#i also wanted to gif a ''but i thought we were pals'' at first but he always faces away from the camera its not worth it

[juicedbeetle]

"but I thought we were pals..."

[blacknailsandheartbreak]

Imagine coming home late all beat up after running into trouble leaving work and Zuko is trying his best to help, but also being Zuko.

WE HAVE A WINNER!

Let's pay the poll toll! Our prompt winner is "it's three in the morning." There sure was a close running for the most part but it came out on top! I might have slipped in another prompt in there ;)

This one is more fluffy/ protective BUT... there might be something some might call smutty on its way soon with the same prompt cuz I know what you babes want ;)

Anywho, so basically you have a late close at the tea shop and run into trouble on your way home but through it all you gain a new pal on the way home, when you get home Zuko is super concerned and worried about you.

~1500 word count, there is mention of blood and cuts and whatnot, but also fluffy protection, so beware, and enjoy :)

You limped down the dark street, coming up to your apartment, you couldn’t believe you made it back. Your head hurts so bad you could swear the throbbing it produced was visible. You felt a drip come from your nose and you wiped it away with your free hand. Red. You groan and wipe it on your black pants. Your ribs were so sore, you could peel over any second. You took a look at the small dog you hold in your other arm against your side. “What do you think Zuko’s gonna say when we walk in?” You humor the small animal. It looks at you with the literal definition of puppy eyes, you look ahead and give its head a small pat.

You walk up to the apartment door and open it. Inside, Zuko shoots up sitting on the couch, he had fallen asleep. He half looks over his shoulder, “Hey, I was getting worried.” he said, trying to wake himself as if he wasn't out cold, you walk towards him. He begins to fully turn around, “Did you have to stay later at the tea shop-” and as soon as his eyes find you he immediately stands up, "Holy shit-". You walked over to him and handed him the dog, “Can you hold this please.” Zuko took the dog dumbly as you walked towards the bathroom. “UM- What the hell happened?? Are you ok??” He put the dog down and his eyes followed you as you disappeared into the bathroom, you didn’t answer, you went to open the mirror to grab the first aid, but your reflection grabbed you first. Zuko appeared in the doorway, “Hello?? I need you to answer me!?” You looked at your reflection and you looked so much worse than you thought. There were scrapes all around your face and was a deep cut through the top of your right eyebrow, the blood streamed down and in your eye, blood smudged across your face and below your nose. There was a gash on your lip which left a trail of blood down your chin. You instinctively lifted your shirt off and you winced, getting caught mid way with sharp pains that halted your motions. “Please, help me.” You asked weakly and Zuko was already assisting you. Your shirt is pulled free and you take a look at your sides, along your ribs are already a dark purple and blue. You groan and begin to remove your pants, the sides of your thighs bruised as well, but not as bad, but the slashed wound in the back of your right calf was the piece on top of the cake.

“Holy shit…” Zuko repeated, “What happened?” You leaned against the counter and sighed, standing bare in your underclothing. Zuko put a gentle hand against your back, for comfort or for his fear of you passing out. You started slowly by grabbing a cloth and wetting it, you started by wiping the cuts, it hurt bad. Zuko gently took the cloth from you and offered to do it for you, you did not protest and took a seat on the nearby stool. “I was coming back home from closing the tea shop, and I walked past this alley- Ahh-!!” You were cut off by Zuko wiping the cold damp cloth across a cut, “Sorry…” he replied softly, and went to wipe some of the dried smudged blood away. You took a deep breath and continued, “I walked past this alley and I heard these two guys picking on what I thought was some kid or- something…” You grit your teeth and wince once again at the cold stinging sensation that seems to almost shut down all your senses, or what's left at this point. “I told them to knock it off and when I approached them, there were actually four of them… and they were beating on the dog… and that made me mad. What cowards they were to pick on such a small innocent thing. Something that cannot… fight back or tell anyone-'' Zuko cut you off, rinsing the cloth, his anger slipping through, “Are you serious?? You risked your life for that dog?! All of this over a dog??!” You look at him, you look deep in his eyes. “Yes,” You replied coldly, “I did.” Zuko grabbed the bridge of his nose and groaned your name in frustration, “You cannot do this kind of stuff! Spirits! You were going to get yourself killed over that damn dog!” You eyed up Zuko as he added "What on earth were you thinking going down that ally so late?!" You had no clue how to answer, "it's three in the morning." He said through his teeth, you had enough, you shot up and Zuko immediately held out his hands because the sway that moved your body seemed more concerning to him then to you, “Don’t you dare tell me what to do, I did well by my conscience and I made it home.” You sternly said, “You barely made it home.” Zuko replied in the same cool tone. While you tried to hold eye contact, you started to lose balance and lean onto his outstretched arms. “Hey, hey, sit down.” Zuko said, “Bite me.” You replied trying to push past him in this blurry state you were in and out of, but to no avail. “If you insist, but you're quite the mouthful.” Zuko quietly remarked as he led you back down to the stool, grabbing the cool cloth and placing it on your forehead. “Come on, keep your eyes open, you cannot sleep, you probably have a concussion.” He said trying to keep you awake, “Zuko,” You said in a worried tone, he looked at you to continue, “I told them to leave it alone and walk away. But they recognized me…” I felt Zuko freeze, “They recognized you?” He asked. “They taunted me, talking about the tea shop, how they constantly see me there. But I’ve never seen them… I didn’t recognize them, Zuko.” You said. Zuko thought for a moment and replied “Don’t worry about anything. You're back home safe and I’m going to take care of you.” And that is what he did, he used the cloth to remove the dried and smeared blood, then he helped you out of your underclothes as he ran you a bath to relax your bruised mussels in and to wash the rest of the dirt, cuts and scrapes. He sat on the stool next to the tub and helped you wash beyond where your sore muscles constricted your movement. Once you were cleaned, Zuko added some new warm water, he set the bucket down and pushed some damp hair behind your ear. You welcomed his touch as you laid in the tub.

"I'm sorry for being so harsh earlier," Zuko started, "I'm so sorry. I was so worried and if only I hadn't have fallen asleep-'' You stopped him there, "No, don't say that, don't go down that road." you warned him. "No, if I was awake, I would have noticed the time and gone looking for you. I would have." You look at him with stern eyes, "Don't blame yourself, this isn't on you." You said shortly. Zuko looked at you with a gaze you so often saw and said "If I could take all your pain, all your cuts and bruises, I would in a heartbeat. you are a good soul, many people would have just kept walking." You hold his eyes, taking in his words, "I don't think you would have." You told him, "I think you would have helped too." He gives you a half hearted smile. "You think too good of me." He replied softly, and after a moment he added "Ok how about we get you dried off? It didn't look like anything needed stitches so I can bandage you up, we will have Katara look at you in the morning. I think you need some time to relax." You felt a lump in your throat rise with emotion as it was a sweet thing to consider. Just you and him for the next bit cooling down and relaxing. You nodded and tried to position yourself as best you could as Zuko reached in and basically picked you up out of the tub. You sat in the towel as Zuko bandaged up your calf, and the cut on your face. He picked you up once again and sat with you on the couch, making you both some warm tea and hoping to keep you up and talking until the early morning when he could fetch Katara for more help. But until that point he would sit with you and do what he could.

[inkwolvesandcoffee]

Coy Messages & New Love (Daddy Dom!John Price on Tumblr Headcanons)

Or: More headcanons for a story I might write someday.

CoD Masterlist

Username: CaptainBear

He’s a soft Daddy Dom but with a rough edge. So is it any surprise John is very possessive yet also genuinely caring?

And kinda heartbroken you don’t live in England despite coming across as British.

Is always the first to like your posts.

And despite the rules you set, especially the DNI if you’re 40+ (in my mind, John is about 42), you allow him to interact with your content.

Because there’s something drawing you to him, something inexplicable that craves his attention. Something that keeps you hoping there’s a chance.

Your heart almost leaps out of your chest when you receive a notification.

CaptainBear sent you a message.

CaptainBear: Hey, I just wanted to say I thoroughly enjoy your blog and you seem like a very darling girl. And pretty to boot! You probably won’t respond to this and that’s fine, but I thought I’d finally gather the courage to pop in and tell you.

CaptainBear: Also, if I may be blunt, seeing you wear that choker in combination with that bunny shirt makes it very difficult to think. If you were at base with me, I don’t think I’d be of any use. Mission planning would be nigh on impossible.

(your_username): Base? What do you do for a living?

CaptainBear: I’m in the military. Captain.

(your_username): Wow, seriously?! That’s incredible! But, with all due respect, what is a man like you doing in a place like this?

CaptainBear: Satisfying my curiosity. Maybe on a mission to find something.

(your_username): Which is?

CaptainBear: Companionship. With luck, yours.

(your_username): What’s your name, soldier? If you tell me, I’ll see what I can do.

CaptainBear: It’s John. Sorry, should’ve mentioned that. Quite a generic name too, I know.

(your_username): It’s alright, John. Is it short for anything or just John?

CaptainBear: It’s short for Jonathan, but only my Mum calls me that.

(your_username): But what if I did?

CaptainBear: God, you’ve got no idea how much I now want to hear you say it.

(your_username): Maybe someday you will.

He regularly checks up on you, even multiple times a day. Look, John just wants to make sure you ate, stay hydrated, and are healthy.

When he's on leave, it's not uncommon to get a message from him accompanied by a picture of a pint with the context he's at a pub with his pals. More often than not, it's followed by a confession he'd rather spend the evening with you.

Loves it when you send him photos, especially to show off new lingerie you bought.

Thrives on the knowledge he gets to see more of you than anyone else and loves the thought you’re showing others what they can’t have.

Because it’s all his.

Has confessed to jerking off to them… a lot.

Shares little bits of his day with you. He’d be at a bookshop and ask you to pick something for him to read or your recommendations. Or he’ll be cooking and be struck with curiosity because what is your favourite food? What do you like to eat?

CaptainBear: Y/N, I made a brownie.

(your_username): Oh, is it any good?

The photo he sends you answers the question. Nevertheless, just to be sure and give him the chance to give context, you send a follow-up question. (your_username): Did you use 90% cocoa chocolate or is it…

CaptainBear: It’s burnt… so now you know I can’t bake. I’m a man of many talents, but baking isn’t one.

(your_username): I’m sure you more than make up for it otherwise, sir.

CaptainBear: You’ll find out when we meet, my dear.

Assures you that when he’s away on deployment he’s not making up a lie to be with another. And in order to prove that, John will sneak in photos to show you he’s really in Iraq or wherever else.

Drives the task force up the wall because he gets quite lovey dovey in private.

Leaves compliments on your posts which are laced with possessiveness and his obsession with you (my pretty Dollie, sweet little thing, etc.) on your posts. He tags you in photos and reblogs too to let you know what he's into, thinks you like, and hopes for your relationship and possible future.

Furthermore, he also shows you claimed him via reblogs and by stating he’s ‘taken and proudly devoted to (your_username)’ in his blog’s bio (even before he's asked for your submission, which he is pretty sure you'll give him. Until then, it's a way to stave off unwanted attention).

Gets especially gooey with lust and affection when you show him the plushies you’ve crocheted (totally not saying this because I crochet, haha). Like, he’ll immediately brighten when he sees a '(your_username): John (and occasionally sir or even Daddy later down the line), look at this!' followed by a photo of you snuggling with your new animal buddy.

As time passes by and you two get to know each other in more ways than one, you finally decide to meet. The moment you tell John you booked a train to London during the time he’s on leave he’s overjoyed. Ecstatic even.

The moment you enter King’s Cross, he spots you and practically runs over to wrap you up in a warm bear hug before you can get so much as a greeting out. The only sound you make is a surprised squeal as he lifts you up and twirls you around. “My little lady, finally home.”

At last, you regain your voice. “Hello to you too, Jonathan.”

Though he loathes hearing anyone else use his full name, he melts on the spot when you do. Moreover, he’s flattered you remembered the promise he thought was an empty one, a fleeting wish.

Turned into a dream come true.

Takes you out for coffee and Build-A-Bear as a first date the day after because your first day together gets lost to unpacking and settling into the Hackney townhouse he calls ‘home’. Lost to getting the messages (holding hands all the while), learning how each of you likes their coffee, what his favourite cigars are, what your favourite food is.

Lost to the feeling of what it’ll be like to live together.

It’s surprisingly much easier for John to tune into you than he expected. Henceforth, he picks up on the hesitation that underlines your movements, the slight shudder in your lips while he tries his best not to get completely lost in you.

“We don’t have to do this,” he hastily says between kisses, needing to get the words out before you start something you won’t want to finish.

“No, I want to, John. I want you.” You told him you’re a virgin and have given off clues that the concept of actually having sex is, to be honest, quite frightening. Nevertheless, you’ve put your trust in him and feel secure in his touch, his embrace.

“I know, love, but I mean that we don’t, shouldn’t even, have sex if you don’t want to.” His features soften. “Don’t do it if you feel like you need to to please me because you don’t. I’ll wait for when you’re ready. I told you before, this isn’t about sex or the dynamic. I love you. Love who you, you as a person, are and I don’t want to pressure you into doing anything you don’t want.”

After reassuring him and giving him your consent explicitly multiple times, he picks you up and carries you to the bedroom.

Tries to be gentle the first time, but ends up being rough anyway. He’s utterly enchanted, nay, enthralled by how you look, unraveling over and over again.

All because of him.

Nonetheless, John refuses to cum inside you until you’re on birth control and he has bought a box of proper condoms.

“It’s not that I don’t want to have sex with you or cum inside. Believe me, I do, every minute of the day. Drives me fucking mad, but,” he caresses your hair as he pries your legs away from his waist, ”I have to think about your health as well.”

You don’t protest, don’t want to after a soft kiss on the forehead and a husky “I’m sorry, love”. In response, you lightly squeeze his arm and shake your head. “Don’t apologise. I also won’t force you to do things you don’t want to do. Though it’s nice.”

“What is?”

“You looking out for me.”

“‘Course I do,” John snaps into you, picking up the pace again that has you seeing stars, “I’m your captain. Your man. Your bear.”

Those very words, combined with his warm presence, tips you over the edge.

A content echo of his name fills the room, rings in his ears as a satisfied sigh falls from your lips and tears stain your cheeks. It’s this image of chaotic beauty, of gorgeous ruination, which almost makes him break his promise. Nonetheless, after a few more sharp thrusts, he pulls out. Thick creamy white spurts draw an intricate pattern on your skin.

His mark.

John rests his forehead against yours, basking in the afterglow. “I love you.”

Today and the many days he hopes are ahead of you.

[s1ater]

cherry pie.

pairings. louis partridge x fem!reader

summary. reader never would have thought about getting high until she seems to have lost all her morals in one night with a boy she had never met before.

warnings. swearing, underage drinking and smoking

ricky rocks. YALL PLEASEEE bare with me. you can probably tell this is an older story because of the format, but just disregard the first half, i know it’s the lower end of my writing. it kinda gets better 😬 (edit: this story is so mid, i’m just trying to clear my drafts)

the room danced with colors, so many colors and shades you seemed to have never seen before. unfamiliar with their cause and purpose, unsure why you couldn’t touch them; it frightened you with the way they moved around, the way they twirled around your head like little ballerinas.

you swallowed, dropping your head back against the grungy brown couch sat in the corner of one of the back rooms of connor’s house, a boy you found yourself calling on day after day for the past two months for fun, and by fun you meant sex.

but tonight, you hadn’t seen the boy for what you could count as hours. there were other things on his mind rather than a high off their ass you. other pretty girls with less clothing on their bodies and longer hair that was paid more attention to than your own.

you couldn’t care less at that point in time as you felt so deep in a haze, nothing could pull your attention. nothing, until the seat next to you sunk in from the pressure of bodyweight and another high body, seeing the same things you were seeing, feeling the same things you were feeling. 

he just had it more under control. 

