#i failed todays battle btw

[ace-of-drakes]

why must i be burdened with god’s hardest battles (walking through Michael’s without buying a book on crocheting cute creatures or perhaps a magical coloring book)

[peppermint-whiskers]

Introducing:

An au by myself and @emositecc (all artwork here done by her, btw! 💖💖)

Premise: Because snake forms aren't common in Heaven, Pentious has to change forms per Sera’s orders in order to not make waves. At the same time, she places a spell on him that prevents him from speaking about who he was before and his time in Hell. Using the nickname Pen, he's sent down to Hell every once in a while to help them with redemption, acting as the representative. While there, he has a lot of trouble reconnecting because of the spell and because of the weird deja vu the others get whenever he's around. It also doesn't help that they're still mourning Pentious—he can't tell them that he's okay and that redemption works.

He does succeed in reconnecting with them, but only as “Pen.”

It'll be done in 3 acts:

Act 1: Reconnection

Sir Pentious, under the alias Pen, is sent to Hell every once in a while to help them with redemption. There, he struggles to reconnect with his friends, who are still mourning his supposed "death."

Act 2: Mind Wipe

After a disasterous event caused by Alastor, Pentious begs Sera to wipe his memories of his life before as it's the only way he can think of to ease the pain. This works for only a while, and the confusion between his two forms makes him restless. Emily smuggles him back to Hell to help him regain his memories.

Act 3: Consequences

After resolving the mind wipe, Sera realizes the error of her actions and tries in earnest to help Charlie's hotel with redemption. However, the reveal of the mind wipe and redemption causes waves in both Heaven and Hell.

Some artwork and snippets (written by me) under the cut!

No spoilers yet, obviously uwu

Snippet 1:

“The envoy is supposed to come today!” Charlie exclaimed, positively bouncing around the hotel lobby. “I'm sooooo excited! What do you think they'll be like??”

“Sexy,” Angel immediately said with his usual teasing tone.

“Respectful,” Vaggie sighed. After failed extermination, they've had countless meetings with Heaven, and the head seraphim has been . . . less than helpful. As much as she hated to admit it, dealing with Emily was much preferred to dealing with Sera.

“I just hope you know what you're doing,” Husk chimed in. “Inviting an angel to stay longterm here could be dangerous.”

“It’ll be fine,” Charlie assured them. “We'll keep them safe, and they'll help us with redemption! It's a win-win!”

A circular portal opened up just outside the hotel. Squealing with joy, Charlie rushed outside to meet their newest friend and staff member. Out stepped a tall gentleman with dark skin, white hair, and a pale blue suit. His eyes seemed to look over the hotel with nostalgia—Charlie would bet anything that in life, he was a hotel manager himself. That would be just perfect! She could use a little more help than Alastor deigned to provide.

Snippet 2

Their new guest wasn't doing so well. Somehow, through fake coughs and weak insistence, Pen managed to convince Charlie that he didn't need to come out of his room, thank you very much. Charlie wasn't dumb, of course, and her sympathetic nature was just one of the many reasons Vaggie loved her. Instead of pressing the issue, she let Pen stay in his room for the day and let him continue claiming he was sick.

He may have convinced the others, but Charlie and Vaggie both knew better. Angels couldn't get sick, but this was one hell of a bout of homesickness.

Charlie herself brought meals up to his room and coaxed him to eat, and Vaggie went when she was busy, but he never once opened the door. After two days of this, Vaggie finally took it upon herself to see him herself and get to the bottom of this. Breakfast in hand, she headed up the stairs and prepared herself for a battle of wills of which she was sure she would win.

[fuck-customers]

This situation truly felt like the closest I've ever gotten to reenacting the L vs. Light from Death Note battle lmaoo I kept my cool and plausible deniability, but I was dying laughing internally.

(I think I've won the battle, btw. I'll have to wait and see. There's more to this war, though)

So, for background (and I've complained about this on this blog several times...sorry) my moron boss refuses to put price tags/signs on the products in the store, especially at the register. Considering I work in a retail store...this is obviously a problem. So I've made several attempts to get products priced, in varying degrees of extremity.

1. I made handmade signs/tags out of receipt paper/scratch paper and put them on the products around the register. (Candy, toys etc.) Braindead manager took them down.

2. All but 4 of the shopping carts at work are broken, but customers are stupid and still try to drag them halfway through the store and then abandon them or somehow blame me personally for them being broken. So I put signs on the broken ones and blocked them off. Dumbshit managers keep unblocking them and then customers try and fail to use them and abandon them throughout the store, rinse and repeat daily.

3. I then got the idea to go over my manager's head, but without having it fall back on me. Write to corporate. I originally started snatching receipts to leave negative reviews on the store survey, but that seemed to be a dead end, as the SM and DM are the ones who are supposed to read the surveys, but appear not to, as not a single thing was fixed in over 6 months of "customers" complaining weekly. (Usually at least 1 every 2-4 days)

4. I found a clearance price gun and tagged everything with it, even if it wasn't clearance. One way or another, it had a price on it, right? Of course the braindead moron took them off.

5. I then found actual price tags that were technically for different products, but had the same prices as our current candy, so I tagged the items with that. (For example, we'd have a tag for chocolate that we no longer carry that was $3.99 and we have some current chips on the shelf that are $3.99, so I'd just put the old tag for the current candy, since all customers need is the dollar amount and blacked out the old product description) These lasted longer than the previous attempts, but were ultimately taken down, but this is (hopefully) the turning point.

6. Just to really make sure something would change, a month or so after reusing old price tags, I (simultaneously, while also putting up old tags) made several fake emails posing as disgruntled customers and emailed corporate complaining about the lack of prices and the broken carts (among other things) at my specific location. (I did not name any specific employees or throw anyone under the bus. I just complained about the appearance of the store and any mention of employees was simply left at "the cashier" "the manager" etc. with no personally identifying info) I did this on the feedback section of the company website as well.

This all came to a head today when the braindead's mini-me (the ASM) pulled me aside before I clocked in today to basically call me out. She said that she knew that I was the one who put the handmade tags and also put "broken" signs on the broken carts and blocked them off. I, of course pretended not to know about it, because I'm not THAT stupid. But I'm not in trouble, because she has no real proof. (It was very much "I know that she knows and she knows that I know she knows lol) Anyway, she says (and we'll see about this) that new carts have been ordered and are on their way and also that she had to go around and undo all the tags (oh boohoo, she had to do her job, poor her) and will be putting real, correct tags on the products.

We'll see. In the meantime, "customers" are still going to leave bad reviews and contact corporate until changes are actually made for real. There are still other issues that need to be fixed, but are not as important as the lack of price tags and carts. (Such as the lack of price checkers, the shit radio music, the lack of employees, the dysfunctional inventory system, the bare shelves, the disorganized store, etc.)

Posted by admin Rodney

[spider-jaysart]

Okay soooo, first time I'm doing something like this, but I wanna introduce a fave oc of mines today that I've been working on for a longtime now :)

Her name is Nadja Al Ghul-Wayne-Kent and she's a Damijon kid

(Click for better quality)

@camo-wolf @paladin-of-nerd-fandom65

The name Nadja means "hope" in Arabic. My very dear friend @theredheaded-stuff was the one who helped me pick it. And her hero name is Super Canyon, which is inspired by the Canyon Wren bird

(More under the cut)

(Edited some stuff on this post now btw)

Backstory:

After being inspired by the story of how Kon was created, a secret group of no good scientists, who just love causing chaos with many of their inventions, decided one day to create a mixed clone of both Damian and Jon, thinking they can do better than Lex did, so they collected both of the boys DNA's after one of their recent battles in public and got to work. Once their experiment was supposed to be done, they saw that their machine had actually created a baby girl instead of a grown, powerful clone like they had wanted, so they were ready to dispose of her as a failed subject, but were suddenly stopped just on time by Damian and Jon who broke into the place and kicked their butts after finding out that a recently committed crime they were investigating was caused by them. When they were done, the boys found Nadja and were surprised to find out she's a clone related to them both. They decided to take her with them and made her their daughter to raise together after that.

Personality:

She's helpful, stubborn, is as intelligent as Damian is, friendly but also tough when she needs to be, observant, sometimes a little too honest about things but doesn't always mean it as rude, courageous (a trait that can be pretty helpful sometimes, but also get her into really big trouble during dangerous situations too), a prankster, and very protective of others, especially her loved ones

Abilities and skills:

She has the usual Kryptonian abilities, which are flying, super strength, superhearing, superspeed, superbreath, ice breath, invulnerablity, x-ray vision, and laser vision that's purple instead of the usual red (because Lois has purple eyes, so it's something unique that was passed onto her that way). Sometimes they don't always work though and can accidentally get out of hand too since she's still growing and learning, but Jon aways tries his best to help her get better at using and controlling them. Nadja also uses many concentrating tips from Damian too for improvement, like meditating for example and other things like that, and he helps her practice them

And because she's half Kryptonian, she also has a couple of unlocked special abilities of her own too, which is invisiblity, the ability to phase through walls and objects, plus the power to also transfer the heat of her laser vision into the palm of her hands to burn who or whatever she touches and she can also let it absorb her whole body too if she wants, which makes her even more untouchable and at the same time lets her release a strong fiery blast around herself onto enemies or incoming threats (her body glows completely purple whenever she does this and if it's just her hands, the same happens to them too). Nadja hasn't been able to properly master these special powers yet though, only one of them, which is the invisiblity one

For skills, thanks to teachings from Damian, plus Talia whenever she visits her, Nadja knows how to use a sword and fight well in combat in case her powers aren't working the way she urgently needs them to during patrols and missions

Random facts:

She calls Damian Baba and Jon Dad.

She calls Clark "Grampops" and Bruce "Grampbats". For Talia, she calls her "Grandmother" and for Lois, she calls her "Grandmama".

Her best friend is her same age Cousin Dick II, the Son of her much older Cousin Jake Grayson and his Wife Meredith Robinson. In the Batfamily (besides Damian), she's close with all her Aunt and Uncles. And for the Al Ghul's, she also gets excited whenever she visits Talia and Ra's. And while she definitely also gets along a lot with her other relatives who are in the Superfamily, the person she's most closest to there (besides Jon ofc) is Kon, due to them both being created as clones meant for evil but turned out good instead, which got them to bond even more as Uncle and Niece.

Her voice sounds like Clementine's from Telltales the walking dead games, but specifically the version of it from season 2 for the tween age she's in right now.

She has messy hair like Jon when she lets it loose. Jon is the one who always has to brush her hair whenever it gets tangled up, since the steel strength of it is just too difficult for Damian to actually handle himself.

Nadja laughs at Damian's jokes all the time since she gets his dark humor and he loves that. They always laugh a lot about it together but when Jon's around, they're Iike "You wouldn't get it" and he gets all offended.

Jon passed his love for noodles onto Najda and Damian's usually like "That's not healthy!!" And tries cooking her vegetarian meals more often or healthy ones that Talia would used to make him back when he was a kid, just so that Najda will eat real food lol. Najda also really loves the meals that comes from Damian's culture too and gets happy whenever he makes them for dinner.

For nicknames, Jon will sometimes call her "Sweetpea", "Sugar cookie", and "Tootsie pops", while Damian calls her "Habibti", "Thamin" (meaning "precious" in Arabic), and "Galbi" (which means "my heart" in Arabic)

Damian matches his outfits with Nadja all the time just like Talia would always used to do with him when he was a little kid. He does this with Jon included too and they take pictures together.

When making her hero suit, Damian was the one who helped Nadja out in drawing the designs and brainstormed ideas with her. When she had finally found one she liked and was ready to make it, Damian and Jon could've helped her sew it and everything, but they didn't have many materials that she could use or a sewing machine either, only a regular sewing kit that they use to fix up their own suits whenever they get damaged, so they let her make it with Ma's help instead at her place when they visit her and Pa again, since she actually owned a machine and also had a sewing room filled with many useful materials. When asked, Ma didn't mind letting Nadja use her stuff at all and was instead delighted about it since it would just give them the chance to spend time with eachother while doing one of her favorite hobbies together.

