#it starts with char and ends with les

[leclercmybeloved]

y’all take a wild guess about who half the comments are about 😭

[nametakensff]

if you are still taking prompts (and if you are not please feel free to ignore this!) my request is: Finger under nose + edge of a sneeze for ANY disco elysium char!

I am still taking prompts and was sooo happy to see this one in my inbox 💕 This ended up jussst under 3k (whoops) and features sneezing from H/arry, K/im, J/ean and J/udit because why not!!

The M/ajor C/rimes U/nit find themselves at a crime scene - in a Perfumery 😇

~~~~~

Content:

M/M, Mostly M sneezes but F mentioned, H/arry has a sneezing fetish, K/im is a kinky motherfucker, J/ean is suffering, allergic sneezes/sneezing induced by scents, sympathetic sneezes, rapid sneezes, mentions of hayfever sneezes, briefly mentioned inducing, masturbation, teeny mention of mild mess, spray, sneezing on someone's face, elements of domination/submission, verbal demands, sneeze denial, hold-backs, K/im manually holds back Harry's sneeze, some caretaking, some voyeurism

CW: Mentions of serial killings and bodies in typical crime fic fashion, nothing too graphic; K/im briefly holds H/arry in place by gripping his chin

NSFW - Minors DNI!

Harry had to admit, it was a pretty sweet deal this particular serial killer had scored. Having access to a Perfumery within which to conceal the stench of rotting corpses seemed like a stroke of genius. The killer, however, was anything but; after he’d filled the underground crawl space entirely, he’d deposited several bodies in the attic, giving the poor insulation expert who’d ventured up there that winter a veritable heart attack.

The discovery of these bodies was a huge deal. Firstly, the location of this Perfumery was one of the bougiest, most affluent streets in Le Jardin; the middle and upper-middle classes of Revachol were in near hysteria at the very suggestion that such abhorrent crimes had crossed over into their relative bubble of high society. Secondly, from the freshest corpses alone, victims were identified as missing person records spanning several much less affluent precincts. By the time Harry arrived en scene with Kim, Judit and Jean in tow, the Perfumery was bustling with cops from all over.

Several officers from the GRIH greeted Kim as he entered the building, pulling him into a quick conversation. Jean scanned the premises immediately, an intense look of concentration on his weathered face. The four of them were eager to see if any further information could assist in several of their own open cases of missing persons, and it seemed the other precincts had had a similar idea. What a number this guy has fucking done, Harry thought to himself. Fucking sicko. He watched as a body was carried out on a covered stretcher and swallowed the urge to cry.

They’d been the last to arrive, and as the morning stretched on and other officers confirmed all they could, they were soon on their way. It was just as well; there wasn’t an awful lot to glean here as the bodies were slowly taken away, and the main suspect was already in custody. The employees of the Perfumery seemed almost robotic in their answers as they were interviewed, no doubt out of partial trauma but also out of boredom; by the time the 41st Major Crimes Unit got to them, they must have repeated the same statements ad nauseum already.

“Well,” Harry started, turning to his squad after they’d excused the last shaking staff member, “I guess that’s all we can do for now. Let’s burn rubber, gentlemen and lady.”

“Finally.” Jean muttered, striding towards the door, looking even more irritated than usual. Harry tried to swallow like a normal person when he noticed Jean was ever-so subtly pressing the tip of one finger down on his philtrum, the way he had done countless other times in Harry’s presence when he was desperately holding back a sneeze or twenty.

The aforementioned interviews had been difficult not only for the depressing subject matter; several officers had sneezed throughout the day, evidently bothered by the florid scents of the converging perfumes. Being such a high-class establishment, however, there wasn’t an overwhelming deluge of conflicting scents; the smell was strong, sure, but not enough as to be unpleasant or overpowering, at least in theory. Even so, Harry had thought he might sneeze several times. He neither heard Jean nor Kim sneeze, though he had seen Jean’s shoulders trembling incriminatingly, and saw Kim tense into a raised fist out of the corner of his eye. He was beyond grateful when one cop with a particularly attention-seeking, cock-teasingly desperate sneeze finally left. He had been so close to getting a hard-on that having not gotten one, he felt pathetically proud of himself.

Judit and Jean climbed into the back of the MC as Harry sat shotgun. Kim expertly pulled out of the cluster of other police vehicles and started them back to the station.

“So,” Harry started, pretending as hard as he could that he hadn’t just heard Jean’s breath snagging in tell-tale irritation. “That’s two missing persons identified, straight off the bat. Which is fucking awful, but at least it’s something.”

“Yes,” Kim said, sounding grave. “I was hoping we would locate some of the missing individuals but now, given the situation…I just hope there aren’t more.”

Harry nodded, hearing Kim but also hearing the tiny, definitive little gasp Jean made behind him. He again tried to swallow quite normally.

“Would it be worth gathering the rest of the unit today rather than tomorrow morning for a briefing, Lieutenant?” Judit asked from the back seat.

“I think so.” Kim nodded, weaving in and out of traffic. “I think if we…”

Harry’s brain could no longer focus on work, not one little bit. Kim and Judit continued to talk, but all he could hear was the barely audible swallows of air and shuddering exhalations as Jean sneezed, over and over again.

“-Gk’t! Nndt! Hh-Gxt! Ngxt’u! Hh-“

“-get Officer Torson to-“

“-Dtch! Hh’Gxt!-Dssh! Hh’Tsh’u!!-“

“-all go over the files from-“

“Hh’TSch’u! Hp’Tssht! HAH-Tsch!!-Tshh!-TSCH’Ieww!! hH-“

“-do you think, Harry?”

Harry blinked. Fuck. Kim and Judit were waiting for his input. He opened his mouth, hoping that whatever came out was a more appropriate response than the simpering moan he had been repressing, when Jean saved him the effort with an uncharacteristically harsh sneeze.

“-IhgK’TSHHH’IEWww!! H’ohh…”

Harry’s fingers dug into his thighs, wrinkling the fabric of his bellbottom trousers. How the fuck was he supposed to think of anything other than stroking his cock, which was absolutely and entirely hard at this point, when Jean was sneezing like that? Like he had the biggest tickle of his life, like it was too big for his body to contain or purge with his ordinarily diminutive sneezes? Why did he have to sigh like that afterwards?! It was unfairly erotic. Judit and Kim’s simultaneous and emphatically concerned blessings in response only made things worse; his cock throbbed over the fuss.

“Fuck, sorry. I was in there for too long. I feel like shit.” Jean sniffled, sounding suddenly much rougher than any of them had expected him to. Harry ventured a glance at him in the rear-view mirror, really wishing he hadn’t when he took in the sight of his twitchy pink nose and equally pink, watery eyes. He was a picture of allergic misery. Harry scrunched his eyes shut as his cock gave an enthusiastic throb. When he opened them and glanced sidelong at Kim, Kim was peering right back at him. The second they made eye contact, the Lieutenant’s gaze flicked away, the ghost of a smirk on his lips. Bastard.

“Don’t apologise – you can’t help it.” Judit started. “I think we were all in there too long. Our uniforms are probably setting you off right now.”

Jean wasn’t able to respond, at least in words, because he’d started sneezing again. Harry felt giddy with arousal. It had been ages since he’d heard Jean sneeze like this – even when his hayfever was awful, he had prescription-strength antihistamines to ease the reaction. With nothing at all, he was a wreck.

“-DDtsh’u-NTt’shu-HGxtt!! HaHH’GXT’TShhuu-!! Fuck…”

All three of them blessed him again, Harry hoping at the very least Judit couldn’t make out the breathlessness in his voice. Only ten minutes until they were back at the precinct and Harry could fuck his own fist in one of several men’s bathrooms.

~~~~~

In the end, Judit had volunteered to drive Jean home. He was so allergic that it didn’t take much to convince him to take the rest of the day off; he was exhausted and completely disinterested in continuing to sneeze his brains out on display for the rest of the unit. Harry and Kim had gone to shower and change into spare clothes, realising they had become nose-blind to just how much they stank of perfume. It was enough that some of their fellow officers had actually recoiled, which Harry found entirely over dramatic given how many dead bodies they dealt with on the regular.

Harry ended up jerking off in the shower stall right next to Kim’s. It had been entirely too much, watching Jean’s head bob forward so helplessly, the perpetual agony of the tickle in his nose worn plainly across his face. Before she had left, Judit also sneezed, several feminine “Hahdt’Tsch’iew!”s that seemed to shock her and went straight to Harry’s interested dick. The final straw, however, was the unrepressed double that Kim let out beside him, right as Harry felt his orgasm starting to crest.

“Huhp’TISHHH’Ieww!! Hh-! HaHPT’TZSSsshh!!”

He groaned far more loudly than he had intended to. His cock pulsed in his hand, waves of pleasure flowing through him as he was mercilessly tipped over the edge. Sighing in relief, he fucked gently into his fist as he continued to streak the wall with the result of his orgasm. Kim’s shower turned off with an abrupt screech of the handle.

“I’ll see you shortly, Lieutenant-Yefreitor.”

Hearing the amused edge to Kim’s voice, Harry knew without a doubt that he had made himself sneeze on purpose. His cock twitched happily with a final tremor.

~~~~~~

Harry really thought he had escaped the Perfumery entirely unscathed – the shower and changing of clothes was more of a courtesy for everyone else. It soon became apparent, however, that rather than him having no reaction at all, it had merely been delayed.

“…IIIIESSSSSHHHhhtttt!!!”

He barrelled forward with it, raising an elbow a second too late and dappling the paperwork he was completing with moisture. He snuffled miserably, squeezing his itchy, red eyes shut. Even with the antihistamines Judit had brought him, courtesy of Gottlieb (Harry’s regular supply of store-bought antihistamines pilfered from Jean’s emergency stash gone, he was irritated to discover), he was getting little to no relief.

It wasn’t the worst thing in the world. The sneezes weren’t rapid, nor nonstop. But what they were was a tease. They would come and go, hitching his breath with a promising tickle before leaving him hanging, sinuses prickling. He’d been working on that most recent sneeze for well over ten minutes, which made it all the more embarrassing he’d been unable to cover.

The rest of the unit were giving him a predictably wide berth, but it didn’t stop the joking. That wasn’t all too much of an issue for Harry. Even this prolonged, slow-motion sneeze attack was bearable. What wasn’t was the sympathetic sneezes he kept triggering in Kim – a quirk he should have gotten used to by now but wasn’t sure he ever would.

He glanced over at Kim’s desk in time to see him sneezing into his wrist, pen barely pausing as he worked through the convulsions – only just audible, yet deliciously desperate to Harry’s keen ears.

“Hh’Ggkt’shu! Ngxt’shh! Hh’Nndt’shoo!! Ouf…”

Harry sniffled again, repressing the urge to cough as his inflamed sinuses prickled anew. Stupid Kim and his sexy sneezes and god-tier ability to ignore everything else in the pursuit of immaculate administrative duties. He hissed a little as squirming in his seat pressed the too-tight fabric around his crotch into his balls, hot and heavy and now incredibly strangled. With a resigned sigh, he leaned his forehead on crossed arms and closed his eyes.

~~~~~

“-Lieutenant. Harry?”

Harry lifted his head, consciousness returning to him after his entirely unintended nap, and saw Judit hovering over him with a kind, concerned expression. He barely had a moment to take in the fact that he had been drooling in his sleep when the bastard tickle had him gasping in preparation for another sneeze.

“HAAAH’GKXXTtt!!”

Oh, that had been close. Twisting to the side and biting down hard, last minute, had prevented him from sneezing all over her. She’d foreseen it, of course, and he needn’t have bothered with such a degree of contortion, but he was relieved nonetheless. Less relieved to discover that he was still sneezing even after waking up.

“Sorry, Minot. Do you need me?”

She shook her head and smiled softly at him, looking away politely as he started to scrub at his nose a little too enthusiastically with his handkerchief.

“Lieutenant Kitsuragi asked me to wake you and tell you he will be escorting you home.”

“Oh? But my paperw-“

Harry blinked. His files were gone, and his desk had been organised.

“Did Kim do this?” He asked incredulously.

“Yes.” Judit said, starting to walk away.

“Damn,” Harry muttered, shucking on his jacket and rising on stiff knees.