“you going to stare at the ceiling all day, love?”

you rolled your head to meet the eyes of a crazed blonde with matching brown eyes. delight swirled in his irises while he looked at you with also dazed eyes, almost ceased shut from swelling of the high. you looked amazed right back at him despite sober you would have been disturbed, never seeing a person so out of their mind.

“who are you?” you stared at him, shocked. 

“your new boyfriend,” he wiggled his eyebrows, jumping and readjusting himself up against you, his arm now slinging up and over you shoulders. a new kind of energy swelling through his chest, “i say we go on a date.”

he stared in front of him focused full hearty, as if visualizing something at that moment. you squinted, looking to where he was looking as if trying to see what he was seeing, but not enough weed could put you on his level. 

“i say, we leave right now, get some pie, maybe some coke. whatever you like sweetheart, i’ll give it to ya.” “I think your sweetheart wants some space, jake,” your eyes looked from the boy who sat next to you, jake, to the boy who now stood before the two of you, an unimpressed look on his face. his arm reached out to jake, practically yanking him from your side. “alright pal, let’s go for a walk.”

you watched jake stumble into him, “but louis, she’s pretty.”

louis glanced back over his shoulder as he begun to pull jake away from the couch and toward the door, now really coming to your attention. his eyes raked you up and down before smirking a little bit, nodding to himself, “sure man, she is.” 

he begun to walk away with jake wrapped around his shoulder before you got up fast almost tripping over your feet, not wanting them to go, “wait, i want a pie.” 

he looked back at you and your disoriented self. your shoulders were slung low, making you smaller than you actually were. your hair was all staticky, hanging above your head like a crown, and your eyes; dilated and filled with innocence.

he smirked, looking you up one more time before nodding you over, cuing you to follow after him, his arm still holding jake to his toes.

the boy’s car was blue. louis’ car was blue. it was one of those old, nice, restored cars that must have been worth thousands. the interior had light brown leather seating that made noise every time you shifted and readjusted yourself due to the old springs lying beneath. it made you giggle as you sat next to him in the front seat, jake lying in the back due to him not being just high, but rather cross faded. louis had apparently found him completely plastered out of his mind once he had first arrived at the party, leading him to hand jake a blunt to finalize his out-this-world experience. it wasn’t smart, but it kept louis entertained to say the least.

louis had glanced at you multiple times as he drove through the silent streets. he seemed eager or maybe even a little irritated as he watched you bounce around, lacking the ability to sit still as your eyes darted everywhere, from street lights to stop signs to anything that’d fully occupied your vision.

“have you ever been high before?” he asked, stopped at a stop light with red lights shading upon both your faces.

“nope,” your eyes wandered across the ceiling of his car. you ran your fingers along the soft carpeted interior—strange, but very stimulating and soft—making you feel all fuzzy inside of satisfaction. “louis, i love you car.”

he chuckles lowly, directing his eyes back to the road, “a lot of people do,” his lips were turned upwards into a slight smirk. it made the fuzzy feeling in your stomach turn warm as there was something very satisfying about just the way he looked. “we’re here.”

your eyes flick to the front of you where your visions bursts with neon lights beaming from the large “diner” sign pinned against the small vintage looking building. you're quick to slip out of the car to the euphoric sight.

“y/n!"

you stopped in your tracks at the sound of your name, glancing over your shoulder where your eyes immediately find a group of boys congregating together with one single boy appointed to attention to you. 

louis. 

"hold on. give me a minute, guys," you watch louis from five feet away, brush his friends off despite the yearning looks of amusement on all of their faces, looking between the both of you. he’s far from bothered or just doesn’t notice; brushing them off before meeting you to where you stood.

it was a wednesday after school. the sweet sound of louis’ voice and sight of his captivating face was the last thing you thought you’d come across. it must’ve been a mutual feeling with the way he looked you up and down, all winded looking. 

"you're a hard person to find."

"you've been looking for me?"

"of course," he has a cigarette in his mouth.

"I almost didn't think you were real."

"of course i'm real, sweetheart," he grins harder at you. "that fucked up, were you?"

you snort. if not being able to remember half of what took place that night counted for being fucked up, you took the trophy.

"well, alright. i'll take that as you had a pretty good night."

"one of the best."

“good,” he grins, “that’s a rare occasion for girls like you.”

“girls like me?” you scoff, arching a brow. his sentence could easily be something taken for offence, but the lighthearted tone to his voice only proved he was looking to mess with you. 

“yes,” he laughs with you. “usually drinking is the only thing you’d catch a teenage girl doing for non-sober purposes.” 

you nod, agreeing, because he wasn’t wrong, “i’ve had a fair amount of experience with alcohol and let me just say, i’ll be steering clear of that for a while.” 

“ah,” he tips forward on his feet in amusement. “i could’ve guessed you’re a wild one with your liquor, y/l/n. make some questionable choices.” 

you feel your face heat up in thought, “i won’t say you’re wrong.” 

louis lets out a small huff of laughter, before pausing all movement. he stares at you for a moment with narrow brows, as if trying his best to read you, “you ever wanna smoke with me, just let me know, alright?” he patted your back before suddenly walking past and away from you. your back was to him now but you could hear pat pat pat of his feet in the grass.

you frown, your eyes finding the cracks of the sidewalk as you think of how brief and unusual that was. you feel a large hole in your chest of unfulfillment. 

“louis, wait,” you shifted around rather quickly as a reality hit you, but you didn’t make any moves to chase after him. he turned as well as if waiting for it. “you uh, you didn’t tell connor i was with you guys, did you?”

yikes.

that’s not what he wanted to hear. 

louis pinched the bud of his cigarette, nodding to himself, thinking contently to his answer before exhaling, a thick cloud of white swirling out into the air before your eyes. you feel dazed, still high from the days before, filled with such naïve joy and lost thoughts of things you couldn’t remember now.

he threw his cigarette on the ground, eyes meeting yours again, only they were hard now and filled with no light heartedness like all times before. and his voice wasn’t soft or full of amusement either but dry as he stared you dead in the eyes, “why, he your boyfriend?”

your teeth sunk into your bottom lip, your eyes not meeting his for a while until after you thought about your answer. and it was an easy answer, no, but it was never something you’d ever consider a question. 

“no, no he’s not.”

“you sure about that?”

“not my type,” you smile slightly, examining louis’ pale cheekbones and facial features, the cold of the weather turning his complexion slowly red. your eyes drag to reach his red chapped lips.

him, he was your type. 

“enough of your type for you to fuck him,” he gave you a pointed look as if he had caught you in the act of something, and almost immediately your cheeks burned, like you were caught for something you knew you shouldn’t have been doing. 

you didn't understand why or how he knew. louis was someone you didn't know at all and what you and connor did was something you didn't tell anyone.

"you're surprised?"

"yes."

"why do you care what he knows, let alone fuck him?" he doesn't say anything more on how he knows like you hoped he would. "if he's not your type?"

you bite into your bottom lip, wincing because you didn't know the answer to it, "I don't."

"but you do," he slightly smiles but it's only out of annoyance as his voice catches up to cut you off on your lie. "I think you do, y/n. and you just don't want him to know we kissed."

"your mouth tastes like cherry."

"so does yours."

fuck.

"no, louis..." you wince, immediately regretting stopping him. "that's not what I meant. he doesn't mean anything to me."

he scoffs, "funny."

he doesn't believe you. not even close.

"you know he has label on you."

"a what?" you frown immediately, taking a step forward out of instinct.

“i’m a fool to think you’d ever stop liking him,” he holds his face, running his fingers along the sharp lines of his jawbone as he thinks about his idiotic hope that’d you so fastly fall for him as you did with connor. “foolish to think you’d drop him over one night.”

you’re even more confused now, “it was one night, louis.”

“you act like there isn’t the possibility that i’ve known you even before that night, y/n,” he has a smile that comes on his face but it isn’t something genuine. it’s annoyed. “your jerkoff of a boyfriend isn’t as secretive about you as you think.”

“he’s not my boyfriend.”

he scoffs, “you keep saying that.”

“because it’s true.”

“do you know what he says about you?”

“obviously not, louis,” four steps forward, four steps closer. “you keep speaking of ‘labels’ and whatever, but why don’t you just say it. what does he say about me that is so crazy?”

he didn’t expect the sudden brief and assertiveness you pull with your movement and words. it knocks him into a slight revelation as all he can do is stare at you and breathing, memorizing this side of you. 

“did he say i was a whore?” that was the only possible thing that you could think of at that moment that could be so bad. “he tell you i was a slut?”

it’s silent. you watch him think and the way he unintentionally avoids your hard stare with the thought process.

“ask him yourself.”

**

“has anyone ever told you you have pretty eyes.”

you feel your face burn upon the comment. everything in your body felt as if was about to burst upon the simple company of louis. even though it had to of been hours since connor’s house, and the diner, and even dropping jake off at his own home, you still felt out of your mind in the best way possible. all of your sense were still high, but your vision was fuzzy and you felt lag in your movement.

how were you still high?

“you have,” you felt yourself giggle, to which he smiles with a tip of his head, watching you.

“cute,” his fingers rubbed against his mouth in thought before reaching to you. you felt yourself inhale sharply at his sudden movement and hold your breath once they reached their destination; raking through your hair. “how does he do that to you?”

“what?”

“nothing,” he shook his head, still twisting his fingers through soft strands of your hair. you feel yourself relax, watching him and the way he seemed so focused on just you. “you’re just very pretty, y/n.”

you feel your eyes slightly widen, but his face doesn’t shift at all. he’s calm, while you feel your entire body burst once more into heat. you’re itching to move, you can’t just sit still in that burning warmth beneath his stare. you feel yourself move, leaning forward on your knees so your lips meet louis’.

louis smiles against the pressure of your lips against his--he almost forgets to kiss you back because of it. 

almost. 

his hands rack up and down the front of your body, lightly pressing into the hold he had around your rib cage, as if willing to crush you beneath his grasp as long as that meant you wouldn’t leave. this contact isn’t enough even for you. you want to feel him all over and the heavy hands holding your body isn’t enough. 

you’re on his lap now, one of your hands holding the top of his shoulder while the other claps his cheek. louis feels as if his own body is about to burst beneath you... this is all he has wanted, for a while, and now that he’s got it, he feels it’ll destroy him. you’re ignorant to his feelings, but you feel just as feverish with your heart thump-thumping within your chest, as if speaking to his. 

“your mouth tastes like cherry,” your chest is heaving up and down as you pull away, your wide stare boring into his own eyes with something of delirium. 

he’s smiling wide, tipping his head back against his seat to see your face better, “so does yours.” 

now you smile, “i like you louis.”

he almost groans, rolling his head side to side at the sound of those precious words, “you’re killing me,” he pulls the sentence straight out of his mouth like it was sarcastic, but he meant it, “say it again,” he wanted it. 

“i like you,” you repeat, this time his hand is on your cheek. “please kiss me.” 

oh, jeez. 

he stares, breathless, “okay.” 

***

it was a week after your fallout with louis and you couldn’t think about anything other than that. you felt a sudden emptiness and need for something that you barely even had; louis. 

every little micro interaction you had with him ran through your mind like a record, over and over till you felt you were going to throw yourself off a cliff. and it wasn’t just the connor comment--which was something you really, really couldn’t stop thinking about--but the seemingly quick liking he had taken to you. 

it had caught you off guard, but the more you thought about it, the more curious you became as to the whole thing; which was what led you here; connor’s house, on a friday night where he was once again throwing. 

“what have you been saying about me?” you stood in front of him, connor, your vision narrowed as you stared at him, examining him as if his whole existence was strange. 

“what?” his confusion was genuine as this question was rather abrupt and you made no attempt to make introductions. 

“you know louis partridge?” 

connor looks between you and the people he currently stood with, confusion still reeking his features, “yes..?”

“what have you been telling him about me?”

“you want to talk about this somewhere else?” 

“i want a straight answer,” you feel his hand wrap around your bicep, pulling you away from his crowd without an answer from you. 

“which i can give you if you weren’t so vague... why are you talking to partridge?” 

“you got a problem?”

the two of you are stopped in front of a boy; jake. 

“no, man, i think we’re good,” connor pays him no mind, side stepping him fast with you still in grip, continuing to interrogate you. you ignore connor, watching jake the whole way you’re being pulled while he watches you. you feel as if the boy isn’t real, like he was someone you had made up when you were high, but there he was, staring just as shocked, but equally skeptical as you were pulled further and further from him. 

“are you listening to me, y/n?”

“what?” 

“i asked you what you were on about?” you’re now in an empty corner, secluded away from the rest of the party. “haven’t seen you in days and you’re on a tangent about a boy you barely know, what’s going on?”

you finally focus on him, barely processing the words he was putting in your ears, but you didn’t have to in order to hear the fake sympathy and concern. 

“how do you know louis?”

he shurgs, “see him every time i throw. gotta get to know my usuals.” 

“yeah, and how well have you gotten to know him?”

he shakes his head, feeling attacked, “why?”

“because i think it’s my right to know what you’ve been saying about me to him and whoever else,” the seal of your calmness breaks as you extend an arm out, ready to scold him for anything he was about to say. 

his expression drops in return, knowing any attempt to make you calm and make the situation subtle was out of his hands. connor knew you well enough to know you were too far into your frustration to calm you down. 

“what’re you talking about?”

but that didn’t mean he had to comply. 

“your new choice in men is obviously not working out for you. even they know i’m the best you’ll ever have.” 

“what?” your head drops forward, taken aback at the sudden escalation connor had taken to his approach in words. “what the fuck are you on about?” 

he smirks, pushing the red solo cup he had up to his lips, glancing around before looking back down to you, “why else do you think he lied to you about whatever it is you’re asking?”

“i can’t believe this,” you pinch the bridge of your nose, “pull yourself out of that goddamn lie before you make yourself look even more like a fool. what have you been saying about me?”

“i find it best you don’t lie about this one, mate. you have an audience of witnesses,” there’s a hand on your back and a voice intervening. 

the two of you focus to louis who suddenly stands behind you, daring connor to push it. the boy looks confounded looking between you, louis, and the crowd of boys behind him. he doesn’t know what to do within the corner he had backed himself into. 

“whatever, this is my own fucking party. i don’t need to do shit,” he shoves past all of you. you all watch him storm away, not looking back, leaving you all to yourselves in the dust. 

“let’s talk,” louis says immediately the moment you look up to him, nodding off in a random direction. 

you slowly nod, following him. 

“i didn’t think you’d actually ask him.” 

a laugh gets caught in the back of your throat, shaking your head at the ignorance as he opens the passenger door to his car for you, “yeah?”

“yeah,” he slides into his own side of the car. “but then again, what would i know about you?”

“a lot, apparently. more than i would guess,” you lean your head against the palm of your hand, staring at him carefully. “you gonna tell me what he said now?”

louis looks hesitant, not even looking at you anymore as he thinks on how to answer. he doesn’t want to answer, it’s that simple, but he owes it to you to give you something sense he was the one who told you in the first place. 

“when i met connor, he talked about you a lot. a lot for someone i barely saw. it was like every party he had something new to say or nothing new at all. as long as it was you he was talking about,” he smiles to himself, thinking of all the bragging and praising he had put into you, all for connor to just... “you were like a prize to him, y/n--until you weren’t. he called you easy, but you were his. he said he could walk you like a dog because he was the only guy you thought of.” 

you feel rage and annoyance fume in the base of your chest as he speaks. he can see it form in your eyes, take over any look of calmness or subtlety from before. you make a move to push yourself back and out the door but louis is quick to grab your arm, pulling you right back to him, only closer. 

