as... something akin to her worthless Mother.

Rhea's wrongdoings are, oddly, never the ones she's derided for in the fandom, so maybe Rhea apologists ignore that part of the game, but they're not the only ones, her detractors too, ignore that part of the game.

And ultimately, as everyone pointed out after Nopes, FE16 was a game meant to make the player feel good, no matter their choices. The plot warped itself around this concept, and another concept which is as important if not more important : the need to sell Hresvelg Tea.

[dhampiravidi]

x-men OC: Hestia Li

template taken from here

General Information

Name: Hestia (Black) Li Aliases: Fury (codename); Hes (nickname) Age: (see this) 15/18 upon enrolling in Xavier's; ~40 as an adult Species: Homo sapien superior aka Human Mutant Ethnicity: half Québécois, half Han Chinese Sexuality: (closeted) Bisexual Affiliation: the X-Men

Physical Appearance

Hestia is a 5'4" (162.56 cm) young woman who engages in regular physical activity. She's lightly toned and has a relatively pale complexion (which, unfortunately for her, tends to burn rather than tan). While at Xavier's, she cuts her wavy dark hair (into a shoulder-length bob), which can easily grow to the small of her back. It’s prematurely graying as a result of her powers. She has striking grey eyes, which appear to glow in the light. Athleisure takes up most of her wardrobe--the rest is slightly chic formal that she wears sometimes when she teaches. Her symbiote form adds another four inches to her frame. Sometimes, her symbiote takes the form of a puddle with its usual eyes when it slinks around or curiously observes people without its owner being present.

Personality

Almost everyone who meets Hestia knows her to be a friendly, loyal, compassionate individual. At her core, that's who she really is. She loves hard and is always willing to be a shoulder to cry on or a giver of advice. Her negative traits are connected to her fear of being left behind (which originated when her parents divorced as a result of her childhood hardship). When her everyday schedule piles up too high with classes to teach, tutoring sessions, and chores, she can tend to run away from it all by taking shortcuts. Also, she tends to ramble when she's nervous, and that happens when she's trying to keep one of her own secrets. Strangely enough though, she is a good undercover agent because she simply doesn't see her job as her secret--as much as it is SHIELD's. Her symbiote typically has the mind of a young middle schooler (slightly feral, eager to please her, frightened by thunderstorms).

History

Hestia was born to a Québécois mother, Lea Tremblay, and a Han Chinese father, Vince Li (surname voluntarily translated to Black). Her mutation became apparent when she was ten, disrupting her otherwise happy family life. Hestia's ability to copy physical skills simply by observing them made her a prodigy in soccer and ballet. It also made her the target of bullying. That was how the unfortunate side effect of her mutation, a feral state triggered by sudden shock, became known. Due to the constant drama, Hestia's parents ended up getting a divorce. Her mother decided to stay in Quebec with Hestia's little brother, while Hestia moved to New York with her father. Mr. Black soon became an alcoholic, so Hestia earned money after school by counting cards in underground gambling rings. Her only solace was going to high school, where the kids saw her as a sweet, perfect popular girl. Tragedy struck again when Hestia was mugged in a park. She tried to fight the gunman and got shot, triggering her feral state. After she'd beaten him up, a symbiote (who Hestia would name Stitch) slithered out from the bushes and forcibly bonded with her, before eating the unconscious criminal. This traumatized Hestia, who spent the next week lying in bed. One day, she suddenly found herself filling out an application for Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. As soon as she got in, she left her dad some money and went to get help from Professor Charles Xavier.

Powers / Abilities: 

Photographic Kinesthesia (she can copy any physical skill she's observed) and Symbiote Physiology (read Eddie Brock's section). The symbiote can be injured and/or torn apart by fire or loud sounds. It hungers for a chemical that can only be found in brains and/or chocolate--phenethylamine. Hestia cannot use her mutant ability while the symbiote is active (on the outside of her skin). She sometimes has it temporarily separate from her so she can, often to replicate martial arts moves, melee weapon techniques, dances, diving, etc. She also sometimes separates from Stitch so it can subtly sneak ahead and help with reconnaissance.

Trivia:

Hestia's 1st friend at the X-Mansion was Scott Summers.

Even before her mutation presented itself, she had a natural talent for soccer and ballet (not to mention doing math).

The grey streaks in her hair are a visual consequence of her mutation. No, her power can't kill her.