“It’s been a long day, Lieutenant. Lieutenant Kitsuragi is waiting for you in the garage, he said. See you tomorrow – feel better soon!” She called over her shoulder, gradually receding in what looked like quite a rush – which made perfect sense after he’d  glanced sheepishly at the wall-affixed clock.

~~~~~

“…HHUHHHRESSSSSHHHhhh!!! Ugh, finally.”

Harry deflated after sneezing openly, enthusiastically into the air in front of him, sinking back into his couch cushions in relief. He idly rubbed his itchy, pinkened nostrils back and forth, grateful to be in his shitty apartment and away from judgemental coworkers.

“À tes souhaits.”

He heard Kim call from the kitchen. He listened intently for the sneezes that were sure to follow his own, disappointed only to catch the sigh that followed them.

“I hate when you hold them back in private.” Harry mumbled.

Kim laughed, walking into the living room with two mugs.

“You have no right to be making demands of me, not today.” He said, a cheeky smile crossing his face. He placed the mugs on a scruffy coffee table and sat next to Harry, reaching out to push a stray hair back from his forehead.

“How are you feeling?” He asked, cupping Harry’s cheek in his hand. Harry loved when Kim did that; it made him feel delicate and tiny in an entirely nice way.

“Fine. Itchy.” He said plainly, leaning into the touch. “Thank you, again, for doing all that. You’re an angel. Angel cop.” He murmured.

“It’s okay. I don’t mind a little writing.”

“Nerd.”

Kim grinned at him.

“Drink your tea.” He commanded, pulling away from Harry to reach for his own.

Harry was half-started reaching forward when another sneeze started to build. He paused and allowed himself to lean into it, irritated, semi-vocal snatches of air drawn out of him as he urged the tickle to culminate. He was sick of them taking so long. He just wanted the relief that only a huge, dramatic explosion would provide – if only for another 5 minutes or so.

He'd been so focused on sniffling and hitching his way through his build-up that he was startled by a sudden pressure under his nostrils. He opened his eyes as wide as he could – which wasn’t very, as he hovered right on the precipice of a sneeze – and took in the sight of Kim pressing an outstretched finger under his nose.

“K’hiim, what…?” He managed, breath wavering as the tickle lingered but did not swell, effectively wrangled into submission by the pressure on his philtrum.

“Don’t sneeze, detective. You need to learn some self-control.”

Harry blinked at him, unsure of whether to be affronted or aroused. Arousal always won with Kim, though, god damn him. Harry felt his cock twitch with renewed interest, shivering under Kim’s domineering gaze.

“But it ti’h!! Ti’hiiih’ckles-!”

“You can do it.” Kim stated, applying more pressure to Harry’s philtrum, barely even flinching as a droplet of clear mess rolled out of one nostril and onto his finger.

Harry was surprised when he managed, after several more dangerously close build-ups, to hold back the sneeze entirely. He exhaled in a near orgasmic sigh, glancing over at Kim under heavily lidded eyes. Kim removed his finger, wiping it on Harry’s shirt.

“Good man. Keep that up.” He said, reaching for his tea again.

Harry tried to – he really, honestly did. The absence of Kim’s finger and a poorly timed sniffle, however, meant he was bristling again almost immediately, the tickle so overwhelming he gasped hard enough that both he and Kim jumped at the sound. Immediately Kim was back in position, pressing his finger down hard and peering at Harry’s twisting pre-sneeze expression. This time he straddled his lap, and Harry reached out instinctively to grip his waist.

“What did I just say, Officer? Are you so eager to disobey me?”

Harry wanted to shake his head in dissent, wanted to hold back so badly, but it just tickled so much that even the pressure under his nose was useless. He couldn’t so much as utter a perfunctory warning before his helplessly crumpled features cinched tight, nostrils flared wide, and he sneezed all over himself and Kim.

“HAHH’EEEISHHHHHHhhh!! HIGGSHHUUUUuu!!!”

They felt incredible, great big spraying affairs, even more relieving having been fought back and denied. A pleasant wave of satisfaction washed over Harry in the aftermath, and his head fell back against the cushions, eyes closed in blissful surrender.

His eyes shot open as he felt Kim securely gripping his chin, squeezing fingers drenched with the result of those sneezes. He shuddered in anticipation, having a split second to take in Kim’s desperately cinching expression, cock lurching as he prepared for the inevitable. His eyes closed reflexively when Kim sneezed, unrestrained, spraying his face and neck thrice with delicate clouds of aerosol.

“Hupt’TISHHH’Uuu!! AhDD’TZzshieww!! Hh-! IhKG’TSCHHTtt!! Ohh.”

Harry blinked his eyes open, watching in giddy adoration as Kim used his free hand to rub at his nose, twitching nostrils squished side to side, audibly damp. He released Harry, slumping backwards and sitting on top of Harry’s lap, applying an unbelievably tantalising pressure that had Harry gasping softly and rutting against him.

“Well,” said Kim, shrugging as Harry looked expectantly at him. “It was worth a try.”

Harry lunged at him, drinking in Kim’s satisfied sigh as he pressed him back onto the couch. He figured now was as good a time as any to thank him for the paperwork.

[clare-875]

Until The End (Levi x Reader)- Chapter 31

[To Continue Onward]

_____ A/N: Posted on Wattpad (@CLARE_875) but also decided to post here :)

Summary: "You can push me away, but I will still fight by you, and I will still follow you… until the end."

The ever-so-stoic Levi Ackerman has only ever known the terrors that living in a cruel world could bring. This all changed one fateful day when he encountered [y/n]; a girl renowned for her looks and abnormal speed. As they escape the confines of the Underground together, they soon discover that freedom doesn't come easy in a world full of Titans. As they rise through the ranks, [y/n] becomes known as "Humanity's Angel", a beacon of hope to humanity as she melts the walls Levi had built around his heart. However, she has her secrets too, and a dark past that might just threaten to pull them apart.

The storyline and characters of Attack on Titan do NOT belong to me, but all to Hajime Isayama; however, I do own this story, and all that occurs disparate to that storyline.

[Series Masterlist] [Chapter Thirty] <--> [Chapter Thirty-Two] _____

(Warnings: Descriptions of Injury, Blood, Death, Canonical Violence)

You gasp out, your eyes shoot open, and you feel the pounding of your heart inside your head. Your distorted vision blurs as cold harsh rain falls onto you. Your lungs constrict, and then your memories flow back to you. Panic and dread fill you, sweat consumes your body and your breathing becomes ragged as you force yourself up. Levi... You find yourself on your hands and knees groaning at every movement, feeling your warm blood trickling from your head, splattering down to your hands. You were intact, but Levi's harsh push as he forced you away along with the blast of the Thunder Spear had caused a great impact on your body. You shook your head, as tears started to fill your eyes, biting your lip to prevent a shout of pain, as you unsteadily forced yourself to move. 

You crawled forward as mud seeped through your clothes and the mere wind threatened to push you back down. Your still-contorted vision fought the darkness that taunted your consciousness. Pain rippled from your chest, soaking into your muscles and burns that seared against the constant rain, but you still forced yourself onward. Your injuries would heal in good time... it was the least of your worries. But if you stopped now, you would never forgive yourself. You pushed on and on, looking up only to see the smoke that still lingered from the piles of wood that now replaced the cart. Your eyes moved. Your heart thrummed. You froze at the sight of two familiar forms burnt and silent, lying on the ground.

[h/n]... 

You let out a cry of agony as you forced yourself to your feet and stumbled to your horse that lay motionlessly next to Levi's. You find yourself falling once again but you move to her side. Her white mane is charred, her blood trickling and tinting the brown of her hair, usually wide and excited eyes half closed. ‘No...’ You shake your head as tears now pour from your eyes looking to your horse, to your comrade, to your best friend. She had been with you since the beginning, been there through all your losses, a constant comforting presence... now lost to you. ‘No... no no no no...’ "[H/N]!!" You yell out as you go to shake her withered form, see if somehow, she is alive, but you know better. You cried out as your voice started to crack at the unbelievable grief that tore through your heart. "[h/n]..." Your tears flowed as shaky hands raked through the remnants of her mane, you so lost in your grief. 

‘Please no... not her.’ 

You have lost your family, you have lost Furlan and Isabel, your squad, Sasha, Erwin, countless comrades, and now [h/n]. Your eyes then travel to Levi’s horse and you were filled with such loss you could not speak of it. Bobby… You remember the joy and the time spent on your horses side-by-side. The laughter of your special operations squad as you announced proudly that you had named Levi’s horse. Your wedding as they lay in the shade looking to you being vowed to the man you loved. Every mission and every trial without fail they had lived and they had been loyal; they had been your friend.

You just can't take anymore.

As you finally release your hold on [h/n] for the last time, your dull eyes move slowly across the drenched terrain around you. You know you should be overcome with anticipation with the want to find your husband, the only person who had been strong enough to overcome these losses with you... the only one strong enough to stay by your side. But you realise with a sinking feeling in your heart, that you're scared. No... You're terrified of what you might find. Because if he is lost to you... you would lose yourself too. You wouldn't be able to overcome this. You're scared to be left alone, you want to die, you want to run away. But inadvertently your eyes choose to find him anyway. They choose to find your love, your lifeline... but the sinking feeling in your heart only deepens, only makes you want to vomit and die more. 

Levi... your Levi lies lifelessly in a pool of his own blood. 

Wood impales the increments of his face. There is a long gash that runs from his left eye to his lips. The index and middle fingers of his right hand were torn off. And he lay unmoving, eyes slightly open, vulnerable and seemingly dead on his back. "Levi..." Your words are like a breath in the wind, so gentle, yet you feel the agony of your whole world collapsing on you. You move forward and unsteady on your feet, you rush, almost running to the man. You can't breathe. Your eyes are drowning in itself, and you let out cries that contort into shouts of despair. When you finally reach him, your shaky hands reach out to cradle his form, so heart-shatteringly fragile; so unlike him. Your fingers tremble as you fight the fear that gnaws at your chest and your tearful eyes glance to the man before reaching for his neck, checking his pulse. You take a deep breath as you squeeze your eyes shut. 

‘Please...’

There is one terrifying moment, where you feel nothing. But finally, you feel it. The weak thrumming of his heart. He was alive. You cry out in relief holding him as gently as possible but also so desperately against you. You look at the man, your tears mingling with the blood on his face. You wince at the way his eyes, which usually look so warmly to you, are dull, one of them blatantly lost to the brunt of his injuries. You cringe at the deep cut that is ingrained on his lips, which were so soft and warm whenever they touched yours. You glance to his side and see the loss of two of his fingers, so gentle whenever they caressed your face. You see the shine of his ring on the same hand, drenched in blood. ‘Why...’ You think back to the moment he pushed you away, he had used the last of his Ackerman strength in that moment, saving you from injury, despite him knowing you would heal. ‘Levi... you should've saved yourself…’ 

You take your cape off of your shoulders. The rain still pours while you gently wrap the material around his face. Your own pain had slightly subsided thanks to the powers that come from the [l/n] clan. You had to treat him quickly, or your relief would turn into grief; his life was already fragile and barely before death’s boundary. You use all your strength within you, all of the adrenaline that still pumps through your body to lift him. Your muscles strain under the weight of your injuries but you ignore it. You look to your side seeing a Titan a slight distance away. It had been there the whole time, along with the absence of Zeke, but it had not attacked you. Your mind wonders slightly wondering how it had got there and where the man that had ultimately caused the tragic events mere hours ago had gone. You feel your rage consume you. 

‘If Levi doesn't kill him... I will.’

Your brief thoughts are interrupted by the thrumming of hooves against the wet ground. You breathe in sharply as you look up seeing a herd of horses approaching you in the distance. You notice their features, you notice their shock. It was Flock, the Jaegerists and... Hange. Your heart thrums to life once again as you move quickly. You grab a bag of supplies you had seen nearby, somehow intact while still holding Levi. The sound of hooves grow closer and your eyes dart around in panic. The Jaegerists would no doubt kill you and Levi without hesitation. The both of you were a threat to Eren's plans and their ideals. Just as you thought, the men on horses had lifted guns towards you both, some of them hesitated as they looked at your form in the distance. ‘Were they really going to shoot humanity's angel?’ But when they look at Flock's outraged expression, their gaze turns sure once more. You, however, can't afford to hesitate. 

You move as quickly as you can, saying a silent apology to Levi before running into the river in front of you. Instantly, the freezing water reaches your form, and you feel yourself being washed away by the harsh current. You hear gunshots raging yet you thank all your years of training and for once the Titan blood that flows through you, that allows you to hold on to Levi long enough, to fight the current... to maybe get to safety. Hange watches in silent despair as you and Levi disappear under the water, the men on horses running to shoot you both. They grip their hands into fists unable to do anything to help their friends, held hostage by people they used to trust. Their eyes only look up when they see the Titan that you had seen, only a short distance away, start to wither as the sun's rays finally break through the overcast day... Zeke's nude form appearing from within. 

..... 

‘That's right...’ You think to yourself as you force your hands to steady in the dim light of the fire. ‘It's simple... in and out... just like sewing... just like fixing the tears in your clothes at the end of a fight’. You can't help the tears that brim in your eyes as you stitch together Levi's wounds. You had finally removed the pieces of wood that had impaled his face, had finally finished the stitches on his cheek and were now stitching up his biggest wound: the gash that travelled through his left eye, to his lips. You winced as you stitched his once soft lips, you forced yourself to stay calm as you stitched his eye. You whine out in disdain to the still-unconscious man. "Levi..." You utter softly as stray tears leave your eyes, but finally, you finish. Tying the last knot, you sit back letting out a sigh of relief that it was finally over. You hope that all the years of treating your comrades and fixing torn clothes granted you enough skill so his face wouldn't scar too badly... or at least scar worse than it already had. 

You wipe your shaky, bloodied hands, and you gently wash Levi's face, sitting in your makeshift camp. The man lay still, buried under a blanket, as you wrapped his head with bandages, glad to see that he seemed somewhat serene, not too much in pain. You sit in silence, feeling the warmth of the fire fill you and trying not to get too lost in your thoughts... that is until you hear a familiar voice. "[y/n]..." you look up startled, only to see it was Hange standing hesitantly as they pushed past the trees and bushes that hid you. "Hange..." you muttered as you looked at them, it had been more than a month since you had seen the now-Commander. You quickly shake yourself from shock as you find yourself getting up quickly and embracing them in a hug. They stand still for a moment before returning your embrace, content just for a moment. 

..... 