“hold on there, cowgirl,” your almost in his lap. “you’re better than that.”

“am i?” you’re squirming, almost pulling from the grasp his grasp if it weren’t for how warm he made you feel.

“yeah,” he’s smiling at you. “why waste any more of your time with him anyways when you could just be here with me?”

you couldn’t help but fall victim to the pulling sensation on your lips to smile at him. you feel that fuzzy feeling creep up into your stomach at his stare like the first time you were both alone in his car and suddenly all your anger at connor melts away.

“only if you offer me cherry pie.”

@aliyahsutherland @ioveisabel @multifandom-obsessed @remuslupinluvr @cryinginsanity @rebbyr @cc13723things @p-prettysour @sweeth0lland @heyitsmeimdead @ishwiya @thehuntress09 @Anushi @ss-tipton @black-rose-29 @rrosecar @thedeadlythoughts @amourtentiaa @instabull @rudypankowisdaddy @sunsetcurving @225786As @lukewearingbeanies @voiddtrinity @kiramdd @oliviasrodrighoe @s8xwz @highkeygolden @kitkat-mini @anicon_bby @itzstacie @spencybear @Msvrgs914 @whoreforsophialillis @w0nderr @deadbeatbarb @phantompogues @i-love-scott-mccall @alexmercer-reginaldpeters @greengarsstuff @rowena-ravenclaws-diadem @dayanaralight @felixulvr @demigirl-with-problems @hizziestial @whoreforpsychopaths @sunsetcurve-95 @siriusspuppyy @mxsmwndr @youdontlikethatdoyoucupcake @andrewgarfields-girlfriend @xivilivix @morganaah @eichenhouseproperty @confusedchildstuff22 @alliechickens @moonlighy @ancientimes @gabeisinluv @thelaststraw3 @i44nishi @navyabhatnagar @iluvt4ylorswift @liltimmyst @falcvns @alexxavicry @grxcisxhy-wp @esposadomd

[igncrxntripley]

their secret weapon pt. 4

request (anonymous): Just thinking it would be funny if secret weapon has an ex who's like 6'10 and they're on good terms, right person wrong time vibe yk? And he shows up to support her and they're like whomst???

tags: SFW, poly!judgement day, fem!reader, ex!brooks jensen, possessive TJD

A/N: i’m on a brooks jensen kick lately so he may not be 6′10 but forgive me...also i needed to put this out bc the inspiration is hitting me like a brick and i have ideas you just aren’t ready

mentions: @babybatlover​ @ripleyswhore​

Before The Judgement Day welcomed Y/N with open arms, she didn’t have many solid connections to the people she shared the ring with. Of course she had friends, but the industry sometimes made it difficult. That changed when she met Brooks, who had started training at the Performance Center not long after she did. He was someone she could confide in, someone she felt a connection with as more than a friend. Their relationship developed, but the two decided to split. They both still loved one another, but it wasn’t the right time. 

Y/N had to admit that ever since becoming the fifth member of The Judgement Day, she hadn’t thought about Brooks once. He hadn’t reached out to her since it was revealed that she was a new member, and it spoke volumes that she hadn’t thought about picking up the phone once to call him. Little did she know, he was in shock. And now that it had been a few weeks, Brooks thought he needed to saw something. 

The group was backstage at Monday Night Raw the five of them relaxing in their locker room before their appearance for later on in the show; Damian and Finn were stretching in one corner, Rhea was in another doing pull ups, and Y/N had her head in Dominik’s lap as they played video games together. For a crew who was so tough on the outside, they really were just five normal people. They all looked at the door when a knock came from the other side, and they were confused as they weren’t expecting anyone. Finn was the first to move, so when he opened the door he was shocked to see none other than Brooks. 

“I’m sorry, who are you?” He asked the taller, larger man. “Last I checked we didn’t invite you.” Brooks rolled his eyes a little and tried to look behind Finn for Y/N, in which they made eye contact from her spot on the couch. “I need to talk to Y/N.” Brooks said confidently, Y/N already standing up even though Dominik tightened his grip on her waist. No one knew who Brooks was or what his connection to their girl was, so they were on edge once he said why he was there. “Sorry pal, she’s a little busy.” Finn said and began closing the door, but Y/N got up and stopped him. “Brooks…hi.” She said softly. 

To say the other four members in the room were shocked was an understatement. Not only were they surprised, but they were protective of Y/N and wanted to know who this was at the door. She turned to them and gently put her hand on Finn’s arm since he was the closest. “Give me a few minutes.” Y/N was going to go with Brooks regardless, but once her partners nodded in agreement and gave her the space she needed she closed the door and walked down the hallway with Brooks. 

Once they were alone the two embraced each other for the first time in a long time, and it felt good to Y/N to have someone there she knew cared about her. “God, baby. It’s so good to see you.” Brooks said into her shoulder as he squeezed her smaller body. She still smelled the same, of strawberries and flowers but now with a hint of cologne from each of her boys in the room. And her feminine aesthetic hadn’t changed in the slightest either, but he was still worried about the long term effects of being involved with The Judgement Day. “I’ve been worried about you.” 

Y/N pulled back to look at him with furrowed brows. “Worried?” She asked softly. “Brooks, I…I know you mean well but you don’t need to be worried. The four of them are amazing, and they’ve helped me so much.” Brooks put her down and gently held her arms. “You feel that way now, but they’re going to turn on you like they’ve turned on others in the past.” He warned her. “I just…I hate how people have treated you in the past and I don’t want it to happen again.” Y/N gave a soft sigh and looked up at her ex. “As if you wouldn’t be the first one I’d call if I needed help.” She teased softly, making him chuckle. “I promise you, I’m happy, And the four of them take amazing care of me.” Brooks just had to trust Y/N like he always had, so he nodded and pulled her into another hug. “I’m proud of you. And I’ll be watching you tonight front and center.” 

Y/N could feel herself buzzing with excitement when Brooks told her. She smiled at him and practically jumped up and down. “I think You’ll like the new stuff I’ve been working on. But I have to go get ready, so I’ll see you later?” Brooks nodded and gave her one last kiss on top of her head as a good luck before she ran back to the locker room. When she walked inside, she was met with four stares from four quite large individuals. 

“Care to explain?” Rhea asked first, her arms crossed over her chest and the look on her face making Y/N nervously play with her fingers. “He’s…he’s my ex. And we still have a really good relationship so he just wanted to talk.” She explained quickly. Damian shook his head a little and stepped closer. “Do you remember what we told you when you became a member of The Judgement Day, mi amor?” His words made Y/N shiver. Finn followed suit and stood in front of Y/N, brushing some of her hair behind her ear. “In order to be the very best you can be, you need to leave everything behind that was holding you back.” He reminded her softly. Y/N frowned and looked at the four of them again. “I-I know, but…but that’s not Brooks! He’s always supported me…” she said softly. 

Dom was the next one to speak. He shook his head and stayed where he was, running a stressed hand through his hair. “That’s what you think. But you need to trust us for all of this hard work to truly pay off.” She turned her head from her partners and tried to think about what they were saying, but she knew they were right. “Yeah, I guess.” She said softly. In the back of her mind, she knew it wasn’t going to be that easy to cut off Brooks. But she still had a match later in the night and she couldn’t think about anything other than that. 

Her partners all smiled in response, and this time Rhea was the one to step closer and wrap her arms around Y/N. “We promise this is the right thing to do, baby. You won’t regret it.” She said softly. Y/N nodded and leaned into Rhea’s touch. “Thank you all. I mean it.” Even though she still meant every word she said, she was still thinking about seeing Brooks in the crowd during her match tonight…and whether she should tell her four partners about that.

[speedycoffeedelight]

I believe it's time for the third and possibly final part of 'Voxs extremely safe job as a night security guard'. Because there have been multiple pizzerias built literally in the same spot over the years, so why wouldn't Vox sign up for all of them?

~ (FNAF 2)

Reader: Vox! Why are you taking that job again? Did... Did you forget how you almost died there last time?!

Vox: Don't worry your pretty head, Reader. That old pizzeria got knocked down like 2 months ago. This one's way better! They replaced those old musty animatronics with some new plastic ones. Those ghost will be long gone by the time they open up Monday.

*After Voxs first night*

Vox: *Bursting through the door at 7 am* THERE'S FUCKING MORE OF THEM! The old ones are still there and the new ones are haunted too! WHY ARE THERE SO MANY GHOST?!

~ (FNAF 3)

Reader: Fazbear's Fright? Vox... You do realise that this is just the pizzeria from last time? Like, it's literally the exact same place you almost got killed last month, but with a horror theme.

Vox: Oh, I am fully aware, BUT! I thoroughly researched this one before applying. It's a horror attraction based on the past haunted pizzarias where I'll be both a security guard and an attraction myself. You should have seen them begging me to join after finding out I worked at BOTH locations! The best part? No animatronics~

*After Voxs first night*

Vox: *Bursting through the door at 7 am* THEY FUCKING FOUND ONE. Okay, okay, it's just one and I've survived taking on like 11? But there's also like, phantom animatronics? Fuck it, does anyone know a way of setting ghost free? Or should I just burn the place down and be done with it?

~ (FNAF 4)

Vox: *Climbing into Readers bed*

Reader: *Waking up slightly* Vox? What's up?

Vox: *Whispering* Shhh. B-Bonnie's in the hallway, and Foxy's in your closest. D-don't worry, I-I'm an expert at dealing with them.

Reader: *Too asleep to register what he's talking about* Oh, okay. Just be careful not to crush Nifty.

Nifty: *Giggling under Vox* Don't worry! I like being crushed!

~ (FNAF Sister Location)

Reader: 'Circus Baby's Entertainment and Rental'? Uh, are you sure you want to go back to working with animatronics? We've only just got you to stop hallucinating about Chica in the kitchen at night.

Vox: I know what you think, but this should be fine. This isn't the pizzeria. It's a different location.

Reader: Really? Isn't this place by the sister company of Fazbear Entertainment? You sure you want to risk it?

Vox: Pfft, come on. What're the chances of this company owning 2 haunted animatronic restaurants? Be serious.

*After Voxs first night*

Vox: *Bursting through the door at 7 am* YOU WON'T FUCKING BELIEVE IT!

Angel: You know, one day he's going to rip that door right off its hinges.

~ (FNAF 6 Pizzeria Simulator)

Reader: I thought you said you were done with animatronics?

Vox: Look, this is different. They say, 'If you want something done right, do it yourself'. Well, that's exactly what I'm going to do. I've run a business before, so it shouldn't be that hard. And I get to select all the animatronics this time round, so who knows? Maybe this town will FINALLY have a pizzeria that ISN'T haunted.

Adam: Sweet! Here, be a pal and give us some 'family discounts' when we come to celebrate the grand opening.

*After Voxs first night*

Vox: *Bursting through the door at 7 am* DO THEY COME OUT THE FUCKING FACTORY HAUNTED?!

Vaggie: You know, he's really lucky we all have to be awake this early for work, or else he wouldn't have lasted this long.

~ (FNAF Help Wanted)

Reader: Honestly, I don't know why we didn't think of game development soon.

Vox: Me neither. It's a shame I'll only be a play tester. Coding is probably my greatest passion next to television. Well, I guess this is it! No more haunted animatronics or late nights for me. I'm returning to my rightful place at the forefront of technology!

*After Voxs first day*

Vox: *Bursting through the door at 7 pm* WHO WANTS TO GUESS WHAT THE GAMES ABOUT?!

Husk: Heh, fates a bitch. *pouring Vox a drink* Just be thankful it's a game this time around. I mean, who's ever heard of a haunted video game before?

~ (FNAF Security Breach + Help Wanted 2)

Lute: They're building a giant shopping mall over where the old pizzeria was.

Vox: Yeah? Well, good riddance. I mean , come on, that buildings sat burned down and decaying for almost 5 months now. Happy it's gone after the Hell those jobs put me through.

Velvette: *On her phone* It says here that the place is called the 'Mega Pizzaplax', a giant mall owned by Fazbear Entertainment and will feature all new 'glamrock animatronics' for entertainment and will be fitted with special staffing bots to help guest. But they apparently need a human to work as lead security guard. Thinking of joining, Vox?

Vox: *Whimpering*

Alastor: Oh ho! Yes, I've heard chatter of that place from the radio station. Rather interesting promotional ideas they're working on. Apparently, they're working on producing another one of those confounded virtual reality game based on the premise. Sound familiar, Vox? I heard they're looking for 'beta testers' again.

Vox: *Slowly sinking to his knees, whimpering, he knows he's going to end up signing up for both.*

Charlie: Uh, Reader? Do you think you could, um, help Vox out? I think h-he needs some, uh, kind words of reassurance!

Reader: Sorry Char, I tried to warn him in the past, but he never listened. He dug his grave, and now he must lie in it. Now, if you'll excuse me, but I'm currently trying to sort out our other ongoing issue.

Reader: *Leaning out the window* LUCIFER! STOP BRING HOME APPLE TREES! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO SELL THEM, NOT STEAL THEM!

Lucifer: *Digging a hole and planting another apple tree in the garden* BUT NO ONE'S BUYING THEM! WHO GOES TO A FLORIST TO BY AN APPLE TREE? NO ONE, THAT'S WHO!

Reader: YOU'RE GOING TO GET FIRED IF YOU KEEP THIS UP! AND IF YOU DO, SO HELP ME GOD!

Lucifer: HEY, LEAVE MY FATHER OUT OF THIS!

H O L Y

THIS IS LONG!!!

How long did you take to write it?? And just as always, you never fail you impress.

Vox not learning his lesson after his first night is the cherry on top 😂😂 He's like a magnet to the animatronics. He only gets pulled towards them, never learning his lessons.

And not him bursting through the door every damn morning at 7 am. I imagine reader is used to it by now. She's just sipping on her cup of coffee as Vox rushes through the door and reader is like 'Lemme guess? More animatronics?"

Also Luci don't steal the apple trees!! That's bad! Both Charlie and reader will scold you!!!

[lfghughes]

Could you write something with Kirby Dach where the reader is kind of intimidated by him? Like he���s so tall and I just feel like him backing a girl up against a wall in a consensual and flirty/sexual tension filled way would be so attractive

a/n: kinda finally getting over the flu and this was the first time all week that i was able to form an actual fic

The cat and mouse game was fun in a way and for the past few months that was the game you and Kirby had been playing. You two had first met through your best friend Cole who happened to play on the same hockey team as Kirby. Since that first night you had met the flirting had only grown but neither of you ever broke that line that you were both so carefully tiptoeing on.

“So is Kirby coming to this party tonight?” You asked Cole as you helped him grab some of the drinks he had bought for the night. He looked over at you, raising an eyebrow. “Well most of the guys are and some of my other friends..” Cole took a deep pause as he eyed you carefully. “Why do you care about Kirby specifically?” He asked and then his jaw fell slightly “Wait please tell me you two…no.” immediately you shook your head at him.

“No! We haven’t anything. Just..Pals.” You shrugged and a look of horror grew on Coles face. “I’ll have a chat with him later.” That was even more horrifying of a thought. Even though you both flirted with each other and it was obvious there was an attraction there the last thing you wanted was for Cole to go talk to him about that.