She is on-call as a "consultant" for SHIELD, which means she goes on missions for them and lets them study her, in return for them not showing up at the X-Mansion or arresting her or her brother for their crimes.

The money she earned during high school (mostly won in poker) is partly stored in a closet just in case. It's a couple hundred thousand.

Feeling that both of her parents abandoned her, Hestia took the surname "Li", which her ancestors used. It translates to "Black".

Stitch, her symbiote, was named after its own ability to break apart and reform correctly. The movie character is just a nice coincidence.

Hestia's brother, Connor, is two years younger than she is. He is a mutant with a perfect eidetic memory, who works for criminals.

She teaches European French, Phys Ed & occasionally Cantonese.

Hestia loves watching/commentating for hockey with Logan, even though it's a lot of unnecessary Canadian people's screaming.

Verses*

Brotherhood AU

Origins/Wolverine: Hestia still bonds with Stitch, but she's taken by Stryker's people when she's fifteen. She escapes by herself, catching the guards by surprise by using her symbiote's abilities.

The Movies: Hestia is somewhere between her twenties and thirties, adjusted as needed. She's a teacher and an X-Man.

General/Comics: she's in her mid-thirties. She teaches when she's not on kitchen duty or doing a mission for SHIELD.

IRL AU: Hestia teaches something physical (self-defense, kid's sports, ballet, etc.)

*I don't want to write any threads dealing with live-action movies made after The Last Stand. I just don't like their plots & some of the casting (plus the timeline confuses me SO MUCH) --anyway, I'm still down to RP with canons from then!

[mew-cake]

I gotta get this out

tw for animal death

Our neighborhood has a bunch of feral cats. There were three orange kittens that lived under our house specifically, and they were the sweetest little things. (By kittens I mean a year old).One was more friendly than the others. Mama and I called that one Pumpkin. Pumpkin would let me pet him and would flop over to show me his belly and just. Was the sweetest little thing.

Today, this morning, Mama heard something and called me into the den. After making sure the inside cats were all okay, I went outside.

Outside I saw two dogs, and an orange cat dangling from one of their mouths. With walking stick in hand I yelled at the dogs and ran after them. Basically our entire front yard is a hill and I had stepped out wearing only slippers. As I stepped off the porch, my slippers came off. I didn't care and ran through the cold grass barefoot.

The dogs dropped the cat after a little bit, and I stopped to see Pumpkin. He was still alive, but would not live long. Unsure of what to do, I picked him up as carefully as I could and brought him to the porch. He was completely limp.

There I laid him on the ground, keeping my hand under his head so he wasn't laying on the cold tile and telling him it was okay. Mama came out with a towel, and we both sat in the cold with Pumpkin. One of my hands was stained with his blood. We only saw one side of his injuries, not willing to turn the poor thing over. I imagine the other side was worse.

I cried loudly, as I tend to do. All I could say was "it's okay".

After a while I got up as Mama held his little head and put on a jacket. Got shoes. And went to work digging a hole. We knew that Pumpkin wouldn't be with us for much longer. We switched at one point so Mama could see if the hole was deep enough. As my hand moved under Pumpkin's head, I could feel it. Rigor mortis had set in. He's gone.

Eventually an animal control man came, since Mama called them earlier. These wild dogs in the neighborhood are a known problem.

The man was nice. Mama didn't like him, but I understood what he was saying. I'm not mad. He's right. I can't fault the dogs for being dogs, even if they hurt a creature I was emotionally invested in. I'm angry at the dogs, but I do not wish any harm upon them. They need to be trapped and taken care of. Not in a "kill them" kind of way. Taken care of in a "stray animal needs a loving home" kind of way.

Pumpkin was buried, and we went inside. The both of us were freezing. I threw my clothes in the wash and just. Sat. Took my medicine. Cried a little more.

There's just. A lot of things in my heart. While I was digging the hole, I saw one of Pumpkin's siblings sniffing the spot where I put him on the porch. There was also a bloodstain in that spot. I could barely handle it.

Pumpkin is gone. There are two kittens now. Along with a whole colony of cats. We can't help them all. Mama rescued two kittens two years ago, and I've got Baby. Not to mention Jack was from outside too. We've taken on more than we can actually handle, and we can't take anymore.

I'm very tired, but I'm okay. Hurt, but okay.