Several hours had gone by and you cringe as you hear the sound of gunshots in the distance. Hange had been killing your pursuers while you had been looking after Levi. Every shot signalled the loss of a prior comrade: a Scout. Hange had told you that Zeke had been in the Titan you had seen in the aftermath of the explosion and that they had used the distraction to flee and find you both. Your eyebrows knit together in annoyance at the thought that the man had once again slipped from your reach. You caress Levi's raven locks gently. Your wounds had since healed but you knew that Levi may never be able to fight as he did, ever again. You can't help the guilt that builds within you. He had pushed you away, you hadn't been fast enough to reach him, you should've noticed earlier, you should've tried to protect him. The thoughts swirled erratically in your head and you found yourself squeezing your eyes shut, as your caresses stopped and instead you held Levi's bandaged hand gently. "I'm sorry Levi..." you whispered, more tears falling.

It felt like you hadn't stopped crying all day.  

You think to the comrades you killed the previous day due to Zeke's interventions. You think about the loss of your horse. You think of all that you have lost over all of your life. Suddenly you felt so... tired. You felt tired of fighting and running and killing and hurting. You felt tired of the loss and of the grief that builds and builds upon you. You remember all those years ago in the Underground when all you wanted was your freedom, how you had been desperate for it. You would've done anything to feel it, to know what it was like. But now you felt exhausted, like all your life you had been fighting for it and that maybe... freedom just wasn't meant to be. Now all you wanted was to fall asleep and never wake, to live with Levi in peace, to not have to worry for your life or his life. For a normal life... But again... that was impossible without freedom. Your mind whirls in your inner turmoil, of the loop that never seems to end. To fight or to not fight. To live or to die. 

"Maybe..." you whisper, still holding Levi's hand, looking at the rings on both of your ring fingers gleaming silently. "Maybe we should just run away Levi." You mutter softly, tears dripping onto your entwined hands. "We could do it you know... I know we could. It could be just the two of us... We wouldn't have to fight anymore..." Your voice was weak and almost pleading, but it was barely discernible over the crackling of the fire. "Would that be so bad... would it be so terrible to ask..." You suddenly flinch when the world around you seems to fade away for just one moment. Suddenly sand is what's underneath you, suddenly a white glow rises in the distance and what encircles you is the sight of an infinite, starry sky. Then you hear a voice you haven't heard in a long time... it was Eren. 

“Hear me, Subjects of Ymir.”

“My name is Eren Jaeger.”

“I’m using the Founding Titan’s power to address all Subjects of Ymir. I’ve undone the hardening of Paradis Island’s walls and the Titans buried within have begun their march. My goal is to protect the people of Paradis Island, the place I was born. However, the world wants to exterminate my people and not just me on the island. They will not stop until every last Subject of Ymir is dead.”

“I refuse to let them.”

“The Wall Titans will trample every inch of the world beyond this island… until every last life beyond our shores is wiped out.”

You flinch once again when you find yourself back at your campsite. Your breath comes startling back to you as you configure what the words of your prior subordinate mean. “Eren… what’ve you done…”

He had succeeded.

Eren had begun the rumbling afterall.

 You startle again when feel the gentle squeeze of a hand against yours.

"[y/n]..." Your eyes dart back to the man you had been looking after, to the man that you loved. You watch as he goes to sit up and you gently push him back down despite the pure shock at seeing him awake so quickly. "L-Levi... Wait, lie down." You say voice slightly shaky as he follows your words, too tired to retort, you watching as he falls back into his temporary bed. A brief silence takes over and you see Levi's one eye look at you, the same worry glistening in his iris and your shock suddenly subsides as more tears fall onto your face. You gently grip his hand once more, as you look down. "I'm s-so glad you're okay," you whisper as he watches you silently cry. He had never seen such a broken look on your face, such agony and relief and tiredness; such a loss of your composure. 

Levi feels his heartbreak at your blatant pain. He had heard every word you muttered to him the past hour. Your guilt and your pleas, your want to run away. He felt for the hundredth time his own loath for the world, his hatred for himself that he could not give you the normal life you so deserved. He would give you anything and everything. But he could not provide the one thing you had been searching for, the one thing you wanted... the one thing he wanted to give to you. Your freedom... your happiness... a simple life shared with you. You struggle to calm yourself but Levi speaks up once again gently. "[y/n]... look at me." He mutters out, quietly but almost desperately. After all, he thought that he might never see you again too. The unbelievable fear that gripped him when he saw Zeke move wildly, the surge of strength he forced on himself to save you, to stop you from trying to save him. It was a feeling he never wanted to feel again... and yet he found himself in the same situation so many times.

So many times he had almost lost you. 

You hear his quiet plea, and what could you do but obey your husband when he was on the brink of death mere hours ago? You look up and are surprised when he looks at you almost calmly, warmly and full of relief. You didn't know what you thought you would see, maybe anger at letting Zeke get away, maybe irritation at you getting in his way, maybe bitterness at your want to run away. But all you found was his loving gaze on you. He lifted his hand, gently wiping your tears as you moved closer to his side before you saw his eyebrows furrow in almost remorse. "What happened... after..." You knew what he was asking and so you interrupted him. "I- I brought you here... Hange followed us here too... they said Zeke and the Jaegerists left for Shiganshina... it's been half a day since then." You watch as Levi freezes at your words and you try to continue, "Levi... I'm sorr-" 

"I'm sorry..." Levi muttered, interrupting you. You froze not knowing what he of all people had to apologize for, but he continued in your silence. "He was fully prepared to die... and I didn't see it... I put you in danger... He got away..." You shake your head about to retort but he keeps going before you can. "I'm also sorry... [y/n]... because we can't run." Some more tears fall but you keep looking at the man who continues to wipe your tears, clear remorse and guilt in his eyes for not being able to abide by your pleas no matter how much he wanted to. No matter how desperately he wanted to take you away, to take your pain away; to hide you from the world in his embrace. ‘If we run and hide, what will be left?’  You force yourself to smile regrettably to him, trying to ease the turmoil you see in his grey eye. "I know..." You whisper, gripping onto his injured hand. 

"[y/n]!! Levi?!?!"

You turn at the sound of Hange re-entering your campsite seemingly having rid of all of your pursuers. Levi freezes at their presence but doesn't let go of your hand as Hange shakes off her surprise and turns to you both. "Did you see? Eren's-" You interrupt them with a nod. "I know, we both saw what he was planning... what he had already started." Levi's eye looks past you both before he spots the sled-like structure you and Hange had built while he was unconscious. "What... are you building? You gonna pull me on that... with a horse?" Hange and you follow his eyesight to the sled you had built from the remnants of the destroyed wagon that you both had tried to salvage. Hange nodded. 

You can't stay out of the action. 

You had to fight with him. 

Until the end. 

..... 

You found yourself in front of the supposed enemy, unarmed. Never would you have thought that you would willingly put yourselves in this position, but with the continuous pounding of the Earth as hundreds upon hundreds of large steaming Titans walked to God-knows-where in the distance, you realised your enemy might now be the enemy of your enemy: Eren. Pieck Finger, also known as the Cart Titan, and Theo Magath, a general of the Marleyan Enemy eyed the three of you wearily and for good reason. Magath pointed his gun distrustfully and you could feel Pieck's burning gaze on you, but you couldn't blame her after killing her comrades during your raid on Marley... but then again, hadn't she killed your comrades too? 

"My goal... is to kill Zeke." 

You hear Levi's raspy voice reach the air. He had been lying on your makeshift sled that Hange's horse had pulled, but he was now sat up, a deadly spark in his right eye. "Looks like our interests align, Theo Magath... Pieck Finger." The enemy tenses at his words, the thrumming of the ground filling the silence, until Magath speaks up looking to your husband. "Levi Ackerman. It seems you can stand up to one of the Nine, but... How do you plan on dodging a bullet like that?" Magath's hold on his gun doesn't waver as he aims at Levi's head and you find yourself moving forward protectively. Magath's eyes flicker to yours quickly as he frowns. "[y/n]... Humanity's angel... tell me, how does that name hold up now, amid this hell." Your frown mimics the man in front of you as you grit your teeth in disdain. "We didn't come to argue," you say darkly, eyeing the man sharply and ignoring Pieck's keen eyes.  

"We're unarmed, vulnerable, but we still came before you in this sad state," you say sharply. "Whether you shoot or listen is up to you." A stretch of tense silence fills the air once more until you see Magath point his gun away and turn to Levi with an unreadable emotion in his eyes. "Then Levi... I'll ask this first: You say you'll kill Zeke, but where is he now?" Hange moves forward abruptly answering for him. "Zeke's probably being held by Eren to make use of his royal blood. No... By the Founding Titan." Suddenly a new voice fills the air, it's Pieck. "It seems the Titan expert Hange knows everything- even more than Marley." Her voice is emotionless as she finally turns her gaze from you to the Commander. "Have you seen the Founding Titan?" 

"I know it's so humungous that it seems like nothing can be done, so... We've got no other choice. We've gotta put our powers together." Hange eyes glisten sharply with determination, their fists clenching harshly with their words. 

Work together... to stop Eren. 

_____

[Chapter Thirty] <--> [Chapter Thirty-Two]

Tags: @batboygirlie

[nomilkinmyteaplease]

The Terror's first dates

George Hodgson - invites you to a naked yoga session, followed by a meal in a vegan restaurant. Vaguely mumbles something about traumatic experiences that turned him ‘pan religious’. He wants you to be "yin to his yang" on his next meditation retreat. 

Francis Crozier- a true gentleman, suggests you plan the date; based on his profile you arrange spirits tasting only to find out he is now a teetotaller.

Graham Gore- invites you to a first date at his bootcamp. As you land face first in mud during an obstacle course and struggle to get up as your arms give in, you hear his cheerful motivational shouts from afar. "You will soon get a hang of it, I know you will!".

Edward Little- takes you for an afternoon tea at the Ritz, but spends most of it on his phone replying to work emails. You tell him about wild haggis being an animal living in Scottish Highlands and he believes you.

Solomon Tozer- you expect a pub date, but he surprises you (and seemingly himself) by inviting you to a science museum to talk to you about some experiments he heard of at work; most of his sentences end with “...or something to that tune”.

James Fitzjames - Unprompted, treats you to a talk on "Everything you ever wanted to know about bird guano, but were afraid to ask". You’re not sure if his frequently mentioning size of (his?) cherry should be taken at a face value or whether it is some weird sexual innuendo.

Stephen Stanley - boasted about his BBQ skills, but most of his meats ended up charred beyond recognition.

William Gibson - Cooks for you, but barely notices you're there; spends the whole evening moaning about how much he hates backstabbers at work, his panna cotta leaves a bitter aftertaste.

John Irving - invites you for a walk around Hampstead, arrives late because “the mass overrun”. 

William Pilkington - was supposed to be Netflix and chill, but his mum walks in on you and you end up having tea and watching a Murder, she Wrote marathon in the living room with his whole family.

Cornelius Hickey - may have turned out a foot and a half shorter than his profile stated and looks totally different to his photo, but you totally forget all about it when he takes you to a 3* Michelin restaurant with a nice view of the London canals. He sweeps you off your feet with compliments that make you blush and impresses with knowledge of fine wines he orders, you start thinking he may be THE ONE. He leaves to go to the gents, and 30 minutes later you finally realise he will never come back and end up having to pay the full bill yourself.

Harry Goodsir- An evening of “fun, quizzes and puzzles” turns out to be you helping him put together his Ikea furniture.

Thomas Jopson - takes you on a hike in the mountains, you overpack but seeing you struggle, he offers to carry your heavy rucksack for you. You have a picnic, admiring the sunset from the top of the mountain. Awwww.

Henry le Vesconte - takes you on a hike in the mountains, you overpack, seeing you struggle he shoots off ahead just as it starts dawning on you that the whole time you were also carrying HIS rucksack.

Follow up of the Dating Profiles, for the 'free space' of the Fronk Birthday Bingo.

[sunshinemoonrx]

Read: Le Morte d'Arthur

BRITISH LADS HITTING EACH OTHER WITH CHAIRS FOR 500 PAGES FEAT. TRULY RAMPANT HOMOEROTICISM

This was a really interesting read! It's not become my favourite version or anything, but for a text that's set the tone of everything made since, it definitely had some surprises for me, like there being a second lady of the lake after the first got her head cut off, or that second one also usurping Merlin's place for 70% of the story after trapping him under a rock forever.

But really, the essence of this book is that every other page we are coming across some new guy who captures knights to strip them naked in his dungeon and whip them with thorns or something. Like it's really. It's so. It's just really.

I think Tristan/Palomides was actually the pairing I was most engaged by while reading, but how intensely Gawain comes to hate Lancelot at the end (like why is this medieval Char's Counterattack) made me replay their interactions previously and then I kinda went off on a tangent of my own combining it with how intensely he loves him in the Vulgate (from quotes I've seen) and how they're characterised in Chretien (Lancelot my perfect ditzy princess...Gawain the ultimate shining paragon later brought crashing down to chaos disaster in Malory...) There's gender there. I've seen that one Gawain transgender Vulgate line and it's all lining up in my head. World's most tryhard overachiever trying desperately to fit the assigned role, turning on a dime between flawless and flailing depending on whether it's working today. I'm stitching this together from like three different versions but it's there.

Overall I was less invested in the Grail plotline due to the heavy religious nature of it--it leads to Galahad often just kind of succeeding by default because he's inherently sinless--but it did have an interesting "messing with ancient powers you don't understand" undertone, from a single strike with the lance of Longinus laying waste to a kingdom to Lancelot going comatose for a week from glimpsing 1% of God's true power or whatever. Also, Percival got to second base with the devil then made himself a eunuch, so that's fun. (Someone's done an AU where he fully goes for it and becomes a sexy fallen demon knight and Satan's boytoy, right? Right?)

And yeah, just endlessly entertained by the madlad energy I had been worried might become less prevalent the further I got from the pre-Galfridian Welsh material. Arthur bashing somebody senseless with a broken pommel, Lancelot accidentally slapping people so hard they die, Galahad bopping Gawain on the helmet so hard he decides that's enough Grail-questing and it's time to go home...British lads hitting each other with chairs.

Like I say this isn't my favourite version but because of how much it draws in and links together and how much it therefore makes me conscious of the broader canon it's what caused me to start stitching together different versions of my mind and caused my full-on descent into fixation mode.

Please don't ask me how much money I'm about to spend on a print translation of the Vulgate cycle.

[rebelwrites]

Twenty Six: He’s Gone

Charles Leclerc x Nova Teller (OC)

Till the wheels fall off Masterlist

Small town meets the fast lane. What happens when two souls meet? Will it end in happiness or will they both crash and burn?

Once again I’m sorry

As always reblogs and feedback is highly appreciated ❤️ if you want tagging in future parts let me know ❤️