You spent the remainder of setting up trying to convince your best friend otherwise but you had a feeling that he wasn’t going to listen to you. The party itself was fun, there were a few boys you recognized that had been friends with Cole for years and you also recognized a good chunk of his teammates. But your eyes searched for the one person you were looking for, disappointment filling your features when you didn’t see him.

“Looking for me?” A voice came from behind you, low enough to your ear and sending chills down your spine because you knew who it belonged to. You turned around a small smirk on your lips as you tilted your head up at Kirby. “Now why would I look for you? I heard that Coles cute friend from New Jersey is here, maybe I’m looking for him.” You shrugged and you saw an amused look grow on Kirbys face.

You don’t know at what point you both had walked into the corner of the room but you realized there was nowhere for you to go because you were backed up into a wall. Not that you were really complaining right now. Kirbys hand found your hip and if he wasn’t so dang tall you could have easily kissed him with how close he was. “Why are you still playing this game?” He asked and you chewed on your lower lip.

“What game?” You asked, knowing exactly what he was referring to but you wanted him to just say it. “This whole acting like you don’t want me to kiss you right now.” He leaned down just slightly, his lips definitely getting closer to the point where you could kiss him. “Because I know even if you don’t say it that you want to kiss me and not Jersey, wherever he is.” Couldn’t exactly argue with his point there.

“If you’re so sure of it then just kiss me.” You told him and with those words his head leaned down and when his lips were just mere inches from yours you heard a shout from across the room that was directed right at Kirby. “Dach! We need to talk.” You groaned at the sound of Cole’s voice and in his insistence of ruining your night. Kirby pulled away but a small smirk remained on his lips. “This isn’t done. I’m kissing you before the night ends.” And with those words he left, going over to Cole who looked like he was ready to have some serious words with his teammate.

[dragon-business]

Y0 antagonists ratings/opinions

Mister(s) Shakedown(s) + Amon

Didn't get to Amon in Y0, because we didn't finish these quests. One of the few that we didn't do in full, actually. Didn't seem as fun at the moment. Amon gets a pass, because he gets more screen time in later games. 

Evilness: 4/10 robbing people is bad, I heard Forgetability: 7/10 hard to forget, when Amons are in each game Iconic level: friend of a mutual tells me they’re cool/10 memes Free slot: ????too hard to get through to the good parts

2. Helicopter-car chases

These sequences was pure torture. My hands were cramped even when I wasn't holding the controller. Every minute lasted an hour. The fucking bazookas? Infuriating. Worst survival horror game.

Evilness: 9/10 fuck this shit, let me out of the car Forgetability: 1/10 still feel the cramps .__, Iconic level: 0.5/10 “look, just like in the movies, right?” Free slot: 1,5/10 on enjoyment scale 

3. Cult leader from the substory

Pretty funny scam artist, all the later games character development got him on the list. We love us a lil fucked up reoccurring character.

Evilness: 8/10 doing terrible things to vulnerable people Forgetability: 4/10 forgot about him each time until the next appearance Iconic level: 4/10 will never forget that dance Free slot: retirement home for one million years for the grandpa

4. Dojima captain guy 1

????????

Evilness: 7/10 he’s a yakuza, after all, he’s done some bad stuff, probably Forgetability: 10/10 who? Iconic level: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Free slot: forgot he existed

5. Dojima captain guy 2

Purple suit guy with the boxing/dancing ring in the basement was pretty fab. He gets extra points for the drip. Otherwise idk what he- wait he saved Majima that one time? Huh. You keep learning things.

Evilness: 7/10 normal yakuza guy doing yakuza things Forgetability: 9/10 I know he was there, I guess Iconic level: 3/10 purple suit points Free slot: purple suit, that’s all I remember

6. Kuze

First fight with him was pretty tough. And then he just kept coming back, again and again. With desperate determination. And Kiryu got stronger and stronger between each encounter. And Kuze stayed on the same level, just looking more and more beat up. And that's amazing storytelling through game mechanics, but also really iconic, ngl. 

I mean, man rode a dang motorbike in the sewers. He got the motorbike in the sewers, positioned it in the right spot to start the chase (did he get help for that?), and then rode it down there, through the nasty Kamurocho pipes, hunting down an annoying twunk like a medieval baron chasing a boar. All this while already beat up by said twunk. And he gets beaten again. Rolling in that sweet sewage water in his bandages. 

Evilness: 6/10 he’s out there vibing to his own tunes Forgetability: 1/10 he Will Not Let You Forget about him, even if you’d want to Iconic level: 8/10 meme icon Free slot: he seemed like real threat at the start, but by the chase in the sewers he was our pal, our failmate bro, all the respect to his dedication o7; 4/10 on actual fights and smartness

7. Kashiwagi 

He's on the list for what he did to Nishiki. Just sent the brother of his son to kill, uhh, his son. Just like that. Like, I get that he had his reasons, he really thought he was doing good, he thought he's saving Kiryu from suffering. Because of course it is all about Kiryu and what he supposedly (probably) (maybe) needs.

Evilness: 7/10 good intentions on the way down Forgetability: 0.5/50 look at him slurping cold noodles in his first scene, he’s stealing the show Iconic level: 7.5/10, again, look at the man eating noodles like a dad Free slot: 2/10 top tier dad, bless. 

8. Sagawa

He's such a masterfully done abuser. Partially because he acts so nice. But there's always an unnerving feeling underneath it.

He only resorts to violence when everything's gone to shit. But it always feels like he's capable of it at any moment. It's like a rock constantly looming over, waiting to drop.

Evilness: 8.5/10 on the creep scale, very good for the story Forgetability: 2/10 he’s in your walls, he owns your walls, your balls, and your paycheck Iconic level: 6/10 smartly dressed Free slot: 1/10 as a person, would deck him on sight; thank g-d Majima's away from him now

9. Shimano

Smart, playing the long game, but really, in Y0 he seemed smarter than he is. 

Long distance threat to Majima's safety, the threat he has trouble seeing as one. And that's the real kicker, that's the horror of it all – Majima striving to get back in the family, back under Shimano's thumb in his self-destructive last mission quest. Majima deciding to come back/stay even after the Hole, after y0, Majima getting so close to freedom but not being able to grasp it, and rationalising staying near Shimano for years, rebelling, but never separating in full.

And Shimano perfectly understands the power he has over Majima, and is always ready to use it. To break him at a moment's notice, if it will be useful for his plans. And this is way more uncomfortable and terrifying than Sagawa's brand of underlying threat.

Evilness: 12/10 made us start the “save Majima” movement Forgetability: 0/100 burned into my brain in the worst way possible Iconic level: 3/7 fashion sense is kinda bland, but he does have a presence Free slot: again, would deck on sight, but still – amazing character writing, very cool points for Majima’s story

10. Oda

Big oof moment, amaright?..

Such a fascinating character. He's not stereotypical, and has a compelling, layered personality, which is amazing for a gay man in the big hit game. But also. Ooof. Such a big oooof.

But, surprisingly in this day and age, it's not being gay that made him a piece of trash awful man who died. He was all that on his own, it was just his shit finally catching up to him in the end. And the love for Tachibana was actually his saving grace in life, a point of growth as a person (albeit small). So not denying him that, no. Even one-sided, it made him more human. 

Idk if writers did all that on purpose, but these points felt very distinct in the story.

It's fascinating how Oda's character is a (terrible) person first, and he just happens to be gay. But also, him being gay is ultimately important. We played y0 before all the gay shows took over the screens, and this storyline hit us like a train. Can tell you a lot about the state of queer media at the time.

– Me, after we've met Oda: hehe, he totally has it for the boss The plot: 

– Me, after seeing them interact on screen: hehe, Tachibana is making him suffer :3c Me, when plot: .___.

Evilness: 9.5/10 the 0.5 is from his love for Tachibana  Forgetability: -100/10 I lay awake at night thinking about this bitch Iconic level: 1000/5 look at him, man’s shining Free slot: Bidoof

11. Nishitani

Hated him at the start, because he's a creepy cat, because of the noises, and also because of that one slide on the ground with the knife wiggle, you know the one. Unironically love him now, because the world out there is full of far worse people, and he sure did his attempt at surviving it.

(He totally crawled away at the end, no body no finale, I stan by this)

Evilness: 7/10 he's pretty fucked up, ngl, bringing corpses to Majima like a stray cat Forgetability: -10/10 lives rent free in everyone's head Iconic level: 9/10 man's been on the screen the least but made an impression of a lifetime (on all of us, and on Majima) Free slot: yet another normal cat that everyone think is a "mad dog"; honorary Knife Guy

12. Dojima

Organized a wholeass hunt for Kiryu, got Makoto shot, planned a big power grab, put it all on the table… and lost it all. To Sera.

Respecting him for the effort, he didn't let us rest once. Not respecting what his drinking (and other life choices) made him into later, but even before that I struggle to see what Yayoi saw in him. Apart from maybe her being a young girl from a yakuza family that arranged a political marriage for her when she wasn't even 20 yet. And there is a story here that can be very interesting, like, did you know that (according to rggo) at this exact time Sera was a student that was often arrested on protests? In this essay I will-

Evilness: solid 8/10 he do be scheming Forgetability: 1/10 dragon of who, you say? (Kiryu is very much the dragon of Daigo by this point, but yeah) Iconic level: 5/10 dressed good and has big presence, but derails down the line to a total (not hot) mess, so no respect  Free slot: you know, right? Daigo is totally Seras' so- *gets gutted by Yayoi*

13. Knife guy

When Kiryu went through his (and ours) first Long Building™️ to get to the (first) fight with Kuze, we encountered Him. The guy with the knife. 

It was already tough going through room after room of generic enemies when Kiryu wasn't that strong yet, and we weren't that skilled with the controls. And the Knife Guy was the first recurring enemy, a small mini-boss with a stabby knife that would bleed us dry and leave us savescumming. And he kept coming back. Again, and again, and again, and-

Before Kuze. Before Majima Everywhere. Before everything. There was an unkillable lil freak with a knife that just wouldn't quit until you literally threw him out of the 2nd floor window.

And I think it's beautiful.

Evilness: 5/10 man’s just doing his yakuza job, and doing it well Forgettability: -10000000000/10 who could ever forget this man the- *checks notes on the hand* Tomoda Iconic level: ∞-1/10 there is a knife guy shape forever imprinted in our hearts but there is still free room left, because Free slot: in this world only Majima surpasses him, because Majima is, of course, The Ultimate Knife Guy

- before / navigation / next

[internetgremlin-writes]

Omg I almost missed this by thinking I was gonna actually sleep tonight, good thing I checked tumblr first 💪🏽but please could I request #132 and #137 for my mans, carlos sainz jr? I just want a really romantic carlos for sad lonely me :) sorry if this is long, I just really like interacting with authors I love- anyway, congratulations!! sending much love <3

132 - "I didn't think it was possible to love someone this much,"

137 - "Do you know how beautiful you are? It's truly distracting,"

Hi, hi hello!! Aww you're an angel, thank you so much for this!! And YES thank you for interacting - speaking from the other side I cannot express how much it means when people interact with your posts, and it's even better when you see the name multiple times, it's like little pals you look for <3

Anyway I hope you like this one, I worked extra hard to make it as fluffy as possible after the last one haha

also we are not going to mention the fact im using a wheel of names to decide the order of what's getting done now

that smile will be the death of me

Waking up in bed with Carlos Sainz was one of your favourite things in the universe.

You'd been together for a while now, and his friend long before that. Your relationship was one of those where the lines blurred together. You couldn't remember the exact day high fives turned into intertwined fingers, or celebratory hugs turned into making out in his driver's room.

It was actually the fans that had gotten you together. Working so closely with him for years meant that there were always pictures of you two together, and through being caught on behind the scenes videos and in the background of paddock coverage, you became a fan favourite amongst the non-drivers of F1. You were fairly used to being caught by paparazzi, especially as you were often escorting Carlos, who was the object of anyone with half a brain's attention. It was Carlos who picked up on it, and that day you did remember clearly.

He'd given one of his signature shrieks, the one you knew would be immediately followed by that ridiculous squawking laugh he only did when he was completely comfortable and totally amused. It took him a moment to compose himself before he showed you the video he was watching. It was a TikTok, obviously, because only TikTok had the ability to create chaos like that. The video was titled "My Favourite F1 Conspiracy Theories", which you thought was pretty funny in itself.

They were mostly silly, things about drivers losing seats and FIA biases towards certain teams, and a certain Monegasque driver with a home race curse. You were just starting to wonder what was quite so funny about the video Carlos was showing you when you recognised the set of images that outlined the penultimate theory.

"Carlos Sainz and Y/N Y/L/N are secretly dating," the creator was explaining, and in the background was a collection of paparazzi pictures of yourself with Carlos. Individually you'd thought nothing of them, but when they were collected together like that the image was clear. His hand on the small of your back, guiding you through a door. You hugging him, his hands on your hips and your arms wrapped around his neck. The pair of you out to dinner, you laughing at something he'd said, him leaning forward with that killer smile and his attention solely on you. You walking so close together that with the blurred image it wasn't clear if your fingers were intertwined or not. Carlos, holding you, his mouth pressing a kiss on your forehead.

"Must be a big secret if I didn't know I was dating you," you'd murmured, your mouth dry and suddenly very, very aware of the lack of space between you. He made a noise in the back of the throat, and just watched you for a second, those big brown eyes fixed on your face.

"Are we?"

"What?"

"Are we dating?" you stared at him because who asks that? Your expression must have given away the bewilderment. "I kiss you," he said simply as if that cleared up everything.

"I think there's a bit more to dating than just kissing, Carlos," his eyes focused on something behind you, zoning out for a moment and then coming back to you.

"Yes,"

"Yes?"

"I think we are dating," if this was his way of asking you out it was weird, but Carlos was a little weird (and incredibly adorable).

"Me too," you said because after a moment's reflection you realised that you'd been playing the role of Unofficial Girlfriend without even knowing it, for who knows how long.

"Okay then," he nodded and that was it. Carlos never brought it up again.

But you did notice he was a little more touchy with you in public. He was quicker to hold your hand. You stopped creeping out of his room in the middle of the night.

The feeling of his arm snaking around your waist, pulling you gently into his back brought you back to the present day. Your bare skin pressed against his hard chest was a heavenly feeling. He was always so warm, it was like having the best electric blanket in the world. He made a low grunt in his sleep, which only made you snuggle deeper into his arms. Mornings like this, when he had a day off and you were allowed to wake up without ringing alarm bells and instant activity, made everything else you did with him so worthwhile.

"Good morning, mi sol," ever since he'd accidentally called you a nickname in Spanish instead of English and you'd practically jumped him on sight he made a point to allow more of his home language to infiltrate. You squirmed in his arms, partly in pleasure at the nickname, and partly because he was peppering your neck with feather light kisses and the combination of his scruffy beard and long hair was tickling you.

"Good morning," you turned in his arms, not able to resist his kiss any longer. He met you with equal enthusiasm, his large hand coming up to cradle your face as you melted into him. When he pulled away it wasn't far, your foreheads touching and noses brushing against each other.

"I didn't think it was possible to love someone this much," God, he was such a romantic. It made your heart swell because you felt exactly the same. Everything in your life revolved around Carlos, and you wouldn't have it any other way. Even if the both of you were teased mercilessly in the paddock because Carlos was like a puppy with separation anxiety these days.

It was a slow kind of day. After a morning of fooling around in bed, the pair of you finally stumbled into the shower because his stomach was growling so loudly that breakfast had to become a priority. He insisted on cooking for you, even though you were more than capable of fixing the food too.