And next time, while having their usual Mother and Son days out together, Talia helped Damian pick out the sarong skirt for Nadja while hanging around stores, since they thought it would be nice for her to have one. Jon was the one who bought Nadja the red sneakers while shopping together with Kathy, since it reminded him of Kathy's old purple, rainbow ones, but with a twist of red thrown onto it, which also reminded him a lot of his favorite old ones that he used to always wear as a kid too. Dick and Cyborg helped her insert digital tech into her cuffs, which lets out hologram screens that let her know whenever she's over using her powers since she's still mastering them and it does plenty of other useful things for her too.

Najda was also given a mask to go with her suit at first too since she thinks it's annoying to wear glasses in her regular life everyday, but then it got lost during a fight and some villains saw her face, so she was still forced to go with the glasses route in the end anyways.

As adults, Jon's a scientist and Damian's a veterinarian. Najda likes visiting both of her Dads at their day jobs after school and doing her homework there while they work. She always promises to behave and not get in the way and if she has no work to do, she'll help them out too, which they appreciate. She also loves watching what they do and let's them happily explain their favorite stuff about the job to her. She knows a lot about taking care of animals and science because of this.

Nadja loves music and making it too. She even thinks about playing rock music for a living when she grows up. Damian and Jon support her in this and buy her the instruments she needs and they also listen to her songs when she wants to show it off to them. Because of them being in a band themselves back when they were kids, Damian, Jon, Chris, and Jake give her lessons sometimes on how to better play her instruments.

Civilians and especially interviewers always question about how they had Nadja and just assume that she's adopted or assume that just because she looks more like Damian, she's probably from a secret ex girlfriend he had before being with Jon. The last one annoys both Damian and Jon so much, especially Jon since Nadja is actually his kid too and he gets jealous at the thought of the ridiculous idea. Both him and Damian hate these rumors and just want everyone to mind their own business.

[loafyall]

Aged up yanqing and yunli, Yunli becoming taller and being like 6'3 while yanqing is like 5'11

Future Xianzhou!!

Fu xuan is currently the general after jing yuan's death.

But his death was not being mara, But by an assassination from the Sanctus medicus by a dangerous enemy called Shangū, He died in front of yanqing.

His last wish was that Yanqing would live a happy and long life..

Well..

Yanqing started to mask his emotions behind a smile which he puts on everytime. Following a path of vengeance to avenge his mentor's death, he'll do anything to kill shangū.

Anything.

Yanqing is still a lieutenant and The new sword chapion although.. he shares his title with Yunli due to their so many tie in battles so people decided to make them share the title.

Yanqing carries a fan around, (like y'know the fan Tingyun has? Yea that type of fan but a different colour.).

Sushang is a respected cloud knight known for her strength is is quite cold.

Well, one of the reasons might be her Best friend, Guinaifen's death as she was a short-lived species anyway.

Sushang doesn't like yanqing and maybe never will, the only time they interact is only for work related purposes. Or if Jinglian and jingli try to make them talk with the others.

Speaking of jinli and jinglian, They are two twins who are actually niece and nephew of shangū But well, they've never met him, And They know their mother's and their Other siblings (they had two more siblings btw) death was by shangū. Jingli is a girl who uses a spear while jinglian is a boy who uses a sword, Both of their weapons were picked by yanqing.

Jinglian is usually trained under yanqing, While Jingli helps Fu xuan or bailu if they need anything, Otherwise, she also trains with yanqing and jinglian.Being trained under a sword champion who's a lieutenant is cool isn't it?

Qingque is somehow not being a door guardian and continues her work in the divination commision, Although she still slacks off and tries to Sushang or Yanqing for boba but most the time it's a no

Qingque is most of the time with sushang, Getting boba or anything except working.

After the death of huaiyan, Yunli is the general of the zhuming and visits the Luofu usually for meetings or anything like that.

Yanqing and yunli have somewhat like a shinobu and giyuu dynamic (Yanqing is Shinobu guys.) But by what General Fu xuan says, Yanqing and yunli enjoy talking to eachother.

(They mostly gossip I'm sure for some reason)

Yunli stole one of Yanqing's swords and he doesn't know about it at all.

Yunli is taller than yanqing. She is 6'3 and yanqing is like 5'11.

Bailu.. hasn't grown much, Like she's old but doesn't look like it.

Bailu hangs around with whoever she finds its either jingli or jinglian anyone.

NOT SO FUN FACTS :

few weeks after jing yuan's death Yanqing lost all his emotions for months until he started to pratice fake smiling. It worried fu xuan alot. But she didn't show it.

Yanqing was 16 when jing yuan died.

Fu xuan promised jing yuan at his grave that she would take care of yanqing and made sure the boy went the right way.

Everytime yunli and yanqing meet, It either is a conversation about how jingli and jinglian are doing or....

Just them roasting eachother. Respectfully.

Qingque tries to make sushang and yanqing friends again, But well it fails terribly,

Sushang ends up saying harsh words to Yanqing and yanqing can't snap because of reputation and ends up staring at himself at the mirror with instructive thoughts for hours.

Yanqing wants revenge on Shangū for killing his mentor who he considered as a father.

Huaiyan's death was when he got a disease and died after a week he got it.

Guinaifen died when she was 89, after Living a long and happy life with her best friend (wife.) sushang.

Yukong has passed away by old age.

Well that's all future hcs for today! Wait,

I forgot about Jingliu!

Jingliu is there, hiding in the shadows, Jingliu and yanqing have met many times.

Either a battle or just talking.

Huo huo is aged up and still a scaredy cat but is a bit Brave now(because of tail)

[in1-nutshell]

And I also wanted to see of Maxima being a con (in the same universe as Ophelia btw if you remember!)

I’ll probably request more, but like usual ill request just two per open request

Almost forgot about writing that one for the summaries!

Here it is now!

Hope you enjoy!

Maxima turns into a Con

SFW, Platonic, Familial, Cybertronain reader

TFP

Maxima had been quiet for the past few days.

Ever since her brief encounter with Megatron and Ophelia…

She knew she needed to come up with an answer or some sort of plan.

Maxima knew what would happen if she betrayed the Autobots.

If she betrayed Optimus…

But who then was going to save Opehlia?

Megatron was going to terminate her the next battle if she didn’t join his ranks.

All she needed to do was shoot someone and that would guarantee Ophelia’ safety.

The decision needed to be made fast, the others were starting to notice the change.

Miko going up to Maxima: “Hey you wanna go dune bashing?” Maxima looks down at Miko: “Not today Miko.” Miko pats her pede: “You okay Maxima? You’ve been acting a bit weird lately. You sick? Wait can you guys get sick?” Jack: “Who’s sick?” Raf: “Someone’s sick?” Maxima: “No one is sick. Its just… I have a lot of things going up in the old helm. We can go dune bashing another day, okay?” Miko and the others seem satisfied with the answer and leave her alone. Maxima sighs and goes to return to her habsuite, but a servo stops her. It was Optimus. Optimus: “Maxima, is everything all right?” Maxima gives him a tired smile: “Not so much, but I’m handling it.” Optimus: “If you need help Maxima, do not be afraid to ask for assistance from me or the others.” Maxima stomps down the little cry in her throat: “Understood… and thank you.” Maxima slips through the Prime’s servos and quietly enters her room. Optimus stays in the same place for a bit before Ratchet walks over. Ratchet: “Something’s going on with her Optimus.” Optimus: “Agreed old friend.” Ratchet: “Did she tell you anything?” Optimus: " Nothing that would serve of use. But I am sure she will come to us if the problem does prove to be much.” Ratchet mumbles a bit: “Let’s hope so.” Optimus nods to this as well.

Finally, the day came.

Maxima took an extra hour before the mission to make sure her fail safe plans in the base had been set up.

Hopefully someone would snoop around and see the recordings.

She said her goodbyes to the children and gave a quick hug to Ratchet and ran into the groundbridge.

As expected, the ‘ambush’ was there waiting for them.

Maxima stayed on the defense until Megatron arrived.

She stopped her movements and stared at the warlord from across the field.

Maxima activated her blasters, shakingly.

Tears began pooling around her optics.

She knew who was behind her.

She knew what this would do to the team.

She knew what this would do to her.

… But who knows what Megatron would do to Ophelia if she didn’t do it.

Without taking her teary gaze from Megatron, Maxima fires one blast.

…

…

… straight into Optimus Prime’s chassis.

The entire battlefield went quiet seeing the mighty Prime fall from the blast. Maxima can’t hear anything other than the white noise in her audials. She can’t hear her teammates calling to her. She barely felt Megatron dragging her to the groundbridge. Before she knew it, the colors of the Nemesis filled her vision. Megatron clamps her shoulders wearing a proud smile. Something she hadn’t seen since she was a sparkling. Megatron: “My fellow Decepticons! What you have just witnessed was the death of an Autobot and the rise of a Decepticon. Maxima is now one of us.” Maxima feels the waterworks slowly coming. Megatron guides Maxima to a room. Maxima: “Where are we?” Megatron: “Your new shared quarters.” He opens the door. Megatron: “As promised, no harm done.” Ophelia gasps seeing Maxima at the doorframe. Megatron gives her another pat on the shoulder: “For future reference, I am the only one who can kill Optimus Prime… welcome to your new home my child.” SLAM! The door closes as Maxima falls to her knees. Ophelia runs over to her. Ophelia: “What are you doing here!? What did—” Maxima pulls her close and starts sobbing: “Y-you’re alive! Oh t-thank the Prime’s you’re- you’re okay!” Ophelia starts crying too and hugs back. Ophelia: “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” Maxima just hugs tighter as a new wave of tears arrives. Only time would tell what would happen to the two now. But at least they were safe… for the time being at least…

[cinderella-ish]

Why Machi and Yuki just make sense together (but I still love Yukeru and YukiKyo)

(Just look at how Yuki smiles when they're together! Gah!!!!)

So I've written about Yuki pairings before, and I've been pretty open about both my undying love for Yuchi AND my enjoyment of two of the other frequent Yuki pairings, Yukeru and YukiKyo.

As I've been doing more analysis, especially the Enneagram series (which isn't finished btw!), I've started to realize that Yuchi was written and set up almost as well as Kyoru, and the only reason it's harder to see is because Yuki's arc is distinctly non-romantic.

I'm currently working on an analysis of his arc over the course of the story, and romance just isn't really a factor in his arc beyond him rejecting compulsory romance with Tohru. In fact, the people who share the biggest emotional and plot beats with him are Tohru, Kyo, Akito, Haru, and Kakeru (in no particular order). I'll come back to this in a bit.

So if Yuki doesn't really have a romance arc, what makes him and Machi such a good match?

Well, going back to my Enneagram posts about them, Yuki is a SP 4w3, and Machi is a SP 3w4. They're mirrors of each other.

In my intro to the Enneagram post, I shared each type's core fear and core desire. Here are 3 and 4:

Core desire (3): to be loved for who they are, to be valuable and worthwhile

Core fear (3): being worthless, insignificant; failure

Core desire (4): to be seen and loved for who they are

Core fear (4): having no personal identity or significance, being flawed and missing out on some basic aspect of happiness that other people have access to

What Yuki and Machi each want most is for someone to love them for who they truly are. Yuki (largely due to Akito's abuse, but also the erasure of his friends' memories, Ayame's indifference, his mother's coldness, and Kyo's hatred of him) believes people wouldn't want to know him if he showed his true self because of his perceived defects. And Machi (due to the successorship battle, her mother's insults and demands of perfection, and her parents' bad faith reading of her actions) believes she's failed at the role laid out for her and lacks any value or significance.

Because Yuki is a bit further on in his personal growth than Machi when they meet, he sees her struggle and recognizes it, giving Machi the thing she most needs as an achievement-oriented 3 when he praises her simply for being who she is ("You've worked hard to become the Machi you are today.").

And because that moment was so transformative for Machi, she sees and recognizes Yuki's inner kindness, giving him the thing he most needs as an identity-concerned 4 when she tells him it took someone like him to notice someone like her.

I often see people argue that Yuki's relationship with Machi isn't mutual; that he gives and she takes. I also see people argue that Yuki's relationships with Tohru, Haru, and Kakeru aren't mutual; that they give and Yuki takes. I firmly disagree with both of these assessments, but I think Yuki himself would only disagree with the first.

Beginning with Machi, there are the obvious ways she contributes to their relationship, like when she rescued him from the storage room, and there are the moderately obvious ways, like when he overheard her saying that he's not like a prince and he seems lonely (thus showing that she understands him). But Yuki also needed to feel significant to someone the way he felt to Machi. He needed someone to figure out.