Staring into the darkness I just felt numb, in a matter of hours everything had come crashing down on the family. I refused to believe that the man that saved my life, the person I looked up to and the one I ran to in my time of need was now gone. Nothing could stop this pain, I had dealt with a lot of heartbreak in my life but this was by far the worst. I felt like I had just watched someone cut my heart out of my chest, ripping it to pieces followed by setting it on fire in the process.

“Nova, sweetie, can you come in here for a second,” Pascale called from the living room.

Letting out a heavy sigh I slowly kicked the kitchen chair away from my body as I stood up. I felt like I had lead bricks tied to my feet, weighing me down with every step I took.

The moment my gaze locked onto my brother’s expression I found myself struggling to hold back tears, I could count on one hand the amount of times I saw Jax cry so seeing him this broken was like someone was stabbing me in the gut.

He roughly wiped his eyes with the back of his hands before lifting the blanket up signaling for me to join him and Elenor. Shuffling across the room I found myself flopping on the sofa, resting my head on my older brother’s shoulder trying not to break down for the millionth time this evening. I honestly didn’t know how I was still producing tears.

“I know you are both hurting right now,” Pascale said softly as she perched on the edge of the coffee table, “I am not going to tell you your feelings are invalid because we all grieve in different ways, so do what you need to do,” she paused, resting her hand on my knee. “Drink a whole bottle of whiskey, get high, punch things but please stay in the house where I know you are both safe.”

Taking a deep breath I flashed her the weakest smile, I was so grateful she was here, I honestly don’t know how we would have coped if it was just the three of us. The sound of my phone vibrating on the wooden table was the only noise that echoed through the room. Pascale slowly picked the device up before holding it out to me. “C'est Char, ma chérie. Ne le repousse pas, laisse-le être la force dont tu as besoin maintenant. It’s Char, my dear. Don't push him away, let him be the strength you need right now.” she whispered.

I knew she was right but how was I meant to tell him the Pops had died, I was struggling to form words to Pascale and Jax. Reaching out I took my phone off her before pushing myself to my feet. My heart sank when I realized Charles was facetiming me, there was no way I could try and hide anything. Part of me didn’t want to tell him what had happened because he needed to keep his focus on today’s qualifying, however deep in my heart I knew he needed to know.

Soon enough Charles’ face appeared on my screen, his smile was as bright as the sun but his expression quickly changed when he took in my appearance. I knew I looked like I had been dragged through the bushes, my hair was sticking all over the place and my eyes were red and puffy from the hours of crying.

“Nova, que s'est-il passé ? Parle-moi. Nova, what happened? Talk to me,” he said softly, with a concerned look on his face.

“He’s go-” my bottom lip started quivering as the word got caught in my throat, the thought of saying it made it real, leaning my phone against the bottle of beer on the kitchen counter I covered my face with my hands as my body shook from the sobs. I tried to steady my breathing before I spoke again, I desperately needed him here with me but he was practically the other side of the world, in Japan, “he’s gone Char, he’s fucking gone.”

“Sunshine, who’s gone?” he asked quietly.

“Pops.” I cried, refusing to look at the screen.

Charles found himself frozen on the spot, it was like someone had just pressed a mute button and the buzz of the garage suddenly disappeared. He couldn’t believe what his girlfriend had just told him, running his hand over his face he tried his hardest to blink back tears but it was no use. He didn’t care if the cameras caught him as he barged past the mechanics trying to get out of the crowd. Once he was alone in his driver room he slumped down onto the floor, “Babygirl, I am so fucking sorry,” Charles cried, knotting his fingers in his hair. “I can’t believe it.”

“I don’t know what to do Char,” Nova sobbed.

The sound of her heartbreak was crushing Charles, knowing he was what felt like a million miles away, when his girl needed him the most. Before he met Nova all that mattered was racing but now he didn’t give a shit about today’s qualifying nor the race tomorrow, he needed to be back in Charming with the person who meant the world to him.

His heart sank as he let his last conversation with JT play over and over in his head, it was something he was glad he got to do, especially because he knew how much JT meant to Nova.

The pair of them sat in silence both with tears streaming down their cheeks.

“Fuck, I was only on the phone with him yesterday,” the Monégasque breathed, looking up at the ceiling trying to hold it together the best he could for Nova, but he was failing drastically. “He seemed absolutely fine.”

“What, what do you mean Char?” Nova whimpered, causing Charles to look down at the screen.

Taking a breath he shook his head, he couldn’t tell her the reason for the phone call, he had the perfect plan in his head, although the news of JT might cause him to change things slightly. “I was just checking in on him,” he whispered, trying to not reveal the truth, silently hoping that Nova wouldn’t ask too many more questions.

Charles found himself wandering aimlessly around the garage, his phone pressed against his ear, hoping he caught JT on a good day especially with the question he was wanting to ask.

After four rings the cheery voice of JT came through the device.

“Aren’t you meant to be getting ready for free practice?” he chuckled, causing a large smile to appear on Charles’ face. His body sagged in relief as JT was making jokes over the traditional greeting.

“I swear I am getting in the car very soon, this just couldn’t wait,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck with the palm of his hand. His heart was pounding against his chest, for some reason he was petrified that JT was going to say no and his hopes and dreams would come crashing down around him.

“The camera just panned over to you and they are making jokes about this being such an important call it’s delayed you getting into the car,” JT chuckled, Charles could feel the warmth coming through the phone.

“This kinda is an important phone call,” Charles breathed, letting his eyes flutter closed as the words fell from his lips. “I have something to ask and I think this is going to be the second most important question I will ever ask.”

He could picture JT sitting there with an amused look on his face with a raised eyebrow, “You know I am intrigued now son, what is the most important question?” JT hummed, the tone of his voice told Charles he knew what was coming.

Charles took a deep breath before responding, “asking your daughter to marry me,” he paused, trying to calm his racing heart down a little, “she is the one for me, I want her to be my wife, more than I want to win the championship. So JT I am asking for your blessing for Nova’s hand in marriage.”

He was met with silence, causing his mind to race. His stomach was churning as he waited patiently for a response. “Boy, it’s taken you long enough to ask.” Charles was a little taken back by the response, he was worried that because he hadn’t been dating Nova long it would be a red flag to JT but here he was joking about the time it took. “I knew you were the one for my little girl the moment I introduced you to her.”

Charles’ heart fluttered hearing JT speak. A large smile appeared on his face as he glanced around the garage, holding his finger up to Andrea signaling he would only be a minute. “I am so glad you said that, because I already have the ring.”

JT paused for a moment before speaking, “I’m glad to know my sweet angel will be taken care of when I’m gone.” Charles could hear him choking on his words as he spoke, in fact hearing JT talk about when he was gone instantly brought tears to the Monégasque’s eyes. “Thank you for making her so happy, I haven’t seen her this cheerful in years.”

“Now JT, there isn’t any need to be saying shit like that, I don’t think you are going anywhere for a long time old man, plus Nova wouldn’t let you anyway,” Charles said with a small chuckle trying to lighten the conversation.

Hiding his face in his hand, there was no way he could go out and race, not now. He knew he would just end up putting the car into the wall and that was the last thing anyone needed, especially Nova.

The sound of someone knocking on the door gained Charles attention, causing him to look up as Andrea’s face appeared. “Charles, on a besoin de toi dans la voiture dans cinq minutes. Charles, we need you in the car in five minutes.” Andrea said with a large smile which quickly fell when he saw the state of Charles.

Charles took a deep breath, looking back at his phone, “Sunshine, I gotta go,” he hummed,

Nova flashed him a weak watery smile. “Please stay safe out there, Char,” she cried, roughly wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you too.”

“Je ne vais nulle part, bébé. I'm not going anywhere, baby,” he whispered, “I love you.”

“I love you too, Char. Get pole and win this one for Pops.”

The call came to an end, Charles took a moment to steady his breathing before pushing himself to his feet. “I need to find Fred,” he mumbled, causing Andrea to flash him a worried look. “Nova’s dad passed away last night.”

The moment the words left his lips he felt like someone had just stabbed a knife through his chest.

“Oh Char, I am so sorry,” Andrea said quietly, placing his hand on his shoulder. “Fred is out on the pitwall, do you want me to go get him, saves you being hounded by the media.”

“If you don’t mind,” Charles sighed, wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his fireproof top.

Andrea quickly disappeared from the doorway of the small room leaving Charles alone with his thoughts. His heart was in a million pieces right now, JT was an amazing man. Even though he had only known him for a short period of time he welcomed him and Pierre into his life with open arms. Suddenly the door burst open revealing his best friend standing in the opening, looking exactly how Charles thought he looked.

“Get your shit, we are going,” he gasped, like he had ran the length of the pitlane to get to Charles. “Jax just texted me, told me what had happened,” Pierre whispered, trying to hold back tears. Before Charles could speak Fred appeared by Pierre’s side, Charles had no idea how he would react to him dropping out of the race but he didn’t care either way he was getting on the first flight from Japan to California.

It was as if the words were caught in Charles’ throat, “I’m not racing,” he finally managed to spit out. He was struggling to explain to Fred what the situation was due to the tears that wouldn’t stop falling. Luckily Pierre stepped in to update the Ferrari team principal.

“Why are you still here?” Fred asked, cocking his brow at his number one driver. “Get your ass on the next plane.” Charles was a little taken back, he didn’t expect Fred to respond like this. “We will get Rob in the car, luckily he has already done FP1 this weekend so we aren’t breaking any rules. Go be with Nova, she needs you more than I do right now.”

@withmyteeth @chibsytelford @stillbreathin @danzer8705 @keyweegirlie @burningcupcakefire @dragon-of-winterfell @ohthemisssery @a-distantdreamer @sgkophie @angywritesstuff @enchantedbytomandhenry @scribbuluswrites @dangerouspursepeachbear @buendiabebeta @ferrarifwendvale @theplobnrgone @charlesleclercje @queenslife @panicforspec @justme2042 @liv67 @derpinathebrave @clcspeonies @pleasantducktimetravel @raaaaabzzz @mehrmonga @sbgal @fangirl-lb @pitconfirmbutton @oslokij @tall-tanned-tattoo @bigcreatorwombatdreamer @pumpkin-spice-hate @talicat713 @band--psycho @little-diable @i-love-scott-mccall @fourthwallhateclub @theysayitscrazy @rosieposie0624 @choochoo284 @meteora-fc @beeroses @darklydeliciousdesires @the-jer-bear @extraneousred @youflickedtooharddamnit @babypink224221

[salemsdog]

faut faire danser les femmes.

My story begins in the end. With the sun beginning to char my porcelain, riding red and violet over miles of atomic mass. By the end of the road, my shoes were worn with broken nature. But before my death, I rode a mountainous sea away from a barrel-chested man, namely put as my husband. The rock first came to me in a nightmare while aboard the SS. Mary. I had traveled overseas before, and it was a quirk of fact that the ship, no matter how goldy, always cradled like a misrun carriage, bumping over unpolished granite. So shook the landscape in my nightmare as well. There was a mincer in front of me. It was placed beside a rock. In the dream, the widescape was covered in thin sheets of sand. The trees were wild and howled like wolves strewn into the raging sky. Careful she crept; she was not me because the I in my dream had no feet. Simply an eye of the mind that granted a view of myself from whatever window looked down onto this horacescape. I directed her to walk closer to the mincer. It was then that the rock started to bellow out in simple waves of anguish. It was yelling to be set free against its ugly titanium restraints. She almost pitied it. The woman would take the mincer with a static, almost illuminary hand but stare at the rock with an unmoving notion. Salt wavered into the air as her limbs began to feel spent; she could feel the boat pulling her back to the shores of minimal consciousness closer every nanosecond, grappling her away from the original deed. The rock was lying dead like a cold fox, claiming its early spot in hell. Waiting for the final gut of termination. She could crush the rock, but what then?

It didn’t make her a predator.

I would have vowed to never harm my husband once I had awoken in my saddened condition and out of that harsh story. For it would bring me lower than the man himself. I knew I was now truly running, running away from the midwave heat that bit close to my clothes and flamed the cage that once housed my books, my telescopes that let me talk to the stars late in the evening when my husband singed tableside decks with his less than pleasant cigars. That did not stop the wafting from following up to my attic window desk of cinnamon and sage. My hand would soon slip during a Sunday night preparation. Sending the iron stove into flames. I had no children and no cathel. Only the prophetic nightmares that came with sniffing the dark herb that crawled its way around our lowly manor of the Greylands. This city chewed with iron teeth and ordered around symmetry like no other grandiloquent beast of the nile. My husband’s old trophies of gunfire gave proof to that undeniable fact of discord that harbored no matter what section of the earth you journeyed forth. They sit stacked mildly rusted under his mantleplace, topped with fleets of dust and mice shit. Before settling, I knew no bounds to fiction. I was as free as a clipped animal could ever get. But once trapped inside a new hellish biome, those old newspapers and telegraphs of the world above became my primary resource as another additive to my perpetual escape. Meconium, isocyanate, the air of another hellnever roadside three thousand miles from ours. All futile in my grand ruse of escape. So I ran, caught to the nearest station west of that long country road. Farther and farther till the SS. Mary was no longer a dream on a yellow postcard lost among the plethora of letters sent in from faraway ports of the world. A secret subscription I had along with the many other secrets I kept from my man.

It rose above anything I had ever seen in my life and took me far, far away.

There was a shortage of oil on our land being stolen by a neighboring townscape just north of the rolling hills. The red men they were called. Their thieves would hound every plant that drenched oil from the underearth. Weaning in heinesy and destruction caused an uproar in an already fatale patriarchy. Our people were starting to see straight through tradition and into welfare. It took the turn of a thousand tides—the crease in the economy—to fully shelter this idea of severity. Our foundation was losing itself. Soon there were no more ports to transfer goods, no more fleets to deliver those postcards I so greatly admired per month. So there I sat, perched between litters of luggage and briefcases of fine men and women boarding the middle-class section of Mary’s idiom. Watching as the moon followed our ship to the enemy lands. Waiting for the sky to shift into a new sun, waging a war blessed foul. A great woman once said sweat is the tears from God shedding down a lubricant for the wind. It took running from my husband to fully furnish the belief and inspire a devil within me to work this war like it was my bitch. Down a winding road and past crowds of townsfolk once I had reached beyond the Pillsbury pines and down crossroads over the next.