You were wearing one of the dress shirts he'd worn over the weekend, only half the buttons done up and it only just grazing your thighs. Your legs were bare as the only other item of clothing you wore was your panties. Carlos was no better, a pair of light grey sweatpants slung low on his hips. It was too hot for a shirt, he claimed, and you weren't complaining. You were leaning on the breakfast bar in his house, watching the tanned Adonis you were lucky enough to call your boyfriend making you breakfast.

He was focused on the eggs, his head tilted down to give you his incredibly sharp profile, his long hair shining in the sunlight and flopping into his eyes. He'd shaved in the bathroom, so he was back to a perfectly shaped stubble shadow.

"Do you know how beautiful you are?" You asked him, his attention snapping to you with a raised eyebrow and a slight quirk of his lips. He loved compliments. "It's truly distracting," which made him break out into a grin, forcing him to look away for a moment as you spotted a light pink hue creeping up his neck. He put the pan of eggs down away from the head and came over to where you were, lifting you onto the counter with ease and settling himself between your legs.

"I think I'm supposed to be the one to call you beautiful," his voice was a low rumble in his chest, his accent made the words sound like cursive.

"You can show me," you offered, earning yourself a raised eyebrow and a very smug look.

"It would be my honour,"

[genericpuff]

you ripped off your entire "theory" about LO being made for kids from Pyrrhic Victoria's latest video lol. Word for word, that's pretty hypocritical but then I guess that's to be expected from the person who still financially supports Webtoon and LO even though you've based your entire image off how much you supposedly hate LO

if I "ripped off" P&V then this is news to me because I've only watched each one of their videos once (they're long and they cover a SHITLOAD of topics, bruh) and it's been ages, BUT-

This honestly makes for a great segue to talk about opinion sharing in the fandom in general because ima be honest with you, there's like... only so much you can talk about in the LO crit community. Like as much as we make fun of the stans for all sharing one echo chamber of opinions, the ULO community isn't that much different in the sense of like, having the same takes and opinions about the topic we've chosen to unite on and being hyper passionate about it to the point of having the same conversations at least ONCE per week. Like it's just a webcomic about pink and blue people, a lot of takes are pretty much the exact same and that's not a BAD thing but ... both P&V and I have been in the ULO stratosphere for AGES now so ?? There's only SO MUCH to cover about LO before it all starts blurring together lmao I can't "own" an opinion, and they undoubtedly know that they can't "own" any one specific opinion either, especially within a fandom like this. C'mon now.

"LO is made for babies" or "LO is marketed to children" is also one of the way more common takes, that's like saying I'm ripping off panel redraw accounts for doing my own panel redraws. LO's been compared to other things that are commonly marketed to children like MCU films, Disney movies/shows, etc. time and time again because that's been SUPER common knowledge for YEARS now prior to any of us joining the community, regardless of "who joined first", it's literally WT's entire business model and it's pretty plainly obvious. The specific comparison I made was just one that came to me during a ramble on stream the other night and I wanted to put it to paper because that's what I do here. If that specific comparison has been made in the past already in a 3 hour video that I completely forgot/didn't realize, then great! I'm not the only one who came to this conclusion! Thanks for the validation!

None of this is with shade at P&V or even you, btw, I think it's honorable you want to stand up for them if you enjoy their stuff and I can't harp on you for that but like... this ain't it? Y'all gotta understand this community is still HELLA small as far as fandom culture goes, we all know everybody, have helped build these parts of the community together from cardboard and glue whether or not we still directly affiliate with each other, and share many of the same takes and schools of thought that stem back YEARS before even WE were in the community ourselves so it's kinda silly to try and point fingers at any one person and say "abc is ripping off xyz!" esp when the "ripping off" is just like, having the same opinion about something? A lot of both our takes also intersect with takes from other antiLO accounts and channels that pre-existed theirs and my own. It's a fandom, after all, no single person can lay claim to any specific opinion we're all coming from many of the same schools of thought with foundations that pre-exist us, it's just different people delivering their own unique spins on takes that have been heard many times before. Some of us do re-imaginings, some of us do panel edits, some of us just crack great jokes about it. We're not all pals with each other, we're not even all from the same platforms or community bubbles, but I think we're all pretty familiar with each other's content and what each one of us is about for the most part.

I know you're likely not gonna take "trust me" as a promise that I'm not ripping anyone off, but like... trust me, I'm not sitting here sifting through P&V's 15+ hour video backlog and going "huehuehue I'm gonna steal this!" because I would gain nothing from doing that and their content is ultimately just part of a bigger genre of topics and opinions that are constantly being re-assessed and re-discussed as the comic goes on, they were just the first ones to make an ongoing Youtube series about it (which is commendable in and of itself with how much content they've made around it, most other Youtubers just review it once in 20-90 minutes and call it a day).

P&V's contributions to these discussions have their own personal unique flair to them but the opinions themselves aren't all brand new revelations. Back when I still watched their videos, their alternate scenarios as to how something could be written were pretty neat because it came with their own unique experiences and viewpoints as webcomic creators which isn't something you'll find on every other account. But "LO is marketed to children and here's why" isn't exactly one of those takes because it's one we've all talked about in the community LONG before those videos even existed. And it's been talked about since before any of us were in the community, period. So... yeah, that's pretty much all I have to say on that lmao it's not that complicated, there's no "conspiracy" going on here, it's a Tumblr post about something that's already been talked about in the past by many others, my guy.

As a closing note, accusing me of being hypocritical on the basis of something you don't even have facts on like "financially supporting Webtoons and LO" is such a silly hill to die on, c'mon pal. You want me to stand here and tell you my side of it as if you're even gonna believe me? Because even if I do say "actually, I no longer even have the Webtoons app on my phone and I can't even remember the last time I paid for coins on the app because all the series I usually FP nowadays are on hiatus and I stopped FP'ing LO back at the start of S3" are you really gonna believe me? Did you even bother to read through the majority of this post? You want receipts or something? What do you want from me? I got nothing to hide, but I'm not gonna sit here and try to explain myself to someone hiding behind an anon filter who's already decided I'm a hack so idk what you want 🤣 Even if I did still FP the series, what then? There are people in this community who do still FP to keep up on content so they can keep talking about it, why is that a crime all of a sudden? Since when did this become some kind of weird "prove you're loyal" indoctrination? Or are you just mad my takes are basic?

[bengiyo]

La Pluie Ep 10 Stray Thoughts

Last week, we wrapped up our time on the mountain and showed Nara more grace than I've ever seen an ex receive in any drama ever. Lomfon lurked in the background, and had a conversation with Patts that is going to blow up this week. Tai and Patts realized that they were the pen pals from when Tai's parents divorced when they went to recover Duer from Saengnuea. Through the power of grandma, these two have been connected for longer than we even realized. I'm obsessed.

Tai asked to stay over and my man Patts had to stop the car!! Now he's rushing through the streets!!!

Love that they're being very clear about what's about to go down.

"I am ready."

It's his first time!!! I knew it!!

We got all three scenes! The bed! The shower! The tub!

What is going on with Lomfon's symptoms?

Tien dresses like an early 00s lesbian.

THE PINKY TOUCH STILL BELONGS TO THE GAYS!!!

Here Lomfon go being as messy as possible.

Tai is finally recognizing Lomfon's crush.

Title is so pretty like whoa

Oh, no.... Tai just lied about hanging out with Lomfon.

Goddammit. Did the weather predict rain and that's why Lomfon wanted Sunday?

Welp, the vets have spotted them. It's over now.

Oh, Patts. I get the anxiety you're feeling.

No, Tai! Not more lies!

Oh boy. Patts and Tien team up time.

Fuck, it's about to rain.

Tai saved Lomfon's big ass from getting run over by a car.

Okay, so Lomfon can speak to Tai. Were we correct about being connected to Patts too?

Bro, don't just kiss him!

Okay, but this ass whooping is deserved.

It seems like the rain connection just broke.

Oh man. I'm going to need Tai to speak up this time. Patts has a right to be uncertain after you leaving that man on read for two years and then lying to him.

Poor Tien. Lomfon completely ignored Tien's feelings.

So, it seems clear to me that Tai's parents may have somehow also severed their connection.

The whole squad in crisis!

I feel for Patts on Tai's silence. I don't think it's fair to expect him to understand when he's never given insights in the first place.

Oh mirroring the parents divorce scene with Patts on the other side of the door is devastating.

We're finally getting back to the parents next week!

Absolutely phenomenal episode. Patts was finally allowed to be frustrated about the leash Tai has kept him on for two years. Lomfon got decked. We got to finally see them release the sexual tension. Everyone's feelings are in the open. The rain connection has a component of choice in it as well. Incredible.

I think the breakup is necessary, because they're both screwing up.

[wh0refornikolailantsov]

omfg I loved "Almosts" for Tolya - could we see a part 2? like more of the aftermath? also Zoya is a queen and I adore her

Zoya is a Queen and we all bow to Queen Zoya in this house my WIFE. But also, thank you and I aim to please so

Almosts (Part 2) - Tolya Yul Bataar

Grisha Reader, Order Unspecified.

Trigger Warning On This One Pals.

Content Warnings: Discussions Of Self Sacrifice And Prisoner Mentality. Discussions Of Torture, Severe Harm And Death. Canon Complaint Death And Violence. Kidnapping. Explicit Language. Not Beta/Proof Read.

Part 1

Nina gives you just as much as a talking to, but she understands it, more vibrantly than Zoya, having been more close to what you have, it is easier to understand your position. It's Tolya that you know will get you.

You know that he knows why you... but it didn't matter. Not right now. Right now, those soft eyes look like they could cut right through you. You know you will break under the weight of his concern.

So when you are finally alone with him, having had every healer from here to the coastline check you over and say you're physically okay, you aren't sure where to start.

"Tolya," you say, softer than you thought it would come out, still not able to knock the pleaing feeling from using his name. The thoughts of how many times you said it to yourself, in the quiet, like it might be the last thing you heard. Him. His name. The thought of him coming for you. That was all that stood between the torture and your breaking point.

You kept his name to your chest like a prayer, like saying it could save you, and part of you believes it did. He would've come for you in silence, he would've come for you if you hadn't wished for it, he would've come for you if you'd given up, given in. It would've have mattered to him. But you didn't, you couldn't, you would have rather died than given him up and that knowledge is ringing out like bells in the silence.

"You knew I would come for you, right?" he asks again, as if he doubted your answer the first time, like it was possible it was in the haze.

"I never doubted you Tolya, not for a moment, it was never if, only when," you assure him.

You don't want to think about if he had been much later, even moments later. What you would have left him to find, and what that would've meant. How you could never have explained your choice to him, how you would have never gotten the chance to tell him you held out the time you did, for him, to protect him. To protect your family here.

"And I didn't know if it would be in time," you admit.

"They wouldn't have killed you," Zoya says eavesdropping from the doorway.

"You know that's not what I mean," you eye her, "not in time to stop me saying something I can't take back."

Zoya looks fit to start a whirlwind in the room but Tolya gives her a glance, "can you be anywhere else right now?" he asks her, the tiredness not unfamiliar but lacking his usual wit and charm at getting on Zoya's nerves.

Zoya seems reluctant to leave you alone for any long period of time, it feels strange, you hadn't ever considered her being particularly protective over you, but maybe in hindsight she always has been, like with Nina, or maybe recent events has brought it out in here. But she leaves with an iciness around her, entrusting your safety to Tolya, in truth no one has ever made you feel safer than he does.

You don't say anything for a while, until you lean into him, letting the exhaustion move through you until his strength is all that is keeping you up, he becomes the pillar you lean on. He rests his arm around you, his spare hand moving to hold yours, running his thumb over your palm in small circles.

"I didn't mean to scare you," you tell him.

"I understand the position you were in," he whispers softly against your hair as he rests his head atop of yours, "but I meant what I said."

You don't ask him what, you don't need some clarification on what he means, because you know. You could not forgot those words and there are no other things he could possibly mean in this moment.

"Then betray me," he had, and if your heart had made a sound you doubted either of you could've heard it over the ringing of his words, "if it keeps you safe, it keeps you from harm, betray me, always betray me. I can forgive betrayal, but I cannot forgive the loss of you. I could overcome betrayal, but I can not overcome the loss of you."

"Tolya, I couldn't live with betraying you," you say, wishing you had a better answer, a softer resolve, but you have nothing to offer him except the truth.

"Losing you would've been the betrayal," he says, "and I do not say that to put guilt on your conscience but just for you to know that there is no way that you could betray me, no thing you could say, no secrets you could offer up, that would be worse than knowing you are in harms way because you think that better than telling things that are not yours to tell." You held out as well because the knowledge you had was keeping you safe as you were getting, and that was a tactic for survival as much as for loyalty, but the pull of protecting your friends, of protecting Tolya, that had been the strength that kept answers from your lips and you all know that well enough.

"You want me to promise you that I will betray you next time?" you ask. He shakes his head, a soft exhale leaving his lips.

"No, I want it to never happen, I want no next time," he tells you, "but that is not a thing I can have bound in a promise."

"I promise to try and not get kidnapped," you offer, trying to lighten the mood and sway the sadness out of his posture, "and if I do... Saints forbid, I'll do everything I can to give myself the time for you to reach me, I promise you that Tolya."

"I couldn't ask for more."

Tolya is asleep, and you are barely still awake, lain against his shoulder, you are slightly stirred by the sound of something touching the table to the side of you. You open one eye to see Zoya. You shuffle slightly and notice the blanket covering you both, that must've been Tamar, so you figure you dozed off listening to Tolya's heart at some point.

It's dark in the room, a slither of moonlight letting you make out Zoya's expression. "I had a durast make the adjustments," she tells you, "it's a promise, the same as before, but a different one."

You don't let Zoya get as far as the door before you grab the object from the table, it's the same metal she had taken off you when she rescued you, that slither of a blade meant as a promise to give up before you give in. But it's all different now, twisted and woven into a wrist cuff.

"Thank you Zoya," you tell her. Her back is turn to you, so you don't see that faint smile dance over her lips.

"Please, let's not get sentimental."

[thelaundrybitch]

Tethered - A TMNT Series

Good morning my Turtle Doves 🥰

As promised, I am going to share the series that has pushed LBH to the backburner (don't worry, LBH will be making a comeback, eventually).

Tethered is a fantastical tale of action, romance, intrigue, and hot-ass turtles in their tactical gear.

Yes. T3 will be involved *screams in legstraps*

I am unsure about the posting for this series, I have a lot of revision to do first, but I do already have a ton written.

I am going to tag all my LBH pals and a few others - however - If you would prefer NOT to be tagged, just let me know. My feelers won't be hurt. 💕 And if you would like to be tagged, just let me know in the comments!

Please note, this is MOST DEFINITELY an 18+ series. DEFINITELY.

I mean, come on. They're in legstraps. You think I'd let that go to waste? 😂🔥

ALSO, This is going to be written from a first-person standpoint. It will be written almost like a diary in some parts.

AND I can't take all the credit because parts of this have been co-written by the amazing @leosgirl82 🤩😘

Alright. Without further ado...

I give you my introduction and teaser to...

Tethered

18+ content - for mature audiences only!

Please don't steal my work. Reblogging for others to enjoy is highly encouraged, though 🤩

Introduction

I dream.

Do you?

Do you remember your dreams?

How well do you remember your dreams?

I can remember my dreams like they're actual memories.

Some are frightening. Some are fun. Some are fantastical and some are hilarious.

But most are full of love. Family and friendship. Home.

But not my physical home.

I dream of far-off places. And beings of all genders and species. Where it doesn't matter your social status or your appearance. All that matters is what's in your heart.

Quite literally.

In these dreams, I see the same people and beings. These dreams never repeat.