This makes sense for him as a 4. Since being seen and loved for himself is the thing Yuki wants most deeply, it's also what he thinks "giving" means in a relationship. Kyo could read Tohru in a way Yuki never could, and that made him feel inferior. He tried "competing" with Kyo for Tohru, because he thought that was what he was expected to do, but it wasn't what he truly wanted. Kakeru and Haru have already been through their most relevant growth by the time the series starts, so Yuki doesn't feel like he has anything to contribute to their relationships (even though he was the impetus for Haru's growth many years ago).

But Yuki did help his friends, and often. He was the one who offered Tohru a room in the house he shared with Shigure. He helped Tohru study. He checked on Haru after he was suspended and independently decided to try and talk to Rin on his behalf. He helped Kakeru be more empathetic and experienced alongside him some of the things they missed out on in their childhoods.

And it needs to be said that his friendship with Tohru, Haru, and Kakeru mattered at least as much to them as it did to him. Tohru was so lonely, and Yuki was the first close friend she made after her mother died. Haru was angry all the time until Yuki challenged some of the family's prejudice about him. Kakeru, like Yuki, didn't really get to have a normal childhood, including the silly shenanigans that kids get up to with their friends.

So, going back to the statement I made above, that Yuki shares his most significant story beats with Kakeru, Akito, Tohru, Kyo, and Haru, this is part of what makes Yukeru and YukiKyo such rich pairings to explore.

You could argue that Yuki has 3 "coming out" scenes in Fruits Basket. There's the one where he tells Kakeru how he really feels about Tohru, taking place at the third plot point. There's the one where he tells Kyo how he really feels about him, which occurs at the climax. And there's the one where he tells Tohru how he really feels about her, in the resolution.

Some of it has to do with the content of these scenes. In Kakeru's and Tohru's, he's admitting he doesn't see Tohru romantically, even though he initially felt like he should.

It's touching that Kakeru is the first person he opens up to about this. It speaks to their closeness and the fact that they're on similar journeys reclaiming some of the childhood that was stolen from them. And it certainly has a gay subtext (is it even subtext if he literally comes out of a closet in this scene?).

And as for Kyo, Yuki's admiration could easily be read as infatuation. The fact that they've been misunderstanding each other this whole time when they really have this huge thing in common would be a great basis for the start of a relationship.

In contrast, Yuki doesn't really have much of an arc with Machi. He's responsible for many (all?) of her most emotional story beats, but the parts of Yuki's actual arc that shine are moments like the ones I mentioned above, or when Haru talks to him at his story midpoint after he finds Rin near the house, or when he and Tohru see the shooting stars and he begins to internally accept his feelings toward her.

So, each of these characters plays a role in Yuki's arc. Tohru is the catalyst, Haru the mentor, Akito the shadow, Kyo the antagonist, Kakeru the sidekick, and Machi the love interest.

Machi sort of exists within Yuki's story as a vehicle for him to show his growth. As he gets more comfortable with himself, he takes her by the hand so she can walk the same path as him.

I've said before that I think his arc would've been satisfying without him ending up in a relationship at the end, and I still think that's true. Romance is not really a part of his trajectory beyond rejecting it with Tohru.

But I really, really love him with Machi, and it was satisfying in a different way to see how all the growing he did throughout the story allowed him to be just who she needed, and how she, in turn, was exactly who he needed, too.

Here are some sweet Yuchi posts, just because I love them so much!

the chalk scene

more chalk

more chalk

cool fanart

more cool fanart!

mangacaps

more mangacaps

Machi learning how to person

anime screencaps

even Mutsuki ships them!

[beevean]

Something happened that lead me to think.

Yesterday, I read a long message that was left to me on November 24 (it was on Messenger and I don't use FB anymore): an old friend of mine, that abandoned me 10 years ago, wrote me a long, long letter of apologies for her past behavior.

We were close, although long distance, friends. I was 16-18, and she was two years older than me. She was a very intelligent, studious girl, and we could relate to each other for our shyness and lack of friends among other things. But she suffered from OCD and depression, things I honestly did not know how to handle at the time, and they interfered with our relationship. She was extremely insecure, constantly doubting that I cared about her, acting up if I invited my classmates over to study together, making me feel responsible for her staying alive.

Long story short, she eventually found herself a boyfriend and decided I wasn't worth the effort anymore. I think she said something like "being together with you isn't stimulating anymore".

(btw, in her letter she offhandedly mentioned that now she has understood her sexuality better, which doesn't surprise me - I can believe she had a crush on me and it manifested in a terrible way. I myself sometimes consider her my first girlfriend :\)

She and my father "abandoning" me at the same time caused me suicidal thoughts that to this day I'm battling with. But I eventually forgave my father: I think he paid enough for what he did. With her, I honestly thought I'd never hear from her again. I tried to learn my lesson, and honestly I strived to never become like her. Which I failed to do, sadly.

And I haven't responded to her yet because I honestly don't know where to begin. It's been ten years, and while I'm in a better place than where she left me off, I'm not exactly in a good place either. But... just the thought of contacting me after a decade to apologize? Was the guilt really that strong?

And then, today my boyfriend made a surprise visit to talk face to face.

I thought he was also done with me after we spent a month essentially making each other sick. I was trying to move on, because really, I'm not going to cry again for the umpteenth person who gets tired of me (a mentality I "learned" from this old friend of mine, that eventually I'll bore everyone away), but yes, I was thinking all this time "man, five years down the drain, what a waste".

And what does he do when he showed up? He apologized to me. He realized that I was right about some of the things I told him. That he gets passive-aggressive when angry, that he's excessively proud, that sometimes his advice got too insistent. He thought about it, and he drove to my house (it's an one hour drive) to speak to me with his heart in his hand, fully knowing that I could have said that I don't love him anymore or I found someone else.

We made up. I have made my mistakes, I need to change as a person, but I honestly, honestly appreciated that he made the effort to actually examine himself and ask for closure.

So... I guess the takeaway from this is that I, too, deserve to be apologized to. I always feel like I'm a screw up and everything I do is wrong and I need to constantly apologize myself. It's what I argued with my boyfriend over. So, as self-centered as this may sound, yes I do feel better about myself now.

But also, I'm constantly afraid of reaching out to people for fear of rejection, or that it's too late to make amends or anything. And yet look at this. An apology after ten years. I really should take this to heart.

[argisthebulwark]

so so so I was on my way to work this morning blasting music right. not paying any particular attention to anything, just letting my playlist shuffle through bc I still had major fog brain and didn't think of anything past hitting play and what not.

Well suddenly mantra by bring me the horizon came on and it snapped me awake, particularly the part right after the second chorus that goes like "I know it doesn't make a lot of sense, all I'm asking for's a little bit of faith" bc my brain was like !!! major miraak and ldb vibes holy shit (which btw this entire blog is responsible for my new obsession with him so thanks)

like that part just hits soooo well for that. the lbd asking miraak to just have faith in them!!! and leave apocrypha with them. I had it on repeat for hours today and it's just been stuck it my head for the rest

aaa!! i don't usually listen to new BMTH but you're so right about this song. it's been added to my Miraak playlist. it goes so well. i'll link it here for anyone who wants to listen

"I promise I can save you."

The Last Dragonborn's words rattled Miraak's bones. Their hand was covered in blood and ink when they thrust it toward him. Eyes full of desperation watched his every move over the Black Book sitting open in their lap, dark magic whirling and twisting over its pages.

He couldn't trust them. They were his enemy. He belonged in Apocrypha even if it crumbled. He wanted nothing more than to squash their obnoxious hopefulness. He couldn't be saved, didn't know if he wanted to be.

"Close your eyes and listen carefully, Dragonborn." Miraak put every ounce of hatred into his words. They didn't even flinch. "I am bound to this realm. You cannot save me."

"I'm the only one that can save you." Their hand grabbed his, warm skin sticking together and Miraak was disgusted by the way his heart leapt. He'd stomped down his feelings for so long. He wouldn't allow himself to feel that way about the Last Dragonborn.

"How do you expect to do this?" That damned smile was on their face at his words. He knew he'd lost to them yet again. He had spent lifetimes building himself into an unbeatable foe but failed time and time again when met with the Last Dragonborn.

"I know it doesn't make a lot of sense." They babbled and gripped his hand so tight he swore he'd lose feeling. "All I'm asking for is a little bit of faith."

Their words took his breath away. The Book's green glow cast eerie shadows across the Last Dragonborn's face when they looked over at him and Miraak caught a glance of what they could have been. He imagined them at his side at the height of his power, matching thrones in his palace, the unstoppable force they could have become had they met under different circumstances.

"Can you believe in me?"

It's so easy to believe in them. Miraak felt himself nodding before he could think better of it. Apocrypha's seas beat against their platform and for the first time in ages he felt hope. It was a dangerous feeling but the Last Dragonborn gave him hope.

The world turned upside down. Miraak was nauseous when he tumbled through empty space, flashes of green and black stealing his vision when he succumbed to the power of the Black Book. The Last Dragonborn clung to his hand through it all. They never let him go.

Landing back on Skyrim knocked the air from his lungs. The bright sun overhead blinded him and old smells he'd long forgotten filled his nose. Trees towered overhead and Miraak waited for his vision to stop swirling.

Despite his worst fears the Last Dragonborn never let go of Miraak's hand. They squeezed his fingers to call his attention. He hesitated - his mask had been lost in their last battle. He wasn't sure what they saw when they looked at his face, if he'd become some horrible monster like the Seekers.

Their eyes crinkled when they smiled up at him. Miraak knew he was staring but couldn't help himself - the grime covering their face did nothing to stop his heart from hammering. He even felt a bit guilty for leaving so many wounds on them.

"How did you do that?" He whispered, trying to figure out how they'd cast a calming or persuasion enchantment without him noticing. He knew the truth but had to bury it. He couldn't have feelings for the Last Dragonborn. Absolutely not.

"Do what?" They laughed, rolling closer to Miraak over the dirty ground of whatever forest they'd landed in. "I just talked to you. You're the one that listened."

They were dangerous. Far too charismatic for their own good. Miraak's heart leapt when the Dragonborn leaned close to him, studying his face. They didn't seem horrified so it couldn't be too bad, though he didn't feel inclined to find a mirror anytime soon.

"You're too persuasive." Miraak felt himself smiling, a plan already forming in his mind. His last plot had only failed because he was working against the Last Dragonborn, but on the same side they could conquer everything. "Do you want to start a cult with me?"

[alblondo23]

*pulls up a chair* unhinged a/b/o loscar thoughts, please

or you can dump them into my inbox, i don't mind - nothingelsematterswrites ;)

I may be taking you up on that offer sometime in the future! And my inbox is always open as well! Now please take your seats, my second lecture is about to begin.

Oscar and Logan are definitely a couple that everyone thinks is together before they're together. They're always scenting each other during the drivers parade to calm each other down, and every driver avert their eyes and give them distance (the reactions range from oh to be young and in love to get a room holy shit)

They are with each other all of the time, and the on track battles between each other are more significant than their battles with anyone else. Alex and Lando are getting sick of their teammates always disappearing together.

Australia is where Logan has to talk Oscar down and hold him because everyone keeps comparing him to Daniel & Mark or just saying awful things about McLaren and him. Daniel catches them actually and just sighs before letting the two love birds be to go find Max (and of course spread the gossip that he caught the two rookies necking in the paddock)

They end up accidently mating in Monaco. Their races weren't anything to write home about, but they went out afterwards with some other drivers to celebrate. Neither of them hold their drinks well because they're racing drivers. They leave together after a pretty steamy make out session that everyone clocks as business as usual.

When they wake up the next day, Logan freaks out and runs. He doesn't contact Oscar until they're both in Spain (and that's only because Benny forces him to after he sees Logan's health failing after separating from his mate so quickly after mating)

Oscar isn't fairing much better, but he's trying to give Logan space as he is overcome with guilt for forcing his feelings onto the other. He doesn't realize that Logan also thinks he's forced his feeling onto Oscar. It's about miscommunication and idiocy my dear readers.

Everything comes to a head when Logan spins out in Q2 (this is my unhinged ramble so Logan's qualifying curse let's him into Q2 but just for plot purposes) and narrowly avoids crashing. He actually blacks out and wakes up in the med center with Oscar by his side freaking out.