Once I had pitted rest, I could breathe into an air of freedom. Though this was the land of thieves, I had never felt such liberation. It had been shrouded by a hand of doubt along the journey, but once I set food on that port, the sky seemed to smile, though it was dark. Lines of people stretched beyond the dock. I bristled my way through the red men and women, most likely refugees from our gray land, returning with the upcoming tension. For it was better to die in your homeland than in a foreign region of gray.

My first pit stop arrived at a little colosseum of wine and scum. A harlet house off the ends of the coast, needing but a small stroll to reach. There I thought more about the rock in the dream, furrowed the lace fabric between the tips of my fingers and composed a conversation with a stranger. I introduced myself to the other woman by the name of Aerodromea. She returned with Venetia Lamauth. Venetia wore the dress of service, a reminder of another blast upon destiny the more she spoke of her life in a mellow, rustic voice, strands of blonde curtaining her cresed forehead. Though she’d chuckle and promised matters of satisfaction with her life, there were patches of fur on her coat. Her Greek nose tinted pink and a swooping tail tucked under the bench. This she could not see. She would speak of hellhounds and endless labor while I poured additional liters into her glass cup, eyeing her hawk-eyed husband all the while. Locals seemed to take my untimely visit rather cautiously. For good reason, of course. By the time dawn was heaving shots of navy into the dark skies, I had visited more women than postcards had ever visited the steps of my manor in those five years of unbearable habitance. Their tails were always tied messily, some with oozing blisters and painful-looking creases where the fold had been tied. Their noses were sometimes swollen or greased with expensive lotions in an attempt to mask the protruding fact, etching closer and closer to the surface of realism.

In the dark hours, they’d complain of an instrumental burden. God, it was loud they’d say, leeching my hands as if I had been the only acknowledgement of liability in centuries. The screeching strings blended against the howls of wind in a sorrowful juxtaposition. Waning restless nights for them all.

The first I took was Venetia. I instructed her to leave her coat and wreath of restlessness. She brought forth her finest Jane shoes and let down her honey lemon hair. We plowed hand in hand through the forest. I begged God to keep this opportunity close in hand as we followed those breathing strings through shrubs and dry logs left for dust in the dark. The first glimpse of the violin-wielding beast appeared behind the shade of a red willow. For it had been my first time seeing the thing face to face as well. My grip only tightened in Venetia’s hand as she held still, her breath shallow. For I had but a dream to go off of; this was a foreign sight to Venetia’s eyes I had to remember. Soon the plains were not reliant on the two of us. Both the houses were empty and scarce of life. The grasslands are blooming with thin-nosed critters. The beast’s violin became rushed and ridgid throughout the nights to come. Weaving in knowledge to me that we were improving and changing as a people. The hunt persisted and, in turn, the absence as well. Left for catharsis in the wind and rid us of this ancient rigorous distraction on the forest floor. Pooling like thick oil.

“Who am I if not misunderstood?” her gayety was sweet as jewels.

Venetia murmured in a hushed tone as she clasped my hand in hers, her gaze lingering over the carcass. We welded the night together as air raids rang out, shaking the dirt around our feet. Every limb of the beast was strewn in a puddle of rubicund. By dawn, Venetia’s eyes were glassy and her fingers blistered and bruised in destined work. A morning croaked, and a chorus of silence followed. Charing my skin and lacing back the cradle of the Mary. Both lands were quiet now; not even the rock under us spit a tune.

[mmst4rz]

'a change of mind'

"FUCKED ME SO GOOD I ALMOST SAID 'I LOVE YOU'."

about. public safety, special division 4 was having a welcome party for the new recruits, being obligated to go, you went, but left with someone you yearned yet loathed, aki hayakawa.

pairing. toxic!aki hayakawa x fem-bodied!reader

genre. fic, explicit, angst (maybe)

things to note. toxicity (duh), nsfw themes but no smut, reader is delusional asf, drinking, h*meno and m*kima, mentions of canon typical violence, implied dubcon.

🎧 : normal fucking rockwell, lana del rey

mm's note. i was literally watching an aki edit with 'les' by childish gambino and i was like...toxic aki. (lets be fr he wouldn't ACC be toxic)

Tokyo Special Division 4 was having a welcome party for the new recruits, inviting everyone out for drinks. Originally, you had planned not to attend it to avoid him, but from Ms. Makima's orders, 'every devil hunter in the division must attend to get to know one another.'; which you found pointless because it was more than likely that most of them would be dead and gone in weeks' time. you slipped on your work pants, deep in thought. You knew you would see Aki Hayakawa there, after all he was one of the 'most trusted' devil hunters in the division and was even apart of Makima's 'special squad'.

You and Aki went years back, knowing him when he first joined public safety and when he had his hair short. Hell, even knowing him before he started his smoking habit. He was much more pure back then, despite watching his family flash before his eyes, he still had that glint of innocence reflecting off of his midnight eyes. Now he was gloomy, uninterested in everything around him besides his reason to strive, to dedicate his life to destroying the Gun Devil once and for all. His personality dimmed as well as his eyes, always staying lidded with a stern facade to hide the trauma from his cold past. After all, working in public safety, you were bound to lose your spark of clarity.

;;

To put it simply, you and Aki had an unprofessional relationship, starting out with light flirting, to late-night drinks at the best bars, to seeking out each other for comfort when work got too intense, looking for a stress reliever to wash all the horrid thoughts away. At first, he showed much love and care when you started linking, cooking breakfast for you before work, or running a bath with you while massaging your tense shoulders from the night before. He typically wouldn't do this for a link-up but he thought he cared about you more than others, and you did too.

Time went on, and he lost his desire for you, just wanting a quick fuck, not caring about your well-being as before. Now, the night typically would end with Aki shuffling to put on his clothes and leaving without a word nor a glance of acknowledgment while drawing a cigarette from his back pocket. As much as this sent warnings to avoid him in your head, you couldn't help but still be drawn to his deep midnight hair and his aura, heart yearning for more than just sex.

Aki eventually stopped responding to your advances, he ignored your late-night texts at 11pm or later, he ignored you as you tried to talk to him as he walked by, and he acted as if you were mere strangers. The devil hunter, found himself around Makima more, discussing his daily report of the latest devil to be slaughtered. Aki also found himself accompanying Himeno, taking a lengthy smoke break as she cracked some jokes to pass the time. You buttoned up your blouse more agitated than before, grimacing at the thought, shaking your head at the thought of him whispering how good you felt around him as he sunk into you, it was in the past, he didn't care like you thought he did. You slipped on your shoes before grabbing your keys, phone, and wallet and walking out the door.

;;

You walk inside, the bell clinging as you pushed the door open to one of the most familiar bars in Tokyo, the scent of alcohol charring your nostrils, leading to eyes wandering to your figure. "There she goes!" Himeno beamed as she saw you head toward the area the devil hunters resided. "Hey," you say in a neutral tone, feeling those dark eyes of his glance at you. You refused to meet his eyes, refused to fall deeper into the deep sea they withheld. "Glad you could join us," Makima says, her head resting against her palm. "Glad I could make it." you smile slightly, a lie. You sat down on the cushion between Himeno and presumably, a new devil hunter. "You can order what you'd like, the bill will be taken care of by me," Makima states as she takes a sip of her beverage. "Thank you Ms. Makima," you hum gratefully as you placed an order for your desired drink. A multitude of conversations was erupting amongst everyone at the table until Himeno slurred out, "Wait a minute, where the hell is Fushi's rookie at?" "Unfortunately, they were killed yesterday," Fushi responded. The scared faces of the rookies almost made you feel bad for them, but what could they expect? Your drink finally came out, taking a slow sip, savoring the burn it provided to your tastebuds.

The night grew older, the sun setting behind the clouds, nearly everyone was tipsy, including yourself. Some had even gone home already including Himeno as well as a new recruit named Denji. "Can we talk, outside." Aki said, clearly directing it at you. It sounded like a command and as if it was not a question. Avoiding causing a scene, you stood up, smoothing out your pants, and walked outside, him following behind you. "what do you want Hayakawa?" you glare at him, you put on a front as if you didn't care about Aki ignoring you, in reality, you wanted him back in your small apartment, laying beside you as the sun shone through the blinds, trying to sneak a few more minutes in bed before you both had to get ready for work. you attempted to avoid him to the best of your ability, which thankfully wasn't hard to do. The burning embarrassment of being let down hurt more than you'd like. The only time you had to come face to face with him is when you were paired up for missions, which in itself, was rare. Though you were not in the best state of mind at the moment, you still had enough consciousness not to tell him how you truly felt.

"You wanna come home with me?" He said, pulling out a cigarette, as well as his lighter. "For what?" you already knew the answer, but you wanted to believe differently. "To fuck, what else?" he said, putting the cigarette between his lips you wanted to kiss oh so bad. He lit the cigarette, slipping the lighter back into his back pocket, taking a deep inhale. "seriously? after ignoring me for months, you ask to fuck?" he was unbelievable. "Yea." was all Aki said, short and simple, how he preferred things. "I'm not going home with you." another lie. "we'll see" he grinned slightly, looking up at the now midnight blue sky, he didn't believe you for a second, he knew how tonight would end. You walked back into the bar, your mind racing as you thought with your brain and heart. Your heart yearned for him and his sweet touch, yet your mind was telling you to ignore him, he just wanted you for your body. you sat back down at the table where only 4 of your coworkers were left. "what happened?" one of them asked, earning a nudge from another, clearly perceiving it wasn't anything good. "nothing." you said, all you wanted to do was drink your thoughts away.

;;

Several drinks later you were spent, the sting of the booze did not help with your thoughts, just made them worse. You down the last of your drink, grabbed your things, and slurred out. "imma head home." Hearing a few words of acknowledgment from the devil hunters, you swayed out the door meeting those same midnight-blue eyes of his. "headin' home?" Aki said, puffing out a cloud of smoke. "mmhm..." you hummed out. "Let me take you there, yeah?" he said, flicking out his cigarette onto the sidewalk and crushing it under his foot.

You let him wrap his arm around your shoulder, leaning into it, cherishing it, because it didn't matter to you at that moment how long he would be there, you would cherish him as if it was the last time you'd see him, maybe it would be the last, who knew when he had a change of mind again.

BACK TO NAV. | © MMST4RZ 2023. please do not repost, modify, copy, use or translate my works on any platform.

[rist-ix]

Hi Rist! Can you give us a snippet of the next chapter of tbhtbh? 🙏🏻

I can't give u plot yet. But I can give u death and destruction if you want?

Layla used to tell them so much about her homeworld.

It's brilliant blue skies, it’s crystal clear waters. The gentle currents that would guide the boats of fishers and shellfish farmers from and to their homes; the salty winds that would rustle through palm trees and orchards, bringing rain in the morning and swarms of jewel colored birds in spring.

She used to talk about it with such warmth, such longing, an undying loyalty and love for her home and her people and her duty as their princess. Even when she had raged and resented her parents for the way they'd caged her in, she would have done anything for them. Anything for the vibrant, beautiful kingdom they all loved.

Bloom had never seen its beauty.

The first time she'd stepped foot on Andros had already been the beginning of its end. Even after Council Hall, when they were in dire need of a place to lay low, they never dared to return here.

The realm of the tides never got the chance to recover. The collapsing Omega Portal had robbed Andros of a crucial magical pillar, and when its atmosphere didn’t clear up, its waters didn’t calm and its mermaids were not freed from the monstrous mark on their necks…

It's like an infected body, desperately trying to rid itself of the sickness festering within. Killing itself with its own seizures, its own fever, its own madness. Murky oceans shaping tidal waves, skies heavy with clouds never ceasing their storms, the very earth breaking open and spitting black ash into the air.

They had met travelers two years later who said the fires were still burning.

Still. There's a difference between hearing about it, and seeing it first hand.

The second her feet touch Andros' rust-brown earth, gusts of hot, searing wind start tearing at her hair and her clothes, burning hot against her skin. Salt, sulfur and smoke make her eyes water, her lungs seize; every breath tastes like poison, and hiding her mouth and nose in her sleeve does little to make it more bearable.

When the glow of teleportation subsides and her vision clears, it reveals the full scale of Andros' fate.

Skies like molten iron, bleeding murky rays of sunlight through blackened clouds that seem to glow red from within. Their light is dim and pale compared to the bursts of sickly yellow lightning striking the waves below, over and over again. The horizon is never calm, the twisted branches of electricity reminding her of a nervous system in panic. To the east, lush green jungles have been charred to pitch black fingers reaching skyward. Beyond, red-tipped mountains cough ash and fire into the air.

It's almost beautiful, this deadly display of colors.

For a few seconds, that keeps the horror at bay.

Valtor lands beside her with his usual grace, showing not the smallest sign of discomfort. She can't tear her eyes away from the shaking, shuddering corpse of this kingdom she once knew, so she doesn’t see his expression. But she imagines he must be proud.

A new Domino. Except this time, he can savor its destruction without his pesky, selfish regrets. He's always hated Andros, after all.

“The view never fails to amaze, doesn’t it?”

Valtor makes a swirling gesture with his hands, and the searing wind tearing at her hair lets up. The taste of ash on the air fades as well, and she realizes he's shielding them from the worst of the storm.

Unwilling to yell against it, most likely.

It doesn’t make it easier to answer. For once, she is genuinely speechless.

She turns around to look at him, and finds him already watching her from the corner of his eyes. Almost eagerly, as if awaiting her outrage. Her revulsion.

Whatever he finds in her expression seems to satisfy him, because he smiles and turns his back on her, surveying their surroundings.

“Do you know where we are?”

She does. She knew before they even stepped out of the portal where it would lead them, and she has dreamed of this place often enough to know it blind.

The crumbling stone arches, the single circular structure rising from the sea. Saltwater in her mouth, her nose; her ribs still aching from Icy's blast to her back. A memory so vivid it’s hard to distinguish from reality, for a moment.

“We met here,” she says. Despite the relative silence within his shields, her voice feels small.

If they had known then what would happen, would she and her friends have even come? Surely, whatever damage Andros would have suffered under Valtor's attacks would have been preferable to this. If they had simply stayed at Alfea, hadn’t snuck out and simply acted like the students they still were, it could have all been so different.

Valtor clicks his tongue, chiding.

“We first met on Solaria, dearest. But I'm glad you remember that day.”

He trails his fingers over the rough, salt-encrusted stone of a pillar.

“I think of it often. I'd been dying to meet you again once I knew who you were. The very last princess of Domino, just when I feared there was nothing left of it. 'How often does one get the chance to destroy the same dynasty twice?' I thought. You must have been meant for me, an opponent like no other. Our final battle, your death, only that could mean true victory.”