Which leads me to wonder…

Are they dreams?

What if some of us have the ability to cross planes of existence while we sleep?

What if we can cross those planes because we were meant to be somewhere else?

Somewhere our hearts are pulling us…

Like to a soulmate.

What happens if your soulmate isn't on the Earth that we know and live on?

What if…

Somewhere…

They're searching for you, too…

It is said that you can't help who you love.

There's a reason for that.

We all have that one being that we're predestined to be with.

The one that we hope we meet during our lifetime so we might experience a love like no other.

But…

What happens when the universe makes a mistake, and tethers you to a being that you believed was only a fictional character?

A fictional character you've loved your entire life.

Sounds highly unlikely, I know.

But I'm going to tell you my story.

And it's going to change your mind about everything you thought you knew.

I'm going to share with you how I found my soulmate.

Enjoying my work? Find my Master list HERE

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*If you aren’t on this list, please let me know if you want me to tag you in my other work or if you prefer me to not tag you 😘

[boozles]

Boozle's 2023 Top Ten Dramas

I've been really enjoying reading everyone's top lists of the year, and I've actually been thinking about my own for a few weeks now, because I knew how hard it would be for me to put my lists together! Basically, in terms of Asian drama series, I watched a lot this year. According to my MDL, I have completed 99 dramas for the whole year. (Disclaimer: not all of these were BL, and a handful were short films. Regardless, I still think that's a ridiculous amount and I understand why people think I have no life x_x) So, I think you all can understand why these lists are going to be a little difficult for me!

Note: Everything I say here is my own personal thoughts and opinions. I'm not trying to attack anyone for liking something I don't, or disliking something I loved. We're all pals here, okay? <3

Top Ten Dramas (Note: not all dramas were released in 2023.)

(i) He's Coming to Me (2019) After watching Something in my Room last year, I swore to never watch another 'ghost boyfriend' series because gosh, even if ghosts are my favourite spooky thing, my heart cannot handle the pain of a sad ending. However, Ohm and Singto sucked me in, and this was just lovely and even gave me a happier ending than I'd expected. I'm a little sad that I was so late to this series, but it has definitely found it's place in my heart.

(ii) My School President (2022/23) I still can't believe that I originally thought this was gonna suck and only started it because I wanted to see what everyone was fussing over. I became so invested in these lads and gosh, I fell in love with the cast (minus Prom, who still irks me). Fourth, Gemini and Mark were absolute standouts in this, and I honestly cannot wait for My Love Mix-Up! because they will be fantastic.

(iii) Moonlight Chicken (2023) This is a surprise to no one, because it seems like it's on everyone's favourites list. Again, though, this was a surprising hit for me; I originally only planned on watching for First and Khaotung because I didn't really know Earth and Mix very well (I only started watching BL at the tail end of 2022, so I feel like I was still a little bit of a newbie at the time) and I just fell in love with EarthMix. They have chemistry that is just so mesmerising and belongs to them. The writing of this series was also just perfect, and the cast was wonderful. It deserves all the accolades it's been getting, and I honestly think this will always be a favourite of mine.

(iv) Choco Milk Shake (2022) In all honesty, I expected this to be weird because it's literally about a guy's pets coming back as humans and his dog falls in love with him and his cat falls in love with his uncle. It sounds like it should be creepy, but it really isn't. I sobbed like an absolute baby during this, and whilst I found the ending a little confusing, I loved it. I really hope we get that rumoured second season.

(v) The Gifted (2018) & The Gifted: Graduation (2020) Okay, I'm including both seasons of The Gifted because I loved them both for their own reasons. However, one of the main things I loved about this series was that it made me appreciate actors I'd never cared much for before. I didn't get all the fuss about Gun Attaphan until I watched this (and yes, I'd already seen Not Me), but I thought he was spectacular in this. Chimon and Nanon were fantastic, and I really loved Mek and Victor, even if they weren't as porminent and I'd have liked.

(vi) A Boss and Babe (2023) Ah, my first experience of ForceBook. I would die for these men. This was a bloody brilliant series, and if you want my honest opinion, it really showed how fantastic Book is at acting, because Cher is nothing like any other character he has portrayed. I loved the backstories and the little nuances, and the supporting cast was fantastic, too. This series deserves more credit and respect (but can we pretend the Our Skyy 2 episodes never happened? Because they were so weird.)

(vii) Beyond Evil (2021) This is probably the best Kdrama I watched all year. It had everything I need - murder, mystery, tortured men with tragic backstories, plus twists and turns in every damn episodes. The acting and writing was superb and I'm honestly depressed there isn't going to be a season 2 (as far as I know?).

(viii) Only Friends (2023) Okay, I know we all have our complaints about things that went wrong with OF, but you know what? I still loved it. Yes, I still think the creators made mistakes with allowing fan opinions to influence the editing and I'm bitted about the treatment of Boston in the end, but I loved these characters and their stories. The cast put their heart and soul into their performances (especially Khaotung and Force) and I really hope we get to see them in future series' together again, as they all work so well together.

(ix) I Feel You Linger in the Air (2023) This was another series I didn't expect to enjoy as much as I did, yet I was there with the rest of you, bawling my eyes out when it ended. Despite the fact my dream career is a historian, I often don't enjoy historical dramas, so I put this off for the first few weeks of it airing until all the gif sets finally forced me to check it out. The cast was fantastic, and the writing was brilliant. I will be broken hearted if they don't get a second season, because they deserve it.

(x) I told Sunset About You (2020) & I Promised You the Moon (2021) I'm including both series as one since technically it's just season 1 and season 2. I loved these shows. They were the most realistic portrayals of young teenage queer love that I have seen in so long. I know a lot of people get angry with Teh in IPYTM but by gosh, my heart just hurt for that confused boy; Billkin's crying is so tragically realistic and as much as I too hated that he was hurting Oh-Aew, I also could understand the confusing feelings that come with growing up. Oh-Aew was just...perfect. PP Krit really just cut my chest open, crawled inside and made a little home for himself with this performance. My only issue is that these two haven't been in anything else together since, and I really hope 2024 fixes that, because as much as I support their music careers, I need them on my screen again.

Honorary Mentions: (i) Kiseki: Dear to Me (2023) (ii) The Warp Effect (2022) (iii) Home School (2023) (iv) Our Dating Sim (2023) (v) La Pluie (2023)

[popculturebuffet]

Transformers More Than Meets The Eye Retrospective Season 1 Finale: Remain in Light (Patreon Review for Brotoman.exe)

Hello all you happy Autobots. It's been over a year, two spotlight issues, a two issue prequel, an annual and as of this review, 22 issues but we've done it we've reached the end of more than meets the eye season 1.

It's been a long project but one of my faviorites, one I always wanted to do but simply didn't have the time on my own and was more than happy when Brotoman commissioned these. I owe him a world of gratitude for his support and patience. Without him I woudln't of been able to talk about gay disfunctional robots every month and for that, i'm eternally grateful. This is one of my faviorite comics and re-reading it slowly and intently has only solidified that.

So a few things before we dive into this wonderful story: The first is something I forgot to mention last time that brotoman pointed out, something important I missed in my tired daze: How big a moment Rewind saying "I Love You" To chromedome is.

See before this, the series was coy about the two: It made it damn obvious the two were a couple.. but also used terms like them being "friends" and no one using words like couple, common law husbands or pound pals. The two were just a duo at first and if you were a mite thick headed like yours truly, who at the time I first read the comic didn't look for gay subtext like a bloodhound after a cheeseburger, you'd miss it. It was still obvious, the way they act around each other, their history, the way they fight.. the two are ENTIRELY an old married couple and act it and anyone looking closely could see that. But Roberts knew that those three little words were, to quote an interview with Sequart Orignization, a step up.

All that said, the Chromedome/Rewind relationship stepped up a gear – and moved fully into the open – with issue #16, when Rewind tells Chromedome (not for the first time, but it’s the first time we’ve seen it on the page) that he loves him. I was conscious that this was really nailing certain colors to the mast, and I was ready to make a case for those three words to stay in the script. But both John and Michael Kelly at Hasbro were incredibly supportive and encouraging, and the declaration of love survived the editing process. The reaction to the first Transformers gay couple was amazing – overwhelmingly positive. To be honest, I thought most people would be pretty cool with it, because most people are sensible and decent, but it was still encouraging to see. Hooray for Transformers fans."

I"m happy to hear that the reception was entirely positive and that Hasbro was supportive. I'm sure there are still a few idiots who were again it here and there, but like those who actively deny huntlow happened.. their a few idiots who can't accept objective reality and there's only one way to deal with them

Moving on to Remain in Light itself, We need to talk about the big shockwave shaped elephant in the room. Dark Cybertron is intended to be the finale for both this and Robots in Disguises' first season, a big epic crossover to shake up both series status quos and onboard us into season 2.

In practice.. it's the big showy finale to Robots in Disguise with the MTMTE cast guest starring. It's still VITAL to MTMTE, I would've simply recapped it like I intend to recap RID if that weren't the case: Nautica and Nightbeat are introduced, joining the crew in season 2, Megatron has his heel realization that leads to him also joining the crew, Cybertron finds out Prowl didn't kill MOST of the lost lighters (RIP Rewind I), and Chromedome powerbombs the motherfucker off a cliff.

I'll unpack this scene more when we properly get to it but I cannot see Prowl get powerbombed off a cliff while he's somehow SHOCKED this happened despite begging for it. It's Dellliccciooousss.

The fact is while a crossover was inevitable the death fakeout meant both books were completely isolated from each other, and thus their plots.. really don't intersect much. Prowl's actions have consequences and his baiting Chromdome leads to bad shit over in RID, but for the most part the two books are their own stories and their own spheres and by the time they intersect it works well enough... but it's clear they just work better on their own. It's likely why the third addition to this line, Windblade (both volumes) was made to stand on it's own while having an easier time intersecting back with Cybertron as our heroes are one teleport away versus the lost light being deep in space and in it's own character stuff. Windblade, btw is fucking great and I intend to cover it at some point, just not as part of this retrospective. It's it's own beautiful thing.

So while Lost Light was going to get into the Dark Cybertron hype, it needed to cap off it's own story first as it would've been a bit much to try and cram two series with a wide buffet of ongoing plots and plans together. So we get Remain in LIght where a LOT of character arcs are paid off, a few questions are answered, and a few things are set up for both next season and the eventual finale of the series. As usual it's remarkable how much Roberts set up, but here's where it gets to payoff more: last arc paid off the overlord conspiracy and rewind and chromedome's relationship, this one pays off magnus' breakdown, the circle of light and even where we found skids and just what was chasing him. It's a true epic and I can't wait to share it with you under the cut.

Part 1 picks up exactly where we left off: Tailgate is running to tell Cyclonus some "stupid news" while Rodimus, Blaster and Ambulon look over the security footage since Ratchet was busy telling Tailgate he gonna die. And to remind us Ambulon exists before the carnage to come.

For now Blaster's friend Mainframe is able to track the shuttle, so Rodimus is rounding up a crew to go find Magnus, with a determination we've scarely seen and a grimness we really haven't.

Meanwhile it turns out Tailgate's sickness... is cybercois, a condition that slowly kills the trnasformer, taking away their movement , speech and eventually memory.. and given memories of this place are all Tailgate really has he didn't take it well. Cyclonus urges tailgate to face his death with dignity and head on, agreeing to keep it secret and leaving... to mutilate his own face with a large scrap, enraged the one person he has on this ship is about to die and he can't just cut his diseas in half.

Hot Rod leads the crew to a big hole, making it very clear that he dosen't care what they ahve to say their going in... and for once his impusilvness pays off as what he finds is Luna 1, cybertron's missing moon which was mentioned before and I honestly forgot was the setting for this arc but it's a brilliant payoff and a way to have Rodimus have acomplished something big: he found one of the lost moons. Even if the quest has gone nowhere, this is still pretty damn big and he has perceptor confirm it. What's more curious, even if Perciptor dosen't buy it? Luna has a BILLION PEOPLE on board.

So Rodimus assembles his crack team.. and this is the first time we really see what we'll call Team Rodimus come together: While Rodimus has interacted with all these guys before, this is where it becomes clear how much he cares about them as more than just his crew:

First recurit is Rung whose surpised after Rodimus' outburst last time they talked. Naturally that's exactlyw hy: Rodimus flipped out largely because it was something he didn't want to hear... and with magnus gone he NEEDS that opposing opinon.

The rest of the team includes Brainstorm, whose happy to go and is already packed (holds up suitcase), Ratchet as the Medic, Perceptor as the more stable science guy to Brainstorm's mad scientest, and Whirl... who Rodimus flat out admits he just needs to throw a punch. Also going along is Chromedome, who Skids begs to help him: Since LUna 1 is allegedly's a giant treasure trove, Skids wants something to repair his memory. Swerve also wants to go but is harshly turned down by rodimus due to limited capacity, while Cyclonus agrees to go and take Drift's place as spirtual advisor, since he's the most religious person on the ship left, which he agrees to if Tailgate can come.

What I really get from this is while Rodimus is asking most on qulaifications, only being really straight with Rung.. like I said this shows who he really cares about: his team has to be small and he's a dick to swerve.. but it's likely more he knows Swerve might be in danger here and if there were room, skids and swerve would be along. These are who he can count on, who he's leaned on, who he needs without his two main supports on the ship. And this team will only grow as time goes on.

For now Team Rodimus heads to the planet, with Tailgate hoping to find a cure and Cyclonus.. thinking hope is a lie and telling him to never hope. And also he killed his puppy. He made him a puppy and then he stabbed it. A bunch. And then he showed tailgate the pictures.

Anyway our heroes land on the seemingly barren moon only to find...

IT's a hell of a reveal, and one that will be vastly important down the line... it won't really have any consequences for NOW but just remember this in a few years when we get to the final arc. For now jus tnejoy the sense of wonder on everyone's face: even Ratchet, the crankiest of crank and Tailgate who

We then find out what constructed cold means as Tailgate asks... granted I think I covered this definition back in chapter 1, but as a reminder; cold construction is making a cybertronian via "Spark splicing" using a bit of someone elses to craft a new one. This was in part due to demmand: Cybertron couldn't expand out into the cosmos if it didn't have enough people. Problem is as we've seen like any society Cybertron is quick to prejudice, and thus once Nova Prime who invented the process left, many a city started trying to "prove" constructed cold bots were inferior, something Chromedome is still bitter about and rightfully so.

It's about then things go to hell: On the ship commuincation is suddenly blocked between the bridge crew and away team, and Skids hears some clanking. on Luna 1, our heroes are soon swarmed by decepticons as Lockdown arrives

Okay probably not the right reaction but for those curious who this guy is, Lockdown was one of the handful of original characters from Transformers Animated, my faviorite transformers show and the one that reignited my spark for this fandom. And then this comic did it again, it's a bit cyclical. Point is even if I badly need a refresher on that series, Lockdown was their kraven the hunter, a bounty hunter who hunted down autobots for the decepticons, mostly working for them out of necisity and largely being his own man, so he fits for being a gun for hire for someone else. He sadly dosen't get as much to do here, at least in this season I can't remember if he shows up again, but it's just nice to see something from Animated imported as later installments tend to either make new transformers or stick with the core ones.

On the ship.. things are worse... Skids is confronted by those mysterious robots, who i'll just go ahead and call by their proper names: Legislators... only this time their giant sized and emerging out of the oil pool. What's worse is they soon creep up on EVERY deck of the ship, all shouting the same thing: 1984. Oh and in case you thought things couldn't get any worse as Team Rodimus flees... Ratchet is shot down and isolated....