Something something they have a big emotional talk something something they start making out passionately something something everyone wants them to go back to before they were actually mated because now they're even worse!

Logan is the possessive one btw. He tries not to be, but Oscar finds it cute and just let's Logan take over his personal space 24/7. Logan says he hates being called cute but secretly goes insane every time Oscar calls him cute or any pet name because it proves that Oscar wants him and him alone.

That's what I've got for ya today! I will definitely be open to discussing any of these opinions and such if you want!

[rin-bellatrix]

A Man After Midnight

"Won't somebody help me chase the shadows away?" - ABBA

Sasha's gone missing in search of the final vault key piece, and Fiona will be damned if another vault tries to take her sister from her - again. It doesn't matter who - or what - gets in her way, she'll find her sister - even when something supernatural is determined to make sure that she and Rhys never see the light of day again...

Written for the rhyiona lovers who are also Halloween lovers

Header art is by arymus (deactivated ☹)

I decided during the planning stages that this will be part three to "It Takes Two" and "U.N.I." sooo this is a multi-chapter work now I guess 🤷🏽‍♀️

Btw... it's a long one folks, get a snack and strap in lol

Fall leaves dividers from these posts and jack-o-lantern dividers from these posts. Orange swirl divider from this post

Trick or Treat~ ❤🧡💛🍁🍂🎃⚰🪦💀🕸🦇😈

Rhys turned off the car engine, pocketing the key and stepping out of the car with Fiona. The air was chilled and thick with mist that saturated the scenery and painted everything in a dreary sort of gray color. They glanced around and caught the looks of the wary townsfolk as they eyed the newcomers who had just arrived in their small rural town.

Fiona ducked her head, allowing the brim of her hat to cover her eyes - an old habit she never lost from back in her grifting days. 'Keep your head down, do your best to blend in and don't bring any unnecessary attention to yourself,' said the memory of Felix's voice floating in the back of her mind. But those days were behind her now. She was here for one reason and one reason only - to find her sister.

Meanwhile, Rhys shivered in the cold autumn air and tugged his jacket tighter around himself, glancing around the shrouded town to try and locate the hotel he had booked their stay at. All of the buildings appeared looming and ominous in this weather; he couldn't really differentiate one from another as they were half concealed with a wispy blanket of fog.

This was not some romantic getaway for the weekend, but rather an expedition to try and find Sasha. Her last known location had been here, this backwards little hole where she had followed a supposed "lead" to a new potential vault key piece. She had been conversing with Fiona, keeping a regular point of contact with her for the two days that she was there. On the third day, Sasha failed to check in and Fiona's big sister protective instincts flared to life, causing the vault hunter to abandon her current assignment and Fast Travel back to Promethea, where she could load up on gear and head over to her sister's last known whereabouts.

When he got the notification that his girlfriend was stopping by his company's home planet, Atlas' president grew excited at the thought of a romantic night out. Activating his newly programmed assistant, TIMM-E, Rhys allowed the program to take care of Atlas while its president was briefly away. He needed to work on making a body for TIMM-E, because as of right now, he was just an encrypted piece of data floating around Atlas' system. But for today, he could do his job well enough that his body would have to wait for later. Right now, love and romance were what Rhys was focused on.

Donning his expensive cologne and a fresh set of date night clothes, he swept by her apartment with a large bouquet of roses in hand, intending on asking her out for the evening. Expecting a tired but content vault hunter at the door, he was instead met with a laser focused, completely serious vault hunter who was not stopping by to rest for a few days before running off to her next adventure. She was only here temporarily, strapping up for what looked like a big battle.

He questioned her with a concerned wrinkle to his brow as he watched her check the sights of a rare gun before sliding a fresh clip into it. She briefed him about the little she knew, moving on to handle two different grenade mods, trying to decide which was the better of the two. The young CEO placed the roses in a vase, fanning them out a bit as the Pandoran woman clipped the chosen grenade mod to her hip, tossing the other one back into her storage container.

Seeing Fiona cycle through her inventory and attaching high powered weaponry to her belts, Rhys knew he couldn't leave her to face this alone. Sasha was her sister, but she was also one of his closest friends. They were all a family, bound by more than blood. He wasn't some kind of world class assassin, or really a fighter of any kind, but Fiona needed support and he'd give his all to be there for her and Sasha.

When he proposed that he'd come along to help, Fiona had outright refused, claiming that he'd just be putting himself in danger and that she didn't want to worry about her sister and her boyfriend too. But he insisted, claiming that his cybernetic inhancements would make tracking clues and ultimately finding Sasha that much easier. Eventually, the prospect of getting to her sister as soon as she was able to convinced the vault hunter to accept his help.

Rhys carefully reached out and pulled her into his arms, holding her tight. "Don't worry Fi, we'll find her."

He could feel the various edges of her weapons pressing into his body, and truthfully it was a bit uncomfortable. But she returned his embrace and pressed her face into his shoulder, knocking her hat askew, and his discomfort didn't matter compared to his need to console his lover. Fiona was incredibly brave, but he knew that she was also incredibly scared. His own worry over Sasha's disappearance was hard to push back, but he didn't want to add to his girlfriend's already obvious distress.

They eventually broke away, and Rhys soon after hopped on a call to obtain their reservations for a hotel in the town Sasha had last been in. Fiona excused herself, needing to go down to the lobby of her apartment building and purchase ammunition from a vending machine, before getting ready to leave.

Turns out getting there was a little more complicated then they thought. The small town was so sequestered that not only did it not have a Fast Travel designated location, but it was miles away from the closest city that did. So Rhys quickly rung up the nearest rental and placed an order for a high-class (of course) but simple vehicle that would take them the rest of the way.

Now that they had arrived, they needed to grab their gear and make their way over to the hotel to officially begin their search. The company man and the Pandoran woman each took ahold of their own luggage, trying to ignore the feel of being stared at by dozens of watchful gazes. Closing the trunk and stepping away from their rented car, the young CEO activated the anti-theft alarm which seemed to chirp loudly in the lull of this tense silence. Turning towards the hotel, the couple began walking down the street when a voice called out to them.

"You can't park that here."

They both turned to find the speaker, taking in the older man leaning against a support beam in front of a shop. He looked less than impressed with them, his stare cold and unflinching.

"Oh, I'm sorry, is there a lot nearby or somewhere else I can park it?" Rhys asked, trying not to ruffle the feathers of the townspeople who were now all eyeing the newcomers with varying degrees of distain.

He glanced down the foggy street, but only then did he realize that there were no other vehicles as far as the eye could see. In fact, he hadn't seen any at all while driving into town. Their rental could most likely be the only car within a hundred miles.

"Sure," the old man shrugged easily, gesturing vaguely with a slight wave of his hand. "Best to park it in the next town over. Stay with it too, while you're at it."

Atlas' president frowned, not liking the way this guy just told them in a roundabout way to leave and stay gone. He opened his mouth to retort, when his girlfriend moved past him to step closer to this stranger.

"Look, we're only here because we're looking for my sister," she informed, watching his face carefully before turning and catching the eyes of everyone who was staring at them. "Has anyone seen her? A woman with light green eyes, her hair done up in thick locs? She was here for two days?"

None of the townsfolk spoke up or moved, they just continued to observe the couple as if Fiona had never said a word. They both knew that everyone watching had understood Fiona, it wasn't as if she was speaking Eridian. The people nearby were just purposefully ignoring her. The vault hunter pursed her lips, fighting back against the frustration wanting to get the better of her.

Rhys lifted his cybernetic hand, pulling up a hologram portrait of Sasha on his palm display. A blue digitized bust of Sasha sat in his hand, her smile beautiful and bright as she slowly rotated in a full 360 degree visual reference.

As soon as Rhys lifted his mechanical hand and brought up a glowing hologram, the reaction with the crowd was immediate. Everyone seemed to move back away from them, their murmurs of offense and scandle clear in the tones of their voices. They acted as if Rhys had just called forth fire from his hand. Startled, the young CEO quickly dismissed the hologram and dropped his hand, taking a step closer to Fiona. Likewise, she moved to face him, and one of the onlookers caught sight of the official vault hunter patch sewn onto the sleeve of her jacket.

"A vault hunter..."

"Vault hunter-"

"Did you see that-"

"Another one-"

Their frantic words ran together, almost unintelligible, but they both could hear the genuine fear and open disgust when the words "vault hunter" were spoken.

The people living in this backwards town had been coolly contemptuous, then reacting with indignation when Atlas' head had pulled up a hologram, acting as if modern technology didn't exist outside of this settlement. But the tone clearly shifted once Fiona was identified as a vault hunter, the air now thick with hostility and the promise of violence.

What these people had against advanced devices and vault hunters, she may never know, and to be honest, she really didn't care. Right now, they were in her way of finding where her sister was and if one of them even took a single threatening step closer, she'd have no problem whipping a gun out and showing them that she meant business.

"Everyone calm down, calm down now - these people are guests come to visit our fine town; let's show them some of our famous hospitality, shall we?"

A clear voice cut through the tension, making Rhys and Fiona turn towards the woman stepping through the small crowd that had gradually gathered around them. She was mature and elegant, holding her chin high as she swept towards them. Fiona, still on edge, kept her hand posed to reach for a weapon, eyeing the woman with open suspicion.

The older woman didn't seem to mind, looking between the two of them with a mild sort of curiosity. She was wearing what could only be described as an expensive gown, her collar bare and her skirt voluminous. She wore simple yet expensive jewelry along her neck and on her fingers. No one in the gathering stopped her or disobeyed her words, they only watched as she stood in front of the two newcomers.

"You must be the Strongforks, yes? You've procured your reservation for a stay at my hotel. My name is Lady Van Tassel, pleased to make your acquaintances," she stated, extending her hand demurely as she introduced herself.

"Oh! Yes, that's us, erm, t-the Strongforks, yep," Rhys fumbled, stepping over to delicately take her offered hand and give her a dainty shake.

He stepped back and Lady Van Tassel's hand was extended towards Fiona. Fiona wanted to ask Rhys about when they had gotten married and why hadn't she been informed, but that could wait until they were alone. She supposed for now she could play Mrs. Strongfork if it got them out of this situation faster. So she took her hand and also gave a gentle shake, noticing almost as an after thought of how soft her skin felt against her own.

Pulling away, the Pandoran mentally considered her own hands. The life of a vault hunter was rough, but that didn't mean her hands had to be. She made a mental note to moisturize more often.

"Please, come this way. I'll see you to your room," the Lady said, turning and allowing the out-of-town couple to follow behind her.

Glancing at the people who only moments ago were so keen on displaying their outright hatred for them, Fiona watched as they broke away and dispersed, not even sparing them one last disgruntled glance. Either their ire was extremely fickle, or Lady Van Tassel was someone more important than a simple hotel owner.

Entering between the large double doors of the hotel, all three of them stepped into the quiet lobby, with Ms. Van Tassel leading them straight to the check-in desk.

Despite Rhys' long legged height, as he followed closely behind the Lady and her vast swishing skirts, he reminded her of a baby duck, trailing in her wake. Fiona supposed that since she had taken them both in, that would make her a duckling too. She never liked to be indebted to people, especially those who she didn't know, but she had to admit that Ms. Van Tassel had pulled them out of a sticky situation.

"Thank you, for what you did back there," Fiona called out, catching the eye of the Lady as she turned to look at her from over her shoulder.

The older woman sighed, shaking her head once as she rounded the desk. "Let me apologize on behalf of my neighbors. We don't get very many visitors, and those that we do, some end up being vandals who call themselves 'vault hunter's' and only bring chaos to our quiet little town." She glanced up at them, her brow pinched with concern. "We've had a few... Unsavory altercations in the past. So many of us are wary, to put it lightly, of anyone who claims to be a vault hunter..."

Fiona nodded, stepping closer to the desk. "I understand, and I'm sorry for your troubles. But believe me when I say that I'm just here to find my sister. As soon as I do, we're gone. You have my word."

Lady Van Tassel regarded them quietly for a moment, before offering a small smile. "You two certainly don't come across as ruffians or scoundrels... I'll take you for your word, an unbroken promise between two ladies and a gentleman," she granted, reaching over the desk to take Fiona's hand again in another shake.