He smiles to himself. She can tell from the way he inclines his head, the way he speaks, even if she can’t see his face.

“I don’t make a habit of being wrong, but I suppose even I have to admit foolishness, here.”

The wind around them howls, and the spray of harsh waves crashing against their little ruin evaporates against his shield.

His head tilts in her direction, just a little.

“Do you ever miss it?”

He doesn’t have to clarify. She knows exactly what he means.

How they had chased him through the entire dimension, the thrill of combat hot in her veins. Every fight a point to prove, a cocky race to the top, it didn’t even matter if she failed because she got quicker, closer each time. Locking eyes over the blaze of their colliding magic and understanding perfectly how the other felt.

Knowing that she would be his undoing. No matter how long it took, she would be the one to end him. The brilliant, powerful, immortal wizard that not even Omega could hold; she would bring him low.

The simple, reckless single-mindedness of it.

She also remembers that sense of safety. Tecna's shields humming to life around them, Stella's sarcastic little comments there to take the edge off of their numerous close calls. The unwavering certainty that nothing could hurt her, because her friends were there, and once the battle was over they'd go home and sleep it off, huddled together on Stella's giant bed.

“Every day,” she tells him.

Even Valtor, self-serving and arrogant as he may be, can’t ignore what she's really saying.

[bright-tatters]

Tatters Catchup Post: 101-120

Tatters is the story of a crime lord, a police officer, and a young fashion designer in Photia, the City of Light. The first two parts are stories of Photia's least favored Ward, Travail/Tatterdemalion/Tatters. Fortune and Guard-Sergeant Piper split over the question of going legitimate, and a mutual enemy send minions to permanently disfigure Fortune and give Piper a wound over his heart that never heals. Left to Tatters without any kind of path toward legality, Fortune adopted young Audrey and tried to get used to a new life. It turns again when Audrey leaves for University, across the river from Tatters. She finds that there are powers higher than Fortune in Photia, and surviving that is the first order of business, even as Fortune's empire kicks into high gear...

Episode tag

Episodes 1-10

Episodes 11-30

Episodes 31-41

Episodes 42-50

Episodes 51-80

Episodes 81-93

Episodes 94-100

101. A kiss from a scion

102. Char's diary

103. The date

104. Police help

105. Investigators gather

106. Marguerite reports to Fortune

107. Franz takes a lead

108. Looking up a map

109. Scrabble 1

110. A lead from Lu?

111. Audrey's new situation

112. Dino notifies Piper

113. Snipes checks with Marguerite

114. The King

115. [snippet] Hunt

116. Meet Char

117. Piper's commitment

118. [snippet] Hunt 2

119. 4 AM

120. Audrey sends a message

Some character summaries with spoilers up through Episode 120:

AUDREY LA ROSE is an orphan from the streets of Tatterdemalion Ward. FORTUNE first sponsored her indirectly when he offered resources for promising children to see something of the City. Her grateful parents asked him to stand Gruppguide, and, amused, he did. When they were killed in an automobile accident, Fortune held up his responsibility and adopted her. He has by and large let her do anything she wants that doesn't obviously put her in danger. She has run through exasperated bodyguards until she was matched up with HABBAMOCK, or HABS, who has accompanied her to University.

GUARD-SERGEANT COLM "PIPER" POET is a musician turned police officer who had what was, in the grand scheme of things, a short affair with FORTUNE. Unable to accept the half-life of an illicit relationship with a crime lord, he broke it off. City Councilor CATALINA REINALDO has noticed the connection, and invites PIPER to work in Underglow Ward, well out of FORTUNE's gaze. Now, in an emergency, he lets slip the leash, because some things are more important than pleasing CATALINA.

FORTUNE is the man who makes Tatters run. He manages the industry. He dictates the codes. He enforces the rules. At some point he falls for a police officer; the night that breaks, he is assaulted and scarred with a long rent on his face. He focuses on his work until AUDREY's duty calls him. He tries to give AUDREY everything...even if it means letting her to go University, outside his grasp. Maybe he loves her, the way a father would if he could be that person. Maybe. Now he finds that he is the only person ready to step up and find her. Well, he's the only person he's on speaking terms with who will.

EVAN TUPPS, the son of Councilor Tupps of upscale Lamps Ward, is an empath to whom everything has always come easily. And he likes Audrey, not realizing that she knows of his gift. This will surely have no negative consequences.

FRANZ RILKE, the son of nobodies in the worst neighborhood of University Ward, cleans the University and dreams of learning many things. He's not a complicated guy, but he might flourish more with less grinding poverty. MARGUERITE has started him down the path of a student, but it's the plain logistics of a janitor that may come in handy before the end.

MARGUERITE LE PEN is a cinnamon roll who knows a few persuasive skills learned from her time tutoring FORTUNE.

[rinamohn]

I wrote my currently impressions of Virche Evermore on r/vns and thought why not post it here as well?

Vage spoilers under the cut!

I played a lot of [Virche Evermore](https://vndb.org/v29661/chars) the past few weeks!

Virche Evermore is a dark scifi Otome Game which was well known for making players suffer through 4+ entire routes full of tragic endings until you get the chance to unlock better endings for everyone. The better endings might still not be really happy tho.

A sizeable trigger warning list made the rounds long before the game came out in english and the some reviews would called the game misery or torture porn.

I really like tragedies so I had to get the game, but I kept my expecations in check. Misery can come in many forms and there were tragic endings I absolutely hated before (Piofiore Orlock's tragic end made me skip a route).

I finished 4 routes now (only Despair endings) and I can confidently say that this game GETS me. It fits my taste for misery and fucked up-ness perfectly and I'm so happy.

The only downside in that this game has some true bullshit science lol

My biology university degree certainly made a face at some relevations. So uh I just pretend it's more plausible stuff instead. Just forget all your biology knowledge at the door and you're fine...

Some thoughts of the routes:

Mathis: Mathis is the rich, socially awkward and shy guy, who swore revenge on his brothers killer.

Def not my type of guy, but the build up in his route was very well done. So much foreshadowing which get's more and more in your face as time goes on, but it was hard to 100% point the finger to what was happening until the revealed happened. This really reminded my of Il of Café Enchante's route but like 1000% more horrifying. Despair End 2 was disgusting and horrific. It plays with your hopes and the "Power of Love" only to end in the worst possible way. It was so disgusting. I was so impressed!

Lucas: Lucas is the kindhearted teacher of Ceres who is hella feminine and is already knocking on deaths door.

I heard that his route would be the "worst" in a horrifying way with lots of bad things happening.

I think that gave me the wrong expecations after having just seen Mathis Despair End 2.

It's definitely the most unfixable route. A lot of bad things did happen, disgusting things too. But it still felt underwhelming to me compared to what I saw before. The last CG of Lucas's Despair End 2 was very delightful tho!

Some moments gave me some nice shivers as well (Lucas in a ponytail is beautiful).

Scien: The human god who created the cloning technology that made it possible for the people of this cursed island to live longer than 23 years.

Scien's route felt very different from the first two. His wasn't really focused on horrific tragedy, even though terrible, traumatising things still happened. This one had a much stronger romance focus from the start. It felt much more poetic in nature which I liked a lot as well.

"How to Ruin a God?", my beloved Ceres sure did a number on Mister Emotionless God-complex.

Absolut beautiful Despair Ending 2. Stuff like this makes me want to write poems about bringing a god down. You def need to leave your feminism at the door for this one tho lol. Scien is a trashbando who doesn't treat Ceres the way she should be treated.

Yves: The man Ceres almost killed in a fire by accident when she was a child. A very friendly guy who wears a mask to hide his burn wounds and tries to see the best in anyone.

The love interest of all love interests! If The Phantom of The Opera was a good guy but still full of madness. I liked his relationship with Ceres the most. It's so wholesome, raw and selfish. So much longing and self-hatred! They are obsessed with each other. They were made for each other. I support Ceres's right to be insane. I support all her wrongs. She deserves it.

His Despair End 2 was if Power of Love lacked any plotarmor and insanity was the only thing that remained. Loved it.

Next up! Le Salut! I can't wait for more Watchmen of the Dead Ankou!

[freyayuki]

Fate/Grand Order Merlin Pickup Summon Banner

The Part 2 Chapter 6 Conclusion Commemorative Pickup Summon series of banners just started in the Fate/Grand Order (FGO) mobile game.

This is to celebrate the conclusion of "Lostbelt No.6: Fae Round Table Domain, Avalon le Fae - The Moment a Planet Is Born".

The Part 2 Chapter 6 Conclusion Commemorative Pickup Summon comes with 3 banners. These banners and the Servants they feature are as follows:

Merlin Banner

5-star SSR Caster Merlin (#ad)

4-star SR Saber Gawain

4-star SR Archer Tristan

Medb Banner

5-star SSR Rider Queen Medb

4-star SR Saber Gawain

4-star SR Archer Tristan

Caren C. Hortensia (Amor (Caren)) Banner

5-star SSR Ruler Caren C. Hortensia (Amor (Caren))

4-star SR Saber Gawain

4-star SR Archer Tristan

Medb’s banner will show up from 2023-7-24 21:00 - 2023-7-27 20:59 PDT. Caren’s banner will show up from 2023-7-26 21:00 - 2023-7-29 20:59 PDT. Merlin’s banner will show up from 2023-7-28 21:00 - 2023-7-31 20:59 PDT.

Thoughts about 5-star SSR Rider Queen Medb

After playing through the Fate/Grand Order Waltz in the MOONLIGHT/LOSTROOM×Fate/Grand Order Collaboration Event "Bedazzled! Grail Concert! Crane Returns an Idol's Favor", ended up liking Medb. Also really like the costume she got from said event.

I remember throwing like 10 tickets on the Queen Medb banner that showed up with the aforementioned event. Was supposed to be saving my pulling resources for other upcoming Servants so I really shouldn’t have done that but couldn’t seem to help it.

Unfortunately, Medb didn’t show up. Thankfully, managed to stop myself from throwing more tickets or even Saint Quartz (SQ) on the Medb banner.

When the feature that lets us get 1 non-limited and/or story-locked 5-star SSR Servant became available, I strongly considered choosing Medb. But since said feature doesn’t expire, decided to hold off on using it for now.

It’s not like I really need Medb anyway. And there are other Servants I’m also considering getting instead of Medb. She just happened to be one of my top picks.

Aside from liking her and her costume from the Grail Concert event, Medb also happens to be a story-locked Servant. This means there’s no way she can spook me or show up as an off-banner pull. The only way to get a copy of her is to roll on a banner that features her.

Anyway, at the time I’m writing this post, currently playing through “Lostbelt No.6: Fae Round Table Domain, Avalon le Fae - The Moment a Planet Is Born”.

Warning for possible spoilers for the aforementioned story chapter.

Queen Medb or a char who’s her spitting image is featured in Lostbelt 6 and, as I played through the aforementioned chapter, ended up liking that version of her too. Too bad Rider Medb has yet to get a costume that features any of her Lostbelt 6 outfits.

Anyway, the point is, definitely interested in pulling for Medb. She’s also a pretty good Rider who’s a mix between a DPS and a support.

Unfortunately, much as I want to, I can’t pull for Medb right now because there’s someone who I want more. Gonna have to skip this banner of hers and either just wait for her to get another banner or pick her as my free SSR.

Thoughts about 5-star SSR Ruler Caren C. Hortensia (Amor (Caren))

Caren seems fine. Wouldn’t mind getting her but, like with Medb, can’t afford to pull for her right now.

Besides, she has a Quick-type Noble Phantasm or NP and I unfortunately don’t have my own 5-star SSR Caster Scáthach-Skadi, the premier support for Servants with Quick-type NPs.

Thoughts about 5-star SSR Caster Merlin

I really like Merlin. Ever since I first started playing Fate/Grand Order and heard about him, I’ve wanted to pull for him. It’s not just because he’s a really good support, especially for Challenge Quests and the like.

Always pleased whenever I see Merlin show up in events and story chapters and such. Heck, I wish he’d show up more often. Always like seeing him and learning more about him.

Anyway, if I’m remembering correctly, I first started playing Fate/Grand Order a bit before the rerun of the event featuring 4-star SR Archer Oda Nobunaga. I think the Chaldea Boys event was ongoing or about to start at that time.

There was a Merlin banner that was gonna show up a few months after those aforementioned events. When the Merlin banner finally arrived, used all the resources that I had but, unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, and I failed to get even a single copy of Merlin.

Needless to say, was very upset. To make matters worse, IIRC, it was gonna be a really long wait for Merlin’s next banner.

If I’m not mistaken, Merlin’s next banner, or at least the next one I pulled on was the one that showed up in one of the summer events. Unfortunately, I once again failed to get Merlin on that summer banner.

At that time, was already feeling kinda burnt out with FGO so failing to get Merlin didn’t help at all. Was so upset that I couldn’t get through the summer event.

Didn’t feel like doing anything in the game so started just logging in then quickly logging out. Only really bothered to log in to get the daily login rewards. But as time passed - well, this happened what feels like forever ago so don’t remember all the details anymore but I eventually just stopped logging on to FGO.

Didn’t delete the game, but for all intents and purposes, I basically quit. I knew the summer Merlin banner was gonna get a rerun though. And a part of me was still interested in FGO. The story is good. So sometimes, I’d still check out news about it like upcoming and/or new Servants and such.

Anyway, to make a long story short, I unfortunately missed the Merlin rerun banner. I returned to FGO either right before or during the anniversary that featured 5-star SSR Caster Altria or Artoria or Castoria.

Told myself that if I fail to get Castoria, then I’ll just quit playing again, but if I actually manage to get her, then maybe I can take that as a sign to start playing again. Well, managed to get Castoria somehow so here I am again, back in FGO. LOL.

I still want Merlin though. He’s undoubtedly one of my fave Servants in this game. But I know that I don’t actually need him.

I mean, I’ve been able to get by this long without him, and I can just borrow a friend support Merlin if I really need him for a fight or something. Well, assuming it’s possible to do so anyway since there are fights where you can’t bring a support or you’re locked to using certain chars.

The point is that my interest in Merlin was never just about how good and meta he is. He is really good, but that’s just a bonus for me. I like him so want to pull for him and Grail him to level 100.

Merlin’s next banner was supposed to be sometime in March 2024 so my plan was to save and pull for said banner.

This Part 2 Chapter 6 Conclusion Commemorative Merlin Pickup Summon banner came as a surprise. Totally wasn’t expecting this banner, and I’m not ready for it at all, but can’t and don’t want to pass up an opportunity to finally get my first copy of Merlin. Well, hopefully, anyway.

Thoughts about 4-star SR Saber Gawain

Currently have Gawain at NP2. I like him but don’t get to use him that often since I have lots of other Sabers, and I don’t have any of his skills leveled to the max. Certainly wouldn’t mind getting more copies of him though.

Thoughts about 4-star SR Archer Tristan

I like Tristan too. Currently have him at NP3. He has a Quick-type NP and don’t have any of his skills leveled to the max either so don’t really get to use him much at all.

Don’t mind getting more copies of Tristan and Gawain, but of course, my main priority is getting Merlin.

Fate/Grand Order Guaranteed Summon Function

Fate/Grand Order now has a “pity system” but it costs 900 Saint Quartz for 1 rate-up SSR. If you happen to get the rate-up SSR before spending 900 SQ, you’re not guaranteed to get another copy even if you keep pulling until you spend 900 SQ. In short, this so-called pity system sucks.