We pick up from the siege in issue 2: the ship's overrun, our heroes are outgunned and only Swerve is able to land a solid hit as only one came to Swerves

... admitely I just wanted to show off the my first blaster. (Clears throat)

SAY YOU, LITTLE AUTOBOT. YOU WANT TO SHOOT THINGS WITH ALL THE BIG KIDS BUT YOU CAN'T FIRE THEIR BIG OLD GUNS FOR BIG OLD BOTS WITH YOUR WIDDLE BITTY BABY HANDS? TRY MY FIRST BLASTER! MY FIRST BLASTER IS A GUN DEISGNED FOR LITTLE FELLAS LIKE YOU. jUST POINT SHOOT AND MY FIRST BLASTER WILL TELL YOU IF YOU DID AND SUPPORT YOU IF YOUR NOT. MY FIRST BLASTER, FROM BRAINSTORM INC A DIVISON OF BRAINSTORM IS SMARTER THAN YOU LLC.

WARNING: NOT SELLABLE ANYWHERE EXCEPT THE LOST LIGHT. DO NOT GIVE TO BOTS UNDER 1. DO NOT USE WHILE DRUNK UNLESS IT'D BE REALLY FUNNY. COPYRIGHT VIOLATERS WILL BE HUNTED DOWN AND DIPPED IN ACID.

Meanwhile Skids continues his fight and easily wins using his super learning, able to predict his new foes attack easily and counter it.. the problem is while it's a great skill when your fighting a few of Legislators.. it's not so great when your fighting NINE of them and they'll likely keep coming.

So back on Luna 1.. it isn't much better. Whirl and Cyclonus get seperated from the group, and Rodimus, while finding out Ratchet got taken down from tailgate.. simply can't go back for him.

Rodimus then procedes to do some dope as hell sacrlige as he plunges into a titans corpse to give him more room to evade their captors. Sadly while his moves are dope as fuck and Lockdown is sure to give them the slow clap they deserve.. he's already gotten everyone else. After taking a second to tell pharma everyone else hates him, a worthy use of his time. What a legend.

So our heroes end up in a jail cell where, for the past two issues, Rodimus has been recapping these events to Minimus, his cellmate.. who looks an awful lot like someone a certain dead bot was looking for.. hmmm. Questions for later.

For now Rodimus admits they weren't just dumped in a cell first, as Rodimus correctly figures Lockdowns taking them to his boss: a long lost moon as a base, teleport tech.. all of this screams big bad.. and Lockdown is at the end of the day a guy just doing his job. Pharma mentioning a collective "lord and master earlier" already told us this, but it's a nice character bit, shows that beneath his reckleness Rodimus is far smarter than he appears and far more capable than most give him credit for. He's an idiot, sure, but he's one with great skill and intiution.

And sure enough there is a big bad behind all this.. and of all people it's..

I was as shocked as rodimus but it's a clever rug pull: We've seen Chief Tyrest brought up a lot, his accords are what Ultra Magnus is duly appointed enforcer of and back in Last Stand of the Wreckers, he's the one who oversaw the Aquetius trials. So seeing him show up is a suprise... but seeing him be BEHIND all this is a nice swerve. He also makes a perfect contrast to our crew: the embodiment of order and rigidity veruss our far looser, far more human crew. Metaphorically I mean thir still giant robots.

Tyrest is being an obstinante dick, proving he really is Magnus' boss, charging our heroes with crimes against creation. We find out our ambus ISN'T dominus, but his brother minimus, an allged energon trader who hasn't tried to escape because he's waiting for his day in court, a BIGGGGG honking neon sign of a clue at who this guy is. But more on that later, for now Tailgate has a bit of a breakdown, with no one knowing why since he didn't tell anyone present he's dying and could be trapped here for what days remain.

Meanwhile Ratchet.. is not doing any better, with Pharma torturning him, showing off his new shapeshifting hands which can become TWO chainsaws. That double groovey. He's no less stable than last time, but now he dosen't need to PRETEND to be and is honestly an even better villian on return: he has a joker style quality to him as he fiddles with his double groovy hands and plays with ratchet making him ask what's in THE BOX

Turns out 9 robots vs skids does just mean send more legislators and we get a nice speech from the guy, with him pointing out how the Lost Light took him in, cared for him and welcomed him no questions asked.. and

Unfortunately while Skid is totally badass.. he's also wiped.. and thus dosen't see this coming

We'll get into who this fine bastard is later, for now he knocks out Swerve too.

Back in Prison, Tailgate asks about tyrest, noting Nova Prime had a chief science offer of the same name.. the same guy. We get Tyrest's backstory: He was a nobody until the war when, with Dai Atlas' help , they helped 10,000 neutrals off world. Tyrest returned to TRY and broker peace, simply two city states, one for each side, but naturally since one of those sides was Megatron that never went anywhere. It instead lead to the Tyrest Accords, a series of rules of engagment the biggest being not exporting cybertronian weaponry. It's thanks to him the universe isn't a smoldering crater and thanks to Optimus he's chief justice.

As for what he's doing here... no one has a clue. He was last seen during the Aquetius trials, which Rodimus helpfully recaps: trials using a judging machine that 100% predicts guilt, and hasn't been seen since the trials. They also pass around energon sticks, something equivlent to either gum or cigarettes or autobot slim jims

Rung offers Minimus to snap into one.. then delberately spills it and spills it more, causing him to HAVE to get them off the ground and organized... and proving what Rung's figured all along:

Yup, while Ultra Magnus was indeed Ultra Magnus... he was also Minimus Ambus. It's complicated and naturally Hot Rod's a bit confused, so Magnus backs it up slightly: he war bought into luna one and reparied... then smacked in the face by tyrest.

Tyrest decides just bitchslapping Magnus PHYSICALLY isn't enougH: having read his logs and found his actions disgraceful, both the micromanagment and the various fraternizations, he disables the armor and left ambus as he was.

As for why Magnus was a fancy suit of armor, turns out Ultra Magnus is a legacy of brave autobots, all one percenters.. but smaller rewind sized ones, Loadbearers. So while their not super tanks from the start.. it means they can be heavily modified and thus wear the Magnus Armor. The Magnus Armor was forged after the original Magnus, a real brave bot, died: Tyrest saw what fear and awe he imposed and realized he could exploit that and thus created an "immortal lawman". If this is sounding very sinestro to you and making you nervous, that's the idea. As for why small transformers it's simply that most cybertronians can't get fancy armored add ons" too much and they freeze up. A loadbearer has plenty.

So our magnus, Minimus was the latest.. and seemingly last. He also has ten days left.. but it turns out Pharma wasn't lying: Tyrests doctors can work miracle.

Back in the flashback, we get a recontexulization of Magnus character from Tyrest, who isn't exactly reliable , hence why I didn't think too heaviyl about his words before.. but in hindsight.. they make perfect sense and the interview I mentioned backs it up: Magnus.. had a nervous breakdown.

For most of the lost lighters the war ending is a fresh start: the war is over.. but for the bulk of them the war wasn't something they fit into. They were fighting because they had no real choice or had been for too long. And in the case of some like Chromedome the war simply took one terrible thing they were forced into and swapped it for another. The war ending means a chance ot start over and do anything else.

Magnus... fit perfectly. He was a stickler for order, a natural talented combatant, and while he was the latest to wear this armor, he more than earned it. The war was chaotic and horrible, but it also had rules, a clear bad guy (even if this book shows there's still plenty shades of grey in the autobots), and a clear end goal. Life.. dosen't have those. LIfe is just doing your best and hoping today is good. It's not perfect, it's often messy, but it's just how it is. Magnus didn't really have to worry about small talk or what he does with the rest of his life.

It also explains why he took the lost light: it was seemingly close to what he'd been doing: going through space, righting wrongs, etc, all. Cybertron would've had more order.. but it was also filled with thousands of bots who resented him for everything he'd had to do over the war, and a new world he understood even less. It was the lesser of two evils, so he overcompesated by becoming anal retintive in the extreme. He's a soldier who simply couldn't cope with the war being over, a tale sadly as old as the nasty institution itself and didn't get himself the help he needed.

Magnus replacement.. was Star Saber, that guy we saw make Skids into a kebab. Magnus was mostly talking to them though.. because he was curious. He asked to be put in there as.. nothing is adding up: the decepticons, the titan, and now this "crimes against creation" charge that wasn't in the laws before. magnus, still being a tad naive even after all of this, goes to talk to tyrest.

While he does, WHirl and Cyclonus have escaped having killed a bunch of decipticons themselves and after their done getting to the numbers, see a cell block above... identified as such because it's directly over a giant smelting pool, as whirl puts it "a prison you can dunk" Whirl of all people is the logical one here: They need a ton of weapons to go rescue the others, and he can sniff an armory. Somehow. Honestly I'd question it but if anyone could find weapons through sheer force of will it's whirl.

Back with the head tha twouldn't die, Ratchet assumes this is about revenge.. and it is, Pharma wanted to hunt ratchet down, but his main goal

Thing is Pharma's a mite bit paranoid and hasn't removed them because their hard locked, and he assumes rigged to explode. Ratchet uses this to his advantage: he calls Pharma a coward, stating that he really didn't do it because he's scared he can't and essentially challenges him to a surgery duel: first to fix it win. Honestly Chicago Med and Grey's Anatomy could use WAY more of those. I'd watch every episode twice if it was a death sport race to see who can surgery faster. Get it on it Dick Wolf and Shondra Rhymes!

So back with the bicker twins, Cyclonus and Whirl argue, with Cyclonus pointing out byu this point.. Whirl could've had his own hands back and his face if he wanted, with Whirl genuinely worried if he stops being angry, he wouldn't be him anymore. Cyclonus gets stabbed from behind for our THIRD stabbing this story and our FOURTH in the last few issues, but it's not fatal, Whirl saves him.. and our dynamic duo find the prisoners: not our heroes, who are as it turns out somewhere else.. but the circle of light. It's why they have so many swords avaliable.

Back with Ratchet he made a bit of a tactical error.. while his gambit was clever.. he forgot that Pharma is basically the joker now and thus had ambulon and first aid brought here as swerve and skids were to Team Rodimus cell: their going to be the guinea pigs and despite ratchet's begging, he can't get the contest called off. This is happening. And unfortunately for ambulon instead of across the waist... Pharma decides to go lengthwise.

Semantics point is ambulon is super fucking dead and purple chainsaw blood is all over. It's a brutal, horrifying death.. and tha'ts really the only reason it works. That Pharma set up this horrifying death game, when he could've just done minor surgery and used one of the Legislators, since they aren't really sapient at this point anyway. Otherwise.. Ambulon is a guy we barely knew who disappeared entirely: Pipes was also mostly absent till his death.. but Pipes felt like an actual character and had enough characteirzation up to his death. Ambulon.. feels like he was kept on just for this chainsaw death since First Aid had more to give. It's not a bad death, I mean... look at that gore, but it's not as weighty especially coming after two big tearjerking ones.

Back at the cells, Swerve fills the rest of the crew in: the legislators have locked down the place, and he tells them about Star Saber, who it turns out in this unvierse is a notorious evangelical nutball who tried to do atheist genocide. So you know the MOST stable person to give a big sword. Star Saber being made into a villian.. was a bit contervseral according to tv tropes. Saber Originally was the optimus prime equilvent for one of the G1 animes, Transformers Victory, having a neat design and big old sword. So making him into a sociopathic religious nut wasn't the best for some. Me I think it's fine: the series already has plenty of heroic autobots and it helps reinforce the idea that being on the autobots .. dosen't make you a good person. Same with Tyrest.

He shows up to drop off a new prisoner.. and it makes Chromedome have a relization: when Skids memory was begging for estape it was asking for getaway... the autobot whose now being loaded into their cells.

Minimus goes to confront Tyrest who couldn't give a shit what Magnus thinks.. but is willing to explain what his grand evil plan is and why he's doing all this supervillian nonsense: guilt. Turns out Tyrest is one of the archetechts of Cold Construction, and instead of using sparks.. it used the matrix. This is a brilliant move and explains why, with cold construction only stopping fo ra bit because it was assumed the matrix was dry when really someone stole it assuming this was blasphemous.

And sadly. Tyrest has started to agree. The Aquetius trials drove him around the bend, with all the guilt and horrible actions of the autobots on trial getting to him.. to the point he started to drill into himself, hence the holes.. including one in his own head. Huh Egon WAS right it would've worked.. as Tyrest saw something beckoning him and thus the space bridge is a portal to cyberutopia itself. But being ... unhinged to say the least, Tyrest has decided he has to atone first... since all the criminals on trial were constructed cold, he assumes their an abomination and plans to use a literal killswitch to kill every last one tommorow. And beofre Minimus can stop this.. he has a legislator squish the poor guy's head.

Onto Part 4. After a reminder of the various gushers of blood abound, we cut to a fight with Whirl, Cyclonus and the Circle of Light. Turns out the circle had been cut down a bit, but is still a massive army, allowing for an epic battle while everything elses going on and the revelation that will come in hand in a bit that Cyclonus, being a true believer, can power their faithswords, which use energy from a spark to do something something something religion. Look I'm being as through as I can, but this is a MASSIVE story arc.

In the Cell Getaway TRIES to have a reunion with Skids, while also introducing his catchphrase bomp.. basically a sort of fistbump he used to annoy skids. At any rate Skids can't remember anything but Getaway can and fills the rest of the cast in on Tyrest's madness, which is a term I try to be careful with as someone with a mental illness myself.. but really appleis to a man whose drilled a thousand holes into himself and is trying to do holy genocide right about now. When Rodimus mentions Ambus not being back yet... Getaway drops the bomb on him baby, he drops the bomb on him... that Ambus LURED them here.

Back with Team Holy Genocide, Tyrest explains how the hell he knows this switch will work to someone who was there for it: He kidnapped Pharma because Pharma is apparently famous for being Forged, so he could prove it wouldn't kill Forged transformers. THe attack on the circle of light? A whole cities worth of test subjects, taking ten thousand down to one thousnad. Speaking of which given the Circle is a mite testy about the genocide, Tyrest decides to handle the situation by.. letting the equally religious genocidal monster he keeps on payroll handle it.

Skids has a bit of a breakdown over his missing memories so not wanting to see his best friend break down further, Swerve asks Gateway to fill him in on what he's missing. Skids and Brainwave were partners in the Dipolmatic Corps... which was really Autobot Special Ops. What good would being spies be if they broadcasted that fact? They had a similar job as the wreckers, impossible missions and such, but while the Wreckers were more Impossible MIssions Force, going in somewhat subtle and always ending loud and dangling themselves off cliffs, the ASO were more the stale beer type of spy: get in, do the mission, maybe surivive.

Their mission this time was to put a mind bullet in Tyrest's head.. not kill him, to Skids relief, as the binary gun, that gun Skids couldn't find when he was introduced, wasn't designed to kill, simply implant a thought, and a very simple one at that: Resign. As for why, while Skids boss didn't know the fulls cope of what tyrest is doing he got the feeling something bad was going down given he was chasing down titans and talking to the decpticons. Sadly .. Skids missed, Tyrest set his horeds on them and while Skids escaped, he followed one last protocol: after all the binary gun had two bullets... and the other was used on him to erase the mission

To no one's suprise, Prowl's the spymaster here and to even less shockity shock, him prodding the already deranged man with a god complex led him to speed up his plans. The good news of all this though is Getaway.. can get the mout. He's an escapeologist, a master escape artist, macguver as a transformer and the only reason he hasn't busted out? He didn't have a fresh set of keys.