She then reached down and pulled out a large book, carefully opening up to a bookmarked page before turning it around and settling it onto the ledge in front of Rhys. "Sign here then, Mr. Strongfork," she instructed, pointing underneath a row of names to the next open space. "I'll get your keys ready and escort you upstairs to your quarters."

She turned towards a desk behind her and opened a wide drawer as Rhys scribbled his name across the page. Fiona sidled up next to him and together they scanned the names on the registry, looking for any of the names Sasha had used in the past. None had stood out to them, and so Rhys turned the book around as the Lady faced them, holding two copies of the room key out to them.

Taking one each, Fiona pocketed hers immediately and figured she'd question Ms. Van Tassel now while she had the chance. "Lady, have you seen a young woman in town, green eyes, thick hair locs? She was here for two days, I've lost communication with her almost a day ago."

"I'm sorry, but I haven't seen anyone around here that looks like that. She's your sister you say? I hope you find her soon, darling," the Lady murmured, coming around the desk to offer a consoling pat to the vault hunter's arm, before linking their arms together. "Now, let's get you two situated upstairs, and I'll have a hot meal waiting for you when you're ready to come back down. You can't go out searching on an empty stomach."

She guided Fiona towards the stairs, calling out behind her for Rhys. "Mr. Strongfork, please don't forget your lovely wife's luggage, be a dear and carry them up for us, won't you?"

Had she turned to look over her shoulder at him, she would've found said Mr. Strongfork blushing at the mention of Fiona as his wife.

"Y-yeah, of course... Wouldn't want m-... My... W-wife to-"

"Rhys darling~" Fiona called, interrupting his suspicious stammering.  If this town was as backwards as it has already proven itself to be, then perhaps an unwed couple sharing a room would be the last straw on the belliks back. "Don't keep us waiting, okay~?"

Their room was nothing too extravagant, but it looked comfortable and clean. Fiona was truly exhausted, only allowing herself to sleep on the car ride over, which had been a mere couple of hours. Before that she had been out on the field, completing some side mission for someone on Sanctuary. Now, the temptation of a clean bed called to her, her body desperate for some real rest. But the thought of her sister alone, possibly in a dangerous situation - or worse, hurt - kept her from being able to indulge in some much needed sleep.

So for now she shoved her luggage under the bed and straightened up to look at Rhys. "So... Husband of mine."

The ease with which Fiona could conjure a blush to her boyfriend's face was incredibly satisfying, but it didn't make up for the explanation he owed her.

"So, I'm sure you'd like for me to explain myself right?"

Fiona raised her scarred brow as a silent answer.

He glanced down shyly, rubbing the back of his neck as a subconscious show of discomfort. His still pink cheeks combined with a tentative smile made her soften towards him. "Well, when I called to book the reservation, you had just left to go stock up on ammo, so when Lady Van Tassel answered, I kinda had to wing it when I asked for a double and she inquired if my... Wife... Was coming along... So I just sort of said, yes..."

He looked up at her and she swore that at any moment, he'd start poking his index fingers together like a guilty child. "Hmm, maybe it's a bit too early for us, we still haven't had our one year anniversary yet..."

Rhys chuckled nervously, relaxing a bit but still looking as though he was expecting a solid reprimanding. "Hehe, yeah, definitely too early for like, marriage and stuff..."

Fiona made a show of tapping her chin in thought, humming to herself as he watched. "Though I don't think I'd mind if I was Mrs. Strongfork for a while..."

"...Oh...?" The hopeful tone in her boyfriend's voice brought a smile to her face.

"Yeah. After all, I'd get at least fifty-one percent of Atlas right?"

"Wha- fifty-one percent? If anything, I would get fifty-one percent because I'm the CEO-"

"Am I hearing fifty-two percent?"

"No, come on, that's not how negotiating works-"

"Fifty-three percent."

"You're not even listening-"

"Sixty."

"Please... I'm not gonna have a company left to manage-"

"Seventy-five percent and that's my final offer as your wife."

"...You are a cruel, cruel woman."

Fiona grinned, making her way over to him and planting a kiss along his jaw line. "That's why you married me, dear husband."

He slanted his head and leaned down, kissing her briefly over her ruby lips. "I wouldn't have it any other way, dear wife."

The vault hunter smiled, reaching down to link their hands together. "Let's go eat so we can find Sasha and get our asses back home."

Rhys patted his empty stomach with his free hand, almost salivating at the thought of a hot meal. "You don't have to tell me twice, I really hope it's delicious."

His girlfriend pulled him along, locking the door behind them. "As long as it's not chocolate dill pickle flavored, it should be good."

"Slanderous. I'm telling you, once you try Fran's yogurt, you'll be singing praises to whoever invented such a delicious flavor combination."

"We can only hope so Rhys, we can only hope so."

Their meal is simple but savory, hot and filling so it sits just right in their bellies. They thank Ms. Van Tassel as she collects their dishes and stacks them on a tray to take back to the kitchen. Turning to leave, they stop before the double doors and look back when she calls out to them.

"I should warn you, to please be back before night fall. There have been some... Strange occurrences lately, and I'd hate to see you two suffer from lack of knowledge. When night falls, come back here and resume your search tomorrow morning."

"Thank you Lady, but we're not afraid of the dark," Fiona answered. "We'll be alright, we're tougher than we look."

"I see..." The older woman murmured, clearly disappointed. "That may be so, and I can say nothing else to try and convince you otherwise. But if there is one thing you take from me, please let it be this - find shelter before the lamps go out, or surely you will be doomed."

Rhys glanced over at Fiona as the vault hunter considers the patroness, who stood by their table, the bottom of her apron twisted tightly in her worried grip. As a born and raised Pandoran, she had spent many nights out underneath the moons and stars, both as a penniless child and as fledgling vault hunter. Doing so now didn't concern her in the slightest, but she figured that she'd at least reassure the older woman and try to ease her mind.

"We understand. If we're out that late, we'll take shelter and wait it out 'til morning. Hopefully we'll find Sasha and be back before that's even an issue."

"You brave girl..." Lady Van Tassel murmured, gliding over to the younger woman and reaching up to cup her cheek tenderly.

Fiona thought that it was a little weird, but she understood that some people were comfortable with showing such displays of affection. On top of which, the Lady had been nothing but kind and welcoming to them, so if she wanted to...touch her cheek for whatever reason, Fiona didn't mind it too much.

"I was a lot like you when I was your age... Do be careful out there, both of you." Smiling softly, the Lady lifted her hand from Fiona's face while simultaneously a sharp pinch to her scalp caused the vault hunter to wince. "Oh! I'm sorry, this old ring pulled your hair, my apologies dear girl!"

The Pandoran woman reached up underneath her hat to rub at her scalp, eyeing the couple of strands that had caught on the back of Lady Van Tassel's ornate ring. "Ah... It's no problem, don't worry about it. Anyway, we'll be on our way now. Have a good night Lady, see you soon."

Fiona righted her hat and she and Rhys waved goodbye to the older woman who waved back until the double doors closed behind them.

Lady Van Tassel looked down and carefully extracted the younger woman's hair from her ring, pulling a small book of summoning from her apron pocket and tucking the hair in between the pages.

The couple start their search by checking any areas where Sasha could've gone or was most likely to go. There was a tailor a few blocks down (who absolutely refused to let Fiona in). Rhys went in alone and questioned him but had no luck there.

Next was the grocer (who didn't want to talk if Fiona was standing within ten feet of his shop). Rhys was told a young outsider bought some fruit from him but once, and he claims he hasn't seen her since. Supposedly she looked like Sasha but he wasn't entirely sure until Rhys folded some bills into his hand. (What a schmuck.)

Walking down the foggy street to their next stop, the company man nudged his girlfriend playfully in an attempt to tease her and lift her spirits. "You think any of the people here wanna join your fan club?"

The Pandoran woman rolled her eyes, leveling the taller man with an unperturbed stare. "I'm not here to win their miss congenitality contest, I'm here to find my sister. They can think of me what they like, as long as they don't get in our way."

The florist was next, but as Fiona stepped up to the entrance, the door was slammed in her face (nearly flattening her nose and knocking her hat off), before the OPEN sign was flipped to CLOSED in the curtained window. The vault hunter was about to start kicking doors down to get her answers whether people liked it or not, but Rhys gently guided his fuming girlfriend away to their next stop.

They both decided that Rhys would do the asking, because although he wasn't too popular amongst the locals, the vile vault hunter was tolerated as well as deadly plague. Which was to say not at all.

There was a general shop, owned by the same older man that had told them to park their car elsewhere. Fiona waited outside, arms crossed over her chest as she willed her irritation to subside. Her foul mood wouldn't help find her sister any faster - in all likelihood, it might even hinder the search. So she took a deep breath and let it out slowly, trying to ground herself and ignore the people passing by who were obviously glaring daggers and muttering to each other about her. A shriveled old lady even spat at the ground by her feet as she hobbled on by.

It was safe to say that she was not making any new friends here.

Her boyfriend stepped out from the shop, the little bell above the door dingling as he exited. She turned to face him and he simply shook his head no. She was expecting that but the disappointment still stung. Glancing down to the small bag in his hand, she looked back up and raised a silent brow of inquiry.

"Wouldn't talk to me unless I bought something," the company man answered, lifting the bag and opening it, showing her that he bought about a dozen sticks of jerky.

"Why so much?"

Rhys shrugged. "In case we get hungry again while searching all night. Plus, if we find Sasha tonight, she'll probably be hungry too."

Fiona couldn't argue with that. "Fair enough. Now, where else can we check?"

Atlas' head ripped open one of the sticks of jerky and bit into it, using the uneaten portion to point down the road. "There's a church of some kind down that way," he spoke around the dried meat in his mouth. "Doesn't hurt to check it out."

The vault hunter wanted to make a comment about him talking with his mouth full, but truthfully she didn't have the energy to joke around right now. Exhaustion was weighing heavily on her mind and the gray skies were growing darker and darker with the night impending. "Alright, let's go."

The church was nearly empty, the only inhabitant was a priest doing some general upkeep around the building. He also observed them with obvious concern, but so far he wasn't slamming doors in their faces or hurtling insults at them, so he was infinitely more welcoming than the other people who they tried to talk to.

Fiona waited between the threshold of the door, half expecting to be verbally thrown out before she could get a word in. Rhys didn't want to waste any time, so he quickly approached and asked the devoted man if he had seen a woman bearing Sasha's resemblance anywhere in town.

The pastor seemed to hesitate a moment, his eyes taking in the sight of the lanky man before him with a glowing amber eye and a mechanical hand that clutched a plastic bag. The silent woman behind him who lurked in the doorway who had to be the vault hunter that people had rushed in to tell him about. He sensed no ill will from either of them, but he still remained wary of their true intentions.

"I'm sorry, I can't help you. Now please, leave."

"Can't or won't?"

Rhys looked back at Fiona, her bright jade eyes leveled on the priest in an unflinching stare.

"My sister is missing and no one in this whole town can tell me where she's gone? No one can help me, not even a man of the cloth?"

The Pandoran walked forward, moving past the young CEO and stepping closer to the priest. "I'm gonna ask you again. Have you seen my sister? Do you know where she is?"

The older man looked down at her, his eyes meeting hers briefly before skittering away. "I'm sorry..." he repeated, refusing to meet her gaze.

The vault hunter stared hard at the man before her. Her boyfriend reached over to put a hand over her shoulder, silently beckoning her away. She ignored him and leaned forward, invading the pastor's personal space.

"If my sister is hurt because no one in this town wanted to help, you will come to understand the truth in the saying, 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.' Remember that, Father."

Fiona turned and stalked down the aisle, afraid that if she stayed for one more second, she'd come to regret it. Rhys turned, sparing the sweating priest a backwards glance before quickly following his girlfriend out of the church.

The vault hunter stormed out, leaving the church behind and marching down the street. She didn't know where she was going, only that she needed to get away. Her head was pounding and her eyes were watering for no reason. Her muscles ached and all she wanted to do was find her sister and sleep in her arms for a week straight.

Where was Sasha? Was she hurt? Why wasn't she contacting her? Did something bad happen? What if she needed Fiona right now but she was stuck here dealing with these wretched people?

Fiona stopped suddenly, so so tired and frustrated that she didn't try to fight the tears gathering along her lashes. She tilted her head back and sighed deeply, her breath billowing out in a short lived cloud. Dusk was truly settling in now and the already dark town was growing darker.