Fate/Grand Order Pulling Resources

Sadly, don’t have enough to pity Merlin right now. Banners featuring the following Servants just recently showed up in Fate/Grand Order:

5-star SSR Berserker Morgan

5-star SSR Assassin Koyanskaya of Light

5-star SSR Pretender Oberon

Spent a lot of my tickets and SQ on these banners. Thankfully, was able to get them all but after 3 banners that were practically back-to-back-to-back, I barely have any pulling resources left.

I know it’s better to skip this Merlin banner and just pull on his upcoming March 2024 banner instead so I have more time to save. Maybe by then I’ll even have enough to pity him if I have to.

But like I said, I just can’t help it. Don’t want to pass up the opportunity to try and get Merlin now. Really don’t have a lot of resources left though so I can only hope that I’ll get lucky or there’ll be a miracle or something.

Ahh, if only the rates in this game were higher and/or the cost to pity a SSR Servant wasn’t so high.

Part 2 Chapter 6 Conclusion Commemorative Merlin Pickup Summon Banner Pulls Results

Currently have 180 SQ on hand and 1 summon ticket. Still have a few more that I can get from my present box, from the SQ fragment exchange shop, and from rewards from clearing missions and such.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to get Merlin right away. Also hoping that I can get 1 copy of the 5-star SSR Craft Essence The Black Grail.

My copy of this CE is stuck at Level 80 of 80. Need 1 more copy in order to be able to fully MLB this CE.

The Black Grail is one of the best CEs in FGO. It increases NP damage by 60%. When fully MLB, it increases NP damage by 80%. The downside or demerit is that the Servant equipped with this will lose 500 HP each turn but that’s a small price to pay for such a powerful effect.

Anyway, here are the results of my pulls on the Part 2 Chapter 6 Conclusion Commemorative Merlin Pickup Summon banner. Only gonna list the notable stuff I get though.

Started with a multi-draw. Got 2 4-star CEs and 1 5-star CE but they were all dupes. Too bad the 5-star CE wasn’t The Black Grail.

Got a silver Caster card on my next multi-draw. To my surprise, this card suddenly started turning gold. OMFG! Also, hell yes!

The moment I saw the silver Caster card turning gold, I got so hyped and excited. Thought for sure that I was about to get Merlin. Surely, I was about to get Merlin. Right? Right?

More like wrong. Unfortunately. Because the gold Caster card soon revealed itself to be my very first copy of 5-star SSR Caster Xuanzang Sanzang.

She's a new Servant but - argh! Disappointed doesn't even begin to cover this. Why? Why'd this have to happen? Damn it. Seriously, have no words for this. I'm so, so - argh!

Instantly, I flashed back to the first time I tried pulling for Merlin. I still remember getting a gold Caster card from that banner and thinking for sure that I was about to get Merlin already.

Got so hyped and excited when I saw that gold Caster card but that quickly turned to disappointment and complete and utter despair when I ended up getting my first copy of 4-star SR Nitocris instead.

Was so tempted to burn or sell Nitocris for a Rare Prism. I didn't but I also didn't bother to use her or even level her up for the longest time. Eventually, I did end up leveling her up and even increasing the levels of some of her skills since I needed a farmer and I thought she might as well make herself useful.

Unsurprisingly, was also really tempted to sell Sanzang. I didn't but argh! Seriously, why? Why'd this have to happen? Sigh.

Anyway, my next multi-draw gave me dupes of 1 5-star CE (Holy King of Twilight) and 1 4-star CE (The Vessel of Desire). Wish that 5-star CE had been a dupe of The Black Grail instead. At least I haven't fully MLB'd the aforementioned CEs yet but still.

After that, decided to do single draws. The very first single pull I did gave me a dupe of the 4-star CE called Divine Banquet.

Feels like this CE is trolling me because I keep on getting it. IIRC, also got dupes of this in one or more of the recent banners that I just pulled on. Currently already have 2 fully MLB copies of Divine Banquet so really don't need any more.

The rest of my single pulls after that were all nothing more than 3-star trash. Meh.

So went back to doing a multi. Got a gold Archer card that soon turned into a dupe of Tristan.

Then a gold Saber card showed up too and this turned into a dupe of Gawain.

Aside from those 2, also got dupes of 2 4-star CEs, one of which is Imaginary Number Attribute, which is pretty good and which I have yet to fully MLB.

My next multi-draw gave me another dupe of The Vessel of Desire as well as a dupe of the 4-star CE called Be Graceful.

Now down to 3 SQ on hand so went to exchange my SQ fragments for actual SQ and went to get the rest of the SQ that I have in my present box and as mission rewards and such.

My next multi-draw gave me yet another dupe of Divine Banquet and a dupe of the 4-star CE called La Folia.

Started doing single draws again. But I soon ran out of SQ. Should have taken this as a sign to stop pulling already, but didn't want to just give up now after waiting for what feels like forever for a Merlin banner to show up.

So I decided that I was going to keep on trying until the end. Still have some content in the game that I had yet to do and that would give me SQ so my plan was to just try to finish all of these quests and such and use any SQ I manage to get on the Merlin banner.

Was gonna keep doing that until one of the following happens: I completely run out of SQ, the banner goes away, or Merlin actually comes home. At this point, that last part seems really unlikely to happen and this is likely - no, totally an exercise in futility, but I don't know. Guess I wanted to keep trying and hoping for a miracle anyway.

When the Merlin banner was announced, was still going through Lostbelt 6. Continued doing that. Didn't skip any scenes but every time I got enough SQ to do a single draw, I'd go to the Merlin banner, hope for the best, and pull. Unfortunately, still no Merlin.

Was already nearing the end of Lostbelt 6 when the Merlin banner showed up so it didn't take that long to finish it. After that, started doing all the Lostbelt 6 free quests and the rest of the free quests from other chapters that I had yet to do.

There's a permanent mission that gives you 10 SQ every time you complete 10 free quests. So was really glad to find out that I had yet to complete all of the free quests from Lostbelt 5.5.

There's also a permanent mission that will give you 10 SQ every time you complete 10 rank up quests. Currently, my progress for this mission is at 139/140. Sadly, already cleared all the available rank up quests for all of my Servants.

Since I really wanted more SQ, actually seriously considered using the free SSR feature to get Medb now. It helped that she has 2 rank up quests and 2 interludes.

While trying to decide if I was really gonna do that or not, I happened to tap on the Rank Up Quest button in the game. Since I didn't have any more rank ups to do, was expecting to see the text "No Quest Available" so was surprised when I saw a greyed-out rank up quest. It was Sanzang's.

Took a closer look at her and saw that she actually has 2 rank up quests and 1 interlude. Honestly, was all set to just completely ignore her for now. Really didn't want anything to do with her at the moment.

Didn't even want to look at her because every time I see her, I keep being reminded that the only time I ever got a gold Caster card on the Merlin banner, I ended up being trolled by Sanzang.

However, the fact that she has 2 rank up quests and 1 interlude and the fact that completing these quests would give me more SQ for Merlin changed everything. Her rank ups are locked behind leveling her up while her interlude requires her bond to be at a certain level for it to be unlocked.

And so, much as I didn't want to, reluctantly leveled up Sanzang to 90. Left all her skills at 1 though. And didn't bother trying to raise her bond level yet since I actually have a lot of other interludes to do so didn't need to unlock hers right away.

Anyway, after leveling up Sanzang, completed both of her rank up quests which gave me 4 SQ. Also finally cleared the "complete 140 rank up quests" mission which gave me 10 SQ. Yay for more SQ for Merlin.

Speaking of interludes, there's also a mission that will reward players with 10 SQ every time they complete 10 interludes. So far, I've completed 110 interludes and have around 30+ more that I have yet to do. So now I started doing these interludes.

Interludes have cut scenes, some of which are kinda long, so it takes time to read through and finish these. However, didn't want to skip these stories, so just tried to read fast and finish off the enemies in these quests as quickly as possible.

Time was running out though. Sadly, the Merlin banner was gonna end soon. On one hand, I'm getting burnt out with all this grinding and the situation seems hopeless so maybe it's for the best for the Merlin banner to end aready. I can just try again the next time he shows up.

But on the other hand, after grinding so much, I really wish I wasn't leaving this banner with nothing to show for it. Sure, the Tristan and Gawain dupes are fine but they're not Merlin. Sigh.

Anyway, soon, maintenance for the Grand Nero Fest Summer 2023 Revival just started. After this maintenance ended, the aforementioned event began.

I thought the Merlin banner would be gone after the maintenance was over so was surprised but glad that that wasn't the case at all because I was able to scrounge up a bit more SQ from playing through more interludes and such and we also got some SQ as apology for the maintenance.

The Merlin banner was definitely ending soon though so was rushing to get as much SQ as I could before that happened.

This included quickly finishing all the weekly Master Missions quests.

Also decided to spend 5 Rare Prisms to unlock the Main Interlude Abyssal Cyber Paradise, SE.RA.PH event so I could get even more SQ although I did this before the maintenance for Nero Fest started so when I got back to the game, opted to start with some of the available Nero Fest quests first.

To be more precise, focused my attention on the 2 available Exhibition Quests. These are Challenge Quests that will reward you with 1 ticket after you clear each of them for the first time. So 2 Exhibition Quests means 2 tickets. Too bad the rest of the Exhibition Quests aren't available yet.

While doing all of the aforementioned chapters and quests and interludes and such, was also trying to increase the bond levels of my Servants. Made sure to bring the ones who were close to increasing their bond levels since you get some SQ every time a Servant's bond goes up. The amount you get depends on the bond level and even the Servant's rarity.

Was also really thankful that the monthly Mana Prism shop's ticket stash got reset just before the Merlin banner ended. This meant I was able to get 5 more tickets.

Anyway, here are the results of the rest of the pulls I was able to do on the Merlin banner before it went away:

A single draw gave me another gold Archer card which turned into yet another dupe of Tristan.

After a few more singles, got my 10th and +1 or bonus summon, both of which turned out to be dupes of Be Graceful. Ugh. Merlin, doko da?

My next set of single draws just gave me dupes and more dupes.

The only noteworthy thing that I got from my next set of singles was yet another dupe of Gawain.

The few times I actually got a Caster card, it was always silver, which was really disheartening.

It seemed like my next set of single draws was all set to give me crap again. Got a Caster card but it was silver and didn't turn gold. Instead, it just turned into my nth dupe of 3-star R Caster Avicebron. Got a 5-star CE (Under the Sun) but it wasn't The Black Grail. It wasn't even new or useful.

By now, it really seemed like all hope was lost. Even if I wanted to keep on grinding and grinding, time was fast running out. Was just getting more and more frustrated, angry, depressed, and burnt out.

IIRC, it was around this time that I got the tickets from the Mana Prism shop and the 2 Exhibition Quests from the Nero Fest event. So started using these tickets.

Soon, I was set to do my 10th and +1 or bonus summon. Saw some gold sparks during the 10th summon. Tried not to get too excited since this could be yet another dupe of Tristan or Gawain or something.

But then a gold Caster card actually appeared.

OMFG! Please, please, please be Merlin. Please. My heart was beating fast. Fingers crossed. Hoping, hoping. Then the gold Caster card soon revealed itself and -

OMFG! It's Merlin. It's actually Merlin. Yes! Hell, yes! Merlin! Finally! It's a miracle. This is so freaking awesome. Thank you, thank you. So freaking happy to see Merlin. He's finally home. Yes, yes, yes! Don't know what else to say, but definitely really freaking happy about this.

At least all that grinding didn't turn out to be for nothing. Since Merlin actually showed up, in the end, it was all worth it.

Anyway, here are some more screenshots of Merlin:

4-star SR Archer Tristan and 4-star SR Saber Gawain

Managed to get my NP3 Tristan to NP5.

Got my NP2 Gawain to NP3 and then to NP4.

5-star SSR Caster Merlin

Leveled up Merlin to 90 then spent all the Holy Grails needed to get him to level 100.

Also got all of his skills to level 10. Would have unlocked and maxed out his second Append skill (Load Magical Energy or Mana Loading) too but, unfortunately, currently don't have enough of his Coins to do that yet.

Also, sadly, since I didn't clear the summer event where Merlin showed up, I don't have the Key needed to unlock his costume or Spiritron Dress. It’s called Camelot & Co. Thankfully, this is apparently coming back, just not anytime soon.

Also missed out on the Command Code that features Merlin. It's called the Mage of Flowers, and it also showed up on that summer event I skipped. Sadly, it looks like this one isn't coming back at all. Sigh.

Conclusion

So, what about you? Did you pull on any of the Part 2 Chapter 6 Conclusion Commemorative Pickup Summon series of banners? What do you think about Merlin, Medb, Caren, Tristan, and Gawain?

Feel free to share your thoughts and opinions by leaving a comment below or by reblogging this post.

Notes:

screenshots are from my Fate/Grand Order game account

[mlbigbang]

2022 Ladynoir Fic Rec List

It's the end of the year which means it's finally time for the ML Big Bang's yearly fic rec lists! We're really excited to bring you our contributors' favourite fics started this year to supply you with plenty of reading material while you're waiting for the Big Bang fics' publication in January.

Movie Date, Interrupted by @purrfectlypunny 1,043 words, General, 1/1 chapter

Ladybug and Chat Noir finally have time to spend together at a movie; unfortunately, a goofy akuma and a moody teenager have other plans.

"The dynamic between Ladybug and Chat is so good!!"

Polaris by @miabrown007 4,029 words, Teen, 3/3 chapters

Adrien had lost everything. Along with his Miraculous, he gave up his freedom, his kwami, his partner; there’s nothing else left to lose. But maybe it is an akuma attack going so predictably wrong all it takes to change his fate, and prove his worth in the team to the only person doubting it: himself. *** Kuro Neko-divergent hurt/comfort fic

"I am weak for any hurt/comfort that is made worse (better) by identity barriers. This fic very much delivers."

breaking me down to my knees in the dead of night by @sunfoxfic 2,429 words, General, 1/1 chapter

Marinette ran off in the middle of an argument and Adrien panicked. Now, he has showed up to patrol as Catwalker, and he has to lie in the bed he's made, even if he overreacted a bit much.

"(technically Ladywalker, but anyway…) A very sweet fluff-and-angst fic that gently but realistically portrays neurodivergence."

Maintaining a Professional Distance by @buggachat 43,417 words, Teen, 11/11 chapters

“I mean, how dumb does the mayor think we are? Offering us a permanent hotel room as a ‘gesture of gratitude for all our work for Paris’, like it isn’t clearly just some half-baked political ploy to place him more in the public’s favor after the whole school funding scandal, like we’ll allow ourselves to sleep in a hotel that we were publicly offered, making ourselves sitting ducks for Hawkmo—” “It’s a pretty big building,” he countered, and at least he seemed amused, because she certainly wasn’t, “Nobody knows which room we were given but us.” “It doesn’t matter!” she scoffed, “It’s still a security risk that he can narrow our location down at all! Also,” she jutted her arms out towards the bed a second time, “May I remind you? ONE. BED. ONE!” ——— Or, Ladybug and Chat Noir receive a hotel room from the city, which they most certainly will not use. After all, that wouldn't be very professional, would it? Yes, it's a Ladynoir bed sharing fic.

"Genuinely one of the most in character Ladynoir fics I've read. I love how the conflicts are resolved, how the characters deal with the fallout, and how no one is villainized. There's the "there's only one bed" trope, Marinette is a MESS but we love her for it, clownbug, Adrien is oblivious, Chat is a dork. Fun times all around."