[redxxstrings]

I might’ve asked this before but: give us the deepest lore on Jiho and Ephie! 👀

AAAAA MY BELOVEDS

so, for background context (necessary to truly Get Them)—

ephie is a demon. specifically a demon with daddy issues who ran away from home because her father (and subsequently, her home life) was extremely suffocating and overbearing to the point of being toxic. she spent the majority of her life being kept under his thumb and on a very short leash (as well as being constantly berated for her fascination with humans), so at the first chance she got, she booked it and ran away to the human world. but for as reckless and immature as she can be, she's not an idiot, and knows full well that one slip up could mean her death — or worse, being sent back home to her definitely pissed father. so she spends all her time drifting from one village to the next; being friendly with people, but not too friendly; never letting anyone get more than an arm's length away from her. it's lonely, but she pretends it isn't. because if it is, then what does that mean for her? all this was for nothing?

jiho, on the other hand, is a human that has been marked as a demon for as long as he can remember. he was born with an incredibly rare and power that allows him to heighten all of his preexisting abilities far beyond their mortal capabilities — but at the same time, the longer he uses said ability, the more inhuman he becomes. in both personality and in appearance, he becomes more animalistic and feral in a way that mirrors the demons that have been at odds with humans for centuries and that are currently trying to eradicate humans entirely. it doesn't help, either, that when he gets to that point, he loses control of himself and his actions and will take to ripping whatever (and whoever) he can get his hands on to shreds, so the first time the people of the village he was born into witnessed it, they shunned him and called him a demon. a monster. to people who were once his friends, to his parents and family, to anyone he came across thus after, that was all he was — a monster and nothing more. and it's lonely, but he pretends it isn't. because even if it is, what can he really do about it?

in the present, though, jiho works with kaguya (who isn't fully relevant to this, but is still integral enough to be mentioned) as an elite duo that get sent out to exterminate any stray demons that come to the surface. it was when they had gotten report of a "demon wreaking havoc in a small village outside the capital" that they met ephie, who was doing the farthest thing from "wreaking havoc" that you could imagine — she was cowering. just curled up behind some house while the actual people of the village had taken up hunting her down before jiho and kaguya arrived.

it was that that stuck out to him first — it stuck out to both of them, but far more so with jiho, because... that was him. at one point in time, he was in her exact position — scared and shaking and alone and being hunted down for doing nothing but existing. he had never hesitated killing a demon before, but this time he did, if only because something about it felt wrong. he couldn't bring himself to slaughter this girl who was crying and staring up at him like he was her last lifeline — not when doing so felt like doing the same thing to his younger self. so he didn't. and for her own reasons, kaguya couldn't, either. so, they lied and said they did, and then defected to take her into hiding with them.

so now jiho (and kaguya as well) is stuck with this demon that he was supposed to kill who does nothing but talk his ear off and annoy him because she thinks it's funny. he claims he hates it — even says directly to her face that she's irritating — but he doesn't, really. deep down, he likes that she isn't afraid of him — most everyone is, and the only other person who isn't (kaguya) doesn't actually like him all that much. he's never had someone like him — someone who wants to talk to him; someone who wants to touch him; someone who wants to actually be near him. even if he finds it annoying how ephie will hang off him at any moment, and how she never seems to shut up, and how she's managed to find every last button of his to press to piss him off — he doesn't regret sparing her. he doesn't regret saving her.

and though she doesn't fully act like it, ephie is immensely indebted to him — to both of them, but especially jiho, who was the only person to not look at her like a monster and instead like herself. if it wasn't for him, she'd be dead — or worse — by now. if it wasn't for him, she wouldn't be able to travel around freely now. if it wasn't for him, she wouldn't be so happy now. if it wasn't for him, she'd still be alone — so utterly alone that it ate at her alive.

they're fiercely protective of each other — the kind of protective where they'd rip someone's throat out with their teeth if they needed to. no one is allowed to harm a hair on her head, or jiho would tear their hand off; if anyone says anything bad about him, ephie would burn their tongue out of their mouth. ephie is the only one who's seen jiho at his worst and wasn't afraid — the only one who looked his monster in the face and still saw him as him. jiho is the only one who's ever treated ephie with care — not at something to be controlled or destroyed or hurt, but something important and special and worth protecting.

ephie loves him, and he loves her, too. and jiho won't admit it, but they're inseparable — whether it be when they're awake or asleep, they're always next to each other; always together.

always, always, always.