Homes with people who had all their loved ones safe and sound under one roof were drawing the curtains and dousing their lanterns. Shops that they hadn't been thrown out of were closing too, the owners locking up and heading home. No one wanted to be out in the dark at night, but Sasha was. She was out there all alone, and Fiona was failing her all over again.

She dipped her head down as she heard Rhys walk up to her. He seemed to hesitate, knowing in this moment that she was fragile. But eventually he sidled closer and whispered softly to her in the last sunlit hour.

"Hey... Can I give you a hug?"

She didn't turn her face up, keeping it turned down and hidden, but she nodded silently and turned towards him. He placed his bag of jerky by his feet before straightening and folding her in his arms. He squeezed her tight, and when her hat threatened to fall, he lifted it and placed it over his own wavy hair to keep it from hitting the damp ground. Her hair exposed, he placed a kiss on her crown and rubbed his hand down her back.

"Sasha is so lucky to have a sister like you. If I had any siblings, I'd want to have the same relationship with them that you two have." He swayed with her gently, speaking softly against her hair only loud enough for her to hear. "No one in this universe loves Sasha more than you do. Anyone can see that. You're doing your best Fiona, and you're not alone. I'm here to help you and Sasha too, remember that."

The vault hunter sniffled, rubbing her face over her boyfriend's expensive clothing. Normally she was tougher than this, but nearly two days without sleep was really wearing her thin, along with of course the constant worry. Also the abundant assholes in this town were getting on her last nerve, too.

She lifted her face and looked up at Rhys with her watery eyes. "...Thanks..."

He smiled lightly, bringing up his left hand to delicately wipe away any stray moisture from her face. "No problem beautiful."

"Sorry... I just need a moment to get myself together," she sighed, trying to summon some more strength from deep within herself.

"Take all the time you need, I'm not going anywhere," Rhys replied, taking the hat from his head and fitting it back onto Fiona's.

She adjusted it slightly, before tugging at her jacket, squaring her shoulders and lifting her chin. "How do I look?"

"Like you're ready to get back out there and threaten some more people."

An embarrassed smile broke out over her face and she reached out to slap him on his arm. "Well. He deserved it."

"Hey lady... Are you the vault hunter?"

The couple turn to look at a young teenage boy, who was staring at them like they were lunatics. Well, they were, kind of... Making a scene in the middle of the street...

"Yeah, that's me," Fiona answered, looking him up and down. He was watching them like they were loons, but she couldn't detect any hatred coming from him like every other person in town.

The boy looked around, making sure no one else saw him as he spoke with the two outsiders. It was very nearly dark now, and it seemed like everyone was inside already.

He faced the pair and cleared his throat. "Look... My da patrols the town at night, to keep our people safe. He says about a night ago, he saw the outsider lady head up towards the covered bridge, down that away," he gestured, pointing to the outskirts of town where the street lamps faded into the thick wall of mist. "She was by herself... If that's your sister you're looking for... I don't have much faith that she's okay - no one comes back who's been out after the lamps are gone, but... I hope you find her."

Rhys and Fiona looked at each other, before addressing the boy again.

"Thank you!" she called out, turning and almost running in the direction he pointed out.

"Hey, thanks kid, we really appreciate it," the company man nodded, snatching up his bag, digging in and giving the bewildered teenager a stick of jerky, before running off to catch up with his girlfriend.

Night has truly fallen, and the only light available to them now is the faint flickering glow from the street lamps and the light from the overly large moon. The rolling fog that blanketed the area earlier has only thickened with darkness taking over.

Rhys activates his ECHO eye, tracking the foot prints from a pair of shoes around the sparsely wooded area on the edge of town. They are Sasha's size and favorite brand, and they seem to be recent - within the last twenty-four hours. He tells this to Fiona who visibly sags with relief. They haven't found her yet, but they're finally on the right track.

As time passes, they recall the warnings not to be out when the lamps died out, and now they can no longer see the flicker of the tamed flames in town. It is past midnight, and the lights have finally burned out.

Rhys' glowing amber eye pierced through the rolling fog to look up ahead and locate the covered bridge the teenage boy had mentioned. He lifted his robotic hand and activated a beam of light to shoot out of his palm display. He angled it forward until the beam could cut partially through the churning mist and illuminate part of the structure of this bridge.

"I think Sasha had to come through here, her footsteps were leading up this way for sure."

"Can you see what's on the other side?"

"Too much fog right now, we have to cross the bridge first."

Breaching the entrance to this large covered bridge, darkness almost fully envelops the pair as their heeled boots clip and thump against the wooden floorboards. The company man raises the intensity of his light beam, guiding them closer to the end of the bridge. The mist on the other side seems somehow thicker, his light barely able to penetrate through its opacity.

They step off the bridge and start walking over hard packed dirt, following Sasha's trail deeper into the forest. The shrouded mist before them is so dense that they have to slow down to make sure that they're still following in the Pandoran woman's steps. Fiona steps closer to Rhys, even wrapping a hand over the sleeve of his metal bicep, because any misstep could easily separate them in this low visiblity. This was a missing person hunt for one, no need to add anyone else to the list.

After a couple of minutes of tracing carefully over Sasha's tracks, the two of them glance at each other as they can hear what sounds like distant galloping fast approaching. They turn to look behind them and the sound of hooves striking the hard packed dirt grows closer. Becoming uneasy, the couple share a look and Fiona begins to pull Rhys along, heading back towards the covered bridge that stretched over the rushing river below. At least for sure they know there's some kind of shelter to be had there.

Just as they make out the roof of the bridge a little bit away, they look behind them once more as the growing volume of someone or something approaching sounds like it's right at their backs.

The clouds above break, moonlight shining down and illuminating the churning mist in the distance. The fog parts suddenly, and out from its depths surges an equine-like creature with a rider cloaked in shadows. What causes the couple alarm is that the head of the rider appears to be a pumpkin, a crude face sawed out of its husk and spewing flames from its holes. It seems to set its sights on the only other people in the clearing, and after rearing its horse in a show of excitement, it heads straight for the couple like a bat out of hell.

They both turn and make a run for it, sprinting across the now visible clearing and just beginning to make it across the wooden floorboards as the rider draws closer. Rhys looks behind him just as the rider stops before the bridge and takes hold of its own head. The rider winds back and hurtles the flaming pumpkin towards them. Rhys shouts for Fiona and grabs her, pulling her down with him in an attempt to dodge the attack.

As they're falling, they can feel the heat from the fire and the force of the pumpkin fly pass them and explode further up on the bridge. They land hard and twist to look behind them to see... Nothing.

There's no rider on the other side of the bridge. The mist is flowing calmly as if there was never a disturbance.

They turn simultaneously to look for the smashed pumpkin, but there is no jagged pieces of rind exploded on the floorboards like they expect there to be.

Sitting up, they look at each other in complete confusion.

"Okay... That really just happened to us, right?"

"Yeah..." Fiona answers distantly, seeming preoccupied with trying to find a reason as to what the hell just happened.

"So we're not crazy right? Some whacko was really just chasing us, chucking flaming vegetables at us right?"

"Yeah..."

Rhys looks over Fiona and helps her up. "Hey, are you okay? You're not hurt or anything Fi?"

Fiona is staring hard into the distance, where the violent rider had emerged.

"Fi?"

Fiona turns to look at Rhys, a hard look across her face. "Rhys... The last time Sasha was seen was where that pumpkin bastard came out from. Maybe he's got something to do with Sasha disappearing... Listen, go back to the hotel and wait for me there, it's too dangerous to take you along."

"No, no way am I leaving you to go off by yourself after we just met that... That galloping ghost or whatever!"

"Come on, be reasonable here. Even if I gave you a spare gun, would you be able to hit anything with it considering your poor aim?"

"Hey! I've been practicing I'll have you know-"

"Oh yeah? So you're telling me that you're confident that you can actually shoot at and hit your target?"

"Yes!"

Fiona leveled him with a flat stare.

"...And by yes I mean maybe...! A strong maybe."

She sighed. "Juuust as I thought..."

"Look, that doesn't matter anyway because I've got this little doohickey right here~" he preened, opening a digital inventory just like Fiona's, and digitizing a small gun into his hand. He showed it off like it was something special. "What do you think?"

The vault hunter shrugged, crossing her arms across her chest. "What is it, your water jet flosser?"

Atlas' president grinned, unperturbed by her teasing. "Nooo, this is the future of Atlas! A new design for people who have less than ideal aiming skills. Equipped in this power packed pistol is an automatic aim assist, or AAA for short."

"Aaa?" Fiona repeated, incredulous.

His bright smile never left though. "You got it! See, the technology here is two-fold: the actual pistol locks onto your chosen target, then the bullets have a teeny tiny little tracker as the actual bullet head. No way can anyone miss with this bad boy! Buuut, it's a prototype, not officially ready for the market yet. Soon! But not yet."

Fiona was doubtful, but Rhys seemed pretty proud of his little experimental gun, plus some back up to fight this apparition would be nice... What other choice did she have.

"Alright, fine - but on one condition," she pointed a turquoise tipped finger in his face. "Once your shield is low, come back to the bridge to hide until it fully recharges again, do you understand?"

"Well, yeah I get it, but I don't have a shield," he answered, perplexed.

"You're taking mine," she answered, deactivating her shield and removing it from her belt. She clipped it onto Rhys' belt and it flared to life, gradually recharging even amidst his protests.

"Whoa, no no no no, I can't take your shield! You need that!"

She quirked a brow at him in response. "You're gonna need it more, plus out of the two of us, I'm faster on my feet. And don't worry too much about it, I've got a backup in my inventory."

She cycled through her digital items, selecting the other shield she had in her inventory. It wasn't too much weaker than the one she had given her boyfriend, so she didn't feel too exposed as she clipped it on and it rapidly charged to full capacity.

"Now, we've gotta come up with a solid plan on how to deal with Mr. Dramatic," Fiona started, watching as Rhys shoved his AAA pistol down his waistband and put the bag of jerky in the now empty slot in his digital inventory.

"Ooh, Mr. Dramatic, that's nice - but what about Captain Dramatic? Sounds funnier."

The vault hunter rolled her eyes. "Rhys, focus."

"Okay. But just hear me out... Doctor Dramatic, huh? Huh? Come on, you can't tell me that it doesn't sound funny and dastardly."

Okay... This was gonna be a while.

Stepping through the dense fog was anxiety inducing, it almost felt like it was purposefully moving against them and keeping the enemy from sight. At any moment, he could burst through the wall of mist and be upon them in seconds. They really had to strain their senses to catch even the slightest of changes to their environment.

Always aware, all of the time.

They didn't know how much time had passed, but soon it started to feel as if they were safe. Perhaps... Perhaps they had imagined a headless cloaked rider who threw flaming pumpkins at strangers in the woods. Certainly the idea itself was crazy - a far-fetched notion born from lack of sleep and constant worry.

The Pandoran stopped and tugged on her boyfriend's arm, pulling him to a stop alongside her. He had been stalking around just as on edge as she was, and it sort of felt silly to be walking around in circles in the middle of the woods at night. It was late in the year and night at this time of the autumn season was cold and wet. Truthfully, they could just continue to follow Sasha's boot prints rather than waste anymore time on this wild rakk chase-

A sudden glow to their left drew her eye, and immediately she shoved Rhys out of the way, jumping back herself as another flaming pumpkin crashed into the ground where they had been standing. Flaming bits of the jack-o-lantern pelted their shields, but that was of less concern than the rider on the massive steed that had just appeared.

His dark form cleaved through the fog, heading straight towards Fiona as another incendiary jack-o-lantern appeared instantly in his waiting hand.

"Rhys, remember the plan!" she called out, turning and drawing Doctor Dramatic after her as she sprinted towards the bridge for the second time that night.

If he answered back, she couldn't hear him over the sound of the horse's hooves galloping after her, and quickly gaining speed.

She ducked and rolled to the side as another firey pumpkin was thrown at her back, depleting her shield's capacity entirely. She hid behind a large tree by the edge of the clearing, trying to catch her breath as she brought out her assault rifle.

Checking the status of her recharge rate, she watched her shield capacity as it quickly started to fill up from zero. 'Okay, so pumpkins that happen to be on fire are very damaging and dangerous, noted.' She checked to make sure her safety was off before peeking around the edge of the trunk.