"The best "There was only one bed" fic you will ever read. Ladybug and Chat Noir get their own dedicated suite in Le Grand Palais, as thanks for their continuing work protecting the city. Only one bed shouldn't be a problem since they both have a home and a bedroom anyway, right? Except.... sometimes Marinette needs to get away from the kwamis and have some space, and sometimes (a lot) Chat Noir needs to get away from whatever is happening with his family, soooooo..... "Friends with benefits without the benefits" is the perfect tag. It's hilarious. It's sweet. It's romantic and emotional."

Hamburger Ladybug by RaspberryCatapult 1,773 words, Teen, 1/1 chapter

Ladybug runs into a burning building. What comes out no longer resembles anything that can be described as a person.

"So, it's a little graphic, as it's about Ladybug running into a burning building, getting charred up, and Chat staying with her in the hospital. BUT...it is beautifully written - descriptive and emotionally spot on (pun intended). And the ending is mind-blowing. It never leaves you. Totally original."

i am not a puppet (i will work against your strings) by @bugchat 7,525 words, Teen, 1/1 chapter

Nothing quite hurts like loneliness– unless you count being thrown against a wall at top speed, while Ladybug’s horrified expression follows you. Adrien questions how he got here, pressed against a wall while fighting for his life, watching the city crumble around him while Ladybug stares. There are other heroes, a second, third, fourth villain, and all he’s done is give the villain the power to win. It’s over.

"GORGEOUSLY WRITTEN!!!! in love with how Cartara provided an Adrien POV to the season 4 final!!!!"

Wait— Don't let this line go slack by DescentIntoAbsurdity 14,418 words, Teen, 1/1 chapter

I think you've got the wrong number She sends her simple text, satisfied. Then she goes about and wipes down the benches and puts away the flour, and thinks, wait. I have a thousand neighbourhood cats that loiter around my apartment complex and threaten me for food. I cook cat treats in my free time. I know what to feed cats. Marinette deals with her crush on Adrien, cute neighbour and well-known model. She also tries to cope with baking in her free time, and her college assignments, and her growing feelings for Chat Noir; a boy who accidentally texted her regarding his cat. It's going about as well as can be expected.

"loved to follow their interractions via text and their fumblings irl"

Take 31 #LadyNoir kiss, action! by @malauu-ladynoir 41,422 words, Teen, 31/31 chapters

How many kisses does it take to let feelings spread free? How many redo to finally get over the subdued inhibition? Is it a first tentative kiss propelling you in an awkward leap into the unknown? Or is it the one built from years of holding back repressed feelings? When Ladybug and Chat Noir get asked to play themselves in a movie the drama doesn’t just stay on set. With a new nemesis, a dreaded kissing scene, consuming feelings and a new revelation can Ladybug finally give in to what she’s always held back…her love for her partner? Can Chat Noir's heart still be able to surrender?

"I absolutely loved Ladynoir's dynamic in this fic, it's so good!"

one does not love breathing by @wackus-bonkus-maximus 99,476 words, Mature, 34/43 chapters

All of Paris watched as Hawkmoth murdered Chat Noir, taking the Black Cat Miraculous for himself. Ladybug swears revenge, but her enemy—and every miraculous in his possession—disappear without a trace. Six years later, a new team of villains launches an attack for the last remaining Miraculous: Volpina, armed with new powers; Queen Bee, with questionable loyalty; Argos, the new holder of the Peacock Miraculous; and Cat Walker, who Ladybug hates the most. Takes place after S4 - Strike Back.

"Quite possibly my favorite ml fic ever. Is really all sides of the love square (Ladynoir is emphasized, especially towards the beginning, also Mari...walker?), as well as other pairings (Lukazoe, DJwifi, and Feligami), and a lot of amazing action and office espionage. Chat Noir was killed by Monarch in front of all of Paris, and Ladybug swore revenge. Now, after a strange visit from Bunnyx, Monarch is suddenly back, along with a team of Miraculous users that Ladybug has to face all by herself. Amazing character interactions, new uses of Miraculouses, fantastic action scenes, and heartbreak, heartbreak everywhere. Also senticousins."

[rad-rat-with-a-tophat]

for @thetheatergremlin's boyf riends week

✨soulmates✨

(this particular soulmate au is where you can hear what your soulmate is listening to).

Jeremy has had his soulmate bond open for only two weeks and in that time has only listened to the 2012 Les Mis movie cast recording.

He would feel bad but he got cast as Marius in his school's production of Les Mis and it's a good fucking musical okay?!

"Ugh," Michael groaned, collapsing next to Jeremy on his bed.

Jeremy looked at Michael, who despite his face being smushed into the bed and his glasses askew, was fucking beautiful. Yeah the lighting in Jeremy's room was horrible, but Michael looked great in any lighting.

"So you know how I got my soulmate bond two weeks ago?" Michael asked.

Jeremy nodded, remembering when Jeremy called Michael at 1am to tell him that he got his soul bond. Before he could say anything though, Michael shrieked that he got his soulmate bond. And like the coward he was, Jeremy never told Michael that he got his too.

"Yeah so, they've been playing this one song over and over and it's so sad, like are they okay?" Michael said, head still buried in Jeremy's sheets.

Jeremy thought for a bit, "Do you know the song at least?"

Michael shook his dead, "No, I think it's about this guy whose friends are all dead or something. My soulmate is not okay."

"Wait," Jeremy said, trying as hard as possible to quash any inklings of hope sprouting in his chest, "Does it go like There's a grief that can't be spoken, There's a pain goes on and, Empty chars at empty tables, Now my friends are dead and gone?" Jeremy sang, having practiced every single rehearsal since rehearsals started 3 weeks ago.

Michael stared at Jeremy, eyes sparkling in awe. "First off, you are literally so good at singing, I mean I knew you had talent but damn you have got some pipes."

Jeremy blushed because of the positive attention, "Umm, I'm not really that good actually," He stated, doing whatever he could to brush off compliments.

Michael stared at Jeremy, mouth slightly open, "Well your wrong because you bet your ass you're gonna end up on Broadway with Christine, but yeah. That's the song."

Oh, oh shit,

Michael immediately sat up and took hold of Jeremy's hand. "Hey, are you okay? Is this because you haven't gotten your soulmate bond yet? You know it's random, nothing about you." He said, rubbing Jeremy's knuckles with his thumb.

Jeremy shook his dead, throat still stuck from his realization. "No," He started, taking a shaky breath, "I-I did get mine."

Michael gasped, "Jeremy that's great! When?"

Jeremy swallowed, nerves knotting up his stomach, "You know when I called you at midnight when you were just about to call me because you got your soulmate?"

Michael nodded slowly, seeming to consider something.

"Yeah well, the reason I called was because I had gotten my soulmate bond too." Jeremy finished, using the hand that Michael wasn't holding to fidget with his cardigan.

Michael's eyes widened, his hand tightening its grip on Jeremy's. "That means... We got our soulmate bonds at the same time."

"Yup," Jeremy said, popping the p.

"So..."

"I've been listening to Les Mis on repeat because that's one of my songs." Jeremy said as a reply, staring at his blank wall.

"Jeremy," Michael began, letting go of his hand, "If you don't want to be my soulmates we can just pretend we're not," He sounded close to tears.

Jeremy whipped his head towards Michael, "No, no it's not that! Not at all. It's just... my parents were soulmates you know?"

Michael took a breath, trying to gather his thoughts. "Okay, that makes sense. But, can we at least try,"

Michael was looking straight at Jeremy. Eyebrows rising in a question.

"Yeah, yeah we can try. We can do that," Jeremy said.

Michael beamed, reaching over and pulling Jeremy into a tight hug. "Fuck yeah, we can try. We can fucking do that."

[scrapironflotilla]

ANZAC and Ottoman relations at Gallipoli

I answered a question on r/askhistorians the other day and I think it's actually a good little read.

So, after the landing on the 25 April and a counter-attack two days later on 27 April the Ottoman forces didn’t launch another large attack on Anzac for almost a month. Eventually Essad Pasha was able to bring four divisions into the line, about 40,000 troops, for an attack on ANZAC. The attack went in on 19 May and was an absolute disaster for the attacking Ottomans. They suffered around 10,000 casualties, including about 3000 killed against the ANZAC’s roughly 600.

No man’s land between the two lines was carpeted with dead Ottoman and Anzac soldiers whose bodies quickly began to spoil in the Mediterranean sun. After three days the stench from the corpses was becoming unbearable and the threat of disease spurred both sides to action. After some aborted attempts at bringing in those left in no man’s land an Ottoman emissary, Major Kemal Ohri, blindfolded and carrying a white flag was led through Anzac lines to meet with Lieutenant-General Birdwood to negotiate a truce for the burial of the dead.

With the assistance of the Red Crescent and Red Cross an armistice was agreed to and on 24 May working parties from both sides met in no man’s land to clear the battlefield and bury the dead. New Zealand surgeon Percival Fenwick was part of the Anzac working party described the day in his diary.

A few yards climb brought us on a plateau, and a most awful sight was here. The Turkish dead lay so thick that it was almost impossible to pass without treading on the bodies. The awful destructive power of high explosive was very evident. Huge holes surrounded by circles of corpses, blown to pieces. One body was cut clean in half; the upper half I could not see, it was some distance away. One shell had apparently fallen and set fire to a bush, as a dead man lay charred to the bone. Everywhere one looked lay dead, swollen, black, hideous, and over all, a nauseating stench that nearly made one vomit.”

Although the work was grim, relations between Anzac and Ottoman soldiers was cordial, bordering on friendly. Fenwick described his Turkish counterpart as ‘a charming gentlemen’, with whom he conversed in French. Clutha McKenzie, noted that “Our men conversed with the men of the enemy as far as limited vocabulary would allow, which isn’t far.” Tahu Rhodes remembered that “There was no ill feeling between the Turks and our men, and at Quinn’s Post they shook hands and wished each other luck before returning to their respective trenches.”

This sort of amicable relationship was fairly typical of the troops themselves, both Anzac and Ottoman. There was some ill-will towards German troops at Gallipoli, mainly officers, but the Ottoman troops gained the grudging respect and sometimes admiration of Anzac soldiers which was apparently reciprocated. According to the account of a Turkish soldier:

A friendly attitude developed between the soldiers of the two hostile sides who were supposed to kill each other. They were giving the buttons they tore off their uniforms to us as a war memento, and in return they were asking for something else. Our soldiers were not allowed to give their buttons because of the military regulations of the time. They looked for other things, and in the end tokens like coins changed hands. At the same time, the soldiers were offering chocolates and sweets to each other while trying to communicate in sign language. The truce commission tried to prohibit this sort of friendship, but as soon as the commission observers left, shows of friendship continued. I saw an Australian soldier who was trying to measure the height of our tallest soldier and our soldier was letting him to do so with a smile on his face. As time passed the area was starting to look like a festival place and those who worked in the area went as far as embracing each other. “

Given the horrible living conditions shared by both sides at Gallipoli, the closeness of the trenches to one another and that war is largely made up of long periods of boredom, it’s not particularly surprising that both sides attempted to relieve the tedium by getting to know those opposite. Sniping games were played with scorecards held up after particularly good shots, letters were exchanged, often accompanying gifts of bully-beef or tobacco. This letter was received by Australian officer Major Leslie Fussell, from Turkish soldiers expressing their thanks for a tin of bully beef that had been thrown into their trenches by Major Fussell at Quinn's Post whilst instructing his men in the art of bomb throwing. The action was misinterpreted by the Turks as a friendly gesture who returned this note along with a parcel of tobacco thanking the Australians for their thoughtful gift.

In the early days of the campaign, before adequate reinforcements were available to rotate units, a single Anzac unit could hold a portion of the line for weeks at a time, getting to know the Ottomans opposite and forming routines. In his doorstopper of a book Gallipoli, Les Carlyon tells the story of an Australian light horse unit that had come to an unspoken agreement to allow an elderly Ottoman soldier to gather firewood in no man’s land every morning. When the light horsemen left, they failed to mention this to their replacements and the elderly Ottoman soldier, not knowing a relief had taken place was shot and killed on their first morning. This sort of live and let live attitude was often tacitly allowed by officers in the line, but fraternisation was loathed by senior commanders for its tendency to undermine the discipline and fighting ability of the men.

But officers still considered themselves gentlemen and so I’ll leave you with a letter to the Ottoman commander, left in the headquarters dugout of the Australian 3rd Light Horse Brigade on the evacuation of the peninsula that shows the attitude of at least some Anzacs towards their enemy.

"The Brigadier presents his compliments to our worthy Turkish opponents and offers those who first honour his quarters with their presence such poor hospitality as is in his power to give, regretting that he is unable personally to welcome them.

After a sojourn of 7 months in Gallipoli we propose to take some little relaxation...and in bidding 'Au revoir' to our honourable foes we Australians desire to express appreciation of the fine soldierly qualities of our Turkish opponents and of the sportsmanlike manner in which they have participated in a very interesting contest, honourable, we trust, to both sides.

For a little while we have been with you, yet a little while and you shall see us not. For us it is a matter of deep regret that the ancient friendship so long existing between the British and Turkish Empires should have been thus disturbed by the insidious machinations of the Arch-enemy of humanity.

We have left this area and trenches in which we have taken considerable trouble and pride, clean and in good order, and would be grateful if they may be so maintained until our return, particular care being asked in regard to matters of sanitation, so vital to the well-being of an army.

We hope that you will find the wine, coffee, tobacco, cigarettes and food to your taste, and a supply of fuel has been left in the cupboard to ameliorate in some measure the discomfort during the cold watches of the winter

Our only request is that no member of the nation who was guilty of the inhuman murder of that noble woman Miss Edith Clavell to whose photo this message is attached, will be permitted to pollute with his presence the quarters of soldiers who have never descended to such barbarous and ruthless methods".

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Didn’t think I’d end up getting a Seed MG when I started making gunpla but despite my misgivings about the series I’ve always loved Providence, and I even think its pilot is one of the few strong characters in the series, he’s actually one of the better Char clones IMO. Sure, Rau le Creuset is an omnicidal psychopath, but I can at least understand his desire to murder everyone in the CE timeline even if I don’t necessarily condone it.

The kit’s very good. There were a couple of tricky moments and a little repetition in the build with all the dragoons you have to assemble, but the end result is really worthwhile. If you can get it into a decent pose it makes a really menacing and domineering presence on your shelf. It is very back and top-heavy though, so even though it balances out surprisingly well once you add its weapons I still think the display stand that gets included in the box is the better choice if not borderline mandatory depending on how you want to post it. Also while it’s really cool that it has a beam rifle about the size of a bus it’s kind of a pain to get the suit to keep hold of it.