While Getaway plans his way out, so does Ratchet, who has an argument iwth first aid: First Aid makes the valid point that Ratchet has a savior complex; he hasn't really retired.. because he dosen't think anyone else can do the job as well as him. Turns out this isn't it: Ratchet didn't let first aid help.. because Ambulon was long dead by chainsaw to the face, and he simply was stalling to weaponize his corpse, a nice little callback to drift doing the same. The two argue over what to do with Pharma, Ratchet not wanting to sink to his level and First Aid wisely feeling Pharma will just come back to haunt them again, if probably not the one to do it since i'ts clearly out of anger his friend we saw maybe once just got chainsawed in half by the guy.

The argument is interupted by Team Rodimus. Turns out the keys... were all the stuff on everyone and using Brainstorms breifcase straps (he had it on him as it's designed that only those who KNOW it's there see it) and Chromedome's fingers to create a dart gun, knock out the guard then have everyone use the sticks on the bars at the same time. THeir out, and Tailgate is hopeful he can find a cure. And what I like, and forgot to mention is HOW Luna 1's a treasure chest: it's not because it was lost. Luna 1.. is just luna 2 with a diffrent name. But since Tyrest took up refrence he also took every bit of treasure the magnuses had built up with him and thus he really CAN work medical miracles. It's juts without Pharma.. they might not be able to.

For now it's time to light up the stage cause it's time for a showdown. With team two guys , a religoius leader an an army it's not great as the legislators won't stop and there's a LOT of them, and Star Saber makes it worse. While Dai Atlas does his best against his polar oppiste.. Saber snidely tells him "Primus hates you and stabs the life out of him"

Team Rodimus don't have it much better.. they arrive, point a gattling gun at Tyrests face.. and tyrest simply activates his staff and the bodies hit the floor. It's a subsonic suggestion they can't move, so powerful they don't even belivie it when he tells them and with that.. he pulls the switch. Brainstorm and Chromedome start to fade.. and they aren't alone...

It's a brutal sequence ending with the scavengers... and with that tyrest has almost won, and all he has to do.. is step into the light of his portal as it activates.

So as the final chapter opens, Tyrest is about to get his big prize when...

It's a clever save: Tailgate's condition had been front and center for most of this arc, Ratchet outlined loss of functions.. it's poetry. I also love him jamming his finger in the head hole, it's a detail I did'nt notice till writing this but I love it.

WIth that the rest of the crew can rally.. but Tyrest uses tailgate as a human shield with Tailgate revelaing his condition so Rodimus can shoot.. but Rodimus has grown from the incident with fort max and can't bring himself too... thankfully..

Before we can process "how the hell is magnus still alive", we cut to the battle outside and we get an awesome fight with Cyclonus and Starsaber, with Cyclonus stabbing the fucker in the eye.. before he gets teleported away. Where? Well.. that's al ong ways off from being answered, but for now he's away from gutting people range so that's good at least. Back with Team Rodimus, Rodders asks what we're all thinking "What the hell". Turns out in a clever, if still somewhat labored twist... Minimus didn't tell them HOW many loads he was carring. This is as far down as he goes, but it still makes a lot of sense. Tyrest not KNOWING this dosen't, but we can handwave it as Tyrest assuming he got the heads and just.. not carring enough about magnus to double check the corpse, a mistage that made him into one.

Our heroes need to scramble to find someway to shut off the killswitch though as Tyrest was still sane enough to not put a shutoff on it. Before they can deal with that properlyt hough, Pharma heads into the portal with First Aid giving chase.. and Pharma saying far more than he needs to, chuckling and grinning about all the autbots at delphi and bursting into laughter about his lengthwise joke... and soon bursting from the head as first aid shoots him.. and then collapses, not able to deal with taking a life for the first time

It's a powerful moment. Pharma absoltuely deserved to get his head burst... but it's still a life and it dosen't, as first aid clearly hope, make the pain of everyone he's lost go away.

So while this goes on Perciptor has a hail mary: he hooks rodimus up to it, which MIGHT hurt him and will defintely destroy their matrix piece, using it to undo the code. While Rodimus makes a "there goes our map" quip.. it's very clear he has no intention of backing out: personal glory isn't worth the deaths of everyone.

So with Death on the way he decides to clear the air with Magnus, ask if he really betrayed them. Turns out.. yeah he entirely lured them out here, having become disturbed with Rodimus' increasing irresponsiblity. It wasn't a full trap as he had no idea Tyrest was so far gone, he just wanted him to give Rodders a lecture, snap him out of it, tha tsort of thing not you know, nearly kill them all and then try to commit genocide as an encore. It speaks to who Magnus is: he's orderly.. but he's not the zealot his former boss is. He just wants to do the right thing.

And so does rodimus..w hich leads to one hell of a confession

It's a powerful moment an da wakeup call for rodimus: while he's still carefree after this... it's him realizing he's been way too caviler.. and let his own ego and pride get people killed. And he needs to , instead of hiding from it like he did, face the conseqeucnes of his actions. It's also a nice moment in that instead of seeing his sacrifice as a way out or a glorious way to redeem himself as he might have before the incident... instead Rodimus just hopes he lives long enough to begin the real work.

As he writhes in pain, Tyrest.. turns out not to be dead and says one word: one... which sends all the legislators their way.

In the meantime Skids ends up on Cyberutopia.. yeah... in a big reveal it, or some form of it exists and skids ended up there due to taking the portal: it was blocking anyone who had guilt in them, and Skids.. finally felt free enough to try it.

What he saw there will be important later but for now the plan worked: everyone is saved and Whirl celebrates, deciding to put the past behind him and cyclonus... and after a quick murder fantasy Cyclonus agrees. He has somewhere more important to be.

Back in the control room the legislators swarm and Skids shows up to help.. while something takes Ambulon's corpse through the portal. No time to dwell on that setup now as the legislators need to be stopped..a nd it's tailgate who once again saves the day in a brilliant way too. Remember how Magnus had him memorize the law and just about everything including the dimensions of the kitchen sink? Well when finding out the law computer is right there, this allows tailgate to easily write a new one REPEALLING them all. the legislators freeze, our heroes win the day, and Tyrest vanishes. And sadly while Tailgate won the day.. he passes out.

Thankfully we have a solution: on his deathbed we get a very poginant line from Tailgate, the little bot who simply wanted to be special and important...

It's a small line.. but one that sums up the comic> life isn't about being a big hero or saving the unvierse, though our heroes certainly did that.. it's abotu living it. It can be hard, messy and often rediculous.. but it's more than worth it.. and with that Cyclonus gives Tailgate the gift of life.. by stabbing him in the chest

And for once.. IT IS HEALTHY as it was a way to do a spark transfusion, one Whirl of all people brought up. It was risky.. but it was worth it.

So as Rodimus decides to bounce, deciding this big discovery wasn't really wroth it with one crew member dead, first aid traumitzied and brainstorm in his lab, unknown to all having taken the super spark, and the rest of the sparks having gone quiet after the matrix became dust.. he's lost.

Magnus however.. is found. He may not know what his future is.. but he's finally at some sort of peace.. and has a ncie gentle talk with cyclonus

Remain in Light was one of my faviorite arcs of lost light.. and re-reading it only clinched that view: it's a tense epic that's fast paced but manages to cover a LOT of ground without anything feeling underserved, and the result is stunning. It's a worthy end to season 1.

And it WOULD be where we leave off.. but before dark cybertron we have one issue left, issue 22.

Little Victories is a nice Coda to the season, an issue I skimmed over the first time I read the comic due to the art... not being great. Artist James Raiz takes over from here through dark cybertron and his art style isn't bad, being kind of sketchy and gritty. Not my cup of tea but not bad art. The problem.. is that the art style dosen't fit lost light at all. I mean look at this panel with cyclonus

It's a good joke, but it looks just so dead serous and grungy. It just dosen't fit what's entirely a slice of life issue, showing a recuritment film Rewind made before his untimely passing.

That said giving the issue a second chance or two i've come around... once your ready for the jarring art shift, you can enjoy the story with plenty of fun documentary gags including Magnus having part of the film removed and getting editiing rights, as well as having Swerves swears censored.

There's two plots here: The first involves everyone being curious what Rungs alt mode is, with Swerve having a bet as to who can get him to show it first, leading to a really great, really stupid joke

I love this comic for it's deep characters, engaging plot and world building.. but I also love that a large part of the comic is just roberts letting these robots act like jackasses. It makes them so damn relatable. I mean someone had to try this.

The other is Thunderclash, what a guy. Thunderclash is a legendary hero and the king of the parody sues, a guy so noble and kind that even optimus looks up to him, a hero unparalleled. He's this series Ace Rimmer, and intentionally too as Roberts is a big red dwarf fan, something that isn't a huge suprise but is welcome.

For those not familiar with Ace, he's the alternate counterpart of Red Dwarf's Arnold Rimmer, an uptight attempted ladder climber who usually fails due to his own incomptience and ego, while Ace is everything Arnold WISHES he could be: Smart, handsome, good with a joke, beloved.

So naturually someone like Rodimus, full of ego and self importance himself, needed someone just simply better than him doing the same job who everyone on his crew unabashadely loves. Thunderclash is just.. that nice and I love the ways they bend over backwards to make EVERYONE fall for this guy, from him being one of the few autbots to be nice to cyclonus and earn his genuine respect with his knoweldge, to teaching Perciptor of all people something. It's just great fun and it's just as fun to watch Hot Rod gnash his teeth over someone else getting all the attention.

There's also a third kinda plot as the crew runs into the Ammonites, a group of robots fighting a forever war with some bug aliens that whirl seemingly end sin ten minutes. We don't know how and tha'ts how I sleep at night

All three collide at the end: Thunderclash's ship needs a jump, esspecailly since, while an epic hero of epicness, he's dying: the ship is Thunderclash's life support and being the autobot's own personal jesus, he's naturally using this time to save everyone he can. It's why his crew's behind on their own quest for the knights.

Sadly one of his crew turns out to be an ammonite spy and they turn out to not have been the good guys, thankfully Rung has an idea and turns into a blunt insturment. Or is it an object. point is he's blunt, hard and blunt. As for WHAT he is...

This will be important going forward, and in hindsight may be one of the most important little bits in this issue. Thunderclash will be too.

We then get the ending which is... eh in my eyes. I like Lost Light's comedy, I point you to just a few paragraphs ago with the stupid alt mode night joke. But this bit.. feels a bit of a stretch: it turns out the film was being screened to the circle of light who ALL, every one of them, boo hiss and complain about them all being fuckups. Besides being more than a little harsh... the film was made by a DEAD AUTOBOT. Rewind DIED before this was made and i'm damn sure they told them that. I like the jokes and I don't mind shots at how little the crews acomplished, it's a decent runner but here.. it just feels mean. Doubly so since the lost light JUST SAVED THEIR ASSES and the ENTIRE UNIVERSE, and not a one of them think tha'ts neat. We get a heartwarming ending showing how much it means but this joke.. just really dosen't work at all. One of Roberts rare misfires but boy is it off target.

That said the issue overall is fun and i'm glad I gave it a second shot. It's good stuff and like seemingly EVERYTHING before the finale itself, it's got a lot of setup.

Next Time: Before we can get to DARK CYBERTRON we have to see what everyone else has been up to

Thanks for reading

[nancypullen]

SPRING!

Spring has sprung and I've got an itchy trowel hand. I'm dying to get stated in the gardens. Raise your hand if you think I need at least one raised bed for herbs.

I chose those baseball players because it's also baseball season! Opening day is March 28th. Hit 'em where they ain't boys! Name that movie. Here's a hint.

If I sound chipper today, it's because I am. I HAVE A DAY OFF! Hallelujah! This job has become all-consuming and honestly, not fun. With spring in the air I'm longing for home and time spent playing in the dirt. The flower beds in the front of the house wave me off every morning and greet me every night - and I miss them!

Those gorgeous irises ae from Stoner Creek Elementary where I spent many years working. When a tornado wiped out the school some of my sweet teacher friends dug up and divided irises from the grounds. My dear pal, Dina, gifted me with several and they're thriving. The tulip bulbs were sent by my sister-in-law last December. I put them in the ground and, lo and behold, all 40 bloomed! Isn't it special when you can look at parts of your gardens and feel a rush of love for the people who made it possible? Double the pleasure. Our high today is just 47 and there's a chilly wind blowing, but the sun is bight and skies are blue. No complaints from me. I spent a little time cleaning up winter debris from the flower beds and making plans for what I'll grow this year. Every fall I swear I'm not planting sunflowers again, and every spring I come across seeds that I saved and I'm pulled right back in. Of course I'll plant them. They did really well on the east side of the house last summer, so that's where they'll go again. I surrounded them with zinnias for extra color (is there anything easier to grow than zinnias?) and the grandgirl liked making bouquets with them. I'll do that again. My Zepherine rose bush arrived last week and went into the ground, crossing my fingers that she'll really show off. Of course, this is her first year so I shouldn't expect too much. I shouldn't, but I will. I need to do a lot of things with my time off, but I have a feeling most of it will involve dirt. I'm okay with that. I just want to wear old t-shirts, make things grow, and feed the birds and squirrels. I've become an old swamp witch. There are worse ways to spend my time, right? I've got a roast in the crockpot, I'll roast some broccoli and mash some taters for dinner. We eat a lot of salmon and salads, generally avoiding red meat, but I thought the mister deserved a big hunk of cow meat tonight. He has been absolutely wonderful about keeping things tidy and making dinners. I know, I know women do invisible work for decades and no one ever applauds or thanks them. We're criticized when we don't do it all, but never thanked. Still, I appreciate that he's not leaving everything for me to do, so I will shower him with beef. I know it's been forever since I posted, and I really hate it. HATE it. I ask myself at the end of every nine hour day at the library why I'm doing this. I just wanted to volunteer somewhere and meet some nice people.

I know that most folks don't see what happens behind the scenes in a library, it seems like quiet people just sit at desks and check books in and out. There's constant work to be done, lots of big plastic tubs of books coming and going that have to be processed, inter-library loans,etc. I also spend time at the information desk which is always wild. Some of the questions that people call with would blow your mind. I enjoy working in the children's room, that's always fun. I really love when I can put the right book into a kid's hands and they come back and ask for more like it. Shelving never ends...ever. I'm already working on April's displays , two in the main library and one in the children's room. I just really wish that the days weren't so long. This week is a short week for me and I am delighted. Next week will be long. If they'd just have me come in from 9 to 1 daily, I could knock out all of my work plus others' tasks and still have a life. I work every hour that I'm there, others do not. If I have down time I will float around and pick up the slack in other areas. If everything is caught up, I'll clean. I never thought I'd be that senior citizen that complained about "young people today", but my gosh there's a whole lot of dead weight on staff. Seems like everyone has a special reason why they can't complete a task or show up for work. Ugh. They're all making more than me and getting health insurance, why am I the only one worried about the work getting done? I'm the part-time granny! Okay, I'm not going to end this happy blog post with whining about work. It has been good for me to get out and meet people, I'll stick with the positives. I skipped lunch today because I was working in the yard and now I'm feeling snacky. Since we're having a big dinner I guess I'll just have some cucumbers or a cup of yogurt. That'll keep me from wasting away to normal. Might even sit down and watch some murder tv. I've really been missing my shows! I have to catch up on all of the heinous things people do to one another. I wouldn't be surprised if someone calls the library asking how to dispose of a body, I'll just consider this research. I'm off for a couple of days so I'll blog again tomorrow. Hooray!! I miss the old days of steady blogging. Until then... Stay safe, stay well, HAPPY SPRING! XOXO, Nancy