Fiona's ECHO rang and she answered it automatically without thinking. She was used to being contacted while crouched behind cover as bullets and/or axes whizzed by her (such was the life of a vault hunter), so this time was no different.

"Yeah?" she answered curtly, emptying a full clip into the horseman as he stormed towards her, before dropping back down behind her cover. The rider took a good sixty bullets to the chest like a sponge - this was not gonna be as easy as she'd hoped. She began swapping the empty clip for a new one when the caller spoke.

"Hey Fi, sorry it took forever to-"

"Sasha?!"

"Yeah?"

Fiona was half relieved, half incredulous in this moment. "Sasha, where have you been? Where are you? Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, my ECHO just up and died on me, so I had to leave the creepy little town I was in to go to the city for the nearest repair shop-"

"I thought something bad had happened to you!"

"Nah, you know me, I can handle myself. Did you come all this way just for me? I can see from your ECHO location that you're in that old town I was in - it's creepy right? The vibes in that place are totally off-"

Another flaming pumpkin was thrown against her cover, bits of tree bark and pumpkin rind still on fire were raining down next to her crouched figure.

"Sasha, look... Rhys and I are in the middle of something right now, so I'll call you when we're done."

"Ew, I really don't wanna know that..."

Fiona's face burned red. "It's- NO it's not-" The vault hunter sighed in frustration over the sound of her sister's light giggles.

"I'm just teasing~ Enjoy your date and call me later. Bye Fi!"

"Bye, brat..." the Pandoran woman stashed her ECHO device away, turning to help her boyfriend finish this thing off.

Rhys was following the plan, drawing the horseman's attention to him by running and firing an entire clip into his broad back. Doctor Dramatic turned the horse and started charging at the young CEO. She couldn't hear him from across the clearing, but she could certainly imagine the sound of the yelp he let out as he fell back behind some cover.

She shot out of her hiding spot and ran down the edge of the treeline, keeping her sights locked onto their opponent. When he got too close to the small boulder that her boyfriend was taking cover behind, she stopped and lifted her assault rifle to point it at the rider's back.

She used the sights to aim because any stray bullet could miss and possibly hit Rhys, and even though he had a great shield, she still didn't want to take any chances. As soon as she had the middle of his cloaked back in view, she pulled the trigger and shot massive amounts of hot lead into their pursuer.

The rider seemed to lurch forward, dropping a pumpkin and almost falling from the force of being shot at, and Fiona started to hope that this would be the end of it. But her hope was fleeting as he seemed to shake off the attack and right himself in his saddle. He turned, and reached out to his side, materializing a sword out of nowhere. He swung it in a graceful but powerful arc, the sharp blade singing as it cut through the cloudy air.

'Oh shit...' she thought, having no time to panick as he forced his mount to start barreling towards her.

She threw the large gun onto her back and booked it towards the bridge. Drawing the vegetable tossing rider closer to the only safe space they had was part of the plan. She could just make out the roof ridge in the distance, its peak high enough that the mist seemed to thin closer to the top.

But the rider was on her sooner than she expected.

She heard the singing of the blade as it swung towards her from behind.

Rhys' shout in the distance, the heavy billowing breaths from the horse, the blade cleaving through everything with no resistance. Everything was happening all so fast and there was no time to react.

The sword sliced right through her shield, immediately making it crash to zero. In the arc of the same swing, the edge of the blade cut cleanly through her neck. Or it would have, but Rhys was unloading the last of his bullets into the rider and that altered Doctor Dramatic's aim. Instead of decapitating her, the sharp edge of the blade cut upwards and sliced through Fiona's hat.

She landed hard on the ground, her breath getting punched right out of her as the rider changed direction and started heading for the company man. She looked ahead of her as her beloved hat - now in two evenly halved pieces - tumbled onto the ground in front of her.

'My hat...!' she despaired, staring at what was left of it in absolute heartbreak.

Her eyes hardened and she pushed herself up, the fury of a thousand bullymongs making her seek not only victory, but revenge now.

Rhys pulls the trigger to his prototype gun, frowning at the empty clicking sound it was making. "Out of bullets already? Note to self: get the R&D department to extend the cliiIIIIP-"

He dropped down and covered his head as the horseman rode up to him and swung his blade over the young CEO. Fiona was on the other side of the clearing, and whatever she was doing was making enough noise that it drew the rider's attention again. This close to Doctor Dramatic, Rhys could activate his ECHO eye and see that the being sitting on top of the steed really had no head... His entire bodily form seemed as if it was constructed of shifting shadows. Even his gleaming, deadly blade looked as if it was made out of solidified moonlight.

Before Rhys could take in any more details, the horseman kicked off and raced back towards Fiona. He couldn't see his girlfriend from this perspective, the bodies of the rider and his steed obscuring his view. But she was still fussing with something by the sounds of it, so she needed more time. But he had nothing left...! Nothing, except for that one thing...

The vault hunter slides the last of the rockets into the chamber, loading the launcher properly as her enemy comes barreling towards her. As she flicks the safely off and moves to lift the giant weapon, she can hear her boyfriend shout from behind the fast approaching rider, "IT LOOKS LIKE YOU NEED A HAND!"

From behind the horseman she can see Rhys lift his cybernetic arm, leveling it at Doctor Dramatic's back before it explodes out of his sleeve and rockets towards his cloaked back. Rhys'... Mechanical fist strikes the rider down, making him tumble off of his horse. The horse then collapses into a cloud of smoke, blending with the fog swirling around.

The rider stands up and redraws his sword, but before he can come any closer, Fiona fires her rocket launcher at him, the kickback almost knocking her off her feet. The projectiles meet Doctor Dramatic, a massive explosion obliterating their relentless attacker in a rain of pumpkin guts that gets splattered all over them.

The vault hunter flinched upon impact, taking a moment to lower her heavy weapon from off her shoulder to rest at her feet, reaching up to wipe away stringy orange innards and pumpkin seeds from her face.

The head of Atlas jogs over to her, stopping midway through to retrieve his robotic forearm from the pile of pumpkin innards, shaking it off before walking over to her.

"Well... That was eventful."

She looked down at the partial arm he held in his left hand. "So when were you gonna tell me about that?"

Rhys shrugged, the beginnings of a shy smile twitching at his lips. "Eh, it's also, sort of... A prototype. I don't even have a name for it. Got the idea from a video game, heh."

He held out his partially empty sleeve towards her, and she reached over her rocket launcher to start rolling up the fabric. Once it was up over his elbow joint, he fit his mechanical forearm over the slotted edges and sealed it back in place. He flexed his metal hand to ensure everything was synced up properly.

"Hey... Did you say anything cool when you fired your rocket at him?"

The Pandoran tilted her head, "Why would I?"

"Aww, it's just, you missed an opportunity to say something badass like 'Take two of these and don't call me in the morning,' ya know, because we called him Doctor Dramatic? It would have been cool and funny..."

She scoffed in amusement, shaking her head at him. "Rhys, I think you're mixing up being a vault hunter with a movie star," she said as she dematerialized her launcher back into her digital inventory. "So is that what that whole 'Looks like you need a hand' thing was about?"

Clearly embarrassed, Atlas' president cleared his throat and brushed a hand down his jacket, flicking off pieces of wet pumpkin pulp. "By the way... I got a text from Sasha that said 'winky-face' so I'm assuming she's okay."

"Yeah, she called me in the middle of all that and told me her ECHO device had just died, but she's fine. I told her I'd call her back after we were done, so let's start heading back."

He pulled up his palm display and began entering a short message to Sasha as they headed towards the covered bridge. "I'm checking her location now and it says she's nearby. I'll text her back and ask her to meet us at the hotel."

"Great..." Fiona managed around a yawn, so glad that this awful situation was finally over with. "Hey, thanks for everything by the way. I couldn't have done it without you." She smiled tiredly up at her boyfriend.

He reached out and tucked some of her hair back behind her ear. "Hey, that's what husbands are for, right?"

She chuckled and reached up to flick a pumpkin seed off of the tip of his ear. "Whatever Mr. Rocket Fist..."

Rhys nudges the woman at his side and says "I don't know about you, but this has kinda put me in the mood for some pumpkin pie... What about you?"

"...Rhys... As much as I love you, I will strangle you. I don't wanna see another pumpkin for a long, long time."

"Aww, you said it first this time...! I love you too Fi."

Fiona looks over at him incredulously. "I want a divorce..."

Rhys shrugged, a bashful smile on his face. "What can I say, I just find you so cute when you're violent."

Fiona rolled her eyes, but as always, couldn't mask her affection for the dork by her side. She linked their pumpkin stained hands together and pulled him down for a quick kiss. When they broke, she looked up at him with a tired smile and said "Let's head back to the hotel and clean up, this is officially the worst honeymoon ever."

They turn and start walking hand in hand across the dark and quiet bridge, back towards the edge of town.

"A shower and a bed sounds really nice right about now..."

Fiona smirked. "Even better than a pumpkin pie?"

Rhys snickered, slinging his arm over his girlfriend's shoulders and pulling her against him. "You're never gonna let me live that down, are you?"

"I could be persuaded to forget... With a little monetary incentive..."

"Of course, what else should I have expected?"

Fiona wrapped her arm around his slim waist, allowing them to press closer then before. "Well, I'll be nice and give you the soon-to-be ex-husband discount, of course."

"Ooh how generous, my sweet, kind hearted, vault hunter soon-to-be ex-wife~"

Fiona chuckled, nudging him lightly. "Dork..."

Entering the double doors of the hotel, the tired couple were immediately greeted by the one person they came to find. Sasha looked damn near radiant, breaking out into a big smile as soon as she saw them.

"It took you two long enough," she quipped, way too chipper for the likes of the incredibly exhausted pair.

"Shut up~" Fiona groaned playfully, stepping over to give her sister a hug.

She was stopped when Sasha held up a hand with a slight grimace. "Save the hugs for later, when you're not covered in..." She waved her hand in a vague gesture over the two of them. "Whatever this is."

"Fair enough," the older sister shrugged, dragging herself towards the stairs with her lanky boyfriend in tow. "Shower first, hugs later..."

"Actually," Sasha called out, "just get your bags, I'll drive us to the big city so we can get some five star take-out and bedding with a high thread count. My treat."

Rhys and Fiona sighed in unison at the thought of such luxuries after the ordeal they just had. Quality food and quality bedding sounded nothing short of heavenly in this moment. They quickly mumbled their agreement, heading off to fetch their belongings.

After retrieving their bags and coming down, they spotted Lady Van Tassel by the check-in desk. Something had soured her once sweet demeanor, and now she was watching them leave with clear irritation on her features.

"Sorry Lady," Rhys spoke, apologizing for such a quick exit. "We're canceling the remaining reservation but I'm happy to pay you for the night."

He took a step towards her when Sasha put a hand on his arm to stop him. "Go sit in the backseat with Fi, I'll pay for your stay. After all, you came all this way just for me, it's the least I can do."

"Oh, are you sure? Thanks, Sasha, I owe you one," he promised, eager to finally get some rest. "Thank you again Lady Van Tassel, goodbye...!" He turned and both he and Fiona make their way over to the car, the two already practically asleep on their feet.

If Rhys would have waited to see the older woman's reaction, he would've witnessed the scowl full of hate she was no longer able to hide.

Sasha looked over at her coolly, aware of who she really was. "Your attempt on their lives is payment enough, right... Witch?"

Lady Van Tassel glares sharply at her, but says nothing.

The younger Pandoran woman smiles knowingly, before turning and leaving the hotel behind her, making her way over to the car. Fiona and Rhys were just snuggling in together in the back when Sasha settled into the driver's seat. The company man had already inserted the key into the ignition, so all she had to do was start it.

She pulled out from the parking spot, turning the wheel easily and driving through the town. She glanced down to her right to see a plastic bag on the passenger seat. Slowing down to check its contents, she laughs quietly to herself as she finds it's full with sticks of jerky.

Continuing the drive, she finally makes it out of town and starts heading towards the cluster of city lights in the far off distance. Glancing in the rear view mirror, she smiles at the sight of the couple leaning against each other, fast asleep. Rhys was already starting to drool and Fiona was snoring softly, both of them clutching their luggage like teddy bears to their pumpkin stained chests.

This story was heavily inspired by Tim Burton's movie "Sleepy Hollow". Who doesn't love a good headless horseman?

♡ Tag List ♡

for everyone who interacted with these posts promoting (?) this fic (let me know if you'd like to be removed from the Tag List):

♡ @sanzosin ♡ @andaxay ♡ @admiralsweko ♡ @timothylawrenceatlas ♡ @elusivexx ♡ @yuuki-mishima ♡ @goddessluver27 ♡ @karedevil4ever ♡ @mordecaixhope ♡ @multi-ship-writer ♡ @anothergameofwickedgrace ♡ @z3pp3l1

©rin-bellatrix 2022

☆ borderlands masterlist ⋆ main masterlist ☆

[smilingperformer]

Btw, I've made more progress, as in finished Operation Starfall and Path of Legends storylines! Spoilers under the cut thou!

So, I REALLY enjoyed both storylines, and while Penny being Cassiopeia was well... easy to predict, I still enjoyed learning her motives and all. She just wanted to save her friends from getting expelled. Despite never letting them see her before. That's... such a nice story. And Clavell is such a good school director, oh man why did people suspect him of being a bad guy, such a good guy ;V;

And Arven, MY BOY, he is precious and wonderful and I love him and I love his doggo I still need to learn to remember the name of, Mabostiff? Maybe. But it was so wonderful and I actually cried. Gently, as I didn't want my sis to hear me :D IT'S SPOILERS TO HEAR ME CRY OK-

And god. I am mad at Sada. So mad. She hears Arven's voice for the first time in years AND SHE DOESN'T CARE????? To be fair, she somehow felt robotic in that call as well so like, either it's a plotpoint, or time ran out to polish out that cutscene. Why does she need the Scarlet Book thou, there's nothing that she'd need from it really... does it? I need to check the book again I guess.

Koraidon's fully upgraded outside of battling now and I LOVE THE TRAVERSING SO MUCH NOW AAAAAAAAAH THE FUN BEGINS- ahem!

I also did the final exams at school and well... I failed Math the first time around, at 3/5 points lol. I am so so embarrased, but then again, the statistic type of info of Pokémon moves and such isn't exactly my strongest knowledge so... I guess it was inevitable for me to fail it. I passed it second time around thou, with 4/5.

Rest, outside of Art exam, which ALSO was 4/5, went with perfect scores :D First round was the same, so I'm happy about that! Esp. with history, I was sooooo interested in the lore and I'm so glad I managed to answer the questions right. WITHOUT any cheat. I relied on memory :D

But yeh. No screenshots today. Just quick roundabout of the past two evening sessions.

(Gotta love tumblr new editor having auto save btw, gosh I've wanted that for ages, it's existed for a while now but man. Good addition)

[deathdxnces]

it's bc of that last post and bc i rewatched the dev diary about ionia the other day but there's this part at the end where they say

'and then, at the bridges, at the placidium of navori, in what would become one of the most defining battles of the war, a fourteen year old mage dancer named irelia nearly wiped out all of the enemy high command. her heroism inspired the nation to take action.'

and i'm just thinking about how at this point it's said the war seemed like it was lost, like there was no resisting the noxian forces, and irelia not only fought back but nearly wiped out all of the enemy high command which is like. a huge feat??? for any one person???? and she was fourteen and not prepared to fight???? (btw noxians wtf y'all grown ass soldiers who literally live of waging war, and the best among you fell like that???)

but today i'm thinking in particular about how miraculous that victory comes across and how huge irelia's role was in it if she's said to have almost wiped out the present high command on her own, and how that would've been seen by the people? like. it makes sense they look to her as a saviour (or a weapon). that she becomes so much more and that so much is put on her, and that no one really stops to be like 'hey she's 14, she's a kid, maybe let's not put the entire war effort on her back?'. thinking about how, especially for a people who's so spiritualistic, believing there is something of divine on that wouldn't be a stretch. thinking about how even the most pragmatic would've taken notice of that and seen in her a weapon of devastating power to be wielded against ionia's enemies.

thinking about how irelia doesn't shun whatever people want to see her as at first, too, because? how can she? people were inspired to fight back, they finally have a chance, how can she turn her back on that? how can she push that towards someone else? if she has the power to be a weapon, shouldn't she be one to end the war? she's fourteen. they all throw those burdens at her, put on her their hopes, expect her to protect them, and she's just yes of course how can i deny them?. she's not worth that devotion, certainly, and she never embraces that reverence, but she won't reject the people who look up to her.

others use her as a weapon, as a motivator, as a tool for destruction, and she accepts it because how could she refuse it? ionia needs a weapon, so she will be it, it doesn't matter that other people may be pushing her into that role. until the war is over, how can she refuse any of that?

it's really only after the noxians are driven back almost entirely that she actively acts to put an end to it, unwilling to stay with the resistance/brotherhood as a leader, unwilling to bear the weight of all that faith any longer. 'i fought and they followed', one of her lines says; but choosing to stop fighting before her weapons were turned against her own doesn't mean she's free of all that was put on her before. willing or not, they made her a symbol and a leader. and that's all so very tied with the things she still carries; the shackling dutifulness, the persistent guilt, the feeling she failed and disappointed the people who put everything on her. (it's not fair to her at all, and it shouldn't be her burden to carry, but it was, and honestly there's no way it wouldn't be, after what she managed to do in the placidium. the epitome of 'congratulations, you survived the war, now live with the trauma').

[mayhasopinions]

aight on second thought instead of waiting for asks for the TOH ask game i'm just gonna answer all of em right here!!

Favorite episode of season 1? Hmm a tie between Understanding Willow and Agony of a Witch

Favorite episode of season 2? Oooh this is a hard one, there are so many exceptional episodes this season, but I think I have to go for Knock-Knock-Knockin' On Hooty's Door, for the Lumity canonisation ofc but my favorite part was Eda's dream sequence and how perfectly it encapsulates being at one with your disability and unmasking at the end and it just... AGHH it's beautiful

Favorite episode of season 3? Thanks to Them! It feels like the most cohesive and tight episode of the specials and human realm shenanigens are always a W for me

Favorite season? 2!!

Favorite Hexsquad member? Ohhh my days whaaay do you have to make me choose between my children?? It regularly fluctuates, but today i'm in a Willow Hunter and Luz kinda mood, so there ya go, the answer might change tmr

Favorite Hagsquad member? Eda!! still waiting on the spinoff confirmation btw >:(

Favorite palisman? MMmmm probablyyyy Principal Bump's palisman. Idk I never realy noticed it in s1 but then we leaned that it helped with Bump's blindness and it just chills on top of his head and helps him see? Idk I just really like Bump and i think that it's real heartwarming

Favorite other character? King, my sweet son

Favorite line from season 1? Eda saying her goodbye to Luz before going full harpy in Agony of a Witch, never fails to make me tear up

Favorite line from season 2? "Out of all the grimwalkers you looked the most like him" followed by Hunter's "...what...?" UGHHHH TALK ABOUT A GUT PUNCH

Favorite line from season 3? "The only thing I ever really wanted was to be understood" and Hunter's mini speech to Willow in FTF about how her and Gus mean the world to him

Favorite friendship? Probably Amity and Hunter! I needed more crumbs of them :(

Favorite familial relationship? Luz and Hunter. They are siblings, if you care

Favorite romantic relationship? Huntlow, the fookin losers

Favorite Lumity moment? The confession scene! It was so realistic and made me squeal so much

Favorite Raeda moment? When Eda finds Raine in WAD and puts their glasses back on and then showers their face with kisses OURGHHH it made me rabid

Favorite Huntlow moment? Can I just name one moment? Just them in For the Future, is that enough?

Favorite piece of music from season 1? The grom fight music!

Favorite piece of music from season 2? Eda's Requiem 1000%!! Probably my favorite music in the whole of TOH actually

Favorite piece of music from season 3? Luz's revelation scene music

Favorite fight scene from season 1? The fight between Eda and Lilith in Agony of a Witch

Favorite fight scene from season 2? Hunter vs Amity in Eclipse Lake

Favorite fight scene from season 3? The final battle between the owl fam and Belos

Favorite season premiere? season 2!

Favorite season finale? season 3!

[calpalsworld]

Okay so I attempted liveblogging Ninjago Crystallized Part 2 last night but as I've explained before I'm really really really really really pathetically unbelievably sensitive to weed so I took just a little too much and I freaked it 😦 sorey for spamming. Might do some cleanup later.

Anyway, NS15 spoilers, I thought what I saw of it was really really really really really really really really bad, but that was probbbbably just because I was high. Its probably actually good. But at the time I kept thinking the opposite "if im high and thinking its bad... imagine how bad this must actually be!!!!" and i imagined something bad beyond comprehension and I was appalled. Anyway I got mad whenever ll*rumi would happen so I would just watch numberblocks on my phone instead of looking at the ll*rumi on screen. I was getting mad about how everything was just a continuous up and down battle, because I like the seasons where they fail and fail and fail until they finally succeed (which is a lot of seasons). I'm not even sure why else I was mad. But when Ice Emporer showed up I felt so chilled.... genuinely scared.... and that truly was a catalyst for me freaking out. I got scared by him, yet simultaneously excited about Ronin being present so I started crying I think??????? Anyway Miles (AUTHOR OF THE AMAZING "PADDLING OUT" DISCO ELYSIUM FIC BTW.... go read it de fans) put on numberblocks for me after I begged him to turn Ninjago off. But then Numberblocks which is for TODDLERS started to freak me out... I got to 14s introduction episode and I couldn't understand why 14 was a skateboarder.... genuinely terrifying....

Hopefully I actually finish crystallized today and I can give good thoughts and critiques.

[blckdtd]

Dear 18-year-old me,

I’m sorry I didn’t took care of you enough, didn’t took care of ourselves. I was having a long standing battle with myself at that time. I don’t think I even knew how to smile properly at the time where I’m genuinely happy, comfortable, confident with myself.

I was still figuring out college during that time. I did asked myself if we were in the right group of people or if we were walking right path at the time.

I had so many questions about us during that time. It gave me sleepless nights, anxiety, and I guess long term sadness and hopelessness that I think I still have in me even today.

You’ve been a night owl ever since, but sometimes we do hate being awake at night because it reminds of things that we know will drown us even further.

I think everything bottled up to the point that where we attempted to kill myself. For some reason, I forgot to count how many times I tried to end myself. At first, I did open up to somebody that these were my thoughts at the time. But eventually, I randomly share it.

It’s a confusing part where I don’t know of I’m numb on what I feel? Or am I just getting skilled at shrugging pff these voices I mostly hear in my head.

We met so many people btw. We also had a crush on so many people lol. We fell in love really hard on someone, he is a friend. Of course, we were rejected, and you were right before you even begun second year of college that you will have a crush on this friend of yours.

We tried to end our lives in 3rd year, but we were so coward to even do it. We didn’t went to school for a whole week. Even today, I still want to end my life for the most parts. But for some reason, some love still lingers in my heart to not do it yet. I do question my self if am I really a suicidal person as I claim to be or am I just being like this for attention.

To be honest, I know that I failed you to live the life you really wanted. Maybe also because we lost our will to live for everyday. We’re just existing for the sake of existing.

We got scammed back in 2020 because we are too foolish to believe in a too good to be true person, and this is something I am so ashamed of to tell anyone. On why I blinded myself because of starvation of being desired by someone, of having someone by my side, and I’m really sorry for being so dumb and didn’t know any better. You lost so much money because of that person. To the point that you wish to die because of the shame that happened. You also gave your first kiss to this person. Fuck that. I pity myself even today that, that happened. And now you don’t know how to build those money again. That money that you just lost.

I’m really sorry for failing you over and over again. I’m sorry for losing your genuine smile and compassion to others. I’m sorry for what is happening to us right now.

I tried to make everything better overtime. Build our confidence as we search for path in this world. We try to learn how to tone down our voices. But sometimes, emotions gets the better of us.

Life was still a flow. There’s up and downs. Just when you thought that youre getting better at you job right now, you believe yourself too much and fuck things over. So now you need to build yourself all over again.

We never got the money btw. Cause we temporarily move out of house. And you like to eat all the foods you enjoy. So no. We have no savings. I think we need to start atleast a burial plan. Cause i can feel that i might kill my self really this time.

Its still a challenge for us to love ourself. Sorry bout that. I hope that the other us, in another universe, is living well, loving herself, and also experiencing love that she deserves.

Love, C